Outer Belt Patrol
END: 22.3.2023
Work in Progress pages are pages that haven't been finished yet, leaving them with only spare and incomplete content. Please help by completing it!
CSS Retribution is on patrol in the outer Belt
She launches two FSL-1000 Sabre fighters on patrol
Sabre one, Known as Viking 1-1.
"Hangman you still with me?"
"Aye sir." Says his wingman, flying in close formation
"Alright, let's go."
Both of them go to maximum impulse, pushing them into the backs of their seats and accelerating extremely quickly
They are around 710 Kilometers out from the ship now
Iceman (Viking 1-1) looks at his instrument panel
His back seater, Phoenix keeps an eye on radar
"Hey, Ice."
"Yeah?"
"We got 5 contacts on radar."
"The fuck?"
"Designated Romeos 1-5, bearing 107 degrees x plane 29 degrees y plane."
"Copy, where are they heading?"
"Straight at us."
"Hangman you hear that?"
Over the radio "Yessir."
"distance?"
"100 kilometers and closing."
"Alright, Break off, attack formation." Says Iceman
Both fighters pull away from eachother going opposite directions
A few minutes pass
-
Something new comes over the radio
"May--shsh- this is ADS (Astrodrill Ship) Hercu--shsh shhhsh unde--shsh shhhsh two pirate shi--shsh"
It is coming from the direction of the 5 contacts and seems to be heavily distorted and filled with noise, clear indications of some sort of jamming device.
-
"Report to the Retribution: We have been engaged." Says Iceman
He locks onto one of the Bogies
He slaves a missile to the weapon control system
he lets off a missile
-
In sight comes an elephant-class ore freighter. There is a huge hole in one of its cargo compartments leaking materials. Attached to it via a boarding tunnel is a vessel which could very much be made from scrapyard materials. The engines of both vessels are off but it seems the engines of the freighter not so much by choice as out of necessity.
About 100 meters away from the freighter in different directions are 2 honeybadger-class mining ships, one of the few classes fit for operating in the barely secured regions of the outer rim. They are heavily damaged and are currently being tethered to the freighter by about 5 people in space suits. All of them carry weapons.
"Escorting" this assembly of different ships in a distance of 400 meters is a delta-class small cargo ship. It shows heavy modifications including multiple PDS (Point Defense System) guns and one top mounted medium kinetic artillery cannon. A custom paint job on the side brings a white skull with crossing wrenches under it to display.
Mining laser burn marks stretch across different parts of its hull.
A radio transmission comes in, the jammer seems to have been disabled.
"This is FPRS (Free People of the outer Rim Ship) Dikaios, disengage or we will destroy this freighter with all its crew inside it."
The artillery cannon from the "escorting" ship is pointed at the freighter and its PDS guns seems to start tracking the fighters.
As the missile is detected a volley of rounds is fired from the two PDS guns facing the missile. It explodes mid-flight.
-
Two more fighters from viking squad come in and start helping
Iceman radios: "alright looks like we got a substantial pirate fleet on our hands, time to bring out our the big guns."
"FPRS Dikaios, this the CSS Retribution of the CSIS. Surrender immediately. prepare to to be boarded"
-
(ok, for clarity sake, the delta-class is the FPRS Dikaios, the ship attached to the ADS Hercules, the elephant-class, is the FPRS Trapper. The honeybadger-class ships are not functional anymore)
FPRS Dikaios: "If you board us we will blow that ship up."
The people in space suits make their way back to the ADS Hercules
-
2 more sabre fighters fly in. total 6 fighters. its clear to the pirates that Retribution is launching an entire squadron
Viking 1-1 (Iceman) flies in and lights up the Dikaios' bridge with a flurry of gunfire and rockets
His wingman, Hangman, follows in and does a close in stafe
-
The FPRS Dikaios starts its main drive and goes full power.
-
They let off a few flares to confuse the Dikaios
-
Its bridge is demolished by the salvos.
-
Four more fighters fly in and begin laying punishment on the Dikiaios, as well as the elephant class
-
An explosion can be seen at the ADS Hercules
-
3 Pelican Dropships fly in, hover near the airlocks of the Hercules
-
The FPRS Trapper seperates from the ADS Hercules. Its boarding tunel blown of.
