[Event] Death of an empire

Hannizio

boombox Knowing the devastating force of the torpedoes, the ships start to drift apart from each other, with smaller ships staying behind the weak shields of the bigger ones. All hangars empty, getting ready for a last, heavy strike.
The group of ships is waiting for the attack of the fighters to start the all out attack

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Some of the torpedoes trail past the ships as they evade, others are on target..

After firing off their torpedoes the fighters rush forward and start attack runs, especially on the larger enemy ships, firing their guns from close range at crucial points like turrets and the bridges of the ships.
At the same time the German ships redirect their cannons and fire again, another volley, aimee at the ships whose shields are down from torpedo hits.
The German FlaK readies to defend their ships..

Hannizio

Brank The fighters don't even try to avoid the missiles. Like brainwashed, the pilots intercept all missiles coming close to the bombers, even with their own fighters. The swarm of fighters, guarded by the point defense of the last bigger ships, shield the bombers with everything they got. Half of them form small protective walls around the bomber groups, the other half keeps themselves ready to engage enemy fighters. The bombers, splitting into groups, 2 for each artillery vessel, go on with full thrust, ready to strike a last time, and get the artillery down. All fire concentrates on the artillery, and except point defense and fighters, all weaponry strikes the artillery.
The bombers carry unguided but fast heavy nuclear weaponry with some millimeters armor to protect them from most shrapnel, combined with lighter guided missiles, designed to hit weak spots and clear the path by targeting point defense.

Hannizio

ZendikaroftheWest As the escape pods get disabled, the Zouulgut realizes that the heat going out from the ship isn't reduced so the reactor is still working, and that the ship, even with the heavy damaged, would still be able to continue the fight.
The flanking ships, now enjoying the full attention of the enemy fleet, and hopelessly behind in terms of numbers and ship quality, bring all their forces up in an effort to tighten the grip and pushing the enemy closer to the big, central ship, well knowing that this pressure couldn't be hold for long before the lines break and the battle is lost

ZendikaroftheWest

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A short and crisp reply is issued from the gamilas ships.
"No, leave the starbase. We can all recognise that this battle is lost. The HDC's leader is dead, and their forces are in chaos. Our only mission is to evacuate as much of the populace as we can. We can hold them off for now, get to the surface!"

Hannizio
On the bridge, Alpheratz smiles.
"Baisrak"
The ships quickly reform, into daggerpoints, punching through and pushing the enemy forward, pushing them back against their own dreadnought. As they are doing this, the battleships and battlecarriers under Alpheratz suddenly divert their fire, smashing into the flankers from two sides. His dreadnought redoubles their fire on the dreadnought, aiming for weapons and power systems
Hannizio
As the transports descend into the atmosphere above the capital, they see the cruiser impact, watching in horror as the ship smashes into the skyscraper. As soon as they land, cargo bay doors are opened, and any who wish to leave are allowed onboard. Gamilas soldiers establish an orderly line, keeping records of all who board. In total, there are fifteen destroyers, all with cargo bays able to hold (At maximum) 1500 people each. Priority is given to the elderly and children, as well as any member of the HDC intelligence services.

