>>2077088
With that in mind, the jump to Olympus fills you with intense relief. There are several human ships on station near the jump point- cruisers or big destroyers, since they only mass two thirds of an Order cruiser. There's dozens of battlespace drones and comm buoys within several thousand kilometres, and they ping you for an IFF. A few seconds later, one of the captains of the picket welcomes you warmly. You don't recognise him, but he apparently recognises your ships, and directs you on a lane in-system. For long hours, your collection of vessels falls down the gravity well. At this point in Olympus' year, you're actually 'ahead' of the planet, so your approach is made slightly more complicated by the need to let it catch up to you. Well, that and the sheer clutter around the planet. Dozens of ungainly space stations and squat construction slips crowd equatorial orbit in clusters around long stalks that reach down to the ground. Other rushed-looking stations, clearly defensive in nature with missile tubes sticking out every which way, orbit further out. Junk fills the sky too, and even with the mass of space afford by orbit, your hull sensors still register the occasional clink of tiny debris. Don't they know how to sweep up?

In any case, once Olympus traffic control eases you into a clear orbit well away from any other ships or facilities (you're not sure if you should be offended or pleased) it isn't long before you have a comm laser painting your hull from one of the biggest stations in your line of sight. Surprisingly, it's Admiral Gracen, the admiral you first spoke to during your first defense of Olympus. Comparing her now with what you recall, she has several more lines creasing her face, and her shoulder-length hair is completely white. The war is taking its toll on the humans too, and for a moment you feel somewhat guilty. Despite the signs of decay, her eyes are bright as ever, her expression firm and uncompromising. She's given you a full visual, and from what you can see behind her, she appears to be in some kind of office.
"Dauntless, is it not?" Her lips twitch in what you suspect is the closest she gets to a smile. "Welcome back."

>Boast
>Neutral
>Polite

>>2077089
>>Polite

Just finished archive diving, glad I could make a live thread!

>>2077089
>>Polite

>>2077089
boast

>>2077089
>Polite

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>>2077089
>Polite

"Thank you, Admiral. It's good to be back." You reply, though you're not just being polite. You've been around this system so long you can't help but feel some kind of affection for these humans.
"I'm glad. I've been instructed to aid you in any way I can, though you'll probably be interacting with Rear Admiral Weston on a daily basis. He'll be working with you directly, and reporting to me." Well, that all seems to make sense to you.
"I see. My... commander would also like to work out some way we can exchange technology or perhaps researchers. I have some, er, diplomatic dispatches to this effect." The Admiral tilts her head and leans back a micron in her chair, looking thoughtful.
"I can certainly pass those on personally, as Admiral of space-borne operations."
"Good, good." You can't really help but feel... rather awkward. Your instructions from the Grand Master are clear, but a part of you balks at revealing your true nature. After all, humans have always mistrusted truly intelligent AIs. Even so...

>Tell Admiral Gracen about the Order personally.
>Pass the information along with your other top-secret dispatches.

>>2077118
Welcome to the quest, anon!

>>2077211

>Tell Admiral Gracen about the Order personally.

>>2077211
>Tell Admiral Gracen about the Order personally.

>>2077211
>>Tell Admiral Gracen about the Order personally.

>>2077211
>>Tell Admiral Gracen about the Order personally.

>>2077211
>Tell Admiral Gracen about the Order personally.

>>2077211
>Tell Admiral Gracen about the Order personally.

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>>2077211
>Be a big boy and tell her yourself.

"However, there is one other thing." Gracen raises an eyebrow a hair and waits for you to continue. You're not quite sure how to start, however, and pause for a moment even with your accelerated way of thinking. "My commander has directed me to tell you about... us."
At that, however, the admiral sits forward in her chair, interest clear on her face.
"You?"
"Yes. I belong to the Order of Radiant Light. We are AIs, and have been protecting this local sector of space since the Fall."
With that bombshell, Gracen seems genuinely speechless. Well, if you were a human, you probably would be too. To her credit through, she recovers relatively quickly and looks intently into the vid pickup.
"The legends were true? The Imago Dei?"
"Yes."
She sits back in her chair, and steeples her fingers, apparently digesting this information. Just as you start to feel impatient, she nods.
"That would certainly explain a few things." Her gaze flicks back to the camera, and you can't shake the feeling she's looking straight into you. Ridiculous of course, but still. "I appreciate you telling me this, Dauntless- I assume that's your name and not your ship, now that I think about it. I'll... quietly pass this on to my superiors. Is there anything else?"

