The Big Guns Never Tire
The Admiralty looked across a map of the Subsector and made plans. The Traitors had had their noses bloodied and so were of a lower priority than slowing down the growth of the new Ork "empires" and WAAAGH!!s that were slowly absorbing the remnants of the Imperial worlds. For this purpose they drew deep on their reserves of warships and laid out a decree: no longer would the Orks be allowed to raid and plunder the destitute and defenseless. Their pirate base would burn and it's plunder added to the material that the Crusade was devouring at a frenetic pace in order to aid in revenge for those murdered by the greenskins.
Small squadrons were sent out in other directions to protect the newly gained holdings from pirates and raiders. In the worst case scenario they would serve as tripwires, informing the Admiralty of the fall of their assigned areas.
1st Naval Squadron, 2nd Naval Squadron, 1st Auxiliary Squadron, 1st Support Squadron, 1st & 2nd Calavar Infantry Army, 6th Crusade Infantry Army: Ork Asteroid Base
A blooming infection had taken hold and the decision had been made to burn it out. The system it had set up shop in was not listed on Imperial charts yet through the perseverance of the Calavar scouts, asking a double handful of civilian shipping about the location of attacks they had seen, and a telescopic sweep to locate the stars in the area the infection was seeping out of the location had been pinned down as an aged red dwarf and it's attendants.
The massed forces of the Hegemon's Crusade translated into the edge of the system in ragged succession and had their target revealed to all: a trio of asteroids held artificially close together and radiating emissions in every direction without care. The occasional pulse of electromagnetic interference indicated minor amounts of weapon fire among the distant contacts and so after a short period of organization the Calavan force began to slide down the gravity well.
[Combat Initiated:
Enemy Forces:
-12x Attakk Ships
-1x Onslaught
-3x Frigate Monitors
-3x Asteroid Forts
Friendly Forces:
-4x Armed Merchants
-4x Resolute-class Corvettes
-2x Escort Carriers
-1x Scorn-class Bombardment SHip
-1x Ferryman-class Transport
-4x Civilian Transports]
Engine plumes began appearing, propelling the local ships on an intercept course for the incoming Crusade force. It was the strongest military force that Calavar had fielded up to this point, yet it was outnumbered by the enemy ships in the system. Captains steeled their nerves and calmed their crews by pointing out that the Ork forces were disorganized. Instead of forming into a single force to maximize their chances every formation was making their best speed towards the interlopers.
Anticipation ratcheted sharply upwards as the small size of the star and the wide orbits of the surviving planets meant that the opposing sides were within a relatively short distance of each other. Added to the reckless charge of the Ork ships, it meant that the clash would happen within the first day of arrival, rather than sometime during the second part of the week.
The first wave of Ork craft to arrive was an eclectic mix of light craft. Less capable than even a corvette individually they came in a bewildering variety of hull shapes and weapon mounts. Bellowed challenges introduced the eight Attakk Ships as two elements of "Freebootas", those infamous Orks who eschewed the typical pattern of their kind and instead roamed the travel routes between stars looking to plunder and murder anything that could not fight them off.
A bombardment more impressive than effective ripped through the void towards the Human ships as the Orkish gunners instinctively realized their weapons were now in effective range: spiralling torpedoes belched from two dozen box launchers, Zzappas and looted Lances spat wavering beams of force, and battle madness overrode the good sense of the Kannon gunners who added their own ordnance to the destructive energies being unleashed despite having very little chance of a hit at those ranges.
The First Squadron shifted forwards and loosened their formation into a protective screen intermixed with Combat Lighters once the flare of torpedo engines had been registered. Orkish beams slashed across shield bubbles, cutting through the uneven protection of the Wage of Dissent and leaving a molten channel in her bow that was lit by the destruction and self destruction of the incoming Ork ordnance (one pair notably slamming against each other in flight and disappearing in a an actinic flash of light) by laser fire. A handful of the constructions pierced the defensive envelope through simple luck and one even managed to hit something important. The atomic detonation against the nose of the Voidwright left a superheated patch of armor in its wake with only a few penetrations through thinner joins in the armor.
