Erik overlooked preparations from the battle bridge of the TCC Maelstrom. With over two kilometers of hull at any given point, the battle bridge was one of the most secure places in the entire ship. It was also one of the noisiest. There was the whur of air filtration systems, the clank of boots over the deck, the patter of keyboards as dozens of NPCs and players manned terminals, and finally there was the loud chatter from comms terminals, while operators attempted to direct traffic and organize fleet movements.
Erik watched it all from an observation platform in the back of the room, which doubled as tactical command for the bridge.
Preparations were moving along smoothly. Players had started logging in around ten minutes ago, and while they were initially told it was only for a training event, most were more than thrilled to take part in the raid. He suspected that Black Syndicate’s spies would be spamming their forums with warnings about the raid right about now, but it didn't matter. At best they would be able to scrounge up 20 percent of their normal player strength, and without most of the NPC support, this battle was going to be a massacre.
Finally after months of defeat at the hands of a multi-corporation alliance, they would be able to strike back, and if the raid went well, knock one of their strongest opponents out of the fight. It wouldn't end the war, but it would give them a significant advantage.
Erik turned away from the ledge, recentering his attention on the holo projector which dominated the center of the level.
“Alice” he said. “Send fleet data on our forces to my omni, and display fleet status in real time.”
The holo projector flickered to life, displaying the current status of their forces. The 4th fleet transport group floated inside the Maelstrom’s hanger, while the 5th fleet carrier group had oriented itself around the Maelstrom, prepared to provide fighter screens. Meanwhile the 2nd and 3rd fleets had organized about 100 km in front of the Maelstrom, prepared to rush the wormhole when it opened.
“I have forwarded fleet status to your omni tool.” Alice spoke up.
In Dreadnought, omni tools were what players used to interface with the game menu. They looked similar to a wrist watch, except when activated, they could display all sorts of useful information, from current quests, to out-of-game internet forums. You could even link them to your ship, or automated probes to display things like fuel supply, or environmental data.
Erik opened his own omni tool, and looked over the fleet data.
Fleet
Status Compliment 2nd Fleet Holding Position
Dreadnoughts:6
Battleships: 46
Cruisers: 105
Support Craft: 160
3rd Fleet Rendevousing with 2nd Fleet
Battlecruisers: 73
Cruisers: 270
Destroyers: 400
Frigates: 350
Support Craft: 1157
4th Fleet Transport Group Holding Position
Cruisers: 10
Destroyers: 20
Frigates: 500
Support Craft: 230
5th Fleet Carrier Group Positioning Around the TCC Maelstrom
Supercarriers: 3
Carriers: 12
Pocket Carriers: 120
Destroyers: 100
Support Craft: 350
Several months ago if someone had told him his corporation would be in control of a fleet this size, he would have called them crazy. Back then their corporation was small, and could only support around 500 ships, and a single dreadnought.
Finding the Titan had changed all that. He had tried to keep it a secret at first, but had foolishly stationed the thing in orbit around their headquarters. It had only been there for a single day before its location was leaked. Whether by a corporate spy, or a foolish player remained a mystery.
Within an hour of its discovery, trade posts and cargo ships across the quadrant had begun falling one after the other. Within twelve hours no less than three multi-faction alliances had descended on their headquarters. What happened afterward had been the bloodbath of Baltara.
It was a miracle they had managed to save even a fraction of their forces, let alone wormhole the Maelstrom to null space. What followed afterwards was a complete restructuring and consolidation of Nova forces. Remaining cargo ships had been pulled back and retrofitted for combat. Meanwhile their fleet had reorganized to defend vital shipyards and stations.
They had been fighting a defensive war for months now, all the while NPCs slowly funneled resources to the Maelstrom so they could kick start its fabricators and begin churning out ships. If it wasn't for the flood of new members and accompanying resources, their corporation would have collapsed within a month. This was their one and only chance to turn the tides, and knock their biggest opponent out of the fight.
The doors on the far side of the room opened, and Mikhail entered, flanked by a squad of fully armored NPC guards. He had decided to stay behind, and was currently helping provide logistic support.“How are preparations coming along?” He asked, announcing his presence.
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“Better than expected.” Erik responded. “We should be able to begin the assault in another minute once Garren finishes linking up with Yang’s fleet.”
“Great. I've taken the liberty of establishing a private comms channel with the other admirals.”
A pop-up appeared on Erik’s omni tool.
[ Accept comms request? YES/NO ]
Erik clicked the Yes option.
