Reign of Chaos 3 - Chapter III

Quote

Originally posted by SilverDragon:
**MOD: I think I missed something.

a) Which route did Grundadulater take to Raiek space? (!) Jumpgate 02 is closed and guarded by pirates.

**

Esponer,Grundulater appeared in Eta Cassiopea through the Spatial Fold some time ago.I tried t ocommunicate with him,but he pointed out he had a cloak.
The Tribunal then told him they had no work for him or something,so I assume he recloaked,went through Skraine space and the Wormhole,then made his way to Raiek space.

BTW,am I spending too long constructing Watchstone?
Asriel is making several shipyard asteroids in 2 turns.
Should I cut the ETA for the watchstone from 16 turns to 5?
That leaves 2 turns remaining.

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(url="http://"http://www.geocities.com/shades_shipyard")Shade's Shipyard(/url), the source for your ship needs.

OOC: Oh, I'm so sorry, I forgot to mention that there is such a thing called SHIPYARDS YOU DORK. I can build my own ships in Eta Cassiopea, or if I was extremely desperate I could bring in Ravens. I got a lot of good ideas on why you would be whooped:

  1. I have torpedoes, a lot of torpedoes. Your Plasma Web (did I get the name right?) can't kill them, or at least that's exactly what the description said.
  2. I have a heck of a lot of ships that I can bring in to wipe you out, which are equal to the amount of ships you had
  3. The battlestation isn't that weak
  4. WarpGates take a long time to recharge. You could escape that much
  5. I have a lot more guns on my ships than you do, and a lot of my guns are more powerful. Just look at the ship stats.
  6. ALL of my ships are more maneuverable than their Skraine counterparts
  7. Read very carefully what I said about what I did for the Battlestation. Because of my sig.tech, I was able to extremely reinforce the battlestations shields. There would've been no way you could take it out that easily. Heck, without reinforcing its shields it could easily take on a Tempest. These are BATTLESTATIONS, massive things armed with a lot of guns and armor.
  8. I also have defense pods, a lot of which I pulled back behind the Battlestations shields.
  9. Plasma Blasters take a while to reload.
  10. It'd be somewhat hard to kill all of my missiles, seeing that they're so fast it'd be hard to target them. Not to mention I have a lot more torpedoes, which do a TON of damage to shields.
  11. My primary weapons have a nice range, especially with this one extra tech I have (forget the name), and my long range weaponry is also long ranged (though not as good as Galactica's) and is quite powerful and fast.
  12. My ships always have a lot of armor, which protects them from a lot of your guns.

The Skraine are hypocritical. They come with with a massive battlefleet and declare that they're "Peaceful". I despise their very soul.

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(MESSAGE TO TRIBUNAL)
(ENCRYPTED)
(EMERGENCY FREQUENCY)
(FROM: CONFEDERACY)
(We are currently under attack by a large Skraine force and request dire assistence. We may be able to hold them off, but it will be hard. Any assistence you could give would be appreciated, and we will try and protect you in the future because of this.)
(END MESSAGE)
(DELETE MESSAGE TRAIL)

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If at first you don't succeed...Hit it harder! - Me
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Millennium. Its coming, prepare for it.
Coming to the (url="http://"http://www.ambrosiaSW.com/games/ev/chronicles.html")EV Chronicles(/url).

OOC:Pirates connot see through my cloak.
The Raiek provided me with all the resouses and knowledge I needed to complete the cloak. but I guess your right. I'll edit to say that I waited a 7 days.
-----
Grunadulater nodded to the Raiek;
"I shall be gone in an hour."Grunadulater walked back to the ship then left. Next stop, Corsk. Grunadulater ship entered the system, cloaked, and looked around. There very far to many enemy ships here. He would never be able to escape if he caught something. He turned around and shot into hyperspace. Going farther, he reached the system of Zenaru. Since it was uninhabited, there was maybe 3 ships in it. Grunadulater uncloaked and saw a fighter. He hailed it;
"Hello."
"What do you want. What race are you?"
"I'm an independent, chill."Grunadulater opened his fighter missile launcher and shot. then he recloaked. The fighter had little shields left and all the other ships in the system didn't know what had happened. They slowly went over, a warship and another fighter. Grunadulater pounced on them with all his weapons, killing the other fighter and hurting the warship. Then he cloaked again. To them, it was like fighting a ghost. The Dark Voyager came up behind the warship and fired agian, diabling the ship. Then it disabled the fighter, and pulled it onto his ship with the tractor beam. He stuck it there magneticly and cloaked. He shot back into hyperspace.
-----
3 days later, he landed on RC-405 and walked up to the Haorn ship and jammed the door. He also took a small slice of the armour of, to inspect it. He walked back into the ship and jumped back to Zeno III. He landed and walked up to the office;
"I hope that a fighter will suffice."

