[Fan Fiction] Looking forward to the Mirror (Completed)

[endeavor]

The TCA may have done a few dozen boarding operations (some being outright slaughters due to firepower and armor disparity) but these boarding operations are very rare and the Marines are mostly the ground fighting force of the TCA. Ground warfare with this type of troops is long ranged and involves heavy use of ECM in order to spoof smart targeting and munitions. Mass drivers/Railguns will have ridiculous ranges compared to modern weapons, an effective range of a couple of kilometers will certainly be standard for the MD-45 that the marines are using (depending on the weapon's selected output).

The problem isn't in power requirements alone. It's also in targeting. As far as I remember, early 20th century military rifles were effective up to several kilometers, and early Lee-Enfields, for example, were equipped with a volley sight to use that. That means that the bullet had enough power to kill a (unarmored - it's 1900s we are talking about) soldier, provided it hit him. And hitting someone at 2 km was a tricky part, so to go to such ranges you had a lot of people firing on a big and soft target, such as another lot of people. It turned out to be pretty inefficient, so such tasks were given to artillery.

To put it slightly differently, you need a sniper to hit a distant target. If the bullet is a simple slug with no in-flight correction capability, then you need a lot of specialized equipment to make that shot possible. That includes a rangefinder, a meteo-station and a stable firing position at least, with the latter being most important. After you have it, it probably helps to have a ballistic computer to factor all these things in. The armor you described might (just might) solve some of these problems, provided it isn't switched out by ECM. If it is switched out, such long-range shots start to require a lot of skill and a lot of time to prepare, making them less attractive. Sometimes all you can do is try to close and land a close-range hit.

If the bullets have some in-flight correction, then the requirements for initial positioning can be lightened. But then, in your setting, it's ECM's job to prevent that.

[dragoongfa]

The chief benefit with railguns and mass drivers is ballistics, or to put it simpler the simplification of ballistics.

A bullet from a Lee Enfield rifle takes a handful of seconds to reach its maximum range and it arcs, the speed of a railgun projectile however is such that the distance is covered at less than a second and with a far smaller arc. The armor does aid in the aiming of the weapon and it does upload trajectory corrections for smart munitions (the SHEAP -Smart High Explosive Armor Piercing - and HEX - High EXplosive- rounds do have that ability, the SHEAPs being weaker, its correcting ability is mostly used for long range exchanges, the HEX is more like a seeking bullet but slower and thus for closer ranges but with a significantly bigger explosion when compared to a SHEAP).

With such projectile speed it is very easy to accurately fire at targets at such ranges with machine aid, the problem then becomes one of defenses. Armor is weak against a high velocity round or high explosive armor piercing but you want armor in order to avoid artillery casualties. So in addition to the armor one also carries various decoys and ECM tricks in order to spoof the targeting of the opposing forces. The marines rely heavily on electronic signatures and infrared sensors for targeting, with visual targeting taking a back seat because of classic camouflage. All things considered one has to rely on numerous scattered sensors, providing numerous POVs and readings in order to give accurate targeting solutions on the armors and the smart munitions in order to bypass the ECM and hit the intended targets. One could of course blanket everything with heavy ECM that shuts down the electronics in the area but that has its own risks. All in all, in an average exchange between Armored Shock Troops at such ranges, the odds of hitting or missing are reliant on a combination ECM, ECCM, positioning and firepower; with the classic aiming skill taking a back seat.

If the firefight in the story was a long range exchange then the marines would have trouble hitting the Umiak who also have some short of visual ECM in addition to more sophisticated decoys and somewhat stronger armor.

[Sweforce]

Deadlines are for sissies, ask our eminent Arioch . I hope there isn't a serious problem since this is good stuff.

[dragoongfa]

Chapter 12, part 2


Only 90 seconds left… He thought as he glanced to the timer that was projected on his space suit’s visor, hoping that time would go just a little bit faster if he glanced at the time every so often.

He couldn't even predict the outcome of what would unfold once those 90 seconds were up; he hoped that their trick would be enough to destroy the Umiak ship, who wouldn’t hope for that?
That was the only way for them to still be alive after all was said and done but nevertheless, he had to prepare himself in the case of failure. He had to, he was the captain of Matveyev and he had to be the one that would push the button which would detonate the two remaining fusion missiles, the ensuing explosion ensuring the ship’s instant destruction, the instant death of everyone on it and the slow, suffocating death of the remaining away teams, the shuttle’s crew and quite possibly the death of commander Summers and his team as well.

