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CSFV Amazon, New Babylon orbit, UEC Space
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Everybody including Eiji were taken by surprise by the voice that came through the speakers on table, the accent like that of a southwest American type. Before the Captain could come up with a reply the holo projector lit up a holographic form of a human male, replacing the fleet of ships that had just entered in the system.
"I am Captain Christopher Fisher of the Commonwealth Space Fleet. Please repeat where you are from?" He asked in confusion by the man's alleged origins.
"The Separatist Alliance or the Confederacy of Independent Systems, whatever takes you liking. I must say I wasn't expecting to find a human world this far out into the Unknown Regions" His statement caused a few eyebrows to raise over the bizarre claim, and the name this Admiral Laden called this region of space. Eiji scrutinised the unfamiliar Admiral appearing before them. He looked to be in his mid to late 30s and had a notable hook, shaped scar running on the side of his face.
All other features were difficult to make out from the bluish/white hologram, besides the less decorative uniform compared to what he and all the other CSF Naval officers wore.
"Strange indeed. But again Admiral, I must ask what is your business here?" Fisher continued to persist of this mysterious Admiral's intentions
"I've come to stake a claim in this world Captain"
"Stake a claim?"
"Yes, Captain Fisher is it?. The Separatist Alliance are in need of this world" A chill of dread crept up Eiji's back and alarm bells were starting to ring in his head at the tone and manner Laden had put forth his words.
"Well I'm sorry to disappoint you Admiral but you're a few centuries too late. This world is a colony of the United Earth Commonwealth. Perhaps you can move on to another that isn't populated and doesn't belong to another government"
"Funny you should say that. Anyway Captain, this world here is of great strategic value to us in this region. I must demand that you stand aside. If you are worried about the safety of the populace below, you have nothing to fear. We'll take good care of them" It took a bit to stop himself from laughing at the Admiral's incredible 'request' and judging by what Eiji could see, everyone else on the reaction Bridge matched his view.
"Is this guy for real?" Someone muttered around the display.
"No Admiral we will not stand aside. I don't know who the hell you are or where you come from but despite your careful attempts to hide it, it's sounds as if you're in some sort of conflict. The last thing I'm going to let you do is come here and bring your troubles to my people's doorstep. I suggest you leave Admiral, before either of us will do something we'll regret"
"Is that a threat Captain?. By the orders of Count Dooku, I am to claim this world whether your government agrees or not and the Count always gets his way" The impatient Laden tried his best to intimidate the Captain but Eiji could see there was no way Fisher was going to back down from such a buffoon.
"Well I'm sorry to disappoint your superior Admiral, but you are not setting one foot on this world. This is your last warning" With a hard glare Fisher returned the gesture of intimidation, locking his eyes on the arrogant fool.
With a glare of his own and what many would consider a spine chilling smile, Admiral Laden spoke down to the Captain "So be it" His hologram quickly then disappeared. For a brief moment everyone on the Bridge were at a loss for words. Eiji was lost in the thought that they may have just brought their people into a war against an alien government.
Shaking his mind out of his stupor he was the first to utter a word from the stunned crew.
"Captain-san" He said breaking the Captain out of his musing. He watched Fisher eyes scan around the Bridge at the mix of bewilderment and fear on the faces of the men and women of the Amazon, the feelings that was most likely mirrored across both this ship and the rest of the small fleet. The Captain then stood up straight and got to work.
"We best get ready people. Signal all ships to fall into formation and to power up their weapons and shields. Silva, send messages to both Command back home on what we're up against and ground forces to stand by for a possible invasion."
"Yes sir"
"I want all fighters and bombers ready to deploy" Everybody did as they were ordered, all the fear Eiji saw a moment ago was now gone and replaced with calm professionalism.
"Sir!, the enemy are closing in and we've got incoming fighters heading our way" One sailor called over to him, reading off his screen at the multiple images of hostile targets.
"Tell the fighter pilots they have permission to deploy, bombers are to stay back until the enemy is within range" He gave the order, letting Fisher study the enemy movements. The smaller semi circular ships were now shifting to surround the main cruiser acting as frigates, the remainder spread themselves out further into two squadrons.
"Captain message from Command. Reinforcements are en route, hold them off as long as you can" Lieutenant Silva relayed the incoming message from a screen off the projector table.
"Are we still linked to the other ships Silva?"
