|
Post by EmperorMyric on Dec 16, 2017 19:19:37 GMT
Solomance was a relatively unassuming system. It had started as every other system did, being slowly made millions of years ago when the systems star finally caught light. From then on its 4 planets started to form, one of which was destroyed early on thanks to the turbulence of the young solar system forming a very dense asteroid field which protected the inner two worlds from the outer world. The inner worlds became fertile planets ideal for colonisation, the third became a planet wrapped in ice and snow but however contained untapped mineral wealth. The system stayed like this, slowly spinning in space, content to endure the years.
All of that changed when Capitol had arrived. The third world was immediately turned into a choking mining complex to strip away the mineral wealth that it contained. With thousands of slaves working in horrendous conditions the wealth was finally uncovered and added to the Capitol war machine. The other two worlds were colonised with ruthless imperialism, One was turned into a sprawling fortress world where battle fleets would come to refuel and rearm, The second world was cleansed with atomic fire, After a young race was discovered to have developed into the dark age period. Capitol had decided not to sully themselves with wasting ground forces and so decided to rebirth the world in fire, it remains a charred radioactive rock to this day.
But this day, the slaves of the third world in the system would see the fruits of their forced labour. When the mines finally ran dry the slaves from all different empires and races were marched outside into the frozen wastes, and forced to look up. All they saw was a battle fleet, a fleet of 4000 ships, ready to bring death and misery to the galaxy. Many wept for they knew it was because of them they had contributed. In a way what happened next was kind, the guards gunned down the slaves and left. Left the frozen now empty world. The fleet above was ready, ready for the signal to bring the glory of Capitol to dozens of systems. Re armed and re fitted the fleet then proceeded to cleanse the world below in fire, wiping away all traces of their presence. Only the fortress world now remained.
As for the fleet, they set off towards the systems edge ready for engaging their FTL drives, their destination.
Nobody knew.
---
The scanners of the Immortal Empire suddenly came alive with incoming ships. 4000 in total suddenly appeared inbound for 4 different systems. There was little time to prepare but a alert to high command was sent as soon as the inbounds were confirmed. It would be a couple of hours before reinforcements arrived. As the inbound ships approached the scanners identified all the ships splitting off into 4 groups of 1000, two of the groups were heading for outer rim systems, only containing small colony worlds. The third headed towards a medium system containing a mining world, and the fourth group which had a massive signal at its heart headed for a heavily populated system, it was also heavily defended. This was the start of Capitols incursion, spurred on into thinking this space was ripe for the taking they would be sorely mistaken. However both Capitol and the IE has no concept to surrender or retreat. The resulting battles were bloodbaths that eclipsed the horrors at Ambrosius and would be hammered into Ancerious history.
Lorenchan system, outer rim 7:14AM local time
The first of the Capitol sections translated in system at the outer edge. A few listening posts and scanner buoys nearby were destroyed as the Capitol fleet reorganised before heading in system. Consisting of a 1000 ships the fleet was fairly formidable. The commander of the force surveyed the system. 4 planets, one colonised with a population of around 3 billion resided in the middle of the system. Two worlds were merely ice balls with very wide orbits. While the third was uninhabited and seemed to be a volcanic world near to the star. A large orbital station orbited the habitable world, and around 5 ships were detected patrolling the system. None above cruiser size, as soon as the fleet made its way slowly towards the outer world 2 of the smaller ships jumped out, the light showing the Capitol fleet translating in system only now reaching them. Their captains jumping away to warn other systems. The other 3 ships started to move to, but their projected courses were as of yet undetermined. It would take around 3 hours to reach the habitable world and in that time IE forces were sure to have arrived in response. The Capitol captain merely grunted at the projections. The fleet was already close to the furthest world due to its far flung orbit, With a gesture the captain sent 3 cruisers and 12 escorts to close in with the planet, and conduct cleansing operations.
Dalkarni system, outer rim 9:46PM local time
A very similar story played out in the Dalkarni system, however there were even less ships and only one planet, the system itself was extremely bleak, with the inhabited world only being the size of a small end planetoid. Obviously resources in this system were pretty much nonexistent. 2 IE cruisers defended the inhabited world and both of them stood their ground as the light showing Capitols arrival reached them. The Capitol fleet again started towards the planet, with a projected 5 hours until they reached their target, more than enough time for reinforcements to arrive. However long range planet scans revealed little military presence in the system with only a few ground bases and air bases as defence, It was the Capitol commander decided to subjugate this world instead of destroying it.
Varandal system, Mining system 5:23PM local time
The third group heading towards the medium populated star system had more of a rough time. The moment the Capitol ships translated in system they received a hail of fire from 5 IE cruisers plus escorts, as well as a few weapon platforms. It was a short but vicious fire fight and the Capitol fleet destroyed the IE defence forces with massed fire. In return the fleet had taken an estimated 27 casualties from the IE trap, mostly escorts but a few cruisers had also been destroyed. As the fleet moved out sensor scans showed 3 worlds, 2 populated while one was a massive mining complex, 3 massive defence stations and multiple weapon platforms dotted the system and around 11 IE ships were spread out though most were in a small flotilla of 6 ships orbiting the mining world. The Capitol fleet headed towards the nearest world which was one of populated planets. It was orbited by a defence station and so the captain gave orders to hang back out of range and bombard it with Tachyon arrows. It would take a mere 80 minutes until that manuvre could be executed, at least one planet here would fall before reinforcements arrived.
Xantan system, Fortified staging system 3:53AM local time
The fourth and final segment of the Capitol fleet translated into the Xantan system, Both sides found surprises waiting here. The IE already had a substantial fleet in system, and had set up a medium size fleet to engage Capitol when they translated, only around 30 ships plus defence platforms, the rest of the IE fleet was hanging back to see what happens. Capitol had been surprised by this, however the IE was surprised by what Capitol had brought with them. As soon as the Capitol fleet translated the IE opened fire, destroying 20 ships in short order, however the IE ships lasted a fraction longer as a salvo of Tachyon Arrows tore them apart. The large signal has turned out to be a super dreadnought, Scars Might. And it now spearheaded the assault. Scans revealed a bustling system of 6 worlds, all populated in some way or another, the system was also choked with defence platforms and had around 12 battle stations scattered around. The main IE fleet was orbiting the second planet furthest for the star. Estimated time to intercept was 3 hours, with 1 hour intercept with the furthest planet, it had a battle station orbiting it and so the Capitol fleet split in two, one segment heading towards the planet while the other containing Scars Might made a straight course towards what seemed to be the planet closest to the star. This was where the bloodiest battle in Ancerious began. It would only end one way, in fiery death.
|
|
|
Post by EmperorMyric on Dec 16, 2017 19:19:49 GMT
LORENCHAN SYSTEM
LOCAL FORCES RETREATED. PLANETARY DEFENSE CANNONS PREPARING TO FIRE INTERDICTOR ROUNDS.
DALKARNI SYSTEM
LOCAL FORCES RETREATED. PLANETARY DEFENSE CANNONS PREPARING TO FIRE INTERDICTOR ROUNDS. 303RD DEFENSE FLEET ON STANDBY.
VARANDAL SYSTEM
LOCAL FORCES CONVERGING ON OUTER PLANET. PLANETARY DEFENSE CANNONS HAVE ALREADY ENGAGED ENEMY SHIPS. WARFLEETS 51ST, 53RD, 54TH ARE AWAITING THE MOST OPPORTUNE MOMENT TO ENGAGE. 311TH VOID FLEET ON STANDBY.
CAPITOL SPACE
FORCES IN POSITION.
Just outside the Xantan System
As Homer finished listening to the status report he sneered at the pathetic display presented to him. It was a formidable offensive, but it relied solely on their numbers and had left their own worlds completely open to attack. A fact that he was already taking advantage of. His gaze shifted to the display showing the ships of the empire’s latest foe in the Xantan system. He focused on the largest of the enemy ships. The information he had been given had said that an enemy super ship of some sort was going to be here, and once again the Emerald Sword’s intelligence network had proven correct. An almost imperceptible vibration was emanating through the entire ship. Most couldn’t even feel it so slight was it. Homer smiled behind his helmet at the thought of unleashing the god like power contained within the nose of his ship.. ”Alright. Move in to engage. Soon as we’re in range blast the fleet containing the super dreadnaught. Soon as they’re out of the way we’ll mop up a few stragglers and be on our way.” Soon the ‘Leviathan’ was moving in system to engage the enemy forces. With it went the 50th warfleet as well as the remaining Assault Block.
Xantan System
The ‘Leviathan’ emerged from its FTL jump ready to intercept the ‘Scars Might’ and the ships escorting it. Within minutes the ‘Leviathan’ was hammered by thousands of tachyon arrows. But soon enough CABAL was predicting where and when these weapons would hit and began to intercept them with the ‘Leviathan’s void shielding. Deep within the bowels of the Immortal Empire’s super dreadnought, Homer uttered one word that ended the lives of thousands in an instant. ”Fire.” A tachyon arrow travels faster than light and allows for devastating and near instantaneous strikes against enemy vessels. But in terms of speed, near instantaneous weapons may as well be standing still compared to a truely instantaneous weapon. No time passed from the weapon’s firing and impact. The Capitol ships simply were, then were not. Those that were not in the void distortion proper were ripped apart as space and time warped into a tangled mess. The resultant gravity well pulling the few that had managed to survive even that into the knotted space time, where they would be ripped apart. Already the ‘Leviathan’ was moving to reinforce the 50th warfleet as they engaged the remainder of the Capitol fleet. Not that they needed it. The Assault Block alone was reaping a grim harvest from the Capitol forces. Its Magna-Disruptor Cannon was overwhelming shielding and armor alike. It was blowing through multiple vessels at once, so numerous were its targets.
Meanwhile in Capitol space, a scene was playing out across hundreds of systems. Modified transports were bombarding the planets of Capitol with very special weapons. Some of the weapons where intercepted planetary defenses, but the sheer number unleashed made this meaningless. Those that made it through hit the surface of the planets with a dull thud that could be heard for miles. They opened giving birth to nightmares. Thousands of bio-weapons, codenamed ‘Bonthieves,’ burst out of their containers and raced out into the planets’ forests and deserts. They infested the local wildlife. They infiltrated the cities and infested the local population. The tightly packed people and poor living conditions making an ideal environment for the bio-creatures to thrive. This was happening across hundreds of worlds in a massive, simultaneous strike carefully orchestrated by ‘Havoc,’ who was quite angry that he wasn’t able to participate in the main fighting.
|
|
|
Post by EmperorMyric on Dec 16, 2017 19:20:06 GMT
So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. That is why it was called Babel—because there the Lord confused the language of the whole world. From there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth.
--Genesis 11:8-9
--oOo--
The news reports would call them “The Miracles at Lorenchan and Dalkani,” and if they had ever been miracles, they were on the scale that many would doubt. It sounded nearly indifferent from the usual bountiful propaganda that came constantly from the Immortal Empire, and the timing (one year to the day from their surprise attack on Exceion) made the common listener instantly discard it as fiction; the surface to air batteries in those two systems had single handedly defeated Capitol’s vanguard into their empire. Yet in multiple ways, this was not entirely true.
