Posted by: boolybooly
« on: February 03, 2023, 09:11:44 AM »In 2064 the peace of the industrious human race was shattered once again by a brutal raider incursion in Epsilon Indi.
The status of operation Exodus was ongoing and several avenues of escape for the human race were being prepared. This has already been documented by other sources and is well known to the public.
http://aurora2.pentarch.org/index.php?topic=11100.msg163720#msg163720
What many do not know, because the information remains classified as top secret, is the horrific discovery the NOVGLOV fleet made in Epsilon Indi as a result of their response to the incursion.
The initial attack took fleet command completely by surprise. The two "Shifting Sands" xenoarcheology support stations overseeing the archeological expeditions on Epsilon Indi III had only seconds warning thanks to their modest scanners. 41 crew ejected in lifepods when the stations were completely destroyed by the merciless onslaught of an "Ant" class heavy railgun scout, identified as "#34" by NOVGLOV fleet intelligence, which had approached from the direction of Epsilon Indi IV.
NOVGLOV fleet command immediately dispatched a Little Flower Groovey Baby Ranger class rescue ship followed by a Peaceful Willow class long range recon patrol fighter christened Peaceful Hornbeam plus a particle beam FAC squad of three Crimson Rainbows Green, Coral and Lime to Epsilon Indi.
The journey would take over ten days but hopes that a rescue could be effected were to be proved correct as all 41 survivors were rescued, which was a great morale boost for the fleet and public alike, especially for those who remembered the Jill Zieman tragedy. The archeology expeditions had taken shelter on the planet surface but were continuing their work having taken no fire.
Slower than the ranger class rescue ships the FACs and Peaceful Hornbeam arrived in system but could find no trace of the attacker. While in conference, as the commanders deliberated on the necessary search strategy, the sensors operator on Peaceful Hornbeam interrupted his captain Charlie Lizardo to inform him that the wreck of the Shifting Sands had disappeared. At first Lizardo dismissed the information, the loss of salvage was a minor inconvenience compared to hunting down the violent forces responsible for creating it.
"What do you mean gone?" Lizardo asked the crewman.
"There one moment sir, gone the next, literally, vanished before my eyes." It took a few moments to twig.
"If the salvage is gone, who took it?" Lizardo's question was rhetorical. The commanders all looked at each other through their respective viewscreens. There was no more need for words, each knew what the other was thinking and each gave their crew the same order, head for the last known location of the wreck of the Shifting Sands.
As they approached their destination the long range scanners of the Peaceful Hornbeam picked up hostile vessels attempting to escape with their loot.
Crimson Rainbow Green FAC squad set about their grisly work, as one by one they disabled or destroyed the escort ships of the fleet from long range, leaving the largest to last as it was slowing the others down and making them easy targets, having been schooled in strategy by the reports of an analyst known to the intelligence community only as "W", who had suggested that if the mission ship was disabled first the escort fleet would detach and flee or attack at full speed.
Their attacks succeeded, Crimson Rainbow Green acquiring some armour damage from an uncooperative hostile as it was subdued and made ready for boarding. NOVGLOV command sent tugs carrying boarding pods from Earth, to capture as many ships as possible to serve a plan developed by the technical wing of the intelligence arm of the fleet, to harvest the alien cloaking devices and incorporate them in ELINT surveillance ships.
The "Bee" class 100kt alien salvager was unfortunately destroyed before it could be disabled. The commanders were not content and all agreed there might be more aliens in the system judging by the record of attacks on Earth and their known method of operations using a hyperdimensional rift to gain entry to the system. There was at least the scout ship which had destroyed the Shifting Sands stations, #34, which had not been among those taken down from the salvage fleet. While that was on the loose the system was not safe for commercial class tugs with payloads.
