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Post by MikDaTv on Aug 2, 2009 14:22:55 GMT -5
OOC: Feel free to jump in. bear in mind there are no force users on Galactica at this time.
"We're out!!!" The helmsman declared as the Galactica dropped back into existence. "Sensors are burned out, i'm restarting them now."
Captain Waldon picked himself up off the floor of the bridge and hauled his body back into the command chair. "what happened?" He asked.
They had jumped away from the battle over Ilium after suffering sever damage from a nuclear strike. They made the jump to hyperspace successfully, bound for the unknown regions, but the ship had shuddered somewhere in the middle of the jump and the entire crew were paralyzed with extreme headaches and visions. Waldon had woke up on the deck of the bridge, apparently at the same time as everyone else.
The sensor officer shrugged. "Unknown sir, sensors were on passive mode during the hyperspace jump."
The navigation officer chimed in. "The only named system we flew through on our course was the Tishi system. According to the computer we only skimmed it's outskirts though."
"Ok, find out where we are. Get the sensors online. Navigation, plot the stars and find our exact position." Waldon said. "Coms, try and connect with anyone you can. We need to report our position to the Republic."
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Post by MikDaTv on Aug 2, 2009 23:04:31 GMT -5
"Sir, your not going to believe this. Either something incredible happened or we have a huge malfunction in the sensors or the navigational computers." The navigator said from his station. "According to the astronomical data... we're in the Star Forge System... and the computer keeps prompting me to update the date and time. I've never seen it do that before, it's always been automatic."
The sensor officer raised his hand. "Sir, i've got contacts, one gigantic one and it's surrounded by several smaller ones... wait... make that a lot of smaller ones. Sensors are still partially on the fritz so i'm working on ID's."
"All stop, quick quiet. EM radiation to a minimum. Keep us hidden until we can figure out who they are." Waldon ordered. "Meanwhile, get me damage reports ASAP."
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Post by Odan Thos on Aug 3, 2009 20:19:24 GMT -5
Samantha Cross was lying under her Y-35 Cobra. There was carbon scoring all across the hull and there was several small holes punched into the upper surface of the wings. One was still able to make out the yellow strips of the cobra along with score card under the cockpit canopy. It was a rather impressive score card for must pilots; but on the Galactica it was only slightly above average. Samatha slide out from under the fighter. “Chief, could you get a new aft shield projector installed, the one I just pulled was pretty will fried.” Samantha looked at him.
The chief looked up from another fighter. “Sure thing Sam, however you are a little ways down on the list. The eight surviving Suicide Kings take first priority, than I can work you in. However if you want to do it yourself, I will have a grunt get you the parts.” The chief smiled, he knew Samantha could rip apart a Cobra and put it back together. Samantha agreed and got to work installing the new shield generator.
Samantha finished just installing the new shield generator while another member of the deck crew patched her wings. It was just then that the Galactica came out of hyperspace. Samantha once again slide out from under the fighter. “Get it refueled and rearmed. We don’t know what we just jumped into.” Samantha said to the crewmember helping her. She grabbed her gear and headed over to a terminal. She needed to find the CAG. She was the only surviving member of Yellow Aces; and most other squadrons were no better off.
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Post by MikDaTv on Aug 3, 2009 23:44:39 GMT -5
With the sensors slowly coming back to working order there wasn't much to do on Galactica but survey her extensive damage. Captain Walton accepted a datapad from a bridge aid detailing the casualties. 600 men had been lost in the nuke strike on their bow. 48 pilots had been killed during the battle and the injury reports numbered in the 2600 ballpark. And that was just physical injuries. This crew had just got done blasting away at their own soldiers. Republic troops, turned by the Kiliks. The Psychological scaring would be a lasting ordeal for a lot of his men.
As for the ship, They're shield generators had managed to survive, even though one was damaged and was out of commission for the time being. The Rail cannons weren't working because of the nuke strike which had degaussed the firing rails.