For starters, they hadn’t finished their task. For two days strait now, the few batteries on Lorenchan had been firing nonstop, heating the ground around them on account of their irrepressible barrages to the point that it was becoming coated in several feet of glass. They were still shooting the nearly thousand ships Capitol had deployed to their system. Lorenchan was no fortress world; it was a frontier outpost, far from the trade routes or resources that merited heavy fortifications. That is not to say it was unarmed, but it was not intended in any manner to fend off more than occasional raiding parties, let alone a fleet of a thousand ships. This was a miracle, therefore, in the eyes of those who were doing the deed, and the miracle would continue until the Capitol ships were no longer ships to speak of. At the rate it was at present, that might be several more days.
Secondly, the vanguard remained; it was halved, yes, but it remained. No miracles would take place for the peoples of Xantan or Varandal, for they were in the spotlight; there were far too many eyes there, and beyond that the miracle-bringers, cautious as always, deemed it more prudent that the Immortal Empire fight their own battles as well. It would lend credibility to their uncanny successes if they were seen perpetuating a victory of their own, one that would be perused and studied by wise men with offices in intelligence departments across the cosmos and who would find them imminently formidable. Wise men, after all, do not believe in miracles: they believe in facts, and statistics, and laws of probability. Most wise men, anyway. One bears noting as an exception.
Finally, the miracle had never been the doing of the defenders of these two besieged systems. They were merely the recipients of good fortune.
This is what really happened.
--oOo--
General Pallam was not an expert in space combat. Pallam was a ground soldier, a creature (if you will) of dirt and mud and grime. That is not to say Pallam was not a proper strategist, but rather that the battlefield in his mind was always man against man; perhaps in mechs, perhaps powered armour, but always one face against the other. This was why Prime Admiral Dorin had asked Pallam to lead any actions that might be needed against the Union of Worlds, for he in his own way thought quite a lot like them.
Thus, in the weeks before the attack, when files had begun coming across his desk about the nature of Capitol’s impending attack, he perused them with slight dissatisfaction. Capitol was not, in theory, a party working with their soon to be opponent, yet there were strange tangents connecting their two fates; thus, the documents and facts in question had come to his attention. The Ascendancy no longer functioned as a ground power; their tech was formidable enough to perpetuate their wishes if needed, but they lacked the manpower to orchestrate proper ground campaigns. The wars with the Nakai had proven that.
The impending attack was concerning, so with proper responsibility Pallam communicated to Dorin, who passed on the information to Dalyth, who in turn personally notified the Overlord himself of the impending developments.
Pallam did not care for fighting Capitol. He shared the Union’s love of grand scale combat, though his love was heavily tempered by his respect for the Ascendancy’s love of secrecy. This love was furthermore complicated by Dorin’s hopes to preserve a semblance of peace between their two factions; he respected peace as well, but he quietly in the back of his mind hoped that he had the opportunity to re-engage the Nakai. Vengeance was called for.
Ultimately, a total of eight ships were mobilized to be the unsung saviors of these two systems; they would be the executors of miracles.
Eight against two thousand.
In its own way, this too would be a miracle; perhaps not to the ones perpetrating it, but to an outsider, it was another miracle.
--oOo--
To each system went a lone Chaw’Sah’Vo class man of war, flanked by a triplet pairing of Ehm’Beh class enforcers. Against more competent opposition, this would have been at best a rather minor threat given the two hundred fifty to one numerical superiority, assuming they had been detected.
In this case, they certainly were. They dropped out of space with Uller’s boxes wide open, announcing that something wicked was coming this way towards the Capitol fleet. It almost suggested a sense of theatricality on the part of Pallam, as if he were some great orchestral director, summoning wraiths and scripting the deaths of lovers across time and space.
It is important to understand that the Ascendancy had not studied Capitol for long; until the temporal reports were opened, they hadn’t even thought to care about them. Once they were though, they assessed their opponent, and found them lacking. With minimal technological prowess, Capitol was a force to be reckoned with only when they had numerical superiority, and even then the minds that plotted against them found them immensely fallible little things. Truth be told, they did not at this point understand what had provoked Capitol’s actions; only that the threads of time somehow, someway, in some strange manner connected their fates with the Union of Worlds. Sotek was not even an idea to them.
--oOo--
Capitol’s ships noticed quite quickly that they were being visited by things most unreasonable. Uller’s boxes were just as much problematic to them as they had been to the defenders of the Altman months earlier; perhaps even worse, for their weapons were directed manually, as Capitol’s computers had limited power. This meant that the only thing they could ascertain was that something was coming for them.
Like with the Altman incident, the miracle workers never fired a single shot at Lorenchan or Dalkani. They let the Immortal Empire take care of their own, and create their own miracle. But what they did…
…would leave thousands speechless.
--oOo--
“We boarded three or four of the vessels to investigate their behavior,” one of the Immortal Empire’s marines would later report. “They were all alive and well enough, and they resisted our movements properly. Didn’t help all too much, but they resisted. It didn’t explain a bloody thing though. A thousand ships all just stop moving, just sitting their while all of a dozen planetary defense installations frantically pick them off one by one. What the hell was wrong with them?”
--From the personal log of one of the Immortal Empire’s commando teams, who participated in the investigation of the so called miracles.
--oOo--
What had happened was this: the Ascendancy had, for the first time in the Quiet Wars, deployed The Hush.
--oOo--
|
|
|
Post by EmperorMyric on Dec 16, 2017 19:20:17 GMT
So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. That is why it was called Babel—because there the Lord confused the language of the whole world. From there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth.
--Genesis 11:8-9
--oOo--
The news reports would call them “The Miracles at Lorenchan and Dalkani,” and if they had ever been miracles, they were on the scale that many would doubt. It sounded nearly indifferent from the usual bountiful propaganda that came constantly from the Immortal Empire, and the timing (one year to the day from their surprise attack on Exceion) made the common listener instantly discard it as fiction; the surface to air batteries in those two systems had single handedly defeated Capitol’s vanguard into their empire. Yet in multiple ways, this was not entirely true.
For starters, they hadn’t finished their task. For two days strait now, the few batteries on Lorenchan had been firing nonstop, heating the ground around them on account of their irrepressible barrages to the point that it was becoming coated in several feet of glass. They were still shooting the nearly thousand ships Capitol had deployed to their system. Lorenchan was no fortress world; it was a frontier outpost, far from the trade routes or resources that merited heavy fortifications. That is not to say it was unarmed, but it was not intended in any manner to fend off more than occasional raiding parties, let alone a fleet of a thousand ships. This was a miracle, therefore, in the eyes of those who were doing the deed, and the miracle would continue until the Capitol ships were no longer ships to speak of. At the rate it was at present, that might be several more days.
Secondly, the vanguard remained; it was halved, yes, but it remained. No miracles would take place for the peoples of Xantan or Varandal, for they were in the spotlight; there were far too many eyes there, and beyond that the miracle-bringers, cautious as always, deemed it more prudent that the Immortal Empire fight their own battles as well. It would lend credibility to their uncanny successes if they were seen perpetuating a victory of their own, one that would be perused and studied by wise men with offices in intelligence departments across the cosmos and who would find them imminently formidable. Wise men, after all, do not believe in miracles: they believe in facts, and statistics, and laws of probability. Most wise men, anyway. One bears noting as an exception.
Finally, the miracle had never been the doing of the defenders of these two besieged systems. They were merely the recipients of good fortune.
This is what really happened.
--oOo--
General Pallam was not an expert in space combat. Pallam was a ground soldier, a creature (if you will) of dirt and mud and grime. That is not to say Pallam was not a proper strategist, but rather that the battlefield in his mind was always man against man; perhaps in mechs, perhaps powered armour, but always one face against the other. This was why Prime Admiral Dorin had asked Pallam to lead any actions that might be needed against the Union of Worlds, for he in his own way thought quite a lot like them.
Thus, in the weeks before the attack, when files had begun coming across his desk about the nature of Capitol’s impending attack, he perused them with slight dissatisfaction. Capitol was not, in theory, a party working with their soon to be opponent, yet there were strange tangents connecting their two fates; thus, the documents and facts in question had come to his attention. The Ascendancy no longer functioned as a ground power; their tech was formidable enough to perpetuate their wishes if needed, but they lacked the manpower to orchestrate proper ground campaigns. The wars with the Nakai had proven that.
The impending attack was concerning, so with proper responsibility Pallam communicated to Dorin, who passed on the information to Dalyth, who in turn personally notified the Overlord himself of the impending developments.
Pallam did not care for fighting Capitol. He shared the Union’s love of grand scale combat, though his love was heavily tempered by his respect for the Ascendancy’s love of secrecy. This love was furthermore complicated by Dorin’s hopes to preserve a semblance of peace between their two factions; he respected peace as well, but he quietly in the back of his mind hoped that he had the opportunity to re-engage the Nakai. Vengeance was called for.
Ultimately, a total of eight ships were mobilized to be the unsung saviors of these two systems; they would be the executors of miracles.
Eight against two thousand.
In its own way, this too would be a miracle; perhaps not to the ones perpetrating it, but to an outsider, it was another miracle.
--oOo--
To each system went a lone Chaw’Sah’Vo class man of war, flanked by a triplet pairing of Ehm’Beh class enforcers. Against more competent opposition, this would have been at best a rather minor threat given the two hundred fifty to one numerical superiority, assuming they had been detected.
In this case, they certainly were. They dropped out of space with Uller’s boxes wide open, announcing that something wicked was coming this way towards the Capitol fleet. It almost suggested a sense of theatricality on the part of Pallam, as if he were some great orchestral director, summoning wraiths and scripting the deaths of lovers across time and space.
It is important to understand that the Ascendancy had not studied Capitol for long; until the temporal reports were opened, they hadn’t even thought to care about them. Once they were though, they assessed their opponent, and found them lacking. With minimal technological prowess, Capitol was a force to be reckoned with only when they had numerical superiority, and even then the minds that plotted against them found them immensely fallible little things. Truth be told, they did not at this point understand what had provoked Capitol’s actions; only that the threads of time somehow, someway, in some strange manner connected their fates with the Union of Worlds. Sotek was not even an idea to them.
--oOo--
Capitol’s ships noticed quite quickly that they were being visited by things most unreasonable. Uller’s boxes were just as much problematic to them as they had been to the defenders of the Altman months earlier; perhaps even worse, for their weapons were directed manually, as Capitol’s computers had limited power. This meant that the only thing they could ascertain was that something was coming for them.
Like with the Altman incident, the miracle workers never fired a single shot at Lorenchan or Dalkani. They let the Immortal Empire take care of their own, and create their own miracle. But what they did…
…would leave thousands speechless.
--oOo--
“We boarded three or four of the vessels to investigate their behavior,” one of the Immortal Empire’s marines would later report. “They were all alive and well enough, and they resisted our movements properly. Didn’t help all too much, but they resisted. It didn’t explain a bloody thing though. A thousand ships all just stop moving, just sitting their while all of a dozen planetary defense installations frantically pick them off one by one. What the hell was wrong with them?”
--From the personal log of one of the Immortal Empire’s commando teams, who participated in the investigation of the so called miracles.
--oOo--
What had happened was this: the Ascendancy had, for the first time in the Quiet Wars, deployed The Hush.
