Infinite Stars Quest 30

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You are Captain SAMANTHA WELLINGS, a newly minted captain of the Centauri Accord!

Currently, your ship was lurking just outside the Kemmler system, where the name planet and your target was located. Now, Kemmler itself seemed like a regular enough planet. Fairly rocky and bare, with a thinner than usual atmosphere and high temperatures, making it a less than ideal place to live but a perfect breeding ground for raw materials and ores.

However, your objective was to create a large enough disturbance to distract the local defense forces so that Accord Intelligence could do their thing. Carly had returned to the Long Claw, which was lurking just off the Gullinbursti's rear starboard side.

"Captain, I'm putting up our reconnaissance data now." Bradford announces as images light up on your tactical display. "It looks like the planet has four destroyers and six corvettes on active patrol. It also appears there's a cruiser docked in orbit for routine servicing. No idea of its combat potential, but there's the possibility they can activate it in an emergency."

"They're not messing around, huh?" You sigh. "So do we have any targets?"

(cont)

"We've identified four possible targets." Bradford nods and turns to your sensor officer. "Lida?"

"There's the aforementioned cruiser in drydock." Lida speaks up, her voice still rather quiet. "Hitting that is sure to get their eyes on us. In addition, there are several ground facilities on the opposite end of the planet we can target via orbital bombardment. Or we can try to lure them further out by hitting their early warning satellites or interdicting system traffic."

"Um, am I the only one who's gonna point out that we're SERIOUSLY OUTNUMBERED?" Amy grumbles. "Even if we do have kickass tech, it's still two ships against over a dozen!"

"Well, we do have the advantage of surprise and mobility!" Elizabeth smiles. "It all comes down to how we leverage it."

>Keep Gullinbursti and Long Claw together. You need to consolidate all the firepower you have.
>Split up from the Long Claw. Hitting two places at once further stretches them.
>Other

>>Split up from the Long Claw. Hitting two places at once further stretches them.

>>Split up from the Long Claw. Hitting two places at once further stretches them.

The One-Two Punch!

>Keep Gullinbursti and Long Claw together. You need to consolidate all the firepower you have.
Dunno if it's a good idea to let Carly run off on her own just yet.

>Keep Gullinbursti and Long Claw together. You need to consolidate all the firepower you have.

>Keep Gullinbursti and Long Claw together. You need to consolidate all the firepower you have.
I'd like to launch a surprise attack on that docked cruiser, so having both ships in the fight would be better.

>Keep Gullinbursti and Long Claw together. You need to consolidate all the firepower you have.

>Split up from the Long Claw. Hitting two places at once further stretches them.

So what do you think Nat does with the failed serums? She must be making a killing from selling the successful ones, but what of the defects?

>I'm actually going to have to step away for a bit, so posting will be delayed for a while after this!

"We'll keep Gullinbursti and Long Claw together, to consolidate our available firepower." You conclude. "We can't afford to get separated or split up, and I'd rather be able to keep Carly in my sight."

"Understood." Bradford nods. "If that's the case, what target will we be striking?"

>The docked cruiser.
>The ground facilities.
>The early warning satellites.
>Traffic interdiction.
>Other

>>The early warning satellites.

>The early warning satellites.

Toss them out the airlock, or sell them to snake oil salesmen for the giggles

>The docked cruiser.
Take it out before it becomes a threat.

>>The docked cruiser.

>>The docked cruiser.

She could try mixing them all together and see what happens. Hell, she could be doing that and feeding it to Sam!

>The early warning satellites.

>Traffic interdiction.
This is something pirates know how to do.

>>The early warning satellites.

>The docked cruiser.
We're better suited to hit it, than long claw

All right I'm back so I'll count up the votes and get writing!

There's always selling them to R&D for weapons testing, or genetic engineering.

By the time that produces some actual results, we have better odds having Sam blasted by radiation to get superpowers.

Okay, so it appears we have a tie between the satellites and the cruiser, so we'll have one more runoff vote!

>Satellites
>Cruiser

>Cruiser

>Satellites

>>Satellites

>Satellites

>>Satellites

>Satellites

> Sam gets into contact with some Uplifting Artifact/Super Soldier growth serum/mixture of all of Nat's brews
>transforms into a beautiful 20/10, tall, blue-eyed, busty 'perfect human' (or some sort of Ubermensch/Superman analog) with mental powers for about 30 seconds before turning back to normal.