75 seconds… The feeling of impotence that encompassed his whole being made his anxiety worse, he was just sitting there, on the captain’s chair watching the view in the complete silence that only existed in complete vacuum. For a change he longed to hear the usual sounds of Matveyev’s bridge and his crew’s banter; he couldn’t even talk with the ones on the bridge due to the Umiak jamming which forced everyone to communicate with hand signals or by touching their visors together while talking loudly.

63 seconds… He remembered back when he was finally promoted to Captain and was given command of the Matveyev. The ship named after that old coot who made the lives of academy cadets miserable until a decade ago. A cold, calculating Russian if ever there was one; an unbending stickler for rules who didn’t make any waves and always brought in results.
The joke went that if life on the Matveyev was to be tolerable then the captain should at least be able to take a joke. What better joke than to give the ship to someone who was also had a reputation of being a stickler for rules, didn’t like to make waves and brought in results; whose name also happened to mean 'funny George'?

Smiling he reached for his ship’s decorative patch on his right shoulder, forgetting for a moment that he was still wearing a space suit.

“Looking forward…” He whispered his ship’s motto to himself before checking the time again.

55 seconds… Perhaps the impotence he felt was what screwed with his time perception. He knew that the marines were fighting for their lives, all of their lives but he couldn’t even get a simple status report due to the jamming and the Umiak malware. He wondered for a moment if Allerberger and his men also wished for time to pass just a little bit faster but then his thoughts went to the others.

Half of his crew were off the ship waiting to see if the trap they had prepared would be successfully sprung or if they would be left to suffocate there. Could it be that the five that had already died be the lucky ones? He shook his head at that and checked the time again.

42 seconds left… He unconsciously stood up and walked towards the port side of the bridge, whose windows had a good view of the Umiak ship a couple of dozen kilometers away. The Umiak ship was a little more than twice Matveyev’s length and was at least four times as massive; the Loroi historic records that he read classified these ships as Heavy class. There were many variants of these ships, serving many different roles and purposes but all of them had a few things in common, their defenses being the most obvious one. With what he had read in mind it was obvious that there was only one way for them to take such a ship out with what they had available, it was a long shot but even that long shot was better than any of the two alternatives open to them.

20 seconds… It was only then that he realized how much of a fool he was for standing at the window instead of using his console to watch everything with a video feed.

15 seconds… No one could see them from where they all stood but the Umiak certainly did as their ship quickly turned to face the two rapidly approaching fusion torpedoes. They had been launched by the shuttle team at their maximum range and had been accelerating at 12Gs for almost 5 minute, while having a pre planned flight path that would bring them to the immediate vicinity of Matveyev.

The two torpedoes had remained unnoticed up to that point by using the cover of the large asteroids but now their final approach quickly brought them into the small opening that Matveyev used as a hiding place while preparing its trap. The two torpedoes were about to run out of fuel and they didn’t have any specific targeting data to begin with but the Umiak had no way of knowing that. The entire plan hinged on the Umiak reacting in the only reasonable manner when choosing between fight or flight.

The Umiak saw two torpedoes aimed at their general direction, it would be safe for them to assume that their unorthodox trajectory was aimed to avoid both incoming fire and the smaller asteroids that littered the opening between the far bigger ones. They didn’t know the torpedoes capabilities or payload and thus didn’t know how much damage they would to their ship if they hit it.

Flight was not a choice under these circumstances, even if their ship had an acceleration rate an order of magnitude better than the torpedoes in question they couldn’t surpass their speed in the limited amount of time they had left and they couldn’t risk the multiple high speed collisions with the small asteroids all around them.

The only logical solution was to fight. Shooting down the torpedoes was the safest approach, given the choice any sane captain would choose to shoot down two unknown torpedoes with unknown destructive potential than have them hit their ship, no matter the confidence one may have to their ship’s armor rating.

It was obvious that the Umiak captain chose the sensible approach as he pivoted his ship in seconds, facing the two torpedoes with the heavily armed bow of his ship before firing. The Umiak ship sported six of the heavy plasma weapons that obliterated a small asteroid and the away team that was hiding behind it in one hit. The Loroi records classified these weapons as a plasma focus, which for them was a deadly short range weapon that still far outstripped most of the weapons mounted on TCA ships on all categories.

The Umiak didn’t take any chances and fired all six of their plasma focus, three at each torpedoes, and he almost cheered at the sight. The two torpedoes were destroyed instantly from the barrage but the five remaining away teams were waiting for that exact moment to fire their own torpedoes. Five fully fueled fusion torpedoes arched from their hiding places with an acceleration of 12Gs, their trajectories taking them straight into the Umiak warship.

