STGOD 4 Game Thread

[Bugsby]

A week later, Faran Tor walked slowly into the office of Adar Krell, de facto leader of the Combine.

"Ah, Tor. Welcome back. I heard about the appearance of the mage. Quite shocking, eh? Care for some brandy?"

"Please." Tor sat down across from Krell and slumped in the chair. He took the glass with thanks and downed it one gulp, nearly gagging. "Ack... it's strong stuff."

"Only the best." Krell smiled. He loved to show off. Taking the bottle, he refilled Tor's glass. "So, what happened after you were dragged off into the nether?"

"I was held as a special guest at their conference. No interest whatsoever in the product. I think the manner of my entrance turned them off to the idea. Although we might try the Monacorans, or perhaps the Ousters, if we can get a hold of them."

"Hm. Pity." Krell leaned back, examining Tor. "What took you so long to return?"

Tor laughed. "No one was in the mood to give me a ride back it seems. Public transportation is a bitch. It took me days to get back to Sirius, and a bit longer to make my way back here. Was there any luck in monitoring the mage's power?"

Krell's brown furrowed. "Not as such. That science remains beyond our grasp for the moment, although the energies it releases has given some of our researchers some interesting ideas. Have you been watching the news? It looks like there have been some minor conflicts across the known worlds ever since your conference concluded. I have reviewed the tapes thoroughly. There are large movement afoot. I smell opportunity."

Tor nodded wearily. He agreed, but he hadn't slept in over two days, and was in no mood to discuss politics, something he didnt much care for anyways. Krell caught the hint.

"Ok, good job, Tor. Go get some sleep. In fact, take the next week off. When you return, I shall likely have some new assignments for you. Selling again, as always. But hopefully something more substantial than holo-units."

Tor finished the brandy. With an appreciative nod to Krell, he turned and walked unsteadily out of the room. He was exhausted, and that was some STRONG stuff. As the door closed behind him, Adar Krell pulled up a datasheet and started looking over the fleet's numbers. The next few months promised to be very interesting... and profitable.

[Captain tycho]

Start encoding process 1347482.1937.
Relay through stations 134.12/156.
Processing complete, tightbeam channel 4521, FP Edean-Ganis'ia

Message ready

Addressed to High Priest Jenurax, Glorious voice of our People, from Acolyte Zendaerm, 1st Tier of the 2nd fleet division

"The fleet has been prepared and armed. The new Paladin divisions have been loaded, and our coordinates are set. We only await the commands of our lord. The treacherous witches shall burn in the hellfire when they die!

High Priest Jenurax read the holographic words in silence, then leaned back in his chair and beckoned to one of his underlings. The short man hurried over to Jenurax. "Glorious one?" he asked timidly. Jenurax showed him the message. "Now, it is time to summon the council and choose our first target. We must strike rapidly."

[Rogue 9]

Office of the President, Nashtar

President Major of the Federal Republic of Nashtar looked up from his writing as a navy captain burst into his office, flanked by two Republican Marines. "Sir," he burst out, bringing his attache case to rest on the desk. "There is an attack in progress at the Verlion Station colony, where the Psilon convoy is scheduled to arrive. The nature of the attackers is unknown, sir. They seem to be using a cloaking device and dropping homing mines from what our reports tell us. That is all the information we have. It seems likely that the convoy is the enemy's primary target."

The President rested his head in his hands. "What is the status of our forces in that system?"

"They report losing the enemy after the first mine drop. While their general flak bombardment of the area managed to thwart some of the mines, the enemy ships were not hit. No losses have been reported. Ships in system include the cruiser Faraday; the destroyers Starfire, Connolly, and Roren, and the light carrier Crimson Dawn."

"Send to Sixth Fleet Command at Joyous Gard. They are to route additional forces to Verlion Station immediately. Have Pinnacle Base stand by the Fifth Fleet in case this raid turns into something more serious. Is there any news from Farpoint?"

"No, Farpoint reports nothing relevant as of yet, but they wouldn't transmit unless something of vital importance came up, and they may have dispatched a messenger drone that simply hasn't gotten here yet."

"Well then, we alert ourselves and wait. Raise alert status to yellow fleetwide, orange at Pinnacle and Joyous Gard."

"Aye, sir." The captain turned and walked out, followed shortly by the Marines.

The President watched them go. He then looked down at what he'd been writing, and found that a speech on agricultural successes on Mintar suddenly didn't seem so important. He sighed, unlocked the drawer to his left, and began to look over the battle plans stored inside.