--oOo--
|
|
|
Post by EmperorMyric on Dec 16, 2017 19:20:38 GMT
Turn around go back down Go back the way you came Terror is on everyside Though the leaders are dismayed Those who put their faith in fire In fire their faith shall be repaid Oh God, the pride of man Broken in the dust again
--Gordon Lightfoot, "Pride of Man"
--oOo--
As the Capitol fleets began creeping back to life in Lorenchan and Dalkani, it would pay well to paint a picture of the scene inside the attacking fleet. The ships had been totally paralyzed for little over an hour, but with great coaxing and hundreds of rounds, the ships were beginning to move again. In dozens of languages unknown to any but the individual commissars, grim satisfaction was being expressed. They were mobile again, at the cost of thousands of crewmembers’ lives.
The commissars had only done what they knew to, after all, and they had done it with great efficiency. Bodies remained on the floors of many of the ships simply because they didn’t have the manpower available to remove them at present; all bodies were committed, as were the living, to defeating their opponents. The late crew’s successors were now chaotically operating the analog control panels with a limited sense of understanding, and a notable sense of panic as their predecessor’s brains were spread over the majority of their control panels.
But their motions were less effective than any of them could imagine. For starters, without a language, there was no communication: no commands, no correspondence, no dialogue or other transfer of information whatsoever. Even games of charade were futile, for the common linguistic references involved in body language had been wiped clean from the minds of the Immortal Empire’s assailants. For most fleets, the chaotic silence that followed the Hush would have been enough to spread them to the far corners of the winds; but the commissar’s efforts had at least assured some degree of motivation into the surviving fleet.
Even then though, that was futile. For beyond the lack of communication between man and man, there was no comprehension between man and ship. They could not, for starters, comprehend their bearings in relation to other objects, for they could not read or communicate what they thought they read to anyone else. Given enough time, one man could have potentially managed a ship’s manuevering, but he would have to personally consult gauges and displays spread well over the bridge; the one man, had there been one, would have hardly been efficient.
Without an understanding of their location in relation to the planetary bodies in their systems, they still managed to make way towards them by sight; tiny pale blue dots grew large in time as the ships made their haphazard assault towards them. But already, the Hush was taking casualties, for without coordinated maneuverings, the fleet was revealing its discoordinated nature. Collisions were taking place with greater and greater scale as the minutes passed, for not one of the surviving 750 or so ships in each system knew precisely where they or their brothers in arms were located; nor did they all, in fact, have the same destination. They may have all been headed in the general direction of that pale blue dot, but at the scale they were dealing with, and the speeds and distances involved, accuracy was critical-and they had none.
As their formation deteriorated, and the collisions continued, the vastly outnumbered defenders continued blazing away into the void, planting hits upon their distant targets with increasing regularity as their attackers began their disjointed charge. With the attacking fleet came rubble, and the rubble grew as the debris from their collisions and their casualties kept pace with them throughout the void. As particles of wreckage slammed into their neighbors, Capitol’s shields were flaring with uncanny consistency, making them a bright and shining target in the dark unknown.
It’s also worth noting that as this happened, the commissars kept their fingers upon their triggers. Even with all of their training and all of their instinct, no one truly knew the situation; the Hush had effectively forced the compartmentalization of all of the information required to run a starship, let alone a starship in a combat situation; and heaven forbid a fleet of starships in a combat situation. Perhaps the only regular function occurring as it should aboard Capitol’s ships in these two systems were the commissar’s accurately aimed pistol shots, and as the bodies piled up on the floors of thousands of ships, panic grew.
For even the commissars did not know what was going on, after all; they had no means of understanding if the people they were shooting were in fact incapable of doing their work. They could not read the gauges, after all, any more accurately than the men they were shooting. A few of the men who were falling by their pistols might have potentially recalled some specifics, perhaps; perhaps some memories that this gauge, which was now in the red, had been tied into something important…
…but any memories were futile things when not communicated. What the commissars were truly doing, though as individuals they were far too ignorant to comprehend this, was that they were killing off the ones who couldn’t pretend. They were killing the honest ones, who were trying to convey that panic that comes with an abruptly paralysis of capability. The ones who would have warned of the futility of this engagement were being slaughtered by those they would have saved.
For reactors were overloading, and no one knew it; collisions were taking place, weapons were being directed well off of their targets by panicking crewmembers who knew neither where they were nor where their targets were; the ones who could continue to pretend to be operating with some facsimile of purpose survived, and those who could not were accurately shot in the back of the head by the commissars.
Mutinies were rising on a few ships during this charge, but they were futile things too; no mutiny could survive a lack of communication, even when the commissars could not communicate amongst each others either.
The commissars thought they were maintaining order, albeit with brutal efficiency. Really, if anything, it was auto cannibalization: they were killing off thousands of their own, leaving their own ships (which terribly relied on man power as their computers were so comparably inadequate compared to the rest of the galaxy) were having that critical manpower drained away, bled off by ignorance and fear and denied panic.
So Capitol’s fleet charged, like a herd wounded, blinded animals, towards a precipice they neither understood nor imagined. Dalkani and Lorenchan would go down in infamy for the few survivors of what had been Capitol as the places where half of their fleets had died silently.
|
|
|
Post by EmperorMyric on Dec 16, 2017 19:22:02 GMT
Lorenchan System
Planetary Governor Ferdinand watched anxiously as the data continued to pour in. The advancing enemy fleet had stalled in their advance through the system. He didn’t know why, and truthfully right now he didn’t care. He just hoped that whatever had happened to the invaders continued. Across the planet the guns continued to barrage the huge fleet. Each shot took almost three hours to reach their intended target. And while the shells could help the gunners by making course corrections, what really helped was that the incoming fleet had ceased their evasion maneuvers. Within hours of Capitol’s invasion the first guns to fire ran out of slag. Without the raw resources to make new shells, the gunners had no choice but to wait and hope that as the planet turned the other stations littered across the planet’s surface had enough to finish off the Capitol ships.
Dalkarni System
Events unfolded similarly to those in the Lorenchan system. However, those operating the guns of the Dalkarni system had started to feed the atomic furnaces found in the defense guns with anything they could find. Civilian vehicles were a favorite to ‘requisitioned’ in an attempt to give the guns enough raw material to continue their barrage against the Capitol ships.
Varandal System
The admirals of the 51st, 53rd, and 54th warfleets conferred with each other as Capitol raised the outer most planet of the system. Admiral Kyla of the 51st warfleet, victor of over a hundred engagements, stood resplendent in full war armor. The medals from her victories reflected the light of holographic displays and maps. Admiral Haiden of the 53rd warfleet, a heavily augmented man with a mind that understood not only the complicated ways of space warfare but also the mind of an enemy commander within a few minutes of watching their strategies, stood in a formal uniform, having nothing to fear from the vacuum of space. His polished metal face betrayed none of the disgust he felt towards the enemy commanders, and their gross incompetence. Admiral Castella of the 54th warfleet, who had seen her forces to victory time and again against impossible odds, stood quietly to the side examining the displays. Of the three she held the unique pleasure of meeting the Overlord in person. So pleased was he with her service that he had ordered an Emerald Sword to stand guard over her, lest anyone or thing tried to bring harm to her. The three where trying to come up with the best way to deal with the enemy fleet that out numbered them.
”A frontal assault would work, but our losses would be catastrophic. From what these reports are saying, our ships outclass them in every way except range and numbers. They also seem a little more maneuverable but it’s still too early to tell with any certainty." Admiral Haiden returned his attention to the stream of data that continued to flow in from the observation drones in the system.
“So what do we do?” Admiral Castella asked, “We need to act soon or the system will be reduced to rubble.”
Admiral Kyla decided to weigh in, “What if we let them? Would they split into smaller fleets afterwards?”
”Hm. From what I’m seeing, that is most unlikely. They seek superiority in numbers so are very unlikely to split like that. What if we mount several lightning raids against them?”
Kyla was quick to ask, “Wouldn’t the enemy fleet just blast them the second they came in range?”
“Not if we blind them first.” The others immediately saw where Castella was going. ”With the proper timing we could destroy a large portion of their fleet before they even know what’s happening.
As they hashed out the specifics, each admiral gave orders to their fleet, which began to move into position to strike a crippling blow against these invaders.
The planet most distant from the planet’s star was ruined, its surface an irradiated wasteland. As the enemy fleet made its way further into Immortal Empire space, the first of the combined warfleets’ vessels entered the system. Within minutes the Capitol’s sensors and communications where flooded with far more scrap data than their dated computers could handle. The Counter-Intelligence ships, normally an annoyance to most modern vessels, where crippling to Capitol’s ships. And with their enemy surprised and blind, the T-4 I.R.K. Cannons from all three fleets came screaming out of hyperspace at full speed in close proximity to the invading fleet. Ninety mobile cannons came at the fleet, targeting the largest, most powerful vessels. The course each vessel took was carefully calculated to bring the most destruction possible to the enemies of the Immortal Empire. The course each vessel took was carefully calculated to bring the most destruction possible to the enemies of the Immortal Empire. Each mobile weapon saw the destruction of several of the enemy's most powerful ships and crippled even more as they sped through the fleet. And with sparse and chaotic return fire, the I.R.K. cannons saw very little in the way of casualties. With hundreds destroyed and hundreds more damaged or crippled, the rest of the warfleets entered the system to bring destruction to the enemies of the Overlord. Even as the rest of the warfleets joined the battle the I.R.K. Cannons were starting to circle back. However, due to the ships’ poor maneuverability it was going to take the better part of an hour to turn back for another pass through the fleet.
Xantan System
The Assault Block was rocked by another atomic shell. Already the ship had begun to turn its smaller weapons against the incoming shells in an attempt to preserve its shielding. The ships that had fired those shells found themselves on the receiving end of not only the Assault Block’s magna-disruptor cannon but of their Immortal Empire equivalent, the I.R.K. Cannons. Unlike in the battle taking place in the Varandal system, the mobile weapons here were more or less stationary. From the edge of the battle they picked off enemy vessels. As they took damage they would temporarily jump to the void to either reposition themselves or just to allow their shields to recharge. Across the system the Immortal Empire was using its void tech to devastating effect. Ships that were on the verge of losing their shields would enter and reemerged from the space between dimensions with their shields fully restored. With these ships vanishing briefly to replenish their shields, Capitol turned their guns on those that were still present, those they could still fight. Even so, ships that found themselves surrounded by enemies were able to not only escape, but could position themselves to unleash devastatingly powerful broadsides into enemy ships. And while these moves carried risks with them they were devastating and considered well worth the risk. But most devastating of all was the void distortion cannon and the void shielding that protected not only it but the ‘Leviathan’ as well. Every fifteen minutes the ‘Leviathan’ would unleash a devastating blast that would completely annihilate several ships and temporally trap several more caught in the gravitonic distortions the cannon caused. These ships, trapped as they were, were quickly picked apart by concentrated fire. The Immortal Empire’s capitol ships weren’t the only ones fighting in the system. Drones, numbering almost half a million were swarming through the battle. They overwhelmed Capitols fighter craft with sheer numbers. They robbed Capitol’s weapons of their power, a field of flying metal that the enemy gunners were having a tough time missing.
