One bit of warning first before reading! This chapter has multiple POVs going back and forth, so bear with me. I tried to make them as large as I could to prevent from becoming annoying...
Anyway, Happy Reading!
Chapter 2 – Molten Metal
TNS Zethus
"Sir, perfect jump! All ships accounted for and preparing to scout the system", called out the Turian navigator who had first discovered the active primary relay back on their patrol.
"Good." Responded Aktis. "Have all ships form up on me standard defensive positions."
The standard defensive position for a small fleet like Aktis' was to have any capital ships dead center way back where they can use their massive range to their advantage, cruisers creating a frontline for the fleet screening the capital ships and finally the frigate wolfpacks at the sides prepared to out flank the enemy if they were foolish enough to get to knife fighting range.
However, only ten seconds after they had jumped into the system all hell broke loose for the Turian fleet.
"Sir! We've found the perpetrators who activated the relay! They're not matching any known signatures!" The navigator reported. "Bringing up on screen!"
At this, Aktis looked out at the holographic display as images of strange vessels in front of him and what he saw astounded him. An entire fleet of vessels clearly built for a sole purpose: war. The design of the ships themselves spoke of their ability to take fire and return the favor. Even from this distance the thick armor plating and cannons could be easily noted. The biggest ship was exotic and robust in shape, probably ranging from 1.3 km length, 800 m width and 700 m height using the visible extreme points of the ship, adorned with blue straps on several parts of the ship. He could also notice that the variation of ship designs increased as they got smaller. There were two types of cruiser-sized vessels and three types of frigates beside the dreadnought. Aktis was sure each had a different purpose…
"Sir, scans are indicating that the unknown ships have Eezo signatures. It seems they have the technology to produce it in large scales." His sensor operator informed, interrupting his thoughts.
The captain just nodded in understanding. At least those unknowns had something in common with them, he thought. However, he was interrupted again when he noticed Lykon's frigates ignoring his orders and moving closer to attack range.
TNS Resolute
"Sir, with all due respect, we are violating Captain Aktis' direct order to not fire on the unknowns", Lykon's XO hesitantly said.
"And I'd be violating Hierarchy Command's order if I didn't fire on the lawbreakers. I was instructed, by the Primarch of Palaven I might add, to blast anyone who had defiled Council laws." Captain Lykon snapped in impatience at the dim witted XO.
"But sir, there's no way the unknowns could be intentionally violating Citadel laws. And I doubt they had even known of our galactic community." The XO insisted.
Lykon looked directly at the XO's eyes, which made the latter flinch in fear. He knew his commanding officer was a determined person when he had his idea formed. And like any (totalitarista), he was not gentle in discussions. "Lieutenant, orders are orders and I intend to follow them. However, if you feel are unable to carry it you're more than welcome to leave this ship when we dock at the nearest Council space station."
Feeling embarrassed as the scene got the attention of his companions at the bridge, the XO straightened up and saluted. "What are your orders, sir?"
"We will fire on this fleet and Aktis will be forced to assist us with half his fleet already attacking. When that moment comes, we'll wipe out the primitives' fleet, invade their home planet and then the Turian's will have a nice new spacefaring client race." Lykon stated with conviction, as if he was stating the obvious.
"Yes, sir!" The XO saluted and proceeded to relay the orders to the operators.
As the fool went away, his eyes returned to the screen detailing the unknowns. "Has there been any progress in determining the alien homeworld?"
"VIs still calculating probable vect-" A soft tone interjected. "Correction, just finished. Looks like it's somewhere in this system." A moment of typing saw a section of the galaxy map expand, a specific system highlighted in red. "Can't tell what planet from here."
Lykon flared his mandibles out in a smile. "We outnumber the primitives two to one. They may have managed to outfit Eezo as energy source, but they will hardly have barriers or FTL. We'll be doing a favor to dominate this race, we'll provide them with true technology and guidance, they won't be manipulated by the Asari or dissected on by the Salarians, and they will prosper under TURIAN rule." He mused in tone where only he could hear his voice.
Lykon kept his smug smile as he looked at the primitives dreadnought ship, he couldn't wait to see it rent in half by the might of a Turian dreadnought.