The Umiak warship reacted the instant it saw them, darting ahead with an unbelievable 25Gs of acceleration, not paying any heed to the multiple of small asteroids that struck it and dented its bow armor while hindering its acceleration with every hit.

In an ideal situation the away teams would have used their EVA thrusters to maneuver the small asteroids they used as cover in a way that they would catch the Umiak ship between them from multiple angles while getting as close to the Umiak ship as possible. Matveyev however didn’t have enough EVA thruster units to do that and even if they did the Umiak would surely become suspicious if some sizeable asteroids moved erratically on their own, unlike their other heavily magnetized siblings that caused some trouble to Matveyev when they were attracted to it. They had to use the natural movement of the asteroids as they were attracted to a passing ship as cover, pivoting and turning them ever so slightly to cover themselves and the single torpedo that was in their care. No one knew what made the asteroid that one of the away teams used to move straight towards the Umiak ship, perhaps it was a mistake by the away team, or perhaps the asteroid was somehow attracted to the defensive screens that the Umiak used for defense against particle and plasma weaponry. Whatever the case, five good men and women died the instant the Umiak destroyed that asteroid in order to avoid having it collide with their ship

Even with one team gone there were still 5 more torpedoes aimed straight for the Umiak ship. One of them came from right below the Umiak ship and was too close to turn when they accelerated forward with everything it had, the torpedo passing harmlessly behind them before wrecking itself when it collided with a small asteroid that it couldn’t see until the very last moment.

Two other torpedoes were at a stern chase with the Umiak ship, their firing positions damning them to futilely follow in the wake of a ship which had two times their own acceleration. The remaining two torpedoes however had the interception down almost perfectly. Coming from above and below their trajectories brought them right into the flight path of the accelerating ship, their targeting computers locked into it and drove them home. Their full hydrogen tanks were instantly converted into a directed thermonuclear blast at the moment of impact and two blinding flashes forced the windows of the bridge to instantly dim in order to protect the eyes of the crew watching out.

Cheering instantly filled captain Asteios's helmet as the jamming ceased and he couldn’t stop himself from joining in for a few moments before the here and now drove him back into his senses.

“Grant, I want the comm. and navigations systems purged the moment we confirm the status of the away team and the destruction of the Umiak ship and shuttles” He barked as he himself rushed to his seat.

“Yes sir!.” The sensors officer replied.

7 seconds late… He thought as he sat down and checked his console.

“Sir, the Umiak shuttles are running!” Lieutenant Grant reported.

“Not for long.” He muttered as he brought up the interface for the laser turret and tagged all four shuttles as targets. He then rotated and pivoted the ship accordingly in order to offer the best field of fire to the laser turret before ordering the automated system to take care of the rest. The twin linked laser turret quickly went into work and destroyed a shuttle with its first shot, followed by another a mere 30 seconds later. The two remaining shuttles went into evasive maneuvers but they were too close and they too would be gone in less than a minute.

“Umiak heavy is no longer under acceleration and… confirmed Umiak heavy is drifting on momentum alone with the two remaining torpedoes closing in rapidly… confirmed two more hits on Umiak heavy and… the damn bastard is still in one piece!” Lieutenant Grant reported again.

“Tough bastard…” Captain Asteios commented as he examined the visual feed from the Umiak ship. Its aft section where its engines had been was completely torn apart from the explosions but the rest of the ship was still seemingly intact, with one huge dent on its bow armor that was certainly caused by a single torpedo hit. He quickly checked its expected trajectory and saw that the wreck was on a direct crash course with one of the big asteroid that surrounded them. “Good riddance.”

“Captain Asteios, I am implementing a full lock down on all decks effective immediately.” Marine Lieutenant Allerberger reported through their suit’s comm. systems.

“Come again?”

“We have multiple Umiak marines on all decks.” The marine replied dryly.

“They got past you?”

“Negative, the breach at the shuttle bay has been secured but it was a feint. I got an unknown number of hostiles with some short of optic camouflage running loose throughout the ship, I got no other choice but to lock everything down as we clear them out compartment by compartment.”

“Damn, keep me posted…” He quickly brought up a video feed from the shuttle bay and winced at the damage he saw. “And for fucks shake show some restraint while clearing them out, the shuttle bay may be able to take some damage but not the rest of the ship.”

“Tell that to the bugs, sir.”

“Just don’t blow anything we can’t survive or return home without.” He hated pointing out the obvious but no one could ever be sure when Marines were in question.