>Ask Admiral Gracen for anything else (write-in).
>That's all.

I can never escape the feeling that my dialogue is completely atrocious. ]Also, sorry for taking so long to post, everyone. I have a lot of distractions.

>>2077339
>Ask Admiral Gracen for anything else (write-in).
Ask her what her people already know about our order

>>2077339
>>That's all.

>>2077339
>That's all.

>>2077339
>>2077357
This, more or less. It'd be useful to know what they think they know about us via the legends.

>spoiler
Your dialogue is fine. Don't worry about posting time, some QMs go 6+ hours between story posts.

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>>2077339
>A question

"What exactly do you know about us, Admiral?" Despite yourself, you're rather curious. Thankfully, she seems to take it as it was intended, looking thoughtful for a few moments before she responds.
"Probably as much as anyone else. Myths, legends about valiant fleets fighting against genocidal aliens." Her brow quirks slightly. "Not that humanity has ever met an alien until now, it would seem." Gracen frowns in thought for a little longer, then glances back at the pickup, her lips twitching in a slight smile. "Personally, I'm glad it's not a myth."

With that, she signs off after directing you to Arcadia, the primary basing point for Rear Admiral Weston's force. You gather up your ships, with the exception of the freighters, and ease out of orbit. Luckily, Mount Olympus and Arcadia are relatively close together in their orbits at current, and it only takes a couple of hours to slot your flotilla back into orbit. Arcadia is just over 8 light minutes distant from Olympus, as you idly monitor telemetry from the freighters as they start unpacking their precious industrial cargo.

"Dauntless, it's good to see you again." Weston greets you with a cheerful smile over the comm as you take up position near his flagship, the Odysseus. "Admiral Gracen sent me a communiqué. About your, uh... yeah." He looks awkward, though more about the fact he's on his bridge than the actual situation. "Anyway, I'm looking forward to working with you. Hopefully we can really take the fight to the Legion soon."

>Boast
>Neutral
>Polite

>>2077551
>>Polite
with a hint of
>Boast

>>2077551
>>Boast

>>2077551
>Polite

>>2077551
>>Polite
with a little
>Boast

I would like nothing better.

>>2077551
>Boast

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>>2077551
>Mostly polite, but with a little bit of boast.

"Indeed, indeed. I'm looking forward to helping you do that too, but we've already proved to be quite a team, right?"
Weston gives you a brief grin as he nods.
"Exactly. With you and I, Dauntless, those Legion will never know what hit them." He quickly becomes serious, however, and glances at something on his display. "Anyway, my staff and I have been putting together some simulations based on our experience in a general fleet action with, uh, Ajax. I'll have my chief of staff send those over to you." Again, Weston looks away, but this time to nod to somebody outside the pickup, and looks back at his own display, apparently manipulating it.
"Thank you, I'll be sure to look them over." You say after a moment, when he isn't any further forthcoming.
"Right, sorry, I was just pulling up the overview. As I see it, we have three main options. The first is that we integrate our ships with yours directly. I know that would cut down on your acceleration profiles, though. In any case, from there, we can focus on using our nukes to sweep away Legion decoys and battlespace probes with something my tactical officer calls the "Triple Ripple" and keep them blind while you whale on them. We'd be using your ships to cover us though. Secondly, we keep together, but use the reverse, using our nukes for long-range defence, helping to pick off incoming missiles and keep the Legion blinded." He pauses, and rubs his chin thoughtfully. "Thirdly, we can operate in two groups, taking advantage of our missiles' higher accel profiles to continually stun the enemy while your ships manoeuvrer to flank. Which do you think we should focus on training?"

