From the Begining New Chapter Added (9/12/06) [Archive]

Starhawk

October 27th, 2004, 05:07 AM

2400.6
Captain Ross sat in his command chair, eyes fixed on his displays as they focused on the Telcosus warp point, named after it�s discoverer Dr. Paula Telcosus of the Icara university for Astrogation. It was an amazing site as the scanners bombarded the normally invisible warp point with rays designed to make it visible to the crews of starships, it was a massive blue funnel that swirled and shimmered brilliantly in the displays.
�Helm take us in, Pallins dispatch a messenger drone to Icara, inform them we are about to enter the warp point.� although he was calm Ross� was tense, his ship would be the first Icaran starship to enter a warp point in two centuries and no one of present generations even knew what the effects a warp point would have on the crew of a starship.

�Sir�..transition into hyper-space in five zero seconds.� Commander Pallins said as she looked up from the astrogation station she looked excited and yet she was as professional as ever.

�Helm deploy grav field� Ross� didn�t take his eyes off of the nav display as he watched the small green dot of his ship approaching the massive yellow light that represented the warp point.

A small hemispherical module deployed from the prow of the frigate and another deployed from the aft portion of the ship just above the engine housing, as the ship got closer and closer to the warp point the two modules began to glow and the gravity field that allowed transition between real and hyperspace without turning the crew into a pile of so much sludge as had happened to the test animals first sent through warp points centuries ago. And which happened to more then one colony ship who�s grav field generators failed.
But technology had improved drastically in that department and it was believed that no field generator would fail for at least 50 years and that made Ross only moderately moer comfortable as the outer gravity field met with the warp point in a brilliant glowing wave.

�All hands prepare for jump in five��.four��three� the computer counted down as the ship�s after grav field entered the vortex of the warp point and then all time blurred and a wave of nausea swept over the crew of HMS Saber like a shockwave.

�Tactical�..status?� was all Sarah Pallins could mutter before a brilliant flash and then the transition into normal space thumped into reality and in an instant the nausea was gone and al stations began reporting in��they had made it with no damage, though clean up crews be at work in some of the areas of the ships were crewmembers had�.not kept composure.

And before Saber lay the vast expanse of the Telcosus nebulae it�s glowing gas clouds and golden hew covered the entire expanse of what had once been a star system millenia ago it was beautiful but utterly useless to the expansion of Icara as it had no resources or planets to colonize.

�Alright, plot a course for the next warp point helm, Comns launch a messenger drone to inform command that we have found nothing of serious value.� Ross smiled at Pallins and she nodded, it was the beautiful but more then that it was the first interstellar distance any Icaran starship had traveled in centuries but Ross had to remain professional even though he did want to explore the nebulae.

�Sailing Master ETA next warp jump?� Chief Petty Officer Horowitz seemed startled by Pallins and nearly jumped out of his skin as he quickly looked over his station.

�Ma�am ETA next warp jump, is 2 weeks at full thrust ma�am.� Horowitz flushed as he realized just how squeaky his own voice sounded as he replied to his senior officer.

�Thank you Sailing Master, Helm set course maximum thrust.� Pallins voice was harsh but understanding, he was a young man at only 12 Icaran years but he still needed to be prepared and that little display was not professional at al��but they would have 2 weeks to work on that before their next jump. Pallins thought to herself as she looked over to her captain and noticed a slight grin on his face.

Meanwhile the HMS Warrior which had just been constructed and manned headed toward the Swift system and discovered not one but 2 fully life sustaining worlds that would be perfect for Icaran colonists. As well as several resource rich worlds that could be domed and mined to expand on the resource gathering abilities of Icara.

2400.7
HMS Warrior under Captain Thomas walker had warped into the Vaktor system and discovered a nebulae much like that in the Telcosus �system� and her crew marveled at the sight before setting a course for yet another system. She had already charted one close to home and had traversed the entire Norvar system again before warping through Vaktor and after such a long trip her crew was a little disappointed.

Messenger drones from all three ships brought back interesting astrological data but unfortunately most of it was of limited use to Icara, though two colony ships were already planned to colonize the new worlds.

Meanwhile Ross and his crew had explored another Nebulae named Belican and set course for yet another warp point.

narf poit chez BOOM

October 27th, 2004, 01:45 PM

Captain Ross sat in his command chair, eyes fixed on his displays as they focused on the Telcosus warp point, named after it�s discoverer Dr. Paula Telcosus of the Icara university for Astrogation. It was an amazing site as the scanners bombarded the normally invisible warp point with rays designed to make it visible to the crews of starships, it was a massive blue funnel that swirled and shimmered brilliantly in the displays.
People generally don't think like that, ie, in info-dumps.

Starhawk

October 27th, 2004, 04:38 PM

woops :p but then again I did write that at 4:30 AM http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/tongue.gif
But what do you think about the rest of the story?

Starhawk

October 27th, 2004, 05:40 PM

2400.8-9
HMS Saber proceeded from the Telcosus nebulae to the Licha In, warp point to make her second exploratory jump.
�Approaching Licha In warp point�..ETA three minutes.� Helmsman Johan Burke announced in a bored tone as he watched the chronometer on his panel count down the minutes to jump.
The sensors were showing that wondrous blue vortex growing in size fast as the Saber closed in at 6 gees.

�Thank you helmsman.� Commander Pallins was bored as well, it had been two weeks spent in this nebulae and although it was a beauty it was useless to the expansion of Icara and the crew was getting frustrated with the constant monotony of day after day of nothing but soup in the visual displays and nothing but battle drills and card games to keep them busy for two weeks.
The lift door slid open and Captain Ross stepped onto the bridge still buttoning his tunic and wiping the sleep out of his eyes desperately trying to look like three hours of sleep was enough as he took over the Last few minutes of the watch so he could oversee the warp jump personally.

Three minutes later the grav field began to glow against the warp point and the familiar nausea swept over the crew for the moment they were in warp space, seconds later the Licha In system lay ahead of them.
Licha was a massive system by Norvor standards with 15 planets of varying size and Ross felt a massive wave of relief come over him as he noticed the readout, finall something for his crew to do after weeks of boredom, now they could do their job and survey the planets of an actual star system.

Meanwhile in Icara�s shipyards the massive form of another colony ship set course for the Swift system to colonize one of her two inhabitable worlds, and shortly after their launch the keel for HMS Repulse was laid, and her crew completed their training..

A month later HMS Repulse launched from her berth and took up stationary orbit of Icara to protect her while the other two frigates of her class explored star systems in an effort to expand the Icaran�s borders.

Starhawk

October 27th, 2004, 07:35 PM

2401.0
The massive colony ship entered Sparta's atmosphere and formed a massive fireball as her heat shielded mass met the higher then normal friction of Sparta's thick atmosphere.

Duke Leonard Panowsky had used his own personal wealth the massive colony ship and he didn't let colonists or his peers forget it.

As he strode onto the command deck of the massive vessel he sneered at the privately hired civilian command crew, they were little more then ants to him but for the moment he needed them and he hated needing commoners to do anything for him and they knew it.

But as he saw the surface of the planet as the ship broke through the cloud layer he couldn't help but smile, not at it's inherant beauty for Sparta was rather devoid of any attractive land features as it was mainly rock with a few "forests" that were little more then moss covered oxygen producing swamplands, no he was smiling because this ugly world would be all his it would give him prestige to back his "honorary" dukedom not to mention an actual realm to rule over as back on Icara he was little more then a merchant and was looked down upon by the land owning nobles but no more.

An hour later the massive colony ship landed and squads of heavily armed scouts left her bays on ground effect speeders to make sure there were no predatory creatures near their landing zone. Meanwhile armed engineering crews began loading up the prefab defense walls onto the large Anti grav trucks so that when their scouts reported back they could construct the perimiter of their new city.

Sparta city would be unlike most cities on Icara for three reasons, the 36 million inhabitants was larger then most Icaran cities housed, it's buildings were all prefabs, not a single one of them bore the distinctive stonework of Icaran architecture and the third reason was that her perimiter would be surrounded by a three meter thick bLasteel wall with automated defense laser cannons to protect the city's inhabitants from the many predatory animals that were spotted during the initial surveys of Sparta including the elephant sized beast known as the Kraken after a mythological beast of old Earth.

Meanwhile :

The charting of the Tempel and Akritri star systems brought new possibilities for Icara as several colonizable worlds were discovered, mostly they would need domes but they were all rich in minerals and other resources vital to Icara.

2401.3
Sparta's sister world New Caldonia was colonized by a government funded "pathfinder" expedition to establish military and resourcing facilities on world as soon as possible.

2401.4-7:
Exploration continued but nothing of major value occured within the Spartan heald territories. The colonies reported their first "homeworld" births and exciting reports of new resources began to pour in to Icaran Merchants and government agencies back home on Sparta.

2401.8 New Discovery and a New Threat
HMS Repulses' Captain and crew were were expecting a routine jump as they entered the Fornax Warp point so most of the crew was off duty or asleep.
Captain Bradley's crew had proved themselves many times to him and he thought proudly they had proved themselves to the Admiralty by charting not one but two star systems so he always allowed non essential personal to relax when not conducting drills or charting worlds especially during the late hours of the night like this.

As he looked over the Last shift's report Bradley felt a slight twinge in his stomache and noticed that they must have entered the warp point's field, Bradley was one of those few people that was not effected by the warp jump effect and by the way some of his crew had described the experience he was glad of it.

As HMS Repulse slipped out of the warp point all hell broke loose on the bridge as the lights turned red and alerts hooted throughout the ship, computer controlled tactical systems suddenly displayed not one but two sources of energy in system and without needing orders the tac officer swung into action running advanced scans.

"Tac what the hell is going on?!" Bradely snapped as his executive officer and the marine Seargent ran onto the bridge at the same time.

"Sir I am reading a vessel in system, as well as a planetary source of energy." Tactical officer Leona Simmons said coldly as she fed her scanning information to the Captain's display.

An energy signature that could only belong to a ship of moderate size was at a distance of 10 light minutes out from his own frigates' position but more worrying there was a world that was only 1 light minute out that was showing signs of habitation.

"Helm lay in a course for that world, I think we should try to make contact.....Commander Ripley launch a messenger drone to inform Naval command that we have a first contact situation." Bradley took note of the energy signature and swallowed hard as he realized that no human power plants could produce that signature, at least none that he knew of and that likely meant that this really was a first contact and not simply a contact with another Human group.

Twenty hours and twelve minutes after Repulse had set course for the unknown colony they were in communications range.

"Comns open all frequencies." Bradley's voice was steele and to his suprise he felt no anxiety or fear, afterall this was his job, he thought to himself.

The comn officer nodded to him and Bradley stood up to make the speech he had been tought back in the academy but just as he was about to speak an alarm at the tactical station buzzed, as he jerked to face Ensign Simmons, the look on his face made her wince as she punched a few buttons.

After a moment the young woman looked up at her Captain oviously fearing his wrath "Sir, they have accessed our communications database, I tried to put up firewalls but I've never seen anything like this before." she looked down again and kept punching in codes frantically.

Bradely didn't doubt that she was telling the truth about it being nothing she had ever seen before but he also found the "covering my ***" tone oddly amusing.

Just as the alarm stopped and Simmons sighed in relief beleiving she had finally blocked the access the comn officer just about jumped out of his seat as he set the comn net to bridgewide.

A very alien voice began to echo across the bridge and the entire command crew sat stunned as the eery voice made it's demands.

You have entered Phong Federation space and violeted the boundries of one of our outPosts you will stand down all engines and weapons and turn yourselves over to us at once, if you do not we willl destroy you.....you have five minutes to decide your fate.

"I'll be damned first." Bradley snapped to himself as he personally cut off the comn circut.

"Cocky sonofa***** isn't he?" Commander Ripley said in a grim tone as he sat his station next to the Captain's command chair.

"Indeed mister Ripley, I think we can safely assume that ship we detected is a warship." Bradley's voice was as cold as ever but his eyes burned with anger, how dare they demand his surrender, he'd be damned to the lowest depths of hell before being the first Icaran navy captain to surrender his ship to anybody much less an alien race.

"Tactical officer I want to know what that outpost has right now." Bradely said as he nodded to Commander Ripley to sound general quarters.

"I am reading thrirty-six million I repeat three-six million inhabitants, multiple mining operations and nearest I can guess a spaceport faciltiy sir." Simmons hands moved skillfully over her controls as throughout the ship klaxons and drumrolls brought the 130 navy officers and Ratings and 20 marines running to their stations.

"Gunnery crews report ready, missile tubes loaded, all hands reporting ready at battlestations Captain." Ripley announced with a satisfied tone.

"Very well, aquire targets on surface....and get me an ETA on that warship." Bradley continued issuing orders as his crew perpared for the first combat action of an Icaran starship in recorded history.

"Sir, they say our time is up!" Comns announced hoarsely as the alien message came in.

"Sir ETA on that warship's intercept is 200 hours." Simmons said as she aquired target locks on planet.

Captain Bradley restled with his emotions, killing 36 million people would ensure that his ship and crew was safe but it was 36 million sentient beings...he looked around at his bridge crew, from young face to young face and then considered the billions back home that could be threatened by this race, and his duty to the Praetor became clear.

"All guns fire, missile tubes one and two fire, level that planet!" At his order the crew silently snapped into action, all three cannons and both missile tubes fired.

As the three ultra high speed cannon rounds slammed into the surface outpost massive craters were cut into the domed facility inflicting heavy losses on the populace but even that was nothing compared to what happened when the two fusion missiles slammed into the planet's surface...massive spheres of energy plumed from the city laying waste to miles of buildings and killing millions n their immediate vicinity. Thousands more would have died of radiation poisoning had they had the chance, fortuneately for them they would not get the chance as the next volley of cannon rounds leveled more buildings and killed hundreds.
After five minutes and a third volley of cannon fire the second volley of missiles was on it's way and then a fourth cannon volley.

The Last few Phong that had survived the initial onslaughts were massacred as the second wave of missiles blew the Last parts of the outpost away....the only question now was what would the enemy frigate do?

Starhawk

October 28th, 2004, 01:49 PM

2401.9 Interception and Battle
Captain Bradley and the crew of HMS Repulse were on edge as their the enemy frigate's light signal drew closer on the tactical display.

"Sir we're gaining on her, we should get her before she reaches the warp point." Commander Ripley's voice was anxious as she watched the chronometer and counted off the speeds of the two warships.

Meanwhile Haden supply base had been established on the Phong Frontier to establish a forward base for any ships in that region.
Another supply base had been established on the opposite edge of the frontier to keep ships on exploratory missions for a longer period of time.
The Phong Frigate was no faster or slower then it's Icaran counterpart under normal circumstances, but these were not normal circumstances as the Icarans had the advantage of slingshoting themselves around the planet using their forward GFG to repulse them off the atmosphere and then kicking in their after GFG to shove them along at nearly 100 gees, from that point on all they needed to do was coast along on their normal drives to overtake the Phong.
The chase had been going on for the Last two days with the Repulse slowley overtaking the Phong warship and now it was down to a matter of an hour before intercept, the entire crew was at battlestations her missile tubes had been loaded, and her cannons charged, even though with their enemy still 200,000 kilometers off a hit was impossible from either weapon.

The Phong were headed for the warp point and if they made it physics would take over, there would be no way Repulse could catch up to her, and for all Ross knew that enemy warship would head streight for Icaran space, afterall the Norvor system (home system of Icara it's self) was only three jumps away and with her fleet out exploring Icara would be utterly defenseless.

"Captain we are closing, in weapons range in five minutes." Tactical officer Simmons announced as her eyes remained fixed on the light dot that represented the Phong warship.
With a sudden gasp her voice chimed again "Captain! make that two minutes she's turning about to engage us!"

"Thank you Lieutenant my compliments..." Ross smiled to himself as he noticed how startled the young officer was that the enemy Captain would turn about to engage her hunter.

Two minutes passed as the warships closed on one another but finally Repulse was in range and she could do what she had been built for, fighting another warship of a hostile power.

"Guns, launch missiles from tubes one and two." Ross said coldly as the enemy frigate came in range.

Two massive fusion missiles launched from their tubes and began closing on the enemy ship at .4c. Both missiles were equipped with a "compressed control fusion warhead" which generally meant that it was a nuclear bLast focused into a "bottle" that could blow a nice hole in a starship or within an atmosphere it could level entire city blocks while keeping radiation to a minimum.
As the two missiles closed the enemy ship suddenly jerked to her right and fired two tiny cannons in rapid vollies until the first missile exploded, thousands of little slugs sprayed at the second missile but it was already in too close and moving to fast...

"Got a hit captain!" Simmons voice was jubilant as the main display showed a brilliant flash on the hull of the enemy frigate, debris and atmosphere spilled out of the whole but still the enemy came on.

"Sir they are in cannon range......they're firing!" Commander Simmons sounded tense as the monitors showed three fast moving cannon rounds closing in on them.

The Phong frigate was armed with four Depleted Uranium cannons, one of which had been blown apart by their first missile impact.

Three was enough however as the three slugs slammed into the hull of Repulse and the frigate rocked as fire sprayed from the breached hull and debris spilled out into space.

"Sir we've had a hit on decks A and B, we have a hull breach." Commander Ripley switched her personal disply monitor to the damage control camera's in the effected area and almost vomitted in her preasure helmet as she saw bodies smashed against the bulkhead or thrown into space as the atmosphere of the entire section was sucked into the void.
The ones that had been sucked into space still had hope as the crews of Icaran warships were equipped with vac suits just in case of hull breach but those who had been slammed into the bulkheads had been torn apart by the force or had been speared by flying debris.

"Sir cannon two is gone, I'm reading damage and casualty reports from the effected areas." Comns Officer Thompson sounded suprisingly calm for a man of his young years but his eyes flashed rage as he read the casualty reports coming in.

The Repulse maneuvered into position where she could fire her surviving two cannons, as she closed on the Phong, silver flares announced the firing of both her cannons and two resounding bLasts on the Phong's hull showed two direct hits. Hull plating and atmosphere sprayed into space, bodies and wreckage drifted free from the frigate as the enemy ship continued to close.

"She's down to one quarter speed, I am only reading one cannon intact." Simmons voice was almost cheerful as the Icaran frigate moved out of range of the enemy frigate.

"Finish this, fire missile tube one and both cannons." Bradley's voice was pure venom as he gave the order to destroy the ship that had killed an unknown number of his crew.

Seconds later the missile impacted followed swiftly by two Depleted Uranium shells and the Phong frigate began tearing it's self apart from the inside out as explosions rent her hull....flares of energy and wreckage burst forth as the Last intact remnants of the hull blew apart.

The victory was sweet clear but Repulse had paid the price for it, one of her cannons, her comn systems and even her forward grav field generator were destroyed by the enemy shots that impacted her hull. Twenty crewman had died and another ten were wounded in the attack meaning that almost a third of the crew, and that made Bradley feel sick.

HMS Repulse limped her way home, it would take months and she woudl likely run out of all supplies as she made it into the Norvor system but at least she had emmerged victorious.

2402.0-2402.5
The Icaran exploration expeditions continued in ernest as the Royal Navy began searching regions of space for suitable colony sites to expand.

Meanwhile the HMS Repulse had returned home a hero, and was towed into port for repairs and remanning.

Starhawk

October 28th, 2004, 03:29 PM

2402.6 Welcome to the fleet.
Commander Sandra Fowler stood in front of the large viewport in the off duty rec area aboard HMSS Wycoff orbital shipyards and looked out upon the two famous Saber class frigates that were in port with awe.
HMS Repulse was still undergoing heavy repairs and the massive hole in her port side stood out like a sore thumb on such the grey hull and Fowler couldn't help but wince when she saw such a beautiful ship scarred so badly.

Her attention drifted a little to the stern of the damaged frigate and her mood brightened a little as she saw HMS Saber herself docked in port, her gleaming grey hull with that unscarred perfection, the shimering pure white prow with the Royal blue trim at the front of the ship made Saber look almost like a dagger to the newly promoted Commander, the sight filled her with confidence as she remembered that she would Command such a vessel some day soon.
She tried to remember what she could about the Frigate's when she had first been assigned to the orbital shipyards and one paragraph stood out in her mind.

(The prow of a warship was not simply decoration, it was where the forward gfg was located and perhaps almost as importantly it was where the ship's two missile tubes were located, hidden under armored plating as she waited in port. Her dagger shape is in fact why the frigate recieved her name.)

A slight click behind her snapped her attention back to the present as the young captain turned around and tensed to attention, reflexivley saluting the man behind her. "Sir!" her voice trembled slightly and she couldn't help but reproach herself.
The older man simply saluted back and smiled politely, he wore the gold tri-star of a Rear Admiral on the cuffs of his space black tunic and the dark blue troUsers wore the red stripe of a "non-combat" officer as apposed to the white of a fleet officer.

"At ease Captain......we need to talk." his voice sounded lighthearted but his eyes considered her seriously as he calmly walked next to her and looked out of the viewport.

"What about Admiral Ralley?" her voice was finally under control but her nerves were not, somehow even though Ralley always came across as fatherly he always made her very nervious, ever since her days at the Academy.

"Well Commander I have good news for you, but you'll need to meet me in my office at 0500 hours if you want to find out. "Ralley smiled at her again and without even giving her a chance to ask him another question he walked of down the corridor.
As Fowler realized what time he had mentioned she groaned to herself quietly, still four hours away by the station's clock....she figured she'd better get a little sleep first and walked casually to her quarters.

*****

Commander Fowler walked into the office of Admiral Ralley rather cautiously, as if she were walking into a room full of tree vipers and stopped up short when she noticed who sat at Ralley's desk with him.
"Captain Ross!...." Fowler said rather sheepishly as she snapped to attention and saluted as smartly as she could manage.
Ralley made her nervious enough because of his rank but now she a bonified hero sitting in front of her, Ross hadn't seen any combat action like Bradley had but he was a hero none the less and Fowler noted he wasn't much older then her.

"At ease Commander" Ralley said with a smile as Ross stood and offered his hand to the young woman, she took it out of reflex and shook it crisply before letting go just as quickly (mainly to hide the fact that when she got nervious her hands trembled a little).

Ross showed her to her seat and looked over to Ralley with what could only be called a grin on his holostar handsom face. "Well Ralley you are right, she is young." his voice was more human then Fowler had expected.
She almost blushed at the remark before remembering what Ralley had told her back in the Academy, something about no officer ever got anywhere blushing like a Feldoni Peakock.

Both her superiors laughed softly a moment before Ralley focused on her, those peircing grey eyes seemingly sizing her up.
"Sandra Captain Ross is going to be transfered from his command in two months to a new ship that the Shiptech boys beleive is the (wave of the future) or some such like that." His smile grew broader and Ross grinned back.
"Well anyway Commander, he was given a list of all available officers that had the seniority or grade to command a ship of their own and we were wondering if you had any sugjestions for his replacement?" Riley's smile disapeared instantly and he looked at her quite seriously.

The youung woman's mind raced as she began considering all the officers she knew of that were of the proper qualifications and grade when Ralley suddenly started smiling again.

"Relax Sandra, he chose you after I told him what a good officer you are, congratulations Commander, though it won't be official till Ross takes command of his new ship." Ralley had always backed the cadets from his class but Sandra was a special case to him, she was almost like a daughter to him because of all the hours he had to spend with her, helping kick her butt into shape so she could graduate the academy, and the swell of pride in his eyes could have made the room light up.

After a few seconds of letting it sink in Sandra too began to smile and thanked her superiors for almost twenty minutes streight before Ross offered to give her a tour of her future command.

Enterprise
The "new command" Ralley had been talking about was a new class of starship that had been designed at the Wycoff's own Shiptech bureau, they called it a destroyer.
The Enterprise class was 50,000 tons more massive and half again the size of a 300m frigate. More then that she packed an extra missile tube, a fourth cannon and a new weapon called a "sprint missile" launcher which was a close in high speed weapon designed to increase the close in killing power against Point Defense weapons.
The first ship of the new class HMS Enterprise would be finished in two months and when she was launched she would be the largest ship in the Icaran navy (for a time anyway) and she would be Captained by a living legend.
With the new threat on the frontier these new warships would be more necessary than ever now.

Starhawk

October 28th, 2004, 05:44 PM

Icaran Ship Classes:

Saber Class
Size: Frigate
Crew: 150
Weapons:
2 Missile Tubes
3 Cannons

Enterprise Class
Size: Destroyer
Crew: 320
Weapons:
2 Missile Tubes
4 Cannons
1 Sprint Missile launcher

Next installment coming soon http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Starhawk

October 28th, 2004, 10:34 PM

"2402.8 Setting Sail old and new
HMS Enterprise was the biggest nastiest mother in the Royal Navy and as far as Ross was concerned that could go for the whole galaxy. She was as fast as her smaller cousins but she packed a LOT more firepower for her size.
This was just a shakedown cruise Ross reminded himself, they were going to test out her engines by doing a loop around the system and then head out to Brandenburg where they would commence weapons tests on drones and an old freighter that had met an unfortunate end at the hands of an asteroid storm when she was abandoned by her crew.
The freighter was five times the mass of Enterprise so the Admiralty figured even her scorched up gutted old hull would serve as a great weapons test for this new toy of theirs and that was all fine with Ross he just wanted to take her out of port.

But the first ship out of port was his old command HMS Saber under the command of Brevet Captain Sandra Fowler and watching her leave port ahead of him brought a lump to the Captain's throat, she was smaller and less well armed but she had been his ship until this point and now he had to entrust her to Fowler and hope that kid didn't screw up.
******

"Helm, set course for the Beta Triaron warp point at maximum thrust once we've cleared spacedock." Fowler's voice was the professional cold tone they had taught back at the academy but inside her guts felt like a bunch of butterflies, yeah if they were vomitting she thought to herself as her helmsman acknowledged her order.

HMS Saber moved silently out of dock in orbit of Icara with pride, she was leaving on a simple guard mission to protect the newly established Haden Supply base on the Phong Border but it was something that was deemed necessary by the admiralty.
As Sandra rememberd Rear Admiral Lord Ralley even went so far as to calling the diplomats whom had established an unguaded supply base with a "large civilian population on the frontier with a hostile power a bunch of blustering idiots with no military sense beyond what they saw in the holotheatre!", he was probobly right but the young Commander couldn't help but grin to herself as she remembered a navy man calling a bunch of nobles blustering idiots with no sense.
Her ship would take a few months to arrive at Haden but it would give her time to get to know her crew, including her new Exec 1st Lieutenant Tiara Somal from Brandenburg....all in all it was looking like it was going to be a good cruise.

2403.1 Tragedy
It had been 3 months of cruising at full speed when HMS Saber finally reached her destination, and none too soon she neeted resupply and some of her crew needed to be sent groundside if only for a day or two.
As they warped throuh the node and entered the Escandor system morale was high and Sandra Fowler was looking forward to meeting the base' commander as he had been an old classmate of hers back at the academy.

The warp jump was met with the usual nausea by the crew and the usual grumbling as it wore off and Sandra frowned for a moment as her stomach settled back into it's proper place.

"Helm lay in a course for Handra supply ba....." Her sentince was never finished alarms and klaxon hooted and screamed throughout the ship as the tactical officer sounded the automatic general quarters alert that was required when an enemy starship was detected.

"What the hell is this about?!" Sandra snapped at her Tac officer over the howling klaxons and almost instantly Sandra was kicking herself over the loss of control in her voice.

The tactical officer looked sick as he looked up, his face was sheet white and tears seemed to swell in his eyes as his shaky voice announed "Ma'am Handra base is gone....there's no beacon, no energy traces nothing...they're just gone."

Fowler fealt a wave of gut wrenching fear wash through her as she considered the possibilities but she didn't let any of it show as she simply nodded to the tactical officer.
"Tactical, make sure there isn't a malfunction, it's possible their generators were just knocked out by an accident...run more scans as we close." her voice was controlled this time as the klaxons stopped howling now that her crew was at full battlstations and each secton had punched the "go" button which signalled their readiness.

Saber closed for two days before the cause of th loss of contact became clear, the surface of the planet was nothing but scorched earth for miles upon miles, none of it looked nuclear which told her it would match the attack pattern of a Phong warship....there were even craters miles outside of where the outpost had once been sugjesting that the bastards had shelled all signs of Icaran life on the surface.
That theory was quickly confirmed as battle sensors detected the presence of a Phong frigate at the far side of the planet (which explained why she hadn't been detected until now).

The need for revenge burned in Sandra's blood as she considered the 32 million Icarans that lay dead on the planets surface and now the Phong who killed them would die even if she had to get out of her ship and ram a knife down their yellow throats herself.
"Captain the Phong Frigate is closing at her maximum speed, tactical computers recognize her as a Annihilator class frigate, the same kind encountered by HMS Repulse." Commander Somal's heavy accent sounded venomus and cruel as she said the words.
Sandra swollowed hard as she memories of the split open hull of Repulse burned at the back of her mind....they would not do that to her ship damnit....not if she could help it.
"Guns, get me missile lock as soon as possible, cannon crews one through three stand by, we are going to run right down her throat." Fowler snapped the visor of her vac helm closed and her crew did likewise, they had all seen the pictures of those poor spacers from Repulse who hadn't managed to get their visors down in time or had their vac suits compromised.

Saber fired both missile tubes, 2 fusion missiles streaked across space, their ion trails like two snakes weaving across the stars as they sought their prey.
One of the missiles was quickly destroyed by the enemy ship's point defenses but the second missile easily peirced her defenses and a magnificent explosion erupted from her hull where it struck home, one of her cannons and an engine exploded flames as the initial impact spread but she still came on.

"Ma'am they are closing to cannon range!" The Weapons officer announced as the enemy ship flew past Saber firing their cannons as they went, two shots missed but the third impacted on Sabers' hull doing moderate damage and wounding several crewmen.

"Helm, turn us about I want to fire streight into her backside!" Fowler's lip curled as the damage report came in.
The Icaran frigate swept around behind the Phong frigate and opened up on it with all three of her cannons, two shots slammed streight into her engines blowing them to peices the third shot went higher then the enemy ships engine block and knocked one of her cannon turrets clean off. The gunnery crews fealt a surge of pride at their strikes but the enemy used the one engine she still had left to turn about and return fire.
The first enemy shot passed within inches of the main bridge but the second shot struck home on Saber's prow fortunately it did little damage.
Saber's missile tubes spat out another volley as she took advantage of her full engines and passed by the enemy frigate racking it with a broadside from her cannons.
As the Icaran frigate passed the enemy warship her missiles struck home on the battered hulk that remained and their explosions tore the ship's entire front end off, secondary explosions turned what was left of the frigate into burning wreckage.

"My compliments gunnery crews, you to guns." She smiled at her weapons officer as her voice echoed her pride over the comns. But still she fealt sick as she looked back to Harden and saw the wreckage and craters that had once been so many lives.
Fowler pressed a button on her control panel and a voice responded.
"Chief Engineer Mullins here." a tired sounding voice replied from the other end.

"Damage report chief?" Fowler dreaded the reply, she knew her ship had been hit twice in the battle and Repulse had only been it twice when her port side was torn open in a 20 meter hole.

"We've lost in-system communications and all but wo of our messenger drones were blown apart when the prow launcher was knocked out....other then that all we need is a resupply and a minor overhaul." Engineer Mullins sounded frustrated at the damage that had been sustained but mixed with that he also sounded very releived that the damage had been light.

They wouldn't need in-system comns anyway Sandra thought bitterly as she continued checking with section heads to get the full status of her ship after that action....1 crewman was killed and 8 wounded but it had been far less then she expected.

Two hours later, after personally inspecting her ship she ordered one of her two remaining messenger drones launched out of her port missile tube to inform Icara of what had happened, on it was a scathing reproach to the certain "nobles" who had endorsed Harden's construction before any military escort could be managed along with a report that she would stay on her post until such time as reinforcments could arrive or a courier was sent to inform her to withdraw.

Fowler also had the second drone prepared with a blank message recorder just in case her ship was attacked by a superior force and she was destroyed or forced to withdraw.

dogscoff

October 29th, 2004, 07:42 AM

Wow, great stuff. Your Icarans certainly are uncompromising. It's nice to see someone portray a culture of vicious, expansionist bastards rather than another galaxy full of boringly enlightened Trek/ Manticoran style utopians.

Atrocities

October 29th, 2004, 08:13 PM

I have to agree, great stuff. Looking forward to more. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/laugh.gif

Starhawk

October 29th, 2004, 10:16 PM

The next chapter will come tomorrow most likely as I want to flesh out my ideas of how to write it (It's gonna be a big one trust me).

Heh well if you don't mind me saying so, and if this doesn't make me sound a little freaky. Humans are Humans and Icara is in an era where a single battle squadron could destroy an entire planet and kill you entire nation if you let down your guard so they don't have room to be compromising or "enlightened" so although by my story's viewpoint they are the "good guys" it's more accurate to say they are survivors and if they have to eliminate others they will if it ensures that survival.

I never understood why so many writers assume that a futuristic Humanity would be so peaceful and willin to coexist with others, I mean when you stop and think about it sure we are more likely to become much more merciful and "enlightened" when it comes to "our own kind" that being nations but when humanity spreads to the stars (if ever) do they honestly think every colony will have the same heritage or beleifs as each other? I doubt it.
Most likely something like the HH Universe will happen where Humanity divides into seperate "star nations" and although I doubt the future would be nothing but war all the time I doubt it will only be "evil aliens" that want to wipe us out lol.

The Icaran galaxy in this story is somewhat restricted to game terms (I.E. My "cold war" with a certain faction is entirely roleplay and the AI probobly doesn't realize it is a cold war) but as far as the story its self goes, these are colonies that launched from earth Hundreds of years ago and are now stepping out to find a galaxy that is theirs for the taking and where other human factions and even an alien faction "phong" are intent on the same prize.
And to any nation that has the chance to rule not just it's own planet but an entire galaxy deciding to be oh so goody and peaceful with everyone around them will probobly result in their being annexed by a power that did not feel so "enlightened".

Icara is brutal where brutality is required (unlike the Federation which always managed to show compassion even where brutality would have ended the war much soon) and the Empire needs resources for it's economy to survive so colonies are needed for that.
And let's not forget that a world with Icara's very low infant mortality rate and advanced medicines and life prolonging treatments will have population growth that can't be handled by one planet forever, and so more worlds are also required for land or else you'd have overcrowding and poverty everywhere.

Anyway should I have saved that for the storyline or is it okay that I explained Icara's motives and "justifications" to you out of the story?

Intimidator

October 30th, 2004, 07:57 AM

[Quote] I'll explain the look of Icaran ships later for those who havn't seen the pics I displayed on-line. but for now I'm off to read HH
Oh and although I will likely play more then one turn at a time I'm going to take this story slowly enough to make sure it's good [Quote]

As I understand you actually play this games which you describes. If so, maybe it is possible for you to put some .gam file on the net every 10 turns or so (or if something important happens)

So we could read the story, and take a look on the empire if we like , and maybe have some questions about stuff you didn't wrote about (yet).

And offcourse we could see the shipsets off all those Humans you found...................

Intimidator

Starhawk

October 30th, 2004, 11:57 PM

As Promised
Next Installment:

2403.2-2404.0
�Praetor Lysander we no longer have a choice, the Handra supply base must be re-colonized if we do not keep a permanent fleet base in that system we are just asking for those Phong to invade us!.� Admiral Lord Tyson Babcock had a habit-a rather annoying one as far as Lysander was concerned-of keeping his voice low and polite even when he was chewing someone�s *** off, and since day one of the first colony�s launch he had condemned those lords who overruled the Admiralty about sending millions of civilians to the original Haden base.
�Praetor I agree with Tyson on this matter, the original colonization was the biggest blunder our nation has made so far and I think not sending another expedition would be even more foolish.� Alexander Hallice, Lord High Admiral of the entire Icaran Royal Navy was far more stubborn and held a lot more credit then his lesser known colleague within the nobility of Icara and as such his word on any matter could shake even Lysander�s views around.
�Opening that doorway now would lead to a war we can not win, our resources at this time are to unstable and our navy too small to repel any invasion from that particular region of space Your Highness, however I do not believe we should send this colony into the fray unguarded like our lordships did it�s predecessor.� Hallice hid the traces of a grimace of disgust by taking a sip of the hot Icaran coffee that he had all too rarely these days.�
�Isn�t HMS Saber on location Sir?� Babcock raised his right eyebrow as his superior cocked his head in a manner he often did while he thought about important matters.
�Yes but she is low on supplies and munitions, and I doubt a single frigate could neutralize an entire Phong squadron, don�t you?� Just the tone in his voice as he looked over to his Praetor suggested that he knew Saber wouldn�t stand a chance on that post alone no matter what any arrogant lordship thought.
�You realize Admirals that to authorize something that would cost that much money and that many resources I would have to grant the house of lords permission to send a full fledged colony expedition don�t you?� Lysander frowned as he thought of the amount of pain his *** would be in over the next few days trying to convince the lords to at least minimize the number of colonists they sent.
�Well then our lordships would certainly want better defense wouldn�t they your highness?� Hallice said with a distinctive grin as he finished sipping his coffee and placed his cup gracefully on the table. Hallice was almost 80 Terran Years old but thanks to modern medicine he looked like a man a third his age, and his mind certainly held every ounce of wit and tactical knowledge it had over 50 years ago.
�What are you proposing Alexander?� Lysander asked in a deliberate manner as he thought about just how much money this whole operation would cost his Nation, not to mention the time and resources.
�Oh, well Admiral HMS Saber should certainly stay on station, our supply base on Handra-the new name given it by The Admiralty-can certainly fix her up and get her in shape once we�ve established even a basic infrastructure there.� Hallice paused a moment cocking his head in thought as numbers and names plied through his rapier like mind.
�HMS Enterprise Can certainly leave within the month, the asteroid damage she sustained pulling that freighter out of the Swift asteroid belt will be repaired by then, and I can guess Ross would like to get out in real space again instead of getting stuck at home with one of only three destroyers in the fleet.
And I beleive HMS Farrogot can be ready a month after that, considering the construction time of a colony ship and it�s slower speeds compared to our new destroyers, I think both destroyers will be on station only a month after initial colonization.� The High Admiral hummed quietly as he thought.
�And I think the next two destroyers built at Icara and Brandenburg could arrive there in about 6 months so we�ll have an entire effective battle group there within a years time.� Alexander grinned again as his Praetor began to nod. Braddock too was nodding. A decent battle group of four destroyers and a frigate would definitely be enough to guard that border, and maybe even go on the offensive, as long as they could keep the lords out of this.
�Good idea Alexander, I do believe I can overrule the Lords on the matter of numbers of ships easily, after all the defense of our Nation is the only concern we should have right now, and if any of those Lords or Ladies turn this down I�ll remind them of the mistakes the collegues made with the first colony.� Lysander nearly spat as he considered those five lords who now hung dead and cryopreserved outside of the Admiralty building (showing just how the navy felt about fools), those five who had gone behind the backs of the house of Lords and given �unofficial� permission for several companies to ready a colony for Haden, those same five lords who then refused to allow a naval presence to escort the colony ship under the excuse of it �making the colony ship a target for hostile forces�. Instead 1 million soldiers and 31 million civilians were blown apart by a single enemy frigate that could have been stopped by Saber!
�Admiral do you believe that Saber can protect that base by herself before those warships arrive?� Lysander�s tone was bitter as nightmare images rushed into his memory, the images taken from Haden by remote drones.
�Highness, I believe Saber can protect her from any one ship, and possibly any two ships we�ve seen those yellow bastards throw at us thus far.� Hallice said with an unusual gusto as he absently fixed one of the stars on his collar.
�Then Admirals, you have a go, just get those two destroyers ready for deployment before I have to talk to the lords, or at least make it look like they are ready.� Lysander said with a wink as he guided his guests to the door.

*************
�Sir, now that we have approval for the deployment of an entire squadron to Handra do you believe we can get the go ahead on an assault into Fornax?� Babcock asked quietly as he and the High Admiral walked along the great corridor of the Capital Building.
�I think His Highness will give us permission to do anything it takes to defend Handra base, if that happens to include going into Fornax and removing any threatening presence in said system.� The glean in Hallice� eyes was clear as he looked at his junior officer and smiled, he liked Babcock though he really couldn�t figure out just what about the energetic young man (only 42 E-Years) he liked."Then so be it." He finished with a smile.
�Excellent Sir!, with your permission I�ll get together with Captain�s Ross and Holly later and discuss possible maneuvers they can take to force the Phong into making themselves a �reasonable threat�. Babcock�s own face lit as he considered the possibilities. Though he would have preferred to be in the field himself, commanding a fleet in battle, but unfortunately for him and just about seventy-two percent of all IRN personnel there just weren�t enough ships to crew much less form a full �fleet� worthy of the name�.though within a few years that would hopefully all be changed.
�Very good Admiral, I�ll have discuss the new naval budget with the House of Commons and the rest of the Admiralty tomorrow morning.� The smile turned to a sour grimace as the Admiral considered the meeting that lay before him, he hated talking about money and �resource allocation� but now a days that seemed to be more of a hot topic for him then strategy and command.
The two Admirals talked idly as they walked down the long corridors to head to their respective duties.

Five months later the new colony ship set down on Handra base and Captain Sandra Fowler�s ship turned her running lights to a blinking row pattern signaling her salute to the nobleman aboard her.
A month later the destroyer pair of Enterprise and Farrogot arrived to take up station around Handra, both ships signaling salute to their �little sister� as Saber was affectionately called by the two destroyer�s crews.

2404.1-4
�Sir incoming missile at point three, oh five niner!� Tactical officer Remeraz blurted as the main battle screen in Enterprise's bridge showed 3 yellow dots appear at a range of just under five thousand clicks.
�Helm, Evasive maneuver Jager Nine two.� Ross voice was icy as his helmsman began twisting and turning the Icaran destroyer in an attempt to evade the enemy missiles that were closing at two thousand clicks per second.
The third missile had Ross far more worried as it�s glowing light code closed at over one thousand clicks faster then the other two�.the light code signaling the missile�s approach was moving far to fast and suddenly Enterprise rocked and shuddered as the impact alarms blared.
�Sir Cannon one is gone, we�ve also lost missile tube two! And starboard engine three.� Commander Pallins sounded shocked but as she read off the damage list she seemed angry that her ship had been caught with it�s pants down by that third missile.
�Thank you Commander, What is the status of Saber?� Ross watched the holotank intently as the frigates own missiles closed on one of the enemy ships.
�Her port cannon battery is down, she�s leaking atmosphere on two decks and a quarter of her crew is dead or wounded sir.� The comn officer of the watch seemed like he was about to wet his pants but then a brief cheer from the weapons commander made him jump clear out of his skin as he whirled around to look a the holotank.
�Got one sir, the second enemy ship is down sir!�
�Thank you mister Saunderson please try not to distract our other officers.� Ross snipped at the young officer and the man just about crapped his vac suit as he turned back to his station sheepishly.
�Sir Saber is gone.� Tactical said as the frigate�s light code winked out .
�Closing on enemy ship, baring three, two seven mark.� That same mechanical voice that had announced Saber�s destruction seemed to chant out the words as Tactical Officer Remeraz watched his displays like they were the only thing in the universe.
�Guns, take her out as we come to bare!�
�Aye skipper, cannon crews standing by, missiles locked�..firing in three�..two�.one, birds away, cannons firing!� the missiles slid from their rack with a dull droning sound and the distinctive thumping of heavy cannons was almost musical in Ross� ears as the enemy light code winked out in the holotank.
The lights on Enterprise�s bridge returned to normal and the damage codes winked off as the other ships of the squadron reactivated their transponders, winking their light codes back into existence on the holotank.
�All hands stand down battle stations, I repeat stand down battle stations. The drill is over.� Pallins said almost cheerfully as she started reading the computer�s assessment of their performance during the battle drill.

The Enterprise Battlegroup had been standing at Hadran station for three months so far and run twenty two battle drills with varying pairings on who played the opfor and who played the defender. The entire squadron had done rather well by her opinion though captain Fowler ended up with a grimace more often then not as her ship had been destroyed twelve of the past twenty drills and only destroyed one of the enemy ships every other time, But even Fowler had to realize that saber had done more then pull her weight in each drill.

�Alright ladies and gentleman let�s return to Hadran base, And good job to all.� Ross smiled at his exec and unzipped the vac suit that he had been wearing for the past six hours. They may save your life but they sure didn�t save your comfort, he thought as he felt �fresh� air blowing against his tunic again.
�Sarah you have the watch.�
�Aye sir have the watch.� Sarah was still cheerful as she unzipped her vac suit and sat in the comfortable captain's chair to take Enterprise into port.
Three months of peace on the Phong frontier had the odd effect of making the crews more nervous then having at least one stand up fight, because the anticipation of a Phong assault coming any day was just not what they were trained to deal with, so battle drills and various surprise inspections were a regular distraction and one of the few ways to keep them busy without burning them out. And quite frankly Sarah Pallins loved battle drills because they made sure her crew would not let Captain Ross down no matter what and if he wasn't let down then the Navy wouldn't be let down.

2404.5
It was 0200 when the first alerts began howling their warnings in the C3 center of Handra�s military base and within five minutes every civil and military alarm on the planet was triggered. Startled civilians went rushing for the local shelters why the local military personnel on the base rushed to their Posts.
Handra�s military governor, Lord Korey Aznoble entered the command center at a frantic pace the second he heard the first alarm, by time the civil alerts started up he was already standing over the holomap of the Handra system frowning.
�This makes if fifteen minutes right roger?� Aznoble�s frown grew darker as the senior military officer, Commodore Roger McMan, nodded.
�M�Lord it is a single Phong frigate, and our battle group can easily destroy it, my fear is that it�s a trap of some kind, I�d rather not send the entire squadron to engage her because I don�t want to leave this planet unguarded.� The Commodore�s face grew pale as he remembered what had happened to Haden base.
�What do you suggest Commodore?� Aznoble frowned as he saw the light signature of the enemy frigate closing in on Handra. �Do we let that frigate come here and then have the squadron intercept it in orbit?� He asked as that ominous light signature continued to close in on his planet.
�Sir that would be a very bad idea, if our ships are not in exactly the right position when that ship arrives in orbit we could face massive casualties before they get into an intercept position. I recommend we send one of the destroyers to intercept it. I�d suggest Ross� as he�s the most experienced combat officer we have on station at the moment.� McMan loathed the fact that he had to report to a man that was not military, especially one who did not understand the physics of space combat.
�Very Well Commodore dispatch Ross, if he fails, at leas we�ll have a fallback.� Aznoble grimaced again before leaving the Commodore�s side and walking over to a secondary command station to observe the deployment himself.

***************
Meanwhile in space the four warships had not been idle, their sensors had the advantage of not being hindered by atmosphere and Ross suspected that his crews had manned battle stations before the planetary commander even knew what was happening.
But when the message did come through Ross clenched his fists,the Commodore ordered his ship to engage an unknown enemy starship alone and worse then that he ordered him to intercept the enemy vessel at 20 light minutes, it would take any of the other warships at least a day to arrive and back him up should anything go wrong and by then they'd likely just find his wreckage.
Ross suspected that Lord Aznoble had something to do with the distance involved in the intercept because when it came down to it the man was a coward and wanted to keep battle as far away from him personally far more then he wanted to keep the battle away from Handra, a proper military officer would have ordered at most a 10 light minute intercept so that reinforcements could arrive in a shorter amount of time but even that would be pushing it for most admirals.
It had been one day at full thrust, with the enemy ship closing on their position the whole time and finally Enterprise was closing in on her target.
�Time to intercept two minutes fifteen seconds sir.� Tactical officer Ramerez chanted in his normal mechanical tone .
�All stations report full battle readiness sir.� Sarah said icily as she watched the status board.
�Thank you Commander�.Tactical.� Ross said grimly as he waited anxiously for his ship�s first engagement.

The first volley of missiles streaked from the Destroyer�s prow launchers at just under 10,000 kilometers range, their drives glowed brilliantly like three tiny new stars as they carried their deadly payloads toward another tiny star that was not even visible from the bridge of HMS Enterprise.
The holotank showed a small red line appear from the enemy light dot signifying a long stream of point defense rounds pouring into space desperately clawing at the missiles that were closing in on it. The point defense go lucky once and nailed the sprint missile, unfortunately for the Phong warship the two more powerful missiles were already in too close and the Holotank on the Icaran destroyer showed two clear hits.

�Sir they are closing to cannon range, I don�t think we got their engines sir.� Remerez mechanical tone had a nervous edge to it as he watched the enemy ship close within visual range of the ship's cameras.
The bridge�s main monitor suddenly switched over from a star view to a magnified image of the enemy vessel. As they watched the magnified image the bridge crew saw three small bursts of light come from her port side and immediatly began to brace for the impact that was sure to follow.
The holotank clearly showed three incoming shells to match each of the bursts of light, causing Ross to squint sharply and grit his teeth as he realized that by time those objects appearedo on display the shells would already be far closer.
His ship rocked and loud explosions could be heard from other sections of the ship and the damage board came to life with color all across his ship.
�Sir, cannon crew two is gone, we�ve also lost the sprint missile launcher and two engines.� Remerez announced as the remaining cannon crews returned fire automatically, the ship�s remaining cannons roared in fury and sent a devastating broadside into the already damaged hull of the Phong Frigate, the first shot missed entirely but the second struck home in what must have been the enemy frigate�s control centers because she immediately started to list and spin out of control.
�Good shooting guns!� Ross� professionally calm tone momentarily broken as he watched the enemy ship spin out of control sending debris and what looked like bodies hurling out into space.
As the bridge crew watched the third round impact the enemy ship�s hull a gasp of universal disbelief and morbid amusement ran through them, the third round impacted at an odd angle into the hole that had been caused by one of the heavy missiles that had impacted earlier and instead of punching another hole the shell bounced at least tree times inside the enemy ship causing multiple internal explosions at various points until the shot finally breached a weakened part of the hull and exploded 10 meters of the enemy ship�s hull.

�My Lord, can you believe that?� Sarah�s voice sounded oddly amused by the display and Ross himself felt a strange urge to laugh at the almost comical occurrence but his training did not let him forget that many of his crew had probably been killed in the broadside that dying bastard had spat into his vessel.
�Status of the enemy�..�Ross� sentence was cut off as the enemy ship seemed to simply begin collapsing in on herself, the entire middle of the ship seemed to just crumple as if she had been grabbed by some giant hand and squeezed.
�Cancel that tactical.� Ross said as he tabbed a control on his personal command panel.
�Damage Control here.� Chief Engineer John Lee�s voice sounded harsh as he answered his Capatin.
�Status Lee?� was all Ross could croak out as he observed the damage board with a scowl
�Sir, aside from what you�ve already been informed about, we�ve lost our forward gfg and I lost an entire work party when that damned broadside blew a hole in our engine room.� His voice made him sound ten years older then he was as he mentioned the loss of an entire 18 man work crew, his work crew.
Four others had died and ten were wounded in the engagement but HMS Enterprise had survived the first live combat action any Icaran destroyer had taken part in, and she had won.
"All hands stand by, we are returning to port." Captain Ross said as "cheerfully' as he could manage as he took count of the price his ship had paid.

Please tell me what you think http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif.

Starhawk

October 31st, 2004, 01:27 PM

2404.6-8
The citizens of Icaran worlds finally began to feel safe, their navy had thus far defeated all attempts of the Phong to encroach on Icaran territory. To ensure this peace remained however the Royal Navy set down a �tribute� that any company dispatching a colony ship would have to pay in order to purchase the rights to a world. 28 worlds already fell under the sway of the Icaran Empire and still more would soon follow as the massive �arc ships� launched from Icara, Brandenburg and Sparta.

2404.9
HMS Claw had been on patrol for nearly six months in the 6-11 system, blockading the warp point to unknown space when suddenly her detector grids began triggering multiple proximity and energy signature alerts.
�Sir unknown frigate baring three nine two point five, she�s jumped through the warp point and if her speed and course remain constant she�ll arrive in colony orbit in three days.� Tactical officer Malokov said hastily as Captain Wykok began tapping keys to bring up his own displays, the ship had an odd silhouette that was for sure but whether it was hostile or not was anybody�s guess.
�Comns, hail them, order them to stand down and identify themselves.�
�Aye sir transmitting now.� The young comn officer said stiffly as the unknown frigate continued heading out at full speed.
�Sir, I think it�s a human ship sir.� Chief weapons officer, Ensign Galler� she began tabbing controls to send her data straight to the captain�s command repeater as she continued speaking. �Those are definitely human designed GFGs and her engine signature is similar to our own in too many ways for her to have been designed by xenos.� the young Ensign finished sounding rather sure of herself.
Wykok grudgingly agreed with the young Ensign, it was a human ship and that meant another Human Star Nation. Icara had not even seen another human nation in centuries and now suddenly one of their warships was on a vector that would take it straight to an Icaran colony, and worse then that she wasn�t responding to hails.

