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The battle lines are drawn and after the first skirmish task Force Hurq Mevik faces off the Sheliak fleet in the asteroid field of the klingon tributary world of Mal’laan.
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Shift Time: Sunday, Feb 28, Alpha -1
Audience: KDF and allies
Event Type: Structured (combat RP)
Starting Point: Starship bridge
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(Event GM: @anncarise)
Is it okay if we weren’t there for Part 1?
Sure is! The first part of the event was the first skirmish, and after scoring some hits against the large Sheliak fleet, KDF attack force fell back into asteroid field where more allied ships lie in wait. So you can always come in as reinforcements!
B’Atar@anncarise | LAST TIME ON ZENAS PRIVATEERS
[Local] B’Atar@anncarise: <C - B’Atar> The Sheliak are heading towards Mal’laan as I thought they’d try. But the fleet’s still not breaking up- the whole fleet is heading there now instead of at the starbase.
[Local] B’Atar@anncarise: <C- Sadia> All right. We will move under cloak and wait in the Mal’laan asteroid field for the Sheliak to engage orbital defenses. Once they are committed, we will strike from the flank at the centre of their formation.
B’Atar@anncarise | The other ships press forward, with the frigates stubbornly falling back, the heavier raptors and cruisers decide to go right for the light cruisers. The Sheliak try to focus on -
B’Atar@anncarise - the incoming ships instead of warding off smaller raiders, but two more of them go down before they have a chance to retarget, providing a large enough opening into the center of the formation.
B’Atar@anncarise | The frigates scatter, with the exception of six guarding the presumed flagship in the centre, but what seems to be a straight shot at the flagship is quickly evident to Sadia as a trap,
B’Atar@anncarise - with several heavy cruisers from the front and a few light ones from the side having turned around by now, ready to pounce inwards and quickly crush anyone foolish enough to charge the flagship.
[Local] B’Atar@anncarise: <C - Sadia> All ships, fall back! We’ll provide covering fire!
B’Atar@anncarise | The task force manages to enter the asteroid field without taking any damage, but the Sheliak ships advance menacingly towards the field.
[Local] B’Atar@anncarise: <C - Sadia> Okay, they are following. Drop the mines, split up and regroup at position Gamma.
B’Atar@anncarise | The mines are dropped and the heavy cruisers now at the new front of the formation come to a stop as a few of them hit mines. The entire Sheliak formation stops behind them, just on the edge
B’Atar@anncarise - of the asteroid field. There is a temporary lull in the battle as the still-sizable fleet looms outside the field…
B’Atar@anncarise | AND NOW THE CONTINUATION…
B’Atar@anncarise | On the tactical displays, the Sheliak fleet can be seen backing away slightly, but they still hold position close to the asteroid field. As they move, their formation begins to shift, and -
B’Atar@anncarise - energy readings from the ships make it evident that they are forming a tachyon detection grid to prevent any cloaked ships from sneaking up to their fleet.
Rhin@trionis#5666 appeared via holoprojection, tossing away her smoke and turning to view the events going on.
Egzo@HF_Mudd observes all of this with a sour “Cute.”
B’Atar@anncarise | The newly forming formation seems to shift the heavy cruisers evenly around itself rather than focused on one front, with the exception of the presumed flagship which still remains in the very centre.
[Local] Sadia@gulremal: “Seems our guests don’t want any more surprises. But holding up that grid cost them some power.”
[Local] B’Atar@anncarise: “Smarter than being snuck up on, I suppose.”
Egzo@HF_Mudd grunts in acknowledgment. He hates fighting smart opponents.
[Local] B’Atar@anncarise: “What’s our next move, Captain?”
Tanik@ropefish#1570 face rested in a pondered state across the view screen before she spoke up “Quite a party i sssee, though they ssseem ready for anything now.”
[Local] Rhin@trionis#5666: “If they’re spooked, I’m begging they’re willing to make mistakes. Paranoid people always do.”
[Local] Sadia@gulremal: “We need to start making holes in that pretty formation of theirs. Luckily, we are in an asteroid field.”
[Local] Egzo@HF_Mudd: “Y’ wanna start throwin’ rocks at 'em, or what?”
[Local] Sadia@gulremal: she brings up the tactical map of enemy formation In a sense, yes.
Tanik@ropefish#1570 grinned toothily “aye, what better place then thisss to… throw rocksss?”
[Local] B’Atar@anncarise: “Wait, something’s happening. Are they…blind firing torpedoes at us?”
