Grand Shepherd Burtch
Retired old admiral
Objective 1: Help the Shii-Cho and her crew
Objective 2: help the Yuuzhan Vong capture
Grand Shepherd Burtch
.
Objective 3: scavenge for salvageable warship parts on the surface of Velabri. Some of the ships are downed Rectifier Class Heavy Cruisers, which have a layer of valuable Beskar armour on the bow.
“That’s the last of our Gunship support sir! She’s going down!”
Burtch strode to the bridge viewport and watched as their last Val-Khaar Corvette, a metal wreckage, shrouded in flames and smoke, began to plummet to the ground. The very same ground that the mighty Shii-Cho herself was currently resting on.
For many months, now, Shii-Cho and whatever rag-tag forces they could muster along the way had seen a slue of gruelling combat. Having drawn Yuuzhan Vong forces away from
Ira Sarrin
and luring the enemy into a wild Bantha chase all over ex-Elysium Imperium territory had taken a toll on the Chiss and his crew. It had been a hyper jump scramble from day one, struggling to find lanes that weren’t blocked off by Vong interdictors. They were clearly being hunted for reasons that eluded Burtch and his officers. His ship had only managed to barely escape each ambush, utilizing his decoy drones and his ship’s greater speed to shake enemy pursuit whenever possible.
Eventually, the lone Coalition Star Destroyer had made contact with remnant Elysium Forces — ships that had lost all direction and purpose with the fall of their government. Having still retained his old navy commission as a Grand Admiral, it had not been hard at all to enlist their help. With renewed numbers, they had chosen to go on the offensive, and drive off the Yuuzhan Vong fleet.
It had ended in disaster.
Burtch failed to estimate the realistic strength of the Elysium fleet, despite the fact that they outnumbered the enemy fleet 2 - 1. The old Elysium forces suffered personnel deterioration after the loss of their nation. They were poorly supplied, demoralized, and short-handed thanks to a high percentage of deserters. Elysium ships threw themselves at the more disciplined Vong forces like meat into a grinder… and few survived.
From then-on, it had gone back to a chase, with the Vong nipping at their heels. Anything that moved too slowly was gobbled up by the figurative war beast that loomed behind them. Only the Shii-Cho, her crew, and her remaining fighter squadrons seemed to be able to rally in the desperate fighting. The remnant Elysium forces failed to gather their courage, and were easily rattled, overwhelmed, or tricked. Soon, only a handful of exceptions had remained.
As luck would finally favour them, they managed to uncover a clear hyperlane to the Velabri system. There, Burtch decided they had no choice but to make a stand. They were low on ammunition, fuel, and forces, and they simply weren’t going to shake the Vong.
He placed his few remain decoy drones just above the planet’s atmosphere along with his few remaining interdictor corvettes. The Yuuzhan Vong took the bait, charging in at the false fleet with ravenous zeal. The interdictor corvettes then heaved back on the living fleet with their gravity well generators, attempting to drag their enemy down to the planet’s surface. Burtch’s remaining heavy ships then emerged from hiding in an asteroid field, and hammered at the straining Vong ships with every gun they could bear. The Vong lost control and fell.
But not without lashing back at Burtch’s fleet.
They clung to Burtch’s ships with their dovin basals, dragging his whole fleet down with them. Battered and weak, every ship in both fleets simply tumbled to the surface, out of control. Only a handful of Burtch’s battered Val-Khaar Corvettes seemed to prevent impact, and the Shii-Cho had only just barely avoided total destruction. The rest had been considered “sunk”.
The next week had been no more than a ground-and-pound on the surface of Velabri. Shii-Cho had managed to point her aft towards the side of a mountain to better protect her weakest angle. So low on fuel, she became little more than a ground-based fortress, battered, but still proud. What few survivors that had survived the crashing Elysium wreckages had managed to retreat back to the Shii-Cho and holed-up there. The few Val-Khaar Corvettes, battered and limping, had barely managed to stay airborne on repulsorlifts, providing limited fire support whenever they could. One-by one, the Yuuzhan Vong managed to bring them down with coordinated grutchin and Coralskipper attacks until one remained.
The destruction of Burtch’s last corvette marked the elimination of his single greatest tactical advantage in this battle.
The fires grew in the distance as his bridge crew watched for a moment in stoic despair. The Navis Sacra practitioners all muttered their words of faith, “the Navis Protects” under their breaths at the sight of a dying warship. The weight of all the loss and defeat weighed heavily on them all as one. Burtch knew that they all had their limits, but he couldn’t do anything for it. They had no choice but to keep fighting. Finally, he pried his eyes off the pillar of rising smoke and addressed his comms officer, “try sending another comms drone. We have to keep trying to contact Damascus Station… or anyone. We need the reinforcements.” After several months of crying for help into the void, Burtch hoped that at least one comms Drone would eventually escape.
A holy knight commander strode over to burtch and whispered, “Sir, we still have most of the guns on the Shii-Cho to provide artillery support, and we can hold off pretty much any ground attack from the forward, left and right angles. But the aft section is exposed now without Gunship support to keep the Vong off the mountain. I predict that the next attack will be preceded by grutchins and Skippers, followed by warriors, using the mountain to cover the majority of their advance.”
Burtch nodded grimly, “I figured the same thing, commander. We need our best on that mountain, a recon picket to give us advanced warning if they aren’t already attacking us now. Send Red, Blue, and Green platoons to cover that flank, and have a healthy reserve behind them.”
The Knight commander’s eyes bored into Burtch’s and his face hardened, “This is it, sir. You know that this is the end, one way or another, right?”
