Crazedwraith wrote:3rd: Why does this have constant references to earth when neither culture is terran?
Well, for example I considered the comparison of an Aulx-class Battleship's prow to a bird's beak to be just as accurate as literally describing it. But if you'd rather have me describe things in another way, please let me know.
Also, Earth is going to figure in the later chapters of the story....
4th: In the prologue it is stated that the xril use exo-armour to "To
compensate for the physical weakness of the Xril" Yet what are they weak in comparison to? havnig no contact with heavier-gravity species?
SPOILER:
The Xril are descended from humans who settled on a low-gravity planet, and the Jardra are descended from humans who settled on a high-gravity planet. Combined with the fact that the increasing use of robots has made physical labour totally redundant in Xril society, they have been become more frail with each generation. Also, some Xril-dominated planets have higher gravity than their homeworld Xhatrr.
Singular Quartet wrote: So basically, I question the whole range bit, unless you have a (il)logical explanation for it, or just don't want to explain it.
Well, I might be able to make a quasi-logical explanation:
Maybe spaceships in "The Wormhole War" have shielding systems which create an invisible bubble obstructing all laser beams, and therefore warships have to move within each others' shield bubbles in order to fire??? (The Jardra could know the range of the Xril shield bubbles by sensor scans of their ships)
Or, as I am pondering, the reference to range could be the range of the targeting systems rather than the weapons.
"Hi there, would you like to have a cookie?"
"No, actually I would HATE to have a cookie, you vapid waste of inedible flesh!"
Crazedwraith wrote:3rd: Why does this have constant references to earth when neither culture is terran?
Well, for example I considered the comparison of an Aulx-class Battleship's prow to a bird's beak to be just as accurate as literally describing it. .
no reason not to have a beak description or are there no avian species onb the xril homeworld?
Well, just because there aren't birds doesn't mean there aren't creatures with beaks. If I'll write a spin-off or otherwise get such an opportunity, I'll maybe explore the wildlife of Xhatrr.
As for life on Xhatrr - I have intended it to be very different from Earth life and seemingly bizarre at some points, but not looking like one of H.P. Lovecraft's rejected ideas for Great Old Ones.
"Hi there, would you like to have a cookie?"
"No, actually I would HATE to have a cookie, you vapid waste of inedible flesh!"
Vorou Solar System, Command Battleship Aulx of the Xhatrr Spacefleet
As the alien cruiser locked in battle with the Aulx was hit by particle accelerator beams and laser fire, disabling a third of its port weapons batteries, the Xhatrr Spacefleet heavy fighters returned to the hangar section of the Aulx for repairs and refuelling.
A deathrain of lasers from two of the cruisers under Admiral Xvolthaxr's command crippled the enemy cruiser, prompting its single remaining escort to flee in terror.
The vanguard of the alien fleet reduced to drifting debris, Xyakkath and Xvolthaxr ordered their fleets to continue further towards the alien defense line already in the process of futilely attempting to drive away the Xhatrr Spacefleet.
For someone outnumbed at least five-to-one, they sure were doing well.
While the Aulx approached the battle, the enemy fired volleys of laser fire against the gigantic vessel. Already tied up with the rest of the invasion fleet, Exalted Fleet-Lord Xyakkath saw this as the death-throes of a desperate foe, while the Aulx' captain, Tzhirka, ordered the gunners to return fire.
Vorou Solar System, Modified Kalshaksa-class Heavy Cruiser Jarshkai of the Avarnam Defense Force
First Admiral Tukajra's ability to concentrate and famed cool leadership had never been challenged as much as this battle.
He had sent three admirals and their fleets to their certain death in a vain hope that they would slow down the onslaught of the Kh-Sriil navy, but he was apparently outwitted as well as outnumbered - one of the abominable Kh-Sriil dreadnaughts exceeding a mile in length, and its various escorting cruisers, made short work of the "vanguard anvil formation".
And while that happened, the rest of the Kh-Sriil just advanced beneath the fleets of Gneshra, Sarsha and Jashor - old comrades of Tukajra, and now they were dead because of his foolish decisions.
So were the rest of the Avarnam Defense Fleet's crewmen and officers for that matter - all remaining of the Avarnam Defense Force's space force was a half dozen cruisers.
The elderly First Admiral depressively watched the overview screens of the ship, revealing his beloved command ship to be heavily damaged.
He now had seen the truth. The Avarnam Defense Force's starships had been defeated. But there was still a second hope - even though it was a very desperate tactic. Knowing that the primary engines of the Jarshkai still up and running, Tukajra ordered the crew to set collision course for the enemy carrier currently launching fighters against the Jarshkai.
The immediate answer from the ship's captain was: "Sir, are you crazy? That would kill us, sir!"
Tukajra, although exhausted, was quick to answer: "Evacuate ship!! As soon you have set coordinates on collision course with alien ship and engines on maximum acceleration, leave ship!"
And following orders - as soon as the navigator of the Jarshkai was finished setting the ship to collide with the enemy carrier, the captain ordered the ship totally evacuated.
Most crewmen exited the ship by escape pods, while the bridge simply seperated itself from the rest of the ship.
Fortunately for the bridge crew, the bridge of the Jarshkai could actually function as an autonomous ship - it had its own thrusters and retrothrusters and even a nuclear fusion engine.
Vorou Solar System, Command Battleship Aulx of the Xhatrr Spacefleet
Having recently finished off one of the few remaining alien ships not reduced to debris, the command officers of the Aulx heard a distress call transmitted from an allegedly friendly ship: "Txarr to Aulx!! Alien cruiser on collision course!"
