Invasion: Crimson Vanguard

Consul Duga Arkarso rubbed sleep from his eyes and growled as the comm unit on his wall beeped. He thought he'd left express instructions not to be bothered in the middle of the night, but somehow those instructions always seemed to get lost or ignored. Duga rolled out of bed and punched the audio-only button on the side of the unit - no need for the masses to see him with bed-head. "What?"

"Sorry to disturb you, sir. This is Lieutenant Vreek in the operations centre. We've had reports from the Home Guard that Admiral Lanar's ships have made another appearance at the edge of the system. This time they had their flagship with them." Duga's ears had perked up at the mention of Admiral Lanar, and his expression had turned grave at the mention of the flagship.

"Very well. Assemble the Summit on Karufr immediately, and notify me if any more of his ships cross our border. Duga out." With a sigh, Duga went to the refresher to run cold water over his face. So much for a few hours more sleep.

----------

The assembled Taldryan Summit met in the strategic planning room of the Clan Hall. The three Quaestors were there, flanked on either side by their Aediles and Envoys. They all sat around a large rectangular table, with each party on one side. Duga sat alone at the head of the table, with a large holographic display behind him. On it were formations and statistics of the Taldryan fleet, plus a holo of a stoic-looking Human man with a shaved head and neatly-trimmed goatee.

"The sentient you see on the screen behind me is a former Imperal Admiral named Lanar. After the death of the Emperor, Lanar took his fleet and disappeared into the Unknown Regions, intending to carve out a territory of his own. Nobody has heard from him since then... until a few weeks ago, when he started sending his warships across Taldryan's borders." The image on the screen changed to show a readout of known ships in Lanar's fleet. Of great concern was the Imperial-class Star Destroyer that seemed to be its flagship.

Frowns went around the table. Dark Jedi Master Alanna, Envoy of House Ektrosis, was the first to speak. "Why weren't we notified of this earlier?"

"Until now, Lanar hasn't been seen as a threat," Duga said. "I believe Erinyes was actually the first Clan member to know about this - she was able to provide positive IDs on the original scans." All eyes went to Erinyes, who nodded. "As it stands right now," Duga continued, "Lanar's forces appear to be similar in size to ours, and it looks like he's intent on using them. The most recent incursion was led by his flagship, an Imperial II-class Star Destroyer named Lanar's Fist."

"Egomaniac, is he?" Battlelord Taku "Crix" Matsuki Taldrya, Quaestor of Archanis, spoke up.

"Yeah, Crix, almost as bad as you are," Dark Adept Erinyes replied with a grin. She was leader of House Dinaari, and picked up where Duga had left off. "From what I discovered on my initial reconnaissance mission, Lanar has the Star Destroyer, a second Victory-class Star Destroyer named Lanar's Wrath, and a handful of smaller capital ships including Lancer frigates, strike cruisers and a pair of escort carriers. His fighter complement is significantly smaller than ours, but those Lancer will do a lot to even the odds. On his home base, which the Dark Hall has temporarily named Elyssia, he has a command base and a small shipyard. All of this is protected by a large minefield."

"It used to be protected by a minefield," Duga corrected. "As of now, I'm officially sick of dealing with Lanar. Sending his flagship in was a show of force - he wants to try to intimidate us with threat of conflict." Duga grinned. "Fortunately, we don't intimidate easily. Twelve hours from now, we'll launch an attack on his forces where they're massing at Elyssia. We'll be dividing up into three main battle groups, two space and one ground."

"I wouldn't mind knowing how the command structure will work," Templar Chaosrain, Ektrosis Quaestor, said from the other side of the table.

"The overall operation will be under my command," Duga said. "The regular military forces will be subordinate to the Summit. Crix and the Archanis Summit will command the naval forces. Erinyes and the Dinaari Summit will be in charge of the space assault forces. Chaos, you and the Ektrosis Summit will command the ground assault."

