To be fair, that wasn't the correct time as we didn't have the industry or research to significantly improve the defenses. This should have been done as soon as we got the Watchtowers.
Blood, Sweat, and Tears (WH40k Design Bureau)
- Thread starter DaLintyGuy
- Start date
- Sci-Fi
-Calavar: Attack of the Fifty Foot B-Team
Despite all of the excitement of the last century the Calavar system had not come under serious threat. True, pirate ships had occasionally nosed about the outer system before being chased off by the threat of the customs monitors or returning/outbound warships but it's placement at the heart of a burgeoning interstellar empire had warned off most attackers. The chance of meeting a squadron of irate veterans returning from a campaign was simply too much of a risk for opportunistic scavengers.
Yet there were more than just scavengers among the stars. The personnel of the nascent Forge World of Incleon watched the backward primitives with disdain. Who were these striplings to meddle with powers that had been proscribed from them? Their agents were few with the supposed Crusade's alliance with Lativa cutting out those who had been liberated of their dogma (or simply duped) with a single minded fervor that rivalled that of the disciples of Chaos… But they knew enough: Calavar could not be left to recover the region.
And thanks to the Orks there was going to be the perfect opportunity to get into their yards.
The translation of a trio of warships escorting a small shoal of transports was a common occurrence in the Calavar system of today. Resources to be shoveled into the yards, raw materials or manufactured products to be molded into ever newer, larger weapons of war. Even so the new arrivals were neither scheduled nor readily identified. Their hulls were of the correct shape but the drive plumes were clearly the product of systems that had not been produced in the Calavan yards.
This deception was dropped when a customs monitor closed to inspect the group and controlled detonations split the applique shells to unmask gun batteries that were already training on the Loyalist "warship". Venerable mechanisms strained as the monitor moved to try and evade but the Renegades were of far higher quality. Their vessels were built to face the likes of the Imperial Navy, dueling with Sword class Frigates as they fled or harrying Light Cruisers in packs where the monitors… Were not.
Muted columns of light overloaded the thin layer of Voids of the ship before tearing into the monitor's internals. A millennia of service ended with burning fuel flooding the corridors.
Despite the suddenness of the attack the Calavan Admiralty was no peace time administration. Hardened from the long campaigns to repel the invaders the military assets in the system were roused to battle. Saviors of the Planetary Defense Force readied for action alongside the proof of concept Interlopers and the Harbingers held back for military maneuvers or cargo. A partial mobilization of the infantry was conducted to be safe but the enemy had much more interest in the single strategically vital point of the system.
The dockyards of the Calavar system had been unimpressive, once. Now it was a double layered construct studded with loading and unloading points and cradling incomplete hulls within it's embrace. In the face of hostile force it's heritage betrayed it for it was yet a commercial installation; unlike the heavily fortified bastions of major fleet bases and established Forge Worlds. Still. It's garrison and workforce leapt into action to protect their home.
The Audacity, the first Light Cruiser scale purpose built warship, nosed out of it's dock as the Renegade fleet closed in on their prey. Entire sections were unfinished or even yet to be started at all. Most of it's hull had been sealed in layered armor, the majority of the engine bells had been brought online, and tertiary weapons had been activated along its length. Fire control for the primary weaponry was… Jury rigged to say the least but none of her crew or builders were fazed. They knew what could be at stake.
A pair of monitors had managed to reach the shipyard ahead of the attack and took up positions ahead of the Audacity as she in turn hovered ahead of the industrial complex. Behind them hovered a cloud of reactivated Combat Lighters to screen the shipyard from boarding attempts.
The interim captain of the Audacity cursed the lack of the prow Lances as the enemy approached. Causing even one of the three Escorts to turn away would be a significant boon to the upcoming gunnery clash. Instead they turned the ship to expose the broadside mounts… And waited.
Laser fire poured from the oncoming warships and was greeted by underpowered cannonfire… And a half dozen cerulean bolts. The Audacity had been built with salvage that Calavar could not produce itself and it appeared that the Renegades didn't know of it ahead of time. The volley of plasma missed, of course. How could it do anything else when the sensors had not been calibrated after their overly hasty installation? What it did accomplish was making the enemy scared for a solid blow from those guns held the potential to cripple one of their ships.