[Local] Sadia@gulremal: "But not just throwing the rocks…side screen shows on the standard asteroids in the filed These asteroids are rich in heavy metals.
B’Atar@anncarise | The tactical readings do indeed show the Sheliak cruisers and heavy cruisers firing into the asteroid field and the readings show devices with the explosive charge of a powerful quantum -
B’Atar@anncarise - torpedo, but its system seem far more complex than any standard torpedo weapon.
[Local] Sadia@gulremal: “All ships, start falling back deeper into the field. Let them waste ammo. Use tractor beams to repel any asteroid remains.”
[Local] Aestae Vali@crystyll: “Must be those Hunter-Seeker drones the Tabadi mentioned…”
Egzo@HF_Mudd 's holoprojection nods, turning to give the order to his Ferasan helmcat.
[Local] Sadia@gulremal: “Tanik, have fighters ready to shoot down these torpedoes.”
[Local] B’Atar@anncarise: “Hunter-Seeker drones?”
[Local] Sadia@gulremal: “As we fall back, shoot some of the asteroids, their metallic content and sharpnel should slow those drones down.”
Aestae Vali@crystyll nods, “Aye. Was mentioned in my handover brief. Some sort of kamikaze drones or something” checks her data and nods, “Yeah, that’s them. Careful, they’re outfitted with tachyon sweeps and can maneuver like an Interceptor”
[Local] Rhin@trionis#5666: “That’s a hells of a configuration.”
Tanik@ropefish#1570 smiled “No worriesss, they are itching for sssomething to ssshoot… the ‘rocksss’ will provide decent cover” She was muted a moment, as orders were given and soon multiple fighters began an intercept course.
[Local] Sadia@gulremal: “All in all, no cloak until we clear these buggers. PD turrets, get ready. Fighter craft, engage the incoming drones. Rhin, if you want to get hands on one of those, well, disable it and it’s yours.”
[Emotes] Tanik@ropefish#1570: rolls 12 (1-100)
[Local] Rhin@trionis#5666: “Sounds like a good deal to me.” she nodded. “I’ll see if I can grab a souvenir.”
[Emotes] Rhin@trionis#5666: rolls 30 (1-100)
B’Atar@anncarise | The maneuverability of these drones don’t seem to be exaggerated one bit. The fighters manage to intercept one, but the remainder dart around almost as swiftly as the fighters themselves.
B’Atar@anncarise: | They are apparently complex enough to have target priorities and seem to have no interest in using themselves up on a single fighter, simply evading the squadron and heading for the KDF ships…
B’Atar@anncarise | Rhin manages to disable a drone, but it explodes before it can be recovered- it seems to be rigged to blow if disabled.
Rhin@trionis#5666 clicked her tongue in disappointment. “Damn. Maybe second time’s the charm.”
[Local] Sadia@gulremal: <FX> Daramar slowly maneuvers backwards in the asteroid field as it’s PD turrets get their target locks.
B’Atar@anncarise | It would take very careful work to disable the arming system first specifically before the rest of the drone in order to recover one intact…
[Local] Sadia@gulremal: “Prepare a torpedo spread, proximity detonation! Fire when enemy closes in on us to prevent friendly fire!”
Tanik@ropefish#1570 remained silent for a time observing “They might be more a problem then expected… might want to prepare for impactsss, they got a good tassste of our sscent at leassst.”
B’Atar@anncarise – EVASION ROUND –
[Local] B’Atar@anncarise: ((This round shall work slightly differently than usual. Everyone gets two rolls, first to shoot down any drones and second for evasive action.)
[Local] B’Atar@anncarise: ((But if you roll higher than 65 you don’t need a second roll)
B’Atar@anncarise – SADIA’S TURN –
[Local] Sadia@gulremal: <FX> Daramar, too big for evading stuffs, focuses solely on shooting down as many drones as possible. Torpedo spread with proximity detonation, followed up by PD turrets fire.
[Emotes] Sadia@gulremal: rolls 60 (1-100)
[Local] Sadia@gulremal: <FX> Anything that passes through is met by tractor beams in repulsor mode.
[Emotes] Sadia@gulremal: rolls 82 (1-100)
B’Atar@anncarise | As a large target, more drones go for the Daramar than other ships. One is caught in the proximity detonation, but the others hold back until they see a gap, then make a rush for it.
B’Atar@anncarise | Most are shot down save one, which seem to be on the verge of striking the Daramar when the repulsor pushes it safely away. Already armed, it detonates too far to do any damage.
