Snippet #2443687

The UDW Purgatory boiled in towards the combat zone, smooth and silent on its counter-grav drive as it began to enter a sort of aerial slide, bringing its port side guns to bear. It parked a few kilometers out of the strike zone, hovering over the prairie. Abyss usage was locked in the scenario, but frigates were built for atmospheric operations just as well as orbital ones, and the heavy barrels of its Ballista cannons were brought to bear on the larger of the Cybran ships. Smaller, triple bored turrets lined up to engage the larger minor units, while the hatches of dozens of missile silos cracked open.

Spectre, in command, per Storm Witch's absence, surveyed the tac screens on the bridge, nestled within the heavy armored belly of the beast. His command reclined in their stations, eyes closed as they linked through their implants to the shipboard AI, forming a formidable union of men, women, and computer. "All stations, fire at will on Cybran painted targets. Extrude sniper platforms and get the Hounds and Wolves with heavy rifles out on the deck. Kick out Sparrow."

As one, sixteen Ballista's thrummed before the resonant shock of 100mm slugs were blasted downrange at Mach 6, each one no mere chunk of metal. Each was equipped with a three stage enhancement, an optical targeting camera, miniscule fins and a plasma rocket booster, and underneath the camera unit was a thermal core that just before impact, initiated the transformation of the outer shell into dense, superhot plasma. The bolts thundered across the sky, minorly adjusting courses to strike the center of mass on the Cybran warships, where if they struck, carried enough kinetic shock to blow large craters, if not tunnels, straight through their targets.

Exactly three seconds later, they roared again. And would continue to do so for as long as targets remained on the scopes.

At first, dozens, the several hundred missiles rose from the frigate, climbing high into the air to gain maximum velocity. When they turned earthward once more, they kicked on a counter-grav drive that sent them blistering into the forefront on the assault closer to Mach 13, each one releasing smaller smart bombs that rode in their wake as they dropped to hammer the front lines with sheer kinetic shock and a delayed explosion equivalent to a single ton of TNT. The smart bombs, however, only carried a scant equivalent of 200lbs of TNT, but three released per missile changed the perspective of those on the receiving end when they struck almost 5 seconds after the missile volley. The Purgatory held back the next volley for "sweeping".

At the same time, the triple bored turrets of the frigate released line after line of high output lasers into the melee, each throwing a 15 gigawatt/second charge into the larger of the minor Cybran combat units, simply hammering the heavies as the Iron Hounds and Steel Wolves came out onto sniper platforms bearing huge, menacing rifles that they slapped down on mounts at the edge of the platform, targeting particularly effective small Cybran units or leader appearing types, putting 20mm hyperballistic slugs screaming across the sky with deadly efficiency and the skill of long practice at such extended range combat.

Finally, something substantially large rose on the top of the frigate, sailing off the bow before active stealth systems wrapped the A.I.M., taking it from sight as it began a cautious approach of the combat zone.

All said, the sheer destructive force of a single Dark Rain frigate was crippled only by the lock out of its Abyss cannons, but even as it was, it would be terrifying to behold.