AC:K - Cold is the Void

[Kalladrrl]

His last transmission to the various arms of the operation to seize Kessel from the filthy pirates that controlled it and enslaved many sapient beings for profits was, however, conducted via holographic technology, the War Master’s visage rendered as three-dimensional light before the Head Warden (@Xorism) on the bridge of his command vessel. The War Master was unhelmeted and preparing his war gear as he spoke, affixing his left gauntlet, phrik-woven and made for dueling.

“Head Warden,” he began magnanimously, grinning grimly as he prepared himself, speaking in gravely Shyriiwook. “All of my teams are in place to execute simultaneous operations. Preliminary intelligence from ground infiltrators had indicated that the system defense fleet around Kessel is populated by craft that is comparatively derelict when compared to ours.” His lips thinned and tightened around his mouth for but a moment. “However, veteran void warriors and commanders pilot these craft against you (@Nefieslab). These craft include capital vessels, armed freighters and a small complement of fighter craft. But between superior craftsmanship and discipline, you will show them what it means to stand against the might of the Sith and our Empire.”

He flashed a smile over the hologram.

“If there’s any tasty morsels among their fleet, do your best to take prizes. Waste not, want not.” The War Master chuckled briefly before switching the channel to all command-level operators (@Plebometer @Seaburn and Lights), beginning to affix his right gauntlet, the symbol of his status and indeed almost that of his office, the device amplifying his power in the Force to unheard of levels bounded only by his willpower and his imagination.

“Head Warden Sk’ar has the admiralty,” he said, his voice vocabulated into Basic, formally proclaiming it to all officers on the assembled ships. “Through serving him, you serve myself and the Empress. Our Empire will know naught but success if you continue to execute as flawlessly as you all have demonstrated previously. These pirates will scatter like insects under the fury of our assault and you will be the tip of the spear. We will break them and know victory!” Kalladrrl set his helmet in place, saluting all those who would do battle in the Empress’ name as he ended the transmission from the transport ship.

It was in their hands now and the War Master was counting on each and every one of them to perform to the standard he and the Council had set for them.

 

[Xornoth Sk'ar]

Xornoth held command for his most significant fleet action yet. Standing from the bridge of Tave Geras Arbitras, the prized Judgement Carrier, he overlooked both Judgement Corvettes that flanked, but ahead of their flagship for the operation. The Carrier was packed brim of starfighters, twelve bombers would be escorted by thirty-six fighters. The squadrons would be ready to launch at a moments notice as the clock ticked down to the battle.

The transmission from the War Master concluded as expected with their task set but it was one thing to set a plan of attack and yet an entirely different beast to actually execute it while dealing with an active and hostile foe who did not conform to your own desires and wishes.

Before the backdrop of Kessel, he would speak with his subcommanders.

"Report in, perform your final checks and form up for our jump into hell. I will be relying on you both in this battle, I will expect you to conduct yourselves tactically independent unless you prove otherwise incapable. Understood?"

While they were technically superior technologically, Xornoth knew that in the heat of battle anything was possible. The Sith fleet was now bearing down upon the enemy, ready to test their mettle.

Xornoth gave the order for squadrons on board the carrier to scramble. First Fighter squadron of 12 would escort the Corvettes while Second Fighter squadron of 12 would escort the bombers. Third Fighter squadron of 12 would be deployed to defend the Carrier from enemy attack. First Bomber squadron of 12 would be under the command of Flight leader 'Cinders'.

Both Corvettes would deploy forward of the carrier, to minimize the risk to the carrier and enter the tactical engagement with fighter escort.

Spoiler

Please ensure that you link the ships you are using for this mission

@Plebometer @Seaburn and Lights @Nefieslab

 

[Eisa Nimbus]

Standing behind the command console of the newly christened Praenuntius, a Corsair Class exploratory craft. The young blond Sith Master observed the incoming transmissions, first from the Warlord, Kalladrrl. Then the one from Xornoth, before her gaze moved over the gathered crew assembled with the command deck of the ship. No the command deck of her ship, the young woman was granted the opportunity to have her first command and by the Force she was going to take ownership of it!

Eisa, like her crew were all in the midst of thier inaugural shake down trails of the prototype craft. When the transmission ls came through looking for available ships in the sector, despite it being the infancy stages of the ship and her crew. Eisa deemed that there was no better way to test the mettle of the ship and it's crew by throwing it right into the thick of it.

Pushing her self away from the console the young Sith Master, clad in a form fitting flight suit and a fur lined leather jacket draped over her shoulders, retreated back towards the captains chair. Sitting down and leaning into the depths of the seat, the Sith master regarded her crew as they waited for her command. Reaching to the chairs side command console the young blond female pressed a finger down onto the ship's intercom.

"Attention all hands, get to your stations! We are now on Combat alert! I want all weapon systems online and fully operational, shielding output to full, all unnecessary equipment stowed and secure" Eisa spoke out, her voice echoing throughout the ship's interior. Pursing her lips in thought for a moment as she mused on her words. "As you know we're are headed to Kessel, where a fleet of pirate scum await us. Whilst this crew and ship are untested, we will show not only our enemies but the Empire that the unproven crew of this ship will light up the enemies fleet with the full fury of the Empress' wrath! Sound off!" she continued before closing the intercom channel. A wide grin crossing her features as she could hear the rallying cries of her crew echo throughout the ship.

Raising her attention the assembled deck officers, the Sith master raised from her seat. "Helm take us into position, comms open a channel to the Tave Geras Arbitras" Eisa instructed before turning her gaze towards the Holographic form of the Head Warden. "This is the Praenuntius, all systems manned and operational, we are ready for your lead" she spoke to Xornoth, as a light grin crossed her features.