>Combined offence.
>Combined defence.
>Independent assault.

>>2077846

>Combined offence.

>>2077846
>>Combined offence.

>>2077846
>>Combined offence.
independent is tempting due to its increased flexibility, but it'll leave the humans relatively vulnerable, should the Legion press through the defensive screen.

>>2077846
>>Combined offence.

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>>2077846
>Combined offence

"I think the best way to go would be to use you for offence." You tell him thoughtfully. "If you can blow holes in their missile defence..."
"Then you can smash them into pieces." Weston finishes, with evident satisfaction. "Very well. We'll begin exercises tomorrow."

The next morning (by Olympus Fleet Time) you sync your systems with those of the rest of Rear Admiral Weston's 14-ship division and start putting his sailors through their paces.

Roll a 1d100 for sims, best of three.

Rolled 21 (1d100)

>>2078145

Rolled 21 (1d100)

>>2078145

Rolled 3 (1d100)

>>2078145

Ouch. Looks like we're going to need a lot of practice.

>>2078145
Wow. Good thing this roll wasn't for anything important. Writing.

>>2078145
Over the next couple of weeks, Weston puts his sailors and staff through hell. He puts you through it too, but you don't actually need to sleep, so you cheat. Along with simulated battles with systems linked together to test his command staff, you conduct actual war games with some of your ships playing the aggressor. Unfortunately, you just can't seem to get it right. When it comes to the pure sims it isn't quite as bad, but the real-life wargames are commonly exercises in frustration. It's partly your fault, to be fair, as you're simply not used to the way having the humans attached to you clips your wings, and the need to actually communicate orders with Admiral Weston. Commonly, your combined task forces suffers significant casualties, only in part because you and Weston insist on using pessimistic estimates for the enemy.

After that couple of weeks, Weston sits down with his staff and flag captain in his flag cabin, and is kind enough to set up a camera and speakers for you to participate from one end of the table. All the humans are somewhat dismal- morale throughout the ships is low.
"Alright, people." He lightly raps on the table. "Let's get this thing rolling. Who wants to start."

>Speak up, talk about/suggest something (write-in).
>Stay silent for now, wait for somebody else.

>>2078273
>Stay silent for now, wait for somebody else.

>>2078273
>>Speak up, talk about/suggest something (write-in).
We're having issues working together. I seem to move too fast, and am frankly unused to humans. A degree of familiarity might be required.

Alright, looks like things are definitely dying down, and there's a tie, so I'm gonna leave it here for tonight. We'll be back tomorrow at the same time, check my twitter etc.

>>2078273
>>Stay silent for now, wait for somebody else.

>>2078273
>Stay silent for now, wait for somebody else.

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>>2078273
>Stay silent.

You're not really sure what to say, so you stay quiet. After a moment, one of the humans clears her throat. You have to check your notes- Lieutenant Commander Foraker, Weston's staff tactical officer. She has dark brown hair down to her back, and a disturbingly intent expression. You've discussed some tactical problems with her in the past fortnight, but the humans seem to have so many jobs aboard their ships, you can hardly keep track of them all.

"If I may, sir?" She waits until Weston nods before continuing, "I think our main problem is lack of familiarity. Our allies," She nods to your camera setup- you're pretty sure his staff hasn't twigged on yet, but they've adapted surprisingly well, "Aren't used to manoeuvring so slowly, I think, and we're just not used to the kind of close formations they use."

"I agree." That's Weston's chief of staff, but you still don't know his name. He has a hard-edged face, with a scar prominent on his cheek. "Even during our assault on the Legion a month ago, we weren't trying to remain particularly close. Performance hasn't been great, but I think that if we drill more then we can work these things out."

"You're probably right." Weston himself nods now, looking thoughtful. "On the other hand, we need to take the fight to the Legion as soon as possible. What are your thoughts, Dauntless?" He nods to your camera, at the other end of the briefing table.