�Sir they are still not replying to hails, it�s possible that they are not on our frequency or that they don�t understand basic sir.� Com officer Griffon sounded almost wishful as he turned to his captain.
Wykok scowled as he thought, frantically trying to find any reasonable excuse for that ship to be ignoring him, but if it had been as simple as not being on his frequency any decent starship would at least have the proper detection nets to realize that a constant stream of information was being sent on another frequency, and any decent captain would have tried to send back SOME form of acknowledgement.
�We can�t risk that Ensign.� Wykok said bitterly as he shifted position uncomfortably in his chair and then looked over at his weapons officer.
�Guns, plot a missile intercept and fire.� He looked grim as he gave that order and made sure he ignored the look of shock on his crew�s faces.

�Missiles away sir.� The weapons officer said crisply as the familiar sound of a launch was heard throughout the ship.
Three objects sped away from the Icaran destroyer�s prow at huge velocities and seconds later the sprint missile impacted brilliantly on the engine housing of the unknown ship. A stream of point defense fire from the enemy frigate tore one of the larger ship killers right out of the stars unfortunately for her though the second one slammed into one of her cannons.

�Sir she�s returning fire with cannon!� The tactical officer said just as the holotank showed two shots pass the destroyer by meters.
�Let�s finish this before they get a second shot guns.� Wykok said gruffly as he watched the third enemy shell tear past his destroyer.

The cannon crews input their targeting data into the ship�s computers at amazing speed and within a second the gunnery officer�s panel showed all four cannons lit, signifying their target acquisition data. The gunnery officer pressed the data and four cannon shells burst forth from his ship at .2c.
�We have three hits sir!� The tactical officer announced as a massive hole was torn out of the enemy frigate.
A second broadside with the cannons soon broke the enemy ship to pieces sending wreckage and bodies into the void of space.
Little did the crew of HMS Claw know it but they had made the first contact with the Neo Star Empire the first of many Human Nations Icara would likely encounter on her way to supremacy of the galaxy.

Renegade 13

November 1st, 2004, 01:28 AM

Great stories, I look forward to more http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Starhawk

November 1st, 2004, 06:31 PM

Thanks you guys http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif I hope I can keep you entertained with the next chapter (also likely to be a LOOOONG chapter) which should be coming sometime either tomorrow or Wensday http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Starhawk

November 2nd, 2004, 10:44 AM

2405.1 A New Dawn
Goin base had been established in the Goin star system over two years ago for the purpose of establishing a forward supply base for the Exploration missions launched by the Royal Navy, but little did anyone on goin suspect just how important they would be to the future of Icara.
It was the third day of Tellus when the military Command attach� to Goin colony walked into the planetary governor�s office, his face pale with exertion as he had just run the full length of the government house corridor.
The Governor turned around to face the young officer grimly and opened his mouth as if he was about to say something before closing it again with a click as his eyes wondered back to the holodisplay on his desk teakwood desk.
Governor Lord Michael Averato was an older man at nearly 100 E-years, and because of his age h was among the first generation to receive the life prolonging surgery and drug that was now common practice, the first generation of treatments stopped the aging process at an older age then the newer generations and gray streaked the governor�s hair, but the man looked no less impressive at his two meter height and broad muscular marine features.
�Governor, Sir!� the young officer braced to attention and saluted his superior (both militarily and civilian) the tension in his voice spoke volumes, the military defense network had discovered the unknown drive signatures nearly three hours ago and although it was estimated that the five unknown ships would not arrive in Goin orbit for another three days the only Icaran warships were still five days away at maximum speed which made the military staff terrified as the planetary defenses were still months away from completion.
�Relax Lieutenant�.we�ve still got time to attempt contact.� Averato�s voice was what one would expect from a man of his features, it was gruff and confident and could inspire confidence in the middle of a battlefield�.for that is what he had once had to do, for Averato had been a Marine Sergeant 80 years ago during the �great war� which occurred when another colony ship stumbled across Icara and attempted to seize the jewel of a world for themselves, instead thanks to brave men and women of the Icaran military all those invaders found was death and defeat until they were forced to incorporate themselves into Icaran society.
�Yes General.�
�Now what is it that you came running here for?� That same gruff voice asked kindly as General Governor Averato handed the young army officer a glass of water and showed him to one of the big artificial leather chairs in front of his big desk.
�Sir they have already contacted us, they request we send a ship out to meet their task force.� The young army officer was still sweating but Averato suspected it was more out of nerves and anxiety then physical exertion.
�Well then how long ago did their message arrive Lieutenant?� Averato�s voice was calm as ever as this army officer who�s name he couldn�t seem to remember took a sip of water and reached into his breast pocket where he retrieved a data chip.
�About fourteen minutes ago sir, they requested to speak to an authority from our colony.� as he handed Averato the chip the officer took another deep sip of water and waited for his superior to finish playing the message.
After the message finished playing Averato looked up at the army officer with a grin �I think I need a sloop and a platoon of soldiers ready in a half hour Lieutenant.� his voice sounded thoroughly excited as the young man stood braced to attention and headed for the door.

The sloop Angela was privately owned by the VenStar corporation, but she was also the fastest intra-system craft in Goin and that meant even though she was totally unarmed she was the only choice. Her captain was somewhat less then thrilled when a platoon of army troopers arrived at his berth and informed him that he was going to take the planetary Governor to meet with an unknown government�s task force in his unarmed transport and let everyone within a kilometer radius know it.
The �task force� was a small fleet in and of it�s self, the long range sensors of Angela showed four destroyers, a frigate and a much larger vessel that must be the flagship and as those sensors confirmed mass and size readings the civilian captain practically crapped his vac suit and had to be �reminded� by an army trooper just how important this mission was before he continued on his course.
But finally the task force was in communication�s range, and Governor General Averato smiled to himself as the civilian captain switched on the ship to ship com net. A female face wearing a camouflage uniform with what Averato guessed to be a rank insignia on her collar, appeared on the screen �..a human Averato noted, and by her skin tone and features he guessed her ancestors came from Northern Europe, or North America back on old Earth, well at least they had a common ancestry to about half of Icara�s population. He thought humorlessly as he noticed she seemed to be analyzing him just as closely.
�I am General Governor Michael Averato of the Icaran Royal Colony and Base of Goin, whom am I addressing?� His voice was as pleasant as he could manage as the face on the screen blinked her eyes numbly for a moment.
�She certainly is a young thing.� one of the civilian crewmen whispered as he caught a glimpse of the attractive young face on the screen�..she was certainly young looking but Averato waved his hand harshly at the man who had spoken�.the Last thing they needed to do was offend someone before they even began talking to them.
�Sir, I am Lieutenant Liza Adare of the RANS Sunburst.� Her voice was pleasant but numb sounding as she seemed to be looking at her control board for a moment.
�Sir I have you at baring nine-oh-five mark two seven, please continue your approach vector until you reach this point.� A small light dot appeared on the sloops astrogation screen, then the young woman continued on in that same pleasant voice. �Then change your vector to two seven five by three, you will dock with Sunburst directly, please do not violate that heading or our destroyer screen may open fire.� her voice sounded like she was giving a genuine warning as she looked back at the screen and smiled politely.
�Thank you Lieutenant Adare, we will not violate your given course, I assure you.� Averato said in as cheerful a tone he could manage after being told he�d be blown out of the stars if he so much as violated his course.

***************
Thirteen minutes later the tiny 500 ton sloop Angela slipped quietly alongside the massive 400,000 ton light cruiser Sunburst and cut her power. Averato couldn�t help but notice that just one of the cruisers massive cannons was all it would take to easily destroy his puny sloop in a single shot, he shivered at the thought and forced himself to relax.
A docking tube extended from one of the mane blisters on the warship�s hull and linked with the sloop�s own docking tube, slowly the sloop was pulled in toward the massive ship�s airlock. A light clinking noise alerted the Icarans that they had attached to the warship�s hull and a rushing of air signaled the pressurization of the two docking tubes.
�Sir, please allow four of my men to go first, just in case they are planning something sneaky.� Sergeant Yu�s voice rang out as he slapped the butt of a magazine, securing it to his auto-rifle, a series of responsive slaps announced that the entire platoon had slapped their magazines into place.
�Alright Yu , four men that�s all, I don�t want these people to think we�re trying to board them.� Michael smiled and the young looking Sergeant grinned back as he went about selecting the four troopers he wanted to take point. A sloop boarding a ship this massive was utterly impossible and all of the military personnel present knew the Governor was making a tension breaking joke but the civilian crew went pale as the four troopers stepped into the tube.

Four army troopers stepped out of the airlock, their green fatigues and gray flak armor and helmets looked oddly out of place in the massive boat deck that stood before them, four columns of soldiers stood in parade formation, each representing a different field, the first column that the Icaran soldiers took note of was the one with a large group of men and women carrying rifles of some short slung over their right shoulder.
The other three columns wore different uniforms that the Icaran troopers did not recognize and carried no weapons. As the Governor stepped out of the airlock he too paused a moment, attempting to count how many men and women were in each of the four columns.

Behind Governor Averato the rest of his platoon fell into parade formation, though they were obviously far from relaxed as they watched their armed counterparts very closely from across the boat deck.
Three officers stepped forward from between the two centermost columns and walked proudly towards the Icaran Governor, two of the officers were tall men, one wore a white and tan uniform with red blocks on his chest that Averato assumed was a rank insignia, the other two officers wore the camouflage uniform that the Governor recognized from the young woman on the com screen, in fact he noticed with a wry smile that the officer to the Flag officer�s left was the same young woman who he had first spoken to.

�Governor Averato I presume.� The tall officer�s baritone voice was strong and confident as the officer offered his hand to the Icaran Governor.
�You presume correct�.� Averato�s voice was questioning as he waited for this foreign officer to formally introduce himself.
�Ah�.forgive me, I�m sure you do not recognize my rank insignia, I am Admiral Magill of the Rebel Alliance fifth squadron.� The Admiral released his firm handshake with a polite nod and turned to introduce his officers.

�This is Captain Parrin, commander of Starburst..� he waved to his right and the other officer offered his hand to Averato. �And this is Lieutenant Liza Adare, my chief communications officer�.we have much to discuss Governor.� the Admiral continued in his same neutral baritone as he gestured for Averato to follow him, he also made sure to make a point of ignoring the platoon of Icaran soldiers standing in the bay.

As they walked down the corridor from the boat bay Averato and eight Icaran troopers looked around at the large open rooms and long corridors that these �Rebel Alliance� folks seemed to prefer, it was very different then the confined corridors and segmented compartments Icaran ship designers preferred and also a lot less safe as if any of those big open rooms took a hit the whole section would be harder to seal off, at least as far as Icaran tech went.

�So Admiral� Averato cleared his throat uncomfortably trying to think about all the repercussions his question might have�but as the Admiral paused and looked him square in the eyes Averato realized he�d already gone to far to clam up now. �Why exactly do you call yourselves the Rebel Alliance?� his voice stayed solid and confident but as the Rebel officers paused the Icaran commander wondered if he had asked to bluntly but then the Admiral�s face broke into a smile and Michael felt himself relax noticeably.
�Well Governor, our colony was established by the Northern Economic Block just before the fall of civilization back on Earth, and even though we found ourselves on a new world, light centuries away from Earth and their power base the NEB government stayed just as cruel and non-democratic as it had before, police actions and sanctions were commonplace until a group of men and women finally began to fight back.� The Admiral�s smile faded somewhat as he remembered some horror of the past. �Well so you see these brave men and women were outnumbered and outgunned almost one hundred to one but they fought for over a century they fought until finally they formed a Rebel Alliance that included many NEB army units, and finally they achieved victory�.in their memory we have become a Democratic nation, and we have kept the name Rebel Alliance.� Admiral Magill frowned for a moment before continuing on down the corridor in silence.
***********************
�So Governor, you speak for your uh what did you call him again?� Admiral Magill�s baritone sounded crisp as he looked over the treaty papers again reviewing the conditions laid down therein.
�Praetor, Admiral and yes I speak for the crown in this matter.� Governor Michael Averato smiled as he signed the piece of paper that was laid in front of him.
�So, our two star nations shall have a non-aggression pact with one another in so far as we will not colonize within your territory and you will do likewise and not colonize any of our worlds.� Magill said formally as he handed a copy of the treaty to his Icaran counterpart.
�Precisely�.and perhaps someday a stronger alliance can come of this.� Averato�s left eyebrow raised when the Admiral frowned rather then replied.
�Governor, please understand that my nation is a democracy, so far as you�ve explained your system of government you are far from democratic, I�m afraid I doubt my people would want a closer relationship with a monarchy such as yours�.please take no offense.� The RA Admiral sounded genuinely like he was trying not to offend his counterpart but it was also obvious that he hid some personal distrust of the Icaran form of government and so Averato chose not to push the subject further.
�Very well then Admiral, I must be taking my leave of you now to get these reports back to my own government.� With a nod Averato and Admiral Magill stood and shook each other�s hands.
Averato�s party was escorted back to the boat bay by Liza Adare, and as sweet as ever she bid them farewell. The old General couldn�t help but like the young woman, she had been his liaison to her Admiral for the past two days and had been a competent and sweet young woman considering she was dealing with complete strangers with an equally strange form of government in her eyes. With an inner nod Averato decided she reminded him a lot of his daughter back on Icara who had sent him a message only a month ago proudly announcing her enlistment into His Majesty�s Royal Navy, he bade her one Last farewell before boarding his sloop.
Two hours later the sloop Angela was heading to a rendezvous with the destroyer HMS Victory and her squadmate HMS Tiger who were patrolling the far end of the system hunting down a criminal syndicate that had been smuggling in various prohibited goods such as tobacco and stronger drugs.

Starhawk

November 2nd, 2004, 10:55 AM

2405.2 Twilight
�I don�t know your highness but they just sent a message informing us that their population vetoed their treaty with us and that we can consider ourselves in a state of truce but not formal peace.� Governor Averato�s voice was grim as he stood before his Praetor on Icara after being summoned by a Crown courier ship (faster then any warship in the fleet do to it�s small size and large engine mounts) earlier that month when word of the treaty being broken reached Icara.
�Damned democracies never work! A mob can dictate who their entire world can talk to!� Praetor Leonidas fumed as he read the reports, the Rebels unilaterally withdrew for no other reason then their mob of a populace had decided that they did not want to be associated with a non-democratic government.
�Sir, I don�t believe they are going to move against us at this time, they�ve even pulled Admiral Magill�s fifth squadron out of Goin.� High Admiral Hallice said, his voice sounding more hopeful then either of his companions.
�Very well, Hallice keep Victory and Tiger on alert though, just in case those Rebels come back and decide they don�t want to be as peaceable.� leonidas said grumpily as he tossed the flexy with the rebel�s exact message aside.
�Michael�m afraid you�ll have to stay on Icara for a few months I have a lot to discuss with you.� Hallice said finally as he stood to leave, shaking Averato�s hand and Saluting Leonidas before withdrawing through the big oak doors.

Atrocities

November 2nd, 2004, 11:34 AM

Another great read. Thank you. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Starhawk

November 2nd, 2004, 12:57 PM

2405.3 A Victory Bittersweet
It was a routine day as far as the crews of HMS Claw and HMS Bounty were concerned, they had been guarding the 6-11 warp point from the unknown hostiles for over a year and both crews were ready for their stand down and rotation back to Icara while another pair of destroyers were assigned this dreary post for a year.
But suddenly that routine calm was shattered as an energy signature appeared from within the warp point leading to the unknown system beyond and a warship larger then either of the two Icaran vessels came tearing out of the warp at high velocity.

�General quarters all hands general quarters!� The tactical officer aboard Claw screamed over the com net as she tabbed button after button, triggering emergency drive activation, weapons activation and the battle display mode of the holotank.
�Enemy vessel accelerating at six-zero gees skipper, mass reading indicates she is 400,000 tons, scanners identify unknown weapons on her port and starboard.� Executive officer Tyler called off as Captain Manning sat down at his own command chair and activated it�s repeaters.
�Bounty this is Manning, what�s your status?�
�Bounty here, we are accelerating parallel to you Claw, estimated time to missile range is one-zero-zero seconds� Captain Jessica Smith�s voice sounded cold and professional as she read off her ship�s intercept times but Manning could hear the tense anxiety in her voice that he too felt as they engaged an unknown.

The two Icaran destroyers entered missile range at about the same time and both vessels spat two capital ship and one sprint missile each in the direction of the intruding enemy Light Cruiser and within seconds it�s point defense clusters were tearing at space with thousands of titanium slugs, desperately trying to kill the Icaran missiles before they killed it.
The light cruiser�s defenses actually succeeded in taking down one of the missiles and it turned away from the others and bore down directly on Bounty seemingly ignoring the other missiles which were yet to enter a threatening range.

Captain Manning and his bridge crew watched in horror as Bounty attempted to escape the massive enemy ship, she was losing ground fast thanks to the gravity waves caused by her closer proximity to the warp point then Claw had been, and the enemy ship already had the advantage of coming out of the warp at maximum thrust while the smaller Icaran destroyer had to trigger her drives after she launched her missile salvo.
�Captain Smith we are turning about to see if we can get that bastard off your tail just stand�..� Manning winced as a brilliant light ball erupted from one of the enemy ship�s mysterious cannons, then another and yet another glowing sphere tore across space�..Bounty zig zagged and twisted like a desert hopper trying to escape a tree raptor but all three of the massive spheres found there target.
Whole sections of the Icaran destroyer vanished in a wash of energy and flame, debris and atmosphere erupted from her like gore as she writhed under the fire.

�Captain Manning this is Bounty we are down to one cannon, engines are gone, so is life support, my whole aft section is engulfed in fire or exposed to vacuum�. � Jessica�s voice sounded tortured as Manning listened in absolute shock, his heart sank as he heard a girggling cough from his friend and realized that her bridge must have been hit and she must have been hurt worse then she would tell him.
�Captain�..� Her voice was cut off as an explosion in the background signaled the destruction of her communications array.

�Helm, can we intercept?!� Manning�s voice was ice as he watched the burning wreck that had once been HMS Bounty level her lone cannon defiantly against her murder, the shell actually impacted on the enemy ship and Manning couldn�t help but feel all the worse for it, the sad defiance of a ship and crew who knew they were dying.
�Sir intercept in fifteen seconds!� The helmsman�s voice was agonized, everyone on the bridge knew that there was no chance of them getting there any faster but they also knew with absolute certainty and dread that their sister ship and 400 Icaran spacers would be gone by then.

Five seconds after her defiant Last shot HMS Bounty and her crew vanished in a brilliant flash of light and wreckage, as she was torn into thousands of pieces by the sheer force of the Light Cruiser�s unknown weapons. The enemy ship�s triumph was brief however as 5 missiles slammed into her, tearing great holes in her hull and thrashing her own cannons into non-existence.
�Sir!� Chief Gunnery officer Tanner shouted as she watched the ship who had murdered Bounty limping and spinning in space.
�Bring us into Cannon range helm.� Manning�s voice was pure venom and hatred as he watched that bastard floating lamely in space.
Vengeance belonged to Claw as she swooped down upon her crippled pray and leveled a devastating broadside into it�s shattered hull, all four cannons struck home and as the Last shot turned the enemy ship into a glowing ball of plasma and wreckage the crew of Claw felt nothing but sorrow.

400 Icaran spacers died aboard His Majesty�s Ship Bounty and the entire crew of her sister held memorial services the very day she returned to port at 6-11 base for re-supply and minor repairs.

dogscoff

November 3rd, 2004, 09:34 AM

the ship who had murdered Bounty

Given that the Icarans fired first, I think most courts would knock it down to manslaughter at least.

</pedantic> http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/tongue.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/biggrin.gif

Renegade 13

November 3rd, 2004, 02:57 PM

Another series of great stories. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/laugh.gif Are you using any mod for the actual game you're playing, or is it just stock?

Starhawk

November 3rd, 2004, 03:56 PM

It's a modified Devnull I added two new weapons that will make late game naval battles much more interesting IMHO and a new ship, but that one will be a suprise for you guys http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif.

Starhawk

November 3rd, 2004, 05:40 PM

2405.5 Loss of a Hero
6-11 System
�Damn it Captain I don�t care about your opinion on this subject!� Governor Paldwin screamed at Manning so loud his assistant cringed and looked toward the door like she was about to run.
�Governor please, keep your voice down.� Manning said in as calm a voice as he could manage considering he despised the man in front of him, especially since the slime ball had just ordered him and his ship through a warp point leading into enemy space.
�Don�t tell me what to do CAPTAIN! You will take your ship through that warp point and find out who attacked you and destroyed Bounty or I will have you hung!� Paldwin�s voice was cold and hostile but not any quieter, and if he had been a military officer Manning would have challenged him to a duel and killed him outright for threatening him in such a manner.
�Governor you have no authority over whether I am hung or not, and if you threaten me in such a manner again it will not help your position any further.� Manning was about to leave when he heard the clear sound of a slap�Manning whirled around to see the young assistant holding the side of her face, a large red mark on her cheek.
Manning�s hand went immediately to his sidearm before he heard the Governor�s personal guard�s unlock the safeties on their weapons behind him, he slowly slid his hand off his sidearm and grimly acknowledged that all the nasty rumors passing around the Icaran royal court were true, Paldwin was running 6-11 colony like a dictatorship and that meant that the rumors of him using a private army were also likely to be true which meant those two �soldiers� behind him probably wouldn�t hesitate to put a few explosive darts in his back.
�Governor Paldwin��I will take Claw through the warp point if that is what you want�.however I am going to need to take some of your staff to act as liaisons.� Manning thought quickly, he needed to get off world and he needed to bring someone with him who could testify to the fact that Paldwin was a dictator, in short he needed Paldwin�s assistant.
�Ah, so you�ve finally come around have you Captain?� The arrogant little man said self importantly as he reevaluated the officer in front of him
�Yes�.governor, I suppose we do need to investigate that region, but may I ask that you assign me your assistant as she is more likely to know what you want done M�lord?� Manning attempted to sound cowed into submission ,
The governor rubbed his chin thoughtfully before looking at the young assistant who was still holding her bruised cheek, a wolfish grin crossed the man�s face as he looked back at the naval officer.
�Very well captain you may take her, as well as two of my personal guards to, ah ensure her protection.� Paldwin�s shark like grin grew broader, as if he dared Manning to defy his order that his assistant be accompanied by two of his �soldiers�.
But Manning simply bowed politely and turned to leave.

*****************

Three days later HMS Claw was headed towards the warp point where their sister ship had died with all hands. Manning sat frozen in his command chair as he contemplated the bigger picture which that fool Paldwin did not see, there would be two Navy destroyers coming in system in less then a year to reinforce the security blockade at 6-11 but that idiot wanted to send his only warship straight into enemy space instead of trying to keep them on station to protect his world.
�Sir, we are out of Paldwins� jurisdiction now.� Commander Tyler whispered to his commander as they reached the 12 light minute range of a non noble Governor�s jurisdiction in a system.
�Commander, execute my orders now please.� Manning whispered back to his friend as he patted the younger man on his shoulder.

********************
Kira Lougheed frowned as she sipped at her coffee noting the two heavily armed guards that never let her leave their site since she had come aboard. She knew all to well that the guards were just mercenaries and that they were there to kill her if she tried to say anything to Captain Manning or any of his people what was going on in Paldwin�s district.
A knock on the door to her quarters made Lougheed jerk out of her thoughts, as she stood to answer it one of her �guards� waved her down and opened the door, the look on the guard�s face made Loguheed cringe and she made sure she accidentally dropped the spoon she had been stirring her coffee with and ducked under her table feigning a search.

A navy officer stood in the doorway and the guard mumbled something at him and attempted to close the door in his face, but the naval officer shoved his hand out and stopped the door saying something that Kira couldn�t quite make out.
A shouting match started shortly there after and Kira noticed the guard still hidden from view reaching for his sidearm, she cowered for a moment before standing up from behind her desk and throwing her mug coffee and all straight at the man�s face. His scream of agony as he started trying to get the fragments of the mug and the burning coffee out of his eyes alerted the navy officer who reached for his own sidearm just a second faster then the other guard.
The whine of a darter pistol and the dull thud of an explosive dart jerked the young woman back to the real world as she saw the guard at the door drop to the deck, a clean hole through his torso and his gun held limply in his dead hand. The navy officer charged into the small room and three marines quickly followed him, two of them rushed over to Kira and shoved her head down as they raced her to the door, Kira briefly caught a glimpse of the third marine slamming a knee into the groin of the other guard and hearing a gurgling scream coming from the room behind her as she was raced down the corridor.
The young woman did not even have enough time to feel fear as she was rushed into the destroyer�s small boat bay. The two marines let her go and the naval officer stepped in front of her, a grimace on his face.
�Ma�am I am Commander Tyler, I know your confused and probably more then a little scared but I need you to follow these two marines into that launch over there and go with the rest of our non essential personnel.� his voice was urgent but calm as he looked around the boat bay to ensure that his people were cramming into the destroyers three launches.
�What�s going on Commander?� Kira asked in a voice who�s calmness surprised even her but the officer just nodded at one of the marines and a firm hand locked around her arm and began almost dragging her towards the third launch in the line �COMMANDER WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!?� she screamed again but the officer simply turned around and rushed for the bay door.
�Relax ma�am I�ve been instructed to explain it all to you once we are aboard the launch.� The marine who had her arm said as he continued to pull her towards the launch.

Less then three minutes later all three launches and 280 navy and marine personnel were on their way to the nearest Icaran naval base, all of them were witnesses essential to building a case against the local governor and Manning expected that they would be the only survivors from his destroyer.
�Is it done Richard?� Captain Manning asked as his commander quietly as the young officer stepped back to stand beside his captain.
�Yes sir, it�s done.� Was the simple reply as the young man took his seat beside the captain's chair.
**********************
Two weeks later the three launches arrived at the Grayson colony and were immediately brought to the naval base, a series of interviews was begun on behalf of the Icaran Royal Court to find out what was really going on in 6-11 system.
Three days after that a messenger drone from HMS Claw showed a video playback of the warship�s Last minutes of life as she attempted to get into scan range of a world at the other end of the warp point she had been blockading. Unfortunately for the destroyer and her crew the enemy world�s weapons systems were long ranged and Claw didn�t stand a chance as she was destroyed at two hundred thousand clicks by an energy weapon of unknown type.

A battle against the Phong
�Commodore Ross, this is Count Aznoble, our scanners show an enemy squadron in system can you confirm?� Aznoble said grimly as he finished tying his bathrobe, and wiped the sleep from his eyes.
�Sir I can confirm, I am preparing to deploy my squadron as we speak.� Ross � voice was calm and professional but Aznoble could tell by the tone that the captain was anxious, he had been given the brevet rank of Commodore unexpectedly so he could take command of the Enterprise Squadron and much to Aznoble�s amusement the captain still flinched at being called Commodore.
�Captain Ross is there anything I can do to assist you?�
�Sir, the best thing you can do for me is get your people into shelters, I�ll try to engage the enemy squadron at three light minutes out and with your permission sir if I can destroy them with minimal damage to my own force I will retrace their vector and see if I can destroy their base.� Ross quiet deadly tone was one Aznoble was not used to hearing and he stood stunned for a moment before nodding to himself.
�Ross do what you think is best, God and Saints be with you.�
�Thank you sir, may God be with us all.� Ross said ominously before cutting the com channel. Ross and Aznoble almost hated each other when Ross first arrived on station, but once they had gotten to know one another and once Aznoble became more sure of himself as Count Handra the two men became friends to their mutual surprise.

Less then a day after the three destroyers and single frigate of his squadron had left orbit of Handra they got a visual of the six Phong frigates and Ross noted that the Phong had actually altered course and speed to engage him directly.
�Sir, enemy will be in missile range in one nine minutes, and cannon range five minutes after that.� The familiar voice of Sarah Pallins chimed in his ear as she passed on the message from tactical.
�Thank you Commander, my compliments to tactical.� The Captain gave his exec a wry grin as he noted that she was passing on a message that he was too busy thinking to himself to hear, and also caught her polite warning to that fact in her tone.

�Captain Fowler, this is flag I want Saber to stay on the tail of our formation, hold your missiles until all three destroyers have fired theirs.� Ross said as he fixed his eyes on the tactical display and saw the six red blips closing fast.
�Aye Commodore, am I to engage with cannons sir?� Fowler�s voice came crisp and calm over the com net and Ross felt a swell of assurance that he had given his old ship to the right officer and had to suppress the smile that was twitching on his lips.
�Negative Fowler, I want you to keep your missiles in this fight until we�ve scored a few hits, let the destroyers get into the cannon duel until the Last minute.�
�Aye sir.� Ross heard the disappointment in her tone as she realized her ship was pretty much the squadron�s reserve and the same pride swelled again, she was an aggressive young Captain and aggressive captains were exactly what he wanted under his command, unforunately she also commanded the smallest ship in the squadron and in a straight up cannon duel she would be hurt the worst.

Nineteen minutes later a mass of blue dots appeared on the holotanks of the Enterprise Squadron signaling a massed volley of missile launches from the Icaran warships.
Enemy point defenses tore through space and 6 of the Icaran missiles died before reaching their targets but Saber�s missiles had popped up from behind their destroyed brethren and all of them slammed into their target knocking one of the Phong Frigates to pieces, leaving it�s point defenses and two engines wrecked.
A second volley of Icaran missiles followed moments later and this time only five Icaran missiles were taken down, the remaining missiles knocked yet another Phong Frigate out of the point defense screen and also removed all but one of it�s engines, and one cannon.
A third volley destroyed it�s target outright as the 4 missiles tore it to pieces sending wreckage across space in a brilliant flash of light.
�This is flag to squadron give them one more volley and close to Cannon range, Saber as we engage with cannons I want you to take out those stragglers with your missiles.� Ross� voice was the same icy deadly tone that he had the Last time he had gone into combat and Pallins smiled at the familiar tone
The ranges closed fast and the fourth squadron wide volley of missiles blew another frigate apart, the three destroyers reached cannon range of the Last two combat effective frigates, the destroyers Enterprise and [i]King Roger targeted the frigate closing from the left, their concentrated broadsides sent 7 cannon shells into the enemy frigate, turning it into little more then a burning wreck it�s own single cannon broadside missed both destroyers entirely.
Meanwhile Manticore engaged her own target and sent four shells ringing into the forward section of the frigate�s hull tearing out half of the enemy ship�s cannons, the Phong ship returned fire defiantly and scored a single direct hit on the larger Icaran destroyer doing only minute damage.
The single Icaran frigate rushed past the cannon duels going on between her squadron mates and the enemy frigates and fired off yet another volley of her own missiles straight into one of the �stragglers� blowing it into a massive cloud of plasma and wreckage.
Her own cannons finished off the second straggler before it even brought it�s cannon to bare, it�s wrecked hull drifted away.
Enterprise and King Roger fired another concentrated broadside at their target, all eight shells impacted on the frigate�s already shattered hull and the brilliant golden explosion that followed left only one enemy frigate.
The Manticore closed to point blank range on the Last remaining frigate and her four cannon broadside tore the frigate asunder without even an explosion to mark it�s death.

�Sir all enemy frigates have been destroyed!� Sarah Pallins announced cheerfully as the Last red blip on the holotank winked out of existence
The bridge crew relaxed noticeably and smiles were on almost every face, Ross couldn�t help but smile himself as the damage reports showed no damage that could not be repaired in space, casualty reports were equally as good, no dead and only 21 wounded throughout the entire squadron and Doctor Leung the squadron�s senior doctor assured the Captain that the injuries were minor enough to be treated by the squadron�s sick bays.

Starhawk

November 4th, 2004, 05:10 PM

2405.6
�Stand by for warp point jump in five-zero seconds con.� Sarah Pallins voice sang out in her typical beautiful soprano as she sat cross legged in the captain�s chair, it was the middle of the third watch and Pallins couldn�t help but feel the real size of her ship at this time of night when only the bridge and engine room stood fully manned.
�Three-zero seconds con.� She said cheerfully as she took another sip of her coffee, or at least that�s what the navy called it, most of the civilian community wouldn�t touch navy coffee and even navy personnel joked about how it could seal a hull breach or patch a vac suit in an emergency. They were probably right too Sarah thought to herself as she read down the chronometer.
�One Zero seconds con.�

Ten seconds later and the Enterprise Squadron�s GFGs began melding with the brilliant blue swirl of the warp point; the familiar golden glow of GFG interaction was even more wondrous and magnificent then when a single ship made the jump.
The jump it�s self however was unusual for as her ship made that instantaneous transition from warp space to real space only one or two of her crew became nauseated and she herself felt an odd tingle that was actually quite pleasant.
Before she had any time to wonder about this new occurrence a brilliant flash on HMS King Roger brought her mind whirling back into the present, another flash on the destroyer leading the formation instantly brought the experienced commander�s hand slamming down onto the general quarters alarm.

The familiar battle klaxons howled and the GQ alarms joined in nano-seconds later, another flash on Kong Roger made Pallins wince, even more sickening was the stream of debris that floated away from the destroyer, debris that included bodies most of whom were not wearing vac suits.
�Sarah what the hell is going on?� The familiar voice of Captain Ross came behind Pallins and out of trained reflex she instantly stood saluted her superior and walked to her own command console.
�We are under attack sir, I can�t give you further details till our damned computers get over the jump shock.� Her voice was cold and professional but Ross recognized that sickened stress that she attempted to hide and he couldn�t blame her for he too grew sickened as he saw the bodies and wreckage drifting away from multiple hull breaches in King Roger.
�Sensors back on-line ma�am, I mean sir!� Tactical officer Rivera�s voice faltered as he realized his Captain had come onto the bridge�.but he valiantly continued �Sir, three Phong Frigates have opened fire on our squadron King Roger and Manticore both ships are showing signs of heavy damage.�
�Thank you tactical, Guns do we have a shot yet!� Ross sat at his station and rubbed his hands together, trying to stop his sweating, his entire squadron had been ambushed and at least one of his ships was out of this fight.
�Gunnery crews have put in targeting coordinates sir, passing it to squadron wide and Firing!� Gunnery Officer Paul�s voice was the calmest on the bridge aside from his CO and the XO, and Ross allowed himself a brief second of appreciation that at least Lieutenant Paul was a combat veteran, the only one currently on the bridge aside from himself and Pallins.
The Frigate Saber and two destroyers still capable of firing Enterprise and Manticore lit space with their fire, each targeting an enemy frigate with a powerful missile volley.
The enemy point defenses nailed three missiles but all the others struck home burning holes in each of the enemy frigates, the highly trained cannon crews of the three Icaran warships soon chimed in with their own fire and within seconds one of the enemy frigates exploded in a brilliant golden eruption and another frigate was put completely out of action.
The third frigate died moments later as another missile volley struck her full on and tore her into multiple fragments and fireballs.

The after action report was not good for the Icaran squadron King Roger and Manticore had both been knocked out of action and were forced to retire to Handar base for repair and re-supply leaving only Enterprise and Saber to carry out their assault on the first Fornax base.

Rasorow

November 5th, 2004, 12:57 PM

Nice - a real good read. Will the Comodore plunge fearlessly on now that over half of his squadron's effective fighting force has been eliminated?

Rasorow

rdouglass

November 5th, 2004, 03:20 PM

Bummer. Not bummer story - GREAT story - bummer Posts.

Let me explain. I look at the topic and see a new post. I think "Great! A new chapter!" and then I get disappointed that it's only a comment.

I'm not discounting comments at all (in fact, I'm doing one now), I'm just thinking it'd be nice to have comments posted elsewhere. But then I'd probably never read 'em. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/smirk.gif

Just thinkin' out loud.....

Starhawk

November 5th, 2004, 08:09 PM

2405.7 The cost of war
�Admiral Magill, Naval Command has sent priority one courier ship with a message reading �your eyes only.� Captain Parrin of the Rebel Alliance light cruiser Starburst sounded more then a little worried as he handed the data chip to his Admiral still sealed in it's armorpLast case.
�Thanks Rodge�.� Magill inhaled sharply and placed the data chip in his compute, he tried to look relaxed as he read the orders but his lips began to twitch uncontrollably and soon a sneer crossed his face.
�Sir, what is it?� Parrin�s anxiety was clear as he watched his Admiral�s eyes wander over the screen again.
�It�s war Rodge, we are to set course for the Icaran�s Goin base in the Gaia system and �neutralize all resistance�, you and I both know that will mean destroying the entire colony when it comes to those Icarans.� Admiral Magill frowned again, he had met governor Averato and some of the people from Goin colony only a few months before and found most of them to be good people if a little backwards politically, and now to carry out his orders he would have to kill all of them and start a war with their nation.
�Sir, that makes no sense the Icarans have done nothing to us!� Parrin objected and began to say more but was silenced as Magill raised a strained hand.
�Rodge, the Icarans are expansionists pure and simple, their economy requires that they expand as does their population growth, our spies tell us they have a limited number of planets they can colonize within their own space, which means they will have to head elsewhere� Magill paused and frowned deeply before looking back at his flag captain.. �We can not risk them trying to expand into our territories and NavCom beleives Goin base would be their stepping off point into our territories.�
�But sir open war will push them against us for sure, and what if after we destroy Goin colony they decide to counter attack us?� Parrin�s voice was earnest as he pleaded with his Admiral but Magill simply stood up and waved his officer down.
�Relay the orders Captain, tell the entire task force we are headed to destroy Goin base and then the Icaran destroyer squadron.�
�Aye sir.� Parrin said in a resigned tone as he turned to follow his Admiral out.

Both rebel officers left the Admiral's quarters with a grim attitude, the Navy command believed they could destroy the Icaran presence in Gaia and thus force the Icarans to quell their expansionistic attitudes, at least in their part of the galaxy.

****************
The radiant purple skies outside of the massive colony dome of Goin base lit brilliantly as an EM storm passed overhead, the wondrous green and yellow lightning flashed in dancing patterns across the sky as �night� drew near and some of the populace sat in the local park to watch the rare and beautiful storm.
Millions of other civilians went about their work, mining raw ores, refining, construction and various other essential tasks little concerned with the storm overhead, when suddenly the noises of work were violently cut off as civil warnings howled throughout the colony and the four platoons of army troopers garrisoned in Goin began racing along the streets in skimmers trying to round up civilians.
The civil alarms meant only one thing, attack was imminent and in this region of space it could only be one group, the Rebels who had signed and broken a peace treaty in record times thanks to their �mob controlled� democracy.

Military personnel rushed civilians into shelters as fast as possible but their sensors had detected the rebels too late, thanks to the EM storm which had blanketed all sensor and com frequencies with static and haze and the first Rebel cannon shells began raining down on the dome while millions of civilians were still clogging the streets.
Explosive shells tore massive gouges out of the dome and the poisonous atmosphere began leaking into the colony, chocking and burning thousands of unprotected civilians, more disturbing was the lightning which now came streaking into the unprotected colony electrocuting hundreds and destroying buildings with amazing ferocity.
More shells rained down and with most of the dome gone they began striking the city and base directly, massive explosions erupted all around the colony and within minutes even more shells had slammed into the colony causing massive casualties and damage. Within an hour, the entire population of Goin colony had been killed.
********************
�Target destroyed sir.� The grim cheerless tone of the Starbursts� tactical officer rang out from his station as the entire task force looked on at the devastation they had wrought.
�Helm take us out, and set course for those Icaran Destroyers, we have a job to finish.� Magill said grumpily as he turned off his visual display of the colony�s surface....or what was left of it.

*********************
�Sir I�m detecting the entire rebel task force over Goin base, cancel that they are headed out from Goin sir.�Victory Squadron�s chief tactical officer turned to face Captain Park. The Captain curtly as he watched his station�s command repeaters.
�Are they headed for us Lieutenant Commander?� Park asked hoarsely as the realization sank in, the two destroyers of his squadron had detected multiple energy flares around and on Goin colony and the presence of a Rebel task force in orbit meant only one thing, Goin base was gone and war was coming straight down on Icara�s frontier.
�Aye sir, they are coming our way at maximum military power.� the answer was exactly what Park had feared, he had only one choice, he could not run or else he would open the entire system to rebel occupation but he knew all too well that his squadron would get pummeled by those damned democrats!, but he had no choice.
�Comns get in touch with Tiger tell her to follow us in, we are going to take on that squadron.�
�Um, Aye sir.� the startled comns officer replied as she tapped controls on her board, and a second later her quiet voice was passing his orders on to an equally startled com officer aboard the other destroyer.

Two hours later the Icaran destroyers were within missile range of the rebel task force and both Icarans spat out their missiles in a wall, 2 sprint and four capital killer missiles raced across the stars towards their intended victims like 6 tiny stars.

*********************
�Sir missiles incoming, I count two fast movers and four of their big ship killers!� The chief tac officer aboard Starburst announced.
�Already plotting intercept� The weapons officer announced as he began firing the light cruiser�s point defenses, monitoring their destroyer screen as it too opened fire on the incoming missiles.

*********************
�Captain we�ve scored a hit!� Gunnery officer Beasley smiled broadly as the enemy frigate fell away from their formation.
�Excellent job guns that only leaves 4 destroyers and a light cruiser� Park smiled thinly at his gunnery officer.
�Good sir, means more practice for me.� Beasley grinned back sharkishly before looking back at his targeting display.

*********************
�Sir Albunea has been hit, she�s lost two engines and is falling back.� Liza Adair�s voice chimed calmly from her station.
�Sir we�ve got more missiles incoming!� The chief tactical officer grimaced as the task force point defenses began clawing at the new missiles.
�Impact on Mothma she�s falling out of formation sir�.she�s down to one engine and a cannon�.
�We need to get in close to those Icarans or we�re dead helm.� Migill�s anger was made all the worse for the fact that two of his ships had been knocked out of formation by TWO enemy destroyers and he had done no damage to them�but his task force was fast closing on those Icarans and he gritted his teeth as his three remaining destroyers and his own light cruiser closed in.

*************************
�Captain Park, they are closing fast sir!� The tac officer was watching nervously as the enemy squadron closed.
�Give them another volley guns.� Park�s cold tone was harsher then he had meant it to be, but if those Rebs closed the range then his two destroyers would suffer for it.
�Target that light cruiser this time guns, and tell Tiger to do the same.�
�Aye sir� Beasley replied almost absently as the two destroyers rippled off another volley.

*******************
�Admiral missiles closing fast!� The tac officer�s voice sounded panicked as his screens showed 6 incoming objects.
�What ship are they aimed at tac?� Admiral Magill feared he already knew as with their current trajectory there were only two ships they could be focused at the destroyer Roul and his own ship.
�Sir directly inbound on us!� was the simple reply as the tactical screen showed 3 objects still closing directly on his position even after their point defenses had intercepted the rest.
The Starburst rocked in agony as the missiles slammed into her hull, great gouges were torn out of her unarmored hull, damage and collision alerts howled as the light cruiser rocked again, her port magazine erupting in a swath of flames that completely encompassed six compartments on two decks.
�Admiral we�ve lost cannons two and three, engines one and four are gone, port magazine is gone, heavy casualties in cannon six.� Adair�s voice was cold with fear as the damage reports continued to spill across her screen.
�Sir we are in cannon range!� the gunnery officer reported almost triumphantly as his Admiral nodded and he depressed the firing tab that fed all the cannon crews plots into the computer, seconds later the light cruiser rumbled to her keel as her four remaining cannons fired.
The three remaining destroyers still in combat range also lit up their own cannons and within seconds the stars were filled with DU shells traveling at .3c.

*****************
HMS Tiger was the first Icaran destroyer hit by the Alliance ships, her hull shook violently as multiple shells tore into her, Park clenched his fists in rage as he saw yet another shell slam into his squadron mate and he imagined the scene of hell in those damaged areas.
�Guns fire our own cannons, tactical, com get me a report on the status of Tiger.�
�Aye sir target plotting underway�
�Sir Tiger reports she�s lost missile two, cannons one and two and engine five, Captain Anders says she�s going to stay in the fight though.�
�Thank you, Rourke, Beasley� Park nodded to both of the officers who had just spoken and tried to give a reassuring smile but couldn't quite manage it.

Victory maneuvered into near, point blank range with Starburst and locked her entire armament on the larger ship, 3 missile tubes and four cannons erupted into life as the Icaran destroyer made her pass on the rebel flagship�.more holes were torn in the side of the massive craft as cannon rounds shattered hull plating and bulk heads, the missiles too were closing fast on their victim.
Tiger chimed in with her remaining missiles and cannons against an enemy destroyer but with her shot targeting systems both her shells missed and her ship buster missile fell easy prey to the enemy ship�s point defenses. The sprint missile met it�s mark however and two of the Rebel destroyer�s cannons vanished in an expanding sphere of wreckage taking it out of the fight. Another volley of cannon fire struck home and finished off the enemy ship.

********************
�Admiral I�ve got three birds closing in, our point defense is gone sir!� the tac officer�s voice sounded resigned as he watched the three deadly weapons closing in.
�Damn it, damn it! Can either of those destroyers intercept it?� Magill asked desperately, but it was already too late and he knew it�..the bridge erupted in flame and noise as the three missiles slammed into the already damaged rebel ship.
*********************
�Scored it sir!� Beasley�s triumphant tone was interrupted suddenly as Victory shuddered violently, one of the enemy destroyers had closed in behind her while she hit Starburst and three of it�s shells tore into the Icaran destroyer mercilessly.
�Sir missiles, one and two gone!� Tac officer Rourke nearly spat as three more shells from the other enemy destroyer slammed into Victory. �Gadamn, sir we�ve lost cannons one and four, engine 5 is gone and 2 is failing.�
�Well let�s pay them back for that, fire down that lead destroyer�s throat mister Beasley.� Park hardly noticed that Tiger�s remaining cannons had torn apart the second enemy destroyer�s point defense clusters and when when heavy missiles slammed into the enemy destroyer the magnificent flash caught him off guard.
�Sir Tiger reports she got a kill!� Rourke said unnecessarily as anyone on the bridge could see the erupting wreckage that had once been an enemy destroyer.
Victory fired her own broadside to a less brilliant effect, both her shells tore into the destroyer that remained but they only managed to take out two engines and a single cannon.
*********************
�Adair, are you still there?� Admiral Magill�s voice sounded numb as he dragged himself to a kneeling position and looked around the wreckage that had once been his flag bridge in horror, an arm stuck out from under a massive piece of debris but it was obvious whoever�s arm that was could not have survived as the wreckage lay flat across the deck, another body lay headless only inches from where Magill�s command station had been and he realized sadly that so far every one of his bridge crew was dead.
�Aye sir, I�m here.� the voice of Liza Adair sounded distant and pained in the Admiral�s ears, or rather his remaining intact ear, that Last missile had sent a piece of debris flying straight across the left side of his face and the old Admiral noted solemnly to himself that his left eye was probably gone and that was why he could not manage to open it.
The battle that had done this to his ship seemed distant now, almost like it had just been a bad dream but Magill looked around him again, at the wreckage and the bodies and knew in his heart that it had happened, even though his mind refused to believe the horror in front of him.
�Where are you Liza?� he tried to make his voice sound encouraging but it was mangled even to his own ear and he noted that his voice box had probably been damaged too.
�Sir, I�m here at my station�� her voice said painfully and Magill shook his head in horror. Adair�s station was buried in rubble and he thought there was no way he could move it all by himself with his injuries, but he told himself he had to at least try as he limped over to the rubble that contained what might be the only other survivor on Starburst and started digging away at it with his bare hands
*******************
Things were almost as bad aboard Victory and Tiger, both destroyers were bleeding atmosphere and trailing debris as they clawed back at the enemy destroyer that remained in combat range with whatever weapons remained functioning.
�Sir, Tiger reports her Last cannon is gone, she�s got a missile tube left but Anders reports that her damage control parties are still trying to clear it.� Rourke�s voice was hoarse as he reported the extent of the damage to his captain, and tried to ignore the corpsman that was tending to the hole in his shoulder that had been caused by the same piece of debris that had torn Beasley�s throat out.
�Tell Tiger to pull back while she clears her damage Rourke, our cannons should be able to finish this destroyer.� Park replied sharply as he looked around the damaged bridge, Beasley, Torez, Killroy, Mach all dead and his XO had been taken to sick bay nearly five minutes ago with a couple of ribs poking out of his uniform in a bloody mess of meat and bone.
Victory struck wrathfully at the enemy destroyer and this time her wounded foe paid for their inability to maneuver as the two cannon shells tore her shattered hull apart in a dim series of explosions along her hull.

Two enemy destroyers remained still but at their current speeds Tiger and Victory would take a substantial amount of time to reach them.

**********************
The shattered remains of Starbursts� bridge was all to quiet as Admiral Magill finally tore the Last piece of rubble out of his way and got a glimpse of Lieutenant Adair. He tried to hide the shock as she reached what was left of her right hand up to him, he grabbed it as gently as he could but the horrible burns caused one of her remaining fingers to come off in his hand as he lifted her out of the rubble.
�Sir, you look like hell.� Adair said quietly as her shattered and bruised face attempted to form a smile.
�I know Liza.� Magill said with a tearful grin as he tried to lift the injured young woman up to get her to the escape pod but her cry of pain froze him in place.
�Liza I�m going to get you out of here.� His remaining eye filled with tears as he noticed her attempt to form another smile.
�I know you will sir.� she said in a shadow of her formerly energetic and youthful voice before passing out in his arms.

Magill managed to get her through the shattered bridge doors to the nearest life pod and started hooking her up to the life support systems and an emergency medical bed. He then stepped out of the life pod and picked up another two injured crewmen that lay near the pod and hooked them up to the life support and emergency medical beds that remained before activating the auto-launch sequence.
****************
�Captain Park, I�ve got a life pod from that light cruiser!� A startled Rourke said as he began locking his cannons onto the target.
�Rourke!� Park�s shout froze the tactical officer in his place as Park sprinted over to his side and spun his chair around. �Damn it Rourke we are Icaran Naval officers not butchers, you inform S&R that we have a mission for them right now, and stand down those weapons or I will have you shot.� Park�s bitter tone shocked the young officer but out of a mix of training and fear the young man managed to give pass on the message.
Fifteen minutes later S&R teams recovered the escape pod and brought it to the remains of the boat bay where a medical team and marine squad met it�.

Meanwhile in the Fornax system:
HMS Enterprise and HMS Saber closed in on the first of two Phong bases in the fornax system, so far no targeting sensors had locked on to them and as far as the two warships could tell not a single Phong ship was in system, which made their job much easier.

�Ross this is Fowler, how about you let me take Saber in first, my ship�s smaller and if those Phong are hiding anything on that planet we would make a harder target for them then Enterprise.� Her voice sounded quite sincere and her advice was good but Ross smiled to himself as he wondered if the real reason the young officer wanted to take her ship in first was to get into the action faster, and ensure that she was not left �in reserve�.
�Alright Sandra, take your ship in first, but be careful the fact that your smaller also makes you a more vulnerable target if they do hit you.� Ross grinned at the pretty young face on his screen and her conspiratorial grin made him feel almost like laughing.
Her salute as she cut the com made Ross feel like laughing again if only because it was one of the few things that was stress relieving on such a grim day.

The two Icaran warships closed fast on the undefended Phong world and within seconds a volley of fusion missiles from Saber was screaming towards the surface targets that had been picked out by Fowler�s tactical officer and even as their volley of missiles was closing the frigate opened fire with her cannons.
Explosions erupted all around the Phong base as the devastating volley struck. The frigate�s second volley of cannon fire was joined by the missiles and cannons of Enterprise and even more devastation riddled the unprotected base.
Two more vollies later and the two warships had blown the Last pieces of the enemy base and millions of Phong into dust and glass as the nuclear rain stopped.

Starhawk

November 6th, 2004, 01:23 AM

2405.8
HMS Victory and her squadron mate Tiger had finally managed to close the distance with the remaining Rebel starships, both sides vessels were pummeled to the point that they were barely combat capable and the four ships closed on one another like wounded animals.
�Sir Tiger reports she is in missile range, she is requesting permission to fire.� Rourke�s voice was quiet almost to the point of a whisper as he addressed his captain, he was still terrified of Park after he had snapped at the younger officer for what was probably just a precautionary action.
�Thank you Rourke, tell captain Anders she has permission to fire on the destroyer, we are going for the frigate since she�s closer.� Park said gently as he watched the distances close ever so slowly.

The crippled enemy destroyer did the unexpected as it turned about and began to withdraw from the field, the frigate however began closing, it�s two cannons searching for a target to kill. As she bore down on the larger Victory she fired both of her cannons and a single shell slammed headlong into the destroyer�s engineering section, reducing her to only one engine.
The frigate�s lucky shot did little good for it�s own life however, as Victory fired her own surviving cannons the shattered hull of the frigate stood no chance at sustaining such impacts and a brilliant flash signaled the end of the frigate and her crew.
As the missile volley from Tiger burned out and went ballistic far short of her mark and the destroyer continued to flee and was already too far out for the battered and maimed Icaran warships to follow and Park gave the order to let it go, knowing he would risk even more damage or even destruction if he pursued her further.
Icara�s Navy had scored an unbelievable victory, they had killed a light cruiser, 3 destroyers and a frigate with well over 3,000 Rebs perishing, but that victory had cost them dearly, out of 800 Icaran spacers involved in the battle 500 had died and another 100 were wounded, both destroyers too had been put out of action and it would take them months to reach the colony which had been set up during the very hours of their opening shots with the Alliance task force.
Captain Park did show Icara�s mercy however when he dispatched his search and rescue teams to pick up whatever alliance survivors they could without risking the survival of any Icaran navy personnel, however only three life pods had made it away from the wrecked alliance task force and with them only 12 Alliance survivors.

