Part 32: Moskva's Endgame, Sirius System, Sol Sector (Story)
28th December 2668, Sirius System, Sol SectorEpisode 4, Mission 3 - Moskva's Endgame
(a mission title that is a spoiler isn't usually so bad since you don't normally see the mission titles in-game until after you've beaten the mission)
The Firekka launches fighters to protect the heavily damaged TCS Moskva while it completes repairs.
Pre-mission cutscenes:
Sparrow is a bit upset that Bradshaw is kind of bad at the whole dealing with people thing:
Cutscene Video (Youtube)
: William. Haven't seen much of you lately, I mean outside of the cockpit.
: I needed time. I still...: Oh, William. Every time we fly together, you trust me with your life. And yet still you find so hard to even talk to me.: It isn't easy to forget, Marie. I'm trying, I really am, just... give me a little bit more time.: It's just that we may not have time. William, this campaign...I don't know if we'll see the end of it.: Sparrow, are you scared? That'd be a first.: Of course I'm not scared. Just worried you might not be up to the challenge. Bradshaw forgets that this conversation with Saxman and Cougar is not actually a start-of-episode narration and goes off about how we're all doomed again. Cougar does a JRPG protagonist turn in response.
Cutscene Video (Youtube)
: That was...something else. : They said...how many of those carriers did they say the cats had?: *exhales* Too many.: Man, and if taking just one down is this hard. 
: Yeah, well, it's only gonna get harder, that's for sure. : Well, we've bloodied their noses a bit. : That's true, and hey, I see you and Spoons are back on talking terms. That's good. : Yeah, and he's even buried the hatchet with Sparrow. More or less.: It really is good news, but it's not much. : I mean as far as good news is concerned, it's just not much to go on at a time like this. : That's where you're wrong, Captain. It's more than you can imagine. : If we make it through this, it's only because we'll have friends watching our six.: I'll drink to that. To friends. : Right. To friends. 
Three e-mails this time, including the flight deck update. Firstly, Admiral Tolwyn likes the cut of our jib, or at least our taking out a supercarrier:
IES Message - Received at 0517 hours GST on 2668.364 posted:
From: Adm. Geoffrey Tolwyn (TCN, TCS Concordia)
To: All Personnel, Confed Armed Forces
Subject: The battle of Sirius
Gentlemen - in the last few hours, we've achieved more than anybody - especially the enemy - could have anticipated. The Kilrathi thought their new carriers were invincible. You showed them no Kilrathi warrior will ever be safe in human territory, no matter what manner of weaponry he brings with him.
I want to thank you all for this fine display of courage, skill, devotion and sacrifice. I've never been prouder, having soldiers like you under my command.
This battle, however is only beginning. Don't get overconfident, don't make the mistake of underestimating the enemy - the fight will only get harder. Already, the enemy counter-attack is starting, and the hours to come will bring many, many casualties. You will all lose friends today - but no matter what happens, do not forget what's at stake here. Your continued sacrifice will save billions of lives.
Adm. Geoffrey Tolwyn
Commander-in-chief, Third Fleet
Spoons wants to get drunk, but is told that plot device has already been used and he has to find a new one:
IES Message - Received at 0917 hours GST on 2668.364 posted:
From: 1st Lt. Fabian Schroeder (TCSF, TCS Firekka)
To: Capt. William Bradshaw (TCSF, TCS Firekka)
Subject: Whoa.
Ok, ok, so I flew with Sparrow today, and I'm still alive. And I'm not even complaining... much.
...I mean, at least not about Sparrow. I'll never, like, be friends with her... but then again, I never were, even before the whole shiver-me-timbers incident... but yeah, all right, she's a good pilot.
About that mission, though - what in hell was that? And this, you say, is only the beginning? Man, I knew I'd have to face the whole damned cat fleet like this, I'd never have signed up with Confed. I mean, sure, we got that thing... but they've got more where that came from! Way more!
I soooooo wanna get drunk. And that's the one thing I'm not allowed to do. Stupid cats.
Spoons
Finally, there's the flight deck update. We took something of a battering in the last two missions, and are running a little low on non-terrible fighters:
IES Message - Received at 1021 hours GST on 2668.364 posted:
From: Chief Petty Officer Jean Henderson (TCN, TCS Firekka)
To: Capt. William Bradshaw (TCSF, TCS Firekka)
Subject: Latest flight deck status
Hey, Captain B.
Amazing stuff with you boys taking down that supercarrier of theirs! I sure wish it didn't cost our side that many lives, though... anyway, here's the latest data about the ships you've got available.