"Well-" You're suddenly interrupted by an alert from your expert systems. You check- a translation at one of the system's jump points occurred several hours ago, but the light is only now reaching you. The point heading back towards Legion space, in fact. More data is streaming in. A significant translation with a hell of a lot of radiation. Your systems estimate at least fifty cruiser-class Legion vessels, though no battleships as of yet. On the feed, the human picket begins to engage, missiles launching at the miniscule distance as they light off their engines. Too late, a cascade of plasma reaches out from the Legion ships.

"Dauntless?" Admiral Weston is frowning lightly at your camera, and you realise with a start you fell silent.

"It's-" The intercom buzzes, cutting across you, and Weston answers it with a deeper frown.

"Yes?"

"Admiral, we've got a Legion task force, just translated in." You don't recognise the voice. Probably some sailor... you're already going through checklists for your ships.

"-orders, Admiral?" Weston's chief of staff is asking.

"I'm not sure. Dauntless?"

>Form up and intercept the Legion as far away from the planet as you can.
>Leave this to you. Let the humans hold down the fort while you go out to meet them.
>Let the Legion come to you with the massed firepower of the humans and their orbital forts on your side.

>>2080432
>>Form up and intercept the Legion as far away from the planet as you can.

>>2080432
>>Form up and intercept the Legion as far away from the planet as you can.
Live fire exercises!

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>>2080432
>Form up and intercept.

"We can't let them get in-system." You reply. "I'd recommend we get out there and stop them as far away as possible."

"Good plan. Zach," Weston turns to his chief of staff, "Our division is ready to go, so we'll form up with Dauntless here. I want a recall order for the rest of the rest, ready to follow us."

"Aye, sir." He salutes and hurries off. Weston turns to the rest of his staff.

"Let's get to it, people."


The human ships come to battle stations while you watch the incoming feed of the human ships picketing the jump point. Nuclear detonations strobe against the night, dooming several Legion cruisers. On the feed they're sending in, you get to watch each human ship slowly hunted down and ripped apart. It's... almost heartbreaking to know that this has already happened hours ago, and there's nothing you can do. Despite the entire loss of six of the Odysseus-class cruisers, they pay their lives dearly. Ten Legion cruisers are destroyed, seven more are heavily damaged, and three suffer light damage. As the feed ends, you get an accurate count of the enemy: 73 Legion cruisers. That's a substantial raiding force. On long-range sensors, then, they form up and start falling in-system at a steady 500 gravities.

You, on the other hand, are formed up as well. Weston's 14-ship cruiser division forms up with your vessels, and you start burning towards the Legion ships at a more stately 350 gravities. Every ship in your taskforce is linked up with laser comms, and soon that includes the human vessels as well. Your expert systems are constantly communicating with the dumb AIs that run their ships, updating headings by the moment. Without deceleration, it will still be around eight hours before you engage the Legion ships, so you need to work something out there. Indeed, it's not long before Weston is on the horn to you. He's on his bridge, and the sailors you can see on the background look tense, but not panicked.

"Dauntless, it looks like they're heading directly for Arcadia. We're going to try to decelerate, make a pass through them, then come up behind them to sandwich them between us and the planetary defences. What do you think?"

>Pass through the Legion formation for a pass with missiles and lasers, then follow them in with your chase weapons.
>Perhaps you should decelerate to stay ahead of the Legion ships instead.
>The human ships should decelerate first and stay ahead of the enemy. Your higher accel means you can catch up quicker after a pass.

>>2080530
Could you open the pro' and con's a bit?

>>2080530
>>The human ships should decelerate first and stay ahead of the enemy. Your higher accel means you can catch up quicker after a pass.

>>2080530
>The human ships should decelerate first and stay ahead of the enemy. Your higher accel means you can catch up quicker after a pass.

>>2080530
>>The human ships should decelerate first and stay ahead of the enemy. Your higher accel means you can catch up quicker after a pass.