 

[Macc "Cinders" Ardinre]

Cinders, unlike the others, was busy spending time on the wing of the black bomber that he was assigned to fly into battle this day. He was poised in a relaxed position, his feet were dangling off of the side, and he had his blaster rifle in his lap. He had fully stripped, cleaned, and calibrated its sights for the second time. If things were to go sour, he knew that he could shoot far better than he could fly. This was his first mission as a pilot instead of as a J.T.A.C on the ground, but he wasn't actually that worried about things. His subordinates were formed up into a gaggle beneath his wing, all cracking wise and shit talking about the upcoming mission. There was a faint, muffled music coming from the cockpit of Cinders' bomber. ["...Si todavía me amas como antes
Ya nada me parece interesante..."].

"...it never gets old. The explosions, the carnage, and watching the flames erupt in your rear view. When you fly away, you know you're the death from above they talk about.", one of them said, with a sly grin. The others around him all sort of nodded their heads or stared off into the distance with the same wicked smiles.

"I'm sure it's everything you are making it out to be...", Cinders said. These were the first words to actually come from his mouth in the last hour. "But I guarantee you I won't like it more than I like being on the ground.". The flight looked up at him and were greeted with a sadistic expression on his face. You might as well had been able to see the light from flames on the battlefield lighting up his face right there.

The music, for a moment was drowned out by a voice over the giant voice P.A. systems. "Attention all hands, get to your stations! We are now on Combat alert! I want all weapon systems online and fully operational, shielding output to full, all unnecessary equipment stowed and secure."

Cinders was content with his work. He had been making sure the flight's morale was up and that those watching his back were both confident and relaxed. A trick he learned from watching Jedi and Sith alike focus on battle meditation. He didn't have the force, but he knew war and warriors.

"Alright, boys, strap in. Looks like we are about to rain hell.", he said while gathering his gear and standing up on the bomber's wing. He placed his hands on his hips and watched as everybody scrambled. He then focused his gaze out of the hangar's forcefield to look at the fleet between them and the planet below. "Poor bastards...", he said out loud to himself before hopping into the cockpit and securing his blaster in its rightful spot next to his seat. After he put his helmet on, he changed his music and cranked it up as loud as he could.

 

[The Storyteller]

The 'admiral' of the pirate fleet forces looked at the forces that he had arrayed before him on the console. Tutting a little bit, he sighed and rubbed at the beard that was beginning to grow back. Admiral Gorgon had been a Republic Captain of high standing before he had deserted his post and taken up with a pirate crew.

He had been in such good standing that he had taken a rather impressive ship with him as he left Republic space.

His 'flagship' was a Broadside Class Frigate that he had left the Republic in. He had gotten sick of he and his men getting kark pay for hard work - so he had started a mutiny and taken the ship. Naturally, they had taken damaged and that damage was still there now. It had been... years and his pride and joy was still stationary, with only weapons, coms and shielding working.

But weapons would be enough.

His frigate was the furthermost ship from the enemy purely because it was stationary and couldn't be otherwise - and because it's weaponry had massive range as well. His main hammer in this battle was his single corvette, a Orivah Class Corvette to be exact. Alongside that, he had a dozen freighters, modified to be more combat and raiding ready. Specifically he had a dozen Kath Hounds that were spread out around ahead of his frigate like a curtain. Between the gaps in the 'curtain' of freighters were two dozen fighters, whirlbat starfighters to be exact.

The 'admiral', took a deep breath.

"Open a channel."

Once he got the go ahead, he broadcast directly to the leader of the enemy fleet but it was doubtlessly picked up by all ships.

"Sith. You are encroaching on the territory of Free Men and Free Women." he declared with a firm frown, "Heave-to and then get the hells out of my space. Or you can expect no quarter from us."

Spoiler: Ships Remaining

1x Broadside Frigate - Stationary, weapons and defence systems online
1x Orivah Class Corvette - 100% combat ready
12x Kath Hound Modified Freighters - 100% combat ready
24x Whirlbat Fighters - 100% combat ready

@Xorism @Plebometer @Seaburn and Lights

 

[Xornoth Sk'ar]

Xornoth took in the full view of the enemy fleet and how they had chosen to array themselves for action. The tip of their spear was an older corvette leading a vanguard of petty pirate raiders and outdated fighters. The Empire would win a great victory here today, the galaxy would hear of it and thus their actions could not be any less than their utmost effort.

A communication would not be returned, instead, the Empire would begin their attack in earnest.

The battle plan would need to be slightly modified for the tactical considerations but their arrangement would also be their downfall. Xornoth opened a secure communication with his commanders. "Eisa, take your Corsair to the right flank and I will cover your ship. Pin down their forces and destroy what you can until we have broken through the center. Then you have my leave to act as you see fit."

The pair of Imperial Corvettes that were currently leading the formation was next and their orders were simpler. "Both Corvettes will advance toward the center and destroy the enemy Corvette with turbolaser fire and torpedoes."

Next came the orders for his squadron commanders. "First Fighter squadron will escort the Praenuntius and engage enemy craft in her vicinity. Second and Third Fighter squadron will engage the enemy on our left flank and destroy all targets."

Lastly came orders for his most prized possession, the bomber squadron. "Lieutenant Cinders, your twelve bombers will be our primary weapon against the enemy today. Your torpedoes are most effective against the Corvettes and Frigate as they are unguided however you may wish to use guided missiles instead. I want you to assist in the destruction of the enemy Corvette and once the enemy fighters are busily engaged with ours, you may make an attack on the enemy Frigate to disable its weaponry or command bridge."

