Imperium Invades RIFTS Earth

[Ahriman238]

Man, it seems like forever since we had a really silly versus thread. Fixing now.

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++++++++++++++++++++++++++++Alert!

Explorator fleets of the Adeptus Mechanicus have this year of 777 M41 discovered a hitherto hidden human settlement. This planet has not been part of the Imperium since the great Crusade, and is overrun with xenos, sorcerers and a pseudo-Imperium.

Recommended course of action- divert Crusade Fleet Achilus, under Lord General Militant Tetrarchus, to this 'Earth' to secure the lives and loyalty of humanity for the God-Emperor, purge the xenos and protect the planet from the ravages of the Warp.

Alert! Extreme dimensional distortions surround this planet.

Crusade Fleet Achilus resources:

Imperial Guard

Cadian Shock Troopers: 2 Regiments
Tekarn Armoured: 1 Regiment
Iaxian Tithe Guard: 2 Regiments
Terrax Guard: 3 Regiments
Harakoni Warhawks: 1 Regiment
Mordian Iron Guard: 1 Regiment
Descaal Lancers: 1 Regiment
Scintillan Guard: 5 Regiments
Maccabian Guard: 2 Regiments
Mortessan Highlanders: 1 Regiment
Gunmetalican Armoured: 1 Regiment
Volg 3rd: 1 Regiment
Monrass Scythewind Reconnaissance: 1 Regiment
Merov Penitentiary Indenture: 4 Penal Legions
Gathalamor Heavy Grenadiers: 8 Battalions

Space Marines

Angels Vermillion: 1 Company
Space Wolves: 1 Company
White Consuls: 2 Companies
Dark Sons: 3 Companies
Grey Knights: Classified
Genesis Chapter
Deathwatch: Classified
Blood Swords: 2 Companies
Relictors: 1 Special Detachment
Storm Wardens: 7 Companies
Templars of Blood
A Crusader Company containing elements of the Death Spectres, Subjugators, Disciples of Caliban, and Iron Snakes

Adepta Sororitas

Order of the Valorous Heart: 1 Commandery
Order of the Bloody Rose: 4 Commanderies
Order of the Argent Shroud: 1 Perceptory
Order of the Fiery Tear: 1 Mission
Order of the Crimson Oath: 2 Missions

Imperial Navy

+Vessels of Note:

Belial - Emperor Class Battleship
Execution - Oberon Class Battleship
Proclamation of Wrath - Vengeance Class Grand Cruiser
Eternal Requiem - Exorcist Class Grand Cruiser
Caelestis Dictatio - Mars Class Battle Cruiser

Adeptus Mechanicus

Legio Venator: 3 Maniples, 2 Scout Maniples
Korvat Knight House: 2 Formations
Centurio Ordinatus: 1 Ordinatus
Skitarii: 4 Regiments
Ordo Reductor: 2 Siege Regiments
Legio Cybernetica: 1 Division

Departmento Munitorum

Pioneer Corps: 3 Regiments
Field Enforcement Corps: 2 Regiments
Labour Corps: 4 Battalions
Administratum Assay Corps: 1 Corps

Inquisition—Classified---

Officio Assassinorum ---Classified---

Dispatch Crusade Fleet Achilus with all haste. Suggested landing zone is near the land of Aegypt, the "Phoenix Empire."

Thought for the Day: When the people forget their duty they are no longer human and become something less than beasts. They have no place in the bosom of humanity nor in the heart of the Emperor. Let them die and be forgotten.+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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An Open Letter,

My friends, one and all, despite turmoil and trouble we have all survived this turbulent decade of war. We found and defeated each of the Four Great Perils of which were warned and did so by coming together as never before. It is to my profound relief that we have such capable champions, and that so many are able to look past their petty conflicts and regional divisions to uphold the sancity of all life.

Sadly, not all is well and I write once again to alert all to a grave danger. I'm sure many of you recall how all those years ago every psychic on our sphere had terrible nightmares about the coming of the Four Perils. Well, it has happened again. Again we are set upon by a threat from beyond the stars, human in appearance but with dark souls that crave only war and dominance. People who make submission even to the Proseks seem acceptable. Among the fragmented images put together are the mechanisms for endless war, religious fanaticism, men turned into cyborg slave and psychics and mages bound by their very souls to serve as glorified radios.

They are coming for us. Those they are unwilling to enslave, they will destroy utterly. Yet we have faced similar threats in the past, and endure.

