February 12th, 003 SDE, Mune 337 star system 0920 hours:
The commander sent her next orders and then turned to the tac plot as the second wave of bombers arrived. At current speeds this would be the last bombing run before her main forces entered cannon range of the enemy. Regardless she had extra eyes looking for torpedoes now, she didn’t want to be hit with another surprise. That last one had been quite devastating, and she wasn’t entirely sure when the alien task force had fired them. She could think of a few possibilities, but nothing she could verify. So she put the problem aside, it made no sense to focus on a problem if you could not solve it. Focus on the ones you can and come back to the issue when you have time. With that mindset her full attention was on the battle, not stray torpedoes.
Once again the alien flagship targeted her bombers with heavy missile fire, forcing the ships to scramble and deploy countermeasures. Idly she noted the numerous missile turrets from which they had been fired. These weapon mounts were previously identified, but according to intel they had never been seen in action. Now she knew they fired short range photon missiles, light, fast and very effective against fighters. Something that clearly showed with how much her bombers were struggling not to get hit by the alien missiles.
Regardless, several squadrons managed to keep together long enough to unleash their payloads. Multiple antimatter warheads sailed towards one of the alien destroyers and as before, her barrier flared into existence. A number of warheads detonated against the barrier unleashing a focused energy burst into the hull with little apparent effect. This time she noticed how the energy burst was spreading out hitting a wider area than it should. Not unlike how plasma blasts seemed to behave against that armor. Something she had known about, it was in the intel reports, but it was different to see it for yourself, even if it was through a sensor relay.
As the alien laser barrier flickered out, the ship maneuvered to avoid additional torpedoes from her bombers, but her pilots anticipated that as a new wave fired. Sadly she still managed to evade a number of the projectiles long enough for her barrier to recharge, but a few rounds did find their mark on the large alien destroyer. They smashed into the alien hull plating and detonated, punching holes into the alien armor. Yet the alien ship seemed to still be very much combat capable, and it was hard to tell how much damage they had actually inflicted.
A moment later the first elements of her main forces entered cannon range and she found out real quick that the alien destroyer was very much still combat capable as she unleashed a volley of torpedoes into her squadron of destroyers, while simultaneously targeting her screening vessels with its particle cannons. An alien beam weapon lanced out and slashed across a frigate with deadly effect as her fleet attempted to knock out as many torpedoes as they could.
It was chaos, but a controlled kind as the ships maneuvered into positions to unleash their payloads in a deadly melee with the armored alien warships. As they started firing their own torpedoes they took fire from the alien flag. A deadly hail of alien particle bolts tore into the powerful shields of her new destroyers which held up better than she expected. Long enough for them to fire their payloads of deadly plasma torpedoes at their targets.
She watched as most of them either missed or slammed into the alien barriers with little effect, but a few found their marks scoring damaging hits. Little did she realize that they were only surface hits, the damage was minimal even if the armor was breached. Internal plating and armored bulkheads serving to contain the damage. Regardless, she was impressed at the durability of these alien ships. They had already taken enough hits to destroy a similarly sized Valorian vessel and they were still very much combat capable. It spoke volumes of the alien construction techniques for a moment she wondered how much damage they were able to take. She gave the next set of orders and another wing of destroyers and bombers dived into the battle as they closed the ring, ensuring that the Refuge ships couldn’t escape her grasp.
In the distance the battle intensified as ships tore into each other with deadly impunity. Torpedoes and missiles filled the void as energy blasts flew between vessels. Shields flared and hulls erupted into flames as the battle moved into its most chaotic phase.
Her command center transformed into a chaotic flurry of activity as she directed the ships under her command. A small voice grew in her as the battle continued.
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The ship shook under the barrage of Valorian torpedoes. Countryman shouted his next order as he took a look at the tactical plot. The Valorian fleet was larger and better equipped than the previous ones he had faced. It was also unexpected, this system was well outside their borders, the nearest Valorian colony was over a hundred lightyears away, with the nearest outpost almost 40 lightyears distant. No real trade routes in this sector either, the sector was more stable than Lantarro, but not without its dangers.
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This was a battle he would rather not be fighting, but he was fighting it nonetheless. Since he was, he planned to win. “Return fire! All batteries, bring us about to heading one six eight mark two three, increase speed, arm forward torpedoes. Prepare for full spread, maximum firepower.”