The trio of enemy Escorts fell into a pattern of hit and run tactics, taking advantage of their easy speed and grace as the Calavan warships protected a station and the unfinished Audacity. Interestingly the Renegades held back their boarders instead of feeding them into the guns of the protective shroud of strike craft, unlike the Traitors the Crusade had fought previously.
It was something that couldn't last.
First one then the other monitor were bludgeoned into ruin as clouds of expanding vapor burned through their guts. They died hard was all that could be said of them even as their guns did little to their foes. The death flare of the second hid the approach of the Interloper squadron and scratch escort of Saviors in for refurbishment. Their target had taken a few ineffectual hits from the monitors and a single bolt from the Audacity's broadside and this latter gouge earned many of the anti-ship missiles the impromptu wing carried. It's fore turret silenced and stern bleeding reaction plasma the Renegade warship fell back and triggered their own hidden card.
With the measure taken of the defenders it came time to deploy the main axis of attack. The transports that had previously been holding back darted (insomuch as such an adjective could be appended to fat hulled transports) in to begin unleashing their complements. Lightnings and Thunderbolts fitted for limited spaceflight issued forth to degrade the Combat Lighter blockade ahead of numerous boarding shuttles targeting both the station and the Audacity.
On the decks of the Audacity the lack of crew was sorely felt as the Corona point defense system fitfully burned hostile shuttles from the void as crew were retasked to command them and limited contact with boarding parties. Even so the ship had it's complement of security aboard in case of "incidents" not… Too unlike this. Shelter exoskeletons clashed with carapace armored officers in disturbingly even fights while regular crew exchanged fire around them.
The station had it worse as it was not built with defense in mind and the sole saving grace was the haste with which the enemy had to work. A pair of transports haphazardly burned Calavan Lighters down using their point defenses to open a hole and dock with the station to release work crews into the industrial sections to break down and learn what they could.
The cut and thrust ended with the arrival of the cargo convoy on the edge of the system. A pair of Calavan Armed Merchants protecting the Bulk Hauler, and joined by a quartet of Yttreum privateers provided some decided incentive for the invaders to take their spoils and run. Which they did in disciplined fashion, leaving the Audacity nearly unpowered in space and a slightly ransacked industrial platform.
[Combat Result: Minor Defeat
Enemy Losses:
Minor to Moderate Damage to three Iconoclast Escorts
Moderate Damage to one Air Army
Light Damage to one Void Army
Friendly Losses:
Industrial Platform Damage (Lose 70M until 30M repair cost is paid)
3x Customs Monitor (2x Crippled, repaired for 6M each)
3x Combat Lighter Squadrons
Audacity Light Cruiser Moderately Damaged (21M in repairs)
Research facilities raided: unknown level of compromised technology, lose one Design Action next turn]
Despite all of the excitement of the last century the Calavar system had not come under serious threat. True, pirate ships had occasionally nosed about the outer system before being chased off by the threat of the customs monitors or returning/outbound warships but it's placement at the heart of a burgeoning interstellar empire had warned off most attackers. The chance of meeting a squadron of irate veterans returning from a campaign was simply too much of a risk for opportunistic scavengers.
Yet there were more than just scavengers among the stars. The personnel of the nascent Forge World of Incleon watched the backward primitives with disdain. Who were these striplings to meddle with powers that had been proscribed from them? Their agents were few with the supposed Crusade's alliance with Lativa cutting out those who had been liberated of their dogma (or simply duped) with a single minded fervor that rivalled that of the disciples of Chaos… But they knew enough: Calavar could not be left to recover the region.
And thanks to the Orks there was going to be the perfect opportunity to get into their yards.
The translation of a trio of warships escorting a small shoal of transports was a common occurrence in the Calavar system of today. Resources to be shoveled into the yards, raw materials or manufactured products to be molded into ever newer, larger weapons of war. Even so the new arrivals were neither scheduled nor readily identified. Their hulls were of the correct shape but the drive plumes were clearly the product of systems that had not been produced in the Calavan yards.
This deception was dropped when a customs monitor closed to inspect the group and controlled detonations split the applique shells to unmask gun batteries that were already training on the Loyalist "warship". Venerable mechanisms strained as the monitor moved to try and evade but the Renegades were of far higher quality. Their vessels were built to face the likes of the Imperial Navy, dueling with Sword class Frigates as they fled or harrying Light Cruisers in packs where the monitors… Were not.