�Ms. Adair wake up��can you hear me? Liza can you hear me?� a voice unfamiliar to the young woman called out to her from the darkness and she shook her head gently, trying to arrange her senses as best she could. �Miss Adair wake up now!� the voice called out stronger and she tried to open her eyes but found that only her right would cooperate.
�I am Captain Dylan Park of the HMS Victory your in our sickbay I need you to wake up and talk to me.� His voice was kind and gentle but Adair was shocked and terrified as the realization hit, if she was on an Icaran warship that meant her squadron had been forced back or destroyed�.a tear came out of her only working eye as she remembered the horrible look on Magill�s face when he first saw her injuries and she wondered just how horrible she did look.
�It�s alright Miss Adair, we are not going to harm you, however it is my duty to inform you that you are a prisoner of His Majesty Praetor Leonidas� Royal Navy.� the voice was still kind and gentle but to Adair it may as well have been the devil speaking to her.
�Where is Admiral Magill?� she managed to squeak out through a badly bruised mouth as she slowly opened her eye, seeing a rather hansom young looking man standing over her, wearing the dark red tunic of the IRN officers.
�Miss Adair I�m afraid he didn�t make it, he died of his injuries shortly before our search and rescue people pulled you aboard, our medical team tried to save him but I�m afraid there was nothing they could do.� His apology sounded sincere but somehow Liza doubted he meant it, after all it was Magill who�s squadron destroyed the Goin colony and killed millions of Icaran citizens.
�I need to ask you a few questions miss Adair.� Park asked quietly and Adair settled herself in as best she could to not answer any questions that may reveal any of the few state secrets that she knew.

The questioning went on for hours before Adair was allowed to rest for the day, the next day the questions went on again, and the day after that and again after that for weeks, all the while her healing process went on and even she could not deny that the Icaran medical staff treated her with as much care as any of their own who had been injured during the battle, though she also noted that no one would let her see a mirror.

In the Fornax system a new messenger drone raced towards the warp point to brink back glorious news, that the second Phong base in the Fornax system had finally been eradicated by Brevet Commadore Ross and his Flag Captain Sandra Fowler. A new colony ship had already been launched from Handra base and was en-route to the ruined remains of the second base.

2406.3
Two Messenger drones arrived in the Icara system, one from either end of the Icaran Empire (such as it is) and both bore good news for all Icarans, the Neo-Star Empire who had been threatening the 6-11 and Awer systems had signed a peace treaty with Ambassador Franks informing him that they sought the better unity and peace of all human Star nations.
From the other end of the empire Handra sent a messenger drone to inform Praetor Leonidas that due to their massive losses in Fornax the Phong had requested an �equitable� trade and research alliance that would benefit Icara�s economy and allow the Phong government to save face in front of their people.

2406.4
In a horrible act of treachery the Neo-Star empire dispatched two squadrons of light cruisers, one into Awer and the other into 6-11 their orders were deadly and simple and they carried them out with a ferocity unmatched in the Icaran history books.
Awer colony, population 300 million was destroyed outright by 6 Neo-Star light cruisers, the colony�s plea of surrender was ignored even as the bombardment began and the colonists were still issuing their surrender.
6-11 met it�s death more defiantly but it met it�s death all the same, 5 light cruisers had destroyed the colony and all 120 million Icarans in residence died,
With no survivors from either world reports that came back were little more then rumors and speculation, the only confirmed information throughout the empire was that indeed both colonies had been destroyed by the ferocious Neo-Star fleet.

2406.5
A month after the destruction of 6-11 base HMS Warhawk and the new HMS Claw closed in on the single Neo-Star light cruiser that was patrolling the inner system.
�Captain Davidson, this is Captain Paris, we know that these bastards can chew us up if we get close, keep Claw at missile range only, I don�t want any more Icarans dying at the hands of that cruiser, understood?� Davidson�s grim face on the com panel nodded as he passed on the orders to his crew, both men knew all to well what had happened to Bounty and the first Claw at the hands of those devastating energy weapons and neither man wanted to give that cruiser the chance to do it again.
As the two destroyers closed in on the massive light cruiser they each fired off their missiles in rapid succession and within moments six missiles streaked across space towards the enemy warship, but as the Light cruiser�s point defense cannons came to life and thousands of shells sprayed the stars only a single missile died, the other five screaming on un-phased.
�Missiles closing Sir.� the tense voice of Gunnery officer Keon was hardly audible to Davidson as his eyes fixed on the holotank display as it showed 5 little yellow dots closing in on the red light code that represented the neo-star light cruiser.
Seconds later a brilliant flash lit the holotank as all five missiles reamed the hull of the enemy light cruiser, tearing out massive gouges of the hull, completely crippling her.
No mercy showed in the eyes of Davidson as he ordered his ship in for the kill, as his cannons tore the enemy ship apart Davidson felt nothing but joy at the deaths of those bastards who had destroyed two colonies and killed half a billion Icaran civilians for no reason and all that after signing the damned treaties!

2406.6-9
The Neo-Star Empire claimed it�s attacks on Awer and 6-11 colonies was justified as being a self preserving measure, and claimed that the governors of both worlds had been secretly planning an assault into Neo-Star space. After the loss of their light cruiser on patrol in 6-11 and the establishment of Mandow base on the former colony world in the same system the Neo-Star Empire realized they had been outmaneuvered by the Icarans and it this reason alone that most of the Icaran Lords believed the Neo-Star Empire resigned the peace treaty. However this time 6-11 would not be caught off guard and Warhawk squadron was formed with Warhawk and Claw as the first of four planned ships to be on station.

Liza Adair frowned openly as she watched the battered wreck of the sole surviving Alliance warship withdrawing back into alliance space, only a third of it�s crew still alive and throughout the system the colonials felt nothing but relief as both of the Icaran Warships present were still in port undergoing extensive repairs and re-manning.

2407.1-9
The battles against the Neo-Star Empire and Rebel Alliance had actually brought some good to the Icaran navy beyond battle experience.
University of Sparta had developed a new weapon that used phased polarons in concentrated beams to do devastating damage at medium range.
An odd result of the phased polaron research actually led to the development of the first shield generators which used the EMW power source that had been used on the original PPB prototypes to generate an energy barrier around a starship and protect the hull from direct damage.
Another breakthrough in the Icaran Bureau of ships R&D department led BuShips to believe they could design and build a larger warship based on the ones they had seen in both the Alliance and Neo-Star navies, the light cruiser and plans were underway immediately for the budgeting of projects to expound on that hull design and make an even larger warship with which Icara could ensure her naval dominance.

Renegade 13

November 6th, 2004, 03:30 AM

Another series of awesome stories http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Have you ever thought of writing a book? Based loosely perhaps on SEIV? I think you could do it, and I'd sure as hell read it. There seems to be a lack of good sci-fi writers out there, and I think you'd do quite well if this is an example of your writing capability. But then again, what do I know? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/tongue.gif

Starhawk

November 6th, 2004, 12:34 PM

http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/redface.gif thanks, and yes I have thought of writing a book which is actually why I'm writing these stories.
I'm hoping I can get enough practice so that when I do write a book it won't have as many gramatical errors as this story. And so I can learn character development and flow of writing. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

2408.9
"Praetor saints preserve us from the NAVY!!!!" Lord Michael Branch, leader of the so called "Peace Movement" said as he stormed to his feet as if he was about to attack Grand Admiral Hallice.

The House of Lords had met to discuss the construction of the new Cruiser sized starships and the overall expansion of the navy which currently numbered only 18 warships. Two Retribution class light cruisers had already been authorized by the Admiralty but for something as expensive as these cruisers were going to be needed to be authorized by the House of Lords and no one knew how much of a heated topic it was going to be until Michael Branch and his Peace Party showed up.

"Excuse meM'lord?" Hallice kept his voice level but the Admiralty's contempt for the peace party was well known throughout Icaran space, the Peace Party were idealists who beleived that if they kept the Royal Navy small with only enough power to patrol Icaran space then they would not draw the hostilities of other star natons or aliens.

"You heard me Admiral, you navy people have been sapping at our economy too much as it is and now you want to build even more ships! and BIG ships to boot, tell me Admiral are you trying to destroy Icara?" Branch asked angrily as he looked down at the Navy man and his attache.

"Actually My Lords the Navy is here to defend Icara, but to do that we need more then 18 warships, I assure you other nations probobly have far more, so far we've run into minor powers such as the Phong, an the Rebel Alliance who's navies are probobly no larger then our own. But NavInt beleives that the NeoStar Empire's navy may outnumber ours two to one and,...." Hallice was cut off by Branch's snort of disgust.

"Oh PLEASE Hallice, we are at peace with the Neo Star Empire and have been for months now, who cares if their navy outnumbers ours, if you navy types would pull your minds out of warfare for just one minute maybe you would stop planning on attacking them and instead plan on stronger economic balance with them." Branch was an egotistic blowhard and everyone knew it, but he was also born to a high ranking noble family and so figured he had every right to act in such a fashion, however little his fellow nobles liked him for it.

"Well My lords as we've all seen just by burrying our heads in the sand and wishing the universe would be nice to us does not work." Hallice paused while the bulk of the Lords and Ladies chuckled and grinned himself as he noticed Branch and his collegues fuming.
"Now we are at peace with the Neo-Star Empire at the moment, we've all seen that they're peace treaties are hardly iron clad as they destroyed TWO colonies and killed 300 million Icarans." His voice was much more serious as he continued but he still made a point of not looking at any of the Peace Party members.

"Admiral are you saying...." This time Branch was cut off as Halice conveniently closed a folder just a little bit lowder then he needed to before continuing on.

"Anyway My Lords, My Ladies these new cruiser sized starships would greatly increase our nation's ability to both defend it's own borders and expand outward against nations like the Neo-Star, or Rebel Alliance. The Phong continue to press our ambassadorial service with requests for a tighter alliance, would it not be better to go into such an alliance as the Dominant rather then the subserviant?" Hallice said calmly and polietly and shot a sideways glare at Branch, who was still sputtering in anger.

"My Lords! My Ladies! we must put this to a vote now so that we can better advise our Praetor, I say we vote now." The Count of Icara it's self said as he too cut Branch off before he could go on another navy bashing spree. His demand for a vote was echoed from every other noble in the house, except for those of the peace party of course.

When the vote was made it was 75% in favor of the construction of cruisers and the expansion of the navy leaving Branch and his followers storming out of the House of Lords like overgrown children.

Gandalf Parker

November 6th, 2004, 02:41 PM

Starhawk said:
http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/redface.gif thanks, and yes I have thought of writing a book which is actually why I'm writing these stories.
I'm hoping I can get enough practice so that when I do write a book it won't have as many gramatical errors as this story. And so I can learn character development and flow of writing. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

You can do a book now. There are "Book on Demand" sites that will accept your manuscript and create a page where people can order your book. They set a printing/shipping price and you can charge whatever you want over that. Like if they say they can do this story at 9.99 then you can charge 19.99 or 14.99 or 9.99 even. It still provides people with a nice bound Version of your book. There are also sites that do the same for eBooks.

My favorite "on demand" site lets everyones website add tshirts, mugs, Calendars, and books/music that are specific to their web site.
http://www.cafepress.com/cp/info/sell/books.aspx

Starhawk

November 6th, 2004, 06:24 PM

I don't think I'm a good enough writer at the moment I mean people wouldn't even likely read a book that I wrote since I'm a no name author http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/frown.gif But I will look at that site for the future, thanks Gandalf.

As for the next chapter (unfortunately not much has happened except for what I posted and that all happened so fast that there is not much story element to it)

2409.3
Captain Ross paced his deck anxiously after the Admiralty had sent word via messenger that he was going to lose command of his current starship and thus the entire squadron and report to HMS Saber as she returned to Icara once the two light cruisers arrived. Ross Began to wonder if getting half his squadron crippled had put him dirt side, but all he could do now was wait for the two light cruisers and return home as ordered, the fact they were recalling Saber too hit him like a weight.

Icaran Spaceyard
The massive length of HMS Reliance was elegant yet deadly, her sleek gray hull with it�s gleaning white and blue prow dwarfed every other ship in the Icaran navy, she carried 6 phased poloron cannons two shield generators and a crew of 2,000 officers and Ratings plus 100 marines.
Reliance and Defiant were the first two cruisers to launch from Icara and Brandenburg but they would not be the Last plans were already underway to begin full fledged production and with these powerful new cruisers coming on-line Icara�s fighting strength would more then double.
In the meantime however Reliance silently slipped out of her port under the command of Captain Allison Hanks for her shakedown cruise and firing range tests.

Gaia System
Captain Ali Mahamed Ben Salim sipped at his tea quietly reading the reports of his �cargo's� well being, when he first joined the Icaran colonial service Captain Salim was looking forward to seeing new worlds, conquering space through force of wits and instead of force of arms like those in the navy. What he hadn�t expected was so much paperwork on a one way trip, but the colonial governor had complaints about his quarters and thousands of civilians were claiming other unimportant things that he still had to look over.
Well at least they were at the warp point, he thought and then only another week before they reached their destination, Salim decided that getting a few hours sleep for a change would be a good idea and he tossed the Last signed flexy pad aside and went to bed.

Alarms howling and the sound of civilians screaming or arguing woke Salem up in the middle of the night, he lay in place frozen for a moment as his mind raced down all the possible causes for the noise and as he reached the most logical conclusion he darted out of bed and donned his gray colonial service uniform before racing out the door.

�What�s going on up here mister Jackel?� Salem asked anxiously as he reached the ark ship�s bridge.
�Sir there is a light cruiser out there, they are closing fast�.wait�..they�re hailing sir.� Jackel said nerviously as he routed the message to the Captain�s command station as well as his own.

�This is the Sol Coalition warship Yellowstone you are to surrender yourselves immediately and lead us to your government, you are renegades as far as we are concerned and thus if you do not surrender we will open fire on you. the voice sounded quite sincere but Salim just couldn�t believe it, Sol after all these centuries now Earth came looking for them?

�What does he mean renegades?!� Jackel�s voice was angry but more frightened then angry as he realized their ship did not stand a chance against a warship, and they were already to close to the gravity field of the warp point to escape.
�It doesn�t matter mister Jackel, we can not lead them home and we can�t escape.� Salim sat silently for a moment, trying to decide whether he should bother to warn the civilians, at the Last minute he decided against it, let them live their Last few minutes in peaceful ignorance of what fate had dished out to them.
After a moment Salim bowed his head and began to pray for himself, and his family who were still back on Icara, his right hand slipped to the control panel and the alarms stopped howling.
The Sol cruiser hailed again but the Icaran ark ship did not surrender and so they carried out their threat, they had a single powerful Depleted Uranium cannon and it�s first shot killed millions of civilians as it blew out entire unarmored sections of hull, the engines were next and still it continued to fire without mercy.
Seconds later the colony ship and 120 million Icarans were gone and all that was in their place was a cloud of debris.

2409.5
HMS Victory had been detached from her patrol in Gaia to destroy a Rebel base that NavInt had located and captain Park wasted no time, he located the base and immediately closed range with the colony, a single volley of cannon and missile was all it took to exterminate the base.
Park�s return trip was not a joyous one however for he remembered young Miss Adair who had been offloaded at Haron for physical therapy and further question, and remembered that though these Rebel Alliance people had started the war they were still Human and many of them were not unlike Icarans, and he had sent over 50 million of them to their deaths, the thought made him slightly ill in his stomach as he continued to read the after action reports.
A mystery awaited them at the warp point as well as they scanned a massive debris field that had not been there on their journey out-system, Park made a mental note to inform the Admiralty and find out just what had happened, little did they know they had scanned the wreckage of what had once been an Icaran ark ship.

Starhawk

November 7th, 2004, 06:38 PM

2409.6
The Sol Coalition light cruiser had hovered around the Gaia system ever since it had destroyed the colony ship at the warp point and Governor Averato was unwilling to dispatch the single destroyer that remained in his system after HMS Hydra went missing.
Finally with the construction of HMS Trafalgar the Gaia system had a ship strong enough to face off against the Sol warship.
The Captain and crew of Trafalgar never even got the chance to do a shakedown cruise, they immediately proceeded directly from port on a course to intercept the enemy warship.

�Captain Peters, this is governor Averato, if you believe that taking on that ship gets too dangerous for you I want you to fall back to Goin and join up with the Victory is that understood?� Averato�s baritone voice sounded odd to Captain Peters� he had never known Averato to sound worried but this time, there was fear in his voice.
�Yes sir, but if Trafalgar can�t take that ship on I doubt Victory will be able to help us much.� Peters frowned at the face in the com screen �Well sir that just means my crew will have to even better doesn�t it?� His frown quirked slightly until he was grinning.
�Captain if you take out that ship I�ll give you a thousand crowns to buy your whole crew a drink!� Averato smiled before cutting the com.

�Tactical, time to intercept?� Peters looked across the large bridge and felt a swell of confidence, this cruiser was a magnificent warship, 500,000 tons of raw power with a crew of 2,100 of the best spacers in the galaxy. But still they were facing a ship that was only slightly less powerful then they were and it had unknown weapons and shield capabilities.
�Five-zero minutes sir, possibly less if they turn about to intercept us.� The tactical officer replied, she was young and green but then again almost everyone was green, Peters himself had only been an ensign back on HMS Saber when she first launched almost ten years ago but most of the navy was fresh out of the academy when they were given ships. Captains were drawn from the original crews of the first three ships to have launched from Icara but even they were new to command.

�Sir, they are turning about to intercept us!� the tactical officer shouted just twenty-five minutes after her initial assessment. �Revised time to intercept is one zero minutes, we�ll meet them just outside of Gaia seven orbit.� her voice calmed but the excited tone was still there, and Peters could hardly blame her his own excitement was almost painful.

The Icaran cruiser closed on the Sol Coalition Light Cruiser with amazing swiftness and finally they closed to weapons range.
�Alright guns, open fire!� Peters had to force himself not to shout as he watched the gunnery crews lights signal their readiness.

The six phased poloron cannons tore across space, to the shock of all gunners all but one beam missed it�s target by a wide margin, and the single beam that struck it�s target was blocked easily by the Sol light cruiser�s shields.
�What happened guns?� Peters asked coldly as he watched the enemy ship continue to advance on his ship
�Sir I don�t know, we are getting all sorts of sensor ghosts from that Solaran and she�s got phased shields.� the gunnery officer simply shrugged at his captain and turned back to his station.
Just as Peters looked back at the main display screen two thin orange beams raced out from the enemy warship and the shields of his cruiser flashed and flared as if they had been struck by some divine wrath. Peters expected damage alarms to start howling or collision alerts but instead he just heard the confused voices of his tactical and executive officers.
�What is it?� his voice was harsh as his tactical display showed his cruiser�s shields simply disappear, it was impossible by what the Icarans knew about shields, when shields collapsed a portion of energy that had dropped the shields would carry through the hull and cause damage to the ship�s hull, yet there were no damage reports.
�Incoming, three zero five by niner two!� The tactical officer shrilled, but it was already too late, by time the sensors had detected the incoming shell it had already impacted on the unshielded hull.
An explosion rent a massive hole into the portside of the Icaran cruiser and flames spouted out into space for a nanosecond before the vacuum consumed the flames.
Damage and collision alerts began sounding throughout the ship as if the cruiser were a wounded beast howling in pain.
�Phase cannons five and six are gone, neither crew made it out, 14 dead, engine five gone, portside fire control gone switching to starboard, reactor room two is gone, 20 confirmed dead, we�ve got damage control parties trying to seal the breach sir.� Chief Daine�s voice was strained as he finished listing the damage sustained by a single high yield cannon shell.
The battered cruiser returned fire and almost miraculously all four shots hit the enemy ship and finally brought down the enemy vessels shields and causing a burn through that destroyed two engines.

The return fire was brutal however and another shot tore another gaping hole in Trafalgar destroying another engine and killing over a dozen crewmen. The Icaran cruiser limped forward defiantly, she brought her cannons to bare again but this time all four shots missed, and she rocked under the devastating shell that was spat back at her by the enemy cruiser.
�Sir if we take any more hits like that structural integrity is going to fail!� The executive officer breathed in sharply as he saw two of their own shots impact on the enemy ship�s hull and it�s shield generators exploded.
�Captain, the sensor ghosts are gone I�ve got lock!� The gunnery officer shouted triumphantly as his gunnery crews achieved positive locks.
Another enemy shell came screaming towards Trafalgar and Peters expected to die this time around but jus as it closed in on them the shell continued on into the void of space before exploding 100 clicks off the Icaran�s battered port side.
�Oh thank God and all the Saints!� Peters� exec sighed in relief, that shell could have done vast amounts of damage if it had hit the battered port side of the cruiser.
The Trafalgar closed to point blank and loosed another volley with her four remaining cannons, without those ghosts every single shot hit right where it was aimed and this time the Solaran light cruiser suffered, whole sections of it�s hull melted away before the devastating energies unleashed upon it, internal explosions lit across the shattered hull and finally the enemy starship flared into a brilliant ball of light and wreckage before winking out of existence along with 1200 of it�s crew.
Trafalgar had suffered her own losses however, 500 personnel had died and another 250 wounded, she was limping home at 2/3 speed and her supplies were almost completely destroyed when her portside supply hold was blown out by the enemy ship, but she had emerged victorious and saved the Gaia system from even more deaths.

2409.8
Admiral Tyson Babcock Given Command of 1st Fleet (Stationed out of Icara Naval base)
Admiral Yu Hing Pe Given Command 3rd Fleet (Stationed at Handra Base)
Rear Admiral Patrick Raley Given command 2nd fleet (Stationed in Gaia system)

Starhawk

November 8th, 2004, 02:46 AM

Some things you guys may need to know as the story goes on (so you don't get confused):

Royal Navy Ranks
Enlisted
E1= Spacer's Assistant
E2= Spacer
E3= Senior Spacer
E4= Petty Officer 2nd Class
E5= Petty Officer First Class
E6= Senior Petty Officer
E7= Cheif Petty Officer
E8= Master Chief Petty Officer
E9= Master Spacer

Officers
O1= Ensign
02= Lieutenant Junior Grade
03= Lieutenant
04= Lieutenant Commander
05= Commander/Sailing Master (if two or more commanders are permanently stationed on a starship and if one is not in the medical field the junior commander receives title Sailing Master)
O6 (when not in command of ship or base)= Brevet Captain
O6(in command of a ship or base)= Post Captain
O7= Commadore
O8= Rear Admiral
O9= Vice Admiral
O10= Star Admiral
O11(Special)= Grand Admiral of the Navy

Note: The Term Brevet is also given when a rank is unofficial or temporary. (I.E a Squadron commander with the actual rank of Captain will be referred to as "Brevet Commadore".

Army Ranks
Enlisted

E1= Trooper Recruit
E2= Trooper
E3= Trooper First Class
E4= Corporal
E5= Seargent
E6= Signifier
E8= Signifier Seargent
E9= Master Signifier

Officers
O1= Second Lieutenant
O2= First Lieutenant
O3= Captain
O4= Major
O5= Lieutenant Centurion
O6= Centurion
O7= Company General
O8= Regimental General
O9= General of the Corps
O10= Grand General of the Army

Army Stormtroopers
Enlisted

E1= Commando
E2= Senior Commando
E3= Elite
E4= Seargent

Officers
O1= Aquilifer
O2= Tessarius
O3= Centurion

Royal Marines
Enlisted

E1= Private
E2= Marine
E3= Corporal
E4= Seargent
E5= Gunnery Seargent
E6= Command Gunnery Seargent

Officers
O1= Lieutenant Second Class
O2= Lieutenant First Class
O3= Brigadier General
O4= General
O5= Comendant of the Marines

Unit Composition
Royal Navy

Section= 2 Capital Ships
Squadron= 2 Sections
Division= 3 Sections
Fleet= 2 Divisions+

Royal Army
FireTeam= 4 Men
Squad= 3 Fireteams
Section= 4 Squads
Company= 4 Sections
Brigade= 8 Companies
Regiment= 3 Brigades
Army Corps= 2+ Regiments

Storm Troopers
Ops Team= 3 Stormtroopers
Squad= 4 Ops Teams
Pursuit Group= 4 Squads
Hunter Killer Group= 4 Pursuit Groups
Assault Formation= 8 HK Groups
Purifier Force= 3 Assault Formations

Royal Marine Corps
Fireteam= 4 Marines
Squad= 3 Fireteams
Section= 4 Squads
Company= 2 Sections
Batallion= 5 Companies
Brigade= 2 Batallions

Well there you go a little Military Info (BTW the 1st 2nd and 3rd fleets are all understrength for the "official" fleet designation at the moment, however the ships are currently under construction to bring them up to and beyond the minimum requirement for the term "fleet".

P.S. Next installment is tomorrow http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif after I re-read the draft.

dogscoff

November 8th, 2004, 06:54 AM

Bummer. Not bummer story - GREAT story - bummer Posts.

Let me explain. I look at the topic and see a new post. I think "Great! A new chapter!" and then I get disappointed that it's only a comment.

I'm not discounting comments at all (in fact, I'm doing one now), I'm just thinking it'd be nice to have comments posted elsewhere. But then I'd probably never read 'em.

No no no! Comment Posts (and the "is it a new chapter?" anticipation you describe) are what keep a story thread alive between chapter Posts and keep interest in the story up. Trust me, authors need comment Posts.

rdouglass

November 8th, 2004, 05:37 PM

dogscoff said:

Bummer. Not bummer story - GREAT story - bummer Posts.

Let me explain. I look at the topic and see a new post. I think "Great! A new chapter!" and then I get disappointed that it's only a comment.

I'm not discounting comments at all (in fact, I'm doing one now), I'm just thinking it'd be nice to have comments posted elsewhere. But then I'd probably never read 'em.

No no no! Comment Posts (and the "is it a new chapter?" anticipation you describe) are what keep a story thread alive between chapter Posts and keep interest in the story up. Trust me, authors need comment Posts.

OK - I trust you. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/biggrin.gif

Comment - great stuff. Keep it coming.

Starhawk

November 8th, 2004, 10:05 PM

2409.9 A busy month in Gaia
It was a dull day for the crew of the cruiser HMS Brilliance, they had been blockading the same warp point ever since Trafalgar had gone into port for repairs, the crew was more then bored the were starting to become absolutely worn out, they had been responsible for the intercept of three Rebel Alliance colony ships and their cruiser had killed over one hundred million human beings mercilessly.
Captain Babcock started to wish he had his brother�s job back at the Admiralty, at least there he would not be responsible for intercepting unarmed colony ships and playing the role of butcher so that these Alliance types didn�t expand into Icaran space.

�Sir I�ve got a GFG footprint!� tactical officer Schmit sounded nervous as he studied the nav chart in front of him. Babcock had the information fed directly into his command repeaters and he swallowed hard when he saw the footprint and mass readings, it was a cruiser and the hull shape suggested it was a Solar cruiser.
Babcock snorted in disgust as he remembered the Solar ship that had destroyed an innocent ark ship without even attempting to make contact!
�Battle stations mister Schmit, all hands to battle stations!� Babcock said coldly as his tac office punched in the alert codes and the familiar sound of klaxons and alarms began their tirade.
Brilliance closed rapidly on the offending starship and within seconds her broadside came to bare, her phased poloron beams lashed out but met either empty space or the cruiser�s phased shields.
A counter volley from the Solar, brought down the Icaran�s shields and two DU cannon shells slammed into her exposed hull.
�Damage report con.�
�Engines one, two, and three gone, starboard reactor gone, aft GFG gone, sir heavy casualties reported in those sections.� Schmit nearly shouted as the sound of another explosion jerked brought his attention back to his control Boards.
Another volley from Brilliance lashed out into space and this time it got lucky, the enemy ship�s shields went down and the Last beam that actually hit the enemy cruiser managed to pierce her hull just enough to take out her ECM generator negating her prime advantage.
The counter volley struck home on Brilliance yet again, and this time it�s second shell exploded right in the heavily reinforced prow of the Icaran cruiser, taking out her forward GFG and most of her primary sensors.
�Helm take us baring one-five-three-zero-zero� Babcock�s chilly tone sounded mechanical as he almost chanted out the coordinates.
The Icaran cruiser closed point blank on the enemy cruiser, only a few hundred meters off it�s port side, then her cruiser�s powerful phased poloron cannons swung round and dealt a devastating broadside which crippled the Solar cruiser�s weapons, and most of it�s engines. Another volley turned it into an expanding sphere of flame.

�Helm take us to Goin base for repairs.� Babcock�s voice had returned to normal as he read the damage and casualty reports, out of a crew of 2,000 he lost 50 dead and had 120 wounded, and his ship had the living hell beaten out of it.

The Price of Victory
Rear Admiral Yu Hing Pe sat quietly aboard the bridge of the Icaran cruiser Torment which orbited Handra base with the other warships of the 3rd fleet. He grinned at the thought of his small squadron being called a fleet, six ships didn�t even meet the official minimum requirement for the name fleet. He had just received his orders from the Admiralty and his fleet was getting supplies and equipment loaded aboard from Handra� supply facility before they set course for the Fornax system to join the two ships of the Enterprise section.
�Admiral Yu?� the soft voice of his flag captain Allison Hickock sounded concerned as she saw the face of her Admiral.
�They want us to attack the largest base in Fornax before linking up with Ross� ships and continuing on.� Yu�s voice was quiet enough so that only his Flag Captain could hear the concern in his voice, intelligence reports from the Enterprise and Wardo base had suggested that the Phong had one of their bases there in preparation for an assault on Handra and that left the Admiralty with no choice but to take out that base and all the warships that may be there when he arrived but with only 6 starships Yu hardly felt confident about his chances. But his orders were clear and he intended to carry them out come hell or high water.

Two days later the ships of the 3rd fleet left Handra base and made the jump into the Fornax system, their target lay ahead of them and the fleet immediately formed a battle line, HMS Torment holding the center of the line.
�Admiral I�m detecting one-five enemy destroyers closing fast from their base, radar also detects satellites in orbit around our objective.� Tactical officer Browler�s face was pale as he saw the sheer number of enemy ships coming their way, they had two cruisers two light cruisers and two destroyers vs. that entire fleet.
�Alright tell HMS Victorious to hold her position on our left flank with Retribution, King Roger and Manticore will hold the left. Inform them that Torment and Pollux will hold at our center.� Yu analyzed the formation that was coming at him with some hope, they were approaching in an old style arrowhead formation which meant that his line of battle formation may be able to defeat the oncoming warships in segments, unfortunately the arrowhead favored the destroyers because of their sheer numbers 15 to 6 was hardly an even match and he knew it.

Instead of heading straight into the Icaran battle line the Phong fleet attempted to flank them, Yu�s force moved to intercept and prevent themselves from being flanked but with their approach only the left flank would be in firing position for several minutes, fortunately they were also two of the heavy ships in the formation Retribution being one of two light cruisers in the Icaran navy, the other being Victorious which was one of the newest cruisers in the navy.
The Phong fleet closed in on the Icarans but the two warships on the Icaran got into firing position first and the Cruiser Victorious laid a devastating broadside into the closest Phong destroyer, the energy cannons caused the destroyer�s hull to buckle, whole sections of the destroyer began melting or exploding under the force of the beams clawing at it in rapid succession, within seconds the Phong destroyer ceased to exist and Victorious was seeking her next victim. The Icaran light cruiser also scored a kill before the startled Phong formation brought their own cannons to bare on the two warships.
Shell after shell slammed into the shields of Victorious and Retribution yet they held against the fire and the two Icaran warships sought out two more victims and within the blink of an eye only 11 Phong destroyers remained, unfortunately the counter fire this time was too much for the shields of Victorious and her hull erupted in flame where the shells scored home. Three of her engines were gone and all but three of her cannons but Commodore Stein refused to pull his ship out of the fight and his broadside crippled another enemy destroyer.
�Get us into that fight Helm!� Yu said bitterly as he watched Retribution turn another destroyer into floating debris�.the Admirals eyes squinted as he saw another volley impact on Victorious unprotected hull.
�Sir message fro Retribution Commodore Stein�s flag bridge was destroyed, he�s dead sir as his command staff Victorious is withdrawing from the battle.� Com officer Jessup�s voice was more then a little shocked as he saw the battered hull of Commodore Stein�s flagship withdraw from the battle, leaving the Light Cruiser alone.
The Phong were fortunately using a kind of mount for their weapons that allowed them much longer range then the standard DU cannons that the IRN had used on their older ships but the Phong cannons also had much reduced accuracy, which was probably the only reason Retribution was still alive and fighting.
HMS Torment and Pollux finally closed the range with the Phong warships, two destroyers rapidly died under the firepower that the two warships unleashed, 7 Phong warships still remained however and two were pursuing the shattered remains of the cruiser Victorious.
�Commodore Hanson, reports his warships are in position to intercept those two Phong Destroyers sir, he recommends we sustain fire on the main formation.� Jessup�s voice sounded relieved as he saw the two light codes for the Icaran destroyers closing in on the enemy warships that were pursuing Victorious.
�My compliments to Hanson and inform him we will sustain engagement with their main body.� Yu said calmly as he saw another enemy destroy vanish beneath the fire of his warship. Two more enemy warships died rapidly as the other two warships brought their fire to bare.
The missiles from the two Icaran destroyers quickly brought the two warships chasing the Victorious to a halt, rapidly ending their pursuit with a volley of cannon shells and seconds after that another volley of missiles finished them off in two brilliant flashes of light.
�Sir two enemy ships closing on our port, INCOMING!� Browler�s voice was cut short as three cannon shells tore into Torment�s shields, a fourth shell impacted on the cruiser�s hull taking out two of her engines in the process.
�Return fire!� Flag Captain Hancock shouted over the din of damage alerts, her cruiser shook again as a secondary explosion tore open her aft gravity field generator.
The Retribution and Pollux moved into position beside their flagship and their combined salvo destroyed the remaining destroyers, it was only then that Yu was able to notice of Commodore Hanson had moved his destroyers into position near the enemy base, sadly their missiles were torn apart by the numerous point defense stations on the planet and its satellites.
�Sir Manticore is taking fire from the planet!� Jessup hissed as the displays showed multiple hits impacign on the unshielded destroyer. �King Roger is moving in to cannon range sir, she�s firing�.I�m reading impacts on the surface, I think she got one of those weapon platforms.�
�Tell Pollux to follow us in, order Retribution to stay with Victorious in case any more enemy ships come into range.�
�Aye sir transmitting orders.�

Moments later HMS King Roger exploded into a ball of flames as she tried to shield the battle damaged Manticore.
The cruiser and two light cruisers that were still in fighting trim approached the enemy base, unfortunately Torment was the first to discover the range that the remaining planetary weapons platform truly had, her unshielded hull was rent by eight cannon shells.
Admiral Yu regained consciousness enough to see that his bridge had been exposed to vacuum and that most of his bridge crew was gone, the injured Yu looked over to his right where Captain Hancock was strapped to her seat and noticed that her helmet�s faceplate was opaque with blood, he glanced downward and saw a massive piece of debris embedded in her chest.
A brilliant light grabbed his attention back to where his ship�s view screen had used to be and his Last thoughts were of his son, who was a Captained a cruiser in the 1st fleet, then the light drew nearer and nearer, then an all encompassing flash ended the life of Admiral Yu and the lives of his crew as the massive shell tore apart the remnants of Torment.
The dead were avenged quickly however as the two light cruisers destroyed the satellites and weapon platforms that were defending the base, the base was soon destroyed as the Icaran warships opened up on it�s surface.
15 Phong destroyers and one of their most important bases in Fornax had been destroyed but the Icaran 3rd fleet had paid dearly for their victory, Victorious and Manticore had to be towed by the two light cruisers, Torment and King Roger had died with all hands including Admiral Yu.
The Icaran dead numbered 2,800 and the 3rd fleet was neutralized as an effective fighting force.

Meanwhile on the other end of the Fornax system Enterprise Farrogot and Saber successfully engaged and destroyed 4 Phong destroyers, suffering only 81 dead and 150 wounded.

Starhawk

November 9th, 2004, 07:35 AM

2410.0 A change of Flags
Commodore William Ross sat alone in his briefing room aboard HMS Enterprise, he had just come from the memorial service held for Rear Admiral Yu, the second he got back aboard his own ship he came straight to his briefing room and turned out the lights so he could be alone with his thoughts. The Admiral had been his tactical combat instructor back when Ross was still a snotty or �little gentleman� as they were supposed to be called-but never were-Ross frowned even deeper as he remembered the first time he had met Yu Lin Pe, the Admiral�s daughter was a first form midshipman like him and she had thrown him about three meters across the gym during unarmed combat training, he still remembered the smile on her face as she helped him up-and that it was a genuine smile of satisfaction and not an arrogant one of triumph-, and the look of pride on her father�s face-and the grin as he watched a 15 year old boy's face go fusion at getting thrown by a 1.5 meter tall girl who weighed less then 40 kilos-.
Chin Pe, the Admiral�s son had even been his roommate for two years and often Ross would have dinner with the Admiral�s family when the Academy was between forms�.he decided rather quickly he liked the Admiral and his family even though they came from a low nobility and he was just a commoner.
On the day Saber launched from her port on Icara Ross remembered that the whole Yu family had all been there, Chin teased him about his habit of getting lost and Lin (then a commander waiting for her chance at command) gave him one of her typically strong handshakes and a hug as she told him not to get into any trouble, well he had gotten in trouble he got all Icara in trouble and they�d lost millions of lives already and in a way it was his fault. And now thanks to him stumbling across a hostile race Admiral Yu was dead, before even getting the chance to learn that his daughter had received her own command HMS Blackbird in the 1st fleet just like his son had recieved command of HMS Eclipse three months ago. Ross� eyes began to tear up as he thought of how proud Hing would have been of his youngest child as she donned the red and black tri-point hat of a post captain for the first time (even though they wer never actually worn aboard ship they went back to the days of sail and the Royal Navy loved tradition)Ross thought about how her elegent features would have looked in a Captain's formal uniform, and he realized sadly how much he cared about the young woman....which made him feel even worse as if he were betraying her father somehow, even though he had chosen never to do anything about his feelings for her, or did he feel he betrayed her father by not doing anything about it? Either way she was 300 lightyears away now and he could do nothing about it....his depression rose as the feelings of loss drew closer to the surface.

The door chimed quietly and Ross snapped back to the present and made sure he covered his grief.
�Come.� His voice was still shaky but he was managing to get it under control
�Sir, a messenger drone has just arrived from the Admiralty, there is a packet of sealed orders for you, as well as Messages from Yu Chin Pe and Yu Lin Pe.� Captain Fowler�s voice was quiet as she handed her Commodore the envelope with his orders, she silently handed him the two Flexy�s from Admiral Yu�s children.
Ross quickly unsealed the envelope and saw a sheet of honest to god paper within it, in this day and age the Admiralty only used real paper for the most formal of occasions, his eyes quickly scanned the paper and his breath caught in his throat. As he saw Captain Fowler turn around to leave Ross held up his hand to stop her.
�Is everything alright Commodore?� She asked quietly.
�I�m not a Commodore anymore Sandra.� His voice still sounded shocked as he re-read the piece of paper in his hands.
�Sir?� Sandra�s face turned red as she saw the look on Ross� face and thought he had been dismissed from his command.
�The Admiralty, has bestowed upon me the rank of Rear Admiral, they�ve given me command of the 3rd fleet such as it is, and have given me the authority to give field promotions to a captain, two commanders, and three Lieutenants.� His face lit up and for the first time since the messenger drone from the third fleet had arrived.
�Congratulations sir!� Fowler said as she gave him an enthusiastic handshake, her smile was almost as broad as his as she beamed at her new Admiral.
�Thanks Sandy, I�m going to need a new Captain for Retribution when Drake�s promoted to Commodore and you have my priority, that is if your up to it?� He asked almost cheerfully, it was her turn to be shocked this time and after a moment of obvious disbelief thought she started nodding.
�Well then Captain Fowler, when I make Captain Drake�s promotion to Commodore official you�ll take over as captain of Retribution,�and stop nodding before you break your neck.� Ross laughed again as the young woman realized she hadn�t stopped nodding and suddenly flushed when it was pointed out.

The list of Promotions and reassignments in the 3rd fleet are as follows:
Captain Sandra Fowler Transferred from HMS Saber to HMS Retribution
Commander Sarah Pallins former exec HMS Enterprise promoted to Flag Captain and given command of HMS Victorious.
Captain Thomas Drake former commander HMS Victorious promoted to Commodore and given command [i]HMS Pollux[/i.

Starhawk

November 10th, 2004, 01:42 AM

2411.0
Ensign Liza Adair had been in the prison cells on the Icaran colony of Tathys IX for a long time now, such a long time that she knew most of the guards by their first names and even made a few friends among them. She still had no illusions though she was over a thousand light years from the nearest Alliance world and she was a prisoner, no matter how nicely the guards treated her and her fellow Alliance POWs.
The interrogators decided she didn�t know anything of value about the Alliance only three months into her incarceration, and she was glad of it because the drugs they used to make her talk also made her throw up rather violently after they settled into her system. Her compatriots were not the only Prisoners here either, she had seen a group of men that didn�t look like anyone back on New Haven, they were shorter then the average Rebel and their skin color was an olive complexion and their heir was dark compared to the fairer features of the Rebs, they also spoke a language she had never heard before but she did remember hearing them mention some place called Nuovo Roma and there used to be an empire who�s capital was called Rome back on old Earth thousands of years ago.
She also saw a handful of others that looked like some of the Solarans her own people picked up after a skirmish on their borders and she often wondered just how far these Icarans were expanding and how long they were going to keep her and the other Alliance personnel prisoner.

The heavy thump of armored boots was not all that unusual in the prison corridors but this time Adair noted that there was a much softer clap that sounded like a standard Icaran jackboot, one that their army officers wore when not in battle. A few moments later the door to her cell slid open and two armored troopers stepped in the door, they both carried stunners at the ready and she smirked, a trooper in full armor was around 1.8 to 2 meters tall and a single backhand could break a human�s jaw easily so the stunners were really just for show.
An officer stepped forward wearing the black trench coat, the jackboots and the black cap with the Icaran eagle emblazoned on it. His rank insignia suggested a Colonel or at least she thought they did, her casual analysis ended abruptly when she noticed the grim look on his face, she immediately straightened her shoulders and looked him straight in the eyes.
�Miss Adair, as senior surviving officer of the Alliance Personnel on this base you are to inform the rest of your compatriots that you are to be released in four hours.� He saw her shocked expression and a brief grin crossed his face. �The war is over, but before you rejoice I must inform you that the reason the war is over is because your nation has been absorbed into the Icaran Empire, they�ve surrendered.� the Colonel actually looked remorseful as he handed her the flexy with the information.
For a stunned moment she couldn�t believe it, her people were in an economic decline because of their lack of valuable planets in their space, her destroyed task force was a massive economic investment, and with it�s destruction would likely never have been replaced in all the time that she had been in prison. But even with that economic decline and the military defeats they had suffered she just couldn�t imagine her entire alliance surrendering, after the realization sank in she collapsed down onto her bunk and tears swelled in her eyes.
�I�ll leave you too it then miss Adair, but you have to meet your shuttle in four hours.� the Colonel turned about smartly and went through the doorway leaving Adair in stunned silence.

Public Speech by Praetor Leonidas XIV
�Today Citizens of Icara the greatest victory our people have ever achieved thus far was confirmed by our diplomatic corps, The so called Rebel Alliance leadership contacted our pickets just over a month ago and surrendered their worlds to our Empire.� Praetor Leonidas paused as the crowds cheered and called out their praise, he then raised his hands to bring silence to the thousands of citizens who had massed in Icara City�s �Public Square�.
�Ladies and gentlemen, though these planets will one day bring our nation�s strength to double what it was before the Alliance surrendered they are currently poor worlds with crumbling economies, we have a responsibility to bring these worlds into the fold wholeheartedly and fully, there are over 6 billion Rebels that are no doubt confused and quiet a few will likely be resistant to the change that is coming their way. The are used to that feeble governmental system of Democracy, where every citizen has a voice and where the rich are practically above the law�..for this very reason our Empire had long ago abandoned Democracy for the much stronger government we have today.� Leonidas smiled broadly as he heard the cheering crowds.
Democracy was long ago considered to be a foolish form of government by all Icaran people as a �rule by the mob� was considered to be too fragile for a nation that believed in it�s right to expand and believed God chose the line of Praetors personally, and so Praetors were seen as more then rulers, they were living saints to their people and more often then not lived up to the expectations their people held out for them. So it was that when the Rebel Alliance surrendered it was seen as a justified expansion of Icara for the good of it�s people, and as Leonidas promised them, some day Icara would rule over not just one human nation but instead over every human world and every Phong world in the galaxy! For it Was their divine right to rule and they would never yield as long as even one Icaran drew breath to carry on the fight to unify mankind under Icara�s Praetor saint!

Renegade 13

November 10th, 2004, 03:06 AM

Dictatorship prevails, democracy falls....

Another set of awesome stories! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Starhawk

November 10th, 2004, 03:04 PM

You call it dictatorship they call it logical http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/tongue.gif

2411.2 Dawn of a New Era
HMS Hawkwing, the first of the General class heavy cruisers was launched from Handra base only a month after her keel was laid, there was of course a reason for her rapid launch, an entire Phong destroyer division had been located by sensor probes, hiding in the Escandor system�s asteroid belt and it was the considered opinion of the Handra base commander that they were intending on launching an assault to destroy the Icaran base.
Hawkwing was a massive vessel at 600,000 tons, she dwarfed a cruiser by a clear 50 meters and was manned by a crew of 3,000. Her firepower and shielding matched her size and it was believed by her designers that if handled right Hawkwing could take on an entire Phong Squadron by herself.
That theory was soon to be put into test as she set course for the asteroid belt at maximum military power not even pausing for a shakedown cruise.

�Captain Palmer, we are closing in on the belt I am detecting those destroyers but I don�t think they can see us.� Tac officer Gregor sounded very satisfied as the new sensors picked up the six enemy ships that thought they were hidden.
�Thank you Tactical, let�s just hope those new sensors that BuDesign came up with do as well in combat.� Captain Palmer�s grin was obvious from across the bridge as watched the command repeaters at his station. 6 destroyers on staggered formation within a belt of thousands of rocks of various sizes.
�Helm take us in as close to those asteroids as you can manage without crashing into them, let�s see if we can surprise those destroyers shall we.�
�Aye captain plotting a course now.�

The massive form of Hawkwing slid silently along the asteroid belt for nearly two hours all the while closing on her unsuspecting prey. As the heavy cruiser swung round the first destroyer came into her weapons range.
�Guns, open fire!� Palmer�s voice was excited as he watched the targeting sensors achieve locks on the first enemy ship.
�Firing aye.�
In an eye blink beam after beam of highly charged phased polorons cut across space and sliced again and again into the armored hull of the Phong warship, debris and atmosphere began pouring away from the destroyer in massive clouds�less then a minute later the destroyer exploded.
�Damn good shooting guns.� Captain Palmer�s voice was praiseful as he saw the expanding cloud of gas and wreckage.

The other five destroyers were aware of his ships presence however and they quickly closed the range and opened fire with broadside after broadside pouring across space, many of the explosive shells detonated on asteroids while others missed entirely the few that did manage to find Hawkwing did no damage as the splashed across the heavy cruiser�s hull.

The Icaran�s counter fire was far more devastating however as yet another broadside cut a Phong destroyer into pieces, a second broadside against another destroyer sent it spinning out of control as it�s engines exploded.
The three enemy destroyers still in combat range closed in on the heavy cruiser, firing as they came but this time their fire was totally ineffective and Palmer�s smile broadened as he realized it was his ship�s ECM generator that kept the Phong from getting a lock on him.
�Sir I�ve got two more of those destroyers locked on.�
�Thank you guns, take them out. Helm run us right down their throats.�
�Aye sir, putting maximum thrust, closing.�
The Icaran heavy cruiser accelerated into ranges so close Palmer felt like he could just spit out his gun ports and hit one of those yellow bastards, the broadside Hawkwing dealt to the first enemy destroyer turned it into a plasma ball and debris field, the second destroyer that met her fire also erupted into a ball of fire as it had been damaged previously by Hawkwing.
�Sir incoming!� Gregor frowned as he watched his display. Almost before his sentence was finished three shells slammed into the heavy cruiser�s shields but to the relief of everyone aboard their ship�s strong shields simply shrugged off the fire.
�Guns, let�s make sure that destroyer gets our compliments for his gunnery skills.� Palmer�s voice was relaxed and cool even as he saw the smirks on the faces of his bridge crew.
The aforementioned destroyer did receive Hawkwing�s �compliments� barely a minute later as she was torn to pieces by the powerful cannons that had already destroyed 4 of her comrades only minutes before.
The sixth and final destroyer died less then fifteen minutes later as the heavy cruiser achieved lock through an asteroid that the destroyer was attempting to hide behind, both the destroyer and it�s hiding place erupted in fire and rock as the heavy cruiser�s broadside came to bare.

�Damage report tactical?� Palmer�s voice was slightly anxious as he awaited the reply.
�Sir, no damage, medical reports we do have a minor injury from an energy feedback caused when that Last shell impacted the shields though.� Gregor turned around and smiled cheerfully at his captain, this was probably the first naval battle in history where six warships had been destroyed by one and no fatalities were sustained by the victor.
�Well then, Helm take us to the Fornax warp point and hold position until new orders come through.�

Starhawk

November 11th, 2004, 01:50 AM

2411.3 Wasp�s Sting
Captain Thomas Cadel ran down the corridors of the Tempel II military base, the nine other pilots of the 1st Wasp squadron ran beside and behind him as the battle alarms screamed.
�What the hell is going on?� Lieutenant Paris shouted as she buttoned her flight suit.
�A Phong battle group got through the warp point before those navy boys could intercept �em, so that leaves us!� Cadel�s was tense as he they made it to the small flight bay which held the 10 Wasp star fighters that made up his entire command (there were supposed to be 30 before he launched) he thought bitterly.

The Wasp fighter was a small one man fighter craft with two auto cannons which could fire 2,000 depleted Uranium rounds per minute and could out maneuver the cannons of a capital ship. It was an experiment commissioned by Admiral Babcock before he took command of the 1st fleet and Cadel was the first Pilot trained to fly these new star fighters into combat unfortunately for him his squadron was only 1/3 completed when the 8 Phong destroyers had been detected near their planet.
The Wasp fighters were designed specifically for fighting on the Phong front, their weapons would not have done much damage too a heavily shielded ship such as those on the Sol or NeoStar fronts and were also far cheaper then a capital ship-most of which had to be diverted to guard the Solar/Neo Star borders in case either of those powers launched any further sneak attacks.

Two hours later Cadel and his squadron were spaceborne and closing on their first target, the lead Phong warship, one of their �Fearless� class destroyers that seemed to form the bulk of their navy.
�Alright Lads, get lock on that first lil� bastard and let�s try and keep them away from Tempel.�
�Alright boss, we�ll keep em out of tempel.�
�Lad heh right sir�
�Sorry Janet sometimes I forget� Cadel enjoyed a brief laugh, he still had twenty minutes to close on the enemy and he wanted his people loose and relaxed when the time came to fight, he had trained with them for months now and they had all become very close, but more then that he knew he could rely on them no matter what, even though the odds were very much against them.

