Collab between [@WrongEndoftheRainbow] and [@Sigma] [b][u] Americana System [/u][/b] First contact with another lost colony under the banner of the UNFC, and the rather unfortunate series of events that followed their initial arrival had provided the people of the FRA with yet another ally in their continued struggle against the Yulzan. For all their supposed might, the Yulzan were soon finding themselves cornered by the free children of humanity. After some weeks of diplomatic talks, logistics planning, and the UNFC getting acquainted with the wider galactic community, a supply lane of sorts was charted between the Mojave Gate in No Man’s Land, crossing all the way past the FRA border. Although the pathway was agreed to be the “safest” out of other planned routes, it was by far free of enemy activity. With that, a small flotilla was hastily assembled to act as escorts for the UNFC’s freighters, their only mission was to protect them and their precious cargo at all cost, under the command of Captain Hernandez of the [i] Dawn’s Early Light[/i]. [hr] [b][u] FSS Dawn’s Early Light Command Bridge [/u][/b] Hours had passed since the arrival of the first batch of UNFC freighters, Hernandez observing a real time holoprojection of the convoy as they traverse through deep space, making their way into friendly territory. Six FRA vessels and ten now recognized as UNFC. With the revelation that Hernandez and his crew were the first to make contact with the UNFC, High Command found it appropriate that he would be tasked with such an assignment as a symbolic gesture. “Not the most glamorous assignment.” Hernandez commented to any who would listen. “But it sure as hell beats frontline duty any other day.” He twirled around his chair, snapping back to the holoprojection dead center in the room, turning to his second in command. “Any word from our recon squadrons?” Hernandez asked. His X.O., a young Dathu woman by the name of Udalia, shook her head, as he browsed through a small comm-pad. “Reports are clean so far, captain.” She replied. “Shall I recall them?” Hernandez shook his head. “Nah, have them make one last sweep before returning. I don’t trust the peace and quiet at all to be frank.” Udalia nodded back. “Aye, aye, captain.” She said as she pressed down the comm-pad, relaying the Captain’s orders to the fly boys. There were ten freighters in all; large, bulky craft made no more agile for the addition of armored plating, spot-welded across vulnerable sections. On each, machine gun nests had been jury-rigged to the hulls, though none carried heavy armament. It was slapdash, vessels pressed into wartime duty by a culture who had not had open war in hundreds of years. Within, there lay primarily armor. An overstatement, each freighter contained heaping tons of civilian-grade hevsteel plates, pulled from wherever there was excess or where refineries were outputting more than expected. Only a few freighters, positioned in the middle of the pack, contained any export-grade military-spec hevsteel. It had been a close vote, but the brutality of the Yulzan's attack on a peaceful diplomatic convoy had angered the public and the government alike. The Yulzan and the United Nations were officially at war. As such, emergency powers long neglected activated and, slowly but surely, the economy began to move to a wartime footing. Men were mobilized, factories were seized and their production swapped to war goods. Even rationing was placed on the table: every day, a new restriction on foodstuffs that could be better saved for a soldier or sailor's stomach. Even with war, the UNFC navy was anemic and the army was virtually nonexistant. It had to be bootstrapped from first principles, and whole new equipment both designed and prototyped. Civilian vessels pressed into convoys with what could be spared was ultimately all the UNFC could offer to their new brothers-in-arms to relieve pressure. Elsewhere within a reasonable distance from the convoy was a squadron of starhawks, one of the aforementioned reconnaissance squadrons that swept through the surrounding space, acting as the eyes and ears of the convoy. Within the lead fighter, the Squadron leader had received the order to make one last run. “Echo leader to all wings.” A voice in a gruff tone announced. “I got good news and bad news. Bad news is we gotta make another sweep.” With the dreaded words spoken, followed a series of moans and sighs. “Good new though, this will be the last one as we head back to base.” That got the squadron wide awake as some cheers could be heard over comms. “We’ll make for sector 119 and we’ll be back in our bunks.” Sadly, as if one cue, those words and actions would set events in motion, making this mission more eventful than they wished for. Within an hour, Echo Squadron had arrived at their destination, the fighters scattering in pairs as they began their last sweep, many praying that nothing would be found. Some time passes, as the mission neared its end. “Get nothing so far….wait.” One of the pilots said. “Ssshit, I’ve got something on the radar….. can’t make a read, we’ll invest-“ Within moments the pilot fell silent, a pair of flashs of light seen in a short distance from the various cockpits. “Fuuuck…” One of the