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CAPTAIN'S LOG: SECTOR 8, JUMP 3

Two smaller fleets fight nearby. We try to skirt around the edges of the battle but we are spotted and a small bomber peels off from the fight to engage us. Another Rigger.

Shields up, drones out, weapons charging. This should be a milk run.

The first barrage is set to target their propulsion systems. We don't want them getting away. A couple of quick volleys from our Burst tandem and the Artillery Beam and the ship is blown into pieces.

We collect what scrap is available and prepare to jump. What's this!? A Merchant vessel this close to the front lines of the battle? I can't believe our luck. Perhaps he will have a cloaking device or a pre-igniter system.

We have one jump point between us and the Merchant vessel. We will make that jump to try and obtain a little bit more salvage for barter. The best systems require the most valuable barter-grade materials to obtain.

Jumping out.

CAPTAIN'S LOG: SECTOR 8, JUMP 4

We scan the area, finding only a small vessel on scans transmitting Federation Trade registration codes. However, as we get closer, a visual inspection shows us the silhouette of a Rebel Scout? We do a quick, deeper scan and discover their registration codes are fake. Time to attack.

Shields up, drones out, weapons charging.

Boarders. Just two humans. We will open the fore airlocks and suck all the air out of their compartment. They will have to choose between the vacuum of space and our security team of Mort and Shelton waiting at the other door.

Our first barrage lands squarely, damaging their weapons bay. The Artillery Beam follows up with a strike through their midsection, taking out their teleportation room and setting their bridge on fire.

MISSILE LAUNCH DETECTED

I don't pay much mind to the missile warning, as our anti-ballistic defense drone has been working flawlessly for several sectors now. However, the faith in the defense system is soon shaken as a missile impacts our weapons bay, detonating and creating a massive fire. I don't know if the defense drone simply missed, or if they have a double-firing missile launcher. Either way, this is not a good situation. The Mark-III is offline.

No! I see it now, they have a bomb-laying device. The launcher powers up again but misses the mark, the powerful bomb exploding just outside the starboard cargo bay.

Oni and Zerimar continue to fight the fire. They are taking very little damage from the fire, which is strange. Wait, I see it now, the Engi Medi-Bot module is doing its job! Little micro-bots are floating throughout the ship, providing medical treatments to all the crew on the fly.

The boarders burst through the reinforced door, gasping for air. Mort and Shelton waste no time perforating the two. The battle is over in seconds. The airlock is re-secured and the ship begins to fill with oxygen again.

Oni and Zerimar have the fire under control and have the weapons suite repaired so we can get the Burst Mark-III back online. It begins charging, but the beast takes some time to get to full.

Another bomb lands inside our ship, this time exploding in an aft cargo bay. Thankfully, no fires, breaches or serious harm has been done.

The Artillery Beam powers up and cuts a line across the Rigger's armor plate, tearing off chunks of hull as it goes and causing internal fires. Their Shield Bay, life-support and teleporter rooms are a mess. Hopefully the fires in their Shield Bay will continue to cause additional damage while we wait for the Burst tandem to fully charge.

With their engines slightly damaged, they can't maneuver as hard. Our barrage strikes their shield-generator hard, disabling the system completely and engulfing the room in flames. Their ship is holding together by willpower alone. I think fire might finish them off before our next shot is able to and just like that, a second later the ship explodes with a satisfying fireball.

We collect what scrap we can and jump to the Merchant beacon.

CAPTAIN'S LOG: SECTOR 8, JUMP 5

We slide up along side the Merchant vessel and peruse his wares. This isn't a regular merchant ship, it appears he specializes in salvage and has seen some of the fighting first hand. He must be either crazy or a very skilled pilot, or both.

No cloaking module and no pre-igniter. There are a couple of weapon options that might work. A double-firing hull laser would require the maximum Fire Control capacity this ship can manage, and at considerable cost. However, the addition of that firepower to our barrage would be devastating. We purchase the weapon and begin the modifications to the ship to accommodate the added firepower. Unfortunately, we are just short of the required salvage and upgrade materials to complete the retrofit.