[Captain tycho]

The 2nd fleet circled the great ringworld of Edean lazily, floating in silent mode, conserving energy for their rapid jumps that were to come. Inside the ships, however, the pace was frantic. Railgun shells were being cycled and loaded, the guns themselves dry firing, missile launchers being calibrated. Massive tanks and APCs were loaded onto dozens of nimble landing ships, while the Paladin terror squads were being injected with the final chemical cocktails that would drive them into a bloodrage during battle. Suddenly, the great reactors of the ships fired up, sending deep thrums reveberating through the ships metallic hulls. Bright white light flourished along their hulls, the fireup process of the FTL drives in motion. The fleet spread into a loose formation, targeted the invisible fracture point entryway, and then leapt forward in a single instant, dissapearing into an infinitely small point.

[Alyrium Denryle]

The scrying chambers of the the Arcane Republic, which monitored activity in the known glaxy(essentially a listening post) were busier than ever.

Comms traffic was off the wall, and the Covenant seemed to be mobilizing for war. There was a reason you didnt mobilize within your own territory when you were hostile to other powers. Those powers would always be watching you.

Karsus XV walked into the chamber followed by 6 other cloaked and coweled mages. After confering with the other 6 he spoke

"What news of the Covenant?"

"Greeting sir! I am Lord Aliden Higral of the White Robes. It seems as if the Covenant is mobilizing for war. Their fleet is gethering en masse and comms chatter is off the scale. We cant pick up details but the energy spikes tell us they are dry firing weapons"

"Inform the KSE The Republic of Nashtar, and the Realm of the Blood King."

"Yes my lord!"

[Bugsby]

Commercial seen sector-wide

The Order causing disorder? Ousters ousting you? Vampires just plain suck? If so, then call the Krell Combine! Renowned throughout the known worlds for its trustworthiness and efficiency, the Combine provides the best hired guns in existance today. No task is too big! No job too small!
Just drop us a line and your problems will disappear!

So remember: Next time you're in a fix, just call on the Krell Combine: Quality You Can Trust!
Some restrictions may apply. Void where prohibited.


Although the tone of the advertisement is light and cheerful, the troops and ships being displayed are hardly models.

[Alyrium Denryle]

Directly in front of the rulers of the KSE the Republic of Nashatar and the Realm of the Blood King the image of Lord Aliden Higral appeared.

"Gretings dear friend. Our scrying stations and operatives have revealed that the Covenant is mobilizing for war. It would be prudent for you to arm yourselves and bring your fleets and holdings to defensive readiness"

And the apparition vanished.

[Alyrium Denryle]

"What kind of Detail can you get Lord Aliden?"

"At this range, al we can get is fleet concentration. Normally tyheya re spread out, patroling systems, not even blips that show up on our crystals. But they have been concentrating their forces and the energy spikes from test fires are becoming so numerous we can pick them up even here. their fleets show up like becons lord Karsus. YThey ahve a thing to learn about secrecy. Hell, we have even managed to pick up scatter from their transmissions. We havent cracked the code yet lord"

[Thirdfain]

Supply Depot 691/b
Edean Ringworld
Covenant of God Sector

Boundman Ghan su Marabedla shouted another order.
"Move those crates! You want those Chosen to be the Sword of God to ship with insufficient rations? I want that block loaded in fifteen!"

He cut a rugged figure- Short at 5'9, with broad shoulders and a poorly shaven, swarthy face. He looked like dockworkers everywhere- burly, loud, and sweaty. No one there guessed that only seven years ago he had been built somewhat differently and answered to a name other than "Mitchell."

Ghan was efficient at his jobs- his overt job as foreman of one of the countless work crews which maintained the massive fortress-construct of Edean, as well as his covert job of observing the amounts of rations and spare parts which passed through his section of the warehouse. His reports, Freecast on bands no-one had been equipped to monitor since the end of the Genocide wars, provided useful insight on the Covenant's operations to his masters in the Hajr. He was a mere cog in the vast espionage machine the Hajr had spent a decade building as a precursor to the return to Known Space.

Now, something big was happening- and he had already contacted his government. He couldn't tell what the Covenant planned, but he knew it was big. The Hajr warships would be particularly careful these next few weeks.

[Dahak]

Gladsheim Prime, Imperial Plaza

<<Yes, we are certain, Your Highness,>> Caruzzo Nefril, the Head of Foreign Intelligence, datavised. <<We do not know exactly why, but both our listening post and our inserted drones have picked up some fleet movement of the other powers, foremost this Covenant.>>
<<And where might they be headed?>>
<<We can't say for certain. But as it is highly doubtable someone knows our direct coordinates, we surmise we are not the target. Though we should go to a higher level of alert.>>
<<Good, do so.>>

[Darksider]

::::::Emperor's royal palace, Carulan:::::::

"Are you certain?"

