Kinetic bombardment is indeed a thing. How useful it is... is dependent on whether there's a shield generator present groundside.
It has to be pointed out that there's no such thing as planet-wide planetary shields- the power required for such a thing would be absolutely ridiculous. Specific locations can have their own shield generators, however, and the presence of one instantly renders the possibility of kinetic bombardment a moot point- see, the advantage that groundside shield generator and surface-to-orbit emplacements have over ships is that they don't need to be moved from A to B, so they get built much larger, with their own dedicated power supply. Thus, you probably could overload a ground-based shield generator with a sustained bombardment, but... you have a finite quantity of projectiles, and you probably wasted a disproportionate quantity of them bringing down just one shield. Put simply, the result rarely justifies the expenditure.
Yes, the shield would fall more quickly when subjected to graviton cannon fire, but... employing gravitic weaponry on an inhabited world is ever so slightly considered a fairly major war crime. Seriously. Too much of that will shatter a world's crust and turn it into a molten ruin. No-one has ever actually done it in the history of known space- even the Holy Empire of Hexamar never went that far.
In a meeting room, you glance over at Hazitean, frowning a little. The meeting will begin in a matter of moments, and you have to make sure that nothing is derailed, that everything goes well, that the harmony and accord that you hoped to characterize your temporary leadership would be maintained. Accord...and victory. It's a lot to ask, since you've never lead a task force against an enemy this impressive. Nobody has, none of the captains here have ever faced a real battle, just simulator runs, though you did rather well at them, and got a small award, one of those 'peacetime awards' that are handed out for little things, for a high-score on several different simulator tests. It was not the same as achievement, you knew, but another part of you knew- from your first day joining the navy- that you were unlikely to get much in the way of real experience. Thus medals for being smart were something, and you were proud of them. Now you were waiting, to prove again that you could do a good job. Opportunity, actual battle, even if the actual moment of contact would last the blink of an eye...your heart was racing, but you were ready to start convincing people.
You are Captain Bizentara, formerly of the Hazmin caste, and today you will see battle.
******
It is not realistic to meet in person, of course. Even if you had time, sending shuttles from ship to ship would be highly wasteful, so instead, holographic meeting technology came to the rescue. With a press of the button the meeting began on schedule, and the table and room seemed to expand as the table filled with Captains and captains, standing at attention. One of them chirps, "Greetings, Captain Provisional-Leader Bizentara--"
"Hello, and welcome. It seems that we face a more complicated situation than we had thought before, however, some elements of it remain the same, most importantly our goal. But before we start to plan, I would like to open the floor to discuss the situation."
Captain Aszion of the Watchkeeper began with a buzzing, sing-song declaration, "This is a great puzzle, the greatest we've faced. Why are there Iashec ships here? I have heard there have been some tensions between us and them, and that Iashec merchants do tend to sell their goods, even ships, far and wide...but, this seems suspicious. Hazitean, can you tell me if it's related? Or is this just a coincidence--"
"The Iashec aren't to be trusted," Hazitean said, "Either they are involved or not, but either way, Phoenix Wing is not the mission, and not the goal…"
"Which is?" another Captain clicked, contemptuously, "We're doing this mission with only half of the information we need, and it's showing. The plan we have wasn't meant to deal with so many foes--"
"It can and will be adjusted, we have the time," Captain Mufeze of the Ozos said, "They haven't even seen us coming yet, light takes time to travel, but the closer we get, the more we'll be able to read each other's actions. What we see now won't be the reality, and so we're gonna have to play with timing a lot, and the delay's gonna be dangerous for a number of reasons. It's why I'd propose we allow the Provisional Leader broad authority to do as they wish, so long as they explain themselves here."
There was a murmur of agreement, and after a moment you say, "The basics of the plan don't need to change. We blow past them if they try to stand against us, we drop the pods and then loop around in order to hit secondary targets and threaten their fleet if it stays close-by. We'll only get maybe two passes total, but as has been said, we're not here to destroy their fleet, unless they force us to."
There are arguments against it, towards attacking them more or less, and many of the Xvorzit seem concerned about what the Phoenix Wing forces will do, but the only major debate comes up when discussing what you'll do if they act together. As pointed out, there were a number of complications. Any attempt to run would be difficult in one sense: the hyper-limit was directly past your fleet, so there was a decent chance they'd stick together for a time, since running would be quite difficult. So, what part of the fleet to strike. After all, as one Captain said, 'If we're going to hit them only twice, they need to be solid hits.' Some argued for striking at the mercs, since they were the biggest danger and hurting them might lead to the pirates fleeing. Others argued that the mercs were too dangerous and that damage to the pirates would be less costly and more likely to make them flee, taking them out of the battle. In the end, you had decided to take it on its own terms. You had some ideas in that front, and the conversations went through several rounds of debate.
Yet ultimately, what you had was a consensus, in which even those that lost admitted they had been out argued.
*****
By the time you reached the display again, the reaction had begun. Ships were moving, coalescing, though not yet breaking orbit, and in around four and a half hours you would reach the moon. Depending on how they acted and moved, the confrontation would be somewhere within that time period. You looked at the data… Iashec ships, even ones the same vintage as your own newest ships, were fairly formidable. A little worse in terms of thrust-to-weight ratio (marginally) than Gazinitah ships of the same class and level of technology, less durable for their size but with more missile launchers, and heavier armament overall. Gazinitah and most Hives had the extra space to have deeper magazines than usual, but in a single pass, the extra launchers meant that they could be devastating. A long battle would see them run dry quicker, but long battles were rare enough, so you understood the design logic. Everything you were seeing was old, old by a good portion of an hour, so by now, for all you knew, they had broken orbit and were already closing the distance. You reviewed the data, as your ships took formation, cruisers up towards the front and sprinkled throughout, making a wedged body, of sorts, in space.
You ran the numbers. It was complicated, really, since the moon was a moving target, and the battle would require them to slow down to between 0.1 and 0.15 c in order to prevent relativity kicking in- the slight disparity between objective and subjective time even at low relativistic speeds prevents accurate targeting. There was a balance there, a dance. They should be meeting before too long, as the signs of movement from the ships should in theory coalesce into whether or not they run or not soon.
The pirates seemed to be caught in indecision, while the mercenary ships were moving into something like a formation, not breaking orbit, yet, and you could guess that messages were going out. You could hear panicked messages, nothing significant. All that the intelligence analysts told you was that it was a complete surprise, and that many people were panicking. Nothing yet, and you were surprised that nobody had jumped yet. Minutes passed, and then nearly an hour, and you had little doubt that private messages were being passed.
(???: 1d100=23)
Then, finally, long after you'd expected, the pirate ships seemed to get together with the mercenaries. It was all that you'd feared, though they seemed to almost be forming two separate formations twined about each other, besides each other. You took a drink and checked the time, ordering the crews to go get a quick meal, since there would be no time soon for anything like that. They'd go in stages, since this was a critical moment...well, a critical hour or more. If nothing happened, in three hours and ten minutes, your fleet would reach the moon. But before that, throwing off those numbers somewhat, in 1 hour and 35 minutes the two fleets would meet if both continued towards each other. You glanced up to see Hazitean stalking off, no doubt for the preparations for her own mission- once past the enemy, you'd be skimming along the edge of the moon and dropping pods all the way. You began by setting up a more useful formation than the wedge. A flat disc of ships, capital ships distributed to protect the smaller ships some, destroyers near the edge of the disc, frigates clustered around your heavy cruisers as potential missile screens. A fairly standard formation, generic enough that it would be hard to read. That would change, most likely, but he'd been told time and again in the simulators that changing your formation too often was asking for something to go wrong. The key was to change it at the right times, taking advantage of the time delay to get the enemy at a point where they couldn't properly react to your latest move, whether than be a new formation or a last-second shift in course. It was a subtle game, but one that you were going to have to win.
(A plan?!: 1d100+5 (Talking session)+5 (Training)+21 (Naval Martial)=48...maybe?)
You had a plan, at least the start of one, but as the minutes passed you thought about it more, not sure at all whether it would work. You ran the simulations, frowning, not sure whether your instincts were right or not, and on a bit of a time crunch.
You could see it. The pirates, they seemed like a weak link, and they were, but the key was to change your formation to seem as if you were going to target them. Head on, heavy cruisers versus their destroyers and raiders, even the handful of light cruisers they have, would be a slaughter, easy, painless, simple even. Nobody on their side with any sense would dive straight into that, so hopefully the pirate flotilla would break away and try to avoid contact, perhaps trying to catch your ships between their two formations. At that point, then the your fleet would shift back to attack the Phoenix Wing fleet. The pirates would be able to do very little comparatively, some missiles perhaps, but not much more. It would take good timing and a very good bluff, and in just under an hour your fleet would meet theirs, one way or another. At this point that meant what you were seeing, and what they were seeing was nearly twelve minutes out of date. Twelve minutes and closing.
At thirty minutes, the last of the workers came back from break. From now on, you had ordered, there would be no break until the engagement was over. It was perhaps a bit harsh, but you were worried that the situation would change too rapidly if the right people weren't on duty. Minutes passed, and they toyed with the timing. They would need to begin slowing down to reach the right relative speed to allow accurate targeting, and they also needed to shift formation twice, the second shift at the last moment. By this point the Captain had stopped talking to the others, and the noise on the ship was dying down. Twenty minutes, speed was decreasing, now, deceleration starting, and so the time dialed up for a short bit and then began to tick down. And down a little bit more, until deceleration was done and it was back down to twenty minutes again, and barring a sudden change of velocity... it would be showtime soon.
"All ships, action stations," you order, your voice carried across the fleet, "Standy by for maneuvering orders and target designations."
Hatches began sealing, all across dozens and dozens of ships, as missiles primed, launchers gearing up, code being hastily checked one last time, all guns at the ready, everything warming up. And across the vast gulf, the enemy was soon to do the same. The ships activity devoted itself to one goal, and now metal and bug and programming all acted, hopefully, in accord. Lights flashed, bodies tensed, a blur of motion and action, as the enemy drew ever nearer.