Hannizio

(A small trigger warning: suicide, and a bit of gore I guess, if you don't wan to read it, skip to the end.)
The fight was going on for minutes, while the minister of defense in the bunker, hundreds of meters under the ground, thinks about the future of the empire. Even if this battle is won, can they ever rebuild what their ancestors constructed over centuries? Then, suddenly the realization hit him. He runs to an elevator, picking up two guards on the way. He selects the highest level and the elevator starts going.
Minutes of silence, before finally the armored doors of the elevator slide open. Revealing to the soldiers and the minister is a big and magnificent hallway. At the end of this hallway, there is a closed door, leading to the office of the emperor . The three walk towards the door. As they reach it, they notice it is locked.
"Something is wrong. What is going on here?" thinks the minister
One of the soldiers tries to shoot the lock with his gun. It doesn't work, and after several minutes they step back, a soldier places a remote controlled explosive on the lock, all of them go a few meters away into cover.
One second passes. Nothing happens. Everything is silent. Another second passes. The charge goes of, making a loud sound. The door is strong, and still in tact, but the charge was able to dismantle the lock. with combined strength, the two soldiers are able to opening the door a small bit, so the minister can enter. With their body armor, the soldiers aren't able to follow.
"I will be back with the emperor. No need to follow me" states the minister while entering.
Once inside the private rooms of the emperor, he quickly moves to the office. He opens the office door silently.
The room is even more magnificent than the hallway. The walls are golden and covered in red banners. The floor is out of polished wood. There is a giant desk in the middle. Behind the desk is a big chair, reserved for the emperor.
The chair is facing the giant window which forms the entire back wall of the room. It is impossible to see who is sitting on the chair without going around., but from the door a pair of pale legs is clearly visible.
"Emperor! We need to evacuate to the bunker right now!"
Silence.
Seconds, feeling like hours, pass.
The minister waits, not wanting to be rude.
A minute passes.
Looking on his clock, the minister realizes they have to be fast.
"We have to go. Now."
Losing patients, he rushes towards the chair.
Half way around the table he stops. His eyes open in shock. His mouth slowly opens, and he starts gasping for air.
Sitting on the chair was a dead body. A gun in the one hand, and the head ripped apart beyond recognition.
"This can't be him. He would never do this. With his might at our top, we would have won this battle. No, this must be some worthless soldier enjoying his last moments in the emperors clothes, the emperor has to be here somewhere." The minister tries to convince himself, but slowly he realizes what happened.
His knees give in. He leans at a wall, slowly going down, until he sits down with his back at the wall.
"What can I do now? Is the empire lost? What can we do, even if we win this battle? What can I say to the ones who arrive? I know what I must do. We can't lose hope now. The others need to know of this dead, but we need a hero."
After clearing his head, the minister grabs a the microphone on the table, and builds up a connection to all leaders and gets ready to hole a speech:

(If you skipped the previous part, start reading here: )

"A few hours ago, an enemy special force managed to enter the building. They slaughtered the guards and went on their way to the emperor. He fought back with all his might, and shot 20 of the invaders, before running out of ammunition. Reinforcements couldn't come in, after the invaders hacked the heavy armored doors. The emperor could kill at least 3 more attackers with his bare hands before being deadly wounded. He died a death worthy to be remembered. After reinforcements could finally arrive, it was to late for him. With this last breath, he made me the new leader of the empire. Let us rejoin our emperor, as an opponent to be never forgotten. Even if we go down today, it will be with honor and glory! Keep your heads up an-"
A loud explosion can be heard, the noise of metal scratching on metal, and steel bursting, as a shot down cruiser of hundreds of meters of lengths crushes and bursts through the base of the skyscraper, tearing down the symbol of pride for the whole empire, in front of everyone left watching. The connection to the bunker is cut. The HDC left leaderless.
In the middle of battle, on the starbase, in the command center a heated debate starts, between different generals all claiming the throne. Around them, the starbase gets slowly ripped apart by more and more enemy fire

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Hannizio

ZendikaroftheWest

Brank
"Die Sternenbasis wird getroffen! Wir müssen sie schützen! Lenkt das feindliche Feuer auf euch!!"
The German ships, most badly wounded, achingly move forward, towards the enemy, all and any barrels that were not yet destroyed firing on the enemy, even FlaK and other.. The leftover fighters turned and did another attack run, harrassing the enemy fleet..
//Transmission: Local Code//
Zhis is Admiral Paul Richter. Zhe star base is taking heavy enemy fire. Ve have to protect it at all costs!"
//Transmission End//

Brank

Hannizio

The Dominion fleet is wracked and ravaged by the enemies as their artillery is struck down one by one, the APS unable to hold against such a volume of fire, the remaining forces regroup and set on a burn to group with the german forces, a huge swath of their fleet taken out.

"I understand, May the Might of Taros Be with us!"

Hannizio

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Brank
ZendikaroftheWest
What started in a debate, ended with all but one general dead. Slowly and calmly he speaks to everyone:
"Evacuate all civilians. Evacuate everything. The weapon systems are failing, but the starbase can take a beating. Open a rescue path for all civilian vessels to escape. The enemy will try everything to eradicate all of us. Once we escape we can find a way to restore this empire to it's old glory. Just evacuate whatever is possible."

