The man shakes it. "Crew?" He chuckles. "I'm a playwright, the very one who wrote the production you just enjoyed. Horst Belville, at your service, and thank you for the praise. I do try to add a little pizazz to my comedies." On the other side of Horst, a woman groans. "Please don't encourage him, he's got a big enough head already." Looking over, Xavier sees a blonde who has attracted a lot of attention from the other spectators.
She slides a hand across Horst, to Xavier. "Zara Tyne. I'm an actor, here." Horst chuckles. "An actor? An actor? She's a bright, burning star, and a delight to work with." Zara ignores the elf. "I've not seen you here before."
'My apologies, I didn't expect the playwright to be in the audience,' Xavier said, before he kissed the actress' hand, 'It is also a delight to meet you. It's the first time I've been, since I just arrived on the capital yesterday. I'm the new ambassador of the Centauri systems to our Emperor.'
'I haven't seen you on stage, I assume you are the lead actress for different plays?' Xavier smiled at her, 'Also written by Mr Belville?'
Without much physical strength, Vizelle drops to her knees. "Hehe. Indeed. But then again, how long until our roles are reversed?" She giggles, grinning as she replied.
"Fufu. If you do it, it simply means I was never meant for anything more than what I've currently achieved." Vizelle replies with a fearless grin. "But you won't, since you've said it yourself. You plan to use me to further your goals. And I plan to use you to strengthen my powers. A dangerous partnership, one which I feel you're eager to enjoy." She cooed, her tone turning into a sultry one.
"Of course, your wish is my command." He chuckles. Before she leaves, Sitra comes out to wish her new friend good bye, and then the shuttle takes Eanne away. Back at her flagship, Eanne is pampered by her servants, who take care of her every need. As she exits her room, a voice says "Decide to go out on your own, last night, did you?" Turning, Eanne sees Bec Hallaran, her head bodyguard.
Bec is the daughter of the previous chief bodyguard, who died around the same time as Eanne's father, and is one of the best swordsmen on Samodiva, if not the best. Eanne is free to replace the redhead for someone else, but for now, she's in her father's old role.
"Please, Bec, as much as you'd like it to be otherwise, our lady is your boss, you are not hers. She can go where she wishes, accompanied or otherwise." Delphis, Eanne's butler, says from the other side.
“It was a pleasure to meet you, Sitra. Take care of yourself and I'll see you later.” Eanne gave her new friend a warm smile before boarding the shuttle and leaving the Duke's home.
Back at her flagship, Eanne let her servants pamper her before getting back to her duties – she still had three more factions to talk with in regards to the taxes issue...
“Good morning, Bec, Delphis.” Eanne greeted her servants like always, then focused on Bec. “Yes, I went out on my own yesterday, and I had a lot of fun,” In more than one way... “But don't worry, from today on I will bring you and a few other bodyguards along whenever I go out.” She promised. “Now let's see if there's anything that requires my attention...”
"How droll. Prepare to be annihilated." The Admiral signs off. Thrax chuckles. "Time to show them what we can do. Until the XVth get here, we're outnumbered 2 to 1, maybe 3 to 1. Good! I'd call those about even odds!" The crew, inspired by Elena's speech, gives a raucous cheer, before burying themselves in their work.
The enemy fleet comes fowards like a spear, aimed for the heart of Elena's crusade, trying to split her force in two. In response, Thrax has his most heavily armored ships arranged in a horizontal line, in their path. The more maneuverable ships and boarding craft will move around the enemy's headlong charge, like the horns of a bull, and flank them.
The first phase of the battle is fiercely fought. The main battle line of Elena's fleet opens fire with their guns, and the priestess watches as the front most ships of the enemy begin to ripple under the assault and explode, the debris from their wrecks impeding the charge and damaging the enemy's shields, making the next ships easier targets for Thrax's gunners. The enemy have the numbers to endure, however, and they begin to return fire with a vengeance. Hundreds of projectiles, missiles, laser and plasma bolts slam against the shields of the line ships, and several begin to explode. Elena is nearly knocked off her feet as one particularly nasty explosive hits the flagship's shields. At the last moment, the bull's horns close in.
The two horns, made up of light, fast cruisers and escort ships, close in on the enemy's broadsides. The enemy's horde is massive, but in trying to use their spearpoint strategy, they've packed themselves too close together, a problem escalated by the fact that much of the enemy fleet is made up of undisciplined pirates and mercs. Many enemy ships get in each other's way and are unable to fire for fear of hitting one another. For Elena's crusaders, however, it's a target rich environment. They open fire with abandon, and the enemy begins to die. Shots press their shields to the breaking and then rip through them into the thin armour underneath. The black void of space begins to grow orange, as the enemy ships begin to explode, each explosion hitting the ships around it, too close to get out of the way, and making them the next victim. The enemy assault begins to reel back.
