STGOD mk II Main Thread

[Thirdfain]

<<Admiral, I am having my XO transmit our most recent force dispositions and battle plans. I do believe we can reach some sort of agreement.>>

[Darkevilme]

Bloodbath of city 31
Teldus
Makay

Citymistress Tir watches one of the last few chamaran drones cut from the sky by the invader drones, most of the city burning now and under the enemy control. Any optimistic hopes of saving the city and beating back the enemy assault has been crushed by the relentless listing off of mounting casualties. The citadel's shields rippling and starting to weaken as artillery shells smash into it, the lasers beneath it reaching critical temperatures and slowing down their rate of fire. The enemy drones now meeting little resistance to incursions into the city.

Far below her the last titan falls to the massed guns of enemy armour, the remaining chamarans huddling into their strong points and waiting for the end they know is coming as they fire what little weaponry remains to stave off the enemy advance.

“Get me the human commander.”
“Citymistress you cant be considering-” But Tir interrupts before she can finish.
“How many of us have died today? How much must we bleed here before honour is satisfied, i have watched my city destroyed and countless chamarans under my command butchered in its streets. Any dishonour is mine for this act but at least we will live to see the sunrise, get me the human commander.”

A simple broadcast is transmitted in the clear
<<To the commander of the invading army. This is Citymistress Tir of City 31. the city is yours . we surrender. Our forces will stand down. >>
The remaining chamaran forces already pulling back from the perimeter towards the citadel to avoid engagement. The citadel's lasers and mind control systems slowly shutting down. The shields following soon after.

And Tir, faced with the loss of honour and the idea she'll lose her position and possibly her family, just hopes it was all worth it. For if the surrender isn't accepted they're doomed.

[Thirdfain]

City 31
Teldus
Makay

In a field hospital a mile from the city's outskirts, Emmeal lay in a cot. A surgeon-drone's spiderlike servos were dancing across his mangled legs, suturing veins and preserving nerve-endings; the medfab was already extruding a new pair of fresh, pink limbs, somewhere in the tent medical complex. He was exhausted, mentally and physically, mind lashed by the moral assault of an hour before, body battered and torn. His upper body was propped up in the field hospital, and he looked to his left. In the cot there lay the young medic who had dragged him from the ruins of 31. She looked tiny, diminished- Emmeal could not form any connection in his mind between the mad killer who'd blown her own compatriot in half just hours before. She was physically in fine shape besides a few cuts and bruises, but they'd put her up anyways. She hadn't done anything but stare at the cloth roof since she'd arrived. She hadn't said a word, not since she'd stopped sobbing half an hour ago.

He heard the sound, and for a moment, his heart was gripped in fear. It was a roar, a thunderous sound, all-devouring and all-encompassing. It rose up from the city, over the sounds of the gunfire and the worldwrecking noise of the orbital strikes. The howl of the turbojet drones was nothing beside it, the blasts of the cannon was lost in it like a tear in the ocean.

Emmeal sat up in shock. Everyone mobile in the hospital, besides the hardworking medics, were clustered around the displays. the roar suddenly filled the hospital as well, raw and animal.

It was human voices- a half-million men and women, cheering, triumphant.

Comrade-Marshal der Kerjavic was announcing victory, the surrender of the enemy, the end of the horrible dull pang of the moral weapons, the march of prisoners through the city's streets.

City 31 had fallen back into the hands of Man. Above the city, over the Northern Ocean, the sun set, descending into the water like a falling empire.

Emmeal smiled as a grinning orderly thrust a beer ration into his hand.

In the other cot, the young medic began to cry again.


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Citymistress Tir looked down at the pudgy, ridiculous little simian. The Comrade-Marshal, with his long, rasping name and florid title, twisted his ugly little monkey-face into the threat-display which she was sad to know was the cattle equivalent of a smile.

With an almost palpable effort, she removed her sidearm from it's holster and lay it at his feet.

For now, Humankind knew a small victory.

[Crossroads Inc.]

Teldus, high polar region

The introductions had been done, information exchanged and pleasantries made. The easy part was over.

Now, as the leaders of two immense battle fleets began to co-ordinate with one another, the Kushawni Armada began to move to position itself along the flanks of the great Black Banner Fleet.

The swarms of small picket ships, long ago conscripted civilian tradeships, weaved in and out of the immense battleships. A trio of them had pulled up alongside the Flag Exelion and docked. in just a few moments, the three departed and jumped, en-route to a spot closer to Kushawni space to transmit updates back to the Citymind.

Back on bored the Flagship, Tosok considered his coming actions as he surveyed the battle below. He swifted through the reports of carnage and war below. A part of him admired the Syndicatis for their efforts. their numbers were never enough to take the planet, but they would deal mortal blows to much of the largest cities. It would be some time before anything useful came from Teldus...

"Such a waste..still, if we are too at last have order in this Glaxy, there may need to be many more such horrific acts. The path to come shall not be easy."

[Ohma]

-DSFV Virginia Hall, near Godwin's Hope, Makay-

The Virginia Hall gradually slipped into subspace. A small burst of cosmic rays was all that would signal the end of the transition.

Misato sat in her cabin with Meri and Takahashi.

"So they've conquered Makay then. That can't be good."

Takahashi swallowed the bite of ration bar she'd taken. "Particularly if they had any contact with the Empire. I can't imagine that being targets of xenocide could have given them a positive outlook on humans in general."

Meri "I don't know, we don't have anything suggesting inherent hostility in them other than taking Makay. For all we know they could be doing something similar to what we are."

"Hmph, like aliens would care about human suffering."