"Yes Captain"
"To all ships this is Captain Fisher, we've received word that help is on the way. In the meantime pick your targets and make sure that not one of these bastards gets by us"
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Valkyrie 1, intercept course to enemy fighters
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Leading his squadron against an unexpected attack from new found enemy hostiles was not what Valkyrie 1 had on his agenda today. Then again neither was chasing an alien ship from the system. All around him were fellow pilots from Valkyrie wing and other squadrons from the other ships, piloting their Reapers strike fighters toward the on rushing 'Separatist Alliance' starfighters.
His flight were in a V formation and the heads up display in his cockpit showed all systems were green. The sensors picked up the enemy movement, calculating they were at least outnumbered two to one.
"Alright Valkyries stand by and pick your targets"
"Valkyrie 3 target locked"
"Valkyrie 2 target locked"
"Valkyrie 7, got 'em in my sights" The rest of his squadron confirmed weapons lock waiting for the enemy fighters to get a little more closer. The crosshair on his HUD remained green for a few more agonising seconds, ticking away waiting for the lock on to change red. Only a second later to his relief the crosshair changed colour.
"Fire away!" Simultaneously the precision guided missiles of all the defending starfighters launched into the empty expanse between the combatants. One after the other they struck their mark brightening the dark space with fire from the detonating missiles blowing apart the incoming fighter craft.
Valkyrie 1 felt a sense of satisfaction at watching so many blow up before his eyes however, it niggled at him that none of them undertook any maneuvers to dodge the tidal wave of destruction. The scanners showed their numbers had dwindled down to more equal odds as they closed in ot each other.
Blasts of red poured down at his squadron and the surrounding fighters, missing him by a whisker but had clipped several other Reapers either causing them to slow their approach or destroying them outright.
"Damn the bastards have lasers!" Valkyrie 5 called out over the comm.
"Evasive maneuvers!" Valkyrie 1 twisted his fighter to avoid the oncoming fire, managing to catch a glimpse of the alien craft racing by him. He got a better view of the unusual starfighters when he banked his Reaper to meet the opposing force. They were curved in design and coloured in shades of grey and black, the 'head' centred at the back of the body had two red 'eyes' staring back at him.
Drones?, He thought for a second before pressing onto the centre button of his joystick, letting rip the 30mm cannons and tearing the machine fighter to shreds.
"Valkyrie7 to Valkyrie 1, is it me or are these things self controlled?"
"Copy that 7, we've got drone fighters" He confirmed to his fellow pilot knowing the chatter would of been picked up by their ship for further intelligence of the newcomers. Flashes of energy fire, cannon rounds and missile vapor filled his outside view of the cockpit, the CSF pilots all around him locked into dogfights with the new foes.
"Sir, we have bogeys breaking off and heading to the fleet" His HUD singled out the owner's voice as Valkyrie 4.
"Roger that. Valkyrie 4, Valkyrie 3 with me. The rest of you clear the sky of these junk heaps" He ordered the rest of squadron breaking off from the battle with 4 and 3 falling in with him. A glance outside the cockpit Valkyrie 1 spotted another flight follow suit in the direction of the drone fighters moving over to the defending CSF warships.
The automated tracker on his HUD picked out a target and immediately the crosshair turned red. He didn't hesitate for second when he pulled the trigger.
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The raging battle outside between the fighter complement of both sides was all Eiji could focus on. Seeing the 30mm rounds and missiles from Reaper strike fighters and AA guns spouting from the CSF ships lighting up the space around them, tearing apart the machine like fighter craft. The first shots of a new war.
"Captain, the enemy ships are closing in at two hundred thousand kilometres." An Ensign manning one the weapon consoles informed them.
"Only fifty thousand away from acceptable range. Hold it-"
"Incoming fire!" Flashes of red raced down from the Separatist Alliance ships, not accurate fire but some rounds managed to hit a few of the CSF defenders. The Amazon got the brunt of the opening volley, causing everybody onboard to stagger and hold on to anything near by to regain balance. They weren't alone in the opening attack as the shields of the Dagger's Tip shimmered from a barrage of shots and the Prague had several rounds colliding into her forward section, not enough to bring her shields down thankfully.
"What was that?" Fisher turned to the officers at weapons control consoles, who were skimming through the data the computer was detailing of the opening attack.
"Plasma based weaponry sir, and it's powerful. Our shields are down to 92 percent" The other Ensign at weapons control reported back the computer's readings.
