AN: I've been flip-flopping on whether this should be rated T or M. Nothing so far has warranted an M as far as I can tell, but ultimately I won't be holding back on the potentially VERY graphic depictions of violence once the ground war starts in the next chapter. So M it is I guess. Also let me know if the military terminology/procedures gets too much in the way of an enjoyable reading experience as I'm still unsure of the right balance.
[+]
1825 [Arcturus Time]
SSV BRISTOL
Hua Mulan System
The preceding couple of days had certainly been hectic for the beleaguered Bristol, her captain and her crew. A state that was undoubtably shared with the majority of the Armed Forces and political establishment, not to mention the semi-organised chaos that Commander Norris had heard was unfolding down on Shanxi. The revelation that no, they weren't alone in the universe had come as quite a shock to almost everyone, a fact that Beth found to be beyond ridiculous. Humanity had known for sure that sentient alien life at least HAD existed ever since they'd discovered the Prothean archives back on Mars in '48, but most people tried to conveniently pretend that since the Protheans were long gone, that meant they were alone. Sure there'd been theories and procedures drawn up, but people were much more inclined to blissfully ignore things that scared them.
Fortunately, the crew found themselves far too busy to waste time worrying about their species place in the galaxy. Which was good since the only emotion prevalent on Beth's ship regarding the aliens was that of intense hatred, something she couldn't help sharing with them. Having them starting to dwell and letting it distract them was ill-advised, but anger was certainly giving them focus and determination in the short term. Which was important given the amount of battle-damage repair had been needed to get the Bristol back into at least a semblance of fighting shape. Something that, with the help of an auxiliary forward repair tender that was in system, the SAV Apis, had barrelled along at an impressive pace. The hull breaches had all been sealed and the vented compartments now repressurised; the forward sensor array was as repaired as it could be with the spare antennas the Apis had on hand; And that damned starboard-outer thruster had finally been fixed.
But it wasn't all sunshine and rainbows, as their escape had one, admittedly foreseen consequence in the damage to the eezo core. The intentional and necessary overloading combined with their rushed relay jump, had caused severe instability within the core that would require a full overhaul back in a drydock to rectify. Were it not for the jump, whilst still overloading, they may have gotten away with it but they couldn't risk dropping speed in those last crucial minutes. The result was a core, that whilst still capable of providing power enough for regular propulsion and combat, would not allow them to jump to FTL, be that under their own steam or via a relay. In other words, the Bristol was stuck in the Hua Mulan system until they could couple with a recovery ship that could tow them to drydock.
In the meantime, FLEETCOM had issued new orders for the Bristol to support the small hodgepodge of warships that had been deployed to the system to cover the evacuation operations and to keep an eye on the Shanxi-Theta relay. The fifteen ships had come from four different small groups, one of which had been a fellow exploration taskgroup of the 63rd Scout Flotilla. In total, they amounted to nine frigates, four light cruisers (including the Bristol), the intelligence corvette Audacious, and a heavy cruiser, the Kathmandu. It was certainly more than they had back in Lovell but Beth didn't fancy their chances, especially when a third of those ships were currently on the other side of the system near Shanxi itself. Should the aliens come through in force, then their only option would be to flee. Again.
The Bristol's Captain was currently taking a minute for herself in her cabin with nice hot cup of tea and re-reading a trashy romance novel. It had felt like the first time she'd been able to truly relax since the manic retreat two days ago and she was trying to make the most of it. The universe had other ideas.
"Captain, Officer of the Watch." Called the male OOW over her personal intercom. 1Lt Nathan Yates being on watch this time instead of 2Lt Ouellet.
"Captain" She replied, putting down her e-book.
"Ma'am, the Audacious just issued a system-wide alert that their recon probe in Lovell had reported seven unknowns approaching their side of the relay before they lost contact. Kathmandu is ordering us to assume formation abreast of her."
"Very good, Yates. Take the ship to Action Stations and bring us in on Kathmandu's flank. I'll be right down."
"Aye Ma'am!"
With a sigh, she downed the remainder of her tea and put her game face back on. She'd only just grabbed her emergency respirator and action kit when the alarm and action pipe came over the main broadcast.
Hooking her kit to her belt, she quickly made her way down to the CIC and took her seat, waving away the OOW when he was about to call the compartment to attention. Urgency overruled formality. She was promptly barraged with information from the command team, reporting that they were ready for combat. Her XO, was soon there as well giving his reports.
