[Fanfiction] A Shout in the Dark

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GeoModder
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Re: [Fanfiction] A Shout in the Dark

Post by GeoModder »

Yes! Progress! :mrgreen:
Onaiom wrote:Nice chapter! I wonder how the message will sound like in the other end. Something like this:
"Attention, unknown installation
This is the Loroi Union vessel ED-295
assigned to strike group 83.
We are being chased by an enemy ship
and have suffered damage
Any assistance would be beneficial
Please advise
Are YOU INSANE?!"
I think the connection was already cut before the yelling came into play. ;)
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Re: [Fanfiction] A Shout in the Dark

Post by Werra »

They just recorded the message. It was then send via tightbeam. I pressume that Mizol knows how to cut off that last part.

entity2636
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Re: [Fanfiction] A Shout in the Dark

Post by entity2636 »

Happy to see you're back and continuing the story.
Mr.Tucker wrote:..Thank you, and welcome to colonial space!
Just a small comment here - perhaps it should be Terran space? Just referring to it as "colonial space" doesn't sound right in my ears... colonial? Colony of what?

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Re: [Fanfiction] A Shout in the Dark

Post by Sweforce »

entity2636 wrote:Happy to see you're back and continuing the story.
Mr.Tucker wrote:..Thank you, and welcome to colonial space!
Just a small comment here - perhaps it should be Terran space? Just referring to it as "colonial space" doesn't sound right in my ears... colonial? Colony of what?
Humanity have intill recently been alone in space and the Orgus refugees are already cared for. Other Orgus refugees went elsewhere after all. Such specialities will come over time thou and the fact that they are already transmitting in trade ss well is an indication of this.

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Re: [Fanfiction] A Shout in the Dark

Post by Mr.Tucker »

Part VIII
SpoilerShow
"Attention, unknown installation. This is the Loroi Union vessel ED-295, assigned to strike group 83. We are being chased by an enemy ship, and have suffered damage. Any assistance would be beneficial. Please advise."

The message rung out loud and clear from the speakers. The soft humm of the electronics and the dim red lights of the command center only seemed to make the words more pointed than before.

"Whelp, cat's out of the bag now", offered Ibaka, breaking the silence.

More like Bengalese Tiger...

"At the very least we know they're not ignoring it", said the comondore.

"How likely would that have been?" asked Diane.

"Given that they're running for their lives, more likely than you think. They could've just made a note of it and kept on going."

"But isn't it too good to be true? They've been running for God-knows how long, and suddenly they come across a repair station?"

Maybe."It's obvious to us,since we're doing the tricking but to them? I doubt they feel they have much choice. Fatigue, fear, fight-or-flight..."

"All of which are HUMAN factors" interrupted Diane. "How safe is it to apply it to them? For all we know they might have the instincts of jellyfish, or the endurance of sloths. Or some totally wacky combination of traits that pushes them to think and feel in a totally different manner."

"They don't sound very...inhuman, if you ask me" said Sanderson rubbing his chin. "My trade is about as dim as the emergency lights on a tramp freighter, but they're saying they're a military ship in distress, right?"

"Indeed, as we suspected" he agreed."We already knew from the Orgus that they at the very least are humanoid in shape, though no one has actually seen one in person. Which means we're not dealing with the potential motivation of starfish aliens."

"Hopefully not" said the exobiologist.

Never pegged YOU as a pessimist: "I take it you don't approve?" he said pointedly.

"It makes sense, but... the first contact we have with an alien species, and we're already lying and scheming."

Yes. "We're confronted with a potentially species-wide threat. I'm neither outright lying nor scheming. Just using terrain to my advantage."

"It's odd to talk about terrain out here in the black" she retorted.

"I know, but you'll have to trust me. The entire essence of using geography to our advantage is getting your opponents in the right position."

She gulped but said nothing. You're not military, but you've been around our types long enough to know that second guessing everything is a dangerous situation during times of crisis. His choice of picking her for this installation seemed all the more wise.

Well, that's unless we don't live to tell anyone about it. So far the plan seemed to have an effect. The Loroi vessel was doing the slight change in vector that would bring it very close to the now ever-distancing OTT. He was used to getting into his opponent's minds. It was what set him apart at the academy, why he got all the recognition he had.

But it's difficult. Getting people to do things exactly the way you want is like balancing jelly on rubber strings. And these are not people. The thought of that made him internally shudder.

"A destroyer, huh?" said Ibaka with contemplation. "Guess their ship classes are similar in size to ours."

"Indeed". I know what you're thinking, old man. Similar body size, similar requirements... all the surface details that might seem insignificant, but hide a treasure trove of potential data.We've got more info in that one message than all the intel from the Orgus.

"It's not named" offered Sanderson. "They must have a lot of them..."

So you noticed that too, didn't you? In truth, he loved being around people used to flexing their minds to solve puzzles. Even moreso than the trainers and professors at the academy. They were good, but too rigid and set in their thinking.

"Nothing we didn't expect" he tried to sound confident.

"Still... colonial space? That's spacer jargon...", said the exobiologist.

"I wanted to be deliberately vague in that regard. Not telling them who they're talking to, what we're capable of, where we're from or what we can do." Hopefully. Communicating without saying too much was more challenging than it looked.

"Sounds like you're welcoming them to some kind of grand party, honestly" she said with an air of irony.

Exactly. "We need to seem bigger than we are. To make it look like trade ships pass through here all the time. Like there isn't even a need to mention who we are or what this is. We get cues like that all the time from our subconscious. It would make sense that they would too."

"Isn't it a bit... simplistic?" said Ibaka.

"It is, but I want them to think that they're talking to a dumb-as-rocks computer on-board an orbital dock. Something designed to optimise repair and resupply, not to have enough sense to customise it's message to a first contact situation."

"Sounds...risky" she conceded.

The word you're looking for is far-fetched. "Everything we do is risky. The entire universe is a risky affair." You don't have to like it, and it doesn't care if you do.

"Ok,...so what now?" asked Sanderson in a calm tone.

For a person with such a difficult reputation, you seem to have made your peace quite quickly.

"The OTT has our pre-programmed response already uploaded. It'll respond 30 seconds after receiving a signal on that frequency. So far, we keep course."

"And if it doesn't work out..." said Diane.

I know you want reassurance, but there's honestly very little of that going on around here.

