The six Anacondas remained in the area, occasionally moving into sensor range, but mainly staying out around a hundred and fifty million kilometres away and occasionally engaging their active sensors. About a week after the battle, the three Vipers reappeared close to the wreck of the last Python to be destroyed, then set a course for the Expeditionary Force. As the Ymir jump point was not stabilised, neither the Vipers nor the Anacondas could leave Jörmungandr without a jump point, assuming the Cobras were in fact jump cruisers.
As the Vipers seemed prepared to engage, perhaps out of desperation if they couldn’t leave the system, Captain Fraser moved to meet them. HMS Pomone was en route back to Earth with the Ophidian prisoners and had been replaced the her sister ship HMS Prometheus, newly arrived from Sol. Rather than use missiles on the three light cruisers, Captain Fraser decided to engage with energy weapons instead. The Royal Navy warships outranged the Vipers and had much more overall firepower.
The three Vipers starting taking fire from 230,000 km, minimal at first but with damage increasing once they moved into 5” range. Even so, their strong armour and superior ECM meant they had only taken six penetrating hits between them, without affecting their speed, by the time they opened fire. HMS Prometheus suffered forty strength-1 hits, flattening her shields and causing minimal armour damage. One Viper took a broadside of 10” fire from HMS Victorious and dropped out of formation. Moments later another was hit by a volley of 8” fire from HMS Niobe and slowed to half speed. Both were out of range when their railguns recycled. The third scored another seventeen hits on HMS Prometheus, penetrating through two-third of her armour bet, before being blown to pieces by HMS Europa. The last two Vipers were destroyed by 10” fire from outside their own weapons range.
Although HMS Prometheus had lost about eleven percent of her armour, she remained in the Expeditionary Force, as she had a full load of Daedalus missiles. Ten days after the brief battle, the Royal Sovereign class battleships HMS Hood and HMS Royal Oak arrived in Jörmungandr and joined the Expeditionary Force. HMS Illustrious and HMS Victorious, close to their maximum deployment time and with half their ordnance expended, departed for Earth. Two days later, the Anacondas reappeared on a direct course for the Erebus jump point. Unlike previous occasions when they moved into extreme sensor range and then pulled back, this time they continued forward with purpose. It was possible they were nearing the end of their own resources and, unable to leave the system, decided to attack while they still could.
Expeditionary Force
Majestic class Battleship: Magnificent, Majestic
Royal Sovereign class Battleship: Hood, Royal Oak
Diadem class Heavy Cruiser: Europa, Niobe
Pelorus class Light Cruiser: Prometheus, Psyche
HMS Hood and HMS Royal Oak launched a salvo of twenty-four Perseus missiles at Anaconda 007. Ten hit, one of which penetrated armour. They launched their second and final Perseus salvo at twenty-four million kilometres. The second wave achieved fifteen hits. Two colossal secondary explosions tore the 37,000 heavy cruiser to pieces. The Expeditionary Force interposed itself between the Ophidian fleet and the jump point, then moved out to meet it, hoping to create sufficient space to run and launch two Theseus salvos before being caught.
At four point five million kilometres, the Expeditionary Force launched a wave of sixty-two Theseus missiles, split between two of the five Anacondas. Without the Pythons and their gauss cannon, the Anacondas were more vulnerable to the deadly Theseus. Anaconda 008 was struck by nineteen strength-25 detonations, more than half of which caused internal damage, and left crippled and motionless. Anaconda 009 suffered sixteen hits and fell out of formation, reduced to half speed. While a few missiles were distracted by decoys, the retargeting capability of the Theseus meant that subsequent attacks after an initial miss were unaffected by the Ophidian decoys expended during the initial attack.
The wounded, but still mobile Anaconda retreated. The three intact ships continued on. Captain Fraser was on hie way home with HMS Illustrious, but his replacement, Captain Elliott Lewis of HMS Hood, was feeling confident about the outcome of the latest battle. The Expeditionary Force continued toward the jump point, reloading its capital missile launchers, as the three Anacondas closed the gap. Captain Lewis ordered HMS Prometheus to launch a couple of salvos of Daedalus missiles at the fleeing Anaconda 009, but they achieved only a single hit. The distance to the Erebus jump point shrank rapidly as the Expeditionary Fleet and the Anacondas raced toward it. The salvage ship RFA Phoenix, having abandoned its operations when the Anaconda began their approach, reached the jump point just in time.