Twenty minutes later the 10 fighters of Wasp 1 squadron �Puking Dogs� had closed in on the first destroyer And space lit up as it brought it�s cannons to bare on the approaching fighters. Cadel�s own fighter rocked and shook as the shells screamed past him at nearly 3,000 gravities of acceleration.
Cadel worried for a second until he let his eyes drift to his in helmet HUD and saw all ten of his fighters still at his wing.
�Alright lads and lassies, let�s show this bastard to hell!� Cadel squeezed his triggers and the cannons mounted in the nose of his fighter opened up with a fury, as did those of his squad mates. Thousands of rounds poured out of the fighters as they strafed along the enemy ships hull and explosions erupted all across it�s hull tearing open section after section and destroying multiple subsystems and sending it spinning out of formation.
Every alarm in Cadel�s fighter began to blare as the enemy warships turned about to focus all of their attention on his squadron, but he and his fellows were already hunting down their second target a strafing run on that destroyer proved equally effective and it�s crew managed to lug her about and attempted to withdraw from the battle zone.
�Sir, I think they�re scared now, they�ve all turned about and are pursuing us.� the voice of Ensign Chaplain sounded excited as he turned about to join his squadron on their third victim.
A strafing run on the third ship was less effective and it still had a cannon left after their pass.
�Sir should we turn around and reengage?� Janet�s voice came over the com net but Cadel shook his head, forgetting he was alone in his fighter.
�Negative Jan, move on to the fourth target our goal is to cripple their ability to destroy Tempel not go goose hunting.�
�What�s a Goose sir?�
�Forget about it Jan. We�ve still got incoming!�
More shells poured into space as the Destroyers desperately tried to kill their assailants to no avail the smaller Wasps continued to sting again and again across the fourth and then fifth targets doing heavy damage, the fifth still had a cannon remaining and continued to fire defiantly.
�Sir that sixth destroyer�s got good gunners, they getting to close to me here I�m getti�.� the voice of Ensign Janavits suddenly cut off
�Oh Jesus!� Janet shouted through the com as she just barely dodged the exploding wreckage of her wing mate.
�Stay calm, stay calm now get the lock on that bastard.� Cadel swore inside and out in his mind yet he could not let his anger cloud his orders or his whole squadron might join the young pilot who had just died.
The sixth destroyer paid in blood for it�s single successful hit as the nine remaining fighters blew apart it�s entire armament, spilling bodies and wreckage into space�..the destroyer limped away at less then a quarter speed.
The fighters of the Puking Dogs did not relent as the seventh destroyer was quickly put out of combat with another strafing run by the wasp attackers. The eight destroyer fought more valiantly, yet it did no damage to the Icaran fighter squadron and it too was quickly put out of action.
�Alright now let�s finish this!� Cadel�s voice was pure hatred as his fighters swung round against the two closely packed destroyers they had just crippled.
A second pass was all it took and both destroyers went up in brilliant fireballs as thousands of DU shells tore through hull and crew alike.
�Sir I�ve got six running, we can�t go after them all.� Janet�s voice was also full of hate as she realized their vengeance would not be complete.
A third destroyer was quickly overtaken and it�s hull erupted into fire as the nine fighters blew it apart with ease.
�Got a lock, Janet you want the honor?� Cadel�s voice was back to it�s calm command tone but he still felt the burning hatred in his heart, that destroyer had been the one who killed one of his pilots and it would pay.
�Thanks sir, Okay Beta team follow me.�
Moments later her and the other 4 fighters of the Puking Dogs Beta team dove in against the enemy vessel and tore it to shreds with their cannons.
�Sir we�ve got Phong escape pods here, orders?� Janet had already swung her fighters back around but Cadel knew she wouldn�t fire unless ordered, and he saw absolutely no reason not to give that order.
�Take �em out Jan�

In another sweep with their cannons eight Phong escape pods ceased to exist, and the Wasp 1st squadron Puking Dogs set course for home.

Less then two days later the Cruiser HMS Warspite assisted by the Puking Dogs pinned down and destroyed the remaining Phong warships, no enemies survived.
Only 1 Icaran pilot had died, the other 9 had achieved an astounding victory and were awarded the Icaran �Iron Cross� for valor above and beyond the call.

Starhawk

November 11th, 2004, 08:15 AM

2411.9
Five objects launched from Handra base silently, no fanfare followed the launch of the craft like normall followed the launch of a capital ship, in fact barely anyone on Handra knew about the units that had just launched.

Silently as they exited the warp point the five unmanned drones set course for their targets, four Phong bases in the Fornax system each drone carried 3 multi-megaton warheads that were each capable of leveling entire cities with a single strike, yet they had been designed not for a single strike but for atmospheric separation each warhead would detach from the drone�s main hull and deploy using micro thrusters to it�s designated target.
Only a week after their entry into Fornax the mysterious objects were picked up on Phong radar, but it was already too late for interception and three Phong Worlds with Millions of lives vanished in the course of a single day, the drones knew no mercy and took no prisoners their simple AI�s knew only to attack and they carried out their suicide missions with unfeeling efficiency, much to the satisfaction of the Admiralty who would not have to risk the lives of thousands of Icaran officers and Ratings to neutralize those worlds.

A minor chapter yes but those thre worlds that died saved me a lot of hassle in the long run as each of them had weapons platforms (fortunately not very accurate ones hehe).

Trust me the next chapter will be much more exciting and action packed as the largest battle and longest period of combat in the game took place only a month after those drones nuked those worlds.

Starhawk

November 11th, 2004, 09:00 PM

shamless bump.
(Chapter to follow later tonight)

Rasorow

November 12th, 2004, 11:58 AM

Darn! and I thought there was a new chapter ;-)

Rasorow

Starhawk

November 12th, 2004, 04:55 PM

Yeah sorry about that I ended up busy with other things.

Well here yah go http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

2412.1 The Battle of Wardo
It had been four Months since the planet buster drones had destroyed four bases in the Fornax system. And two months since HMS Hawkwing arrived and became Admiral Ross� new flagship and he was still settling in to the sheer size and power of his new heavy cruiser, the only one on the entire Phong line at the time.
It was two in the morning when the detection nets first picked up the energy signatures of an entire Phong task force of some 22 frigates and destroyers headed to destroy the only Icaran world in Phong territory. It was still four hours to intercept range and Ross sat silent in his briefing room with his subordinates, including Captain Bradshaw of the 2nd space fighter wing which had come on-line only two months ago.
�Sir we can�t intercept them at any great range or else we�d risk letting them slip through our defenses and scoring hits on Wardo before we could intercept.� Captain Sarah Pallins steepled her fingers under her chin as she gave the holotank another look over.
�Yes but at the same time, if we intercept them too close to Wardo colony it would risk them firing straight past our ships.� Commadore Stanley shook his head even as he made his statement, either way intercepting a fleet the size they were facing with as few ships as they had was going to be a hit or miss proposal.

�Alright what we are not taking into account here is that we have the 2nd Space Wing with us.� Ross chimed in, and everyone turned to face their Admiral, as it had been the first time since the briefing began that he had spoken. �Captain Bradshaw do you think your fighters could fill the gaps in our line of battle?�
�Sir, with all respect I think my fighters should be more active in the defense of the planet then taking up gap filling ops in your line of battle.� Bradshaw was always slightly arrogant, Ross had gotten used to that but he was also good at what he did and Ross was somehow still irked by that.
�So what do you recommend Captain?� Fowler�s sneer was obvious as she addressed the man that was for all intents and purposes her junior but the confident Pilot didn�t even flinch as he looked straight back at Ross.
�Well Sir, I�d recommend you let my fighters stay just behind your battle line, no doubt the enemy will envelope your battle line and punch holes in it, my fighters could sweep into them as they tried to reach the planet and take them by surprise. I know you�d feel safer with my fighters intermingled with your own line sir but if those destroyers got even one lucky shot on one of your capital ships they could totally disrupt my fighter formations�.uh pardon sir but if my fighters have to evade one of our own exploding starships it would still open up a gap in your lines but worse then that it would totally disrupt my fighters abilities to intercept.� Bradshaw�s voice was totally emotionless as he stated what he considered perfectly acceptable facts but to the navy commanders sitting in the room with him his �facts� were appalling as he described the destruction of a Capital ship as a problem for him.

Ross raised his hand to wave down the other naval commanders before they had a chance to speak. �Alright Bradshaw your fighters will stay just behind my line of battle but I do expect you to get involved in preventing gaps in our lines�understood captain?�
�Understood sir.�
�Alright then, our Naval commanders know where their place in the line is and now we know where our fighters are going to be, so I think that covers it all. Good even Captains, Commodore Stanley.� Ross said politely, he escorted the other officers to his boat bay and saw them off. He then went back to his quarters to grab and hour of sleep.

�Line of battle is formed Admiral, all squadrons assembled, Bradshaw�s fighters are in position behind us.� Captain Palmer spoke on the screen, he was in his command station on the Hawkwing�s main bridge and Ross was in the Flag bridge just below and 20 meters behind the main bridge, Ross was still not used to not being on �the bridge� as a battle was going on, he had to forcefully hide his frown at the thought as he nodded to Palmer.
�Thank you Captain, my plots down here say we have twelve minutes to intercept range is that correct?�
�Aye Admiral twelve minutes.� Palmer�s voice was remarkably calm-even for a navy man-but Ross thought the Captain had every reason to be, not all that long ago Hawkwing alone had destroyed six of the enemy�s ships while suffering no damage and that would make any captain cocky.

Twelve minuets later the entire line of battle erupted in a chain of broadsides, the light cruisers, cruisers, and heavy cruiser�s beams sliced across space but it was at extreme ranges and only two enemy frigates died under the fire. The destroyers fired their own cannons, but their depleted uranium shells only scored a handful of hits on the enemy fleet and no serious damage was done. A stream of missiles rippled away from the smaller Icaran ships.
The Phong point defenses chewed through the missiles however turning them into a massive cloud of erupting micro-stars but their overall effect on the battle was non existent. The Phong counter fire was hellish as the 14 Phong ships in range opened up on Ross� battle line.
The heavy cruiser was the main target of the enemy fire and nearly a dozen shells slammed into her shields as the enemy continued pouring on the fire, fire which was broken again as the Icaran line fired it�s broadsides yet again, Hawkwing alone claimed two kills, the light cruisers each scored a kill and the cruisers crippled two ships and killed two more with their own powerful armaments.
The destroyers actually scored some good shots in their second broadside and three Phong ships fell out of formation as their engines burned out.

The heavy cruiser�s shields flared again and again as shells continued to slam into her relentlessly, the shields strained and succeeded in destroying most of the incoming shells but even it�s energy barrier had it�s breaking point.
A loud serious of explosions within the heavy cruiser shook her to her core as four direct hits punched massive holes in her engine core and another hit blew apart three of her cannons tearing them asunder as if they were toys.
�Sir, engine one down, cannons four, five and seven are gone, heavy casualties in those sections�� Ross could hear other damage reports over the com as Palmer�s face appeared on his screen again.
�Admiral, they are enveloping our lines, Hawkwing seems to be their main objective at the moment sir but Trafalgar has also taken some fire, Sir should I order the fighters in now?� Palmer�s voice was still remarkably calm and icy even as the holo display showed more fire from his battle line destroy six more Phong warships and then the dozens of tiny red blips that signaled the Phong counter salvos.
�No Captain we can�t yet, give them four more minutes, then order the intercept.�
�Admiral I�.� Palmer�s voice was suddenly cut off as a massive explosion tore the bridge apart, a shell had impacted just behind the bridge its self but the angle of impact sent massive splinters slicing into the bridge, the two marine sentries exploded in clouds of gore and blood as the whole after section of the bridge erupted in splinters and shrapnel, a piece of wreckage decapitated Palmer�s exec and continued on into the helmsman, tearing his back open, a woman�s scream and then a gurgling blood filled cry jerked Palmer around, just in time to see another piece of bulkhead coming straight at him, it was too late to duck of course and the shard slammed into his face destroying it in a spray of blood and rent flesh.
Hawkwing took more hits, somehow her com net stayed on line however and Ross continued issuing orders to his ships, the line of battle had been broken much as he had expected but his fleet�s damage aside from his own flagship was surprisingly light, however the destroyer Trafalgar was in almost as bad shape as his own ship as it moved to cover his port side from fire.
�Bradshaw NOW, get your fighters into it!� Ross shouted over the com as another shell tore yet another piece out of the wounded and atmosphere bleeding heavy cruiser.

100 Wasp fighters screamed at full thrust from three different angles on the Phong ships that had enveloped the 3rd fleet, 10 squadrons of 10 fighters each unleashed hellish amounts of cannon fire as they darted around the much larger enemy ships, dodging what few cannons tried to fire at them. Rapidly eight enemy ships died as eight of the ten squadrons strafed them.
�Alright squadrons 1 and 8 follow me in, we�ve got to take out the bastards that are firing into Hawkwing before they destroy her.� Bradshaw led his squadron straight down the throat of one of the Phong destroyers that had been picking at the badly damaged flagship, as he squeezed the triggers on his controls Bradshaw saw hundreds of cannon shells tearing into the enemy ships hull, as his squad mates opened up those hundreds of shells quickly turned into thousands and then tens of thousands as the continued to strafe along the destroyer�s exposed hull, less then a minute later the destroyer wheeled away out of control and burning, until her reactor overloaded and she disappeared in a brilliant flash of gold.
The other squadron that Bradshaw led in the defense of the flagship also scored a kill and the fighter Captain couldn�t help but smile as he looked at his helm mounted HUD and saw the 3rd fleet firing another concentrated broadside into the enemy, and still more Phong target indicators winking out.
�Alright you scrappers, Squad 1 stay with me, I�m reading another ship going after Hawkwing squadron eight you have free fire, pick your targets and kill them at your discretion�

Ross exhaled deeply as he saw the Phong that were chasing his badly damaged ship destroyed by the 2nd space wing, more then that all along the line he saw his fleet gaining ground as more and more enemy ships died.

�This is Victorious to flagship, sir do you need assistance?� Sarah Pallins sounded more concerned then Ross had ever heard her before but he was too relieved to hear her voice to even see the las few red light codes wink out as the light cruisers Retribution and Pollux opened fire.
�Status is critical Sarah, but I can get her to port, what is the status of the fleet, I�ve lost most of my sensors over here.� Ross was still in the unfeeling professional mode that he donned in battle, but in his gut he felt a terrified knot twisting around his stomach, his fleet had taken a lot more fire then it ever should have and he knew that his own ship-which was the biggest most powerful ship in the fleet- had been beaten to hell so he could only imagine what could have happened to the smaller ships.
�Sir, you and Trafalgar took most of the fire, I�m afraid the destroyer was crippled, her Captain is dead along with about two thirds of her crew, but other then that the rest of the fleet has suffered only minor damage, in fact Admiral, Captain Fowler and I request permission to take our ships out and hunt down those two enemy squadrons that ran their recon for that fleet.� Pallins� voice was full of heartache and the yearning to make the rest of the Phong fleet pay for the damage the 3rd fleet had suffered and for the lives that had been lost.
�If you are sure you can take them out with minimal damage to your own ships then go for it.� Ross smiled thinly at the grin on Pallins face as she relayed those orders to her helmsman.

Retribution and [/i]Victorious[/i] both intercepted two separate Groups of Phong warships that had run recon for the main fleet which had raided Wardo, both squadrons were completely destroyed by the two Icaran warships.
Fowler had scored two enemy destroyers while Pallins scored another six destroyers killed, on their return to Wardo Fowler and Pallins were congraluated by Ross for their victories.

Starhawk

November 12th, 2004, 09:16 PM

2412.2 Convoy Raid
Admiral Ross was tense as he looked at the holotank in Defender�s bridge, she was a General class Heavy cruiser, identical to the Hawkwing but unlike the other heavy cruiser she did not have a flag bridge and Ross was grateful for it as he was able to participate more directly with the action, even though him being in the flag bridge had saved his life when the Hawkwing�s bridge was decimated by a stray enemy shell, he still could not get used to being away from the bridge during battle.
�Captain, I�ve got 3 colony ships on scanners, their escort appears to be one of those new light cruisers of theirs as well as four old destroyers.� The tactical officer sounded absolutely predatory as he continued to scan his prey.
�Thank you tactical.� Commodore Stanley grinned as well as he looked back at his Admiral �Sir, do we form a line of battle or go for a melee?�
�Form line of battle Stanley, order Retribution to go around our line of battle and hunt down those colony ships.� Ross knew the light cruiser had a speed advantage over his heavier units and with that advantage she could overtake the three unarmored colony ships and decimate them easily.

�Enemy squadron approaching our line sir.� The tac officer�s voice was nearly a chant.
Ross nodded and with a single signal pulse from the Tac station the entire battle line opened up their broadsides and missile volleys.
Immediately two of the enemy destroyers vanished in brilliant flashes of wreckage and superheated plasma, another Phong destroyer was struck by four missiles but she continued on and was raked by two ranged beam shots that opened up more of her wounded hull.
The light cruiser had shields that shrugged off the cannon fire from the destroyers and I moved into range of Mnticore blowing massive chunks out of her hull and crippling her engines.

Captain Sandra Fowler clenched her fists in frustration as she knew she could not take part in the battle raging behind her.
�Captain Fowler, We�re closing range on the first target.� Gunnery officer Kinzie held his hand over the fire button as the gunnery crew�s data signals lit green, signaling their readiness.
�Fire.� Fowler took a deep breath as she watched her ships cannons tore into the unarmed colony ship like a knife tearing through paper, moments later it and millions of Phong ceased to exist. The light cruiser moved on to find her second target.

�Sir that Phong Light cruiser is turning about, I think she�s going after Retribution.�
�Thank you tactical, order Victorious to intercept and kill it. Ross relaxed noticeably as he saw the tactical display, two of the enemy colony ships were destroyed and the only Phong warship left was that badly damaged light cruiser which was about to be� destroyed, it�s signal winked out two minutes after it�s light signal converged with that of the Icaran cruiser.

The third fleet retuned to base for repairs, they had successfully neutralized an entire colonization convoy and ended millions of Phong lives.

Starhawk

November 13th, 2004, 03:01 AM

2412.5 A decisive plan
The Holotank in the Admiralty building�s war room was towering, the second largest such holotank throughout the entire Icaran Empire on it was a display of every system within the Icaran Empire plus those systems that had been scouted and deemed as a potential threat to the Icaran state.
The war room was dimly lit as Grand Admiral Hallice walked over to the gathered lords of the Admiralty, noting that in their midst was Admiral Babcock who seemed to be listening very intently to the SIC Admiral Bright.

Hallice cleared his throat to gather the other admiral�s attention �Ladies and Gentleman it�s three in the morning and though I know Admiral Lady Bright is from Brandenburg where it�s currently zero seven hundred I am rather tired so if we could get down to business.� Hallice had a smile on his face as he took the flexi pad Bright handed him.
�Quite right My Lord�..alright ladies Gentleman the Strategic Insights Committee has been observing the stalemate on the Phong front for the past seven months and after recent engagements we believe it is time to push our advantage before the Phong can recover.� Admiral Bright handed out the various flexi pads and turned her pointer towards the holotank, after pressing the selector stub on her pointer the massive holotank zoomed in on four star systems, two owned by the Phong and two by Icara, multiple red dots speckled each of the star systems with information regarding battles or skirmishes fought.

�Admirals the most recent message from our borders states that the 3rd fleet has suffered nearly 6,000 dead officers and Ratings and has even had to pull some of Wardo�s populace into their ships to keep fully crewed, however the sheer amount of damage they have inflicted upon Phong forces is astonishing, to this date the 3rd fleet has been responsible for nearly one hundred and twenty seven ship to ship kills and that includes the recent destruction of a Phong colonization convoy which they obliterated with minimal casualties sustained. � Bright paused and allowed the other Admirals to let the information sink in.
�Now we believe if the Admiralty will dispatch the 1st fleet in combination with the 1st Icaran regiment we can bring that stalemate to a decisive and crushing end for the Phong. Lords I believe the third fleet should continue it�s attack Fornax, while the first fleet and escorts the first Icaran regiments ground forces in the capture of Maven Parsis.�
�Lady Bright if I may ask do you honestly think that the 1st Icaran can capture that system alone?� Admiral Fredricks voice was skeptical, the Admiralty had never considered off world invasions before and many doubted it could even succeed but Bright simply shrugged.
�Well Admiral I do believe we could do this, it will take the first fleet around a year to get on scene but once they do I believe this costly stalemate can end once and for all.� Bright smiled confidently as she saw Hallice nodding.
�Well we have a lot to discuss, Opinions?� Hallice sounded like he had already made up his mind yet for an hour the other members of the Admiralty grilled Bright about all that could go wrong and all that it could cost Icara if this mission failed yet to all of them but all of the information she provided was surprisingly convincing and within two hours Admiral Babcock was aboard his flagship readying the 1st fleet to move out.

2412.7 New Daggers in the Night
A new star nation called the Citizen Federation was encountered and currently almost no information is known about them accept the Political Bureau has filed a trade alliance pact with them.

Fyron

November 13th, 2004, 04:42 AM

Would you give permission for your story to be archived in the SpaceEmpires.net Fan Fiction Archive (http://www.spaceempires.net/home/modules.php?name=Content&pa=list_pages_categories& cid=2), once it is more or less complete?

Starhawk

November 13th, 2004, 11:42 AM

Absolutely http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif I'm honored your considering my story that fun a read....but it's gonna be good long while for this story to be more o less complete unless something catastrophic happens like what happened with my first story involving Icara lol. (one supernova and a series of small invasions ended the game so abruptly it wasn't even worth a story)

Starhawk

November 14th, 2004, 01:07 PM

Heh dang I made it all the way to the second page of this forum http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/frown.gif

2413.1 Operation FireFrost
A messenger drone arrived onboard Redoubtable fifteen minutes after Admiral Babcock had begun his flag briefing. A breathless rating came bursting into the briefing room a flexi in his hand. The Captains gathered around the table frowned and more then one were glowering at the young Spacer.
�Admiral sir, messenger drone from 3rd fleet, Rear Admiral Ross sends his compliments and says he engaged a 15 ship Phong fleet. He reports that HMS Manticore has been destroyed.�
�Is there anything else spacer?� Babcock said harshly as he took the flexi out of the spacer�s hand.
�Yes sir message ends with Operation Firefrost is a go.� Babcock tensed momentarily then waved the man out of the room.

�Ladies and gentleman the invasion of Mavin Parsis is a go how long will it take us to reach our first target? Babcock was excited almost to the point of glee, finally it was time to carry out his mission and rid the universe of those damned yellow freak�s grip.

�Admiral, my astrogator informed me this morning that it will take us approximately 5 months to reach our target as we must re-supply in the Tempel system before we proceed.� Captain Yu Lin looked at Babcock with a slight smile, she too had been looking forward to carrying out Firefrost and avenging her father and it was almost time only a few more months now and they would strike the beginning of a death blow for the Phong Federation.

�Alright, so we have Five Months, lets get Colonel Drago involved in our next series of briefings so he can give us the best opinion on how to use his troops during the invasions.� Babcock and began to stand up �Well Ladies and gentlemen until tomorrow.� he finished with a slight nod of the head and his officers began filing out of the room, all except Yu Lin Pe.

As the Last officer filed out Babcock tuned to the young woman still seated and smiled gently �Something I can do for you Captain?� his tone was almost fatherly as he returned to his seat.

�Sir, I am not sure about Firefrost, don�t get me wrong Admiral I think we need to strike a deathblow against the Phong, but why risk the lives of Icaran troops to do it?� Her expression was almost pleading as she looked at the older man, her piercing almond eyes alight with fire and a spark almost of hatred. �Why not just nuke the bastards and end it?� she folded her hands together, pressed her elbows into her chair arms and rested her forhead against her folded hands.

�You haven�t slept in a while have you Yu?� Babcock asked softly and grimaced as she shook her head. �Lin, listen to me I know what the Phong did to your father and the other members of the 3rd fleet at the third battle of Fornax was terrible, and if I were you I�d probably want to nuke the bastards too but look at it from the Admiralty�s perspective.� He paused as she looked up at him with tired eyes and cocked her head in interest. �The Phong under our control would expand our borders far more then our current populace would allow, more then that they would already have an established economy, one that appears to be fairly strong by the industrial output we�ve seen thus far. The Rebel Alliance actually cost us money and resources for the first two years that we controlled their territory, the Phong territories would increase our resource base and allow us to expand still further into other star nations like those Neo Star scum.� He ended his statement in the same neutral tone he had started it.
Yu Lin nodded slowly as she thought about what he had said, the Phong had killed her father and millions of other Icarans but in their subjugation they would pay far more then if the Navy simply went in and glassed their worlds, they would pay in ore and resources, and any of the fools that thought about resistance would pay in blood, if not at the hands of her or the army then at the hands of the Blackshirts of the State Security brigades. A slight smile crossed her face but it soon faded, no matter how much the Phong paid in the end it would never bring the dead Icarans back and more Icarans would die before this ended, she just hoped to God and the saints that it would be worth it.

Babcock patted the young woman�s shoulder and startled her out her thoughts �Lin go get some sleep I�ll need you at full speed when FireFrost goes off and I don�t want you to have to be on stims or neural restoratives.� Babcock�s smile was sincere as he helped the young woman to her feet.

�I think I will go back to Lenin and get some sleep sir, I could probably use it.� She smiled back at him as he escorted her to the hatch.
�Oh yes I�ve been meaning to ask you, how you are liking your new command?�
�I Love it sir, I�m just grateful Grand Admiral Hallice chose me over Patterson.� Her smile changed to a grin as she considered that pompous *** that almost became captain of one of only three Heavy cruisers in the first fleet.
�Good day Lin.�
�Good Day Admiral.�

Once Yu Lin was gone Tyson Babcock returned to his desk, pulled out a sheet of flexi�s and began writing various Messages back to the Admiralty, but he paused and wondered just how heavy the price of this conquest would be to his own people, afterall the third fleet had suffered massive casualties during their first engagement�.

The Planning continues

"Colonel Drago it is your conisdered opinion that the 1st Icara could take over both targets within the alloted amount of time correct?" Admiral Babcock's grin showed from across the room, he was begining to like Colonel Wilheilm Drago but the man did have a habit of being overly conifdent in his regiment at times.

"Sir it is my opinion that my Regiment-if supported by the fleet- can neutralize the planetary defenders of those Phong worlds, I would like the ability to call upon your marines if necessary however, just in case my men need a perimiter." Drago smiled wickidly at the Marine Captain who was glowering at him from across the table,(the thougth of Royal Marines being used as nothing more then perimiter guards was enough to make any marine spit plasma) "Of course I don't mean any offense to your Capable Marines Captain, it's just my men have tanks and Last I checked yours didn't." the smile was still there as Drago turned back to the Admiral.

"Captain Yu, Lenin would be assigned to protect the Batton do you think you could provide a sufficent drop zone with your ship's cannons or would you prefer I assign another vessel to reinforce you?" Babcock fixed the young woman in his eyes and waited while she thought.
"Admiral I think I would also like Hornet and Eclipse to reinforce my efforts, I am confident in my gunners of course but Lenin is likely to draw a lot of fire from any planetary defense platforms and I would not wish to risk the destruction of the transport if my own cannons should be knocked out of action." Her tone was matter of fact and the fact that she had just recommended her brother's ship as one of her escorts seemed to just be a matter of buisness to her. Babcock was always proud of her even when she was just his atachee and he knew that her and Chin had been very good in sims when paired together but this was a real invasion, he shook his head for a moment and the flag captains and senior ground force commanders looked on in curiousity.
"Sorry Yu, I'd rather assign Republic to you and keep Eclipse at my side with the main force, if you have no objections?" When an Admiral asked if a Captain had any objections it was only a matter of tradition and respect as no Captain would ever dare object to an Admirals orders during wartime.
Yu Lin's mouth opened for a moment before closing with a click as she shook her head.

"Well I am confident Admiral, Captain that you will choose the ships you see best to escort me, but if I may point out, your ships may have to act as little more then slug catchers for Batton, as the Admiralty and Chief of the Army General Staff have both expressed a desire to take these Phong worlds as intact as possible, and orbital bombardment would no doubt have serious implications." That was yet another reason Tyson Babcock began to like Colonel Drago, he had a knack for breaking up ackward moments without being obvious about it.

"Colonel you are of course correct, however I must also say for the record that if any of my ships begin taking too much damage while guarding you they will open fire until your troops reach planet. Is that understood?" Tyson asked politely and Drago nodded, Lin too nodded before returning her gaze to the holomap o the Mavin Parsis system.

"Now Gentleman and Ladies, our first objective is Mavin Parsis Three, it is lightly defended but is home to an extensive farming facility as well as a large shipyard upon it's capture we will leave the heavy cruiser Rossovelt to stand guard as well as an SS brigade." Babcock paused long enough for the other officers to absorb the information. "Alright, our second objective will be Mavin Parsis two, it has an extensive Rad mining base and would be a great boon to our economy, if and when that is secure Parsis One will be our objective, it's mineral harvesting operations would also greatly improve the Icaran production abilities, after that the Admiralty has been kind enough to grant us independent targeting." Babcock smiled, there were only two inhabited planets left in Mavin Parsis that could be targets so the granting of independant targeting was more a matter of politeness then anything actually useful.

"Alright then, we know Parsis three will be the most heavily defended when it comes to ground forces, Parsis One is likely to be the most fortified with weapons platforms so I think we should begin planning on orbital bombardment patterns as soon as possible." Drago's smile vanished as he considered the possibilities of planetary defense stations and wondered just how many people may die at the barrel of a ground mounted DU cannon.

"I'll take Lenin and Rosevelt in with me, the three heavy cruisers would be the best option for that kind of operation as we have the heaviest shields and weapons, the cruisers can form up behind the Batton and provide any additional bombardment we may require." Babcock looked grim as he looked at the intelligence reports that had been brought in by Warspite when she had run her scouting mission with her squadron mate Hecate, Parsis One would be the hardest orbital target no doubt, it had six weapons platforms with depleted uranium cannons and those damned planetary defense platforms had proved once before how accurate they could be.

"Alright let's take this one step at a time, if you pardon me Admiral, I know I am no naval officer but I am an Army Colonel and I prefer knowing for sure what resources I'll have available to me before I commence planning an invasion, let's assume we'll have all three heavy cruisers when we go in but let us also plan for if one or more of them is somehow removed from the equation." Wilheilm grimaced as the Naval officers present nodded, they all knew that only destruction would remove any of the heavy cruisers "from the equation" and the simple mentioning of the possible loss of a heavy cruiser reinforced the notion of just how heavily fortified these worlds were.

The Admiral of the first fleet nodded solemnly with his officers "Alright ladies and gentlemen the Colonel has a point, let's start making backup plans right now just in case..."

The planning continued for hours as the first fleet entered the Tempel system and began approaching the supply base that would be their final stop before the assault on Mavin Parsis, and the first "space to shore" invasion in history was begun.

Starhawk

November 14th, 2004, 02:48 PM

Note more material has been added to the above post if you have read it before this post was made you may want to reread it for the added material. Thank you http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Starhawk

November 15th, 2004, 08:04 AM

2413.6 The beginning of the End
The 1st fleet and it�s ground force the 1st Icara Mobile Army Regiment had entered Mavin Parvis unopposed as the two cruisers of the Warspite squadron had destroyed the Phong warships that had garrisoned the star system.
Two weeks later they had entered orbit of Mavin Parsis III and the ground forces swept through the enemy milita inflicting hundreds of casualties while sustaining none of their own, not a single ship of the fleet was damaged and the heavy cruiser Rosevelt took up station to protect it from any potential raiders that remained. A state security brigade was also in the process of forming it�s headquarters on world to ensure the public stayed in line.

It had been only three days since MP three had fallen and the 1st fleet was now entering attack range of the much more heavily fortified MP two, the heavy cruiser Lenin and two cruisers followed closely by the troopship Batton.
�Captain Yu this is Flag, watch yourselves in there I don�t want you taking too much damage to guard that troopship, if you determine that the situation is to risky to you and the ships under your charge I want you to scorch those planetary defense platforms understood?� The voice of Admiral Babcock came over the com piece in Lin�s ear from his flagship yet she felt as if she could almost see the worry in his face.
�Don�t worry sir, we�ll get this job done and come home to celebrate afterwards.� She tried to sound more confident then she felt but her voice sounded strained even to her own ears. She cut the com to the flagship as her small four ship flotilla came closer to MP two.
�Captain energy spikes on the surface, planetary cannons coming Online, best estimate is one eight cannons I repeat one eight.� Tactical officer Hernandez was just out of basic but his sense of professionalism even in the face of overwhelming firepower made Lin proud he was on her bridge.
�Thank you tactical, Com relay to Republic to stay one-zero-eight kilometers to our starboard, have Hornet pull fifty two klicks off our port side and keep them between Batton and those cannons.�
�Aye ma�am message relayed.�
�Helm, take us straight for that planet, let�s offer them a big enough target that they can�t refuse us.� Captain Yu clenched her hands into fists around the arms of her shock frame chair in anxiety as she watched her ships close ever closer to the red sphere that represented the enemy planet�s maximum effective fire envelope.
�Approaching EFE in two point three niner minutes skipper, our EFE is coming up in four minutes.� Hernandez hid a shudder as he realized that would put their ships under fire from eighteen planetary cannons for no less then a minute before they could return fire.
Yu just grimaced and nodded to herself as she calculated the number of shells that could be lobbed at her in that amount of time, the Phong�s latest cannons showed they could fire three shells a minute and there were nine of the newer cannons on that planet which meant she would have to deal with�40.5 shells from the newer cannons before she even got inter her own firing range, and by then she�d also have to deal with thirty or forty shells from the older cannons . She shuddered in her command chair, if every single shot fired hit her then this would be her ship�s Last mission.

�Enemy EFE in five, four, three, two, one, we have incoming shells.� Hernandez� calm professional voice showed only the slightest hint of fear as 9 of the most advanced cannons in the Phong arsenal opened up on them.
Lenin�s shields caught every shell and Yu noted with some bit of dry humor that it wasn�t at all like it was portrayed in the old Holo�s or the old 2d movies of ancient Earth, when a shield grid caught the incoming fire there was no shaking or sparking or explosions out of random positions on the starship, the energy field simply absorbed the fire and the crew onboard didn�t feel a thing-it was when you did feel something that you were in trouble.
�Helm time to drop?�
�Five minutes ma�am�
�Incoming!� Hernandez sounded startled this time and when Yu jerked around to look at her tactical repeaters she saw why, eighty cannon shells headed straight at her.
The shields flashed and flared and took more hits but then�.an enormous ear splitting cracking sound rocked the heavy cruiser down to her keel as shell after shell slammed into her.
�Engines one, three, five, gone, cannons one through four gone, crew quarters section two gone, life support backup systems are on-line main Life support destroyed, heavy casualties reported on all decks.� Hernandez chanted out the �essential� damage reports but the systems he wasn�t mentioning were almost ominous in Yu�s ears.
�Damn it incoming!�
�Saints protect us.� a voice in the background said as the next salvo slammed into the heavy cruiser�s battered hull tearing sections of her apart like a darter round hitting a wounded cow in the stomach.
More sections of hull plating tore away under the strain and Lenin limped and twisted as more shells just barely missed her.
The Last shell tore into the bridge section, opening it to space and tearing the com officer apart as she was pulled through a breach in the hull that was too small for her body, the marine sentry on the bridge had his leg sheered off by a splinter of battle-composite hull plating, his skin-suit�s automed unit instantly began treating the screaming man. Hernandez� left shoulder was torn clear of it�s socket and his shattered arm hung limply at his side as he tried to use his right alone. His vac-suit�s med unit was already administering non-interference painkillers into his bloodstream to keep him functioning.
The sound of other wounded bridge officers screaming made Yu feel sick as she knew there was nothing she could do about it, her bridge was still mostly operational and she had to continue the operation.
�Damage report Hernandez?� Yu heard the voice of Commander Sharp and thanked God her exec hadn�t been killed or wounded.
�Uh, sir.�
�Damage report now mister!�
�Astrogation is down, we have one engine left, two cannons are still operational but the first cannon�s crew is dead, sensors are gone, tracking sensors gone, supply bays are gone, back up life support is damaged but operational, heavy casualties reported sir, power room one is open to space, non of the work crew made it out.� Hernandez suddenly sat straighter in his chair and Lin braced herself for death as she assumed the next words out of his mouth would be incoming.
�Skipper! Redoubtable is moving between us and the planetary defenses!, Hornet is acquiring target lock on planet, firing!� Hernandez� professionalism was suddenly shattered as he turned around with a brilliant smile on his face.
The flagship took several serious hits but she shrugged them off and continued to protect the badly damaged Lenin while the cruiser Hornet turned five out of six of the weapons platforms into so much shards of wreckage and the glass that was created by her beams.
�Ma�am Batton is moving into drop station.� Captain Yu Lin Pe smiled and relaxed, with the army on the ground her job was pretty much over, now it was up to Colonel Drago.

Troop Bay of [i]HMS Batton
A large column of gray armored figures stood silent as statues in the cavernous troop bay of the Batton, a single figure stood out as it stepped to the front of the column, a red pauldron with the golden eagle of an Imperial Colonel.
Colonel Wilheilm Drago triggered his command net frequency so that all his troops could hear him, he then cleared his throat, removed his helmet and bent on one knee. The entire column of troopers followed his example and rested on bent knee, bowing their heads.
�Today we faithful Icarans kneel before you Oh Lord, we ask that you give us the strength to carry out the task at hand and to grant us victory over our enemies. We ask for you protection and grace as well in the tribulations that are about to befall these brave men and women, may they all return home or die with honor for the glory of Icara.� the Colonel�s strong baritone voice boomed in the flight bay in a grave manner.
�Lord we also ask that you grant us accuracy in our fire, and swiftness in kills so that we can rid this world of those godless heathens.� a slight chuckle went up from the gathered troopers. �Amen�

Within seconds the thousands of troopers were loaded into their dropships, their tanks and APCs already locked into place in the dropship� holds. The bay doors slid silently open, the planetscape of their target loomed before them, it was an ugly world, green and brown was the color of the atmosphere and the soil was gray and slimy looking, many of the troopers wondered why they had not just glassed the ugly world and moved on.
Drago stood locked in his shock frame, his command squad locked into place around him, he thought humorlessly that the only benefit to this ugly ****ball on the *** end of the galaxy was that it had abundant radioactive materials that could provide the empire with a valuable rad base for centuries to come, but it sure was an ugly *** planet.
Then it came, the thump and hissing noise of the dropship detaching from it�s docking arm and racing towards the planet at speeds that would have killed anyone in a ship that had no inertial compensators, and even with them the personnel of a dropship felt five gees going down.

As the 400 dropships breached the atmosphere the planetary defense forces of the Phong world opened fire with AA guns and SAMs unfortunately for the defenders the Icaran ECM generators were too good and their shields were too strong, the few shots that hid a dropship were absorbed and did no damage.
The first wave of dropships landed less then two minutes after their initial deployment and quickly began unleashing the armored troopers and tanks within their holds.

Colonel Drago and his command unit were among the first wave of troops and as the bay doors slammed open in the troop compartment of his dropship, the shock frames immediately unhooked.
�Alright MOVE!� His voice boomed over the com net as the command squad filed out of the dropship at a run, as he exited the dropship Drago already heard the familiar thumping of the Icaran tanks main cannons, he also heard the whine of AP beams and the screech of the meson bLasters.
The Icaran Army�s assault rifle was an interesting weapon, it was actually two weapons in one, an AP beam and Meson bLaster combination in an under, upper configuration, the AP barrel being beneath the Meson bLaster. The AP beam was more power consuming yet it was also more powerful when taking out a single target, as well as being more accurate then the BLaster. The bLaster on the other hand was a devastating anti-personnel weapon and carried with it �splash damage� which could burn or even kill unarmored targets that were standing near the impact site, the Meson bLaster was also far less power hungry then the AP rifle and so it was the primary fire mode of the Icaran army.

�Sir, Able company reports they�ve got the bastards on the run in their quadrant, no fatalities to their own forces thus far, Charlie company is reporting that they are encountering heavy resistance and require immediate aid.� Major Davis� frowned as the com trooper, SGT Taggar continued to relay the information she was receiving from the other companies. This world was much more heavily defended then they had expected and all along the front they were encountering heavy fire.
�Alright tell Delta Company to support Charlie, Baker company is coming with us Major we need to take that dome ASAP, so that their perimeter forces have nowhere to fall back to.�
�Yes sir, alright pass it on Taggar.� Davis said crisply as he rallied the other squads of Baker and Gamma companies as well as their 20 tanks and APCs, the LZ had been cleared with surprising swiftness and Phong militia lay dead all around.

Baker and Gamma both closed in on the domed city that made the capital of this particular world, so far neither company had been assailed by the defending Phong and the tension was so thick Drago felt like he could cut it with a force blade. They had been passing through a �forest� path, the �trees� were little more then huge piles of what looked like seaweed, yet slimier and instead of oxygen producing they produced lethal amounts of Carbon Dioxide.
�Incoming baker two watch your flanks!� the voice of some unseen CO snapped as the bang of Phong gauss rifles sent the entire Icaran force ducking for cover trying to find the shooters, a scream was cut off as a second shot tore through a dying trooper, then the firing started in the area where the command squad was. A rocket bore down on one of the tanks and exploded, doing no serious harm to the tank but sending two troopers flying a meter into the ar, their bodies were torn apart in mid air as the unseen gunners lit them up.
�Damn it watch those slime piles, use AP rifles now!� Major Davis said coldly into the command com as he aimed his own rifle and squeezed the firing stud, a purple beam shot from the bottom barrel of his assault rifle with a whine as it cut clean through the middle of a �slime pile� with a single sweep. A phong body dropped from the pile of slime, it�s torso and lower body separated by several centimeters.
AP beams swept through the slime with precision lethality yet the counter fire dropped a trooper right in front of colonel Drago, the man�s torso erupted in a geyser of blood as an armor piercing round tore into him.
Drago leveled his own rifle on the shooter and let fly a burst of mesons turning the slime pile and it�s occupant into burnt sludge, he leveled his rifle a second time and killed another Phong outright burning a hole clean through it.

�They�re CHARGING ON THE FLANKS!� someone shouted as a screaming mass of Phogn militia charged out of the �forest� down upon the ranks of Icaran troopers. Slug throwers wounded or killed a dozen Icarans before they were able to react but by then the Phong were already in their midst using force bayonets to stab at Icaran soldiers..
Drago depressed a stud on his rifle and his own force bayonet snapped into place under the barrels of his rifle and just in time as a Phong warrior wearing their blueish green armor charged him, the Colonel just barely dodged the alien�s thrust and brought his right foot up with an amazing kick to the Phong�s kneecap, a cracking sound let him know he had broken the Phong�s leg, with a quick thrust of his bayonet into the alien� neck he severed it�s head then whirled around with driving his armored elbow into the faceplate of another Phong trooper with such force that it shattered, exposing the Phong too the toxic atmosphere, Drago moved on leaving the creature to suffocate.
All along the line Icarans and Phong fought hand to hand, force blade to force blade and the screams of the wounded and dying on both sides filled the air.
Major Davis led fifth platoon baker company on a charge that sent the few surviving Phong running, unfortunately for the Phong they ran straight into Gamma company�s armored column and were turned into paste by the treads of the massive armored vehicles, or were cut down by Gamma�s continuous volleys of meson fire.

The battle for Parsis II Lasted another month and Icaran Army dead numbered only 10 surprisingly, with over eight hundred wounded. Unfortunately in space the losses were far heavier, Lenin lost nine hundred of her three thousand crewman and had another seven hundred wounded. The flagship had lost nearly two hundred of her crew and had another three hundred and fifty wounded.

Two of three Icaran heavy cruisers in the 1st fleet were put out of action until repairs could be undertaken by the captured shipyard facilities of Mavin Parsis II, there was already a State Security brigade establishing it�s self on planet and the Phong forced labor camps were efficient enough to repair the two ships in a matter of months, but until then their invasion of Mavin Parsis had hit a roadblock.

Some day the Phong of these worlds would join Icara as full citizens but until then the forced labor camps (which provided adequate food and medical attention) would have to suffice to keep the populace as functioning members of the Icaran Empire.

Starhawk

November 15th, 2004, 05:40 PM

Uh oh sudden lack of commentary BUM BUM!

Well in all seriousness for those of you who have been reading this, Does it look like my wrighting style is better as the story developes?

Renegade 13

November 15th, 2004, 07:12 PM

Lol, well I'm sure we've all still been reading the stories http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/laugh.gif I continue to think they're great, and one hell of a lot better than what I could do http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif. Personally, I enjoy your writing style (aside from the occaisional spelling/grammar error, and a few run-on sentences http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif )

Starhawk

November 16th, 2004, 11:00 AM

2414.1
�Today on Icara Imperial News, the 3rd fleet has engaged a task force from the Phong Federation in the Fornax star system, it is this Network�s greatest pleasure to report that the 3rd fleet had an astounding victory over our enemies yet again.� The beautiful young reporter Janet Cranston was one of the most popular state reporters, and the IIN only one of two state permitted news networks so at about this time a night just over half the Icaran twenty billion people were watching.
�Admiral William Ross� fame continues to grow as he leads the third fleet in multiple victorious engagements against several Phong battle fleets, leading the Fornax system.
Meanwhile in the Mavin Parsis system Admiral Babcock has led the first fleet in a victorious invasion of three of the planets within the system, he reports that our conquest of the Phong is only a matter of time and with the State security brigades taking up position our people will soon be enjoying the resources these conquests can bring in.� Janet stopped talking and looked over to her co-anchor �And now to you Ed�

�Thank you Janet, Riots have broken out in the Pollux system, the former Rebel Alliance citizens of an organization known as the �Citizen Rights Coalition� is leading the rioters against local police forces claiming that their kind is being mistreated by the Imperial government. Admiral Lady Selene Poule of the 2nd fleet is said to be mobilizing her fleet and the 1st Brandenburg regiment for their departure to quell these riots as soon as possible��if the rebels happen to be watching this report it is my recommendation that you surrender peacefully, or you will surely die.� Ed Hanston grimaced.

�In other news, the Icaran Tigers beat the Brandenburg Hornets 20 to 15 in the system wide crossfire tournament�..

rdouglass

November 16th, 2004, 12:53 PM

Renegade 13 said:
Lol, well I'm sure we've all still been reading the stories http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/laugh.gif I continue to think they're great, and one hell of a lot better than what I could do http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif. Personally, I enjoy your writing style (aside from the occaisional spelling/grammar error, and a few run-on sentences http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif )

If you want comments, mine would be identical. Good stuff - keep it coming. I really enjoy it.

Starhawk

November 16th, 2004, 01:09 PM

Don't think I'm going overboard on the Icaran's being a non-democratic society do you?

2414.2 Reflection on Victory and Death
The second to Last of the worlds of Mavin Parsis lay before the 1st fleet like a glowing jewel, frail and open for the taking, Mavin Parsis I had fallen the month before and had inflicted 30 kills upon the Icaran army, it had been the most heavily defended and heavily fought for world in Parsis but before the might of the army it was nothing. In that same month Parsis
This world would be even easier to conquer as it was a tiny world compared to the others, at least that is what captain Yu Lin hoped. She had seen her ship pounded into ashes twice, lost over a third of her crew in the battles and still more lay ahead of her and her withered crew, she couldn�t even have her ship re-crewed until they reached Wardo base and could press some of the civilian population there into service.
Hours passed and finally the Batton reached her dropship range and began launching her deadly payload towards the planet�s surface. Lin watched as 396 new energy signatures rippled from the massive troop transport , on their way to yet another glorious victory for the Empire, or at least that�s what the news would say. Any soldier who had actually seen these wars, had seen their friends and subordinates torn to shreds in battle knew that this was far from �glorious� it was grim and gruesome and disgusting, yet it was also necessary because Icara had to rule over humanity and over any other race that stood to threaten them Yu hid her frown beneath her steepled fingers, she was letting herself think grim thoughts again and silently scolded herself for allowing it. Thankfully her ship would not take part in this invasion as this target had no weapon platforms.
�Captain, landings are underway, the regiment reports only light resistance thus far, though a dropship was shot down at the LZ.� Com officer Griffin�s voice snapped Yu�s thoughts right back into the grim dark realm they had been at only a few moments before.
�Thank you Griffin.� Yu barely raised her voice loud enough to be heard as she wished she had just been allowed to fly in and glass the entire world, every Phong world, the yellow bastards had killed her father and millions of Icarans beside and news had reached her that the 3rd fleet had taken a pounding in Fornax and had lost nearly two thousand spacers. Her hands clenched into fists as she set her command repeaters to display the footage being sent up to the flagship by the ground forces.

The invasion only took three hours, Colonel Drago led his regiment against the single dome city of the Phong in a rapid blitzkrieg assault and smashed through the handful of city�s militia like a bowl of eggs crushing every ounce of resistance from the civilian population almost as quickly. Drago sent assault squads down city streets, escorted by tanks and at any sign of resistance they leveled the area with fire destroying entire buildings to kill one sniper, many of the scum actually tried to use the females and children as shields but it did them no good as the Icaran troopers shot through their �shields� without hesitation covering the streets in dead.
Because of the swift brutality of the assault it ended that much sooner, the surviving city elder surrendered his colony to the Icaran Empire and begged mercy be granted to his city, ten Icarans had died in the battle but nearly one thousand times that number died on the Phong side leaving Colonel Drago very satisfied with his men and women.

Yu burned inside, she felt it wasn�t enough, the whole damn race should be exterminated down to the Last yellow bloated headed child.
�Commander Lee, you have the bridge I�ll be in my Day Cabin.�
�Aye ma�am I have the bridge.� Lee�s smart crisp reply barely covered over his surprise at his captain�s sudden withdrawal from the bridge right as the vidstream from the surface showed the victory.

As the doors to her small Day Cabin slid shut Yu pressed the lock button,walked over to her desk and picked up a picture that she still had of Mister Midshipman William Ross, wearing the cadet gray uniform with it�s black epaulettes, and that ugly pisspot hat that cadets wore. She began to wish she was with the 3rd fleet instead of the 1st, Ross had gained such a reputation slaughtering entire fleets of Phong and destroying three Phong worlds outright, all she had done was play target to planetary defense stations and allowed her ship to get the hell beaten out of it so that a bunch of mud crunchers could take a bunch of ugly planets filled with Phong, she respected the army but they just didn�t see the death that had been wrought on her ship by protecting their landings and their "glorious victories" would not bring any of her dead back.
She put the picture aside and sat stiffly on the small couch trying to force herself to relax, once Mavin Parsis was conquered her fleet would be sent to Fornax to join the 3rd fleet in operations against the Phong and then she could finally take part in ship to ship battle like she was born to do and not just play decoy.
Slowly her muscles began to relax as she breathed deeply in a manner taught to her a the academy, Lin felt her eyelids growing heavier and rested her neck against the back of the couch taking a moment to enjoy it's soft warmth, she hadn�t slept in forty hours, not since she had learned that her battered crew was going to be sent into the grinder yet again against the world that had just been conquered and now her body was revolting against her and it felt like so much jellow as she tried to stand, she tried to fight the feeling of exhaustion and was even tempted to take a stim or neural rejuv but finally her eyes slid shut and with a Last contented breath she slipped off to sleep.

Rasorow

November 16th, 2004, 06:02 PM

ooooohhh someone is getting a little obessive.

<wonders how good the Icranian Pyschological Services Minstry is>

Rasorow

Power Man

November 16th, 2004, 06:24 PM

Great Story. How close is it to the actual game you are playing??

Your thread is the first one I look for..

Starhawk

November 16th, 2004, 07:25 PM

Actually it's remarkably close to the game I'm playing, some of the months I'm not involved in battle are being filled with story elements unrelated to battle but so far just about every month of this past game year I've been engaged in one battle or another agains the Phong. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

As for Characters some of their personalities are based on folks I know with some slight changes to personality to fit a militaristic environment.

Starhawk

November 18th, 2004, 06:38 PM

A dagger falls
Captain Yu Lin and her ship had been ordered to separate from the fleet and return for routine repairs at Parsis II�s shipyards, the most immediate concern was the GFGs which had been acting up on them during simulated jumps.
The massive heavy cruiser slid silently into the shipyard slip that had been left open for her at Parsis II, some of her damage scars still stood out on her hull plating, the yard master informed captain Yu that a complete repair would take over two weeks and that the rest of the fleet would have to continue on without her.

Captain Yu sat in her day cabin, quietly reading the reports from the yard hands and sipped a cup of coffee absently as she noted the large numbers of Phong listed on detail to her ship, she would have to order her marines and engineers to inspect any repairs those yellow creeps did on her ship. The com began to buzz and jerked her away from her train of thoughts.
�This is Yu what is it?�
�Captain, Bridge, Governor Fallon wishes to talk to you, ma�am.� The com officer�s report made Yu sit straighter, what would a governor want with her?
�Put it through, thank you.�
�Aye ma�am.�

Governor Fallon�s square jawed face appeared on screen, his grim look and squinted eyes made the hair on the back of Yu�s neck rise.
�How can I help you governor?� She used the same tone she would have used in battle, and her face was almost as expressionless.
�Captain Yu, I would like you and some of your marines to come to the surface this afternoon, I have to discuss something with the Navy, and you are the closest person here that represents any ranking naval officer.� Governor Micha�s voice was tense but the expression on his face was more concerning then anything else.
�Governor what�s wrong?�
�Just come here as soon as possible Captain.� The governor frowned again and cut the channel.

Yu sat stunned for a moment before she tabbed a control on her personal com screen.
�Marine Barracks, Sgt Kemper here.� A young voice replied crisply.
�Sgt Kemper, Captain Yu here, my compliments to Major Hernandez and tell him I need to see him in a quarter of an hour in my briefing room.�
�Aye Ma�am.� Yu could almost feel the marine brace to attention as she cut the channel.