"Well X, I guess this is Round 2. I don't know about you, but personally I'm torn. On one hand, I pray that we can avoid conflict and not draw the whole of humanity into a war we might not survive, let alone win. But on the other, I want to do everything in my power to give these fuckers a taste of their own medicine." She whispered to him, almost growling that last part. "I'm struggling to not let that second voice dominate my thoughts."
"You're not the only one Ma'am. In fact, even having that first angel on your shoulder is putting you in the minority onboard," Luca replied, concern evident in his voice.
"You don't think that's going to be an issue, I hope? I'd hate to court martial someone for potentially getting the whole human race killed." She said with only the barest hint of amusement.
"I…don't think that will be problem. Sure, they're angry, we all are. I sure as hell am, but the crew trust your judgement Ma'am and so do I. They won't disobey your orders, that I can promise" He reassured.
She simply nodded and returned her gaze forward. She just hoped that if it came to it, she was strong enough to resist getting revenge. But if there wasn't any choice? No, she would not hesitate!
Not twenty minutes later, with the ship ready for action, Lt Yates manoeuvred the ship into formation just outside of effective mass accelerator range of the relay. They came in on the starboard flank of the Kathmandu, the Praetoria-class heavy cruiser being at the centre of the formation. On her other side was another Athens-class, the Tripoli. The six frigates were arranged with one on either outer flank, two above and one below the centre of the formation. Two of the Satsuma-class frigates were of the same class batch as the Tours and Bannockburn, so Beth wondered if they'd share her desire to avenge their sister-ships.
No sooner had they formed up, did the visual representation of the relay started flashing red, indicating it was preparing to receive inbound vessels. The report from Chief Deng confirming as much. Five tense seconds followed in silence before seven red dots materialised on the holotank.
"Conn, Sensors! New contacts bearing 0-4-2 by minus 0-1-8. Signatures match six Lovell-Alien frigates and one cruiser. Designated Hostiles 1 to 7. Range 8,000km."
"Captain, roger! Alright people, same drill as before. Weapons tight but lock in firing solutions. We'll only fire if fired upon or on receiving orders from the battlegroup commander." She paused before continuing in the closest approximation of genuine anger she'd ever shown in front of the crew, "But mark my words! They so much as twitch in the wrong direction, and we'll make them thoroughly regret EVER killing our shipmates." She was met by a short but impassioned cheer of determination, one that shared a distinct undertone of anger.
Looking back to situation, it was clear that they must have caught the alien ships off-guard; their formation was in disarray upon presumedly seeing the Alliance welcoming committee and it took them a few minutes to reorganise. Then for what seemed like years, but in reality, had only been about 90 seconds, nothing happened; no movement, no weapon fire, nothing. But ultimately it would appear that the pause was only so that the alien commander could decide on a course of action. A violent course of action. Be it from overconfidence or a true assessment of their chances, the outnumbered alien ships started to burn towards the Alliance.
"Conn, Sensors! We're being actively pinged and there are heat blooms rising in all seven hostiles."
A moment later, the shrill action whistle accompanied the enemy warships indicators being blotted out as the icons for dozens of torpedoes began streaking towards the Bristol and the rest of the formation. Beth didn't even need to give the command for her now blooded command team to start engaging the incoming warheads, the familiar voice procedure followed by the distinct vibrations of dozens of their own defensive missile launches. As the missiles streaked towards their targets, the Yeoman relayed a message from Captain Abel Habib on the Kathmandu, "To all ships from battlegroup commander, green light to engage. Green light to engage."
The Bristol, having already linked up her targeting computers with the other ships, launched her deadly spread of anti-ship torpedoes at almost the same time as their enemies own were intercepted and mostly destroyed. Like in the previous battle, the alien's torpedoes had proven to be mostly ineffective. Surprising they even tried, given they should know it won't work on us. But in reality, they were likely just a distraction to keep them off-guard for the real threat. Given the relatively short distance of the engagement, both sides were already entering effective main battery range. That was the real threat, particularly for side that regrettably lacked shields.
The battlegroup had attempted to maintain the separation to nullify that advantage but there was only so fast the small retrograde thrusters on Alliance warships could propel them astern. There was no escaping that there would be a gunfight.
