The three pirate ships caught the storm of torpedoes on its sensors almost immediately, and the reaction was equally swift. Automated fire control computers immediately sprung into action. Dozens of point defense turrets across the three vessels opened fire on the incoming torpedoes, unloading storms of munitions in a desperate attempt to destroy as many of these torpedoes as possible before they could make contact. The three ships took evasive maneuvers away from the torpedoes while shooting out hundreds of decoys in an effort to deceive the guiding systems on the torpedoes.
A quarter of the 126 Lanzer torpedoes were intercepted, but the rest stayed true to their targets. Within seconds, the remaining torpedoes ignored the field of decoys and slammed right into their target, the Blade class corvette designated Sentinel One.
As a combat corvette, Sentinel One was equipped with a pair of military-grade shield generators. Both layers of shields had been activated as soon as the battle began, and it was the pair of shields that suffered the first blows from the incoming torpedoes.
The remaining torpedoes, still nearly a hundred in number, exploded against the pair of shields in a storm of fire. Some struck before the others. It was intentional, of course. The outer layer flickered for a fraction of a second before being fully shattered by the blast. The second layer lasted a bit longer, but as more and more torpedoes struck its surface, that layer of shield dissipated as well.
Under the horrified eyes of the bridge crew of Sentinel One, thirty two more torpedoes clashed against the thick exterior armor to the starboard of the corvette. These armor-piercing projectiles dug their way into the armored plating before finally exploding one by one, tearing off entire chunks of alloy and clearing the way for later torpedoes to make even more progress.
Within a single volley, Sentinel One had lost both of its deflector shields and a large piece of its armor near the front. Its rear and side armor were still entirely intact, but this wasn’t a game where a unit would be perfectly fine and combat-ready as long as its hp was above 0.
With one round of torpedoes, the Vikings had already effectively crippled one of the corvettes, far exceeding what any of the pirates expected from them.
“What?”
In the war room of the Lord of Ashes, the leader of the pirate fleet snapped to his feet. The hologram display a few stays away clearly relayed what was happening on the battlefield. Through the cameras in the appropriate direction, he could distinctly see the damage Sentinel One had taken. Numerous items were floating out of where the breach took place. Pieces of ripped armor and shrapnel from the torpedoes that were responsible. The remains of expensive hardware that the man suspected would be very difficult to replace. And, of course, the unlucky crews who were at the wrong place at the wrong time and were sucked into the vacuum after the ship that had kept them safe for so long was suddenly struck and crippled.
Lord Darren was no stranger to such brutal sights, but he didn't expect such a thing to happen to one of his own ships. At least not so quickly.
A less experienced crew would have been frozen in their spots by fear or shock, but for all his flaws, Lord Darren was a good captain, and he had a good crew. In an instant, his men went to work and reported to their leader any information that he might need to make the best decision. Their voices were panicked, but they still said everything that had to be said.
“Sentinel One has lost both of its shields! One generator is down! Its firepower is down to 40%! Significant crew losses! Enemy missiles have excellent armor-piercing capabilities!” Said an ordinance officer.
“The point defense turrets have been less effective than anticipated!”
“These missiles pack much more of a punch than missiles that size should!” Another ordinance officer by the name of William quickly snapped to his commander. He was an expert at blowing things up, and he had kept up with the details of most categories of missiles used in this star system.
“Launch all assault fighter squadrons and engage the enemies at close range! Do not let them focus their fire on our ships!” Lord Darren barked to the comms officers after some brief thoughts. “Contact Filo from Sentinel One and ask for his status!”
“All squadrons? With all due respect, Lord, if our assault fighters engage the enemies head-on, our artillery units will need to be restricted to avoid friendly fire…” An officer warned. Shrapnels and explosions hardly cared about which side a fighter was from.
“Did I stutter?”
“Apologies, Lord.” The officer lowered his head and went to work. A few seconds later, he looked up again. “All squadrons have been scrambled. Squadrons 1-1 and 1-2 are engaging as we speak. Squadrons 1-3, 1-4, and 1-5 are being launched. All fire control computers have been adjusted to take friendly aircrafts in mind.”
“Good.” Darren nodded. He watched as the dots indicating the squadrons approached the remaining enemy starfighters before finally taking the time to explain to the confused officer. “Our artillery units will never bring down these starfighters in time. They seem to have skipped shields in favor of heavier armor. It is odd…their missiles are also stronger than any other armor-piercing missiles I have encountered. If we allow them to keep focusing their fire on our ships, we will go down before they do.”
