The Untamed Flame

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Metallinauts
Posts: 2595
Joined: Sun Apr 25, 2004 3:29 am
Prefix: The
Name: Metallinautsi Federation

The Untamed Flame

Post by Metallinauts »

It is written in the annals of history that three great nations stood in the face of a great horde that threatened to consume the galaxy at large. In certain texts it is written that the gambit of a fledgling star power and an older force saved the galaxy from a horrendous fate. While in other unwritten texts, this gambit failed, and the two powers suffered for their sacrifice and were forced out into the cold black oblivion not to be heard from for many centuries…

700 years ago

Sector 0047, Shivan Subspace Anomaly

In front of the allied fleets of Indra Prime, Kanuckistan and Metallinauts was a massive orange and yellow tear, a wound on this plane that would allow the Shivan horde access to the precious resources of this universe.

IMF Acheron, Artemis Class Battleship

Captain Kyra Nottingham stood from her chair. Looking at the view screen she could see the massive tear growing, the Shivan fleet that stood poised to consume her, the ones she loved and the empire that she swore to protect. For a moment the weight of the situation seemed almost too much for a relatively inexperienced officer such as her; but remembering that the fate of the universe was literally dependant on this battle caused her to sober up and steel her nerves against the overwhelming odds.

She opened a neural comm to all Metallinautsi personnel, “Gallant soldiers, fellow Metallinautsi citizens. We stand now on the edge of oblivion; there is no turning back from this moment. We did not start this war, we did not pick this moment to be that of our doom. Yet here we stand. We have but two choices fight or die. We can lay down our arms and perish, and watch from the next life as all those we love and all that we cherish be destroyed.

Or we can fight these bastards. We can make them pay for the lives they have taken and for the lives they have ruined. There is no mistaking this irrefutable fact; most of us will not live beyond this day. But don’t let that dishearten you, for by our blood our allies are setting up stalwart defenses to protect themselves and our families. So fear not if you see comrades falling this day, remember that with your breath you are now assuring that their loved ones and yours are safe. For this shall be a battle for the history texts!�

There was an overwhelming cheer coming from every vessel as she closed the ink. “Notify the Kanuckistani and Indran forces that we are going to begin our attack run� she ordered sitting down into a gunnery station.

***
The small flotilla of Metallinautsi vessels bobbed and weaved through the maelstrom of fire. The Shivans were struggling at hitting the unusually small craft that the Metallinautsi Navy was famous for. That is save for the Acheron, she was another creature.

The 900 meter battleship pounded the Shivans mercilessly. The Sathanas destroyers erupted into red and yellow pyrotechnic displays. Shivan bombers made desperate attempts to strafe the mighty vessel but were swatted down by the mighty point defense guns.

Bomber Wing Delta

The crescent moon shaped bombers of the Metallinautsi Navy danced in and out of wrecked Shivan and allied craft to deliver their deadly cargo.

“Home 1, Home 1 this is Delta leader asking for new target, repeat new target� Squadron Leader Lt. James Kretovic blared over the subspace channels.

“Delta this is Home 1, target is 1100m from your position bearing 2-2-3 mark 3. Target is a Sathanas class. Please confirm� the traffic controller stated.

“Roger that, 2-2-3 mark 3. I have visual and confirm the target. Bringing the wing in� Lt. Kretovic said.

Through his cockpit window he saw the gnarly Shivan vessel get larger, meaning he was getting closer to his objective to bring it down in a righteous flame.

“Delta leader this is Delta 3 I have picked up 2 bogeys� a voice came on in the cockpit.

“Roger, Delta Wing bank to 6-7-8 mark 2-2 on my go� the lieutenant commanded, “Mark!�

The wing pulled a hard and tight 270 degree turn and the Shivans stayed tight in their tails and opened fire into the squad. Their precise blasts destroyed two of Delta’s wing members. By the time that they were able to swing around and get behind the Shivans another had been picked off.

Lt. Kretovic lined up one of the Shivan fighters in his cross hairs and pulled the trigger with no remorse. The grotesque bird looking vehicle exploded violently in a blood red hued cloud.

The wing continued all the while toward the Sathanas and had finally reached their target.

“Form up. Begin strafing run� the lieutenant ordered.

The 5 remaining bombers flew 800m past the destroyer, performed an abrupt 180 degree turn and kicked on their after burners. Traveling at nearly the speed of light they released their FTL missiles which hit with deadly force. All of them dug deep into the ship before detonating. The force of the explosion tore open the Sathanas from the inside.