"Firing solution on Hostile-4 locked. Ammunition feed Green. Accelerator Green. Engaging!" Commentated the Gunnery Officer. "And…shot one…shot two…shot three…"
They were not so close that the ferrous slugs would hit instantaneously, meaning that evading them was still possible. Something that Bristol's Officer of the Watch was doing a sterling job in regards to dodging the fractional lightspeed projectiles. Everybody's heart leaped from their chests when one slug fired by the enemy frigate they were targeting ricocheted of the sloped wing armour that angled down and aft along the sides of the ship. But unfortunately, the frigate was similarly lucky as their kinetic barrier stopped all three of the Bristol's shots, the last one thankfully causing the shield to finally flicker and die. Well, lucky for the brief eight seconds prior to four of the Bristol's torpedoes evading their point defence systems and slamming into the front and sides of the ship. The first one failed to detonate its armour-piercing charge, the torpedo bouncing harmlessly of the frigates hull armour. But the other three penetrated deep into its superstructure before detonating. The blue-white flashes of internal explosions ripping the bird-like ship asunder, one wing being propelled off into the darkness whilst the main length of the hull was torn violently in two.
The skirmish was still ongoing but had not gone much better for the rest of the alien battlegroup. They'd successfully landed multiple damaging hits on the Alliance ships, crippling one frigate, critically damaging another and causing major damage to the Tripoli. But in return, five alien frigates had been reduced to slag with the cruiser catastrophically venting and seemingly dead in the water. Only one frigate seemed to have gotten off without a scratch. Good fortune that it wisely didn't squander, abruptly conducting a flip-and-burn back towards the relay. Beth honestly considered firing another salvo or asking permission to pursue, to complete their victory. But given the Bristol's dwindling stocks of torpedoes and her still present voice of reason, she elected not to let bloodlust get the better of her. History was stocked to the brim with soldiers who made that very mistake and paid for it with their lives. No, they'd won and that was good enough.
But they all knew that this lightning-fast skirmish wouldn't come close to comparing to the full force that existed through that relay. The worst was undoubtably still to come. And yet Beth couldn't help the warm sense of satisfaction wash over her.
Victory was still sweet. And vengeance for the Bannockburn and Tours served.
[+]
16-05-2157
1915 [Arcturus Time]
HS INSCRUTIBLE
Relay 315, Ophellus (Lovell) System
The scouting flight had been an abject failure, that much Taetus could ascertain. Well only mostly a failure I suppose. Yes, in the brief time they'd survived on the other side of the relay they'd been able to gather a lot of preliminary data. But the cost? Spirits, that had been unnecessary. Taetus had chosen his most-liked light cruiser captain to command the mission and in hindsight that had been a terrible mistake. The reason, Prime Captain Uestros had been his favourite was because she had very much reminded him of himself at her age. That made him trust her, but given his own personality and the situation said personality had dropped them in, she should have been the last person he sent. The orders he'd given her squadron were to cautiously scout the other side of the relay, report on any alien ships, colonies and installations and return. Preferably he wanted them to avoid hostilities until they had better intel and could bring their full force to bear.
But no, from what the sole surviving frigate's captain reported, Uestros had fancied her chances against a similarly sized formation of alien warships and rushed to engage them shortly after entering the system. Losing six ships, including her own and possibly her life for her hubris. Could Taetus blame her though? No, he really couldn't given that's exactly what he'd have done when he'd been a mere cruiser captain. Hell, even three standard days ago, he'd have done the exact same thing, but recent events had made him reassess himself.
Embarrassing defeat aside, they did manage to acquire useful intel on the alien system. It seemed that there was a single inhabited planet orbiting a main sequence star with two small barren rock planets and a medium sized gas giant. There were a decent number of alien ships in-system but they'd not pose a threat to his now enlarged fleet. Ultimately, it was nothing spectacular and there was no indication that this was the alien's home world. Although Taetus theorised that given their tech level, this was still likely one of their very first colony worlds. Taking and holding it should hopefully bring them to heel as a new client state, as Palaven High Command had decreed. Something that had come as quite the surprise to the Turian admiral.
He'd been more than prepared, even expecting, to receive a VERY harsh admonishment at the very minimum for his actions here in Ophellus. Instead, the response had been…almost apathetic. He'd received only a very minor dressing down for his hubris and was then ordered to prepare his fleet for expeditionary action into the alien's space. It seemed that as much as they were annoyed about his mistake, it paled in comparison to their response on hearing what had justified his attack.
