To have gathered three
Interdictor ships in one place was a pointless waste of resources, Grohl of Grohl reflected as they floated in the zero-g space of the Control-Mind - the command center of their fleet. The former Provost-Master Grohl had tried to hide the military build up of their own personal fleet and in doing so, valuable Grohl assets had gone unused. It was enough to make Grohl of Grohl spit in disgust.
Two of the
Interdictor vessels had already come back into Grohl of Grohl’s fleet, their captains and senior officers replaced carefully by the new Provost-Master Grohl a number of rotations previously. Unfortunately, the captain of the third ship had been a favourite of the dead Grohl, and so remained.
Grohl of Grohl quirked their mouth as the irony of their thought hit. If three
Interdictor ships in one place was a waste of resources, what did the seven that Grohl of Grohl had gathered qualify as? The elder Grohl, floating through the Control-Mind, issuing orders to all seven ships, felt at ease as they watched the makeshift flotilla that their fleet faced.
As well as
Interdictors, it seemed that Grohl had gathered to them more ships to their cause. Whether seized in raids or purchased or supplied legitimately, the Grohl of the Grohl of Grohl did not know. It turned this engagement from an extermination, into something perhaps worthy of another exe. The body of the traitor had already had its flesh removed, leaving only a thick skeleton. Perhaps a blade or a handle could be fashioned from that, Grohl pondered.
Several decks below, Provost-Master Grohl surveyed the pleasure craft the dead Grohl used. Working methodically, their team of Grohls - lead by a Provost Grohl that had been assigned to the Provost-Master by the Council of Grohls, the civilian council that handled law enforcement in the Grohl of Grohl, had stripped out anything of value from the vessel, piling it in front of the Provost-Master. At a suggestion from the Provost-Master, the team headed back in, returning several minutes later with a cache of data sticks, with one Grohl cradling a hand missing several fingers as green blood flowed from the wound.
Provost-Master Grohl dismissed the injured Grohl with a grunt of satisfaction. The wound was fixable, if the Grohl didn’t dawdle on their way to the medics bay. Provost-Master Grohl became aware of an increased amount of wailing and looked at the line of prisoners knelt close by - and their satisfaction gave way to disgust.
Their predecessor had an unfortunate penchant for humans. Men, women, enbies, they hadn’t discriminated in their tastes for sexual trinkets. Grohl mating practices were a closely guarded secret but they had the biology at least to engage in relations with humans. The Provost-Master regarded the pinkskins with distaste, especially those who corrupted good Grohls with their taint.
Provost-Master Grohl was all too aware that the Grohl of Grohl had taken the pick of this particular litter to add to their own harem, but they pushed that to the back of their mind as more and more valuables were piled up in front of the whores. Provost-Master Grohl couldn’t stand humans, thinking them vain and arrogant. They had refused all offers to partake in their old superior’s orgies and now found themself to be in charge of these painted parasites.
Provost-Master Grohl made a decision and growled out an order. “Bind them and as soon you are able, throw them out an airlock. I won’t have this stain on the Grohl to continue to exist.” They glanced back at the ship as they turned to leave and take their place amongst the waiting warriors. “Tear this ship apart. I’ll make my first axe out of the most impressive piece of it.”
Out in space, the
Interdictors of the Grohl fleet had finally positioned themselves to take on the makeshift fleet of the Grohl rebels. Grohl of Grohl gave final orders in the Control Mind, then left the zero-g chamber, discarded armour fitting to their body, bright and shining. The soft whirr of the powered sections of the armour accompanied Grohl of Grohl’s footsteps, Grohl warriors stepping aside even as they hurried to stations. No one stood in the way of the Grohl of Grohl, especially during the early stages of a battle.
The
Interdictors were supported by several Grohls of cruisers and their own significant deployments of fighters. The single seater vessels were especially strong around the cockpit chamber, which was orientated horizontally for quick deployment of the pilot onto enemy ships, should the fighter become too damaged to use. The escape chamber would drop out of the bottom of the ship and crash into the enemy vessel, with the warrior then able to hopefully infiltrate it.
The
Interdictor of the enemy fleet was protected by several Grohl cruisers, but upon seeing the combined fleet of the Grohl of Grohl, over half of them had joined sides. Grohl were nothing if not survivors and maybe Provosts and captains would’ve already decided to defect as soon as a significant force came against the remnants of their old master.
The foreign sourced vessels stayed where they were, their hails to the defecting Grohl unanswered. Grohl of Grohl was glad they hadn’t fled. It would mean a great victory for the Grohl fleet, and would give the Grohl of Grohl to take the Grohl of Grohl to war with those powers who had given ships to the dead Provost-Master.
Many decks below the Control-Mind, in the great hollow space that made up a large part of the
Interdictor ships, the drone crews worked methodically, professionally, lining up their launch arms to the drone stores, straining under the watchful eyes of their foreman, first and second cycle Provosts, overseen by a veteran Provost-Master high above, barking out orders in a chamber much like the Control-Mind, but more cramped, overflowing with switches and dials and meters, monitoring everything from the angles each launch arm were at, to the inner temperatures of the drones themselves. Too hot and they would explode on launch, too cool and they would run out of fuel before reaching the enemy ship. Artificially controlling the inner workers of the drones would solve the issue, but the Grohl took pride in the mechanical workings of their ships.
One of the Grohl foreman called out an order, and their crew started up a tune as they worked. Work on the drone crews was hard and monotonous and so anything that distracted from the hard labour was welcomed by the hardy Grohls.
