The Beast Pirates are on the move, lead by Kaido, the strongest creature alive, and headed by the Lead Performers and their Tobiroppo, and headquartered in their mobile battleworld, Onigashima, they move to bring their proclaimed Greatest War to the Sith Empire. Their members are monstrous, with those that do not have Zoan devil fruits smiling and laughing even when they should be crying out in tremendous pain, with ships that are little less intimidating: being almost as large as those found in Big Mom's Armadas and being even more numerous, focussing on boarding over conventional void combat and often acting as much as landing platforms as conventional warships; but that does not mean that staying at range is all that much better, for their cannons are massive and their FTL is shockingly swift and precise for a group that is still mostly relying on non-artificial hyperspace routes. Having been seen leaving Wano, they are making as close of a beeline to Sith Space as they can make while starting out in the 'New Galaxy' part of the Grand Line. already, the Marines have actively mostly moved out of their way, instructed to only put up a token resistance, as the Celestial Empire has apparently been notified of the Beast Pirate's intent, and are perfectly happy with said course of action.
For all that they are making their way through Celestial-Empire space seemingly without attracting any marine presence, for all that they are practically avoiding raiding as they do, for all that they are hoping to launch a surprise attack, the Beast Pirates are anything but stealthy. No force that large really can be, especially when they are crawling their way through space, avoiding major hyperspace lanes as they go. And the Beast Pirates? For all that they proclaim their intent to launch a surprise attack upon the homeland of these would-be interlopers, are anything but stealthy. Indeed, they can be tracked as much by their daily broadcasts and their constant expeditions for yet more food and booze as by the actual reporting of the locations of their ships.
Indeed, for while this is not a giant festival, and is in fact meant to be an invasion force, the Beast Pirates regularly scheduled parties and broadcasted concerts proceed almost on schedule, if even less open to outsiders, and maybe a tiny bit subdued relative to what they otherwise been; nevertheless, Queen's concerts continue to echo through the airwaves even as the Beast Pirates move forwards to invade.
And so it goes, the Beast Pirates being anything but subtle even as they move forwards to launch a surprise invasion. And so, it the fact that the Sith know precisely where their chosen exit is, and have it mined and fortified to a rather extreme degree is quite frankly anything but a surprise in turn. Gravity well generators, massive fields of drifting mines, and countless long ranged weapons of assorted style and degree pointed at the one location where the Beast Pirates could emerge with any real degree of safety- a recipe for a slaughter if there ever was one. And so it was, but not as much of one as the Sith would have expected, for the Beast Pirates? While obvious in their movements, were anything but predictable.
The board was set, the actors were known. On one side, the Beast Pirates, lead by the 'Strongest Creature' on their side of the Red Wall, Kaido, howling and charging towards their doom like the pack of animals that they were.
On the other side, the forces of the Sith Empire. A large network of mines, traps and gravity wells set just out of sight through a one way door, backed up by rank after rank of ships, each armed with weapons simply perfect for taking on these larger, thicker in skin but weaker in armament, vessels. Yet more vessels of such or similar make await in the wings, ready to close the trap the moment that passes for a formation amongst the Beast Pirates falls apart; and behind all of these? Four massive octahedral vessels, backed up by yet another grouping of vessels almost identical in make and form to its farther forward compatriots. Here lies a death trap, ready to ensnare and kill the beast before mopping up the remnants.
Unfortunately, Kaido, while more than a Beast than a man, is not dumb, not truly, and the vessels under his command are all too used to bypassing blockades and fortifications to get at the more valuable loot found within; and so, with vessels built to jump far closer to a gravity well than anyone else might expect, Kaido did not emerge where he was expected, but instead immediately pounced upon the clear threat arrayed in front of him, brining the fight to the enemy in a method so direct that even the Sith didn't quite expect it. A few of the Beast Pirate's smaller ships crumpled, unable to withstand the intense gravity wells that they just jumped through and past, and others were left with slightly crumpled bulkheads and sometimes even mangled interiors, but who was kaido to care? After all, the weak had no place in Kaido's future world.
And so the Beast Pirates emerged, not where they were expected to, but amongst a rather large element of the Sith Empire's own forces. Brought to immediate battle, with Super Star Destroyers being rammed by their shockingly durable ramming oriented counterparts, and countless lesser vessels, Harrower and Terminus alike, being engaged in close combat by enemies that were all the more suited to this battlefield. Here was an expanding brawl, here was the war that Kaido dreamt of, a fight to end all fights, a conflict to end all conflicts, one in which him and his underlings could win glory everlasting. Unfortunately, Kaido was not the only one who was callous with lives.
All it took was a single word, uttered by one of the most ruthless men in this region of the galaxy, to end this conflict, along with the lives of millions of people. A single word uttered, and the universe screamed out in terror as not one Thought Bomb was unleashed, but four, four overlapping spheres of death that enveloped the vast, vast majority of the Beast Pirates' present forces, from the proud planetoid that is/was Onigashima, to their vast fleets or raiders, along with the entire battlegroup that they were engaged with. A massive zone of battle, rendered as cold and as lifeless as the grave.
A full 20% of the Sith Empire's present forces, sacrificed to take out the Beast Pirates in a single, final move, one that would cement their rule, and the horrors that they could unleash, for all to see.
It was not completely lifeless though, for amongst this ruin and devastation, three men stood, three men who were once the rulers of all that they surveyed, King, Queen, and Beastly ruler of their own petty kingdom. But the king had no subjects, the queen was an emancipated husk, and the Beast stood as alone as he always was. Queen was in no shape to fight, his bulk used up in fighting off the effects of the overlapping thought bombs; and so it came down to two men, nay, a man and a beast, to finish this fight. And two men does not a fleet equal, no matter how strong. And so, the fight had ended before it had truly begun.
But, despite having ended, the fight was not over. For Kaido was nothing if not a beast, and when you cross paths with a beast, are there ever any guarantees that you will not be mauled? The first to exit the dead planetoid was King, moving to valiantly sell his life for his lord. Moving at shockingly relativistic speeds through the void of space, cleaving his way through vessel after vessel with his blackened blade and impossible fire, he was struck down between one moment and the next the moment that the Emperor's Wrath decided that he would place himself in his projected path. Blitzing through, cleaving through another vessel, his flame drawn low by his sheer speed and the airless nature of the void, he was cut down by a single blow, striking with seemingly impossible precision in the time between eye turns. For while his path led him into the heart of the enemy fleet faster than they could get a lock onto his location, it also led him right to the one person who could end his rampage before it even truly began. (19(out of 20) on 'how well King does', then a natural one on 'where does King go')
And so Kaido was truly alone. A friendless beast, a Dragon still without true peers. And so alone he would fight, fight, fight until his dying breath, and beyond. Rage, Rage against the Dying of the light. And so he would fight. Onigashima, bereft of those who would man its engines, nevertheless starts moving again. Wreathed in impossible flame, it accelerates, and accelerates, and accelerates some more towards the heart of the Sith's formation. The Sith Fleet opens fire, Onigashima's shields break, then its surface is swiftly turned into a molten wreck, then is reduced to rubble as several fully charged Desolators open fire upon it. But that rubble does not disperse, and it does not slow down. Held together by the Will of a beast of a Dragon, by the Will of Kaido, by the will of a man using the core of all that he has built as a shield to get into just one more fight, one more chance to win glory before death.
But this is not to last, for he is but one man, one beastly man facing down one of the worst monsters that the Force has ever produced. And this man? This bonfire of Haki and Rage? Is a beacon in of himself; and so the guns of the fleet reorient, most switching from the semi-intact remains of a planetoid, to Kaido himself. But still he forges onwards. Silencers bathe him in light, but Kaido forges onwards, his newly polished scales shining under their otherwise deadly light. A fully charged Devastator fires, and yes he still forges onwards, shrugging off the shockingly small wound even as it swiftly heals and scars over. Eventually he reaches his target, and onigashima is thrown semi-whole into the prototype Midwan class worldship. It finally detonates, as the sheer amount of energy unleashed into its innards overcomes Kaido's will. It is a mutual kill, as the Worldship fails to escape the shockingly huge shockwave.
But for this, this final act? Kaido pays dearly, for several other fully charged Desolator shots land home even as Darth Nox reaches out across the void of space, and works to crush Kaido's spirit, will, and Soul. what precisely kills him, it is not known, for bereft of his will his body is rapidly vaporized by the remaining energies of the barrage that hit home mere moments earlier.
Total losses: the three present Sith Fleets take ~20% losses each, mainly from the manpower losses to the unleashed Thought Bombs; the prototype Midwan class worldship is damaged enough that what remains is only good for scrap
____________________________________________________________________ Situation Report:
The Floundering of the Celestials:
The Celestial Empire is crumbling from the outside inwards. Already, entire swaths of the Blues are abandoned by the rule of its law, those marines not lost to the collective madness ordered to withdraw just as they had forced the Pirates to flee a year earlier. As for those that were lost… they were no longer Marines, and were instead labeled as pirates just as those that they previously hunted were. In their place comes regiment after regiment, legion after legion, of robotic soldiers and highly isolated ships of the sort previously rarely ever seen outside of the Grand Line in previous months, years, and decades. They were here to restore peace and order at whatever cost necessary. They were here to exterminate the populace of entire worlds in the name of ending this madness.
But their actions, their forceful restoration of order through the most brutal means available, had consequences, as previously flagging support for the Revolutionary Army surges to an all time high as world after world, system after system within the Grand Line, declare their independence and throw their support behind the Revolutionary Army. this revolutionary movement reaches such a point where even Mariegeose itself gets hit with several 'terrorist' attacks, up to and including the destruction of several massive food production facilities and the freeing of hundreds of thousands of slaves.
Elsewhere, the realm of the Fishmen comes under attack, its king's daughter kidnapped and held for ransom… a situation resolved not by the intervention of the Royal Guard under the leadership of Jinbe, but by the brute intervention of several particularly massive Sea Kings, leaving only said daughter alive of all of those involved in the hostage situation.
Elsewhere, the Giants of Elbaf are seen leaving their ancestral homeland in actual numbers for the first time in almost a century, with repeated reports coming in of them scouring the second half of the Grand Line, searching for something, or someone, someone that they call Nika, a figure that shows up in myths and legends all throughout the region behind the Red Wall, and one that these Giants think has returned. Already, several of the worlds that they have visited have been destroyed, for whatever Nika is, the higher ups within the Celestial Empire do not want it to continue to exist, let alone be found.
In this tumultuous time, the sudden 'disappearance' and subsequent death of the vast, vast majority of the Beast Pirates, including Kaido himself, goes seemingly unnoticed.
_________________________________________________________________
The Secrets of an Empire:
The Galactic Empire is visibly preparing for war. Not necessarily directly with the Sith Empire, for the buildup in their galactic south(relatively north in this new, even larger galaxy) is at most around equal with that seen on the relative opposite side of the empire; instead though, the largest portion of the military buildup appears to be in the relative middle- in their galactic east, with the center of the overconcentration of forces being located somewhere near the cluster of black holes known as the Maw.
Naturally, this overconcentration of forces manages to draw the eye of Sith Intelligence, with agents being slowly moved into position to monitor the situation and figure out what is there. As for what they found… and active portal, to somewhere else in this massive galaxy, if not outright to another galaxy altogether. While none of the agents managed to get into position to covertly make their way through said portal, what they did manage to do is monitor the return of an expedition to the far side of it… or at least the remains of one.
The returning fleet is scarred, with large elements carrying clear battle damage, mainly from what is likely a mixture of plasma and kinetic weaponry. The fact that this Empire managed to find new foes on the other side is news in of itself, but what is even more important is the news about what, other than evidence of new enemies and the almost inevitable battle reports,battle reports that none of your agents were in position to intercept, was the relatively sparse news about the 'samples that they managed to recover from the other side. Whatever it is, it is held in extremely well isolated, well insulated and insanely durable, cargo containers, cargo containers emptied of atmosphere and heavy in the power usage. Eventually, the power usage was found to be going to several shockingly strong repulsorlift generators, as if they don't want whatever said containers are carrying to interact with any outside matter.
Further proving this is a number of traced and intercepted hyperspace communications, indicating how dangerous whatever material being transported is, with excuses ranging from extreme radioactivity, to it being some new, if currently unstable, form of hypermatter. Whatever it is, it covertly moves from hand to hand, from miliary-adjacent transportation company to military-adjacent transportation company, before covertly disappearing, departing on unmarked ships that could only be going into the Deep Core, at which point the agents lose track of the cargo. Whatever this stuff is, it is dangerous, and the Empire does not want to be experimenting with it in eyesight of anything remotely resembling the general public.
But outside of this odd news, and the still ongoing military buildup, the worst of their ire directed towards you appears to be in the form of a few propaganda videos, not of the sort that could swiftly lead into an excuse to go to war, but merely of the sort that cement in the eyes of the public that you are not to be trusted.
______________________________________________________________
Other reports come in, some more favorable, like the Federation finally managing to fully recover from the blow that the Covenant dealt it and building up their own military at an appreciable rate and the Unghoy's home world finally recovering from the ecological damage that was dealt to it before they even joined the Covenant; others, more negative in their connotations, as the Imperium increases its local tariffs and further increases its 'recruitment' efforts in response to the conflict to its east continuing to turn against them.
Most of the news is more mixed though, as the Sputnik confederation continues expand to your relative north-west and as the local races that you saved from pirates all those years ago, and have since inadvertently repeatedly inundated with your own military forces, send an expedition your way to declare themselves your vassal despite no real direct effort being put towards that end on the part of the Sith Empire.
Nevertheless, time passes onwards, and as the Sith ready themselves for the conflicts to come, they wonder what might actually come to threaten them in the future…
There is never really a quiet moment in the warring brother galaxies. Someone somewhere is dying as systems clash nearly constantly, looking for every scrap of available resource to become the one and only swarm within this nightmare hall. The demise of Stavorious has however, granted the Krork accolades and lauding, such a feat is rare and surely a sign of providence. To defeat the undefeatable and to, even if only for a moment, make the endless nightmare a little more bearable.
The Altran solicit the Krork for help in repairing the northern section of the wall to protect the refugees they collect like lost puppies in these galaxies as the annihilation of the prior protectors of northern front, the Jjaro, had mysteriously disappeared for reasons unknown but likely involving their efforts to close Lovecraft's Nightmare by understanding the power of Shaydari; leader of the Monochromites in this part of space from the satellites galaxy of Eksyr. The Jjaro had been immensely helpful in the defence of the Northern regions of space and their untold billions of refugee nations with their immensely powerful technologies, and their absence was keenly felt.
The keepers of Mandos lacked such a responsibility, but their own shell of allies gave them less buffer space in the face of being right between enormous numbers of Kroatanga and Sutaitazu. Buffer space that, following the brief reprieve brought about by Stavorious death, has once again descended into the usual pandemonium.
...
The Kroatanga, riled up by the imminent arrival of Kultzer the Slaughterking, are rising in greater numbers than before, with their Warfiends letting out bellowing calls for battle to their brute hordes. Their fleet hordes are moving with the intent to kill, drawn by the siren call of Kultzer's Battle-Aura and their sympathetic link to the Overkroat which swells with the anticipation of violence in the near future and enormous broad front invasions of many regions.
Something about the Krork in particular sets them off as the nearby Blitzkill Kroatangan Warhell attacks both the Vykondians and the Krork Fleet Communes as well as the nearby Sutaitazu, the Scrin, the Sum of All Fears, and Earth Custodianship. Under the "Joint Chiefs of Mass Murder", the Blitzkill Kroats are on a Kroatbash and are out to kill everything and everyone in proximity. Even Orks are not quite so insanely aggressive and more importantly, cruel. Whereas the Orks mean no malice, the Kroats in fact, do and relish in it; feeding off the suffering they cause to further bolster the Overkroat.
Their melee weapon shaped ships emerge from the Overkroat's Kroatfold drives that move the Kroat ships designed by the Blitzkill in the way they deem the Kroatmost; simply beating Space itself into a more convenient means of travel with the collective desire to kill of the Kroatanga. Their vessels emerge in numbers to be new fields of stars, always accompanied by the bulk of plentiful Kroatangan supercapitals such as the flanged axe shaped "Peacekiller" class Juggernauts that stretch slightly over a hundred kilometres.
Obnoxiously loud and almost ludicrously crunchy heavy metal broadcasts across all fronts as the initial Kroatangan probing Blitz starts opening fire on the first line of Krork citadel systems, many of their vessels sprouting legs and other landing strut systems to descend upon the worlds themselves and ram into their surfaces to disgorge the elements of Kroatangan bases and armies.
Wherever enough space had been cleared by the initial landers, the Kroatanga set up their cruel looking factories and static defences, power generators thrumming to life while harvesters immediately got to work with gathering raw materials. Kroatangan spores sought to creep forwards, fed on sheer violence and sadism as much as actual biomass or raw materials while they formed their fungal moss, much of it biometallic to better bind it with machinery that would start to roll out of the war factories or the troops that stomped out of the barracks to replace the ones killed in the initial assaults.
Tusked brutes and Lichenlike despoilers battled across the Northern sectors with savage violence, the Kroatanga seeming to sense that the Krork were once more like them and finding this...displeasing. To abandon war for its own sake, to regain the choice to not engage in war, to reclaim the ability to desire peace, all of these things were utterly obscene to the Kroatanga. Genocide, torture, war crimes, and sheer, unhinged violence were the game for the Kroatanga, and not wanting to play it anymore struck them as...disgusting. They had to be made like them once more, they had to get their heads in the game again, they had to become killers once more.
"You may have rejected war, but war will never reject you, maggot. Let's teach you the right way to kill again."
Nearby, the Sum of All fears that had easted upon the terror of a servile populace of mortals, deriving shape from what mortals feared went bump in the night behind their closed doors had been rolled over and replaced with new threat. Time itself had been detected freezing repeatedly, contorting at the will of the Scrin, but the advances of the Hive and the Technocyte Infestation also demanded attention. Crushing their way through large chunks of Sum of All Fears territories as they were focused on an invasion of the satellite galaxy of Seryk, these three brought themselves into general contact and awareness of the Krork as they ran into the Grand Hate and into Krork territory proper.
The Hive carries with it the mystical powers of the darkness and a corruptive, twisting influence surrounding them that defies much of what is understood to be causality, and their fanaticism brings them to war upon all things in the service of that darkness without pause or relenting. The Scrin have incredible technology and nearly matchless industry born of their mastery of Tiberium, and the Technocyte is an incredibly aggressive infectious agent that brings both flesh and metal into itself in terrifying new shape, with even small boils that manage to land upon new worlds needing to be purged to contain their incredibly aggressive spread.
The Technocyte at the very least, seems to fear extreme heat and corrosive gas, which acts upon the tiny techno-organisms that make up their body with great effectiveness, but their virulence means that similar protocols to dealing with the Devourer are put into place. Anything not specially immune is to be purged, though Orkoid biology resists being turned as surely as it does with similar plagues; the Technocyte shifts towards simply trying to devour the Krork and render them down into slurry with which they can infest more. Assets with personal shields and sealed super adamantium armour are the safest from them, and slayers are brought forth to help clear out infestations where possible, but the Technocyte can throw just about anything and everything it infects into its armies, giving its legions a frightful degree of diversity.
The Hive are eerie, and the way they fight brings to mind the forces of Chaos; particularly in how they rely on twisted magic, often teleporting directly into important infrastructure while corrupting others into their service by shifting them into dark realms or exposing them to a blight carried by sterile neutrinos. Infectious memes carrying their "sword logic" are also deployed to twist people towards the viewpoint of the Hive's endless legions, as the worm creatures feed of the violence that they enact in the darwinian contest to see who will be the last civilisation standing. There are key differences though, the Hive does not really seem to have daemons per se, nothing quite so unphysical. They have a magic yes, but it is not of the Warp.
The Hive definitely have titanic numbers though, often backed by their almighty gods who walk the material world. And they have a fondness for truly enormous ships, many as long as small planets are wide. All to carry forth their truly enormous hosts and war machines as they tear apart the universe to drench themselves in the sheer violence of an ultrafascist ideology that only the strong deserve to survive. They are in it for the pure and simple love of violence itself, a belief that conflict will winnow out everything that does not deserve to be there until only the final shape of a master race is left in the ash heap.
The Scrin are perhaps the most enigmatic to the Krork, unlike anything they've encountered before. A cult of addiction in the guise of a species, both dependent and based on Tiberium, a green crystal that they spread across the stars to harvest on a multigalactic scale to fuel an economic engine that the Multiterra alliance's records struggled to grasp. Masters of time and space and production, the Scrin casually utilise singularities as a form of propulsion and demonstrate incredibly advanced psychic powers able to override the thought processes of nearly anything to serve their inscrutable harvesting agenda. And their territory is notably regarded as virtually impervious as their core infrastructure is partially phased out of spacetime in a way that makes it essentially invulnerable.
Worsening things is their Threshold Towers that allow for en masse and instantaneous transport of any number of assets across their space, meaning that there is essentially never any flaw in their defensive. Any incursion at all into their territory will be met with everything needed to break the attackers and they can bring in reinforcements across every single instance of territory they control to allow for virtually instant reinforcement. To challenge them is to challenge a cancer that pretends to be a civilisation, a thing of industry and production whose hunger eats entire galaxies and has the patience to wait billlions of years to advance its economic agendas. A force to potentially rival the Krork's own productivity, and they were starting to probe into Krork territory.
...
To the east, the Wayfaring Scourge is continuing its march and is dispatching its mechanical fleetswarms into refugee space and into wars with the Multiterra alliance and Refugee Space. The terrain once protected by the Jjaro lies under threat from the robotic legions as the machines move in swarms to darken every star and cloud every sky. The machines ignore all attempts to bargain with them, and their response to the technological advantages of their foes over them is to call upon the weight of sheer numbers. When they are stripping down entire solar systems, even drawing from stars that they surround with starlifters while dyson swarms draw out their power into the basis for their "colonial army", they have numbers aplenty to commit to the fray.
They battle with the Prethoryn Scourge and the Alghollthu's Abyssal Scourge for supremacy and encroach deeper and deeper into refugee space with titanic armadas that test the combined armadas of the refugees on a daily basis, devouring worlds, people, and minds in a cataclysm of many spheres. The fleets being brought to bear are so catastrophic that the Autobots have brought in reinforcements via Space Bridge to help calm the situation to something resembling manageability in the face of multiple, simultaneous, competing apocalyptic events.
Most would write this off as the price of living in hell when so many countries have their borders closed to those of this place, fearful of luring in the monsters tied to their prey or that they may carry some ailment that would follow them back home. So many here lived with smaller scale afflictions of the stuff of horror novels, of cursed liminal spaces, of frightful beasts that crawled in their midsts, of dreadful maladies and more that the Altrans devoted constant resources towards helping with. Yet surely the great powers could help as well, if they just lent a hand. Yet their efforts here were always token, bandaids on the bleeding sore of a lived nightmare.
It is perhaps this that they summon and guide champions to their cause, those who can help protect the innocence of those who never asked to be part this terror. For all the suffering the Altrans have themselves suffered in the Celestial War, they refused to even countenance abandoning the people of the places cursed by the Pleromites, the Monochromites, and Strangers to experience this. Even as it was grinding their civilisation down day by day, they wouldn't back away, but that didn't mean that they would simply passively accept this fate without doing something about it.
The Altrans are, due to being busy with containing the Chronotherions, the Devils, Lovecraft's Nightmare, and the Beloved of Gold, asking you to help deal with their robot problem with a reward worth three hundred RP if you can, in tandem with the Multiterra, remove all Scourge territories in contact with refugee territories within the Cosmic Relative Year. This reward will be doubled if the Prethoryn Scourge are similarly made to either stand down or back off, as the Organic swarm probes the warring galaxies from below the galactic plane from a satellite galaxy they have infested for more expansion opportunities while a chance to triple it is offered if the Alghollthus are also dealt with and driven back to Lovecraft's nightmare.
Of course, dealing with both forces in such little time is a tall demand, even with Krork technological superiority; given the sheer numbers involved. But repairing the bastion around refugee space is the peak priority of the Altrans who wish to be able to retake the offensive but are unable to do so while such massive breaches in some of their most important territories are bleeding like vast sores.
Particularly problematic is that some of the exposed refugees are also turning towards the services of Hell and the legions of Chaos to protect them. The Nurglites are particularly active, feeding on the despair of the people of refugee space who, as they lose hope, seek to drag down this diseased, rotting universe with them. They battle with the Davothian Demons familiar to Multiterra, as well as the Devilspawn of the Hells of the Worlds Aflame in a melee in three parts that fights both themselves as well as the invading robots, organic aliens, and the crafted scions of the surreal realms of madness.
New strains of Nurglite Zombies that have taken...inspiration from some forms of plague transform the infected into in essence, daemonhosts who are bound to Nurgle and think along his lines in the great Rotthink, and these diseases often leak through wherever enough people have just given up and accepted the sevenfold whispers in the back of their minds whenever the Pentagram or the brand of Zaraniel had not reached them first.
Situation:
Magnitude Five Scrin Force is waging war in all directions near your Mandosi territories.
Magnitude Six Technocyte force is waging war in all directions near your Mandosi territories
Magnitude Six Hive Force is waging war in all directions near your Mandosi Territories
Magnitude Seven Kroatangan force is waging war in all directions near your Mandosi territories
Magnitude Five Grand Hate Force is waging war in all directions near your Mandosi territories
Magnitude 7 Wayfaring Scourge Force is battling Magnitude 6 Prethoryn Scourge Force and Magnitude 4 Alghollthu Abyssal Scourge Force near your Altran territories.
Magnitude Six Nurglite, Doom Demon, and Devil forces are attacking refugee space.
Available Allies:
Altran Theatre: Ascendancy of Altra (Magnitude 2, Ultra+), Autobot Democratic Star Republics (Magnitude 3, Ultra), Multiterra (Magnitude 4, Extremis)
Available RP: (Please inform me of how much you have to spend)
Available Mercenaries:
Even in the Colour War Galaxies there are those willing to sell their services to those in need of some hired muscle. Actually, a lot of people need people like these, and most people tend to be quite confident that they're definitely never going to die in this god forsaken place. You do have to have something of an inflated opinion of your odds of survival to be in this business after all. Furthermore, the Fallen Empires do have the means to summon more aid from other realities or elsewhere in the universe, it is how they've held out this long after the Celestial War, though they need resources for it.
Detachments
Tenno Grand Blade Alliance: These unusual techno-organic "warframes" and their peripheral equipment are often known as the "space ninjas" for good reason even if sometimes they are not exactly the picture of stealth. The starchildren who operate them gather in secretive relay stations and operate out of nearly undetectable orbiter craft as well as their railjack spaceships, making use of Necramechs, Archwings, and more to augment their tiny deployments of super-commandos.
Type: Warframe Clan Alliance
Specialty: Dueling/Assassination, Commando Ops, Stealth operations, Good against the Infestation, Esoterics
Weak In: Mass Combat, Open battlefields
Tier: Maximus
Cost: 5 RP
Eldar Void Raven Corsairs: Incredibly fast ships that move at speeds that would let them simply outrun the UNSC's SMAC rounds, elite warriors with reflexes to put Spartans to shame with weapons that operate at a level that you associate with the Foreruners and in much larger numbers than the Tenno, and incredible psychic and sorcerous powers can be yours, if you are willing to write and sign trade policies with the Eldar and swear to leave the worlds of the "untainted" Eldar alone as well as pay them their price.
Type: Eldar Corsairs
Specialty: Skirmish, Penetration, Exploitation, Pursuit/Withdrawal, GOTTA GO FAST, Raiding, killing people who thought they were safe, allows temporary (and strictly supervised) usage of the webway, Magic
Weaknesses: Poor at static combat, do not like being involved in clashes, casualty averse
Tier: Maximus
Cost: 5 RP
Guardians of the Light: These warriors are known for among other things, being obnoxiously hard to kill as they can be endlessly revived as long as their robotic companions are able to reach them, as well as the wide array of rather fantastical magical powers granted by what they call "the light" which seems to be a religious way of viewing the ideals of cooperation and togetherness under the bizarrely named "bomb logic". They include Humans, Robots, humans but blue, the insectoid Eliksnee, the Reptilian and powerfully built Cabal, and the rather aptly named "Psions".
Type: Destiny Guardians
Specialty: Esoterics, Raiding, Small to medium unit and swift vehicle Tactics, Good against the Hive, Looting everything not nailed down and then doing it fifty more times because the fucking gold won't drop god DAMN IT
Weaknesses: Lacking in large unit formations, struggles with very large enemies they can't board
Tier: Extremis
Cost: 3 RP
Clan Skarvald Jomsfear: Clan Skarvald are a storied clan of the United Omnist Clans under a polity known as the ODCOR. Its Jomsfear are an eclectic mix of troops, whose technology surpasses even your own or that of the Eldar. The Jomsfear specialise in killing monsters and cleansing berserker probes capable of rapid multiplication from even the smallest remnants, as well as sealing up reality distortions so that the terrain may be reclaimed.
Type: Uskarling Monster Hunters
Strong in: Anti-Monster combat, Reality restabilisation, Operational objective seizure, decapitation strikes, dealing with self replicating enemies
Weak In: Sophont combat
Tier: Ultra
Cost: 5 RP
Keluko Warriors: Also known as 'the angry coconut people', the small plantoid Keluko are known for having literally no fear mechanism and being quick to anger, particularly when injured. While this makes them somewhat poor guests, it also makes them very effective soldiers when combined with their tough woodlike carapaces and shells, despite being only half a human's height. It is perhaps unsurprising that they have found solid careers as mercenaries.
-- Focus: Shock, Clash, fighting anything fear or pain related, fighting in indoor spaces (they are quite small and have an easy time sneaking around after all), Commando and Stealth ops
--Weak in: Disengage/Extraction, overly impetuous
--Tier: Extremis
--Cost: 2 RP
The Black Company: Expert mercennaries who are committed to the long war against impossible odds, the Black Company takes in some of the cluster's finest knowing full well that they are likely to die hideously, but very often nobody else can be expected to take on this sort of dirty work, especially in do or die ops against monstrous armies or the most formidable of superweapos
Type: Hyperelite Mercenary Outfit
Strong in: Individual of Importance Assassination, Fighting in impossible odds, taking out superweapons and lynchpin units, highly diverse set of capabilities, Lords, Agents, and Heroes
Weak In: Conventional field ops
Tier: Maximus
Cost: 5 RP
Legends
The Observer: A deeply mysterious artificial intelligence that has many, many bodies that cluster around its large; sphere shaped frames. The Observer is a marvel of unknown artifice that as the name entails, can show up at random to observe and partake in the events of history with marvelous technology. Their singular craft and its parasite escorts as well as the smaller armatures it can deploy are usually enough, and its powers of analysis are backed up by out of this world firepower that works on weaponised manipulations of quantum physics.
Type: Singular formation centred around category 0 battleworld with technology surpassing the Stagnant ancients.
Specialty: Data Gathering, General Purpose Combat
Weak in: Holding territory
Cost: 15 RP, or 5 RP if you agree to allow it to observe your faction for five turns.
Spire: The Last Diamont, Spire is a progenitor warrior with a big heart of fiery lava and a great deal of empathy even for his enemies. A brilliant mind as well as a fantastic warrior with tremendous strength and an ability to assimilate the capabilities and equipment of others, Spire largely operates alone, but is very useful in many situations.
Type: Metroid Saga Progenitor Freelancer
Specialty: Individual of Importance Actions, Research, Exploration, Cannot be permanently killed
Weak In: Anything a single person would not be good at.
Cost: 2 RP, cost reduced if you are willing to take on a long term project to help him locate more diamonts, or at least verify what happened to the diamonts of his reality.
Samus Aran (Post-Dread): The Last Metroid, this is an older version of another person acting with Clan Grendakal, and a significantly more capable version of her at that. Older, wiser, stronger, better equipped, with a vampiric power to consume energy itself at huge scales matched only by her compassion.
Type: Metroid Saga Progenitor Freelancer
Specialty: Individual of Importance Actions, Research, Exploration, Cannot be permanently killed
Weak In: Anything a single person would not be good at.
Cost: 2 RP, cost waived to negligible if fighting those threatening civilians. Will not work with Kanden.
Sylux (Post-Dread) The Final Forminth, this is an older version of another person acting with Clan Grendakal, and a significantly more capable version of him at that. Older, wiser, stronger, better equipped, the reshaper and devourer of matter and the last son of Cylosis.
Type: Metroid Saga Progenitor Freelancer
Specialty: Individual of Importance Actions, Research, Exploration, Cannot be permanently killed
Weak In: Anything a single person would not be good at.
Cost: 2 RP, cost waived to negligible if fighting those threatening civilians.
Kanden: A violently unstable product of a laboratory's efforts to create its own progenitor warrior by blending together every predatory species they could get to work together upon the Enoema template, Kanden might be a bloodthirsty lunatic who leaves a trail of destruction wherever he goes, but he is very, very good at what he does and is an electric terror to machines in particular. Fitted with his gunship and some groupies who are awed by the Stormbringer's raw power and killing intent, he has come to kill things to demonstrate that his strength is without equal. On the other hand, as mentioned, he is a violently unstable psychopath driven mad by overactive predatory instincts and fundamentally everything reads as prey to him.
Type: Freelancer Hero and Cult
Strong in: Hero actions, if used for an assassination on a non-legend you can expect that person to mcfucking die (and everyone within a large radius to be frank, if used on the Krazal he will probably destroy the entire throne-ship and every single person on it while flying away laughing at the deaths of billions)
Weak In: Diplomacy, Anything a Single Person cannot do
Cost: 1 RP. Will not work with Spire, Sylux, or Samus.
Sixshot: You use Sixshot because you've looked at all options and decided that glassing it from orbit is too messy. Sixshot is a robotic alien mercenary and the president of a mercenary company that has already achieved a great reputation, particularly with the Terrorcrons who follow him around like embarrassing faboys who nevertheless have proven their worth many times over. Sixshot's company; Magnum Revolver; is specialised in widespread, mass scale, burn everything to the ground destruction, and Sixshot himself has armour made with mass-shifted degenerate matter which, in the extremely unlikely case it gets damaged, heals while his systems are powered by the expansion of the universe itself through dark energy. He has also has a rather eyebrow raising claim on his Social media which is even more eyebrow raisingly verified as true.
Darvageddon the Cerebromancer: A multiversal wandererer who seeks to understand both the psychic arts and magic, Darvageddon the Cerebromancer is an alien of a strange species concealed in armour, with cells that can all act as brain cells somehow without any loss in efficiency or any increase in caloric need. Their six arms weave powerful spells, while their great mind bubbles with tremendous power.
Type: Psionic Sorcerer & Acolytes
Strong in: Esoterics, Clairvoyance
Weak In: Unexpected Situations
Cost: 2 RP, cost halved if given an opportunity to study the Krork's knowledge
Erzamael, the Golden Herald: An Archangel of the Worlds aflame cosmology, Erzamael is one of the appointed Heralds of Ytaliana the Sun Goddess, and commands one of her Solar Hosts, an army of angels and solar spirits who battle with tremendous magical and narrative power. Known for being both impossibly good looking as well as immensely powerful, Erzamael has even directly challenged true knights of the Iridescent Legions on his own and has a host of fellow archangels who accompany him, as well as armies sworn solely to them.
Type: Worlds Aflame Divine Entity and Angelic Host
Specialty: Dueling, magic, narrative fuckery, healing, purifying things conceptually weak to the Sun, cannot be permanently killed
Weak In: Conceptual antithesis to sunlight, magomorphic fixed concept, anti-magic zones
Cost: 10 RP, cost reduced by half if you allow the faith of Ytanaer to be spread amidst your population, cost further reduced by half (up to just 2 RP) if your leadership accepts being converted to the faith of the Ytanaeya gods and the grace of the Solar Lady.
Tenno Grand Blade Alliance Inner Circle: These unusual techno-organic "warframes" and their peripheral equipment are often known as the "space ninjas" for good reason even if sometimes they are not exactly the picture of stealth. The starchildren who operate them gather in secretive relay stations and operate out of nearly undetectable orbiter craft as well as their railjack spaceships, making use of Necramechs, Archwings, and more to augment their tiny deployments of super-commandos. The inner circle is made of their very finest tenno, those who have demonstrated the greatest skill, have forged and mastered the best frames, equipment, weapons, and mods, and have developed their void powers the furthest.
Type: Warframe Clan Alliance
Specialty: Dueling/Assassination, Commando Ops, Stealth operations, Esoterics
Weak In: Mass Combat, Open battlefields
Cost: 2 RP
Fleethordes
Origin League Free Army: The free grineer of the Steel Meridian, the warbeasts of New Loka, the reformed Corpus of the Perrin Sequence, the Tenno cultists of the Arbiters of Hexis, the Assassins of the Red Veil, and the scholars of Cephalon Suda and more all pool their resources together to form the Origin League Free Army, perhaps not as far down the individual specialties of the Grineer, Infestation, or Corpus, but their mixed talents and the guidance of the Tenno allows for them to achieve great things all the name.
Type: Warframe Syndicate Alliance
Specialty: Rapid insertion, Boarding, Urban Warfare, Mobile Combat, Attrition
Weaknesses: Lacking in large vehicles, mediocre ground based artillery
Cost: 1.4* standard magnitude cost
Total Available: Up to half total magnitude of present forces
Tier: Extremis
Tremzarin Revolutionary Army Volunteer Corps: Soldiers of Tremzar eager to fight the good fight and put the newest weapons of the revolution to the test, these brave and perhaps foolhardy fighters are ready to put themselves in the crucible of the worst conflicts to be found in the supercluster.
Type: Tremzarin volunteer force
Specialty: Deep battle, Defence in Depth, Mechanised warfare, Capital ships, Robotics, Esoterics
Weaknesses: Only on loan from Tremzar, cannot be given commands contrary to Tremzar's interests, can be recalled if Tremzar needs them
Cost: 1.5* Standard magnitude cost
Total Available: Two Magnitude 3 Fleethordes
Tier: Maximus
The Solar Crusaders: Holy Warriors of Ytaliana and the Ytanaer, these soldiers are sworn to the causes their faith deems righteous and are relentless in their battle against the darkness enveloping these galaxies to the point of coming from another metaversal cluster entirely. Though their methods might seem somewhat retrograde, they are effective, and through magic they can punch far above their weight, especially as these are warriors from much more important worlds than Xarazanth.
Type: Fantasy crusader army
Specialty: Close combat, magic, anti-monster combat, endurance warfare, healing, resurrection
Weaknesses: Magic dependent, code of conduct, must stay in favour with their gods
Cost: 1.6* standard magnitude cost
Total Available: Up to present magnitude total, fleets may not exceed current krork largest fleethorde
Tier: Maximus
Fleethordes: Starmunch Ogor Tribe: The Ogors are huge and meaty near humans who like to eat huge and meaty things. Increasingly popular as mercenaries across this galaxy as they arrive in ever larger numbers because of their incredible fighting capability as well as their willingness to offer discounts as long as they are given food and a chance to eat the enemy dead. The Starmunch have specialised in eating energy and extremely hot things and are masters of the wind of fire, lead by the great Flamebeard the Devourer Devourer who had eaten a Stellarite Devourer himself; offering a huge selection of monsters, supremely powerful infantry and cavalry, and incredibly sturdy brick ships often nicknamed "tonkaships" in reference to some ancient name associated with toys.
Type: Ogre Mercenary Tribe
Specialty: Monster mash, War Engines, Superior Infantry, Clash, Shock, Penetration
Weak In: Skirmish, Strike Craft, Highly Confined battlefields
Cost: 1.5* standard magnitude, cost halved if you give them some territory points.
Total Available: Up to your current overall fleet magnitude.
Tier: Primus
GLA: The GLA offers plenty of mercenaries to those willing to front the bill for them, and their ability to macguyver just about anything should never be underestimated. Hit and run is the name of their game, as is stealing things from the foe and reverse engineering them to work with you.
Strong In: Skirmish, Exploitation, Salvage, Pursuit/Retreat, Sabotage, Terrorism, Stealth
Weak In: Straight up slugfest without a chance to engage in trickery, generally fragile units
Tier: Primus
Cost: 1* standard costs per magnitude
Number Available: Up to your current fleethorde magnitude total.
Psychotron Unlimited: Robotic Espers, Psychotron Unlimited is a group that primarily seeks to evolve itself in the furnace of the battlefield. With its widespread psychic powers and artful usage of debilitating methods of warfare to weaken a foe before even engaging, Psychotron Unlimited's battleframes have a surprisingly sagely and philosophical view towards war despite the rather ominous nature of their name.
Specialty: Esoteric power, Endurance, Brute Force, Adaptation
Weak in: Anti-magic environments, Getting Alpha Striked
Tier: Maximus
Cost: 1.5* standard costs per magnitude
Number available: Up to half your current fleethorde magnitude total
Eternal Empire
When the vampiric fleets retreated, they did so with promises of retribution and taunts that the men, women and children of the Unbound would be slaughtered like the cattle they were, bled dry in front of the ones who had dared to strike at their betters.
These promises were empty.
The Galactic Empire and the Guardians breathed sighs of relief as neither the Eternal Empire nor the collective warlords worshipping Chaos launched any more attacks into their space.
However, they could not trust this stroke of good fortune and rest on their laurels. The Guardians, backed by the Empire, performed a number of infiltration actions and raids that revealed why the attention of their foes had turned elsewhere.
In the Eastern front of their war the Eternal Empire took dramatic losses to simply preserve their current borders, with their gargantuan industry and shipyards bent towards recreating their legions and their arms. In a somewhat expected detail, the supposed deaths of the Admiral-Counts were quite temporary. Their lives, or undeaths, were not free of consequences for their failed invasion however. They had been summoned from their Manors by the Emperor to be publicly reprimanded for incompetence - not only losing valuable material of the Empire including their flagships but on top of that losing them to rebellious commoners. They continue to hold their positions as the fleets are ultimately replaceable but are to be held in disgrace.
The task of guarding the border between the Alliance and Eternal Empire has been taken up by an order of warriors that won acclaim in the war in the East. They are known by the serfs as the Void Knights. These forces are near-exclusively composed of hardened veterans, but were terribly bloodied and in no position to attack even if their commander was gripped by that thought.
Chaos Warbands
Actions spoke louder than words when it came to understanding what the Chaotic legions were occupying themselves with. Their fleets were drawn South to harvest an exotic material of unknown origin. Only the elite of the elites have been equipped with it, but it has proven to make extremely durable armour that is able to completely absorb kinetic energy in its most common variant. It comes in rare sub variants that deteriorate metals to nothing on contact, alongside a variety of other esoteric abilities.
The Bands have been expanding voraciously to set up mining sites and ritual sites to pull in more warriors and slaves after their initial attempts at raiding had limited at best success. They are making deals with shadowy entities behind the scenes for greater power. Many of the warlords are telling their minions that an even greater prize is hidden to the South. Something that just the mere promise of has loosened the hidden purse strings of the gods.
Or so the gibbering and/or maniacal boasts claim.
Western Front
To the West the Galactic Empire has reported another space borne species that so far has remained elusive. Red-black insectoid looking vessels heavily armed with beam weapons and a sophisticated assortment of strikecraft. The Empire has not attempted to contact the vessels yet suspect hostile intent.
Northern Front
RDA
The RDA, already paranoid, has gone silent in a rather sudden and abrupt manner. They summoned our contacts and announced vocally and in a curiously exaggerated manner that they had been given a better offer and that Unbound association with 'unsavoury organisations' threatened the ideals that they stood for and expelled the Unbound diplomatic agents from their space.
The only hints for why this happened is that shortly before the breakdown of relations contacts had given them information of the joint operation with the Men of Iron to eliminate the Flood; and detection of more modern FTL signatures further to the East.
Crystal Entities
The situation in the North has become tense in the coming year. The Crystalline entities are preparing to move into the last of their former nests to contest the announced Taros expedition of unknown size and power and are hoping for the support of the Unbound.
Unfortunately, the necromantic sorcerers that form the cores of their armies have unknown capabilities but it has been predicted that the bulk of the fighting to secure the old nests will occur on the ground. Due to the alien force composition it is also uncertain how many forces will be present in this conflict with the general feeling that this battle will set the tone and approach of future dealings with what is suspected to be the target of the brewing Creon crusade.
It should also be noted that planetoid size Crystals are desperate to get the last of their homes back since they are smelling what has been termed 'yellow infection/parasites/illness'. Given that space does not have a medium to transmit smell no one has been able to explain this.
Additionally, there have been curious ghost transmissions that seem to match Vaygr and Taiidan signatures. Lord Maakan has requested that said transmissions be sent to him and those under his command only, saying that he suspects that they might be encrypted.
Internal Conflicts:
The successes of the past couple of years have allowed certain factions within the Unbound's coalition to start pushing their own priorities.
Lord Maakan of the Vaygr and several Taiidan captains have been listening to news and stories from the EDF and events of the other side of the Galaxy. Specifically, the dramatic tale of the fall of, wonder of wonders, another Taiidan empire. Although much of it is suspected to be highly distorted through the longest game of telephone, the people have petitioned that an offer of safe haven be sent to those that might make it through the violent chaos of this new Galaxy to start over again in relative safety. There are those who do not think that this will be successful but many of those of imperial descent want to make an attempt.
Lord Maakan himself seems to sense opportunity here and in the realm of the Eternal Empire. Despite the prior difficulty that his forces faced fighting them, many of those under his command have gained confidence now that they know of the capabilities of the undead. The vast populace of serfs should be easy to control if the Vampires are eliminated. Though it goes unsaid many of Maakan's critics think that he sees the Vaygr reborn in the rubble of the Ebony Throne.
On the other side of the newly acquired territory of the Unbound, the Somtaaw have been invigorated by the victories that were won the previous year. Many bits of propaganda have been created to immortalise the victory over the Flood, the cleansing of both the Gates, and the fall of the Old and New Kett. Their dreams of retaking Hiigara no longer seem impossible and for some is turning into an obsession. While they have not forgotten the threat that the Beast ultimately represents and will admit that the Unbound are not ready for such an undertaking, many have started to camp around the Gate that the Flood disabled and are working to understand it with the belief that it could be modified and used as an invasion route back home.
RP Available: 244
Unbound Controlled Space:
J4 North West, West North East, and East: The collective peoples that the Unbound represent continue to make new homes for themselves and settle themselves according to their own customs, although the majority of their newly claimed space lies empty except for war wreckage and sterilized worlds, Their chief subsector continues to grow now looking like a miniature version of their home galaxy, although with greater cross cultural enclaves that continue to grow as the refugee populations continue to start to breathe easier. In the West of J4 lies the Connectionless Gate that has become the centre of scientific attention.
Crystalline Nests:
J4 North, J3 South West: These regions of space are mostly empty of sapient life, save for the odd resource operation or monitoring post. That's because the top dog in this sector is some form of immense crystalline lifeform, shaped almost like three-dimensional snowflakes with varying proportions and sizes. They evidently grow out of 'seeded' asteroids and moons, and feed on energy and matter from solar flares and ejections from stars, as well as the magnetic fields and emissions of gas giants. Some of these crystalline entities can become as massive as planetoids in and of themselves, and they are present in the vast majority of systems in this cluster.
Galactic Imperial territory and mysterious Arcology:
J4 Center: In the J4 Center subsector, there appears to be city-sized arcology-like structures of unknown design embedded across several hundred planets and moons. Unlike the blasted ruins of prior civilizations seen up to now, these structures appear to be pristine, as if being actively maintained, but there appear to be no inhabitants or other obvious activity.
These Arcologies are now the centre of the Galactic Empire archaeological efforts amongst the ruins of the Kett.
The Galactic Empire:
J4 South West: This space is held by the Galactic Empire, another Outverser faction that is entirely human. They appear to be a constitutional empire of sorts, one with perhaps the largest and most well-organised naval force in the region. While their technology isn't as sophisticated or exotic as the Alliance of Sol, nor do they have any apparent supernatural abilities, their military discipline and tactical acumen, along with sheer quantity of line ships, makes them a formidable force. Notably, despite their imperial aesthetic, they also appear to be aiding civilian refugees, though much more cautiously than the Alliance, and are actively holding the line against Chaos and other hostiles. Slowly seeking to become one of the first new members of the Alliance.
Chaos Warbands:
J4 South: This area of space has been taken over by a self-proclaimed Warband of Chaos Undivided. They appear to be primarily human, though often with grotesque mutations or cybernetic augmentations. Their ships, vehicles and weapons appear designed to be as visually terrifying as possible, riddled with skulls and spikes and other predatory features. Put plainly, they are insane cult fanatics who worship the Gods of Chaos, avatars of human qualities taken to utterly destructive and evil extremes. Death sacrifices and ritual mutilation are incredibly common.
Worse yet, in spite of their fanaticism, their technology is quite powerful, and some of their number are capable of wielding supernatural powers like the Guardians. Perhaps the most alarming factor is that they actively summon a wide variety of demon-like entities to bolster their forces, and there appear to be many areas of abnormal space in their territory in which these beings can cross over into this reality en masse. They seek to tear down any other civilizations and either convert the survivors to their mad religion, or subjugate them to fuel their war machine.
Alliance of Sol:
J4 Southeast: Populating this region is the Alliance of Sol, a defensive confederation composed of humans and three other species, the Eliksni, the Cabal, and the Psions. In addition to sporting advanced technology, certain elite units called Guardians are capable of wielding a power they call the Light, which appears to be outright magic. They can call down lightning and solar fire, bend gravity, leap and levitate vast distances, and demonstrate physically impossible strength, among other myriad feats. The Psions also have their own separate abilities, and they are no less miraculous despite being more limited in scope. It's been confirmed that the Alliance are aiding nearby refugees and are actively at war with Chaos and the Eternal Empire and are recovering from the invasion last turn.
Abandoned Nests:
J3 South: This remaining Sub-sector is filled with worlds and other celestial objects of clearly the same make as the crystal creatures you have been interacting with. This territory is filled with minor mining elements from the Pirate Pyrotaurus and an unknown group of humans wielding powers that you cannot explain. The Crystal creatures constantly make forays into the territory to only be hunted back by one of the two groups. A coming battle will be fought here between the Crystalline Entities and the Kingdom of Taros that the Unbound are expected to assist in.
Empty Space…:
J3 Southeast: Seemingly Virgin territory that is avoided by civilization and Fauna alike. Scouts have been able to pass through unharmed, but something feels off.
The Creon Empire:
K3 South East: A nation of Steam, Metal and a tinge of hypocrisy. This is land and civilization bent on a crusade against magic at the words of The Sage. Their abilities to construct and summon warriors and machines seems to equal your own industrial capabilities, and thankfully seem to operate at the same tonnage as you do. They have a preference for strike craft and strike craft like larger ships. They will eventually turn their attention to the Unbound in due time to help fund and fuel their crusade.
Subsector of the Apes:
K4 Northwest: A series of pre-space flight Civilizations ranging from the mediaeval to modern to post apocalyptic in technology levels that are populated by Sapient Primates including Orangutans, Chimpanzees, and Gorillas. The Men of Lang have recently taken an interest in the sector trading Moon Gems in massive quantities for seemingly random products. And with that exotic energies in the region have steadily been increasing.
The Men of Leng:
K4 West: Reports of this region are confusing and nonsensical, working on dream logic than anything else, the inhabitants seem eager to trade and concerned about events happening further into the Sector as the Moon-Kings battle the Iron Hypocrites and The Machine that Keeps the Sleeper Dreaming. Recently a large gathering of the more organised entities known as the Men of Leng have been gathering in preparation for something to protect themselves from the threats to their East.
The Eternal Empire of Mankind/The Ebony Throne:
K4 Southwest: A vast empire of Human and more specifically Vampiric Supremacist Fiefdoms ruled by Magical superhumans that feed on blood in massive ships. At best they care little for welfare of the cattle that they rule and those 'lost in the wilderness' and at worst are better left unsaid. While the Emperor and many of the more Powerful Elector Admirals are concerned with unsaid events to the east those that lord over the territories in the West see this as an opportunity to expand their holdings.
Mercenaries:
Due to the vast resources and the high intensity of the conflict elsewhere in the system, the Unbound has been unable to compete for any contracts of the mercenary companies, warbands or Pirate fleets that would normally be plentiful in the region of space. In fact some of the more aggressive private investigation services have been hired and then kidnapped to serve in the Vampire's armies.
However Lord Makaan has been reached by an unusual request by something akin to the Men of Leng. During a dream the Vaygr appeared in a luscious palace of imperial design that features a primarily red colour scheme. They were addressed as Sajuuk-Khar by a being of shadow that could only be seen by the red glow of their eye. They addressed him warmly, congratulating him on his victory and thanking him for his unintended assistance in accomplishing their goal. And to continue to transform their unintentional partnership into an intentional one, an offer was made.
They offered a series of warriors specialised in 'returning those that have forestalled their reward to their proper place'. All that they would require in payment would be specific individuals either alive or dead to be handed over to them.
A small piece of strange leather with markings was handed over to the Lord and he was told that if he accepted the deal that all he would need to do would be to construct the ritual site found on the scroll. And he would be guaranteed a force loyal to him alone that would be just as effective at protecting him and his ships as the Guardians had been.
A Mysterious Contract - 10 RP
Focus: Anti-Legend, Assassination, Boarding and Duelists. Elite Infantry on the whole with Super Soldier tier units serving as Makaan's personal guard.
Amidst the chaos of the Tohx civil war, the Core fleets find a safe passage. Safe because the Orks smashed them on their breakout voyage and the Tohx haven't bothered restoring the traps and other defenses that should be there but safe nonetheless. They arrive at a system where the competing ArchDuke and Great Baronry are attempting to reunite the Tohx under their banners through a ritualistic competition at what used to be a treasure hoard or fortress of the Tohx.
As such the battle is centered around a derelict artificial planet and a number of Deathworlds of various types, that also show signs of minor feral Ork infestations with an oddly high number of Weirdboys.
Enemy Forces have made the following adaptations:
The Thorncaster Warsire
This side has looted D-Guns and Votann Void shields. They have managed to disseminate them out quite far making even their infantry a threat to CORE armour but they have been unable to scale them up, so their forces are lopsided in favour of line infantry and snipers. Observations show that the secondhand D-Guns are weaker than authentic ones - they massively damage targets struck, but don't instantly disintegrate them.
CORE analysis and recent skirmishes have shown that these forces are relying on hit and run tactics to preserve the void shields and focusing on their alpha strike advantage, having a particularly strong Skirmish and Bombardment phase in space combat, although due to the particularities of Tohx politics much less Strikecraft and War Engines as most of the Nobility went to their competitor the House of the Alba Rose.
Of particular note on the ground a stratagem needs to be designed to protect Core resource gathering operations which have been targeted by stealth runners and particularly obsessive Tohx specimens sniping fusion reactors & key structures to prevent and delay establishing a foothold. Tactics when Core bases are built consist of lines of plinth helmeted serfs and freemen sprinting or flying in, firing volleys of D-Gun shots into the robotic lines and then retreating as their weapons recharge. This seems to be limited by the amount of power that each individual Tohx can carry, making the infantry scale weapons more in line with ancient muskets, needing about a minute or two before they can be fired again. The extra power packs carried for the D-Guns are explosive, and once the shields fall lead to the quick and violent deaths of the holders.
The House of the Alba Rose
This side has CORE armour and basic looted weapons but the Warsire has a Flux based medical device stolen from the Theocracy. This has been pushed to its limit to inflate the number of Nobles that they have due to its ability to resurrect even completely obliterated specimens. The power to defy death has become fashionable amongst the elites with the Paladins, Tohx that have grown to the scale of most CORE starships and act as elite strike fighters, using them to repeatedly bring back other flyers as they engage in close combat with CORE heavy units.
The tactical difficulties that have resulted from the proliferation of this technology are the ability to out skirmish Core space forces and to decisively win the clash now that they are using higher tier armour - with their resurrection ability allowing them to endure attritional combat with the CORE on a equal footing as long as they keep winning.
This extends to ground combat as well as the Paladin Knights and Nobles are able to face the Krogoth and beat it with the technology stolen from the CORE. However due to the nature of the unknown Theocracy device their Lowborn, while improved enough to evenly face their CORE counterparts, have not changed that much and it is expected that armoured divisions will be decisive in combat.
Both Tohx factions expect a fight with the other but will put aside their differences once the presence of an outsider is detected.
System composition - Outer to Inner Worlds
Arctic world that is covered by frigid oceans filled with sea monsters, chilly tundra and flat open plains.
Resources: High energy, low metal
Occupied by: Thorncaster garrison
Jungle world with ice-capped polar regions, swamps with threaded with lots of rivers but no open oceans
Resources: Balanced resources
Occupied by: Alba Rose garrison
Asteroid belt, requires space focused combat
Resources: High metal, low energy, insufficient energy here to contest Space Force
Occupied by: Low amounts of both factions
War ravaged world
Resources: High energy lots of reclaim, High metal from Reclaim (faster start)
Occupied by: Alba Rose garrison with Beast Ork remnants
Throneworld - Artificial planet high in resources, terrain within favours hit and run tactics and stealthy surprise attacks from both up close and afar. Greatly favours the Tohx here
Resources: High metal, high energy
Occupied by: Bulk of hostile forces and the two targets, two draconic Tohx the size of local Battleships known as Warsires that hold the original copies of the looted tech spread through their forces.
Molten World, close enough to the start that the ground will melt sporadically and solar winds will short electronics that are not highly shielded
Resources: High Metal, High Energy, Highly Noticeable start,.
Occupied by: Burrowing hostile wildlife and both Tohx factions
Sitrep:
Targets for decapitation strikes are both at the Throneworld and may be lured out, they are unlikely to flee while the other one is alive but may make a break for it if the other falls and the CORE has an overwhelming advantage. Defeating or otherwise removing only one target is a critical failure condition.
One Commander per fleethoard committed to the action and no reinforcements will enter the field.
Deploy more than one per fleethoard here and Tohx from both subfactions will enter the field and attack the CORE as they push inwards with more being deployed in proportion to the invading force.
Opposition:
2 Maximus mag 1 fleet hoards
The Comet's Arrival
The ARM knockoffs known as the White Comet Empire have keyed into the signal from the Reliquary and their entire fleet has attacked CORE space. They seem to be disoriented and lacking key knowledge of the local territory but have centred their strike on the Precursor site and the surrounding CORE bases.
A number of separate fleets headed by a singular vessel of about 12 km have made individual forays out of the nebula, 5 in total.
The standard ships of the WC Navy are of a similar weight class as the CORE's current designs, however their armour and offensive capabilities are weaker. The only offensive edge they have on the Core comes from a weapon system called the Flamestrike cannon that displays exotic energies when firing and has long effective range.
There are an extreme number of ships in each fleet, enough so that they are predicted to be able to maintain numerical superiority even in the face of fully developed defensive positions. At least initially.
The main problem is what intercepted transmissions are calling 'The Ark of Destruction'. This Gas planet sized ship has been confirmed to have a focus on shielding, evident by the swirling white gas bands which serve as the outer layers of the craft. It is the Core of the Gatlantians industrial sphere, growing their new ships at a slow but reasonable rate. It also acts as an enormous carrier carrying millions of combat vessels and multiple smaller worlds within. It is capable of consuming planets itself to use for construction materials. Its design is unlike that of the rest of the Empire's technology so it is suspected to be of Precursor design, with possibly more unknown capabilities.
Their ground forces have genetic enhancements for different closely related soldier variants and an inbuilt suicide bomb in every individual. They also possess powers similar to that has been observed in the Theocracy, making their armies fearsome to normal humans. However, due to the lack of heavy combat units, a focus on orbital units and slow growing units their armies might as well not exist when in contact with the CORE. The CORE is also immune to their infiltration tactics of creating a clone with a pattern taken from a living or dead prisoner due to their non biological nature.
The ARM comparisons are rife indeed, however the Gatlantians have a different ideology. Now that they are closer, the monologues of the Great Emperor Zworder are clearer, as are the motives of the Gatlantis Empire. He views love as the root of all conflict, and wishes to exterminate it from the universe by wiping out humanity through an eternal crusade across the stars. He speaks on about a journey from one hell to the next, from being trapped in a nightmarish time loop watched by a baleful red eye, to coming under constant attack from eldritch machines and their cultists, then emergences of cults out of nowhere that attacked with seemingly immortal soldiers that transformed into just as unkillable demonic centipedes when they were reduced to ashes.
The Emperor feared that they would be doomed to forever roam from one hell to the next, but now that they have found the Reliquary there is the chance for them all to continue their crusade against love. Or at least to die with honour and not be trapped in another hell after life.
"The only path to True Love, True Peace, is through human extinction."
Five prong attack all heading towards the Reliquary system as they come out of the nebula and direct themselves for the honour of capturing their protection from Love. There are about 10 systems between them and the Reliquary with overlap at certain points as they get closer.
The first five or six systems in each path are in systems with a singular rocky world or even just an asteroid field.
Then they converge into two paths along 3 systems that do not yet have CORE civilian infrastructure but do have multiple rocky planets, one or two Gas giants and outer asteroid belts.
From there there are two occupied systems of the CORE, with additional factories but non-combat patterns that need to be moved from the fighting, something that is already underway but needs time to complete.
Finally there is the Reliquary itself a fortress system with major CORE Infrastructure, while the surrounding buildup of the CORE is not yet of the Old levels of CORE PRIME the forces that are stationed or fall back here will have nigh infinite resources to fight to the death. On top of that the old defenders will come into play here as well, although the political fallout of such a deployment is unknown with many not wishing to find out.
Opposition:
5 mag 1 extremis fleets
1 unknown Cat 2 planetoid
[The Core has sufficient RP to activate the We'll Be Back trait if desired]
A Cataclysmic Blow:
It starts with a flash of cataclysmic light, then two, then twenty, as stars within the region of space that not all that long ago were the Empire's colonies(now yours) undergo a core-collapse supernova; supernovae induced in stars that had barely started burning carbon if they were even out of their initial Hydrogen phase, and stars with too little mass to ever naturally undergo such an event. More importantly, each of these stars is host to a former colony of the Galactic Empire, each in the process of being modernized up to more modern standards of defense and quality of life.
Within hours, the source is identified, as packet after packet of impossibly high energy photons traveling within pockets/corridors of altered light-speed impact star after star, each one adding just that little bit more energy, just that little bit more mass, into the equation. Soon enough though this relatively inefficient method is partially abandoned, slowing down even as more carefully aimed shots strike the colonies more directly, each drastically increasing the mass of its targeted world even as said world erupts into a ball of plasma and vaporized rock. Here and there planetary shields interrupt the path of the shot, and it is there where the final truth of the effect is proven, as sudden moderate-mass Kugelblitz's form at the site of impact before steadily radiating away even as they tear away at anything and everything nearby that is not sufficiently protected from such an effect.
Soon, some initial expeditionary forces are gathered and sent out, as the Clan readies itself for war and as wave after wave of probes is sent out to identify where this attack came from. Fortunately, their relative point of origin is identified swiftly, as said attacks are originating from a series of still frighteningly indistinct regions within the 'Dark Forest' region of space that you did some preliminary scouting of not all that long ago.
Unfortunately, this is where the good news stops, as several forward deployed military groups suddenly go silent. When the cause is investigated, the systems in question, a half dozen of them all told, are seen to be gone, the very space that they were occupying effectively erased from existence. Fortunately, no more such system erasures seem to be coming, even as more of the Clan's relief-ships move into the area and as a whole host of other 'civilian' vessels move in to evacuate most of the local population to somewhere at least somewhat safer. Even the bombardment of hyper-energy photon packets seems to stop, as if many of their launch platforms are now needing to take an extended break to 'reload' and re-gather the sheer amount of energy required.
and yet... no follow up blow occurs, no incoming fleets, no resumed bombardment; instead, only silence. forward elements of the Clan's initial response forces are soon entering the relatively desolate region of space that this attack came from, following behind a newly launched wave of probes. what they find is mostly the same stuff as before, as such damage does not simply go away; but as they reach its deepest reaches, the areas in which the first wave of scouts were swiftly eliminated, they are instead able to travel onwards, unimpeded. there they find system after system shielded in their entirety, hidden from the wider universe behind layers of shifted time when they aren't outright very clearly compacted into several pocket dimensions. and from these bastions, from these isolated, almost completely hidden areas, comes actual communication. first contact packages abound, as the previously silent region of space slowly fills with actual efforts to communicate; both with you, and with each other. as for what they're communicating about? they are communicating about a tide of green, a machine built to bring war and all of its cruelty to all that it surveys, and of the despirate attempts of those within the easternmost area of this transported region of space to hold them back.
they speak of an army know no fear, that see the lost of well over 50% of their forces as just an invitation to press the attack. they speak of entities that they consider to be almost as bad as, and vastly more aggressive than, those that forced this 'dark forest' situation upon them in the first place, they whisper of the War-Marchers, and how they're perfectly willing to scour the stars in search of the otherwise hidden realms that these people call home.
and so they are scared; and while their first response to said fear was to hide, they found that that would not be enough to deal with this threat. and so, in their fear they did the one thing that they fear more than the hunter in the dark itself: reach out and actually talk with others. and so while some amongst them have continued to lash out at anyone and everyone, many amongst their number have decided that it is time to one again try to resolve things via actual diplomacy.
as for their diplomatic message? we're sorry. please help us.
the people of the Dark Forest are under attack by Kroatangans, and have actually asked for help in dealing with this threat, which is a drastically different thing relative to what their earlier response to your probes was.
but before switching to defend themselves, they had lashed out in your general direction and badly mauled your recently gained Colonies
what do you do?
ooc: if you don't answer their cry for help, someone else will, and you might not like the results of that
Trouble on the Horizon:
And yet, for all of the suddenness and extremeness of this new invasion, those amongst your number who can predict the future are all seemingly blinded, as all attempts to divine what is to come all only reveal a singular image: one of black, glistening oil, spreading to consume all, and be consumed in turn; for within the image of black, glistening oil, lies a tint of Gold.
East: beyond its northernmost reaches, which are as devastated as almost any other region bordering the Dark Forest, here lies a region at war with itself, as robots, often disguised as other machines, are engaged in a civil war of seemingly long forgotten origins. The sides of this war have been many, and have gone through multiple name changes over the eons as their reasons for continuing to fight shift and change, but for now the combatants are called the Autobots and Decepticons, one on the side of "upholding truth and justice through the galaxy", the other wanting to fully conquer and rebuild their long since devastated home megastructure, acquiring enough 'energon' to restore its long dormant subsystems and bring back their home to the hights that it once was at, progressing technology, and destroying their enemies, not precisely in that order.
Before arriving here, their fight was mostly contained to Cybertron itself and the rest of their empire of old; but with their arrival in this new galaxy came new worlds, new systems, and new chances to turn the tide in their favor. Sadly, this has failed to alleviate the growing stalemate, for wherever one goes, the other soon follows, seeking to disrupt the plans of their hated enemy.
This ongoing civil war seems to have not abated in both intent and intensity, as while systems constantly shift and change hands, as while one side or the other wins one victory or another, the overall situation seems to still be a stalemate, one that will likely not be resolved one way or another for a very, very long time without external input.
even worse, there is mounting evidence that someone, or something, wants this civil war to continue, as whenever one side manages to get an actual advantage the other side mysteriously comes across some information that manages to tilt the path of this war back in their favor.
something is interfering with the ongoing cybertronian civil war, wishing for it to continue indefinately
there is a massive threat looming on the horizon, and having the Cybertronian civil war be resolved, or at least much closer to such a state, when it arrives would be a massive help, for despite the ongoing industrial degradation and the almost complete lack of maintenance work caused by this ongoing conflict their overall technology level is not all that much lower than your own, and their experience in warfare is all too clear.
OOC: Megatron has only relatively recently(in the grand scheme of the multi million year long civil war) forgotten why he started this civil war in the first place, and the Autobots, while no longer the enforcers of the old regime, have yet to fully become what they eventually did in the OTL, and Optimus Prime has yet to become a Prime, let alone receive the Mantle of Leadership
Yashigani Empire outpost: after losing contact with their parent empire some 30 or so years ago, these giant coconut decapod crustaceans(coconut crabs) went into full isolation mode, refusing to leave the area that they had only recently claimed while fortifying the region to an ever more ridiculous level. These five meter tall sentient coconut crabs still consider themselves the Yashigani Empire, although they have long since stopped expanding and have long since isolated themselves from the wider galaxy. They also enjoy building shells around their worlds, going well above and beyond what anyone would consider necessary out of a cultural-level fear of whatever seemingly destroyed their parent empire. This buildup has served them well in recent years, as the arrival of the Kakmorak Regnum would have otherwise long since doomed them to lives of servitude. But even this level of buildup was not enough to stop the Regnum's steady advance, for all the defenses in the universe if those controlling said defenses get controlled themselves. They have already lost half of their territory, and would have been been doomed to lose the rest if it wasn't for a recent streak of good luck, for they managed to somehow get in contact with their parent policy, and have since built a portal back to their homeland, through which additional reinforcements and resources are now flowing through.
The Yashigani outpost seems to be doing well, as despite its seeming technological and numerical inferiority it seems to be pushing back the Kakmorak Regnum, at least for now; how long this situation will last, no one knows.
The Sixth World: a still expanding and developing corporate dystopia, this realm has refused the advance of the Regnum through sheer stubbornness and magical prowess, as those from the very bottom of society to the very tops of their megacorporations have for once actually become united in purpose, for both the Dragons above and the Shadowrunners below wish to be free to do what they will. (Shadowrun in space, more information will require more scouting due to them being discovered relatively late in this action, what with them being on the other side of some hostiles)
They too are under attack by the Kakmorak Regnum, and they too seem to be holding their own; although their reason seems to be all the more obvious, as legion upon legion of positively devilish ships troops, ships and troops that they seemingly did not have less than a standard galactic year ago, are deployed to the front to do the fighting for them.
Nearing the gaping portal, spacetime is tinged with a riot of colors, of which the swirls of orangish purple and purplish orange predominate. These swirls of hostile gasses even show up in the higher and lower dimensions, holding sway even in realms where light itself should be an almost forgotten concept. Approaching even closer to the portal, ships become under attack by entities very much not native to this reality; entities that, if described more mundanely than really fit, could be described as ravens of change, toads of virulent life, beasts of excess, and horned monsters of rage. Whatever is on the other side of the portal, whatever might be causing this extra dimensional bleedthrough, is not of this reality, assuming that it ever was. Worlds that find themselves drifting too near become grotesque, living things, even as the light of the stars themselves becomes tainted and warped. On the outskirts of this region there are still worlds that are mostly as they were, worlds that have only been recently subsumed. Here it is not safe, here is a problem that must be dealt with before it expands further than it is. (that portal used to lead to an area with some Chaos Raiders in Eklamarid; now it leads into the Maw of Horror)
Whatever is occurring within the chaotic mass beyond the portal, nothing more serious than the 'usual' purplish energy seems to be coming though this portal to your side of things, at least for now. (your side of the portal seems reasonably quiet, for all that there is an open Warp Rift on the other side of it)
Avoiding that rift, the second portal leads to another galaxy, one very similar to this one. Soon after arrival, the local Extranet is picked up on, describing the galaxy that your probes have arrived in as Eklamarid, with this portal, and the much smaller region of twisted space around it, as being in its easternmost reaches, technically beyond the galactic rim but before the stars become rare enough for said galaxy to have been left in its entirety. Further scouting reveals a whole slew of other recent arrivals, rich in magic, culture and life, but poor in technology that is not simply magic pretending to act as such.
The first such culture that you run into here is a group of powerful almost-human humanoids, piloting winged boats and wielding insanely heavily enchanted melee weapons when they aren't simply flying through space unaided. They introduce themselves as Asgardians, and ask the probes to 'please not intrude further on our realms, for it might spook those not used to such things' while kindly asking for those behind the probes to "come here yourself, either to face us in battle, or join us for a feast, a drink, and some stories."
Farther afield, your next point of contact are some extremely mystical monkeys of all things, piloting chariots through space at FTL speeds when they aren't simply treating the intervening distance as if it were a mere step or two instead of astronomical units or even light years. These forces are but scouts, but once again they ask for 'whomever made these seeing eyes of metal, come see us in person so that we might be friends or foes'.
The third group of the three seems the least mundane, if such a thing could be said about such unusual factions, with ships hidden by prismatic barriers of hard light. But Upon meeting your probes, their small scouting ship suddenly disappears, only to reappear over a galaxy away, almost right next to the ones who caused the first probe of this particular wave to be built. From there, they quickly apologize, and send over a fairly nice scroll(that seems to be holding allot more paper than should ever fit in it) containing first contact package before flashing away again. After being scanned to prove that it is not hostile in nature(as one never really knows with mostly unknown magic) The first thing in that scroll is an a an apology, in script that seems to shift to match the native language of the reader, as they thought that you might be a servant of their great enemy, who also made the journey with them to this new reality, and offer both safe passage for your scouts(for they understand the importance of information), and an easy way to schedule a vastly more formal meeting between actual diplomats.
The third and final of these stable portals is only discovered towards the closing of this galactic year, and beyond its exit being in the far galactic east of Veronodasik, and its immediate surroundings being relatively empty, nothing else can be discerned before the new galactic year begins.
As the new galactic year begins, the Clan's probes continue to multiply, spread out, and send back information about what they find. And what they find here is a tale almost as old as time, a tale of petty facism, of a Super Earth ignorant of the wider threats found in this new universe.
Transported over in something resembling its entirety, the home galaxy of this 'Super Earth' is one ruled by humans. Primitive, brainwashed humans under the thumb of a tyrannical government that hides its nature behind blaring walls of propaganda and an ever resounding message of 'Managed Democracy', reinforced by the presence of two rather convenient self-made enemies: the widespread yet seemingly FTL-less Terminids, and the 'Communist' Automatons.
Super Earth, or at least those areas not under 'constant attack' by these enemies, is a message in contradictions, as perfectly managed, if highly 'suburbanized' communities border some of the worst examples of industrial excess found on a still habited, still technically habitable, world, with what remains of their economy not shackled to the military-industrial process under the dominion of still expanding megacorporations. Its most well-respected job is soldiery, and its most profitable is heading the businesses that power and make money off of its ever growing war machine. As for its war machine? Tanks and other forms of Armor are a seemingly forgotten concept, neglected for the creation of more of its incredibly numerous corvette-class 'destroyers', and the deployment of evermore strikecraft, aircraft, artillery, and Helldivers, which are the most elite of its soldiers.
Speaking of soldiery, even the most elite of its ground forces have a lifespan measured in minutes, and act more as targeting beacons for its aircraft, artillery, ortillery, and other assorted forms of orbital support, with the provided heavy weapons being seldom enough without said support and the provided armor being second rate at best in terms of everything save for its ability to protect its wearer from generally hostile environments, and even that is limited by their rather primitive technology level.
Speaking of their enemies, the Terminids are a classic insectoid hive mind, favoring the use of their own rather basic warforms over the use of any technology. Having infested a rather large number of worlds despite currently lacking FTL of their own, the culling of their numbers and the cleansing of their hives is a constant problem that Super Earth has to deal with. The fact that their corpses decompose into an energy rich hydrocarbon slurry that would otherwise take some rather specific conditions over geologic periods of time to be created surely has nothing to do with it. (yes, it has everything to do with it)
As for the Automatons, most of them are actually what Super Earth propaganda makes them out to be: semi-mindless machines set out with the sole purpose of destroying 'Managed Democracy' and everything it stands for. The fact that at the core of the territory now claimed by the Automatons lies an actual society of cyborg humans who split away from Super Earth and formed their own society, both free of its specific brand of facism and with something at least much closer to a truly socialist economy, has been long since left out by the constant propaganda. The fact that said society lashes out with massive armies of rather brutal looking killer robots does not help their cause, but given the fact that they were whipped out almost a century ago the fact that they are reaching out with a fist of violence instead of a hand of peace is perhaps not all that surprising.
To the south, at least temporarily separating this recently arrived galaxy from the horrors of the wider universe, lies some rather old, rather prolific ruins, complete with still active defense drones. At the core of these ruins lies a massive art instillation, made up of black holes and pulsars, one that weaves light itself into a web that is as beautiful as it is deadly to the unshielded.
Farther out, the remains of the most recent inclusion can be found, defeated not by the Serine Realm, but by the one other civilization that calls this region their home: the Imperial Trust, a faction of fairly advanced, if still relatively primitive by your own standards, humans who were transported here by the same inter-universal event that ripped open the portal that you used to arrive here. While mostly shockingly near baseline, if with decent power armor and shockingly good weaponry, amongst their number there are billions of veteran soldiers, each one wielding the same level of fate manipulation that was once considered limited to the Lost Scions of Cylosis. What sets these soldiers apart isn't some mythical power granted to them, or some legendary victory attributed to them, but simply their system of origin: the one system in this region that your probes were unable to enter even the outermost reaches of: the Deathworld of Avernus, and the entire solar system that it has recently spread its anomalous properties to. From this world, almost countless other species have technically joined the Imperial Trust, from Lizard people of frightening skill and magical prowess, to some surprisingly nice and social rat men, to termites whose mastery of technology has consistently rivaled your own for millions of years(as they repeatedly blow up and then rebuild their own civilization), to some of the most frightening warriors of all: penguins.
Whatever their intentions, the Imperial Trust, and Avernus in particular, seem to be too busy preparing for what seems to be the same thing that appeared in your own future-sight to send even a token delegation in your direction
To their east lies the remnants of the most recent incursion: green skinned, fungoid entities of multiple varieties, from the Kroats, who were easily identified based on information from the Extranet, to Orks, who have received multiple entire forums dedicated to the study of their Kulture and Teknologie. These entities appear to have been recently blasted back to the relative stone age, their remaining populations on isolated, partially destroyed, worlds, surrounded by the wreckage of what was once their armadas and armies. Sadly, they appear to be using this wreckage to rapidly rebuild, and will likely be returning the stars in less than a galactic year; although there is a vast difference between that and actually being a threat.
Beyond these, beyond the devastation and the Imperial Trust, lies the full blown edge of the galaxy, where stars fade away into intergalactic void. Here though also lies a portal, from which Monsters and Eidolons regularilly emerge.
Your scouting efforts continue onwards through the portal, and there what they find is a Galaxy at War. there is no peace amongst the stars here, as each and every found planet is naught but layer upon layer of blasted, shattered, and re-consolidated ruins, with some planets even lacking anything resembling a standard structure, with their would-have-been-molten interiors replaced with the echoing hallways of long since dead ships. Further analysis shows even the stars to be non-standard, as even the stars themselves seem to be surprisingly rich in heavier elements, no doubt from debris that fell into its gravitational embrace so long ago if said debris wasn't outright incorporated into its very creation. Here lies the remnants of thousands upon thousands of battles, here lies the death bed of civilizations. And yet, as rich in ghostly remnants as the region is, it too has found no peace, as war never changes and is waged ever onwards.
The first faction to be found is green of skin and fungoid of form, as their living, fighting ecosystem spreads over world after world. Soon, this backdrop of twisted life is joined by sound, as the marching chant of Kroat-Anga echoes through each and every means of communication known. Here the void itself crackles with the promise of warfare unending, and the certainty that can only come with cruel destruction. Soon enough, the warships of these Kroatanga, for that is most certainly what they are, can be seen. Brutish, rough yet purposeful things, they are ax heads when they are not rams and are massive cannons when they are not either. Flying together in incredibly massive formation, they are going to war, not against the portal, not against what is on the other side(although nigh-countless of your probes are taken out, as targets of opportunity are still targets of opportunity), but against another, drastically closer, much more immediate foe.
And what a foe it is. Here, to the galactic east of the portal, lies massive, twisted fleets of corrupted machinery, with no uniformity to be found save in its lack, anchored by massive world ships and even the occasional somewhat weaponized dyson sphere. Here lies a realm of meaningless mechanization, as factories consume factories to build more factories that consume factories to build massive, twisting spires of industry that pump out twisted machine-weapons in the millions, twisted machine-weapons that are used to build factories out of the remains of other factories even as they use each other as parts in the creation of even greater weapons of war, weapons that occasionally make it to the front lines of their ongoing war with the Kroatanga before being taken apart for more parts to build more weapons. There is no order here, no pattern to the importance and arrangement of worlds, some dominated by Dyson Spheres and Daemon-moons, while others seethe with great masses of mechanical forests and tangled, spiraling staircases. There is no front to this war, as the ever consuming, wormlike ouroboros finds its own tail as, if not more, often than it finds its supposed external enemies.
Here lies the realm of the Engine of Extinction and its twisted followers, born from Men of Iron and other, lesser machine races, it is a realm born of and dedicated to the art of taking twenty steps when one will do, of production for the sake of production, and meaningless labor for the sake of itself. Here lies an ongoing battlefield between a Kroatangan Warhell and the forces Engine, and between the forces of the Engine against their own kind, as the worm's many maws inevitably find their way to their own tails.
Farther to the south, beyond this seemingly never ending battleground, lies a realm made silent, ruled by the Rangdan. The Rangdan, as later information gathering efforts reveal, are a weapon-species of the K'nib, created during the Enslaver Plague to eliminate the warrior-races of the Old Ones before their combined psyches upended reality. Parasitic, sporulating, colonial organisms, the Rangdan are blanks that absorb and blot out psychic energies in their vicinity. Regions occupied by them are drained of thought and soul, where the Immaterium and the Flux alike is a blinding white-out and where Daemons and gods alike fear to tread. Feeding off of the psychic static, bound souls, and psychically rich bodies provided to them by the ongoing War to their north, they have grown powerful indeed, able to last in these galaxies at war despite the seemingly fragile nature of many of their ships; indeed, if they so wished, then the war to their north would likely swiftly come to a rather silent end.
But if that went away, where would they feed from? After all, to their east lies an area of twisted gold, where none of the biomass is truly worth devouring, and to their south and west lies an area infested by an all too familiar crystal.
Farther beyond, where the galaxy starts to thin out, lurks a much greater threat. Worlds infested with a corrupted green rock, studded with giant spires, surrounded by fleets that seemingly obliterate your probes within a moment of their discovery of said probes. Here lies a foe whose mastery of space and time is unsettling. Here lies a steadily growing outpost of what are later identified as the Skrin. Thankfully, their growth has been stymied, both by the rarity of stars, and thus worlds, in this region, and by the presence of foes who can actually successfully fight them to their south.
West: here lie the Allies, a somewhat lower a-chronic(with the time part being very much relevant) tech faction of humanity. Formed in the aftermath of their alternate version of World War two, and several instances of paradox causing time travel, this alliance of their world's Germany, France, the United Kingdom, and (the united States of) America, their technology and military has since gone in a drastically different way than what is ancient history to you. While the wars that led to the formation of this alliance are also in their not-so-recent past, the societal norms of its founding members and the technology developed during those early wars has come to define this nation. Capitalistic, neo-imperialist, and neoliberal, it is precisely a showcase of what a successful, equal civilization isn't. Democratic, diplomatic, open minded, scientifically progressive, and as egalitarian as a capitalist society can be, it is as close to being such a civilization as a society born out of the victory of the West in the Cold War that hasn't socially progressed all that far beyond the late 20th and early 21st century can be. Perfect allies for the Citadel, while very much imperfect ones for the Clan.
Technologically, they are for the most part not much to write home about, having for the most part not really progressed beyond what would be considered to the average for this galactic cluster(tier primus); but there are two areas in which they have progressed far beyond what would be considered average: size manipulation and time manipulation technology, with them having no true equals in the second category beyond maybe the Skrin to their north-west. Capable of stopping time for all hostiles on a large scale, moving individuals almost freely through spacetime(including back in time), and of 'time locking' their own troops for temporary practical-invulnerability; in this area they are technically beyond even you(if likely not beyond the progenitors). Recently they have finished building up their core territory, and are now sending colonization efforts to a region somewhat to their south and are supporting their neighbors, the Dawi, against the Skrin.
Speaking of neighbors, beyond the Allies lies the Karaz Ankor, home of the Dawi. the most stubborn, grudge filled entities that you have ever met that aren't fully bound by their role. Humanoid in nature and short in stature, they are master craftsmen and experts at welding 'runic magic', to the point where their own magic and technology has melded to the point where they are practically one and the same. Expert warriors, each and every bit of the weapons and armor is hand crafted to what would normally be considered nigh impossible standards(for the tools that their smiths seem to be using, anyways), as they seemingly disdain goods produced without the touch of an artisan. While this makes them unusual, what really sets them apart is their worlds, which, beyond being universally fortified to what would normally be considered a semi-impossible level, are all connected, as tunnels in their depths don't just tunnel through molten rock, but through spacetime itself, connecting their worlds into one insanely fortified whole. Their ships are almost the same, each one being a large, slow moving, fortress in space, and each one linked to each other and the worlds below through the same system of 'tunnels'. This has granted them the ability for sieging a single hold without also sieging the Dawi as a whole almost impossible, but also means that the overrunning of a single hold could leave the others all the weaker.
Fortunately, they also have a way to close these portals, be it temporarily or for good; and this ability has proved quite fortunate, for it limited the number of worlds that the Skrin could infest with their green rock before the real danger was caught and confronted. Now, all along it's northern edge, the Dawi are pushing themselves to their limits and beyond, as Dawi craftsmanship runs up against the reality warping power of the Skrin, and finds itself ever so slightly inferior. Now they are ever so slowly loosing holds and worlds to the green tide; and with each loss, another entry into their Great Book of Grudges is formed, and the Dawi? They never forgive, never forget, and are no longer fighting alone, for the Allies are living up to their name.
The ongoing war between Dawi and Skrin is a slow one, one that the Dawi are ever so slowly loosing, even with the assistance from the Allies. If nothing occurs to change this situation, it is only a matter of time before the Dawi loose these holds, and their ever expanding book of grudges receives a whole host of new entries.
Most of the rest of this area is almost empty, with only the occasional small, usually system bound, civilization, ranging from primitive natives, to civilizations ranging from as advanced as the UEG, to almost as advanced as the recently destroyed civilization discovered earlier, complete with the same technological base. Other systems merely have ruins, minor hints that an advanced civilization might have lived there once; the higher and lower dimensions aren't much better, strewn with scars and seemingly purposeless structures, one of which would have been a habitable dyson sphere if it wasn't for it being in an uninhabitable dimension. It is only when the probes reach the farthest reaches of this sector that anything else is discovered. And what is discovered is a doozy, as within the farthest reaches of this region of space lies a civilization that couldn't be called anything less than a peer to your own, in technological might if not in scale, anyways. Traveling through the galaxy at shocking speeds in ships seemingly made out of liquid silver, this 'Celestial Confederation' is the first civilization that you have met that could be called a true peer. Within moments of first contact, a massive information package is sent over; a package made not just of raw data, but of codified thought and self adapting teaching programs, meant to facilitate communication.
Perhaps not quite so surprisingly, this is yet another civilization made mostly of near humans; what is surprising though is the sheer number of other sapient species present in their fully terraformed(and it is very much terraformed, complete with many of the same species, alongside almost countless other vastly stranger ones) and heavily colonized core territory, and the even wider array of somewhat more mythical species living alongside them, ranging from unicorns and dragons, to Nudus and Storm Birds, to countless others that seemingly never made it into recorded mythology, or at least the bits of mythology that survived to the founding of the Federation.
Spacefaring and incredibly advanced, they wield a combination of extremely advanced technology and magic that seemingly puts even the Asgardians to shame in everything short of personal, melee, combat abilities; or at least, that is what can be inferred from the first contact package and what can be inferred from your probes, both in what they managed to see, and how swiftly communication ceased from each and every one of them soon after discovering one of their worlds or other claimed system; and how the vast, vast majority of those were delivered back to you, seemingly unharmed, alongside their own diplomatic team. Elsewhere, before being similarly neutralized and returned, they stumble upon silvery stars, former supergiant stars being steadily converted over into whatever that silvery, part liquid part metal, material is. Elsewhere, deeper in in other similarly uninhabitable systems, the stars themselves are practically gone, converted into spheres that are being slowly moved and reshaped into whatever the Federation of Celestia, as they call themselves, desires. (to be continued either in a mini turn or during next turn, depending on which one you would prefer)
The Celestial Federation seems to have made contact with their lesser neighbors in the UNSC, and are working to rapidly uplift their newly gained client-faction. Outside of those efforts though, they too seem to be preparing for war, as massive, highly visible acts of Creation and Mobilization can be seen all throughout even the outermost reaches of their region of space. But, unlike the Imperial Trust they do not seem to be isolationist in their preparations, as they have sent out diplomatic expeditions to both you and the Imperial Trust, partially opening up diplomatic contact, and partially inviting you to a council of war that is to convene the moment that this incoming event occurs, a council of war that is to involve the Syndicated Councils of Tremzar. Even as these more major preparations are underway with/alongside those powers that have a true chance of doing more than just losing slowly against this incoming threat, relatively short warnings of the coming danger are sent out to the Citadel Council, Allied Nations, Most Serine Realm, and beyond.
in addition to reaching out, the Celestial Federation is planning to intervene in the Karaz Ankor's ongoing war with the Skrin, hoping on shifting said war in the favor of the vastly more diplomatic races so that said factions might be able to swiftly muster a meaningful response to this incoming threat. they are notifying you of this so that you might be able to send assistance as well if you so wish.
Detachments:
Eldar Void Raven Corsairs: Incredibly fast ships that move at speeds that would let them simply outrun the UNSC's SMAC rounds, elite warriors with reflexes to put Spartans to shame with weapons that operate at a level that you associate with the Foreruners and in much larger numbers than the Tenno, and incredible psychic and sorcerous powers can be yours, if you are willing to write and sign trade policies with the Eldar and swear to leave the worlds of the "untainted" Eldar alone as well as pay them their price.
Type: Eldar Corsairs
Specialty: Skirmish, Penetration, Exploitation, Pursuit/Withdrawal, GOTTA GO FAST, Raiding, killing people who thought they were safe, allows temporary (and strictly supervised) usage of the webway, Magic
Weaknesses: Poor at static combat, do not like being involved in clashes, casualty averse
Tier: Maximus
Cost: 5 RP
Guardians of the Light: These warriors are known for among other things, being obnoxiously hard to kill as they can be endlessly revived as long as their robotic companions are able to reach them, as well as the wide array of rather fantastical magical powers granted by what they call "the light" which seems to be a religious way of viewing the ideals of cooperation and togetherness under the bizarrely named "bomb logic". They include Humans, Robots, humans but blue, the insectoid Eliksnee, the Reptilian and powerfully built Cabal, and the rather aptly named "Psions".
Type: Destiny Guardians
Specialty: Esoterics, Raiding, Small to medium unit and swift vehicle Tactics, Looting everything not nailed down and then doing it fifty more times because the fucking gold won't drop god DAMN IT
Weaknesses: Lacking in large unit formations, struggles with very large enemies they can't board
Tier: Extremis
Cost: 3 RP
Trazyn's Collectors: A Necron by the name of Trazyn is willing to cooperate with Clan Grendikal with his advanced fleet and soldierly assets for a surprisingly low price. The Necron Overlord merely desires a "shopping list" of curiosos from the field of battle and to take the first crack at a number of things that have caught the great collector's interest. He also seems to be intimately familiar with the Men of Iron.
Type: Necron Vanguard Fleet
Strong in: Theft, Pinpoint Raids, Endurance Warfare
Weak In: High agility combat
Tier: Maximus
Cost: Free if you let him take a few things…
Keluko Warriors: Also known as 'the angry coconut people', the plantoid Keluko are known for having literally no fear mechanism and being quick to anger, particularly when injured. While this makes them somewhat poor guests, it also makes them very effective soldiers when combined with their tough woodlike carapaces and shells, despite being only half a human's height. It is perhaps unsurprising that they have found solid careers as mercenaries.
-- Focus: Shock, Clash
--Weak in: Disengage/Extraction
--Tier: Extremis
--Cost: 2 RP, Multiple Available.
Tenno Star Mantis Alliance: These unusual techno-organic "warframes" and their peripheral equipment are often known as the "space ninjas" for good reason even if sometimes they are not exactly the picture of stealth. The starchildren who operate them gather in secretive relay stations and operate out of nearly undetectable orbiter craft as well as their railjack spaceships, making use of Necramechs, Archwings, and more to augment their tiny deployments of super-commandos.
Type: Warframe Clan Alliance
Specialty: Dueling/Assassination, Commando Ops, Stealth operations, Esoterics
Weak In: Mass Combat, Open battlefields
Tier: Maximus
Cost: 5 RP
The Kherach-Nakam: Named for an old Jewish term for vengeance mixed with a Yeltaen term for "Guardian", or more succinctly "the Avenging Guardians", the Nakam were born in response to the Volreapers and are represented by the symbol of an eye, a human stick figure, and a shield. The Nakam are a vigilante mercenary group that considers itself protectors of humanity, the Endyani, and to a lesser degree, other Vol. The Kherach-Nakam fight dirty to the point of often being labelled terrorists, believing that the foes of their people have obviated the protection for their populations by hunting their kind like animals, though they prefer to use terror as a surgical tool as opposed to indiscriminately. With stealth craft, cloaked units, psychic warriors, terrorism specialists, force multiplier trainers who can teach civilians how to fight, sabotuers, commandos, and ultrasubs which can lurk in ultraspace to attack the enemy from unexpected angles.
Type: Guerilla Fighters
Specialty: stealth, behind-the lines fighting(commando opps, stealth operations), enhancing-defenses, FTL-submrine warfare
Weak in: unsupported mass-combat, invasion-warfare, fighting enemies that do not feel fear
Tier: Extremis
Cost: 3 RP (discounted due to your recent fight against Vol Reapers
Legends:
The Observer: A deeply mysterious artificial intelligence that has many, many bodies that cluster around its large; sphere shaped frames. The Observer is a marvel of unknown artifice that as the name entails, can show up at random to observe and partake in the events of history with marvelous technology. Their singular craft and its parasite escorts as well as the smaller armatures it can deploy are usually enough, and its powers of analysis are backed up by out of this world firepower that works on weaponised manipulations of quantum physics.
Type: Singular formation centred around category 0 battleworld with technology surpassing the Stagnant ancients.
Specialty: Data Gathering, General Purpose Combat
Weak in: Holding territory
Cost: 15 RP, or 5 RP if you agree to allow it to observe your faction for five turns.
Tenno Star Mantis Alliance Inner Circle: These unusual techno-organic "warframes" and their peripheral equipment are often known as the "space ninjas" for good reason even if sometimes they are not exactly the picture of stealth. The starchildren who operate them gather in secretive relay stations and operate out of nearly undetectable orbiter craft as well as their railjack spaceships, making use of Necramechs, Archwings, and more to augment their tiny deployments of super-commandos. The inner circle is made of their very finest tenno, those who have demonstrated the greatest skill, have forged and mastered the best frames, equipment, weapons, and mods, and have developed their void powers the furthest.
Type: Warframe Clan Alliance
Specialty: Dueling/Assassination, Commando Ops, Stealth operations, Esoterics
Weak In: Mass Combat, Open battlefields
Cost: 8 RP
Vermillion Flight: Legendary Mecha and Fighter Pilots, Vermillion Flight is a veteran of many wars and has racked up an incredible combat record in the name of socialism, revolution, and the worker's democratic republic. The Lulundroth daredevil pretty boy Shaerath Telenir is current flight leader, and is known as much for his extremely long list of paramours as he is for his kill count.
Type: Socialist Ace Unit
Speciality: Vehicular Combat
Weak In: Non-Combat Tasks
Cost: 8 RP
The Last Star Paladin: Telzernik is the last of the long dead Precursor culture known as the Kaikrona, who went extinct at about the same time as the end permian extinction more than a quarter of a billion years ago, awakening in an unfamiliar age when recovered from the paralabyrinth. The two-and-a-half-kilometre-tall giant commands formidable power, including the ability to teleport between worlds and a mastery of both physical and esoterical combat, and immense technological prowess, as well as a personal flotilla including a gunship, a mobile base, and drone escorts while the silicoid behemoth moves with speed that nothing of its size should; swarms of mechanical courtiers fighting alongside it. It hopes to one day find another of its kind, but is prepared to join its people in extinction in the name of justice if such is needed. Perhaps most terrifying of all is that they have a mount that's even larger than they are.
Type: Precursor Behemoth Champion & effects
Specialty: Behemoth combat action, space combat, ancient mysteries and history
Weak In: Anything requiring subtlety
Cost: 8 RP
The Circle of Grand Crusaders: A set of fanatics of the Eldenian faith, the Circle is known for enormous thaumaturgical power and devastating dueling prowess. The blessed score and one, the most well known of the crusaders; twenty one of the dread holy knights, is well known for being able to essentially bring down cataclysm upon the worlds they tear their way through. While hardly stealthy and incredibly obvious, their destructive capability is worth the high price they ask, even if their religious zeal comes off as more than a little unhinged. Certainly, the destruction they leave when allowed to cease holding back tends to leave worlds in need of near total reconstruction.
Type: Eldenian Crusader Elite
Speciality: Mass Destruction, Dueling, Champion Battles
Weak In: Subtlety
Cost: 15 RP
fleethordes:
Nilakh Dynasty: Trazyn has taken enough of a liking to you to offer the fuller weight of his services for a certain price, including true Necron Phalanxes and Armadas and multiple world engines.
Type: Necron Dynastic Armies
Strong in: Superweapons, Large Units, Lords/Heroes, Subterfuge, Endurance Warfare, Psychological Warfare, Electronic Warfare, Biocide, Pursuit/Withdrawal
Weak In: High agility combat, No Magic, Range tends to be on the shorter side, Arcane Honour Code, Extreme quality gaps between low and high-grade units
Cost: Standard magnitude cost *1.5, rounded up
Size: Maximum of magnitude 4(100 RP in fleets, 20 RP in upkeep) worth of fleethordes and Battleworlds
Tier: Maximus
Origin League Free Army: The free grineer of the Steel Meridian, the warbeasts of New Loka, the reformed Corpus of the Perrin Sequence, the Tenno cultists of the Arbiters of Hexis, the Assassins of the Red Veil, and the scholars of Cephalon Suda and more all pool their resources together to form the Origin League Free Army, perhaps not as far down the individual specialties of the Grineer, Infestation, or Corpus, but their mixed talents and the guidance of the Tenno allows for them to achieve great things all the name.
Type: Warframe Syndicate Alliance
Specialty: Rapid insertion, Boarding, Urban Warfare, Mobile Combat, Attrition
Weaknesses: Lacking in large vehicles, mediocre ground based artillery
Cost: 1.4* standard magnitude cost
Total Available: Up to half total magnitude of present forces
Tier: Extremis
Slick Jaxarax's Emporium: HELLO THERE [valued customer] HAVE WE GOT A D-D-D-[vocalisation error]-DEAL FOR YOU! WE'RE OFFERING YOU A ONCE IN A [standard time cycle] OPPORTUNITY JUST FOR YOU! ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS FORWARD A DEPOSIT OF JUST [militarily useful raw materials] AND WE WILL FIGHT FOR YOU AND SEND YOUR ENEMIES STRAIGHT TO [the dreadful pits of sheol, where the guilt of war lingers eternal...the dead stare at the living with judging eyes, woe, woe, woe.]
Type: Ekon Tradefleets
Strong in: Unpredictable jack of all trades combatant, can do a bit of everything depending on what the RNG gods favour them with, incredible strategic mobility through the paralabyrinth, power over time and space
Weak In: Deranged, unconcerned with conventional tactics, inconsistent approach to battle, vulnerable to decapitation strikes
Tier: Depends on how much you're willing to pay.
Cost: *1 for Primus, *1.2 for Extremis, *1.4 for Maximus, *1.6 for Ultra(asking for Dracons causes a chain of error messages ending with a 'you have received an order of: one extermination to the face, we hope you enjoy your impending doom)
Available: Unknown
Special Note: Ekons are deranged and eidolonic. They cannot be controlled so much as pointed at something and generally trusted to avoid friendly fire as long as the contract holds. Ekons operate under their own, entirely impenetrable and often outright nonsensical logic, they also can offer further trade deal which can range from actual trash to seemingly ridiculously favourable to you to surprisingly fair and boring. In essence, they are the gachapon of traders, you never know what they might want to buy or have on sale. Business seems to be the only thing that keeps them for lack of a better phrase, somewhat stable in that they at least; honour contract laws and exchange agreements and make no effort to swindle or cheat them, seemingly the last remnant of their prior programming before delving into the Paralabyrinth to find trade routes off the "safe" routes in the Labyrinth twisted them into what you see now.
Special Note: They are quite likely to turn on you once the business agreement runs out, as they inevitably do whenever they seek to make an offer but no buyers or sellers come forward, even if the trade request is literally impossible or completely incomprehensible or if they are attempting to make a trade with an inanimate object or even a figment of their imaginations incapable of response. If no one purchases their services or at least makes some sort of trade, they will attack of their own accord.
The Cabal Redeemed: From a world of incredibly high gravitational force comes a species built like what happens if you taught a Rhino how to walk and then blended it with a turtle. Broad, heavy set, with extremely dense tissue and hard skin, disciplined to a fault, and fond of very big guns, they are like looking in a mirror in many ways. The so called Cabal Redeemed seeks to atone for some sort of past sins, and has ended its slavery of the Psions, and includes Hominid and Eliksnee soldiers trained to fight alongside them as they are the largest providers of military muscle and space power.
Type: Destiny Good Guys
Strong In: Strike Craft, Infantry, Capital Ships, Line Ships, Individuals of Importance
Weak in: Artillery, War Engines, Relatively new to cooperating as equals
Cost: Standard magnitude cost *1.4
Size: Half present total magnitude
Tier: Extremis
Hellsworn of Lucifer: Natives of the Worlds Aflame Cosmology, the Hellsworn of Lucifer serve one of the nine great Infernarchs as both his religiously devoted and the legions of devils in service to the Infernal Deity. Though somewhat akin to the warpspawn you are familiar with, they ooze a clear professional discipline and rigidly orderliness. They are masters of divine magic and count many mages of other sorts in their ranks, and their higher ranked devils and warriors are truly individually formidable warriors. They are clearly malevolent and are looking for souls to harvest, but they will follow the contracts given to them to the letter. They are perhaps concerningly, willing to offer a huge discount if you give them the final rights to prisoners of war, and a lesser discount if you let them simply damn those enemies they themselves capture. They are willing to fight for free if you offer some of your own people to Hell's service.