Xyakkath answered: "Can't you get out of its way?? It's not as if its some sort of guided missile!"
The carrier answered: "It's accelerating too quickly to allow escape - We ejected the antimatter reactor to prevent explosion, currently down to 60% power..."
Aggravated by the carrier captain's apparent foolishness, he said: "Okay, set your engines to maximum thrust and order nearby destroyers to fire at it."
This battle was won, it could not be more clear. Aside from the cruiser-gone-kamikaze, the alien fleet was fleeing. All they had to deal with now were eventual alien defense stations, and more than four thirds of the conquest taskforce's destroyers and more than a half of its cruisers were already prowling the space nearby for such installations.
However, as the tactical overview viewscreen displayed, three frigates and two cruisers arrived in the last moment to protect the Txarr, but it was already too late. As components of the enemy cruiser broke off as it was hit by accelerated particle beams and lasers, it nonetheless still collided into the Txarr, breaking the mighty kilometre-long carrier into two parts.
Fortunately, a pair of Kvorna-class tow ships were nearby, and as emergency shuttles left the shuttlebays of the Txarr while its bridge seperated itself from the rest of the ship, the small but powerful-engined salvage-ships attached themselves to the remnants of the deserted wreck and pulled them towards the wormhole. If the remnants of the Txarr could be repaired back in the Xhatrr system, it would be all worth it.
Although Exalted Fleet-Lord Xyakkath already felt victorious, he quickly reminded himself that the war was far from over. There was still the war on the surface of the planet. But Xyakkath was a naval strategist, not a commander of ground forces. Directing surface forces was not his task.
Believing himself to have done his part, he reclined smilingly in his Admiral's Chair telling himself: "Well, I've done what I can... and if it continues this way, soon the Horns of Xhatrr will rule this new planet."
Last edited by Peregrin Toker on 2003-11-02 06:23am, edited 2 times in total.
"Hi there, would you like to have a cookie?"
"No, actually I would HATE to have a cookie, you vapid waste of inedible flesh!"
I recall that Harry Harrison once said that plantary invasions would be immposible due to the monetary requirements of moving invasion fleets from gravity well to gravity well, plus the fact that the military of the invaded planet is likely to be fully willing to give their lives against the invaders... Should be intresting...
Singular Quartet wrote:I recall that Harry Harrison once said that plantary invasions would be immposible due to the monetary requirements of moving invasion fleets from gravity well to gravity well, plus the fact that the military of the invaded planet is likely to be fully willing to give their lives against the invaders... Should be intresting...
Suspension of disbelief, my friend. Suspension of disbelief.
BTW - the real carnage will start when the Xril land their ground forces on Avarnam. I'll promise you that from Chapter 9 and forwards, the story will contain some really graphic violence.
"Hi there, would you like to have a cookie?"
"No, actually I would HATE to have a cookie, you vapid waste of inedible flesh!"
Simon H.Johansen wrote:Chapter 7 - Sacrifice And Triumph (Editor's note: Yes, I know this is even cheesier than "The Action Begins" - but what could I do?)
You could just not give your chapters names.Personally i think its better than "The action begins"
Simon H.Johansen wrote:Chapter 7 - Sacrifice And Triumph (Editor's note: Yes, I know this is even cheesier than "The Action Begins" - but what could I do?)
You could just not give your chapters names.Personally i think its better than "The action begins"
Of course - but I have a soft spot in my heart for cheesy titles. It might have been triggered by listening to Manowar.
"Hi there, would you like to have a cookie?"
"No, actually I would HATE to have a cookie, you vapid waste of inedible flesh!"
Simon H.Johansen wrote:Chapter 7 - Sacrifice And Triumph (Editor's note: Yes, I know this is even cheesier than "The Action Begins" - but what could I do?)
You could just not give your chapters names.Personally i think its better than "The action begins"
Of course - but I have a soft spot in my heart for cheesy titles. It might have been triggered by listening to Manowar.
Bah. I've come up with some cheesy titles. Dont' worry about it.
Planet Xhatrr, Chamber of the Military Council in the Spire of Government:
Txaxil, Supreme Battle-Lord of the Xvarrol, walked into the council of war flanked by a pair of Xvarrol resplendent in their heavy crimson-painted parade armour.
In a ring of bizarrely-shaped chairs, the best surface strategists of the Xril species now sat in order to discuss the invasion of the alien planet.
The alien planet was much bigger than Xhatrr and possibly just as densely populated, one thing was sure. They were to allocate as many troops as possible to the planet.
And since the very situation required them to expect the worst and fight the hardest, the selected troops should be the best of the best. Txaxil was eager to field as many Xvarrol as possible.
The Xvarrol - an elite corps of the Army Of The Dominion of Xhatrr, distinguishable by their graceful yet intimidating red parade armour and the red decorations on their battle-armour, were the very best of all armies at the Xril leaders' disposal. Recruited from state-run orphanages indoctrinating Xril infants into mindlessly obeying all orders from above, the Xvarrol had indeed chosen a fitting motto: "The Loyal Will Triumph." As they were raised from childhood in a regimen of draconic discipline, they were almost peerless soldiers - rarely seeing action, but during those riots when they were deployed, silence quickly fell upon the rebels.
However, even though Txaxil almost overloaded with eagerness to deploy the shock-troop corps he founded, there were some problems. High Warmaster Xlaithxra, a grizzled commander who fought alongside Txaxil on Zxavor's side during the Great Uprising, aptly reminded him of the fact that the alien homeworld had a significantly higher gravity than any of the planets of the Xhatrr system - ignoring the gas giant Xlnur. Although the Xhatrr army had plenty of military robots ranging from small, six-legged machines armed with deadly microwave rays over saucer-shaped hovertanks to nearly all military planes employed by the Xril, these robotic warriors could not fight wars on their own, only support their troops.
