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Author Topic: One Big Bug  (Read 1446 times)

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Katie

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One Big Bug
« on: June 11, 2012, 01:13:01 pm »
Cai was about to take them home when Hardball noticed the bug. "Hey, Kit," she said, "I think you might wanna see this. Flip us." So she did. And, uh. Whoa. That thing was big. Not quite the size of the Bastion, but big enough to be able to release its own fighters, looked like, though there was no way to tell if it actually had any up until they deployed. Better assume it did. Looked pretty heavily armored, too. Yeah, it had to go, but her and Hardball weren't near enough for this.

"Callin' this in," she said, and flipped to the channel that all the Furies in range would catch. "This is Kit, we've got a really huge-ass bug--as in big enough to deploy other bugs--and are requesting backup immediately. Hotel alpha, and I want ozzies too. Kit out."

She waited, and then the confirmations came back. That was a couple dozen right there. Which could still leave them outnumbered, but it's better than taking this thing on all by themselves. She kept them banked til the others arrived, waited out the swearing, and then said, "This is Kit, you ready?" The stream of copy-thats came through, and Racetrack (nice kid) said, "Scout it out first" and then there was a burst of wilcos.

Cai gave the gunner-side thrusters some power and banked around the side of the big bug ship.
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 04:00:00 pm by Guest »

Offline GIR

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Re: One Big Bug
« Reply #1 on: June 12, 2012, 01:53:08 am »
Drake grinned from the Warmonger's bridge. "Charge the main cannon and spin up the accelerators. I want to be ready to fire the minute they get capital support. Echo-Wind, jam their scanners, and see about screwing up their controls. Prep some peanut butter as well. I don't want them getting too many capitals in, but let's let them chatter long enough to call for help. Clear, let Avarice know we've got small fish biting, but tell them I want them to wait until we get a big fish to drop in. Forward Unto Dawn, get me scans of those fighters. Ravager, mess with those pilots' heads a little, if you can. ", he barked, sparking a flurry of movement as subordinates rushed to carry out their orders as if their lives depended on it. Which it often did. Drake took a moment to glance at the already incoming scanner data, then pressed a button on his console.

The AI known as Ravager, a multi-agent hacker AI known to enjoy appearing on holographic displays and HUDs as a burning skull as it seized control of its target's systems, began searching for possible infection vectors on all nearby ships.

"Now hear this! Squadrons Ghost, Wraith, Revenant, and Phantom, grab your gear and mount up. You are to be ready to launch five months ago. Shade and Seraph are to remain on standby. Do not make me repeat myself, Patrick.", Drake ordered, then sat back to watch the action unfold. <Well, those fighters shouldn't pose too much of a threat at the moment. I doubt any weapons they could possibly have would eat through 6 layers of the some of the strongest plasma shields Tartarus has got to offer... All the same, though...>, the captain thought. "Wraith, Phantom, launch as soon as you're ready. Ghost, Revenant, wait in-bay.", Drake commanded. Better to send something out to hit them with. He then leaned back, certain his fighters would take care of whatever the auto-defenses missed.
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 04:00:00 pm by Guest »
Please do not steal the waffle-flavor waffles or the bacon soap. Also, you gonna make buscuits?

-------------------------------------------------------

Imperial Knight Eva von Draconis
Pirate Captain Drake Morgan
Imperial Knight-Commander Heavy Wilhelm von Tartarus
Mechanic Sarah
Multi-Role AI Trotzige Schwert vonPunane Tolm [WIP]
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
They've got waffle in 'em!
I'm gonna sing the doom song!
Yes. Wait a minute... No.
It's got chicken legs!
I had a coupon!
But I neeeeed tacos! I need them or I will explode! That happens to me sometimes...
best Tsundere ever

Katie

  • Guest
Re: One Big Bug
« Reply #2 on: June 13, 2012, 09:54:43 am »
For a moment, it seemed like the big bug wasn't doing anything, which was enough to raise a lot of red flags--

--and then they caught a burst of fire. From Racetrack's direction. "The hell?" she muttered. Then, over radio, "Racetrack! Status!" She got a garbled stream of what sounded like either swearing or a cry for help. "Repeat, Racetrack." More staticky, incoherent words. Well, shit. "Hardball, is that him shooting?"

