Chapter 37 - In Death Ground
Vigilance Taskforce, Point Invictus, Prescott's Star
"Coming up on Point Invictus now Ma'am."
Suzette Anace's mouth birthed a tooth filled predatory grin. "Execute Chimera - Phase One on my mark. Three, two, one, MARK!"
The minelayers that were assigned to the Vigilance Taskforce, easily as large as the massive merchantmen they were playacting as, began to birth clouds of space black stealthed mines and Ulysses new energy buoys. Energy buoys were virtually never used in modern combat because they were often destroyed before they even fired a shot, and once they began to fire, they became even more obvious targets. Little more than a power plant, and EW suite and an energy weapon system, it was far more cost effective to build full up OWPs. But the drawback of OWPs was that they are hard to make stealthy. They rely on numbers and their hardiness to survive till it's time for them to launch. But Ulysses' plan called for stealth to be the key, not hardiness. And as such, he had revived the energy buoy weapons platform from history and was seeding it in with his hastily deployed minefield. If all went as planned, the enemy wouldn't know they were there till it was too late.
On Suzette's holoplot, nothing changed. Which was as it should be, for if she couldn't detect the mines deployment, there was no way the enemy could, even with their slightly better sensors. The predatory smile remained as thousands of invisible, deadly spoor trailed out in her Battlegroup's wake. The position of Point Invictus was almost perfect, for the Unity fleet was boring near directly for it.
"Orders to the Battlegroup: course change, come to port, heading 120 mark 015." Backdropped by the inhospitable lump of gray, lifeless rock that was Prescott's Star V that was in the local vicinity as it made its leisurely sweep around the distant yellow primary, the formation of Merchies snapped onto their new course with just enough raggedness to be believable. Under normal circumstances, Suzette would have been ashamed to be commanding during such sloppy maneuvering, but the seeming lack of coordination was just what she had been training to achieve. That's it you bastards! She thought. Just keep going straight and you'll blunder right into The Skipper's little trap!
ISCV Purity of Heart
"Ma'am, the Division of Imperial Merchant Vessels are changing course, they appear to be commencing a dogleg maneuver that will carry them well clear of the fleet. Should we detach a squadron to scope them out?" A young Meskeen Lieutenant asked
Teresa Chora thought for a moment before replying. "Not much point. As a show of good faith, High Command wants all legitimate merchant traffic left alone, a policy I agree with wholeheartedly. And besides, they only have a lone Destroyer as escort and are staying well away from even extreme PPD range. If they attempt to close to weapons range, then send out the patrol. Otherwise, I want all the ships I can have with me when I finally engage Admiral Vanguard. He's up to something, I can feel it, I just can't put my finger on it yet."
"Fleet Marshal, the Terran's fighters will be in extreme weapons range in three minutes."
"Have all assault ships prepare a warm welcome for them since they are so willing to die in a lost cause." There was no sense wasting PPD fire on something as fragile as a fighter. It would be like smashing an egg with an antimatter warhead. Far better to have the plasma torpedo biased ships in her fleet go on Point Defense duty.
Prescott's Star[/b]
The fighters closed to extreme standoff attack range and let loose a torrent of quantum torpedoes. Over 120,000 were birthed in a near solid wave of blue white that proceeded to rush towards the rapidly closing Unity fleet. As much as Ulysses wanted to equip them with his enhanced quantums, he didn't want to tip his hand until the blow would be decisive. Because of this, the standard quantums homed in on a mere handful of GU ships. Hiding behind their near invulnerable overloaded shield grids, the quantum volley slashed in on the enemy wall of battle, spending themselves against shields and then armor. Three enemy Superdreadnoughts and a number of lesser ships fell out of formation, air and debris streaming wrecks with huge white hot fissures gouged deep into their armored hulls. But like any standard torpedo engagement against ships of the line, the fighter strike hadn't been expressly targeted to take out enemy ships. It was merely to soften up the opponents' shields by creating small chinks in them that were more susceptible to phaser strikes and to tear a ragged hole in the enemy's EW drones. The fact that a handful of superdreadnoughts had been knocked out was pure gravy. With their primary ordinance expended, the fighters wheeled to return and rearm. They would be able to attack once more before the fleets reached engagement range.