All remaining HDC ships form a passage for civilian ships to escape far enough to jump to hyperspace. From the starbase, a single heavy cruiser lifts of, taking the chance to flee. Demoralized and facing death, another cruiser who was supposed to hold the line clear for the civilians tries to flee. Once the the hyperspace drive charges up, a bunch of missiles in one of the last active missile tubes of the starbase locks onto the cruiser. The captain orders to jump. Nothing happens. A message from the starbase reaches the bridge of the cruiser: "Your are no coward. Move back to position or we are forced to eliminate you."
A small volley of missiles flies towards the cruiser, exploding on contact with the heavy armor, leaving the cruiser with a small scratch. The captain, knowing this was only a warning, moves his ship back into position.
The first civilian ships arrive in orbit, shielded by military ships. Bound to the civilians the military ships are easy prey, but luckily the fight was still focused on the starbase.

"Hold your position, we must evacu-"
The last message of the starbase gets cut of, as the last communication array goes dark.
With all its force, with all it's might, the starbase holds itself. Srike by strike lands, decimating the weapons and armor. What once was the pride of the empire, was damaged beyond repair. First escape pods leave the starbase.
A young soldier suggest to his officer: "Maybe we should leave to the ground. that would give us the chance to surrender".
The officer is quiet for a moment,.
"They don't take prisoners, they never do. We are doomed, We can do nothing but pray"
"But there must be something we can do!"
"Take an escape pod, maybe you aren't too late for an civilian evacuation ship. But hurry up, the hangars are closing, and there are millions on the ground who want to enter one of the last dozen ships ready...
Maybe we are better of accepting our end"

On another part of the starbase, engineers are struggling to keep the starbase in orbit.
Another heavy strike shakes the starbase. Slowly it loses height. With a majority of the weapon systems lost, attacks now focus on the engines. While the engines are decentralized to improve the reliability, the power they consume is immense and so there needed to be an additional reactor added to have them work reliable. After the heavy hits, the experimental reactor, build in a hurry, starts to show unnormal values. As a heavy hit on the engine region damages the cooling system, the reactor has to shut down, with the main reactor powering the engines now, the starbase lost nearly all of it's fighting capabilities. As slowly one engine after another fails, the starbase starts losing height. It's only a matter of minutes till it hits the ground

ZendikaroftheWest

Hannizio
Having been filled with civilians, Kiani's cruisers and destroyers lift off, streaking away from the planet streaking away to get the civilians onboard to safety. Two cruisers and three destroyers are lost, but all of the others escape.
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Hannizio
Brank
Suddenly, out of nowhere, the second fleet arrives, alpheratz having returned from the far side of the planet. They immediately go to work beams streaking out from the ships, as they cover the retreating GSR and ID fleets.

ZendikaroftheWest

Hannizio
With this transmission, the Gamilas ships begin to fall back, one by one. The lighter cruisers and destroyers, having higher speed, begin streaking toward the surface, doors opening to all who cannot find passage on the civilian ships. The first transport ships, the fifteen screening destroyers, lift off, streaking away from the capital as the starbase falls. Soldiers are dispatched to keep order in the cargo holds, passing out blankets and food as they do so.

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Hannizio
On the German bridge disarray beings to form as the starbase collapses and starts its unstoppable descent..
Captain von Plauzhausen, panicking slightly, begins shouting orders of a general retreat, with other officers refusing the order while others want to retrreat..

"Zurückfallen! Der Planet ist verlo- ...Sarah!"
He is stopped from speaking by his colleague Sarah von Richthofen, who drew her Luger and is pointing it at him.
"Rückzug ist Verrat, Richter!"
The former backs away slowly, looking about.
"N-Nimm die Waffe runter.. Sarah..."
She looks at him with fierce determination, releasing the safety of her pistol..
The Admiral, Richter, turns to his two subordinates, and shouts at the both of them to regain composure, taking Sarah's arm and lowering it.
"Wir müssen zusammenarbeiten!"
... "von Richthofen, Sie und Plauzhausen eskortieren die Zivilistenschiffe zum Reich. Ich bleibe zurück und sichere Ihren Abzug."
Sarah von Richthofen tries to interject:
"Aber mein-"
"DAS IST EIN BEFEHL! Und jetzt Abmarsch!"
The two salute rather unwillingly and leave...
Meanwhile the German fleet parts, a third of them setting out with the civilian ships, the other part joining the HDC navy in protecting the channel.

