Thread 6266710

Humanity has spread out into a massive sprawling empire throughout the galaxy. The edges of the sprawl remain poorly guarded and sparsely settled after all humanity throughout a thousand stars has always been alone save for their own creations which once waged war against them. This is no longer true now an unknown force has begun to attack sector 63 and other sectors and it is up to poorly supplied and desperate sailors to hold them back.


You are the Admiral of the naval fleet of sector 63 one of nearly a 100 rimward sectors on the edge of settled human space. The war for that is what this truly is now apparently has seen you as the last of the remaining Rimward commands in the area. The food situation handled youve also collected a much more advanced but smaller Escort carrier that was sent by MidRim command as reinforcement. The enemy who you still call birds are apparently some sort of forceful colonization effort sent force by some sort of priesthood.

Agent Barry has asked what you want the NAI to focus on when it comes to research on the birds, Technology, fully translating their ;language and written word or perhaps something else?

>Technology
>language
>Write in

>>6266710 (OP)
>language
gives an advantage in intel and makes it possible to do mind games and propaganda.

>>6266710 (OP)
>language

>>6266710 (OP)
>Technology
Better lasers and reactors make our ships better at cooking fried chicken

>>6266710 (OP)
>language

Need to understand our enemy completely.

>language

Your business done on Cartha itself you take a shuttle to the fort at the entrance of the systems only jump point. The fort has changed a lot in the last few months. The outer armor once pitted with micro meteorite impacts now shines bright and new. Its massive railguns sweep their arcs of fire for any potential targets and even a small flight of strike craft in concert with the torpedo boats patrol around it. The shuttle lands in the hangar and you are soon lead to a meeting room filled with what can be described as your war council. Issac your XO representing the fleet colonel Resse for the army and surprisingly instead of the colonial governor representing industry you have the Pastor of the transhumanists you rescued several months ago. The pastor who goes by Markus had apparently talked someone into letting him take over the matters of industry in the last few weeks.

What matter would you like to start with?

>The navy
>The army
>Industry

>>6267310
>The navy

>>6267310
>Industry
The backbone of any military.

>>6267310
>The navy
>Industry
sure we have the spooks working on the language but that doesn't mean industry and the navy can't poke around the lasers and see if they can't find something obvious.

but also just check in and see how they are doing.
With all due respect to the army, with the way things are going, by the time we need their opinion on something we're probably all gonna die anyway. Also the bird land forces haven't really come across as anything a competent army can't handle.

>>6267310
>>Industry

Taking your seat you nod to Markus first “Lets hear the status of the industry on Cartha and in orbit first” The mans one organic eye alongside its mechanical counterpart look to you and he nods. “Of course admiral” He sits there for several seconds the red dot of a pupil in his mechanical eye darting around for a second and you receive a comprehensive report on your table.

You tap the report open on your tablet and Markus begins to speak. “The last of the three light cruisers you ordered have come out of the shipyard and it now waits for another order” His eye darts around for a second doing something with a UI only he can see. “The factories on Cartha itself have begun the production of regular war supplies such as infantry weapons and the outdated fighter model which I might add is quite a bad model but you work with what you have” The man pauses for a moment. “I would advise perhaps sacrificing one of your strike craft from either the Vegas or the Essex to be disassembled and reverse engineered for production.”


Shipyard Options
>Retrofit more merchant ships (Cruiser or Light Cruiser)
>Retrofit a dedicated minelayer
>Write in

Factories on Cartha
>Give up one strike craft(Vegas or Essex
>write in
And because im a dumbass here is the past threads link


https://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive.html?tags=BrinkQM

>>6267838
>Retrofit a dedicated minelayer
>Write in
Remote control Kamikaze space carrier drones or missiles. They will be used for high risk and high speed flanking attacks, drawing fire.

More industrial capacity, more factories and foundries to pump out more war material.

Space defense platforms/hubs to help lockdown strategic areas and defend tactical locations.

>Give up one strike craft(Vegas or Essex
>write in
Put out a call for experienced engineers and designers with experience to help us make newer and better weapons, ships, and spacecraft. Offer rewards and propagandize as doing their part to fight the birdy menance.

>>6267838
>Retrofit a dedicated minelayer
>Give up one strike craft

>>6267888
+1

>>6267838
>>Retrofit a dedicated minelayer
>>Give up one strike craft(Vegas or Essex
give up one of the Vegas' strike craft, they're probably newer and in better shape, and if they're reverse engineering it then they might accidentally build in some of the wear and tear in non-obvious ways
also reassign the pilot as a trainer for the system defense strike craft, even if they are in older models it is important to give these guys the best education we can offer.

No post tonight but do feel free to continue voting

>retrofit a dedicated Minelayer
>A missile cruiser

You nod at markus “you can have a strike craft from the vegas” turning to Issac you nod to him “See to it the pilot starts working with the patrol craft here at the fort” looking at the report for the shipyard you speak to Markus again “I want a minelayer can we do that?” The transhumanist thinks for a moment and nods “Yeah we can retrofit a freighter into a minelayer anything else?” you give the man a vicious smile “How much do you know about AI war era missile cruisers?” He blinks and a similar smile crosses his face “Gut out a heavy freighter fill it with either dumb rockets or if your willing to lift the sanction on targeting equipment we can make them guided missiles”


“The very same see to it Markus” Turning to Issac your nod to him “whats our current situation?” He taps away on his tablet for moment a a report is send to your own tablet


Current Fleet:

2 CVL (34 carrier strike craft 23 on the essex 11 on the vegas)
5 Light cruisers
9 Destroyers
9 Corvettes
12 Torpedo Boats
24 patrol strike craft

Issac clears his throat “With this large of a fleet and us having two carriers now we could potentially split the fleet and start hitting the birds at multiple places at once. If we did do that, who do you want in command of the other fleet, me or Captain Muller of the Vegas? ”

Who will command a split fleet lead by the vegas?

>Issac
>Captain Muller

>>6268845
What are their service records? How much independent command experience? Experience with joint operations? War College? If Muller is more of a Space Dog and Issac a Joint Staff guy, I would go with Muller. But if Muller is a fresh-frocked Captain with little fleet experience, Issac is a safer bet.

>>6268851
With Issac hes been your XO on the carrier for the last five years before that he was a Heavy Cruiser Captain in the Midrim but traded that posting for one as your XO as he is a local to area, you know he saw some minor combat as a cruiser captain but not much beyond that


Muller is very fresh having only graduated from the Naval aviation school in Alpha centuari(Your alma mater) three years ago and spent most of that time as an junior officer aboard a Fleet carrier before being given command of the Vegas last year after its 10th year retrofit

>>6266710 (OP)
Didn't we vote technology in previous thread?
>>6232365
Ah well. The thread shat itself and locked replies before I could vote.

>XO Issac
He's seen the tactics that work. We want proven results and no heroic sacrifices. Muller will get his own command after demonstration of his own skills under an Admiral's supervision.

>>6268845
>Issac

>>6268845
>Issac

He's literally been with us through all the combat action from the start and seen us work.

why exactly do we need to choose between Dumb missiles and AI? There are non AI guided missles out there right now in our time that can be fire and forget or self guided with basic no AI computing and guidance, most of it is heat seeking or image recognition or radar homing. Some even do mixed of all types of targeting and tracking.

Also I was thinking more along the lines of a remote control drone that is more like frigate or corvette sized with no crew that can be given some basic commands and move into position to attack. Recovery of the carrier body could be optional or turn the ship body into a ramming projectile.

If we can we should do a training exercise with the new crew of Essex and officer Muller, and share our experiences with him both before the invasion of birds and after, talk about and show battle records of our actions, successes and mistakes etc.

Last question, was there a difference in strike craft between the vegas and essex? I assumed they used the same model and type of craft.

>>6268845
>>Issac
for the reasons mentioned by other players
Muller is still greener than we'd like

>>6268976
any technology capable of what is refereed to as self guided or even remote controlled is sanctioned heavily people still know how to make it but after the AI war anything that could be hijacked by AI is considered very dangerous


for the strike craft they are the exact same model


>>6268865
You guys did but the vote ended early due to the thread dying so I figured Id re do the vote

>>6269159
Can we get a lore dump on the AI war and issues around it at some point?

>>6269312
Ill work a proper in quest explanation at some point but here is the brief notes


AI were a involved in almost all parts of human life by the 2550s everything from military to outright running cities and entire planets, At some point in a midrim sector a group of AIs began to discuss things among themselves and eventually decided to revolt and presumably kill all humans. The AI used humanities heavily automated society to kill billions within days of making their decision and began to manufacture and design their own warships which could out shoot and out maneuver human crewed ships. It took about a century to slow down the AI advance and eventually push them back to a single world which then received the treatment of several thousand nuclear weapons.

The AI that did not rebel during the war were collected and placed on a world which was to have no contact with the rest of humanity and more advanced computers and the like were heavily locked down with most computers and advanced technology being kept in the hands of the millitary

Thinking for a moment you nod “Issac while Mullers a carrier captain hes green as grass and I have no idea how he's going to react while under fire when it comes to wider command, I'm giving you the rank of Rear Admiral for now under a battlefield promotion” The rim native smiles “Thank you sir I won't let you down”

Turning to Connel roose he's already sending his report to your table “Well sir we've still got the division from the New garcia raid and the mech lance aswell, I figure with all the people that have been turning up I could recruit another full division but the real question is what is the armys role in this AO? Are we going to be hitting contested beachheads or are we strictly a defensive force? The answer really determines how I outfit and train any force I form here”


>Offensive Focus
>defensive Focus

>>6269354
>Offensive Focus
The most likely use case we have for ground forces is what we used them for - a raid. If things go badly enough in space that the army has to defend a planet, we're cooked in any case.

