>>6191817 (OP)
>Convert shuttles into Torpedo Boats for local defense

>>6191817 (OP)
>Set a number of old corvettes as guards

>>6191817 (OP)
>>Set a number of old corvettes as guards

Corvettes can be levy into combat if we get desperate and shuttles look more like an adhoc solution compared to real warships.

>>6191817 (OP)
>Convert shuttles into Torpedo Boats for local defense

>>6191817 (OP)
>Convert shuttles into Torpedo Boats for local defense
>Start focusing on the Strike Pilot Training Program so we can throw a swarm of trained Strike Craft at the enemy later.

So did we ever decide whether to mass produce regular or torpedo defense platforms?

>>6191817 (OP)
>>Set a number of old corvettes as guards

>>6192066
your going to be making strike craft however this is more of a stop gap while that gets underway

>>6191817 (OP)
the old corvettes we can take with us
the shuttles can stay
>Convert shuttles into Torpedo Boats for local defense

>>6191817 (OP)
>>Convert shuttles into Torpedo Boats for local defense

>Convert shuttles into Torpedo Boats for local defense

The act of converting shuttles into torpedo boats shouldnt take all that long and wont even require the shipyard as the work can be done inside the hangar bays of the fort. They would have two of the smaller strike craft torpedoes and not be able to reload them mid combat but this should be more than enough to harass anything coming out of the jump point long enough for the fortress rail guns to destroy.


This decided your little war council breaks up and sets about their work for the next two weeks. The new destroyer crew is starting to form up and under Issacs recommendation you give the command to Tobias the fleets former known coward. The Light cruiser with the damaged wiring is the first one in the shipyard having large sections of its hull removed to fix wiring first installed well before you were born. A suitable factory is found to begin making strike craft and the first of the MTBs finish their refit.

I completely forgot to actually post todays post

>>6192870
What? Nah, I can see the post right there :D

Its also during these two weeks you finally get your first real report from the navy, army intelligence arm on Cartha. They are happy to report the bird you captured had finally calmed down enough to be fed, they don't mention what they have been feeding it. The report details some real oddities about it for one they think it may be mentally deficient or at least pretending to be as even basic things like the consumption of water or eating seem to be close to the limit of its ability. The rest of the report is made up of a detailed autopsy of several bird corpses which notes that every single one is female they seem to be from a world of lower gravity of earth and they seem to be obligate carnivores.

The report also contains some basic notes about the various videos and pictures of destroyed enemy ships it mostly notes the seeming power of the enemy reactors and hints at an informal request to capture an enemy vessel somewhat intact for inspection of said power source.

Could I get a 1d100 best of three for a role on the event table please

Rolled 8 (1d100)

>>6193613
>apparently majority female race
Finally, some good news.

Rolled 25 (1d100)

>>6193613
Please be good

Rolled 5 (1d100)

>>6193613
Please be bad

>>6193613
Sorry about the roll. Anyway maybe start projecting early childhood cartoons into the bird's holding cell as a way of trying to establish communication and keeping it from going crazier than it already is.
Also maybe those helicopter landscape videos from dentists' waiting rooms. See if the bird likes television.

>>6193630
>childhood cartoons

Anon I assure you the Navy, Army intelligence arm is more than capable of torture without the admirals input

>>6193631
lmao
also damn I missed the roll

It's the week after your refits ended when you receive your first real outside communication since receiving your orders. Its a patchy communication from the sector 62 side of your area and seems to be a convoy of merchant ships trying their damndest to outrun a pursuing enemy flotilla. The convoy seems to be about three weeks out on the edge of your territory and might be able to outrun the enemy but it will be a close thing unless they run into another enemy fleet and in that case they are dead. You can probably sail out to escort them back to Cartha, the system being defended decently well already.

>sail to the convoys aid
>Hope they make it

>>6194244
>sail to the convoys aid

>>6194244
>>sail to the convoys aid
Use it as a morale boost, we defended against the enemy and forced them back.

>>6194244
>Sail to the convoys aid

Ohh hey merchants, just what we needed.

>>6194244
>sail to the convoys aid
>Also drop comm bouys at each jump point of our area for data and first warnings

>>6194244
Is there any way we can communicate with the Merchant Convoy to try to set up an ambush against the enemy flotilla? Somewhere with lots of asteroids and cover maybe?