Although Xvarrol and other exo-armoured troops already were somewhat slowed down by the weight of their armour, high gravity would only slow them down further. The only sure solution would be to deploy the troops in armoured personnel carriers of any kind, but that would be rather expensive. However, the gravity alien homeworld was not big enough to have critical consecquences. And High Warmaster Zlykr, the most experienced tank commander in the Xhatrr system, backed up the suggestion to invade the alien planet by means of a tank blitzkrieg.
The biggest problem by far associated with this campaign was the fact that on some of the Xhatrr Dominion's planets there were currently so much civil disorder that the police needed assistance of the military to maintain order. After long and heated discussions, Txaxil's suggestion to simply let a not-bigger-than-required segment of the law-enforcement troops stay to enforce law and order in the Xhatrr system was accepted. Granted, it meant that a less-than-maximum amount of troops were available for the campaign of conquest - but it would be the easiest solution and the one requiring the least paperwork and it didn't put any serious delay upon the invasion.
Two days later...
Military Space Station Xhatrr'Xzakl Orbiting the Planet Xhatrr
Zxavor, resplendent in his blue robes, stood upon a bizzarely-shaped dais in one of the greater halls of the largest military station of the Xhatrr Spacefleet. Coruscating on the dais, behind him a crimson banner with the Horned Sigil Of Xhatrr, the monarch gazed down upon his subjects - in this case, hundreds of thousands of troops waiting to embark upon military transport ships.
They were there primarly to hear the speech Zxavor was to give before they went off to embark their transport.
After taking a deep breath, the robed monarch spoke following sweeping robes: "My soldiers... You will now fight upon battlegrounds which no Xril soldier ever has trodden. You will fight enemies you have never fought before. They might be stronger and tougher than anyone you have ever wielded your weapons against. But how can you know how you will win, and why we fight in the first place? The answer is simple. This is our war - for our cause, for the better of the Xril people... we will expand our territory beyond our home system, new lands for our progeny to settle!! This is our destiny... to write our saga in the annals of the stars!! Soon, not one but two suns and their scions will now hail to the Horned Sigil of Xhatrr... and as more solar systems are discovered, constellations and nebulae will tremble at our footfalls! And you, my brave troops, will be the very first to tread the first step unto the stairs of intergalactic! Fight will all your strength! None dare defy us... none can defeat us!"
This majestic, rousing speech was followed by the soldiers cheering and raising their clenched fists - a gesture which had been the only proper way to greet one's superiors ever since the unspeakable carnage of The Great Uprising left Zxavor supreme ruler of the Xhatrr system.
The Supreme Potentate already had god-like status, and hearing his speech only reinforced the soldiers' faith in their leader.
Elevated upon the grotesque piedestal, Zxavor smiled looking down upon the hundreds of infantry regiments on their way to their assigned transports. It always pleased his senses to hear and see masses of soldiers march to war at his command - in fact, by now he was relishing manifestations of power so much that he occassionally pondered whether he had became addicted to sovereignity... his sheer power, which had been growing from when he first rallied the remnants of the fallen Xhatrr'Vyrka Confederacy during the year following The Great Uprising to proclaim himself leader, to this very day when he indeed was all but a god to billions of Xril.
Then, he watched the vid-screens to the vessels docked to Xhatrr'Xzakl, beholding tug-ships attaching various freight modules to the cargo ships - probably containing tanks and other military surface vehicles.
When the forces were finished embarking upon their transports, this invasion fleet - consisting primarly of lots of large cargo-freighters and troop ships escorted by frigates - now headed for the wormhole.
Zxavor knew this was quite a gamble. This had been the toughest task of his best generals yet, and he feared that their skills had stagnated as they had not seen conflict on this scale ever since The Great Uprising. He also feared that the inhabitants of the alien planet, which he didn't know anything about save for the fact that they were able to build spaceships which only were defeated by the Xhatrr Spacefleet because they were outnumbered... oh, and they lacked particle accelerators.
If Zxavor would lose the war he had started, he would bring his own nation to its very knees and dig his own grave... if he won, his absolute power would be reinforced further. Now, he almost regretted his decision. But deep inside, there was something inside him which wanted to rule one planet more, even though the cost would be millions of lives. It seemed like Zxavor's sheer power - and the joy he derived from using it - had eroded all his emotions save for perhaps the very worst of them. Still, somewhere else he had a hope that this disturbing thought only was a result of his weariness - after all, he was over a hundred years old.
As troopships and freighters transported vast armies to their destination, Zxavor crossed fingers and hoped that the best generals of Xhatrr, soon in another solar system, would succesfully conquer this vast alien planet... no matter the cost.
Last edited by Peregrin Toker on 2003-11-02 06:24am, edited 1 time in total.
"Hi there, would you like to have a cookie?"
"No, actually I would HATE to have a cookie, you vapid waste of inedible flesh!"
Vorou Star System, aboard Nxalyzr-class Troop Transport Rzaan of the Xhatrr Spacefleet
A swarm of troop transports orbited the alien homeworld, waiting to launch dropships. Aboard this particular troop transport, Supreme Battlelord Txaxil heard a report that a stealth robotic recon-aircraft sent to the alien planet had located several population centres. Txaxil decided to go for the metropolises one for one - it would be a slow process, but if he was able to concentrate as many troops as possible upon one target he was more likely to be victorious. After all, did a clenched fist not do more damage than a flat hand??
