(OOC: FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK. FUCKING VBOARD JUST LOGGED ME OUT AND DELETED MY ENTIRE POST AS I SENT IT. FAGGOTS FAGGOTS FAGGOTS FAGGOTS FAGGOTS.


I'm not bothering to retype it.)

Tibannaopolis.


"Get Commander Wilder up there, where is that lazy fucker?"

He was, in fact, already on task, his body slamming down hard into the cockpit of the TIE Defender. Rushing through preflight, his squadron was airbourne in mere minutes. He was about to task the squadron when his commlink chattered.

"Wilder? Its Greiz. First priority is the convoy, its already late. Rally with the rest of the unit and move to the jump beacon in preperation. It should put you above the Imperial fleet. Do not engage unless engaged. Do you copy?"

He quickly squelched out an affirmative before cutting the Operations Commander off. He had more important things to deal with that Greiz.



Fighter Garrison - Tibannaopolis.


18 TIE Defenders
18 TIE Scimitars
1 TIE/fci Fire Control Interceptor
1 6 TIE/ew Electronic Warfare Fighter
6 TIE/ae Aerodynamic-Enhanced (not launched)

Onboard the Fireburst

The flashing of emergency lights and shrill of alarms had turned the bridge of the Fireburst into a madhouse, as the bridge crew scrambled around in attempt to control the vast damage.

"Power levels dropping!"

"Shields failing!"

"Locking in emergency power."

"Incoming missiles."

"Sensor readings erratic."

And amid the chaos stood Commodore Hulsy. He was standing errect, yet seemed to be in shock, unmoving, only staring out at the massive Imperial force whose wrath had displayed itself so thourghly.

Another salvo rocked the ship, and sent a power surge through the Fireburst. The burst went through charred power lines, and manifested itself on the bridge, where a bank of computer's exploded violently.

And a peice of shrapnel buried itself in Commodore Hulsey's forehead, which left him unmoving, the shocked look on his face.

And from amid the chaos an order was heard.

"Prepare to jump to lightspeed."

Bespin
Planetary Defense Platform B3

"Enemy in range sir."

Specialist Kay-Jay Holis had held off saying that simple sentence for quite some time, as his exact orders had been to announce it only when "it was impossible to miss."

"Engage targeting telemetry."

Came the reply, and Holis let out his baited breath. The defense fleet was getting pounded by a superior Imperial force, and its only respite would come from the mighty ground based defenses, whom had charged, but refrained from firing a shot.

"Telemetry sent."

Holis was somewhat excited to see the results of the planetary defenses, which had not seen any actual combat action other than a few standard drills. It almost seemed unfair to him, safely away from the dangerous combat that raged overhead, protected by an nearly impenetrable layer of shield energy, Bespin's defense would be able to fire back at the Empire.

He waited with anticipation as, and turned to his sensor board to see the results....

Immolator Cruiser Infinity

"Captain, the Fireburst has lost tightbeam communication link. Imperial jamning is preventing normal communication."

Captain Kirk Lee's eyes furtivly glanced to his left, where the flagship of the defense fleet had drifted. Sensor showed sporadiac, but still functioning power readings, but it appeared that most of the ship's systems were either disabled or underpowered.

The Fireburst was out of the fight.

And Captain Lee was the ranking commander in the Belgardi force. But before he could issue his first order, there was a tremendous flash.

The massive planetary turbolaser's that protected Bespin had opened up with all their fury. There deadly shot were slamming head on into the huge Imperial flagship, punching through the frontal shields, as their massed fire caused considerable damage to even that ship's mighty defenses.

Lee saw an oppurtunity.

"Get me a general link to our fleet!!"

"Established sir!"

"All ships, this is Captain Kirk Lee of the Infinity. All ships are to concentrate fire on the Imperial flagship."

Some Belgardi vessels could not follow those orders, as they were currently engaged with Imperial vessels. But several pocket cruiser's squirmed free, and the two undamaged Immolators began pouring fire into the Zen which was beginning to shed armor plating and show serious damage.

And then, the Belgardi HLAF's, unopposed by the Imperial fighters which were hanging back, made a major attack run, each dropping a pair of proton torpedoes over the bow of the Zen .

So Captain Lee watched as the Imperial juggurnaught began to falter...