Two minutes later, the Expeditionary Fleet launched another salvo of sixty-two Theseus missiles. As soon as the missiles launched, with the Anacondas at less than two million kilometres, the alien ships reversed course to run. The depleted point defences of the Ophidian fleet were plain to see, as forty-eight of the missiles detonated over the course of ten seconds, disabling both targets. Only one Anaconda remained intact. Now it was the turn of the Expeditionary Force to pursue. Captain Lewis detached his pair of light cruisers to picket the jump point, then took his four battleships and two heavy cruisers after the fleeing Anaconda, planning to target the cripples en route.
After about six minutes, the intact Ophidian ship reversed course and charged the Expeditionary Force, catching its pursuers unawares. There would be no time to reload before it closed the distance, so the six Royal Navy ships prepared for an energy range engagement. In total, the Expeditionary Force had twenty-eight twin 10” turrets, eight twin 8” turrets and thirty-six twin 5” turrets. The Anaconda was armed with twenty-nine 8” railguns and had demonstrated formidable armour and superior ECM.
Captain Lewis ordered the two light cruisers into Erebus, as their passive defences were deemed insufficient for the battle, but the main body of the Expeditionary Fleet would move past the jump point and fight the battle to the finish. At 250,000 km, the four battleships and two heavy cruisers opened fire, scoring a single hit. The Anaconda immediately reversed course. While the Ophidians had numbers and technology on their side, they seemed extremely timid and over-cautious, regularly pulling back to regroup when taking even minor damage.
This time there was no regrouping, as the Anaconda continued to flee. As the range opened to a million kilometres, Captain Lewis ordered HMS Hood and HMS Royal Oak to fire a salvo of twenty-four Theseus missiles. While the Theseus was a highly effective missiles, a full salvo of sixty-two from the Expeditionary Force had the same cost as a Pelorus class light cruiser, so Lewis was keen to not expend more than required. Fourteen hit, which slowed the Anaconda to 4581 km/s, still faster than the pursuing Expeditionary Force.
HMS Magnificent launched a follow-up salvo of fifteen Theseus. Thirteen detonated, followed by a large secondary explosion that destroyed the Anaconda. Four Anacondas remained on Imperial sensors; one at half speed and the rest on manoeuvring thrusters only. The nearest marine transport was a week away, so Captain Lewis engaged each damaged Anaconda from beyond its maximum weapon range, until all were destroyed, after which the Expeditionary Force, very low on ordnance, returned to the Erebus jump point to cover salvage operations. Two days later, another Ophidian light cruiser squadron, comprising three Vipers and a Sidewinder, appeared at the edge of sensor range.
The alien squadron danced around for three days on the edge of sensor range. In Erebus, HMS Hermes arrived at the Jörmungandr jump point. HMS Hermes was a unique ship, designed to carry a pair of Havock class destroyers to colonies too distant for the fast, but short-legged, destroyers to reach, along with up to four reloads for their fixed light missile launchers. As she was not intended to enter combat herself, she had minimal armour and fuel efficient engines.
In this case, the Admiralty had decided to make use of HMS Hermes as a temporary mobile base, able to hide in Erebus and send a pair of destroyers into Jörmungandr. With their 6000 km/s top speed, the destroyers could catch the Ophidians and use their missiles from outside hostile weapon range without fear of retaliation. HMS Hasty and HMS Snapper moved out toward the Ophidian light cruiser squadron. Seeing the approach of a pair of 6000 ton ships, and no doubt comparing that to their own 50,000-ton squadron, the four Ophidian ships set an intercept course.
