- Location
- Nice try
[X] Plan: Dirty Victory
Inner Sphere Outcast
- Thread starter Cloak&Dagger
- Start date
- Sci-Fi Alt. History
[X]Plan: I am just a Man
Cloak&Dagger
Definitely Insane
Depends. There's certainly NOT enough enough crew to man the Amaris ships, but just getting them back to Elysium safely is a matter of individual button pressing easily done with even the meager resources on hand.
And of course, refugees can be taken planetside.
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[X]Plan: I am just a Man
- Location
- Fort Worth, TX
[X] Plan: Dirty Victory
Zebebelgenubi Taken
Cloak&Dagger
Definitely Insane
"This is Sean Kearny to Amaris forces. I came to this system with two jumpships, representing no state, no military, no noble lineage, no corporation, no pirate band, and no mercenary company, on no orders but my own. I am just a man who can no longer accept the rule of tyrants over humanity. Now, I have a fleet of warships.
Regardless of your actions now, my mission here is complete. The SDS system is the only thing between the Amaris Empire and the SLDF remnants, and trust in it has been irrevocably broken. The Great Houses will smell blood and strike, first worlds they lay claim to, like this one, then more. Your Empire will panic and retreat further inward behind defenses they cannot operate or rely on, patching together desperate and ineffective workarounds. Then Kerensky will come for you.
I offer you this: Life. Surrender now and you will be treated fairly.
I am not vindictive like Amaris. I do not seek vengeance like Kerensky. I am not interested in slaves like the Great Houses. I am just a man who does what is necessary. Whether your death is necessary is up to you."
No reply is forthcoming from the Amaris fleet. Their formation idles for minutes, SDS drones circling, until half of the Amaris ships suddenly engages a full burn, heedless of the spread as the faster and slower ships of the mixed flotilla spread apart from the acceleration difference.
The reaction is immediate. The unleashed ATACs direct drones to spiral just out of range of the Amaris charge, elaborately dancing in a more and more elongated path as the formation stretches apart. Faster than any human mind could process, the spiral evaporates, instantly shifting into dozens of drones simultaneously converging on the formation from every direction.
'Crossing the T' is a sea warfare tactic, where the line formation of warships on top of the T present their full broadsides to gain great advantage over the line facing directly towards them, whose meager frontal weapons cannot compete. In space, the maneuver is archaic, the three dimensional space and focus on thrust for positioning making the concept irrelevant. Yet the ATACs create an unmistakably similar formation as they attack in a manner perhaps best described as 'Crossing the 7'. Except here, it is the bottom forces, approaching at an angle, with the advantage.
Each SDS drone simultaneously and without hesitation 'has their 7 crossed' by their target vessels. The inhuman ATACs flawlessly grasping the 3 dimensional nature of space and directing them to take positions *just* above or below optimal enemy weapon angles, and attacking single ships from multiple sides and angles simultaneously.
M-5 Caspar and smaller drones burn towards their targets, forward and forward-side weapons firing at the sharp angle. Then rotational thrusters spin the ship sideways through space, positioning the opposite-side front guns to open fire as well. Again thrusters fire, and main engines go offline, flipping the drones on their rear end. The backflip takes exactly two rotations, allowing each broadside to fire, before finishing. Now rear weapons and rear-side weapons add to the carnage. Momentum from the previous spins are kept, and soon the rear opposite-side guns finish the salvo as energy weapons recharge and physical machinery struggles to reload guns and missiles under the G-forces.
To the Autonomous Tactical Analysis Computers, the moves were carefully crafted, odds of success calculated and recalculated to compare to other options before finally settling on this decision. To the humans observing them, a dozen Amaris ships were blended in almost an instant by an impossible amount of firepower, while the drones passed straight through the line of shattered hulks with no visible damage.
A moment later, long enough for the drones to turn towards them, the 12 Amaris ships that kept their engines on station-keeping signaled their unconditional surrender. The ATACs received the order to stand down just in time.