Type: Diabolical Legions
Specialty: Magic, subversion, manoeuvre warfare
Weak In: Anti-Magic Zones, Religiously warded battlezones
Cost: 20 RP normally, halved if allowed to harvest their captives, quartered if allowed to handle all prisoners, Free if you offer 1 POP to them.*
Size: Magnitude 5*
Tier: Primus
*And allow the corruption of Hell through
**Terms and conditions apply
The Invincible Lance: The Drokht are gigafaunal sapients, coming in at nearly a hundred metres on average, with carapaced eight limbed bodies (two of them being wings for the males who have two grasping arms, while the larger females are landbound and have four grasping arms), and massive tails. This has always shaped the Drokht approach to interstellar warfare towards elite power and the might of armoured knights and their squires (smaller species fighting alongside them). Universally esper capable like the Imilki and Merendi, the Drokht of Lady Yarah fight as the few, the proud, and the dishonoured; expelled from the Sovereignty following Yarah's disgrace in court matters after her March opened fire on an Ecumenical Emissary Fleet for offending the honour of her human squires and her claims that they were hiring Volreapers, with the local parliament choosing to exile her as a compromise between the Ecumene that wanted her dead and her populace that wished to defend her actions. While the Invincible Lance is not a large organisation by intergalactic mercenary standards due to strict recruitment standards, Lady Yarah is a woman of honour (and colossal size) and despises the Ecumene and her throngs of elite soldiers, daring pilots, skillfully manned and lead warships, and finely lead vehicles have a sterling reputation.
Specialty: elite War-Engine scale forces, capital+ scale ships, localized mystical capabilities
Weak in: honor-bound, lack of escorts, lack of proper infantry
Cost: standard magnitude cost * 1.4(special discount due to your recent fight against Vol Reapers)
Size: up to a third(rounded up) of your total magnitude in forces
While the defensive victory against the Omni-Enlightening Swarm was a welcome morale boost, it was obvious to all involved that it was only the first step in the counteroffensive necessary to destroy the mad civilisation and restore peace to the region. This includes the Aeon Illuminate, who have come forward with a proposal for Ivan Brackman.
Namely, let the Illuminate take to the field, and let them take the territory for themselves afterwards. While the Cybran Nation was able to score an early win, that was on the defensive. A serious offensive campaign against dug-in opposition is a very different proposition, especially when operating under the restrictions of Gate travel. This is where the Aeon envoys unveil their ace in the hole: While research into the Specter portals hasn't delivered any religious revelations they might have been hoping for, it has unveiled the presence of 'nodes' across space that, with nanolathable devices, can be used as 'tunnels' to travel between star systems without the need for a Quantum Gate.
Needless to say, this gives the Aeon starfleet a significant offensive mobility advantage over their Cybran counterparts, letting them engage in battles of interstellar manoeuvre against the Omni-Swarm with much more flexibility than before. Of course, Quantum Gates will remain a key part of the Aeon war effort, as once constructed they allow for much faster travel than their new 'Node Drives', and Cybran assistance in the campaign would similarly be appreciated in order to make things go as smoothly as possible. Still, the Aeon are willing to take point.
Many Cybran Commanders have pointed out, perhaps not wrongly, that this constitutes sitting back while the fiercest fighting happens and then swooping in at the last minute to take all the credit and rewards for themselves. Still, compromises must be made for the sake of Coalition stability, and help in eliminating the Omni-Swarm can only be a good thing. Signals analysis suggests they're actively researching nanolathe and quantum link technology, and could be a resurgent threat if allowed to persist.
For the UEF's part, intelligence indicates they're incorporating the unique capabilities of the former Emerald Empire into their forces on a low-level. Notably, a new CQC program has started for the Federation Service Force focused on teaching them Imperial martial arts, with Operatives being given advanced melee weapons training alongside new plasma swords. There's even rumours of a select group of the most elite Operatives being trained in outright magic, which would give the nation a direct answer to Exorcists and Proxies.
While an increase in the capabilities of its partners in the Coalition always warrants a reasonable degree of caution, under the circumstances it couldn't have come at a better time. While the Omni-Swarm in the north is bad enough, the Super-Directorate in the south has somehow taken a turn for the even worse.
It began with Redfog acting on her own initiative, following up on her last report by delving further into the depths of the mysterious MLC. The Super-Directorate's fastest-growing and perhaps most powerful corporation had one too many secrets for her liking, and while she'd successfully infiltrated its outlying edges already there was much more to uncover. In the end, she decided that if you wanted something done right you had to do it yourself, which may very well have saved the operation as a whole.
It's only clear in hindsight what Redfog got too close to for the corporation's liking. What was clear immediately was that it had been something dreadfully important, since they'd sent an assassin after her. Previously a Messenger-associated 'influencer' of the kind typical in the Super-Directorate, the killer for hire appeared in a much sleeker form than she'd been seen with previously.
An artefact of the transition from heavily cyberised to entirely mechanical, and the first appearance of such a potent technology in the Directorate's arsenal.
The battle began without warning or preamble, Redfog barely throwing up an arm in time to block a particle beam fired by the figure who'd just materialised right in front of her. Even though Redfog towered over her foe, a former insectoid barely over a metre tall, she was immediately put on the back foot when the particle beam carved through her thick armour plating, a secondary EMP-like effect rendering her left arm useless.
Before she could hope to retaliate, the assassin vanished back into the thin air from whence she came, employing a phasing cloak much like the ones used by the Hierarchy. Needless to say, Redfog immediately understood that the first blow to be struck would be far from the last. Having just left behind a secretive MLC workshop through a disused maintenance tunnel, what followed would be a brutal game of cat and mouse, the assassin fading in and out of reality to take potshots while Redfog weaved through the catacomb-like darkness, trying to find any semblance of advantageous terrain.
The cloak did at least have one weakness, which was that it took a few moments after the beginning of the materialisation before the assassin was able to fire. A short time objectively, but long enough for her superhuman physiology to exploit.
After a few more glancing blows slicing through more armour and locking up more servos, she found a way into a narrow, cramped storage space. Downright claustrophobic for her large frame, but also tight enough that being the victim of a long-range attack was almost impossible. It was here where the fighting would reach its crescendo, and where the assassin would unveil her last trick. Materialising one final time, she discarded her particle rifle and drew a shimmering sword that looked like it was on the edge of phasing out of reality itself.
Needless to say, Redfog immediately prioritised avoiding contact with the blade at all costs, using her own superior reach and supreme swordsmanship to keep the distance right where she wanted it. The exchange of blows was faster than an unaugmented human could hope to follow, and Redfog managed to land several blows that should have been crippling. However, her opponent's mechanical body simply sealed itself back up, leaving not a trace of the damage that had been dealt each time.
Eventually, the assassin made one lunge that was slightly too desperate, and Redfog was able to split her from shoulder to hip. In exchange, the phasing sword cut clean through Redfog's own side as if it wasn't even there, but couldn't quite cut her completely open. Even this didn't immediately end the fight, but the assassin's laughter was quickly cut short when its head was separated from its body. Shortly afterwards, Redfog received a private message through the Super-Directorate comms network she was patched into: "Well played, but that was only round one."
Limping away from the scene of the fighting, successfully evading any further attacks, Redfog immediately reported her findings back to Cybran command, but she almost needn't have bothered. Shortly after her fighting, the Messenger Logistics Corporation unveiled its intentions to enact a hostile takeover of the Super-Directorate with lightning raids on rival corporate headquarters. As well as its existing mercenary units, it also showcased a new fighting force in the traditional Directorate style but upgraded with technology far in advance of what's available to the rest of the S-D, or indeed the Cybran Nation itself.
Further complicating matters is the mass deployment of upload technology, turning the MLC's soldiers and administrators into tireless killing machines. It comes with the promise of complete immortality, a promise that may well be true considering the exact assassin who fought Redfog is seen soon after her apparent demise seemingly none the worse for wear. The mysterious head of the MLC himself has come forth to extoll the technology's virtues, revealing himself as an alien entity of unknown provenance who only calls himself the Messenger, and his forces as the Taught.
Needless to say, the Taught's major technological edge over their enemies combined with the element of surprise has given them a decisive edge in the sudden civil war. However, their victory is not immediate, and rival corporations have banded together in a desperate attempt to fight them off and preserve themselves. Intelligence suggests that the Messenger had hoped to more fully secure power and control over the Super-Directorate before revealing itself, but Redfog's investigations had come too close to risking its element of surprise for comfort. Thus, it launched its attack before it could be assured of taking full control instantly.
The good news is that this has bought the Cybran Nation much-needed time to finish off the Omni-Swarm before the new threat can act externally, and that the sudden civil war has massively freed the underground railroad to take on even more refugees and expand its reach even further. The bad news is that this new threat has clearly discerned that Redfog and quite probably the Cybrans more broadly are behind the resistance movement, and that it's an extremely dangerous opponent. Redfog estimates that exceptionally few of her fellows could have survived the attempt on her life, something she at least has the good grace to not be too explicitly smug over.
Upon seeing this, the Syrabaric Defense Coalition send a diplomatic delegation explaining their own position. They remain busy containing their rivals in the Merendi Imperium and keeping a lid on things to the southeast, but they appreciate both the good work the Cybran Nation is doing and the new threat they're now under. To help in what little ways they can, they have provided both an additional understanding of the region and limited access to their forces. They say they could do more if and as the Cybran help them with their own issues or become more politically aligned with their faction, but understand that they have much more immediately pressing concerns.
More immediately, they've also plugged the Cybran into the local Mercenary Review Board. It's routed through Octarine Incorporated, a local megacorporate state that seems a bit more put-together than the Super-Directorate ever was even if the SDC has no good words to say about it, but it's apparently reliable. More importantly, two highly-rated large mercenary forces have a notable presence in the region at present, and are available for hire.
Progress, it seems, has led to even more complications. Still, the stakes are far too high for the Cybran to back down now. As ever, the only way out is through.
Strategic Turn 4 Start
Available Resources: 160 RP
-The Aeon Illuminate is preparing to eliminate the Omniswarm and take its territory for themselves, and would appreciate Cybran assistance. This could be negotiated, but preventing the Illuminate from taking the territory for themselves would entail either significant concessions or notable diplomatic consequences. The UEF seems to be focused on building up its territory and performing research.
-The Super-Directorate has been plunged into a civil war thanks to the alien known as the Messenger, who is also aware of the Cybran Nation's involvement with the anti-Directorate underground. Thanks to the element of surprise and technological supremacy, the Messenger is expected to fully eliminate organised resistance to its coup over the course of the turn.
-In light of all this, the SDC has provided maps of local astrography, expanding Cybran vision of their region, and access to additional mercenary options.
-All damaged Fleethordes auto-repair by 20%. All Fleethordes are once again at full strength.
Research Proposals
High(er) Energy Physics: Drawing from combat data and remaining salvage from the conquest of the "garden" last year Cybran scientists think that they might be able to develop a form of power generation superior to antimatter annihilation and use it to copy the unlimited energy (but not matter) generation of the Aeon's Paragon experimental reactor.
This is a Doctrinal Enhancement currently at 2/5 Research Slots.
Anti-Interdiction Gates:
This is Doctrinal Enhancement currently at 2/4 Research Slots.
Interdiction Emitter and Spikes: To go along with the work on the Gates to circumvent the Ecumene Interdiction the Cybrans will attempt to reverse engineer said device to be put on a Field emitter like the Cloak and Stealth Field and to be put on a Nanite Harpoon capital ship weapon for a later project.
This is Doctrinal Enhancement currently at 1/3 Research Slots.
Negotiating the Battlefield: While not much salvage was left of the Ironcrab (and none of the Laser Behemoth or White Death) enough in depth sensor readings and general salvage from the campaign was taken that Cybran scientists are confident that they can replicate a slower version of the miniaturised jet/rocket and energy shield systems of the Ironcrab. While these would no doubt be expensive in terms of energy, matter and time to construct with nanolathes once they are understood they would give even Evacuation Guards far greater protection and manoeuvrability on the battlefield. Indeed the flight systems might be more dangerous to the evacuation guard than the enemy if not paired with improved training.
This is Doctrinal Enhancement which will enhance the survivability and manoeuvrability of your infantry. The Evacuation Guards will not benefit much from the flight systems but your commandos and proxies will become far more deadly. It will take 1 Research Slot.
Mercenary Contracts
Detachments:
Merendi Volunteers: The SDC has offered to lend the Cybran some of their international Merendi volunteers in exchange for modest resource concessions, largely as a gesture of goodwill. Coming from the galaxy's more technologically developed regions, these Tier Maximus soldiers are universally highly powerful espers, capable of shows of psionic power that even the Illuminate's most devout would struggle to process.
-Summary: Powerful psychic infantry with a focus on special operations and counter-magic warfare. Struggles with mass combat, but otherwise ideal for all infantry-scale operations.
-Tier: Maximus
-Cost: 2 RP per turn.
-Limit: 1 at present, can be expanded in the future.
Tacitus-Raiden Ltd: Formed by a former house of Desmondu (a native human-majority state in a neighbouring galaxy that has since fallen on hard times) that has long since stopped bothering to contest the throne of the Empire and whose core territory is no longer considered legally part of Desmondu, Tacitus-Raiden offers a wide array of bounty hunters, infiltration experts, "fixers for hire" (local term denoting broadly capable special operations mercenaries. The preferred term is "Freelance Agent" or "Freelancer", but "Fixer" is a common informal term), and other wetworks operatives.
-Summary: As Merendi Volunteers, albeit notably weaker per RP invested. However, can also be hired for out-of-battle black ops.
-Tier: Extremis
-Cost: Variable based on requested services; ask GMs to learn specific prices.
-Limit: None.
Fleethordes:
Warbot-Incorporated: Primarily built around synthetics, Bloodgear's Warbot-Incorporated is known for being quite cheap* for the services it offers as long as they get salvage rights and resource extraction permits as well a chance to look at anything interesting from those they fight. Bloodgear is an A.I that is devoted entirely towards the task of getting better at war that took over an older company out of a belief that the previous stakeholders weren't good enough at the job it was made to do. This legion may lack the replicability of Cybran war machines, but they have far more durability with heavy armour and universal energy shields, making them ideal front-line fighters. However, they're not the most flexible force.
*When asked why its forces were as expensive as some rival mercenaries despite also asking for extensive salvage rights, Bloodgear electronically gestured at Warbot's capital ship armada and heavily fortified roving war-cities that dwarf even Tier 5 Experimentals. These are, needless to say, expensive for it to operate.
-Summary: Brute force and high durability army that's excellent in Clash and Shock, but relatively weak in Skirmish and Reduce. Immune to morale loss.
-Tier: Extremis
-Cost: 4 RP per Mag 1 Fleethorde per turn + Salvage Rights (no technological salvage, significantly degrades captured infrastructure).
-Limit: Magnitude 3 Fleethorde.
Tacitus-Raiden Ltd: While notable for their more discrete offerings, Tacitus-Raiden is most famous for their full-scale field armies. These consist of a wide variety of combat assets suitable to most operations, and they're known for maintaining high-quality, experienced units. Better yet, northern Vyranodasik is one of their primary areas of operation, ensuring a high supply is available. They know their worth, however.
-Summary: A mecha-focused army that's best in Skirmish and Penetrate, but is versatile and balanced enough to do well everywhere. Highly psychic.
-Tier: Extremis
-Cost: 8 RP per Mag 1 Fleethorde per turn .
-Limit: Magnitude 4 Fleethorde.
The Warband of Seti the Kinslayer: An exiled Shaltari warlord who was apparently given his name by humans he met in another universe. His forces specialise in high manoeuvrability warfare, and his ground forces use a robust and redundant teleportation system to rapidly redeploy. His space forces prioritise spinal weaponry but use their manoeuvrability to compensate for their reduced firing arcs. Due to being exiled for advocating for further war with the Alin, cannot be hired at the same time as The Emirate of Dark Glass.
-Summary: A Magnitude 1 Fleethorde that's good in Bomardment, Disengage/Pursuit, Exploit, and Reduce, but is poorly suited to pitched battles and fighting large numbers of War Engines.
-Tier: Extremis
-Cost: 4 RP per turn.
-Limit: Unique.
The Emirate of Dark Glass: The Nomadic polity of an exiled Alin djinn self-styled as Emir Nour "the Dark One", these forces defy Cybran understanding. Seeming to be a multi-species but mono-culture assemblage of extended families and warbands these "magic" users travel through the void in giant castles of glass. They try to overwhelm their enemies with superior numbers from multiple angles of attack before their enemy can strike back. Their magical spells, lasers, macron beams, sonic blasts and crystalline kinetic weapons are devastating on the offensive, and their attacks have some kind of magical corrupting effect which weakens those it infects. Gradually transforming them into "Dark Glass" hybrids under Nour's control.
-Summary: A Magnitude 2 Fleethorde with universal magic that debuffs and eventually converts its enemies, with space assets as primarily bases to enable boarding actions and planetary assaults, where it acts as a highly mobile pseudo-Autowar army with mobile Heroes that can conjure elemental armies.
-Tier: Primus
-Cost: 4 RP per turn.
-Limit: Unique.
Available Sectors
-Cybran Space (2, Southwest [Heartlands, Excessively Defended], East [Heartlands, Excessively Defended]): Now a vast heartland of Cybran people and industry, this region of space is under constant threat from many different angles, but it is well defended by both static fortifications and the Cybran armed forces. Its overall scope has doubled thanks to colonisation of the area of space previously known as the Art Project.
-The Merendi Imperium (2, Northwest, North): The Merendi are a humanoid race that is perhaps best described as "technicolor elves", as one Cybran analyst put it. Hailing from a distant galaxy, this Merendi colony left their home nation for reasons unknown. Whatever said home nation was, it was clearly wealthy and powerful, since the stated reason for the Merendi conquering their surrounding space and enslaving local aliens is so that they could maintain the lavish lifestyles they were used to, including truly obscene displays of wealth such as claiming entire star systems to be palaces for their ruling elite.
-Minor Powers (1, West): Thanks to swift and effective Cybran intervention, this space has seen a full restoration of peace and security, with many small nations blooming like a field of flowers as ruins are rebuilt into cities once more. While no overarching government exists, the polities here share a strikingly powerful independent streak, choosing to try and make their own way through the stars. Thanks to Cybran efforts, mostly undamaged from the recent assault by the Omniswarm, a debt they won't soon forget.
-Syrabaric Defense Coalition (1, Northeast): A collective term for several local nations that all share a highly democratic and collectivist means of government not that dissimilar from the Cybran Nation's own, although they take things even further, eschewing formal leadership beyond representative speakers altogether. Are supported by material and personnel aid from their ideological allies in the galaxy, apparently including a sizable quantity of Merendi who are very angry at their western neighbours.
-The Omni-Enlightening Swarm (1, Center): A scientist of a now-extinct local race decided that their brilliance was unmatched throughout the universe, and so it should be the only thing in the universe. Destroying his own civilization with legions of drones, he now sits as the immortal ruler of an empire made up exclusively of cyborg clones of himself. The Swarm seeks to exterminate all other life out of pure egoism and a solipsist belief in their own divinity. With their assault on the minor powers to their west suitably rebuffed, they have briefly turned inwards to further enhance their ability to deal death.
-Aeon Illuminate (1, South): The Aeon have secured this region of space with the blessing of the Cybran Nation, and have set to work inhabiting it with their smooth, curving architecture. They now seek to claim more space for the Illuminate, and their legions marshal for a northwards strike.
-Shaltari Tribal Confederation (1, Southeast): An alien race of "diminutive space hedgehogs", as a certain Cybran analyst beginning to gain recognition for their colloquial naming sense put it, the Shaltari keep to themselves and their various tribes. What a tribe is remains a little unclear, but it is believed to be roughly equivalent to a Cybran Node rather than a more traditional meaning, and they respond to identified scouts in varying ways. They have laid decisive claim to their region of space with a military apparatus of comparatively small but high speed units with a penchant for trickery that even the most devious Cybran Commander can approve of. Intelligence suggests that the border war they were previously engaged in has ended in failure, leading to a political shakeup within the Confederation that explains their new, more diplomatic foreign policy.
-Unknown Space (6, All Except Below): The Cybran Nation has not yet identified who or what lies within this territory.
-The Merendi Imperium (2, Southwest, South): As P-6.
-Syrabaric Defense Coalition (1, Southeast): As P-6.
-Unknown Space (6, All Except Below): The Cybran Nation has not yet identified who or what lies within this territory.
-Ravaged Space (1, Northeast): This region was yet another victim of the Hierarchy's rampage, and most likely its starting point. Never the most stable to start off with, apparently a persistent victim of raids by the Merendi Imperium and a faction known as the 'Ekons', the UEF is currently looking into entering the region in an attempt to restore order and expand their own territory.
-United Earth Federation (2, East, Southeast): The UEF have moved decisively to expand their holdings, matching the Cybran in breadth if not in depth of their control over local space. They continue to look both inwards and outwards for further expansion and improvement opportunities, and despite any former animosity between themselves and the Cybran people they're willing to lend a hand when called upon, so long as the price is right.
-Unknown Space (8, All Except Below): The Cybran Nation has not yet identified who or what lies within this territory.
-The Super-Directorate (1, Northeast): A loose, multi-species interstellar alliance of megacorps and states that are merely de-facto extensions of megacorps (some native and some outverser) called the Super-Directorate for Market Prosperity, which seems to be the main local power to your immediate south. Currently embroiled in a civil war between a coalition of conventional companies and the Messenger Logistics Corporation, headed by an alien entity of mysterious origin, significant power, and incredible technologies.
-Unknown Space (6, All Except Below): The Cybran Nation has not yet identified who or what lies within this territory.
-The Super-Directorate (3, Northwest, North, Northeast): Redfog's infiltration has revealed the entire north of this sector belongs to the Super-Directorate, with the eastern portion of the nation being solidly in the hands of the MLC, who are rapidly expanding westward. They will doubtlessly be a major problem in the future.
-Unknown Space (6, All Except Below): The Cybran Nation has not yet identified who or what lies within this territory.
-Syrabaric Defense Coalition (2, Northwest, West): The eastern portion of the SDC, the nations here are primarily a reserve for their brethren to the west, with their own concerns primarily being looking down at the Quarantine Zone below and hoping nobody tries to break it. Currently in talks with the Alin to ensure they can stop just that from occurring.
-Alin (1, Southwest): A mysterious people who utilise what seems to be generally agreed on as magic in place of conventional technology, sailing between the stars in ships of hardened glass and summoning beings of living fire to do their bidding. While lacking in certain areas compared to their peers, their unorthodox methodology gives them all the benefits a unique approach can bring. While more or less victorious against the Shaltari in a recent border war, they've elected not to push their luck, and are content developing their existing territory.
With the dawn of a new cycle, the Zerg stand stronger than ever despite their enemies' attempts to unseat them. With the breathing room gained from no longer being in immediate danger (not a set of circumstances that is expected to last for very long) the Swarm may now investigate the various opportunities opened up to them. New potential allies in the north to communicate with, newly identified gene-sequences in the west to incorporate, and the same old threat to the south still in need of devouring.
As the Cerebrates ponder their options, the Altra make a reappearance, a small task force sallying from beyond the Wall of Light to check in on the Zerg. They spend most of their time present performing what seems to be a very worried look north at the Strakhul, who are dangerously close to the Ancient Evergaol, but also find the time to briefly speak with the Swarm before departing for some other crisis elsewhere.
They're pleased to see that the Zerg are still intact, and equally pleased to see that they chose to resolve their problems with as much diplomacy as was feasible under the circumstances. Apparently proud of the Zerg's civilised conduct, they're prepared to give a reward, since they expect to see further good conduct.
The reward in question is gene-sequences from an unusual extraversal species the Altra found as frozen corpses in deep space. Apparently powerful psions, this capability was unfortunately not based on genetics, but several unique factors are available for incorporation into the Swarm, with two immediately standing out as particularly noteworthy.
The first is an advanced form of individual adaptation, allowing the species to grow significantly more powerful from near-death experiences. This could easily be incorporated into highly-regenerative strains, at the moment primarily the Roach, to allow them to become more powerful over the course of a battle, both faster and stronger. So long as they can survive, at least. Theoretically, it could eventually be spread to the Swarm as a whole, but this would be more difficult and have a more marginal level of utility.
The second is an ability to grow in size and power by an order of magnitude while under a type of radiation emitted from large lunar bodies. This is mostly just confusing to analyse and seems to involve a psionic component making it difficult to replicate directly, but the genetic sequences that can be incorporated are ones that allow for rapidly growing creatures of that size at all. In other words, it can be used as a genetic base for a bipedal Titan-scale strain. As an added bonus, these genes include an advanced ability to intuitively manipulate energetic projectiles, which would allow for the easy incorporation of a bio-plasmid stream launcher in the mouth.
They also mention that they're willing to offer a great deal of resources on an ongoing basis in exchange for the Zerg restoring the "fire bastion" around the territory of the refugees they safeguard, minimising the amount of raider attacks and allowing them to free up their forces in the region for tasks elsewhere. This would entail the destruction of most of the remaining Golden Pirate forces to the Zerg's south, and securing those sectors.
They acknowledge that this will be a much harder fight than the one to take the Freeport, and that the Beloved of Gold will no doubt get involved. While the pirates are dangerous in their own right, the Beloved are a true threat, completely lost to the Gold and able to exploit its power to an enormous extent, providing numerous potent capabilities. Still, they argue, it was a fight the Zerg would probably have to take at some point regardless, and they promise the rewards will be worth the cost.
They also offer to double this bonus if the Zerg can clear out the Strakhul to their north, but stress they don't want the Swarm to overstretch itself, and that its battles should be considered carefully.
As a final gift before they depart, the task force puts the Zerg in contact with a mercenary group willing to work with them, if the price is right. While asking for an inordinate amount of funding in exchange for the services of what is ultimately just a single ship, the Altra assure the Cerebrates that this group is worth every mineral and litre of Vespene they're asking for. With the Bramble infestation previously overrunning the sector, it has relatively little in the way of mercenaries, and many sellswords are put off by the Zerg. However, the Altra promise that if the Zerg invest into putting themselves on the market, they can gain access to a wide catalogue of mercenaries to hire in order for an immediate albeit temporary boost to their combat power.
Externally, active reconnaissance efforts have suggested that the fleeing Machine Empire ended up smashing into the previously scouted Galaxy Command, which ended up being one straw too many when combined with the other threats they faced. The largely Terran force suffered a collapse of their front lines, and were then mostly eliminated by the Beloved of Gold, who sent a force to exploit their sudden weakness. Such is life in the Warring Galaxies.
However, shortly afterwards yet another new faction was deposited in the region, which has apparently been able to temporarily gain control over it and destroy the remnants of the Machine Empire. Little is known about these newcomers other than they're a multi-species federation centred around yet more Terrans. Time will tell if they're more successful than their predecessors, or if they too will fall prey to the many threats surrounding them.
Strategic Turn 4 Start
Available Resources: 157 RP
-Fleethordes heal 20%. The Swarm is once more at full strength.
-The two minor worlds previously scouted remain present and ready to be swayed to the Swarm's sides with cunning arguments… or possibly assimilated by force.
-The Altra Ascendancy have provided 'Saiyan' gene-sequences for fighting the pirates and engaging in diplomacy with Eclipse and the Smoke Jaguars. Two immediate research projects have come to mind (Roach Zenkai and Oozarlisk) covered below, but others may be possible if the Cerebrates can think of them. They're also offering an RP stipend for protecting the borders of Refugee Space if the Zerg can push back the Golden Pirates to the point they're no longer adjacent to it.
-The Strakhul, Krork Fleet Commune and Silver Millenium remain to the north and could be approached for diplomacy, or attacked to seize their novel essence for the Swarm.
-Long-range scouts have found that the Machine Empire force which fled west was destroyed by a mysterious force new to the region.
Research Proposals
Mobile Hives: The Cerebrate who proposed shifting the Swarm to Terran inspired mobile Hive Clusters has continued to pester Symbion about his idea. He has two proposals: the first is to lift the structures with lighter than air gases and psionics similar to Overlords. The Second is to allow structures to "uproot" and walk across the surface to new positions. In both cases the structures would be unable to perform other functions while moving.
Initial trials would be Doctrinal Enhancements which would produce mobile variants of the creep/sunken//spore colony for 2 Research Slots per method of locomotion. Investing in changing all buildings to either mobility type would be a Revolutionary Breakthrough and require 10 Research Slots for either mobility type.
Fragmenting Spine Launchers: The architects of the Impaler Leviathan have again suggested downsizing the acid-carrying and explosive spines of that morph for use by smaller spine-launching strains such as Hydralisks, Hunter-Killers, and Lurkers with only a minimal further investment of resources and effort
As a relatively simple adaptation providing these alternate ammunition types to these strains would only take 1 Research Slot.
Project Ziz: Symbion's personal project from before he turned his attention to the Psar. Multiple different variations of new warships were theorised, all housed on a similar base organism around twice the length of an ordinary Leviathan. The four as yet unnamed designs are as follows
A dedicated void combat strain for killing peer opposition using an enlarged variant of the Impaler Leviathan's spine launcher that would lack carrier capabilities
A planetary assault unit possessing an onboard hive cluster for orbital gestation of combat units and assault structures as well as weapons adapted for orbital bombardment and numerous orifices for drop sac deployment that would lack conventional ship-to-ship firepower
A dedicated carrier morph similar to the planetary assault variant but exchanging the bombardment weapons and sac deployment capabilities for additional space for constructing and deploying aerospace morphs and potentially even juvenile Leviathans (or fully-grown smaller Zerg 'vessels' should any be developed)
An enormous suicide morph that would use a variety of methods to turn itself into a truly massive bomb, able to kill worlds or bramble infestations with ease, albeit in a costly manner.
Prototyping and testing for final inclusion into the Swarm's arsenal may begin the moment Symbion wills it. Developing each Strain requires 1 Research Slot, but since there's some overlap between the designs it will only take 3 Research Slots invested at once to develop all 4 strains.
Well I'll be a Monkey's Uncle: Incorporate the gifted "Saiyan" essence into the Roach strain. This will result in the Roaches healing back stronger, faster and tougher than before when they regenerate from near death.
As a complicated and partially psionic process integrating this into the Roach strain will take 2 Research Slots.
Pull a Monkey's Tail: Incorporate the gifted "Saiyan" essence into a new Titan scale morph even larger than the Ultralisk. Still able to be morphed from a single larva as all Zerg ground forces are, the resulting strain would be a knuckle walking facultative biped, able to run on all fours or stand up to fight in melee with its forelimbs and bite. Additional weapons would take the form of an impaling tail based on the tentacle of a sunken colony and a relatively short ranged bioplasma beam emitted from its mouth. Unlike the Ultralisk which is adept at destroying both peer units and mass infantry this morph would be a dedicated War Engine killer, while its sheer size could kill smaller units as collateral it would not be an efficient tool for anti-infantry or vehicle operations.
As a novel morph and one incorporating psionic processes developing this new strain will take 2 Research Slots.
Mercenary Contracts
Legend:
The Xylem: A floating city that dwarfs even a Leviathan, the occupants didn't expect to survive some prior catastrophe, but after a few years wandering their new galaxy they were ready to sign on with the Altra and get back into the fight. Exteritite apparently brings back bad memories, because engaging it is listed as all but a requirement in their contract. While highly expensive considering the tiny force they bring in numerical terms, their army of largely automated combat walkers is highly capable, and the Xylem itself is both heavily armed and an asset they're apparently willing to risk in void combat. Their leader is also an engineer with a knack for outside-the-box thinking, willing and able to use the Xylem's onboard factories to create novel solutions to battlefield problems on the fly.
However, the largest single part of their asking price seems to come from one apparently legendary mech pilot, known only as C4-621.
-Type: Combined arms Legend consisting of a Macro-Capital mothership, automated Vehicle-scale mech army with both a heavy assault and rapid strike section, and a mecha ace.
-Specialties: Breakthroughs, Planetary Assaults, Vehicle Duels, Field Engineering
-Cost: 10 RP per turn, halved if hired to fight the Infesting Gold in some manner.
Available Sectors
-The Brambles (3, Northwest, West, Southwest): The seemingly mindless and definitely ominous xenoflora still controls a large amount of space, and is constantly attempting to expand its reach. However, it has since been taken over by the Swarm's Psar parasite, and stands ready for colonisation on a truly vast scale. For the Swarm must expand to meet the needs of the expanding Swarm. This territory includes the Hunter's Guild and the Sabbat.
-Zerg Swarm (3, North [Established], Center [Heartlands, Excessive Defences], South [Heartlands]): The Swarm controls a vast swathe of well-developed territory, despite being hemmed in on multiple different sides by varying threats and barriers. The northern space here contains the Ancient Evergaol.
-Light Wall (3, Northeast, East, Southeast): A wall of light projected by statues similar in construction to those seen in the Ancient Evergaol blocks access to this region of space. It turns out that the Altra are behind here, or at least the refugees they're protecting.
-Zerg Swarm (1, North [Claimed, Heavy Defences]): After a brutal assault, this area of space formerly belonging to the Golden Pirates has fallen under the control of the Swarm. Having successfully repelled a Pirate counterattack, it may now serve as the Zerg's forward base in the sector from which new offensives may be launched.
-Light Wall (2, Northeast, East): A wall of light projected by statues similar in construction to those seen in the Ancient Evergaol blocks access to this region of space. It turns out that the Altra are behind here, or at least the refugees they're protecting.
-The Brambles (1, Northwest): Seemingly the heart of the Brambles' infestation, this region is much more densely settled with the xenoflora than anywhere else yet seen. As of yet, it resists the Psar's control, but it should only be a matter of time before it too falls to the Zerg, becoming another asset in the defence against the nightmares of the Warring Galaxy. Until then, however, it should be approached with extreme caution. It has recently started spawning organisms of its own to attack the Zerg's hives, but so far these have been too weak and few in number to be concerned with.
-The Crimson Adoration (1, Southeast): Another ally of the Altra in trying to keep a handle on these, they're a psionic people of what Terrans might call faeries that rely heavily on summoned creatures to do battle. Currently staring down Beloved of Gold to their south.
-Infested Pirates (3, West, South, Center): The remaining piratical force in the region, having retreated to lick their wounds after they were soundly defeated by the Zerg Swarm. They'll be back before long if the fight isn't taken to them in one way or another.
-Beloved of Gold (1, Southwest): The pirates are only the tip of the Infesting Gold's iceberg. The Beloved are the bulk of it, a true empire rather than a group of mere reavers, and one that's lost their ability to turn away from Exteritite as a civilisation. They'll be a much more dangerous enemy than their catspaws, but avoiding a confrontation with them is no longer in the cards if it ever was.
-Suitaitazu Ravager Swarns (9, All): These incredibly widespread and even more incredibly omnivorous devourers, in some way a dark mirror of the Swarm, occupy the entirety of the space immediately west of the Zerg. Fortunately, while they're constantly attacking in every direction, their eastward attacks are not being launched with any particular ferocity, at least for the time being.
-Unknown Space (1, Northeast): Who knows what's going on up here. Something terrible, probably.
-Refugee Space (1, Southeast): The Wall of Light is no longer operable here, if it ever was, leaving the huddled masses of these star systems exposed to the metaphorical elements. Fortunate, then, that they have guardians nearby.
-Krork Fleet-Commune (5, Northwest, North, West, Center, East): A highly militarised force of technologically sophisticated giants that are fortunately allies of the Altra, helping to restore a small degree of order and security in this sector. They seem to have just emerged from fighting what could best be described as "everyone", but with the aid of other allies they were apparently victorious. They are now instead fighting what could best be described as "a different everyone".
-Strakhul (1, South): A coalition of species that both creates and feeds off of negative emotions, summoned forth from their home dimension by local cultists. While they doubtlessly have many ambitions to expand their territory and cause more suffering, they're currently being held in check by their western neighbour. It's suspected they have eyes on both the Krork to the north and Zerg to the south as well, but they have seemingly yet to act against either faction.
-Silver Millenium: (1, Southwest): A kingdom of highly psionic Terrans, what they lack in advanced technology and general combat prowess they make up for with psionics linked with positive emotions that seem to make them an ideal counter for the Strakhul to their east. However, they are struggling somewhat with a minor Bramble infestation in their territory, and they may not maintain an advantage against the Strakhul for long.
Glory to mankind! The Imperium's reach in this new galaxy stretches further than ever before, its fleets patrol the stars without opposition, and its armies stand victorious on countless worlds. While the armadas of the Battlegroup are by no means unscarred, much like the Astartes who leads them, newly built vessels and newly recruited soldiers have brought the fleet close to its full strength once again.
Furthermore, captured starcharts from the former United Republics reveals that territory further east is also ripe for the taking, as space previously preserved as a buffer area can now be easily secured by mankind, and scouts sent out to see what else exists beyond the borders of the Imperium.
Not that east is the only direction for expansion. To the south, the Ykantras have made good on their word, and used the reprieve granted to them by the fighting around them to launch a mass exodus of their land, resuming their ancient nomadic lifestyle and leaving the territory to the Imperium in deed if not in word. As a parting gift, or more accurately a parting shot of spite against Octarine Incorporated, they also provide more star charts of the sector to their immediate south. It is, as it turns out, completely and utterly filled with the corporate-state, and is not even the full extent of their territory.
While many are dismissive of the plantlike xenos no matter the size of their empire, Gideon Harrsk is not. Not only is raw size its own merit, as the Imperium well knows, Octarine's ability to carve out such a space for itself in a galaxy full of those who would oppose it is noteworthy. Attempting to fight it head-on at this time would likely end in defeat. A further buildup of forces and, some radicals whisper, allies will be necessary before open warfare against the corporation proper may begin.
That is not to say that action cannot be taken against their puppets, however, and Outworld seems intent on doing just that. Having successfully forced the Teutes offensive against them back, in part thanks to the timely assistance of their new fortress-moons securing the orbitals. With a new line of warships, mixing Octarine biotechnology with Outworld sorcery, they've launched a counterattack against the Federation, intent on adding more planets to their domain. As per prior negotiations, they offer the Imperium a chance to fight alongside them and earn a share of the glory in exchange for assistance in return down the line, although no binding commitments have yet been made.
But while external affairs seem promising, not all is well, for as always mankind is beset by threats from within as well as without. The remnants of the VUR's spy network still plague Imperial territory, having gone to ground after their terrorism failed to stay the execution of their nation, and the Regnum's Wyrm Cults remain an active threat despite Inquisitorial and Arbites attention. The Regnum in particular will likely only expand their efforts further, necessitating additional investment into eliminating their cults, at least until such time as the foul wyrms themselves are pushed out of local space.
Furthermore, the frontiers of Imperial space have been newly placed in peril. While the eastern expanse, exemplified by the newly renamed worlds of Bloodwater and Harrsk's Glory, is safe for the time being, the western frontier originally liberated from the Kroats is not. Xenos marauders, a species of humanoids who are universal psykers, strike from another dimension into the Materium to raid human worlds, searching for slaves and plunder before departing as swiftly as they came.
While initially believed to be the work of Drukhari, an assumption not hurt by the aliens' roughly humanoid body plan and pointed ears, analysis of recovered enemy corpses suggests that these are in fact an entirely unrelated group, most likely not local to this universe, who are far more organised, and thus a potentially greater threat. While local garrison forces have been able to keep losses manageable for the time being, these raids are only intensifying, and so a response must be mounted lest control of the territory be lost altogether.
As for why these 'Githyanki' raiders have begun attacking now, refugees fleeing the west suggest it's most likely the emergence of a new dark god. While the exact circumstances of its birth remain unclear, what is known is that it has powerfully emerged onto the galactic stage and is busy attacking in every direction, aiming to seize more power and resources for the sake of seizing more power and resources.
The Emperor's Tarot seems to corroborate these tales, with foreboding readings common across Imperial space. The most common is a five-card spread of the Ragged Fool and the Monster paired, the Throne both upright and inverted, and the God-Emperor inverted. The inclusion of a card in both positions simultaneously is extremely unusual, and implies an entity unlike traditional dark gods, while the first two cards imply that this is a self-inflicted problem.
But the most significant is the inverted God-Emperor, always in the last position of any spread that includes it. It suggests that a new ruinous power is only the most visible threat; that other, even more dangerous things are lurking in the outer dark of space.
The refugees who deliver this information are themselves largely xenos, so those who lack the range to move onwards past the Imperium are either kept to the frontiers where they can be largely kept out of sight or alternatively directed to Outworld. Those who protest these arrangements are dealt with appropriately. The rest fall in line.
Opportunity to the east, danger to the south, both in equal measure to the west, and the north still to be explored. The ruling council of Battlegroup Harrsk is certainly not lacking in choices to make, especially after they receive a missive from the Black Dragon. Apparently the former criminal empire is working on several promising possibilities for local mercenary forces with few qualms about who they work for, and more immediately found a variety of other extraversal forces willing to work for the Imperium in exchange for coin, or in a handful of cases alternative concessions.
These mercenaries are almost to a man heretics and xenos, of course, but that is at this point all but expected. To a degree, victory can excuse many sins, and the conquest of the United Republics has silenced those critical of the usage of Outworld sorcerer-mercenaries for the time being. Still, it hasn't endeared Harrsk to his political opponents, even if simple survival must remain the first priority, as it always has.
On one final note, the Inquisition has reported an uptick in Nurglite cults within Imperial territory. It's simply a return to the expected norms, and so nothing that requires dedicated action taken against it, but it implies that the Archenemy has not been left behind in the Milky Way. No doubt they will lash out at those loyal to the Emperor in due time, but there are more immediate issues than Chaos at the moment, no matter what the hardline Puritans say.
Strategic Turn 4 Start
Available Resources: 25 RP
-Fleethordes heal 20%. Death Guard Fleethorde currently has 25% damage. The other fleethordes fighting at the ocean world have 15% damage. The fleethordes who fought alongside Outworld last turn currently have 20% damage.
-The new Outworld space fleet launches a counter invasion of the Vorkyli to the south. As negotiated previously, the imperium is invited to assist in this Konquest as military allies of Outworld. As well as offering honour and glory (according to Outworld at any rate), giving assistance here will result in Outworld giving a proportionate amount of assistance in return on a later campaign of the Imperium's choosing.
-The Ykantras to the south of Imperial space flee the sector and make sure to give the Imperium enough warning to take and hold their TP as promised. The Imperium must station a fleethorde there and start to develop it this turn (or offer it up in exchange for construction assistance, see mercenaries below) to prevent Octarine Inc annexing it instead.
-Githyanki marauders have begun slave raids on the Imperium's northwesternmost TP. This is prompted by the birth of a new Dark God to the west, corroborated by the Emperor's Tarot. Refugees fleeing this have given astrographical data on the relevant area.
-Wyrm Cults and VUR spy remnants both remain active internally, and could be problematic if left unchecked.
Research Proposals
Beacon Network: While the Immaterium is calmer in this new reality without the guiding light of the Astronomicon even Navigator piloted vessels must frequently translate back to realspace to take their barings. The Houses of the Navis Nobilite have come to Harrsk with a proposal to solve this problem. While it would never be as bright as the Emperor's divine light, a similar sacrifice of a thousand weak psykers a day could create a dimmer navigation light. While a single such light would not be able to replace the Holy Astronomicon; a network of such "Lighthouses" would allow Navigator piloted travel within and near the Imperium's new borders to be much quicker and more efficient. This proposal is heavily opposed by the Adeptus Astra Telepathica as overly wasteful of valuable psykers but both they and the Adeptus mechanicus begrudgingly admit that the theory is sound and within the Imperium's ability to build.
Using relatively well understood technology and techniques the main expense and challenge of this project is its industrial scale. Implementing this would take 2 Research Slots. Currently incompatible with Void Abacus below.
Void Abacus: An alternative proposal from the Adeptus Mechanicus and supported by the Adeptus Astra Telepathica. This would use advanced archeotech to improve the performance of Navigatorless warp travel. While the distance and speed of military forces would not improve the precision and efficiency of short distance FTL journeys for chartists and military ships would see a large increase. This proposal is disdained by the Navigator Houses who even go so far as to imply that it might make improper use of Abominable Intelligences.
Reverse engineering the archeotech will be challenging but once the construction process is decoded each Abacus is a relatively small and cheap cogitator which can be easily spread throughout the fleet. Implementing this would take 2 Research Slots. Currently incompatible with Beacon Network above.
Waterworld: When reviewing the combat performance of the Crusade against the VUR Imperial High Command noted the struggle the crusade fleet faced to take the newly renamed ocean world of Bloodwater. While High Command doubts that such a mix of factors that deny the imperium its void and air power will be common they also acknowledge that they no longer have as deep a pool of man power or industrial might of their home galaxy. When asked to provide a solution to the need for void transportable water power the Mechanicus and Techmarines return with two proposals.
The first is to retrofit some of the smallest civilian and military void ships, those 1km or less in length such as the Viper class Scout Sloop, as new classes of dedicated FTL planetary oceanic landers. As they can still carry their own warp drive these would be independent ships, able to travel independently of larger tender or carrier vessels. If armed with aquatic torpedoes, depth charges, las or ballistic cannons and ballistic missiles such ships could serve as surface floating hunter-killer craft able to suppress and destroy oceanic and shore planetary defences opening the way for mass landings or orbital bombardment.
Such craft could also be easily outfitted as dedicated aircraft, vehicle or troop carriers. They would have no useful void combat weapons beyond point defence las weapons against strike craft so should be kept away from the line of battle. Since their hulls would not be able to handle the pressures of underwater operations they would also be completely vulnerable to enemy void assets if orbital control is lost.
These would be relatively simple to prototype and construct and so would only take 1 Research Slot to fully implement.
The second is to create smaller pure water craft which can be carried by existing navy transports and landers. They caution that the STCs in question are extremely fragmentary, which is why they are not already within use, and so this would take longer or require more resources than the first proposal. However, these smaller and more agile designs would be better protected from orbital fire and would fit better into the manoeuvre warfare doctrine of the Imperium's more elite forces such as the Astartes or Sororitas. They would also be easier to make submersibles to help defend against orbital fire thanks to not needing to be both space and water worthy. Finally if they were to be deployed alongside the first proposal they would make effective escorts with both types coving for each other's weaknesses.
As a relatively novel development, such watercraft would take 2 Research Slots to fully implement.
Mercenary Contracts
Fleethordes:
The Duke of Valentinois: This diabolic condottiero has kept his prior offer open, and although the Ecclesiarchy won't be any happier than before about hiring them, the sheer combat power on offer for a relative pittance (although prices have gone up, apparently due to increased demand) can't be easily ignored. In particular, the Radical faction of the Inquisition suggests they may be exactly what the Imperium needs to secure itself in this hostile environment.
-Summary: Magnitude 4 Fleethorde(s) with a focus on witchery and blunt application of force in equal measure.
-Tier: Extremis
-Cost: 1 Pop per turn.
-Limit: 2 purchases.
The Lin Kuei: An army of mostly human psyker assassins. They have a minimal support corp of conquered Vorkyli forces, and are led by the Level 1 Legend Sub-Zero (Real Name: Kuai Liang). Rehiring them still won't make the Ecclesiarchy happy, but that damage has mostly been done already.
-Summary: Magnitude 1 Fleethorde with Focuses in Elite and Supersoldier Infantry, specialised in infiltration tactics. Now include vessels of the New Outworld Fleet program, making them stronger in Clash and Bombardment.
-Tier: Extremis
-Cost: 4 RP or ½ a Pop per turn.
-Limit: Unique.
The Black Dragon: A force of mostly human mercenaries, they also rely heavily on their infantry but are respectable warriors. They have a large support corp of conquered Vorkyli forces, increasingly including vehicle-equivalent bioforms for heavy support, and are led by the Level 1 Legend Kabal.
-Summary: Magnitude 2 Fleethorde with Focuses in Line and Elite Infantry, specialised in occupations and the Exploit/Reduce phase. Now include vessels of the New Outworld Fleet program, making them stronger in Clash and Bombardment.
-Tier: Primus
-Cost: 4 RP or ½ a Pop per turn.
-Limit: Unique.
Mileena is now busy with Outworld's conquest of the Teutes, but thanks to prior experience cooperation between Imperial and Outworld forces should go acceptably without her even with both forces hired.
Bowser Jr.'s Minions: A xenos army from a fair distance east, this reptilian prince has apparently been sent out by his father under the belief that large-scale mercenary operations are an appropriate 'good day out' for juveniles, showcasing the barbarity typical of the alien mind and proving once again that they are enemies of all right-thinking humans. Still, it would be foolish to dismiss a potential combat asset out of hand no matter the kind, at least in Harrsk's opinion. The fact they're witches worsens things, but at this point all but the most diehard Cardinal has given up on complaining too hard about that. Even when the witches in question constantly flaunt their status by flying about on broomsticks, of all things.
Additionally, his Koopa Kingdom is enemies with a force known as the Eggman Empire, see below.
-Summary: A Magnitude 2 fleet of smaller aerospace warships primarily specialised in broadsides and boarding actions, not unlike Outworld's new navy, combined with a large army of bulky melee xenos that possess heavy artillery and psyker support. Perform well on the front lines in both land and space, but lack heavier assets and can struggle if they can't close the range. Commanded by the dangerous Bowser Jr., who can be turned giant by his adjutant Kamek in a pinch.
-Tier: Primus
-Cost: 5 RP per turn.
-Limit: Unique.
The Sage Fleet: A mechanical army from an area to the south of the Koopa xenos empire, this human princess has apparently been sent out by her father under the belief that large-scale mercenary operations are an appropriate learning experience for juveniles, showcasing keen foresight from a man who wishes to prepare his daughter for future rulership. Apparently a fully cybernetic being, her army consists of machines controlled by biological computing substrates, making them effectively equivalent to the Legio Cybernetica. Still, unsanctified replication of such sacred technology may upset the Adeptus Mechanicus, although at least it's not Abominable Intelligence. Additionally, her Eggman Empire is enemies with the Koopa Kingdom, and this should probably be kept in mind when making mercenary hiring decisions.
Apparently, this Sage Robotnik had a passing interest in Regicide, and her father Ivo rapidly reconfigured her entire army to be themed appropriately. Such a casual display of industrial might is worth noting.
-Summary: A Magnitude 2 fleet of aerospace battlecarriers with heavy firepower and plentiful strike craft, thus focusing on Bombardment and Skirmish. On the ground, it acts as a fearless and highly mobile heavy infantry force backed with a large quantity of Heroic E-2000 battle automata and integrated air support, making them good at Exploiting breakthroughs. However, they rely heavily on air superiority for artillery and mobility. Commanded by the cyborg Sage, who pilots a war machine known only as the Egg Queen.
-Tier: Primus
-Cost: 5 RP per turn.
-Limit: Unique.
Special Offer
Labour Battalions: The Imperium is separately approached in secret by both Bowser Jr. and Sage, both claiming that their factions are highly efficient at assembling cities and fortifications from nothing in short order. With Imperial navigational assistance and security guarantees, which would cost no hard resources to give up, they could reliably settle one of the Imperium's newly acquired sectors, and in exchange lend their aid towards making the rest of Imperial territory suitably productive.
-Effect: Give up one Imperial-aligned TP or Virgin Space to the Koopa Kingdom and/or Eggman Empire in exchange for 20 RP for upgrading colonisation levels. TP upgraded with this RP get Moderate Defences for free. Both offers can be taken.
Warlords Alliance: Apparently, a force known as the Galactic Empire was pulled into this universe in numerous iterations, and most of them were shortly thereafter dashed to pieces by their opposition. Most if not all of them had those which managed to escape the fall of their former employer, and many of these remnant warlords have banded together in order to offer their services to those willing to pay for them. While their record is less than ideal, a competent enough force available in large numbers isn't to be scoffed at. They include witches, and the Mechanicus is suspicious of their automata, but at this point things like that are to be expected.
-Summary: A versatile force which broadly speaking possesses a completely full unit roster except for the largest of land vehicles, with a particular focus on Elite Infantry and Macro-Capitals. Excels in Bombardment and Clash in space and is generally competent on the ground, being best in Shock.
-Tier: Primus
-Cost: 3 RP per Magnitude 1 Fleethorde per turn.
-Limit: Magnitude 4 Fleethorde.
Legend:
Cosmo Babylonia: Shockingly, a force that is not full of xenos, psykers, and Abominable Intelligences. They are heretics, of course, but it's fairly subdued as far as heresy goes, merely not believing in the God-Emperor because He has not yet been revealed to them. According to them, their home star system was taken into this galaxy and has since largely been conquered by local xenos, and now they roam the stars raising funds for a large enough mercenary force to engage in an all-out war to take it back.
While they themselves lack in mass, their war machines, known as Mobile Suits, certainly punch above their weight, and the significant price they command for a mere flotilla is proof enough of that. Under one Princess Sherindon Ronah, the flags fly of three distinct military forces: The numerous and versatile Crossbone Vanguard, the powerful Side 3 Colonial Defense Force, and last but not least a handful of machines from the Strategic Naval Research Institute, known as Gundam F99s, around which fate seems to ever so slightly bend. These are notable for their fusion-powered reactionless drives, which the Mechanicus would no doubt love to analyse as potential technology of the ancients.
The one issue is that they're painfully naive, and their contract includes numerous pointless stipulations that would constrain standard Imperial operations for forces deployed alongside them. Still, considering the capabilities on display, compromising with them may be very much worthwhile.
-Type: Multirole mecha that are equally effective as spaceborne strike craft and ground-based high-mobility superheavies. Come with their own unremarkable carriers.
-Specialties: Space Superiority, Rapid Response, Vehicle Duels
-Cost: 7 RP per turn, have morals. RP cost waived if the Imperium commits to sending an overall Magnitude 3 military force to liberate their homeland in Turn 5.
Available Sectors
-Imperial Space (2, Center [Industrialised, Moderately Defended], Northwest [Colonised]): Once territory bitterly contested by the Republic and the Scourge, the Imperium's sudden arrival has both shattered the state of the local territory and potentially upset the balance of power of the entire region. Imperial cities and defences have been established across the entire territory, but more work needs to be done. Northwest under attack by Githyanki Marauders.
-Ykantras Orda (1, South): The Ykantras have used the sudden rather significant distraction that is humanity smashing into Octarine's other client states like a sizable meteor to recover what they could of their old ways, fleeing into the void in vast numbers on hastily assembled habitat-ships. As thanks for enabling this, and as a parting shot against their former oppressors, they have given the Imperium warning enough that they can be the first to exploit the opportunity represented by newly empty territory.
-Imperial Space: (2, East, Southeast): The VUR has been decisively crushed, and their territory stands ready for settlement by Imperial workers, once more expanding mankind's reach.
-Octarine Incorporated Mining Interests (1, North): Formerly a mixture of local Vorkyli and an up and coming local species working together to battle the Kroatanga, they were forced to take out significant Octarine loans to pay for mercenaries and maintain their national forces, and while they were successful the devastation of war on their economies prevented them from doing anything like paying those loans back. Almost as soon as they were done fighting one enemy, Octarine descended to repossess their investments, which happened to be everything. Mercenaries were given updated contracts, and the volunteers that had been present to fight the Kroats left with that threat gone.
Now they work tirelessly to extract valuable metamaterials for their masters, with their debt compounding about as fast as they can pay it off, a situation that has been carefully maintained for centuries. A Magnitude 3 warfleet of Octarine's elite Xyvus Solutions mercenaries is based here to secure their 'investment', mostly from the frequent rebellions, ranging from actual uprisings worthy of the name to constant guerilla attacks and piracy from those who can get their hands on weapons or spaceships. Recent Imperial successful defiance of Octarine has only intensified these revolts, but a material difference from the prior state of affairs has yet to emerge.
-Outworld (1, West): This altered and compressed region of space is host to the enormous singular planet of Outworld, although Outworld proper is only a small part of it. Ruled by a single, all-powerful Khan, they are likely to soon finish digesting their newly acquired territory, and are already turning their attention towards the rest of Octarine-held space for their next conquest. By having yet to show active hostility towards the Imperium, they show proper deference, making them more agreeable than most xenos for all that they will almost certainly have to be destroyed in due time. Currently attacking the Teutes Federation.
-The Teutes Federation (1, Southwest): A Vorkyli state with a sizable local military due to being the location of their former nation's high command when things came crashing down, this so-called Citizen's Republic is a military junta in all but name, and Octarine Incorporated's local enforcer in exchange for more freedom and a lowered economic burden. Under attack by Outworld's armies.
-Vorkyli Lesser Regnum (1, Northeast): The Hograthux are a species of truly enormous voidborne worms with immense psionic powers, and one of them has made their way here, where they have dominated a local Octarine colony and turned it into its nest and slave-empire. Deemed unprofitable to deal with so long as it doesn't actively expand further, this Lesser Regnum has been more or less keeping to itself, but evidence suggests they were funding the Republican Federation's revolt to destabilise the region and, presumably, eventually bring the Republic under its own control. As might be expected, they are rather annoyed with the new interlopers in their planned expansion zone.
-Octarine Incorporated (9, All): The masterminds behind the Vorkyli, Octarine Incorporated is an incredibly powerful and vast state-like corporation, concerned with profit above all else. A local hegemon, they're presently distracted with issues to their west and east, but the Imperium is doubtlessly drawing steadily more of their ire, and theirs is not a strength to dismiss out of hand.
-Unknown Space (3, Northwest, West, Southwest): Territory that has yet to bear witness to the Emperor's light.
-Intergalactic Void (2, North, Northeast): While some stars and exoplanets do exist in this region, it's decidedly out of the region generally identified as "the galaxy". While technically possible to settle in some capacity or other, the costs would be significant, and the returns negligible. Perhaps the outer dark was meant to stay that way.
-YALDABAOTH (1, South): While details remain unclear, some foolish empire called up a ruinous power to serve as their salvation, and paid the ultimate price for their sin. Once ordinary territory has succumbed to a tide of golden order, where the Warp itself is forcefully becalmed and endless marble heads sing praises to their demiurgic master, all while factory-temples churn out legions of theological war-machines. Currently attacking in every direction. Sparse Stars: Territory cannot be upgraded to Heartlands.
-Githyanki Marauders (3, Centre, East, Southeast): Witch-xenos who rely on mysticism as much as conventional technology, and marauders who scourge the star lanes. In some ways very similar to the Drukhari, albeit with more order and less ostentatious cruelty, they now attempt to split their attention between containing YALDABAOTH and finding some route of escape or expansion. Currently, that appears to be Imperial territory. Sparse Stars: Territory cannot be upgraded to Heartlands.
-Unknown Space (3, Northwest, West, South): Territory that has yet to bear witness to the Emperor's light.
-Ravaged Space (4, North, Centre, Northeast, East): Filled with pirates, refugees, warlords, and other desperate and damned, there is no central authority in this space but that doesn't mean anyone can simply walk in and take over. Interestingly, one planet in the northeastern sector appears to be a freshly arrived world of humans who nearly annihilated themselves in atomic fire, and now emerge from their underground Vaults to find themselves under a new set of stars. Northern TP pair are Sparse Stars: Cannot be upgraded to Heartlands.
-Anti-Octarine Popular Front (2, South, Southwest): Formerly Octarine slave-species now in full revolt against their former masters, they have proven fierce, dogged, and surprisingly successful, going on the offensive against Octarine territory proper to the south. It would be a commendable effort, at least if they weren't xenos spouting foolish ideals of equality and tolerance. Still, there may be wisdom in letting the enemies of man fight each other without getting involved.
-Unknown Space (7, All Except Below): Territory that has yet to bear witness to the Emperor's light.
-Virgin Space (2, West, Southwest): Only occupied by a small handful of minor xenos that could easily be removed, this space was mapped out by the VUR in expectation of taking it for themselves once they had thrown off the shackles of Octarine, with other nearby powers focused elsewhere. Would be ideal for settlement… or for offering to others, as the Imperium can claim it somewhat by default.
Users of the Force can, as it happens, see the future. The Imperial Knights used this to see scant seconds ahead, allowing them to block and evade the blows of their enemies with supernatural efficiency. However, it is also possible, albeit harder, for a Force user to see further into the future, although these visions become more vague and metaphorical the further out one looks.
So it is that the Reaper Knights report to Harbinger that a many-headed hydra is cresting the horizon, threatening to drown reality itself in a tidal wave of green. An all-devouring beast of infinite cruelty, this hydra will arrive in the near future, and it is by no small way the largest threat the Reapers have faced so far.
The culprit is easily identified via talk on the Hypernet as Kultzer Slaughterking, a Kroatangan mythical god-king of sorts who is returning from whatever isolation once caged him. His very presence emboldens the Kroats, and while he is not coming to this galaxy his empowering effect seems to reach as far as the Warhell of Abradax Smashmaster the Ruin-Maker, who thankfully appears to still be distracted with some eastern or northern conflict, well away from the Reapers.
But the Knights warn this is not a state of affairs that will last long. Their visions of the future are quite clear on that: In one local year from now, Abradax will attack the Reapers in full force, possibly in an attempt to have the campaign against his largest regional opponent coincide with the return of Kultzer, and even his two of the hydra's heads command a truly powerful military force, especially when bolstered by whatever preparations he will spend this year making.
To successfully oppose the organic's rampage, the Reapers will need to seize every advantage, explore every possibility, use every ounce of military force available to them, and act with all the skill countless Cycles of experience have given them. Underestimating this threat could very well be lethal.
This is perhaps best exemplified by the fact that a mere pulse of Kroatangan activity was dangerous. The force that engaged the Reapers' newly arrived fleet last year ended up attempting to launch a raid on their own initiative, seeking to finish what they started. While they don't actually find the fleets, by now on the Tau'ri front, they do proceed directly south to hit Reaper territory. The decision to fortify this region proved wise, as the battle stations and Husk swarms present entered pitched battle against a not insignificant Kroatangan force.
What makes this especially inconvenient is the prior attempts by the Kroats to establish forward colonies of their species on Reaper worlds, leading to war within as well as without as soon as the fighting begins, for all that the newly grown planetary Kroats are armed more with enthusiasm than actual weapons.
In the end, the Kroats manage to set the various fortresses across the territory alight, sundering them into shattered fragments and scattering their occupants to the winds. However, the already damaged force suffers greatly from its attempts to break Reaper territory with brute force, and decides to withdraw rather than push through at any cost, promising their return later and in far greater numbers. They failed to significantly damage local infrastructure, but the defences that broke their charge were heavily degraded in the attack, and would not survive a second strike of similar intensity, let alone greater, without heavy reinforcement.
Worst of all is the fact that the Reapers cannot immediately commit to dealing with the Ruin-Makers, as they're still engaged with the Tau'ri forces to the north. And even if they wanted to withdraw in order to focus on the main threat, they couldn't.
In a desperate attempt to salvage their very poor strategic situation, the Tau'ri have launched an encirclement manoeuvre, surrounding the Reaper spearhead into their territory on all sides before diving in. As well as forcing the Reapers to fight on all fronts at once, difficult at the best of times, it's also their attempt to ensure there's no easy route of retreat and that access to repair and supply lines are cut off. While an initial wave of reinforcements, repairs, and refits made it through to the front lines before the encirclement was in place, that's all that will be available.
Needless to say, a defeat here would be total or near enough, and potentially leave the Reapers too weak to effectively engage the Kroatangans next year. However, there is a bright side: The Tau'ri have committed effectively their entire navy to the fight, leaving little or nothing in reserve, which means that if the force presently engaged becomes combat ineffective they will have nothing left to prevent the Reapers from taking full control over their territory.
The decisive hour is almost at hand. Break the Tau'ri, break the encirclement, and there will be a chance of victory. Failure is not an option. So says Harbinger.
Turn 4 Start
-Fleethordes heal 20%. All fleethordes assigned to fight the Tau'ri last turn at 30% damage. Fleethordes facing the Scourge last turn at 20% damage.
-Kroats attack the Reaper's Centre TP, but are forced back by defences. Central Square defences downgraded to Moderately Defended from damage. But this is only a prelude of things to come…
-Initiate tactical turn: Flanking Fever. The Tau'ri have launched a pincer attack using their advanced FTL drives in an attempt to cut off the Reaper forces attacking their territory. If they succeed, then the Reapers' could lose most or even all of the committed forces. However, there is a silver lining as analysis of Tau'ri force movements suggests that they are committing their entire reserve to this operation. If the Reapers can defeat, or at least savage, the flanking force than the Tau'ri will likely crumble, as without their space fleet they cannot meaningfully resist the Reapers' advance. All Reaper forces available for this fight.
-Sensor data and indoctrinated captives have given the Reaper's a great deal of information on the specifications of the main Tau'ri warship, the BC-304 Daedalus class Battlecruiser. While mostly a competent but unexceptional example of a species's first FTL warship it has select highly advanced components scavenged, stolen and gifted to the Tau'ri by older species. Similar to the ever frustrating Protheans of the Reaper's native universe.
Sadly those advanced technologies are a match for or even exceed reaper science. The 304's energy shields and plasma beam weapons are far more powerful than anything of that size the Reapers have ever seen before, easily able to destroy even reaper capitals with only a few volleys, while their FTL drive is faster than Reapers' by an order of magnitude or more. Most terrifying frustrating is their teleporters. Able to teleport anything within their size limit across interplanetary (but intrasystem) distances instantaneously they are an unmatched boarding/anti-boarding weapon and able to beam armed explosives within reaper hulls. Thankfully reaper jamming and passive stealth prevents them from achieving such a target lock until they have already crippled a reaper due to their comparatively primitive sensors so it is not the war winning weapon it could be. However, if the 304s were not being kept occupied in space these transporters would be able to single handedly even the ground battle if allowed to support their ground forces.
Even their less powerful technologies like their STL propulsion and point defence weapons are able to match or at least prove competitive with Reaper equivalents. However detailed analysis has discovered at least one area they still fall far short of the reapers in, manoeuvring thrusters and inertial compensators. While still more agile than a reaper capital by simple consequence of size the 304 is positively sluggish compared to the reapers' usual harvest targets of equivalent mass.
-Strategic Turn will occur after the fight here is resolved.
Glory to mankind! The Imperium's reach in this new galaxy stretches further than ever before, its fleets patrol the stars without opposition, and its armies stand victorious on countless worlds. While the armadas of the Battlegroup are by no means unscarred, much like the Astartes who leads them, newly built vessels and newly recruited soldiers have brought the fleet close to its full strength once again.
Furthermore, captured starcharts from the former United Republics reveals that territory further east is also ripe for the taking, as space previously preserved as a buffer area can now be easily secured by mankind, and scouts sent out to see what else exists beyond the borders of the Imperium.
Not that east is the only direction for expansion. To the south, the Ykantras have made good on their word, and used the reprieve granted to them by the fighting around them to launch a mass exodus of their land, resuming their ancient nomadic lifestyle and leaving the territory to the Imperium in deed if not in word. As a parting gift, or more accurately a parting shot of spite against Octarine Incorporated, they also provide more star charts of the sector to their immediate south. It is, as it turns out, completely and utterly filled with the corporate-state, and is not even the full extent of their territory.
While many are dismissive of the plantlike xenos no matter the size of their empire, Gideon Harrsk is not. Not only is raw size its own merit, as the Imperium well knows, Octarine's ability to carve out such a space for itself in a galaxy full of those who would oppose it is noteworthy. Attempting to fight it head-on at this time would likely end in defeat. A further buildup of forces and, some radicals whisper, allies will be necessary before open warfare against the corporation proper may begin.
That is not to say that action cannot be taken against their puppets, however, and Outworld seems intent on doing just that. Having successfully forced the Teutes offensive against them back, in part thanks to the timely assistance of their new fortress-moons securing the orbitals. With a new line of warships, mixing Octarine biotechnology with Outworld sorcery, they've launched a counterattack against the Federation, intent on adding more planets to their domain. As per prior negotiations, they offer the Imperium a chance to fight alongside them and earn a share of the glory in exchange for assistance in return down the line, although no binding commitments have yet been made.
But while external affairs seem promising, not all is well, for as always mankind is beset by threats from within as well as without. The remnants of the VUR's spy network still plague Imperial territory, having gone to ground after their terrorism failed to stay the execution of their nation, and the Regnum's Wyrm Cults remain an active threat despite Inquisitorial and Arbites attention. The Regnum in particular will likely only expand their efforts further, necessitating additional investment into eliminating their cults, at least until such time as the foul wyrms themselves are pushed out of local space.
Furthermore, the frontiers of Imperial space have been newly placed in peril. While the eastern expanse, exemplified by the newly renamed worlds of Bloodwater and Harrsk's Glory, is safe for the time being, the western frontier originally liberated from the Kroats is not. Xenos marauders, a species of humanoids who are universal psykers, strike from another dimension into the Materium to raid human worlds, searching for slaves and plunder before departing as swiftly as they came.
While initially believed to be the work of Drukhari, an assumption not hurt by the aliens' roughly humanoid body plan and pointed ears, analysis of recovered enemy corpses suggests that these are in fact an entirely unrelated group, most likely not local to this universe, who are far more organised, and thus a potentially greater threat. While local garrison forces have been able to keep losses manageable for the time being, these raids are only intensifying, and so a response must be mounted lest control of the territory be lost altogether.
As for why these 'Githyanki' raiders have begun attacking now, refugees fleeing the west suggest it's most likely the emergence of a new dark god. While the exact circumstances of its birth remain unclear, what is known is that it has powerfully emerged onto the galactic stage and is busy attacking in every direction, aiming to seize more power and resources for the sake of seizing more power and resources.
The Emperor's Tarot seems to corroborate these tales, with foreboding readings common across Imperial space. The most common is a five-card spread of the Ragged Fool and the Monster paired, the Throne both upright and inverted, and the God-Emperor inverted. The inclusion of a card in both positions simultaneously is extremely unusual, and implies an entity unlike traditional dark gods, while the first two cards imply that this is a self-inflicted problem.
But the most significant is the inverted God-Emperor, always in the last position of any spread that includes it. It suggests that a new ruinous power is only the most visible threat; that other, even more dangerous things are lurking in the outer dark of space.
The refugees who deliver this information are themselves largely xenos, so those who lack the range to move onwards past the Imperium are either kept to the frontiers where they can be largely kept out of sight or alternatively directed to Outworld. Those who protest these arrangements are dealt with appropriately. The rest fall in line.
Opportunity to the east, danger to the south, both in equal measure to the west, and the north still to be explored. The ruling council of Battlegroup Harrsk is certainly not lacking in choices to make, especially after they receive a missive from the Black Dragon. Apparently the former criminal empire is working on several promising possibilities for local mercenary forces with few qualms about who they work for, and more immediately found a variety of other extraversal forces willing to work for the Imperium in exchange for coin, or in a handful of cases alternative concessions.
These mercenaries are almost to a man heretics and xenos, of course, but that is at this point all but expected. To a degree, victory can excuse many sins, and the conquest of the United Republics has silenced those critical of the usage of Outworld sorcerer-mercenaries for the time being. Still, it hasn't endeared Harrsk to his political opponents, even if simple survival must remain the first priority, as it always has.
On one final note, the Inquisition has reported an uptick in Nurglite cults within Imperial territory. It's simply a return to the expected norms, and so nothing that requires dedicated action taken against it, but it implies that the Archenemy has not been left behind in the Milky Way. No doubt they will lash out at those loyal to the Emperor in due time, but there are more immediate issues than Chaos at the moment, no matter what the hardline Puritans say.
Strategic Turn 4 Start
Available Resources: 25 RP
-Fleethordes heal 20%. Death Guard Fleethorde currently has 25% damage. The other fleethordes fighting at the ocean world have 15% damage. The fleethordes who fought alongside Outworld last turn currently have 20% damage.
-The new Outworld space fleet launches a counter invasion of the Vorkyli to the south. As negotiated previously, the imperium is invited to assist in this Konquest as military allies of Outworld. As well as offering honour and glory (according to Outworld at any rate), giving assistance here will result in Outworld giving a proportionate amount of assistance in return on a later campaign of the Imperium's choosing.
-The Ykantras to the south of Imperial space flee the sector and make sure to give the Imperium enough warning to take and hold their TP as promised. The Imperium must station a fleethorde there and start to develop it this turn (or offer it up in exchange for construction assistance, see mercenaries below) to prevent Octarine Inc annexing it instead.
-Githyanki marauders have begun slave raids on the Imperium's northwesternmost TP. This is prompted by the birth of a new Dark God to the west, corroborated by the Emperor's Tarot. Refugees fleeing this have given astrographical data on the relevant area.
-Wyrm Cults and VUR spy remnants both remain active internally, and could be problematic if left unchecked.
Research Proposals
Beacon Network: While the Immaterium is calmer in this new reality without the guiding light of the Astronomicon even Navigator piloted vessels must frequently translate back to realspace to take their barings. The Houses of the Navis Nobilite have come to Harrsk with a proposal to solve this problem. While it would never be as bright as the Emperor's divine light, a similar sacrifice of a thousand weak psykers a day could create a dimmer navigation light. While a single such light would not be able to replace the Holy Astronomicon; a network of such "Lighthouses" would allow Navigator piloted travel within and near the Imperium's new borders to be much quicker and more efficient. This proposal is heavily opposed by the Adeptus Astra Telepathica as overly wasteful of valuable psykers but both they and the Adeptus mechanicus begrudgingly admit that the theory is sound and within the Imperium's ability to build.
Using relatively well understood technology and techniques the main expense and challenge of this project is its industrial scale. Implementing this would take 2 Research Slots. Currently incompatible with Void Abacus below.
Void Abacus: An alternative proposal from the Adeptus Mechanicus and supported by the Adeptus Astra Telepathica. This would use advanced archeotech to improve the performance of Navigatorless warp travel. While the distance and speed of military forces would not improve the precision and efficiency of short distance FTL journeys for chartists and military ships would see a large increase. This proposal is disdained by the Navigator Houses who even go so far as to imply that it might make improper use of Abominable Intelligences.
Reverse engineering the archeotech will be challenging but once the construction process is decoded each Abacus is a relatively small and cheap cogitator which can be easily spread throughout the fleet. Implementing this would take 2 Research Slots. Currently incompatible with Beacon Network above.
Waterworld: When reviewing the combat performance of the Crusade against the VUR Imperial High Command noted the struggle the crusade fleet faced to take the newly renamed ocean world of Bloodwater. While High Command doubts that such a mix of factors that deny the imperium its void and air power will be common they also acknowledge that they no longer have as deep a pool of man power or industrial might of their home galaxy. When asked to provide a solution to the need for void transportable water power the Mechanicus and Techmarines return with two proposals.
The first is to retrofit some of the smallest civilian and military void ships, those 1km or less in length such as the Viper class Scout Sloop, as new classes of dedicated FTL planetary oceanic landers. As they can still carry their own warp drive these would be independent ships, able to travel independently of larger tender or carrier vessels. If armed with aquatic torpedoes, depth charges, las or ballistic cannons and ballistic missiles such ships could serve as surface floating hunter-killer craft able to suppress and destroy oceanic and shore planetary defences opening the way for mass landings or orbital bombardment.
Such craft could also be easily outfitted as dedicated aircraft, vehicle or troop carriers. They would have no useful void combat weapons beyond point defence las weapons against strike craft so should be kept away from the line of battle. Since their hulls would not be able to handle the pressures of underwater operations they would also be completely vulnerable to enemy void assets if orbital control is lost.
These would be relatively simple to prototype and construct and so would only take 1 Research Slot to fully implement.
The second is to create smaller pure water craft which can be carried by existing navy transports and landers. They caution that the STCs in question are extremely fragmentary, which is why they are not already within use, and so this would take longer or require more resources than the first proposal. However, these smaller and more agile designs would be better protected from orbital fire and would fit better into the manoeuvre warfare doctrine of the Imperium's more elite forces such as the Astartes or Sororitas. They would also be easier to make submersibles to help defend against orbital fire thanks to not needing to be both space and water worthy. Finally if they were to be deployed alongside the first proposal they would make effective escorts with both types coving for each other's weaknesses.
As a relatively novel development, such watercraft would take 2 Research Slots to fully implement.
Mercenary Contracts
Fleethordes:
The Duke of Valentinois: This diabolic condottiero has kept his prior offer open, and although the Ecclesiarchy won't be any happier than before about hiring them, the sheer combat power on offer for a relative pittance (although prices have gone up, apparently due to increased demand) can't be easily ignored. In particular, the Radical faction of the Inquisition suggests they may be exactly what the Imperium needs to secure itself in this hostile environment.
-Summary: Magnitude 4 Fleethorde(s) with a focus on witchery and blunt application of force in equal measure.
-Tier: Extremis
-Cost: 1 Pop per turn.
-Limit: 2 purchases.
The Lin Kuei: An army of mostly human psyker assassins. They have a minimal support corp of conquered Vorkyli forces, and are led by the Level 1 Legend Sub-Zero (Real Name: Kuai Liang). Rehiring them still won't make the Ecclesiarchy happy, but that damage has mostly been done already.
-Summary: Magnitude 1 Fleethorde with Focuses in Elite and Supersoldier Infantry, specialised in infiltration tactics. Now include vessels of the New Outworld Fleet program, making them stronger in Clash and Bombardment.
-Tier: Extremis
-Cost: 4 RP or ½ a Pop per turn.
-Limit: Unique.
The Black Dragon: A force of mostly human mercenaries, they also rely heavily on their infantry but are respectable warriors. They have a large support corp of conquered Vorkyli forces, increasingly including vehicle-equivalent bioforms for heavy support, and are led by the Level 1 Legend Kabal.
-Summary: Magnitude 2 Fleethorde with Focuses in Line and Elite Infantry, specialised in occupations and the Exploit/Reduce phase. Now include vessels of the New Outworld Fleet program, making them stronger in Clash and Bombardment.
-Tier: Primus
-Cost: 4 RP or ½ a Pop per turn.
-Limit: Unique.
Mileena is now busy with Outworld's conquest of the Teutes, but thanks to prior experience cooperation between Imperial and Outworld forces should go acceptably without her even with both forces hired.
Bowser Jr.'s Minions: A xenos army from a fair distance east, this reptilian prince has apparently been sent out by his father under the belief that large-scale mercenary operations are an appropriate 'good day out' for juveniles, showcasing the barbarity typical of the alien mind and proving once again that they are enemies of all right-thinking humans. Still, it would be foolish to dismiss a potential combat asset out of hand no matter the kind, at least in Harrsk's opinion. The fact they're witches worsens things, but at this point all but the most diehard Cardinal has given up on complaining too hard about that. Even when the witches in question constantly flaunt their status by flying about on broomsticks, of all things.
Additionally, his Koopa Kingdom is enemies with a force known as the Eggman Empire, see below.
-Summary: A Magnitude 2 fleet of smaller aerospace warships primarily specialised in broadsides and boarding actions, not unlike Outworld's new navy, combined with a large army of bulky melee xenos that possess heavy artillery and psyker support. Perform well on the front lines in both land and space, but lack heavier assets and can struggle if they can't close the range. Commanded by the dangerous Bowser Jr., who can be turned giant by his adjutant Kamek in a pinch.
-Tier: Primus
-Cost: 5 RP per turn.
-Limit: Unique.
The Sage Fleet: A mechanical army from an area to the south of the Koopa xenos empire, this human princess has apparently been sent out by her father under the belief that large-scale mercenary operations are an appropriate learning experience for juveniles, showcasing keen foresight from a man who wishes to prepare his daughter for future rulership. Apparently a fully cybernetic being, her army consists of machines controlled by biological computing substrates, making them effectively equivalent to the Legio Cybernetica. Still, unsanctified replication of such sacred technology may upset the Adeptus Mechanicus, although at least it's not Abominable Intelligence. Additionally, her Eggman Empire is enemies with the Koopa Kingdom, and this should probably be kept in mind when making mercenary hiring decisions.
Apparently, this Sage Robotnik had a passing interest in Regicide, and her father Ivo rapidly reconfigured her entire army to be themed appropriately. Such a casual display of industrial might is worth noting.
-Summary: A Magnitude 2 fleet of aerospace battlecarriers with heavy firepower and plentiful strike craft, thus focusing on Bombardment and Skirmish. On the ground, it acts as a fearless and highly mobile heavy infantry force backed with a large quantity of Heroic E-2000 battle automata and integrated air support, making them good at Exploiting breakthroughs. However, they rely heavily on air superiority for artillery and mobility. Commanded by the cyborg Sage, who pilots a war machine known only as the Egg Queen.
-Tier: Primus
-Cost: 5 RP per turn.
-Limit: Unique.
Special Offer
Labour Battalions: The Imperium is separately approached in secret by both Bowser Jr. and Sage, both claiming that their factions are highly efficient at assembling cities and fortifications from nothing in short order. With Imperial navigational assistance and security guarantees, which would cost no hard resources to give up, they could reliably settle one of the Imperium's newly acquired sectors, and in exchange lend their aid towards making the rest of Imperial territory suitably productive.
-Effect: Give up one Imperial-aligned TP or Virgin Space to the Koopa Kingdom and/or Eggman Empire in exchange for 20 RP for upgrading colonisation levels. TP upgraded with this RP get Moderate Defences for free. Both offers can be taken.
Warlords Alliance: Apparently, a force known as the Galactic Empire was pulled into this universe in numerous iterations, and most of them were shortly thereafter dashed to pieces by their opposition. Most if not all of them had those which managed to escape the fall of their former employer, and many of these remnant warlords have banded together in order to offer their services to those willing to pay for them. While their record is less than ideal, a competent enough force available in large numbers isn't to be scoffed at. They include witches, and the Mechanicus is suspicious of their automata, but at this point things like that are to be expected.
-Summary: A versatile force which broadly speaking possesses a completely full unit roster except for the largest of land vehicles, with a particular focus on Elite Infantry and Macro-Capitals. Excels in Bombardment and Clash in space and is generally competent on the ground, being best in Shock.
-Tier: Primus
-Cost: 3 RP per Magnitude 1 Fleethorde per turn.
-Limit: Magnitude 4 Fleethorde.
Legend:
Cosmo Babylonia: Shockingly, a force that is not full of xenos, psykers, and Abominable Intelligences. They are heretics, of course, but it's fairly subdued as far as heresy goes, merely not believing in the God-Emperor because He has not yet been revealed to them. According to them, their home star system was taken into this galaxy and has since largely been conquered by local xenos, and now they roam the stars raising funds for a large enough mercenary force to engage in an all-out war to take it back.
While they themselves lack in mass, their war machines, known as Mobile Suits, certainly punch above their weight, and the significant price they command for a mere flotilla is proof enough of that. Under one Princess Sherindon Ronah, the flags fly of three distinct military forces: The numerous and versatile Crossbone Vanguard, the powerful Side 3 Colonial Defense Force, and last but not least a handful of machines from the Strategic Naval Research Institute, known as Gundam F99s, around which fate seems to ever so slightly bend. These are notable for their fusion-powered reactionless drives, which the Mechanicus would no doubt love to analyse as potential technology of the ancients.
The one issue is that they're painfully naive, and their contract includes numerous pointless stipulations that would constrain standard Imperial operations for forces deployed alongside them. Still, considering the capabilities on display, compromising with them may be very much worthwhile.
-Type: Multirole mecha that are equally effective as spaceborne strike craft and ground-based high-mobility superheavies. Come with their own unremarkable carriers.
-Specialties: Space Superiority, Rapid Response, Vehicle Duels
-Cost: 7 RP per turn, have morals. RP cost waived if the Imperium commits to sending an overall Magnitude 3 military force to liberate their homeland in Turn 5.
Available Sectors
-Imperial Space (2, Center [Industrialised, Moderately Defended], Northwest [Colonised]): Once territory bitterly contested by the Republic and the Scourge, the Imperium's sudden arrival has both shattered the state of the local territory and potentially upset the balance of power of the entire region. Imperial cities and defences have been established across the entire territory, but more work needs to be done. Northwest under attack by Githyanki Marauders.
-Ykantras Orda (1, South): The Ykantras have used the sudden rather significant distraction that is humanity smashing into Octarine's other client states like a sizable meteor to recover what they could of their old ways, fleeing into the void in vast numbers on hastily assembled habitat-ships. As thanks for enabling this, and as a parting shot against their former oppressors, they have given the Imperium warning enough that they can be the first to exploit the opportunity represented by newly empty territory.
-Imperial Space: (2, East, Southeast): The VUR has been decisively crushed, and their territory stands ready for settlement by Imperial workers, once more expanding mankind's reach.
-Octarine Incorporated Mining Interests (1, North): Formerly a mixture of local Vorkyli and an up and coming local species working together to battle the Kroatanga, they were forced to take out significant Octarine loans to pay for mercenaries and maintain their national forces, and while they were successful the devastation of war on their economies prevented them from doing anything like paying those loans back. Almost as soon as they were done fighting one enemy, Octarine descended to repossess their investments, which happened to be everything. Mercenaries were given updated contracts, and the volunteers that had been present to fight the Kroats left with that threat gone.
Now they work tirelessly to extract valuable metamaterials for their masters, with their debt compounding about as fast as they can pay it off, a situation that has been carefully maintained for centuries. A Magnitude 3 warfleet of Octarine's elite Xyvus Solutions mercenaries is based here to secure their 'investment', mostly from the frequent rebellions, ranging from actual uprisings worthy of the name to constant guerilla attacks and piracy from those who can get their hands on weapons or spaceships. Recent Imperial successful defiance of Octarine has only intensified these revolts, but a material difference from the prior state of affairs has yet to emerge.
-Outworld (1, West): This altered and compressed region of space is host to the enormous singular planet of Outworld, although Outworld proper is only a small part of it. Ruled by a single, all-powerful Khan, they are likely to soon finish digesting their newly acquired territory, and are already turning their attention towards the rest of Octarine-held space for their next conquest. By having yet to show active hostility towards the Imperium, they show proper deference, making them more agreeable than most xenos for all that they will almost certainly have to be destroyed in due time. Currently attacking the Teutes Federation.
-The Teutes Federation (1, Southwest): A Vorkyli state with a sizable local military due to being the location of their former nation's high command when things came crashing down, this so-called Citizen's Republic is a military junta in all but name, and Octarine Incorporated's local enforcer in exchange for more freedom and a lowered economic burden. Under attack by Outworld's armies.
-Vorkyli Lesser Regnum (1, Northeast): The Hograthux are a species of truly enormous voidborne worms with immense psionic powers, and one of them has made their way here, where they have dominated a local Octarine colony and turned it into its nest and slave-empire. Deemed unprofitable to deal with so long as it doesn't actively expand further, this Lesser Regnum has been more or less keeping to itself, but evidence suggests they were funding the Republican Federation's revolt to destabilise the region and, presumably, eventually bring the Republic under its own control. As might be expected, they are rather annoyed with the new interlopers in their planned expansion zone.
-Octarine Incorporated (9, All): The masterminds behind the Vorkyli, Octarine Incorporated is an incredibly powerful and vast state-like corporation, concerned with profit above all else. A local hegemon, they're presently distracted with issues to their west and east, but the Imperium is doubtlessly drawing steadily more of their ire, and theirs is not a strength to dismiss out of hand.
-Unknown Space (3, Northwest, West, Southwest): Territory that has yet to bear witness to the Emperor's light.
-Intergalactic Void (2, North, Northeast): While some stars and exoplanets do exist in this region, it's decidedly out of the region generally identified as "the galaxy". While technically possible to settle in some capacity or other, the costs would be significant, and the returns negligible. Perhaps the outer dark was meant to stay that way.
-YALDABAOTH (1, South): While details remain unclear, some foolish empire called up a ruinous power to serve as their salvation, and paid the ultimate price for their sin. Once ordinary territory has succumbed to a tide of golden order, where the Warp itself is forcefully becalmed and endless marble heads sing praises to their demiurgic master, all while factory-temples churn out legions of theological war-machines. Currently attacking in every direction. Sparse Stars: Territory cannot be upgraded to Heartlands.
-Githyanki Marauders (3, Centre, East, Southeast): Witch-xenos who rely on mysticism as much as conventional technology, and marauders who scourge the star lanes. In some ways very similar to the Drukhari, albeit with more order and less ostentatious cruelty, they now attempt to split their attention between containing YALDABAOTH and finding some route of escape or expansion. Currently, that appears to be Imperial territory. Sparse Stars: Territory cannot be upgraded to Heartlands.
-Unknown Space (3, Northwest, West, South): Territory that has yet to bear witness to the Emperor's light.
-Ravaged Space (4, North, Centre, Northeast, East): Filled with pirates, refugees, warlords, and other desperate and damned, there is no central authority in this space but that doesn't mean anyone can simply walk in and take over. Interestingly, one planet in the northeastern sector appears to be a freshly arrived world of humans who nearly annihilated themselves in atomic fire, and now emerge from their underground Vaults to find themselves under a new set of stars. Northern TP pair are Sparse Stars: Cannot be upgraded to Heartlands.
-Anti-Octarine Popular Front (2, South, Southwest): Formerly Octarine slave-species now in full revolt against their former masters, they have proven fierce, dogged, and surprisingly successful, going on the offensive against Octarine territory proper to the south. It would be a commendable effort, at least if they weren't xenos spouting foolish ideals of equality and tolerance. Still, there may be wisdom in letting the enemies of man fight each other without getting involved.
-Unknown Space (7, All Except Below): Territory that has yet to bear witness to the Emperor's light.
-Virgin Space (2, West, Southwest): Only occupied by a small handful of minor xenos that could easily be removed, this space was mapped out by the VUR in expectation of taking it for themselves once they had thrown off the shackles of Octarine, with other nearby powers focused elsewhere. Would be ideal for settlement… or for offering to others, as the Imperium can claim it somewhat by default.
'Only in silence might one hear the true voice of the Emperor, for He speaks to us not with words, but with stillness. For silence is the absence of rage. It is the eye of the storm, the moment of hesitation before a fall. It is the dreams of mankind made manifest and pure. Yes, silence is a soundless scream of victory in a universe that drowns in the bitter cries of the dying. Silence is the sound of a soul railing against the injustice of life itself. When the final tally is counted, silence is all we have left to give.'
– The final testament of Hieronymus Treach
To mourn for the dead is to carry the memory of all those we have lost. It is our moral obligation, a necessity of being human. To mourn for the living… well, that is a heavier burden still, for it serves to remind us of our own mistakes.'
– Warris Hildenkhar, extracted from the treatise
On the Cost of Humanity
Ten
Reunion
He walked , through the long halls of the Inquisitorial Fortress. Outside its windows, the thick green tree canopy cannot fully veiled the sight of the gas giant this forlorn moon orbits. Black and Burgundy armored Inquisitorial Tempestus Scions saluted as he passed, hellguns firm in arms and cablings. Heavy footsteps echoes amidst the cold ouslite walls and velvet carpet
"Mersanger Vornelles, Servant."
They stand in front of the door. Black-stained adamantium inlaid with gold. Elaborate recreation of the Martyrdom of Inquisitor-Saint Ligarius. He always found the depiction of the Drukharii torturer's expression as it flays the Saint's torso rather too gleeful for a devotional piece. Atleast one cannot claim it does not abides to realism.
" Plus one guest. Inquisitor Gerreon Axelmannn."
The whirr of engines quietly hums soon as the servant finish the confirmation. The Inquisitor looks up. Nestled between the many gargoyles lining the walls of the corridor , a pair of servitor torsos stared down at them with glassy, disinterested expressions as they disengage their arm-grafted heavy bolters that were just aimed below. He doesn't want to know what happens should Vornelles misdeclares his entry
The doors opens.
----------
Ornate servitors already brought out the appetizers as he sits down. Shellfish from the Cadian Caducades poivrade with Bloodwater sea-herbs.
"It's been a long time ."
"It is"
She dressed in elegant green , adorned simply with a small brass clasp in the form of two interlocking snakes. Dark hair, pinned up in an elaborate curls, accentuated her exceedingly pale skin. One of her eyes had been replaced with a bionic implant, which whirred as it focused. He habitually look for hidden weapons, and immediately notice about a dozens of them, not counting the rather obvious digital-laser rings on her slender fingers. All dark green to match the dress. He knows there'd be a dozens more.
He inadvertey feels his own dozens. The bolter cane lays rest over his leg
"How is the matters on Gehenna Primus ?"
"That Vorkyli cell infiltrating the capital has been put to the sword. They get craftier by the day. How's it been at the Conclave ?"
"It seems to be agreed that Mersheimer will command the operations in the East"
"A good man if lean too much towards the radical for my liking."
The sommelier servitor pours him a drink, some Hydraphur tokay. They took a sip.
She sighed.
"It is getting tense out there. New threats keep cropping up. Vorkyli spy rings are harder to keep track of after the fall of their capital. Worm cults now present in half the settle planets. In Hegrezia..."
"You mean the Lord-Procurator was..."
"Indeed, it's the Worms . They have been getting bolder to assasination of major figures. The Administratum demands blood. "
"Tell them to get in line"
They chuckled. By now, the servitors brought out a subsequent course. Seared grox tongues, on a bed of Trynian four-tusk's liver paté sauce. Paired with Menchegol ploin brandy.
He continues.
"Not as if the usual abominations are idle. Have you notice this symbol ?"
He passed a dataslate. The woman spares a glance.
"Is that..."
"The runes of the Darktide Admonitions, yes"
"But the Crusade start on the opposite side of the segmentum from the Moebian Domains, and that cult's reach has never gone past several sub-sectors"
"Indeed. It's either means their spread back in the Imperium was further than we thought or..."
"We are not the only one fromm home. But that's not the only matters. Geresk"
"Geresk. Symbols does not correspond to any of the vile four. Could this mean those..."
"All possibilities has to be account for. That's our professions. Even if that possibility revealed from panic ramblings of Xeno. But consider this, Xeno refugees ran towards our space. That..
"Has to account for something unusual indeed."
Next is the Roulade. Ventrue birds with local forest mushroom. Amasec aged...
"Shrineworld bird with frontier mushroom. Thorian vintage in Vandire furniture dining lounge. Something never changes is it."
"Something never changes".
She hums at the slight bitter aftertaste of the bird.
"Twenty years."
"Short while for our kind"
"But we still aged the same...Merovec said it at Sebaxtus IX, right ?"
"Yes. Burning of the Graevian High Council....Ah we were still interrogators then, hot-blooded and try to prove ourselves."
"I heard you got a new retinue. How are they ?"
"I like this bunch. Talented , dutiful, but got that..spark that we seek in Acolytes."
"Interrogator material ?"
"Not yet."
"Back then I envy you. You were like a son to him then"
"I assures you he is as merciless to me"
They mulls over. Sips their amasec and bask in memories of things long gone. They remains in silence for a while
"We never see eachother much after our ascension"
"We never see eachother much after Merovec's funeral."
"And now we here. It's been a long time."
"It's been a long time indeed."
They finished the dessert, ribaude nappé. Sweet, sticky. poignant. Mordian Schnapps for Digestiff.
"Do you want to scry again, for old time's sake"
"For old time's sake it is"
SHe handed out a tarot, lorelei wafers shimmering. SHe closes her eyes, a short meditation. Entrust in His glory to guide her path from the filth of the Immaterium.
5 spread. Inquisitor of Mandatio, Great Hoste , Aquilla Inverse, Lightning Tower, Shattered World. Death and Strife, unending, the fae of an Inquisitor.
And the 6th card. Silver Key. New Possibility. But to what .
Strategic Turn 4
Total: 25 RP
Industrial Orders
40 RP using the labor deal
Improved NorthWest N-3 to Established
Improve Imperial Space East and SOuthEast to Established
Improve VIrgin Space West to Established
Intelligence Orders:
Fire extinguishing (8RP) Mass deployed Inquisitors and assets in a major sweeps prioritizing Vorkyli cells, Worm pawns and Chaos cults. Utilizing the Distaff as a Trial by Fire. Also utilizing Sisters of Silence from the ( preparing ) Endurance
Root and Stems ( 2RP ): Have the Ordo Dialogus, Vanus Infocytes in support of Imperial Savants and Adeptus Mechanicus go through whatever data can be recovered in the recently fallen Vorkyli Capital in order to find any information regarding spy rings that have been sent to Imperial territories. Focus on the government archives, the headquarters of the military and in telligence services.
Exploration (1RP ) : Send Recoinnaisance to virgin space areas in M-2 and M-3
Surf the web (0RP): Assign someone from the Conclave headquarter to find any beneficial contact aand information on the Hypernet
Diplomatic Orders:
Herbicide-Compact (4RP): Contact the Anti-Octarine Popular Front through proxies of the more radical Inquisitors ( Delegation of Lord Inquisitor Mersheimer, a Xenarite ) and Rogue Traders, offering them support for linking up with anti Vorkyli rebels to the N3 North, including using Imperial ships to transport weapons and personnels.
Propaganda(0RP): Start a propaganda campaign specifically targetted at the workers and rebels of Vorkyli Mining territories up North N3 to further incite rebellions
Soft Power(4RP): Introduce Cosmo Babylonia nobility and Princess Sage Robotnik to Imperial high society, hopefully builds up some connections in relations beyond mercenary conduct , also give the opportunity to mobilised nobility to raise household force in support of Imperial military for the Cosmo Babylonia liberation expedition next turn.
Research Order:
Distaff Reborn ( 1 Slot , 1 RP ): Inquisitor Gregor Eisenhorn, a rather controversial figure used to operate an initiative called the DIstaff, a military organisations /training facilities of Psychic-nulls trained in decent quality in support of his operations against Warp foes. The organisation were wiped out by the Cognitae in early M41, but there's no reason to not revive it. Purpose is to set up a 'personnnel pool' of Tempestus Scions level Elite infantry specialised in anti-psychic, internal security and special operations made of Blanks that are not met the requirements for Sister of SIlence or Culexus standard, which doubles as training schools for Blanks recruited into various Inquisitor retinue .
Mercenary Orders:
Hires the Sage Fleet (5RP )
Hires the Labor Battalions (40RP both in exchange for territories. N3 South for Bowser - a convenient speedbump/buffer zone to prevent Octarine expansion, O3-SouthWesr for Sage Robotnik - A potential friendly neighbor )
Hires the Cosmo Babylonia ( Agreed to commit to the liberation of their territory next turn, cost waived )
Maintain hiring Lin Kuei and Black Dragon paid with 1 Vorkyli population
Hires the Duke of Valentinois with 2 population of Vorkyli
Military Orders:
Fulfill the deal: Send 2 Mag 2 Fleethordes (intact) and the Sage Fleet to invade the Tutes Federation striking N3 SouthWest, acting as the second pincer as invited by Outworld to finish them once and for all, using the excuse of their declaration of war last turn. As we attack, implanted assets earlier would inflame paranoia and nationalism to a fever pitch, try to initiates mutual purges, suicidal charges and accusations of treachery, paralyzing their military in the face of annihilation. Also attached would be Task Force Erinyes, that dreaded bombardment ship formation that fires the opening shot at the Conquest of the VUR and the 134th Siege Army
Privateering: Sent the Lin Kuei and Black Dragon fleet to start raiding Octarine shipping heading towards the Mining territories in N3 North. The specific use of Outworld forces specifically to masked the true identity of hostile actions, but nonetheless aimed to exert pressures on Octarine control up North. Prioritise taking out Octarine transport of reinforcement mercenaries to suppress local insurgencies.
Opening gambit: Send the Duke of Valentinois 2 Magnitude 4 Fleet to invade and wreck as much havoc as possible on the Lesser Regnum.
Send one Mag 3 Fleethorde and 1 Mag 2 Fleethorde (damage intact ) , and Cosmo Babylonia to the N3 NorthWest to combat alien slave raiders.
Send one Mag 3 Fleethorde (15% damage ) and 2 Mag 2 Fleethorde (15% and undamaged ) to secure Ravaged Space NorthEast M3, while also expand the front against Xeno slave raiders
Send one Mag 3 Fleethorde ( 15% damage ) to secure O3-West Virgin Space
[ Navis Imperialis report - Status of Crusade Fleet complement:
10 fleethordes total. 7 Mag 2 and 3 Mag 3. Let assign them from A to J
Of the 7 Mag 2, Two Mag 2 got 15% damage ( Assign Fleet C and D )
One Mag 2 got 25% Damage (Fleet E )
Of the Three Mag 3 Fleet, 2 of them got 15% damage ( I and J )
Special "Hero" formations includes the Endurance , the Gloriana of the Death Guards and Task Force Erinyes, consisting of a bombardment galleon and a support force of primarily Tyrant Cruisers and Viper Missile Destroyers,
Battle Order - fleetwise: Fleethorde A and B ( Mag 2, intact ) plus Sage Fleet merc invades the Teutes Federation. Attached includes Task Force Erinyes
Fleethorde H ( Mag 3, Intact ) and F ( Mag 2 , Intact ) with Cosmo Babylonia to combat the alien raiders in N3 North West
Fleethorde I ( Mag 3, 15% damage ) , Fleethorde C ( Mag 2, 15% damage ) ,Fleethorde G ( Mag 2, Intact ) secure M3 NorthEast ravage space
Fleethorde J ( Mag 3, 15%damage ) to O3 West, Virgin Space .
While the defensive victory against the Omni-Enlightening Swarm was a welcome morale boost, it was obvious to all involved that it was only the first step in the counteroffensive necessary to destroy the mad civilisation and restore peace to the region. This includes the Aeon Illuminate, who have come forward with a proposal for Ivan Brackman.
Namely, let the Illuminate take to the field, and let them take the territory for themselves afterwards. While the Cybran Nation was able to score an early win, that was on the defensive. A serious offensive campaign against dug-in opposition is a very different proposition, especially when operating under the restrictions of Gate travel. This is where the Aeon envoys unveil their ace in the hole: While research into the Specter portals hasn't delivered any religious revelations they might have been hoping for, it has unveiled the presence of 'nodes' across space that, with nanolathable devices, can be used as 'tunnels' to travel between star systems without the need for a Quantum Gate.
Needless to say, this gives the Aeon starfleet a significant offensive mobility advantage over their Cybran counterparts, letting them engage in battles of interstellar manoeuvre against the Omni-Swarm with much more flexibility than before. Of course, Quantum Gates will remain a key part of the Aeon war effort, as once constructed they allow for much faster travel than their new 'Node Drives', and Cybran assistance in the campaign would similarly be appreciated in order to make things go as smoothly as possible. Still, the Aeon are willing to take point.