"Seems like," said Hardball. Cai thought several choice words and turned them back around so Hardball could shoot out Racetrack's phasor tower. She couldn't kill him, but that'd take out a lot of his firepower. And then they received more fire, from Sandbox, of all people.

So that was the game here. About half the zipships seemed to be fine, if confused as hell. The other half were firing at the first half (and getting their towers shot off once the gunners realized what was up).

They were going to need some bigger backup here. "This is Kit," Cai said, "Requesting more backup, right now. Romeo Triple Delta, repeat Romeo Triple Delta, bug has remote control of about half our force and there are fighters deploying from it we are receiving fire!" She backed up fast to avoid being hit, and Hardball shot one out, but that was still a lot of fighters and they were still down by half.

Great.

"Kit out," she said, and concentrated on not getting her and her gunner shot down.
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 04:00:00 pm by Guest »

Offline GIR

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Re: One Big Bug
« Reply #3 on: June 13, 2012, 12:20:02 pm »
Ravager laughed as it watched the confusion of the enemy fighters. "Seems I only have half of them, but it's enough. Some of them are starting to panic, it looks like. The others seem to be aiming for their comrades' weapons. Want me to send a few to the prison hanger, Captain?", it reported to Drake as it began making the victims that still had weapons fly evasive maneuvers.

"Use them as meat shields for our fighters for now. We'll capture the survivors once we've got the parts we're looking for. Rogue Shadow, be ready to infiltrate any capital which shows up. If you get in, you're to disable engines, weapons, and communications. Capture a few of the crew, then vent the rest. We don't need one enemy more on that ship than we need for interrogation. As soon as you've confirmed the kills, seal it and re-pressurize it, then initiate docking with Warmonger.", Drake commanded.

"Got it. This'll be fun!", Ravager replied before coordinating the movements of the fighters under its control to protect as many of the pirate fighters as it could.

"When I get in.", Rogue Shadow, a rather camera-shy AI which took the image of a ninja silhouette whenever it had to be seen, snapped.

"IF. Don't get cocky, shithead, or I'll have Ravager or Sovereign delete you.", Drake countered, his tone one which spoke words not to be questioned.

Meanwhile, the pirate fighters went after the remaining enemy fighters in pairs and threes, some of which attempted to bunch enemy fighters together or herd them into collision courses.
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 04:00:00 pm by Guest »
Please do not steal the waffle-flavor waffles or the bacon soap. Also, you gonna make buscuits?

-------------------------------------------------------

Imperial Knight Eva von Draconis
Pirate Captain Drake Morgan
Imperial Knight-Commander Heavy Wilhelm von Tartarus
Mechanic Sarah
Multi-Role AI Trotzige Schwert vonPunane Tolm [WIP]
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
They've got waffle in 'em!
I'm gonna sing the doom song!
Yes. Wait a minute... No.
It's got chicken legs!
I had a coupon!
But I neeeeed tacos! I need them or I will explode! That happens to me sometimes...
best Tsundere ever

Katie

  • Guest
Re: One Big Bug
« Reply #4 on: June 14, 2012, 06:31:54 pm »
This was not going well.

Communications had gone all to shit and her starboard-side phasors were bent (and the jets over there weren't looking too good either). Cai didn't like to admit it, but the pucker factor here was getting pretty high. She jerked them up to avoid being smashed into Boney, and Hardball fired at one of the bug fighters that had been trying to shove them together. But the angle was bad, and all it did was clip the wing. Didn't even leave a scorch mark, and then they were getting fired on, and Cai was fleeing, taking them down the side of the big bug.