The carrier would remain stationary but its defensive gunners would remain alert for any fighter that thought wise to try and break through toward the carrier. There was after all only one thing left to say.

"Execute attack."

@Plebometer @Seaburn and Lights @Nefieslab

 

[Eisa Nimbus]

Looking down at the console as the voice of the pirate came over the comms channel, the young Sith Master flicked the channel off as she turned her gaze over to the System readouts. Deciding that the readiness of the ship was of greater concern than listening to the drivel of some fool that dared to have the gaul to expect the Sith Empire to yield. Eisas gaze moved away from the readout as Xornoths voice rang out over the secure audio channel, her gaze scanning over the tactical map as the instructions rang out over the speaker. "Acknowledged" Eisa spoke before turning her attention to her command crew.

"train all weapons to the port side target all turrets on the second and then fifth freighters, divert shielding energies to the port and stern of the ship" Eisa instructed as she sat upright in her command seat. "Helm take us forward and continue on a strafing run to the enemies port side" she added before turning her attention towards the tactical read outs of her chair mounted console.

With a flare of energy the Corsair Class accelerated forwards, before yawing towards its starboard side. Its fore and aft turrets rotating round so they were focused on the lefthand side of the Praenuntius as it carrened forwards. The turrets soon twitching as it locked onto and tracked it's first target. As soon as the second freighter came into target lock all the laser cannons and ion cannon turret erupted into life unleashing a heavy salvo of energy weapons fire unto the freighter, the broadside attack would render the Shields of the craft useless by the ion cannon strike before the laser cannon fire would tear the ship appart.

the Sith Masters strategy was to unleash two devastating salvos onto the a mm targeted ships, intending to reduce the first target into a fiery explosion that would take out the surrounding fighters and damage the neighbouring freighters either side of it,whist the Praenuntius continued forwards.

No sooner had the turrets unleashed their opening rounds into the first target, they trained on the second target. Once again Eisa's intent was to broad side the 5th freighter to achieve the same deadly effect. As soon as thr turrets locked on the sparked back into life, unleashing another deadly salve of ion and laser cannon fire seeking to mirror the same effect as the previous target.

 

[The Storyteller]

The enemy was moving... excellent. He was tired of just running off rival gangs - it was time for him to actually engage in combat with people who knew what the hell they were doing. The thrill was deep seated and he probably looked rather ghastly smiling the way that he was.

--
Orders
--​

"Orivah - target the hunter class corvette. Focus all of your fire on the corvette's bridge until it is gone."

He tapped a button.

"Left flank hound pack - pull the curtain apart, centre attack the right flank of the hunter-class corvette. Outer freighters, swing round to the left, meet that Corsair-class head on and draw fire. Target the bridge."

He tapped another button.

"Left flank fighters - engage enemy fighters around the corsair."

More commands.

"Right flank - four hounds to the left flank of the Drexl. Target the engines."

More.

"Remaining two hounds - wide run to the carrier. Target the bridge. Right flank fighters, engage their fighters."

And the frigate?

"Gunners - open fire with targeted left broadside barrage."

--
Action
--​

Unfortunately, two of the freighters on the left flank were, in fact, hit by the corsair, one of them disappearing into a ball of explosive gas and the other just quietly shutting down as it took an unfortunate hit to the life support systems. The fighters on the left side engaged almost evenly, neither side managing to pull out a decisive victory at this point and it degraded into dog fighting. (Two rounds before dogfighting ends, currently 25% casualty rate for both sides after one round)

Two of the freighter peeled away, using their superior speed to accelerate ahead of the corsair and spin to begin firing on the corsair's bridge from the front, each of the two freighters opening up at the bridge with both of their dual laser turrets (2 each so 4 dual laser turrets firing at the bridge).

The frigate itself opened fire with 3 single mount turbolaser turrets, tracking where the corsair was going to be as best as it could but mainly using it's heavy weapons fire to 'pen in' the smaller ship so that it wouldn't have as much room to manoeuvre to avoid the attack run of the two freighters, without risking taking one of the turbolaser blasts to it's shields.

The Orivah accelerated to meet it's foes, the two corvettes, mostly focusing on the Hunter-class corvette. The turbolaser fire that came it's way was, while powerful, still scattered and weakened by the distance. Carefully edging itself further to the left (the right of the two corvettes) so that the Drexl would need to watch it's fire to avoid hitting the Hunter as it advanced. Splashes of weaker turbolaser fire splattered against the shields of the Orivah but thankfully, quite a few simply went over it's bow due to it's rather strange profile as a ship. Once the ship began to reach 1km away from the Hunter, it began firing everything it had at the other corvette even as it began to close further, still on full acceleration. The torpedoes launched by both corvettes were slow and the Orivah had nothing else to fire at with all of it's many guns so it saturated the area the torpedoes were approaching with laser fire, destroying them through combined accuracy and, if we're all honest, more dakka. (At this stage, it's shields are down to 60% but has no armour damage)

Equally, the Hunter had no fighter support, which meant that the two Hounds from the right were able to drive themselves at it's right flank without issue. They would be clear to cover the distance to their maximum firing range basically unopposed, their speed and manoeuvrability making them capable of laying into the ship with their salvo of 4 dual laser cannon turrets without interruption. (At this stage, I would say the Hunter's shields would rest at 80%, 5% loss from each Freighter able to pool all their fire onto it)

The Drexl-class corvette would be facing four of the Hounds coming in from it's left flank, bringing to 16 blasts per volley from their laser turrets as the Drexl focused on the Orivah as ordered, leaving it open to the volley of the attack-freighters. (At this stage, I would say Drexl's shields would rest at 60% due to the freighters attack run)

The fighter battle on the other side of the battlefield was going less well for the pirates however as the Sith had the advantage of numbers within this area. They were holding their advance for now but they were not going to be able to hold them in place much longer. (One more round before Sith fighter victory with 30% casualty rate compared to 100% pirate casualty rate)

Finally, the last two freighters on the admiral's far flank crossed half the distance between their original point and the carrier, ready to begin their attack run (next round).

