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*Rise of the Warspite*
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[QUOTE]Originally posted by HappyTarget: [QB] Well, I finally did Chapter 12. Sorry bout the wait. That said, ENJOY! CHAPTER 12 [Command deck GSN Warspite, Saturday morning] The Warspite slowly extricated itself from the dry-dock's super structure using her reaction thrusters. She was unable to bring up her impeller wedge because it would extensively damage, if not outright destroy the dock. Once she had put enough distance between herself and the dock, she brought up her impeller wedge for the first time. The power was gradually ramped up until the wedge was operating at full strength. Gauges indicated that 100% power was reached, and there were a lot of slaps on the back and handshakes across the ship. It was even more exuberant in engineering. Thad's voice and approving smile came over the com system. "Well, it looks like congratulations are in order! To the yard dogs, Commander Santos, and the entire engineering staff, you have done excellent work. I am sure I speak for the entire crew when I say well done people!" Cheers erupted from the engineering crew at that. Thad had activated two way voice communications, so he just smiled and waited for it to die down. "Now, lets stretch her legs. I want max output from all three fusion plants in five minutes." The Warspite wedge accelerated her faster and faster through the darkness of space. It didn't take her long to reach her maximum safe n-space velocity of 0.83 c. Her new compensators allowed her to pull an accel curve that previously only heavy cruisers were able to. Thad had to admit it, Manticore was learning allot from the Graysons. Their compensator design, though bulkier and more archaic than its Manticoran counterparts, had allowed for greater acceleration on a class for class basis. Manticoran tecs had taken it and updated the design with state of the art components then miniaturized it so that it would fit into all current ships. "Bridge, this is engineering. You have max power on all three plants. All systems in the green and there hasn't been even a flutter in the mag bottles." "Very good Miss Santos, very good indeed. How does the compensator look?" "Purring like a treecat in a celery patch Skipper!" Taz laughed from his custom accel couch behind Thad's right shoulder. "Excellent!" Thad cut the link and strode over to the astrogation console. "Mr. Escobar, would you be so kind as to plot a elliptical course that will take us through the outer system and back to Grayson orbit, initial bearing…" Thad checked his helm repeater, "351 mark 43, speed 0.5c" "Course computed and laid in Sir." "Thank you. Helm, execute course correction." "Aye Sir, turning to bearing 351 mark 43. Decelerating to 1/2 light speed." "Miss Yuki, I think that this is a good a time as any to test our preparedness. Sound battlestations, I want to see how much rust is left." "Sure thing Skipper." Jen said with a gleam of excitement in her eye. This would be an excellent opportunity to show just how far her department had come. Thad had other ideas. He wanted his ship to be as ready as it could for whatever was coming. [That same time, in hyperspace, near Grayson] The merchantman's captain paced like a caged animal on his bridge. Why his superiors had thought that criminals could be trusted to be honest in their dealings was beyond him. At least they had found out about their duplicity before it had ruined the mission. He had been notified by the Director herself that his 'escort' had developed less than friendly attitudes. The director had told him that he could expect to be attacked as they had gotten wind of just what he was carrying. His escort felt that they could take both the payment and the cargo and run. The Director had then said that he should modify his course so that it would lead him closer to Grayson. It was just a small change, as his final destination was near by anyway. His sensors told him that his escort was moving to a wider dispersal, one that allowed them to get clean shots past his Warshawski sails. They claimed that it was just to extend sensor range, but he knew better. As he approached the coordinates the director had specified, he did the only thing that might guarantee the missions success. "Helm, emergency translation to n-space!" "Yes Sir!" was the helmsman's relieved answer. The entire crew had been notified as to what was happening. The helmsman was only too happy to be doing something to get away from the trouble coming. The three pirate cruisers escorting the merchie were caught unprepared and began crash translations of their own. One was even able to get off a couple of lucky laser shots that slashed into the unprotected flank of the merchie. The massive sails of the merchantman shimmered as they bled energy. "Com, begin transmitting an mayday. Tell them we are under attack by pirates and request immediate assistance. Engineering, get those sails stowed and our impeller and sidewalls up right now. We surprised our three 'friends' but they should be on us again momentarily. Damage report!" "Sensors are heavily damaged Sir, and it looks like fusion one is beginning to destabilize. Recommend that we shut it down before it blows." The captain of the merchie swore under his breath. "Do it! ETA of the nearest help? We are running out of time here people!" [That same time, on GSN Warspite] Jennifer Yuki stared at her plot as a new contact appeared. "Captain, sensors detect a hyper footprint bearing 619 mark 08. Range 1,00,040 kilometers." "Do you have an ID yet? I thought that we were supposed to be well away from standard shipping lanes." "ID coming up as the cargo ship HMS Styx, registry No. 239978…" "Sir," Lt. Cmdr. Xaiver interrupted, "we are getting a mayday from the Styx!" "Put it on speakers!" The static filled voice of a terrified man filled the bridge. "Mayday, mayday, mayday, this is the cargo ship HMS Styx en route to