Tabbing another key Yu began to scroll over the readiness loadout of her boat bay, one of her three marine dropships had been destroyed in the Last battle when the boatbay took a direct hit another had been damaged, that left her with a single dropship and four cutters at her disposal. The marine compliment of a heavy cruiser was normally two hundred but with the recent engagements she was down to ninety two combat effective marines with another thirty seven in medical.
She continued to read on the resources she had available to her, but the nagging concern of why the governor would want her and Royal Marines on planet when he had a full brigade of State Security troops haunted her, 500 state security troopers should have most definitely been enough to deal with any local issues.

Fifteen minutes later on the dot Major Hernandez stepped into the briefing room, Sgt Kemper at his side, both marines braced to attention and saluted, Yu returned the salute politely and waved the two men to their chairs.
�Major Hernandez as you may be aware Governor Micha has requested that I go to the surface with a compliment of marines and has been vague on what his reasons for this request are, I have attempted to contact him twice since I sent for you and his office only replies that he is �in conference�.� The marine officer nodded and his Sgt shrugged, �The specific request that I bring marines with me is what has me concerned Major, now perhaps there is nothing to worry about but I�ve never met a Frontier Nobleman that wants his personal space crowded by a Naval officer and a compliment of Marines unless he thinks that his own SS forces are inadequate.� Yu�s matter of fact tone spoke volumes as did her specific use of the term Frontier Noble.
The Icaran Empire was ever expanding these days and it was cleanly divided into �The Frontier� and the �Core Worlds� the Core Worlds held the bulk of he Icaran populace as well as the major military bases and academies within Icaran space, the peace was kept by Local Militia�s, and the Royal Military and most of the nobles enjoyed the military security provided them by their location in the galaxy.
The frontier however was a far less secure place the bulk of the military presence there was mobile with a handful of military shipyards and supply bases scattered throughout, only worlds with such bases had Royal Army presence, the other worlds relied on the State Security Brigades or SSB to the population at large, better known as SS by the military. These units were non mobile, heavy security forces equipped with small artillery weapons, darter rifles and hand guns and class 2 body armor, many of the units that occupied recently conquered worlds also had a number of armored, assault cars in their service, though some nobles paid out of their own pockets to better equip their SS brigades.
Frontier Nobles were very low ranking in the overall standings in the House of Lords and they were also far more independent minded, most of them hated having any military presence in their territory unless it was there to save their noble asses.

Twenty minutes passed as Major Hernandez and Captain Yu discussed the best deployment plans for the marines that were combat ready, she would take 12 marines with her on a cutter, the rest would remain aboard the dropship and the other cutters where they would await her specific order to deploy should the need arise.
After the briefing Yu proceeded to the boatbay with 12 marines that Hernandez had hand picked for her bodyguard the entire unit wore heavy body armor and fully automatic darter rifles, one of them even carried a grenade launcher.

The cutter darted from the bay of Lenin and burned through the atmosphere at 4 gees before breaking just 50 clicks off the surface before coming to a complete hover over the central landing pad in the city.
�Ma�am the launch facility looks empty.� the pilot sounded nervous as he continued to run scans of the landing pad.

�Try contacting air control Pilot� Yu turned to the marines �Alright marines, assume a hot LZ lock and load.� Yu pulled her sidearm holster�s lock open and slid the holster where she could more easily grab the darter pistol she carried.
�Ma�am no contact from Air control, but my scans are showing burn and bLast marks on the pLastacrete around the control tower, wait ma�am receiving a signal, patching it through now.�

�I repeat this is Governor Micha to navy cutter do NOT land in the main pad or you�ll be�� the governor�s voice was suddenly cut off as a missile impacted on the left wing tearing a hole clean through it and sending the cutter spinning out of control. A second missile impact tore off the right wing sending the cutter careening out of control.
�BRACE!� Yu heard the pilot shout and as she saw a building coming up in front of her she barely managed to unhook her straps and throw herself through the hatch leading to the crew compartment, the impact was bone shattering the sound of crunching metal and screaming sound of the sole remaining engine pushing the wrecked cutter further into the building was ear splitting�

After things had finally stopped moving, Lin managed to force herself to her feet �Is anyone there.� the cabin was pitch black and at first she couldn�t hear any noise, then she heard movement and several voices chimed in
�Aye ma�am, we�re here�.I�ve got two marines dead though, have you checked on the pilots?� Sgt Kemper turned on his suit light and the shattered remnants of the troop hold revealed a grizzly sight, two armored suits were sprayed with blood and gore, the faceplate of one was torn open by the splintered remnants of a battlesteel beam the other body was just mangled beyond recognition.
�The pilots are dead.� Yu heard a voice behind her and turned to see private McNiel.
�Damn, let�s get the hell out of here before whoever shot us down takes a pot shot at us.� Another marine cut in and was waved back by Kemper.
�He�s right, let�s go.� Yu shook her head at the bodies and stepped over to the shattered remains of the door.
Two marines stepped up and helped her tear the wrecked doors open
A bullet ricocheted off of Yu�s armor and sent her wheeling back through sheer force of impact one of the two marines also took a bullet square in the chest plate and fell to the deck grabbing the rippled piece of armor.
�Sniper! Get back.� Kemper shouted as more bullets tore into through the opened door, Yu rolled out of the way of a stream of bullets and forced herself to her feet the marine that had been hit got to his feet as well.
�Morette, get up here.� Kemper snapped as a large marine stepped forward, he was carrying an M-52 grenade auto-cannon and a bandolier of grenades strung around his chest.

The heavy weapons marine walked forward and leveled his auto-cannon calmly as bullets bounced around him and three rounds even hit him dead on. Seconds later the cannon burped out six shots directly into the building where the snipers had been firing from tearing it apart in a series of explosions.
�Everybody out!� Kemper bellowed as the marines poured past Captain Yu and out into the landing pad, only then did it become apparent just what had happened, at least two dozen SS troopers lay dead on the pad, several civilian workers also lay dead, some butchered terribly.
Yu winced as she saw some of the butchered bodies, a crack bang drew her attention to another building, the sound of several darter auto-rifles split the silent sky in a torrent of darts some of which began bouncing off the marine armor. A marine went down with a scream as blood sprayed from a hole in her armored throat, the scream quickly turned into a gurgling cry before the marine stopped twitching.
�Return fire!� Yu shouted as she lined up her auto-pistol on a figure wearing gray and yellow armor and squeezed the trigger, a small explosion erupted from the figure and it fell back dead, the marine lines erupted in a return fire dropping three more of the attackers before the rest ducked back into cover behind a building.

The sound of darter fire erupted from behind the marines suddenly and another marine went down in a spray of gore and blood as a dart pierced his helmet, the poor marine didn�t even have time to scream as his headless corpse fell limply to the ground. Yu whirled her pistol around and saw a massed formation of armored figures running at her and her marines, she squeezed the trigger twice dropping two more targets before ducking behind the wrecked dropship.

�Follow me marines, Keep Yu between us damn it if she gets hurt your asses are mine!� Kemper shouted as he and three other marines came up in front of Yu and began herding her towards a wrecked building at the closest part of the landing pad.
More darts sang through the air but miraculously none of the marines were killed, though one took an explosive dart in the leg that pierced his armor and tore a gaping hole in his calf.

The marines barely made it into the door before dozens more darts began tearing away at the pLastacrete building. A dart just barely missed Kemper�s face and exploded in a wall painting behind him.
�What�s going on here?� Yu asked no one in particular as she leveled her darter at an armored figure outside, sending a dart screeching into the enemy�s head.
�Ma�am, getting a com signal from Micha.� Corporal Bradley said calmly as the sounds of pLastacrete blowing apart filled the room.
�Captain Yu, he says that there was a Phong resistance cell hiding in the outskirts of the city, by time he mobilized his SS troopers to respond the resistance had already launched their assault on the landing pad and government building. SS brigades are still trying to secure government building and the brigade guarding the landing pad took heavy losses before pulling out.� The Corporal said something into his com and looked over to Yu.
�Corporal ask him if he can get us any reinforcements before we end up like those SS outside.� The Captain said bitterly as she watched another marine take a hit in the shoulder and writhe on the ground before his suit�s medical pack administered painkillers.
�He says he�s already got a brigade inbound but they won�t arrive for another hour because of the street fighting Captain�

�Alright then, I want three marines upstairs and firing out of those windows NOW, Captain please stay back.� Kemper�s voice echoed in the building as another series of rounds tore into the wall.
�Stand easy Kemper I�m not going anywhere.� Yu ducked under the window to reload her darter as another round exploded overhead.
The marines continued firing out the windows while the marines that ran up stairs joined in the fight and poured rounds into the rushing hordes of gray armored figures dropping several of them.

The marines fought of wave after wave of attackers, and two more marines fell to snipers as an hour passed, then two hours and still no reinforcements had come. The Icaran troops were beginning to run low on ammunition and the newest wave of enemies was getting closer to the building where the marines were taking cover in.
Phong resistance troops hammered down the door and rushed into the building with bayonets and force knives, marines and Phong fought hand to hand and blade to blade, Yu slammed her bayonet into the throat of a Phong warrior and threw a kick into the ribs of another Phong warrior and the resounding crack of bones shattering filled the room as the injured warrior dropped.
The whine of darters came from outside the building but the embattled Icarans were too busy fighting for their lives to notice, the marines that had been upstairs raced down and opened fire into the mass of Phong cutting down several of the enemy warriors. The three troopers on the staircase continue to shoot down Phong as their fellow marines continued to beat the enemy back with bayonet and rifle butt.
A marine dropped at Yu�s feet, his faceplate punctured by a Phong bayonet, blood pooled rapidly on the floor making it slick, the Phong that had killed the unfortunate marine leaped over his victim towards Yu but Kemper�s bayonet slammed into it�s side draining the noxious yellow blood from the alien as it hit the floor twitching.

Almost as fast as it had began the attack was over, a wave of black shirted figures charged into the melee and sprayed the Phong warriors with non-explosive darts knocking them down long enough for Marines to bayonet them.
When it was all over an SS trooper wearing the standard black flak armor of his branch walked forward to Captain Yu and braced to attention.
�Ma�am I�m Lieutenant Sharpes 5th State Security brigade Governor Micha has ordered my men to escort you to the government building, as soon as possible.�
�What about my wounded lieutenant?� Yu asked dangerously as the young officer looked around, 3 marines were found dead outside, another four lay dead inside the building and two were badly wounded.
�Captain We can bring them with us but we have to move now! There are more of these �resistance� troops on the way� The Lieutenant�s tone was pleading and Yu could barely contain the contempt she felt for the man, he was an officer in one of His Majesty�s services yet he was acting like a frightened child, not even waiting for the wounded to be loaded onto stretchers before he started for the door.

�Lieutenant do you mind telling me what the hell happened on this planet, and why you SSBs couldn�t keep the peace by yourselves?� She almost spat the sentence at the young officer who stopped dead in his tracks and looked at her, stunned.
�Captain, there was nothing State Security could do about it, we did not know their numbers or targets, we assigned security where it was most necessary.� The young man turned his back on the captain and began walking down the street again, watching the buildings carefully.
�So Lieutenant instead of dispatching mobile patrols Governor Micha ordered the SS to stay in two! Locations, and dispatched only a single brigade to guard your main landing platform?� Yu felt the rage building in her, the tactical folly was born out of cowardice, government house had four of the five brigades guarding it, while the landing port had one brigade protecting it, and that brigade was ordered to withdraw after barely a half an hour of combat against the resistance cells, and of course they pulled back to government house.

Hours passed before the Icarans reached Government house on foot and Yu had been forced to call down the entire marine compliment of Lenin to pull the marines and SS platoon out of a serious ambush, in the end the marines and SS were able to reestablish control over the city but of the twelve marines that had landed with Yu only four survived, and of the SS platoon that had been sent to escort them, half had died including their Lieutenant.

Yu immediately sent a dispatch to Admiralty requesting a board of inquiry be formed against Governor Micha for his failure to adequately deal with the uprising that had inflicted heavy losses on the civilian workforce and Icaran State Security forces�.losses which would not have been so high if Micha had just ordered his men into mobile patrols instead of having them guard his house so tightly while the rest of the city was embattled.

2414.5
The Last world of Mavin Parsis fell before the vast column of Icaran ground troops, not a single Icaran had died in the invasion, yet the Phong had suffered many thousands of dead, their survivors were forced into the labor camps, the youth were placed in Icaran re-education facilities under the watchful eyes of Imperial teachers and state security troopers.
The heavy cruiser Lenin floated silently in formation with the rest of the parade that was being held for media benefit, her battle scars covered with fresh paint and plating, her half strength crew hidden from the camera drones orbiting the fleet. The public would get their triumph over the conquest of an entire star system by the Icaran Empire, but the military would move on to the next target, their �celebration� party had been a glass of old champaign for the flag officers in the Admiral�s briefing room aboard Redoubtable.
Yu still had bad dreams about what had happened back on MP two but she was comforted by the fact that the admiralty had dispatched a JAG officer to investigate governor Micha's shortcomings.
The 1st fleet was already headed for Fornax at speed and would arrive at their first target in about eight months, all there was now, was the long wait before the fleet entered the maelstrom once more.

Fornax System
Admiral Ross won yet another victory over a Phong fleet headed to reinforce the Mavin Parsis defenses, the Icaran 3rd fleet killed 10 enemy light cruisers while losing only HMS Farrogot and three hundred of her four hundred man crew.
Ross sent a dispatch to the Admiralty with his after action report requesting that the officers and crew who had died aboard the unlucky destroyer be posthumously awarded the Icaran steel cross for valor and bravery in the face of the enemy.

Starhawk

November 18th, 2004, 11:20 PM

BTW the "Dagger falls" story was not actually based on anything that happened in game I just ran with a few months of nothing happening http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Just for those of you who were wondering why a Heavy Cruiser would be carrying troop units http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif they don't.

Starhawk

November 19th, 2004, 03:29 AM

2415.3
The 1st fleet began it�s invasion of Fornax like a thunderstrike, Fornax V was swept through like locusts through a cornfield and already a military base was being established on world for the continued advance of the Icaran war machine.
Meanwhile Ross� famed 3rd fleet scored yet another victory over a Phong squadron sent to reinforce Fornax V, not a single Phong ship escaped alive and the 3rd fleet suffered minimal damage.
Both Icaran news networks played the victories up to the hilt, proclaiming Admirals Ross and Babcock �Heroes of the Empire� and people all over the Empire cheered their military victories and letters from grateful citizens poured into the naval mail delivery bureau to the famous captains and Admirals of the battle.
The �Long March To victory� had begun 15 years ago and from the very start Icara had proven herself a conqueror and an unrelenting foe, the war with the Phong had Lasted almost twelve years now and the people rejoiced that the stalemate had finally been broken by the Icaran Royal Navy and Army, yet throughout the empire all knew that the march was far from over and that in the end it may end up becoming more a crusade then a march.

Starhawk

November 19th, 2004, 07:18 AM

2415.8 The march continues
Admiral Babcock sat stiffly in his command chair as his fleet closed on Fornax I, it was a heavily defended world the most heavily defended his fleet had yet been asked to seize, 8 weapon platforms, 20 squads of enemy light infantry and an unknown number of militia.
HMS Hornet and the other cruisers of her division formed the vanguard of the fleet, while Redoubtable and the heavy cruiser division formed the second line behind the transport, the other cruisers fell into the flanking slots to ensure a full 365 degree defense perimeter around the troop transport.

As the fleet approached the world it�s surface guns tore space with shells the size of a fighter craft, most of the shots were aimed at the heavy cruisers and thankfully due to extreme range missed, but the next volley fired at Hornet and the other cruisers of the lead division, most of those shells missed as well but Hornet was damaged seriously enough to begin withdrawing from battle, her hull bled atmosphere, and a trail of wreckage followed behind her as she limped away.
The troopship was almost within drop range, once she landed her forces they could claim all eight platforms intact and not have to worry about leaving ships to guard their new conquest.
Unfortunately instead of picking a new targets the surface cannons opened fire on Hornet again, shell after shell tore into the battered wreck that had once been a proud cruiser until the structural integrity of the ship failed outright and shells tore clean through one end and out the other as the screamed in at near light speeds, one lucky shot struck home in what was left of the reactor core of the crippled cruiser and as containment failed a brilliant blue star was born. 2,100 Icaran spacers died as that star was born.,
Babcock clenched his fists in rage and sorrow as he watched the star fade and saw the wreckage that remained of a ship that had boasted a glorious service record.
The troopship reached dropship range at the same time the Last shell killed the cruiser, thousands of infantry and hundreds of armored vehicles cut through the atmosphere at speeds that were too fast to intercept by the planetary defense platforms.

Landing forces seized control over the most heavily defended target that Icara had ever faced, and they had done it in less then two weeks. The Phong governor of that world had relied too much on weapons platforms and when the ground forces of Icara landed the Phong ground forces were totally overwhelmed in a far from exciting battle, not a single Icaran Army trooper died in the battle.

notes after the battle.
Two days after the battle Admiral Babcock dispatched [i]Lenin to intercept a Phong Light cruiser that was headed towards the warp point to the Mavin Parsis system,
Captain Yu Lin Pe and Lenin are to be reasigned to Third Fleet as soon as Fornax system is secured
Her crew performed excellently in their kill of the enemy warship, and proceeded to the warp point with renewed vigor, Lenin scored their first ship to ship kill and suffered absolutely no damage in the process and not a single casualty had been sustained much to Admiral Babcock and Captain Yu's mutual relief after the tragic loss of His Majesty's Warship Hornet and her valiant crew.

Starhawk

November 20th, 2004, 08:15 AM

2416.4 The Galactic West and the Manti Barrier
Admiral Lord Timothy Fredricks, commander of the 4th fleet sat laxly in his chair in the flag briefing room as he read the newest dispatches from Naval Intelligence, he scowled spitefully as he read about the victories of the 1st and 3rd fleets against the Phong, Fornax had fallen and the Phong sector forces decimated so swiftly that at first the Admiralty didn�t even believe it, Ross and Babcock were on the fast track to promotion, and so was any captain who earned a reputation under their command. And here he was stuck out in the middle of nowhere with the �4th fleet� guarding the border against the NSE, who were supposedly allies to boot!
�Captain to the bridge, unknown GFG footprint!� Fredricks quickly tossed the reports aside and raced for the door from the briefing room to the bridge.
�What is it Tactical?� He asked briskly as he stepped onto the bridge at a pace that was a little faster then he would have preferred for appearances sake.
�Sir, I have two, zero GFG footprints of unknown origin, I can tell you they are likely human but nothing else at the moment.�
�Hm, Take us closer helm.� Fredricks looked over at his Executive officer, who was bristling with excitement, it was her first tour aboard ship as an exec after she replaced his previous exec, who was transferred to command a ship of his own.

The 4th fleet closed on the unknown fleet for two days before they finally entered ID range of the unknown starships, they were obviously warships, they were long spindly ships with two hammer headed ends , the hulls were pure white but shown blue in the glow of the warp point they had just emerged from.
�Sir, I am reading a dozen destroyers, several light cruisers and cruisers, 5 battleships and a carrier.� The tactical officer looked nervously back at Admiral Fredricks, that fleet could easily defeat his own, the only hope he could have was to attempt contact, but if the unknowns did not want peaceful relations this would be a very short contact indeed.
�Com get me a signal to those ships.� Fredricks had to force himself to stay cool and collected, those ships out there could destroy his pathetic little assortment of ships and open up the entire region to attack before any reinforcements could arrive from Icara.
�Sir they�re hailing us.� The com officer tabbed a few controls and a voice came over the ship�s speakers.

�I repeat this is Admiral Sanjumi of the Manti Star Kingdom 2nd fleet, please identify yourselves.� The man speaking had an accent that Fredricks didn�t recognize, but he was just glad they were willing to talk.

�This is Admiral Lord Fredricks of the Icaran Empire 4th fleet, you have entered restricted space Admiral Sanjumi, please state your purpose in this region.� Fredricks swallowed hard as the endless seconds ticked by without response.

�I�m sorry to violate your space Admiral, we are simply exploring, we are not here to start any trouble.� The other man sounded confident, he too knew how a battle between the two fleets would turn out and he didn�t even need to be as polite as he was choosing to be, hell an Icaran Admiral would have just entered engagement range and unleashed a broadside on the inferior fleet that stood before them.
�Well Admiral now that we have encountered each other, may I send an Ambassador over?� Fredricks tried again to sound as if nothing major was happening, but his eyes never left the tactical screen on his command chair, the Manti fleet was still moving, but not towards any planets in system, at least not yet.

�Certainly Admiral Fredricks we�d be honored to welcome one of your ambassadors over to my flagship.� Fredricks could almost feel the man�s smile as his voice came over the speakers.

�Well then I�ll have an ambassador sent to you within two days, please stay where you are until that time, thank you.� Fredricks said as politely as he could manage and then cut the com circuit to the Manti flagship and had his com officer open a new com to Mandow base to have an Ambassador dispatched.

After less then a month of negotiations it was found out that the Manti Star Kingdom was a powerful nation to the galactic West of Icara, it was at war with at least one other nation and seemingly winning, their military was powerful and had many battlecruiser and battleship style warships in their frontier fleets, coupled with their advanced phased poloron cannons which were at least two generations beyond the Icaran Version even a single Manti frontier fleet could decimate one of the four Icaran fleets.
These facts weren�t ignored when Praetor Leonidas personally signed the non-aggression pact with the Manti�s, who thankfully while interested in growth were not militaristically expansionistic.

However as long as the Manti Star Kingdom existed Icara would forever have a barrier to the Galactic west which would prevent their military conquest of that region.

Renegade 13

November 20th, 2004, 02:47 PM

Looks like you've finally found someone more powerful than you are! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif As always, great stories http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/cool.gif

Starhawk

November 20th, 2004, 04:42 PM

Yeah they are a lot more powerful then any of the ships I have built.

I have the ability to build dreadnought and battlecruiser sized vessels butI am waiting till I get solar sails because as it stands even if I got those ship sizes into my fleet I couldn't hope to catch a manti battlegroup.

Power Man

November 22nd, 2004, 03:51 PM

If I were you I would design and start building the ships NOW. You can always retrofit them after you get the solar sails.
I keep getting caught with no ships because I also tend to wait till I get the next neet upgrade. But I find that sometimes I need something, ANY Thing, Right NOW to fend off some enemy intrusions.
Since it takes so long to build the ships and then send them to the front line I will sometimes build Version one class ships that by the time they get to the front line can be retrofitted with a new design that has the latest and greatist.

Starhawk

November 24th, 2004, 10:26 PM

Ironically I have the dominant power stance in the areas I need too, and even if I designed my newer ships at that poitn and time I would still not have stood a chance against enemies like the Manti's because they took several leaps in weapons tech. Fortunately for me the Manti's are rather peaceful at the moment and are at war with some other Groups that I havn't met yet, so they'll be busy for a few years http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif
Oh and the way my empire is set up I always have shipyards at the frontier worlds so I can get newly constructed warships to the front swiftly.
Thanks for the advice though, depending on how my game shapes up I may take it http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Anywhoo here is the next chapter.

2416.5 The Dark at the end of the Tunnel
�Captain Yu Lin is here to see you Admiral.� The marine sentry at the Admiral�s door said crisply.
Babcock looked up from his report and smiled to himself, he had been looking forward to passing on this little bit of information to Yu for two weeks but because Lenin had been out intercepting Phong raiders he had had to keep it under his hat.
The door opened with the usual metal squeak revealing Captain (senior grade) Yu Lin Pe, she was wearing her dress uniform and carried her hat under her left arm, Babcock had always been amazed how graceful the young woman could look, even on the rare occasions he had seen her wearing the �mess dress� uniform that she had, with it�s three point hat, coat tails and gawdy orders and epilates, today however she in the traditional red tunic and white troUsers of the Naval officer corps duty uniform/dress uniform her jet black hair wrapped tight into a pony tail that came down just past her neckline.
�Admiral.� She said with a smile as she saluted her superior, they had become rather good friends while on station out in the frontiers, assigned to the conquest of the xeno Phong, and on several occasions he had even invited her to play whist with himself, the flag captain and Commodore Sterns, and though it was �untraditional� to smile while saluting a superior Babcock simply returned the salute and smiled back.
�Captain Yu Lin Pe, it is my duty to inform you of a new assignment.� Babcock�s voice had become formal and serious but his ever present grin made Yu more curious then worried, Tyson Babcock had a terrible �poker face� which is partly why she had always found it so easy to beat him at whist, only when he was very angry or in the midst of battle did his face truly become expressionless.
�Really Sir? May I ask what it is?� Her tone was equally as formal as she placed her black cap on the Admiral�s desk and saw in the seat he indicated with a wave.
�Well Captain, I have been informed that Rear Admiral William J. Ross of the 3rd fleet, uh I believe you know him?� Babcock�s grin grew slightly as he folded his hands, Yu nodded curiously and he leaned back to continue �Well anyway he has requested reinforcements for the 3rd fleet after their recent casualties, I have decided to grant his request that at least one heavy capital ship be deployed to him, and I have chosen HMS Lenin for that mission, that is if you think her captain will agree.� Babcock�s grin turned into a full smile as the young woman simply nodded wordlessly, her mouth hanging open slightly as she sat in shock. She had been hoping to see Ross again when she first learned that the 1st fleet was headed to the Phong front, but due to the developments on the front the 1st and 3rd fleets did not join up as planned and instead the 3rd fleet was dispatched to blockade the warp point leading to another Phong system while the 1st assaulted Mestra.
�Well Ms Yu it has been a pleasure and an Honor serving with you, you are truly your father�s daughter. I know he�d be proud of you.� Babcock stood up and shook the young woman�s hand gently, his face beamed with joy and Lin felt herself start to smile as well. Then Babcock lowered his tone �I�m proud of you too Lin, and I hate to see you go, but I�m sure you�ll be happy with your new assignment, I know you�ve wanted to serve with Ross again, that�s why I sent you instead of Rosevelt.� the Admiral released Yu�s hand with care as he saw the shock on her face wearing off.
�Thank you sir, it�s been more then an honor serving with you and the first fleet.� Yu thought her voice sounded hollow but Admiral Babcock nodded politely at her.
�Well Lin, your assignment awaits, from here it will take you about a month to reach Ross� command, after Lenin is refueled and re-supplied so I suppose you�d best be going.� Babcock lost all the formality in his tone and replaced it with a more fatherly tone. Yu smiled reassuringly Tyson smiled at her and led her to the door. �Good luck Lin, I hope we can serve together again some day.�
�I do too sir.� Lin said as she slipped through the door saluted the marine sentry who had braced to attention, and then she was gone�

:Three Days Later:
Location: Mestra Warp Point/ Fornax Side
�Admiral, closing to warp point in 3 minutes, gravity field generators aligning now, internal gravity shutting down.� Flag Captain Houston looked over at Babcock with a tense expression. This jump point had not been scouted due to the constant Phong raids into Fornax and going into the unknown made the entire crew tense.
Admiral Tyson frowned as the gravity inside the ship shut down, his stomach lurched every time he was in zero g and that hated bit plus the jump shock experienced by a human upon exiting a warp point made FTL travel pure hell on him as he watched the younger men and women around him on the bridge go about their jobs as if nothing had changed he felt more then a little envious of them. Tyson grabbed his stomach for a second before forcing himself to listen to the bridge crew�s voices to keep his mind of the situation.
�Time to jump ten seconds, helm reduce speed �.�
�One quarter speed aye.�
�GFG fields aligned, grav sails have hooked warp point outer edge.�
�Confirmed helm, grav sails hooked, GFG engaging prepare for transition to warp in three..
Two�..one��jump.�
The ship flopped around Tyson and his stomach jumped into his throat, the golden �wheels� spinning around the ships of the 1st fleet were considered beautiful by most of the crews in the fleet but to him they were always just worse reminders of the warp�s effect on his gut. Half an hour after the entry into warp the 1st fleet jumped back into normal space in the Mestra system.

The first flashes went unnoticed as the crews recovered from jump shock, but as the sensors came back on-line and the crew regained their senses horror and shock was on every face.
�Sir Rossevelt has been badly damaged, incoming fire on the fleet, we�ve taken several hits, I�m reading eight ships and 32 satellites on scan sir!� The tactical officer was nearly panicked as the hundreds of shells from the enemy blockade slashed into the midst of the fleet impacting on the shields of every ship in the fleet except the troop ship which was fortunately sheltered in the midst of the heavily defended warships.
�Sir the Rossevelt she�s��oh Lord!� The tactical officer�s sentence was cut off as the brilliant blue fireball expanded on screen where once an Icaran heavy cruiser had been, debris from the destroyed warship slammed into several other ships causing massive damage.

The Icaran discipline won out over their panic and shock and their retribution was devastating, all eight Phong warships were destroyed in the Icarans� first counter volley, many satellites exploded as well as the Phase Poloron beams burned through them.
Unfortunately enough satellites remained to wreak havoc among the already damaged warships of the fleet, a cruiser was completely crippled as shells tore into her exposed hull, worse however came when a massed volley locked onto the Redoubtable herself and opened fire.
�Sir incoming, contact in�..� Explosions tore across the hull of the flagship tearing massive gashes and holes into her, more shells exploded inside the hull sending mangled bodies and wreckage into the void as vacuum sucked them out.
The bridge was torn open as an enemy round missed it by a fraction of a meter, several of the bridge crew died instant bloody deaths, others were blown into space and still more writhed on the deck bleeding and screaming�.or worse gagging for air if their skin suits were torn open by shrapnel.
Admiral Babcock tabbed his com panel and in a shadowy whisper of a voice ordered all hands to abandon ship, just as the next volley of shells tore the once proud warship apart.

�Admiral Babcock, sir, please wake up sir.� a gentle female voice brought Tyson to the beginnings of consciousness, �Good sir, now open your eyes.� that voice didn�t sound familiar to the battered Admiral and fear of what must have happened wrenched his guts.
�Where am I?� he croaked as a strong pair of hands helped him to sit up slightly, he began to open his eyes but found them swollen and he quickly brought his undamaged right hand to his eyes to inspect the damage.
�Your on board Divinity sir, I�m sorry to say that Redoubtable was destroyed with most of her crew, a bridge officer carried you to the escape pod before the ship exploded.�
�Who are you, and how bad off are we?� He heard the choke of emotions in his own voice but he didn�t really care at the moment, he just wanted to know how many other good men and women had died.
�Sir I�m Doctor Hutto, as to how bad off the fleet is, well sir three cruisers have been crippled with heavy casualties on one of them, I don�t know the names yet sorry sir, but I know that my own sickbay has been inundated with wounded from all over the fleet, the Eclipse lost her entire medical bay and it�s staff along with 45 patients so we�re very crowded. Um Commodore Sterns said the fleet isn�t going anywhere for some time sir and has ordered all the badly damaged ships into the center of our formation.� she paused and Tyson heard her sigh deeply.
�As you know Rossevelt and Redoubtable were both destroyed, the former was lost with all hands I�m afraid. Total fleet casualties are estimated to be over 5,000 dead and 8,000 wounded. I�ll get you more information later, but for now sir I order you to get some rest.� Doctor Hutto left without another word, Tyson felt oddly grateful that she left as the tears began to flow in his swollen eyes. So man of his people had died, his flagship had been destroyed and his fleet totally neutralized, and it was his fault.
The main question that lingered in his mind was where to go from here.

Renegade 13

November 24th, 2004, 10:43 PM

Yay! I was starting to get worried, no story for a few days! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

Starhawk

November 24th, 2004, 11:01 PM

Yeah wanted to give myself a day or two then re-read it like you folks suggested because I want my story to be a fun read http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif So how am I doing on improving my wrighting style any progress you think?

Rasorow

November 26th, 2004, 12:26 PM

No complaints, but I am not the best critic and barely surviving my own writing class right now....

Rasorow

Starhawk

November 26th, 2004, 02:36 PM

I'm hoping to take some writing classes in the future http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

2416.6-2417.7
Two repair ships arrived to assist the 1st fleet back into a mobile state after the severe damage suffered during the Phong ambush at the warp point. Admiral Tyson Babcock established his flag aboard HMS Divinity after his first flagship was destroyed, he was still undergoing therapy for his injuries when he gave the order for the 1st fleet to launch an assault against the closest world in the Mestra system with the intent of capturing a forward base for his fleet.
Fortunately for the battered first fleet the invasion went off without a hitch and the self defense forces of Mestra VI didn�t inflict even a single loss to the Icaran Invasion forces. The forward base was set up rapidly after that and a State Security brigade was sent to keep the peace.

Cortina System:
�Admiral Ross, a Captain Yu to see you?� The marine sentry at Ross door chimed over the com panel and Ross jerked his head up in surprise as he tabbed the com panel.
�Captain Yu? Uh let the Captain in please.� Ross tried to keep his voice relaxed but he felt a tension rush up his spine, if it was Yu Chin then he would likely have an argument pending as the man was still resentful that Ross was given command of the third fleet after his father had been killed at the 3rd battle of Fornax. If it was his sister Yu Lin then God only knew what Ross could expect.

The door opened with it�s typical metal squeak and Ross heard two female voices coming from outside as the door paused before opening fully, his marine sentry of this watch was a woman, so the second voice must be the Captain. Ross tensed even further as the door opened all the way and a slim, relatively short woman wearing a captain�s uniform walked in. She removed her cap and Ross nearly tripped over himself as he went to stand, Yu Lin Pe was stunning, her jet black hair fell into a tight pony tail just between her shoulder blades, her almond eyes were alight with intelligence and she carried herself with a self assurance and grace that made her exotic beauty even more pronounced. She was one of the few Icarans that had Asiatic decent in modern times after the Asian portion of the Empire was abandoned to ancient China millennia before during the first great wars, she was even more rare because of the fact that her family line could be traced back all the way to the founding of Icara colony 200 years ago and had a heritage that even many nobles were jealous of.
�Captain Yu Lin Pe reporting for duty sir.� Her voice snapped Ross back into the real world, he noticed that she had been standing in salute for several seconds and that he had kept her waiting longer then was polite to return the salute.
�Welcome to the fleet Captain Yu.� Ross said stiffly as he returned her salute, somewhat embarrassed that he had been taken so aback.
�Thank you Admiral, Lenin was transferred to your fleet by order of Admiral Lord Tyson Babcock, commander first fleet stationed aboard His Majesty�s Heavy Cruiser Redoubtable.� Her tone was still formal but something in her eyes made Ross feel slightly more comfortable, but he still felt sick because he knew her ship had not received the messenger drone informing her of the Mestra incident.

�Lin, I�m sorry to inform you but Admiral Babcock was severely injured, the first fleet was ambushed at Mestra warp point and they lost Redoubtable and Rossevelt during the opening engagement. Several other cruisers were also badly damaged, heavy casualties are reported.� Ross� felt his heart sink as Yu�s expression changed to one of tortured anguish.
�Oh God, William do you know how Tyson is doing?� her voice was heartbreaking to Ross and he barely noticed that she used his first name for the first time in years.

�He�s alright Lin, he�s undergoing therapy but the Last reports said that he�s recovering quickly.� Ross indicated a seat for Yu across from his desk and almost smiled when he saw the relief on her face.
�Thank God for that, he�s a good officer, and a friend.� She managed to smile uncomfortably as she seated herself and placed her cap on Ross� desk.
�He�s also a tough old bird who wouldn�t go down without a fight.� Ross said with a smile, when Yu laughed gently he allowed himself to relax further.
�How have you been William?� Her smile faded slightly as memories flickered behind her eyes.
�I�ve been good, it�s been odd though, I still can�t get used to the fact I�m commanding a fleet.� Ross smiled sheepishly at Yu.
�Well you always did like being out on your own, exploring the unknown, that�s why they gave you Saber after all.� She smiled back, the same smile Ross remembered from the academy, that smile he thought, could light up a room and always managed to make him feel better somehow.
�Yeah well we all know how well that turned out, I was the first one to run into a Phong exploratory ship, and the first one to destroy it and we all know how that ended.� Ross said glumly and leaned back in his chair.
�It�s not your fault William, those damned Phong�s are the ones who started this war.� Lin smiled reassuringly. �We have a lot to catch up on William, let�s not make this whole meeting a depressing one okay?� her smile disappeared and a mock stern look replaced it.
�Alright I surrender, we do have a lot to catch up on, how are you Lin?� Ross waved his hands in a gesture of submission and Yu laughed again. They both relaxed at Last and spoke for hours before Captain Yu was called back aboard her ship for the training exercises she had scheduled the day before.

Top Secret Research Facility, Deep within Icaran space:
�High Admiral Hallice may I present Chief Scientist Doctor Donald Procter.� The younger scientist waved his hand in the direction of an elderly looking man who was bent over a computer screen, apparently looking at something important.
�Doctor Donald Procter.� Hallice held out his hand and was a little surprised when the older chap just put his hand up gesturing for silence.
�There it is.� The man spoke to no one in particular before standing up and looking at the Admiral as if he noticed him for the first time. �Aaah, Admiral Hallice, welcome to my facility, how are you?� Doctor Procter took Hallice hand and shook firmly.
�I�m fine doctor but I am pressed for time so please show me what your folks considered so important you needed me to come today?� Hallice was impatient, he didn�t like scientists much but especially when they made him wait, after calling him with �urgent� news.

�Aah of course, well Admiral, as I�m sure your aware Praetor Leonidas authorized the beginning of project �Star Warrior� three years ago, well I am pleased to say we�ve made some progress in that field about a month ago, we wanted to be sure of our findings before we notified the military but now that we have confirmed our findings, well here you are.� Procter rambled excitedly as he guided Hallice to a door.

�Well sir I am pleased to report that we�ve completed the I-Laser program as well as Talisman.� The old scientist smiled broadly, Hallice pretended patience as he waited for the weird old man to get to the point.

�Aaah anyway Admiral the I-Laser or �Imperial Laser� is actually a Fusion beam, we called it a laser because it uses a laser focusing beam, but I�m sure your not interested in that, it is a thirteenth generation weapon done in the energy stream research field, even more powerful then the Anti-proton beams you military types wanted to put into production years ago.�
�Doctor please get to the point.�
�Well sir we are ready to make refits to the existing General class cruisers in project �Midwinter�, heavy cruisers with Midwinter weaponry will have one hundred percent accuracy and more firepower then some of the other star nation�s battleship sized craft.� The scientist rambled for hours about the joys of his project�s completion until finally Hallice got the gist of it.
The �Star Warrior� project was a complete overhaul of military technologies to increase the fighting abilities of the Icaran Royal Navy, it consisted of multiple programs to reach that goal and finally after years of research most of these projects were completed.

The new Lord Nelson class dreadnoughts would take another six months to put into production because that is about how long it would take the scientists to get a working model of the �Solar Sail� which was really just a modified grav sail used to implement solar energies instead of warp space energy to propel a ship much faster.

The development of the Quantum reactors was complete, the Q-Reactor would enable not only infinite fuel for a ship using it but it�s development also had the odd side effect of enabling matter sequencing technologies to be implementable, this exotic new technology enabled a ship to turn waste products into consumables, though Hallice knew it would take some time for crews to be comfortable with eating and drinking products that used to be their waste no matter how many times scientists told them that the matters was completely broken down into it�s atomic basics before being turned into food or drink.

Project Talisman had also finally been completed, this device was a hyper advanced targeting sensor which would enable one hundred percent accuracy for the warship it was plugged into.

AI was also perfected and with these new computers aboard starships crews could be reduced to the point that more systems could be added to the warships of the Royal Navy, though no true navy man was willing to give total control of their ship over to an AI no matter how many scientists claimed that the Ais could handle every function of a starship without the need for a crew.

2417.8
Midwinter class heavy cruiser refits begin throughout the Royal Navy.

Starhawk

November 28th, 2004, 11:28 AM

2417.8 End of an Era
Ross stood next to Yu in the Spaceyard�s gallery staring at the gutted hulls of their ships, both officers were frowning, the captain of Defender couldn�t even bring himself to watch his ship gutted like a fish Ross, and captain Farrin-Hawkwing�s new captain- had only stayed for five minutes before giving the yard master his compliments and beating a hasty retreat from the scene.
The General class heavy cruiser was obsolete and throughout the entire navy they were becoming extinct, gutted at the hands of yard dogs and completely overhauled with totally new systems and internal configurations, they were becoming the Midwinters and although they would be far more powerful then in their former incarnations it was still hard for captains who had lived and fought on the old Generals for nearly ten years now to watch them be opened up from stem to stern and have their innards torn out and discarded like old garbage.
Ross felt as if his firstborn had been sacrificed on an altar before the gods of �progress� when he first heard that the Hawkwing was going to be overhauled, the officers and crew of that old cruiser had fought, lived and died in her hull, their was blood fused into the metal of the bulkheads because of extreme heat caused when shields burned through, blood Icaran spacers who had died in the great metal beast had shed protecting the empire, and now it was all being torn out. Ross� chest felt empty as he turned to Yu.
His depressed mood suddenly turned to curiosity when he saw the young woman smiling at her opened ship. �Why are you smiling? I thought you were just as sick over this as I was?�.
�I was Sir, but my ship has seen so much death, useless and needless death that seeing her get a new heart, a new -soul- if you will makes me feel better somehow, like she�s got a new life ahead of her now.� Yu�s smile faded, memories of the several disastrous engagements Lenin flashed in her eyes.

�Yeah, I forgot about what happened to your ship in Fornax, I suppose your right, that poor old lady deserves a new life after all she�s been through.� Ross felt something brighten in his own mood as Yu smiled at him again, to him it was like his ship was being gutted but to Yu, her ship was undergoing surgery to give it a new chance at a good life, it had been said that Lenin was cursed, for the first four battles she engaged in she was crippled or in the very least hulled, her crew had been reduced to 1/3 of it�s original compliment by the time she had been re-assigned to the 3rd fleet. That was when the curse it said was broken, for that transfer saved Lenin and her crew from the devastating ambush in Mestra where 5,000 Icarans had died in less then ten minutes.

Ross and Yu watched their ships for a short while before returning to their temporary duties on Wardo base, five months of planet bound duty while the heavy cruisers of 3rd fleet were retrofit to Midwinter specs. It was the end of an Era for the IRN as the largest of her Phased poloron equipped warships were given I-Laser cannons. The old cruisers and light cruisers of the navy could not handle the power requirements of I-Laser technology and thus were facing extinction as soon as enough ships of the �new generation� were built and many captains and Admirals prepared their �wakes�-the traditional farewell party to a valiant ship facing it�s retirement- as their ships names appeared on the �obsolete� list that would soon lead to their scrapping

I'm proud to announce that my story covers 71 pages in font 10 in MSN Word!!! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif :cheers: (passes around beers)

Renegade 13

November 28th, 2004, 05:24 PM

Woohoo! Keep 'em coming! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

Starhawk

November 29th, 2004, 02:03 AM

Yeah I actually was sad to see my old General class be retrofit to a new unbattle tested class even though they are the same (ships).

I do need advice though, I am having economic troubles as of late and with recent developments such as my new ship building programs it's going to get tight for me for a year or two.

Well anyway the advice I need is this, should I scrap those old underarmed underspeed LC and CR or should I just keep them in service till they are destroyed?
Like I said my economics are tight and i have a lot of my newer ships under construction.

Anyway before I move too far forward advice would be nice.

Atrocities

November 29th, 2004, 02:28 AM

I would mothball a few and if you have to later on scarp them or trade them off.

Prioritize your costs in the construction que and see what is costing the most to build. Put that on hold, or put low priority projects on hold.

Good luck. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

sachmo

November 30th, 2004, 12:41 AM

Well, I haven't had time to read the entire story, but I've enjoyed what I have read.

Just to let you know, I can see your skills improving as you write more (I've skipped around a bit!) and the characters are very interesting. Keep going, and don't burn out!

Renegade 13

November 30th, 2004, 02:52 AM

Well, here's an idea for what to do with all those obsolete LC's and CR's. It might be considered kind of cruel to your Icarans, but.... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/tongue.gif

Send all your obsolete ships to the most pressing front, assemble them into one large fleet, and make a drive into enemy territory. Your fleet, even though obsolete, should be able to do quite significant damage to the enemy, and run the fleet until it's completely destroyed. Don't bother repairing damage, as this is a suicide fleet. Like I said, adding this to your story would make your emperor look very very cruel, but that's your choice! Personally, that's what I do with obsolete ships that are eating up resources through maintenance.

Rasorow

November 30th, 2004, 10:22 AM

Depends... Scrap some (most of the LCs) keep the CRs but gradually upgrade them to different functions.. Fleet repair, fast transport, small armed carriers, various speciality ships that at least I always seem to need at this point. If you have encountered a missle using or fighter using empire (I cannot tell how dependent on missiles from the story) then some of the CRs might be converted to AA ships (or is that AF - Anti-Fighter) ships. I would probably scrap most of the LCs if not all through.

Rasorow

kerensky

November 30th, 2004, 06:18 PM

thanks, and yes I have thought of writing a book which is actually why I'm writing these stories.
I'm hoping I can get enough practice so that when I do write a book it won't have as many gramatical errors as this story. And so I can learn character development and flow of writing.

You know that I would be happy to proof read your work (not like I've done that before)

As for Characters some of their personalities are based on folks I know with some slight changes to personality to fit a militaristic environment.

Would I be one of them??? granted I havn't actually read the story yet.. Am doing so now.

Hunpecked

November 30th, 2004, 09:21 PM

Renegade 13 writes:

Well, here's an idea for what to do with all those obsolete LC's and CR's. It might be considered kind of cruel to your Icarans, but....

A variant on the suicide fleet theme is to send a single obsolete/expendable ship through a warp point ahead of the main fleet to detect a minefield or ambush (as befell the Icarans in the Mestra[?] system). Presumably the crew of such an [ahem] "elite scout" would be either very brave or very naughty boys and girls; either option might be the basis for a good chapter.

Starhawk

December 1st, 2004, 04:55 PM

OOC: Well by the story Icara would never send their crews to a suicide mission on purpose, unless they were renegades, but the Icarans would never trust renegades with a warship either.
The funny thing is that I only ever built TWO light cruisers as my research into cruiser technology progressed far faster then I thought it would.
I'll probobly put the Light cruiser Retribution into mothballs over Icara to stand aside as a "museam" like the Saber and Enterprise the other will probobly be scrapped.
The Cruisers I'll probobly turn into escort carriers as I like that idea the best http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Oh and Kerensky, not yet but a Character I have in mind will likely be based on some of your personality traits.

Well anyway I'll shut my big yap and give you guys what you really want, some story http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

2418.4 Sunburst and Glory:
The 3rd fleet�s three heavy cruisers had rejoined the fleet only two months ago after being totally overhauled, and their return was just in time as the sensors had picked up a ten ship fleet of Phong light cruisers heading for their position at full military thrust.
Ross sat tensely in his command chair aboard Hawkwing watching the tactical display intently, this would be the first combat test of the new I-Lasers and if anything went wrong, no nothing would go wrong Ross wouldn�t let anything go wrong. And besides that-he thought- if the heavy cruisers failed he still had a small group of cruisers with old PPB cannons to fall back on.
�Admiral, targets entering weapons range in two minutes.� The tactical officer chimed off every minute as the fleets closed, to Ross ears the countdown sounded like a dirge, but whether it was for his enemy or his heavy cruisers Ross did not know.

The ranges closed until finally the targeting lights shown a brilliant green, the chief weapons officer nodded in the Captain�s direction, Captain Barret looked at Ross anxiously awaiting the order to fire.
�Open fire all batteries.� Ross said grimly, he felt himself cross his fingers, he also prayed quietly as the seconds ticked off. Finally the weapons batteries of the three Midwinter class heavy cruisers lit space with green fire. A massive wall of beams sliced into the leading Phong warships, the first shots brought down the shields with ease, the rest of the broadsides lashed into armored hulls and broke them like toys, vaporizing entire sections of plating and hull. In less then five seconds five Phong light cruisers vanished in brilliant fireballs.
The Cruisers of the 3rd fleet joined their larger cousins in the attack, they opened up with their Phased Poloron cannons and destroyed another two Phong warships.

�Admiral, the Phong ships are attempting to retreat!� Barret smiled sharkishly as he watched the three remaining Phong ships turn about and head away from the fleet at high speed.
�Kill them all mister Barret, I want no survivors of this little fleet of theirs.� Ross felt the power of his ship anew, she had been formidable with her old weapons systems but with these new guns, against the Phong she would be invincible!

The Icaran heavy cruisers though larger then their Phong counterparts were far faster due to their superior engines, they had no trouble catching up with the inferior Phong ships, the three enemy ships fired their weapons desperately but to no effect, the superior ECM and shielding of the Icaran warships made the Phong DU fire totally ineffective.
Unfortunately that handicap was only on the Phong�s side, the Lenin was the first of the Icaran warships to enter weapons range, she opened fire with all the fury of hell, two of the surviving enemy ships vanished in brilliant explosions, and debris fields. The third ship was hit three times by the Lenin�s batteries, she lost 2/3 speed and all but one of her guns.
Defender finished the job when she entered weapons range, her beams sliced the enemy ship into slags of metal and wreckage in barely a second�s time.

Ross leaned back in his command chair proudly, he smiled at his bridge crew and signaled his congratulations to the rest of the fleet, on the first successful combat action of the Midwinter class heavy cruisers and their new I-Laser armament.

Meanwhile
The first fleet under Admiral Babcock continued their invasion of the Mestra system and claimed yet another planet to the cause of Icara, a second Phong colony was destroyed by one of the 1st fleet�s Midwinter class heavy cruisers when it was decided that the colony would not be worth the loss of Icaran lives.

2418.6
The shipyard of Icara city hummed with noise and activity, a massive three kilometer long hull began to take shape within the �dry dock� facility, as thousands of workers buzzed about like ants, nano-welding hull plating together, wiring power cells together, or doing one of any hundred jobs that were involved in the construction of a space fairing capital warship.
This scene was being repeated across nearly a dozen worlds of Icara and also in orbit of Icara it�s self as the orbital yards began construction. The first �block� of the newest and deadliest class starship ever constructed by Icara was well on it�s way t joining service. The Lord Nelson class Dreadnought was larger stronger and faster then any known warship besides those of the Manti�s, these ships would be the new ships of the line for Icara, each dreadnought cost nearly two billion credits and took large amounts of raw materials to build yet when they were completed, this first block alone would possess more firepower then the entire current Royal navy put together and that fact alone is what convinced the House of Lords, and Praetor Leonidas to authorize the navy to begin construction.

Starhawk

December 1st, 2004, 06:37 PM

A brief history and genealogy of Icara
This is a little bit of a side to my story, to give you guys an idea of why the Icarans are who they are. Icarans come from an alternate history of Earth.

What is an Icaran?:
An Icaran is a human being plane and simple, the current generations of Icarans have been geneticaly engineered for increased lifespans, this process is known as "sustain" or "prolong" depending on what world you are from.

Where did it all begin?:
The Icaran civilization began in the year 3000 BC in Lacedonia, near the ancient city of Sparta the founding of Icara (literally Homeland in ancient Icaran) by a tribe known as Icarani would begin what is now known as the "Dawn"-or Dawn of Civilization.
Originally the Icarans were a nation of philosophers and poets devoted to peace and the understanding of the universe and nature wherein they were created.

This all changed however when their neighbors the Spartans launched a brutal war on Icara leading to half the Icarani tribe's extermination before they finally repulsed the brutal Spartan invasion.

This invasion led to centuries of Icaran "defense" wherein Icara became the dominant global power on Earth, with no "dark ages" occuring the technological developments of the world continued to increase.

By the twentieth century Icara had colonized Mars, and dozens of moons and asteroids throughout Sol. This age of peace ended however when rival nations of earth unified against Icara and launched a nuclear sneak attack on Icara's earth heald territories.

The resulting war Lasted for decades and ended in the "final march" wherein the Praetor of Icara personally led the Last remnants of the Icaran military against the "Sol Coalition" forces in an effort to defend the Icaran colony ships that were evacuating Sol in search of a new world they could claim for themselves.

The final march was the Last valiant act of the Royal military of that era, the Royal army and marines charged in human waves in desperate attempts to beat back the Coalition forces that were attacking evacuation sites, the Icarans faced their end with bravery unmatched in all of history, soldiers wept and prayed and kissed their loved ones good bye and then without hesitation through themselves at their enemies.
The soldiers of Icara charged into the armored advance, thousands died, but many soldiers took out tanks with them, grenades strapped to their bodies exploding under the treads of enemy tanks.
In space the defense was equally valiant, when Icaran ships were too badly damaged to fight they charged their enemies and rammed them or died trying.

In the end though defeat was inevitable, nearly a billian Icarans made it out of Sol on evacuation ships, the Praetor was knocked unconcious by one of his own commanders and loaded into the Last evacuation ship before the captain who knocked him out led the Last Icaran cruiser in a suicide charge at Coalition warship destroying both ships and allowing the evac ship to make it out.

