Elinor
The experimental Victory class Dreadnought ‘Skreap’ brought it’s Jump Drives to full power, and the starship jumped to faster than light travel. In a single moment the massive dreadnought was in a completely different star system of space in the Furia Sector of the Commonwealth of Drala. The ‘Skreap’ jumped near the maximum range of it’s Jump Drive of just over point six light years. The jump of over half a light year put stress on the starship and ran risks of system failures on top of jumping into a planet, asteroid or other object which was miscalculated by the navigation department under Commander Ursina Sunblade, not to mention the strain and stress on the Jump Drives themselves.
The ‘Skreap’ arrived in the outer edges Fellkeep System, outside the edges of the main gravity wells of the planets and star of the system itself. As the starship appeared in the new system, alarms began to ring out as the ship’s scanners and sensors picked up targets which were registered as enemies through the ship’s friend or foe system.
Elinor tried to push through the FTL sickness she felt, and that more than ninety percent of the crew were feeling as their senses came back to them. She controlled the urge to vomit as her hands moved over the console of her station, and she sorted through the information that came through.
“Battle stations,” came the audio voice of the computer of the ‘Skreap’ through one of the many loudspeakers on the command deck and throughout the massive ship. Elinor monitored her console from his station on the main command deck of the ‘Skreap’ as new red blips appeared on the screen to show the location and known information of the enemy ships.
“Contact with three Furse vessels,” Commander Ileen Zax called out from her position next to the captain of the ‘Skreap’ at the main command table console in the center of the command deck. “One Hellhound class Escort ship and two patrol class destroyers in orbit of Fellkeep,” Elinor heard the Commander report above the noise of chatter, beeps, alarms and other background noise as other sections reported the reading coming into the Ops center. “Picking up sixty four starfighters, four assault boats, and two raider class corvettes, Captain. They’ve already launched ground forces onto the planet, and are providing aerial support,” the Commander finished.
The Crown Prince Osmund Gisking nodded as he stood at the large central command table that displayed the latest intelligence coming from throughout the ship with a large holographic display projected above it. “Launch starfighter, and support vessels,” the captain said softly.
Elinor continued to monitor her own console as the newly built and highly advanced starlance, and other starfighters began to launch from the ‘Skreap’s’ hangar bays. Her hands and eyes moved across the console as she went through information sent to her by the ship's sensors and coming from the various Ops departments on the ship. She sorted them and pushed the important information to her own commander, Sub Lt. Dena Pilgrim.
More than four thousand starfighters screamed out of the ‘Skreap’ and into the void of space between the starship and the world of Fellkeep and enemy vessels. Fifteen corvettes, ten frigates, and 3 destroyers along with other smaller support craft joined the starfighters as they disembarked from the hangar bays and took up their familiar position with the dreadnought.
The ‘Skreap’ was the Crown Prince’s personal starship and flagship of Task Force Alpha. It was said to have been solely funded by the Crown Prince himself, and his answer to the renewed Furse threat against the Commonwealth of Drala. His hope of a new line of starship to counter the power Furse Star Carriers which had ravished Commonwealth Space in recent years.
The ‘Skreap’ had been in service for just over a year but had yet to truly prove itself in battle against the massive Furse Super Carriers. The three Furse vessels, along with the corvettes and starfighter escorts couldn’t hope to match the powerful and strength of the ‘Skreap’, but they were far from the strength of a single Star Carrier.
The ‘Skreap’ was three times the size of a normal Victory class Dreadnought and the largest ship in the Commonwealth Forces fleet. The crew of sixty thousand made it easily the most powerful ship in the Dragon’s Head Nebula and yet to find a foe which could stand toe to toe with it in battle.
“Picking up the ‘Valor’, and the ‘Huntress’ on the edge of our sensor range coming in hot on cut the raiders off captain,” Commander Zax announced.
“Commander Elwin,” the Crown Prince called out the senior communication officer Fredric Elwin as the other senior officers on the command deck continue to issue their own orders to their departments. “Open a general channel so those ships and forces on Fellkeep can hear me,” Crown Prince Osmund said with his trademark calm tone.
“Channel Open ser,” Commander Fredric Elwin called out after a short moment of taps on her own console.
“This is the Royal Commonwealth Forces Starship ‘Skreap’. You have violated Commonwealth space and are hereby ordered to stand down and surrender or we will take action. I repeat, this is the RCFS ‘Skreap’. Stand down or be destroyed. This is your only chance” The Crown Prince said before he looked to the comm station.