On the display, the two squadrons of assault fighters had dove into the line of the enemy starfighters, forcing them to scatter. More and more assault fighters joined in until they outnumbered the remaining enemies by more than two to one. That being said, he had yet to receive a single notification of a confirmed kill.
“Lord, Captain Filo of Sentinel One has requested to abandon ship. He had lost most of his crew and the situation is impossible to salvage...”
“Tell him to get out of there as soon as possible. We will send retrieval crafts for the escape pods. Isaac, you take care of that.” Lord Darren said quietly. “Filo treats Sentinel One like she’s his wife. If he is asking to abandon the ship, then it must be because he has no other choice left.”
He stared at the tactical display for nearly half a minute before frowning.
“Kel, I have yet to see a single enemy starfighter downed by our squadrons. Either the display is malfunctioning or our pilots are. Which is it?”
“I am afraid the display is working perfectly fine, Lord.” Kel looked up from the sensor array. “The pilots have reported that the enemy starfighters are extremely well-piloted, and their armor is standing up very well against our autocannons. We have lost 8 assault fighters already and we have only damaged some of the enemy vessels.”
“At least the railguns and the missiles have taken down three more enemy starfighters, Lord. Our squadrons are also keeping them from targeting our ships.” Ordinance officer William saw the frown on his captain’s face and tried to reassure him. “They are down to 18. At this rate, we will win the battle.”
“We have just lost a corvette and a large portion of its crew of 300. Even if we destroy all these fighters here, this is still a terrible battle.” Lord Darren replied, his eyes still glued to the display. “Will, what is the typical missile carrying capacity of a fighter that size?”
“Maybe 12? If they remove other weapon systems, I’d say maybe 16 to 18.”
“They have fired six missiles in the initial volley, and then they have exclusively used missiles against our assault fighters. More likely than not they don’t have many left. Instruct our squadrons to stick to the enemy fighters. Their missiles are good, but they will run out soon, and when they do, we will make every single one of them pay for what they did.”
The self-proclaimed pirate lord ordered coldly. Even in the Kiara Legion, he was quite an influential individual with one light cruiser and two corvettes under his command. Many of his colleagues had mocked him for how he named his ships and what he preferred others refer to him as, but none of them could doubt his competence or his ruthlessness. This wasn't a kingdom or an empire that saw a proper last name as the most important condition for a ruler. Its glorious past didn't change the fact that the Kiara Legion was a legion of ruthless pirates, and only the most ruthless could climb to the top of the ranks in the Legion.
He didn't know where these fighters came from or what issues they had with the Kiara Legion. All he knew was they destroyed one of his sentinels and killed plenty of his men. As the leader of his crew and a member of the Kiara Legion, it was imperative that he hunt down the culprits and make them suffer, no matter who they were.
Suddenly, scanner attendant Kal snapped to Lord Darren, drawing his attention to something interesting.
“Lord, the enemy fighters are retreating!”
“Now this is how real pirates operate.”
On the other side, Athena had to admit she was incredibly impressed by how the Kiara Legion ships performed. Compared to these three ships, the White Tigress was nothing but a huge joke.
The Lawbringer was brought down from the inside without any real issues. Well-trained crews in service of the Kiara Legion proved to be powerless when dealing with Protoss zealots with psionic blades and plasma shields. It was only now, when the warships of the Kiara Legion were actually allowed to do what they were good at, that Athena truly witnessed what made the Legion a powerful force in this star system.
The crew of these ships were pirates instead of professional sailors and the ships themselves were outdated, but even so, they performed exceedingly well against Athena’s Vikings. Railguns. Anti-aircraft missiles. Assault fighter squadrons and point defense turrets. Unlike Orlan or Viktor, the captains and sailors aboard these ships knew exactly how to fight a naval battle.
The Vikings were indeed advanced starfighters, but they were still very vulnerable to railguns and missiles. They also lacked the support of units like Ravens, Wraiths, or Battlecruisers which could have made things much easier.
Athena had to admit she wasn’t the happiest when the first three Vikings fell, but she sat back and put her trust in the expert Viking pilots. She herself wasn’t a good naval commander and she knew it. It was better to let the experts handle things.
And the Vikings didn't betray her trust as they successfully brought down one of the two corvettes. The initial volley of Viking torpedoes and the subsequent dogfight with the enemy fighters killed a total of 213 people, a conclusion she drew using the resources she received.