"Of course, I'd prefer you all say in the rear where it's safe, but I know you won't." Duga rolled his eyes at the chuckles around the table. "Individual missions will be given to each Battle-Team. We launch in twelve hours."

Dark Adept Erinyes strode into the briefing room where the assembled members of Crimson Vanguard waited. They were all shifting slightly in their chairs. For some, it was the anxiety of meeting their first battle - for others, it was anticipation of their next one. The room fell silent as the Dinaari Quaestor stepped up to the podium.

"Crimson Vanguard, your objective for this mission is to destroy the four Strike Cruisers in Admiral Lanar's fleet." Erinyes pressed a button on her console, and a holoprojector showed images of the objective and the team's equipment. "You'll be flying the six Scimitar Assault Bombers from Taldryan's fleet."

"The Strike Cruisers are in formation ahead of the two Star Destroyers," Erinyes continued, pointing to a spire atop the shipyard's main body. "The primary threat that you'll run into on this mission is, naturally, enemy fighter cover. Our forces will do their best to protect you, but it's still going to take some good flying on your part. You'll also have to watch out for capital ship guns - likewise, stay on your toes and you should be fine."

Finally, Erinyes punched another button on the console, and the projection faded. "That's it, everyone. You have one hour to get ready before we drop out of hyperspace. Everyone has to be ready to deploy by then. I'd wish you good luck, but you're Taldryan Dark Jedi... we all know you're not going to need it." With those final words of encouragement, Erinyes turned and stepped out of the briefing room's door, leaving the Battle-Team to plan their next moves.

This thread is ONLY for the use of members of Crimson Vanguard or the Taldryan Summit, and only for in-character contribution to the run-on. Other posts will be deleted.

Al'Meda Zarco rose and the members of her team followed to a shuttle waiting to take them from the surface of the planet to the Orthanc, waiting in orbit above. Little was said as this came as a surprise to the small band of Crimosn Vanguard who had only recently been assembled as the sole battle team of the House Archanis, risen from the ashes of Volcanus.

The senior member, the huge Templar Fire Knight sat aboard the shuttle, seeming to invoke the fire within himself that he would surely unleash in space against the forces of Admiral Lanar. Al'Meda herself looked at the group. It was a position of honor to be deployed, as their name necessarily implied, at the front dealing death as the Crimson Vanguard for Taldryan.

The Tetrarch had heard Baron Zarco speak of the havoc he, as Tetrarch of the Horsemen of the Apocalypse, had wreaked upon clan Tarentum with this very squadron in the Sixth Great Jedi War just before she had left her family and joined the Dark Brotherhood. She cleared her head and communicated with him, sharing the memory of that operation so as to better her chances in this strike against Admiral Lanar.

The shuttle arrived shortly at the Orthanc, the Interdictor Cruiser that was home to Cotelin Squadron, the six Scimitar Bombers that had been assigned to the Crimson Vanguard. The Tetrarch instructed her team to proceed to the hangar area and don their flight suits then proceed to the ready room where they would be given further instruction.


********

The squadron pilots sat in a small room off the hangar. A holographic image projector showed the alignment of Admiral Lanar's fleet as well as how the Taldryan fleet would emerge from hyperspace in thirty minutes or so. Al'Meda's voice explained the situation.

"Admiral Lanar's fleet is arracnged as a blockade of his main base and in a formation so as to protect his primary capital ships." She pointed at the arrangement portrayed on the screen. http://www.darkjedibrotherhood.com/forum/i...?showtopic=3857 "Our ship will emerge from hyperspace here," she once again pointed at the Taldryan Fleet as it would be arrayed.