<4th fleet transport frigates are boarded and ready.>
“Yes sir!” The player manning the station said. “Main weapon is firing, it should only take a minute to open.”
Erik stood there silently bathing in anticipation. This was it, this was their chance to finally turn this war around. But at the same time what if he failed? What if the other corporations launched a counter attack in the middle of their operation.
The hologram shifted as a massive sphere appeared in front of the 2nd and 3rd fleets.“Wormhole open sir!” The deckhand shouted.
“2nd and 3rd fleets, ADVANCE!”
The 3rd fleet charged towards the wormhole, with the 2nd fleet's lumbering siege ships not far behind. When one ship touched the event horizon of the wormhole it would get sucked into the wormhole in the blink of an eye, and disappear.
The hologram shifted, with one half displaying the same image of space around the Maelstrom, while the other half now displayed the exit point of the wormhole.
In the early days of dreadnought, players could FTL wherever they wanted to. Because of this, attempting to defend a planet was nearly impossible, because enemy fleets could simply bypass long range defences, and drop right on top of a hostile fleet or station.
Devs had listened to complaints and added a new game mechanic. Any ship which attempted to FTL into or out of a planet’s gravitational field had a chance of getting lost in the void. A pocket dimension that FTL drives utilized to travel faster than light. The distance from a planet that was considered a ‘safe' jumping distance was dependant on the vessel’s mass, with larger ships needing to exit FTL at the far edge of orbit, and specialized blockade runners being able to exit in the high atmosphere.
The Maelstrom’s wormhole threw this logic out the window. Utilizing wormholes, it could make devastating hit and run assaults, and blitz raids on otherwise impenetrable stationary assets.
Because of this, the Black Syndicate’s forces were caught completely off guard. Hundreds of vessels poured from the wormhole directly on top of the shipyard, and right into the heart of their hastily assembling battle lines. Many of the larger ships were still pulling out of port, and hundreds of smaller vessels simply sat in there docking silos uselessly. The sabotage had worked.
Plasma, laser, missile, and ballistic fire lit up space in a vibrant arrays of color, as over a thousand vessels exchanged fire in a silent symphony of death.
Capital ships duked it out over the station with massive spinal cannons and broadsides, while smaller crafts flew between them, exchanging fire with turrets. The shipyard’s massive kilometer long railguns were unable to lock onto anything smaller than a dreadnought at such close ranges, leaving only the smaller anti ship guns, and point defence system fire pouring from the station. Nova’s siege ships had no such problems however. They would accelerate horizontally to the station, before bringing their own kilometer long spinals to bear while their inertia kept them safe from the station’s railguns.
The battle appeared far more mundane from Erik’s perspective though. From the holographic display, there were no explosions, no bright plasma, and no lasers. Just blue dots depicting nova ships, and red dots depicting Black Syndicate ships. Lines would appear between them, showing firing arcs, and a vessel would turn grey if disabled or destroyed, but that was the most exciting the hologram got.
“Looks like we caught them with their pants down.” Mikhail remarked.
“It would appear so.” Erik smiled. As more Nova ships poured from the wormhole, and shield systems began to fail, the enemy line collapsed one battlecruiser after the next, slowly falling back towards the shipyard.
It was then Erik had an idea.
The sound of distant thunder reverberated throughout the ship, and the deck shook lightly as gigantic engines sputtered to life, slowly pushing the massive vessel forward.
“Sir! Sensors are detecting a massive unknown FTL signature!” one of the deckhands shouted.
“What?” Erik was confused. “What FTL signature? Sensors, clarify.”
“Sir, its. .” the player paused. “It's the TCB Zeus!”
It didn't make any sense. The Titan Class Battleship Zeus. A massive ship almost ⅔ the length of the Maelstrom, equipped with a massive EMP array capable of disabling anything within 500 km. But the TCB Zeus should have been halfway across the known galaxy. It was currently owned by Pandemic Legion, who won the ship after a long bloody war. But they didn't even operate in they immediate quadrant, and even if they did, they had stayed neutral during the entire war. And besides how did they locate the Maelstrom’s position? “Full speed to the wormhole!” Erik shouted. “Get us out of here. NOW!”
“We won't make it!” The player manning sensor’s responded. “The enemy’s main weapon is preparing to fire!”
“Then cut power to reactors, and wormhole generator! We might have enough reserve to fire it and escape!”
“Now I can't let you do that.” Mikhail said from behind Erik. “It would ruin all the fun.” Erik swiveled on his feet, only for an impact from a plasma bolt to knock him over.