Palaven was taking the reckless opening of mass relays very seriously and had decided that this young race was evidently incredibly irresponsible and needed to be subdued in order to prevent them endangering galactic peace. Of course, the taking of client races, was something that the rest of the galactic community, particularly the Asari, severely looked down on. The Hierarchy had been very lucky to get away with vassalizing the Volus and it was unlikely to see such fortune this time. Which is why command wanted this done quickly and quietly before anyone back on the Citadel took notice.
To that end, his 23rd Patrol Fleet had been reinforced by additional battlegroups that increased his numbers (accounting for the losses of now six frigates and a light cruiser) to one dreadnaught, two grand cruisers, ten heavy cruisers, two light cruisers and twenty four frigates. An mightily impressive force if he said so himself, especially given that he'd actually been able to retain his command. This could even renew his earlier hopes of a glorious victory to up his standings. In fact, this would be a far greater chance than running down a few irresponsible pirates.
He'd been standing on his command podium digesting the frigate's reports when his Comms Officer addressed him.
"Admiral, I have a shuttle from the Legionnaire Transport HS-402 requesting to dock with the Inscrutable. They're reporting to have Sub-General Amadaelius aboard."
Taetus' mandibles flared slightly at the name. Istera Amadaelius was the commander of the Marine response force assigned to reinforce the Citadel Demilitarisation Enforcement Mission should the Krogan ever get too rowdy. They did not exactly get on and she very obviously looked down on him. Her being a level-headed and very skilled high achiever that had quickly risen through the ranks. Him being an emotional subject of ridicule left to rot in a nowhere posting after his transgression with the Primarch's daughter.
"Permission granted" he almost growled. He knew the meeting with the commander of the ground element was inevitable now that her two Marine Legions had rendezvoused with them, but he still wasn't looking forward to it. "Have her directed to the Executive Conference Room once she's embarked."
Having received an acknowledgement, he made his own way to the well decorated meeting room, that was principally designed for diplomatic functions. Fortunately, the room had a small bar that retracted into one of the bulkheads and he couldn't help but partake in shot of a dark Edessan whiskey. Technically he was on duty but with Amadaelius inbound? He'd need it.
He was left waiting for around 10 minutes before the main door opened and an unusually tall female Turian entered. Amadaelius was not what Taetus would call an attractive Turian. Mandibles that were slightly too-short, eyes too far apart and plates that were almost a sickly white. Her appearance certainly made it easier for him to dislike her.
"Arterius, Arterius, Arterius….should have known you'd screw up even the simplest of assignments." She said with a barely disguised sneer.
"If all you've come here for is to ridicule me, then you can take your ugly ass and fuck off through the nearest air-lock. I'm not in the mood for your point scoring. And besides, High Command has broadly approved of my actions thus far." This time the growl front and centre, mandible flaring angrily.
"Don't kid yourself Arterius. They're merely trying to save face by capitalising on the situation. They still think you screwed up. But no, your delectable misfortune is not the reason I'm here." She replied in a dual-toned purr. "No, some of us are professionals and need to discuss the plan. I presume you HAVE a plan?"
"Of course, I have a plan! The fleet will move through the relay in battle formation, pacify any resistance in space before blockading the only other active relay in the system. Once we have achieved orbital supremacy over their colony, you'll conduct your landing and secure the planet. How you do that is up to you. I couldn't care less how you plan to achieve it."
"A simple plan for a simple Turian." She said monotonously. "Despite your woeful disinterest, I WILL inform you of my operational plan as I am in fact a professional." She brought up an image of the planet in question on her omni-tool. "Now, since your reconnaissance of the system lasted all of about three seconds, we won't be able to rush down to the planet immediately on arriving in orbit. I will have to conduct significant reconnaissance of my own before deciding on landing zones and force deployment. However, the basic intent, will be a hard, fast strike on their primary population centre with my first legion. The second securing any smaller settlements or strategic points as they are identified. Obviously this will all be dependent on the actual size, defences and population of this colony, but I doubt they will be significant enough to pose much of a threat."
"I wouldn't underestimate them if I were you Amadaelius. From everything We've seen so far, they're a tenacious lot with a lot of surprises to offer. Wouldn't want to see you have your ass handed to you by a bunch of barely space-faring primitives, now would we?." Taetus said, that last part dripping with sarcasm.
