Location - Command Center
Date - 13th of April, Friday, 29 SE
Time - 10:48
“Lieutenant! We have an EAU Cruiser and seven Mobile Suits on approach vector! Database matches them to EAUN “Ark Royal”, 5 Valkyries and 2 Rubicons! Alloro and Quercia!
“Aiyaaah, how bold. They move faster then anticipated. I guess their commanding officer hasn’t got that much faith that their team on this end can handle themselves.”
“They just waltz into here with no attempt to hide themselves. Not that they would really need to be subtle with those monsters at their beck and call.”
The crimson haired officer was looking at the tactical map displayed on the screen with a playful grin. This battle was undoubtedly to the disadvantage of the Alliance, based on the resources she had available at the moment. Sure they had an advantage in gross fire-power and numbers, but those Rubicons were worth at least a dozen GUARDIANs at least. More most likely. And if they were serious… Well, at least they had some things going for them. The enemy tactician seemed to leverage their advantage by trying to stick together and focus their fire-power on a single point. Most likely against the weapon platforms they were directly heading towards.
If that was the case….
“Raise the Alert Level to Red. Staff is to guide all students to the life pods. Research labs are to be fully cleaned up. Emergency protocols! I want every GUARDIAN launched on the double! Teams of 5, restrainment strategy and stay away from the platforms. Make sure everyone has the latest sensory maps. Tell them to use the asteroid field as cover and to delay them as much as possible. Funnel energy into the SIGMA-2 and get the umbrellas into position for the stream alignment. Wait for my command, we need a proper opening.”
Really. Bringing a bunch of Rubicons into the distant hell-hole that was the Asteroid Field (especially this part of it), was a truly a brazen move. Her hat was off to whoever came up with the idea amongst the EAUN brass. It was undeniably overkill though… almost to the point where she was starting to get slightly suspicious. Could it be that the Union had far better intel about their actions then they thought? Information about Nova Calendus was bound to leak anyway, but the expectation was that the force would be a small investigation craft at best. Well, they were quite lucky on the timing at least.
In fact, this might prove to be a useful opportunity in the long run.
“Get the New York ready for launch. Would someone get me the locations of our “candidates”?”
The male sub-officer manning the communications and surveillance gave a sharp nod towards Ling, before typing in the needed lines of code.
“Three are headed this way. Two are with Lt. Commander Cinque in the Sim Room.”
“Good. Tell Cinque to grab his brats and take them to the Level 3 Hangars. He will know what to do. I’ll deal with the three coming this way myself, once they get here.”
A grin of almost childlike exuberance appeared on Chen Mei Ling’s face.
“Time to let our angels fly, I guess.”
Location - Ark Royal
Date - 13th of April, Friday, 29 SE
Time - 10:48
“Fire our Laevateinn at the weapons platform to the right of Nova Calendus. We’ll give them a taste of what they are to expect if they oppose us.”
The main cannon of the Ark Royal was called the Laevateinn. A gigantic cannon connected directly into the reactor of the of the battle-cruiser, Laevateinn was constructed as a test prototype by the renown Prof. Hjelmdall and his team from the Oslo Technological University. Capable of putting out a beam of destruction far surpassing the standard output typically achieved by ships of a similar class, Laevateinn was truly a weapon befitting of its mythological moniker. Unfortunately, the high level of expertise required for its maintenance and construction, meant that while successful in its goals, the prototype was not really something that could be mass produced to any reasonable degree.
That frightening weapon was now aimed at one of the defence platforms circling Nova Calendus.
“Output at 98%. Target is in range and all parameters are in order.”
“Firing Laevateinn!”
A brief moment of coalescence, followed by a flash of brightest crimson.
However…
“Incoming en…!”
A thin streak of white light pierced through the Ark Royal’s hull as if the armor plating was not even there, causing the ship to shake violently.
Nicolette’s shocked voice echoed through the bridge.
“Im..Impossible! That didn’t even register properly on the sensors. Captain! Our left side was hit by an unknown attack, we have fires on sub-decks 4 and 5. Fenrir’s 2 and 3 have been damaged, along with Jormundgandr 3. Engine output is currently at 67% efficiency!”
This was followed by a brief shout from the distressed radar officer.
“Three teams of five Mobile Suits inbound, Captain! GUARDIANs!”
The pink haired woman turned her head towards Jin.
“Your orders, Captain?!”
Location - Command Center
Date - 13th of April, Friday, 29 SE
Time - 10:50
“Lieutenant! Heightened energy readings from the enemy battleship, it is going to fire its main gun!”
Protecting the right weapons platform was a lost goal.
A Rubicon on its own could destroy one of their weapons platforms. They were meant against pirate excursions, not really a full blown invasion and were built as such, mainly loaded with a variety of traditional, albeit effective, hardware. And considering the circumstances, they would lose one of the platforms before it could even pressure the opponent to some degree. However, the platforms did have one peculiarity in them. Something of an old test prototype from their other project. And it was something she would brutally abuse to at least buy themselves enough time.
“Activate the Lancer! Bring the umbrellas into alignment. Arc left at point 78!”
The right platform exploded in a blaze of red.
“There! Fire the Lancer!”
The Lancer Magnetic Projectile Acceleration System (LMPAS) was an experimental system placed on both of the orbiting weapons platforms around Nova Calendus. By creating a magnetic “tunnel” using a series of satellite umbrellas arranged in a loop formation, it would be possible to create almost a circle of perpetual acceleration. Hypothetically, the loop could be used to achieve light-speed through almost infinite acceleration of a projectile. However, it was quickly found out that there wasn’t enough power in the world to fuel the system long enough to have any sort of mass mass reach light-speed. It was, however, capable of accelerating projectiles to ludicrous levels. Specifically, extremely high durability bullets made out of a mixture of high durability carbon compounds and various alloys, that cost an almost ridiculous amount to produce. So much so, that the entire thing was scrapped as useless after millions had been sunk to create the prototype.
They had only ever managed to produce 4 bullets.
Well… they had 2 now, after losing the one on the right platform and shooting off one of the others.
By using the explosion of the platform as a makeshift cover, Ling hoped to take the Ark Royal out in one shot. Well, that obviously didn’t happen, considering that the ship still existed on her screen. No doubt one of the umbrellas was slightly out of alignment, which introduced a targeting misalignment. Another of the many, many issues with the Lancer. However, their target had been hit and, while the Lancer required a certain amount of time to re-accelerate another projectile to the point where it could be launched at the assailant, they still had 2 shots. At the very least, they had bought some time.
“Have the GUARDIANs attack the enemy vessel. Groups A and B are to engage the surrounding Rubicons. Group C is to sink the enemy vessel! D is to guard the hangars and Team is E to protect the L2!”
“Why do I still have 5 GUARDIANs sitting in the Hangar!? And will someone feed #2 into the loop and reset the cycle!”
Excitement burned in the red-haired CO’s eyes.
Battle Phase - Episode 1 - Start
Tactics
Battlefield Factors
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by Mike1984
