Part 28: Making Peace (A), Sirius System, Sol Sector (Story and Cutscene)
Good to see you're all still here.ivantod posted:
If it's ok with Ilanin I will post here also when it's ready and underway!
Please do, that decreases the chances of me missing it when it goes up, and probably a few other people.
T.K. Machine posted:
I think we're all just breathlessly waiting for Maniac's triumphant full-motion return.
Everyone who just wants me to get onto WC3 already will be pleased to know that there's only five episodes in Standoff, and we're starting Episode 4 now. The bad news is a) Episodes 4 and 5 are longer than 1, 2 and 3, and b) that I'm doing both winning and losing Episode 5 paths, because the losing path has a couple of hugely fun missions I want to show off and also because all of the events shown in both paths actually happened in Fleet Action unlike in other episodes which follow the winning path. So I've done 14 missions and there's 13 left on the winning path, with another eight on the losing path.
Anyway, on with the story.
25-27th December 2668, Vega System, Vega Sector
End of Episode 3 - Making Peace (A)
The Confederation Third Fleet retreats across several systems until it reaches Sirius, where Tolwyn decided to make his stand.
End of Episode Cutscene
Spoons apologises for being a jerk, is a jerk, and promises to stop being a jerk, in roughly that order:
Cutscene Video (Youtube)
: (narrating) What a day. Things are going to hell, that's all there is to say. Even Cougar. Cougar - under any other circumstances, I would have understood him. How many times have I wanted to knock myself out with booze and forget everything. Maybe I shouldn't have snapped at him like that. I guess he struck a nerve.
FX: Door opens
: What is it, Spoons?
: Hi. I wanted to apologise, man. : Well now, that's new. : I realised, when Squealer saved my ass out there, I realised I think maybe I would not have done the same thing for him. : I never sort I'd say this man, but in spite of everything, he hasn't changed a bit.: Hell, even that stunt in Capella, that was vintage Squealer.: All this time I've been thinking he couldn't be trusted any more, but well, I don't even know any more if I wouldn't have done it too in his place.: It was a fucked up situation, Spoons. : Look, I'm sorry I've been giving you so much crap about all this. Of course, I think you should have told me.: [sighs] I know.: But it's time to get all over this and move on. : So you won't argue about flying with Sparrow any more?: Whoa. Hey. I didn't say anything about Sparrow!: Spoons.: Hey, look, if Squealer hasn't changed, she hasn't either. : Spoons!: Alright, no more complaints. I promise.: That's all I wanted to hear, man. Episode 4 - The Battle of Sirius
Cutscene Video (Youtube)
The largest battle to date of the Terran-Kilrathi War kicks off, as Tolwyn halts his retreat in an attempt to defend the two billion inhabitants of Sirius Prime and Gilead.
: (narrating) It's been quiet here the last few days. Warsaw was the only time we put up a fight. We've been running ever since. Some people were actually happy to have at least the second day of Christmas without fighting. Personally, I couldn't understand them. The cats didn't leave one soul alive in Warsaw. And they're planning to do the same on Earth. What a time to celebrate. Doesn't matter now, anyway. Today at last, we fight. Sirius is too important, there's too many people here. We can't just let them die, not without trying. Besides, we're all fed up with running. We'll make our stand here. Whatever the odds, today we fight.
The odds are pretty damn bad, though. We did slightly better than in the "historical" Battle of Warsaw, killing rather than damaging a Kilrathi carrier. So now we've got Concordia, Verdun, Moskva and Leyte Gulf (a Confederation-class dreadnaught, two Concordias and one Jutland-class fleet carriers) against five Hakagas and three Snakeirs. The numbers are probably somewhere around four to one against.
It's the same picture from Concordia's CIC:
Fleet Action posted:
The two inhabited worlds of Sirius glimmered in the aft screen, showing themselves as two pale green points of light in the middle of the holo display of the system. Geoff jacked up the magnification level of the holo and the further of the two planets disappeared. On the far side of the holo
display a nearly solid swarm of red blips were arrayed in five large clusters. Hundreds of smaller red lights, Kilrathi strike fighters and interceptors, were moving ahead, coming straight in at his own thin blue line, behind which were positioned four large blue dots. In the middle region of space between the two groups, two V wedges of small blue dots were aiming straight in at the heart of the enemy fleet.
"Strike forces crossing into Kilrathi controlled space," a voice whispered.
The Combat Information Center, buried in the heart of Concordia was almost like a tomb, encased in a double layering of durasteel, illuminated
by soft diffused light and the shimmer of holo displays and flat screens. Outside a battle was raging, in here, where the decisions were being made,
the cool professionalism of his staff made it seem almost like an exercise. Yet, as he spared a glance from the holo and looked around the room he
could see the grim determination. After retreating through three star systems, and impotently witnessing the annihilation of the worlds he had been forced to abandon, Geoff Tolwyn had finally turned his fleet about.
The Battle of Sirius had begun.
So, battle is joined with the main fleet of the Kilrathi, and the Firekka's got a full compliment of strike fighters (I'll save you waiting for the flight deck update - we've got six Crossbows and twelve Sabres, plus 11 Gladii in storage) to play a large part in the battle.
Also, the PDF of Fleet Action that Psion sent me turns "Sirius" into "Sinus" in the first sentence there. Optical character recognition strikes again, I guess.
Next time on Standoff:
Somebody made the mistake of getting between Bradshaw and a Hakaga
(also, damage display good, comms menu bad, got it. Will investigate if turning persistent off actually removes the damage report after you recieve a message like I think it does)