The small nature of the Freeboota ships combined with their varied armaments as the engagement progressed from bombardment to clash and resulted in the unreliable ships going dark, exploding, or careening out of formation as plasma geysered from their sides. In reply the Human forward echelon staggered as a blistering salvo of shells crashed through their shield layers and tore into the vulnerable metal beneath.
Crewmen cursed and screamed within their conveyances as damage was tallied and emergency repairs ordered. Fires caused by broken atmospheric lines were deprived of fuel and the pipes hurriedly patched, ship sections repressurized, and retro thrusters hooked back up to their fuel lines.
The second wave of defenders were distinct from their predecessors. The Attakk Ships were ensconced in rippling panes of force and were uniform in nature (as much as Ork constructs could be called "uniform") with gun batteries of varying sizes jutting from slabs of metal armor. Slightly ahead of their mob was a ship that was in a subtly distinct weight class and the sight of it caused a wave of concern through the Human command ranks as the Resolutes passed their information to the lesser ships. With a heavily armored prow, thick clusters of weapon batteries, and nearly equivalent speed to the lesser grades of Orkish warship there could only be one thing to call the sobering monument to barbaric might:
Onslaught.
There was no maneuvering possible, no cunning stratagems to employ. All the Calavan warships could do was condense into as solid a block of gunnery as was possible and pray that they had enough of an advantage in firepower to come out ahead in the coming clash.
When an Ork made power field collapsed it was not with the same howl of static as a Human Void Shield produced. Rather, the generator inside the scrap ship shorted out; be it by a lack of attention to detail, not planning ahead for when the defense would inevitably fall, or the safety systems being "repurposed" in transit to make something "more important" like more guns, the system would fail with a "roight gud bang".
The gunnery exchange between the two forces whited out the sensors of most of the Human force with the sheer number of rounds lofted by both sides in a display that made picking the actual threats out of the mass of moving contacts a chore at a time when the rate of decision making was key. But even through this the big guns of the Resolutes didn't tire, ceaselessly hammering out volleys under the direction of their overworked gun crews as they trained the turrets on the foe, studied the shells for possible defects caused by the strain of battle, and rammed them into the breeches with the power loaders.
As the Humans came out the other side of the pass… The transports reported minimal damage from Ork crews blinded by and exultant at the devastation wrought on the two fleets. The Itinerant was falling out of formation after taking significant damage, The Causeway had been raked by a passing Attakk Ship and was burning at multiple points, Wage of Dissent was reporting damage to her shield grid on her dorsal port facing, Sure Wager was reporting engine damage, and several turrets were knocked out and under repair on the Unbowed Supplicant.
Yet for all that three of the four Attakk Ships were no longer maneuvering and the Onslaught was not turning to try the Human fleet again. Dispatching the Aegis Immortal and Starstrider to secure the rear aspect of the transports from the lone Ork vessel that was ponderously turning for another run, Captain Kelaman turned her eyes to the target of the attack: the asteroid forts.
Given time to repair the Calavans altered course, decelerating to a stop relative to the shipyard they were here to attack. A handful of incomplete hulls had been kicked out of their assembly gantries to reinforce the trio of frigate sized monitors (and one wreck that had small craft swarming over it, possibly struggling to repair the recently made hulk) with only a few "accidental" discharges as the Big Mek of the installation shouted instructions at his subordinates.
Kelaman was acutely aware that enemy reinforcements could arrive at any time so as soon as her command was at least nominally ready for combat it was back into the fray. "Friendly" fire among the discontented Orks had at least reduced the number of targets they would have to contend with, so it could be said to only be the frigates and asteroid forts that would be significant challenges. For the latter the Admiralty had made available a new type of strategic asset, while the former would have to be dealt with in the normal fashion.
Zzappa beams reached out across space from the nearest fort and the squadron of monitors, trying to hit the most dangerous targets among the Human force. Most missed but the generally focused nature of the attacks were well suited to countering the dispersed shielding the Resolutes relied on, disabling turrets and gouging through hulls.