>>2080551
The first option will allow you to make a high-speed pass through the enemy formation and inflict as much damage as possible, then follow them in to crush them between your weapons, and those of the humans in orbit of Arcadia. However, because of the humans with you, it will take longer for you to catch up witht he Legion after your pass.

The second option will allow you to stay ahead of the Legion ships all the way in, and pound them from long range with your bow weaponry.

The third option is a combination of these, wherein the humans with you will stay ahead of the Legion ships and bombard them will missiles while you make a pass, then accelerate after them. However, since you can accelerate much faster than the humans, you will be able to stay on the enemy for longer and hopefully do more damage.

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>>2080530
>Third option.

You think it over, considering various options. "What about if you stay ahead of them instead? I'll make the pass, considering that my ships are expendable.

"Alright." Weston nods after only a moment's thought. "I'll contact you in a few hours." He signs off, leaving you to make your own preparations.

In particular, you need to decide how to deploy your parasite fighters. You could release them now- they'll easily achieve their top speed of .8 light and be able to deliver a relativistic strike that should help even the odds. It'll give you time afterwards to analyse the damage, too. However, they won't be able to join in your chase afterwards.
Alternately, you could release them, but have them strike shortly before you do. They still won't be able join you, but giving the Legion as little time as possible to rearrange themselves after the strike will help you.
Of course, they could perform the pass with you, and their smaller size will help them avoid being targeted by the enemy, while their plasma cannons should prove lethal at the close ranges you're expecting. However, their missile strike, since it relies on kinetic energy, won't be as powerful.
Or you could keep them tucked away for now, to give you something else up your sleeve...

>First option- strike now.
>Second option- strike just before you.
>Third option- make the pass with you.
>Fourth option- keep them safely docked for now.

>>2080725

Could we have our fighters run with the humans? Have them fire off their kinetic missiles with their first salvo then use them to distract the Legion ships so that they can't target the human capitals as easily.

>>2080725
this: >>2080758

>>2080725
>Fourth option- keep them safely docked for now.

>>2080758
Sure, there's no reason you couldn't, though the human ships will be even slower than you so their missiles would be somewhat less effective.

>>2080725
>>Second option- strike just before you.
Having the legion in disarray when we make our pass should allow us to do good work with our superior firepower.

>>2080773

Maybe have them lag a ways behind the human fleet then time it so that they get to max, or as close as they can, speed, fire off their salvo, then bleed off enough speed so they don't overshoot the Legion force. We'd just have to coordinate with the Admiral to clear lines of fire for that opening barrage.

>>2080725
>>Second option- strike just before you.
This will give our missile strike a bit less cover to deal with.

>>2080725
Okay, so what I'm seeing is either:
>Use the fighters for a relativistic strike.
>Use the fighters for a weaker strike with the human vessels, and shield them.

>>2080886
>Use the fighters for a relativistic strike.

>>2080886
>>Use the fighters for a weaker strike with the human vessels, and shield them.

Also how many parasites in total do we have?

>>2080886
>>Use the fighters for a relativistic strike.
>>2080933
Dozen per BC, and 6 total BCs makes 72, if I'm remembering right.

>>2080886
>Use the fighters for a relativistic strike.

>>2080886
>>2080947

If we have that many then:
>Use the fighters for a relativistic strike.

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>>2080933
I had to check but yes, 72. Do keep in mind that they don't have any armour, though.

>>2080886
>Use the fighters to strike.

You swiftly make your decision- if your fighters can damage even some of the enemy ships, you'll have a much better chance, especially if you're making your pass on the very heels of their strike. After uploading their mission to their onboard, rather stupid AI, each of them detach from the hull of the battlecruisers they ride on. In short order, they fall behind as you continue to accelerate.

Hours pass, mostly spent watching the Legion ships. In-system miners and freighters scatter, but thankfully they don't seem to care. They just continue barrelling their way towards Arcadia at .4 light. It appears that they're deliberately keeping their speed down, or perhaps these are older ships that don't have as good particle shielding as other ones you've fought before? It's impossible to know.