"Our target is the four Strike Cruisers deployed as the vanguard to their forces. Strike Cruisers are heavily armed fro their size but do have weaknesses we can exploit." As Al'Meda spoke a holographic image of the Strike Cruiser jumped to life and a droid voice chimed in with their specifics.

http://www.answers.com/topic/strike-cruiser-gif


Strike Cruiser

Length: 450m
Hull: 768 RU
Shield: 1600 SBD
Weapons: Twenty Turbolasers
Ten Turbolaser Batteries
Ten Ion Cannons
Ten Tractor Beam Projectors
Two Torpedo Launchers (Thirty Torpedoes)
Hyperdrive: Class 1
Sublight: N/A
Maneuverability: 5 DPF
Fighter Capacity: One Fighter Squadron

"Loronar's Strike-class Cruiser has been called the fleet's best kept secret. While every smuggler and Rebel knows to avoid Star Destroyers, the fighting capacity of the Strike Cruiser comes as quite a surprise to many. Each Strike Cruiser can carry a company of troops, two AT-STs, and one AT-AT walker for ground assault missions. Its small but functional hangar bay houses one squadron of TIE-class starfighters. Because of its modular design, a Strike Cruiser can be easily modified for specific missions. While the benefits of its design are obvious, the Strike Cruiser has some glaring weaknesses. The modular design means that entire systems or weapons batteries can be knocked out by a single, well placed hit."

The droid's voice went silent and Al'Meda's voice was heard again. "We will attack the Strike Cruiser's from their right flank so as to encounter them one at a time. We will approach them from their starboard and ventral side so as to concentrate firepower upon the aft "neck" of the vessel where its profile flanges out approximately two-thirds down its hull. This area is the least defended of the possible approaches to the ship."

Al'Meda looked around and raised her voice. "Take care to avoid any path that takes you aft of the Strike Cruisres. Such a path will take you into the range of the Lancers which will make our mission an all but instant failure." She let the words sink into the team. "We will avoid penetrating aft of the cruisers by emphasizing a ventral to dorsal, three dimensional vectoring, if you will, to remain out of clear range of the Lancers."

She looked around again. "Is that understood?"

The team members did not answer fast enough for Fire Knight's assurance. He turned to his fellow Crimson Vanguard bellowed the question again. "IS THAT UNDERSTOOD?"

A chorus of "yes sirs" and "yes ma'ams" emphatically filled the room.

Al'Meda continued, gesturing at the image of a new ship enlarged in the holo-projector.

http://www.taldryan.net/forces.php?category=ships#Scimitar

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Scimitar_Assault_Bomber

"This is the craft we will be flying, the Scimitar Bomber' of the Cotelin Squadron." As if on cue, the same droid voice spat forth the particulars for this craft.

Scimitar Assault Bomber

Length: 10m
Hull: 60 RU
Shield: 60 SBD
Weapons: 2 Laser Cannons | 2 Missile Launchers (8 missiles each) | Proton Bombs in Bomb Bay
Hyperdrive: None
Sublight: Fast
Maneuverability: 86 DPF

"The Scimitar, though using only a single ion engine, is still faster than the TIE Bomber by more than a quarter. The pilot has been joined by a bombadier/co-pilot, and both are housed in a detachable cockpit module which has it's own life support and power supply, increasing crew survivability. The Scimitar adds a repulsorlift engine, and is specifically intended to support ground forces and attack surface targets, rather than space assaults. It has a similar weapons load to the TIE Bomber, but uses a simpler weapons mount. The entire underside of the fuselage may be opened for weapons release, and the drum is driven from a centre mounted spindle, rather than the overly complicated, end-mounted gears of the Bomber." The droid finished speaking as Al'Meda approached the three dimension projection again.

Our designations are as follows:

Crimson One – Al'Meda Zarco; Crimson Two – Fire Knight; Crimson Three Rannik; Crimson Four Anik Koran; Crimson Five – Daar Kaareth; Crimson Six – Zack Fayne.

"To summarize, we will approach the right flanking Strike Cruiser on a ventral to dorsal attack vector so as to avoid breaching the space aft of the Strike Cruiser. We will engage the first craft en masse as a unit to inflict massive damage on it so as to disorient and demoralize the defending forces. From that point, Crimsons three and four will follow me to the next ship. Crimsons five and six will follow Fire Knight to the next vessel. Keep your channel open and clear of chatter so as to receive further instructions as needed to respond to the opposing forces' movements."