>>6194244
>>sail to the convoys aid
If we can get them to Cartha we can get their goodies and people.

It's not really even a question its your duty to protect the merchants ships and having a few more ships to convert into warships never hurts. The real question is what are you going to take with you? You're not sure how long the convoy can outrun the enemy so speed might be really important so maybe you should only take your modern ships so you can arrive as soon as possible. It's also possible the enemy outnumbers you greatly and you might need your entire fleet for a fight. You do order the entire fleet to prepare for operations despite whichever choice you go with

>take only the Modern ships (1CVL 2CLs 6Cs)
>Take everything (1CVL 2CLs 10DDs 12Cs)

>>6194972
>Take everything (1CVL 2CLs 10DDs 12Cs)
Either we get there on time, or we get there a little late, but in either case, we destroy the enemy.

>>6194972
>>Take everything (1CVL 2CLs 10DDs 12Cs)
Never split the fleet as we will always be outnumbered

>>6194972
>Take everything (1CVL 2CLs 10DDs 12Cs)

>>6194972
>>take only the Modern ships
we should leave the older stuff to defend Cartha

>>6194972
>>Take everything (1CVL 2CLs 10DDs 12Cs)

Rolled 7 (1d100)

>Take everything (1CVL 2CLs 10DDs 12Cs)

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

Rolled 100 (1d100)

>>6195616
Time to get some chicken.

>>6195631
Ain't that an understatement.

>>6195616
Your honor do we still need to roll?
>>6195631

>>6195631
We literally jumped on their asses while they did a turn.

>>6195631
CFC.
Or in full Cartha fried chicken.
>>6195631
Please tell us one of them is gonna make a turkey shoot comment.

>>6195690
So this is more or less a yes or no roll on if you showed up on time so im going to say you guys do, but im going to offer you guys a chance to save the crit for a roll that really matters you would still pass this roll but you would have a crit saved

>>6195781
yeah that sounds good.

>>6195781
Save it

The whole fleet is called and gathers at the fort you figure if you're going to sortie it should be in force. It's not like the destroyers and older corvettes will slow you down too much after all, the Essex is pretty slow as it is nearly half a century old and only an escort carrier. The fleet enters jump space and you hope you will meet up with the merchant convoy before its too late.


Jump space is a high plane of existence humanity has used as a trick to beat the laws of physics in real space it also happens to be somewhat poorly understood. Its one of the poorly understood facts about jump space that lets you make far better time than usual in your jump. There are occasionally “winds” that whip through parts of jump space that push ships faster and farther than usual although it's not actually wind it's just the best way to describe some odd higher dimensional energy acting on objects from lower dimensions like yours.

(almost posted part of another writing project instead of this update, that would have been weird)

Its after a week and half of traveling for several days and then exiting for a few hours and then reentering jump space you finally arrive at where you hope to meet up with the convoy. The system your rendezvous was set up at is relatively barren with only a handful of planetoids and two jump points: the one you arrived at and the one you hope to see the friendly force come through. You run through your available vessels again, There was the essex and her 24 strike craft/ The two light cruisers freshly loaded with mines, six ancient corvettes with two torpedo tubes each, six modern corvettes with their quad tubes and finally the ten ancient destroyers with their two quad tube torpedo mounts one of which you note is the salvaged destroyer now commanded by the freshly recaptained Tobias Cromwell. The only question now is how do you wish to deploy around the other jump point?

>Angled ambush like Honest
>Tight formation in front
>spaced out around the system
>write in

>>6196757
>write in: wolfpacks and carrier blobs?

>>6196757
>Angled ambush like Honest

>>6196757
>>Angled ambush like Honest

>>6196757
>>Angled ambush like Honest.

Hopefully the fleet that was chasing the merchants is a small one to try and keep up with them.

Can we set up the mines but deactivate them until the merchant ships escape the blast radius?

>>6196757
>>Angled ambush like Honest
I'd say that it's a bad idea to repeat ourselves too much, but it seems like from the mechanics of the jump point, the birds are super fucked with this strategy regardless of how well they prepare for it before coming into realspace.