Masada. We are under attack by pirates! We request immediate assistance!" "Message repeats sir," Xaiver said in a calm voice. "Helm, plot an intercept course! Guns, go into stealth attack mode! Com, notify command of our actions and let the Styx know we are on the way." A chorus of Ayes told Thad that is orders were being followed. Thad thanked the regs that everyone was in their skinsuits for the Warspite's maiden voyage. Stealth attack mode made the Warspite the smallest possible sensor target yet still gave her full weapons and electronic warfare capabilities. The Warspite had been curving back in system towards Grayson when the Styx had translated into n-space. The merchie had carried over enough speed through the hyper wall that it was now passing the Warspite and still accelerating hard. The Warspite, or any other warship for that matter, would have no trouble catching up to her though. Merchantmen had less powerful nodes and rad shielding than a warship, so they had a lower top speed and a slower rate of acceleration. Just the same, she had to be redlining her drive to get up that much speed. "The Styx is still charging to the inner system Skipper. Sir, we now have two, make that three, new hyper footprints! Bearings 3349, 5668 mark 34, and 9932 mark 82. Ranges 1,001,000 km, 900,800 km, and 50,100 km. They are tentatively being classed as heavy cruisers. Designating them bogie one, two and three respectively." Commander Custer said through the intercom from CIC. "Under stood XO!" Bogie one and two were about parallel to each other to the right of the Warspite. Bogie three was much closer and almost dead astern. Because of the advanced ECM being used by the Warspite, bogie one and two missed picking her up and started after the merchie. But bogie three was to close to be fooled by even Ghost Riders bag of tricks. It sent off a missile salvo of 12 birds at Thad's ship, then began a crash deceleration to try and get out of range of the BC. Missile flight time was just over fifty seconds. "Helm, maximum acceleration! Hold present course. Guns, weapons free! Engage incoming missiles and raise sternwall. Prep and launch both broadsides at Bogie three along with stern chase tubes." "Aye Sir!" Sixty five Ghost Rider missiles swarmed out of the Warspite even as she leapt ahead at 475 gravities. No ship before it would have been able to execute such an attack. The missile's drives would have burned out long before they completed the 90 degree turn, but Ghost Rider missiles had plenty of time left, even after the drastic maneuver. They streamed in like a pack of hungry wolves on the hapless pirate. The pirate captain just stared dumfounded at his plot. No missile could do what his sensors were telling him these were. He wasted precious time that he just didn’t have. "Helm, roll…" he never even got a chance to finish his final order. Slashing in at over 90,000 gravities with a flight time of only 8 seconds, they vaporized the pirate Cruiser before it could even get off a counter missile. Counter missiles squashed the pirate's birds well astern of the Warspite. "Guns, roll pods. Launch Ghost Rider drones and set our ECM to max. Lock up bogies one and two but don't fire until I say." Jen nodded in response. Thad turned towards his com officer, Xaiver. "Com, open a channel to the pirates please." "Done Skipper." "Attention enemy vessels. This is the Grayson Warship Warspite. I strongly urge you to lock down your fire control and weapons systems. You will strike your wedge and prepare to be boarded. Failure to comply with these commands will result in your destruction. You have 10 seconds to respond." The pirates reply was to execute a turn that would take them back to the hyper limit and to fire off forty missiles at the Warspite. "So they want to be stupid eh? Well lets show them the error of their choice. Guns, launch the initial salvo at bogie one!" Jen double-checked her firing solution, then slammed an open palm down on the large crimson button on her console. "Missiles away Skipper." A salvo of one hundred missiles streaked away from the Warspite and bored in on Bogie one. The pirate cruiser spat counter missiles and PD lasers at the incoming storm, but they could do nothing to save the ship. Counter missiles were drawn to decoy's seeded into the salvo. Targeting sensors were nearly burned out by the massive ECM being radiated by jammer missiles. Only five of the Warspite's broadside were stopped short of the ship. Another ten struck the impenetrable bellybands of the impeller wedge. The rest streamed fore and aft to explode with hurricane force in the open throat and kilt of the wedge. A modern 8,250,000 ton superdreadnought would have been very lucky to survive such a barrage, a outdated 300,000 ton cruiser never stood an chance at all. Even as the pirate died, his missiles were either spoofed or vaped before they even reached PD laser cluster range. Seeing its only surviving friend explode in a blinding boil of light took the fight out of the last pirate. She deactivated all active jammers, sidewalls, fire control, and weapons. Striking her wedge, her captains pleading wail came over the com. "Please don't kill us! We have complied with your demands! Board us, lock us up, do what ever you want. Just please, please don’t kill us. We surrender, we surrender!" the terrified woman begged. "I am sending a boarding party. If they are even looked at the wrong way, you will be destroyed. Have I made myself clear?" "Perfectly! We won't resist, you'll see!" "Good!" Thad cut the connection. He then pressed another button. "Col. van Yurgen, I trust you know the situation. I want you to assemble a boarding party to bring the pirate cruiser under our control." "My boy's and girl's are boarding the pinnace as we speak Captain. They can handle some cowed pirate scum easily enough." "Godspeed to them. Com, get a hold of the Styx. I want to have a little parley with them." [/QB][/QUOTE]
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