SFV Nuaque
Grey was getting slightly nervous as soon as the alien ships appeared and some of them started moving towards his fleet. He had asked the cyber-intel operator to see if she could access their systems in order to get the information about this newfound race. Although the ships were rather small looking compared to his flagship, he knew looks could be deceiving and he could tell the ships were capable of giving hell if need be. Putting his worry to the side for a moment, he eyed the commotion made by the officers below his position.
"Have all weapons systems charged up and ready to go! Also, get Azuhawks, Fat Noses and the warp systems ready to go. If they start firing, we will not be taken down easily!" Grey commanded.
As soon as he gave the order, the cyber-intel officer came from the CIC level. Albion noticed she was exhausted for some unknown reason. Moments before she connected to the alien ship's network, she seemed perfectly fine.
"So, what have you discovered?" Questioned Grey, also noticing the same thing as his son did.
"Not much, sir!" The operator replied with an anxious air. "Their firewalls are so powerful that I couldn't decipher their codes properly. It's based on a cyclic combination which changes every picosecond. I managed to remain undetected by their security systems but I didn't try to break through the firewalls, it probably would have alerted them to my presence and that probably wouldn't have helped diplomatic relations."
"If we manage to have diplomatic relations…" Grey replied darkly. The ships kept approaching in a threatening level like if they had every right to sail as they pleased inside territories which not belonged to them. Brave people, if not stupid. "We've been trying to communicate with them repeatedly but it's like you said their systems are so…foreign, we haven't been able to get a connection on anything. I'm ordering a radio connection as a last resort but I have a bad feeling about this…"
TNS Zethus
"By the Spirits, this guy is going to kill us!" Aktis was a rather hard Turian to anger but he lost stability and composure while he saw Lykon's ships already deadly close to attack range. Lykon only said he was doing the will of the Hierarchy as he moved his frigates into attack range. Panicking, Aktis did everything he could, except shooting down Lykon's ships to stop him. But, the small ships just got closer and closer.
"Sir, Captain Lykon's ships have just powered up weapons! They're firing on the unknowns!" The weapons coordinator as Lykon's fleet finally got into range. All of the blood drained from Aktis' face as he saw the small ships shudder as they fired they're mass accelerator weapons, the bolts glittering blue across the void as they streaked towards the alien vessels. He braced himself just as they were about to eviscerate one of the cruiser class ships, and were stopped by a massive blue elliptical barrier surrounding the cruiser. The bolts seemed to simply be absorbed as the points of impact shimmered and turned brighter for a split second then just as quickly as the barrier appeared vanished. Aktis' jaw hung open before the realization of what Lykon just did hit him. 'That piece of shit doomed us all'.
At SolForce's side, the Humanoids looked grimly at the alien ships, now becoming the enemies as they saw their first volleys hit the cruisers. "Status!" Grey shouted.
"Commander, Mikhail isreporting damage on its shields around 37%. So far, it took the worst." The comms officer reported. To say Grey was surprised, it was an understatement. He expected the alien shots to be much more powerful than that. He went to the weapon officer next to the sensors guy and asked.
"What do you have on their weapons?"
The young man flinched at the sudden voice of his commander directed towards him, but the reaction died as soon as it came. He straightened up and replied. "Sir, I have analyzed their cannons and they seem to be based in a similar version to the Gauss Cannon. Those models, however, are capable of accelerating slugs at even higher speeds which makes substantial damage to any ship with thick armor plating and a good energy shield. Freely speaking sir, I would say I'm rather disappointed."
Grey couldn't agree more. All this time he had assumed the aliens were more advanced than his race were and also he expected the Mikhail, X forgive for such thoughts, to be annihilated with that attack. He thought he wouldn't even need to use the Super Particle Beam Cannon on this one. He wondered if those guys were advanced as he thought to be. Well, there was only one way to find out. Well, at least he would get to show off to his son now…
Grey began to issue commands assuming the commander voice drilled into him at the academy. "All ships return fire! Beam and Missile Frigates are to provide sniper support against enemy frigates as the Assault Frigates take on the smaller spacecrafts and the bulk of the enemy fire. Nuaque and cruisers, concentrate your fire on the larger vessels, but save one intact. Azuhawks and Fat Noses will deploy EMP bombs to disable their systems to allow our infrantry to warp in and take their commanding officers."
