Of Journeys into the unknown, smelling faintly of fish [DiD]

Official fiction, fan fiction and artwork. Let your talent express itself!

Moderators: TheElf, Moderators for English X Forum

Master of the Blade
Posts: 2259
Joined: Fri, 6. Feb 09, 20:52
x3tc

Post by Master of the Blade »

Yeah. I've heard of M3s cheaper by far than that 400k, but never actually seen one in my game. :(
Allergic to work.

If at first you don't succeed, delegate the job to a minion.
Snowship
Posts: 1350
Joined: Wed, 4. Jan 06, 03:28
x3tc

Post by Snowship »

I'd not worry too much about resources being a little slow on the production, with most of my complex's in the end some products will be full for a while and that'll help the overall amount of resources :)

are you putting wings together?

and what's your next major goal we're working towards?
[ external image ]
Vanilla Malt Gamestarts
"The only time you have too much fuel is when you're on fire"
Master of the Blade
Posts: 2259
Joined: Fri, 6. Feb 09, 20:52
x3tc

Post by Master of the Blade »

Yeah- soon after I posted that I found that the crystal production was considerably higher than it needed to be. I was just being impatient. :roll:

When I have recovered from the cost of the 'plex (The CCKs were a massive hit on my resources-more than I expected), I'm going to be filling the hangars of my two carrier ships (Panther and Tokyo) with assorted fighters. The wings would work something like: Specialised weapons wing- Tenjins, PBGs, PBEs and the like. A sort of fast- attack wing with non-standard guns.
An interceptor wing: Probably Spitfyres. 'Nuff said. Or asps, if I'm underfunded.
Heavy attack wing: Falcon haulers/sentinel
Scout wing: Either Kestrels or the Decom. Jaguar(X2 style mod, remember?)- it goes at 620m/s!
Fighter/bomber wing: Blastclaw Prototypes, armed with various missiles.


(Before I state my short/long/never gonna happen targets, I should tell my readers that I just installed the ATF and OTAS shipyard plugins.)

Targets:

1)Earn enough money to buy all them fighters,
2)Buy said fighters,
3)See 1, but for a decom. Ray and, possibly, an Osaka.
4)Now, wage open war with the Split! They have oppressed the Boron Kingdom for too long! Level Family Pride to the seafloor! For the Queen!

5)After that, I've heard that the ATF have been notified of my Xenon eradication and upgraded me to command access. They have taken control of the shipyard in The Moon and are now selling me their ships.(ATF shipyard plugin)Acquire the Valhalla and use it to destroy anything that remains of the Split. I am not allowed to fly it, and when it's not in use it must stay at the Earth Torus- it's still an ATF ship, so I can only request deployment where I need it. I must also deal with armament and fuelling- damn cheapskate military organisations. :evil:

6)Also, the OTAS corporation has completed more of its R&D programme, and now sells all OTAS ships at its shipyard. Purchase an example of each(not allowed Venti or Sirokos until I've got to the OTAS rank where they give me one.(OTAS shipyard plugin)

7)Next, the Argon military have decided that the Cerberus is too large and unwieldy to complete a wide enough variety of roles. The Argon Prime shipyard has constructed the Griffon, a light carrier similar to the Panther with a shielding and weapon sacrifice for a far smaller profile and 25 fighter bays to improve its battle flexibility. I should look into it.
(side effect of OTAS shipyard plugin, I think)

8)Finally, attempt to complete the repairs on the HUB. Anything that is requested of me afterwards should also be completed. If, by any chance, I get shipbuilding capabilities at any point, then I must collect a blueprint of as many ships as possible.

9)Expand my business interests
Allergic to work.

If at first you don't succeed, delegate the job to a minion.
Snowship
Posts: 1350
Joined: Wed, 4. Jan 06, 03:28
x3tc

Post by Snowship »

oooww... ATF fighters :D
might have to transfer into one of them 8)


personally I think the Griffon into a fighter carrier is an abomination (personal reasons as I'd like to have it as per the XTM version... MkII Drones :twisted: )
But you're free to choose what you want Commander :P
[ external image ]
Vanilla Malt Gamestarts
"The only time you have too much fuel is when you're on fire"
Master of the Blade
Posts: 2259
Joined: Fri, 6. Feb 09, 20:52
x3tc

Post by Master of the Blade »

Aye. I would have liked the Griffon as it worked originally, too, but it doesn't so I may as well take advantage. It still looks awesome too. I won't be buying any Fenrirs- IMO they're not as sleek(We've gotta look good too!) as the Thor, and they're more expensive. Snowship, why are you thinking of giving up the Tenjin? Nine PBGs is a fair sacrifice- you don't need the extra shielding when you can take out whichever enemies are harassing you in two shots!

