System Supervillain, Chapter 148

Chapter 148 – Stalemate?

(Command Nest, Gel-nak Imperial Navy Ship Threefold Destruction of the Unworthy, Srusk System, Gel-Nak Empire)

Ship High Commander Arlushk snarled as the last of his patrol crafts was turned into a cloud of debris, courtesy of the damned human’s ship. The thing was roughly the same size as a Gel-nak destroyer, but the thing was quick, nimble, and dangerous. The negative matter weapons that had ended the first two patrol crafts had not made an appearance since then, but the effectiveness of the gravity beams that carved through the patrol crafts meant that was probably a choice, rather than a restriction. More worryingly, his sensors were detecting other weapon systems, that were online, but had yet to be used.

That the enemy had not yet felt the need to bring out all their cards was telling. His Science Advisor had run the projected numbers on the weapons that they’d seen so far. The gravity beams were powerful, yes, but there was a difference between the defenses of a patrol craft, and those of dedicated warships. With their better armor and enhanced shields, the warships should be able to withstand the gravity beams.

They only had partial readings for the negative matter weapons, but it was clear that the System gave them some type of area of effect. So long as his remaining ships kept their shields up, that wouldn’t be a problem. The orbital station would survive the hits, as well, since it was designed with the idea of holding off warships until reinforcements could be gathered. The fighters that the station commander had launched, however, would be swatted out of space like githar flies.

The enemy ship’s maneuverability and speed was impressive, allowing them to avoid most of his ships’ weapons. The few shots that had landed had splashed against shields that might even beat out his own flagship’s, doing nothing to the ship itself. If things remained as they were, then it would turn into a battle of attrition. Having more ships meant that there were more chances for damage to slip through, which should lead to his eventual victory. However, that was only if the enemy didn’t have something which could change the balance. Something like those weapons they had not yet brought to bear.

“Target is entering torpedo range, Ship High Commander!”

Closing to this range was a risk, but a calculated one. The enemy had not used those negative matter weapons since the opening of the fight. If they were anything like his torpedoes, then they were restricted in range compared to the gravity beam. Depending on the strength of the enemy’s shields and armor, then the torpedoes, designed to punch through armor and cause damage to a ship’s internal systems, might have better luck.

The risk, of course, was that the enemy may have weapons that were better suited for this type of battle, if they engaged from close range. Not just the negative matter weapons, the ones they had not used yet. There were too many unknowns for Arlushk’s liking, but he could not change the rules of the System.

“Turn the ship. Fire ithar-side torpedoes as they come in line with the target.”

He forced his voice to be calm. This was still a winnable fight, after all. Despite the losses, he could still pull through. If he began to sound desperate, then his subordinates would smell it out. If that happened, the best that could be expected of them was a degradation in performance as doubt gnawed at them like a brethak. That was still better than having an ambitious officer decide to ‘promote’ himself by sending Arlushk to his grave.

Calculating Range Modifiers to OCV

Base OCV = 14 OCV

Megascale (1m = 100km), 1700km = 8 OCV

Telescopic Vision (+7 vs Range Modifier) = 14 OCV

Segment 8:

Threefold Destruction of the Unworthy uses Offensive Shot.

(-1 OCV, -1 DCV, Range +0, +4 DC)

Threefold Destruction of the Unworthy uses Multipower Attack (Photon Torpedo x6)

Threefold Destruction of the Unworthy’s attack roll (Rhuk), OCV 13: 3d6 = 10 (Hits DCV 14) (Hit)

Photon Torpedo: 7d6 = 25 BODY (DEF 50 after AP)

Photon Torpedo: 7d6 = 30 BODY (DEF 50 after AP)

Photon Torpedo: 7d6 = 15 BODY (DEF 50 after AP)

Photon Torpedo: 7d6 = 24 BODY (DEF 50 after AP)

Photon Torpedo: 7d6 = 30 BODY (DEF 50 after AP)

Photon Torpedo: 7d6 = 22 BODY (DEF 50 after AP)

Arlushk’s eyes gleamed as his ship presented the long-side to the enemy, and unleashed all six of the torpedoes in the tubes. The enemy was slippery, but not slippery enough. The torpedoes hit. And yet, they did no damage! Even when they penetrated the shields, the ship’s armor held!

Arlushk could taste the dismay in the air. A ship that size should not be able to just shrug off a full array of torpedoes from a battleship of the Gel-nak Imperial Navy! There had to be a limit to the insolence of these humans!

“Science Advisor, find me a way to kill that ship!”

(Bridge, Rhuk, Srusk System, Gel-Nak Empire)

“Status report, Nemesis.”

“Systems normal. Structural integrity fields and shields still online. No damage from the enemy weapons. However, if our defenses had not been up, we would have been in a good bit of trouble.”

That was good to hear, honestly. If the Rhuk could weather that storm, then I was relatively sure that we could have the run of any battlefield we showed up on. Looking at the combat logs, the torpedoes had originally been 6d6-1 Ranged Killing Attacks, with the Armor Piercing advantage, reducing defenses by half. However, while the Rhuk’s DEF was 70, when adding the shields, armor, and structural integrity field together, 30 of that was from the field, which had the Hardened advantage, negating Armor Piercing. The rest was still halved, but the difference between 35 and 50 was telling.

Web Mistress looked over from her console. “Analysis of their weapons through System data suggests that they have no weapons that can actually harm us, Master. However, our own main weapons are similarly ineffective. We’ll need to use either the spinal cannon, the grey goo nanoweapons, or the point defense cannons on them, if we wish to take them out.”

I raised an eyebrow. “The point defense cannons? Really? They’re usually doing just 8 BODY damage. That shouldn’t penetrate the defenses.”