The monitors had sacrificed brawling power to mount their long ranged weapons and so Kelaman delegated her AMMs to tying them down and breaking them up while the Resolute Corvettes and attached auxiliaries burned into the shadow of the nearest asteroid fort. A spirited gun duel ensued as the mounted batteries sprayed shells across the gathered warships even as strike craft began flowing from distributed hangars slapped haphazardly over the surfaces of the three forts and were met by the combined defensive complement of the Human carriers.
The Wages of Sin was a Scorn-class Bombardment Ship. A new development from the minds at the Calavan shipyards, the ship had one very important job: supporting ground forces. Part of the way it did this was the deployment of heavy transports but it's primary task was one of a more direct nature.
The mandated focus on the Resolute ships by order of the Big Mek of the facility let the Wages of Sin get into proper position. Surrounded by her complement of heavily armed transports to shield her from the primitive craft of the Orks, her captain gave the order to drop the armored door that kept the massive barrel the ship was built around from casual fire. A few sharp eyed Orks noticed this and opened fire on the newly revealed warship but the strong shields of the specifically designed vessel rebuffed the few shells that hit before the Fusion Breaker Cannon fired its first shell in anger.
The Resolutes had already dropped the patchy shielding the fort had had available and so the Breaker shell was able to dig deeply into the honeycombed structure underneath the gun batteries. In atmosphere the fireball from the atomic warhead would spread to a width of eight kilometers.
The asteroid was only five kilometers thick.
A wave of heat and pressure flooded throughout the structure and erupted into space through the weakest channel: the entry wound the Fusion Breaker had left. The wave of molten rock and superheated atmosphere that gouted into space caused a minor lull in the battle as the gathered combatants witnessed the power of the oversized weapon for the first time. Then, the battle resumed once more and with even more ferocity.
Green skinned brutes waving large caliber firearms and crudely fashioned "choppas" launched into the hulls of Human warships from the beaks of assault ships hastily refitted and launched for the purpose from the surviving forts and were met by the expected Human soldiery and the more surprising and more capable murder-servitors that the First Squadron had been refitted with. Where the latter were fielded the Orks were quickly brought under control under a blitz of roaring chain weapons and inhuman roars, but where they weren't was far more common. A Resolute, the Aegis Immortal, had one of her turrets taken and redirected to firing at Human ships nearby. The boarding party was eventually pried out of the control center but it had been an unwelcome surprise.
What was far more welcome was the outcome of the overall battle. The Wage of Dissent was only technically not lost, The Itinerant had been gutted once her weakness had been detected and taken advantage of, and every ship bore the scars of the engagement… But there were no active Ork warships and the asteroid forts had been suppressed with a two pronged attack as Resolutes combined fire to destroy the remaining Zzappa weapon mounts and were followed by wide area nuclear shells applied by the Wages of Sin. The effort needed to clear the Orks out of the tunnels would be significant but was already underway as entire Armies were unloaded into the cavernous cargo bays of the intact asteroid installations and engaged their opposites in pitched battle.
The blood soaked field of battle was Humanity's.
[Operation Result: Victory, Clean-up Ongoing
Enemy Losses:
8x Freeboota Attakk Ships
4x Gunbreaka Attakk Ships
3x Asteroid Forts
Friendly Losses:
KV-2 Wage of Dissent Crippled (13M,1A)
AMM-5 The Itinerant Crippled (8M)
Ship Repairs Costing 34M,3A
Small Craft Replacements costing 3M]
[Recovered Assets will be listed at the start of next turn]
3rd Naval Squadron, 3rd Calavar Infantry Army, 5th Bailafax Infantry Army: Bailafax
Bailafax burned. The evidence of it's temporary rulers was being wiped away as the plants introduced into the artificial marshland dried up and were removed by the simple expedient of uncontrolled burns along the crisscrossing channels. Sometimes the fires would force a knot of cultists to flee and therefore reveal themselves to the ships and craft that flew above them. As numerous eyes artificial and natural tracked their progress the vengeful inhabitants of the world would be directed into their path.
