No SV You Are the Forest
A Riot Quest
Turn 10 Event Interrupt
There was a strange sense of anticipation singing through the forest. Crystalline leaves swayed, all contrary to the stellar wind, as the forest waited in a strange confident consternation.
Something was coming.
The Ingaba ships were positioned all around the system, but mostly in a way that minimized the damage they would take if anything erupted from the wormhole again. Sensors could detect the shields the smaller ships bore, heavily charged particle fields making them more noticable to the Forest's senses, but perhaps not to whatever came from the other side.
The predators were mostly quiescent as well. All of the adults seemed to have recovered, and the pups would wind their way between the boughs, branches and roots of the forest, nipping at the creatures that lived there and squeaking in surprise when they were nipped back. Their thoughts were more easily found than those of the adults. Perhaps something could be made of this, eventually.
But the pups would not be ready for use in time.
As that thought crossed the Forest's mind, the wormhole spasmed once again, sending magnetic fields wobbling. This time, though, it didn't seem to stop.
*-*-*-*
Oragles, Senior Scientist of the Ingaba Directorate, Chief Researcher of the Crystal Forest, curled his claws. The new title being bandied about was irritating, but that was that and this was this.
The wormhole was acting up, and the sensors he had built – with the information provided by the Galactic Council – were showing unexpected readings.
Wormholes had a limit to how much mass could traverse them at a time, and all simulations created using that data indicated that it would take time. Time for a fleet to come through. Time for them to get into formation. Time that would allow the Ingaba to get their reinforcements and hold the system. That missile pods would be the first things through again, followed by tough ships to clear the fortresses that the Ingaba simply couldn't
build in time. Better no fortress than an incomplete one.
But now, Oragles had doubts that the Galactic Council knew everything there was to know about wormholes. They were useful, yes, and sometimes resulted in cross-galactic invasions, but they weren't essential... unless there was no other method of travel.
And then it would be very important indeed to research everything you could about them. Perhaps even to the point of making new ones, to find new, more easily accessible resources... only to discover a species, or more than one species, with access to other means of FTL. A means that could make-or-break everything, and would the Ingaba risk resorting to diplomacy to obtain that technology, the way the Crystal Forest did?
No, they would not. The Forest was quite strange in that respect, perhaps due to its seeming youth, but it could not be discounted that maybe it could work in other situations. But that is not this situation.
"Send the courier to Fleet Admiral Monagles, flash warning, Case Black." Case Black was the case where the hostiles had multiple surprises incoming, and that Oragles had no idea what they were but they needed reinforcements immediately.
Why he was the one to confirm this... well. Oragles didn't want to know the answer to that question. It was wrapped in the reasons why he was okay with being 'stuck out in a backwater'. Heh.
"C-confirm Case Black?" the comm's officer on board the Outpost asked.
"Confirming Case Black," Oragles said firmly. Hopefully whatever was coming through wasn't
too much to handle.
*-*-*-*
A stern, martial beat thrummed through the air as the Emperor of the Katown Imperium saluted his brave soldiers and sailors, who would be sailing off to war against a barely known faction for the honor and glory of securing access to Hyperlanes.
Hyperlanes. The Emperor could barely believe it. The reports had come in slowly, as every last person in the chain wanted to
make sure they knew what they were seeing.
No longer would the Imperium be limited to what wormholes they stumbled across or made, no longer would they be imprisoned behind the bars of night and the strange
things that lurked between the stars, swallowing whole anything large enough or fast enough to be useful, all brought about by a coincidence, by a renegade research group looking for a way to escape the Imperium. Little did they know... little did they know.
The Imperium wrought
order. Worked the worlds until they were bent into shape, to fit their occupants.
All of their occupants. Sustained the systems they ruled over against the ever-encroaching emptiness that sought to swallow all things.
Hyperlanes were mentioned in the Histories, and the Chronicles of those who came before, but none had been found. Until now.
The Imperium remembered what had been done to it. Did the Galaxy? Perhaps. Galactic civilizations rose and fell like clockwork. Ancient species that had been old when the Imperium was young may yet be around, inertia keeping them strong in the face of it all, or they might have guttered out.
The only thing that was certain to cause a problem was the strange Forest. It acted much like a Forest acted... and then it erected Void-damned
energy shields and utilized effective anti-missile strategies.
Oh. And it
moved. And grew at a, quite frankly, impossible rate. And the foreigners on the other side had an unarmed base over it.
It would be very soon, that the Imperium would test itself against these strange peoples, and see what the Galaxy had wrought in their absense, or if it still cowered in fear. If what had been discovered so far was truly all that the galaxy could offer... then perhaps that would be enough.
For the Wormhole was being Dredged, deepened to allow for the rapid transit of truly heavy units, far more rapidly than would otherwise be possible. The Emperor smiled. It was not a pleasant smile.