"Yes sir!" The comm officer replied as he began to do his work.
By the time his command was given, hundreds of crafts were from the dreadnought's hangar bays, laser weapons bristling as they unfolded into combat configuration. The crafts formed into six distinct formations before the nose of the Nuaque, and within each clustering into waves of ten. The instant the formations settled, their warp systems teleported them away.
Grey admired the sight of 300 craft moving seamlessly into combat, wave after wave arriving from his dreadnought. The commander then turned his attention to the holographic display, keen to watch the alien's reaction. Drones poured out in an endless tide, dancing erratically through space to meet their foes. Laser beams erupted as the first wave closed to range. Fierce and deadly, the laser beams cleaved towards their target, which dealt significant damage to the enemy hull. Their shields weren't even able to block the shot. Grey frowned. "Interesting…" He turned to the weapons expert. "Give a run down on those shields."
"Already done, sir."
That took the commander by surprise a bit, but he waved it off almost instantly. "Well, share it with us."
"The reason those shields aren't effective against our energy weapons is because they were made to stop only kinetic attacks. This means, they only stop shots of solid proportions. Radiation and energy, especially in the form of lasers, goes through completely unmolested." Then that's why only the missiles were stopped by them. A grim smile made its way to the commander's features with the news. Again, it seemed his race had the technological advantage.
Behind him, Albion watched his father with admiration. Since this was his first time seeing firsthand a commanding officer ordering around in a space battle situation, he contemplated with all the coordination and the organized response even when they were in the dark against this new threat. He wondered if one day he would do the same when he became a ship's captain. Suffice to say, he was proud to have Grey as his dad.
Yet, he felt that he also do something to help his dad achieve what he wanted. He wasn't a pilot, so his chances of survival on a Azuhawk or a Fat Nose were rather slim. But, as an infantry soldier, he excelled even the best warrior in this fleet, though he knew those were only combat sims. This was a real war now and since he was new at such things, he was good as a normal soldier.
But, he had to try. "Dad, let me go on this one. I can be of use to the assault team!"
Model A instantly turned to his "nephew" when he heard it. "Are you crazy? You aren't ready for a war like this."
Grey soon also intervened. "I second A on this, son. You just had training in combat sims and particularly in one-on-one battles. In this situation, things are quite different. You hav-"
"I know the drill, dad. But I can't stand to stay doing nothing while everyone else does their jobs. I want to help too!"
Grey was bound to protest again, but he couldn't. What he saw in Albion's eyes reminded of his time when he first met the Hunters after he became online. Apparently, his son had inherited that eagerness to help others he felt at that time.
He sighed in defeat and looked sternly at his son. "Alright, I'll let Shadow know that you'll be joining his team. But I want you back here in one piece, understood?"
Albion never thought he would do this; he actually saluted in plain military fashion to his dad. "Yes sir!"
With that, Grey's face lightened up a bit. "Good. Now, follow me to the lab. I have a present from your mother."
Albion looked at him confused as he followed his dad. "A present?"
"Yes, we were planning to give it to you when you go to the Space Marines Academy back on Earth. But, since we're in different circumstances, I believe it'll work greatly when you're aboard the enemy vessel."
TNS Resolute
Lykon was enraged and terrified by the turn of events. His frigates had opened fire on one of the cruisers only to watch as the ship was completely unaffected by the salvo. Granted he only had frigates firing but he had TWELVE of them on ONE ship and they did jack shit. Now the other cruisers were protecting the initial target as it probably regenerated its barriers. His only hope was that Aktis would destroy the fools with his dreadnought and cruisers before the shit really did hit the fan.
He still had that hope until four frigates turned around now facing his frigates head on and returned fire. The massive guns stationed at the center of each ship shuddered as it released a blue beam that streaked at his ships at a rather fast rate he frantically ordered evasive maneuvers. But it was too late as the beam impacted into 3 of his ships, blowing them into pieces like they were nothing. In a matter of 20 seconds after this engagement, he had already lost one fourth of his frigates and hadn't even done superficial damage to the cruiser he had focused fire on.
The Spirits didn't seem to be on their side today. "Sir, our fighters and bombers are being slaughtered by those machines! Reports say the enemy is using energy weapons and shields against us!" Lykon's XO reported.