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"Are you sure the powers off?"

(This message has been edited by grunadulater (edited 11-20-2001).)

MOD: Grunadulater, Eta Cassiopea - Ross 154 - Milky Way news doesn't travel. You would, from Raiek space, not even know much about what the Terrans were doing.

Shade, you overestimate all your technologies considerably. Carnotaur is in the right, I'm afraid. His fleet is more powerful than yours, and Battlestations are automatically built, as are all System Defences and Stellar Shielding for ALL races.

I will not see arguing between players again, or both will be banned.

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Word.

BattleDoctor sat behind his desk, with High Admiral Fera standing behind him and to the left. He put his hand up and said, "Please excuse me while I confer with my advisor."

Fera leaned down to BattleDoctor and commented, "With all due respect, I don't really feel we can afford to get into any other conflicts right now, sir. Negotiate an arms exchange deal and dispatch a diplomatic team to wherever these Raiek come from."

"I agree that we must focus our efforts on the Alliance right now. Perhaps they could help us with the Alliance and then we could return the favor by helping them with these 'Haorn' people."

Fera sighed and then said, "Just don't get us into anything we'll end up regretting."

BattleDoctor then turned back to the Raiek diplomats and continued, "We would be interested in possibly combining our efforts to attack the Alliance. Would it be possible for you to bring some ships here, and we could work on weapons trade negotiations?"


Work on the Laser Frigate continues. ETA: 4 posts

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"NEVER EVER EVER stick a Habańero pepper on your **** !" -forge
(url="http://"http://www.dancingpaul.com/")Dancing Paul!(/url)

OOC: Just so you know, my breif appearance in this story and the stuff in this post has already been okayed by Esponer 🙂

IC: Galactica, though it was a strong empire and a military force to be reckoned with, was not popular amongst some of it's citizens. These factions, though often the minority, longed to return to the days when their individual races and governments were free to rule themselves without the interference of an outside authority. Most of these extremists were scattered throughout Galactica space, or actively trying to escape it. The most they could claim to have accomplished were small scale protests, or in the case of more militant groups, perhaps a hijacking or a bombing. Few had the organization or the people to accomplish anything more. Of course, as is usually the case, there were occasional exceptions to this rule. One such exception was a resistance group on Kayia, far off in the corner of Galactica space.

Fueled by the blatant pro-Galactica stance of the GNN (headquartered on Kayia), this group had been steadily growing in strength since all of the South Tip had been absorbed into Galactica at the end of the great wars. For the most part they remained hidden, plotting in the shadows, stashing weapons and communications equipment (mostly bought on the black market or stolen from Galactica warehouses) in caves in the forest outside the capitol city. Knowing that they stood little chance in an all out rebellion unless it was unexpected and well-planed, they kept a low profile, gaining strengthuntil they numbered into the hundreds. Sensing their opportunity was close at hand, they set a meeting date and gathered in the forest outside the capitol.

-----

Murmurs rippled through the audience, several hundred people had jammed themselves into a small cave about three miles north of Kayia's capitol city. Most of them were Strandless, with a few Zidagar and Igadzra among their number. Even one or two humans could be seen - but all had a common purpose: to free themselves from oppressive Galactica rule. The crowd quieted as a lone figure shoved his way to the front of the assembly.

"Thank you all for coming," said the man, known to most of the gathered militants only as Blaze. His real identity was hidden behind dozens of aliases and fake papers - necessary to keep him one step ahead of Galactica authorities. "As you all know, our time is at hand. When night falls, we will strike, and though many of us may not survive, we will make this planet, and the galaxy, stand up and pay attention. Galactica's imperial rule will not go unquestioned any longer!" Sporadic applause and cheers followed.