Spoiler: OOC

Past 48 hours; Bomber squadron does not leave the carrier due to their player leader not posting.

@Xorism @Plebometer @Seaburn and Lights

 

[Xornoth Sk'ar]

Most battle plans became obsolete upon contact with the enemy and then, battles were decided by the training and resolve of those involved. While the enemy was more numerous, the Sith were fielding more powerful weapons of war and Xornoth was confident that victory was on the cusp of being achieved.

The Sith corvettes were fielding the more powerful weapons battery and as the distance closed, their commanders would separate the two ships while ensuring proper damage control procedures were being pursued in the case of taking damage. The Hunter-class would bank right, almost toward the direction of the corsair but with the intent of trying to saddle up alongside the left side of the Orivah while shooting it until it surrendered or stopped firing, destroying it if neither happens. The Drexl-class corvette would seek to maintain firing on the right side of the Orivah and this way the enemy corvette would be forced to split its shield strength between two different angles.

Both Sith corvettes would now be within accurate weapons range and thus would aim to destroy the enemy weapons starting with the largest and going down. They would also fire two torpedoes each at the Orivah from this close distance, which should make avoiding them impossible if not destroyed by fire.

The fighter squadron on Eisa's flank would continue to fight as previously ordered until the enemy fighters were destroyed.

The fighter squadrons on the Sith's left flank would continue to fight as ordered, once the enemy fighters were destroyed - one squadron would move to assist Eisa's flank while the second squadron would move to engage the now vulnerable combat freighters that are attacking both Sith corvettes.

The bomber squadron would hear Xornoth's wrath if they didn't immediately deploy and destroy the combat freighters that were coming to attack the carrier.

The carrier would prepare to defend itself if the bombers were unable to, using its two heavy laser cannon and twelve defensive auto blaster turret as the enemy entered their weapons range. With shields raised and crews ready, the large ship would be a hard target to destroy for two combat freighters.

@Nefieslab @Seaburn and Lights @Plebometer

 

[Eisa Nimbus]

Narrowing her eyes as she regarded the tactical read out on her command console, the young Sith master pushed herself onto her feet before approaching the elevated console. "Report!" Eisa barked, knowing what the forthcoming response would be, but she wanted to be sure that her bridge crew were able to give sufficient tactical read outs. "Targeted Freighter's are destroyed ma'am, the frigate is opening fire" the deck hand responded. A coy smirk crossed the blonde woman's features in satisfaction that the information relayed to her was exactly as what was being portrayed on the console before her.

Pursing her lips in thought, Eisa regarded the tactical read out, bracing herself as the projected fire cascading against the sheilding forced the ship to shudder slightly from the impact. "Forward starboard thrusters full, Rear port thrusters full, Spin this bitch around and face the frigate, maintain stern shielding and reinforce Starboard sheilds" The Sith master instructed, as her hands gripped upon the console to provide herself an anchoring point as the ship started to spin on its point so that the Corsair was facing the side of the Frigate. "Train the Ion and dual turrets to 90 degrees, target the two freighters and broad side. Train the Heavy turret to 0 degrees target the weapons battery of the freighter" Eisa continued as she scanned over the read out, before nodding at her projected coarse of action. "once those freighters are destroyed, advance 45 degrees down bubble, take us forward towards the underside of that ship train all turrets on the freighter and prepare to strike from the underside." she added.

No sooner had the first round of orders been aired, the Corsair spun on it's Z axis, narrowing the projected target to the Frigate to the front side of the craft, maintaining the forward shielding and diverting the power that reinforced the Port side shielding to the opposite side as the Explorer class turned to face the two advancing freighters on a broadside. The Ion cannon firing two blasts to each of the freighters before training forwards, the front and rear medium dual turrets unleashing a heavy torrent of fire towards the two frighters, they would continue hammering the freighters until they were reduced to a fiery explosion.

The rear engines of the Corsair flared into life, as it advanced pitching downwards at a steep 45 degree angle to dive out of the line of fire from the frigate, to temporarily avoid any further fire being tracked towards it as the pirates compensated from the sudden change of direction, Once the medium dual turrets had finished with the freighters, they would direct forwards and elevate inline with the frigate as the craft descended below the frigate and join the heavy and the retrained ion turrets in peppering the frigate's weapon systems.

 

[The Storyteller]

The Admiral held his hands behind his back as the battle began to unfold in front of his eyes. He looked over the readouts and found them to be about as good as could be expected. If things changed, as they so often did in space combat, then he hoped they changed for the better.

The Orivah was likely a lost cause and everyone knew it. As it was getting closer the turbolaser fire was going to get stronger and they were going to have a much harder time of it than before.

The torpedos of the Sith corvettes were an issue - but the pirate corvette wasn't alone. One of the freighters on either side of the conflict diverted from their attack runs on the Sith corvettes to shoot the slow-moving torpedos down before they could get too close to the Cartel corvette - damaging the Sith corvettes and destroying one of the freighters that had gone in for an attack on the torpedos, leaving two freighters on the Hunter and three on the Drexl. (One destroyed freighter, Hunter's shields down to 70% and Drexl's down to 50%)

The admiral tapped his com line,

"Orivah - spin and readjust shields."