Rolled 3 (1d5)

While you aren't a big fan of being predictable the angled jump point ambush is a very effective tactic save for a few specific circumstances. The light cruisers take up position near the essex while the destroyers and corvettes set up around the jump point prepared to loose their devastating ordnance.The convoy hasn't really been able to properly talk to your fleet seeming to only be able to do so when not in direct contact with the enemy, this means you have no idea when or in what shape they will arrive. It takes nearly half a day for the eventual sickly green glow of the jump point to form and something begins to come through

could I get a 1d20 best of three to determine how many merchants made it please, I am rolling for their condition

>>6197453
Don't worry guys, I got this. Our economy is about to get jumpstarted and our supplies will be in bulk.

Rolled 5 (1d20)

>>6197469
didn't enter properly apparently

Rolled 20 (1d20)

>>6197453

Rolled 9 (1d20)

>>6197453

>>6197531
GOAT

>>6197531
nice

A single freighter with clear signs of battle damage comes through the jump point burning slowly but clearly still able to sail and another and another. The entire convoy one at a time spaced evenly comes out of jump space until the last three come through together. The last three ships have clearly been modified extra armour more civilian grade coilguns, save for one them which has what you're fairly sure is some sort of cobbled together spinal mounted railgun. They seem cautious at first but someone apparently their leader contacts you ,through radio of all things informing you they have nearly fifthteen thousand civillians mixed with their fleet and have been on the run from the enemy for weeks since the New Athens fell which you know is the sector capital of Sector 62.


The leader of the convoy also informs you his ships aren't in the worst way but do need to do some emergency repairs as the local jump space “wind” had put strain on many of the haggard ships. They also inform you the enemy can't be far behind and they at least number in the upper 30s


Qm question do you lot find it easier to read numbers as words or as numbers? so like

20 or Twenty

>>6198268
Numbers, always numbers.

>>6198268
numbers as the brain can recognize important information and begin planning

>>6198268
I prefer just using digits. there's sort of a system for it that I'll get to in a second, but if you're picking one or the other, pick digits.

General style advice:
twenty is usually the cut-off in English for writing out a number because 15 and fifteen are both pretty easy to read but "seven thousand, one hundred and forty-two" is a dumb pain in the ass to deal with and the only reason you would bother writing it out is to emphasize how large of a number it is.

and even "twenty-one" is pushing it, that's really two numbers, twenty and one. Plus, there's a hyphen, which is annoying. so like, writing out the tens, that is, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty, is okay, but not the other nine numbers in each set. and numbers rounded to a hundred or a thousand, ie, "four hundred" and "twenty thousand" are usually okay to write out, but precise numbers like 435 or 20,222 should be digital.

This is all for counting, by the way. aka "there are three apples," is counting. "This is Apple 3" is using the number as a serial number. With Serial Numbers, like Sector 62 and Sector 63, where the number tells you which sector it is instead of how many sectors there are, always use digits.

there's more to it but it only gets more complicated from here so like I said earlier, if you want one or the other go for digits.

>>6198268
Shit an extra 15 thousand people to feed means we gotta find food somewhere unless these guys have any food.

>>6198433
15 thousand people is like, less than half of a small college football stadium, if Cartha is fully industrialized they'll have the food reserves and capacity to feed these people for at least the two years we have until we get reinforcements from the metropole.

>>6198463
Yeah, a large city today has population in millions, a whole planet should have at least tens of millions even if it's a far away colony.
Which kinda puts it into perspective that 15k is everyone who managed to get away...

>>6198648
>>6198463

I mean maybe but the last thread had it pointed out as a genuine problem we're dealing with. Cartha got a massive influx of Refugees and I assume some of those other colonies were the ones focusing on food. Below is a direct quote from last thread.

>>6190386
“See to it Issac” Turning back to Mr meek he nods at you handing you your tablet back “I know a couple of factories we can retool for stuff like this but it will take a month or so, however i'm more concerned about food without New Garcia things are going to be tight for a bit until we can get new hydroponics farms started” Sighing you sit back in your chair supplies in general are going to scarce with large amounts of the sectors population simply gone you doubt new build ships are a possibility. “Issac, what are our options for expanding our number of proper warships?”

Actually reading it back yeah it looked like New Garcia was the colony producing a large amount of food in the sector. With it abandoned there's a bit of a food shortage in Cartha. Obviously with rationing it'll probably be doable but it still might be a problem.

Of course I'm glad we found as many survivors as we could but I'm just pointing out the food shortage as a major problem that isn't helped by another 15 thousand extra mouths.