Amidst the chaos, no one notices a small dropship and a few escorting fighters making their way through the wreckage, towards a heavy cruiser, one of the mainstays of the enemy fleet.
The dropship crashes through into the hangar of the cruiser, releasing its payload of spec ops troopers. The men do their bloody work, carving their way through enemy marines, taking casualties along the way, but nothing that impedes them on their mission. They make it to the bridge, using nerve gas to wipe out the captain and his crew, before commandeering the ship. Then, acting under orders, the spec ops men pilot the ship to list dangerously, before activating thrusters. As the troopers return to the drop ship and leave, the ship plunges through the enemy fleet, ramming ship after enemy ship.
The cruiser barrels its way towards the enemy flagship, but before it makes contact, the dreadnought fires its immense main gun. The huge railgun sends forth a beam of superheated metal which carves through the cruiser, bisecting it, before both of the drifting halves explode. The dreadnought only takes very minor shield damage from the debris.
Phase 4:
D100: 33
Back on the bridge of the flagship, Thrax swears, as he looks for any signals indicating that the XVth Fleet has arrived. Joining him, Elena sees nothing. They're not here yet.
Looking out, Elena sees the dreadnought turning, beginning to make its way away from the battlefield, where it can engage its FTL drives and run. Without the XVth Fleet to cut off their escape soon, there will be nothing Elena and Thrax can do to stop them, unless they act now...and put themselves in range of that giant rail gun.
Thrax looks to Elena. "What do you think, ma'am? The rest of the enemy are going to flee without the dreadnought, but should we go after it? On the one hand, that main gun is almost certain to cause casualties if we send ships after it, and it'll have a huge crew to fight against our boarders. On the other hand, it would make a great prize if we captured it, and since it's undamaged, if we let it go, it might come after us again, and hurt us bad next time. What's your command, do we try to destroy the dreadnought, capture it, or let it escape?"
She did not want to let the ships go, but she was in no hurry to engage it and heave massive losses... There was no good solution.
"Damn the XVth fleet admiral." she swore silently. Thrax low opinion on the man was, it seems, too high. Maybe, it was not fair... maybe something happened. She turned to Thrax. "Can we pretend a weakness? An explosion or a flaw, that would make the enemy reconsider their escape?" She asked. "If we could delay the enemy until the XVth arrived..." She suggested. It was risky... but it was the least bloody of solutions.
She looked at the display, trying to judge how many enemy ships would they be able to defeat...
'My apologies, I didn't expect the playwright to be in the audience,' Xavier said, before he kissed the actress' hand, 'It is also a delight to meet you. It's the first time I've been, since I just arrived on the capital yesterday. I'm the new ambassador of the Centauri systems to our Emperor.'
'I haven't seen you on stage, I assume you are the lead actress for different plays?' Xavier smiled at her, 'Also written by Mr Belville?'
"Alas," Horst says dramatically, "Ms Tyne has abandoned we humble stage actors for the big screen, and only deigns to do grace us with her presence once every blue moon." Zara chuckles. "You're an idiot, Horst. I mostly do holovids nowadays, but every once in a while I like to come back and act on stage. Earlier in my career, I did have the misfortune of working with Mr Belville." She smirks.
"Fufu. If you do it, it simply means I was never meant for anything more than what I've currently achieved." Vizelle replies with a fearless grin. "But you won't, since you've said it yourself. You plan to use me to further your goals. And I plan to use you to strengthen my powers. A dangerous partnership, one which I feel you're eager to enjoy." She cooed, her tone turning into a sultry one.
Entering the cavernous throne room, she sees the young man waiting for her, standing in front of the throne. The room is empty besides them, and the guards.
"You're back! Are you okay?" He walks over to her. "If they harmed you, I'll have the whole planet orbitally bombarded."
"Then I think we'll all be grateful that I am unharmed," Hersillia replies, taking his hands in her own and giving them a little squeeze, "Especially since a number of their own soldiers were willing to aide in my escape and repaying them in fire would be quite... rude. "
She sighs before adding, "And while I'm flattered you'd go that far for my sake, I suspect you would have been giving the ones who made the attempt on my life what they wanted. An open excuse to reject us and any future peaceful overtures entirely. One thing your father sadly never learned is that sometimes it is wiser to not be the one to throw the first punch."
