Captain Cortax was extremely distressed at the loss of the Kuth'lan
and her escorts. Had he not held back so much, the Kuth'lan might have
returned, and he would not be so shorthanded. The supplies were a welcome
relief though, even at their bloody cost, and the rest of the fleet was
saved from near disaster due to Ralao's brave sacrifice. The convoy would
return with a message for the High Command detailing the Human's sudden
increase in activity in the Sum'Tlor sector, and requested additional ships
and fighters. Several squadrons of heavy fighters were sent to pick off
the surviving Human ships, but when they reached the location there were no
signs of them or of the disabled Vetrox; there would be no chance for
revenge today.
Thinking about the fighters for a moment, Cortax remembered sending Dorkin squadron to locate the two missing Salthi squadrons, and they were long overdue to return with their findings. "Ralath, any word from Nar'Tok's squadron?"
"No, sir, shall we send another squadron to-"
"Negative. At this rate we will lose every squadron if we just keep sending them in piecemeal. I will not make the same mistake that I did with the Kuth'lan; signal the fleet to set course for the Dorkin squadron's last known location." Ralath was ready to protest, but seeing the look in his captain's eyes gave him pause, and he passed the order on to the fleet.
The massive engines of the Snakier powered up, turning about as graceful as an elephant, while the rest of the fleet followed suit and formed a sphere around the Ras'Tak. Fighters were immediately launched; Krants, Dralthis, Salthis taking point in front while the slower and heavier Grathas and Jalthis flew along side the carrier. It was quite a formidable, awe-inspiring view, the full firepower of a Kilrathi fleet unfurled and ready for battle.
It was thirty minutes before a piece of debris, a fragment from a Krant fighter bearing the mark of Dorkin squadron, was found by a Salthi. "We can only hope Nar'Tok gave his life valiantly, as did the rest of his squadron," replied Cortax when the Salthi pilot reported his findings. He was ready to call in the fighters when another Salthi pilot, a scout sent far ahead of the main battle group, frantically called in that he had found Human ships.
"He reports finding three corvettes and.wait.and two Hyperions have just jumped in." Cortax could tell a hint of excitement in Ralath's voice with the news, as if he had been craving such action for a long time. It would take the Humans time to power up their jump point engines, or so Intelligence reported. Either way, Human blood would be spilt in retribution for the Kuth'lan's destruction.
"Battle Stations, order the fighters to attack to distract the Humans, the capital ships will bring up the rear." With that, every fighter from Salthi to Gratha charged forward with afterburners at full power, blood frenzy in their hearts and a will to kill in their minds. The lone Salthi scout was the first to be killed, recklessly charging ahead only to be cut down in pulse cannon fire. In response the Humans launched their own Starfury fighters, fairly maneuverable but with weak weapons and, in this case, extremely outnumbered.
The last remaining Salthi squadron pulled ahead to engage the Earth fighters, and the two groups clashed violently against each other. On relatively even terms, they were locked in a death struggle while the rest of the fighter squadrons sped ahead towards the capital ships. One of the Olympus corvettes took up position between the fighters and the Human task force, and unleashed all four of its missile racks at the swarm of Kilrathi fighters. Heavy losses could not be avoided, and a whole squadron of Dralthi was destroyed in the devastating barrage; it looked as if the attack force was beginning to falter.
*************************************************************
Lorki nar Barak, commander of Ja'nath Squadron, was not about to turn tail just yet. His Jalthi squadron had received little damage from the missile barrage, screened by a squadron of Dralthi who took the hits for them and paid for it with their lives. He was not about to let their sacrifices go meaningless, not while he still had a functional fighter.
"Ja'nath Squadron, assume Delta formation, target the closest Human ship." The fifteen Jalthi fighters broke ahead from the main group and charge ahead against the Olympus. Her guns were directed against the unorganized mass of fighters, and did not notice the Jalthis until it was too late. Barak was the first to open fire, unleashing all six of his laser and Neutron guns on the Olympus, destroying a Railgun and a Pulse cannon. Similar fire from the rest of the squadron disabled the corvettes weapons, destroyed her engines and, in a final gesture, sent a missile crashing into the exposed bridge.
"Take that, you furless monkeys-" was the last thing Barak said before his fighter was vaporized by another Olympus' missile barrage.
*************************************************************
Despite the complete destruction of Ja'nath squadron, their heroic sacrifice plus the arrival of the Kilrathi capital ships inspired the other fighter squadrons to continue the attack. The two Olympus ships had depleted their stores of missiles, and pulse fire could not contain the mass of fighters. Krant fighters swarmed about the corvettes while two Gratha squadrons advance on one of the Heavy Cruisers. Their numbers were thinned by the Medium Pulse cannons, but not before several missiles and homing mines impacted against the hull of the Hyperion. One of the mines struck an exposed section of her armor, one of the two Fusion missile launchers. The resulting explosion set the ship off like a firecracker, a floating hunk of metal and burnt flesh.
Meanwhile the Asraki, the leading Destroyer of the main capital ship fleet, sped up to engage the Olympus ships. The nearest corvette had taken a beating from the Dralthis, and her back was currently turned towards the Asraki. She opened up with a massive bombardment of all six gun emplacements right into the engines of the Olympus, literally blowing them to pieces. Her fusion reactors were exposed, and a few well-placed shots started a chain reaction of explosions that completely annihilated the Olympus, destroying a number of nearby Kilrathi fighters and sending her sister ship careening out of control in shambles.
All that was left was the lone Hyperion to take the brunt of the entire Kilrathi armada. The Ralari Destroyer Bavork joined up with the Asraki and together with the nearly one hundred surviving Kilrathi fighters pummeled the poor Human ship with everything they had. She was quite literally blown in half, her rear engineering and fighter bay section completely separated from the main body, and her raised bridge was nothing more then a short stump of exposed innards. The Kilrathi continued to pound her until their power reserves were drained, and all that was left were a few charred pieces of debris.
