Thr35Fingers
Cutlass and Bastard Engage PDCs
The RTS Cutlass and Bastard activate their PDCs to destroy incoming missiles during Operation Mercury.
For years the Far Reaches had been plagued by pirates. None was more feared than Captain Grist. Over time, he'd managed to bring together a formidable flotilla of fellow pirates. The secret to his his success was an uncommon cunning, ruthlessness, and the Coureur, a giant fleet tanker he'd hijacked that allowed him to refuel his fleet anywhere and stay ahead of the authorities.
Operation Mercury was conceived as a test for the newly developed and hghly controversial Cutthroat-class destroyer. The plan was for two ships working together to comb the vast region of space Grist was suspected to operate from. Some criticized the plan, accusing the Admiralty of assigning an impossible task to the new ships in order to justify cancelling them.
Rear-Admiral Darian Frey, however, volunteered to lead the mission. Setting his flag aboard the RTS Bastard and under the guise of adhering to the Ultra-Black protocol he avoided communications with headquarters and instead of his assigned patrol area took both the Bastard and the RTS Cutlass into a heavily trafficked trade route.
There they would lay low until a pirate attack was reported. They would perform an emergency jump to its location and attempt to track the pirate ship's signature. When it jumped, they would follow as best they could. After days of this, they finally hit the jackpot. The Cutlass was in the van and reported a fleet of over forty ships of all types, including the Coureur.
R.A. Frey's captains urged an immediate attack, using their element of surprise to inflict maximum damage before calling in reinforcements. But Frey refused, stating that such an approach risked giving the majority of the pirates an opportunity to escape. His plan was to wait until the fleet needed refueling. Being pirates, he reasoned they would have poor flight discipline and would crowd around the tanker. He intended to strike directly at the Coureur itself when they did so.
The pirates behaved as expected. Even those not fueling stayed too close to the tanker, eager to be next. The Cutthroats moved into postion. Boosting erratically so as to avoid potential enemy counter-fire, they fired one round each from their spinal railguns straight into the Coureur's fuel reserves. A tremendous explosion ripped through the cosmos and instantly annihilated most of the pirate fleet. Four ships, including Grist's flagship, the Égorgeur, were left functional and were now alerted to the presence of the two destroyers.
Firing their spinal guns had given away their positions, and Grist responded swiftly with a volley of missiles. Only thier erratic maneuvers and the furious work of their point-defence cannons (jokingly referred to by crews as pointless, desperate crapshoots) saved the Cutthroats.
Grist closed on the Bastard while the other three survivors, identified as the Kestrel, Arisaka, and Requin, attacked the Cutlass. The Cutlass fired her railgun again, hitting the Arisaka amidships and cleaving it in two. The Bastard also fired her railgun at Grist's ship but missed. Grist kept firing missiles as fast as his tubes could be loaded, and despite evasive maneuvers and constant firing of her PDCs, the Bastard took a hit aft, killing eight men and reducing her maneuvering capabilities.
The Cutlass was dueling at point-blank range with the Kestrel, keeping the Requin at bay with torpedoes. She fired her railgun at the Kestrel, deliberately missing but forcing it to dodge into the path of her PDCs, which tore it to shreds. The Requin attempted to retreat and rejoin the Égorgeur, but by killing its velocity it exposed itself to the Cutlass's torpedoes. They slammed into the hull, two going into her stern and one hitting her lower midship section. Another hit her forward hold. The Requin drifted, airless and powerless. The Cutlass turned to help her sister ship.
The Bastard was in dire need of help. Only by firing her railgun as fast as her power could recycle and bypassing safeties had she kept Grist at bay. However, she had run out of ammuntion, had taken two more hits on her bow armour and could only fire a few torpedoes as the Égorgeur moved in for the kill. Just as Grist came within range of his laser cannons, the Cutlass sent a railgun round "straight up the pipe," entering the Égorgeur's engine nacelle and exiting through the bow plates. The Bastard finished it off with a few torpedoes into her bridge and engineering sections.
Operation Mercury stands as an outstanding feat of arms, and it secured the Cutthroat's future within the Territorial Navy.
"Hit 'em hard, hit 'em fast."
- Bridge motto inscription of the RTS Bastard
"Strike, move, repeat."