Once they closed within five million kilometres, the two destroyers launched a wave of forty-eight Daedalus missiles at one of the Vipers, then reversed course toward the jump point. Twenty-six missiles struck the target, with seven strength-5 detonations causing internal damage. There was no reduction in speed. Once again, the resilience of the Ophidian designs was amply demonstrated. The Ophidian squadron chased the destroyers back toward the Erebus jump point, so Captain Lewis ordered them to slow down and try to lure the alien ships within range of the battleships. The destroyers gradually reduced their speed, allowing the Ophidians to slowly overhaul them, until the moved within Theseus missile range of the battleships.
The entire Expeditionary Force had a total of one hundred and sixty-seven Theseus missiles remaining. HMS Hood and HMS Royal Oak launched twelve missiles each at the damaged Viper and the Sidewinder, which was known to have weaker armour. HMS Magnificent, HMS Majestic, HMS Europa and HMS Niobe launched nineteen missiles at each of the two undamaged Vipers. HMS Prometheus launched four Daedalus missiles at the Sidewinder.
The damaged Viper was blown to pieces, while the other three ships took nine hits from the initial attack. The remaining missiles, including those that had missed the damaged Viper, attacked again. A second Viper vanished in a large secondary explosion. Five seconds later, the last Viper and the Sidewinder, already suffering massive damage, were attacked for the third time. Both ships disintegrated amid a further thirteen detonations. In terms of immediate damage, the salvo was among the effective launched so far in the war against the mysterious Ophidians. While the loss of HMS Empress of India and HMS Royal Sovereign was still a tragedy, the Royal Navy had more than evened the score in recent weeks.
Unfortunately, the war was not yet over. Less than a day after the most recent battle, Cobra 001, from the fleet that destroyed the two battleships, was detected at the edge of sensor range. When last seen, it had a speed of 4580 km/s, so it had apparently repaired that damage. However, it seemed to be alone and pulled back shortly afterwards. HMS Hasty and HMS Snapper, their fixed light missile launchers reloaded by HMS Hermes, ventured out once again to investigate, but the enemy ship vanished before they could reach it. Back at Earth, the first Ophidian prisoners were being processed. Communications had not yet been established, so there was no immediate way to gain useful intelligence. However, the first group of prisoners would be a captive audience for the linguistics experts of the Naval Intelligence Department.
The Cobra reappeared on November 20th and the destroyers were still waiting silently in the same area. They engaged their active sensors and gave chase, soon acquiring the target themselves. Once within range, they launched their Daedalus missiles, scoring thirty strength-5 hits across twenty-five seconds of repeated passes and battering the Cobra to a standstill. Presumably, the previous damage had not all been repaired. The destroyers were each armed with eight 5” lasers, so they closed to 165,000 km and poured continuous fire into the helpless Ophidian cruiser from beyond its own weapon range. By the time it finally exploded, the destroyers had exhausted eighty percent of their maintenance supplies in keeping their weapons operational.
On November 25th 1901, a complete understanding of the alien language was achieved via interrogation of the ‘Ophidian’ prisoners. Their species was called the Rhexar and their empire was the Rhexar Imperium. The Rhexar themselves were huge, powerful humanoids, with red, leathery skin stretched tightly across their muscular form. There were no ‘soft’ areas, such as lips or noses, giving them the appearance of giant humans with their skin removed. Their manner was as arrogant as their appearance was horrifying. At least the Naval Intelligence interrogators would have a chance to attain some hard data regarding their empire and its capabilities. All references to Ophidians in official reporting would henceforth be replaced by the Rhexar designation.
In early December, interrogations of Rhexar prisoners revealed data that improved the range of laser fire control systems. While research into this technology was already well underway, it was still almost two years away from completion. Once new fire controls utilising this technology were available and incorporated into new designs, it would increase the range advantage of Royal Navy lasers vs Imperium railguns.
In January 1902, a Caledonia class freighter emplaced a tracking station on Jörmungandr I, a Venusian world, without any interference from the Rhexar Imperium. On February 12th, the tracking station detected active sensor emissions from two Anaconda class ships in orbit of the ninth moons of Jörmungandr III. These were two of the ships that destroyed HMS Empress of India and HMS Royal Sovereign. That fleet had apparently taken up station near the site of the Rhexar colony destroyed by the two battleships. Since the recent series of battles, three Royal Fleet Auxiliary salvage ships had cleared almost all the wrecks near the Erebus jump point without any sign of activity from the Rhexar, until the most recent sighting.