The zipship rocked and Cai nearly lost control--that right there had been a close one, a shot that had taken out one of their back phasors, according to her headset. We could actually lose this one, she thought.

And then the Bastion arrived. It shot out their pursuer (god bless the gunners on that thing). "This is the Bastion speaking," came the transmission. "Press, we have you covered. Repeat, press, we have you covered."

"Copy that," said Cai.
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 04:00:00 pm by Guest »

Offline GIR

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Re: One Big Bug
« Reply #5 on: June 14, 2012, 11:00:37 pm »
"Fire the Holy Lance. Target the enemy bridge. Follow up with the accelerators just like we rehearsed. Echo-Wind, I want that peanut butter gumming up every mouth except ours and Avarice's within five thousand klicks. Send some viruses, too, and set up some extra firewalls and roach motels. Normandy, see what you can do about giving our turrets new targets. I know they're not made for it, but our pilots might be more useful without the enemy's gunners downing them. Ravager, get a few runtimes on helping out Rogue Shadow, and use whatever puppets you've got left to make their gunners sweat. Ram their turrets if you have to. Ghost, Revenant, and Seraph, launch. Ghost, draw the enemy's fire. Avarice, drop in behind them and fire on their engines. Don't worry about causing too much damage, it's the weapons we're after. Release the falcon and tell the pilots to see about keeping those shields down, and have your other fighters give their gunners something new to shoot at. Rogue Shadow, Status.", Drake commanded calmly, sitting in his captain's chair as he watched the battle on a holodisplay.

"They're definitely military, and definitely not slouching on the cyber-defenses. You're going to have to hold out for a while, Drake. Even with Ravager's clone wars rejects and Echo-Wind's viruses helping me out, this is going to take a while.", Rogue Shadow reported, "These firewalls are no joke.".

"Don't rush it. I can afford to pay a few fighters to get that ship.", Drake cautioned.

Meanwhile, as the pirate fighters continued to chase down the Libran fighters, a white ring of light appeared behind the Bastion, a ring which slowly filled in to become a circle of light from which two large chunks of depleted uranium, followed by a much larger chunk, erupted, heading on a collision course for Bastion's aft section. The rounds were followed by a swarm of fighters launching from the Avarice toward the Libran vessel as the Avarice itself appeared and the circle of light dissipated.
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 04:00:00 pm by Guest »
Please do not steal the waffle-flavor waffles or the bacon soap. Also, you gonna make buscuits?

-------------------------------------------------------

Imperial Knight Eva von Draconis
Pirate Captain Drake Morgan
Imperial Knight-Commander Heavy Wilhelm von Tartarus
Mechanic Sarah
Multi-Role AI Trotzige Schwert vonPunane Tolm [WIP]
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
They've got waffle in 'em!
I'm gonna sing the doom song!
Yes. Wait a minute... No.
It's got chicken legs!
I had a coupon!
But I neeeeed tacos! I need them or I will explode! That happens to me sometimes...
best Tsundere ever

Katie

  • Guest
Re: One Big Bug
« Reply #6 on: June 15, 2012, 05:58:39 pm »
Bastion was sending them instructions when it got cut off. "Repeat Bastion," said Cai. No response. "Repeat Bastion." Still nothing. The hell? "This is Kit, anybody else lose the Bastion?" There was no response to that, either.

Oh.

Oh. Shit. "Hardball," she said, "Tell me you can still hear me?"

"Loud and clear, but I can't raise anybody else." Hardball sounded more annoyed than anything else. "Jammers most like--company!" More fighters were launching, and it looked like there were a lot of them. The bug had been holding back. They were basically running, now, trying to keep from getting shot out by the bug's fighters (and Hardball was doing her best, but one of the ones on their tail was using Sandbox as a meatshield, and the other one was keeping to their blind side). Cai needed to find a place she could turn around and take them, without using the damn starboard phasors.

