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Finally the moment comes. The warp signatures show that ships are incoming; you order your artillery to aim and fire as soon as they appear; not giving the Consortium dogs time to arm their shields.
New ships arrive. You haven't seen these before; they are Frigate-Class, mostly support ships, with few weapons. Along with them come a small swarm of Fighters.
<span class="mu-b">”Those are Fighters and Bomber-sized ships. How can they be equipped with a warp core? They're too small.”</span>
“Calculating. Negative. Those ships are not warp capable. They seem to have traveled within the warp-bubble generated by the Support Frigate.” Threemind chirps. “Along with another object.”
Interestingly, the Consortium did not deem it necessary to create a class of ship that acts as a carrier- and this support ship has the unique ability to move other objects in its nearby bubble with it thru-warp space. You watch as the laser artillery fly towards the ships primed to do some serious damage, fired just before they arrived to deal with the light-lag, and then they fizzle out as they strike something in front.
<span class="mu-b">”What?! WHAT!?”</span>
“Something is protected the ships, lord. The Support ships brought in something... it looks like a cheap and disposable shield. Made of conductive fibers that absorb the laser energy. The ships have now charged their shields.”
<span class="mu-b">”Grrr... They knew about the <span class="mu-i">artillery</span>. Are there spies in the base?”</span>
“Negative. Chance of spies among the population and command structure, or computer system of the Hegemony, is nill.”
<span class="mu-b">”Then they must have a listening post, or a spy satellite in orbit... in this very system? How else could they have such detailed reports? I must have <span class="mu-i"><span class="mu-s">missed something...</span></span>”</span>
Helpless to get the first strike in, you can only watch as the rest of the fleet warps in. You move your own ships into position. It is time.