All seemed well on the Metallinautsi front of the conflict…
Indra Prime
Posts: 208
Joined: Sun Apr 25, 2004 1:20 am
Prefix: The 42nd Itteration of
Name: Indra Prime

Re: The Untamed Flame

Post by Indra Prime »

Caitlin Cortez stepped off a gravitic lift when she arrived at deck 12, officers’ quarters. Without needing to think, she started walking through the maze of corridors, rooms, bulkheads, conduits and displays that made up the newest Indran Phaeralon-class flagship vessel, Aurora. As the tenth vessel of the class, the Aurora was the leading star, besides the Phaeralon herself, in the relatively young Temporal Incursion Fleet. Being stationed on a TIF vessel was an honor in of itself, but when that vessel happens to be one of the single most powerful craft in the Indran Fleet, the respect one receives is unparalleled. In order to be stationed on a TIF vessel, the prospective crewmember would have to be in the top 0.5% of the elite in whatever field they specialized. As the Intelligence Attaché to the Indran High Command, Colonel Caitlin Cortez was as good as they come.

As she continued reading the data pad she picked up from her office before she began her current journey down the ship’s corridors, she passed several crewmen in combat regalia on their way to stations. Being on wartime footing, and with the recent interactions the flotilla had with Imperial Brits, the ship’s corridors were also peppered with the crisp, black uniforms of the Indran Strike Team Security Forces. Usually, these elite troops were never deployed with the Temporal Incursion Fleet, but with the recent actions by the Imperial Brits and Outer Heaven governments, it was decided by none other than Cortez herself, that each vessel would have a detachment of the Strike Team units. For each vessel, there was a STSF unit that would be able to handle any problem the ship might encounter. For the smaller cruisers and corvettes, there were two platoons assigned for security purposes. For the Phaeralon-class vessels, there was no less than a full strength battalion, for troop strengths of 1000 soldiers per vessel.

She reminded herself for the thousandth time, to be sure she was under no illusions about what they were about to face. In fact, her immediate destination and her tasks at hand were going to result in significant stress and danger for her crew. Each and every one of them had signed on to protect the Indran people and each were fully aware that in the course of their duties, they might be asked to sacrifice their lives to protect the civilization their ancestors and subsequent decendants had worked so hard in developing.

She paused momentarily when she reached a set of doors marked “Commander’s Quarters�, only to nod a greeting to the two STSF soldiers standing guard outside, before she walked on in. Unlike some of the older Indran vessels, the commander’s quarters were not a great deal more lavish than the rest of the crew quarters. Granted, there was quite a bit more room, enough for a sizeable living room and private dining area, but there was also a small conference room and office in the back. Not pausing for decorum, Caitlin swept the room once with her alert, honey-brown eyes and not finding her target, continued on through the apartment to the office in the back. There, she found the ship’s commander, General Steven Tellin leaning over the conference table, where he had splayed out dozens of star charts and data pads. Caitlin suppressed a smile when she noticed that he wasn’t looking at any one in particular, but was ‘absorbing the vast magnitude of bullshit.’ General Tellin was not a man known for mincing words and when he thought someone or something was doing something incredibly stupid, he wasn’t afraid to say so. As a thirty-two year veteran of the Indran Naval Fleet, General Tellin was one of the most experienced flag officers in the fleet. He had a knack of landing some of the most dangerous, ugly jobs in the service, but as a reward for being so damned good, he was given command of the newest Phaeralon-class flagship. He just had a tendency of getting the job done, and that is what he was going do to here.

Caitlin stepped into the room after watching him for a moment and stood at ease (as was the general’s preference for his senior officers). In fact, his exact words were, “I don’t give a damn about the ceremony. While there are dignitaries on board we’ll blow sunshine up their ass until they are absolutely glowing, but when on our own, if any of you people try to be proper with me, my boot will be so far up your ass you’ll practically be a shoe tree.� She stood there for a little while just watching the general’s method of analyzing a situation before he made her aware that he was aware she was there. For a man of 46, Tellin was in very good shape. Lean, trim and sinewy, he could hold his own against soldiers half his age and who had more training. He looked up briefly at Caitlin before returning to his maps. Straightening up, he pointed at the documents on the table and said to Colonel Cortez,

“Colonel, do you see anything wrong with these charts?�

“Other than the fact that they are scattered all over the place, sir…?�

“Ha. Ha. Very funny Cortez. Seriously. Doesn’t it strike you that someone who doesn’t seem to have a brain among his entire staff would position himself like this?�

Caitlin approached the table and held out her pad to the general. As he reached out and took the pad, she explained what he would see.

“This is the latest intelligence our network has been able to garner on the events leading up to the establishment of A-hour. Also included is the post-interdiction analysis and a projection of where things are going from here.�

Tellin skimmed through the pad and muttered to himself.

“Shit, shit and oh look. More Shit.�

He tossed the pad down on the table amongst the others. He came out from around the table and escorted Cortez back out into the apartment’s living room where he walked over and grabbed his uniform jacket and put it on. As he started buttoning up his tunic, Caitlin Cortez walked over and started helping him get his final buttons secured close to his neck. As she finished, Steven angled down and kissed her deeply. When they broke, both of them had smiles planted on their faces.

Tellin said to Cortez, “I owed you that.�

“Damn right you did! I haven’t seen you in hours and that’s the first kiss I get? There should be some kind of law on this ship against that kind of abuse!�

As Tellin leaned in to kiss her again, the ship’s intercom broke into the budding romantic reverie.