Then, a moment of clarity. The drone recovery arm has served its purpose. We will barter with the merchant for the necessary upgrade materials in exchange for this valuable module. We should have enough drones on-board to last us through this final fight. All we need is one small haul of scrap and the upgrades will be complete.

The nav-computer shows us at about 4 jumps to the Rebel Flagship and they are still significantly out of range of the Federation Fleet.

Jumping out.

CAPTAIN'S LOG: SECTOR 8, JUMP 6

We are entering Rebel controlled space. There are all manner of warships here. An Elite Fighter breaks off from a nearby furball and engages our ship.

Shields up, defense drone out, weapons charging.

WARNING: INTRUDER ALERT

A boarding party of two human commandos has beamed aboard our ship in the Artillery Beam control room. Quickly, I vent the compartment and their attentions are soon diverted from causing damage to escaping the vacuum. Mort and Shelton stand ready on the other side of the door.

Their weapons systems power before our giant Burst Mark-III reaches full charge. They have an impressive array of lasers and their barrage has enough power to punch through our shields, but Notch is quick on the controls and deftly maneuvers the 'Wood to avoid most of their fire.

We return fire, the Burst tandem unleashing a huge volume of fire. Oni has done well with his targeting and the enemy ship takes an absolute pounding, their weapons bay is nearly disabled and has caught fire. A follow-up volley into the bay kills two of the three crew attempting to fight the fires and repair the module.

The Arty Beam charges, by now the familiar hump and soft jolt of the firing action is like an old friend saying hello. It strikes the Elite Fighter dead on, cutting through their armor plate like warm butter. Their shield-generator is shredded, the life-support module is offline, the teleporter room is engulfed by fire and their bridge is in ruins. Their fate is sealed.

Another barrage from the Burst tandem and the ship can take no more, falling apart into pieces.

We are too close to the Rebel Fleet to stop and salvage. A nearby jump point looks like there is relatively little activity, however. It is on the route to the Flagship, so there is not a risk of undue delay. This could be our last opportunity to grab the salvage materials we need to fully upgrade the weapons suite and get that hull-laser operational.

Nav-computations complete, time to jump.

CAPTAIN'S LOG: SECTOR 8, JUMP 7

We detect a Rebel Scout-class ship on an attack vector to a small refueling outpost. Their weapons are charged but they're not firing yet.

Shields up, drone deployed, weapons charging!

The Rebel scout turns to face us.

He is no match for our ship and quickly goes down under the withering hail of fire from our Burst tandem and the Arty Beam. We collect what scrap is available and hail the outpost. They give their thanks and send over much needed upgrade materials.

We now have our weapons suite at maximum capacity and the reactor core operating at 100% of military-spec. Oni reports in that the double-barreled hull-laser is operational and will be a nasty compliment to our already potent offensive array.

The timing couldn't be more perfect. We are one jump away from the Rebel Flagship.

It's now or never.

Power to the jump drives.

CAPTAIN'S LOG: SECTOR 8, JUMP 8

The Rebel Flagship is massive. If we defeat this monstrosity, then the Federation fleet will stand a chance of surviving. There's no turning back now.

Shields up, defense drone out, weapons charging.

Immediately, the Flagship drops into cloak, which simultaneously disrupts our ability to charge our weapons systems. This will undoubtedly provide him with an advantage as their weapons will charge before ours. A quick scan of their ship and a very dangerous weapon appears readily. They have a rotary missile launcher capable of firing a number of missiles simultaneously! We have absolutely no defense against such overwhelming firepower. The decision is swift, we must send in Mort and Shelton to assault the missile launcher directly. Thankfully, from reviewing the schematics, it appears that the launcher is self-contained and reinforcements will not be able to arrive in time before Mort and Shelton can overwhelm the fire-control crew and disable the weapon. Our hope is, that they can do so before the missiles can do irreparable harm to our ship.

No such luck. The launcher has time to get three missiles off the rails immediately.

WARNING: MISSILE LAUNCH DETECTED. MULTIPLE INBOUND WARHEADS.