"We'll see from there." He said. "Ensign Daniels, hopefully, you've programmed that stellar observatory to delete it's message and stop broadcasting after 3 minutes."

"I did, but it doesn't matter now" said the young officer. "It's gone."

Come again?

"What's gone?" he asked, as his mind caught up and already gave him his answer.

"The star-probe. It's gone. They've destroyed it."

A graph popped up, showing and energy spike, followed by a sudden stop. Overlaid on top of it was a grainy film, showing the Loroi ship discharging a long, thin, beam.

"It took place nearly 30 seconds ago" reported the young pilot. "Loroi ship is changing vector."

The map of the system that contained the ship's direction was changing. The path of the ship now took them within 100 km of the OTT... and less than 10 Mm from the roid as it would pass by.

"Looks like they took the bait" said Ibaka. "And ate it too."

Am I wrong? Maybe they don't like to be talked to. Maybe they're likely to consider anything that crosses their path to be hostile. Hell, maybe they'll shoot the OTT, fight that other ship, and won't stop shooting until everything in this system is dust.

He inhaled a deep breath. No he thought exhaling, They seem too similar. We can't be all that different.

"They might be trying to make sure the observatory doesn't talk to the other ship. Remember, this hinges on the Umiak ship not being line-of-sight to receive the transmission. If they'd waited for too long, the umiak might have gained on them, and seen them shoot something. They did our job for us. Stick to the plan."

He hoped his quick, sharp, forceful response would alleviate any potential panic from rising up in the control room. Shock the system to remove panic.He looked around to gauge how the others were reacting to this new development.

Ibaka and Sanderson were glued to the screen, with stoic, thoughtful expressions. Not much more they can do, and they know it. Ibaka always seemed to cope with difficult situations by making light of them. Seems to work most of the time. And I'm starting to like it. I was somewhat worried about Sanderson, but it looks like your presence is doing him a world of good right now.

Diane Batra, for her part, seemed the most worried. He guessed she wanted to say something, but her post-adrenaline state, tiredness, and dread were making it difficult to say anything intelligible.

You're not wrong to be scared.

"Could be it doesn't turn out the way we want it. Remember, we have contingencies. I live for them" he said, with a slight smile. If I can barely convince myself...

Diane looked at him with a almost despondent expression.

"Let's hope that carries on, then."
Last edited by Mr.Tucker on Sun Jun 16, 2019 10:37 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: [Fanfiction] A Shout in the Dark

Post by Mr.Tucker »

Well, I wanted to write this next part before answering some of those points, since they're kinda linked.

Essentially, Andrews is using the term colonial instead of terran on purpose. It's his very first transmission, he doesn't want to give ANYTHING away for free. In his mind, information is power, and you can gleam a lot from a simple expression.

Colonial is an unofficial term for any space that isn't the inner Sol system (which is the most heavily regulated, guarded, and monitored sector in human space. After all, humanity has both the homeworld and it's oldest and most important colony there). The rules and regulations that govern navigation there limit speeds based on distances and trajectories. All worlds have these to some degree, but the Sol system has them in spades due to the above reasons, so it makes sense that people would name this more...sensitive region. And name it's counterpart. Essentially, colonial is space that belongs to humanity, or has a human presence, but isn't planetary. The Loroi, of course, would not know this.

As for the Mizol barging in: remember, it's written in italic. That means it's mental (and also makes writing Loroi chapters horrendous). She shouted, but she didn't speak :D . Being on the bridge, the officers are in Sanzai range, and they mostly talk in telepathy. Whenever she addresses the probe, or talks to engineering, the style changes.

Humans also talk in their heads, but no one else hears them :P .

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Re: [Fanfiction] A Shout in the Dark

Post by GeoModder »

Well, the Loroi didn't disclose their vessel's name either...
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Re: [Fanfiction] A Shout in the Dark

Post by Mr.Tucker »

GeoModder wrote:Well, the Loroi didn't disclose their vessel's name either...
Given the size of the Loroi Navy (estimated at 2-3 thousand), I'd say there should be several hundred destroyer-sized ships out there. I'd make more sense I think for them to identify using some kind of hull number, rather the the ship name.

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Re: [Fanfiction] A Shout in the Dark

Post by Mr.Tucker »

Part IX
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Daniels snapped his neck in discomfort. Being this close to near annihilation was not something he was fond of. He remembered his days at the academy, cooped up in dark simulator rooms, fighting in make-believe battles exactly like this one. At some point it got compartmentalised, and one slips into an automaton-like state, where the conscious mind is overridden and left to scream in the background, while the fingers and training take over.

But pretense is one thing, and this is another..., he thought. Especially with a crowd. The gaggle of eggheads that the commandant had summoned were busily making lip-service about their current situation. He wondered why they were there, and what good they could do to improve their tactical situation. Respect for knowledge is all well and good, but the introduction of civilians in such technical military matters unerverd him.

Last thing we want is outright panic.

For his part, the commandant seemed ice-cold. Guess that comes with the territory. Better not screw this up. Last thing I want is for him to see my panicked, moronic face just before we get atomised.

"Targeting status?", asked XO Hauser.

"Vectors aligned. ETA 300 seconds", Daniels replied. If the commander is right there, why the hell doesn't he ask himself?

"Capacitor status?", asked the commander as if on cue.

"100 percent, sir", replied Ramachandran. Daniels glanced at him, in silence. His colleague gave him a wide-eyed, but otherwise inscrutable look. What the hell is that supposed to mean?

His head was filled with sudden urges. To reach out to another human, to say something to alleviate the fear, at least to utter a prayer, or encouragement, or....something. His fingers felt stiff on the console, so he scrunched them, the tiny bones eerily crackling.

As he raised his eyes, he could see the target in motion, it's speed taking it irrevocably closer to alignment with the targeting ring. Rarely had such a mere image woken such nausea within him.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


"Captain,", said Swiftalon with a sense of tenseness, "the enemy has deployed gunboats. Vectors 3-6-3 and 2-5-1. Hard burn." She glanced at the superior officer. "Standard pincer formation."

"We won't have time to dock" said the Mizol.

"Eclipse, prep for hard burn" ordered Razorleaf.

"Understood captain. Initiating maneuver" answered the helmsman, as the ship swiftly turned.

She reached her console. "Bastobar Cloupeak?"