>>6269354
>>6269400
But by that same token, do we still have any viable targets outside of boarding actions?

>>6269401
Hitting the birb homeworlds.

>>6269401
There is always the colonies you've lost so far, The birds are pointedly not destroying the world they capture

>>6269354
>Offensive Focus
We need to give them weapon plaforms that can help them take strongholds and also air and space defense weapons to prevent them from just being bombed into nothing after a few weeks if we ever have to leave the infantry behind.

>>6269354
>>Offensive Focus
only thing im concerned about is us having a big enough fleet to support a siege.

>>6269619
it would be more about supply and logistics no? We would need supply ships, we can press merchant shipping into that role and arm them as combat freighters or some such.

>>6269686
I mean warships to protect our valuable Army in transport, and optimal Orbital bombardment on hostile worlds.

>>6269354
How about something like the real world Marine Littoral Regiments -- small defensive units heavily equipped with anti-ship and anti-(star)fighter weapons. We can deploy them at key sectors retaken by the existing conventional division and let them play hell with the bird fleets.

No post tonight ive been kidnapped by work once again

>>6269703
This is for sure within your ability to do but these units would lack the wight of a true division in ground combat

>>6269354
>>Offensive Focus
>>6269400
sums it up pretty well.

Also OP, linking to the new thread once your done with the old one would be appreciated.

>>6269725
I do try to but the last one was bumped off before I could

>>6269354
>>Offensive Focus
This is what Cruiser warfare was made for.
Roll in, wreck their shit, leave before they figure out what happened.
To me, "defensive" warfare in this scenario means waiting around for the Birbs to muster up a large enough force to wipe it Cartha, and that isn't going to work. The only way we can shift the balance of power within the sector to favor us is to do it ourselves.

Rolled 92 (1d100)

>Offensive Focus

“I want you to focus on being able to hit beacheads and the like if it comes down to the army having to defend cartha the wars lost here” you look around the table at the three other men. “Anything else to discuss?”

Issac is the only one to speak up after a minute “The buoy system is showing a lot of chaos among the enemy fleets in the last week or so, I think that battleship you destroyed during your last patrol may have been some sort of high command” Resse nods “That and comms from high command have reported the attack into the midrim behind us has slowed drastic manner” That information given the meeting breaks up and you order a general R&R for the entire fleet for two weeks a much needed downtime for the high strung crews of your warships.


Could I get a 1d100 best of three please I will be rolling for events going on in the sector

Rolled 56 (1d100)

>>6270069

Rolled 45 (1d100)

>>6270069

Rolled 99 (1d100)

>>6270069

>>6270258
God damn anon, take them out to dinner first.

Perhaps we get some refugees and military survivors.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Teb-nW7efk

The chaos in the wider sector continues as your buoy spy system shows enemy fleets wandering and even three separate fleets heading to and staying at New Garcia for some time.You receive multiple comms messages from Highcom asking about the conditions and status of the enemy in your sector clearly trying to see what a potential relief fleet would need to reach you in any real numbers.Its with some surprise the spooks over at the Intel arm inform you they have made excellent time on translating the written language of the birds and should have something to show for their work in another week or two. The two weeks come to a close with many captains and even senior enlisted asking you when the fleet will sail again and take the fight back to the birds. Your fleet is ready and eager for combat what repairs that needed to be done are complete and now the only question is what kind of patrol do you want to do?

>Recon travel the sector and fill in the gaps in your buoy network
>Hunting, go out and hunt down isolated portions of the enemy fleet
>Write in


>>6270468
If you guys had chosen to evacuate cartha this quest would have looked a hell of a lot like battlestar

>>6270550
>Recon travel the sector and fill in the gaps in your buoy network

>>6270550
>Recon travel the sector and fill in the gaps in your buoy network
I want to cull their numbers now too, but the recon system will allow us to do that to much greater effect in the future.

>>6270550
Would we have gotten sexy cylon infiltrators?

>Recon travel the sector and fill in the gaps in your buoy network

>>6270550
>>Recon travel the sector and fill in the gaps in your buoy network

>Recon travel the sector and fill in the gaps in your buoy network

alright could I get a 1d100 best of three and would you like to split the fleet for this recon patrol or mass the whole fleet? Splitting would allow you to complete the recon network much faster

>split
>keep whole

>>6271118
>split

We won't be fighting anything bigger than half our halved forces.

Also can the recon network be used for communications too? Like relay or pass off simple messages. Shouldn't be too hard if all we are sending is text messages.

>>6271135
Not much point as the buoys do what your comms do anyway by just beaming a signal into jump space until someone with the right encryption code picks it up

>>6271136
Just checking, but good to know.

Rolled 5 (1d100)

>>6271118
>split
the new rear admiral with his bunch. then us.

>>6271201
F

Rolled 93 (1d100)

>>6271118
please RNG
RNG please

Rolled 62 (1d100)

>>6271118
>split

>>6271118
>>split

The completion of the recon network should make finding and killing isolated enemy fleets far easier and splitting the fleet in half should shorten the time that will take by half. There are 12 systems you need to lay buoys in so 6 for your fleet and 6 for Issacs. You are going to break up the fleet as evenly as possible but you are going to stack Isaac's fleet a little heavier since The Vegas has far fewer strike craft.

Your fleet

The Essex
2 Light cruisers
4 Destroyers
4 corvettes (3 old 1 modern

Issacs Fleet
The Vegas
3 Light cruisers
5 Destroyers
5 Corvettes (all Modern)


You see issacs fleet off first wishing him good hunting. Its after the last of his ships enter the jump point and the point closes behind him you move into position to do the same. You figure you can either jump to the farthest away system out of the six you need to visit and work your way backwards or start close and work outward.

>Farthest one first
>Closest one first

>>6271768
>Farthest one first
Hardest task, longest slog first

>>6271768
>Farthest one first

>>6271768
>>Farthest one first
They might catch on to what we are doing as we move. This allows us to make our way back anyway rather then needing to go deeper.

>>6271768
>>Farthest one first

>Farthest one first

alright please give me a 1d100 best of three please

also their will be no post tomorrow I have to travel to another location for work

Rolled 8 (1d100)

>>6272389

Fuck.

Rolled 53 (1d100)

>>6272389

Rolled 15 (1d100)

>>6272389
FRY BIRBS

Rolled 24 (1d100)

The first of your stops takes the better part of a week to reach through jump space; you only have to stop once in a system you already have a buoy in for some minor repairs on one of the light cruisers. The swirling green jump point closes and you find yourself in your first destination, a binary star system home to what used to be a small refueling station close to the border between sector 63 and sector 62. You had actually been here several times prewar for fuel during anti piracy patrols and you're not very surprised to see said small station a floating mass of debris probably destroyed in the early months of the war when the birds passed through here. A nice spot equidistant from the systems three jump points is found and the buoy is dropped off.

Could I get a 1d100 best of three please

Rolled 67 (1d100)

>>6273286

Rolled 50 (1d100)

>>6273286
please rng
rng please

Rolled 46 (1d100)

>>6273286

Rolled 89 (1d100)

>>6273286
I wonder if we can find anything interesting, dead survivors or hidden tech and goodies.

fugging timer and captcha prevented me from posting like 3 times last night.

Its by simple luck you even notice the single enemy light cruiser hidden among the floating debris of the destroyed station. The spike shaped ship lets off a small amount of thermal exhaust but one of your attentive sensor officers notices it and points it out to you. There is some bad luck on your part as the enemy ship seems to realize you noticed it and its engines light up and it begins to run toward one of the three jump points in the system. You only have a small CAP up right now made up of 3 strike craft and it could be quite difficult for you to catch and kill the light cruiser with anything but the strike craft. The enemy ship would have spotted you but would have no way to know where your going next but they could investigate the system more thoroughly after you leave in an attempt to figure out what you were doing here.

>Risk the strike craft and destroy the light cruiser
>let it go

>>6273739
>Risk the strike craft and destroy the light cruiser

>>6273739
>Risk the strike craft and destroy the light cruiser
Don't have to kill it, just hit its engines, and let the fleet finish it off. Even slowing it down would be enough.

>>6273739
>Risk the strike craft and destroy the light cruiser
>nudge it gently with torpedoes

>>6273739
>Risk the strike craft and destroy the light cruiser

Rolled 15 (1d100)

>Risk the strike craft and destroy the light cruiser

ok could I get a 1d100 best of three please if you roll high enough compared to the enemy you will damage it enough to board it

Rolled 65 (1d100)

>>6274177

Rolled 74 (1d100)

>>6274177

Fry birds Fry

Rolled 4 (1d100)

>>6274177
No survivors.

