Prince Rovyos had stalked the length of the Illuminating Ascendancy for more than a week, his rage growing like that of a caged shadowbeast. His dress uniform lay forgotten in his quarters, catching glints of the light refracted through it's crystal walls.
Compared to the immaculate noble that left the Ormyryn domains, he would have been unrecognizable; he wore workers' overalls, stained with sweat, lubricant, and ichor.
His hasty jump to escape the picket blockade imposed by the Diarchs had successfully taken him to the MRA's borders, but it left the hull tarnished and most of the weapons inoperable. While he worked side-by-side with his crew to repair the damage, the news of the Vanguard vessel's destruction gave him a sense of relief, but also of rage.
If only I had been there, he thought,
some lives might have been spared.
After all the toil, though, the ship was ready. At his behest, a powerful computer mainframe was assembled and harnessed for a massive battle-simulation to determine the effectiveness of the Illuminating Ascendancy.
TL;DR: Simulation Combat for balance. I am not changing sides, and this is not a real attack.
Some of the mightiest vessels of the Movement assemble in digital parody:
The battle is joined!
Beam-fire takes it's toll on all combatants; the Storm-Class inadvisability presents her lightly armoured hull to the Illuminating Ascendancy, while the Michael Goede takes shelter behind the Veneratio Deus after loosing most of her prow in the opening exchange:
The Storm-Class makes an ill-advised close attack run on the Ormyryn flagship, while the Hades-class suffers damage to her bow. Meanwhile, the Illuminating Ascendancy has taken massive damage to her bow, leaving the core alarmingly close to exposure:
Massive internal explosions tear through the Hades, raining debris on the Michael Goede. The Storm is all but destroyed, while the Illuminating Ascendancy has lost two of it's vital beam weapons and suffered heavy damage to her nose. The Veneratio Deus's shields have kept her safe from most harm:
Aware of the vulnerability to the ship's systems, Prince Rovyos turned the ship about, reducing weapon's coverage but providing a respite. The Storm is annihilated after a collision with one of the Ormyryn ship's wings:
After a prolonged nose-to-tail fight, Tyrriyn decided to take drastic measures - turning the ship about, he poured a full volume of fire into the Michael Goede, which was destroyed after prolonged internal explosions. The Veneratio Deus continued to endure by virtue of her deflectors.
Following close to two hours of sustained combat, the commanders made a mutual decision to end the simulation as a draw. The Illuminating Ascendancy's core was all but exposed, but could have turned tail again to draw out the firefight for a much longer period. The Vilushan warship had suffered damage, but likewise could rely on shields to prolong the fight.
The exhausted commanders, to say nothing of the computer mainframe, were at last afforded a rest.
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