The afternoon passed uneventfully, the citizens of nearby Kayia City unaware of the events to come. Stealthily the militants gathered their stashed weapons - mostly flash grenades and a few stolen Galactica armaments. As night fell, the militants made their move. Nearly three hundred waited in a forested area just outside the city as about fifty others, with concealed pistols and grenades, infiltrated the city.

Galactica security was high, as usual, but the militants had the advantage of surprise and planning. Their fake papers were enough to get them into most buildings (some were even former Galactica employees). Ten of them infiltrated the Planetary Defense complex, aiming to take control of the planetary defense grid. Another five infiltrated Galactica storage complex, aiming to steal military supplies stored inside. Another ten concentrated on various minor buildings, and three were sent into Galactica Military Headquarters (it would be difficult to get many in), and another three infiltrated the GNN. The rest went after small targets, or patrolled the streets, or took up sniper positions, ready to provide cover for the others.

About three hours after night fell, the first shots were fired. Ten armed militants stormed the control room in the Planetary Defense complex. The security guards responded in kind, but were outnumbered. Four security guards quickly succumbed to militant fire, with two militants injured. The invaders quickly went about taking control of the planetary defense grid. At the same moment, an insurrection began in the Storage complex, as four of the armed militants managed to make off with three armored tanks and a grenade launcher. About this time, alarms sounded throughout the capitol, Galactica forces realizing something was seriously wrong. This was the signal to the militants in the woods - now was their time.

Grenade blasts and gunfire sounded as the militants came storming into the city, doing battle with riot police, keeping the forces tied up so the infiltrators could work. Inside the Galactica Military Complex, chaos reigned. Officers ran this way and that, trying to gather information on who was attacking them, and where to send defense forces. The three militants inside went nearly unnoticed. Two headed for the basement, while a third headed straight for the office of the Galactica governor of Kayia.

A brief gunfight broke out in a deep corner of the basement of the military complex two militants sniping off a security guard. Meanwhile, the third militant stepped into the office of the governor, and demanded that the secretary allow him to see the governor. Two armed security guards quickly responded, holding the militant at gunpoint.

"I don't know who you guys think you are, but you'll all be dead or in jail in a couple hours," the security guard said. "Let's take a little trip to the interrogation room."

Before any such trip could happen, the lights flickered and went out. The two militants in the basement had cut power to the whole complex. Everyone then looked on in shock and dismay as an explosive shell blasted a hole in the far wall. The governor came rushing out of his office, looking as shocked as the guards. "What's going on here?" he demanded.

"Kayia is under the control of the Freedom Fighters," the militant replied, motioning to the tank in the street outside. "Kill me if you like - there are hundreds more to take my place."

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Ad Astra Per Aspera - "A rough road leads to the stars"

"Sir! Preparations ready!"

"We're entering the system now..."

"Weapons charged."

"Missiles locked."

"All ships on standby, sir. Awaiting your command."

"Fire," grated Zak Vilda's voice over the comm.link.

- - -

Four hundred pirate vessels, ranging from updated Laziras to old model stolen government ships, such as Voinian Cruisers and Zidaras, leapt into the Hrekka system, defended by the Confederate Alliance.

One hundred and seventy five Alliance ships instantly moved to meet the attackers, and two battlestations in the system opened fire.

However, led by Zak Vilda, the pirates were both too fast and too well prepared.

Be the Alliance ships more powerful or not, when four hundred vessels all attacked with their various fighter-missile capabilities, a certain type of havoc was caused. The Alliance weren't expecting an attack of this number, of this organisation, and certainly not of this technological level allround.

Several Alliance ships went down quickly, including a few Aurora Battleships.

However, the Alliance's missile barrage, which would have seriously been absolutely devastating, was ruined.

A thick layer of antimatter was ejected from a wolfpack of heavy freighters at the back of the fleet.

The munitions swept right into the mass of antimatter, and were incinerated. Energy based weapon's fire from long ranged anti-proton weaponry took some pot shots at the forerunners of the pirate fleet, but little damage was caused.

Zak took his fleet right around the antimatter cloud, which was already beginning to dissipate. The heavy freighters couldn't keep up the pace, but they still managed to eject antimatter into the Alliance fleet. Several Renegade fighters were taken down by this evil tactic, but the heavy freighters quickly fell.

