The Measure: Prelude - Part Two

O kinsmen we must meet the common foe!
Though far outnumbered let us show us brave,
And for their thousand blows deal one deathblow!
What though before us lies the open grave?
Claude McKay - If We Must Die

Eight Years Ago:

A Caldari State Cormorant is an interesting piece of work. It sports eight light neutron blasters, a full compliment of upgraded shielding technology and the speed of a frigate. It was Hallan Turreks first command, and if it looked impressive on the outside, bristling with weapons, it was even more so on the inside.

Hallan sat in a chair connected to a small dais in the middle of the bridge. On his left sat a weapons console and on his right a navigation console merged into his chair. He wore a holographic headset that gave him full sensor information of the entire ship.

He was not alone on the bridge, and he liked it that way. Behind him, he could hear the engineer fiddling with his own console. While in front of him his communications officer adjusted her headset.

"Sir," She began softly, "The Kuricas reports a bogey on scan at fifty-three degrees to the sun, on the plane of the system. They're asking for support,"

"Tell them we're on the way," Hallan said, punching a few commands into his navigation console.

The ship turned, and while Hallan noticed his sensor data changing a bit, inwardly the ship showed no change. He watched the navigation console as his ship slipped into the warp bubble.

"Sir," His communications officer continued, "The Kuricas is reporting more bogies," She went quiet for a moment, "Sir, the Kuricas is down with all hands,"

"That was fast," Hallan said while smiling, happy to find a fight. He played with his navigation console again, and ran his finger along the weapons console. It beeped softly at him.

"Celestis, Vexor, Thorax on scan," He announced, as his communications officer began to relay his message.

"Sir, the fleet is still a few minutes away," the comm officer stated after a moments pause, "What should we do?"

"Keep 'em busy," Hallan said, as he dropped out of warp next to the Celestis. His targeting computers found the somewhat larger Celestis an easy target to lock, and he dumped his cap into the afterburner, closing the distance between them easily. The blasters poured immense damage into the cruiser which in a few moments exploded, it's hold of drones spilling out into space, useless.

The Vexor and Thorax each released a full load of drones, and he began to burn away from the ships. The drones easily caught him, but the cruisers had a bit harder of a time. His blasters turned on the drones, which began to drop. A warrior fell first, then a hobgoblin, each drone targeted and in turn destroyed. As the numbers began to fall, Hallan ordered an about face and began to burn straight for the Thorax. It's drones had long since been destroyed and the Cormorant began to close the distance even as the Thorax began to run. The Thorax's aft shields began to feel the burn of his blasters, and quietly they winked out of existence. The armor plating around the engines began to peel away. Suddenly an explosion rocked Hallan's own ship as the Vexor had released a new fleet of drones which were now eating away at his armor. The Thorax's engines glowed much more brightly than normal for a moment and the ship went into a death spin, bits of debris flying off as it flew away, lifeless.

"Sir, I'm trying to get our shields back up, but the recharge rate is just not able to handle this kind of damage," Came a voice from behind him, as the engineer frantically worked his station to keep vital systems online.

Hallan turned his attention now to the Vexor, his fragile armor now buckling. He'd decided the drones would take much to long to kill and began to fire on the Vexor itself. The Vexor flew by the Cormorant which focused fire on it's passing starboard side. The Vexor began to crumple as it's shields were easily breached. The Cormorant was now on fire, and it wouldn't be long now before the battle was decided.

The Vexor exploded in a radiating ring of fire, and the drones fell silent. Hallan's ship smoked and burned.

"Freeze simulation," Came a voice from outside the bridge. The man who spoke walked through the door behind Hallan, who turned around to face him.

"Hallan, why do I need to remind you, yet again, that this class is called Tactical Retreats?"