Of course, if anyone wants to upgrade(even if it's to a technically inferior ship :P ), then they're welcome. Anyone else who wants to join, this is the best time to do it!
Allergic to work.

If at first you don't succeed, delegate the job to a minion.
LordForrester
Posts: 501
Joined: Mon, 21. Sep 09, 23:33

Post by LordForrester »

I would like to App to your Fleet.


Name: Slamer Forrester
Ship name: Exterminator
Ship type: Cerberus
Load it up as you think best for taking down fighters and M6's. I would rather not have area of affect guns as they might hit the ships I would be protecting.

I have many months of experience in Merlin Industries II flying a TM. I only left that fleet when my admiral disappeared. The reason for applying for a Cerberus. I noticed that you have plans for a Carrier Group. You have a nice destroyer for taking out all those Caps but no protection from fighter craft for your Carrier group. I would like that Job.
Master of the Blade
Posts: 2259
Joined: Fri, 6. Feb 09, 20:52
x3tc

Post by Master of the Blade »

Panther, remember? :P Never mind- I have just the thing: A brand new Griffon frigate- same stats as the cerberus, including shielding, but has a massive(for a frigate) 25 fighter hangar and a greatly reduced hull size- it's half the length of the Cerberus! It has similar weapon compatibility, but less weapon mounts, which simply means it won't run out of power as fast. I've never had any friendly fire problems with Cluster Flak, so you can have a full flak loadout- sure to make the Pirate corvette fleets think twice!(the fighter fleets won't be able to even think once due to chronic death disorder- CFLAK chews 'em up toot-sweet)

Quickie this time- it's still mostly money- raising atm.



Chapter 34(probably): Into production, with Compliments

Finally it's ready. The single largest building venture I've ever attempted. Most would remark at its unusual shape, which, from the wrong angle, I agree looks messy, but it works! After an initial injection of 2000 crystals, the SPPs began to charge up, then the food factories began to work, and the mines ground into action. Shortly afterwards, the first new batch of crystals was completed and the cycle began again. Once sufficient resources were available, the weapons fabs began to churn out their tools of murderment. It's now working away happily and I've had to relieve it of MD ammo and Tornado missiles twice. I'm most pleased. Indeed, so pleased that I go on a rampage around Xenon space in celebration. OmniCorp will be a big name soon, particularly in the Boron Kingdom- I consider myself once again part of the Navy- I'm a knight of the kingdom and someone has to be the crusader. The Kingdom of Boron has been the oppressed for too long! I shall make preparations, then begin my campaign to push the Split back as they did to our defenceless forces long ago. No longer will the Kingdom of Boron require external help in its battles! *hic* Well, basically, I'm going to show the Split what for. After considerable amounts of force-expansion.

The ATF have heard of my regular forays into Xenon space, and granted me Command access for services rendered. I can now purchase any ATF craft, and even request the deployment of the ATF flagship, the Valhalla, although I'm not allowed to fly it myself and it must remain securely docked at the Earth Torus at all other times. Apparently it's currently in for repairs, and I will have to pay for the replacement armament and shielding myself if I need it before it's done. Still, it seems an awesomely powerful ship and a great regrouping point. Anyway, a new shipyard's up, and I take advantage of this and buy ten 'Thor' heavy fighters from the ATF shipyard in 'The Moon' sector. The Military base can only give me two lasers per ship, but this will suffice for now. OTAS needs me for something, so I mosey on down to see what's up.