pilots cursed. “We got Jannies incoming!” “Fall back to the convoy! We’ll make our stand there!” Alarms sounded on the freighters, machine guns sprung to life as crewmen manned battlestations. They swivelled to and fro as the gunners got their bearings. The pilots began to spread out, to give each freighter room to maneuver, as unwieldy as each vessel was. One of the vessels tightbeamed a message to the [i]Dawn's Early Light[/i], the signalman a hardened star-sailor, "[i]Dawn's Early Light[/i]," he started, his voice tense, "this is the UNFCCFV [i]Old Elizabeth[/i], none of the freighter craft are equipped with military sensors. We will be firing by eye. You need to keep us clear, acknowledge." “Copy that [i]Old Elizabeth[/i].” Hernandez sent a reply. “We’ll be your eyes in this fight.” He turned back to his X.O. “What are we dealing with here?” Udalia tapped the pad a few times before the holoprojection morphed a rough image of the inbound enemy ships. “From what little images were captured by Echo Squadron, we’re dealing what seems to be a standard wolfpack, eight corvettes and…” Udalia was silent for a moment, a new larger shape taking form in the holo image. “Uh oh..” “What do you mean by “uh oh?” that’s a little concerning…” That certainly got the captain’s attention. Udalia pressed down the pad a few more times, making a more clearly image, knowing feel well what they’re dealing with, the captain letting out an audible sigh of frustration. “Of all of the days, of all the missions…”. The mystery ninth ship leading the Janissary wolfpack was what the FRA has classified as a “Reaper”-class Battlecruiser, a vessel under the banner of the Throne Guard, a warship of Yulzan design and make. “Issue a red alert throughout the fleet, this is gonna be one hell of a fight.” Hernandez ordered. Without hesitation, sent a message back to the [i]Old Elizabeth[/i]. warning them of the threat ahead. “A Janissary wolfpack is inbound, in addition to a Yulzan Battlecruiser. We’ll provide as much cover as possible as we continue our trip, but prepare for the worst.” The signalman responded, "Recieved, [i]Dawn's Early Light[/i]. What are the specs on the battlecruiser? Can we outrun it? These freighters can not survive the attention of a warship." Meanwhile, the pilots of the freighters moved further back, to place the escort between them and the wolfpack. There was a pause, then, a crackling across the open band, "This is the UNFCSCV [i]Herald of the Morning[/i] on station. Message for UNFCCFV [i]Old Elizabeth[/i] and [i]Dawn's Early Light[/i]: We are enroute to provide fire support. We are transiting from the gate, we will need at least an hour to arrive." The tightbeam on the Old Elizabeth walked to somewhere far in the distance, and silently, they acknowledged the message. Then, the tightbeam walked back to the [i]Dawn's Early Light[/i], and the signalman's voice returned, "The [i]Herald of the Morning[/i] reports it has been refitted with Hev torpedos. If we can avoid engaging the battlecruiser, they instruct they could eliminate it and even the odds, acknowledge." “Good, we have a chance then.” Hernandez replied. “And yes, we’ll be able to outrun for a while, the only problem is its armament.” He paused as he sent specs of the Reaper to the [i]Old Elizabeth[/i]. “It’s armed with an array of various direct energy weapons that will cleave a hull in half if you stay in its sight long enough. The other problem is the wolfpack and the Reaper’s support ships, they will try to either sink us or slow us down long enough for the Reaper to catch up. We’ll hold out long enough for the [i]Herald[/i] to help take out the Reaper.” As the freighters moved into position, the Flotilla moved as well, forming a wall of sorts, as friendly and hostile blips soon materialized on radars and maps alike. The remains of Echo squadron were being perused by the wolfpack, in addition of wings of fighters and bombers that were on fast approach. “Shit! They’re already here! All ships, fire!” In an instant, the [i]Dawn’s Early Light[/i], along with the rest of the flotilla, let out a volley of missiles, torpedoes, and railgun rounds, the darkness of space illuminated by countless flashes of light. The sailors of the freighters were hardened by a life in Eperu; to their credit, not a one panicked. They maintained their burn, a pondering arc away from the Reaper though not enough to cut them off from their own escort. The guns lay silent, machine guns near impossible to spot festooned tight against the hull. To fire so soon would give up their emplacements for no gain, and so they held their fire. The [i]Dawn’s Early Light[/i] fighter payload launched in its entirety, joining what remained of Echo squadron as they turned back to face the enemy head on, the opposing strike craft clashing as a large dog fight took place, all the while the corvettes unleashed their heavy ordnance, from both sides torpedoes launching in zooming across the battle space, both sides scoring a hit as several of the Janissary corvettes went limp, reduced to scrap, the same happening to a pair of FRA frigates, the downed ships left behind as the two groups pressed forward through No Man’s Land, all the while exchange fire. The freighters, unwilling