I have already written to many champions instrumental in the ending of the Four Horseman and the other Perils, advising them to be on their guard. I have written a personal missive to Karl Prosek seeking alliance for the duration of this crisis, and received as yet no response. My friends, be wary, be safe and be not afraid to call for help. Another storm is upon us, but yet another dawn is behind it.

Sincerely,
Plato the Dragon
Council of Lazlo

[Solauren]

Depending when on RIFTS Earth, the Four Horsemen are running around, they might be able to stop the invasion by themselves.

And LOVE to see a war between the Imperium and the full Splogorth (spelling?) Empire.

[Sinewmire]

Holy SHIT that's a lot of space marines for one planet! 16+ companies?! A single planet rarely rates more than a couple of squads.

[Simon_Jester]

I'd say that Imperial Guard soldiers are almost certainly inferior to MDC-equipped troops from Rifts. Space Marines can probably fight on a more even footing in terms of equipment and are insanely skilled, but even they may have problems with the sheer number of dreadnoughts mecha the major Rifts powers field.

On the other hand, I'm not sure that the Rifts Earth powers have anything capable of credibly threatening the Imperium's orbiting battlefleet, or that can survive extended orbital bombardment from its ships even if exterminatus is off the table.

It is very likely that the Coalition and NGE would be tempted to switch sides- oppressive and horrid though the Imperium is, it is firmly a pro-human power and would be a valuable ally in any effort by humans to reclaim the Earth from D-Bees and supernatural intelligences.

[Solauren]

Actually, IIRC, in some of the Rifts supplements, are are Orbital battlestations/fleets that have deliberately interdicted Earth.

But I doubt they'd stop an Imperium invasion.

[Simon_Jester]

From what I understand, there is a gross disparity of firepower between 40k warships (whose main battery guns seem to have single-shot output measured in the tens of megatons at least given how easily they can ravage cities) and 40k ground troops. Whereas in RIFTS, spacegoing warships and battlestations tend to be less... impressively far beyond... what a squad of combat mecha could deal with.

So while their ground troops may well be outclassed in terms of firepower, their warships probably aren't.

[SAMAS]

By my last estimate, Phase World (RIFTS' Space Opera setting) capital ship weapons topped out around double-digit Megatons per shot at the base tech level(barring outliers like Dominator Star Fortresses).

This was, admittedly, extrapolating from one fluff description of what wasn't their strongest weapons though. So grain of salt and all that. And again, this is Three Galaxies, which is significantly, but not overwhelmingly, beyond Earth's tech level damage-wise.

[Simon_Jester]

Also, "megatons per shot" is a low estimate for 40k in my honest opinion. Remember that a reasonable large warship can basically do a crust-scouring bombardment of a planetary surface; this requires either truly immense volume of fire or individual weapons up into the gigaton range.

[Ahriman238]

Actually, IIRC, in some of the Rifts supplements, are are Orbital battlestations/fleets that have deliberately interdicted Earth.

But I doubt they'd stop an Imperium invasion.

Yes, Orbit, my next stop after the oceans. In short, there is a counter-orbital debris field, with hundreds of kill-sats and patrols. Non of them should be more than a minor speed bump to Imperial space forces.

Depending when on RIFTS Earth, the Four Horsemen are running around, they might be able to stop the invasion by themselves.

And LOVE to see a war between the Imperium and the full Splogorth (spelling?) Empire.

After that. In theory a couple years after the 'present' when things have had time to calm down after the Coalition and Minion Wars.

[Solauren]

What if the Gods get involved (i.e Ra, Isis, etc)?

[Ahriman238]

Well, Gods in the Palladium Megaversal System are neither omnipotent nor invulnerable. But they tend to be superhuman on a level 40K sees most often in Daemons and Primarchs, can tank nukes and tend to be very learned and powerful casters, besides their divine powers.

I feel like the gods would be a nightmare and a half, there are probably some outliers (Odin, Brahma, and Ahura Mazda leap to mind) who could bring down the whole invasion, but I'm not sure most could necessarily swing the tide. Though... Isis has access to the Needle in Madhaven. If she were able to use it to it's full potential, and stopped worrying solely about hiding it away, this would be a tremendous advantage.

