It is during the Second Interstelar War. The Federation and Khanate are fighting each other to determine who will conquer and who will be conquered.
But there are other forces out there, some friendly, some not. This story is a battle report about an encounter that is not.
Admiral Welson looked at the plot in his tank. He had managed to lead his task force into a system that was apparently undefended by any Khanate ships, yet boasted a large space station. This would be an ideal location to use as a blooding for his fleet.
He ordered his ships to make full speed for the planet when suddenly. . .
"Sir, I am picking up nuclear detonations, bearing 087 by 024. Looks like we're not the only intruders here sir" said Ensign Welch.
"Maneuvering, bring the fleet around to the source of those explosions. We just might have an ally in this war against the Tabbies."
It took several minutes for his ships to approach, and during that time, the explosions died away, and now there was no activity along that bearing. In case of any Orion survivors, he brought his ships to General Quarters, making sure that if the Orions tried to bag him, they would get bagged instead. After all, his Revenge class BB was escorted by two of the refited King Louis BCs, and he had managed to pick up three each of the refitted Oregon CAs, Collingwood CLs, Scipio DDs, and New York CTs.
A new contact was sensed by the Hive Drone. It had encountered the metallic ships on its way to the life bearing planet, and had reduced the ships with spore guns and hullgrinders of its small fleet. The injured ships were left behind, and the combat capable ships glided on their new course towards the new prey. In its fleet it had a Spore Blast Battlecruiser, 3 Grinder light cruisers, itself, and 3 Ramsnout Destroyers. The destroyers had not had an opportunity to release their troops in the previous fight, but the Hive drone planned to give them the chance in this one.
The ships turned gracefully towards the contact, eager to hunt, kill, and consume.
Admiral Welson turned to his sensor chief and said, "What do you mean living! That's impossible!"
"Sir, from all the indications on their drive field fluctuations, the computer ran a pattern match between it and found that the closest match was an insect's brain waves. But these are far more detailed than normal, meaning that the ships could be sentient. Think of it sir, a totally new species that lives in space!"
"Harumph. I still say that the sensors need to be recalibrated. In the meantime, start sending the first contact protocols at the ships."
"Yessir."
The Hive Drone looked over its forces, and compared them to the approaching force. The fleets were potentially equal, but the creatures in the boarding ships would change that.
In the meantime, it began channeling the material from its stomachs to the generation chamber in case reinforcements were needed.
It had been 3 hours since the transmission had been made. With no response received so far, the normal procedure was to send forward a couple ships to make first contact. But if these were Orions, that would be suicide for the ships chosen. Admiral Welson decided to instead approach with his entire force in one location.
His forces were just now getting into the outer edge of capital missile range and. . .
"Sir, those ships are accelerating to combat speed. DEAR LORD, they're still accelerating! Their battlecruiser is accelerating to roughly .13c sir! Nothing we have can go that fast except for corvettes! And the destroyers are passing them!
Admiral Welson stared at the tactical screen in horror. Those ships had closed to within capital missile range, but it seemed that they could even close inside of that if they chose.
But the destroyers had gotten a little too far ahead of their fellows, and he ordered all of his ships in range to fire on them. But long range worked against them, and out of the 15 force beams fired, only 8 hit. The CAs fired their launchers at the second destroyer, and managed to get 8 of them to hit. In the shock of the order, the captain forgot to fire the second salvo (Ed. note, I forgot) at the destroyer. Both of the two destroyers targeted lost their shields, but their armor was thick.
Now it was the turn for the Battleship/Battcruisers datagroup to fire with capital missiles. Fourteen missiles fired, but only 7 were able to hit. Admiral Welson's jaw nearly hit the floor, as the destroyer wasn't even streaming air!
Pain! The ramming ships were being hurt by the metal prey. The time for distraction was at hand, and the generator went to work. Three spore mines were generated, and they were channeled to the vacuum beyond while their carapaces hardened for space.
All of its ships started to close, to prevent the destruction of the ramming ships.
In the meantime, the destroyers commenced a weaving pattern to confuse enemy fire.
The Hive Drone ordered a muscular contraction, and the 3 Grinders each fired all eight of their hullgrinder weapons at the metal vessels that were next to the ramming ships. Satisfaction went through its mind as all three vessels targeted were destroyed.
What the he-
That was the first thought that went through the mind of the Admiral as he watched the fire coming in from the light cruiser sized creatures that had just fired. The weapons fired had no relation to anything in anyone's inventory, and appeared to be some form of energy packet.
But his light cruisers hadn't been targeted, and his captains seemed to read his mind as they fired their force beams and standard missiles at one destroyer. The 6 force beams fired resulted in only 3 hits, but all standard missiles fired hit the destroyer. The scanner crews could see viscous liquids oozing out of the ship, and cheered at their success.
Pain! The rammer ship was in trouble, and the Hive Drone reviewed its decision to have the ramming ships in the front of the fleet. But the Spore Blast vessel was in range, and it cut loose with all of its spore guns and its hullgrinder at one of the vessels attacking the ramming ship. The hullgrinder missed, but the spore guns hit with 2 of the three volleys fired.
Since they did not penetrate the shields sufficiently, there would be no residual corrosion, but the shields were down for the next volley of shots.
The cruiser captains saw the battlecruiser fired, but their concentration was on the destroyer that was oozing fluid. They loaded their Was with standard missiles, and fired off a full salvo. Thirteen missiles hit, and the destroyer was an exploding cloud of fluids and fusion residue.
Admiral Welson watched the destruction of the first destroyer, and ordered his capital missiles and force beams trained on the second destroyer. Missiles flashed out, force beams pounded, and the second destroyer was damaged also. It was now oozing fluid, and its wounded state was like blood in the water for the Federation ships.
Anger! One of the ships had been destroyed! The Hive Drone raised its anger, forced it into hate, and channeled it towards two of the ships that had destroyed the ramming ship.
Lieutenant Walker had cheered with the others as they had destroyed the alien destroyer, but everybody suddenly seized up in pain. The waves of hatred and anger coursing through their brains caused a couple people to pass out, but most stayed awake, and remained at their stations, but everybody was holding their head to reduce the pain they had suffered.
The federation cruisers now fired their second volley of standard missiles at the second destroyer, and managed to hit with thirteen missiles out of twenty one fired. 'Lucky thirteen' thought the captain.
The generator organ rippled, shuddered, and gave life to two new spore mines. They were fully mature, but the forced growth would cause them to die within minutes. But spore mines are not intended for long-term operations anyway.
In the meantime, the Hive Drone stared at the ships that had fired on its destroyers. It hated them, and its mind reached out again...
Commander Vance was overseeing the reloading and prepping of the next wave of standard missiles. He knew that once those bigger ships got into range, his ship would be under attack, so if the missiles were ready before these aliens were, they would pay. He was just turning to receive the report from tactical concerning the next target when. . .
Lieutenant Baker was on board the second cruiser overseeing the targeting systemry. He had been responsible for having all of the missiles fired hit their target, and he planned on doing it again. His weaponry crews grinned with him, and they turned to their consoles when suddenly. . .
Captain Bronson looked over his ship. They had done poorly in the last volley of standard missiles, only hitting with one missile out of seven fired. And that was at optimum range too! He turned to his tactical section to tell them to get their heads out of their. . .
The psychic wave from the Hive Drone reached the three cruisers.
Commander Vance held his head as the sensation rolled over him, flooding every part of his body with pain. Unable to look around, he was unaware of his fellow personnel holding their heads as well. Everybody on board the first cruiser felt the pain lance through their heads, but they were able to shake enough of it off to keep going. They could keep going, but not very well.