[Thirdfain]

People's Justice
Quixa
Makay

The People's Justice dropped out of FTL in the Quixa system. Around it moved the other ships of the Flying Column- Four of the large and fast "Shipwright's Strike of 9223" class-protected cruiser, as well as the People's Justice and the Stalwart, both "89,240 Martyrs of the 9228 Massacre"-class Assault Carriers. Two scout cruisers rounded out the attack force. Every ship was swift, faster than most vessels in the Chamaran armada.

They began to fall towards Quixa.

Flying Column
2x “Martyrs” ACS (10)
4x “Strike” CP (60)
2x “Vigiliant” CS (16)
Total: 86

-----------------------------------------------------------
City 31
Teldus
Makay

The camp was pre-fabricated- chain-link fences, plastic cargo container housing, and armed guards. It was packed with Chamarans, they could be seen everywhere, stripped of their armour. They groomed each other and waited under the guns of the sentries. There had been altercations- as in any occupation, the guards had little respect for their alien enemies. However, there was food and shelter, and it did not seem as if there was any plan to mass-execute them all. There were fewer of them than expected- there were whispers around the camp that City 29 hadn't surrendered, and the surviving Chamarans had been torn to bits by the angry mobs which had formed when the MC beams went down. The Syndicalist troops, rumor had it, had simply stood aside.

However, they had all been fitted with collars- dull, thick plastic things. To approach the fence was to feel a sharp shock. To touch it, signs warned, or to pass it's boundaries, was death.

Citymistress Tir was rounded up but a group of guards. They were silent, and she was taken to a bunker a few miles away under heavy guard. She was brought into a small, dark room. There were guards, two men in very different uniforms, and a gentleman in a civilian suit of a conservative cut.

The gentleman in the civilian suit opened a briefcase. "Citymistress Tir. I am Albon Sos. I am your military-appointed legal advisor." He looked over the document. "You are legally under three classifications- you are a captured POW of a recognized belligerent government, you are a suspect in a case for a half-dozen major war crimes, and you are a recognized, legal intelligence asset- Class 4, 'national security vital.' This means, I am afraid, that you are qualified for interrogation of the highest degree so long as a legal counsel is present." He closed his briefcase. "Any questions you have about your status can be directed to me, and I am available at any time for your assistance."

"Citymistress Tir." One of the officers spoke- she was in an Army Militia Union uniform, khaki with Nordkaldic symbols and a red-and-black blazon. "Now that that's out of the way, we have some questions for you. My compatriot is with the Committee for External Security. I would very much like it if we can complete this interrogation without his interference. Both he and I have a series of questions for you. I'll ask first."

She took a seat.

"I'm Comrade-Captain Septivic. Would you be kind enough to describe, in detail, the fortifications and force dispositions for the rest of the planet. Also, I'd like any technical information you may have as to the deprogramming of Jannissaries via your moral weapon arrays."

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Elsewhere, the campaign in space had intensified. Even as City 31 fell, reports continued to filter in to the Queen and her lieutenants. Another three cattle transports had been hit, forced to surrender and spirited off by Syndicalists to parts unknown. There had even been two military supply ships hit, vessels which had by poor luck or surprise been caught outside of the convoys. One had been destroyed outright when it's crew attempted to resist; the other had been taken as a prize.

Something would need to be done, and fast.

[Darkevilme]

Quixa
Makay

The attack is met with no response, the fleet appearing to be elsewhere. The syndicalists dropping on a world girdled only in the tiny specks of freighters drifting along their orbital paths.

Interrogation room
Teldus
Makay

Tir remains silent, looking down for a moment to read the translation off the back of her hand. Like most Chamarans she's not fluent in Terran basic. She remains silent a few moments more before asking clarification on what a Moral weapon was, her lips never moving, the psi link built into her glove allowing the translator to receive her wishes and speak for her. She's then left considering the question, oh she could with hold the information what little she knows, but really what honour has she got left to lose? She's surrendered herself and her command to inferior beings.

“I am not familiar with the indoctrination methodology, moral-weapon engineers are present where my people are being held but none of the moral-weapon philosophers are present on Teldus. I am also led to believe that no deprogramming methodology was ever considered or developed. Though my awareness is limited on such matters. As for fortifications i can say that citadel 31 is a second tier citadel, larger ones exist on the northern and western continents. As for forces i am not familiar with the particulars of any that survived your bombardment and assault though several conquest Overpacks are present on the western continent for training purposes.”

'something that needs to be done'
The claw Eternal
U-space

Melusine looks up at the countdown displayed on her main viewer, shifting and stretching on the command dais “Status report, all ships.”
“All ships still in formation, Ascendancy is lagging but keeping up.”
“Alright, hyperlink me to all ships.” A moment later the viewers changed
“Shipmistresses of first and second fleet, the last time our might was assembled thus it was to the claim the cattle territory of Makay as our own. Now upstarts and usurpers have come to challenge our supremacy, this must not go unanswered and it must not go unpunished. But at the same time we must be wary, failure is not an option, either we cast them out or we lose all we have gained in this galaxy. So remember, there shall be no turning back, we shall descend upon them and grind them into dust. We must remove this filth from our space before it further defiles our dreams. Nyan Nya.” And on every bridge the cry was echoed “Nyan Nya!”


Teldus system
Makay

The hyperspace sensors on the Syndicalist vessels start pinging all at once. The tiny flashes as the thrall vessels flick into the system and sublight forming a brief little fireworks display before space behind them peels open. A jagged rift spilling light and then ships into the system from U-space. The chamaran armada forming up a distance from Teldus and advancing rapidly towards the planet and the cattle fleets lurking above the south pole. Interdiction and jamming blossoming out from the chamarans as they commit to the battle. Already long range missiles and anti capital ship drones are launching towards the invader fleet.