[OOC: Ready? I’m about to drop some knowledge. *Now, logically the ‘Leviathan’ and the Assault block, being by far the most dangerous/largest targets, are taking the majority of the damage. This is allowing the rest of the warfleet to survive against their more numerous foe. The Void Shielding of the ‘Leviathan’ is robbing a vast amount of the power from Capitol’s attacks. Void shielding would be used only against Tachyon Arrows as the rest of Capitols weapons would be deemed at non-threat. They would also be used against any ship that tried to ram the ship in a desperate kamikaze attack. Also, a point I’d like to make. In the Immortal Empire shielding is not the primary defense on a ship, its armor is. The shielding on a ship is a first line –renewable- defense. It isn’t as tough as the armor but it doesn’t have to be. Just something that has been bugging me. *The Assault Block is not considered a super weapon. Because of the way disruptor weaponry works it is very difficult for it to destroy planets or do any real damage to one. As one of the qualifications for a super weapon is the ability to destroy a planet this no longer qualifies as a super weapon. Homer may or may not be classified as a super weapon. I'm not sure yet. I'm still designing Body 4 so he could end up as a super weapon in the future. *The planetary defense guns for all four systems would have been firing nearly constantly. Even with friendly vessels mixed into the enemy fleet. CABAL allows for some pretty nifty coordinated strikes. *Counter-Intelligence ships work in various ways. They can hack an enemy vessel, hide other ships behind a screen of junk data, or give off signals that mimic the various ships of the Immortal Empire. They often do all three at the same time. Now I thought about having CABAL hack Capitol’s ships but quickly determined that it wouldn’t work. It’d be like trying to contain a lightning bolt in a double-a battery. It would just explode. As awesome as it would have been to have the Capitol ships turn their guns on each other, trying to stuff a Q.A.I. that spans two galaxies into a computer, that apparently isn’t all that much more advanced than what we’ve got now, does seem a little unfeasible. *Now, the I.R.K. cannon attack run. Last time I did this there was some confusion as I didn’t properly explain what was happening. So here is EXACTLY how that went down: Ninety I.R.K. cannons {there are thirty I.R.K. cannons per warfleet and three warfleets} are descending on the Capitol fleet, which is blind, deaf, and in shock from suddenly being blind and deaf. These ships started to enter the system seconds after the Signal Scream started and are all coming in at different angles, and not just on a two dimensional plane relative to the galactic plane. They are descending and ascending. They are charging the front and the flank. And they are not coming in all at once. This is a staggered assault that takes place over several minutes. Now each I.R.K. cannon is following a carefully selected path that will allow it to target anywhere from three to five enemy vessels in its run with its main weapons alone. Even as they pass through the enemy fleet they are unleashing all 144 laser cannons, and 1500 plasma burst cannons as they raced past enemy ships. They would be moving too fast to finish anything off, but it would have still done a ton of damage and could easily have destroyed some of Capitols smaller ships. The number I mentioned {270} was a minimum number. Destroyed vessels were probably much higher than that. Truthfully I don’t think the I.R.K. cannons should have taken any casualties, baring a very unlikely series of events. *I’ll go into more detail about how IE FTL flight works later. All that is need here is that an IE ship can exit hyperspace at its maximum velocity. *Now why doesn’t Homer have the Counter-Int. ships working in the Xantan system? Well, they are working. They are just working in a more subtle way. Specifically, they are altering targeting data ever so slightly. At a mile the accuracy isn’t affected all that much, especially against targets as large as Immortal Empire ships. But at five miles, at ten miles, at a hundred, those shots are going to be very far from their intended target. It also isn’t a stagnant distortion, but ever shifting just to make it more difficult to notice and fix. *Half a million drones seems rather high. So why that number? Well, there are roughly 1000 drones per ship, excluding the Counter-Int ships, carriers, IRK cannons, assault block, and ‘Leviathan.’ That’s 192,000 drones. Carries carry about ten thousand drones each, and there are three carriers in a warfleet. That’s an additional 30,000 bringing our total up to 222,000. Then just double that for all the drones coming from the ‘Leviathan,’ the various defense stations, and the ground bases located throughout the system. Is this a lot? Yes. But do remember that drones have little shielding, no armor, and weapons that are only useful against something of a similar size, such as fighters, bombers, and missiles. Except for the drones coming from the ‘Leviathan’ as those are the elite versions.
|
|
|
Post by EmperorMyric on Dec 16, 2017 19:22:15 GMT
Lorenchan System 1:22 PM
The Capitol fleet had been massively impacted in Lorenchan, only around 434 ships remained of the once 1000 strong fleet, continued bombardment from the IE positions on the main world had seriously impacted the fleet since they had no way to effectively manoeuvre out the way, however the force here was still an effective one. The outer world had been glassed totally and the fleet was now heading towards the second world, as the fleet instinctively knew the original plan the fleet moved into bombarding positions around the second ice world, though no mining operations had taken place Capitol wanted the IE to be denied every single plot of land and resource it could. And so once again the nuclear fire rained from the heavens and mushroom clouds climbed towards the once serene and untouched sky...
Dalkarni System 4:54 AM
As the Capitol fleet got ever closer they were starting to near the inhabited world, the bombardments from the IE guns were growing ever more sporadic due to them having to try and get more material for their guns to use. The two IE cruisers which had been stationary by the world were now moving out to intercept the Capitol forces bearing down on them, hit and run tactics were better than nothing.
Varandal System 2:31 PM
Varandal was now turning into the bloodbath it was destined to become, Capitol had lost a lot of its Capital ships from the I.R.K cannons that were now trying to make another run and IE forces had assailed the fleet from all sides. However Capitol still had tricks up its sleeve, the massive amounts of corvettes they still had active which were little more than drone repellents suddenly leapt into movement, The I.R.K cannons which had destroyed most of which could threaten them suddenly saw their screens light up with a few hundred collision courses. The small corvettes which weapons couldn’t even glance the armour of the cannons were now travelling at 0.8 lightspeed. At that speed the corvettes sped towards the cannons, their lumbering forms too slow to avoid the hits, the defence guns opened up knocking a few out of the void but due to the speed the guns had a hard time engaging the small corvettes. Each one smashed head on into the IE I.R.K cannons, the force of each impact shattering sections of the ships as the mass and energy of the momentum converted into damage. The few hundred corvettes which had made the suicide run gutted the I.R.K cannons through sheer numbers, though some were destroyed too many got through. The IE cannons were now little more than energised particles from the massive ram attacks. Alas Capitol were now without anti fighter support and the drones soon swarmed in. Those little Capital ships left now engaged IE cruisers with their Tachyon Arrows. Capitol would fight to the death, as the world burned below them.
Xantan System 9:00 AM
The Capitol fleet engaging the outer world in the Xantan system was nothing more than rag tag groups of ships fighting for their lives. What few remained fought on headless of damage or injury, ramming their ships into those of the IE when their systems failed. It was a last ditch effort for those who were making a last stand. Though doomed to fail that section of the fleet fought on, with the Leviathan bearing down upon them defeat was assured. The fleet section heading towards the star had fared little better, having only 89 ships left this fleet continued its course, until they got in range of the star, the fleet then turned and led one last charge into the IE fleet pursuing them attacking with utter ferocity. However 3 ships had left the formation, and continued heading for the star. It was then they stopped and unleashed a salvo of 3 missiles into the star, the missiles travelled extremely fast and no sooner had they been launched than they were engulfed by the stars mass. One final broadcast was sent over the coms in the last few seconds of the Xantan battle:
”Though you may be unworthy his cleansing light will rid you of your pathetic lives”
That was all everyone heard moments before the next happening. As the missiles entered the star they detonated causing a reaction, the star suddenly in milliseconds eat its fuel at a insanely fast rate, eating up all its fuel and making it shine impossibly bright, those close to the star were incinerated. Next a few milliseconds later the stars gravity increased to such levels that the planets and ships in system were pulled towards the star at such speed it shattered some damaged ships hulls completely, those close enough to be pulled in completely were again incinerated instantly. Then finally with everything devoured the star merely ended. A flash so bright every nation in Ancerious registered a super nova. Everything in the Xantan system was flash oblitorated, having literally no warning whatsoever the resulting super nova destroyed everything in and around the system, the resulting subspace disruption destabilised any FTL jumps being made seconds before the blast and meant no escape. Xantan had been cleansed, Capitol had made their ultimate show of defiance. Sacrifice had its price, but Capitol had deemed it worthwhile.
|
|
|
Post by EmperorMyric on Dec 16, 2017 19:22:30 GMT
The Title Wouldn't Fit,
or
It's The End Of The World As We Know It ...
And I Feel Fine?
--oOo--
“There is time for miracles until there is no more time, but time has no end.”
--Dean Koontz
--oOo--
For a few brief minutes, it seemed that there were no more miracles. In spite of one of the most valiant defenses in modern history, the besieged defenders at Lorenchan watched with noble resignation as the blips on the radar began budding; their offspring taking gradual arcs downwards towards the planet.
At least we gave them hell, they thought. At least we took so many with us, hand in hand to hell.
There were many at leasts here now. At least they had destroyed over half of a fleet of a thousand ships in a matter of hours. In terms of cost, at a strategic level, Lorenchan was nothing. What happened elsewhere might not have been the case, but in terms of an interstellar empire the pain inflicted on them was no significant. Feathers might be ruffled on account of Xantan; on account of Varandal the collective hearts of their fathers and sons might skip a beat, but ultimately four systems hardly mattered. This would not, however, give any comfort to those watching the radar screens, as the missiles reigned down on their homes.
At least we got the children to the shelters. The Immortal Empire had always as a matter of policy emplaced shelters, overt and otherwise, on nearly any world with any noteworthy population. The powers that be had notified them in quite a timely manner, and now as hell began to fall in judgement upon their heads, they faced death knowing that the ones they loved were safe, and that they had taken as many lives of those who threatened their sons and daughters as they could have mustered.
The batteries kept firing right up to the point of the first impacts.
Then there was nothing.
This, of course, surprised everybody.
Nothing is in its own way somewhat anticipatable when nuclear warheads are being dropped by the hundreds upon your heads. Nothing makes sense. Flashes of light, incinerating heat, shadows being burned into the walls, yes, all of that, but ultimately nothing makes sense. Nothing is logical; what comes after nothing is, of course, up to speculation.
But there wasn’t even nothing.
No flashes of light, at least on account of the warheads.
No shadows emblazoned for time immemorial on the walls of the homes and buildings.
There wasn’t even much of an effect from their immediate impact. In defense of Capitol’s best efforts given the circumstances, there were some mushroom clouds; but at a notably smaller scale than they had hoped for.
So silently, the miracle kept going. Lorenchan’s defenders paused only momentarily with curious skepticism perched on the forefronts of their minds. Perhaps Death was late; perhaps his horse had needed to be reshoed, or he had become lost on some detour, or had stopped briefly for a cup of tea somewhere along the way.
At that point, nervous laughter echoed through the cold corridors of the bunkers, and the guns continued firing.
--oOo--
The facts of the matter are these: while Capitol was perhaps not the most technically saavy faction, they knew how to drop bombs.
Really, it’s a fairly simple process: targets are selected, trajectories calculated, and then at the proper moment, gravity does the rest. There may be minor variations in this pattern, of course; fuel might be involved as they accelerate towards their target. Perhaps there are evasive manuevers, if the delivery systems are more complicated. Thankfully for Capitol, theirs weren’t all too complicated at all: with their level of communication reduced to something between a vegetable and smaller varieties of molluscs, the fact that they had even managed to drop their bombs was, in and of itself, also a miracle. Their targeting was admittedly a bit lacking, but with bombs in the scale of multiple gigatons, accuracy isn’t entirely the most pressing of concerns, even when communication is more or less normal.