However, first he decided to send some scout troops from the Txyrrol - a special operations corps of the Xhatrr army specifically trained in guerilla warfare - down to the surface in order to find a site suitable for establishing a base of operations. Aboard the bridge, following order left Txaxil's mouth: "Order the troopships carrying battleforces 1-20 to drop their Txyrrol troops at coordinates near the population centre which you've recently codenamed ZR23/09. Repeat procedure for cargo ships carrying supplies for the Txyrrol departments of these battleforces. Carriers, launch fighters to protect them following ordinary Xhatrr Spacefleet procedure."
Shortly after, Txaxil ordered the Txyrrol as well as the Txyashvarrol - the scouting/guerilla branch of the Xvarrol - aboard this ship to get ready for battle. In charge of this would be Warmaster Lziaxl, well-known by Txaxil as a hit-and-run warfare and wilderness-fighting specialist.
Escorted by a pair of armed guards, Lziaxl went to the armory of the ship where he along with - fellow Txyrrol and Txyashvarrol put on their flak-armour. The flak armour provided good protection, but was by no means as cumbersome as the heavy exo-armour which was worn by regular troops and most Xvarrol. On the other hand, it did not have the artificial muscle-fibers of exo-armour which augmented the ordinary soldiers. However, it was way lighter and therefore used primarly by Txyrrol, who had little use for heavy exoskeletal armour. Also - since the scout troops were landing on an alien planet, they were equipped with rebreathers and their armour modified to protect against eventual dangerous environments.
As his armour was put on, he grabbed a burstrifle (an automatic slugthrower standard issue among Txyrrol) from the gun racks of the ship's armory and saw that all of the Txyashvarrol and Txyrrol aboard this ship now were in their armour. Lziaxl, having not seen battle for decades, was at one time eager and anxious as he yelled: "SOLDIERS!! FORM INTO FORMATION!!"
Within a few hours thousands of Txyrrol and Txyashvarrol were ready to embark upon the dropships. Marching ranks of infantry, specially-trained infiltration forces, support artillery, armed vehicles, engineer divisions and radar crews were soon aboard giant dropships as well.
The lower decks of the troop transports were home to the docking bays wherein the dropships resided. The vast docking bays, wider than the upper decks, unleashed multitudes of dropships, joining with packs of heavy fighters in mid-space before striking like thunderbolts against the metropolis singled out for what Txaxil would deem soon destruction.
Also escorting the fleet of dropships were eighteen Kxal-class corvettes and four Xvarln-class gunboats, in case the scouting force would get in trouble. The rest of the invasion force, still aboard their troop ships, were supposed to attack as soon the scout taskforce had localized a target.
As soon as the dropships were not far above the alien city, they slowly started their descent into the atmosphere.
Aboard the Rzaan, Txaxil steadily listened to the words Lziaxl was telling him as the dropships with the scout troops were locating a site to land - preferrably not too long away from the alien city, but the site should be remote enough to be safe from enemy troops.
"Lziaxl to Txaxil. Sir, it appears to be broad daylight. High gravity limiting us to Mach 2 top speed, sir."
To Txaxil, everything seemed to go as planned until following words were heard:
"Sir, radars detecting missiles approaching us from fifty clicks away, sir!"
Over the radio connection, it seemed as though tension grew.
"Sir, enemy fighters approaching. Currently finding landing location while escorting corvettes fend off alien fighters, sir. End communication."
Shortly after, Txaxil heard over the communications radio:
"Sir, we're hit by enemy missile. Two of our turrets disabled. Over hundred alien interceptors are tying up our escorting fighters and corvettes. Our engines are hit! Sir, I'll tell you the coordinates for my ship's location as soon as it's crash-landed, sir. End communication. "
Half a minute passed, and Lziaxl told:
"Sir, We've crashed near mountain surrounded by dense vegetation. I urge you to send reinforcements soon. They can easily locate our position now. Meanwhile, escorting spaceships try to keep enemy aircraft away - but on the ground we'll be beaten if the alien ground forces arrive before your troops. However, 21 other dropships have safely landed fifteen clicks southeast of my dropship's crashsite."
Following this request for assistance was Lziaxl telling the coordinates for the crash site... and the words End Communication, sir.
The first force sent to the surface of the alien planet was only Txyrrol equipped with light body armour and NBC gear, an assortment of small arms and artillery, some fast ground vehicles and war-robots for support.. A trademark of Txaxil's modus operandi was to strike as soon as possible, and as hard as possible. Now, some twenty regiments of standard Xril troops and two regiments of Xvarrol were ordered to embark upon dropship rescue the marooned Txyrrol - as well as invade the alien city near the crash site. After shouting out orders directly over the communications lines to spaceships carrying the requested troops, he removed his seatbelt and headed for the armory along with all remaining troops aboard the Rzaan.
Txaxil - along with other troops aboard the Rzaan walked through the various corridors of the ship until they reached the Armory. An enormous dark hall lined with gun racks and armour suits standing upright in transparent chambers. Amidst all this - thousands of troops stood as hovering robots put on their armour. Txaxil walked to the middle point of the Rzaan's armory. There was a piedestal upon which was a pillar up to the roof. A great portion of this pillar was evidently hollow, and emblazoned with a large golden Horned Sigil of Xhatrr. Txaxil reached out his hand and laid his palm upon the golden Horned Sigil, and the pillar's side he pressed parted into two - it was a hidden door. An elevator narrowly fitting into the hollow pillar descended to ceiling level - carrying a suit of exo-armour specifically designed for Txaxil. It was evidently very ornate yet practical and heavily armoured. Its helmet was the most particular - it was adorned with two wing-like protusions on each side of the
head as well as metallic "horns" upon its brow. Other distinctive features included reinforced shoulder plates (more aestethic than functional, actually) a golden part of the breast plating engraved with numerous odd symbols and the unusually stylish way in which it was made.