He was met with a look of pure derision, her mandibles flaring angrily. "Unlike you Admiral, I actually know what I'm doing." With that final scathing comment she turned on her heel and strode back through the doors to return to her waiting shuttle.
Taetus could never be accused wishing ill on his government, his people or his military but a traitorous part of his mind hoped beyond measure that the bitch failed miserably. Hopefully she'd well and truly get what was coming to her and even if the aliens were the ones to do it? He could live with that.
A thought that he would certainly later regret.
[+]
1935 [Arcturus Time]
Disabled "Lovell-Alien" Cruiser
Hua Mulan System
The flashing countdown on his helmet's Heads Up Display (HUD) started ticking down simultaneously with the fingers on his armoured gauntlet. [5..4..3..2..1] He closed his fist as the number hit zero and a muffled explosion was felt through the outer hull plate that Senior Chief Sergeant Francis Kingston and his elite squad of Special Boarding Group marines, were magnetized to. The small but powerful breaching charge had been placed within one of the many hull breaches that peppered the hull of the large alien cruiser. Most of the breaches, like this one, were two small to accommodate a fully armed Marine with EVA gear, so the charge was being used to expand it.
Having been given the thumbs up from his pointman, Sergeant Kashir, that their entry point was transversable, Kingston waved his 5-man team inside. The interior compartment they entered was in almost pitch darkness, only lit by the sporadic flickering lights of destroyed machinery. Kashir quickly activated the infrared flashlight on his boarding shotgun, followed by rest of the team, giving them full use of their helmet optics. What they saw would be familiar to any spacefaring human…and yet so very alien. Corridors that were tall and tapered; sharp brutalist architecture that roughly mirrored the vessel's exterior; and instead of the dark greys that were prevalent inside Alliance warships, the bulkheads here were painted in white's and reds.
They were only one of four SBG teams that had been deployed by the spooks on the Audacious to ensure that the cruiser was well and truly dead. His squad was Team 1 (callsign Alpha One-One), the sole team that had been stationed on the aforementioned corvette. As such Kingston was very well versed in how the shady bastards operated. Presumedly they planned to tow the cruiser off to some blacksite that didn't officially exist, never to be seen again. There they would thoroughly dissect its tech…and probably it's crew as well, looking for any and all advantages they could gleam. But all else aside, he imagined it was this energy shielding tech that had them positively buzzing with excitement. He was no swabbie but even he knew that working ship-grade kinetic barriers would be a BIG deal.
They started to methodically make there way through the silent and airless ship, breaching a few locked compartments as they went. It was as they forced open a partially seized, side-sliding door, that they first came face-to-face with the enemy that had already been responsible for the deaths of hundreds. Although to say that it was a confrontation would be woefully incorrect as the alien was drifting motionless in a hardsuit that was bereft of helmet. The creature was very-roughly humanoid: two arms ending in triple-digit hands; two digitigrade legs like a dog or a bird; bone plates that looked metallic covering most of it's skin; a long bird-like head stretched forward from the neck and finally, a flat mandibled face with spiny protrusions reaching over the back of the head. It was very clearly dead. Seems they're as equally vulnerable to hard vacuum as us, good to know.
As they continued to make progress, Kingston would mark any potential points or objects of note: An obvious computer terminal here, an alien rifle there or literally anything else that may be of interest to the spooks. On top of that, he made constant updates on their location within the derelict to a real-time compartment tactical map that had been very roughly drawn up by recon drone scans. Hopefully that would reduce the chances of missing segments of the ship or even worse, accidently engaging another one of the boarding teams.
They'd been inside for about 30 minutes when they came across a far sturdier compartment door, much larger the ones they'd come across so far. It was also completely sealed shut with seemingly no manual back-up mechanism, unlike most of the others. Kingston gave the hand-signal to halt and flashed a red light that would appear on the HUDs of his squad that indicated the same. Waving forward his tech specialist, Chief Sergeant Tannenbaum, he opened up the team comm link.
"Tanner, 'ya think you can crack this door? Or do we need another breaching charge?"
"Hmm…not sure. Might be able to if I can hot-wire my battery pack into the mechanism's wiring. But I could just as easily fry it, if it's not already." She considered.
"Right. Give it a shot will 'ya?" The squad leader replied.
"Affirm."