In April 1902, three newly constructed Gibraltar class Fortress bases were deployed at the Albion – Thetis jump point, to defend against the Vaelor Hegemony. Each 15,000-ton Gibraltar had the same laser armament as a Royal Sovereign class battleship, plus a dozen fixed capital missile launchers for a powerful initial salvo of Theseus missiles. The bases were designed for long deployments of to five years, making them ideal for jump point defence. They had no shields, relying instead on a thick belt of armour to protect them during the violence of a jump point assault. With the bases in place, the existing defence force of two Royal Sovereign class battleships and two Diadem heavy cruisers was able to pull back to Port Albion for an overhaul. Freeing up these mobile forces would also make it easier to maintain a four battleship force in Jörmungandr to counter the threat from the Rhexar Imperium.
Even with the threat from the Hegemony and the Imperium, the expansion of known space continued. By July 1902, the ten remaining Apollo class light cruisers had increased known space to ninety-nine systems, including six beyond Jörmungandr. Jörmungandr itself had three outward jump points, with the survey still underway, as did Ymir, the suspected source of the fleet that destroyed two Royal Navy battleships. So far, no Rhexar forces or colonies had been encountered in any system except Jörmungandr.
The British Empire’s own colonies continue to expand. The growth of Vulcan’s Forge had slowed considerably but it was still the most populous colony with fifty-eight million inhabitants and over five hundred mines and automated mines. Port Sirius, a terraformed asteroid in the Sirius system had a population of forty-five million and hosted four hundred financial centres. New Carthage, the mining colony four jumps from Sol, had been the focus of the recent terraforming and colonisation effort. It became an ideal habitable world in July 1902, with a population of thirty-five million and four hundred mines in operation.
Port Boreas and Port Albion each had a population of twenty-two million. The former, in Alpha Centauri, was established to facilitate civilian mining operations in the system. Apart from a small naval base and forty financial centres, there was no industry at the colony. Port Albion was very different. Initially founded for the same reason as Port Boreas, on a tiny terraformed moon in the Albion system, it soon became a frontline base against the Vaelor Imperium, supporting those ships defending the Albion - Thetis jump point. Port Albion was also the closest Imperial colony – in terms of distance, not jumps - to the battles against the Rhexar Hegemony in Jörmungandr. It was by far the largest naval base outside Sol, with sufficient capacity for 300,000 tons of military shipping.
After the conclusion of terraforming in Carthage, the new focus for the majority of the Eden class terraforming station was the Marlborough colony on Blenheim-A III, a Mars-sized world with extensive mineral deposits. Vulcan’s Forge, New Carthage and Marlborough, known as the Triad worlds, would form the foundation of the Empire’s mining operations for decades, perhaps centuries. In July 1902, Marlborough was by far the smallest of the Triad, with a population of less than five million. The surface temperature was -104C and the Colonial Office Rating was 3.95, so substantial colonisation would have to wait until terraforming was nearing completion.
There were four other colonies, all with population of approximately one million. The Monument Research Station on Selene I was five jumps from Sol via Lalande, Ephesus, Blenheim and Smyrna. The planet had an ancient construct dedicated to Direct Fire research, providing a bonus of 50% to any research in that field. The small, barren world, between Mars and Mercury in size, had a temperature range between 480C and 600C and orbited its star every twenty-nine hours. It would take extensive terraforming to reduce the Colonial Office rating and was not a priority compared to the massive effort at Marlborough.
