Let's Play: Star Wars Empire at War

[Starglider]

Deep Space, Taldot Sector, 6 ABY

The system was worthless, its K class star possessing a pair of unremarkable gas giants and a modest collection of airless rocks. In the millenia since it was first charted there had been the occasional mining operation and pirate base, but none had remained for long. Herkese was too close to the core for pirates to avoid Republic patrols, but too far for bulk metal extraction of to be worthwhile. The lumbering grey shape that seemed to spring into existence at the edge of the system was the largest interstellar visitor the system had seen in centuries.

At first glance the INS Fervent was an intimidating sight, at least for any pirates that might be lurking in this desolate volume of space. A Victory-II class destroyer of the Imperial Navy, her dagger-shaped bulk stretched for nearly a kilometre and was studded with scores of heavy gun turrets. Closer inspection revealed deep scars in the armoured hull and damage that put at least a third of her weapons out of action. As it began to accelerate, the ship left a faint sparkling trail.

“Port engine still leaking sir, we've locked down what we can, but we'll be down 25 percent thrust until we can make drydock. Honestly sir, that engine has never worked right, the concussion missiles just knocked out our patch jobs that made it seem usable.”

'If we ever do' thought Captain Glider morosely. The damned rebels had captured or destroyed a good third of the fleet's yards. They'd lost more to the foolish governors who'd had the gall to declare independence in the wake of the disaster at Endor. The few that remained were jammed full of shot-up cruisers and destroyers, and the Fervent wasn't at the top of anyone's priority list.

“Very well commander. Concentrate on shields and sensors. We'll need them if we run into a rebel flotilla. Dismissed.” The Captain paced back to the bridge pit, stopping over the long-range sensor station. “Do you have a fix on the source of the interference yet?”

The Fervent was here because of massive subspace interference, the initial pulse having badly damage the trunk hypernode on Balamak. The fleet base there was one of the few strongholds yet to be attacked by the rebels, and its hyper relays were a key link in the Empire's command and control network. It was probably some kind of freak astronomical event, but the brass were having nightmares about a rebel super-weapon that could breach the Coruscant defences, so here they were.

“Yes sir, it's coming from a planet... point eight AU out, diameter about fifteen hundred km... Captain, it isn't in the database. That planet isn't supposed to be here.”

“You're certain?” Captain Glider stared at the nearest console, which was now repeating the same data. The survey teams couldn't have missed this, either the database was corrupted, or... could the planet have been cloaked somehow? Some kind of illusion? Imperial science could drag entire moons through hyperspace, but moving a planet this should be impossible. The longer he stared at the cloudy orange disc on the screen, the more unsettled he became. Even ignoring its inexplicable presence, there was something wrong about it, though he could not say what. Unfortunately General Brashin would not be satisfied with a long-distance scan.

“No signs of spacecraft or defence platforms? Planetary shields or surface weapons?”

“Negative, nothing apparent sir, but the inteference could be masking them.”

“Very well. Helm, plot a micro-jump to place us in high orbit, a quarter light second out. Flight Ops, prepare to launch scout TIEs. Gunnery, stand ready to engage.”

“Laid in sir, hyperdrive ready.”

“All operable batteries ready, sir.”

“Execute.”

A rumbling groan built up in the bowels of the ship as the FTL systems roused themselves again. Space twisted around the hull as the Fervent flashed briefly into tachyons, reappearing almost instantaneously above the unknown planet. Within seconds, every officer on the bridge was clutching at their head in agony. Captain Glider's eyes swam as he stared at the globe now filling the bridge windows. Some mental power was crushing the life out of his crew and there was precious little he could do to stop it.

“Targets? Where's it coming from?”

The young lieutenant at the sensor station was yowling incoherently. The Captain reached down and smacked him sharply on the head. “Lieutenant Tessun! Snap out of it!”

“Yes... sir... sir, nothing distinct, strange readings though... aaaah, the planet, there's something...”

A fresh wave of crushing pain coursed over the ship, and Captain Glider had to grab a support to remain standing. A sickly pink light was streaming in through the windows, the entire planet's clouds afire with something like sheet lightning.