But even as they executed snap turns and boosted away under maximum acceleration, the plasma heavy ISC Cruisers that had streamed out a distance ahead of the main fleet body spat defiance back at them. Their shotgunned plasma torps split to track six individual targets for their customary lone one. Screaming up the now retreating fighter's wakes, the packets of energized plasma caught a few before they reached their max range and winked out of existence as their containment fields failed. Orange phaser beams slashed through space, but at the extreme range, actually hitting something as maneuverable and small as a fighter through its ECM was a tall task for even ISC sensors. The 401st Fleet recorded it's first combat casualties of the day, but all things considered, the initial fighter strikes had done everything right and gotten off quite lightly in the exchange. The tonnage and firepower losses for the enemy had been far in excess of the handful of Cobras lost in return. The opening attack done, calm returned to the battlefield as the two massive fleets continued to bore in on each other relentlessly.
ISCV Purity of Heart
Fleet Marshal Chora winced as Fearless Defender, Even Hand of Justice and Tenacious Civility fell out of her battle line. Close to two dozen escort vessels were also heavily damaged, wounded minnows next to the gutted sharks of the dying Superdreadnoughts. Orders need not be given, for her officers knew what to do all on their own. Fresh EW drones were salvoed, slotting themselves into place in the formation, filling the large hole the torpedo volley had blown in her wall of ECM. A light cruiser squadron was dispatched to save as many as could be pulled from the wrecks. Other ships, still in her squadron and holding their own, had a plethora of minor wounds - hull breaches, glowing scars in armor, damaged subsystems and the like.
Her fist clenched in anger as her counter volley claimed only a handful of the Imperial fighters. She longed for fighters of her own, so that she could respond in kind. But ISC High Command had decided to concentrate its resources on ships of the line, not small, fragile fighters. As such, she dare not send her lightest units out to hit at long range in a counter blow, for they were far more vulnerable to long ranged fire and far more expensive in both materials and personnel for every one lost. She took some solace in the fact that she would soon be in PPD range and this battle could be quickly finished.
ISS Valley Forge
The light beads of Imperial Cobras swarmed back into their births on Ulysses holoplot, those from Lilith's fixed fortifications cycling through the Ark Royals' hangar decks to rearm. After the next attack, they would barely be done rearming again before the battle lines met. And it wouldn't be standoff attack they would be reaming for, it would be close attack, with PPC gun packs attached to external hard points instead of externally and internally mounted quantum torpedoes. And it was then that the fighters would be blooded, for even in the swirling near-chaos of a fleet vs. fleet engagement, there was little something as fragile as a fighter could do to hide from close in weapons.
Fully rearmed now, the near 10,000 strong swarm again sped off ahead to strike at the enemy. The Unity fleet was now much closer, having been close on the fighter strike's heels as they returned to reload.
"Orders to the Fleet. Deploy armor and commence shield reinforcement forward. Damage control teams to the ready." Ulysses resisted the urge to rub his sweaty gloved palms on his uniform's legs, again surprised at how calm his voice sounded. This battle was different from the other ones he had fought, for in those, there had been no time to sit and stew as a potent force came inexorably closer. Both the S-8472 fleet and the first Unity attack had been fast paced affairs, with enemy contact rapidly established and nothing much to do but fight. Pre-combat jitters were getting to him, all his self doubt and feelings of unreadyness coming to the fore, as he could only wait for his plan to come to fruition and pray it would work.
Prescott's Star
The second fighter strike was nearly as successful as the first, and another rash of enemy vessels fell out of the Unity's formation, their hulls battered and broken. Again, long range PD plasma fire had little effect, the fleet fighters able to outrun most of the plasma torpedoes before they hit. But this time, the fleet fighters made it back to Ulysses wall of battle with the Unity fleet hot on their heels. They would be in extreme PPD range in mere minutes. But they were also just now entering Point Invictus' area of effect, and the storm of quantums had temporarily blinded their sensors to what lay in front of them
ISCV Purity of Heart
"Fleet Marshal! I am detecting tens of thousands of faint sensor returns, they're all around us!"
"Mines!" Teresa hissed. "Anti-mine protocols NOW!"
Her ships opened fire on the now visible targets, clawing at the nebulous sensor returns with their phasers and plasma torpedoes, blotting the from space. But Ulysses' emphasis on stealthing them had paid off. Combined by the perfectly timed second fighter strike, the mines and buoys had remained hidden until the Unity fleet was near totally enshrouded in them. Flashes of star bright light began to erupt within Chora's fleet as the mines unleashed their zero point energy warheads on her ships. But they weren't the worst, for even as their eye searing self immolation spent itself against her ships, a deadly latticework of silver lances was let loose. Fusion beams, the massively powerful but short legged weapon system of the Hydrans, was unleashed at optimal range. The Purity of Heart shuddered and bucked as brilliant sliver lances ravaged her.
