Anibeli's POV
"Targets?" She asked.
"Havocs, captain." Came the reply.
Havoc's. Glass cannons. Largely worthless when you can get swords or the like, in her opinion. Dangerous, yes, but still poor vessels.
"Fire torpedoes at target now designated H-1. Begin dive 15 degrees after firing. Fire weapons battery at will." She ordered, and sat back.
She watched the torpedoes leave the tubes, and the ship dropped. The weapons battery fired, and Anibeli felt the deck shudder, ever so slightly.
"Port 30 ascend 20. " She said calmly. Her grandfather had taught her all he knew and more on void warfare. Her ship was outclassed and outnumbered. She had no illusions otherwise, but calm, controlled orders were paramount to moral.
"Havoc 2 is maneuvering starboard at 316 by 42 captain."
"Starboard 5 degrees and slow us by... a fifth. Then, ascend 20 degrees to full emergency speed."
She tapped her finger. She wanted to curse, to sweat. To order anything. To run away. She was in a horid position, but if they played the game well enough...
She saw the indication on her terminal. The torpedoes had just reloaded. The ship shuddered from a hit to the fore.
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"Shields at 89.81 percent captain."
"Keep her steady..." She said.
"Our torpedoes missed captain." An officer called. Damn, there goes that slim hope.
"Fire tube 1 at H-2. Focus fire, all weapons." She said. She watched H-1 cut to their port. They were boxing her in.
She waited patiently as her torpedo streaked to the now dodging H-2. 3...2...1 "Fire tube 2 at H-2. Keep prow on H-2 and ride her down. Fire tube 1 immediately upon reload." She said.
She was getting intermediate hits with her weapons battery, which raised her spirits slightly. But it was underpowered, and just a general piece of garbage. Good for harassment and little else in reality.
She watched. They were gaining quickly on H-2 now. They had been in constant maneuvers to dodge her torpedoes, slowing them significantly. She hunched towards her screen and watched, waiting.
The torpedo was intercepted, but they were landing more hits. She checked shields. 49.97 and dropping. She wanted to curse, but kept her face placid.
They were close now with H-2. Not quite knife fighting range, but close enough. Her torpedo lanced out, finally, and streaked towards H-2.
She prayed. Her shields were at 21.35 percent and they needed a damned miracle now.
She watched. Watched. She saw the moment the indicator for H-2 and the torpedo intersected.
"HIT! CAPTAIN WEVE STRUCK HER AMIDSHIPS! SHE'S TUMBLING AND VOID SHIELDS ARE DOWN!" Thee sensor operator yelled.
She exhaled softly, and replied. "Lower your voice, sensors. Tell the weapons battery that they had better speed up their shots. Accuracy is irrelevant." She said.
"Ay captain, sorry captain."
She watched the ship tumble and slowly try to right itself. Her battery was chewing it shot by shot now. They were returning fire though and their shields finally died.
"Maneuver around her. Make straight for the station. And-" Her terminal pinged. She openly bared her teeth in a smile. "Fire torpedo at H-2. Keep the weapons battery firing." She said.
The torpedo lanced out, and struck the Havoc. She watched as the ship enter a spin, now completely uncontrolled. It's engines died, and it's weapons halted.
"Full speed to the station. Outrun target H-1." She ordered. As they fled, she watched as some few vessels fled H-2, before after 20 minutes, the ship went up.
"Captain, H-2 is gone. Appraisal is that fires hit a magazine and she split badly."
Anibeli smiled openly. "Tech priest, Mark time and date of kill. We shall paint this victory upon the hull when we get to a safe port." She said.
"Yes, captain." She relaxed back into her chair now. They had to intermittently dodge shots from the trailing Havoc, but her shields were slowly raising.
She checked the damage. Her aft armor around her engines was hit, and engine power had decreased slightly. Her fore had taken far more damage, but only one section was open to the void, with moderate armor damage overall.
This, was a victory. And soon, she could dump most of her remaining problems onto other people. And even get praised for it! This had turned out to be an overall decent day.