OOC-

Archangel ASD Zen- Serious Damage/crippled
Eternal ASD Shadowcaster- Moderate Damage
Eternal ASD Black Asp- Light Damage
2 FCLC- Light Damage

“Ready on the second salvo?” Vladameer asked, watching the burning enemy cruiser drift away from the battle, towards the planet’s protective shields. For a second, he almost felt sorry for the poor bastards on the dying ship. But there was no time for that – the battle didn’t stop for the death of one man, or one thousand. Do unto others, and the enemy was out there trying just as hard to kill him as he was them. War was like that. He might have wondered what drove the defenders to such lengths – they were simple employees of a corporate enterprise, hardly fighting for their homes or government. If he wasn’t mistaken, he might have mistaken them for a real military…

<o ="">:p> </o>:p>

“Aye, General.” The response from the ship’s XO broke his train of thought. Quickly, he put his ponderings aside, putting his mind back on the battle taking place outside. There were two enemy cruisers of significant size left, neither quite as large as the Zen and both damaged, but they still posed the greatest threat to the Imperial fleet. Aside from the surface guns, of course. But the enemy fleet was still below them, shielding the Imperial ships from the deadliest weapons the enemy had.

<o =""></o>
And taking the brunt of the Empire’s attack.

<o =""></o>
“Target the enemy’s number two.” Vladameer ordered, frowning. There was no time to consider what it might mean – the families – this was war.

<o =""></o>
“General! Surface fire!” There was no time to brace, no time to do anything but hear the shout and feel the flagship shudder as the surface gun’s fire hit home on her bow portion, collapsing shields and burning into hull plating. But the lights didn’t fail, the bridge wasn’t thrown into darkness or disarray. The Zen hardly reacted; her guns continued to fire, pouring energy into the enemy cruisers.

<o =""></o>

Seconds later, the heavy guns fired, sizzling in space and delivering tremendous amounts – unheard of amounts – of energy into the flanks of the enemy ships. Armour plating was boiled away, melted and evaporated by the intense heat of the continuous beam turbolasers aboard the Zen.

<o =""></o>

“Sensors! Give me a report on Number Two.” He said, smiling thinly. That ship was burning now, its hull grotesquely disfigured by the massive guns. Turbolaser fire was now pouring in from all directions, overwhelming the enemy cruiser and plunging it into darkness.

<o =""></o>

“General. Report from sensors.”

<o =""></o>
Vladameer watched the results scroll across his screen; the cameras that caught the disaster as it unfolded. The enemy’s surface guns had fired, sending their destructive energy into orbit. Unfortunately for them, the proximity of the two fleets meant that they’re targeting had to be very, very precise.

<o =""></o>

They weren’t.

<o =""></o>

The first shot had hit the Zen, coming from the planet’s equator and managing to strike against the flagship’s bow. But the second shot had been intercepted, the bolt smashing into their own ship and bringing it’s shields down just seconds before the continuous beam turbolasers had fired, leaving it wide open for the devastating attack.

<o =""></o>

Not even Simon Kaine could have planned it better. The end result was that the enemy cruiser was reduced to so much space junk, caught in orbit over the planet.

<o =""></o>

“General! Fighters!” Vladameer was getting sick of the constant shouts, turned to say something, and swore. Swarms of starfighters were closing with the ship, models he had never seen before. If they carried missiles…

<o =""></o>

Already the antifighter guns were firing, streaks of ruby red light slanting through space and towards the enemy ships. Several exploded, but the majority came on. Now he could make them our more clearly, but the design eluded him still. They had fired their warheads, and now were breaking away.


The Zen’s antimissile defences had started firing even before the warheads appeared, but there to many to prevent a strike. But the attack wouldn’t be repeated – the fighters had to slow to turn away, and in doing so they opened themselves to the fire from the flagship’s light guns. Their explosions were like tiny stars, materializing for a brief second and then fading once more. The fleet’s fighters followed, grinding the opposing pilots into the dust.

<o ="">:p> </o>:p>

The missile struck home somewhere in between the action, rocking the Zen and further weakening her shields. But the flagship was one of the finest in the Empire, built to soak up abuse and keep on fighting. It would take a lot more to knock Vladameer out of the fight, and by the looks of things thus far the enemy didn’t have what it would take to do it.