In fact, given their limited means, Capitol had done a laudable job with what tools they had in accomplishing their objective: despite their opponent’s most valiant efforts, they had unloaded the majority of their warheads into trajectories that would all bring them into the planet beneath them. On schedule, the lights indicating feed coming back from the warheads flickered off as the bombs were destroyed; though whether or not those operating the consoles understood what precisely those lights represented is highly unlikely given the circumstances.
The problem, ultimately, in regards to why they didn’t accomplish much of anything in regards to prosecuting the general nuclear annihilation of the inhabitants of this particular planet in the Lorenchan system, is this: they didn’t know how to turn the things on. For as backwards as Capitol might be in terms of tech, there was one fact that they keenly appreciated: high yield nuclear warheads are not to be tossed around like hand grenades. It’s poor business sense, really, in terms of maintaining a stable chain of command, especially with a civilization like Capitol constituting that pyramid. If anyone and their sister who happened to be in command of a warship was simply capable of arming and launching a weapon like that, it is highly doubtful that Capitol would have survived that long.
The late Garren, much like his not entirely so late predecessor Scar, had appreciated this as well. Launch codes were a necessity, and while they were instituted, they were still simple. Keys were out, though: to simply use a key was asking for trouble. After all, in a civilization like Capitol, ambition runs rampant, and all that would be required for a few dissatisfied crewmembers to trigger a thermonuclear apocalypse (or, unthinkably worse, potentially challenge the people who paid their wages) would be a few good thumps to the head of a few key people. Keys could change hands without too much trouble, and while Garren might not have put all too much thought into the matter, Scar certainly had.
So the launch codes were partially memorized, and partially stored via safe and key, and while the captain and commander might have keys which could be physically removed from their bodies, the memorized portion was safe and secure from the prying hands of would be mutineers, or even overly ambitious captains: the commissars held the other half of the information required to arm the warheads.
Thus came the problem: when it came time to arm the warheads, the commissars found themselves in a delicate position. While the keys had opened the safes, it was highly unlikely that anyone on the ship was in any position to actually set the launch codes in accordance to what was in the envelopes inside of the safes. Beyond that, there were the commissars; obviously they were far too important in their own minds to allow for their own execution. Who would control the ship’s crews, after all? They clearly needed the sort of guidance that only the commissar’s pistols could properly deliver.
Obviously, our sympathy must be with those poor, poor commissars. They were faced with two choices: nobly face the death they were due for their failings, or fake it.
Most chose the later.
Those poor, poor commissars.
--oOo--
Thus it came to pass that thousands of unarmed nuclear warheads came and put the inhabitants of Lorenchan up to the fear of their lives. Death had, in fact, realized that he had misread the address for his next appointment, and so with all due speed he had turned his steed and headed for less green pasture. Perhaps on the way he would stop by Xandan for tea.
There would still be damages, of course: the warheads may not have detonated as nuclear devices, but they had functioned marvelously as dirty bombs. That being said, they had been plunging downwards at speeds exceeding sixteen thousands miles an hour, and the majority of their lethal contents had been buried under several hundred feet of soil, nicely wrapped up like unwanted presents.
So as the lights indicating the active nature of these thousands of warheads snuffed out aboard the bridges of Capitol’s ships, the captain’s eyes were all likely directed at the worlds beneath them as they eagerly awaited the bright flashes and growing clouds of destruction. Over the next few seconds, frowns began. These quickly developed into displays of confusion (which were not entirely unexpected either given the Hush) and frustration. This was not one of their better days, after all, and now they found themselves at unpleasantly close range to the Immortal Empire’s defenses. Having found themselves comfortable in the shadow of death, and having found that death had other appointments to keep today, the defenders were redoubling their efforts.
So Capitol’s captains began futile games of charade with their crews. Some were attempting to suggest that they open fire with the rail guns, or the ray guns, or whatever weapons they had left; they might not be able to be all too accurate, but they’d feel like they were doing something anyway. Others were doing their best to politely propose that they withdraw and regroup at a distance somewhat less like point blank range, as the Immortal Empire was now chewing through their ranks with more fervour than ever before.
These games likely continued for some time.
--oOo--
|
|
|
Post by EmperorMyric on Dec 16, 2017 19:26:09 GMT
--oOo--
At Dalkani and Lorenchan, the eight Flux ships remaining in those two system received the updates pertaining to the Dark City’s offensive into their territory. Attached to the information was a short note from the Prime Admiral.
Wrap it up.
Beyond that, targeting paradigms were advised. The ships were to rejoin the main fleet and proceed on to their targets with the others. But first, they had to secure miracles.
By this point, there were roughly four hundred of Capitol’s ships remaining in each of these two systems, four hundred to four in terms of odds. But the Ascendancy had an undeniable tactical advantage, as their opponents were limited in terms of efficiency both in terms of manpower and technical capabilities. It might have not exactly been an even matching, but it was enough for the Flux to work with.
Each fleet, being comprised of a sixty four gun Chaw’Sah’Voh and three six gun Ehm’Behs, was capable of creating eighty two wormholes at any given moment. There was a minor restriction to their rate of fire in that each gun could only spin a single wormhole at a time, but this was only a minor restriction at that: wormholes, not being matter or light, were fairly immune to the speed restrictions commonly associated with interstellar travel.
As shielding and armour were not an issue for wormholes, the Ascendancy proudly considered them to be top tier weapons, and here they would prove to be quite accurate in that assessment. Capitol’s ships were known quantities, and hardly stealthy ones at that, and as the Flux locked onto their targets, they did so with an almost apathetic degree of excitement. It was simply an exercise on their part in targeting the proper components of the ship. With unnatural ease, bridges and engine rooms were selected predominantly. Of all the faction with which this could be done, Capitol was likely the easiest; their ships were old, well known, and often were designs borrowed from other factions.
Thus, with catalogued precision, over the next four minutes the Ascendancy unloaded a lone wormhole into the hearts and minds of each of the surviving ships. It was a simple cut, a small thing into the bodies of those great ships, but each and every cut was placed on some critical artery, and the ships hemorrhaged out oxygen and power and bodies into the cold hard vacuum of space.
Capitol’s attention had, after all, been directed downwards: they were alone in this system and they dominated the field in terms of having, in their mind, the highest ground possible: high orbit over hostile worlds.
But in that they were mistaken.
So the ships began falling; abruptly losing power in orbit, they would start dropping down into the planet’s atmosphere. The damage they would cause would be moderate in terms of lives lost, for the Immortal Empire had stashed these planet’s inhabitants well underground and out of the way of the equivilent of meteor impacts. Ecologically, the planets might be heavily damaged, but no more so than Exceion had been.
And as the bodies began to hit the floor, the Flux ships silently jumped out of system, en route to their ultimate fates.
|
|
|
Post by EmperorMyric on Dec 16, 2017 19:30:51 GMT
[Note: Read narration like this. It was the inspiration in not only how I wrote this, but in how I spoke whilst writing this. Even now I speak to my computer with this narrator’s voice.]
”I’ve waged war across a million and more worlds. I’ve seen the natural wonders the universe has to offer. I’ve spilled enough blood and ichor to drown a world. I’ve rescued brave men and women from the jaws of death, and seen them returned safely to their families. I’ve died more times than many could count. That last part makes me laugh. I’ve only ever come close to death. If the day comes when I final die, for good, I hope whoever is left behind after me kills what killed me. I hope they then go on and become an even greater champion of the empire than me. ~Homer Stravour
Lorenchan and Dalkarni Systems
The force of the Lorenchan and Dalkrani systems a like, had born witness to a miracle. As news of these events spread, many would regard it as simple propaganda. But the truth was that with the unseen help of the Flux, the ground cannons of the Immortal Empire had not simply turned away the massive invasion forces, but had completely destroyed the fleets of Capitol. Those that had manned the guns would be hailed as heroes. Praise and glory alike would be heaped upon them. But they knew that they couldn’t take full responsibility for Capitol’s defeat. Something unknown had thrown the invading forces into disarray. Even with prisoners pulled from the derelict warships, the Immortal Empire still wouldn’t know what had caused such fortune for them.
Varandal System
Against any other foe Capitol’s kamikaze attack would have been devastating. The captains of the I.R.K. cannons, having several seconds to respond, had two choices. Either weather the coming storm, hoping their guns and shields strong enough to repel the suicidal attackers, or risk destruction in the void. Many chose the latter, preferring the possibility of destruction over the near guarantee of death. In an instant the mobile cannons of the Immortal Empire cast themselves into the nothings between dimensions. There time ceased to have meaning. There they could not only move out of the way of the coming threat, but also position themselves to fire on their would be attackers. But even with a captain’s fast reaction time, augmented as it were by CABAL, some ships still took hits before the could enter the void. Critically damaged, these ships would be destroyed as their void jump generators failed to maintain their integrity. Even with these losses, the Immortal Empire would continue their strafing runs. As the mobile cannons warped reality in their favor, the rest of the combined warfleet continued to fight Capitol’s forces, in brutal displays of cunning and firepower. Slowly, Capitol’s war machine was being ground into little more than debris that would fill the Immortal Empire’s forge worlds for years to come. Unfortunately, victory here mattered little in the grand scheme of things. Already, the admirals of the three warfleets were receiving the reports of Tenebraes renewed assault. And committed as they were, were unable to break away to engage this new threat to the empire. Once their enemies here were dealt with, the warfleets would turn their attentions on those that sought to exploit Capitol’s attack for their own gain. However, while the combined warfleet was engaged, the 311th Void Fleet had split into two, and was making best possible time to repel this new offensive.
Xantan System
WARNING: LEVEL ONE THREAT DETECTED. INITIATING OVERRIDE. EMERGENCY VOID JUMP ACTIVATING: NOW.
Across the 50th warfleet, CABAL reacted faster than any living thing. The sentient computer took direct control of the embattled fleet, and forced them to enter the void, lest they be swallowed by the nova’s blast. Those closest to the star however, were caught by the star’s death and incinerated by the fury of such an occurrence. Among those destroyed was the ‘Leviathan,’ its armor unable to protect it and those within from the all consuming fire that raged through the system. As the warfleet reentered reality, they where far from fine. More than half their number, and all the drones they had launched were destroyed. As they began moving, seeking rest and repair, they were confronted with the news that Tenebrae had struck. In such a poor state, the 50th warfleet had no choice but to leave the defense of the empire to others.