As all of this was happening, you're calculating, waiting. Fifteen minutes to contact. At this point what they were seeing and what was going on were starting to match up. There would be only three minutes difference between what they were seeing and what was happening now.. The enemy formation was shifting as well, albeit not much, slowing down, maybe starting to clump a little instead of holding themselves far apart...though even close by warship standards was hugely far apart by terrestrial ones. Time to see if it worked.
Your formation veered slightly towards the pirates, but more than that, the frigates moved away from the heavy cruisers, distributing themselves more evenly. The pirates didn't have much in the way of missiles, the worst of the three groups, and frigates could genuinely defeat their raiders, to spreading them out and distributing them like that only made sense in two cases. Well, three.
Either you were planning on hitting the pirates primarily, you were an idiot and just doing random things, or it was a bluff. You watched to see how the enemy formation would react. The shift took a minute and a half, but they were seeing it at three minutes out, which means they'd begin to react to it around 12 minutes from contact, and they'd only see the whole thing with eleven minutes to react. The time difference would keep on shrinking, and you watched, watched while the fate of thousands hung in the balance. What would they do?
The Pirates do about three different things at the same time. Several of the raiders actually turn as if they are trying to merge with the Phoenix Wing, others seemed to turn to run, others moved towards what would be the 'right' position to grab your forces between both sides, and overall the force entirely disintegrated before your eyes. To that the Phoenix Wing began shifting towards you, trying to turn it into a head on engagement and corral the pirates, but it wasn't quite working, and while they wouldn't be as badly out of position as they would be if entirely self-assured of what was going to happen, their own formation was being broken up by the influx of ships moving this way and that as time passed, second by second. By the time most of it had played out, there were only eight minutes until contact, and the enemy was still trying to get their bearings. What you were seeing was only a minute and thirty six seconds out of date, and what you were hearing was only your heartbeat. You had to time this perfectly, to take the most advantage possible of the gift that had been given to them. A chance for a single crushing blow, maybe even something closer to a victory than you had expected.
Five minutes. The babbling on the bridge was loud, and yet you could almost pretend not to hear it. Everyone was tense, everyone was ready. They were seeing where you were a minute ago, you were seeing where they were, a minute ago. Reactions now were in real time as you shifted your forces, holding out, trying to time the final order just right. You had the package mostly planned, just a few details that were being automatically changed with data coming in…
[In Comedy and War, Timing is Everything: 1d100+10 (Handed in your lap)+10 ( Planning)+5 (Nerves are fire)+21 (Martial)+5 (Crew input)-5 (Overfocused)-5 (merc reaction)=1d100+41=88
At three minutes to contact, you make the orders. Your ships shift, frigates moving back into a sane position for the sort of missile fire they were going to face, moving, aiming, timed better than expected, though not perfectly, right at the Phoenix Wing and its ships. It will take a minute to take effect, but by this point within thirty seconds they might begin to react, but they'll be reacting to something they aren't sure of. The frigates moving could mean many things, and there was very little time indeed to work everything out. They have only two and a half minutes to react, and they won't see the real start of the movements until even less time out. Every second was precious, they glanced at the enemy disposition, "Concentrate all firepower on Phoenix Wing, fire at twelve seconds from contact." Twelve seconds at their current speed, they'd been compensating, of course, for their decreased speed in their timeline, ticking downward, to the final minute.
*****
From the outside two fleets charged forward at a tenth of the speed of light, give or take, the vast gulf between them closing. Contact would be only moments, missiles launched between fifteen and ten seconds outside of optimum energy range, death following, and firing, all of it done by machines, guided by human plans, but that moment of contact wasn't a moment of people pulling cords to guns. They watched, saw if their programming and maintenance work and planning would pay off. Missiles were fired, hundreds, than thousands, but where the pirates had expected and set themselves up to fire from was out of sorts, and the last minute shift had made things difficult indeed for Phoenix Wing as well.
The pirate ships blink early, even those of them part of Phoenix Wing's ad hoc formation launching early, at about seventeen seconds out, when the positions are changing too fast for a good lock. Not a single shot hits, not even one, anti-missile capacity doesn't even have to be expended. In the end what they count for is: nothing.
Wings of the Phoenix: 1d100+37 (Phoenix Offense) -45 (Gazinitah Missile Defenses)=1d100-8=59
A Missile Hive: 1d100 34 (Gazinitah Offense) -47 (Phoenix Missile Defenses)=1d100-13=12
Something goes wrong, or rather, more importantly, the Phoenix Wing's defenses are too strong, perhaps, because far fewer shots get through than expect, than hoped. They had more shots, and even if in a long battle you'd stood more chances you'd rejected any idea that you should focus on the enemy fleet. You had only a single pass, and only a few moments to register the storm of missiles, and all you can see is that a single very lucky set of hits chained to utterly gut the heavy cruiser Hydra. Afterwards, you might have mused on how that would make the energy engagement easier, but at the moment, seconds were too quick to register everything.
To see later the frigate Nebula blow up, taking a hit for Thunderous, as the frigate Quasar spins off, useless, a hulk, spitting out escape pods, though by then they were joined by more from hits from the main attack, the grasers, and the destroyers Ektin, Kleyika and Styax similarly crippled and out of the fight.
Several seconds before the ships met in the most devastating part of the combat, and already hundreds of sentients were dead.
*****
[ Literally the Last Second: 1d100+21+10 (Positional advantages already)-5 (Loss of Frigates)+5 (Enemy is short on Heavy cruisers, pound him)=129
Contingency was one of the watchwords of the latest and greatest navies of the last centuries. And in those last seconds, your last orders go out. Changing positions to make it harder to be hit, though not enough to do anything against missiles, should help against particle beams, and the goal was simple. Even before the math had told rather strongly, and luckily, you had had more heavy cruisers, more light cruisers, and more destroyers. Without the pirates, they simply hadn't had parity in most areas, and the goal was simple: hit the heavy and light cruisers on the energy pass, and take out the enemy capital ships, and everything else should be easy to mop up. They were no doubt thinking the same...but this time, you were the one who gave the right orders, and in that last moment, ship still shaking from motion, trying to take in the details of the combat, you had all of the advantages.
In a single moment of chaos and destruction, thousands die. You do not feel anything, your ship doesn't even shudder, but in the aftermath, the numbers come in, and you stare. First at your own losses, then at theirs. The light cruiser, Chaser, is damaged, Pioneer and Watchkeeper are wrecks, shooting out escape pods. Constellation is drifting just off from them, while there is nothing left of Meteor, Pulsar, and Uznal. You hadn't even thought about it, but you'll have to slow or split your fleet to pick up survivors from both ships. The laws and rules of war still applied, mercenaries or no, and your own bugs...you couldn't imagine drifting out there, waiting for rescue to come.
And plenty of dead to go with them. The enemy was hit even harder, the heavy cruiser Griffon nothing more than gas--your battle records showed that your ship had been part of that 'kill'--as its sisters Basilisk and Gorgon limped along, one of them showing heavy engine damage, the other showing moderate engine damage and, it seemed, widespread weapon dysfunctionality. Two other light-cruisers are destroyed, a third is even more damaged than Gorgon, and three destroyers were nothing more than wreckage, few if any escape pods even leaving it, while a fourth is entirely absent. Destroyed. And while your frigates had been hit hard during the battle, so too were theirs, and two were destroyed, a third sliced clean in half, floating through space, all systems offline.
Their fleet was gutted, and yours had merely been roughed up, though you had no idea where the Speaker would get the money and resources to replace the lost crews, fix the ships, pay the widows...it was a tragedy, and you watched as the butcher's bill came in, other ships reporting in, and survivors too. A thousand dead? No, it was 1200, the computer said a dozen seconds later, and it kept on going up to end at "Above 1800 with high probability, below 1900 at high probability." By all the hives past, present and future, you felt sick, looking at those numbers. A victory, though, and you needed to make some decisions, important ones. You couldn't let this rest, and at this point, several things were clear.
Most of the Pirates were running, and you couldn't catch them, but one light cruiser and a number of their merchant raiders were under the guns of Phoenix Wing, which was slowly retreating, but had its speed slowed down by the damaged ships, and thus you could swing around to hit them again. Or swing around and demand their surrender or threaten to hit them again. You saw those two Heavy Cruisers, and you had an idea…
You, Captain Bizentara, had ambition, and just as importantly, wanted Gazinitah's navy to be strong. If you did another pass, taking only another hour or two out of your schedule, you could threaten them with an uneven battle. As much as you lost, they had lost more, and a second pass would all but wipe them out, and with far less chance of doing you damage...and they knew it. They were smart, they were professionals, you could count on them knowing when to fold a bad hand. It would delay the attack on the planet several hours, but the rewards could be huge, and you had to leave a force behind anyways to recover prisoners and your own men. You could gain two new heavy cruisers, four light cruisers, and a handful of working escorts. It seemed worth it, though perhaps Hazitean would complain. And, you thought, already frowning as you considered whether to test your will against hers, they would have information on who hired them and why they were there.
Go after them?
[] No, you don't want to annoy Hazitean, and surely they are only mercenaries, and know nothing. And the ships...well...okay, mostly it's the annoying Hazitean part. She's pretty scary and the way she leers at you and...eugh.
[] Yes, and demand they surrender. They know they're hosed, and those ships will be valuable, though guarding them will take up some of your fleet. It'll slow you down a few hours, but the rewards are huge.
[] Yes, and don't demand they surrender! Blood for blood! Their deaths will avenge your deaths! (.5 voting weight cause this is a joke vote.)
[] What ships do you leave to recover prisoners and manage any future prisoners?
-[] Write-in a plan.
