The Return of Malfeas IC

[Maugan Ra]

"Just checking here, Commander, but I'm guessing being forced to land on this thing would not be ideal?"

Even as he speaks, Watson is beginning evasive maneuvers, avoiding the incoming frigates while staying close to Malfeas. "Think you can match me in a dogfight, do you?" he mutters under his breath.

[sun_tzu]

"Not ideal," Berger confirmed. At the same time, she kept firing the railgun and directing the Dragon-Blooded in the artillery: "Cannoneers, try to aim at glancing blows below the frigates! If the impact can swivel them downward by a few degrees, their own inertia will crash them into Malfeas!"

[horus42]

Berger briefly hears the words, "Aye, Ma'am." before the cannons get to work. One of the smaller corvettes is immediately sent careening into Malfeas' surface, and the larger, Capital ships are heavily damaged, but still keeping to their course.

[Maugan Ra]

Standard tactical doctrine for combat between space craft indicates that the optimum engagement range is one measured in hundreds of kilometers at the very least. Any closer, and the sheer bulk of capital vessels removes the possibility of dodging incoming fire, and even risks accidental collision as the engines struggle to compensate for inertia. Fighter-scale craft can approach closer, of course, often to within a few kilometers of the larger ships if they're feeling confident, but even that is consider knife-fight range in this age of laser-based weaponry and smart missile barrages.

Right now, the Mercury is approximately two hundred meters above the surface of the Stellar Intelligence known as Malfeas. It is moving at speeds that even specialist interceptors would be hard pressed to match, and pulling maneuvers that by rights should be crushing it's crew against the internal bulkheads with sheer g-force, even with the inertial dampeners. No mortal pilot could possibly keep up with this. Even dedicated AI would have difficulty performing the necessary calculations and course adjustments in time. But James Watson is neither mortal or machine. He is Exalted, and this is what he was born to do.

Surface mounted turrets spit long streams of laser fire into the air around him, or launch clusters of self-guiding munitions to bring him down. He pilots around the former, weaving a delicate course through the net that slews back and forth wildly, super-heated plasma narrowly missing the wingtips... and detonating the warheads on the pursuing missiles as the various sub-systems of the Stellar Intelligence fail to coordinate in time.

Enemy frigates move in on an intercept course, but they are slow, and constrained by the laws of physics. Watson is not, and he demonstrates it by sending his ship to dance among them with a gleeful smile. One is sent into the surface by the gunnery crews as the ships hold relative positions long enough for a lock to be acquired. Another tries to head him off, and is so taxed keeping up with the wild course changes that it doesn't correct in time for the communication spire jutting up from the surface. They slam together and are torn apart in a brilliant explosion.

And, of course, this close to the surface, the Stellar Intelligence's Defence systems are rendered less than entirely perfect. Exposed power systems, delicate nets of local control networks, the neccessarily exposed engine components - all become valid targets as the Mercury strafes across the surface of the sentient world-star.

It is a message, non-verbal but doubtless received by the Intelligence all the same - You cannot beat me. Not when I have a ship. Not without destroying the data. You. Can. Not. Win.

Spoiler

Show

Will use Fateful Sail Excellency here to pull this off, ideally with stunts.

Shards lists difficulties of different chase scene ideas. Difficulty 5 is listed as doing things like using cranes to cross buildings in a car chase. Watson is hitting successes of 12+ here, so he is quite capable of doing outrageous things like this. Sidereals are awesome.

[horus42]

Standard tactical doctrine for combat between space craft indicates that the optimum engagement range is one measured in hundreds of kilometers at the very least. Any closer, and the sheer bulk of capital vessels removes the possibility of dodging incoming fire, and even risks accidental collision as the engines struggle to compensate for inertia. Fighter-scale craft can approach closer, of course, often to within a few kilometers of the larger ships if they're feeling confident, but even that is consider knife-fight range in this age of laser-based weaponry and smart missile barrages.

Right now, the Mercury is approximately two hundred meters above the surface of the Stellar Intelligence known as Malfeas. It is moving at speeds that even specialist interceptors would be hard pressed to match, and pulling maneuvers that by rights should be crushing it's crew against the internal bulkheads with sheer g-force, even with the inertial dampeners. No mortal pilot could possibly keep up with this. Even dedicated AI would have difficulty performing the necessary calculations and course adjustments in time. But James Watson is neither mortal or machine. He is Exalted, and this is what he was born to do.