Muted columns of light overloaded the thin layer of Voids of the ship before tearing into the monitor's internals. A millennia of service ended with burning fuel flooding the corridors.
Despite the suddenness of the attack the Calavan Admiralty was no peace time administration. Hardened from the long campaigns to repel the invaders the military assets in the system were roused to battle. Saviors of the Planetary Defense Force readied for action alongside the proof of concept Interlopers and the Harbingers held back for military maneuvers or cargo. A partial mobilization of the infantry was conducted to be safe but the enemy had much more interest in the single strategically vital point of the system.
The dockyards of the Calavar system had been unimpressive, once. Now it was a double layered construct studded with loading and unloading points and cradling incomplete hulls within it's embrace. In the face of hostile force it's heritage betrayed it for it was yet a commercial installation; unlike the heavily fortified bastions of major fleet bases and established Forge Worlds. Still. It's garrison and workforce leapt into action to protect their home.
The Audacity, the first Light Cruiser scale purpose built warship, nosed out of it's dock as the Renegade fleet closed in on their prey. Entire sections were unfinished or even yet to be started at all. Most of it's hull had been sealed in layered armor, the majority of the engine bells had been brought online, and tertiary weapons had been activated along its length. Fire control for the primary weaponry was… Jury rigged to say the least but none of her crew or builders were fazed. They knew what could be at stake.
A pair of monitors had managed to reach the shipyard ahead of the attack and took up positions ahead of the Audacity as she in turn hovered ahead of the industrial complex. Behind them hovered a cloud of reactivated Combat Lighters to screen the shipyard from boarding attempts.
The interim captain of the Audacity cursed the lack of the prow Lances as the enemy approached. Causing even one of the three Escorts to turn away would be a significant boon to the upcoming gunnery clash. Instead they turned the ship to expose the broadside mounts… And waited.
Laser fire poured from the oncoming warships and was greeted by underpowered cannonfire… And a half dozen cerulean bolts. The Audacity had been built with salvage that Calavar could not produce itself and it appeared that the Renegades didn't know of it ahead of time. The volley of plasma missed, of course. How could it do anything else when the sensors had not been calibrated after their overly hasty installation? What it did accomplish was making the enemy scared for a solid blow from those guns held the potential to cripple one of their ships.
The trio of enemy Escorts fell into a pattern of hit and run tactics, taking advantage of their easy speed and grace as the Calavan warships protected a station and the unfinished Audacity. Interestingly the Renegades held back their boarders instead of feeding them into the guns of the protective shroud of strike craft, unlike the Traitors the Crusade had fought previously.
It was something that couldn't last.
First one then the other monitor were bludgeoned into ruin as clouds of expanding vapor burned through their guts. They died hard was all that could be said of them even as their guns did little to their foes. The death flare of the second hid the approach of the Interloper squadron and scratch escort of Saviors in for refurbishment. Their target had taken a few ineffectual hits from the monitors and a single bolt from the Audacity's broadside and this latter gouge earned many of the anti-ship missiles the impromptu wing carried. It's fore turret silenced and stern bleeding reaction plasma the Renegade warship fell back and triggered their own hidden card.
With the measure taken of the defenders it came time to deploy the main axis of attack. The transports that had previously been holding back darted (insomuch as such an adjective could be appended to fat hulled transports) in to begin unleashing their complements. Lightnings and Thunderbolts fitted for limited spaceflight issued forth to degrade the Combat Lighter blockade ahead of numerous boarding shuttles targeting both the station and the Audacity.
On the decks of the Audacity the lack of crew was sorely felt as the Corona point defense system fitfully burned hostile shuttles from the void as crew were retasked to command them and limited contact with boarding parties. Even so the ship had it's complement of security aboard in case of "incidents" not… Too unlike this. Shelter exoskeletons clashed with carapace armored officers in disturbingly even fights while regular crew exchanged fire around them.
The station had it worse as it was not built with defense in mind and the sole saving grace was the haste with which the enemy had to work. A pair of transports haphazardly burned Calavan Lighters down using their point defenses to open a hole and dock with the station to release work crews into the industrial sections to break down and learn what they could.