"They're in acceptable range now sir" Eiji confirmed the weapons range from a nearby console, numbers running up and down the screen for targeting distances, recharge percentage and the like.
"All ships fire!" The front of the Amazon and all the CSF ships showed the powering up of their main gun, the Particle Beam Cannon. Eiji knew the cruiser had the advantage over its fellow compatriots in that the Amazon possessed two of them, compared to the others who only had one but nevertheless all had a mighty kick to them. A build up of yellow energy from the barrels was briefly shown before within a blink of an eye, the yellow beams blasted out toward their unfortunate targets.
Eiji and the other personnel of the CSF defenders watched in anticipation as all shots hit their mark. The Amazon's own two blasts smashed right into a frigate to the starboard side of the lead ship, turning it into nothing but exploding debris. The beam shots from the destroyers took out two more frigates whilst their own frigates left one adrift after having, what Eiji presumed, it's Bridge blown off and the rest with visible signs they had taken some hefty damage.
"Give the bombers permission to deploy. Order them to target all remaining frigates. Bring the mass drivers to bear on the ships defending the lead cruiser and fire two salvos of torpedoes at the flagship" The orders were carried out without question. Eiji knew it was a tactic to take out the support ships to give them a better chance to concentrate on battling the enemy cruisers, or holding them off until the reinforcements arrived.
The sight of mass driver rounds filled up the view window, firing from the light and medium sized guns pouring down to the Separatist Alliance ships. The torpedoes launched from the pods below the bow racing through the fray, avoiding the electromagnetic projectiles firing away at the opposing ships.
"Captain, the Knife's Edge and Dagger's Tip are sustaining heavy damage, they request permission to-" Silva's sentence was cut short by the mid section of the Dagger's Tip breaking apart unable to withstand the concentrated fire. The Scimitar class frigate blew apart with chunks of it's titanium hull drifting off in different directions, pieces hitting off the nearby Jumping Leaper and Canberra.
"Good God, those poor souls" Someone said aghast amongst the shocked faces. Eiji gave a quick inward pray to the hundreds of soul that had just perished before his eyes.
"Uh sir, the Knife's Edge is requesting it disengage and repair its shield generators" Silva relayed the message, visibly horrified by the loss of a ship he was just going to mention in his report.
"Tell them to take cover behind the Prague and hurry the hell up!" It wasn't to be unexpected to lose ships in a battle but it still visibly angered the Captain to see a ship and colleagues under his command snuffed out right before his own eyes.
One of the Separatists oddly shaped cruisers was advancing ahead of the enemy fleet along with it's remaining support ship, with the obvious intent to try and outflank them.
"Order the Canberra and the Fury to intercept those ships" His orders relayed, Eiji joined the Captain in watching the destroyer and frigate break away from formation and head out to meet the approaching pair.
The Canberra traded fire with the cruiser while the Fury unleashed a barrage of Crossbow missiles toward the opposite frigate, the quick dispatch of smoke showing the missile trails. The enemy frigate showed it hadn't recovered from the earlier attack from the particle cannons, so it didn't take long for the missiles to bring down its defences and sections began to explode and become engulfed in flames.
The Fury'smain gun was building up and ready to finish off it's prey when three large red plasma rounds smashed into the front section of the Fury from the crippled ship. Another blast slammed into the bow of the CSF frigate depleting its shields and tore into the titanium hull, though it wasn't enough to stop oncoming yellow particle beam shooting across and putting the grief stricken ship out of it's misery.
The victory was short lived as a volley of well placed shots from the other cruiser smashed into the damaged frigate, gutting the Fury leaving it listing and dead in space. The offending cruiser was now exchanging fire with the Canberra in a old style broadside attack much like a 19th century ship of the line.
Crimson high energy plasma bolts and amber electromagnetic slugs were exchanged between the dueling vessels, ripping into each other like two beasts battling for supremacy. The Canberra's shields held for a time but eventual whittled away and had its hull integrity tested by the enemy's high energy shots slamming into its side sections.
In kind the Geneva class destroyer opened up its missile pods and unleashed a torrent of firepower into the Separatist ship. The light, medium and heavy mass drivers brought down the cruiser's shields allowing the missiles to hit vulnerable and exposed parts. Eiji watched the back support beam of the cruiser crack then bend at the multiple missile hits, breaking off and floating away from the main body of the ship.
