Sigma
Inactive Member
The Rok'Veru Offensive's Southern Front now built up steam to charge into the less properly defended NMX systems. They had broken the NMX Fleet, destroyed their Fortress World and now, now they were going to claim every single star system of value that they could. That was the reason for deploying two fleets to this front. Even if one were to blunted, the other would still continue its rampage.
4th AASP was spent. Two of its cruiser squadrons were effectively out of action to ship losses or battle damage. The rest were seconded to Grand Admiral Coast's 3rd Assault Fleet to bolster his numbers.
First and Third Cruiser Squadrons were being sent back, after both being whittled down to a handful of ships. They were accompanied by the Fourth Cruiser Squadron, acting as escort. In addition to those units, any other warships that were damaged to the point that they required a Fleet Yard were attached, making it a very somber procession of battered warships.
Grand Admiral Valken was still being treated in Dauntless' medical center so command of the Fleet devolved to Captain Valencia Ironside. Sergeant Phaedra Volkov was, likewise, acting as the Senior Marine until Chief Leon Santiago was cleared for duty.
The Admiral was in a less critical condition than the Chief. All he had was a concussion and a pretty ugly gash on his head. The Chief, however, was touch and go because of his external wounds and internal bleeding. His overexertion during the ground mission, coupled with the triple gravity merely added to the damage.
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Nepleslia Prime, 2 weeks later
News of the success of the Offensive's Southern Front had been greeted with widespread euphoria. It signaled an the beginning of the end to many. For the 4th Fleet ships limping home and their crews, all it meant was that their fight was over for now.
Grand Admiral Coast had led the combined 3rd/4th to conquer SC-2, Sparticus, Svodog, Flarghrishimmi, Kunniumakrflra and Urghaflu.
The Ukk star system was left alone because it had become the rallying point for every NMX warship and military unit in the area. Due to the lone terrestrial planet's mountainous, it was another veritable fortress world. One that was blockaded by the Nepleslian warships, resulting in a stalemate. The NMX forces could break out but at such a cost that any fight after their initial one would doom their chances of reaching NMX lines. So for now, they continued digging in and expanding their existing infrastructure to accommodate the sudden increase in garrison size.
Those victories and territorial gains effectively ended the southward push by the 3rd/4th Fleets. Nepleslia's expansion plans were westward, not southward where it would have to deal more and more with the vacillating Yamataians and their two-faced diplomats.
The larger, strategic picture wasn't well known to the Marines and sailors of 4th Fleet at the time, especially the ones who had returned to Prime.
They were about to have a far more immediate concern, especially the crew of the NSS Dauntless. The return of various damaged units to Nepleslia Prime was no secret. Their return had been heralded by courier boats from Nepleslia to alert the yards to prepare to receive a lot of damaged warships.
And when they had arrived, civilian ships had sailed around them flashing lights, sending illicit if welcome packages, and overall giving them a heroes' welcome. So when yet another merchant ship started pulling alongside the procession, no one on the flagship paid much attention to it. They were home, safe and sound.
Captain Ironside had gone to get some much needed sleep so the duty officer had no plans to wake up the acting Fleet Commander without a very good reason. That merchant ship had slipped in between the Dauntless' escorting cruisers, flashing its lights and doing the usual hero-worship. Until all of a sudden, its starboard cargo loading doors dropped to reveal a jury-rigged broadside of missile launchers. Hatches in its starboard hull dropped down to reveal small laser cannons.
And then Drei started calling out weapons locks and bringing the ship to emergency battle stations. The AI even tried to get the shields powered up. But it was too little, too late. The ambush was perfect as lasers and missiles tore into Dauntless' armored hull. The initial hits were absorbed or deflected by the armor plating but the volume and rapidity of hits ensured the flagship's demise.
One moment, she was a proud, though bruised, warship. Next she had been split in twain, spewing fire and oxygen. The Marines, whose quarters had been father aft had escaped unharmed. They responded by ushering the dazed and confused sailors towards the ship's escape pods and helping preserve the aft end's integrity as much as they could. First amongst those evacuated was the unconscious Grand Admiral. His survival took precedence.
Few from the front escaped. Only three pods launched, one of them containing the raging Captain Ironside, calling out to all the warships around them to target Dauntless' killer and push away all civilian craft.
After flushing its missile tubes, the enemy raider tried to break off and head to where it could jump to FTL speeds. Had the 4th Fleet ships remained as confused as they should have been, the plan might have succeeded. But the Iron Lady's fortuitous escape had given them all that they needed to know. No fewer than three cruiser and four frigates peeled off to chase the merchant ship. The short battle was entirely one-sided as plasma lances ripped out the merchant cruiser's shields, engines and jury-rigged weapons. Then boarding teams in assault shuttles descended onto every airlock, armed to the teeth and looking to take some prisoners and show them some Navy hospitality.
A third of Dauntless' crew escaped their ship's death. Valencia Ironside, who had been sleeping, had been dragged out of her bed by a pair of sailors and shoved into an escape pod before the whole front section lost pressure and vented all of its atmosphere into space. They might have joined her, if not for the sudden depressurization of that section of the ship, in turn causing the automatic seal-and-launch sequence. Someone, somewhere was going to pay for the deaths of so many sailors, so close to home.
The entire Marine contingent had made it out safely after heroically acting as damage control and helping rescue wounded sailors from trapped areas of the ship with their power armor. Now they and the sailors' escape pods floated in space while Fearless picked them up with her shuttles.