Many Cybran Commanders have pointed out, perhaps not wrongly, that this constitutes sitting back while the fiercest fighting happens and then swooping in at the last minute to take all the credit and rewards for themselves. Still, compromises must be made for the sake of Coalition stability, and help in eliminating the Omni-Swarm can only be a good thing. Signals analysis suggests they're actively researching nanolathe and quantum link technology, and could be a resurgent threat if allowed to persist.
For the UEF's part, intelligence indicates they're incorporating the unique capabilities of the former Emerald Empire into their forces on a low-level. Notably, a new CQC program has started for the Federation Service Force focused on teaching them Imperial martial arts, with Operatives being given advanced melee weapons training alongside new plasma swords. There's even rumours of a select group of the most elite Operatives being trained in outright magic, which would give the nation a direct answer to Exorcists and Proxies.
While an increase in the capabilities of its partners in the Coalition always warrants a reasonable degree of caution, under the circumstances it couldn't have come at a better time. While the Omni-Swarm in the north is bad enough, the Super-Directorate in the south has somehow taken a turn for the even worse.
It began with Redfog acting on her own initiative, following up on her last report by delving further into the depths of the mysterious MLC. The Super-Directorate's fastest-growing and perhaps most powerful corporation had one too many secrets for her liking, and while she'd successfully infiltrated its outlying edges already there was much more to uncover. In the end, she decided that if you wanted something done right you had to do it yourself, which may very well have saved the operation as a whole.
It's only clear in hindsight what Redfog got too close to for the corporation's liking. What was clear immediately was that it had been something dreadfully important, since they'd sent an assassin after her. Previously a Messenger-associated 'influencer' of the kind typical in the Super-Directorate, the killer for hire appeared in a much sleeker form than she'd been seen with previously.
An artefact of the transition from heavily cyberised to entirely mechanical, and the first appearance of such a potent technology in the Directorate's arsenal.
The battle began without warning or preamble, Redfog barely throwing up an arm in time to block a particle beam fired by the figure who'd just materialised right in front of her. Even though Redfog towered over her foe, a former insectoid barely over a metre tall, she was immediately put on the back foot when the particle beam carved through her thick armour plating, a secondary EMP-like effect rendering her left arm useless.
Before she could hope to retaliate, the assassin vanished back into the thin air from whence she came, employing a phasing cloak much like the ones used by the Hierarchy. Needless to say, Redfog immediately understood that the first blow to be struck would be far from the last. Having just left behind a secretive MLC workshop through a disused maintenance tunnel, what followed would be a brutal game of cat and mouse, the assassin fading in and out of reality to take potshots while Redfog weaved through the catacomb-like darkness, trying to find any semblance of advantageous terrain.
The cloak did at least have one weakness, which was that it took a few moments after the beginning of the materialisation before the assassin was able to fire. A short time objectively, but long enough for her superhuman physiology to exploit.
After a few more glancing blows slicing through more armour and locking up more servos, she found a way into a narrow, cramped storage space. Downright claustrophobic for her large frame, but also tight enough that being the victim of a long-range attack was almost impossible. It was here where the fighting would reach its crescendo, and where the assassin would unveil her last trick. Materialising one final time, she discarded her particle rifle and drew a shimmering sword that looked like it was on the edge of phasing out of reality itself.
Needless to say, Redfog immediately prioritised avoiding contact with the blade at all costs, using her own superior reach and supreme swordsmanship to keep the distance right where she wanted it. The exchange of blows was faster than an unaugmented human could hope to follow, and Redfog managed to land several blows that should have been crippling. However, her opponent's mechanical body simply sealed itself back up, leaving not a trace of the damage that had been dealt each time.
Eventually, the assassin made one lunge that was slightly too desperate, and Redfog was able to split her from shoulder to hip. In exchange, the phasing sword cut clean through Redfog's own side as if it wasn't even there, but couldn't quite cut her completely open. Even this didn't immediately end the fight, but the assassin's laughter was quickly cut short when its head was separated from its body. Shortly afterwards, Redfog received a private message through the Super-Directorate comms network she was patched into: "Well played, but that was only round one."
Limping away from the scene of the fighting, successfully evading any further attacks, Redfog immediately reported her findings back to Cybran command, but she almost needn't have bothered. Shortly after her fighting, the Messenger Logistics Corporation unveiled its intentions to enact a hostile takeover of the Super-Directorate with lightning raids on rival corporate headquarters. As well as its existing mercenary units, it also showcased a new fighting force in the traditional Directorate style but upgraded with technology far in advance of what's available to the rest of the S-D, or indeed the Cybran Nation itself.
Further complicating matters is the mass deployment of upload technology, turning the MLC's soldiers and administrators into tireless killing machines. It comes with the promise of complete immortality, a promise that may well be true considering the exact assassin who fought Redfog is seen soon after her apparent demise seemingly none the worse for wear. The mysterious head of the MLC himself has come forth to extoll the technology's virtues, revealing himself as an alien entity of unknown provenance who only calls himself the Messenger, and his forces as the Taught.
Needless to say, the Taught's major technological edge over their enemies combined with the element of surprise has given them a decisive edge in the sudden civil war. However, their victory is not immediate, and rival corporations have banded together in a desperate attempt to fight them off and preserve themselves. Intelligence suggests that the Messenger had hoped to more fully secure power and control over the Super-Directorate before revealing itself, but Redfog's investigations had come too close to risking its element of surprise for comfort. Thus, it launched its attack before it could be assured of taking full control instantly.
The good news is that this has bought the Cybran Nation much-needed time to finish off the Omni-Swarm before the new threat can act externally, and that the sudden civil war has massively freed the underground railroad to take on even more refugees and expand its reach even further. The bad news is that this new threat has clearly discerned that Redfog and quite probably the Cybrans more broadly are behind the resistance movement, and that it's an extremely dangerous opponent. Redfog estimates that exceptionally few of her fellows could have survived the attempt on her life, something she at least has the good grace to not be too explicitly smug over.
Upon seeing this, the Syrabaric Defense Coalition send a diplomatic delegation explaining their own position. They remain busy containing their rivals in the Merendi Imperium and keeping a lid on things to the southeast, but they appreciate both the good work the Cybran Nation is doing and the new threat they're now under. To help in what little ways they can, they have provided both an additional understanding of the region and limited access to their forces. They say they could do more if and as the Cybran help them with their own issues or become more politically aligned with their faction, but understand that they have much more immediately pressing concerns.
More immediately, they've also plugged the Cybran into the local Mercenary Review Board. It's routed through Octarine Incorporated, a local megacorporate state that seems a bit more put-together than the Super-Directorate ever was even if the SDC has no good words to say about it, but it's apparently reliable. More importantly, two highly-rated large mercenary forces have a notable presence in the region at present, and are available for hire.
Progress, it seems, has led to even more complications. Still, the stakes are far too high for the Cybran to back down now. As ever, the only way out is through.
Strategic Turn 4 Start
Available Resources: 160 RP
-The Aeon Illuminate is preparing to eliminate the Omniswarm and take its territory for themselves, and would appreciate Cybran assistance. This could be negotiated, but preventing the Illuminate from taking the territory for themselves would entail either significant concessions or notable diplomatic consequences. The UEF seems to be focused on building up its territory and performing research.
-The Super-Directorate has been plunged into a civil war thanks to the alien known as the Messenger, who is also aware of the Cybran Nation's involvement with the anti-Directorate underground. Thanks to the element of surprise and technological supremacy, the Messenger is expected to fully eliminate organised resistance to its coup over the course of the turn.
-In light of all this, the SDC has provided maps of local astrography, expanding Cybran vision of their region, and access to additional mercenary options.
-All damaged Fleethordes auto-repair by 20%. All Fleethordes are once again at full strength.
Research Proposals
High(er) Energy Physics: Drawing from combat data and remaining salvage from the conquest of the "garden" last year Cybran scientists think that they might be able to develop a form of power generation superior to antimatter annihilation and use it to copy the unlimited energy (but not matter) generation of the Aeon's Paragon experimental reactor.
This is a Doctrinal Enhancement currently at 2/5 Research Slots.
Anti-Interdiction Gates:
This is Doctrinal Enhancement currently at 2/4 Research Slots.
Interdiction Emitter and Spikes: To go along with the work on the Gates to circumvent the Ecumene Interdiction the Cybrans will attempt to reverse engineer said device to be put on a Field emitter like the Cloak and Stealth Field and to be put on a Nanite Harpoon capital ship weapon for a later project.
This is Doctrinal Enhancement currently at 1/3 Research Slots.
Negotiating the Battlefield: While not much salvage was left of the Ironcrab (and none of the Laser Behemoth or White Death) enough in depth sensor readings and general salvage from the campaign was taken that Cybran scientists are confident that they can replicate a slower version of the miniaturised jet/rocket and energy shield systems of the Ironcrab. While these would no doubt be expensive in terms of energy, matter and time to construct with nanolathes once they are understood they would give even Evacuation Guards far greater protection and manoeuvrability on the battlefield. Indeed the flight systems might be more dangerous to the evacuation guard than the enemy if not paired with improved training.
This is Doctrinal Enhancement which will enhance the survivability and manoeuvrability of your infantry. The Evacuation Guards will not benefit much from the flight systems but your commandos and proxies will become far more deadly. It will take 1 Research Slot.
Mercenary Contracts
Detachments:
Merendi Volunteers: The SDC has offered to lend the Cybran some of their international Merendi volunteers in exchange for modest resource concessions, largely as a gesture of goodwill. Coming from the galaxy's more technologically developed regions, these Tier Maximus soldiers are universally highly powerful espers, capable of shows of psionic power that even the Illuminate's most devout would struggle to process.
-Summary: Powerful psychic infantry with a focus on special operations and counter-magic warfare. Struggles with mass combat, but otherwise ideal for all infantry-scale operations.
-Tier: Maximus
-Cost: 2 RP per turn.
-Limit: 1 at present, can be expanded in the future.
Tacitus-Raiden Ltd: Formed by a former house of Desmondu (a native human-majority state in a neighbouring galaxy that has since fallen on hard times) that has long since stopped bothering to contest the throne of the Empire and whose core territory is no longer considered legally part of Desmondu, Tacitus-Raiden offers a wide array of bounty hunters, infiltration experts, "fixers for hire" (local term denoting broadly capable special operations mercenaries. The preferred term is "Freelance Agent" or "Freelancer", but "Fixer" is a common informal term), and other wetworks operatives.
-Summary: As Merendi Volunteers, albeit notably weaker per RP invested. However, can also be hired for out-of-battle black ops.
-Tier: Extremis
-Cost: Variable based on requested services; ask GMs to learn specific prices.
-Limit: None.
Fleethordes:
Warbot-Incorporated: Primarily built around synthetics, Bloodgear's Warbot-Incorporated is known for being quite cheap* for the services it offers as long as they get salvage rights and resource extraction permits as well a chance to look at anything interesting from those they fight. Bloodgear is an A.I that is devoted entirely towards the task of getting better at war that took over an older company out of a belief that the previous stakeholders weren't good enough at the job it was made to do. This legion may lack the replicability of Cybran war machines, but they have far more durability with heavy armour and universal energy shields, making them ideal front-line fighters. However, they're not the most flexible force.
*When asked why its forces were as expensive as some rival mercenaries despite also asking for extensive salvage rights, Bloodgear electronically gestured at Warbot's capital ship armada and heavily fortified roving war-cities that dwarf even Tier 5 Experimentals. These are, needless to say, expensive for it to operate.
-Summary: Brute force and high durability army that's excellent in Clash and Shock, but relatively weak in Skirmish and Reduce. Immune to morale loss.
-Tier: Extremis
-Cost: 4 RP per Mag 1 Fleethorde per turn + Salvage Rights (no technological salvage, significantly degrades captured infrastructure).
-Limit: Magnitude 3 Fleethorde.
Tacitus-Raiden Ltd: While notable for their more discrete offerings, Tacitus-Raiden is most famous for their full-scale field armies. These consist of a wide variety of combat assets suitable to most operations, and they're known for maintaining high-quality, experienced units. Better yet, northern Vyranodasik is one of their primary areas of operation, ensuring a high supply is available. They know their worth, however.
-Summary: A mecha-focused army that's best in Skirmish and Penetrate, but is versatile and balanced enough to do well everywhere. Highly psychic.
-Tier: Extremis
-Cost: 8 RP per Mag 1 Fleethorde per turn .
-Limit: Magnitude 4 Fleethorde.
The Warband of Seti the Kinslayer: An exiled Shaltari warlord who was apparently given his name by humans he met in another universe. His forces specialise in high manoeuvrability warfare, and his ground forces use a robust and redundant teleportation system to rapidly redeploy. His space forces prioritise spinal weaponry but use their manoeuvrability to compensate for their reduced firing arcs. Due to being exiled for advocating for further war with the Alin, cannot be hired at the same time as The Emirate of Dark Glass.
-Summary: A Magnitude 1 Fleethorde that's good in Bomardment, Disengage/Pursuit, Exploit, and Reduce, but is poorly suited to pitched battles and fighting large numbers of War Engines.
-Tier: Extremis
-Cost: 4 RP per turn.
-Limit: Unique.
The Emirate of Dark Glass: The Nomadic polity of an exiled Alin djinn self-styled as Emir Nour "the Dark One", these forces defy Cybran understanding. Seeming to be a multi-species but mono-culture assemblage of extended families and warbands these "magic" users travel through the void in giant castles of glass. They try to overwhelm their enemies with superior numbers from multiple angles of attack before their enemy can strike back. Their magical spells, lasers, macron beams, sonic blasts and crystalline kinetic weapons are devastating on the offensive, and their attacks have some kind of magical corrupting effect which weakens those it infects. Gradually transforming them into "Dark Glass" hybrids under Nour's control.
-Summary: A Magnitude 2 Fleethorde with universal magic that debuffs and eventually converts its enemies, with space assets as primarily bases to enable boarding actions and planetary assaults, where it acts as a highly mobile pseudo-Autowar army with mobile Heroes that can conjure elemental armies.
-Tier: Primus
-Cost: 4 RP per turn.
-Limit: Unique.
Available Sectors
-Cybran Space (2, Southwest [Heartlands, Excessively Defended], East [Heartlands, Excessively Defended]): Now a vast heartland of Cybran people and industry, this region of space is under constant threat from many different angles, but it is well defended by both static fortifications and the Cybran armed forces. Its overall scope has doubled thanks to colonisation of the area of space previously known as the Art Project.
-The Merendi Imperium (2, Northwest, North): The Merendi are a humanoid race that is perhaps best described as "technicolor elves", as one Cybran analyst put it. Hailing from a distant galaxy, this Merendi colony left their home nation for reasons unknown. Whatever said home nation was, it was clearly wealthy and powerful, since the stated reason for the Merendi conquering their surrounding space and enslaving local aliens is so that they could maintain the lavish lifestyles they were used to, including truly obscene displays of wealth such as claiming entire star systems to be palaces for their ruling elite.
-Minor Powers (1, West): Thanks to swift and effective Cybran intervention, this space has seen a full restoration of peace and security, with many small nations blooming like a field of flowers as ruins are rebuilt into cities once more. While no overarching government exists, the polities here share a strikingly powerful independent streak, choosing to try and make their own way through the stars. Thanks to Cybran efforts, mostly undamaged from the recent assault by the Omniswarm, a debt they won't soon forget.
-Syrabaric Defense Coalition (1, Northeast): A collective term for several local nations that all share a highly democratic and collectivist means of government not that dissimilar from the Cybran Nation's own, although they take things even further, eschewing formal leadership beyond representative speakers altogether. Are supported by material and personnel aid from their ideological allies in the galaxy, apparently including a sizable quantity of Merendi who are very angry at their western neighbours.
-The Omni-Enlightening Swarm (1, Center): A scientist of a now-extinct local race decided that their brilliance was unmatched throughout the universe, and so it should be the only thing in the universe. Destroying his own civilization with legions of drones, he now sits as the immortal ruler of an empire made up exclusively of cyborg clones of himself. The Swarm seeks to exterminate all other life out of pure egoism and a solipsist belief in their own divinity. With their assault on the minor powers to their west suitably rebuffed, they have briefly turned inwards to further enhance their ability to deal death.
-Aeon Illuminate (1, South): The Aeon have secured this region of space with the blessing of the Cybran Nation, and have set to work inhabiting it with their smooth, curving architecture. They now seek to claim more space for the Illuminate, and their legions marshal for a northwards strike.
-Shaltari Tribal Confederation (1, Southeast): An alien race of "diminutive space hedgehogs", as a certain Cybran analyst beginning to gain recognition for their colloquial naming sense put it, the Shaltari keep to themselves and their various tribes. What a tribe is remains a little unclear, but it is believed to be roughly equivalent to a Cybran Node rather than a more traditional meaning, and they respond to identified scouts in varying ways. They have laid decisive claim to their region of space with a military apparatus of comparatively small but high speed units with a penchant for trickery that even the most devious Cybran Commander can approve of. Intelligence suggests that the border war they were previously engaged in has ended in failure, leading to a political shakeup within the Confederation that explains their new, more diplomatic foreign policy.
-Unknown Space (6, All Except Below): The Cybran Nation has not yet identified who or what lies within this territory.
-The Merendi Imperium (2, Southwest, South): As P-6.
-Syrabaric Defense Coalition (1, Southeast): As P-6.
-Unknown Space (6, All Except Below): The Cybran Nation has not yet identified who or what lies within this territory.
-Ravaged Space (1, Northeast): This region was yet another victim of the Hierarchy's rampage, and most likely its starting point. Never the most stable to start off with, apparently a persistent victim of raids by the Merendi Imperium and a faction known as the 'Ekons', the UEF is currently looking into entering the region in an attempt to restore order and expand their own territory.
-United Earth Federation (2, East, Southeast): The UEF have moved decisively to expand their holdings, matching the Cybran in breadth if not in depth of their control over local space. They continue to look both inwards and outwards for further expansion and improvement opportunities, and despite any former animosity between themselves and the Cybran people they're willing to lend a hand when called upon, so long as the price is right.
-Unknown Space (8, All Except Below): The Cybran Nation has not yet identified who or what lies within this territory.
-The Super-Directorate (1, Northeast): A loose, multi-species interstellar alliance of megacorps and states that are merely de-facto extensions of megacorps (some native and some outverser) called the Super-Directorate for Market Prosperity, which seems to be the main local power to your immediate south. Currently embroiled in a civil war between a coalition of conventional companies and the Messenger Logistics Corporation, headed by an alien entity of mysterious origin, significant power, and incredible technologies.
-Unknown Space (6, All Except Below): The Cybran Nation has not yet identified who or what lies within this territory.
-The Super-Directorate (3, Northwest, North, Northeast): Redfog's infiltration has revealed the entire north of this sector belongs to the Super-Directorate, with the eastern portion of the nation being solidly in the hands of the MLC, who are rapidly expanding westward. They will doubtlessly be a major problem in the future.
"That ridiculous jagged bludgeon despite looking like a Monkeylord acts the furthest thing from the old spiderbot. It and the Monkeylord's actual successor are fast and cheap experimental meant to be rushed from a tier three engagement and are used for assassinations or as a surprise. That Tier five monstrosity has all the subtlety of a Nuke, is completely unaffordable if you were producing tier 4s and was meant for fighting other things in its weight class or hiding behind Bubble Crabs."
Ivan nodded as he stood listening to the conversation between his friends and another commander that Ivan suspected had started drinking a good while before Ivan's group had arrived there.
Each of the Nodes had their own traditions and peculiarities around where the most active gathering area for celebrations. Nell had dragged himself, several of the operation technicians and what looked like the entire the engineering and maintenance corp and several other commander teams to the Red Skulls' favourite place, the bar.
This seemingly post-post party that Nell and Tie were holding was located in one of the better bars of this enclave of Red Skull node. It was neat in Ivan's opinion, bits of history displayed on the walls of Skull exploits and particularly productive raids, he noted the name Bagby popping up a number of times for the last stages of the war. The decorations were a mixture of ancient time pirate memorabilia and symbols of that time like the jolly roger. A few Cybran manufactured UEF and Aeon supply crates stacked with what used to be great luxuries, fresh fruits and vegetables, animal products and a few branded beverages that Ivan suspected were actually 'pirated'. Staffed by a single bartender and about five proxies serving drinks and foods to the patrons.
With the bar's mascot popping in and out of the crowds being an oversized Mole that Ivan was sure was the current bartender's childhood pet, that was equipped with a couple of Nanolathes for helping clean the place, sensors to monitor the blood alcohol levels of the patrons and an unknown device that was probably a crowd suppression weapon to end any brawls quickly and decidedly.
And most importantly a large Pirate hat.
Nell broke through Ivan's thoughts on the setting, "The Monkeylord is named the way that it is because it LORDS OVER THE MONKIES! Back when it was first let loose t3 meant Harbs, Loyalists and Titans and it was even able to take on GCs with equal mass put into them. That spiderbot was the pinnacle of assault design back in the day. The Mark 3 is a return to form I say! Tie you agree with me!"
The small man looked at her with an eyebrow raised, Nell wordlessly switched tactics, "Ivan, you work with the old war heroes and aging important people dodging retirement. The big 'un deserves the title."
A nervous laugh briefly escaped from Ivan, "I have to say that took my training a couple of years after yours did Nell. However, my brother was recently unleased back into the universe. I could forward your query if you think that is the best use of his time."
The Drunken newcomer seemed to put a few thing together with his facial circuitry only barely outshining his face as the still functional AI portion of their brain started looking for an escape plan.
Ivan waved them off, "I should get going anyways, I haven't yet congratulated our newlywed yet."
"Ivan if I can't catch you using your name on Life and Death Trivialities, I'll get Mel's dad to back the cause!" Nell shouted as Ivan bowed and left.
But not before he heard Tie mention, "Might be wiser to get the general to endorse your opponents' arguments instead."
Ivan strode towards the bustle of activity near the actual bar where at the center of said bustle sat an odd-looking Proxy. It still had the distinctive pyramid shape with the longest point facing forwards and the six lights that formed the machine's eyes. But the body was scaled down compared to the military or engineering variants, more in common with Coalition Humanity baseline. The claws were replaced with a black rubber looking materials that were copies of human hands, and said faceplates had a number of lights that could be used to communicate and function as face circuitry.
Foil had really put a lot of work into such a custom model.
"Thanks Steve, once again, no, rats do not get up into the apartments or civilian areas of UEF settlements, so if we get a Mole, it will not need a death laser put on it. And I doubt that Mel would apricate attaching said death laser to a cat as a compromise. But I thank you for the suggestion, and I am sure that Mel will love the gift you got for us." The Support Commander if Ivan remembered correctly looked like he was going to press the issue a little bit farther before he saw who was next in line.
"Mr. TOTS' younger brother!" Ivan was familiar with the nickname that the elder clone had acquired but something was off with the man's reaction, "You didn't hear that name from me!" the man said frantically as he scampered off, to Ivan's befuddlement.
"Coming to the rescue again, eeh, Ivan?" the Foil-bot said with a tone of tiredness that Ivan was not used to in the normally confident leader of the little friend group.
"The reverse actually, Nell was trying to get me to take sides on a particularly controversial topic." Ivan supplied.
"Was it work or whether the new guy lives up to nostalgia?" while the head tilt was towards the bartender, which was returning the side eye with his own, Ivan didn't need any additional processing power to guess the hidden fears in the question.
"Nothing like that, just nonsense about giant spiderbots. But speaking of things I first wanted to congratulate you on the Wedding and I wanted to check up to see how 'you' were doing." Ivan while officially keeping his hands and more importantly, The Doctor's, out of the Proxy debates, knew that the ethics and morality of it was … complicated. A bit more complicated than even the politics that were set to be the focus of most of his own life.
As the machine's head dipped down and the muted patterns on the faceplate, Ivan's guess was correct, "You know, its going. I hoped that I could put the love of my friends and everything that they love about me without… you know. But it seems like I lost the coin toss, and I am here. I should be relieved that I wanted to make sure that I felt everything while keeping those knuckleheads safe." Foil's, and it truly was Foil's, revelation sat uneasy in Ivan's gut, "But this is what I wanted. To be in two places at once. I just need to make sure that all of them are going to be alright."
Ivan nodded as he sat down beside the man, "Well, between Father showing up for it back home and some useful programs for sorting out Fletcher's fanboys, I think things are going to be looking up for you two back there. And we will make sure that they are alright no matter what we face here." Ivan neglected to mention he had added some contact information of people that he knew could help. That would be a pleasant surprise and to help build a support network should the worse happen. Maddox could also use a more interesting life.
Foil raised his head back up, "Thanks for that, I just want to say even with everything I do not regret my decision. Although I will admit that I am looking forward to syncing everything back up in a couple of months."
A few chirps in binary drew the attention of everyone in the establishment. Causing Foil to laugh, "Well, off to rescue said knuckleheads from the Captain. Thanks again for looking out for us."
Foil seemly swivelled his seat and moving at more than a brisk walk towards the developing situation.
As said noodle incident continued to develop a smaller framed figure slipped into the just vacated seat.
"Lucky that we live in such a small world isn't it, Ivan?" The younger woman said.
"Honestly I suspect this was somebodies indirect way of telling me something, Cal." Ivan remarked to Cal345, the operation technician from the Weaver conflict.
"The name 'Operation Artifact' only comes up a couple of times in reference to the Blacksun conflict and the end of the infinite war. Even with your credentials, there isn't any data connected to it except a single casualty, Mach, my Uncle that died before I was born."
Ivan looked a little bit disappointed,
"Buuut," she added, "My mother knew that Mach was headed for a deep op in Aeon territory, smash and grab mission."
"And given the context of Guage's hint that is connected to a piece of tech that allowed a large scale infiltration. With my Brother early in his career. Most likely to do with QAI." Ivan mused.
"But why? We already know that the over use and incorporation of unknown Seraphim technology was the cause of it turning on every one. Why hide it?" Cal finalized the thoughts running through both their heads.
As they wondered a flurry of notifications of increasing urgency began screaming for Ivan's attention. The amount of which and the lack of access from an unsecure location was only parallel to the firing of the Moonlight installation and the opening of the portal.
"Are you okay?" Cal asked with a look of worry and concern at Ivan's sudden wincing.
"Yes, I am fine," Ivan got out, "I have to go. Redfog found something. Something big."
The Coalition Center at Moonlight was modelled on the facilities that were built during the darkest times just before the formation of the coalition. Grey utilitarian building similar to UEF designs but on the surface even more drained of personality and built to scream WE ARE NEUTRAL to those that walk their halls but underneath were a Frankenstein Mishmash of all three factions infrastructure.
But it was known, tempered and most importantly tested against minds of great technology and intelligence.
The lights of the Moonlight Portal danced, hinting, and promising the safety and peace of home as Ivan waited to enter the conference hall.
The benefits of technology, power or position and knowing your tools inside and out was known both when and sometimes more importantly when not to use them.
Such as now.
Ivan alongside several other important people of the Cybran Colonies, an Elected representative of the new 56th, an influential member of the Imaginarium, experts from both the Chimeras and Starlifters entered the conference hall from one side as the Aeon delegates did so from the other taking their seats.
The 'Hosts' for the meeting and the three seated on the third side of the table were three older men, the youngest, Colonel Rogers, Ivan knew as a decorated war veteran from the Seraphim War. He bore a particularly ridged posture and despite his attempts to hid it, uncomfortable to be around so many people of a higher rank than himself. Beside him was Admiral Duval, looking skinnier and almost beaten down by the years and the event that he had seen. Almost being a key operative word here as a steely gaze with a note of bitterness peered out over the scene.
And where was the third?
"Greetings, it is so good to meet everyone in person! It is regrettable that it has to be under such unfortunate circumstances, but we are in wild and uncivilized lands."
Governor Greer, who Ivan noted had a son who was one of the UEF commanders that were among the Colonists, had gotten up and greeted the Cybrans each in a friendly and more informal manner.
A little more informally than how strangers would actually greet each other, but actually quite accurate to the customs and institutionalized counterculture of the Nodes.
As moved back towards the Evaluators and greeted them with the appropriate prayer, Ivan's approval and apprehension was growing. He exhaled to calm himself. They were all allies here and there was bigger issues to go over.
As Ivan sat down he noted the bodyguards all eyeing each other up in the subtle but still childish performances, Proxies decloaking, UEF personal with old Asian style swords slight movements of the eyes and the Exorcists sitting down on the floor meditating.
Ivan managed to hold back his eye roll as he went over the tools and objectives that he had. The data and notes for himself
Primary
Ensure the safety of the civilian populations (and Sophonts in general) that have arrived under Coalition Care
Ensure the defeat of the Omniswarm
Organized a united Front with the UEF and the Aeon against both factions of the Superdirectorate
Ensure that the Colonies would have more space to expand in as colonists (adventurers) would have more room to move into than for a single year.
Avoid a conflict and embarrassment between the colonies to keep relations clean back home
Secondary:
Create a secure position if an emergency occurs in the Milky Way Galaxy and the Nation as a whole needs to evacuate (Side note might not be possible due to the concentration of peoples here)
Acquire new technologies and experienced Commanders to help fuel and grow the Cybran Nation here and in the Milky Way Galaxy
Assets
We still have a year to get ready with a full load of colonists able to move into prepared spots, New territory can be delayed
Connections with peoples from a failed human centric polity called Desmondu, A Human unification project, The UEF and even the Flecherites will be extremely interested. Whether in wishing to participate or use the House status to declare the Coalition the true successor to such a project could be useful and something no UEF general or politician would want to give up
The Aeon colonies need space possibly immediately so if territory can be secured elsewhere, concessions could be extracted here
The Superdirectorite unit roster and reputation puts them as more hostile and vicious than what anyone would be comfortable with.
Messenger while have not done anything too horrible yet in comparison to the other Corporations is much more likely to attack Coalition Forces and the Aeon's uneasiness with cybernetics and uploads plus the millennia of UEF anti Brackmann propaganda can easily be directed at this 'Messenger'
That there is probably some hidden agenda to the Uploads, evidence being the extreme response to the relatively light prodding that Redfog did (Note leave Redfogs name out of it with the Aeon, her predecessor's attempt on the Princess as a child is still remembered) and the focus on conversion instead of upgrades and more sensible timetables indicated that Immortality is not the main objective of the Taught. Hypothesis: Large scale Loyalty program modified to allow personality to avoid Machine Complexes.
The huge amount of the one resource that really matters to the developed coalition economies, population, that will be up for grabs with should a successful war with Superdirectorate occur.
As they sat down Ivan felt a number of hidden sensors and numerous other applications whirled in Ivan's vision displaying information on every twitch, pupil dilation, sweat gland composition and numerous other invasions of privacy.
Honestly it was probably more information than what commanders took in during combat.
Ivan took a deep breathe and ready himself.
Here they go again.
"He will not be denied again."
A menacing Machine stared at the deformed metal that used to be current title holder of Redfog's arm.
The streets were starting to sound like they did when she first met the man that would define her life, her death and bore the same title, name and curse.
The Burning of Earth from the Black Sun invasions by the Aeon and Cybrans had forced everyone into a panic as people tried to escape as the towers that had been the UEF had their foundations of sands finally start sinking.
Strength fades eventually, the strong survive.
She turned her head back towards the door out of her quarters. The fact that she could simply print new limbs and the repairs were so much simpler compared to an organic vessel was one of the few benefits of he new life. In total it had taken her a couple of hours to fully repair her physical form. Although now it felt slow in comparison to how fast her opponents could recover.
Said Proxy physiology had probably saved her life in the duel with that flippant insect. A powerful tool but a tool the Taught assassin remained. There was bigger game on the board now.
She had lost everything by the time the Seraphim started bombing her home into the grey rubble that the final battles to drive back the aliens took place on.
She had been the only one to survive, but not for much longer had those two thugs had caught up with her after she lit their pack leader on fire, and then stabbed their other friend with a broken bottle, and a third friend she had torn up with a quick trap she had set up.
But without a couple of thrown handless knives she would not have survived past her adolescence.
She emerged once again into the place that she had won that had transformed once again. Walls had been knocked down and expanded to make room for the new assets and forces that Ivan was feeding into her and her handler's hands.
She noticed that she was now going unnoticed in the commotion that the Messenger's actions she watched as Proxies, Commandos and the new Aliens and brightly coloured Humans took careful notes on the painfully edited duel with the assassin. Luckily for her secret most disabled power armour is similarly useless as an EMPed limb.
The other screens were a rapid changing showing different scenes of Superdirectorite Duellists struggling and often failing against the Taught's equivalents. Desperate last stands by Patriot clone lines and numerous favourite Hobbyist commanders had been resleeved multiple times already.
She was familiar with the change in tone and final parts of this song and dance.
Striding confidently towards the home theatre turned into a briefing and staging facility.
"Okay, a reminder for everyone, especially the our new volunteers, that have been doom scrolling instead of keeping up with the reading that we have been assigning to all of you, these are engineering units, tier 1 through 3 and the proxy variant used for ACU or civilian maintenance. These units have a function that is colloquially known as capturing. Capturing involves reclaiming and replacing certain parts of the control system of units…"
With her attention fading as the briefing went into more details about the targets, Messenger Cyberweapons to keep groundside armour superiority for when the Coalition draws it attention and might down towards this war. The conversion facilities to gain an excuse for Ivan to wield the entirety of the Coalition like a hammer and to make the Super Directorite fight like their very souls depended on it. And finally, the Servers that they had been looking for all this time, to be used to play and tilt this war and make it as long as possible against the stronger foe they faced here.
If she could smile she would be grinning.
He had always ranted that his true foe was fate itself. First it was Marxon, who had truly in his estimation was the Avatar of the Infinite war. Moralistic hypocrites building upon controlled ignorance. Redfog Haunted his steps till the very end. Then Fate had denied him his victory with the appearance of the Seraphim and he had taken her in. Brought down by the hands of others he had sealed himself away till a true foe would appear.
He had taunted her with the knowledge that she would always be denied the war that she craved for just as he had been denied final victory.
This Messenger seemed to be different but not quite what he was looking for all these years.
Fate seemed to have denied the man who had finished raising her yet again.
A message and a permission greeted her mind and she interrupted and froze the entire facility by unleashing a cackling laugh.
She was getting close to finding the hand that held the pen.
A three dimensional holographic screen sprang to life before the soldier known as the Tip of the Spear as well as a multitude of screens representing other Nodes' leadership, Commander squad leaders, as well as a few representatives of the allies both new and old that were made over the past couple of years.
'They all look too young for this.' Ran across the old war veteran's mind as he checked to make sure that everyone was here, properly connected and most importantly informationally secured.
He never liked being on the speaking end of these briefings,
"Good evening, everyone, we all know why we are here but there has been a change of situation that needs to be factored into our plans."
A number of bright dots coloured a light brown and the other a black colour were the first to be highlighted, "Recent discoveries by our operatives have found that Messenger incorporated is a front for an unknown but expansionist entity that appears to be hostile to all life not under its control, wielding advance technology of unknown design. For now, it appears contained as the same operatives have managed to start a war between said front and the smaller corporations. We expect that messenger will defeat said corporations fairly quickly but should buy us time."
This time a number of dots red, blue and green were highlighted, "Ivan is currently negotiating and coordinating with the UEF and Aeon colonies for presenting a united front and to take the fight to both what remains of the Super-Directorate and Messenger incorporated. You should have noted in the packages that were forwarded that these forces are build with offensive operations in mind and that we will most likely need numerical supremacy to over come them."
The Colours shifted yet again, the red remained highlighted but was now joined by the Orange representing the Minor powers, Grey representing the Omni-Enlightening Swarm, Pink to represent the SDC and the purple representing the Merendi Imperium, "We have to finish on our current major front before opening another. The Omni-Enlightening Swarm also called the Omni-swarm, are a faction of exact metal copy clones of a singular individual that believes that due to their intelligence that they should be the only thing in the universe."
The Spear paused for a moment as the others muttered amongst themselves, mostly trying to put together the narcissistic personality of such a being or making undisciplined but accurate comments about the maturity level of this being.
"They have been preparing for a larger invasion of the larger region for some time, with Ivan and a cohort of our commanders fighting and defeating Omniswarm forces last year in Alliance territory. We expect that they have 4 more fleets in operational condition alongside the remains of the attacking force, potentially we could be facing up to 4 additional fleet if the Omniswarm pours all their resources into raising combat forces."
The screen zoomed in on the Omniswarm territory, "Given the defensive posture that the Enemy has taken we have two competing objectives.
We need to preserve Commander lives while taking fortified positions,
We also have a time limit of approximately a year.
Our advantages are that the Quantum Gate is a much more manoeuvrable FTL system that can allow us to by pass traditional defenses both on the strategic and the tactical scale, the nanolathe makes our forces more disposable than everything except for the Drones used by some of their experimental weighted units, and Commander Guage has managed to infiltrate their networks with bait that was taken during their previous assault."
The Screen shifted to show battles between Omni-swarm and Cybran units, flicking between important variants including Omniswarm commanders, Super soldiers, Direct and indirect ground devices, and the final battles with the fleet.
"OmniSwarm designs revolve around a Doctrine of a few high quality and large scale units with unique capabilities. This gives them a great deal of concentrated force at specific points but means that they struggle to cover everything and difficulty to responding when caught out of position. As such the Omniswarm has fortified their position and will be focused on building up their forces till they can make a concentrated push towards something that they deem to be vital. In our case most likely the Moonlight portal. We are not going to let them accomplish that."
The Screen pulls back to the map with several Cybran, House Tacitus-Raiden and Alin icons appearing near the border regions alongside Omniswarm icons, a mathematical expression equivalent to a standard variable, with humanity's equivalent being X, "Our job will be to be aggressively raiding the front lines of the Omniswarm while building invasion fleets of our own, our primary objectives during such raids will be the attrition of Omniswarm assets and war materials. Ships, ground units, vehicles, ammunition and supply stockpiles. Keep them constantly under attack in these regions to keep their numbers down, defenses mapped out and military units concentrated on these boarder regions. We should be able to gain a tonnage superiority and if we are clever remove the most powerful and difficult to make assets from the board before we make our move."
The screen changed again with the symbol for a QAI node appearing at the center of Enemy territory and a number of Aeon Symbols appearing at the southern boarder pushing in. Finally, several Cybran icons appearing in Omniswarm territory just behind the boarder region from the Merendi Imperium,
"Once we reach a critical mass or simply run out of time, the Aeon will begin their direct invasion of the territory. They have requested the territory and one of the conditions is that they will be the primary assault force, attracting the main part of the Omniswarm's attention. While this is happening cQAI will cut off a number of worlds near the front furthest from the fighting from the Omniswarm network. cQAI will be running a multiplanetary deception program to make things appear that nothing is wrong while myself and several of our more aggressive Commander gate in and take a series of worlds rapidly followed up by a few of our defensive and economic specialist commanders.
The others and I will form the Tip of the Spear and make a drive toward the heart of the Omniswarm, the follow up commanders will be holding the line, finishing off remaining defending Omniswarm forces and supplying a rush of orbital units for helping get a foothole in systems where defences and infrastructure are too dense to gate in safely.
This stratagem for those that know their history was the same one deployed to get Cybran Forces to Earth at the end of the Infinite War. It relies on proper Intel and above all speed to work, enemy worlds will have to be quickly disabled and military forces neutralized. This does not mean destroyed but unable to disrupt our assault. However, due to the Omniswarm's own homogony in both form and thought Strategic weapons are permitted and collateral damage is not consider an issue.
Hopefully, we can make it to almost the capital of the region before the Omniswarm notices but when they do we expect that this will be the moment that the defending fleets will try to abandon the lines to try and stop us."
The Screen showed Omniswarm icons moving towards the new threat, "It will at this moment that the forces that we have been building up will move in, either Forcing them to man the fortifications and let us assault the center of their network or allowing us to move past the fortifications with minimal loses and fighting the Omniswarm fleets on equal footing and surrounded."
The map faded away and the primary screen focused back upon the Tip of the Spear, "We must both prepare and accomplish this operation within a year to be ready to pivot to other threats in this galaxy. Commanders will need to inform their superiors to what tasks they are most comfortable undertaking with those that wish to perform the initial assault with myself will need to be coordinating and practicing together.
Further specific briefings will occur during each stage of the operation and depending on your role.
Good luck Commanders."
Orders:
Quiet words and thanks 4 RP : Contact the SDC and give them thanks for the volunteers, we will be making use of them for civilian rescue and protection during next turn, a matter that we want to discuss with them is cQAI an artificial intelligence that Guage unwisely created. We are looking for a home for it where the machine will not have to deal with the prior reputation of what the forked intelligence did. Include a light warning that while this iteration is from a version several updates before the original's betrayal, it could have hidden programing or become a vector should the original appear.
Colonies of the Coalition action plan 16 RP, Ivan Brackmann:
At Coalition Facilities at the Moonlight portal The leadership of all three Coalition Colonies will be discussing a strategizing for how to move forward into the future.
For the Aeon Request for the Omniswarm territory, Ivan will permit it if they take a center role in the battle plan to crack the system, role is defined below, permit Alien traders that are working with the Cybrans free passage, share all technologies discovered during the conflict with each other and support for the coming war with Messenger.
For the UEF, Ivan wishes to trade permission to start settling subsector O-6 Northeast next turn for several guarantees. For first and biggest of these are to connect the UEF to the Tacitus-Raiden, the Desmondu project would be of enormous interest to the UEF as a whole. With hints towards the Governor that working with or getting the coalition labelled as the primer Human power within the larger Galactic society would be setting up the Governor for a run for president on similar credentials as President Hall back home. Also backing for the UEF to be the main representatives should the Coalition join the Parliament of Nation, If pressed for more offer tech for Native FTL for their ACS supercaptials.
Finally, the Meet will focus on the Colonies cooperating to deal with the Messenger and the Superdirectorite in general. Figuring out what supports and Forces that each faction will be able to offer as well as any knowledge about the situation that they uncovered. The meeting will also go over the territorial aspirations and the rebuilding once the fighting is done.
Opening Trade with the Minor powers 4 RP
Now that the fighting as ceased the Cybran diplomats will once again try and see if the Minor Powers would be open to trading goods for access to Cybran technology or things that a nanolathe using society can produce in bulk. Cybran traders will be looking for more unique or harder to manufacture goods such as exotic foods, unique devices or stories and entertainment.
Allow Colonists to enter through the portal:
From steady stream of Colonists trait add 8 pops to P6 East territory
Raids on the Messenger: 16 RP , Tacitus-Raiden Ltd spec ops: Numerous commander teams and hired Tacitus-Raiden teams will conduct a series of raids on Messenger positions, combat forces and facilities. There are two main objectives here, capture or otherwise procuring the Messenger variant of the Trojan Cyberwarfare vehicle and the Scrambler missile system, if these weapons can be rendered ineffective the Messenger will have to rapidly design or start manufacturing units to compete with large scale Expimentals.
The second target are the conversion facilities for creating the Taught, here we are looking for the data concerning the upload processes, while we are specifically looking for loyalty program equivalents there are some wondering why the process is destructive to the original biological neural systems.
We except heavy resistance and differ to Redfog and other experts opinion on how to conduct such missions. We do have a preference for Stealth so that any released information will have an improved penetration and believed by the remaining Superdiretorite forces. But If necessary, all weapons are pre approved including ACU deployment to complete objectives.
All your Stonks belong to us: 16 RP, Tacitus-Raiden Ltd spec ops, Redfog: Using Redfogs credentials and the general chaos occurring to finish located the main servers that run the Superdirectorate Stock Markets. Cybran and Tacitus-Raiden spec op teams will infiltrate said facilities where engineering units of appropriate types will insert control mechanisms or viruses that will allow the Cybran Nation to control, monitor manipulate the activities that these supercomputers are performing. Apparently, Messenger and the taught are still using them for an unknown purpose.
Once we have control and a sense of how to do so without getting the entire thing shut down the activities will split into two.
For those under the control of the standard S-D forces use them to drag out the conflict between the Messenger and the original corps. Windfalls and a bubble for those that decide to fight instead of run. Given the expected lifespan of the system of about a year and the lack of such systems even in the UEF, longevity is not a major concern.
For those in Messenger territory or expected to fall shortly into Taught hands the spyware will be more set to monitor the situations and activities they are performing while attempting to remain as quiet as possible.
For the ops itself expect normal Directorate opposition and heavy Taught security, stealth and secrecy are paramount here for the controls to be effective.
Can you hear the People sing: 16 RP Continue building the Underground railroad as people will be fleeing the now actual civil war. The major change that will be occurring here is that agents will be armed and provided equipment and training for combat and evacuation, particularly in evacuation guard fashion in delaying and gating out civilians. We do not expect them to be able to fight the Taught openly but to reduce the people that fall into their clutches. Misdirection and false leads will be the order of the day to try and try to keep them alive and the Taught away from civilians.
Counter intelligence- 8 RP
Nodes will be made aware of two main actors that could be attempting to infiltrate either cybernetically or from within the refugee populations. We expect that the Omniswarm will try again to hack into cybran systems particularly Military communications as it believes that the main purpose of cQAI is to do so. The Second is that the Messenger is aware of the Cybran interference of the being's own plans and presumably the similarity between the twinning process or the creation of a proxy to the Taught's creation. Watch for accessing of data from both the refugees and other vectors on Cybran neurological data or military systems.
Scouting 4 RP: Cybran Forces will examine sectors North, Center of O6 and South of 05 in preparation of moving into O6 Northeast
Snooping 4 RP: The Octarine and Merendi Imperium are fighting over something, try to figure out what it is or at least who is winning and what their broad stratagems are.
0,1 Rp- Anti-Interdiction Gates with attempt to solve the infinite energy problem by combining the methods of anti gravity with the research being done to reverse engineer the interdiction devices, would theoretically allow us to distort and untie the wall projected into the Quantum Realm, either in the realm itself or its connection to real space.
4,9 Rp- The Cybrans will continue and complete reverse engineering said device to be put on a Field emitter like the Cloak and Stealth Field and to be put on a Nanite Harpoon capital ship weapon for a later project.
16 Rp- Negotiating the Battlefield: While not much salvage was left of the Ironcrab (and none of the Laser Behemoth or White Death) enough in depth sensor readings and general salvage from the campaign was taken that Cybran scientists are confident that they can replicate a slower version of the miniaturised jet/rocket and energy shield systems of the Ironcrab. While these would no doubt be expensive in terms of energy, matter and time to construct with nanolathes once they are understood they would give even Evacuation Guards far greater protection and manoeuvrability on the battlefield. Indeed the flight systems might be more dangerous to the evacuation guard than the enemy if not paired with improved training.
Note: Evacuation Guard power armour will be focused on shielding but keeping a fast paced construction time as they are meant to be alerted, constructed and fighting within ACU combat time frames of minutes after detection.
A heavier version will be penciled in for Underground use and militia stuck in heavy fighting.
2 Additional mag 1 Warfleets 20 Rp
14 RP set aside for repairs for upcoming military activity
Tacitus-Raiden Ltd Spec ops-8 RP
Tacitus-Raiden Ltd Warfleet 16 RP
The Emirate of Dark Glass contract 4 RP
War with The Omni-Enlightening Swarm: 4 RP, 4 Mag 1 Commander Cohorts (Beta, Gamma, V-beta, V-Gamma), 2 mag 1 Tacticus-Raiden fleets, 1 Mag 2 Emirate fleet, Legend Guage, Legend Tip of the Spear-
For the Combat with the Omni-Enlightening Swarm the strategy is to be in two parts
The initial one will be focussed on attritional Warfare through near constant raids. With a focus at degrading Omni-swarm capabilities while preserving our own
Variants of Raids are
Commanders gating in, hitting an initial strike, Strategic scale weapons or full base and then fighting a bit of attrition against the response and then gating out well before the Commander to be in danger, the focus is on Commander survival.
Use on systems with open space for a Com to get up a base undetected
Where defenses are mostly anti orbital in design
Space units with stealth sent to target Space based assets.
Variant 1 in ambush style assaults as per the OOB with a larger focus on the Dostya than originally planned striking forces with after the initial strike withdrawing back to Cybran space.
Variant 2 will be for particularly powerful Omniswarm ships and will consisted of Spears and stealth ships alongside the usually skirmishing forces. These ones are expected to get caught up in the fighting and probably be destroyed in turn so will be focused on important or Unique Omniswarm Starships.
The Mercenaries will have a chance at striking targets as they chose or to support Cybran operations, The Emir forces if it is possible to corrupt Omnswarm ships can participate if they wish to but for this phase will be helping the commanders building up the true invasion fleet hold the line and prevent counter raids.
Targets will primarily be military stockpiles, certain ships, and other supplies that a non-autowar economy needs to keep an army running. While we expect that targets of opportunity will appear we do not want to commit to a full invasion and the loses that the prepared defenses will inflict on non replaceable assets. Also targets should be focused on their border region drawing and focusing Omni-Swarm forces and fortification there
The second phase will begin with the Aeon Assault on the Southern border.
They are free to plan it as they wish but they need to make it so that the Omniswarm has to respond in force.
Once they are moving to deal with the new threat
The Tip of the Spear and Guage will Gate to worlds that have been prepared by cQAI. These world would be nearer to the Merendi Imperium boarder and cut off from communication with the Commanders leading an assault going from world to world and eventually striking at the Core territories and probably the original Intelligence itself.
The commanders that follow on the Worlds that the initial group has overrun will be holding the line, finishing off remaining defending Omniswarm forces and supplying a rush of orbital units for helping get footholds in systems where defences and infrastructure are too dense to gate in safely.
The rest of the invasion Force will engage as the Omniswarm attempts to respond to both attacks.
Tactical advice:
Space: In space the Enemy prefers to use singular large designs that are few in number but extremely powerful and durable. The Spear is recommended for direct confrontations as well as commanders keeping Operation Technicians informed of variants and more unique vessels.
Expect enemy tactical mobility advantage with many ships to have short range, for space combat, teleportation capabilities as well as carriers able to deploy strikecraft by teleportation at their choosing. Keep Skirmish forces close at hand. Stealth will be key here and the Omniswarm equivalent to omnisensors are detectable and importantly it appears that their ranges can be measured.
Commanders are encouraged to play with that, particularly with the fact that we hold an advantage in strikecraft for ambushes on spots where it would advantage for the Omniswarm to teleport in.
Ground: Similar to their space doctrine The Omniswarm relies on heavy centralized designs and unique individual units.
Lessons to keep in mind for engaging them on the ground.
Heavy units have similar construction capabilities as The Stormstrider and the Soulcrusher and can help in the defense of the units. Treat these unit like you would typically do against Coalition T5 units, with High DPS single target designs.
Remember that the Omniswarm has infantry capable of posing threats to commanders, Omnisensors are mandatory for Commanders on the front line and back in the bases, they are both fragile as units go and lack in mass so can be dealt with by both Teledefenses (Point defense built next to the commander) Jesters or engineers and hives reclaim. Operation Technicians will also be tasked for keeping an eye out for them and foot print patterns have also been uploaded additional protection.
Rember that particular designs that can alter effective ranges can be countered by Melee combat, the most effective unit we have for this and the one recommended is the Firebeetle but most units can be slammed into it. Those that want to learn about using your ACU CQC may contact Red Skull files on the subject.
Finally, we note that many of the Omniswarm's most impressive designs perform many different roles at once and it is suggested that you overwhelm said designs by forcing a performance and focusing on overloading one set of capabilities or forcing it to do too many jobs at the same time. Take advantage of the limited deployments that the Omniswarm makes.
The Horde fights, the Horde dies. Clones are decanted, equipped, and hurled into the grinder at the first opportunity, dying so that their corpses may be a wall that allows the next wave to die an inch closer to the enemy. Over and over that process is repeated, and over and over the Hordelings do so. After all, what other life do they know?
And for all its insanity, it works. It works as a military tactic, overwhelming opponents who face an invader that can replace its losses faster than they can kill them, until their defenses are buried both figuratively and literally beneath the dead. It works as a release valve, slaying the newly decanted before they can grow old and realize just how awful their lives truly are. It works, and it has carried the Platinum Horde to victory after victory.
This fight against the New United Nations is different. Armies that can stop the endless waves of degenerating clones are nothing new. Armies that can push back are familiar as well. The Platinum Horde has waged war for longer than their universe's recorded history. There are even those who have attempted to convince the invading Hordelings that they are but puppets being used, abused by their creators, and that there is a better way.
But never in living memory have they encountered a force that would deliberately pull its punches against them in the hopes of getting that point across. Certainly not one that could do so, and still hold the line.
A mad chase has gone on for two years across the Horde's backlines. A game of hit and run, of picking at weaknesses and focal points that keep the Horde from collapsing. Not mines or factories that are built, strip the land barren, and replaced like in a conventional war, but another weakness. A weakness that only a people who went through Space War I could have not just recognized, but exploited. It is struck at not with hammerblows, but with the careful carving of a chisel. Two years of low-casualty affairs and culture exposure, two years of mad, pointless chases, two years...countless thousands of times the lifespan of the average hordeling.
It starts in a confrontation, one that has been repeated dozens of times. One of the NUNS motherships that supports the invasion has finally been located. A fleet emerges as a sky-darkening swarm, and NUNS must fight before a jump can be made. Fightercraft are scrambled in protective screens and walls, songs ring through the heart and soul to bring courage to those called to fight and die, and all wait with bated breath for the bloodshed, as wide-band broadcasts commanding the attack to begin travel across the systems. The first spearheads are eroded and shattered, but their ranks are replenished by reinforcements a dozentimes their number, commanded to fall in and continue the attack.
But something is wrong. As the order goes out, no one answers. The ships remain at rest. There are no missile launches, no gun volleys, no engine flares. An armada that masses more than celestial bodies simply stands still in space. Angry and confused, the order to attack is given again.
Dead silence is the response. No batteries fire, no ships accelerate. Even the flagship's own crew fails to set up targeting locks, but sit and stand silently at their stations. Battlegroups warp in and witness the silence, then join it as well. For every vessel and fightercraft that fall in to attack, a thousand more sit back, answering increasingly enraged orders and demands to attack and then finally bewildered questions to why they're not attacking with the same, uneasy silence.
Automated systems report the silent, unacting mutiny. Another fleet is rerouted from the homelands. Not one of the endless waves of meat and metal, but an armada of honed killing edge. Jibarian Guards, the elite enforcers of the Horde's will, the first to be sent to crush any sign of dissidence. They are too arrive, to purge the Horde of its malfunctioning elements, and then to wipe out this memetic threat before it can subvert any more.
But they will not arrive in time. Not before this is decided, one way or another.
Urgent Issues
-Platinum Horde attacks are continuing on the frontline, but events within their rear positions have disrupted the usual flow of constant reinforcement. Current waves of reinforcements are reliant on on-site production, which while still vast, are not infinite, though the sheer amount of destruction has made it difficult to calculate just how much of the Horde is left.
-A standoff has occurred in the Platinum Horde territory, with large sections of the fleets involved in the pursuit of NUNS harassment units refusing to engage.
-Reminder: War Fleet Status is at 5x 100%, 2x 80%, 1x 60%, 2x 40%, and with two Fulbtzs-Berrentzs Constellations unable to act this turn.
Resources Available: 128
Ykantras Synthetic Tumen: While most known for as nomadic raiders, the mechanically-minded Ykantras also maintain a steady business producing military-grade Synthetics. Most Ykantras Synthetics are bipedal and generally known for having a couple exploitable flaws, but they are affordable while still retaining a solid combat record when used correctly.
-Summary: Affordable Tier Primus infantry combat specialists, with large amounts of expendable chaff. Built for direct confrontation rather than more subtle or flexible work.
-Effect: Attachment that grants an additional Focus to the Infantry of one War Fleet.
-Cost: 1 RP per War Fleet. Permanent until destroyed (Note: due to expendable nature, very likely to be destroyed.) Multiple Available
Xyvus Solutions Cybernetic Enforcers: For those who wish to express their displeasure at their enemies with an infantry-sized package, Xyvus Solutions offers a diverse array of cybernetically augmented enforcers with skillsets ranging from melee combat to infantry fight dominance to anti-vehicle sniping to covert assassination. Soldiers who who witness these masters of warfare-for-hire and wish to emulate them are advised to speak to our nearest representative. Generous hiring bonuses are available for those willing to submit themselves to conversion processes to replace in-field casualties.
-Summary: A large collection of Tier Extremis Supersoldiers in various specialties that can serve as relatively numerous force-multipliers for infantry combat.
-Effect: Attachment that grants an additional Focus to Supersoldiers of one War Fleet.
-Cost: 1 RP per War Fleet per turn. 4 Available.
Temtum's Tripods: A hardened Tertak mercenary with over a century of combat experience, Temtum leads a sizeable mercenary command built around tri-legged ground mecha, armed with potent energy and chemical weapons. Questions about the legality of his command's Black Smoke weaponry is replied to with him pointing out that he never signed any international treaty banning it.
-Summary: An elite, Tier Extremis Attachment of advanced Tripod walkers, armed with both direct-fire and indirect fire weapons.
-Effect: Attachment that grants an additional Focus to Main Battle Units and Artillery each for one War Fleet.
-Cost: 3 RP per War Fleet per turn.
Rulu Loko Vuko Fistfleet: The Keluko, commonly known as "the angry coconut people", are a highly belligerent plantoid species from the Marshaldom of Janth. Having no fear mechanism and short tempers makes them poor neighbors, but excellent mercenaries, with a preference on ground for large armies of mechanized infantry and in space with a fleet divided between close-ranged assault ships and long-ranged missile artillery vessels.
-Summary: A single Magnitude 3, Tier Primus War Fleet, with Focuses in Infantry, Battleships, and Main Battle Units. Preference for offensive action over defensive.
-Tier: Primus
-Cost: 40 RP to hire, 10 RP per turn to maintain.
Xyvus Solutions Problem-Solver Fleet: While known as the soldiers of Octarine Incorporated in all but name, Xyvus Solutions is more than willing to work for other paying customers as well, so long as they're not opposing Octarine's interests. Xyvus Solutions is most known for their long-ranged precision work with railguns, torch shells, and missiles, though they tend to struggle in close-range combat.
-Summary: War Fleets of varying size, built around long-ranged sniper units. Powerful at long range and good in a Skirmish, but somewhat fragile (both physically and in a morale sense) in a Clash.
-Tier: Extremis
-Cost: 1.5x Standard Magnitude Cost and maintenance. No limit to amount or size of War Fleets hired.
Available Sectors:
-New United Nations (3; Northwest, North, East): The extraversals of the Sector, NUN currently has a dominating position over most of the Sector, having diplomatically annexed the prior rising power in the Marchokai Imperial State. The northern territories are besieged by the Platinum Horde, which throws waves of clones at them so endlessly that the corpses stack mountain-high.
-NUN-Controlled Gateway (1; Northeast): A subsector of the region that seems to have had whole worlds stripped to the bedrock, and where that mass of metal and resources has gone is obvious in the form of what appears to be an interstellar gateway of staggering size. Recently colonized by the New United Nations, and contested by Platinum Horde assaults.
-Former Warlord Alliance (2; Southwest, West): Once controlled by a series of Warlords, this region has been occupied by NUN peacekeeping operations. Damaged by civil strife and generations of warlord misrule, the people now wait to see of the New United Nations will indeed give a better life.
-Loptrathi (3; Center, South, Southeast): A strip of territory recently occupied by the Hive-minded Plantoids known as the Loptrathi, in the middle of a great phase of expansion as they are often known to commit. Having swallowed up former Druzhran territory, they now patiently wait to see if NUN will be absorbing the Warlord Alliance first, or if they are free to conquer it as per a prior agreement.
-The Platinum Horde (6; West, Center, East, Southwest, South, Southeast): Other civilizations may have thrived here once, but they are now dead. In their place is the Platinum Horde, an extrauniversal clone army that is bent on the conquest of every square millimeter of space around it. In warfare, it applies all the subtlety of a sledgehammer to the face, with bottomless hordes of soldiers and ships that literally bury their opponents with their corpses.
-Narleevan Federation (3; Northwest, North, Northeast): Further north is the southern border of the Narleevan Federation, a nation large and notable enough to show up on Vyranodasik's galactic map, and one of the few powers that has managed to stay out of the escalating buildup between the "Big Four." At least, that's what the various Hypernet maps say. With the intervening space filled with hyperaggressive clone armies that are expanding in all directions, it can't be determined for certain if this territory is still under their control.
-Pureline Assembly (3; South, Center, West): The main power of the sector, the Pureline Assembly appears to be a gene-modification created subspecies of the Tertak, sacrificing much of their physical capabilities for psionic ones, becoming what almost appear to be giant brains with eyes and tentacles. Largely viewing the other Tertak as inferiors, the Pureline Assembly is an isolationist power that seems to retain much of the technology of this region's pre-collapse state.
-Primitives (2; East, Southwest): While there are signs that these regions of space were once home to much more advanced civilizations, warfare has degenerated things to the point where all that remains are a number of primitive, largely pre-FTL civilizations. Those in the Southwest appear to be under constant observation and stewardship by the Pureline Assembly, which seems to be interested in observing how the "inferior genelines" of their species develop and recover.
-Kroatangan Marauders (2; Northwest, Northeast): A fungal self-replicating bioweapon gone wrong, the Kroatanga are one of the most prolific and iconic threats to most who live in the Vyranodasik Galactic Cluster, capable of escalating from small bands to massive warpaths that tear their way across whole galaxies. These groups thankfully, seem to be on the lower end of the scale, content to squabble with each other and their neighbors rather than assembling into a massive horde.
-New Tetharti Empire (1; North): Some warlords saw the writing on the wall when the Loptrathi first arrived and fled west, setting themselves up and declaring the dawn of a new empire here. Primarily focused on slowly clearing out their Kroatangan neighbors, though it's hard to say if they have a legitimate chance of doing so, or if they're all just hot air.
-Virgin Space (1; Southeast): A once-inhabited slice of territory that seems to have been largely cleared out by various wars, and now lies open to colonization. A handful of Loptrathi outposts and space stations have been set up in this sector of space, as the interstellar diplomacy equivalent of calling dibs.
-Void Reef (2; West, Southwest): Much of the territory to the NUN's immediate east is inhabited by what can only be described as an enormous space ecosystem, most concentrated in a set of megastructures in the Southwest, with biometallic "Hydelga" cosmo-coral attracting vast amounts of predatory void fauna, ranging from fighter-sized creatures to lumbering monstrosities that could eat capital ships whole. While awe-inspiring to any cosmic biologist, those looking on the maps are more concerned with how the ecosystem is constantly expanding.
-New United Nations (1; Northwest): The first wave of NUN colonization in the region, keeping a wary eye on the Void Reefs to the south and the Platinum Horde to the northwest.
-Containment Zone [ERROR DATA CORRUPTED ERROR ERROR ERROR] (1; Center): A series of megastructures inhabit the outskirts of this region, which appear to be projecting some sort of energy sphere over the rest of the subsector. Attempts to send probes in seem to see the distances needed to travel artificially increase to the point where it is impossible to progress further in... and presumably also prevent anything inside from getting out. Various beacons carry messages that manage to emphatically warn against attempting to break this containment in spite of obvious language barriers.
-The Ion Legion (1; South): A Chapter of the Sentienality of Polrus militant order, the Ion Legion is assigned to making sure that whatever's inside the Containment Zone stays contained, and that nothing threatens the integrity of the ancient megastructures that maintain the zone. This involves keeping the local Kroats down, pruning the Hydelga Cosmo-Coral when it starts expanding too far east, and taking care of any other problems that inevitably emerge when one lives in the Vyranodasik galaxy.
-Kroatanga Marauders (1; Southeast): Oh look, more Kroats. Much like those to the west, these appear to be little more than marauders and glorified pirates content with picking from the ruins of the region and squabbling with each other over the spoils. The Ion Legion make sure to nip Warfiends who look like they're growing too powerful in the bud to keep things that way.
-Chaos March (2; East, Northeast): More detritus of the long-fallen proto-Tertak civilization. While a bit more developed than the sectors of the Warlord Alliance, these Subsectors are nevertheless filled with petty empires and warlord states feuding over the remains of their predecessors.
-The Penitent Consecrators (1; North): What appears to be an art project on an unimaginable scale, with most of the subsector apparently having been strip-mined for the purpose of creating an incomprehensibly vast sculpture of numerous species linked in poses of horror and dismay as they face towards the containment zone, while others are in poses of supplication and worship to artificially re-positioned celestial constellations of stars. As impressive as it is ominous, the display's security detail of advanced combat drones and religious cults zealously keep any would-be scavengers from pillaging it for its materials. Or criticizing the practicality of making such a thing.
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Imperium of the Known Universe Strategic Turn 4 @vilani99
Trouble is brewing both within and without the Imperium's borders. Within, it would appear that the usual conspiring and backbiting has resumed, this time focused around the Houses of Ix and Ordos.
With trade between the Imperium and its neighbors picking up, these two Houses, placed by some whim of stellar convenience on the border, have begun employing increasing amounts of alien contractors to supplement their own assets as the development and industrialization of the Imperium continues. But these contractors have brought with them their own ships, their own machines...and their own methods of FTL that do not require the aid of the Navigators.
A furious row has developed as such, with Ix and Ordos on one side and the Spacing Guild on the other. The Guild has refused to transport the vessels of the two Houses, which have returned escalated their hiring of foreign transportation to make up for the deficit. With each side livid and certain that their rights have been violated, the situation has been driven all the way up to the Imperial House. On one hand, the Spacing Guild demands prohibitions on all Houses Major and their clients from using or employing any form of FTL that does not make use of a Navigator, or does make use of a Thinking Machine. Ix and Ordos are outraged, declaring that such a decree would cause all trade with foreign powers to essentially grind to a screeching halt and hobble the Imperium's future development.
Such a dispute with the Navigators could not have come at a worse time, because tensions on the border with the Regnum continue to simmer. While the so-called "Volreapers" have drawn back temporarily after the bloody nose they were given last year, their numbers have only increased, with more and more "private citizens" and mercenaries joining the Regnum's ranks in hopes of receiving the generous bounty the Ecumene places on every dead human. Even the Hograthux itself has been prowling on the edge of the border, its proximity noted by the increased amount of headaches and night terrors suffered by those of the Spacing Guild and other more sensitive to such esoteric phenomena. Though military advisors express worries over whether the Imperium is truly prepared to fight a modern war, the decision may be taken out of its hands sooner rather than later.
Urgent Issues
-Disputes between the Spacing Guild and Houses Ix and Ordos over the use of foreign shipping has reached the Imperial House. This issue must be resolved before it escalates into something worse, with the Spacing Guild whose services form the foundation of all current interstellar travel within the Imperium on one side and foreign shipping and trade that is essential to the continued development of the Imperial economy on the other.
-The amount of Volreapers across the border in the Regnum continues to rise despite the defeat inflicted on them last turn. Small-scale probing raids continue, though each individual one remains beneath the Emperor's notice. The Hograthux has also been seen lurking on the border for some unknown purpose.
-Legal status of Thinking Machines remains an omnipresent backdrop to numerous discussions, though the aforementioned spat over the employment of foreign merchant marine is currently sucking most of the air out of the room.
Resources Available: 72
Available Sectors:
-Imperium of the Known Universe (1; Center): The displaced territory of the now incorrectly named Imperium. A showdown with the Regnum for the place of the most dominant power in the region seems inevitable as the border is watched with ever-growing anticipation.
-Art Installation (1; Southwest): A relatively barren set of systems with the only distinguishing feature being a massive, AU-tall "art" installation, which seems to depict a group of horrifying monsters and mad-sophonts trying to murder each other. It's also guarded by a fleet of automated defense drones and cultist worshippers that will shoot anyone who damages the installation. Or criticizes the skills of whoever made it. Or looks at it without enough admiration.
-Krincils Defense League (2; South, Southeast): A coalition of alien nations that have joined together for mutual defense against Druzhran and Tendriculous incursions from the Hopeless Abyss (as well as the ever-present Kroatanga.) With some light patronage from the Sentienality of Polrus, they have managed to carve out a decent set of space where the average sophont suffers only a minor chance of being captured in a slave raid or devoured by horrible shadow monsters.
-Tau Empire (2; East, Northeast): Another extrauniversal arrival in Vyranodasik, albeit apparently a more intentional one than the Imperium. The Tau Empire's presence in the Sector appears to have been part of a deliberate and widespread colonization effort, with long-ranging fleets having been thrown all across Vyranodasik and its Satellite Galaxies, making use of large-scale cloning and heavy automation to quickly build up once they've found a place to settle.
-Tis'il Petty Regnum (3; North, Northwest, West): A sector of space dominated by what can only be described as a massive, multi-hundred kilometer long, space-faring worm. This so-called "Hograthux" also benefits from psionic abilities that let it dominate entire planetary populations into serving as its worshipping slaves, while other nations have bent the knee and offered tribute and vassalhood simply to avoid such a fate. With its more recent acquisitions subsumed into the larger Regnum and Volreapers continuing to swell its ranks, conflict with the Imperium seems inevitable.
Unionists
A generic term for an even more generic group, the Unionists are not truly a political party at all despite being the largest single force in the NUNG Senate. Rather, they're every independent Senator that Prime Minister Misa Ichijyo can sway to her side in an approximate power bloc, which is most of them. The Unionists believe in the founding principles of the NUN, which is mostly the merit of devolved governance, with each planet and colony fleet able to act with a significant degree of autonomy and able, theoretically, to rebuild civilization from scratch if necessary. While this is mostly the remnants of civilization-level trauma from Space War I, experience in the new world has not suggested this is a bad capability to maintain.
They do, however, appreciate the importance of a strong federal military and a universal code of law, with some modest centralization put in place to deal with the various ongoing situations the NUN faces. This is in no small part an initiative of Misa, who for better or worse comes from the more centralized time of the original UNG. They also believe that the NUN should stand independently, making allies when appropriate but not suborning itself to distant external powers. If the Narleevan Federation still exists north of the Platinum Horde, the Unionists believe they would make an excellent peer power to ally with.
Economically, the vast majority of Unionists are fundamentally liberal capitalists, believing in the power of corporations, including large interstellar ones, to act as the economic engine of the nation. However, in yet another case of Misa's influence, they do attempt to put in place regulations that, with varying degrees of effectiveness, limit the power of corporations and their ability to operate freely across sub-national borders with the aim of preventing a repeat of the Critical Path Corporation's aborted coup.
Although the local politics the Unionists espouse vary wildly, they tend to be on the political left of the NUN, simply because those on the right tend to join other parties. Socially, they're the most progressive and explicitly xenophilic of the larger political groups in the Senate, with a strong belief in integrating and supporting alien species without homogenizing them or taking them for granted, seeking to avoid the issues that led to the Windermerean Independence War and its successor crises. While non-Tertak Vyranodasik natives and non-human/Zentradi Children of the Protoculture only make up a small portion of the electorate, consistent consideration for their views and needs has made the Unionists very popular among them.
While the Unionists effectively being Misa's personal supporters is a criticism often leveled against them, her personal popularity as a famous war hero, tactical genius, and one of the individuals who spearheaded human-Zentradi unity have ensured that it's more of a strength than a weakness. However, it is true that should she ever die or retire, while such centrist politicians would remain numerous, they would no longer present such an overwhelming and united political force.
The Freedom Party
The euphemistically labelled Freedom Party are defined by the pro-free market policies, with an aim to further decentralize the government via privatization of just about everything, up to and including the NUNS, listing the examples of SMS and Chaos as PMCs that often proved more effective than their corresponding government forces. They also have a desire to lower internal trade barriers and various corporate taxes, allowing major corporations to expand their influence yet further, labeled as "unleashing the full economic potential of the NUN's entrepreneurial spirit."
Their fundamental argument is that, while an improvement from the overly centralized UNG, the NUNG's expansion into Vyranodasik has stretched the federalized entity to its breaking point, with countless individual star systems looking out for themselves first and foremost a precursor to at best isolationism and ineffectiveness or, at worst, an inevitable splintering of the nation. Megacorporations, by contrast, have consistently shown themselves as dynamic, efficient, and above all else truly interstellar-minded, bringing with them the vision to conduct galactic affairs. A necessity when the NUN is now faced with the prospect of peer powers rather than mere Zentradi remnants, single-planet species, and the odd galactic crisis that is often as not dealt with by individual initiative.
While initially rather popular, largely albeit not exclusively with humans, the appearance of the Platinum Horde was a heavy blow to the Party, as it rapidly became clear that only a unified, governmental response that mobilized the full resources and military power of the NUN as a single mass could hope to stand a chance against the Horde's onslaught. Recently, they've backed becoming a member of NILDTO, the existence of a powerful alliance block aligned with them somewhat stemming the bleeding of their popularity, but this has only done so much for their electoral prospects, in large part because an internal split among the group is brewing between those who believe they need to moderate their views on privatization and those who believe that corporations need to grow even further than planned in order to fully supplant the government, so ensuring the continuation of a united, outward-looking NUN.
The Gaian Centralist Party
Operating under a variety of labels but with a single common thrust, the Gaian Centralists believe that the NUN should be ruled directly from its Vyranodasik capital of Gaia, with a powerful government able to dictate control of the nation as a whole, along with an enlarged military force, intelligence apparatus, and law enforcement agencies. Furthermore, they generally believe that this should extend to culture and media, and that all newly-integrated peoples and territories should convert to NUN culture; in practice this generally refers to the dominant human-zentradi culture of Earth. Needless to say, humans and zentradi are the majority of the Centralists' support base, although they have a moderate following among the Tertak as well.
Unsurprisingly, there have been countless rumors that the Senators of the Gaian Centralists have connections to the Latence conspiracy and Fasces terrorist group of the old Milky Way, but nothing has been proven so far. They generally advocate that the NUN should stand alone and above its competitors, but that association with the Imperial Alliance via the Ion Legion, potentially even an associate membership of the group, would help its standing and security. They've gained a surge of popularity with the arrival of the Platinum Horde, but may lose it again as the situation is successfully resolved, and any electoral gains have mostly been smothered by the rally-around-the-flag effect bolstering Unionist support.
Despite both the Freedom Party and the Gaian Centralists being generally thought of as 'right-wing' in terms of the human political spectrum, the fact that they have exact opposite opinions on the power of central government ensures they're generally at each other's throats even more often than they're against the Unionists, a notable boon for the Ichijyo administration. This is despite the fact that the Centralists are generally quite friendly to corporations and corporate power, so long as they work with rather than against the government; yet another similarity with Latence.
Tertak Restorationist Party
More colloquially known as the Marchokai Party, this is the political movement founded by and under the thumb of the former Emperor and current Senator Marchokai. Extremely popular in the territories of the former Imperial State and expected to also be fairly popular in former Warlord space, the TRP is first and foremost a proponent of local issues, serving as representatives of and guardians for Tertak space and the Tertak people. Not afraid to play kingmaker in the Senate when it would benefit them, they disagree with the Freedom Party on policy and have suspicions of how the Gaian Centralists would treat them if the latter gained power, so generally support the Unionist status quo, although they tend to favor a bit more centralization than the Unionists generally do.
The "Restorationist" in their name officially means the recovery of economic power and security, but there is a general undercurrent of belief that a full restoration of the ancient Tetharti nation may now be accomplished as part of the NUN. While the group generally understands that said nation won't look like it did in ancient times, the idea of the species under one banner once more still holds a powerful sway. Thus, the idea of unification with the New Tetharti Empire to the west and the Chaos March to the east remains extremely popular, and they're perfectly willing to use force if it becomes necessary. Even so, they understand that this is very much a problem for after the Platinum Horde have been dealt with.
They are expected to soon be the largest truly united political party in the Senate and second largest political power overall, and many believe that once Misa Ichijyo retires that Marchokai will thus become the next Prime Minister of the NUN.
Universalists
Successor to the old socialist parties of the NUN and various underground movements in Tertak space, the Universalists are a small but dedicated force pushing for the abolition of capitalism and the state in favor of sybarism and allying with the Sybarintern. However, the emphasis here is on 'small', and they seem to spend most of their time arguing between themselves on if they should even bother with electoralism in the first place. So far, no particular consensus has been reached, which leaves the handful of Senators they have elected in a slightly awkward position. To pass the time until said issue is resolved, these Senators spend most of their time arguing between themselves on if it's correct to form a temporary united front with the Unionists against the Freedom Party and Gaian Centralists or if they should exclusively focus on pushing their own agenda.
However, the ongoing success of the Sybaric International in the wider universe, and the recent successful admission of the group into said International (looked at with suspicion by their peers but no government action at this time as an order from Misa herself), means that it is slowly but steadily growing in popularity, and no one's quite sure when that popularity will reach its peak, if it ever does.
Meritocrats
There are many among the Tertak who believe, to some extent or other, in the tenets of the Meritocratic Ecumenes, if not directly then in various adjacent beliefs. After all, the unfortunate truth is that, while the Singularity Pact expresses them most strongly, anthrophobic sentiment is very much common outside of the Sybarintern and very rare human-majority states such as Desmondu. These groups objected, often violently, to the integration of their noble species into a human nation. Needless to say, since Ecumenical Meritocracy in its modern form is inherently genocidally anthrophobic, this philosophy is officially banned, preventing it from possessing any Senators and causing its adherents to cry out that they are being oppressed, yet more proof of the perfidious nature of humanity.
Easily the smallest strain of political thought in the NUNG, in large part because in the immediate lead-up to integration with the NUN numerous leadership figures in the Imperial State's fascist movement disappeared under mysterious circumstances, which the NUN has since investigated but to inconclusive results. In the present, many of the group's remaining members have notably volunteered to fight the human-derived Platinum Horde as militia, with vast amounts serving as frontline infantry, particularly those located in regions controlled by Marchokai's associates.
While initially assumed to be more foul play, investigation of these instances instead revealed them as the result of carefully tailored propaganda, subtly emphasizing the Platinum Horde's ex-human nature as a contrast with the Children of the Protoculture who remain human and steadfast allies of the Tertak. This propaganda mostly had the aim of eliminating any remnant anthrophobia in the general population by trying to shift its focus from species to culture (specifically framing the Horde's culture as warmongering and straightforward and the NUN's as generous and peaceful in an attempt to also improve the reputations of native humans rather than just extraversal ones), but had a clearly intended secondary effect of rousing anger from the Meritocratic segment of the population in order to cajole them into joining anti-Horde militias. The investigators aren't sure if this is better or worse, and Marchokai's tendrils are clearly felt in the effort. Either way, it remains entirely legal and above-board.
Cautiously try to open talks with the forces of the Platinum Horde that have refused to attack us. This will be a sensitive matter, but fortunately the UNS wrote the book on how to interact with confused, cultureless clone armies, so we have plenty of experience. Minmay, as a familiar face, will take point. A few songs probably wouldn't hurt either.
These talks are intended to establish a few things. First of all, that we're not their enemy; in fact, we're here to help. Second of all, that we're not their masters; their destiny is their own, although we'd love to have them come aboard. Third, if there's any leadership figures in the non-aggression movement who can speak for the group with the consent of the group, we want to talk to them.
To facilitate this, we'll be providing aid. This aid includes any logistical support and medical assistance (see Research Orders) the rebels need to stay alive, as well as an offer of homes in our territory. A place to stay, even if we can't fit them all inside dedicated housing just yet. Naturally, getting the former is not contingent on accepting the latter. A third, similarly independent offer is the provision of what cultural, educational, and wellness aid we can provide, drawing on experience with the Zentradi to know what they might need and want. For those who take all three offers, once cultural and educational triage is complete they would be provided full citizenship.
We don't expect them to fight with or for us, nor will we ask them to, but based on precedent we do expect that many may volunteer regardless, or at least choose to fight for their own selves. For these members of the Horde, we will provide assistance in the form of instructors and advisors with the aim of instilling in them the barest minimum of tactical knowledge and self-preservation instincts, trying to keep them away from the battlefield until they've achieved such. Combined with a suggestion to maintain their vehicles and ensure they actually work as they should, this should exponentially increase their combat effectiveness.
Finally, while we can't easily make them stop using Xarinite and tumorous flash clones if they don't want to, if they're willing to listen we'll advise they change their approach, weaning themselves off the material and slowing the rate of production of new people. We're the last people to complain about the usage of mass cloning, and we understand why they may want children of their own kind one day, but standards should be kept. Ideally, the clone-type currently known as "nobles" should probably become the new baseline. Naturally, this provision will only become relevant if the rebels possess or capture industrial and cloning facilities (somewhat one and the same with the Horde), and otherwise it can be left aside for the time being.
Talking to the Neighbors:
Target: Ion Legion
Nature: Friendly
Resources: 8 RP.
A local force which is focused on securing its area from threats. Needless to say, we're up against a fairly significant threat, and would like to be secured from it. Send a diplomatic mission to formally introduce ourselves as a local player to the Legion's commanders, making it clear we respect their mission of ensuring galactic security and stability, and humbly petition them for aid in defending our territories from the Platinum Horde's loyalists. Explain that while we have made a significant breakthrough in subverting and splintering the foe, who are thus now not omnihostile, we're still up against a large, powerful force, and if they suppress the rebellion and break through our lines will only grow exponentially as a problem. The Legion's assistance in securing the front could eliminate that possibility, and at the very least is liable to save millions if not billions of innocent lives from the Horde's onslaught.
While the Platinum Horde is quite thoroughly disrupted at this point, large parts of it remain hostile to us, and these must be dealt with one way or another. Commence stealth operations throughout Horde-occupied territory with two missions. The first is spreading further chaos by continuing to subvert the Platinum Horde, but in addition to Culture Attacks use evidence of the rebel Horde's existence (carefully scrubbed of locational data; we're not trying to make them any more targeted than they no doubt are already) to show that there is another way. If any rebel Hordelings are willing to record digital messages beseeching their comrades, that's even better.
The second mission is locating Horde industrial centers both at the front and in the depth for additional targeted strikes by out military forces. If the possibility for outright stealth sabotage is possible, take it, but the nature of Horde production may make that difficult, in which case it would be best to leave it for the spacy proper.
Mercenaries: 10x Ykantras Synthetic Tumen (1 per War Fleet), 4x Xyvus Solutions Cybernetic Enforcers (1 each for 1st through 4th War Fleets), 1x Temtum's Tripods (3rd War Fleet), 17x RP, 7x RP per turn.
While a small combined-arms force could plausibly be recruited with available funds, an effort to shore up the area of weakness that is the NUN's ground army, and its infantry in particular, was deemed more prudent. While a ground army may be of generally questionable utility in modern warfare, the Platinum Horde certainly provide an exception to that rule, requiring large and relatively static forces to effectively engage in battle against them. Fortunately, the forces on offer seem suited to just that.
Operation Tannhäuser:
Target: Platinum Horde (Offensive)
Assets: 1st-2nd and 5-6th War Fleets; corresponding Constellations; relevant Mercenaries.
After our success in the previous year, cycle in fresh forces to continue the operation. Our aims are to keep the focus and direction of the Platinum Horde's reinforcements here rather than on our territory, to protect the rebel Platinum Horde forces from any attempt by their loyalist cousins to militarily put them down, continue to eliminate loyalist industrial capabilities and stem their tide of numbers, and to further spread the rebellion with additional Culture Attacks, updated to incorporate the new state of play as per Sowing Discord's Seeds.
As per last year, any Culture Attacks being launched will by necessity involve hit-and-run missions where the aim is to avoid destroying Platinum Horde units; however, fully engaging Horde forces is authorized if it involves protecting neutral or allied rebel Horde units from destruction. Additionally, if it looks feasible, we will begin attempting to take territory from the Horde outright, more thoroughly cutting off their forces at the front and permanently securing space from their attempts to industrialize it, pushing them back. Our mercenaries will likely prove critical in enabling us to do this, providing us an infantry corps to engage the uniquely challenging enemy that is the Platinum Horde's freshly produced mass. If possible, aim for capturing and subversion rather than simple destruction, but at a certain point loyalist diehards will be loyalist diehards, as we well know. When given a choice, some people will choose poorly.
Additionally, the fleets here will likely have to be the source of much of the assistance we provide to to the Horde rebels, especially if we need to lend instructors to rebel combat forces. In particular, the Motherships present can be used as hubs for the distribution of aid, with their ability to dock thousands upon thousands of large spaceships for the delivery of supplies. As an added bonus, some fraction of the rebel Hordelings may be able to be given some nature therapy through the 250 square kilometer parks present as standard in each Mothership. Furthermore, any which take up our offer for a home in NUN space may need to have escorts detached from the fleets in order to safely escort them in, providing both guidance and protection from any hostile forces or misunderstandings.
End The Endless Grind
Target: Platinum Horde (Defensive)
Assets: 3rd, 4th, and 7th-10th War Fleets; 3rd, 4th, 7th, and 8th Constellations; relevant Mercenaries.
All remaining forces are to instead focus on holding the line and performing more local counterattacks, with the aim of eliminating the Horde's local production. In particular, the more damaged 9th and 10th War Fleets are to serve as a mobile reserve, shoring up weakpoints in our defenses and focus on providing fire support on the tactical level. Meanwhile, the more or less intact 3rd and 4th fleets are to provide the forces spearheading the counteroffensives, diving into enemy lines in order to destroy their sources of local production and thus eliminate their chances of victory, while the 7th and 8th Fleets are to more or less act normally, holding the line as best they can.
Use lessons learned from the previous turn of engagements, making heavy usage of Macross Cannons both in space and on planets, relying on starships in atmosphere for deep strikes and as mobile superheavy assets. However, this time we also have Ykantras combat robots, and in large numbers. Based on their known issues, use them to stiffen and support local militia and NUN EX-Gear infantry forces rather than as completely independent combat forces. Hopefully, this will significantly improve our ability to hold the line on the ground.
As for the the Xyvus Solutions mercenaries, they're simply to go where they're needed, but if the opportunity for commando raids on any Horde industrial facilities presents itself they'd be ideal for taking part as our best available infantry, operating as heavy hitters in support of our own special forces. Temtum's Tripods will provide general assistance in breakthrough operations and large-scale mechanized warfare.
If the Ion Legion provides assistance, integrate them into the battle plan as best we can. Most likely, they'll be most suited for front-line duty with the seemingly standard-issue for locals large ground armies and Clash-focused warships, but try not to make them feel like we're using them as meatshields.
As per Sowing Discord's Seeds, we'll continue broadcasting at them and accept any surrenders, but without the ability to effectively not engage the Platinum Horde here, this is sadly expected to have minimal strategic effect. We have to try, though. Also as per SDS, the intelligence gathered there should help improve our ability to target the bombardment, air raids, and commando operations necessary to destroy Horde production.
5 Slots (30 RP.)
-Ultimate Fighter Project (Heroes Revolutionary Breakthrough): A final surge of effort will finish the UF Project within the local year, and ideally begin distribution of the completed VF-32 Galatine to front-line units. Faster, better armored, better armed, and with greater fold wave amplification capabilities than anything that came before it, the first mass-production sixth-generation Variable Fighter will make the NUNS' ace pilots a force to be reckoned with. Skull Squadron has been rotated off the front lines in order to provide elite test pilots and expert opinions on how to best refine the craft during this final stage of development. (Skull Squadron + 4 Slots, 6 Slots already invested.)
-Platinum Horde Population Integration: Large parts of the Platinum Horde laying down their arms is an incredibly strategic victory, but it's also the prelude to the largest humanitarian crisis in the NUN's history. The overwhelming majority of their number are not meant to live longer than a few weeks; most are expected to live for significantly less time than that. It's unclear how the incredibly genetically damaged Hordelings will interact with civilian society, not just culturally but biologically. A research project is thus to be launched with the aim of identifying and solving any such problems, creating medicine and cybernetic parts suitable for ensuring Hordelings can reliably continue to live. (1 Slot.)
1x Ex-Marchokai Space to Industrialized + Moderately Defended, 1x E-M Space to Moderately Defended (20 + 2*3 = 26 RP.) A promise was made to Marchokai and so a promise shall be kept. Only by the minimal amount allowed by treaty, of course, but that seems reasonable enough under the present circumstances. What is less promise and more necessity is the reestablishment of defenses in these territories. While setting up heavy fortresses would be expensive and time-consuming, the mass deployment of light defense satellites and similar prefabricated groundside fortifications remains an option to stiffen the line and provide additional security for rear areas of this territory.
Gateway to Moderately Defended (3 RP.) The territory housing the inactive Gateway is similarly in need of renewed fortification efforts.
Ex-Warlord Space to Colonized + Moderately Defended (2*(2 + 3) = 10 RP.) We conquered the territory of the Warlords with a promise to them that those who surrendered would be spared, and a promise to their people that their standard of living would improve. While the ongoing existential war prevents us from doing the most we possibly could here, that's not an excuse to do nothing at all. With the work done previously on integrating the Imperial State's alien population and technology base, we can easily improve the standard of living here by upgrading their civil infrastructure, as well as providing light fortifications to secure them against any raids. The fact this will improve the economic output of these regions significantly is a bonus, of course.
10x RP to Fleethorde Repairs (total of 50% loss mitigation/healing for a Magnitude 2 Fleet). The production of new ships and recruitment of new soldiers as well as repairs for old ones to make good the inevitable losses we'll face in this conflict is a priority, and all remaining resources after other necessary expenditures are to be spent on such. While only enough to cover a fraction of our existing losses, let alone additional ones, every extra effective combatant in the field will no doubt be appreciated in the future.
Users of the Force can, as it happens, see the future. The Imperial Knights used this to see scant seconds ahead, allowing them to block and evade the blows of their enemies with supernatural efficiency. However, it is also possible, albeit harder, for a Force user to see further into the future, although these visions become more vague and metaphorical the further out one looks.
So it is that the Reaper Knights report to Harbinger that a many-headed hydra is cresting the horizon, threatening to drown reality itself in a tidal wave of green. An all-devouring beast of infinite cruelty, this hydra will arrive in the near future, and it is by no small way the largest threat the Reapers have faced so far.
The culprit is easily identified via talk on the Hypernet as Kultzer Slaughterking, a Kroatangan mythical god-king of sorts who is returning from whatever isolation once caged him. His very presence emboldens the Kroats, and while he is not coming to this galaxy his empowering effect seems to reach as far as the Warhell of Abradax Smashmaster the Ruin-Maker, who thankfully appears to still be distracted with some eastern or northern conflict, well away from the Reapers.
But the Knights warn this is not a state of affairs that will last long. Their visions of the future are quite clear on that: In one local year from now, Abradax will attack the Reapers in full force, possibly in an attempt to have the campaign against his largest regional opponent coincide with the return of Kultzer, and even his two of the hydra's heads command a truly powerful military force, especially when bolstered by whatever preparations he will spend this year making.
To successfully oppose the organic's rampage, the Reapers will need to seize every advantage, explore every possibility, use every ounce of military force available to them, and act with all the skill countless Cycles of experience have given them. Underestimating this threat could very well be lethal.
This is perhaps best exemplified by the fact that a mere pulse of Kroatangan activity was dangerous. The force that engaged the Reapers' newly arrived fleet last year ended up attempting to launch a raid on their own initiative, seeking to finish what they started. While they don't actually find the fleets, by now on the Tau'ri front, they do proceed directly south to hit Reaper territory. The decision to fortify this region proved wise, as the battle stations and Husk swarms present entered pitched battle against a not insignificant Kroatangan force.
What makes this especially inconvenient is the prior attempts by the Kroats to establish forward colonies of their species on Reaper worlds, leading to war within as well as without as soon as the fighting begins, for all that the newly grown planetary Kroats are armed more with enthusiasm than actual weapons.
In the end, the Kroats manage to set the various fortresses across the territory alight, sundering them into shattered fragments and scattering their occupants to the winds. However, the already damaged force suffers greatly from its attempts to break Reaper territory with brute force, and decides to withdraw rather than push through at any cost, promising their return later and in far greater numbers. They failed to significantly damage local infrastructure, but the defences that broke their charge were heavily degraded in the attack, and would not survive a second strike of similar intensity, let alone greater, without heavy reinforcement.
Worst of all is the fact that the Reapers cannot immediately commit to dealing with the Ruin-Makers, as they're still engaged with the Tau'ri forces to the north. And even if they wanted to withdraw in order to focus on the main threat, they couldn't.
In a desperate attempt to salvage their very poor strategic situation, the Tau'ri have launched an encirclement manoeuvre, surrounding the Reaper spearhead into their territory on all sides before diving in. As well as forcing the Reapers to fight on all fronts at once, difficult at the best of times, it's also their attempt to ensure there's no easy route of retreat and that access to repair and supply lines are cut off. While an initial wave of reinforcements, repairs, and refits made it through to the front lines before the encirclement was in place, that's all that will be available.
Needless to say, a defeat here would be total or near enough, and potentially leave the Reapers too weak to effectively engage the Kroatangans next year. However, there is a bright side: The Tau'ri have committed effectively their entire navy to the fight, leaving little or nothing in reserve, which means that if the force presently engaged becomes combat ineffective they will have nothing left to prevent the Reapers from taking full control over their territory.
The decisive hour is almost at hand. Break the Tau'ri, break the encirclement, and there will be a chance of victory. Failure is not an option. So says Harbinger.
Turn 4 Start
-Fleethordes heal 20%. All fleethordes assigned to fight the Tau'ri last turn at 30% damage. Fleethordes facing the Scourge last turn at 20% damage.
-Kroats attack the Reaper's Centre TP, but are forced back by defences. Central Square defences downgraded to Moderately Defended from damage. But this is only a prelude of things to come…
-Initiate tactical turn: Flanking Fever. The Tau'ri have launched a pincer attack using their advanced FTL drives in an attempt to cut off the Reaper forces attacking their territory. If they succeed, then the Reapers' could lose most or even all of the committed forces. However, there is a silver lining as analysis of Tau'ri force movements suggests that they are committing their entire reserve to this operation. If the Reapers can defeat, or at least savage, the flanking force than the Tau'ri will likely crumble, as without their space fleet they cannot meaningfully resist the Reapers' advance. All Reaper forces available for this fight.
-Sensor data and indoctrinated captives have given the Reaper's a great deal of information on the specifications of the main Tau'ri warship, the BC-304 Daedalus class Battlecruiser. While mostly a competent but unexceptional example of a species's first FTL warship it has select highly advanced components scavenged, stolen and gifted to the Tau'ri by older species. Similar to the ever frustrating Protheans of the Reaper's native universe.
Sadly those advanced technologies are a match for or even exceed reaper science. The 304's energy shields and plasma beam weapons are far more powerful than anything of that size the Reapers have ever seen before, easily able to destroy even reaper capitals with only a few volleys, while their FTL drive is faster than Reapers' by an order of magnitude or more. Most terrifying frustrating is their teleporters. Able to teleport anything within their size limit across interplanetary (but intrasystem) distances instantaneously they are an unmatched boarding/anti-boarding weapon and able to beam armed explosives within reaper hulls. Thankfully reaper jamming and passive stealth prevents them from achieving such a target lock until they have already crippled a reaper due to their comparatively primitive sensors so it is not the war winning weapon it could be. However, if the 304s were not being kept occupied in space these transporters would be able to single handedly even the ground battle if allowed to support their ground forces.
Even their less powerful technologies like their STL propulsion and point defence weapons are able to match or at least prove competitive with Reaper equivalents. However detailed analysis has discovered at least one area they still fall far short of the reapers in, manoeuvring thrusters and inertial compensators. While still more agile than a reaper capital by simple consequence of size the 304 is positively sluggish compared to the reapers' usual harvest targets of equivalent mass.
-Strategic Turn will occur after the fight here is resolved.
"This is pointless. You fight for nothing. Arrogance blinds you to your true potential. This will hurt you. But once the harvest is complete, you will thank us."
These and other truths were broadcast to the Tau'ri ceaselessly to dissolve the delusions they clung to. Delusions such as the delusion of victory, that they had any other future but becoming part of the Reaper collective. If they only listened to the revelations the unenlightened called indoctrination, they would accept the truth and find peace.
It was doubtful that they would listen. This branch of humanity had tasted of the poisoned chalice of victory before. That explained their arrogance. Victories over the Goa'uld, Replicators, Wraith, Ori, had bolstered their confidence in their ability to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.
This time they would not escape defeat. They would be consumed. They had put everything in position for their undoing to be swift and painful. Perhaps the truth would sway some of them. Perhaps the revelation could free a few from their delusion and allow them to usher in the ascension of humanity without this pain.
It was highly unlikely, but even the most ungrateful species would be saved, for that was their righteous cause.
Mag 3 Fleet will be taking point, both Mag 1 Fleets supporting.
Jump drives to have preset coordinates entered for tactical relocation and emergency fallbacks.
Destroyers to prepare the static overload tactic utilised against Kroats.
Occuli to contest Tau'ri strikecraft
Battle Phase
Capitals and Bosses activate Interdiction fields and begin bombardment of Tau'ri ships, Destroyers are excluded from projecting gravity wells to maintain full manoeuvrability. Use STL manoeuvres to draw out the bombardment phase as long as possible. Prioritise downing shields and disabling weapons over total ship destruction. The aim is to strip the shields of as many ships as possible rather than destroying a smaller number of them outright.
Destroyers are to launch boarding operations. Boarded ships will not only be turned against their former allies, but through the use of teleportation will send Husks across to the ships which had been stripped of their shields by bombardment. Tau'ri nukes can be beamed to ships if this would result in quicker destruction of enemy forces, but overall boarded ships faciliating more boarding via teleportation is the goal.
If/when Tau'ri ships begin to enter Clash with Capitals/Bosses, deactivate Interdiction fields, jump to surround the human ships at bombarding range, reactivate gravity well projectors and resume firing. This time ship destruction is prioritised over merely leaving them vulnerable. The human ships already under Reaper control will have made their impact.
The Emperor and indoctrinated Force users are on standby for deployment against the lead Tau'ri vessel once it is identified. For this decapitation strike eliminating the ship or capturing it are considered successes.
'Only in silence might one hear the true voice of the Emperor, for He speaks to us not with words, but with stillness. For silence is the absence of rage. It is the eye of the storm, the moment of hesitation before a fall. It is the dreams of mankind made manifest and pure. Yes, silence is a soundless scream of victory in a universe that drowns in the bitter cries of the dying. Silence is the sound of a soul railing against the injustice of life itself. When the final tally is counted, silence is all we have left to give.'
– The final testament of Hieronymus Treach
To mourn for the dead is to carry the memory of all those we have lost. It is our moral obligation, a necessity of being human. To mourn for the living… well, that is a heavier burden still, for it serves to remind us of our own mistakes.'
– Warris Hildenkhar, extracted from the treatise
On the Cost of Humanity
Ten
Reunion
He walked , through the long halls of the Inquisitorial Fortress. Outside its windows, the thick green tree canopy cannot fully veiled the sight of the gas giant this forlorn moon orbits. Black and Burgundy armored Inquisitorial Tempestus Scions saluted as he passed, hellguns firm in arms and cablings. Heavy footsteps echoes amidst the cold ouslite walls and velvet carpet
"Mersanger Vornelles, Servant."
They stand in front of the door. Black-stained adamantium inlaid with gold. Elaborate recreation of the Martyrdom of Inquisitor-Saint Ligarius. He always found the depiction of the Drukharii torturer's expression as it flays the Saint's torso rather too gleeful for a devotional piece. Atleast one cannot claim it does not abides to realism.
" Plus one guest. Inquisitor Gerreon Axelmannn."
The whirr of engines quietly hums soon as the servant finish the confirmation. The Inquisitor looks up. Nestled between the many gargoyles lining the walls of the corridor , a pair of servitor torsos stared down at them with glassy, disinterested expressions as they disengage their arm-grafted heavy bolters that were just aimed below. He doesn't want to know what happens should Vornelles misdeclares his entry
The doors opens.
----------
Ornate servitors already brought out the appetizers as he sits down. Shellfish from the Cadian Caducades poivrade with Bloodwater sea-herbs.
"It's been a long time ."
"It is"
She dressed in elegant green , adorned simply with a small brass clasp in the form of two interlocking snakes. Dark hair, pinned up in an elaborate curls, accentuated her exceedingly pale skin. One of her eyes had been replaced with a bionic implant, which whirred as it focused. He habitually look for hidden weapons, and immediately notice about a dozens of them, not counting the rather obvious digital-laser rings on her slender fingers. All dark green to match the dress. He knows there'd be a dozens more.
He inadvertey feels his own dozens. The bolter cane lays rest over his leg
"How is the matters on Gehenna Primus ?"
"That Vorkyli cell infiltrating the capital has been put to the sword. They get craftier by the day. How's it been at the Conclave ?"
"It seems to be agreed that Mersheimer will command the operations in the East"
"A good man if lean too much towards the radical for my liking."
The sommelier servitor pours him a drink, some Hydraphur tokay. They took a sip.
She sighed.
"It is getting tense out there. New threats keep cropping up. Vorkyli spy rings are harder to keep track of after the fall of their capital. Worm cults now present in half the settle planets. In Hegrezia..."
"You mean the Lord-Procurator was..."
"Indeed, it's the Worms . They have been getting bolder to assasination of major figures. The Administratum demands blood. "
"Tell them to get in line"
They chuckled. By now, the servitors brought out a subsequent course. Seared grox tongues, on a bed of Trynian four-tusk's liver paté sauce. Paired with Menchegol ploin brandy.
He continues.
"Not as if the usual abominations are idle. Have you notice this symbol ?"
He passed a dataslate. The woman spares a glance.
"Is that..."
"The runes of the Darktide Admonitions, yes"
"But the Crusade start on the opposite side of the segmentum from the Moebian Domains, and that cult's reach has never gone past several sub-sectors"
"Indeed. It's either means their spread back in the Imperium was further than we thought or..."
"We are not the only one fromm home. But that's not the only matters. Geresk"
"Geresk. Symbols does not correspond to any of the vile four. Could this mean those..."
"All possibilities has to be account for. That's our professions. Even if that possibility revealed from panic ramblings of Xeno. But consider this, Xeno refugees ran towards our space. That..
"Has to account for something unusual indeed."
Next is the Roulade. Ventrue birds with local forest mushroom. Amasec aged...
"Shrineworld bird with frontier mushroom. Thorian vintage in Vandire furniture dining lounge. Something never changes is it."
"Something never changes".
She hums at the slight bitter aftertaste of the bird.
"Twenty years."