They were low on ammunition for the mass drivers because they had a minimal shell count to begin with since they were in drydock when the fight started. The Engineering Officer said he could maybe make some more in the mobile shipyard facility once they sorted the damage in there out.
Waldon's main problem was a shortage of staff. He lost a lot of alternate bridge crew during the attacks and a lot of the people on the bridge now were pulling their third shift in a row with no sleep. The Commander of the Air Group was injured. He broke his leg climbing down the ladder of his cobra and was rushed to sickbay. With all the other injured on board however Waldon doubted he'd have an up and adam CAG for a while. For now the CAG was maintaining his duties from the flight deck office but he wouldn't be flying anytime soon.
9 of the launch tubes were damage and would require space dock time to fix and some serious metal fatigue problems caused by the pounding she took were plaguing the ship on multiple decks.
Captain Waldon threw the datapad down on the navigation table and let it clatter to the floor. They were in bad shape and they didn't know their situation.
"Sir!" The com officer shouted. "I think i found the Republic! Small ships at the edge of the system just started broadcasting using a really really old encryption algorithm. It's old, but it's definitely a Republic Code"
The bridge officers who had the energy to do so cheered the apparent good news. Waldon tiredly shuffled over to the com officers display and looked at the readouts. "looks like a scouting team chatting to one another. We don't want to give away their position. Track their coms. when sensors are back up give me an exact position."
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Post by Odan Thos on Aug 4, 2009 0:26:06 GMT -5
Samantha finally located the CAG through the ships computer. He was in sickbay. "Damnit to hell. If today couldn't get any worse." Samantha turned quickly and walked over to the chief. "Give me the quick and dirty Chief." Samantha knew the Chief would not sugar coat it and was too busy to report it to the bridge.
The deck boss did not even stop walking from craft to craft as he spoke. "You won't like this Sam. We got thirty functioning Y-38's along with six AT-130E's; zero of them are one hundred percent. We got several trashed one which could part, but they won’t fly again. Pilot wise, yours took it the hardest. We also lost four Suicide Kings, three from Red Squadron, three from Blue Squadron, four from White Squadron and five from Green Squadron. Here are the names." The chief handed her a pad with the names and positions of the pilots that were KIA or MIA. "I was fairly lucky with loses with only around 20 men and another 50 wounded. Our biggest problem however is we don't have a lot of fuel or ammunition for the fighters. Maybe two or three missions worth of fuel and only two concussion missile per fighters." The tone in the chief's voice said it all. They were a carrier and they could not even do their job to that end. Samantha recorded the information onto a datapad to give to the captain.
Samantha shook her head. "Thank's Chief. I well relay that to the Captain." Samantha ran over to the turbo-lift and headed up towards to the bridge. She figured she would relay the message in person; not try and get through on the comm. Even with the battle damage; Samantha was able to work her way to the bridge. She walked up to the captain and saluted. She held out the datapad. "Sorry to bring more bad news Sir. This is what is going down in the hanger deck. Felt I should deliver it in person." Samantha jumpsuit was a mess, covered with all sorts of dirt and oil off her fighter. However her Yellow Aces squadron patch was still visible along with the other identification.
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Post by MikDaTv on Aug 4, 2009 1:06:38 GMT -5
Captain Walton accepted the datapad and passed it off to his XO. The Captain returned her salute crisply "Thanks Lieutenant, i appreciate it. He looked down to her breast at the squadron symbol and then back up to her face. "Cross isn't it? Glad your still vertical. Hows your bird?"
Even in a desperate time like this it felt good to hold down an almost normal conversation. Before she could answer however there was an alarm. "Sir! New Contacts!" the sensor officer shouted. "Sensors are back to working order and i just spotted a massive Cronau radiation spike. A fleet just entered the system, moving towards the Star."
Walton turned and stepped forward. "What can you tell me?"
"Looks like... Hammerheads sir, a bunch of them. Foray-class blockade runners too, running interference for the cruisers. They're deploying fighters." The sensor officer reported. "They're targets look to be... Interdictor class cruisers?..."