"Are there any questions?"

“What if we attack each vessel’s ion drives first, that way we could immobilize each ship and attack them on our own terms? I realize that once we begin on attack they will go for the lancer cruisers at all possible speeds, as they have minimal anti-bomber capabilities. Therefore we should strike hard and strike fast, no matter how cliche that sounds. Even though our intelligence tells us that the Strike Cruisers are prepared for capitol ship warfare I think that there is a possibility of them being set for carrier capabilities, so the fighter bays might also be a prime target. Given the fact that they have specific structural weaknesses that puts immobilizing the ships at an even higher priority because that would enhance are ability to target specific areas and conserve our ammunition.”

Crix sat on the bridge of the Victory-class Star Destroyer Dark Prophet, watching screens flash the task force's status. The pannel to his left beeped, he looked over and saw that they had two minutes until reversion to realspace. He took a deep breath and turned the comm to transmit over the entire ship, plus the rest of the ships in the task force. Althought he was only in command of the capital ship contingant, his position on the bridge of the clan's flagship made him the person from which this announcment should come.

"Attention, we will revert to realspace in two minutes. As soon as we revert, we make our move. You've all been briefed by your commanders and know what to do. Stick with your missions, if you finish early call in and request new orders. Prepare for reversion. Go forth and kill in the name of Taldryan."

Crix flipped his comm off just as the lines of hyperspace condensed back into points and they found themselves right where they wanted to be.

Al'Meda's eyes transfixed all as the silence, pregnant with tension, gestated until all present expected an explosion. When it seemed that there was no time or space in the universe for further silence Al'Meda stepped forward and screamed.

"IN THE UNHOLY NAME OF THE THE GREAT SALTEEZ!!!"

Her left arm flung out and slammed to the table to slide along and, in a swift single motion, scooped all of the glassware and beverages off the table and into the floor where it was caught by her telekinetic rage and sent flying into a wall where the broken glass exploded into minute shards accompanied by the liquid once contained in its fragile embrace.

"DAMMIT!"

Her right hand flew for her pistol only to come to a halt when she heard the message from Quaestor Crix come over the communicator. His words "go forth and kill" ironically brought her back to a state of calm.

"How can I be any clearer that we must remain forward of the Strike Cruisers in order to remain out of the field of fire of the Lancers?"

A guard was seen peeking in the room but turned away when his curiousity met Al'Meda's eyes.

"Let's go!"

The team's response was the hurried squeaking of chairs upon the floor as all rose quickly to make their way into the hangar and their waiting ships.

Rannik sat quietly in the back of the room; he watched with awe as his Battle Team Leader expressed her anger. He stood as Al'Meda commanded them to leave and head for battle. He was already prepared for battle, even though he wasn't going to be on a ground force. Rannik started walking when he heard a voice to his right.

"Rannik, why do you carry around that blade all the time?" Daar asked with a hesitant voice.

Narius didn't deter from his main objective or even flench when he replied, "Better to be prepared for the unexpected, than the unexpected be prepared for you."

Warhammer shook his head and walked on out the door behind his fellow members, Fire-Knight, Anik, and Al'Meda. He placed one hand on his blade and continued down the corridor to the hangar. They all stopped in front of the giant, dura steel door. Al'Meda spoke with confindence in her voice as she gives them a sort of "pep-talk."

"Okay guys, you know your mission, I know mine. I think we all are capable of pulling this thing off! Now lets go and kick some ass!" She finished and hurried through the now opening hangar door.

Rannik sighed as he knew the ships were going to be way too small for him, and for Fire-Knight. He walked up to the sighed of his assigned ship. He didn't know what to think as he was towering over it.

