Post by Yurrath (aka Rezzy) on Oct 14, 2007 19:47:38 GMT
The Eldar Shadow Class Cruiser Lann Baruth stalked through the void like a poised serpent. The Pirate Captain ‘Vas Szem’ stood motionless at the bridge, a combination of dark foreboding and unequalled anticipation swirling in his veins. Hs crew had been training hard for this expedition into unknown space – each of the gun crew had been put through a rigorous regime of training, meditation and hand-eye coordination techniques to make their vessel unrivalled in this system gun-for-gun.
Accompanying the Lann Baruth were three Hellebore Class Frigates, like shiny black and purple slivers weaving alongside their larger cousin. Their duty was to protect the Lann Baruth on its first incursion into unknown territory, should they fail they would bring grave disgrace onto themselves.
The Lann Baruth had three objectives. Firstly, to map this new region of space so as to gain better knowledge of the Carelia sector. Secondly, to ensure that training had been effective and that the crew was performing at top efficiency by striking a damaging blow to every capital class enemy ship encountered. The third was simply to return with the trained crew, ready to join the main fleet.
Vas Szem’s eyes were alight with malice, confident in his plan of attack. They would swoop down onto two of the Mon Keigh’s most prized ships and cripple them both as they sat guarding a pathetic excuse for a habitable planet clumsily named ‘Griven’. Without escorts they were vunerable, and they seemed oblivious to the approaching Eldar’s presence. Yes, thought Vas, this would be a decisive victory that would finally prove him worth of becoming a successor to sub-commander Lothduin. He would also prove to his crew that he was competent, despite their snivelling and lament when he chose not to spend hours scanning the surrounding regions for Imperial reinforcements. He must ask quickly! Not sit around so that the weaker hearted can rest easy.
Vas leant forward onto the console in front of him and smiled as the first Imperial vessel came into view. He telepathically linked with the ships wraithbone network and gave his crew and those of the Hellebores the order to open fire. He decided not to tire his better gunners at this juncture, better to save them for the grand finale when they turned on the Imperial Battleship on the opposite side of the planet. He shielded his eyes as the turrets that lay out before him retreated into their tear-shaped housings, round after round punching into the shields of the so called ‘Zealous’, as the intercepted messages from the Imperial ships revealed. After a few seconds there was a bright flash of light as the overloaded shields of the Zealous finally crumpled under the withering salvo. One last volley from the Lann Baruth punched into the rear of the ships, ripping away a sizeable portion of the ships plating.
Now it was the Hellebores time to do their work. Their initial barrage was surprisingly effective considering their small defensive weapon batteries, and with no shields the Zealous emitted screams of tortured metal and vented plasma as sections of its engines were ripped from the hull. Corsucrating Pulsar Lances leapt from the prows of the Hellebore escorts like the kiss of a sun, arcing through the blasted holes left by the weapon batteries, cauterising the metal beasts wounds and searing it’s crew.
The crippled Imperial ship slowed as it diverted power from its remaining engines to life support. Vas felt no compassion or remorse for the terrible fate of the Zealous’ crew.
“Fire Torpedoes.” The words slipped off his tongue like silk.
The dark depth of space became scored with a swarm of bright lights as the torpedoes slid from their tubes and thrusted towards the doomed Zealous. It’s few remaining turrets spat out shells at the incoming ordnance in a futile attempt to stave them off, but to no avail. The very system shook as five massive explosions disembowelled the Zealous, burning its plated hull and dying crew into a shell of molten slag and hollow chambers. As it’s blackened and flaming lifeless husk drifted sideways across the face of Griven the last of the ordnance homed in, unaware that it’s target was no longer a threat. A cataclysmic series of nuclear flares annihilated the ships shell, reducing it to its constituent atoms. The surrounding space leapt aflame with eldritch fire, and Vas knew that he was one step closer to fulfilling his task.
His reverie was short lived, as a crewman shouted something at him, a look of shock and anger on his face.
“It’s another ship my Captain, and a full complement of bomber craft. The ship must have been waiting just outside the system!” The crewman’s eyes judged Vas harshly.
Vas face flushed with anger and embarrassment.
“Evasive manoeuvres, these vile Mon Keigh dare to interfere and they will not be allowed to succeed!”
The new arrival, the ‘Blade of Justice’ was almost on top of the Eldar craft, disgorging its deadly cargo right onto their targets. The gargantuan vessel opened fire on the Hellebores, but their Holofields saved them from certain destruction. The first wave of bombers descended on the isolated Hellebores, unloading their payloads of plasma bombs, but still the Holofields provided them with ample protection, the bombs drifting away into deep space.
Vas cursed as a salvo of Imperial torpedoes streamed towards the rear of the Lann Baruth.
“d**n them!” he spat as he once again ordered his ship take evasive manoeuvres.
The vessel banked sharply, sun glinting from its dark purple sails and orange hull. Vas clenched his fist as he saw torpedo after torpedo slip under the left wing of the ship and fly ahead into the void. Each torpedo was slightly closer, and the fifth looked as if it might have impacted if it were a few hundred feet closer. Then the sixth arrived.