To think that was the only tactic Zak had up his sleeve was to be incredibly insulting to his genius.

Anti-proton fire was deadly, and when the pirate fleet charged the Alliance fleet, both sides expected that the pirates would suffer critical losses. No-one expected Zak's real plans.

Using incredibly simple electronic wave generators, a technology available decades ago, the pirate fleet was able to negatively charge all the tiny spacedust in the area, as well as larger asteroids. The two opposite charges, from the anti-proton weaponry on Alliance ships and the electronic wave generators from some of the pirate ships, had some strange effects. Beams of anti-proton energy bent around masses of negatively charged matter. It only gave the pirates a minor edge, but it was still an edge.

- - -

OOC: Okay, okay, stop whining about my crap physics. If you need to, consider that a background development.

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Word.

As a lot of research work continued, the battle in Horon'Chars was finally ended when the last remaining 50 Skraine ships left, along with another 75 disabled ships that they were towing (the Confederates aren't cold-hearted killers, unlike the devious Skraine). The Confeds had suffered moderate losses. The question wasn't how many ships were destroyed, it was a question of how long it would take to repair them all.

Fortification efforts proceeded as the planetary shield and battlestation were being upgraded and ships repaired. Because the Eta Cassiopea access wasn't that accessible, the two Confederate colonies had to build their own big shipyards.

-------------

In Hrekka, the Confederates once again pulled back a group of this time 6 Aurora Battleships to each station and reinforced their shields as the planetary shield was extended to help protect the stations which fired Photon torpedoes (which were unaffected by all of Zak's tricks) into the midst of Pirate vessels as reinforcements were sent.

At this point Ion Disruptor Beams came in quite useful as they were not affected as much as the rest, and since most ships had them, it was a good advantage.

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RESEARCH PROJECTS

Reverse Engineer Mass Missile
ETA: 4 Posts

Research Styx Bomber + Trans-Phasic Bomb
ETA: 4 Posts

Anti-Gravity Physics
ETA: 2 Posts

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If at first you don't succeed...Hit it harder! - Me
--------------
Millennium. Its coming, prepare for it.
Coming to the (url="http://"http://www.ambrosiaSW.com/games/ev/chronicles.html")EV Chronicles(/url).

Insert player name blew up the universe in his Krait light fighter.

Technologies-

Big goddam gun
ETA: 1 post

Antieverything physics
ETA: 1 post

Super mega ultra hyper turbo antiproton positron phased beam cannon gun weapon turret
ETA: 1 post
EAT: not hungry

Lythrawn thought of what Kenra had just said. Sijak engines were incredibly powerful, and would be quite useful to him. He nodded. "Yes, I will trade my shield grid technology for your engine technology. That would seem like a reasonable agreement."

At the same time, Ravaer nodded excitedly at what Esponer had said. He had never flown any fighter like this. Prylak Wraiths and Attack Fighters, yes, but this would be a real thrill.

------------------

Meanwhile, Admiral Firebird, on the Raven Remington , continued on (always cloaked) through the wormhole in Haru'El, and out into the Ross 154 galaxy.

Travelling quickly, the small ship continued on in the direction of Sijak space... And in the direction of Casene...

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If at first you don't succeed...Hit it harder! - Me
--------------
Millennium. Its coming, prepare for it.
Coming to the (url="http://"http://www.ambrosiaSW.com/games/ev/chronicles.html")EV Chronicles(/url).

(This message has been edited by Captain Carnotaur (edited 11-20-2001).)

Kenra nodded and pressed a few buttons a device in her hand. She waited for a second and then puts the small device away.

"The information is being transmitted to your ship. It's in code, but will be immediately decoded once we get our information."

She smiles coolly and waits for the information to transit fully.

------------------
Formerly known as
Rima.

Lythrawn nodded and also quickly transmitted the data for his shield matrix to the Sijak. Once the engine tech transfer was complete, Lythrawn turned to Casene. "Now, what do you say about our trade?"

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If at first you don't succeed...Hit it harder! - Me
--------------
Millennium. Its coming, prepare for it.
Coming to the (url="http://"http://www.ambrosiaSW.com/games/ev/chronicles.html")EV Chronicles(/url).