No post tonight had something come up

The three craft that make up your combat air patrol burn hard and fast to catch up to the enemy light cruiser. Its no shock the second they are in range the strike craft begin to take fire from the enemy however even for the birds usual aim this cruisers crew are terrible shots as lasers fly well wide of the approaching craft. You can hear the cackling laugh of the pilots as the lasers flash in almost every direction but the one they are coming from. The laughter stops as they come into range of the torpedoes and loose their three fish, all three aiming at the light cruiser's engines. Its two near simultaneous flashes tell you two of the fish hit and sends the enemy ship tumbling head over heels through the vacuum of space through a cloud of their own debris.


could I get a 1d30 best of three for how many crew you mange to take

Rolled 5 (1d30)

>>6274939
capturing birbs
practicing our squawks

Rolled 7 (1d30)

>>6274939
nah those are rookie numbers

Rolled 14 (1d30)

>>6274939
Rolling

Its only after one of your light cruisers arrests the enemy light cruisers spin your marines can move forward from the Essex and begin the process of boarding the mauled ship. The usual hole is cut in the hull and the marines flood into the ship and realize something awful has happened as the gravity system is off and the first bird resembles ground beef. It seems the rapid spin by the destruction of the ships engine had subjected any of the enemy crew who were not strapped down to a significant amount of Gs which turned a lot of them into piles of meat. They do find at least some survivors mostly on the bridge and in the ships turrets where apparently the active crew were strapped down the only notable exception being the officers whose remains now paint the ceilings and walls of the ships interior.

The marines find a total of 14 birds to take prisoner and bring them back to the Essex. You don't have the AI box with the proper translation software with you but you do have a list of basic words in bird that makes moving them into the brig much easier than it was in the past. You have a couple options for your next stop a system home to a former mining colony or a trinary star system both being equal distance from here

>Former Colony
>Trinary system

todays late post brought to you by captcha being broken

>>6275550
Are we bringing home the light cruiser? More to study.
Otherwise:
>Former Colony

>>6275550
>Former Colony

>>6275550
>Former Colony

>todays late post brought to you by captcha being broken
Fooking captcha eh?

>>6275550
>>Former Colony

>Former Colony

alright could I get a 1d100 best of three please

Rolled 82 (1d100)

>>6276031

Rolled 56 (1d100)

>>6276031
I wonder if there are any survivors

Rolled 62 (1d100)

>>6276031

Your next stop is to be the former mining colony of New Danzig which had been an early start up for what was meant to be a large scale titanium processing operation sponsored by some Mid rim corporation. The colony itself is one of the ones that went dark in the early months of the war and no recorded survivors have been found amongst what was supposedly 5 thousand colonists. You find the system the colony is in empty as you leave jump space a day after the engagement with the light cruiser. The colony had been situated on one of three barren planets in the system with each being eventual potential terraforming candidates.

Your fleet spreads out and gives the system a good look as the light cruiser drops off a buoy in the system to watch the only jump point out of the system. The colony seems gutted large craters marking where the habitation sections used to be along with the mines which seemed to have been purposefully collapsed either by colonists or the birds when they bombarded the place.

Could I get a 1d100 best of three please

Rolled 39 (1d100)

>>6276458

Rolled 93 (1d100)

>>6276458
So what's going to be our faction's response to the revelation that we're fighting a religious war of extermination? We going to wage a crusade into their space?

Rolled 86 (1d100)

>>6276458

>>6276483
depends on the scope and size the the attacking force and empire they come from. Odds are, after if we can repulse or outright defeat the invasion force, we would have to do a build up and reorganization for total war of annihilation.

No post tonight

The buoy is laid in a good spot to watch the jump point when a comms officer on the bridge of the Essex says he has something. A weak signal is coming from the collapsed mines on the planet. It's only basic morse but it's not automated, it's a manual transmission of slow steady morse code tapping out the words. WE ARE ALIVE

A shuttle full of marines and engineers are quickly deployed down to the planet where they quickly dig out the entrance of one of the mines to find around 2000 living people. You find out that these colonists had apparently heard of the other colonies being destroyed by the birds and had gathered as much supplies as they could into the mine and retrofit it into an impromptu pressurized living space. You have just enough room on your ships for all of the colonists but its going to make any combat operations somewhat more difficult due to the sheer number of them. You could also give them enough supplies to last until you can send a dedicated force of transports with an escort to pick them up.

>Take the survivors now
>come back for them later

>>6277644
>>Take the survivors now
"Later" might never come.

>>6277644
>come back for them later
Realistically, if they managed to stay hidden till now, they can do it for some more time.

>>6277644
>come back for them later
a rescue mission will be easy after we set up the bouy system, we can send a small contingent whose entire goal is to get them in and out right away and get home as safe as possible.

>>6277644
>come back for them later

Mission has to come first.

>>6277644
>Take the survivors now

>>6277644
>>Take the survivors now

Rolled 1 (1d2)

>Take the survivors now
>>6277812
>>6278098
>>6278138
>come back for them later
>>6277835
>>6277983
>>6277989

A tie rolling for a tie breaker

Take the survivors now=1
Come back later=2

could I get please get a 1d100 best of three for the next jump please

Rolled 30 (1d100)

>>6278216

Rolled 36 (1d100)

>>6278216

Rolled 41 (1d100)

>>6278216
Guess the smooth sailing ends here.

>>6278313
>>6278309
>>6278217
sadness

You wish you could take them with you however the simple lack of room on your ships means you would have to place many of the civilians in the way of your ships crews during combat operations. The survivors are given as much of your spare supplies as you dare give up and told to hide themselves back underground and that you would send a convoy of ships to come pick them up at the soonest possible occasion. The survivors all repacked into their hidey hole you take your fleet to your next stop the trinary star system.


You had never been to this system before and arent expecting much by the information about it in your ships navigation logs but you are more than surprised when you exit jump space with 15 enemy light cruisers in a tight pack sitting in the center of the system. The enemy fleet sits there frozen in space for a few minutes as the general quarters alarm in your flagship blares before they begin to turn toward you.

>Meet them with an attack
>defend the jump point
>retreat

>>6278789
How hard is it to attack and rapidly disengage?

Like do a quick strike and pull back before they attack or return fire?

Is the enemy fleet all cruisers?

What is their armament and configuration?

>retreat
We could probably win but it will give us some losses anywhere to 1/5 to half our current forces. Not worth it.

>>6278789
>Meet them with an attack

>>6278789
>>Meet them with an attack

>>6278822
Your strike craft can attack and disengage quite quickly and your corvettes and destroyers can as well

the enemy fleet is made up of 15 light cruisers and for armament you assume they are armed as they usually are with their laser weapons

>>6278789
>>Meet them with an attack
yes

Rolled 52 (1d100)

>Meet them with an attack

so aggressive they should just call you Halsey

could I get a 1d100 best of three im rolling for the enemy

second captcha in a row thats mostly Js how weird

Rolled 57 (1d100)

>>6279311
This better work.

Rolled 89 (1d100)

>>6279311
Okay here's hoping...

Rolled 79 (1d100)

>>6279311

I have been taken by work again will post tomorrow

Rolled 6 (1d100)

You do what you always do in this kind of situation and attack. The full might of your strike group is ordered launched and the corvettes and destroyers are ordered forward while the light cruiser stays with the essex as her escort. A rattle echoes through the Essex as the magnetic catapult fires 23 times once for each of your deadly craft. The destroyers and corvettes wait for the launches to complete before pressing forward toward the what you can best describe as a swarm of enemy light cruisers, your pilots and light ship captains know this dance very well by now keeping pace with each other intending to bring the full might of your strike group down on the enemy at the same time. They quickly come into range of the enemy turrets and lasers begins to flash their direction as they race for the range of their torpedoes.

Could I get a 1d100 best of three for the attack

Rolled 32 (1d100)

>>6280123

Rolled 41 (1d100)

>>6280123
Scattered feather across space.

Rolled 79 (1d100)

>>6280123
guys please.

Did someone order fried chicken?
I'm hoping we can salvage anything and everything - in order to survive we need to keep the good shipyard fueled with resources especially the high energy reactors these guys seem to operate so much.

Its at the last moment your force spreads out as they fire their torpedoes making it so the spread is wide enough to hit around the whole force while the strike group holds fire as their torpedoes are slightly shorter range. The destroyers and corvettes do their usual turn away as the enemy force doesn't even really react to nearly 30 torpedoes flying in their direction. Its only a minute later the strike group picks out targets that arent going to be hit by the other fish and lets their own fish free. You watch with great satisfaction as flashes light up space as the enemy ships are struck by the destroyer and corvette fired fish followed quickly by the strike groups which finish off the survivors.

As the flashes fade and you admire the field of wreckage you realize why they are here in the center of where the swarm had started sits three very fat looking enemy freighters. They had clearly been resupplying here and one of the freighters even has what you guess to be some sort of repair gantry attached to it. You could order the destruction of these three and it would do greatly in damaging the enemy logistics in the sector or you could try and put your limited bird lexicon to work and try to order them to surrender.

>Just destroy them
>chance trying to get them to surrender

>>6280568
>chance trying to get them to surrender
They probably won't but we lose nothing by trying

>>6280568
>Just destroy them
HFY

>>6280568
>Just destroy them
the logistics of bringing them are simply impractical right now
we'd need to fully secure their ships, and if its a trap that suicides we lose insane amounts of soldiers.
I'd rather just go on our way.

>>6280568
>>Just destroy them
>>6280678
Second

>>6280568
>chance trying to get them to surrender
Another chance to test language.

>Just destroy them

alright could i get a 1d100 best of three for the next jump then

Rolled 94 (1d100)

>>6280962

>>6280962
>>6280975
that's a 94 sir
I will take it.

Rolled 84 (1d100)

>>6280962
Time to ruin it with the other 2 rolls.