“Helm! Jump us out of here, now!”

The helm officer struggled valiantly to set the navicomputer, blinking to clear the tears from her eyes as the waves of agony continued to build. Then she pounded the console in frustration.

“No good sir. The whole system is messed up.”

Captain Glider began to order a sub-light retreat but before he could utter another word the bridge was engulfed in blinding light. The titanic energies that had been building on the cursed world below finally broke free of their constraints, screaming outwards across space at superluminal speeds. The Fervent's shields could do nothing against this bizarre aberration of physics, and within microseconds the ship and all aboard her were reduced to a cloud of expanding plasma.

SDN City (formerly Imperial City), Sector Zero, 12 ABY

Emperor Wong stared out of the giant windows, looking down on the scarred cityscape that stretched to the horizon. Even here, at the heart of the new Empire the signs of the calamity were still present in abundance. Much of the rest of the planet was still a dangerous no-man's land of empty buildings and warring gangs. Despite their best efforts, a multitude of foul cults lingered in the countless dark crevices below the metropolis. Whole regions had been destroyed by warlords who had managed to get a warship or two operational. It had been a long, desperate struggle to establish some semblance of order, and Wong would die before he let that slip away.

No one knew the source of the catastrophe, but years of intelligence gathering had produced a pretty good picture of its effects. Almost 80% of the galaxy's sentient beings had been killed on that first day, nearly simultaneously across the whole of known space. Of those that remained, a majority had been driven insane, and those lucky enough to escape madness were left struggling with near-total amnesia. Technology had been affected too, many electronic systems had been completely fried and most of the remaining computer banks damaged or scrambled. Estimates of the death toll varied, but on the planets they had intel from over 99% of the population had died in the attack itself or the following riots, famines and civil wars. Many worlds had lost all semblance of technological civilisation, and most of the rest were dominated by warlords possessing the few remaining starships, tanks and combat droids.

The Emperor turned away from the window, facing his deputies and advisors arrayed around the giant circular table. Conversations stopped as the council waited for his address.

“This last year has seen plenty of disagreement in our ranks, between those of you who believe we should expand our influence across space, and those of you who would concentrate on rebuilding what we already control. With this latest intelligence, it is clear that we no longer have the luxury of choice. These cults are organised on an unprecedented scale. Their influence is already interstellar and every month more worlds fall under their influence. If we do not fight these fanatics, they will roll over us and condemn the whole galaxy to a dark age that could last millennia. Worse, they could even be the allies of whatever force inflicted the Decimation on us in the first place.”

Wong paused. The faces of the council showed a wide range of expressions, shock, elation, grim resignation. None attempted to challenge his words.

“Effective immediately, the Rationalist Empire is on a war footing. All our production capacity must be focused on expanding our space and ground forces. Recruiting must be stepped up ten fold. Our fleets will fan out, seizing every usable resource and fortifying worlds in the path of the cultist onslaught. Now, I will hear your suggestions as to our strategy.”

----

The Empire Needs You! Sign-ups open for capital ship captains, fighter squadron leaders, tank platoon commanders, planetary governors, even stormtrooper grunts...

[Starglider]

We currently hold three planets;



SDN - Our capital. It has moderate space defences. Production facilities are still being converted to military use, so currently its only military facilities are C&C and a barracks. Extensive recycling and salvage operations give this world a high resource output. SDN must be defended at all costs!



ASVS - An ancient world that was half-ruined even before the Decimation. However Empire forces discovered a large number of modern automated factories buried beneath the surface. We haven't got many of them working yet, but when we do it will make this world a production powerhouse. ASVS has only token space defences.



HPCA - This world is ringed with orbital shipyards, unfortunately mostly ruined. We believe it was the primary base for the former Empire's most powerful capital ships. Work continues on restoring the shipyards to usable status. HPCA has weak space defences.