B’Atar@anncarise – TANIK’S TURN –
Tanik@ropefish#1570 <FX> the zomok loomed not far behind the main fleet, Its primary anti-space PD weapons primed with the other half of its fighters among their formation.
[Emotes] Tanik@ropefish#1570: rolls 18 (1-100)
[Emotes] Tanik@ropefish#1570: rolls 37 (1-100)
[Emotes] Tanik@ropefish#1570: rolls 25 (1-100)
B’Atar@anncarise | The Zomok’s fighters and PD weapons are more effective this time, having previously underestimated the drones. However, three of them still slip past. The carrier tries to shake them off but -
B’Atar@anncarise - is too large to evade the nimble drones. A fighter manages to pick off another during the evasion, but two impact the carrier, bringing shield strength down to 60%.
B’Atar@anncarise – EGZO’S TURN –
[Local] Egzo@HF_Mudd: | Hag’lhr cuts loose with a spray of disruptor fire from the wing cannons, getting ready to move if this doesn’t work.
[Emotes] Egzo@HF_Mudd: rolls 33 (1-100)
[Local] Egzo@HF_Mudd: (and to evade)
[Emotes] Egzo@HF_Mudd: rolls 13 (1-100)
[Local] Egzo@HF_Mudd: (reroll on that :p )
[Emotes] Egzo@HF_Mudd: rolls 45 (1-100)
B’Atar@anncarise | The Hag’lhr manages to shoot down two incoming torpedoes but is forced to evade as the third closes in. Despite the speed of the smaller ship, the Hunter-Seeker drone still proves difficult to -
B’Atar@anncarise - shake off. The maneuverable drone nearly catches up to Hag’lhr before the helmcat manages a daring maneuver around an asteroid, causing the drone to crash and explode on the space rock!
B’Atar@anncarise – RHIN’S TURN –
Rhin@trionis#5666 attempted to scoot her little runabout as close to one of the drones as she arguably could without getting destroyed. Noting their maneuverability, she wasn’t willing to take chances in a
Rhin@trionis#5666 | dogfight. Her goal clearly focused on taking one, attempting to hack into the arming mechanism. Though she wasn’t the best tech expert, she did always try to B.S. her way around foreign interfaces.
[Emotes] Rhin@trionis#5666: rolls 4 (1-100)
[Emotes] Rhin@trionis#5666: rolls 57 (1-100
[Emotes] Rhin@trionis#5666: rolls 3 (1-100)
B’Atar@anncarise | It seems the Sheliak drones have a lot of countermeasures against being hijacked. Just trying to tamper with the arming system causes one to explode, and Rhin spends too long trying to find a -
B’Atar@anncarise - way around it she almost doesn’t manage to react on time when two of the drones come for her. She pulls away her runabout just in time, and fortunately the small vessel is able to -
[Local] B’Atar@anncarise: - effectively run from the two drones chasing it for long enough that the PD shots from the large ships pick them off.
Egzo@HF_Mudd announces to no one in particular, “I hate these things already.”
B’Atar@anncarise – AESTAE VALI’S TURN –
Aestae Vali@crystyll | The Morakos sprays down suppressing fire from it’s main batteries while going evasive.
[Emotes] Aestae Vali@crystyll: rolls 46 (1-100)
[Emotes] Aestae Vali@crystyll: rolls 2 (1-100)
B’Atar@anncarise | The Morakos shoots down two drones and goes evasive on the third, but the drone proves far too maneuverable, catching up and impacting the ship. Fortunately, the shields take the hit, dropping to 55% in the process.
B’Atar@anncarise – B’ATAR’S TURN –
B’Atar@anncarise | San’leth and squadron go evasive immediately, seeking to outmaneuver the drones and lead them into one another’s sights…
[Emotes] B’Atar@anncarise: rolls 69 (1-100)
[Emotes] B’Atar@anncarise: rolls 68 (1-100)
B’Atar@anncarise | The maneuverable squadron of smaller ships takes the drones for a spin, too agile for them to hit. As they evade, they help each other finish off the drones on their tails, swirling around -
B’Atar@anncarise - like a school of fish in water. A school of very explosive fish. After a chain of explosions, the drones are no more.
B’Atar@anncarise | Soon, the drones are dealt with, or at least the ones that have been deployed for now…
[Local] Sadia@gulremal: “Status report! Are they firing more of these drones?”
[Local] B’Atar@anncarise: “Woo! Now that’s what I call a dance!”
B’Atar@anncarise | There is no sign of further drones being fired.
Tanik@ropefish#1570 grumbled “No fighter lossesss to report, Shieldsss holding.”