"Short while for our kind"
"But we still aged the same...Merovec said it at Sebaxtus IX, right ?"
"Yes. Burning of the Graevian High Council....Ah we were still interrogators then, hot-blooded and try to prove ourselves."
"I heard you got a new retinue. How are they ?"
"I like this bunch. Talented , dutiful, but got that..spark that we seek in Acolytes."
"Interrogator material ?"
"Not yet."
"Back then I envy you. You were like a son to him then"
"I assures you he is as merciless to me"
They mulls over. Sips their amasec and bask in memories of things long gone. They remains in silence for a while
"We never see eachother much after our ascension"
"We never see eachother much after Merovec's funeral."
"And now we here. It's been a long time."
"It's been a long time indeed."
They finished the dessert, ribaude nappé. Sweet, sticky. poignant. Mordian Schnapps for Digestiff.
"Do you want to scry again, for old time's sake"
"For old time's sake it is"
SHe handed out a tarot, lorelei wafers shimmering. SHe closes her eyes, a short meditation. Entrust in His glory to guide her path from the filth of the Immaterium.
5 spread. Inquisitor of Mandatio, Great Hoste , Aquilla Inverse, Lightning Tower, Shattered World. Death and Strife, unending, the fae of an Inquisitor.
And the 6th card. Silver Key. New Possibility. But to what .
Strategic Turn 4
Total: 25 RP
Industrial Orders
40 RP using the labor deal
Improved NorthWest N-3 to Established
Improve Imperial Space East and SOuthEast to Established
Improve VIrgin Space West to Established
Intelligence Orders:
Fire extinguishing (8RP) Mass deployed Inquisitors and assets in a major sweeps prioritizing Vorkyli cells, Worm pawns and Chaos cults. Utilizing the Distaff as a Trial by Fire. Also utilizing Sisters of Silence from the ( preparing ) Endurance
Root and Stems ( 2RP ): Have the Ordo Dialogus, Vanus Infocytes in support of Imperial Savants and Adeptus Mechanicus go through whatever data can be recovered in the recently fallen Vorkyli Capital in order to find any information regarding spy rings that have been sent to Imperial territories. Focus on the government archives, the headquarters of the military and in telligence services.
Exploration (1RP ) : Send Recoinnaisance to virgin space areas in M-2 and M-3
Surf the web (0RP): Assign someone from the Conclave headquarter to find any beneficial contact aand information on the Hypernet
Diplomatic Orders:
Herbicide-Compact (4RP): Contact the Anti-Octarine Popular Front through proxies of the more radical Inquisitors ( Delegation of Lord Inquisitor Mersheimer, a Xenarite ) and Rogue Traders, offering them support for linking up with anti Vorkyli rebels to the N3 North, including using Imperial ships to transport weapons and personnels.
Propaganda(0RP): Start a propaganda campaign specifically targetted at the workers and rebels of Vorkyli Mining territories up North N3 to further incite rebellions
Soft Power(4RP): Introduce Cosmo Babylonia nobility and Princess Sage Robotnik to Imperial high society, hopefully builds up some connections in relations beyond mercenary conduct , also give the opportunity to mobilised nobility to raise household force in support of Imperial military for the Cosmo Babylonia liberation expedition next turn.
Research Order:
Distaff Reborn ( 1 Slot , 1 RP ): Inquisitor Gregor Eisenhorn, a rather controversial figure used to operate an initiative called the DIstaff, a military organisations /training facilities of Psychic-nulls trained in decent quality in support of his operations against Warp foes. The organisation were wiped out by the Cognitae in early M41, but there's no reason to not revive it. Purpose is to set up a 'personnnel pool' of Tempestus Scions level Elite infantry specialised in anti-psychic, internal security and special operations made of Blanks that are not met the requirements for Sister of SIlence or Culexus standard, which doubles as training schools for Blanks recruited into various Inquisitor retinue .
Mercenary Orders:
Hires the Sage Fleet (5RP )
Hires the Labor Battalions (40RP both in exchange for territories. N3 South for Bowser - a convenient speedbump/buffer zone to prevent Octarine expansion, O3-SouthWesr for Sage Robotnik - A potential friendly neighbor )
Hires the Cosmo Babylonia ( Agreed to commit to the liberation of their territory next turn, cost waived )
Maintain hiring Lin Kuei and Black Dragon paid with 1 Vorkyli population
Hires the Duke of Valentinois with 2 population of Vorkyli
Military Orders:
Fulfill the deal: Send 2 Mag 2 Fleethordes (intact) and the Sage Fleet to invade the Tutes Federation striking N3 SouthWest, acting as the second pincer as invited by Outworld to finish them once and for all, using the excuse of their declaration of war last turn. As we attack, implanted assets earlier would inflame paranoia and nationalism to a fever pitch, try to initiates mutual purges, suicidal charges and accusations of treachery, paralyzing their military in the face of annihilation. Also attached would be Task Force Erinyes, that dreaded bombardment ship formation that fires the opening shot at the Conquest of the VUR and the 134th Siege Army
Privateering: Sent the Lin Kuei and Black Dragon fleet to start raiding Octarine shipping heading towards the Mining territories in N3 North. The specific use of Outworld forces specifically to masked the true identity of hostile actions, but nonetheless aimed to exert pressures on Octarine control up North. Prioritise taking out Octarine transport of reinforcement mercenaries to suppress local insurgencies.
Opening gambit: Send the Duke of Valentinois 2 Magnitude 4 Fleet to invade and wreck as much havoc as possible on the Lesser Regnum.
Send one Mag 3 Fleethorde and 1 Mag 2 Fleethorde (damage intact ) , and Cosmo Babylonia to the N3 NorthWest to combat alien slave raiders.
Send one Mag 3 Fleethorde (15% damage ) and 2 Mag 2 Fleethorde (15% and undamaged ) to secure Ravaged Space NorthEast M3, while also expand the front against Xeno slave raiders
Send one Mag 3 Fleethorde ( 15% damage ) to secure O3-West Virgin Space
[ Navis Imperialis report - Status of Crusade Fleet complement:
10 fleethordes total. 7 Mag 2 and 3 Mag 3. Let assign them from A to J
Of the 7 Mag 2, Two Mag 2 got 15% damage ( Assign Fleet C and D )
One Mag 2 got 25% Damage (Fleet E )
Of the Three Mag 3 Fleet, 2 of them got 15% damage ( I and J )
Special "Hero" formations includes the Endurance , the Gloriana of the Death Guards and Task Force Erinyes, consisting of a bombardment galleon and a support force of primarily Tyrant Cruisers and Viper Missile Destroyers,
Battle Order - fleetwise: Fleethorde A and B ( Mag 2, intact ) plus Sage Fleet merc invades the Teutes Federation. Attached includes Task Force Erinyes
Fleethorde H ( Mag 3, Intact ) and F ( Mag 2 , Intact ) with Cosmo Babylonia to combat the alien raiders in N3 North West
Fleethorde I ( Mag 3, 15% damage ) , Fleethorde C ( Mag 2, 15% damage ) ,Fleethorde G ( Mag 2, Intact ) secure M3 NorthEast ravage space
Fleethorde J ( Mag 3, 15%damage ) to O3 West, Virgin Space .
A bargain struck, and a bargain upheld. In exchange for breaking their perpetual stalemate via grants of new land, the Koopa Kingdom and Eggman Empire effectively set aside their differences to work for the benefit of mankind.
They prove as good as their word. Cities, factories, and fortresses spring up practically overnight, assembled with either sorcerous assistance or sheer mechanical muscle. Distinct styles emerge on the worlds touched by inhuman hands despite both nominally sticking to Imperial architecture. Koopa structures being more ostentatious, concerned with style and presentation, while Robotnik creations are instead brutally practical and optimised, although they still possess appropriate amounts of statuary and Imperial iconography. As a result, the former are preferred for worlds primarily servicing the Ecclesiarchy or nobility, while the latter see use in the construction of new Forge and Hive Worlds.
While they're kept separate from both each other and the population they have constructed dwellings for in order to keep incidents to a minimum, they're often as close as neighbouring planets of different purposes in the same star system, a regimented schedule ensuring a minimum of difficulties.
While the sacrifice of Imperial territory to xenos and glorified hereteks prompt the expected amount of grumbling, none can deny their efficacy, and the fact that neither of the sacrificed territories had Imperial blood spilled to claim them helps ensure that this is only a minor issue. At the end of the year, Imperial economic output stands approximately trebled according to the best guess of the Administratum, a marked achievement that will help mankind stand strong going forward.
-Labour Battalions work as expected and to code. Colonisation fleets from the warring factions are already moving into their new homes, guided by Imperial escorts and navigational data.
Recreating the Distaff is easy enough, as it's simply a matter of acquiring lower-level Blanks that would otherwise be passed over as unsuitable for Assassinorum or Sisterhood work and left to languish. While methods for detecting Blanks are not quite as simple as those for detecting Psykers, they do exist, and while they're rare they're not impossibly so. Although they are by no means a large military force, there turns out to be more than enough to support Inquisitorial work.
What follows is both a trial by fire and a tour de force as the various cults and spy rings that infest Imperial territory are rolled up, the Distaff proving vital in putting down witches and other hostile Psykers, such as those the Vorkyli spies had access to.
Said Vorkyli become increasingly desperate throughout the year as their attempted sabotage of Imperial operations, which had so conclusively failed to save their state, fails to bear fruit again and again. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the despair this causes leads them straight into the arms of the Dark Gods, with their remnants joining with the cults of Nurgle emerging across the Imperium.
However, even with their forces combined, the enemies of mankind stand no chance against the Imperium. The Distaff are able to reliably penetrate even corrupted areas in order to deliver the Emperor's justice, and one by one these cults are hunted down and exterminated. No quarter is given, and none is expected.
One event of note occurs at the end of the Inquisition's campaign, however. One of the largest cults of the Plague God is identified as attempting to summon a small army of Daemons on a Hive World in an attempt to launch an uprising, and when Imperial forces move to crush it they discover the cult is being led by none other than an Astartes Chaos Sorcerer.
Fortunately, while he has the strength of a Space Marine, his psychic powers are ineffective against the Distaff strike team sent to eliminate him, and he is forced to flee through the Warp. While he stands before his hastily opened portal, however, he gurgles some worrisome parting words.
"This is only a temporary reprieve," came the disturbingly joyful sound. "Mortarion will ensure that all his wayward children arrive in his care. You can only delay the inevitable for so long, worshippers of the Corpse-Emperor."
An alternative universe where Mortarion and the Death Guard were traitors. While the servant of Chaos could always be lying, psychic prognostications by Librarians suggest that there's at least an element of truth to his words. Although this has no bearing on the loyalty of Mortarian's sons in Battlegroup Harrsk, it both suggests a potential future threat and could be destabilising if it becomes known. As a result, the Distaff strike team in question is sworn to secrecy, being deemed slightly too valuable to simply liquidate in order to contain the information.
Similarly, the defeat of the Wyrm Cults goes well, with the Inquisitors assigned to it reporting success across the board in purging them from Imperial territory. While there's no single climactic battle as against the Nurgle cults, and attrition amongst the Distaff strike teams deployed here is not insignificant, this general suppression of influence should mean that the Imperium is clear from internal threats, at least for the time being.
-Fires extinguished, cells and cults mostly eliminated. Imperial internal unrest and infiltration reduced back down to standard levels. It is now known that the eye of an alternate traitor version of the Primarch Mortarion has been drawn to Harrsk's territory.
Data recovery efforts in former VUR territory provided some assistance in identifying and hunting down their former spies, but by and large the relevant data was destroyed by the invasion or as acts of spite from the Vorkyli. That isn't to say it was a completely wasted endeavour, however; combined with colonisation efforts in the region, it gave important information about the local powers to the Imperium's east.
-Map data gained on Square O-3, to be revealed at the next Strategic Turn opening.
While Inquisitor Mersheimer is a controversial figure, his credentials were never in doubt, and he proves able to take the Anti-Octarine Popular Front by storm, enough so that he almost accidentally reveals several internal fractures in the movement as they disagree all but publicly on how to respond to his offer of cooperation.
Despite this, they prove able to reunite once given a moment to breathe, and respond positively despite initial suspicions of the Imperium's motives and trustworthiness thanks to Mersheimer successfully impressing upon them that they and the Imperium share a common foe, one either group would be hard pressed to defeat alone. The fact that he effectively showed weakness to xenos by implying the Imperium needs aid to defeat Octarine is yet another point of radicalism, but it remains an effective radicalism, seeing as the AOPF are now fully onboard with the idea of lending aid to the rebellion simmering to mankind's north in order to strike another blow at their hated foe.
Which is fortuitous, seeing as said rebellion isn't getting anywhere on its own. Imperial propaganda efforts prove entirely ineffective at rousing the xenos there to action, a mix of cunning counterpropagnda suggesting that the Imperium would sooner enslave or destroy the rebel forces than liberate them (perhaps the first truthful thing the corporation's public relations department has said in years) combined with conventional counterinsurgency operations preventing any serious uprisings from occurring. At least no significant resources were wasted in the attempt.
Hopefully, the Popular Front will prove more successful, thus removing that particular dagger from the Imperium's back, at least until the time comes to deal with mankind's allies of convenience.
-AOPF agrees to the Imperium's offer of helping to liberate the Mining Interests; propaganda efforts have no results.
As all this occurs beyond Imperial borders and in the depths of underhives, a rather different story is playing out in the highest, grandest spires of the core territories of the Battlegroup, even as the work of the hired labour battalions continues on the periphery. In an effort to cement ties between themselves and other regional powers, the Imperium organises a series of events to host the nobility of Cosmo Babylonia and the Eggman Empire before sending said mercenaries off to war.
Being somewhat beyond the skillset of a son of Perturabo, Harrsk largely leaves this up to the appropriate mortals, having the most storied and successful noble families take charge of organising the festivities with assistance from members of the Orders Famulous. The results are primarily focused around being inoffensive to the Imperium's honoured guests, with suggestions such as underhive hunting expeditions ruthlessly shot down by the Sisters present (literally in one memorable case) in favour of feasting, formal dancing, music, and the like while Servitors are kept out of sight and mind.
Of course, the first and foremost goal of the events are to foster social connections, and so they are built with introductions and communication in mind. So it is that a great many conversations are held across the Terran standard weeks-long ball, familiarising Princesses Robotnik and Ronah with not only the Imperium but each other.
Things begin with a slight stumble, as the leader of Cosmo Babylonia continues to speak all but incessantly about her "Newtype" theory, while also confirming that Newtypes do in fact possess powers that are almost certainly witchcraft of some kind. However, upon sensing that she was not finding fertile ground for her arguments, she switched tracks to safer ground, making small talk and discussing technical matters.
Apparently, before her homeworld was conquered, Sherindon Ronah was the captain of her own spaceship, providing logistical support to her cousin, including in the form of Mobile Suit spare parts. This attracts attention from the delegations of Mechanicus Magi present as, while she either lacks knowledge of the specific details or is canny enough not to reveal them freely, Ronah proves able to provide a relevant overview of their impressive capabilities, along with those of some Newtype-use technologies when it becomes clear that she's found those somewhat more receptive to the topic.
But if she is a planetary moon to the starfield of Cosmo Babylonia's assembled nobility, Sage Robotnik is a system sun outright. Dressed in a primarily black and red version of her father's distinctive outfit as the closest thing she has to formalwear, she proves eloquent, erudite, and earnest in equal measure, able to charm everyone present in one way or another as she flits from social circle to social circle with no apparent difficulties.
Whether it's intellectually sparring with Tech-Priests across a dozen different fields of technology and engineering, debating the merits of empire over many a won game of Regicide with her fellow highborn, or endearing herselves to Cosmo Babylonia with her humility and belief in hope and justice. By the end of the festivities, almost nobody has so much as a single bad word to say about her.
Even the help is enamoured; she notably broke away from a conversation with a planetary governor and their entourage to prevent a servant who had tripped from spilling her tray of drinks, crossing fifty metres in a fraction of a second to do so while also demonstrating remarkable perception, a clear sign of her potent augmentations.
While her praises are sung by many, she ends up closest to Cosmo Babylonia, forging several close connections with the assembled nobility and pilots of the faction. These connections go both ways, as at the end of the events she declares that she will lend her personal forces to their cause, free of any charge. Needless to say, the group looks all but ready to prostrate themselves and declare her their new queen at the announcement.
This force represents a full half of what is needed to fulfil the Imperium's dues, and as they're more concerned about ends than means Cosmo Babylonia is willing to subtract said half from what they consider owed to them. Of course, it helped that the Imperium was the primary reason they even encountered Sage in the first place.
Furthermore, while the nobility end up failing to come through in significant numbers, put off by Princess Ronah's rhetoric and the potential cost in blood and treasure of such a campaign, the Mechanicus are sufficiently intrigued to muster the Basilikon Astra and what Skitrarii Legions and Knight Houses are not already sworn to the service of the Battlegroup proper. While not the full equal of Sage's commitment, the forces on offer are significant, and only a relatively token additional commitment should be needed to cap things off.
The only problem that emerges is that Bowser Junior, who ended up overseeing his section of the labour battalions, sends in a steady series of complaints that there was a party and he wasn't invited. Sage also seems to resolve this, however, as a single message is intercepted as it's sent to her xenos opposite number. The contents seem to be an explanation that the party was primarily long hours of polite social conversation in restrictive clothing, a great deal of alcohol consumption, formal dancing, and listening to refined music.
The complaints cease after that.
-Diplomatic efforts a rousing success, with a total of a Magnitude 2 Eggman Empire and Magnitude 1 Adeptus Mechanicus force committed to the liberation of Cosmo Babylonia's homeland at no cost to the Imperial treasury. One additional Magnitude 1 force needs to be committed in order to meet Imperial obligations to CB.
Meanwhile, scouting efforts to the west report several discoveries, with opportunities and threats present in equal measure. The relevant reports have already been distributed to all relevant parties, with the most notable fact being a confirmation of what astrographic mapping already suggested: The Imperium is relatively near the edge of the galaxy, and said edge has now been discovered.
-M-2 and M-3 squares fully scouted, results to come in the next Strategic Turn opening.
With all affairs in order, it was time for the Imperium's forces to march into battle in the name of the Emperor. First was the matter of assisting their Outworld allies in destroying the Teutes Federation, ending the reign of the Vorkyli nation once and for all in order to bring about the era of mankind.
To their credit, the Federation is tenacious, its armies vast, well-equipped, and well trained. Octarine material support ensured that it was well suited to act as enforcer in the region despite its lack of territorial holdings. Served by an abundance of caution, its worlds were heavily defended, with enormous battlestations and vast fortresses a common sight. Despite Imperial intelligence assets riling up the population and military, the brutal assault bearing down upon them keeps the Teutes people united, albeit uneasily, with local commanders acting as they see fit when higher command proves unavailable or indecisive.
Unfortunately for them, it scarcely matters.
The tidal wave of Outworld forces from the north, equipped with their new warships, may well have been enough to conquer the Federation by themselves, albeit with time and losses. The addition of Imperial forces only ensures that their fall will be within the year, removing the final major puppet of Octarine Incorporated in the region.
Already preferring to use close-range assaults and boarding operations in fleet actions, Outworld's navy having vessels actually designed with these tactics in mind notably improves their effectiveness compared to the expeditionary forces that previously fought alongside the Imperium. The similarity of said tactics with Imperial Navy doctrine also ensures that the forces present can fight side by side with great effectiveness, with only some friction in that Outworld's preference for boarding exceeds even the Imperium's own, as the Navy often relies on its famous broadsides first and foremost even during the fiercest fighting.
Supporting this is Sage Robotnik's armada, which serves as an excellent counterpoint with its wide-ranging disposable automata-fighters and long-ranged heavy artillery. Kept well guarded by their allies, the mercenaries excel at cracking open planetary fortifications with minimal casualties, the Eclipse Blasters on their Death Egg macro-capitals proving to be particularly potent weapon systems.
Things proceed similarly once planetfall is made. Between the strength of the Imperial Guard as a vast mechanised hammer, exemplified by the 134th Siege Army, Outworld's enormously potent elites and champions, and the swiftness and skill of the Adeptus Astartes and Sage's battle automata, total infantry supremacy is achieved over the Teutes. While things are more even in the air and the realm of vehicles, they are still decidedly in favour of the alliance, if for no other reason than the fact Imperial armour crews and pilots are very familiar with fighting Vorkyli combat units at this point while the inverse isn't true.
This is not to say that the battle is painless. The Teutes are intent on making mankind pay for every inch of soil taken, and even manage a handful of small local reverses, as is the case in almost any war. Casualties mount, even as the Federation's worlds burn and the varied battle standards of the invasion force are raised high over shattered cities.
But it remains a fruitless defiance.
Soon enough, the outer worlds of the Federation have fallen and only the hardened inner core remains. By this point, the Federation's leadership has fled to Octarine territory with as much of their civilian population as they can take, which is very little thanks to active interdiction efforts. However, the forces that remain have adamantly refused to surrender, digging into their positions in the nation's hardiest fortifications, intent on causing as much damage as possible before they're finally defeated.
Too many worlds remain to simply levy Exterminatus, and more importantly Outworld is intent on konquest of said planets through mortal kombat, no matter what it may cost. As this is their campaign first and foremost, Imperial forces present are content to let them take the lead.
The honour of said lead in Outworld's own chain of command falls to Mileena, the royal Princess who had worked alongside the Imperium last year as a mercenary. As a result of said conflict, she has seemingly gained a much improved understanding of naval tactics, and the naval elements under her command were notably more effective, dealing more casualties and taking less, than those of her peers.
Based on discreetly acquired Outworld communications and inferring from what's apparent in joint command meetings, this has spurred something of a rivalry between Mileena and her two sisters, a good natured one with Kitana and a more bitter one with Skarlet.
The plan Mileena proposes is slightly more advanced than a full frontal assault, but it largely boils down to a full frontal assault with commando operations to undermine the enemy's defences from within as the attack begins. A perfectly serviceable plan that will see the Teutes brought to heel, but there's a possibility that more advanced siegebreaker tactics could see things brought to a close more swiftly and with fewer casualties.
It is with this in mind that Mileena privately approaches the commanding general of the 134th and requests their assistance and expertise in operational planning. Doubtless keen to learn yet more of the Imperium's way of war and preserve her people's forces at the same time, she also claims that a share in the planning is a share in the honour, which is only fair for the aid given by the Imperium on this day.
Of course, this is only an option. Prognostications by Imperial tacticians suggest that the casualties involved in Mileena's current plan, while significant, would be within acceptable boundaries, and bring things to an end within the year as planned.
-Despite fierce resistance, Octarine material support, and heavy defences, the Teutes Federation will inevitably fall. If desired, battle can be autoresolved with Imperial Fleethordes A and B expected to take approximately 40% casualties for the campaign as a whole. Alternatively, Tactical Turn "Siege Showdown" can be initiated, potentially reducing these casualties with the application of proper tactics.
To the north of this campaign is an entirely different and far more frustrating battle, fought against the Githyanki menace. The xenos raiders are swift and elusive, exclusively using ships smaller than the Imperial Navy's Cobra Destroyer, and attempting to track them down quickly brings to mind unpleasant memories of campaigns against the Eldar. While the overwhelming size and power of Imperial vessels mean in a head-to-head confrontation they can easily crush their opposition, the Githyanki are extremely careful to ensure that such a confrontation never occurs.
Still, a combination of factors ensures that the deployment is far from a wasted effort. First, the mere presence of Imperial forces restricts the Githyanki's ability to conduct operations, as the most important worlds of the region inevitably became bases of operation, host to large garrisons that the opportunistic xenos are loath to engage. Similarly, large patrols force the aliens to flee before they'd hoped in several instances, and response forces, while too slow for many Imperial citizens, still put a maximum time limit on each raid.
Second are the defences put in place by the labour battalions, which place a minimum floor on the amount of forces the raids need to commit in order to ensure success, as well as increase attrition. While merely modest fortifications provide merely modest results, the numbers are clear, a marked improvement occurring after the work is complete. Needless to say, such raiding tactics as the Githyanki employ are perhaps best countered by use of fortification if one lacks the forces needed to counterattack their heartlands.
Third and finally is the presence of Cosmo Babylonia's combined fleet in the region. While still small in absolute numbers, the hastily retrofitted FTL drives of their carriers are quite capable, and they can generally arrive before corresponding Imperial forces. While this would be difficult to justify in a conventional campaign, the small size of the enemy's individual flotillas means it's a viable tactic.
And once they do arrive, they prove extremely effective. Their Mobile Suit war machines practically dance through space, making even the nimble voidships of the Githyanki appear as slow and clumsy as the primitive nautical vessels they resemble. They weave through defensive fire, guns and missiles alike, and their energy weapons prove devastating at the close range they're clearly built for as, to a degree, do the harpoon-like shot lancers employed by some of the Crossbone Vanguard.
In a particularly fortuitous bit of luck amidst what's otherwise bad news, this makes them especially suited to withstand the Githyanki's particular weapons paradigm. Specifically, their preference for rift generating missiles as their primary ordnance, similar to Vortex Torpedoes but seemingly without the risk of Daemonic incursion. These naturally ignore armour, but can be stopped by evasion, energy shields, and sufficient mass if all else fails.
However, Mobile Suit warfare has apparently eschewed armour for many years, despite the weapons being the size of Imperial Knights, relying almost exclusively on directional energy shields and mobility to survive attacks. In other words, the pride of the Githyanki naval arsenal is no more effective against them than completely ordinary warheads.
Atmospheric battles are trickier, as the xenos utilise variants of their voidships as Titan-scale combatants, and bring numerous types of aircraft to try and secure control of the skies. Most notable among these are beasts that can only be described as dragons, intelligent and psychic creatures that can grow to the size of superheavy tanks.
These great threats inevitably become priority targets for the Gundams, wings of light deployed to cut down wings of flesh. Battles of point-blank aerial manoeuvre, it is only the considerable skill of those assigned to pilot the Record Breakers that ensures their constant victories in these clashes, which does make the machines a feared sight on the battlefield. Especially so when the word 'Gundam' was apparently overheard as something that approximately translates to "slayer of dragons" in the aliens' language, an appellation that quickly spreads throughout their ranks.
The Githyanki concentrate into yet larger groups in response, hoping to escape being defeated piecemeal. Entire fleets and armies descend on Imperial worlds, and Cosmo Babylonia is hard-pressed to respond. In particular, dealing with armies of psyker infantry is not their specialty.
Yet they do not have to defeat the armies of the foe; only entangle and delay them long enough for the armies of the Emperor to arrive in all their majesty. The larger strike groups the Githyanki muster are slower to arrive and depart, and so several end up being brought to battle, and when they cannot flee before the might of the Imperium arrives they are crushed.
They are by no means weak, of course. Their forces whirl around and strike hard at any exposed Imperial squadrons, and their rift-generator missiles are devastating against any vessel that has lost its void shields. But even in all their numbers and with all their witchcraft, once they arrive in range of the Imperium's massed broadsides they are shattered. Transports deploy soon after, legions of soldiers descending to relieve their fellows. Githyanki Knights find their match in the Space Marines, and they are discovered to have a comparatively weak artillery corps, something the Imperial Guard are more than happy to take advantage of.
The xenos marauders are still able to slip away, retreating back to their alternate dimension as swiftly as possible, but the casualties are undeniable. These battles were no knockout blow; the bulk of the enemy's strength in the region probably remains intact, and raids do continue, albeit more infrequent and less successful than they once were. Still, the region's security has been fully restored to acceptable levels despite some civilian losses, and productivity is intact. The only issue is that a continuing force commitment may be necessary if the root of the problem is not dealt with.
As for Cosmo Babylonia themselves, they seem happy enough to have been assigned to a defensive role, and have no complaints about Imperial conduct in the region. However, with the acquisition of forces to liberate their homeland, they are now preparing to make the long journey home.
-Fleethordes H and F take 10% damage from various raids and skirmishes. While they cannot force the Githyanki to battle, they prevent statistically significant damage to the region from occurring. Local populace and Cosmo Babylonia are suitably pleased with Imperial actions.
Not content with merely parrying the Githyanki's direct attack, the Imperium also moves to flank the xenos from the south, containing their empire in preparation for its future defeat. Their forces are indeed present in the region, but seemingly as outriders rather than a large, dedicated invasion fleet. While some clashes occur, they generally try to avoid engaging Imperial squadrons, and are easily pushed out of the region.
In particular, the nature of the operation as a conquest rather than a defence greatly helps matters, since the Imperium is under no obligation to protect alien warlords from the psychic marauders. Instead, local commanders often simply sit back and watch as their enemies battle each other, only swooping in to take control of a region once both sides have bloodied each other and the Githyanki have withdrawn.
This is not to say that no large battles occur, however. Pirate clans and petty empires are put to the sword, forced to flee before the Imperium's might or otherwise be destroyed utterly, their fleets and armies far too small and disorganised to do anything other than bloody the nose of mankind's military machine. Those who submit without hesitation are, largely depending on the opinions of the regional command staff, occasionally subjugated to Imperial compliance instead, made prisoners on their own worlds.
And then there is the matter of abhumans. Compared to a crusade in the Milky Way, they're almost distressingly few in number, outnumbered many times over by the aliens that surround them, and in the vast majority of cases exist as a diaspora in xenos states rather than in their own nations. However, now that the Imperium is expanding beyond former Vorkyli territory, they have begun to appear in significant numbers, raising the question of what exactly to call them.
Specifically, what the local inhabitants of this universe call Endyani, a group of intercompatible species that can breed true with each other and with humans, making them quite clearly abhumans. The most notable albeit not the largest group of these Endyani are called humans themselves, but the barest glance at their phenotype and genome makes it clear that this is an obviously farcical designation. At present, most discussions of them stick with their formal species name, homo sapiens astra, pending a more accurate colloquial name.
Others, such as the Eldar-resembling Merendi who make up the largest single type of Endyani, are declared to not be humans at all, although this seems equally farcical on the face of it considering they can have children with humans unassisted. At the moment, they're also being considered abhumans by the Administratum, with a contingent beginning to debate species names, although not without challenges on both fronts. However, considering this is at present a low priority issue concerning a mere few billion individuals, it's unlikely to either fully resolve itself or be in need of resolution for the next several years.
One exception exists in the form of a world of genuine humans, the one noted in initial scouting. Needless to say, investigation is a high priority, and when initial scans indicate the presence of relatively advanced technology an Explorator fleet was diverted to assume command of the efforts in the system.
And this proved a wise decision, as the Githyanki were not far behind. The locals proved largely unable to seriously resist the alien raids, possessing only extremely small numbers of reasonably capable soldiers or very small numbers of low-quality troops. However, they were able to put up a spirited defence with a handful of local reversals long enough for the Explorators to arrive, gaining control of the orbitals with their flagship Ark Mechanicus and deploying Skitarii maniples to the surface without delay, where battle is brought against the Githyanki.
The rad-blasted wastes of the world prove to be a familiar battlefield for the servants of the Omnissiah, and if they left them a little more rad-blasted than they found them? Well, the locals probably can't tell.
Their work is not done, however. All across the planet, there are infestations of mutated wildlife, brutal raiders, and even abominable intelligence. These elements are systematically brought into line and destroyed, even as contact is made with the local humans. While many are wary of the Imperium for one reason or another, the fight against the Githyanki did a great deal to make a good first impression, and almost everyone sees the benefit in a consistent supply of food and clean water, which the Adeptus Mechanicus is all too eager to provide in exchange for technological samples.
Initial analysis of the Magos Explorator on-scene suggests that while these technologies are not directly STC-derived, they are obviously built with the wisdom of the ancients, making them valid for Imperial usage. As further evidence of the Omnissiah's blessing, some organisations across the world, perhaps most notably one known as the Brotherhood of Steel, have taken on a mission to preserve technology and keep it safe from the unenlightened in a very direct counterpart to the Mechanicus' own doctrines, a clear sign that they too have been blessed with the Machine God's insight.
And, the Magos has made clear, anyone who wants to argue the point can debate the business end of his Omnissian Axe.
On one final note, the world claims (and geographical scans support) that they're Holy Terra in the ancient days from before the Dark Age of Technology. However, their disjointed tech base and differences from what historical records of that era remain suggest that it's far more likely they're a geoformed colony world in the vein of Sixty-Three Nineteen. With that in mind, it is equally worth noting the rather different human homeworlds across the various outsiders to this universe means this isn't an absolute certainty.
Regardless, integration of the world is well underway, and the rest of the region is being prepared for colonisation now that it's clear of enemies. More territory for the servants of the Emperor.
-Fleethordes I, C and G are able to rapidly secure the ravaged space with minor (5%) casualties. Research options unlocked.
In the darkest halls of power, a bargain is struck. Through intermediaries of the most radical Xanthists, the Imperium negotiates with the Duke of Valentinois for aid. The terms of the agreement are clear: the Duke and his soldiers are to have no interaction with Imperial citizens. They are to take away the citizens of the VUR while mankind's patrols deliberately turn a blind eye for whatever purpose they desire them for, and then uphold their portion of the deal.
Seemingly somewhat bemused by the fact the Imperium has found a way to hire their services without offering up the souls of their own citizens, the Duke's representatives nevertheless accept. The Inquisitors report to Warsmith Harrsk that, while having some superficial similarities to Daemons, including the need for active sustainment in the physical realm (which is doubtlessly a great deal of what they desire so many souls for), these devils are decidedly different in several key ways from the Ruinous Powers, as per their initial beliefs.
This is of course the only reason that Harrsk even considered taking the deal in the first place, although the fact remains that if it were ever to become public knowledge, the common people of the Imperium and the Ecclesiarchy would likely react poorly.
As the hellish forces move to engage the Lesser Regnum, reports steadily flow from the front lines to the Imperium, albeit without any forces directly on the front line these reports are somewhat more sparse than Imperial command is used to. By the year's end, there has apparently been significant progress, with many of the Regnum's outlying worlds and juvenile wurms having fallen to the might and magic of the mercenary army. Exact details of just how this was accomplished are kept frustratingly vague in what is doubtlessly a deliberate effort to keep the exact tactics of the devils hidden from the Imperium.
The Grandwurm founder and controller of the Regnum has yet to fully commit himself, and the devils have not yet sought him out, such a foe being extremely difficult to slay. It is most likely gathering itself for some form of decisive battle, while the Devils are preparing some form of sorcery they believe will let them slay the beast… should the Imperium keep compensating them for their services, of course. Otherwise, they're more than happy to leave the job half-done, it would seem.
-The Duke of Valentinois' assault on the Regnum goes well, at least according to his reports. While the Regnum has not yet fallen, they likely will next turn if he's assigned to this action again.
Finally, the hired mercenaries of Outworld get to work sabotaging Octarine Incorporated's vassal territories to the north. While the perpetually ongoing rebellions in the territory weren't intensified beyond the normal levels, said normal levels are still sufficient for the addition of a sizable force of privateers to be particularly troublesome.
Similarly to the Duke's attack, the Imperium has to rely exclusively on a foreign power's reports to get a picture of the operation, although Outworld's reports arrive somewhat often. They indicate significant initial success, hitting military supply lines, disrupting trade convoys heading back to the Octarine homelands, destroying listening posts and outlying patrol bases, and generally degrading the ability of corporate assets to either effectively engage in counterinsurgency operations or extract useful wealth from the territory.
However, it would appear that this was finally a bridge too far for Octarine Incorporated. With the entirety of the sector now either lost to them or about to be, their northern frontier is no longer a concern they can afford to ignore, what was once a profitable region of vassal nations now filled to the brim with hardened foes.
Hidden in a shell game of freight movements, Octarine provides additional forces to its northern interests, carefully identifies where the Outworlders are operating from, and when the moment is right they strike.
Their counterattack is devastating. In a flash, the mercenary troops are caught off-guard, on the defensive, outnumbered, outgunned, and outskilled in the realm of naval warfare. The resulting losses are devastating, particularly thanks to Xyvus Solutions' successful targeting of their command structure, sending their forces into complete disarray.
Only Sub-Zero and Kabal's stubborn resistance to assassination attempts, the two generals fighting off several vicious attacks from cybernetically enhanced duelists, is able to somewhat salvage the situation, organising a successful fighting retreat that sees both the Lin Kuei and Black Dragon fleets withdraw from the region without being destroyed altogether. However, while this action limits the amount of total losses, nearly every ship in the fleet is damaged in some way, and large swathes of ground forces lie wounded or dead. Combined with the heavy disorganisation both forces suffered, they have been rendered utterly combat ineffective, and will need serious time and effort to recover.
Worse still, this is only the beginning. Intelligence reports suggest that Octarine is preparing a massive force to the south, preparing to strike north in order to reestablish a buffer between itself and the combined human forces of the region. If the attack goes well, they may potentially push further, aiming to destroy the Imperium and Outworld altogether. It would seem that even if the mercenaries hid the true source of the attack, the megacorporation is thoroughly fed up with both of their northern neighbours.
If there's one piece of good news to come from this, it's that the mercenaries' successes provided a large enough opening for the Popular Front to begin acting on their agreement with the Imperium, their own fleets, armies, and clandestine operatives and support beginning to stream into the territory by year's end. The upcoming attack from the south will at least not be reinforced by a flanking strike from the north, as the local Octarine forces are likely to be fully occupied for the foreseeable future.
-While the Outworld forces are initially successful, and therefore give the Popular Front an opportunity to start contesting the subsector, this has drawn Octarine's ire. Both fleethordes are forced to retreat to Outworld with extremely heavy losses, and a full-scale counterattack against both the Imperium and Outworld is being organised, expected to arrive in the southern areas of the sector next turn.
"This is pointless. You fight for nothing. Arrogance blinds you to your true potential. This will hurt you. But once the harvest is complete, you will thank us."
These and other truths were broadcast to the Tau'ri ceaselessly to dissolve the delusions they clung to. Delusions such as the delusion of victory, that they had any other future but becoming part of the Reaper collective. If they only listened to the revelations the unenlightened called indoctrination, they would accept the truth and find peace.
It was doubtful that they would listen. This branch of humanity had tasted of the poisoned chalice of victory before. That explained their arrogance. Victories over the Goa'uld, Replicators, Wraith, Ori, had bolstered their confidence in their ability to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.
This time they would not escape defeat. They would be consumed. They had put everything in position for their undoing to be swift and painful. Perhaps the truth would sway some of them. Perhaps the revelation could free a few from their delusion and allow them to usher in the ascension of humanity without this pain.
It was highly unlikely, but even the most ungrateful species would be saved, for that was their righteous cause.
Mag 3 Fleet will be taking point, both Mag 1 Fleets supporting.
Jump drives to have preset coordinates entered for tactical relocation and emergency fallbacks.
Destroyers to prepare the static overload tactic utilised against Kroats.
Occuli to contest Tau'ri strikecraft
Battle Phase
Capitals and Bosses activate Interdiction fields and begin bombardment of Tau'ri ships, Destroyers are excluded from projecting gravity wells to maintain full manoeuvrability. Use STL manoeuvres to draw out the bombardment phase as long as possible. Prioritise downing shields and disabling weapons over total ship destruction. The aim is to strip the shields of as many ships as possible rather than destroying a smaller number of them outright.
Destroyers are to launch boarding operations. Boarded ships will not only be turned against their former allies, but through the use of teleportation will send Husks across to the ships which had been stripped of their shields by bombardment. Tau'ri nukes can be beamed to ships if this would result in quicker destruction of enemy forces, but overall boarded ships faciliating more boarding via teleportation is the goal.
If/when Tau'ri ships begin to enter Clash with Capitals/Bosses, deactivate Interdiction fields, jump to surround the human ships at bombarding range, reactivate gravity well projectors and resume firing. This time ship destruction is prioritised over merely leaving them vulnerable. The human ships already under Reaper control will have made their impact.
The Emperor and indoctrinated Force users are on standby for deployment against the lead Tau'ri vessel once it is identified. For this decapitation strike eliminating the ship or capturing it are considered successes.
The Reapers meet the Tau'ri in stately battles of positioning and precision, exchanging fire across countless thousands of kilometres while swarms of strike fighters batter each other into nothing within the vastness between the duelling armadas. Pockets of space are turned into violently criss-crossing streams of particle beams and railgun slugs, a microcosm of the battlespace as a whole. In light of prior experience, the close-range brawling the Reapers might otherwise utilise heavily is avoided where possible in favour of a colder, more mechanical method of waging war.
At least until the shields of the human ships are worn down, they have begun to close in, and the trap is sprung. All at once, jump drives initialise, recontextualising the battlespace as the trappers become the trapped. The Reaper capitals continue their bombardment, the Oculi continue to dogfight, but the destroyers move in, preparing to strike at the closest range there is.
Unfortunately, things don't go to plan. At this point, the Tau'ri commanders are well aware of their severe disadvantage in ground combat, which they know also extends to boarding operations. Already keen to avoid contact with the grasping tendrils of the destroyers, once the first reports of invading infantry stream through their data-nets, escape becomes the highest priority.
Gunning their engines, the highly manoeuvrable Tau'ri warships circle about and retreat, swiftly leaving interdiction range and jumping away to safety. The decision to keep the Reaper capitals as the primary source of interdiction and also at artillery range ensures they're kept safe, but it also makes their interdiction comparatively easy to escape, since enemy warships are not trapped near the centre of the artificial gravity wells.
Thus, while the destroyers that actually get to the boarding stage do well, very few manage to get that far, and these are left all but stranded, many suffering heavy damage from Tau'ri beam weapons in slashing attacks, although the general focus on retreat and withdrawal as well as the destroyers' own agility prevents this from being too common or fatal of an occurrence.
In the end, while the hoped-for singular fatal blow to the Tau'ri navy never materialises, the tactics employed both heavily limit casualties (both received and dealt, unfortunately) and force the Tau'ri to regularly abandon their positions completely in order to retreat and regroup. In other words, while no explicit breakout occurs, the enemy fails to formalise their encirclement, and thus fails to land any heavy blow on the Reaper forces.
With their last-ditch effort a resounding failure, the Tau'ri no longer have any hope of genuinely repelling the Reapers' onslaught, as their ability to resist planetary invasion is downright pitiful. However, since they have not yet been broken, they could still make the campaign to harvest them a painful one, and they seem inclined to do so.
That is, until a situation occurs which is at once entirely pedestrian but also utterly unique. Entirely pedestrian in that it is a message requesting the Reapers stop their assault, a message they have heard countless times over the Cycles in the various forms of begging, pleading, and bargaining. It is utterly unique in the sense that never before has such a demand merited genuine consideration.
Certainly, the Tau'ri will need to be harvested eventually. There can be no doubt about this, nor can there be any alternative. But there is a question of whether the Tau'ri necessarily need to be harvested now. The source of this offer, aside from the obvious threat of annihilation the humans will be keenly feeling, is almost certainly the presence of the Kroatanga, since even if they lack the specific esoteric visions of the Reaper Knights, the Tau'ri will be able to tell that they represent a vast threat, not just to them but to the Reapers.
Withdrawing from Tau'ri space, with a promise that the humans will not harass or pursue the retreating Reapers, would allow them to focus on the true threat with relatively little damage, giving them the best chance of the green nightmare to come. While it's true that the humans will, if they possess any sense, spend the time they buy either fleeing or preparing for the Reapers' return, this scarcely matters. Their territory is split in twain thanks to their rebel faction and what's left has been notably damaged by the invasion, so preparation probably won't prevent the next fight from going even worse for them.
And if they run, then they'll only be delaying the inevitable. It won't happen in the next year, or the year after that, or even in the year after that, but the harvest will be completed.
There is of course another perspective: That the Tau'ri have been fatally weakened already, and another push would allow the Reapers to collapse their entire nation, subsuming it for themselves. Yes, there would be casualties, but there would also be spoils, territory, industry, and potentially technology that could probably be reverse-engineered in time for the encounter with the Kroats. It would also ensure that there can be no unpleasant surprises from them later, as unlikely as that might be, and that the harvest would not be put off more than necessary.
Overall, however, it would leave the Reapers weaker in an immediate sense, even if it's plausible they would still be able to defeat the Ruin-Makers. And while the handful of captured Tau'ri ships and worlds would have to be abandoned, data and samples could be recovered for potential reverse-engineering on the way out, even if it would potentially be a moderately more difficult endeavour than if they were fully assimilated.
Either way, there is a bigger picture to keep in mind. The only question is which course of action would best serve it.
-The Reapers are successfully able to preserve their own forces, avoiding significant additional losses and preventing the Tau'ri's encirclement from finding success, but are unable to deal a decisive blow or formally perform a breakout manoeuvre themselves. Approximately 5% damage dealt and taken by all forces involved in the fight. The Tau'ri have made a diplomatic offer: The Reapers can accept and withdraw to prepare for the Kroatangans, or deny and continue fighting in order to finish off the Tau'ri at whatever cost that may take.
Sorry for how long this took and that the Cybran one isn't done yet. Entirely my fault I hit a brick wall of writers block and new game coming out procratination.
The Swarm in any other place would be considered fat and happy. It had devastated its foes, scattered them to the far winds to be picked upon by scavengers and rot. But not in this place. No, it had not devastated its foes, it had merely picked off a parasite, these Pirates of Gold. These were cast-offs, Vesma thought, wastrels picking at the scraps near the edges of the Beloved of Gold's Brood-structure, performing as some strange autonomous drone for their collective's aggression. Collecting the biomass and minerals before skittering back to their minders with their haul to grub more scraps. It had merely had much larger eyes than its sac and had gotten savaged for it. Disgraceful.
As a rule, the drones were the weakest. That the Beloved had sent its drones against the might of The Swarm and its Zerg alone was either a baffling display of arrogance and disfunction, or a portent that its drones were typically strong enough to win against those like the Zerg. That confidence was frightening, the potential threat vast. Haspyt felt stressful tremors with how little minerals were going to defensive structures. The only saving grace was that the Golden Fools had to search for outside symbionts to be truly threatening. We must expand...
The Cerebrates recognized the need to expand, and broods were sent out to colonize the territories infested by the Psar. In a fortunate turn of events the amount of territory held by the Zerg had outpaced their ability to exploit it. The Zerg drones finally had more hives to feed than there were bodies, thus it was felt the time and resources had come to ascend two more Cerebrates from glorified overlords to masters of Broods all their own. Haspyt had its Brood expanded, while the other two latched on to their own new limbs in The Swarm.
The first was Brood Onyx, led by an unusually paranoid Cerebrate, one obsessed with the potential vulnerability posed by our reliance on hives. It is the one that is so insistent on adding mobility to our hive clusters, and, though The Swarm does not have the resources to adapt to its ideals on the whole at this time, it was decided that it is dogged and detailed enough in its ideas to merit a Broodswarm of its own.
Its subordination was a vote of confidence, dedicating its time to implementing its own custom adaptations to its hive clusters, demonstrating their value through live testing, that was the way. It would convince The Swarm of its foolishness. Static emplacements would be replaced with shifting organs, the enemies never knowing enough to truly strike a death blow! larvae would be shifted through the nydus network. They would find reinforcements never arrived from the same angle twice! Camouflage and sunken hives. No hives would fall from enemies, for none would know where they truly were! No, it would be in control, it would not be found and destroyed or burned or melted or uprooted or killed! its enemies would never find it, not once!
Of course. Then there is Uzlach, the second Cerebrate, one of a much calmer temperament. It has distinguished itself as a mind prone to careful consideration. It will spend much time delaying and arraying its forces before striking like a wave, headed by large and strong heavy Zerg morphs to break down defenses before having its Zerg run rampant.
It recognizes that there are flaws in its strategy. Heavy morphs require support. They need many Zerg around them to take out smaller, harder to reach units. Mutating heavy morphs requires more resources. That means less smaller morphs. Its swarm needs more support than others. Vesma would be a good partner. It has more throughput. It could make many small Zerg. There are ways to improve its heavy morphs to act without support, though.
The new broods were important as The Swarm now had multiple avenues to scour of threats, obviously the pirates to the south, but the Strakhul to the north are significant threats as well. it is unknown how many Zerg will be needed to destroy them, however The Swarm has a potential symbiont that is already pre-adapted to their extinction. We shall send a messenger to the Silver Millennium Terran Brood-structure, along with the attention of the Psar to destroy the Brambles to the north.
For the Silver Millenium's help in the elimination of the Strakhul we shall be gifting it protection in the form of the Psar brambles, relieving it of a stressor, then informing it of The Swarm's offensive against the Strakhul, announcing our intention to help them exterminate their competitor. Perhaps we could acquire essence or examples of their emotional manipulation abilities. Kner and Haspyt are eager to excise this potential threat and melt it, drown it in all consuming pools and puddles of acid!
Further northward we are sending another messenger to the Krork Fleetcommune split off from the first. The Swarm has gathered much about them upon the Hypernet, however much of that seemed to be about a feral, basal morph called the Orks.
Though there is comparatively little information on the Hypernet of these more evolved cousins, from what we have gleaned of the Orks is that they have an ecosystem aimed towards their production, and they have co-opted their psychic sense of social cohesion to properly coordinate their brood-structure.
Their brood-structure is, from our research, based on an interesting convergent evolution of the Khala that the Protoss have, an esoteric psychic energy field unites their conscious decision making, forming a much more efficient mechanism for maintaining and enhancing brood cohesion. Thus, because they have overcome their individualist shortcomings, it should be much easier to coordinate with them. We hope to acquire their aid in, if not destroying the Gold, protecting the northern border.
To assist in the extermination of the Infesting Gold we have contacted the Xylem, a Terran Brood-structure that has made it their niche to attach themselves to others battles and appear to have a significant grudge against the Infesting Gold itself. Something we can sympathize with. We will use them in our battles against the Pirates.
It is a concern that The Swarm will not be able to use them effectively, as they are unable to replace their expended units in a reasonable time frame, meaning that it will have to be deployed cautiously to not deplete their units. Hopefully they will be vital in helping us coordinate with the other important brood-structure we send a messenger to.
We know little about The Crimson Adoration, but seeing as they are not infested by the Gold and border the Pirates they will likely be willing to assist us. After we have dealt with the pirates and have experienced the might of the Infesting Gold we will offer symbiosis and give them aid in order to destroy the Beloved! Surely they will see the advantage in this.
The largest Broodswarm we have yet to gather will be sent forth against the Infesting Gold, the combined forces of Broods Symbion, Vesma, Onyx and Utzlach will show the beloved and their drones the might of The Swarm!
In order to ensure The Swarm's Perfection against the Beloved of Gold we will adapt. In the last battle against the pirates our greatest struggle was in space. Despite the sheer size of the Leviathan morph its power is negligible compared to the ridiculous size and weight of this universe's fleets. The obvious solution to this issue is, of course, to make the Leviathans bigger. Taking the basal morphs theorized in early iterations of the Leviathan, they have been scaled up to fearsome sizes never before seen, the four species of the newly deemed Kraken morph will be a formidable addition to our space combat capabilities!
Additionally, with the focus of Symbion on the creation of the Kraken the minor cerebrates have excitedly snapped to attention at the opportunity to toy with sequences of their own. Most of this focus was put to the proliferation of the Titanocide Ultralisk, the anti-heavy specialist morph created by Symbion in the battle against the pirates, as well as the downsizing of the spine ammunition used by Impaler Leviathans to allow it to be used by ground morphs such as the Hydralisk and Artilerlisk.
With this adaptation to the expected conditions of the battlefield thought must be expended towards improving The Swarm's greatest quality. Quantity! Vesma is convinced that there must be a way to increase Zerg throughput. The issue is not, however, with producing more larvae, but having enough nutrition to mutate them! We require more minerals, we require more vespene gas, these statements haunt Vesma's thoughts constantly. The reliance on mineral and gas outcroppings to construct hives around is the single largest bottleneck inflicted upon The Swarm. Only so many drones my mine a vein at a time, only so much of the vein is available at a time, and there are only so many veins. The issue with not using minerals is that other sources are lesser in quality, the purity and ease of extraction that minerals allow are essential for the Zerg's level of throughput.
Thus the issue to fix would be the purification and extraction of lesser resources...
As to lesser resources, the Brood-structures trapped within the Psar. We will contact them, the flesh shaping of the parasites would be helpful in the creation of more versatile morphs, and the guild could likely be suborned to acquire us essence. Due to their isolated nature it could also be an opportunity to test theories of symbiosis without interference. For the Sabbat Brood-structure, we are going to appeal to their sense of survival, telling them to share their essence manipulation in exchange for protection against the Suitaitazu. if they don't we will retreat and reevaluate how to properly entice symbiosis with them. With the Guild we will try offering The Zerg's assistance in their hunting, in exchange for unique essence and adaptations.
Send a Messenger to The Krork -4RP
Plan: Send a medium force with the messenger to feel out the Krork's disposition towards symbiosis. inform them of our plans against the Strakhul and the Infesting Gold.
Send a Messenger to The Silver Millenium -4RP
Plan: Use the subornment of the Brambles in their Territory to demonstrate our goodwill, then inform them of The Swarm's attack on their enemy of the Strakhul and the opportunity our potential symbiosis represents.
Send a Messenger to The Crimson Adoration -4RP
Plan: Inform them of the mission granted to us by The Altra and our intense hatred of the Infesting Gold along with our intentions to wipe out The Beloved. Invite them to help destroy the Infested.
Symbiosis with The Parasites -2RP
Plan: Send a small military force and inform them of the threat the Suitaitazu poses to them, and request their cooperation and biomanipulation psionics.
Symbiosis with The Guild -2RP
Plan: Send a small military force to gain their aid in the acquisition of the unique essence of their planet.
Scout after the Machines -2RP
Plan: Send a scouting force to 11-h to look for this Terran Federation, hoping to find a symbiont for the destruction of the Infesting Gold.
3-Project Kraken
1-Fragmenting spine launchers
1-Incorporation of the Titanocide Morph Ultralisk
Build 2 established territories in 10a-I1 and 10c-I1 and a claimed territory in 10b-I1 -22RP
Hire The Xylem symbiotes against the gold pirates -5RP
Build heavy defenses in 10c-I2 -10RP
Build moderate defenses in 10c-I1 -3RP
Have the psar focus efforts on The Brambles in The Silver Millenium.
Attack 11b&c-I2 with Broodswarms Symbion (general adaptability), Onyx (paranoid stealth, camouflage, and building relocation), Uzlach (Heavy units) and Vesma (logistics, artillery), and 9c-I2 with Broodswarms Haspyt (defenses) and Kner (ACID!!! EXPLOSIONS!!!).
Strategy against the pirates: The most important tagma of any war is logistics. have Symbion and Uzlach focus on destroying local unit production and resource gathering operations to starve Beloved and Pirate forces of resupply, with support from Onyx and Vesma where resistance is fierce. meanwhile Vesma and Onyx will focus on stealthily infesting the sector with hive-clusters to ensure that The Swarm's enemies are never quite sure where Zerg reinforcements will come from, then, once the hive-clusters have reached critical mass, arrive with a wave of Zerg to overwhelm and push back The Pirates to the next sector. Have The Xylem assist in breakthroughs and striking down enemy heavies to more Zerg can flood the backlines.
Strategy against The Strakhul: The weakness of The Strakhul is known to be positive emotions, thus Haspyt and Kner shall play to their obsessions. Kner will be the primary offensive force, pushing forward the front line with copious amounts of the banelings, scourges and other suicide morphs it loves so much, while Haspyt then locks down the taken area with formidable defenses. All the while they shall use their psychic might to broadcast their happiness and satisfaction with their work using the overlords as beacons, hopefully damaging and demoralizing The Strakhul.
-Despite fierce resistance, Octarine material support, and heavy defences, the Teutes Federation will inevitably fall. If desired, battle can be autoresolved with Imperial Fleethordes A and B expected to take approximately 40% casualties for the campaign as a whole. Alternatively, Tactical Turn "Siege Showdown" can be initiated, potentially reducing these casualties with the application of proper tactics.
Above bullets, above blades, care for your soul above all.
Gathalamorians 45:7
'Emperor knows, there are a dozen ways to win a war. But a man must be mindful – as billions of souls will attest, there are a thousand ways to die in the process.'
– From the diaries of Commander Rudolf van Este
Eleven
Recollections
Sergeant Vyrkens is inhis seat of the bench. Around them, the Chimera's engines murr its grumbles, the noise of rain tapping its shells, the afar thunder of artillery.
A rather miserable planet this world is - all infused in a sheen of grey. Grey skies . Grey earth. Grey men. And amidst it, the Chimera strudge forward.
Inside, his squadmates made small talks even as he maintain silent. His squad now. Years has passed since the first days of the campaign, and there he is. A Sergeant rank-pin on his Ochre uniform. A responsibility that he in his private moments still not sure. How far he is now from a mere juve gangers of Armageddon factory-slums, and not just distance alone. The small talks goes on amidst the noise, Vyrkens lights up his cigarette.
And under the grey, the Chimera trudge forward
The Vorkyli's desperate last stand, as they tell him. Years of combat and a promotion later, and here he is, the last step to the long journey of connfronting this particular Xeno-breed. And in his wars he has seen almost every single form of the creatures. Scrawny Torodos, amphibian Quachaks, and of course the hulking Urkalsik with their hard chitin shells. He think of the other regiments. The stuck-up Mordians, the shifty Savlars, the dour Kriegers.
He think of her. The one saving his life all those years ago.
Dark hair. Pale skins in contrast with the black uniform.
And her eyes, golden like the aurum of an Ecclessiarchy cathedral. Yet also just as cold.
The chimera trudges on, into the war ahead.
Initiate tactical Turns - Siege Showdown.
Proposed tactic:
As the enemy core systems were encircled, initiate simultaneous frontal assaults from varying firections to stretches enemy attention onto multiple fronts, weakens their coordination. Further divide the enemy concentrations with Special force raids on supply lines and command centers, while maintain heavy bombardments of enemy hardpoints.
The Reapers meet the Tau'ri in stately battles of positioning and precision, exchanging fire across countless thousands of kilometres while swarms of strike fighters batter each other into nothing within the vastness between the duelling armadas. Pockets of space are turned into violently criss-crossing streams of particle beams and railgun slugs, a microcosm of the battlespace as a whole. In light of prior experience, the close-range brawling the Reapers might otherwise utilise heavily is avoided where possible in favour of a colder, more mechanical method of waging war.
At least until the shields of the human ships are worn down, they have begun to close in, and the trap is sprung. All at once, jump drives initialise, recontextualising the battlespace as the trappers become the trapped. The Reaper capitals continue their bombardment, the Oculi continue to dogfight, but the destroyers move in, preparing to strike at the closest range there is.
Unfortunately, things don't go to plan. At this point, the Tau'ri commanders are well aware of their severe disadvantage in ground combat, which they know also extends to boarding operations. Already keen to avoid contact with the grasping tendrils of the destroyers, once the first reports of invading infantry stream through their data-nets, escape becomes the highest priority.
Gunning their engines, the highly manoeuvrable Tau'ri warships circle about and retreat, swiftly leaving interdiction range and jumping away to safety. The decision to keep the Reaper capitals as the primary source of interdiction and also at artillery range ensures they're kept safe, but it also makes their interdiction comparatively easy to escape, since enemy warships are not trapped near the centre of the artificial gravity wells.
Thus, while the destroyers that actually get to the boarding stage do well, very few manage to get that far, and these are left all but stranded, many suffering heavy damage from Tau'ri beam weapons in slashing attacks, although the general focus on retreat and withdrawal as well as the destroyers' own agility prevents this from being too common or fatal of an occurrence.
In the end, while the hoped-for singular fatal blow to the Tau'ri navy never materialises, the tactics employed both heavily limit casualties (both received and dealt, unfortunately) and force the Tau'ri to regularly abandon their positions completely in order to retreat and regroup. In other words, while no explicit breakout occurs, the enemy fails to formalise their encirclement, and thus fails to land any heavy blow on the Reaper forces.
With their last-ditch effort a resounding failure, the Tau'ri no longer have any hope of genuinely repelling the Reapers' onslaught, as their ability to resist planetary invasion is downright pitiful. However, since they have not yet been broken, they could still make the campaign to harvest them a painful one, and they seem inclined to do so.
That is, until a situation occurs which is at once entirely pedestrian but also utterly unique. Entirely pedestrian in that it is a message requesting the Reapers stop their assault, a message they have heard countless times over the Cycles in the various forms of begging, pleading, and bargaining. It is utterly unique in the sense that never before has such a demand merited genuine consideration.
Certainly, the Tau'ri will need to be harvested eventually. There can be no doubt about this, nor can there be any alternative. But there is a question of whether the Tau'ri necessarily need to be harvested now. The source of this offer, aside from the obvious threat of annihilation the humans will be keenly feeling, is almost certainly the presence of the Kroatanga, since even if they lack the specific esoteric visions of the Reaper Knights, the Tau'ri will be able to tell that they represent a vast threat, not just to them but to the Reapers.
Withdrawing from Tau'ri space, with a promise that the humans will not harass or pursue the retreating Reapers, would allow them to focus on the true threat with relatively little damage, giving them the best chance of the green nightmare to come. While it's true that the humans will, if they possess any sense, spend the time they buy either fleeing or preparing for the Reapers' return, this scarcely matters. Their territory is split in twain thanks to their rebel faction and what's left has been notably damaged by the invasion, so preparation probably won't prevent the next fight from going even worse for them.
And if they run, then they'll only be delaying the inevitable. It won't happen in the next year, or the year after that, or even in the year after that, but the harvest will be completed.
There is of course another perspective: That the Tau'ri have been fatally weakened already, and another push would allow the Reapers to collapse their entire nation, subsuming it for themselves. Yes, there would be casualties, but there would also be spoils, territory, industry, and potentially technology that could probably be reverse-engineered in time for the encounter with the Kroats. It would also ensure that there can be no unpleasant surprises from them later, as unlikely as that might be, and that the harvest would not be put off more than necessary.
Overall, however, it would leave the Reapers weaker in an immediate sense, even if it's plausible they would still be able to defeat the Ruin-Makers. And while the handful of captured Tau'ri ships and worlds would have to be abandoned, data and samples could be recovered for potential reverse-engineering on the way out, even if it would potentially be a moderately more difficult endeavour than if they were fully assimilated.
Either way, there is a bigger picture to keep in mind. The only question is which course of action would best serve it.
-The Reapers are successfully able to preserve their own forces, avoiding significant additional losses and preventing the Tau'ri's encirclement from finding success, but are unable to deal a decisive blow or formally perform a breakout manoeuvre themselves. Approximately 5% damage dealt and taken by all forces involved in the fight. The Tau'ri have made a diplomatic offer: The Reapers can accept and withdraw to prepare for the Kroatangans, or deny and continue fighting in order to finish off the Tau'ri at whatever cost that may take.
In any other circumstance the offer of a ceasefire would be laughable, one more pitiful voice in a long chorus of the ignored pleas of dead and dying species. The immediate reaction is of course to disregard the message from the humans and continue the battle. Tactics were tried and tested, and could be improved. Preservation of their own forces could still be maintained, but by alternating the gravity well projectors perhaps the Tau'ri could remain ensnared while the larger Reaper ships brought their fire to bear in skirmish range. Or an adaptation of the tactics that had saved two fleets from Kroat assault already, which would doubtlessly have a better outcome as the Tau'ri were not as insanely eager for clashing as the fungal brutes...
But that touched on the crucial point which halted the Reaper's assault. The Kroatanga were coming. Not eventually, imminently. The warning from the Knights and the chatter on the hypernet confirmed this.
In a moment of unprecedented reprieve, their guns fell silent as the Reapers debated.
One side pointed out how valuable the technology of the Tau'ri could be if assimilated - not just the teleports, but their Naquadah enhanced weapons. And that was only the tip of the iceberg. If the primitives could use the mineral to boost their weapons technology to the degree that they could destroy Reapers, what might the Old Machines themselves accomplish with access and understanding? A potential Element Zero-Naquadah hybrid reactor could have incredible results. Yes, losses would be taken finishing the Tau'ri now, but it would pay off dividends.
The counter argument was punctuated by recordings of their fleets battling the Kroatanga, and the damage taken when the vengeful counter-invasion had run into their static defences. They could not afford to take major losses at this critical juncture. Resources spent recovering and reverse engineering Tau'ri technology were resources not spent expanding their forces or developing their territory. Tau'ri technology would provide an advantage, but not an overwhelming one, and they should focus on advancements which could specifically counter the Kroatanga.
The debate continued unabated until Harbinger finally made its say.
The invasion of the Tau'ri had been done as a preemptive response to the potential alliance with the Scourge and Ykantras. The Scourge and Tau'ri were both savaged, and neither would be a threat in the immediate term. The Kroatanga were. Before the encirclement, the plan to finish the Tau'ri had been to apply pressure and bleed them dry before finishing them off. That could be accomplished with subtler means. Meanwhile the Kroats remained at the apex of their strength, and could not be weakened as easily. Salvage from the Tau'ri could be used to reverse engineering their technology at a better time, but anti-Kroat methods had to be researched without delay.
The decision was made, and without further delay the Reapers withdrew from human space.
There is never really a quiet moment in the warring brother galaxies. Someone somewhere is dying as systems clash nearly constantly, looking for every scrap of available resource to become the one and only swarm within this nightmare hall. The demise of Stavorious has however, granted the Krork accolades and lauding, such a feat is rare and surely a sign of providence. To defeat the undefeatable and to, even if only for a moment, make the endless nightmare a little more bearable.
The Altran solicit the Krork for help in repairing the northern section of the wall to protect the refugees they collect like lost puppies in these galaxies as the annihilation of the prior protectors of northern front, the Jjaro, had mysteriously disappeared for reasons unknown but likely involving their efforts to close Lovecraft's Nightmare by understanding the power of Shaydari; leader of the Monochromites in this part of space from the satellites galaxy of Eksyr. The Jjaro had been immensely helpful in the defence of the Northern regions of space and their untold billions of refugee nations with their immensely powerful technologies, and their absence was keenly felt.
The keepers of Mandos lacked such a responsibility, but their own shell of allies gave them less buffer space in the face of being right between enormous numbers of Kroatanga and Sutaitazu. Buffer space that, following the brief reprieve brought about by Stavorious death, has once again descended into the usual pandemonium.
Magnitude Five Scrin Force is waging war in all directions near your Mandosi territories.
Magnitude Six Technocyte force is waging war in all directions near your Mandosi territories
Magnitude Six Hive Force is waging war in all directions near your Mandosi Territories
Magnitude Seven Kroatangan force is waging war in all directions near your Mandosi territories
Magnitude Five Grand Hate Force is waging war in all directions near your Mandosi territories
Magnitude 7 Wayfaring Scourge Force is battling Magnitude 6 Prethoryn Scourge Force and Magnitude 4 Alghollthu Abyssal Scourge Force near your Altran territories.
Magnitude Six Nurglite, Doom Demon, and Devil forces are attacking refugee space.
Available Allies:
Altran Theatre: Ascendancy of Altra (Magnitude 2, Ultra+), Autobot Democratic Star Republics (Magnitude 3, Ultra), Multiterra (Magnitude 4, Extremis)
Diplomatic Orders:
4 RP on diplomacy with the Zerg
While War was being waged on almost all fronts, and while new allies were being gained almost automatically just from the situation that almost everyone who found themselves in this new galaxy has been plunged into, that does not mean that we should not reach out to others, nor that we shouldn't be vigilant about whether or not our less immediately hostile neighbors are truly intending to be at peace with us in the longer term. To that end, we are sending an expedition out to meet with the Zerg and determine their actual intent in the longer term, not just their short term lack of stillness, wich has already seemingly been confirmed. Should all go well, and they truly mean what their actions thus far indicate, then further relations should be persued, starting with defining 'who wants what' in terms of the relatively small region of territory between the two of us, and continuing on with the potential for future exchanges of goods and information, up to maybe even including future joint military operations.
Intrigue Orders:
2 RP on scouting
While the war on the eastern front is ongoing, the area to the west of our recently acquired and secured core territories are mostly unknown outside of the Suitaitazu threat to the southwest, and so that situation should be at least temporarily rectified. And so an expedition to the west, nay, more than one, for a singular group is all too vulnerable to ambush and elimination, is to be organized as to identify whatever is lurking there.
Scout out the territories to the West and North West of our newly acquired core territories(scout out H9 and H8). any obvious enemies(or maybe even potential allies, but those are much rarer) are to be reported on; and if there aren't any obvious ones, do a more in depth search to discern if there are any hidden ones in said area if finding them is at all feasible.
Any leftover forces from this expedition are to work to keep the territory that the Void Dragon recently cleansed(that we haven't yet claimed) free of other hostile threats as to facilitate our future expansion
4 RP 'sneaky tricks'
-combined into the opening of the eastern battle
Research Orders:
30 RP: full set of 5 research slots
All five slots are to be spent on finishing up Space Runes, as while the new information and potential technological paths gathered and inferred from the battles fought here are tempting, it is best to finish up what one is working on before starting a new project. That, and while the semi-local source of Power that is their 'Colours' is a few steps beyond what we have been able to draw from our innate psychic field before this point, it is best to start with forming a foundation built off of what one knows before one reaches for something that one could not comprehend before.
Industrial orders:
55 RP: improve F-7 East(the small-square that contains the portal back to my main territory) to Established+Ridiculous Defenses
45 RP: improve I-9 from Industrialized to Heartlands, setting things up for the construction of kilo and megastructures in the future
Military orders:
(reorganize the Battle Moons such that there are four full strength formations of five and one of three, instead of three of five and two of four)
(ask the warriors of Clan Skarvald that we hired during the past galactic year to travel through the portal to our eastern front, as we would prefer for them to be fighting in that fight over working to keep this side of the portal secure, same with the Observer)
The Kroatanga, riled up by the imminent arrival of Kultzer the Slaughterking, are rising in greater numbers than before, with their Warfiends letting out bellowing calls for battle to their brute hordes. Their fleet hordes are moving with the intent to kill, drawn by the siren call of Kultzer's Battle-Aura and their sympathetic link to the Overkroat which swells with the anticipation of violence in the near future and enormous broad front invasions of many regions.
Something about the Krork in particular sets them off as the nearby Blitzkill Kroatangan Warhell attacks both the Vykondians and the Krork Fleet Communes as well as the nearby Sutaitazu, the Scrin, the Sum of All Fears, and Earth Custodianship. Under the "Joint Chiefs of Mass Murder", the Blitzkill Kroats are on a Kroatbash and are out to kill everything and everyone in proximity. Even Orks are not quite so insanely aggressive and more importantly, cruel. Whereas the Orks mean no malice, the Kroats in fact, do and relish in it; feeding off the suffering they cause to further bolster the Overkroat.
Their melee weapon shaped ships emerge from the Overkroat's Kroatfold drives that move the Kroat ships designed by the Blitzkill in the way they deem the Kroatmost; simply beating Space itself into a more convenient means of travel with the collective desire to kill of the Kroatanga. Their vessels emerge in numbers to be new fields of stars, always accompanied by the bulk of plentiful Kroatangan supercapitals such as the flanged axe shaped "Peacekiller" class Juggernauts that stretch slightly over a hundred kilometres.
Obnoxiously loud and almost ludicrously crunchy heavy metal broadcasts across all fronts as the initial Kroatangan probing Blitz starts opening fire on the first line of Krork citadel systems, many of their vessels sprouting legs and other landing strut systems to descend upon the worlds themselves and ram into their surfaces to disgorge the elements of Kroatangan bases and armies.
Wherever enough space had been cleared by the initial landers, the Kroatanga set up their cruel looking factories and static defences, power generators thrumming to life while harvesters immediately got to work with gathering raw materials. Kroatangan spores sought to creep forwards, fed on sheer violence and sadism as much as actual biomass or raw materials while they formed their fungal moss, much of it biometallic to better bind it with machinery that would start to roll out of the war factories or the troops that stomped out of the barracks to replace the ones killed in the initial assaults.
Tusked brutes and Lichenlike despoilers battled across the Northern sectors with savage violence, the Kroatanga seeming to sense that the Krork were once more like them and finding this...displeasing. To abandon war for its own sake, to regain the choice to not engage in war, to reclaim the ability to desire peace, all of these things were utterly obscene to the Kroatanga. Genocide, torture, war crimes, and sheer, unhinged violence were the game for the Kroatanga, and not wanting to play it anymore struck them as...disgusting. They had to be made like them once more, they had to get their heads in the game again, they had to become killers once more.
"You may have rejected war, but war will never reject you, maggot. Let's teach you the right way to kill again."
Nearby, the Sum of All fears that had eased upon the terror of a servile populace of mortals, deriving shape from what mortals feared went bump in the night behind their closed doors had been rolled over and replaced with new threat. Time itself had been detected freezing repeatedly, contorting at the will of the Scrin, but the advances of the Hive and the Technocyte Infestation also demanded attention. Crushing their way through large chunks of Sum of All Fears territories as they were focused on an invasion of the satellite galaxy of Seryk, these three brought themselves into general contact and awareness of the Krork as they ran into the Grand Hate and into Krork territory proper.
The Hive carries with it the mystical powers of the darkness and a corruptive, twisting influence surrounding them that defies much of what is understood to be causality, and their fanaticism brings them to war upon all things in the service of that darkness without pause or relenting. The Scrin have incredible technology and nearly matchless industry born of their mastery of Tiberium, and the Technocyte is an incredibly aggressive infectious agent that brings both flesh and metal into itself in terrifying new shape, with even small boils that manage to land upon new worlds needing to be purged to contain their incredibly aggressive spread.
The Technocyte at the very least, seems to fear extreme heat and corrosive gas, which acts upon the tiny techno-organisms that make up their body with great effectiveness, but their virulence means that similar protocols to dealing with the Devourer are put into place. Anything not specially immune is to be purged, though Orkoid biology resists being turned as surely as it does with similar plagues; the Technocyte shifts towards simply trying to devour the Krork and render them down into slurry with which they can infest more. Assets with personal shields and sealed super adamantium armour are the safest from them, and slayers are brought forth to help clear out infestations where possible, but the Technocyte can throw just about anything and everything it infects into its armies, giving its legions a frightful degree of diversity.
The Hive are eerie, and the way they fight brings to mind the forces of Chaos; particularly in how they rely on twisted magic, often teleporting directly into important infrastructure while corrupting others into their service by shifting them into dark realms or exposing them to a blight carried by sterile neutrinos. Infectious memes carrying their "sword logic" are also deployed to twist people towards the viewpoint of the Hive's endless legions, as the worm creatures feed of the violence that they enact in the darwinian contest to see who will be the last civilisation standing. There are key differences though, the Hive does not really seem to have daemons per se, nothing quite so unphysical. They have a magic yes, but it is not of the Warp.
The Hive definitely have titanic numbers though, often backed by their almighty gods who walk the material world. And they have a fondness for truly enormous ships, many as long as small planets are wide. All to carry forth their truly enormous hosts and war machines as they tear apart the universe to drench themselves in the sheer violence of an ultrafascist ideology that only the strong deserve to survive. They are in it for the pure and simple love of violence itself, a belief that conflict will winnow out everything that does not deserve to be there until only the final shape of a master race is left in the ash heap.
The Scrin are perhaps the most enigmatic to the Krork, unlike anything they've encountered before. A cult of addiction in the guise of a species, both dependent and based on Tiberium, a green crystal that they spread across the stars to harvest on a multigalactic scale to fuel an economic engine that the Multiterra alliance's records struggled to grasp. Masters of time and space and production, the Scrin casually utilise singularities as a form of propulsion and demonstrate incredibly advanced psychic powers able to override the thought processes of nearly anything to serve their inscrutable harvesting agenda. And their territory is notably regarded as virtually impervious as their core infrastructure is partially phased out of spacetime in a way that makes it essentially invulnerable.
Worsening things is their Threshold Towers that allow for en masse and instantaneous transport of any number of assets across their space, meaning that there is essentially never any flaw in their defensive. Any incursion at all into their territory will be met with everything needed to break the attackers and they can bring in reinforcements across every single instance of territory they control to allow for virtually instant reinforcement. To challenge them is to challenge a cancer that pretends to be a civilisation, a thing of industry and production whose hunger eats entire galaxies and has the patience to wait billlions of years to advance its economic agendas. A force to potentially rival the Krork's own productivity, and they were starting to probe into Krork territory.
"Oh, we never forgot how to fight. We only took the time to ask ourselves why. And here? You're not worth it, not when there are more important fights to be had elsewhere. As for what makes a fight important? That is something that you will likely never understand."
Even as the probes closed in, even as the Monsters closed in, the Krork prepared for war, prepared for war elsewhere in the galaxy, for any efforts here would be towards a singular aim: keeping their portal back to the Krork's core territory open, intact, and under friendly control. So even as entire armadas, and even a couple of stray battlemoons, left to pursue war elsewhere, even as many of the previously hired mercenaries are encouraged to lend their aid to the other warfront, the Krork prepared to hold their ground.
Indeed, even as the remains of two entire fleethordes and the remnants of a Battlemoon formation left to fight elsewhere, the remainder were reinforced, as a truly Ridiculous amount of materials of war flooded through the gate, being assembled even while still on route into everything from massive fields of grav-nova mines, to millions of defensive stations, to thousands of Darkstar Fortresses, to the materials required to construct almost countless orbital shells. Planet aver planet were turned into fortress worlds overnight even as almost each and every single moon in an ever widening sphere became host to its own internal fortress, ready to defend against almost all comers. Joining this force were a few more basic Battle Moons, just enough to bring back up the remaining formation back to full strength.(all remaining Battle Moons equipped with Warp Shadow Generators that were in this Warzone at the end of last turn are to move to the other warfront, replaced with enough basic Battle Moons to still have a full formation of five on this side of the portal)
Along with these defensive fortifications came trillions of Krork, volunteers from amongst their 'civilian' population, ready to spend their lives dearly if only to buy a little bit more time for the Krork's main fleet-migration of War to arrive and properly deal with these approaching, encroaching, Monsters. In amongst their ranks were some smaller, yet arguably even fearser kin, as the Warriors of the Keluke joined them in this fight.
And yet, even with such a small defensive goal, it would never do to sit idly by and merely let the Monsters grind you down, for that is not how one successfully wages war.
The preparatory stages were relatively simple things- each and every 'civilian' volunteer receiving as many military grade augments as they're willing to accept as soon as the Doc's are able to get to them, often long, long, long before reaching the front lines, each and every remaining Battle Moon on this side of the portal receiving their own set of World Phasers- the little things that make this coming battle all the little bit more survivable.(Doc's on proliferating out the Ironclad upgrade to the civilians('neva felt betta' is the Ork equivalent to this), Mecks on World Phasers).
The next steps were equally necessary, and maybe a bit more disheartening, as our erstwhile allies in this theatre, mainly the Mektic Commonwealth and the Vycondian Wardens, are instructed to focus on defending the peoples that are both under attack and don't have somewhere that they can more easily fall back to; meaning mainly the territory of the Vycondian Wardens, as they're in the general path of the Kroat invasion, and will undoubtedly face spillover from all of the other fronts, especially through the practically empty, completely unguarded, northern expanse of the Krork's territory in this region of the galaxy.
But even with the Krork abandoning over half(technically just half in map-terms, over half in effective actuality) of their present territory in the name of consolidating their defense, even with their present allies being trusted to hold their flank of this brewing war, even with the Krork's defenses in and around the portal growing ever denser, the Krork knew that sitting back would likely not be enough, not against these foes. And so the Battle Moons, few as they are, do not sit back in the core, instead, they range out, striking at targets of opportunity before slipping back farther into the depths of subspace, only ever emerging in full to either disgorge and then re-take on whatever fleet elements might be needed to turn the tide of the local fight back in favor of the Krork, or to work to evacuate whatever local forces can be in the face of truly overwhelming odds.(the Battle Moon formation, along with one of the two Warfleets, are to effectively start off on Advance-Envelopment-Disperse, with the warfleet and accompanying armies to work more to defend and support the Battle Moons than to operate on their own. The fact that the Battle Moons can fight from FTL due to the World Phasers is what makes this as possible as it is, as without them planetoids are only really effective on breakthrough maneuvers due to the sheer concentration of forces that said class of maneuvers imply. Even the planetoids are on Disperse in this case due to the sheer number of enemies that will be present in some way and due to the relatively low magnitude of properly equipped Krork that are deployed to this theatre.) it is only when the portal itself is under attack that the Battle Moons are to cease their 'flanking in force', as minimizing the loss of forces means nothing if the entire point of this operation falls. (the other Krork fleethorde in this theatre is effectively on advance-Disperse(to switch to Concentrating at said portal and holding there if/when the portal itself becomes under significant attack), working to strengthen the Krork's own layers of defense while still conserving their strength.)
(overall priorities are impeding the enemies advance over the Krork's properly defended territory over preserving the Krork's strength over actively destroying the opposing forces in detail, as the main killing of these Monsters can be left to the other Monsters, at least for now.)
Here the cruel calculus of warfare can be felt in full, and it is a price that the Krork are willing to pay if only to ensure that a proper counter attack can be launched at some point down the line.
(Krork forces: two seriously damaged base-magnitude fleethordes, a single full strength formation of full strength Battle Moons, Ridiculous defenses centered around the connecting portal back to the Krork's core territory that may or may not be complete yet, and five population worth of armed volunteer Krork ready to sell their lives dearly to defend their relatively recently gained new home. If somehow all goes well, the territory point containing said portal(the southern territory point of the two) will be at Established level territory development, but for now it just has 5 pop worth of Krork(now Ironclad) to reinforce said partially-complete Ridiculous Defenses. Reinforcing this is a single, if fairly large, detachment of Keluko Warriors, ready to sell their lives at a rather hefty price alongside the more direct members of the Krork Fleetcommune.)
(Krork support-actions: Docs on Ironclad, Meks on World Phasers, Warlocks in reserve to unleash some sort of massive psychic attack against the worst threat when things get down to the wire)
To the east, the Wayfaring Scourge is continuing its march and is dispatching its mechanical fleetswarms into refugee space and into wars with the Multiterra alliance and Refugee Space. The terrain once protected by the Jjaro lies under threat from the robotic legions as the machines move in swarms to darken every star and cloud every sky. The machines ignore all attempts to bargain with them, and their response to the technological advantages of their foes over them is to call upon the weight of sheer numbers. When they are stripping down entire solar systems, even drawing from stars that they surround with starlifters while dyson swarms draw out their power into the basis for their "colonial army", they have numbers aplenty to commit to the fray.
They battle with the Prethoryn Scourge and the Alghollthu's Abyssal Scourge for supremacy and encroach deeper and deeper into refugee space with titanic armadas that test the combined armadas of the refugees on a daily basis, devouring worlds, people, and minds in a cataclysm of many spheres. The fleets being brought to bear are so catastrophic that the Autobots have brought in reinforcements via Space Bridge to help calm the situation to something resembling manageability in the face of multiple, simultaneous, competing apocalyptic events.
Most would write this off as the price of living in hell when so many countries have their borders closed to those of this place, fearful of luring in the monsters tied to their prey or that they may carry some ailment that would follow them back home. So many here lived with smaller scale afflictions of the stuff of horror novels, of cursed liminal spaces, of frightful beasts that crawled in their midsts, of dreadful maladies and more that the Altrans devoted constant resources towards helping with. Yet surely the great powers could help as well, if they just lent a hand. Yet their efforts here were always token, bandaids on the bleeding sore of a lived nightmare.
It is perhaps this that they summon and guide champions to their cause, those who can help protect the innocence of those who never asked to be part this terror. For all the suffering the Altrans have themselves suffered in the Celestial War, they refused to even countenance abandoning the people of the places cursed by the Pleromites, the Monochromites, and Strangers to experience this. Even as it was grinding their civilisation down day by day, they wouldn't back away, but that didn't mean that they would simply passively accept this fate without doing something about it.
The Altrans are, due to being busy with containing the Chronotherions, the Devils, Lovecraft's Nightmare, and the Beloved of Gold, asking you to help deal with their robot problem with a reward worth three hundred RP if you can, in tandem with the Multiterra, remove all Scourge territories in contact with refugee territories within the Cosmic Relative Year. This reward will be doubled if the Prethoryn Scourge are similarly made to either stand down or back off, as the Organic swarm probes the warring galaxies from below the galactic plane from a satellite galaxy they have infested for more expansion opportunities while a chance to triple it is offered if the Alghollthus are also dealt with and driven back to Lovecraft's nightmare.
Of course, dealing with both forces in such little time is a tall demand, even with Krork technological superiority; given the sheer numbers involved. But repairing the bastion around refugee space is the peak priority of the Altrans who wish to be able to retake the offensive but are unable to do so while such massive breaches in some of their most important territories are bleeding like vast sores.
Particularly problematic is that some of the exposed refugees are also turning towards the services of Hell and the legions of Chaos to protect them. The Nurglites are particularly active, feeding on the despair of the people of refugee space who, as they lose hope, seek to drag down this diseased, rotting universe with them. They battle with the Davothian Demons familiar to Multiterra, as well as the Devilspawn of the Hells of the Worlds Aflame in a melee in three parts that fights both themselves as well as the invading robots, organic aliens, and the crafted scions of the surreal realms of madness.
New strains of Nurglite Zombies that have taken...inspiration from some forms of plague transform the infected into in essence, daemonhosts who are bound to Nurgle and think along his lines in the great Rotthink, and these diseases often leak through wherever enough people have just given up and accepted the sevenfold whispers in the back of their minds whenever the Pentagram or the brand of Zaraniel had not reached them first.
The Irregulars: four ascendant stars amongst the ranks of the Krork, these four are amongst the oldest members of the Krork Fleetcommune who are still alive. Working together ever since they first became a team back during the Eye of Terror campaign, these four have made for an eclectic, yet powerful team from almost day one; although reaching truly Legendary status is a relatively recent occurrence. Their four members are thus:
Narm, the Bardic Warlock, who enjoys slinging insults as much as he does psychic prowess. When not either engaged in or preparing for battle, he enjoys composing poetry, and has a surprisingly large following on the extranet. he has also tried composing music, and while grungy, his music has actually become fairly popular, not just amongst his fellow Krork, but amongst some humans and other people farther afield. His music is also surprisingly popular amongst Orks(a surprisingly large number of them seem to show up in the comments section of his livestreams since the Krork arrived here in this new universe), much to his embarrassment. Recently, his music has gained the ability to enhance others, allowing for them to more smoothly do whatever they're doing, even as those machines that are in range operate all the better- well enough even to allow for Klavinci's assorted creations to not fall apart on him until the appointed moment.
Klavinci the Mad Mech, the self proclaimed Master of Science, is an odd one, much closer to the ork Meks of old than the Krork's more structured Mechanics in terms of style, he enjoys tinkering with all sorts of gadgets when he isn't filling entire reams of data slates with almost countless designs, ranging from the completely impractical, to the 'this would be plausible if we had this advancement', to the positively mundane and outright out of date stuff. As for when he gets to play around with more than just his own personal allotment of supplies? The stuff he makes is the stuff of stories. Stories that usually end with the device in question malfunctioning and exploding after only partially doing what he wants them to do; but there are exceptions, ranging from mere variations on stuff that has been made before and could be made by practically any team of mechs, to true wonders that completely tilt the tide of the local battle in favor of the Krork… before fizzing out and jigsawing themselves. Recently though his creations have become vastly more stable, and he has been able to manage said semi-stable creations on an unprecedented scale relative to what he could manage before. He himself has even claimed that he might be able to make his mark on history and create Great Works of his own, ones on potentially an even greater scale than even what the Beast Set Loose has ever been seen deploying. Naturally, such claims are to be disputed, but given his recent successes the wider Fleetcommune has agreed that there is no reason to not let him try.
Champion Blazkowicz is the biggest and the strongest of the four. The only reason why he isn't a Fleetmaster is that he actively dislikes leading, and yet somehow others still look up to him and follow him into battle anyways. After all, there is something to be said for being the biggest and the strongest, and something more to be said for being the most deadly Krork that isn't effectively cheating their way around said question. Able to fight all but the strongest of the Primarchs to a standstill, and having survived a rather close encounter with Daemon King Logar in the distant past, there is no question on who would be the Overlord if the Fleetcommune somehow degraded into simple Orks. This also means that he is rude and abrasive by the standards of the wider Fleetcommunes, being far too direct even by the standards of the Krork, and being 100% unwilling to engage in social activities, focusing on this and the next fight over everything else that comes before and after it. Despite this, his social credit score is somehow quite high, as no one can question his results. Recently, his skill in Combat reached a whole new level, one more reserved for the Phoenix Lords of old than for a mere Krork.
Fleetmaster Garozane is the final member of this team of four, and is their direct leader, mainly due to being both the only one who wants said position, the only one that the other three will listen to almost without question, and the only one who can properly handle the social repercussions of the actions of the other three. Beyond being the manager of this little group, he is also the planner- the one who gets together the teams of Warlocks that allows for Narm's enhancing magic to reach far and wide, the one who gets together the teams of Meks that allows for Klavinci to actually build the wonders that his mind creates, and is the one that ensures that other Krork are in position to take advantage of the openings that Blazkowicz creates.
Spend 24 RP on acquiring both Tremzar Revolutionary Army Volunteer Corps, their priority shall be on the front lines fighting against the Three Scourges, although if they wish to send part of their forces back to assist with purging the demonic and devilish incursions then that should not be disallowed nor discouraged.
Spend 15 RP and I-9 West on acquiring a magnitude 4 force of Ogres from the Starmunch Ogre Tribe; if they are not willing to accept said territory point alone, offer them whatever territory we manage to conquer from the Wayfaring scourge that is not former Tai territory(as that was promised to be returned to them at some future point in time) and does not directly border Lovecraft's Nightmare(as that border needs to be kept secure); if they are unwilling to accept that risk, then offer them I-9 Northwest in return for them not owning the higher-than-standard-dimensions in said gifted territory, as it will be needed for future Krork projects.
The Ogres are to focus their efforts on the front lines against the Three Scourges, they shall act as the solid backbone and pushing force at the front where ourselves cannot act as such for one reason or another
Spend 12 RP on buying a magnitude 3 force of Psychotron Unlimited forces
you are to focus their efforts on the front, as we are planning on deploying some anti-magic assets to the rear, and while your abilities might be useful against the incursions to our rear, we shall need your strength at the front if we are to properly push onwards.
Spend 12 RP(11.4 rounded upwards due to decimals) on buying a magnitude 3 Origin League Free Army
You are to deploy wherever on this front that you think would best suited to your abilities, although we do think that your forces would be better suited to repelling the incursions to our rear than to fighting at the front, as it is there where your specialties are more likely to come into play.
spend 5 RP on hiring Eldar Void Raven Corsairs
Fight wherever on this front that you think is best however you think is best, be it striking out in raids/flanking maneuvers around the front and deeper into enemy territory, or providing assistance with purging the incursions to our rear. Enabling the faster redeployment of our assorted hired legends via the Webway is of secondary benefit.
Spend 5 RP on hiring the Black company(21 RP remain)
You are to assist with repelling the inclusions to our rear, for defeating the daemonic/demonic hordes and breaking the games that the Devils so like to play is not a job for the faint of heart.
Spend 3 RP on hiring the Guardians of the Light
Deploy wherever within this front that you think that you might do the most good, although please do cooperate with our local forces and don't end up in a situation where you would easily loose your Ghost unless you think that going into that situation would be worth more than the thousands of other enemies that you might otherwise take out.
Acquire the assistance of Samus Aran and Sylux
Hire Spire, the last Diamant
You three are to focus your efforts on the Incursions, as dealing with them at their localized sources is the best way to keep these civilians as safe as they likely ever will be. On any given battlefield your efforts on taking out summoners, be they locally corrupted souls or recently arrived demons. Taking out other, greater anchor points is also extremely important, and should be done on as wide of a scale as you can manage. These anchor points include, but are not limited to: Exalted Daemons of Nurgle(as they are the ones that anchor any given Daemon World to this reality, and without them said world can be dispelled back into the Warp), Hell Priests, massive Gore Nests, and whatever else might be anchoring their ability to stay on this reality. Past those your priority should be whatever else might be leading these incursions is also important, but should not be prioritized over closing whatever means that these incursions are using to enter this reality in such large masses, unless of course they are one and the same. Once the incursions are dealt with, Spire is contractually obligated to join in on the fighting the Three Scourges at the front; Samus and Sylux may join in on pushing these other foes back, but they are not contractually obligated to.
Spend 1 RP on hiring Darvageddon the Cerebromancer, allow him to study Krork knowledge
While we once again do not control you, we recommend that you focus your clairvoyance assistant brainpower and psychic might on supporting us and our allies on the front lines, acting to assist with coordination where our War Field cannot.
Spend 5 RP on hiring Sixshot
We're hiring you to do what you do best. To fight against the three scourges and bring ruination to their land. To bring destruction to where our Battlemoons(and any war planets that our allies bring) aren't and where our lesser forces are not enough.
(0 RP remain)
Present Krork forces: 3 full strength Battle Moon formations, one weakened Battle Moon formation(almost magnitude 3 in Battle Moons), one full strength base magnitude fleethorde(3rd Fleet-migration), two almost full strength base magnitude fleethordes(1st and 2nd Fleet-Migration, each at 90% strength), and two seriously understrength base magnitude fleethordes(4th and 5th Fleet-Migration);(total fleet-strength is at basically magnitude 3). Half of the present fleets(in total percentage) are to be in the front fighting against the Scourge Trio, the other half back in the depth fighting the incursions. Outside of a relatively minimal deployment to the front to ensure that the present Battle Moons do not fall and that boarding/counter-boarding operations can be carried out, the Krork's ground forces are to focus their efforts against the incursions.
Front Lines(fighting the trio of scourges):
Krork: all standard Krork Battle Moons(two full strength formations of five and a formation of three), 50% of the present Krork fleet(s), with a focus on larger vessels and ship-to-ship combat, and just enough ground forces to hold the planetoids against any remotely near reasonable ground based invasion against them and to perform boarding and counter-boarding actions; the Irregulars are also deployed here.
Mercenary: the Starmunch Ogre Tribe(magnitude 4 force, Primeris), the Psychotron Unlimited force (magnitude 3 force, Maximus), Darvageddon the Cerebremancer, Sixshot, and the Observer
Back lines/'friendly'-depth(fighting the trio of incursions):
Krork: all upgraded Krork Battle Moons(one full formation of five), the other half of the Krork fleets(focused more on enabling and supporting ground invasions), and all of the Krork's present ground forces that are not required for keeping the Krork ships and planetoids that are present at the front secure from boarding/invasion operations.
Mercenaries: The Black Company, the Guardians of Light, Samus Aran, Sylux, Spire- the last Diamant, Eldar Void Raven Corsairs, and Clan Scarvald
Allies: Ascendancy of Altra(magnitude 2 force, Ultra-Draconis)
Flexible(to deploy wherever they prefer, maybe even on both fronts): Tremzar Revolutionary Army volunteer Corps(two magnitude 3 forces, Maximus)(front focused), and the Origin League Free Army(magnitude 3 force, Extremis)(back-lines focused)
Allies: Autobot Democratic Star Republic(magnitude 3 force, Ultra), and Multiterra(magnitude 4 force, Extremis)
This war began as all great wars do, with a series of explosions. Matter evaporated into energy all across and throughout the former lands of the Tai and the territory of the Wayfaring Scourge, as large quantities of what would seem like normal Carbon, Nickel, Iron, Titanium, Uranium, and Adamantium(et alia) to all sensory implements not capable of casually seeing things on the subatomic scale suddenly started to evaporate in massive bursts of Hawking Radiation. Following this, yet even more disasters occurred, as several highly industrialized wayfaring scourge systems are thrown into gravitational chaos as planetary and stellar mass black holes emerge within them, thrown through subspace to emerge where they might cause the most immediate damage. Elsewhere, other systems are battered more indirectly, as other assorted gravitational devices, either having been planted there earlier by infiltrating teams of Commandos or actively operating from the depths of Subspace, attempt to cause moons to spiral into their host planets, stars to undergo helium flashes, and neutron stars to collapse.
Into the resulting chaos arrives even larger teams of Krork Commandos, having infiltrated their way in through the depths of Subspace and awaited their time in carefully hidden, and stabilized, dimensional pockets. From these locations, they too spread out, working to plant even more devices, up to and including planet-wrecking bombs and teleportation beacons for the coming assault. (4 RP Intelligence Operation, 'Tactical Genius' targeting the Wayfaring Scourge, targeting infrastructure over mobile forces over leadership.(roll for the severity of the resulting damage))
And yet, this was only the beginning of things, as the devastation did not stop with the success or failure of the assorted teams of infiltrators, but proceeded to only grow, as over a half dozen systems are wracked with gravitational chaos, as over a bakers dozen of this Scourge's most well developed worlds are ripped asunder, their continents shattered, their mantles spilling out to flood their surface even as smaller chunks are thrown up into orbit… then the Battlemoons arrive, and the storms of anomalous gravity do not stop, as even after all of the battlemoons have seemingly arrived, the storms do not abate, instead only intensifying over a rather unfortunate pair of worlds, the storms intensifying and growing in power even as they shake their targeted worlds into rubble, at which point two new targets are caught within these same planetoidless gravity storms having seemingly shifted targets, eventually these gravitational storms are joined by four more, then ten, then twenty, even as the existing ones are retargeted…(the rest of the Irregulars are supporting Klavinci, the Mad Mech, in the creation of his first grand scale Great Work, a Gravity-storm projection device, built in the relatively safe region between the two fronts of this warfront.(Narm is using his bardic mojo to help keep the device stable and to provide it more power, Garozane is making sure that said project is actively being constructed to the specifications of Kalvinci's plans, and Blazkowicz is waiting nearby in the defense fleet, knowing that someone will attempt to destroy said creation if they have any sense, so he is just simply waiting for that almost inevitable fight.))(said Gravity-storm generator is focusing on Wayfaring and Prethoryn worlds over Alghollthu worlds, as psychically corrupted worlds tend to be much more resistant to this sort of thing.)
Following behind these Battle Moons, taking advantage of the gaps in the front that they made and expanding said points into a proper front line, is a massive armada, nay, an armada of armadas, made not just of Krork, but of Ogres, humans, robots(of the psychic and autobot kind), and more. Where there once was an advancing wave of chaos surging for the already embroiled and heavily wounded refugee space, now there is a new front, as the guardians of this region of space make their voices heard.
Operational Strategy(Tri-Scourge front):
-Krork forces at the front are on Advance-Breakthrough(create openings at the front, focusing forces on where the battle is at its most intense and the enemy is at its strongest within the area defined as 'the front', goes heavily into the Clash phase, but includes a decent amount of Bombardment), while Psychotron Unlimited and the Starmunch Ogres are to be on Advance(steady advance over territory, defining the front and steadily pushing against the enemy, favors Bombardment and to a somewhat lesser extent Clash focused warfare), unless of course they themselves think that they would be better suited to some other operation at said front than a steady push.
- Sixshot and the Observer are to perform the same general operation as the Krork's Battle Moons, focusing on the 'hardest' locations at the front before moving onwards to the next hardest location at said front, breaking worlds and fleets and battling enemy planetoids.
- whatever forces of the Tremzar Revolutionary Army chooses to send to this front are to be on Advance or Advance-Breakthrough, whichever overall strategy they would prefer, as their Capital, attrition-heavy style of warfare would be wasted on Envelopment(Envelopment being working to flank, raid enemy supply lines, cut off reinforcements, and harass retreating- favors Skirmish style warfare, which does not seem to be their specialty)
- whatever forces the Origin League Free Army sends to this front are to focus on Envelopment, as their lack of heavier ground vehicles put them at a disadvantage in the heavy ground based fighting that is often expected at the front.
-whatever forces the Autobots send to this front are recommended to perform Advance-Breakthrough style maneuvers here, as their highly elite combat forces will be needed wherever the fight is the thickest.
- the forces of Multiterra that choose to commit themselves to the front lines against the trio of Scourges are to do whatever they think is best, as said forces aren't quite advanced enough to be an automatic shoe in for the thickest regions of this fight, and are too diverse to be easily pinned down in terms of where they would perform the best.
-Darvageddon the Cerebremancer is helping to coordinate all of this
-for what the Irregulars are doing here, see the earlier paragraph/parenthesis.
While all of this was going on, yet more forces from this tennitive alliance, joined by heroes and Legends recruited for this very purpose, are pushing their way into and through the embroiled mass that was this region of Refugee space. Here it was not a battle of maneuver and strategy, although maneuvers occurred and strategies were created, utilized, and discarded all the same, but one of heroes, legends, and the creation of mass graves, filled to the brim with the flesh of the Demonic, Daemonic, Devilish, and cultish. Clad in their fully sealed, ever self-sealing massive suits of armor, the Krork cleaved their way through mountains of slowly dispersing flesh, seeking out the Summoners, Greater Daemons, Pit Fiends, and other, even greater foes that truly anchored these incursions. Following behind the infantry even greater entities can be found, as marching Gargants and crawling Battlehives can be seen through the haze, lending their ever impressive firepower to the front. Elsewhere, massive fields of artillery make themselves known, firing not so much conventional munitions- as often such things are less effective than they should be against such foes, but paloads more focused on putting the mystic and the daemonic to the torch, as immolaetheric weaponry are used en masse, to often devastating effect; it is through the burnt out fields, often still lit with the embers of the resulting psy-seaking fire, that the Krork march, slaughtering the surviving extraversal entities even as they march towards their intended targets.
Joining them on the front lines were the Black Company and the Guardians of Light, who worked directly alongside the Krork, providing just that little bit more oomph against these extraversal foes.
Here and there other forces can be seen fighting against this foe, as armies of the Origin League, Tremzarin Revolutionary Army Volunteer Corps, and even those of Multiterra and the Autobots(OOC: assuming that forces from either of those two allies are deployed to this side of the conflict), join in this fight, but to the Krork these are but a sideshow, one that might help with this operation, but a side show nevertheless.