-
They beggin dropping troops to clear the Herculese
Iceman fires a rocket, his backseater guides it into the hole where the boarding tunnel once was on the Trapper
"Time to sit back and decompress, y'know?"
-
The main reactor of FPRS Dikaios explodes as it attempts to engage warp
The missle tears into the interior of FPRS Trapper and explodes the ship from inside, its engines and power signature go dark.
-
Troops begin clearing and securing the Hercules
-
The team quickly clears out the pirates from Hercules and the crew is found fortified in the emergency room.
-
CSS Retribution can be seen keeping a safe distance
The troops knock on the door and tell them that the FPRS is gone
-
Over the radio they hear.
"Hello? Who is there?"
-
"We are from the CSS Retribution, one of our patrols found you."
"Both the Dikaios and Trapper are gone"
-
"You got identification codes?"
-
The Sabre fighters survey the wrecks of the Dikaios and the Trapper, checking for survivors
-
"Staff Sergeant, Boris Yarislav, Marine code 19489."
-
Rummaging and sounds of metal being pushed away.
The door opens.
"Ah, great that you were around. My name is Vincent Burk, Captian of the ADS Hercues and operation leader for Astrodrill Group 12."
-
"Boris Yarislav, CSIS Marines."
"Whats left of your group captain?"
-
"Well, John and Alex went and remote controlled the honeybadgers, buying time and allowing us to get in here before they started boarding. I think they were either picked of or taken hostage. I think there were also 3 others who went towards the engines and should be fortified there somewhere."
"Other than that all accounted for."
-
"Alright."
"We are still clearing the ship."
-
"Understood."
-
He radios in to keep an eye out for 5 unaccounted crewmembers
"One of our hotshot flyboys and his wingman found you guys out on his patrol."
-
"I see. Seems we picked the right spot then to get ambushed." He chuckels
-
"Ha, yeah."
-
The CSS Retribution measures faint warp activity far beyond the oort cloud, after some secondary measurements however it is documented as a sensor malfunction.
In their sweep of the ADS Hercules the troops find 10 pirates, 3 of which die in shootouts. They also discover the bodies of two crew members. They also find the three alive crew technicians fortified in the engine room. During the time of the boarding by CSIS forces they started working on repairing the engines and possibly sending morse code via burn signatures.
-
The crew starts retaking control of the ship and initiates first repairs.
The two damaged honey badgers are attached as good as possible to their respective transport ports.
ADS Hercules activates its four tug drones and starts gathering materials and components from the wreckages
-
CSS Retributions captain seems skeptical and says its probably worth checking out just to be safe, so he keeps the ship on yellow alert as he sends another squadron to scout the area
-
As the cargo compartments of ADS Hercules reach their maximal volume a sent Aeternus Materials salvage group takes over. ADS Hercules departs from the site of the incident with the help of a dispatched warp tug
The fighters patrol for a while but report nothing unusual.
-
Fighters come back around and land at CSS Retribution
CSS Retribution resumes normal patrol
-
After some time It picks up the same faint signature again. Just closer than before.
-
She comes back around and heads back
She deploys a stealth fighter to the area
-
(this is slightly delayed, its taking place about the same time they start closing in on Eda Lamb)
After some time without any reports the fighters return to the Retribution when...
"Sir, we just picked up a large warp signature moving past us, about 500 km out."
"Fighters, return back. We're purusing"
"Yes si-"
It cuts of.
From the bridge the officers witness as the fighters are torn to shreds by a ship just a bit smaller than the CSS Retribution, exiting warp at the position where the fighters were.
"What the..."
From here on out things happen very quickly
A superheated projectile launched from the middle of the other vessel at ridiculous speed tears through the main communication array of CCS Retribution, passing through several layers of armor.
The Retribution immediately engages red alert. The ready group of fighters is launched and all defensive squadrons currently in flight turn to engage the hostile craft.
"EVASIVE ACTIONS"
Two more ships of the same type exit warp. The Retribution is now encircled. The two new ships unleash the same payload onto the Retribution, crippling its main engines.
The fighters start unleashing missiles and rounds on the first hostile.