Capitol Territory: System 7
‘Havoc’ began cussing quite loudly and in many interesting and creative ways as he was informed of Tenebraes attack. “{EXPLETIVE} {EXPLETIVE} ALIENS! {EXPLETIVE} SNEAKY {EXPLETIVE} ALIENS! YOU!” Fear of the grand admiral drove the poor tech to her feet as quickly as humanly possible, “S-sir?” “I WANT A {EXPLETIVE} COURSE SET TA MEET UP WITH THE 52ND! MOVE!” ”Y-YES SIR!” ‘Havoc’ rounded on the nearest crewman so fast he actually blurred. The poor man froze under ‘Havoc’s stare and actually flinched when the enraged admiral spoke, “Well? Don’t just {EXPLETIVE} stand there! GET ME TACTICAL!” The man didn’t even voice a response, but hurried off to start gathering the requested information. “WHY THE {EXPLETIVE} ARE WE STILL ‘ERE! {EXPLETIVE} JUMP TA HYPERSPACE!” An Emerald Sword walked over to the fuming admiral. On the bridge, he alone wasn’t afraid of the prime admiral’s wrath. ”’Havoc,’ calm down! An enraged man…” “IS REALLY {EXPLETIVE} DANGEROUS TO THE {EXPLETIVE} {EXPLETIVE} OF{EXPLETIVE} THAT ENRAGED HIM! {EXPLETIVE} XENOS HAD TA BE WORKIN’ WITH THE {EXPLETIVE} RIDDEN CAPITOL {EXPLETIVE}. AND WHERE THE {EXPLETIVE} WAS YOUR {EXPLETIVE} INTELLIGENCE NETWORK ON THIS? ASLEEP?” The Emerald Sword grabbed ‘Havoc’ faster than any on the bridge could register and teleported to the primal admiral’s private quarters. There ‘Havoc’ vented his raged and the Emerald Sword did his best not to cut the admiral’s head off. The ‘Brutal Aggressor’ groaned as the crew strained to turn her towards the fighting as quickly as possible. The 52nd warfleet and Assault Block, damaged as it was, moved to meet with ‘Havoc’ before continuing on to repel this latest incursion.
AlHordera System
The Immortal Empire, never one to sit still technologically, had studied their previous encounter with Tenebrae’s forces. Klester Higgins, Warsmith for Homer Stravour, had started a mass fleet upgrade. Slabs durasteel, hundreds of feet thick, now covered the outputs of the plasma pulse engines. Crude in their making, they still functioned as intended and blunted the Tenebrae’s assault. Even though not all of the empire’s vessels could receive these upgrades, it still worked well at preserving the engines of many ships. And with their engines intact, the captains of those ships could maneuver to unleash a devastating counter-attack on the Tenebrae forces. Even as the empire’s space forces began their repelling of the invaders, the ground and space cannons began to fire their interdictor rounds into the enemy fleet. As for the planets themselves, the bunkers and fortresses of each world sealed themselves from the outside world. While this left some stranded outside, it ensured the protection of those deep within from what ever the DCI had unleashed upon them. That no contaminants could be detected by the techs of the Immortal Empire did nothing to hamper the natural paranoia that those in the empire naturally had.
Talthota System
The Tenebraens had begun a campaign to blind CABAL and by extension the Immortal Empire. But the empire, ever building with redundancy in mind, was only losing one part of a greater whole. The loss of a few dozen observation drones only served to hamper them. Now the strategists of the empire were forced to work with raw data, something that they where more than capable of doing.
Caroman System
Even from across the territory of the Immortal Empire, ‘Havoc’ was still able to direct the local forces of the Caroman system. Working to preserve the local forces until he could arrive, the Prime Admiral was working furiously. Every order was carefully calculated to prolong the lives of the ships and those on them. This was little more than a stalling measure.
Sub: Forge World Ragnarok
The empire’s soldiers scattered quickly, using their jump packs to rush into cover or launch themselves onto the roofs of nearby structures. Those with heavy weapons unleashed a withering barrage into the massed troops pouring forth from the devices drop from low orbit. Within minutes the first Bio-weapon engaged the enemy troops. It was an insectoid creature and despite the hot atmosphere, frost covered its chitinous hide and every step it took left a frozen patch on the hardened ground. Great gouts of steam poured forth from vents in its back, giving it a paradoxical appearance as the ground beneath it froze and the air around it burned. The thing was huge, easily the size of a house. As its stride took it closer to the invaders, they responded by opening up with their guns, attempting to bring the large creature down before it could crush them. Much to their surprise the thing wasn’t even fazed by the onslaught. Even more surprising was that the creatures armor wasn’t taking as much damage as it should, and much to their frustration its organic armor was healing almost as fast as they could damage it. As they continued to fire their weapons, the air around the creature rippled even more with heat distortions. Then the biggest surprise of all. On the creatures back where what appeared to be two eyes, and this was partly true. But their true purpose was made evident when one flashed and a Tenebraen soldier fell down screaming, his helmet melting through the flesh of his face. The creature had been made by Alice to fight against energy based weapons, and it was performing admirably. As the creature continue to fire and advance, the empire’s soldiers continued to pump death into the invaders. The soldiers relied on their shielding to soak up as much damage as possible before going back into cover to allow their shielding to recharge. They were constantly moving, using their jump packs to quickly cross open ground. They stayed as low as possible to avoid bringing too much attention to themselves. After all, there is no cover in open air. Across the planet the fighting was starting to become a blood bath. The Immortal Empire’s Bio-weapons, as diverse as life itself, where deployed across the planet’s surface. They supported the soldiers, whether by simply causing havoc for the enemy or by drawing fire from the invaders. As the bio-weapons were deployed, light vehicles were sent out to support the infantry in repelling the invaders. Small four legged robots scurried through the streets, deploying heavy weapons or setting up shield domes. They supported not only the infantry, but the bio-weapons as well.
Cerebian System
As the boarding teams entered the Cerabian ships they found troubles everywhere. The ships of the Furr where irregular and almost impossible to navigate, with corridors ending in dead ends and doors set into the walls at odd angles. The placement of critical systems was never constant and made the Tenebreans’ job all the harder. The ships of the Cog like wise where almost impossible to navigate. So well did the doors of the Cog blend in with the walls that only close investigation would reveal their location. But worse than the doors where the portals. Doors made of liquid metal that would harden should any unauthorized person seek to pass through them. And much to the frustration of the Tenebraens, it flowed around their cutting tools, forcing them to cut through the thick walls if the truly wished access. The ships of the Urdont were at one instant spacious and the next cramped to the point that the teams had to crouch just to get through. The shear number of corridors made it impossible to capture the crew and made the threat of attack from any angle constant. The ships of the Drake had the Drake themselves. Experts in the cramped combat that came with boarding actions, they fought with a fury that the Tenebraens had not been expecting. Nor had the boarders expected that such fury would be utilized so effectively. But worse than all were the cyborgs. Clones created for the sole purpose of protecting the Immortal Empire’s ships and fortresses from invasion. They fought through even the most grievous of injuries. The technology of the Immortal Empire keeping them alive. And amongst the cyborgs were the Titans. Near unstoppable engines of destruction, they strode through the halls of the Cerabian ships, unleashing death whenever they came across a boarding team. Though rare they proved devastating to Tenebraes forces and invaluable to the ships’ crew.
Across the worlds that had once belonged to the Cerabian Empire riots broke out. The worlds the Urdont occupied had little empire presence and gave them little to riot against. The Furr held mass meetings across the empire to determine their best course of action. The Drake’s rioting was controlled and it had little to do with the empire’s occupation. They were psyching themselves up, hoping that their ‘saviors’ came planet side. They wanted something new to fight. Even the soldiers of the Immortal Empire joined in with them. Bouts of strength and cunning between them and the Drake took place across multiple planets. Only on the worlds of the Cog did this prove problematic. The riots grew fiercer until the local police could no long contain the situation. The military had to be called in to subdue the rioters.
Xantan System
Homer Stravour, Champion of the Immortal Empire, was quite dead. The most finely wrought armor the empire could produce was more than capable of withstanding the wrath of an exploding star intact. However, the Champion’s body was not as durable. The Champion died, when the few organs he still possessed where destroyed by the shockwave cast by the star’s demise. Even so, this would not be the Champion’s end. Gifts, delivered to the Immortal Empire by Sheathes-10, were to be found on both him as well as his ship, the ‘Leviathan.’ These gifts, known as Phoenix Sigils, could bring back the dead. And in the middle of the worst catastrophe to happen in the Ancerious Galaxy thus far, there was life. Homer Stravour was reborn far before the ‘Leviathan’ would be. And in the vacuum of space the Champion of the Immortal Empire struggled against the most basic of human needs. The need to breath. Homer had not been wearing his helmet at the time the star went nova, and being caught unawares was now without it. But the Champion did not require air to survive. The systems of his body, both biological and mechanical in nature, began their work of purifying and replenishing the Champion’s blood. As Homer floated there, amidst the rapidly cooling remains of what was once the systems heavenly body, he began to recollect the events leading up to his demise. The fact that he had lost to an enemy, something that has not happened in decades, was slowly taking root in his mind. Normally Homer is not one to give into mindless destruction. But here and now the Champion could think of nothing but bringing destruction, complete and utter in nature, to Capitol. As he waited for the ‘Leviathan’s rebirth, he remained unaware of Tenebrae’s attack upon the Immortal Empire. How he reacted would determine the outcome of this most bloody of conflicts.
Elsewhere
INITIATING REBOOT
|
|
|
Post by EmperorMyric on Dec 16, 2017 19:33:01 GMT
Lorechan and Dalkarni:
The Capitol forces had been destroyed here, A few ships had jumped out, their helmsman managing to press the jump button out of sheer self preservation. Those crews who had survived the Hush and returned to Capitol space would be shot and their ships re crewed. However the debris fields left by the assault would always be remembered as a suicide charge of the dammed.
Varandal:
The Capitol fleet had around 189 ships left around the planet, the IRK cannons had continued their attack runs on the Capitol fleet, some had been destroyed by the suicide charge by the corvettes but most had jumped away from the charge, straight into the guns of the new Carnaith fleet which had struck hard and fast. Too much Capitol blood had been spilled by the IE for Capitol to even care about the Carnaith ships in range, a few captains fired but most continued to hammer the IE. Those ships that the IE deployed to attack the remaining Capitol battleships found themselves flying into massive barrages of Tachyon Arrows which penetrated ships and smashed the insides until the ships were a fast floating wreck. However even though Capitol had stopped bombarding the IE planet many ships had started moving into high orbit in the atmosphere. Suddenly thousands of drop ships and material sped away towards the ground, Capitol was going to create a base in this system if it was the last thing they did.
Varandal Surface:
The armoured divisions moved in formation after exiting the drop ships. The Capitol MBTs and Land fortresses rolling out across the plains towards the massive IE settlement which was the capital of the planet. It had been massively bombarded with munitions and so the Capitol forces were determined to secure it. The land fortresses produced a long range bombardment using small nuclear munitions. Mushroom clouds and bright glares filled the air and those IE forces that had rode out to meet the large Capitol force were destroyed through sheer numbers, though Capitol suffered casulties from the IE tanks more sophisticated weapon systems the sheer number of MBTs overwhelmed them and pushed them back. Any IE artillery position was quickly destroyed with nuclear bombardment and any air attack was met with feirce anti air fire from Hydra AA tanks. Around the drop site the Capitol forces deployed pre fabricated bunkers and dug In while the attack force sped towards the Capital of the planet.
Capitol Space:
Capitol high command had by now heard of the stance of the first assault, and the death of their Emperor Garren. At this point in time there was some infighting amongst the high command, Political manuvering and also outright shooting occurred until enough order was beaten into the rest. A new overall leader had been established called Inara, she was the first Empress of Capitol and not one of the high commanders had seen it coming, who had been considered the weakest of them had in fact out manuvered them all. Unfortunately she was no different from the others, apart from she was a women. And if history tells us anything. Women should be feared more than men.