A basic station defence mission in the Aladna Hill sector. BORING! What's somewhat more interesting, however, are the new options at the OTAS shipyard. It seems OTAS has finally finished its R&D programme and released all its craft, although my employer says I'm not allowed a Venti or a Sirokos until he says so. Spoilsport. He also tells me that the Argon Prime shipyard has also designed a new frigate. I'll take a look at that later. First, Pirate squishing time! Over already? How boring. Oh dear... I've been trying to stay friendly with the Pirates. Oh well- the Venti is far more important than my relations with a bunch of clowns with the skull-and-crossbones on their hats. To Argon Prime!

The Griffon, huh? Well, it's almost identical to the Cerberus except for a 25-ship hangar bay. Worth a go, I suppose, and it's marginally cheaper than the Cerberus too.(by ~20k :D Who am I to call the ATF cheapskates?) Wait a second! This is... It's tiny! Half the size of my Panther! [ external image ]

Also, not advertised is the ability to carry one freighter-class ship onboard. That's a potential extra 15k freight space then! Now, send that to the Terracorp HQ for a jumpdrive, and then to Elena's fortune Military outpost for ecells. After that, to my weaponplex for some 1Gj shields. I go to Akeela's beacon to get it some Cluster Flak.

Someone calls me while I organised this called Slamer Forrester. Apparently he used to work flying a TM for the Admiral of a different privately-owned fleet to mine, but that Admiral disappeared along with his fortune. Since I'm quite well-disposed towards any non-split at the moment, I'm tempted to give him a frigate posting... Apparently he had a secret missile base in the President's End sector, but I'm not going to pry. This new pilot is asking for a Cerberus, but since I've just purchased a ~36Mcr frigate and a ~30Mcr fighter wing, I'm a little short of cash. I offer the Griffon, and am now awaiting a reply. I go down to Grand Exchange in the hopes of a Xenon invasion some time soon. I'm not wrong- they're planning an invasion now. Yes! The Xenon are also moving forces through Commonwealth space- possibly in responce to my little visits, so a passing Q and some fighters are rolled into the mission payout. My new Thor wing gets its first flight now, to hunt down straggling AGI ships. They succeed without fuss, and I recall them five million credits richer. The Q wasn't worth that much after all... Anyway, I travel down through Split space and take on a staion defence in a really massive sector. Unfortunately, my Panther was left far behind since I used a Spitfyre, finally recovered from Aldrin, to get to the mission station. By the time I'd arrived again, the corvettes were within twenty kilometres of the station. Now for the next, impromptu, test. Those Pirate corvettes number around 15. I have a wing(blue wing, actually) of 10 Thors. Let's see how they do.

Very, very well- With me providing some heavy fire support, the Thors' heavy shielding and high speed enable them to take down several corvettes on their own. By the time I caught up, the enemy forces had been halved. My losses so far: about 50Mj of shielding on one Thor which had been on the wrong side of an ISR barrage. By the end of it, none of my forces had even sustained hull damage. Most impressive.


Olterin has warned me about the ATF on occasion, so I should be careful. However, I can see why Olterin is warning me, and I assure him, neither will I hand him over to the ATF or USC or even inform them anything about him. I shall upgrade all the company's security systems and maybe Olterin can provide some Terran jiggery-pokery to improve our security further. So far, the ATF's services have been more than satisfactory.


For the Queen! *hic*
Last edited by Master of the Blade on Tue, 12. Jan 10, 17:51, edited 1 time in total.
Allergic to work.

If at first you don't succeed, delegate the job to a minion.
Snowship
Posts: 1350
Joined: Wed, 4. Jan 06, 03:28
x3tc

Post by Snowship »

well if you're not using a Fenir then I'll stay in the Tenijn :P
[ external image ]
Vanilla Malt Gamestarts
"The only time you have too much fuel is when you're on fire"
LordForrester
Posts: 501
Joined: Mon, 21. Sep 09, 23:33

Post by LordForrester »

It would be my Honor to command your Griffon Admiral! I would not only be able to help out with the carrier defense but with offense as well. She would truly make a great Exterminator. I look forward to my first mission.

I have another question for you admiral. Would your Fleet be interested in some premium coffee and tea from my home planet? My Dad runs a planet wide farmers Co-Op.
User avatar
Olterin
Posts: 1110
Joined: Fri, 27. Feb 09, 20:34
xr

Post by Olterin »

I'll see what I can do about those security protocols then... maybe there are still some specifications stored in my ship's computer if I'm lucky... it was quite badly damaged, but thankfully we Terrans usually design a lot of redundancy into our systems... I'll transmit all the data I'm able to recover within the next six hours, admiral.