*-*-*-*
Admiral Gonagles, commander of the Fleet guarding the Wormhole and its environs, stared in consternation at the plot on the flag bridge, wondering just
what he was looking at, with the way the Wormhole was acting very strange.
"Admiral! Oragles is declaring Case Black. I say again, Case Black."
Perhaps the Senior Scientist knew? "Did he say why?"
"No; maybe he doesn't know himself?"
"Well, whatever is going on involves the wormhole, so. Orders for the Fleet: the Wormhole Guard
back from the Wormhole, at least two light-minutes out and farther at their own discretion. Other units get into formation Echo." There, that was all he could do.
"Yes, sir! Transmitting orders." A beat. "Orders transmitted."
"Good." Gonagles shifted back in his seat, looking calm. Hopefully the new shields would be enough. Hopefully Admiral Monagles' reinforcements would be enough.
Hopefully the Forest would pull out a new trick.
Hopefully nothing too crazy was coming.
*-*-*-*
Something strange was happening, the forest concluded. Not in the movement of ships; that was always abnormal. Not in the shape of the magnetic fields around the wormwhole; that was always strange.
No, something strange was happening within the processes of the Forest itself. Parts that hadn't been noticed before spun up. Some trees shifted, growing larger or more prominent, while others seemed to wither, drawing fewer resources from the root network.
The pulse of metallic sap through the forest increased, moving resources more quickly, if less efficiently, than before.
Whatever deep pulsing beat that underlay the forest, slumbering, all unknowing – even the presence of the Worm could be felt more easily – stirred, and the forest shifted further.
Almost like it was yet to awaken fully, even as it moved and acted.
Or perhaps not. Perhaps there were simply systems that had been grown into the Forest that simply hadn't activated, because they had not been needed.
And perhaps the Forest would fuck around with it and find out.
It would need to be some other cycle, however, as the Wormhole opened wide, and a single ship appeared through it.
For a ship, it was big. Bigger than any ship the forest had ever seen before, possibly matching the strange thing that the Ingaba had been removing from the star. Possibly.
It didn't appear to be as large as the forest, but that was likely not a comfort to the Ingaba, who didn't have anything anywhere near as large.
*-*-*-*
"Broadcasting now, admiral. All available channels."
She nodded. It was time. They knew their opponent's language and customs, they knew their enemies could do naught
but fight. So it would be a fight, between two – or perhaps three, if that strange Forest took part – star-faring nation-states, all of them determined to win.
"I am Fleet Admiral Wahanna Tokebu, and I am here as emissary of the Katown Imperium. The Imperium claims this star system, associated wormhole, and all connecting Hyperlanes as sovereign territory. All challenges shall be met with violence. All within will submit immediately."
Then she sat back to wait, the broadcast cutting off. It would take time to get a response back, and she might as well do paperwork in the meantime.
When she got a reply, well. It was what she had been expecting.
"This is Admiral Gonagles of the Ingaba Directorate. We have held this system against all comers for years. We will continue to hold this system."
And that's when the rest of the Fleet showed up, right on time.
"Captain, fight your ship," and the mighty KINS
Impeccable Taste, a Dreadnaught, stirred to action.
*-*-*-*
Entering Combat Rounds
Situation
-Hostile Fleet-group has arrived at the Wormhole. Rough estimate of ship-count:
1x 'Dreadnaught'
~30x Battleships of various kinds
~60x Cruisers of various kinds
~300x smaller ships of various kinds
Hostile ECM is preventing full knowledge of their order of battle.
-Allied Fleet-groups are
not concentrated. Rough estimate of ship-count:
~12 Battleships of various kinds
~30 Cruisers of various kinds
~100x smaller ships of various kinds
-Allied Reinforcements are en-route. Unknown numbers.
Turn 10 Combat Vote
Round 1
The Loop Tree is in effect, doubling all non-automatic successes and converting all automatic successes to dice at a 1:1 ratio, and tripling all successes from there.
Growth Actions are currently too slow to take effect on a relevant timescale. Conduct additional research to obtain combat Growth Actions.
Movement actions are currently too slow to take effect on a relevant timescale. Conduct additional research, or grow additional Skimmer Trees, to obtain combat Movement Actions.
Most Research Actions are unavailable due to the impending fight.
Communication Actions
[ ][Action] Convince the Predators to aggressively aid the Forest
-On Success, the Predators will pro-actively seek out and work against threats
-Otherwise, the Predators will only defend the Forest if something lands within it.
-Predators are considered Super-Heavy Interceptors, and are good against Strikecraft and Missiles.
-Requires 20 successes, successes are banked between combat rounds but expire when combat ends.
[ ][Action] Reach out to the Strange Presence
-On success, meet a new faction/polity.
-When against new threats, new allies could prove useful... or not.