“Yes, sir we know what to watch out for… any reports from the away teams?”

“Not yet, we are waiting for the shuttle to return in order to look for them and… secure a passage to the medical bay at the first opportunity, some of them are bound to be suffering from radiation sickness.”

“Yes, sir.” The marine acknowledged and closed the channel.

“Sir, unknown shuttle detected accelerating towards the Umiak wreck.” Lieutenant Grant reported.

“They had a fifth?” He quickly checked the video feed again. “No it’s green, it must be a Loroi one, they must have sent it to observe everything.”

Chapter 12, part 3: http://www.well-of-souls.com/forums/vie ... 347#p20347

[dragoongfa]

Deadlines are for sissies, ask our eminent Arioch . I hope there isn't a serious problem since this is good stuff.

My sister decided that it would be fun to commandeer my desktop to check facebook and then shut it down without checking if any of my work had been saved.

Let's say that there was yelling afterwards.

In any case. here is part 2 of chapter 12, a dozen hours or so later than I wanted.

EDIT: Before I forget, who here can form a picture about what the Umiak planned and how they went around to execute it?

[Grayhome]

Awesome chapter! I can't wait to see what the Loroi are up to. Sorry about the Facebook incident happens to us all.

[Krulle]

SpoilerShow

Chapter 12, part 2



75 seconds… The feeling of impotence that encompassed his whole being made his anxiety worse, he was just sitting there, on the captain’s chair watching the view in the complete silence that only existed in complete vacuum. For a change he longed to hear the usual sounds of Matveyev’s bridge

[...]

Half of his screw were off the ship waiting to see if the trap they had prepared would be successfully sprung or if they would be left to suffocate there. Could it be that the 5 that five that had already died be the lucky ones? He shook his head at that and checked the time again.

42 seconds left… With had he read in mind it was obvious [...] sentence unclear

[...]

Two other torpedoes were at a stern chase with the Umiak ship, [...] their trajectories brought them right into the flight path of the accelerating ships, [...]

20 seconds… It was only then that he realized how much of a fool he was for standing at the window instead of using his console to watch everything with a video feed.

With the malware and jamming I suspect the video feeds to be dead, otherwise audio would be available....


I would guess the Umiak tried to take the ship hostage (by planting bombs, stealing crucial elements), and then extorting information while hoping the Humans value their own, individual life more than the life of unknown others... They've surely found out that non-hive like life tends to value personal advantage and survival high enough to risk all of their planets future in such situations.
Or have physical access to all computers, stop jamming and get all information, espcially navigation, directly...

[Absalom]

20 seconds… It was only then that he realized how much of a fool he was for standing at the window instead of using his console to watch everything with a video feed.

With the malware and jamming I suspect the video feeds to be dead, otherwise audio would be available....

Probably, but not necessarily. You could always use a purely optical system if you felt the need (though I suspect the Bennet class would primarily have such things for aft and ventral angles, and maybe not at all).

[dragoongfa]

In space it's best to have passive sensors for simple use that don't need anti-ECM capabilities. Optical sensors that are able to form a simple picture from the full spectrum will be common on both civilian and military ships since they are straightforward and faster than radar like sensors. The problem will be in using them for targeting once the full EW abilities of warships are involved, then things get interesting.

I don't think that the Umiak went serious with the use of their ECM suite, didn't want to fry that treasure trove of information that are the human computer systems.

[peragrin]

rom the explosions

Your sister stole your F. I suggest you go get it back by yelling F.


Umiak strategy is simple multi prone attack. Stick X number of personal on the outside of the shuttle. The shuttle docks(by force if nesscary) and the inside troops attack.

The outside troops sneak in through secondary airlocks while your main force is bunkered where the shuttle has docked. Most races won't be expecting multiple attacks like that. This way even if you lose the shuttle bay you already have troops behind their "lines". Why do you think all the Loroi where instant space suits? It is so in case of docking They can all fight, and breathe in space if needed.

What gets me is both the bridge and main engineering should have a status board showing all airlocks status's across the ship in real time. Someone should have noticed the alarm that an airlock was in use, and been able to divert forces.

[Krulle]

The malware scrambled the internal communications......
Often video feeds are connected to the internal communications...
Often any communication from any other device goes via the same bus connections of the internal communications....

The bridge may have, for security reasons, direct feeds. And those might indeed be quite jamming proof.

[dragoongfa]

The malware scrambled the internal communications......
Often video feeds are connected to the internal communications...
Often any communication from any other device goes via the same bus connections of the internal communications....