... Also, the Thors... from what I read, you've so far only equipped them with two EMPCs each... well, try to get them a full weapon compliment as well as some poltergeists set to 5% launch percentage. If I'm right, then you haven't seen most things those fighters do yet :)
"Do or do not, there is no try"
"My Other Overwhelming Mixed Assault Fleet is a Brigantine" -Seleucius, commenting on my ship naming scheme
Master of the Blade
Posts: 2259
Joined: Fri, 6. Feb 09, 20:52
x3tc

Post by Master of the Blade »

Coffee, Forrester? Well, there are quite a few members of my crew now, so why not? I hear the hot beverages from Earth are very good! If you need any craft to help ferry it around, I am willing to provide one. Welcome to the fleet!

Thank you, Olterin. I will be hunting around for spare EMPCs, but it'll take a while to get a full set for all the fighters. Poltergeist missiles, I'll find some eventually. Aldrin, perhaps? I'm not sure. Reccomendation taken on board and accepted.

Snowship, that's just fine- I need a powerful ship like the Tenjin to be flown by someone like you who can handle the relatively low shielding. You've worked well for OmniCorp and are one of the longest-serving pilots in my fleet. Keep up the good work!
Allergic to work.

If at first you don't succeed, delegate the job to a minion.
Master of the Blade
Posts: 2259
Joined: Fri, 6. Feb 09, 20:52
x3tc

Post by Master of the Blade »

I've not had a lot of time to play for a while due to various tiresome but important fixtures, but I'll say that I'm currently in the middle of a 'very hard' Xenon partol mission, and have been happily blasting Xenon capships left, right and center for the best part of an hour. Current mission payout? A terrible 11 million. Reward for one K/J? an incredible 500k. :evil: I brought in the big gunz too- the OmniCorp destroyer has had a chance to warm(read:overheat) its PPC batteries by taking on as many as 3 Xenon caps at once, not to mention a stupid number of fighters floating around all over the sector. Getting about is the most boring part- 58m/s is painfully slow. Sector: Family Zyarth. I called in Forrester to clear up some of the fighters, but the Xenon kept point- jumping their capitals in and I didn't want to lose anyone. So I told him to retreat. More coming later.

[ external image ] A pic which should have been put into the last chapter but wasn't. Blue wing upon rendezvous with their carrier in Asteroid Belt.
Allergic to work.

If at first you don't succeed, delegate the job to a minion.
LordForrester
Posts: 501
Joined: Mon, 21. Sep 09, 23:33

Post by LordForrester »

Slamer pulled the noise around on his little Pirate Harrier Hauler and started the computer docking sequence. He then got up to get his things together.

"Come on Angus." He said to the big orange cat in the copilot seat. "We have to check out our new home."

Slamer gathered his things. That little M5 touched down and he popped open that hatch and walked into the hanger bay. Angus followed him out. He was greeted by a skinny lieutenant named Bob.

"Welcome aboard captain!" Said Lieutenant Bob "If you will follow me I will show you to your quarters!"

Slamer followed the lieutenant with Angus on his hills. As they walked though the hanger he was struck with how much smaller it was that the Colossus he had be aboard a few months ago. He was amazed at how well space was being used. No space was wasted, all the fighters on board were tightly packed in with there wings folded up.

It took about 15 minutes to get to his new captains quarters. He dismissed Bob and closed the door. He set his stuff down and looked around.

"Well Angus this is much nicer than the Aegis that is for sure!" he said to the cat.

Angus walked over and jumped on the end of the bed and proceeded to make himself a comfortable spot.

Slamer smiled at the cat and said "I am Glad you like it."

There was a ships messages whistle that came from behind a cabinet door. Slamer looked around and saw a remote on the bed stand. He picked it up and hit the open button. The doors to the cabinet slid open to reveal a large display. The Screen said “Incoming video message from Admiral Swien Luf.” Alex answered the call.

“Slamer this is Admiral Swien Luf calling to welcome you to the fleet.”

“Thank you Admiral she is a beautiful ship!” Slamer responded.

