Warrior II-class Corvette Halberdier, deep space
“Adjust sails to heading (01,32,54),” ordered Tite, “it’s our time to take the lead.”
The armor sail flaps shifted like the petals of a wind-tossed flower, and the strong solar wind swiftly pushed the Halberdier stealthly through the rock-scattered void. Just to the port of the Halberdier, the Justiciar’s own armor sails shifted, bringing the said ship to draft off the Halberdier. Adrik muttered as he walked up to Tite.
“Guess what sir?”
Tite snorted, “Yes?”
“Our probe has reported that two of the corvettes have already hypered away from the base. Less prey.”
“Less deaths,” sighed Tite, “for better or worse. Thank you. Are the other ships aware of this change?”
“Yes sir.”
“Inform Lieutenant Rotut that the Justiciar will now be assaulting the frigate with us.”
“Is that really wise, sir? Rotut might have got the sailing part of the ship down pat, but his crew isn’t fully trained with weapons tactics.”
“Then they’ll get to cut their teeth now. Learn from actual experience.”
“I see. I’ll get on it.”
Minutes passed as the quartet of Warrior II corvettes soared through the rocks of the remote Templesta Asteroid Belt. They neared the center of the belt, retracted their armor flaps, and turned on all of their systems to full power, including their ion engines: their sensor signature grew exponentially. The need for stealth was over. Starfighters swarmed out an asteroid in front of them. Tite highlighted the enemy fighters on his command console, and tapped a few buttons. The automated autoblasters on the Halberdier began to instinctively rip apart any of those fighters which neared their firing range.
“The frigate seems to be moving to the exit corridor,” reported one of the bridge crew.
Tite zoomed in on the old, battered Nebulon frigate. “Fire the needlebeams on its aft section. We’ll have to make it immobile. Launchers are clear to fire at will.”
Warheads surged out of the Warrior IIs like deadly blue spores. The opposing cloakshapes stopped their mostly ineffectual strafing runs to try and intercept the proton torpedoes. One of the fighters managed to intercept one, and was promptly destroyed by the warheads premature detonation. Dull green beams sporadically sprang from the dark hulls of the Justiciar and Halberdier and lashed out into the pirate frigate’s rear. They didn’t seem to anything at first; as if they had merely disappeared into the innards of the warship without a trace. But after sustained fire, fire seemed to vent briefly out of the frigates’ side as its engines superheated and disintegrated into a fine dust which ignited the ruptured fuel lines. Yet the rest of the frigate fought on, undeterred by the loss of the ship’s engines, trying to hammer through the corvette’s thick defences; even managing to force the Halberdier to switch to its back-up shields when a sustained turbolaser salvo pierced through a weakened shield grid. While the Justiciar and Halberdier clawed their way though the asteroid belt, the Repulse and Astral managed to disable the XQ2 platform the pirates had called home. Its shield generators and weapons destroyed, the station was helpless to prevent the tumbling rocks of the belt from occasionally smashing into it; a process which would slowly batter the hapless platform into an unrecognizable hunk of junk in a few years. The frigate adrift fared no better, with its ability to maneuver shot to a minimal, its weapons focused more on destroying the incoming asteroids rather than fighting the missile corvettes directly astern of it. A mistake which prove to be fatal after two salvos of proton torpedoes to its already damaged stern. Internal fires raced from the stern to the bow, forcing evacuation and dereliction of their duties on the pain of death. Dozens of escape pods sprang out of the ship towards their enemies turned rescuers.
“Adjust sails to heading (01,32,54),” ordered Tite, “it’s our time to take the lead.”
The armor sail flaps shifted like the petals of a wind-tossed flower, and the strong solar wind swiftly pushed the Halberdier stealthly through the rock-scattered void. Just to the port of the Halberdier, the Justiciar’s own armor sails shifted, bringing the said ship to draft off the Halberdier. Adrik muttered as he walked up to Tite.
“Guess what sir?”
Tite snorted, “Yes?”
“Our probe has reported that two of the corvettes have already hypered away from the base. Less prey.”
“Less deaths,” sighed Tite, “for better or worse. Thank you. Are the other ships aware of this change?”
“Yes sir.”
“Inform Lieutenant Rotut that the Justiciar will now be assaulting the frigate with us.”
“Is that really wise, sir? Rotut might have got the sailing part of the ship down pat, but his crew isn’t fully trained with weapons tactics.”
“Then they’ll get to cut their teeth now. Learn from actual experience.”
“I see. I’ll get on it.”
Minutes passed as the quartet of Warrior II corvettes soared through the rocks of the remote Templesta Asteroid Belt. They neared the center of the belt, retracted their armor flaps, and turned on all of their systems to full power, including their ion engines: their sensor signature grew exponentially. The need for stealth was over. Starfighters swarmed out an asteroid in front of them. Tite highlighted the enemy fighters on his command console, and tapped a few buttons. The automated autoblasters on the Halberdier began to instinctively rip apart any of those fighters which neared their firing range.
“The frigate seems to be moving to the exit corridor,” reported one of the bridge crew.
Tite zoomed in on the old, battered Nebulon frigate. “Fire the needlebeams on its aft section. We’ll have to make it immobile. Launchers are clear to fire at will.”
Warheads surged out of the Warrior IIs like deadly blue spores. The opposing cloakshapes stopped their mostly ineffectual strafing runs to try and intercept the proton torpedoes. One of the fighters managed to intercept one, and was promptly destroyed by the warheads premature detonation. Dull green beams sporadically sprang from the dark hulls of the Justiciar and Halberdier and lashed out into the pirate frigate’s rear. They didn’t seem to anything at first; as if they had merely disappeared into the innards of the warship without a trace. But after sustained fire, fire seemed to vent briefly out of the frigates’ side as its engines superheated and disintegrated into a fine dust which ignited the ruptured fuel lines. Yet the rest of the frigate fought on, undeterred by the loss of the ship’s engines, trying to hammer through the corvette’s thick defences; even managing to force the Halberdier to switch to its back-up shields when a sustained turbolaser salvo pierced through a weakened shield grid. While the Justiciar and Halberdier clawed their way though the asteroid belt, the Repulse and Astral managed to disable the XQ2 platform the pirates had called home. Its shield generators and weapons destroyed, the station was helpless to prevent the tumbling rocks of the belt from occasionally smashing into it; a process which would slowly batter the hapless platform into an unrecognizable hunk of junk in a few years. The frigate adrift fared no better, with its ability to maneuver shot to a minimal, its weapons focused more on destroying the incoming asteroids rather than fighting the missile corvettes directly astern of it. A mistake which prove to be fatal after two salvos of proton torpedoes to its already damaged stern. Internal fires raced from the stern to the bow, forcing evacuation and dereliction of their duties on the pain of death. Dozens of escape pods sprang out of the ship towards their enemies turned rescuers.