A similar scene occurs planetside about an hour later, after continuous bombardment demonstrates to infantry in Grey Valley City that buildings are no defense against an enemy able and willing to use warships. Ground forces make haste to rescue Ulsop Robotics personnel, recover useful equipment, and copy computer records. However, speed remains a priority, as only the limited forces in the city proper are surrendering. The head of the planet's occupation, Colonel Vargo Burkenya, is nowhere to be found. Likely significant Amaris presence remains in the other coastal cities on the planet of over 125 million people, as well as almost certainly the two SLDF Castle Brians in the world's mountain ranges.
The question is where to go from here. Leaving immediately would be a historic victory on its own, but there is more yet that could be gained. With time, it's possible value parts or even entire ships could be scavenged from the space battle wreckage, as well as what can be found planetside. Manning the surrendered Amaris warships will be a challenge, and also brings up the decision of what to actually do with the crews. Civilian traffic is also in orbit of the planet with jumpships waiting at the system's edge, having sat through the chaos blaring declarations of being non-combatants. If left alone there's no doubt the jumpships will jump away as soon as they recharge, so capturing them is better done sooner than later. Planetside, Amaris forces remain, making operations there risky without more than a handful of forces to deal with them. Lastly, there are political decisions of what to do with all these gains.
In the aftermath of the battle, two disabled M-5 drones are boarded and captured, leaving the Elysian forces with a full 56 Drone Warships along with considerable Dropship and Fighter Drone support. A further 12 manned Amaris warships are surrendered and awaiting new crews. Sean Kearny looks at the unbelievable success before him, considering his options.
He aims to hold at Zebebelgenubi:
[] For as short a time as possible, leaving the instant everything and everyone is recovered and accounted for
[] For the medium term, contacting other parties to hand off the planet to them
[] For the long term, deciding the clear it of Amaris forces entirely
[] Other
Space wreckage should be:
[] Obliterated, to save time
[] Stripped of anything immediately useful, before being destroyed
[] Hauled in for repair and processing, the considerable time possibly netting entire functional ships
[] Other
Civilian spacecraft need to be:
[] Ignored, and allowed to leave the system
[] Captured as soon as possible, to add to Elysian logistics and deny Amaris assets
[] Other
Planetside Amaris forces should be:
[] Ignored, hopefully keeping to themselves
[] Challenged, with friendly forces raised from Zebebelgenubi's population to oppose them in the future
[] Exterminated, with orbital bombardment of all discovered positions
[] Rooted out, with friendly forces raised from Zebebelgenubi's population sent to liberate cities, while the Castle Brians are ground to dust with orbital bombardment
[] Other
Captured Amaris forces should be:
[] Summarily executed for their crimes
[] Held on Zebebelgenubi for local courts to deal with
[] Sent to Kerensky for him to deal with
[] Ransomed to Amaris
[] Held and taken to Elysium to be used as farm labor
[] Other
The knowledge of this operation should be:
[] Kept a secret, to let rumors and confusion grow
[] Shared with specific groups, to establish credentials for potential cooperation
[] Announced publicly via HPG, for all of human space to hear and know there is a new player in the Terran Hegemony Civil War
[] Other
Efforts for future government of Zebebelgenubi will be:
[] Someone else's problem, as the Elysian forces aim to leave as soon as possible
[] Integrated with Elysium as it stakes a claim on this world
[] Focused locally, to deny it to all other powers without burdening Elysium with the world
[] With the Lyran Commonwealth, who is invited to retake the world
[] With the Kerensky, who is invited to use the location as a forward operating base against Amaris
[] Ransomed to Amaris
[] Other
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- Location
- Nice try
I think is better to leave this world alone and our mission a secret.
If Elysium is to prosper without the Great Houses or Comstar interferance, we can't announce ourselves for the whole galaxy to see.
We collect what we came here for and leave. No more and no less.
If Elysium is to prosper without the Great Houses or Comstar interferance, we can't announce ourselves for the whole galaxy to see.