Code: Select all

 Forces committed: 1580 points
10x60 dominion class
20x30 Conquest class
2x90 support squadron
20x10 thrall cruiser
 

[Thirdfain]

Monarchs and Fascists Fear
High Orbit
Teldus
Makay

The Comrade-Admiral nodded to a subordinate, and the connection with the Kushawni fleet shut down. Ever since the perimeter pickets had detected the long-expected Chamarran fleet, the Kushawni and Syndicalist leaders had been conferring. Plans had been laid, and the fleet had deployed in combat formation.

The combined fleets were in a standard Wall of Battle. In the center were the strongest, slowest Ships of Force- the huge Kushawni trade and battleships and the eight assorted Syndicalist battleships. Grouped along with spinwards edge of the formation were the Syndicalist armoured cruisers- the fast capital ships which made up the bulk of the Syndicalist fleet. However, they were not using their speed now- they were in tight formation with the main Wall of Battle. The difference between the two forces was stark- the Chamarans had only a few large vessels, and most of their craft were capital ships. The two human fleets were accompanied by a great ordered swarm of escorts, little destroyers, pickets, and frigates enmeshing the main units in defensive formations.

Like fleas from a dying beast, a cloud of drones erupted from the Syndicalist ships, rushing to interdict the incoming enemy ordinance. Behind them came the wave of twisting jamming and radiation which heralded the firing of a great many long-range missiles and combat-wasps.

Battle was joined.

[Crossroads Inc.]

Combined Kushawni Armada
High Orbit
Teldus
Makay

The sound of alarms on bored the FlagExelion were deafening as the sheer number of Xeno forces appeared on the horizons. Most of the fleet had been picked of seasoned veterans and high ranking officers, yet even so, the vast scope of the fleet barring down on them filled the less experienced with dread. Tosok, high in his command chair turned to his second.

“Lindson, the hour has come, hasn’t it?”
“Yes Sir, The moment we have been preparing for, and making ready is at last at hand.” The area around the FlagExelion was rocked by the momentous fire of the Syndicates forward ships, a swarm od drones and tiny ships hurtling by seconds later as the Kushawni fleet awaited the crucial moment to fire…

“Sir?” A timid cadet spoke up from bellow, looking to Tosok. “The Fleet has already fired, w-we should join fire against the enemy forces, shouldn’t we?” Tosok looked down, his eyes cold.

“Indeed we shall, the time has come at last to do just that, to fire upon our enemy, to silence the forces of chaos.” He closed his eyes, his neural link downloading a series of highly encrypted security protocols into the vast Computer cores of the FlagExelion. The Great Avatar program began to awake; the time had come for it’s true purpose as within seconds it seized vital controls of the Ship and much of the fleet.

The largest ships of the Kushawni Force suddenly spun up with energy, similarly hidden Avatar programs awakened on them as well. Within a minute, virtually every capital ship was under a similar Avatars control.

Tosok sighed, he had dreaded this moment, however much he knew it could not be avoided. He looked to the cadet, a deep trembling could be felt as the Immense tradeships began to spin up their interdiction fields.

“Cadet, Helson was it? You are young, new, you have not seen much of the world, yet, you know our History. The ruins of the Imperium lay around this Galaxy, a sign of folly and decay. It is a sign of the enviable forces of Choas against order. I am sure you know that the force that brough about the Imperiums final doom, was not mutants, not Xenos, not some force from beyond. No, it was humans themselves. Humanity has for so long been the source of it’s own destruction.
The CityMind knows this, it has seen it, and for those that know the CityMind well, it has blessed us with it’s ultimate truth…”

The Kushawni armada began to turn, following the Syndicates forces, not moving along side, but moving behind the lead ships now.

“You see, as long as Humanity remains to it’s own devices, it’s destruction, it’s total extinction is evitable. Only by, purifying Humanity, by bring about a complete and total renewing can we hope to survive…” The cadet felt a cold shiver run through his spine, as he looked around there was a strange calm, virtually all of the senior officers and command crew stood silent, watching as the ships moved under the CityMind’s control. Bridge crew slammed uselessly at control surfaces as the Trio of Exelions turned toward the Syndicates largest battleships.

“Oh great CityMind! Begin our purification! Bring Order to Choas! Bring the end to the destruction of Mankind and ussure forth, an age of peace…”

Across the fleet, communication nodes ramped up to full power. A silant howl went up from every cadet, ever crewmember, ever pilot in the Armada… Their CyberBrain uplinks, a device that had been made mandatory in the past few months for military duty suddenly flared to life.

An instant later they too knew the same peace and sense of unity Tosok felt. They understood now, and they unleashed their maximum fire into the lines of the Syndicates ships.

((OOG, sorry Thirdfain...nothing personal, it's just business))

[Thirdfain]

In war as in life, it is often necessary when some cherished scheme has failed, to take up the best alternative open, and if so, it is folly not to work for it with all your might.
-Winston Churchill

Comrade-Admiral der Anjivic's mask did not for a moment falter. When the Kushawni ships began to fall out of formation without warning, she did not hesistate to issue the re-deployment orders and send the warnings to the Kushawni ships.

<<Kushawni vessels, return to formation immediately. Open fire on the enemy. Your actions are rank foolishness, without your immediate action, we will be overwhelmed.>>

Repositioning an entire battlefleet into a new formation took time, and it was immediately obvious that something was wrong. All around, the cannibal weapons were striking, dueling brutally in deep space with the Syndicalist defenses. Kushawni guns were silent, and their ships were breaking formation and moving to sandwich the Syndicalist fleet. The Kushawni ships began to settle in behind the center of the Syndicalist line- the six old battleships, and the two large Caliphegian battlewagons, the Chairman Istvan D'Armitage and the Union Secretary Alan Wyckz. The Comrade-Admiral turned to a lieutenant. "This doesn't make any sense. They have no reason to act like this unless... Order full defensive measures on the 3rd Expeditionary! All ships, Situation Brutus Amber!"

