The Legacy of Tain Finale: The Legacy of Tain

The massive space station that controlled the automated pulse cannons shattered as it was consumed by multiple explosions, the debris scattering in the solar winds. The words had not been out of his mouth a microt before The Switchman acted. The computer controlled guns all slumped over, dead. The ground forces should have struck by now.

The capitol cities chief gun control center was flattened into a pile of debris in one microt. A massive dark cloud of dust, smoke, and debris stormed through the northwest district of the city. People dove for cover, and screams cried out all over the area. Ten Marines looked up at the fallen building from their sewer hideout. The Lt picked up a radio. “Stage one complete”, he rasped into the radio. “Acknowledged” came Tain’s voice.

The front line Battle Cruisers were ripped apart in a fury of yellow frag cannon blasts. They had not had time to even raze their DS’s before the massive Serpent Order fleet opened fire. Tavek’s large, sleek Strike Cruiser led the way, simultaneously firing its multiple frag cannons. A four-ship Attack Ship squadron used their speed and maneuverability to flank a pair of Battle Cruisers. Their dual frag cannons cut into the unprotected Cruisers’ hulls. Both of the Cruisers were ripped apart from the inside as their cores ruptured. The Attack Ships quickly flew back to their appointed waypoints to regroup. The Military Ships not in immediate range raised their defense screens and desperately tried to form the formations they were trained to fight in.

Tavek smile, this was going too well. Already, one sixth of the Military’s forces were already destroyed. With the gun satellites disabled, the mobile Attack Ships could be use for hit and run attacks as Tain had planned. The key to the battle now was they Command Carriers looming in the distance. Not only did they wield massive firepower, but they also carried many squadrons of Prowlers, the Serpent Order had no fighters to counter them. Until the Carriers actually engaged in combat, the other defectors (If any) would reveal themselves by firing on the other Carriers.

Tain spotted a small group of cruisers and frigates in a state of chaos not far from Tavek’s fleet. He hit the comm. “Seefer, stragglers zone ten”, he said cryptically. Tavek punched the coordinates into a tactical map and saw the same. “Attack Wings B, D, and F, clean zone ten, double time!” Tavek ordered.

Twenty-four Attack Ships broke from the lines and formed into three distinct formations. They pint-sized capitol ships weaved through deactivated cannons and debris towards the mish mashed fleet ahead of them. The larger ships began firing their frag cannons first, striking around the Attack Ships. The formations took their separate ways, making a quick pass on the Cruisers. The first four of each squadron fired, bringing down the shields of a targeted ship, the second group fired on the exposed hull, crippling the weapons, engines, and then aimed for the core in one sweep. Six Cruisers had gotten in a strait line, setting them up perfectly. With surgical precision, the formations executed the plan to a T. The six-capitol ships exploded in succession, the flames consuming two smaller Frigates in the blast waves. The remaining three Cruisers and handful of Frigates fired at the raiders as they past. Two of the light ships were clipped by the massive cannons, rolling and exploding at high speeds. The Attack Ships banked and made another pass, this time finishing off the rest of the ships.

Tain tracked the Attack Ships as they returned to the main fleet, only missing two. A deadly efficient attack. The next assault on the enemy would not be so easy. The Cruisers would soon be in concentrated, defensive formations, which would devastate Attack Ship squadrons. It was almost time for a full-scale assault on the defensive fleet. He didn’t need to destroy the fleet, he just needed to be in striking distance of the planet, once in position, and he would submit his demands to the rulers. Tain knew that Gormon would be commanding the Military forces from the planet personally. He had studied Gormon for years, and new his strengths and his faults. As he had planned, Gormon’s aggressive style would leave vulnerable holes in the defense. With a strong attack, a hole could be punched thought to the planet. He would sacrifice many Attack Ships to make the hole, but they were cheap and only manned by ten men. “Begin raids”, he ordered to the fleet.

Two hundred Attack Ships broke formation, forming into squadrons. The light destroyers made a B-line for the center of the ridged enemy formation. The Serpent Order craft we met with a wave of frag cannon fire. Several were ripped apart in the first few microts. When they finally reached the Cruisers, they used the exact same strategy on the scattered Cruisers. This time the Cruisers were spread out, not giving them a strait line to attack. As the Attack Ships made their run, cover fire from the other Cruisers destroyed entire squadrons. At the same time, many Cruisers were dispatched by the great focus of the small cannons. From a distance, the battle was nothing more than a fireworks show, the yellow of the frag cannons and the red of dying ships mixed, making a horrific mosaic. The Attack Ships continued to take fire and losses as they withdrew back to their lines. Three more of them were destroyed.

Tain looked at the casualty reports. Fifty Attack Ships lost for twenty Cruisers, a very fare trade off. The shear numbers had prevailed over the massive firepower. They would not be so lucky once the Command Carriers and Prowlers got to the front lines. All the Attack Ships that made it back were undamaged, if a ship was hit, it was probably destroyed.

Though he was a skilled commander, Tain knew that Gormon would not accept such losses and on the second raid, he would try and pursue the Attack Ships. He would have to spread out his forces to cover the left flank, as its forces gave pursuit. A formation of Strike Cruisers would meet the over extended forces and destroy them. As soon as it went in motion, the main force would plow straight through the center, destroying the unfriendly Command Carriers there. The main responsibility of the defector Command Carriers was to destroy the two remaining battle stations over the planet and destroy enemy Carriers. Tain looked at his tactical map. “Send the second wave”, he ordered.