We collect what we came here for and leave. No more and no less.
Cloak&Dagger
Definitely Insane
You can also hold the planet but keep Elysium itself a secret. Then you have two governments to manage!
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chaotic-logic
possible impossibility
- Location
- unknown
just grab what we can/ want and then leave with out saying anything, maybe bring a few of the research teams with us.
it might be useful to seize the functioning ships and man them with local resistance fighters taking orders from Elysian spacers so as to bring them home.
- Location
- Nice try
[X] Do what we came here to do and no more
-[X] For as short a time as possible, leaving the instant everything and everyone is recovered and accounted for
-[X] Obliterated, to save time
-[X] Ignored, and allowed to leave the system
-[X] Exterminated, with orbital bombardment of all discovered positions
-[X] Held on Zebebelgenubi for local courts to deal with
-[X] Kept a secret, to let rumors and confusion grow
-[X] Contact the Lyran Commonwelath anonymalous and leave before they forces arrive.
Decided to send a anonymous tip to the LC so they can claim this world and leave before they arrive into the system.
Sounds way to complicate, specially since Amaris will come here and it's best for our interest to keep our involvemwnt to a minimum since the Suscessor Wars will come and we have no military hold the Great Houses.
Secrecy is our greatest advantage and we can't afford to lose it at this stage.
-[X] For as short a time as possible, leaving the instant everything and everyone is recovered and accounted for
-[X] Obliterated, to save time
-[X] Ignored, and allowed to leave the system
-[X] Exterminated, with orbital bombardment of all discovered positions
-[X] Held on Zebebelgenubi for local courts to deal with
-[X] Kept a secret, to let rumors and confusion grow
-[X] Contact the Lyran Commonwelath anonymalous and leave before they forces arrive.
Decided to send a anonymous tip to the LC so they can claim this world and leave before they arrive into the system.
Sounds way to complicate, specially since Amaris will come here and it's best for our interest to keep our involvemwnt to a minimum since the Suscessor Wars will come and we have no military hold the Great Houses.
Secrecy is our greatest advantage and we can't afford to lose it at this stage.
Cloak&Dagger
Definitely Insane
Functional is a wide range. There are space repair yards, both automated and manned available, so it depends on how much time you want to spend.
Civilian crews could also be impressed to expand manpower. Or robotics efforts could focused on automating ships more.
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[x] A Complex Socio-Economic Answer
-[x] For as short a time as possible, leaving the instant everything and everyone is recovered and accounted for
-[x] Stripped of anything immediately useful, before being destroyed
-[x] Ignored, and allowed to leave the system
-[x] Exterminated, with orbital bombardment of all discovered positions
-[x] Held on Zebebelgenubi for local courts to deal with
-[x] Shared with specific groups, to establish credentials for potential cooperation
--[x] Free Worlds League, Lyran Commonwealth
-[x] With the Lyran Commonwealth, who is invited to retake the world
Who were we neighbors with again?
-[x] For as short a time as possible, leaving the instant everything and everyone is recovered and accounted for
-[x] Stripped of anything immediately useful, before being destroyed
-[x] Ignored, and allowed to leave the system
-[x] Exterminated, with orbital bombardment of all discovered positions
-[x] Held on Zebebelgenubi for local courts to deal with
-[x] Shared with specific groups, to establish credentials for potential cooperation
--[x] Free Worlds League, Lyran Commonwealth
-[x] With the Lyran Commonwealth, who is invited to retake the world
Who were we neighbors with again?
We've been given the codes for Admin Access at this point IIRC, and have the designers in our hands. So not exactly.
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Cloak&Dagger
Definitely Insane
No, though not all of them are online yet and he's having issues getting experienced operators.
More importantly, nobody will ever trust them fully. They have been psychologically destroyed. That means Amaris will treat his manned fleet as the only reliable defense against the SLDF, so he will have to withdraw troops inward to get reasonable force concentration to stop the massive SLDF fleet.