However, the enemy commander, whoever they were, reacted perfectly to the situation.
Like the other Starcraft units Athena had produced, Vikings didn't run the risk of running out of ammo. However, they still needed some time to recover after firing six torpedoes at once, and the enemy commander was able to capitalize on this tiny opening by sending in their fighter squadrons to interfere with the Vikings. The Vikings were subsequently forced to focus their attention and their torpedoes on fending off the fighters. Using this chance, the light cruiser and the remaining corvette took down several more Vikings with their artilleries.
“Sir, we need to get rid of those fighters. Once those fighters are down, our starfighters can easily bring down their ships!”
Athena glanced at Viktor with a scoff. How helpful for him. Well, at least he didn't call her ‘my queen’ this time.
As for the fighters…Vikings weren’t the best at going up against fighters. They simply weren’t designed for that. They were dedicated anti-armor units when going up against air targets. Luckily, the resources bringing down the corvette gave her allowed her to finally be comfortable with producing the most expensive unit available to her as of now.
Previously she was barely able to afford a Liberator, but that would drain her entire bank account and leave her powerless when dealing with any sudden threat.
“I sure hope they’re ready for some freedom…” She whispered as she quickly returned to her own body in the Ravager. Her mouse hovered above the Liberator icon in the Starport for a few seconds before finally clicking on it.
8,000 units of resources disappeared from her bank, bringing her account down to around 5,500 units. At the same time, the familiar shape of a Terran Liberator materialized next to the Starport. It seemed no bigger than a Viking when in the game, but if what the Terran adjutant said was true, then it would impact the battlefield a lot more than a Viking.
“This better be worth it…” She quickly contacted the Viking pilots still in the fray. After some quick discussions, the remaining 15 Vikings turned around and began retreating toward Athena’s position.
Athena didn't know the detailed thought process of the enemy commander, but she had anticipated that the enemy fighters would make pursuit. That was exactly what happened. Several squadrons of pirate assault fighters did their best to follow the Vikings. They had taken quite the losses, but it seemed like this only made them more inclined to hunt down their enemies to the last.
Check out my Patreon account to support me and read up to Chapter 59 (and maybe further depending on my writing speed) now!
The three pirate ships caught the storm of torpedoes on its sensors almost immediately, and the reaction was equally swift. Automated fire control computers immediately sprung into action. Dozens of point defense turrets across the three vessels opened fire on the incoming torpedoes, unloading storms of munitions in a desperate attempt to destroy as many of these torpedoes as possible before they could make contact. The three ships took evasive maneuvers away from the torpedoes while shooting out hundreds of decoys in an effort to deceive the guiding systems on the torpedoes.
A quarter of the 126 Lanzer torpedoes were intercepted, but the rest stayed true to their targets. Within seconds, the remaining torpedoes ignored the field of decoys and slammed right into their target, the Blade class corvette designated Sentinel One.
As a combat corvette, Sentinel One was equipped with a pair of military-grade shield generators. Both layers of shields had been activated as soon as the battle began, and it was the pair of shields that suffered the first blows from the incoming torpedoes.
The remaining torpedoes, still nearly a hundred in number, exploded against the pair of shields in a storm of fire. Some struck before the others. It was intentional, of course. The outer layer flickered for a fraction of a second before being fully shattered by the blast. The second layer lasted a bit longer, but as more and more torpedoes struck its surface, that layer of shield dissipated as well.
Under the horrified eyes of the bridge crew of Sentinel One, thirty two more torpedoes clashed against the thick exterior armor to the starboard of the corvette. These armor-piercing projectiles dug their way into the armored plating before finally exploding one by one, tearing off entire chunks of alloy and clearing the way for later torpedoes to make even more progress.
Within a single volley, Sentinel One had lost both of its deflector shields and a large piece of its armor near the front. Its rear and side armor were still entirely intact, but this wasn’t a game where a unit would be perfectly fine and combat-ready as long as its hp was above 0.
With one round of torpedoes, the Vikings had already effectively crippled one of the corvettes, far exceeding what any of the pirates expected from them.
“What?”
In the war room of the Lord of Ashes, the leader of the pirate fleet snapped to his feet. The hologram display a few stays away clearly relayed what was happening on the battlefield. Through the cameras in the appropriate direction, he could distinctly see the damage Sentinel One had taken. Numerous items were floating out of where the breach took place. Pieces of ripped armor and shrapnel from the torpedoes that were responsible. The remains of expensive hardware that the man suspected would be very difficult to replace. And, of course, the unlucky crews who were at the wrong place at the wrong time and were sucked into the vacuum after the ship that had kept them safe for so long was suddenly struck and crippled.
