Tunnel Rat

Chapter 205: The Stars at War

When one of the creators of SC6 was asked to describe the game in an interview, he answered, "Think of a game of rock-paper-scissors. Now think about playing three games simultaneously and needing to win them all."

Missiles were long-range and did the most damage, but they could be targeted with defensive missiles or lasers.

Lasers couldn't be intercepted, but their short range and lower power meant they were best used to defend against missiles and kill LAC.

LAC were versatile. They could attack the enemy LAC, be outfitted with missiles to attack ships, or lasers to add defense against missiles targeting the main ship.

Shields were the best defense, but they competed for the power needed for weapons.

The extreme builds such as LAC Carriers, Quad-weapon gunships, or ultra-defensive Turtles were rarely seen in a one-on-one duel between two ships. They had their purpose in larger battles, but each was very vulnerable to the tactics a Captain with a versatile ship could bring to a fight. Of course, countering them became much easier if you knew what your opponent was showing up with.

Starship Ubergear was an example of what a team could do when they had more information than their opponents and were backed up by no less than six LAC loaned to you by two other ships. With no need for LAC, SS Ubergear had traded in its attack craft for two more weapons systems. Each of the gunners had spent three more points on a targeting system, extra missiles, and ship-killer missiles. The extra two points were sent to the Captain, giving him an additional 8 points.

Navigation had 12 points to spend on upgrades or give to the Captain for extra shields and power. Level 2 in communications was standard and cost one point. It let ships communicate with each other and with their LAC. In a large battle, some ships would act as scouts, deploying communications platforms and sending back data to the rest of the fleet. That wasn't needed here. No other ship stood a chance with a Quad Gun Ship and six LAC. The basic flight computer and enhanced internal gravity left nine points to give to the Captain, bringing his total to seventeen.

One of the game's oddities was the Captain starting with no points for upgrade. On a good team, everything was worked out to give the best ship. Arguments were common in pick-up games with crews that didn't know each other, as gunners and pilots kept all six points for themselves, and the Navigator had to support the Captain with what they could. With seventeen points to spend, the Ubergear Captain could afford everything he needed:

Standard Fusion Plant generating 8 points of power (4 pts)

+4 Levels of Shielding (4 pts)

Level 4 Engines (3 points)

+4 Levels of Rechargeable Ionic Batteries (4 points)

+4 Lithium-Cobalt-Ion system for +2 energy storage. (Single use.)

Running with four weapon systems took a lot of power. The Standard Fusion Plant provided 8 points of power, and 4 of those would be needed for weapons. While moving, another 4 points would go to the engines. Many battles were fought with both ships coasting towards each other and diverting that power to shields. Stored power was a resource that had to be used with care. It took time to recharge the Ionic Batteries.

They'd have plenty of time. The first fight would be so easy they might not even fire their missiles. The squadron of 6 LAC could swamp the defenses of a single ship. The small, fast fighters were hard to target with missiles, and their long-range missiles could mostly ignore the defensive fire of standard lasers. They were a swarm of hornets with heavy stings.

The game had started as normal. Ubergear, Gearhead, and Powerdrink had declared an alliance before the match began, which allowed them to start with their ships clustered together. This came with a cost in Victory Points to offset the tactical advantage. No one was worried about that. By the end of the game, the other side wouldn't exist.

The other three teams were scattered around the edges of the sphere of space that marked the game area, far enough from each other to offer no support. SS Ubergear started moving toward SS Nameless Order, with six LAC moving behind it, unseen. SS Powerdrink, now a carrier without ships to launch, paired up with SS Gearhead and moved toward SS GoodOldGuys. Left alone, SS ClawMaster moved slowly into the system, content to watch what happened.

SS Ubergear headed straight at the Nameless Order team, who seemed okay with a one-on-one fight. On the other side, SS GoodOldBoys was accelerating away from the double team of SS Powerdrink and SS Gearhead. It wasn't a true two-on-one situation. The Powerdrink ship had neither weapon systems nor LACs to contribute to the fight. They were there for sensors and extra shields as they moved close to the second ship.

Nameless Order seemed in no hurry to start the fight. They slowly accelerated towards Ubergear; it was hard to say whether that was weak engines. If ClawMaster were moving in, stalling and hoping for assistance would have made sense. But the ClawMaster ship was taking its time, moving to the sphere's center. Captain Raul on the SS Ubergear was annoyed when Captain Bain of the SS Gearhead contacted him. "Yo, Raul, ClawMaster is doing some weird shit. They just launched a dozen missiles. Powerdrink is picking up the launches on his sensors."

"Good. That means the idiots on their team followed our orders. Sensors and Shields are all he's good for now. But what is he shooting at?"

"Asteroids."

"Say what?"

"They keep targeting the big asteroids and blowing them up. Some near them, some a long way downfield. Any idea of what's going on?"

Raul laughed as he figured it out. "Their playing games! Remember, these guys got here by winning at arcade games. They aren't moving into the system to attack anyone, just screwing around and shooting rocks. Rocks don't dodge and explode into little rocks. They don't know how to play SC6 and are screwing around and pretending to play asteroids. Funny as shit. They'll come in fourth with some bragging rights for doing nothing."