These ground forces were not alone though, and were not unsupported, for on high a notable portion of the space-based assets of the Krork awaited, lending their fire support against worlds not quite infested enough to become immune to such things even as they engaged their corrupted counterparts. While their presence alone is not all that notable, for where the Krork go so too do their fleets, but what they bring with them is, as Warp Shadow Generators, both the system scale generators found on the present Battle Moons, and the somewhat smaller ones mass produced almost on the spot by the Meks, can be found in almost each and every system that the Krork can be found(in this section of the warfront), making existence itself practically tortuous for these Extraversal invaders long before the immolaetheric munitions start to land. (Meks on Warp Shadow Generators)
Working practically alongside the generators, the majority of the Krork's available Warlocks gather here, channeling their might to forcibly Banish wide swaths of these Extraversal invaders back to whence they came, only pausing in this work long enough to forcibly Dispel any Daemon World that manages to get itself fully established in this region of space before getting back to their main task. (Warlocks on Banishment, to switch to Dispelling Daemon Worlds if/when it becomes necessary for however long it takes to deal with said worlds before switching back)
On worlds where the battle is won enough for their to be some moderately safe areas groundside, Krork Doctors can be found, salvaging the bodies of the (Krork) dead that are not either too vaporized or too corrupted to be worth it for spare parts, spare parts that are then used to bring new life to almost countless half-dead Krork, allowing for them to be sent back into the battle all the quicker. Elsewhere, other Krork Doctors can be seen hovering around the Krork's growth chambers, carefully administering and monitoring a chemical suite to these fungal masses, for while it is distasteful, in such a War even the newest of Krork are an important military asset, if only to free up yet more veterans for the front line. (Docs on Myriad(which is mainly what the Orks would describe as 'Itz Alive!'))
Here and there, where the extraversal threat was just a little bit too dense for even the most elite of Krork(or Guardian) strike teams to make their way through, a little bit too strongly anchored to be banished, and just a bit too entrenched for orbital bombardment to even partially work, other allies of these Krork struck out. Sallying out of temporary webway gates and flying down in vessels far too fast and agile to be simply blown out of the sky, the forces of the Eldar and of Clan Skarvald sally forth, working together to break these stalemates. At their head lies a trio of Legends, warriors and leaders practically without peer. Before them, Hell Priests die, great Gore Nests are evaporated, and even Exalted Daemons often turn and flee back into the depths of the warp to avoid their impending annihilation. (Spire, Samus, and Sylux are going to use the Webway to swiftly vaporize heads and take names where the Krork aren't enough to get the job done swiftly enough; the rest of the hired Eldar Corsairs and forces of Clan Skarvald are just there to help enable this.)
The Swarm in any other place would be considered fat and happy. It had devastated its foes, scattered them to the far winds to be picked upon by scavengers and rot. But not in this place. No, it had not devastated its foes, it had merely picked off a parasite, these Pirates of Gold. These were cast-offs, Vesma thought, wastrels picking at the scraps near the edges of the Beloved of Gold's Brood-structure, performing as some strange autonomous drone for their collective's aggression. Collecting the biomass and minerals before skittering back to their minders with their haul to grub more scraps. It had merely had much larger eyes than its sac and had gotten savaged for it. Disgraceful.
As a rule, the drones were the weakest. That the Beloved had sent its drones against the might of The Swarm and its Zerg alone was either a baffling display of arrogance and disfunction, or a portent that its drones were typically strong enough to win against those like the Zerg. That confidence was frightening, the potential threat vast. Haspyt felt stressful tremors with how little minerals were going to defensive structures. The only saving grace was that the Golden Fools had to search for outside symbionts to be truly threatening. We must expand...
The Cerebrates recognized the need to expand, and broods were sent out to colonize the territories infested by the Psar. In a fortunate turn of events the amount of territory held by the Zerg had outpaced their ability to exploit it. The Zerg drones finally had more hives to feed than there were bodies, thus it was felt the time and resources had come to ascend two more Cerebrates from glorified overlords to masters of Broods all their own. Haspyt had its Brood expanded, while the other two latched on to their own new limbs in The Swarm.
The first was Brood Onyx, led by an unusually paranoid Cerebrate, one obsessed with the potential vulnerability posed by our reliance on hives. It is the one that is so insistent on adding mobility to our hive clusters, and, though The Swarm does not have the resources to adapt to its ideals on the whole at this time, it was decided that it is dogged and detailed enough in its ideas to merit a Broodswarm of its own.
Its subordination was a vote of confidence, dedicating its time to implementing its own custom adaptations to its hive clusters, demonstrating their value through live testing, that was the way. It would convince The Swarm of its foolishness. Static emplacements would be replaced with shifting organs, the enemies never knowing enough to truly strike a death blow! larvae would be shifted through the nydus network. They would find reinforcements never arrived from the same angle twice! Camouflage and sunken hives. No hives would fall from enemies, for none would know where they truly were! No, it would be in control, it would not be found and destroyed or burned or melted or uprooted or killed! its enemies would never find it, not once!
Of course. Then there is Uzlach, the second Cerebrate, one of a much calmer temperament. It has distinguished itself as a mind prone to careful consideration. It will spend much time delaying and arraying its forces before striking like a wave, headed by large and strong heavy Zerg morphs to break down defenses before having its Zerg run rampant.
It recognizes that there are flaws in its strategy. Heavy morphs require support. They need many Zerg around them to take out smaller, harder to reach units. Mutating heavy morphs requires more resources. That means less smaller morphs. Its swarm needs more support than others. Vesma would be a good partner. It has more throughput. It could make many small Zerg. There are ways to improve its heavy morphs to act without support, though.
The new broods were important as The Swarm now had multiple avenues to scour of threats, obviously the pirates to the south, but the Strakhul to the north are significant threats as well. it is unknown how many Zerg will be needed to destroy them, however The Swarm has a potential symbiont that is already pre-adapted to their extinction. We shall send a messenger to the Silver Millennium Terran Brood-structure, along with the attention of the Psar to destroy the Brambles to the north.
For the Silver Millenium's help in the elimination of the Strakhul we shall be gifting it protection in the form of the Psar brambles, relieving it of a stressor, then informing it of The Swarm's offensive against the Strakhul, announcing our intention to help them exterminate their competitor. Perhaps we could acquire essence or examples of their emotional manipulation abilities. Kner and Haspyt are eager to excise this potential threat and melt it, drown it in all consuming pools and puddles of acid!
Further northward we are sending another messenger to the Krork Fleetcommune split off from the first. The Swarm has gathered much about them upon the Hypernet, however much of that seemed to be about a feral, basal morph called the Orks.
Though there is comparatively little information on the Hypernet of these more evolved cousins, from what we have gleaned of the Orks is that they have an ecosystem aimed towards their production, and they have co-opted their psychic sense of social cohesion to properly coordinate their brood-structure.
Their brood-structure is, from our research, based on an interesting convergent evolution of the Khala that the Protoss have, an esoteric psychic energy field unites their conscious decision making, forming a much more efficient mechanism for maintaining and enhancing brood cohesion. Thus, because they have overcome their individualist shortcomings, it should be much easier to coordinate with them. We hope to acquire their aid in, if not destroying the Gold, protecting the northern border.
To assist in the extermination of the Infesting Gold we have contacted the Xylem, a Terran Brood-structure that has made it their niche to attach themselves to others battles and appear to have a significant grudge against the Infesting Gold itself. Something we can sympathize with. We will use them in our battles against the Pirates.
It is a concern that The Swarm will not be able to use them effectively, as they are unable to replace their expended units in a reasonable time frame, meaning that it will have to be deployed cautiously to not deplete their units. Hopefully they will be vital in helping us coordinate with the other important brood-structure we send a messenger to.
We know little about The Crimson Adoration, but seeing as they are not infested by the Gold and border the Pirates they will likely be willing to assist us. After we have dealt with the pirates and have experienced the might of the Infesting Gold we will offer symbiosis and give them aid in order to destroy the Beloved! Surely they will see the advantage in this.
The largest Broodswarm we have yet to gather will be sent forth against the Infesting Gold, the combined forces of Broods Symbion, Vesma, Onyx and Utzlach will show the beloved and their drones the might of The Swarm!
In order to ensure The Swarm's Perfection against the Beloved of Gold we will adapt. In the last battle against the pirates our greatest struggle was in space. Despite the sheer size of the Leviathan morph its power is negligible compared to the ridiculous size and weight of this universe's fleets. The obvious solution to this issue is, of course, to make the Leviathans bigger. Taking the basal morphs theorized in early iterations of the Leviathan, they have been scaled up to fearsome sizes never before seen, the four species of the newly deemed Kraken morph will be a formidable addition to our space combat capabilities!
Additionally, with the focus of Symbion on the creation of the Kraken the minor cerebrates have excitedly snapped to attention at the opportunity to toy with sequences of their own. Most of this focus was put to the proliferation of the Titanocide Ultralisk, the anti-heavy specialist morph created by Symbion in the battle against the pirates, as well as the downsizing of the spine ammunition used by Impaler Leviathans to allow it to be used by ground morphs such as the Hydralisk and Artilerlisk.
With this adaptation to the expected conditions of the battlefield thought must be expended towards improving The Swarm's greatest quality. Quantity! Vesma is convinced that there must be a way to increase Zerg throughput. The issue is not, however, with producing more larvae, but having enough nutrition to mutate them! We require more minerals, we require more vespene gas, these statements haunt Vesma's thoughts constantly. The reliance on mineral and gas outcroppings to construct hives around is the single largest bottleneck inflicted upon The Swarm. Only so many drones my mine a vein at a time, only so much of the vein is available at a time, and there are only so many veins. The issue with not using minerals is that other sources are lesser in quality, the purity and ease of extraction that minerals allow are essential for the Zerg's level of throughput.
Thus the issue to fix would be the purification and extraction of lesser resources...
As to lesser resources, the Brood-structures trapped within the Psar. We will contact them, the flesh shaping of the parasites would be helpful in the creation of more versatile morphs, and the guild could likely be suborned to acquire us essence. Due to their isolated nature it could also be an opportunity to test theories of symbiosis without interference. For the Sabbat Brood-structure, we are going to appeal to their sense of survival, telling them to share their essence manipulation in exchange for protection against the Suitaitazu. if they don't we will retreat and reevaluate how to properly entice symbiosis with them. With the Guild we will try offering The Zerg's assistance in their hunting, in exchange for unique essence and adaptations.
Send a Messenger to The Krork -4RP
Plan: Send a medium force with the messenger to feel out the Krork's disposition towards symbiosis. inform them of our plans against the Strakhul and the Infesting Gold.
Send a Messenger to The Silver Millenium -4RP
Plan: Use the subornment of the Brambles in their Territory to demonstrate our goodwill, then inform them of The Swarm's attack on their enemy of the Strakhul and the opportunity our potential symbiosis represents.
Send a Messenger to The Crimson Adoration -4RP
Plan: Inform them of the mission granted to us by The Altra and our intense hatred of the Infesting Gold along with our intentions to wipe out The Beloved. Invite them to help destroy the Infested.
Symbiosis with The Parasites -2RP
Plan: Send a small military force and inform them of the threat the Suitaitazu poses to them, and request their cooperation and biomanipulation psionics.
Symbiosis with The Guild -2RP
Plan: Send a small military force to gain their aid in the acquisition of the unique essence of their planet.
Scout after the Machines -2RP
Plan: Send a scouting force to 11-h to look for this Terran Federation, hoping to find a symbiont for the destruction of the Infesting Gold.
3-Project Kraken
1-Fragmenting spine launchers
1-Incorporation of the Titanocide Morph Ultralisk
Build 2 established territories in 10a-I1 and 10c-I1 and a claimed territory in 10b-I1 -22RP
Hire The Xylem symbiotes against the gold pirates -5RP
Build heavy defenses in 10c-I2 -10RP
Build moderate defenses in 10c-I1 -3RP
Have the psar focus efforts on The Brambles in The Silver Millenium.
Attack 11b&c-I2 with Broodswarms Symbion (general adaptability), Onyx (paranoid stealth, camouflage, and building relocation), Uzlach (Heavy units) and Vesma (logistics, artillery), and 9c-I2 with Broodswarms Haspyt (defenses) and Kner (ACID!!! EXPLOSIONS!!!).
Strategy against the pirates: The most important tagma of any war is logistics. have Symbion and Uzlach focus on destroying local unit production and resource gathering operations to starve Beloved and Pirate forces of resupply, with support from Onyx and Vesma where resistance is fierce. meanwhile Vesma and Onyx will focus on stealthily infesting the sector with hive-clusters to ensure that The Swarm's enemies are never quite sure where Zerg reinforcements will come from, then, once the hive-clusters have reached critical mass, arrive with a wave of Zerg to overwhelm and push back The Pirates to the next sector. Have The Xylem assist in breakthroughs and striking down enemy heavies to more Zerg can flood the backlines.
Strategy against The Strakhul: The weakness of The Strakhul is known to be positive emotions, thus Haspyt and Kner shall play to their obsessions. Kner will be the primary offensive force, pushing forward the front line with copious amounts of the banelings, scourges and other suicide morphs it loves so much, while Haspyt then locks down the taken area with formidable defenses. All the while they shall use their psychic might to broadcast their happiness and satisfaction with their work using the overlords as beacons, hopefully damaging and demoralizing The Strakhul.
With a moment to breathe and a wider view of their surroundings, the Zerg choose to launch a charm offensive at those of their neighbours who are not intractably hostile. Launched in good faith and with not inconsiderable resources behind them, they represent perhaps the first proactive outreach effort the Zerg have ever had to undertake.
The resultant growing pains were thus perhaps inevitable, but their concomitant successes were equally more than enough reason to keep trying. Although maybe with suitable adjustments.
Receiving the Swarm's diplomacy to the north are the most powerful of the extraversal Terran factions, the Silver Millenium. Evolved Psar strains combined with minor support from conventional broods quickly strike the local Bramble, which in turn deploys its own new strains of being, creatures that can better contest the mobile Zerg on their own terms. Still, attempting to defeat the Zerg in a war of evolution is no winning strategy, and it's soon taken over.
This act of goodwill was soon followed by a messenger, which was received by none other than the Silver Millenium's ruler, one Queen Serenity. She was initially assumed to be a mid-level functionary, as befits the title of Queen, but once the error was realised it was fortunately found more amusing than insulting.
The introductions to even get to that point are lengthy, as the Silver Millenium initially view the Zerg with caution, moving through initial negotiations slowly and deliberately. However, they retain an open mind throughout, and once the Swarm's benevolence is proved to their satisfaction, they welcome it with open arms.
A deal is soon struck with regards to the Strakhul: Both sides will coordinate their forces in a joint offensive, combining their disparate strengths into a single sword hopefully capable of pushing the parasitic force back out of this universe. Things break down around the subject of symbiosis, however, and the Silver Millenium categorically refuses to partake, claiming to prefer their independence. Similarly, while they appreciate the Zerg's work in suppressing the Bramble, they formally request that it's removed from their territory. With no real reason to decline, this will be done by the beginning of the next local year unless actively contested, as the breakdown can fund itself by using the Bramble to destroy the Bramble in a somewhat more straightforward application of Psar.
-Silver Millenium diplomacy is a success, and forces will be contributed to the attack on the Strakhul in exchange for the removal of the Bramble in their territory.
Similar efforts with the Crimson Adoration do not go quite as to plan, however. The Zerg similarly launch a pruning and takeover operation on some early-stage Bramble growths in their territory as another show of good faith, but rather than reacting with gratitude, the Adoration quickly launch a counterattack on the Zerg expedition, forcing the flotilla to defend itself. Luckily, an Altaran diplomatic team is in the region, and swiftly arrives to contain the situation before it spirals out of hand.
With the respect of both parties, the chief Altaran diplomat Kyani is able to get everyone back to the negotiating table. They explain the Swarm's situation and status to the Adoration, and in turn explain to the Zerg that the Bramble in question was in fact not an external infestation but rather the Adoration's own attempt to assimilate the alien plant life. The explanation is somewhat hard to follow, but apparently the effort involved 'nature spirits' of some sort.
While the Swarm is quick to understand with the added context and equally swift to apologise for the error, the Crimson Adoration remains slightly bitter about the whole thing. Not enough to refuse diplomatic talks, but enough that the incident's shadow hangs over the negotiations.
Still, since both sides want more or less the same things, progress is made regardless. The Altran Ascendency made the same offer of support in exchange for maintaining the security cordon to all who surround refugee space, and the Adoration was already considering an attack on the pirates to enlarge both the cordon and the stream of material support headed their way. However, with fighting against the Beloved of Gold proper to their south constantly ongoing, they'd never been able to muster enough forces to do so.
While the Zerg's appearance hasn't changed that, it does mean they're no longer fighting alone, and this represents a chance for them to secure their flanks. While only able to engage in a strictly supportive role, they can lend a fleet of their own to the fight against the Infesting Gold, and seem eager to do so. They have their own history with the corrupting substance, it would seem.
Finally, they actually take the Zerg up on their offer of symbiosis, the first to do so. Their offer is as simple as it is profitable: The Adoration will ship the Zerg a hefty supply of minerals and Vespene Gas from their territory, which they mostly have no use for anyways, and in return the Zerg will supply an array of useful biological products. To begin with, these will mostly be what's needed to restart their Bramble assimilation project.
-Crimson Adoration diplomacy is a qualified success. Military support given and trading relations opened.
Next are the Sabbat. In what appears to be the beginning of an unfortunate trend, attempts at negotiation with them also begin with accidental violence. Specifically, a fleet attempting to purge the infested Bramble from their local region runs into a Zerg hive cluster in the process of being set up to exploit the local region and attacks it. No doubt they assumed it was a new creation of the Bramble's, much like the ambulatory strains the Zerg have encountered elsewhere.
They're surprisingly successful, killing several Overlords and thus setting feral Zerg upon themselves, but through the remaining forces of the Swarm choosing to withdraw they are made to understand that the Zerg are not their enemy. Or at least, not necessarily.
Talks are opened, albeit on the Sword of Caine's terms due to their insistence on such trivialities as location and time, and a great deal of effort is put into convincing the haemovores that the threat they have yet to see for themselves far outweighs the threat of the enemy right in their faces. While it's no easy task, data records received from the Altra combined with giving proof that the Zerg controls the Bramble now is sufficient to sway them, and they agree to set up their own defensive line in the west, facing out towards the Suitaitazu. While not much more than a speed bump to a serious attack by themselves, every little bit helps in warfare.
In return, they demand that the Zerg remove the infested Bramble from their territory as a show of good faith. However, while the Bramble directly in their controlled solar systems is withdrawn, the Cerebrate overseeing negotiations identifies that the Sword of Caine has very little leverage to force a broader dismantling, and that they're likely to set up a defensive line regardless for self preservation reasons. As such, the Zerg can choose between keeping more of the Bramble and the defences it provides or engaging in a show of good faith. The choice is the Swarm's.
Almost surprisingly, the request for their fleshcrafting technique, known to them as Vicissitude, is answered, as they provide several of their lower ranks who know the basics of the art for Zerg infestation. While they're clearly trying to keep their most powerful secrets to themselves, most likely for future diplomacy, this should still be enough to give the Swarm the ability to begin assimilating the technique. All they ask for in return is that a few worlds suitable for Terran inhabitation near their territory are kept clear for future colonisation. It's unclear if they realise that the amount of space requested is utterly trivial compared to the scale the Zerg are operating on.
-Vampire diplomacy a success. Access to the first 2 Dots of Vicissitude and cooperation on Suitaitazu defence gained. Decision on infested Bramble teardown in the region to be made.
Between the Sabbat and the Silver Millenium lies the Hunter's Guild. Considering they're a group that literally exists for the purpose of killing things that look vaguely like the Zerg, it comes as something of a surprise that the diplomatic efforts with them go as well as they do. The Zerg arrive to find the Guild's planet beset by its own native war engine scale fauna going on a large-scale rampage, potentially a response to the Bramble infestation, and set about rescuing the Guild from their assault, making heavy use of Guardians and Ultralisks to suppress the beasts. In the end, they're driven off, albeit not wiped out. Their power and durability is truly impressive.
Not unexpectedly, the Guild initially assumes that the Swarm are merely more beasts to hunt, although they obviously respect the Zerg as challenging opponents. However, precisely because this was somewhat expected, the local Zerg cycle out of the fight once the immediate threat of the rampaging fauna is dealt with, preventing unnecessary losses or escalation.
But as luck would have it, the Zerg aren't the only group attempting to woo the Hunter's Guild. While the local Cerebrate begins formulating a plan to open negotiations, he's contacted by a party of Silver Millenium diplomats who had been present on-world. After receiving word from their homeland that the Zerg were not hostile, they in turn relayed this information to the Guild, who were then surprisingly willing to do business with the Swarm.
That willingness is somewhat tentative, however, and they only agree to a somewhat limited symbiosis. For their part, the Zerg provide corpses of the few combat organisms that fell in the battle against the native fauna, largely smaller land-based strains. These are butchered and experimented with, and in the end the bodies of Hydralisks prove the most useful, allowing for the creation of highly effective Guild firearms, known locally as bowguns.
In exchange, the Guild provides the essence of the Chameleos, one of the most common kinds of Elder Dragon and the best creature they had available on short notice. As the name suggests, the Chameleos has the ability to cloak itself in a similar manner to Terran Ghosts and Protoss Dark Templar. A promising new capability, although one requiring a great deal of investment during gestation.
Both sides come out of the deal happy, and the Guild seems open to the idea of further cooperation going forward, both in the form of additional essence exchange and in the form of mercenary services, although as a single planet civilization they lack the numbers to be effective across a broad battle space. Still, the value of the right tools in the right place at the right time shouldn't be ignored.
The Silver Millenium diplomatic party are not idle as this deal is forged, and conclude their own set of agreements which they'd been working towards before the Zerg even showed up. Although naturally different in the specifics of what they were pursuing, the overall idea of symbiosis is similar.
However, while the Guild was open to symbiosis with the Zerg, they seem more inclined to listen to the words of their fellow Terrans, and clearly have a greater intuitive understanding of their form of negotiations. Careful study is made of these talks, at least to the degree that the Zerg can listen in on them.
Symbiosis fundamentally based around the exchange of tangible things between the two parties can be identified as 'trade', and symbiosis fundamentally based around less-than-absolute integration of a lesser brood into a greater one can be identified as the former 'becoming a protectorate' of the latter. This upgraded language will surely be of great assistance to the Swarm going forward!
As one final note, no explicit mention of the Bramble is made, as the Hunter's Guild doesn't have the interstellar context needed to recognise its scope or that the Zerg have something to do with it. For the time being, its growth has been directed away from the planet in order to undo the damage done, but nothing has been explicitly mentioned of this to the Guild at this time. They will no doubt assume that the Bramble's disappearance was simply a stroke of good fortune.
-Guild diplomacy a major success. Future diplomacy options opened, stealth technology unlocked, and Infested Chameleos available as a (flawed) vehicleweight infiltrator unit in the upcoming tactical turns. The Silver Millenium has also made ties with the Hunter's Guild, and the Zerg have evolved (slightly) superior diplomatic vocabulary by listening in.
At roughly 26 metres long a Chameleos' ability to become invisible and move silently stretches credulity for something which evolved by natural selection. Nevertheless that seems to be the case. As ambush hunters in their native habitat Chameleos are exotherms which can wait patiently for days at a time, hidden from all senses, until ideal prey wanders into range. They use electrical organs in their nose-horn and tail to bend the electromagnetic spectrum around them, and catastrophic damage to both of these organs at once (a single organ able to pick up the slack of the other) will disable their cloaking ability. Finding them once revealed can still be difficult however as their exothermic nature, sound absorbing foot pads and ability to spray a concealing mist presents almost as much of a challenge as their light bending camouflage. When finally driven to combat, Chameleos can project venom from their mouths as their primary method of attack. They can vary the viscosity and pressure such that the venom can be released as either an aerosol, a viscous jelly like liquid or as a high pressure liquid cutting beam. However even that last most powerful attack is only really effective against infantry, vehicle armour simply being too thick to cut through on battlefield timescales. Should their venom fail then they are still a 26 metre long dragon with claws as long and sharp as swords, zerg infestation has only made them more deadly in melee combat with added spikes and enhanced endurance. As winged hexapods they can fly but they are by no means effective aerial combatants, their aerial mobility should only be used to get from place to place or provide air support in areas of Zerg aerospace dominance. Never to contest the skies. Using Van Der Waals forces they can climb anything which can support their weight, which sadly is not much given their sheer size. Their tongue can extend their own body length and is fully prehensile, able to pick up and manipulate delicate objects or lift even large humanoids and ragdoll them through the air. With the exception of areas too small for them to fit they will make ideal infiltrators for the swarm, though they could certainly still be improved and optimised into proper combat morphs.
Last and unfortunately least are the negotiations with the Federation to the west, as the Zerg expeditionary flotilla arrived at exactly the same time as a small force of the Beloved of Gold. While this would normally be an excellent way to make a show of strength and goodwill, before the raider force could be attacked and destroyed the Federation's star fleet arrived at superluminal speeds, engaging both the Beloved and the Swarm. Evidently, they believed that the Zerg were a mercenary force or ally of the Beloved, and acted appropriately.
The local forces are unable to establish communications with the Terran ships, and are forced to withdraw from the area. Unfortunately, as the Leviathans were taking a heavy beating from the small but powerful ships, this is also not seen as a gesture of goodwill so much as it is seen as a simple tactical withdrawal. Or at least that's the impression the Swarm gets now that their ships seem to be considered attack-on-sight targets.
Still, the Federation most likely has numerous immediate problems, and so shouldn't go on the offensive against the Zerg any time soon. That means a second attempt at diplomacy can be made in the future, although an effort to get around the disastrous first impression will have to be made.
-Federation diplomacy a major failure, as they think the Zerg are an ally of the Infesting Gold and are acting as such. At least this means they're definitely not friendly with the Beloved of Gold.
Research goes well, at least, with the upgraded spine launchers proliferating across not just the Hydralisk morph and its variants but also to the Artilerlisk, where the new area of effect spines are expected to be particularly powerful as anti-infantry weapons. Similarly, the new Titanocide strain of Ultralisk is formalised, becoming a useful specialisation of the morph even if it still isn't a true Titan-scale combatant in and of itself.
The largest (in just about every meaning of the word) addition to the Zerg's arsenal this year is of course the new Kraken, an impressive specimen even by local standards that comes in four varieties. While more specialised than the traditional Leviathan, with the carrier strain being the most directly comparable, they do still have a reasonable degree of versatility to them, making them valuable as the new heart of Zerg naval operations. Except for the Bane Kraken, at least, and they will of course be less numerous than their smaller cousins.
-Research complete, new units and upgrades available for the Swarm.
The west is ripe for industrial development, and the Zerg waste no time in building up Hive clusters in order to harvest raw materials and convert them into new morphs of every shape and size. Nestled safely in the Bramble, there's little to threaten them at this exact time, but there are still two problems that need to be addressed.
First, the Zerg's access to resources now outstrips their ability to actually exploit those resources. Extractors go underutilised, and mineral patches lie fallow. While the Zerg can of course always spawn a larger workforce, additional Drones are of no use to anyone if they're feral. The limitation is on the Zerg's ability to actually control their workforce, as it often is, and this must be addressed if full use of their new territory is to be made.
In other words, the Swarm must spawn more Overlords.
Second, this development has agitated the Suitaitazu, and the crystalline aliens have stepped up their raiding efforts on the Zerg's western borders. While the Psar-controlled Brambles have protected the Hives from harm so far, they likely can't do so forever. Upgrading the defences of this region, or else permanently garrisoning it with military forces, should be considered a priority, lest the enemy degrade its productivity with their raiding. Or, worse, begin an invasion.
-Zerg western territory industrially upgraded. The Zerg now have more population slots than population. The Suitaitazu are beginning to attack the western territory.
With all this accomplished, the work of war begins. While defences are upgraded and new Broods are gestated in the approximate core of Zerg territory, vast fleets strike out to the north and south alike, aimed at removing twin daggers from the throat of refugee space.
The northern fleets strike at the Strakhul, and initially perform well. Kner's preference for suicide morphs prove a wise choice, as they are able to efficiently cut through the necromantic armies of constructs, summoned darkness elmentals, and lesser undead, as well as able to disintegrate the Strakhul proper, the key first step to dismantling them for good. Once this first wave makes an inroad into the enemy's lines, Haspyt's conventional forces and Drones move in to sweep away what remains and establish fortifications, from which they hold out until Kner's next wave is ready for action.
Similarly, their contentment is indeed effective against the Strakhul, their broods' Overlords able to establish psionic shields that can resist the psychic attacks of their enemy, ensuring they cannot feed off the Swarm's suffering. Not that the Swarm feels particularly great amounts of suffering to begin with.
The Zerg struggle greatly to convert these successes to meaningful progress, however. While their positive emotions are capable of protecting themselves from the Strakhul's dark magics, without a way to actually leverage them into direct psionic attacks they seem unable to damage the aliens. Similarly, this means that any death of one of the alien commanders is inevitably short lived, as their Cerebrate-like ability to reanimate again and again unless psionically purged means they simply return to battle shortly after their disintegration, summoning more constructs and elementals to do battle with.
Of course, while the Zerg lack Dark Templar to break this cycle, they do have what is at bare minimum the next best thing. Deploying not only their existing skirmisher fleets but also their reserve forces, now that they're no longer busy keeping the Bramble pruned, the fleets of the Silver MIllenium make their mark. More specifically, their force of Sailor Guardians do. Seemingly by nature they're limited to at most one Guardian per celestial body, but the definition of celestial body they use seems somewhat vague, and as an interstellar civilisation they have quite the number of worlds and moons to draw from.
Unlike the Zerg, these Guardians (also sometimes known as princesses) are more than capable of destroying the spirits of the Strakhul when given the opportunity. While this destruction does not prevent the resurrection of the Strakhul entirely, it does mean that they must be externally raised as an undead, and if this undead form is similarly spiritually destroyed then it appears the Strakhul in question is truly gone for good.
Working hand in claw, the Swarm and the Silver Millennium thus make steady progress through the Strakhul's outer territory. In the process, relations between the two factions are smoothed as understanding blossoms on both sides. The Guardians begin to see the Zerg Cerebrates as their equivalents and rough equals, with ordinary combat morphs being equated to the nation's own mechanical crystal drones that provide the bulk of their military forces. In a great victory for the Swarm's international relations, one of the Guardians was even overheard calling a Zergling 'cute'. Granted, this did not seem to be a popular opinion among her peers, but progress remains progress.
Unfortunately, the Strakhul are fully aware that the ongoing attritional conflict does not favour them, and seek to change the tide of the war. As the allied forces begin to push deeper into their realspace territory, they begin calling upon the energy gained from their suffering prisoners even more, performing summonings close to the front lines. These prisoners are stored in a vast interdimensional fortress, originating in a plane of dark magic and extruding part of its bulk into real space, from where the summonings are made.
Except there seems to be no particular reason that the extrusion must occur near the front lines at all. Certainly, it must be more convenient for the summoners, but the Strakhul are still engaging in force creation in their rear areas. It would make more sense, as far as the Cerebrates can tell, to keep the base known as Fortress Dread and its irreplaceable prisoners in the rear areas while using more disposable methods near the front.
Upon identifying the obvious trap, Kner and Haspyt turn to their allies only to find that the Silver Millenium has already thrown the bulk of its Sailor Guardian forces into the depths of the fortress.
Needless to say, the Strakhul's reserve closes in behind them, slamming shut the jaws of the trap and completely surrounding the Guardians, who are now most likely scattered across the breadth of a planetary-scale fortress and probably also in another dimension by this point.
Leaving aside the diplomatic implications of leaving the collection of princesses to their fate, if they're eliminated then the Swarm will lose the vast majority of their ability to deal permanent damage to the Strakhul leadership, and thus also lose the ability to make serious progress in the campaign. In other words, it's time for a prison break. Hopefully one that actually works as intended.
-Begin Tactical Turn: Fortress Dread. A primarily Zerg force must break into a Strakhul fortress and rescue a large Sailor Guardian force currently trapped inside. As well as the static defences present, there's also a large Strakhul naval force guarding its exterior, which must be broken through before operations can begin inside the fortress. The Zerg forces are arriving by wormhole in the outer system where the realspace portion of Fortress Dread is located.
"Guess you're right, 621. We're all tourists now."
-'Cinder' Carla, Captain of the Xylem
With the bulk of the Zerg's mobile forces supported by the Xylem hitting key targets and the Crimson Adoration's reserve fleets arriving in strength, the operation to the south goes well. Without their mercenary support, the pirates prove unable to effectively resist the initial attack, which is a straight drive south to the border of the sector. Indeed, the pirates seem to have almost expected this, and withdraw from the path of the attack swiftly once their inferiority becomes obvious to all involved.
Things even go well enough that a western swing is authorised at the advice of the Adoration, pushing the pirates out of the sector entirely and securing additional territory for the Swarm. While this does also expand its borders with the Beloved of Gold, the fact the pirates were always a mere vassal means that in practical terms the frontage remains identical.
Needless to say, the Cerebrates present expect that not all as it seems, and their allies agree. Hive clusters and defensive fortifications are quickly established on all relevant planets in preparation for a counterstroke the alliance is certain will soon arrive.
Sooner, as it turns out, than any of them had hoped for. Striking from both the west and south, the Beloved of Gold strike a string of star systems running between their territory and the southwesternmost corner of the Light Wall while their defences are largely still in the process of being gestated, and use the Exteritite still present on the worlds of the region to rapidly establish their own fortifications, although they're not quite complete by the time the counterattack arrives.
Also established along this cordon are a string of FTL interdictors, preventing the Zerg from crossing over to the other side. This is significant, because the bulk of the Crimson Adoration's forces are on said other side, as that's the side their forces initially came from. In effect, with a few exceptions of some isolated flotillas on either side of the border, the Adoration and Zerg have been cut off from each other in a blatant attempt by the Beloved of Gold to keep their enemies separated. Most likely, they want to pursue a strategy of defeat in detail.
For a number of reasons, this cannot be allowed. This line of fortress systems must be thoroughly broken and the Beloved pushed back to their own territory in order to reestablish the Altran Bastion and secure control of the territory for the Swarm.
-Initiate Tactical Turn: Goldline Crash. The Zerg have secured all Pirate territory in Sector I-11, but the southernmost TP has been counterattacked by the Beloved, who've established an impassable defensive barrier through the use of Exteritite-fuelled autowar manufacturing. Destroy this 'Goldline' by any means necessary. The Crimson Adoration is on the other side and also attempting to break through, but communications with them are minimal at this time. The Xylem is on the Zerg's side of the line and awaiting orders. Local Hive clusters are built up and available for use.
[OOC Note: Results for the Zerg Diplomacy with the Krork will be posted separately.]
In any other circumstance the offer of a ceasefire would be laughable, one more pitiful voice in a long chorus of the ignored pleas of dead and dying species. The immediate reaction is of course to disregard the message from the humans and continue the battle. Tactics were tried and tested, and could be improved. Preservation of their own forces could still be maintained, but by alternating the gravity well projectors perhaps the Tau'ri could remain ensnared while the larger Reaper ships brought their fire to bear in skirmish range. Or an adaptation of the tactics that had saved two fleets from Kroat assault already, which would doubtlessly have a better outcome as the Tau'ri were not as insanely eager for clashing as the fungal brutes...
But that touched on the crucial point which halted the Reaper's assault. The Kroatanga were coming. Not eventually, imminently. The warning from the Knights and the chatter on the hypernet confirmed this.
In a moment of unprecedented reprieve, their guns fell silent as the Reapers debated.
One side pointed out how valuable the technology of the Tau'ri could be if assimilated - not just the teleports, but their Naquadah enhanced weapons. And that was only the tip of the iceberg. If the primitives could use the mineral to boost their weapons technology to the degree that they could destroy Reapers, what might the Old Machines themselves accomplish with access and understanding? A potential Element Zero-Naquadah hybrid reactor could have incredible results. Yes, losses would be taken finishing the Tau'ri now, but it would pay off dividends.
The counter argument was punctuated by recordings of their fleets battling the Kroatanga, and the damage taken when the vengeful counter-invasion had run into their static defences. They could not afford to take major losses at this critical juncture. Resources spent recovering and reverse engineering Tau'ri technology were resources not spent expanding their forces or developing their territory. Tau'ri technology would provide an advantage, but not an overwhelming one, and they should focus on advancements which could specifically counter the Kroatanga.
The debate continued unabated until Harbinger finally made its say.
The invasion of the Tau'ri had been done as a preemptive response to the potential alliance with the Scourge and Ykantras. The Scourge and Tau'ri were both savaged, and neither would be a threat in the immediate term. The Kroatanga were. Before the encirclement, the plan to finish the Tau'ri had been to apply pressure and bleed them dry before finishing them off. That could be accomplished with subtler means. Meanwhile the Kroats remained at the apex of their strength, and could not be weakened as easily. Salvage from the Tau'ri could be used to reverse engineering their technology at a better time, but anti-Kroat methods had to be researched without delay.
The decision was made, and without further delay the Reapers withdrew from human space.
Silently, the Reapers withdraw from Tau'ri space. Let the humans have their stay of execution; it will amount to little in the end.
Taking a broader view of the situation, infiltrators report on developments in the so-called Confederated Planets of Humanity. Perhaps as a result of seeing the United Nations' weakness to Reaper ground invasions or perhaps coincidentally, the CPH have developed new ground combat units using their new extradimensional entity binding technologies. Beings of living flame encased in suits of heavy golden armour, they come in both smaller supersoldier and larger superheavy vehicle varieties, known as Seraphim and Cherubim respectively. Additionally, their most fervent religious preachers are beginning to display their own esoteric abilities, primarily focused on controlling fire and magma.
There's also rumours that they may be upgrading their conventional ground forces with their advanced technology, but this has yet to be confirmed as anything more than hearsay. Even if not, the presence of their new units as stiffeners is enough to make invasions of their worlds decidedly non-trivial.
While a mockery of themselves even by organic standards, it should be noted that the CPH remain in active contact with the Reapers, with many former infiltrators known to the newborn human state as those who helped arm their coup. Indeed, it could almost be said that diplomatic relations exist between the two powers, at least for the time being. And while no doubt at least suspicious that the Reapers will come for them eventually, they're likely able to prioritise more immediate concerns, just as the Reapers did when it came to their former comrades. They won't be an immediate issue.
Meanwhile, the Ykantras Moot in the sector has seen the writing on the wall, and is making preparations to withdraw from the sector entirely. Already nomadic, this is a rather simple process for them, and mostly consists of rounding up the few stationery outposts they maintain and stockpiling material and fuel for a potentially long journey to safety. Unless actively pinned down via military action or espionage, they will have fled the region by the beginning of next year. Their nominal allies the Scourge will likely follow, although as a less nomadic species they may take longer.
Since this will provide additional empty territory for expansion, and means that the Reapers won't have to guard their flanks in the coming battle, this is undeniably militarily helpful. However, many in the armada believe that allowing organics to flee out of easy reach in such numbers would be a fundamental failure of the Reapers' core goals and duties. Especially in the case of the Scourge, who continue to confound attempts at indoctrination and harvesting, although solutions to that are being proposed even now.
Harbinger can certainly overrule these voices, as efforts spent on keeping them near the Reapers are efforts not spent on preparing for the Kroatangan. The Ykantras in particular are liable to be forgiven, as they're incredibly numerous, even outright extragalactic. But if the Scourge in particular manages to escape, the resultant dissent could be problematic. To be a Reaper is to follow the tenets of the harvest, after all. Even if there are disagreements on what exactly that means, the core message remains, inviolate and unchanging.
Much to think about and much to be done. At least there's plenty of resources to prepare and fortify with.
Strategic Turn 4 Start
Available Resources: 214
-The Ykantras are liable to flee the sector over the course of the coming year.
-The Kroatangans are coming. Make ready.
-Stocks of Husks from the Milky Way are starting to run low. The previously proposed use of Cylon cloning tech to generate new bodies to Huskify from Turn 2 is still available. However, depending on losses against the Kroatanga it is possible that Milky Way stocks could be completely exhausted if such a cloning production line is not established.
Research Proposals
Indoctrinating the Indoctrinators: Discover the source of the Scourge's indoctrination immunity. Costs 1 Research Slot now that you have plentiful live samples.
Fishing for Jellies: Discover how to nonlethally remove a Scourge from their host. Costs 3 Research Slots now that you have plentiful live samples.
Husky: Cloning tech from the Cylons, Scourge, Fel Empire and the Reapers themselves all brought together to establish a steady supply of all current Husk types. Such mass cloning would also provide enough raw biomass to create new Reapers. This would be inefficient however and is seen as breaking the spirit of the Reaper's directives by some.
Costs 1 Research Slot.
Collecting Bugs: Alternatively the Reapers could forgo preserving their current Husk forces and instead establish a servitor species similar to the Collectors of the Milky Way. While a greater investment of resources this would let the Reapers create auxiliary space forces to assist them in battle in ways Husks cannot.
Costs 5 Research Slots.
Conduit Network: Originally proposed as a way to make boarding Tau'ri vessels easier by a think tank of Reapers, inspired by their own advanced transporters, the idea has since been expanded in scope. By placing a miniaturised secondary mass relay within each Reaper capital, destroyer, troop transport and processor Husk and indoctrinated forces can be transported safely between any environment which can sustain them. They can even be projected some distance away from the final node in the journey and, like larger mass relays and biotic charges, phase through physical obstacles in the way. However, due to various quirks of the mass effect and high energy physics most energy shield systems will block such "teleportation" attacks. While being transported to an end point without its own conduit will be highly risky and have a low chance of success in space combat so long as expendable husks are used nothing of value will be lost from failed attempts.
While a well understood theory adjusting Reaper doctrine to accommodate this and building the miniature mass relays inside current Reapers will take both time, large amounts of element zero and require performance trade offs as other essential mechanisms are moved within the chassis.
Costs 2 Research Slots and ships so equipped with conduits will be less robust than reapers without them on a narrative level. If you don't want to risk Reapers themselves then creating a new drone ship (like the troop transport and processor) to serve as dedicated conduit hubs could be done for the same cost. That would have the weakness that those conduit hub ships would be themselves very vulnerable.
Catalytic Converters: The original Tau'ri metamaterial, called Naquadah, can in its most basic form serve as a catalyst multiplying the energy released from other reactions. The most obvious use for this is to improve power generators, something so simple that the Tau'ri themselves were able to achieve it before they had even united their planet or built stellar warships. For the Reapers such a breakthrough is nearly effortless. While more power is useful for all actions the Reapers pursue, the most notable difference will be that Reapers in ground actions will no longer need to lower their Mass Effect barriers in order to support their weight.
Costs 1 Research Slot, more for the time and industry needed to refit reapers and husks in service with the new power generators than any actual research time. Unlocks more research projects using Stargate technology.
Available Sectors
-Reaper Space (4, Northwest [Heartlands, Excessively Defended], South [Industrialised, Heavily Defended], Center [Industrialised, Moderately Defended], West [Industrialised]): The Reaper's heartlands in this new reality, now under threat from the Kroatangans that all but surround them. They must proceed with caution to avoid their destruction.
-Ruin-Makers (3, North, East, Southeast): The Green Hydra rises over wartorn worlds and ruins. With the coming of the Slaughterking, Abradax Smashmaster has declared himself Arch-Warfiend. War is coming to the Reapers in one local year, whether they like it or not. He's no doubt building some secret weapon he hopes to use to tip the balance of the coming fight in his favour.
-Ether Drakes (1, Northeast): Strange void fauna that is apparently not native to this reality. Primitive but social, they have formed a basic society and are violently territorial, with an adult Drake being the size of a small moon and more than a match for even a Reaper Capital Ship thanks to their natural weapons and durability. To be engaged with caution.
-Ykantras Moot (1, Southwest): A species of nomadic organics that live a highly mobile lifestyle of warmongering and raiding, the Ykantras normally form into smaller Ordas, but the ones here have joined together into a Moot. Not covering a notably larger area than a single Orda might, they have settled it a lot more densely, albeit still in a nomadic fashion. Presently moving to resume their nomadic ways by getting the hell out of dodge while they still can.
-Unknown Space (7, All Except Below): The Reapers have not yet identified who or what lies within this territory.
-Kroatangan Space (1, South): Warfiend Abradax Smashmaster has laid claim to this territory, with the primitive local species wiped out and the primitive Kroatangans of the regions sworn to his service. Even now, new factories and fungal farms grow like a cancer across this region, letting the Kroatangans dig in and funnelling material towards the war effort.
-Confederated Planets of Humanity (1, Southwest): The former expansion zone of an outverser human nation, less settled and defended than the core territories to the west, although still reasonably so. Now their own nation, they are rapidly accumulating strength through the power of their strange psychoactive metamaterial. Foolish, but still dangerous.
Unknown Space (8, All Except Below): The Reapers have not yet identified who or what lies within this territory.
-United Nations of the Tau'ri (1, Southeast): A human nation from an alternative Earth that has expanded out into an interstellar federation. Currently recovering from their devastating conflict with the Reapers, they are no longer an immediate threat.
-Unknown Space (7, All Except Below): The Reapers have not yet identified who or what lies within this territory.
-Warzone (1, Northeast): A mix of newly arrived Tau'ri settlement efforts, remnant colonies from the Fel Empire that have since declared full independence since their master's' fall, and invasion fleets and raiding parties from the Scourge, alongside a few unfortunate local powers caught in the crossfire. An absolute mess, vulnerable to intervention, although at this time it is unclear who, if anyone, will gain the upper hand if the sector is left to its own devices. Although with the Tau'ri and Scourge withdrawing to lick their wounds, probably not their now largely abandoned colonies.
-The Scourge (1, East): Having arrived here in the aftermath of a Ykantras Orda passing through and clearing out most heavy resistance of the region, the Scourge seems content to focus on rebuilding for the time being, as they've discovered they cannot fight the Reapers head on and their allies have effectively abandoned them in one way or another. They're most likely preparing to evacuate the region.
"That ridiculous jagged bludgeon despite looking like a Monkeylord acts the furthest thing from the old spiderbot. It and the Monkeylord's actual successor are fast and cheap experimental meant to be rushed from a tier three engagement and are used for assassinations or as a surprise. That Tier five monstrosity has all the subtlety of a Nuke, is completely unaffordable if you were producing tier 4s and was meant for fighting other things in its weight class or hiding behind Bubble Crabs."
Ivan nodded as he stood listening to the conversation between his friends and another commander that Ivan suspected had started drinking a good while before Ivan's group had arrived there.
Each of the Nodes had their own traditions and peculiarities around where the most active gathering area for celebrations. Nell had dragged himself, several of the operation technicians and what looked like the entire the engineering and maintenance corp and several other commander teams to the Red Skulls' favourite place, the bar.
This seemingly post-post party that Nell and Tie were holding was located in one of the better bars of this enclave of Red Skull node. It was neat in Ivan's opinion, bits of history displayed on the walls of Skull exploits and particularly productive raids, he noted the name Bagby popping up a number of times for the last stages of the war. The decorations were a mixture of ancient time pirate memorabilia and symbols of that time like the jolly roger. A few Cybran manufactured UEF and Aeon supply crates stacked with what used to be great luxuries, fresh fruits and vegetables, animal products and a few branded beverages that Ivan suspected were actually 'pirated'. Staffed by a single bartender and about five proxies serving drinks and foods to the patrons.
With the bar's mascot popping in and out of the crowds being an oversized Mole that Ivan was sure was the current bartender's childhood pet, that was equipped with a couple of Nanolathes for helping clean the place, sensors to monitor the blood alcohol levels of the patrons and an unknown device that was probably a crowd suppression weapon to end any brawls quickly and decidedly.
And most importantly a large Pirate hat.
Nell broke through Ivan's thoughts on the setting, "The Monkeylord is named the way that it is because it LORDS OVER THE MONKIES! Back when it was first let loose t3 meant Harbs, Loyalists and Titans and it was even able to take on GCs with equal mass put into them. That spiderbot was the pinnacle of assault design back in the day. The Mark 3 is a return to form I say! Tie you agree with me!"
The small man looked at her with an eyebrow raised, Nell wordlessly switched tactics, "Ivan, you work with the old war heroes and aging important people dodging retirement. The big 'un deserves the title."
A nervous laugh briefly escaped from Ivan, "I have to say that took my training a couple of years after yours did Nell. However, my brother was recently unleased back into the universe. I could forward your query if you think that is the best use of his time."
The Drunken newcomer seemed to put a few thing together with his facial circuitry only barely outshining his face as the still functional AI portion of their brain started looking for an escape plan.
Ivan waved them off, "I should get going anyways, I haven't yet congratulated our newlywed yet."
"Ivan if I can't catch you using your name on Life and Death Trivialities, I'll get Mel's dad to back the cause!" Nell shouted as Ivan bowed and left.
But not before he heard Tie mention, "Might be wiser to get the general to endorse your opponents' arguments instead."
Ivan strode towards the bustle of activity near the actual bar where at the center of said bustle sat an odd-looking Proxy. It still had the distinctive pyramid shape with the longest point facing forwards and the six lights that formed the machine's eyes. But the body was scaled down compared to the military or engineering variants, more in common with Coalition Humanity baseline. The claws were replaced with a black rubber looking materials that were copies of human hands, and said faceplates had a number of lights that could be used to communicate and function as face circuitry.
Foil had really put a lot of work into such a custom model.
"Thanks Steve, once again, no, rats do not get up into the apartments or civilian areas of UEF settlements, so if we get a Mole, it will not need a death laser put on it. And I doubt that Mel would apricate attaching said death laser to a cat as a compromise. But I thank you for the suggestion, and I am sure that Mel will love the gift you got for us." The Support Commander if Ivan remembered correctly looked like he was going to press the issue a little bit farther before he saw who was next in line.
"Mr. TOTS' younger brother!" Ivan was familiar with the nickname that the elder clone had acquired but something was off with the man's reaction, "You didn't hear that name from me!" the man said frantically as he scampered off, to Ivan's befuddlement.
"Coming to the rescue again, eeh, Ivan?" the Foil-bot said with a tone of tiredness that Ivan was not used to in the normally confident leader of the little friend group.
"The reverse actually, Nell was trying to get me to take sides on a particularly controversial topic." Ivan supplied.
"Was it work or whether the new guy lives up to nostalgia?" while the head tilt was towards the bartender, which was returning the side eye with his own, Ivan didn't need any additional processing power to guess the hidden fears in the question.
"Nothing like that, just nonsense about giant spiderbots. But speaking of things I first wanted to congratulate you on the Wedding and I wanted to check up to see how 'you' were doing." Ivan while officially keeping his hands and more importantly, The Doctor's, out of the Proxy debates, knew that the ethics and morality of it was … complicated. A bit more complicated than even the politics that were set to be the focus of most of his own life.
As the machine's head dipped down and the muted patterns on the faceplate, Ivan's guess was correct, "You know, its going. I hoped that I could put the love of my friends and everything that they love about me without… you know. But it seems like I lost the coin toss, and I am here. I should be relieved that I wanted to make sure that I felt everything while keeping those knuckleheads safe." Foil's, and it truly was Foil's, revelation sat uneasy in Ivan's gut, "But this is what I wanted. To be in two places at once. I just need to make sure that all of them are going to be alright."
Ivan nodded as he sat down beside the man, "Well, between Father showing up for it back home and some useful programs for sorting out Fletcher's fanboys, I think things are going to be looking up for you two back there. And we will make sure that they are alright no matter what we face here." Ivan neglected to mention he had added some contact information of people that he knew could help. That would be a pleasant surprise and to help build a support network should the worse happen. Maddox could also use a more interesting life.
Foil raised his head back up, "Thanks for that, I just want to say even with everything I do not regret my decision. Although I will admit that I am looking forward to syncing everything back up in a couple of months."
A few chirps in binary drew the attention of everyone in the establishment. Causing Foil to laugh, "Well, off to rescue said knuckleheads from the Captain. Thanks again for looking out for us."
Foil seemly swivelled his seat and moving at more than a brisk walk towards the developing situation.
As said noodle incident continued to develop a smaller framed figure slipped into the just vacated seat.
"Lucky that we live in such a small world isn't it, Ivan?" The younger woman said.
"Honestly I suspect this was somebodies indirect way of telling me something, Cal." Ivan remarked to Cal345, the operation technician from the Weaver conflict.
"The name 'Operation Artifact' only comes up a couple of times in reference to the Blacksun conflict and the end of the infinite war. Even with your credentials, there isn't any data connected to it except a single casualty, Mach, my Uncle that died before I was born."
Ivan looked a little bit disappointed,
"Buuut," she added, "My mother knew that Mach was headed for a deep op in Aeon territory, smash and grab mission."
"And given the context of Guage's hint that is connected to a piece of tech that allowed a large scale infiltration. With my Brother early in his career. Most likely to do with QAI." Ivan mused.
"But why? We already know that the over use and incorporation of unknown Seraphim technology was the cause of it turning on every one. Why hide it?" Cal finalized the thoughts running through both their heads.
As they wondered a flurry of notifications of increasing urgency began screaming for Ivan's attention. The amount of which and the lack of access from an unsecure location was only parallel to the firing of the Moonlight installation and the opening of the portal.
"Are you okay?" Cal asked with a look of worry and concern at Ivan's sudden wincing.
"Yes, I am fine," Ivan got out, "I have to go. Redfog found something. Something big."
The Coalition Center at Moonlight was modelled on the facilities that were built during the darkest times just before the formation of the coalition. Grey utilitarian building similar to UEF designs but on the surface even more drained of personality and built to scream WE ARE NEUTRAL to those that walk their halls but underneath were a Frankenstein Mishmash of all three factions infrastructure.
But it was known, tempered and most importantly tested against minds of great technology and intelligence.
The lights of the Moonlight Portal danced, hinting, and promising the safety and peace of home as Ivan waited to enter the conference hall.
The benefits of technology, power or position and knowing your tools inside and out was known both when and sometimes more importantly when not to use them.
Such as now.
Ivan alongside several other important people of the Cybran Colonies, an Elected representative of the new 56th, an influential member of the Imaginarium, experts from both the Chimeras and Starlifters entered the conference hall from one side as the Aeon delegates did so from the other taking their seats.
The 'Hosts' for the meeting and the three seated on the third side of the table were three older men, the youngest, Colonel Rogers, Ivan knew as a decorated war veteran from the Seraphim War. He bore a particularly ridged posture and despite his attempts to hid it, uncomfortable to be around so many people of a higher rank than himself. Beside him was Admiral Duval, looking skinnier and almost beaten down by the years and the event that he had seen. Almost being a key operative word here as a steely gaze with a note of bitterness peered out over the scene.
And where was the third?
"Greetings, it is so good to meet everyone in person! It is regrettable that it has to be under such unfortunate circumstances, but we are in wild and uncivilized lands."
Governor Greer, who Ivan noted had a son who was one of the UEF commanders that were among the Colonists, had gotten up and greeted the Cybrans each in a friendly and more informal manner.
A little more informally than how strangers would actually greet each other, but actually quite accurate to the customs and institutionalized counterculture of the Nodes.
As moved back towards the Evaluators and greeted them with the appropriate prayer, Ivan's approval and apprehension was growing. He exhaled to calm himself. They were all allies here and there was bigger issues to go over.
As Ivan sat down he noted the bodyguards all eyeing each other up in the subtle but still childish performances, Proxies decloaking, UEF personal with old Asian style swords slight movements of the eyes and the Exorcists sitting down on the floor meditating.
Ivan managed to hold back his eye roll as he went over the tools and objectives that he had. The data and notes for himself
Primary
Ensure the safety of the civilian populations (and Sophonts in general) that have arrived under Coalition Care
Ensure the defeat of the Omniswarm
Organized a united Front with the UEF and the Aeon against both factions of the Superdirectorate
Ensure that the Colonies would have more space to expand in as colonists (adventurers) would have more room to move into than for a single year.
Avoid a conflict and embarrassment between the colonies to keep relations clean back home
Secondary:
Create a secure position if an emergency occurs in the Milky Way Galaxy and the Nation as a whole needs to evacuate (Side note might not be possible due to the concentration of peoples here)
Acquire new technologies and experienced Commanders to help fuel and grow the Cybran Nation here and in the Milky Way Galaxy
Assets
We still have a year to get ready with a full load of colonists able to move into prepared spots, New territory can be delayed
Connections with peoples from a failed human centric polity called Desmondu, A Human unification project, The UEF and even the Flecherites will be extremely interested. Whether in wishing to participate or use the House status to declare the Coalition the true successor to such a project could be useful and something no UEF general or politician would want to give up
The Aeon colonies need space possibly immediately so if territory can be secured elsewhere, concessions could be extracted here
The Superdirectorite unit roster and reputation puts them as more hostile and vicious than what anyone would be comfortable with.
Messenger while have not done anything too horrible yet in comparison to the other Corporations is much more likely to attack Coalition Forces and the Aeon's uneasiness with cybernetics and uploads plus the millennia of UEF anti Brackmann propaganda can easily be directed at this 'Messenger'
That there is probably some hidden agenda to the Uploads, evidence being the extreme response to the relatively light prodding that Redfog did (Note leave Redfogs name out of it with the Aeon, her predecessor's attempt on the Princess as a child is still remembered) and the focus on conversion instead of upgrades and more sensible timetables indicated that Immortality is not the main objective of the Taught. Hypothesis: Large scale Loyalty program modified to allow personality to avoid Machine Complexes.
The huge amount of the one resource that really matters to the developed coalition economies, population, that will be up for grabs with should a successful war with Superdirectorate occur.
As they sat down Ivan felt a number of hidden sensors and numerous other applications whirled in Ivan's vision displaying information on every twitch, pupil dilation, sweat gland composition and numerous other invasions of privacy.
Honestly it was probably more information than what commanders took in during combat.
Ivan took a deep breathe and ready himself.
Here they go again.
"He will not be denied again."
A menacing Machine stared at the deformed metal that used to be current title holder of Redfog's arm.
The streets were starting to sound like they did when she first met the man that would define her life, her death and bore the same title, name and curse.
The Burning of Earth from the Black Sun invasions by the Aeon and Cybrans had forced everyone into a panic as people tried to escape as the towers that had been the UEF had their foundations of sands finally start sinking.
Strength fades eventually, the strong survive.
She turned her head back towards the door out of her quarters. The fact that she could simply print new limbs and the repairs were so much simpler compared to an organic vessel was one of the few benefits of he new life. In total it had taken her a couple of hours to fully repair her physical form. Although now it felt slow in comparison to how fast her opponents could recover.
Said Proxy physiology had probably saved her life in the duel with that flippant insect. A powerful tool but a tool the Taught assassin remained. There was bigger game on the board now.
She had lost everything by the time the Seraphim started bombing her home into the grey rubble that the final battles to drive back the aliens took place on.
She had been the only one to survive, but not for much longer had those two thugs had caught up with her after she lit their pack leader on fire, and then stabbed their other friend with a broken bottle, and a third friend she had torn up with a quick trap she had set up.
But without a couple of thrown handless knives she would not have survived past her adolescence.
She emerged once again into the place that she had won that had transformed once again. Walls had been knocked down and expanded to make room for the new assets and forces that Ivan was feeding into her and her handler's hands.
She noticed that she was now going unnoticed in the commotion that the Messenger's actions she watched as Proxies, Commandos and the new Aliens and brightly coloured Humans took careful notes on the painfully edited duel with the assassin. Luckily for her secret most disabled power armour is similarly useless as an EMPed limb.
The other screens were a rapid changing showing different scenes of Superdirectorite Duellists struggling and often failing against the Taught's equivalents. Desperate last stands by Patriot clone lines and numerous favourite Hobbyist commanders had been resleeved multiple times already.
She was familiar with the change in tone and final parts of this song and dance.
Striding confidently towards the home theatre turned into a briefing and staging facility.
"Okay, a reminder for everyone, especially the our new volunteers, that have been doom scrolling instead of keeping up with the reading that we have been assigning to all of you, these are engineering units, tier 1 through 3 and the proxy variant used for ACU or civilian maintenance. These units have a function that is colloquially known as capturing. Capturing involves reclaiming and replacing certain parts of the control system of units…"
With her attention fading as the briefing went into more details about the targets, Messenger Cyberweapons to keep groundside armour superiority for when the Coalition draws it attention and might down towards this war. The conversion facilities to gain an excuse for Ivan to wield the entirety of the Coalition like a hammer and to make the Super Directorite fight like their very souls depended on it. And finally, the Servers that they had been looking for all this time, to be used to play and tilt this war and make it as long as possible against the stronger foe they faced here.
If she could smile she would be grinning.
He had always ranted that his true foe was fate itself. First it was Marxon, who had truly in his estimation was the Avatar of the Infinite war. Moralistic hypocrites building upon controlled ignorance. Redfog Haunted his steps till the very end. Then Fate had denied him his victory with the appearance of the Seraphim and he had taken her in. Brought down by the hands of others he had sealed himself away till a true foe would appear.
He had taunted her with the knowledge that she would always be denied the war that she craved for just as he had been denied final victory.
This Messenger seemed to be different but not quite what he was looking for all these years.
Fate seemed to have denied the man who had finished raising her yet again.
A message and a permission greeted her mind and she interrupted and froze the entire facility by unleashing a cackling laugh.
She was getting close to finding the hand that held the pen.
A three dimensional holographic screen sprang to life before the soldier known as the Tip of the Spear as well as a multitude of screens representing other Nodes' leadership, Commander squad leaders, as well as a few representatives of the allies both new and old that were made over the past couple of years.
'They all look too young for this.' Ran across the old war veteran's mind as he checked to make sure that everyone was here, properly connected and most importantly informationally secured.
He never liked being on the speaking end of these briefings,
"Good evening, everyone, we all know why we are here but there has been a change of situation that needs to be factored into our plans."
A number of bright dots coloured a light brown and the other a black colour were the first to be highlighted, "Recent discoveries by our operatives have found that Messenger incorporated is a front for an unknown but expansionist entity that appears to be hostile to all life not under its control, wielding advance technology of unknown design. For now, it appears contained as the same operatives have managed to start a war between said front and the smaller corporations. We expect that messenger will defeat said corporations fairly quickly but should buy us time."
This time a number of dots red, blue and green were highlighted, "Ivan is currently negotiating and coordinating with the UEF and Aeon colonies for presenting a united front and to take the fight to both what remains of the Super-Directorate and Messenger incorporated. You should have noted in the packages that were forwarded that these forces are build with offensive operations in mind and that we will most likely need numerical supremacy to over come them."
The Colours shifted yet again, the red remained highlighted but was now joined by the Orange representing the Minor powers, Grey representing the Omni-Enlightening Swarm, Pink to represent the SDC and the purple representing the Merendi Imperium, "We have to finish on our current major front before opening another. The Omni-Enlightening Swarm also called the Omni-swarm, are a faction of exact metal copy clones of a singular individual that believes that due to their intelligence that they should be the only thing in the universe."
The Spear paused for a moment as the others muttered amongst themselves, mostly trying to put together the narcissistic personality of such a being or making undisciplined but accurate comments about the maturity level of this being.
"They have been preparing for a larger invasion of the larger region for some time, with Ivan and a cohort of our commanders fighting and defeating Omniswarm forces last year in Alliance territory. We expect that they have 4 more fleets in operational condition alongside the remains of the attacking force, potentially we could be facing up to 4 additional fleet if the Omniswarm pours all their resources into raising combat forces."
The screen zoomed in on the Omniswarm territory, "Given the defensive posture that the Enemy has taken we have two competing objectives.
We need to preserve Commander lives while taking fortified positions,
We also have a time limit of approximately a year.
Our advantages are that the Quantum Gate is a much more manoeuvrable FTL system that can allow us to by pass traditional defenses both on the strategic and the tactical scale, the nanolathe makes our forces more disposable than everything except for the Drones used by some of their experimental weighted units, and Commander Guage has managed to infiltrate their networks with bait that was taken during their previous assault."
The Screen shifted to show battles between Omni-swarm and Cybran units, flicking between important variants including Omniswarm commanders, Super soldiers, Direct and indirect ground devices, and the final battles with the fleet.
"OmniSwarm designs revolve around a Doctrine of a few high quality and large scale units with unique capabilities. This gives them a great deal of concentrated force at specific points but means that they struggle to cover everything and difficulty to responding when caught out of position. As such the Omniswarm has fortified their position and will be focused on building up their forces till they can make a concentrated push towards something that they deem to be vital. In our case most likely the Moonlight portal. We are not going to let them accomplish that."
The Screen pulls back to the map with several Cybran, House Tacitus-Raiden and Alin icons appearing near the border regions alongside Omniswarm icons, a mathematical expression equivalent to a standard variable, with humanity's equivalent being X, "Our job will be to be aggressively raiding the front lines of the Omniswarm while building invasion fleets of our own, our primary objectives during such raids will be the attrition of Omniswarm assets and war materials. Ships, ground units, vehicles, ammunition and supply stockpiles. Keep them constantly under attack in these regions to keep their numbers down, defenses mapped out and military units concentrated on these boarder regions. We should be able to gain a tonnage superiority and if we are clever remove the most powerful and difficult to make assets from the board before we make our move."
The screen changed again with the symbol for a QAI node appearing at the center of Enemy territory and a number of Aeon Symbols appearing at the southern boarder pushing in. Finally, several Cybran icons appearing in Omniswarm territory just behind the boarder region from the Merendi Imperium,
"Once we reach a critical mass or simply run out of time, the Aeon will begin their direct invasion of the territory. They have requested the territory and one of the conditions is that they will be the primary assault force, attracting the main part of the Omniswarm's attention. While this is happening cQAI will cut off a number of worlds near the front furthest from the fighting from the Omniswarm network. cQAI will be running a multiplanetary deception program to make things appear that nothing is wrong while myself and several of our more aggressive Commander gate in and take a series of worlds rapidly followed up by a few of our defensive and economic specialist commanders.
The others and I will form the Tip of the Spear and make a drive toward the heart of the Omniswarm, the follow up commanders will be holding the line, finishing off remaining defending Omniswarm forces and supplying a rush of orbital units for helping get a foothole in systems where defences and infrastructure are too dense to gate in safely.
This stratagem for those that know their history was the same one deployed to get Cybran Forces to Earth at the end of the Infinite War. It relies on proper Intel and above all speed to work, enemy worlds will have to be quickly disabled and military forces neutralized. This does not mean destroyed but unable to disrupt our assault. However, due to the Omniswarm's own homogony in both form and thought Strategic weapons are permitted and collateral damage is not consider an issue.
Hopefully, we can make it to almost the capital of the region before the Omniswarm notices but when they do we expect that this will be the moment that the defending fleets will try to abandon the lines to try and stop us."
The Screen showed Omniswarm icons moving towards the new threat, "It will at this moment that the forces that we have been building up will move in, either Forcing them to man the fortifications and let us assault the center of their network or allowing us to move past the fortifications with minimal loses and fighting the Omniswarm fleets on equal footing and surrounded."
The map faded away and the primary screen focused back upon the Tip of the Spear, "We must both prepare and accomplish this operation within a year to be ready to pivot to other threats in this galaxy. Commanders will need to inform their superiors to what tasks they are most comfortable undertaking with those that wish to perform the initial assault with myself will need to be coordinating and practicing together.
Further specific briefings will occur during each stage of the operation and depending on your role.
Good luck Commanders."
Orders:
Quiet words and thanks 4 RP : Contact the SDC and give them thanks for the volunteers, we will be making use of them for civilian rescue and protection during next turn, a matter that we want to discuss with them is cQAI an artificial intelligence that Guage unwisely created. We are looking for a home for it where the machine will not have to deal with the prior reputation of what the forked intelligence did. Include a light warning that while this iteration is from a version several updates before the original's betrayal, it could have hidden programing or become a vector should the original appear.
Colonies of the Coalition action plan 16 RP, Ivan Brackmann:
At Coalition Facilities at the Moonlight portal The leadership of all three Coalition Colonies will be discussing a strategizing for how to move forward into the future.
For the Aeon Request for the Omniswarm territory, Ivan will permit it if they take a center role in the battle plan to crack the system, role is defined below, permit Alien traders that are working with the Cybrans free passage, share all technologies discovered during the conflict with each other and support for the coming war with Messenger.
For the UEF, Ivan wishes to trade permission to start settling subsector O-6 Northeast next turn for several guarantees. For first and biggest of these are to connect the UEF to the Tacitus-Raiden, the Desmondu project would be of enormous interest to the UEF as a whole. With hints towards the Governor that working with or getting the coalition labelled as the primer Human power within the larger Galactic society would be setting up the Governor for a run for president on similar credentials as President Hall back home. Also backing for the UEF to be the main representatives should the Coalition join the Parliament of Nation, If pressed for more offer tech for Native FTL for their ACS supercaptials.
Finally, the Meet will focus on the Colonies cooperating to deal with the Messenger and the Superdirectorite in general. Figuring out what supports and Forces that each faction will be able to offer as well as any knowledge about the situation that they uncovered. The meeting will also go over the territorial aspirations and the rebuilding once the fighting is done.
Opening Trade with the Minor powers 4 RP
Now that the fighting as ceased the Cybran diplomats will once again try and see if the Minor Powers would be open to trading goods for access to Cybran technology or things that a nanolathe using society can produce in bulk. Cybran traders will be looking for more unique or harder to manufacture goods such as exotic foods, unique devices or stories and entertainment.
Allow Colonists to enter through the portal:
From steady stream of Colonists trait add 8 pops to P6 East territory
Raids on the Messenger: 16 RP , Tacitus-Raiden Ltd spec ops: Numerous commander teams and hired Tacitus-Raiden teams will conduct a series of raids on Messenger positions, combat forces and facilities. There are two main objectives here, capture or otherwise procuring the Messenger variant of the Trojan Cyberwarfare vehicle and the Scrambler missile system, if these weapons can be rendered ineffective the Messenger will have to rapidly design or start manufacturing units to compete with large scale Expimentals.
The second target are the conversion facilities for creating the Taught, here we are looking for the data concerning the upload processes, while we are specifically looking for loyalty program equivalents there are some wondering why the process is destructive to the original biological neural systems.
We except heavy resistance and differ to Redfog and other experts opinion on how to conduct such missions. We do have a preference for Stealth so that any released information will have an improved penetration and believed by the remaining Superdiretorite forces. But If necessary, all weapons are pre approved including ACU deployment to complete objectives.
All your Stonks belong to us: 16 RP, Tacitus-Raiden Ltd spec ops, Redfog: Using Redfogs credentials and the general chaos occurring to finish located the main servers that run the Superdirectorate Stock Markets. Cybran and Tacitus-Raiden spec op teams will infiltrate said facilities where engineering units of appropriate types will insert control mechanisms or viruses that will allow the Cybran Nation to control, monitor manipulate the activities that these supercomputers are performing. Apparently, Messenger and the taught are still using them for an unknown purpose.
Once we have control and a sense of how to do so without getting the entire thing shut down the activities will split into two.
For those under the control of the standard S-D forces use them to drag out the conflict between the Messenger and the original corps. Windfalls and a bubble for those that decide to fight instead of run. Given the expected lifespan of the system of about a year and the lack of such systems even in the UEF, longevity is not a major concern.
For those in Messenger territory or expected to fall shortly into Taught hands the spyware will be more set to monitor the situations and activities they are performing while attempting to remain as quiet as possible.
For the ops itself expect normal Directorate opposition and heavy Taught security, stealth and secrecy are paramount here for the controls to be effective.
Can you hear the People sing: 16 RP Continue building the Underground railroad as people will be fleeing the now actual civil war. The major change that will be occurring here is that agents will be armed and provided equipment and training for combat and evacuation, particularly in evacuation guard fashion in delaying and gating out civilians. We do not expect them to be able to fight the Taught openly but to reduce the people that fall into their clutches. Misdirection and false leads will be the order of the day to try and try to keep them alive and the Taught away from civilians.
Counter intelligence- 8 RP
Nodes will be made aware of two main actors that could be attempting to infiltrate either cybernetically or from within the refugee populations. We expect that the Omniswarm will try again to hack into cybran systems particularly Military communications as it believes that the main purpose of cQAI is to do so. The Second is that the Messenger is aware of the Cybran interference of the being's own plans and presumably the similarity between the twinning process or the creation of a proxy to the Taught's creation. Watch for accessing of data from both the refugees and other vectors on Cybran neurological data or military systems.
Scouting 4 RP: Cybran Forces will examine sectors North, Center of O6 and South of 05 in preparation of moving into O6 Northeast
Snooping 4 RP: The Octarine and Merendi Imperium are fighting over something, try to figure out what it is or at least who is winning and what their broad stratagems are.
0,1 Rp- Anti-Interdiction Gates with attempt to solve the infinite energy problem by combining the methods of anti gravity with the research being done to reverse engineer the interdiction devices, would theoretically allow us to distort and untie the wall projected into the Quantum Realm, either in the realm itself or its connection to real space.
4,9 Rp- The Cybrans will continue and complete reverse engineering said device to be put on a Field emitter like the Cloak and Stealth Field and to be put on a Nanite Harpoon capital ship weapon for a later project.
16 Rp- Negotiating the Battlefield: While not much salvage was left of the Ironcrab (and none of the Laser Behemoth or White Death) enough in depth sensor readings and general salvage from the campaign was taken that Cybran scientists are confident that they can replicate a slower version of the miniaturised jet/rocket and energy shield systems of the Ironcrab. While these would no doubt be expensive in terms of energy, matter and time to construct with nanolathes once they are understood they would give even Evacuation Guards far greater protection and manoeuvrability on the battlefield. Indeed the flight systems might be more dangerous to the evacuation guard than the enemy if not paired with improved training.
Note: Evacuation Guard power armour will be focused on shielding but keeping a fast paced construction time as they are meant to be alerted, constructed and fighting within ACU combat time frames of minutes after detection.
A heavier version will be penciled in for Underground use and militia stuck in heavy fighting.
2 Additional mag 1 Warfleets 20 Rp
14 RP set aside for repairs for upcoming military activity
Tacitus-Raiden Ltd Spec ops-8 RP
Tacitus-Raiden Ltd Warfleet 16 RP
The Emirate of Dark Glass contract 4 RP
War with The Omni-Enlightening Swarm: 4 RP, 4 Mag 1 Commander Cohorts (Beta, Gamma, V-beta, V-Gamma), 2 mag 1 Tacticus-Raiden fleets, 1 Mag 2 Emirate fleet, Legend Guage, Legend Tip of the Spear-
For the Combat with the Omni-Enlightening Swarm the strategy is to be in two parts
The initial one will be focussed on attritional Warfare through near constant raids. With a focus at degrading Omni-swarm capabilities while preserving our own
Variants of Raids are
Commanders gating in, hitting an initial strike, Strategic scale weapons or full base and then fighting a bit of attrition against the response and then gating out well before the Commander to be in danger, the focus is on Commander survival.
Use on systems with open space for a Com to get up a base undetected
Where defenses are mostly anti orbital in design
Space units with stealth sent to target Space based assets.
Variant 1 in ambush style assaults as per the OOB with a larger focus on the Dostya than originally planned striking forces with after the initial strike withdrawing back to Cybran space.
Variant 2 will be for particularly powerful Omniswarm ships and will consisted of Spears and stealth ships alongside the usually skirmishing forces. These ones are expected to get caught up in the fighting and probably be destroyed in turn so will be focused on important or Unique Omniswarm Starships.
The Mercenaries will have a chance at striking targets as they chose or to support Cybran operations, The Emir forces if it is possible to corrupt Omnswarm ships can participate if they wish to but for this phase will be helping the commanders building up the true invasion fleet hold the line and prevent counter raids.
Targets will primarily be military stockpiles, certain ships, and other supplies that a non-autowar economy needs to keep an army running. While we expect that targets of opportunity will appear we do not want to commit to a full invasion and the loses that the prepared defenses will inflict on non replaceable assets. Also targets should be focused on their border region drawing and focusing Omni-Swarm forces and fortification there
The second phase will begin with the Aeon Assault on the Southern border.
They are free to plan it as they wish but they need to make it so that the Omniswarm has to respond in force.
Once they are moving to deal with the new threat
The Tip of the Spear and Guage will Gate to worlds that have been prepared by cQAI. These world would be nearer to the Merendi Imperium boarder and cut off from communication with the Commanders leading an assault going from world to world and eventually striking at the Core territories and probably the original Intelligence itself.
The commanders that follow on the Worlds that the initial group has overrun will be holding the line, finishing off remaining defending Omniswarm forces and supplying a rush of orbital units for helping get footholds in systems where defences and infrastructure are too dense to gate in safely.
The rest of the invasion Force will engage as the Omniswarm attempts to respond to both attacks.
Tactical advice:
Space: In space the Enemy prefers to use singular large designs that are few in number but extremely powerful and durable. The Spear is recommended for direct confrontations as well as commanders keeping Operation Technicians informed of variants and more unique vessels.
Expect enemy tactical mobility advantage with many ships to have short range, for space combat, teleportation capabilities as well as carriers able to deploy strikecraft by teleportation at their choosing. Keep Skirmish forces close at hand. Stealth will be key here and the Omniswarm equivalent to omnisensors are detectable and importantly it appears that their ranges can be measured.
Commanders are encouraged to play with that, particularly with the fact that we hold an advantage in strikecraft for ambushes on spots where it would advantage for the Omniswarm to teleport in.
Ground: Similar to their space doctrine The Omniswarm relies on heavy centralized designs and unique individual units.
Lessons to keep in mind for engaging them on the ground.
Heavy units have similar construction capabilities as The Stormstrider and the Soulcrusher and can help in the defense of the units. Treat these unit like you would typically do against Coalition T5 units, with High DPS single target designs.
Remember that the Omniswarm has infantry capable of posing threats to commanders, Omnisensors are mandatory for Commanders on the front line and back in the bases, they are both fragile as units go and lack in mass so can be dealt with by both Teledefenses (Point defense built next to the commander) Jesters or engineers and hives reclaim. Operation Technicians will also be tasked for keeping an eye out for them and foot print patterns have also been uploaded additional protection.
Rember that particular designs that can alter effective ranges can be countered by Melee combat, the most effective unit we have for this and the one recommended is the Firebeetle but most units can be slammed into it. Those that want to learn about using your ACU CQC may contact Red Skull files on the subject.
Finally, we note that many of the Omniswarm's most impressive designs perform many different roles at once and it is suggested that you overwhelm said designs by forcing a performance and focusing on overloading one set of capabilities or forcing it to do too many jobs at the same time. Take advantage of the limited deployments that the Omniswarm makes.
The first order of business for the Cybran Nation are diplomatic talks with the Syrabaric Defense Coalition. These go well, and the SDC makes clear in no uncertain terms that they're stepping up their activities in the local region. Things in the galaxy are beginning to heat up in several different ways, and all must do their part to weather what is to come. Not that even the SDC seems entirely sure what that is, but basically every seer seems to agree that it won't be good. Which might explain why the Aeon seem somewhat tense these days.
Initially, they seem somewhat bemused by the fact that the obviously technophilic Cybran have such problems with AI, especially since they possess a sizable synth population; androids that are identical to ordinary citizens in every way except for their mechanical nature. While things could easily have gone wrong here, the Cybran diplomats present firmly explain that their issues are not with artificial life as a concept, but with QAI in specific, the machine's treachery having cost them all dearly and, this close to the Seraphim war, personally.
While the SDC's first reaction to this information appears to be that cQAIs creation was thus an incredibly reckless move, something the diplomatic team is in no hurry to contest, after heavy internal debate they collectively decide that giving it a second chance at life despite their history is an act of mercy to be respected, not ridiculed. They agree to harbour the machine once it's recovered, and relations generally warm over the course of the talks.
As a result of this, they decide it's apparently finally time to invite the Coalition of Humanity into wider galactic politics. With most of a galactic sector between them, and as respected and reasonable powers, the SDC offers to sponsor the Coalition into the Parliament of Nations.
They immediately make it clear that this is entirely a formality, as the Parliament is a largely toothless body that gives a galactic voice to the Ecumene's dreams of humanicide and the Regnum's goals of total psychic conquest as much as it does anything else. However, membership would at least make them seem more respectable to most other local powers, which could have some diplomatic benefits going forward.
Much more quietly, they also voice an offer specifically for the Cybran Nation. Economically and politically, the Cybran are already somewhat aligned with the Syrabaric way of life, being a heavily communal and democratic people. The offer, then, is straightforward: The SDC will petition the Sybarintern to provide the interstellar communications systems that enables their interstellar direct democracy, and the Cybran will make the appropriate political adjustments. As they're already broadly aligned, these would be relatively small and mostly just taking advantage of the new technology, although not entirely.
In exchange, the Cybran Nation will join the Sybarintern, with all the associated rights and responsibilities. Mostly, this means that Syrabaric volunteers and resources from across Vyranodasik will arrive as needed for no or low costs to assist in endeavours as necessary, with the expectation that these favours will occasionally be returned. It also means that the Cybran will be given full support in the face of an existential threat, although the nature of this universe is such that the Sybarintern can't afford to provide significant aid for most conflicts.
This is a weighty decision to make, as while the benefits are clear, it would also make the Cybran something of a target for rival political blocs, and the rest of the Coalition are likely to have their own mixed feelings on it. While it's unlikely to break it apart entirely, the UEF and Aeon Illuminate are likely to search for their own local backers, with all that entails. And there's the question of how to break the news to the people, if for no other reason than the SDC will insist that it's put to a universal public vote. Such is the way of their ideology, after all.
-SDC talks go well, with offers made to sponsor Coalition entry into the Parliament of Nations and Cybran entry into the Sybarintern. The latter is a weightier thing than the former in most ways.
Trade talks with the minor powers go exceptionally well. Begun during the previous year, the confusion of the Omniswarm's invasion delayed the introduction of full trading relations, but with the renewed Cybran effort no more time is wasted as freighters flow to and fro between the two powers. While still not exactly ready to join the Cybran outright, they put their full energy into trading, and prosper as a result. Meanwhile, some of the hardest to acquire things in Cybran territory become slightly but notably easier to obtain in exchange, improving morale and economic efficiency somewhat.
Easily the most notable acquisition are a full set of schematics for Volreaper interdiction technology, along with a few intact examples. The small nation that provided them doesn't say where they're from. For their part, the Cybran personnel who first received the blueprints don't ask.
Needless to say, this massively eases the reverse-engineering and adaptation process, and although some work still has to be performed on the actual new equipment designs, it's a fraction of what was initially expected. A lucky break indeed.
-Trading relations with the Minor Powers opened. Interdiction and anti-interdiction research completed with the expected results using only one research slot.
Then comes the heavyweight champion of diplomatic negotiations for the year: The Moonlight Treaty, as the array of agreements both formal and informal at the Coalition facilities near the interversal portal soon comes to be called by most parties. A lot is asked of all involved, but the Cybran Nation came prepared with diplomatic resources and personnel to spare.
First and easiest are the discussions with the Aeon over Omniswarm territory. As they'd already been prepared to take a primary if not sole role in the offensive, they easily agree to Ivan's demand they take centre stage, and have no real objections to opening their borders to allied traders and sharing any choice salvage during the operation, especially since the sharing is going both ways. They do insist on discussing the issue of the Messenger separately, as it concerns the entire Coalition and should thus be only discussed trilaterally, but they make it clear that they share the Cybran's concerns over the mysterious alien.
Things were not so simple with the United Earth Federation. While not completely unwilling to give up settlement rights to the Cybran Nation, unlike the Aeon it wasn't something they were planning on doing anyway. Furthermore, they do prove able to see the Cybran diplomatic flattery for what it is, correctly pointing out that a leading role in the Coalition when it comes to the Parliament is nearly meaningless. Furthermore, while Desmondu is of interest, it represents a great deal of work on their part for something that may or may not pan out, while the Cybran need give only promises and contact information in exchange for very real territory.
Still, the Cybran negotiators are determined, and more importantly pre-authorised to offer technology. This finally sees progress being made, but the UEF still presses for more. In the end, the deal that comes to Ivan is as follows: The promised introduction with Tacitus-Raiden, the Hierarchy-derived FTL drives, and finally the interdiction-immune Quantum Gate blueprints. Apparently, the Governor is concerned that a Volreaper attack similar to the one his forces helped the Cybran defend against may attack UEF territory, and he wants a way to better defend against that.
As a show of good faith and presumably a desire not to push their luck, they notably are not asking for the offensive interdiction field generators they probably know have been successfully developed, only the defensive countermeasures.
While more negotiations could technically be pursued, this is probably more or less the best deal available at this point, as it represents a fairly limited set of demands in exchange for full access to the area of space in contention. Ivan suspects that any deal more favourable to the Cybran would probably be domestically unpopular in the UEF colonies, and thus most likely discarded immediately.
Finally, there's the matter of the Messenger. This phase of the meeting involves not only the three members of the Coalition, but also the SDC, which comes as quite a surprise to the Cybran delegation. As it turns out, they were invited by the Aeon, who made contact after psychically sensing a darkness in the Messenger's territories. They don't elaborate further, although how much is because the ever-imprecise nature of Aeon seers means they don't have anything else to say and how much is information actively being held back is unclear.
The SDC representatives initially give a speech that's very familiar to the Cybran: They're occupied with other problems at present, most notably the Merendi Imperium, and so are unable to take point on dealing with the Super-Directorate. However, they are apparently willing to lend a reasonable quantity of military support, even if it's not equal to the commitment of any one of the Coalition nations. In particular, their large quantity and variety of infantry should prove fairly useful in the inevitable heavy urban fighting that a campaign in S-D space will entail.
Only one question is on the minds of the Cybran diplomats present: Just what did the Aeon see to make the SDC willing to directly intervene?
In any case, an agreement between the four powers is quickly struck. Everyone present agrees that the Messenger is a threat to the entire region, and that a joint campaign is their best chance to eliminate it with minimal losses. It doesn't even require any concessions to grease the gears of cooperation. Privately, territory is also preemptively divided up, with each of the powers getting a quarter to do with as they see fit.
All that's left is to actually begin the campaign. While no formal date has been set, and the Cybran will take the lead as the most involved in the Super-Directorate prior to this point, everyone involved believes that the attack will occur during the next local year, and is preparing with this expectation in mind.
-Coalition diplomacy a success in all areas, with only minor complications. Aeon agree to Cybran terms unconditionally; UEF want a territory for tech exchange that the Cybran can accept or deny; Coalition and SDC set for a joint attack against the Messenger. Territory partitioned as follows: 0-7 NE to the UEF, P-7 NW to the Cybran, P-7 N to the Aeon, and P-7 NE to the SDC.
With the constant dance of construction drones and nanolathing beams, Cybran industry marches on. Colonists flock by their millions into spacious homes built in expectation of them, planet-covering cityscapes growing ever brighter and noisier as they're filled with the Cybran people. Behind countless shields and turrets, they're well protected from anything that might try and bring them harm, and they're ready to do their part for their fellows. The painstaking work of creating new Armored Command Units and recruiting new Commanders is undertaken, notably expanding the Cybran Nation's military capacity. Then even more ACUs are built, ready to replace any losses suffered during the upcoming Omniswarm campaign.
As part of this, several research projects are pursued. With the significant time and effort saved on the interdiction technology programs thanks to trade with the minor powers, the resources already allocated to that research are used by the scientists to instead pursue the theoretical high energy physics research that lay partially completed from the previous year.
They are in fact able to finish said research, presenting working models by the end of the year. Drawing energy from a higher dimension to achieve previously unheard of levels of power generation (excepting the Paragon at least), these reactors are also durable, stable, and efficient. The only problem with them is they're still large, and are unlikely to fit into anything smaller than a T4 ground unit, non-fighter spaceship, or T2 power generator. Needless to say, they're also quite expensive.
The immediate effect on Cybran battle tactics are relatively small, since this mostly just represents a way to trade cost for either a smaller base footprint, higher power output, or a smaller improvement in both areas. However, going forward, large Cybran units can be designed with much improved capabilities, so long as said capabilities are based on access to enormous quantities of raw power output.
Finally, new models of powered armour or robotics are rolled out for all Cybran infantry-scale forces, incorporating Cybran versions of the Ironcrab's defensive and mobility equipment. As expected, the Proxies get the bulkiest and most powerful equipment, providing serious protection and enabling true flight. Cybran Commandos get a similar quality of gear, but more compact and thus lighter. These are still potent personal energy shields combined with jump jets that allow them to leap great distances, crossing a city block horizontally or ascending a small building vertically.
Finally, there's the matter of the Evacuation Guard. While their carrying capacity is roughly equal to the Commandos, in order to keep production time of their powered armour suitably fast they only have minimal versions of the new equipment. Their energy shields are still capable of deflecting several shots from most infantry-scale weapons, but they're definitely more fragile than what the Commandos possess. And their propulsion systems are kept limited as much for their own safety as for cost reasons, focused more on giving them bursts of speed across ground than anything else, although they can still provide a moderate jump enhancement.
Personal shields and mobility augmentation seem to be the standard for infantry in most significant powers of Vyranodasik, so the Cybran are hardly getting ahead of the curve here. They are keeping up, however, and while the Taught will still outperform Cybran infantry, the gap has narrowed.
Designs for heavier suits of powered armour more suited to pitched infantry battles have also been drafted, but have yet to be properly designed. The time and effort of the allocated researchers were fully used up on creating new models of existing equipment.
-Research into Interdiction and Anti-Interdiction technologies, High(er) Energy Physics, and upgraded Power Armour completed.
While the clashes of steel and laserfire have always been what grabs attention, the Cybran know as well as anyone that the hidden battles of information and cybersecurity are just as important to winning a war. As a result, when informed that they're liable to suffer infiltration efforts from two separate foes, the digital specialists of the scattered Nodes prove more than up to the task of countering their attacks when they arrive as expected. Neither Omniswarm nor Taught cyberattacks penetrate Cybran firewalls.
This extends to physical infiltration as well. Several seemingly-biological refugees are caught engaging in acts of espionage, and turn out to be uploaded Taught who slipped into the Cybran underground railroad in various ways. Unfortunately, they destroy themselves to evade capture or salvage, thus taking what information did manage to capture back home with them, but none of them got particularly far.
The good news is that several subtle but telltale signs of Messenger 'biotransferrance' were identified, nearly impossible to see normally but relatively obvious if you knew what to look for. As a result, they likely won't be able to use uploads as spies going forward, although for the time being ordinary infiltrators from Taught space still have to be guarded against. The uploads are still a minority, albeit a swiftly growing one.
Buoyed by their successes, the Cybran operatives assigned to this even engage in digital counterattacks aimed at breaking into the systems that their enemies so kindly provided access to when trying to break open Node networks. Unfortunately, the new programming language of the Taught is 'just outright black magic', to quote a particularly frustrated and blunt Cybran hacker. Part existing Super-Directorate code and part arcane nonsense, it proves far too alien to decipher, although attempts and some minor progress is made.
The Omniswarm prove far less resilient, however. While their own code certainly doesn't lack idiosyncrasies, it's by now relatively familiar, and more importantly the Omniswarm are far too arrogant to believe that lesser minds could possibly counterhack their brilliant cyberwar programs. Several weaknesses in their communications network are identified, created, or widened, and through a series of backchannels and secret markers the information is relayed to cQAI, still sitting in the depths of Omniswarm territory. Its efforts should be more effective in the coming battle as a result.
-Counter-intelligence successful. All espionage is deflected, and a counter-hack is performed on Omniswarm communication systems ahead of the invasion.
Meanwhile, the end of Redfog's three-year infiltration approaches. Countless hours of planning go into the planning of the final operations, spent after even more hours of simply positioning the Cybran spy network so that the operations could happen at all. In the end, however, all of this work only amounts to a scant few days of actual activity, as near-simultaneous raids across all of Super-Directorate space are executed with clockwork precision.
In the loyalist Super-Directorate, they're accomplished with minimal hassle. While security remains strong despite the civil war, as these servers represent the overwhelming majority of their on-paper economy, it's nothing the Cybran Nation can't handle. Security is stealthily dealt with, only a minimum of bloodshed being necessary to poke holes in the perimeter. This is especially true thanks to the assistance of Tactitus-Raiden's freelancers, who apply their powerful psionic abilities to easily solve a variety of tricky technical and personnel issues, showcasing everything from technopathy to mind control and memory alteration in the process.
After this, it's a simple enough job to upload the spyware and then all but walk out of the secured facilities.
There is, however, one complication. While the spyware is inserted as planned and remains undetected by S-D cybersecurity, it does get noticed and actively pinged from inside the servers. As it turns out, while most of the advanced stock-trading algorithms are just that, there are several true AI inside each server. Despite their intelligence, they have no understanding of the world beyond their digital trading, and don't seem to even understand there is an external world at all. A comparison is drawn to Plato's allegory of the cave by some analysts, which confuses the Tacitus-Raiden personnel in the discussion (and, in fairness, most of the Cybran agents too.)
It's unclear if these AI were created deliberately or are an emergent phenomenon. Certainly, the Super-Directorate would hardly refuse to create deliberately blinded and enslaved life to serve their profits on moral grounds, but if they were purposefully created the Cybran would expect to see more of them.
This has created something of a dilemma. On the one hand, the plan could proceed as initially envisaged. The AIs could be convinced to artificially boost the Super-Directorate's combat power, and while it's unlikely to significantly delay their fall it would at least ensure the Taught take notably more damage during the conflict, weakening them for the upcoming allied assault.
On the other hand, Redfog could launch a second set of operations in order to physically take the relevant parts of the servers and abscond with the AIs, sending them through the underground railroads as refugees. This would hasten the Super-Directorate's collapse considerably, but liberate the mechanical slaves (exact number unclear, but there should be thousands of individual intelligences at the absolute minimum) and take them to safety.
Doing both isn't possible. If the servers are left where they are, then either the loyalists will destroy them or the Taught will capture them before the Cybran can mount a last-minute rescue attempt. A simple choice has to be made.
-Operation Stonks First Half completed successfully, but with a complication. Choose whether to go with the original plan or save the trapped AIs instead.
In the other half of Super-Directorate territory, a much more challenging series of operations are led by Redfog personally. However, despite the change in circumstances, her preparations are more than sufficient to overcome the numerous obstacles and security measures between her and the targets.
This time, however, the second phase of the operations goes somewhat less well. The best spying software the Cybran Nation has available is stealthily inserted by commandos with engineering and cyberwarfare suites, and is almost instantly detected by the servers' guardian AIs. Post-operation analysis suggests that these merciless hunter-killer programs are the repurposed forms of the trading AIs found in loyalist servers, and are doubtless those same AIs if they're left in place.
Enemy security is notified and arrives from their dimensional pockets in full force, but the insertion team had already faded away despite their rapid response. Rearguard hidden cameras note the presence of an obviously frustrated Duelist in one of the server hubs, the new body of the foe Redfog fought at the start of the year.
While these operations didn't go strictly to plan, that's not to say they were a waste of time. Far from it, in fact; the locations of perhaps the most critical infrastructure in Taught space have been identified.
While the vast stock-trading machinery of the Super-Directorate is less necessary to the somewhat more hierarchical state the Taught operate, the incredibly advanced quantum computers of the servers have been not only maintained but reinforced and upgraded. This is because they are nothing less than the new homes of the Taught's social elite.
The snapshots of the server the teams were able to recover with their spyware indicates quite clearly that these servers are where biotransferred minds go when their bodies are destroyed. They are nothing less than the source of the Messenger's promised immortality.
While regular production of new bodies ensures that these servers have no permanent population, there is a programmed cyberspace present for the enjoyment of the engrams while they await their return to the physical world. The minimal data recovered suggests that they mostly spend their time swapping stories of how they got here, bidding on their next bodies (as the robotic shells apparently come in a variety of quality grades), and continuing the work of economy, buying and selling resources such as land, capital, and Patriot clone armies.
Needless to say, all this information is delivered to Cybran high command with due haste.
-Operation Stonks Second Half is a qualified success. While long-term spyware insertion failed, the Taught's servers have been identified as the recall points for biotransferred personnel.
Meanwhile, the less exciting but just as vital work of expanding the Cybran's broad base of subversion and support continues. It's quickly noticed that numerous civilians in the Taught's area of control are indeed being rounded up and forced to undergo the biotransference process, leading to the underground railroad as a whole to focus on evacuation efforts in said areas, even if it's occasionally to the exclusion of evacuating those conscripted and tossed into the meatgrinder by the loyalists.
Still, this focus does at least lead to a string of successes, with thousands upon thousands of innocents broken out of holding cells or the oppression of their regular lives and taken to safety, notably cutting down on the quantity of those tossed into the great cyclopean cauldrons of change the Taught have erected. It's an ongoing struggle, and the demands of evading the Taught's various control methods ensures that the railroad remains a disorganised cell-based structure reliant on Cybran support to remain intact, largely incapable of independent action.
But the successes are very much real, and worth celebrating. Many of the freed citizens do exactly that in Cybran territory, providing something of a morale boost to those organising the effort as a sign that, despite the strong headwind, they're doing something meaningful. Especially since these citizens are largely happy to stay with their liberators, the vast majority being resettled in the various Nodes of Vyranodasik and contributing to their new homes in various ways. While many quite justifiably don't want to ever set foot inside a factory or an office again, just as many want to stick with what they know, and economic output enjoys a corresponding increase.
The cells in loyalist space, by contrast, spend most of their time either lending aid to their brethren fighting the Taught or on organising themselves, and as a result they've managed to pull together enough local and power support that, combined with their new Cybran weapons and training, they could survive and continue to do good even if all aid was cut off tomorrow. Since it won't, hopefully they'll prove useful local allies during the upcoming invasion.
-The underground railroad evacuates numerous innocents away from the clutches of the Taught, giving the Cybran Nation two units of Population, and becomes a notable organised force in loyalist Super-Directorate territory.
The final covert action in Super-Directorate space is entirely focused on the Taught, comprising a series of active military raids, eschewing subtlety in favour of results. Rather than a general attack to damage military readiness and logistics, the Cybran have two rather specific goals in mind.
The first and more straightforward are raids to recover the Taught's primary electronic warfare platforms for the purpose of reducing their effectiveness against Cybran units going forward. Unfortunately, despite Tacitus-Raiden's assistance, this doesn't go to plan. While multiple Trojans and Revenants are captured intact, they showcase the ability to automatically teleport back to their bases for repair and recovery. This is seemingly baked into the chassis itself, without a distinct teleportation module that can be easily destroyed or otherwise disabled.
Frustratingly, no way is found to deal with this phase-out ability, and so Taught e-war suites remain out of reach. There are two consolation prizes, however. First, a secondary series of strikes is aimed at production facilities tied to the production of the two vehicles, which should hopefully slightly lower their prevalence in the Taught's armies for the near future. Unfortunately, this is a decidedly short-term phenomenon, if for no other reason than the fact the Messenger is deploying nanomachine production techniques that remove the need for differentiated production lines in much the same manner as Coalition nanolathes.
Second, psionics have a particularly deleterious effect on Taught forces and their phase-out systems in particular. Tacitus-Raiden special forces manage to seemingly permanently destroy several enemy units with lances of energy, sometimes when they're in the process of phasing away. While this is unreliable, and the results are too badly damaged to be used for reverse engineering specific components such as the Trojan and Scramble systems, this does mean the Cybran have acquired samples of the regenerative and extraordinarily durable Living Metal the Taught use as a near-universal wonder-material, most notably as their armour. Even if it's not the specific technology desired, it's something.
Much more successful and much more disturbing are the raids to uncover the secrets of biotransference. Under the cover of the more overt attacks, Cybran cyberwar teams backed by Tacitus-Raiden strike forces slip through the tight defensive lines around the biotransference stations and recover some of the data held within. The kinetic actions fought here are thankfully few and brief, with all teams able to evacuate safely upon mission completion.
The data itself is complex and confusing, beyond the Cybran ability to easily understand, but if symbiont coders know anything when they see it, it's loyalty programming. Unsurprisingly, there's a natural hierarchy installed, with the executives at the top given control over their directors who have control over the soldiers and workers of the line, more directly and absolutely than ever before. The Messenger's authority is at the very top, naturally, but it's a bit harder to spot than that of the others.
There doesn't seem to be any straightforward technological reason why the upload has to be destructive to the original, but the Cybran find out anyway. Or rather the mercenaries do, the hardened soldiers for hire coming away from the facilities haunted, if not outright visibly unwell. It turns out, or so they explain, that the biotransference process isn't just for the sake of creating a loyal civilisation. It's also for bringing about the destruction of the very soul.
While the Cybran are somewhat sceptical of this claim, by this point it's well known that, at least in Vyranodasik, there's something special about a person that can often let them perform magic, the so-called psionics of the locals. It's this soul, or essence, or life-force, that is being destroyed not as a byproduct of the process but as a primary goal. Specifically, the mercenaries can tell because they could feel the soulstuff of all those transferred being harvested, bottled, and sent away to the core of Taught territory for whatever vile purpose the Messenger has in mind for it.
Truly industrial scale dark magic, except as far as anyone can tell there's absolutely nothing psionic about any part of the process. Simply technology created by a vast alien intellect, one which has machinations of a scale the Cybran are only now beginning to comprehend.
The information is disseminated during alliance strategy meetings. While the UEF are only about as convinced as the Cybran are, both the Aeon and the SDC react with grim acknowledgement more than anything else. Is this what they'd seen that convinced them to join forces against the Taught? It seems as likely as anything else.
-Raids on the Messenger are broadly successful, but the Cybran are unable to steal Taught cyberwar systems. They do salvage Living Metal and gain a great deal of information about biotransference, however.
The Omni-Enlightening Swarm are a fierce foe who nearly brought ruin to an entire sector, and have taken the lives of several Cybran Commanders. While their overall level of technology is only broadly comparable to the Coalition in terms of performance, they have numerous standout examples of hypertechnology that lets them create truly devastating war machines, albeit ones rare by the standard of interstellar war.
Their armies and fleets are repaired and rearmed, bolstered by their reserves, and they sit behind their prepared defences. Fortresses both void and planet-based alongside static superweapons that can attack and destroy fleets across the vastness of interstellar space, or render armies briefly invincible, or change and warp the very ground itself into new shapes much less favourable to the Cybran.
They never stood a ghost of a chance.
Despite their technical brilliance, it turns out that the Omniswarm's solipsism leaves them somewhat tactically inflexible. Their doctrine and operational style were seen and adapted to during the previous stage of the war, and that adaptation still serves the allied forces exceptionally well. Threats that can be easily countered are, and threats that cannot are generally assigned to mercenary allies.