Charlie Lizardo suggested Peaceful Hornbeam extrapolate the course of the escaping salvage fleet and use their large scanners to seek out signs of other hostiles and possibly locate the rift. This worked admirably well when Peaceful Hornbeam, over a billion klicks out from the site of the disabled hostile salvage fleet discovered a fleeing 20kt Bumble Bee class mission ship moving slowly with a single Beetle class light railgun missile defence escort. Crimson Rainbow Green closed and disabled both ships. Neither of them was #34, the scout which the fleet was hunting.
By this time the first commercial Tangerine Dream class tanker and supply tugs had begun to arrive in system with their payloads. Crimson Rainbow Green FAC squad was low on supplies and fuel after several difficulties with weapons maintenance in battle and arranged a rendezvous to refuel and resupply.
Peaceful Hornbeam was still operating reliably and returned to the core of the system, where Lizardo, drawing on analysis of raider attack strategies, devised a search pattern which visited each major body in turn. Finally at Epsilon Indi III they made contact with their quarry which charged them at full speed. Fortunately the navigator of Peaceful Hornbeam was second to none and swiftly changed course to evade the onslaught of #34. Peaceful Willow class recon ships were at least a hundred klicks faster than the fastest known raider classes, they had been designed that way.
Crimson Rainbow Green decided they had enough supplies and fuel for this and reversed course to make for #34 which Peaceful Hornbeam was leading towards them, right into firing range.
On sighting the diminutive attack squad of Crimson Rainbow Green, comprising three ships with tonnage not even half that of Ant #34 the brutal raider thugs attempted to flee but by then it was too late. Particle beams blazed and #34 was finally disabled. Crimson Rainbow Green made their resupply rendezvous and then the special operations tugs equipped with boarding pod modules began their work.
It was only when the 20kt Bumble Bee was captured, that the fleet and NOVGLOV command realised its true purpose. Horrifyingly it was crammed with cryochambers, which by the description rendered from the raiders own language were intended to hold slaves, it was a slave ship. It had arrived too early to find trade in the Esilon Indi system but as a direct consequence of this information NOVGLOV immediately took additional precautions with all other populated systems and sent Crimson Rainbow Green, once repaired and overhauled, to defend V1216 Sagittarii which had only recently been colonised.
The status of operation Exodus was ongoing and several avenues of escape for the human race were being prepared. This has already been documented by other sources and is well known to the public.
http://aurora2.pentarch.org/index.php?topic=11100.msg163720#msg163720
What many do not know, because the information remains classified as top secret, is the horrific discovery the NOVGLOV fleet made in Epsilon Indi as a result of their response to the incursion.
The initial attack took fleet command completely by surprise. The two "Shifting Sands" xenoarcheology support stations overseeing the archeological expeditions on Epsilon Indi III had only seconds warning thanks to their modest scanners. 41 crew ejected in lifepods when the stations were completely destroyed by the merciless onslaught of an "Ant" class heavy railgun scout, identified as "#34" by NOVGLOV fleet intelligence, which had approached from the direction of Epsilon Indi IV.
NOVGLOV fleet command immediately dispatched a Little Flower Groovey Baby Ranger class rescue ship followed by a Peaceful Willow class long range recon patrol fighter christened Peaceful Hornbeam plus a particle beam FAC squad of three Crimson Rainbows Green, Coral and Lime to Epsilon Indi.
The journey would take over ten days but hopes that a rescue could be effected were to be proved correct as all 41 survivors were rescued, which was a great morale boost for the fleet and public alike, especially for those who remembered the Jill Zieman tragedy. The archeology expeditions had taken shelter on the planet surface but were continuing their work having taken no fire.
Slower than the ranger class rescue ships the FACs and Peaceful Hornbeam arrived in system but could find no trace of the attacker. While in conference, as the commanders deliberated on the necessary search strategy, the sensors operator on Peaceful Hornbeam interrupted his captain Charlie Lizardo to inform him that the wreck of the Shifting Sands had disappeared. At first Lizardo dismissed the information, the loss of salvage was a minor inconvenience compared to hunting down the violent forces responsible for creating it.