On the surface of the targeted vessel, several ball shaped extrusions start to come out of hatches in the hull. They seem to be direct beam lasers as they quickly start rotating and tracking individual missiles. One by one missiles explode mid-flight. Those that are not shot down seem to curve unnaturally towards two points on the ship where they abruptly impact some sort of forcefield.
The tungsten and depleted uranium round of the fighters impact the hull of the vessel but seem to only scratch it.
The two larger gun turrets of sort on each of the different hostiles now start tracking the fighters and one by one taking them out using proximity fuse ammunition.
All the while the Retribution is slowly crippled by the constant fire of the main guns of each hostile ship.
"EMERGENCY WARP."
"SIR, WE CA-"
"JUST DO IT."
The three ships start entering a formation with eachother.
"WARP IN 3"
They seem to charge their weapons again and orientate themselves to all point towards a single point on the Retribution's hull.
"No... they wo-"
"2"
The three ships fire their main weapon all slightly timed after each other. The three projectiles impact the hull and tear through several layers of armor.
The last one hits the warp drive.
CSS Retribution is blown to pieces by the following explosion. Its structural supports already weakened by the previous constant barrage.
What few crew remain of the carrier are now in escape pods slowly drifting in space. All communication attempts are in vain as it seem the ships have engaged some kind of jamming device. The crew do not dare activating engines as it would give away their position to the three ships which seem to drift around in and around the remains of CSS Retribution.
They witness as all three ships start unfolding large radiator sails from their two larger outgoing extrusions which start lighting up in an almost ominous red glow.
All is silent. The battle is over.
-
A few hours later
Undoubtable and Indefatigable come out of warp in the outer Belt, near the remains of the CSS Retribution.
@Bluestone.Bot
A few escort ships, around 1km long each (10 of them) also come out of warp
-
"CSS Retribution, this is CSS Undoubtable, please respond."
"Is there anyone out there?"
They keep repeating the message
-
At some point during their warp the ships experience a slight disruption and the sensors suddenly change their outputs. Where previously was just asteroids now reveals... something very bad.
"Sir, this doesn't make sense."
"Prepare for ba-"
Red alert is sounded as the ships exit warp and are greeted with a... warm... welcome.
About 30 vessels expect them with around 4 different designs between them.
The ones of same make as the previous ones immediately unleash their main weapon payload into the Undoubtable and Indefatigable. From the second type of vessel, large missiles of unknow design start to hurl towards the escort ships. 6 missiles are sent to each ship. Ever one of the escort ships is crippled as giant explosions tear through their armor and vital systems.
From the 3. design of ships, smaller craft start detaching from the inner sides of the vessels. Fighters of sorts.
The two CSS Carriers launch their ready groups.
Several dogfights start occurring while the Undoubtable and Indefatigable are pierced by high velocity, high temperature projectiles.
The different escort ships stand no chance and are annihilated within minutes by explosive artillery shells fired into the holes in their Armor.
Fighters start exploding and while the CSIS can achieve some casualties among the enemies it is no surprise when the last of the flying CSIS fighters is torn to pieces.
Next to go is the Indefatigable.
The last standing is the Undoubtable which in a last ditch kamikaze manoeuvre manages to destroy two of the gun type vessels, its own warp core deliberately self-destructing.
The remaining in escape capsules witness as every enemy ship starts unfurling radiator sails, the gun type vessels having the largest ones. The ominous red glow bathes the site into a shuddering look.
The hostile fighters start sweeping the remains of the battle for survivors. Some they grasp hold of and take them to their home ship, the others they kill.
It is silent.
DIVIDER
Kuiper Belt
Outer Belt Patrol
A Tritonian patrol cruiser is scouring a cluster of asteroids on a routine patrol in the Kuiper belt. Crime in the outer rim of the solar system is rampant, as it's distance from the core worlds makes it difficult for tjr law to be properly enforced there.
-
It notices something out of the ordinary on one of the asteroids. A brief flash of light reflected of metal plating.
-
It approaches the anomaly and scans it
-
It seems to be some kind of hatch which is almost completely covered by asteroid rocks.
-
They send some men out on a space walk to see what it is
The ship scans the asteroid
-
The men clear the double-door hatch and search for means to open it. They find a handle.
