It's a sordid tale of power and payback.

11 Aug 06

We had cruisers, but they needed more options and firepower. We needed more and more varied ships. The Hivers knew of our laser weapons so we shifted to plasma research. They knew of our weaker hulls, so we research shields and reinforced armor. We added plasma torpedo boats to our arsenal. We also worked to pump up our satellite defenses and improve our industry.

Apparently, the Hivers weren't any more impressed with the results of our recent battles than we were. They weren't able to hold the gates in our systems. Rather than rushing a new fleet at us, they decided to build up as well. The two colonies where they had evicted us were not fully developed and somewhat vulnerable. No doubt they took this time to beef up their technology and defenses as well.

Despite needing all that technology to compete, we knew we couldn't wait for all of it to make our move against the Hivers. If they managed to deploy their gates in one or more of our systems, the battles might be endless. We had to take the fight to them.

As soon as our first cruiser command ships started coming online, we started assembling a battle fleet to assault Rychopre. That was the scene of our biggest loss. Our exploration fleet had just arrived at Rychopre when the Hivers cancelled our non aggression pact. Though they had two of our then brand new cruisers, they could not withstand the swarming destroyers and superior firepower of the Hivers. They took down several Hiver ships, but the loss was heavily unbalanced. Once the first cruiser went down, the fleet was annihilated in mere moments.

The strike fleet would take our new command cruisers, plasma cruisers and torpedo boats into action. All of our defensive projects were still underway. The fleet did not represent our true current power, but it would be a good gauge to see if we were now a match for the Hivers. Our new fusion engines with the improved stutter warp drive got us there in less than half the time.

The planet and its defenses were stronger than when we had last fought there. They had one full ring of defensive satellites. They had a deployed gate ship and a dozen destroyers. Some of the destroyers must have been support craft since the Hivers retreated them away from the planet at the start of the battle. The rest of the forces rushed to engage the new threat.

Our line of torpedo boats led the way followed by our attack cruisers. The gleaming shields around our command cruiser brought up the rear. The first volley we noticed that the Hivers too had acquired plasma technology. However, their ships didn't seem to take receiving plasma as well as they could dish it out. The first two destroyers died almost immediately in a wash of plasma and torpedoes. Then the battle was on.

The planet wasn't too large so the missile volleys weren't instant death. The first volley went at our command ship. Right then our commander was questioning the wisdom of putting improved armor over point defense in our research priorities. Fortunately it didn't matter since the ship's shields held.

Then our plasma cruisers started circling the attacking destroyers. We lost a few torpedo boats, but they could not take out our cruisers. Slowly the tide was shifting. We were taking out two of their destroyers for each one of ours lost. Even so we were soon out of reserves with even our repair ship taking the field.

Then the command cruiser's shields went down. He had to pull back a bit to reduce his risk, but then there were only three destroyers left. Quick focused fire took them down one after the other. Our commander decided to ignore the satellite defenses and assault the planet. The one remaining assault boat was launched while the rest of the fleet closed in to weapons range on the planet.

Though it was risky, the commander ordered our command ship and repair ship to the right of the line. They would have to engage the satellites as their orbits brought them around. The hope was that the shields would hold reducing damage as casualties. That would maximize the firepower unleashed on the planet.

The plan worked. We lost the assault shuttle and two more torpedo boats, but the last shots of our fleet silenced the planet. Our lost fleet was avenged.

Jason