[Highlord Laan]

All those magic users, completely aside from the monstrous powers of people like the Council of Lazlo, the Archmages of Dwemor, the Nazca, Lemurians and I know I'm missing a few, are going to really fuck up the Imperial forces in way's they've never imagined. Even on a singular mage level. Immunity to Energy will let a caster ignore most of the Imperial arsenal, especially for the Guard, followed by a Carpet of Adhesion, a cheeky wave and a handy method of escape. Followed then by pain. Lots of screaming, exploding, oh-emperor-wheres-it-coming-from-get-it-off pain.

And all those robed fuckers don't even need to worry about the perils of the warp, and if they're anywhere near a ley-line (or worse, a nexus) they can keep that shit up all damned day. Seeing what Cyber Knights can do to Space Marines with their "ha-ha, you're using tech" powers would also be interesting. Guardsmen need not apply, they'd be chaff before the thresher. I'd give even odds against even Space Marines for the Megaversal Legion.

Rifts Earth is not some standard "ARGLEBARGLEHERETICEMPRAH!" world. The people there have been fighting everything from high tech bandits and armies of homicidal robots to rampaging dragons, angry gods, motherfucking Splugorth and full-scale demon invasions for the last two-hundred plus years. This is the big grandpappy of all hardened targets for the Imperium, and outside of glassing the planet (which might not be that easy, given then powers there) I honestly don't think the Imperials can pull it off.

A final thing to remember. Rifts Earth isn't strictly alone. It's a nexus of dimensional travel, and there are cosmic powers that pay attention. Given the scale of the threat the Imperium poses to everyone and everything not them, hitting Rifts Earth might very well be yanking on a tigers tail. There's a reason Splynncryth hasn't just conquered the place, and it has nothing to do with numbers.

This is less a question of megawhatever per shot and more "are there enough sanctioned psykers and Gray Knights to handle this?"

[Simon_Jester]

Probably, but only if the Imperium really, really wanted to.

Frankly, they don't have the resources to spare for a campaign like this, when there are so many other worlds they could go after.

[Q99]

Quite, Rifts space forces is nothing too special, especially not the orbitals, who are more primitive than Phase World stuff, but on the ground, Rifts is terrifying.

On the bright side, the rifts activity is known to burn out FTL drives- what's left of the Arkhon invasion fleet is now stranded in the solar system trying to reach self-sufficiency while contesting with the Orbitals, and unable to land safely on Earth (because in the way, there's a debris field full of, among other things, bomb-pumped X-ray lasers).

Holy SHIT that's a lot of space marines for one planet! 16+ companies?! A single planet rarely rates more than a couple of squads.

Indeed, it's a very large amount. Yet, it's probably very, very insufficient. Multiple factions that can field power armored troops by the million exist (granted, not with as much skill as Space Marines, and those are only the top continent powers, like the Coalition States and the New German Republic/Triax), some with firepower I'd say is much in excess of most Marines (Glitter Boys, one of the heaviest models of power armor, almost a robot vehicle, carry railguns so strong they have to anchor into the ground to avoid being thrown back from the recoil. Honestly I wouldn't feel entirely safe taking one on even with a Space Marine Dreadnaught, since they're laser-resistant and have denser armor than even other Rifts armors. It'd be like fighting a Tau Broadside that can take hits), there's underwater cities full of people in regenerating bio-armor, and a wide variety of monsters and magic users. There's even a good number of greatly enhanced superhumans, like the Juicers, who are so full of enhancement drugs that they're bullet dodgers.

The simple infantry not in power armor are better equipped than Imperial Guard by a longshot too. A Rifts Earth soldier in megadamage body armor with a megadamage rifle is said to be roughly comparable to a modern tank in power.


The worst foe by far is Atlantis, which not only has tens of millions of the most elite power armor users on the planet in high tech suits, not only has even more infantry in heavy techno-wizardry armor, and millions of wizards, but they also have tens of millions of the Metztla, who are huge floating armored monster things (well, not all float, but most) who are over ten times as strong as most power armors. Atlantis, officially, is capable of taking on the rest of the planet and winning.

So, even if the Imperium convinced the human supremicist powers to join or at least not fight- and frankly, the Coalition and a few of the South American states fit in just fine. The NGR would be pretty reluctant, though- the biggest obstacles remains.

