I shall be referring to myself as Admiral Deimos. My ships name is the Leviathan.
The reason I chose to write my request like this, is so that you could see why I wanted a battleship, instead of just listing who I am and all that stuff and trying to make it sound like im some special guy or something. I wanted to give little snips of a battle he was in, where his ship was nearly destroyed because he was the last to retreat.
He stood behind the table, pouring himself a glass of wine from the crystal decanter that always sat there, and he then took a deep breath. he took a few moments to look around his bridge, allowing seconds to pass before issuing his orders. It was important that he does not appear intimidated by the corsair fleet approaching and his calm demeanor would be a guide for the rest of his crew to follow.
He drained his glass of wine and said "My compliments to you all, and I wish you all honor in this glorious battle."
Admiral Deimos' Tactical Officer approaches him and asks, "Is the word given admiral?". Admiral Deimos replaced the glass of wine on the table and said "The word is given. Issue all ships with the order to attack. For Malta."
The two fleets drew closer, though the ranges between them could still be measured in kilometers. The ships of the outcast fleet spread out as the attack order filtered through to the various captains and the admirals plan began to unfold. There appeared to be no strategy evident in the corsairs approach, almost as if they decided to attack head on.
Admiral Deimos studies the observation bay, trying to guess how the corsairs would react to their movements. So far, he did not rate the tactical skill of the enemy, if such a thing existed with the corsairs, and he allowed himself a tight smile. He watched as the Tactical Officers began jotting down locations of all the ships within the system.
"Make it so, and confirm readiness of gun crews." The admiral watched the dance of ships on the plotting table, seeing the plan of the battle unfold as the captains of his fleet obeyed his orders. "All weapon decks report readiness ,sir. Your senior gunner reports he has a firing solution ready for the nova cannon."
"Understood, inform him that he may fire when ready," said Deimos.
A few moments later, juddering vibrations attempted to topple Deimos from his seat, but he had long since grown used to them and easily kept balance.
The shell from the Leviathan streaked like a blur of like through space, exploding like a miniature sun in the heart of the corsair battleship. More potent than a hundred tons of TNT, the shells detonated only a few meters away from a few of the corsair bombers attached to the battleship, instantly incinerating the bombers in a cloud of fire. Two more bombers fell away from the battleship, fluids leaking from within the ships.
Admiral Deimos watch the battleship slip to the left of the viewing bay and counted down the seconds until his port-side turrets could fire. So far the battle was proceeding as he had planned, though the durability of the corsair craft had surprised him. There had been losses, but precise figures and exact information was slow to reach him.
"Tactical Officer, Status report," he demanded impatiently.
"Our Lane Hacker gunboats are out of action, and the Raynors engines have been shut down, though the engineers are attempting to relight them. Our bomber squadron has lost two ships and initial reports suggest that our squadron will not fight again without spending a few months in dock." Admiral Deimos bunched his jaw together as the scale of their losses became apparent. "I fear that we may have underestimated the cunning of these bastards." He whispered to himself.
"Admiral! We are at optimum turret range!"
Deimos gave the corsair battleship a disgusted look, then hurried to the tactical plot at his bridges center. He saw that the Raynor had punched a hole in the corsairs forward screen of ships with it turrets and a well-placed volley of missiles. The Raynor raked the corsair battleship with its broadside guns, but only a fraction were impacting against the massive ship. A flurry of fighters and bombers were closing on the Raynor, but Deimos was confident that their close-in defense guns could handle them.
"Sir!", Shouted the Tactical Officer in dismay. "The Raynor is disengaging!"
Deimos saw with mounting horror that his Tactical Officer was correct, the Raynors engines were flaring brightly as it pushed forward, its course angled upwards away from the corsair battleship. The Raynors defensive guns had stopped firing and it was leaving the Leviathan in its wake!
"Our forces are pulling back!" said Deimos' Tactical Officer.
"Will we be able to make it before the corsairs discover our move?" asked Deimos. His Officer consulted the plotting table, hurriedly scribbling distances and trajectories on a tablet beside him. He silently mouthed his calculations shaking his head angrily. "I think we might, Admiral, but our ship will be cut off from the others almost as soon we make our turn." Deimos slammed his fist into the table, cracking the glass of the slate which rested within it. "Damn them! What in the hell do they think they are doing?" "I do not think the rest of the fleet is so keen on your idea of never retreating." responded Deimos' aid.
Without the supporting fire from any of the other ships, Deimos knew that he had perhaps a 4 percent chance that they would make it. But by god they would try. Just as Deimos turned to issue his orders, he looked out to the left of his viewing bay to see what the cause of a bright flash was. As his mind registered what was coming. "Lord save us, no!" He yelled, as he felt the impact of the Corsair battleships Main guns hammer his unprotected hull.