Surface mounted turrets spit long streams of laser fire into the air around him, or launch clusters of self-guiding munitions to bring him down. He pilots around the former, weaving a delicate course through the net that slews back and forth wildly, super-heated plasma narrowly missing the wingtips... and detonating the warheads on the pursuing missiles as the various sub-systems of the Stellar Intelligence fail to coordinate in time.

Enemy frigates move in on an intercept course, but they are slow, and constrained by the laws of physics. Watson is not, and he demonstrates it by sending his ship to dance among them with a gleeful smile. One is sent into the surface by the gunnery crews as the ships hold relative positions long enough for a lock to be acquired. Another tries to head him off, and is so taxed keeping up with the wild course changes that it doesn't correct in time for the communication spire jutting up from the surface. They slam together and are torn apart in a brilliant explosion.

And, of course, this close to the surface, the Stellar Intelligence's Defence systems are rendered less than entirely perfect. Exposed power systems, delicate nets of local control networks, the neccessarily exposed engine components - all become valid targets as the Mercury strafes across the surface of the sentient world-star.

It is a message, non-verbal but doubtless received by the Intelligence all the same - You cannot beat me. Not when I have a ship. Not without destroying the data. You. Can. Not. Win.

Spoiler

Show

Will use Fateful Sail Excellency here to pull this off, ideally with stunts.

Shards lists difficulties of different chase scene ideas. Difficulty 5 is listed as doing things like using cranes to cross buildings in a car chase. Watson is hitting successes of 12+ here, so he is quite capable of doing outrageous things like this. Sidereals are awesome.

(That... is beautiful. If I was allowed to give more than three stunt dice, I totally would. Take three. I love this game.)

[sun_tzu]

All right. What else can we do? Berger gave the environment a closer examination. "Watson! That spot right there - that's where the destroyer crashed into Malfeas. Try to fly over it!"
All right. Malfeas's surface should be devastated around there. With lots and lots of exposed machinery. And I just HAPPEN to have the schematics of a Stellar Intelligence handy.
With a short gesture over her persocomp, Berger summoned the holographic image of Theion's design. Essence cursed through her head, allowing her to analyze the patterns at an accelerated speed, detecting what would apply to Malfeas and all other Stellar Intelligences, and what would be unique to the Theion design.
Of course. As a Stellar Intelligence, Malfeas is a hybrid of space station and Dyson sphere. His heart is a star, a gigantic ongoing thermonuclear explosion, surrounded by machinery able to exploit that energy source. But to function on such a scale at a rapid rate, it needs to access energy quickly. No energy batteries or anything of the sort...It uses gravitic pumps to directly pull the ultra-hot nucelar material from the core and use it for energy in Malfeas's machinery.
But right now, Malfeas is dealing with having taken a destroyer to the face. That's a lot of damage to repair before the enemy fleet can take advantage of it, and that takes quite a lot of energy. Which means there's quite a lot of hydrogen and helium at temperatures measured in millions of Kelvin degrees circulating through these pumps right...just waiting for a nice, brutal redirection.
Looking at the machinery below, Berger identified the gravitic pumps. One railgun gun shot to block a tunnel, causing the thermonuclear fuel to overflow. One shot to break the side of another tunnel, leading the superheated hydrogen to go sideways. A third shot, a gravity pump no longer able to pull the hydrogen where Malfeas needed it to go.
A couple seconds of thermonuclear fuel accumulating where it most definitely wasn't supposed to go while the Mercury flew overhead.
And then, a massive explosion of light and plasma erupted, bathing its surroundings in heat sufficient to melt mountains, annihilating the ships pursuing the Mercury while the ship made its getway.

Spoiler

Show

Using the Second Lore Excellency and the Theion schematics to figure out how to exploit Malfeas's machinery.
If necessary, using the First Firearms Excellency and/or Nova Shell Ordnance to get this improvised H-bomb going.