On the Bastion, things were going only slightly better. The gunners were doing pretty well against the new squadron of bugs that had just deployed, and the main bug hadn't yet started firing anything.
Then the damage reports from the engines started coming in.
"Ma'am, we've been hit at points Alpha Niner Niner Alpha and Alpha Seven Bravo," came the notification. "Shields kept out the rest, but we're receiving more fire."
"Begin jiving," ordered the captain. "And--"
"We're receiving multiple AI attacks," said one of the mainframe technicians. "Sheer numbers say our firewalls will eventually fail--"
"Depleted uranium rounds coming our way," said the pilot. "I am not going to be fast enough to dodge completely with those engine hits oh shit brace for impact!" He pulled the Bastion around, but the hit still sent a shudder through the ship. "We're venting from most of starboard aft side, looks like."
"Get as many personnel as possible out and seal it off," ordered the captain. "I want the seal done within five minutes, starting now. Inviere. What's our status with the AI?"
"Still not in, but it's a matter of time." Inviere swallowed.  "Orders?"
"Disconnect the network and switch communications over to PA."
"That will take at least ten minutes--"
"Do it."
"Yes, ma'am."
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 04:00:00 pm by Guest »

Offline GIR

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Re: One Big Bug
« Reply #7 on: June 16, 2012, 02:49:57 am »
"How long until we're ready for a second burst?", Drake asked.

"Twenty-three point five seconds for the main, five point niner seconds for the accelerators. Half-charge would shave fifteen seconds from the main, at a cost of fifty percent size and twenty-six percent concentration.", one of the gunners responded.

"Full charge on main, target their engines. Avarice, fire as soon as you're ready, same target. Rogue Shadow, time estimate?", Drake ordered.

"Can't be sure, but I'm estimating niner point three minutes, with a three minute margin for error.".

"Not good enough. Ravager, performance estimate?"

"Eighty-six percent and rising. I'm going at this from every angle I can think of, but they've got some good defenses. Any way you can make this a bit easier?".

"Quib-Quib, search for any unprotected device any of their crew might have. Let's see if we can give Ravager and Rogue Shadow a back door. Ravager, take three of the puppets into the prison hanger and shut them down, then hurl half of the rest at the nearest Tangoes. Once they're gone, focus on hitting everything they've got. I want a weak spot found in three minutes or less, and exploited within five. If you haven't found anything good in one point five minutes, scrap the rest of the puppets.", Drake commanded, beginning to question his confidence for the first time since he'd come up with the plan for the theft. Rogue Shadow's estimate was much longer than he'd anticipated. As the ship's Holy Lance fired off another antimatter stream, Drake found himself asking what would happen if the AI assault failed.

On the Bastion end of the battle, Avarice's fighters continued to offer themselves as distractions for the enemy gunners. All except one lone wolf, a modified Draconian fighter which now was tasked with bombarding any external shield generators it could find, as well as generally softening the Bastion's shields for Warmonger and Avarice.
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 04:00:00 pm by Guest »
Please do not steal the waffle-flavor waffles or the bacon soap. Also, you gonna make buscuits?

-------------------------------------------------------

Imperial Knight Eva von Draconis
Pirate Captain Drake Morgan
Imperial Knight-Commander Heavy Wilhelm von Tartarus
Mechanic Sarah
Multi-Role AI Trotzige Schwert vonPunane Tolm [WIP]
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
They've got waffle in 'em!
I'm gonna sing the doom song!
Yes. Wait a minute... No.
It's got chicken legs!
I had a coupon!
But I neeeeed tacos! I need them or I will explode! That happens to me sometimes...
best Tsundere ever

Katie

  • Guest
Re: One Big Bug
« Reply #8 on: July 30, 2012, 05:02:09 pm »
And the penny dropped.

"Magic!" Hardball said triumphantly, just as Cai sent them into a tailspin that was only half on purpose.

"Huh? I thought you were a lightweight?"