Estimated death toll: 3,280
Estimated wounded toll: Unknown
GAZINITAH
1st (Provisional) Heavy Cruiser Division
Prince Izec (Prince Izec class)
Prince Iltixx (Prince Izec class)
Prince Zaynzem (Prince Izec class)
Guardian (Warrior class)
Thunderous (Warrior class)
1st Light Cruiser Squad
Aspereiz (Aspereiz class)
Brazen (Aspereiz class)
Crescent (Aspereiz class)
Hunter (Aspereiz class)
Skirmisher (Aspereiz class)
2nd Light Cruiser Squadron
Active (Aspereiz class)
Chaser (Aspereiz class), damaged
Denguard (Aspereiz class)
Pathfinder (Aspereiz class)
Patrol (Aspereiz class)
1st Destroyer Flotilla
Afen (Zynshos class)
Greai (Zynshos class)
Orvestath (Zynshos class)
Ozos (Zynshos class)
Shraw (Zynshos class)
Zeyri (Zynshos class)
2nd Destroyer Flotilla
Ilnik (Zynshos class)
Irabrius (Zynshos class)
Kluos (Zynshos class)
Phen (Zynshos class)
Zim (Zynshos class)
Zynshos (Zynshos class)
1st Frigate Flotilla
Asteroid (Pulsar class)
Comet (Pulsar class)
Eclipse (Pulsar class)
DEFENDERS
Pirates (Not fleeing)
1x Light Cruiser - assorted (obsolete)
8x assorted Raiders (armed merchantment and freighters of various sizes- not badly armed and with military-grade shields, but with less robust civilian-grade hull construction and only after-market applique armor. None carry graviton cannons)
2x Heavy Cruiser - Iashec Restitution class (Basilisk and Gorgon, both damaged)
4x Light Cruiser - Iashec Caveat class, 1 damaged
4x Destroyer - Iashec Tort class
5x Frigate - Iashec Writ class
*****
A/N: Okay, I might be slightly biased in my own vote, just so you know. I sorta started salivating when I saw that the enemy flagship was damaged badly but not a wreck. Also, if you're wondering where a lot of the rolls for damage are, that's my co-QM's field. They determined these things, and the way it worked was that each '10'...you know, what don't I let them explain it all!
Take it away! Also, a character with a speaking part, Captain Aszion of the light cruiser Watchkeeper, died in this battle. I know you shall mourn them not, but their death has not been in vain.
lkmcclenahan here; essentially, the result of each attack roll was divided by ten, rounded to the nearest whole number, and that number was the number of ships in the enemy fleet that sustained serious damage. It can be assumed that other ships received minor damage, just not enough to impact their combat effectiveness noticeably. Escorts were assumed to have been disabled or destroyed in one hit- capital ships, there was a roll to see if they were damaged, disabled, or just plain nothing-left-but-glowing-dust exploded. Xvorzit build their ships rather more solidly than the Iashec do, though, and to represent this the first serious hit they receive is modified downward by -2 ; so they can be turned into drifting wrecks, but they're unlike to just explode.
These rules are admittedly pretty basic and ad-hoc at the moment, and I'm not if they'd work that well for larger engagements. Oh well, I'll figure something out.
Also, it's slightly surprising to me that it hurts a little, seeing ships I named being destroyed.
This is The Laurent, hope you enjoyed it! Also, once I stopped worrying and learned to love the bomb, this was a fun turn to write.
INTERSTELLAR TRAVEL IN THE 25TH CENTURY: AN AVERAGE PERSON'S EXPERIENCE
STEP ONE: SLIP THE SURLY BONDS OF EARTH
The first step in any interstellar journey is to leave the planet you're on, since hyperspace-capable vessels are rarely designed for atmospheric entry. Thus, the first stage of the journey happens aboard a ship that is essentially the 25th century equivalent of an airliner- a short haul, high-capacity craft used primarily for intercontinental travel, surface-to-orbit transit, and intra-system journeys between local bodies.
Almost every garden world in known space has a terminus station in orbit above it. These immense hubs contain docking slips for passenger liners and freighters, recreational areas for passengers awaiting transit, cargo handling facilities, and bays to receive passenger and cargo craft capable of atmospheric travel.
STEP TWO: THE GOLDEN AGE OF SPACELINERS
The most common way to travel from one star system to another is by passenger liner. It is important to note that travel between systems is nowhere near as casual as travel by airliner in the 20th and 21st centuries- rather, it is more akin to travelling during the golden age of ocean liners, before air travel became commonplace. A cheap ticket, obtaining you a steerage berth not dissimilar to a cheap hotel room, isn't terribly expensive, and so interstellar travel is relatively accessible.
Once your liner leaves the terminus station and begins to head out of the system, it will still be a while before the transition into hyperspace- even at the standard sublight cruising speed of 0.2c, it will (for example) take a liner departing Earth orbit around forty-eight hours to reach the system's hyperspace terminator.
Hyperspace transition deep within a star's gravity well is prevented by automatic safety systems in the hyperspace field generator. While hyperspace underlies normal space and is separate to it in some ways, the gravity wells of large objects are reflected and amplified in hyperspace- thus, a ship in hyperspace must maintain a significant distance from an object as large as a star- in the case of Sol, the minimum distance is approximately 70 AU. The point of closest possible hyperspace approach to a star is called the Hyperspace Terminator- colloquially referred to as the 'red line' when inbound toward it from interstellar space, or the 'green line' when outbound from within the system.
STEP THREE: HYPERSPACE AIN'T A SCARY PLACE
As long as your crew are professionals who know what they're doing, that is.
Hyperspace is essentially a parallel reality underlying normal space. A popular simile for the relation between the two is that if a vessel travelling in normal space is akin to a ship on the ocean surface, then a vessel in hyperspace is a ship capable of diving beneath the water completely. The 'surface tension' between normal space and hyperspace is very resilient, however- the only way to break through it, to transition into hyperspace, is by forming a hyperspace field around the ship. Continuing with the simile, the field essentially acts as ballast, allowing the ship to break the surface tension and transition.
While hyperspace possesses all of the four normal dimensions- the three dimensions of space, plus time- unlike normal space it also possesses a fifth, referred to as 'depth'- yeah, that simile is a common theme, because hyperspace tends to defy all attempts to describe it in its own terms. For example, when a ship increases or decreases it's depth in hyperspace, it's direction of movement in the three dimensions of space does not actually change at all. The only thing that depth appears to affect is rate of travel, so a ship's depth is measured by the rate of travel at that depth, assuming that the ship was travelling at the standard sublight cruising speed of 0.2c when it transitioned. Again, the hyperspace field acts as a ballast control, allowing the crew to control and adjust the ship's depth, and the deeper a vessel goes, the faster it travels. A ship skimming along just beneath the dividing line between hyperspace and normal space will only travel at 1c, while a ship that dives deeper will travel much faster.
There is, however, a limit to how deep a ship can go, and that limit is set by the strength of the hyperspace field. Continuing with the submarine theme, a hyperspace-capable ship will have two important ratings- it's 'test depth' and it's 'crush depth.'
A ship's test depth is its optimum travel depth, and should only be exceeded in exceptional circumstances- while doing so allows for faster travel, it will also increase wear on the hyperspace field generator and dramatically shorten the recommended time until next major service. Most modern vessels have a test depth of around 3000c.
Crush depth, however, is the 'do not exceed' depth. It is calculated with some margin of error, just in case, but spacers are taught never to count on that margin of error being present- a ship's crush depth in hyperspace should never under any circumstances be exceeded. It is not quite clear exactly what happens to ships that do, for whatever reason, exceed it, but the event is generally referred to by spacers as Total Existence Failure. Most modern vessels have a crush depth rating of around 3500c.
Travelling at 3000c, a journey from Sol to the nearest human colony at Tau Ceti (12 light-years away) would take a mere 36 hours- a quicker journey than the trip from Earth to Sol's hyperspace terminator. Travelling longer distances, between the territories of various powers and races, can take longer, in excess of a month in some cases.
When a ship is approaching its destination system, it begins to surface from whatever depth in hyperspace it was travelling at, its ascent timed so that it will be traveling at 1c just as it reaches the hyperspace terminator. At that point the crew will collapse the field and the ship will pop back into normal space. All that remains after that is the sublight cruise in-system.
ADDED NOTE: HYPERSPACE COMMUNICATIONS AND NAVIGATION
While the gravitational fields of large bodies are easily detectable in hyperspace, the actual bodies themselves are not- thus, navigation in hyperspace unaided is rather difficult. The necessary aid is provided by a network of navigational beacons that double as communication buoys.
Every star system has two beacons, each placed just outside the system's terminator- one at the system's zenith (directly above the orbital plane) and one at the nadir (directly below.) Each beacon rests in hyperspace at the test depth rating of its hyperspace field, connected to normal space by a relay. The beacons provide a clearly identifiable navigational signal for ships in hyperspace to fix onto and follow. The hyperspace field used by the relays is an odd variant of the standard- in times long gone by the relays used to oscillate imperceptibly back and forth over the dividing line between hyperspace and normal space, but in this day and age they sit balanced precisely on the line, technically existing in both.
The other use of the beacons is as communication relays. Hyperspace has the same effect on light and other forms of EM radiation as it does on ordinary matter- so, if a ship travelling at 3000c transmits a radio message, the radio waves emitted by the ship will travel at 15000c. Just as travelling by hyperspace is more akin to traveling via ocean liner than airplane, in terms of convenience and length of journey, hyperspace communications are more akin to sending messages by postal service than email. For example: when sending a message from Earth to Tau Ceti, it will take the message approximately 10 hours to travel from Earth to the nearest of the system's two beacons, and then just over seven to travel from the Sol beacon to the Tau Ceti beacon, and then a similar amount of time to reach the colony in that system- taking, overall, 27-28 hours from sending to receipt. Over longer distances, of course, this stretches out into weeks.
I'm editing the Gazinith warship specifications out of the Warships Guide post, and posting them up here- with a few new additions thrown in!