>Sam not staying her cute self all the time
Tank would not approve.

>Natalia gets ecstatic, mumbles about "finally recreating the serum I gave to Tank."

I think Tank really isn't a giant, it's just that power armor makes you bigger and under that he's just a regular guy or girl or long lost sibling

Maybe she'll actually record what she did instead of just winging it?

"We'll strike at the early warning satellites on the edge of the system." You point towards the indicated targets in a distant orbit around Kemmler's sun.

"What if they don't take the bait?" Amy asks. "I mean, early warning sats go down all the time.

"Not an entire sector, they don't." You point out. "Carly, you get that? We're gonna be satellite hunting."

"Booooooring." Carly groans.

"Believe me, you'll be seeing action soon enough." You grunt. "I think if we take out these four satellites here, that'll at least get a couple of their ships coming over to investigate. I'll take two and you take the other two."

"Fiiiiiiiine." Carly sighs. "Just give the word!"

"Amy, get us into firing position." You order. "Elsa, once you get a shot, take it. They'll know we're here soon enough."

"Gotcha!" Elsa grins as she cracks her knuckles before settling her hands on her weapons station.

In the distance, you can see little flashing points of light signalling the presence of the sensor satellites. Amy swings Gullinbursti's nose in line with the closest two.

"Fire!" You bark.

"Firing!" Elsa cackles as she hits her big red button. Almost instantly, four missiles spurt out from the Gullinbursti's flanks and lance straight for the distant satellites. You quietly count the seconds as the missiles pull away, finally detonate with a bright twinkle several long seconds later. Farther back, you can see brief, distant flashes as the Long Claw's mass drivers spit cannon rounds at the remaining two satellites, quickly making short work of them as well.

"Sensors are picking up movement from the planet." Lida warns. "Looks like two destroyers and four corvettes incoming to our position."

Well, it wasn't the entire garrison, but it was still a good chunk of it. You suppose more will be scrambled once things got hotter.

"Come on! We can take them!" Carly hoots over the comms.

>Lead them on a wild goose chase.
>Set up an ambush on them.
>Other

>>Set up an ambush on them.

>>Set up an ambush on them.

>>Set up an ambush on them.
Now the fun begins

>>Set up an ambush on them.

>Set up an ambush on them.

>>Lead them on a wild goose chase.

>>Set up an ambush on them.

>Set up an ambush on them.

"All right, we'll hide behind that nearby moon and hit them when they least expect it." You nod. "It's our two destroyers against theirs, so they're not going to be expecting so much firepower against them."

"And what do we do about her?" Bradford grumbles as he nods towards the Long Claw, which was moving in to form up with the Gullinbursti again."

You pause for a second. You could just trust her to do her own thing. Obviously she was no stranger to space battles, and had her own way of handling things. You were confident that she could be left to her own devices.

On the other hand, you did feel it would be good to instill into Carly the notion of being able to take orders and coordinate with an allied ship. Maybe you should keep a tighter leash on her?

>Trust Carly to handle herself.
>Keep Carly under your direct command.
>Other

>Trust Carly to handle herself.
As long as she doesn't try a boarding action, she'll be fine

>>Trust Carly to handle herself.

>Trust Carly to handle herself.

>Trust Carly to handle herself.

>>>Trust Carly to handle herself.

>Trust Carly to handle herself.

>>Trust Carly to handle herself.

"Carly can handle herself." You say as you eye the Long Claw. "We should be focusing on how WE hand this."

"True." Bradford nods. "The Hegemony flotilla will be in firing range in twenty seconds. What target should we prioritize?"

You wonder. The destroyers were obviously the biggest and most obvious threats, being heavily armed and armored. However, you couldn't just completely disregard the corvettes, either. The little bastards were small and fast, and if they could get close to Gullinbursti, they'd definitely be an issue.

>Attack the destroyers.
>Attack the corvettes.
>Other

>Attack the destroyers.

>>Attack the destroyers.
Let's do this by the book.

>>Attack the destroyers.

>>Attack the destroyers.

>Attack the destroyers.
>Other
Kill Jester.