Freedom Fighter tanks rolled through the streets of Kayia City, literally crushing the resistance in front of them. Fighting continued in some corners of the city, but with the Freedom Fighters in control of the Planetary Defense Grid and the Military Storage compound, plus having laid seige to the Kayia City Spaceport, the militants had the upper hand. In the GNN headquarters building, reporters wildly told the story to the galaxy. One reporter, was conducting a special report (he looked to be in a position of some authority, perhaps their head anchor), when Blaze himself walked through the main entrance, escorted by three armed commandoes. As the breifing finished, the reporter was escorted off the air and Blaze took his place. He motioned to the cameramen to start rolling. They refused, still loyal to Galactica.

"It would be unwise to disobey me," Blaze said in an almost frighteningly calm voice. "My militants control the first twenty floors of this building, and all the exits. Now roll camera before I have to make my men do something you'll regret." Not knowing how to escape their predicament, the cameramen complied. The cameras rolled, and the message went out loud and clear throughout the known universe - even reaching the distant Terrans and the Alliance. (OOC: I realize the accusations my character makes about Galactica might not all be true, but this is extremist propoganda, not a documentary ;))

"Hello, people of the Universe. I am Joseph Blaze, leader of the Freedom Fighters. If you do not know me, rest assured, you soon will, for my militant faction has risen up against the oppressive Galactica regieme and taken control of Kayia. I urge all other enemies of Galactica to mount similar attacks and rebellions. For too long we have endured imperial rule at the hands of a distant Galactica government who cares more for their own well-being than the well-being of their citizens. Galactica has destroyed the heritage of countless races, absorbing all of them into a single regieme, denying them the right to their own histories and destinies. The proud, distinguished Zidagar, the mighty Igadzra, the cunning Azdgari - all assimilated into an uncaring, oppressive regieme. The resourceful United Earth and the honorable Zacha, reduced to the status of refugees and nomads at the hands of vicious Galactica armies, using their brute force to impress their will on all other races - even when that will be their destruction.

We cannot allow this to continue. Pirates, renegades, enemies of Galactica - rise up and help me take back our galaxy!"

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Ad Astra Per Aspera - "A rough road leads to the stars"

As another 75 ships arrived in Hrekka to do battle with the Pirate forces, elsewhere, the Confeds were gearing up for other major offensives.

Three battlestations had been built in Krraali, and there was now a total of 500 ships there, all gearing up to do battle with Galactica. If they could just break through the defense perimeter, then it would be an almost open road to Galactica Station.

Yet another upgrade project was now undertaken. All stations would recieve 2 extra shield generators and 1 small auxillary shield generator. This would take 4 posts. The reason; battlestations, though immensely armed, could be strong and would prove to be a vital asset in the war on Galactica.

Bases were also set up in DSN-4386, DSN-3930, DSN-4533 (the one directly left of Smott that's hard to read the name of). All of these systems had two battlestation in them (or at least they would have two battlestations soon). Approximately 300 ships were also assembled at Priat, apparently readying for an offensive as well.

In Eta Cassiopea, the two Confederate colonies were expanding by placing a new colony at Holadra. This colony would have two planets and a battlestation guading each. Dandresdon would have a single planet, two moons, a few asteroid mining stations and 2 battlestations. Each colony would also have 200 ships guarding it, which was made this big due to the new and fully operable shipyards.

In Ross 154, the Confederate commander was beamed aboard Casene's ship (by Lythrawn), and sat down at the table with the other three. Once Lythrawn was done talking, he spoke. "We would also like to trade some technologies. Sijak Engines could be of great use to use, seeing that our ships are already quite fast, and we do hold the record for fastest warship. But, with these new Sijak engines, that could help us much. We would not be willing to give you our Anti-Proton Cloak, and our Ion Disruptor Beam technology is far too large for your ships, but maybe our Anti-Proton Weaponry or Trans-Phasic Missiles could be of use to you. What do you say?"

--------------

(MESSAGE TO SKRAINE)
(ENCRYPTED)
(FROM CONFEDERATE ALLIANCE)
(We originally thought you were peaceful people who wanted to maintain stability in this galaxy, but now with the attack on Horon'Chars we can no longer believe this. We are trying to be diplomatic and want peace with the Skraine, but your demands are simply illogical and self-centered. Promise not to attack us again and make no more harsh demands and we will not strike back against you.)
(END MESSAGE)

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If at first you don't succeed...Hit it harder! - Me
--------------
Millennium. Its coming, prepare for it.
Coming to the (url="http://"http://www.ambrosiaSW.com/games/ev/chronicles.html")EV Chronicles(/url).