If his face was capable of paling, he would have done it by now. Turning to his XO, Lykon stared at him disbelievingly. "Weapons and shields made out of energy? Our barriers can't hold those types of weapons! Not even the Salarians have managed how to get ship-to-ship out of those and those primitives made it? Unbelievable!"
"However, the GARDIAN lasers are working effectively in thwarting their numbers." The XO continued. "Their shields aren't as strong as on the larger vessels."
Well, that's obviously some good news at least. "Fire disruptor torpedoes on the larger vessels! We need to turn tide to our side!"
SFV Nuaque
"Sir, incoming fire from the larger vessels!" The sensors operator shouted.
"Shields at maximum strength now, everyone brace for incoming fire!" Grey ordered.
The entire crew on the Nuaque braced for impact as the disruptor torpedoes slammed against the shields. As soon as the bombardment was over the crew began assessing the damages, Athena however was already ahead of them. "We have hull breaches on decks four and seven, shield strength is down at 86%,''
''What did they hit us with?" Grey asked.
''From what I can tell from the sensors, they were missiles with some sort of warheads that when they impacted against our shields created random and unstable fields in a localized area." The weapons expert informed. "Those missiles put incredible strain on the shields, we were lucky there wasn't that many or they would have collapsed.''
''We can't let that happen again. Get the beam point defenses online and target those missiles." Grey said to the weapons officer.
TNS Zethus
Aktis observed as Lykon's torpedoes hit the enemy dreadnought successfully. But to his great distaste, they didn't collapse the enemy's shields as he thought it would happen.
It was no sooner that his sensor officer began to shout. "Sir, we have new contacts joining the battle! More three hundreds small crafts are being launched from the enemy's dreadnought! Our fighters suffered too much damage from the last wave and I don't think they are going to hold out for too long!" But his commanding officer already knew this.
Aktis knew he was doomed when the new contacts rushed into the battle and started hammering the rest of his fighters. When they were done, there were his cruisers and his dreadnought the final nail in the coffin was when about 3 hundred more contacts flew towards his cruisers and dreadnought. Seeing no other alternative, he pressed his button to active his comm link with the Resolute.
"Lykon, retreat your frigates back to Council space. Your ships are faster than mine, so you should get to the relay uncooked."
"What about you?" So, now he showed concern towards him, eh? Probably out of shame and terror of what his actions led them to.
"My fleetis going to buy you some time. Don't waste what I'm giving you, warn the Hierarchy, warn the Council. The Hierarchy can't lift the weight of YOUR sins alone". As he said the last line to Lykon, he cut the connection and looked to his crew. They had all heard the transmission and had grim determined looks on their faces. 'They are good Turians.' Aktis thought. 'They would die letting the Turian who doomed them to death escape to save other Turian lives.' Aktis had never been more proud of his crew then at that moment.
"Jump right in front of the aliens and fire everything on the flagship and its cruisers." he nearly shouted with stubborn conviction.
"We can't do that, captain! The aliens have just destroyed the rest of our remaining frigates and there are reports everywhere on the ship of systems shutdown! Our engines are among them, we're sitting ducks!" His XO informed. It was then that it hit him. As he looked at his window towards the enemy, he noticed that they were not firing at them anymore.
'They'll board the ship…' Aktis thought. It was then that he made a decision that he doubted many other Turian commanders would make. For the sake of his crew, he asked the comm officer to send an emergency ship wide communications. After pressing the button, he made his unorthodox command known.
"Gentlemen, you have fought bravely and honorably in the face of horrendous odds! If this is the last time, know that I have never been more proud to be your commander!" Aktis paused, thinking on how to word the next part. "You have been trained to only follow orders that aid in the Hierarchy to gain strength and prosper, and now I say this to all who can hear me. Lay down your arms to the aliens who have deigned to show us mercy where we would have shown none. Many of you think surrender is worse than death, but I ask you this since it will aid the Hierarchy more. Turians living to fight another day or death notices sent to weeping mothers and lovers back home?" Aktis himself felt the tension among his fellow comrades, looking at each other as if asking themselves if they heard it right. In the end, however, they understood their captain's intentions and obediently obliged. Still, he felt sick for giving a command like that, but he knew he had no choice. He only begged the Spirits that he could avert the coming storm to the Hierarchy and the Citadel.