The cut and thrust ended with the arrival of the cargo convoy on the edge of the system. A pair of Calavan Armed Merchants protecting the Bulk Hauler, and joined by a quartet of Yttreum privateers provided some decided incentive for the invaders to take their spoils and run. Which they did in disciplined fashion, leaving the Audacity nearly unpowered in space and a slightly ransacked industrial platform.
[Combat Result: Minor Defeat
Enemy Losses:
Minor to Moderate Damage to three Iconoclast Escorts
Moderate Damage to one Air Army
Light Damage to one Void Army
Friendly Losses:
Industrial Platform Damage (Lose 70M until 30M repair cost is paid)
3x Customs Monitor (2x Crippled, repaired for 6M each)
3x Combat Lighter Squadrons
Audacity Light Cruiser Moderately Damaged (21M in repairs)
Research facilities raided: unknown level of compromised technology, lose one Design Action next turn]
F0lkL0re
Officially not an Inquisitor
- Location
- Shetland
The damage is more or less easily reparable but this is the thing which is going to hurt.
Incleon needs to burn and quick before they get any more ideas.
Sir_Travelsalot
Never wakes up tired.
- Location
- At Home
Well, it sure is a good thing we haven't made any E-War or stealth modules yet.
It was the Incleons? Proportional response is in order. This was an expensive lesson I hope is learned.
Just so you know, I was clenching my butt in dread as I read through this update.
Getting though it now and the only thing I feel is relief.
Ooooooh man.
Yeah, ok, we can work with this. Let it be a lesson going forward to not be complacent.
F0lkL0re
Officially not an Inquisitor
- Location
- Shetland
It's not over yet, they had enough time to start rubbing their dark SCIENCE!!! hands all over our stuff, God Emperor knows what kind of stains we're going to have to get out of the carpets.
Sir_Travelsalot
Never wakes up tired.
- Location
- At Home
It would have been a proportional response to their existence alone, but anything beyond that is rather unsavory, so it will have to do.
I could make it worse if ya want.
The Audacity only survived because her crew could react to scuttling attempts for example.
Even looking through the notes is only of limited use in defeating most systems. Though I suppose it works in reverse as well so fair point.
Sir_Travelsalot
Never wakes up tired.
- Location
- At Home
For sure, but none of our stuff was so advanced that it falling to the enemy's hands is devastating. Especially since we're already planning to delete them from existence next turn.
F0lkL0re
Officially not an Inquisitor
- Location
- Shetland
I'm a bit more worried that it means that they've left us some surprises.
I could make it worse if ya want.
The Audacity only survived because her crew could react to scuttling attempts for example.
Please don't give us an ulcer. ;_;
- Location
- yorkshire
@DaLintyGuy you forgot to threadmark
Rockeye
Plausible Engineer
- Location
- Midwestern U.S.
It's not like we can do anything about it except worry and remember.
The mysterious opponent who did this raid now knows exactly where we are strong and where we are weak and if any of our stuff is better than his can co-opt it.
The solution to that I guess is a radical change in strategy?
The mysterious opponent who did this raid now knows exactly where we are strong and where we are weak and if any of our stuff is better than his can co-opt it.
The solution to that I guess is a radical change in strategy?
Sir_Travelsalot
Never wakes up tired.
- Location
- At Home
He'll make the threadmark when he's got all the parts written up. This was just the first battle.
- Location
- Seattle, Washington
We can't forget about Legcutta, though. He's the bigger threat to us. Incelon can raid us, but Legcutta can conquer us if we give him the chance.
Sir_Travelsalot
Never wakes up tired.
- Location
- At Home
- Location
- Australia
Worth keeping in mind, this is not a barn door after the horse has bolted scenario. They can return, and kommando Orks needs to be considered too. Some fortification is important for Calavar.
*snrk*
I vote that we all do a player revolt and DEMAND from DaLintyGuy that he change their name to this. >=(
Fortify the home, it has been needed for a long time. A response to Incleon (whatever their name is) is needed, for legitimacy's sake. It need not be exterminatus level, given other pressing needs, but it must hurt (key personnel, infrastructure, asset destruction). This will slake the people's need for vengeance, and will send them an others a message.
A punitive strike must be a pedagogical tool to inform them and others that hurting Calavan will lead to them experiencing Real Hurt™️.
A punitive strike must be a pedagogical tool to inform them and others that hurting Calavan will lead to them experiencing Real Hurt™️.
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