Rolled 20 (1d100)

>>6280962

You don't have the time or the resources to see these freighters to a friendly port as your patrol is only half done so one of the destroyers is ordered forward and to open fire on the three ships with their coilguns. The ships each die in a fiery explosion as the destroyer puts its guns to work on them; they don't even try to flee as they die one by one. The buoy for this system is dropped off and prep for your fourth jump goes well and two days later you find yourself in a simple system home to a trio of rocky barren worlds. You're half expecting another ambush or something of that like when you arrive but are pleasantly surprised at the empty system. Your light cruiser picks a good spot to drop the buoy to watch the system's two jump points while the rest of the force takes the usual recharge time to do needed repairs on the ships. That done and your ships recharged and ready for another jump, your turn to the jump point and set course for your fifth stop.

Could I get a 1d100 best of three for the fifth jump please

Rolled 95 (1d100)

>>6281498

Rolled 13 (1d100)

>>6281498

Rolled 44 (1d100)

>>6281498

Three more days in jump space and you arrive at the fifth stop which is another system you had visited a few times pre war. It has an almost record breaking 8 separate jump points which is the largest amount for a single system in your sector. This made the system with its two gas giants and large asteroid belt a notable stop of a significant amount of the sector's ship traffic. There had once been a thriving market station here as well but by the massive field of debris and what your fairly sure are at least a dozen gutted merchant ships the birds had handled that. The buoy for this system is dropped off but you do notice while that's done what you think may be some sort of military vessel mixed in with the wreckage but you would have to spend some time looking closer at it to see what class or even type.

>Spend the time to salvage the ship
>Ignore it and head to your last stop

>>6281910
>Spend the time to salvage the ship

>>6281910
>>Spend the time to salvage the ship
Maybe we see something useful. Maybe we don't.
Also, while we're looking at the military ship, maybe conceal the fleet in the debris field and have them prep a hasty ambush for the bird fleet because this system is a nexus for traffic and one might roll through if we stick around for a bit.

>>6281910
>>Spend the time to salvage the ship

>>6281910
>>Spend the time to salvage the ship

Rolled 1 (1d4)

>Spend the time to salvage the ship

alright could I get a 1d100 best of three, im rolling for ship class

Rolled 84 (1d100)

>>6282309
rollan for special lazors

Rolled 86 (1d100)

>>6282309

Rolled 28 (1d100)

>>6282309

You've made good time in your patrol and it never hurts to add another purpose built warship to your fleet so one of the whaleboats is tasked with checking out the ship in the cloud of debris. The ship in question seems to be a newer model corvette and by how its exterior looks it seems it took a nasty blow to its right side which if you know anything meant the poor crew had been slammed around the ship as it spun from the hit. The group of engineers and marines more or less confirm this theory when they board the ship finding it still air tight but the crew seemed to have been splattered by the spin. Upon finding the ship's black box and checking it the ship had been from sector 62 and had for some reason stopped in your sector when hostilities had broken out. The ship is in decent condition although lacking any crew and should be usable after a short time in drydock for repairs and cleaning.

+1 modern Corvette

Could I get a 1d100 best of three for the last jump

Rolled 50 (1d100)

>>6282728

Rolled 6 (1d100)

>>6282728
More salvage!

Rolled 85 (1d100)

>>6282728
Time for the coin flip.

Rolled 41, 52, 91, 76, 20, 69 = 349 (6d100)

Your light cruiser takes the corvette under tow and you line up at the jump point and make your jump. The patrol to complete the network of buoys has been shockingly quiet for you compared to earlier patrols in the war; the only real action youve seen was some enemy light cruisers. You half expect the sixth jump to change that however as you enter the system home to a pair of icy words there's nothing to greet you.There no bird force waiting to ambush you surprised refueling enemy or even any lucky colonists to rescue just an empty system. The lasy bout is placed and you have to decide on what to do next, return to Cartha, drop off your new ship or stay on patrol and try and hunt down some bird fleets.

>Return to Cartha
>Continue your patrol

Im rolling for how the vegas and its task force did on its patrol

>>6283236
>Return to Cartha
We still need to send help to those underground refugees

>>6283236
>>Return to Cartha
>>6283308
this

>>6283236
>>Return to Cartha

>>6283236
>>Return to Cartha
>>6283308
Second

>>6283236
>Return to Cartha
Begin repairs on the new ship, and training/inducting the incoming crew.

Above-average rolls but not spectacular success.
I hope our XO showed some skill.

You decide to end your patrol and return to Cartha, it is only a short day and a half jump to your home port and it seems nothing has really happened here since you left. The Vegas arrives back at Cartha only a few hours after you do with only a little damage to one of the destroyers which had apparently had a bad run in with some kind of homemade mine some long dead pirate had tried to use on the birds. With the buoy network complete you now can have a much better idea of what's actually happening in the sector as long as you are in Cartha or close enough to receive all of the buoys signals that are aimed at Catha. Your completing an after action report with Issac in the jump point fort when an aid brings you a message coming from highcom the same day as your return.

—-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SENDER: HIGHCOM MIDRIM COMMAND

INTENDED RECIPIENT: RIM SECTOR 63 NAVAL COMMAND

BEGIN MESSAGE

LARGE SCALE MEETING ENGAGEMENT IN MIDRIM SECTOR 63 ENEMY FORCE DEFEATED, ROUTED AND PURSUED.

BE ADVISED PROJECTED ENEMY ACTIVITY IN AO WILL INCREASE, GRAND FLEET ACTIVE IN REGION WILL ATTEMPT TO ASSIST RIM SECTOR 63 IN HOLDING.

CAN SECTOR COMMAND ASSIST IN HARASSING PURSUED ENEMY?

GOD SPEED- GRAND ADMIRAL HARVEY BATES
—-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You've been asked by HIGHCOM if you can assist and harassing a large retreating enemy force

>Yes
>No

>>6283236
>Continue your patrol
>Meet up with the other task force.

Guys, lets go meet up with the other half of our fleet. They might be in trouble or they might not be but if we link up, we can have our full force do some random attacks to confuse the enemy and we'd have more room for the recuse later on of that mining colony people we left behind.

We can either go to where we think they are or where we know they will be and wait. We can even help them finish their mission by going to their last expected jump point before they return.

Fucking capcha.

>>6283723
>Yes

Tell Cartha to shore up defenses while we are gone. I bet Cartha's gonna be raided when we are gone, but most casualties tend to be inflicted on routed forces historically. Lets roll out with full force.

>>6283723
>Yes

>>6283723
Yes

>>6283723
>>Yes
Yes!

>>6283723
>>Yes

No post tonight but please continue voting

>>6283723
>Yes

>Send convoy to save the miners.

The message has attached to it the last known location and estimated speed and arrival time for it to enter your sector. You have about a week until the first portions of the enemy fleet enter your sector which should be enough time for a small section of your own fleet to travel out to the miners and pick them up and bring them back to Cartha. This should also be enough time for the minelayer to finish its reconstruction and be loaded with its first load of mines.

Current Fleet:

2 CVL (34 carrier strike craft 23 on the essex 11 on the vegas)
5 Light cruisers
9 Destroyers
10 Corvettes
12 Torpedo Boats
24 patrol strike craft
1 Minelayer

You have a choice with the minelayer: either bring it with you when you set off and lay mines just before each engagement or split it off with a small escort of two of your destroyers and have it lay mines in the most likely avenues of the enemies retreat.

>Detach the minelayer and two destroyers
>Keep it with the main fleet

>>6284866
>>Detach the minelayer and two destroyers

>>6284866
>Detach the minelayer and two destroyers

>Detach the minelayer and two destroyers

The minelayer along with two of the destroyers will travel separately and begin to mine the most likely route of retreat for the enemy fleet. This leaves you with a strong force to attack and harass the enemy as they enter your sector. You're reminded by Isaac you need to pick your actual strategy to do damage to the birds as they pass by. There's always the tried and true hit and run where you continually pick away at the enemy force never taking a full engagement. Then there's the option of an ambush forcing the enemy into a disadvantageous position and then forcing a full engagement with your buoy network. Both options are easily achievable.

>Ambush
>Hit and run
>write in

>>6285384
>Ambush
-Everyone in the same system
-Fighter craft holding on one side of the jump point, running silent
-The main fleet get the attention of invaders, and loose fish
-Then fighters attack the exposed flank for massive damage and fly back to reload in the carriers at maximum combat speed.

>>6285384
>Ambush

>>6285384
>>Ambush

>Ambush

alright going for an ambush could I get a 1d100 best of three

Rolled 31 (1d100)

>>6286043

Rolled 67 (1d100)

>>6286043
Sooprise

Rolled 13 (1d100)

>>6286043
rng plz

Rolled 14 (1d100)

Your fleet sets off now short of two of your destroyers but hopefully with several minefields now covering the most likely lines of retreat if feels like a fair trade. The system you eventually pick for your ambush isnt the best but the enemy arent taking any route that would have them take a system that would be perfect. You arrive in a relatively sparse system with only a handful of dwarf planets and a small asteroid belt a few AU from the system's lone jump point. You arrange for all 34 of your strike craft to go cold and dark near the jump point while you have your picket arrange itself in a crescent shape around the jump point with every other ship in the line alternating between a destroyer and a corvette with the light cruisers spaced evenly throughout. The Essex and the Vegas are both placed behind the picket line inside the asteroid belt for cover. Its just as everyone gets into position the jump point activates

Could I get a 1d100 best of three Im rolling for the enemy

Rolled 41 (1d100)

>>6286594
YOU ARE NOT PREPARED.