TNS Resolute
Lykon did what he was told he hated retreating as did every Turian, but he understood that this could all work to his advantage. As his dreadnought made its maximum effort back to the relay, he watched with an odd sense of sadness as he saw the frigates he had commanded for less than an hour finally got destroyed by fighters that seemingly appeared out of nowhere. He shook his head as he reminded himself that attachment was a weakness and that their deaths would help further his own career and power. However, the Resolute neared escape, the last frigate accompanying it had its luck finally ran out as it was cut in half by the laser beam fired from those sniper frigates. Lykon shrugged his shoulders as every other Turian around him watched in horror at the destruction, now there were no other witnesses except for his own crew. A few seconds later, they entered the relay's range and jumped back to Council space.
SFV Nuaque
Grey nodded with satisfaction as he viewed the one sided dogfights going on kilometers away from him. He grew even more satisfied when he viewed that the last ship was successfully disabled and ready for boarding. He was slightly worried about the dreadnought escaping, but he considered it to be no big deal at the time.
He focused his attention back to the remaining cruiser. "This is Commander Grey. I want an assault group boarding that ship! We need the crew alive for interrogation, so don't fire unless it's absolutely necessary." He commanded as he surveyed the field of debris littering the void around the relay, the battle was over and he had only lost several fighters that had been ganged up on by at least a dozen of the enemy fighters before they were eviscerated by his bombers. All in all, he felt giddy since in this fight outnumbered two to one, he had utterly crushed the aliens and without losing a single ship! He didn't know who these aliens were or why they had attacked, but he hoped that was the end of it. But, he knew that wouldn't happen since the dreadnought managed to escape which will most certainly its friends of their presence here. If conflict was bound to happen again,
At the starboard hangar bay of the Nuaque, two squadrons of space marines were already standing ready as they waited for confirmation to enable their warp devices to teleport them to the enemy's larger vessels. Each squad composed of five peole, one group for each cruiser and two for the dreadnought. Albion was already with Shadow's squad. To say the least, Shadow was rather surprised with his sudden entrance on his squad, but he was all the same happy to have him aboard. He just didn't imagine his commanding officer would have the guts to let his son experience a real battle firsthand, not intending to offend his respect towards him. But all the same, he thought the kid's help would be very useful since his buster gun would be quite effective inside a ship environment where there wasn't much space to maneuver. Aside from that, he had already defeated him fair and square in the combat sims, even when Shadow had the advantage using his ninja tricks gained from his Model P.
As the leader of the squad, he began his instructions when everyone was accounted for. "Ladies and gentlemen, consider yourselves lucky because you all will be witnessing an alien face-to-face today. As Command instructed, we are only awaiting the Fat Noses to deliver the EMP bombs into the enemy's face to disable their systems. This will grant us a stealth approach since their sensors will be offline for a temporary time. We'll warp out here." He brought out a hologram containing an approximate blueprint of their target. He pointed to a large compartment at the center of ship, located underside of it. "This is what we believe to be the hangar. From there, we'll make our way to the bridge where I think it's in this far end of the ship." He pointed to the place with the smallest width. "I expect them to surrender when we arrive, so check your fire unless it's absolutely necessary. Am I understood?"
All soldiers present, including Albion, saluted. "Yes sir!"
"Alright, now get your gear ready while we have the time. Dismissed!"
Unlike Albion and Shadow, the three regular Reploid marines didn't have attached to their armors, so they need firearms of their own. Shadow was the only human in the team, but he was special since he was chosen by Biometal Model P when the First Commander first presented it to him after his final exams at the Space Marines Academy. Ever since that day, he used those powers to reach the position he was entitled with now.
Shadow joined Albion who appeared to be tensed with anticipation. He knew he was new at this while the other members had their experiences, so he deemed that as normal and it was his job as leader to increase the morale of his troops. "Nervous?"
Albion flinched a bit when the sudden words reached his processors and looked to the source. "Yeah…"
"Just relax, kid. I made a promise to your father I'd take care of you, but I must ask. What compelled you to participate in this operation?" Shadow inquired out of curiosity.