>>6198819
Can we maybe go check out new Garcia and see if we can salvage some food and mechinery from there to speed up our hydroponics? It's been a few months so the food storage I'm not too optimistic about but there's a possibility a bunch of equipment got left behind.

File: Smug guy.jpg (60 KB, 630x1200)

60 KB JPG

>>6198268
>Qm question do you lot find it easier to read numbers as words or as numbers? so like
Nubers

Rolled 66 (1d100)

The convoy moves over to the other jump point and begins to work on their repairs save for the three armed freighters which join your formation ready to hit the enemy when they come through. While this is happening the captain of the armed freighter with the rail gun informs you of what happened in Sector 62. The attacks were far more well coordinated than the ones that hit your own sector, one system after another would go dark and before any real response could be mustered by your Sector 62 counterpart another would go. It all came to a head when said counterpart sailed from the sector capital with his full fleet and just disappeared, presumed defeated and killed in battle. The convoy set out from capital with the families of the crew and as many women and children as they could carry, they watched the enemy fleet enter the system just as they left.

could I get a 1d100 best of three please

Rolled 52 (1d100)

>>6198986
This is extremely concerning

Rolled 59 (1d100)

>>6198986

Rolled 76 (1d100)

>>6198986
We will fry these birds
we will grill these birds
we will stew these brids
and we will boil these birds.

we shall roast these birds
we shall bake these birds
we shall poach these birds
and we shall smoke these birds.
All this and more until evey human is avenged and then some.

The captain begins to tell you the full tale of the haphazard retreat to your sector. Hes in the middle of a particularly harrowing moment where the enemy were firing into an open jump point as the convoy escaped, something that no sane sailor would do due to the unpredictable nature of both lasers and unguided projectiles in jump space. His tale is just about to reach its apex when your sensor officer yells out “JUMP POINT ACTIVATION!”. Your eyes quickly turn to the jump point as it appears with its sickly green glowing energy.

It takes a few moments but the first of the enemy fleet disgorge themselves out the jump point 2 battleships accompanied by 5 heavy cruisers and 10 ships that you can best guess are some sort of destroyer, a new type you had yet to see but still in the same style as the others. The jump point stays open meaning more ships are coming

>attack now destroy the vanguard of the enemy fleet
>wait for the rest to come through

>>6199566
>attack now destroy the vanguard of the enemy fleet
Defeat in detail.

>>6199566
>attack now destroy the vanguard of the enemy fleet
straight into fire.

>>6199566
>>attack now destroy the vanguard of the enemy fleet

Damn should have laid down the mines,

>>6199566
>>attack now destroy the vanguard of the enemy fleet
we can lay down the mines in the debris field after we boof them.

>>6199566
also we need to be wary of the new destroyers. if the birds are smart, they might have created dedicated AA/picket ships to defend against our torpedo runs (as is the original point of a destroyer -- they were "Torpedo boat destroyers" to defend capital ships before they became general utility ships.)

>>6199566
>attack now destroy the vanguard of the enemy fleet

>>6199662
Something to keep in mind for later we can maybe put some mines in the supply ship when we get back.

Rolled 51 (1d100)

>attack now destroy the vanguard of the enemy fleet

alright 1d100 best of three please

Rolled 77 (1d100)

>>6200170
Manifest Destiny.

Rolled 82 (1d100)

>>6200170

Rolled 24 (1d100)

>>6200170
Dodge this alpha strike, casul.

Rolled 36 (1d100)

Your men wait for your order as the enemy begins to shake out into a loose protected column formation and they do not have to wait for long. “Send the strike group in and tell them to wait for the corvettes and destroyers to get their spreads out before they launch their own strike, I dont like the looks of that new type of ship, tell the picket to watch for hostile fish.” The orders doled out your fleet went to work, the picket of destroyers and corvettes push forward in a well ordered line abreast the corvettes hiding behind a wall of metal chaff deployed by the destroyers. The enemy tries to disrupt the pickets however between the chaff and the size of the ships the massive bursts of lasers go wide. The picket and strike groups both release their torpedoes in tandem as the enemy destroyers open up with a much more rapid version of their lasers

could I get 2d100 best of three first 100 for the strike group the second for the picket line
could I

>>6200901
Ignore the second could I, was a mistake when copying today's post

Rolled 37, 68 = 105 (2d100)

>>6200901

Rolled 57, 83 = 140 (2d100)

>>6200901

Rolled 27, 84 = 111 (2d100)

>>6200901
Guns free.