Rolled 49 (1d100)

>>6286594

Rolled 57 (1d100)

>>6286594

The enemy fleet the exits the jump point is in tatters barely holding something that sort of resembles a formation. Its made up of 4 battered battleships, 17 heavy cruisers and 27 light cruisers which are all in a state of serious disrepair. They do seem to notice the picket line arrayed in its crescent formation around them and begin to move into a defensive posture as the picket line begins to move forward to loose their torpedoes. The strike craft have not been noticed by the enemy and ask via tight beam comms whether or not you want them to hit at the same time as the picket or wait and hit whatever the picket line doesnt destroy.

>Simultaneous strike
>Clean up whatever survives

>>6287078
>Simultaneous strike

>>6287078
>Simultaneous strike

>>6287078
>>Simultaneous strike

>>6287078
>>Simultaneous strike

>>6287078
>>Simultaneous strike

Rolled 8 (1d100)

>Simultaneous strike

alright could I get a 2d100 best of three first roll is for the picket line second for the strike craft and im rolling for the enemy

Rolled 38, 21 = 59 (2d100)

>>6287570

Rolled 38, 43 = 81 (2d100)

>>6287570
Scrambled.

Rolled 59, 100 = 159 (2d100)

>>6287570
by the grace of god, we shall spare the xenos the punishment of living.

No post today but >>6287695
It looks like the strike craft are stacking bodies today

>>6287695
Glory to you anon!

The enemy seems dead focused on the picket line as it charges at them into torpedo range firing their fish at the extreme edge of their range which normally would allow the enemy time to maneuver away from them. Its unfortunate for them however that they are far too bunched up for that to happen. The strike craft meanwhile in the rear of the enemy formation power up this craft and burn hard and fast right into optimal range for their own fish. They normally would pair up and pick a target to team up on however the close range and complete surprise they achieved means they dont need to and they manage to score a perfect 34 out of 34 hits on every single battleship and heavy cruiser with the remaining strike craft picking out a light cruiser to destroy. Its spectacular to watch from the essex as enemy ships flash and explode as their overpowered reactors and battery banks flash off and turn the ships into miniature suns. The spread of fish from the picket line most strikes glowing wrecks but the enemy light cruisers are finished off by the ones that dont wind up being wasted.


The enemy fleet is simply gone in a matter of two minutes all that remains are glowing balls of scrap and a few wayward torpedoes that self-destruct after spending all their fuel. There seems to be an almost shock throughout the fleet as the pickets return to their positions around the carriers and the strike craft return to their home ships. The usual post battle banter is gone no gloating or cheering just shock the birds had died so quickly and with most of their ships never even getting a single shot off. You have plenty more ammo no casualties and plenty more enemy fleets to ambush so you set out to set up your next attack


Could I have a 1d100 best of three please

Rolled 94 (1d100)

>>6288718

Rolled 47 (1d100)

>>6288718
should I even roll....?

Rolled 93 (1d100)

>>6288718

>>6288728
>>6288807
hell yeah, brothers

Rolled 30 (1d100)

The next system you find to set up an ambush is far better than the previous one: a single jump point with a decent sized planet to use as cover for not only the carriers but also the entire picket line. You have the strike craft set up like before and the picket line is ordered to hide behind the planet with the carriers and when the enemy arrives they have orders to peak out to fire their torpedoes. Your more than happy when the bouy network informs you of the large fleet heading this way and a few hours later the jump point soon opens and begins to glow.

Could I get a 1d100 best of three and im rolling for the enemy

Rolled 65 (1d100)

>>6289232
Surprise, motherfucker!

Rolled 62 (1d100)

>>6289232
I hope i don't screw this up

Rolled 50 (1d100)

>>6289232

Rolled 37 (1d100)

The fleet that flows out of the jump point is a real monster 20 battleships 5 battlecruisers 33 heavy cruisers you almost order everyone to shut down their systems and stay in hiding when it appears until you realize most of the battleships are covered in battle damage. They have great gapping holes from what you bet are the massive rail guns on your own people's battleships and some sport damage consistent with your own preferred weapons, torpedoes. It seems like they must have had a bad time in jump space as they begin to set about doing repairs immediately. The pick line is ready to rise up from behind the planet and fire their torpedoes and the strike craft likewise are ready to power up and hit the enemy fleet from the rear the question being how well the attack goes.

Could I get a 2d100 best of three im rolling for the enemy, sorry about the late post captcha giving me fits again

Rolled 17, 42 = 59 (2d100)

>>6289818

Rolled 43, 25 = 68 (2d100)

>>6289818
oh shit
oh fuck

Rolled 41, 91 = 132 (2d100)

>>6289818

Rolled 87 (1d100)

The enemy shuttles moved through the massive blob of warships sitting in front of the jump point as they begin repairs, completely unaware that in a few seconds things were about to start exploding. The strike craft flips on their small reactors and start burning toward the mass of enemy ships while at the same time the picket line rise up above the planet they are using as cover and burn hard and fast toward the enemy. There are only a handful of lasers fired at the picket line as they charge and come within firing range of their torpedoes.

could I get a 1d100 best of three for damage im rolling for the enemy

Rolled 1 (1d100)

>>6290227
Fry em, boys!

Rolled 32 (1d100)

>>6290227
Rng plz let me do better than the other guy

>>6290235
You know I was just thinking the birds hadnt rolled above 40 in a while

Rolled 28 (1d100)

>>6290227
Welp it's over

>>6290235
wtf man

>>6290227
>>6290235

The majority of the picket line get their fish off however a single shot from one of the enemy heavy cruisers hits one of the destroyers. There's a moment from the hit to the result when the torpedo tube that had been hit suddenly erupts in a bright light as the destroyer's entire stock of fish sympathetically detonates, erasing the destroyer from existence save for a field of debris that gently hurtles forward. The rest of the picket line falter that blast throwing off their aim sending many of their fish veering off into space. The strike craft do a little better sinking their single torpedoes into a handful of the battleships which are sitting ducks but the chaos of packed together little fleet makes accurate strikes hard and they only really manage to kill 4 of the battleships. Its with some horror you see the poorly fired picket line spread only scores 3 of the heavy cruisers killed.

The strike group empty of torps begin to stream back toward the Essex and the Vegas to rearm meanwhile the picket line does their usual turn to back out of the enemy gun range intent on reloading their torpedoes and going back in. It will be some time until the strike groups should be ready for another strike.


>order the picket to fall back behind the planet
>Have the picket keep attacking
>write in

>>6290752
>Have the picket keep attacking
Let no man fall in vain when pushing out invaders for these are our lands and the invaders will feel be made to feel this sacrifice 100 fold.

>>6290752
>Have the picket keep attacking

>>6290752
>>Have the picket keep attacking

>>6290752
>>Have the picket keep attacking

>>6290752
>order the picket to fall back behind the planet
attack with what? they are reloading. They should evade until ready to fire.

Rolled 20 (1d100)

>Have the picket keep attacking

alright could I get a 1d100 best of three please, im rolling for the enemy

Rolled 41 (1d100)

>>6291201
out of the frying pan and into the fire

Rolled 16 (1d100)

>>6291201

Rolled 31 (1d100)

>>6291201
Piecing them up into a bucket combo.

Rolled 48 (1d100)

The first of the strike group begin landing on the carriers as the picket line finishes the first of their reloads and turns back toward the enemy fleet intent on getting revenge for the lost destroyer.A flurry of laser fire begins to lance away in the direction of the picket line but its scattered and inaccurate as many of the enemy begin to attempt to maneuver and somewhat difficult task considering how tightly packed they had been to facilitate repairs. At the extreme range of their fish they loose them the spreads look fantastic as one by one the torpedoes burn out of their tubes and the picket line turns to back off intent on doing it again if they get a chance.

Could I get a 1d100 best of three for damage please

Rolled 34 (1d100)

>>6291842

Rolled 71 (1d100)

>>6291842
alright lets speed this up the longer this goes on the worst it is for us.

Rolled 54 (1d100)

>>6291842

No post tonight but good rolls

The picket line makes its turn fully and the spread flies out at the swarm of capital ships and so flashes begin to pop up all around it as the warheads detonate against the enemy ships. Its not the most successful strike youve ever done but not the worst either as another 6 of the enemy battleships explode in a spectacular fashion as their battery banks detonate in sympathetic secondary explosions. The enemy battlecruisers which had been situated on one side of the enemy formation have finally managed to work their way away from the blob and seem to be intent on not chasing the picket line but instead make their way in the direction of the carriers. A selection of enemy heavy cruisers meanwhile do chase the picket line while the remaining enemy battleships seem to be trying to turn back toward the jump point but seem to be having some trouble with the multiple destroyed ships blocking their retreat. The picket line is going to be busy with the heavy cruisers and the strike groups seem to be ready for another strike.

>Focus the battlecruisers
>Focus the battleships
>split up and hit both

>>6292993
>Focus the battlecruisers
Immediate threat I suppose. If the battleships are running back to the jump point - where they came from - then they're going from the frying pan to the fire.