A great alarm went up just as the Kushawni opened fire. A huge blast rippled through the Union Secretary Alan Wyckz, as her aft shields suddenly gave out- they had not had time to complete their re-orientation. A quarter of her hull ceased to be, and the great battleship, product of Terran shipyards long dead and pride of the Commune of Caliphon, was reduced to a cripple, her engines dead.

However, the 3rd Expeditionary, the force attached to the Kushawni fleet, had been warned by the Kushawni's slow repositioning. Their shields were up, and while their missile tubes were busy with the distant Chamarans, their real power lay in their guns. Further explosions rippled over shields, and the Merciless Punishment for Class Traitors took a heavy blow, falling out of formation.

Their counterattack was furious. Every weapon in the squadron was focused on the nearest trade-ship. There was no splitting of resources- every gun was focused on the one craft. Syndicalist main fleet doctrine required it- they'd all rain fire on that one capital ship until it gave way, and then the next would be targetted. Coming about, the brave ships of the 3rd Expeditionary Corps closed in with their betrayers.

To the flanks, the fast and far more potent 1st and 2nd Expeditionaries were immediately reversing. Great clouds of defensive drones whipped out behind them, as they flushed their tubes and used up as much defensive ordinance as they could, making to account of preserving ammunition. If they could hold back the Chamaran missile barrage for just a few minutes, there was still a chance. There were no capital ships in system which could catch a Syndicalist armoured cruiser, and there were no lighter vessels strong enough to defeat one. The main guns of the assorted squadrons came to rest on the FlagExelion.

<<1st Line Division, weapons locked and ready to fire.>>
<<2nd Line Division, weapons locked and ready to fire.>>
<<3rd Line Division, weapons locked and ready to fire.>>
<<4th Line Division, weapons locked and ready to fire.>>

<<For the Internationale and free workers everywhere, cut these traitors form the stars! The fleet may open fire!>>

No more weaponry was turned on the Chamarans. The Syndicalist fast units were withdrawing at STL speeds, pouring fire into the Kushawni command ship. The 3rd Expeditionary, with it's older battleships, was closing in tight with the far superior Kushawni force- but until the Chamarans brought their guns to bear, the Kushawni found themselves heavily outgunned. The answering barrage was almost twice as strong as their initial alpha strike, and damage would be massive. They would pay for their insolence- but Comrade-Admiral der Anjivic knew that once the Chamarans arrived in force, the Black Banner Fleet would be doomed.

Light-years away, the Flying Column recieved a panicked transmission. They re-oriented themselves, and began a general bombardment of citadels on the world below. No quarter was given. Point-defense guns began to claw orbital infrastructure out of the sky in great swaths. Undefended freighters fell into the atmosphere, burning.

(OOC: No offense taken; however, as the largest Syndicalist warships, my "Triumph of Masterless Men" armoured cruisers are out at the wings of the formation as opposed to grouped up with your vessels, I'm going to assume that you meant the two largest battleships, which are slightly weaker than the "Triumph" ships.

[Crossroads Inc.]

History is written by the victors, it is the battle to be victor, that fuels the strife of Man

Across the Kushawni Armada there was an unreal quiet. Thousands upon thousands of crewmembers at the simple flick of switch had ceased talking or communicating. They moved of course, they moved with a blinding, single-minded speed of a computer factors more powerful then any single mind. Their primary function, to control and fly the vast ships of the Armada, was largely pointless now. Aside from just the smallest of vessels, the Kushawni Armada was under the calculating control of the CityMind.

The Humans on bored however were by no means useless. Indeed they moved now with vital purpose and importance. They had tossed down books, commlinks and datapads, and picked up Damage control tools. The citymind orchestrating them for the single most important task they could no perform.. To keep their ships functioning until Chamaran forces could close the gap.

It was no easy task.

Within the first moments of the Syndicates furious counterattack, one of the immense tradeships already listed, stricken and barely functioning. The Kushawni Armada could hardly defeat the Furious Syndicates fleet on it’s own, but of course it didn’t have to.

With the cold measured focus of a surgeons knife, the primary weapon batteries of the forward Kushawni Battleships both National Guard and Exelion poured forth into the Syndicate ships closest to them, their attacks, each and every one aimed at the ships drive sections. On the outskirts of the fleet, the Armadas smaller ships closed in on their own targets, sixteen medium destroyers and over thirty small military armed tradeships began a dance of death with the swarm of smaller Syndicate warships. Their numbers were overwhelming, but the Kushawni forces fought with a single cold single mindedness.

Amid all of this, the CityMind, the Armada main one, watched events; assured in its method of madness as it monitored the deadly engagement. In the midst of the death it sent a tight band communication out. It’s true self, the true CityMind would be the recipient. When that message was received all of Kushawni would be changed forever, and whatever forces left in the Province would be focused on it’s new goal.

[Darkevilme]

The battle of the great backstab
Teldus orbit
Makay

“IT worked, it worked. Toldya Melusine, hey how far out is the Avatar?”
“Stop your gloating Tia now is not the time, all ships flank speed to intercept. our allies are suffering.” Melusine sighs inwardly, as she has many times before, at the queen appointing her younger sister a Battlemistress. So what if she's the most powerful psycher of our generation doesnt make her tolerable.
The chamaran vessels surge forwards towards one flank of the foe's force, crews focusing on amplifying the telekinetic force that pushes against the planet to propel them into the fray. Missiles and drones hurled forth continously from their tubes and bays to run the gauntlet of the Syndicalist defences. Hower with the enemy caught between two foes and bleeding his attention is divided, stragglers are starting to get through as the explosions blossom against the Syndicalist hulls. The worst yet to come, the chamarans are closing, their interdictors twisting space to prevent a hasty escape as the time before they'll reach direct fire range to the Syndicalist armada diminishes. And when that time comes the dreadful power of the chamaran Dominion beamcannons will be brought to bear and ships of the Black Banner fleet will burn.