Rapiers: 10
Sabres: 8
Crossbows: 5
Stilettos: 10
Gladii: 11
Jean
The wider picture
In the book, the Confed strike didn't go as well as it did in the last video:
(actually, the situation in the book has to be a bit different to what happened here for a couple of reasons I can go into if anybody really cares)
Fleet Action posted:
"Got that, Lone Wolf?"
"Straight in we go, Round Top. Make it a good one, buddy," Kevin replied.
"Nothing less will do."
"Three, two, one, decelerate!"
Kevin pulled his maneuvering scoops wide open and slammed in reverse thrust, instantly slowing his fighter, which shuddered to a near stand still less than fifty clicks out from their target.
A swarm of Kilrathi fighters closed in on them.
There was a flash of light forward off the carrier's bow and Kevin realized that someone, driven by rage, had simply tried to ram the enemy ship. Such a maneuver at full closing speed was nearly impossible to do and the fighter had deflected off the side of the carrier's heavy shields.
"I've got initial torpedo lock," Round Top announced, "and counting at thirty, twenty nine…" The other strike craft that Kevin was protecting joined in with their own announcements of initial lock.
They slowly drifted in towards their target and Kevin felt as if his heart were wrapped in ice. The ship was massive, more than twice the size of any carrier he had ever seen before. He could barely spare it a glance, however, as hundreds of enemy fighters swarmed in upon them.
Within seconds he had lost the rest of his squadron in the mad melee as he twisted and turned his fighter, struggling to stay alive while at the same time desperately attempting to cover the Broadswords as they hung near motionless, waiting for their torpedoes to gain full lock. Broadsword after Broadsword disappeared in white-hot explosions. Three Krants lined in on Round Top, his countdown still echoing in Kevin's headphones as he weaved into them, crippling one with a dumb-fired flechette spray, and destroying a second with a stream of neutron bolts cutting into the fighter's engine mounts.
The third stitched a flurry of rounds across the portside gun turret of Round Top's ship, and Kevin caught a glimpse of the gunner's body shredding to pieces, his canopy bursting into shards from the strike.
"Keep 'em off me," Round Top shouted. Ten seconds and counting."
The strike squadron had drifted to within eight clicks of the carrier and what appeared to be a solid wall of mass driver rounds snaked out from the ship's bow, blowing three more Broadswords apart. Kevin struggled with his stick as a shudder ran through his fighter, starboard shielding overloading and a laser hit sheered off the last meter of his wingtip. He turned inside the laser beam, blowing out reflective chaff which temporarily blinded the laser's target lock, the beam skewing across his bow, cutting a gouge into the forward durasteel armor
"Three, two, one, it's away!"
The fifteen surviving Broadswords out of the thirty in the strike group launched their torpedo loads. Round Top, along with half the remaining ships, were armed with the laser lock guidance and they turned upwards, making sure that the laser emitters were pointed at the torpedoes. The space between the attacking fighters and the carriers turned into an insane explosion of anti-torpedo missiles, dogfighting ships, and point defense blasts from the Kilrathi carrier.
"We've got lock, we've got holding lock," Round Top shouted.
Kevin turned his fighter to circle around Round Top and saw yet another swarm of Kilrathi fighters cutting in, dropping a wall of missiles on the surviving Broadswords.
"Round Top, evasive, evasive!"
"Can't! We still have lock, three seconds, two, one…"
Kevin screamed with rage as five missiles detonated across the top of his friend's Broadsword. The ship simply disappeared.
[...]
From off his portside wing he saw four torpedoes impacting on the carriers bow. In the silence of space it seemed somehow surreal, as if a holo movie was being played out. For a brief instant the carrier disappeared behind the exploding curtain of antimatter warheads. He waited for the secondary explosions to begin.
And as he waited, the carrier emerged from out of the fire. Its forward bow, and for nearly a hundred meters back, was a twisted wreckage, but the ship continued to purposefully move forward. Making sure his gun cameras were still on, Kevin turned in towards the carrier.
[...]
"White Wolf, this is Blue One. No joy, repeat, no joy, carrier still running after four torpedo hits. Catch my video transmit."
He sent the signal through and then looked at his tactical.
Space was dotted solid with red, with only an occasional blue dot. The strike force had shot its bolt and been destroyed, and the Kilrathi Fleet continued on in.
Next time on Standoff:
I can't believe that only one person who is reading this actually has an opinion on my fighter choice, so I'll leave that open a little longer. Though it'll be a Sabre if nobody else votes within 12 hours.