“You’re forgetting the Penetrating advantage, Master. Every hit will do 8 BODY, on average, even through their defenses. And they have autofire up to five shots, so if we get a good enough hit, that’d be 40 BODY. Network all four point defense turrets facing the ship, like we’ve been doing with the Grav Lances, and that’s 120 BODY.”

“I’m guessing that there’s a catch.”

“The catch is that the point defense turrets are short range attacks. Like, we’d need to be within a couple hundred kilometers to have a shot. In terms of space combat, that’s knife range.”

“Do the Gel-nak have any knives they can bring out against us?”

“Their fighters are relatively weak, both defensively and offensively, but what I’ve been able to look up on them says that their close-range weapons have the Penetrating advantage, as well. We can blot them out with the torpedoes, or target individuals with our cannons, but if we get swarmed by fighters, we’ll be in trouble.”

“Nemesis, status of enemy fighters?”

“Enemy fighters are closing in formation. Two hundred in total, using what looks to be 10 squadrons. Distance: 2100 kilometers and closing. Tactical data from the captured Gel-nak carrier says that this formation is a standard Gel-nak ‘Layered Sphere’ formation, with two hundred meters between fighters in a squadron, and three kilometers between squadrons, arranged with nine squadron-spheres surrounding the commander’s sphere. It is designed for maximum protection of the commander. They were on a lower priority setting than the warships. Shall I engage?”

“Yes,” I nodded. “Send a pair of pulse torpedoes to the center of their formation. If that is where their commander is, then taking them out should keep the remaining fighters from reorganizing too quickly. And if it works right, we might catch most of them in the blast, regardless.”

“Understood. Firing.”

Calculating Range Modifiers to OCV

Base OCV = 14 OCV

Megascale (1m = 100km), 2000km = 8 OCV

Basic Shot (+2 vs Range Modifier) = 10 OCV

Telescopic Vision (+8 vs Range Modifier) = 14 OCV

Segment 10:

Rhuk Shields cost 6 END

Rhuk uses Multipower Attack (Pulse Torpedo x2)

Rhuk uses Basic Shot (+0 OCV, +0 DCV, +2 Range, +2 DC)

Rhuk’s Attack Roll (Area), OCV 14: 3d6 = 8 (Hits DCV 17) (Hit)

Pulse Torpedo: 5d6-1 = 13 BODY (7 DEF after AP)

Pulse Torpedo: 5d6-1 = 21 BODY (7 DEF after AP)

Fighters: 0/20 BODY (Destroyed)

Rhuk: 140/200 END Reserve

The results on the screen were… impressive. The two torpedoes found their mark in the center of the formation, and detonated, blinding all sensors momentarily as a new sun was briefly formed. When the glare cleared, well, only thirteen of the two hundred fighters remained, and all of them looked severely damaged.

“Good work, Nemesis. Clear up the remaining fighters with the lances while we close to knife range on the big ships.”

“Understood.”

While Nemesis went about that work, I took a moment to look at the combat logs. The thirteen remaining fighters were all towards the edge of the kill zone, it seemed, and they’d used the ‘Roll With a Punch’ maneuver to lessen the damage. Despite the name, it definitely could be used with things other than punches, but it also meant that you gave up your next attack. Better than being dead, but it was only delaying things, if you weren’t with people who could cover your back.

“Master, I’ve penetrated the network for the station in orbit around the planet. It appears that the situation in the Empire has deteriorated quicker than we imagined.”

Hearing that my enemies were having a bad day always put a smile on my face. “Oh? I know we figured that there would be a leadership dispute, once news of the Emperor’s death was confirmed, but you’re telling me something more happened?”

“Yes, apparently, the Emperor’s concubines (or wives, the words translate much the same) were all part of something called the Kez Sisterhood, a religious order, before the Emperor ‘tamed’ them. Apparently, the moment they heard about his death, they slaughtered their children, ending the Royal Line.”

I whistled softly. “Even if they were captured and forced into his harem, killing your own children in cold blood is not something most people could do. They either have ice in their veins, or the kind of hate that leaves legends in its wake.”

“Well, in this case, it seems that the Empire’s method of ‘ordering’ their race has come to bite them in the ass. It seems that whatever genetic modifications they make to change a Leader caste into the Emperor only works on people from the Royal Line, requiring genetic markers that were specifically picked to remain in that line alone.”

“So, everything’s going to hell until someone in the Leader caste can get enough support to be named Emperor, and even then they won’t really be Emperor, unless someone manages to find a way to add those markers into ‘normal’ Gel-nak genestock?”

“Fair summary. We’re seeing Balkanization on an interstellar scale. It would be impressive, honestly, if the lizards weren’t still holding human slaves for testing.”

“You’ve found them?”

“What’s left of them. They were moved from Srusk 3 to Srusk 4 after the ‘population reduction’ efforts resulted in riots. There’s still about five million left, out of the initial ten million. Mostly women, children, and the elderly. According to the records I’m reading, the ‘Slavetenders’ are very upset with that, since the normal methods wouldn’t work on Human DNA, which meant they were planning on doing forced breeding to try and breed more compliant slaves, while eliminating genetic aberrations and defects. That gets a lot harder when you have ‘a great lack of genetic diversity amongst male stock of breeding age’. Even worse, from their point of view, many of the technicians and machines they needed were lost in the riots, and replacements aren’t happening while the civil war is on.”

“So, there’s no one but lizards on the station?”

“Lizards, and some of the other slave species. No humans.”

I nodded once. “Then, it is time to see what our big gun can do. Nemesis, start charging the rail cannon! I want to put a hole in that station big enough we can fly through it!”