Lieutenant Baker gasped as a white hot poker of pure agony seared his brain. Unable to keep his balance, he fell to the deck with his suit making a clatter as it knocked aside several crewmembers who were also in pain. He held his head and screamed and his whole section screamed and then their universe went dark as they mercifully passed out.
Captain Bronson Twitched in his chair as the overwhelming waves of energy lashed through him. His whole bridge crew was also convulsing, each alone in the hell between their ears. The entire ship was wrapped in the pain, and then the whole ship's crew simply passed out due to their minds never having been intended to that kind of stress.
The light cruisers had no idea what had happened to the cruisers, but the com channels were full of screams from them. Fearing the worst, the light cruisers divided all their weaponry against the closest targets, and 18 standard missiles were targeted on one enemy light cruiser and 6 force beams on another. Twelve of the standard missiles hit, but all 6 of the force beams hit. The two cruisers had had their shields knocked down, and were ready to be pounded again.
The Hive Drone registered the damage to the Grinders, and ordered them to open fire on the metal vessels with the many metal launchers, instead of reloading their one-shot orifices. Six shots were volleyed off against the single cruiser chosen for the "honor", and all six shots hit. Shields died, armor blew, and the hullgrinders ate deep into the bowels of the ship, finally becoming sated after eating their way past three of the cruiser's engine rooms.
Admiral Welson looked at his signal section with horror. Whatever had happened, his cruiser squadron was in bad shape; heck, one cruiser simply was not answering any signals sent to them.
But his battleship and battlecruisers had been unaffected by whatever that was, and the volleyed all their weaponry at the one light cruiser.
Nine capital missiles, two force beams and one primary managed to score on the light cruiser, causing it to ooze bodily fluids, lose two of its symbiotic engines, and the parasitic overthruster as well.
Rage! They had injured one of the Grinders! The Hive Drone sent a command to the Spore Blast battlecruiser, triggering all of its weaponry at one of the light cruisers.
The hullgrinder missed, but all three spore gun rounds managed to impact directly on the ship's armor. The spores would have a nice effect, as it enjoyed the insect equivalent of cackling laughter.
The first two cruisers had managed to blink away the stars from most of their vision, and saw the light cruiser oozing its internal fluids. Flipping switches, they fired a total of eighteen standard missiles at the light cruiser. But due to the psionic barrage they had taken, they were only able to get six missiles to hit.
But the light cruiser was in serious trouble, and the light cruiser knew it, along with the Hive Drone.
The Corvettes that had been following behind the battleline suddenly turned, and streamed their weaponry at the wounded light cruiser. Two of three standard missiles fired hit, along with one of the three primaries fired.
But the generated spore mines were in an optimum position. The enemy cruiser had been crippled by the psionic barrage, and one of the spore mines streaked in, closing to proximity range and detonated. It ached for the detonation/orgasm that would mean success, and it achieved it.
Nuclear shockwave hammered the shields flat, and the corrosive compounds began their inexorable eating away at the cruiser.
The commander of the light cruiser clutched at his head where he had hit it when those solid rounds had impacted on his ship. Even now incredible reports were pouring in from the areas hit. The stuff was still eating away! It was still corroding at the innards of his ship, reducing its combat capability. But it did seem to be slowing down, and that was the only hope he had that his ship would survive this fight.
The Hive Drone was pleased by the success of the spore mine, but the light cruiser was about to be killed. It let the anger at that thought fill its mind, and reached out to punish those who would injure its fellow ship.
In the meantime, its generator burbled, and squeezed, but the material within could not be shaped quickly enough, and the material was held to create more ships.
Lieutenant Baker was still holding his head after that mental attack, or whatever it was. He was turning towards his tactical section to see if they had managed to recover from the previous wave. They were still a little shaken, but were still combat capable. He was just turning back to his console when the next wave of pain struck.
This time it seemed even worse than before! He held his head while the waves crashed over him, and he was not alone. All over the ship, people were tumbling to the decks as the waves of searing pain blasted them where they were. Even the captain, who was normally called the Ice Queen, cried out in pain as the force overwhelmed her head. Nobody on the ship was spared, and within a couple seconds, nobody on the ship was conscious either.
Similar waves washed over the three light cruisers, sending their crews into convulsions from the pain. Two of the light cruisers suffered total loss of crew due to the pain, while the third managed better, losing "only" forty percent of its crew to total catatonia from the effect.
Admiral Welson had no idea what was happening aboard his cruisers now, but the battlecruiser was in range of his capital missiles and beam weaponry, and he ordered all batteries to cut loose again(Ed note - to make up for missing the previous forgetting of Wa, I allowed the primaries to fire every turn). The capital missiles did far worse this time, only hitting with six missiles, but the force beams did better, hitting with four out of six fired. Only one of the two primary beams fired by his battleship hit though.
But the results were spectacular, as the living battlecruiser roiled under the assault, straining its shield organs to handle the blasts. But they were unable to handle the effect, and the shields failed for the battlecruiser, exposing its drive field and armored hull to the weapons arrayed against it.
The corvettes saw their chance, and fired another salvo of standard missiles and primary beams at the battlecruiser. They managed to hit with all their standard missiles, but only one primary beam, and the living ship started to ooze fluid from half a dozen holes in its thick skin.
Rage! The Spore Blast was being hurt by the mites that attacked it! The Hive Drone angered at the small ships that had dared to injure the Spore Blast ship, and triggered muscle contractions in the ship, targeting one spore gun against each corvette, with one hull grinder against the first corvette and the one shot hullgrinder against the second. All the shots against the first two corvettes hit, knocking their shields down and causing atmosphere to spew out, but the last corvette nimbly avoided the single round sent at it.
The Hive drone raged at the third, but a look at the first two calmed its rage slightly, due to their obvious damage.
Admiral Welson stared at the ruin of his two corvettes. His scanner sections still had no idea what those energy packets were, but they were very powerful. It also reinforced his proposal that corvettes be only for customs work, not full-line warships. But no, nobody wanted to listen to him.
The third light cruiser was within range, and the Ensign in charge ordered a full strike against the battlecruiser, determined to damage it some more before another wave like what had hit them before arrived again.
But his targeting solutions were wrong, and every shot missed its target.
The Hive Drone observed the ineffectual metal fire from the metal ship, and gloated. Obviously this species was inefficient, using individuals to do actions better suited to a collective. It decided to show the beings how wrong their ways were, and ordered both of the still healthy Grinders to open fire on the disabled cruiser with their hullgrinders.
The creatures had matured for this purpose, and crawled their way into the firing tract. There, the tract convulsed around them, gripping them with fields that defied explanation, and hurled them at their targets. Only three were able to hit, but those three were enough to rip away shields and armor on the targeted cruiser.
The spores fired earlier at the corvettes began their insidious work, and another engine room on each failed due to the rot creeping around the defenses set up. The first light cruiser also took damage from the creeping spores, losing an engine room as well. But the third Cruiser had been hit by a spore mine, and the spores raced around all the defenses placed, corroding everything in their path, from metals to circuit boards to people. In short, everything on the third cruiser was infected by spores, and the ship drifted like a lifeless hulk.
The Hive Drone saw the danger represented by the long range metal weapons on the larger ships, and maneuvered away from them.
Admiral Welson saw that the alien ships would soon be in a position to overwhelm his remaining ships, and the small kamikaze ships pursuing him didn't help any either. He immediately got on the com with the third corvette, ordering its captain to leave the battle immediately, and rendezvous with the defense around the Khanate world they had spotted. In the meantime, his force would engage the enemy to attempt to create sufficient losses for them.
The Hive Drone saw the fleeing vessel, and "laughed" when its destination was determined. That planet infested with the weak life was its next destination, and if the weak vessel wished to go there, that was acceptable. It tried to generate life again, but the material was unable to achieve the necessary sentience.