The defense drone takes one down and Notch avoids another, but the third strikes home, damaging our sensor array.

A barrage of laser fire and ion cannons streams in from the Flagship. We are able to avoid the laser fire but the ion cannon strikes home, taking two of our three shield layers down temporarily.

Zerimar is dispatched from the Fire Control Module to the sensor array control room next door to complete needed repairs.

Meanwhile, Mort and Shelton have made short work of the fire control officer in the rotary-missile bay and have begun attempting to disable the weapon. Even if the Flagship cloaks, they will be able to continue their sabotage.

The Burst tandem is charged and our newly installed Hull Smasher Laser is humming with power. Oni concentrates our fire on the Flagship's Shield-generator. If we can take it down, then we stand a chance.

Nearly simultaneously, all ten bolts arrive with pinpoint accuracy. The Flagship's shields cannot deflect all the incoming fire and go down. Several shots land squarely, ripping up armor plate and penetrating into the Shield Bay underneath, damaging the system severely. The Artillery Beam fully charges and unleashes a devastating cutting line across the Flagship, completely destroying the shield generator and damaging 4 other compartments, including taking the drone control room offline.

The Flagship cloaks. Even through the cloak, we can see their crew all rushing towards the Shield Bay. They know their chances of winning this battle hinge on their ability to protect themselves as much as we do.

Another barrage from the Flagship. Notch again manages to avoid all the incoming laser fire. Mort and Shelton are working hard on destroying the missile rotary but not before another salvo is launched.

WARNING: MISSILE LAUNCH DETECTED. MULTIPLE INBOUND WARHEADS.

The defense drone takes out the lead missile and Notch avoids one of the remaining two, but the third impacts into a rear cargo bay. No fires reported, no hull breaches.

The command is given to Oni to fire at will. With the Flagship's shields weakened, any of our three forward batteries can score damaging blows, and they do. One at a time each gun fires a volley into the flagship. The final blow is landed by the Mark-III, tearing off the entire port-side nacelle of the Flagship! Amazingly, the beast still has enough strength to power their FTL drive and they jump away.

And then, disaster.

Mort and Shelton were left aboard the Flagship and are lost. They deserved better than this as their final fate. As captain, I accept responsibility for their loss and will answer for it.

However, now is not the time. We must give pursuit and end this.

CAPTAIN'S LOG: SECTOR 8, JUMP 9

We chase down the Flagship and find that it is heavily damaged from our last battle. Scans show that a considerable amount of power has been redirected to its drone bay. We get ready for a scrappy fight.

Shields up, defense drone out, weapons charging.

The damn missile battery is back online. We must take it offline. Zerimar is ordered back to the teleport-pads and is sent over to the Flagship's now unmanned missile battery. I must assume that it is automated somehow. I wonder how much of this ship is automated by AI.

Our ship is being orbited by drones of all type. Beam-drones, Anti-ship drones and now, even Assault drones are attempting to land on our ship. Thankfully, the defense-drone is at least keeping the Assault-drones from punching holes in our hull and attacking our systems and crew. With the loss of Mort and Shelton, trying to fight off those mechanical monstrosities would be extremely difficult.

WARNING: FLAGSHIP POWER SURGE DETECTED

I suspect this has something to do with the drone modifications we detected with our scans, but I am unsure what, exactly, to expect.

Our first barrage is fully powered. Oni concentrates again on the Shield Bay. We must succeed in bringing it down if we are to win this battle.

And then, all hell breaks loose.

WARNING: MISSILE LAUNCH DETECTED. MULTIPLE INBOUND WARHEADS

Another missile barrage.

Simultaneously, we are suddenly surrounded by an innumerable amount of attack drones! This must have been what the Flagship's power-up surge was doing. Notch is doing what he can to jink and dodge all these attacks simultaneously but the 'Wood is taking damage. A missile impacts into our forward cargo bay, causing severe damage and igniting a fire. I know we have a short break between missile salvos, so I temporarily deactivate the defense-drone and enable the repair-bot to help put out the fire. We don't have enough spare hands now to handle all these problems simultaneously.