As the pirate corvette advanced and was advanced upon, it spun until it was presently it's upper decks to the Hunter-class and it's rear to the Drexl-class. This meant that all of it's weaponry unloaded itself at the Hunter-class and it began to take in the punishment from both sides. The top half of the ship had all of the shield power diverted to it to better defend against the Hunter, leaving the bottom exposed... save for the fact that it was the single most heavily armoured part of the ship. The Drexl's weapons began to pock and mark it's lower armour while the shield held itself against the Hunter-class ship's own weapons. The spin would mean it would begin to hammer the Hunter while getting hammered from both sides.

But it wasn't the only one.

The freighters not involved in the anti-torpedo action kept up the attack on the corvettes from their flanks, being unmolested by corvettes or anything else for now. One of the freighters on the side of the Drexl accelerated as it's fellows attacked the shields ahead of it - allowing the freighter to ram into the enginers of the corvette directly, the speed and armaments inside meaning it made quite a hefty explosion and damaged the Drexl's engines directly, rendering them entirely useless.
(Hunter = 30% shields remaining
Drexl = 20% shields remaining, engines crippled
Freighters remaining = 2 on hunter side, 2 on drexl side
Orivah = 10% shields remaining, 60% armour integrity)

The fighters on the side of the Corsair were evenly matched, each side having lost a quarter of their forces and each of them still determined to finish the other with dogfighting tactics.

The fighters on the other side of the battle were doing less well - the Sith were beginning to win the dogfight and it was coming to a close. At the end of this round, all of the pirate fighters were dead and 16 of the Sith fighters began to make their way across the battlefield towards Eisa's position and to attack the freighters after their successful attack run on the corvettes, leaving 8 to fight against the freighters once they covered the distance and 8 to assist the corsair.

The freighters attacking the carrier had a tough time of it, needing to use every ounce of their speed and manoeuvrability to stop themselves from being destroyed. One of them got clipped by the heavy laser cannon, which gutted the ship completely, leaving it a floating husk. The other managed to evade enough to begin an attack run, strafing the side of the carrier with it's weaponry before flying straight past, angling itself to attack from the rear when it could. (One freighter destroyed, one freighter remaining, carrier shields at 95%)

The corsair spun in place almost, managing to avoid the first volleys of turbolaser fire. The broadside tactic worked as well, to a point, destroying one of the attacking freighters while the other banked away, back out of range for both the corsair and the freighter itself.

Unfortunately, the corsair itself would fare poorly.

While the corsair was within weapons range, that meant so was the broadside frigate. The three turbolaser turrets were now accurate and it's 7 heavy dual laser cannon turrets and 4 single mount laser cannon turrets on that side of the ship were able to fire upon the corsair. As a ship with military shielding, the corsair could handle a beating but what the broadside frigate laid down was too much for a ship of such a class. The turbolasers alone would have ruined the shielding but the sheer volume of fire would be enough to heavily damage - especially when one of the broadside frigate's tractor beams activated as soon as the corsair moved to attack, slowing the corsair to a crawl, creating, essentially, a sitting target with it's entire upper profile exposed by pulling down on the point of the ship, pulling it's nose further down than the 45 degree angle to present the entirety of the ship's large profile for the frigate to target.

The admiral would give no mercy.

"Pinned. Adjust shields to cover the tractor beam."

The corsair was unable to accelerate away due to the tractor beam so would take the first volley in almost it's entirety and the single freighter that had survived would linger to destroy any escape pods that were launched.
(Frigate shields = 98%
Corsair = shields gone, armour integrity reduced to 80%, caught in tractor beam)

Spoiler: OOC

Past 48 hours and extension; Bomber squadron does not leave the carrier due to their player leader not posting.

 

[Xornoth Sk'ar]

The Corvettes were being battered but they continued to hold, their turbolasers smothered the enemy corvette with heavy hitting fire. The Drexl-class corvette continued to fire into a singular spot aiming to break through the heavy armor while damage control teams worked on finding alternative propulsion. Once the shields had been breached, the Hunter-class would fire upon the command bridge and follow that destruction by raking the rest of the ship with fire. When the enemy corvette was destroyed or neutralized, the Hunter-class would move to keep itself out of the line of fire from the enemy frigate.

The Drexl-class corvette would then fire upon the enemy frigate from its stationary position until otherwise told, secondary targets would be the enemy freighters if high probability shots presented themselves.

The Hunter-class would now position itself from the front of the Frigate approximately 500 meters away in a position where hopefully the Frigate could not bring to bear its turbolasers while laying down its own fire in an attempt to destroy the Frigates shields entirely.

The two fighter squadrons split off with one moving to assist the dogfight around the Corsair, ensuring the enemy freighter that was pitched around Eisa would be destroyed first and the second squadron moving in to destroy the freighters that had been harassing the Sith Corvettes with their two proton torpedoes and laser fire each.

The carrier wouldn't slow down and continued to fly away from the freighter while not approaching the rest of the fight. If the freighter passed it by again, the carriers tractor beam would snare it to allow the guns to finish it off, otherwise, the carrier would just shoot at the damn thing while sailing away as fast as it could assuming the frigate was within range still.

@Nefieslab @Seaburn and Lights @Plebometer

 

[Eisa Nimbus]

Theme​

Gripping tightly onto the forward command console as the ship shuddered violently, the blonde haired Sith master narrowed her gaze as she regarded the tactical read outs being displayed. The shielding was failing repelling the slew of energy blasts crashing against the ray fields, the velocity of the craft was dropping as the Frigate locked a tractor beam onto the corsair. Snarling through gritted teeth, this was certainly a trail by fire for her first attempt at commanding a ship. But such was the way that the young Sith Master learned, she faced the challenges before her head on relentlessly chipping away until she achieved her targeted outcome.