The age of rebuilding:
The Icaran evacuation fleet ended up far from where they had initially intended too and only five hundred million people survived the trip as many vessels were destroyed in the anomoly that transproted them to this system. The survivors found themselves half way across the galaxy in a star system with two inhabitable worlds.
Due to the small population of the evacuation fleet only a single world was colonized, and named Icara after their long lost homeland.
It was the year 2120 at this stage of history and for centuries Icarans rebuilt their shattered civilization, and attempted to find out what had transported them to this particular system.
Modern scientists found out that it was in fact a warp point that had transported the colony fleet so far from earth, and also realized that the warp point to earth had collapsed during the centuries of rebuilding. However they also harnessed grav sail technology which would allow them to traverse the remaining warp points safely.

What the Icarans Believe:
The Icarans beleive that they were chosen by God to rule over humanity, and view the fall of their Solar empire as proof of this since they fell to other nations that had once been considered allies of Icara.

Their Religion
The Icaran religion is an offshoot of Christianity and is known as "The Path", though Icarans who follow this religion still refer to themselves as Christians.

The main differences between the Path and "traditional" Christian denominations is that the Path believes that the Praetor line was chosen by God to lead his chosen people to victory over the nations of man and unify humanity in his name.
These "Praetors" (Divine Ruler in ancient Icaran) are considered saints in the Path and although not worshipped or prayed to they are revered as "the chosen" and followed almost religously by the general populace.

The Praetor Line:
The "Praetor Line" is a single family line that goes back millenia and has ruled the Icaran Empire since the begining of recorded history.
This family "though of course changed through marrage and the introduction of new blood" is considered divinely chosen and many Icarans throughout history have died to protect the members of "The Praetor Line". In fact during the battle known as "The Last March" an entire battle squadron died to get the Praetor on to one of the evacuation ships even though it took rendering him unconcious to do so.

The "Praetorship" is heald by men alone because of the traditions of millenia, The women of a Praetor family are treated with great respect however and the wife or "Praetani" is revered almost as much as her husband.

The Society of Icara:
The Icaran government is based on a system similar to Fuedalism yet also different in that the nobility is not chosen by the Praetor for simple political reasons. Instead the nobility of Icara is directly related by blood to the Praetor line and many are in fact directly related to the Praetor himself.

The general poplation of Icara is not treated like the common surfs of fuedalism but instead they are treated with a great deal of respect. In fact the Praetor and nobles are required by Icaran law and religion to ensure the safety and proper treatment of every commoner under their vigilance.

The Icaran population as a whole beleives strongly in their government and it's "divine right" to rule over all humanity and as such it is the dream of almost every healthy young Icaran to join the armed forces and add themselves to the cause.

The Icaran Race:
Icara was a multinational Empire during it's glory days in Sol and as such has several races within it a general breakdown follows:

Icaran 90%: (Icaran refers to the general "mixed race" population, after centuries of intermarrage of the races within the Icaran empire it has become difficult to tell the ancestry of an Icaran simply by their appearance)

White 4%: Though intermarrage has caused most of the Icaran bloodlines to mix there are still many who were isolated from the bulk of the Colonial population due to historal events, many of these retained their original "ancestral appearance".

Asiatic 5%: Though the vast bulk of Icaran population sees mixing of races as something only natural many of those from more "traditional" asian nations that had once been ruled by Icara retained their beleifs that mixing of races diminished the blood of their people and as such refused to do so.
Though this is not the only reason, one of the evac ships from asia crash landed on the southern continent of the world now named Brandenburg and their descendents were only discovered in the early 22nd century.
In the early 24th century the viewpoint of "pure blood" began to change however as the Asiatic genetic base was begining to become more and more restrictive to their population. Many people of pure Asian extract still remain however and in fact those of pure Asian decent outnumber those of any other "pure" bloodline in all of Icara.

African 1%: The sole evacuation ship from Africa to survive the anomoly crash landed on the world now known as Brandenburg and were only discovered during the early 22nd century. With only one colony ship from that continent the descendents of "pure extract" from that line are extremely few in number.

Xeno's Within the Empire:
Xeno refers to any non-human race within the Icaran Empire.
Xeno's do not have the same rights as their human counterparts and are seen as inferior and untrustworthy, at present they are not allowed to vote, own their own property, or serve in the Royal Armed forces.
Xeno's of the Phong varient are forced to serve the industrial complex of Icara until thier (debt of blood) is paid off, most likely this debt will Last for centuries and provide Icara with a free labor force until the time where the debt is paid off.

Though it is known that other Xenos exist currently only the Phong have been brought into the Empire.

(note) Okay that's a brief bit on why Icarans are the way they are, what they beleive and what they look like.

Also note the racial breakdown is in no way based on prejudice but is instead based on how the war with the Sol Coalition went, the initial nuclear strikes were in Africa and Europe and the wars began there.

Starhawk

December 2nd, 2004, 12:27 PM

2418.7
Admiral William Ross led the three heavy cruisers of the 3rd fleet confidently into battle with the 7 Phong Light cruisers, the battle report showed that all 7 enemy ships were destroyed before a single one of them entered weapons range. The result of this engagement was that the Royal Armed Forces assigned the 1st Germania Mobile army regiment to the 3rd fleet as soon as their training on Germania was completed.

Mestra System, Mestra II Orbit
The hammer Falls
�Alright you grunts we�re dropping in on the LZ in 5 mikes, lock and load!� Sgt Black shouted to his platoon who had formed up in the launch bay, along with every other unit in the regiment. The regimental prayer had just been finished and now it was the Sergeants turn to address their individual platoons.
Sgt Black smiled toothishly while he watched his platoon file into their dropships, �Now ladies and gentlemen I know most of us have seen action before, and we love it but I want you to remember, keep your heads down and your guns blazing, we are gonna rip the spines out of those yellow bastards and then we�re gonna piss down their necks, AND WE�RE GONNA DO IT SMILING! Do you get me you Grunts!�
�Yes SIR!� was the unanimous response over the com net, just before the dropship slid into a locked position at the Batton�s drop rack.

An army infantry dropship was a relatively small craft capable of carrying ten fully armed troopers and two pilots, when readied for a drop operation such a craft is loaded into a �drop rack� mounted on the underside of a troopship, this turns the dropship �nose down� to the planet they are facing to increase initial drop speed.
The launch rack its self is basically just a super sized rail cannon which instead of launching shells acts as a �catapult� for the dropships loaded onto it, this initial �drop shot� accelerates the dropship to trans sonic speeds and dramatically increases the survival rate of deploying dropships due to the fact that most anti-aircraft gunners would have a hard time tracking a vessel headed straight down at trans sonic speeds.
An army �tank carrier� drop ship works much the same way except instead of 10 infantry it carries two tanks, or APCs, or 6 armed buggies.

The drop shot happened sooner then Black had expected and even he grunted as the dropship accelerated at twenty gees (only 5 of which were felt, thanks to inertial compensators), Black could feel the blood in his body pooling at his feet, even though the marines were all wearing environmental hard suits for this drop the gravities experienced for the initial ten seconds of drop acceleration was too much for the suit to filter out entirely, the veteran army Sergeant often wondered if anyone was even trying to make the suits more gee resistant or if some pencil pusher back home decided it would be too expensive.
His thoughts came to a rather abrupt end as the horrendous crashing noise of their dropship entering the atmosphere filled the troop compartment. Less then a minute later the pilot�s voice echoed over the com net.
�We�ve got a hot LZ troopers get ready for a rough landing.� the pilot sounded remarkably calm considering the fact that �flak� was already coming straight at the dropships.
Almost before realizing the time had passed Sgt. Black noticed the troop compartment door slide open and noticed he could see the ugly landscape of the enemy planet coming up fast.
The dropship came to a rest about a meter above the ground and the automatic crash harnesses of the army troopers unlocked and Sgt. Black bellowed for his troops to unload.
Enemy energy bolts filled the air, Icaran beams lashing out in return as the Icaran regiment surged towards the enemy defensive position.
Armed buggies raced on ahead of the infantry troops, their three man crews unleashing hellish amounts of fire for such a small vehicle cut down dozens of Phong defenders and opened a gap for the infantry to charge forward.

Black�s platoon was one of the �Alpha� units which meant they were in the leading elements of the advance and as such faced the heaviest enemy fire, the entire platoon fired as it advanced up the hill that acted as the enemy �fortress�, enemy fire came down upon the army troopers in relentless torrents, a trooper in front of Black was hit in the face by an energy bolt, his faceplate vanished and a spray of blood and gore was all that remained of the trooper�s once young face.
Another trooper fell just beside Black, a hole the size of a football burned in her chest, worse still a green glowing orb landed on another trooper�s body armor.
�God!, get it off get it�..� the voice was cut off and screams echoed from where the trooper had once been standing, the explosion erupting from the Phong grenade vaporized the trooper it had attached to and sent three others sprawling through the air, severed limbs, blood and internal gore spraying from their bodies.

�Continue the advance damn you! Follow the company flag bearer DO NOT stay STILL!� a voice bellowed from further up the hill and Black just barely recognized it as Lieutenant Steinburger, the company commander of the �Alpha� unit that Black�s platoon was a part of.
After what seemed like an eternity the lead elements of the company made it to the enemy positions on top of the hill, but the fighting was far from over as the enemy forces engaged the Icarans in a brutal series of hand to hand and close in firefights all along the hilltop.
The armed buggies that had led the charge along other portions of the advance finally came racing in along the hilltop and sprayed fire into the enemy resistance killing or driving off hundreds of Phong defenders.

Operation Hammer ended two weeks later when the Company that Black�s platoon was attached to seized the Phong government bunker and eliminated the entire planetary government staff. Remarkably only 12 Icarans had died in the battle, unfortunately dozens more were wounded many of whom seriously. The Capture of Hill 752 by the Alpha units played a critical role in breaking the defensive perimeter of the Phong colony and the loss of 10 Icaran lives on that hill saved hundreds of others during the two week invasion.

douglas

December 2nd, 2004, 01:37 PM

Starhawk said:
OOC: Well by the story Icara would never send their crews to a suicide mission on purpose, unless they were renegades, but the Icarans would never trust renegades with a warship either.

Would the Icarans trust renegades who had to do what they were told or have the self-destruct device on the ship triggered remotely? Of course, this assumes you have self-destruct devices on all your ships.

Starhawk

December 2nd, 2004, 01:48 PM

I consider self destruct devices a waste of space and tonnage http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif I prefer not being borded to begin with.

Hmmm I'll just go for the armed carrier Idea I suppose, as it's more economical at present.

Oh and do you guys consider my guys "bad guys" "good guys" or "neutral"?
I was wondering because I have a specific idea in the way I'm trying to develope the Icaran personality but I won't say what it was until you guys tell me what you think, this way I can see if I was able to get their character across properly or not.

Power Man

December 2nd, 2004, 03:18 PM

Given their actions so far and based on your background I would have to consider them "bad guys". But more in the way of "Bad to have near me". As a race I would label them "neutral"
I like to spread out and tend to think that even though someone else currently has the planets, eventually, all the systems are mine. I will try to make treaties, and will honor them untill the other guy breaks them.
Your guys shoot first and even if I got a treaty with them I would keep an eye on and move some guard fleets into our borders.

A question. Can you tell us if we will be seeing any more of the "SOL colalition "?? Or is that going to be a suprise?

Renegade 13

December 3rd, 2004, 01:14 AM

Hmmm, well I'd describe the Icarans as an "expansionist" empire. As such, they are neither "good" nor "bad", since they do not believe that other races have the right to govern themselves. They are not evil, since they simply believe in their own people, which is a healthy form of nationalism. However, they aren't exactly good either, since they don't seem to be interested in forming treaties with empires whom they believe they can defeat in battle, thereby seizing their territories. I too would call them "neutral" (sort of http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif )

Starhawk

December 3rd, 2004, 10:42 AM

Hmm thanks for your opinions anyone else that wants to can also chime in on how you see my race. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif
Same with if I'm writing anything you consider offensive so that I'll know to be more careful about that.

As far as the Sol Coalition goes, they are still lurking about in my space but for the past few years they havn't bothered contacting me and I havn't contacted them.

2419.0 The Nature of High Technology
Lin unbuckled her tunic and collapsed onto her bed, she had been running battle drills for eight hours, ever since the I-Lasers in battery three suddenly overheated during a test firing. The maintenance staff had run so many tests on the subsystems that they practically had to take the weapons apart, and after ten hours of that they asked her to run a combat drill, that went horribly as the same damned battery overheated and nearly took out the heat syncs. Master Chief Tankousky and his work crews worked on the weapons for another hour then had the battle drill run again. And that time the bloody heat syncs collapsed entirely and the firing mechanism burned it�s self to a crisp along with the focusing lens.
Finally after hours of tests and drills and testing the drills battery three functioned without burning it�s self out, the entire weapon internals had to be replaced the next morning but at least at the moment the engineers said the weapon would fire properly if it needed too. Lin got up and tossed her dirt caked tunic into a wash unit before stepping into her modest bathroom, she sneered at the reflection in the mirror for a moment before disrobing and stepping into the shower to clean the greasy sludge from the battery three off of her exhausted and aching body.

As the warm water kicked in Lin leaned back against her stall and forced herself to relax and enjoy the warmth of the �simulated� water spray. After a few minutes she wearily dried herself off and dressed in her robe before collapsing into bed again. It seemed like only seconds after she had closed her eyes when the com panel on her wall began to beep, then shrill until finally she slammed her fist into the audio only key.
�What is it?� her tone was less then pleasant but at the moment she was fully expecting one of her engineers to inform her that battery three had gone ape**** again.
�Well Captain Yu that�s no way to address your superior now is it?� the voice on the other end of the com link made Yu snap upright with embarrassment.
�Admiral Ross! I�m sorry sir I was expecting.�
�That�s alright Lin I was just messing with you, unfortunately I do have serious business to inform you of, the long range sensors have detected three Phong light cruisers, now I�ve ordered the fleet to alert but not full battle stations because we know that with their capabilities just one of our heavy cruisers could kill all three of them.
And Yu I�ve chosen Lenin for the job, you guys have taken to much crap from those bastards without being able to give much back, so here�s your chance, intercept and destroy those ships then report back to fleet. Understood?� Yu could almost hear the smile on Ross� face and unconsciously nodded, before remembering that she had set the unit to audio only.
�Understood sir, I�ll do my best.�
�I know you will Yu, give em hell, then send them there Ross out.�

Yu wiped the sleep from her eyes and tabbed another key on the com panel:
�Bridge, Lieutenant Manning here.�
�Lieutenant this is the Captain, you are about to receive coordinates from fleet command, lay in a course to intercept three hostile warships, based on those locations and maximum speed of hostile craft understood?�
�Aye ma�am.�
�Good I�ll be on the bridge next watch, only com me if it�s an emergency.�
�Aye.�
Yu turned off the com unit and finally laid back down and allowed herself to relax again and began meditating like she had been taught by her grandmother when she was ten, in no time she had slipped off to sleep.

Two Days Later:
The Lenin had finally begun closing with the enemy warships after two days of approaching one another.
�Captain Yu, talisman is acquiring lock on the lead two ships, the third one is staying too far out of range at the moment.�
�Confirmed weps.� Yu swiveled her command chair towards the tactical station and waited for the officer to signal combat range.
The officer looked up and nodded sharply at Yu, she spun her chair back to face the main screen, her mind raced, this was her first solo op against an enemy squadron where she wasn�t using the traditional Phased Poloron beam cannons and the thought of failure made her nauseated.
�Weps, open fire.�
The chief weapons officer nodded, the board of targeting info from the gunnery crews lit up and after what seemed like an eternity he pressed the firing studs on his control panel.
Green beams silently connected the Icaran heavy cruiser to the leading two enemy ships and in the blink of an eye both ships vanished in a ball of fire.
�ALERT! ALERT! ALERT! MALFUNCTION!� the computerized voice rang out and Yu clenched her fists in rage and frustration.
�Ma�am battery three is overheating, malfunctions across the board, Master Chief Rameraz says he�s going to have to shut down all but our secondary batteries or else risk total system collapse.�
�Well Damn it all Lieutenant why don�t you just tell Rameraz to have us spit at the enemy.� Yu snapped violently, these new weapons were all [censored], useless [censored], at least as far as her ship was concerned and it frustrated her beyond belief.
�Target secondary batteries and fire.� She continued irritably.

The secondary batteries easily destroyed the enemy warship and Lenin turned around to rejoin the rest of the fleet, for the two day trip the engineers put up with hell from Yu until they finally discovered the source of the problem, some nimrod back at the dock that retrofit them had totally screwed up the heat syncing and installed heat syncs that were designed to deal with the much weaker phased poloron weapons right next to I-laser grade syncs. Yu was going to have someone�s head when she got back to the fleet and most of the engineers spent their time dodging her for the trip back.

Starhawk

December 3rd, 2004, 04:48 PM

2419.1 The new breed
The first Lord Nelson class dreadnoughts slipped out of their massive docks and began deploying to their fleets with all possible speed.

[3rd Fleet]:
�My Lord she�s a beast of a ship!� Ross uttered as the massive three kilometer form of the HMS Shadowclaw jumped through the warp point, she dwarfed every other ship in the fleet and made the older cruisers look like toys.
�Aye sir, but she�s also faster then every other ship in our fleet.� Sandra Fowler said with a smile as she looked over what was going to be her new command.
�Yeah that�s right, she uses the new Quantum reaction engines and Solar grav sails doesn�t she?� Ross looked back at Sandra and remembered seeing that same look on her face when he first gave her command of Saber all those years ago, before she was turned into an orbiting museum over Icara.
�That�s right sir, she also uses the new inertial compensation that the quantum reactor has produced, that means that she can go nearly twice as fast as a Heavy cruiser and her crew won�t feel a thing, it�s marvelous isn�t it sir?� She beamed at her Admiral quickly and returned her eyes to the massive warship in front of her.

The cavernous boat bay of the dreadnought overwhelmed Admiral Ross as he walked down the cutter�s ramp, two columns awaited him in parade formation, one of marines the other of ops crew, all of them came to attention sharply and saluted equally as formally. Ross returned the massed salute and walked forward between the two columns, Fowler a step behind him.

�Admiral on DECK!� the marine sentry inside the massive command center announced, the entire command crew snapped to attention and turned to face the entrance.
�As you were.� Ross smiled openly at the magnificent command center that lay before his eyes, it was huge compared to that of his heavy cruiser, two tiered layout with the command chair on a raised �arm� in the center of the bridge. A holotank sat just behind the command chair and it too impressed Ross, the level of detail and it�s sheer size was breathtaking. He turned to see Fowler glowing with pride and excitement he nodded at her as she walked off to inspect her new bridge.
The Shadowclaw was the first and so far only dreadnought assigned to 3rd fleet so Ross made sure he had pulled the best officers and crew he could for her new command staff, unfortunately captain Yu Lin did not have the seniority of Fowler and so she had to remain aboard [/i]Lenin[/i] until the next dreadnought arrived to reinforce their fleet.
Ross had nothing against Fowler, she was a superb officer and an excellent Captain but he had rather hoped to serve directly with the officer who had served as his flag captain while Hawkwing had undergone repairs and who had been his friend since his days in the academy back in the class of 86.
The joyful moment would not let its self fade so easily however and the Admiral felt his apprehension flow away as he strolled the bridge investigating all the latest gadgets the fleet had installed onto their new behemoths, his curiosity wanted to see what this new AI was like as well but she was offline at the moment and remain so for another month until calibration was completed.

Meanwhile;
The first fleet had received priority for receipt of block one production of the Lord Nelson class dreadnought including the class ship herself. Admiral Tyson Babcock was as impressed with the Lord Nelson as Ross had been with the Shadowclaw however Tyson allowed himself a little quirk of pride in the fact that his flagship was not just any dreadnought but she was the FIRST dreadnought, and the one that bore the class name as well as the best crew.
Along with Lord Nelson the dreadnoughts Falcon, Repulse, and Reinhardt joined the 1st fleet, making it the most powerful formation of warships in Icaran space.

rdouglass

December 3rd, 2004, 05:37 PM

2 chapters in one day! I find myself looking forward to the next installment more and more. Good stuff!!!

Starhawk

December 3rd, 2004, 06:32 PM

Well here's a small (micro-chapter):

2419.2 In honor of a Fallen Hero
The Bureau of ship designs had just unveiled it�s newest creation, a super dreadnought, more powerful and better defended then their smaller cousins the super dreadnoughts would form a main battle line that�s power would be unmatched by any other star nation known to the Icaran.
In honor of the first serious casualties the military sustained these new ships were designated the Admiral Yu Hing Pe class super dreadnought, named for the admiral who with several thousand other members of the third fleet lost their lives in the third battle of Fornax.
Several ships were put into construction quickly across several systems to reinforce the main battle fleets.

Power Man

December 3rd, 2004, 06:41 PM

Your story makes for a Great read!
Now when I use the Merge Fleet screen to merge my first brand new Dreadnought into my Grand Fleet and then assign it as the Fleet leader I will think of My Proud Captain getting their new command.

Starhawk

December 4th, 2004, 07:34 PM

2419.3 The Newest Sword:
HMS Shadowclaw�s advanced sensors had detected the four Phong warships at a much greater range then the other vessels of the third fleet, Ross was eager to get his newest ship into the fight so he ordered the 3rd fleet excluding his own flagship to remain in position in blockading the warp point.
Along with being the most heavily armed and most advanced starship in the fleet, Shadowclaw was also the fastest ship, she could intercept and destroy the enemy ships and return to the fleet in under a month which is something no other ship could do, this also played part in Ross decision to go out with his flagship and no escorts.

Two days after her departure from the 3rd fleet the massive dreadnought was already closing the range with all four enemy ships.
�One can�t help but admire their bravery.� Captain Fowler commented sourly as she watched the four tiny specs of light closing on the much larger green light code that represented the Icaran dreadnought.
�Really, is it bravery Captain or arrogance?� Ross sneered at the four closing dots before turning to the young woman, his expression held a wisp of a smile. �Those four ships don�t stand a chance against us, the Phong started this war with superior technology to our own and thought they could conquer us!, and because of our conquest of the Rebel Alliance, as well as our superior scientific endeavors we now have the upper hand, they know they can�t win yet they do not surrender. This is more an act of arrogant defiance then of bravery, some people simply need to learn when they�ve been conquered.�
�I suppose it�s a little bit of both sir.� Fowler�s voice held far less sympathy for her enemies then it had only moments before. Ross was right, the Phong started the war when they destroyed Haden, they threatened the survival of Icara and on more then one occasion demanded the Royal navy surrender, but Icara had fought on and now she was prevailing, sympathy towards an enemy was for the weak, the child and the coward Fowler scolded herself for her lapse and then turned her attention back to the tactical display.

�Admiral enemy ships are entering maximum combat range, shall I order gunnery crews to fire?� The chief weapons officer looked at the Captain instead of Ross which the Admiral actually preferred, he liked his crews to feel comfortable with their direct superiors and not feel like they need to pass everything through him.

�No hold your fire until we enter optimal range, we�ll still be out of their firing envelope at that point, and I don�t want to overstress our guns until we�ve had a chance to test them out in battle.� Fowler barely bothered looking away from her OpRan (Optimal Range) countdown to reply to her officer.
Seconds later the countdown blinked blue, Fowler shot a quick glance toward Ross, the Admiral nodded curtly.
�Weapons, Open fire all batteries all targets, take them down.� Fowler flipped up the visual display on her chair while Ross watched the main screens.
�Aye, firing all batteries, all targets.�
Moments later the screens lit up brilliantly as dozens of green beams shot forth from the massive Icaran dreadnought� the broadside slammed into the four Phong warships like lightning through tissue paper. The infinite dark of space momentarily became alive with light and fire, and then�.darkness returned, leaving only wreckage where once there had been four cruisers.
�My lord! Tactical do we have any signs of the enemy?� Fowler along with everyone else on the bridge crew was stunned silent, even they had never suspected the true power their ship had until this moment.
�No ma�am, they�re all gone, I�m only reading small clouds of debris and atomized hull and biological elements.� the tactical officer�s reply turned heads throughout the bridge as the realization sank in.
�Congratulations ladies and gentlemen we�ve just knocked four enemy starships out of the universe, let�s head back to the rest of the fleet.� Ross said cheerfully before standing up and walking towards the command center�s door. Inside the victory felt almost hollow, the enemy never even stood a chance to fire one defiant shot, it felt more like target practice then battle to the war hardened Admiral. But more dangerous targets lay out there in the universe and these new weapons brought Icara one step closer to dominance and in the end that is all that mattered.

Starhawk

December 5th, 2004, 03:31 PM

2419.5 Battle and Growth:
�How many ships did you say Commander?� Captain Fowler jumped out of her bed and wiped the sleep from her eyes as she waited for the Officer of the Watch to confirm his message.
�21 Ma�am, various classes of Phong Light Cruiser, they are headed towards us at maximum speed.� Commander Hoggins was surprisingly relaxed about the situation, but then again the IRN had proven that they completely outclass the Phong Federal Navy in every battle since 2407 so there was not much to be that tense about.

Ross had ordered only the Hawkwing and Lenin to escort his flagship against the enemy fleet, with their new weapons and upgrades Ross was convinced that 21 enemy ships would be no problem for his small squadron.
The massive dreadnought kept her speed down so that her two heavy cruiser consorts could keep up during the 18 hour trip to intercept the enemy fleet, in the meantime Ross allowed his crew to eat breakfast, get some sleep and have some off time as he wanted them to be in top trim when the battle actually began.

�Admiral, Captain Yu is hailing.� The com officer tabbed a control that sent the image of Captain Yu directly to Ross� command chair and engaged privacy mode throughout the rest of the bridge.
�Admiral, I would like to request you allow Lenin to take the lead in the opening line if you wouldn�t mind sir?� Yu�s tone was very formal and rigid, it rather surprised Ross after hearing her laughing at a dirty joke in the officer�s mess aboard his ship only a few days before, then again at that time it surprised him and all the other officers present that the �prim and proper Miss Yu� would laugh a at joke about Phong reproduction, Ross shook his head as he thought about the fact that she was still so capable of surprising him.
�Oh, why do you want to lead the charge Captain?� Ross asked plainly
�Admiral, with all respect your flagship is hardly the appropriate choice to lead the line of battle straight into an enemy line, until we can come line-to-line with them I recommend you allow a smaller ship lead the advance.� Her reasoning was logical but Ross did not like the thought of risking her ship to protect his, no matter how well the odds favored his squadron, he was tempted to order Hawkwing to take up the lead but forced that thought out of his mind, if he did something like that and Hawkwing were damaged or destroyed then he would never forgive himself for sacrificing one good officer to protect another just because he had feelings for her.
�Captain Yu�� Ross swallowed hard and steeled his resolve �Permission granted, you may take your ship to the lead but when we form the line-to-line engagement I want you ship in it�s proper position understood?�
�Aye Admiral understood, thank you sir.� Yu saluted and cut the circuit.
Ross steepled his fingers under his chin and watched the tactical display show the heavy cruiser pulling forward.

20 minutes later the fleet was in engagement range, the opening salvo was fired by Lenin her powerful cannons easily destroyed two enemy warships as she turned about to begin forming the -line of battle-, Shadowclaw was the second warship to fire, her guns vaporized three enemy ships, she took up formation just �behind� the Lenin in the line and was followed up by Hawkwing who had managed two kills.

�Sir Line of battle formed.�
�Enemy fleet closing fast, all gunnery crews report ready for broadside�
�Enemy entering their combat envelope in three minutes I repeat three minutes, that leaves us three more broadsides.�
Voices echoed across the bridge of the massive as the crew quickly readied themselves for the real battle, Ross watched the main screen light up in a dazzling array of colors as all three Icaran warships fired their broadsides almost simultaneously into the enemy fleet, 10 ships vanished in an eye blink.
Four enemy ships remained yet they closed far faster then first estimated, all three fired directly at Lenin breaching her shields, the cannon shells that made it through the shields fell harmlessly against the Icaran warship�s ablative armor and both Ross and Yu thanked God for that particular invention.

Shadowclaw swept down upon the four offenders as if the ship it�s self were filled with wroth, her guns protruding from her like teeth ready to shred meat from bones, and shred they did as the massive dreadnought swept through the four ship formation, guns blazing as their beams were switched to �slicing mode�, the powerful green beams swept across the four enemy ships tearing them to pieces with ease, it was like a wolf among sheep and the dreadnought rampaged until all four enemy ships were nothing but debris clouds and particulate matter.

The Icaran fleet had emerged victorious, only two crew were killed aboard Lenin but in their triumph Ross felt only doubt, doubt about his feelings towards Yu Lin and how they would effect his future as the commander of a Royal Navy fleet.

Meanwhile the Icaran Praetor, Leonidas speaks to the public:
�My fellow Icarans, today is a grand day in our history, a day we achieve what has been for centuries thought impossible, the ability to terraform entire worlds!
On this day our construction companies all across the empire have begun building the first series of atmospheric converters, these converters allow us to turn any atmosphere on any world into one that our people can breath, this development will allow our once domed, and population controlled colonies to expand over the surface of an entire planet.

Now this project will not take place overnight, in fact the first series alone will take approximately three years to be fully realized, yet these first slow steps are not without purpose our scientists are still unsure of how the planet�s will react when their atmospheres are totally changed, and so the �first series� worlds are all worlds who�s populations have volunteered- or at least 75% have- to act as the test beds for this new technology.

When those tests are finished we will begin full fledged terraforming projects all across the Empire, this project may take years or even decades but when it is finished our people will thrive as never before, and I am honored to lead such a brave and advanced people to their future�� Leonidas� picture faded as the Icaran flag waved on screen and a list of �first series� worlds showed on the screen of every Icaran household within the empire.

Starhawk

December 5th, 2004, 05:42 PM

BTW just for those who did not realize this since it did kind of blend together the "Actual" title of this whole story overall is:
From the Beginning and yes I know I did not spell it correctly in the title :p

Starhawk

December 5th, 2004, 10:52 PM

Another full chapter coming tomorrow:
In the mean time here is a chapter on the technology in use by the Icarans of the 25th century:

Ship technology:

Artificial Gravity:
Icaran scientists discovered back in the 19th century just how bad the effects of long term weightlessness on the human body could be, and so they went about solving this problem.
At first the Icarans used centrifuges to rotate the crew while they slept, as well as a centrigue for the crew to exercise in. This however was of limited use as ships of the day were only moving solar distances (aka in Sol only) and after a few months of deployment even these measures began to wear off.

The development of rotating sections followed, these sections are literally rotating potions of the ship (located in the center of the craft) that provided limited gravity for the crew quarters and command sections of a space craft. This technology quickly replaced the centrifuge as the primary "sim gravity" environment.

With the discovery of early Ion reaction drives however a new problem arose, the gravity generated by a rotating section would kill any crewmember on a ship that was at full acceleration using the Ion reaction drive, some ships had the rotating section tear apart entirely which caused catastrophic hull breakdown (the ships were torn apart by their own gravity)those ships that were not destroyed outright suffered another effect, their rotating section did not have an "external" gravity field and because of that the inertial force caused by the reaction drive turned the crew to paste.

Modern GFGs: Gravity Field Generators were the Last and most advanced development in Artificial gravity technology.
A gravity field generator creates a "grav bubble" around a starship this means that the ship's hull is exerting it's own gravity field, this generators' basic functions are classified by state security, however what is known is that the "grav field" created by a GFG negates the force of inertia or foreign gravity sorces on a starship.
The GFG is a necessity when it comes to warp travel as well, without the external gravity field and "grav sail" a starships crew is turned to a substance with the consistency of chunky salsa, however because of the "external field and grav sail reaction" the internal gravity of a starship must be turned off, leaving the crew in absolute zero gravity during the duration of the warp jump.

Propulsion and FTL travel:

The original engines used by Icaran solar cruisers were chemical rockets which were effective only for short bursts of speed leaving a ship to "coast" the rest of the way to it's target.

Ion Reaction Engines were the first "true" space propulsion system developed by Icaran scientists during the early twentieth century.
An Ion reaction engine forces superheated Ions out of a �vent� in the engine, this reaction propels the ship at great speed, early drives could manage a maximum acceleration of 200 gravities, more recent models could max out at 450 gravities.

Quantum Reaction Engines, the most advanced engine developed thus far by the Icaran Royal Science academy the QRE uses the new quantum reactor�s excess energies to create a stream of anti-matter particles known to Icarans as kerons (k-ear-on) to accelerate a vessel, the quantum stream, unlike Ion propulsion uses the ship�s aft gravity field to focus it�s propulsive power even further. A modern quantum reaction engine can accelerate a starship at nearly 555.92 gravities.

�Solar Sail�: The newest development in drive technology the so called �Solar sail� is not remotely related to it�s ancient �material� counterpart, instead the modern �Solar sail� is a modification of a starship�s �grav sail�, instead of �hooking� the power of the warp into forward motion the �solar sail� �hooks� the so-called solar winds and channels that amazing power into a gravity field which, when combined with the power of quantum reaction engines provides a ship nearly 1,000 gravities of acceleration.
An interesting side effect of the Solar sail is that along with greatly increasing a starship�s speed it also dramatically improves the performance of a vessel�s GFG which allows the �inertial compensation process� to keep up with the extreme speeds achieved by a starship with the Solar Sail in much the same way as the gravity sail allows a vessel to enter the warp without mashing the crew.

Gravity Sail: The gravity sail or �grav sail� for short is a focused extension of a starship�s gravity field. The grav sail its self when fully deployed extends 2 kilometers afore and astern of the starship using it, the forward grav sail �catches� an energy wave of a warp point and begins to pull a ship into the whirling tides of the warp, the aft sail then repels the energy wave produced by the forward sail which pushes the ship the rest of the way into the warp.
Gravity sails dissipate the gravities of acceleration that would normally be felt by literally creating a null gravity environment within the �bubble� created by the two sails, this null gravity environment also completely neutralizes the effects of inertia allowing a ship in the warp to accelerate at an estimated 6,000,000 gravities.

The warp: The warp is in essence another dimension wherein the rules of �real space� physics do not apply, contrary to earlier beliefs that for every point in real space there is a point in �hyperspace� Icaran scientists discovered that in the warp there is no such thing as a �non-solar� region (in other words there is no void between the massive gravity fields produced by a solar system) in the warp.
When a starship enters the warp it does not have any choice in it�s navigation as such, but instead a warp point is created by the gravity of a star tearing a hole into the dimensional fabric of space time which is directly connected to another hole in space time in another star system, because there is no �void� in the warp a starship entering one warp point travels nearly instantaneously to another starsystem (depending on the acceleration generated by an object penetrating the warp).
The nearly instantaneous travel does effect the human psyche however and creates a phenomenon known as �jump shock� where the human brain is stunned into a momentary comatose status, resulting in extreme nausea and disorientation Lasting up to several seconds, scientists recently developed a medicine that effectively shuts off jump shock, but even this drug has it�s side effects and the nausea of a jump remains even though the disorientation and momentary comatose status have been negated successfully.

Weapons and Defense Technology:

I-Laser: The so called I-Laser (Imperial Laser) is the most recent development in weapons technology, and the most devastating weapon developed by the Icarans thus far. The I-laser is a direct descendent of the generation 12 anti-proton weapons tests run during the early stages of the Phong War when it was discovered that the Phased poloron beam would not suffice in dealing with forces such as the Manti Star Nation who�s superior ships and weapons outclassed the Icaran�s own by generations.
The I-laser is not actually a laser as such, it is a compressed fusion/anti-matter burst focused by a laser beam into a coherent force that proves most devastating on reaction to solid materials and energy shields alike.
I-Lasers have two settings, a slicing mode for when a warship makes a quick attack pass on a ship or group of ships. The second mode is a piercing mode used only in a line-to-line battle where two fleets line up and fire at each other, the piercing mode is no more or no less powerful then the slice mode but it is better suited for attacking capital ships in a solid battle formation.

Phased shield Generators: The phased shield generators workings are classified top secret by the Icaran Security council, the only thing that can be said by Icaran law is that the Phased shield pushes incoming fire out of our reality by phasing it into non existence.

sachmo

December 6th, 2004, 01:18 AM

Finally finished! Excellent story, Starhawk. First rate stuff.

Starhawk

December 6th, 2004, 06:40 AM

Heh I'm not finished http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif in fact here is that promised chapter:

This chapter is rated PG-13 due to graphic violence and language (mainly violence) I recomend you not read this chapter if you do not wish to read a very visceral story of the Icaran ground war.

2419.6 Blood and death on hill 529
Mestra 2 fell swiftly before the advance of the 1st Icara regiment, 3,000 Phong had died in the defense of their world or because they got mixed up into the crossfire and were killed by accident, either way the Admiralty did not overly care about how many Phong died as long as the planet fell and all resistance was ended. The Icaran army regiment guarded the world for a week before an SS brigade took over the task and allowed the troopers to get back to their job.

That was two weeks ago now and Mestra I was proving a much tougher nut to crack, the initial landing alone killed ten Icarans when their dropship was blown out of the sky by a Phong RPS (Rocket propelled stab*) and the damned Phong had dug themselves in so deep that the Icaran tanks had to bLast at entire mountain sides just to hit a single cluster of resistance.
It was the job of Section 025 red (better known as the Razor Claws by the Icaran 1st) to capture such a position known as Hill 529 to local intel, a force of some 500 Phong warriors in the Charlie sector were being led from the bunker that now lay before the Icaran troopers.
�Alright Ladies, let�s get this job done, Brekenridge, Canowsky keep those Wolfhounds** on patrol, make sure we don�t get snuck up on while we�re dealing with the yellow bastards inside.� Lieutenant Kemper whispered into his com as he slinked forward along the mountainside with the rest of his section.
It was well into this world�s �night� cycle if one could call a red sky �night� and it was Kemper�s hope that most of the Phong would be asleep, or at the very least not fully combat ready, in the darkness two Wolfhound armed buggies raced away from the infantry and began circling the area.

After what seemed an eternity of crawling on his belly Kemper and his section arrived at the armored door to the bunker, it looked like rock but ground penetrating scans showed it for what it really was, a 2 meter thick battlesteel door to a Phong command center that had to be neutralized. Kemper grinned to himself, to make matters worse his section had been dropped off with orders to capture the Phong leadership intact and alive!
�Lieutenant the charge set, we�re ready.� Sgt Hailey jabbed her shoulder into the Lieutenant to get his attention, when he turned around she pointed at the door where two engineers had just finished placing a compressed �one ton� nuke.

�Alright, assault squad stand by for entry, squad two and three follow us in, squad four I want you to stay outside and cover our collective ***.� Kemper said as he pulled a small silver pad out of his hard suit�s breast pocket, after a moment to make sure everyone was clear he pressed the green button and silently count down in his head (5.�.4.�.3.�.2.�.1.�.there!) a brilliant flash and a shockwave that rattled Kemper�s teeth signaled the detonation of the compressed nuke***.
�Go go go! Assault!� Kemper shouted as he stood up with the rest of the assault squad and ran into the breach they had just created, his �eye-piece� showed no life signs in the airlock they had just broken into but Kemper knew better then to take that as a sign of light defenses.
A scream from just ahead of him made the Lieutenant drop to the deck, and just in time a mono-molecular beam sliced along the wall and decapitated the man behind Kemper, another Icaran trooper shot out the generation point before the beam killed anyone else, but the beam had done it�s job, the trooper in front of Kemper was relatively short as Icarans went and the beam did not decapitate her as it did the man behind Kemper, instead it sliced off the top of her head only and left her in shock, twitching and seizing, a medic raced over but after only seconds he looked back at Kemper and shook his head.
Already two of his troopers had died, but that was no excuse for rash behavior, Kemper slowly advanced his section in a leap frog pattern, throwing shockwave grenades to make sure the corridors were clear of traps before advancing. So far no one had resisted and that made Kemper more uneasy and nervous then if he had to face down hundreds of Phong,, but there were no Phong waiting, corridor after corridor met them with only silence and the occasional booby trap that was disarmed by the Shockwave grenades.

Nearly twenty minutes had gone bye and the three assaulting Squads had reached a vast chamber near the heart of the base and still no resistance had met them, Just as Kemper was about to order his unit forward again a noise boomed into the room from unseen speakers, a noise the Icarans did not recognize at first, it was like crackling paper or a fireplace with a roaring fire. Suddenly comprehension dawned on Kemper, it was Phong laughter!
�AMBUSH! Fireteams cover your backs AMBUSH!� just as he shouted dozens of pulser darts tore through the Icarans, blood sprayed from torn arteries like some nightmarish geyser, the screaming of the wounded and dying filled the corridors, the stunned Icarans returned fire and succeeded in killing many Phong, but they were totally outnumbered and had been hit completely off guard, within moments all 36 Icarans were on the deck.

The Phong advanced from their hiding places and walked forward to inspect the bodies of the fallen Icarans, bayoneting the downed Icarans at the edge of the Icaran formation, just to be sure they were dead.
A Phong warrior walked over to Kemper and kicked him in the ribs with an armored boot, a grunt startled the Phong, who whirled his rifle around, too late to save his life however as an Icaran combat knife drove into it�s groin, cutting open the Phong�s main arteries in his legs.
A second Phong stood stunned behind Kemper as the Lieutenant whirled around with his assault rifle.
�Hey baby, you miss me?� Kemper sneered at the Phong warrior and depressed the firing stud on his rifle, the AP beam tore the Phong warrior in half and Kemper whirled around to look over his shattered formation.
�NOW!� The shout echoed along the walls and everywhere in the formation Icarans came to life and began killing the startled Phong warriors.
Kemper heard the satisfying whine of Anti-proton fire and the equally satisfying scream of dying Phong as if they were in a distant background, his focus fell onto Phong troopers that were attempting to fall back and reform their ranks, they all died swiftly as his beams swept across them.
A third of the Icarans was all that remained after the devastating ambush but Kemper was unwilling to give up here, and he could not call in the other squad outside or he would risk leaving his only way out open to enemy attack.

The advance continued until finally the sole remaining squad reached the massive armored doors at the heart of the facility, it took two compressed nukes to breakdown the door and admit the Icaran assault. The troopers rushed into the room weapons at the ready and stopped in stunned silence.
The sounds of sobbing brought the advancing Icarans to a halt, the room was no military command center, it was filled with Phong females and children, not even a single weapon was detected in their midst, several of the younger Phong ran towards the soldiers and began chittering relentlessly in their alien language.
�HALT! Stay where you are!� the Icarans shouted as the youngsters continued to run towards them.
�Damn it STOP!� Sergeant Hailey shouted at the top of her lungs but the aliens did not seem to understand.
�Get me a GA�DAMNED TRANSLATOR TO TELL THEM TO STOP!� Kemper shouted as he lowered his rifle, one of the Icarans raced forward, a translator unit strapped to his hip.
�Stop where you are!� he yelled in Icaran and the machine chattered out an equally loud shout in Phong.
The youngsters continued to run at the Icarans even after they had been told to stop twice by the translator, they were almost in hand to hand range and Kemper made the most terrifying decision of his life.
�Firing line! Cripple them if you can FIRE!� his order was met with the silent obedience of Icaran discipline and the entire squad fired into the advancing youths, three of the ones in front were cut to pieces as more then one trooper had focused their weapon on them by accident, several of the youths in the back stopped running forward and hit the dirt, others had limbs severed by the sweeping beams.
�CEASE FIRE!� Kemper�s order was echoed by Sgt Hailey and as suddenly as it had begun the Icaran fire ceased.
�Oh my God� a trooper behind Kemper said stunned, another trooper vomited into his helmet, the noise of the self cleaning unit covering the noise.
�Medic up front NOW, Lois cover him, get moving damn it!� Hailey shouted, she shoved the medic forward, Kemper forced himself back to reality and looked around the room, there were still a LOT of females and children hutted in fear, some of the more scared young ones tried to stand up and run away from the Icarans, but they were jerked down by their parents or other adults who had just witnessed the massacre.
The five youths of the group that had not been wounded or killed in the Icaran volley hugged the limp bodies of the dead or chittered into the �ears� of the wounded in attempts to comfort them. The Icaran mdic gently moved them aside and began running scans on the wounded while PFC Lois covered him.

�Why did they keep running at us sir?� Hailey whispered as she came closer to Kemper, she too looked pale and sick, but her voice remained calm and cold.
�Sir, I may be able to answer that.� The translator stepped forward after talking to several of the Phong in the room.
�The soldiers that ambushed us in the corridor were not just soldiers, several of them were command officials for this region, and sir, those youngsters are their children, when they saw us they knew we must have killed their parents and so they declared a sort of blood oath, similar to our custom of debt of blood except that instead of service provided by future generations, their blood oath requires the offender be bled.� The translator paused and looked sick for a moment, Kemper cleared his throat in a sign of impatience.
�Sir, they would have tried to bleed us, not kill us, a cut or bight would suffice by their tradition since they are the losing force here.� The trooper shook visibly.
Kemper looked at the stunned faces of his soldiers, they had all just become baby killers, even Phong did not deserve what had just been done to them, not this up close and personal, not over some stupid tradition!
The Lieutenant slammed his fist against a nearby wall and cursed silently to himself that fortune should put HIS unit in this position, they had failed their mission when they slaughtered the ambush force that had included the command staff of their region and NOW they had killed four orphaned children and left another seven with horrible injuries ranging from severed limbs to opened guts.
Kemper forced those thoughts from his mind and remembered the original Haden base with it�s millions of people, including children that had been destroyed by the Phong, so a few enemy children had been stupid enough to try and attack an Icaran firing line, so what he had ordered them cut down, they had become combatants the second they refused to comply with his orders and he made sure everyone of his soldiers knew it.

Less then a week later Lieutenant Kemper and the survivors of the Razor Teeth were awarded the Icaran sunburst medal for heroism above and beyond the call of duty, two days after that Mestra 1 had fallen to Icaran forces and the 1st regiment began occupation duty until an SS brigade could arrive.

*[Rocket propelled stab]A "stab" is a weapon that breaks apart into several metal disks when reaching a certain altitude, these disks travel at super sonic speeds and can slice apart any dropship or fighter in service.

**[Wolfhounds]: A wolfhound is a three person armored buggie with either a gatling style Anti-proton gun or a surface to surface rocket launcher.

*** [Compressed Nuke]: A compressed Nuke is a weapon that focuses the entire nuclear reaction into a "bottle" similar to how a traditional shaped charge focuses it's explosive energy. The radiation is sucked into the bLast area by the preasure of the "shaped" nuclear bLast and leaves only a small area radioactive,and even that radioactive area is harmless to anyone wearing a heardsuit or vac suit.

Starhawk

December 6th, 2004, 02:27 PM

2419.7 Remembrance:
Captain Yu Lin Pe walked the long corridor alone, she enjoyed the silence of the moment, to be allowed to be alone with her thoughts, probably for the Last time today, she paused and breathed deeply, recycled air of course but still it was new air to her, she had been in space for months with neither hide nor hair of planetary or even domed spaciousness or �new� air, it was all the same metallic ship�s smell, and finally she was in a wide open space by herself with �fresh air�, yet she had to hurry through it and meet her new command. She felt sorry that her brother was still in the 1st fleet and was too far away to have arrived here on time but at the same time she was oddly grateful for it as well, she could say hello to her new command and goodbye to her father all at the same time.
She had been invited to the shipyards of Mavin Parsis II months ago, so that she could arrive in time for the launch of the Royal Navy�s newest and for the moment most powerful warship class in Icaran space, normally the ship�s first officer would have taken her to the new commander but this was a special circumstance, this was the Last tribute Icara could give to a hero who fell all too early in the war. The HMS Yu Hing Pe, the first of the Admiral Yu Hing Pe class super dreadnoughts the first two of which had just come off the production line.
Both were being assigned to the 3rd fleet and Yu Lin had the honor to take command of the warship bearing her father�s name and become the new flag captain of Rear Admiral William Ross a thought which roused many confused feelings within the young woman, she and Ross had known each other since she was 15, now she was getting close to 40-though thanks to modern medicine she was in the same top physical condition (and youthful appearance) that she had been in when she was 19- they had always been close friends and she even tried kissing him once when she was 16 but he pulled away and left an awkwardness that Lasted for months, she had always been attracted to him and got the feeling he felt the same way, yet they never seemed able to discuss it�.
She inhaled deeply, deliberately breaking her train of thoughts and began meditating as she walked, much the way her grandmother had taught her, though Yu Lin herself was not a Buddhist like her grandparents or parents she often meditated to calm her nerves or clear her thoughts.
Before she realized it Lin was standing in the main gallery of the shipyard, a bulky man in the formal tan uniform of an engineering corps Admiral walked forward and smartly saluted her, in the tradition of the Navy any captain receiving their command must be saluted by ANY officer bellow the rank of Grand Admiral or equivalent rank, she smiled and returned the salute.
�I am EC Admiral Tankers, Captain I must say it is an honor having a member of the Yu family here in person, and more then that taking command of a starship we built, especially one that bares the name of such a great man as your father.� The man smiled broadly at Yu and part of her became very curious when she noticed his eyes seemed to wonder over her body just a little bit.
�Well Admiral Tankers I look forward to taking her out, but at the moment I�d just like to see what she looks like if you don�t mind.� Tankers flushed a little as he realized that he had barely even let her step into the room before intercepting her.
The Admiral guided her to a camera that was overlooking the shipyard�s construction slip, Yu�s eyes widened and she felt herself smile as she caught a glimpse of the Yu Hing Pe she was 250,000 tons more massive and 100 meters longer then a dreadnought, and had an additional 500 crewmembers, she was sleek and deadly looking bearing a striking physical similarity to her smaller cousin.
�When can I go aboard� Yu asked gleefully as she stared at the massive and beautiful new warship.
�Actually Captain I was wondering if you would like to go aboard after the party, of course if you�d prefer you can go aboard later.� Tankers grinned at the glowing new Captain, it was like watching a parent with their new child he thought to himself as she practically fell over herself to confirm she�d like to board as soon as possible.

The �party� drudged on for two hours, to Yu it seemed like an eternity though she did enjoy the opportunity to meet Commander Jason Styles, her new XO, he was a witty if somewhat bookish man with an obvious flair for the comedic, he had even managed to make Governor Shaun (Stoney) Garret to erupt into a belly laugh that could have shaken the bulkheads. But the man was also a brilliant officer and had skipped two grades in promotion to achieve his current post as Commander at the young age of only 21 years of age, she still marveled at how easily he was able to excuse himself from a �mandatory� party without stepping on anyone�s toes and found she envied that ability as there were only so many blue blooded noble wannabes that she could talk to n a single night without wanting to blow her brains out with a pulser.
But finally the bore fest had come to an end and she was able to board her starship, she wasted no time whatever in making her way to the bridge.
It was a marvel of modern technology, the bridge was a similar two tiered configuration to that of a dreadnought except for the additional stations, including one in particular which drew Lin�s attention to it like flypaper. The Neural Interface was the most recent combat technological advance it allowed the officer to link minds with the other �linked� officers of a battle group (which of course meant there would need to be multiple super dreadnoughts in the fleet) and then connected those minds to the AI junction of a �linked� fleet increasing the combat reflexes of a starships offensive and defensive system as well as allowing more precise-and thus more stable-warp jumps.
The Super dreadnought was 4.1 kilometers long and Yu made sure to investigate almost every inch of it for six hours before her launch, she rendezvoused with the Warden two days after launch and then began their long journey to join the 3rd fleet in the war against the Phong.

Crazy_Dog

December 6th, 2004, 05:22 PM

Is very good, the influence of David Weber / Honor Harrington Series is obvious (is one of my Favorites).

Starhawk

December 6th, 2004, 08:38 PM

Thank you for your generous statements you guys, you're all definitely building up my confidence and interest in writing a story.

Though I still have a lot of work ahead of me to become a real writer, for example I still sometimes have issues with making a story "flow" from paragraph to paragraph and I still have the occasional embarassing gramatical error lol.

Starhawk

December 7th, 2004, 12:15 PM

2419.9 Another Step on the Long March:
�Scopes show ten enemy light cruisers, most of them look like the new Stargazer class of theirs, a single shield generator and rather weak armor, but they pack a little more punch then the previous models of Phong warships.� Lin looked at the faces around the briefing room making sure the command staff of the fleet knew what they were up against before she continued.
�It is my belief that the Yu Hing Pe could take on all ten of those ships by herself with confidence of victory, our weapons and shields are light years beyond anything the Phong Federal Navy possess, and it would be a good opportunity to test out the Royal Navy�s newest warship under live fire circumstances instead of taking the Bureau of ship design�s word based entirely on simulated battles.� Captain Yu again glanced at the officers in the room, looking from face to face to see if she was hooking them.
�Captain, I am not sure it is the best idea to risk one of only three currently existing super dreadnoughts based entirely on the theory that she can take on ten enemy warships by herself.� Captain Fowler said skeptically as she looked over the schematics of the newest Phong warship again.
�With all respect Captain Fowler your dreadnought has taken on and destroyed eight enemy ships in a single battle by herself, my ship is larger and militarily superior to yours, it is my belief that whatever your ship can do a super dreadnought should be able to do better.� Lin shot a cockeyed glance toward Fowler, who had a seriously sour expression on her face as she was reminded of her ship�s �inferiority�.