Lord Darren was no stranger to such brutal sights, but he didn't expect such a thing to happen to one of his own ships. At least not so quickly.
A less experienced crew would have been frozen in their spots by fear or shock, but for all his flaws, Lord Darren was a good captain, and he had a good crew. In an instant, his men went to work and reported to their leader any information that he might need to make the best decision. Their voices were panicked, but they still said everything that had to be said.
“Sentinel One has lost both of its shields! One generator is down! Its firepower is down to 40%! Significant crew losses! Enemy missiles have excellent armor-piercing capabilities!” Said an ordinance officer.
“The point defense turrets have been less effective than anticipated!”
“These missiles pack much more of a punch than missiles that size should!” Another ordinance officer by the name of William quickly snapped to his commander. He was an expert at blowing things up, and he had kept up with the details of most categories of missiles used in this star system.
“Launch all assault fighter squadrons and engage the enemies at close range! Do not let them focus their fire on our ships!” Lord Darren barked to the comms officers after some brief thoughts. “Contact Filo from Sentinel One and ask for his status!”
“All squadrons? With all due respect, Lord, if our assault fighters engage the enemies head-on, our artillery units will need to be restricted to avoid friendly fire…” An officer warned. Shrapnels and explosions hardly cared about which side a fighter was from.
“Did I stutter?”
“Apologies, Lord.” The officer lowered his head and went to work. A few seconds later, he looked up again. “All squadrons have been scrambled. Squadrons 1-1 and 1-2 are engaging as we speak. Squadrons 1-3, 1-4, and 1-5 are being launched. All fire control computers have been adjusted to take friendly aircrafts in mind.”
“Good.” Darren nodded. He watched as the dots indicating the squadrons approached the remaining enemy starfighters before finally taking the time to explain to the confused officer. “Our artillery units will never bring down these starfighters in time. They seem to have skipped shields in favor of heavier armor. It is odd…their missiles are also stronger than any other armor-piercing missiles I have encountered. If we allow them to keep focusing their fire on our ships, we will go down before they do.”
On the display, the two squadrons of assault fighters had dove into the line of the enemy starfighters, forcing them to scatter. More and more assault fighters joined in until they outnumbered the remaining enemies by more than two to one. That being said, he had yet to receive a single notification of a confirmed kill.
“Lord, Captain Filo of Sentinel One has requested to abandon ship. He had lost most of his crew and the situation is impossible to salvage...”
“Tell him to get out of there as soon as possible. We will send retrieval crafts for the escape pods. Isaac, you take care of that.” Lord Darren said quietly. “Filo treats Sentinel One like she’s his wife. If he is asking to abandon the ship, then it must be because he has no other choice left.”
He stared at the tactical display for nearly half a minute before frowning.
“Kel, I have yet to see a single enemy starfighter downed by our squadrons. Either the display is malfunctioning or our pilots are. Which is it?”
“I am afraid the display is working perfectly fine, Lord.” Kel looked up from the sensor array. “The pilots have reported that the enemy starfighters are extremely well-piloted, and their armor is standing up very well against our autocannons. We have lost 8 assault fighters already and we have only damaged some of the enemy vessels.”
“At least the railguns and the missiles have taken down three more enemy starfighters, Lord. Our squadrons are also keeping them from targeting our ships.” Ordinance officer William saw the frown on his captain’s face and tried to reassure him. “They are down to 18. At this rate, we will win the battle.”
“We have just lost a corvette and a large portion of its crew of 300. Even if we destroy all these fighters here, this is still a terrible battle.” Lord Darren replied, his eyes still glued to the display. “Will, what is the typical missile carrying capacity of a fighter that size?”
“Maybe 12? If they remove other weapon systems, I’d say maybe 16 to 18.”
“They have fired six missiles in the initial volley, and then they have exclusively used missiles against our assault fighters. More likely than not they don’t have many left. Instruct our squadrons to stick to the enemy fighters. Their missiles are good, but they will run out soon, and when they do, we will make every single one of them pay for what they did.”