"Reroute all power from the ray shielding into the particle shield emitters" Eisa barked towards the bridge's engineering command station. "Get the emergency repair crews down to the shield generators and bring the ray shielding emitters back online" she continued, recalling from her countless hours obsessing over the ship the various systems and how they worked long before she was granted the commanding commission of the Praenuntius. Knowing that in emergency situations the particle shield emitters that protected the ship from kinetic impacts can be used to provide protection against energy based attacks, but as a result the emitters would later require servicing, knowing it would be a last ditch effort to protect the ship for a little longer allowing it to weather the torrent of directed fire upon the corsair class.

Locking her gaze on to the tactical read out, the advances sensor suite that the craft was fitted with, although designed for planetary mapping served to allow an insight into where energy was being concentrated. As suspected the frigate's shields would be focusing around the tractor beam emitter to protect it from any attempts to disable it, pursing her lips in thought Eisa looked back to what she had learned during the Gauntlet, during the final conclusion against the Dragon. The young Sith had used the Force to read the ebbs and flows of the binding energy through the dragon's being to identify the weak points buried within, using them to provide a focused targeting point, whilst the other combatants attempted to hack away with their light sabers.

Her emerald hued eyes darkened into onyx black orbs as she flooded her mind into the Force, reaching out towards the frigate her Senses tracing over the already heavily damaged ship as a result of the Pirate's escape from Republic space. Picking out key weak spots sustained in the Frigates hull. Although she knew she was too far away to fully exploit the Shatter point technique by using the force itself to destroy the weaknesses, she was close enough to be able to sense where they were. Her minds eye focusing on the a key weakness in the hull on the port side, where she could sense a large source of energy behind it. Once she had found her mark, the sith master returned her gaze towards the tactical read out, the Sith master regarded the sensor information being displayed. It was a gambit but if what she was seeing being displayed on the screen and felt through the Force she was going to use it, the Empire did not turn and flee in the heat of bloody war. They were tempered within it, through conflict comes strength something that not only the Sith master knew, but so did her crew all of them were willing to fight to last breath.

"Tactical, note the electromagnetic frequency surrounding the frigate and calibrate the Ion turrets to suit" Eisa spoke as she directed her gaze towards the tactical deckhand. "Engineering, reroute power from sensors to the weapon systems, we need all the weapons running at optimal conditions" she continued as her gaze panned across to the deck to regard the ships engineering opps station, before looking down and punching in a series of co-ordinates into the console "On my command Fire the ion turret at these co-ordinates, followed immediately by all weaponry, once we are loose ahead full and get us under that frigate." the blonde Sith instructed, her orders being met with immediate acknowledgements from the bridge crew as the prepared all systems to carry out the actions listed by the Sith Master. Through narrowed gaze Eisa glared out through the transparisteel view port of the bridge towards the Frigate. A wild grin crossed the woman's features, like all wounded beasts backed into a corner, they were going to come out fighting. "FIRE!!!"

Upon Eisa's command, the Corsair launched a burst of ionic energy towards the marked target. Although the burst was calibrated to counter the Frigate shields electromagnetic frequency, it would not be enough to entirely cripple the ships shields. But rather it should cause enough of a localized disruption around the targeted area to weaken the shielding enough for the other weapons. No sooner had the ion blast connected all of the laser turrets opened fire, delivering salvo after salvo of explosive energy towards the targeted structural weak point identified through the ships commander's use of the Force. After each concentrated volley the ion turret would fire another burst to weaken the localized shield emitters before another torrent of laser fire would rip out from the locked on turrets of the Corsair, to chip away through to the targeted shatter point of the already damaged frigate into the heart of the engineering decks. Where if successful the penetrating blast would tear through the critical ship's systems that were housed behind the hull and hit the sensitive subsidiary reactor.

As soon as the targeted shots of the laser fire, hit their mark. With the corsair taking advantage of being within its weapon's optimal effective range. Well that was the plan, exploit a weakness in the ship's hull and hit the subsidiary reactor to cause wide spread electrical disruptions would cascade throughout the the Frigate, the power surges and conduit overloads incurred would take out most if not all of the remaining operational systems offline. Affording the Corsair to break free from the tractor beam whilst the electrical disruptions took place, allowing it to proceed as planned to move beneath the frigate and take advantage of from being outside of the clear line of sight from the frigates fore and sideboard weaponry.

 

[The Storyteller]

The Orivah was functionally finished and everyone on the battlefield knew it. The pounding that it was giving out didn't match the damage that it was receiving right now. Sure, it's light ion cannons and heavy laser cannons were giving the Hunter a pounding but it was taking too much damage from both sides now. With it's final volleys breaking through the shielding of the Hunter-class corvette, the Orivah could do no more. It's shields were shredded by the Hunter and it's armour breached entirely by the Drexl. The bridge was blown open into the vacuum and it's lower decks began to explode as the turbolasers of the Drexl breached it, causing the ship to begin literally breaking into two halves. Naturally, it's last gasp hadn't left the Hunter unaffected either, having laid into the enemy enough to have overloaded the shields.
(Orivah - Destroyed
Hunter - Shields gone; Armour integrity 90%
Drexl - Sheilds holding steady at 20%)

The fighters gunning for the freighters would find that these ships were not easy targets. Two of them lingered by the wounded Drexl and fired back - and the fighters launched proton torpedos at them. Under withering laser fire, the two closest to the Drexl attempted to scatter, one of them being destroyed but the other escaping. This, unfortunately, meant that the proton torpedos sailed past them towards the crippled Drexl, exploding close enough to further stress the ships shielding.
(1 frieghter destroyed, 3 remaining
Drexl shields 5% remaining)

The remaining 3 freighters battle it out with the fighters, using their greater size and shielding to bully the fighters and using their ability to fire accurately at enemies chasing and in front of them (two different turrets) at the same time. The fighters might be more agile but they would find no easy pickings here.
(Call it attrition rate of 2 fighters for each freighter, leaving 2 fighters to survive by next round)

The crew aboard the lone freighter ghosting the exploratory vessel would find themselves in a jam they had no way out of either - they managed to destroy two of the fighters dogging them but they were otherwise quickly overrun, leaving them to destroy the freighter and be free to continue to move on.
(Freighter destroyed, 2 fighters destroyed, 6 remaining)

The ongoing dogfight to one side of the battle was grinding down now, with each of the sides originally twelve fighters being reduced to 6.