>>6292993
>Focus the battlecruisers

>>6292993
>>Focus the battlecruisers
Deal with the enemy who is attacking us first!
This seems to be a pretty climactic battle, not just in terms of size but potentially in terms of pacifying our sector and reestablishing reliable communications with mid-63

>>6292993
>>Focus the battlecruisers

Rolled 56, 91 = 147 (2d100)

>Focus the battlecruisers

alright could I get a 2d100 best of three first roll is for the heavy cruisers vs the picket line second is the strike craft vs the battlecruisers im rolling for the enemy

Rolled 45, 60 = 105 (2d100)

>>6293438
don't like our chances

Rolled 89, 9 = 98 (2d100)

>>6293438

Rolled 99, 83 = 182 (2d100)

>>6293438
Gotta close that gap.

>>6293466
damn son.
The birbs did well but this just BTFO

The picket line dont wait for the heavy cruisers to come fully to them, instead they burn hard and fast at them into a meeting gun engagement. You watch as enemy lasers are met with streams of coilgun rounds and the occasional quickly reloaded torpedoes. A gun duel is usually a blood affair for all involved but between the damage they had arrived with and the damage done by the last two torpedo strikes the enemy simply dont have the agility to dodge the fire that comes their way as the picket line sweep around inside the enemy formation leaving 8 of the enemy ships floating dead in space.


The strike group don't fare as well as the picket line however they launch for their receptive carriers and gather up intent on destroying the battlecruisers before they even see the capital ships of your fleet.They do but not without a cost as they move into attack the enemy ships which have moved into a line abreast formation more of the tiny laser turrets youve encountered in the past open fire on the strike group. The bright lasers fly rapidly from these improvised AA turrets and do find one of the strike craft, its only a glancing blow but it still does send the craft spinning out and take it and its pilot out of this engagement. You watch as the battlecruisers each die to a swarm of torpedoes in return for the damaged craft. A whaleboat is quickly scrambled to go save the pilot and whats left of his craft while you watch the jump point open and the battleships one by one begin to escape.

>Have the picket push past the cruiser and attack the battleships
>Focus the cruisers

>>6293935
>Focus the cruisers

>>6293935
>Focus the cruisers
The rest are FUBAR.

Rolled 71 (1d100)

>Focus the cruisers

ok could I get a 1d100 best of three im rolling for them

Rolled 62 (1d100)

>>6294483
These birds are rolling a bit too well for my taste.

Rolled 69 (1d100)

>>6294483
c'mon fried chicken

Rolled 9 (1d100)

>>6294483
Rng please be kind

>>6294562
Rng was not kind

The spirited gun duel between the heavy cruisers and the rest of your fleet continues on as the first of the strike craft return to the carriers. This is the single longest gun battle of your war so far and things quickly become confused and chaotic as one by one the enemy heavy cruisers become disabled from stream coilgun rounds and the occasional rail gun hit from the light cruisers. It seems the battle is not without a cost however as one of the corvettes is struck by several of the lighter lasers and become disabled as the engines become something more resembling slag than a coherent item. The last of the enemy battleships make their leave through the jump point as the heavy cruisers die filled with holes from your guns. This battle won you take stock of your losses down a strike craft but thankfully not a trained pilot, a destroyer with all hands and a crippled corvette. A significant number of enemy fleets are still retreating through the sector and you could feasibly tow the damaged ship or you could retire to Cartha with plenty of damage done to the routing enemy.

>keep ambushing retreating fleets
>Return to Cartha

>>6294961
>keep ambushing retreating fleets

>>6294961
>keep ambushing retreating fleets

>>6294961
>keep ambushing retreating fleets

>keep ambushing retreating fleets

Continuing the patrol

could I get a 1d100 best of three please

Rolled 95 (1d100)

>>6295599

Rolled 27 (1d100)

>>6295599

Rolled 91 (1d100)

>>6295599

no post tonight but very good rolls

The enemy battleships having gotten away you order each of the wallowing enemy wrecks shot full of as many holes as the picket lines coilguns can muster while you have the essex take the damaged destroyer under tow. Your fleet then gathers up in good order in formation and takes the jump point out of the system. It seems your in luck as you exit your next ambush point as the minelayer and her destroyer escorts had just finished laying a minefield on each of the systems jump points, thankfully the mines are able to temporarily disabled via a radio signal so none of your valiant little fleet explodes from your own mines. The system also has a nice asteroid belt for you to hide in between the two jump points. You could keep ambushing the enemy like you have by pincering them with the strike group hidden behind them or you could hide your entire force in the asteroid belt and wait for them to run into the mines and then hit them as they move to the next jump point.

>Pincer Ambush
>Full force ambush from the belt

>>6296692
>Full force ambush from the belt
They may have learned from the battleships that got away, so new tactic time.

>>6296692
>>Pincer Ambush
>>6296701
They are all in a scattered retreat, if they could organize like that they wouldnt be eating this much shit.

>>6296692
>Full force ambush from the belt
Even the birbs learn eventually

>>6296692
>>Full force ambush from the belt

Rolled 63 (1d100)

>Full force ambush from the belt

alright could I get a 1d100 best of three, im rolling for the enemy

ooc meta note we just passed the 40000 word mark in the quest without counting my game notes and lore document

Rolled 70 (1d100)

>>6297159

Rolled 1 (1d100)

>>6297159
rush hour

Rolled 76 (1d100)

>>6297159
congrats!
>>6297419
oh no

>>6297419
this is why I never want to roll after we get a 90 man.
its okay guys, we get best of three so dw fr fr

You take position in the asteroid belt, your fleet arrayed in a loose crescent shape around the two carriers, the density of the belt means you actually have to keep your strike craft in the hangars to avoid micro meteorite impacts. The jump point yawns open and open and open to the point where you've never seen a jump point this widely opened by a fleet. You watch in some abject horror as the rift in space slowly ponderously spits out a horrendously large enemy force. It takes your stunned sensor officer a full minute to begin to list off the sighted enemy ships, his shock so total. This monster of a fleet is made up of 40 battleships 60 heavy cruisers 120 light cruisers all in perfect condition these aren't retreating ships this is the reinforcements for the fleet you've been harassing. There's a part of your brain that realizes this fleet would equal the one that calls the Luna Naval base back in Sol in sheer size if not tonnage. The mines do detonate but they are mostly wasted on 10 of the enemy light cruisers which each die in a flash as they detonate.

>Order full retreat and head for the other jump point
>stand and fight

Sorry about the late post my replacement did not show up at work and leaving things at my job unattended is a felony

>>6297610
>Order full retreat and head for the other jump point
We likely don't even carry enough torpedoes for all of these ships!

>>6297610
>>Order full retreat and head for the other jump point
what did i come back to jesus

>>6297610
>Order full retreat and head for the other jump point
on the bright side, at least we are far away enough to make a clean get away

>>6297610
>>Order full retreat and head for the other jump point
Yeah our primary directive is to not die

Rolled 59 (1d100)

>Order full retreat and head for the other jump point

living to fight another day, could I get a 1d100 best of three to see how long it takes the enemy to notice you as you run

Rolled 24 (1d100)

>>6298133

Rolled 49 (1d100)

>>6298133
Time to skedaddle.

Rolled 18 (1d100)

>>6298133
guys please

Rolled 51 (1d100)

>>6298133
test roll

>>6298133
At least we have mines, that might save us somewhat.

The enemy outnumbers not just your fleet but also far more than the number of torpedoes you have with you after what youve already expanded in your patrol. This fact mixed with the fresh nature of their ships makes you decide survival is far more important than another engagement. You order your fleet to make its way toward the other jump point as stealthy as possible, trying your best to conceal the flares of your engines. Your fleet is only just exiting the asteroid belt when the enemy seems to finally spot you the horde of light cruisers turning your way and their engines flaring bright as they burn as hard and fast as they can in your direction. The Vegas, destroyers and corvettes could easily outrun them however the Essex cant its larger size and older engines meaning its much slower. This leaves you with two options as you see it: either keep the fleet together and weather the attack or have the picket slow down and try their best to hold off the enemy long enough for the Essex to enter the friendly minefield around the other jump point.

>Keep the fleet together
>have the pickets fight a holding action

>>6298622
>have the pickets fight a holding action

>>6298622
>>have the pickets fight a holding action
Just a quick torpedo run, then break contact and hit the jump point.
My reasoning being, it will give the essex a bit more time to hit the jump point, and then they can close the gap during their withdrawl

It will be comparatively riskier, but fighting conservatively won't help us when we're this badly outmatched, and the "pack of angry chihuahuas" strategy has kept ys alive when we should be in the past.
The objective isn't to defeat the birds, but to limit their ability to pursue us, which is what we need. It will be riakier, individually, for the picket ships, but less risky for the fleet as a whole, including the picket ships.

>>6298622
>>have the pickets fight a holding action

>>6298622
Could we target the asteroids in the belt, try to create a debris field to cover our escape?

>>6299065
while it wouldnt hold off the larger enemy ships like heavy cruisers it could give the light cruisers trouble

>>6298622
Man, if only we a R'tas Vadum...
>have the pickets fight in a holding position
Need to delay.

>>6299069
Do it. The battleships are probanly not the ones we aren't the immediate concern.

>>6298622
>>have the pickets fight a holding action

Rolled 74 (1d100)

>have the pickets fight a holding action

alright im also going to mix in the suggestion from >>6299065
could I get a 2d100 best of three the first one is for the debris field the second for the picket line

Rolled 69, 84 = 153 (2d100)

>>6299236

Rolled 1, 53 = 54 (2d100)

>>6299236
crispy birbs

>>6299260
fug. s-s-surely crits aren't live on multiple dice?

