The Liberation of Tamarr

[Raging Deadstar]

Heres the Next Chapter, and i have been cruel and added a cliff hanger. Hope you enjoy!

The Tamarrian cruiser hadn’t seen the pirates coming. Reports had already came through that the Pirate Clan had superior cloaking technology and this certainly was a problem for any Tamarrian ships deep in Phong territory. However it got in the same sector as the Ascension was irrelevant, it now needed dealing with. The Kah’tal Obe looked on at the large screen on the bridge. The pirate battlecruiser was a slender green ship with large skull and cross bones depicted on the sides and front. Near the back it had a large mast that was home to its radio equipment and ECM. It had little lights all the way down the side of the vessel and at the back two small wings. The Pirates themselves had been a nuisance ever since the Tamarrian’s moved out into space, they existed far into the Phong’s territory, striking deep inside their empire, they were experts with intelligence and just caused problems by stealing resources and sometimes whole warships. The Battlecruiser moved closer and closer towards the Ascension Cruiser. On board Obe looked on, issuing the occasional order to his crew as they maintained the shields and activated the weapons. He wasn’t a High-ranking Kah’tal; some had said he didn’t have the decisive edge to make decisions in combat. He sometimes had to agree, he was a very nervous character, he had only got so far in the military by his astounding intellect. He himself believed he should have been a tactician, he had already predicted Taeron and Pirate moves with exceptional accuracy. But he was in charge and now he had found them. The crew of the Ascension 003 cruiser were investigating a recent spread of Pirate attacks on behalf of the Phong, usually just Light Cruisers attempting to capture ships and the occasional pirates hijacking civilian transport or stealing resources. They were also searching for a crippled Pirate Light Cruiser which had attacked a Phong Colony, but with no offensive weapons it had just sat there for a couple of weeks. Obe was worried, he hadn’t expected to be attacked by a Pirate battle cruiser, it was an extremely bold and unusual move by them.
“Ok crew, once that ship is in optimal range we open fire and fall back!” He sounded. The crew acknowledged and began waiting. Obe looked at the Weapons Officer who was straining to get a good lock on the pirate ship
“Kah’tal they have extremely high shields and Counter Measures, I don’t think we have the fire power to do enough damage on the first exchange!” He shouted across the bridge. Obe sighed to himself. Close combat with the Pirates certainly was bad idea. The Pirate Battle Cruiser had no offensive weapons as such, extremely advanced shield technology and shield depleters. They also were rumoured to have a tractor beam on board. The aim was simple, to get the ship at point blank range with no shields and board it. Obe looked around, he hated combat situations and his twin hearts were beating extremely fast. His thoughts were broken by the Weapons officer’s shouts as the shield depleters discharged themselves onto the pirate battlecruiser.
“Torpedoes Away!” The harmonics floated in the air as the two Quantum Torpedoes sped towards their target and exploded. The Pirates shields burst into a phosphorous light with giant sparks dispersing from the point of impact. The aftermath of the Torpedoes sent a huge shockwave through the pirates ship,
“Shields down to 55%” Announced the Weapons Officer, Kah’tal Obe tried to hide his disappointment, he was hoping to get them down to around 40%, now he had to wait so the torpedoes could reload. The Battlecruiser quickly sped towards them, opening fire with it’s own shield depleters, it also fired it’s Tractor beam but luckily it missed the ship. The Tamarrian’s Purple shields blazed into action taking the full force of all 4 depleters at once. Obe was worried and ordered them to retreat. Over the next hour the Pirate clan opened fire a second time bringing their shields down to 10% and still closed the range. Bringing up the schematics of the Pirate Battlecruiser they found they were using highly sophisticated Quantum Engines, and apparently from the dossier of information were “Propulsion Experts” Obe was worried, they couldn’t escape from the ever closing pirates and had little defence to stop a boarding party. He could see the frustration on the Weapon officers face as he tried to find a way through the pirates sophisticated ECM that was disrupting their sensors. Suddenly the sound of his voice was heard again as another salvo of torpedoes were fired. They curved gracefully and Obe’s hearts sank as one of them missed its target and detonated itself. The shield depleters were having trouble to with only half of their attacks on target.
“Listen Up, I want everyone except the pilots to the Armoury in the crew quarters now! We might be outgunned but I’m sure as hell not giving up without a fight!” The entire bridge cheered and most Tamarrian’s departed to carry out their orders. Obe smiled to himself, he felt the bravest he had ever felt in his career, it was time to show his peers what a Kah’tal he really was! He knew the Pirates were planning a boarding of the ship and it worried him, it worried him greatly. He quickly brought up the ships schematics and planned the defence. Obe would order the main hallways to be sealed off and they would defend corridor by corridor until, if necessary, falling back to the bridge and hiding behind the strong titanium layered doors. As he got changed into his combat gear and loaded his anti proton rifle he swallowed to dampen his dry throat. Obe was scared; he hadn’t had any boarding combat since the days in the warrior sect, he then placed his red sash over his shoulder and looked in the mirror proudly He knew he had to quash the fear inside of him, the crew relied upon him. It was time…

[ April 20, 2003, 19:40: Message edited by: Raging Deadstar ]