“General Tellin, please report to the bridge.�

He pulled away from Caitlin without giving her the kiss, but looking like he knew he shouldn’t be surprised that they were interrupted.

To Caitlin he said, “Why does this always happen?�

With a smile she said, “Hey, you’re the one who wanted to be the General.�

Returning the smile, he responded to the intercom, “Bridge, this is General Tellin, I’m on my way.�

Bridge of the Aurora

The doors whisked open and onto the bridge stepped General Tellin and Colonel Cortez, but the intimate connection between the two officers was completely masked. They were working now. Quickly, Colonel Cortez walked over to her terminal and activated it using her biometric scanner and passcodes to gain access to the classified information that only she and General Tellin were privy to. Simultaneously, General Tellin strolled to his chair in the command center while swiftly taking stock of all the stations around him. Like he had come to expect, his crew was performing fantastically and was again, showing him that his belief that his crew to be the best in the Fleet was proven accurate. From the images and vid files being displayed, he could see that his crew and his ship was already at battle stations and that the ship’s cloaking device was engaged while the impellors were on standby. From those pieces of information, he quickly surmised that they had arrived in system and were preparing to face off against the enemy. Time to get the formalities out of the way. He spoke to his communications officer.

"Lieutenant, open up secure Emergency Fleet Comm channel Alpha six three nine Omega."


"Comm Channel open and secure."


"Fleet Command, this is General Steven Tellin of the Battle Group Ticonderoga. My security clearance is Delta Delta Five Seven Three Omega Six Omega. Authorization Level 12. We are issuing a fleetwide combat alert status, condition black. There has been a temporal incursion into this dimensional fold by aggressors of unknown origin. Aggressors being assisted by rogue Imperial Brits Admiral Bosch. We are ordering all combat vessels back to spacedocks to rearm all vessels with Gravimetric Singularity Torpedoes and Quantum Matrix Torpedoes.�

General Tellin paused a moment while he consulted the holographic battleplan he had devised hours before, before continuing his communiqué.

“All vessels are being ordered to rendezvous in sector Rho 228, the location where the main Invasion Force is destined to pass through. Battle Group Ticonderoga will remain at this location until the initial enemy threat has been resolved or until the point where we have sustained moderate damage to the fleet and cannot sustain battle conditions. We are sending another message to the nations involved in this conflict to send vessels not involved now to sector 228 to help prepare to repel invaders. Fleet must be in place within twelve hours. Secure transmission ends now."

As soon as the communiqué was terminated, and the secure channel notifiers stopped reporting deactivation of their circuitry, a transmission came through from the Metallinauti flagship. General Tellin read the message as it appeared before him in thin air and quickly deleted the message. He turned to his communications officer again.

“Lieutenant, open a channel to allied vessels in the system and copy the message to Fleet Command.�

“Channel open, sir.�

“Attention this is General Steven Tellin of the Indra Prime Battle Group Ticonderoga. We are prepared to fight against the entire invasion force in Sector Rho 228 but we need as many vessels as possible to support us in that sector. Contact your governments and tell them to fully arm your other vessels and have them meet our battle fleets in that sector. We will engage the enemy here first and then wipe them from this plane of existence. Acknowledge our communiqué and attack the enemy here and now. Battle Group Ticonderoga out."

Once again, the channels cycled through the secure-unsecure modes as the General started to issue orders.

“Helm, set a course 3-0-0 mark pos 0-3-5. Initiate pos-Z rotation with rear dorsal attitude stabilizers at one-half. Comm, notify Ticon commanders to execute phase I of the battle plan. And tell Colonels Muschaev and Rubinsky to keep their vessels on the largest exterior curve possible without running into anything. Weps, align the primary emitters with the curvature of space/time and prepare for up to level 4 disturbances. We know these blasted bugs have some sort of folding tech, but at this point no idea as to how much it will affect our primary weapon. Charge the primary and secondary weapons and shield banks. Prepare to drop cloak.�

With a cacophony of ‘aye,sirs’ from his crew, he got settled in his command chair waiting to feel the first impact of enemy weapons fire. An idea popped into his head like a flash and immediately called down to engineering.

“Engineering, reinforce the MAMRA coils with a…�

“SIR! Sensors are indicating massive casualties being inflicted in Metallinauti short-range bombers! The enemy vessel is beginning to decimate their numbers. Also, the Acheron has destroyed one of Sathanas destroyers! The others are coming around and pounding the Acheron! She needs reinforcements.�

“Contact Colonel Tobeyav aboard the Ramachandran and tell him to get up there and cover the Acheron rear flank. Tell fighter wings, 6, 8, and 12 to pull back and assume defensive postures on our left rear quadrant.�

Majestically, the Aurora decloaked along with the rest of Battle Group Ticonderoga and gracefully swooped in along her arcing path towards the heart of the battle. With a dozen wings of fighters protecting the flank of the massive 15km ship, and multiple cruisers providing close in support for the command vessel, the Aurora was ready to fly into Hell and back and indeed, was about to get a taste of what Hell really felt like.
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