ISS Valley Forge, Flag Bridge
Dear God, Ulysses thought, somewhat shocked, it actually worked. Fusion Beams spider webbed throughout the Unity formation, adding their energies to the simple mines that were wreaking terrible havoc on the ISC vessels. Whole squadrons were falling out of formation, bleeding debris and air into the swirling cauldron of released energy that enshrouded them. "All units, engage Helping Hand maneuver on my mark. Three, two, one, MARK!" On his command, tractors flashed outward, catching all non-Slipstream capable units, save the fire support and carrier ships nestled in the formation's pocket, in a web of mutual support. Then, after this was accomplished, the entire Fleet flashed out of normal space for a fraction of a second only to reappear well within standard phaser range of the Unity Fleet.
There was an imperceptible shudder followed by a metallic groaning sound as the Forge lodged her protest at the excessive strain even the millisecond at Slipstream while dragging such a load along with her. The maneuver put stupendous strain on her space frame, causing micro fractures to form across her hull. Throughout Ulysses entire fleet, ships were strained to the near breaking point. But in the end, it worked. The holodisplay shifted to show the now much closer Unity Fleet. The mines were done now, either having spent themselves or destroyed, as were his Fusion buoys. But they had done their job. What had been an unshaken enemy Fleet, with near double his own weight of metal, was now brought down to near half again his number in active units. Most of those still functioning were damaged to some degree. And best of all, his maneuver had brought the 401st within the PPD's minimum range.
"All ships, open fire! Fireplan Alpha Four!"
ISS Valley Forge, Slipstream One
"Damn it!" Clay Heidberg swore as he stared at his master situation display. "I told him that this little stunt was likely to fry the nacelle inducers! 'Acceptable risk', he said. Well now look, just like I told him would happen when we dragged that much extra mass into Slipstream, we no longer have FTL!" He swatted his com badge. "Bridge, this is Slipstream One. Don't expect to go to Slipstream any time soon, the entire nacelle inducer matrix is fused and will require time in a repair slip to fix!"
"Understood Chief." P'tel's calm voice replied. "This was allowed for. Do what you can. P'tel out." The same story was being played out across the fleet as every slipstream capable ship had the exact same problem show up. Aside from the fused nacelle inducers though, there was only some minor microfracturing for damage. The 401st was near 100% combat effective, and was within range of the enemy fleet.
ISCV Purity of Heart
That sneaky sonofabitch! Teresa thought. He set me up and I walked right into it! Then her holodisplay flickered, shifting the enemy fleet's position to one virtually on top of her own. There was no time to think about how the maneuver had been accomplished, she could only act. "All units, open fire! Emergency power to forward shields! Destroyer Flotilla Alpha, Cruiser Taskforces nine through thirteen and Battlecruiser Taskforces three through ten are to deploy aft along base course and up to gain clear PPD firing lines on the enemy fleet. Get a fresh volley of EW drones out NOW." With her fleet's damaged shields, shifting the power to the front ones would leave most of them quite weak in other aspects, but that couldn't be helped. Besides, Mr. Vanguard wanted to have a good old fashioned slug fest between capital ships. With her individually superior shielding and still superior numbers, she was still certain she could win even with his energy range firepower advantage. "Cruiser Battlegroups 39 through 46, concentrate fire on their Aegean class support ships hiding just behind their wall. Take them out and we'll have a much easier time taking these Imperial scum out.
Prescott's Star
Space disappeared as titanic energies crisscrossed space. Phasers and Phaser Lance fire crashed in on the ISC ships in a carefully controlled fireplan. Squadrons concentrated their fire on individual targets, killing ship after ship. Quantums, the enhanced ones this time, spat from Ulysses launchers and from the Type-V OWPs he had molecularly coupled to his unit's hulls. He wished that he had more Type-X's, but nearly all of those had been destroyed during the first battle and the yards hadn't had time to make more yet. Still, the Type-V's, packed with the enhanced Quantums were a handy addition. They were only slightly less vulnerable than fighters, but they packed considerably more punch by devoting all drive and life support space to heavier armor, more potent shields and more weapons bunkerage. The two fleets had slowed to a virtual stop relative to each other, content for the moment to flail away on one another at close range.
