(Note on the Empress, the system actually shorts out systems. I won't @#%$ about it, but in future...)

The first TIE Devil wasted itself uselessly against the shields of the EMPRESS station orbitting Ord Mantell. That act immediatly caused the station to come about, arming weapons against further suicide fighters.

But the damage was done. The explosion was seen briefly from behind the cloak, and the surving TIE Devils began to swarm around the station. The lasers on one Devil alone would be all but worthless against the 250 meter station, but grouped as they were...

But of course, the designers had called for a reaction to every eventuality when designing the EMPRESS. Able to see their enemies without the limiting cloak, the station drew a charge from its somewhat strained but much relieved (due to the collapse of the cloak) reactor, and fired a truely nerve-rattling but short range burst from its main weapon. This shot, unlike the last, fried the circuits of the TIE Devils, which were swarmed around within meters of the station.

They ships, cut off and unable to manouver, were cut down by laser fire or began to drift aimlessly in a never-ending spiral, or towards their doom on the powerful shields below.

Only then did the station drain its reactor pool, raise her cloaking device, and try to recouperate her losses. By that time, the remaining weapons had been rearmed, and despite the new arrangement of the enemy fleet that, cloaked as they were, they could not possibly have known about, fired.

The burst again washed out over the enemy fleet, smashing each of the TIE Devils still outside the fleet's perimiters and cutting them to pieces, cicruits fried and useless. If the EMP would be good for anything today, it would neutralize the TIE Devils.

But as they reached the enemy formations... they stopped. They hit the Reign-class Destroyers and began to inflict damage upon them, shorting out systems and frying the 'special conduits' that those ships employed, such was the overwhelming power of the EMPRESS, but it did not inflict as much damage as one would have liked.

Naturally, though, there were not enough of the Reigns to protect every angle, and the Jutraalian warships were left out in the cold and struck by ten consecutive EMP blasts, shattering systems that had hardly had time to repair. The TIEs still outside the ships collapsed, dead in space, ciruits not only fried but gone.

Several Imperial pickets and light cruisers felt the EMP pulse and felt systems failure, but for the most part the opposing fleet remained intact... and kept coming.


Proposed Losses

GDI
<li>1 EMPRESS Station disabled and inoperable
<li>1 EMPRESS Station Damaged but operable

New Order
<li>Light to moderate damage to all Imperial vessels
<li>Several hundred TIE Devils

Jutraalian Empire
<li>Moderate to heavy damage to all vessels
<li>Several dozen starfighters

Out ahead of the fleet, the haphazard battle between the mysterious defense platforms and innumerable TIE Devils raged on.

One of the platforms, designated M1 by the Imperials, had been taken offline completely, and no longer posed any threat. Another, however, designated M2, was still a menace at large.

After the first half-dozen Devils impacted with M2, the system must have powered up for an emergency EMP burst. While it was useless against the might of the oncoming Imperial fleet, the fighters, who had already taken a devastating blow, were again shorted out completely. Of those several hundred fighters that had been concentrating on platform M2, dozens upon dozens found themselves plummeting into the 250 m defense system. Because several hundred fighters had been swarming the platform, it only seemed logical that a large number would have been angled towards it when they were taken offline. And so upwards of 4 dozen fighters slammed into the hull of the platform, wreaking havoc upon the craft, soon finding the station ablaze in flames with over half its surface area pounded by the 3 meter, rapidly-traveling balls of destruction.

Needless to say, the second station, M2, was rendered completely inoperable.

Of the fighters that did not slam into the enemy station, many were ripped apart by the stations defenses before it was pulverized, and the rest simply spiraled off into space in a wild array of different directions, fried beyond recovery.

Over a thousand fighters to destroy 2 enemy defense stations… The Empire had never been caught off-guard like this since…

The Grand Admiral cringed at the thought.

The real problem, however, lay in the fact that, based on the power behind the initial EMP blast, there must be at least 5 or 6 remaining. Perhaps more.