"Um, Al'Meda! What do I do now? I can't fit into this... this metal thing!" Rannik exclaimed to the other sighed of the hangar.

"Just try and fit into it, I don't know what else at the moment." She replied.

Rannik sighed heavily as he opened the cock-pit window and sat down. The ship creaked, banged, and made numerous weird noises. What else does something that size do when it has a seven, eight hundred pound giant sitting in the pilot's seat? Rannik was too broad to fit fully in the cock-pit, he was too tall to shut the window, and he was obviously too heavy to fly it.

"Dammit Rannik, quit screwing around. That's a downed TIE fighter you are trying to get into. The scimitar bomber is over there." She pointed at the large craft across the bay. "It seats four, a piliot and three gunners. The front pod can even separate in an emergency. Did you not hear the technical specifications in the prep?"

Rannik extracted himself from the downed TIE, which normally would have hung susoended from a rack but for the repairs it was undergoing. He lumbered over towards the Scimitar Bomber with no hesitation.

"You're quite a joker for a Gen Dai," Al'Meda called after Rannik. "Now let's get going."

The Acolyte stood in the hanger amongst his Battle team. This being his first mission he had thought it would be a good idea to read up on the Scimitar Bomber that he and his comrades would be piloting.

With a quick survey of the hanger layout and contents Daar had spotted his vessel. He moved quickly towards the Scimitar, taking note of what the others are doing. Coming up along side of the craft he spotted the control for the cock pit window. In a fluent motion he opened the cockpit's window and leaped from the floor to the interior of the vessel. Then planted himself into the pilots seat.

After taking a quick inventory of the instruments and features he had discovered his reading the operators manual and schematics had paid off. With a quick check of the comm it was found in working order. Satisfied with his inspections results, the Acolyte shouted out "I think I'm good to go!".

It had only now dawned upon Daar that his actions contribute to the out come of this mission. With a deep sigh he willing accepts his responsibility for the completion of his tasks. And safety of his Home and Family.

He sat still in his comfortable chair awaiting orders. It's almost time I can feel it.

Al’Meda Zarco sat in the cockpit of the Scimitar Bomber three additional naval personnel, assigned to gunner positions, checked in as pre-flight assessments were performed on the craft. She knew the elimination of Lanar’s Strike Cruisers was crucial to the success of the Taldryan fleet.

At once she was proud to lead Crimson Vanguard and worried at the experience level shown thus far by the team, at least as regards these craft. Templar Fire-Knight had experience but she had heard little from him since this assignment. His participation would be essential in light of the rest of the teams level of familiarity with the craft. He had remained silent on the way to his craft.

Each craft was assigned three naval personnel to act as gunner’s on the Scimitar. They were veterans and their experience would be sorely needed as they made their way to and commenced their attack run on the Strike Cruisers. Doubtless they would be harried by enemy fighters bent on their elimination. The enemy Strike Cruiser had to be eliminated so the Taldryan capital ships could approach :anar’s fleet and the naval battle could being in earnest.

“Ordnance secure,” called Al’Meda.

“Check.”

Laser units functioning?”

“Check.”

“Coolant levels optimum?”

“Check.”

And so it went until the Tetrarch was satisfied that her craft was ready. Doubtless the less familiar of the team were being guided through the pre-flight routine by the gunners assigned to them.

“Crimson One here.” The Tetrarch of the Crimson Vanguard’s voice came over the headsets of the squad. “All bombers ready to launch, repeat…ready to launch.”

“Crimson Two ready,” came Fire Knight’s voice to be followed by the chatter of the balance of the team.

“Launch.” Al’Meda’s voice was echoed by the sound of anti-grav apparatus lifting the bomber from the deck to be followed by the steady grind of landing gear being retracted. As the bombers lifted in relative unison, the deck below them retracted to allow them to drop into the freedom of space. The rather large bomber’s were dwarfed by the massive hull of the wedge-shaped Interdictor Cruiser that was their home.