Melusine watches the countdown with keen anticipation, even as she hears the relayed message from Quixa “Forward it to both Tia and the enemy fleet with our condolences that we will no longer be able to offer their ground forces terms of surrender as Battlemistress Tia had hoped.”

Quixa
Makay

Earlier the Black banner fleet had burnt worlds from the planet surface of Teldus, possessing the firepower to punch through cityshields and overwhelm defences easily and enmass. This is thankfully, for those below, not the Black banner fleet and the small force above finds itself having to focus its firepower on one city at a time in order to overwhelm their shields. Each City buying time for the next. The first city falls, shields pierced by the assault flicker and die letting atomic devastation rain into urban areas. A Million human and chamaran lives snuffed out and all the fleet above sees of it is a slowly fading glowing sore on the planet in the cities place.

[Thirdfain]

High Orbit
Teldus
Makay

Ekatrin der Ajivic, Comrade-Admiral of the Black Banner Fleet and premier field officer of the entire Syndicalist Naval Militia Union, immersed herself completely in the flow of combat. There was no room for failure here. Information entered her mind seamlessly, through the displays, the reports of staff officers, and directly, through her data implants. The Black Banner Fleet was her family- it's ships her home, it's crew her children. It was ensconced in it's very first major battle as a unified whole. In the past, the Syndicalist fleet had largely been diffuse- three separate national navies, held together loosely by political compact. Foreman Eberhardt's reforms and the action in Makay had slowly but surely knit the fleet into a cohesive whole, a weapon capable of standing against the legions of the Enemy.

Standing- but not triumphing.

<<3rd Combined Regiment reports losses to escort group B and C, we're almost naked...>>
<<This is the Syracuse, we have fires on all decks, Abandon ship, repeat, abando*...>>
<<Fleet Fire Command, reporting direct hit on enemy battleship. We detect venting atmosphere. Mission-kill certain on target F.>>
<<This is Fleet Fire Command, Target G is open, repeat, G is open.>>
<<Vengeful Masses to Command, we have a malfunction in B turret, repeat, B turret is malfunctioning and shields are failing on Port, request permission to reposition, we're dying over here...>>
<<BRACE FOR IMPACT! BRACE FOR...>>
<<Sixteen vampires inbound, repeat, sixteen. Estimate 80% interception rate and falling!>>
<<Rise Against Your Masters to Command, we are winchester on defense drones, we can assign some attack wasps to PD duty but it's VERY thin. >>
<<Fleet Fire Command, reporting five major hits on Target G, repeat, target G is displaying signs of shield failure>>
<<13th Escort Company, Torpedos away!>>
<<We got her! Look at that spine break, my god we got her!>>

Even the Admiral's focused reverie was broken for a moment as she savored the triumph- another enemy battleship fell from formation, burning in a hundred places, venting atmosphere and freezing bodies and shattered dreams. It's thermonuclear demise was a flashbulb, gone in an instant in space's all-consuming nothingness.

It was not enough. Three battleships had died- the Union Secretary Alan Wykcz, the Merciless Punishment for Class Traitors, and the Syracuse. Almost every other battleship had damage, and a number of the lighter cruisers had been hit hard, including the Rise Against Your Masters, a precious Assault Carrier, Support.

"Lieutenant, I want an ETA on gun range with the Chamarans."

There was a quick moment of calculation and evaluation, and the answer arrived almost ecstatic.

"Comrade Admiral, 3rd Expeditionary will be in range in 1 minute. The 1st and 2nd... Well, Comrade, we are pulling away! Ranges are opening! We'll be at hyper distance in 10 minutes from.... this mark."

der Anjivic set her face hard. It would take the sacrifice if the 3rd, but the enemy battle-line simply could not match the speed in realspace of the Syndicalist armoured cruisers. Unless they split their forces, leaving their best units behind, they would not be able to catch her. The fast cruiser units attached to the 3rd Expeditionary began to retreat as well, leaving only the battlewagons and their escorts to continue their doomed duel with the treacherous foe.

[Darkevilme]

The Claw Eternal
Teldus
Makay

“Battlemistress, beam range imminent.”
“Excellent, tell first cruiser squadron to perform one volley and disengage.”
“Battlemistress?”
“Quixa, tell them to prep for their jump to Quixa"
“At once Battlemistress.” is the response, the controller settling into the pit and relaying the orders.

Already the chamaran battlefleet is splitting as it comes into range. A squadron detaching from it. The tips of the battleship arms slowly igniting as their fields prime, as the cruisers around them pouring their cannonfire into the nearest Syndicalist vessels. Then the fury of the Chamaran dominions fall upon two of the remaining invader ships, beams lashing out , a squadrons firepower focusing on a single enemy battleship each. Two stars of fusion fire birthed amidst the enemy force and at the heart of each a human starship. Chamaran drones swarming over the doomed 3rd task force of the Internationale, raking lighter ships with cannonfire before sending fusion bombs hurtling into their armoured skin and steadily stripping the enemy fleet of drone and point defence coverage.

Syndicalist POW camp
Teldus
Makay

Even during the day the flashes of light are visible in the sky from the war in heaven. The Chamarans in the camp peering up to watch. One of them risks going up to the guards, looking up to him quietly as if in thought then asks in halting and carefully pronounced, but none the less heavily accented, imperial basic “What's going on up there?”

[Tanasinn]

Khan
Kinnesworth City
Unknown Facility

Perhaps fittingly, the room where the men and women met was a dimly-lit one, the glow creating shadows on the faces of all sat at the round table and making the Union Guard who covered the double-doors seem even more sinister. The meeting had already been underway for some time, but no one showed any particular signs of discomfort.