The decision to recruit an Army Group from the ravaged world was a hotly debated one on Calavar. The troops would have knowledge of Chaos, they would be of more use restoring the native industries, they could not be trusted-
They would have a fierce hatred of the fell forces that would be a major foe for the Calavan bloc for many a year for they knew exactly what would result and had suffered from the results of widescale heresy.
It would not be a foolproof plan but it was better than simply sending fresh troops into a grinder against supernaturally empowered enemies.
In the void the protective umbrella of the Third Naval Squadron was cast over the world. Only occasional convoys were sent out under the protection of a pair of Calavan warships in order to collect the ordered production of the outlying world for the presence of heretic vessels seemed thick: scarcely a run would go by without bumping into one or more Traitor vessels either making a move against the protected cargo ships or simply watching the world of Bailafax.
Malicious intelligences watched the world of Bailafax. The death and destruction of it's erstwhile lords was of no concern to them but it showed that there was a power capable of doing so. Such a thing was a threat to their rising ambitions. Self styled leaders communed with each other through sorcerous means, wheedling and threatening their peers over the course of years into supporting a mutual attack on the upstart that threatened to undo their position of unquestioned might.
The enemy came in a wave of ships spat from a gaping wound in the fabric of reality, iron covered hulls absorbing the light of distant stars even as great engine bells flared with discharge to heave their bulk towards their victim. A score of Traitor ships sent their calls for and praises of their chosen "God" into the void towards their enemy, to demoralize, to promise.
[Combat Initiated:
Calavan Forces
-2x Armed Merchants
-1x Escort Carrier
-2x Resolutes
Khornate Forces
-4x Armed Merchants
-1x Claymore Corvette
-16x Unaltered Civilian Ships
-16x Infantry Armies (estimated)]
The people of Bailafax grimly dug into the valleys and mountains that had become their homes for these last, long years. Villages and caravans of survivors retreated into subterranean shelters that were stocked to endure months of siege as the Bailafax and Calavan soldiery marshaled themselves for action once more. Overhead the newly built Armor of Hatred and inexperienced arme merchant hulls arranged themselves for battle. Running was simply not an option, but a stand up battle against this horde would be all too likely to result in miserable failure as it was not only a wave of civilian shipping. Behind the mob of frothing barbarians were four and one ships.
Their shapes were reminiscent of the lean frames of their weaponized Calavan opposites and their spines adorned with heavy guns. The leader was the smallest but to the Calavan commodore by far the most dangerous. Maintained cannon on a hull wrapped in plasteel and pushed by a trickle of plasma…
A warship was present on the field of battle.
A desperate cry was answered by the absent escorts who in turn ordered their charges to return home before their cargo had been gathered: their protectors were needed elsewhere. They returned to rejoin their compatriots, translating into the system as the Khornates swarmed over the orbitals. Flaming wrecks began deorbiting as the unmodified transports, freighters, and liners of the disorganized mass recklessly began landing operations immediately and were set upon by the Calavan squadron. Bailafax rang in a way rarely seen as kilometer long trenches were torn into the earth and oceans by the falling cripples; pulping all left aboard and for miles around. One wreck hit in such a way that the megaton scale object flipped across the landscape for a hundred miles before fetching up against a mountain.
The plumes of displaced and vaporized soil grew as armies marshaled in their shadows. The Calavan Combat Lighters were doing their best but for every kill they secured with their underpowered lascannon at least twelve more heavy cargo landers made it past them with their hulls filled to bursting with insane murderers. These marauders slowly gathered together from their disparate landing sites in order to gain some measure of direction towards vulnerable blood to spill. Some found Bailafax settlements and put them under siege. Some were found by Calavan soldiery and annihilated.
The site of the previous capital had been smoothly evacuated when the Traitor fleet had translated into the outer system and was now partially flattened by the near miss of a perforated freighter. Traitor ground forces had landed and disembarked in good order nearby to occupy the site. Subsequent landings brought more of the strangely disciplined and decently well equipped soldiers who had pledged themselves to Khorne along with leadership for the establishment of a properly consecrated temple to their deity.