Vigilance Taskforce, Point Invictus, Prescott's Star
"Coming up on Point Invictus now Ma'am."
Suzette Anace's mouth birthed a tooth filled predatory grin. "Execute Chimera - Phase One on my mark. Three, two, one, MARK!"
The minelayers that were assigned to the Vigilance Taskforce, easily as large as the massive merchantmen they were playacting as, began to birth clouds of space black stealthed mines and Ulysses new energy buoys. Energy buoys were virtually never used in modern combat because they were often destroyed before they even fired a shot, and once they began to fire, they became even more obvious targets. Little more than a power plant, and EW suite and an energy weapon system, it was far more cost effective to build full up OWPs. But the drawback of OWPs was that they are hard to make stealthy. They rely on numbers and their hardiness to survive till it's time for them to launch. But Ulysses' plan called for stealth to be the key, not hardiness. And as such, he had revived the energy buoy weapons platform from history and was seeding it in with his hastily deployed minefield. If all went as planned, the enemy wouldn't know they were there till it was too late.
On Suzette's holoplot, nothing changed. Which was as it should be, for if she couldn't detect the mines deployment, there was no way the enemy could, even with their slightly better sensors. The predatory smile remained as thousands of invisible, deadly spoor trailed out in her Battlegroup's wake. The position of Point Invictus was almost perfect, for the Unity fleet was boring near directly for it.
"Orders to the Battlegroup: course change, come to port, heading 120 mark 015." Backdropped by the inhospitable lump of gray, lifeless rock that was Prescott's Star V that was in the local vicinity as it made its leisurely sweep around the distant yellow primary, the formation of Merchies snapped onto their new course with just enough raggedness to be believable. Under normal circumstances, Suzette would have been ashamed to be commanding during such sloppy maneuvering, but the seeming lack of coordination was just what she had been training to achieve. That's it you bastards! She thought. Just keep going straight and you'll blunder right into The Skipper's little trap!
ISCV Purity of Heart
"Ma'am, the Division of Imperial Merchant Vessels are changing course, they appear to be commencing a dogleg maneuver that will carry them well clear of the fleet. Should we detach a squadron to scope them out?" A young Meskeen Lieutenant asked
Teresa Chora thought for a moment before replying. "Not much point. As a show of good faith, High Command wants all legitimate merchant traffic left alone, a policy I agree with wholeheartedly. And besides, they only have a lone Destroyer as escort and are staying well away from even extreme PPD range. If they attempt to close to weapons range, then send out the patrol. Otherwise, I want all the ships I can have with me when I finally engage Admiral Vanguard. He's up to something, I can feel it, I just can't put my finger on it yet."
"Fleet Marshal, the Terran's fighters will be in extreme weapons range in three minutes."
"Have all assault ships prepare a warm welcome for them since they are so willing to die in a lost cause." There was no sense wasting PPD fire on something as fragile as a fighter. It would be like smashing an egg with an antimatter warhead. Far better to have the plasma torpedo biased ships in her fleet go on Point Defense duty.
Prescott's Star[/b]
The fighters closed to extreme standoff attack range and let loose a torrent of quantum torpedoes. Over 120,000 were birthed in a near solid wave of blue white that proceeded to rush towards the rapidly closing Unity fleet. As much as Ulysses wanted to equip them with his enhanced quantums, he didn't want to tip his hand until the blow would be decisive. Because of this, the standard quantums homed in on a mere handful of GU ships. Hiding behind their near invulnerable overloaded shield grids, the quantum volley slashed in on the enemy wall of battle, spending themselves against shields and then armor. Three enemy Superdreadnoughts and a number of lesser ships fell out of formation, air and debris streaming wrecks with huge white hot fissures gouged deep into their armored hulls. But like any standard torpedo engagement against ships of the line, the fighter strike hadn't been expressly targeted to take out enemy ships. It was merely to soften up the opponents' shields by creating small chinks in them that were more susceptible to phaser strikes and to tear a ragged hole in the enemy's EW drones. The fact that a handful of superdreadnoughts had been knocked out was pure gravy. With their primary ordinance expended, the fighters wheeled to return and rearm. They would be able to attack once more before the fleets reached engagement range.