In the meantime, one of the Ramsnout destroyers tried to ram the first enemy cruiser, but the cruiser was able to dodge the attempt. No matter, the destroyer would simply try again.
While the Hive Drone was concentrating on its life preparations, the cruiser that had been hit hard by the psychic barrage had recovered. Lieutenant Baker looked at his console, and saw the bleeding alien BC. His fist slammed down on the firing button, and six standard missiles streaked towards the injured ship.
But the battlecruiser was still a difficult target, and only three missiles hit. The fluids continued to flow from the battlecruiser, even as its internal blood stream began cutting off flow to its extremities near the ruptured area.
The Hive drone felt the pain come in from the hits, and knew that so little metal could not have injured the Spore Blast if the larger metal weapons hadn't hit first. It then turned its rage against those ships, and let it fly forth.
Admiral Welson grinned as the missiles slammed their nuclear fury into the battlecruiser. He enjoyed their glee while it lasted, then he found out what the other ships had felt while under the psychic attack. He grabbed his head while the waves of pain wrapped their hold on him, and his crew as well. Everybody screamed their pain, then slumped over their consoles.
The first battlecruiser felt the pain as well, but it was concentrated in the tactical section. Everybody there stiffened for a moment, and half of them simply passed out. The second battlecruiser felt the wave as well, but it seemed to have no effect on them. But the battleship slowed to a halt, its helmsman and engineer unable to keep the drive properly modulated for movement.
The third corvette felt a minor wave of pain, and guessed that the alien battleship was to blame. The immediately fired their Wa and primary beam, but only managed to hit with one standard missile. Cursing at the crews, the NCOs told them that probably would probably only have a couple more shots before they were out of range.
The Hive Drone recoiled at the horror of the assault on itself, then relaxed as the source was identified by its neural sensors and sensitive antennae. The small vessel was no threat, and any damage that it inflicted could be easily repaired. In the meantime, the Grinders were ordered to fire on the metal vessels that were their size.
Hullgrinders trundled along and were fired out, with the first light cruiser targeted taking both hits, and the second only taking one.
The Battlecruiser captains hurriedly decided which target to fire on also, and their missiles flashed out at the alien battleship. Seven capital missiles and two force beams hit, and the shields were dangerously low for the Hive Drone.
Fury! How dare those vessels attack itself! The Hive Drone raged against the metal vessels sending their metal weapons against it, and ordered the Spore Blast to concentrate its fire on the closer of the two battlecruisers.
One hullgrinder and two spore guns hit, and the corrosive spores began their insidious work again.
The light cruiser captain saw the alien battlecruiser fire at the missile battlecruiser, and decided to reply in kind by firing two standard missiles and one force beam at the battlecruiser. More fluid poured out from the wound, increasing the difficulty of the creature's healing systemry.
The Hive Drone felt the hits, but decided to continue its original attack against the enemy metal ship. Firing both of its spore guns, it was only able to hit with one, but with more spores on the target, that would mean more corrosion going on.
The first light cruiser engine crew watched in horror as the spores burst through a vent, and fired their loads into the engine. The corrosive spores landed on the main power transfer systemry, and vapors wafted up from melting metal and circuitry. The engine died, unable to handle the damaging effects of the spores, now filling all the spaces in it.
Commander Boskene, on the first battlecruiser, watched an exterior image in horror, as the spores were actually living in space! They were melting the hull of the ship for their nutrition, corroding away the ship's protection from the vacuum.
The spore mine creature saw its target slow ahead. It was within range! The creature closed to its target, and detonated its corrosive load. The nuclear shockwave did the most damage, but the spores that made it were still alive, and they fed on the metal and alloy of the battleship's hull in their quest for life.
Another spore mine closed within range of the first battlecruiser, and detonated its payload as well. The second battlecruiser was not spared either, as the third spore mine closed and detonated as well.
The final spore mine was given a different target though. Instead of one of the ships currently engaged, it was told to pursue the corvette that was leaving, and if possible destroy it.
The crippled vessels were attractive to the Hive Drone, but they could be retrieved after the battle by sending boarding troops to consume any living beings still on board.
In the meantime, the Hive Drone decided to make sure that any beings still alive on board the large vessels were not able to interfere with the light cruisers.
Admiral Welson shook his head and looked around at his bridge crew beginning to recover from the assault. He had never felt anything like that before, and he hoped he never would again. The massive explosion and the red lighting told him an even more important story though. He looked over the logs, and saw the massive explosion that had wiped out his shields and armor, and the record of the corrosion as it infiltrated his ship.
He even saw logs where crewmembers that had passed out had been exposed to the spores, and the twitching that they had done even unconscious told him that being touched by the spores was NOT A GOOD THING.
But the psychic wave washed over his crew again, and he fell down. This time, the wave seemed even more painful, and his brain exploded from the pressure put on him. The remaining crew was at a loss due to the sudden explosion, but the pain filled their heads too, and they passed out.
The second battlecruiser got hit also, but all the people on board merely tensed up in their chairs for a few seconds, them looked back at their screens, blinking back the stars that filled their vision.
But the alien battleship was in range, and the single capital missile launcher fired its shot at the creature. Their targeting was dead on though, and the missile hit.
Fury! The creatures in the damaged ship had injured itself! But the spores would soon claim it, and the Hive Drone turned its attention to other matters, namely the cruiser and light cruiser near the Grinders. It ordered their firing, and four hullgrinders shot out. The cruiser only took one hit, but the light cruiser took two hits, severely damaging it.
Lieutenant Baker saw the battleship and battlecruisers get hit, and winced at the power of the explosions involved. 'Living creatures did that' he thought. Shaking his head in disbelief, he ordered targeting on the damaged alien battlecruiser. Four standard missiles lanced out, three hit, and more fluid spilled into space.
Rage! The Spore Blast ship was hurt again. The Spore blast wanted to hurt the ship that was hurting it, and the Hive Drone agreed. The Spore Blast immediately fired both its remaining spore guns and its hullgrinder at the enemy ship, and hit with all three shots.
The light cruisers saw the battlecruiser open fire again, and the damage inflicted on their ship convinced them that it was still in the fight. They immediately fired off a salvo of eight standard missiles, and three force beams. Five missiles and one beam hit, scoring deeper into the living ship and towards its heart.
However, the first light cruiser captain had had a different idea. His ship was damaged, but the alien light cruiser was almost destroyed. Two standard missiles and one force beam lashed out, and the alien ship died under his fire.
Death! One of the Grinders was killed! The Hive drone saw the shots, and felt the pain in its mind. But it refused to let that pain cripple it, and fired both of it spore guns at the offending ship, scoring hits with both shots.
Very little movement occurred within the Terran forces, but the alien ships were still alive and full of fight.
Even more important was the spores on board the heavier ships, which proceeded to blow their way past anything, to consume anything they could before they died. The battleship took more corrosive damage, with damage control teams doing their utmost to stem the tide. The first battlecruiser's crew watched in horror as the spores crept past everything they tried, and spread to their skins. They screamed in pain as the questing tendrils went to their brains as the spores sprouted in their skin and lungs. The spores covered everything in the battlecruiser, and soon the only living things were the spores.
The second battlecruiser also took corrosive damage, but the damage control teams were able to halt it short of the last engine room. But it had corroded the oxygen plant, so everyone knew that they would only last a couple of days before dying.
Lieutenant Baker joined the group of survivors huddling in the last engine room. His tactical section had been hit hard, and over half his crew had been killed by the exploding whatever it was. Now the corrosion had started, and everyone was packed into the small space in an attempt to extend their lives another few minutes. But one vent gave way, and the spores rushed in, eager for the living bodies to breed in. And so the second cruiser was out of action also.
A similar fate was delivered to the first light cruiser, and its crew was turned into food for the spores.