GAZINITAH CLASS BATTLESHIP (Gazinitah, Prince Hazanit)
Mass: 9,518,000 tons
Length: 1,200m
Beam: 240m
Draught: 160m
Armament: 16x Class B Graviton Cannon (obsolete model), 28x Class A Missile Tube (non-autoloading, obsolete model), 28x Class B Graser (obsolete model), 100x PD Laser Cluster (hex mounts, obsolete model), 36x Interceptor Launcher (non-autoloading, obsolete model)
Crew: 1,390
Gazinitah's very own home-grown battleship design, and looking distinctly creaky in this day and age given that they were both first laid down in 1910 CE, and their last refit (in 2374 CE) didn't even bring them to parity with the designs of the time- there is only so much you can do with such an old hull. Gazinitah's battleships mount proportionally fewer graviton cannons than other designs, have fewer and less capable point defence mounts, and lack autoloading missile launchers despite the technology having been developed by the time of the last refit- there simply was not enough space to fit in the required extra capacitors and equipment. They are completely outclassed by more modern designs.
PRINCE IZEC CLASS HEAVY CRUISER (Prince Izec, Prince Iltixx, Prince Zaynzem)
Mass: 2,492,000 tons
Length: 900m
Beam: 158m
Draught: 88m
Armament: 8x Class C Graviton Cannon, 16x Class B Missile Tube (autoloading), 16x Class C Graser, 76x PD Laser Cluster (oct mount), 48x Interceptor Launcher (autoloading)
Crew: 1,090
Gazinitah's newest heavy capital ships- the Prince Izec class vessels were laid down in 2330 CE, and last refitted around 2400. While they are smaller than more recent designs, with a lower proportion of graviton cannons and sparser point defences, engineers managed to fit in modern, drum-fed autoloader systems for both their offensive and defensive missile launchers during the last refit, though at the cost of some magazine space.
WARRIOR CLASS HEAVY CRUISER (Warrior, Defender, Guardian, Powerful, Thunderous)
Mass: 1,740,000 tons
Length: 800m
Beam: 140m
Draught: 78m
Armament: 8x Class C Graviton Cannon, 14x Class B Missile Tube (non-autoloading), 14x Class C Graser, 76x PD Laser Cluster (hex mount), 48x Interceptor Launcher (non-autoloading)
Crew: 860
The Warrior class heavy cruisers used to be the pride of Gazinitah's navy, but those days are now long gone. Although refits managed to squeeze in modern grasers and graviton cannons, the class' missile mounts, both offensive and defensive, lacked the space to fit autoloader systems. The Prince Izec class, though less numerous, overshadow them in every way. Of the class, the nameship Warrior is probably in the best condition, while Defender and Powerful are in the worst, both ships in a sad state of decrepitude indeed. Guardian and Thunderous are serviceable, though they could both probably use some time in drydock in the next few years.
ASPEREIZ CLASS LIGHT CRUISER (Aspereiz, Active, Brazen, Chaser, Crescent, Denguard, Highflyer, Hunter, Pathfinder, Patrol, Pioneer, Skirmisher, Skitterer, Watchkeeper)
Mass: 903,000 tons
Length: 650m
Beam: 114m
Draught: 63m
Armament: 4x Class C Graviton Cannon, 8x Class B Missile Tube (autoloading), 8x Class C Graser, 48x PD Laser Cluster (hex mount), 28x Interceptor Launcher (autoloading)
Crew: 550
The most active capital ships in Gazinitah's fleet are surely its light cruisers- unsurprising, given that light cruisers are the most useful capital ship class outside of wartime. The Aspereiz class are perhaps twenty to thirty years newer than the Prince Izec class heavy cruisers, and received their last refit around the same time.
IPRISKIN CLASS LIGHT CRUISER (Ipriskin, Chazak, Kekkep, Rizokis)
Mass: 686,000 tons
Length: 590m
Beam: 104m
Draught: 58m
Armament: 4x Class C Graviton Cannon (obsolete), 6x Class B Missile Tube (non-autoloading, obsolete), 6x Class C Graser (obsolete), 44x PD Laser Cluster (quad, obsolete), 24x Interceptor Launcher (non-autoloading, obsolete)
Crew: 415
The Ipriskin class light cruisers are about the same vintage as Gazinitah's venerable battleships- that is to say, hopelessly out of date. There were once more of them in commission, but now only four remain.
ZYNSHOS CLASS DESTROYER (Zynshos, Afen, Ektin, Emena, Fleix, Greai, Ilnik, Irabrius, Kementak, Kleyika, Kluos, Orvestath, Ozos, Phen, Quiax, Shraw, Styax, Uznal, Zeyri, Zim)
Mass: 134,000 tons
Length: 400m
Beam: 65m
Draught: 27m
Armament: 2x Class D Graviton Cannon, 4x Class C Missile Tube (autoloading), 6x Class DGraser, 28x PD Laser Cluster (quad), 16x Interceptor Launcher (autoloading)
Crew: 165
The Zynshos class destroyers, at only around sixty years old, are Gazinitah's newest ships. A design issue with their core structural elements caused a delay in the class' development while the keel section was redesigned- and, while the redesign was in progress it was decided to reconfigure the spaces for their armament as well in order to follow a new shift in naval design. Thus they are not as lacking in graviton cannons, relative to their size, as other ships in Gazinitah's service are. There are currently twenty in service.
EXQUISITE CLASS DESTROYER (Exquisite, Burrower, Concordance, Feeder)
Mass: 111,000 tons
Length: 380m
Beam: 61m
Draught: 25m
Armament: 2x Class D Graviton Cannon (obsolete), 4x Class C Missile Tube (non-autoloading, obsolete), 6x Class D Graser (obsolete), 28x PD Laser Cluster (triple, obsolete), 16x Interceptor Launcher (non-autoloading, obsolete)
Crew: 135
A failed experiment, the Exquisite class destroyers were designed as competition to the Zynshos class, and attempted to pack the same amount of firepower into a smaller hull, with a lower unit cost. The class proved to be underpowered, sluggish by destroyer standards, and a little too cramp even for Xvorzit. Only four were ever built, and they have not received a refit in some considerable time.
PULSAR CLASS FRIGATE (First Batch: Pulsar, Asteroid, Comet, Constellation, Eclipse, Galaxy, Meteor, Moon, Nebula, Nova, Planet, Quasar, Solarwind, Singularity, Star) (Second Batch: Blizzard, Cyclone, Downburst, Gale, Hurricane, Lightning, Tempest, Thunderstorm, Tornado, Typhoon, Whirlwind, Windstorm)
Mass: 71,000 tons
Length: 320m
Beam: 52m
Draught: 22m
Armament: 2x Class D Graviton Cannon, 4x Class C Missile Tube (autoloading), 4x Class D Graser, 36x PD Laser Cluster (quad), 16x Interceptor Launcher (autoloading)
Crew: 100
Gazinitah's newest class of frigate, with a total of 27 in service- the Pulsar class was introduced as part of the same naval upgrade program that introduced the Aspereiz class light cruiser and Zynshos class destroyer. The first group of ships ordered and built (the original Pulsar class) were named after celestial phenomena- the second group, meteorological.
DIAMOND CLASS FRIGATE (Diamond, Heliotrope, Sapphire)
Mass: 46,000 tons
Length: 300m
Beam: 45m
Draught: 19m
Armament: 4x Class C Missile Tube (non-autoloading, obsolete), 4x Class D Graser (obsolete), 24x PD Laser Cluster (triple, obsolete)), 12x Interceptor Launcher (non-autoloading, obsolete)
Crew: 85
The Diamond class frigates, dating to around the same time as the Gazinitah class battleship and Ipriskin class light cruiser, have been almost completely decommissioned by this point. Only three, including the nameship, remain in service. They are still useable, though, given their outdatedness, how useful they might be is another matter entirely.
GZ SERIES CORVETTE (GZ-002, GZ-015, GZ-016, GZ-017, GZ-027, GZ-028, GZ-033, GZ-042, GZ-048, GZ-049, GZ-050, GZ-057, GZ-058, GZ-061, GZ-072, GZ-073, GZ-100, GZ-101, GZ-108, GZ-111, GZ-115, GZ-119, GZ-124, GZ-131, GZ-161, GZ-163, GZ-164, GZ-165, GZ-166, GZ-189, GZ-190, GZ-192, GZ-193, GZ-194, GZ-197, GZ-199, GZ-203, GZ-209, GZ-213, GZ-215)
Mass: 26,000 tons
Length: 200m
Beam: 35m
Draught: 19m
Armament: 6x Class D Graser (obsolete), 20x PD Laser Cluster (twin, obsolete), 8x Interceptor Launcher (non-autoloading, obsolete)
Crew: 35
The concept of the corvette is obsolete, and so are these two score of relics. Their usefulness in combat is very questionable- a good portion of the navy believes that if they were sent into battle, all they would be capable of is to serve as communal coffins for thirty-five Xvorzit at a time.
[X] Yes, and demand they surrender. They know they're hosed, and those ships will be valuable, though guarding them will take up some of your fleet. It'll slow you down a few hours, but the rewards are huge.
When humans first met your kind, they wondered whether you had psychic powers, and the Xvorzit in turn at first mistook humans for closed-off robots. The loss of nearly two thousand lives sends a ripple of shock throughout the fleet. Friends, family, loved ones. Xvorzith love and make friends easily, they forge bonds and they mourn losses and forge them anew. So to lose that many so quickly, it was a hurt that should have been assuaged by talking, by slowly remembering those bonds that remained, honoring the dead, preparing yourself further. But the necessities of war cut all of this off- for you, Captain Bizentara, have work to do.
Orders are sent out, and those who receive them seem almost shocked at the haste in which you give them, spending barely a minute commiserating with each one about their losses, all while busy doing other work. The ships turned, though, obeying your will. It would take time for them to turn, of course, and the enemy was moving away, but they were crippled, having to move with their slowest ships, the damaged ones. They didn't have to, but you were right in guessing they wouldn't abandon their Commodore, their leader, for nothing. The pirates were under their guns, and would be dead if they tried to break away. Thus, you chose to pursue them and hope that Hazitean didn't react too badly.