“No reply captain.” Commander Elwin informed the Crown Prince.
“Continue to broadcast. Tell all starfighter wings to standby to jump, and to engage the enemy along with our support craft.” The Crown Prince ordered before he looked at Commander Oswin Nightfoot. “Weapons, I want all forward railgun cannons to fire a single warning shot on those ships now,” he commanded. His tone remained calm, and the Crown Prince didn’t move from his position at the central command table.
Elinor saw it on her console display before it happened. The movement of the fifteen forward facing railgun cannons adjusting as they took aim from the hull of the ‘Skreap’ before they each opened fire with a single shot on the three Furse starships which were already attempting to withdraw from the world of Fellkeep and no doubt the System itself, leaving their ground forces on the world of Fellkeep, along with the two corvettes, and much of their starfighter support.
Most of the railgun cannon fire missed as intended, but a single shot slammed into an unlucky starfighter and destroyed it in an instant with a small bright explosion. The three ships took evasive actions as they tried to reach a position outside the gravity well to engage their FTL Jump Drive engines.
Most of the main weapons of the ‘Skreap’ were yet to reach effective weapon range. The forty forward facing Anti-ship cannons were in range of the three ships, and the fifty forward facing light gun cannons were at the extreme limit of their range while the laser cannons, plasma cannons, and point defense systems were all well outside of their effective range while the missile tubes remained open and ready.
“Still no reply ser,” Commander Elwin replied when the Crown Prince looked at him once again.
“Very well,” The Crown Prince replied calmly. “Launch missiles, target point defense systems. Commander Kosh tell starfighters group one to standby to jump to engage the enemy. Wings one to four to engage the starfighters over Fellkeep. Wings five to eight to engage the three Furse ships trying to flee. Group two to take up defensive positions.”
“Yes ser,” Commander Preston Kosh responded and began to relay orders. The starfighter command officer should have held the rank of captain, but the Crown Prince should have had the rank of Commodore to be commanding a ship the size of the ‘Skreap’. Neither was true though.
“XO,” The Crown Prince called out to junior grade captain Philip Mutton. “Assign our corvettes, destroyers, and frigates as required.”
“Aye aye ser,” Xo said from beside the Crown Prince.
The command desk was in a buzz as orders were relayed throughout the ship, and officers and enlisted personnel went about their duties. Elinor watched as missiles launched from the ‘Skreap’ and sped past their starfighter screen and towards the enemy ships thousands of kilometers from the ‘Skreap’.
The missiles came close to the three enemy ships before explosions began to pop off as Furse ships launched counter measures that ripped through space and into the missiles that took their own evasive actions while some were destroyed by their limited starfighter screen, point defenses, and probes.
“Starfighters jump,” the crown prince ordered before the remaining twenty of the thirty five missiles that had been fired could reach their target and kept the point defense systems of the three ships busy.
The plan had been drilled by the pilots of the ‘Skreap’ long before they arrived in the Furia Sector, and refreshed as they waited for the attack and trap the Crown Prince had laid for the raiders which had been attacking small systems in the Sector. It was a Furse tactic which the Crown Prince had adopted, much as the Commonwealth had adopted the role of starfighter into their fleet unlike most nations throughout the Settled Worlds of Mann.
Elinor knew the three ships couldn’t escape. It seemed pointless to her, but that didn’t stop them from trying. The Crown Prince had sprung the trap while they were in the worse position, far into the planet's gravity well. The only thing worse would have been if the ships had landed on the world and been forced to try and break orbit like their support craft were attempting. They would never get outside of the gravity well in time to engage their FTL engines before the three Commonwealth ships reached them, much less their support craft.
The Crown Prince had planned it that way because once a Furse ship jumped to FTL they would be too fast to catch. Unless the ‘Skreap’ used their emergency Jump Drive, it’s main Jump Drive wouldn’t be ready to jump to FTL for another three hours while those Furse ships Jump Drives would likely be off their own cool downs, and able to jump every two hours.
Explosions continued to light up space between the Skreap and three main Furse ships on Elinor’s console as the point defense systems of the Furse vessels took down several more missiles before several got through and she saw her console registered several hits on the largest of the three Furse ships, the Hellhound class Escort ship.
