kola2134
(Gonna ignore Shadow's stuff bc even I agree it's kinda brainded)
Qswitch technology requires a scan of the target area to work, that much is true. However, the scan needn't be fresh, nor locally produced. The interdiction had yet to spread, thus regardless of jams, the VSA ships were capable of Switching. The jamming wasn't entirely ineffective however, as it did throw some of the more unprepared systems into disarray. However briefly the effect lasted, it was long enough to deal considerable damage.
Taking the total losses of both fleets, the results are as follows. 100-200 sub-cruiser ships destroyed, 30 damaged. 42 cruisers destroyed, 7 damaged. 5 battleships destroyed, 2 damaged. And for the first time in the VSA's long standing career... 1 Shtovum-Class Dreadnought destroyed, 1 damaged. These 10km giants, however old, were still major assets to the VSA, and the loss of one was devastating. Replacing one would be difficult to accomplish, if done at all.
If VSA ships were known for anything, it was high speeds, tough armour, and most importantly, relatively short range. This had been their consistent design doctrine since their entrance to the galactic stage, and there was no reason to suspect these forces would be any different. Thus it is reasonable to assume that is what the Imperials were prepared to fight. This hubris would be their downfall.
Within the time span of 30 seconds, 50 extremely high power lasers struck the unprepared Imperial fleet. About a dozen sailed right through the gaps in the formation, flying instead towards the storm, but the rest found their mark, dealing devastating damage. (Your turn to write damages)
In the resulting rushed scans, the source was determined to be a small cluster of the hostile fleet's cruiser force. 50 of the warships were of a previously unheard of pattern; the typical countless rows upon rows of short range cannons replaced by a handful of hulking high caliber railguns. More notably, the typical models possessed nondescript flat armour plates at their apexes, while these unknowns clearly had something else in place of that, though details were hard to make out at this range.
"Report?"
"About 80% hit rate, Ma'am."
"Hmhm, looks like those Chibute Eggheads finally gave us some new toys worth playing with... Instruct the fleet to begin evasive maneuvers, the humans sure as hell aren't fans of what we just did and will be looking to give us a taste of our own medicine. Contact the Maidars as well, they are to fire at will and prepare railcannon saturation protocols."
"Of course, Ma'am."
The three talons of a feared admiral tapped on her armrest rhythmically once more. The drums of war beat to her will, and her latest symphony was about to be revealed. Atra Stevnic looked upon the battle with a reserved approach for now; the larger part of her arsenal was still out of range, and she wanted to get a better feel for the Maidars' performance. Wargames were all well and good, but the first casualty of engagement is always the plan, and if things aboard a Maidar stopped going to plan, she'd rather it be now rather than a CQC scenario.