The bridge may have, for security reasons, direct feeds. And those might indeed be quite jamming proof.

Very close.

The ship's computer system is a giant network relying heavily on the communications system, you are right that with the malware there the network is essentially crippled.

However certain critical areas are bound to have redundant systems in place that will keep those areas working even if the rest of the ship's network goes out of commission one way or the other. The medical bay counts as a last refuge for surviving crew in case of catastrophic ship damage so it has a redundant emergency power supply (Shipstone batteries) and its own localized life support system that should keep the survivors alive for a logical amount of time (a week perhaps?). The bridge has redundant command and control systems in place as well as independent connections to the ship's sensors (which are the primary buses for sensory input for bandwidth reasons). Engineering has triple redundancy in the power conduits that provide power to the ship as well as two emergency generators that should keep the crew alive for an indefinite amount of time in case the main reactor goes kaput (one was given to the Loroi). The shuttle bay also has a redundant power supply for its own systems, easily replaceable user interfaces/hardware and enough armor to protect the rest of the ship from an internal explosion in case of a shuttle accident.

All of the ship's systems are hardened against Electronic Warfare and Jamming but that's for TL 9 EW, a TL 11 Electronic Warfare unit would rain havoc on the systems, even fry them completely should one go overboard with them from point blank range.

[Mr Bojangles]

An interesting update. Looking forward to more. I hope you can clarify something for me, though: just how many of the Matveyev's away teams were lost? I may have misread something, but it seems to be either one or two...

[dragoongfa]

One team definitely lost while the status of the rest is unknown. Going EVA, next to a fusion torpedo while in the middle of an asteroid field is dangerous no matter how you cut it.

[Mr Bojangles]

Yeah, I imagine being near an exploding fusion device would not be conducive to one's health. Some might even say it's a downright poor way to ensure continued survival...

(Poor) Joking aside, I think my confusion stemmed from the Umiak destroying the asteroid the first pair of torpedoes came from. Reading on, it seemed like the Umiak destroyed another asteroid while escaping (and another team, inadvertently). This is in addition to five already dead mentioned at the 55 second mark (it's possible I'm just not remembering something you wrote in a previous chapter).

[Sweforce]

Next part I guess could be from the loroi side. The humans are to occupied dealing with the umiak boarding party. Surviving umiak crewmembers on the heavy are probably to stunned to do much for a while except for any hard troopers onboard. So my guess we see it from the point of wiev of an loroi boarding party making a rich to reach and kill the commander before wakes up and hit the self destruct. I could be wrong thou. It could bee about the umiak boarding party thou.

[dragoongfa]

Yeah, I imagine being near an exploding fusion device would not be conducive to one's health. Some might even say it's a downright poor way to ensure continued survival...

(Poor) Joking aside, I think my confusion stemmed from the Umiak destroying the asteroid the first pair of torpedoes came from. Reading on, it seemed like the Umiak destroyed another asteroid while escaping (and another team, inadvertently). This is in addition to five already dead mentioned at the 55 second mark (it's possible I'm just not remembering something you wrote in a previous chapter).

There were plenty of small asteroids going around their merry business and the away teams were only six, not including the shuttle team which went in hiding deeper in the asteroid field and launched the two torpedoes they towed when the Umiak ship passed a predefined threshold.

The problem and benefit with multiple POVs is that you can't explain everything at the same time, one has to split everything in multiple parts and with multiple characters. The reader is then able to piece together the pieces and bits that each character provides.

[dragoongfa]

Chapter 12, part 3

2nd Lieutenant Altti Viranko let out a silent sigh of relief the moment Matveyev came into view. He tried hailing it but after he received no reply he hoped that the silence only meant that they were still scrubbing the ship’s systems from the malware. Deciding to just follow his instructions he activated the shuttle’s emergency beacon and accelerated slightly towards Matveyev.
He hoped that the emergency beacons each space suit had would be able to break through the electromagnetic interference that covered the entire asteroid field. Without those beacons or a chart of the asteroid’s movements it would be impossible to locate the away teams, since the asteroids that he had dropped them off had moved, in fact no asteroid within the cloud that covered the entire opening was at the same position. The process was automatic, even if someone had been knocked out the beacon would light up and reply to any nearby TCA beacon for a quick search and rescue.