The Furnace Research Station, located on the first planet of the Sidon system, one jump outward from New Carthage, was even hotter at 700C. Sidon I orbited its star every eight hours and, like Selene I, was tide-locked, which reduced the impact of the extreme temperatures within the narrow twilight zone between the light and dark hemispheres. It was also home to an ancient construct, providing a 90% bonus to research in the field of sensors and control systems. Whichever race built the constructs, generally referred to by Naval Intelligence as the Ancients, they apparently liked to be warm. A single research facility was already in operations at Furnace Station, although not at full capacity due to the population being focused on environmental concerns. The colony was also home to a huge Xenoarchaeology effort, with ten different expeditions studying the construct. While the results of their research would be unpredictable, especially compared to dedicated research facilities, it would still aid the Empire over the long term.
The final two colonies were in the Pompeii system, five transits from Sol via Victoria, Albion, Medea and Herculaneum. A small colony on the tiny third moon of Pompeii was established to promote civilian mining in the system. Terraforming operations were carried out by just three Eden Stations, as the moon was only 1600 km in diameter, which created a breathable atmosphere and brough the temperature into the human tolerable range. The Colonial Office Rating was 0.48, but this would slowly drop to zero as water vapour condensed out of the atmosphere. With a grandeur not yet matching the reality, the colony was named Augusta Vesuvia. Due to the need to urgently increase the population of New Carthage to address the Empire’s severe Duranium shortage, the further colonisation of Augusta Vesuvia was on hold.
Pompeii I was home to another ancient construct, with a 40% bonus to Direct Fire research, but this planet made the Monument and Furnace Research Stations appear idyllic in comparison. It was larger than Earth, with gravity of 1.55G, and had an atmosphere of CO2 and Nitrogen Dioxide with an atmospheric pressure of 175 atm, almost double that of Venus. The surface temperature in excess was of 1600C. There was no chance of either establishing a colony using infrastructure, or terraforming the planet. Instead, five Elysium class orbital habitats, with a total population of one million, had been towed into orbit. While the ancient construct could not be fully utilised, due to the environmental conditions, even a basic study would provide a small boost to Direct Fire research elsewhere in the Empire.
On July 14th 1902, a new ship of the Vaelor Imperium was detected in Albion, approximately a quarter of a billion kilometres from Port Albion. At first, there was great concern that the ship had entered through a new dormant jump point,. However, it soon became apparent that the three fortresses at the Thetis jump point did not have their sensors active due to an administrative error. The Vaelor ship, designated as Clouded Leopard class, had probably passed right in front of them. Four destroyers were dispatched from Port Albion to hunt down the alien raider, although they only had a 51 km/s speed advantage. The Clouded Leopard soon reversed course, back toward the jump point and vanished from sensors.
After a chase across the system, with the destroyers split into pairs, they finally ran the Clouded Leopard to ground close to the jump point, as the Vaelor ship tried to avoid the Fortresses and their now-active sensors. Rather than expend missiles, they closed to 5” range and attacked until the Clouded Leopard was disabled. A marine transport was dispatched from Port Albion. The Royal Marines secured the damaged ship within two minutes, taking a single casualty. The Clouded Leopard was a 14,263-ton scout ship, equipped with magneto-plasma drives. The Royal Navy had the first few warships under construction with ion engines, but the magneto-plasma drive was an entire generation beyond that and more than a decade away from development.
A fifth jump point was discovered in Jörmungandr in August 1902. A Pathfinder cutter probed the jump point and found a planetless red dwarf that was named Hati. After returning to Jörmungandr, the cutter was ordered to check the moons of the third planet, two of which were home to Rhexar colonies that were bombarded and probably destroyed by HMS Royal Sovereign and HMS Empress of India, prior to their own destruction. With four outward jump points, the Admiralty felt it was time to establish a forward base in Jörmungandr. As the first two planets were Venusian, the only option was one of the moons of Jörmungandr III. The cutter detected the same Rhexar fleet that defeated the two battleships, minus a Cobra that was destroyed by the Expeditionary Force and one of the Anacondas, still in orbit of one of the colony sites. The cutter was briefly pursed, but managed to escape after disengaging its active sensors.
On September 8th, the Royal Navy went on the offensive in Jörmungandr. The deployment of bases at the Thetis jump point, plus careful management of overhaul cycles, allowed a force of six battleships, two heavy cruisers and the escort carrier HMS Hermes to be deployed in the system. The Expeditionary Force headed for Jörmungandr III, hoping to force a showdown with the Rhexar fleet of five Anacondas, one Cobra and three Pythons.