A chorus of replies responded to him as his crew carried out their orders with the discipline he expected of them. He could feel the ship coming about and he watched the screens as they moved to the position he wanted. The moment they were in the right position he gave the order. The launchers hummed as they spat out deadly bolts of light, at least it looked that way, as the glowing projectiles sailed towards their targets. The Valorian ships responded attempting to knock out the torpedoes before they could hit but were only able to destroy a small number of them. The rest slammed into alien warships with deadly effect, destroying many in massive fireballs that lit up the skies brilliantly. Other vessels were left heavily damaged, venting their atmosphere and burning.
With those ships either destroyed or out of the fight he now had a little more breathing room, so he took another look at the tactical plot, noting the new positions of the more threatening vessels. Mentally he also reviewed their power levels and reserves. This battle was rapidly eating through their recently replenished supply of torpedoes and had also forced him to use a number of missiles as well. Perhaps it was time to use the card he was keeping in reserve. Previously they weren’t needed, but it seemed they were needed now. With that in mind, he gave his next orders.
“Charge the Electro cannons, dedicate main power to the beam weapons, fusion reactors five to eight to the sublight engines, reactor four to hull plating, reactors two and three to the main weapons, leave reactor one free for remaining power needs.”
Responses quickly followed from engineering and tactical as even he sensed the feelings in the room. He was taking a lot of power away from the hull plating and other systems. He had already done the calculations and knew the Enterprise would be fine, but they couldn’t help the uncertainty. Regardless, the crew carried out his orders with the military discipline that was trained into them, that he expected from them.
As soon as the cannons were online and charged, he made his next move. They had much reduced range compared to the cutting beams. Meaning he would have to get closer, “Break formation, attack pattern Sierra, Sierra one one seven, ahead flank. All batteries fire at will, maximum firepower.”
A moment later the engines surged to maximum power. The ship seemed to leap forward, even as the Coto and Umikaze broke to both port and starboard. Both escorts fired their weapons in the Valorian formations according to the attack pattern he had ordered.
In the same moment the fighters dispersed to provide cover as they saturated the alien vessels with heavy particle fire. Several beams from the Enterprise tore into nearby destroyers with deadly effect, the phase-shifted beams ripped through shielding with brutal effectiveness. The extra power from the main reactor allowed them to rapidly recharge and hit like a brick. It did mean more stress and heat on the emitters, however, something they would have to keep an eye on.
It wasn’t long however before they reached his first main target, a heavy cruiser he had identified as a flag vessel, not the overall command ship, but she was serving to coordinate the actions of a number of vessels in the opposing fleet. He gave the order.
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The commander frowned as she watched the alien ships suddenly break formation. Unleashing heavy fire into anything in their path, but for the life of her she wasn’t sure why. Other than creating a fair amount of confusion they didn’t seem to be doing that much damage. That was until the alien flag got within fifty thousand kilometers of one of her heavy cruisers. Suddenly there was an energy surge from a gunport they had never seen used. What could only be described as a bolt of lightning leapt from the alien hull and slammed into the shields of the cruiser. The first bolt hit hard and then a second one struck. The skies lit up with an energy burst as the cruiser’s shields went down. Before she could so much as utter a word, she watched the alien beam weapon slice into the unprotected hull like a warm blade through soft butter. Hull plates ruptured, bulkheads collapsed and entire sections erupted as air violently rushed into the void. Plasma fires erupted as conduits and fuel canisters burst, burning holes in the hull. Before even a single escape pod could be launched, the cruiser was nothing more than a smoldering wreck, no life signs. She was lost with all hands and several more ships soon followed her.
Someone voiced her thoughts, “What the fuck!”
She didn’t know, she had never seen a weapon break through shields so fast. Certainly not with an energy burst like that. Ion weapons worked since they could rapidly saturate a shield resulting in its failure. Modern shields were hardened against them, reducing their effectiveness, but it was still worth using ion cannons. Intel had suspected the Refuge ships had another weapon, but this wasn’t what they were expecting.
Pushing that aside, she shouted her next orders. The weapon was powerful, but its range seemed short. They just needed to keep their distance and take their chances against the torpedoes. They weren’t as deadly, previously she had been trying to close in order to limit the arc on those weapons. Now that seemed even more dangerous given the new weapon to contend with. As her orders were being carried out, she turned to her science officers, “What are they firing at us? What kind of weapon is that lightning gun?”
They merely gave her blank stares.