to keep moving without their escort, turned to the downed frigates. Once the remainder of the escort was safely engaged a distance from the frigates, the civilian ships moved forward to begin searching for survivors, and, when and where they could, provide damage control and repairs. Still, with nobody targeting them, their guns remained silent. Everything descended into chaos as the battle went on, the two wounded fleets continuing to exchange fire, battering one another as they moved. In addition to this and their lost ships, the freighter’s broke formation to aid the crews of the downed frigates. “[i]Dawn’s[/i] to [I]Old Elizabeth[/i]. “Captain hastily sent his message. “It’s a hard decision....but we can’t afford to slow down, the Reaper will catch up soon.” The signalman was silent for a while, before, a slight tinge of despair in the hardened sailor's voice, he returned to the radio as the freighters pulled away once more, "[i]Old Elizabeth[/i] acknowledges. We can't move forward alone; we'll need you to peel off some escorts. We get caught out in the open and get surprised again, and we all go down. Convey our blessings and thanks to whoever remains in the rearguard." Although they could only hear rather than see, the Captain couldn’t help but nod to the Signalman’s words. “They knew the risks, and when this is over, we will come back for them. No soldier, marine, or sailor will ever be abandoned.” With those words, was a renewed sense of duty, and a fire to see this through. He focused his attention on his crew. “Keep the enemy distracted long enough for the convoy to move back in formation.” The freighters fired their engines, full burn. They pulled away with astonishing speed, away from the battle. In their wake, a trail of exotic particulate, their engines far less efficient than their military counterparts. At first, they began to outrun the escorts peeled off to protect them, but their engines slowly began to wane down, counter-thrusters firing to slow them down to an acceleration rate more manageable by the Columbian vessels. The [i]Dawn’s[/i] and her fighter payload trailed behind, illuminating the darkness of space as she came under fire from several hunter corvettes, all the while, the small strike craft engaged in dogfights in proximity of the cruiser. A corvette was soon in sight of one of the [i]Dawn’s[/i] batteries, making a clean shot that split the vessel in two, dimming into a pair of lifeless hulks. The fight, however, was far from over as she was battered by the remaining craft, select wings of bombers making runs against the cruiser. The bridge trembling with every direct hit made. Captain Hernandez was tossed from his chair from the last hit, recovering and regaining his composure before sweat started creeping down his cheeks. The holomap had detected and registered a new hostile vessel within range, the Reaper was closing in. “Full speed! We have to catch up with the convoy!” The convoy lingered ahead, their counter-thrusters still firing. They did not intend to continue without escort. Their guns remained silent, as they turned to wide, circling arcs; the central freighters, the most valuable cargo, using the rest as shields. A tightbeam from [i]Old Elizabeth[/i] walked to the [i]Dawn's[/i] receiver, and the signalman's voice came once more, "[i]Old Elizabeth[/i] to [i]Dawn's Early Light,[/i] support is thirty minutes out. Relay orders, repeat, relay orders. We are prepared to hold out for support, or, should the path be clear, we are prepared to make a run for safe space." Hernandaz was swift to reply. “We stand a better chance booking it to safe space, signalmen.” He replied to the message. “Proceed to the coordinates as charted, we’ll try to catch up to the convey, and even if we don’t, still push through till you reach to safety.” He turned his attention back to the bridge staff. “Maintain our current speed, fight off any of the bastards that get close, and if, God Willing, the Reaper shows up, we’ll stall it enough for the others to make it to friendly space.” The radio was quiet for a while. When the signalman's voice returned, there was just a hint of despair in his tone, "[i]Old Elizabeth[/i] acknowledges. We will relay to the rest of the freighters," the signalman paused a moment, and then, quietly added, "godspeed and good luck; give them hell." The convoy killed their counter-thrusters, and once more their primary rockets came fully online. They flared blindingly as the freighters moved to max acceleration, rocketing away towards the coordinates. They were fast, far faster than any of the vessels on either side. Behind them, that same trail of exotic particulate, slowly fizzling away in vacuum. Captain Hernandaz fell to his chair, feeling all a flurry of emotions at once. He couldn’t afford the tears, however, as the lives of well over a thousand sailors and marines laid on his hands. But all those lives would follow him to the jaws of dearth if willing. He scanned the room once more, the bridge staff looking to him for their next course of action, push through as planned? Make a sudden turn for the Reaper? Something in between? “Orders, sir?” His X.O. asked, her expression with a mix of uncertainty and fear. The captain