It's not as simple as snapping your fingers and taking control of the SDS, but even in non-sabotaged systems Elysium has a huge advantage. For anyone else they would be impenetrable without a bloodbath, but having the development tools means just about every bug and trick is accounted for, and if physical access is every gained, they're extremely vulnerable.
For an example, for the next 400 years in canon, the basic drone fighters often show up in hidden bases or whatever fighting scavengers, and even when captured, any computers attempting to break into them just get fried by the security. That wouldn't happen for Elysium.
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Which isn't to say that there won't be ad hoc efforts to alter them so it can't happen again, it just means they are not considered reliable.
So with the Admin Access could we take over those that are online, and where those that are offline? just getting them would be great as it would give us a massive amount of firepower, sure we would need operators and somehow to do maintenance on them along with repairs, but it will still be worth taking them
chaotic-logic
possible impossibility
- Location
- unknown
[X] time for some thieving
-[X] For as short a time as possible, leaving the instant everything and everyone is recovered and accounted for
-[X] Stripped of anything immediately useful, before being destroyed
--[X] Should transfer some of our crew to intact SDS Caspars under our control for us to take them with us when we leave
--[X] take over a few of the rim world warships and have skeleton crews pilot them.
-[X] Ignored, and allowed to leave the system
-[X] Exterminated, with orbital bombardment of all discovered positions
--[X] should try and contact any on the surface of the planet who want to leave with us
-[X] Held on Zebebelgenubi for local courts to deal with
-[X] Kept a secret, to let rumors and confusion grow
-[X] Someone else's problem, as the Elysian forces aim to leave as soon as possible
-[X] For as short a time as possible, leaving the instant everything and everyone is recovered and accounted for
-[X] Stripped of anything immediately useful, before being destroyed
--[X] Should transfer some of our crew to intact SDS Caspars under our control for us to take them with us when we leave
--[X] take over a few of the rim world warships and have skeleton crews pilot them.
-[X] Ignored, and allowed to leave the system
-[X] Exterminated, with orbital bombardment of all discovered positions
--[X] should try and contact any on the surface of the planet who want to leave with us
-[X] Held on Zebebelgenubi for local courts to deal with
-[X] Kept a secret, to let rumors and confusion grow
-[X] Someone else's problem, as the Elysian forces aim to leave as soon as possible
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Cloak&Dagger
Definitely Insane
Before everyone chooses to ignore the civilian fleets, I will remind you that the number of docking collars on M-5 Caspars is a whopping 0. You also currently only have two Aqueduct liquid transport dropships and two Mammoth dropships as both cargo and personnel carriers.
So if you don't want to start leaving things behind for lack of space, or leave entire dropships and drones behind, you will need more collars.
Certainly. And if you pull a Kerensky and don't attack an SDS again for an entire generation, they would be resistant or immune to the original countermeasures.
But even then, they would never be relied upon and would only ever be a supporting branch.
So if you don't want to start leaving things behind for lack of space, or leave entire dropships and drones behind, you will need more collars.
Certainly. And if you pull a Kerensky and don't attack an SDS again for an entire generation, they would be resistant or immune to the original countermeasures.
But even then, they would never be relied upon and would only ever be a supporting branch.
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chaotic-logic
possible impossibility
- Location
- unknown
question, is it possible to take over a few of the rim world republic warships?
like transfer their crew to other ships and then use the ships we took over?
like transfer their crew to other ships and then use the ships we took over?
Cloak&Dagger
Definitely Insane
Yes, they literally surrendered. Though you don't have proper crews for them at the moment, so don't expect them to do much beside have 1-10 people run around trying to operate the KF drives to get them home.
Yeah but then we destroy the message we openly sent, so better to rely on the dozen capital ships that just surrendered to us.
Which is admittedly all we need. Doubly so if we trade some Stuff and get former resistance members to come with us as mostly warm bodies to train on the way home.
They also should have collars and cargo holds we can use.