As the fleets maneuvered and the first skirmishes between fighters and cruisers started, the Provost-Master in the Control-Mind issued the ready order, and over two dozen launch arms swung back, Grohls straining as the great arms holding thirty drones were winched back. Foreman strode up and down the line, inspecting the drones and quickly snapping out orders to fix any deficiencies, before resuming their position.
Outside the ship was chaos as missiles and lasers either crashed harmlessly against shields or cut deep into ships, the foreign vessels of the rebel fleet doing particular damage to the cruisers of the Grohl. Inside the launch bay was the opposite, a tension-filled quiet occupying the great empty space aggressively, the only sounds the footsteps of the foreman and the metallic straining of launch arms. In the Control-Mind, the Provost-Master awaited for the order that would launch more than 750 drones out into the battle. It would need to come soon, for the launch arms could only withstand being in the the ready position for so long.
The enemy
Interdictor floated into view, broadside to broadside with Grohl of Grohl’s ship, already launching its drones. Grohl of Grohl noted that they had fewer drones, but they were larger and faster than their own. It was an interesting strategic choice that must’ve been straining their drone crews hugely. Grohl of Grohl dismissed their thoughts as the first drones entered defensive missile range, ordering the batteries to concentrate on the drones heading for their launch bays. It would mean more damage elsewhere, but this battle would be one by the drone crews, as Grohl considered appropriate.
Grohl of Grohl saw a second wave launch from the enemy ship, and wondered at their speed. They gave a new instruction to all ships - the enemy
Interdictor would be spared destruction if possible - then gave the order to launch their ships drones. The Provost-Master relayed the order, and the foreman in the launch bays yanked on a heavy lever, swinging the launch arms down and sending the drones out into space. Cheering erupted from the drone crews as the drone thrusters fired, sending speeding death out to the enemy ship, before foreman were roaring to get a new launch prepared. This battle would not be won in the first launch, with all but one of the
Interdictors engaged with the enemy cruiser wings.
Sensor pings noted hundreds of direct hits as drones slammed into the side of the enemy
Interdictors defense batteries failed to stop the swarm. The drones operated in an almost cannon like way, flying directly into the enemy ship even as they tried to overwhelm their shields and destroy systems and defenses with autogun fire.
The battle continued in this way for minutes, but turned when the unengaged
Interdictor fired their own drones. Two ships worth were too much for the enemy defenses and turrets, shields starting to fail. As soon as Grohl of Grohl saw this they joined the warriors in a transport located close to the bride. This was a conscious choice by the designers of the
Interdictor, instructed by Grohl of Grohl that the master of an
Interdictor should always be able to lead their warriors into boarding actions.
Once confirmation came that the enemy shields had failed, Grohl of Grohl ordered the sturdy transports be launched. Especially bulky at the bow end of the ship, the transports only had maneuvering thrusters, being fired directly into the enemy vessel. Grohl of Grohl and their veteran warriors led a group of forty transports launched from the bridge area of the ship, whilst three more groups of forty could be launched from elsewhere on the ship. Grohl of Grohl held off on ordering those, intending to take the bridge of the enemy ship and force its surrender.
The transports smashed into the enemy ship, the Grohl warriors onboard grinning to themselves as they did. One of the transports bounced off the ship, spinning out of control before slamming sideways into a passing fighter. The fighter - one from second
Interdictor was instantly destroyed, but the transport survived, its pilot regaining control enough to point it at a ship of the Siezon style. Those on board did not perish, and would fight their way through that vessel instead.
Grohl of Grohl emerged from the transport, deflecting a laser blast off their armour, before charging forward in snarling rage. They were joined by the occupants of their craft and two others from the group of forty, the others having hit in nearby areas also. With sixty veterans coming with them, Grohl of Grohl took the head of the first enemy Grohl in an easy movement, belying their years, before three of his group carrying large enemy shields rushed ahead and blocked a volley of shots by some human fighters. The Grohls responded with a volley of their own, throwing axes spinning through the air and embedding in flesh and clothing. Berserkers leapt over their own shield line to close the distance with the humans, some of whom tried to flee in fear, being taken down by the frenzied warriors.
They had cleared the first corridor and room with relative ease, but their progress was stopped by a heavy security door, blocking the most direct route to the bridge. Grohl of Grohl didn’t even bother to try to force it open, assuming it was likely boobytrapped. Instead they picked up a dying human officer and thrust their face at retina scanner, opening the security corridor that was there for the defenders of an
Interdictor to move without impediment by invading forces.
Grohl of Grohl’s force burst onto the bridge just as remaining rebel Grohl cruisers switched sides and turned with missiles onto the foreign ships. Between this new attack from their flank and the combined power of multiple
Interdictors, the foreign vessels either surrendered or withdrew, leaving this ship and a heavily armed defense station the last remaining enemy assets. Half of the fleet rushed off to pacify the station, aware that it likely held several Provosts of senior rank, the old Provost-Masters innercircle. They would either fight to the death or commit suicide, rather than be captured and paraded around by the victorious Grohl of Grohl.
The bridge defenders fought bravely, killing or injuring a number of warriors, but a second detachment emerged from another passage to the bridge and ended things, with Grohl of Grohl taking command of the ship having killed the Provost commanding it. In less than a third of a rotation, the influence of dead Provost-Master, and the fleet they had built, was destroyed.
Now Grohl of Grohl could focus on punishing the outsiders who had thrown in with them. The Grohl of Grohl had been slaves once, but never again. The galaxy would burn first, and Grohl of Grohl would start the fire.