Txaxil recognized this suit of exo-armour. It was made decades ago, specifically designed for him - individually tailored design was almost a rarity in the collectivistic Xhatrr Dominion, but as a military leader he had such a privilege. Txaxil muttered: "Preparing to don exo-armour." A small, insect-like flying robot hovered out of the pillar-tube, carrying in its metallic claws a one-piece jumpsuit, made of a matt black material with several metallic parts upon it - shaped like the bones of a skeleton, and placed the same locations where "bones" would be on a jumpsuit designed to showcase the skeleton of the Xril anatomy. Txaxil removed his ordinary military uniform and put on the tight-fitting jumpsuit handed to him by the robot. Then, the flying robot - along with another - told Txaxil to step into the tube-like hollow pillar. He did that, but was ordered to stop moving as soon he stood before the suit of armour. Then, the robots simultaneously parted the boots of the exo-armour into two components each and turned around in mid-air and landed the halved boots so Txaxil could don them. When he had put a foot into one of parts of a boot, one of the robots took the second part of the boot and attached it to the other. Then, the other robot emitted a signal and the metallic boot was now sealed. They proceded similarly with the parts covering the upper legs and groin. The torso-protecting part of the exo-armour was more complicated - it consisted of several layers and therefore took longer to put on. First, the inner layer was put on by the robots - one robot putting on the part covering the front of Txaxil's torso while the other put on the part covering the back. Then, they put on more armour-plating until emitting a signal to the armour. The robots flew to the rest of the armour, which evidently covered a mock-up mannequin of a Xril. With their claws they clutched the parts covering the upper arms, which they flew over to Txaxil, who then put them on. The gloves - which also covered the lower arms - were then put onto Txaxil by the flying robots. Then came the neck protector which also segmented into two when the wearer was to don it. As it sat around Txaxil's neck, one of the robots approached Txaxil's head and emitted a signal, joining the two parts. The last thing was the elaborate helmet - which probably was the part of the armour which was easiest donned. While one of the flying robots put on the helmet, the other attached a backpack. Inside the backpack - in order to power the exoskeleton - was a small power plant. After that, the flying, insect-like robots flew to each joint on the armour and emitted a signal as soon as a joint was sealed. Txaxil felt the armour tighten with each subsequent joint-sealing. When the joint-sealing process ended with the joining of the helmet and neck-protector, the armour was now all but unbreachable.
Like an armoured warrior of ages past, Txaxil strode through the armory and soon within his gauntleted hands was a burstgun - a large slugthrowing automatic cannon modified for handheld use as an assault rifle by exo-armoured troops. The versions used by the Xvarrol all had an underslung grenade launchers.
Then, the computer in his helmet told him that all the other exo-armour suits now were operational as well.
Over the amp-transmitter in his helmet connected by a network to the helmets of other officers, he ordered all troops to go aboard those dropships aboard the Rzaan which hadn't sent scout troops to the surface of the alien homeworld. Now, it was time for full-scale retaliation and soon conquest.
Soon, even more of the Xhatrr troop transports orbiting the alien homeworld were sending dropships loaded with combat troops en masse. Not all of the troops were sent down to the planet - only the amount believed to be needed in order to capture a metropolis, but that was still over a million.
Meanwhile...
Vorou Star System, Military Space Station Rishina Tvurak orbiting the Planet Shaikarsa
It seemed to be a routine day aboard the military space station Rishina Tvurak. The Overseer-Commander of the station, Sinash Vkourin, expected nothing spectacular to happen - although he had put the crew of the base upon highest preparedness ever since the Planetary Commonwealth of Avarnam had its first run-in with the alien race dubbed the Kh-Sriil by an Avarnam scientist who had parts from a brain from a dying specimen of these aliens implanted in it. The Kh-Sriil, as the scientist called them, were not physically strong - they were very tall and looked quite creepy, but also quite lanky and by no means as strong on average as the Jardra. Their strength was that their entire home system was united under one ruler... and he also came with some vague doomsday prophecies suggesting that the Kh-Sriil were about to invade the Vorou system, but as those predictions came after the scientist was thrown into a mental asylum, Vkourin doubted whether that was more than paranoia.
But then - the base's chief-of-communications, Uko Siirkan, went into a about of panic. The stocky, red-bearded Siirkan flew out of his chair out of sheer shock, and shouted over the communications system directly to Vkourin's office: "Sir! Avarnam under attack by Kh-Sriil. One damaged Avarnam frigate approaching our base requesting assistance and repairs..."
This could only mean one thing. As soon as possible, space station Rishina Tvurak reported these important, if grave, news to the Shaikarsite military headquarters on the surface of Shaikarsa. There might have been growing hostilities between the Planetary Commonwealth of Avarnam and Shaikarsite Union ever since Kolnur was elected leader of Avarnam, but this time the two planet-nations were forced to ally if they were to ensure that the Jardra should not be driven from their own homeworld. Yes - both Avarnaman and Shaikarsite Jardra had always avoided war whenever possible - but this time, the enemy was an alien superpower hell-bent on conquest... Vkourin and the other Shaikarsites had no choice. Ever since the first miners settled upon Shaikarsa, they had been dependant upon trade with other planetary nations - and this trade was not to be obstructed by alien imperialists!