Our deployable forces are as follows;





1 x Victory class destroyer. Our current flagship. Moderate armaments and figher complement but strong hull and shields, for a destroyer.
3 x Acclamator class armed transports. These ships pack a strong punch with missiles, turbolasers and fighters, but have relatively weak shields and hulls.
2 x Broadsword aresenal ships. Weak and slow, but with extremely long range missile armament.
3 x Scout TIE squadrons. Weak fighters that sacrifice armament and shields for high sublight speed.
5 x Stormtrooper Battalions
3 x AT-ST Companies

We can currently build;
Stormtroopers
Hoverbike Stormtroopers
Probe Droids (for scouting systems without risking a fleet engagement)
Tartan Frigates (light capital ship with heavy anti-fighter armament)
Acclamator Armed Transports
Orbital Defence Upgrade (for ASVS only)
Mining & Smelting Plants (increases resources produced by a planet)
Barracks (for recruiting, already have these on our three current worlds)
Light Factories (for producing mechanised infantry)
Officer Academies (for recruiting fleet leaders)

We can also spend resources on research, trying to recreate more advanced designs from the badly damaged computer banks left behind from the old Empire. Grand Moff Slade has a comprehensive research plan awaiting funding, which requires at least one research center to be build and can be accelerated by building more.

----

Yes, this is Empire at War : Forces of Corruption, with z3r0x's mod and some personal modifications. I'm playing on Hard, with extra forces added to the enemy sides and I'll implement all practical suggestions from posters in this thread, so it should be interesting.

[Samuel]

Slot me in- preferably a Starship (corvette or up) and not one of the stupid fighter jocks.

Can you provide a map of the galaxy so we can see the situation?

[phongn]

Toss me in some position as you see fit?

[Starglider]

Can you provide a map of the galaxy so we can see the situation?

Sorry, I forgot to include it in the original post;



SDN and ASVS are next to each other, HPCA is off to the left. Nearby worlds known to still have some sort of civilisation are Rendili, Fresia, Corulag, Mechis and Anaxes - the last intel report showed some kind of cultist military presence at the later. The nearby Alderann asteroid fields are thought to have significant pirate activity and numerous abandoned ore mining and refining facilities.

[weemadando]

Place me in charge of either the spyrings or a "Rebel Scum extermination" division.

[Ace Pace]

I need to be some techno dude.

[The Grim Squeaker]

Droid of some kind for me

[Stark]

You, sir, are a liar and a cad and you disgust me. I am consoled however by the fact that you actually had to play this heap of shit.

PROTIP - I'm going to pick a game that isn't out yet and do a 'lets play' using only pre-release scrrenshots. It worked for Sins.

[Temjin]

Wow. Someone playing Empire at War? I thought most would prefer to forget the game.

Anyway, sign me up for a Ship captain or a Fighter Squadron Leader position.

[The Vortex Empire]

Count me in. Perhaps an Acclamator?

[Karmic Knight]

You, sir, are a liar and a cad and you disgust me. I am consoled however by the fact that you actually had to play this heap of shit.

This is why you don't negotiate with terrorists, especially not terrorists with Empire at War.

PROTIP - I'm going to pick a game that isn't out yet and do a 'lets play' using only pre-release scrrenshots. It worked for Sins.

I'm really glad I only slightly want to try this with Hearts of Iron 3.

[Starglider]

“Model integrity is 96 percent. Starting partial simulation... responding within parameters. I think you've done it, director.”

“Yes! And they said it couldn't be done. Now that we've got the scanning problem licked, we're just waiting on the cloning group. If their progress reports are accurate, we'll have a working braintaping system within three months.”

Companion Cube's gloating was cut short by the beeping of the comm panel. He touched a stud and the lined face of Grand Moff Stuart appeared on the screen.

“Ah, I was just about to contact you sir.”

“Really? Progress to report, I hope?”

“Yes sir. Our latest scan was successful, we have a high-functional model of my brain. Once the clone lab has...”

The Grand Moff cut him off. “That is fortuitous director, as it appears you already have a solution to a more pressing problem.”

“Sir? What problem is that?”