"I am, but I can at least make light, remember?" And Cai grinned.

"Flash code?"

"Damn straight. Get me somewhere the rest of them can see into my cockpit and I'll see what I can do in the way of networking."

"You got it," said Cai, and pulled them out and away from the bug.

------
The pilot dodged the antimatter gun fully this time, but shields were softening to port. Not good. They needed to be on the offensive and they needed to be there now. "Inviere, give me a time on systems disconnect."

"Nine point two three three minutes."

"Not fast enough, speed it up. Gunners, why aren't you firing at the actual ship? And someone use flash code to tell the damn Furies to shoot out that antimatter cannon I do believe I'm getting shipsick from all this roll--what was that?" The ship had pitched, and there were a series of alarming lights going off at the head technician's station.

"We've lost shielding in...an alarming amount of the port sectors, ma'am," he said. The captain frowned. Then,

"I'm calling a tactical retreat. Who's in charge of the flash code?"

"Barris."

"Tell him that the new orders are to damage the cannon and get back in the hangar like their tails are on fire. And someone drop a magical trace on that ship. If they've got AIs of that caliber, I don't trust anything with a microchip."

The orders were relayed. The captain tapped her fingers on a rail and hoped the pilots came through.


[Very very sorry about the wait, I just had absolutely no idea what they were going to do next because I forgot the whole magic thing.]
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 04:00:00 pm by Guest »

Offline GIR

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Re: One Big Bug
« Reply #9 on: August 01, 2012, 11:49:39 pm »
[Your captain seems to have forgotten something.]

"Reports coming in from Avarice. Looks like the target's lost a lot of port shielding.".

"Good. Close up the 'Lance. It's only a matter of time before they decide to target it, and we no longer need it. And why isn't Avarice... never mind.", Drake commanded, his question interrupted by Avarice firing more rounds at Bastion's exposed port and the gunner punched in the command to close the armored doors which protected the Holy Lance when not in use. "Tell Avarice to try to leave some of the gunner stations intact. Judith, take a squad down to the prison hanger and greet our guests. I want them singing by the time we wrap up here. Rogue Shadow, give me an estimate."

"The extra resources are helping, but I'm still in excess of six minutes.", Rogue Shadow reported.

"Enemy fighters inbound. Looks like they're after the Lance.".

"Ravager, think it's worth a shot to slip in a puppet or two, then use them to do some interior redecorating?", Drake asked, a new idea occurring to him.

"Not unless you're willing to risk moving Avarice closer. I'd need something to distract them enough to keep them from noticing me sneaking them in. Also, if you could do something about those flashes I'm picking up on the ss sensors, that'd be great. If I had to guess, I'd say it's flash code.", Ravager responded.

"I'd rather keep Avarice at a distance. Time it to their next hit, you won't have a huge opening, but you've got a few attempts at least. Charge up the Holy Lance, then open and shoot. If we're lucky, we can at least hit some of their fighters as well as their ship. Clear, tell Avarice to keep those accelerators blazing as long as they've got material until that ship stops moving.", Drake ordered, then opened up a channel to the prison hanger, "I'd like to take this moment to welcome you lovely pilots to my ship. Please note that you will not be leaving any time soon, and that those birds of yours are now mine. Enjoy your stay.".

[Note: Being a destroyer-class weapon, the Holy Lance (as well as the accelerators on either side of it) are integrated into Warmonger's hull in such a way that the ship basically had to be taken apart and rebuilt around it when it was installed.]
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 04:00:00 pm by Guest »
Please do not steal the waffle-flavor waffles or the bacon soap. Also, you gonna make buscuits?