But even as they executed snap turns and boosted away under maximum acceleration, the plasma heavy ISC Cruisers that had streamed out a distance ahead of the main fleet body spat defiance back at them. Their shotgunned plasma torps split to track six individual targets for their customary lone one. Screaming up the now retreating fighter's wakes, the packets of energized plasma caught a few before they reached their max range and winked out of existence as their containment fields failed. Orange phaser beams slashed through space, but at the extreme range, actually hitting something as maneuverable and small as a fighter through its ECM was a tall task for even ISC sensors. The 401st Fleet recorded it's first combat casualties of the day, but all things considered, the initial fighter strikes had done everything right and gotten off quite lightly in the exchange. The tonnage and firepower losses for the enemy had been far in excess of the handful of Cobras lost in return. The opening attack done, calm returned to the battlefield as the two massive fleets continued to bore in on each other relentlessly.
ISCV Purity of Heart
Fleet Marshal Chora winced as Fearless Defender, Even Hand of Justice and Tenacious Civility fell out of her battle line. Close to two dozen escort vessels were also heavily damaged, wounded minnows next to the gutted sharks of the dying Superdreadnoughts. Orders need not be given, for her officers knew what to do all on their own. Fresh EW drones were salvoed, slotting themselves into place in the formation, filling the large hole the torpedo volley had blown in her wall of ECM. A light cruiser squadron was dispatched to save as many as could be pulled from the wrecks. Other ships, still in her squadron and holding their own, had a plethora of minor wounds - hull breaches, glowing scars in armor, damaged subsystems and the like.
Her fist clenched in anger as her counter volley claimed only a handful of the Imperial fighters. She longed for fighters of her own, so that she could respond in kind. But ISC High Command had decided to concentrate its resources on ships of the line, not small, fragile fighters. As such, she dare not send her lightest units out to hit at long range in a counter blow, for they were far more vulnerable to long ranged fire and far more expensive in both materials and personnel for every one lost. She took some solace in the fact that she would soon be in PPD range and this battle could be quickly finished.
ISS Valley Forge
The light beads of Imperial Cobras swarmed back into their births on Ulysses holoplot, those from Lilith's fixed fortifications cycling through the Ark Royals' hangar decks to rearm. After the next attack, they would barely be done rearming again before the battle lines met. And it wouldn't be standoff attack they would be reaming for, it would be close attack, with PPC gun packs attached to external hard points instead of externally and internally mounted quantum torpedoes. And it was then that the fighters would be blooded, for even in the swirling near-chaos of a fleet vs. fleet engagement, there was little something as fragile as a fighter could do to hide from close in weapons.
Fully rearmed now, the near 10,000 strong swarm again sped off ahead to strike at the enemy. The Unity fleet was now much closer, having been close on the fighter strike's heels as they returned to reload.
"Orders to the Fleet. Deploy armor and commence shield reinforcement forward. Damage control teams to the ready." Ulysses resisted the urge to rub his sweaty gloved palms on his uniform's legs, again surprised at how calm his voice sounded. This battle was different from the other ones he had fought, for in those, there had been no time to sit and stew as a potent force came inexorably closer. Both the S-8472 fleet and the first Unity attack had been fast paced affairs, with enemy contact rapidly established and nothing much to do but fight. Pre-combat jitters were getting to him, all his self doubt and feelings of unreadyness coming to the fore, as he could only wait for his plan to come to fruition and pray it would work.
Prescott's Star
The second fighter strike was nearly as successful as the first, and another rash of enemy vessels fell out of the Unity's formation, their hulls battered and broken. Again, long range PD plasma fire had little effect, the fleet fighters able to outrun most of the plasma torpedoes before they hit. But this time, the fleet fighters made it back to Ulysses wall of battle with the Unity fleet hot on their heels. They would be in extreme PPD range in mere minutes. But they were also just now entering Point Invictus' area of effect, and the storm of quantums had temporarily blinded their sensors to what lay in front of them
ISCV Purity of Heart
"Fleet Marshal! I am detecting tens of thousands of faint sensor returns, they're all around us!"
"Mines!" Teresa hissed. "Anti-mine protocols NOW!"
Her ships opened fire on the now visible targets, clawing at the nebulous sensor returns with their phasers and plasma torpedoes, blotting the from space. But Ulysses' emphasis on stealthing them had paid off. Combined by the perfectly timed second fighter strike, the mines and buoys had remained hidden until the Unity fleet was near totally enshrouded in them. Flashes of star bright light began to erupt within Chora's fleet as the mines unleashed their zero point energy warheads on her ships. But they weren't the worst, for even as their eye searing self immolation spent itself against her ships, a deadly latticework of silver lances was let loose. Fusion beams, the massively powerful but short legged weapon system of the Hydrans, was unleashed at optimal range. The Purity of Heart shuddered and bucked as brilliant sliver lances ravaged her.