Oskar's Tub was strangely named for a purpose built warship. It originated from the practice of having captains name their new commands, which sometimes resulted in properly powerful descriptors of what the hope for the newborn would be. Other times it was a merchant captain resurrecting the spirit of their ship. These latter cases were tolerated for those ships had been requisitioned for official business and so it was good to be seen as magnanimous.
The Tub bled air from a dozen compartments, had lost a quarter of her crew to naval shot and another quarter to boarders spilling in from rents in her hull that landers had made use of, and power had become irregular across the ship. Defending armsmen gave goodbyes under their breath to each other and to families back home as cultist mobs approached hastily erected defensive positions that no longer had something to protect.
The Khornate warship squadron had hid among the swarm of other Khornate vessels and pounced in concert on the lone, overextended Loyalist ship. The two Resolute Corvettes would have been mightier prizes but their focus had been on protecting the unarmed Escort Carrier for as long as possible in order to keep Combat Lighters in action against the continuing rain of Traitor forces, fighting in concert to ensure as many heretic soldiers as possible died instantly or stopping before they could fight the defenders.
The unarmored and almost unprotected transports suffered heavily for their dubious "bravery", losing nine of their number to the vicious brawl that had occurred in low orbit. But the mass of invaders forced the defending warships to cede control of the planetary orbit to the attackers, and the higher speed of the Khornate flagship, identified as the Claymore class Corvette Carmine Glory, prevented successful fleet in being tactics from being applied by the Calavans.
The void war fell into an uneasy quiet, as the Calavan ships outgunned the Claymore when it was alone and they were combined yet splitting apart to get around the ball of Traitor warships would risk one ship getting caught- indeed, this happened near the beginning when the insufficiently experienced Calavan officers tried to contest Khornate control of Bailafax orbit. The Armor of Hatred limped off to lick its wounds as the rest of the squadron coalesced to protect it's repairs. Yet while the Calavan ships had the means to repair minor damage or restore basic functionality to a system without leaving Bailafax the Khornates were not so fortunate, allowing the Loyalist ships to engage and destroy an incoming shipment of battle thralls while their escorts were in dock or out of position from lacking the numbers to put up a net large enough to discourage attack into the entirety of the volume the transports could have arrived in.
When the Carmine Glory left to rearm the entirety of the Third Naval Squadron made a pass through Bailafax orbit, isolating a Khornate combat ship and pummeling it into submission before retreating as every ship bore the scars of combat and having sent the message that the enemy was not safe now that the role of defender and attacker was in flux.
Bailafax burned. From the smoldering craters of slain voidships, to the mass pyres of slain cultists set by Bailafax natives out of memory of the last group of invaders, cultist forces uncaring of the damage their fratricides did to the world around them, and the settlements that were overrun by bloodthirsty fiends in the skin of men.
[Operation Result: Campaign Ongoing
Enemy Losses:
12x Civilian Transports
1x Armed Merchant
Minor to moderate damage on most of the Armed Merchants
Estimated 10 Armies killed to the last in orbit and on the ground. The equivalent of 4 remain active on the planetary surface and are slowly making gains against the defenders in exchange for ruinous casualties.
Friendly Losses:
AMM-7 Oskar's Tub
Heavy and Moderate damage to Resolutes (10M)
Moderate damage to the other AMM (8M)
Light damage to carrier and her wing (3M)
Increasing losses among the two Armies stationed here
Minor to Moderate civilian casualties]
1st Patrol Squadron, Second Patrol Squadron, 4th Calavar Infantry Army: Garrisons
It was a thankless task, the scouring of the trade routes between the portions of the fledgling realm. The most important task was shepherding the collection ships that would haul the production of the handful of worlds assigned to them back to Calavar for inclusion in the products of the shipyard there. Other vessels took great masses of humanity, recruiting among the downtrodden and preaching of the glories that awaited those who would give their lives in the service of their fellow Humans.
Some action was inevitable, as lone pirates nosed their way into areas that did not want them. Most were attracted to the great wealth of the collection convoys and were promptly set upon by Calavan warships. Others were more prudent and fed upon the scraps that were available on either the worlds themselves or their limited amount of independent transports.
[Results: Material and personnel continue to flow]