As dozens of lasers flash near the picket line the torpedoes plow forward the larger fish from the corvettes and destroyers targeting the battleships while the strike group separate into five parts to strike the enemy Heavy cruisers ignoring the destroyers. The Mk 56 anti ship torpedo is a surprisingly effective weapon despite the design being almost two centuries old. its dead simple contact fuse with nearly 600 pounds of high explosive in its warhead its been known to crack even the toughest pirate vessel nearly in half and apparently alien warships aswell.

The strike groups fish arrive earlier than the pickets and savage the heavy cruisers in the rear of the column, the white hot flashes of the warheads followed by dozens of sympathetic explosions across the stricken vessels as battery banks suffer enormous feedback and explode. The pickets' torpedoes arrive shortly after the battleships not really getting a chance to react to their consorts' sudden demise as almost 40 torpedoes crash into their hulls one of the ships being cracked into three separate parts.

>>6201430
Sector 63 Fried Chicken

Rolled 68 (1d100)

Its as the shattered wreck of the first battleship begins to burn with something the other slightly more intact one begins to do something new. You watch with some awe as lifepods and shuttles begin to abandon the dying capital ship. The birds have never abandoned a stricken warship before or at least not any of the ones you've fought, but then again this is a fleet from a different sector maybe having better training and some different ship types.


The aforementioned new ships in the form of the destroyers do make themselves known again as they seem to charge out from their position screening what used to be the vanguard capital ships. These new ships are fast and seem to be geared more toward rapid fire over strength with their lasers. The source of this speed seems to be quite powerful reactors that must make working inside them like a sauna as they speed toward your picket line lasers flashing as they chase.

Could I get a 1d100 best of three please

also have the corvettes speed away from the attacks leavening the destroyers to duel them?

>yes
>No

Rolled 7 (1d100)

>>6202219
>No
But keep them in supporting roles and not in slugging matches.

>You watch with some awe as lifepods and shuttles begin to abandon the dying capital ship. The birds have never abandoned a stricken warship before or at least not any of the ones you've fought, but then again this is a fleet from a different sector maybe having better training and some different ship types.
These are not birds are they? These are another species.

Rolled 40 (1d100)

>>6202219
>yes

Rolled 47 (1d100)

>>6202219
>No

>>6202219
>>yes
These ships seem geared to cut down smaller ships, let the destoryers which carry heavier weaponry tank them so we can use them to kill after.
We need to conserve our ship count as much as possible.

>>6202280
yall we have a tie, we need a fifth, or debate to change each other's minds.

>>6202280
>>>yes
Sure the anon brings a good point as our fast ships are at risk of being ripped apart by their rapid fire corvett equivalent.

>>6202219
>>yes
yeah our corvettes aren't meant to slug it out

>>6202219
>>yes

The corvettes guns, especially the older ones are small and very ineffective so you order the corvettes to use their superior speed to get away while the slower destroyers form up and defend themselves. The first of the strike group begin to land as the 10 enemy destroyers come into the gun range of your own destroyers. The two sides begin to jockey for the better position as coilgun rounds and lasers pass each other in the void as your own destroyers rush to reload their torpedo tubes.

The melee seems mostly tied for some time until a destroyer is struck in its engines and begins to slow down dragging down the speed of the entire formation and making itself an easy target.

Would you like to use your cached crit?

>yes
>No

>>6202889
>yes
every battle counts, we need to deal a crushing blow to the enemys of this next sector here. We can capture survivors for info if we win. The earlier we deal casualties, the earlier we build the momentum to defeat them.

>>6202889
>Yes

No post tonight as i will not be home until late

>>6202889
>>yes

>>6202889
>>yes

It takes a particular type of officer to captain a destroyer much like any other type of warship for example, carrier officers like yourself need to be a certain level of callous when it comes to your airwings and escorts. The battleship captain tends to be patient and very calm. Your average Heavy cruiser captain is the same. The best type of officer for a destroyer has been and always will be one who can act without thinking and is a little bit crazy. It looks like Tobias Cromwell, a man who was known as a coward, is one such officer.