Once they pull on it the hatch moves slightly up and the men are able to open it. They discover a relatively large cave apparently carved into the asteroid which is confirmed by the asteroid scans. It is about 10 by 12 by 8 meters and partially filled with a few small standard crates. There is a table of sorts at one of the walls with 5 drawers built into it. About three of the immediately visible crates have a cobalt cross on them.
-
"Hey, uh, CIC you reading this?" Says one of the Astronauts
"Affrirmative Delta 1-1."
"Proceed inside, search it."
"Copy that CIC."
They enter
-
The ground of the cave is made up of some kind of metal grid, anchored in the stone, providing a flat area and also connection for magnetic boots. The table is bolted to the grid and the crates are mostly secured to it via straps of sorts.
They notice that there are a few tools drifting in the space and one of the drawers and a few crates have been opened and completely emptied apart from some packaging material. The crates in general seem to be a bit in disarray and some show scratch and bump marks as if they were deposited in a hurry. The unopened drawers have normal key locks and the crates some sort of mechanical pin code that locks them. Each of the crates has some sort of designation code written on it.
In total the find 15 crates, 6 of which bear the cobalt cross symbol. 3 of the crates with the cobalt cross have been opened and the rest seem untouched.
The crates without the apparent symbol are of different types and bear smaller markings of different transport firms.
-
Their boots magnetize to the floor
They turn on their suits lights
"Alright..."
Around five Patrol Officers float in and magnetize to the floor. One of them scans the cross symbol and runs it through the CSIS database for any associated orginizations using that type of symbol.
"Alright, Jan, Sophia, begin searching through the crates."
The Team leader, a Corporal, begins picking through some of the crates and cabinets
-
The symbol is recognised as the signature of a criminal organisation with the same name. The "Cobalt Cross" is a criminal "medical" organisation dealing in the illegal sale of pharmaceuticals and other... substances. Only a few arrest have ever been made on that group and they stayed mostly elusive with them being one of the masters in their respective craft. Their prices are from what is known quite high but their products and service make up for it.
Breaking In the normal crates reveals stimulating substances of different make, Opioids, Enriched Heroin, meth and so on. They come in different grade of pureness.
When attempting at cracking the lock on one of the marked crates a small explosive seems to detonate inside. When they open it they find disfigured and ruptured bags of some kind of liquid and a sort of ash along with cracked and slightly singed packaging material.
Breaking into the drawers they find valid shipment papers belonging to the ids of the crates, though obviously with other assigned contents written on them. They also find some equipment for measuring liquids and solid substances, both in weight and pureness.
-
They secure the substances, and look for any trace of the Cobalt Cross anywhere, incriminating documents, etc
Maps and such
-
"CIC Visual on multiple illegal substances, probably a safehouse or a dealer hideout for the Cobalt Cross." Says the Team Leader into his radio
"Copy Delta 1-1"
The Cruiser has the has the Livery: CSSPC Redeemer (Confederate States Space Patrol Cutter)
-
They don't seem to find much else, the only document of interest they recover, besides the shipment papers, is a fabric type A5 paper with a few set of letter number combinations on it. About 3 such "codes" whatever they might be.
From the tools and make of this location they gather that it probably only serves as a little storage area and not for much else.
-
They take it to the forensics lab on board the ship which run all documents through extra scans, invisible ink tests, etc
The crate with the small explosive is also run through forensics, looking for traces of whatever was inside of it inside the debris inside
-
The liquid seems to be a cocktail of different chemicals. It seems to be an alteration of a military combat drug though cheaper in its composition. The ash type powder are remains of a plastic explosive with a few traces of a chemical compound found in some hallucinogens.
They find nothing hidden on the documents. They seem to be partially forged and partially legitimately acquired in some sense. Taking a few dust samples and cross-referencing them to their database they find that most of the papers probably have spent a larger portion of their time at Titan Station.
-
The remaining two crates are scanned in the forensics lab
It takes some of the more powerful scanners to get a look inside these crates. The contents seem to be a few of the liquid bags with other bags of different make filling up the rest of the boxes. Almost half of these are connected via cables to a small device located at the mechanical pin lock.
-
It is scanned
They assume it's a censor for the explosive inside