In reality, 2 of the 12 EMPRESS stations were still out of range, coming about the far sides of the planet as quickly as could be managed, and two of them had been taken offline. Meaning a total of 8 were within firing range of the Imperial fleet now.

With any luck, however, the Admirals plan should prove quite effective for the quick death of these pestering defense systems.



“Second EMP blast, sir! All hands brace for impact!”

The voice of Captain Essian rang out through the bridge of the ESD in unnerved anticipation.

Extremely embellished in comparison to the effects of the EMP blast.

The small amount of EMP blast that got past the guarding Reigns splashed harmlessly against the seemingly insuperable shields of the ESD.

The same was the case with most of the TNO fleet, as the larger ships were arrayed in front, directly behind the Reigns, to provide maximum coverage for support craft. In this fashion, the smaller, more vulnerable craft, suffered very little, if any damage from the EMP blast, while the larger ships held the front, absorbing the EMP pulses with their shields while they could.

The New Order would not be caught off-guard again.

However… one of the interdiction pickets, having still been trying to drop back behind the Reigns and into position at the rear of the fleet, was hit hard by the 2nd EMP pulse, its shields dropping under the power of multiple EMP blasts, and its systems temporarily shorting out.

The Captain informed Hyfe of this, and he cursed silently at the Galactic Defense Initiative.


“This is insanity…” the Admiral muttered.

“Sir?”

Hyfe looked to Essian, pondering. “Captain… time lapse between first and second EMP barrage?”

“Uh… 6.45 minutes, sir.”

Six minutes, to be safe, then…

“That’s an incredible recharge rate for a weapon of the magnitude, Captain. Perhaps they are cycling?”

“I certainly hope not, sir.”

“As do I.”

The bridge was silent for a moment.

“The Shrouds, sir?” Essian inquired.

“Ah, yes. Have Alpha group remain in a protected area at the fleets rear. Have Beta group move up to the fore, but remaining under protection of the Reigns. And get me a connection with their commander.”

“Aye, sir.”

“Just to remind you, Admiral, but the superlaser is fully charged, sir.”

“Thank you, Captain.”

Essian nodded.

“How do our Jutraalian friends fare, Captain?”

Essian was silent for a moment, offering a lopsided grin. “They try, sir.”

Hyfe nodded, then, curious, asked: “And how go things at New Alderaan?”

Captain Essian marveled at how the Admiral, in the midst of intense battle, could ask about the happenings somewhere else.

“Hostilities have just commenced, sir. I’ll feed updates to you as they come.”

Hyfe nodded in appreciation.

“How are our Reigns holding up?”

“Fine, sir. Shields down to a 28% average… but no system failure. They can only take one more hit before they start taking the real damage, Admiral…”

“That’s fine, Captain. They won’t be staying up there for much longer…”

“Yes, sir.”

“Plot new directional coordinates: 00.82.39,” Hyfe ordered, then, with a smile.

“Yes, sir.” Essian punched in the coordinates, then looked up at the Admiral stupidly, understanding the reason for his smile.

“At your order, sir.”

“We wait for the next EMP blast, Captain.”

“Aye, sir.”

“In the meantime: lets get some of these ships out of here. This is a waste of resources. More craft taking damage than need to be. I want a full about of all Battle Group II craft, excluding the Venerator and their 3 Reigns. The rest of group II should plot a scattered course back to Imperial territory.”

“Yes, sir,” Essian said, and made it so. Then: “I’ve got Lt. Commander Viirel for you, sir.”

“Good. Get Captain Descartes of the VCD Morgoth as well.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Time remaining?” Hyfe inquired, in reference to the imminent EMP pulse.

“Just over 3 minutes, sir.”

“Lets get a move on, then.”

“Aye, sir.”