Transmission: Local Code:
A smooth, but determined female voice is heard, with a distinctive German Accent.
"Zhis is Captain Sarah von Richthofen of zhe German Space Regime! Ve are offering you protection and asylum, should you choose to follow our fleet towards zhe Reich! Those of you who vant to live, join us and come!"
Transmission End//
The German convoy turns and starts loading its jump drives, while the protection fleet fires from all barrels, putting as much power to the shields as they can afford.
On the bridge of the by now heavily hit largest German war ship on the front line, while orders are barked and explosions rock the ship, Admiral Richter sits in his chair completely silent, looking down upon a small metal object in his hand.. An iron cross, from his ancestor thousands of years ago, a man from the name of Hugo Richter, who fought and died, holding the channel open towards the west at the end of the War to allow civilians to flee to the Americans.. Soon he would join him.
"Unteroffizier!"
He called for a young man, who marched over quickly, and gave him the cross.
"Ich habe einen Befehl für Sie. Bringen Sie meiner Familie dieses Kreuz. Ich vermache es meinem Sohn.. Möge er es in Ehre tragen."
The officer nodded and left for the docking bay as Richter walked to the bridge window, looking out to the enemy.

"Na dann, kommt!"

Hannizio

More alien ships arrive at the planet. Bigger ships move out to other parts o the planets, to attack other population centers.
Captured HDC ships start to hold back some of their fire and only send missile barrages onto military ships that protect the evacuation. Once the patrols are weakened, alien ships swipe in and attack the civilian ships with full force.
The leader of the former forward defense force, who ordered to surrender in order to protect his men watches everything from the bridge. Monitors show everything around in full detail.
"Soldiers die. They are born to die. They chose their fate, and accept death bravely" he thinks for quiet himself, ordering the next target.
The next moment he sees a bomber squadron flying towards the now unprotected civilian ship.
The bombs light the civilian ships up. For minutes he can't help himself but look at the wreckage.
He continues to think for himself: "Did I knew it would end up like this? Did I really think they would stop with the military?"
He zooms in on one of the destroyed ships, seeing burned bodies floating out.
More alien ships close in, wanting to destroy the next civilian ship and its escort.
The commander asks him for the next target. Thinking loud, the leader of the small force said: "Soldiers are meant to die in battle. Those are no soldiers, those are civilians. Those are our sisters and brothers, our children."
He screams:
"Fire on the attacking aliens, hold nothing back! Too long we fought against our own kind, in hope to save our selves. We are soldiers, and we will die in this battle."
The commander gives some orders, the ship fires out of all guns and missile tubes, and erases the attacker and allows the civilian ship to escape. A couple alien cruisers fly in, but they wait a moment. The ex HDC fleet, that betrayed them seconds ago is still strong.
Suddenly the HDC ships shake. Explosions all inside the ships go of, ripping their interiors in pieces and killing everyone on board. The aliens made sure to prepare for a betrayal, and now the way was free for the new force to intercept the next vessels. Only few civilian vessels could escape.
In this moment, the main fleet of the aliens arrived, reinforcing the now weakened forces, and making it clear, that a victory was out of option.

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Hannizio

The German convoy jumped away in a blink, taking with them the surviving HDC vessels that wished to follow, and made for GSR territory.. but the defense force, its engines came to life as the main battleship moved forwards, burning, the steel under stress and the barrels overheating from progressive fire, but still moving, still alive, still in the fight.

As the German fleet began its final attack everything was fired upon the enemy, all barrels firing without pause, to the point that the crippled and wounded came out of the medical stations to man their posts, knowing they would not need to fear their wounds anymore soon. Some of the German ships start rolling starboard, some portside, revealing the devastating side-mounted casemate guns and firing barrage after barrage.

And while one ship after the other is destroyed and burning, the wreckages of the German ships keep fighting, and flashes of small arms fire could be seen of soldiers holding their breath and firing their pistols and rifles in the waning moments of their lives.. Officers and soldiers alike facing death and laughing in its face.