The ship rocked as the Imperial ordnance rent splinters of wraithbone away from the hull spitting fire across the underbelly of the Eldar ship, scorch marks evident on the outer plating.
Vas wanted vengeance, and ordered the Hellebores to approach the Imperial vessel.
“Open fire!” he screamed, bringing his hand down in an arc dramatically as his long black hair swept through the air.
“Reload ordnance!”
Once again the Hellebores prows were illuminated by the powerful energy emitted from them, their weapons batteries downing one of the Imperial’s shields. The lances arched out bridging the gap between the Hellebore squadron and the Blade of Justice, shorting out their last shield and impacting on the hull plating which exploded in a suitably fiery display. Still, the armour seemed to be ablative and no apparent internal damage was rendered.
Not to be beaten, the Hellebore squadron unleashed a barrage of torpedoes at the vessel, but its massed turrets made short work of them, only a single torpedo making it through the storm of fire and failing to inflict any serious damage.
Vas was furious, but even he knew when a straightforward attack became a suicide run.
“Disengage!” he snarled to the squadron of Hellebores through gritted teeth.
The Hellebores knifed through the void above the reeling Blade of Justice, leaving the Lann Baruth alone to face the two Imperial capital ships.
Victory would still be his, if he could cripple the Imperial Battleship coming into view from behind the eclipse of Griven.
“Draw a bead on the space ahead of them, calculate trajectories” Vas once again gained the maddened gleam at the possibility of infamy.
Suddenly the Imperial Battleship seemed to halt, relative to the speed at which the Lann Baruth was turning to compensate for it’s earlier speed. Vas looked on in dismay as the Viscious Reprisal prepared to live up to its name. He barely noticed the spattering of yellow burning shells flung from the Blade of Justice that missed his vessel by a couple of kilometres of the port side.
He did pay very close attention, however, to the rapidly approaching shells off the prow that were being hurled from the Viscious Reprisal. He tried to shout to the crew, his mind was screaming, “Brace for Impact!” but his panic prevented him from forming the required neural link.
And this was his doom.
Three powerful thuds echoed through the ship as shells penetrated the fragile shell, followed by the sounds of a billion shattering mirrors as the Wraithbone construct began to falter. For a few seconds the survivors waited with baited breath, as an eerie silence descended over the ship. In an instant, the sound of rushing air and twisting wraithbone accompanied a deathly cold and crushing blackness as the hull crumpled, flinging the aliens to the harsh depths of space.
Vas eyes widened and froze as he drifted out through a gaping hold in his part of the ship, only to be smashed into a million shards by a cracked dome of glass the size of a small skyscraper.
The Lan Baruth was gone. The Hellebores had survived, but were disgraced. Their only solace was the knowledge that they had made the Mon Keigh pay dearly for their stubbornness.
And the knowledge that the Eldar would wreak their terrible revenge on humanity.
Accompanying the Lann Baruth were three Hellebore Class Frigates, like shiny black and purple slivers weaving alongside their larger cousin. Their duty was to protect the Lann Baruth on its first incursion into unknown territory, should they fail they would bring grave disgrace onto themselves.
The Lann Baruth had three objectives. Firstly, to map this new region of space so as to gain better knowledge of the Carelia sector. Secondly, to ensure that training had been effective and that the crew was performing at top efficiency by striking a damaging blow to every capital class enemy ship encountered. The third was simply to return with the trained crew, ready to join the main fleet.
Vas Szem’s eyes were alight with malice, confident in his plan of attack. They would swoop down onto two of the Mon Keigh’s most prized ships and cripple them both as they sat guarding a pathetic excuse for a habitable planet clumsily named ‘Griven’. Without escorts they were vunerable, and they seemed oblivious to the approaching Eldar’s presence. Yes, thought Vas, this would be a decisive victory that would finally prove him worth of becoming a successor to sub-commander Lothduin. He would also prove to his crew that he was competent, despite their snivelling and lament when he chose not to spend hours scanning the surrounding regions for Imperial reinforcements. He must ask quickly! Not sit around so that the weaker hearted can rest easy.
Vas leant forward onto the console in front of him and smiled as the first Imperial vessel came into view. He telepathically linked with the ships wraithbone network and gave his crew and those of the Hellebores the order to open fire. He decided not to tire his better gunners at this juncture, better to save them for the grand finale when they turned on the Imperial Battleship on the opposite side of the planet. He shielded his eyes as the turrets that lay out before him retreated into their tear-shaped housings, round after round punching into the shields of the so called ‘Zealous’, as the intercepted messages from the Imperial ships revealed. After a few seconds there was a bright flash of light as the overloaded shields of the Zealous finally crumpled under the withering salvo. One last volley from the Lann Baruth punched into the rear of the ships, ripping away a sizeable portion of the ships plating.
Now it was the Hellebores time to do their work. Their initial barrage was surprisingly effective considering their small defensive weapon batteries, and with no shields the Zealous emitted screams of tortured metal and vented plasma as sections of its engines were ripped from the hull. Corsucrating Pulsar Lances leapt from the prows of the Hellebore escorts like the kiss of a sun, arcing through the blasted holes left by the weapon batteries, cauterising the metal beasts wounds and searing it’s crew.