This time, three hundred Attack Ships broke towards the enemy at full speed. Again they were met with a wall of fire; again they took casualties on a massive scale, and dished out a fare amount of them on the enemy. This time, as anticipated, thirty cruisers broke formation, following the smaller craft. Tain waited with anticipation, waiting for the right time, the words on his lips. He watched the Battle Cruisers and Frigates that remained leave their heavily reinforced position to take the vacated spots. At the same time, he spotted his friendly Command Carriers moving up to his point of attack. The lines would be busted open. “Now!” he ordered.

A mass of engine went into overdrive as the huge Serpent Order fleet lurched forward at once. The Tain had come to the point of the formation, flanked by Tavek’s vessel. Tain glared at the enemy ships that he was racing toward. To his right, he saw the twenty Strike Cruisers ambushing the forward striking Cruisers. The once fleeing Attack Ships had turned and were now attacking their pursuers. Ahead, he saw a miracle. Eight Command Carriers, three more than expected, opened fire on the Battle Stations and their fellow Carriers just as the Serpent Order ships reached weapons range. The massive frag cannons tore through the Stations’ shields like butter, and crushed the armor. The traitorous Carriers now double-teamed the Carriers isolated with them. The surprised Military ships hardly had time to react. Before they could train their guns on their former brethren, the Serpent Order opened fire.

The Mammoth cannons of the Tain destroyed four cruisers in one volley as the forces ran through each other. Tavek’s Strike Cruiser dispatched another Cruiser with ease. The Military forces in the center of the attack were over run and obliterated in less than a minute of action. The Tain, Tavek’s ship, and almost a hundred others flew straight at the enemy Carriers. The rest began to strike the flank ships from all directions. Ships on both sides exploded in a fury of frag cannon fire. Black debris that used to be armor scattered in all directions. The defection of the additional three carriers turned the tide of battle in the Serpent Order’s favor.

A highly damaged Command Carrier under attack by two others caught his eye. “Frag cannons, full power”, he ordered. All six of the massive frag cannons fired at once. The enormous bolts of energy smashed straight through the Carrier, shattering it in a cloud of energy and metal. The second Carrier met the same fate. Tain laughed out loud at the massive firepower of this vessel. Now, it was time for the true test. An unharmed Command Carrier flew at him, destroying several SO ships easily on its way. Tain smiled. “Hellbores”, he ordered. A Hellbore was a Hynerian weapon, incredibly powerful. A pair of launchers extended from the bridge with his order. Two orange glowing warheads flew at the new threat. They impacted in a massive explosion. The DS was ripped from the ship as the fusion explosion surrounded it. Suddenly, a magnetic field drew back the explosion, creating an implosion of even great force. The massive war ship was crushed into particles. It was time to make his demands; the Military was loosing the battle. “Turret, cover our forces, and communications, open a channel to the Chairman”, ordered Tain.

Gormon appeared on screen, visibly shaken. He looked at Tain. “You…your dead!” he screamed. “Obviously not”, replied Tain. Before Gormon could respond, Tain interrupted. “My demand are simple, I wish you and the Council to step down and proclaim me Grand Commander”, said Tain. Gormon gave him a strange look. “You may have the ships Tain, but he have billions of soldiers down here, how to you expect to take the planet?” asked Gormon, unsure of what to expect. “I am broadcasting this statement to all PeaceKeeper ships in range”, said Tain. Gormon switch off the screen as the general broadcast began. “This ship, and several others are armed with missiles carrying the Space Farer’s Death”, he paused to let it sink in. “If you do not surrender the planet and command of the Union to me, I thirty microts, I will launch”, he said. Silence filled the bridge. Tain smiled, he’d won! Tain stared down at the comm. traffic, all transferred to text from speech. He read: “We should surrender”, several times. His smile grew wider with every message. The fighting had stopped. A statement suddenly caught his eye. “He is mad and must be stopped”, Tain checked the source of the signal, one of his own Strike Cruisers! Several messages began to agree with it, until the traffic became almost exclusively those words. Then, messages began bouncing between ships about whose side they were one. But, it was clear they had turned against him. Almost immediately, all the Command Carriers focused their firepower on his vessel. The ship shook with the blasts.

Outside, his loyal followers (now out numbered by their former comrades) fired on their new enemies. Attack Ships blasted each other, as did Strike Cruisers. Tavek’s ship opened fire, destroying several Attack Ships. The Tain jolted severally as frag cannon burst through the DS and into the hull. Even as its Hellbores destroyed two Command Carriers, the Tain was finished. “All Serpent Order craft, this is Tain, retreat, I repeat, retreat”, he ordered. Tain yelled to the crew. “Emergency escape positions”, he ordered. The crew all strapped themselves into their chair. With a push of a button, the chairs shot through the floor. They were not at the appropriate positions on an Attack Ship bridge. “Get us the frell out of here” ordered Tain. As the massive ship exploded, an Attack Ship detached from its camouflaged position under the bridge and sped away. Two hundred ships broke from combat, and followed suit. The majority of Serpent Order craft stayed in orbit, letting their former comrades go.