The third corvette, the one that had been told to run, stared in horror at the creeping mold that was covering the ships. The screams from the coms told them what was happening, and the spore mine behind them told the crew that if they slowed down they were dead.
The second Grinder looked at the remaining enemy vessel, and triggered a contraction in its hullgrinder organs. The larvae shot out, but only one was able to impact. But that one was fired at close range, and three engine rooms were knocked out by the impact and energy discharge.
The Spore Blast creature was wounded, but it fired its remaining spore gun at the first enemy cruiser, and was rewarded by watching the round impact solidly on the ship's hull.
The Terran second light cruiser didn't see those impacts though, and fired two standard missiles and one force beam at the third alien destroyer. Only one missile hit though, and it didn't even get through the shields.
The third light cruiser joined its partner in firing at the destroyer, and succeeded in hitting with both standard missiles and the force beam. But even that salvo was insufficient to get through the shields.
Anger! They were trying to injure the third Ramsnout. The Hive Drone let its anger fill its mind, and lashed out again at the two offending vessels.
Commander Velon looked at her tactical plot as the single missile hit its target. Curses! Their targeting computer had been giving them fits the prior week, and it seemed that the problem hadn't been fixed yet. Still, the other light cruiser had managed to deliver a full salvo, but that thing hadn't even lost its shields yet! What was that thing, nothing but engine and shield generators? But suddenly something else filled her mind, and . . .
Ensign Baker, aboard the third light cruiser cheered as every shot slammed home on th alien destroyer. If they could cripple each ship in turn, they could possibly win this fight. He kept on thinking that thought right up until. . .
The pain arrived for everyone on board the two vessels. Everybody grabbed the sides of their head, and screamed their pain to the world in an attempt to release some of it. But their efforts were to no avail, and the crews on board both light cruisers passed out.
The Hive Drone felt the minds lapse on board its two selected ships, and decided to improve its situation a little more. Its spore guns swiveled on their joints, and two shots were fired. Only one hit, but the corrosion would go to work on the ship targeted.
To make things even, the Hive Drone ordered the third Grinder to open fire with a single hullgrinder shot against the other of the two vessels targeted in the mental attack. The shot struck home, sending waves of energy cascading over the ship and burning out more components.
The few ships still in the Terran force maneuvered in a way to bring them close enough to damage the alien creatures before they died. Aboard the battleship, the spores continued their work, eating through power conduits for weapons, burning through ventilation ducts, and infecting people all through the ship. The screams echoed, haunting the survivors with a promise of pain.
The second battlecruiser was also feeling the effect of the spores, but the spores were spreading at the same rate as in the battleship. Since the battlecruiser was smaller, this resulted in the entire ship being under the "control" of the spores. The first cruiser took some more corrosion damage from the spores, and the second light cruiser took a little more damage.
The third corvette continued running, and the spore mine followed, like a little puppy that simply wanted to kill the ship. It was less than six light seconds behind, and gaining.
The Spore Blast targeted the enemy light cruiser with its remaining spore gun, and fired off a round. The round traveled straight and true, finding its target, and spreading more corrosive spores to the selected ship.
Captain Cartwright looked around at the state of her battleship. Nobody knew what that corrosive stuff was, but it was breaking past everything they could throw at it. Still, her ship had three force beams left, and she fired them at the enemy battlecruiser, determined to destroy at least one enemy vessel. Only two hit, but the alien battlecruiser was in deep trouble.
Pain! The crippled vessel was hurting the Spore Blast. But a quick glance at the emotions of the creatures on board convinced the Hive Drone that patience would work better, and it focussed its rage against the two enemy corvettes.
Its concentration was dead on, and the entire crew of the first corvette surrendered to the agony and began convulsing, their nervous systems overloaded by the impulses. The second fared slightly better, and half the crew stumbled to the ground, while the rest strove to make up for their comrades. But with no weapons left, and only one engine room, there was nothing thing they could do.
Captain Cartwright stumbled back in horror - the spores had reached the three force beams! Without her weapons, the battleship was little more than a target! She pounded her frustration into the arms of her chair until a drifting spore eliminated her worries.
The second light cruiser took the final damage from the spore, and lost the last engine room. Now the entire ship was infested with spores, only useable by the aliens unless someone decontaminated the interior first. The third light cruiser took damage also, but it hadn't suffered as much damage, and only lost a couple systems from the spreading corrosion.
The Hive Drone looked at the enemy forces, and saw that three vessels were still capable on injuring its forces, but decided to do something about that. It gathered its fury at the injuries done to its fellow ships earlier, and hurled that fury at the metal enemies.
Chief Engineer Gaston looked over her engines on the battleship. She had worked hard to keep the engines running, and now those blasted spores were reaching into her ship and snuffing the life out of each one. She turned to give her crews a hand, trying to keep her engines going, when everyone suddenly froze in their place, locked in the agony of the neural assault as it poured over them.
Commander Vance held his head after he woke up. It seemed as though his head wanted to split open, and if they survived this, they would be requesting a LOT of aspirin. But the mental wave hit him again, and the agonies of before came back to remind him. But he was able to stay conscious, and only swayed at his station, trying to concentrate on something besides the pain.
The third light cruiser fared worse, as forty percent of its crew went into catatonia from the blast. The remainder were forced to do their jobs for them, greatly decreasing the ship's remaining abilities.
Excellent. The small craft are helpless, and the Ramsnouts are in position. Ram!
The Ramsnout destroyers took the orders from the Hive Drone, and rammed their assigned targets. Their heavy prows pierced the targeted ships hulls, and orifices opened on them. Several hundred creatures bounded out of those holes, and began the fun job of cleaning out the ship of the weak creatures on board. Since everyone on board was unconscious, there was no resistance as the creatures hungrily killed everyone on board.
The second corvette was luckier, in that the impact alerted everyone that something nasty was coming. Internal cameras showed creatures bounding through the hallways, killing everyone in their path. A few people got a blast door closed in time, but already loud banging noises came from the other side, and dents were observed forming. But the vents above hadn't been secured, and a horde of scythe armed beasts poured from the vent to kill everyone on board the ship. The crews fought back, but it was hopeless from the start.
The Ramsnouts pulled out of their targets, leaving the creatures on board with orders to kill anything they found that wasn't one of their kind. But that order was effectively redundant, because that is what those critters did instinctively.
The Terran battleship took some more corrosion damage, but that was beside the point as there was nothing on board that was offensive in capability.
The two destroyers immediately turned around and rammed the third light cruiser and the first cruiser, unloading their cargoes of death. There was no effective resistance on board, and all the vessels were taken over effectively. The Hive Drone saw that the battleship was still not fully infected, and fired off another shot from its spore gun. To make sure that there was no further problem on it, the Hive Drone opened wide its hunger to the crew, to let them know their fates in the future. The result was total catatonia for the entire crew, and the spores continued their work on board.
The spores got to the last room, ful of the twitching crew members, and proceeded to infect them.
The third corvette though, managed to twist around in time, and blow away the spore mine that was chasing it. As a result, it lived long enough to reach the defenses of the Orion world. Now everyone there knew that this new enemy was not part of the Federation, but that this enemy was definitely hostile.
The defenses were prepped, and all three base stations were crewed. The space station armed its weapons, and tested its force beams. If the aliens wanted to tackle the defenses of an Orion world, they were welcome to try.
Result of the battle was as follows:
Tyranid:
1 CL destroyed
1 DD destroyed
715 MCr of material expended in making the spore mines.
Plus assorted damages to armor, including a very badly injured Battlecruiser.
Terran:
1 CT managed to get away.
Destroyed
3 DD
Spore infected
1 BB
2 BC
2 CA
2 CL
Boarded
1 CA
1 CL
2 CT
The Tyranids are now licking their wounds, and preparing to assault the fixed defenses around the Orion world.