“I am aware, commander.”
Objective 2: help the Yuuzhan Vong capture
Grand Shepherd Burtch
.Objective 3: scavenge for salvageable warship parts on the surface of Velabri. Some of the ships are downed Rectifier Class Heavy Cruisers, which have a layer of valuable Beskar armour on the bow.
“That’s the last of our Gunship support sir! She’s going down!”
Burtch strode to the bridge viewport and watched as their last Val-Khaar Corvette, a metal wreckage, shrouded in flames and smoke, began to plummet to the ground. The very same ground that the mighty Shii-Cho herself was currently resting on.
For many months, now, Shii-Cho and whatever rag-tag forces they could muster along the way had seen a slue of gruelling combat. Having drawn Yuuzhan Vong forces away from
Ira Sarrin
and luring the enemy into a wild Bantha chase all over ex-Elysium Imperium territory had taken a toll on the Chiss and his crew. It had been a hyper jump scramble from day one, struggling to find lanes that weren’t blocked off by Vong interdictors. They were clearly being hunted for reasons that eluded Burtch and his officers. His ship had only managed to barely escape each ambush, utilizing his decoy drones and his ship’s greater speed to shake enemy pursuit whenever possible.Eventually, the lone Coalition Star Destroyer had made contact with remnant Elysium Forces — ships that had lost all direction and purpose with the fall of their government. Having still retained his old navy commission as a Grand Admiral, it had not been hard at all to enlist their help. With renewed numbers, they had chosen to go on the offensive, and drive off the Yuuzhan Vong fleet.
It had ended in disaster.
Burtch failed to estimate the realistic strength of the Elysium fleet, despite the fact that they outnumbered the enemy fleet 2 - 1. The old Elysium forces suffered personnel deterioration after the loss of their nation. They were poorly supplied, demoralized, and short-handed thanks to a high percentage of deserters. Elysium ships threw themselves at the more disciplined Vong forces like meat into a grinder… and few survived.
From then-on, it had gone back to a chase, with the Vong nipping at their heels. Anything that moved too slowly was gobbled up by the figurative war beast that loomed behind them. Only the Shii-Cho, her crew, and her remaining fighter squadrons seemed to be able to rally in the desperate fighting. The remnant Elysium forces failed to gather their courage, and were easily rattled, overwhelmed, or tricked. Soon, only a handful of exceptions had remained.
As luck would finally favour them, they managed to uncover a clear hyperlane to the Velabri system. There, Burtch decided they had no choice but to make a stand. They were low on ammunition, fuel, and forces, and they simply weren’t going to shake the Vong.
He placed his few remain decoy drones just above the planet’s atmosphere along with his few remaining interdictor corvettes. The Yuuzhan Vong took the bait, charging in at the false fleet with ravenous zeal. The interdictor corvettes then heaved back on the living fleet with their gravity well generators, attempting to drag their enemy down to the planet’s surface. Burtch’s remaining heavy ships then emerged from hiding in an asteroid field, and hammered at the straining Vong ships with every gun they could bear. The Vong lost control and fell.
But not without lashing back at Burtch’s fleet.
They clung to Burtch’s ships with their dovin basals, dragging his whole fleet down with them. Battered and weak, every ship in both fleets simply tumbled to the surface, out of control. Only a handful of Burtch’s battered Val-Khaar Corvettes seemed to prevent impact, and the Shii-Cho had only just barely avoided total destruction. The rest had been considered “sunk”.
The next week had been no more than a ground-and-pound on the surface of Velabri. Shii-Cho had managed to point her aft towards the side of a mountain to better protect her weakest angle. So low on fuel, she became little more than a ground-based fortress, battered, but still proud. What few survivors that had survived the crashing Elysium wreckages had managed to retreat back to the Shii-Cho and holed-up there. The few Val-Khaar Corvettes, battered and limping, had barely managed to stay airborne on repulsorlifts, providing limited fire support whenever they could. One-by one, the Yuuzhan Vong managed to bring them down with coordinated grutchin and Coralskipper attacks until one remained.
The destruction of Burtch’s last corvette marked the elimination of his single greatest tactical advantage in this battle.
The fires grew in the distance as his bridge crew watched for a moment in stoic despair. The Navis Sacra practitioners all muttered their words of faith, “the Navis Protects” under their breaths at the sight of a dying warship. The weight of all the loss and defeat weighed heavily on them all as one. Burtch knew that they all had their limits, but he couldn’t do anything for it. They had no choice but to keep fighting. Finally, he pried his eyes off the pillar of rising smoke and addressed his comms officer, “try sending another comms drone. We have to keep trying to contact Damascus Station… or anyone. We need the reinforcements.” After several months of crying for help into the void, Burtch hoped that at least one comms Drone would eventually escape.
A holy knight commander strode over to burtch and whispered, “Sir, we still have most of the guns on the Shii-Cho to provide artillery support, and we can hold off pretty much any ground attack from the forward, left and right angles. But the aft section is exposed now without Gunship support to keep the Vong off the mountain. I predict that the next attack will be preceded by grutchins and Skippers, followed by warriors, using the mountain to cover the majority of their advance.”
Burtch nodded grimly, “I figured the same thing, commander. We need our best on that mountain, a recon picket to give us advanced warning if they aren’t already attacking us now. Send Red, Blue, and Green platoons to cover that flank, and have a healthy reserve behind them.”
The Knight commander’s eyes bored into Burtch’s and his face hardened, “This is it, sir. You know that this is the end, one way or another, right?”
“I am aware, commander.”
Ira Sarrin
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Kalic Daws
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