Back with the broadside frigate, the admiral narrowed his eyes at everything that was happening around him in the readings but continued unabated.

"Focus all fire on that vessel." he commanded, unnecessarily considering the orders from before meant that the cannons had never stopped firing on the vessel, "Destroy the bridge."

The shielding of the vessel had held up admirably but it was weathering far too much for it's weight class as it were. Indeed, as the fire rained down on the slowed target, the shielding would disappear as the frigate pummelled the unprotected ship with the full weight of the broadside-fire it was named after. Gritting his teeth, he watched as the ship hammered at the frigate with it's weaponry. Indeed, it was hitting like it was equipped with two heavy laser cannons instead of the one... but that was all it was. The shields still held, even if they were taking a beating from both the closer ship and, now, the further corvettes.
(Frigate shields decreased from 95% to 50%)

Unfortunately for the exploratory vessel, it was trapped in the tractor beam still as none of it's attacks, or those of it's compatriots, were enough to stop it. With volley after punishing volley having rained down on the ship since it had come into range and the ship ensnared, there should be nothing in the way of the broadside frigate's broadside volley slamming into the bridge of the smaller ship, which would spell the end for the ship and it's commander who had refused to abandon ship.

Once the exploratory vessel's bridge was destroyed, the Broadside would begin to use it's forward-most facing turrets to return fire, aiming for the stationary Drexl as opposed to the Hunter.

The lone freighter would attempt another attack run on the engines of the carrier from behind, working to keep itself away from the front end where the majority of the weapons were. Alone however, it's best efforts to harm the carrier were little.
(Carrier shields 90% remaining)

Spoiler: OOC

Past 48 hours and extension; Bomber squadron does not leave the carrier due to their player leader not posting.

@Seaburn and Lights @Plebometer @Xorism

 

[Xornoth Sk'ar]

The battlefield had become a bloody mess of epic proportions with little having gone to plan as expected. The end was in sight but the battle was not yet won for the Sith who would fight on.

The hunter-class corvette continued to move into an accurate firing position from the nose of the enemy frigate while raining turbolaser fire upon it. As the distance closed, the Frigate would come under increasingly more accurate fire which would hopefully destroy the enemies shield. The drexl-class corvette was stuck but retained some shield capacity still, any and all shield capacity would be diverted to protect the ship from the incoming attacks of the Frigate, primarily protecting the bridge. Meanwhile, the drexl would continue to fire while it could on the enemy frigate in the hopes of stripping its shield faster to end the fight.

All fighters across the battlefield would continue their combats until their foes had been vanquished. The squadron fighting still in the center near the drexl would, once they had won, continue their sweep across the battlefield and assist their allies on the Sith right. The six starfighters that had been engaged near the Corsair would immediately move to launch their last remaining torpedoes with the intent on either striking the frigates shield or turbolasers if the shields went down prior to their hits. These starfighters would then after launching, move in for an attack run on the frigate with lasers while being careful to stay outside the area of effect of their own missiles.

The tractor beam could only hold so many targets at once so what was left of the squadron would continue to strafe the shields until they went down then attempt to get above the enemy ship.

The carrier would continue its little duel of its own with limited turrets firing back toward the lone freighter, the fact they were only under attack from that direction would allow the carrier to focus its shields to the rear and slow down the enemies attack even further. If the enemy came closer in an attempt to physically collide with the carrier, the latter would implement emergency vector thrusts to throw the freighters trajectory off from being able to entirely destroy the rear engines.

@Nefieslab @Seaburn and Lights @Plebometer

 

[Eisa Nimbus]

Theme​

The last ditch gambit with the shields paid off briefly, if only for the slightest moment the shields weathered the onslaught of turbo laser fire for another salvo before eventually the emitters burned out completely leaving the Corsair completely devoid of shielding. But it was worth while, it had allowed for the Praenuntius to concentrate its weapons fire upon the target, and it had started to weaken the shields but not enough as anticipated. Gritting her teeth the blonde haired Sith snarled as she watched the cacophany of flickering hues flash before her within the Bridge of the ship. Her darkened onyx eyes looking down towards the comms channel for the ship, a slender finger pressing down upon the ship wide announcement, that would be broadcasted to the rest of the fleet.

++All Hands give her all you have got, we fight to our last breath! Remember It is better to die fighting than to die giving up!++

Eisa spoke, her voice ringing out her conviction throughout the comms channel and the shuddering hull of the Corsair as the continuing volleys of laser fire rained down upon it. As commanded the crew continued to keep the ship going as long as possible, doing all they could to maintain the Corsairs's weapons raining fire down upon the targeted weakness. After a moments thought, the young Sith master opened up a private comm channel to the commander of the Carrier. "Xornoth, can you please tell Abi I love her and that I died fighting to the very end? " she added passing over her final request to the fleet's defacto admiral.