[Local] Rhin@trionis#5666: “Be careful around those drones! They -really- don’t want you messing with them!”
[Local] Sadia@gulremal: “All right folks, time to send them some presents back. Morakos, use your advanced sensor suite to find us capital ship sized asteroids rich with heavy metals.”
[Local] Egzo@HF_Mudd: “Never ask for little things, do ya, Boss?”
[Local] Sadia@gulremal: “Hag’lhr, San’leth and your squadrons, make a hole up to center of each asteroid and fill em with mines.”
[Local] B’Atar@anncarise: “Aye Captain! We’ll get on it now.”
[Local] Egzo@HF_Mudd: “hrrm… well, you heard 'er, boys, snap to!”
[Local] Sadia@gulremal: “Once that is done, Daramar, Zmok and other heavies will tractor them and send them into enemy formation. Wassun’Mi, stay on the edge of the asteroid field and keeop tabs on Sheliak. If they try something, inform us immediately.”
[Local] Rhin@trionis#5666: “Works for me,” she replied, moving to the edge of the field.
Tanik@ropefish#1570 nodded "Aye bossss ma’am, moved but not all to much before things where set up “mm would be good to strap sssome minesss to the front of one.”
Egzo@HF_Mudd observes to Sadia as his crews work, “Y’know they’re gonna see these comin’, and get out of the way. Once they open up their formation a bit, then what?”
B’Atar@anncarise FX | There is no shortage of asteroids and they manage to locate and fill a number of them with mines. The larger ships tractor the asteroids towards the edge of the field with no issue.
[Emotes] B’Atar@anncarise: rolls 31 (1-100)
[Emotes] Rhin@trionis#5666: rolls 91 (1-100)
B’Atar@anncarise | Rhin first notices a mine explode, with seemingly no one firing at it or entering its proximity…
[Local] Sadia@gulremal: “We will detonate the asteroids once they reach their line. All the debris will mess up their sensors, we’ll be hiding behind one of asteroids that is NOT primed and punch right in the center of their formation.”
[Local] Rhin@trionis#5666: “What the-” she paused, attempting to run a scan on the source of the explosion. “Hey everyone, I think we’ve got cloaked hostiles. A mine just went off but nobody was around.”
[Local] Rhin@trionis#5666: “Scratch that. The Sheliak are trying to take control of the mines.”
[Local] Rhin@trionis#5666: “…so far… looks like they can only detonate them but uh… that’s not, what’s the phrase, that’s not good.”
[Local] Sadia@gulremal: "Well, do something about that. Morakos, can we create some kind of interference? I hoped metals in asteroids should be enough to protect the mines inside of them, but can we even the odds somehow?
Aestae Vali@crystyll nods, “I believe so, yes”
Egzo@HF_Mudd | Hag’lhr has finished its sapping operation, and moves off from the rock it’s ‘primed’, just to be sure.
[Local] Tanik@ropefish#1570: “well jusst hope they dont take control of our… gift.”
B’Atar@anncarise | San’leth and squadron also check their rocks before reporting.
[Local] B’Atar@anncarise: “All set here!”
[Local] Sadia@gulremal: "Okay, so this is the plan. We send these primed asteroids first, let them shoot them or try to slow them down with tractor beams. Once that happens we detonate the asteroids and send in the next wave.’
[Local] Sadia@gulremal: This time, Daramar and whoever else volunteers will be hiding behind non-primed asteroid and use the confusion due to all the heavy metal pollution and try to breach their formation like the last time.
[Local] Sadia@gulremal: If this succeeds, support ships move in to score as much hits as they can, and we fall back to regroup deeper in the field.
[Local] Egzo@HF_Mudd: “Better ‘n gettin’ picked off by those drones. I’m in.”
[Local] B’Atar@anncarise: “Aye, me too.”
[Local] Tanik@ropefish#1570: "i can ssspare a regiment of fighterss for the intial asssault, The zomok iss a bit to big to fit in though.
[Local] Sadia@gulremal: "As I said, this is attrition warfare, too early for decisive fight yet.
[Local] Sadia@gulremal: "to Tanik Very well, Zomok can come in with support ships.
[Local] Sadia@gulremal: "to Aestae Morakos, you got that interference ready?
[Local] Aestae Vali@crystyll: “Ready on your order”
[Local] Sadia@gulremal: “Everyone else ready?”
[Local] Tanik@ropefish#1570: “Sssupport isss in posstion.”
[Local] Egzo@HF_Mudd: “Let’s do it.”
B’Atar@anncarise – TO BE CONTINUED –