But there are other forces out there, some friendly, some not. This story is a battle report about an encounter that is not.
Admiral Welson looked at the plot in his tank. He had managed to lead his task force into a system that was apparently undefended by any Khanate ships, yet boasted a large space station. This would be an ideal location to use as a blooding for his fleet.
He ordered his ships to make full speed for the planet when suddenly. . .
"Sir, I am picking up nuclear detonations, bearing 087 by 024. Looks like we're not the only intruders here sir" said Ensign Welch.
"Maneuvering, bring the fleet around to the source of those explosions. We just might have an ally in this war against the Tabbies."
It took several minutes for his ships to approach, and during that time, the explosions died away, and now there was no activity along that bearing. In case of any Orion survivors, he brought his ships to General Quarters, making sure that if the Orions tried to bag him, they would get bagged instead. After all, his Revenge class BB was escorted by two of the refited King Louis BCs, and he had managed to pick up three each of the refitted Oregon CAs, Collingwood CLs, Scipio DDs, and New York CTs.
A new contact was sensed by the Hive Drone. It had encountered the metallic ships on its way to the life bearing planet, and had reduced the ships with spore guns and hullgrinders of its small fleet. The injured ships were left behind, and the combat capable ships glided on their new course towards the new prey. In its fleet it had a Spore Blast Battlecruiser, 3 Grinder light cruisers, itself, and 3 Ramsnout Destroyers. The destroyers had not had an opportunity to release their troops in the previous fight, but the Hive drone planned to give them the chance in this one.
The ships turned gracefully towards the contact, eager to hunt, kill, and consume.
Admiral Welson turned to his sensor chief and said, "What do you mean living! That's impossible!"
"Sir, from all the indications on their drive field fluctuations, the computer ran a pattern match between it and found that the closest match was an insect's brain waves. But these are far more detailed than normal, meaning that the ships could be sentient. Think of it sir, a totally new species that lives in space!"
"Harumph. I still say that the sensors need to be recalibrated. In the meantime, start sending the first contact protocols at the ships."
"Yessir."
The Hive Drone looked over its forces, and compared them to the approaching force. The fleets were potentially equal, but the creatures in the boarding ships would change that.
In the meantime, it began channeling the material from its stomachs to the generation chamber in case reinforcements were needed.
It had been 3 hours since the transmission had been made. With no response received so far, the normal procedure was to send forward a couple ships to make first contact. But if these were Orions, that would be suicide for the ships chosen. Admiral Welson decided to instead approach with his entire force in one location.
His forces were just now getting into the outer edge of capital missile range and. . .
"Sir, those ships are accelerating to combat speed. DEAR LORD, they're still accelerating! Their battlecruiser is accelerating to roughly .13c sir! Nothing we have can go that fast except for corvettes! And the destroyers are passing them!
Admiral Welson stared at the tactical screen in horror. Those ships had closed to within capital missile range, but it seemed that they could even close inside of that if they chose.
But the destroyers had gotten a little too far ahead of their fellows, and he ordered all of his ships in range to fire on them. But long range worked against them, and out of the 15 force beams fired, only 8 hit. The CAs fired their launchers at the second destroyer, and managed to get 8 of them to hit. In the shock of the order, the captain forgot to fire the second salvo (Ed. note, I forgot) at the destroyer. Both of the two destroyers targeted lost their shields, but their armor was thick.
Now it was the turn for the Battleship/Battcruisers datagroup to fire with capital missiles. Fourteen missiles fired, but only 7 were able to hit. Admiral Welson's jaw nearly hit the floor, as the destroyer wasn't even streaming air!
Pain! The ramming ships were being hurt by the metal prey. The time for distraction was at hand, and the generator went to work. Three spore mines were generated, and they were channeled to the vacuum beyond while their carapaces hardened for space.
All of its ships started to close, to prevent the destruction of the ramming ships.
In the meantime, the destroyers commenced a weaving pattern to confuse enemy fire.
The Hive Drone ordered a muscular contraction, and the 3 Grinders each fired all eight of their hullgrinder weapons at the metal vessels that were next to the ramming ships. Satisfaction went through its mind as all three vessels targeted were destroyed.
What the he-
That was the first thought that went through the mind of the Admiral as he watched the fire coming in from the light cruiser sized creatures that had just fired. The weapons fired had no relation to anything in anyone's inventory, and appeared to be some form of energy packet.
But his light cruisers hadn't been targeted, and his captains seemed to read his mind as they fired their force beams and standard missiles at one destroyer. The 6 force beams fired resulted in only 3 hits, but all standard missiles fired hit the destroyer. The scanner crews could see viscous liquids oozing out of the ship, and cheered at their success.
Pain! The rammer ship was in trouble, and the Hive Drone reviewed its decision to have the ramming ships in the front of the fleet. But the Spore Blast vessel was in range, and it cut loose with all of its spore guns and its hullgrinder at one of the vessels attacking the ramming ship. The hullgrinder missed, but the spore guns hit with 2 of the three volleys fired.
Since they did not penetrate the shields sufficiently, there would be no residual corrosion, but the shields were down for the next volley of shots.
The cruiser captains saw the battlecruiser fired, but their concentration was on the destroyer that was oozing fluid. They loaded their Was with standard missiles, and fired off a full salvo. Thirteen missiles hit, and the destroyer was an exploding cloud of fluids and fusion residue.
Admiral Welson watched the destruction of the first destroyer, and ordered his capital missiles and force beams trained on the second destroyer. Missiles flashed out, force beams pounded, and the second destroyer was damaged also. It was now oozing fluid, and its wounded state was like blood in the water for the Federation ships.
Anger! One of the ships had been destroyed! The Hive Drone raised its anger, forced it into hate, and channeled it towards two of the ships that had destroyed the ramming ship.
Lieutenant Walker had cheered with the others as they had destroyed the alien destroyer, but everybody suddenly seized up in pain. The waves of hatred and anger coursing through their brains caused a couple people to pass out, but most stayed awake, and remained at their stations, but everybody was holding their head to reduce the pain they had suffered.
The federation cruisers now fired their second volley of standard missiles at the second destroyer, and managed to hit with thirteen missiles out of twenty one fired. 'Lucky thirteen' thought the captain.
The generator organ rippled, shuddered, and gave life to two new spore mines. They were fully mature, but the forced growth would cause them to die within minutes. But spore mines are not intended for long-term operations anyway.
In the meantime, the Hive Drone stared at the ships that had fired on its destroyers. It hated them, and its mind reached out again...
Commander Vance was overseeing the reloading and prepping of the next wave of standard missiles. He knew that once those bigger ships got into range, his ship would be under attack, so if the missiles were ready before these aliens were, they would pay. He was just turning to receive the report from tactical concerning the next target when. . .
Lieutenant Baker was on board the second cruiser overseeing the targeting systemry. He had been responsible for having all of the missiles fired hit their target, and he planned on doing it again. His weaponry crews grinned with him, and they turned to their consoles when suddenly. . .
Captain Bronson looked over his ship. They had done poorly in the last volley of standard missiles, only hitting with one missile out of seven fired. And that was at optimum range too! He turned to his tactical section to tell them to get their heads out of their. . .
The psychic wave from the Hive Drone reached the three cruisers.
Commander Vance held his head as the sensation rolled over him, flooding every part of his body with pain. Unable to look around, he was unaware of his fellow personnel holding their heads as well. Everybody on board the first cruiser felt the pain lance through their heads, but they were able to shake enough of it off to keep going. They could keep going, but not very well.
Lieutenant Baker gasped as a white hot poker of pure agony seared his brain. Unable to keep his balance, he fell to the deck with his suit making a clatter as it knocked aside several crewmembers who were also in pain. He held his head and screamed and his whole section screamed and then their universe went dark as they mercifully passed out.