There were a total of 30 men and women adrift throughout the small asteroid cloud and his team’s job was to get them to safety once the Umiak ship was taken out. It was a dangerous plan for everyone involved but still simple enough. The shuttle team’s job was to stay hidden at the approach to the small opening that served as Matveyev’s hiding place and when the Umiak ship approached they would shadow it from a distance until the Umiak would commit themselves into capturing Matveyev. Once their boarding parties were launched the shuttle would move into position and give the signal for the launch of the two fusion torpedoes they had towed, hidden and prepared. The torpedoes would then follow a roundabout flight pattern that would keep them from being detected and would allow them to accelerate for four minutes before changing course and aim for Matveyev’s position.

The two torpedoes would be harmless since almost all of their fuel would have been consumed during the acceleration but they would serve as a distraction to the Umiak gunners, a distraction that should offer a small opening for the six away teams to fire their own torpedoes from the best positions they could move to in the limited time they had available.

Against all odds the plan worked and the Umiak ship was now a fast moving wreck that was on a collision course for one of the huge asteroids that enclosed Matveyev’s position. For a moment his shuttle’s limited sensors picked something fast darting after the wrecked ship but more than a dozen emergency beacon pings drew his full attention. The first group of five was close by, on the surface of the asteroid they must have used for the trap. He turned the shuttle and gently slowed its speed until it came to a halt right next to the asteroid in question.

“Did we get them?” The unmistakable voice of ensign Wung was heard the moment he accepted a transmission from the away team.

“Yes, where is your LT ensign?”

“She is out cold, didn’t get covered in time and she was bathed in radiation from the torpedo’s wake.” The Ensign replied as he and the other members of his team equipped with EVA modules carried their unconscious lieutenant to the shuttle.

“Damn, get her inside and go get the last one, you are the first team I have run across.” He said and switched the channel to internal comms to inform his two crewmates in the passenger compartment. “You got someone with severe radiation poisoning incoming, strip her and do an emergency anti-radiation treatment. Lock her suit at the cargo compartment… no do that for everyone’s to be safe, we will wash them from radiation at the ship.” The proper procedure was to get everyone who was hit by radiation to the ship as quickly as possible but until Matveyev contacted them and gave them the all clear they would have to make due; thankfully someone had the foresight to stock up the shuttle with anti-radiation meds from Matveyev’s medical reserve as a precaution.

“We are all here.” Ensign Wung called after closing the outer airlock.

“Roger that… Pick one of your team with an EVA module and have them on standby inside the airlock. The other teams may need help.”

“I and Marter will stay.” Ensign Wung replied in an instant.

“Good man.” He accelerated the shuttle towards the next group of distress beacons when Matveyev finally contacted them.

“2nd Lieutenant Viranko, do you read?” Captain Asteio’s weary voice filled his cockpit.

“Yes, sir. Just picked up Lieutenant Salmon’s team. She is unconscious due to radiation poisoning and requires immediate medical attention.”

“Damn it; The Matveyev is still not secure. The marines are fighting to clean a path to the medical bay but you will have to wait until they give the go ahead.”

“Roger that.”

“I am sending you the current coordinates of the asteroids that the remaining teams used, find everyone and do your best to stabilize those who need medical attention. Then have everyone who is able to replenish their life support units, we will need everyone to repair damage throughout the ship.” Captain Asteios ordered.

“Remaining teams sir?”

“The Umiak got one, I don’t expect any survivors…” The captain’s dark tone passed the full picture of the mood he was in because of that.

“...The suits of the away teams will have to be washed for radiation sir.”

“I know that…” The captain replied coldly. “Damage control on certain areas of the ship has to take priority. The Umiak tried to storm engineering and they blew up one of the power conduits when the marines forced them to retreat. The marines showed restraint there but the shuttle bay has been shot to shreds and they are still fighting throughout the ship.”

“Yes sir. I will inform everyone that damage control will be our priority.” The captain made to close the channel but hesitated.

“We need our home fixed Viranko.”

Chapter 13, part 1: http://www.well-of-souls.com/forums/vie ... 426#p20426

[dragoongfa]

Chapter 12 is now done and all I can say is that there are still 4 maybe 5 chapters left till the story is concluded.

Had to cut a lot of bloat from this part that would be better explained on the next part anyway. The next part may turn out to be somewhat big as a result.

[Grayhome]

Congratulations on another completed segment of the story. I hope the Loroi will be able to patch up the injured crew members.

Dragoonfa, I've been wondering about this for awhile now, but doesn't attacking someone through their communications systems force everyone to never communicate with the Umiak? I would certainly consider any human who opened up communications with an Umiak or Umiak allied vessel to be a colossal fool after this dastardly and callous attack.