Our barrage has struck home, burning off their quad-layered shield and causing significant damage to the shield generators below. The Artillery Beam powers and cuts a line through their aft quarters, damaging their engines and Med Bay. Hopefully, that will slow down their defensive maneuvers and allow our forward batteries to land a higher percentage of shots.

I give Oni the order to fire at will. We should be able to punch through the remaining weakened shields . The rate of fire is nearly continuous between the three weapons systems. The Hull laser hits first, causing the shield-generator to drop offline, then the Mark-II lands a crushing series of shots, killing two enemy crew attempting to repair the shields and further damaging their ship. Then, the Mark-III follows up, ripping up chunks of hull and armor plate. Now, there are fires spreading throughout their ship. I watch Zerimar carefully as he works to sabotage the Flagship's missile battery, as I can't afford to lose any more crew. He has not yet disabled their missile platform. I decide to bring him back anyway. We are close to finishing the battle.

My intuition has paid off. Not a second later than Zerimar is brought back, does the Artillery Beam strike, cutting off the entire right nacelle of the Flagship! The enemy is not done with their surprises, however. They manage somehow to make yet another jump away!

We give chase immediately. The 'Wood is damaged but the enemy Flagship is in worse shape. I don't want to give them the opportunity to repair their ship, and we cannot allow them to link up with the rest of the Rebel Fleet near the front lines, or the Federation Fleet will surely be lost.

As we are completing the nav-computations, I order Aasted and William to quickly slap on a little extra armor plate on the shield-generator, and Notch installs an anti-EMP module on the helm, making it a little sturdier.

Jumping out.

CAPTAIN'S LOG: SECTOR 8, JUMP 10

I am not certain how the Flagship is able to keep fighting with the amount of damage it has sustained. Scans show it has transferred a significant amount of power to its transporter bay. Perhaps this is some kind of super weapon, as our data suggested? One way or the other, this is it. No more running.

Shields up, defense drone deployed, weapons charging.

WARNING: INTRUDERS DETECTED

Boarders. Two Human commandos have transported into the rear cargo bay. Undoubtedly they were aiming for the Artillery Beam control room but missed by one compartment. I reach over and quickly vent the aft airlocks and begin sucking out the oxygen from the Artillery Beam control room. Once it reaches 0%, I will open the door to their cargo bay and attempt to suck them out into the void. William and Zerimar have taken up guard on the other side of the cargo bay, in the life-support room.

A missile salvo gets through our defenses and damages our sensors, igniting secondary fires as well. I swap power from the defense-drone to the repair-bot and hope it can quickly take down the fire at least, before I have to re-power the defense-drone for the next salvo.

A third boarder has beamed aboard, assaulting Oni in the Fire Control bay. Things are starting to spiral out of control.

Our first barrage is away. It impacts the Flagship but does nothing to their shields. It appears they have a Zoltan-style hardened barrier installed! We will have to break through the barrier before we stand a chance of causing any damage.

The two Human commandos are slowly being starved of oxygen and are desperately trying to break through the security doors.

WARNING: FLAGSHIP POWER SURGE DETECTED

A moment later, the entire view screen goes white as the Flagship releases the power surge in the form of an energy-bolt barrage. I've never seen anything like it. The bolts are coming at us from every angle. Notch is doing his best to avoid the worst of it but the damage is extensive. The Artillery Beam has been badly damaged and the control room is on fire. The teleport-pads have taken damage but no fires or hull breaches are reported.

Rynhart is closest. He moves quickly to the Artillery Beam control room and begins fighting the fire.

WARNING: MISSILE LAUNCH DETECTED

Another missile impact, the sensor array is smashed. The repair-bot continues to work on the damage in the forward compartments. A follow up hull-laser from the Flagship connects in the aft cargo hold, causing a hull breach. If we are unable to seal the breach, all the air will be removed from the room, making it exceptionally difficult to repair.

Rynhart has the fire under control and is beginning to work on repairing the Artillery Beam.