The self-proclaimed pirate lord ordered coldly. Even in the Kiara Legion, he was quite an influential individual with one light cruiser and two corvettes under his command. Many of his colleagues had mocked him for how he named his ships and what he preferred others refer to him as, but none of them could doubt his competence or his ruthlessness. This wasn't a kingdom or an empire that saw a proper last name as the most important condition for a ruler. Its glorious past didn't change the fact that the Kiara Legion was a legion of ruthless pirates, and only the most ruthless could climb to the top of the ranks in the Legion.
He didn't know where these fighters came from or what issues they had with the Kiara Legion. All he knew was they destroyed one of his sentinels and killed plenty of his men. As the leader of his crew and a member of the Kiara Legion, it was imperative that he hunt down the culprits and make them suffer, no matter who they were.
Suddenly, scanner attendant Kal snapped to Lord Darren, drawing his attention to something interesting.
“Lord, the enemy fighters are retreating!”
“Now this is how real pirates operate.”
On the other side, Athena had to admit she was incredibly impressed by how the Kiara Legion ships performed. Compared to these three ships, the White Tigress was nothing but a huge joke.
The Lawbringer was brought down from the inside without any real issues. Well-trained crews in service of the Kiara Legion proved to be powerless when dealing with Protoss zealots with psionic blades and plasma shields. It was only now, when the warships of the Kiara Legion were actually allowed to do what they were good at, that Athena truly witnessed what made the Legion a powerful force in this star system.
The crew of these ships were pirates instead of professional sailors and the ships themselves were outdated, but even so, they performed exceedingly well against Athena’s Vikings. Railguns. Anti-aircraft missiles. Assault fighter squadrons and point defense turrets. Unlike Orlan or Viktor, the captains and sailors aboard these ships knew exactly how to fight a naval battle.
The Vikings were indeed advanced starfighters, but they were still very vulnerable to railguns and missiles. They also lacked the support of units like Ravens, Wraiths, or Battlecruisers which could have made things much easier.
Athena had to admit she wasn’t the happiest when the first three Vikings fell, but she sat back and put her trust in the expert Viking pilots. She herself wasn’t a good naval commander and she knew it. It was better to let the experts handle things.
And the Vikings didn't betray her trust as they successfully brought down one of the two corvettes. The initial volley of Viking torpedoes and the subsequent dogfight with the enemy fighters killed a total of 213 people, a conclusion she drew using the resources she received.
However, the enemy commander, whoever they were, reacted perfectly to the situation.
Like the other Starcraft units Athena had produced, Vikings didn't run the risk of running out of ammo. However, they still needed some time to recover after firing six torpedoes at once, and the enemy commander was able to capitalize on this tiny opening by sending in their fighter squadrons to interfere with the Vikings. The Vikings were subsequently forced to focus their attention and their torpedoes on fending off the fighters. Using this chance, the light cruiser and the remaining corvette took down several more Vikings with their artilleries.
“Sir, we need to get rid of those fighters. Once those fighters are down, our starfighters can easily bring down their ships!”
Athena glanced at Viktor with a scoff. How helpful for him. Well, at least he didn't call her ‘my queen’ this time.
As for the fighters…Vikings weren’t the best at going up against fighters. They simply weren’t designed for that. They were dedicated anti-armor units when going up against air targets. Luckily, the resources bringing down the corvette gave her allowed her to finally be comfortable with producing the most expensive unit available to her as of now.
Previously she was barely able to afford a Liberator, but that would drain her entire bank account and leave her powerless when dealing with any sudden threat.
“I sure hope they’re ready for some freedom…” She whispered as she quickly returned to her own body in the Ravager. Her mouse hovered above the Liberator icon in the Starport for a few seconds before finally clicking on it.
8,000 units of resources disappeared from her bank, bringing her account down to around 5,500 units. At the same time, the familiar shape of a Terran Liberator materialized next to the Starport. It seemed no bigger than a Viking when in the game, but if what the Terran adjutant said was true, then it would impact the battlefield a lot more than a Viking.
“This better be worth it…” She quickly contacted the Viking pilots still in the fray. After some quick discussions, the remaining 15 Vikings turned around and began retreating toward Athena’s position.
Athena didn't know the detailed thought process of the enemy commander, but she had anticipated that the enemy fighters would make pursuit. That was exactly what happened. Several squadrons of pirate assault fighters did their best to follow the Vikings. They had taken quite the losses, but it seemed like this only made them more inclined to hunt down their enemies to the last.
Check out my Patreon account to support me and read up to Chapter 59 (and maybe further depending on my writing speed) now!