“Well.” said the admiral “I wish I had time to let you settle in, but I have need of you and your ship. I need you to be ready to jump to sector Family Zyarth. I will be clearing out the capitol ships before you arrive. I am sorry to have to run but I am busy, just be ready to jump when I call you.”

“I will be ready Sir.” said Slamer.

“Good Slamer! Swien out.” Said the admiral.

Slamer made a quick call to the bridge informing them of the impending jump and sounded battle stations.

“Come on Angus we best head up to the Bridge.” said Slamer
Snowship
Posts: 1350
Joined: Wed, 4. Jan 06, 03:28
x3tc

Post by Snowship »

I hod one of those long patrols in Patriarch's Retreat, in the end it took me in a M8 (plus 2 more remotely) to wipe the caps (especially the J's before they unloaded fighters) before more could re-spawn.
[ external image ]
Vanilla Malt Gamestarts
"The only time you have too much fuel is when you're on fire"
Master of the Blade
Posts: 2259
Joined: Fri, 6. Feb 09, 20:52
x3tc

Post by Master of the Blade »

Yeah. I end up having to manually fly about trying to get my CFAs into firing position. I have been stocking up Phantom missiles on the Claymore that the Terrans gave me, but I'd rather not use up too many of the 120 or so missiles that I've managed to get. Once I'm certain the caps'll stop spawning (if ever), I'll be able to get my frigates to mop up the stragglers. Are there any conditions that can be met to end it quickly? I don't want a repeat of the 3-hour long slog earlier on.
Allergic to work.

If at first you don't succeed, delegate the job to a minion.
Master of the Blade
Posts: 2259
Joined: Fri, 6. Feb 09, 20:52
x3tc

Post by Master of the Blade »

Well, I've finished the patrol for a decent 21Mcr. It didn't drag on as long as before, and I was paid rather better too. Next chapter is mostly composed of it.

Chapter 35: Holding back the tide

On my rounds about the Xenon-plagued Ocean of Fantasy area, I come across a Xenon patrol mission in Family Zyarth. In two minds about it, I accept suspiciously- last time I did one of these, the Xenon jumped in several full-scale assault forces! Well, it's supposed to be very hard, but it's the pay that counts- I'm coming close to having enough cash to buy and outfit a decom. Ray, but first I need to get some fighters for the Griffon, now commanded by Slamer Forrester. After some deliberation, we decided that wings of 12 Elites and 12 Nova Raiders, all armed with Mass Drivers(and backup weaponry) would be best. Anyway, the invasion's started and it's pretty obvious that I'm going to need a far bigger gun than the one I'm flying. I put out a call to have the corporate destroyer, the Tsunami, ready for battle. This takes a few minutes, since the battleship's energy reserves are insufficient to jump it from its reserved spot at the Kingdom End military outpost to Family Zyarth, so it has to stop off at the Argon Sector M148 military base to refuel on energy for the jumpdrive.

Meanwhile, I am getting bogged down by Xenon fighters spewed out by Js, and I have no energy to spare for firing the IBLs. If any battleships jump in nearby, I'm toast. Fortunately, they don't, and the Ray class destroyer enters the sector. Initially, I order it to protect me, but it begins to clumsily manouver around- not the sort of thing a 150Mcr destroyer should be trying to do, so I beam over to fly it myself. A trio of battleships jumps in nearby, so I quickly send The Hive away and advance towards them. The two Ks are targeted first, and go down quickly. The J proves rather irritating, as it is moving on a perpendicular path to me, meaning a lot of my PPC shots go wide. This gives it time to stop and launch a considerable number of fighters at me. I capitalise on its lack of movement and blast it, flying through the cloud of fighters to destroy as many as possible with my CFAs, mounted in the top and bottom turrets. This repeats several times, until the satellite, a remnant from my work with Mr. Cunning Plan(Pearle), which was feeding me information about Xenon force movements is destroyed by an N. The grav goes dark. Oh well. I'll have to locate the battleships using the old Mk1 eyeball.