In Celefran a second force of 250 ships had been assembled the reinforce the Varandal attack. Right now revenge was the only thing on Inaras mind, for she had been Garrens daughter.
|
|
|
Post by EmperorMyric on Dec 16, 2017 19:42:42 GMT
Varandal Surface:
The battle for the capital of the planet had devolved into close range urban warfare, something Capitol excelled at. The outside defences had been swept aside with nuclear bombardment and the radiation from the fallout was still dangerously high even as the massive waves of Capitol troops poured into the remains of the city, hundreds of troops advanced with armoured support, they brought up their signature weapons, Rad cleanser cannons and small rocket propelled nuclear recoilless rifles. The slaughter began as what was left of the IE forces retaliated, the battle reached a small stalemate as both sides tried to gain the upper hand.
Meanwhile in the plains outside the settlement the Capitol drop site had been fully established, shield generators and defences had been deployed, a pre fabricated runway was being constructed to help the drop ships as well as allow Capitol to launch air strikes in atmosphere. The Land Fortresses which had broken the cities defences now stood ready, firing nuclear bombardments into any pockets of resistance, regardless of friendly fire. Their massive armoured bulks covered by the shield installations and the watchful gazes of the Hydra AA tanks.
Varandal Space:
The Space battle had become a very confusing affair, with the appearance of the Carnaith fleet they had engaged the IE forces without hesitation and had paid little heed as the Capitol fleet had pulled back slightly, to consolidate their position orbiting their drop sites. The IE wanting to destroy both had agreed the Carnaith fleet was far more of a problem with a dreadnought in tow the battle quickly became a very bloody affair. The Capitol fleet merely watched from afar, they continued to exchange ships in orbit with the drop site and only engaged ships that came too close, every so often they unleashed a Tachyon Arrow barrage towards injured ships in the combat of both sides.
It was then the two sides registered another fleet incoming, 245 signatures came up on sensors. This was Capitols reinforcements. The fleet appeared at the edge of system and immediately made its way to rendezvous with the Capitol fleet in orbit. The fleet was made up of numerous large ship classes, it was spearheaded by 40 battleships, as well as numerous cruisers, carriers and destroyers. Corvettes also protected the flanks as it advanced, this time however it seemed the fleet moved in very tactical formations. The fleet had no intentions to engage the two warring factions and was content to let them fight it out, even though Capitol now outnumbered both sides.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Eries Fortress System, Eastern Union Space, Aboard the Dart class Cruiser Musashi :
Duran surveyed the scene, it had been a very perplexing event and one that had surprised those involved. An unknown intruder had made it aboard the Mushashi and had obviously manipulated its systems in some way to get information out of the system. He had then fled the scene and evaded all attempts at capture. The resulting escape had cost the lives of 23 crew members when the unknown intruder had overridden an airlock. The only lead they had was the blood. One of the security guards had managed to shoot the man and his blood stain was still on the deck floor. The blood results would come back very soon but Duran and his aides as well as forensics were still investigating the scene. Duran knelt down looking at the blood stain when a priority one call came though, obviously the results.
“This is Duran” He said in his typical stern voice.
“Sir, this is a code red, the blood samples, we analysed them. They are Evisorok!” The man said almost shouting. Duran went stone cold and cut the link shouting at the nearest man to the communicator.
“GET ME A SECURE LINK TO ADMIRAL HARGUN RIGHT NOW!”
|
|
|
Post by EmperorMyric on Dec 16, 2017 19:58:08 GMT
The Krieg shuttle docked with the Tartarus and the Warmaster strode out into the shuttle bay, accompanied by Kurze and Garviel. Moments later they were followed by Lock and his retinue, 4 in total and lastly came 4 Krieg soldiers. Lock looked at the Warmaster. "A nice ship i must say. I've seen better, but I’ve been aboard a damn sight worse too."
They headed straight for the conference room to write up terms of alliance. At this point it was only the Warmaster and 5 elite grenadiers and lock and his retinue. Kurze headed for the bridge and Garviel headed to the tank storage. The Warmaster and Lock spoke about the terms but the Warmaster could still feel tension emitting from Lock.
They entered the conference room and the Warmaster strode straight to the captains chair and sat down looking relatively calm. Lock sat facing him and his retinue remained standing behind him. The grenadiers did the same behind the Warmaster and both sides merely stared at each other one waiting for the other to break the ice. "So these terms?" Lock began.
"The terms of Alliance" the Warmaster started "Are to be quick and simple so you and i can return to our ships and carry on business as usual". The Grenadiers behind the Warmaster started talking to each other as the conference got more complicated and at times they would just stare at some of the Nex. "This looks about right" the Warmaster finished and then he signed the documents and passed it over to Lock.
Lock looked down at the terms and began to read through them. Free travel seemed reasonable, as did support in time of war. However it was not the terms of the alliance that were bothering Lock. This man before him, in his stylised armour and his demeanour sickened Lock. This man had allowed thousands of his men to die, countless ships to be lost, and had not even fought himself. A strong leader fights beside his men, inspiring them to greater feats allowing them to fight harder. But this man had cowered on a ship and let his men die, with no support, no way to retreat. Lock knew that if it weren’t for Garviel who Lock had gleaned respect for after is actions and calmness in the face of attack and the deaths of his superiors, that all of the Krieg forces would have died on that moon. "But we have not discussed the terms of your surrender." Lock said with a fiendish grin. Before the Warmaster could speak Lock signalled to his fellow darkstriders who quickly took down the 5 guards, and before they hit the floor Lock grabbed a pistol from one of the bodies and put it to the Warmasters head. “I don’t suffer cowards Warmaster" He pulled the trigger then tossed the gun aside.
Garviel was in the Behemoth department of storage when he got an order to come to the bridge from Kurze. Garviel rushed to the bridge because he had been summoned there, he was a Behemoth Commander and had worked his way up, like all Death Trooper soldiers and other branches. You choose your branch and go up he choose Army and started off as a infantry man and worked up to Behemoth commander next in his line was Elite Grenadier. Kurze was on the bridge in the Command chair and he was worried because there had been no response from the Warmaster this is the reason he had summoned Garviel to find out what was going on in that room.
Garviel rushed down the corridor, half way down he heard a shot from a stub pistol. He signalled his men to the door and they burst in to so the 5 darkstriders in combat positions, ranged weapons sprouting from their arms. He looked to Lock, then to the dead grenadiers, and then lastly, to the Warmaster whose skull was rent open from what looked like a stub weapon at point blank range. The troopers raised their guns and aimed at the darkstriders who in turn aimed back. Lock gestured for them to lower their guns and they did so returning to a ready stance. Garviel stared at lock and then blurted out "What the hell happened here!?" Lock looked at him his casual if not intimidating demeanour showing how at ease he was. "I was about to sign the treaty when one of the grenadiers pulled a pistol and shot the Warmaster. My men then dispatched the traitors as they were turning their guns on us but regrettably we could not save the Warmaster" He bowed his head in what appeared to be a solemn manner to Garviel.
Garviel was suspicious at first when he first was told the story and then he inspected the Warmasters head and indeed he was shot from behind. At this point he told his men to lower their weapons and then he asked is lock would follow him to the bridge.
Lock nodded and he and his men followed Garviel out, following his men. Lock may not have displayed his feelings but inside he was positively jubilant. Killing a coward such as that was no sport but it satisfied Lock in a way that allowed him to feel the campaign had brought him a personal victory.
When they reached the Bridge Garviel told Lock and his men to stay there whilst he and his men went and told Kurze the story about how one of the Grenadiers went rouge. Kurze then got up and walked over to Lock "you did the right thing but did all of them had to die only one shot the Warmaster". At this moment some more Krieg ships came and docked not warships but rescue ships and they recovered the Warmasters body and the 5 dead Elite Grenadiers and took them back to Krieg for a proper burial.
"The others drew weapons on me and my men, I acted as any leader would. Perhaps they were bitter at the loss of their friends on the moon, I do not know but regardless they attempted to attack me and i acted accordingly"
“Ok that’s fine" Kurze replied still a bit suspicious of what had happened but he accepted it seeing as it is not the first time Krieg Troopers have gone rogue after a battle but it was very rare to happen. Kurze then asked what Lock would do next and what would happen to Krieg now.
"I am not about to compromise this alliance due to the foolish acts of a few renegades. The papers will be signed but I require the signature of one of the living upon it. I take it you will oblige captain? " Lock said with a carefully peaceful tone.
"Of course i will keep the Alliance strong and not let it fail because of some Heretics" at this Kurze Garviel and Lock went back to the conference room where clean up teams were just finishing cleaning the Blood and Sinew of the walls and table. Then Kurze signed the Papers and waited for Locks signature.
Lock took the document, signed it briskly and then stood and extended a hand to Kurze. "To a long and fortuitous alliance captain Kurze" He inclined his head respectfully.
Kurze took his hand "you to my friend, you too" with this he also asked "what do we do know that we are allies and that our Warmaster is dead, even though he was a coward but we could not say it or face execution" Garviel and his men agreed with Kurze's last statement.
"You elect a new leader and continue as you always have. I must go now captain, thank you for your co-operation" and with that Lock strode off a devious grin on his face and his darkstriders walked out with him. A seamless operation.
Kurze and Garviel escorted Lock and his team to the hangar where a Nex shuttle waited for them They said their goodbyes and saw them on their way. Once they had left Kurze turned to Garviel. Well my old comrade, now we get to work forging a Krieg not influenced by that cowardly bastards rules. We make Krieg back into the force she was meant to be. Garviel nodded and they both walked back to the bridge aware of the task ahead of them.
Meanwhile on the shuttle Lock was sat brooding in the way he always did, analyzing every manoeuvre. A seamless operation he deduced and a new ally on top of that. “This is Knight Lock to Captain Volkus, new race identified and allied with. Corrupt leader eliminated. Contact Kurze if you wish to talk to them. They have a strong armoured force and their space forces are well trained. Lock out.” The message was broadcast through the relays and Lock hoped it found its intended target with as little interception as possible.
|
|
|
Post by EmperorMyric on Dec 16, 2017 19:58:54 GMT
Varandal System: Immortal Empire Space. Orbit
The Immortal Empire ships suddenly jumped in alongside the Capitol fleet, this fleet had been holding a defensive position and observing the battle between the Carnaithians and the Immortal Empire, content to help their forces on the ground. However the Immortal Empire had changed that. The ships that jumped in next to the Capitol fleet immediately opened fire, destroying Capitol ships left and right, however they were not as surprised as the IE thought. Though they had ignored the approaching Carnaith ships the IE felt the full brunt of the return fire. At such close range the Rocket propelled cannons of Capitol normally thought useless suddenly became effective, that and the Tachyon Arrows became even more devastating. Nuclear missiles flared out of launchers and impacted into IE ships and the Trident battleships with their TA armaments merely broadsided IE ships at close range. Both sides suffered heavy casualties as they both slugged it out however a few of the smaller ships like the Icarus and Hydras stayed in low orbit and continued to give precision orbital bombardments to the ground troops, as well as shooting down any sort of air or drone cover the IE could muster.