The Canberra finally avenged the Fury by sending a wave of missiles into the now unshielded hangar bay, destroying the enemy vessel in quite the explosive fashion.
"Particle Beam Cannons are at hundred percent charge" The voice of one the Ensigns at weapons control brought him back to the main battle.
"Aim for the remaining support ships then bare everything on the flagship" The Captain ordered, observing the bombing run on the twin dome ships at the back of the enemy fleet. The Knife's Edge had now return to the battle and it too was firing it's Particle Beam Cannon at the invaders, cutting into one of two remaining frigates.
From originally being outnumbered to defeating a surprisingly powerful and unknown foe at the cost of two of their own ships, it felt somewhat pleasing to the Lieutenant commander. The main guns of the Amazon tore into the last escorting cruiser and turned it into another collection of floating junk, leaving just Laden's flagship and the soon to be gone dome ships.
"Captain, the lead ship is halting its advance" Navigation announced as they all witnessed the last enemy ships stop making a beeline to their position but were continuing to fire down at them.
"We've shown our teeth and now they are worried" Were the confident words of Eiji, backed by the other officers around the display table.
"Maybe so Lieutenant commander" A flash of an exploding enemy fighter from a Reaper sweeping by lit up the Bridge, leaving the rest of the crew to shake hands at the apparent victory over this Separatist Alliance invaders.
"Sir we've got more incoming!"
"Friendly?"
"No sir, over twenty more contacts detected behind the enemy fleet" The junior officer's words barely left her mouth when 22 more ships appeared alongside Admiral Laden's flagship.
"God almighty" Fisher's eyes grew like saucers at the new arrivals. More of the same types of ships stared from across the other side of the battle, with the exception of a large bulbous, circular ship now dominating the fleet.
"What do we do sir?" Eiji quizzed in his ears, along with everybody waiting for his response. Heavily outnumbered and outgunned there was only two possible options, fight or retreat.
"We are not abandoning those on the ground, is that understood?" The burning determination in Fisher's eyes told him and the others around him that this wasn't up for debate.
"By your order Captain-san" The tension in the room was of nerves and fear but duty overid the unwelcome emotions.
"We must hold on until the rest of Second fleet can get here"
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Port Alexander, New Babylon, Planetside
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The normally busy streets of Port Alexander were a flurry of activity of a different kind. Thousands of troops, marines and militia were scurrying around setting up defensive positions and putting up weapon emplacements for the inevitable invasion.
"Hey Ben, what's made everyone more edgey?" Michelle asked walking over to his position, holding her rifle loosely in one hand as he piled up the last sandbag on top of newly created machine gun nest.
"I don't know" Ben said taking a ganders around the row of shops that were being converted into makeshift fortifications. He then spotted Henrik power walking past them and called out to him "Sarge, what's going on?"
"The Amazon has reported more hostiles have entered the system. There's a very high chance they won't be able to fight them off this time" Their conversation was interrupted by two Prowlers rushing down the end of the street "Make sure everyone's ready Howard, I've got a feeling we've got a tough fight ahead of us" Henrik then left them and carried on walking at a fast pace in the same direction as the Prowlers.
"Do they even know who it is that the urchins are shooting up, up there?" She pointed up to the sky, presumably where the Navy were scraping it out with the enemy.
"It ain't the Purists that for sure"
"How do you know?" Natalie jumped over the machine gun nest then stood in front of him with her arms crossed.
"I spoke with Captain Pires about half an hour ago and he said the copied transmission they got from the Amazon showed they were dealing with humans"
"Legion?"
"Nope. They called themselves the Separatist Alliance, or something like that"
"They're probably an offshoot of the Legion" Dan came over with Victor to join in with the speculation of this new enemy they were soon to come up against.
"Since when did a bunch of pola dupeta terrorists get their hands on battle ready spaceships?" Victor snorted at the idea.
"Guys listen, whoever the hell the CSF are fighting up there it isn't Legion. Now come on, we've got to make sure this area's secure enough in case our new friends show up" Taking one last look up at the battle raging above their heads, Ben lead his squad down the other end of the street. Four Widowmaker tanks rolled by them turning off at a road in the direction of the Alexander leisure centre being used as a base of operations.
"You know I think the Sarge is right" Michelle said aloud to the group "We're gonna have a tough fight ahead of us"