"Yes, captain" answered the engineer.

"Status?"

"Unchanged. 60 percent acceleration, 50 on guns. 85 percent weapons capacity. 100 on point defence."

"Prep for damage control. Keep as many guns operational as can be, but don't take your eyes off containment."

"As required, captain", replied Cloudpeak curdly.

"Any more communications from the installation, Moonshadow?"

"Same message, on a loop, captain" she answered promptly. "Does not seem to be occupied or powered up in any meaningful way. No external structures either, though our sensors can't pierce it and we can't see what's on its' far side. "

She paused.

"We're very close, but the enemy will be within striking distance, and it seems impossible for us to attempt to dock while fighting."

Feces covered piece of space junk, swore Razorleaf behind her lotai. With the installation on it's slow vector, it had changed position too much from the moment of detection to allow even a swift attempt at docking.

"ETA 60 solon, captain", reported Swiftalon.

"From the moment they became aware of the installation, the enemy was bound to become aggressive enough to not allow us to approach it. They engaged us as soon as they understood what we were doing" offered Moonshadow. "It was a valiant attempt."

"Indeed" spoke Swiftalon, "but now we have no choice but to give battle" she finished with the smell of blood in her thoughts.

"Agreed" said Razorleaf. "Have the Teidar prepare for boarding". At least they die with weapons in hand.

"Fireteams are already in position, captain" replied the weapons officer.

Razorleaf gave a discrete sigh, before addressing the bridge officers one last time.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


"Sir, two additional bogeys just split from Contact-02", said Daniels, almost running out of breath. "Looks to be smallcraft, sir. They're matching burn rate with main contact."

"Redesignate main contact as Bogey-Prime", ordered the commandant. "Has it changed vector?"

"No, sir. Still on intercept course", said the ensign hesitantly.

"Ramachandran, Hartman, track those additional contacts", said the commandant. "They're gearing for a fight earlier than we thought. "

"Roger, sir", said the bridge officers.

"First ship has begun a harder burn, sir" said one of the bridge officers. "They've been accelerating for some time, but with this burn, they'll never reach the OTT."

"Range from bogey to contact one is still 300 kiloclicks, sir", said Daniels hoping to elicit a comment. Can their weapons hit that far? His throat suddenly seemed to dry up.

"APOLLO, transfer command to manual on first console".

That means...me?!he thought, as the colors on his screen denoting the weapon's aimpoint turned to life.

"Align with target reticule, and keep it in your sights, ensign", pressed Andrews. "Apollo can do the math, but there's a reason I want manual control. "

"Yessir", said Daniels tensing up like a car spring.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"The enemy has deployed gunboats, and from the ambush we think they only carry energy weapons. They will engage us head on with the main ship, while the gunboats maneuver to try and target our nacelles, flanks and rear quarter. Engaging them would leave us vulnerable to the enemy main ship, therefore we focus fire on it and ignore them" said Razorleaf, exuding as much cold calculated sensation as possible. "Eclipse, keep out ship edge-on to the boats. We want to present as small a profile to their fire as possible."

"Understood, captain!"

"Taking out their main ship will leave the auxiliaries stranded, regardless of battle outcome." She paused.

"Let them feel the cold embrace of this blasted piece of the universe," said Swiftalon on a rising wave of emotion."Only warriors are worthy of fiery deaths."

For once, we agree."The enemy knows we have no choice but to take them head on, where their shields and armor is strongest, and their blows heaviest. Since they do not expect us to give much attention to their boats, these will hug the main ship for as long as possible and begin acceleration as late and hard as can be, to reduce the time it takes to reach our rear side, passing at very short range where their guns can salt us. They do not intend to use their superior delta-v to wear us down or outmaneuver us, but rather invite us to battle. And Loroi never pass up such invitations."

A crushing wave of hot emotion rose up from the entire bridge and close sections. Only Moonshadow seemed unfazed, but keen and alert.

"30 solon to range", said Swiftalon. "Boat are beginning their burn. Enemy main is activating maneuver thrusters."

"Our flight ends here, one way or another", concluded Razorleaf grimmly. "Let us make our fallen proud."

"10 solon to intercept."

"All forward turrets...", Razorleaf said inhaling.

"Intercept."

"Fire!"
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Clara isn't on shift today, he said. Should've asked her out for a coffee long ago. With the smallest of gestures, he shook his head slightly to toss away the stray thoughts that threatened to invade him.

"Bogey-Prime has begun evasive maneuvering, sir" he reported.

"Looks like the light show's already started" muttered the tall woman scientist.

"We'll make a log of every shot they fire" answered the commandant. "Gonna make for some light reading later on for mister Sanderson's boys."

"Indeed..." muttered the short mustached man with a low voice. "To think they can use weapons' fire at this range."

"The Loroi opened fire first", observed the XO.

"Longer range" answered Andrews. "Most of their shots are still missing. They're still outside their optimal."

"I'd say their optimal is about three times our maximum", replied Ibaka.

"Bogey-prime is about to pass us, sir" observed Daniels. "With all that jinking, it's not gonna be easy to get a good shot."

The reticule was bouncing up and down on his screen. There was no way he could match the lumbering aimpoint of his weapons emplacement right onto it.

"You're gonna have to eyeball it, ensign", replied the commandant reclining in his chair. "As they reach closest approach, they'll be easier to hit. Stick to the plan, and steady your shot. APOLLO can do the math on the reticle, but it has no intuition. That's YOUR game."

I don't like this crappy plan, decided Daniels. As he focused, the reticles' bouncing was subsiding, but it still carried a large chance of missing.

"Secondary targets are briskly accelerating," reported Ramanchandran. "Looks like they're going to pincer Contact-01."

"Looking to get a good shot at their engines", offered one of the eggheads.

"ETA to minimal approach is 20 seconds, sir. Range is 10 mega-meters", reported Daniels.

"HMD?"

"One through six online and ready", answered the weapons officers.

"TLS?"

"Banks charged. Target locked."

"Driver mounts?"

"Charged and ready for fire, sir."

"Show time, ladies and gentlemen", said the commandant with a confident, uncharacteristically booming voice, that shattered the sensation. "Let's show the universe our claws", he added. "Mister Ibaka, if you've got any prayers, feel free to mutter them in your head."