Expeditionary Force
Majestic class Battleship: Illustrious, Magnificent, Majestic, Victorious
Royal Sovereign class Battleship: Hood, Royal Oak
Diadem class Heavy Cruiser: Amphitrite, Diadem
Hermes class Escort Carrier: Hermes
The Rhexar fleet answered the challenge, moving out to meet the Expeditionary Force. After launching its two destroyers to act as forward scouts, HMS Hermes retreated back toward the Erebus jump point. Her slow speed of 2500 km/s would otherwise hamper the Expeditionary Force. Once the approach of the Rhexar fleet was confirmed, albeit at the oddly slow speed of 1832 km/s, the destroyers fell back into the main body.
At thirty million kilometres, the Expeditionary Fleet launched ninety-two Perseus missiles, the largest salvo ever launched by the Royal Navy. The three Python escort cruisers were the target. Twenty-five missiles detonated, of which only a single one penetrated the armour. Python 002 dropped out of formation and moved back toward Jörmungandr III at 4,123km/s. A second Perseus wave was launched, with the two remaining Pythons and the Cobra as the targets.
This attack was far more successful. The Cobra and one of the damaged Pythons were ripped apart by multiple large secondary explosions, while the other Python was destroyed when the remaining missiles re-engaged. An Anaconda that had been seriously damaged in the earlier engagement with HMS Royal Sovereign and HMS Empress of India was struck several times by Perseus missiles seeking new targets and fell out of formation at 916 km/s. The Rhexar main body now comprised four Anaconda, which increased speed to 5500 km/s and continued closing on the Expeditionary Force.
At four million kilometres, the fleet launched ninety-two Theseus missiles, split between three of the Anacondas, and fifty Daedalus missiles from the destroyers, targeted on the fourth. The missiles attacked several times over the course of twenty seconds, inflicting internal damage on every ship except Anaconda 006, which was targeted by the much lighter Daedalus. The Rhexar formation broke apart, with Anaconda 006 continuing to charge at full speed, one Anaconda dead in space and the other two moving away at 2749 km/s and 916 km/s respectively.
The Expeditionary Fleet, once more under the command of Captain Jason Fraser, reversed course and let the single Anaconda move into laser range. The Anaconda reached 190,000 km, before it was gutted by a massive strength-140 secondary explosion. Somehow it survived, but all its engines were disabled. The nearest marine transport was at Port Albion, so Captain Fraser ordered his ships to eliminate the Rhexar cripples. Three Anacondas were rapidly blown to pieces. The fourth took heavy fire and promptly surrendered.
This was the first alien ship, of any race, to surrender under fire, but it allowed a welcome look at the Anaconda design. The Rhexar had designated the ship as a battlecruiser, which would be used by Naval Intelligence from this point forward. The Anaconda was fast, well-armed and equipped with technology that was partially ahead of the Royal Navy vessels that destroyed it, particularly with regard to engines and ECM. The former would at least be addressed by two ion-engined battleships and two heavy cruisers under construction at Earth.
The Expeditionary Force eliminated the last Anaconda, plus a Python that had fled back to the devastated colony, then conducted a sweep of the moons of Jörmungandr III. Rhexar ground forces remained on the first and ninth moons, at the sites of the devastated colonies, but there was no sign of any installations. Two days after the battle, a sensor buoy on the Ymir – Utgard jump point detected the transit of two ships of a new type of 14,832 tons, designated as Krait class. The two Kraits set a course for the Ymir – Jörmungandr jump point at a very concerning 7000 km/s. Ymir was a T7-VII brown dwarf, so the distance would be covered in less than a day.
The light cruiser HMS Pandora had been picketing the Jörmungandr – Ymir jump point, but had moved away to pick up life pods from the destroyed Imperium ships. She immediately reversed course but was too far away to arrive in time. The Expeditionary Force headed for the Ymir jump point, except for HMS Amphitrite and HMS Diadem, which were left behind to cover planned salvage operations. The light cruiser HMS Andromache, assigned to the Hydrographic Office, was in Fimbulwinter, a system beyond another of Ymir’s jump point. She abandoned her survey and set course for Ymir, but she only had a speed of 2500 km/s.
