Post by Captain_Quintus on Apr 4, 2016 7:05:22 GMT
Postby FSF Nefarious » Wed Dec 28, 2011 1:38 pm
A brilliant explosion lit the skies above Tau Beta as the Tzenkethi fleet fell backwards from their outer defensive postilions and towards the hulking mass of their still-in-construction starbase that circled above the blue skies and emerald land masses below as the Federation fleet pushed harder into their lines.
Aboard the flagship Destiny, Fleet Commandant H’grail Tossaunt watched from the command deck with his claws tightly gripping the Ostodon tusk cane that supported his weight.
“The cruiser wing is in too tight,” he said flatly. “Tell Commander Y’kall to reposition her forces.”
“Yes, Fleet Commandant,” one of his juniors said quickly.
“Liege,” another said. “The left flank...”
“I know,” he said patiently, his grip on the tusk cane tightening. “Bring up the second line. Have our forces in the center reform into a ja’dej formation.
“They will try to land their ground forces in the confusion as well fall back.”
“Sir,” a rather alarmed adjutant said. “They’ve already beg...”
Tossaunt grimmaced and tapped his cane against the metal surface of the command deck. He had warned Command this was a possibility. They were spread to thin. Their lines overextended. Of course none of them had listened to him. They never did.
“Then General Ka’long will have to fight hard. We must not lose Tau Beta.”
“Of course.”
“Signal the capitol cruisers, move into position along the front lines. Engage the Federation vessels directly. Target their capitol ships. Have the fourth, fifth and sixth fighter flights launch. Have all cruiser wings engage as well and send to the Third Battalion for reserves. We must hold until the Second Battalion can arrive and reinforce our position.”
As Tossaunt had ordered the massive command ships of the Tzenkethi fleet, the largest, like the Destiny, measuring over 1700 meters, moved into position, unloading gouts of plasma from her multiple weapons arrays.
Like scattering ants, and dwarfed in size, the Federation fleet scrambled. Aboard the Ambassador-class Eleanor Roosevelt, Captain Ahkuli Daron frowned deeply. “Status report...”
“The Venture and Daring are gone. The Aquarius is pushing hard on the flanks … the troop transports are away and landing.”
“Rear Admiral Saleen?”
“The Carpathia is heavily damaged, he’s transferring his flag to the Hector.”
Daron nodded sagely.
“He said you have command until he can reestablish his flag.”
“Understood, confirm our receipt of orders...”
At that moment a shattering blow from the Destiny struck the Roosevelt. On the bridge of the Aquarius what had been organized chaos had started to break down.
“Captain,” communications officer Raleigh Dawson said, hanging on to a console as Aquarius took a hit. “Roosevelt is heavily damaged. Admiral Saleen is in transit to Hector.”
Akena was holding on to his command chair, sweat dripping from his brow. He was trying not to think of anything other than the battle. Trying not to think about his people on the planet. Nothing was going to plan. The battle teetered on the edge as the Tzenkethi’s big guns moved into position to engage the Starfleet command ships directly. The ground forces landing had been messy -- two of his own senior staff had already nearly died -- and the battle down there was going to get worse.
“Madison,” he said sharply. “Bring us about.”
Nodding, Madison deftly brought the bow of the Aquarius around, dodging space debris from exploded ships.
“Dawson,” Akena said, looking over. “Signal Beta and Ki groups to form on our flanks. We have to press them harder.”
“Sir,” the tactical officer, the fourth by Akena’s count said, “at that range...”
“I know about the damned range of our weapons,” he said harshly, and without regards to his tone. “If you can’t follow my orders...”
The tactical officer shook his head and began keying in for manual targeting.
On the bridge of Destiny, Fleet Command Tossaunt loomed imperiously over the status monitor.
“The Federation fleet is trying to reform their lines. Their command vessel has been disabled. We believe from their communications that their flag officer is transitioning to another vessel but it will be another 10 to 30 centons before they can be back online.”
“Good. And the status of the second battalion?”
“They are entering the system now.”
“What of the Federation’s reserves?”
“Unknown.”
Tossaunt smacked his tusk cane against the ground with enough force to startle those around him. “Unacceptable. We must know how many of their forces they intend to commit. What is the status on the planet?”
“General Ka’Long reports that they continue to suppress the enemy movements, but...”
Just then, a broadside from the Aquarius, Hathaway, New York and Athens struck the massive Destiny midship.
“By the stars,” Tossaunt growled viscerally as he held on tight to the status monitor console. “Give the Federation some credit.”
One of his aides looked at him quizzically.
“They’re engaging us at point blank range. They’re so close, I would guess their targeting scanners are useless. They’d have to be arming those manually as they launch.”
Aquarius banked hard for another pass as the Destiny returned fire with secondary, point-defense canons.
“Direct hit on the Tzenkethi vessel,” the tactical officer said. “Reacquiring targets.”
Much to the surprise of his aides, Toussaunt turned and walked away from the status monitor and down a small flight steps to the actual command deck of the Destiny, which was a mixture of chaos organized and otherwise, still reeling from the body-blow.
“Commandant Tahege,” Toussaunt said to the commanding officer of the warship. “Tell your men to target the primary canons manually.”
Using his cane, he pointed towards the large view screen where the Aquarius was making her turn. “Remove that blight from my skies.”
Tahege nodded and gave the orders.
As the Aquarius began to come about, three great bolts of highly compressed and ionized plasma stretched out from the Destiny, each with a force of nearly 20,000 Terajoules, or roughly 315 times the power of man’s first atomic weapon, the Hiroshima Bomb. The powerful bolts struck at the Aquarius like a man swatting a fly.
On the bridge, Akena heard the cracking sound of the hull as the shields dissipated little of the intense energy. One of the beams hit near the starboard nacelle, opening a fissure in the metal, causing liquid plasma to vent freely into space.
Picking himself off the ground, having been knocked to the floor by the concussive force of the hit, Akena struggled towards his chair as power flickered. “Report!”