“It was a pleasure to meet you, Sitra. Take care of yourself and I'll see you later.” Eanne gave her new friend a warm smile before boarding the shuttle and leaving the Duke's home.
Back at her flagship, Eanne let her servants pamper her before getting back to her duties – she still had three more factions to talk with in regards to the taxes issue...
“Good morning, Bec, Delphis.” Eanne greeted her servants like always, then focused on Bec. “Yes, I went out on my own yesterday, and I had a lot of fun,” In more than one way... “But don't worry, from today on I will bring you and a few other bodyguards along whenever I go out.” She promised. “Now let's see if there's anything that requires my attention...”
Bec raises her eyebrows. "That's a nice change." Delphis brings Eanne her terminal, with which she can check her affairs.
40
Unfortunately, the pirate problem on Samodiva has only increased in intensity in the last few days, the military's actions to scout and destroy them having little impact or support.
She did not want to let the ships go, but she was in no hurry to engage it and heave massive losses... There was no good solution.
"Damn the XVth fleet admiral." she swore silently. Thrax low opinion on the man was, it seems, too high. Maybe, it was not fair... maybe something happened. She turned to Thrax. "Can we pretend a weakness? An explosion or a flaw, that would make the enemy reconsider their escape?" She asked. "If we could delay the enemy until the XVth arrived..." She suggested. It was risky... but it was the least bloody of solutions.
She looked at the display, trying to judge how many enemy ships would they be able to defeat...
"Possibly, if they're here specifically to kill or capture you." Thrax nods. "We could lower our shields, make it look like they were destroyed in the fighting, and lure the dreadnought in. We'd have to raise the shields quickly when they fire, or risk being annihilated, but after that," he gestures to the mostly destroyed enemy fleet, "I trust the crew."
Looking outside, Elena sees that the enemy have lost their advantage in numbers. Things might still go wrong, but the advantage is on Elena's side.
"Then I think we'll all be grateful that I am unharmed," Hersillia replies, taking his hands in her own and giving them a little squeeze, "Especially since a number of their own soldiers were willing to aide in my escape and repaying them in fire would be quite... rude. "
She sighs before adding, "And while I'm flattered you'd go that far for my sake, I suspect you would have been giving the ones who made the attempt on my life what they wanted. An open excuse to reject us and any future peaceful overtures entirely. One thing your father sadly never learned is that sometimes it is wiser to not be the one to throw the first punch."
"Alas," Horst says dramatically, "Ms Tyne has abandoned we humble stage actors for the big screen, and only deigns to do grace us with her presence once every blue moon." Zara chuckles. "You're an idiot, Horst. I mostly do holovids nowadays, but every once in a while I like to come back and act on stage. Earlier in my career, I did have the misfortune of working with Mr Belville." She smirks.
'You two get on like oil and water,' Xavier chuckled, amused by their playful bickering, 'Are you married perhaps or formerly so?'
'I apologise for my ignorance, I am not well versed in holovids, I would've recognised you otherwise, I'm sure,' Xavier said, 'We have our own host of local celebrities and socialites in back home, I'm not well-versed in the culture of the Imperial capital yet.'
"Oh? Is that what I was doing?" Vizelle asked in a ditzy tone, "I didn't realize." She cooed, grinning, "I mean, why else would you imbue such pleasures into simple stones, if you weren't looking for some?"
Bec raises her eyebrows. "That's a nice change." Delphis brings Eanne her terminal, with which she can check her affairs.
40
Unfortunately, the pirate problem on Samodiva has only increased in intensity in the last few days, the military's actions to scout and destroy them having little impact or support.
Eanne frowned as she read the report about the pirates. This is becoming quite the annoyance... After thinking about it and considering her options for a few minutes she sent instructions to try and capture a pirate vessel. Hopefully questioning the surviving pirates or searching through the ship's logs would provide some useful information... As for method to use, she suggested using bait – some ship that looked old and an easy target but was in fact well armed and armored – and then ambushing the attackers when they took the bait. Though she left the final decision to the people who were actually there, as they had a better grip on the situation.
"Possibly, if they're here specifically to kill or capture you." Thrax nods. "We could lower our shields, make it look like they were destroyed in the fighting, and lure the dreadnought in. We'd have to raise the shields quickly when they fire, or risk being annihilated, but after that," he gestures to the mostly destroyed enemy fleet, "I trust the crew."
Looking outside, Elena sees that the enemy have lost their advantage in numbers. Things might still go wrong, but the advantage is on Elena's side.
Elena considered the matter for a moment. Much depended on XV fleet...
This was a gamble, but also the quickest possible way to end the war.
She picked her lips.
Fortune favour the bold.