In any case, retaliation was necessary.
Last edited by Peregrin Toker on 2003-11-02 06:24am, edited 2 times in total.
"Hi there, would you like to have a cookie?"
"No, actually I would HATE to have a cookie, you vapid waste of inedible flesh!"
Two things: First, an international dateline is not a natural phenomena. It is a human-designated line of latitude that could be anywhere on a globe.
Second: The dailgoue form teh crashed swhip needs... tightening. It sounds to much like a group of frightened humans. Well-trained soldiers are generally calm when giving a sit-rep even after just crash-landing, and also they would be much more concise about it. Also, they would be much faster about identifing a missle, cause I doubt a missle's overall design would change from culture to culture.
Hehe - I'm apparently not the only one to think that chapter 9 still needs a lot of polish. I'll go rewrite it when I have time and energy. (I also think the sequence where Txaxil's armour is put on needs a lot of elaboration)
"Hi there, would you like to have a cookie?"
"No, actually I would HATE to have a cookie, you vapid waste of inedible flesh!"
Txaxil, clad in his ornate exo-armour, was informed by one of the dropship's pilots over the ship's communications network that they were a few clicks away from the crash site of Lziaxl's dropship.
The exo-armoured warlord picked up a cellphone-like device and held it up to his face. Then, he pressed a button on the side of it and said:
"Locate site to land away from crashed dropship. Meanwhile, order dropships of 1st Xvarrol Armoured Infantry Corps to deploy in halfcircle formation surrounding crashed ship."
Afterwards, Txaxil ordered the dropships of other Xvarrol Corpses to land in ring formation around Txyrrol divisions - one corps landing around one Txyrrol dropship each. (author's note: the Txyrrol is one of the smallest branches of the Xril military)
The dropships of the 1st Xvarrol Armoured Infantry Corps, under command by Txaxil himself, stopped in mid-air as soon as they were in formation. Then, their lower projectile turrets aimed at the ground to fire explosive projectiles at the ground, clearing the forest areas for landing sites.
Then, the dropships landed vertically. While a "CLUNK!" sound denoted the landing gear being spread by Txaxil's dropship, a familiar voice resonated throughout the radio communications network of the dropship:
"Lziaxl to approaching dropship!"
Lziaxl gave Txaxil a further explanation: "Sir, currently trapped inside the forest at the foot of the mountain. Enemies are engaging us by hit-and-run tactics... Forest is too dense for ground vehicles to go through this area."
Calmly and cool-under-pressure as always, Txaxil said: "Lziaxl - we've brought an extra dropship specifically for evacuating your troops. Defend yourselves and wait for arrival of Xvarrol. End communication."
Then, Txaxil pressed a button on the wall. A door in the front of the dropship's passenger section opened to reveal the alien terrain and lowered to become a stair evening out the gap between the dropship hall's floor and the surface of the alien planet.
It was bright daylight, thus fully exposing a terrain quite unlike that of Xhatrr. The hundreds of Xvarrol looked into a forest not of trees, but of ten-meter tall fungi whose colour were a dark green.
Using the cellphone-like communications device again, Txaxil called to the other dropships of the 1st Xvarrol Armoured Infantry Corps: "Txaxil to all companies of the 1st Xvarrol Armoured Infantry. Scour the area for enemy troops and eliminate them if possible while locating Lziaxl's dropship. Each regiment should allocate one third of its troops to stay at the dropships. End communication."
Txaxil then ordered the Xvarrol under his personal command to advance. Their march out of the dropships was almost as robotical as the miniscule six-legged mechanic automata which scouted ahead of them and the flying robots which accompanied them.
The six-legged 'bots were small but deadly - acting as scouts, they crawled all over the forest in advance of the exo-armoured Xvarrol while attacking eventual enemies with microwave heat rays. The flying robots, known as xyrl, were bigger, but still small, and resembled slightly bent cones with the flat end being the front. The xyrl robots were basically little more than hovering guns equipped with robotic targeting systems. Several varieties existed depending on weaponry - the flamethrowing na'xyrl, the armour-piercing flying lasers known as ox'xyrl and the rocket-launching vir'xyrl.
As all troops were out of the dropship, Txaxil ordered the formation to halt. As silence fell upon the unmoving soldiers, Txaxil ordered: "Companies 1,2 and 3 - stay with me to defend the dropship. Companies 4 to 7 - advance towards crashed dropship. Companies 8 and 9, place minefield in "ring" formation 'round dropships."
It was no special move - in fact, it was an old strategy Txaxil had used since the Great Uprising to rescue crashed ships. Unfortunately - this time the dropship was crashed near a mountain, so he couldn't land the dropships carrying Xvarrol in a full circle around the crashed one. Therefore, he had to improvise to some extent. However, he hoped that the dropships would only have to stay temporarily on the surface of the alien planet unless Txaxil would decide that this would be a good base of operations.
While millions of 'bots and hundreds of troops advanced through the forest of giant fungi - looking somewhat awkward due to the fact that the high gravity was encumbring them - the first three companies of the 1st Xvarrol Armoured Infantry were preparing to defend their landed dropship in case of enemy attack. Out of the dropship rolled tractor-'bots towing wheeled anti-aircraft lasers. Engineer troops were laying a minefield in a circle around the dropship as soon as all other companies had left. This way - any enemy troops advancing would first have to slog through not one but two minefields... Txaxil once found this a paranoid tactic, but in a riot-quelling incident a few decades ago he was reminded that it sometimes was better to be too prepared than not to be prepared enough. In any case, it would cause no "friendly fire" accidents as the exo-armour of a Xvarrol was equipped with a radar system able to locate landmines.