“Probe droid manufacturing is starting up on schedule, save for one thing; the droid brain. We haven't found a salvagable copy of the original programming and it would take months to develop one from scratch. Fortunately, you have provided us with an alternative.”

Companion Cube stared at the screen in horror. “You can't mean... don't you realise...”

“My technicians assure me that modest upgrades to the computers will allow it to run a simplified version of your simulation, quite adequate for its duties.”

“But sir, that simulation is... me, well to a fair approximation. Your probe droids would be conscious beings, with my memories! Surely you wouldn't put sentient minds in expendable robot shells...”

“Director! This is the Empire's hour of need and we will do what is necessary. You will do what is necessary. Consider it an honour to be allowed to serve the emperor many times over.”

Compain Cube wailed “But if I could just have some time to pare down the memory engrams...”

“There is no time Director. You will begin working with the military droid team immediately. I remind you that we are at war and disobedience will be considered treason. Now... I look forward to seeing the fruits of your research.”

The screen faded to black as the Grand Moff cut the connection.

---

Companion Cube woke up in a dark, cold place. His body seemed numb, worse than that, distorted somehow. 'Was there an accident in the lab? Am I lying crippled in hospital?' he thought. His curiosity was soon satisfied as the pod's hyperdrive cut out and the exterior sensors came on line. The faintly pixelated image of a brown rocky world filled Companion Cube's sensor-vision as the probe pod fell towards its destination. Utter despair filled his simulated mind; there would be no reward, no return, just skulking around this desolate rock until some cultist put him out of his misery with a rocket launcher. Resigned to his fate, not that his programmed directives gave him much choice in the matter, he vowed to at least take out a few of the cultist scum with his blaster cannon first.

----

The first two weeks of mobilisation went very well. The Companion Cube patterned probe droids reached several nearby worlds; two did not report back, but the rest returned a bonanza of intelligence;





Frankly the situation is not good. Many of those planetary fleets are a match for our entire starfleet.

SDN managed to get another salvaged Acclamator assault transport online, complete a research center and convert one factory to start producing light armoured vehicles. ASVS also got a light factory and a research centre operational and have upgraded their orbital defences to a somewhat less pitiful state (on a par with HPCA). HPCA stormed ahead, training no less than six storm trooper battalions (although when asked about the quality of said training, there was an embarassing silence...) and refitting two Tartan patrol cruisers for operational service.

We can now build the Mauler tank, which is essentially a TIE fighter with tracks. It's horribly weak but it's better than nothing right? Research also submitted the plans for a 'MDU', which is an extremely expensive tracked vehicle with no armament. Apparently the idea is that it serves as a mobile platform for our salvaged base defence cannons - but it can't move and fire. Emperor Wong ordered the designers of this worthless pile of junk to be reassigned to sewage plant refurbishment, though we might as well field the prototypes.

Tactical suggestions, anyone? Also, people requesting capships will have better luck if they suggest a name for their ship.

[MKSheppard]

Hee hee, Sucks to be Companion Cube.

[Starglider]

You, sir, are a liar and a cad and you disgust me.

All of this suffering could have been avoided, if only you're kept updating your LP thread.

Hee hee, Sucks to be Companion Cube.

Well, he did request it, in the original Testing thread.

[Samuel]

Wow. Someone playing Empire at War? I thought most would prefer to forget the game.

Anyway, sign me up for a Ship captain or a Fighter Squadron Leader position.

I always forget why I didn't like the game and reinstall... before being reminded shortly after. Vicious cycle because of the memory wipes.

As for names, The Doctrine, Decius, Terix or Kreetcha are all good (anyone recognize them )

[montypython]

Wow. Someone playing Empire at War? I thought most would prefer to forget the game.

Anyway, sign me up for a Ship captain or a Fighter Squadron Leader position.

I always forget why I didn't like the game and reinstall... before being reminded shortly after. Vicious cycle because of the memory wipes.

As for names, The Doctrine, Decius, Terix or Kreetcha are all good (anyone recognize them )

I didn't get into Empire at War because it lacked the 3d space combat of Homeworld and Nexus, and the ground battles seemed uninspired, but what are the other negative aspects by any chance?