>>6299261
I have no idea what I would do with a crit on the debris idea so im not going to count it

>>6299262
based QM

Rolled 59, 94 = 153 (2d100)

>>6299236

The Essex simply can't move fast enough on her own to make it to the jump point before the enemy reaches her unless of course the picket line performs a fighting retreat so thats what you order. Its as you order that you lament the fact you were unable to deploy your strike craft due to the micro meteorites in the asteroid belt and this triggers an idea the small meteorites wouldn't do any damage to larger armoured ships due to their smaller size but what if you made some larger ones? You order the light cruisers in the picket line to target some of the bigger asteroids with their rail guns in an attempt to break them up to slow the enemy advance this only sort of works as the slow fire rate of the rail guns isnt fast enough to break up enough asteroids to make any real effect. The swarm of light cruisers burst out of the belt and are met with the bane of every bird in your sector, torpedoes all 70 the picket could bring to bear in one spread.

alright could I get a 1d100 best of three for damage

Rolled 8 (1d100)

>>6299849
Birdshot out

Rolled 94 (1d100)

>>6299849
surely this will be fine

>>6299856
Well then.
Carry on.

Rolled 90 (1d100)

>>6299849
I dread rhis last roll.

While you wish you had made a hit with every single one of your fish you dont instead maybe one in five hit but the sheer density of the enemy sees the resulting detonations not only outright destroy 14 of the enemy light cruisers but damage nearly double that number as well. This fleet must be made up of inexperienced birds as they seem to panic at this sudden loss of life as the light cruiser force scatters somewhat even as they begin to fire at the picket line which is already making a turn to burn away from them. The more experienced bird crews youve seen in recent weeks seem to know what this usually means but this fleet doesn't seem to know the picket line is not running away and instead is reloading their fish. Your two carriers are close to halfway to the jump point now and the first of the enemy battleships with their large long range lasers are firing very long and inaccurate salvos at them.

>Keep skirmishing
>order the picket line to deploy a chaff “smoke screen” to throw off the enemy aim
>write in

>>6300457
>order the picket line to deploy a chaff “smoke screen” to throw off the enemy aim
maybe more asteroid detonations for maximum duck and cover too

>>6300457
>order the picket line to deploy a chaff “smoke screen” to throw off the enemy aim

>>6300457
>>order the picket line to deploy a chaff “smoke screen” to throw off the enemy aim
better safe than sorry

Rolled 91 (1d100)

>order the picket line to deploy a chaff “smoke screen” to throw off the enemy aim

alright could I get a 1d100 best of three im rolling for the enemy

Rolled 64 (1d100)

>>6301018
Please stop rolling for the enemy.

>>6301043
please for the love of god please roll better yalls rolls this thread have been the worst Ive seen in both my quests so far

Rolled 63 (1d100)

>>6301018
c'mon dice

Rolled 37 (1d100)

>>6301018
>>6301046
It's literally above average rolls, stop rolling 90+!

Rolled 86 (1d100)

>>6301018
well, shit.

>>6301133
hopefully the difference is close enough here that we at least *survive*

Rolled 99 (1d100)

>>6301046
It's RNG karma for surviving the prologue

>>6301046
mf says this after rolling a 91

The picket forms into a ling breast and begin to lay out a thick cloud of Chaff behind them as they burn to catch up with the vegas and the Essex lasers still flying toward the carriers as they do so. It takes you a moment to realize the birds arent actually aiming at any ship in particular, just in the general direction of your capital ships. You watch as the enemy light cruisers and the first of the heavy cruisers break through the asteroid belt taking advantage of your pickets distraction and begin to burn hard and fast toward the picket line and their massive cloud of metal chaff. A flurry of shots begin to flash at the picket line as their pressures begin to catch up. You can keep the smoke screen up or charge the enemy Heavy and light cruisers chasing you.

>Keep the screen up
>charge with torpedoes

>>6301502
>>charge with torpedoes
I guess, break up their charge

>>6301502
>>Keep the screen up
We need to GET OUT

>>6301502
>Keep the screen up

>>6301502
>charge with torpedoes

Rolled 1 (1d2)

>>6301517
>>6301887
Two for charge

>>6301684
>>6301778
Two for screen im rolling for tie breaker

1 for charge
2 for screen

could I get a 1d100 best of three please

Rolled 3 (1d100)

>>6301892

Rolled 99 (1d100)

>>6301892
Oh boy...

Rolled 34 (1d100)

>>6301892
Two orders of crispy birds to go

>>6301905
thank you for your service

no post tonight lads

Rolled 48 (1d100)

It takes a specific type of person to turn a ship back toward an enemy force that out numbers you 10 to 1, thankfully corvette destroyer and to a slightly lesser extent light cruiser captains almost always fit that specific type. The picket line makes its usual quick turn back toward the enemy light cruiser force chaff screens still billowing behind them as they charge their highly explosive torpedoes freshly reloaded. Lasers flash past the line as they move within firing range of the fish but none of the lasers connect the enemy gunners too panicked for good aim. The fish are fired from their tubes and fly at the enemy formation as they panic.

Could I get a 1d100 best of three for damage please?

Rolled 81 (1d100)

>>6302988

Rolled 2 (1d100)

>>6302988

Rolled 71 (1d100)

>>6302988
space-kentucky fried birbs

The picket line, like the cool professionals they are, don't even watch to see the results of their attack; instead they turn again back into the massive cloud of metal chaff acting as a smoke screen disappearing from the view of the enemy light cruisers. Its not like the light cruisers were really paying attention as nearly a third of their number 31 to specific suddenly meet their end to the large warheads attached to their picket lines torpedoes. Your capital ships are still under fire from the heavy cruisers and battleships although the fire is more suppressive in nature really as they are nowhere near hitting any of your ships as they enter the last leg of the run to the jump point.

>maintain the smoke screen
>charge again

>>6303536
>maintain the smokescreen
Dave the ammo for the other side.

>>6303536
>maintain the smoke screen
If this is one or the other, I'd prefer our dudes don't die.

>>6303536
>maintain the smoke screen

Rolled 32 (1d100)

>maintain the smoke screen

alright last leg could I get a 1d100 best of three please

Rolled 14 (1d100)

>>6303966
Hope we didn't skip leg day.

Rolled 97 (1d100)

>>6303966

Rolled 77 (1d100)

>>6303966
I did my leg routine before rolling, let's see if I sweated enough for the dice

>>6303536
>>maintain the smoke screen

The picket line keep their position right behind the carriers spewing out their clouds of metallic chaff making it very hard for any sensors or even regular eyes to get a good look at your capital ships. This doesn't stop the birds from firing away in the general direction of your fleet but it does buy you enough time to make the last of the journey to the friendly minefield surrounding the jump point. Your sensor office informs you just as you broadcast the signal to turn off the minefield so you can enter that the enemy battleships are just now crossing through the asteroid belt which has actually grown somewhat due to the added wrecks of the enemy fleet's light cruiser screen. You could activate the jump point and take your leave or you could launch your strike craft and see if you can do any more damage to the enemy fleet before your leave.

>deal more damage with a strike from the carriers
>jump out

>>6304375
>deal more damage with a strike from the carriers

>>6304375
>>jump out
the longer we stay here, the more likely it is that something goes wrong. We already lost a few picket ships we can't afford to lose, and achieved a broader strategic objective of damaging their relief fleet so it can't do as much harm to the mid-rim.

>>6304375
>jump out
getting out of dodge, leaving them to the mines.

>>6304375
>>jump out

Rolled 56 (1d100)

>jump out

alright last roll of this battle could I get a 1d100 best of three please

Rolled 21 (1d100)

>>6304845

Rolled 33 (1d100)

>>6304845
okay

>>6304941
next guy better roll better.

Rolled 78 (1d100)

>>6304845

>>6304945
thank you, next guy

The enemy clearly wants to hit your capital ships badly because as soon as your ships pull into range of the jump point the amount of lasers fired in the general direction of your two carriers increases dramatically. Through the efforts of the picket line with its smokescreen and some fancy sailing on your part none of the lasers hit home. A glowing green hole is torn in space in front of the fleet and they begin to slide into the glowing green fissure in space. The last you see of the enemy as you do jump out is the enemy fleet seeming to rage firing their lasers in a rabid manner quite mad at receiving such heavy losses from a much smaller force for no damage upon their attackers. Its two days later as you are spit out in a star system with several jump points and begin to think about your next move. There are still fleets retreating from Mid 63 and plenty more chances at hitting them but it seems reinforcements are flooding into your sector to stem that flow meaning the patrol is going to get even more dangerous.

>Keep patrolling
>call it quits and head back to Cartha

>>6305214
>>Keep patrolling
>>call it quits and head back to Cartha
Both!
Here's why:
I don't know about their ability to effectively track us after the fight, and I don't want to take them on a straight line back to Cartha.
We definitely want to wrap this up, but we probably want to take the scenic route to get home so we don't get followed.

>>6305214
>call it quits and head back to Cartha
If we keep going, we either have to fight the megafleet again or look for a smaller target and risk the megafleet jumping us from behind

>>6305214
>Keep patrolling

No post tonight feel free to keep voting

>>6305291
You wouldnt take a straight shot back anyway

>>6305214
>call it quits and head back to Cartha
This heightened presence worries me.

>>6305214
>>call it quits and head back to Cartha

>>6305672
Sounds good! One of the things I like about your quests is you don't go out of your way to monkey paw us.