The enemy fleet formed into a line is chasing your fleet which is also in line and seem to be more than happy to pick on the destroyer that is currently falling behind due to a damaged engine. Tobias’s ship which is second from the front suddenly without orders performs a turn in front of the enemy fleet that makes your stomach do somersaults just imagining the Gs put on the crew from such a rapid maneuver. Its T crossed the enemy fleet and seemed to panicked them which gave Tobias’s ship a chance to open up with all of his coilgun turrets and a single torpedo he must have reloaded faster than the others. The coilgun rounds rip into the lead enemy ship tearing the weak skinned enemy vessel to shreds while the torpedo sends the rest scattering.

The friendly destroyer line sans Tobias's ship and the stricken vessel turns back on itself and begins to pick off enemy destroyers one by one with massed fire. Tobias seems to take the protection of the damaged destroyer as his sole goal in life duels with 3 enemy destroyers who have chosen to still try and take out his charge. The last of your strike group finish landing and begin the process of rearming something that at the beginning of the war would have taken the ground crew upwards of 10 minutes but now takes less then 5 with their new found combat experience

Could I get a 1d100 best of three to determine how Tobias's fight goes?

Rolled 69 (1d100)

>>6204726

Rolled 13 (1d100)

>>6204726
Tobias, Grab them by the balls.

Rolled 86 (1d100)

>>6204726
Don't die Tobias your now our most experienced captain now.

Tobias’s destroyer seems to dance around the trio of enemy ships, a nonstop spray of tungsten core coilgun rounds lashing out at them. The enemy try to return fire as each of them are turned into pin cushions venting large amounts of air as their own lasers either just barely graze Tobias's ship or miss entirely. The first of the ships explodes after a lucky strike on what you guess was its battery bank while another drifts away power fluctuating wildly as its own reactor fails leaving only one of the ships still in combat.


While Tobias and the last enemy ship accosting the crippled destroyer face off the rest of the destroyers are quite busy. The enemy try to reform their formation however they are picked off isolated and alone from each other by the destroyer line like a pack of piranha.

>>6205220
Hell yeah. Tobias is a street brawler, which is exactly how we need to fight the birbs.

The last of the enemy ships still in the fight is funnily enough the one facing off against Tobias who's doing his damndest to nail down the destroyer but its captain seems to be the same kind of crazy as him and is putting its ship through turns that would send most humans into unconsciousness. Its clear the destroyer is trying to work its way back toward the jump point as the duel continues; however a lucky strike from Tobias’s coilguns strikes the destroyers rear and causes a sudden and very violent secondary explosion turning the ship into a bright flash followed by an expanding debris field.


The battle is over for your fleet despite the harrowing nature of the destroyer duel remains intact and the civilians report the transports are ready to leave. The light cruisers while repairs are done to the crippled destroyer begin to scoop up nearly a dozen enemy shuttles and lifepods which are carefully filled with nitrogen to incapacitate the occupants, who are then transferred to cells. The rest of the enemy fleet should arrive soon and the question is do you stay and fight or leave with the freighters?

>Return to Cartha
>Stay and fight
>Write in

>>6205702
>Return to Cartha
At the very least we should debrief, discuss the enemy's new tactics and retrieve waht intel we have from the prisoners

>>6205702
>>Write in
Return to cartha but leave behind some mines and a comm bouy so we have vision

>>6205702
>>Return to Cartha
>>6205742
Supporting

>>6205702
>Return to Cartha

>>6205742
+1

>>6205742
support on leaving a hidden comm bouy,but no mines, leave them for another time. (a few mines now won't cause as much damage as a bunch used in a more crucial battle, the less familiar they are with our posssible tactics the better)

>>6205702
>Return to Cartha
Leave a bouy but no mines, the rest of the enemy fleet is already on its way and I doubt we will get enough ready in time.

alright lets get a 1d100 bet of three for the trip back and

Leave mines?
>Yes
>No

>>6206390
>No
The Dice would never betray me

Rolled 15 (1d100)

>>6206429
apparently command didn't work.

Rolled 26 (1d100)

>>6206390
>no
I like mining but i get the arguments to the contrary

Rolled 3 (1d100)

>>6206390
>No

>>6206430
>>6206444
>>6206452
Good fucking lord

While normally you would be more than happy to keep blowing up bird ships with the civilians and your new found horde of prisoners you have much to lose if you stay. The light cruisers heavy with their prisoners rejoin the formation alongside the destroyers which are all fine except for the one with the damaged engine who Tobias has taken under tow. The civilians the necessary repairs done take their places in the center of the formation right next the Essex as you head to the jump point to leave while also leaving behind a pair of comm buoys behind.