clasped his hands as he jolted up from his chair. “First order of business, mop up the remaining enemy fighters, and recall our own.” He paused as he stepped towards the center of the room, looking to the holomap, the Reaper drawing closer. “I sure as hell ain’t leaving anyone else behind. Once all pilots are accounted for, we book it, we have no chance of regrouping with the convoy, so we do our damn best to hold out, stall the bastard if it shows up, you got me?” “Aye, aye, captain!” They reply in unison. The captain smirked. “Good, if we die, we die in a blaze of glory!” The [i]Dawn’s Early Light[/i] proceed as usual, guns blazing through the void as once by one, the Janissary fighter craft were made into stardust. The [i]Dawn’s[/i] surviving pilots regrouped and and were recalled as the engines burst with life, the battlecruiser jolting onwards. The Reaper, however, was quickly catch up, her own captain becoming Impatient and eager for an easy slaughter. A tightbeam from a far distance focused on the [i]Dawn's Early Light[/i], and a distant voice crackled. A familiar one, a signalman who had been on the [i]Herald of the Morning[/i] when first contact had been made. His voice was gruff, and he said, "[i]Herald of the Morning[/i] to [i]Dawn's Early Light[/i], report ten minutes out, repeat, ten minutes. Break," he swapped to a different topic, "maintain enemy attention. We will make a high-v pass. Three torpedo spread. Acknowledge." Before the message had arrived, the trip had been rather emotionally exhausting for many, this voyage most likely would’ve been or will be, the last for many onboard. However, once the message from the [i]Herald[/i] broke though, there was hope for survival. The captain was quick to respond, barely containing the excitement in his voice. “Copy that! We’ll keep them busy long enough for us to make a pincer move on them, over and out.” He turned to his X.O. “Change of plans, we’re charging straight at the reaper. Help’s coming and with our combined firepower, we can take down that monster.” With those words, some the bridge staff were fearful, but others cheered on, as they may be among those that sunk a Yulzan warship. The [i]Dawn’s Early Light[/i] made a starboard turn, charging head on to confront the Reaper. A few tense minutes pass before the dreaded moment finally came, the Reaper was within visual range, and immediately began to fire. The Yulzan ship exploding in an array of red plasma streams and bolts as the [I]Dawn’s[/i] shields were under constant stress from the attack. “Evasive maneuvers!” Hernandaz cried out. “Keep our distance! Fire all batteries!” The [I]Dawn’s[/i] engaged in a hit and run maneuver as both she and the Reaper exchanged shots, the Reaper’s own shields illuminating from every hit from the [i]Dawn’s[/i] own payload, slowly wearing it down, however, her own shields were dwindling in a frighting pace. The bridge trembled from another shot from the Reaper. “Shields down to 20%, sir! We can’t take another shot like that!” “Hold! We’ll make it through! I Promise!” In the far distance, a ship travelling far too quickly to engage. It streaked across the sensors like a shooting star in the night, the flare of its engines at full-blast as it accelerated faster and faster. It was the [i]Herald of the Morning[/i], not bothering to decelerate, just streaking faster and faster towards the fight. It would only get two or three seconds to engage, it couldn't possibly be enough to do any meaningful damage. As it rocketed above the Reaper, three torpedos released, one after the other. They hurtled, at great speed, towards the battlecruiser, as their mother vessel streaked off the sensors on the other side. One torpedo missed entirely, hurtling off into the dark. The second landed home, but wedged in the armor, undetonated. They were experimental, never before tested. It was entirely likely they might all fail, leave the Reaper to destroy the convoy. And then the third hit, and the Reaper was replaced by a blinding flash. The [i]Dawn's[/i] shields dropped as a vast pressure wave knocked their ship into a spin. A purple, fiery sphere expanded from the impact point. Then, a second blinding flash as the undetonated torpedo blew. The spin got worse, and the armor was peeled from the escorts. When the twin spheres of destruction cleared, all that remained of the Reaper was dust. Once the fight was over, [i]Dawn's[/i] drifted along the void, the explosion alone leaving the ship in worse condition then its fight with the Reaper, but it remained functional enough. Life slowly flickered back into the vessel, the once darkened bridge was now dimly lit as the crew awoken from their deadly ride. Blood dripping from the captain’s forehead as he came to. “Fuck that hurts…” He mumbled. “Any… sign of the Reaper?” One of the bridge staff moaned as he stood up, having a good look of the flicking holo-display “Holy shit.” He cursed. “It’s… gone.” “Holy shit, they did it.” Hernandez mumbled once more, in awe of what the [i]Herald[/i] managed to do. “That’s one hell of a weapons demo.” “…What now?” The X.O. asked. “What else? Engines are still somewhat functional, we maintain course back home. May take a while, but we're alive, and that’s all that matters.”