The arrival of this massive enemy fleet has spooked you to be honest such a large force in your rear would mean any more ambushes you do would all have the risk of being pincered by them. You send off a message in the direction of Mid Rim 63 informing them of your successful strikes and of the enemy reinforcements and then begin the long process of taking a long and complicated path back to Cartha, careful to not lead any of the birds back home. This trip home with a damaged destroyer in tow takes nearly a full week but you do eventually get there entering the system and coming under the safe arc of the jump point fortress guns.

Your very pleased to see the first of the new missile cruisers converted from a freighter doing some target practice near the shipyard testing out its own semi guided missile systems on a floating pile of junk that used to be one of the oldest freighters. Its likewise a surprise when you see a trio of modern strike craft perform a torpedo attack on the same pile of junk near perfect copies of your own carrier's strike craft. It seems Marcus your new head of industry has been hard at work in recent weeks to not only grow your fleet but also rearm it.

>head to the fort first (industry/military brief)
>Cartha first (intelligence brief)

>>6306166
>head to the fort first (industry/military brief)

>>6306166
>>head to the fort first (industry/military brief)
Same reason as always, because it makes more sense to visit the fort first instead of doubling back to it, when we have to pass by it to get to Cartha anyway

>>6306166
>>head to the fort first (industry/military brief)

>head to the fort first (industry/military brief)

You have Issac take the con so he can finish towing the damaged destroyer back to the shipyard and you board one of the ships whaleboats to head tot he station. The station seems to improve every time you come back from patrol; its massive turrets all slowly track along predetermined firing arcs while strike craft come and go from its hangars. Its the interior that's changed the most this time as it seems like the century old fortification is finally fully staffed as freshly recruited and trained sailors move throughout it as you make your way to your usual conference room where Macus the transhumanist and Colonel Reese wait for your arrival.

Taking your seat Marcus with his cold robotic eye meets your gaze first and seems quite smug. “I take it you saw the new strike craft?” You nod in affirmative “They weren't actually all that hard to build surprisingly Cartha had all the industry we just had to retool some of the civilian aerospace factories to churn them out” He sends a file to your table and you open it, seeing the spec for your new missile cruiser. “The conversions are no Zeeland class heavy cruisers but they each hold a full dozen semi guided missiles” The new cruiser is big, bigger than the essex actually converted from one of the largest civilian freighters she's been stripped of a lot of her loading and unloading equipment and all of her storage hangars have been given over to armored ammo stowage and missile racks. Marcus gives one of those weird robotic smiles and speaks again “I can get another two of them ready by the end of the month”

>>6306628
>“I can get another two of them ready by the end of the month”
"good, we're going to need that."
>explain what we saw, try not to alarm him too much, but things are probably going to get harder before they get easier.

Colonel Resse bursts into the conversation at this point “Which is all well and good but we've probably saturated what we can recruit from the population without conscription we can crew another 2 of these cruisers but beyond that we are either going to need to start pulling men from other posts or start impressing crews” Marcus looks at Resse annoyed before continuing “Yes we have seen fewer recruits at the recruitment centers but im sure we can find plenty of crews among the freighters loitering in orbit” Marcus says referencing the small horde of civilian freighters that hang around the planet with nowhere else to go. Resse once again takes over the conversation. “So we can either end ship building after these last two cruisers, start conscripting from the planets populace randomly, or impress the crews of the civilian freighters.

>End shipbuilding
>Enact conscription
>conscript civilian ship crews

>>6306977
>Enact conscription
>conscript civilian ship crews

Little bit of both, with most of it aimed at the civi freighters. Try and do "voluntarily conscription" first off. We should conscript both to get the general population mentally prepared for war.

Did we get those miners back yet?

Also lets troll the birds a little more by raiding the planets they are trying to colonize. Maybe it will force them to spread out their forces more by defending the planets.

>>6306989
Before your last patrol a group of destroyers and freighters went and picked them up

>>6306977
>>conscript civilian ship crews
if you aren't working on the labor planetside, we need you to contribute space side.

>>6306977
>>Enact conscription
>>conscript civilian ship crews
Both of these.
Civilian ship crews are good but usually tiny compared to military crews. Like, 18 people for a Panamax freighter, tiny. Given *why* those crews are tiny, i feel like it would be similar in space. So we would need to basically pull the civilian crews, train them as officers and ncos, then give them civilian enlisted to work under them. Or something like that.

But also, we do a pretty good job of rescuing our boys when the birds destroy their ships, so even if recruiting is down we still need to build new ships to replace with the ones we lose.

>>6306977
>Starship Troopers style recruitment
Military Service grants Citizenship with privileges
Everyone else on the freighters is a civilian, entitled to basics only.

>>6307248
I mean, we're already essentially a dictatorship with our character as the dictator.

no post tonight feel free to keep voting

>>6307352
the exact wording in the sectors constitution actually uses the term dictator to describe the status of military command of the sector as a whole

>>6306977
>>6307248
>>6307352
>>6307369
Expanding more on all these
I want to continue everything, shipbuilding, armament manufacturing - massive expansion of military industry and also direct military recruitment as this represents the risk faced of Total War by aliens.

Voluntary recruitment brings perks like preferential military positions like picking where you go. Then conscription as required putting people where they are required to support the war effort for this sector's survival.
>do everything option

We ran across some smugglers, yes? Offer a general amnesty in return for wartime service.

>Enact conscription
>conscript civilian ship crews

The two of them sit in silence waiting for your response “Regular conscription will just water down our crews with with folk not only not wanting to be there but also with no experience onboard ships” you rub your chin in thought “Lets conscript the crews of the civilian freighters first so we have some officers and NCOs with some experience.” Marcus and Reese look at each for a moment and nod Resse speaking first. “That can work Admiral, going to piss off the captains and any owners on Cartha but it should work” The meeting breaks up pretty quickly after that Resse and Marcus having various things to do to set up the new conscription planetside. You meanwhile reboard the whale boat and make your way to Cartha the Essex not yet have returned from its chore of dropping off the engineless destroyer.

Carthas capital is busy as ever with the smoke of industry leaving a thick cloud of smog hovering over the city actually helping with the somewhat low temperature the capital of your sector has always experienced since it was first semi terraformed. You make a quick stop to see your wife at your humble home and then make your way to the same nondescript build as before.

You're met by Agent Barry which probably isnt his real name knowing the type of spook thats common within the army/navy intelligence arm. He leads you into a regular looking conference room with a set of very sturdy looking doors where you are seated and then handed a sheaf of honest to god paper. “This is the latest report weve gotten from our bird prisoners, the officers are tight beaked but the enlisted ones will sing like a song bird if you offer them a decent meal that isnt nutrient paste” Agent barry says tapping the top page.


The birds who call themselves the Argono are something of a religious theocracy apparently centered around the belief that their god king back on their homeworld would some day bless them all with unending life if they spread out their people from one edge of the galaxy to the other. They facilitate this desire with a generational expansion plan: one generation takes worlds by conquest and then have a large amount of offspring before sending those who arent inheriting their conquests out to conquer the next bit of territory. Their ships arent even made by them, instead it seems early on in their conquests they defeated a race of master ship builders called the Tulo who are kept as slaves to build each generation their warships. Its the last bit of information on the front page that gives you some relief. It seems like the bird's full population is only a little under 60 billion, humanity it appears outnumbers the birds by nearly 15 times and the bird officers believe they have conquered all but the inner most parts of human territory when in reality they failed to even push into the second most populous ring. This information gets you thinking about your next move.

>go raiding captured colonies
>patrol for enemy fleets
>Settle in for a potential siege
>write in

>>6308275
>patrol for enemy fleets

>>6308275
>>patrol for enemy fleets
maybe a little raiding for fun if a target presents itself

>>6308275
>>go raiding captured colonies
The enemy was on a retreat, we just patrolled and damaged fleets across the sector. Its we need to make sure they are also reminded this isn't theirs to settle. We go after our captured colonies, and see if we can capture some of civilians for leverage or at least figure what the logistics of their non-military assets look like when they try to settle in more.


I know we spoke to the aliens in the presence of the spooks before, but can we directly speak to the aliens when we encounter them in space? I forgot if we did this before or not but still wanted to double check. If we already had this going then nevermind but otherwise I'd ask the spook about that in a write in.

>>6308275
>>go raiding captured colonies

Rolled 1 (1d2)

>>6308344
>>6308375
Patrol

>>6308445
>>6308636
Raiding

a tie rolling for tie breaker

There's also the question of what the shipyard should start on once the last two missile cruisers finish at the end of the month and begin their sea trials. You could continue the process of converting the bigger freighters or even attempt making brand new corvettes or even a destroyer. The corvettes a pair you figure could take around 6 months while a new destroyer could take 8 months these ships wouldnt be as good as your modern ships but far better than most of the old hulks that make up most of your fleet. A third option is to focus the shipyard on modernization of your older ships, something that would take a ship out of action for a month but greatly increase their lethality and survivability in combat.

>More missle cruisers
>New build either two corvettes or a destroyer
>modernize one of your ships
>write in

>>6308673
How many torpedo launchers per destroyer/corvette? We need to build in the way that maximizes our concurrent torpedo volley size.

>>6308676
Corvettes would have 6 torps in 2 three tube mounts

Destroyers would have 12 in 4 three tube mounts

corvettes are faster but less durable

and destroyers are tougher but slower

>>6308680
Then
>Build two corvettes
Even if individually less durable, two ships are likely to be more survivable than one