Lunar Naval Headquarters, United Socialist Provinces
- Unitas Salaam Colony, Maenon
"As ordered, Commodore, here it is."
"Begin, Lieutenant."
"Aye, sir."
..... ... ....... .... .. ... b... .... the enem.... ... damage.... ... ....
"Get..... .... armaments ..... defenses of that ship. She may be a light weight ...... but she's got a serious bite."
"Readings show the Magnus has standard weapons supplemented by a heavy payload of Missiles. Defenses are ... Shields but nothing else registers, sir."
"It's Captain James. No doubt about it. Helm, intercept course, full speed."
"Aye, ...tain, full speed."
"Distance to optimal range of target?"
"One million kilometers, sir."
..... .... ........ ...
"Incoming missiles, captain!"
"Launch counter measures."
"Missile detonation confirmed. No damage, sir."
"Return fire."
"Another volley of missiles, sir."
"Evasive!"
"Missile impact, minimal damage, captain."
"Bring the Shine Spark online."
"Shine Spark powering up, ...."
............ . .......... .. ....
"There is some unrecoverable data from the middle of the battle, commodore. What we've gathered so far is that, with the Shine Spark engaged, the Brutus Magnus took heavy damage and Captain Mirziyoyev was able to evade some of the attacks directed toward the Inferno, sustaining some damage.
The remainder of the recording continues from this point."
"The ...... ship is heavily damaged, sir, and fleeing around the sun."
"Pursue."
"Engines are at 30% captain, they'll be back at full capacity in two minutes."
"Tactical, fire whenever the opportunity arises. Helm, best speed on present course."
"Aye, sir."
.. ..... ........ .. ...... ....
"Weapons cannot lock on to target, captain. The enemy is utilizing electronic countermeasures."
"He saved his jammers for later. Good move James. Let's see how you handle the fully powered Shine Spark blast."
"All weapons fully charged for concurring blast, captain."
"Engage ... weapons!"
(main guns roar numerous times)
"Sir, some damage to the target, but the enemy's jammers ... disrupted the guns."
"Incoming missile, Captain."
"Counter measures."
"No damage, sir."
Sir, another missile."
(sound of missile impact)
"Hull stat..?"
"Minimal damage, captain. Forward sections at 40% integrity, sir. All ...tems still functioning."
"Thermal read...s?"
"... within limits, Captain. Wait, sir, ...l readings ... .... ... spike... ... .."
"What happened, Lieutenant? I thought your team recovered all the pertinent sections of the recording?"
"We did, Commodore."
"Well where's the rest of the bloody battle?"
"That's the end of it, sir. The Inferno was destroyed at the moment the recording stopped."
"What the hell happened?!"
"We don't know yet, sir. Forensic analysis of the debris and data from the recorder both suggest an odd build up of heat after the last missile impact."
"Lieutenant, you and your team have an admirable reputation with this sort of thing. We've lost ships before, while engaged with multiple enemies. But the Inferno has also proven victorious in such circumstances, as has Alexander. Now you're telling me one of our finest battle ships, under the command of one of our best captains and my friend, was beaten by a singular inferior foe and the only thing you can tell me for certain is unexplained thermal readings?"
"Well, sir, Captain Mirziyoyev was correct about his initial assessment. The Brutus Magnus was commanded by Captain Charleston James of the..."
"Lieutenant, I've got a briefing with the Admiral tomorrow. He must report to the Supreme Court by the end of the week. If you don't get something useful for the Admiral you and your team will be assigned to refuse duty for the next six months. Dismissed!"
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