"With all due respect, those are statistics, sir", he said in a bemused tone. "When you're my age, you value time enough to pay others to pray for you."

"Well then, I hope you broke the bank this time", retorted the commandant. He turned towards the bridge and spoke.

"Remember to focus fire on any projectiles they fire at us. We'll probably only get one shot with the TWE, so we'll make it count. With a little luck, they'll cripple each other, and we'll do clean-up at our leisure. If not, they we use our hardened position on this roid to slug it out. We have the jump on the least damaged of them. As soon as they pass by and flash their rears at us, we light it up. Either way, we win or we end. Any last questions?"

No questions were forthcoming, though that did little to stop the worry. Dozens of meters of rock is good protection, but all our surface installations are sitting ducks you could hit from the other side of the system. Blinking, he refocused his attention, as the target slowly changed aspect from lateral to rear.

"Closest approach passed. Bogey-prime receding," reported Daniels.

"They're doing a real number on Contact-01," mused Sanderson. "Vigorous return fire, but most of those hits seem to be getting...deflected...."

"We'll talk about that over dinner, mister Sanderson", said the commandant. "All emplacements, open fire on Daniels' mark."

"Aye," answered the choir.

"Take the lead, Ensign."

Inhaling, like he'd done many a times in the sims, he locked eyes with the target, now narrowly presenting it's rear. The reticles' irate jumping had been reduced to a sharp tremor, now once more beginning to pick up speed like an angry dragonfly. He let his mind go blank to everything but the target.

A clean shot.

He pressed his hand on the controls.

And exhale.

"Mark!"

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Re: [Fanfiction] A Shout in the Dark

Post by Mr.Tucker »

Part X
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The impacts were sending rolling shockwaves through the ship. Each hit to the armored plating was met by protests of metallic shrieking. Razorleaf was not liking her current outlook on the situation.

To any outsiders, this must seem eerie. The thuds and bangs and occasional electronic pops were accompanied by a deafening silence from the crew. Loroi fight in silence. It has always been this way.

She could see and feel their thoughts focused on the enemy ahead, fast bearing down on them, guns ablaze.

"No missile launch as of yet, captain" reported Swiftalon. "Our appraisal was correct. This ship is armed with beam weaponry."

"For a ship this size, the firepower is not as great as expected" added Moonshadow. "Up close, it seems like a variation of the HH-type vessel, with what I can only describe as an enlarged engine section and tow points."

Razorleaf nodded in agreement. "Had we not had sustained battle damage this fight would be far more equal."

"Indeed. And it does not appear they possess the projectile hardpoints common on these classes of ships. I will catalogue and record their weapon profile and the details of their structural analysis for later investigation and in-depth appraisal."

Razorleaf raised her eyebrow, while Swiftalon chuckled. Intelligence gathering? For whom? But the sight of Moonshadow calmly ignoring the absurd situation and the bemused look of the other bridge officers made her pause. For a solon, she watched the Mizol calmly parsing and selecting information for her report before coming to a realisation.

She has no weapons console. She's not a proper bridge officer, and there is no other role for her in this battle. So...she does her duty, even if imminent death is staring us in the face. Is she doing this to cope or because it is expected?

Turning back towards the battle, she watched the merciless enemy closing in ever more, the smaller targets fanning out to encircle them. A flash of light, accompanied by another resonating bang made the image flicker, then disappear, then reappear but from a different angle, as the hit had been square on to the previous camera.

At this range, their fire is far more accurate and lethal. She dared not call upon engineering at this time, for there would be no good news from there. She only hoped that if they exploded, it would be near enough the enemy ship that it would be strickened.

"Captain, the enemy ship is...shifting" reported Eclipse. "It seems to have launched something..."

The monitor was showing two new large targets moving away slowly from the main contact.

Razorleaf frowned. "Missiles?"

"No, they appear to be some kind of... structural systems. They appear to have no maneuvering capability of their own, and are being left behind adrift."

"Drop tanks" said Moonshadow with an emanation of glee that caught Razoleaf by surprise. "That's why this ship has undersized armaments: it's using disposable fuel storage to increase it's range."

Razorleaf would have been stunned had her system still been capable of such a response. So that's why you chased us in the black all this way. You knew if we fought, you could shed weight and dance around us, while still having fuel left to return to civilised space. She leaned into her seat with despondency and resentment. Once more, the shells catch us by surprise.

"Will this change the outcome, Moonshadow?" asked Razorleaf.

"I'm afraid not captain" responded the Mizol without a hint of regret. "More likely the enemy is not taking any chances and preparing for a quick return pass if needs be."

I'd rather we ram the blasted thing head-on murmured the captain in her head. Since when are shells so careful? So... purposeful? Their ambush, this highly specialised ship... what were they planning?

As if guessing her thoughts, Moonshadow spoke:

"A ship like this is ideal for a gatecrasher force and clean-up duty. Enough fuel to range extreme distances, enough firepower and boat-carrying capacity to efficiently destroy vast amounts of lightly guarded or undefended infrastructure."

Except this was was probably tasked with taking us out as stragglers from the ambush, or at least making sure we would not be able to return and offer warning. Does that mean... I made a mistake not trying to force my way through the ambush swarm to reach Loroi space?...

Just as the doubt was starting to flow through her mind, a sharp jolt shook the bridge. The ship buckled, before the remaining thrusters compensated.

"That hit nearly cleaved our starboard nacelle,"Eclipse said in a shaky tone.

"How is our return fire?" asked Razorleaf shaken from her momentary revelry.

"We're doing damage, but so far, non-critical" answered Swiftalon.

The enemy ship was closing in now, it's image in sharp high detail in the screen. It's surface and forward sensor arrays were damaged, large craters had appeared on the armor plating surrounding its nacelles, but no signs of weakness.

If there are any gods out there, at least give us this victory, prayed Razorleaf.

And...for a moment the deities seemed to answer, to the shock of Razorleaf, as a light-reddish beam intersected the enemy ship's backside. As if in slow-motion,a massive flash of light briefly overtook the imaging sensors, before electronic screens and software wizardry re-established the image. The shell ship had been violently showed to the right side, as if by a giant invisible club.

"I'm... picking up an energy signature, captain" said Eclipse dropping all pretense of Lotai to reveal mixed feelings of confusion and surprise. The rest of the crew were silently observing, shock quickly giving way to confusion.