"What do you mean gone?" Lizardo asked the crewman.
"There one moment sir, gone the next, literally, vanished before my eyes." It took a few moments to twig.
"If the salvage is gone, who took it?" Lizardo's question was rhetorical. The commanders all looked at each other through their respective viewscreens. There was no more need for words, each knew what the other was thinking and each gave their crew the same order, head for the last known location of the wreck of the Shifting Sands.
As they approached their destination the long range scanners of the Peaceful Hornbeam picked up hostile vessels attempting to escape with their loot.
Crimson Rainbow Green FAC squad set about their grisly work, as one by one they disabled or destroyed the escort ships of the fleet from long range, leaving the largest to last as it was slowing the others down and making them easy targets, having been schooled in strategy by the reports of an analyst known to the intelligence community only as "W", who had suggested that if the mission ship was disabled first the escort fleet would detach and flee or attack at full speed.
Their attacks succeeded, Crimson Rainbow Green acquiring some armour damage from an uncooperative hostile as it was subdued and made ready for boarding. NOVGLOV command sent tugs carrying boarding pods from Earth, to capture as many ships as possible to serve a plan developed by the technical wing of the intelligence arm of the fleet, to harvest the alien cloaking devices and incorporate them in ELINT surveillance ships.
The "Bee" class 100kt alien salvager was unfortunately destroyed before it could be disabled. The commanders were not content and all agreed there might be more aliens in the system judging by the record of attacks on Earth and their known method of operations using a hyperdimensional rift to gain entry to the system. There was at least the scout ship which had destroyed the Shifting Sands stations, #34, which had not been among those taken down from the salvage fleet. While that was on the loose the system was not safe for commercial class tugs with payloads.
Charlie Lizardo suggested Peaceful Hornbeam extrapolate the course of the escaping salvage fleet and use their large scanners to seek out signs of other hostiles and possibly locate the rift. This worked admirably well when Peaceful Hornbeam, over a billion klicks out from the site of the disabled hostile salvage fleet discovered a fleeing 20kt Bumble Bee class mission ship moving slowly with a single Beetle class light railgun missile defence escort. Crimson Rainbow Green closed and disabled both ships. Neither of them was #34, the scout which the fleet was hunting.
By this time the first commercial Tangerine Dream class tanker and supply tugs had begun to arrive in system with their payloads. Crimson Rainbow Green FAC squad was low on supplies and fuel after several difficulties with weapons maintenance in battle and arranged a rendezvous to refuel and resupply.
Peaceful Hornbeam was still operating reliably and returned to the core of the system, where Lizardo, drawing on analysis of raider attack strategies, devised a search pattern which visited each major body in turn. Finally at Epsilon Indi III they made contact with their quarry which charged them at full speed. Fortunately the navigator of Peaceful Hornbeam was second to none and swiftly changed course to evade the onslaught of #34. Peaceful Willow class recon ships were at least a hundred klicks faster than the fastest known raider classes, they had been designed that way.
Crimson Rainbow Green decided they had enough supplies and fuel for this and reversed course to make for #34 which Peaceful Hornbeam was leading towards them, right into firing range.
On sighting the diminutive attack squad of Crimson Rainbow Green, comprising three ships with tonnage not even half that of Ant #34 the brutal raider thugs attempted to flee but by then it was too late. Particle beams blazed and #34 was finally disabled. Crimson Rainbow Green made their resupply rendezvous and then the special operations tugs equipped with boarding pod modules began their work.
It was only when the 20kt Bumble Bee was captured, that the fleet and NOVGLOV command realised its true purpose. Horrifyingly it was crammed with cryochambers, which by the description rendered from the raiders own language were intended to hold slaves, it was a slave ship. It had arrived too early to find trade in the Esilon Indi system but as a direct consequence of this information NOVGLOV immediately took additional precautions with all other populated systems and sent Crimson Rainbow Green, once repaired and overhauled, to defend V1216 Sagittarii which had only recently been colonised.