The waves of Xenon continue to relentlessly pound on the rather weakly defended Split sector. This is very good for me- since I'm soon going to attack the Split, the loss of factories will help me in my cause. Hauling the bough around for anothe attack on the Xenon formations, I decide to call in my two operational frigates- Exterminator, piloted by Forrester, and The Hive, AI piloted but supervised by Snowship and Buck Rogers- my two longest-serving pilots. This goes well for me- the two battleships are smashing fighters all over the place, and have severely cut the enemy's numbers by the time a Xenon capship group jumps in mear to them. Needless to say, I order a hasy retreat- there's about 150Mcr worth of plundered equipment on The Hive, and no doubt the Xenon would quite like it back. Well, they're not having it. This means that my Panther is out of the game entirely now- it hasn't got enough energy to make the jump back in. Forrester's supply TS still has plenty of surplus, so I'll recall him when it's safer- the Xenon are still popping up all over the place. One time a group of Ps jumps in right behind me and launches a few salvos of missiles. I am busy dealing with a pair of Ks again, so I trust my flak to kill them. It does, but my momentary loss of concentration meant I took a peppering of Gauss to the mush. The shields tick down to 65%, but I dispatch the enemies and move on.

Some time later, and with a payout of around 18 million banked, the Xenon appear to have run out of battleships to throw at me and I call in Forrester to help with cleanup. The tiny frigate arrives in due course, and makes a beeline for the nearest L. I move off to a large cluster of idling Xenon nearby, whose lack of a carrier to protect left them floating about aimlessly, until I came bulldozing through their formation and blew them up. Forrester's getting stuck into another set of Xenon now, and the gravidar is showing a lot less red. I happen to look in the direction of the gate to Zyarth's dominion and see the distinctive oblong shape of a Xenon battleship. It entered through the gate, so it's probably just a luckless migratory battleship. I move over and attack, with it responding in kind- a barrage of PSP shots comes my way from its right turret, and a stream of PPC is aimed from its front. I keep my distance, trying to keep all three of my forward batteries aimed at the K. It explodes prettily, but all that I can salvage is a single EBC. Ah well. There's a considerable number of fighters now milling about, so I again use the bulldozer tactic and squash any that don't get out of the way quickly enough. The rest fall quickly enough to my CFAs. Meanwhile, Forrester is proving that the ship class leap from TM to frigate is not affecting him at all:

[ external image ]

I got a goodish payout, but I could have made more in the same amount of time with assassinations. This little campaign has probably set the Xenon back a bit though:

[ external image ]

I jump to the Split sector where I left The Hive, and open the trade menu of the local shipyard where it's docked. Apparently, the resale price is in excess of 150Mcr, and that's at a 75% price. Good thing it didn't get destroyed.
Last edited by Master of the Blade on Thu, 14. Jan 10, 13:22, edited 1 time in total.
Allergic to work.

If at first you don't succeed, delegate the job to a minion.
Snowship
Posts: 1350
Joined: Wed, 4. Jan 06, 03:28
x3tc

Post by Snowship »

we'll keep the ship on the straight and narrow Commander :D
oh and a MD wing would kick butt.

on a side note, do the old-x2 Carriers have docking bays allowing fighters? (I'd heard not, but was that correct?)
[ external image ]
Vanilla Malt Gamestarts
"The only time you have too much fuel is when you're on fire"
Buck_Rogers
Posts: 1521
Joined: Mon, 20. Dec 04, 23:23
x3

Post by Buck_Rogers »

We make quite the team eh Snowship? :D
Buck Rogers

Vice Admiral of Shadows Haven Alliance (SHA) visit us at:
SHA Forum
Feel free to join my DID
Too often we lose sight of life's simple pleasures. Remember, when someone annoys you, it takes 42 muscles in your face to frown. But only 4 to extend your arm and slap the bugger!
Master of the Blade
Posts: 2259
Joined: Fri, 6. Feb 09, 20:52
x3tc

Post by Master of the Blade »

The X2 carriers aren't functional as carriers yet, so act more like moderately fast, poor steering frigates. No docking bay as of yet. The destroyers, on the other hand... Some of them are nearly twice as fast as the new ones, with only 1/2GJ shield inferiority. :twisted:

(side note: even if I do get an old carrier, it can't be the Colossus- it costs in the region of 190k credits. That's thousands not millions. Also an exploit, so no decom. colossus for me. Unless we come up with a fair price which I could deduct using a script. (please- I love the model!))
Allergic to work.