In disbelief, barely holding on to her own Lotai, Razorleaf's weary mind could not even come up with a good question at first.

"Did we score a lucky hit?" she said hesitantly, hoping her own Lotai was still there.

"Not a chance" reported Swiftalon. "On their backside... it came from the nearby asteroid" she added hesitantly.

The asteroid? thought Razorleaf as a small secondary screen came to life, now bearing the image of the spaceborne mountain range. The astronomical body had escaped everyone's attention, as their brief scan had indicated no signs of activity.

The aliens, realized the captain. We'd forgotten that only just a few minutes ago, we were expecting some kind of third party to intervene. The orbital installation they'd hoped would be their salvation was still silent as before, but the surface of the asteroid was lit up by points of heat rapidly appearing and quickly being catalogued by the ships' computers. Another automated response? Some machine picking up signs of battle and interpreting this as some form of aggression?

Razorleaf could see Moonshadow about to speak, but hesitating, as if trying to measure her statement.

"There are more signatures" interrupted Swiftalon. "Smaller it seems than the initial one."

The enemy ship was trying to arrest it's violent motion, its rotation subsiding as its thrusters fired intensely.As the ship spun, the bridge officers could see large-scale damage on the ship's rear right-hand engine cluster, which had been sheared off as if by a heavy plasma bolt. The ships' surfaces, however, were experiencing flashes of light, followed by brief expanding shockwaves of atomised metal rapidly dissipating into space. Whatever fire it had unleashed on their ship up to that point had suddenly subsided.

"One of the gunships is changing course" said Eclipse. "It's veering off."

Razorleaf could sense confusion in their motion. The large ship was hesitantly trying to orient itself, unsure which way to face and seeming to settle on an angle bisector line between her ship and the asteroid. The old smell of blood she had acquired during the hunts with her Diral were coming back to her. Victory had suddenly been thrust in their faces.

"Orient our ship and order all operational guns to focus fire on the remaining engine cluster and nacelle" she ordered frantically.

There was not even a reply, as the cannons of the Loroi destroyer struck the right side of the enemy ship in bulging arcs of superheated metal. The deep gouges overlapped, as the enemy ship seemed to remember it's original foe, and tried to once more control its further perturbed rotation.

What despair and confusion must go through your minds now, thought Razorleaf almost drowning in hate and satisfaction. Your forward facing guns and armor, that mere solon ago was your greatest advantage, now become your biggest weakness.

"Captain," reported Swiftalon, "I'm seeing some kind of fast moving ballistic projectiles heading towards the enemy ship."She briefly paused. "Slower ones too, behind the first wave. Looks to be torpedoes. I think it's whoever is on that rock."

"Those torpedoes... are very slow" said Moonshadow flatly. "The enemy is dedicating point defence duty to them."

The enemy ship's PD plasma cannon emerged from it's central emplacement and started firing showers of plasma bolts towards seemingly empty space. As the arcs moved about, that seemingly empty space was being lit up with explosions.

"Those torpedoes are being eaten up quickly," said Moonshadow. "But the projectiles are coming in far too fast. "

As she spoke, a series of wisps of plasma followed by large discharges of gas and jolts of impact were evident on the Hierarchy destroyer. Even as the plasma defence was working frantically to eliminate the offending projectiles, three hits plowed their way through the enemy ship.

Mass drivers? thought Razorleaf incredulously. Systems like that were obsolete to the extreme for frontline use. They were early weapons from the age of expansion, fit for history books and exhibits. But there was little time to ponder.

"The enemy is badly damaged, but not destroyed, captain" reported Moonshadow. "Most of the projectiles missed it, and the missiles have been eliminated."

Even so, Razorleaf could guess massive damage had been done both to the inside and outside of the destroyer.The ship's right-side armor was starting to show cracks from the onslaught, it's guns finally returning a semblance of fire after what seemed to be an hour of hesitation. One gunboat had veered off to their left, never once taking the opportunity to open fire from their flank, while the one on their right side had arrested it's acceleration, and seemed to be posturing to offer aid to the stricken Hierarchy main vessel once the pass had been complete.

But it was too late. The enemy ship passed by the desperately firing Loroi vessel, carried by it's absurdly high momentum, it's armor splintering in spiderwebs, venting gas, huge sections of blasted decking, pipework and wiring exposed to space. It's right side gouged from the back, it's left carved by multiple craters from the front. The ship was in its death throes.

For once Razorleaf lowered her Lotai.

"May you be damned to eternal suffering in the neverworld," she proclaimed. "And may the great devourers from beyond the grave chew you into oblivion."

As if giving them a last hateful glare, the Umiak ship slowly tumbled away into space, large arcs of electrical power visible in contrast to the pitch black that surrounded it. The lightning shone once, then twice, and then... a massive flood of light filled their monitors.
Last edited by Mr.Tucker on Sat Jul 25, 2020 4:34 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: [Fanfiction] A Shout in the Dark

Post by Mr.Tucker »

Whelp, I'm back from my looooong interlude. Hopefully I haven't gotten too rusty or changed my style significantly since then :) . But since I have time to kill (guess why....), and a story in my head, it seems I can move on.
The next part will be the last in this chapter (but not the story; I plan about 5 more chapters).
Thank you, and apologies for the long wait.

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Re: [Fanfiction] A Shout in the Dark

Post by Sweforce »

From the comic I get the impression that umiak vessels are relatively low on point defense systems and since the slow missiles from the space station scored three solid hits this have been confirmed. Thou it is possible that even such systems have been stripped down for weight removal. This leaves the gunboats in the fight. Umiak are fanatical so surrender due to a lack of a functioning mothership will not be on their agenda. It is even possible that they may try to kamikaze the station.

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Re: [Fanfiction] A Shout in the Dark

Post by Mr.Tucker »

I have a system of bubbles drawn in paint (you are allowed to laugh :D ) that say what every party (even far off, non-essential ones) is thinking. I call it my "system of axis of intentions" :P . So I can shed some (non-spoilery) light on what we be reading. Not a response to a critique, but rather clarify the somewhat confusing, chaotic scene.
Sweforce wrote:From the comic I get the impression that umiak vessels are relatively low on point defense systems and since the slow missiles from the space station scored three solid hits this have been confirmed.
My impression as well. I'm bit miffed at why they would use plasma weaponry as point defence. One would think that lasers are still better at that. Only thing I could think of is that they would be useful against other plasma bolts besides physical projectiles, something lasers might not be able to do. It does speak to their great mastery of the technology, however, given that Loroi still find it more difficult to field particle beams (a lower tier of weaponry) as PD.

