OT: Hell is For Heroes.

[JAFisher44]

Yes, definately an engaging story. You know, eventually you are gonna have to answer the question. "What the hell is that?" I want to know!

[JAFisher44]

By the way, you wanted stripes removed. Check the attachment. Is that the right part?

[AgentZero]

dogscoff said:
I'm really enjoying it. It's the characters that make it work so well.

Yay! I thought I was crap at characters. Victory is mine!

JAFisher44 said:
Yes, definately an engaging story. You know, eventually you are gonna have to answer the question. "What the hell is that?" I want to know!

Ah, don't worry, all will be revealed in time. Although I think that question will be getting asked a few more times yet. More to come tomorrow in all likelihood.

Edit: Oh, & for those of you wondering what the Taurens are flying around in, here's a pic of the Tauren battle cruiser of the same class that went bye-bye along with the Narf System.

[dogscoff]

Edit: Oh, & for those of you wondering what the Taurens are flying around in, here's a pic of the Tauren battle cruiser of the same class that went bye-bye along with the Narf System.

Oooooohhh... shiny!

[AgentZero]

JAFisher44 said:
By the way, you wanted stripes removed. Check the attachment. Is that the right part?

Tis indeed. I was just sneaky and used it backwards. Thanks very much for the part, it looks a damn sight better than before. Think I might have to name a star system after you. Course, that's not always the honour it should be. Just ask Narf.

dogscoff said:
Oooooohhh... shiny!

I like shiny.

[JAFisher44]

If you are gonna name a star for me name it Fisher's Star or something like that. The JA part is just my first and middle initials

Also, If you would like, I can show you how to remove stripes and stuff from your DoGA parts. If you have any chat programs we can talk there or if you visit the #SpaceEmpires channel on IRC I am there a lot. It's just easier to explain stuff in "real time".

[AgentZero]

JAFisher44 said:
If you are gonna name a star for me name it Fisher's Star or something like that. The JA part is just my first and middle initials

Also, If you would like, I can show you how to remove stripes and stuff from your DoGA parts. If you have any chat programs we can talk there or if you visit the #SpaceEmpires channel on IRC I am there a lot. It's just easier to explain stuff in "real time".

Cool. I'm on MSN with fairly regular frequency, just look for Agent_Zero(at)hotmail.com. And don't bother sending emails to that address, since I use it purely for MSN so I can stick it on forums & stuff & not care about the vast quantities of spam that get sent my way, but I won't be dropping by #SpaceEmpires until I'm back in Ireland. What timezone are you in, BTW?

[AgentZero]

I was thinking about doing a little bit of political intrigue next, but I've been reading War of Honor, and I'm SICK of intriuge in general, especially the political kind. So what does that leave?

That's right, we're blowin' some s*** up!

The seven-ship destroyer squadron screamed towards their target at speeds best not thought about, their parade-perfect formation suddenly exploding into a fiendishly complex, yet perfectly choreographed evasive maneuver as their entered the enemy�s energy weapons range. Like steel hummingbirds, they flitted around the streams of death being hurled their way, but unlike any bird, these Cumana class hunter-killers were carrying state-of-the-art shaped antimatter warheads designed specifically to take down ships much bigger than them. Closing from outside their target�s missile envelope to within reach of their short-range ordnance, their reformed formation for a split second to simultaneously launch their payloads before wheeling around to set up and new attack run. Only three of them survived the launching maneuver, but these three formed up with another shattered squadron and howled back into the jaws of death.

�Hard port! Missile control, FIRE!�
Admiral Nelson Esperance gripped the his command chair tightly as his ship�s overstressed compensators didn�t quite manage to cope with the strain of his helmsman�s perfectly executed snap turn. The maneuver swung his ship clear of the incoming missile salvo just long enough for the Renown�s point-defense turrets to deal with them, but also aligned her broadside with the ship that had launched them, and Nelson felt his chair shudder as she belched a full broadside towards- whatever that thing was.