Artillery Beam 92%

Despite taking extensive damage, the Arty Beam is nearly fully charged. Hopefully it can do enough damage to swing the battle in our favor.

The hand-to-hand fighting is intense and bloody. Zerimar and William are trading blows with the two commandos. Oni is keeping his man pinned down but neither has won a decisive edge.

The Artillery Beam comes to life, reaching out and blistering the Rebel Flagship. The beam tears through the aft portion of the ship, damaging the engines, Med Bay and life-support systems.

Our barrage is fully charged. With their engines damaged, they are less able to dodge our incoming fire and the effect is devastating. The full force of the volley slams into the center of their ship, burning through their shield layers and causing massive damage. Sensors show fires now in three separate compartments and spreading rapidly.

WARNING: FLAGSHIP POWER SURGE DETECTED

Another blinding flash of light. It seems as if the stars themselves are throwing their fire against us. Notch throws the 'Wood into tighter and tighter evasives. The energy bolts converge on our ship. There are just too many to dodge. Life support is hit. A new fire in the forward cargo bay. The aft airlock takes damage.

WARNING: HULL INTEGRITY 50%

We can't take too many more poundings like that and expect to survive.

Then, suddenly, the two aft commandos jump back to their own ship. The Medi-Bots! Thank the gods for those Engi. They have allowed our otherwise less capable crew to fight off much stronger opponents by keeping them somewhat patched-up through the ongoing scrap.

Oni and his boarder are in a fight to the death. I have sent Zerimar back to the front of the ship to help but he may not make it in time. Then, when it came down to who would land the last, final blow, Oni lands a blaster shot to the commando's exposed head, bringing him down and ending the fight. Oni's wounds are extensive and he is at risk of bleeding out but I need his expertise with the weapons suite one last time. The swarm of the medical Engi-Bots is so thick he has to shoo them away with a sweep of his hand and he performs his computations in the Fire Control computer.

If we are able to land one more solid barrage, we may be able to end this fight and strike a huge blow against the Rebel Fleet.

I glance over at the Arty beam status panel, hoping it will be ready, but no such luck.

Artillery Beam 38%

Oni and Zerimar are given the command to fire at will and they unleash a relentless stream of laser fire into the Flagship. Their weakened shield barriers are unable to keep up with the overwhelming stream of fire. The enemy ship is absorbing an absolutely astonishing amount of punishment. Two more Rebel crew are cut down by our lasers while attempting to fight the fires and repair the damage to their ship. More and more shots land, battering the Flagship. She is scorched from stem to stern, listing badly and barely able to defend herself, like a punch-drunk fighter on the ropes.

And then, a familiar hum as the Artillery Beam reaches critical charge and with a soft jolt, unleashes final and fitting blow to the Flagship, detonating its core and tearing it into multiple pieces.

You can almost hear the cheering of the entire Federation Fleet through the void of space. The tide of the battle swings irrevocably in our favor and the Fleet shifts from a defensive posture to an all out assault on the remaining Rebel forces.

The Federation will be saved!

We celebrate our victory and good fortune.

We pause and remember our fallen. They did not die in vain.

Victory!

Hope everyone enjoyed the story.. it definitely wound up being a little bigger than even I anticipated!

Maybe I'll post a poll and see what ship we should do next. My brain might need a small recharge first, lol.

I tried doing some screen shots on the last battle but only one really came out. Unfortunately, it's a bit large for the forum here. I'll try to resize and insert it into the post.

Player's notes: That was pretty fun! The ship was not nearly perfect for the Last Stand, although having that Artillery Beam sure saved my bacon a number of times. I'm not sure that I would have successfully made it to the end of this particular run with any other ship. There were a few points there that I wasn't sure we were going to make it, down to just 2 or 3 hull points! If the Flagship had been a little luckier with its shots, things might have gone very differently in that final battle, for sure. We took a pretty bad beating that last phase with no cloaking device to dodge the power up. Thankfully, we had a maxed out pilot to help with the evasions, and even then, we got some lucky rolls our way.


Next up, will try out one of the player-mod ships I think! Stay tuned!