Not that far away...
Groupleader Uroul Qvarao and his squad of Avarnam Defense Force infantry carefully advanced through the thick forest of Kaona fungi in order to investigate what had landed some hundred metres from the first alien dropship. One of the troops, Oshrau, carried a device used for scanning for landmines - the platoon to which Qvarao's squad belonged had already lost 6 soldiers to Kh-Sriil landmines. That did infuriate and shock Qvarao - but not deter him, as he was determined upon proving that a Vausso could fight just as well as any Jardra, a dream which was the catalyst for his decision to volunteer into the Avarnam Defense Force. (editor's note: The Vausso are a specific phenotype within the Jardra race, recognizable by their naturally two-coloured hair and specifically their tendency to be less muscular than other Jardra, thus leading to the Vausso being a minority within Avarnam's ground forces)
Suddenly, the particular trooper carrying the mine-scanner noticed: "Sir, radar detecting landmine-sized objects moving towards us. Probably six-legged 'bots reported by 21st S.I., sir..."
Then, like lightning from a cloudless sky, a red ray hit one of the Jardra troopers. The pain it inflicted caused him to fire his carbine at the source of the heatray in retaliation. The source incidentally happened to be the "branch" of one of the tree-like Kaona fungi. The ray had hit his lower left arm, thus seriously impairing his ability to aim. As a result of his impaired aim, the only noticeable result were some holes in the giant fungus and the reply from his squadleader: "Private Voukla, you can't fight with an injured arm." Since a Medic-Bot was with the squad, it tended Voukla's wounded lower arm while the other soldiers tried to localize whatever fired at him.
Since the targeting system in the standard-issue assault carbines' scopes made it possible for his companions to locate the threat, they now found out that it was now on the ground and moved towards them - but as it was hit by high-velocity carbine bullets it stopped.
Qvarao then picked up the thing. It was a small, six-legged robot - one of those they were told about, but not more than that they were numerous and deadly - and that extreme caution must be exercised. He was slightly angry at the commanders for not informing the soldiers that they were hiding where you least expected it.
Quickly after Qvarao threw down the robot, the squad's soldiers dodged lots of similar red rays coming from all directions - and carbine bullets soon flew in every possible direction, not only disabling Kh-Sriil robots but also cutting up Kaona fungi and mangling patches of Sirnou. (A half-metre tall plant native to Avarnam, which resembles an upside-down hollow cone)
Chaos were all around as heatrays and gunfire engulfed the scene, and Oshrau shouted: "What the heck?!? Those 'bots are not only outnumbering us, they're also surrounding us."
Only shortly after all of the small six-legged warbots had been crippled by carbine fire, Oshrau's scanner picked up more incoming 'bots... met by the thunderclaps of detonating grenades which, although slowing down the horde of 'bots, did not decimate the mechanical swarm fast enough to make a big difference.
Over his communications system, Qvarao called the nearest combat squad and requested assistance - but even they were soon tied up by similar hexapedic robot warriors.
After Qvarao found out that only a third of his squad were not injured, he decided to fall back carrying the wounded and reported it to the HQ section of the company.
However, it was already too late. An already injured Jardra trooper's pain increased as he dodged a falling Kaona fungus while retreating... only to be hit in the back by a pair of 20mm projectiles. Standing near the dying, blood-covered Jardra stood something which obviously was a Kh-Sriil soldier... wearing camouflaged, apparently exo-skeletal armour from head to toe. The heavy armour obscured his features due to its bulkiness - save for the plexiglass visor whose semi-opaque colouration gave the Jardra a look into his eyes. Within the Kh-Sriil's hands were a weapon which resembled an assault rifle. Or that would it do, were it not so large that it could not possibly be wielded by a Jardra, let alone a Kh-Sriil...
In a fit of panic, those of Qvarao's squadmates who noticed the armoured Kh-Sriil threw their grenades at him. However, the armoured Kh-Sriil was not alone - several of his fellows, wearing similar armour, quickly appeared from among the trees and engaged in pursuit. What saved Qvarao from bloody death as he ran for his life was that the Kh-Sriil were slowed down by their armour as well as a level of gravity they weren't accustomed to. However, he was engulfed by such a mixture of rage and grief over his lost comrades which he almost were more closely connected to than his family... he shortly pondered whether he would be able to live with such traumatic memory if he survived, but decided to leave such decisions to later on. To the captain he reported: "Squad 4 of Platoon 8 requesting assistance. End communication"
But there was absolutely no answer.
Then, after his squad had desperately trod several hundred metres fleeing from the armoured Kh-Sriil while carrying seriously injured soldiers desperately in need of medical aid, he sensed a most dreadful stench of charnel death hanging over the area. When he looked down, what he saw was indeed a frightful sight.
A squad of dead Jardra soldiers bathed in their own freshly spilled blood, which had splattered all over the area like if it had rained with crimson blood from the skies.
Not only was the vegetation and the soil stained with deepest crimson, but all of the dead Jardra bore gruesome signs of injury. Clearly, an arduous and horrific fight with Kh-Sriil soldiers had taken place only minutes ago. Burnt fragments of body armour, internal organs torn from the insides of their bodies and bloody pieces of torn flesh lay scattered all over the area. Thick rivers of blood flowed from their open wounds. Even to a soldier, this sight was sickening.
