"Ha! So it begins" shouted the captain. The combat siren played through the ship. "Alright ensign, fire at their radar and navigation systems and prepare missile countermeasures. Afterwards, target their cannon, it should go down soon enough and corporal, radio in the frigates, we don't want to lose them."

The 130mm cannon swivels into position and fires twice at the relays by the ships mast.

(I'll let you decide the damage, keep in mind I'm aiming at your telecommunication relays - be fair)

4 sailors trying to get off the deck are mowed down by the fire. Out of the three shots fired, only one sits the bridge, causing minor damage and 1 casualty. 1 manages to pass between the bridge and comms relay, landing in the water with a splash and the other strays off course and manages to damages the control relays for 4 of the 8 Moskit SSM P-270 anti ship missiles, rendering them useless. However the other 4 begin to arm themselves, with coordinates already loaded into their targeting systems (ooc these won't be used unless combat goes poorly for me). The AK-630 (every gun on Russian ships seem to be AK's) missile defence guns begin to spin up and scan the area between the two ships for incoming objects. The main gun then fires another 4 shots at the Vendémiaires 100mm cannon in the aim of disabling it.

25mm shells rip through the Imperious's bridge, killing half the officers inside and wounding the rest. Captain Melkiv is badly wounded, with a long piece of metal scrap lodged in his left shoulder blade and although not initially lethal it partially inhibits his movement due to the pain. Sparks fly around the room, small fires breaking out on several of the command consoles. Connection had been lost to the rudder and turbines and the link between the console and the main gun has developed a glitch.

For a while there was a deathly silence between the boats

"****! Agh, ****!" the captain cursed as he felt the shrapnel in his shoulder "Ensign? You still with us?"
"Yes .... sir...."
"Good, now be a man and control the gun, aim at that cannon and rip it a new one. Could I trouble someone for a report?"
"We've lost manoeuvrability and engine power sir, around 12 dead and another dozen injured. The main cannon, although it appears to work, isn't properly functioning and we may have also lost telecommunications. Sir.... hang on, we've also lost contact with the silo relays. Sir"
"Hrmph... Get those shots off ensign, and make sure they're good ones, and then cease fire, I think we should try to talk about our problems."
The captain smiled to himself at that, reminding himself of his ex-wife, and began to focus on the Vendemiaires.

Meanwhile, the three frigates were getting closer to the fight.

On the Imperious
"Sir, they're not responding to our hails, they're still trying to get away and... erm... an empty life boat has dropped? What are your orders?"

The captain sighed. "I didn't want this to end with a ship on the ocean surface, but if it must be, fire a second set of shells at their propellers and do not stop until they are destroyed. I want that ship stopped. And where the hell are those frigates?!"

The frigates are almost within accurate firing range now and are closing at a much greater speed than the Vendemiaires can get away at.

(OOC - yeah, I realised that after posting, but I couldn't be bothered to change it, so now we have some close quarters fighting)

The Imperious rocked violently as the Vendemiaires burrowed itself into its hull.
The captain grabs the tannoy "All hands, we are being boarded, I repeat, we are being boarded. Take up positions and defend the ship, we cannot lose to them here! Fight like you were born to fight, fight like the Velucians you are!"

Melkiv then takes a key out of hs pocket and opens the gun cabinet held at the far end of the bridge, he takes out 2 AK-12s, throwing them to the nearest officers, and 3 MP-443 Grachs (pistols), keeps one and goes on to hand out the rest. He turn to the ensign at the gun and says "Whatever you do, don't stop firing, and if this becomes a losing battle, detonate the remaining Moskits. At least they'll go down with us."

The ensign gives a brief nod and turns back to the controls. Imperial naval code states that in the event of a boarding, a squad of seven must be defending the bridge at all costs. This incident is no exception, and seven Imperial Sentinels (if you read the peace treaty thread you'll know what these are but it doesn't really matter, they're guards) take up position inside the control room, facing the door and outside the windows. The crew get into place, locking down all corridors and stairways and using makeshift cover for protection.

The three frigate have now entered the fight and have begun to surround the Francophonian ship, though making sure to stay out of the line of sight of the 25mm cannon. They are preparing to fire.

Guts and viscera are smeared across the inner walls of the bridge. The grenades were extremely effective, killing 7 of the ten on the bridge. Miraculously, Captain Melkiv and two of the sentinels survived the blast, though with serious injuries, mainly due to the fact that they at the opposite side of the room. And as Francophonian troops rushed into the bridge he knew that there was no escape for him or his crew, so he ran to the missile control computer , while the two remaining guards drew the enemy fire, and activated the manual launch sequence.

Both ships rocked tremendously as the rocket fired upwards, though trapped by the silo door, and then the device detonated. The force was so strong, the Velucian frigates almost capsized from the severity of the waves caused...

(OOC - What will happen, will anyone survive? find out next time, on ..'Unnecessary Combat Situations')

(OOC: Fascinating outcome.)

The explosion, trapped within the Velucian ship, doesn't destroy the Alliance frigate. However, it begins to sink. The engineering spaces are quickly abandoned as they fill with water. The Capitaine leads his crewmen to the last remaining lifeboat, launching it with his crew aboard. As the lifeboat drift from the doomed warship, the Capitaine feels sadness, for the ship that was his charge is sinking beneath the waves. He is, however, justifiably proud of trading his relatively small frigate for a far more powerful destroyer. His pride extends to his crew, as they fought well.