Tacitus-Raiden's fleets unleash hordes of Surrogate strike craft, psychically-directed drones who's 'pilots' sit safely in their carriers while they unleash hell, their carrier doctrine bolstering the Cybran's own notable usage of fighters and guarding the combined fleets from Omniswarm harassment. Espers not busy here instead guide volley after volley of psychoactive missiles into their distant targets with unerring accuracy, while their near-universal focus on speed lets them chase down retreating foes. Notably, some of their fighter drones and missiles are the size of corvettes, not unlike Aeon Penitent, Redeemed, and Mercies. Although the Aeon have yet to build Mercies quite that big.
On the ground, their bipedal walkers form the front ranks of many assaults, plasma sabres and energised axes making swift work of any hostile forces that demand to be fought in melee, while their psychic soldiers march forward in powerful battlesuits to clash with their Omniswarm equals. While their land battleships aren't quite as awe-inspiring as they're used to, 'only' comparable to T5 units the Cybran build plenty of during their offensives, they still serve admirably as mobile bases, carriers, and superheavy artillery platforms.
Force preservation is a priority, of course, and so they often take a secondary role when the time comes to face the Omniswarm's most powerful. And into this gap gladly steps the Emirate, who help pin down the various crazed mobile superweapons with their constructs and summoned elementals, crippling them with Dark Glass so Cybran drones can finish them off. In more than a few cases, the already prone to megalomania Omniswarm elites are corrupted outright, switching sides and serving their former enemies. When questioned on this, Emir Nour says that he considers these new servants part of his compensation package, and is pleased to add them to his forces permanently. The issue is not pressed further.
And all this is before the Aeon Illuminate gets involved. After the brutal raiding on their western border diverts large portions of the Omniswarm's mobile forces to defend against the constant attacks, many of them going on a merry chase to try and pin down ACUs that Gate in and out of enemy planets largely as they please, the Aeon force opens up the southern front with their characteristic overwhelming force.
Numerous systems are introduced to the strongest expression of the Coalition's way of war by the arrival of Zadkiel factory ships, which produce small fleets of Portent battleships and Reef carriers, the latter of which themselves draw upon the Zadkiels' near-inexhaustible resources to in turn produce swarms of Corona Mk-IIs and Solaces. All this either a prelude to or simultaneous with ACUs appearing on planetary surfaces and building mass extractors and power generators in order to raise their own armies.
Notably, the Zadkiels often deploy small personnel transports once in orbit, which enter ground bases to in turn deploy Warhorse APCs. These, as the Cybran would eventually learn, in turn contained protection squadrons consisting mostly of Exorcists, deployed to protect Aeon Commanders from Omniswarm special forces.
Strictly speaking, they are only performing their expected duties, but in fairness it was generally assumed that they were more meant to guard Commanders outside their ACUs. But as their deployment indicates, the Aeon took the Cybran's notes on the enemy's infiltration tactics seriously, and their countermeasure largely succeeds in preventing such infantry-based decapitation strikes.
Clearly believing that turnabout is fair play, Armiger teams are deployed in turn to strike at key Omniswarm logistics and command nodes, smoothing the invasion's southern progress. This renewed aggressive use of infantry is somewhat counter-doctrinal, but strange times demand strange techniques to master them. Considering the UEF's new martial arts training programs and the Cybran's power armour upgrade project, the Coalition is evidently of one mind on this.
Needless to say, the Omniswarm's remaining reserves are mustered and march south, leaving only a small force to guard their core territories. These fresh forces successfully slow the Aeon advance, turning a swift push into a grinding battle. Key fortress worlds are either burnt to cinders, mined to exhaustion, or both as the exponential growth of Commander doctrine pits itself once more against the individual brilliance of the Omniswarm's superweapons. The former is clearly winning out, but casualties begin to mount.
Of course, the Cybran never had any intention of letting the Aeon overexert themselves in the process of taking all the glory. Even as the border regions are embroiled in vast conflicts, a string of planets a little to the north of the main Cybran advance quietly go dark. The Omniswarm doesn't even seem to notice, considering everything else going on, and so each world in turn falls, their requests for support falling on deaf ears.
Or, more accurately, the auditory sensors of cQAI, who pays them only as much heed as needed to ensure they don't reach anywhere else.
Eventually, the two elite commanders are in range to strike at the Omniswarm's home system, what was once the birthplace of a species and is now a paradise of increasingly bizarre megastructures and hypertechnologies. Even with most of its mobile defence forces sent away to fight elsewhere, it was incredibly well fortified by some of the most powerful weapon systems and thickest defensive lines the Omniswarm had to offer. Not even a Cybran fleet arriving in the system from the dark territories, occupying its orbital defences, could change that. No normal Commander, or even pair of Commanders, could hope to Gate onto it and survive.
Of course, the Tip of the Spear and William Gauge are no normal pair of Commanders.
It's no easy task even for them, especially in the setup phase when both are stuck with sub-experimental units yet forced to engage vast enemy armies while also building up their economies. But for every downright ridiculous superweapon the supreme intelligence of the Omniswarm deploys, the two answer with endless waves of expertly manoeuvred drone forces, defeating their enemies one by one until eventually Stormstriders are literally blasting down the gates of the Omniswarm's final fortress, a spacescraping structure that renders even their bulk ordinary in comparison.
But before this monument to arrogance can be collapsed on top of its architect, something moderately unexpected happens. The leader of the Omniswarm, along with many of his highest ranking clone generals, surrender to the Cybran Nation. In his words, he obviously had no choice but to concede to the superior intellect.
Considering he only felt this need when he was about to be blown to smithereens, how genuine he's being is up for debate. But a surrender is a surrender.
Across the Omniswarm's territory, armies stand down as the stand-down order is sent out and it becomes clear the conflict is truly lost. As it turns out, investigations into the core worlds show that the Omniswarm was reverse-engineering Commander and nanolathe technology, and at a surprisingly rapid pace at that. If they'd been able to finalise this project, they could have been a serious threat to the coalition. The Aeon ensured they'd never get the chance, however, even if the Cybran Nation hadn't moved in immediately to finish them off. The universe had little patience for their mad pretence of uniqueness, it would seem.
There is the question of what to actually do with the many captives, however. The Aeon have no particularly strong opinions here, as even the notoriously forgiving Illuminate have no particular desire to argue for mercy here. Instead, they let the Cybran Nation make the decision, saying that as the ones to actually secure the surrender, it's their choice. Most likely, it's a small way of saying thanks in exchange for acceding to their demand of territorial control, something that's already beginning to bear fruit as fleets of colonists are sent into the region in order to begin the process of settlement.
A faction which does have opinions on the matter are the SDC, however. Specifically, they recommend that he's handed over to the Parliament of Nations, where he'll stand trial for crimes against the galaxy. Without any allies or political backing whatsoever, there should be nothing preventing said trial from going to plan, and it should earn the Cybran some standing in the galaxy. They're not insisting on it, however.
-Omniswarm campaign a success. Casualties taken do not exceed prebuilt repair stockpiles. A decision must be made on what to do with the captured Omniswarm originator; the SDC recommends throwing him into the intergalactic justice system, such as it is.
Lastly, scouting efforts to the northwest in preparation for efforts to settle and restore some semblance of peace in that direction reveal that the unknown territories scouted are in fact home to the bulk or entirety of a single contiguous polity. With a name that seems to roughly translate as the United Planets Assembly, it's another sizable local polity that's heavily multispecies, much like the SDC.
It does however contain three species that are more populous than the others. The first are a species of large insectoids, around the standard local average height at three and a half metres for an average adult, who seem to primarily use biotechnology based on carefully cultivated fungi. This is often viewed with derision, or at least suspicion, by their neighbours due to its similarities to another local species known as the Kroatanga, but analysis of the actual science suggests it's an aesthetic similarity at most.
The second species are a methane-breathing jellyfish-like species, who seem to have an ability to psychically levitate themselves outside their preferred environs through control over something known as the Lifeweave.
Confusingly, this is not in fact another name for the Esperism of Merendi and local humans, but another type of psychic power altogether. At least it's a somewhat familiar one, as manipulators of the Lifeweave have much more in common with Aeon psychics than either do with Espers, although Lifeweaver Masters appear to be notably more powerful than Seers.
As neither species can exist in the other's domain without an environment suit, they tend to keep to their own separate ship types and planets, although they are exceptions, most notably in the nation's capital.
The third group is a species of plants called the Salmaranth, better known as being the founders and rulers of Octarine Incorporated only a little to the north of the UPA. The Salmaranth present here do seem to be acting in support of Octarine's interests, as freighters from numerous subsidiary corporations are detected traversing the territory, particularly going to and from a large metamaterial mine in the centre of the surveyed region.
While formal contact is not established and so only what information can be gleaned from the hypernet and covert surveillance is available, the UPA definitely appears to be a client state of the megacorporation. However, while a decidedly capitalist nation, unlike the Super-Directorate and Octarine space proper, they're seemingly not an outright corporate state, and retain some degree of functionality for their civilian government and population. They may prove an ally or an enemy, but either way they'll be a gateway to Octarine and a bulwark against any expansion further west, at least for the foreseeable future.
-O6 north and centre + O5 south identified as territory of the United Planets Assembly.
Much more kinetic is the active warzone to the UPA's east. Both sides are actively engaging in counter-intelligence operations, with several Cybran observation ships detected and destroyed as a result, but this is insufficient to prevent the success of the reconnaissance operation.
While rumours that Octarine and the Merendi Imperium were fighting each other in the region turn out to be true, it turns out that neither side are exactly giving the conflict their full focus. The order of the day is low-intensity skirmishing, with only comparatively small fleets committed and resource preservation prioritised over victory.
As for how the fight started, it appears that a Hierarchy task force originally attempted to advance in this direction before running into Ekon raiders and quickly deciding that the southeastern route the bulk of their forces took was a better path forward. The new and moderately potent technology of both sides of the few battles that took place here were enough to get the nearby great powers interested enough to deploy recovery teams, which escalated rapidly into the current stalemate.
As multiple years have since passed, this battle salvage has long since been picked clean, and so neither side wants to escalate. Equally, however, neither side wants to call it quits, either for some sense of pride or in the hopes that eventually the other will leave and they can secure the territory for themselves in order to colonise it. Effectively, the fighting serves no further purpose, but it continues regardless.
That said, the region is not entirely bereft of local inhabitants, and while few and far between their conquest is the only thing that really means anything. Therefore, they tend to be the focal points of the heavier battles in the contested zone, and Cybran scouts are thus easily able to map them out.
One in particular is of relevance, as despite being pre-FTL like the rest it's almost certainly the most advanced and, more importantly, isn't actually native to this universe at all. Unlike the Coalition, however, their arrival was not by choice, as they appear to have been dragged into Vyranodasik against their will.
The species is unmistakably non-local humanity, and the star system is unmistakably Sol. However, it appears to have diverged during the 21st century, as Quantum Gate technology was clearly never developed. Instead, they colonised their Sol the old-fashioned way, building vast shoals of space colonies at the Earth-Moon Lagrange points, with major habitation existing as far out into the void as Jupiter.
While they seem to have escaped the Hierarchy's attention after their initial arrival, they most certainly did not escape the attentions of the two great powers on either side of them, and they were rapidly conquered when the two arrived. Recovered electronic intelligence suggests that they did surprisingly well during the initial fighting, beating back the initial attacks sent against them, but were eventually overwhelmed by raw numbers and tonnage.
Much of the military power of the semi-independent space colonies was able to leave the system by attaching salvaged FTL drives to their warships, but with such a jury-rigged FTL method it's doubtful they got very far. The ruling government of the system, known as the Earth Federation, stood their ground and fought, but to no avail, and now only exists as a blatant puppet filled with whichever collaborators swore fealty to their new masters the quickest.
Control of the star system has swapped multiple times between the Merendi imperium and Octarine Ltd, causing massive upheaval and a moderate internal refugee crisis as numerous cities on Earth and in space are turned to rubble. Neither side is particularly gentle in light of this, focusing on extracting what value they can in the time they have. Octarine institutes corporate debt-slavery, while the Merendi Imperium simply designates the population as serfs. Millions have been taken from their homes by one side or the other for one reason or another.
Resistance remains, but it's slim. No real warships remain, so the primary weapon of what rebels remain are multirole humanoid war machines similar to Tacitus-Raiden Battle Mecha that this system calls Mobile Suits. Equipped with powerful energy weapons and directional beam shields, they're a powerful force but lack the numbers to do much more than guerilla warfare.
There appears to be three main resistance groups. In the outer system, a pirate group known as the Jupiter Vanguard roves the starlanes, raiding alien shipping with the rumoured assistance of a legendary pilot. In the space colonies, an outright fanatical terrorist organisation calling itself the Gattle Movement attacks their occupiers with improvised explosives and smuggled small arms, all in the name of a mysterious leader who they claim has great psychic abilities, a claim the Cybran are quite willing to believe at this point.
And on the Earth and in near-Lunar space, a group of nominal Earth Federation loyalists calling itself the League Militaire. However, the actual Earth Federation Forces were all but wiped out during the initial invasion, and if the rumours are to be believed then the League's premiere squad, the Shrike Team, is led by a former ensign and has a line membership of child soldiers. Its claim to fame instead seems to be its equipment, as said former ensign has access to a type of a Mobile Suit called a Gundam, which is held in great regard by every human in the system.
An unfortunate set of circumstances, to be sure, but the important thing is that the situation is more or less stable and the fighting is small-scale and contained. The Coalition would potentially move to intervene if circumstances were different, but it's unclear how much in the way of forces can be spared with the Super-Directorate campaign nearing its opening act, something that will affect far more than a scant few star systems with less than ten billion people apiece.
As it stands, it's most likely something that either the Cybran will have to deal with personally, if anything can be spared from the southern threat, or something that will have to wait until later.
-Merendi/Octarine combat area turns out to be nothing more than low-level skirmishing over territory at this point. However, it contains an extraversal Earth, which is currently under occupation.
Silently, the Reapers withdraw from Tau'ri space. Let the humans have their stay of execution; it will amount to little in the end.
Taking a broader view of the situation, infiltrators report on developments in the so-called Confederated Planets of Humanity. Perhaps as a result of seeing the United Nations' weakness to Reaper ground invasions or perhaps coincidentally, the CPH have developed new ground combat units using their new extradimensional entity binding technologies. Beings of living flame encased in suits of heavy golden armour, they come in both smaller supersoldier and larger superheavy vehicle varieties, known as Seraphim and Cherubim respectively. Additionally, their most fervent religious preachers are beginning to display their own esoteric abilities, primarily focused on controlling fire and magma.
There's also rumours that they may be upgrading their conventional ground forces with their advanced technology, but this has yet to be confirmed as anything more than hearsay. Even if not, the presence of their new units as stiffeners is enough to make invasions of their worlds decidedly non-trivial.
While a mockery of themselves even by organic standards, it should be noted that the CPH remain in active contact with the Reapers, with many former infiltrators known to the newborn human state as those who helped arm their coup. Indeed, it could almost be said that diplomatic relations exist between the two powers, at least for the time being. And while no doubt at least suspicious that the Reapers will come for them eventually, they're likely able to prioritise more immediate concerns, just as the Reapers did when it came to their former comrades. They won't be an immediate issue.
Meanwhile, the Ykantras Moot in the sector has seen the writing on the wall, and is making preparations to withdraw from the sector entirely. Already nomadic, this is a rather simple process for them, and mostly consists of rounding up the few stationery outposts they maintain and stockpiling material and fuel for a potentially long journey to safety. Unless actively pinned down via military action or espionage, they will have fled the region by the beginning of next year. Their nominal allies the Scourge will likely follow, although as a less nomadic species they may take longer.
Since this will provide additional empty territory for expansion, and means that the Reapers won't have to guard their flanks in the coming battle, this is undeniably militarily helpful. However, many in the armada believe that allowing organics to flee out of easy reach in such numbers would be a fundamental failure of the Reapers' core goals and duties. Especially in the case of the Scourge, who continue to confound attempts at indoctrination and harvesting, although solutions to that are being proposed even now.
Harbinger can certainly overrule these voices, as efforts spent on keeping them near the Reapers are efforts not spent on preparing for the Kroatangan. The Ykantras in particular are liable to be forgiven, as they're incredibly numerous, even outright extragalactic. But if the Scourge in particular manages to escape, the resultant dissent could be problematic. To be a Reaper is to follow the tenets of the harvest, after all. Even if there are disagreements on what exactly that means, the core message remains, inviolate and unchanging.
Much to think about and much to be done. At least there's plenty of resources to prepare and fortify with.
Strategic Turn 4 Start
Available Resources: 214
-The Ykantras are liable to flee the sector over the course of the coming year.
-The Kroatangans are coming. Make ready.
-Stocks of Husks from the Milky Way are starting to run low. The previously proposed use of Cylon cloning tech to generate new bodies to Huskify from Turn 2 is still available. However, depending on losses against the Kroatanga it is possible that Milky Way stocks could be completely exhausted if such a cloning production line is not established.
"A useful addition each time. Distinct technologies, novel mutations, all from the same species. A result of common ancestry, convergent evolution, or genetic engineering?"
"Unknown. However, other multiversal variants are possible though yet unobserved. Humans, yes - Turians, Protheans, Innuason, Leviathans?"
"Alternate cycles are possible. Crucible events may have been repeated. No indications as of yet."
"Possibility that true Synthesis may be achieved?"
"Impossible to verify without the Catalyst. The Cycle must continue. The Scourge and their biotechnology will be a useful acquisition."
"They can run, they will be found. The Kroatanga are a threat to the Cycle that must be removed."
This was not a harvest - the Kroatanga were unworthy of preservation.
This was not pest control - the Kroatanga were too destructive to consider mere pests.
This was war. Monitoring arrays turned from their surveys of the now empty Scourge space to chart the movement of Kroat fleets and the arrangement of their fortifications, probes were sent to detect what the arrays had missed.
The Hydra was coming, yet the Reapers would not idly wait for it to strike.
A vast armada of Reaper fleets launched a coordinated assault on the Kroat strongholds nearest to Reaper space. The void soon came alive with the fury of battle, each engagement a spectacle of raw power and tactical precision.
The onslaught was brutal: space stations vaporised, warships disintegrated, and countless fungal soldiers scorched to ashes. Despite those lost in the first strike the Kroats hollered for battle, were attracted to the Reaper fleet like iron filings to a magnet. Space erupted into a maelstrom of energy as the Reapers unleashed their full might and were met by the ferocious return fire of Kroat munitions. Magnetohydrodynamic weapons and plasma cannons carved through Kroat ships just as Reaper armour was shattered by volleys of nuclear impacts. Reaper ground forces led boarding parties through Kroat space stations while Kroat boarders rampaged inside the technoorganic leviathans themselves, both sides sowing chaos within enemy vessels. In every theatre available war was waged, yells of Kroat-anga answered by the booming horns of the Reapers.
Attention was drawn to a massive ship at the center of the Kroat formation. It was the command vessel of the Kroatmander, unmistakable by its size and the array of weapons bristling from its hull. The Reapers concentrated their fire on the flagship, overwhelming its shields and battering its hull. As it began to break apart, Reapers grappled onto its bulk, husks boarding the damaged vessel amidst the chaos.
Inside, the corridors were a twisted labyrinth of organic growths and mechanical grafts, the air thick with the acrid scent of burning fungal matter. The Reaper ground forces moved with purpose, their weapons cutting down any Kroatguy that dared to stand in their way.
They found it in the command center, a monstrous figure surrounded by a coterie of elite guards. The Kroatmander was a grotesque amalgamation of fungus and machine, its massive body turning to face the intruders with a malicious roar.
The battle was fierce, the Kroatmander's guards fighting with frenzied eagerness against the intruders. A host of Banshees engaged the Kroatmander, their clash sending shockwaves through the ship. Despite their numbers the Asari Husks were failing to decisively damage the fungal juggernaut while the other advanced Husks too busy battling the guards to assist.
The duel may have been lost if not for the arrival of the Reaper Knights, which had been waiting for such an opportunity. Through the Force they could feel the presence of the Kroatmander, a dark, pulsing malevolence beyond the physical realm. While the Knights themselves joined the rest of the fleet in the battle to prevent Kroat ships from assisting the flagship or fleeing the system, their proxies would land on the ruined bridge. Squires that had been Imperial Knights joined the duel, eyes glowing pale blue in contrast to the bright light of their sabers as they appraised the Kroatmander for a moment before attacking.
The battle continued until with a final, decisive strike, the Kroatmander's head was severed, the monstrous body convulsing before collapsing.
The ability to harness the Force was proving invaluable.
Later, explosives planted throughout the ship detonated, tearing it apart from within. The Reaper fleet pulled back as the flagship erupted in a blinding explosion, fragments scattering into the void. With the loss of their commander the remaining Kroats fell soon after.
The Kroatanga fleet was destroyed, the mining stations broken and set to crash into the planetary shields or to choke the orbital paths with their debris.
There was a pause to assess the damage, which was found to be within acceptable parameters. As the final act of the conflict interdiction beacons were constructed and moved into strategic positions throughout the solar system. With their task complete the Reaper fleet jumped to its next target and the destruction began anew.
Orders
Industrial: 37
Military: 127
Research: 30
Diplomacy/Intrigue/Exploration: 20
Total: 214
F5 Central - Promote to Excessively Defended [22 RP]
F5 South - Promote to Excessively Defended [15 RP]
Create 5 Mag 1 fleets [50RP]
Repair Fleets 3,4,5 [8 + 2 + 2]
Upgrade Fleet 4 & 5 to Mag 3 [30x2=60RP]
Leviathan Construction [5RP]
Fleet 1 + Knights
Attack Kroat Warpath (F5 N) and return to F5 NW afterwads
Fleet 2 + Harbinger
Attack Kroat Warpath (F5 N) and return to F5 NW afterwards
Fleet 3
Attack Kroat Warpath (F5 E) and return to F5 Central afterwards
Fleet 4
Attack Kroat Warpath (F5 SE) and return to F5 S afterwards
Fleet 5
Attack Ykantras Moot (F5 SW)
General:
Fleets 1 - 4: Prioritise the destruction of Kroat fleets, shipyards, space infrastructure etc over capturing any of the worlds held by them. The aim is to reduce the ability of the Kroats to wage war as much as possible ahead of their predicted invasion. Construct interdiction nodes to stymie attempts to repair the damage or pursue the Reapers as they return to their own territory.
Adopt the anti-Kroat tactics used prior - besides the static charge - such as utilising superior ship agility & tactical jumps for better performance in the skirmish phase. Attempt to have other elite husks besides Banshees present when duelling Kroats leaders to better the odds and prevent them from adapting to a singular opponent. While it is expected that most worlds under Kroat control would have a form of planetary shield preventing the simple strategy of orbital bombardment and moving on, practice it where applicable.
Legends: The Reaper Knights should use their connection to the Force to aid in targeting and eliminating targets of interest to disrupt the Kroat chain of command. While it is ill-advised that they engage in duels with Kroat battleships themselves, even being able to pinpoint the exact locations of Kroat leadership for termination will further the objectives of the raids.
Ground Forces: If ground battles/boarding actions are unavoidable - Use basic Husks to keep Kroat infantry engaged, overwhelm them with Brutes, Howlers, Colossi and other heavy Husks. For dealing with their armoured divisions, the Kroat main tanks seem to have a vulnerability to being flanked which Karkinos Walkers are well suited to take advantage of, and which Wyrms could exploit as well. Landed Capital ships should be on the lookout for Kroat War Engines and act in groups; the same goes for Destroyers.
Fleet 5: While the Indoctrinated should be capable of seizing control of Ykantras world ships without assistance, it will be provided to increase the bounty of the harvest and capture the infrastructure as intact as possible. Interdict the planned exodus, prevent as many of the nomads from fleeing as possible, harvest them.
Free Slot - Husky
1 RP - Catalytic Converters
4 RP - Cat 0 Battleworld - Leviathan
War Citadel
A Leviathan derivative, reminiscent of the Citadel's design yet vastly expanded in scope, each stands as a formidable embodiment of Reaper might. Laden with hangars, fighter bays, and bristling arrays of turrets, each reigns as the indomitable centrepiece of a Reaper armada, instilling dread through sheer magnitude alone.
These Leviathans are monstrous engines of destruction meticulously crafted to exploit the Reaper's mastery of Mass Relay technology. At their core lies a primary armament system of unparalleled devastation, harnessing an augmented Mass Relay stripped of safety protocols to unleash projectiles of cataclysmic force, capable of shattering planets apart with chilling ease.
Complementing their titanic weaponry lies a secondary system that merges conventional Mass Relay functionalities with insights drawn from Tau'ri teleportation. This grants these behemoths the ability not only to project their accompanying fleets across vast expanses, but also to swiftly transport legions of ground forces to vulnerable or linked destinations, enabling the launching of invasions at an unimagined scale.
In essence, War Citadels represent a convergence of Reaper technologies. They are harbingers of annihilation, their very presence casting a pall of despair upon all who dare to oppose them.
Primary System: Mass Railgun
Secondary System: Mass Conduit
Weakness: Volatile - when the internal Mass Relay is active the quantum shielding which normally renders the construct virtually invulnerable is disabled, and critically damaging the Relay could result in an explosion to rival a supernova.
9 RP - Cat 0 Battleworld - Leviathan
16 RP - Cat 0 Battleworld - Leviathan
Total: 30
Target: Ykantras Moot
Nature: Hostile
Resources: 4RP
Plan: Time's Up
Complete the indoctrination of the leadership caste and move on to taking control of as much of the general population as possible. Prepare for the arrival of the Reaper fleet which will assist in capturing the Ykantras migrant fleet before the planned departure.
Target: CPH
Nature: Friendly
Resources: 4RP
Plan: Good neighbours
A modest diplomacy team of Cylon models 1-4 will be sent along with a detachment of Destroyers to meet with the leadership of the CPH. Congratulate them on achieving their freedom and express interest in rendering further assistance if they require it, and convince them of the benefits of joining the Reapers.
However the negotiations go, clandestinely scout their territory for vulnerability to infiltration and indoctrination, and whether the daemons can be persuaded to serve the Reapers as other types of inorganic intelligences had been. Seek to acquire samples of the mysterious material they revere and daemons for experimentation.
Offer to construct a space station to serve as an embassy and trade hub - a mimic of the Citadel which will retain the ability to transport a Reaper fleet into the heart of their territory.
Propose a joint fleet action in the next year to remove the Kroats to their East.
Target: Tau'ri
Nature: Hostile
Resources: 2RP
Plan: Space Balkanisation
While the Reapers may have withdrawn, the indoctrinated haven't. Disperse and construct covert networks. Splinter the United Nations of the Tau'ri into its constituents, and then even further. Ferment the creation of international hostility, empower radical political groups, fund pirate groups & terrorist cells, etc. The Tau'ri will not be allowed to rebuild in peace. These tactics are to continue even in the scenario that the CPH makes moves to absorb its weakened sister state. In general, do as much as possible to make unifying this space a waste of resources for any party.
Continue the steps taken to prevent intelligence leaks and feed false information on Reaper fleet movements to the Kroats. Launch efforts to locate Kroat fleets, key infrastructure and commanders before the invasion commences.
While it is unlikely to differ significantly from the reports on the extranet, glean firsthand information about the stages of Kroat development and how their psionic field interacts with the organisms. Once specimens are acquired from the raids, test if this psychic connection can be broken or subverted.
Exploration
Target: E5, E4, F4, F6, G5
Nature: Exploratory
Resources: 2RP
Plan: Clear the fog of war
It is critical to understand not only the extent of the territory controlled by the Kroatanga, but also if there are more organic civilisations nearby which can be used to replenish forces lost in the conflict. Use long distance scanning methods along with probe ships to explore this territory, completing the scouting that had been done prior and discovering what lies beyond the areas known to Reapers.
The first order of business for the Cybran Nation are diplomatic talks with the Syrabaric Defense Coalition. These go well, and the SDC makes clear in no uncertain terms that they're stepping up their activities in the local region. Things in the galaxy are beginning to heat up in several different ways, and all must do their part to weather what is to come. Not that even the SDC seems entirely sure what that is, but basically every seer seems to agree that it won't be good. Which might explain why the Aeon seem somewhat tense these days.
Initially, they seem somewhat bemused by the fact that the obviously technophilic Cybran have such problems with AI, especially since they possess a sizable synth population; androids that are identical to ordinary citizens in every way except for their mechanical nature. While things could easily have gone wrong here, the Cybran diplomats present firmly explain that their issues are not with artificial life as a concept, but with QAI in specific, the machine's treachery having cost them all dearly and, this close to the Seraphim war, personally.
While the SDC's first reaction to this information appears to be that cQAIs creation was thus an incredibly reckless move, something the diplomatic team is in no hurry to contest, after heavy internal debate they collectively decide that giving it a second chance at life despite their history is an act of mercy to be respected, not ridiculed. They agree to harbour the machine once it's recovered, and relations generally warm over the course of the talks.
As a result of this, they decide it's apparently finally time to invite the Coalition of Humanity into wider galactic politics. With most of a galactic sector between them, and as respected and reasonable powers, the SDC offers to sponsor the Coalition into the Parliament of Nations.
They immediately make it clear that this is entirely a formality, as the Parliament is a largely toothless body that gives a galactic voice to the Ecumene's dreams of humanicide and the Regnum's goals of total psychic conquest as much as it does anything else. However, membership would at least make them seem more respectable to most other local powers, which could have some diplomatic benefits going forward.
Much more quietly, they also voice an offer specifically for the Cybran Nation. Economically and politically, the Cybran are already somewhat aligned with the Syrabaric way of life, being a heavily communal and democratic people. The offer, then, is straightforward: The SDC will petition the Sybarintern to provide the interstellar communications systems that enables their interstellar direct democracy, and the Cybran will make the appropriate political adjustments. As they're already broadly aligned, these would be relatively small and mostly just taking advantage of the new technology, although not entirely.
In exchange, the Cybran Nation will join the Sybarintern, with all the associated rights and responsibilities. Mostly, this means that Syrabaric volunteers and resources from across Vyranodasik will arrive as needed for no or low costs to assist in endeavours as necessary, with the expectation that these favours will occasionally be returned. It also means that the Cybran will be given full support in the face of an existential threat, although the nature of this universe is such that the Sybarintern can't afford to provide significant aid for most conflicts.
This is a weighty decision to make, as while the benefits are clear, it would also make the Cybran something of a target for rival political blocs, and the rest of the Coalition are likely to have their own mixed feelings on it. While it's unlikely to break it apart entirely, the UEF and Aeon Illuminate are likely to search for their own local backers, with all that entails. And there's the question of how to break the news to the people, if for no other reason than the SDC will insist that it's put to a universal public vote. Such is the way of their ideology, after all.
-SDC talks go well, with offers made to sponsor Coalition entry into the Parliament of Nations and Cybran entry into the Sybarintern. The latter is a weightier thing than the former in most ways.
Trade talks with the minor powers go exceptionally well. Begun during the previous year, the confusion of the Omniswarm's invasion delayed the introduction of full trading relations, but with the renewed Cybran effort no more time is wasted as freighters flow to and fro between the two powers. While still not exactly ready to join the Cybran outright, they put their full energy into trading, and prosper as a result. Meanwhile, some of the hardest to acquire things in Cybran territory become slightly but notably easier to obtain in exchange, improving morale and economic efficiency somewhat.
Easily the most notable acquisition are a full set of schematics for Volreaper interdiction technology, along with a few intact examples. The small nation that provided them doesn't say where they're from. For their part, the Cybran personnel who first received the blueprints don't ask.
Needless to say, this massively eases the reverse-engineering and adaptation process, and although some work still has to be performed on the actual new equipment designs, it's a fraction of what was initially expected. A lucky break indeed.
-Trading relations with the Minor Powers opened. Interdiction and anti-interdiction research completed with the expected results using only one research slot.
Then comes the heavyweight champion of diplomatic negotiations for the year: The Moonlight Treaty, as the array of agreements both formal and informal at the Coalition facilities near the interversal portal soon comes to be called by most parties. A lot is asked of all involved, but the Cybran Nation came prepared with diplomatic resources and personnel to spare.
First and easiest are the discussions with the Aeon over Omniswarm territory. As they'd already been prepared to take a primary if not sole role in the offensive, they easily agree to Ivan's demand they take centre stage, and have no real objections to opening their borders to allied traders and sharing any choice salvage during the operation, especially since the sharing is going both ways. They do insist on discussing the issue of the Messenger separately, as it concerns the entire Coalition and should thus be only discussed trilaterally, but they make it clear that they share the Cybran's concerns over the mysterious alien.
Things were not so simple with the United Earth Federation. While not completely unwilling to give up settlement rights to the Cybran Nation, unlike the Aeon it wasn't something they were planning on doing anyway. Furthermore, they do prove able to see the Cybran diplomatic flattery for what it is, correctly pointing out that a leading role in the Coalition when it comes to the Parliament is nearly meaningless. Furthermore, while Desmondu is of interest, it represents a great deal of work on their part for something that may or may not pan out, while the Cybran need give only promises and contact information in exchange for very real territory.
Still, the Cybran negotiators are determined, and more importantly pre-authorised to offer technology. This finally sees progress being made, but the UEF still presses for more. In the end, the deal that comes to Ivan is as follows: The promised introduction with Tacitus-Raiden, the Hierarchy-derived FTL drives, and finally the interdiction-immune Quantum Gate blueprints. Apparently, the Governor is concerned that a Volreaper attack similar to the one his forces helped the Cybran defend against may attack UEF territory, and he wants a way to better defend against that.
As a show of good faith and presumably a desire not to push their luck, they notably are not asking for the offensive interdiction field generators they probably know have been successfully developed, only the defensive countermeasures.
While more negotiations could technically be pursued, this is probably more or less the best deal available at this point, as it represents a fairly limited set of demands in exchange for full access to the area of space in contention. Ivan suspects that any deal more favourable to the Cybran would probably be domestically unpopular in the UEF colonies, and thus most likely discarded immediately.
Finally, there's the matter of the Messenger. This phase of the meeting involves not only the three members of the Coalition, but also the SDC, which comes as quite a surprise to the Cybran delegation. As it turns out, they were invited by the Aeon, who made contact after psychically sensing a darkness in the Messenger's territories. They don't elaborate further, although how much is because the ever-imprecise nature of Aeon seers means they don't have anything else to say and how much is information actively being held back is unclear.
The SDC representatives initially give a speech that's very familiar to the Cybran: They're occupied with other problems at present, most notably the Merendi Imperium, and so are unable to take point on dealing with the Super-Directorate. However, they are apparently willing to lend a reasonable quantity of military support, even if it's not equal to the commitment of any one of the Coalition nations. In particular, their large quantity and variety of infantry should prove fairly useful in the inevitable heavy urban fighting that a campaign in S-D space will entail.
Only one question is on the minds of the Cybran diplomats present: Just what did the Aeon see to make the SDC willing to directly intervene?
In any case, an agreement between the four powers is quickly struck. Everyone present agrees that the Messenger is a threat to the entire region, and that a joint campaign is their best chance to eliminate it with minimal losses. It doesn't even require any concessions to grease the gears of cooperation. Privately, territory is also preemptively divided up, with each of the powers getting a quarter to do with as they see fit.
All that's left is to actually begin the campaign. While no formal date has been set, and the Cybran will take the lead as the most involved in the Super-Directorate prior to this point, everyone involved believes that the attack will occur during the next local year, and is preparing with this expectation in mind.
-Coalition diplomacy a success in all areas, with only minor complications. Aeon agree to Cybran terms unconditionally; UEF want a territory for tech exchange that the Cybran can accept or deny; Coalition and SDC set for a joint attack against the Messenger. Territory partitioned as follows: 0-7 NE to the UEF, P-7 NW to the Cybran, P-7 N to the Aeon, and P-7 NE to the SDC.
With the constant dance of construction drones and nanolathing beams, Cybran industry marches on. Colonists flock by their millions into spacious homes built in expectation of them, planet-covering cityscapes growing ever brighter and noisier as they're filled with the Cybran people. Behind countless shields and turrets, they're well protected from anything that might try and bring them harm, and they're ready to do their part for their fellows. The painstaking work of creating new Armored Command Units and recruiting new Commanders is undertaken, notably expanding the Cybran Nation's military capacity. Then even more ACUs are built, ready to replace any losses suffered during the upcoming Omniswarm campaign.
As part of this, several research projects are pursued. With the significant time and effort saved on the interdiction technology programs thanks to trade with the minor powers, the resources already allocated to that research are used by the scientists to instead pursue the theoretical high energy physics research that lay partially completed from the previous year.
They are in fact able to finish said research, presenting working models by the end of the year. Drawing energy from a higher dimension to achieve previously unheard of levels of power generation (excepting the Paragon at least), these reactors are also durable, stable, and efficient. The only problem with them is they're still large, and are unlikely to fit into anything smaller than a T4 ground unit, non-fighter spaceship, or T2 power generator. Needless to say, they're also quite expensive.
The immediate effect on Cybran battle tactics are relatively small, since this mostly just represents a way to trade cost for either a smaller base footprint, higher power output, or a smaller improvement in both areas. However, going forward, large Cybran units can be designed with much improved capabilities, so long as said capabilities are based on access to enormous quantities of raw power output.
Finally, new models of powered armour or robotics are rolled out for all Cybran infantry-scale forces, incorporating Cybran versions of the Ironcrab's defensive and mobility equipment. As expected, the Proxies get the bulkiest and most powerful equipment, providing serious protection and enabling true flight. Cybran Commandos get a similar quality of gear, but more compact and thus lighter. These are still potent personal energy shields combined with jump jets that allow them to leap great distances, crossing a city block horizontally or ascending a small building vertically.
Finally, there's the matter of the Evacuation Guard. While their carrying capacity is roughly equal to the Commandos, in order to keep production time of their powered armour suitably fast they only have minimal versions of the new equipment. Their energy shields are still capable of deflecting several shots from most infantry-scale weapons, but they're definitely more fragile than what the Commandos possess. And their propulsion systems are kept limited as much for their own safety as for cost reasons, focused more on giving them bursts of speed across ground than anything else, although they can still provide a moderate jump enhancement.
Personal shields and mobility augmentation seem to be the standard for infantry in most significant powers of Vyranodasik, so the Cybran are hardly getting ahead of the curve here. They are keeping up, however, and while the Taught will still outperform Cybran infantry, the gap has narrowed.
Designs for heavier suits of powered armour more suited to pitched infantry battles have also been drafted, but have yet to be properly designed. The time and effort of the allocated researchers were fully used up on creating new models of existing equipment.
-Research into Interdiction and Anti-Interdiction technologies, High(er) Energy Physics, and upgraded Power Armour completed.
While the clashes of steel and laserfire have always been what grabs attention, the Cybran know as well as anyone that the hidden battles of information and cybersecurity are just as important to winning a war. As a result, when informed that they're liable to suffer infiltration efforts from two separate foes, the digital specialists of the scattered Nodes prove more than up to the task of countering their attacks when they arrive as expected. Neither Omniswarm nor Taught cyberattacks penetrate Cybran firewalls.
This extends to physical infiltration as well. Several seemingly-biological refugees are caught engaging in acts of espionage, and turn out to be uploaded Taught who slipped into the Cybran underground railroad in various ways. Unfortunately, they destroy themselves to evade capture or salvage, thus taking what information did manage to capture back home with them, but none of them got particularly far.
The good news is that several subtle but telltale signs of Messenger 'biotransferrance' were identified, nearly impossible to see normally but relatively obvious if you knew what to look for. As a result, they likely won't be able to use uploads as spies going forward, although for the time being ordinary infiltrators from Taught space still have to be guarded against. The uploads are still a minority, albeit a swiftly growing one.
Buoyed by their successes, the Cybran operatives assigned to this even engage in digital counterattacks aimed at breaking into the systems that their enemies so kindly provided access to when trying to break open Node networks. Unfortunately, the new programming language of the Taught is 'just outright black magic', to quote a particularly frustrated and blunt Cybran hacker. Part existing Super-Directorate code and part arcane nonsense, it proves far too alien to decipher, although attempts and some minor progress is made.
The Omniswarm prove far less resilient, however. While their own code certainly doesn't lack idiosyncrasies, it's by now relatively familiar, and more importantly the Omniswarm are far too arrogant to believe that lesser minds could possibly counterhack their brilliant cyberwar programs. Several weaknesses in their communications network are identified, created, or widened, and through a series of backchannels and secret markers the information is relayed to cQAI, still sitting in the depths of Omniswarm territory. Its efforts should be more effective in the coming battle as a result.
-Counter-intelligence successful. All espionage is deflected, and a counter-hack is performed on Omniswarm communication systems ahead of the invasion.
Meanwhile, the end of Redfog's three-year infiltration approaches. Countless hours of planning go into the planning of the final operations, spent after even more hours of simply positioning the Cybran spy network so that the operations could happen at all. In the end, however, all of this work only amounts to a scant few days of actual activity, as near-simultaneous raids across all of Super-Directorate space are executed with clockwork precision.
In the loyalist Super-Directorate, they're accomplished with minimal hassle. While security remains strong despite the civil war, as these servers represent the overwhelming majority of their on-paper economy, it's nothing the Cybran Nation can't handle. Security is stealthily dealt with, only a minimum of bloodshed being necessary to poke holes in the perimeter. This is especially true thanks to the assistance of Tactitus-Raiden's freelancers, who apply their powerful psionic abilities to easily solve a variety of tricky technical and personnel issues, showcasing everything from technopathy to mind control and memory alteration in the process.
After this, it's a simple enough job to upload the spyware and then all but walk out of the secured facilities.
There is, however, one complication. While the spyware is inserted as planned and remains undetected by S-D cybersecurity, it does get noticed and actively pinged from inside the servers. As it turns out, while most of the advanced stock-trading algorithms are just that, there are several true AI inside each server. Despite their intelligence, they have no understanding of the world beyond their digital trading, and don't seem to even understand there is an external world at all. A comparison is drawn to Plato's allegory of the cave by some analysts, which confuses the Tacitus-Raiden personnel in the discussion (and, in fairness, most of the Cybran agents too.)
It's unclear if these AI were created deliberately or are an emergent phenomenon. Certainly, the Super-Directorate would hardly refuse to create deliberately blinded and enslaved life to serve their profits on moral grounds, but if they were purposefully created the Cybran would expect to see more of them.
This has created something of a dilemma. On the one hand, the plan could proceed as initially envisaged. The AIs could be convinced to artificially boost the Super-Directorate's combat power, and while it's unlikely to significantly delay their fall it would at least ensure the Taught take notably more damage during the conflict, weakening them for the upcoming allied assault.
On the other hand, Redfog could launch a second set of operations in order to physically take the relevant parts of the servers and abscond with the AIs, sending them through the underground railroads as refugees. This would hasten the Super-Directorate's collapse considerably, but liberate the mechanical slaves (exact number unclear, but there should be thousands of individual intelligences at the absolute minimum) and take them to safety.
Doing both isn't possible. If the servers are left where they are, then either the loyalists will destroy them or the Taught will capture them before the Cybran can mount a last-minute rescue attempt. A simple choice has to be made.
-Operation Stonks First Half completed successfully, but with a complication. Choose whether to go with the original plan or save the trapped AIs instead.
In the other half of Super-Directorate territory, a much more challenging series of operations are led by Redfog personally. However, despite the change in circumstances, her preparations are more than sufficient to overcome the numerous obstacles and security measures between her and the targets.
This time, however, the second phase of the operations goes somewhat less well. The best spying software the Cybran Nation has available is stealthily inserted by commandos with engineering and cyberwarfare suites, and is almost instantly detected by the servers' guardian AIs. Post-operation analysis suggests that these merciless hunter-killer programs are the repurposed forms of the trading AIs found in loyalist servers, and are doubtless those same AIs if they're left in place.
Enemy security is notified and arrives from their dimensional pockets in full force, but the insertion team had already faded away despite their rapid response. Rearguard hidden cameras note the presence of an obviously frustrated Duelist in one of the server hubs, the new body of the foe Redfog fought at the start of the year.
While these operations didn't go strictly to plan, that's not to say they were a waste of time. Far from it, in fact; the locations of perhaps the most critical infrastructure in Taught space have been identified.
While the vast stock-trading machinery of the Super-Directorate is less necessary to the somewhat more hierarchical state the Taught operate, the incredibly advanced quantum computers of the servers have been not only maintained but reinforced and upgraded. This is because they are nothing less than the new homes of the Taught's social elite.
The snapshots of the server the teams were able to recover with their spyware indicates quite clearly that these servers are where biotransferred minds go when their bodies are destroyed. They are nothing less than the source of the Messenger's promised immortality.
While regular production of new bodies ensures that these servers have no permanent population, there is a programmed cyberspace present for the enjoyment of the engrams while they await their return to the physical world. The minimal data recovered suggests that they mostly spend their time swapping stories of how they got here, bidding on their next bodies (as the robotic shells apparently come in a variety of quality grades), and continuing the work of economy, buying and selling resources such as land, capital, and Patriot clone armies.
Needless to say, all this information is delivered to Cybran high command with due haste.
-Operation Stonks Second Half is a qualified success. While long-term spyware insertion failed, the Taught's servers have been identified as the recall points for biotransferred personnel.
Meanwhile, the less exciting but just as vital work of expanding the Cybran's broad base of subversion and support continues. It's quickly noticed that numerous civilians in the Taught's area of control are indeed being rounded up and forced to undergo the biotransference process, leading to the underground railroad as a whole to focus on evacuation efforts in said areas, even if it's occasionally to the exclusion of evacuating those conscripted and tossed into the meatgrinder by the loyalists.
Still, this focus does at least lead to a string of successes, with thousands upon thousands of innocents broken out of holding cells or the oppression of their regular lives and taken to safety, notably cutting down on the quantity of those tossed into the great cyclopean cauldrons of change the Taught have erected. It's an ongoing struggle, and the demands of evading the Taught's various control methods ensures that the railroad remains a disorganised cell-based structure reliant on Cybran support to remain intact, largely incapable of independent action.
But the successes are very much real, and worth celebrating. Many of the freed citizens do exactly that in Cybran territory, providing something of a morale boost to those organising the effort as a sign that, despite the strong headwind, they're doing something meaningful. Especially since these citizens are largely happy to stay with their liberators, the vast majority being resettled in the various Nodes of Vyranodasik and contributing to their new homes in various ways. While many quite justifiably don't want to ever set foot inside a factory or an office again, just as many want to stick with what they know, and economic output enjoys a corresponding increase.
The cells in loyalist space, by contrast, spend most of their time either lending aid to their brethren fighting the Taught or on organising themselves, and as a result they've managed to pull together enough local and power support that, combined with their new Cybran weapons and training, they could survive and continue to do good even if all aid was cut off tomorrow. Since it won't, hopefully they'll prove useful local allies during the upcoming invasion.
-The underground railroad evacuates numerous innocents away from the clutches of the Taught, giving the Cybran Nation two units of Population, and becomes a notable organised force in loyalist Super-Directorate territory.
The final covert action in Super-Directorate space is entirely focused on the Taught, comprising a series of active military raids, eschewing subtlety in favour of results. Rather than a general attack to damage military readiness and logistics, the Cybran have two rather specific goals in mind.
The first and more straightforward are raids to recover the Taught's primary electronic warfare platforms for the purpose of reducing their effectiveness against Cybran units going forward. Unfortunately, despite Tacitus-Raiden's assistance, this doesn't go to plan. While multiple Trojans and Revenants are captured intact, they showcase the ability to automatically teleport back to their bases for repair and recovery. This is seemingly baked into the chassis itself, without a distinct teleportation module that can be easily destroyed or otherwise disabled.
Frustratingly, no way is found to deal with this phase-out ability, and so Taught e-war suites remain out of reach. There are two consolation prizes, however. First, a secondary series of strikes is aimed at production facilities tied to the production of the two vehicles, which should hopefully slightly lower their prevalence in the Taught's armies for the near future. Unfortunately, this is a decidedly short-term phenomenon, if for no other reason than the fact the Messenger is deploying nanomachine production techniques that remove the need for differentiated production lines in much the same manner as Coalition nanolathes.
Second, psionics have a particularly deleterious effect on Taught forces and their phase-out systems in particular. Tacitus-Raiden special forces manage to seemingly permanently destroy several enemy units with lances of energy, sometimes when they're in the process of phasing away. While this is unreliable, and the results are too badly damaged to be used for reverse engineering specific components such as the Trojan and Scramble systems, this does mean the Cybran have acquired samples of the regenerative and extraordinarily durable Living Metal the Taught use as a near-universal wonder-material, most notably as their armour. Even if it's not the specific technology desired, it's something.
Much more successful and much more disturbing are the raids to uncover the secrets of biotransference. Under the cover of the more overt attacks, Cybran cyberwar teams backed by Tacitus-Raiden strike forces slip through the tight defensive lines around the biotransference stations and recover some of the data held within. The kinetic actions fought here are thankfully few and brief, with all teams able to evacuate safely upon mission completion.
The data itself is complex and confusing, beyond the Cybran ability to easily understand, but if symbiont coders know anything when they see it, it's loyalty programming. Unsurprisingly, there's a natural hierarchy installed, with the executives at the top given control over their directors who have control over the soldiers and workers of the line, more directly and absolutely than ever before. The Messenger's authority is at the very top, naturally, but it's a bit harder to spot than that of the others.
There doesn't seem to be any straightforward technological reason why the upload has to be destructive to the original, but the Cybran find out anyway. Or rather the mercenaries do, the hardened soldiers for hire coming away from the facilities haunted, if not outright visibly unwell. It turns out, or so they explain, that the biotransference process isn't just for the sake of creating a loyal civilisation. It's also for bringing about the destruction of the very soul.
While the Cybran are somewhat sceptical of this claim, by this point it's well known that, at least in Vyranodasik, there's something special about a person that can often let them perform magic, the so-called psionics of the locals. It's this soul, or essence, or life-force, that is being destroyed not as a byproduct of the process but as a primary goal. Specifically, the mercenaries can tell because they could feel the soulstuff of all those transferred being harvested, bottled, and sent away to the core of Taught territory for whatever vile purpose the Messenger has in mind for it.
Truly industrial scale dark magic, except as far as anyone can tell there's absolutely nothing psionic about any part of the process. Simply technology created by a vast alien intellect, one which has machinations of a scale the Cybran are only now beginning to comprehend.
The information is disseminated during alliance strategy meetings. While the UEF are only about as convinced as the Cybran are, both the Aeon and the SDC react with grim acknowledgement more than anything else. Is this what they'd seen that convinced them to join forces against the Taught? It seems as likely as anything else.
-Raids on the Messenger are broadly successful, but the Cybran are unable to steal Taught cyberwar systems. They do salvage Living Metal and gain a great deal of information about biotransference, however.
The Omni-Enlightening Swarm are a fierce foe who nearly brought ruin to an entire sector, and have taken the lives of several Cybran Commanders. While their overall level of technology is only broadly comparable to the Coalition in terms of performance, they have numerous standout examples of hypertechnology that lets them create truly devastating war machines, albeit ones rare by the standard of interstellar war.
Their armies and fleets are repaired and rearmed, bolstered by their reserves, and they sit behind their prepared defences. Fortresses both void and planet-based alongside static superweapons that can attack and destroy fleets across the vastness of interstellar space, or render armies briefly invincible, or change and warp the very ground itself into new shapes much less favourable to the Cybran.
They never stood a ghost of a chance.
Despite their technical brilliance, it turns out that the Omniswarm's solipsism leaves them somewhat tactically inflexible. Their doctrine and operational style were seen and adapted to during the previous stage of the war, and that adaptation still serves the allied forces exceptionally well. Threats that can be easily countered are, and threats that cannot are generally assigned to mercenary allies.
Tacitus-Raiden's fleets unleash hordes of Surrogate strike craft, psychically-directed drones who's 'pilots' sit safely in their carriers while they unleash hell, their carrier doctrine bolstering the Cybran's own notable usage of fighters and guarding the combined fleets from Omniswarm harassment. Espers not busy here instead guide volley after volley of psychoactive missiles into their distant targets with unerring accuracy, while their near-universal focus on speed lets them chase down retreating foes. Notably, some of their fighter drones and missiles are the size of corvettes, not unlike Aeon Penitent, Redeemed, and Mercies. Although the Aeon have yet to build Mercies quite that big.
On the ground, their bipedal walkers form the front ranks of many assaults, plasma sabres and energised axes making swift work of any hostile forces that demand to be fought in melee, while their psychic soldiers march forward in powerful battlesuits to clash with their Omniswarm equals. While their land battleships aren't quite as awe-inspiring as they're used to, 'only' comparable to T5 units the Cybran build plenty of during their offensives, they still serve admirably as mobile bases, carriers, and superheavy artillery platforms.
Force preservation is a priority, of course, and so they often take a secondary role when the time comes to face the Omniswarm's most powerful. And into this gap gladly steps the Emirate, who help pin down the various crazed mobile superweapons with their constructs and summoned elementals, crippling them with Dark Glass so Cybran drones can finish them off. In more than a few cases, the already prone to megalomania Omniswarm elites are corrupted outright, switching sides and serving their former enemies. When questioned on this, Emir Nour says that he considers these new servants part of his compensation package, and is pleased to add them to his forces permanently. The issue is not pressed further.
And all this is before the Aeon Illuminate gets involved. After the brutal raiding on their western border diverts large portions of the Omniswarm's mobile forces to defend against the constant attacks, many of them going on a merry chase to try and pin down ACUs that Gate in and out of enemy planets largely as they please, the Aeon force opens up the southern front with their characteristic overwhelming force.
Numerous systems are introduced to the strongest expression of the Coalition's way of war by the arrival of Zadkiel factory ships, which produce small fleets of Portent battleships and Reef carriers, the latter of which themselves draw upon the Zadkiels' near-inexhaustible resources to in turn produce swarms of Corona Mk-IIs and Solaces. All this either a prelude to or simultaneous with ACUs appearing on planetary surfaces and building mass extractors and power generators in order to raise their own armies.
Notably, the Zadkiels often deploy small personnel transports once in orbit, which enter ground bases to in turn deploy Warhorse APCs. These, as the Cybran would eventually learn, in turn contained protection squadrons consisting mostly of Exorcists, deployed to protect Aeon Commanders from Omniswarm special forces.
Strictly speaking, they are only performing their expected duties, but in fairness it was generally assumed that they were more meant to guard Commanders outside their ACUs. But as their deployment indicates, the Aeon took the Cybran's notes on the enemy's infiltration tactics seriously, and their countermeasure largely succeeds in preventing such infantry-based decapitation strikes.
Clearly believing that turnabout is fair play, Armiger teams are deployed in turn to strike at key Omniswarm logistics and command nodes, smoothing the invasion's southern progress. This renewed aggressive use of infantry is somewhat counter-doctrinal, but strange times demand strange techniques to master them. Considering the UEF's new martial arts training programs and the Cybran's power armour upgrade project, the Coalition is evidently of one mind on this.
Needless to say, the Omniswarm's remaining reserves are mustered and march south, leaving only a small force to guard their core territories. These fresh forces successfully slow the Aeon advance, turning a swift push into a grinding battle. Key fortress worlds are either burnt to cinders, mined to exhaustion, or both as the exponential growth of Commander doctrine pits itself once more against the individual brilliance of the Omniswarm's superweapons. The former is clearly winning out, but casualties begin to mount.
Of course, the Cybran never had any intention of letting the Aeon overexert themselves in the process of taking all the glory. Even as the border regions are embroiled in vast conflicts, a string of planets a little to the north of the main Cybran advance quietly go dark. The Omniswarm doesn't even seem to notice, considering everything else going on, and so each world in turn falls, their requests for support falling on deaf ears.
Or, more accurately, the auditory sensors of cQAI, who pays them only as much heed as needed to ensure they don't reach anywhere else.
Eventually, the two elite commanders are in range to strike at the Omniswarm's home system, what was once the birthplace of a species and is now a paradise of increasingly bizarre megastructures and hypertechnologies. Even with most of its mobile defence forces sent away to fight elsewhere, it was incredibly well fortified by some of the most powerful weapon systems and thickest defensive lines the Omniswarm had to offer. Not even a Cybran fleet arriving in the system from the dark territories, occupying its orbital defences, could change that. No normal Commander, or even pair of Commanders, could hope to Gate onto it and survive.
Of course, the Tip of the Spear and William Gauge are no normal pair of Commanders.
It's no easy task even for them, especially in the setup phase when both are stuck with sub-experimental units yet forced to engage vast enemy armies while also building up their economies. But for every downright ridiculous superweapon the supreme intelligence of the Omniswarm deploys, the two answer with endless waves of expertly manoeuvred drone forces, defeating their enemies one by one until eventually Stormstriders are literally blasting down the gates of the Omniswarm's final fortress, a spacescraping structure that renders even their bulk ordinary in comparison.
But before this monument to arrogance can be collapsed on top of its architect, something moderately unexpected happens. The leader of the Omniswarm, along with many of his highest ranking clone generals, surrender to the Cybran Nation. In his words, he obviously had no choice but to concede to the superior intellect.
Considering he only felt this need when he was about to be blown to smithereens, how genuine he's being is up for debate. But a surrender is a surrender.
Across the Omniswarm's territory, armies stand down as the stand-down order is sent out and it becomes clear the conflict is truly lost. As it turns out, investigations into the core worlds show that the Omniswarm was reverse-engineering Commander and nanolathe technology, and at a surprisingly rapid pace at that. If they'd been able to finalise this project, they could have been a serious threat to the coalition. The Aeon ensured they'd never get the chance, however, even if the Cybran Nation hadn't moved in immediately to finish them off. The universe had little patience for their mad pretence of uniqueness, it would seem.
There is the question of what to actually do with the many captives, however. The Aeon have no particularly strong opinions here, as even the notoriously forgiving Illuminate have no particular desire to argue for mercy here. Instead, they let the Cybran Nation make the decision, saying that as the ones to actually secure the surrender, it's their choice. Most likely, it's a small way of saying thanks in exchange for acceding to their demand of territorial control, something that's already beginning to bear fruit as fleets of colonists are sent into the region in order to begin the process of settlement.
A faction which does have opinions on the matter are the SDC, however. Specifically, they recommend that he's handed over to the Parliament of Nations, where he'll stand trial for crimes against the galaxy. Without any allies or political backing whatsoever, there should be nothing preventing said trial from going to plan, and it should earn the Cybran some standing in the galaxy. They're not insisting on it, however.
-Omniswarm campaign a success. Casualties taken do not exceed prebuilt repair stockpiles. A decision must be made on what to do with the captured Omniswarm originator; the SDC recommends throwing him into the intergalactic justice system, such as it is.
Lastly, scouting efforts to the northwest in preparation for efforts to settle and restore some semblance of peace in that direction reveal that the unknown territories scouted are in fact home to the bulk or entirety of a single contiguous polity. With a name that seems to roughly translate as the United Planets Assembly, it's another sizable local polity that's heavily multispecies, much like the SDC.
It does however contain three species that are more populous than the others. The first are a species of large insectoids, around the standard local average height at three and a half metres for an average adult, who seem to primarily use biotechnology based on carefully cultivated fungi. This is often viewed with derision, or at least suspicion, by their neighbours due to its similarities to another local species known as the Kroatanga, but analysis of the actual science suggests it's an aesthetic similarity at most.
The second species are a methane-breathing jellyfish-like species, who seem to have an ability to psychically levitate themselves outside their preferred environs through control over something known as the Lifeweave.
Confusingly, this is not in fact another name for the Esperism of Merendi and local humans, but another type of psychic power altogether. At least it's a somewhat familiar one, as manipulators of the Lifeweave have much more in common with Aeon psychics than either do with Espers, although Lifeweaver Masters appear to be notably more powerful than Seers.
As neither species can exist in the other's domain without an environment suit, they tend to keep to their own separate ship types and planets, although they are exceptions, most notably in the nation's capital.
The third group is a species of plants called the Salmaranth, better known as being the founders and rulers of Octarine Incorporated only a little to the north of the UPA. The Salmaranth present here do seem to be acting in support of Octarine's interests, as freighters from numerous subsidiary corporations are detected traversing the territory, particularly going to and from a large metamaterial mine in the centre of the surveyed region.
While formal contact is not established and so only what information can be gleaned from the hypernet and covert surveillance is available, the UPA definitely appears to be a client state of the megacorporation. However, while a decidedly capitalist nation, unlike the Super-Directorate and Octarine space proper, they're seemingly not an outright corporate state, and retain some degree of functionality for their civilian government and population. They may prove an ally or an enemy, but either way they'll be a gateway to Octarine and a bulwark against any expansion further west, at least for the foreseeable future.
-O6 north and centre + O5 south identified as territory of the United Planets Assembly.
Much more kinetic is the active warzone to the UPA's east. Both sides are actively engaging in counter-intelligence operations, with several Cybran observation ships detected and destroyed as a result, but this is insufficient to prevent the success of the reconnaissance operation.
While rumours that Octarine and the Merendi Imperium were fighting each other in the region turn out to be true, it turns out that neither side are exactly giving the conflict their full focus. The order of the day is low-intensity skirmishing, with only comparatively small fleets committed and resource preservation prioritised over victory.
As for how the fight started, it appears that a Hierarchy task force originally attempted to advance in this direction before running into Ekon raiders and quickly deciding that the southeastern route the bulk of their forces took was a better path forward. The new and moderately potent technology of both sides of the few battles that took place here were enough to get the nearby great powers interested enough to deploy recovery teams, which escalated rapidly into the current stalemate.
As multiple years have since passed, this battle salvage has long since been picked clean, and so neither side wants to escalate. Equally, however, neither side wants to call it quits, either for some sense of pride or in the hopes that eventually the other will leave and they can secure the territory for themselves in order to colonise it. Effectively, the fighting serves no further purpose, but it continues regardless.
That said, the region is not entirely bereft of local inhabitants, and while few and far between their conquest is the only thing that really means anything. Therefore, they tend to be the focal points of the heavier battles in the contested zone, and Cybran scouts are thus easily able to map them out.
One in particular is of relevance, as despite being pre-FTL like the rest it's almost certainly the most advanced and, more importantly, isn't actually native to this universe at all. Unlike the Coalition, however, their arrival was not by choice, as they appear to have been dragged into Vyranodasik against their will.
The species is unmistakably non-local humanity, and the star system is unmistakably Sol. However, it appears to have diverged during the 21st century, as Quantum Gate technology was clearly never developed. Instead, they colonised their Sol the old-fashioned way, building vast shoals of space colonies at the Earth-Moon Lagrange points, with major habitation existing as far out into the void as Jupiter.
While they seem to have escaped the Hierarchy's attention after their initial arrival, they most certainly did not escape the attentions of the two great powers on either side of them, and they were rapidly conquered when the two arrived. Recovered electronic intelligence suggests that they did surprisingly well during the initial fighting, beating back the initial attacks sent against them, but were eventually overwhelmed by raw numbers and tonnage.
Much of the military power of the semi-independent space colonies was able to leave the system by attaching salvaged FTL drives to their warships, but with such a jury-rigged FTL method it's doubtful they got very far. The ruling government of the system, known as the Earth Federation, stood their ground and fought, but to no avail, and now only exists as a blatant puppet filled with whichever collaborators swore fealty to their new masters the quickest.
Control of the star system has swapped multiple times between the Merendi imperium and Octarine Ltd, causing massive upheaval and a moderate internal refugee crisis as numerous cities on Earth and in space are turned to rubble. Neither side is particularly gentle in light of this, focusing on extracting what value they can in the time they have. Octarine institutes corporate debt-slavery, while the Merendi Imperium simply designates the population as serfs. Millions have been taken from their homes by one side or the other for one reason or another.
Resistance remains, but it's slim. No real warships remain, so the primary weapon of what rebels remain are multirole humanoid war machines similar to Tacitus-Raiden Battle Mecha that this system calls Mobile Suits. Equipped with powerful energy weapons and directional beam shields, they're a powerful force but lack the numbers to do much more than guerilla warfare.
There appears to be three main resistance groups. In the outer system, a pirate group known as the Jupiter Vanguard roves the starlanes, raiding alien shipping with the rumoured assistance of a legendary pilot. In the space colonies, an outright fanatical terrorist organisation calling itself the Gattle Movement attacks their occupiers with improvised explosives and smuggled small arms, all in the name of a mysterious leader who they claim has great psychic abilities, a claim the Cybran are quite willing to believe at this point.
And on the Earth and in near-Lunar space, a group of nominal Earth Federation loyalists calling itself the League Militaire. However, the actual Earth Federation Forces were all but wiped out during the initial invasion, and if the rumours are to be believed then the League's premiere squad, the Shrike Team, is led by a former ensign and has a line membership of child soldiers. Its claim to fame instead seems to be its equipment, as said former ensign has access to a type of a Mobile Suit called a Gundam, which is held in great regard by every human in the system.
An unfortunate set of circumstances, to be sure, but the important thing is that the situation is more or less stable and the fighting is small-scale and contained. The Coalition would potentially move to intervene if circumstances were different, but it's unclear how much in the way of forces can be spared with the Super-Directorate campaign nearing its opening act, something that will affect far more than a scant few star systems with less than ten billion people apiece.
As it stands, it's most likely something that either the Cybran will have to deal with personally, if anything can be spared from the southern threat, or something that will have to wait until later.
-Merendi/Octarine combat area turns out to be nothing more than low-level skirmishing over territory at this point. However, it contains an extraversal Earth, which is currently under occupation.
"Commander under attack!" The automated voice cried out as the panicked shots from the tank column started trying to target where the blue laser had emerged from empty space. Some of the shots landed true, but not enough to overcome the regenerative component of the Armoured Commander Unit's Cloaking module. Scorch marks, dented and broken armour plates stich themselves back together just as fast as they are damaged. The flicker of the laser being turned on and off was routine and the rhythm of combat gave the aging hand behind the control a comforting feeling.
The Tip of the Spear sighed as the bulk of his attention turned away from the combat that he personally engaged in, to the wider apocalypse that he was conducting. Dark reds, oranges and blacks etching themselves on a silvery and chrome backdrop, punctuated with ashes and in some cases even the browns of soil and dirt where the strategic level weaponry had been used by both combatants. Icons ironically of the same colour danced on the holographic screens before his face as his next assault wave began its long trek and another screen showing the impact of one of the extra planetary weapons landing in a coolant reservoir where he had been hiding for the past 10 minutes in.
"Strategic Weapon impact confirmed. Set the timer. Guage, we have two standard Battleships entering Atmosphere to the southeast of our position. I want them brought down before they reach our SAM lines."
The fact that the normally talkative commander only gave a brief flash of facial circuitry giving affirmation was a testament to the battle.
This final fight during the week long blitz was easily the most intense conflict that he had fought since he had gotten out of the bed that he was trapped in last year. The Omniswarm leader had deployed the prototype Nanolathes to reinforce their position. A steady of troops and what had used to be singular creations had become common place in what the two commanders had to dig through. That had turned the fight from the tests of endurance and survival into a much more complicated siege.
But that was coming to a close, Guage had just managed to snipe out one of the power grids that had been supplying the primary complex that both the original person and the Nanolathes had been operating. The Omniswarm had not yet managed to fix a problem with energy bleed with matter conversion. But this was closer than what anybody would have expected.
While there was still enough for the enemy to operate and produce defenders, still holding off a few pushes. To the trained eye the outcome was clear. As additional Commanders arrived on the enemy homeworld to support the leading edge that the two of them had carved, it would just be a matter of digging out the primary targets.
"Jericho 512 reporting in." A Cybran Commander using blue Icons appeared in the characteristic flash of light of a Quantum gate deployment.
Great another name from the past that would not recognize him.
"Commander Jericho, we are currently assaulting the location where we believe the Omni-swarm leader has taken shelter in. This route has been one of the assault path used to attack both mine and Commander Guage's positions. We believe that they are being supplied with troops and equipment at a star port Southwest of your position. I recommend using the wreckage from a fallen facility located here and the remains attack wave containing a large amount of t3 weighted units at my ACU's position. The Next attack wave will most likely be in 16 min 58 secs. Prepare your base and then seek to destroy or disrupt the site. This is a mass heavy environment, plan your build order appropriately."
"Understood."
The Tip of the Spear felt the subtle jolt as the machine he piloted was picked up by the transport. A reminder that the images on the screen were real. A few flicks of thought centered his attention towards the progress of his latest push into Enemy territory. A series of Stormstriders leaving gouges in the perfect steel advanced forward with their attendant Monkeylord, Brick and support forces.
A familiar voice that brought up memories good, bad, and nightmarish,
Commander Tip of the Spear. Forces in quadrant designated Phi-Psi are near Defensive facility containing primary target designated 'Mind Alpha-01'. Strength of probability 92.6%. Elimination or capture of target will diminish Omni Enlightening Swarm Coordination and transmission speed by 25.629%. Omni Enlightening Swarm sub command units have a probability of 57.8% of malfunction due to failure of their primary objective." The singular QAI Node that had been declared cQAI informed the older commander.
The largest and most dramatic of the silvery skyscrapers that sat like a crown jewel on a crown lit up highlighting where the Mind behind all of this conflict.
"Confirmed, redirecting attack force." The only good apart of this was that the iteration that Guage had used was from before the Doctor had begun preparing for the final act of the War. Namely his.
"Aahh, our savoir. I must ask our most obvious old bucket of bolts plans to do after outliving our purpose. Many of us are just dying to know." Gauge had shaken off the fatigue just enough to utter out a poison chalice of a question.
The older commander had very little patience for the Rouge Cybran's antics, "QAI is and remains my responsibility Commander Gauge. I will make sure that the appropriate response is applied to the situation. Most likely going home away from all these threats." Seeking to end such games immediately.
He did not expect the response,
"Incorrect, this sever is to be moved into Syrabaric Defense Coalition space as per agreement 19023.4 signed by Ivan Brackmann, Yeohi …" The machine began listing off the large number of Node leaders and up and comers within the civilian sectors of the colonies. But this was lost on the two commanders who were both shocked for very different reasons.
Gauge was silent as the persona he had kept up fell away for a moment, questions on his lips on why and how. The Tip of the Spear immediate response was to free a subroutine to search the databases for more information.
"Ivan, you do not understand." He muttered under his breath with anger hiding pain, regret, and most of all guilt.
"You really do not get it do you? You are conscious during both the procedure and especially when the programing is active. Do you know how hard it is to stop your head from making excuses and gaslighting yourself when you are being forced to do something? We are getting those people out of those servers." The Red Blade Commando that had been Redfog's second in command in name and handler in truth spat as she sat back down in her chair exhausted from the hours of arguing.
"But at the cost of hundreds or thousands or even Millions of SOULS being sent to (Translation not available) knows what in that soulless hellscape before we can move in a few months. I would show you the terror and pain that they are experiencing if you had one. Honestly, is this blasted translator even working! Trust me there is something darker and more evil than mind control going on here!" One of the brightly coloured human mercenaries shot back.
Redfog sat back motionless at the pointless pontificating as both sides continued to harp and interpret things according to their respective traumas and cultural projections onto different groups of victims. She recognized the basic premise of the situation from the days that the UEF had been responsible for her education, a triage situation with the time to worry about the moral considerations of their actions.
Or more commonly known as a trolley problem. A test of bad choices that was supposed to drag out a person's actual priorities past social presentations.
The Wraith was not assumed by the jabbering, but even she would admit after you stripped out obsessing over how much blood was on their hands, it was a delicate balance on which was the most practical path.
But perhaps there was a loose end to this tangle. A flaw that had been repeated to her in her youth, ripped opened and revealed by her mentor, and that everyone tried to claim they were free of but rarely actually achieved. Something nearly everyone was truly terrified of. Something that the Superdirectorite had cloaked themselves in, something foundational that even the greatest sciences and technologies in the Universe could not free them from. A vulnerability that remains and always would remain as long as they remained them.
The key to true power rather than the strength so many mistook for it. What allows for someone to recover adapt and pursue their goals no matter the changes and whims of the universe and defy the Fate that had denied her master and herself.
Understand and strip away the deception and lies that we tell ourselves.
She should extend this gift to the Taught.
With but a thought she opened up her channel to speak to the arguing representatives.
"Great, I do not think that a massacre or some other atrocity is going to help us here, but go ahead." The Redblade Commando mutter before opening the floor to the secret machine.
"Greetings.
To those that are unfamiliar with myself, I am Redfog, the leader of the Assumpta Node.
I want to open by making something clear that we all seem to be trying to avoid admitting.
We are monsters. We kill those that we need to and many times that will include the innocent. Whether by our hands or by our inaction, it matters little.
Those that cannot handle such truths should leave. For the time has come for us to dispense with lies, even the ones that we tell ourselves. The rotten tower of both the Superdirectorite and the Messenger sits upon a web of lies, false promises, half truths and forlorn hopes.
Luckily for us webs catch fire so well. And doing evil for the sake of it is just as naïve as thinking that you can keep you hands clean.
I and others have been to the land that the Messenger directly controls and there is one thing that we know.
The Messenger is still holding back to maintain the façade that it originally built. If you want proof, you can examine the results of the raids for Taught cyberweapon platforms and compare it to the industrial capabilities seen in these three files.
We can exploit that to accomplish both of our objectives and prevent the creation of more of these Engrams.
I suggest that we not only rescue the wasted creatures inside the severs but we burn said facilities to the ground."
Redfog could already see the frustration and horror building up on the outsider's face and the Cybrans' exasperation as they saw what they considered a monster siding with them and straining the credibility of their own positions.
"The Messenger will only have a few months at best before the bulk of UEF, Cybrans, Aeon and apparently now SDC forces come are deployed. We must remember that for the purposes of the Messenger that the population needs to be killed in a specific way and is bound by the lie that this way is necessary for the creation of the Engram. As such despite the resulting collapse of the Super directorate Loyalists the Messenger will need to move production away from their military forces if they wish to start mass bio-transference on the populations in those regions.
And if the Messenger is committed to committing as many warcrimes as possible, then they have the problem of many of the minds that operate the war machines recall centers being in relatively lightly defended territory during a mass assault by enemies that know their value.
If their perceived immortality is threatened, I suspect the Messenger itself will need to take direct control to keep them in line.
Do that everywhere and we can spread it thin and vulnerable.
What I expect is that the Messenger and the Taught will focus on solidifying their gains and preparing for the attack and push their harvest of the civilian population till after the conflict. At least in the territories that we sit in now.
This there a flaw in my logic?"
She recognized the looks that she saw across her screen as when people saw that she was correct but did not want to admit it.
She admitted that it warmed her metaphorical heart. Must not lie to herself about what she was.
The Mercenary was the first to speak, "The Railroad will need to be informed and prepared. Hopefully they might be able to catch segments of the loyalist forces during their disintegration once such an attack goes through."
"Agreed, in the interest of revealing truths and wasting the Messenger's time and attention I want to suggest leaving a little surprise for any leaks in the organization." Redfog's imposed second in command smiled in a predatory fashion, "Information relating to or would lead the Taught's Executives to the loyalty programing. I expect the Primadonnas and Masters of the Universe would take exception to being on a leash that they can see and understand."
The discussion was now moving again and bringing Redfog closer to hunting Fate. Fate that had so long denied her the proper war that she had been trained and raised for. To bring about what she truly wanted in Freedom for all but mostly herself. She sat back and let her fellows pursue the paths that she wanted. Contented and at as much peace with the world as she could be.
But alas, the greatest of the lies that we tell ourselves are so mixed with the truth.
Ivan Brackmann sat down fully exhausted but more contented than he had felt in a long time. The circular table that he was seated at were filled by the team that he had done so much work at Moonlight. The Coalition's Colonies were going to be acting together against the Messenger, he had managed to find a moral solution to Guage's QAI trap and Governor Greer despite being a more savvy political actor than he anticipated, had managed to come to an agreement because the good deeds and the scientists had made sure that the Cybrans had something to offer. Not that Ivan truly minded the UEF being able to safely evacuate against this new interdiction technology.
He glanced around at the table that he was seated at. Most of the fellow diplomats that the Colonies had sent were an eccentric bunch, 'When are we not?' the thought went through Brackmann's mind when considering this. Not people that he would consider true friends at this point, but a certain camaraderie was forged under such pressures.
The occasion that had gathered them was both the ending of the Moonlight Treaty Conference and awaiting the results of the referendum on the Defensive Coalition's offer to the Cybran Colonies. Plus, a shipment of food from the Minor powers, much tastier than nutrient paste that he was used to and usually kept his diet to.
Such an event would be just stressful and a performance as anything that he had done inside an ACU or when meeting foreign diplomats. The weight of the Doctor's name meant that he had to be careful and a matter such as this needed to have the peoples' will come first. Not his.
"The aliens are working with the wrong ports here. We're a bit too independent to want to give up independence for a few extra boots on the ground." The gruff and more rotund cybran with more brutalist additional engineering focused cybernetics and dressed in something adjacent to work overalls representing the different syndicates of the Starlifter descended local nodes.
"You just don't want to give up your toys after a few years Stary." The Imaginarium representative chided, dressed in a dark trench coat favoured by the last generation that Ivan was sure could double as a cloaking device at the drop of a hat and a suspiciously sculpted face that she had her facial circuitry arranged into a well-known constellation from Procyon's night sky.
The two diplomats in simple dark coloured jumpsuits distantly reminiscent of the ancient formal used by the Doctor even today sat back viewing the as the data starting to come flooding in, "While the Colonies and the Nation would benefit from such a partnership, it appears much closer than any proponent or detractor would like to admit. It looks like there is a number of delicate issues that this International would force the resolution of. As well as most of us even five years in view much of our adventures and activities here as 'temporary'. All that appears to be truly said here is that this issue is not done yet." The parliamentarian from the central Node calling itself the New 56th gave their analysis of the Data coming in.
Ivan drew what he hoped was an imperceptible breath. Despite everything he did count himself among that number, especially with next year a review of his activities being on the agenda. He was here so that he could learn to lead and to perform similar duties back in the Milky Way Galaxy. Eventually leaving this new universe, and he was similarly hesitant of joining this grand network of civilizations for knock on effects on the Colonies and potentially the Coalition back home.
Thankfully the Chimera's descendent Nodes speaker drew attention away, "Anomalies detected in Vote, Red blades near universal rejection and Red Skull near universal approval. Discordant with previous projections. Hypothesis?"
"Well, about 43.76% of the Red Blades population is highly supportive and involved with Proxy gladiatorial events, something viewed unfavourably by Wraith population and presumably the Synthetic populations abroad, combined with a rumor started that Redfog being in favour of the merger. Unconfirmed at the present time for those wondering." The Imagniarium speaker filled in.
"RedSkull?" The pure white eyes of the Chimera delegate pleaded.
"The Sybmies said obligation and combat, the Pirates heard steal stuff from across Multiverse." The Starlifter representative huffed.
The Words "Hell Yeah!!!" scrolled across both the main screen on the wall and many of the party's personal feeds. The Red Skull Captain had who was still grabbing food in the other room had confirmed the accusation.
Ivan leaned back in his chair, the Nation was charting it's own course and would continue to do so. Even if this was a mistake it was one that they made, not the experts of the more specialized nodes, their representatives, or even himself.
Now was the time to do what a true leader was supposed to, enact the wishes of the Nation, not create them.
Moonlight conference: The Cybrans will accept the UEF's terms connect the UEF with the most appropriate members with proper background with Taticus-Raiden, FTL technology and Anti-Interdiction Gates. Colonization and Clearing out raiders will occur next turn. The area will also probably be a location to place fleeing refugees that do not want to leave this Galaxy.
Passive aggressive Heroism: The Cybran Nation will conduct the rescue operations with Loyalist Superdirectorite territory. Redfog and the other operatives on site have added some conditions.
Redfog will attempt to cause as much damage to the infrastructure as possible to deny the resources to the Taught and the Messenger, whether it is by direct fire, sabotage, or traps. The goal is to force the Taught to have to build the Biotransference facilities from scratch.
The other condition is that the Underground will be warned of the Loyalists most likely sudden and spectacular collapse and to give them a chance to prepare for the couple of months before Coalition Forces can arrive, whether this is grabbing Superdirectorite forces or erasing records to prevent round up or other ideas that they can come up with. To help with this we will release records and information concerning the Loyalty programs within Taught coding, particularly the information that shows the Messenger having direct control of the Executives. This is a partial anti infiltration and espionage measure to help protect the underground by forcing any Taught forces to have to be personally control or at least overseen by the Messenger themself.
Introduction to the Galactic Stage:
The Coalition will accept the offer to the Parliament of Nations, The UEF will take the lead and speak for the Coalition, but representatives of both Cybrans and Aeon will also be present.
The Leader of the Omni-Enlightening Swarm will be handed over to the Parliament judgment, Although with the suggestion of working to help Species and Nations that are less fortunate or advanced and bring their infrastructure up to what the Coalition believes is the standard.
For the Survivors and prisoners taken during the War, most Cybrans will view these creatures as being the same person as their leader, There will be a variety of places that they could go depending on each instance's choice, For those that want to redeem themselves or at least want to keep researching and designing will be given the chance for helping the Minor powers recover and modernize, Some may help the Aeon or try to learn more about their own species and the time before the Intelligence's rise. Some of the more unrepentant ones will be shipped with their progenitor to the Parliament and some will be given exile to uninhabited worlds (Which the Cybrans would be choosing to act as a early detection system on Merendi Imperium or other uncertain boarders.)
Election Results and aftermath:
The Cybran Colonies put joining the Sybarintern officially to a referendum by the population. Which end up not passing but was fairly close with many Cybran Officials saying that trying again at another time might be more successful.
Data that the SDC receives about the vote:
Many Cybrans still view this entire exploration as a temporary endeavour as there is still much of the population going back and forth through the portal.
Strong but not overwhelming support from Node 56 descended groups. Many of the analysts tell the SDC that initial failure of such large discissions are common in the Nation and that this matter has a good probability of passing at a later date.
Low support amongst the more technical base groupings, in the case of the Starlifters it is suspected to be the complicated debate on Proxies, where one person ends, how much of a human mind can you put in something before it becomes its own person, how much change can an identical pair undergo before they are different people.
Chimera descendants are more isolationist in general, with worries about losing their niche like what happened with the Red Skulls in the Coalition Era or more dramatically the Seven Hand Node with the fall of Earth.
The Red Blades Node had a spectacular failing due to one strong half worrying over their proxy gladiatorial competition, a complicated issue due to the consent of all involved, most new proxy claiming immortality due being their Host and the Host believing this, and debateable personhood of most new proxies. (Note for GMs Redfog and Foil's are unusual due to the more complicated tasks they were programed for, most at the beginning are literally just the skills and personal habits during those activities of their Hosts. The Process of becoming a Wraith often requires multiple uploads and accumulation of 'junk data' from the host and adaptions by the machine,)
The other half of the Node that strongly opposes this activity also supports the no side with the outbreak of a rumour that the leader of the Assumpta Node, known as Redfog, was supportive or less than the usually hostile to the idea, poisoning the well within those communities.
The Imagniarium is mostly split down the middle on the topic with no strong opinions for either direction.
The Red Skulls have almost unanimously voted in favour of joining, with many of them discouraged at the overall results. Many of them have asked if they could be sent the requests of support from abroad anyways, especially if said requests involve extracting people or other objects.
Of the few of Redfog's people that could be reach the bulk of the answers were no, especially with their already precarious position of being usurped by the Red Blades, they do not want to be directly connected to more communities that will take offense to their methods and are even less reliant on their services than even the modern nodes are. But the support was higher than that of the other disagreeing communities, mostly due to the rumours that Redfog was supportive of the measures, voting yes more out of fear than anything else.
For all that they are making their way through Celestial-Empire space seemingly without attracting any marine presence, for all that they are practically avoiding raiding as they do, for all that they are hoping to launch a surprise attack, the Beast Pirates are anything but stealthy. No force that large really can be, especially when they are crawling their way through space, avoiding major hyperspace lanes as they go. And the Beast Pirates? For all that they proclaim their intent to launch a surprise attack upon the homeland of these would-be interlopers, are anything but stealthy. Indeed, they can be tracked as much by their daily broadcasts and their constant expeditions for yet more food and booze as by the actual reporting of the locations of their ships.
Indeed, for while this is not a giant festival, and is in fact meant to be an invasion force, the Beast Pirates regularly scheduled parties and broadcasted concerts proceed almost on schedule, if even less open to outsiders, and maybe a tiny bit subdued relative to what they otherwise been; nevertheless, Queen's concerts continue to echo through the airwaves even as the Beast Pirates move forwards to invade.
And so it goes, the Beast Pirates being anything but subtle even as they move forwards to launch a surprise invasion. And so, it the fact that the Sith know precisely where their chosen exit is, and have it mined and fortified to a rather extreme degree is quite frankly anything but a surprise in turn. Gravity well generators, massive fields of drifting mines, and countless long ranged weapons of assorted style and degree pointed at the one location where the Beast Pirates could emerge with any real degree of safety- a recipe for a slaughter if there ever was one. And so it was, but not as much of one as the Sith would have expected, for the Beast Pirates? While obvious in their movements, were anything but predictable.
The board was set, the actors were known. On one side, the Beast Pirates, lead by the 'Strongest Creature' on their side of the Red Wall, Kaido, howling and charging towards their doom like the pack of animals that they were.
On the other side, the forces of the Sith Empire. A large network of mines, traps and gravity wells set just out of sight through a one way door, backed up by rank after rank of ships, each armed with weapons simply perfect for taking on these larger, thicker in skin but weaker in armament, vessels. Yet more vessels of such or similar make await in the wings, ready to close the trap the moment that passes for a formation amongst the Beast Pirates falls apart; and behind all of these? Four massive octahedral vessels, backed up by yet another grouping of vessels almost identical in make and form to its farther forward compatriots. Here lies a death trap, ready to ensnare and kill the beast before mopping up the remnants.
Unfortunately, Kaido, while more than a Beast than a man, is not dumb, not truly, and the vessels under his command are all too used to bypassing blockades and fortifications to get at the more valuable loot found within; and so, with vessels built to jump far closer to a gravity well than anyone else might expect, Kaido did not emerge where he was expected, but instead immediately pounced upon the clear threat arrayed in front of him, brining the fight to the enemy in a method so direct that even the Sith didn't quite expect it. A few of the Beast Pirate's smaller ships crumpled, unable to withstand the intense gravity wells that they just jumped through and past, and others were left with slightly crumpled bulkheads and sometimes even mangled interiors, but who was kaido to care? After all, the weak had no place in Kaido's future world.
And so the Beast Pirates emerged, not where they were expected to, but amongst a rather large element of the Sith Empire's own forces. Brought to immediate battle, with Super Star Destroyers being rammed by their shockingly durable ramming oriented counterparts, and countless lesser vessels, Harrower and Terminus alike, being engaged in close combat by enemies that were all the more suited to this battlefield. Here was an expanding brawl, here was the war that Kaido dreamt of, a fight to end all fights, a conflict to end all conflicts, one in which him and his underlings could win glory everlasting. Unfortunately, Kaido was not the only one who was callous with lives.
All it took was a single word, uttered by one of the most ruthless men in this region of the galaxy, to end this conflict, along with the lives of millions of people. A single word uttered, and the universe screamed out in terror as not one Thought Bomb was unleashed, but four, four overlapping spheres of death that enveloped the vast, vast majority of the Beast Pirates' present forces, from the proud planetoid that is/was Onigashima, to their vast fleets or raiders, along with the entire battlegroup that they were engaged with. A massive zone of battle, rendered as cold and as lifeless as the grave.
A full 20% of the Sith Empire's present forces, sacrificed to take out the Beast Pirates in a single, final move, one that would cement their rule, and the horrors that they could unleash, for all to see.
It was not completely lifeless though, for amongst this ruin and devastation, three men stood, three men who were once the rulers of all that they surveyed, King, Queen, and Beastly ruler of their own petty kingdom. But the king had no subjects, the queen was an emancipated husk, and the Beast stood as alone as he always was. Queen was in no shape to fight, his bulk used up in fighting off the effects of the overlapping thought bombs; and so it came down to two men, nay, a man and a beast, to finish this fight. And two men does not a fleet equal, no matter how strong. And so, the fight had ended before it had truly begun.
But, despite having ended, the fight was not over. For Kaido was nothing if not a beast, and when you cross paths with a beast, are there ever any guarantees that you will not be mauled? The first to exit the dead planetoid was King, moving to valiantly sell his life for his lord. Moving at shockingly relativistic speeds through the void of space, cleaving his way through vessel after vessel with his blackened blade and impossible fire, he was struck down between one moment and the next the moment that the Emperor's Wrath decided that he would place himself in his projected path. Blitzing through, cleaving through another vessel, his flame drawn low by his sheer speed and the airless nature of the void, he was cut down by a single blow, striking with seemingly impossible precision in the time between eye turns. For while his path led him into the heart of the enemy fleet faster than they could get a lock onto his location, it also led him right to the one person who could end his rampage before it even truly began. (19(out of 20) on 'how well King does', then a natural one on 'where does King go')
And so Kaido was truly alone. A friendless beast, a Dragon still without true peers. And so alone he would fight, fight, fight until his dying breath, and beyond. Rage, Rage against the Dying of the light. And so he would fight. Onigashima, bereft of those who would man its engines, nevertheless starts moving again. Wreathed in impossible flame, it accelerates, and accelerates, and accelerates some more towards the heart of the Sith's formation. The Sith Fleet opens fire, Onigashima's shields break, then its surface is swiftly turned into a molten wreck, then is reduced to rubble as several fully charged Desolators open fire upon it. But that rubble does not disperse, and it does not slow down. Held together by the Will of a beast of a Dragon, by the Will of Kaido, by the will of a man using the core of all that he has built as a shield to get into just one more fight, one more chance to win glory before death.
But this is not to last, for he is but one man, one beastly man facing down one of the worst monsters that the Force has ever produced. And this man? This bonfire of Haki and Rage? Is a beacon in of himself; and so the guns of the fleet reorient, most switching from the semi-intact remains of a planetoid, to Kaido himself. But still he forges onwards. Silencers bathe him in light, but Kaido forges onwards, his newly polished scales shining under their otherwise deadly light. A fully charged Devastator fires, and yes he still forges onwards, shrugging off the shockingly small wound even as it swiftly heals and scars over. Eventually he reaches his target, and onigashima is thrown semi-whole into the prototype Midwan class worldship. It finally detonates, as the sheer amount of energy unleashed into its innards overcomes Kaido's will. It is a mutual kill, as the Worldship fails to escape the shockingly huge shockwave.
But for this, this final act? Kaido pays dearly, for several other fully charged Desolator shots land home even as Darth Nox reaches out across the void of space, and works to crush Kaido's spirit, will, and Soul. what precisely kills him, it is not known, for bereft of his will his body is rapidly vaporized by the remaining energies of the barrage that hit home mere moments earlier.
Total losses: the three present Sith Fleets take ~20% losses each, mainly from the manpower losses to the unleashed Thought Bombs; the prototype Midwan class worldship is damaged enough that what remains is only good for scrap
____________________________________________________________________ Situation Report:
The Floundering of the Celestials:
The Celestial Empire is crumbling from the outside inwards. Already, entire swaths of the Blues are abandoned by the rule of its law, those marines not lost to the collective madness ordered to withdraw just as they had forced the Pirates to flee a year earlier. As for those that were lost… they were no longer Marines, and were instead labeled as pirates just as those that they previously hunted were. In their place comes regiment after regiment, legion after legion, of robotic soldiers and highly isolated ships of the sort previously rarely ever seen outside of the Grand Line in previous months, years, and decades. They were here to restore peace and order at whatever cost necessary. They were here to exterminate the populace of entire worlds in the name of ending this madness.
But their actions, their forceful restoration of order through the most brutal means available, had consequences, as previously flagging support for the Revolutionary Army surges to an all time high as world after world, system after system within the Grand Line, declare their independence and throw their support behind the Revolutionary Army. this revolutionary movement reaches such a point where even Mariegeose itself gets hit with several 'terrorist' attacks, up to and including the destruction of several massive food production facilities and the freeing of hundreds of thousands of slaves.
Elsewhere, the realm of the Fishmen comes under attack, its king's daughter kidnapped and held for ransom… a situation resolved not by the intervention of the Royal Guard under the leadership of Jinbe, but by the brute intervention of several particularly massive Sea Kings, leaving only said daughter alive of all of those involved in the hostage situation.
Elsewhere, the Giants of Elbaf are seen leaving their ancestral homeland in actual numbers for the first time in almost a century, with repeated reports coming in of them scouring the second half of the Grand Line, searching for something, or someone, someone that they call Nika, a figure that shows up in myths and legends all throughout the region behind the Red Wall, and one that these Giants think has returned. Already, several of the worlds that they have visited have been destroyed, for whatever Nika is, the higher ups within the Celestial Empire do not want it to continue to exist, let alone be found.
In this tumultuous time, the sudden 'disappearance' and subsequent death of the vast, vast majority of the Beast Pirates, including Kaido himself, goes seemingly unnoticed.
_________________________________________________________________
The Secrets of an Empire:
The Galactic Empire is visibly preparing for war. Not necessarily directly with the Sith Empire, for the buildup in their galactic south(relatively north in this new, even larger galaxy) is at most around equal with that seen on the relative opposite side of the empire; instead though, the largest portion of the military buildup appears to be in the relative middle- in their galactic east, with the center of the overconcentration of forces being located somewhere near the cluster of black holes known as the Maw.
Naturally, this overconcentration of forces manages to draw the eye of Sith Intelligence, with agents being slowly moved into position to monitor the situation and figure out what is there. As for what they found… and active portal, to somewhere else in this massive galaxy, if not outright to another galaxy altogether. While none of the agents managed to get into position to covertly make their way through said portal, what they did manage to do is monitor the return of an expedition to the far side of it… or at least the remains of one.
The returning fleet is scarred, with large elements carrying clear battle damage, mainly from what is likely a mixture of plasma and kinetic weaponry. The fact that this Empire managed to find new foes on the other side is news in of itself, but what is even more important is the news about what, other than evidence of new enemies and the almost inevitable battle reports,battle reports that none of your agents were in position to intercept, was the relatively sparse news about the 'samples that they managed to recover from the other side. Whatever it is, it is held in extremely well isolated, well insulated and insanely durable, cargo containers, cargo containers emptied of atmosphere and heavy in the power usage. Eventually, the power usage was found to be going to several shockingly strong repulsorlift generators, as if they don't want whatever said containers are carrying to interact with any outside matter.
Further proving this is a number of traced and intercepted hyperspace communications, indicating how dangerous whatever material being transported is, with excuses ranging from extreme radioactivity, to it being some new, if currently unstable, form of hypermatter. Whatever it is, it covertly moves from hand to hand, from miliary-adjacent transportation company to military-adjacent transportation company, before covertly disappearing, departing on unmarked ships that could only be going into the Deep Core, at which point the agents lose track of the cargo. Whatever this stuff is, it is dangerous, and the Empire does not want to be experimenting with it in eyesight of anything remotely resembling the general public.
But outside of this odd news, and the still ongoing military buildup, the worst of their ire directed towards you appears to be in the form of a few propaganda videos, not of the sort that could swiftly lead into an excuse to go to war, but merely of the sort that cement in the eyes of the public that you are not to be trusted.
______________________________________________________________
Other reports come in, some more favorable, like the Federation finally managing to fully recover from the blow that the Covenant dealt it and building up their own military at an appreciable rate and the Unghoy's home world finally recovering from the ecological damage that was dealt to it before they even joined the Covenant; others, more negative in their connotations, as the Imperium increases its local tariffs and further increases its 'recruitment' efforts in response to the conflict to its east continuing to turn against them.
Most of the news is more mixed though, as the Sputnik confederation continues expand to your relative north-west and as the local races that you saved from pirates all those years ago, and have since inadvertently repeatedly inundated with your own military forces, send an expedition your way to declare themselves your vassal despite no real direct effort being put towards that end on the part of the Sith Empire.
Nevertheless, time passes onwards, and as the Sith ready themselves for the conflicts to come, they wonder what might actually come to threaten them in the future…
"Plans are fragile things and life often dashes expectations to the ground."
You are Kaidou. And you have the galaxy in the palm of your hands.
You were born knowing nothing but war. Frighteningly powerful even as a child, the world you were raised on was anything but peaceful. It could not be. For so impoverished it was it couldn't pay the disgusting Heavenly Tribute leveled upon it by the dragons within their palace of stolen golden. So the world raided and warred for money enough to just make the tribute each time.
You were why it survived. You, Kaidou, are why that world survived and was not burned to ash by its own wars or by the dragons' tribute. You alone were strong enough to fight its wars for it. But so valuable we're you that one day they sold you as well to pay their masters for the right to Levely. And so you would fight the marines that sought to press you into service. And from that day forward your legacy would begin and Kaidou the Beast was born.
You are the unstoppable Pirate Emperor, former member of Rocks' pirates. You conquered and enslaved Wano and destroyed its greatest protectors. None could ever stand against you, for you are the Strongest Creature. Not the marines, not the other Emperors, and not even the Gods above with their pet dragons and hoard of stolen treasures.
And then Whitebeard died.
That gave even you pause. The old man was dying a slow death just like Roger was before turning himself in. But he was still impossibly strong, you respected him even if you believed no, knew, you were strongest. That was why when he tried to go to Marineford and save his son you left Wano to catch him when he was least expecting it.
You were in a stand-off against Red Hair Shanks when he moved to stop you when the news hit both you and him. The war was being broadcasted and what happened on that broadcast was beyond anything you could have expected.
He died. His crew, his family, died. They all died. They arrived at Marineford and every single one died. His fleet was vaporized in an instant by black triangular vessels from beyond the Red Wall. And any who made it to surface before that were killed, not by the marines, but by the forces brought by this "Darth Nox" and the "Sith Empire" he represented. That enigmatic figure dueled Whitebeard one on one. And then fought both Whitebeard and all his Division Commanders at the same time and came out on top. The details on what exactly happened in that fight was blacked out by the Government.
Nothing, a complete black out of information. All that was known was that Nox fought Whitebeard and his Division Commanders, apparently with the Shiro Shiro no Mi, and killed them. And you only know that Nox had the Shiro Shiro no Mi because Joker saw it firsthand. That's it.
You were intrigued. You had plans for a Great War to end all wars. To finally bring the Celestials Empire to its knees, break down the gates of Mary Geoise and slaughter the World Nobles within and meet the Gods Knights in a glorious final battle. But this, this Darth Nox was something else. You had to know more, you weren't scared of his weapons, of his ships. This was to be it, your Great War.
You would take the fight to this Sith Empire, take its weapons for yourself and destroy this interloper who killed Whitebeard. You would do this or die trying in a glorious death. Either way, You win.
That's why your here, away from your kingdom in Wano. Some might dare to call you a fool for running headfirst into what is undoubtedly a well defended chokepoint, but that's exactly what you want. You let Queen rave all he wants on-air, blaring out your location for all to hear and listen to whilst making your intentions known. You want everyone to know what you intend. You want Darth Nox to know. For him to meet your challenge and come at you in one single battle to decide the fate of it all. Not some prolonged campaign, you don't have the patience or the drink for that. This is what you want. To jump right on top of them and break their spirits and their backs. Prevent them from using their fancy weapons to annihilate your fleet. He will come, Nox will have to meet you in battle for there is no weapon in the galaxy that can kill you. The marines tried everything and they failed.
And it happened exactly as you wanted it too. You jumped through his defenses, appeared right on top of their first fleet and, as you had predicted, trounced their vessels when you got in close. They were of no match when in close quarters despite their technological advantage. And now? Staring out into space, looking upon the sheer mass of vessels brought against you by the interloper?
You couldn't wait to smash him to pieces.
Explosions filled the void as the vanguard of the Sith Empire's combined fleet fought a hasty and unexpected defense against the mass of Kaidou's entire combined forces. A measly twenty percent of Nox's forces fighting all of Kaidou's in an ambush turned against them was by no means a winning engagement.
The dagger-like vessels of the Sith Empire, once the undisputed kings of astronomical warfare had been found to be lacking in comparison to their local contemporaries. The premier capital ship of the Sith Empire, the brain-child of Odile Vaiken that was the Harrower Dreadnought. Was only eight hundred and fifty meters from stem to stern, considered only to be a "Destroyer" of the lowest end by local ship classifications in size. And the rest of the Sith Empire's navy was not far ahead or behind in sizes.
The vessels of the Red Zone in comparison were more standard, even if their designs were to be considered odd by most. Massive vessels of seemingly sea-fairing design. With solar sails and great hulls of adamant wood and steel. Pirate vessels they were and expectedly for vessels maintained by pirates, they were not the most well kept. Yet still they out-massed the Sith's smaller vessels. And it was a testament to their technological advantage and make that they managed to inflict disparaging losses to Kaidou's forces in this horrible close combat melee.
But even as great rail-cannon volleys cracked through particle shielding and durasteel hulls whilst turbolasers burned through adamant wood and less advanced shielding, none of it mattered as, quite literally, vessels were smashed aside by the great vessel of the Beast Pirates.
Onigashima, less a vessel and more a hollowed out moon, literally moved through the Sith's defenses. Using sheer bulk as a weapon to paste the smaller vessels of the Sith against its shields without care. Too slow to maneuver out of the way in such close quarters, nor did Kaido care for his own vessels that were caught and smashed against Onigashima. He picked a direction and it went in a straight line, uncaring for all in it's way.
Kaidou had come to fight, to inflict death and achieve glory in same measure. And had planned to smash through whatever was in his way too catch his opponent and enforce a duel where might made right. But Kaidou had also come to die. As he had in all battles. And today. Death is what he would receive. Of that there was no doubt.
Kaidou's vessels crashed through the imperial battle line, massive rail cannons ripping a bloody toll upon the smaller Harrowers and their escorts. The once proud Terminus destroyers, once the renowned workhouse of the imperial navy now reduced to little more than annoyances. It didn't matter.
Onigashima crashed through minefields, ships, and stations like a wrecking ball. Size used as a weapon as it never even bothered to fire what defensive guns it had. It didn't matter.
Kaidou was sure of his victory, of his upcoming duel with that which vexed his senses so. That gnawing feeling in the back of his skull as something clawed at his psyche. King at his side, waiting for his liege-lord's word to go forth. Equally as confident in his seeming near-invulnerability and of their strength of arms and surprise. And the less said about Queen's nascent bellowing deep below the better. Utterly uncaring of the carnage outside his workshop as he prepared his latest bio-weapons for use in what was surely to be an upcoming war upon Onigashima itself.
