+- Discovery Gaming Community (https://discoverygc.com/forums)
+-- Forum: Role-Playing (https://discoverygc.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?fid=9)
+--- Forum: Stories and Biographies (https://discoverygc.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?fid=56)
+--- Thread: Proving Ground (/showthread.php?tid=199091)
Proving Ground - Frostpfote - 10-07-2023
Prologue:
Both the LNX-Akhetaten as well as the LNS-Essex had returned back to Norfolk Shipyard after partially taking out an attacking fleet composed of both Outcasts and Liberty Rogues in the debris field next to Planet Manhattan and West Point station. Both ships had sustained merely light external damage, yet to return to full combat readiness they would both return to a proper shipyard to get the required repairs done.
It's never easy for a captain to see their ship moored in a drydock rather than on the frontlines. However, for the Essex this was nothing but a blessing in disguise. During her last time in one of the Norfolk's drydocks the Atlantis-Class Carrier had been prepared to be fitted with its own jumpdrive system in order to maximize mobility and fast response time, enabling rapid deployment across all of Libertonian occupied space. Usually it isn't worth the effort to moor a capital ship to a drydock for a largely optional upgrade, not unless the ship was to be docked there for repairs anyways. Given this lucky coincidence, the Essex was chosen to receive her upgrade during this downtime, slightly extending the maintenance period by a few days to make time for much needed calibrating and testing of the device. Despite the Mk. IV's longer chargeup time and higher operating cost, it was chosen to enable a whole battlegroup to join the Essex in its mission if need be.
Even though the Akhetaten only had minor repairs to be done, the 46th's pride and joy left Norfolk almost unusually quickly. The Essex's captain, Rachel Mikai, would only later find out about the reason behind this express departure. Several hours, soon days passed until the jumpdrive was finally properly installed by the Norfolk's maintenance crews, soon for the carrier to give life to this marvel of engineering for the first time. Everything started out properly as one of the Essex's several auxillary reactors began to supply the device with power, beginning its calibration sequence. For the first couple of hours the jumpdrive was simply fed with all sorts of technical data about the ship it was installed on, allowing for precise calculations of jumproutes and proper power distribution to ensure the ship wouldn't be dismantled mid-jump. The docking clamps disengaged once all lights showed green, entering the mandatory testing phase for the new device. A total of three consecutive jumps would take place, increasing the accuracy of the planned jump destination down to a few meters towards the end.
The first jump would take the Atlantis-Class from Norfolk Shipyard over to Fort Bush, followed quickly by a second jump to Planet Houston. Both jumps were well within the anticipated margin for error, placing a lot of confidence in the Essex' crew for the last test: A jump across two system borders with almost pinpoint accuracy. Planet Los Angeles in the California system was their target. The coordinates were logged in, and the necessary calculations were almost done when a broadcast on the emergency channel reached the Carriers' command bridge. A call for backup wasn't anything out of the ordinary, yet when the broadcast was found to originate from the Akhetaten, things quickly became a whole lot more serious.
Proving Ground - Frostpfote - 10-10-2023
Proving Ground
"This is prototype battlecruiser Akhetaten. We require assistance in the Magellan system, grid E-2." Rachel would think about the broadcast for a moment, seeing how an experienced captain like Uhmen would hardly rely on assistance if shit wasn't about to hit the fan. She turned around and ordered the jump to be rerouted directly to where the Akhetaten requested it. From what she saw, no ship capable of handling a threat that even a heavy battlecruiser couldn't beat by itself was anywhere near the area, wasting precious time on their way there. The jump would lead the Essex across two entire system, and halfway through the third - not something meant for the third ever activation of a newly manufactured jumpdrive. However, this certain case would most definitely be a valid excuse to stretch the borders of this testing run.
"All hands battlestations, we're enroute to the Magellan system to provide fire support to Commodore Uhmen and the Akhetaten. The jumpdrive will take us directly into the middle of it, so prepare to get your hands dirty." Captain Mikai would address the entirety of the carriers' crew, pressing a few buttons on her control panel which would activate a typical red combat lighting across the entire command bridge, as well as a howling alarm across the ship. At this very moment there would be pilots running to their fighters and bombers, the several Defiant-class Gunboats would activate their engines and begin pre-flight-checks. All high ranking crew would head straight to the CIC, the next best protected area of the ship other than the main reactor. There they would be able to view all of the Essex' surroundings, make decisions for the engagement, and make sure the ship could run at maximum combat efficiency. The carrier's primary engine would ignite, accelerating the massive capital ship to full speed as quickly as safety regulations would let it. "Captain, the jumpdrive is half way charged, all calculations have been made and we're one minute away from being ready to jump.", Rachel was told by the head of the crew operating the new device. "Understood, initiate jump sequence immediately once the chargeup is completed.", she replied, before taking her gaze towards a screen that showed the view that the command bridge currently had. In her head she counted the seconds left until it was go time. Almost exactly one minute later the camera's video feed would begin to appear blurry, as the Essex began to create a temporary jumphole almost at will, ripping space and time apart to warm their gateway to Magellan. The video feed blacked out entirely a few seconds later as the Essex passed right through the jumphole, the carrier's entire structure stretching and compressing, almost making it sound like the ship's entire structure reassembled in the blink of an eye.