-------------------------------------------------------

Imperial Knight Eva von Draconis
Pirate Captain Drake Morgan
Imperial Knight-Commander Heavy Wilhelm von Tartarus
Mechanic Sarah
Multi-Role AI Trotzige Schwert vonPunane Tolm [WIP]
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
They've got waffle in 'em!
I'm gonna sing the doom song!
Yes. Wait a minute... No.
It's got chicken legs!
I had a coupon!
But I neeeeed tacos! I need them or I will explode! That happens to me sometimes...
best Tsundere ever

Katie

  • Guest
Re: One Big Bug
« Reply #10 on: August 13, 2012, 07:11:46 pm »
[For the life of me, I cannot figure out what it is :/ Assume your lot got the upper hand in whatever area it was and call it a player stupidity tax.]

"They're closing the gun up," Cai said. "Shit." She caught a glimpse of one of the bug fighters behind them and pulled into a sharp turn. It shot past and Hardball squeezed off a few shots. She caught the engines and it went into a tailspin, although the other pilot was still alive.

"Yeah, and the Bastion just got whacked by the other bug," said Hardball. "New plan?"

"Well, running away is--" Cai was interrupted by two red lights on her dash abruptly flashing on, and the lower (for a given definition) side of the main bug suddenly venting. There was only one reason for that little bank of red bulbs to light up (and the only reason it was getting through at all was that it ran on a different frequency), and it was a nasty one. "Yeah. That's as much damage as we're landing this time around. We're retreating and grabbing as many of our incapacitated as we can, effective right now, spread the word."

---
"Yes, sir." This wasn't going to be in anyway enjoyable, but hey, she had her orders. She followed her orders. She liked herself how she was--namely, minus any bullet holes, significant or otherwise. Judith signaled the requisite people and headed down. They met her halfway, and they were nearly there when she got the alert on her personal.

Something in the hangar had just exploded. Two somethings, actually, according to the alert. Well, shit. That was why they couldn't have nice things. "Alright, boys," she said, voice resigned. "Guess we've got corpse removal." They'd have to wait. If she remembered right, the CO2 jets had just shut off, and the hangar had just vented, kicking out the air and keeping the charred corpses and the ruined birds. Yeah. Drake was going to be real happy about that.

--

Nobody was going to come for them. Racetrack had figured that out as soon as they ended up in there. There weren't enough of them to warrant it, and everybody else was tied up big time. If Bastion was smart--and oh, she was--she'd mark the bug, pop out, and come hunting later with more reinforcements. And they?

Well, they were going to get hurt in a lot of inventive ways until they said interesting things, and then they'd get spaced. Or shot and then spaced. No fun, either way, and somebody was going to end up saying something important.

So.

"Hey, Blue," he said to his gunner. "You feel like the Silver Wings?"

"Sounds good to me," she said. "It's been nice, kiddo. Tell me when you're prime." It required both the gunner and the pilot to the get the suicide circuit going, even when the button worked. It took longer when the button didn't, because you had to pull away the paneling and dig through the wires until you found the red ones with the blue markings. It took a nerve-wrackingly long time--the bug captain started addressing them in the middle of it, and Racetrack nearly jumped out of his skin, but nobody came into the hangar.

And then. And then. He had it. Alright. Racetrack took a deep breath. "Prime, Blue," he said.

"Same." She sounded sad, then. "You ready?"

"Not ever. On three." They counted together. Then they crossed their respective wires.

Then the zipship exploded. A split second after, so did a second one, because they weren't exactly the only people to have the idea. After that, nothing was in a condition to explode anymore, because it was burning.

--

The hangar of the Bastion locked down, seconds after the last fighters had limped in (some supporting the bent ones, some not).
"Inviere?" asked the captain.
"Six minutes ten seconds."
"Will the disconnection interfere with the drive?"
"It'll take several minutes longer to work, but other than that, no."
The captain nodded. The pilot keyed in the address for home.
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 04:00:00 pm by Guest »

Offline GIR

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Re: One Big Bug
« Reply #11 on: August 25, 2012, 12:43:41 am »
"Suicide circuits. Why don't you just rig them with goddamn nukes and kamikaze them?", Drake derided, glancing at the alert that had appeared on his wrist terminal, "Judith, get that mess cleaned up and start stripping anything salvageable. And dump whatever birds of theirs aren't blown to bits. I don't want any flying bombs on this ship that aren't missiles.", the captain snapped, irritated more at the loss of whatever parts were in there than the loss of the prisoners.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Drake, they've stopped moving. Think they're plotting a warp?", a crewmember announced.