As the squad waited, two covered the door as Tannenbaum worked, and one covering the way they'd come. Even though it was nominally cleared, it was never worth the risk of being snuck up on, especially in a vacuum environment where there was no sound to act as warning. Kingston used the time to do a quick squad oxygen check, the lowest reading being Corporal Massai [83% remaining] and to study the tacmap. Team 2 and 4 seemed to been making very good progress through the lower decks, with 4 having seemingly discovered some large compartment aft near the confluence of the thruster nacelles. If this was a human ship, then he'd bet that had to be the main engineering plant. Team 3 on the other hand seemed to have stalled early on in their infiltration. Probably some impassable obstacle or a door like ours. Aaand yes, their indicators had just shown them about face and head back to their entry point, likely to find a better route.
"Boss! I think I nearly got it, but the BPR is showing movement on the other side. Possible it's still pressurised and we've got surviving hostiles?" Tannenbaum said over the team channel, her demeaner calm despite the anticipation of imminent contact.
"Understood. Great work Tanner." He said before addressing the whole team. "Stack-up. Kashir, you're point. The SOP for breaching a pressurised compartment; Door open, room vents, EMP flashbang in. Baddabing baddaboom. Understood?"
"Yeah yeah, I got it. It's not my first rodeo you know Chief!"
Kingston couldn't help a chuckle. "Hey, I know. Can't blame an old man for making sure."
He took a couple last seconds to eye over the team to make sure they were ready. Tannenbaum was crouched by the door control, elbow deep with her tech magic in the panel; Kashir was directly to the left of the door, flashbang already primed. Kingston stood directly behind him with his left hand on Kashir's shoulder and a M-15 assault carbine ready in the other. Finally, stacked behind him were the two remaining marines, Sergeant Holmes and Corporal Massai, both of whom were armed with M-7 rifles. He couldn't see their faces through their helmet visors, but he could tell by their body postures that they were all ready.
Tannenbaum gave him a thumbs up.
"Stand by…5, 4, 3, 2, 1..BREACH!" The door unlocked and split in two, each side sliding away into the housing as air exploded out through the door, drawing countless small pieces of debris along with it. Were it not for the team being off to the side and magnetised to the deck, they very well might have ended up propelled and splattered into the opposite wall. Six full seconds elapsed before the tidal wave of escaping air subsided, but Kashir wasted no time in lobbing the powerful vacuum-rated flashbang grenade into the room beyond. Another three seconds and it detonated. The "bang" element was all but pointless with no air to convey the sound, but the blinding light would be enough to cover their entry, with the EMP hopefully knocking out armour systems, weapons and tech if at all possible.
Kashir filed into the compartment, immediately taking position on the left of the door as Kingston did the same to the right. What they were met with was a large ovaloid room with long banks of terminals around the edges and what could have been large holotank in the centre. If he'd had to guess, he'd wager that they'd just stumbled on the cruiser's CIC, or alien equivalent at least. But that wasn't all. There were about a dozen of the armour-skinned bird creatures inside. Half of them had either had excellent reactions or maybe they were simply lucky in that they'd managed to get, presumedly air-tight, helmets on as the compartment depressurised. The other seven were not so lucky…and in the mere moments he had to observe his surroundings, Kingston could see them clawing at their necks whilst their small eyes sickeningly bulged out of their sockets. Death by vacuum exposure had to be one of the worst ways to go.
All these thoughts flashed through his mind in a only a couple of moments before they got to work. Kashir and Kingston opened up, firing high velocity flechettes and 2mm mass-accelerated slugs respectively, in a whirlwind of death. The combined disorientation of the flash, the EMP and the decompression completely threw the aliens off balance, allowing the SBG team to surgically eliminate the vast majority of them in only a handful seconds.
The team now all through the door, rushed forward to the available cover only to be met with the now recovering remnants from the breaching. The three surviving aliens opened fire with a withering fusillade of hyper-velocity projectiles that appeared to transmit significant amounts of kinetic energy. Holmes was a tad too slow and took a burst just as he was diving into cover, the rounds almost completely compromising the armour of his chestplate. As it was, he had to immediately apply an emergency suit patch to avoid oxygen escaping from a plating fracture.
"Massai, Holmes! Covering fire! Tanners, combat drone on the right hand two! Kashir, you're with me." Four green lights blinked on his HUD to indicate that they all understood.