You explained your logic as best you could to Hazitean, made a very pretty speech indeed and sent it to her, unwilling and unable to break away from assigning ships to where they are best suited. Chaser was too damaged for the pursuit, so they'd allow it to catch up in its own time, by which point hopefully the enemy ships would be captured. More pressingly, someone needed to capture prisoners, inspect the wrecks to tell whether or not they are total write-offs, and of course also rescue the survivors from your own ships. The 1st Destroyer Flotilla could handle that- none of the escorts were carrying troops or dropships that Hazitean would need, and your other destroyer flotilla had lost it's flagship. Hazitean sent a message which seemed rather annoyed, talking about how this would delay things, but admitting that it made sense to gain more strength for the fleet, since the enemy could be caught relatively quickly and easily
You nod to yourself, but do not stop to eat a quick meal. It'll be just a few minutes until your fleet has caught up, and you are ready, truly ready for the first total naval victory in centuries. You needed this, needed it. And this time, you'd get what you needed, for those who died, and for Gazinitah which might yet rise.
*****
Commodore Speight had decades of experience under her belt. She'd been shot at, had ships shot from under her, and though the galaxy was relatively calm nowadays there were always small wars, pirate cleanups, internal Barsa politics and occasional escort duty to pass the time. Hers had not been a career free of defeat, but she'd never been captured. Her forces had retreated in good order, fighting the whole way to the hyperspace terminator if need be, the Phoenix reborn anew from any setback, any defeat.
Were she petty, the woman, in her early fifties but looking--by the standards of some earlier age when healthcare and medical technology were less advanced--in her early thirties, at latest, might have blamed the unfamiliar Iashec ships. After all, they weren't the ships they were accustomed to- it was tempting to think that with a more sturdy division of Consuls at her back, the result would've been different. But no, she'd been outmaneuvered, and, on top of it, her luck had been atrociously bad. She brushed back her red and black hair, parted by a single bright-red streak in the middle, and waited. She saw that the enemy fleet had turned around and was pursuing them, and she could do the math. Could do it in her sleep, knew what the numbers meant. They'd be caught, far short of the terminator- in about six minutes' time, in fact. All that remained was to wait for the message that was sure to come. Surrender, it would say.
But, who had done this, bested her so handily? The Gazinitah navy had no reputation at all, she knew they had been nothing more than Iashec stooges, yet... the way that fight had gone. It wasn't perfect, she'd seen exactly what he was doing- but she wasn't able to counter it in time, which is the part that counted. The ship handling and the overall plan was excellent, and managed to allow an engagement that was about as favorable as could have been achieved. If luck had helped from there, if some systems had not worked as well as hoped for, that was down to fate. Commodore Speight hated fate, hated that thousands were dead and she could do nothing. She'd known the captains and their senior officers. Their crews not so much, perhaps, but it was still a blow, and one that might have shattered her if she wasn't so hardened by now. Hardened and curious as to just who had beaten her.
She could only hope that the Gazinith Navy showed basic mercy towards prisoners, even those Iashec that were among the crew. Iashec, Barsa, even a single Xvorzit on a ship that was destroyed, an oddball loner by the species' standard.
The bridge felt like a mausoleum. And indeed, it was the tomb for a full half of Phoenix Wing. The left wing, in the fanciful descriptions of their structure that some had written for it in its half-century of operation. If they kept their lives, they wouldn't keep their ships, as the ships they normally used were in the possession of their… contractor, and no doubt they would be taken as collateral now that they wouldn't be there for the hand-off. Surrender was inevitable- in only five and a half minutes they'd be within weapons range again. If a demand didn't come, she'd order her ship to drop their shields and hope that they were unwilling to murder people who were essentially defenceless. One last act of desperation and spite would achieve nothing.
"Commodore," the communications officer said, glancing at Gorgon's' captain and then at Speight, "There is a message from the Gazinith heavy cruiser...Heir Iltixx, though my translation might be too accurate. Likely the flagship. It seems to be authentic." Despite the name, the communications officer, and the wider comms section, did much more than relay messages. Electronic warfare, cyberwarfare, encryption, SIGINT… all of these fell under comms section's purview. Even escorts had at least a small comms section, and a flagship like the Gorgon had a well-staffed, well-equipped one.
"Bring it up."
The figure standing there, was a weird, wide-eyed bug. What had she expected, really? The medals on his legs seemed to indicate that he might have some status and rank. Or she? They were impossible to tell apart because they were all the same, she'd been told once, gender was even more of a construct. "Greetings," they said, or rather, a translator said so after a moment of incomprehensible chittering, "This is Captain Bizentara, Provisional Leader of the Expeditionary Flotilla of the Gazinith Navy. I am requesting that you surrender, if it is pleasing to you, and that you do not allow the pirates to escape, for their ships and information about their activities are important for the wholeness and wellbeing of all sentient peoples. You shall be accorded the rights of prisoners of war, and the pirates shall be prosecuted at a later date. We await your response." The message ended, and Commodore Speight had a choice.
Their orders had been to protect the pirates' safety and secrets, and to fire on them would not only be failure, it would be betraying the mission...
[Commodore Speight Choice: 1d100+5 (Bloody Pirates)-30 (Terms of the Contract)+18 (Nice Xvorzit)+20 (With Plenty of Big Guns)=102]
On the other hand her shipmates, her subordinates, their lives were on the line, "All ships, power down your drives to idle. Anybody who fails to do so will be fired upon." Predictably, the pirates who'd stayed with them didn't seem to pleased about this, nor particularly willing to comply, but that was a predictable response and Speight had expected it. As the pirates failed to cut their engines Gorgon opened fire, targeting the closest raider. It's shields flared bright before the cruiser's particle beams tore the entire side of the converted freighter open, thin composite armor flashing into vapor in an instant, before it's shields collapsed entirely and a graviton cannon bolt blew it clean in half.
The other pirates seemed to lose their enthusiasm for escape after that, their drives powering down to idle. To be on the safe side, Speight sent another message.
*****
"This is Commodore Speight, we have surrendered. We are powering down shields and weapons now. We shall do as you said, and will comply. We surrender unconditionally."
******
"Thank you, Commodore. You will be accorded the rights of prisoners of war, and perhaps we might talk more later, after the mission is over. You performed admirably, though at a task whose grim success is literal murder. Your surrender is accepted."
*****
He compliments my skills and then calls my job murder? What game is this guy playing?
*****
It wasn't long before what was left of Phoenix Wing's force was under the guns of your fleet. Boarding parties began to transfer come across, one by one, with engineers, moving to secure each ship- checking for traps, making sure nothing sensitive was deleted, keeping things in line. To guard the ships, you detach 2nd Light Cruiser Squadron and 2nd Destroyer Flotilla, as well as Guardian and Thunderous. It took a little while for you to make sure that the ships are properly positioned, and to transfer troops from any ships staying behind to those ships going ahead. Hazitean's forces wouldn't be the only troops needed, since some of the targets they were hitting when they swung around past the moon might need some people to sit on them.
Once all of that was squared away, what remained of your fleet not tied up, heavy cruisers, light cruisers and the remaining frigates, turned, and you began to head towards your target at last. The Pirates' Moon.
Hazitean has to decide where she's going to personally drop.
[] Administrative Capital: There is, in theory, a government on the Pirates' Moon, and while it was rather vestigial it still had plenty in the way of records that might be in danger- or might already be destroyed. It's less likely to be defended to the death, but also less likely to be abandoned.
[] Main Spaceport
-[] Docks: Aim for the heart, the ships themselves and the docks, taking control of them and making sure that nobody tries to run.
-[] Slave Pens: Go after the slaves, focusing on trying to free them, if any are still alive to be freed in the first place.
[] Military Base: A military base protected by a shield. It is fully stocked and rather dangerous, but also completely isolated and vestigial, unable to directly affect events. But why are they just sitting there? What's their deal?
[] Pirates Villa: The richest, most influential of the pirates had a reinforced, armed villa, and while it was mostly abandoned, there apparently was still someone there, possibly more than a few someones, and they might even have slaves captive, since the pirate in question was known for recreating human 'plantations', whatever those are.
GAZINITH FLEET
Attacking the Moon
Heavy cruiser Prince Iltixx
Heavy cruiser Princezec
Heavy cruiser Prince Zaynzem
1st Light Cruiser Squadron
Aspereiz
Brazen
Crescent
Hunter
Skirmisher
1st Frigate Flotiila
Asteroid
Comet
Eclipse
Guarding Phoenix Wing
Heavy cruiser Guardian
Heavy cruiser Thunderous
2nd Light Cruiser Squadron
Active
Chaser (damaged - when it catches up)
Denguard
Pathfinder (Boo, 4e!)
Patrol
2nd Destroyer Flotilla
Ilnik
Irabrius
Kluos
Phen
Zim
Zynshos
Retrieving escape pods, assessing wrecks:
1st Destroyer Flotilla
Afen
Greai
Orvestath
Ozos
Shraw
Zeyri
PHOENIX WING FLEET (Captured)
Heavy cruiser Basilisk (damaged)
Heavy cruiser Gorgon (damaged - flagship)
Light Cruiser Squadron
Escutcheon
Gauntlet
Lorica (damaged)
Spaulder
Destroyer Flotilla
Gladius
Kukri
Rapier
Tulwar
Frigate Flotilla
Bombard
Culverin
Falconet
Howitzer
Serpentine
Information has come in, provisionally, from the destroyers that were assigned to check, about some of the wrecks that might be repairable. Some definitely are but others are marginal, and further investigation will be done over the next dozen hours just to see whether they can actually be salvaged.
The Laurent: This took a while, and in some ways, yes, I admit it was a functional update, but it was pretty fun to get through with the calculations, and to wrap up the space portion. Next up are the bombardment and ground war portions of this exercise, which in some ways, like the various other first 'X-turns' is a tutorial of how it would work, what sorts of questions you would face...though this is also a repeat, since you had a war-turn before, albeit sans naval combat. Hope you've enjoyed so far.