Captain Bronson Twitched in his chair as the overwhelming waves of energy lashed through him. His whole bridge crew was also convulsing, each alone in the hell between their ears. The entire ship was wrapped in the pain, and then the whole ship's crew simply passed out due to their minds never having been intended to that kind of stress.
The light cruisers had no idea what had happened to the cruisers, but the com channels were full of screams from them. Fearing the worst, the light cruisers divided all their weaponry against the closest targets, and 18 standard missiles were targeted on one enemy light cruiser and 6 force beams on another. Twelve of the standard missiles hit, but all 6 of the force beams hit. The two cruisers had had their shields knocked down, and were ready to be pounded again.
The Hive Drone registered the damage to the Grinders, and ordered them to open fire on the metal vessels with the many metal launchers, instead of reloading their one-shot orifices. Six shots were volleyed off against the single cruiser chosen for the "honor", and all six shots hit. Shields died, armor blew, and the hullgrinders ate deep into the bowels of the ship, finally becoming sated after eating their way past three of the cruiser's engine rooms.
Admiral Welson looked at his signal section with horror. Whatever had happened, his cruiser squadron was in bad shape; heck, one cruiser simply was not answering any signals sent to them.
But his battleship and battlecruisers had been unaffected by whatever that was, and the volleyed all their weaponry at the one light cruiser.
Nine capital missiles, two force beams and one primary managed to score on the light cruiser, causing it to ooze bodily fluids, lose two of its symbiotic engines, and the parasitic overthruster as well.
Rage! They had injured one of the Grinders! The Hive Drone sent a command to the Spore Blast battlecruiser, triggering all of its weaponry at one of the light cruisers.
The hullgrinder missed, but all three spore gun rounds managed to impact directly on the ship's armor. The spores would have a nice effect, as it enjoyed the insect equivalent of cackling laughter.
The first two cruisers had managed to blink away the stars from most of their vision, and saw the light cruiser oozing its internal fluids. Flipping switches, they fired a total of eighteen standard missiles at the light cruiser. But due to the psionic barrage they had taken, they were only able to get six missiles to hit.
But the light cruiser was in serious trouble, and the light cruiser knew it, along with the Hive Drone.
The Corvettes that had been following behind the battleline suddenly turned, and streamed their weaponry at the wounded light cruiser. Two of three standard missiles fired hit, along with one of the three primaries fired.
But the generated spore mines were in an optimum position. The enemy cruiser had been crippled by the psionic barrage, and one of the spore mines streaked in, closing to proximity range and detonated. It ached for the detonation/orgasm that would mean success, and it achieved it.
Nuclear shockwave hammered the shields flat, and the corrosive compounds began their inexorable eating away at the cruiser.
The commander of the light cruiser clutched at his head where he had hit it when those solid rounds had impacted on his ship. Even now incredible reports were pouring in from the areas hit. The stuff was still eating away! It was still corroding at the innards of his ship, reducing its combat capability. But it did seem to be slowing down, and that was the only hope he had that his ship would survive this fight.
The Hive Drone was pleased by the success of the spore mine, but the light cruiser was about to be killed. It let the anger at that thought fill its mind, and reached out to punish those who would injure its fellow ship.
In the meantime, its generator burbled, and squeezed, but the material within could not be shaped quickly enough, and the material was held to create more ships.
Lieutenant Baker was still holding his head after that mental attack, or whatever it was. He was turning towards his tactical section to see if they had managed to recover from the previous wave. They were still a little shaken, but were still combat capable. He was just turning back to his console when the next wave of pain struck.
This time it seemed even worse than before! He held his head while the waves crashed over him, and he was not alone. All over the ship, people were tumbling to the decks as the waves of searing pain blasted them where they were. Even the captain, who was normally called the Ice Queen, cried out in pain as the force overwhelmed her head. Nobody on the ship was spared, and within a couple seconds, nobody on the ship was conscious either.
Similar waves washed over the three light cruisers, sending their crews into convulsions from the pain. Two of the light cruisers suffered total loss of crew due to the pain, while the third managed better, losing "only" forty percent of its crew to total catatonia from the effect.
Admiral Welson had no idea what was happening aboard his cruisers now, but the battlecruiser was in range of his capital missiles and beam weaponry, and he ordered all batteries to cut loose again(Ed note - to make up for missing the previous forgetting of Wa, I allowed the primaries to fire every turn). The capital missiles did far worse this time, only hitting with six missiles, but the force beams did better, hitting with four out of six fired. Only one of the two primary beams fired by his battleship hit though.
But the results were spectacular, as the living battlecruiser roiled under the assault, straining its shield organs to handle the blasts. But they were unable to handle the effect, and the shields failed for the battlecruiser, exposing its drive field and armored hull to the weapons arrayed against it.
The corvettes saw their chance, and fired another salvo of standard missiles and primary beams at the battlecruiser. They managed to hit with all their standard missiles, but only one primary beam, and the living ship started to ooze fluid from half a dozen holes in its thick skin.
Rage! The Spore Blast was being hurt by the mites that attacked it! The Hive Drone angered at the small ships that had dared to injure the Spore Blast ship, and triggered muscle contractions in the ship, targeting one spore gun against each corvette, with one hull grinder against the first corvette and the one shot hullgrinder against the second. All the shots against the first two corvettes hit, knocking their shields down and causing atmosphere to spew out, but the last corvette nimbly avoided the single round sent at it.
The Hive drone raged at the third, but a look at the first two calmed its rage slightly, due to their obvious damage.
Admiral Welson stared at the ruin of his two corvettes. His scanner sections still had no idea what those energy packets were, but they were very powerful. It also reinforced his proposal that corvettes be only for customs work, not full-line warships. But no, nobody wanted to listen to him.
The third light cruiser was within range, and the Ensign in charge ordered a full strike against the battlecruiser, determined to damage it some more before another wave like what had hit them before arrived again.
But his targeting solutions were wrong, and every shot missed its target.
The Hive Drone observed the ineffectual metal fire from the metal ship, and gloated. Obviously this species was inefficient, using individuals to do actions better suited to a collective. It decided to show the beings how wrong their ways were, and ordered both of the still healthy Grinders to open fire on the disabled cruiser with their hullgrinders.
The creatures had matured for this purpose, and crawled their way into the firing tract. There, the tract convulsed around them, gripping them with fields that defied explanation, and hurled them at their targets. Only three were able to hit, but those three were enough to rip away shields and armor on the targeted cruiser.
The spores fired earlier at the corvettes began their insidious work, and another engine room on each failed due to the rot creeping around the defenses set up. The first light cruiser also took damage from the creeping spores, losing an engine room as well. But the third Cruiser had been hit by a spore mine, and the spores raced around all the defenses placed, corroding everything in their path, from metals to circuit boards to people. In short, everything on the third cruiser was infected by spores, and the ship drifted like a lifeless hulk.
The Hive Drone saw the danger represented by the long range metal weapons on the larger ships, and maneuvered away from them.
Admiral Welson saw that the alien ships would soon be in a position to overwhelm his remaining ships, and the small kamikaze ships pursuing him didn't help any either. He immediately got on the com with the third corvette, ordering its captain to leave the battle immediately, and rendezvous with the defense around the Khanate world they had spotted. In the meantime, his force would engage the enemy to attempt to create sufficient losses for them.
The Hive Drone saw the fleeing vessel, and "laughed" when its destination was determined. That planet infested with the weak life was its next destination, and if the weak vessel wished to go there, that was acceptable. It tried to generate life again, but the material was unable to achieve the necessary sentience.
In the meantime, one of the Ramsnout destroyers tried to ram the first enemy cruiser, but the cruiser was able to dodge the attempt. No matter, the destroyer would simply try again.