The confusion settled in around the bridge. what were a bunch of antique republic ships doing engaging a bunch of antique Interdictors. Hammerheads were still around, sure, but they weren't the pride of the fleet like they used to be. Then the sudden realization hit him. "Navigator!" Walton shouted. "What date is your computer prompting you to update the system too?"
The navigator looked at his computer real quick and responded... "The year 3956 BBY"
"The year the Republic destroyed the Star Forge. Red Alert, shields give me your best coverage and charge the turbolasers. Helm, all ahead one third." Walton barked. He picked up the mic attached to his command chair and keyed it to intercom over the entire ship. "All hands this is the Captain. secure from silent running. General quarters, general quarters, all hands man your battle stations!"
With that he replaced the Mic and turned to Lieutenant Cross. "Congratulations Lieutenant Commander on your appointment to the position of CAG. I believe your pilots need you on the flight deck. Get them ready to launch, load them up on stims if you have to but i need a fighter screen."
He picked the Mic up again and keyed it for the flight deck engineering office. "Master Chief, get my birds in the function tubes and ready to go. Sell your soul to the Sith if you have to but get my fighters operational."
Once again he put the mic down and craned his head around to the com terminal "start broadcasting our IFF in that older code you picked up and keep an ear on the republic chatter."
Walton sat down in his chair and buckled in. "We're going in people. Make your peace now because you might not be able to later."
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Post by Odan Thos on Aug 4, 2009 22:46:57 GMT -5
Samantha was about to say that her bird had been shot to hell but would still take her to hell and back when the sensor came on line. She listened and could not beleive it. They had gone sixty years into the past and came out in one of the most important battles in Republic history. She thought for a microsecond about the paradox of this before the captain pulled her back into reality. "Yes sir." Samantha said as she took off for the hanger deck.
It took a minute or two longer to get back down to the hanger due to the crewmembers rushing to their stations. When she finally made it she looked around and noticed the pilots rushing in from all directions heading for the fighters. She whistled extremely loud and yelled. "ALL COBRA PILOTS GET YOUR ASSES OVER HERE NOW!" Samantha watched as they headed over to her, some slower than others.
Once they all had gathered she spoke loud enough for them all to hear. "Okay, here is the deal. I'm CAG for this mission. We are launching to provide a fighter screen for the Galactica. Now don't get confused out there, but this is the Battle of the Star Forge." Several pilots looked confused and there were whispers about jokes. "Shut up and listen. Don't ask why or how; just focus on protecting the Galactica at all cost. If you don't remember your history we are going to be going head to head with Sith Fighters. They are fast and maneuverable but unshielded. They are no match for a Cobra in single combat but well swarm us with hundreds if not thousands of them. Now sense we do not have time for creating new squadrons we are going to operate in flights in this battle. Your assignments will be..." Samantha quickly read off fighter names and positions. She for the most part keep the original flights together the best she could, but she did not have time to check if every pilot was assigned a position which matched his ability. "Now, Suicide Kings into the launcher tube and everyone else is taking off from the hangers port opening. We are short on pilots and fighters so watch each other asses and if you take damage you return to the ship. No heroes today. Good hunting." The pilots all shouted 'Yes ma'am' and ran to their fighters.
Samantha herself ran to her fighter. The flight she had assigned to herself was the leftovers from the other squadrons. She had Green Eleven as her wingman, Red Three as her element leader and Blue Seven in the number four position. She patched through to the main channel which the fighters were using. "All fighters take off." She said as she fired up her engines and took off.
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Post by MikDaTv on Aug 4, 2009 23:11:11 GMT -5
Ensign Charlie Walton climbed into the cockpit of his Dragoon and started the power up procedures. He was a rescue pilot who picked up ejected pilots before they froze to death in their flight suits.
"This is Ricket, powering up." He said into the com just as his copilot sat down in his chair to assist with the preflight checks. He had 4 drones left over from the battle of Ilium, which was enough he thought, to cause at least a little confusion and he had a full gas tank.