"Open a warp gate. Fore third of their ship. Tell Avarice to get a second on the aft third. Let's see just how much separation the exclusion field generates.", Drake commanded. It was a tactic he preferred not to use, as it left the ships virtually unable to run while the gates were open, though it usually did a nice job of holding them stationary, he was told, but he saw no other real options.

"Drake, I'm in.", Ravager suddenly announced.

"Good. What do you have?", Drake responded.

"Fighters. I meant I'm physically in. I can't do much with the main weapons, though. Those morons shot them off. Want me to try ramming the hangar walls?", Ravager responded.

"No. See if there's a way to activate their suicide circuits, and those of any others, if you can. Take out all but one and the fighters near it, we'll piece together birds from what's left. After you're done, see if there's anything you can get into digitally. And watch out for white rings.", Drake ordered as white rings of light appeared around Bastion.

"Got it. Guess I'll be taking over when the crew's gone, then?", Ravager asked as it began attempting to hack and activate suicide circuits in a methodical pattern.

"You've got it.", Drake said, grinning, as he watched the rings close into full circles, barely able to see them from the ship's 360-degree vid display. Twenty-seven seconds had passed between the order being given and the warp gates opening. "And with that, the fortress falls.", the pirate captain commented, signaling for the gunner to cease fire. "Rogue Shadow, retreat. Ravager can handle this.", Drake ordered, already picking out a team while cautiously watching the enemy vessel.

[Yes, that was a pun by Drake. And I was referring to Avarice. I didn't see anything noting it in that post, and the captain seemed to be treating Warmonger as if it were the only enemy.]
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 04:00:00 pm by Guest »
Please do not steal the waffle-flavor waffles or the bacon soap. Also, you gonna make buscuits?

-------------------------------------------------------

Imperial Knight Eva von Draconis
Pirate Captain Drake Morgan
Imperial Knight-Commander Heavy Wilhelm von Tartarus
Mechanic Sarah
Multi-Role AI Trotzige Schwert vonPunane Tolm [WIP]
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
They've got waffle in 'em!
I'm gonna sing the doom song!
Yes. Wait a minute... No.
It's got chicken legs!
I had a coupon!
But I neeeeed tacos! I need them or I will explode! That happens to me sometimes...
best Tsundere ever

Katie

  • Guest
Re: One Big Bug
« Reply #12 on: October 08, 2012, 07:39:02 pm »
"Yessir." She switched off the link. "C'mon, get your asses in gear." The hangar wasn't in that bad a shape, but the double explosion had banged up pretty much every Libran bird in there and some of their own. Good thing the hangar could compartmentalize, or this job would take even longer.

------

"What in all the hells was that?" the captain demanded. "And someone take out the guns on this one's buddy, we can't take the shield attrition much longer." They needed those damn generators at enough capacity to keep running or they'd lose the whole side, and if the pounding kept up the generators would fizzle.

"It's...some kind of gate, I think. We can't jump while it's open, not unless we've got some serious wards going."

"Then I want some serious wards. Put the mages on it, now, and delay the jump until they've got it hemmed in."

"On it, ma'am. Liu, get down there."

------

"Damn vacuum seals," Hardball muttered. They were cracking open the zipships that had been snagged. It wasn't easy work, especially since they were still getting bombarded. There were five left. Most of the pilots had already left the hangar--couldn't have them clogging it up, you needed space for this kind of thing. Cai had been one of them, since she was so small and not exactly the poster girl for upper body strength.

"Alright, these tools ain't cutting it," said Driver. "Hardball, can you go see what else they've got up in engineering?"