- Bridge motto inscription of the RTS Cutlass
Cutlass and Bastard Engage PDCs
The RTS Cutlass and Bastard activate their PDCs to destroy incoming missiles during Operation Mercury.
For years the Far Reaches had been plagued by pirates. None was more feared than Captain Grist. Over time, he'd managed to bring together a formidable flotilla of fellow pirates. The secret to his his success was an uncommon cunning, ruthlessness, and the Coureur, a giant fleet tanker he'd hijacked that allowed him to refuel his fleet anywhere and stay ahead of the authorities.
Operation Mercury was conceived as a test for the newly developed and hghly controversial Cutthroat-class destroyer. The plan was for two ships working together to comb the vast region of space Grist was suspected to operate from. Some criticized the plan, accusing the Admiralty of assigning an impossible task to the new ships in order to justify cancelling them.
Rear-Admiral Darian Frey, however, volunteered to lead the mission. Setting his flag aboard the RTS Bastard and under the guise of adhering to the Ultra-Black protocol he avoided communications with headquarters and instead of his assigned patrol area took both the Bastard and the RTS Cutlass into a heavily trafficked trade route.
There they would lay low until a pirate attack was reported. They would perform an emergency jump to its location and attempt to track the pirate ship's signature. When it jumped, they would follow as best they could. After days of this, they finally hit the jackpot. The Cutlass was in the van and reported a fleet of over forty ships of all types, including the Coureur.
R.A. Frey's captains urged an immediate attack, using their element of surprise to inflict maximum damage before calling in reinforcements. But Frey refused, stating that such an approach risked giving the majority of the pirates an opportunity to escape. His plan was to wait until the fleet needed refueling. Being pirates, he reasoned they would have poor flight discipline and would crowd around the tanker. He intended to strike directly at the Coureur itself when they did so.
The pirates behaved as expected. Even those not fueling stayed too close to the tanker, eager to be next. The Cutthroats moved into postion. Boosting erratically so as to avoid potential enemy counter-fire, they fired one round each from their spinal railguns straight into the Coureur's fuel reserves. A tremendous explosion ripped through the cosmos and instantly annihilated most of the pirate fleet. Four ships, including Grist's flagship, the Égorgeur, were left functional and were now alerted to the presence of the two destroyers.
Firing their spinal guns had given away their positions, and Grist responded swiftly with a volley of missiles. Only thier erratic maneuvers and the furious work of their point-defence cannons (jokingly referred to by crews as pointless, desperate crapshoots) saved the Cutthroats.
Grist closed on the Bastard while the other three survivors, identified as the Kestrel, Arisaka, and Requin, attacked the Cutlass. The Cutlass fired her railgun again, hitting the Arisaka amidships and cleaving it in two. The Bastard also fired her railgun at Grist's ship but missed. Grist kept firing missiles as fast as his tubes could be loaded, and despite evasive maneuvers and constant firing of her PDCs, the Bastard took a hit aft, killing eight men and reducing her maneuvering capabilities.
The Cutlass was dueling at point-blank range with the Kestrel, keeping the Requin at bay with torpedoes. She fired her railgun at the Kestrel, deliberately missing but forcing it to dodge into the path of her PDCs, which tore it to shreds. The Requin attempted to retreat and rejoin the Égorgeur, but by killing its velocity it exposed itself to the Cutlass's torpedoes. They slammed into the hull, two going into her stern and one hitting her lower midship section. Another hit her forward hold. The Requin drifted, airless and powerless. The Cutlass turned to help her sister ship.
The Bastard was in dire need of help. Only by firing her railgun as fast as her power could recycle and bypassing safeties had she kept Grist at bay. However, she had run out of ammuntion, had taken two more hits on her bow armour and could only fire a few torpedoes as the Égorgeur moved in for the kill. Just as Grist came within range of his laser cannons, the Cutlass sent a railgun round "straight up the pipe," entering the Égorgeur's engine nacelle and exiting through the bow plates. The Bastard finished it off with a few torpedoes into her bridge and engineering sections.
Operation Mercury stands as an outstanding feat of arms, and it secured the Cutthroat's future within the Territorial Navy.
"Hit 'em hard, hit 'em fast."
- Bridge motto inscription of the RTS Bastard
"Strike, move, repeat."
- Bridge motto inscription of the RTS Cutlass