Part 42: From Hell's Heart ...

The Alliance Fleet has just arrived. They are awaiting your orders.
Review the battle plan one last time.
Aye, captain. The chief engineer has examined all of the combat data we have gathered of the Legion to date and believes she has discovered a weakness. While the Legion is plated with enough heavy armor to effectively nullify all conventional weapons, a vanguard shot directly down its primary laser shaft will destroy the primary power generator deep inside the Legion's hull. The ensuing chain reaction should be sufficient to destroy the entire ship from the inside out.
So in other words, the only way to kill that thing is to fly right in front of its primary weapon and shove a Vanguard down its maw, huh.
That’s correct.
Absolutely insane. The plan is approved. Give me shipwide, commander.
Open.



Momentarily, we will engage the PACT superdreadnought Legion and the Paradox Core. The coming battle will not be easy. I will not mince words with you: we all lost people close to us because of that ship. In just a flash, it took away our homes. Our families. I know this mission has not been easy. It has not been easy for me. It has not been easy for any of you. But there is one thing the Legion will never take away from us: our hope. Our hope that we will rebuild everything that was destroyed. Our hope that we will continue to live and to love each other. That we will rise from the ashes of war, stronger than ever before!



We will not give into despair! PACT may destroy our cities and terrorize us with weapons the galaxy has never known, but we will rebuild all that we have lost! We will win this battle for Cera. For all the memories we hold dear of our home, for all those who have lost their lives just so we could make it this far! Together, we will end the Legion's reign of terror! So that the galaxy will see a new day. A day when we live free of the terror of madmen and tyrants! A day when we can all go back home! A day as bright as our memories of Cera!

*General cheering and clapping*

Signal the fleet, commander. Engage the enemy.



For the first time, the Legion itself is on the field.



W-what a monstrosity …



The whole “shoot a vanguard down the middle of it” is a cutscene-only plan, so for now we just have to take it down to zero hitpoints. Which isn’t going to be easy because with those shield and flak stats anything in its bubble is basically impervious to laser and kinetic attacks. So to start with we drag a few units out of that bubble …





And rely on kinetics to take down a few more.




The Legion itself doesn’t move but will fire off missile barrages forever.

Signal the Alliance commander; we need some support now!



The Alliance dispatches three Machiavelli-class battleships to aid us. Slow and hard-hitting, their spinal rail guns are pretty much only able to hit a target the size Legion, but without them we’re going to be here all day.



That red line is pretty much exactly what you think it is. Don’t be there for longer than one turn.




Staying out of the Legion’s main cannon’s line of fire, dragging the support ryders out of the protective bubble, and turning off the flak make this battle actually quite simple.




In the end, it’s Kryska who gets the final hits on the Legion.



This ends now. Begin our attack run.
Aye captain! Beginning our approach!



*BOOM*

Steady as she goes!
Distance to vanguard range 1,000 kilometers!
Begin to charge the vanguard!
We're taking heavy damage! Hull breaches reported in all C sections!
Hold course!
6,000 kilometers! … 3,000!

*BOOM*

Prepare to fire!
600 … 400 … we are in range!
FIRE!
…
...
I said, fire!



Goddamnit! Break off our attack! Relay a message to one of the Machivellis: we need them to take the shot!
The Machiavellis are not nimble enough to make the approach! Only we can take the shot! The Legion is powering its main cannon!






The Alliance line is falling apart! At this rate … !
It's going to be a massacre. Commander I need that vanguard online now!
The manual override at auxiliary control station C still appears to be functional!
Didn't you just say that all C sections were damaged!?
Yes, captain.
Get a repair crew down there now!
All damage control teams are currently occupied. I'm going down there myself! That manual control is the only shot we have at destroying the Legion!

Choose one:

A:

Agreed. Get down there and get the vanguard online!

B:

Are you crazy, commander!? It's too dangerous!