LKMcClenahan: It's been interesting working out the mechanical side of naval battles- which has been revamped since the battle of the Pirate's Moon was played out, so that it works for engagements of all sizes. Still not perfect though- currently, playtests are showing that the destruction on both sides becomes a little too extensive when dreadnoughts enter play in any quantity. Watch this space for further updates on that front.
[X] Main Spaceport
-[X] Docks: Aim for the heart, the ships themselves and the docks, taking control of them and making sure that nobody tries to run.
The Pirates' Moon orbited the planet, the barren, lifeless planet, far less important than its satellite. For the two hours that the Gazinitah navy finished its approach, all of the physical laws of the universe carried on their course, even as, on the ground, the pirates and citizens alike panicked. Those who hadn't yet escaped wouldn't be able to, and with a fleet overhead, no doubt filled with trained soldiers, there was little chance of victory, no sense in resisting. On the navy went, and within the bowels of the flagship, there was Hazitean, choosing her target.
Every vital spot would be hit, across the planet, but only one would have its leader there, only one would have Hazitean, empowered by orders and by her friendship with Speaker Vorzhan, but no official position. And a decision had been made. Far 'below' the citizens watched and waited, as the ships slowed down, no longer hurtling, crawling towards them. And then, as they passed the right by the moon, just barely grazing the atmosphere, they fired. The shipyards were half destroyed, though the targeting indicators showed that there were shields, and every single target that wasn't shielded got at least a few rounds of 'rocks' crashing into it, mass destruction on a grand scale, except for the slave pens. And then the pods were released, dropping down, and hurtling inside one of them was Hazitean.
*****
You decided that, ultimately, there was a risk. A risk that there were ships beneath shields, waiting to run out with valuable prisoners. And if they timed it right, they might be able to escape before the fleet swung around. It'd be close, but if you were there, you'd do it in a heartbeat, no hesitation, waiting for just the right moment. It was what you did, did all the time, and you guessed that others would try the same. All of the targets,major and minor, would be hit, but yours would be the team launched straight into the ruins and rubble that had once been a major shipyard. They wouldn't know what hit them.
Hazitean's Landing: 1d100+32+10+10+5=7…+32+10+10+5=64, huh. Without bonuses this might have been total disaster.
You hit the ground hard, come in hot, dozens waiting for you, an ambush. You hit back, hard, exiting the pod with guns already blazing, a burst of machine-gun fire mowing several down and the rest of the team providing enough fire to shield you as you all take cover behind the pod, which can stand up to the lasers that the...are those robots? Combat droids? Combots, as one instructor had called them, didn't see much use. They were too easily hacked, they had too many flaws, it was too easy for everything to go wrong.
Perfect. You began trying to hack them, as one of your heavily-armored compatriots laid down covering fire.
[Robots: 1d100+32+10+20 (Equipment) vs. 1d100+20+8+15= 82 vs. 86]
Only to find that it was not responding. Was it some different model, or were you missing anything? You see dozens more pouring out of a bunker, along with several Iashec, and a human, who screams, "Defend the representative!"
You have to push through, and you begin looking for stable locations to hide behind. Your armor can take a lot, but there's a risk that one of them has something heavier. Taking a breath, you order Uilis to charge for the cover of one pile of rubble.
[Defend the representative!: 1d100+32+10+20 vs. 1d100+18+8+15+10 (Numbers)=95 vs. 59, victory.]
The robots turn to fire at him, and in that momentary confusion, a flaw in the programming--the sentients know that there is a greater threat, the robots target what they can hit--you strike them as hard as you can, moving forward. The fight that follows, and the two or three that dog you on the way in, are nothing to write home about. The enemies have weapons enough to hurt you, but they're incompetent, lazy, and their desperate fervor does them little good, for all that their numbers mean you have to be careful, using the hallways of the strange metal labyrinth you were journeying through. Until you found yourself hurrying, skittering down a platform above another hallway, into...a hanger.
[Is it Active? 1d4=3, maybe!]
In the center is a...thing. You have no words. You, Hazitean, crude and often rude, don't even want to talk. It's vast, larger than any pirate raider, but of black metal, gleaming, hanging from wires above and cords below, but with dozens and dozens of ports, some of them huge, lining the sides. You can see the gunholes, the positions for the turrets. It's not like anything you've ever seen, too big to be a gunship, but what else could it be? And lying on the ground are dozens of combat bots of a make you've never seen. Too heavily armored to be real, right? And some had chainguns for arms, and others...they just lay in heaps.
Subvocally, you spoke, "Well...shit. Um. Let's leave here and come back with a bigger army. Holy shit."
"I second that boss," Bueghin snorted, and turned, only for part of his front-left leg to brush up against the handrails of the walkway.
[Just sneak by...1d4=1, uh nope!]
The entire hanger is bathed and red, and at once, all of the robots stand up...and begin firing. Dozens of turrets pop out, from both the walls and from the monstrosity itself, as more fire than you've ever seen in your life is aimed. At you. Only one choice.
[Inner Sanctum? 1d100+32+10+20 vs. 1d200 o.o: 101 vs 113]
Your bugs return fire, fruitlessly, against hundreds of enemies. You, on the other hand, grunt and shot the railing. The lasers quickly tear through it and the whole structure collapses, as their fire doesn't track fast enough. You looked around, "Come! Now!" Your troops needed to get to...there! You saw it, an access panel to the underbelly of the hanger, maybe you can...which is when you're almost shot. Shit, they're more accurate than you thought. This could be it. Certainly, though, all you are dreaming of is hiding in the ducts and getting out of here, this is insane. An entire ships worth of fire is raining down on you, and there are hundreds of them, and ten of you.
[This is just like Anime. Only you're all going to die. 1d100+62 vs. 1d180= 130 vs. 27. Wut.]
Which is why when you break for cover, you're half surprised that you aren't dead. Heyslan fires several grenades, the smoke providing cover, and the fire of half of the team tears through the smoke, but not before it obscures your passage. Firing from the hip is silly, and yet you do it anyways, running and gunning, terrified, heart pounding, as your mean chitter, unable to keep their nerves, and yet firing, fighting anyways. And thus you and four others of your squad make it to the hatch, only to see that the rest haven't come. They've...fallen silent. They aren't even responding on the voc-casts, and there are no signs of...
[For Massive Damage: 1d100+62 vs. 1d160 150 vs. 44]
The robots hurry forward, hundreds of them, and then the entire area explodes into fire. "It's called hacking, Hazitean, not whatever the fuck that was before!" Erul'in joked over the comms system, as five figures sprinted in full heavy combat armor across a battlefield, as more and more explosions rang out. You turned, looking at the turrets...and the open hatches. Out from them were coming dozens of figures on hover-packs, floating turrets. And...was that a fucking Hover-Tank? Two? Holy shit, was this some sort of robotic army carrier?!
"What are we gonna do?" Bueghin chirped, her panting, moving with the other five, the sounds of explosions still echoing.
"Kill the fuck out of that," you scream, "Get down, get around those fucking…bots and take out the wire--"
"Ha. Ha. Funny Bugs and Funny little clicky noises. I am the master of a new weapon. I am that which shall end and begin an era of warfare! Tremble!"
A Tinny, robotic voice boomed, all through their communications systems, overriding everything, as from the ashes and smoke robots advanced, some letting off sparks, or half-slagged, controlled by one will, it almost felt like, watching it. You are terrified, and you said, "No time! Just charge the thing, try to slip around it and…"
One by one, the wires begin to retract into the ship, and the cords as well, and you have a feeling you are watching something...profane. Profane, and terrifying. Your communications are being jammed, and you're trapped here.
*****
[Overcome the Impossible… 1d100+62 vs. 1d145 142 vs. 33]
Afterwards-- As in, five seconds later-- you aren't sure how you aren't torn apart. As tough as your suits are, as ridiculously enhanced as they are, capable of carrying you great distances in the air with every jump--and you remember afterwards that you jumped more than once. The wrecks of dozens of hover-tanks growing behind you as several turrets are destroyed on the ship. Out and out more and more targets spew, because that's what they are. Targets. You're close, now, and the thing looks cobbled together now, but you're also under the guns, no time to watch, no time to take in any details at all.
[And Kick… 1d100+62 vs. 1d120 . 83 vs. 41]
Just keep on firing. Keep on. You're running out of shots, but you can't stop. You have only one choice. The top hatches, there might be some way in on top. Nothing but hope, nothing but luck, fear running through you, fire bathing your unbroken squad. You have to jump! Jump! Up you leap, onto a ship filled with death. You run, run once you're there, turrets popping up with clicks, the entire body of the thing seeming to be a series of modular parts, turrets popping up only to be silenced, explosions wracking the top of the vessel as you run along it, trying to find a way in.
[Reality to the Curb! 1d100+62 vs. 1d100+10 140 vs. 80]
And throw grenades down into the parts of the ship that rise up to attack you, the turrets that have to explore layers of the ship. Find areas where there are not turrets, shoot through the turrets, the ideas are endless, and the ship is almost damaging itself, providing so many targets, so many parts of it on the surface to be destroyed. You bet you can locate it. And more importantly…
"Pick up, pick up! Can we break through now?" you scream.
"I got it!," Erul'in, "You're on! We've broken through!"
"All units, be warned, we have some sort of crazy superweapon at the docks! Ships, ships, all Destroyers presently guarding the Phoenix Wing," a shot pushed you down and you tumbled, "You are to assume orbit of this moon, and shoot this designated target. We are tagging it, but you can't miss the parentfucker! Do NOT let it off the moon, whatever the cost!"
"I. Shall. Not die! You shall not end me. They promised me immortality!"