"No problem."

The door had barely sealed shut behind her when three suicide circuits activated.

------

"How many did we just lose?" The captain's voice wasn't quite shaking, but her hands were clutching the rail so hard her knuckles had gone pale. It wasn't hard to guess that the bastard had just used their own zipships against them; building in those circuits had been a risk that her superiors had felt was right to make. This was something they'd call an anomaly. She called it things that wouldn't be put in print.

"Eight or nine pilots, up to fifteen zipships." The tech paused a moment to take a message, then said, "Wards are up and running. You want me to substitute the rendezvous coordinates in so the bug doesn't follow us?"

"Yes. How much run time does that add?"

"Two minutes forty-five seconds. The shields can handle that--"

"--and if they can't we can sustain the damage." Mostly because they didn't have any choice, but there was no point in saying that out loud. The rendezvous coordinates would take them to a point between Jupiter and the asteroid belt. Not exactly the safest place, but it would alert backup, at least. And by this point, they sorely needed it.
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 04:00:00 pm by Guest »

Offline GIR

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Re: One Big Bug
« Reply #13 on: January 09, 2013, 01:46:15 am »
"How are our shields?", Drake asked when he noticed a lack of people being spaced from the other ship. <So, not enough to vent the enemy vessel, but enough to hold it. Given the prevalence of magic in this system, I can't have too long before they wiggle free...>, he thought to himself as he surveyed the situation.

"Outer layer is in the yellow, but good otherwise.".

"Avarice is reporting some heavy spellwork on the enemy vessel. Alice has her Oracles* working on disrupting it, and says she needs more time.".

"Tell Alice to get Avarice's outer shields ready. We're going to hit Bastion with an overcharge, and I want layers one and two waved out so we can give the Lance more juice. Target this location.", Drake ordered, his eyes purposefully cold and emotionless as the targeted location, an area which sensors indicated had lit up like a brothel after the other vessel had stopped, was highlighted on the display. Not only had they already taken longer than he wanted to, but the order he'd just given was risky to say the least. Overcharging a Holy Lance was a last resort, something the intended users only did when facing down at least a dreadnought. It was a feature built in to the weapon which gave it enough power to punch through the shields of such a vessel, but also drew an enormous amount of power. Enough that the weapon usually damaged itself in the process, rendering it unusable. There was also the waving out of the shield as well, which would send each of the two outer layers surging outward like shockwaves.

"Right away. Estimated firing time is seventy-five seconds. Should I reroute power from the accelerators as well?".

"No. Keep the accelerators going. We'll wear down their shields while the Lance charges.", Drake responded, his eyes on the holomap as he watched the first layer wave out and the Avarice's shields hold. Six seconds later, the second layer waved out, its wave nearly overloading the outer layer of Avarice's shields, only for the same layer to fail under a burst of fire from the Bastion and fall into the layer below it, a layer barely able to contain the overflow. It was a rather risky move Drake had decided to make. One he hoped would pay off big.

[*Oracles are basically mages from the human colony of Tokamak. They tend to specialise in magics relating to the perception and control of magic energy itself, and most often are put to work disrupting magic cast by enemy mages. They do have to be able to focus to disrupt magic, though, because it's sort of like fighting someone for control of the remote.]
« Last Edit: March 05, 2013, 05:06:24 am by GIR »
Please do not steal the waffle-flavor waffles or the bacon soap. Also, you gonna make buscuits?

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Imperial Knight Eva von Draconis
Pirate Captain Drake Morgan
Imperial Knight-Commander Heavy Wilhelm von Tartarus
Mechanic Sarah
Multi-Role AI Trotzige Schwert vonPunane Tolm [WIP]
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They've got waffle in 'em!
I'm gonna sing the doom song!
Yes. Wait a minute... No.
It's got chicken legs!
I had a coupon!
But I neeeeed tacos! I need them or I will explode! That happens to me sometimes...
best Tsundere ever

 

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