As per usual, my patrons have voted for more of The Last Angel: The Hungry Stars, so here is a fresh new chapter to close out the month with. The escape from Nibiru continues, with some lucky breaks for our heroines. They’ve gotten some unexpected help – more than they even expected to get – and Echo is out of her coma. In orbit, Lakhesis is holding ground, waiting for the chance to rescue her crew. It’s all looking pretty good right now. Let’s see how that goes.
As for one of the challenges, we get a look below at Captain Kallimakos and Phantom-1, the League’s strike cruiser coming for Lakhesis with everything they’ve got. Cerulean Two was able to handle three exploration cruisers and three light strike craft, but Phantom-1 is her equal and opposite…
For the rest of the chapter and story, check out the links above and enjoy!
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Fire blossomed along Phantom-1’s flank as those Prophet-damned missiles shredded the alpha-cruiser’s starboard shield. The Confederate ship was badly hurt, but it still had teeth. Kallimakos inhaled sharply, digging her fingernails into her p. Repair systems were already at work, regenerating damaged armour and subsystems, power and control networks re-routing to retain full functionality, Phantom-1 wasn’t pure eitr technology like Home Fleet; it was a hybrid, only partially utilizing ichor, but carried enough to make it a greater threat than even a trio of Liahona cruisers.
There was a metaphor[truth] in there, Lucille considered. Humanity by itself could not resist the threats that lay amoing the stars. Only through the Prophet’s vision and joining themselves to a greater whole could they hope to survive. She wished she could say that she never imagined that their own people and creations could be some of those threats, but Nibiru’s history proved how true that concept could be. We showed you kindness and offered sanctuary and you spat in our face, she thought heatedly. Damn you for making us do this.
//updating targeting solutions//
//adjusting internal system to compensate for damage//
Captain Kallimakos let the praetorian handlePhantom-1’sdamage control. The enemy[as predicted] alpha cruiser wasn’t just packing heavy broadsides, but its bifurcated prow hid a mass driver of horrendous power, the weapon only exceeded by those borne by Sesshō-seki platforms. The first round had barely missed Phantom-1, but it had swung around to come back at the alpha-cruiser just as a second launch was boring in. The paired detonations from their antimatter warheads had severely damaged Phantom-1’s shields, leaving the Triquetran alpha-cruiser vulnerable to a follow up missile strike.
//minimal impairment of combat functionality//
//recommend pressing assault//
//hostile combat capabilities degrading//
As Phantom-1 had just pointed out to its captain, Lakhesis wasn’t having it all her own way. She wasn’t vomiting air – the benefits of having no living crew[biological components] – but Lucille knew some of her own missiles had bitten the Confederate ship hard. Lakhesis was barely moving; she couldn’t go too far without the Hussars’ launch cradles moving out the line of fire and once they were no longer under threat, the Hussars would come up and she would be done. That made her easier pickings for Phantom-1, the stealth ship building up thrust as Kallimakos brought it in for the kill.
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