Albion averted his eyes to the floor, looking as if he admired it. "I just don't like to stand around when everyone is working their best to protect the colony. I felt I should help too."
Shadow managed to crack a smile. 'A chip off the old block.' "That's a great motive. If you have an objective to justify why you are fighting, you should stick to it. Depending on what it is, believe me when I say this, it makes you harder to kill. That's my lesson for you today."
With that, Albion brightened a bit. "Thanks, Shadow. That helped a lot."
"No problem. Just stay behind me when we get there, okay?"
Albion planted a smug grin on his face. "I think that won't be necessary."
Shadow frowned. "Oh? And why not?"
He got his answer when Albion became enveloped in a ball of blue light which made him blind for mere moments. When it went off, it revealed Albion, but different. His helmet, for example, now had a small crest on his forehead with his yellow crystal separating it in two parts like if they were horns of some sort. As for his armor in general, the parts seemed to have gotten wider, signaling that it got a boost on defense. But what struck him the most was the concave shield projected from his left arm, large enough to cover most of his body. He hadn't to think hard to recognize that it was made out from the energy shields used on ships, in an obviously much smaller scale. He was aware that Albion was capable of such things, but to actually see it happening in front of him, this was at first.
After a few moments studying the boy's new appearance, he whistled. "Nice armor, kid. You look like those ancient human knights from Middle Age. Well, without swords, I see."
"Who needs swords nowadays? A good plasma buster is what counts!" Albion joked, but also letting out in his tone a sense of pride. Though, he had forgotten one thing…
"Ahem…" Shadow had to disagree since he was an expert when it came to melee combat. Something Albion knew all too well. "You have seen me fight with a beam saber and I can say for myself that it has served me greatly since I was chosen by Model P. So, your argument is invalid."
"Still, I kicked your ass in the sims."The boy retorted, desperately trying to win the discussion.
"Hmph… pure luck, kid. It won't happen next time."
It was then that Grey's voice came in at the Intercom. "This is Commander Grey. I want an assault group boarding that ship now before it falls apart! We need the crew alive for interrogation, so don't fire unless it's absolutely necessary."
"Looks like that's our cue to action." Shadow turned to the rest of his squad. "Alright, you heard the commander! We're going in and take the aliens prisoners. Lethal fire is forbidden until ordered to!" He looked at everyone to see if they got the message. "Alright, warping in 5.. 4.. 3.. 2.. 1.. GO!" And then, their bodies were into cylindrical blue energy which shot out from the Nuaque, quickly moving towards the enemy vessel.
Alien Ship
Like they had planned, Shadow's team warped out in the middle of the hangar of the alien ship. At the first scan of the compartment, they found what any hangar would have: Ships, though in strange tiny designs, and lots of boxes. What was strange, however, was that they couldn't get any sign of the aliens. It was completely deserted.
Shadow was the first to notice this. "Hmm, they know we're boarding their ship, so they must be further in waiting for us. Remember, do not fire unless fired upon. Command needs them for interrogation." He turned to Albion. "Since you have the means to protect us from a firefight, you go in first. We'll follow closely behind."
Albion nodded in acknowledgement and positioned himself at the head of the group, with his shield lifted for cover. As soon as he started walking, the group followed him in a tiny V-formation to the door that led out of the compartment. However, before they were even good steps away from it, they were greeted with the presence of the aliens. One after another with weapons pointed at them, they made their way into the hangar.
He noticed that they were humanoids, probably avian since their face features were characteristic to that evolutionary group, though they didn't have feathers or wings. He counted over a hundred of aliens until the last one entered the room wearing a distinctive armor compared to the others. This one was unarmed and daringly approached them like if it didn't have any fears. Tension dominated the Humanoids as they had pointed their weapons to the alien who stopped mere meters away from them. But orders were orders, so the group restrained the fingers from the triggers. Then, the alien slowly turned his head to his comrades and nodded.
Everyone in the team widened their eyes as they witnessed the aliens suddenly throw their weapons away and standing there if they were waiting for something. That could only mean one thing…
And Shadow confirmed it for everyone. "Nuaque, this is Assault Team. The aliens have surrendered."