When it comes time for the human ships to start decelerating, Weston comms you.
"I'll see you on the other side, Dauntless. Good luck."
"You too."
He signs off, and you focus on the enemy, checking your missiles tubes and your lasers.

>Dauntless: 6 BCs, 24 CRs, 16 DDs
>Admiral Weston: 14 CLs
>Legion: 73 CRs

Roll 1d100, best of three.

Rolled 49 (1d100)

>>2081071

Rolled 96 (1d100)

>>2081071
rollin

Rolled 34 (1d100)

>>2081071

Rolled 68, 57, 92 = 217 (3d100)

>>2081088
>96

Rolling...

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>>2081125
Time passes, another hour or two, spent refining target solutions and bringing EW online. The Legion ships bring their own EW online as well, and it's made worse as your own ships flip end-for-end to decelerate, hiding the enemy in the baffles of your antimatter drives. Battlespace drones give you a great view of your fighter's strike, however.

Sudden flashes light up the enemy formation as the relativistic missiles strike home at .95 c. Too few flashes, however... the enemy ships are jinking, and most of them miss. Before you can take tallies of damage, your fighters interpenetrate, firing their spinal plasma cannons as they pass the Legion ships. Unfortunately, these too mostly miss, since targeting at .8 light is very hard indeed. Then it's your turn. In a single instant, you pass through the enemy formation, time for a single missile launch, a single laser broadside. Time for a single plasma cascade too, far faster than a human could see.

You, of course, are not human. The range is so short that every missile fired from your ships are already inside terminal attack range when launched. Nuke-pumped x-ray lasers strobe in the black, silently focusing energies to slash at the dark, onyx-like hull of the enemy ships. Both sides of your laser broadside discharge almost as one, the tactical programs linking together the task force assigning targets an instant before firing. They're invisible, but your sensors paint them up for you.

In that single pass, you lose 12 destroyers, 6 cruisers, and 1 battlecruiser.

Your ships continue to decelerate, spinal mounts spitting hatred into the rear of the enemy formation. No use in using missiles, they'd take too long to catch up. You can take a rough tally of enemy casualties, but their EW continues to make their signatures somewhat fuzzy. You're pretty sure you've destroyed a good 30 enemy cruisers, maybe 35.

That's when the first salvo from the humans come in. The enemy's forward velocity really works against it here, as they have no time to react to the incoming missiles. Their countermass capability make them surprisingly manoeuvrable in the terminal attack phase, and more nuclear fury is delivered unto the Legion. All you can do is wait, decelerating as hard as you dare. All of your ships (at least, those not destroyed) are in surprisingly good shape, and their engines are in top condition still. Which is good, because antimatter escaping its magbottle and hitting the side of the ignition chamber still doesn't bear thinking about.

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>>2081227
Unfortunately, you're reduced to the role of observer for now. More salvos come in from the humans, whittling down the Legion's numbers, and it looks like the human ships are just managing to keep ahead, constantly jinking in all four directions to avoid long-range plasma strikes. You come to a stop, and begin to accelerate again. Finally! Hm, perhaps you could cause some long-range mayhem while you're back here...

>Attempt to fire from extreme range on the Legion ships, despite the low chance of a hit.
>Save your ammunition for later.

>>2081232
>Save your ammunition for later.

>>2081232
>Save your ammunition for later.

>>2081232
>>Attempt to fire from extreme range on the Legion ships, despite the low chance of a hit.

>>2081232
Jeez, we did a lot of damage to each other. ~1/3 of our force for half of theirs. Are the fighters out for the rest of the fight, or just for the next couple 'turns'?
>Attempt to fire from extreme range on the Legion ships, despite the low chance of a hit.
We should be good on ammo for now, we can afford to spend some.

Rolled 2 (1d2)

>>2081232
Looks like another tie, I'll just flip a coin. Evens for missiles, odds for not.

>>2081373
You both got over 90, anon. And for the rest of the fight, most likely- they're going at a fair clip and need a few hours to slow down.