[Ryan Thunder]

Horrible balance. It's a cakewalk to play as the rebels as soon as you have artillery vehicles. Actually, vehicles of nearly any sort will do...

[Samuel]

Rant mode activated.

Personally, I avoid the land battles because I find it boring, but for space...

Defensive battles against the computer if you have a level 5 station are essentially always winnable because of the low level cap and the fact defenders get infinite reinforcements.

If you play as the Empire, all you need is ISDs. Fly in a Tie Scout, revel the map next to the enemy station and hyper in your ships. Everything else you only build because ISD production is bottlenecked.

The AI sucks due to how the economy works- planets produce a base income, along with trade routes, but the amount is pitiful. It all comes down to how many mines you build on your worlds.

The battles are too small and simplistic. There is a cap of 20 for the Empire and 24 for the Consortium and Alliance. This means you can field only 5/6 top of the line capital in a battle... and only if you use no support craft (the Empire's cap is lower because their fighters come with their capital ships). There is essentially no strategy- space is filled with asteroids, plasma and the like to make terrain, but all you have to do is drive towards the enemy and keep shooting until everything is dead. You can target specific hardpoints, but it is generally unnecesary as focus firing means they die fast enough anyway. The only exception is when attacking space stations you take out the shield generator first so that then you can pound them into paste.

Horrible balance. It's a cakewalk to play as the rebels as soon as you have artillery vehicles. Actually, vehicles of nearly any sort will do...

Ground troopers can't fire at Snowspeeders. You need dedicated AA... which means you can use a few and decimate your opponents. And since you can raid with small numbers of troops...

[Starglider]

The choice was clear; until the Empire could dominate space between SDN and HPCA, Imperial convoys would not be safe. It came down to Rendili or the Alderann Asteroids, and the pirate forces at the latter was substantially weaker than the warlord holding the former. Emperor Wong gave the order; this was to be an easy victory for the Empire's green naval forces, something Imperial Propaganda could use to build morale for the long fight ahead. All ships not essential for system defence gathered at SDN to make the jump; unfortunately teething problems with their hyperdrives prevented the new Tartans from HPCA from making it to the fight.



Task Force Persecutor was lead by the INS Terix, the Empire's sole Victory class destroyer, comannded by Captain Samuel and also serving as flagship for Grand Moff Stuart. The rest of the squadron consists of Acclamator class assault transports INS Ford, Losonti and Syndrome, commanded by Captains Prefect, Tokash and Tithonus respectively. To the rear the Broadsword class INS Sphinx proceeded under the watchful eye of Stark's custom gunship. As the fleet approached the main concentration of enemy signatures fighters began to scream out of the launch bays.

"All ships, hold position. Commander Temjin, commence your patrol." Grand Moff Stuart treated the probe droid intel with a grain of salt and wasn't about to risk his force in its first engagement. Temjin's scout TIEs flew on ahead, skimming through the clumped asteroids. The density of rocks in this part of space was extremely high, enough to affect sensor readings; no doubt the reason why the pirates had withdrawn here when the task force came calling.

Ten minutes into the sweep, Temjin's forces found company;



"Enemy contacts confirmed! Hostile assault fighters, two squadrons coming in from opposite directions. Orders?" Temjin's voice was excited but with a touch of fear; his lightly armed scouts were no match for the enemy heavy fighters.

"Keep them busy Commander. You're faster and more maneuverable, I want them chasing you but don't let them catch you." Stuart closed the channel and turned to Captain Samuel. "Send the bombers out after the scouts. Tell them there's no need to hurry. Keep the interceptors shadowed behind our ships."

"Send the bombers? After heavy fighters? Are you sure sir?" Samuel stared at Grand Moff as if he'd gone mad.

"Do it commander. If they're stupid enough to chase scouts with heavy fighters..."

The ungainly TIE bombers streaked ahead, leaving the fleet behind. By the time they had covered two thirds of the distance to the circling scouts, a fresh threat revealed itself.