ISS Valley Forge, Flag Bridge
Dear God, Ulysses thought, somewhat shocked, it actually worked. Fusion Beams spider webbed throughout the Unity formation, adding their energies to the simple mines that were wreaking terrible havoc on the ISC vessels. Whole squadrons were falling out of formation, bleeding debris and air into the swirling cauldron of released energy that enshrouded them. "All units, engage Helping Hand maneuver on my mark. Three, two, one, MARK!" On his command, tractors flashed outward, catching all non-Slipstream capable units, save the fire support and carrier ships nestled in the formation's pocket, in a web of mutual support. Then, after this was accomplished, the entire Fleet flashed out of normal space for a fraction of a second only to reappear well within standard phaser range of the Unity Fleet.
There was an imperceptible shudder followed by a metallic groaning sound as the Forge lodged her protest at the excessive strain even the millisecond at Slipstream while dragging such a load along with her. The maneuver put stupendous strain on her space frame, causing micro fractures to form across her hull. Throughout Ulysses entire fleet, ships were strained to the near breaking point. But in the end, it worked. The holodisplay shifted to show the now much closer Unity Fleet. The mines were done now, either having spent themselves or destroyed, as were his Fusion buoys. But they had done their job. What had been an unshaken enemy Fleet, with near double his own weight of metal, was now brought down to near half again his number in active units. Most of those still functioning were damaged to some degree. And best of all, his maneuver had brought the 401st within the PPD's minimum range.
"All ships, open fire! Fireplan Alpha Four!"
ISS Valley Forge, Slipstream One
"Damn it!" Clay Heidberg swore as he stared at his master situation display. "I told him that this little stunt was likely to fry the nacelle inducers! 'Acceptable risk', he said. Well now look, just like I told him would happen when we dragged that much extra mass into Slipstream, we no longer have FTL!" He swatted his com badge. "Bridge, this is Slipstream One. Don't expect to go to Slipstream any time soon, the entire nacelle inducer matrix is fused and will require time in a repair slip to fix!"
"Understood Chief." P'tel's calm voice replied. "This was allowed for. Do what you can. P'tel out." The same story was being played out across the fleet as every slipstream capable ship had the exact same problem show up. Aside from the fused nacelle inducers though, there was only some minor microfracturing for damage. The 401st was near 100% combat effective, and was within range of the enemy fleet.
ISCV Purity of Heart
That sneaky sonofabitch! Teresa thought. He set me up and I walked right into it! Then her holodisplay flickered, shifting the enemy fleet's position to one virtually on top of her own. There was no time to think about how the maneuver had been accomplished, she could only act. "All units, open fire! Emergency power to forward shields! Destroyer Flotilla Alpha, Cruiser Taskforces nine through thirteen and Battlecruiser Taskforces three through ten are to deploy aft along base course and up to gain clear PPD firing lines on the enemy fleet. Get a fresh volley of EW drones out NOW." With her fleet's damaged shields, shifting the power to the front ones would leave most of them quite weak in other aspects, but that couldn't be helped. Besides, Mr. Vanguard wanted to have a good old fashioned slug fest between capital ships. With her individually superior shielding and still superior numbers, she was still certain she could win even with his energy range firepower advantage. "Cruiser Battlegroups 39 through 46, concentrate fire on their Aegean class support ships hiding just behind their wall. Take them out and we'll have a much easier time taking these Imperial scum out.
Prescott's Star
Space disappeared as titanic energies crisscrossed space. Phasers and Phaser Lance fire crashed in on the ISC ships in a carefully controlled fireplan. Squadrons concentrated their fire on individual targets, killing ship after ship. Quantums, the enhanced ones this time, spat from Ulysses launchers and from the Type-V OWPs he had molecularly coupled to his unit's hulls. He wished that he had more Type-X's, but nearly all of those had been destroyed during the first battle and the yards hadn't had time to make more yet. Still, the Type-V's, packed with the enhanced Quantums were a handy addition. They were only slightly less vulnerable than fighters, but they packed considerably more punch by devoting all drive and life support space to heavier armor, more potent shields and more weapons bunkerage. The two fleets had slowed to a virtual stop relative to each other, content for the moment to flail away on one another at close range.