The initial jump goes well however things quickly begin to spiral after that one by one during the initial three day jump the civilian freighters report problems some are understandable, old damage cropping up ships well out of regular maintenance cycle suffering severe electrical faults and even one fire that thankfully gets put out quickly. These events while annoying would be fine what isn't fine is when you discover that one of the freighters either out of fear or stupidity outright lied about the condition of their engine you find yourself waylaid in a system while they try to cobble together some repairs for a ship far too large to tow.


>>6206484
This is unironically the worst rolls Ive seen since I started QMing, although still doesn't beat that 1 out of 1d10000 roll in left behind quest

>>6207088
Left like god came down and weighted the dice to gain an absolute victory right then and there. Good thing chat prepared for all possibilities or they won't have pyrrhic victory.

The repairs take nearly a week and by the fourth day you're wondering if you should shoot or arrest the captain of the stranded freighter. It takes several other freighters and the assistance of your own engineering team but the freighters engine is put back together and you resist the urge to commit murder you set off back on your trip. It doesn't take you many jumps to realize that you have fallen behind another way of enemy advance coming from sector 62 the buoys you left behind sending you a dozen pictures of many more enemy patrols and fleets that had passed through the system you had rescued the freighters in.

could I get 1d100 best of three please

Rolled 66 (1d100)

>>6207533

Rolled 57 (1d100)

>>6207533

Rolled 25 (1d100)

>>6207533
a fleet only a fraction of the size of the one at reach.

>>6207533
We could always hand the captain of the stricken freighter a bundle of rope and tell him to tie up a cat o'nine tales.
"You endangered countless lives and threatened the security of the entire subsector."
That might be a little outside our protagonist's character though. He's not quite that salty.

The jumps go well until your only a few days from cartha when you have to drop out of jump space to rest the engines of your ships. The system you exit in is populated by a pair of barren worlds and is also home to three jump points. This system would normally be the perfect place to hold down for a rest if it wasnt for the 25 enemy ships orbiting the nearest of the planets to your jump point.

The enemy fleet is made up of 10 battleships, 5 heavy cruisers and 10 of the new destroyers which means this is a fleet from sector 62 and not the ones youve been dealing with in your own sector. Your fleet can make a return to jump space in about an hour although a fleet of this size is well within your ability to destroy.

>Stay to destroy the fleet
>hold long enough to leave

Today's very late post brought to you by captcha refusing to load

>>6208102
Just to confirm since I have the memory of a squirrel, what is our current force disposition?
Do we have any fun pranks we could play on the enemy fleet or is this just gonna be "pop out from behind a planet, spam torpedoes at their capital ships, and run away before they have time to organize a response?"

>>6208165
You're saying it like it's not a fun prank.

>>6208102
"If a victory is assured, you must fight" - Sun Tzu

>>6208179
>You're saying it like it's not a fun prank.
Fair point.

>>6208179
Also, we could plan to set an ambush at the next jump point after we get them riled up

>>6208102
>>Stay to destroy the fleet
Yeah we need to wipe them. They will know we will jump them if we try to lure them to a jump point and they are way too close to the Cartha jump point to leave them unmolested. We could leave mines on the opposite direction of Cartha to throw them off our trail.

>>6208102
>>Stay to destroy the fleet
Oh maybe I should actually vote.

>>6208102
>>Stay to destroy the fleet
Defeat in detail, we must take advantage at every opportunity.

>>6208165
You current force disposition is

1 Light carrier (with 24 strike craft)
2 Light cruisers
9 destroyers (1 dead in the water)
6 old corvettes
6 Modern corvettes
3 heavily modified freighters with various weapons

and the enemy fleet already sees you and is forming up to fight

>>6208102
>>Stay to destroy the fleet

Rolled 13 (1d100)

>Stay to destroy the fleet

a fighting admiral you are could I get 1d100 best of three please?