"Yes. Our listining posts picked up the Covenant fleet massing in one of their star systems, and the Arcane Empire has just informed us that they've seen it too"


"Put all fleet units on alert, and you might as well warn the Jardanian asteroid miners in the Cration system"

[Alyrium Denryle]

OOC:They have a military alliance

[Alyrium Denryle]

In every populated system in the Arcane empire mages set contingencies to cast the planetary version of Eldritch Wall on the local mythallar. Each would protect a 200 mile radius, and there were enough of them to cover the entire planetary surface. The core worlds were protected, and the colonies mostly being differnt planets within the same systems were defended by association.

But the Empire had a little something up its sleeve

[lazerus]

The Jardanian High-Generel was livid.
"They did WHAT!? Do those religious fanatics have any idea what their about to do!? Get me their ambassidor........"

[lazerus]

The minelayers looked out at the missles exploding a safe distance away from them.
"Feh, what' does he think he's doing? Were about to be a good AU away, and he can't see us anymore. His odds of hitting us are insane."
The commander of the Black-Ops team leaned back.
"Could have gone better, but any mission where you don't get caught it a good one. All units, jump to FTL and head to the meeting point once we are out of sensor range."

[Dahak]

Gladsheim, Datanet

<<Admiral, as we want to be informed on that situation, I think it would be prudent to send out some probes and ships to keep us updated.>>
<<Yes, Empress. I'll hand out the orders.>>

***

The Fast Destroyers Oenone and Cebren received their orders mere seconds later, and swallowed out as soon as possible and made for the known space proper. Along with them several dozen FTL probes raced away from the Fleet base.

[lazerus]

Transmitting.............
[FROM: Jordanian High command]
[To: Arcane Empire]
[Subject: Covenant Millitary Buildup]

"We had no prior knowledge that they would take this action, and at this time have no knowledge of their intent. We are NOT hostile. Will keep you informed. Out."

[Pablo Sanchez]

And the apparition vanished.

King Ysevelod spoke back, imposing his dark mental presence directly upon Lord Higral. He said balefully, "You have great presumption and audacity to send your image directly into my chambers without my permission. Do not allow it to happen again."

Then he drew the finger of his will back into himself and returned to what he had been doing. The Realm would not be mobilized, as they had no alliance with either power that was in a state of war; nor did they have an offensive alliance with any of the tertiary powers that would soon become involved.

[Marcao]

Veithan Empire, Ashana System
Ashana III, Black Tower

It was well known within the Empire that Lilandra was a crucial part of the decision making process of the executive branch. It was not terribly surprising, considering that for the last one hundred years she had led the seers in the so called “Black Tower”. Although all members of the Empire were psychic that did not mean that they were all equal and Lilandra was more equal than most. She was a prime of course, representing the most powerful minds within the empire, but even among the primes her mental strength had stood out. Her gift however was what made her so special, and had driven her to the black tower in the first place. She could coordinate and mentally join with up to one hundred other primes without losing herself in the joining. It was a feat that even among primes was quite rare, and thus Lilandra’s importance to the Empire had been discovered at an early age.

The Black Tower was a secure within Empire space, the world itself was shielded and heavily defended the structure of the tower itself protected from orbital bombardments and incorporating technology as well as more than a few magical means to keep its location and its activities secret. It was a pity that the Empire lacked the magical resources of other powers, but it had spent considerable time and effort developing its own methods of countering such. It was difficult and expensive however, and thus only a relatively few structures within the Empire were protected and shielded to such an extent. The Black Tower was one such structure, its importance warranting the extra costs of making its existence as invisible as possible.

The psychic mass of power that occurred when one hundred primes joined with Lilandra was both impressive and staggering. With such a union, the realms of possibilities and probabilities were open to the inspection of the unified whole. It was in this way, that they influenced the policy of the Empire. It was not an exact science, and it was impossible to be able to scour every single potential outcome in the thousands upon thousands of glimmering pathways that existed. Nonetheless, pathways flickered open or closed depending upon various actions and reactions. It was through these pathways, that Lilandra caught various actions, chief upon them being the fall of Jormungandr. As far as she was concerned the Empire had no interest in that fiefdom, but her interest laid not in the actions that caused the fall but the possibilities that opened for the Empire because of it. Her mental presence approached the newly formed pathways, inspecting each casually before coming to a decision. Those that needed to know about this would be informed.

The message from the Black Tower was handled with urgency just like any other, and delivered through the proper channels to the government headquarters in Veitha III. It took less than an hour for action to be taken, a series of courier ships submerging into hyperspace and heading towards their destination. There were many ways the Empire could profit from this, and it planned on doing so.