As soon as there was a slight lull in the incoming fire, Massai and Holmes popped up releasing accurate controlled bursts that quickly forced the alien's heads back down. Moments later, a spherical drone the size of a tennis ball zoomed past Kingston's helmet and beelined for the two aliens taking cover in a workstation pit on the starboard bulkhead. The drone moved above their heads fired and launched a small number of micro missiles at it's targets. But what would have been certain death for anyone they'd been up against before, didn't even scratch the aliens. And Kingston quickly saw why. Turns out, that not content with having shield on their warships, they felt it necessary to equip the soldiers with them as well. The EMP must have knocked the system out on the other aliens, or maybe they weren't even on to conserve power. Regardless, it was an important factor to keep in mind.
The drone attack wasn't completely useless though as the two alien soldiers seemed to panic with the floating war machine in such close proximity. One tried to take it down with their rifle whilst the other made a run for another pit. Not much else they COULD do but bad decisions either way. As soon as they popped up, Kingston and Kashir cut them down, the magnetism failing on the runner's boots as it drifted lifelessly off the deck.
With practiced motions that were basically second nature, Kingston released his now empty magazine, secured it in a pouch and loaded in a fresh 60-round mag. He then patted his pointman on the shoulder as the signal to advance on and flank the last remaining enemy combatant. As they approached, the covering group checked their fire as to not risk hitting their own men. Kashir was just about to turn, weapon in the shoulder, around the corner of the holotank the last alien had taken cover behind. But he was brought short when the alien seemingly threw their rifle up and away from their position, it eventually hitting the ceiling. It could be trick or maybe they really were trying to give up. Kingston didn't know but he wasn't going to take chances with lives of his Marines.
"Cease fire. Watch and shoot, watch and shoot." The team leader ordered as he slowly approached the corner Kashir was still crouched next to. He slowly peaked over the rim before rapidly rounding on the alien who, in a bizarre but welcoming sight, was on it's knees with it's hands linked on top of it's head. Kingston was no xenopshcologist but that could only be an act of surrender.
"Well would you look at that Marines. We've only gone and got ourselves the first ever alien prisoner of war!" He announced triumphantly. "Massai, Holmes, check the bodies and clear the rest of the room. Kashir, search it for any concealed weapons and then join the other two. Tanner, cover him and don't let the bird out of your sight."
His team acknowledged his orders as he brought up the mission map to mark the "CIC" secure before requesting a direct comm channel to the captain of the Audacious. "Audacious Actual this is Alpha One-One, priority sitrep, over."
"Alpha One-One this Audacious Actual. Go ahead, over." Came the crackly low-pitched voice of the corvette's CO, the signal understandably weak within the middle of the derelict.
"Sitrep - Contact made with Thirteen hostiles within ships' likely CIC. Twelve eliminated, one captured. CIC secure with zero casualties. Further orders?"
There was a distinct pause as the man digested the information before returning:
"Roger Alpha One-One. Target ship is now 85% secure. Exfiltrate with the prisoner and prepare for extraction, over."
"Wilco, out!" Kingston said before closing the comm link. He turned back to look at the kneeling alien who hadn't moved so much as inch with Tannenbaum having a carbine steadfastly aimed at it's head. To it's credit, despite it surrendering, it never looked away from the tech specialist, presumedly staring at her defiantly through the opaque visor. Or maybe it's fucking meditating. Who the fuck knows...well anything about these guys." But now at least the AIS would get a decent chance to find out.
SYSTEMS ALLIANCE OFFICIAL CODEX
[ENTRY: CDX_M0051 – Warship and Auxiliary Vessel designations]
[+]
SYSTEMS ALLIANCE NAVY
Prefix: SSV – Systems Alliance Space Vessel
Fleet Carrier – Only beaten in length (but not mass) by dreadnaught battleships, carriers are enormous vessels responsible for the launching and directing of hundreds of fighters, interceptors, strike craft and drones. Whilst a massive force multiplier for any fleet, the carrier is also very vulnerable; the large launch tunnels that stretch the length of the vessel are uncovered by armour during launch and recovery and so very open to torpedoes and kinetic weapons looking to gut the vessel.
Assault Carrier – A carrier tailored to the landing and support of expeditionary Marine Corps units. Large armouries, holds, barracks, staging areas and hangers allow entire Marine brigades, their vehicles and aircraft to launch full planetary assaults. All supported by a multitude of orbit-surface dropships, landing barges and atmospheric capable strike fighters. They also have batteries of very low-powered mass-accelerators and Surface-attack Cruise Missiles (SCMs) for orbital bombardment duties.