“Form up. Double slash pattern.” With Zarco’s last command, Crimosn One, her ship, and Crimson Two, Fire-Knight’s craft, flew one over the other with their two wingmen each to their right and rear. In this way, two descending columns of staggered ships flew atop one another, thereby maximizing the field of fire that their three man gunner crews could bring to bear.

“Heading 10.5 degrees starboard from fore. Mark twenty descending angle of approach. Fully charge shields and guns and then on my command go to maximum speed until 1.5 kilometers from the Strike Cruisers. Gunners…look sharp.”

As the energy was transferred fully to thrust Al’Meda heard the most familiar voice in her head, that of Baron Zarco. “The Force is with you.”

We got TIES! shouted Daar eagerly over the comm. Crimson 5's gunners confirmed the approach of two patrols of TIE Fighters. The Vanguards formation allowed for a swift annihilation of the TIE patrols, but at the cost of Crimson 5's starboard gunner.

Straighten up, Al'Meda spoke softly into the comm. We can expect another welcoming committee any time soon.

WooHoo! Daar Kareth cheered over the comm. I got 4! exclaimed the Guardian. Just as his engines
began to falter and over heat.

Baron Zarco had grown inpatient. His feet beat as did his heart as he ran into the hangar day and jumped into an A-Wing.

"Sir, you are not..."

Zarco summoned a wrench into the man's head and the voice went silent.

"You gotta be kidding me," were his only words as he closed the cockpit window.

Al’Meda’s mind was still in hyperdrive after the burst of adrenaline and increased Force awareness that arrived with the enemy TIE fighters. Like a mother hen, her eyes flitted about the sensor suite that kept pace of her squadron as much as herself.

“Crimson Five what is wrong?”

“Engine overheating ma’am. Starboard gunner dead and weapons emplacement destroyed.”

Al’Meda’s voice came as calm reassurance to the Guardian whose battles in the Outer Rim were well on their way to seeing him ascend once again. “Shut down power to the starboard gun emplacement. You are wasting power and resources there. Re-route the coolant from the starboard gun emplacement to the engine.”

“Aye aye,” came Daar Kareth’s reply.

Fire-Knight’s strong voice came over the squadron’s channel. “TIE advanced squadron forty degrees starboard lower forward quadrant. Three standard TIE squadrons side by side seventy degrees starboard, upper forward quadrant.”

“Check,” came Al’Meda’s only reply. She then addressed Daar again. “Crimson Five they are going to pick at us because of your weak starboard side. You are going to have to trade places with Fire Knight. Everyone else maintain formation and heading.”

“Huntress…”

“Way ahead of you Daar. You move down and to port while Fire Knight moves lower and to starboard. Go.”

The formation continued to soar towards its targets with TIEs closing on their starboard side. Crimson Two jinked down and under the drifting Crimson Five so that they changed places.

“Good. Now, on my mark, everyone cut power to the engines and apply forward thrusters allowing the TIE advanced to overshoot us and pass before us. Ignore them for the moment and destroy the standard TIE. Then immediately resume full engines towards the Strike Cruisers.”

“But what about those other TIE coming down on us from starboard?” Anik’s voice was hear from Crimson Four.

“That’s why we just maximized our starboard efficiency. Hold steady……..NOW!”

The Crimson Vanguard slowed. Barely even a ripple was seen in its formation. The TIE advanced passed before them in a blur, their lancing laser fire illuminating their path but ineffective. The standard TIEs were taken by surprise as their prey suddenly slowed. The grip on courage held by one of the enemy pilots faltered and he swerved into his wingman. Destroying them both. The Crimson Vanguard maintained formation as Al’Meda’s words addressed the squadron and the TIEs suddenly on their side.

“FIRE!” Her voiced pierced the channel though the members of the Crimson Vanguard had already begun to throw devastation into the scrambling remnants of the Empire.

Clan RO comp is now closed. Any posts made after this point will cause the RO to be disqualified.