Ten hours after the initial contact, the two Kraits transited into Jörmungandr, detected by buoys on either side of the jump point, then set an immediate course for the Erebus jump point, which was guarded only by HMS Pelorus, a 15,000-ton light cruiser. The Rhexar Imperium was taking advantage of the Expeditionary Force being out of position to attempt to send ships through Erebus into Victoria, where they could threaten Vulcan’s Forge. So far, the two Kraits had not destroyed any buoys, which was the only positive. It was possible they were unarmed.
At 23:00 on September 19th, the two Rhexar ships transited into Erebus. HMS Pelorus was armed with four twin 6” laser turrets and four light missile launchers. She opened fire on the closest ship with her lasers and launched Daedalus missiles at the other Krait, which appeared 50,000 km from the jump point. The first Krait took over twenty laser hits, most of which penetrated, before it moved out of range, but it maintained its speed. The second was hit by a single Daedalus, with the other three hit by point defence. Both Kraits were on course for the Victoria jump point. There was no counter fire, so they appeared to be unarmed.
HMS Pelorus launched her subsequent salvos of Daedalus missiles at the Krait she had damaged with her lasers. It took eight minutes and four salvos before sufficient hits were achieved to disable the engine of the swift alien vessel. The light cruiser locked her missile fire control on the other Krait, which had only taken a single hit so far. Unfortunately, its point defence proved most effective and HMS Pelorus scored only two hits from twenty-eight missiles, before her magazines ran dry. She reversed course and returned to the Jörmungandr jump point, relying on a Diadem class heavy cruiser and two destroyers, which had raced from Port Albion to the Victoria – Erebus jump point, to intercept the second Rhexar scout.
Four days later, the Krait reappeared ninety million kilometres from the Erebus – Jörmungandr jump point. Four 250,000 ton Atlas class freighters were moving through Erebus from Victoria, carrying infrastructure for a planned new naval base in Jörmungandr. It was possible the Krait believed they were armed and had retreated accordingly. The Rhexar ship remained in position, monitoring the jump point. HMS Pelorus could not catch it, due to the 3000 km/s speed difference, and had exhausted her magazines.
The Expeditionary Force moved to the Jörmungandr – Ymir jump point, as that was the most likely route to the heart of Imperium space, then detached HMS Illustrious and HMS Victorious, which moved to the Erebus jump point. The Royal Navy could not maintain six battleships in Jörmungandr for an extended period, so they would return home for overhaul, with a secondary objective of attacking the Krait still lurking in Erebus, if they could catch it. As soon as the two battleships transited into Erebus, the Krait ran for the Victoria jump point, but encountered HMS Clyde, a marine transport heading for the Krait disabled by HMS Pelorus. With no way to know the transport wasn’t armed, the Krait found itself between two hostile forces.
The Krait attempted various course changes, trying to move out from between the Royal Navy ships, so the battleships split up in an attempt to approach from three side. Slowly, they manoeuvred the Krait between them and began to move in. HMS Illustrious managed to close to half a million kilometres, before the Krait made its decision and moved straight past HMS Clyde rather than be pushed close to the battleships.
With the range increasing, HMS Illustrious fired a full salvo of Theseus missiles. Thirteen of them detonated on target, followed by a large secondary explosion that destroyed the Krait. HMS Illustrious and HMS Victorious picked up the Rhexar survivors and resumed their journey back to Earth. HMS Clyde continued toward the Erebus jump point, then launched her Royal Marine companies against the disabled Krait. They captured it without suffering any casualties. The Rhexar Krait was similar to the Clouded Leopard of the Vaelor. A jump-capable scout equipped with magneto-plasma engines and defended by a pair of close-in weapons systems. Both of the primary enemies of the British Empire had deployed Magneto-plasma drive ships before the Royal Navy had its first ion-engined warship in service.