"...and there you have it, friends, her entire report," this was the high admiral of the latter two mobile units, a bald man with a face that looked too tired for duty, if it weren't for the intensity of his gaze.

"Brookes always seems to find trouble," one of the others groused.

"She had trouble thrown in her lap this time. Besides the fact that these people are probably gearing up a fleet already, the worlds presented to us are too valuable - tactically, ideologically, and morally - to pass up. I suppose we should be surprised she's not already invaded and reported victory at the front," there was a mild ripple of laughter at this: it was an exaggeration in the extreme, but the still-newly-minted admiral was infamous for taking the initiative in dire circumstances and somehow coming out shining. It was no surprise she had a Internal Affairs auditor attached to her forces. Apparently, though, she had figured out this one, too. In short order.

"Some details trouble me," that was the Secretary of the Navy, and she was not laughing, "the data the good admiral acquired indicates that we're liberating Syndicalists," a murmer went around the table, undisguised disgust; Syndicalist radicals were responsible for some of the most violent acts of terrorism in the Union, with increasingly radical communists taking cues from them, "Surely we must consider the implications of such a large body of potentially hostile individuals being added to our population."

Another man spoke up, this one with a white mustache and well-kept, similarly colored hair; a ripple seemed to move through those gathered as he spoke, "They were Syndicalists, my friend, now they're slaves to a tyrant. Slaves that, when liberated, are bound to flock to the way of thinking of those that saved them, not those that doomed them."

"Nothing's universal," the secretary again; bold. It was probably the main reason she held her position.

"No, of course not. That doesn't mean the benefit doesn't outweigh the risk. The goal of One Nation can't come without cost, and our enemy is always the tyrant, not the misled masses."

"Another issue," the Secretary of the Navy again, "these 'Dawn's Star' Imperials. I'm to understand they revealed themselves when asked, but this wasn't a Lenaardian situation: they were actually interdicted,"

The Secretary of Intelligence waved a thin sheet from the hard copy of report, mostly for effect, "Lieutenant Vogel, an intelligence officer there, gave their representatives aboard the Aliyev the eye during a face-to-face meeting, and there's apparently no sign of anything but genuine intent. You all know the qualifiers to that."

"If they seek to coordinate efforts with us," the Secretary of the Navy said again, "We should probably ask for their help on the offensive side of this war, not the defensive. A foreign warfleet guarding the nation while half of the navy is out to war would be disasterous. And they will have to be watched for treachery, no matter what they've said to us and the rebels who sought us out."

"That muddles occupation and integration," the Secretary of the Army.

"Current national integrity is more important," the Secretary of the Navy snapped.

The moustached man spoke up again, "We can cover both issues by making only mild requests for assistance. Even if the worlds liberated do not immediately join us in our cause, gentle prodding will put them on the path with us. If a foreign nation gains a thrall of their own in the process, so much's the pity, but better the misled than the tyrant."

Discussion continued at length, with those gathered trading back reasonings, criticisms, and comments. The end result was inevitable, and the Naval Secretary spoke only to clarify, "It's settled, then. The Fourth Mobile Unit, under Brookes, will hold the enemy at Dayab while the other units fortify the rest of the Union. Following that, Brookes - or whoever faces the enemy, assuming they pass Dayab up - will replenish her unit from the other units and new forces, then immediately lead a concentrated strike against the Dominatrixiat, if possible augmented by any forces the Dawn's Star Empire contributes."

"A rough plan," the moustached man again, "but this far ahead in the game, a much more detailed plan will only fall apart all the quicker. The involvement of the Dawn's Star forces will need to be negotiated. Now, as for this 'Legion' Lenaard reported on..."

"Religious crazies," the Intelligence Secretary said, "As I'm sure we can all agree. Even their self-chosen name bodes ill; it a name for a group of evil spirits working in concert, if you look at it in the context of Holy Christianity. They also talk about establishing a 'choir,' another term with religious connotations, and spreading 'the song.' Their possession of at least one battleship, but seemingly no smaller craft, would indicate they lack industrial capacity. They're probably cut-off or cast-off wanderers looking to fortify themselves somewhere. It's hard to be certain with such a brief encounter."

The moustached man grunted, "What we know is enough. They will be put off for as long as possible during this war, then told no. Politely. We can't rule out the possibility of them assisting the Dominatrixiat, as unlikely as that seems, in order to gain ground of their own. This matter will be handled delicately."

The meeting went on throughout the day.

[Thirdfain]

Quixas
Makay

The bombardment had managed to destroy three citadels so far, as well as scar much of the rest of the planet's surface. The hole in the defenses was small, to be sure, but it existed.

Drop-pods seperated from the raiding force. They hit the atmosphere, masked partially by the horrendous rage of the planetary bombardment. Many didn't make it- but others did, slamming out into the wilderness. Dark figures in exotic camoflage spread out into the forests. Long, plastic containers were hurriedly unloaded. Some fifteen thousand made planetfall successfully; a full division. There were no insignia on their uniforms, no names or identifying markers. Their weapons were plain and quiet, and their training was exquisite. Their arsenal included backpack-nukes, roadside bombs, and sheer terror.

The Exquisition had come to Quixas.

In deep space above, the Syndicalist scout-cruisers formed a distant picket. When the relief forces arrived, the Flying Column would have plenty of warning.