The New Order’s fleet, still in tight formation behind the protection offered by the Reigns, continued towards Ord Mantell and the lethal defense systems that awaited them. Nearly half the fleet, however, was coming about, heading back towards the outskirts of the system, past the Abolishers and Interdiction Pickets, preparing to make a hyperjump. And Grand Admiral Hyfe connected with 2 of his command officers to formulate an ingenious plan in a matter of three minutes.



LOSSES THUS FAR:

The New Order
-1,320 TIE Devils destroyed
-1 Interdiction Picket temporarily disabled
-Heavy shield damage to all Reigns
-light (some moderate) damage to all other ships

The Jutraalian Empire
-several dozen starfighters
-moderate damage to all other ships

Galactic Defense Initiative
-2 EMPRESS systems destroyed

The missiles impacted with a vengeance, causing monotonous explosions to ripple the space. Flames ignited and chunks of durasteel flew out from the two nearby EMPRESS systems, and the bridge of the JRS Mithril Katana leapt and cried out in joy.

The repairs behind the shieldships were going more than adequatley, and the Strike Cruisers would be ready again for battle in mere minutes. All the battlegroup had to do was keep them held off a little longer.

The bridge was totally active with life now that the Jutraalian Empire had a chance.

Etherway, displaying full initiative, took command of the situation immediatley.

"Are the coordinates punched in?" he demanded of Stark, who realized he referred to the attempted microjump he was planning.

"Aye sir," he responded, unable to keep up with the flurries of activities. "We can jump in one minute."

"Good, be ready," Etherway said, gripping that railing again. "Have the missile boats come around for another round."

"Yes sir."

As the missile boats prepared to do so, three of the Imperial Star Destroyers, two of the Dreadnaughts, and the Mithril Katana made a very short jump to the enemy location, the approximate site of the enemy EMPRESS systems.

Locating them was not difficult, judging by the burning durasteel from where the missiles hit. They let loose a huge volley of turbolasers, all weapons that could be shot, were on the two EMPRESS systems.


((gawd I hate writer's block))

Continuous explosions off in the distance signified the fall of the dreaded EMPRESS systems that had caused so much havoc and grief to the Jutraalian-Imperial Fleets. Whoops and hollers emitted from the bridge, and the space battle had thus far been won.

Admiral Etherway turned a congradulatory nod unto his XO and friend, who offered a smile in return.

"All ships move in closer for battle, focus fire incase of enemy shield emplacements, shields up incase of planetary turbolasers," Etherway instructed. Stark took off to relay the orders.

The silver command chair seemed more than welcoming to the admiral, to get him off his sore legs which he'd stood on for so long by now, and their pain was only doubled by the stress that was embued on him from the battle.

He strode casually to it, and plopped himself down indignantly. To hell with what the others thought, they'd had a naval victory thus far, soon it would be the army's job to finish off what he'd started, for now he could simply relax.

He stared straight ahead out of the gleaming viewport, at the ships that had moved in to begin clobbering the shields with their turbolaser fire. Few things could stand a barrage from Star Destroyers, the feeble defenses of Ord Mantell weren't one of them.

A simple second series Gencore shield, a typical planetary defender usually used to house off meteor showers and pirates. Much superior to its predecessor, the Level One, which could only encompass half the planet. The Level Two was capable of filling the whole planet with a defensive barrier against assaults.

It seemed almost as if the texture of reality changed however as the green shots smashed into the defensive barrier.

It was a known fact that planets could not be taken with their shields intact without severe negotiations. That was of no issue to the admiral, he only wanted to get in and fulfill his objective - seize and secure Ord Mantell at any cost necessary.

Etherway turned to his returning XO, who still seemed quite excited.

"How many EMPRESS systems have we knocked out?" he asked calmly, wanting to be sure of their victory before rejoicing any futher.

"Eight sir," the XO responded quickly. Etherway nodded and took this information in. When the Jutraalian Empire had been in an uneasy alliance with the Galactic Defense Initiative they had informed them that the usual EMPRESS system defense unit consisted of generally fourteen satellites.

