ship and Captain Still in the last ship will bear the brunt of
extended fire." Captain Lacer knew her ship was outgunned and that only
by working together could they achieve victory. However, her ships had to
survive the opening salvos to make good on that plan. "She's got her fighters
ready to pounce as well."
"Maneuvers?"
asked the XO.
"Definitely,"
replied the captain. She turned to look at the helmsman, only a few steps away
on the much smaller bridge of the destroyer in comparison to the Confederation
cruiser. "Helm, plot orders for all three ships in our element and send
on my mark. Take us nose-up eighty degrees, second ship down eighty degrees,
last ship port eighty degrees. Concentrate fire on engines and weapons
batteries; all six of us will regroup for pursuit and protection."
The helmsman worked
madly at his station, tapping controls, swiping and making gestures with his
fingers, hands dancing over the board. A second later he nodded at the
captain.
"Mark,"
the captain replied emotionlessly. She knew she'd lose one, quite possibly two
of her three destroyers in this initial skirmish, which was why she sent out
extended orders for the rest of her ships. If her ship was ruled out of the
exercise, at least her captains will know what she wanted them to do.
The Confed cruiser adjusted
course slightly, to keep itself equidistant from her destroyer as well as the
last one, which had stayed on the same plane as the initial encounter.
Low-powered laser blasts flashed across space; instead of the separate packets
of magnetically contained energy the the batteries fired normally, they just
used their targeting lasers adjusted to appear in the visible spectrum.
Damage began to pile
up on the Watcher, and Lacer grimaced. Her ship was losing combat
effectiveness fast as her ventral hull was opened up to space and her engines
sustained hits that reduced reactor power by half. The last destroyer took
laser hits as well as two simulated torpedo hits; she was ruled destroyed by
the computer in charge of the exercise.
Next came strafing runs
by the two dozen Confed fighters. The Intruders especially, with their twin
autocannons and armor-piercing rounds, chewed up another destroyer and earned a
mission-kill. Down to four destroyers now, the Lemurian destroyers had finally
reformed in a coordinated formation to chase down the Confed ship. The Confed
captain knew it, as well, as she accelerated and changed course again, refusing
to allow the Lemurian destroyers to take any meaningful angle towards her and
close the gap. In a tail chase it was anyone's game; the Confed ship's engines
were vulnerable, but she also sported two aft-facing torpedo tubes.
"Helm,"
the captain barked, "program in a series of S-turns for us so we can
uncover our main batteries better and let me know when you're ready to
send." As it was, her destroyers could only fire with one gun each while
they were pointed nose towards the Confed cruiser. If they showed their
broadsides more, they could fire with their side batteries as well.
"Ready!"
"Send it and
execute!" commanded Captain Lacer.
The Lemurian
destroyers swung to the right, doubling the number of shots going towards the
cruiser. The Cobalt answered with another torpedo volley. Countermeasures and
point defense combined defeated one, but the other scored a glancing blow
amidships on Watcher. The bridge lights dimmed to nothing for a second, then
came back up to half.
"Mission-kill,"
replied the XO sullenly as she studied her chair-mounted display.
"Torpedo detonated amidships opening Engineering to space and disabling
power distribution."
"We're
humped," Captain Lacer stated to the bridge crew, who chuckled grimly.
"That's the
technical term for it, at least," added the XO.
"Well,"
Lacer continued, "unfortunately we can't get our hopes up too much against
a battle-hardened cruiser and her crew. You all fought well; you didn't
extended fire." Captain Lacer knew her ship was outgunned and that only
by working together could they achieve victory. However, her ships had to
survive the opening salvos to make good on that plan. "She's got her fighters
ready to pounce as well."
"Maneuvers?"
asked the XO.
"Definitely,"
replied the captain. She turned to look at the helmsman, only a few steps away
on the much smaller bridge of the destroyer in comparison to the Confederation
cruiser. "Helm, plot orders for all three ships in our element and send
on my mark. Take us nose-up eighty degrees, second ship down eighty degrees,
last ship port eighty degrees. Concentrate fire on engines and weapons
batteries; all six of us will regroup for pursuit and protection."
The helmsman worked
madly at his station, tapping controls, swiping and making gestures with his
fingers, hands dancing over the board. A second later he nodded at the
captain.
"Mark,"
the captain replied emotionlessly. She knew she'd lose one, quite possibly two
of her three destroyers in this initial skirmish, which was why she sent out
extended orders for the rest of her ships. If her ship was ruled out of the
exercise, at least her captains will know what she wanted them to do.
The Confed cruiser adjusted
course slightly, to keep itself equidistant from her destroyer as well as the
last one, which had stayed on the same plane as the initial encounter.
Low-powered laser blasts flashed across space; instead of the separate packets
of magnetically contained energy the the batteries fired normally, they just
used their targeting lasers adjusted to appear in the visible spectrum.
Damage began to pile
up on the Watcher, and Lacer grimaced. Her ship was losing combat
effectiveness fast as her ventral hull was opened up to space and her engines
sustained hits that reduced reactor power by half. The last destroyer took
laser hits as well as two simulated torpedo hits; she was ruled destroyed by
the computer in charge of the exercise.
Next came strafing runs
by the two dozen Confed fighters. The Intruders especially, with their twin
autocannons and armor-piercing rounds, chewed up another destroyer and earned a
mission-kill. Down to four destroyers now, the Lemurian destroyers had finally
reformed in a coordinated formation to chase down the Confed ship. The Confed
captain knew it, as well, as she accelerated and changed course again, refusing
to allow the Lemurian destroyers to take any meaningful angle towards her and
close the gap. In a tail chase it was anyone's game; the Confed ship's engines
were vulnerable, but she also sported two aft-facing torpedo tubes.
"Helm,"
the captain barked, "program in a series of S-turns for us so we can
uncover our main batteries better and let me know when you're ready to
send." As it was, her destroyers could only fire with one gun each while
they were pointed nose towards the Confed cruiser. If they showed their
broadsides more, they could fire with their side batteries as well.
"Ready!"
"Send it and
execute!" commanded Captain Lacer.
The Lemurian
destroyers swung to the right, doubling the number of shots going towards the
cruiser. The Cobalt answered with another torpedo volley. Countermeasures and
point defense combined defeated one, but the other scored a glancing blow
amidships on Watcher. The bridge lights dimmed to nothing for a second, then
came back up to half.
"Mission-kill,"
replied the XO sullenly as she studied her chair-mounted display.
"Torpedo detonated amidships opening Engineering to space and disabling
power distribution."
"We're
humped," Captain Lacer stated to the bridge crew, who chuckled grimly.
"That's the
technical term for it, at least," added the XO.
"Well,"
Lacer continued, "unfortunately we can't get our hopes up too much against
a battle-hardened cruiser and her crew. You all fought well; you didn't
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