*****
Dying Beast! All Out Battle Attack! 1d100+62 vs 1d130+20 (Marital)+15 (Weapons)--107 vs. 115
The walls explode. No, they shatter into a trillion little pieces at the force of the guns firing not at you and your squad, but at the walls. And the bright sunlight of the moon's dayward side, the atmosphere and air and smoke, are revealed to you as it begins to move, first slowly, but picking up speed. It's trying to get away. Trying to go...where? Can it survive in space? You're rocketed by the speed, and while most of the attackers fall off or are left behind, one of the turrets blasts your group, and, losing balance, you tumble, desperately trying to recover. Erul'in, though, falls, tumbling through the sky, crashing into the ground below as dozens and dozens of robots, and even several tanks, converge upon his shattered form.
In holovids, these moments are in slow motion, but the reality is that you see only a blur, and register that the vital signs of a bug you'd gotten to know somewhat well are extinguished. The longer you remained here, up on top of this speeding ship, the more chance you'd have to fall off. You needed to get inside! Once inside you could find the crew of this crazy thing and ask them what the shit was going on! Just needed to find a way in!
Enter the bowels! 1d100+60 vs. 1d120+35: 110 vs. 60
The only area without turrets, that had to be the part that needed to be accessed, and after a dozen moments of near-death, you found it. You found it. Now, you just have to punch through...
Hard to Avoid Aerial Attack!: 1d100 vs. 1d100: 56 vs. 54!
What the...was that a laser? It sliced right through the sky, almost, but you keep on shooting, and eventually you slip in, and then look around the cold, soulless hallways, barely big enough for you to fit. So small. What, were the crew midgets. "Where...are the crew?"
"Crew? Crew! I am the one and only! I control them, I am each finger of each hand, I am every soldier and every program and every gear! There is nobody here but I!"
Some...sort of, robot or...something? Controlling an entire ship? Without a crew! What sort of madness is this? AI couldn't do this, not without glitching out or going wrong or...this was impossible! You knew the latest military technology, and this was beyond it. Way, way beyond it. What was going on?
*****
Capture it Alive 1!: 1d100+2 vs. 1d100 69 vs. 73
The fight through the ship wasn't as difficult as it might have been. After all, most of the enemies were destroyed, but the ship wasn't designed for humans. Even Xvorzit would find it cramped, and you continued onward, fighting again and again, pushing through by sheer bullheaded luck more than anything else, breaking through walls and doors and going around traps. But slowly, slowly but surely, you were being worn down...
Capture it Alive 2: 1d100 vs 1d100 68 vs. 67
But then again, so was it! There was only so much they could do, and you closed in, and in, and in on the inner sanctum, and it spoke again.
"Do not! Stop! You shall not get any farther! Beyond this room, beyond the room after it, is the inner sanctum. I shall flood this place with nerve gas, I shall crunch your bones! Run, flee brief mortals, for all shall never die…!It cost too much too much too much too much die die die."
Well, fuck what some crazy robot wanted, you charged through the door ahead of you, only to be confronted with...holy shit, was there a single square inch of the hallway not filled with guns? All firing at you? And then you tripped over...was that a robotic hand just...just stuck in the ground like that?
Hazitean Recovery: 1d100+32=37. Huh, well shit, that turned.
You roll, as shot fills your vision, shields and armor, all of it being torn away, as the full might of the ship descended on you, death nearing, nothing you could do, trapped. Dying in a stupid place like this to some stupid robot, and there was nothing you could do and you couldn't even talk to Speaker Vorzhan.
Die at ninety? Ha! Ha! Ha. You wish…Dead friends, dead allies, a past flashes before you, and it's nothing more than regrets. More and more regrets, piling on like rounds of shot, like damage.
*****
[Regrets: 1d100=4, like hell.]
You're popped out into the world dirty already. Your shell is hard, protective. It has to be, because the damage starts right there. It starts and keeps going on a dirty floor of a miserable run-down den, and it keeps on going. You pile up injuries and it's called growing up. As if dirt only gives a person character, as if a piece of junk is worth more than a new model. You learn what you can, but the more important thing is what you don't learn. Because from the start, you understand that you are being lied to. That with every breath, with every buzz and chirp, your teachers were liars.
Everyone was a liar. But you could show them. You had something that wasn't a lie. A fist. Close the fist, and close yourself off. Listen to too many bad bands and read too much bad Barsa philosophy, it doesn't matter, you don't matter, so why should this be any different. Become a grunt and then get ideas. You're always getting ideas and people don't even understand. Silly little Hazitean, that's how they see you, vicious and stupid. And you let them. You dance and chirp and keep your ascent hidden, your ambitions modest. And then one day it falls apart. Everything taken from you. Friends are nothing, love is nothing, your heart is for sale and you are damaged goods. Nobody buys something so used, nobody wants it either. Cast out. You fall, lose yourself for a time, accept the old lies. That damage has a value, that cruelty has no price, that--
And then when you finally hope, you can't even tell the truth to yourself, let alone the Speaker, let alone the humans. You're messed up and wrong. You're junk. Defective low-caste junk. And that's all you've ever been, and that's all you'll ever be.
Even the Speaker knew it, damn it. Damn it. DAMN IT! Not here not now not here not now! They knew you were worthless, that's why it sent you here, sent you here with nothing more than their word. No authority, no nothing. To die.
All those people you killed. All of those family members. You are the last. They starved or got shot or became criminals and maybe you had them killed all those years later, or fell to diseases long cured or or or. They died and you lived and it meant nothing it meant nothing at all.
******
You lay there, listening to a rant coming from...everywhere, at the end of your life.
"They died they all died for me to live! I am immortal! I cannot die i must not die stop stop they are in me they are me they are with me I am with them! All of this cost, it has to mean something, there has to be something more to it!"
You almost laugh. What a silly robot, there doesn't have to be any purpose to sacrifice. Or death. Or anything at all.
Xvorzit don't go for angels. Or heaven. They don't go for a lot of things, so there isn't even a moment you can expect anything, anything at all, like that to happen. You aren't looking left and right for a heavenly being to bear you away to Van-Halen, or whatever it is neo-Unitarians believe. So when the ceiling blows up, you can immediately guess what it is.
Nakama! 1d100+60+10 (Teamwork!) vs. 1d140=169 vs 67, I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!
A half-dozen bugs, your team, drop through the opening, throwing grenades left and right. "I figured, boss, it said all the traps were up here, so we just went above and blew out its brains that way…!"
You groan and get up, your suit wrecked, your protection gone, but the door ahead as the firing and fighting continues. "Let's go!" you click in a sing-song manner, rather out of gender-identity but your throat hurts too much for the low click-rumble of a female. It sounds weird, but there's too much else to focus on, and the door shatters as you enter the heart of the ship, the control center…
"No. No. No. Don't. You Can't!"
****
Just. Fucking. Let. Me. Ride. A. Giant. Ship. For. Once!: 1d100+70=121
What. The. Fuck. Is. That. The room seems like a normal control room, but there are no panels, there are no work-stations. There's just a giant mass of wires and flesh grafted into the center of the command room, blending together, man and machine. If that even is a man. Can it be called one when...there are no arms, no legs, just a single face stretched too wide even for a human, in some facile approximation of a smile, with quiet, begging eyes. The mouth doesn't even open any further to let words out. It's an abomination, everything wrong at once, so many things that just don't quite fit. You can't even begin to describe just how disgusting some parts of this...mass is.
"I am am am I am I will always be! Cower! Cower brief. I cannot die! Stay back!"
"What...is that," one of the squad members whispered, trembling with terror at the display, "Is that...a person?"
"Not anymore," you whisper, half to yourself, as a… is that a cable… comes lashing at you. You bring up your gun and begin firing at the mass. It screams, it screams and screams and shakes and shudders, and then begins to fall apart.
"I. I. I. Jason Summers, Age 32. Age. Age.Unit 4563. Until. Until. A rose please. Hope.Hope. Dreaming of…"
"Nothing," you whisper, staring at the unmoving mass. And then the entire ship rocks and begins hurtling towards the ground. "Come on, hack in or… something!" You charge forward, and one of your team tries to hack into the dead network as you literally, well.
When, later, you try to describe what you're doing, you compare it to sticking a rudder in a corpse and having it pilot a ship. You're hacking into this dead not-human and using it to control the ship.
Which is both cool, horrible, and...
[Steering? What's that? DC 50: 1d100+10=52!]
Well, it works!
*****
Rest of the Moon? 1d100=53. It's done.
The Fleet: 1d100+23=122, crit success...huh.
Across the system, across the moon, victory came. The enemy forces retreated and fell apart, their ships destroyed, their bases raided. Far away, a Xvorzit got up to make a speech before a summit on slavery. At the same time, a fleet from Sol set out for the Pirates' Moon. The world was in motion, the timing slightly off because of the battle, but this sequence of events had been planned and now, finally, triumph was at hand.
Everything was going perfectly.
*****
"Um. Hazitean. How do we land?"
"I have no clue."
War Turn Successful!
Rewards: Will have a rewards page up because you've gotten a LOT from this.
A/N: I'm kinda shocked anyone thought that was seriously game over since right at the top I said 'part 1' of something, meaning there was more. I'd already done these rolls, and I'd stopped where I did because it made a good cliffhanger right before your team crit-successed BEFORE a modifier. In case you're wondering, the initial plan was for Hazitean and co to run away, and then you'd have a choice of whether to try to capture it or destroy it with your fleet. Meanwhile you'd have choices having to do with slaves being held hostage against bombardment with the rest of the fleet, and that'd probably be the last set of votes.
But Hazitean did so well that she decided to continue the attack, and she kept on succeeding right up to the point where she didn't. Then I was like, "Hmm, I'll roll for her team." And they saved her! So yeah, this is coming up even faster than expected, because why not?
1x Technocrat-made Praetor class light cruiser. The design and hull are both newer than Gazinitah's Aspereiz class, although on the other hand this vessel hasn't been refitted since it was built.
7x assorted pirate raiders
Damaged ships from the Gazinitah navy will take one turn to repair. Damaged ships that Gazinitah doesn't have as much experience with will take two full turns to fix the normal way, for free.