The crippled Imperial ship slowed as it diverted power from its remaining engines to life support. Vas felt no compassion or remorse for the terrible fate of the Zealous’ crew.
“Fire Torpedoes.” The words slipped off his tongue like silk.
The dark depth of space became scored with a swarm of bright lights as the torpedoes slid from their tubes and thrusted towards the doomed Zealous. It’s few remaining turrets spat out shells at the incoming ordnance in a futile attempt to stave them off, but to no avail. The very system shook as five massive explosions disembowelled the Zealous, burning its plated hull and dying crew into a shell of molten slag and hollow chambers. As it’s blackened and flaming lifeless husk drifted sideways across the face of Griven the last of the ordnance homed in, unaware that it’s target was no longer a threat. A cataclysmic series of nuclear flares annihilated the ships shell, reducing it to its constituent atoms. The surrounding space leapt aflame with eldritch fire, and Vas knew that he was one step closer to fulfilling his task.
His reverie was short lived, as a crewman shouted something at him, a look of shock and anger on his face.
“It’s another ship my Captain, and a full complement of bomber craft. The ship must have been waiting just outside the system!” The crewman’s eyes judged Vas harshly.
Vas face flushed with anger and embarrassment.
“Evasive manoeuvres, these vile Mon Keigh dare to interfere and they will not be allowed to succeed!”
The new arrival, the ‘Blade of Justice’ was almost on top of the Eldar craft, disgorging its deadly cargo right onto their targets. The gargantuan vessel opened fire on the Hellebores, but their Holofields saved them from certain destruction. The first wave of bombers descended on the isolated Hellebores, unloading their payloads of plasma bombs, but still the Holofields provided them with ample protection, the bombs drifting away into deep space.
Vas cursed as a salvo of Imperial torpedoes streamed towards the rear of the Lann Baruth.
“d**n them!” he spat as he once again ordered his ship take evasive manoeuvres.
The vessel banked sharply, sun glinting from its dark purple sails and orange hull. Vas clenched his fist as he saw torpedo after torpedo slip under the left wing of the ship and fly ahead into the void. Each torpedo was slightly closer, and the fifth looked as if it might have impacted if it were a few hundred feet closer. Then the sixth arrived.
The ship rocked as the Imperial ordnance rent splinters of wraithbone away from the hull spitting fire across the underbelly of the Eldar ship, scorch marks evident on the outer plating.
Vas wanted vengeance, and ordered the Hellebores to approach the Imperial vessel.
“Open fire!” he screamed, bringing his hand down in an arc dramatically as his long black hair swept through the air.
“Reload ordnance!”
Once again the Hellebores prows were illuminated by the powerful energy emitted from them, their weapons batteries downing one of the Imperial’s shields. The lances arched out bridging the gap between the Hellebore squadron and the Blade of Justice, shorting out their last shield and impacting on the hull plating which exploded in a suitably fiery display. Still, the armour seemed to be ablative and no apparent internal damage was rendered.
Not to be beaten, the Hellebore squadron unleashed a barrage of torpedoes at the vessel, but its massed turrets made short work of them, only a single torpedo making it through the storm of fire and failing to inflict any serious damage.
Vas was furious, but even he knew when a straightforward attack became a suicide run.
“Disengage!” he snarled to the squadron of Hellebores through gritted teeth.
The Hellebores knifed through the void above the reeling Blade of Justice, leaving the Lann Baruth alone to face the two Imperial capital ships.
Victory would still be his, if he could cripple the Imperial Battleship coming into view from behind the eclipse of Griven.
“Draw a bead on the space ahead of them, calculate trajectories” Vas once again gained the maddened gleam at the possibility of infamy.
Suddenly the Imperial Battleship seemed to halt, relative to the speed at which the Lann Baruth was turning to compensate for it’s earlier speed. Vas looked on in dismay as the Viscious Reprisal prepared to live up to its name. He barely noticed the spattering of yellow burning shells flung from the Blade of Justice that missed his vessel by a couple of kilometres of the port side.
He did pay very close attention, however, to the rapidly approaching shells off the prow that were being hurled from the Viscious Reprisal. He tried to shout to the crew, his mind was screaming, “Brace for Impact!” but his panic prevented him from forming the required neural link.
And this was his doom.
Three powerful thuds echoed through the ship as shells penetrated the fragile shell, followed by the sounds of a billion shattering mirrors as the Wraithbone construct began to falter. For a few seconds the survivors waited with baited breath, as an eerie silence descended over the ship. In an instant, the sound of rushing air and twisting wraithbone accompanied a deathly cold and crushing blackness as the hull crumpled, flinging the aliens to the harsh depths of space.
Vas eyes widened and froze as he drifted out through a gaping hold in his part of the ship, only to be smashed into a million shards by a cracked dome of glass the size of a small skyscraper.
The Lan Baruth was gone. The Hellebores had survived, but were disgraced. Their only solace was the knowledge that they had made the Mon Keigh pay dearly for their stubbornness.
And the knowledge that the Eldar would wreak their terrible revenge on humanity.