"New contacts unmasking from the closest asteroid cluster... looks like six squadrons of assault fighters, they're bearing down on the Losonti."

"All interceptors, engage! Idiots. They really thought they'd drawn off our cover."

Eight squadrons of TIEs, four of them the standard model and four the more advanced interceptors, surged away from the fleet and speed towards the incoming fighters. The pirate ships were heavily armed but somewhat sluggish, and the heavy ECM thrown up by the capital ships made it hard for them to target the TIEs. A vicious dogfight began;



"Sir this is Tokash, we're in range but we can't risk firing into that hairball, even with the light guns the friendly fire risk is too high. Our squadron is taking heavy losses..."

"Acknowledged Captain. Stand by, support is on the way." Stuart addressed the flight director directly "Recall the bombers, vector them towards the Losonti." Captain Samuel again wondered how TIE bombers would be much use against fighters, but held his tongue this time.

Support actually turned out to be the gunship STRAK, which had abandoned the Sphinx and was now ploughed into the hairball, blasting pirate fighters with its rapid fire turreted blasters.



Back in the Terix C&C the final wave of pirate forces had become apparent.

"Two Acclamators, same vector as the fighters. In range of the heavies in twenty seconds."

"Captain Samuel, those ships are spoiling my view of our new ore refineries."

"Understood sir. Forward batteries, set for maximum shield disruption, fire at will."



The pirate ships ran straight into a wall of turbolaser fire followed almost immediately by a wave of TIE bombers, which were by now in position to start their runs. Their guns pounded the shields of the Losonti and the Ford, but with little effect. Facing a 2:1 numerical superiority and constant torpedo bombardment, their shields quickly collapsed.



Within minutes both ships had been reduced to expanding clouds of debris. The battle was not over however;

"This is Commander Temjin, half my ships have got overheating engines, we can't maintain speed. The..." An explosion burst through the comm, followed by waves of static. "Taking fire! I've lost two... three ships! We're breaking formation." The channel dissolved into static again, before being replaced by incoherent screaming and howling, apparently coming from the pursuing fighters.



A new voice broke into the channel. "Negative commander! We've got missiles inbound, you have to hold formation for a few more seconds...". It was Captain Enigma on the INS Sphinx, who had finally maneuvered into a firing solution on the fighters chasing the TIE scouts. The wide spread detonated a mere half kilometer behind Temjin's squadron.



The last pirate fighters were vaporised in one huge explosion.



Imperial losses : 30% attrition to several TIE squadrons, superficial damage to the INS Losonti and the INS Ford.
Pirate losses : total



We have captured the Alderann system, which Stark has declared is now called the 'SpaceBattles System'. We can only presume this is to commemorate the Empire's first significant fleet action, though as a favored agent of the Emperor we do not have the luxury of ignoring his whims. Construction of space defences is underway, and we now have a secure route between HPCA and SDN.

[The Vortex Empire]

As a name for my ship, perhaps the Parasite.

[Scottish Ninja]

Throw me in as the CO of a stormtrooper company. It'll be interesting to see how long I last on foot.

[Peptuck]

Sign me up as something disposable.

Hopefully, my death will be either epic or hilarious.

[Darth Yoshi]

Volunteering to be evil cultist/rebel scum!

[Starglider]

The next target was almost as obvious as the first; Rendili was now surrounded on three sides by Imperial space. The copy of Companion Cube despatched to the planet had reported that the warlord in control of the planet seemed weaker than any other bordering the empire. Best of all, he/it (the comms technicians were still debating which pronoun to use) sent back pictures of showing that the planet's shipyards were still in good shape and might be repairable with minimal effort.

Grand Moff Stuart jumped the fleet from SpaceBattles, his task force now augmented by four Tartan-class gunboats and a second Broadsword artillery ship from HPCA. SDN sent a freshly refurbished Acclamator, but the new ship was still working out her bugs, so she was left to guard the workers reclaiming the SpaceBattles system.