He had heard what the new CAG had said. It didn't make any sense, but to be perfectly honest, he was glad his father, the Captain, hadn't named him CAG. It would have given everyone one more excuse to blame all their problems on the old man's baby boy.
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Post by MikDaTv on Aug 4, 2009 23:23:11 GMT -5
Galactica was slower then usual because of her damage, but she could still manage to get up to battle speed. Walton was extraordinarily proud of his crew. more then 24 hours with no rest, almost half the crew injured or dead, and a severely damaged ship and still things on the bridge ran as if they had just left space dock for a afternoon cruise.
"New contact!" The sensor officer shouted. "Starboard quarter, coming up from the planet. It's a small ship, freighter size. Wait... IFF ID's her as the Ebon Hawk!"
Walton nodded. "That'd be Revan and his team heading for the Star Forge. Don't make any advances towards it. We don't want to mess up the timeline by getting in their way."
"But thats not it sir! There's another ship in orbit. We didn't see it before because the planet was shielding it but she's rounding the bend and she's broken off her orbital coarse and is bearing down on the Hawk." The sensor officer practically screamed in both terror and elation.
Walton walked over to his station and looked over his shoulder. "Identify."
The Captain waited patiently as the sensor man worked. "Sensors make her out to be an Hammerhead Class Cruiser... deploying fighters."
"Damn it! Helm, bring us about! All engines Right Full. Tactical, how are my guns doing?" Walton shouted.
The weapons officer turned in his swivel chair. "Port and starboard turbolasers are working Captain. DC's say they might be able to get one rail gun working in the next few minutes but it's iffy. And the mass driver turrets are all functioning but we don't have a lot of ammo to spare sir. Concussion missiles and main warheads are depleted."
"Load the forward mass drivers with anti ship rounds and link them to fire vollies with the forward turbolasers. The rest load with flack shells. And get my damn fighter screen up!"
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Post by Odan Thos on Aug 5, 2009 1:17:03 GMT -5
Samantha and the other twenty nine cobras launched from the Galactica. They quickly formed into flights and started to fly large orbits around the Galactica. Samantha got called out over the airwaves. "Keep out of the Galactica's line of fire the best you can. Remember to watch each other's backs." Sam then spoke to Galactica, noticing the fighter heading for the Ebon Hawk. "Permission to engage Sith Fighters deploying from Sith Hammerhead and defend the Ebon Hawk." Samantha waited for a response, but her hand rested on the throttle just waiting to kick it into overdrive. She planned to also have the Suicide King's first flight come along which would still leave seven flights of fighter; twenty two craft, defending the Galactica. She did not realize how her actions would affect history, but her fighter pilot mentality told her to fight.
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Post by MikDaTv on Aug 5, 2009 1:45:01 GMT -5
"Sir, the CAG is requesting to engage" The Comm officer declared.
Walton walked up to his chair and picked up his Mic. "Connect me."
The Captain waited a beat for the com officer to give him the nod before he spoke. "CAG, this is Galactica. Your clear to engage but your going in and out. Zoom in, do your business and then zoom out. Don't let the Ebon Hawk ever know you were there, and keep clear of the Hammerhead."
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Post by Odan Thos on Aug 6, 2009 1:18:55 GMT -5
Samantha smiled and flipped to the fighter channel. “Yellow Aces Flight and Suicide Kings First Flight come with me and turn to channel Zeta Two. All other ships are to remain with the Galactica and feel in the gaps of the screen.” Samantha broke out of her orbit of the Galactica and headed towards the planet.
The other seven fighters fallowed in a finger four formation. She then changed to channel Zeta Two. “Okay listen up. We are doing slash attacks in Elements at full thrust. I well lead fallowed by Red Three, then Suicide King One then Suicide King Three and our respective wingmen. Keep around three to four klicks between elements. After we all made our pass we will turn planet side and fly through another strike. We well repeat this pattern until we destroyed all the fighters which may be heading for the Ebon Hawk. And remember to stay away from the Hammerhead; it is the Galactica’s.” The seven other pilots replied ‘Yes Ma’am’ and the group headed off.