>>Attack the corvettes.
Wipe out the ones with the lowest HP first

>>Attack the destroyers.

>Attack the corvettes.

I don't see any clowns here, do you?

"Hit the destroyers first." You instruct. "The faster we take them out, the better odds we have in this battle."

"Roger that!" Elsa smiles wide. "Ion cannon charged and ready!"

"Enemy ships are in optimal firing range." Bradford announces.

"Amy, do your thing." You nod.

"Roger that." Amy nods as she pushes the throttles forward. Gullinbursti lurches forward as her engines roar from the sudden injection of power. You ship crests over the moon's horizon, and now you can finally see the Hegemony flotilla with your own eyes.

As always, the Hegemony ships were big, blocky, ugly steel boxes with engines bolted onto them. You immediately recognized the destroyers as the ubiquitous Halycon class in common use by the Hegemony. Even the smaller corvettes looked to just be smaller versions of the Halcyon.

"If you have a lock, fire!" You remind Elsa.

"Firing!" Elsa laughs as a beam of azure light erupts from Gullinbursti's belly. The ion beam pierces through space and plows right into the armored spine of the closest Halcyon, its transponder labeling it as Winter's Bite.

The Winter's Bite's thick steel armor begins to glow white hot as it melts and ignites from the sheer energy of the ion cannon. You can see the top decks literally disintegrate, fulling gutting the ship's spine.

However, Hegemony armor was thick, and not even the ion cannon could fully cut through the whole ship. The Winter's Bite immediately begins to pull away, presenting its undamaged port side flank armor to you as it unleashed storms of mass driver rounds and missiles.

Meanwhile, the second Halcyon, the Iron Pike, was moving to shield its crippled sister ship while trying to bring its superheavy mass driver in line with you.

And further back, you could see the Long Claw charging in, intent on engaging the corvettes which were still trying to decide which target to focus on.

>Try to finish off the Winter's Bite.
>Engage the Iron Pike.
>Help out Carly with the corvettes.
>Other

>Try to finish off the Winter's Bite.

>>Engage the Iron Pike.

>>Try to finish off the Winter's Bite.

>Try to finish off the Winter's Bite.

>>Try to finish off the Winter's Bite.

>>Try to finish off the Winter's Bite.

>>Try to finish off the Winter's Bite.

"Finish off the Winter's Bite!" You bark. "Amy, try to keep it in our firing arc, but watch for incoming fire from the Iron Pike!"

"Jeez, why don't you ask me to pat my head and rub my belly at the same time?" Amy groans.

At this point, Carly was doing a good job keeping the corvettes distracted, the numerous mass drivers mounted on the Long Claw doing good work scattering and suppressing the Hegemony corvettes.

Gullinbursti's shields flash and spark as mass driver rounds and missiles impact it, but they're still holding strong with flux to spare. You look on ahead to see the crippled Winter's Bite still trying to get away, as if a giant floating box could outrun Gullinbursti.

"Ion cannon charged!" Elsa chimes, her finger over the trigger.

"Energy spike from Iron Pike!" Lida calls out. "It's charging its superheavy cannon!"

Sure enough, you could see arcs of lightning crackle across the Iron Pike's flanks and underbelly, the sure signs of a buildup of electromagnetic energy. You're not sure what hit like that would do to your shields, and you weren't sure if you wanted to find out.

FLUX: 40/120
HULL: 80/80

>Commit to the attack. (??? Flux)
>Break off the attack and go evasive. (20 Flux)
>Shift fire to Iron Pike. (??? Flux)
>Other

>Shift fire to Iron Pike. (??? Flux)

>>Commit to the attack. (??? Flux)

>>Commit to the attack. (??? Flux)

>>Commit to the attack. (??? Flux)

>Commit to the attack. (??? Flux)

>>Shift fire to Iron Pike. (??? Flux)

>Shift fire to Iron Pike. (??? Flux)

>Commit to the attack

>Commit to the attack. (??? Flux)

>>Commit to the attack. (??? Flux)

"Stay on target!" You order. "Elsa! Fire!"

