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Homeworlds XXI
Posted By: Mainevent<billygoat359@netscape.net>
Date: 21 October 2003, 1:22 AM


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UNSC Stringent's Hull






      Vince stared coldly at the mechanical beasts hovering above him. Their metallic shimmer reflecting the sun into his eyes, burning at his retinas. He had seen enough in his days, and if it had not been for the saddened state of the UNSC's pilot status, he would have wished for death. The small golden scanner that was it's eye, stared viciously at him. Slivers of pink super-heated matter slammed into the closest of the two, and it quickly backed away. The now disturbed Sentinel, showing a discernable reaction that appeared to be emotion, charged it's laser and steadied it's gyroscopic aiming device.

      Twin beams of light burned at the ship's hull, methodically cutting it to pieces and decimating the turret on the rear. Vince and Devilfish were now totally defensless. It could have easily killed the pilot's and returned to the battle, but this one, this one was different. It was almost as though, it liked it. That it got some erotic pleasure from taunting it's victims, making them wait and sweat out thier death's, especially while in the super vulnerable state.

      Vince closed his eyes as the beam finally began cutting into the personal compartment. Beads of sweat drizzled lazily down his forehead and onto his chin, finally freefalling onto his jumpsuit and soaking into the synthetic material. The beam finally entered the small cabin and sparks flared. Ozone in the small craft quickly drained, a warning audible to it's occupants. Vince's skin was heavy, pulling, tugging at him. His being was stretched and torn before finally tearing from his form and into space.

      The pressure in his body tried to stabilize itself anyway it could, which included ripping through his organs, skin, and bone. The molecules stored on his hemoglobin dislodging, causing the cells to boil and pop. His lungs expanded to twice the size of normal before being violently torn apart. He tried to scream, but the vacuum made it impossible, the pain coursing through his body unbearable. His eyes finally exploded, sending the jelly-like substance cradled at their center to stain the vehicle's walls. The entire segment had lasted under ten seconds, but it seemed like an eternity. Devilfish squirmed as he tried to avoid a similar fate, but it was no use. His body was soon no more alive than his partner's.

      The Sentinel hovered closer to the chasis, and peered inside, it was assured that the occupant's had experienced a traumatic and painful death, and sputtered away to deal it's deadly cards to another human.




UNSC Prophet's Will






      Capulet watched his view screen with visible displeasure. It had been less than an hour and three-fourths of the Longswords had been destroyed. The Corvettes'and Prowlers' weapons were no match against the Sentinels, and Abigaid had long since realised that. He called the under-armed ships back to the Barbarianand prepared for the barrage of mechanized devils that were coming. The Sentinels Longswords had finally made it within range of the ships' heavy cannons, but the Sentinels wouldn't bite. They floated just outside of the weapons' maximum effective range, toying at them.

      "Shula, get me Abigaid now." He turned to face his Communications officer, who was furiously typing at his keyboard. Shula gave a thumbs-up response as his only answer, keeping his eyes on the screen before him.

      A fired-up Abigaid turned to Capulet, a hint of enthusiasm in his voice. "What do you need Richard?"

      "Sir, we should use their tactics against them."

      "You're not the first person to think of that, but what do you suggest?"

      "Use our MAC cannons to break their formations, and get that control ship to move. I don't know how they work, or what form of command they use, but I figure if we attack the hive, they'll have to protect it, and that means get close. Then we can blast 'em with our remaining Longswords and point defense cannons, as well as our Archer missiles."

      "Well that's a damned good plan, one you might get a promotion for if we survive this. I'll run it through the other captains, be prepared."

      "We already are."

      Abigaid's face disappeared from the viewscreen, and the picture of the fleet snapped back into place. Two shudders from the Barbarian sent white-hot MAC rounds speeding towards the Dawn of Dusk. It's aft thrusters fired, pushing it out of the round's way. Several dozen Sentinels erupted into flames as they attempted to flee their fate, but destiny would have none of that. Repeat performances from the other ships resulted in similar outcomes, with one MAC round landing heavily on the ship's top. Thirty of the super "bullets" had been discharged in the last two minutes, and over three hundred Sentinels perished from the battle field. The rest were sent scurrying towards their opponent's in a desperate race to protect their ship. It was working exactly like Capulet had planned.

      "Hand point defense to Lee and let him handle them as best he can. Target those Sentinels with our Archer's, when you have a clear lock, fire at will." The Captain ordered to Caprice.

      "Yes sir, handing weapons to Lee now. Arming Archer missile pods A1-A27 now."

      The well dressed figure of a bearded man in a heavy Confederate coat flickered to life in the small holo-tank adjacent to Capulet. He turned to his commander with a wily grin, and assured the Captain that everything would be fine. His calm demeanor and sincerity put the Captain at ease, and he strongly wished was deserved. He would soon find out.


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