The impacts were not missiles, however, but railgun slugs. At 12g of acceleration, a terran torpedo would take about 5 minutes to reach 36 km/sec, by which time it will have depleted its fuel supply, and another 2 minutes to coast to the Umiak ship (honestly the data given for it in the insider is horrendous, I'd expect it to be more along the lines of 30g.... but word of God is word of God :) ). A medium railgun slug from the station would take roughly 25-27 seconds. Even so, 6 were fired, 2 missed, one got intercepted per my notes. Also per my notes, 2 did mostly superficial damage (as in take out non-essential compartments, mostly armored plating), only 1 was truly devastating internally.

They managed to hit because the Umiak ship has a single PD, and, although I can't vouch for this, I expect it to be on the front (roughly where the "nose" is, and given their front-heavy all-or-nothing armoring philosophy). So, having stabilised their ship, they now have to turn around partially, exposing one of their sides to Loroi fire, while their PD tries to make work of the incoming shots. All this while being surprised by a big hit to their right-side engine cluster courtesy of the Mjolnir, being peppered by laser fire(which doesn't do much, but still makes them flinch) and with the Loroi ship now focus-firing on their left side. All in all, a bad day indeed. Still, the Loroi did most of the heavy bashing, with their better guns, the humans provided something of a surprise gut punch and hard-to-ignore distraction. The fact that at their tech level, enough damage will make Loroi and Umiak ships explode dramatically also helps (a human ship would basically just...float away in pieces). Loads of luck, grasping at straws, and "see what sticks" involved on the human side. Their real contribution was setting things up so the fight took place close enough.

As for the gunboats, well... we'll see :) . The Umiak, zealous as they might be, were still taken aback by the two fronted attack, ruining their by the book plan. Had they known what we know, one of the Umiak boats might have risked continuing the attack instead of veering off. The other...well, it makes sense to try to render assistance, especially to your lifeline ship and with active enemies in system.

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Re: [Fanfiction] A Shout in the Dark

Post by Sweforce »

I did notice the railgun usage but got the impression that it was followed up with missiles. In any case, even the loroi use their plasma pulse cannons for point defense in addition to the dedicated systems. The Umiak traditional tactic of spamming with missiles are after all intended to force this behaviour so the can get close enough to use their plasma foci.

Came to think of it, nuclear ballistic missiles are often equipped with additional dummy warheads of a similar reason, to keep the enemy's missile defense systems occupied. With the advent of advanced point defense systems on ships something similar may happen there as well in the future or maybe we will see laser cannons fired from drones as an anti shipping weapon.

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Re: [Fanfiction] A Shout in the Dark

Post by Mr.Tucker »

Part XI
SpoilerShow
The massive flash of light engulfed the screens of the command center before static made the imagine unreadable. Simultaneously, an ever so slight jolt rippled through the station, like waves on a calm lake.

Commandant Andrews's initial relief at their successful strategy was immediately replaced by a jolt of worry.
A vacuum explosion powerful enough to be actually be felt from a couple of megameters away? And through a metallic asteroid 50 km in diameter?

"Daniels, what's our radiation readings?" he asked, trying to keep his voice level. Even 200 meters underground, an explosion that powerful could microwave them.

"Slight spike on this level, sir", replied the former helmsman. "5 times background for 0.2 mils, fading back to normal. Mostly gamma and X-ray." He paused. "Surface installations had it a lot worse."

No wonder. "Do we have weapons online?"

"Missiles and torpedoes are operational", reported Ramanchandran. "We're getting nominal internal telemetry from the turrets, but I can't activate their sensors. Looks like they're blinded."

Andrews swallowed the knot in his throat. He hadn't really taken into consideration what would happen if these ships were heavily damaged. Ibaka DID say these things resembled what we would expect from antimatter drives.

He took a quick glance at the science team to his back and left. Ibaka was standing, stroking his bushy beard and mustache, his dark complexion barely visible in the dimly lit room, intently watching the static-filled screen. Next to him, Sanderson was as still as a statue, hands behind his back. Batra was holding her hand over he mouth, her face a portrait of concern.

For a moment he wondered at his foolishness for not sending them bellow, to the shelters. If the explosion had been any bigger, we might have all taken a lethal dose of rads, he thought. They're civilians, they shouldn't have to take the risks.
Just as quickly, he brushed the thought aside. Moving about in the middle of a battle is dangerous. And they might be needed here.

"Visual is returning, commandant", interceded Daniels.

All eyes moved towards the slowly stabilising images displayed on the monitors. The surface installations appeared in slight relief, their gunmetal silhouettes in contrast with the dark grey of the asteroid's bouldery surface. Some had a slightly iridescent look, from the intense heat of the explosion. The rim of the surrounding space mountains was darkening, as the cloud of hot plasma that had once been an unstoppable armored monster rapidly expanded, turning from whitish-blue, to a mostly transparent and fading orange.

"Good thing the diodes are underground", offered Sanderson.

"Radar?"

"Still offline commandant."

"Launch a buoy, then", ordered Andrews. "And I want three more ready to deploy instantly."

"Radar probe.... away", said Ramanchandran, his fingers dancing on his controls.

On the visual image, one of the torpedo tubes had opened, allowing a large, fat, tubular object to shoot away. The torpedo shaped object maintained a steady climb, as it's data feed started streaming in information to the command center.

"Correlating data....", reported Daniels with a slight pause,"... tactical view is up."

The largest central monitor switched to it's pre-explosion view, a 3D image of the neighbourhood within 50.000 km of the asteroid.
Several contacts also materialised.

"Contact-Prime reacquired", reported APOLLO. "Vector confirmed", it added, as small arrows popped up around the newly highlighted target on the screen.

"Same heading, but slowing down", said Hauser, reminding the commandant of his existence.