[Darkevilme]

Quixa
Makay

A bleak world greets the Exquisition. All the signs of an imperial terraforming effort are there, the ground rocks covered in mineral digesting lichens and moss to produce topsoil, the trees hardy and brutally genetically engineered to survive on such meagerness and convert atmosphere into a breathable form and on the skyline the huge bulky mass of a terraforming machine spews gases into the stratosphere. There are never any animals on the worlds of Makay, but here one would not expect any with such an unfinished biosphere. A Bleak world but nonetheless dangerous, drones, Janissaries and automata searching the landing sites but a short time after the Syndicalist forces had vacated them, fanning out both above and below tree level into a spiralling search pattern as the hunt begins for the intruders. Metal spheres flitting out between the trees, scanners flicking back and forth as they move and the Janissaries follow in their wake. It is a search run against great odds though, the targets too scattered and few and the searchers less numerous that would be ideal, nonetheless its certain that at least some of the intruders will meet their end either with a Janissary bullet or a bomb from the drones above.

Up above the orbiting Syndicalist squadron detects the impending arrival of the first battlefleet first cruiser squadron in the system. Chamaran drives moving them swiftly but noisily through U-space towards the bombardiers but nonetheless there's plenty of time to escape before their arrival.

[Thirdfain]

Quixa
Makay

The Chamarans made their first mistake on Quixa.

To move troops about while the enemy is in orbit is a dangerous proposition. Certainly, the flying column was no major battlefleet, but each vessel was armed with numerous megaton-scale weapons.

Jannissary units moved out from the safety of their fortresses. Aircraft left their shielded bases.

Far from hiding from the seekers, the Exquisitors met them with open arms- they lay in wait, small, teams, camoflaged with a handful of weapons and the most dangerous tool of all- a tightbeam comm unit.

They didn't open fire all at once. They were too patient. For a moment, the Chamaran commanders felt elation. The vaunted cattle guerrillas were nothing! too foolish to hide well, they'd been spotted and engaged in a dozen locations.

Then death came from above. Precision strikes, and direct thermonuclear bombardment. The guns in orbit turned the Jannissary hunting groups into craters, their supply columns into useless flaming wrecks.

[Darkevilme]

Quixa
Makay

With Recklessness comes destruction, but for the chamarans nothing truly of value has been lost. Machines can be replaced, new Janissaries can be indoctrinated from the expendable teeming masses occupying their new worlds. The wilderness also is considered of little value on such a pitiful world as Quixa and with one method having failed ones which far more resemble overkill will be used in due time. The Chamaran 1st squadron in U-spacecrosses the one hour away marker, bearing down upon the orbiting flying column. Small bombing runs being conducted here and there over the last known enemy positions by the drone air support that lingers after the destruction of the Janissary forces.

[Rogue 9]

NRS Warspite
On Exercises, Oro system Oort cloud

"Conn, Sensors. New contact, bearing 114 mark 58, range 20,000 klicks. Classify as hostile warship, heavy destroyer class."

Captain MacKenzie snarled. "How the hell did they get so close? Gunnery, task the rear starboard beam emitters to the new target, all other batteries as before."

"Aye!" The beam cannons rumbled to life as the lieutenant spoke, rotating their focus lenses slightly and then emitting a pair of devastating energy beams towards the target. The Guardian class cruiser was taking damage, her escorting destroyers blasted out of the void a few moments before. A slight shudder heralded another time-on-target missile volley directed at the enemy heavy cruiser to the forward port quarter. If something wasn't done fast, they'd be done before their reinforcements arrived.

"Incoming! Missile volley inbound from the new contact; looks like they're homing on our engines."

Countermeasures and flak batteries opened up even as all the heavy turrets on the attack cruiser fired to full capacity, but it wasn't enough.

"Conn, Helm. Starboard engine nozzle is hit; I have to shut down the port side or we'll start spinning."

"Do it." The sound of the engines died and the cruiser began to drift along its course. "Ideas, gentlemen?"

"The hyperdrive still works. We can't hold the objective, Captain; there's no point in staying."

"Negative, we're facing in-system; it'd run us right into Oro!"

"INCOMING!" The countermeasures worked furiously, but it wouldn't be enough, and everyone on the bridge knew it.

"New contact, bearing 335 mark -39. Captain, it's the Courageous!"

The beleaguered bridge crew cheered as the heavy battleship they'd been waiting for emerged from hyperspace and began throwing fusillades of beams and railgun shells into their attackers. Then all the lights on the bridge went red.

"Damn," MacKenzie said, pounding his fist down onto the armrest of his chair. "End simulation."

The lights came back up. "Captain, I regret to inform you that the Warspite has been destroyed."

The captain chuckled at the AI's pronouncement. "Yes, well it's a jolly good thing your average pirate isn't packing heavy cruisers and stealth destroyers then, isn't it? I suppose the exercise is completed, then."

"Yes," answered the ship. "However, the exercise was designed to put the Guardian class into a role she was not meant for. All in all, the crew's performance was excellent under the circumstances."

"Excellent's not good enough if you're dead at the end of it. Comms, signal Command. Inform them of the exercise results and request leave to run it again during tomorrow's drill cycle."

"Aye, Captain."

[Raj Ahten]

Deep Space, Aboard the Melconian Destroyer Forest of the Dead.

Admiral Drak N’Drak was in a bad mood and not doing a good job of hiding the fact from his subordinates. The entire bridge crew was practically tiptoeing around him. Thinking, no doubt, that the crew’s performance wasn’t up to N’Drak’s exacting standards. That wasn’t the case at all. The crew was quite good, the admiral made a mental note to compliment Captain K’Vaert on his crew’s performance.

The problem was the mission he was on, and the fact N’Drak was basically in a no win situation. The Advisory Council and the Emperor had decided on war with the humans. N’Drak and many others thought it foolish. N’Drak had pushed for the Empire to at least attempt to find allies before going to war; the reports of this new Chamaran force in the galaxy seemed promising. They shared common enemies. That might be enough.

Fleet Admiral Quan had then dragooned N’Drak into taking command of a diplomatic mission to contact the Chamaran’s and see if an alliance was feasible. The Fleet Admiral, a staunch war monger, had probably just wanted N’Drak out of the capital. So here N’Drak was; a man who normally commanded 6 Council Class cruisers is charge of a single talon of destroyers.