-Requires 30 successes, 18/30
[ ][Action] Reach out to the strange new ships
-[ ][Action] Write-in what to speak about / ask / complain about
-Requires 15 successes
[ ][Action] Reach out to the Research Base.
-[ ][Action] Write-in what to speak about.
-Requires 5 successes
Defense Actions
[ ][Action] Erect the Shield! (Magnetic)
-An unknown amount of force is being brought to bear against the Forest, and it must be protected.
-Successes here will act against incoming weapons fire for one combat round.
[ ][Action] Ready a Shard Volley (Crystal)
-This action primes resources to hurl a volley of razor sharp shards of crystal, splintered from the trunks and branches of the Forest itself. Successes are banked against future need, but only to a point – 10 successes per Magnitude of the Forest can be stored. 10.8/40
[ ][Action] Launch a Shard Volley (Crystal)
-There are no targets either in range on en route at this time.
Growth Actions
-Standard Growth Actions are not available at this time. Non-standard growth actions have not been researched.
Offense Actions
[ ][Action] Soothe the Hostile Fleet to mess with their coordination (Psychic)
-Success can prevent ships from acting, or only acting with part of their full complement.
-Opposed Action. Hostile fleet psychic abilities are unknown.
[ ][Action] Magnetize hostile forces or incoming kinetic or explosive weaponry (Magnetic)
-Success can prematurely detonate explosives, deflect kinetics and halt or slow incoming vessels.
-Opposed Action.
[ ][Action] Fire the Beam! (Crystal, Light, Magnetic)
-At the Enemy Fleet, of course.
-The Ingaba are your
Friends!
-For now.
-Will contest against hostile E-War tools for targeting. Successes are currently on a 5 or a 6. Successes will then burn through armor and hull of any ships hit.
Research Actions
-Standard Research Actions are not available at this time. Available Non-standard research actions are listed below.
[ ][Action] Work with the Research Base to penetrate hostile ECM (Light, Magnetic, Gravitic)
-Immediately improve targeting for Fire the Laser, causing a success on a roll of 4, 5 or 6.
-Spread targeting improvements throughout the round for allied forces
-Lasts one combat round, as hostile ECM reconfigures in response.
-Requires 30 successes
[ ][Action] Work with the Research Base to crash-examine captured Missiles (General)
-Understanding the hardware will result in knowledge of
how missile ECCM functions, enabling the Ingaba to shoot down or evade more missiles.
-Also reduces the odds of hitting the Forest, as the Forest learns new ways to trick the missiles. Hostile successes with missiles occur on a 5 or a 6. Can stack with the Twist and Empty Veil powers, reducing missile chances to success on a 6,
followed by a 'standard success' on another die.
-Lasts until the Katown Imperium develops new missile hardware.
-Requires 50 successes
Survival Actions
[ ][Action] Attempt to store resources against future need. (General)
-All successes stored. 164.8 successes banked against recovering future damage or to pay off the debt owed to the Ingaba Directorate.
[ ][Action] Utilize the Twist power to alter the apparent size of the Forest (Gravity)
-This action will change the appearance of the Forest for all incoming weapons fire, potentially generating a miss from what would otherwise be a hit. Should this action succeed, it alters the success tables for all incoming weapons fire, changing from a success on a 4, 5, or 6 to a 5 or a 6.
-This action will only last for the round it is erected during. 0/20.
[ ][Action] Erect the Empty Veil (Void)
-Cloak the Forest from opposing sensors, deliberately hiding it from all forms of detection.
-Opposed Action. Unlike with Shields, the Veil rolls against each other faction individually.
-On success, this will reduce the success tables of all incoming weapons fire for the round much as the Twist power. If both succeed, the missiles will only succeed on a roll of 6.
-This action will only last for the round it is erected during.
Other
[ ][Action] Write-in
-For if you believe I'm missing something. I reserve the right to
disapprove of any write-ins, or appropriate them for other purposes and places.
Focus
Choose
any four actions from the above for the Forest to focus on. These are voted upon by the entire group, and are in addition to the individual actions taken by each member. Multiples should be indicated with a x#, so the second identical action would be x2, etc.
[ ][Focus] Action Name
These Actions will receive a number of automatic successes equal to the Magnitude of the Forest and any bonuses from other sources.
At the moment, the top four focus actions will win, each receiving the focus of the Forest.
Your Votes should look like the following:
[ ][Action] Action
[ ][Focus] Action 1
[ ][Focus] Action 2
[ ][Focus] Action 3
[ ][Focus] Action 4
[ ][Forest] <Yes or No>
Newcomers should add one of the following:
[ ][Tree] Heart Tree
[ ][Tree] Mind Tree
[ ][Tree] Root Tree
This vote will always be open.
*-*-*-*
And here we go, your first
real fight. This will be the, ahem, trial by fire of the combat system in place for this quest. For the duration, voting periods will be sharply defined and updates will - hopefully - come more quickly.