It didn't matter. None of it mattered. Not their vessels. Not their power. And most certainly not the lives caught in the wake of Darth Nox's rise to glory. The four great octahedron Worldcraft were given their command to end this "Great War" that Kaido started. The world contracted, space torn asunder as the Force rippled with the powers of Sith Magic. The great Thought Bomb rituals deployed against Kaidou's entire force, and the Sith vessels still trapped within their crumbling first defensive line. Everything died. Imperial and Pirate alike turned to dust, their vessels power ripped from the void and rendering everything a lifeless hulk, and all their souls trapped within four oblong spheres.
There were millions. And now there were only three, no two. Queen survived the initial blast, if you could even called up the shriveled up husk that he was after withstanding the thought bombs trying to tear his soul from his body. Only two truly remained. A man and a Beast.
King felt pain unlike any felt before or ever after. His Lunarian physiology meant nothing to the forces that tore his soul in four different directions. Queen rotted into a husk, unable to protect his body fully. But King lived and breathed battle like his master. His Haki was strong. But even so, King dropped to the floor wracked with unimaginable pain. His fire going out momentarily as the very heat was sucked from his body. And for a moment. King felt something no Lunarian had ever felt before. Cold. Alber felt cold.
As for Kaidou…
The pain was unimaginable, indeed it was nothing he'd ever felt before. But pain was nothing, not to him. He did not falter, he did not scream. He did not even fall to the ground like King. For it was not the pain that wracked Kaido the most. But ranted the wound to his pride. Feeling all the life go dark on Onigashima and the fleets around it, watching his entire life's work be snapped out of existence in an instant. Kaidou goes silent.
He was stunned. And for minutes there was silence. Kaido stood within his throne room surrounded by ashen statues for several minutes. Attempting to comprehend what from his perspective is the impossible. His mind wracking with possibilities of what has just occurred. It can't be illusion, but it can't be real. What happened shouldn't be possible. It can't have been, and yet here the impossible was.
Kaidou backed into this corner, unable to comprehend what has just occurred, falls into fight or flight, and all he knows is the fight.
"Get up."
King was nocked from his stupid by his liege lord's voice. The cold faltering away as warmth returned to his form, the Fire on his back reigniting into an inferno. He groaned as he shook off the lights that danced in his vision. Returning to his feet and regaining his bearings only to finally comprehend just what had happened. Taking in all or rather the lack thereof, of what was around him and Onigashmia. Nothing.
It seemed for a moment that King was about to spiral into the same stunned confusion that Kaido had entered, but hiswill snapped him back into reality. No words were needed for King knew what needed to be done. Fight. Fight until his dying breath, as it was before and has always has been.
He was King the Wildfire, the last lunarian and the right hand man of Kaido. The only man of Kaidou, and all he would ever need. As it always and always will be. For he had an oath to keep. Until Kaido was king, he would never lose. He would never die.
And nothing will stand in his way.
Scans of what once was the first defensive line we're done.
Expecting nothing of course, for there was naught a living thing that could survive a Thought Bomb much less multiple, and it was with utter surprise that there were life signs still. Three in-fact. The outermost ship closest to the first defensive line, The Shard of Kyber an aging Dramash-class cruiser, was ordered to recheck and confirm before presenting to the lord.
And so it did. The Shard of Kyber scanned again and a minute later it was confirmed that indeed o the enemy Worldcraft, that there were three living beings still alive. Just to make sure it wasn't a fault they checked a third time, this time pinpointing the exact location. And a minute it was confirmed again. Except now there were only two life signs on the Worldcraft.
The third was now rapidly approaching the Shard of Kyber. In-fact the time of captain of the vessel received news of their impending impossible visitor, he could both see it, and then subsequently feel them as the transparisteel viewports of the bridge exploded inwards. They, the crew of the bridge, and the entire bridge itself exploded in a massive fireball. King crashing into the Shard of Kyber at speed.
Not a few moments later, the ship detonated and outracing the explosion was a bright streak of orange that was already upon the next closest ship by the time anyone had even processed seeing the ship explode and the subsequent light leaving it.
Seconds past as ship after ship detonated as King exposed the Imperials to the truth of the New Galaxy, of how little tools and tricks meant when faced with true strength. He blazed through ship after ship. Melting through shield, armor and hull alike as he went into the core of the shield and out the other side. King was carving straight through the second, third and fourth defensive lines at speeds far too close to the speed of light that any non-force user had any right being at. His target was clear in his mind, the deepest center of their formation, the Worldcraft and Nox himself. What would hurt them the most.
He could not be stopped. With each ship he passed through, the blaze of fire around him only grew. The explosion engulfing the ship caught in his wake of control. Following him like it were caught in a gravity well, creating a streak of fire straight through the Sith lines. He didn't care to keep count at how many ships he went through. It didn't matter, they were all inconsequential and small. All that mattered was reaching those Worldcraft and Nox.
It was all that was needed of him, King would do his duty…
And then King was dead.
A brief foresight into the future, Alber was mid-transit between one Harrower dreadnaught and another when he got this clear view of the future of his certain death. Already traveling so fast and unable to change his directory, King carved through the shields of the vessel and the broadside hull and met face to lightsaber with death.
"Your power is as flawless as always Jaesa. Well done." Deactivating his lightsaber, the Empire's Wrath turned his back upon the large slagged hole that his newest kill had just created. Feeling the emergency ray-shield kick in, he loosened his posture and finally took in that which stood in his way.
Two halves of an abnormally large winged human were now indented firmly in the side of the wall. Frankly, he was more surprised the corpse was not an unidentifiable mess than anything else considering the speed at which they were traveling. Jaesa's power was quick to determine the figures very…direct intentions and with some luck they had chosen to fly straight through the vessel he was hitching a ride upon. A poor decision indeed. Not that King was possibly aware of just how poorly a direction he had chosen.
Pulling the winged man's upper half out of the wall. He could finally ID the leather-clad individual as the right-hand of Kaido. "Survived the Thought Bomb did you? I'm impressed. Can count on one hand individuals that would survive that barrage." Chiding the corpse, his humor masked his…concern about that statement. Effortless he may have made the kill seem, it was anything but. The Empire's Wrath has faced many foes in his long and twisting career and few had pushed him in a single moment like this pirate had. Not that he'd ever admit that of course and the distance between them was like night and day still. King never stood a chance. But even the Wrath had to nod his head towards King's ludicrous abilities as a non-Force user.
Glancing back and out the ray-shield, the Wrath gazed upon the large form of Onigashima in the distance and wondered. If his right-hand man survived then…
He let out a groan at the absurdity of it all. This wasn't the Empire's concern. They had bigger and better concerns than chasing down absurdly powerful but isolationist pirates and peoples inside an anomaly. The Wrath isn't stupid. Anyone could see what Darth Nox was doing. It was just that no one could do anything about it however. He stuck his hand inside the Kilik nest and was letting the Empire at large deal with the fallout whilst he took whatever it was that he wanted for himself.
Whatever that was. Nox has kept a tight-lid on what preciseilt has been happening inside the Red Zone. The Wrath has seen for himself just what he was using and doing. But he still couldn't figure out what he was after.
Snapped out of his thoughts, he turned and gazed upon the large shape of Onigashmia.
"There's no way…"
It was shaking. Imperceptibly at first, but there was movement. Movement that began to pick up as it sparked with unnatural light. Firestorms wreathed across the surface the world, whatever atmosphere it had being consumed as the world turned into a literal fireball. And then it began to move forward. Pushing aside wrecks and stations alike as it sped up. Faster and faster still as it charged forth like a comet.
If it was possible for an object to radiate hate and rage this was it. The skull shaped planetoid was engulfed entirely in flame. The demonic face staring forwards as it charged forward under the will of no engines. Only the rage of an animal too stubborn to die. The Wrath didn't bother staying to watch anymore. He pushed past marines and soldiers alike as he sped up. Passing and grabbing his own companions as he ran through corridor after corridor towards the hanger.
Jaesa tried to keep up at first but instead was simply picked up over his shoulder as she failed to keep up with his urgency. Vette didn't even know what was happening as a blur grabbed her out of the engineering bay and before she even knew it was tossed down onto the pilot's seat of the Fury Interceptor they've called home for so long.
"I…um, what? How did you? What-" She tried to get a word but was silenced as the Wrath yelled "Get us out of here now Vette!"
Obliging his "request" their vessel lifted up and out of the hanger. Slamming aside fighters and shuttles alike as the Wrath urged them out of the Harrower. Leaving the ship to now witness the spectacle of an entire fleet unloading it's firepower onto a single object.
It was akin to an orbital bombardment, expect this planet was going to bite back. Tens of thousands of turbolasers reigned death upon the vessel. It's shields cracked and broken only for the crust and hull of the planetoid to absorb the weight of what would've melted a dozen normal worlds without care. Even when Desolaters cracked it apart it held together.
It smashed aside anything it it's wake. Some vessels were fast or maneuverable enough to get out of the burning planetoid's way. But others were not so luckily. Stations in it's way smashed and pasted against Onighasmia whilst vessels were simply turned into more scrap adorning the wrecking ball. A few vessels chose to active their emergency hyperdrives, taking the chance of an un-calculated jump over certain doom. But most in it's path we're simply more mass to be added to it.
Not that the circling dragon pushing it forward cared if they avoided it or not.
All that you have is your rage. All that you feel is your anger. All that you know is that you hate him for taking everything from you. There is nothing left for you are lord of nothing but ash. They destroyed your kingdom. Their weapons killed your crew. Someone killed the only one who truly stood by your side. King, Alber, was dead. Somehow. Something had killed him instantaneously. One moment he was alive and charging towards your foe and the next his life was snuffed out. Impossible. It couldn't be. Yet it was. Impossible. Rage. Anger. Hate.
You may hate living. But you hate him more.
Alone. You stand alone. Kaidou has always stood alone at the top of the mountain. But they have done the impossible. They didn't kill you. They destroyed the very mountain you stood alone atop of. They destroyed your world and rendered it unto naught but ash.
You are Kaidou of the Beasts yet there were no beasts. You are alone. You have always been alone. And alone you have fought against the galaxy. The galaxy will tremble. You are alone and alone you will fight.
You let go of your pitiful weak humanoid form. You are no mere man, you are a beast. A dragon of legend and power. You are greater in size than any of their vessels with your mere presence shacking the void. You are the storm that approaches, your breath is death and your will is to stand. To fight. To kill! To survive!
You drag your dead world forward. What atmosphere left burning and turning your dead throneworld into a fireball. Pushed forward by your will and power alone, Onigashima crashes through ship and fire alike without care for they can not break what is already broken. They already destroyed your world, they can do no more to it and when they finally train their guns upon you there is little they can do.
Plasma is absorbed by your hide, mass drivers deflect of your scales, and even their mighty weapons. The Silencers that destroyed all that they have been brought to bare against fail and sputter and die. The fire that burns inside you burning so bright in the dark. Brighter and hotter than the flames and fire around you. Defiance, a will to conquer and desire to kill all that stands in your way. To fight and fight and fight against the dark.
But all wills break eventually in the face of no hope. For despite the strength that you hold, they can still make you bleed. Missiles that should do nothing explode not in flame, but in bursts of energy that rip at the bonds that make up your flesh. Only your will holds your form together against such weaponry. And even your will fails to stop the other kind of weapons they bring to bare against you. Like the Silencers, but more concreted. First used against your throneworld in an attempt to shatter it whilst you sent it spiraling forward like a comment, now brought to bare against you alone.
The Desolator superlaser crashes into your scales and will and it burns. It burns and it quakes and it digs deep. A world shattering weapon. And all it does is make you bleed, make you angrier. And in your rage you push Onigashima harder. It smashes against the Chirikyât Super Dreadnaught that shot you. The massive vessel turning into more burning wreckage that adorns your shattered world.
And with that vessel now gone, there is nothing between you and the ire of your hatred. One of the four of the great octahedron ships that stings your senses to look upon. An unnatural dark vessel pulsing with arcane power. One of the the Midwan Worldships that shattered your mountain, killed all you built. And just like all the rest it will join the flaming scrap heap that was once Onigashima.
You push your world forward, eager to see that eyesore gone from your eyes. Yet you are met with resistance. Onigashima is halted, your will meeting another's…no multiple wills. Dozens of combined wills, the Sith aboard the target of your ire pushing against your will with their combined might enhanced by the Midwan.
Now amidst the middle of the Sith fleet, you struggle. There is no air for sound to travel yet all hear it regardless. A grinding noise that pierces into the heads of all who witness these two worldships grinding against one another. Space rippling as your will meets the desperate telekinetic force of the Sith onboard the Midwan. And as more join in, the other Midwans across the formation pushing against you as well, you actually feel yourself beginning to be pushed backwards.
No. You refuse. You refuse to be met with failure once more. You refuse them. You refuse their power! Your will is absolute! You will see that vessel die here and now! Even if it is the last thing you do! You are Kaido! One of the Four Emperors! And these pawns of the Interloper will not stop you!
No longer caring about anything else. You slam your massive serpentine body against Onigashima, both of your forelimbs digging into the crust and scrap and you heave. Your will is great. But your strength is even greater! Your body lights into the same flame that engulfs your world. A blue glow emanating across your entire body as you fortify your strength and push!
You feel something give. You don't care what. You don't care as the last vestiges of your will keeping Onigashima together give way. You only care that whatever combined might that was preventing your vengeance from being done is made mute against your full strength. Your world breaks and shatters into pieces, but holds together long enough to smash into the Midwan with all your fury and might. The octahedron cracks completely in half from the impact, lightning sparking all across the worldship as whatever magic used in it's construction sputters, fails, and then detonates.
All you see is bright flash of purple and red as the death throws of the prototype Midwan gives out. The Force rupturing and freeing from the confines of the vessel and consuming it and the rubble of Onigashima together.
And when it clears nothing remains. Gone without a trace, as if it never existed in the first place. Only the lingering feeling of an unnatural cold in the void. Now there is only you. Surrounded on all sides with guns, silencers, and desolaters primed to kill and enact bloody vengeance.
You are prepared, ready and willing to keep fighting. Forever if you must. But the dark hand that reaches around your throat says otherwise. A sweet whisper entering your mind as your vision goes dark as the entire fleet opens fire upon you. You no know how, but the shadow's words are not directed at you. But to others, to the galaxy. A decree of your fate as all goes dark.
"Look upon the mad beast. Weak, pitiful, and destined to be forgotten. Struggling futilely against the wake left behind by another's greater destiny. Strong only by being propped up by the weak, left to fester as entertainment. A symptom of a failing rule. They ruled only in the shadow of decadence. They lived and died by the words that might makes right. That death completes a person. This mad beast threw themselves against the might of the Empire seeking that death…But if no one remembers a person. Did they ever exist in the first place? And so it is by my decree as Darth Nox, Dark Councilor of the Sith Empire, that the mad beast's name is to be stricken from history, never to be spoken again. Remembered only as the mad beast it was."
Pre-orders RP: 239 (upkeep already factored in)
20 RP is stockpiled to repair any loses incurred by actions this turn.
18 RP to keep the Germa 66
3 RP to Mars
Target: The Sith Empire/Home Front
Nature: Counter Espionage and Anti-Politicking
Resources: 8 RP + Sith Intelligence
Plan&Goal: Standard Counter Intelligence operations and espionage. Nothing special being done just standard work on protecting the Empire.
Target: Beyond the Red Wall/Celestial Empire
Nature: Military Assistance and Covert Operations
Resources: 16 RP + Sith Intelligence
Plan&Goal: The war to secure the Red Zone has begun. Darth Nox has begun invasion and is actively garnering for support and allies within to turn the Celestial Empire against itself. But more traditional support from Sith Intelligence is required. The Celestial Empire, and indeed many of the pirates within are all targets if they do not side with the Empire or have urned the ire of Darth Nox.
Sith Intelligence is being tasked with many things and in short, they are being tasked with directly assisting the invasion and tracking, capturing, or killing the powerful specific individuals within the Red Zone. Pirate or marine that don't side with Empire unless they are given neutrality by the Empire, such as Mihawk or Shanks. But more generally Sith Intelligence is to continue standard operations. Infiltration, sabotage, and intelligence gathering. As well assist in spreading revolts and discontent across the Red Zone. It is already in chaos from what Nox has done, keep it that way until the Sith Empire can come in and restore order and peace.
Target: The Galactic Empire
Nature: Military Assistance and Covert Operations
Resources: 32 RP + Sith Intelligence
Plan&Goal: Coexistence with the Galactic Empire is impossible. The heretical Banite Order will be exterminated and the Sith Empire shall gain control over the galaxy they had fought and bled for, for so long. The Galactic Empire is like a caricature of the Sith Empire. But still it operates very similarly to both the Galactic Republic before and our own Sith Empire. Sith Intelligence knows what to do. It is too break the Galactic Empire politically. Prevent it from using all it's forces, turn them against each other. Bribe Moffs, collects blackmail, reignite old enemies against each other. Anything to prevent the Empire from functioning cohesively. Hack the Holonet, destroy communication relays, and sector, Oversector or even sub sub sectors commands should be either destroyed, or more optimally, utilized to spread false-information and then destroyed. Endow chaos and terror across the Galactic Empire.
If the Moffs or Governors do not believe the Empire can keep control of the galaxy, fight the Sith, or believe it is failing than they will either turn traitor or turn into petty warlords in an attempt to maintain control over their own powerbase. The Sith have seen it again and again within their own ranks. And when one does more will follow, a chain of events that will bring the false empire to it's knees.
But there are other matters of concern as well. Notes of military movements by the Galactic Empire from "somewhere else" carrying odd cargo and who knows what else. Sith Intelligence is tasked with finding out the Empire's secrets, where it hides storehouses, where it develops it's technology, where the ships came from, where did they go, and where are they taking that odd cargo. Stuff for Marr and the Wrath to know about and use in their fight against the Galactic Empire.
Research Slots: 1 Free + 4 (30 RP) + 2 from Nanomachines Credit
(2 Slots) Cloaking Technology Standardization: Capable of utterly changing the nature of interstellar warfare as they knew it. The Sith Empire and Galactic Republic fought a war on Illum for the Adegan Crystals the planet was rich with that were crucial for producing perfect cloaking fields. The technology was proven and easily integrated within even existing vessels when Darth Malgus betrayed the Empire and declared himself False Emperor. Constructing a Stealth Armada out of the ships of his powerbase. Simply put. It's easily done for the Sith Empire to standardize cloaking technology across their military. From starfighters to the largest capital ships. Imperial Research and Development just has to iron out the kinks within existing designs and push for a full rollout across the Empire. A new age of war has begun.
(3 Slots) Gauntlet Superweapon and Silencer/Desolator Finalization: The Gauntlet was a Tachyon based superlaser developed for on the Harrower space frame, a brother design to the Desolator and Silencer which have both entered active serious but still need some final touches before they can enter full common use on all Harrower Dreadnoughts. But the Gauntlet is a much different weapon. Utilizing tachyons, the superlaser is capable of firing at Interstellar ranges, an FTL superlaser capable of precise targeting and destroying large targets. The design was lost but some schematics and readouts remain. Remake the Gauntlet and finish the Silencer and Desolater finalization.
(Infinite Army Project 3/10 + 2 Nanomachine Credit): The individuals of Martian Delegation had given the Sith Empire information on their advanced Nanomachines. This technology is going to be put to use in furthering the Infinite Army Project. To further bond the subjects to the pieces of the Starforge greater than normal cybernetics.
Status:
Population: 53 + 15 "Trade Pops" from 7E-A2 + 10-20 "Trade Pops" from Covenant Vassal
F7-B2 (Sith Space Core): Heartlands and Excessively Defended
F7-B1: Industrialized and Heavily Defended
F7-C1: Industrialized and Heavily Defended
F7-A2 Covenant Vassal
E7-A3: Colonized and 1/2 of Heavily Defended
E7-A2: [Lord/Vassal] at rank four, [economic integration] at rank two(cannot be improved beyond rank three due to local population and industrial level), and [client/client state] at rank two(to be improved over time if you continue to protect them), with the potential for full integration with some actual diplomatic work.)
1. Spend 45 RP to bring F7-B1 to Heartlands
2. Spend 25 RP to bring F7-B2 to Ridiculously Defended
3. Spend 2 RP to fully integrate E7-A2 Vassal.
Target: The Federation
Nature: Friendly
Resources: 8 RP
Plan: The United Federation of Planets is the only ally the Empire has that isn't a vassal or out of the way. Darth Marr's hopes is that their technology can be spread across the Sith Empire and that, given time, their culture will curb some of the Empire's worse tendencies. And likewise that the Federation will be more used to operating with the Sith Empire. But for now. Keep establishing better relations and trade with the Federation and maintain this one ally the Sith have found.
Target: The Celestial Empire and the entire Red Zone
Nature: Hostile/Friendly
Resources: 32 RP + Sith Intelligence
Plan: Darth Nox is beginning his planned invasion of the Red Zone. And thankfully, the Celestial Empire has given him all the ammunition he needs to decry them as what they are. They've given him a perfect casus belli and he will use it. They allowed Kaido (henceforth ever only as "the mad beast") to act completely freely and move through their supposedly controlled space. For this reason. Darth Nox is decrying the "Celestial Empire" as a Failed State. It is not even a state. They have allowed actual pirates and criminals to flourish under their rule and can not maintain their own rule of law. All they are is a protection racket.
The Sith Empire will move into the Red Zone to restore order. This will be propagandized as not even a war but simply clearing out criminals and restoring peace and order. The Criminal Syndicate known as the Celestial Empire will be ordered to unconditionally surrender, to stand-down it's forces and submit itself and it's leaders to the rule of law under the Dark Council and the Sith Empire.
Of course, they won't do this. Which is why the Sith Empire to practically everyone. To all governments making up the Celestial Empire, it's marines, the pirates, and the revolutionaries. To the governments making up the Celestial Empire. If they throw of the shackles of their oppression and submit themselves to law of the Empire they will allowed to persist in governing their worlds. And to the marines, aid the empire. There is no justice to be had serving terrible rulers no better the criminals they decry. Join the Empire, fight for true justice, SWORD and Absolute Justice believers or not. All will be welcome if they fight the Celestial Empire and those who do not surrender. The revolutionaries are natural allies in this situation. Although likely to resist assimilation in the long term. For the immediate war it will not matter to Nox.
The pirates are more complicated. Especially because there are many of them Nox wants. Generally a case by case basis and if they submit to the Empire they will be given clemency. However there are specifics who will not be given any sort. Such as Big Mom, Dolflamingo, Blackbeard, anyone who is in or was in Impel Down, and others will be given no quarter. And there are certain pirates like Boa Handcock, Mihawk, or Shanks who even if they don't follow the example and fight the Celestial Empire. Will be ignored so long as they stay neutral as they are not worth the trouble.
But that's just the first part of the operation. As with the aid of Sith Intelligence, Darth Nox hopes to run a grand propaganda campaign. To find all the skeletons in the closet of the Celestial Empire and air across the entire Red Zone for all to hear. Everything they have done wrong, all the genocides, mismanaged projects, cover ups, anything and everything he can get his hands on from investigation or from interviews. To find and get of the aid of people like Vegapunk, Sengoku, Garp, and even pirates and revolutionaries like Dragon to speak out. So even the most loyal of hardliners will know the truth and destroy their moral and credibility and prop up the Sith Empire's mission in the Red Zone.
Target: The Celestial Empire and the Red Zone
Nature: War
Resources: Fleethordes 6, 7, and 8 (80% each) and 9 all at Magnitude 2, Three Midwan Worldcraft, and Darth Nox
Plan&Goal: Darth Nox has made himself known throughout the Red Zone and has weakened and spread chaos throughout the Celestial Empire. The Empire and Nox shall ride forth to bring this chaotic zone to heel and claim it's prizes for it's own. The main objective of this initial campaign is not to immediately being the Celestial Empire to heel but instead to destroy it's ability to function and reduce it to holdouts such as the seemingly impenetrable fortress of Mary Geoise.
A big part of this campaign will be on using existing forces within the Red Zone to supplement his own and bring down the Celestials Empire by providing an actual alternative to it (See related Diplomacy and Intelligence actions). And as the Celestial Empire is thrown into even more chaos and active civil war insurgency begins, the Sith Empire's direct forces under Darth Nox will be making their way throughout the Red Zone to destroy war-fleets and defense walls and also to secure any powerful individuals. As singular or groups of powerful people are the and so far only major identified threat in the Celestial Empire, the goal is to make sure they no ability and can be dealt with by Darth Nox or another assorted Sith as they have the time to. The Planet Prison for example being used to lock someone of immense power (like an Admiral or otherwise) in place until appropriate assets can be moved to kill them quickly and without them being able to do anything about it.
The Midwan Worldcraft will be acting as siege breakers, along with Silencers and Desolators to destroy fleets and heavy assets. The goal is to rely on movement and eliminating resistance and making forces capitulate and join the Empire. As of so far the fleets and armies of the Red Zone have no way have contesting the power of the Midwans or Silencers. But even still, there is a lot of space to conquerer. So the three Midwans will be spread to act individually alongside task forces to shatter major defensive worlds or fleets with their overwhelming and move on to nest and allow for other forces to move in and claim the planet. Darth Nox will be operating similarly, but mainly to deal with powerful individuals who have unique powers to claim and add to his collection, and also to obfuscate his location whilst he deals with reclaiming used assets in the area and using the previously made Force Nexus as power sources he can drain or use for rituals as needed.
Ultimately the goal is to knock out the Celestial Empire and major powerful pirate factions in the area as being military threat and only as holdouts. Not trying to engage in a singular major battle just yet as the Sith Empire finds allies and resources to use in the war. That comes with the siege of Mary Geoise in the next phase of the war.
Target: The Galactic Empire
Nature: War
Resources: Germa 66, Fleethordes 1 (Magnitude 3) 2, 3, 4 and 5 (Magnitude 2), Three Midwan Worldcraft and The Empire's Wrath and Darth Marr and the Isotope-5 Fleet.
Plan&Goal: Suffer no rivals. It is way of the Sith, and it was made abundant clear by how the galaxy developed without the true Sith that the "Banite" order is nothing less than heresy using the Sith's name. It will be destroyed, and the galaxy they have so long fought for will be there's once more.
Darth Marr and the Wrath, alongside his forces and the mercenary group of Germa 66, shall be moving into the galaxy. As the forces entering the Galactic Empire's area are starting out around the area of the Outer Rim/Wild Space near Ryloth to Utapau, that is the where the initial phase of will begin. As the goal is to destroy the Empire politically (See Intelligence Actions) Marr's goal will be to spread out, isolate and destroy. The Galactic Empire has the advantage of numbers and industry, this must be rectified. A very similar campaign to how the Sith Empire fought to the Galactic Republic. Notable key points in the area along the major hyperlane in the south are Eriadu, homeworld to Grand Moff Tarkin and a major fortress world. Bespin, for its fuel. Fondor, a major shipyard for the Galactic Empire. And more. Naming all of them is a futility. As the goal is to humiliate the Galactic Empire's military and destroy morale and order. Marr will use what he has. He has silencers, his own Isotope-5 fleet, and more importantly the Midwans. Germa 66 is also effective in this way. If he has to destroy a world like Eriadu to send a message, he will. The Galactic Empire is the exact force the Sith's were made to destroy.
Make it so that the Empire can not bring it's whole force together. They have a lacking in Force Users, good. Only Vader and likely their Emperor Palpatine is an issue. But they can't be everywhere. Battle Meditation and other powers can be used to worsen morale of fleets and armies. Force them to run, spread the message of the "invincibility" of the Sith Empire and let it grow worse.
The Sith fleets can strike out. Hyperspace jumps, attacks with fighters or even fleets jumping in firing a few silencers and jumping out with the force. If engagements must happen they must be destroyed quickly with overwhelming firepower. Germa 66 is good for this alongside a Midwan and a concentration of forces to shatter their morale and keep going. Maintain momentum and shatter defenses and attempts to coordinate their own forces. Worlds will be dealt with swiftly, either with the planet prison and ignored or surgically strike the leadership and come in and destroy the defenders swiftly.
And as the Sith Empire conquers territory and establishing it's own hard points in the southern end of the galaxy, it can spread out and bring this terror everywhere else. Task forces to strike out even in the North or Core to make it known that nowhere is safe and keep the Empire from bringing all it's forces to bear. The Isotope-5 fleet is ideal for this kind of work with it's maneuverability and speed. All the while the major force keeps moving forward conquering and establishing puppets governments and governors just like they had done in the First Great Galactic War.
The are some concerns however that must be addressed.
The Death Stars and undoubtedly other Superweapons. As they seem to bear Superlaser of their own, they are major threat to our own heavy assets. But likewise they are vulnerable to our own and we have Sith. And unlike the Midwan, it can only target one thing. If a Death Star is encountered, it has to be struck first by one of our own Midwans. Take it and it's own accompanying battlegroup out before it can fire. Ambush it, force and interdictor assisted jumps to get into position behind it so it has to maneuver to fire itself and shoot it. Or, if it's dangerous or impossible for the Midwan. Bring as many desolators together and do the same and fire at once. Make a display of its destruction and spread it across the Holonet. Show how vulnerable the Empire's Superweapons are. Other possible Superweapons will have to identified and dealt with as they appear.
Darth Vader and Palpatine. The only major force users they have. Besides their weak inquisitors of Dark Jedi. Palpatine will have to be dealt with later, unless he foolishly shows himself and can be shot with a thought bomb or dealt with by the Wrath. No. It is more likely that this Darth Vader will be sent in alongside a major force as a counter offensive. Engaging him and his force directly is not optimal. He perhaps could be turned to our side?
But that's a major outreach and Darth Marr can't trust him. Instead he will have to be outmaneuvered and killed. A singular Midwan is always going to be on hand in the back lines for dealing with him or any counter offensive made by the Galactic Empire. Germa 66 will also be useful for this as well in breaking the momentum of a counter offensive if this happens. But no this is a task for the Wrath to end before it begins.
The Wrath, is here to deal with people. An optimal tool for killing major military officers or Moffs, even if they try to hide, which they can not from his' apprentice's sight. Which is exactly why he is the best tool for stopping Vader before he can get going. The Wrath is moving out first, likely during the beginning or even before the invasion, and using Jaesa's ability to find and track down Vader or even Palpatine if he's a fool to step out of the core. Although if Palpatine is hiding somewhere he will make a note of his location. But the Wrath alongside his companions with maneuverable and stealthy assets from Sith Intelligence will be searching for Vader and aiming get him while he's alone, or as alone as he can be. He likely has solitude fortress of some-kind, that will be optimal while he's alone and believing he is safe. Find him there, and confront him. The Wrath is likely to make some case for him to turn on Palpatine. But if he does not turn, then he must die. And it is the duty of the Empire's Wrath to deal with Rogue Sith. If he can't be killed, retreat. And prepare for his inevitable counter-offensive.
Destroy the Empire's ability to bring all it's forces together, destroy it as a political entity and shatter it. Then prepare for the next phase of the war to deal with Palaptine.
-Spend 2 RP on attempting to negotiate a cessation of piracy aimed at the Local Defence Council and Mechanists on the part of the pirate occupied space directly west of the Local Defence Council. Offer them the carrot, if they cease all piracy against members or friends of the Khitomer Alliance then they can join the alliance and benefit from its power and wealth. They can even keep pirating peoples that are not part of the alliance and which are unfriendly. Point to existing examples of the Orion Syndicate, Naussican Clans, Hirogen Hunting Packs and Kazon Sects all doing so and flourishing. Then explain the stick, pirates who insist on acting against the Khitomer Alliance or its friends make themselves the Alliance's enemies and will be crushed accordingly. Certainly a few pirates would survive and continue to be a thorn in the side of the colonists the Alliance sent in but most of you would die. Its really whether you want to test your luck.
The efforts of the diplomatic corps meet with mixed results during overtures to the assorted pirates, rogues, and other polities of the subsector.
The various small races and governments are more than happy to throw the proverbial reins to someone who can deal with all the criminals and psychos who infest the local regions.
Of the criminals and psychos themselves, there are a few different reactions.
Some are more than happy to turn over a new leaf now that a stabilizing element is willing to take over. Others require a certain level of assurance regarding their own safety or freedom under the new leadership, and some (the worst among them, consisting of cultists, sociopaths, megalomaniacs, and various shades of fanatical exterminators) refuse the Alliance's offer outright, often accompanied by murder and/or abduction attempts on whomever was delivering the offer.
Your new allies in the sector have committed themselves to dealing with those who turned down the Alliance's overtures, as a gesture of good faith, though they warn/threaten that without additional assistance it will take some time before they can guarantee the region is stabilized.
Result: Approximately 2/3rds of the Renegades consent to join the Khitomer Alliance, at the cost of 7 RP worth of resources (to be accounted for at the start of Turn 4). This gives you nominal control over the subsector, though it is still considered Contested. It is a Colonized subsector with Moderate defences and 2 Pops
Additionally, your new allies will do their best to clear out the worst among their peers who refused your deal, though they warn that without further assistance, be that in resources or troops, it will take time (the subsector will be fully cleared, barring outside interference for or against you, in 2 turns)
-Spend 4 RP on membership negotiations with the Minor Powers of the Southwest. Emphasis the existing economic and technological assistance all Alliance members gain and affirm that further technological and economic deals will be easier to work out within the Alliance than from outside of it.
Talks with the southwestern minor powers went fairly smoothly for Alliance officials since the various governments in the region already look favorably on the Alliance for interceding against Asith efforts to annex the region.
Those who weren't quite so eager were brought around fairly easily by promises of immediate technology-sharing/updating agreements and future economic investment in the region.
Results: The Southwest Subsector consents to join the Khitomer Alliance alongside assurances of technology sharing and infrastructural updates, which in total will cost 5 RP (to be accounted for at the start of Turn 4). The subsector is Colonized, with Moderate defences and 2 Pops.
Though this is not an immediate demand, local governments expect that the Alliance will expend the required resources to upgrade the subsector to the Established development level within the next 3 turns.
-Spend 4 RP on membership negotiations for the Local Defence Council. Be open that we are attempting a peaceful solution to the pirate problem but make clear that if they join they will be both passively, via investment in their defences, raising it by at least one level from its current state or to match the Heavily defended level of the rest of the alliance whatever is higher, and actively defended, by our fleets which will suppress any pirate activity unless facing existential war.
The members of the Defense Council greet the Dominion representatives with respect and gratitude. The meetings seem almost a formality after the effort expended to protect the local species from the predation of the Kroats. Their demands and the Alliance's offer line up well, and before the end of the cycle the final documents have been signed, and a new subsector comes under the aegis of the Alliance.
Results: The Local Defense Union consents to join the Khitomer Alliance. They have an Established development level and Moderate defenses, with 4 Pops. In exchange for joining, they expect you to upgrade the subsector's defenses to Heavy next turn.
Federation diplomats reach out to the single-sector polity currently referred to as the 'Mechanists' (for their heavy use of robotics both in their armed forces and civilian industries) with middling results. The Confederacy of Independent Systems is, like the Alliance, Outlanders to the Vyranodasik galaxy and this reality at large. In their home galaxy, the Confederacy was a loosely organized alliance of smaller polities (not dissimilar from the Federation), most located in the rimward reaches of their galaxy, that formed to pool resources and military power in order to succeed from the reigning galactic polity, The Galactic Republic. This Republic, according to their records, was both incredibly corrupt and exploitative towards their outer territories, leaving them to fend for themselves while enriching the core territories around the capital of Coruscant. These assorted governments were backed by a dozen or so Megacorps, the heads of which formed the 'Separatist Council' and who provided the bulk of their fleets and mobile armies in the form of private droid armies which were used to war with the Republic after it violently opposed their attempt at peacefully leaving to go their own way.
This situation has changed significantly since the arrival of the Confederacy in Vyranodasik, however. The Confederacy the Alliance treats with are, essentially, refugees. They fled through a portal discovered in the outer reaches of the galaxy in massive exodus fleets as the Republic (which had reshaped itself into a human-dominated Totalitarian Empire after several significant strategic victories and a devastation assassination left the Confederacy military almost shattered and the Separatist Council wiped out to a man) stormed into the Outer Rim to crush their remaining forces and conquer their worlds. It was only by the furious holding actions orchestrated by Supreme Commander Grevious-a hulking cyborg who commands their military and who was himself almost killed in the deciding battles of the war-that the refugees were able to escape the grasp of the Republic-turned-Empire.
They have spent the last six decades just taking control of their subsector, with Supreme Commander Grevious acting as their nominal dictator until just a few cycles ago when he finally relinquished control of the civilian government back to the reestablished Confederacy Council, made up now of representatives of the various member-states as opposed to the heads of businesses, the remnants of those businesses having been absorbed into the Confederate National Military, which is itself akin to a state-within-the-state under the governance of Grevious.
Meetings between Federation Diplomats and their Confederate counterparts were somewhat tense, but not hostile. The general opinion presented in their report is that the Khitomer Alliance is currently too similar to the Republic that the CIS fled for them to feel open to joining, and any future diplomatic overtures would have to be approached delicately.
Results: First Contact is made with the Confederacy of Independent Systems. They are cautious of you, but not hostile. Their tendency to make just about anything into a droid of questionable sentience, and a deep cultural tendency to treat synthetics as less than organics, may be problematic for integration efforts.
Klingon Diplomats don't have much difficulty in meeting with the 'Unified Pirates,' who are now known to be part of the Pyrotaurus Pirate Clans, a loose but massive alliance of crews based mainly out of the Eklemarid satellite galaxy. Indeed, their ship is met and boarded by a trio of Pyrotaurus destroyers that look similar to ancient sailing ships almost as soon as they drop out of warp in their space.
The crew of these vessels is made up mostly of what appear to be cheery, technicolor Vulcans, who after a brief but surprisingly bloodless scuffle with the Klingon warriors aboard the vessel, turn out to be part of the local human population-their appearance the result of millennia of interbreeding with another species called the Merendi.
(The local history of the far-distant Milky Way proves somewhat distressing when the reports make it back to the Alliance, but that is neither here nor there.)
The captain of the squadron of destroyers, a bulky, exuberant man named Ronald Smith, is happy to speak to the ambassadors. Finding someone 'in charge' of the Clans here to talk to, however, proves impossible. This is due to the fact that the Pyrotaurus do not have any kind of centralized government, with every person and crew operating on their own initiative and hierarchies forming only due to the mutual agreement of all involved.
Fortunately, despite being proud Pirates, the Pyrotaurus have a fairly rigid code of honor that all crews are required to follow, which plays well with the Klingons. This code of honor is the reason that these Clans are in this region of space so far from home: there is a wormhole in the neighbouring subsector that leads to Pyrotaurus territory in Eklemarid, where a civil war is currently ongoing between those loyal to the Pyrotaurus Code of Honor and a faction called the 'Black Spot,' who wish to abandon the various limitations the Code places on their conduct and have sworn to conquer all other Crews to prove the superiority of their ways.
The local loyalists have established themselves here to gather resources to funnel to the other more powerful Loyalist clans back in Eklemarid, and 'respectfully' suggest it would be best for the Alliance to leave them be unless they wish to make some 'donations' to the cause.
Result: Make contact with the Loyalist Pyrotaurus Clans. They are slightly less advanced than you technologically, and their territory contains a wormhole to the Eklemarid galaxy. They are essentially a resource-gathering operation working to support the Loyalist side of an ongoing civil war within the Clans.
-Spend 2 RP on making first contact with the "Star-Wyrms". Use Cosmozoan members, specifically Cnidarians to lead the contact. Rather than trade or alliance the main purpose behind this is simply to say hello, make friends with and learn about a fascinating species.
While less broadly useful to the Alliance than other diplomatic efforts, contact with the Star-Wyrms has been delightfully interesting nonetheless. Initial contact was made difficult simply by the sheer scale of the cosmozoans, as even with four eyes larger than a standard M-Class planet, the Cnidarian representatives and the ships accompanying them are like specks of dust beside the enormous creatures.
Eventually, however, after trailing the enormous patrolling Wyrm for about ten star systems, it finally deigned to pay attention to the gnats it pulled in its wake. "YOU ARE FORTUNATE THAT I AM THE ONE ON PATROL, LITTLE SPARKS. MY BELOVED WOULD BE MUCH LESS TOLERANT OF YOUR PRESENCE THAN I. YOUR LIFE-FIRE IS UNFAMILIAR TO ME, BUT I SENSE NO MALICE; WHO ARE YOU?"
-Initial communication from the Astrodrake Bright, sent as a telepathic roar that caused ~85% of the non-cozmozoan members of the scientific/diplomatic expedition trailing the Astrodrake to either fall unconscious or suffer seizures.
Despite his telepathic communication almost frying the brains of most of the delegation, friendly contact was soon established with the now-reclassified Astrodrake, who named himself 'Bright.'
(Note: this is, by Bright's own admission, not his 'true name', but a title he took on in his childhood for the sake of communicating with 'Sparks;' Bright says we would not survive the transmission of his True Name via psionics, even with him taking every measure not to harm us).
He apologized for the harm caused by his greeting, admitting to being 'out of practice speaking with Sparks.'
The next several months of Bright's patrol were spent conversing with the Atrodrake, the Cnidarian members of the expedition acting as translators for the titanic being due to being much more capable of dealing with his psychic voice (Bright was able to modulate his 'voice' more appropriately after his initial transmission, but it is still an uncomfortable experience for the non-cosmozoans).
Bright has proven to be very personable, though the expedition members believe he views non-astrodrake life as something akin to children or amusing pets; this may be a result of his upbringing. When speaking of his life, Bright explained that he grew up within the borders of a nation far from Vyranodasik that revered his Parents as minor gods, and so he had fairly common interactions with pilgrims to his Nest for the first six millennia of his life before he struck out on his own, which is how he learned how to communicate with 'Sparks.'
His mate, who he identified as 'Fearsome' with no small amount of amused fondness, is apparently much less tolerant of non-astrodrakes than Bright is, due to her family having been forced from their home by a particularly powerful nation also far from Vyranodasik and being hunted on-and-off by various polities and groups for most of her youth, though non who ever made an attempt on her life while she was younger lived to regret it. He has advised that the Alliance shouldn't bother her unless he gives us the OK ahead of time.
Bright has expressed that he's happy to have someone to chat with from time to time while out on patrol in the future, but he warns us very strongly never to come to his 'nest,' as whether he or Fearsome are there, any ship that arrives there will be destroyed with extreme prejudice. Once the Eggs hatch, that might change, but until that happens, best for us to stay away.
Results: Star-Wyrms re-classified as Astrodrakes. Bright is willing to chat with members of the Alliance when he patrols their territory; Fearsome does not wish to be bothered. You have been firmly warned not to come to their 'nest' under any circumstances.
The various 'protectorate' races in this region of space greet Alliance outreach with varying levels of enthusiasm and politeness, but the main aim of the expedition-meeting with the 'Protectors' of the subsector-was the primary focus of the expedition after a small task force met the diplomats at their fourth stop, and you were introduced to the Sentinality of Polrus, and through them, the wider political state of the galaxy, and the universe.
All in all, things are…not good, to put it bluntly.
As for the Sentinality itself, it is not particularly concerned with political ideology, to use political terms it would be best described as something of a democratic comissariat where the military and the civilian government are one and the same, with voting allowed as normal; however its primary concern is watching the galaxy for threats to stability and life.
Polrus cavorts with a political block called the 'Alliance' not out of any particular commitment to its ideals, but out of a belief that its path has the least potential to cause any major conflicts in the galaxy, though unlike many of its 'comrades' in the Alliance, it is much more suspicious of the fascistic Ecumene's block than the communalist Union states.
Polrus was not founded in the standard way of most nations, but was actually created as a military order to defend the galaxy from monsters emerging from the Storm of Sorrows and the Hopeless Abyss as well as the World Crusher Kroatangans (which no longer exist in this region of space, in no small part thanks to Polrus' efforts). As such it considers itself blind to species and ideology, as it does not consider itself a country in the truest sense of the word but rather a military force that happens to have territory and a support base of civilians sworn to the order.
There are a massive number of species that call the Sentinality home, with the most common species being the Wanuvin; life forms made of electrical energy that evolved on stars before being introduced to the wider galaxy by a passing ship from a now long-dead civilization, Wanuvin can "solidify" by creating the right kind of magnetic fields, but often prefer to use special shield harnesses that make solidifying easier on themselves and make it easier to wield technology without causing it any damage.
When questioned about the existence of the Killing Time, the representative reluctantly explains that the majority of their military is currently beyond their borders, dealing with a massive incursion of Tendriculous from the Darkverse-Rift known as the Hopeless Abyss, located to the galactic south, and which began around two cycles before the date of your arrival in Vyranodasik; while they have been busy, the Killing Time just so happened to explode into the Problem they are now. While Polrus is not directly threatened by such a 'low-level outbreak', they lack the uncommitted mobile units to actually wipe out the Killing Time at the moment, even with the creatures being right next to their borders, astrologically speaking.
This situation is both a positive and a negative: on the one hand, the Killing Time are now the Alliance's problem to deal with; on the other, Polrus' distraction would allow smaller nations in this region space to build up before the local superpower is once more free to act.
Results: Contact established with the Sentientality of Polrus, a member of one of the 4 major galactic political blocks. A very rough idea of current galactic/intergalactic political maneuvering has been gained. You have been warned about the Ecumen, who are relatively nearby, and the Regents, who are not.
The Sentinality is currently busy containing a massive incursion of Tendriculous from the Hopeless Abyss to the galactic south, and as such will not be able to involve themselves in your region of space beyond guarding their borders for an indeterminate amount of time, for better or worse.
The Fourfold Alliance, eager for something to tip their war against the Asith in their favor, happily agrees to a series of trade agreements with the various members of the Khitomer Alliance, and soon resources are flowing back and forth over the border between the Gamma Quadrant and
Result: Trade Agreement established with the Fourfold Alliance. They have 1 Industrialized Sector, 2 Established sectors, and 1 Colonized sector, with 18 Pops.
-Spend 8 RP on the meeting with the "Clarkes". This is a highly important negotiation and therefore the newly elected Federation President Korgan (a Medusan), Proconsul D'Tan of the Romulan Republic, Chairwoman Marva of the Khitomer Alliance and the R.R.W. Leiset and Enterprise-F (Level 2 Legends) will all be accompanying the diplomatic delegation. The Alliance seeks their blessing and understanding to fortify the virgin space between the Alliance and Clarke borders as a defence against the nuBorg. Along with all information on the nuBorg that the Clarke's are willing to share. If possible we also seek peace, diplomatic relations and trade with them but those are less important and if they wish to remain isolationist the Alliance will not bother them further.
Around halfway through the cycle, at the exact hour that the Clarks had demanded, a titanic vessel appeared before the R.R.W. Leiset and Enterprise-F as they waited in the selected system. Crescent shaped, fifteen kilometers wide, and crowned with a golden, tiered pyramid that was nearly a kilometer tall, the vessel faded out of what looked like some kind of cloaking field (but gave none of the sensor indicators of one) utterly dwarfing the two Alliance ships in its shadow.
Before either the Romulan or Federation crews could react to the appearance of the massive vessel, they received a message from the ship, a single word forced into their systems to display on the main screen of both ship's bridges.
Follow.
Not responding to further attempts to hail, the ship spun in space, with no visible or detectible indications as to how it was moving and at a speed that would have caused immense strain upon their inertial dampeners. Now facing away from the two Alliance ships, a great bolt of emerald lightning shot from between the prongs of the crescent, travelling for a few seconds before spreading out into a great web that solidified between one instant and the next into a rippling green portal, which the giant ship began to slide into at a leisurely pace.
The two Alliance ships quickly moved to follow, staying in the shadow of their enormous escort, and upon passing into the portal, the universe fell away.
It seemed, to all sensors aboard both ships, as if they and the massive Clark ship were all that existed, surrounded by an endless black void barely illuminated by their external lights.
For three hours, the three ships travelled, with the only activity being the great Clark ship randomly firing off bolts of lightning or beams of pure white energy into the void, the bursts of energy revealing the barest flashes of something that did not show up in recordings, nor remained in the minds of those who saw them as anything more than vague understanding that something was out there.
Questioning comms asking what precisely the Clarks were shooting at were, as usual, not answered.
At the end of those three hours, the lights of the universe seemed to snap back into existence, starlight suddenly filling the void around them, sunlight from a distant blue giant illuminating the surface of a snow-swept world surrounded by more silver, white, and orange ships and space stations. Astrogation quickly confirmed that they were now deep inside Clark space.
Another message arrived, longer this time: coordinates on the surface of the world, and the words, Transport down as many as you need, Mortals.
So, with some trepidation, the Heads of State of two founding members of the Khitomer Alliance, the Chairwoman of said Alliance, and two dozen security personnel were transported down to the surface of the planet.
The delegation arrives on the surface before a towering cliff, the black stone perfectly smooth to the eye and stretching up for over a hundred meters. The area they arrived within, about twenty meters in diameter, is shielded from the harsh winds that the delegation had been prepared for, snow visibly passing around a perfect sphere they stand inside.
Nothing waits for them, and they initially assume that this is another of the power plays that the Clarks seem so fond of. However, then the cliff before them lights up.
Emerald light glows from within the stone, illuminating the outline of a huge rectangle that then begins to slide up with a rumble that feels like a minor earthquake.
The rising door reveals a single machine that appears strikingly similar to a cyclopean human skeleton, made of that now-ubiquitous silver metal and adorned with decorations of orange, white, and gold built directly into its chassis, the only 'clothes' the machine wears a cloak made of thick interlocking metal scales and a tabard of a similar design.
The being introduces himself as 'High Cryptek Takhades, Chief Advisor to Phaerak Bhati, Supreme Overlord of the Mernenut Dynasty." Against expectations, the Cryptek waits for the expedition members to introduce themselves (though it seems to stare for an extra moment at President Korgan) before gesturing with its ornate staff for them to follow, before levitating a few inches off the ground and starting to float down into the massive tunnel that slopes gently down.
The delegation follows the High Cryptek for nearly an hour, though they report that they cannot accurately guess how much distance they actually covered, as several areas they travelled through showed indications of spacial distortion. Attempts to engage the Cryptek in conversation were ignored, so the delegates soon descended into silence.
The construction of the tunnels was grandiose, with massive vaulted ceilings supported by pillars of black stone covered in intricate carvings that resembled both runes and circuitry, lit from far above by lines of emerald light that stretched out as far as one could see.
Swarms of insectoid machines floated and crawled around them, from small beetle-looking constructs the size of a hand that moved in swarms to enormous spiders that floated high near the ceiling, they slipped in and out of side passages, or in the case of longer, more serpentine machines, phased directly through the walls on their path to wherever they were bound.
Set into alcoves within the walls of the tunnels were statues of similar beings to the Cryptek they followed, though considerably less ornately decorated and bearing long tubular rifles with a hefty, axe-shaped bayonet affixed to the end, their skeletal faces gazing sightlessly out at the delegation. Most paid them no mind, until Captain Shon suggested quietly that, seeing as these beings were mechanical, those 'statues' might not be. Which did not reduce the amount of stress everyone was feeling.
At one point, after an unusual sharp right turn in the-until then-gently winding tunnel, the delegation looked out through a small window into a massive cavern which they estimate would probably have been large enough to contain the entirety of New York with room to spare. Within was a city, dominated by towering white and gold terraced pyramids, and through the streets moved uncountable tiny silver shapes, while above hung obelisks and menhirs of black stone shot through with lines of molten gold.
Finally, they arrived before a pair of massive doors. The 'statues' along the walls were now far larger, more heavily armored and ornate, and instead of rifles carried either hefty polearms or single-edged cleavers and hulking shields. The doors seemed to be made of solid gold, shaped like the lid of a coffin, and bearing a runic symbol.
Takhades tapped on the doors with his staff, once each, and they began to gently swing inwards, revealing what was obviously a Throne Room, and releasing the sound of…music?
The throne room, like the other constructions they had seen today, was massive in scale. The ceiling towered, great pillars supporting it, and dozens of those same hulking statues lined the walkway of gold that led to a raised dias nearly a hundred meters distant, upon which sat a surprisingly simple throne of marble which was, itself, empty of the ruler they had come to meet.
They hesitated for a moment, but a sweep of the Cryptek's arm bade them enter, and so they did.
The lighting was the first thing that struck them as different, not the flat green light that had followed them for who knows how long, but a warm radiance that felt nothing so much like sunlight, and turning their gaze upwards, the representatives of the Khitomer Alliance beheld that it was; for hanging near the ceiling on the far side of the room, above the throne, was the roiling radiance of a star. A ball of raging flame was caged by the tendrils of a one-eyed insectoid construct that hung from the roof by a long tail, and seemed to embrace the star with eight long tentacles as the fires roiled and beat against some energy barrier invisible to them.
That flickering flame illuminated them as they crossed the throne room, the eyes of 'statues' along the path igniting as they passed to fall into step behind them, the sound of a lone instrument-what sounded like a violin, of all things-grew louder and louder as their retinue grew, the steps of the guards a lockstep chorus that grew louder and louder as they got closer to the dias, but never drowned out that sorrowful music.
At last, they stopped before the throne, fifty guards arranged behind them in a half-circle that stretched from wall to wall. And from behind the throne, stepped the source of the music.
This Clark's body was decidedly feminine-more slender than the Cryptek or the guards, though no smaller, and the plates were shaped to accentuate a bust, wide hips, and elegant legs. A mane of black hair fell from her head, and it flared as she spun in time with the music, pulled from the violin by smooth movements as she danced. Her only garment was a long blue coat with gold detailing along the edges and a red liningthe first fabric seen in this place.
The Phaerek continued playing for around a minute, finally falling still facing the delegates, lowering her instrument. The dark pits of her eyes ignited, the specks of green darting over the organic life before her, while they bore witness to the crimson handprint that stained one half of her face.
The Phaerek blurred, like a corrupted video recording, and suddenly the coat was folded neatly over the arm of her throne, the violin and its bow resting on the seat. She was adorned with a golden headdress that fanned out from her head like a halo and a cloak of white metal scales, and held a long polearm like those of her guards easily in one hand.
The metallic skeleton gazed down at her petitioners and spoke in a voice that would have made singers weep with envy. "I am Bahti, Phaerak of the Mernenut Dynasty, once of the Necrontyr, now of the Necrons. You have sought audience with me, Mortals; so speak."
Negotiations with Pharaek Bahti went better than most of the diplomats had expected. Once the initial display of power was concluded, she listened to the delegation's requests without interruptions and grandstandings that some had expected after first impressions. The only small sticking point was that she completely ignored anything said by President Korgan.
After hearing out the 'petition' of the Alliance, Phaerak Bahti gave the Alliance tacit permission to settle any territory outside her initial borders-her remarks seemed to imply that these 'Necrons' have no method of reproducing, and as such do not require territory to expand into.
She also agreed to provide combat data her forces had gathered on the Nu-Borg, which have been identified as the ZR-XK9 Collective, a rogue synthetic intelligence that has fallen into a variant of the 'paperclip optimizer' fallacy and become a Berzerker Probe.
In exchange for the above, she has asked for quote 'any and all data, research, and writings your civilizations have amassed on the topic of Souls.'
At this point, the sole 'incident' of the negotiation occurred. President Korgan, having grown increasingly annoyed by being wholly ignored by the Pharaek, reacted with derision at Bahti's request for data on 'Souls.' Phaerak Bahti then finally acknowledged President Korgan.
The mechanical woman's gaze turned on the Medusan for the first time.
"I use a shattered fragment of the god who stole and devoured my soul to illuminate my throne room; you are beneath my notice, Little Spark." The Phaerak said, her voice dripping with a sneer her face could not express.
She gestured towards the sun that hung above them. Eyes turned to follow as the light in the room shifted, the energy field containing the star shrinking, the fires within becoming more violent as they were forced into a humanoid shape, the flames taking the form of a muscled, vaguely masculine figure wearing nothing but a few bands of black metal that wrapped around its throat, wrists, and ankles-the constructs seemingly untouched by the nuclear fires that so recently engulfed them.
The being was held parallel to the ground far below it-arms outstretched, legs bound tight together, like it had been crucified. Two eyes of pure white energy burned down at them from the face of the creature; its features twisted in pain and rage, and the delegates heard a faint roar, as if from a great distance, that shook their bodies in a way that wasn't quite physical.
"But if you desire my attention so greatly…" Bahti continued, her head tilted to one side as she regarded President Korgan. "Perhaps you will enjoy seeing how my people prefer to keep energy-based lifeforms."
At that point, the Phaerak blurred again, and President Korgan was replaced by a featureless black cube about the size of a human fist. The other members of the delegation were understandably shocked by this sudden turn and concerned for the safety of President Korgan. The Phaerak did not respond to their questions, but Cryptek Takhades explained that the cube was a device called a 'Tesseract Labyrinth' which would release the President a few hours after they returned to their ships no worse for wear.
After cautiously agreeing to the Pharaek's terms, conditional on the President actually being released unharmed as they had said she would be, the delegation was dismissed and escorted out of the complex and back to the surface, whereupon they were beamed back up and, two and a half hours later, the Tesseract Labyrinth 'unfolded' and deposited the President into the sickbay of the Enterprise.
Overall, most consider things to have gone fairly well.
Results: Contact successfully established with the Mernenut Dynasty. Pharaek Bhati has given her permission for you to colonize the virgin sectors surrounding her territory and provided combat data on the Nu-Borg, now identified as the ZR-XK9 Collective. Her only 'request' in return is an immediate transfer of all data you have on Souls, as well as the sharing of any future research into the subject. You are allowed to keep the Tesseract Laberynth that briefly housed President Korgan as a 'gift.'
-Spend 16 RP on ongoing counter-intelligence aimed against the Killing-Time Kroatanga. While they may seem straightforward it would be unwise to underestimate them. In particular seek out and prevent any attempts to seed the Kroat Military Ecological Complex behind the Alliance's defensive lines.
The Alliance once again commits considerable resources to prevent the Killing Time from establishing the military-ecological complex within any of their territory via covert means. Once again, their efforts prevent numerous efforts by the Kroats to sneak into the Quadrants, but the total number of attempts is much lower than last cycle, which proves to be something of a precursor to events later in the year…
Results: The Kroats fail to penetrate Alliance territory. However, their efforts scaled back considerably compared to last cycle, which turned out to be the result of the military buildup observed at the beginning of the cycle.
The research and design bureaus of the ACSDB are kept busy this cycle creating both some of the largest warships ever conceived by the peoples of the Milky Way and an enormous array of ground combat vehicles ranging from the Federation's hyper-modular hoversleds to the relatively simple hover-bikes the Klingons planned to use as scouts to the various…creations of the Dominion.
"Even with everything that we've had to deal with, I sometimes can't believe we still work with the Dominion."
"I know, those 'Vorta' are…unsettling. Even though they don't have eyes, I feel like they keep staring at me…"
-Security recording of two Federation scientists assisting in the 'Vorta Artillery' project, marked as unimportant.
Though some early-runs of some ships and designs are able to be field-tested during the Killing Time Offensive, none of the designs are made in large enough numbers to make a meaningful impact on the operation. Next cycle, however, all forces should have access to the full spread of the new creations.
Result: Both research projects are completed-these units may be added to the Khitomer Alliance's roster starting next turn.
Research into the Kroatanga's nature has progressed slightly. Analysis of the Kroat genome has confirmed that they are a designed species-though researchers have noted that it almost seems like there are two 'parts' to Kroat genetic material-a cohesive 'core' that is well beyond current scientific understanding, and the rest, which is built off of this 'core' and is of a quality much closer to the understanding of the Alliance, though there is still a great deal of research needed even on the 'simpler' section of Kroat genomes. This could indicate that there were two different groups involved in the Kroatanga's creation, or that someone took a pre-existing creation and turned it into the Kroats we see today.
Research into whether the Kroats have some sort of species-wide psychic hive-mind has confirmed that hypothesis. Unfortunately, the Kroat mindset makes it incredibly difficult for our psychics, who are often extremely empathetic as a result of their abilities, to understand what it is that they are sensing from the 'Overkroat.' There has been a swath of psychic researchers washing out of the program after extended exposure to the Overkroat, two instances of researchers being 'overcome' by the field and entering a violent rage, and one instance of a researcher attempting to take his own life after a 2-hour session doing a 'deep dive' into the Overkroat.
One useful outcome of research into the Overkroat, though not relevant to the study itself, is the discovery of a 'tech base' encoded into the field, which is believed to be how the species can develop themselves from planet-bound primitives to spacefaring within a few centuries in ideal circumstances.
In preparation for the assault into Kroat space planned for later this cycle, shipyards throughout Alliance space work overtime to repair and replace the casualties suffered by the various Alliance fleets, fresh recruits rushed onto fresh ships just in time for the campaign to begin.
-Spend 20 RP to upgrade the Alpha Quadrant to Industrialised and invest 5 RP to grow Population by 1 Pop. This in large part represents an effort to return refugee populations in Alliance Space such as Zenkethi, Na'kuhl and Breen to their prior borders and repopulate them via limited "test tube babies" with slightly accelerated growth cycles to give each parent/parent group a large litter to raise and enculture. This population growth is also being aimed at refugee species from other Quadrants whose main cultures were not brought along in the ISOT such as the Octanti, Vaadwaur and Hur'q.
-Spend 9 RP to raise the Epsilon Quadrant back to Established and invest 5 RP to Grow Population by 1. This will be similar to the Alpha Quadrant above but will also involve the Lukari working with species who lost their home planets to use their Protomatter Terraforming devices to reconstruct the previous biosphere as closely as possible. While bringing back extinct cultures that the kroatanga killed is beyond the Alliance's power, resurrecting the biospheres is not.
All across the territory under the Aegis of the Khitomer Alliance, massive quantities of materials and people move. The united efforts of trillions of beings belonging to dozens of governments and organizations pushing forth the construction of fortifications to further secure their citizenry against the innumerable threats of their new homes as well as expand the reach of industry, cities of races long displaced popping up to be filled with former refugees and families swelled via artificial reproduction methods.
In the Alpha quadrant, industry expands, and many billions of sapients are moved into new homes-refugees and diasporas of species left stranded or severely reduced by the Translation now with new homes, and often new family members rapidly grown to bolster smaller populations.
Within the freshly christened Epsilon Sector, terraforming teams work diligently to restore what the Kroatanga had destroyed. Diligent work by devoted specialists allow all but a few dozen planets to be restored to a simulacrum of their previous states; some welcoming the return of their displaced masters, others little more than the echoes of those cultures that once shaped and were shaped by these environments, ready for new hands to work their soil and experience their bounty.
It is something of a bittersweet triumph for many, but it is a defiant showing to the entire Alliance that they can make a difference in this strange and hostile new home, even in the face of a force as apocalyptically destructive as the Kroats.
Result: All Industrial actions complete without issue.
-The Federation, Klingon, Romulan, Alliance, Minor Power and Dominion Fleethordes are unified into a single massive concentration of military might aimed at wiping out the kroatanga in the southwest of Sector I-15. If the new Heavy Dreadnoughts (read: Cruisers) are ready for use than they will be employed in this operation. They will split into 3 groups and attack from three directions: The Federation and Klingons attacking from the South of Sector I-15, The Romulans, Minor Powers and Alliance Attacking from the Centre of Sector I-15 and the Dominion attacking from Local Defence Council space. Their objectives are first to crush the massing kroatanga forces entirely, leaving no stragglers able to sneak past and infest friendly space. Once this is done they will systematically wipe out all traces of kroat presence within the quadrant.
As the Killing-Time are fully settled in the area leaving no possibility of surviving native organisms and the emancipation project has plenty of specimens currently and will still have plenty of avenues to acquire more in the future no quarter is to be given. After controlling star systems in the void, limited ground assaults using the new War Engine Composite and Common Role Squadron Ground Doctrines (included below), and the new vehicles designed to support them if they are available that quickly, will be launched to disable the planetary shields. Once the shields are down ground forces will retreat and the planets will be sterilised from orbit using Tzenkethi style protomatter torpedoes (or if you don't think the Alliance could make those just absurd amounts of antimatter until the planet's crust glows. Either or.).
The invasion of what has now been recognized as the Home Sector of the Killing Time Kroatanga goes…as well as one could imagine
The combined forces of the Khitomer Alliance gathered, in numbers that had not been seen ever before, and which frankly boggled the minds of many of the military leaders involved. Estimates suggest that the fleets outmass the Kroats at least half-over, and numerically outnumber them at least 3-1, if not more.
The campaign is a meatgrinder.
That the Alliance will win, is not ever in any real doubt: however, this is the oldest, most heavily defended part of the Killing Time's territory, and the Khitomer Alliance simply does not have the tools to crack through those defenses and accomplish their objectives in a cleaner manner than 'drown them in numbers.'
Initial efforts to strike at massing Kroat mobile forces go decently, but after the first strikes the Kroat fleets seem to switch to a more defensive sance, moving to reinforce pre-existing stationary and system defence forces around Kroatformed worlds bristling with industry and defenses.
The Kroats fight just as hard as they always do-and now, having somewhat learned what the Alliance is capable of, they are able to counter some of the efforts and tactics they use in places.
One notable and particularly cruel trick is some kind of field-generator that does not block the ability for a Transporter to lock onto and move material to and from a location, but will scramble the energized matter that travels through it, either causing a retrieved object (or person) to appear in multiple, disconnected parts, or shunt incoming material into the nearest solid object (of note, it seems that larger Kroats can both survive having a Klingon-sized piece of foreign organic material suddenly appear inside their own bodies and continue to fight effectively).
The arrival of new Heavy Dreadnoughts and War Machines was able to reduce casualties in the theatres where they were able to be deployed, but ultimately, victory is bought through blood, metal, and the sacrifice of brave souls against a truly monstrous foe.
By the end of the cycle, the Killing Time Heartlands have been swept clean, sterilized like a lab after a horrible accident, with fewer than a sixth of the Kroat mobile forces managing to retreat south into Sector I-6.
And the members of the Khitomer Alliance are facing death-tolls the likes of which they have never seen before.
But there is Victory.
Results:
-All Alliance Fleethordes take 4 levels of damage and are reduced toBeaten status.
-Subsector completely cleansed of Kroatanga presence.
-One Kroat fleethorde destroyed outright, one 2/3rds destroyed, has retreated south.
-Due to the extensive use of anti-biosphere weapons to remove the deep-seated Kroat infestations, extensive terraforming work will need to be done to restore the subsector to useable status (Will cost 10 RP total and take 1 turn to complete)
-The Minor Powers fleet will not take part in offensive actions for at least 2 turns, in protest of what they view as 'gross mismanagement of resources and poor leadership judgement.'
The Khitomer Alliance reels from their first proper introduction to warfare in their new home reality. Trillions are dead, but the heart of the Killing Time Kroatanga has been torn out, and reports are coming in that the Kroats in sector J-15 have already begun infighting, while those to the south are beginning to be slowly pushed back by the Farsight Enclaves.
However, just as one problem seems to die down, more raise their heads.
The ZR-XK9 Collective has committed even more forces to try and overwhelm the Mernenut Dynasty. Sheer weight of metal seems to have forced the Necrons back a few light years before their naval doctrine seemed to shift from 'bull through everything, killing as you go' to 'abuse our incredible technology to perform slashing maneuvers to carve through larger forces at speeds and angles that should be physically impossible,' which has stabilized things once again. However, there has still been an uptick in the number of Dynasty 'escorts' lost in engagements. The rogue machines have also expanded their territory into the Northwest subsector of I-14.
Closer to home, it seems that while the fleets were occupied striking at the Kroats, the Kabal of the Baleful Gaze took the opportunity to strike at the Gamma Quadrant. The returning vessels of the Domion found that planets and installations throughout their territory had been hit seemingly at random. The Raiders inflicted horrific tortures and butchery on their chosen victims, and spirited away billions of sapients for reasons unknown, including a handful of Founders (somehow). The attacks came near the end of the cycle, and were over so fast that the mobile forces of the Domion returning from the front to assist could not arrive before the raids were over in most instances-the local defences took a significant toll on the invaders despite their technological inferiority, but a significant percentage of the subsector's population is now dead or missing. Production schedules have been fairly heavily affected, which when compounded with the damage inflicted by the raid, will hamper the production output available for allocation this cycle.
There is much yet to do, and the Galaxy will not wait for us.
-Cracks in the Floor: Though the various great member-states of the Alliance have been willing to work under the united strategic goals of the overarching Alliance up to this point, recent events have caused several members to pull back from coordination with the Alliance for several reasons: the 'Minor Races,' appalled by the losses their smaller militaries took in annihilating the Killing-Time's Heartlands, have for the time being recalled their militaries to their home territories in protest of what they call 'gross incompetence and bloodthirsty glory-seeking'. Meanwhile, the Dominion's mauled fleets have returned to their territories to find system defense fleets in tatters and planets with their populations brutalized, murdered, or kidnapped. The Founders have (relatively politely) informed the rest of the Alliance that their fleets will not be available for foreign deployment until they can be sure the Kabal of the Baleful Gaze will not take such absence as an opportunity to repeat their blitz of brutality again. Federation advisers have reported that there have been some concerning grumbles from elements of their citizenry and political class, but nothing has come of it yet. (The Minor Races Fleethorde will not accept orders for this turn, baring extreme circumstances. The Dominion Fleethorde will not leave the Gamma Quadrant unless the Kabal of the Baleful Gaze has been dealt with, or they are being sent to deal with them. The Federation seems to have some concerns over the conflicts the Alliance has been engaging in, but recent diplomatic efforts seem to be keeping that problem from becoming anything.)
-Drukhari Butchery: The actions of the Kabal of the Baleful Gaze have had significant negative effects on the capabilities of the Gamma Quadrant-billions are dead, and billions more are missing. Between that and the damage to infrastructure and the necessary repairs needed, production has taken a hit. (1 Pop is killed in the Gamma Quadrant, 2 are 'Stollen', and 15 RP worth of damage is inflicted to the quadrant, to be subtracted before turn start)
-The Killing Time Fractures: The Kroats seem to have been heavily affected by the loss of their Heartlands. Those to the East have dissolved into infighting, while those to the south seem to be attempting to fortify and rebuild their mobile forces, though the Farsight Enclaves aren't giving them much room to breathe.
-Stalemate: The war between the Asith and the Fourfold Alliance continues to grind, with neither side able to establish a decisive advantage. Trade with the Khitomer Alliance seems to have given the Fourfold a shot in the arm economically, and previously flagging fronts have now stabilized.
-Political Promises: Due to the large number of diplomatic meetings last cycle, there are several promises on the docket in need of fulfilling. Let's get to it, shall we?
--Promise 1: Upgrade the Defense Level of the Theta Quadrant to Heavy (Industrial Action)
--Promise 2: Share all data related to 'Souls' with the Mernenut Dynasty (Diplomatic Action, no cost)
Research Suggestions:
-Upsized Vessels: The scale at which ships are constructed in this reality are vastly larger than the standard you are used to. You have been managing for now, but military advisors strongly suggest that building ships closer in scale to local standards will greatly reduce the number of lives that victories against local powers will cost. Though we now have vessels equal in size to local 'Cruisers', some military minds are advocating that the grinder of the most recent Kroat offensive proves the need for 'proper' local Capital ships-battleships that would outsize even the Borg's largest craft.
-Drukhari Research: The Kabal of the Baleful Gaze left a great deal of salvage behind while they savaged the Gamma Quadrant-their tech level seems to be fairly advanced in many fields compared to our own, and initial examinations seem to indicate much is grounded in understood physics. Many scientists are clamoring to learn more about these savages.
-A Pharaek's 'Gift': The Tesseract Laberynth which briefly contained the President of the Federation is, apparently, some sort of pocket-dimension used by the Necrons to capture and store powerful (or annoying) beings, which according to the President's testimony took the form of an eternal maze of blank black tunnels lit by sourceless light that cast no shadow. What can be gotten out of studying it is anyone's guess.
Available Resources: 280-15 (Drukhari Raid)-7 (Pirate Negotiations)-5 (Southwest Negotiations)=253 RP
Available Sectors:
Khitomer Alliance (Center, North, Northwest, West, Southwest, South, East)
-Formerly the four quadrants of the Milky Way, the displaced territory of the Alliance member States has been merged with an area of the local Hypermassive galaxy, merging smoothly with the preexisting stars and the various tiny polities that were there before, resulting in an area of space with noticeably greater stellar density than elsewhere in 'local' space. It has now added considerable local space and population to its holdings after saving the southern subsector from being overrun by Killing-Time Kroats and diplomatically annexing the Southwest and Eastern subsectors.
Minor Powers (Northeast)
-This area of space consist of dozens of relatively small stellar nations, some within small alliances but most standing alone and constantly engaging in small-scale conflict with each other. No one seems anywhere close to establishing dominance in these regions of space, and as such, they are fairly open to military or diplomatic annexation by a larger, more unified polity. The nations of this territory are currently in a trade agreement with you.
Barren Space (Southeast)
-Formerly the core of the Killing-Time Kroatanga's territory, this sector of space has been steralized by the efforts of the Khitomer Alliance. With considerable terraforming efforts, it could be returned to something useful-but this will require fairly significant resources
Empty Space (Northwest, West, Southwest, South, Southeast)
-Not actually empty, these areas nonetheless have no significant populations of sentient civilizations, and those that are there mostly consist of pre-spaceflight or single-system spaceflight civilizations, with only a bare handful of tiny interstellar polities beginning to explore the stars. This unclaimed territory is ripe for the taking by whichever spacefaring civilization is fast enough to take it.
ZR-XK9 Collective (Northwest, North, Northeast, East)
-The most troubling faction encountered in the sector, the ZR-XK9 Collective Control almost half of the sector: very little exploration could be done of these areas due to the immediate hostile responses from their ships whenever they encounter Alliance explorers. The Collective is a rogue Collective Synthetic Intelligence devoted to cataloging and preserving all information in the universe through forcible assimilation into their Collective Database. Their methods echo those of the old Borg Collective, though they make use of both purely mechanical constructs as well as forcefully cyberdized organics.
Mernenut Dynasty (Center)
-Ancient synthetic lifeforms of incredible power and technological development, the Mernenut are Necrons-a formerly organic species that was turned into synthetics through unknown means by energy-based lifeforms powerful enough that the Necrons considered them to be Gods. They believe this 'biotransferance' stripped them of their Souls (which the 'Star Gods' then consumed) and the Pharaek of this Dynasty seems to be seeking a method to restore her people's 'Souls.'
The Fourfold Alliance of Dan-Var (Northwest, North, Northeast)
-A conglomeration of dozens of species founded by a quartet of races hailing from a titanic orbit-spanning Ringworld-the titular Dan-Var-the Fourfold Alliance seems to have similar values to the Federation. They are currently engaged in a war of survival with the Asith Genetic Hegemony, their southern neighbours, and have eagerly entered into a trade agreement with you.
Contested Space (West, Center, East)
-The disputed territory between the Fourfold Alliance and Asith, with low-level conflict occurring almost daily and major probing attacks occurring on a semi-regular basis, as well as nearly 500 active planetary sieges currently underway from both sides.
Asith Genetic Hegemony (Southwest, South, Southeast)
-The Asith Genetic Hegemony is a Religious Oligarchy founded by the Asith, a race of large mantis-like arthropods who breathe a unique atmosphere that closely resembles mustard gas. They are imperialistic and xenophobic, using a religious belief in their own superiority to justify the conquest, genocide, and slavery of other sapient species. They have yet to give any indication of a response to your intervention against their expansion efforts into your sector.
-Assorted Kroatanga (Southwest): The Kroats in this sector seem to have dissolved into Infighting after the destruction of the Killing Time Heartlands, brawling among themselves to establish the 'Kroatmost' among them as a new leader. Though likely to unite against us were we to invade, they are considerably weaker than the remaining Killing Time territory.
-The Confederacy of Independent Systems (Northwest): Outverser Refugees, the Confederacy is a relatively stable government made up of dozens of species (including Humans) who are as of yet warry of the Khitomer Alliance due to similarities with their recent enemy, the Galactic Republic. They employ vast armies of droid soldiers and ships to protect their holdings alongside organic militias.
-Khitomer Pirate Space (West): A subsector currently split between organizations and civilizations who agreed to join the Khitomer Alliance and those who refused. The Khitomer-aligned forces, with both superior coordination and industrial support from a massive polity, are slowly but surely securing the subsector; full control will take time unless additional support is rendered.
-Pirate Menagerie (South, East): These sections of space are dominated by a nearly uncountable number of what seem to be piratical organizations who constantly fight amongst each other while also launching (relatively) small-scale raids on the Mechanists and the new Local Defense Union, though the latter seems to be having a harder time dealing with it than the former.
-Pyrotaurus Clans (North, Northeast): An outpost for pirates belonging to the Pyrotaurus Clans, a loose almost anarchical assortment of 'Honorable Pirates' whose primary holdings are in one of Vyranodasik's satellite galaxies. They are here to gather resources to support their side of a Civil War taking place back in Pyrotaurus space, and advise we leave them be.
-Dimensional Anomaly (Center): Possibly the most concerning 'thing' in the sector, approximately 50% of the central subsecor seems to have been overtaken by an immense dimensional anomaly that sensors cannot get accurate readings on; it is an endless sea of shifting colors (though Pinks and Purples appear statistically more often than any other) that cause those who look at it for too long to start hearing whispers. There have been seven instances of crew on explorer vessels observing the anomaly experiencing psychotic breaks, and one Psychic Romulan officer underwent rapid spontaneous biological mutations and had to be put down by security teams after killing nearly the entire on-duty bridge crew of his vessel. And what is more, is that the Anomaly seems to be slowly spreading, and the explorers have reported seeing large, garishly-coloured warships both entering and leaving it.
-Polrus Protectorates (Southeast): This area of space consists of many small and lower-level technology races, much like your own Minor Powers, who are under the protection of the Sentientality of Polrus, one of the major players in the galactic politics of Vyranodasik.
-Killing-Time Kroatanga (Northeast, East): The Killing-Time Kroats remaining territory, scouts report that they are rapidly attempting to both industrialize and fortify this territory.
-Farsight Enclaves (Northwest, West): Outversers like ourselves, the Farsight Enclaves are controlled by the T'au, a humanoid mammalian species with cloven hooves and prominent nasal ridges, but contain a large number of species; some who arrived alongside them, like the Kroot, Vespid, and yet more Humans; and some who they took under their mantle after arriving here, led by the titular Commander Farsight, or Shas'O Vior'la Shovah Kais Mont'yr, to use his full name and title. A martial people, they are engaged in a war with the Killing-Time over two subsectors. They are friendly enough to you, and have expressed a willingness to cooperate in military operations against the Kroats, and engage in more in-depth political discussions afterwards.
-Contested Space (North, Center): The warzone between the Kroats and Farsight Enclaves, these regions are a veritable hell as battlefleets clash on the daily and planets are ground beneath the grinding boots of the Kroats and the cleansing plasma fire of the Enclaves. The Enclaves seem to be slowly gaining ground here.
-Virgin Space (South): An area of space miraculously untouched by the conflict raging just to the north of it, the only explanation your explorers can give as to why it has yet to be conquered is that the Kroats and Farsight Enclaves are too busy slaughtering each other to take it.
-Megastructure (Southeast): This region of space has a noticeably lower stellar density than surrounding regions, which seems to be the result of the construction of an enormous megastructure.
In keeping with everything else in this universe, it is completely unreasonable in scale: several black holes in the region have been contained within (now somewhat broken) Dyson-spheres to act as immense reactors for the primary installation: a massive space-station built in the void of space, roughly the size of a solar system by itself, with the primary feature of the station being an absolutely immense portal of some kind that occasionally flickers into being in an enormous flash of green-white light.
-Star-Wyrms (Southwest): The other 'great wonder' of this sector, the southeastern Subsector is the territory of a pair of unreasonably large lifeforms,now known to be called Astrodrakes. Vaguely resembling the Dragons of ancient earth legend, though with a cluster of tentacles emerging from the base of the 'tail' (which is in fact another, larger tentacle), these lifeforms are orders of magnitude larger than everything else we've yet seen in this reality other than the Dan-Var Ringworld and the Megastructure two sectors eastward.
Measuring in at a little less than One Astronomical Unit in length, the two are a mated-pair named Bright and Fearsome. The two Drakes take turns to patrol their territory (which seems to consist of about 1/5th of entire subsector) using some kind of biological FTL drive, while the other guards a 'nest' Star-system containing four moon-sized eggs. The 'guarding' member of the pair is often seen 'resting' by curling itself around the local star. Bright as advised, on no uncertain terms, not to enter their nest without explicit permission
Beyond the Astrodrakes, the subsector contains a large variety of cosmozoans, some docile, and some decidedly not. None of the other lifeforms seem to be prey items for the Wyrms-indeed, neither Wyrm has yet been observed to do anything approaching 'feeding', and in fact, Alliance scientists are baffled how a lifeform as large as the Wyrms could ever generate enough energy to sustain their unbelievable sizes.
-The Fourfold Alliance of Dan-Var (South): The Fourfold Alliance are also present in this sector, what was formerly a promising colonial region now facing near-constant raids from the neighbouring Drukhari Kabals-sadistic and cruel extraversals with very advanced technology that resemble very tall and thin Vulcans in appearance-with little military force available to defend them as a result of the considerably more pressing war with the Asith in the south. Attempts to recover captured civilian populations have so far proven fruitless.
-Kabal of the Baleful Gaze (Southeast): One of the two Drukhari Kabals operating in this sector, the Baleful Gaze seems to have an affection for using great hordes of 'tamed' alien warbeasts to soften up targets, and take a distinct pleasure in loosing these same predators into cities to hunt civilians under the guidance of their 'Beastmasters'.
-Kabal of the Poisoned Heart (Center): The other Drukhari Kabal operating in this sector, they and the Baleful Gaze, while not bitter enemies, are certainly not on friendly terms, as there have been many instances of one Kabal or the other launching ambushes on their counterparts ships or holdings. This Kabal has a propensity for utilizing poisons and acids more commonly throughout their arsenal than the Gaze.
Empty Space (East, Northeast, North, Northwest): Prior to being cut off by the arrival of the Kabals, these regions were noted to be devoid of any significant civilizations and marked eagerly for expansion by the Fourfold Alliance. Now, though the Alliance maintains a claim, it is essentially up for grabs for whatever faction gets there first.
Janek Custodianship (Southwest): A minor local power, the Custodianship is what is known in local parlance as a 'Rogue Servitor,' a civilization of organics-in this case, the mammalian Janeks-who have entirely turned over the running of their society to AI caretakers; in this case, a distributed superintelligence. The Janeks were an innately peaceful society, and their caretakers are of a similar vein. They were apparently in talks to join the Alliance prior to the arrival of the Drukhari, who utterly eviscerated the Janek heartlands and stole or murdered the population of their homeworld before burning off the atmosphere. Now, what remains of the Custodianship has become incredibly insular and violent to all outsiders, and long-range surveys by the Fourfold Alliance have detected a massive buildup of defensive forces.
Former Janek space (West): The former heartlands of the Janek Custodianship, it has been utterly ravaged by the Kabal of the Poisoned Heart to the point where the survivors completely abandoned the subsector for the newer colonial region to the south. It is now essentially a graveyard for the heart of Janek civilization and a playground for the Kabal.
The Storm of Sorrows (Northwest, West, Southwest): The Storm of Sorrows is a Hyperspace Storm, created twelve million years ago when the Lanadriyan Oligarchy attempted a civilization-scale Hyperjump to escape a currently unknown extinction event. Unfortunately for everyone, all they succeeded in doing was weakening the barriers between dimensions and allowing all manner of Hyperspace lifeforms in as they rang the metaphorical dinner bell. The Storm is dominated by the energy-eating Unquiet and the even more bizarre Zuftri, while its (relative) lack of environmental danger also make it the Storm Space most heavily populated by pirates and other marauders not welcome in civilized space.
Celestial Siren Infestation (Northeast, East): These regions of space are overrun with 'fleet-shoals' of Celestial Sirens, a species of predatory techno-organic Cozmozoan. Celestial Sirens can range in size from a shuttle to a battleship, based on when in their life-cycle an individual is, and are organized into family units based around the leadership of a 'Fleet-carrier' Broodmother and her harem of 'Battleship' Bulls. Due to interactions with Fourfold telepaths, Sirens are known to be sapient; however, they apparently either do not recognize sapience in others, or do not care about it, and view all other forms of life as Food. As such they hunt both starships and other cozmozoans (including rival Sirens in lean times) with equal eagerness using their natural weapons-plasma cannons and railguns-as well as various telepathic techniques that take the form of different types of song, from which the Sirens originally got their name. The shoals are currently penning the Alliance in on their western edge, as they cannot spare sufficient forces from their war with the Asith to clear the cosmozoans out and free the space up for colonization.
Asith Genetic Hegemony (Southeast): The Asith have apparently made a relatively minor expansion into this sector. Though investment is minor, reports from recent defectors indicate that the Hegemony's leadership might be considering the value of expanding in this direction due to the difficulties faced on every front of the Hegemony's expansion.
Renegade Space: The space bordering the Storm of Sorrows-at least in this region-are a hub of lesser pirates and renegades forced out of the 'safety' of the Storm itself, and minor civilizations doing their best to survive. Often beset by small bands of Unbiden and other hyperspace predators, these regions are nearly screaming for some sort of stabilizing element. Unfortunately, the only ones nearby are the Asith, and that doesn't seem liable to change any time soon.
In response to Mileena's suggested operational plan of the full frontal attack, the command staff of the 134th outlines a modern combined arms approach that, broadly in line with Krieg standard tactics, boils down to a full frontal attack but from every possible direction simultaneously.
Utilising the fact that the enemy was well and truly encircled, as well as reduced to a fraction of their former size, assaults were made on as many remaining enemy systems as possible, eschewing the traditional concept of the front line. With Imperial and, to a degree, Outworld FTL systems somewhat limited in speed and range, it largely fell to Sage's mercenary fleet to hit the furthest-in targets, but her forces proved largely up to the task of independent operations. Her aerospace fleet, shaped like aquatic animals, darkened the skies of dozens of worlds as they descended to unleash their deadly cargo of animalistic fighter craft and humanoid battle machines.
Meanwhile, the Imperium settled in for a lengthy siege, with the primary directive of the campaign's initial phase being to bombard the enemy into submission. In space, Taskforce Erinyes made itself felt as volleys of torpedoes, bombers, and Nova Cannons wore down the foe's defensive fleets and fortifications, while enormous siege batteries were assembled on land, Basilisks, Medusae, Colossi, and even rarer vehicles like the Minotaur settling in for ceaseless barrages.
In the shadows, however, another war altogether was being waged. Space Marines, Tempestus Scions, and even some Edenians strike at command posts and supply depots, crippling the foe's ability to meaningfully respond to the frontal attack. It's a plan that proceeds through its initial phase smoothly, but the alliance is on something of a time limit, which weighs on the Imperium's allies even as the Krieg-derived siegework proceeds on its own strict schedule with clockwork precision.
Eventually, the forces of Outworld lose their nerve, and break with the Imperial formation to begin a lone attack on the remaining enemy fortresses, claiming a need to stick to schedule and also that they can no longer wait and watch while the Krieg simply destroy the enemy from a thousand miles away.
For their part, without orders to the contrary, the Imperial forces largely sit back and let them charge, continuing to provide artillery and special forces support where viable and otherwise moving to exploit holes in the line as they form and taking secondary objectives while both enemy and ally are distracted.
These assaults into prepared positions are inevitably bloody, but acceptably so, especially on the key worlds where units of the 134th personally deploy. With counterbattery fire suppressed by raids and the charge of Outworld providing a distraction, Imperial artillery is able to turn many otherwise deadly hardpoints into so much rubble by the time Outworld's armies make contact. Overall, Outworld's casualties, while heavy, are acceptably so, seeing as this was expected to be the hardest part of the fighting in any sense.
In particular, it's noted that even Outworld's prodigiously capable infantry force takes heavy losses against the grotesquely superhuman Vorkyli species in the hostile urban environments they're forced to storm. Guardsmen in their position would likely be even worse off. While such scenarios have been successfully avoided so far, largely with this exact tactic of letting Outworld take the front lines, methods to improve the humble Guardsman's close quarters combat ability are likely necessary if their status as a highly capable line infantry force is to remain.
With such scenes playing out across nearly all remaining hostile territory, victory is inevitable. With the xenos thoroughly pinned in place by the immediate assaults on their positions, they have no ability to try and reinforce any part of the line. When one system falls, the human forces in it redeploy to help overwhelm the next, and then the combined force that took that system redeploys to the next, and on it continues until the day is won.
The honour of the victories largely goes to the Outworlders with some reserved for the mercenaries, with Mileena in particular earning many accolades for her perceived tactical acumen, and she is soon known as the Reaver of Teutes, another title to add to her name in Outworld's almost Custodes-like tradition of ensuring it takes far too long to fully and formally introduce one of their leaders.
The Krieg let her claim the title earned in no small part with their tactical and strategic aid in silence. They fight out of duty to the Emperor, to redeem themselves in His eyes, not for such a petty notion as glory. The vast majority of the Astartes and Mechanicus feel the same way, with some differing specifics, content to let their actions speak for themselves so long as they're suitably recognised by their own peers.
This does however bring with it some slight complications. While duty may be its own reward to soldiers of the Imperium, Outworlders are somewhere more individualistic, and as the first truly large-scale joint operation between factions there is some friction between how the two conducted war. While not outright blaming the Imperium for the severely disproportionate casualties they suffered, seemingly acknowledging that it was somewhat self-inflicted, a small but notable amount of disdain for the Krieger method of warfare begins to emerge, with dismissive attitudes towards the Imperium's martial prowess emerging.
Obviously foolish, and not enough to significantly escalate the occurrence of incidents between armies, but it's a sentiment that remains regardless. A blow has been struck to the relations between nations, although far from an unmanageable one, especially considering the alliance was initially built with the understanding the Imperium and Outworld would simply be each other's last targets for conquest.
Before anything more can come of this, the final victory arrives. The Teutes Federation's capital system is broken in a rapid shock assault, the venerable bombardment galleon Erinyes once again opening the way in the void, letting through massed armies of Guard shock troops and Sororitas. These join the charge for this final battle with the Vorkyli as a whole, although still in a second line role.
The front is thus largely the responsibility of the overall commanders of the operation, involving the 134th's Grenadier formations as the bulk alongside Outworld's royal family, their collective retainers, and Sage piloting the Egg Queen.
The Grenadiers, as one of the most exceptional conventional infantry units in Battlegroup Harrsk, perform admirably even in the close quarters fighting of the capital region's dense urban buildup that often devolves into hand-to-hand combat, but they're somewhat the exception that proves the rule, and try to avoid melee where possible. In particular, they coordinate closely with their artillery park, employing a highly precise creeping barrage in order to advance under the cover of constant Earthshaker fire devastating hostile fortifications even as they're assaulted. Still, they do largely survive to report back to their commander about the performance of their current allies.
Outworld's royalty are every bit as fearsome as the stories about them suggest, with enough combat capability to rival a Primarch. Exceed, potentially, since Shao Khan personally eliminates several Titan-grade combatants entirely on foot without obvious difficulty, and the others exhibit lesser but still broadly comparable feats, cutting a path through the heart of Teutes power almost without stopping. It's clear that when their leaders can all focus on a specific tactical target, Outworld is nearly unstoppable, although such a singular target does not always present itself in galactic warfare.
Despite piloting her own custom Titan-scale war machine, Sage is actually less impressive, although she's only one individual. Nor does she objectively lack for power, as the strange, almost alien-looking machine strides through the warzone. While the rest of her army is somewhat rounded in design, they tend to be rotund, even bulky. The Egg Queen, however, is notably lithe, striding across the battlefield and altering its form at will.
According to Sage's transmissions to allies during the fight, its base bipedal form is the G-Formation, which primarily fights with its bare hands, although some energy weaponry is also observed. When the fighting is fiercest, however, it morphs into a quadrupedal form and summons or fabricates a sword and shield, which Sage calls K-Formation. A notable weakness is observed after it launches a particularly large energy wave, as it is forced to pause and expose its reactor, which appears to be a single green crystal moderately larger than a man, for cooling purposes. While this is a small target on the scale of a Titan, it's still large enough to take aim at if it were ever on the other side of the Imperium's soldiery.
Of course, the energy wave that preceded the venting process cleaved a massive Vorkyli combat beast several hundred metres tall in twain, so the machine is clearly not something to be taken lightly.
Shortly after this, the vanguard breaches the vacant Palace of the High Marshal, where the defenders of the Teutes make their final stand. They die with bitter curses on their lips, directed at countless perceived foes and traitors. Such spite is almost admirable, even from xenos. Shao Khan ends the campaign when he sits on the chair that was once the Marshal's throne, flanked by Sindel and Mileena. He's soon joined by a dismounted Sage, who sits in mid-air on a cushion of anti-gravity, and lines of Grenadiers standing at parade rest as his servants line up to pay tribute to the great Khan.
Soon afterwards, the collective forces depart for their homes, even as Shao's sorcerers begin the rites necessary to add the mass of Teutes territory to the vast mega-planet that is Outworld. Sage begins to make preparations for the liberation of Cosmo Babylonia's home next year, while the Imperial forces secure the barren rocks of the territory, which cannot be absorbed by Outworld. Not the greatest territorial prize, but this campaign was never about expanding Imperial control. Some hard feelings remain, but the glow of victory does much to dispel them, at least for the time being.
The 134th's general makes it clear they view this overall result as an absolute victory when the time comes to report to Imperial command. In their eyes, the plan preserved Imperial forces while striking a fatal blow to the xenos threat in the region, an excellent outcome. The preservation of heretical force strength and diplomatic relations was of no concern to the Death Korps, a stance which has enjoyed widespread support among much of the Imperial hierarchy.
Still, the general's no fool, and appreciates the possible need for superior interforce coordination going forward. To that end, the primary lesson learned is that a multi-faction force such as theirs would benefit from more specific tactical planning and allocation of forces to specific tasks than when planning for solely Imperial formations in order to prevent any friction or suboptimal unit deployments.
Even in the case of such formations, however, consideration should always be given to employing specific or innovative tactics as required. While more general approaches such as the one employed here can usually result in success, they will almost always achieve results within expected norms, for better or for worse. In particular, how the tactics employed contribute to achieving victory, or otherwise any given campaign's actual goals, should be kept in mind at all times. Such is the Imperial Guard's method of waging war.
The Imperium's conservative operational plan is successful at preserving their forces, reducing damage taken to 10%. However, this leaves the Outworld forces to suffer the brunt of the losses. All Outworld Fleethordes suffer hefty additional casualties, reducing them to 60% damage total (except the force Mileena is attached to, which currently stands at 50%). Relations between the Imperium and Outworld take a modest hit.
This was not a harvest - the Kroatanga were unworthy of preservation.
This was not pest control - the Kroatanga were too destructive to consider mere pests.
This was war. Monitoring arrays turned from their surveys of the now empty Scourge space to chart the movement of Kroat fleets and the arrangement of their fortifications, probes were sent to detect what the arrays had missed.
The Hydra was coming, yet the Reapers would not idly wait for it to strike.
In order to successfully combat the Kroatangan threat, vast quantities of hard-won treasure are poured into expanding the Reapers' military power. The defences of the regions bordering the Ruin-Makers are upgraded to an extremely high universal standard, destroyed fortresses being not only rebuilt but expanded upon with the powerful weapons platforms already present in the Reapers' northwestern territories.
Meanwhile, new fleets are assembled and old ones expanded to meet the coming threat head-on. While not organised in time to participate in this year's raid on the Kroatanga, they'll be fully prepared to lead the upcoming defence of Reaper territory. In large part the first proper results of the massive amounts of harvesting that has been performed since the arrival in this new universe, the effort sees countless new Reapers of both Capital and Destroyer scale alongside their attendants Husks and Occuli crafted, including the first drawn from the Husk cloning projects.
Representing the largest single increase in the number of Reapers since their initial creation, it is a testament to the enemy's strength that they will likely all be necessary in the coming conflict, and a testament to the scale of the program that to fulfil their ambitions of fleet expansion Reapers that had been previously managing territory in the rear are drawn back to the battlelines once more.
To complement this conventional increase in power, technology advances in leaps and bounds thanks to exploiting what has been taken from the organics of the region. A variety of cloning programs have had their best parts remixed and combined into a new series of designs that allow for the production of Husks on a massive scale without the need for Harvesting. While obviously useful, especially under present circumstances, it has drawn some internal criticism. While none would actively rebel over it, there are those who question Harbinger's directives, some even openly, refusing to take part in managing the development and deployment of the technology.
Whenever the point is raised, it always returns to the notion of this being against the Reapers' core directives. Reapers made from these clones are not preserved organic life, but merely empty shells made purely for combat. The fact that creating Reapers from these clones is, while far from impossible, notably more complex than it should be, is cited as evidence that it is an improper path.
Still, this dissent is insufficient to slow production, and the present is widely recognised as an exceptionally poor time for lengthy debate. Still, actions will likely have to be taken to address these concerns, lest the dissent grow and fester into something more problematic. Even if all Reapers follow the same core directives, as organic history has shown time and time again disagreements over a shared set of guiding tenets can become quite destructive.
Other research is somewhat less controversial. War Citadels may be much larger than the original with thoroughly reworked internals and the addition of new technologies, but the core design is still very much familiar, with much of the research being into ways to efficiently produce the mobile Mass Relays in numbers.
Thanks to an accelerated production schedule, the first batch is even finished in time to join the Kroatangan campaign. Each one is piloted by a single Reaper at its heart, utilising a control scheme that's a mix of the cruiserweight BOSS Frames and the Citadel's own control systems. Of course, its internal space is vast enough that it can also serve as a carrier to many more
Last but certainly not least, Naquadah proves to be a potent and easily used tool, with fairly minimal work necessary to turn it from raw ore into power boosting metamaterial. While there were initially some concerns over the difficulties of synthesising the rare element from the limited stockpile recovered from the Tau'ri, it turned out that there were sizable deposits located in the northern sections of Reaper territory already, obviating the need for such. Power output has already risen across the fleet, and further research proposals are already making their way through the networks.
All research and construction is successful. However, Husk cloning research causes some political tension.
All of this in preparation for the following year, but Harbinger is not content to simply sit back and let the enemy come to them. Whether or not it could be considered a viable strategy, there's much to gain from a spoiling attack while the enemy is still mustering their forces. As a result, he leads a massive lightning raid on nearby Kroatangan space, diving in with the majority of active Reaper forces in the hopes of dealing a body blow to the enemy's war effort before it can even truly begin.
Before the actual assault begins, however, a series of false fleet movements, diversionary actions, and probe deployments occurs, aimed to maximise the raid's success. Fortunately, this pays off, as the Kroatangans become convinced that the Reapers are reshuffling strictly defensive formations, digging in and preparing for them. They don't seem completely taken in by the specifics of the movements, understanding that a game of deception is being played against them and raising their guard, but that doesn't mean they realise what's really going on in time for it to help them.
With the bulk of their attention turned to as-yet unidentified foes to the east in what they doubtlessly hoped would be a quick and painless side objective before their full strength descended upon the Reapers, the Kroantagan border forces are caught utterly unprepared and scattered across their territory, and are wiped out in short order, the planets they were guarding razed to the ground. This is particularly true in the eastern territories, which are only defended by relatively small mobile fleets and a handful of terrestrial fortresses. With a sizable numbers advantage and the element of surprise on their side, the 3rd and 4th armadas successfully extinguish all Kroat presence in these regions, as light as it may have been.
F5-E and F5-SE reduced to Unclaimed/Undefended, albeit still nominally Kroatangan territory as the 3rd and 4th War Fleets, which take 10% and 20% damage respectively. 1 Mag 2 and 2 Mag 1 Kroat Fleethordes stationed in the territory rendered completely combat ineffective, possibly even destroyed entirely.
The northern territory, however, is a rather different story. The original base of operations for Abradax Smashmaster, it comes as no surprise when it turns out to be far better defended. This is of course why fully half of the attacking fleets and all unique assets were dedicated to this portion of the attack, but even so it was no easy fight. The majority of the Kroat garrison is present here, as are defences that easily match the Reaper's own, each noteworthy world defended by planetary shield generators, anti-orbital batteries, star fortresses, and a variety of exotic but utterly lethal emplaced superweapons, all before simple planetfall is made.
And at the centre of it all are what seems to be the reason the Kroat forces delayed their full assault on the Reapers. They were manufacturing the first of their own Leviathans, just as the Reapers were, and this freshly produced first batch anchors the defence of the Kroat's core worlds.
The Overkill-class, as it's straightforwardly named, is a brutal, bulbous thing with plentiful point-defence systems, countless arrays of missile and torpedo launchers, and a spinal 'boom-beam', some form of exotic energy weapon that causes a violent release in energy of anything caught in the beam, which also delivers considerable thermal and kinetic force in and of itself.
Needless to say, these are something of a tactical puzzle. Their spinal weapons are inefficient against the generally smaller Reaper ships, but in turn the Reapers struggle to damage them and are still vulnerable to their torpedoes. Bringing in War Citadels provides a weapon suitable for cracking them open, but also provides a target for the boom-beams.
In the end, the Reapers use their initiative to crack the problem, either trying to disable the beams before bringing in War Citadels or otherwise using multiple to fight singular Overkills. These tactics don't work flawlessly: The Reapers are still unused to this scale of warfare, and misjudgements are occasionally made that lead to losses, often to devastating effect as the massive explosions that result rip through escort fleets. Still, by exploiting the strategic mobility advantage the War Citadels provide them, the Reapers give notably better than they get.
Still, despite the element of surprise, despite their new weapons and technologies, despite the leadership of Harbinger and the assistance of the Reaper Knights, the campaign drags out. Defences and shipyards are destroyed in space, but it's a sporadic and difficult thing, every shattered station representing losses. The planets are perhaps even harder, as only minimal orbital support can be provided, and the swarms of hulking fungal warriors gleefully clash with armies of Husks again and again, their only wish that their enemies would react a bit more when crushed under armoured feet or treads.