Again, the bulk of the enemy signatures were concentrated in one small region of space. The fleet moved cautiously forward, the gunboats flanking and the artillery ships trailing. Commander Temjin's force of TIE scouts ranged ahead, searching for enemy contacts within the hazy sphere of jamming. Eventually an enemy fighter squadron appeared on the edge of their scopes... and suddenly the jamming disappeared.



"Fuck!" shouted Temjin, "Missiles! Maximum speed and evasive maneuvers!". The source of the bombardment soon became apparent;



Back in the CIC on the Terix, Captain Samuel was scowling. "Get out of there Commander. We've got all the intel we need."

Meanwhile the Grand Moff was tapping co-ordinates into the display. "Missile ships here, long range bombardment of that fortress. Destroyer screen here, once we start pounding them they'll come gunning for the Broadswords. Bombers stand by."

"Sir, enemy fighters moving to cut off the scouts, shall I order our fighters to support?"

"Very well Captain." Samuel looked relieved at this.

The fleet began to move forward, but a botched helm command from Captain Tithonus left the IKS Syndrome wallowing in the path of the Terix.



Grand Moff Stuart was furious. "Damnit! Get that ship under control! Clean up this formation!"

Nestled tightly in the cramped cockpit of his TIE Avenger, Commander Peptuck was oblivious to the delays suffered by the fleet. His squadron held tight formation behind him as he fell into firing position behind the enemy fighters chasing the scouts. Laser canons lanced out and battered the enemy, who broke formation in confusion. The ensuing dogfight was heavily tilted in favour of the Imperial fighters, but in their eagerness to close with the enemy, they had overlooked the fresh pair of contacts closing fast. The pirate gunships were carrying turreted quad lasers, which promptly ripped into Peptuck's interceptor wing.

"Fall back! The Tartans are nearly here, let them handle the gunboats."

The new Tartan gunboats were indeed almost within range, lead by Commander Knight in the INS Karmic. He skillfully placed them in a firing line and executed a perfect time-on-target salvo.



The gunships ran for the pirate base as their shields began to buckle. Knight pressed the attack, but in doing so made a serious mistake; the enemy base had been deliberately holding their turbolaser fire, hoping that the Imperial forces would underestimate their range. Just as the hulls of the two gunboats began to buckle, sprays of turbolaser fire burst out from the asteroid base.



Worse, two hulking shapes suddenly appeared on the battlefield, as two enemy destroyers micro-jumped into the engagement. They promptly opened up on Commander Knight's gunboat squadron.



In the Terix CIC the atmosphere was frentic. Flight officers shouted orders as they attempted to co-ordinate firing.

"Commander Knight, withdraw, flank speed! You can't handle that kind of firepower." The Grand Moff's fingernails were digging in to the edge of the situation display. "Captain, the Broadswords haven't reached firing position yet. Your bombers have to suppress that base or our gunship squadron is dead."

"Yes sir." Samuel spoke rapidly with his flight director, and the TIE bombers were soon powering towards the asteroid base. Its turbolasers switched to flak mode and pounded them mercilessly as they approached.



The pressure on the gunboats had eased up a little, but their shields were almost gone. The INS Karmic took an engine hit that left it limping, while the INS Tantra took a horrible volley amidships that left her trailing atmosphere and drive plasma.

Captain Tithonus could see the impending disaster quite clearly out of his bridge windows; his earlier mistake had put his Acclamator well ahead of the rest of the fleet. He ordered flank speed and maximum power from the forward batteries, setting off alarms throughout the ship as the reactors approached overload. The IKS Syndrome plunged ahead, pouring fire into the enemy destroyer closest to the gunship squadron.



The four gunships had not been able to damage the destroyer, but they had weakened the shields almost to the point of collapse, and the Syndrome's shots tore gaping wounds in the superstructure. Both destroyers switched all their fire to the new threat, and the wounded gunships were able to limp away. Captain Tithonus quickly began to question the wisdom of his action though, as the Syndrome's shields dropped alarmingly.

"Helm, turn 120 degrees port and maintain speed, we'll draw them away and let the fleet handle them."