(This message has been edited by Captain Carnotaur (edited 11-21-2001).)

Battledoctor finishes, and the Raiek pause for a moment, considering...

"The Raiek would definately be able to help you fight the alliance, for the confeds are enemies of us as well, however it will be difficult to exchange technologies because the Skraine attack any ships we send through the link system. Send A few galactica freightors full of technology, and we will take the techas, and refill them with Raiek techs. Deal?"
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Grundulator returns, the the fighter is rushed to the Scientific area after the Haorn Pilots are knocked out with homostasis gas, incapacitated, and revived in an extremely secure cell where the guards can have a lot of fun poking and proding them with their pistols set on "burn". Crew will be interrogated later.

Grundulator is asked to wait a few hours to meet with REDchigh again.
When REDchigh meets him, he informs Grundy that he has a suprise waiting for him on his ship. A Newly-Built Thoron Beam.

Grundulator is informed of his next mission. His next mission is to transport three Raiek Diplomats to the Sijak, and offer them a non-aggression pact, and make sure they sign it. If they dont sign it, then the mission wont count.
Grundulator is urged to try out his Thoron beam on any Haorn he sees on his way.
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The Scientists on Zeno swarm over the Haorn fighter, and soon rush toward it to reverse engineer it. Should be done in about a week.
(next post) Yes, I know I wont learn many haorn military secrets form a fighter, but I can learn a little about the armor, (and 1, replicate a weaker version, and 2, design a weopon to damage it) and I'll talk to Esponer about what else...
--------------------
These are the collected ships:
62 bombers
51 gunships
86 warfrigates
67 carriers (10x each gunships and bombers.)
61 dreadnoughts

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Operation: Lazerus (ship)
ETA: 12 posts
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Operation: Space Funnel (warpgate)
ETA:10 posts
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Dont Believe me?
Just ask the Blind Man.. He Saw it all...
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post sponsored by (url="http://"http://home.dal.net/ipixinc/welcome.html")Ipix Inc. Web Design(/url)

(This message has been edited by -REDCHIGH- (edited 11-20-2001).)

(This message has been edited by -REDCHIGH- (edited 11-21-2001).)

"Are you sure you don't want me to engage blocking systems, Admiral? That signal could be dangerous to the well being of the Imperium!"

"Follow my orders, ensign." said Admiral Hrekka, a Strandless named after the system of his birth. "I've spoken to Fleet High Command, they've okayed my plan. All these pitiful rebels have accomplised is the killing of more innocents."

The Weapons Officer piped up and reported, "All points report bombs are ready. Fighter-Bomber squadrons are ready to be scrambled. Are we going to notify the populace or shall I commence bombardment?"

"Fire at will, lieutenant." replied Admiral Hrekka.

At the Admiral's word, hundreds of orbital bombs streaked towards the planet, fired by the system defense fleet in orbit. No warning was given, no chance was given for the rebels to surrender. The citizens of Kayia City looked skyward as the bombs began to fall on their city, their eyes filling with dread. Buildings began to be incinerated as the first bombs impacted. Within minutes, there was nothing left of the city. A few watchful citizens had managed to escape the bombardment, but they were left watching in horror as their friends and loved ones burned and were blown away in the orbital bombardment.

"This is what happens," said Admiral Hrekka on an open frequency to the general populace of Galactica, "when you try to oppose the might of the Galactica Imperium. Stay safe, citizens."


Work on the Laser Frigate continues. ETA: 3 posts

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"NEVER EVER EVER stick a Habańero pepper on your **** !" -forge
(url="http://"http://www.dancingpaul.com/")Dancing Paul!(/url)

(DELETED)

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If at first you don't succeed...Hit it harder! - Me
--------------
Millennium. Its coming, prepare for it.
Coming to the (url="http://"http://www.ambrosiaSW.com/games/ev/chronicles.html")EV Chronicles(/url).

(This message has been edited by Captain Carnotaur (edited 11-21-2001).)

MOD: Post revoked. That's controlling other people's forces, which is not allowed. There was a standard system defense fleet there, which included the ships which had been bombarding. I'm going to let you give it another try before I post that my defense fleet shredded your pirate rabble, which of course it would.