Ross rolled his eyes, Fowler had seniority and probably saw receiving a smaller command as an insult by the Admiralty especially since she had been the prestigious Flag Captain, now she was just a squadron commander like the other two in the fleet and Yu who was several years her junior had been given priority for the newest flagship just because it bore her father�s name�..of course Ross knew that the ship�s name was not the only reason they gave her to Lin instead of another captain but at the moment neither Fowler nor Yu needed to know why the Admiralty gave Lin the super dreadnought over her seniors. As the two captains stared each other down Ross began to wish he had just put his flag aboard [/i]Warden[/i] instead.

�Captains Please we all know that the Shadowclaw and her crew have earned a magnificent record for themselves and that she has over 30 kills to her name, but we do have to face the facts, the Yu Hing Pe is a larger more heavily armed warship which does make her innately superior to the dreadnought, however we all know that the ship�s technical superiority does not reflect poorly on the crew of the Shadowclaw any more then it did when the dreadnought replaced [/i]Hawkwing[/i] as the flagship unless of course you see an older ship as inherently inferior?� Captain Bradford of the Hawkwing tented his fingers and grinned at the two captains wickedly. Though he had not come right out and said it he had almost dared the two Captains to continue their arguments over �technical superiority�-which they could not do without implying dishonor to the captain of the Heavy Cruiser by saying his ship had proven inferior to theirs (which in Naval tradition was a big no go for a ship with the Hawkwing�s battle honors)- his grin grew all the more wicked as the two Captains simply looked at one another and nodded.
�So do we have a decision Admiral?� Yu looked at Ross expectantly, she knew that he could just as easily send Warden to carry out the intercept if he decided too, and she also knew that he would not base that decision on their personal friendship.
Ross whispered to his squadron commanders before returning his gaze to Yu, �Captain We will proceed with the intercept, however I will have Shadowclaw standing by close to support us should something go wrong, understood?� It was not a question, and Ross stood up, shook the hands of the other officers in the room and left quickly. The room cleared rather quickly, except for Fowler and Yu who hung back.
�Miss Fowler do you really have that much doubt about my ship and myself?� Yu asked straightforwardly as she leaned against the holo tank�s shut down control panel.
�What ever gave you the idea I lack confidence in you and your ship Captain?� Fowler had taken on the same impersonal and icy tone she used during a battle and the implication was not lost on Yu.
�Ma�am with all due respect my super dreadnought is well, that is to say she was designed for heavier combat then your ship, still you seemed absolutely confident when your ship faced down eight enemy warships yet you openly criticize my ship�s ability to face down a mere two ships more, this tells me you either doubt my ship or myself.� Yu paused a moment, swallowed hard before she continued with what could easily be considered an open (slap in the face) �So which is it ma�am do you doubt me or my ship?�
Fowler looked honestly taken aback by such a blunt wording of such a dangerous question.
�Captain Pe.� she began in a tone that was surprisingly friendly considering her previous icy one, however Yu�s guard remained high as she fully expected a political �pat on the hand� to cool the tension �I neither doubt you or your ship, in fact you have proven your skill time and again aboard Lenin even after all the beatings she took. To be honest captain I just don�t like the thought of this ship and Admiral Ross going into battle alone and not being able to do anything but watch�.Ross is a friend of mine, and I know he and you are friends as well and that even if you weren�t you would do everything in your power to fulfill your duty and protect the fleet commander and carry out your mission, but I just don�t like having to sit on the sidelines and watch, do you understand?� Fowler leaned back in her chair and gazed into the eyes of the younger woman, watching the wheels churning in her mind.
�Yes Ma�am I understand what you are saying, however I do request that next time you not question the abilities of my ship in front of others until I have at least had a chance to prove her in battle.� Yu�s own icy tone had dissolved and her typical soft tone returned, Fowler nodded thoughtfully before rising.
�Very well Captain Pe I apologize for my earlier remarks and any insult you may have taken.� Fowler�s tone was neither bitter nor submissive but instead it was formal and polite.
�Thank you Captain Fowler, no hard feelings and I look forward to serving with you.� Yu smiled as she took Fowler�s hand and shook firmly.
Captain Fowler turned about to leave, but stopped and turned around as she heard Lin clearing her throat.
�Oh and Miss Fowler, it�s Captain Yu not Pe, I am of Chinese extract and in many parts of China it was tradition to put Clan name first followed by family and then surnames.�
�Really? I�ve never heard that before?� Fowler cocked her head with curiously.
�Yeah, not many people do as most of the Chinese extracted Populace of Icara still lives on Brandenburg, in New Beijing where they were found about 200 years ago since old traditions of not mixing the bloodlines dies hard.� Yu smiled at the other woman and was genuinely surprised by her interest, Fowler was like the bulk of the Icaran populace, over millenia of intermarriage had made it so that it was impossible to tell her direct decent just by looking at her, but unlike the bulk of the Icaran population she seemed interested in learning about the more ancient and �multicultural� portion of the Empire.
�Fascinating, I�d like to hear more about your decent some other time if you wouldn�t mind.� Fowler actually cracked the first genuine smile of the day.
�Of course Captain Fowler, I�d be honored, but first I�d like to apologize for implying your ship was inferior to mine.� Yu lowered her gaze to the floor (much the way her mother did whenever she was apologizing),
�Don�t worry about it Lin, we both acted like ****wits if you ask me so I suppose we sort of canceled each other out in the needing to apologize department.� Fowler smiled again as she turned around to leave.

Two days later the massive super dreadnought sped across the stars on her intercept course with the ten enemy warships, Ross and Yu spent hours on end watching the tactical displays as the light codes indicating enemy ships and the light code indicating Yu Hing Pe began to come closer and closer.
�Sir ETI (Estimated time to Intercept) is 15 minutes for us, Shadowclaw is still eight hours away at maximum speed.� Commander Styles said cheerfully as he idly drummed his fingers on his control station.
�Thank you Commander, continue countdown every five minutes please.� Lin�s demeanor was icy but Ross knew her well enough to know that she was tense, it was the first combat deployment of this class of ship and no one knew if it would really work in battle.
After a seemingly endless closing time and three more time counts the tactical readouts finally showed only a few seconds till intercept range.
�All gunnery crews have acquire target locks on the leading four enemy ships.� Chief Gunnery officer Chen�s voice sounded like music to Yu after such an agonizing wait.
�Bring us to broadside and fire as she bares mister Chen, let�s turn those four ships to ash.� Lin clenched her hands into nervous fists as her ship turned about to execute her maneuver, she was amazingly fast for a ship of her size which startled the bridge crew, most of which were veterans of the older Midwinter class heavy cruisers which were slow to maneuver and unwieldy at the helm, she rapidly came about as her broadside came to life with an amazing roar of energy and light.
Four Phong warships vanished in a number of expanding balls of plasma and wreckage, yet the other Phong continued to advance, seconds later another salvo from the Icaran super dreadnought reduced two more Phong warships to rubble and sent another spiraling into space, it�s control surfaces, weapons and engines totally destroyed.
�Weapons, switch to slicing mode, helm take us straight in at them, I don�t want to give them a chance o retreat.� Lin sounded venomous and dangerous as she gave the order to move in for the kill.
With equal speed and grace the Yu Hing swung herself around to charge into the remainder of the enemy force, her beams sliced out in wrath cutting one of the enemy cruisers clean in half neutralizing the reactor, which prevented the remnant�s explosion. A second cruiser�s entire forward hull vanished as the slicing beams of the Icaran�s secondary batteries sliced through her shields and armor like a knife, it�s reactor went critical seconds later causing it to vanish in a brilliant flash of light.
The third enemy ship actually managed to bring it�s weapons to bare and fired defiantly into it�s vastly superior foe, the shots were exploded on the heavy shielding doing absolutely no damage, the same could not be said of the Icaran�s return fire however, the Phong crew didn�t even feel what killed them as the heavy I-lasers sliced through their ship.

�Admiral Ross, I�m reading survivors aboard the crippled vessel and that other ship that we cut in half, should I open fire?� Every face on the bridge turned to Ross, thus far in the war Icara had taken no enemy Naval personnel alive, not through any act of mass murder or the like but very few people survived the destruction of even an Icaran starship and the Phong�s were far less advanced in the technology required to increase survival, the little bastards hadn�t even invented a proper vacsuit and were still using the bulky astronaught type suits that humans used back on earth during the nineteenth century, which could hardly be donned in an emergency.
�Send over marines, take the crews and destroy the ships.� Ross felt Yu glaring at him and he completely understood her hatred of the Phong but he was not about to turn the crew of an Icaran warship into butchers.

Mestra System:
The entire 1st fleet was forming up to make the warp jump out of Mestra, the entire system had finally been deemed conquered as the Last Planet fell a week ago, every world had a full State Security brigade on it, and the navy was ready to advance the war into the Ogoth Tir star system.
Admiral Babcock sat n his day cabin smiling as he watched his fleet forming up, it always amazed him how such beauty could wield such deadly power, earlier this very year he had been forced to destroy an entire Phong world with 350 million Phongs on it simply because his troopers were occupied elsewhere and his deep range scans showed the world fortifying it�s self it only took two dreadnoughts to do the job, two ships with a total of 10,000 people killed 350 million so easily. Babcock hated the Phong but he also hated this damn war and the fact that it had turned him and those under his command into mass murders, or heroes it all depended on who ended up writing the history books.

Well a new system a new beginning, Ogoth Tir would fall to the first fleet, and the system after that and the one after that too until there was not a single Phong stronghold left in the universe, but it would take time and cost lives, there was no option of peace now, no chance what so ever but to continue on until the end even though intelligence had sent him several communiqu�s informing him that the Manti Star Kingdom had begun to apply a great deal of pressure on the Icarans to stop their war with the Phong. Whether or not the Manti�s would attack was still an up in the air issue and the 4th fleet and Home Fleet had been put on high alert just in case the Manti warships traveling through Icaran space were to attempt an assault on Icaran assets.
Babcock downed a shot of whisky and continued to stare out of his window at the beautiful killing machines that made up his fleet, he looked down, remembering the paperwork he had been neglecting, shrugged to himself and returned to the monotony of life between the battles.

2420.0
The very next month the Yu Hing proved herself again and decimated an eight ship taskforce of light cruisers carrying supplies and satellites to the colonies in the Cortina system, with the confidence in this class spreading throughout the navy the old Reliance class cruisers began being retired out of service and scrapped as their resources were desperately needed to prop up the currently struggling Icaran economy.

Rasorow

December 7th, 2004, 12:26 PM

Nice.... question - what mods if any are you using in your game.. I know you are using shipsets but what about game mods... I didnt see a reference to those..

Rasorow

Starhawk

December 7th, 2004, 12:43 PM

Well Yeah I'm using my own creation for the Icaran shipset I'm proud to say http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

As to the mod I'm using it's a moderatly modded Devnull, I added two new weapons:
I-Laser (a 13th generation AP beam with extended range and more firepower -20% accuracy +a LOT more expensive) Oh and it's green http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Frag Cannon: (Fragmentation Cannon) Ultra short ranged ultra light moderately powerful 7th generation Meson bLaster weapon designed mainly for bases guarding warp points or anti-fighter weapons (more power then a fighter missile +10% accuracy but a range of 4).

Best part is the AI will research BOTH new weapons I know this because I ran a quick (play as the AIs) a while ago to see if they were researching properly and i saw a warship of another star nation with Frag Cannons http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Plus I added a new ship size but that's going to be a suprise http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Any more questions from anyone?

sachmo

December 7th, 2004, 01:51 PM

How many planet are under Icaran control now?

Starhawk

December 7th, 2004, 02:14 PM

Here is a total breakdown of the Icaran Empire at this point and time:

Systems: 33
Planets: 170
Population: 54.3 Billion
Units: 2768
Ships: 117 (roughly 90 are combat ships and only about 30 are dread and super dread designs)

Economic Income:
Minerals= +10,305
Rads= +180143 (I wish I had resource converters)
Organic= +82111

Ranking: 2nd

Other Star nations contacted:

Neo-Star Empire (offically partnered unoficially they are in a state of cold war)

Maggellan Corporation (Military Alliance of convenience, the Icarans and MCs don't like one another)

Manti Star Kingdom (military alliance of necessity, Icara is not strong enough to defeat the Manti at this time)

Sol Coalition (Partnership treaty, the Solars are begining to be considered a trusted ally of Icara)

Citizen Federation (Trade and research alliance, mainly because the ICarans havn't seen a single CF ship in nearly 12 years)

Phong Federation (A state of open war exists between the Phong Federation and the Icaran Empire, a war Icara is thus far winning easily)

Political Status (Aka average planetary happiness):
All "True Icaran" worlds including those of the former Rebel Alliance are for the most part happy and absolutely trust the Praetor and House of Lords thus far.

The Recent "acquisitions" all have SS brigades stationed on them and have thus far been easily pacified on the few occasions they've attempted rioting.

sachmo

December 7th, 2004, 05:51 PM

You have a partnership wtih the Sol Coalition?

That seems...odd.

Starhawk

December 7th, 2004, 06:08 PM

Well their attitude towards me is murderous and mine is the same towards them, the treaty was first signed when the Phong attacked me, and I was actually outclassed by both them and the Solars....as I said it was out of my survival though the partnership treaty was actually the first thing they proposed and I took it http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Besides that my economy is in shambles at the moment and I need their resources and above all else the Icarans are survivors and if it takes allying with a hated enemy for the time being then ally they will.

[edit]: Oh and remember these are Icarans we are talking about when I say "trusted" ally I simply mean one that is not making any immedietly threatening moves against me.

Starhawk

December 8th, 2004, 02:58 PM

Well time for a new chapter, this one is less a "character" one though and more of a "big picture so far" story just to let you know in advance.

2420.3
�Welcome back, We promised to bring you up to date on the war against the Xeno Phong when we came back from our break and we always keep our promises, Hello Roy are you there?� the pretty news woman turned to face something off screen and as a voice came over her ear piece.

�Yes Madalin I�m here from the bridge of the flagship Conquest, with the 1st fleet where the invasion of Ogatha Tir has taken off like a missile. Admiral Babcock has politely denied our requests for an interview because he is very busy leading the fleet against the Phong Federal forces.� Roy Scheller was the premier field reporter of the Icaran News Network, wherever he was the hottest stories were and the people loved him, mainly because he was one of only a few field reporters that was willing to place himself in the midst of the action, though the Navy always denied him permission to drop with the ground forces during an invasion.

�Roy can you tell us how it�s going so far?� Madalin Brice was the other kind of reporter, she never left the safety of the Icaran capital and though she was a well liked anchorwoman she was not as famous or well liked as some of her colleagues like the famous Liza Torrence of the nightly news.

�Well Madalin, in the past month alone the brave men and women of our armed forces have valiantly conquered Orgotha Tir, Eight, Six and Nine, without the loss of a single brave Icaran�.The navy still won�t let me go down to the surface of any of the OT planets because they are afraid that the locals might see a reporter and attack him�.� he laughed cheerfully �Even after I said I�d take a marine escort their afraid I�ll stick my �nose for news� out to far and get it shot off.� some of the military personnel in the background could be heard laughing at the reporter�s quoting Admiral Babcock.

�Well it sounds like you�ve gotten yourself quite a fan club over there Roy.� Madalin smiled into the camera.
Roy chuckled again �Yeah I�ve made a few friends is all, these people are great to be around, and given another two months and Admiral Babcock says this entire star system will have fallen to our forces, another step on our road to victory over the enemies of Icara.�

�Well Roy I�m afraid our time is up.� Madalin looked into the camera again �Ladies and gentlemen thank you for watching, we�ll see you tomorrow here on INN a subsidiary of the State Security Broadcast system.�

2420.5
Babcock�s estimate was correct, Ogatha Tir fell within two months and the first fleet was already mobilizing to move on to the next target of conquest on the Icaran hit list, Babcock had not lost a single soldier or spacer during the invasion, more then the capture of the entire system the Icarans managed to destroy a small fleet of Phong warships and an entire corps of Phong ground troops.

On the other end of the Phong front the 3rd fleet had finally been given the resources to go on the offensiv, the 1st Germania regiment had swept through the first three Phong bases in Cortina like a flood, sweeping aside all resistance and bringing the population of Cortina 1, 2, and 2a (Cortina 2�s moon) under the heel of Icaran Jackboots.
Admiral Ross had just received word of his promotion from Rear Admiral to full Admiral and Captain Yu Lin had just received the Fleet Service Medallion for her starship as it had managed to gain it�s 30th kill in only a few months of service.

Thus far the war was going well on the Phong front, yet on the NeoStar border the Icaran fleet was in a tense mood, the Neo Star empire was quickly growing more hostile and after three Icaran Merchantmen went missing on their borders the Royal Navy 4th fleet was ordered to ready it�s self for deployment in order to investigate the disappearances. Needless to say the Neo-Star Empire was less then pleased when they heard of this and began mobilizing one of their own sector fleets along the border, along with the usual diplomatic threats and accusations.

Starhawk

December 8th, 2004, 10:27 PM

2420.6
Tyson Babcock dropped wearily into the big comfortable chair he had brought aboard Conquest when she became his flagship, with tired hands he unbuckled his tunic and unhooked the button that held his collar. Sighing deeply, he started to think about the past few year.. His fleet had conquered 2 systems, no wait 3, yet they still had so long a way to go ahead of them before he could finally return to Icara and see his home by the western ocean: he thought to himself as the burden of the day finally started to lift from his shoulders, yeah they had a long way to go but his troops could handle it, no matter what he would return to Icara one day, he didn�t care whether it was as a war hero or just another soldier who did his duty, he just wanted to go home again after all even now his ship was in orbit of the most recent conquest MunjumbIX. The tired Admiral started to slip off to sleep when the com unit chimed, he ignored I at first but the chime became an irritating whistle. �Accept the call, audio only!� he groaned irritably and cussed to himself.

�Admiral Babcock Colonel Drago on the com for you from the surface.� The com officer paged Babcock in his quarters, much to his irritation, that com officer had a bloody bad habit of paging him at bad times in awkward places, Last week the young man paged him with a needless message while he was in his quarters with Countess Dorothy Rallins. The tired Admiral buckled his tunic again and dragged himself out of his chair and walked over to the com unit.
�Alright put him through Ensign.�
The old grizzled Colonel�s face appeared on screen, Tyson shrank back a moment when he saw the expression on the colonel�s face.
�My Lord Drago what�s wrong?�
�Admiral, there�s been an incident down here, there are a lot of our people dead here sir and a lot of Phong as well.� his voice was calm but Tyson could tell that the man was worried more then he had ever been before.
�What kind of incident?� Babcock demanded
�An explosion sir, an entire Phong Factory was blown to hell�.and sir.. It was, it was with a compressed nuke sir.�
Tyson went white, with shock, a compressed nuke was only used by Icaran Royal soldiers, the Phong didn�t possess it.
�Sir, it wasn�t an Icaran nuke, the bLast pattern was totally different, but we know the Phong don�t have that kind of tech as you know, which only leaves one other option, someone else triggered the nuke, I need tech teams brought down though sir, I�ll keep a squad of my troops on site to prevent anyone from getting involved in this until they arrive.� Drago frowned deeply as someone of screen handed him a flexi.
�Admiral, I�ve got a confirmed list of casualties, 82 Icaran engineers and marines dead, 1,025 Phong dead on scene and 32 killed elsewhere by shrapnel, Admiral when can I expect those teams?�
�In one hour Colonel.� Tyson paused a moment to collect himself �I want you to get to the bottom of this, if there is someone out there that thinks they can get away with deploying a nuke on an Icaran facility they�re wrong, and I intend to show them that.� He cut the com circuit and left his quarters to get to the bridge, he had a good idea who might be behind the attack but until he could prove it he wasn�t about to say anything to anybody.

Starhawk

December 9th, 2004, 02:10 AM

Okay an update on how things are going for me:

Planets: 178
Population: 56.3 billion
Units: 2757
Ships: 121
Bases: 0
Rank: 2nd

Resources:
Minerals: 19568
Organics: 86533 (dang phong practically every world is organics or rads)
Rads: 187053 (there's the rads http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif)

Relations with Other Nations:
Phong (losing the war badly but still won't surrender)

Neo-Star Empire (it's looking like war is coming soon as they are starting to get more and more agressive with demanding I leave their space, even though the space they are claiming is mine http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif)

Magellan Corp: Still ice cold relations but they are a year and a half's journey away even with my fastest ships so they're not to dangerous so I enjoy taking resources from trade with them

Manti Star Kingdom: Relations are good so far, they're staying out of my space I'm staying out of their's and we are both getting pretty good resources from trade with one another.

Sol Coalition: They are only my ally because I need their resources and because they are a year's journey away with my fastest ship and nearly two with theirs.

Citizen Federation: They're getting their asses kicked by someone though I don't know who so I don't really care about them and hope they die soon.

Anyway I hope you guys are enjoying my newest chapters http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Starhawk

December 9th, 2004, 02:14 PM

2420.7 Plans within Plans
The massive Admiralty building looked ominous and dreary on the snowy and wet winter day on Icara, and even more ominous because the lawn of the massive fortress like building buzzed with dozens of Flag officers attach�s and nobles, all of whom were slowly making their way inside. A 500 man Marine security force surrounded the perimeter and dozens of anti-sniper teams were stationed on the local rooftops.

It took hours for the crowd outside to finally make their way inside the admiralty building, and then another hour for them to make it inside the sprawling holochamber in the center of the Admiralty building, once they had all been seated the lights dimmed and a massive holographic sphere glowed to life, the sphere was a 3d representation of the Icaran Empire and the various border systems belonging to other Empires.
The sphere rippled and a close up of the two Phong �frontline systems� speared.
�Ladies and gentlemen the Cortina and Munjumb star systems, our current front lines against the Phong Federation.� The booming voice of Grand Admiral Hallice echoed across the vast chamber.
�Currently the Phong are losing this war, and badly. The military command has begun discussing the possibilities of expanding our military operations against another race, but thus far that plan has been disregarded, until now.� The Admiral tabbed a key, Munjumb IX filled the screen, on the southern part of it�s only continent a massive red circle expanded outward, the entire chamber went dead silent as every eye in the room focused on the holosphere.

�This is the reason we are all here, the image you see here is the representation of a compressed nuclear bomb which was detonated in a factory block on this world, over a thousand Phong workers and over eighty of our own engineers and marines were killed in the bLast.� Hallice paused and the map zoomed out again focusing on Cortina and Munjumb.
�We believe that the Neo Star Empire is behind the bombing, as well as the now ten missing merchantmen along our borders. The 4th fleet is in the perfect position to strike against the Neo-Stars but before the military acts we need you all to know the potential risks, that is why Commodore Lady Liza Adair is here, she is a former Rebel Alliance officer, fortunately she decided to join the Icaran Navy after the Alliance was absorbed and has proven herself adept at information gathering on many occasions.� Hallice bowed and stepped aside, allowing the younger woman to step up to the podium.

�Ladies and Gentlemen.� she said formally, greeting the officers and nobles in the room �As Hallice has stated a strike against the Neo Star Empire is a very risky proposal, the Neo Stars have various warships stationed throughout our space, if we can not destroy these ships when we strike against the Neo Star Empire then we face the risk that they will attack outlying worlds, millions could die.� the room was silent, deathly so as the information sank in.
�More risk lies in the fact that we believe the have intelligence officers in our territories, my people are tracking them down now, but there is the risk that we may miss a few and they could possibly do a great deal of damage before we neutralize them.� Gasps went up in the room as people began to realize the possible threat that the Neo Stars represented.
�Then what possible good would it do us to strike them first?� Someone shouted, every head turned to Adair but she did not flinch.
�There are many benefits to this, one being that we will gain more worlds with HUMAN populations, two: we will satisfy the Manti Kingdom who have been applying political pressure on us for our current campaign against the Phong and three: it will give us a stronger foothold in the galactic West which we do need at the moment.� She tabbed a control and the holosphere changed focus to the 6-11 star system and the base of the 4th fleet.
�The opening battle would begin here, the 4th fleet would have to strike at the primary military base that the Neo-Stars have in that region.� �Ladies and gentlemen I�m afraid the primary battle plans are classified all we need is your agreement, then we will bring this to the Praetor so he can either authorize it or shut us down, I will now take question before we decide however.�

The argument raged for hours, several Admirals demanded more information before they attacked, others wanted to strike within the next month still others were unsure of what should be done. But finally the argument boiled down the �Do we strike or wait to be attacked?� and no one was willing to wait for the Neos to strike first, the vote was passed and it was agreed that the Neo Star would be struck first.

When the proposal was brought before Praetor Leonidas a day later he whole heartedly agreed to the launching of a new war effort against the Neo-Star Empire and dispatched Messages for the 4th fleet to mobilize for battle.

Meanwhile the war against the Phong proceeded quickly as two more worlds in the Cortina system fell to the 3rd fleet, Ross and his people were racking up the kills in space as well as another seven Phong warships were destroyed during the advance.

Starhawk

December 9th, 2004, 11:46 PM

2420.8 The Cortina 9 Incident

The 3rd fleet was preparing to take yet another world for the Imperium, Ross and Yu watched intently as the battle line approached the enemy world, Cortina 9 had several weapon platforms on it, fortunately for the ships of the 3rd fleet their I-Laser cannons easily outranged the old style depleted uranium cannons, the task of eliminating the platforms fell to the HMS Behemoth, since it was her first combat action Ross wanted her crew to get some weapons practice in before they met a real enemy some day.

�Admiral the Behemoth reports her gunnery crews are locked on target and�.�
�Hold on.� The Chief tactical officer cut off the com officer and suddenly leaned in closer to her screen.
�Admiral something�s wrong I�m getting a shadowing effect down there, I�ve lost sight of the enemy colony�s dome, as well as everything else within the target area.� that news made everyone nervous, nothing should cause an entire section of a planet to suddenly shadow out on sensors.

�Sir, it�s not just us I�m getting this message from the entire fleet, um sir Captain Smith reports Behemoth�s gunnery crews had lock, she�s firing.� the communications officer turned to face the Admiral and Yu, a look of disbelief on his face, the com channel had just filled with static, no one could order the Behemoth to stand down, and within seconds it was too late anyway as the massive warship fired her cannons towards the planet�s surface.
The screen showed a massive cloud rising from the surface, where the warship�s beams had just impacted: a cloud that could only be caused by two atmospheres mixing which could only mean one thing.
Suddenly the com frequencies cleared, and the shadowing disappeared revealing the true horror of what had just happened. The view screen showed a massive crater where there had once been a colony dome with millions of Phong.
�Son of a *****! What just happened?� Yu shouted angrily, she looked away from the view screen and turned pale faced towards Admiral Ross �I�m sorry sir.� was all she managed to croak out.

�Don�t worry about it Lin, I understand perfectly.� Ross said sourly as he unhooked his shock frame.
�Captain Smith is hailing sir.� The communications officer said numbly.

�Put him on now.� Ross said bitterly, the view screen switched from an image of the devastated colony to that of a stunned Navy captain.

�My God sir I wasn�t targeting the dome I swear on my honor, I don�t know how it happened my crew wouldn�t make that mistake.� Smith was obviously trying to cover his own *** but Ross at least gave him the credit for defending his crew as well.

�I know it wasn�t on purpose Smith, it would only take one hit from an I-laser on an unprotected dome to make it blow apart and the Behemoth had only fired three of her cannons before Smith ordered his gunners to cease fire and it was just an unlucky shot that happened to breach the dome after a the other two had brought down the shields of the two underpowered weapon platforms that killed millions of Phong.

�I want you to pull Behemoth off the firing line, I�m going to send down investigation teams as soon as possible but I don�t want you here, understood?�
�Aye Admiral, understood.�
�Good, Ross out.� Ross turned to Yu, she had stepped out of site while he talked to Captain Smith so that she wouldn�t let her own feelings on the matter spill into the conversation.

�Lin, I want you to ready a unit of marines and techs and send them planet side as soon as they can get down there, find out what was causing that shadowing effect, and see if it really was that shot from Behemoth that destroyed the colony.� He kept his voice low enough so that only Lin could hear.
She quirked her head and opened her mouth to speak until she noticed the expression on Ross' face grew sharper, her mouth closed audibly and she turned around to carry out her orders.
But why would her oldest friend and now senior officer not tell her what he thought was going on?

It took the investigation teams 12 hours to comb over every inch of the wrecked site of a once thriving enemy world, and what they found was truly disturbing, a massive machine the size of a fighter craft with a single human female hooked up to it by thousands of wires and sensors, when the teams tried to remove her the machine killed her, quickly severing her spinal cord.
The investigation on the machine it�s self proved equally as disturbing as it�s discovery, it was of completely unknown technology though the techs did believe that it was somehow using the woman as some sort of power source or focusing lens, Ross immediately had the thing labeled �Ukjent� shipped off towards the Sparta Institute of military science.

On the other front of the Icaran expansion three more Munumb worlds fell o the 1st fleet, and even more mysterious artifacts were discovered and shipped off to Sparta for immediate quarantine and investigation, as to who they might belong to and what they did, the odd thing was they all showed signs that they were Psi Tech but the on scene techs couldn�t prove it no matter what investigations they ran.

Starhawk

December 11th, 2004, 10:18 AM

Getting bored you guys? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

(New chapter coming tonight)

Renegade 13

December 11th, 2004, 06:50 PM

Nah, not bored....just waiting anxiously for the next installment http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Starhawk

December 12th, 2004, 05:19 PM

2421.0 Battle or Murder?
HMS Repulse a Lord Nelson class dreadnought had been sent ahead of the first fleet to scout out the newest Target system belonging to the Phong and was three days out from the main fleet which put them 5 hours from the warp point to the next so far unnamed star.
Captain Donald Riker had just finished his cup of coffee when the tactical alarms howled and the ship�s AI began calling battle stations over the ships speakers.
�What�s going on?� Riker asked calmly, trying to keep his new crew from overreacting in the face of what might be enemy assault.
�8 Starships sir, well kind of.� The tactical officer was young and nervous, so Riker chose not to raise his voice, even though he wanted to shout the young officer down.
�What do you mean �kind of� mister?� Riker tabbed the controls that brought a small tactical overlay onto his personal command panel.
8 tiny blips, 6 of them so small they didn�t even rate the term �ship� in the Royal Navy, barely 150,000 tons each, the other two were only frigate sized vessels, which only slightly larger then a dreadnought�s gun turrets.
�Sir I�ve got an energy spike.� The tactical officer jerked around with a panicked look but Riker simply gestured for him to relax.
�Confirmed sir, I�ve got two birds incoming, both mark 2 fusion catalyst warheads, they won�t even dent our shields.� Commander Broady withheld a chuckle as she watched the two tiny sparks of light against the massive dreadnought�s shields, which signaled the impacts of the two enemy �missiles�.
�Hail them, com, they don�t stand a chance and they must know that I mean my lord they�re still using Fusion catalyst missiles!� Riker�s voice was still calm but a subtle humor was hidden beneath it, whoever these aliens were they were children compared to Icaran war fighting technology.

�Sir no reply, it�s possible that they are not able to operate on our frequencies?� the com officer sounded more concerned about that fact that she wasn�t able to do her job then about the fact that two more missiles and a salvo of enemy cannon fire had just impacted the shields.
�Captain even with shields, those missiles and cannons will add up and then we will start taking fire.� Broady said grimly as the foolish enemy continued to close on them.

Riker frowned deeply as he considered his choices, he could easily out run these aliens but to what end? They were obviously aggressive though primitive, and even fusion catalyst missiles could destroy worlds, as had been proven far earlier in Icaran history.
�Guns, lock on to those frigates and one enemy escort and fire at will.� Riker folded his hands together, he hated killing anything but especially some fools that didn�t know when they were outclassed by generations of weapons technology.
In the blink of an eye three of Repulse� massive beam cannons lashed out into the enemy squadron, for each beam that struck an enemy ship vanished in a ball of expanding fire and plasma, most of their solid wreckage being vaporized by the sheer power of the I-Lasers.

�Hail them coms, maybe now they�ll give up.� Riker hoped that seeing three of their ships vanish, each to just a single shot would make the enemy give up, yet he feared they would not, a fear quickly proven correct as the enemy formation continued to advance.
�No reply Captain.�
�What could they be hoping to do, they are outgunned and out manned yet still they try to com after us, even though they don�t even know who we are.� Riker thought to himself as the enemy continued their suicidal charge into his gunners range once more.
Every face on the bridge watched their captain intently, waiting for him to give the order to wipe these unknown xeno�s from the face of the universe, either that or to run away and defy Icaran naval tradition.
�Guns, open fire all batteries all targets.� Riker finally grunted.
�Aye sir, all batteries all targets.� the echo repeated across the bridge as the weapons crews plotted their targets.
Seconds later 5 of the massive dreadnought�s guns fired and 5 enemy ships with unknown numbers of xeno
crewmen ceased to exist, only dust clouds remained of their frail hulls and the lives within, while the Repulse hadn�t even suffered shield failure or a single injury during the �battle� with the Xeno race.

�Continue survey of this system for the first fleet helm, Com� launch a messenger drone to Admiral Babcock informing him of our engagement please.� Riker unhooked his shock harness and turned to leave the bridge, smoothing his copper colored hair after removing the vac suit helmet.
�Commander Broady you have the bridge.�
�Aye sir I have the bridge.� she echoed, but he didn�t hear it as he left the bridge and walked down the corridor of his massive ship, wondering what insane motivation had driven a race still using system patrol cutters to attack a vessel that was over a kilometer long.

Renegade 13

December 12th, 2004, 05:56 PM

A new empire??

Starhawk

December 12th, 2004, 06:02 PM

Seems to be, though they are such primitive Apes I won't have much of a problem kicking them to dust if ever I find their home territories http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Starhawk

December 15th, 2004, 02:28 AM

The Making of a Marine:
As Told by; Private Recruit Mahony, Robert Patrick
�I signed up to join the Marine Corps because ever since I was a kid I�ve wanted to see the stars, other worlds and serve my Praetor, the second I turned 16 I was down at the recruiters office for the Royal Navy, ah unfortunately when I took the entrance exam to the academy the recruiter told me that there wasn�t a position open for me, in other words I didn�t have the grades for it.�
�I joined the Corps so that I could get into the fleet and see the galaxy, sure there was a war on but we were kicking their asses so bad it wasn�t even much of a risk anymore, and well joining the army was just not a good Idea as I didn�t want to spend my time on a troop ship, those things were ugly flying barracks, while a warship was graceful and powerful. Anyway when I got to the Marine Recruiter the woman at the gate definitely mad me want to join the Corps, she was about 23 by the looks of her, obviously a Brandenburg native by her hairstyle and a real beauty, the Corps should have put her on their posters if you ask me. She told me where to report and the next thing I knew I was on a shuttle to the Icara Marine Recruit Depot on Honshu Island-in other words the place where they shave your head tattoo your arm and send you to join the other bald, tattooed men and women you�ll spend the next 3 months with- I guess they figured �Marine Recruit Depot� sounded better.
There I was a raw recruit with one hundred and forty-nine others wondering what the hell I had gotten myself into, and right off the shuttle this �black hat� or Drill Instructor comes over and starts screaming at us, I didn�t even understand him until he started slapping folks on the back and forcing us into a line, another DI walked over and started taking our bags out of our hands and throwing them into a big pile at the back end of the shuttle- I was honestly afraid they were going to shoot someone- we were sent at a forced run to our new barracks: where the aforementioned head shaving and arm tattooing takes place, well my tattoo read �ME5923-521/5�, I�ve been told ME stands for �Marine Expendable� by the DI�s and I don�t know if that�s true or not but it sounds about right.
We were shaved after the tattoo and then all of us-men and women- were thrown into this big shower room and told to strip for disinfecting, I hadn�t seen a naked girl in person till then and I just stood there stunned for a minute until a DI came by and whacked me with his baton right across the back of my neck, well needless to say the shock of naked girls wore off quick as the stinging sensation spread in the back of my head.
The DI�s left the room quickly and suddenly we were being sprayed with this hot liquid that was obviously not water, some chemical used to totally disinfect the body, it had a greenish mist come off o the spray instead of that nice white mist that comes from water, that and it smelt like a mix between piss and lemons.
After our �shower� we were shuffled outside-still naked mind you- and formed up into a column, there was a girl to either side of me and both looked about my age, I tried to face front but man two girls naked and right next to me! Well the DI saw a few of the recruits-glad to say not just me, and not just guys- looking around at each other so he said and I quote �Oh so your busy admiring each other�s assess eh? Fine look at the person to your left and grab their ***!�.
Needless to say no one did at first-actually someone behind me did but he was slapped by the woman that he grabbed.
�I SAID GRAB THEIR *** YOU SORRY SACKS OF DOG [censored]!� the DI�s voice echoed across the little training yard we were all in, followed quickly by the sounds of flesh smacking against flesh as the recruits followed the order, I turned so red when I grabbed the girl next to me I could feel the blood rushing out of m face, I just kept focusing on other things so it wouldn�t rush *ahem* elsewhere shall we say?.
�NOW that you�ve got a feel for each other, let me say this, that sorry lump of flesh your holding in your hand belongs is YOURS!, her *** is yours your *** is hers an SO ON, as long as you are a unit! Do you pieces of dog meat understand me!?�
I had the feeling that the only good answer was yes so naturally I said it but even that wasn�t good enough that drill instructor finally let us remove our hands from our neighbors posterior but then came another dressing down, though at least we found out his name, he was Command Gunnery Sergeant Tyrel Jackson and he�d been in the Corps longer then most of us had even been alive.
After the second dressing down we finally got shuffled off-more accurate to say we got run off- to the Camp�s equipment distribution center where we got our uniforms and unloaded weapons, then we got to go eat some dinner, if you can call that pile of goo they plopped down on my tray food. Finally it was off to the Barracks where we got lights out and some peace and quiet.

The peace and quiet ended at 4:00am base time as the traditional bugle called reveille over the camp�s loud speakers, half a second later DI Jackson came storming into the barracks screaming fire and hell at us, whacking those guys that were a bit late out of bed with his �staff of office� we were rushed off to the showers for a one minute wash- real water this time, though it was cold as ice- and then to mess hall where we got fifteen minutes to eat more goo.
After that we went for a nice run where I got to here my first running cadence (audio file included) http://www.grunt.com/downloads/Combat_Zone.mp3 to tell the truth I didn�t much like the sound of �Dying on a Combat Zone� but what can you do about it?
Then it was off to the rifle range where we got to hear Sergeant Jackson describe the marine darter rifle:
�Alright you sorry excuses for biomass this is a Marine Mk92 darter assault rifle, now those army boys might like their energy weapons but we marines know better don�t we?�
�Hooyah Sergeant�
�Mmmhm Damn right we do, you see what those army boys don�t realize is that their pretty little energy weapons do a nice amount of damage on the ground, but aboard a starship they�d punch a hole clean through the hull, and then where would we be, I tell you where we�d be floating in space. And I don�t know about you piles of puke but I don�t want to be floating around in space during a battle. Hooyah?�
�Hooyah Sergeant!�
�This weapon was designed for use aboard ship, and during ship to ship actions, it has an effective killing range of 200 meters though I expect you all to be able to kill at 205 meters at least, a magazine of 45 7.75 millimeter explosive darts, and a retractable polycarbine stock. Any Questions?�
I knew better then to raise my hand but some poor sap always has to open their big mouth, and this time it was Recruit Daniels.
�Yes sir, if they are explosive darts how come they don�t pierce a starship hull?� he didn�t see the grin on Jackson�s face but the rest of us did, and it made us all cringe.

�Well Daniels that is a good question, anyone want to answer it?� no one spoke �You really are a bunch of maggots now aren�t you! Alright then Daniels I�ll tell you why an explosive dart won�t pierce a starship hull, and then I�ll ask you later today, if you don�t know the answer I�ll have you running laps around the armory for days you get me?�
�Hooyah Sergeant!�
Sergeant Jackson went into a long speech about the materials that make up a ship�s hull and the explosive properties of a dart round and how they react to one another, not to mention a brief speech about speed and reaction mass that I didn�t understand at all.
After that Drill Sergeant Keeting took us for a six mile march where I got to hear a Marine Corps Marching cadence, that went something like this:
�When my Granny was 91, she did PT just for fun�
(squad repeated )
�Oh when my granny turned 92, she did PT better then you�
(Squad repeat)
�When my granny turned 93 she did PT better then me!�
(Squad repeat)
�When my Granny turned 94 she did PT even more!�
(Squad repeat)
�When my granny turned 95 she did PT just to stay alive!�
(Squad repeat)
�When my granny turned 97 she up and died and went to heaven�
(Squad repeat)
�She met Saint Peter at the Pearly Gates�
(Squad Repeat)
�Said Saint Peter hope I�m not late�
(repeat)
�Saint Peter said with a big ol� grin!�
(repeat)
�Get down granny and knock out ten!�

I remember later that day poor Daniels couldn�t answer Sergeant Jackson�s question, poor guy did 52 laps around the armory while the rest of us had to stand there and watch in parade formation, it took him twelve hours!
After that we got rushed to mess hall, ate and finally allowed to report to barracks for lights out, all accept Daniels who had to make a little trip to the base Doctor for exhaustion or something.
On the Second day our class was given it�s name �852� and presented the class patch, we were then taken on a �celebratory run� by Sgt. Jackson, before the rest of the day began.

Three months of hell and FINALLY I�m an Icaran Royal Marine, poor Daniels didn�t make it though, he washed out along with twelve others and sadly Lauren Bard and Leonard Crown were killed during training, Lauren by a grenade some idiot dropped during combat training (we recruits never found out who, though we suspected it was one of the �wash outs� that the MP�s dragged off) and Crown by a landslide during mountain training, the same landslide where Daniels broke his leg, he couldn�t take watching a buddy get killed and washed himself out.
To be honest I�m glad I didn�t see either event as I may have joined some of the folks that saw it on the wash out line, though at least they left with honor and dignity intact, unlike those wimps that just couldn�t take the training or those morons that screwed up seriously enough to be dragged off by the MP�s for disciplinary action (two were shot).

I got my assignment though, it was to the HMS Yu Hing Pe all the way out on the Phong Frontier, me and a few others were being sent out to replace marines that were headed back home, I am looking forward to my service with pride and excitement and can�t wait for the transport to arrive tomorrow at 05:30 hours, which reminds me I better get some sleep, Private Mahony signing off.�

Renegade 13

December 15th, 2004, 11:21 PM

Starhawk said:
...Command Gunnery Sergeant Tyrel Jackson...

A VERY good choice of a name http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/laugh.gif (My first name is Tyrel http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/tongue.gif )

kerensky

December 16th, 2004, 05:59 PM

Hey would antone be interested in a ms word format of the story with all grammer/speeling errors fixed (no offense star)???

If so, I could attach the file.

kerensky

December 18th, 2004, 06:58 PM

Hello.....?????

Is anything happening here????

Rasorow

December 20th, 2004, 10:15 AM

We are patiently waiting on the next chapter.. but it is Christmas so we may have to wait until after the holiday...

I wouldn't mind a copy of the file.

Rasorow

kerensky

December 20th, 2004, 06:43 PM

Okay, I'll post up a file as soon as I get my computer back up. My registration period for XP has run out and I'm currently in the process of getting a code for it. Hopefully I'll be back up after Christmas. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/biggrin.gif

Starhawk

December 20th, 2004, 08:42 PM

Sorry all I've been busy writing a Prelude to a fantasy book I'm writing http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Well here's the next chapter,I hope you like it.

2421.3 One War Begins As another begins to close
�The 1st and 3rd fleets have continued to conquer even further into Phong space, yet they still will not surrender, Gentlemen to make matters worse the Praetor has bowed to the Manti Star Empire and the Neo Star Empire and declared all out war on the Maggellan Corporation, and we still don�t know the full capabilities of the Corporation.� Grand Admiral Hallice frowned deeply as he looked at the holomap, the planet hopping campaign was going well for the Empire, entire systems were falling in a matter of months but even at such a rate it would take up to three years to end the war and that was simply unacceptable considering the fact that this war had raged on and off for nearly 18 years now.

�I�m afraid we have to end this war in one fell swoop gentleman and ladies, we need to find the Phong home world and take it out of the equation, either by invasion or orbital bombardment, but it needs to be removed.� Hallice paused as the Admirals around the table murmured.
The Empires best intelligence operatives couldn�t find the enemy homeworld no matter how hard they tried, yet they expected the navy to find and neutralize it in a matter of months, assuming the Phong home world still existed, after all naval intel had shown that the yellow freaks were also at war with a race called the Crystallin Republic, whether these were humans or xenos was still unknown however.

�Well there you have it, we are to conquer the entire Phong empire in under three years as ordered by the Praetor himself, however ladies and gentlemen I will not let this get sloppy, if we fail our mission I will be forced to resign, but damned if I will allow even one life to be lost because I am in a hurry to save my own political ***, understood?� Hallice said bitterly, the other Admirals knew that �Getting sloppy� meant wasting lives on suicidal attacks simply to prove �progress was being made� and they all knew how the Grand Admiral punished such actions but to take over an entire race in under three years seemed impossible.

The entire Admiralty general staff left the room feeling rather grim and doomed by their orders, but Icaran naval officers never failed the Empire before, not even during the Final March all those long centuries ago when they were driven from their Earth and the entire Icaran military was destroyed, if there was a way to conquer the enemy in 3 years they would.

2421.3 Five Swords of Heaven

The five worlds chosen for project �Five Swords� were buzzing with activity, their entire population centers were cut off from the outside Empire, even the capital world Icara was cut off, all communications stopped, the home fleet had even been deployed in a blockade orbit of Icara, ensuring that no ships either entered or left.
All that was known of the Project was that it was a new �ultimate weapon� and that the entire project would take two years to complete.

Meanwhile the war weary troops of the 3rd fleet invaded three more enemy worlds, conquering them all in under a month�s time, Ross ordered the fleet to hold position over their most recent conquest, to allow his troops a rest as well as secure the supply transports captured from the Phong merchant guild.

Ross sat quietly on the bridge of his flagship and watched the video recording that had just arrived from the Admiralty, it was the usual monthly report but this one was special, it had video clips taken from the 1st fleet, showing entire worlds decimated by Imperial guns, Admiral Babcock had destroyed 4 enemy worlds killing a total of 600 million Phong, Ross knew how Babcock must be feeling, even though the Phong were simply xenos the Empire had killed billions of them and would likely kill billions more before the war was out yet the Admiralty put a positive spin on the whole thing, telling the public of the Navy�s heroic victories over dangerous Xeno scum and the Church spun it as a holy crusade purifying the universe of the enemies of God, but here, on the front lines it was butchery pure and simple, it was to preserve the human race and ensure Icara�s survival but it was butchery none the less.

�William, penny for your thoughts?� Ross heard a gentle voice behind him and turned away from the pad playing the video clip, seeing Lin he felt his mood improve almost instantly.
�What�s a Penny?� Ross, tried to sound cheerful but his old friend knew better and patted him on the arm, her smile warmed his mood but even she was getting weary of this ongoing war.
�It�s an old form of currency, haven�t you ever studied Pre-Antimatter economies?� she just smiled quietly after that and sat next to him, both of them just needed to see a friend even if they had nothing to say, they had seen so much death and knew that there was so much more coming.
After several minutes of silence Ross turned to Yu Lin �I hear the Blackbird scored 4 kills earlier this month.�
�How about that, she�s going to be getting some serious battle honor if she keeps this up.� Yu said cheerfully, after that they began some casual conversation, all the while avoiding the most recent reports that an entire SS brigade was destroyed when the Phong blew up one of their own worlds. The 35th SS brigade had recruited Ross youngest niece Meleena when she was 17, she had gone with them to that world and was among the 400 other dead Icarans of that brigade.
Ross felt angry at himself for feeling so hurt by her loss, he had only met the young lady twice and she was only one out of millions of Icarans who had died in this war, but for some reason he couldn�t shake the feeling of loss and sorrow.
Lin knew more then most how the sting of such a loss felt so she just stayed quiet, and waited for her �stoic leader� to bring it up on his own time and in private, she knew the two of them were getting closer as time went by and she found herself becoming more and more comfortable with that thought as well, even though it made her a little nervous. Ross too was enjoying their knew closeness, in his mind it was the only good thing coming out of the whole damned war.

kerensky

December 26th, 2004, 10:55 PM

Okay, so now I have my computer back (got a copy of XP for christmas). Is anyone still interested in a word format of the story???

Rasorow

December 27th, 2004, 10:45 AM

Yes

Rasorow

Starhawk

December 28th, 2004, 03:04 AM

Bump, I've got more chapters coming I've just been taking a break and trying to write a real book http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Well next chapter to follow soon please stay tuned http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif in the meantime you can download the word format of the story and catch up.

Starhawk

December 28th, 2004, 07:09 PM

2421.5
At the same time throughout the whole of Icara all vid screens all and all channels suddenly went black for a moment, seconds later the Imperial Anthem began to play softly in the background as the Imperial Eagle, with a world held in it�s right claw and a starship in it�s left appeared on screen. Throughout Icara billions gathered around screens to see what was happening.
Then the face of the Praetor himself appeared and throughout the Empire people fell silent in curiosity and fear as they waited for their beloved leader to speak.

�My fellow Icarans, my friends, brothers and sisters today I come before you with news both great and terrible, for this month two things have happened that may forever change the fate of the empire.
The Great news is that our brave men and women have found and conquered what they believe to be the Phong homeworld, though it�s population numbered less then one billion we believe this to be a great blow to the enemy, especially as the rest of the Berchest system fell to the 3rd fleet swiftly, those worlds that could not be conquered were sterilized for the safety of all humanity. Also the Briggia system suffered a similar fate, several hundred million Phong have been sterilized leaving their worlds open to human colonization.� all over Icara people cheered, the war was finally drawing to a close as more information scrolled across the bottom of the screen with information that the HMS Shadowclaw had just entered a third Phong system and was preparing to sterilize all worlds therein.

But the cheers came to a swift and sudden halt as the Praetor raised his right hand, palm facing the screen. �However my dear people, there is terrible bitter news that I must inform you of, for the HMS Tigerclaw and HMS Satuki have both been lost to a new star nation known as the Andoran, 4,400 sons and daughters of Icara perished in the brutal attack launched by an Andoran battleship. Now though we are angered by this situation I must remind you that 4,400 lives are nothing as compared to the billions of Icarans that would be put at risk should open war come between ourselves and the Andoarns, because of this I have ordered our Political bureau to send ambassadors to the Andorans in an attempt to bring peace, know this however though peace may come they will be made to pay for the lives they took on the 3rd of this month.

As always my friends I will guide and protect our people, Praetor Leonidas signing off.�

2421.6
Admiral Babcock sat numbly in his command chair, when his fleet had entered the Zerg system they had fully expected to find Phong worlds, instead they found more Xeno�s of the Xiati variant, the same ones that had lost an entire squadron to a single Icaran super dreadnought, and in a single broadside to boot.
Deciding that since the Xiati had proven hostile from the start Admiral Babcock directed his infantry regiment to launch a direct assault on the first Xiati world in system.

Landing the troops was easy enough as the world had no weapons platforms or orbital defense satellites what so ever, but once the infantry of the 1st Icara landed they soon discovered that the Xiati were totally unlike the Phong, they were tall brown skinned and over 30% of their body mass consisted of cybernetic enhancements, fortunately for the invading soldiers the Xiati world was defended by only a small force of lightly armed militia and fell swiftly.

On the Phong front the Shadowclaw had �sterilized� three entire worlds held by the Phong in the Fyras system, the 3rd fleet had just entered the Arich system and soon it too would fall before the might of the glorious Icaran Empire.