[horus42]

All right. What else can we do? Berger gave the environment a closer examination. "Watson! That spot right there - that's where the destroyer crashed into Malfeas. Try to fly over it!"
All right. Malfeas's surface should be devastated around there. With lots and lots of exposed machinery. And I just HAPPEN to have the schematics of a Stellar Intelligence handy.
With a short gesture over her persocomp, Berger summoned the holographic image of Theion's design. Essence cursed through her head, allowing her to analyze the patterns at an accelerated speed, detecting what would apply to Malfeas and all other Stellar Intelligences, and what would be unique to the Theion design.
Of course. As a Stellar Intelligence, Malfeas is a hybrid of space station and Dyson sphere. His heart is a star, a gigantic ongoing thermonuclear explosion, surrounded by machinery able to exploit that energy source. But to function on such a scale at a rapid rate, it needs to access energy quickly. No energy batteries or anything of the sort...It uses gravitic pumps to directly pull the ultra-hot nucelar material from the core and use it for energy in Malfeas's machinery.
But right now, Malfeas is dealing with having taken a destroyer to the face. That's a lot of damage to repair before the enemy fleet can take advantage of it, and that takes quite a lot of energy. Which means there's quite a lot of hydrogen and helium at temperatures measured in millions of Kelvin degrees circulating through these pumps right...just waiting for a nice, brutal redirection.
Looking at the machinery below, Berger identified the gravitic pumps. One railgun gun shot to block a tunnel, causing the thermonuclear fuel to overflow. One shot to break the side of another tunnel, leading the superheated hydrogen to go sideways. A third shot, a gravity pump no longer able to pull the hydrogen where Malfeas needed it to go.
A couple seconds of thermonuclear fuel accumulating where it most definitely wasn't supposed to go while the Mercury flew overhead.
And then, a massive explosion of light and plasma erupted, bathing its surroundings in heat sufficient to melt mountains, annihilating the ships pursuing the Mercury while the ship made its getway.

Spoiler

Show

Using the Second Lore Excellency and the Theion schematics to figure out how to exploit Malfeas's machinery.
If necessary, using the First Firearms Excellency and/or Nova Shell Ordnance to get this improvised H-bomb going.

(...so cool. Take 3 stunt dice. And it's up to you whether you use the Firearms Charms or not. It certainly wouldn't hurt.)

[sun_tzu]

(...so cool. Take 3 stunt dice. And it's up to you whether you use the Firearms Charms or not. It certainly wouldn't hurt.)

Spoiler

Show

I'll take 1XP, use Nova Shell Radiance, use the Firearms Excellency to cancel the flurry penalty...and spend another Valor Channel to help the rolls. Should I roll, actually? Putting rolls here, I guess:
(16d10)[2][3][6][10][1][7][7][6][4][4][1][9][3][3][4][10](80)
(16d10)[10][7][9][10][9][9][2][1][5][10][8][6][7][5][7][10](115)
(16d10)[5][10][6][10][10][7][2][7][5][3][9][8][5][5][8][1](101)

[horus42]

Spoiler

Show

I'll take 1XP, use Nova Shell Radiance, use the Firearms Excellency to cancel the flurry penalty...and spend another Valor Channel to help the rolls. Should I roll, actually? Putting rolls here, I guess:
[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]

Berger's plan goes off without a hitch. (I really couldn't have described it better myself)

Reeling from the explosion, which to him was the equivalent of a gushing wound, Malfeas and the remnants of his fleet... start to retreat.

[sun_tzu]

We're doing it! We're really doing it!
"Watson, we've got to destroy as much of his fleet as we can before it gets away. We need to cut off their retreat.
The Mercury is too small to do that directly...but Malfeas isn't, and he still can't afford to destroy us.
Hit this navpoint. Malfeas will have to move 3 million miles starboard to avoid colliding with us. That will force the cluster of destroyers over there to either stop moving or collide with him." Leaving our own fleet enough time to blast them out of the sky.

Spoiler

Show

Wits+War to calculate the optimal way to turn Malfeas's retreat into a major defeat for his fleet, using Excellency, spending one WP for an extra success: (14d10)[5][5][5][10][8][7][6][2][8][4][5][2][10][6](83)

[Maugan Ra]

"Steady, commander. We want this data too, and if we get in it's way, I wouldn't be surprised if the big bastard just ran us over out of spiteful denial. Especially if we're trying to block it's retreat." Watson says cautiously.