While the Hive Drone was concentrating on its life preparations, the cruiser that had been hit hard by the psychic barrage had recovered. Lieutenant Baker looked at his console, and saw the bleeding alien BC. His fist slammed down on the firing button, and six standard missiles streaked towards the injured ship.
But the battlecruiser was still a difficult target, and only three missiles hit. The fluids continued to flow from the battlecruiser, even as its internal blood stream began cutting off flow to its extremities near the ruptured area.
The Hive drone felt the pain come in from the hits, and knew that so little metal could not have injured the Spore Blast if the larger metal weapons hadn't hit first. It then turned its rage against those ships, and let it fly forth.
Admiral Welson grinned as the missiles slammed their nuclear fury into the battlecruiser. He enjoyed their glee while it lasted, then he found out what the other ships had felt while under the psychic attack. He grabbed his head while the waves of pain wrapped their hold on him, and his crew as well. Everybody screamed their pain, then slumped over their consoles.
The first battlecruiser felt the pain as well, but it was concentrated in the tactical section. Everybody there stiffened for a moment, and half of them simply passed out. The second battlecruiser felt the wave as well, but it seemed to have no effect on them. But the battleship slowed to a halt, its helmsman and engineer unable to keep the drive properly modulated for movement.
The third corvette felt a minor wave of pain, and guessed that the alien battleship was to blame. The immediately fired their Wa and primary beam, but only managed to hit with one standard missile. Cursing at the crews, the NCOs told them that probably would probably only have a couple more shots before they were out of range.
The Hive Drone recoiled at the horror of the assault on itself, then relaxed as the source was identified by its neural sensors and sensitive antennae. The small vessel was no threat, and any damage that it inflicted could be easily repaired. In the meantime, the Grinders were ordered to fire on the metal vessels that were their size.
Hullgrinders trundled along and were fired out, with the first light cruiser targeted taking both hits, and the second only taking one.
The Battlecruiser captains hurriedly decided which target to fire on also, and their missiles flashed out at the alien battleship. Seven capital missiles and two force beams hit, and the shields were dangerously low for the Hive Drone.
Fury! How dare those vessels attack itself! The Hive Drone raged against the metal vessels sending their metal weapons against it, and ordered the Spore Blast to concentrate its fire on the closer of the two battlecruisers.
One hullgrinder and two spore guns hit, and the corrosive spores began their insidious work again.
The light cruiser captain saw the alien battlecruiser fire at the missile battlecruiser, and decided to reply in kind by firing two standard missiles and one force beam at the battlecruiser. More fluid poured out from the wound, increasing the difficulty of the creature's healing systemry.
The Hive Drone felt the hits, but decided to continue its original attack against the enemy metal ship. Firing both of its spore guns, it was only able to hit with one, but with more spores on the target, that would mean more corrosion going on.
The first light cruiser engine crew watched in horror as the spores burst through a vent, and fired their loads into the engine. The corrosive spores landed on the main power transfer systemry, and vapors wafted up from melting metal and circuitry. The engine died, unable to handle the damaging effects of the spores, now filling all the spaces in it.
Commander Boskene, on the first battlecruiser, watched an exterior image in horror, as the spores were actually living in space! They were melting the hull of the ship for their nutrition, corroding away the ship's protection from the vacuum.
The spore mine creature saw its target slow ahead. It was within range! The creature closed to its target, and detonated its corrosive load. The nuclear shockwave did the most damage, but the spores that made it were still alive, and they fed on the metal and alloy of the battleship's hull in their quest for life.
Another spore mine closed within range of the first battlecruiser, and detonated its payload as well. The second battlecruiser was not spared either, as the third spore mine closed and detonated as well.
The final spore mine was given a different target though. Instead of one of the ships currently engaged, it was told to pursue the corvette that was leaving, and if possible destroy it.
The crippled vessels were attractive to the Hive Drone, but they could be retrieved after the battle by sending boarding troops to consume any living beings still on board.
In the meantime, the Hive Drone decided to make sure that any beings still alive on board the large vessels were not able to interfere with the light cruisers.
Admiral Welson shook his head and looked around at his bridge crew beginning to recover from the assault. He had never felt anything like that before, and he hoped he never would again. The massive explosion and the red lighting told him an even more important story though. He looked over the logs, and saw the massive explosion that had wiped out his shields and armor, and the record of the corrosion as it infiltrated his ship.
He even saw logs where crewmembers that had passed out had been exposed to the spores, and the twitching that they had done even unconscious told him that being touched by the spores was NOT A GOOD THING.
But the psychic wave washed over his crew again, and he fell down. This time, the wave seemed even more painful, and his brain exploded from the pressure put on him. The remaining crew was at a loss due to the sudden explosion, but the pain filled their heads too, and they passed out.
The second battlecruiser got hit also, but all the people on board merely tensed up in their chairs for a few seconds, them looked back at their screens, blinking back the stars that filled their vision.
But the alien battleship was in range, and the single capital missile launcher fired its shot at the creature. Their targeting was dead on though, and the missile hit.
Fury! The creatures in the damaged ship had injured itself! But the spores would soon claim it, and the Hive Drone turned its attention to other matters, namely the cruiser and light cruiser near the Grinders. It ordered their firing, and four hullgrinders shot out. The cruiser only took one hit, but the light cruiser took two hits, severely damaging it.
Lieutenant Baker saw the battleship and battlecruisers get hit, and winced at the power of the explosions involved. 'Living creatures did that' he thought. Shaking his head in disbelief, he ordered targeting on the damaged alien battlecruiser. Four standard missiles lanced out, three hit, and more fluid spilled into space.
Rage! The Spore Blast ship was hurt again. The Spore blast wanted to hurt the ship that was hurting it, and the Hive Drone agreed. The Spore Blast immediately fired both its remaining spore guns and its hullgrinder at the enemy ship, and hit with all three shots.
The light cruisers saw the battlecruiser open fire again, and the damage inflicted on their ship convinced them that it was still in the fight. They immediately fired off a salvo of eight standard missiles, and three force beams. Five missiles and one beam hit, scoring deeper into the living ship and towards its heart.
However, the first light cruiser captain had had a different idea. His ship was damaged, but the alien light cruiser was almost destroyed. Two standard missiles and one force beam lashed out, and the alien ship died under his fire.
Death! One of the Grinders was killed! The Hive drone saw the shots, and felt the pain in its mind. But it refused to let that pain cripple it, and fired both of it spore guns at the offending ship, scoring hits with both shots.
Very little movement occurred within the Terran forces, but the alien ships were still alive and full of fight.
Even more important was the spores on board the heavier ships, which proceeded to blow their way past anything, to consume anything they could before they died. The battleship took more corrosive damage, with damage control teams doing their utmost to stem the tide. The first battlecruiser's crew watched in horror as the spores crept past everything they tried, and spread to their skins. They screamed in pain as the questing tendrils went to their brains as the spores sprouted in their skin and lungs. The spores covered everything in the battlecruiser, and soon the only living things were the spores.
The second battlecruiser also took corrosive damage, but the damage control teams were able to halt it short of the last engine room. But it had corroded the oxygen plant, so everyone knew that they would only last a couple of days before dying.
Lieutenant Baker joined the group of survivors huddling in the last engine room. His tactical section had been hit hard, and over half his crew had been killed by the exploding whatever it was. Now the corrosion had started, and everyone was packed into the small space in an attempt to extend their lives another few minutes. But one vent gave way, and the spores rushed in, eager for the living bodies to breed in. And so the second cruiser was out of action also.
A similar fate was delivered to the first light cruiser, and its crew was turned into food for the spores.