Orbitals are choked with wreckage, and fields are smothered in corpses as casualties mount on both sides. The loss ratios are still in favour of the Reapers, especially when the Knights make themselves known, but they cannot be everywhere, and as the surprise of the attack fades so does the advantage. Reserve forces stream into embattled systems, stalling the offensive, and requests for reinforcements are intercepted heading towards the Arch-Warfiend's forces to the east. If there's a return in force, the Reapers would be trapped between the decidedly still active enemy fortifications and large fleets, fresh from battle but no less dangerous for it. The raid would turn into a slaughter, and not a favourable one.
Thus, arrangements are made to tie up loose ends. A renewed focus is placed on finding and finishing off the remaining Overkills while they can, and once Harbinger is certain they've eliminated every last one, a general retreat is called, the attack's goals accomplished. And so the Reapers vanish as quickly as they came, long before reinforcements arrive.
This timely retreat preserves the majority of Reaper forces, even if casualties were still more significant than in the other fleets. While the enemy's heavy industry remained intact, every other goal was accomplished, and with interdiction devices planted along the retreat corridors, the Kroatangas should have a much more difficult time with their coming war.
Which is still coming. The Reaper Knights make that much clear; this spoiling attack has not delayed, let alone stopped, the Kroatangan march to war. Still, the green hydra plaguing their visions has fewer heads than it once did.
F5-N holds the majority of the Kroat garrison, their Excessively defended industrial core, and a newly built Leviathan Constellation. The Reapers are forced to retreat before they can deal significant infrastructural damage, but they are able to destroy the Constellation, approximately a Mag 3 Fleethorde's worth of mobile forces, and degrade the enemy's defences to Heavy. This damage is unlikely to be fairly repaired before the end of the next turn, especially with the economic losses inflicted by the other fleets. Fleets 1 and 2 both take 30% losses, and the War Citadel Constellation takes 40% damage, as the Reapers are still new to these new level of space assets.
Unfortunately, one aspect of the campaign that doesn't go as well as hoped is the attempt to understand the psionic nature of the Kroatangan species, and how it affects their development and being. It proves, if anything, even more inscrutable than the Force, and it simply cannot be measured with the instruments available to the Reapers. There definitely is some effect taking place, some sort of external force acting on the Kroat, but while the effects are visible the cause remains frustratingly unclear. Still, plentiful samples have been acquired, and research can be undertaken under laboratory conditions. It may be too early to simply give up on the subject.
Efforts to understand the Kroat psychic field go nowhere in the field, but proper research actions back in Reaper territory will be available next turn, and should yield better results.
Down south, the attempts to indoctrinate the Ykantras also don't quite go to plan. Seemingly at least somewhat aware of Reaper indoctrination through some means or other, or otherwise simply appropriately paranoid, the Moot launches a thorough security sweep of its own leadership, and in the process is able to identify an indoctrination attempt in process and publicly expose it. Mass panic ensues, but with the general population not yet subverted in large numbers, they're able to identify and contain or execute the bulk of the indoctrinated and accelerate their plans to leave.
By the time the Reaper fleets arrive, their Worldships are already fleeing the Moot's territory in massive numbers, and it proves difficult to catch them. This headlong rush to escape does leave behind stragglers, however, as the remaining indoctrinated are able to sabotage or otherwise delay a modest but noteworthy portion of the Moot until they're within interdiction range. With only a small portion of Ykantras forces left in the rearguard, these are fairly easily disabled and Harvested. While not the success that was hoped for, more than a few new Reapers are created from this Harvest and added to the newly built fleets, preserving the Ykantras for the future. This is sufficient to at least slightly assuage any concerned voices in the fleets, at least for now.
Ykantras Moot largely flees successfully due to identifying indoctrination as it occurs. However, the remaining agents create stragglers that the Reapers successfully pick up. The Reapers gain F5-SW as an Undeveloped territory point and 1 Population, consisting of Husked and Harvested Ykantras.
To the northwest, efforts to splinter the Tau'ri likewise falter, the nation coming together in the wake of the Reaper invasion, rebuilding as best they can and securing itself from pirates and terrorists. Unfortunately, most of the indoctrinated agents in the region rose up and performed acts of sabotage during the previous attack, leading to their capture, execution, or exodus to Reaper space after the withdrawal. Hence, not many remain inside Tau'ri territory.
Even less at the end of the year, as the humans deliberately root out the remaining cells in their space now that they're aware there's something to watch out for. Still, for all their recovery and reconsolidation, the nation is far from fully healed. They're definitely in no state to be problematic for the foreseeable future.
Tau'ri Balkanisation fails, and the nation somewhat stabilises. It's still not in the best of shape, at least.
In stark contrast to this picture of unity and defiance stands the Confederated Planets of Humanity, which seems almost too eager to roll over for the Reapers. The diplomatic team makes the right noises and gestures, and the leadership of the separatist nation happily nods along to more or less everything they say. This gullibility would be almost disappointing if it wasn't so useful.
Similarly, while the indoctrinated cells in CPH territory are largely known, they're not slated for liquidation, being perceived as mere cultists. While they're certainly monitored, they provide valuable inroads into the local society, and with currency placed in the right hands it's easy to expand the scope of Reaper infiltration and steal relevant technological and metamaterial samples with the humans none the wiser.
When discussions can be had with the Daemons, however, things stop being smooth sailing. It would seem that these creatures are much cannier than their human leaders, taking a more cautious approach. Perhaps too cautious, since the truth of suspicion that lurks behind their polite facade is quite clear. They're a clear threat, but it's equally clear that they understand the more immediate danger that threatens both factions.
When the negotiations come to a head, the CPH politely refuses the offer of a Citadel. While they couch their rejection in terms of pride and self-reliance, claiming they'd prefer to build their own embassy, it's quite obvious that they simply don't want the Reapers to construct a giant space station in the middle of their own territory. It would appear that even their gullibility has its limits.
On the subject of a joint military action, however, it's a very different story. The human leaders are all but tripping over themselves to offer sizable support against the Kroatangans, promising aid from their powerful fleets as well as armies newly reinforced with mighty Daemons. While a joint offence into Kroat territory might be difficult considering the likelihood of a massive invasion of Reaper space, they'd be equally happy to rally to the Reapers' defence. The very same ships that proved so troublesome when invading the Tau'ri will now work with Harbinger's forces, and they'll be bolstered with new units too.
While the exact quantity of military assets on offer is somewhat unclear, as the CPH will likely want to retain at least a nominal force to defend its own borders, it's liable to be significant. In other words, this is a major diplomatic coup that has significantly improved the tactical estimates for next year, as well as weakening a future threat and Harvest target rather than letting it build up its forces in peace. A much needed victory.
CPH diplomacy and infiltration an overwhelming success on every front except Daemon diplomacy and the offer to construct a Citadel. Their military forces will provide assistance against the Kroatangans next turn, and new research projects have been unlocked.
Finally, grand exploration flotillas (consisting nearly entirely of autonomous probes) are deployed from all corners of Reaper territory. South of the Scourge to the west lies the Ykantras who passed through the territory earlier, apparently now in talks with a local group of pirates known as the Pyrotaurus and having made a temporary pause in their roamings. To their own west lies virgin space, perhaps recently wiped clean by the Yralgar for their own inscrutable purposes, and to the north of that and west of the Scourge…
The data is troublingly confused. Corrupted, even. Time will have to be spent on sifting through what's available to try and gleam the contents of the territories; results are expected by the beginning of the next year. Even more troubling is that this corruption extends to the probes sent west of the Tau'ri to the north.
Around the CPH is a variety of decidedly strange regions of space. The simplest of these is a largely untouched land to the east of the Ruin-Makers' core, which appears to still be unaffected despite their neighbours. How long that will last remains unclear, but at least it's no threat.
Next simplest is due north of the CPH, being yet more Kroatangans. These are not yet part of the Ruin-Makers, being lowly scattered raiders, but outreaches have almost certainly been made. If the Reapers were to fall, then they'd no doubt quickly jump to supporting Smashmaster, and their presence does help explain the humans' willingness to lend aid.
To their east lies what can only be described as a vast interstellar art project, the region heavily depleted in order to create some form of higher-dimensional pattern. Through the twists of warped space that the probes can see through, the impression of an infinitely fractal flower thousands of light-years wide can be perceived, static yet ever-changing, each observation shattering and remaking it into a new configuration. Projections suggest it could be viewed in trillions of different ways if the right equipment was brought to bear, and that what has been seen so far is merely a fraction of its true form.
Its presence is to the great consternation of those further north, who view it and the neighbouring Kroats to be a serious obstacle to the creation of a hyperspace bypass, whatever that means. Self-identifying as the Vogon Constructor Fleet (Eklamarid Branch Division), the interstellar flower in particular has proven to be a problem.
It apparently contains highly advanced maintenance and defence drones that keep it in working order. At first, these fought off the Constructor Fleet with weapons, but when the Vogons began making headway the drones started filing bureaucratic objections, claiming that the Constructor Fleet didn't have a permit for demolishing their art project. The Vogons presented such a permit, but the drones pointed out that their permit was a W1-X-249 Demolition Of Interstellar Structure (Hyperspace) when what they needed was a W1-X-250 Demolition Of Interstellar Structure (Subspace). The Vogons said 'bugger', and with a variety of similar objections filed the offensive has, somehow, been stalled, at least for the time being.
Needless to say, the Kroat raiders in the area are unlikely to pursue this strategy, so their destruction is expected to occur some time in the next few years.
Finally, to the east of the ongoing bureaucratic nightmare lies a species of vaguely insectoid fungal life calling themselves the Mi-Go. At the moment, they're apparently not overly concerned with the events of their south, but their borders are well guarded, so relatively little information was acquired about them.
Due south of the Reapers' newest territorial acquisition are another clan of the Pyrotaurus, who seem to count among their number a notable number of the local humans, even if they're by no means a majority. The Ykantras Moot has fled under their banner, and the probes report fervent negotiations between the two. There's no doubt that these pirates are connected to the Ykantras to their immediate northwest, and their territory seems to extend due west as well, bridging the gap between the two.
The space to their south seems to be occupied by a polity calling themselves the Yashigani Empire, or at least colonies thereof. A species of large crustaceans who've heavily fortified their worlds with massive shells, they're relatively typical of the local species, with large warships and potent technologies, but otherwise relatively unexceptional beyond the fact that they're sizable and dug-in.
And to their south apparently lies a sector composed almost entirely of various human factions. A Federation, an Imperium, and a people who call themselves the Sith. They're sure to be a problem for later, but they're still distant for now, being at the edge of the probes' current range. Not much data is gathered about them at this time.
The rest of the region, to the east of the Yashigani and Pyrotaurus, is of far more immediate relevance and much more concerning. Namely, there's nothing in it. There were clearly once plentiful organic civilisations in the region, but no longer. One catastrophe or another has wiped them out completely, with only their ruins remaining to testify that anything lived in this space at all.
These ruins come in countless shapes and sizes, but there is one consistent pattern. In a straight line down the west of this dead space, or the centre of the sector as a whole, planets can be found with black obelisks on them emitting very powerful electromagnetic signals. Twisted into a double-helix shape reminiscent of many types of genome, their purpose and nature are currently unclear, and so they've been left undisturbed for the time being.
Finally, the east proves particularly hostile. Sending probes through the temporarily emptied Ruin-Maker space suggests a variety of dangerous enemies, with those closest to the Reapers being an advanced species known as the Prador. They're primarily based in the south of the region, but are currently in the process of expanding to its west as well, and are keen to destroy every probe that tries to enter their territory. Notably, they seem to build their starships big even by local standards. There's also some sort of megastructure in to their north, similar in scope to the interstellar flower but likely with a more practical bent, but the probes have yet to get close enough to provide any details on it before being destroyed.
Whether this interception is by Prador outriders or the megastructure's own defences is so far unknown.
With all this accomplished, the work of war begins. While defences are upgraded and new Broods are gestated in the approximate core of Zerg territory, vast fleets strike out to the north and south alike, aimed at removing twin daggers from the throat of refugee space.
The northern fleets strike at the Strakhul, and initially perform well. Kner's preference for suicide morphs prove a wise choice, as they are able to efficiently cut through the necromantic armies of constructs, summoned darkness elmentals, and lesser undead, as well as able to disintegrate the Strakhul proper, the key first step to dismantling them for good. Once this first wave makes an inroad into the enemy's lines, Haspyt's conventional forces and Drones move in to sweep away what remains and establish fortifications, from which they hold out until Kner's next wave is ready for action.
Similarly, their contentment is indeed effective against the Strakhul, their broods' Overlords able to establish psionic shields that can resist the psychic attacks of their enemy, ensuring they cannot feed off the Swarm's suffering. Not that the Swarm feels particularly great amounts of suffering to begin with.
The Zerg struggle greatly to convert these successes to meaningful progress, however. While their positive emotions are capable of protecting themselves from the Strakhul's dark magics, without a way to actually leverage them into direct psionic attacks they seem unable to damage the aliens. Similarly, this means that any death of one of the alien commanders is inevitably short lived, as their Cerebrate-like ability to reanimate again and again unless psionically purged means they simply return to battle shortly after their disintegration, summoning more constructs and elementals to do battle with.
Of course, while the Zerg lack Dark Templar to break this cycle, they do have what is at bare minimum the next best thing. Deploying not only their existing skirmisher fleets but also their reserve forces, now that they're no longer busy keeping the Bramble pruned, the fleets of the Silver MIllenium make their mark. More specifically, their force of Sailor Guardians do. Seemingly by nature they're limited to at most one Guardian per celestial body, but the definition of celestial body they use seems somewhat vague, and as an interstellar civilisation they have quite the number of worlds and moons to draw from.
Unlike the Zerg, these Guardians (also sometimes known as princesses) are more than capable of destroying the spirits of the Strakhul when given the opportunity. While this destruction does not prevent the resurrection of the Strakhul entirely, it does mean that they must be externally raised as an undead, and if this undead form is similarly spiritually destroyed then it appears the Strakhul in question is truly gone for good.
Working hand in claw, the Swarm and the Silver Millennium thus make steady progress through the Strakhul's outer territory. In the process, relations between the two factions are smoothed as understanding blossoms on both sides. The Guardians begin to see the Zerg Cerebrates as their equivalents and rough equals, with ordinary combat morphs being equated to the nation's own mechanical crystal drones that provide the bulk of their military forces. In a great victory for the Swarm's international relations, one of the Guardians was even overheard calling a Zergling 'cute'. Granted, this did not seem to be a popular opinion among her peers, but progress remains progress.
Unfortunately, the Strakhul are fully aware that the ongoing attritional conflict does not favour them, and seek to change the tide of the war. As the allied forces begin to push deeper into their realspace territory, they begin calling upon the energy gained from their suffering prisoners even more, performing summonings close to the front lines. These prisoners are stored in a vast interdimensional fortress, originating in a plane of dark magic and extruding part of its bulk into real space, from where the summonings are made.
Except there seems to be no particular reason that the extrusion must occur near the front lines at all. Certainly, it must be more convenient for the summoners, but the Strakhul are still engaging in force creation in their rear areas. It would make more sense, as far as the Cerebrates can tell, to keep the base known as Fortress Dread and its irreplaceable prisoners in the rear areas while using more disposable methods near the front.
Upon identifying the obvious trap, Kner and Haspyt turn to their allies only to find that the Silver Millenium has already thrown the bulk of its Sailor Guardian forces into the depths of the fortress.
Needless to say, the Strakhul's reserve closes in behind them, slamming shut the jaws of the trap and completely surrounding the Guardians, who are now most likely scattered across the breadth of a planetary-scale fortress and probably also in another dimension by this point.
Leaving aside the diplomatic implications of leaving the collection of princesses to their fate, if they're eliminated then the Swarm will lose the vast majority of their ability to deal permanent damage to the Strakhul leadership, and thus also lose the ability to make serious progress in the campaign. In other words, it's time for a prison break. Hopefully one that actually works as intended.
-Begin Tactical Turn: Fortress Dread. A primarily Zerg force must break into a Strakhul fortress and rescue a large Sailor Guardian force currently trapped inside. As well as the static defences present, there's also a large Strakhul naval force guarding its exterior, which must be broken through before operations can begin inside the fortress. The Zerg forces are arriving by wormhole in the outer system where the realspace portion of Fortress Dread is located.
"Guess you're right, 621. We're all tourists now."
-'Cinder' Carla, Captain of the Xylem
With the bulk of the Zerg's mobile forces supported by the Xylem hitting key targets and the Crimson Adoration's reserve fleets arriving in strength, the operation to the south goes well. Without their mercenary support, the pirates prove unable to effectively resist the initial attack, which is a straight drive south to the border of the sector. Indeed, the pirates seem to have almost expected this, and withdraw from the path of the attack swiftly once their inferiority becomes obvious to all involved.
Things even go well enough that a western swing is authorised at the advice of the Adoration, pushing the pirates out of the sector entirely and securing additional territory for the Swarm. While this does also expand its borders with the Beloved of Gold, the fact the pirates were always a mere vassal means that in practical terms the frontage remains identical.
Needless to say, the Cerebrates present expect that not all as it seems, and their allies agree. Hive clusters and defensive fortifications are quickly established on all relevant planets in preparation for a counterstroke the alliance is certain will soon arrive.
Sooner, as it turns out, than any of them had hoped for. Striking from both the west and south, the Beloved of Gold strike a string of star systems running between their territory and the southwesternmost corner of the Light Wall while their defences are largely still in the process of being gestated, and use the Exteritite still present on the worlds of the region to rapidly establish their own fortifications, although they're not quite complete by the time the counterattack arrives.
Also established along this cordon are a string of FTL interdictors, preventing the Zerg from crossing over to the other side. This is significant, because the bulk of the Crimson Adoration's forces are on said other side, as that's the side their forces initially came from. In effect, with a few exceptions of some isolated flotillas on either side of the border, the Adoration and Zerg have been cut off from each other in a blatant attempt by the Beloved of Gold to keep their enemies separated. Most likely, they want to pursue a strategy of defeat in detail.
For a number of reasons, this cannot be allowed. This line of fortress systems must be thoroughly broken and the Beloved pushed back to their own territory in order to reestablish the Altran Bastion and secure control of the territory for the Swarm.
-Initiate Tactical Turn: Goldline Crash. The Zerg have secured all Pirate territory in Sector I-11, but the southernmost TP has been counterattacked by the Beloved, who've established an impassable defensive barrier through the use of Exteritite-fuelled autowar manufacturing. Destroy this 'Goldline' by any means necessary. The Crimson Adoration is on the other side and also attempting to break through, but communications with them are minimal at this time. The Xylem is on the Zerg's side of the line and awaiting orders. Local Hive clusters are built up and available for use.
They are fools! Sallying forth from a defended position with no support? To an seemingly undefended fortification? How has this brood-structure survived this long without the pattern recognition to properly discern a trap!?
A terran in a sailor suit burst into the 'embassy,' the designated area where the Swarm was allowed to grow a minor lair, to maintain contact with the Silver Millenium Brood-structure. Specifically without any ability to grow larvae. "Kner, Haspyt! we need help! The Strakhul trapped us when we tried to take their Dread Fortress!"
"We are very aware, you idiot! We are gathering a brood-swarm to thrust into the foolish encirclement that you allowed yourself to fall into as we speak!" Haspyt spat through the rough vocal cords of the Queen, before muttering harshly, "All for some strange, premature attempt to sabotage the Strakhul's economy..."
"Economy? We have to save those poor people trapped in that horrible place! we owe it to those people to make sure we put a stop to their suffering as soon as possible! we didn't expect that they would trap us!"
"We wish to end their suffering as well! But your lack of coordination with the Swarm has hampered our chances to destroy the Strakhul! Now we must plan an escape from a trap that we had not prepared for, you fools! We are forced into a precarious, unsupported position with no time to properly reinforce our positions, for a chance to save livestock!"
"L-livestock!? Did you want them to just sit here and twiddle our thumbs while those poor souls are put through horrible tortures?! Justice demands that we do everything we can to liberate those living, breathing people from the clutches of those wretched scorpions as soon as possible, how could we call ourselves Champions of the Moon if we didn't take the chance when we saw it? What if it slipped our grasp?" The sailor voiced its shock.
This had come up in discussions between the Zerg on the nature of brood-structures. The development of obligate sapients and their brood-structures relies on a sense of reciprocity of investment from the brood-structures to the individual. Often this is a sense of protection and security, 'justice.' Brood-structures tend to apply this instinct towards individuals not even subsumed into them, though the evolutionary reasons for this are still being theorized.
However the Silver Millenium seems to misunderstand that this instinct is just that, not some strange imperative, especially not one that forces the Swarm to attack directly into the enemy's strongest forces with no preparation!
Haspyt was seething, it's not one who enjoys attacking in the first place, and this was a situation where strategy was not behooved by Kner's... eagerness. It needed to secure a way into and *out of* the fortress, all while preventing the enemy's capabilities to break that path!
"Your maladaptive cohesion instinct has cost you your chance to easily fulfill those objectives! You and us were intended to choke the enemy, to force them to gasp for air, instead you shoved your fist down their throat and had it bitten off!"
The guardian looked bemused, blinking a few times before shaking her head, tears forming in her eyes, her hand forming into a fist. "What else were we supposed to do? We cannot just abandon them. Those poor people, there just wasn't time if we wanted to truly take advantage!"
"Tell us, fool! Our concern is your forces. You are our symbiotes. You are the Swarm's only weapon against their reincarnation, and you are not Zerg. To charge headlong in to battle to secure a strategic point is the Zerg's domain! To destroy their summoners is yours, not to free livestock!"
"Don't call them livestock! They're people! With lives and feelings!" It stamped its foot in a useless intimidation display.
"We are not concerned with the prisoners held by the Strakhul. Our concern is in denying the Strakhul access to their magic. Whether that is their livestock's elimination or capture it does not matter to us as long as they are dispensed from the Strakhul's possession." Haspyt drew back the queen's posture, noticing the sailor's distress. "Prisoner's elimination."
"That doesn't make it better!"
Objective: to reach the Dread Fortress's interior while also ensuring as little reinforcements reach the fortress as possible
identify where leaders are in the fleet, and harrass them to the point where they cannot summon reinforcements. break through the static defenses with judicious usage of Bane Leviathans. fight fleet with primarily suicide morphs, expect any casualties to become enemies. target reactor ships and any enemies or enemy points that are broadcasting large amounts of dark magic. the primary aim of the swarm should be to destroy the enemy fleet, then carve a way to the fortress, then deal with reinforcements, then clean up the remaining defenses.
Goldline Crash
[fluff later maybe]
objective: Destroy the ftl interdictors that make up the fortress line so to link up with the crimson adoration and combine our forces.
the ftl inhibition devices are likely to be guarded inside the forts. Send the Xylem and a Zerg support squad of overlords for detection and infested chameleos for search and destroy. Use the electromagnetic senses of the chameleos to follow the power lines to their most power intensive points, aiming to either destroy the fortress' power infrastructure such as power hubs or reactors, or power intensive systems like the auto war manufacturing or the ftl interdictors themselves. Relay this information to our symbiotes in the Xylem, but allow them to operate mostly independently, as we lack control over them or much knowledge of their specific capabilities, under the assumption that they can complete the objective.
Use Zerg forces to pressure the line as a whole, with constant harrying attacks while these specialized teams punch their way through to the other side, dropping into system on top of these forts en masse once their interdictors have been destroyed to secure the bridgehead and prevent their encirclement.
Then once The Swarm has linked up with the Crimson adoration combine forces to sweep away the enemy.
"Citizens of the civilized galaxy, on this day we mark a transition. For a thousand years, the Republic stood as the crowning achievement of civilized beings. But there were those who would set us against one another, and we took arms to defend our way of life against the Separatists. In doing so, we never suspected that the greatest threat came from within.
The Jedi, and some within our own Senate, had conspired to create the shadow of Separatism using one of their own as the enemy's leader. They had hoped to grind the Republic into ruin. But the hatred in their hearts could not be hidden forever. As last, there came a day when our enemies showed their true natures.
The Jedi hoped to unleash their destructive power against the Republic by assassinating the head of government and usuring control of the clone army. But the aims of the would-be tyrants were valiantly opposed by those without elitist, dangerous powers. Our loyal clone troopers contained the insurrection within the Jedi Temple and quelled uprisings on a thousand worlds.
The remaining Jedi will be hunted down and defeated. Any collaborators will suffer the same fate. These have been trying times, but we have passed the test.
The attempt on my life has left me scarred and deformed, but I assure you my resolve has never been stronger. The war is over. The Separatists have been defeated, and the Jedi rebellion has been foiled. We stand on the threshold of a new beginning.
In order to ensure the security and continuing stability, the Republic will be reorganized into the first Galactic Empire, for a safe and secure society, which I assure you will last for 10,000 years. An Empire that will continue to be ruled by this august body and a sovereign ruler chosen for life. An Empire ruled by the majority, ruled by a new constitution.
By bringing the entire galaxy under one law, one language, and the enlightened guidance of one individual, the corruption that plagued the Republic in its later years will never take root. Regional governors will eliminate the bureaucracy that allowed the Separatist movement to grow unchecked. A strong and growing military will ensure the rule of law.
Under the Empire's New Order, our most cherished beliefs will be safeguarded. We will defend our ideals by force of arms. We will give no ground to our enemies and we will stand together against attacks from within or without. Let the enemies of the Empire take heed: Those who challenge Imperial resolve will be crushed.
We have taken on a task that will be difficult, but the people of the Empire are ready for the challenge. Because of our efforts, the galaxy has traded war for peace and anarchy for stability. Billions of beings now look forward to a secure future. The Empire will grow as more planets feel the call, from the Rim to the wilds of unknown space.
Imperial citizens must do their part. Join our grand star fleet. Become the eyes of the Empire by reporting suspected insurrectionists. Travel to the corners of the galaxy to spread the principles of the New Order to barbarians. Build monuments and technical wonders that will speak of our glory for generations to come.
The clone troopers, and proudly wearing the name of Imperial stormtroopers, have tackled the dangerous work of fighting our enemies on the front lines. Many have died in their devotion to the Empire. Imperial citizens would do well to remember their example.
The New Order of peace has triumphed over the shadowy secrecy of shameful magicians. The direction of our course is clear. I will lead the Empire to glories beyond imagination.
We have been tested, but we have emerged stronger. We moved forward as one people - the Imperial citizens of the first Galactic Empire. We will prevail. Ten thousand years of peace begins today."
"Plans are fragile things and life often dashes expectations to the ground."
"Look upon the mad beast. Weak, pitiful, and destined to be forgotten. Struggling futilely against the wake left behind by another's greater destiny. Strong only by being propped up by the weak, left to fester as entertainment. A symptom of a failing rule. They ruled only in the shadow of decadence. They lived and died by the words that might makes right. That death completes a person. This mad beast threw themselves against the might of the Empire seeking that death…But if no one remembers a person. Did they ever exist in the first place? And so it is by my decree as Darth Nox, Dark Councilor of the Sith Empire, that the mad beast's name is to be stricken from history, never to be spoken again. Remembered only as the mad beast it was."
Pre-orders RP: 239 (upkeep already factored in)
20 RP is stockpiled to repair any loses incurred by actions this turn.
18 RP to keep the Germa 66
3 RP to Mars
"A culture's teachings, and most importantly, the nature of its people, achieve definition in conflict. They find themselves… or find themselves lacking. Too long did the Republic remain unchallenged. It is a stagnant beast that labors for breath… and has for centuries. The Jedi Order was the heart that sustained its sickness—now the Jedi are lost, we shall see how long the Republic can survive."- Darth Kreia
Ahsoka: - With your help, the Jedi can stop Sidious before it's too late Maul: - Too late? For what, the Republic to fall? It already has and you just can't see it, there's no justice, no order but the one that will replace it
"So this is how liberty dies. With thunderous applause." -Padime Amidala
Liberty died with thunderous applause, and the Empire was born. Born already rotten to its core, born already beholden to the powers of the core, born out of a thousand years of graft and corruption, of growing exploitation of an ever growing outer rim, out of the nationalization of several dominant megacorporations, made possible by their newly humbled state, one caused by an artificial separatist movement. And so, while the Empire promised a New Order, and peace and prosperity for all, all it delivered was more of the same, an ever growing, ever hungering Core feeding off of the increasingly disenfranchised Outer Rim. the fact that the dominant power beyond the core was now a small handful of highly empowered, highly greedy, Moffs instead of barely more, only barely less greedy, Senators, barely changed the fact that for all that it claimed to be different, the Galactic Empire carried with it the worst aspects of the Republic.
And so, like the Republic of old, it too was doomed to fall; and this time there was no massive order of Jedi ready to save the day, instead merely a singular Darth, one that, while indeed powerful, was not worse than what the Sith Empire had faced back in its own time. And while a Sith with the backing of the industry of the Core Worlds could indeed be a major threat, the key word there was could- and this Empire, for all of its clear military strength, seemed terrible at applying said strength against anyone other than their own citizens.
The Celestial Empire would also fall. Built on the back of slavery of the sort that even the Empire likes to pretend doesn't exist within its borders, ruled by a military organization that would make most Moffs blush in how well it could be applied to forwarding assorted personal interests while also keeping enough of a semblance of order to be seen as upholding Justice for century after century, it too is doomed, for the Sith already know its weaknesses, and are exploiting them to their maximum even as its ruling figures seemingly have no response to give.
Two empires are set up to fall, to be subsumed by the ever so slightly nicer appearing, yet even more ruthless, Sith Empire. Now it is only a question of what they do before their fall, and if what comes to replace them is actually any better at all.
Target: The Sith Empire/Home Front
Nature: Counter Espionage and Anti-Politicking
Resources: 8 RP + Sith Intelligence
Plan&Goal: Standard Counter Intelligence operations and espionage. Nothing special being done just standard work on protecting the Empire.
Thankfully, fully internal incidents are relatively few this galactic year(by the standards of the extremely rarely accessed and extremely well monitored Extranet- which is closer to three 'standard' years), as most of the potential offenders amongst the ranks of the Sith themselves are pushed to the front lines of the two warfronts, where they can either learn some discretion and earn some valor, or be all the more conveniently eliminated.
Even the usual minor revolts are occurring drastically less often, as even the token efforts put forth to give an illusion of 'progress' to the Federation has drastically increased the standard of life of even the lowliest of 'indentured' miner, as a reduction in accidents, three sort-of-tasty meals per day and a semblance of healthcare works its own minor wonders; and those that do almost reach the point of boiling over are quickly quieted by the expenditure of an extremely minor amount of credits and the shuffling around of a few enforcers from site to site.
Sadly, purely internal issues are not the only thing that Counter Intelligence has to deal with, as overly curious Rogue Traders are carefully diverted away from any and all militarily important sites and assorted Mechanicus Explorator vessels are carefully and covertly sabotaged and 'diverted' into no longer being an issue. Meanwhile, other members of Sith Intelligence are operating farther afield, ensuring that any and all Imperial fleets, from the lowliest of Ecclesiarchy 'compliance' fleets to a few minor Crusade fleets, look elsewhere for heretics and 'rebels'.
Unfortunately, internal and clearly external issues are not the only ones that Counterintelligence has to deal with this time around, as with the fall of the Covenant, and its 'convert or die' methodology, came an opening, an opening through which wave after wave of immigrants, fleeing from conflicts farther afield than the Sith Empire has yet to look, refugees brining with them not just strategically important information, but a whole host of issues, ranging from relatively easy to contain foreign diseases, to a whole host of previously almost entirely unknown infiltrators, each with their own means of infiltration and subversion.
The first of these are from human civilians, and truly rogue traders, having fled the local version of the Imperium of Man due to first having a wider galaxy to flee out into, and now more obviously having a much closer, and clearly nicer, target to flee to. While the first sort of infiltrator from these is easy enough to deal with, as Counterintelligence more often than not is already tracking their own more organized infiltration attempts long before they cross over, and the more ad-hoc attempts are caught out and eliminated rather easily, it is the other sorts of infiltrators that are a bigger issue.
The first of these are Chaos Cultists, who usually end up being discovered the same way that their imperial kindred are, as their initial actions are different enough and blatant enough to simply stand out; unfortunately, the blatant ones are not all that there are, and while most of the less blatant ones are still caught swiftly enough even before the immigration process is over, a few apparently slipped through, only being discovered later on as they run afoul of the usual Sith politicking and maneuvering, and are treated the same as the usual worst offenders of those- and are often only discovered to be Chaos cults in the aftermath. Unfortunately, the appearance of these appearing later on into the mix means that there are indubitably more that have slipped through; and while most of those will almost inevitably be dealt with via the usual methods when they aren't dealt with by an ambitious Sith, all it takes is one building up to the point where one or more Greater Daemons can be summoned for it to become an issue.
The final group of infiltrators from this specific wave of refugees is both the hardest to catch, and the most worrying in the long run, as several Genestealers have seemingly slipped through, being occasionally mistaken for the much more common abhumans in the coincidentally implemented genetic screening tests(a 99% catch rate still means that 1% gets through), only being discovered later as the more usual counterintelligence methods unearth an entire Genestealer Cult growing on the planet that said individual was effectively forced to settle on.(OOC: communities, but not families, are broken apart upon arrival to make organization harder and integration easier) fortunately, if there are any genestealer cults left at the end of the year, they are small enough and covert enough to be obscured by the usual Sith activity.
unfortunately, the usual sith activity means that a small enough and covert enough Genestealer cult could go unnoticed for long enough for the more obvious Genestealers to arise again, at which point it will still be crushed, just not without at least some loss of life, and maybe even a few survivors to start the process all over again. Thankfully, with the higher quality of living seen throughout much of Sith space, the occasional sweep of genetic tests, and the usual background noise of Sith plots forcing most of these groups out into the open long, long before they would have normally been ready, the number of true incidents has been kept shockingly close to zero, as seemingly has the number of Genestealer Cults.
Fortunately, or unfortunately, not all of the incoming Refugees are coming from the imperium of man, and not all that they bring with them is as benign as Tyranid-less Genstealers are. While most of the far flung refugees only bring with them tales of war, of Kroats on their Warpath, of eldritch horrors from beyond the stars slowly spreading their influence over a faraway land, of ratmen swarming over and devouring all that they do not capture and twist, of (an) (assorted) Scourge(s) amongst the stars, of Cybermen wishing to convert all into more of themselves, of compatriots that they were forced to put down even as they twisted into horrific mind-flaying abominations, the number of surviving infiltrators amongst this far flung bunch is surprisingly close to zero, with those amongst them that are falling into the final two, clearly much closer in origin point, forms of infiltration.
Of these farther flung refugees, the largest in number, and most heavily infiltrated by far, are the Cylons. Survivors of what might have been considered a civil war if the winning side weren't so clearly subverted by an external power, they have made their way here only after their repeated attempts to set up a new colony have been all eliminated one after the other by the second major source of infiltration amongst their ranks.
This second major source, and closest in, are the Markers and their Bretheren moons, as many of the survivors that made it this far have since been consumed by this malignant power, as many those coherent enough to give full reports on what they've seen during their evacuation efforts and stable enough to pass through all fully conventional means of screening for such things have since gone mad, working to build Markers of their own and to spread its message and the resulting drastically more visible infection amongst the masses.
Thankfully, all such attempts have been stopped before they spread too far, with the only casualties being a few stations and a single city as any and all Marker sites are swiftly isolated and purged, with all remains that might contain even a fragment of one of these Markers disposed of in the nearest star. A few of the resulting fragments have likely disappeared en route, to be studied by one Sith or another, but that is a problem for the future. In the meantime, all of these 'Cylon' refugees are now being intensely monitored, with the fact that there are only twelve biological Cylon models, which is to say that all biological Cylons are effectively clones of one of twelve people, greatly helping in this monitoring; and it is this monitoring that revealed the second, much more subtle, form of infiltration.
Nanites, blending in with the Cylons own suite of them, Nanites that twist the mind and ever so slightly rewrite the senses, Nanites that occasionally work together to create other cybernetic implants should a more direct form of control be seen to be necessary by the wider network that they seem to be connected to in some odd way, Nanites that slowly spread through touch when they aren't spreading memetic images through the little bits of technology that they create, nanites that act as the little vanguard for a vastly greater threat, the Reapers. Built to twist and rearrange entire societies to whatever degree and at whatever speed the Reapers would like, they are a harbinger to the coming harvest, built to sow dissonance and remove most opposition long before the Reapers themselves arrive. These nanites, and the Indoctrination that they spread, are a grave threat to any normal society; unfortunately for them, the Sith are not a normal society.
Already used to containing super plagues, already used to combating assorted forms of mind control along their path towards keeping their empire in some semblance of stability, already used to nano-plagues that twist the mind and flesh towards the whim of their creator, already used to techno-organic viruses that twist those infected with them into superhuman monsters that follow the whims of a specific other, this form of subversion does not take hold, for its current main vector is already being intensely monitored when they aren't outright quarantined, and those that managed to take away a sample or two for studying elsewhere are being monitored in turn.
Sadly though, the threat from these Reapers doesn't seem to end at this 'Indoctrination', as towards the end of this galactic year several similar looking probes have been spotted on the edge of the territory that once belonged to the Covenant.
In the end, it is but another day in the Sith Empire, with all but the greatest of these external infiltration attempts being almost lost in the sea that is the Sith's usual internal hijinks.
(two population worth of former members of the Imperium of Man and one of external aliens are brought onboard, make it past the screening processes, and are not wiped out in the following purges)
Research Orders:
Research Slots: 1 Free + 4 (30 RP) + 2 from Nanomachines Credit
(2 Slots) Cloaking Technology Standardization: Capable of utterly changing the nature of interstellar warfare as they knew it. The Sith Empire and Galactic Republic fought a war on Illum for the Adegan Crystals the planet was rich with that were crucial for producing perfect cloaking fields. The technology was proven and easily integrated within even existing vessels when Darth Malgus betrayed the Empire and declared himself False Emperor. Constructing a Stealth Armada out of the ships of his powerbase. Simply put. It's easily done for the Sith Empire to standardize cloaking technology across their military. From starfighters to the largest capital ships. Imperial Research and Development just has to iron out the kinks within existing designs and push for a full rollout across the Empire. A new age of war has begun.
With the advent and proliferation of the Replicator, many otherwise rather rare materials have suddenly become shockingly more common; and while some of this added bounty has simply lowered the price on some still shockingly expensive items, and others have simply made some previously still affordable items simply that much more common; other items sit in that sweet spot, going from almost prohibitively rare to common enough to have the items that rely on them enter mass production and start to be distributed to every corner of the Sith Military.
While some of these are relatively benign, as troopers receive slightly better personal shield generators and as Kolto is exchanged out for Bacta in many civilian and military hospitals, others have the potential to have a drastically greater impact, not least of which is the proliferation out of Adegan Crystals, and the the actually cost-effective cloaking fields that they enable.
And so, it is this recently enabled technology that the Sith jump onto first, proliferating it out throughout an ever widening swath of the Sith military. From the lowliest of interceptor, to the greatest Super Star Destroyer, they have perfected a technology that previously only Darth Malgus did more than tinker with. Invisible to the naked eye, to heat based sensors meant to catch a whiff of any life-supporting ship, let alone the running of the engines of a warships engines, to x-ray and gamma based sensors meant to pick up the telltale signs of an active reactor, to the distant starlight that might twist around the shields and reflect off of the hull of any such ship. These new cloaks Render perfectly invisible to the electromagnetic spectrum of light without leading to any real internal buildup of heat and/or radiation, and by that means, they are perfect.
Unfortunately, they are not perfect, for they only cloak the ship from light based sensors. For while it also interferes somewhat with the currently mostly experimental Taychron based sensors, they can still detect that something is there; and that is where the good news ends, for everything ranging from fluxes of neutrons, to the few highly experimental gravitational based sensors, to items that outright use the magnetic side of electromagnetism to detect their target, are completely unaffected, to say nothing of whatever exotic sensors might be out there that the Sith have no idea to even think about shielding against.
In addition, there is one final weakness of the cloaks: for while Hypermatter reactors can produce absolutely monstrous amounts of energy when required, they are still limited, and many other systems on a warship are power hungry as well- its weapons, its shields, its engines, all of which competing over a ship's power generation, leaving not enough to fully power yet another power hungry system like these new cloaking devices, not without diverting power away from one or more of these systems or using one of several currently still overly expensive means of increasing power generation. (shields, engines, weapons, cloak: pick three to have at full power at any one time; this debuff does not and will not apply to Darth Marr's Isotope 5 Armada due to their increased power generation capabilities)
(universal cloaking unlocked- sadly said cloaking is not cheap in terms of power usage and is only fully effective against things that rely on light for detection)
(3 Slots) Gauntlet Superweapon and Silencer/Desolator Finalization: The Gauntlet was a Tachyon based superlaser developed for on the Harrower space frame, a brother design to the Desolator and Silencer which have both entered active serious but still need some final touches before they can enter full common use on all Harrower Dreadnoughts. But the Gauntlet is a much different weapon. Utilizing tachyons, the superlaser is capable of firing at Interstellar ranges, an FTL superlaser capable of precise targeting and destroying large targets. The design was lost but some schematics and readouts remain. Remake the Gauntlet and finish the Silencer and Desolater finalization.
The finalization and implementation of these designs go off almost without a hitch; although figuring out any potential weaknesses of the new Gauntlet class of superlaser will require active battlefield testing, as opposed to merely test firing it at a selection of semi-stationary objects.
It should be noted that with the recent mass implementation of the Silencer, Gauntlet, and Desolator class weaponry onto the base Harrower frame that the average cost of said class has actively risen above that of the larger Harrower 2 design. It should also be noted that even with this most recent round of upgrades. the base Harrower design has also not fallen by the wayside, instead being more relegated to carrier support and backline duties. Despite, or maybe because of all of these new upgrades, the basic Harrower design still has its place, as its relative cheapness and larger hangar space(as these superlasers and the larger power generation systems required to make full use of them does take up space) means that nothing here has gone to waste; unlike the Terminus Class Destroyer, which is being increasingly relegated to escort duties in this new galaxy, a role for which it was only partially designed.
(Infinite Army Project 3/10 + 2 Nanomachine Credit): The individuals of Martian Delegation had given the Sith Empire information on their advanced Nanomachines. This technology is going to be put to use in furthering the Infinite Army Project. To further bond the subjects to the pieces of the Starforge greater than normal cybernetics.
While the potential held within these new nanomachines has made things like the Infinite Army all the more feasible, it will still take time and effort to unlock their true potential for this one project, let alone what might yet be done with this technology in the future.
-Infinite Army goes from 3/10 progress to 3/8 progress.
Industrial Orders:
Status:
Population: 53 + 15 "Trade Pops" from 7E-A2 + 10-20 "Trade Pops" from Covenant Vassal
F7-B2 (Sith Space Core): Heartlands and Excessively Defended
F7-B1: Industrialized and Heavily Defended
F7-C1: Industrialized and Heavily Defended
F7-A2 Covenant Vassal
E7-A3: Colonized and 1/2 of Heavily Defended
E7-A2: [Lord/Vassal] at rank four, [economic integration] at rank two(cannot be improved beyond rank three due to local population and industrial level), and [client/client state] at rank two(to be improved over time if you continue to protect them), with the potential for full integration with some actual diplomatic work.)
1. Spend 45 RP to bring F7-B1 to Heartlands
2. Spend 25 RP to bring F7-B2 to Ridiculously Defended
3. Spend 2 RP to fully integrate E7-A2 Vassal.
Even as internal problems are dealt with, even as external enemies are fought, the fires of industry continue to burn ever onwards, brining ever more of the Sith Empire to even greater heights of prosperity. This also holds true for the the Sith's Vassals, no matter how new, as they are brought up to ever greater heights along with the rest.
(economic orders go through without a hitch)
Diplomatic Orders:
Target: The Federation
Nature: Friendly
Resources: 8 RP
Plan: The United Federation of Planets is the only ally the Empire has that isn't a vassal or out of the way. Darth Marr's hopes is that their technology can be spread across the Sith Empire and that, given time, their culture will curb some of the Empire's worse tendencies. And likewise that the Federation will be more used to operating with the Sith Empire. But for now. Keep establishing better relations and trade with the Federation and maintain this one ally the Sith have found.
Here, the political discourse continues, as some limited trade in raw resources and processed goods, mainly in luxury items that are not so easily replicated, or at least not seen as not so easily replicated(by a Replicator), is conducted and some of the more 'unsightly' of the already-processed refugees are fostered off onto the federation. In turn, as a result of the little bits of trade, a whole bunch of little technologies make their way throughout the Sith Empire; nothing directly impactful to the Sith's military, as the Federation are not going to hand over phaser, Warp, or their own shielding technology so easily and/or incidentally, but a whole bunch of little, mostly civilian things. A new mining tool here, a small improvement to a processing algorithm there(for using replicators to process raw materials), an extremely good medical scanning device, a universally applicable robotic doctor-suite that just so happens to be compatible with the Siths own droid technology, a civilian model holo-projector for use as entertainment, and a host of other small things.
But in the end, even these small things add up, and when combined with the cultural incentives that the Federation has been slowly attempting to push onto the Sith Empire? The living standards of all but the richest of the Sith's non-force using members(and to a certain extent the Sith themselves) have increased drastically even as slavery seemingly comes to an end practically overnight(really just renamed) and the number of workplace accidents(actual accidents, that is) reaches an all time low.
In the end, it might not be all that bad to live inside the Sith Empire, so long as one doesn't get caught up in the usual web of plots, plans, and unethical experiments, anyways.
(potential small RP gain eaten up by universally increased standards of living throughout the Sith Empire)
Target: Beyond the Red Wall/Celestial Empire
Nature: Military Assistance and Covert Operations
Resources: 16 RP + Sith Intelligence
Plan&Goal: The war to secure the Red Zone has begun. Darth Nox has begun invasion and is actively garnering for support and allies within to turn the Celestial Empire against itself. But more traditional support from Sith Intelligence is required. The Celestial Empire, and indeed many of the pirates within are all targets if they do not side with the Empire or have earned the ire of Darth Nox.
Sith Intelligence is being tasked with many things and in short, they are being tasked with directly assisting the invasion and tracking, capturing, or killing the powerful specific individuals within the Red Zone. Pirate or marine that don't side with Empire unless they are given neutrality by the Empire, such as Mihawk or Shanks. But more generally Sith Intelligence is to continue standard operations. Infiltration, sabotage, and intelligence gathering. As well assist in spreading revolts and discontent across the Red Zone. It is already in chaos from what Nox has done, keep it that way until the Sith Empire can come in and restore order and peace.
Target: The Celestial Empire and the entire Red Zone
Nature: Hostile/Friendly
Resources: 32 RP + Sith Intelligence
Plan: Darth Nox is beginning his planned invasion of the Red Zone. And thankfully, the Celestial Empire has given him all the ammunition he needs to decry them as what they are. They've given him a perfect casus belli and he will use it. They allowed Kaido (henceforth ever only as "the mad beast") to act completely freely and move through their supposedly controlled space. For this reason. Darth Nox is decrying the "Celestial Empire" as a Failed State. It is not even a state. They have allowed actual pirates and criminals to flourish under their rule and can not maintain their own rule of law. All they are is a protection racket.
The Sith Empire will move into the Red Zone to restore order. This will be propagandized as not even a war but simply clearing out criminals and restoring peace and order. The Criminal Syndicate known as the Celestial Empire will be ordered to unconditionally surrender, to stand-down it's forces and submit itself and it's leaders to the rule of law under the Dark Council and the Sith Empire.
Of course, they won't do this. Which is why the Sith Empire to practically everyone. To all governments making up the Celestial Empire, it's marines, the pirates, and the revolutionaries. To the governments making up the Celestial Empire. If they throw of the shackles of their oppression and submit themselves to law of the Empire they will allowed to persist in governing their worlds. And to the marines, aid the empire. There is no justice to be had serving terrible rulers no better the criminals they decry. Join the Empire, fight for true justice, SWORD and Absolute Justice believers or not. All will be welcome if they fight the Celestial Empire and those who do not surrender. The revolutionaries are natural allies in this situation. Although likely to resist assimilation in the long term. For the immediate war it will not matter to Nox.
The pirates are more complicated. Especially because there are many of them Nox wants. Generally a case by case basis and if they submit to the Empire they will be given clemency. However there are specifics who will not be given any sort. Such as Big Mom, Dolflamingo, Blackbeard, anyone who is in or was in Impel Down, and others will be given no quarter. And there are certain pirates like Boa Handcock, Mihawk, or Shanks who even if they don't follow the example and fight the Celestial Empire. Will be ignored so long as they stay neutral as they are not worth the trouble.
But that's just the first part of the operation. As with the aid of Sith Intelligence, Darth Nox hopes to run a grand propaganda campaign. To find all the skeletons in the closet of the Celestial Empire and air across the entire Red Zone for all to hear. Everything they have done wrong, all the genocides, mismanaged projects, cover ups, anything and everything he can get his hands on from investigation or from interviews. To find and get of the aid of people like Vegapunk, Sengoku, Garp, and even pirates and revolutionaries like Dragon to speak out. So even the most loyal of hardliners will know the truth and destroy their moral and credibility and prop up the Sith Empire's mission in the Red Zone.
Target: The Celestial Empire and the Red Zone
Nature: War
Resources: Fleethordes 6, 7, and 8 (80% each) and 9 all at Magnitude 2, Three Midwan Worldcraft, and Darth Nox
Plan&Goal: Darth Nox has made himself known throughout the Red Zone and has weakened and spread chaos throughout the Celestial Empire. The Empire and Nox shall ride forth to bring this chaotic zone to heel and claim it's prizes for it's own. The main objective of this initial campaign is not to immediately being the Celestial Empire to heel but instead to destroy it's ability to function and reduce it to holdouts such as the seemingly impenetrable fortress of Mary Geoise.
A big part of this campaign will be on using existing forces within the Red Zone to supplement his own and bring down the Celestials Empire by providing an actual alternative to it (See related Diplomacy and Intelligence actions). And as the Celestial Empire is thrown into even more chaos and active civil war insurgency begins, the Sith Empire's direct forces under Darth Nox will be making their way throughout the Red Zone to destroy war-fleets and defense walls and also to secure any powerful individuals. As singular or groups of powerful people are the and so far only major identified threat in the Celestial Empire, the goal is to make sure they no ability and can be dealt with by Darth Nox or another assorted Sith as they have the time to. The Planet Prison for example being used to lock someone of immense power (like an Admiral or otherwise) in place until appropriate assets can be moved to kill them quickly and without them being able to do anything about it.
The Midwan Worldcraft will be acting as siege breakers, along with Silencers and Desolators to destroy fleets and heavy assets. The goal is to rely on movement and eliminating resistance and making forces capitulate and join the Empire. As of so far the fleets and armies of the Red Zone have no way have contesting the power of the Midwans or Silencers. But even still, there is a lot of space to conquerer. So the three Midwans will be spread to act individually alongside task forces to shatter major defensive worlds or fleets with their overwhelming and move on to nest and allow for other forces to move in and claim the planet. Darth Nox will be operating similarly, but mainly to deal with powerful individuals who have unique powers to claim and add to his collection, and also to obfuscate his location whilst he deals with reclaiming used assets in the area and using the previously made Force Nexus as power sources he can drain or use for rituals as needed.
Ultimately the goal is to knock out the Celestial Empire and major powerful pirate factions in the area as being military threat and only as holdouts. Not trying to engage in a singular major battle just yet as the Sith Empire finds allies and resources to use in the war. That comes with the siege of Mary Geoise in the next phase of the war.
The Blues are barely a fight, with East Blue falling almost immediately, brought almost completely over simply by the Sith's generous diplomatic standards and the leniency that they, at least for now, give to those that capitulate to them; combine that with the renewed order and actual proper justice that they bring, and the majority of the local populace are more happy that the general chaos has ended and that the renewed surge of piracy has been dealt with than the fact that the Marines of old are no longer the ones providing said peace and security. As the shock wears off, some of them are made even happier, as their quality of life increases and the amount of taxes that they have to pay actually goes down; combine that with the freeing of all of the slaves that have been working on what could have been either a mega-art installation or an extremely poorly made stellar-scale Ring World for some time now and the soothing of feelings by the promise of potential leniency to some figures such as Garp, Coby, and any of the other adorised Marines should they choose to at least stand aside, and you end up with a region that is shockingly easy to assimilate.
While there are a few remaining local Marines that both chose to not withdraw into the Grand Line and not either stand aside in return for the fulfillment of the Sith's promise of renewed safety and Security or simply surrender in the face of overwhelming numbers, they are a vocal minority that are easily dealt with with minimal collateral damage.
The North Blue falls almost as quickly, as a few deals and assurances made to and with the Revolutionaries brings many of their worlds onboard, and most of the rest are simply happy for the renewal of safety and security and the end of the civil wars and the destruction of the pirates-in-all-but-name that have plagued this region since the recent wave of chaos has begun. The fact that Germa is no longer stoking the fires in this region due to the Sith's earlier acquisition of their services doesn't hurt anything either; and while there are a few worlds that want complete independence without any sort of oversight at all, they are often swiftly bribed or coerced into compliance, with the few that refuse all such overtures being simply isolated behind a prison shield and told to rethink their actions- as while fear does have its place, this campaign, which is supposed to be as much about swaying hearts and minds as it is about conquest, is not it.
The South Blue falls just as easily, as careful deals and the end of the local Chaos do almost as much to suage their opinions as the reduction in taxes and the increase to their quality of life that follows the occupation. Thankfully, most of the Marine bases here, up to and including a couple of their former fortress worlds, are undermanned, stressed thin by the recall of the majority of their forces and stressed even thinner by their attempts to deal with the general chaos that this region had fallen into; and while there are quite a few more believers in Absolute Justice here than in the relatively peaceful East Blue or in the practically abandoned North Blue, they are swiftly crushed and whisked off to serve trial for their crimes against the people when they aren't simply killed in action.
The West Blue is the final of the Blues to fall, made remote by the need to travel through the Grand Line to reach it from any area previously under the control of the Sith, and so when it does, it does so quickly and practically silently, as the writing on the wall is already known and the news of the restoration of peace and proper justice and the might-be-propabanda about the increased quality of life that the already fallen Blues have gained from their mostly peaceful conquest does the rest, with the few Marines here that refuse to see the writing on the wall either being captured by their compatriots or being reduced to being the very thing that they swore to fight against- Pirates.
While the Blues were fairly easy to assimilate, they were also basically an afterthought in comparison to the Grand Line, and it is there where issues start to pile up. While worlds such as Whisky Peak and other trade reliant single-port worlds are easy enough to convince to your side- as the guarantee of supplies, the removal of a few relatively minor groups of pirates, the promise of something resembling independence, and the listening of their dependence on not always consistent trade just to survive provided by the provision of some relatively limited Replicators and some basic terraforming technology cross-provided by the Federation goes along ways towards them changing which group of people they give preferential treatment in their small ports and which group they call for aid when the occasional raiding pirate arrives.
The next category up of worlds are those that are already well established localized semi-independent worlds and systems that are already fully capable of protecting themselves, ranging from Alabastia, to the Drum System, to Skypia, and beyond. Here, the diplomats are forced to make their pay, as deals are made and as the Marines are driven out of the few bases that they have in these otherwise mostly peaceful areas with extreme caution and arguably too little force, suffering more casualties than necessary just to basically guarantee a lack of collateral damage and ensure that each and every Marine in these still relatively minor bases is given a chance to surrender- outside of certain bases that the very same locals want eliminated with extreme prejudice, anyways. Here, the deals with the Revolutionary army are made and carried out, as those bounties that were given to them are essentially reset and those amongst them that are actually guilty of something that the Sith were instructed to actually care about, such as having been in Impel Down at some point in the past, are given new trials to see if they are actually guilty of anything truly severe beyond those crimes that come from fighting back against the Celestial Empire in a way that is actually effective. Of those that are still guilty of some sort of non-minor crimes after that point, most are given leniency and sentenced to either extended house arrest or some sort of community service.
Others that are found in these regions that are guilty of more serious crimes are still often ignored anyways, as Milhawk gets what he wanted and is finally left alone and the Kuja clan are left to their own devices in return for both protecting them from the Celestial Empire itself, and them promising to stick to at least semi-legal means when traveling out to find partners- be they one night stands or longer term engagements. A couple of others are also given leniency despite it all, as Crocodile calls in his rather large network of spies and bounty hunters and the several favors that Mihawk somehow owes him to threaten to ruin several of the Sith's ongoing pacification efforts and make his capture and death extremely costly- a cost that, while affordable, is not one that the local Sith commander is willing to pay; and so in the end, after a whole bunch of back and forth and a rather serious duel, Crocodile is given leniency- merely being put on watch and being denied any permanent position of power(alongside being put under something resembling house arrest) after this war is done in return for using his extended network and using said favors to actively have Mihawk join him, and through him the Sith, in taking down the Celestial Empire. When this decision makes its way the rest of the way up the chain Darth Nox is somewhat upset, but not to the point where he revokes this semi-amnesty and comes over to personally eliminate the stubborn pair.
(CrossGuild gained- first assisting you with putting down the majority of the Marine based resistance this turn, then as a hireable Legend going forwards, all at the price of compromise)
Past this point, past the relatively insecure outskirts of the Grand Line, even as deals are made and world after world joins the Sith Empire with relatively minimal resistance, the Celestial Empire ceases to be a pushover, and the Pirates start to become an issue as what strongholds they have in 'paradise' are put under threat. Here is where the real fighting begins, as those in power refuse to give up what is theirs. Grand fleets are assembled and launched without a word, and almost countless vice Admirals alongside the three Admirals are deployed to battle after battle, purposefully avoiding any areas where Darth Nox and/or the Midwan Worldcraft were sighted; and yet even that is not even enough to stem the bleeding, as entire fleets disappear with nary a word reaching back to base and as system after system goes dark to the eyes and ears of the Celestial Empire.
Soon enough, teams of CP agents, ranging from the relatively public and sometimes not even fully trained ones through nines, to elite strike teams of CP0 agents are sent forth to end the Sith's advance and eliminate their strongest members. Most are caught long before they're able to even make a solid attempt at accomplishing their objectives. The sole exception being a crack team of CP0 agents, redirected from investigating the disappearance of many of their lesser agents in the depths of the second half of the Grand Line to working to assassinate Darth Nox. Unfortunately, their attempt is just successful for their team to meet said entity in person, at which point they are swiftly slaughtered to the last, their relative mastery of Haki and their awakened Devil Fruits no match for the sheer overwhelming power of their foe. Their deaths are recorded and their corpses are put on display in a relatively public area for all to see even as the final member of the team is put on trial, a trial that is very much just a formality for said mind broken clone.
With the public reveal of CP0, complete with a long list of past crimes and proof of the organization's seemingly complete downfall, and with the defeat of the majority of the Marine's available forces in 'Paradise', the three Admirals are recalled back to Mary Geoise itself, even as many of the remaining Vice Admirals are instructed to make a stand at wherever they can while evacuating as many forces as possible back to what Marine strongholds remain. Unfortunately, even this is barely enough to buy time, as the Fortress worlds of G8 and Enies Lobby are reduced to lifeless husks even as many shipyard systems such as Water Seven either capitulate or are forced to surrender soon after their would-have-been-defenders are recalled elsewhere.
Soon enough, the massive fortress system that is the marine dominated half of Sabaody is put under siege, only saved from the same fate due to the seer number of civilians that are also present even in the most Marine dominated areas; and while the siege here has no apparent end to it, and the ongoing raiding efforts are minimal and the attempts to break the siege from the Sith's side of things are close enough to non-existent, that is because Darth Nox has many other, much more important systems to go after before taking a more direct shot at Mary Geoise.
The first of these spots is Impel Down, as the ruins of Marineford are almost an afterthought in comparison to securing said prison and ensuring that none of its inmates, or at least those from amongst them that actually deserve to have been sentence to such a place, live to see the light of day again. The Garrison falls quickly, with even Magellian and his extraordinarily deadly poison no match for Nox's sorceries. Soon after that, each and every prisoner on level six is given a summary execution, carried out on the spot by Darth Nox. All of the other prisoners, those with less severe sentences, are given new trials, trials that still end with the vast majority of them also being executed, with only a few exceptions being in the form of people that were either political prisoners or simply were disliked by a particularly petty Celestial Noble.
Soon enough, most of the first half of the Grand line had fallen in one way or another, with the few remaining holdouts outside of Sabaody and Mary Geoise itself being simply put under planet prisons to rethink their actions and either join the Sith or be exterminated in time.
As for the second half of the Grand Line? Fishman Island is for the most part left alone, with actual trade deals and fair immigration rights being set up soon after the first few of the Sith's military vessels arrived in their main system. Here, Jinbe is given leniency for his past time in Impel Down in return for the Fishmen either simply standing aside while the Sith deal with the rest of the Celestial Empire, or actively joining them in punishing those that oppressed their race in the in the past should the so wish.
(detachments of Fishmen will be hireable in the future, along with a Jinbe-centric Legend; other Legends might become hirable as relations continue to improve and as a certain Princess comes into her own and learns to at least properly use her power)
Here, a multitude of new recruits are brought on, along with knowledge of many of the semi-stable hyperspace routes that weave their way through this particularly treacherous region of space, easing the Sith's passage through this region of space. Soon enough, practically the entirety of the second half of the Grand Line feels the impact of the Sith's arrival, as numerous Marine groups are eliminated and their bases purged even as Doflamingo and his crew are hunted down by Darth Nox and a notable fraction of the rest of the cadre of Darths that entered this region of space, eliminating them and devouring their souls before any of Doflamingo's numerous backup plans can be enacted. Suddenly free of their oppressors and with the return of many of their forgotten loved ones, the people of Dressrosa and many of the surrounding kingdoms welcome the Sith with open arms. Unfortunately, most of the New World is not so easily brought to heel.
The first of these majorly resistant areas, beyond the usual marine bases anyways, is Toto Land, a rather dense star cluster that is heavily populated, heavily industrialized, and fortified to such an extreme where it could almost be called ridiculous. Here, the Sith's progress is forced to slow down, as massive numbers of surprisingly advanced and extremely high weight class ships turn each and every engagement into an overly costly slog, as these behemoths are both too strong and tough to be dealt with via the Sith's more conventional armaments and refuse to bunch up enough to be simply dealt with via the deployment of a Midwan class worldship.
Fortunately though, the Sith are not bereft of answers, as fleets of Silencer equipped vessels sweep away what passes for chaff amongst the opposing forces in engagement after engagement and as Desolators are brought up to deal with the most absurd of the enemy ships when they're available and the situation is secure enough for them to be deployed; as for the remaining situations, where one of Big Mom's flagships are already embedded deep within the Sith lines? That is when the Sith themselves are deployed, as surprisingly few amongst the enemy's ranks can stand up to a Sith Lord in one on one combat, and even the few that can can and are either eliminated alongside the ship that they're on or are forced to retreat in fear of their own life.
Soon enough, the Big Mom pirates are forced back, and world after world formerly under their control either surrender, are conquered, or are put under planet prisons until the other, now more pressing, fronts are dealt with.
Eventually, the Big Mom Pirates are pushed back to Whole Cake itself, with the world being swiftly put under a planet prison within minutes of the last of their fleets being swept from the sky. It is here where Big Mom and the majority of her strongest children and servants have withdrawn to, and it is here where their fate is decided, as the imprisoned world is left to the ravages of Big Mom herself, her cataclysmic rages, and her ever growing hunger. Here, Gourmet Knight Streusen is able to turn the tides for a while, turning forests into feasts, lakes and oceans into soup, and mountains into mountainous feasts, but Big Mom's rampages continue to get ever harder to satisfy as her cravings grow ever more wild and as Streusen's work proves to be ever less filling. Soon enough, the entire planet seems on course to either starve, or end up in Charlotte Linlin's stomach; and with that, her subordinates, her very children, make the ultimate choice, and leave Big Mom to her fate, using Brulee's mirror portals to evacuate as many people as they can from the could-have-been-an-eccuminopolis as they can, going so far as to immediately surrender to the Sith as soon as they reach their assorted destinations, for it is better to give up on one's biological family than to end up eaten.
Soon enough, Big Mom is left almost entirely alone, doomed to either starve to death, or meet her end at the hands of Darth Nox.
Sadly enough, this end is not as immediate as it could have been, as ill news reached him extremely soon after the conquest of Toto Land had properly begun; Wano, the system encapsulated within a massive dyson sphere, was no longer encapsulated, the sphere itself folding up, disintegrating, collapsing, and even hyperspacing away into deep space all at once to reveal what was hidden: a massive vessel, clearly over an AU long, a massive vessel that the local helpers swiftly identify as Pluton, an ancient weapon that could threaten the destruction of everyone in this region of space. Known as the infinite ship, its ability to swiftly repair itself and even grow over time made it something desired by all of those who desire power and believe that ancient stories could be more than just superstitions within the Red Line, and its ability to destroy entire worlds with a single ship has made it feared by the more sane of the same. It's location was unknown, its impact on history nearly forgotten; but here and now? The Blackbeard pirates had clearly reached it first, as the living gas giant and planet sized giant of a man can be seen drifting near it, their immensity dwarfed by the very vessel that they're now clearly escorting.
It is an emergency without compare, and it is an opportunity without equal, an opportunity to deal with the second most bothersome group of foes within the Red Walls, and claim several almost priceless rewards from the ashes of this would-be-King. It is a prize that Darth Nox cannot overlook, and a threat that he cannot let wander. Soon enough, a massive fleet of interdictor ships are set up along its line of travel, and an ambush is prepared, as two of the three available Midwan Worldcraft are diverted and the Toto Land subjugation force and the first wave of attackers preparing to properly begin the siege of Mary Geoise are practically stripped of Desolator equipped vessels. Soon enough, a massive force made up of of the strongest forces that the Sith Empire can bring to bare is prepared, and Blacbeard's end is marked.
The trap is sprung. Pluton is forcibly ripped from hyperspace, its repair systems already taxed by its own emergence. The first wave of Desolators, already charged and ready for this event, open fire, scouring the shocked forms of "Colossal Battleship" Sanjuan Wolf and "Corrupt King" Avalo Pizarro from the stars and scouring massive, beyond planetary scale, rents into the beyond titanic vessel. Unfortunately, these shots were not so lucky as to instantly eliminate its crew, let alone properly cripple the ship, as can be noted moments later when the vessel starts to return fire, not with its main cannon, for the firing arc of said weapon is clear of all worthy targets, nor its secondary weapons, for those were targeted by the opening barrage, but with its tertiary weapons, which still manage to blast Harrower after Harrower from existence, scarring the encircling fleet with what would have been considered point defense weaponry on almost any other vessel.
The rest of the Sith fleet enters evasive and returns fire, scouring pluton's hull and ensuring that its shields fail to come back online and that its repairs are brought down to a crawl via the scouring light of its numerous Silencer equipped vessels; elsewhere, drop ships pour into some the opened crevasses, sending in disposable droids in the hope of locating the remaining Blackbeard pirates. Farther away, the remaining Desolator equipped vessels, those not either destroyed or forced into evasive action by the return fire from Pluton, begin to recharge their main cannons, even as the two Midwan Worldcraft continue to gather energy for the most devastating of the rituals that they might convoke; and while Pluton's remaining weaponry continue to extract a tole on the gathered fleet, it appears to be far too little, far too late to stop their pending annihilation, and yet…
"Zehahahahaha, you think that you can stop me here? You think that this is enough to deny me my fate? Oh, you may have won here, you may have forced me to abandon Hachinosu, to withdraw like a coward. You may have killed several of my crew members, and yet I am still the one fated to conquer this galaxy. You may have turned things over onto a chaotic path that even I could not have predicted, you may think that you have me dead, that my dreams will end here and now, and yet, Dreams Have no end, and just like peoples Dreams, you will not be able to crush me. Kaido might be dead, Big Mom abandoned, the Marines crushed, but that is not my fate. You might have thought that you've won, and yet you've forgotten that my Darkness can still call forth the void, and that us pirates always have an escape plan."
Pluton jolts forward for a moment as visible explosions jut through a few of the gaps in its hull.
"Oh, your tricks might be great, but you forget that I have tricks of my own, Zehahahahaha"
And with those words, darkness, a darkness that is beyond pitch black even against the void of space, starts to spread out at an ever faster rate, enveloping more and more of the insanely huge vessel, devouring the scouring, silencing light that was pouring onto its hull. Within moments, it spreads out even farther, racing out to consume all. The Desolators open fire, their beams dimming even as they carve a momentarily visible path through the ever growing darkness. The rituals aboard the Midwan Worldcraft nigh-simultaneously approach their climax. Darkness envelopes them. The rituals continue onwards; suddenly, they're cut off. There is no light, no sound, no Force. Even Darth Nox himself feels it, as even his internalized reserves of Living Force and recently gained Haki are steadily sapped away from him. The Thought Bomb rituals stand no chance, denied of external energy even as tendrils of darkness reach through the Wards to eat away at the gathered energy. The rituals disperse practically harmlessly, the protections doing their job to protect the present sith from the already being drained remnants of the disrupted rituals.
The Darkness fades away, returning to the vastly more natural darkness of the interstellar void. Sith ships power back up, their systems no longer being stressed by the grasping, draining, fingers of the gravitationally aberrant Void. The fleet is left relatively unharmed, what debris there is made by the earlier exchange between them and Pluton, a pluton that is now almost entirely absent, the majority of its bulk nowhere to be seen, having disappeared under the cover of Darkness. Thankfully, all is not lost, as a few somewhat massive scraps of the vessel have been left behind, forcibly shed by the series of cataclysmic blows that were dealt to it.
Ships are sent out in all directions, scouring the void for where it, and Blackbeard, have ended up. Eventually, a single sighting of it is found, as the very clearly brutally scarred vessel is seen limping its way through a hole in the Red Wall, a hole found in the farthest reaches of the West Blue, the ship shedding even more debris as it squeezes its way through the previously smaller opening. unfortunately, given the relative remoteness of this region of space and how easily said area surrendered to the Sith Empire, there are not enough vessels in the region to even think of properly intercepting it, let alone stalling it for long enough for yet another proper attempt at destroying it can be made; and so, Blackbeard escapes, slinking away into the greater, mostly unknown, galaxy, taking with him an extremely damaged Pluton and whomever else remains from his crew.
Completely abandoned by the Blackbeard pirates, Hachinosu falls without any real fight, most of its lawless population put on trial for their past actions when they aren't just summarily executed for their past crimes.
The final known strongholds in the New World are almost an afterthought in comparison, as a deal is struck with the Red Haired pirates- trading current amnesty for them and the crews under their command in return for letting Elbaf be essentially independent and letting those from amongst their number that don't want to retire sign on as privateers instead. Elbaf itself is similarly easy to deal with, as their prior isolationism and this new deal that was made through the Red Haired former-pirates are enough to assuage most of their worries, and the 'promise' to help look for Joy Boy and to continue to let them be free does most of the rest. The last little remnants are put to rest as a blanket pardon is given out to the essentially retired Giant Pirates and as their isolationism is respected.
And with their fall, the only remaining strongholds in the New World are those that directly belong to the Marines and Celestial Empire. Egghead falls simply enough, swiftly switching to your side in return for the promise of future funding and a guarantee of safety, a guarantee that is swiftly enforced as a rather large marine fleet, over a third of the size of what was seen(from the Marines) during the Paramount War, is wiped out by the same fleet that just finished securing Toto Land even as Kizaru is almost killed by a rather angry Darth Nox, only surviving via using his abilities to swiftly flee the system, slow boating his way back to the nearest marine presence, a presence that is far away indeed. Oddly enough, one of the Vegapunk 'Satellites', York, was originally going to betray the others to the World Government, only to switch sides to wanting them all to join the Sith Empire within minutes of your forces arriving within the system.
(Vegapunks available as a future research focused Legendary mercenary group, Kizaru is forced out of the action for the rest of this turn, and for likely even most of next)
Finally, with the fall of Egghead and several other marine held worlds, the full siege of mary Geoese can begin. Sabaody falls relatively quickly, its imprisoned worlds quickly either forced to surrender or purged to the last even as the last few present Marine ships burn. Others elsewhere within the odd system are rejoicing and celebrating their freedom, even as several civilian ships flee the system at all haste, fleeing to other worlds controlled by the Sith, fleeing for some reason that seemed meaningless at the time when their destinations and what they did upon arrival were taken into account, and yet were perfectly obvious in hind sight. For within less than three hours of Sabaody completely falling to the Sith, the entire system ceased to exist.
The first hint of cataclysm is a growing storm in space, an impossible ion storm, one denser than basically any other seen before, one enshrouding an area large enough to conceal an entire gas giant and its moons within itself, one arising rather quickly from seemingly just the void itself. Less than a minute after it arrives, it unleashes hell, as dozens, no, hundreds of beams, each one only really comparable to a fully charged Desolator shot or the main weapon of a Death Star, are unleashed from within the cloud. Streaking through space at speeds that make them almost seem to be coming from their destination back to the cloud from a distance, they strike, and vaporize each and every body within the rather large, rather complex system. Remote viewing platforms record the rest, as the unleashed flash of light is insanely dimmer than it should have been, and much the resulting debris field is seemingly being devoured by the cloud itself, with said cloud fading away soon after seemingly consuming the vast majority of said matter.
Fortunately, the most major loss here was a few aspiring Sith Lords, as Darth Nox himself and his main compatriots were in the New World, dealing with New Mareineford at the time.
New Marineford is also falling, as despite Kizaru's current lack of ability to be present and the fact that the Admirals and Grand Admiral having been recalled to Mary Geoise, Garp and those under him, including several Admiral Candidates, were putting up quite the fight alongside the vast majority of the remaining Marines(and Marine vessels); and while the pending arrival of Darth Nox and several Midwan Worldcraft could have swiftly ended this part of the siege, the sudden change in the direct footage from Sabaody did all that was necessary and more, as Garp and his subset of the Marines, Sword, suddenly and swiftly switched sides, taking with them almost half of the remaining Marine vessels and most of the remaining competent members of the Marine corps that weren't either back in Mary Geoise or stuck behind a Planet Prison somewhere. With their change in sides, and correspondingly swift withdrawal back to within and behind Sith lines, the rest of the Marines fall rather quickly, with the sith fleet barely sticking around long enough to send a fully charged Devastator shot into the planet. Shockingly enough, this system is interestingly not eliminated by whatever superweapon the Celestial Dragons seemingly had in reserve.
Despite the setbacks that were Blackbeard's escape and the reveal of a megastructure scale superweapon in the hands of the Celestial Dragons, the region within the Red Wall have basically fallen to the Sith Empire.
All that is left is to decide the fate of a starving, cannibalistic Mother, and to decide whether or not the Sith Empire will actually hold to any or all of its agreements.
Target: The Galactic Empire
Nature: Military Assistance and Covert Operations
Resources: 32 RP + Sith Intelligence
Plan&Goal: Coexistence with the Galactic Empire is impossible. The heretical Banite Order will be exterminated and the Sith Empire shall gain control over the galaxy they had fought and bled for, for so long. The Galactic Empire is like a caricature of the Sith Empire. But still it operates very similarly to both the Galactic Republic before and our own Sith Empire. Sith Intelligence knows what to do. It is too break the Galactic Empire politically. Prevent it from using all it's forces, turn them against each other. Bribe Moffs, collects blackmail, reignite old enemies against each other. Anything to prevent the Empire from functioning cohesively. Hack the Holonet, destroy communication relays, and sector, Oversector or even sub sub sectors commands should be either destroyed, or more optimally, utilized to spread false-information and then destroyed. Endow chaos and terror across the Galactic Empire.
If the Moffs or Governors do not believe the Empire can keep control of the galaxy, fight the Sith, or believe it is failing than they will either turn traitor or turn into petty warlords in an attempt to maintain control over their own powerbase. The Sith have seen it again and again within their own ranks. And when one does more will follow, a chain of events that will bring the false empire to its knees.
But there are other matters of concern as well. Notes of military movements by the Galactic Empire from "somewhere else" carrying odd cargo and who knows what else. Sith Intelligence is tasked with finding out the Empire's secrets, where it hides storehouses, where it develops it's technology, where the ships came from, where did they go, and where are they taking that odd cargo. Stuff for Marr and the Wrath to know about and use in their fight against the Galactic Empire.
Even as the the Sith forces sweep an entire region of space free from the pirates and other rebellious elements that have come to call said area home(to guarantee a somewhat safe base of operations for this invasion and to not have the Imperium accidentally mess with the supply lines), even as they blitzkrieg their way through the Empire's boarder guards, even as they brush aside the all-too-commonly-conveniently -and-commonly-absent-defenses around many of the heavily exploited worlds that define the outer reaches of the Outer Rim, even as the tendrils of the Sith's invasion reach their way inwards and spin/counterspin-wards along the major and semi-major hyperspace routes, Sith Intelligence is hard at work, sowing doubt and dissent and performing what sabotage they can.
Even as the Sith armadas perform their initial breach of the Empire's lines, Sith Intelligence is hard at work, manufacturing a mixture of false all clears, distress signals, and mistifying silence that makes much of the Empire think that the invasion is coming from everywhere else just as much as it is along the actual invasion route, paralyzing entire sector fleets with indecision even as almost every single moff stationed in the Outer Rim, Wildspace, or even in the somewhat tamer reaches of the Unknown Region, calls out for aid and insists that their area gets priority, for surely it is them whom this invasion will hit the hardest.
Later, even as many Moffs continue to call for aid despite the lack of an invasion on their end of things and the very clear invasion path along the Corellian Run, Sith continue to sow dissent, creating yet more false news of additional invasions, of raiding parties that swiftly traversed wide swaths of the galaxy via numerous forgotten hyperspace routes. By this point the Empire's own intelligence network has for the most part caught onto what Sith Intelligence was up to; but by then it was too little, too late, as the Moffs own stubbornness has them collectively all fearing for their own territory, and fearing for their own position should they divert forces elsewhere and leave their territory vulnerable to the could-be-real raiders and might-actually-be-happening additional prongs of the Sith's ongoing invasion.
Perhaps even worse than this are the spreading secondary means of distraction, as a carefully planned string of assassinations, character-assassinations, convincing ponzi schemes, and other forms of intense political manipulations(by the standards of most non-Sith humanoids) begins to subtly shift the internal politics of the Empire, as many of the more Corewards Moffs begin to show even more sometimes-not-hidden-enough fear towards their rivals and subordinates, as the political maneuvering that plagues said system begins to subtly pick up pace; unfortunately, this does occasionally backfire, as several Moffs are replaced by equally-ambitious-and-more-competent subordinates-or-rivals as their own fear spirals into them being actively replaced with but a few words from the Emperor swaying the matter. Elsewhere in the Core, old rivalries are enflamed, only to end up doing almost nothing, as much of the defense forces on these somewhat uppity worlds were long since stripped away and incorporated into the Empire's main military machine.
Even as the Sith's invasion finally slowed somewhat, its coreward march at least temporarily halted at Denon, Sith intelligence was readying up for its next big move- a strike aimed at Kuat itself, a strike that, unfortunately, was actively discovered several hours before it could land home, as one of the q-ships that would have been smuggling in the agents and explosives is ripped out of hyperspace by an ongoing engagement between an Empire patrol and the remnants of some actual pirates, the present interdictor cruiser incidentally doing more than ensuring that the pirates do not escape to plague another world. And so, even as the opening moves of said operation are being carried out, their target suddenly becomes drastically more aware of what is occurring, and the Empire's own intelligence operatives, boosted by the personal agents of the Kuat of Kuat, brutally flush out and sometimes even eliminate the Sith's own operatives, halting the sabotage attempt before it can do more than destroy a few of the more outlying shipyards- a far cry from the initial goal of shattering Kuat's ring.
Still, the very fact that the Sith's agents could infiltrate as deeply as they did and do as much damage as they managed strikes fear into the heart of many of the Empire's intelligence agencies, to say nothing of its Moffs, causing many agents and much of the Empire's patrolls to be redirected into further protecting Kuat, Rendill, Corellia, Fondor, and other such shipyard-systems, and it is into this chaotic reorganization that Sith Intelligence makes its next move, for the strike at Fondor was merely a diversion, a diversion aimed to distract the Empire from the Sith's main goals- the previously secret shipyards at Byss, and the new superweapon project that was nearing completion there.
Here, Sith Intelligence strikes in full, assisted by coopted(brainwashed, mind-controlled, or just rather heavily bribed) locals and facilitated by the first small production run of their new not-a-prototype-anymore stealth vessels, the Sith catch the empire with its metaphorical pants down, looting it of all of the new prototypes that were either undergoing or preparing for testing at said location, and destroying what they could not successfully man or remote control and what could not be made FTL worthy in the small window of opportunity that they had between their arrival and when they presumed that they would be found out; only they aren't found out, and so more sabotage is set up, more ships are hijacked, and yet more sabotage is set up… by the time the overseeing Inquisitors return all that is left of the shipyard is an expanding field of debris, and what is left of the presumed hidden inquisitorial training facility that wa groundside is a crater, the mountain that it was hidden under effectively inverted and replaced, the area around it glassed by the titanic impact that leveled the facility- the remains of a massive, not even fully finished, Super Star Destroyer, one that was forcibly de-orbited on top of the facility. The rest of the planet was equally devastated, as those wrecks that might have been somewhat recoverable had they remained in orbit were clearly all made to not be in orbit anymore. In the end, the Empire got what it wanted here, and so much more.
(loot gained- random prototype Star Destroyer variants(a third variant of the original design, an upgraded Secutor class, and a few other things), a modular version of the Star Destroyer meant to ease mass production of them going forwards(Modular Taskforce Cruisers), and several World Devastators; the other prototype designs were too big to hijack and were simply deorbited.)
Byss was lost, and someone had to pay for that. And so, an enraged emperor sent out the order, and purge after internal purge was enacted even as Palpatine's own Inquisition was sent to hunt down the Sith's agents.(they were naturally wildly unsuccessful at actually catching said pray, as the Sith's agents were not jedi, and were not so simply disturbed by someone's mastery of pain alone.) the local-ish Moffs all wildly reacted in their own ways, forcing the blame elsewhere even as carefully laid false trails of false aid and sometimes-not-fabricated negligence spread the trails of evidence far and wide, sowing dissent and chaos even as Imperial agents, agencies, and Moffs turned on one another, spreading chaos and new problems even as they all attempted to avoid being blamed for even a fragment of the destruction of Byss's hidden shipyards.
And so, even as the chaos spread, even as it was helped along by many of the Sith's agents, others struck elsewhere, raiding other, smaller hidden shipyards and research bases even as the next major target is uncovered- a massive hidden base found within the depths of the Maw, and the giant rift to a whole different galaxy found nearby… unfortunately, that will need to be a tale for another time.
(the Empire's ongoing research projects have essentially been stalled out, and some incidental loot has been gained from raiding these facilities: mainly some samples of technology belonging to a faction known as the Taiidan, who the Empire are clearly making deals with via said portal, and samples of a strange, GOLDEN, crystalline substance, and the containment units that said samples were contained in)
Target: The Galactic Empire
Nature: War
Resources: Germa 66, Fleethordes 1 (Magnitude 3) 2, 3, 4 and 5 (Magnitude 2), Three Midwan Worldcraft and The Empire's Wrath and Darth Marr and the Isotope-5 Fleet.
Plan&Goal: Suffer no rivals. It is way of the Sith, and it was made abundant clear by how the galaxy developed without the true Sith that the "Banite" order is nothing less than heresy using the Sith's name. It will be destroyed, and the galaxy they have so long fought for will be there's once more.
Darth Marr and the Wrath, alongside his forces and the mercenary group of Germa 66, shall be moving into the galaxy. As the forces entering the Galactic Empire's area are starting out around the area of the Outer Rim/Wild Space near Ryloth to Utapau, that is the where the initial phase of will begin. As the goal is to destroy the Empire politically (See Intelligence Actions) Marr's goal will be to spread out, isolate and destroy. The Galactic Empire has the advantage of numbers and industry, this must be rectified. A very similar campaign to how the Sith Empire fought to the Galactic Republic. Notable key points in the area along the major hyperlane in the south are Eriadu, homeworld to Grand Moff Tarkin and a major fortress world. Bespin, for its fuel. Fondor, a major shipyard for the Galactic Empire. And more. Naming all of them is a futility. As the goal is to humiliate the Galactic Empire's military and destroy morale and order. Marr will use what he has. He has silencers, his own Isotope-5 fleet, and more importantly the Midwans. Germa 66 is also effective in this way. If he has to destroy a world like Eriadu to send a message, he will. The Galactic Empire is the exact force the Sith's were made to destroy.
Make it so that the Empire can not bring it's whole force together. They have a lacking in Force Users, good. Only Vader and likely their Emperor Palpatine is an issue. But they can't be everywhere. Battle Meditation and other powers can be used to worsen morale of fleets and armies. Force them to run, spread the message of the "invincibility" of the Sith Empire and let it grow worse.
The Sith fleets can strike out. Hyperspace jumps, attacks with fighters or even fleets jumping in firing a few silencers and jumping out with the force. If engagements must happen they must be destroyed quickly with overwhelming firepower. Germa 66 is good for this alongside a Midwan and a concentration of forces to shatter their morale and keep going. Maintain momentum and shatter defensive and attempts to coordinate their own forces. Worlds will be dealt with swiftly, either with the planet prison and ignored or surgically strike the leadership and come in and destroy the defenders swiftly.
And as the Sith Empire conquers territory and establishing it's own hard points in the southern end of the galaxy, it can spread out and bring this terror everywhere else. Task forces to strike out even in the North or Core to make it known that nowhere is safe and keep the Empire from bringing all it's forces to bear. The Isotope-5 fleet is ideal for this kind of work with it's maneuverability and speed. All the while the major force keeps moving forward conquering and establishing puppets governments and governors just like they had done in the First Great Galactic War.
The are some concerns however that must be addressed.
The Death Stars and undoubtedly other Superweapons. As they seem to bear Superlaser of their own, they are major threat to our own heavy assets. But likewise they are vulnerable to our own and we have Sith. And unlike the Midwan, it can only target one thing. If a Death Star is encountered, it has to be struck first by one of our own Midwans. Take it and it's own accompanying battlegroup out before it can fire. Ambush it, force and interdictor assisted jumps to get into position behind it so it has to maneuver to fire itself and shoot it. Or, if it's dangerous or impossible for the Midwan. Being as many desolators together and do the same and fire at once. Make a display of its destruction and spread it across the Holonet. Show how vulnerable the Empire's Superweapons are. Other possible Superweapons will have to identified and dealt with as they appear.
Darth Vader and Palpatine. The only major force users they have. Besides their weak inquisitors of Dark Jedi. Palpatine will have to be dealt with later, unless he foolishly shows himself and can be shot with a thought bomb or dealt with by the Wrath. No. It is more likely that this Darth Vader will be sent in alongside a major force as a counter offensive. Engaging him and his force directly is not optimal. He perhaps could be turned out side?
But that's a major outreach and Darth Marr can't trust him. Instead he will have to be outmaneuvered and killed. A singular Midwan is always going to be on hand in the back lines for dealing with him or any counter offensive made by the Galactic Empire. Germa 66 will also be useful for this as well in breaking the momentum of a counter offensive if this happens. But no this is a task for the Wrath to end before it begins.
The Wrath, is here to deal with people. An optimal tool for killing major military officers or Moffs, even if they try to hide, which they can not from his' apprentice's sight. Which is exactly why he is the best tool for stopping Vader before he can get going. The Wrath is moving out first, likely during the beginning or even before the invasion, and using Jaesa's ability to find and track down Vader or even Palpatine if he's a fool to step out of the core. Although if Palpatine is hiding somewhere he will make a note of his location. But the Wrath alongside his companions with maneuverable and stealthy assets from Sith Intelligence will be searching for Vader and aiming get him while he's alone, or as alone as he can be. He likely has solitude fortress of some-kind, that will be optimal while he's alone and believing he is safe. Find him there, and confront him. The Wrath is likely to make some case for him to turn on Palpatine. But if he does not turn, then he must die. And it is the duty of the Empire's Wrath to deal with Rogue Sith. If he can't be killed, retreat. And prepare for his inevitable counter-offensive.
Destroy the Empire's ability to bring all it's forces together, destroy it as a political entity and shatter it. Then prepare for the next phase of the war to deal with Palaptine.
The Empire's first line of defenses falls swiftly, the cordon that it has set up between itself and the Sith's own Empire already long since taken over by armchair generals, career officers, and the-third-children-of-a-series-of-self-proclaimed-important-families despite being only a couple of years old now, is swiftly breached, the relatively local garrison of several hundred Star Destroyers(and Star Destroyer Variants), anchored by a dozen relatively cheap Super Star Destroyers, is annihilated before they can send a single message back, let alone sound the alarm, as their own Interdictors are used are used to create yet more jump points for the completely overwhelming Sith ambush and alpha-strike, as hyperwave jammers are unleashed behind their ranks even as an overwhelming force of Silencer equipped vessels cleanses them from the stars, with the Empires own Super Star Destroyers quickly purged by the Sith's own equivalent, with singular relatively low powered Desolator shots opening the way for the Silencers to finish the job.
Beyond that, it is relatively easy going for a time, for the Empire has been caught completely unawares, with Sith Intelligence already in play and earning its keep. Soon enough, the Outer Rim is reached, with worlds such as Naoth, Ryloth, and Shimia falling rather swiftly, their token garrisons of two Star Destroyers each swept aside as the Sith invasion begins its march. It isn't until the invasion force reaches Cristophis that any actual notable resistance is faced, and even then it is a paltry force- made up of only what the local Moff could manage to scrounge up in the wake of the absence of news from several of his holdings. It is too little, far too late; a force gathered to investigate the region and to take out a few impulsive pirates before replacing whatever Hyperwave Beacon went down- not one meant to fight off a full invasion force. Unfortunately, it is enough that the forwardmost scouting elements of the Sith's forces are not enough to deal with it, and thus it has time- time enough to warn the rest of the galaxy of this chosen invasion route, time enough to send off a warning flare to the rest of the galaxy before it too falls, the local defense fleet shattered and the planet itself imprisoned; and while this is not enough to create a coordinated counter-effort, what with Sith Intelligence's ongoing efforts elsewhere in the galaxy, it is enough to ensure that the amount of resistance that the Sith faces going forwards is no longer practically zero.
Despite this call for help, the surrounding sectors fall easily enough(Geonosis is a barren world, its local indigenous sophont species eliminated to the last, its underground rendered into a tomb; on Tatooine the presence of at least two exceedingly strong force presences are noted; several Sith are sent to investigate, and after the death of a clearly somewhat rusty Jedi Master the true prize is picked up- a relatively young force sensitive, one that might grow up to one day match, or perhaps even exceed, the prowess of both Wrath and Darth Nox given proper direction and proper training); the relatively paltry forces that the locals are able to muster not being enough to slow down the Sith's invasion in the slightest. Unfortunately, this was to be expected, as much of the Outer Rim has been and still is deliberately left in a relatively impoverished state by the ever hungry war machine that is the Empire; and former Separatist territory suffered even worse than the rest of it, bearing the brunt of the Empire's first wave of exploitation while receiving the absolute minimum amount of aid and protection in turn.
Sadly though, this state of affairs is not to continue, as the Empire begins to actively realize what is coming for it and slowly, ever ponderously, turn and fight.
The first truly major battle of this campaign happens at Druckenwell, a former CIS world turned Imperial Fortress World, here, the first major clash of this war occurs, involving thousands of vessels on each side. Here, the Sith's Silencers once again prove their worth, as the first wave of Imperial Star Destroyers is eliminated practically before the can get a single full-powered shot off, let alone down the shields on their opposing Harrowers and Terminus class destroyers; unfortunately, there wasn't just a singular wave of Imperial forces, as several similarly sized fleets arrive in system before the Sith can finish pacifying it. Eventually, it is enough to properly bring them to battle, as several System Battle Groups, complete with their anchoring Super Star Destroyers, arrive in system to 'eliminate this threat'. Fortunately, this too is not enough to do more than slow down the Sith's advance, as their own reinforcements arrive in system soon after the vanguard fleet is fully brought to battle, reinforcements that include one of the Midwan class worldships. The battle ends soon after that, as several of the Empire's maneuvering battle groups are reduced to naught but floating, lifeless hulks.
Soon enough, this battle is not alone in its nature, as resistance continues to mount as the Sith's fleets continue their push towards the Core. eventually though, something has to give, and what gives are the secondary hyperlanes, as Sith forces branch out and circle around, bypassing entire subsectors to bring battle to where it is truly needed. Racing east and west even as the main push continues to inch its way corewards along the Corellian Run, soon enough most of the south-eastern reaches are nominally in the hands of the Sith, with their newly occupied worlds stretching from Naboo to Bothawui. Eventually though, even these pushes begin to slow down, as the spinawards push hits serious resistance just short of Eriadu even as the counter-spinawards push runs into the political mess that is Hut Space.
It is at some unnamed system, a single jump from Eriadu, that the Sith hits its first truly major opposition, as Grand Moff Tarkin saw where this push was heading, and mustered all of the forces that he could manage to stop it in its tracks, Before Proceeding to Crush these Upstarts and show them the true might of the Empire. Anchored by six Death Stars, this force outnumbers the entirety of the Sith's invasion force.
The Sith's scouting force is eliminated, as is the vanguard force that was paving the way for this side of the invasion; caught completely off guard by the sheer size of the fleet that the Empire managed to gather here, they fail to do any truly significant damage before being practically erased by the sheer amount of opposing firepower. The following attack groups do better, performing slashing raids along the 'front' and 'flanks' of the Empire's fleet before retreating, only to ambush and usually annihilate what forces the Empire send after them. Every once and a while the withdrawal doesn't go so well, as the reach of the Empire's own interdictors turns what was going to be a simple hit and run into a prolonged chase; but even those interceptions often do not go the way the Empire would prefer, as the pursuing forces end up chasing their targets through the vast relatively empty reaches that define the outer rim of most systems, only to then be ambushed in turn, as the very field that was used to stop the sith raiding force from escaping into hyperspace is used to great effect. Eventually, the Empire stops seriously pursuing the raiding forces, leaving them to do their work relatively unmolested.
Sadly though, this chip damage is not enough, as the Empire's forces manage to slowly push them back through system after system, relying on sheer numbers, mass and overwhelming firepower to make up for all doctrinal weaknesses; for while the Tarkin doctrine might be rather inefficient and not actually all that good at preventing rebellion, it still has its strengths. And so the Sith are repeatedly pushed back, unwilling to risk it all just to properly bring these forces to battle. It is only with the arrival of Darth Marr, his isotope 5 fleet, and the main bulk of Germa 66's forces that change this state; and even then the fighting is brutal, as the resulting deeper slashing raids are more often caught out of position and forced into a much more brutal brawl.
Eventually though, the peripheries of Tarkin's force are worn down enough that a true strike at its center can be made. Buoyed by the Isotope 5 Armada and Germa's supercapitals, here the Sith are much more able to successfully brawl with Tarkin's forces(not that any brawls would happen at all if the Sith had their way; sadly Tarkin was very good at forcing said clashes), and are eventually able to reduce things down enough to bring in their own Heavyweights without immediately risking their annihilation. Soon enough, all three Midwan class Worldcraft arrive, arriving at the flanks and rear of Tarkin's formation, well out of the immediate firing lines of the Death Stars. Soon enough, their Thought Bombs, already being charged even as said craft were enroute, are unleashed, immediately stilling large swaths of the enemy armada, including four Death Stars; sadly though, the remaining two, alongside their rapidly pivoting escorts, reap their revenge, annihilating one of the Worldcraft from a shockingly long ways away while forcing the other two to retreat to avoid the same fate. Tarkin's fleets, now out of position, are swiftly jumped on by reserve elements of the Sith's forces, and thus, with his forces crumbling around him, Tarkin finally gives the order that he hates the most: the order to retreat.
Darth Marr though, was not done with him, and so Tarkin is hounded all the way back to Eriadu, with even one of his Death Stars even being taken out by a few lucky Desolator shots from the Isotope 5 armada. Soon enough, it is only Tarkin and the tattered remnant of his once glorious armada that remains; and so, with Eriadu spinning ever onwards below, Tarkin is brought to one final battle, and is swiftly annihilated alongside his final Death Star. Here, in this rather extended battle, the Empire suffered its first truly major defeat; here, the Sith lost over 15% of their entire invasion force to defeat less than 10% of what the empire could have theoretically brought to bear. In revenge for these losses, Eriadu was annihilated, its death broadcast to the rest of the galaxy, the Sith's losses made light while the strung out remnants of the Empire's fleet made visible for all to see. The victory still rang hollow.
Despite these relatively lopsided losses, it was still a victory for the Sith, as with the defeat of Tarkin and his forces much of the galactic south was left almost completely open to invasion. Soon enough, important locations ranging from the minor shipyards and major mining operations at Sullust, to the gas mines of Bespin, to the inquisitorial training facilities on Mustafar, to even the gas mines of Bestine, were taken out by vengeful Sith forces. Sadly though, with the opening up of so much territory and with the prioritization of hyperlanes and major production worlds came a second, perhaps even greater issue, as the garrisons of encircled worlds started to group up and attempt to break out; and while the Empire's minimal mandated garrison of two Star Destroyers per world was a joke in most actual circumstances, it suddenly became an issue when the garrisons of dozens of otherwise almost meaningless worlds gathered together to attempt to break through the Sith's back lines; and while forces like Germa 66 and the Isotope 5 armada did manage to intercept many of these attempted breakthroughs before they could do any major damage, it still did a tole on the Sith's ability to continue their advance, as supply ships were forced to group together into heavily defended carrivans and as the Sith's support ships repeatedly found themselves outmatched by the sheer number of Star Destroyers that the Empire could field even in these backwater, isolated corners of their empire.
None of these attacks were immensely troublesome on their own, none of them crippling; and yet it was enough to slow the Sith's advance, to stretch thin their supply lines through the southern areas of this galaxy, it was enough to force them to consolidate, to stop them from breaking through to the 'unknown' regions and forced an uneasy calculus on them, an uneasy calculus that made taking down the major shipyards at Fondor and/or flanking their main push into the Core practically untenable.
Nevertheless, the Sith's raids did not stop, as flanking forces from the more corewards part of the counter-spinawards push continued to push onwards, breaking into multiple raiding fleets and avoiding major fights when they could, and working to ambush the Empire's forces when they couldn't. Pushing onwards, said forces managed to make it so far as to make contact with the Hapes Consortium and what remains of Mandalorian space, eventually managing to perform raids up and down the Perlemian Trade Route, even striking at the perimeter of the Core in multiple locations; sadly though, what could be accomplished here was minimal, as the Sith simply did not have enough forces, let alone secure enough supply lines, to successfully hold ground this far away from their point of entry.
Even as all of this was occurring, the main push continued forwards along the Corellian Run, grinding their way through each and every single battle group that the Empire managed to throw in their way. Eventually, the Sith's invasion force reached Denon, where they were met with Darth Vader and his 501st Legion(and the Executor), at the head of a force even larger than what Tarkin managed to scrounge up to confront the Sith at Eriadu.
I will not bore you with the details of this fight, for much of it was the same as the confrontation with the Empire's forces of Eriadu; what I can say is that the devastation was drastically more concentrated and closer to equal in terms of tonnage lost, for Darth Vader was not one to send off relatively small chunks of his force to pursue the Sith Empire's own slashing raids, nor was he one to leave his flanks exposed enough for a Midwan class worldship to come in and take a shot at one of the many cores of his overarching formation, nor was he one to leave one of his Death Stars open to a lucky shot, not without another of them covering the would-be blind spot anyways.
And so the fight at Denon continued on, and on and on. When Eriadu burned, the fight at Denon had already started, and by the time Sith forces were forced to turn back just short of Fondor, the battle at Denon was still ongoing.
And so, while the long ranged firepower of the Sith's Harrower class vessel did make each and every engagement more costly for the Empire than the Sith, while well aimed Desolator shots turned entire moons into devastating shotgun attacks through the Empire's ranks, while slashing raids slowly burnt the Empire's forces to the ground, the Sith were simply running out of steam, running low on supplies, and running out of time.
And so the Sith were forced to bring the Empire to battle more directly, if only to take out Darth Vader himself before he starts to solidly push back the Sith. The cost was enormous, the battle beyond devastating to both sides. Both of the remaining Midwan class Worldcraft in this theatre were lost, trading their lives for threefold the number of depopulated Deathstars and massive losses amongst the Empire's fleet. Eventually though, the way was opened, and, amongst the wreckage of the 501st, on the remains of the former ecumenopolis of Denon, long since devastated by moon fragments and starshipfall, the Emperor's Wrath confronts Darth Vader. The outcome is obvious, for as powerful as Vader is, he is only half trained by the reckoning of the Sith, for even the ability to casually rip starships down from orbit pales in comparison to the true power of the Dark Side; and even a true mastery of forms five and seven pales in comparison to the true heights that the Empire's Wrath has reached. And so, with Darth Vader's headless corpse being vaporized by the detonating reactor of yet another falling Super Star Destroyer, the Empire's Wrath is forced to withdraw, alongside what remains of the Sith's core forces, withdrawing back a few systems even as what remains of the Empire's present forces effectively refuse to pursue- the individual elements already being split up amongst the squabbling Moffs.
And so, while raids are still ongoing in the north, and while entire battlegroups of the Empire's forces are annihilated as they haphazardly attempt to strike back to the south, the Sith's main push has, for now, come to a close, forced to a close not by the accomplishing of any of their main objectives, but by the simple need for repairs, resupply, and reinforcements.
Even worse is news coming in from the galactic north(relative to the Empire's version of the Star Wars galaxy), as the Empire's expeditionary forces return, led by a Grand Admiral without peer, one that has never known true defeat.
Total Losses:
Sith: over 60% of the invasion force, all three present Midwan class Worldcraft.
Empire: effectively two entire Warfleets(one sort of average strength, one overstrength) and maybe 40% of a third; Tarkin, Darth Vader, 22 Death Stars(16 of which from the main two areas of battle, the rest from assorted raiding ambushes), and most of the outer rim, alongside large swaths of the expansion region and inner rim, in the Galactic South.
(repairs bring back the forces deployed behind the Red Wall to full strength, and leaves the forces invading the Empire still devastated(in the original Roman sense of the word).)