"You might be right...what? One sec." Bain came back on the channel ten seconds later, laughing. "Now they are missing the rocks! They wasted four missiles firing at a rock, but a black hole must be nearby, warping gravity enough to throw the missiles off course. They aren't going to have anything left to shoot with when we get there!"

"Funny. But tell Powerdrink we don't need updates on SS habrat; we have ships to kill. I'd race you for the kill on ClawMaster, but the bosses want them crushed by the numbers."

"We're cool with that, Raul. We know what's coming and are content to take a second and a paycheck."

To Raul's annoyance, his opponent sped up, moving up the time of the battle. He had wanted to listen and hear how the other half of the fight went, but they were engaging their enemies almost simultaneously. His ship and SS NamelessOrder moved closer and closer. With the other ships' velocity higher now, they couldn't escape even if they turned around and tried to reverse. Physics worked the same in SC6 as in a normal universe, and momentum could be a bitch. Raul signaled for LACs to start their attack run. They came out from behind his ship, hidden by his bulk, and sped away toward the enemy.

Everyone on the Ubergear ship waited for the fight to start. The LAC would come into the range of their Heavy Missiles, launch four from each ship, and then break off. They could go around again for another launch if needed but would have to reload from the carrier. There was no reaction from SS Nameless Order. No LAC was launched, and they didn't maneuver. The LAC came closer and closer.

SS Nameless Order lit up like the sun as their weapons batteries unleashed laser fire at the LAC. Raul started to laugh until the first LAC exploded. Normal defensive lasers were a last-ditch hope to take out missiles or asteroids. They could be upgraded to medium-range lasers that could hurt a LAC that came in close and could melt sensors on the large ships but had trouble penetrating their armor.

The final upgrade was to Long Range Gamma Radiation Laser Arrays (Grazers.) These powerful lasers took a good deal of power to use and could destroy a LAC in one hit. They caused the armor on a ship to buckle and heat up to the point that a second hit would strip away the protection. With enough Grazers, even a main ship could be destroyed. But no one took that many. They were inferior to missiles in range and worse at killing ships. But they were the weapon of choice for two things: Killing annoying LAC and blowing up enemy missiles sent to destroy your ship.

SS Nameless Order had spent points to swap their LAC for two additional Weapon Systems. Unlike the Ubergear ship, they hadn't upgraded their missiles. All four Weapons Systems had Long Range, Heavy Grazers, upgraded sensors, and a targeting computer. The Navigator had spent points to upgrade his nav-computer to a full A.I. and connected it to the Weapons Systems, essentially giving each set of Grazers two gunners. The effect was devastating as two fast-firing Grazers targeted each LAC backed up by the best sensor array that the Navigator could buy. Any other points went to the captain for a few shields.

Raul watched in horror as all six LAC exploded like fireworks before they could get off a missile. SS Nameless Order moved on, Grazers targeting his ship. "Start firing! I want all four batteries to launch full broadsides as fast as possible. He didn't have to worry about saving ammunition; he needed that ship dead before it got in range of its energy weapons. The velocity of both vessels worked against him now. The other ship would get in range; the only question was in what shape it would be in.

The first flight of missiles exploded in the same way as the LAC. The Grazers had started their evolution as missile-hunting defensive lasers and still knew their job. But another four missiles came after the first. Debris from the explosions hurt targeting accuracy, and each set of missiles was harder to blow up. On the seventh flight, one got through. Locked in the cockpits of their game, the players were tossed about as the mechanicals underneath rocked them back and forth, red lights flashed, and damage scrolled across the Captain's screen. Two shields were down permanently.

As the range between the two ships dropped, the missiles had a shorter flight time, and the gunners had less and less time to take them out. Two more shields went down, followed by the engines. SS Nameless Order was a drifting gun platform now, but she was still aimed at her enemy. The grazers came in range, and it was SS Ubergear's turn to be shaken about. Coherent Gama Radiation lanced out, and the ship's armor melted and blew away. The A.I. targeted the same spots repeatedly while the human gunners just hoped they hit. As the range closed, missing became impossible for either side. Missiles slammed into SS Nameless Order, destroying the bridge and killing Captain Joe. Weapons Batteries #1 and #3 were down, with their gunners dead.

At Weapon Battery #2, George 'Lefty' Samuelsson kept firing. He was eighty years old and had lost his right arm in an accident years ago. SC6 had been his favorite game of all time, and he'd been thrilled to get a spot on the team. He took his time with his last shot. Power was dropping, and the capacitors wouldn't recharge again. He moved his aim to a spot in the ship's center that was missing its armor. His shot was on target, and a burst of coherent energy went deep into the SS Ubergear, shattering bulkheads and striking the Advanced Fission System. The resulting explosion killed the rest of the crew on the ship. SS Ubergear was a dark wreck, passing by a similar wreck with only Gunner Samuelsson and Navigator Maclintock still alive.

Team Ubergear sat stunned in their cockpits. Nameless Order pounded the walls and yelled loudly. They'd take the win and watch to see what else happened.

Across the sphere, SS GoodOldBoys moved to engage SS Powerdrink and SS Gearhead.

SS ClawMaster seemed to be having fun killing rocks.