Slowly the young Sith master closed her eyes as she placed the palms of her hands against the console, channeling the corrupted Force of the dark side through her and into the ship. Flooding it with the darkness that resided within the blonde figure. Her mind flooding with the very bitterness and rage that resided within her, Images of her father, a lone child walking scared and alone in the cold winter streets of bakura's capital city, the death and carnage that followed in the wakes of her acts of wanton violence. Flooded through her intensifying the dark energies that coursed throughout the ship, before images of her recent few years flashed into mind, the wild friendship with Abi, that would grow to the foundations of her finally having someone who she could call family, the various Sith masters and knights who she had fought along side with and looked to as her friends. After over a decade of living life as nothing more than an abandoned mistake, the Empire had given her a home, a sense of purpose and a reason to fight.

Even in what will be the last moments of the young Sith master, known for being the Fiery Haired force of nature with an overzealous use of all things explosive during her late teens. She would not cower from what would come, Eisa will continue to expunge what remaining strength she had in the Force to keep the ship powered and intact for as long as she could so it would continue firing until there was nothing but the embrace of darkness.

Eisa like her crew, would die. But they would pass on to the next life fighting vehemently for what they believed in.

 

[The Storyteller]

The pirates had hit hard and they had hit well - but they weren't going to live forever and they knew it.

They had fought as hard as they had to protect their homes and nothing else. They had fought so hard because it was their families, their illegitimate children, their wives and their mistresses down there on the planet's surface. And sure, maybe the Sith Empire wasn't so bad - but it wasn't them.

It wasn't the freedom they had, each and every one, craved.

So while the last of the freighters were mopped up by fighters and by the carrier's defences, the Admiral knew that he would not be able to snatch victory from the jaws of this defeat. The Sith ship they had destroyed went down firing and the fire from the corvettes was withering. Every one of the turrets on it's side were positioned to fire along it's length at one of the corvettes, the Drexl corvette.

"Go for the bridge." he ordered even as he turned to the rest of his bridge staff, "All staff not required to operate the turrets - abandon ship and Force be with you all."

As the frigate continued to fire everything it could at the bridge of the stationary Drexl, it's own shields began to drop ever lower. Thankfully - the Drexl's shields were already far lower. The Drexl's shielding would fail and the bridge would explode under the volume and power of the volley from the frigate.

The frigate itself?

"Sir! Torpedoes incoming!" one of the aides called out, "Should we divert weapons to intercept?"

He glanced at the read outs.

"No time." he intoned quietly, nodding to his bridge staff, "Gentlemen - it has been an honour and a privilege. A man could not ask for better of his men. One last time..."

The admiral stood at attention and saluted crisply to his bridge staff,

"I salute you."

The fire from the two corvettes (before the Drexl was destroyed) and the dying fire from the other Sith's ship meant that the shields were down as the torpedoes came in. With the shielding down, the torpedoes landed.

The frigate was rocked by explosions across it's entire body as the destructive payload was spent, the torpedoes breaking through the armour to hit critical functions within the ship. All along the ship, the armour and hull integrity broke apart from the power of the explosives and the continues turbolaser fire.

Silently in the void, the broadside frigate broke apart into four pieces. Two pieces began to fall to the planet below and the other two just hung there, silently, as bodies of crew members began to float out into the vacuum.

It had taken the Sith perhaps more than they had bargained for but they had won the battle of Kessel.

Spoiler: Ending

All pirate forces destroyed and un-salvageable. Sith casualties include the Corsair Exploratory Ship, the Drexl-Class Corvette and half of the fighters engaged.

@Xorism

 

[Xornoth Sk'ar]

The battle had been won but the cost was higher than anyone could have anticipated. Battlefield wrecks lay strewn across the field with all signs of life extinguished, making any recovery attempts pointless. The Skyward Sword in all its richness and historic past now sat drifting forever, the Praenuntius suffering a similar fate with all hands vaporized on board leaving little doubt as to the whereabouts of Master Nimbus. Instead of cheers for a victory hard fought, there was silence on the bridge of the carrier as the last few remaining fighters closed in to dock.

Xornoth was a seething rage at the failure of his subordinate to deploy the most important bomber squadron in the battle. Without the principal offensive firepower being on the field, the idiot had crippled the Sith fleet and caused the heavy casualties that they were forced to take on to make up for his absence. The Kaleesh Sith entered the hangar with his rage frothing and clearly visible for all to see while taking powerful strides towards the dormant bomber squadron where he could see the other pilots gathering around the lead ship that prevented their deployment.

Locked inside sat Cinders, seemingly locking himself inside the cockpit before passing out from the pressure of command. The maintenance crews had been trying to move the lead ship out of the way but they had been unable to do so thus far with the equipment on board. Leaping up onto the wing of the bomber, Xornoth used the force to unlock the cockpit while looking directly upon the man inside. Before anyone could say anything, the Sith Master ripped the failure from his seat with the force and threw him across the hangar floor, moving after him and leaving the bomber to the crew to deal with.

The unconscious man flailed limply until the momentum ceased, lightning burst from his fingertips but instead of trying to kill the man, he instead would wake Cinders up while maintaining a tight grip upon the man with a force choke. As Cinders woke, the dazed man would hear Xornoth speak for a final time.

"For the charge of cowardice in the face of the enemy, you are found guilty and declared a traitor... the penalty is death." With the strong flick of a wrist, the traitor was pushed toward the open hangar door and ejected into the deep void without the necessary equipment needed to survive. Despite all the erratic movement while the coward attempted to breathe or magically fly back to the ship, his body soon went still as the sentence was carried out to completion.

"Signal the Intrepidus to move forward to the next waypoint with us and await further orders. Get me a new flight lead for the bomber squadron immediately, I will be in my quarters advising the War Master of our success."

/end thread