War Begins in Medium Risk Zone
Newly listed into the guild’s fleet, it was The CSS Anakin maiden voyage into the Star Atlas “Medium Risk Zone”. The mission for the Pearce C9 Capital ship was simple - extract a fellow VZUS Opod explorer stuck in the outer rim with a faulty warp drive, near the unclaimed triplet planets CZ01, CZ02 and CZ03 were located.
Captain AK3849 himself was no rookie, having racked over 200 mission hours. Accompanying The CSS Anakin were 8 scholars piloting Pearce F4 of which 2 were recently promoted from the guild’s Pearce X6 training program, graduating top of their class.
The VZUS was easily found and safely loaded into the top hangar, itself somewhat crowded with 16 Pearce X5 units parked on standby, ready to fight in their swarm formation controlled by AI pilots.
“Sir, capital radar has picked up a large ship positioned near planet CZ03, should we advance?”, Captain AK’s AI copilot suddenly exclaimed. As The CSS Anakin approached and made further scans, his eyes widened. This was no “larger ship” - this was the front end of a gigantic Busan Commander ship most likely from the ONI faction.
The previous intel on the minimal resources available on these planets must have been incorrect and CZ03 definitely seemed much bigger than reported.
A million thoughts and calculations raced through Capital AK’s mind. If they turned hostile, this could be a tasty target — they’re only flanked by 4 slow heavy FIMBUL bombers, 4 transporters and 4 FIMBUL fighters. “Heck, even my F4 fleet could easily take on their 12 ships and my commander class weapon hardpoints could easily match the Busan,” thought the captain. “Hold position and rescan all resources on planet CZ03”, he commanded.
After a few minutes, the Busan rotated up and away, seemingly in retreat, but alas it was not to be. They are legendary for cloaking and stealth, and our radar had not picked up what was behind and approaching fast behind it - not one but two menacing Ogrika multi-purpose capital ships flanked by a hundred or so fighters who started firing immediately.
“Sir, shields are holding at 90%, do we engage?” the copilot asks.
Captain AK shook his head in haste. It was his own fault, he should have radioed in for backup from Guild Base Station immediately after spotting the Busan in a supposedly barren area. The CSS Anakin C9 upgraded weaponry and sophisticated drones system could possibly stand a chance versus the 2 Ogrikas with normally capital-class weapons only, but the smaller fighters were hopelessly outnumbered by this fleet.
“Everyone retreat and warp back to Base Station in safety zone immediately”, he broadcasted.
On arrival, Captain AK quickly briefed General Commander Vlad on the encounter and counted his lucky escape with only minor damage to starboard engines and to one of the F4’s hulls. After exiting the meeting room, he glimpsed through the huge moonroof and saw a fleet of 3 Commander Class C11s loading up and ready to deploy, housing some 300 fighters.
He smiled and raced back to take a quick refreshment IRL before coming back to re-supply his fleet and re-engage.
This is my alternate reality…
This is my Star Atlas….
=========
Thank you for reading, please feel free to connect with me on staratlasasia@gmail.com or find me in The Club guild discord