The console showed the vast fleet of starfighters and other support ships jump to FTL with their limited Jump Drives and in an instant they blinked from their position in space and reappeared in close range on the enemy ships. They were on top of all three fleeing ships and their starfighter screen, as well as the starfighters and faster corvettes attempting to flee from the world as well.
Elinor could see more explosions as starfighters took out weapons and support systems on the enemy vessels. As enemy starfighters were destroyed, and friendly starfighters were taken out by enemy fire.
Those pilots had jumped to within mere meters from the enemy ships to take advantage of being inside their defense zones and dance along the hull of the enemy ships. Elinor knew some of those pilots out there, and knew that they would be blind open to attack for several moments after their jump, FTL sickness took hold of them.
Elinor heard the chatter of several pilots through the shared comm system. She heard the screams and voices cut off of other pilots as their starfighters were hit or destroyed. She hoped those pilots were able to eject into space but knew it was unlikely in the heat of battle, and even if they were able to, that they would be unlikely to survive the fast pace battle of the starfighters, weapons fire, and chaos around the three Furse ships as they continued to flee.
The three ships continued to take damage, but they didn’t slow and the damage didn’t seem to affect them. The ships were losing weapons across their hull but their speed and courses remained, and Elinor wondered if maybe they would escape to FTL travel.
The Crown Prince wanted to capture the ships. Destroying three Furse ships would stop some future attacks, but not all. He wanted intelligence that he could use to secure the whole sector from further attacks, and that intelligence to hunt down other raiders or bases in the sector. That chance would be lost if they were forced to destroy those ships.
Elinor could see the bright blimps of light as systems and weapons were destroyed on the three fleeing ships along with several more starfighters from both sides. Most starfighters remained close to the hull, a tactic known as hull dancing as more and more targets were destroyed and kept the starfighter safer from point defenses.
The ‘Skreap’, ‘Valor, and ‘Huntress’ continued to close in on the battle at sub-light speeds, but held their fire so as not to hit friendly targets. The small battle above the world of Fellkeep itself had already ended with the Furse raiders destroyed or disabled and the starfighters of wings five to eight moved to join their brothers and sisters attempting to bring down three fleeing ships.
The Hellhound class escort ship had suffered heavy damage from the opening fire of the Skreap. Even more from the non stop fire of the starfighters and smaller capital ships from the ‘Skreap’s complement. It’s two companion destroyers sped away as the Hellhound finally began to slow from further damage to it’s engines, but continued forward to Elinor’s surprise.
The two destroyers had lost all their starfighter support, and most of their weapons appeared to be down as they were swarmed by Commonwealth starfighters. The destroyers were gaining distance on the lone Hellhound but they were both suffering heavily for it.
One of the destroyers went into a free spin as large explosions ripped through its sub light engines, and lost all control. The second destroyer continued forward near the outer limits of the gravity well, but before it could she saw the rear quarter of the destroyer rip apart, and the main engines of the destroyer separate from the rest of the ship. The destroyer continued forward with nothing other than forward momentum as it began to spin uncontrollably.
The Hellhound class Escort ship was beginning to lose power to all it’s systems but sped past the two disabled destroyers and Elinor was surprised yet again at the amount of damage it was able to withstand before the Hellhound appeared to lose all power, and fall into a drift.
“Captain, we are getting hails of surrender from the raiders,” Commander Elwin called out from his section on the command deck.
“Get boarding teams on those ships, and take the crews prisoner. Bring the ‘Skreap’ to Fellkeep, and launch ground forces to secure the world from further attack,” the Crown Prince said as he leaned over the command table.
Elinor relayed more information from her console as information from the planet came in, and marines began to ready themselves to make planetfall.
“Sixteen dead,” Elinor heard the Crown Prince say under his breath as he stared at the holographic display. “Commander Branch, tell your marines to watch themselves. Don’t take any chances.”
“Yes ser, I’ll see to it personally,” the commander of all Marine and ground forces of the Skreap replied.
Elinor wondered how many locals had been killed in the assault. Reports already mentioned several from local forces on the planet as they tried to defend their home. She wondered how much the Crown Prince would blame himself for not arriving soon enough.
It was no easy thing to arrive in time to stop an ongoing attack. Communications through space were not an instant thing. Arrive too soon and the raiders would flee, and the Furse could hit a world and be gone in less than an hour. More often than not Commonwealth Forces arrived after an attack, but the Crown Prince had a skill for catching the raiders. Still, she knew he would blame himself, it didn’t matter if there was one death or a thousand.