"Trying to turn about", concluded Andrews, as he watched one of the secondary monitors now focused on the assumed-to-be Loroi craft.
It already had signs of battle when jumping in system, but after the recent fight, it looked far worse for wear. It's outer hull was filled with gaping rents, a spiderweb of cracks connecting the impact points of the enemy ship's gunfire. In some areas, what appeared to be a metallic honeycomb substructure was visible, mangled by heat and shock. By far, the heaviest damage seemed to be concentrated near it's starboard nacelle: the outer mold had been mostly stripped away, with the nacelle seemingly remaining connected only by a tangled web of blasted metal, with darkened cables and beams marking a sharp contrast to the rest of the ships' elegant exterior.

Sure can take a hit, though, thought the commandant. APOLLO had monitored and logged reading from the enemy weapons during the battle, to try and guesstimate the yield the alien weapons were capable of. Andrews only had time to glance at the data during the firefight, but the readings were quite spectacular. By all accounts, one of our ships would have been either mission killed or outright cut to ribbons every time they discharged a volley.

"Ottis?", inquired the XO.

"Lost contact on blast, sir", replied one of the comms officers. "I think it's dead," he continued, motioning towards another monitor displaying the magnified image of the orbital test target.

To say it was damaged was an understatement. Being so close to the explosion, it had lost it's circular shape, with one of its' edges slightly bent inward. The modular, hexagonal, orange plates that served as a contact surface for experimental weapons were fused together on the side closest to the blast, forming a crescent shape around the perimeter, glowing a dull yellow. Large cracks radiated from this fused section, and Andrews could guess that the installation was pretty much a write off. It had been violently showed aside, it's orbit taking it wildly off-course.

"Even with the plate emplacement and heavy armouring, the systems on the other side would've been fried by intense gamma", said Ibaka.

Andrews nodded. Gonna have to send a tug later to fish it.

"Target reacquired", said APOLLO, interrupting his chain of thought.

Simultaneously, a small blue-ish beam impacted the side of the EWT. This time, the jolt was somewhat stronger.

"It's one of the enemy ships, sir", said Ramanchandran in an urgent tone. "It's moving in."

"Caught the Mjolnir dead center", added Daniels. "Lost telemetry."

On the surface image, the view of the experimental weapon's emplacement was clouded by a dome of dust stirred up by the impact. The large, telescope-like structure was barely visible, but a part of it was shining a dull red, and fragments were flying about, signalling major damage.

About thirty degrees above the horizon, surrounded by a red targeting reticle, was an still invisible foe moving downwards on a lazy half circle.

"It's bearing down on us," reported the helmsman shakily. "Energy spike!"

Another bright flash occupied the screen for half a second, once more centered on the Mjolnir.

"One of the smallcraft", said Andrews, as he glanced at the Loroi vessel. It had turned around, but was still trying to cancel it's speed, having overshot the remaining Umiak craft.
The gunboat, for it's part, had turned away from the epicenter of the blast, and was now completing it's deft turn, making a beeline towards Star's End.
Not two seconds later another short pulsation of the targeting reticle informed of a further energy spike, quickly followed by a third blast centered on the EWT.

"Lasers, engage target", ordered Andrews.

"Aye, sir", said the helmsman.

"Torpedoes?"

"Nine primed and ready," reported Ramanchandran. "One tube primed for radar probes."

"Launch the torpedoes, and gimme another probe!"

One shot center to disable actuators, thought the commandant. One to the tip, to disable optics. And one to the rear, to sever lines.. His fears were confirmed: at this range, and with their superior systems, the enemy could snipe them at their leisure, picking off critical spots with precision. The probes would be easy pickings, but he knew he couldn't let the Umiak take the shot, or else he'd be blind. He had to distract them, even if it meant sacrificing ammunition.And all the emplacements are topside, wide open to counter-fire.

On screen, the heavy laser turrets turned slightly, and started painting the dusty sky with thin, barely visible beams. Behind them, a new series of oblong objects exited the launch tubes. One carried on gently, the others swerved and jetted away at high speed.

"Railguns charged", reported another officer.

"Open fire!"

He watched as the turreted barrels moved in place, and swung back with recoil as they discharged their slugs.
The umiak ship had started to dance, zipping around with sharp changes in vector.

Evasive maneuvering, thought Andrews. He'd seen that the torpedoes were far too slow to be able to come close to the target, even if they outnumbered it 9 to 1. It was easily twice as fast in acceleration as they were, and his best hope was that they'd draw some fire from the Umiak vessel.
The railguns were another matter. They could fire faster, didn't need to gain speed, and did just as much damage as a small nuke.
But there's only one battery, he whispered in his head, silently regretting his decision to not emplace more ample firepower.

As if reading his mind, the gunship's target flared again. This time, the blueish beam contacted the squat mass driver emplacement head-on, tearring a rent into it's face, before the blast once more obscured the view in a veil of dust.

Shit!

"System report!"

"Actuators shot," replied Daniels briskly. "Only receiving telemetry from one gun. Functional, but can't aim."

If this is what these guys can do, we're more screwed than we'd thought, thought Andrews. "Does the gun have line of sight clear of the ridge?"

"Yes, sir!"

"Then keep firing!". If we show them it's still online and aggressive, they might dedicate another shot to killing it for good. Internally, he winched at the thought of slowly sacrificing bits of his station to buy time. With the Mjolnir out of commission, and the drivers reduced to loud barking, he knew it was up to the laser emplacements to carry this fight.

Another blue streak shot across the screen, finishing off the mass driver emplacement with another slight jolt to their seats.

Dammit, they're carving us up!. He looked at the zoomed image of the gunship. It was buzzing unpredictably across the screen, but some of the laser fire was finding it's mark. Small puffs of ionized metal boiled off, and soon, the vessel appeared to look like a nicely carved piece of pumice.

But in the meantime, it had taken with it two of the laser installations, one with a dead center wrecking hit, that sent the topside panels of the turret flying; and another with a lucky strike that had severed the communication and power lines buried beneath the regolith. The turret went silent, but the Umiak, underlying their apparent thoroughness, had dedicated to more shots to reducing it to a smoldering piece of space art.

Down to one, in less than 12 minutes thought Andrews.And dodging all our torpedoes to boot. As they'd reach their point of closest approach, he'd instructed APOLLO to detonate them, in the hopes that one might temporarily blind their sensors. So far, though, they'd been far too off target. If we survive this, I'm gonna accelerate the development of those directed energy torpedo warheads. Hell, I'd buy Sanderson a dammed Christmas cake, just to have had some of those on hand.