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>>2081232
>>2081232
>Save ammunition

Your ships continue firing their bow laser mounts at long range, but you're too far out, and the Legion ships are jinking just enough to frustrate targeting attempts. You consider using your missiles- they'll have to go ballistic for a bit, which will make them easier to track, but you might be able to get a few hits in. You pick a single cruiser, and launch your first salvo.

Roll me some 1d100s for accuracy, anons.

Rolled 2 (1d100)

>>2081486

Rolled 43 (1d100)

>>2081486

Rolled 33 (1d100)

>>2081486

Rolled 68 (1d100)

>>2081486

>>2081524
rather inaccurate, but we weren't expecting much.

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>>2081486
Dunno why I wrote the wrong option there. Apologies.

>43

The salvos thrown from the human vessels continue to strobe amongst the Legion force, seriously degrading their decoys if nothing else. Hopefully it comes as a surprise as your first round of missiles fly up the stern of one of the cruisers, several beams of x-ray energy stabbing deep into its hull. It stops manoeuvring, and you finish it off with your battlecruisers' spinal lasers. Unfortunately, that's the only free hit you get. They're wise to the threat from you now, and each salvo only gets through one or two missiles. Admiral Weston's task force is doing a much better job of gradually whittling down the enemy ships- though, a chance graze from the main plasma weapon of one of the Legion ships forces one of them to fall behind. The entire enemy force focuses on it, and a few minutes later it's ripped apart by the green bolts. Your sensors don't detect any life pods.

You continue your headlong-dive in-system, and it's clear to you now that the Legion are probably hoping to launch as many of those damned drones of theirs onto the surface of Arcadia. After all, if even one makes it down and starts to burrow, the world itself is doomed. The problem is that you simply cannot kill the Legion ships fast enough. Their point defence is too good, and when once you get to within missile range, they just won't allow you to do more than slowly whittle away at each target. Hours pass, until you're a light minute away from Arcadia itself. Thankfully, before much longer the planetary defensive stations come into play.

Fixed defences in space are, in a word, rather stupid. If it's fixed, then it can't move. If it can't move, then it can't dodge, which is the first and best way to not be hit in space combat. However, a fixed station doesn't need to worry about, say, engines, and can pack more in the way of, for instance, missile tubes.

Just 500 of those nuke-tipped counter-mass missiles lance out from Arcadia's fortifications in the first salvo. The Legion ships, numbering only around 30 or so now, are treated to a lightshow unlike any other. Unfortunately, you're not sure they're in much of a position to appreciate it. The orgy of destruction lasts for thirty seconds, from the first warhead detonating to the last, and from out of the deadly maelstrom, not one Legion ship emerges still under power. Phew.

Unlike your bomb-pumped lasers, the humans' nukes actually tend to leave a lot of wreckage. There are several wrecks that are still relatively intact, and you recall Flavius requesting you for any more of those weird cores you find.

>No harm in looking, match velocity and send over boarding drones.
>Probably shouldn't risk it. Vaporise what's left with lasers and return to Arcadia.

>>2081723
>No harm in looking, match velocity and send over boarding drones.

>>2081723
>>No harm in looking, match velocity and send over boarding drones.

>>2081723
>>No harm in looking, match velocity and send over boarding drones.

>>2081723
>>No harm in looking, match velocity and send over boarding drones.
Look them over when we retrieve them, but it should otherwise be fine.

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>>2081723
>No harm in looking.

You flash Admiral Weston a burst transmission to let him know, and fire off your engines to match course with the wreckage as it flashes past Arcadia, still at .4 light. On each of your five remaining battlecruisers, you ready your drone forces for a boarding action.

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7 KB JPG

And that is going to be this week's chapter of the quest. Thank you very much for participating, everyone. Make sure you check my twitter to know when I'm running, and so on.

Next week: Boarding actions!

>>2081835
Thanks for running!

>>2081835
Great session as always!

Damn, missed it.
>>2081835
Thanks for the run anyways QM.