Don't get greedy. We've won the day, no need to risk it all now.

"I'm regrouping with the fleet. And when this is done, every last one of you is getting a letter of commendation." He continues, addressing the last part to the bridge crew as outside the view screen, space momentarily turns white.

Spoiler

Show

Using Mirror-shattering method and the Fateful Sail Excellency to guarantee our comfortable retreat from Malfeas and bring us back out near the rest of the fleet. Oh, and standing ready to leave reality again in a moment, should Malfeas look to be firing on us. Yeah.

[sun_tzu]

Technically, that was insubordination, but there was a time and place to pull rank, and Berger had the distinct feeling this wasn't it - you didn't tell the galaxy-class expert how to do his job. She focused instead on sending a few last shots in, hoping the Lunar Admirals would do their part as expected and trash the retreating fleet on their own.

[horus42]

With Commander Berger's help, the retreat is cut off, and thousands more of Malfeas' ships are destroyed in their attempt to flee. Malfeas himself suffers no new damage, but he's very clearly gone a few moments later. It will be years, if not decades, before his fleet has enough strength to try to challenge the Empire again.

[Maugan Ra]

Tired, Watson at last allows himself to step away from the control panel and take a seat. One of the bridge crew steps forwards and takes over, handling the relatively mundane affairs of remaining in formation as the Fleet slowly pulls back from active battle order.

"Well." Watson says eventually, running a hand through his hair and slowly winding down. "That was... exciting. Something to tell the hypothetical grand kids about."

[sun_tzu]

"Assuming it's over," said Berger, activating the comm to contact the admiralty. "Admiral Harshaw - before we reached the ambush point, Malfeas threatened us with the spiteful destruction of Barsoom and the Epsilon Territories. He might still attempt it as a parting shot." And if he does, and we catch him in the attempt, we can not only save billions of people, but also keep mangling his retreat.

[Maugan Ra]

"He can't be that stupid, can he?" Watson asks, still partially collapsed in his chair. "He's got to know that doing anything other than retreating will just get him torn to shreds. Don't get me wrong, I'd expect something eventually - he seemed spiteful enough - but something that blatant?"

[sun_tzu]

"He can't be that stupid, can he?" Watson asks, still partially collapsed in his chair. "He's got to know that doing anything other than retreating will just get him torn to shreds. Don't get me wrong, I'd expect something eventually - he seemed spiteful enough - but something that blatant?"

"Maybe. Maybe. I'm not a Stellar Intelligence psychologist," said Berger. "But I'd like to at least have the possibility accounted for."

[horus42]

"Assuming it's over," said Berger, activating the comm to contact the admiralty. "Admiral Harshaw - before we reached the ambush point, Malfeas threatened us with the spiteful destruction of Barsoom and the Epsilon Territories. He might still attempt it as a parting shot." And if he does, and we catch him in the attempt, we can not only save billions of people, but also keep mangling his retreat.

The admiral nods. "Well done, Commander. We'll keep an eye on Barsoon and the Epsilon Territories. Hopefully Malfeas will realize that he's beaten and won't even try. But I wouldn't put it past him. For now, the Mercury should return to Imperial Center. You've saved the Galaxy, after all."

[sun_tzu]

Berger saluted, and nodded at Watson wordlessly. And let's hope there are no more bad surprises today.

[Maugan Ra]

Watson nods tiredly. "OK, second shift on deck. You heard the Admiral, people, we get to head to the Capital. No fancy flying, please, just get us there in one piece and preferably reasonably soon. Oh, and someone work out a damage report for me to check over later."

He stands up and shuffles off towards the crew decks. "Otherwise, good job people. I'm going to hit the sack, hopefully be a little more coherent after some rest. Recommend those of you not on duty do the same."

[sun_tzu]

Berger sent a final message to the admiralty, informing them of the coordinates where the Mercury had lost the Infernal shard - Malfeas may or may not have had the time to get it back, what with the pursuit. With that done, she brought up the schematics of Theion, and began studying them in greater detail...

[horus42]

The crew makes a general assent, and goes about getting the ship to the capital.

(And is there anything in particular Berger wants to know about Theion?)