<o ="">:p> </o>:p>

“Damage?” He queried, stepping back. The bridge crew had reacted as expected, not panicking as the ship returned to the fight in full.

<o ="">:p> </o>:p>

“Shield integrity down substantially in the forward quarter; minor hull damage, contained; some weapons reporting malfunction.” The report came back. Calm, concise. Decidedly Imperial.

<o ="">:p> </o>:p>

The rest of the fleet had faired quite well, considering. The enemy’s main effort had been focused thus far on the Zen, and the other ships had taken advantage of that fact to pummel their opponents without mercy. The enemy’s smaller ships were feeling the burden on having two of their commandants knocked out of the fight, and were struggling now to turn the tide of the fight.

<o ="">:p> </o>:p>

“Reinforce shields,” Vladameer ordered, “bring us about and keep us out of the field of their guns. Reload our warhead launchers. Get me the status of the fleet.”

<o ="">:p> </o>:p>

It wasn’t over yet.

<o ="">:p> </o>:p>

<o ="">:p>Damages</o>:p>

ASD Zen – 60% shields, 90% <st1:city w:st="on"><st1 ="">:place w:st="on">Hull</st1>:place></st1:city> & Weapons
Minor-Moderate damage to rest of fleet

<o ="">:p></o>:p>Immolator Class Battlecruiser- Fireburst – Crippled/Out of Action
Immolator Class Battlecruiser- Infinity -- Crippled/Out of Action
Immolator Class Battlecruiser- Paradigm -- Heavy Damage
5 Rapier II-class Gunships – Moderate/Heavy to Heavy/Very Heavy Damage
5 Punisher Class Pocket Cruiser- Punishers – Heavy to Very Heavy Damage
5 Punisher Class Pocket Cruiser- Punishers – Moderate to Heavy Damage

The battle was progressing well, Vladameer decided as another volley rang out from the main guns, slicing through space and sending the remaining enemy cruiser reeling. She was burning now in a dozen or more places, her hell ruptured by the turbolaser fire. Outmatched by the Zen, the smaller enemy ship had little chance of surviving the encounter.

Vladameer frowned, watching the fire pour through a new gap in the ship’s shields, melting hull plating and weapons batteries. Secondary explosions began to shudder through the enemy vessel, sections of the hull being blasted out into space. She struggled on, still, trying to roll her less damaged side to present to the Imperial command ship, but it was to late.

“Give me a volley,” the General ordered, “finish her off.”

There was a moment’s hesitation, then the launchers on the Zen fired once more, missiles crossing the space between the two ships in an instant and exploding along the flanks of the enemy ship.

And that was that. Sputtered, aflame now in hundreds of places, it began to drift. Explosions continued to erupt from her hull, surrounding the ship in an eerie gold/orange glow before, finally, it exploded.

The blast rocked the Zen, darkening the viewports and silencing her guns for the first time since the conflict began. The bridge crew, watching out the viewports as they cleared, stood in awe. Most had seen conflict, the death and destruction is wreaked, but rarely did the end come to spectacularly as that of the enemy ship.

For a moment, the entire battlefield was silent, both sides stopping to observe the gap in the Bespin line where one might say their last hope that been. The planet was still encased in its protective energy shield, but little could be done now to prevent the Imperial fleet from overrunning the world. If it could not be battered down, the planet could be starved.

“Continue hostilities.” Vladameer ordered. “Their surrender should have come a long time before this.”

With an almost strange reluctance, the Imperial ships came to life once more, turbolaser blasts slicing across the expanse and into the enemy lines. On cue, another missile volley roared out, from the Star Destroyers and Avengers into the ranks of enemy light cruisers. More flames appeared, combat scars along the flanks of the enemy ships as they fought now overwhelming odds.

Indeed, even before the Zen brought herself back into the fight, shrugging off the effects of the three-on-one fight to engage this second line of enemy ships.

“Offer them one more chance to surrender.” The General ordered, watching his flagship come into range and open fire. “If they so desire.”

Damages:

Immolator Class Battlecruiser- Paradigm -- Destroyed
5 Rapier II-class Gunships –Heavy/Very Heavy Damage
3 Punisher Class Pocket Cruisers -- Crippled/Out of Action
2 Punisher Class Pocket Cruiser- Punishers – Heavy to Very Heavy Damage
5 Punisher Class Pocket Cruiser- Punishers – Heavy Damage