[Rogue 9]

The captain rushed right back in less than two minutes later. "Sir! Farpoint Outpost reports intercepting fleet transmissions from the Covenant of God main battle fleet consistent with preparation for combat operations. Then the signals stopped, as if they'd suddenly undergone radio silence..." The captain paused. "...or jumped to hyperspace."

"Go to alert level orange fleetwide. Red at Pinnacle, Joyous Gard, and the other outer colonies. If this is the case and they're coming here we have no time to lose."

"Yes sir!" The captain tossed off a hasty salute and turned to run out of the office and towards the signals room.

"Take the fleet to orange alert, Pinnacle and Joyous Gard to red."

"Sir!" The lieutenant manning the comms station began hitting switches as the transcription and encryption machines spun to life.

Joyous Gard

The Cascade orbital platform warmed up its guns as fighters launched from its bays and from the planet's moon. The bulk of Sixth Fleet was based here, but Joyous Gard was committed to the protection of the outer colonies, and so light carrier battle groups jumped to the other outer planets within minutes of getting the call. A group had already been en route to Verlion and was already almost there. Many fighter squadrons assumed BARCAP duty, while the rest were on 5 and 15 minute launch alert. This centerpiece of the outer defenses went from a tough nut to crack to one steel plated and hard to chew as well, as the Marine and Army units on the planet fueled tanks and APCs and began to man the barricades.

"Admiral Barclay, the fleet is prepared," reported Captain Leridan to Sixth Fleet's commander. The admiral merely nodded and went back to going over battle plans.

Pinnacle

It was truly a sight to behold. Hundreds of fighters scrambled from the fortress world as the massive warships of the Fifth Main Battle Fleet lumbered into higher orbit. Pinnacle Base was a fortress, one that none had ever dared to attack. But then, a power such as the Covenant of God had never thought of trying to actually take the route this fortress guarded into the star cluster. Oh, it certainly wasn't necessary to go this way in... That is, if you didn't mind spending two weeks making microjumps with the whole of the Republic knowing where you were. Pinnacle sat on the only clear spacelane into the interior.

"Admiral Kimmel, all fleet units report full readiness. We're prepared for any attack that may come. Orbital gun 23-A reports some trouble with their shield generator, but they're confident that it can be fixed within minutes, and they are currently on the far side of the planet."

"Excellent, Commander. Bring up the Blade Bearer and Dauntless to escort the heavy carriers. Send the Warrior here with a cruiser flotilla."

The commander paused. "There, sir? That is far out of any expected attack vector."

"I am aware of that. Commodore Kensington knows what he is to do."

"Yes sir."

The fleet lumbered into its final positions as Admiral Kimmel went back to his battle plans. Of course, these plans would be the first casualty upon contact with the enemy. They always were...

[Darksider]

::::::::Emperor's royal palace, Carulan:::::::


"Has there been any further information about the Covenant fleet?"

"No, all fleet units are on high alert, and many other nations have also gone on high alert"

"Send a message to all the nations that know about the Covenant fleet's launch, tell them we are willing to provide military assistance to any nation attacked by those savages"

[lazerus]

TRANSMITTED TO ALL PLAYERS

"In the face of blatent and unprovoken aggression, the Jardanian confederacy is termating our alliance with the Covinant, and warns them that any attack against other major powers will be met with force."

[Captain tycho]

The 2nd fleet dropped out a mere 10,000 klicks from Pinnacle, weapons blazing at every ship around them. Fighters and dropships pored out of carrier bays, heading towards Pinnacle itself, while the capital ships pounded Pinnacle's defensive fleet and initiated orbital strikes on key Pinnacle facilities. Acolyte Tam'eras sat on the bridge of the Gat'onlanis, waching the batttle unfold. Behind him, a circle of priests were invoking a dark spell, their chants an unintelligible jumble of words and sounds as they called upon the unholy energies that their God gave to them. They had been doing this for a day at least, and it was nearing it's completion. Tam'eras felt the thrilling throb of his ship's mighty guns pounding away, and the reverberating rumble when a salvo of missiles were launched. He drank in the moment, and prayed silently.

[lazerus]

++The Jardanians keep most of them heavy ships in one huge fleet on-call, since most of their systems are close together this dosn't really impair their devensive ability much++

Jardanin spies where quick to report the attack, and the navy quicker to respond.

Although the attack was underway by the time the fleet arrived, they still made a difference.........


Forces Comitted:
Super-Drednaught "Fist of God"
10 "JUMP" class Drednaughts.
5 "Falcon" class battle-carriers.
25 Heavy Crusers
25 Light Carriers

[Captain tycho]

Forces:
3 Glorious Commandment-class Dreadnaughts
4 Deathless Crusader-class cruisers
3 Vanguard's of the Trinity
20 paladin divisions on dropships
100 fighters
20 support gunships