Like I said before, I'm making available the first Codex of the story. This one, however, is purely made out of fleet specs so you can better imagine what weapons and how SolForce space tactics work. Not all ships are listed here as there will be another codex with the rest in further chapters, but this represents the majority. Their models are in my profile's page. (The pics are only illustrative, not belonging to me, with the only intention as to show their chassis. There are things that might be different about them in the story
Also, I plan to develop Shadow's history in further chapters since he'll play a valuable role in Mass Effect events. So, bear with me until that time.
I feel I should tell you this too. It'll take time to update the next chapter (probably a month or less if things go right with me here) since college is already taking its toll on me. So, forgive me for the late updates!
Hope you like what you've seen so far!
Codex: SolForce Military Vessels I
SolForce ship types have specific naming conventions. Dreadnoughts and Super Carriers are named after important heroes and vehicles in mankind history; cruisers are named after great scientists; frigates are named after cities on Earth. The "SFV" stands for "SolForce Space Vessel".
(Dreadnought)
The dreadnoughts of the SolForce constitute the main body of super capital class ships. They are much easier to find compared to other ships of their size. Its design was paradigm for the construction of the Super Carrier class ships which are slightly larger than them.
Length: 1395 m
Width: 846 m
Height: 729m
Armament: 106 plasma cannons at each side (half at topside and the other underneath), 64 laser quad cannons located at the center and a SPBC (Super Particle Beam Cannon) located between their forward beetle-like arms.
(Battlecruiser)
The Battlecruisers are the main force of the SolForce navy. They are equipped with all kinds of weapons so they can adapt to every range in combat. Their armor is thicker compared to the Torpedo Cruiser.
Length: 765 m
Width: 264 m
Height: 441 m
Armament: 22 Plasma cannons along with 32 laser quad cannon at each side of the ship and 10 particle beam cannons at the top and bottom.
(Torpedo Cruiser)
The Torpedo Cruisers are capable of delivering packages of plasma torpedoes to the enemy capital ships, inflicting serious heat damage. Because of its vulnerable armor, they usually stay behind the bulk of the fleet.
Length: 712 m
Width: 249 m
Height: 273 m
Armament: 56 laser quad cannons distributed uniformly throughout the ship. Single torpedo bay located underneath which concentrates plasma into one big ball and when enough energy is gathered, it's catapulted towards enemy ships.
(Assault Frigate)
The Assault Frigates are the head-on assessments which make their armor and shield the strongest in the navy. They are perfect for dealing with other frigates and also smaller vessels.
Length: 257 m
Width: 224 m
Height: 138 m
Armament: 15 plasma cannons and 20 laser dual cannons uniformly distributed throughout the ship.
(Missile Frigate)
Missile Frigates respond for the 90% usage of kinetic payload. They are effective against frigates and smaller vessels at long range, so they usually stay behind the protection of other larger vessels.
Length: 278 m
Width: 184 m
Height: 201 m
Armament: 18 laser dual cannons and 62 missile bays at each corner of their wings.
(Long-Range Beam Frigate)
The pride of the space sniper warfare. They are capable of doing massive damage with the defender's armor is not suited for the beams used by the LRBFs.
Length: 167 m
Width: 142 m
Height: 136 m
Armament: 3 forward particle dual cannons and another behind the bridge. They also have 8 laser dual cannons to better defend themselves if they are attacked by smaller vessels.
(Azuhawk-class Fighter)
They are advanced fighters equipped with the new breakthrough regarding mass effect technology: small-scale mass effect drives. With that, they are capable of decreasing their mass in order to gain more maneuverability in a dogfight. Azuhawk stands for "Azure Hawk" due to its armor color and their effectiveness in hunting small targets.
Length: 8 m
Width: 6 m
Height: 5 m
Armament: 2 repeating laser guns located at each wing. They also can carry missiles.
(Fat Nose-class Bomber)
When engineers made the Fat Nose, they wanted a vessel capable of delivering constant hell in a way that could make the enemy piss their pants out of fear. This vessel is compared to a powerhouse since a squad of 5 Fat Noses ganged together is able to take down a frigate in matter of minutes. The engineers caringly choose that name due to its big round nose.
Length: 7 m
Width: 5 m
Height: 4 m
Armament: 1 chargeable plasma gun located at each wing. They can carry anything ranging from missiles to plasma bombs.