The third corvette, the one that had been told to run, stared in horror at the creeping mold that was covering the ships. The screams from the coms told them what was happening, and the spore mine behind them told the crew that if they slowed down they were dead.
The second Grinder looked at the remaining enemy vessel, and triggered a contraction in its hullgrinder organs. The larvae shot out, but only one was able to impact. But that one was fired at close range, and three engine rooms were knocked out by the impact and energy discharge.
The Spore Blast creature was wounded, but it fired its remaining spore gun at the first enemy cruiser, and was rewarded by watching the round impact solidly on the ship's hull.
The Terran second light cruiser didn't see those impacts though, and fired two standard missiles and one force beam at the third alien destroyer. Only one missile hit though, and it didn't even get through the shields.
The third light cruiser joined its partner in firing at the destroyer, and succeeded in hitting with both standard missiles and the force beam. But even that salvo was insufficient to get through the shields.
Anger! They were trying to injure the third Ramsnout. The Hive Drone let its anger fill its mind, and lashed out again at the two offending vessels.
Commander Velon looked at her tactical plot as the single missile hit its target. Curses! Their targeting computer had been giving them fits the prior week, and it seemed that the problem hadn't been fixed yet. Still, the other light cruiser had managed to deliver a full salvo, but that thing hadn't even lost its shields yet! What was that thing, nothing but engine and shield generators? But suddenly something else filled her mind, and . . .
Ensign Baker, aboard the third light cruiser cheered as every shot slammed home on th alien destroyer. If they could cripple each ship in turn, they could possibly win this fight. He kept on thinking that thought right up until. . .
The pain arrived for everyone on board the two vessels. Everybody grabbed the sides of their head, and screamed their pain to the world in an attempt to release some of it. But their efforts were to no avail, and the crews on board both light cruisers passed out.
The Hive Drone felt the minds lapse on board its two selected ships, and decided to improve its situation a little more. Its spore guns swiveled on their joints, and two shots were fired. Only one hit, but the corrosion would go to work on the ship targeted.
To make things even, the Hive Drone ordered the third Grinder to open fire with a single hullgrinder shot against the other of the two vessels targeted in the mental attack. The shot struck home, sending waves of energy cascading over the ship and burning out more components.
The few ships still in the Terran force maneuvered in a way to bring them close enough to damage the alien creatures before they died. Aboard the battleship, the spores continued their work, eating through power conduits for weapons, burning through ventilation ducts, and infecting people all through the ship. The screams echoed, haunting the survivors with a promise of pain.
The second battlecruiser was also feeling the effect of the spores, but the spores were spreading at the same rate as in the battleship. Since the battlecruiser was smaller, this resulted in the entire ship being under the "control" of the spores. The first cruiser took some more corrosion damage from the spores, and the second light cruiser took a little more damage.
The third corvette continued running, and the spore mine followed, like a little puppy that simply wanted to kill the ship. It was less than six light seconds behind, and gaining.
The Spore Blast targeted the enemy light cruiser with its remaining spore gun, and fired off a round. The round traveled straight and true, finding its target, and spreading more corrosive spores to the selected ship.
Captain Cartwright looked around at the state of her battleship. Nobody knew what that corrosive stuff was, but it was breaking past everything they could throw at it. Still, her ship had three force beams left, and she fired them at the enemy battlecruiser, determined to destroy at least one enemy vessel. Only two hit, but the alien battlecruiser was in deep trouble.
Pain! The crippled vessel was hurting the Spore Blast. But a quick glance at the emotions of the creatures on board convinced the Hive Drone that patience would work better, and it focussed its rage against the two enemy corvettes.
Its concentration was dead on, and the entire crew of the first corvette surrendered to the agony and began convulsing, their nervous systems overloaded by the impulses. The second fared slightly better, and half the crew stumbled to the ground, while the rest strove to make up for their comrades. But with no weapons left, and only one engine room, there was nothing thing they could do.
Captain Cartwright stumbled back in horror - the spores had reached the three force beams! Without her weapons, the battleship was little more than a target! She pounded her frustration into the arms of her chair until a drifting spore eliminated her worries.
The second light cruiser took the final damage from the spore, and lost the last engine room. Now the entire ship was infested with spores, only useable by the aliens unless someone decontaminated the interior first. The third light cruiser took damage also, but it hadn't suffered as much damage, and only lost a couple systems from the spreading corrosion.
The Hive Drone looked at the enemy forces, and saw that three vessels were still capable on injuring its forces, but decided to do something about that. It gathered its fury at the injuries done to its fellow ships earlier, and hurled that fury at the metal enemies.
Chief Engineer Gaston looked over her engines on the battleship. She had worked hard to keep the engines running, and now those blasted spores were reaching into her ship and snuffing the life out of each one. She turned to give her crews a hand, trying to keep her engines going, when everyone suddenly froze in their place, locked in the agony of the neural assault as it poured over them.
Commander Vance held his head after he woke up. It seemed as though his head wanted to split open, and if they survived this, they would be requesting a LOT of aspirin. But the mental wave hit him again, and the agonies of before came back to remind him. But he was able to stay conscious, and only swayed at his station, trying to concentrate on something besides the pain.
The third light cruiser fared worse, as forty percent of its crew went into catatonia from the blast. The remainder were forced to do their jobs for them, greatly decreasing the ship's remaining abilities.
Excellent. The small craft are helpless, and the Ramsnouts are in position. Ram!
The Ramsnout destroyers took the orders from the Hive Drone, and rammed their assigned targets. Their heavy prows pierced the targeted ships hulls, and orifices opened on them. Several hundred creatures bounded out of those holes, and began the fun job of cleaning out the ship of the weak creatures on board. Since everyone on board was unconscious, there was no resistance as the creatures hungrily killed everyone on board.
The second corvette was luckier, in that the impact alerted everyone that something nasty was coming. Internal cameras showed creatures bounding through the hallways, killing everyone in their path. A few people got a blast door closed in time, but already loud banging noises came from the other side, and dents were observed forming. But the vents above hadn't been secured, and a horde of scythe armed beasts poured from the vent to kill everyone on board the ship. The crews fought back, but it was hopeless from the start.
The Ramsnouts pulled out of their targets, leaving the creatures on board with orders to kill anything they found that wasn't one of their kind. But that order was effectively redundant, because that is what those critters did instinctively.
The Terran battleship took some more corrosion damage, but that was beside the point as there was nothing on board that was offensive in capability.
The two destroyers immediately turned around and rammed the third light cruiser and the first cruiser, unloading their cargoes of death. There was no effective resistance on board, and all the vessels were taken over effectively. The Hive Drone saw that the battleship was still not fully infected, and fired off another shot from its spore gun. To make sure that there was no further problem on it, the Hive Drone opened wide its hunger to the crew, to let them know their fates in the future. The result was total catatonia for the entire crew, and the spores continued their work on board.
The spores got to the last room, ful of the twitching crew members, and proceeded to infect them.
The third corvette though, managed to twist around in time, and blow away the spore mine that was chasing it. As a result, it lived long enough to reach the defenses of the Orion world. Now everyone there knew that this new enemy was not part of the Federation, but that this enemy was definitely hostile.
The defenses were prepped, and all three base stations were crewed. The space station armed its weapons, and tested its force beams. If the aliens wanted to tackle the defenses of an Orion world, they were welcome to try.
Result of the battle was as follows:
Tyranid:
1 CL destroyed
1 DD destroyed
715 MCr of material expended in making the spore mines.
Plus assorted damages to armor, including a very badly injured Battlecruiser.
Terran:
1 CT managed to get away.
Destroyed
3 DD
Spore infected
1 BB
2 BC
2 CA
2 CL
Boarded
1 CA
1 CL
2 CT
The Tyranids are now licking their wounds, and preparing to assault the fixed defenses around the Orion world.