The fighters formed a long line; one group on the edge of the other sensor wise. They flew close to the planet’s atmosphere; using it to help mask their approach of the Sith Fighters. Samantha watched her radar as they closed with the enemy. As they got closer and closer she noticed that they were not changing course. That either meant they did not see them or they did not consider them a threat. Either way it meant they would pay dearly.
As they got into weapons range Samantha switched on her targeting computer and got a lock on a fighter. She pulled the triggered and red bolts shot from the nose. She was leading the Sith Fighter and it flew right into them. She continued to fire, not relying on the targeting computer but instead just cutting a path of distruction. Samantha’s wingman did the same and the two fighters cut few through the debris of Sith Fighters.
Samantha had gotten three and her wingman also scored a kill. But more importantly the attack drew the attention of the some of the other fighters turned to engage them. This was a mistake because when the second Element of the Yellow Aces squadron made their run, they had a nice easy shot at the Sith Fighters six o’clocks. The anti-fighter sweep was quickly turning into a turkey shot.
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Post by MikDaTv on Aug 6, 2009 17:14:18 GMT -5
Ensign Charlie Walton was receiving a request to switch frequencies so he did. Unfortunately his dads voice came over the comm. "Ricket, this is Galactica, i want you to follow the break away flight and provide ECM support for their attack."
Charlie keyed his com and replied back, "Yes sir captain sir." He hated having to take orders from his dad, and he hated it more when his dad actually gave those orders. But he did what he was told. He broke away with the CAG's detachment and flew his Dragoon hard to keep up with them. When they got within range, Charlie had his copilot launched a drone towards the Sith interceptors. The drone shot out ahead of the Cobras towards the interceptors and then stopped itself right in their path. Once it was so situated it began localized sensor jamming, effectively cutting the interceptors sensor range in half.
The strategy appeared like a winner because the interceptors didn't bother to turn and engage the new arrivals, they stayed on the Ebon Hawk until the last minute when the Cobras shredded them.
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Post by Odan Thos on Aug 9, 2009 1:31:16 GMT -5
Samantha checked her radar as the second element of Suicide Kings made their run through few remaining fighters finished off the stragglier. She then activated then spoke on the attack group frequency. "Good work guys. Break planeside, reform into flights and return to Galactica's fighter screen. Remember to stay clear of the Hammerhead and the Galactica's firing trajectory." Samantha spoke softly, feeling the stress of the attack to save the Ebon Hawk melt away.
She then called up Ensign Walton on the open channel. "Good work Ensign. I like to see pilots that take incisive when they see an opportunity. Now return to the Galactica and the safety of the Cobra's." Samantha was not sure if Charlie came out to prove something or if he just seen the bigger picture. She did not care; they got the job done; however it would be interesting to see such an old fighter on her score card.
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Post by MikDaTv on Aug 9, 2009 19:14:47 GMT -5
Charlie responded with a double click on the comm and fell in behind the Cobra's on their way back to Galactica.
Meanwhile, Galactica was steaming towards the engagement at her best possible speed. Her charred bow section was black against the black of space, but the rest of her was the standard republic gray.
As soon as she was within range, her forward turbolasers blazed against the black, firing bolts of green energy towards the hammerhead. Her forward mass drivers fired as well launching anti capitol ship rounds. The hammerheads forward shields bore the brunt of the strike but some damage became visible on her forward decks.
Captain Walton watched the engagement from the bridge's center holoprojector. With the fire it was sustaining, the Hammerhead couldn't afford to stay on the Ebon Hawk's tail. It was breaking off it's pursuit and turning for the Galactica. Her large forward weapons turned to focus on Galactica's bow and she returned fire.
"All fields forward!" Walton yelled as the bridge shoot slightly from the impacts.
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