"Firing!" Elsa hits the trigger, and for a second time, Gullinbursti unleashes azure fire, and her aim is masterful. Instead of striking the Winter's Bite at it's untouched flank armor, Elsa waited for the moment for the enemy ship to make a full turn, presenting its less armored stern. The ion beam drills straight through the Winter's Bite's engine block, and for a split second you can see the ship expand like a balloon before the hull starts to fragment and splinter as stockpiled munitions and the ship's own reactor detonates.

Unfortunately, this attack run also meant you couldn't maneuver, giving Iron Pike all the time in the world to aim its own heavy weapon at you. You're nearly knocked out of your chair and lights and holoscreens flash and flicker as Gullinbursti's shields take a direct hit from a mass driver round the size of a house.

"Damage report!" You try to shout above the screeching alarms and klaxons.

"Flux at dangerously high levels!" Lida reports, her hands darting across her console like lightning. Minor electrical damage in some sections of the ship. Damage control drones are being scrambled."

"Captain, we can't take another hit like that!" Scott whines. "The Flux capacitors can't take any more of this! We need to vent!"

FLUX: 100/120
HULL: 80/80

Damnit. If you were going to vent, you needed to get to a safe area to do it, since you'd be a sitting duck otherwise. That meant leaving Carly at the mercy of Iron Pike and its escorts, all alone.

But you still had missiles. Those didn't generate flux. All you had to make sure was not to get hit by anything.

Then again, that superheavy mass driver needed a long charge up time. Maybe you didn't have to take cover to vent...

>Fall back to vent flux.
>Vent flux without falling back.
>Risk it and stay in the fight.
>Other

>>Vent flux without falling back.
>We're much more maneuverable, Move outside it's arc of fire.

>Fall back to vent flux.

>>Vent flux without falling back.
this

>Vent flux without falling back.

>>Vent flux without falling back.

>>Vent flux without falling back.

>Vent flux without falling back.

.
>>Vent flux without falling back.
>>Risk it and stay in the fight.
Just like HE spamming a Battleship in my Farragut in WoWS

>>Vent flux without falling back.

I swear to god if another starship that's in another weightclass decides to show up as reinforcements....

"Amy, I need you give one last speed boost, get us out of the line of fire of that destroyer, and we'll vent while we coast on our momentum." You say.

"ARE YOU FUCKING CRAZY!?" Amy looks at you as if you'd grown three breast sizes. "You do realize that while we're venting, we're basically sitting ducks?!"

"I am very aware of that." You grunt. "Do it."

"Shiiiiiiiiiiiiit!" Amy curses as she slams her steering yoke to the side and throttles up. The burst of energy sends Gullinbursti lurching to the side and past the Iron Pike. Finally, the Flux capacitors reach their limit, and the automatic safety systems kick in, forcefully initiating a flux vent. Pure flux jets out of the Gullinbursti's flanks as the lights go dark, beginning what would be one of the longest few seconds ever.

Even though you managed to get out of the Iron Pike's line of fire for its primary weapon, the ship still had dozens of smaller mass driver batteries and missile pods. Almost immediately, Gullinbursti shakes and shudders as hostile projectiles strike the hull.

"Hull breaches on multiple decks!" Lida winces. "Fires on decks two and seven. Damage control drones are being deployed."

"We're so deeeaaaad!" Amy squeals.

"Fuck! How much longer?!" Elsa wails.

And just when you fear that maybe you weren't going to survive after all, you see the Long Claw charge forward, still harried by a flight of corvettes as it rams directly into the side of the Iron Pike, actually pushing the Halycon-class destroyer away from you.

"Haha, thought ya needed a helping hand, Sis!" Carly laughs over the comms.

"Goddamn Carly." You scowl as the flux vent finally completes, Gullinbursti's systems coming back online.

You had absolutely no doubt she planned on boarding that ship.

FLUX: 0/120
HULL: 50/80

>Let Carly do her thing.
>Tell Carly to back off.
>Send Tank to help her out.
>Other

>Send Tank to help her out.

>>Send Tank to help her out.

>>Send Tank to help her out.
You know what to do, Tank.

Don't worry, they'll only send Capital Ships to help out is if we're attacking that's extremely important to them.

>>Send Tank to help her out.

>Send tank to help her out
newfag here, might have screwed up formatting

>>Send Tank to help her out.
Time to send in the Cavalry

don't forget the hull repairs itself chief

>>Send Tank to help her out.

>Tell Carly to back off.