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Captain Drake Roberts tried his best to ignore the substantial amount of damage that remained clearly visible on his newly recommissioned ship, reminding himself that this was just a short voyage to make sure the newly installed Rolls Royce Kraken engine was operating properly and give the crew a chance to get used to operating their vessel.  By that metric, at least, the voyage could be considered successful with only minor problems that were solved quickly.  Even so it was difficult to not feel humiliated when the successful completion of a mission as trivial as making a simple system transit with a crippled WarShip was considered a huge step forward.

Ships as badly damaged as Repulse were supposed to be retired to a dignified death, not forced to limp on with hasty repairs that amounted to little more than patches that covered up the underlying structural damage.  It seemed every day his desk was covered with new reports of failures that needed to be repaired.  None of the Grav. Decks were safe to operate and the Carbon Dioxide scrubbers seemed to suffer a constant stream of mechanical malfunctions.  Three of the fighter bay doors refused to open, meanwhile all but one cargo bay door couldn't be properly locked shut.

Most worrying, however, were the bugs that continued to plague the combat systems.  The MORSAT targeting computer had been one of the most damaged systems and there simply was no way a spare could be found.  In theory it had been completely repaired although it still suffered from delayed response time.  Of course that only mattered if they could keep the ship's massive energy weapon bays functional and they refused to hold a charge half the time.  Repairs were continuing, many could even be done as they underway, but it seemed like with each problem they managed to fix several more were uncovered and Drake Roberts was starting to despair that his command would ever be combat ready.

"You look like you're descending into one of your moods again, Captain."  He turned to see Lieutenant Briggs, his 1st Officer approaching.

"It would be easier to keep cheerful if I could go one day without any potentially critical problems," he sighed, then looked at Lt. Briggs suspiciously.  "You better not be coming to tell me communications are down again."

Lt. Briggs laughed and shook his head.  "No, I was just inspecting the weapons again.  You'll be happy to know our Sunspot-3L's seem to all be functioning again.  There are some concerns about the cooling jackets, but at the very least we can fire our NPPC's now."

He waited for Lt. Briggs to continue.  "Well?"

"Well what?"

"The only time you come to give me good news is when you have something bad tell me as well," he said, and caught Lt. Briggs grimace.  "What happened?  Did something happen with the life support again?"

"No--"

"Thank god.  The missile tubes?"

"No sir, you know they've been working fine ever since--"

Drake waved his hand.  "That only means they are due to break any day now.  What is it?  Tell me."

"We've figured out what's wrong with our broadside laser bays, sir," Lt. Briggs answered.  "There's a lot of underlying damage in their power systems--"

"I thought we already knew that since they wouldn't hold a charge."

Lt. Briggs shook his head.  "I mean more than we suspected.  The whole thing is going to need to be replaced, most of the breakers have been fused shut and half the capacitors are fried."

That was bad news.  Supplies of replacement parts were already stretched thin before the fighting broke out with the Dracs and Free Worlds League.  There was no telling how long it would take to get such extensive replacements assuming that they came at all.  "Isn't there anything you can do to get them working?" he asked.  "Can they be run at reduced capacity?"

His first officer hesitated, then glanced down as he considered.  "Maybe... there might be a way..." he said softly, then glanced back up.  "But firepower will be compromised.  Range too.  And there is no telling if using them will cause more damage."

"They're useless to us right now," Capt. Roberts said.  "See if it can be done.  At the very least we'll be able to fire all our weapons."

"Aye aye, sir."


The piercing alert that sounded through the ship shook him from his sleep.  Still feeling fatigue clawing at his mind Drake Roberts kicked himself free from his bedding and over to the com panel.  It was another moment before he found the right button for the bridge and quickly keyed it.

"What's going on?" he demanded, still annoyed at the rude awakening.

"Unscheduled emergence wave, sir!" a watch stander reported.  "Sensors are still gathering information but command has put us on alert.  We're to wait for orders."

"I'll be right up.  Tell Lt. Briggs to report to the bridge as well, if he hasn't checked in already.  And I'll be wanting a full report when I arrive."

Before the watch stander could respond he had closed the connection, then grabbed his uniform and tugged it on.  He hurried his way to the bridge, pushing himself through Repulse's corridors as fast as he dared to go, only slowing when he finally came to the bridge.  Lt. Briggs had arrived before him and was already looking the tactical display.

"Anyone figure out what's going on?" He asked, pushing his way over to join his 1st Officer at the tactical display.

"A fleet's jumped in at the nadir, sir," a watch stander answered.  "We're getting reports from remote stations now."

He looked over the tactical display as it populated with information and bit back a curse.  "Two Hiei battleships?  An Igarashii battlecruiser?"

Lt. Briggs nodded a little bit.  "And an Atago heavy cruiser with pair of those old Kumo destroyers acting as escorts.  Not to mention the Assault DropShips they're lugging in... has the Combine gone insane?  They're already spreading their forces thin and even with this they don't have nearly enough to take the system before reinforcements arrive."

Capt. Roberts shook his head, and pointed to the vectors as the enemy fleet broke into three groups.  "They aren't here to capture, this is a raid--" his voice trailed off as his eyes settled on the track of the Igarashii battlecruiser and the Hiei battleship that was forming up on it.  "Damn."

"They're going for Titan," Lt. Briggs confirmed, then traced out the projected courses for the other two groups.  "The Atago heavy cruiser and one of the Kumo destroyers are headed for Lowell Shipyards at Mars.  And the other Hiei battleship and Kumo destroyer are headed for O'Neil Shipyards.  You're right sir, they're trying to take out our industry."

Drake Roberts didn't answer, intently watching as the Assault DropShips broke up into trailing formations with most headed toward O'Neil or Lowell Shipyards.  He shook his head a little bit, considering the situation.  "I need to send a message to command," he said softly, then raised his voice.  "And get busy plotting an intercept that will let us block that fleet from the Titan Shipyards."

His first officer seemed at a loss.  "Sir, we were instructed to wait for orders."

"I'm aware," he answered, feeling ice in his stomach.  "That's why we're going to inform them that Repulse will be maneuvering independently."