Rolled 97 (1d100)

>>6208557

Rolled 95 (1d100)

>>6208557

Rolled 56 (1d100)

>>6208557
cheage

Nice rolling, anons

The enemy fleet begins to form up but it seems to struggle to enter a proper coherent formation instead several of the heavy cruisers and battleships causing the formation to halt as they struggle to get into their place in a line breast formation with the destroyers acting as a forward screen. Your own force with practisced ease shakes out into a simple protective picket in front of your flagship while said flagship begins to launch the strike group. The ship shakes as the hangars magnetic catapults send each of the strike craft out of the ship with great speed. The freighters hide behind the Essex and the three armed freighters.

Your two opposing fleets finally shook out into their respective formations you both sit there for a time, you waiting for the strike group to full launch and they proaably yelling at the captains who are struggling to keep their ships in formation. The strike group becomes fully deployed and you receive several requests from your picket line to be allowed to push forward and attack. It could be advantageous to attack the enemy during the chaos of their deployments however they do still out ton your fleet and defense might be the best option.

>attack
>defend

>>6209489
>attack.
They might out ton our fleet in total, but not in detail with us taking advantage of the chaos and creating localised tonnage advantages.

>>6209489
>>attack

>>6209489
>attack

>>6209489
>>attack

>>6209489
>>attack

Rolled 10 (1d100)

>attack

Could I get a 1d100 best of three please

Rolled 25 (1d100)

>>6210127

Rolled 26 (1d100)

>>6210127

Rolled 14 (1d100)

>>6210127
Press the attack!

>>6210177
>>6210144
>>6210134
damn guys

Rolled 98 (1d100)

>>6210127

No post tonight lads

Your fleet has the most experience on the attack and the enemy seems to still have issues dealing with your strike craft so your order a general attack for both the picket and the strike group. The last week or so mixed with mild battle damage from the last battle means the picket struggles somewhat to maintain a cohesive line abreast formation but its still better than the mess the enemy manages. A full half of the enemies formation is at an angle instead of a straight line as a full half of its capital ships try and fail to maintain the line and the rest of the formation has to stop and start constantly to keep up. Strike group launched and the picket formed up your fleet pushes forward to attack.

>>6211221
I guess it's a "we don't have to outrun the bear" situation

The enemy seems to realize you're coming to them and break into two groups, one made up of the slower two battleships and the three much fast ones, which you're starting to wonder if they are some sort of different class or maybe even a whole different type. The three you're going to call fast battleships for now range out alongside the destroyers ahead of the two others and their cruiser escorts. As usual the first lances of laser fire begin to flash out from these three as your picket alongside your strike group moves up into the extreme of your torpedo range. The pickets going to have to fight the fast battleships however the strike group could choose to attack the much slower group behind them.

>keep the strike group attacking with the picket
>attack separately

>>6211568
>attack separately
Fast battleships can either break formation to block the fighters or ignore them and allow our torps to hit easy targets. We risk the fasties to get shots off but guaranteeing ton damage is needed to pick them off.

>>6211568
>>attack separately

>>6211568
>>attack separately

Rolled 97, 32 = 129 (2d100)

>attack separately

Could I please have 2d100 best of three please

Rolled 30, 98 = 128 (2d100)

>>6211971

Rolled 55, 32 = 87 (2d100)

>>6211971
oh no

Rolled 1, 99 = 100 (2d100)

>>6211971
Hoo boy...

>>6212028
>>6211971
well, then.

The pickets should be able to deal with the fast battleships and destroyers alone so the strike group, all 24 for them, split off and headed toward the formation of battleships and Heavy cruisers in the rear. Your pickets made up of 9 destroyers, 12 corvettes and two light cruisers all armed with torpedoes make the best possible speed at the fast battleships dodging the long range shots from the enemies massive laser turrets.


The pickets are just coming into optimal torpedo range when the first in a series of disasters begin one of the older corvettes more through bad luck then enemy action is struck head on by one of the lasers and with her exposed torpedo tubes the resulting explosion is blinindg and leaves nothing left but an expanding debris field. It's one of your two light cruisers that faces misfortune next when one of her own torpedoes suffers a catastrophic malfunction as it launches, detonating only a few meters from the ship rupturing bulkheads and sending the ship in an uncontrolled spin for a few moments. The loss of the corvette and damage of the light cruiser sends chaos throughout the picket line meaning the torpedo attack is haphazard at best and only scores a single hit on own of the enemy destroyers which does at least kill the ship with a blinding flash of secondary explosions.

>>6212028
I am at a loss for words