N’Drak still had plenty of friends on the council though. The Captain N’Tan class ships he had been given command of were the fastest ships in the fleet and the diplomatic team was also first rate. N’Drak just hoped that the Chamaran’s weren’t hostile to all other species. The diplomats had suggested going until they ran into a Chamaran ship or settlement and attempt peaceful contact. They were going off of a report Naval Intelligence had drawn up detailing likely sites for Chamaran systems based on signal intercepts. The Chamaran’s may just destroy N’Drak’s two destroyers on contact. N’Drak was willing to take that risk if it meant even the possibility of allies for the Empire.

[Spyder]

Ruins of Sol

[img=right]http://spyderizer.orconhosting.net.nz/p ... _small.jpg[/img]The handle spun a half turn and the cold metal door creaked open. A figure in a purple robe stepped through the combing. A lock of blond hair creped out of the hood as she leant over to the figure huddled on the ground.

“Are you lost?” She asks.

The woman lying on the ground, her body was cut, bruised and beaten, her dark hair matted with blood. She was wearing some form of medical gown. Tears stream away from her eyes and she pushes against the floor tiles, trying to pick herself up. The robed woman places her arms around her, comforting her, “It’s alright now, you’re safe here. We’re home.”

“Home?” The woman stammered, “I don’t have a home.”

“Of course you do, come with me, you’ll see.” The lady in the robe helped the other to her feet. Another robe was produced and wrapped around the other woman, concealing her fragile form under a thick layer of fabric. The hood remained back, allowing black curls to fall past her shoulders.

Confused and disorientated, she was lead in hand by the other through a series of narrow passageways, finally into a room where other robed figures waited, facing the closed metallic shutters that lined one of the walls.

“Do you know where you are?” The blond asked.

The woman was struggling to regain her senses. While still sluggish the rhythmic hum and subtle vibration was unmistakable. “We’re on a starship.”

“We’re home.” The lady smiled.

“Home?”

“You’ll see.” The blond smiles.

A few moments passed, she glanced around the dimly lit room. There were at least 12 others in there besides herself and her new friend.
Finally, the shutters opened. A brilliant golden light filled the room, illuminating and warming everything it touched. All the surfaces glistened and reflected the glow into the room’s occupants.

<<You don’t belong here>>

The voice boomed inside her head. The robes on the others all dropped to the ground. Besides the other men and women, in front was the smooth curvaceous figure of the woman that led her here. The rest raised their arms, basking in the warmth of Sol’s light.

She turned around “It is not beautiful? This is where we all began.” The naked form of the blond woman, approached the brunette, the only person in the room still robed. The brunette’s pale, bruised skin was almost glowing in the golden light. “What better place to call home?”

“I have to go.” The brunette turned and made an immediate exit. Her senses intact, somehow she felt more alive than before.

“Goodbye.” The blond woman smiled as she fled. No one tried to stop her.
With little time to prepare, an escape craft was launched into cold space.

Rocks and debris served as remnants of the lost civilization that this system was once home to. As the brunette slowly faded into unconsciousness she began to envision another star, not a bright life-giving sun but a cold human construct with six long points.

Slowly, as her vision emerged into reality, her craft was pulled into the landing bay.

[Darkevilme]

Near the Teldus system
Makay

If there is some cosmic force, it is not without its sadistic streak Virrl reflected, settling on the command dais to watch and wait. The shipmistress resting in contemplation, sipping some blood wine as slowly fresh drones are being brought aboard the Thousand guiles, the numerous inconclusive skirmishes her ship and its sisters had undertaken against the Syndicalist privateers having depleted their reserves dangerously. The stealthed supply ship for her squadron black invisibility nearby to her similarly shadowed vessel.

We survive the Null, a force capable of devouring an entire galaxy, we survive the web spinners in our crossing here to find a new home and what do we find when we get here after all of that? An entire sector full of humans who either want us dead or enslaved. And our only ally is an insane artificial intelligence bent on enslaving humanity to protect them

“Two unidentified FTL contacts in sector 433.”
Virrl ear flicks and sighs before looking to the controller who'd announced what is almost certainly trouble.
“More details Essa.”
“Signatures are moving at 110 percent FTL, two contacts on a vector vaguely towards Quixa. They dont match any human drive signatures on record Shipmistress.”
“Doesnt mean much, how many drones do we have?”
“190 out of 300 Shipmistress, but we've got full missile stocks.”
“Tell the rest of second squadron to form up, we're going to shadow them and see what intentions our guests have.”

And within but an hour a trio of carrier frigates stealthily ghost into the wake of the Melconian destroyers. Indistinct and practically invisible under the hazing affect of their FTL wake dampeners as they follow the unidentified vessels.

[Lancer]

-Kraidnick Industries -
A small, open-topped vessel constructed of stone, metal, and something arcane glided effortlessly through the empty void into the system that was home to Kraidnick Industries. If one could be bothered to take a close look at the ship, they would have seen a robed figure clutching a staff, standing behind a crystalline post. In the decks below, a small crew of missionary clerics prayed, giving thanks to Ledo for guiding their augury arrays to this place, and asking for his blessing so that they might spread his word.

-Chicago System-
Just as one of its counterparts had entered the space of Kradnick Industries, another mission-ship entered the Chicago system. Long-range divinations had revealed the presence of not one, but two major population centers in this place. Fortuitous indeed, the High Priests would be pleased to hear of this discovery.

[Dark Hellion]

OoC
Turn 1 is ending. Dark, Crossroads and Thirdfain, you can finish your skirmishing. Everyone else, no new moves. You can sort out some internal issues, start positioning for next turn, do the summit thing, etc. But no fights, no invasions. Turn 1 will be ending.