The sound of creaking metal turned into an explosion as soon as the Essex passed through the jumpgate. The scanners lit up bright red with hostiles all around the carrier as it, as well as two accompanying Archer-class cruisers arrived in the Manchester system. The captain reacted almost in an instant, giving orders to the high ranking officers next to her which would then further delicate them to their subordinates. "Full power on the shield generators, order the Archers to head to the Akhetaten's location and provide point defense fire, I need all snubcraft and gunboats out there right now!" The scene presenting itself was rather messy. A rather sizable Rogue installation that was protected by at least a dozen Scylla destroyers and several dozen fighters - atleast that was what the Akhetaten had left after serving hellfire to those scumbags. The Essex would almost ram its way through an entourage of wreckages, both big and small as it bolted out of the jumphole at max speed. The prototype battlecruiser was around four kilometers away from them, shields down and some hull damage could already be seen as it was taking fire from all angles. "Akhetaten actual, this is Captain Rachel Mikai speaking from the Essexs' CIC. We're here to assist you in taking out those Rogues!" In the very same second, the carrier's dozens of point defense cannons began to fire upon the Rogue snubcrafts. The bulky hellbore turrets slowly rotated to take the Scyllas under fire, hopefully crippling severeal of them before they could react to the new situation, disorganized as the Rogues usually were. The carrier's shields took heavy fire way faster than anticipated, with several mortar projectiles nearly hitting the Essex' broadside. About half an hour of constant fighting later, the last Scylla of the escort fleet would fall to the Akhetaten's guns. "Akhetaten, status report." The captain's voice sounded tense, as she was genuinely worried for the Akhetaten's crew, seeing that the battlecruiser had taken more than just a few hits and lived through it.
"We're ... alright. We had to seal off a few compartments due to breaches, but we'll see this through. The intel we received was apparently incomplete, there was no mention of such a big fleet garissoned at this bunker base. Anyways, thanks for the assistance." Rachel wouldn't know who exactly answered her, but the male voice sounded awfully familiar. She replied confidentally, promising the Akhetaten any required assistance needed to take down this floating junkyard of a base. Both capital ships turned next to each other, facing the base straight ahead in front of them. While the Essex began to take the installation under long range mortar fire, the battlecruiser went towards the base in a rough 45° angle in order to get its primary weapon on target. The Rogue base was defended by several weapon platforms, launching both rockets and railgun projectiles at the Libertonian warships. However, without a much needed escort, the base would soon be entirely defenseless once the platforms had fallen. Their combined firepower, alongside the Archer's siege cannons made short work of the installation, causing a large explosion of what most likely was the main reactor, taking out the life support shortly after.
Both warships had taken considerable damage during this undertaking, yet nothing that a few days in Norfolk couldn't patch up. A successful display of the heavy battlecruiser concept and perfect demonstration for the usefulness of a personal jumpdrive. Once all deployed fighterwings had returned to the Essex and all escort ships took their position in the small fleet, the carrier would charge its jumpdrive one last time this day to get everyone back to Norfolk Shipyard. A swift journey, and a mere two hours later both ships were anchored down and repair work could begin. However, a meeting of both respective captains would be inevitable after an event such as this.
Proving Ground - Frostpfote - 10-11-2023
Epilogue
Once all paperwork had been sorted out, both Captain Mikai as well as Commodore Edwards met up at the Norfolk's bar to talk about the events, which had unfolded mere hours ago. The two had met occasionally in person in the past, so they weren't strangers to conversing in person with one another. Both were still wearing their uniform and ordered a non alcoholic drink of their choice. After picking up her penberry soda, Rachel sat down at a table, opposite of Christopher.
"It's nice to meet you again, Commodore. After all it's finally my time to thank you for getting me into the 46th.", she said with rather happy tone in her voice.
The Commodore carried a slight grin on his face, yet in no way did it take over his otherwise rather grim demeanor. "No worries, I'm glad you haven't regret your decision just yet. Thanks for the help in Magellan. If it wasn't for the faulty intel, we wouldn't have needed the assistance. Anyways, I am in no mood to beat around the bush. What did want to talk about? You didn't sound like we'd be meeting just to thank each other."
Rachel sighed, not expecting she'd have to get to the point that quickly, yet she should have known that the grumpy grey-bearded man was no one to enjoy small talk. "Well, guilty as charged. Ever since the supergate events a few days ago, my mind kept racing about what all of this could be, day in, day out. And knowing that either you or Akhetaten's task force are always around, when it comes to new discoveries ... I wanted to test the waters regarding making the Essex a part of such a task force.", she said, trying to convince the commodore of the idea.
Edwards took a deep breath, leaning back in the chair as if he was about to decline the request, so Rachel was quick about cutting him off to add a few more reason as to why this was a good idea. "Please listen, I'm serious about this. After the fifth had put me on the sideline doing months of guard duty in Omicron Nu, I developed a desire to find out more than whether or not a supplyship missed its schedule or not. To find out what makes the universe go round. And being part of the Akhe's task force is the best way to always be on the frontlines when it comes to these kinds of events. Today has proven that the Essex can - and will - be a valuable asset to the battlegroup. From my time in the fifth's R&D department I still have a mobile laboratory in form of the Hawking, a Bison-class that has been painstakingly converted to host all sorts of research."
Edwards remained in his position for the entirety of the captain's monologue, only leaning forward and interlocking his hands that were resting on the table once Rachel was finally either done or out of breath. "Don't waste your breath, Captain. I don't doubt your intentions, nor am I against expanding the task force. Yet this matter is not something I can simply decide on the spot, nor can I give you an answer without consulting Uhmen first. I'll have a meeting with her in a few hours, so I could bring up the topic once all necessary matters have been discussed. I can't speak for her, but if you're willing to stand your ground in a conversation with her I think it's unlikely that she'll be the one to stand in your way. Think about it for the night and if you're still sure that this is the way then I arrange a meeting in due time."
Rachel nodded in an understanding manner, before finishing her soda and getting up to return to her quarters after saying goodbye to Edwards. She kept thinking about how to present her points to the Admiral, yet she never doubted that this was the way to take. Before eventually heading to bed Rachel once again went over everything that she wanted to mention to Uhmen in their coversation, until eventually passing out at her desk.
The End