Janga forest: Varandal surface
The Capitol forces had felt the brunt of the bombing, being furthest away from the main camp and the protection of the low orbit space craft the forces there were overwhelmed thanks to the commando attack and those men who ran were shot by Commissars. The pre fabricated base they had there had stood up to the bombing and continued to rain fire at the advancing Immortal Empire forces however they soon got the upper hand, breaches were made into the large bunker as demo teams came up, it was then some of the Capitol troops began to fall ill and small wasp like creatures erupted from their backs. The Capitol men fell back deeper into the bunker where the command was but the commissars pushed them back into the Immortal Empire guns. Inside the Capitol reinforced shelter just below the surface of the bunker the Capitol commander heard the screams and gunfire from above, it was him and another commissar. The commander held his head and cursed it had only been a small IE forces that had crippled them and were now attacking them had the enemy not destroyed their air defences... and now his back was starting to hurt with some sort of bio weapon, he had been infected too... it was only a matter of time. He sighed as the pistol of the Commissar was placed next to the commanders head
“Redeem yourself commander” The commissar roared. The commander pulled out a button from his inside cloak pocket and brought it up to his face height. At least this way in everyone’s eyes he would of done his duty and he wouldn’t have to face what the soldiers were out there.
“FOR CAPITOL!” He shouted and pressed the button. Just underneath him in a sealed chamber the 50MT thermonuclear warhead buried in case of the enemy victory exploded and the entire region erupted in light. The Capitol forces in the area were vaporised as well as the Immortal Empire forces and the drone bombers which had just passed overhead and which had destroyed their camp were blasted from the sky. The forest would never recover, and yet again Capitol had shown their complete disrespect for life.
City Randshire: Varandal Surface
the fighting in the city had turned into a bloodbath, both sides had fought to a standstill with the Capitol having to dig in to secure ground while the IE couldn’t beat them back. With such a nearer proximity to the main landing sight and camp the Capitol forces here could be free of air attack and had frequent artillery support from both their normal artillery and the massive thermonuclear artillery units which had smashed apart the cities defences. The tank units which had been sent into the city had helped gain ground though casualties were high. It was at this point that Capitol deployed their urban attack gear, tanks totting massive flame-throwers took to the streets, clearing out buildings with massive gouts of flame, many were destroyed with lucky shots however they still kept coming, if this wasn’t bad enough other tanks rolled up too, some had massive demolition guns which could destroy entire building with one shell while others carried massive chemical sprayers with acids that could eat through men and buildings with horrifying ease. There came troops as well with more body armour, with better rifles and back mounted versions of the chemical throwers and flame-throwers. These were Capitols Hydra Guard and they were FAR from the normal rabble of Capitols line troops, they fought with skill and tactics and needed no commissars. When all hope seemed lost the Hydra Guard never backed down. Some squads of them were killed by IE robots however the Guard never once gave ground, working quickly and efficiently to bring them down and to take them out. Capitol even deployed their own snipers to watch over the city and a game of cat and mouse ensued between the two sniper sides. It was strange, the Immortal Empire would learn one thing today and that would be Capitol was doing something rarely seen before.
It was learning.
Rubikon System: Capitol Space
Deep in Capitol space the forces of the Dark Triumvirate convened in Rubikon, it was one of their larger staging grounds and their combined fleets here trained together. However it wasn’t what was going on with their fleets that was the problem. A shadow befell the fleet as the newest addition to the Capitol fleet and the DT as a whole moved into position. Finally completed the huge ship moved out of its construction cradle. The Emperor Scar class Super Dreadnought MK.2 came with its engines roaring as its first flight took place. The ship itself bristled with even more Tachyon Arrows than the last, its armour and power generation had been upgraded and this time it carried its very own massive gun. Capitol would never make the same mistake again.
All the while the Empress of Capitol smiled alongside representatives from the Shadow Guard and Shadowblade. Today was a good day for the forces of darkness
|
|
|
Post by EmperorMyric on Dec 16, 2017 20:02:17 GMT
Varandal Surface
Janga Forrest: Mid-day
The Cli’sorr commandos had been running since sunrise and were well away from the Capitol base when they saw the nuclear charge detonate. Commandos aren’t normally ones to panic, but here and now, even the steel resolve hammered into them by years of brutal training gave way to terror. As one the squad turned and began to run at full speed. Even with their jump packs, they couldn’t hope to outpace the coming shockwave, but being even a little further from the epicenter of the blast couldn’t hurt. As the massive shockwave reached them, the squad dove for any form of cover they could find. The wave of condensed air raced passed them, kicking up loose dirt from the ground and knocking over trees that had stood for more than a thousand years. Several commandos where thrown from where they hid, the others weathered the storm and waited patiently for the coming backwash before they moved again. Slowly, the team began to extract themselves from a covering of dirt and fallen trees. They set about looking for those that had been swept away by the initial shockwave. On occasion, they would look over their shoulders to gaze upon the distinctive mushroom cloud. It wasn’t long before the team began moving again. Many where bruised, two had broken bones, two where dead, and three where missing. But they were commandos, and they had a mission to complete. So long as one of them lived, they would complete their objectives. So they moved on to the next Capitol outpost, hoping Immortal Empire command had learned their lesson, and would act accordingly.
Ferodad Forest: Afternoon
All of Drayden fell to the ground, all at once. He had just experienced death several thousand times at the exact same moment. Several of her human bodies were convulsing, and one had bit through his tongue. As the being began to regain its composure, he slowly started to get to its feet and began to assess its experience. Death was not normally that intense. Then again, Drayden had never died that many times either. The only thing he could think of that would cause that much death would be a massive explosion. And given the nature of the enemy currently on this planet, it was only logical that it would be nuclear in nature. With only half of his bodies remaining, Drayden began to set about moving much more carefully. He began to target specifically the commanders, the squad leaders, the commissars, and the bravest among Capitol’s ranks. This would prove more difficult than the indiscriminant infection that he had previously preformed, but given her greatly diminished numbers, it was the most logical of courses. Drayden was suddenly aware that one of his human bodies was bleeding quite badly. He turned his attention to it, for to lose it would be to lose some of his much needed processing power. And right now, he needed every resource at her disposal.
City Randshire: Afternoon
As the K-12 Exo-Suit rounded the corner, it fired a salvo of concussion missiles into the Capitol forces that where making their way down the street. The exo-suit immediately darted across the street into the cover provided by the buildings. Two more exo-suits followed the first, and likewise had launched their own missiles into the enemy forces. They received sporadic return fire, but nothing major. The three man squad quickly left their foe behind to wade through the mess of mangled and mutilated bodies. The squad was already moving toward their next target. This one would be tougher as they had tanks. While an exo-suit was a match for a tank, they numbered only three and their enemy numbered much more. The squad stopped in the middle of one of the main roads of the city. They turned to face the two approaching enemy forces and hunkered down. The mortar cannons on their shoulders rotated into position and the disruptor missiles pods opened, ready to fire. Before the enemy was even in view the mortar cannons opened fire, pummeling the foe before they could even hope to respond. As the two forces converged in the street ahead of them, the exo-suits fired their disruption missiles, which punch through the tanks’ front armor before detonating inside. In less than forty seconds the three exo-suits had choked the street with the burnt and burning husks of most of the tanks from the two forces. They unleashed a quick barrage of concussion missiles to deal with any infantry before they turned and charged down one of the streets joining theirs. They quickly made their way to the nearest base to resupply. As they did so the exo-suit pilots noted the artillery that pelted their previous position.
City Randshire: Nightfall
As night fell only two exo-suits returned to the base. The third had fallen when the squad stumbled into a Capitol ambush. The second exo-suit was damaged, but it was by no means severe. As they made their way to the mechanic, the makeshift defensive guns fired. The particle beams lanced into the air, intercepting the incoming artillery shells, both stand and nuclear in nature. Focus was place on the more devastating nuclear shells, meaning it was left to the shield that covered the base to stop what shells made it through the screening fire. Several K-7 Support APCs and K-3 Anti-Air Tanks lent their fire to stopping the barrage. Explosions lit the darkening sky. The exo-suits parked themselves in the cavernous insides of one of the sturdier buildings. Coffin like devices where detached from the exo-suit’s backs, and from them the pilots stepped out. Both stretched before heading for the mess. After a somewhat warm meal, and a quick rest, the techs would have the exo-suits fixed up and ready to go again. The two would continue their hit and run tactics against Capitol. If they were lucky they would get a new comrade to replace the one they lost.
City Randshire: Midnight
Four large transports were moving quickly, darting with surprising swiftness through the high-rise buildings of the city, many lit by the fires far below. Each carried a large steel box beneath their frames. As the transports raced towards Capitol lines, they suddenly veered off course, releasing their cargo as they did so. The timing had to be so exact that the craft were piloted be machines. The cargo hit the streets, spinning and skipping down the avenues. The release and landing had been carefully calculated well beforehand. As the tumbling slowed, the containers came to rest up right. Capitol, never ones to ponder the deeper meaning behind such an action, immediately opened fire on the containers. As rounds impacted and bounced of the thick walls, the walls left the frame of the containers as well placed explosions blew them outward, into the front lines of the assembled soldiers. From within these containers, hundreds of cyborgs raced towards the Capitol line with frightening speed. They fired as they ran, and many were felled by weapon fire. Many more slammed into the advancing enemy. With mechanical strength and precision, the cyborg soldiers laid into the assembled soldiers with frightening disregard to their own safety. Even as acid ate their flesh and fire burned out their life, they continued their assault. With both ranged and melee weapons they tore into Capitol’s ranks. As the cyborgs engaged the enemy up close, the soldiers of the Immortal Empire opened fire from the upper windows and roofs of the buildings. With no cover, and with more than a hundred cyborgs tearing them apart, the Capitol force was quickly dealt with. As soon as the last of the Hydra Guard fell, the cyborgs took off down the street with an inhuman speed. There was no celebration of their victory, no mourning for the dead, no thought other than their next objective.
City Randshire: Midnight
The soldiers of the Immortal Empire raced across the roofs of the city’s buildings, using their jump packs to leap the great distances between each. As they followed the cyborgs below, they came under fire from Capitol’s snipers, the soldiers’ shielding saving most of them from instant death. They quickly leapt from the roof and fired their jump packs after a short fall, launching them into the building they previously stood upon. They quickly retreated from the windows, and hunkered down deeper inside the structure. There they had to wait patiently until they were signaled that their own snipers had dealt with those pinning them.
Outside, the Immortal Empire snipers took position. With their shimmer suits engaged they were all but invisible, the only way any would be able to find them was with either powerful sensors, or by following the thermal trail of their weapons. Because of this, they had adopted a fire and run tactic; aim carefully, fire one, kill one, run like you’ve got a battle barge bearing down on you. Because of this, the Immortal Empire’s snipers were unable to aid the frontline soldiers as much as they would like. Instead being force to hunt down the snipers that dogged them throughout the city.
Varandal Space
The Immortal Empire forces were now in close proximity to Capitol’s fleet. Here they had the biggest advantage. Capitol’s fleet was set up to defend against a foe coming from open space, and was unable to bring all of its weapons to bear on the combined warfleets. And with the vessels crippled and destroyed by the initial barrage, there was now a large debris field between to two forces, robbing both sides of their ability to fully engage each other. They couldn’t travel around or above the field, because to do so would open them up to the full firepower of the opposing fleet, something that meant immediate destruction. They couldn’t travel beneath the wreckage because there was a rather large planet in the way. Added to the mix were the T-3 Counter-Intelligence ships, making it far more likely for Capitol to hit their own wounded than anything belonging to the Immortal Empire. Both sides were in deadlock.
|
|