It had popped out of hyperspace thirty-two minutes earlier, and the Renown�s sister ship, the Repulse, along with the Heroic, an orbital shipyard and three incomplete had died in that first hellacious salvo. Nelson had lost half his carriers and two cruiser squadrons to those massive spinal mounted beam cannons before he�d gotten his command out of range. Whatever could be said about it�s firepower, the juggernaut was neither fast nor maneuverable and Nelson hadn�t had much trouble keeping his ships outside of it�s energy weapon�s range and away from it�s deadly front end while they peppered it with incessant missile barrages. Yet after over twenty minutes of bombardment they still hadn�t even managed to put a hole in the colossal ship�s shields, and it�s missiles hadn�t stopped killing his ships. Just as the admiral allowed the despairing thought that they might lose this battle through attrition alone, the Renown�s extremely pretty com officer gave him a spark of hope.
�Sir, Tanzia reports enemy shield penetration! Aft grid, section seven,� Lieutenant Rebecca Morse reported excitedly.
�Thank you, lieutenant,� was all Nelson managed to say to her before a direct missile hit and the inevitable overloads blew out her station and hurled her clear across the bridge. He was vaguely aware of shouts for medics, the acrid smoke drifting into his nostrils and the smell of burnt human flesh, but none of that was terribly important as his focus turned to the red hole showing in that bastards shield layers. He reached out and opened a com-link to the only ships that had so far been not involved in the battle.
�Carrier command,� he said grimly. �You have a go for launch.�

The surviving members of Nelson�s carrier group still represented a formidable fighting force, each one capable of launching upwards of three hundred fighters in a single wave, and now thousands poured into space and bore down on their single target like angry dogs unleashed, determined to avenge their fallen comrades. They approached the colossus in neat, orderly formations that would be the dream of any point-defense operator, but seconds before they entered into range, the dream turned into a nightmare as the squadrons split apart into a chaotic, swirling cloud rushing forwards, and a split second later, everything got a whole lot worse as the ECM drones accompanying the fighters activated their full range of decoy systems. And right about the time when any point-defense operator would be thinking it couldn�t get any worse, every single fighter fired as one, their tiny payloads fired at an angle that slid three quarters of them in underneath their target�s shield layer to detonate all across the armored hull of the warship, doing little damage to the armor, but stripping off turrets and guns and melting shut missile tubes. The other quarter were targeted at a single point on the giant�s hull barely a meter square, and no material ever made could withstand the furnace of pure destruction. Armor melted and sizzled away into space as warhead after warhead slammed into it until finally it gave, and the remaining missiles slammed through the unprotected hull, and the resulting explosions blew away a massive chunk of the goliath�s aft armor.

�Well,� Admiral Nelson Esperance as a truly evil smile spread across his face. �Looks like our little friends have gone and made us a nice little blind spot. Signal the rest of the fleet, focus all fire at that hole and close to energy range.�
The unknown ship twisted and turned desperately as Nelson�s fleet closed on it�s gaping wound, but it was too big, and Nelson�s ships too fast and they bore down on it, firing endless streams of missiles which continued to widen the hole the fighters had made. Then the fleet entered energy range, and almost as one began to pour vengeful fire into their wounded adversary. The Renown and the other heavier ships slowed to maintain optimal firing range for their massive forward armaments, while the lighter ships closed the distance to use their more powerful short range weapons. Nelson was just beginning to ask himself exactly how much more punishment this thing could absorb when a massive explosion erupted from the center of the ship and split her right across her breadth. The forward section began to rotate away from the other as momentum carried it away, and then suddenly, the battle cruiser Hogart scored a direct hit on something important and the entire aft section detonated in a massive explosion that smashed the forward section into pieces and �Nelson grimaced- took the Hogart out with her. A ragged cheer went up on the Renown�s bridge as her sensor�s swept across the expanding debris field that had once been their enemy, followed by a slowly spreading silence as the survivors began to realize how much their victory had cost them.
�Well now,� Nelson said conversationally as he settled back into his chair. �Would someone explain to me, exactly what the hell WAS that?�



Edit: Realized I hadn't posted the Raezel yet.

[TurinTurambar]

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

[Puke]

great stuff!