Treachery among the Atoll

Time had barely passed enough for reserves to arrive to the battlegroup before dark, looming vessels appeared on the horizon. All hands were quickly placed to battlestations, as the vessels anticipated further bloodshed at the hands of the Empire of the Blazing Sun. However, the hawk eyed lookout atop the H.M.S. Achillies spotted that the vessels were not the sleek pointed vessels of the Empire, but rather the squat  and dubiously sea worthy vessels of the Federated States of America.

It had been barely longer than living memory that the Federated States and the Brittanians had been at war, the States fighting to be free of what they called the Brittanian's "oppressive yoke", which they did not realise was simply their rightful place as members of the Kingdom of Brittania! Certainly they had suffered in Cooper's opinion of vessel design, their flattened hulls although suited to the Mississipi would be a liability once the vessels ventured any further south.

The Captain had ordered the crewmen to stand down once the vessels were identified, as the belief was that the two nations were in alliance to protect their own interests against the Empire of Japan. Once the shells from the FSA vessels began raining down among the Brittanian ships, the Captain was heard to loudly cry "Are they bloody blind or just bloody stupid? Don't they know we are allies? The revolutionary war is OVER!" First shots had been fired by the FSA, claiming sailors from the nearby cruiser, causing severe damage to it's engine systems. The decision was simple, the FSA may have started the fight, but damn well the Brittanians would finish it!

Immediatly all hands went to the critical stations on the Achillies, as a shell struck the superstructure before those in charge of the Sturginum generator could get it online to provide covering support. The cruisers were faring badly, being caught without defense against a withering hail of heavy cannon fire, the shells from the single barrels of the FSA Battleship and Cruisers tearing great gashes through the hulls of the cruisers as if it were a flame through paper. It was only a matter of minutes before both cruisers were listing heavily to one side, before beginning the process of sinking.

While the FSA fire was being concentrated on the Cruisers, the lighter frigates began their task of harrying the enemy vessels, closing in with dash and elan, pouring fire from their twin turrets and launching torpedo strikes whenever a target exposed itself. It was at this point that the F Squadron of frigates (the H.M.S. Exeter, Avarice and Fury) burst forth from the wreckage of the smaller FSA ships to pour crippling fire onto one, then another FSA Cruiser, the fire setting alight their magazines, causing explosions to ring forth from the very bowels of the vessels, lifting both ships high into the air and tearing them in half.

The secret weapons again made an appearance at a critical point, the Captain again simply uttered the word "Overlord" into the wireless. The nearby FSA cruiser simply stopped firing, smoke ceased to billow from it's smoke stacks and when Cooper looked closely, he saw black clad men stalking the ship, and a Brittanian Flag flying on the mast. Cooper watched as silently next to the Cruiser two metallic hulls rose up out of the water, the black clad soldiers leaping back onto their vessels as they went off to stalk their next prey. Cooper could only watch aghast as the brass prow of the vessels began to slowly move, then pick up speed as the vessels steamed forward into the hapless FSA frigates. The consequences were violent and instantaneous, the two grey hulls continued their rampage, leaving broken vessels in their wake.

It was only now that the Achillies really began to spew forth fire from her guns, sending plunging fire against the enemy Battleship. Raging fires broke out over the enemy vessel as one of the secret weapons endeavoured to provide the coup de grace against the enemy battleship. The submarine's brass prow again burst into life, attempting to rip apart the battleship from stern to stem. Unfortunatly the submarine simply collided with the enemy, tore into it and became stuck and was easy prey for the enemy boarders, who were able to disable the submarine and capture it.

Upon seeing this, the Captain again issued a second order, "Chastise" was said into the wireless, as the submarine erupted into flame, from an internal source. The Captain turned to Cooper, and said "No secrets must fall into the enemies' hands, those sailors knew the risks, with great glory comes great sacrifice".

The enemy battleship evaded around a small gap in the atoll, evading the heavy fire from the Achillies. The commanders of the remaining Frigates offered to pursue the stricken vessel, but the Captain ordered a halt and a return to Darwin, there needed to be a refit and rearm, lest the battlegroup get caught by another Japanese ambush. In addition, the FSA were meant to be their allies.....

So, Dystopian Wars. 3 games down, many, many more to go! It is a really fun game, very easy to kill the small stuff but the big stuff is much, much harder to get rid of. Frigates were brilliant in this game, and my Battleship has been exemplary in both of it's engagements!

Hope you enjoyed reading them!

CP