"Do it, admiral. Let's finish it in this battle." She gave an order and grabbed the railing. She turned to the crew. "I'm counting on you!" She said to them with a smile.
'You two get on like oil and water,' Xavier chuckled, amused by their playful bickering, 'Are you married perhaps or formerly so?'
'I apologise for my ignorance, I am not well versed in holovids, I would've recognised you otherwise, I'm sure,' Xavier said, 'We have our own host of local celebrities and socialites in back home, I'm not well-versed in the culture of the Imperial capital yet.'
"Hah!" Zara seems highly amused by that statement. "Married? To him? What, was the town drunk taken?" She chuckles, while Horst makes a mock hurt expression. "No, I'm not married, in particular not to our...friend." Despite the content of her words, the tone is teasing, not insulting, and Horst doesn't seem to be insulted at all, more amused by the banter.
"That's fine, many people aren't into vids, especially those who come to see plays." Zara smiles, before Horst says "Well, if you're not well versed, then I say it's our duty to introduce you to our fine planet." Zara rolls her eyes. "In all seriousness, though, knowing your way around the various people here isn't a bad thing for someone involved in politics. If you need help, or just want someone to show you around, feel free to ask."
"Oh? Is that what I was doing?" Vizelle asked in a ditzy tone, "I didn't realize." She cooed, grinning, "I mean, why else would you imbue such pleasures into simple stones, if you weren't looking for some?"
"Pleasure," he snaps his fingers, and suddenly Vizelle feels herself orgasm without warning, "Is a good method of controlling people." He chuckles, and she feels herself squirt. "I find that it's a better motivator than pain."
Eanne frowned as she read the report about the pirates. This is becoming quite the annoyance... After thinking about it and considering her options for a few minutes she sent instructions to try and capture a pirate vessel. Hopefully questioning the surviving pirates or searching through the ship's logs would provide some useful information... As for method to use, she suggested using bait – some ship that looked old and an easy target but was in fact well armed and armored – and then ambushing the attackers when they took the bait. Though she left the final decision to the people who were actually there, as they had a better grip on the situation.
"Hah!" Zara seems highly amused by that statement. "Married? To him? What, was the town drunk taken?" She chuckles, while Horst makes a mock hurt expression. "No, I'm not married, in particular not to our...friend." Despite the content of her words, the tone is teasing, not insulting, and Horst doesn't seem to be insulted at all, more amused by the banter.
"That's fine, many people aren't into vids, especially those who come to see plays." Zara smiles, before Horst says "Well, if you're not well versed, then I say it's our duty to introduce you to our fine planet." Zara rolls her eyes. "In all seriousness, though, knowing your way around the various people here isn't a bad thing for someone involved in politics. If you need help, or just want someone to show you around, feel free to ask."
'I have to thank both of you for the offer,' Xavier smiled, 'I'm still feeling my way around the palace for now. I never imagined it would have so many different facilities. I mean, who would expect the Emperor to have a theatre, a race track and especially fighting pits in his palace?'
'I suppose, I'll have to dig around for the hidden strip-club, gambling den and spice melange house,' Xavier chuckled, 'Are you two staying at the palace as well or are you only here to see the play?'
Elena considered the matter for a moment. Much depended on XV fleet...
This was a gamble, but also the quickest possible way to end the war.
She picked her lips.
Fortune favour the bold.
"Do it, admiral. Let's finish it in this battle." She gave an order and grabbed the railing. She turned to the crew. "I'm counting on you!" She said to them with a smile.
Thrax nods, and the crew gives another cheer. The generators give a whine, as the shields power off, leaving the flag ship temporarily defenseless. The dreadnought stops its turn prematurely, and, using its escorts as cover, begins advancing on Elena's ship. "Her main gun's powering up!" A deck officer shouts. "Hold..." Thrax murmurs. "Hold..." Elena sees the railgun grow blue with energy. "Hold...Now!" As the railgun is about to fire, and the dreadnought closes to combat range, Thrax gives the order to raise shields.
Elena sees the railgun's beam approaching, growing closer and closer, till she's sure that it's going to hit the bridge, and she's about to die, before she sees the blue forcefield surround the ship once more, blocking the weapon. The shockwave sends Elena clean off her feet, but she's alive, some officers helping her up. There's a cheer, before Thrax shouts "Get back to work, bastards! She ain't dead yet!" He looks to Elena. "Ma'am, do we kill her, or capture her?" He gestures to the dreadnought.
D100: 67
Next to the gas giant, Elena sees the XVth fleet drop out of FTL speed, on the other side of the dreadnought. The enemy is trapped.