Dreadnaught Battleship – More commonly just known as "dreadnaughts", they are the primary big guns of a fleet. The main battery of a dreadnaught fires a larger projectile at significantly higher velocities than any other warship. As such, they're able to gut even the largest of ships at ranges unthinkable to cruisers and frigate. Few in number due to the high costs, crew requirements and tactical inflexibility, these ships will only ever be seen at the centre of an entire fleet.
Heavy Cruiser – Main component of an Alliance battleline. Well-armed and armoured with powerful main batteries along with large numbers of torpedo silos. Rarely seen outside the main fleets, they are occasionally used as flagships for medium-sized and often ad-hoc battlegroups.
Light Cruiser – Faster, lighter armed and armoured cruisers designed to keep pace with and lead frigates on patrol and in battle. Often deployed with a single flight of multi-role fighter craft.
Frigate – Multi-purpose patrol and escort ship. Deployed alone, in small taskgroups or as part of frigate wolf-packs during fleet action. Fast and nimble, they are ideal for interdiction, harrying retreating warships and quickly filling in gaps in a point-defence screen. Most classes of frigates also have modular mission bays that can be switched out, giving the ships even more utility in roles which include, but are not limited to: survey, mine warfare and special forces insertion.
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ALLIANCE FLEET AUXILIARY
Prefix: SAV / SMV – Systems Alliance Auxiliary Vessel / Systems Alliance Medical Vessel
Fleet Replenishment Ship – Large support vessels that double as solid resupply ships for ammunition, food and spare parts, as well as tankers for vast quantities of anti-matter fuel. Absolutely vital ships for long operations situated far away from traditional fuelling stations and space docks, the FRS' have to be heavily escorted wherever they go so as to not allow an enemy to strike at an Alliance fleet's soft underbelly.
Forward Repair Tender – Another vessel important for the long-term sustainment of a naval forces fighting far away from home ports. Repair tenders carry the spare parts, salvage equipment and fleets of repair drones needed to keep damaged ships in the fight. And if that's not possible then at least a FRT can salvage or tow them to safety.
Auxiliary Troop Transport – Lightly protected transport ships with high troop-carrying capacities but limited utility in tactical deployment. Simple and relatively inexpensive, a troop transport is normally only used to bring Marine reinforcements to and from an active warzone with already secure landing zones. They're also useful in civilian evacuation operations.
Strategic Lift Ship – Another lightly protected auxiliary similar to the troop transports. An SLS is responsible for the transportation of vast quantities of military materiel in cavernous internal cargo bays as well as in hundreds of detachable shipping containers that can line the outer hull. While not being used for military activity, SLS' are often loaned out to Colonial Affairs for use in setting up new colonies.
Hospital Ship – Vessels of various sizes that provide out-of-combat medical support for wounded sailors, marines and civilians. They are equipped with full operating suites, multiple hundred bed wards, full Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) decontamination facilities and many hundreds of well-trained medical staff. Due to their humanitarian non-military role, human conventions prevent them from being targeted as combatants. However, non-human powers may not share the same reluctance.
Primary Casualty Receiving Ship – During fleet action a PCRS will be deployed behind the main battleline, often close to the carriers. They recover escape pods and evacuate casualties from damaged warships using their squadrons of Search and Rescue Shuttles. Once back on the ship, casualties are triaged and either treated on-board or transferred out of the combat area. Because the ship's role necessitate them being close to the battle, a PCRS is protected by armour and defensive armaments. As a result, they do not classify as non-combatants unlike a true hospital ship.
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ALLIANCE INTELLIGENCE SERVICE
Prefix: SSV – Systems Alliance Space Vessel
Reconnaissance Corvette – The classification of corvette, traditionally one of the smallest combatants, has almost completely fallen out of favour within the Systems Alliance Navy. All the patrol, policing and mine-warfare duties that were often the remit of corvettes prior to the Alliance's formation, have been adopted by frigates. The main exception is in the tactical/strategic reconnaissance role, in which the Alliance Intelligence Service operates a small force of advanced and highly specialised vessels. While not true stealth vessels, these low-observable corvettes can linger for long periods on minimum power and collect vital intelligence, all whilst remaining almost undetectable (when at slow speeds or stationery). Whilst controlled by the AIS with mixed AIS/Navy crews, these ships are officially grouped under the 63rd Scout Flotilla.