Oh, and Vampires. Forgot Vampires. Mexico's full of them, and they can *only* be hurt by their weaknesses (sunlight, stake through the heart, wood, running water [yes, water], silver, magic). If ones knows how to handle them they aren't too hard, but if one doesn't they're nigh unstoppable, stuff like lasguns are useless. The Vampire Kingdom in Mexico City is known to toss in loyal cyborg agents and humans disguised as vampires to mess up anyone who thinks they can get away with only deploying the weaknesses to boot, for foes who do wise up on proper anti-vamp weapons.

Probably, but only if the Imperium really, really wanted to.

Frankly, they don't have the resources to spare for a campaign like this, when there are so many other worlds they could go after.

Yes, the Imperium, due to it's tremendous scale, would be capable of conquering the obstacle that is Rifts Earth with it's raw resources, but not the force listed in the original post, which is more the kind of force which may work against a minor power.


The key phrase here would be "Send More Titans Legions," I think. Titan legions, gigantic numbers of tanks, as many heavy weapons as possible....

Or Orbital bombardment, which as established they only have limited defense against. Though one fun bit of the defense- The Nazca lines can be used to create giant energy constructs that can fly into space and attack ships. Hence why the Arkhon invasion fleet mentioned above is only 'remnants'. Can't be done often, though.


Long story short, Rifts Earth is a horrible, horrible place to invade. Completely terrible, a gigantic megadamage death trap.


Though funnily enough, it's only the *second* worst Palladium world to try and conquer.

[Purple]

Though one fun bit of the defense- The Nazca lines can be used to create giant energy constructs that can fly into space and attack ships.

Every time I read this I start laughing maniacally. Like, who came up with that? It's so awesome and yet... insane!

[Q99]

Every time I read this I start laughing maniacally. Like, who came up with that? It's so awesome and yet... insane!

That'd be a CJ Carella idea, and he came up with a *lot* of good stuff in his books (Also made the rather nice action-horror setting of Nightbane)

[Sky Captain]

Do Rifts Earth have shielding or jamming technology to make targeting ground forces from space very hard? If not then it doesn't really matter how many millions of power armored soldiers there are. If they can't reliably defend against attack from space they are just targets. After most of Rifts Earth military forces and infrastructure are destroyed 40k ground forces may not be so badly outnumbered although actually occupying the place still would be a nightmare even for 40k.

[Solauren]

The Nazca lines could fuck yup any attempt at orbital bombardment.

And all this is not even considering the fact there are more or less intact pre-Rifts cities in Japan. For all we know, they have ground to orbital launch capability.

I have a sudden mental image of a really high end magic using MDC dragon-borg in a space suit (if needed) picking a fight with the Imperium fleet, because it can.....

[Simon_Jester]

True, although I'd expect 40k warships to be as nasty or nastier than most of their RIFTS counterparts. That gives us a benchmark for their firepower.

[Highlord Laan]

The main thing that makes Rifts dangerous for the Imperials is magic. The Ley Line Walkers, Mystics and others can bring power to bear that humbles the most powerful psykers and librarians, do so early and often, and at no risk of getting their souls eaten and their bodies turned into living napalm. On the Imperial side, 40K psykers have a long and nasty history with getting possessed by the damnedest things and have control problems...and while Rifts Earth magic users only get possessed if they do something stupid, it's not for lack of things trying to possess people.

There's plenty of spirits, wraiths, entities and demons that take over minds and bodies, but the vast majority of Rifts magi and whatnot know how to cover their bases and protect themselves, whereas the vast majority of 40K psykers go by "in case of lack of fanaticism, put pistol in mouth."

[Q99]

Do Rifts Earth have shielding or jamming technology to make targeting ground forces from space very hard? If not then it doesn't really matter how many millions of power armored soldiers there are. If they can't reliably defend against attack from space they are just targets. After most of Rifts Earth military forces and infrastructure are destroyed 40k ground forces may not be so badly outnumbered although actually occupying the place still would be a nightmare even for 40k.

The Rifts themselves provide long-range interference to make precise stuff harder (even long-range radio is finicky), and orbit is a debris field littered with hidden defense satellites.


Plus, a lot of structures are very very tough, being made of megadamage materials, so would take very considerable bombardment to handle.

A few regions are magically concealed or in dimensional flux. The El Dorados are hidden, the Yucatan is only kinda-there, iirc China is concealed by magical fog.

And there is a lot of underwater stuff, including Lemuria, a few dozen mobile undersea cities, and the New Navy, which travels around in a giant supersubmarine (though does have island support bases).


That said, if the 40k forces want to do orbital exterminatus, they can. It's only invasion that's the problem.