If at first you don't succeed, delegate the job to a minion.
LordForrester
Posts: 501
Joined: Mon, 21. Sep 09, 23:33

Post by LordForrester »

Slamer made his way to the bridge of the little frigate. Thanks to the admirals kindness he was able to bring along his old bridge crew from the Aegis, first officer Roberts and petty officer Mathews.

After a warm reunion with his old crew Slamer took his place in the captain’s chair. The ever present Angus took over the first officer’s chair. Roberts being an old friend and favorite of Angus’s smiled and took his old seat at the weapons officers’ console. Mathews was at the helm.

Slamer always preferred small bridge crews, much easer to manage. The three of them worked for the next hour to getting the ship ready for combat. At the end of that hour the call came in from the admiral to jump to the east gate of Family Zyarth.

With the Ship at rad alert and the coordinates set. Slamer gave the order.

“Mathews! Engage jumpdive.”

The ship gave a shutter and jumped.

They exited the Gate into a maelstrom of Xenon fighters, missiles, lasers and CFA bursts. The Map was coved in red with one lone green dot, the admiral’s flagship. She was plowing though clouds of fighters and debris from the capitol ships she had destroyed.

“Mathews bank us off to the north into that cloud of fighters.” Slamer ordered. “Roberts have the turrets focuses on the largest fighters first. I am going to take control of the main guns.”

“Mathews transfer ship control to me and take over the shields and power management.” Slamer commanded.

As the Exterminator cleared the gate The Hive entered the sector and headed south.

Slamer pulled the noise of the ship up and fired the 4 CFAs into the cloud of Xenon M3 and M4s making a head on run at the Exterminator. Ten of the twelve Xenon just melted away under the combined fire of seven forward firing CFAs. Slamer rolled the ship starboard to keep the two top turrets firing on the few fighters that survived the head on attack. These were quickly dispatched.

“Shields holding steady at 98% Captain.” said Mathews.

Slamer again swung the nose of the ship towards the northern gate and another two wings of attackers. The next half an hour was spent clearing wave after wave of fighters. Things were looking good when a fleet of Js and Ks Jumped out of the northern gate in front of the Exterminator.

Slamer fired a burst off at the nearest K and slammed the ship into a starboard roll and pulled the nose down putting the ship into a half S turn.

The com came alive with the voice of the Admiral hollering orders for Slamer to get out of there.

“Working on it Admiral!” Slamer replied as he strafed wildly to dodge the incoming enemy fire.

“ALL turrets on missile defense” yelled Slamer. “Jump us out of here Mr. Mathews!”

The next ten seconds were tense as Slamer threw the ship around to avoid being blown out of the sky.

Then there was quiet as they emerged from the eastern gate of midnight star. The stillness of the sector was eerie after the storm they had just left. Slamer pulled the ship around and parked it above the gate to be ready for the Admiral’s call should he have need of the Exterminator again.

Roberts! Mathews! Report said Slamer.

“Shields are at 70% sir but no hull damage” Replied Mathews.

“We have some minor internal damage and a few minor injuries” said Roberts “but they are being attended to now sir.”

“Very good both of you” said Slamer. “Have the ship stand at ease but stay at there station. As soon as the admiral clears those capitals out we will be going back in I am sure.”

The admiral’s call came in after about 40 minutes. The Exterminator again jumped into the east gate but this time headed for the center of the sector clearing fighters as she went. Slamer kept the little frigate rolling and turning to keep the most guns possible trained on the Xenon.

He saw the Admiral in his flagship literally plowing though formations of Xenon then heading to the east gate to take care of a Xenon battleship that had just joined the fight. The admiral quickly dispatched this new foe and charged back into the fighters.

Slamer and the Admiral started making passes keeping there ships 5 km apart so that there guns could fully cover the area between them. With this tactic they were able to cleanse the sector of red dots. After the last read dot disappeared Slamer heard the tired voice of the admiral over the com.

“Good job Exterminator lets go home” said the Admiral.

“With pleasure sir” replied Slamer as he reached over to pat the sleeping Angus. “Nothing bothers you does it old boy.”

Return to “Creative Universe”