He was trying to guess the intentions of his enemy. Even if they eliminated all the surface structures, they were taking major damage themselves, having already lost two of their four energy turrets. It would take them too long to blast through the iris that controlled access to the enormous, mile-long, cavity that the base was built around. Even if they did, and methodically glassed everything inside, the Loroi would eventually show up and turn them to mincemeat.

"Sir, bogey accelerating!" called Daniels.

What? thought the commandant, before their likely plan jumped into his mind. They're gonna ram us!

"Target on collision vector", announced APOLLO. "Probability of successful course change at 20 percent and dropping. ETA 35 seconds and counting."

If it had the same type of drive as the larger ship, the blast would be close enough to rip the asteroid to pieces. His eyes darted at the screens and consoles, desperately looking for a solution.

The last heavy laser had been silenced, having absorbed an astounding two direct hits and two glancing strikes. The torpedo tubes were still online, though, with their barely noticeable silhouettes sticking only slightly above ground.

"Load cluster torpedoes! Free fire!"

"Aye, loading clusters", responded Ramanchandran.

The tubes discharged what was to be the last load they'd loose on the enemy. Stubbier than standard torpedoes, these munitions shot away at a blistering 100 G's, firing brilliantly with what Andrews knew, was, essentially, a superconductor catalysed chemical rocket engine. Only burning for 15 seconds, they reached a peak velocity of 15 km/sec, pittifull compared to a driver slug. Once spent, they'd discharge a small cluster of missiles meant to take out targets within close range. A knife-fighting range weapon.

However, his last hopes were quickly dashed. Four of the missiles were destroyed before they even had the chance of finishing their burn. He watched in silence, as the cluster of thirty kinetic kill rockets discharged raced towards the Umiak vessel, impacting near it's rear engine clusters.
The engines sputtered and dies, but the small warheads had no chance of arresting the intruder's momentum, as it barreled on.

"Impact in 13...12..." started APOLLO.

Andrews dared not lock eyes with the people around him.

I tried... he thought sullenly, diggind his fingers into his armrests. He hated fighting from such an exposed, immobile position. If only I had a ship. Just one.

"8...7..." continued the VI, obliviously.

For a moment it paused, the sudden silence deafening.

"Contact reacquired", it reported.

Simultaneously, a beam shot out from below the horizon, above the ridge. The Umiak ship took the hit head on, carrening to the side as if hit by a giant, invisible boxer.

"The Loroi", realised the commandant, before a second shot quickly followed, hitting the interloper on it's side as it violently spun.

Knocked off-course, with it's engines dead, and vector out of control, it fell short of the canyon that housed the base, impacting out of sight several kilometers beyond the surrounding ridge.

The pitch black, airless sky had no substance to reflect the light coming from the explosion, but the shockwave hit the command center hard. People fell to the floor, or flew across consoles, as alarms started blaring. Instantly, the floating monitors has ceased, displaying only static.

Almost tossed out of his seat, the commandor's face smacked into his console. He heards several heavy thuds around him, then several seconds of silence that seemed to turn into minutes.
He found himself face down, his hands to either side of his head, atop his command console.

Slowly lifting his, now lightened head, he gazed around. The officers had been strapped in, and were apparently alright. Hauser shot up from the floor, more worried than injured. The scientists, though, seemed worse for wear.

"Status report"?

Several seconds passed, before one of the command staff slowly answered.

"No detectable pressure loss", he reported. "Power and air outages on decks E1, F7, and T6".

"Have response teams fan out. Search for..." he paused for a moment, trying to contain his dizziness. "...any signs of structural failure. And get those lines up and running again."

"Sir," reported Daniels, "bogey is off the radar. Last telemetry indicates impact in the far side of the roid, about 13 km from here."

"Send a probe to confirm impact, and get me visual!"

"On it, sir!"

"So... we made it?", asked Diane slowly standing up.

"I'd say we might have pulled off an epic magic trick", offered Ibaka, already on his feet.

"Dying twice in half an hour?", answered the xenobiologist skeptically. "Let's hope no one asks for an encore."

"Visuals reestablished, standby", reported the helmsman.

The images from the surface looked similar to what they's been before, only this time the sky was filled with ejecta from the impact and dust from the heavy fighting. In the low gravity, the particles floated lazily on long, barely arching trajectories.
The mangled , charred remains of the weapons emplacements were clearly visible, slowly radiating their remnant heat energy as they moved towards background levels.

The final screen once more came to life, and immediately sent the room into silence once more. Dizzy, tired, still catching his breath, Andrews inhaled sharply, as the damaged but still alive shape of the Loroi destroyer was outlined against the sky. It had arrested it's vectors, and was now hovering silently amongst the ejecta, looming over the now defenceless base like a hungry bird of prey.

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Re: [Fanfiction] A Shout in the Dark

Post by Mr.Tucker »

Soooo, yeah, that marks the end of "Part II - Stella Praecipitans" .
After studying the Insider, I concluded a gunship was about the only thing the TCA could take on... and my money'd still be on the gunship :( . It being an underground orbital installation means it has massive armor, but zero ability to dodge, so the only thing it could do is apply more gun.
Unfortunately, the Umiak would not be morons. The big gun gets taken out first or else it might end up nailing a lucky 1-shot-kill on them; then the railguns, as they become very dangerous at close range; finally the lasers, as, while powerful, they don't do well against heavy armor (which tends to be an Umiak shtick, on most of their ships). The torpedoes are harmless: as long as you don't hit them, they won't hit you. All this with usual methodical brutality.

Thanks for sticking with me! :D

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Re: [Fanfiction] A Shout in the Dark

Post by mwightman »

Well done Sir, may we have more?

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Mr.Tucker
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Re: [Fanfiction] A Shout in the Dark

Post by Mr.Tucker »

mwightman wrote:
Sat Aug 22, 2020 5:41 am
Well done Sir, may we have more?
Aww, hell, this comment's gonna make me work my a** off :lol:

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Re: [Fanfiction] A Shout in the Dark

Post by GeoModder »

Now that was a nice chapter. :)
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Re: [Fanfiction] A Shout in the Dark

Post by JamesAlbinson »

Thank you Mr Tucker, I am enjoying the story very much. Please continue; the whole Outsider theme of coping with predicament, ( a problem with no good solution ), is central to our times.
All the best, James Albinson

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