According to Jutraalian Intelligence they were only slightly effective at best unless meshed in groups of five to six.

There should be about six left, though intell also stated that Galactic Defense Initiative sattelites usually numbered in dozens.

Either way the defenses were virtually worthless by now.

"Sir," the comms officer called out across the bridge, grabbing the admiral's attention, "we have an incoming transmission from New Alderaan, a priority signal from the emperor himself."

The admiral nodded approvingly and rose from his seat.

"Well put him on immediately! What are you waiting for?" he said frantically. A second later a life size holo of his majesty appeared, and he and those about dropped to their knees. "My lord you honor me."

"Admiral we have an urgent matter to discuss," the emperor said flatly. Etherway looked up.

"Yes sire?" he asked calmly.

"They're hitting the Empire with some strange, shield penetrating missile down here. I've contacted intell, they say it's something called a PSDA or something, it's strong and it's hard, be careful, they generally hide in cities to try to divert our gunfire," the emperor explained.

"Yes my liege, we shall be weary of these missiles," Etherway agreed, but was cut short as the sight of a burning Victory-Class Star Destroyer came to. The body of the ship fell to its starboard, dipped forward, then fully incinerated.

That must be it.

He looked back up at the emperor.

"My lord if that is all we have just lost a Star Destroyer to what you have indicated," Etherway responded. The emperor nodded.

"One more thing though Admiral, try to bring an EMPRESS back alive and kicking, I want to figure these things out."

Before the admiral could agree or deny, the image decipated.

Etherway nodded, rose, and brushed himself off. He turned to Stark.

"Focus on whatever the hell that thing just shot from, if its a city, tear it down," he said, turning to see the gap in the planetary shield and the massive gunfight that was now going on.

(OOC: You only know where two of the EMPRESS stations are. As such, only two have been damaged. Furthermore, your ships (especcially the Missile Boats) have no chance of being able to fly, much less attack something. Four EMP blasts will do that to a ship.)

Sorry about the shortness of this post, BTW.

<hr>

The most recent EMP blast that issued forth from the eight EMPRESS stations that were in position and able to fire on the enemy fleet tore the guts out of the Jutraalian fleet.

The New Order fleet, still largely protected by the Reign-class Star Destroyers, moved forward with grace, but those TJE ships left out in the cold paid the price.

Missile boats, systems dead and unpilotable, slammed directly into their own capital ships or into the invisible energy shield that protected Ord Mantell from orbital bombardment.

And the Jutraalian capital ships were now near death, systems fried and, in some cases, on fire. Navigation. Life support. Weapons control. Hanger control. All dead. Those ships were uselss until they could get a complete systems overhaul. And, given the present situation, that did not seem a likely possiblity.

One more rolling wave of the EMPs came out, but this one meant little to nothing to the massive starships. A handful of the Missile Boats died into space, but asside from that the fleet was fine.

Etherway blew out a sigh as he saw a small hole beginning to open up in the defensive array of the shield generator. Scattered about however were the greenish glows of where the turbolasers would collide against the invisible wall that slowly began to open.

It was like a desperate struggle for someone to force themselves into the enemy's planet, ripping and plying trying to get inn. The enforced blasts from both missiles and turbolasers made it difficult for the shield to try to stay on any longer than it already was, every second was a new strain.

"Find out where that last blast was centered from and bring us, hidden behind the shield ship, when we get there I want all gunfire allocated to finding and eradicating that thing," Etherway demanded. Ord Mantell had been a hell hole for the Jutraalian-Imperial strike, he'd never witnessed anything like it.

It was an EMP war, a war totally focused on trying to capture starships. But of course...the Galactic Defense Initiative had nothing here to capture them with did they?

Etherway smiled inwardly to himself as the Mithril Katana began to move in unison with the shieldship. Veni Vedi Vichi eh?