By the time the survivors were all safely aboard, the IPG's two warships in the area had arrived to help. It was a grim day for 4th Fleet but it was a blow that they could recover from. And once they did, they would hunt down every man, woman, robot, AI and alien that had had a hand in this attack.
4th AASP was spent. Two of its cruiser squadrons were effectively out of action to ship losses or battle damage. The rest were seconded to Grand Admiral Coast's 3rd Assault Fleet to bolster his numbers.
First and Third Cruiser Squadrons were being sent back, after both being whittled down to a handful of ships. They were accompanied by the Fourth Cruiser Squadron, acting as escort. In addition to those units, any other warships that were damaged to the point that they required a Fleet Yard were attached, making it a very somber procession of battered warships.
Grand Admiral Valken was still being treated in Dauntless' medical center so command of the Fleet devolved to Captain Valencia Ironside. Sergeant Phaedra Volkov was, likewise, acting as the Senior Marine until Chief Leon Santiago was cleared for duty.
The Admiral was in a less critical condition than the Chief. All he had was a concussion and a pretty ugly gash on his head. The Chief, however, was touch and go because of his external wounds and internal bleeding. His overexertion during the ground mission, coupled with the triple gravity merely added to the damage.
----------------------------
Nepleslia Prime, 2 weeks later
News of the success of the Offensive's Southern Front had been greeted with widespread euphoria. It signaled an the beginning of the end to many. For the 4th Fleet ships limping home and their crews, all it meant was that their fight was over for now.
Grand Admiral Coast had led the combined 3rd/4th to conquer SC-2, Sparticus, Svodog, Flarghrishimmi, Kunniumakrflra and Urghaflu.
The Ukk star system was left alone because it had become the rallying point for every NMX warship and military unit in the area. Due to the lone terrestrial planet's mountainous, it was another veritable fortress world. One that was blockaded by the Nepleslian warships, resulting in a stalemate. The NMX forces could break out but at such a cost that any fight after their initial one would doom their chances of reaching NMX lines. So for now, they continued digging in and expanding their existing infrastructure to accommodate the sudden increase in garrison size.
Those victories and territorial gains effectively ended the southward push by the 3rd/4th Fleets. Nepleslia's expansion plans were westward, not southward where it would have to deal more and more with the vacillating Yamataians and their two-faced diplomats.
The larger, strategic picture wasn't well known to the Marines and sailors of 4th Fleet at the time, especially the ones who had returned to Prime.
They were about to have a far more immediate concern, especially the crew of the NSS Dauntless. The return of various damaged units to Nepleslia Prime was no secret. Their return had been heralded by courier boats from Nepleslia to alert the yards to prepare to receive a lot of damaged warships.
And when they had arrived, civilian ships had sailed around them flashing lights, sending illicit if welcome packages, and overall giving them a heroes' welcome. So when yet another merchant ship started pulling alongside the procession, no one on the flagship paid much attention to it. They were home, safe and sound.
Captain Ironside had gone to get some much needed sleep so the duty officer had no plans to wake up the acting Fleet Commander without a very good reason. That merchant ship had slipped in between the Dauntless' escorting cruisers, flashing its lights and doing the usual hero-worship. Until all of a sudden, its starboard cargo loading doors dropped to reveal a jury-rigged broadside of missile launchers. Hatches in its starboard hull dropped down to reveal small laser cannons.
And then Drei started calling out weapons locks and bringing the ship to emergency battle stations. The AI even tried to get the shields powered up. But it was too little, too late. The ambush was perfect as lasers and missiles tore into Dauntless' armored hull. The initial hits were absorbed or deflected by the armor plating but the volume and rapidity of hits ensured the flagship's demise.
One moment, she was a proud, though bruised, warship. Next she had been split in twain, spewing fire and oxygen. The Marines, whose quarters had been father aft had escaped unharmed. They responded by ushering the dazed and confused sailors towards the ship's escape pods and helping preserve the aft end's integrity as much as they could. First amongst those evacuated was the unconscious Grand Admiral. His survival took precedence.
Few from the front escaped. Only three pods launched, one of them containing the raging Captain Ironside, calling out to all the warships around them to target Dauntless' killer and push away all civilian craft.
After flushing its missile tubes, the enemy raider tried to break off and head to where it could jump to FTL speeds. Had the 4th Fleet ships remained as confused as they should have been, the plan might have succeeded. But the Iron Lady's fortuitous escape had given them all that they needed to know. No fewer than three cruiser and four frigates peeled off to chase the merchant ship. The short battle was entirely one-sided as plasma lances ripped out the merchant cruiser's shields, engines and jury-rigged weapons. Then boarding teams in assault shuttles descended onto every airlock, armed to the teeth and looking to take some prisoners and show them some Navy hospitality.
A third of Dauntless' crew escaped their ship's death. Valencia Ironside, who had been sleeping, had been dragged out of her bed by a pair of sailors and shoved into an escape pod before the whole front section lost pressure and vented all of its atmosphere into space. They might have joined her, if not for the sudden depressurization of that section of the ship, in turn causing the automatic seal-and-launch sequence. Someone, somewhere was going to pay for the deaths of so many sailors, so close to home.
The entire Marine contingent had made it out safely after heroically acting as damage control and helping rescue wounded sailors from trapped areas of the ship with their power armor. Now they and the sailors' escape pods floated in space while Fearless picked them up with her shuttles.
By the time the survivors were all safely aboard, the IPG's two warships in the area had arrived to help. It was a grim day for 4th Fleet but it was a blow that they could recover from. And once they did, they would hunt down every man, woman, robot, AI and alien that had had a hand in this attack.