Qvarao, however, noted that one casualty was even more frightening to behold than the others. His skull was split by a 20mm solid projectile - blood covered all of his head and most of his short neck. Another 20mm projectile had impacted in his chest section with such might that the body armour was scattered into many tiny pieces. In fact, Qvarao quickly found that this unfortunate Jardra had his intenstines hanging straight out of his abdomen.
However, a segment of the chestplate remained on that particular corpse. The nametag upon the armour revealed the unfortunate casualty to be none other than Cpt. Iurkar, the officer whom Qvarao asked for assistance over his communicator earlier.
Following that revelation, Qvarao's squadmates informed him that all but three of the injured soldiers had died of blood loss. This added insult to injury, further wounding the feelings of an already griefstricken Jardra. As if he wasn't disgusted enough...
Qvarao reminded himself: "The worst thing about this situation is that there are definately also many honest men and women among the Kh-Sriil. Good people have already been killed, and more will die. I have probably already slain several Kh-Sriil who were no worse than myself. In self-defense, I have killed Kh-Sriil forced into the fire by the orders of their government."
Ever since Qvarao joined the military, he had been trained to suppress any emotions which potentially would get in the way of his determination to defend Avarnam. However, his conscience could very well have been drowned in the process and maybe it was beginning to resurface.
Half a kilometre away...
Txaxil, intimidatingly massive in his exo-armour, heard from one of the 1st Xvarrol Armoured Infantry's Battlemaster: "Mylord, Lziaxl and his men are now aboard the dropship sent to rescue them. Any orders, milord?"
(editor's note: A Battlemaster is a Xril military rank roughly the equivalent of a colonel)
The exo-armoured battlelord replied: "Mission accomplished. But our objective is to take the nearby metropolis. Troops, re-embark upon dropships."
So far, things had went almost exactly as planned save for the crashed dropship - but that had only delayed the whole invasion process by a day or a half. Next step would be to have fighters and xyrl attack the alien metropolis from above while dropships land in a ring formation around it and unload invading troops which would attack it on surface level.
Also - Txaxil had gotten a glimpse of the aliens. They had the same basic anatomical features of the Xril, although their resemblance was very vague at best.
Where the Xril were pale and bald, the aliens were suntanned and hairy. Where the Xril had relatively small noses and prominent chins, the aliens had prominent noses and less protuberant chins.
However, the most significant difference was height and girth: Where the Xril were tall and thin, the aliens were short and wide - in fact, it would not be a lie to say that one of the aliens were half as tall as an average Xril but twice as muscular. However - Txaxil expected this as the alien homeworld had a very high gravity. In fact, statistics showed that Xril soldiers didn't last long in hand-to-hand combat with the aliens unless they wore exo-armour. And those who did so were even further slowed down by the gravity of the planet.
This did not take the slightest amount of eagerness away from Txaxil. All Xril troops, except for scout troops such as the Txyrrol, were equipped with exo-armour and trained to use it to their advantage in close combat. The particular exo-armour type used by the Xvarrol was even more advanced - it also included automatic minescanning computers and incorporated tasers.
Meanwhile, at Rishina Tvurak
Three quarters of the navy of the Shaikarsite Union were gathered near Rishina Tvurak. The backbone of the fleet at Rishina Tvurak were 9 of the ugly-but-effective, almost box-shaped Kashonri-class cruisers and 10 of the similar Kormunrak-class carriers, escorted by 36 Kainraka-class destroyers as well as several smaller ships such as Shuunrak-class monitors.
All of the Shaikarsite Planetary Fleet's admirals were also gathered - and neither did long time pass before passenger ships carrying commanders of surface forces arrived too.
The news of Avarnam being attacked did not go unnoticed, and the High Command of the Shaikarsite Military Complex in particular saw it as their duty to retaliate. However, upon hearing how numerous the alien threat was... the first thing decided was, with Admiral Kuunra's words: "Forty warships built upon trader hulls can't take on a fleet of 120 ships. We need to form an alliance with the other Jardra planetary nations and form as large an allied fleet as possible."
Problem was - prior to the invasion, political animosity in the Vorou system had been growing and particularly the Shaikarsites had felt its effects... or what they believed to be its effects. Thing was - half a Shaikarsa year earlier, various planetary nations - eg. The United Moons Of Sarkai - had increased trade protection - and since the Shaikarsite Union, which consisted of the planet Shaikarsa and its moons, suffered economically from this, some Shaikarsite Jardra actually viewed this newly-imposed protectionism as motivated by sheer arrogance.
On the other hand - "This time, all Jardra are endangered..." one of the Shaikarsite military leaders told the others.
One thing was for sure... it would be better to avenge Avarnam too late than to ignore it.
Last edited by Peregrin Toker on 2003-11-02 06:26am, edited 7 times in total.
"Hi there, would you like to have a cookie?"
"No, actually I would HATE to have a cookie, you vapid waste of inedible flesh!"
The heavy armour obscured his features due to its bulkiness - save for the plexiglass visor whose semi-opaque colouration gave us a look into his eyes.
First person, when you normally use third = bad.
It definatley need s asecond go oever. Soem fo the language of it seems a little off, for example
As they could calculate, however, the armoured Kh-Sriil was not alone
Hehe, it's obvious that I was a bit over-eager to post this one...
BTW - do any of you have trouble pronouncing Xril names?? If that's the case, I can reveal that I designed their language as being intentionally unpronounceable.
"Hi there, would you like to have a cookie?"
"No, actually I would HATE to have a cookie, you vapid waste of inedible flesh!"
Great!!
three quaters is the proper term i think.