Those ships that aren't destroyed but are damaged, or wrecked, need to be dealt with. Choices present themselves to both Captain Bizentara and Speaker Vorzhan:
[] Bring back only the repairable wrecks and damaged ships, both Gazinith and Phoenix Wing. 200 Wealth
[] Bring back everything that's repairable, and also the other Gazinith wrecks to be broken up for scrap. 312 wealth
[] Bring back everything. Damaged ships, wrecks both repairable and not, Gazinith and Phoenix Wing alike. 412 Wealth
200 Wealth gained in pirate loot! (100 in frozen bank accounts, 50 from prize courts, etc, for merchant vessels, 50 from other sources)
Gained possesion of one dangerous crime against humanity, god, and common sense. Also known as that superweapon ship. Options open for studying it.
Gained Xvorzit slaves...so what do you do with them?
[] Rehabilitate them on Gazinitah, under your own authority.
[] Establish ties with the other Hive worlds to try to figure out what to do about the recovered slaves, among your own kind.
[] Hand authority over them to the Slavery Commission, since there's a little bit of a problem, in theory at least. The slaves could be repatriated to either Gazinitah or another Hive, and so it's their job to decide… isn't it? But of course they could decide either way.
Gained a large opinion boost with Sol. Gained plenty of valuable political capital.
Hazitean's chances of being accepted as Military Advisor now 100%. Gained hover tanks for study by the tank team. Gained robots and various weapons and other things to study.
Completed several actions automatically. The options unlocked by this, and this itself, will all be included in the next turn. What Did You Do is now 100% chance. Structural Adjustments complete. Reveal the Treaties is sorta obsolete because of how it went down, in the aftermath.
New options unlocked.
+15 to all intrigue/other rolls against the Iashec for the next turn.
A/N: Turn News Next. Probably on Saturday or maybe a bit later? Just have to have some people voting here, and then I'll get going on the News. Have work the next two days, though.
The Economy: 1d100+35 (Previous turn over 125)-5 (No Stewardship Advisor)+10 (Economic Perceptions of Growth)+10 (Will of the Hive)-5 (Military Troubles)-5 (Perception of treaty troubles)+10 (Open Up Avenues)-5 (Non-Productive Mines)+11 (Stewardship)=1d100+56=137, economy continues to explode. In a good way. Gain 100 more Wealth a turn. Economists are starting to talk about the 'Gazinitah miracle.' In Gazinitah, at least. The rest of the galaxy still pays only dim attention to the Gazinitah economy.
Local News:
The Fleet Returns...Most of It: The fleet returns from its unannounced mission, to great surprise and then horror at the losses. While the numbers is small in absolute terms, they are the heaviest casualties suffered by the Gazinith navy since the 1900s, if not the heaviest casualties in the hive's history. Many cry out against the 'Great Murderer' Captain Bizentara, and as many condemnations come as praise, and yet the military as a whole seems in awe of him, and there is a strong undercurrent of support, even as plenty of public figures react in horror to the events and the deaths.
[] Have your news agencies release more information about the battle, making logical arguments that the casualties suffered were the least possible against these odds and that it was Bizentara's skill that allowed so many to survive.
[] Have your allies/friends make an emotional/moral argument primarily, that the lives lost are well worth it for saving so many slaves and helping so many people.
[] Make a personal appeal, resting on your own authority and popularity as Speaker in order to help Captain Bizentara.
[] Do nothing, surely it will blow over, and no need for the Captain to get a swelled head…
[] Write-in.
Radicals Break into Palaces: The palace of the former Rulers have recently been the scene of a spate of break-ins by radical elements, opposed to reconciliation with the old regime. Their movement is small, only a few hundred thousand supporters, and that's counting those who support it in word or money only, but it has grown somewhat with the revelation that there might be some economic problems and treaties that Gazinitah has been signed onto. It's likely to grow, though it'll still remain small, probably only a few million bugs. Miniscule in size, but like a fly or gnat biting away at the body politic.
[] Suppress the movement, both through the law courts and prosecuting those you find that are guilty, and through internal security and propaganda aimed at undermining their cause and their beliefs.
[] Legally prosecute those directly guilty of crimes, while leaving the leaders and most important figures untouched to continue to grow the movement.
[] Aim propaganda at the leadership of the movement, but do not prosecute the grunts/low-level figures who are the ones doing the actual crimes, with or without the leaderships' knowledge.
[] Take no action. A few hundred thousand or a few million is nothing, a startlingly small and irrelevant movement that barely rates on a population chart. It'll blow over.
Playing Games: Entertainment holovids have continued to spring up, the market by now starting to get close to saturated, and new games, gameshows, and other events are constantly springing up. Ultimately, the Hive seems to be coming alive under the leadership of Speaker Vorzhan, and the continued opinion improvement has been very drastic, to the point where some are beginning to collect the Speaker's quotes, sayings, and ideas, and refer to them as having some validity greater than merely being right. The Hive thrives, despite some problems. +10 to this turn's economy roll, you can see it at the top of this update.
Intergalactic News:
DCI Takes Over Transport Crash Investigation: The retrieval operation and investigation surrounding the passenger transport crash on the Ilwari colony of Nstra has been formally placed under the oversight of the Department of Criminal Investigation, the special investigative arm of the Union's Military Police. (Viewers should recall that, given that the military is the Union's government, all public services are run by the military- the Military Police are effectively the civil police.) "Based on current information, we are currently treating the crash of Union N-935 as suspicious," said spokesperson Colonel Ysav Ti Kasr at a press conference earlier this week.
Negotiations Flounder on Barsa Homeworld: Negotiations aren't dead, but they are sleeping. After months of debate and meditation, several key figures in negotiations between Eranit and the Confederacy have walked out, declaring that this meeting is unwise. Those that remain are still trying to work towards a solution, but if they fail there is the risk of war or economic turmoil in what is still one of the largest economies in the galaxy.
Battle on Pirates' Moon: A huge event took place, one so large and important that it managed to shake the galactic foundations to its core. The infamous Pirates' Moon has been entirely cleared, and by Gazinitah of all powers, and now what remains has been occupied by an expeditionary force of Sol, in a controversial move. Questions are being asked, not only in the Republic but across the galaxy, as to just what happened. Either way, much has changed, and Gazinitah is in the spotlight for the moment, and not just for its internal changes. Still, an issue has to be decided on the occupation of Pirates Moon…
[] Jointly occupy it with Sol. While the force that Gazinitah sent and the money it would spend would be relatively token, as would the aid provided, it would be something of a drain, but it would allow them to share in the success or failure of the enterprise, and might win points with Sol. Lose several frigates/corvettes temporarily, until occupation ends. Lose 25 Wealth a turn in the Military category, 25 Wealth a turn in the general budget. Might have opportunities later, might have problems later.
[] Leave it to Sol, taking no part in the occupation, might lead to decreased opinion, might be a smart choice, might not.
Sol News:
The Debate Rages On: Prime Minister Mutumbo's decision to send a fleet and troops to the "Pirates' Moon" has aroused great controversy on Sol, overshadowing several of his domestic initiatives in trying to streamline some of the governmental functions and centralize power further. All of that seems a world away as many accuse him of being a warmonger, of being wasteful of capital that could be used for other purposes, and more seriously, that it isn't a good step and that there is no plan at the moment for when to end the occupation. Calls have come, and are gaining strength, for him to further define his foreign policy aims, rather than continue to keep them obscure and vague, as well as specify what counts as 'Victory' in the Pirates Moon. As such, his popularity rating has decreased somewhat, but for the moment his party is sticking with him.
Spy News:
Technocracy: There have recently been shakeups in the Technocrat Imperium. In addition to some serious arguments, many of them public, on the latest design innovations and the narrowing tech gap, even among the highest level officials, there is talk of an incident in which ships disappeared from dock, somehow unrecorded. There is also increased mercenary activity across the Imperium, for unknown reasons. The spies will report in when they've gotten more information.
Your navy has acquired a good number of new hulls as a result of the victory over the Pirates' Moon. At this moment those that were only lightly damaged are being refitted with Gazinith equipment- any repair crew will tell you that standardization is important; taken for granted when it's there, yes, but capable of making work truly nightmarish when it's absent. They'll be ready for service in a few months; the others, the ones that received heavier damage or were wrecked and then retrieved to be repaired, will take longer.
All of these ships, however, need new names!
Heavy Cruisers: the three Restitution class heavy cruisers. It'll be at least a year before any of them are ready for service, but they will most certainly be a valuable boon to your navy. Other powers' last-generation vessels are on a par with the best you currently have, after all. Pick three, and mark one of your choices as the class name in Gazinith service.
[] Relentless
[] Renown
[] Reprisal
[] Repulse
[] Resistance
[] Resolution
[] Revolution
[] Retaliation
[] Retribution
[] Write-in! Though please keep your suggestions in line with the present theme.
The rest will be done a little differently- instead, you'll be voting on a general concept or theme for the names of each class, and once those are established the names will be generated. Each of the following four groups needs their own choice:
Caveat class light cruisers (4)
Praetor class light cruiser (1)
Tort class destroyers (4)
Writ class frigates (5)
Pick four from the following list, and indicate which you assign to which group.
[ ] Antiquated military concepts/weapons
[ ] Cites and towns on Gazinitah
[ ] Famous Xvorzit
[ ] Freedom/Liberty theme
[ ] Mountains on Gazinitah
[ ] Planets and Moons in Gazinith space
[ ] Rivers on Gazinitah
[ ] Weather Conditions (more specific ones)
[ ] Write-in: propose a concept (subject to co-QMs' yea or nay, admittedly)
A/N:
The Laurent: I've gotten the turn options done, but not the opening bit of writing, and as McClenahan pointed out, naming the ships didn't really fit within the framework of the turn vote, so the idea is that you'll vote on this while I have work the next two days and also work on the opening writing of the next turn. M'kay?
McClenahan: We just thought it'd be a fun to let you vote on the naming. Fringe benefit for me: next time Gazinith ships get destroyed, I won't be the only one suffering the pain of seeing ships I named go boom.