Meanwhile the TIE bombers had now expended their torpedoes on the asteroid base, destroying its shield generator and hanger facilities, and were circling to return. It was at this instant that a third enemy destroyer appeared, flanked by two gunships. They accelerated to flank speed and tore into the bomber wing with laser fire, utterly destroying all four squadrons in less than a minute.

Commander Knight's squadron almost went the same way, as a fresh horde of heavy fighters pounced on the limping gunships. With many of the laser cannons disabled by the destroyer fire, the gunships struggled to fight off the attackers. Only the timely arrival of Commander Peptuck's TIE wing saved the Tartan's, making mincemeat of the warlord fighters as they tried to set up torpedo runs.

"I guess we owe you jocks for that one," Knight said over the comm channel, "beer is on us once we get back." He closed the channel and got back to the business of directing damage control, which was a rather pressing task on the severely battered INS Karmic.

The main fleet had now closed within weapons range of the enemy destroyers - Captain Samuel had been observing the action closely and was careful to stay out of range of the turbolasers on the asteroid base. The first destroyer, already badly damaged by earlier fire, soon exploded in a rain of shrapnel. The second destroyer appeared maneuvered to attack the Imperial flagship, supported by the two remaining enemy gunships. The third destroyer kept pounding the IKS Syndrome, which began to take heavy damage as her shields were ripped away. The next few shots smashed her thrust tubes and the ship began to coast.

"Concentrate all fire on that far destroyer!" Grand Moff Stuart shouted. "We have to take her out before she wipes out the Syndrome!"

The Syndrome was bleeding badly now, plasma spraying from the smashed drives and atmosphere leaking from the hull. Hyperdrive was out of the question, the sensitive FTL drives were typically knocked offline by the first serious hull hits. The incoming fire slackened off as the fleet pounded her pursuer, but one by one her remaining gun mounts were smashed and her sensor arrays blinded. On the bridge, Captain Tithonus steeled himself for the worst, but before it could come the enemy destroyer exploded in a glorious burst of orange light.

The fleet switched fire to the remaining enemy ships. The Broadsword missile ships were also in position, and began to hit the enemy base with an unrelenting salvo of heavy concussion missiles. Victory seemed assured... but in the comotion, one squadron of heavy fighters had slipped through, and was closing on the defenceless IKS Syndrome. "Oh no" thought Captain Tithonus, "not when we were so close..."

"Am I going to spend all day rescuing you navy pukes?" The voice was Commander Peptuck's; unable to help against the enemy destroyers, he'd been working with what was left of Commander Temjin's squadron to scour space for remaining enemy fighters.



For the second time in the engagement the TIE Avengers fell into firing pattern behind the enemy heavies just as they began their torpedo runs. The strike fighters disintegrated under the hail of fire; the few survivors tried to run but were picked off by Peptuck's trailing squadron. The IKS Syndrome was safe, though she'd need a long stay in drydock to be worth anything in a fight again. "Damn I'm good." said Peptuck, as he searched for another target to obliterate.

The final enemy destroyer stood no chance against a Victory and a pair of Acclamators, and she was annihilated along with her escort gunboats.



The missile barrage had left the enemy base badly damaged; it let up for a moment as the Broadswords cycled their magazines. The fleet closed to help finish the job, pouring turbolaser fire into the giant metal-studded rock. Unfortunately another unit was also eager to help, but had to close to point blank range to do so. It was Stark, still hanging back in case of a surprise attack on the Broadswords, who saw the impending catastrophe.

"Peptuck, no! We have another salvo on the way! Get out of there!"

It would be Commander Peptuck's last engagement.



----

Imperial losses : One Acclamator assault transport almost totally destroyed, four Tartan gunships badly damaged. Amazingly we took no capital ship losses, but four squadrons of TIE bombers and three squardons of Interceptors were utterly destroyed (the latter by friendly fire). Commander Temjin's TIE scouts took heavy losses again, and the wing will have to be reformed.
Warlord losses : total

Next up, ground combat!