[sun_tzu]

The crew makes a general assent, and goes about getting the ship to the capital.

(And is there anything in particular Berger wants to know about Theion?)

((Not specifically...but she wants a better understanding of Golden Age technology, and how something as advanced as a Stellar Intelligence is supposed to work.))

[Maugan Ra]

Some time later, Watson regains consciousness. Feeling much more lively, he runs through a quick martial arts exercise routine, takes a thorough and extended shower, and then dons the closest thing the Sidereals have to a formal uniform. It's comfortable, functional and dark grey - perfect for signaling one's position without being especially blatant. The small series of colored bars on his chest identify him as a reasonably senior member of the Division of Journeys.

That done, he heads back out into the ship and tracks down Berger.

"Morning, Commander. We're almost at the Capital - ready to make the news?" he says with a grin, taking a report from one of the crew."Because believe me, you will be. It's actually official policy among my office to attribute any and all of the gloriously over the top decisions made in war to the Solars such as yourself. The people who matter will understand what I've done, but to the general public, you're about to become a hero."

[sun_tzu]

"I don't intend to let anyone on this ship escape from decoration," she said with a slight grin. "Least of all commander Tarkas."
Her expression growing a bit more somber, she rubbed the back of her head. "My apologies for being a bit of a downer. I guess I just don't feel like it's anywhere near over. We won a major victory yesterday, but Malfeas is still out there...and I guess I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop.
But...we were big damn heroes yesterday, to put it mildly," the grin returned. "And hey, I got into the Imperial Army so I could help people. Might as well capitalize on the opportunity to get some good things done."

[Maugan Ra]

"Lesson one in real life - it's never over." Watson says, momentarily serious. "Believe me, I know. My entire job is running around the galaxy, desperately trying to fix things when they go wrong. It's something I fully expect to be doing for the rest of my life... and I'm not even the Division of Serenity. Those poor bastards spend their lives trying to make sure everyone is happy. If there's one thing I've learned, it's that you need to take pleasure in the little victories. Well, that or go mad."

"But, that said, nothing wrong with trying to help people, or being a hero. Someone has to. So, you go out there and be a Glorious Solar Badass for the news nets. I'll speak to my people and see if I can't find anyone willing to help out with whatever audacious schemes you come up with."

[sun_tzu]

"My idea of what would help people aren't necessarily what the Empire considers helping," Berger admitted. "But if it weren't for the might of the Empire, we couldn't stop threats like Malfeas. I suppose that's the main reason I want to rise in the echelons quickly - if I want my ideals to actually mean something without actually breaking from the system, I need to have an actual say in how things are run.
But heroes rarely look bad on TV, so there's hope for that," she chuckled.

[Maugan Ra]

"True enough. Anyway, I'm going to go pilot us into dock. Best steel yourself - there might be an Imperial Audience in the making, and believe me, you do not want to be caught unprepared by such a thing."

Watson heads back to the bridge and takes the helm once more with a nod and a smile. Under his expert hands, the Mercury starts augering into the orbit of Imperial Centre, guided by the constant stream of directions from the orbital control. Looking out of the frigate's windows, everyone can see the planet stretching out far below, a magnificent sight even in this reduced Age, the Jewel of the Empire.

[sun_tzu]

Major Berger herself made sure her uniform was immaculate. Modern armor, much like civilian clothing in any reasonably advanced world, was made of smart fibers that could change their colors as required by the situation. On the field, camo was the norm. Here, ceremonial colors were more appropriate - and Erin had always figured she looked good in red.

[horus42]

Berger doesn't find out much about Theion that she didn't already see. A massive network of pristine, crystalline cityscapes surrounding a brilliant white star. The schematics you acquired were mostly hardware, rather than software, but she is able to tell that Theion was designed to be superior to the other Stellar Intelligences, a force to keep them in line, which was abandoned after Malfeas' rebellion, in the hopes that Theion didn't rebel as well.

As Watson touches down on Imperial Center, there's a massive security detail, as well as a huge media presence, waiting for you all. Not to mention the tens of thousands of adoring citizens calling out your praises. Rumors were abound that His Divine Lunar Presence would meet you as you disembarked proved to be unfounded, as far as you can tell.