[X] Divination.
[X] He is approached by Eldrad Ulthran.
[X] Plan Screen and a Gloriana.
-[X] 1 Gloriana-class Battleship (15 Points) (15 Points)
-[X] 2 Promethean-class Cruiser (3 Points) (6 Points)
-[X] 9 Tiamat-class Destroyer (1 Points) (9 Points)

As new warships roll out of the Excalibur's shipyards, the offensive against the Chronus Dominion renews. This time around, it starts with the invasion of Alanus, the Dominion's only remaining world apart from Chronus itself.

The invasion goes smoothly, concluding in less than a year. While the planet had the same orbital defences and extensive ground fortifications that Solas had, Alanus wasn't nearly as well defended by the Dominion. It still had enough of a garrison to put resistance, but even before reviewing the captured records, it was clear that it been recently reduced.

The Dominion was preparing to make its stand at Chronus and part of that was reinforcing the capital with forces from Alanus. The Dominion hadn't abandoned the world, but it had stripped what it could from the planetary garrison. Yet while this would make the final invasion of the campaign harder, it meant that the Federal Army had seized Alanus with only moderate losses in the process.

Of course, the war against the Chronus Dominion isn't the only thing of interest going on right now. Your brothers are beginning their new career paths with Connor entering university while the twins are finishing it. Your newest brother is training to become a doctor or some other medical expert after finishing the Diseased's horrors first hand. Meanwhile Willaim has chosen to become a social worker to help kids like you and Connor while David is joining the new terraforming project.

Speaking of which, parliament has voted to begin terraforming on the other potentially habitable worlds of the Bladus system. Technically speaking, there are five colonisable worlds in the system, but only Excalibur is currently fit for human settlers. For various reasons, the other four worlds barely count as being habitable and while a colony could be set up on them, it requires extensive technological support just for the colonists to survive.

There had been some talk of building another shipyard, but with the impending conquest of the Chronus system, it was discarded in favour of terraforming. The prevailing hope is that the Dominion's shipyards will be captured intact, which will allow them to be modernised to Federal standards. An endeavour that will be cheaper, quicker and just easier than building new shipyards from scratch.

Under the new initiative, the Federation of Bladus will begin terraforming procedures on each of the four worlds, staggering it over the next three decades. The project will start with one of them down and then begin the terraforming process on another world with every decade that passes to spread out the costs and make it easier to set up the new colonies. While nobody knows what situation the Federation will be in a century's time, it will be easier to set up four colonies with a decade's interval between each one than it is to do all of them at once.

Yet it is not your problem nor your concern. As Fleet Admiral, you just need to worry about the Federal Navy and the protection of the Federation's people, which means worrying about the rest of the military to a lesser degree. Right now that means finishing the fight against the Chronus Dominion, something which will only be done by attacking their heavily defended capital.

Fortunately, help has come from an unexpected vector.


"You want to help us," you say sceptically as you and Eldrad Ulthran meet in your office aboard the Merlin once again.

"We do," answers Farseer Ulthran as you give him an unconvinced look.

"You cannot expect us to believe you are helping out of the kindness of your hearts," you reply, "What is in for you?"

"Eliminating a future threat and cultivating a future asset," replies Farseer Ulthran, "While the whole world has yet to be consumed, most of the senior leadership within the Chronus Dominion has given into the excesses of She Who Thirsts or are on the path to doing so. If Chronus Dominion is allowed to defeat the Federation of Bladus, Eldyranoc will be the first of their new victims. I have a duty to prevent that from happening and supporting you in your invasion is the best way to do that."

"You don't need to support us for that to happen," you tell him bluntly, giving him an unimpressed look while he looks smugly unapologetic, "What's the real reason for your aid?"

"I am also cultivating an future friend and ally to my people," answers Farseer Ulthran, "The Federation of Bladus represents the best hope of a friendly humanity in the far future and to that end, I wish to ensure that your growth is not stopped or slowed by this latest hurdle before you. I can assure you that your Federation will need to be as strong as you can make it for when you and your father finally reunite."

"That's twice now that you have mentioned my creator," you point out, "Do you have any more information to share on him beyond the mere fact he still lives?"

"That he has begun his crusade to unite humanity under his Imperium, an entity who both of us will find to be intolerable," says Farseer Ulthran, "He seeks his generals for his legions and he won't take no for an answer when he finds them. You won't have the chance to resist him once he does find you and your brother, but if you strengthen the Federation enough before that point, you will be able to extract invaluable concessions from him for your Federation's continued existence. And speaking of your family by genetics, you may wish to ensure that Connor has some military knowledge and experience. It will save him a great deal of stress and hardship when your father finally finds the two of you."

"I shall speak to him about it," you say and you exchange some idle pleasantries with the Eldar before Farseer Ulthran takes his leave after giving you a friendly reminder that if you wish to deal with the Necrontyr in the future, you should get around to read the texts and records he provide you with sooner rather than later.


You have five battleships, two of them being Glorianas, four Prometheans and nineteen Tiamats plus whatever Craftworld Iyanden decides to bring to the table. In the defence of their capital, the Dominion Navy still has at least three battleships, eighteen cruisers and twenty-six escorts along with whatever orbital defences they have set up. They also most certainly have more warships than that between whatever they have held back at Chronus and what new builds they have put into service over the last few years. Not to mention that judging from Alanus and Solas, their orbital defences will be extensive and a challenge on their lonesome.

Still you are confident in your chances of success. Orbital defences may be fearsome, but they are still limited by their lack of mobility. Your escorts are vastly superior to them and they have nothing that can directly match two Glorianas. The fact that you are outdone in the cruiser department is unfortunate, but you will just need to rely upon your battleships to carry the day in their place.

And then whatever warships the Eldar send will just further swing the odds in your favour.

Nevertheless, you need to decide your overall approach to this upcoming battle. You need to clear the enemy out of Chronus' orbit so the Federal Army can land, but you also need to take the shipyards into consideration. While not as important as the planet, the Dominion has major shipyards at its capital judging by how it is pumping out so many warships and it would be a massive boon to the Federal Navy to capture those intact or at least intact enough to be repairable.

You can take this three ways. The first is to hit the Dominion Navy hard right away, effectively starting off the battle with a gut punch. It will certainly take the defenders by surprise, but it will also be the most costly approach for you as you engage the enemy up close with minimal time to set things up to favour you.

The second is the usual approach of engaging the enemy from afar to weaken them before slowly moving closer. It is a true and tried strategy, but it will give the defenders plenty of warning and the chance to put into place any last minute preparations.

The final option is strike at the shipyards first, securing them before the Dominion can react and then worry about defeating the Dominion Navy and securing access to the planet's surface.

What approach to the invasion of Chronus does Drake take?
[] The shock and awe approach.
[] The slow and steady approach.
[] He prioritises securing the shipyards before moving on the planet.


And we are back. This update took longer than I expected, but things just kept getting in the way and I had trouble getting the writing juices going. Anyway, we are back to the conquest of the Dominion. Alanus has fallen so only Chronus itself remains and as a surprise, the Eldar are choosing to help out thanks to you choosing the Eldrad mystery box this turn.

Beyond that, the Federation is beginning some terraforming efforts and there is diplomacy going on in the background at Othion.

Please point out any spelling or grammar mistakes that you spot. Please quote them in the thread and explain what you think is wrong so I know what you are referring to.