How incontinent it was then, that several massive energy spikes were detected around the fleet, and from them formed several dozen Hyperspace vortexes.
Thinking about the fighters for a moment, Cortax remembered sending Dorkin squadron to locate the two missing Salthi squadrons, and they were long overdue to return with their findings. "Ralath, any word from Nar'Tok's squadron?"
"No, sir, shall we send another squadron to-"
"Negative. At this rate we will lose every squadron if we just keep sending them in piecemeal. I will not make the same mistake that I did with the Kuth'lan; signal the fleet to set course for the Dorkin squadron's last known location." Ralath was ready to protest, but seeing the look in his captain's eyes gave him pause, and he passed the order on to the fleet.
The massive engines of the Snakier powered up, turning about as graceful as an elephant, while the rest of the fleet followed suit and formed a sphere around the Ras'Tak. Fighters were immediately launched; Krants, Dralthis, Salthis taking point in front while the slower and heavier Grathas and Jalthis flew along side the carrier. It was quite a formidable, awe-inspiring view, the full firepower of a Kilrathi fleet unfurled and ready for battle.
It was thirty minutes before a piece of debris, a fragment from a Krant fighter bearing the mark of Dorkin squadron, was found by a Salthi. "We can only hope Nar'Tok gave his life valiantly, as did the rest of his squadron," replied Cortax when the Salthi pilot reported his findings. He was ready to call in the fighters when another Salthi pilot, a scout sent far ahead of the main battle group, frantically called in that he had found Human ships.
"He reports finding three corvettes and.wait.and two Hyperions have just jumped in." Cortax could tell a hint of excitement in Ralath's voice with the news, as if he had been craving such action for a long time. It would take the Humans time to power up their jump point engines, or so Intelligence reported. Either way, Human blood would be spilt in retribution for the Kuth'lan's destruction.
"Battle Stations, order the fighters to attack to distract the Humans, the capital ships will bring up the rear." With that, every fighter from Salthi to Gratha charged forward with afterburners at full power, blood frenzy in their hearts and a will to kill in their minds. The lone Salthi scout was the first to be killed, recklessly charging ahead only to be cut down in pulse cannon fire. In response the Humans launched their own Starfury fighters, fairly maneuverable but with weak weapons and, in this case, extremely outnumbered.
The last remaining Salthi squadron pulled ahead to engage the Earth fighters, and the two groups clashed violently against each other. On relatively even terms, they were locked in a death struggle while the rest of the fighter squadrons sped ahead towards the capital ships. One of the Olympus corvettes took up position between the fighters and the Human task force, and unleashed all four of its missile racks at the swarm of Kilrathi fighters. Heavy losses could not be avoided, and a whole squadron of Dralthi was destroyed in the devastating barrage; it looked as if the attack force was beginning to falter.
*************************************************************
Lorki nar Barak, commander of Ja'nath Squadron, was not about to turn tail just yet. His Jalthi squadron had received little damage from the missile barrage, screened by a squadron of Dralthi who took the hits for them and paid for it with their lives. He was not about to let their sacrifices go meaningless, not while he still had a functional fighter.
"Ja'nath Squadron, assume Delta formation, target the closest Human ship." The fifteen Jalthi fighters broke ahead from the main group and charge ahead against the Olympus. Her guns were directed against the unorganized mass of fighters, and did not notice the Jalthis until it was too late. Barak was the first to open fire, unleashing all six of his laser and Neutron guns on the Olympus, destroying a Railgun and a Pulse cannon. Similar fire from the rest of the squadron disabled the corvettes weapons, destroyed her engines and, in a final gesture, sent a missile crashing into the exposed bridge.
"Take that, you furless monkeys-" was the last thing Barak said before his fighter was vaporized by another Olympus' missile barrage.
*************************************************************
Despite the complete destruction of Ja'nath squadron, their heroic sacrifice plus the arrival of the Kilrathi capital ships inspired the other fighter squadrons to continue the attack. The two Olympus ships had depleted their stores of missiles, and pulse fire could not contain the mass of fighters. Krant fighters swarmed about the corvettes while two Gratha squadrons advance on one of the Heavy Cruisers. Their numbers were thinned by the Medium Pulse cannons, but not before several missiles and homing mines impacted against the hull of the Hyperion. One of the mines struck an exposed section of her armor, one of the two Fusion missile launchers. The resulting explosion set the ship off like a firecracker, a floating hunk of metal and burnt flesh.
Meanwhile the Asraki, the leading Destroyer of the main capital ship fleet, sped up to engage the Olympus ships. The nearest corvette had taken a beating from the Dralthis, and her back was currently turned towards the Asraki. She opened up with a massive bombardment of all six gun emplacements right into the engines of the Olympus, literally blowing them to pieces. Her fusion reactors were exposed, and a few well-placed shots started a chain reaction of explosions that completely annihilated the Olympus, destroying a number of nearby Kilrathi fighters and sending her sister ship careening out of control in shambles.
All that was left was the lone Hyperion to take the brunt of the entire Kilrathi armada. The Ralari Destroyer Bavork joined up with the Asraki and together with the nearly one hundred surviving Kilrathi fighters pummeled the poor Human ship with everything they had. She was quite literally blown in half, her rear engineering and fighter bay section completely separated from the main body, and her raised bridge was nothing more then a short stump of exposed innards. The Kilrathi continued to pound her until their power reserves were drained, and all that was left were a few charred pieces of debris.
How incontinent it was then, that several massive energy spikes were detected around the fleet, and from them formed several dozen Hyperspace vortexes.