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"NEVER EVER EVER stick a Habańero pepper on your **** !" -forge
(url="http://"http://www.dancingpaul.com/")Dancing Paul!(/url)

Grunadulater ship lifted off and shot into the system of Dar, cloaked. The ships didn't notice anything strange until the Dark Voyager uncloaked, sliced a fighter in half with the beam, an reacloaked. The ship then went behind a warship and uncloaked, firing the beam into the ships engines, destroying them, and recloaking. It then moved to the edge of the system and uncloaked. As missiles and lasers targeted it, it shot into hyperspace. It let them follow it all the way to the RC-001 system. It then went into Sija II behind a giant ship and cloaked just as they fired missiles. The Dark Voyager shot up and the missiles hit the large ships shields. The big ship didn't see anything untill it was hit, and it never saw the Dark Voyager. The large ship obliverated the little followers and was put on gaurd. Grunadulater flew to the other side of the planet, uncloaked, and landed. he walked to the main building. As he strode in, he asked the sectratary if he could speak with the leader of the Sijak.

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"Are you sure the powers off?"

OOC: I was sort of hoping to have the rebellion go more than two posts without being carpet-bombed, but I guess that's how things go sometimes... shrug

IC: "How much did we make it out with?" and injured Blaze asked, resting against a wall of a cave, visibly in pain. He'd managed to escape the bombing, but his arm had been broken in one of the explosions.

"Fifteen tanks, one transport vessel, and three fighters comandeered from the spaceport," another of the militants answered. "Three fourths of our men are dead."

"The city?"

"Turned to rubble. The Planetary Defense Grid was no match for their forces."

"Those fools!" Blaze fumed. "They killed their own innocent civilians just to silence us!"

"And at that they failed," another of the several dozen surviving militants said. "This is a copy of the GNN's last broadcast before it went of the air. Take a look." Blaze looked up at the computer pad he held in his hand. It showed a live feed of the bombing of Kayia' capitol, and the bombing of millions of innocent Galactica citizens by their own government. "This was transmitted live throughout the galaxy. Believe me, it won't be good PR for Galactica." Blaze smiled at the thought of what people across the galaxy would do once they saw Galactica bombing their own innocent civilians. It was sad that so many had to die, but it got his point across better than he ever could have hoped to do alone.

"What do we do now?"

"Well, we can't stay here," Blaze replied, trying to stand up. They'll be landing ground forces as soon as they finish with the pirates in orbit. You said we had a transport vessel?"

"Yes, and three fighters. But they're not armed well enough to stand up to a single galactica warship, let alone a fleet!"

"Stock them with all the supplies we have and get them ready for launch. Sometimes you have to retreat to advance your cause."

-----

As the battle between the Pirates and Galactica forces in orbit continued, four vessels exited the atmosphere of Kayia. Immediately Galactica pursued, raining gunfire down on the fleeing vessels, destroying one fighter and badly damaging another. Just as the last of the Freedom Fighters looked to be destroyed, the Pirates forced Galactica to return their attention to them, allowing the three remaining vessels (two fighters and the transport), to move beyond the battle zone.

"Where should I set the course for?" a militant asked Blaze.

"Don't set a course. Stay in realspace. Head into the Proxima Nebula.

"Do I need to remind you that if we leave this system we leave the hyperspace jump-web? We could be lost out there for YEARS."

"It's better than the alternative. We can't make a difference if we're dead. Do it. Oh... and send a message to the mercenaries and Pirates who helped us - tell them their assistance will not be forgotten, but that we must both retreat now if we stand a chance to survive to fight another day. Tell them that the universe has not seen the last of the Freedom Fighters."

With all the speed they could muster, the three remaining Freedom Fighter vessels flew toward the system perimeter, eventually disappearing into the depths of the nebula, beyond the edge of the system, beyond charted space. What would happen to them now not even they knew...

-----

Meanwhile, on the surface of Kayia, three dozen militants remained behind, determined to fight for their world. Nobody knew what they planned to do when Galactica ground forces came for them, one might even believe not even they knew...

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Ad Astra Per Aspera - "A rough road leads to the stars"

(This message has been edited by Thunder (edited 11-20-2001).)