Starhawk

December 29th, 2004, 02:26 PM

2422.8 It ends with a Whisper
�War Ends not with a Glorious Trumpet, or a shout of victory, War ends with a quiet prayer by the enemy, a quiet plea for mercy that only the victor can answer or ignore, war ends with a whisper.�
(Hung Sun Lee, Earth 1575 when the Icara-China war comes to an end)

�In the fires of death life springs anew.�
(General Tamara Jordan, 1st Hunnic Regiment, Earth 1910)

Admiral Ross and Captain Yu Lin sat stunned on a silent bridge, the entire crew seemed to be frozen in place as the Com�s officer played back the message, the 3rd fleet had conquered two and �sterilized� one of the worlds in the final system of the Phong yet they had expected the enemy to fight on even longer, but just five minutes ago the Icaran Ambassadorial services� messenger drone had just arrived with a message informing the crews and soldiers of all Phong front forces, the war was over, the Phong had surrendered unconditionally.
Ross and Yu heard a quiet �Thank God� from several positions on the bridge but no cheering, no joyous celebrations, right now only stunned disbelief that a war some of their men and women had been fighting for their entire lives was finally over. Ross gently and discretely slipped his hand into Yu�s and squeezed her hand gently and smiled softly when she squeezed back.
�Admiral Ross, Captain Yu.� the com officer said quietly, Ross looked over at the young woman and smiled.
�Yes Ensign�
�Sir, redeployment orders have just come in, we are to report to aid 1st fleet in neutralizing the Xeno star system neighboring this one, it belongs to the Xiati variety of Xeno sir.�
Ross hissed internally, they had just finished fighting one war, he wanted to give his crews and soldiers time to rest and at least a little time to relax, but instead they would be sent to a system that belonged to a Xeno race that they were still not �officially� at war with.
�Helm, lay in a course, comns give me fleet wide please.�
�Aye�
As the fleet wide alert chimed Ross stood up confidently, clearing his throat and fixing his uniform.

�Ladies and gentlemen of the fleet, we have done our great task at Last, the Phong forces have surrendered unconditionally, yet we do not have time to rest at this time, for we have one more system to conquer at the moment, just one before the Admiralty will allow us to return to Icara in triumph, with our brothers and sisters of the first fleet by our sides, so I ask you, be brave and true now more then ever not for me, not even for the Praetor but for your families back home and for future generations, so that they will no more have to fear the threat of a Xeno or a mutant, return home with me my comrades, once our job is done, return with me not as heroes but as servants of a glorious heritage! God bless, Ross out.�

An hour later the 3rd fleet was en route to it�s newest war zone, Lin and William sat quietly in her quarters, both of them a little to surprised by the days events to speak immediately.
�You know William, that the first wave of Atmospheric conVersions took place today?� Lin smiled sweetly while she stabbed at a piece of sushi with her fork.
�Really? I wish I could have seen it, I hear it looks amazing as an atmosphere changes from a hostile non-breathable gas ball to a beautiful blue jewel of a world for the first time.� Ross� eyes glowed as he thought of how amazing that site must have been.
�You probably will someday, maybe we both will.� Her voice changed to a more alluring tone, but her smile remained the same sweet smile that Ross loved so much about the young woman.
�Tell me Lin, what do you think about this �eternal war� that the Praetor declared?� his voice was quiet as if Ross felt like he was asking something dangerous (which indeed he was) but Yu simply shrugged in response as if he had asked a question about the weather or some such.
�I don�t know, I�d like to see home again someday but we knew when we signed up that this may go on for our entire lives, but at least we�ve ended two threats to our people, and a third I soon to join the list of conquered foes.� Her smile faded slightly and she shrugged again �But let�s not talk about such depressing things, how�s your mother?�
The two laughed and talked for hours before Ross excused himself and went to get some sleep before his fleet shipped out in the morning.

Atrocities

December 30th, 2004, 12:42 AM

Very good read. I look forward to more. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Starhawk

December 31st, 2004, 06:09 PM

2423.0
The Icaran embassy on Arich V towered high into the sky, it�s gray fortress like visage dominating the landscape for miles around, a hundred Icaran marines guarded the perimeter, and auto cannon turret towers rose high into the sky at the corners of the massive wall that surrounded the embassy building it�s self. A tiny black ground car approached the fortified battle steel gates and rolled down it�s single un-plated window, a man wearing a Magellan Corp uniform leaned his head out and whispered the pass code to the Icaran sentries who silently turned about and opened the gates to the embassy. The auto cannons tracked the vehicle as it drove up to the door of the main building.
More Icaran marines waited as the car door silently opened, revealing a short, nervous looking gray haired man wearing a business looking suit that had the symbol of the Magellan Corp emblazoned on the right breast pocket. Two Magellan Security branch guards stepped out of the car behind the man in the suit, a third guard stepped out of the driver�s seat and walked over to stand beside his fellows. Eight Icaran Marines walked surrounded the Magellan Corp representative and his three armed bodyguards, a sergeant stepped out of the cluster of marines and grumbled out �Lay down your weapons now, and follow us.� at this the other marines all aimed their weapons directly at the small group of Maggies. The shocked Corporates dropped their weapons at the man in the suit�s gesture.
Fifteen minutes later the man in the suit was sitting in front of a towering Icaran ambassador.
�You wanted to speak to us mister Chairman?� the towering man said gruffly as the head of the Magellan corporation squirmed uncomfortably.
�Yes mister ambassador I did, for two years now the Magellan corporation has been fighting a massive war against both the Manti Star Kingdom and the Neo-Star Empire, in the process of this war billions of Corporate employee�s have died and dozens of our worlds were burned to dust in the fires of conquering armies and fleets, our navy lays in ruins and our army has been totally destroyed.� Chairman Schmit almost cried as he spoke but the Icaran ambassador sat expressionless, and gestured for the man to continue.
�The Magellan corporation knows that you have been redeploying one of your fleets, so that it can invade one of our few surviving systems and this we simply can�t allow.�
The Icaran ambassador smacked his hand on the desk to cut the Chairman off �There is not a damned thing you can do to stop us mister Chairman!�

�That is not what I meant mister Ambassador! Please listen to me, we need this war to end but our enemies will show us no mercy, we are asking�.�the Chairman paused sorrowfully �We are asking for a merger, that you take over our surviving worlds and protect our surviving population.�
The Icaran Ambassador froze, a grin crossing his face as he realized what the Chairman of a hostile empire was suggesting, complete and total surrender of a hostile Empire into the folds of the Icaran Empire, and without even needing to lose a single Icaran life.
�Very well mister Chairman, I think we can accommodate your needs, but we are going to need some insurance, namely that you are going to need to keep your people under control until our State Security forces can secure your worlds, if any of your worlds rebel they will be destroyed, no questions asked, is that understood?� the Ambassador�s voice was ice cold as he laid out the conditions of the surrender, Chairman Schmit�s eyes welled with tears and it was obvious that it was a great force of will alone that kept him from breaking down in front of his enemy.
�Very Well mister Ambassador, I accept the terms, we surrender to you for the preservation of our people.�
The Icaran ambassador stood and shook the other man�s hand, a sharkish smile still on his face while the Chairman frowned grimly �Have a good day, Schmit.�]

On the ride back to the space port the former chairman of the Magellan corporation broke down into tears, reached into his pocket and pulled out a small pulsar gun, carefully placed it in his mouth and with one Last thought of his family who had died when the homeworld of his empire was destroyed he squeezed the trigger and let the darkness take him.

Atrocities

January 1st, 2005, 06:00 AM

Thank you. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif A nice send off for the old year and a good first read of the new.

Starhawk

January 1st, 2005, 09:40 AM

Thanks AT http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif Happy NEW YEAR YA'LL!!!

Starhawk

January 1st, 2005, 10:05 AM

Sorrow of A Phong:
They say Mercy is for the weak, the fool and the xeno loving traitor, they say our species is of no divinity and so we have no right to exist on our own, no right to live free and thus they set themselves to the task of ensuring that we did not.
They are a race like none before, they are a race none alone can stand against, we fought them so hard yet they were as demons, striking world after world and colony after colony without ending, no matter what defence we placed before them, it was swept away as nothing. They are the darkness its self, the void incarante, a plague of evil and they enslaved my people for all time.

I remember when I was but a young one, running under the brown skies of our ancestral homeworld, before our leaders led us into the void, they had good intentions at first, we were to reach the heavens and ensure our race's survival, for years our people worked on this great project, and for years after we reached into the stars we met no races and we extended our reach over dozens of worlds in many systems.
We should have known that peace is a fleeting thing, for the first site we got of the great destroyers was a single small vessel, a frigate! we can never know for sure if they had peaceful intent at first, and only they truely know what happened that grim and terrible moon, yet it was with the destruction of that first world, and two of our warships that led to the great war, the Last war of our people.

The great destroyers came on with no mercy, we resisted them every world, every system, but they are demons, cursed and undestroyable, for every life of theirs we took, a thousand of our people fell beneath them! Yet this was not enough for the destroyers, they threw themselves whole heartedly to the war proclaiming it a "Grand Crusade" and a "Holy War" to clense the galaxy of the non-divine races such as we Phong and for years they waged a tireless campaign to extinguish or destroy every one of our worlds.

No more do our people roam free on our worlds, the destroyers march on all worlds that were once ours and unless they are defeated we shall forever be enslaved, a beaten and used people, but know this, have not pity for we Phong, for we fought and kept our dignity even in defeat, do however have sorrow for us, and all others who will fall before this scourge that call's it's self "Icara" for they are the destroyers of worlds, a darkness from the gods sent to punish our arrogance and unless they are stopped all life in this universe will either bow before them or be crushed beneath them.

(Written Verse, Planek,Tal Norva Phong Scholar, written just before the purging of the Phong world known to them as Xenthet after food riots killed dozens of Icarans,

5,032 Phong were killed during the riots
18,592 more Phong were executed for the crimes of their people, including Planek Tal)

Starhawk

January 2nd, 2005, 11:48 AM

OOC: Read my link plz http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gifand help a "struggling author" hehe.

2423.1 Sword of Heaven Sword of Hell
The massive bunker that surrounded the Icara shipyard loomed over the surrounding landscape like some small mountain, only four other such bunkers existed throughout the whole of the Empire and all told they were some of the largest structures ever created.
Praetor Leonidas walked up to the massive armored door that it�s self was tiny compared to the structure it was part of, a dozen Praetorian guards surrounded him, for even in the heart of the Empire it was considered too great a risk that an Andoran assassin could slip through the defenses and get a shot off at their beloved Praetor Saint.
As they reached the door one of the Praetorians slipped his ident card into the door security lock, the noise of the massive door unlocking was like that of a massive drum beating repeatedly until finally the armored bLast doors slid open revealing a cavernous chamber beyond.
�Your Highness, Welcome to Project Sword of Heaven! I�m Doctor Andraeavich� a bald older man with a gray close cut beard ran over to the Praetor and his cluster of guards as the armored doors slammed shut behind them.
�Hello doctor, I hear your project has progressed faster then even you first thought, is that so?� Leonidas was smiling politely as he stepped out from between his guards to shake the doctor�s outstretched hand.
�Uh Yes Majesty, in fact this particular piece of the project has been completed fully three months before the second piece, and four months for the three after that.� Andraeavich seemed quite proud of this fact as he led his Praetor to a second security door that opened up into the main chamber of the shipyard.

The security door opened, and as Leonidas stepped through he stopped dead in his tracks and his jaw dropped.
�By all that�s holy I�ve never seen something so large!� he said numbly as he stepped into the main chamber, before his eyes was a massive gray/silver wall, but as he let his eyes wander it was obvious that this was no wall, it was a huge warship, kilometers longer then the largest super dreadnought with gun ports the size of an old earth skyscraper.
�Your Highness, say hello to the HMS Sword of Icara, she is the largest most powerful warship in the universe at this time, her sister ships will be done soon, she is the first of five such ships by the way.� Andraeavich reminded Leonidas of a dog that had just been patted on the head as he smiled proudly at the ship he took part in designing.
�What are her capabilities Doctor?�
�She is 6 million tons of metal, five kilometers long, two wide, and one point eight high, she carries 10 spinal mount I-Lasers, 22 massive mount I-Lasers and 2 reserve standard mount I-lasers 29 shield generators, 7,000 kt worth of cargo storage and enough armor to take several direct hits even without their shields. Once Project Firehawk is completed the Five Swords will each be powerful enough to take over entire systems by themselves, though at the moment they are formed into a single fleet.� The Man smiled again as the Praetor let the sheer power of this vessel sink in.
�Is she ready for launch?� Leonidas said excitedly.
�Why yes My Liege that is why I invited you here this day, so that you could watch in person, while the whole of Icara watches over the Vid networks.� The doctor�s smile grew even larger as Leonidas grinned and followed him to the �safe room� in the heart of the facility.

The massive ship had a crew of some fourteen thousand, which had already been secretly shuffled aboard during the final days of completion.
An echoing sound made Leonidas look up and see the massive ceiling of the facility slowly open up to reveal the Icaran Night sky in all it�s starry beauty, another noise that was more felt then heard pinged off the walls as the null gravity fields aboard the huge starship activated, slowly �pushing� her off the ground and into the sky.
Throughout Icara city millions stopped whatever they were doing as all eyes turned to face the ship that was visible from miles away, some shrank away in fear at the massive craft, it looked nothing like any other Icaran warship ever built, it�s artistic arch like frame surrounding it�s armored hull, it�s gun ports replacing the traditional gun turrets of an Icaran man of war. Some feared that it was some kind of Xeno conspiracy and that this ship was going to destroy their world.
But as the Icaran Imperial Anthem began to play over every speaker throughout Icara, the people began to relax and many thousands began to cheer as the pride of their empire lifted her considerable bulk off of the surface until finally breaking atmosphere and reaching her new home amongst the stars.

2423.4
Months later the HMS Achilles on a routine patrol stumbled across a badly damaged super dreadnought belonging to an unknown human star nation, unfortunately this incident swiftly led to a firefight wherein the unknown starship was blown apart. It was discovered later that same month that the ship belonged to the �People�s Republic of Remorhaz� which was a minor power to the extreme galactic west of Icara.

Starhawk

January 2nd, 2005, 01:01 PM

2423.8
Yu Lin and William Ross sat quietly, dining in Ross quarters and talking about the news of the day, they had become very close over the Last few years and had begun openly seeing one another a few weeks ago, though normally an Admiral dating a Captain would be forbidden the Yu family name allowed her leeway that no other Captain could have being that socially she was of higher rank then Ross, her military rank was balanced out, they were still somewhat awkward towards one another and had not even kissed one another-which Yu�s mother often teased about over vid mail- but tonight they were not focusing on that, they were just relaxing and talking in peace while their fleet waited on blockade duty in the Cortina system, ensuring that no foreign starships entered the conquered territories.
�So have you heard about that plague?� Yu said absently as she picked at a piece of overly fatty steak.
�Yeah, it�s in one of the Phong systems, I didn�t get the exact details, all I know is that the Admiralty is going to let it run it�s course, they said one less Phong populated world would b a benefit to the safety of the empire.� Ross seemed uncaring towards the Phong, but Yu hated every Phong she had ever seen and Ross had the feeling that she would have enjoyed being allowed to watch the plagued world die.
�Well at least they won�t be wasting any navy assets trying to save them.� She said stiffly, as she set the fatty piece of meat aside and cut herself a fresh piece off of her steak, taking a bite and savoring the rare �real� food.
Ross was about to speak when the com unit chimed, Yu looked up with a grimace, but Ross simply shrugged and tabbed the control.
�Commander Styles here Sir, we just received word from the Admiralty, the Xiati Empire has just surrendered to the 1st fleet, they wished to inform all Admirals of the Royal Navy.�
�Thank you Styles, Ross out.� Ross and Yu sat shocked for a moment before both began to smile, that left only one known race of Xenos, and they were presently too far away to worry about, but more important then that the Icaran empire would grow further.
�Well, I suppose our job just got a little easier.� Yu said cheerfully, smiling at Ross.
�I suppose so, well cheers.� Ross smiled back at her and took a sip of his whine. After a few moments of silence the two returned to their conversations and their pleasant dinner.

On the Xiati side of things it was far less Pleasant, state security troops rounded up dissidents and summarily executed thousands, rulers were dragged into the streets and beaten until they yielded in public to the Icaran Empire, others who would not yield officially were shot dead in full view of their communities, a wave of terror swept through any community that refused to submit, and as the State Security brigades suppressed any signs of revolt the Navy moved on, to return to their normal duties.
Within a month all resistance had stopped, the State Security rolls showed 150,000 dissidents and resistance cell members dead, and 300 government officials executed for inciting their populations to revolt, as well as 500,000 �revolutionary threats� imprisoned for life.

Crazy_Dog

January 2nd, 2005, 01:19 PM

Great story !!!
Can you please give us a status update of the game / know empires at this moment ?

Also what kind of ship is the Sword of Heaven ?

Starhawk

January 2nd, 2005, 02:06 PM

The "Sword of Heaven" is one of five "Five Swords" class warships they are as follows:
"Sword of Icara"
"Sword of Vengence"
"Sword of Justice"
"Sword of Wrath"
"Sword of Heaven"
They are the "Flag Monitor" size which is a creation of mine it is 6,000 kt and takes over 2 years to build, plus a LOT of resources to build and maintain.

Empire Status:
Resources
+75364 mineral
+336609 organic
+403318 rad

Score:
Resources: 1.6m
Research Points: 411.4k
Intelligence Points 311.0k
Tech Levels: 217
Systems 53
Planets: 289
Population: 107.3 billion
Units 3899
Ships 142
Bases: 0
Rank: 2nd

Allied With:
Remorhaz Peoples Republic
Sol Coalition
Citizen Federation
Manti Star Kingdom
Christiria Republic
Empire of Man
Neo-Star Empire

Non Agression:
Celestian Republic

War:
Andoran Star Nation (ranked 1st and MUCH more powerful then me)
Fazar (Xeno race of little importance

Non-Relations with:
Dark Star Union

Starhawk

January 2nd, 2005, 10:43 PM

Okay for anyone wondering how to make a flag monitor here yah go:

Name := Flag Monitor
Short Name := Flag Monitor
Description :=
Code := SM
Primary Bitmap Name := WorldShip
Alternate Bitmap Name := Starbase
Vehicle Type := Ship
Tonnage := 6000
Cost Minerals := 6000
Cost Organics := 0
Cost Radioactives := 0
Engines Per Move := 1
Number of Tech Req := 1
Tech Area Req 1 := Ship Construction
Tech Level Req 1 := 12
Number of Abilities := 1
Ability 1 Type := Combat To Hit Defense Minus
Ability 1 Descr := Large size makes FM 40% easier to hit in combat.
Ability 1 Val 1 := 40
Ability 1 Val 2 := 0
Requirement Must Have Bridge := True
Requirement Can Have Aux Con := True
Requirement Min Life Support := 6
Requirement Min Crew Quarters := 6
Requirement Uses Engines := True
Requirement Max Engines := 1
Requirement Pct Fighter Bays := 0
Requirement Pct Colony Mods := 0
Requirement Pct Cargo := 0

As I said it is VERY Expensive and VERY long time to build but trust me you'll find out later that it makes a helluva big bLast when it attacks someone; this has already happened in my game but that's going to be in my upcoming chapter so I won't spoil it for you.
Drop this down to the very bottum of your ships list in the devnull mod or else it WILL wipe out ALL of your other ship types below it, and trust me you do not want that to happen it's a PIA to fix.

They have with solar sails only 7 movement points so don't expect them to go racing about anywhere either okay http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

If you'd like the stats of the I-Laser I'll post them up too.

Oh and hey guys since I am writing a book here and I obviously can't charge you any money lol you can "pay" me (or at least just to be really nice to me) click the link in my sig anytime you take a look at my story, it gives me "Credits" in a game that I can't get unless someone clicks it, and you folks are the only guys I like to post with so your the only guys I know. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

kerensky

January 3rd, 2005, 07:43 PM

yes please post the I-lasers and frag cannons. Either that or e-mail them to me

Starhawk

January 4th, 2005, 02:20 PM

2424.7 A sword strikes
As far as the Icaran population was aware it had been a relatively peaceful year, no major enemy incursions or naval engagements, but what they did not know was that the Royal Navy had detected a fleet of 32 Andoran warships slip into the Kelvalora star system and had sent the 6th fleet and the �Sword of Heaven� fleet to intercept it, the chase had gone on for months as the enemy fleet bypassed colony after colony in a futile attempt to escape, finally Grand Admiral Hallice and the Five Swords had managed to plot their intercept course, and were beginning to enter combat range. The Andoran commander, foolishly arrogant seeing only five ships recklessly plotted his own intercept course and raced towards his Icaran foes.
Grand Admiral Hallice sat calmly on his massive bridge watching the Andoran warships approaching.
�Gunnery Officer Malone acquire lock on the first five warships, tell the other ships in range to lock onto five others and wait for them to get into range of our guns.�
�Aye Sir.�

Minutes passed, minutes, that seemed to go by like an eternity as the two fleets closed the range, the Icarans however had two major advantages, the five swords had the most powerful weapons in existence, as well as standard I-Lasers, the enemy fleet was mainly older destroyers supported by battleships and a dreadnought squadron of five.
�Admiral we are in range of main guns.� The executive officer blurted loudly as the sensor pings sounded.
�Gunner� open fire all ships in range of the enemy.� Hallice calm voice reddened the face of his embarrassed XO as the gunner passed the message on to the rest of the fleet.
Three of the massive Icaran warships opened fire with their colossal spinal mounted weapons their powerful beams tore across space and connected to the enemy fleet sweeping through fifteen enemy ships, as the beams sliced through hull and armor the fuel and materials the ships were made out of, erupted into a purple plasma ball tearing the ships apart.
The next wave of enemy warships fired their entire arsenals directly into the Sword of Icara but it�s powerful shield grids simply absorbed the enemy fire, flares of energy arced off the shields as missiles exploded but still no damage to the behemoth of a warship.
The Icaran counter fire proved far more devastating as all five Icaran warships brought their weapons into the fray though several of the enemy ships attempted to retreat it was too late and a single volley destroyed the Last remnants of the Andoran war fleet leaving Icaran space safe once again.

OOC: Don't forget to tip the author http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gifby clicking my link http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Atrocities

January 4th, 2005, 06:29 PM

Another good read. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif Thank you.

Atrocities

January 4th, 2005, 06:34 PM

You know, you should start the offical SUPPORT Starhawk each day link. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Let people know you get something for clicking that helps you in your browser game. What do they give you, and extra turn?

Starhawk

January 4th, 2005, 08:11 PM

It gives me enough "money" to keep my game going on, you don't have to sign up for anything at all, just clicking the link does it for me.

Starhawk

January 6th, 2005, 03:49 AM

Operation Bearcat:
The Cloaked Icaran special ops shuttle swiftly approached the Citizen Federation light cruiser�s port side, this cruiser was decidedly worth the risk of an interstellar incident as it had the only existing warp point opening device currently deployed, which made the Icaran Praetor and Lords nervous as the Citizen Federation had been hostile towards Icaran expansion for the past several years and so an elite team of Marines and Troopers had been dispatched to capture the ship, at all costs.
�We�re almost in position Captain.� the pilot�s voice spoke from the com link.
�Sir, how many crew are we looking at here?� Lieutenant Garcia looked up from cleaning his weapon, the other soldiers directed their attention to the Captain as well, none of them had been briefed on their mission all they knew was that their commander was a Captain, and that the entire op was male although the reason for that was still unknown as the Empire had female commandos.
�Yeah, we are looking at a crew of 23, standard 6 man security detail, Mobile Infantry carrying the standard MK32 marrita assault rifle, 7.92 millimeter case-less slugs, the others are the standard crew, probably armed with the merrita .45 cal side arm, we are guessing that their standard pilot, captain mix is female as is usual board Cit Fed navy craft, we are going to capture the pilot and captain the others are unimportant and are to be terminated understood?� The tone of the man�s voice made it clear he was not asking a question, the other commandos nodded.
�If your wondering why the entire strike force is male, that�s simple we are going to deploy CS-G9 gas, which unfortunately renders women sterile so we�d prefer not to put any of our people at risk.� the mysterious captain locked his charge pack into place and stopped talking, the other crew went silent and returned their attentions to other things.

Minutes passed in silence as the shuttle clamped on to the hull of the Citizen Federation�s warp ship, the 12 commando�s readied their weapons, standing ready, the door�s slid open and the hull beneath it vanished in a brilliant flash as the breaching charge detonated.
�GO GO GO!!!� The captain shouted as he tossed a stun grenade down into the hole made by the charge, the sound of startled grunts of pain followed by several bodies hitting the floor signaled that several of the crew had been caught in the stun range. The commandoes quickly charged into the breach securing the corridor and shooting the stunned CitFed crew.
�Sir none of these guys are wearing MI uniforms, we�re still looking at six security troopers with assault rifles.� One of the troopers said as he toed a corpse.
�Alright, split into two six man teams, team one cover the upper decks team two go below decks and sweep all crewman from there, make sure you don�t kill the pilot or the woman.� The captain said quietly as he took five of his troops with him to clear the upper decks.
The captain led his men forward of their insertion point, two more crewmen had the unfortunate luck of being caught unarmed, they both died quickly as the Icaran commandoes opened fire with darter rifles, tearing both the Citfed spacers to pieces. The team advanced until suddenly a hellish storm of bullets cut down one of the Icarans his comrades snapped into action firing a volley of darter rounds in the direction of the 6 Mobile Infantrymen down the corridor, one of them fell his armor pierced, a massive blood spray erupting against the walls, the five remaining troopers continued to fire until one of the Icaran commandoes through a shockwave grenade down the corridor, at first the small sphere appeared harmless and one of the MI troopers bent down to throw it back but just before she managed to grab it a loud shrill noise began to emanate from, a moment later a visible ripple tore across the bulk head, the woman who was about to toss it back had every bone in her body shattered almost instantly, making a terrible crunching noise, the other troopers were thrown against the bulkhead with such force that bones were shattered and the two troopers that survived were rendered unconscious, only to have a pulsar round put into their heads a moment later as the commandoes continued their sweep.

A deck and two firefights later the Alpha team led by the Captain had arrived at the bridge, it�s bLast doors were sealed shut with a complex locking mechanism, the tech marine instantly plugged in a �coder� to break the lock while his comrades watched his back.
�How�s it coming marine?� the captain turned around to check on the man working the coder when the whine of a darter turned his attention back towards the corridor, long enough to see a young woman with a clean hole in her chest where one of his marksman had scored a hit, she had been holding a pistol but had not gotten the chance to use it as it limply fell from her dead hands, she walked forward two more steps prior to falling to the floor.
The five commandoes sat stunned for a moment before the man at the coder let out a gratified grunt.
�Got it captain!�
�Breach and clear men!� the captain and two of the men moved to the left side of the opening doors while the other two men moved to the right, the armored bLast doors slid open quietly, the captain nodded and one of the commandoes tossed a gas grenade into the bridge, the sounds of coughing and falling bodies quickly followed, one of the bridge crew panicked and ran through the open doors, unfortunately for him three pulsar darts tore into him, ripping him apart as they exploded.
�Go�.�The captain said calmly as the first two commandoes ran onto the bridge, swiftly followed by the Captain himself and the other two men.
The bridge it�s self was small and only had six people on it (excluding the man they had killed in the corridor), the pilot was still slumped over her helm, while the captain was spasming on the deck, a pistol in her hand.
One of the commandoes walked over to the com officer and pressed his darter rifle�s barrel to the man�s head nudging him gently before squeezing the trigger spraying blood and gore all over the station. The other bridge crew suffered a similar fate as the commandoes carried out their orders to terminate the �unessential� targets.
The pilot was pulled from her station gently by one of the commandoes, who paused a moment with the young woman in his arms, apparently looking her over.
�Hey 3 what is wrong with you?� one of the other Icarans snapped harshly but still the man just held her gently not moving, the commando who had asked the question walked over and kicked the trooper lightly �Hey I said what the hell is wrong with you? Secure her.�
�She reminds looks like my little sister, almost identical, my sister died on Handra when she was only 17, this girl can�t be older then that.� the trooper said, it was obvious even with his helmet on the young man was crying
�Oh [censored], Captain I think he�s gone crackers.� one of the commandoes said harshly, the man standing over the young man simply ignored the other�s comment and knelt down beside the younger trooper, gently patting him on the back.
�You can�t do this to yourself son, she�s not your sister, she�s nobody, it doesn�t matter how old or young she is, just secure her or let 4 do it instead alright.� the Captain walked over to the two kneeling men and knelt down to pick the woman up out of the other soldier�s arms.
�Alright 3, you secure the corridor with 5.� the Captain spoke calmly and gently the man called �3� stood slowly and nodded at his commander before returning to the corridor as ordered.

Three hours later the Citizen Federation was informed that a tragic accident occurred within Icaran space and their experimental Warp point vessel was lost with all hands do to some form of reactor overload, of course this was not the truth, the truth was much darker for two of that crew did survive and are even now being turned inside out mentally by the mysterious Icaran �psy tech� officers, whether they retain their sanity or not only time will tell, but does it really matter in the end that was not the only price, 21 dead CitFed soldiers-allies of Icara- 2 dead Icaran commandoes, and 10 other Icarans mind wiped after completing their mission, reduced to the mental state of five year olds left with years of retraining ahead of them, all for the security of Icara, but in the end do these few lives really compare to an Empire of billions will they really be missed, does it really matter?

Atrocities

January 7th, 2005, 12:56 PM

Thanks again for another great read. - link clicked too. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

Starhawk

January 7th, 2005, 02:04 PM

Thanks http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif I'm working on the next chapter now but it's going t take a while because it covers a two year period and a LOT of political and character stuff that I'm going to have to try and figure out how to squeeze in http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Starhawk

January 8th, 2005, 06:33 AM

Plan Exodus:
Lord Keagen stood proudly in front of the other Lords, the holomap behind him showing the whole of the Icaran Empire, on it a long line of intermittent dots appeared on the map, each one representing a system connected via warp point to a non Icaran star.
�Lords and Ladies, Plan Exodus is the most large scale operation our grand empire has ever undertaken, it will seal off our borders from the enemy powers that prowl the universe, including the Andorans, who we�ve had several armed skirmishes with, Phase two of this operation is already underway, the house of lords assembled a fleet of 11 construction ships to begin the assembly of our first �Sphereworld�, this massive artificial planet will be used to house all Phong within the empire that will fit on it, these Xeno�s should no longer be allowed to roam our empire, even with the current restrictions placed on travel for them and this construct will ensure that they do now, it will also open land for Icarans to colonize new worlds.� the young Lord smiled confidently as he saw the others in the room nodding or whispering.

�Lord Keagen, what you are not mentioning is that millions of Icaran citizens will be trapped outside of Icaran space when we seal these selected warp points, what are we supposed to say to them, �Oh I�m sorry but your expendable�.� Lord Manshar of Haven shouted over the din of whispers and hushed conversations, the house of lords went silent as all heads began to turn towards Keagen and Manshar.

�Lord Manshar, those �citizens� are merely absorbed Magellan corporate persons, you can not seriously suggest that these millions are worth risking billions of our true citizens over?� Keagen turned red, either with embarrassment at how loud his voice had risen or in anger at lord Menshar, none of the lords present could quite tell.

�Your forgetting the 4,000 Icaran SS troopers that would be left on those worlds Lord, are we supposed to leave them behind? In a galaxy where Andorans are quickly growing in power?� Menshar snapped angrily.

�ENOUGH my lords! This is pointless the systems that Lord Menshar want saved HAVE Andoran or Manti presence, some even have multiple empires present, Operation Bearcat was launched for a reason, this very purpose, to prevent any other empire from opening warp points into our space, that operation alone could have cost us dearly, and now you are suggesting we throw it aside and risk letting worlds belonging to other star nations into our space?� Lady Perci Tori of Brandenburg said coldly. She looked around the huge room, clearing her throat before speaking again �Yes 4,000 Icaran soldiers will be left behind, but they knew that there was a risk of them dying, it is tragic and sad that they may have to pay with their lives for our safety but tens of thousands of our soldiers and millions of our civilians have already died in the past 25 years of endless war and it must stop!�

�Lords, Ladies, this must be put to a vote now, the time for talk is over. VOTE NOW� the Primus Lord said powerfully, the room went silent as the nobles sat down and punched in their votes, the Primus Lord sat in his black robes, watching his �peers� through a black faceplate that none could see his face through, it was his job to keep the other nobles in line, this man who was responsible only to the Praetor himself inspired fear in even the most defiant of lords or ladies.
After the votes came in, 75% of the nobles were in favor of �Plan Exodus�, 10% abstained and only 15% voted against it, that 15% quickly shrank back in fear as they noticed the sheer volume of votes against them, some even cried as they realized they had effectively killed their careers, if not more.

Two and a half years passed as the very fabric of the universe was reshaped, entire worlds wept as they realized they were being cut off from the rest of Icara, and that they would likely never see their loved ones again, only handfuls of blockade runners escaped the sealed off systems, tragically dozens of ships and thousands of scared civilians were lost as their ships were crushed by closing warp points, some ships that had entered the warp before the point was salead appeared light years off course, the lucky ones had simply suffered heavy damage, but others, others emerged with beings on them so mutated and warped they could no longer be called human, several of these ships escaped the navy ships that attempted to destroy them, but what purpose or desire these mutated creatures have is still unknown, and whether they will pose a threat to the future of Icara still lies unknown, fortunately only a dozen vessels that suffered this fate managed to escape, or at least only a dozen that the navy knows about.

The construction began on the sphere world only after the warp points to alien space had been sealed off, it�s construction is presently only half finished, but already it is the largest single object ever constructed by a species in the known universe and is a symbol of pride to Icarans all over the empire, though to the Xeno� Phong it is a symbol of fear and their future enslavement to the surface of a single massive construct, never more to roam the homeworlds they once loved so much, never more to see the stars, only to live serve and die under Icaran masters for all eternity.

Crossed Swords
Admiral William Jefferson Ross, buttoned his Dress mess uniform�s tunic he forced himself to choke down the bile that was rising in his throat, he had faced dozens of battles been wounded six times in battle and seen entire worlds burn but not a single situation was as terrifying as this one, he looked in the fine mirror on the wall of his bedroom and made sure all of his ribbons and medals were in the right place, he patted his close cropped hair and grimaced himself as he placed the black cap of the Royal navy upon his head, he looked tired and war weary and today of all days he hated that.
As the door chime brought Ross out of his contemplation; he quickly finished straightening his uniform and had to force himself not to run to the door, as it chimed again.
He quickly took the door handle and opened it, the professional expression on the face that greeted Ross only made him more nervous.
�Admiral it�s time sir.� Commander Jason Styles said, his own voice quirked with anxiety, Ross had chosen him to act as sword bearer for him and though the younger man excepted the position with honor it was still nerve wracking.
�Thanks Jason, I guess we�d better get down to the launch bay.� Ross said stiffly as he stepped out of his quarters, looking back one Last time at the life that would be coming to an end today.
The two men walked to the lift in silence, out of tradition any on duty crew immediately turned their backs as not to see the two passing by so as not to incur bad luck upon the events that would take place later.
Minutes later Jason Styles and William Ross stepped off the lift on the flight bay�s deck, a line of marines in their black and green dress uniforms stood on either side of the corridor, all of them wore grim professional faces and not a single one watched Ross and Styles go by them.
Ross felt a knot in his throat rising and feared he was going to vomit up his heart any moment but he forced such thoughts out of his mind as the flight bay doors opened, revealing two huge columns of Crew, each column had a line of marines facing towards the center of the bay, just as grim faced and sharp looking as their comrades outside. As Ross saw the ship�s chaplain standing on a temporary dais in the middle of the flight bay his nerves became even more on edge but with Styles at his side he walked proudly by the assembled crew and up to the bottom step of the Dais, lowering his eyes and bowing with respect to the chaplain.
�Lord Star Admiral William Jefferson Ross, do you believe in God, the words of God and his divine intentions for his children?� The chaplain�s voice was soft yet powerful as he asked this all important question.
�Yes, with all my heart and soul.� Ross said nervously praying for the strength not to make a fool of himself on this day.
�Do you believe in the divine creation of man and his sacred duty to God?� the chaplain�s voice echoed.
�Yes, with my life and sword.� Ross spoke the words but barely heard them over his own nervous heartbeat.
�Do you pledge to love God above all others?� The chaplain�s voice grew hard at this question but Ross was already so nervous he barely noticed.
�Yes, God before life, his love before any other.� Ross finished the ceremonial sentence but did not rise from his bowed position.
�Then so be it Lord Star Admiral William Jefferson Ross, you have pledged in the site of God and man these things, may your soul fall should you ever betray this oath.� The chaplain said softly, before turning to the other end of the flight bay and repeating these same sentences to another person that Ross could not see, or hear do to the directional field generated by the Dais-prior to directional sound tech they would have simply plugged his ears so he could not hear the other person.

�William Ross step up upon this dais and begin the journey into your new life.� The chaplain�s voice remained soft but still cold and Ross nervously stepped up upon the dais, Styles at his side.
There was a paper curtain in place, Ross could make out the shadows of two female figures but he couldn�t see any detail as he quickly turned to face the chaplain.
�William Jefferson Ross, do you have pledged your life, your soul and your sword to your God�s service, yet in his mercy God allowed man to share his love with woman, and to pledge his life to hers and be a dutiful to her until death, do you now pledge this to your mortal love?� the chaplain �s cold voice rang in Ross� ears.
�I pledge my life to the proper duties required by my love for this woman.� Ross said anxiously.

The chaplain looked at the other screen and pressed the button that triggered the directional sound device making it so that Ross could not hear his question to the woman on the other side of that screen, but allowing the assembled crew to hear it.
�Admiral Ross, your duties as husband are to love, care for, protect, and respect your wife, you shall each have duties in this marriage beyond those stated here, she shall be yours and you hers until death, do you understand this?� the chaplain stared hard at Ross with a hard glint in his eye.
�I understand these duties and I swear to do them to the best of my mortal abilities.� Ross voice was cheerless and his heart was pounding so hard he thought he was going to collapse.

The chaplain turned and again the directional sound device was activated, Ross was forbidden to look at his crew or anywhere but straight ahead, so he could not see their reactions, what if she had changed her mind? What if she was saying no? he kept thinking until the Chaplain turned to him again.
�Admiral William Jefferson Ross, Captain Yu Lin Pe, you have both sworn these things that can not be undone, may the screens that separated your bodies and souls now be removed.� The chaplain smiled and Ross heard as two swords were unsheathed, and turned to face the screen as Styles and another figure cut through the screen�s supports making it fall away noiselessly, and there she was, the most beautiful and amazing woman Ross had ever known, Lin, her almond eyes shining with pride, she was always stunning but in her dress mess uniform she took Ross breath away and he felt his heart jump into his throat. Next to Lin stood Sandra Fowler, her sword drawn and held in salute towards Styles who mirrored her stance.
�William Jefferson Ross, Yu Lin Pe I now pronounce in front of man and God that you are husband and wife, by your vows Yu Lin will keep her heritage name and shall be known from now on as Yu Lin Ross, congratulations and may your love shine through the stars.� The chaplain smiled and an applause erupted throughout the flight bay, Sandra Fowler and Jason Styles both sheathed their swords as Ross stepped to take Lin�s arminto his, their two sword bearers switched places, Fowler stood next to William and Styles next to Lin symbolizing that they were no longer separate, and that what belonged to one belonged to them both, he would place the ring on her finger only during their first night in bed together, unfortunately for them that would not be until the 3rd fleet reached Icara in a month-because of the regulations no two officers of intimate relationship could share quarters or engage in sexual activity aboard one of His Majesty�s vessels or installations- William and Lin had never made love to one another, and now even in marriage they�d have to wait another month, but for now neither of them cared about that, they stood proud as the marines all drew their swords and raised them in salute to the married couple, the two of them walked down the line and into the lift followed by Styles and Fowler.
Neither spoke until they reached William�s quarters where-for the sake of tradition- he carried her over the threshold into his quarters as their two friends stood outside, William gently closed the door and put Lin down, kissing her deeply.
�I love you Lin.� he said rather sheepishly
�I love you too William.� her voice shook as tears ran down her face, she kissed him again and they held each other for a long time laughing and crying all at the same time for their joy, before Lin turned to the door to leave.
�I can�t wait till we get home.� She said heavily, William nodded with a wolfish grin and she kissed him once more before turning to leave.
Ross had never wanted to get off ship so fast in his life, and he thought that one month would be an eternity as he waited to finally be able to have the woman he loved so much. Though they were both nearly 50 now thanks to modern medicine they were both considered very young-neither looked older then 18 or 20- and quite capable of having a family, something Ross looked forward too very much.

Starhawk

January 8th, 2005, 09:12 AM

Oh I forgot to post this like I wanted too earlier:

Nobility
"The Rank of Noble convey's no luxuries only responsibilities."
Praetor Alexander III

Ranks of Nobility and their responsibilities:

The Council:
The "Council" are the highest ranking lords in all of Icara they are the personnal advisors of a Praetor and some of the most powerful men and women in the galaxy.

Primus Lord: The Primus Lord commands no worlds, but instead he commands the entire SS force of Icara, including the "unofficial" resources at their disposal his duty is to keep the populace and other Nobles in line even if it means mass executions.

Lord Marshall: The rank of Lord Marshall has rarely been given to any man in Icaran history, and only once to a Woman, this rank is given complete and total command of every ship, trooper, and policeman that carries a weapon in Icaran space, this rank is only bestowed upon a truely superior military leader and only during extended periods of war.

Lord Fabricator: The Lord Fabricator is responsible for overseeing the construction of every ship, gun, and peice of equipment that is isued to the military of Icara, it is this lords duty to ensure that worlds meet their production quotas.

Lord Insidius: It is the task of the Lord Insidius to hunt down and eliminate spies/traitors/heretics and now mutants, the Lord Insidius commands the intelligence branch of Icara known as "The Shadow Daggers", these are a grim group of men and women who have pledged their very souls to the quelling of heretics, mutants, and spies that threaten the future of Icaran stability, a Shadow Dagger has permission to recruit or kill anyone short of noble rank that they see fit whenever they see fit.

Lord Militaire: A similar rank to that of Lord Marshall the Lord Militaire is far more common and far less prestigious, he is not the commander of the total armed forces but instead he is repsonsible for predicting the needs of the military and setting recruitment and construction quota's that will later be passed on to planetary and system lords.

The House of Nobles:

Duke/Duchess: A duke or duchess is the lowest rank of the nobility in Icaran society, they command but a single world in just one system of Icara, a duke is responsible for the upkeep of a planetary defense force and a planetary economy, any Duke/Duchess seen lacking in either area can end up face to face with a Shadowdagger with permission to execute.

Baron/Baroness: A Baron or Baroness is the second highest noble rank in the house of lords, they are the commanders of two dukes (or two worlds), it is their job to ensure that those under them meet their responsibilities, a holder of this rank is permitted to recruit ships or troops from their worlds as they see fit as long as the Lord Militaire is informed prior to this recruitment.
The Baron/baroness is also responsible for tax collection across the worlds they command if they fail to meet tax, military, or construction quota's for a long period of time a Baron may face summary execution by firing squad.

Count/Countess: The count/countess is the highest rank any "normal" noble can hold, this rank is a system commander they are responsible for the governance of an entire star system and anywhere from several hundred million to several billion citizens.
They are responsible for the defense/tax collection/resource collection/recruitment of an entire star system, thus this rank is only given to the most trustworthy of nobles.
Unlike the other two ranks mentioned above, the Count is responsible for more then just planetary defense, they are responsible for providing recruits to the Royal Military's fighting arms, sometimes this means recruitment from Planetary defense forces and sometimes it means sending press gangs into the streets to gather the personell required to meet a quota provided by the Praetor or the Council.
The Count/Countess however is generally safe from summary execution unless they are deemed a heretic, instead they are sent away in disgrace and demoted to duke, some have even been forced to join the very units they could not meet the quota for.

Starhawk

January 8th, 2005, 10:39 PM

You don't think that Last chapter was too corney do yah? I mean a wedding and all in the middle of a galactic war? I thought it would add a touch of humanity and besides that Yu and Ross have been dating by that point for 4 years and would have known each other for about 30 so hehe http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

kerensky

January 9th, 2005, 05:09 PM

Okay, so finally here it is, the word format of the story. It's current up to this post, but is not completely edited for typos...

Enjoy

kerensky

January 13th, 2005, 05:45 PM

Don't despare!!! I talked to starhalk today and he said he was working on the next chapter, so be prepared for it soon.

Starhawk

January 13th, 2005, 07:17 PM

2426.6
The third fleet entered Icara�s orbit as triumphant heroes, thousands of pleasure yachts and small craft darted about as tens of thousands of people rushed to see the magnificent site of their glorious warships and their righteous crews returned home from their holy crusade to liberate worlds from the vile clutches of Xeno�s of a most foul nature, nearly two dozen worlds were �purified� by the �holy fire� from the fleets of Icara and with those worlds millions and billions died freeing up those worlds for eventual colonization by humans, the true masters of the galaxy.
For the warriors of the 3rd fleet it was a time of celebration not because of their triumphant return, nor because of the glorious parades and parties held in their honor, no to the vast bulk of returning soldiers the celebration was in the simple warmth of Icara�s nights, the cool soothing breezes from the oceans, and the laughter of children, they were finally home after twenty five years of war and struggle in space, some had left home when they were but twelve and returned to home as thirty year old plus men, tired from a lifetime of endless war aboard the vast metal leviathans that were the warships of the Royal Navy.
For William Ross and his young wife Yu Lin the celebration happened in private, they stayed away from the parties and the parades and the endless banter from reporters and admiring citizens, they hid away in a cabin that had once belonged to her father enjoying each other�s company and inviting only a few friends over for simple gatherings and dinners were no reporters clacked away with holovid cameras or constantly jabbered in their ears, waiting for a famous quote for the history books.

Little could the celebrating population of the Icaran empire suspect that a threat more harrowing then Xeno�s more devious then the Andorans and darker then the heretical cults that were being suppressed by the SS. A threat that silently spread to the world named Valhalla, people vanished one day and appeared the next but they were changed somehow, distant, quiet and some would say hollow, the authorities searched for a cause but none could be found, days went by and eventually the entire world seemed to be distancing it�s self from the neighboring worlds and systems of the empire, the local governor began sending only vague reports from his world, more and more citizens began to become fearful that whatever was happening on Valhalla would spread to their worlds, but no one wanted to inform the military for fears that they would make an ere in judgment and face the wrath of an angry military commander should their fears prove baseless so instead the governors in that system remained silent and watched to see what would happen later�..something that would soon prove a most dangerous mistake.

Starhawk

January 16th, 2005, 02:32 AM

Memories:
It was a long time ago now, it seemed like years now, though it had only been one year since the warp points to outside space had been sealed, since Jack Alderson�s ship had heard the final alerts by the navy to any stellar capable ships to make the warp jump before the points were sealed off. Jack had been on a passenger liner, the LNS Star Sparrow when the first warship appeared in his system and alerted the dozens of Civilian ships to make top possible speed for the warp point, they had only been given two days to make it and some of the poor bastards knew right off the start that their craft couldn�t make it before the point was sealed.
Jack remembered the panic, the screaming and crying of scared children, the sobbing of people who realized that even if the liner made it to the warp point they would never see their families again, some even demanded that the liner return to one of this world or that in the system but they were quickly overpowered by those people who were desperate to escape the system that was seen as doomed.

For hours upon hours the ship cut through space at full speed, other ships joined her, liner�s, freighters, bulk carriers, even civilian yachts that would never make the jump were trying to keep up, hoping to dock with some of the bigger ships and offload their passengers. It was like a scene of some holodrama, some small yachts even tried forcibly boarding an armed merchantman that was carrying over 6,000 souls that they had managed to pick up from one of the outer worlds, it was a strange space battle to say the least, none of the combatants had the weaponry of a warship and one of the three attacking yachts only had auto cannons with which to attack the behemoth of a ship, the merchantman returned fire with her frag cannons and quickly destroyed one of her attackers, tragically the exploding yacht slammed headlong into a school ship, destroying it instantly killing dozens of children. Jack remembered watching from the ship�s main view port and remembered wondering why the waiting Icaran warship didn�t even try to help that merchantman and save those six thousand souls, Jack just felt glad that he could not hear the com traffic that the crews of the surrounding ships could hear it must have been such a sad and desperate plea for help.
Another armed yacht darted into the fray, bringing it�s anti-proton cannons to bear on one of the armed yachts, the first shot missed entirely but the second volley cut into the raider�s engine housing causing the craft to spin out until the merchantman�s frag cannons locked on her and finished the job.
Unfortunately by that point the merchantman had suffered massive amounts of damage, whole sections burned with the fury of plasma fires and atmosphere was rushing into space from holed sections along the cargo pods that carried thousands of people, Jack thought back with a shiver as the site of people being sucked out into space by the hundreds as more and more weapons fire raked their ship, and the thoughts of how many people must have died in the fires or when the oxygen was sucked out of their cargo pods. It all ended when the raider tried to latch on to the merchantman and commence boarding operation, tragedy struck however when the other armed yacht scored a hit on the raider�s starboard engine forcing it to flame out, because it was latched onto the merchantman with grapplers however it did not spin away harmlessly but instead spiraled directly into the main compartment of the cargo ship causing a massive chain reaction, destroying the entire ship and killing thousands of innocent people.
More raids followed as desperate individuals attacked jump capable ships, and boarded them, though not every armed ship was in the hands of a desperate pirate, many armed yachts and racers patrolled the rag-tag fleet fighting off raiders wherever they could, hundreds of these brave people died as raiders engaged the fleet, one raider even scored three hits on the Star Sparrow killing dozens in the aft compartment before it was rammed by an armed racer that was acting as an impromptu fighter.
Jack remembered the feelings of anger and frustration as he saw a naval dreadnought just sitting there watching as raiders and �militia� fought for control of the jump capable ships, he had just come on this ship for a week long cruise around the system and now he was involved in a battle with other Icarans! And worse yet he had no weapons with which to fight back. He looked out his window just in time to see three armed racers and a yacht fly by his ship in formation, almost instantly one of the racers exploded in a ball of fire as a �merchantman� opened fire on the fleet with an I-Laser cannon, a second shot from the deadly cannon struck home on one of the poor freighters destroying it�s engines and life support systems outright. The fleet was only two minutes from the warp point and finally the dreadnought opened fire to protect the fleet, the raiding merchantman erupted into a ball of wreckage and fire.

Jack finally felt the gravity waves engulfing his ship and looked through his window long enough to see the dreadnought racing past his ship into the warp, warships were much faster in warp speed because of their higher quality GFGs and gravity sail generators that were the size of the Star Sparrow�s entire engine block, which meant that the warship would already be thousands of kilometers off before the first civilian ship even entered the warp point it�s self.
The space around the civilian fleet was alive with colors as a Last wave of raiders tried to board the bigger ships to save their own asses, the brave few people left protecting the fleet raced out to meet them. A handful of the armed racers that had been damaged in battle managed to land aboard some of the larger civilian ships just before they made the transition into the warp.
The Star Sparrow was one of the slower ships in the fleet thanks to the damage she had suffered during the raider�s abortive attack against her, that left her and only two other ships with roughly eight thousand souls between them lagging at the back of the fleet and it was this that spelled their doom.
Jack remembered the tormented screaming and whaling coming from the forward compartments, just before the entire compartment he and dozens of other passengers were in turned red, a noise indescribable to anyone who did not hear it began and it was the noise more then anything that caused the screaming of agony, for the second the sound started every cell in Jack�s body erupted in fire, his body felt like it was twisting and distorting, his eyes lost sight for what seemed an eternity and the vision that greeted him when sight regained only made him wish for death even more, the other passengers were changing, their bodies were becoming distorted and the decks began dripping with blood as some of the passenger�s bodies liquefied because of the warping effects. It seemed like an eternity of pain before they finally exited the warp, the three ships that had been cut off from the rest of the fleet appeared light years off course and those poor souls that had survived could no longer be called human, Jack remembered the feeling of fear at first but then that feeling began to change, he felt a calling stronger then anything else he had ever felt before, the calling to find others like himself, those that had survived being cut off from the warp those that had turned into whatever it was that he had become, days passed and they had found eight other ships with other mutants like themselves, Jack had taken charge of the mutants through sheer force of character and will, and even now he had forged the 11 ships and about twelve thousand mutated individuals that had been �sacrificed for the good of man�, little did those bastards in the government know that they had survived the warp, their ships and bodies mutated beyond recognition but they had survived, and now they would claim vengeance upon the empire that had abandoned them to death for the sake of a numbers game!
And it would all start here, on Valhalla, he had already taken an advance team to the surface and even now their workings of sabotage and plans for the population were well underway, the entire planetary com system had been destroyed and thousands of people had been brought under the mutant�s sway, soon they would have their vengeance, very soon.

Crazy_Dog

January 16th, 2005, 01:19 PM

Mutants ???
Is that a possibility under the rules of SEIV G ?

Starhawk

January 16th, 2005, 02:26 PM

lol not at all but I am going off track of the game for that portion of our story, so ladies and gentlmen please remain in your seats until the ride has come to a complete stop.

Starhawk

January 25th, 2005, 03:53 AM

Apendix of Terms taken from Heinkle's 25th century Dictioanry (not Alhpabetical order):

Xeno: Xeno, short form of Xenobiological or Xenoterrestrial,
1.meaning not human or of Earthly origins.
2. Slang form of Xenoterrestrial
3. Derogative word for alien species

I-Laser: Short for Intensive Plasma Laser

ShellBuster: Term used to describe an explosive charge capable of breaching a hull.

Credit: A unit of Icaran Currency.

Crowns Crowns refers to a coin used to represent 5 credits.

Billy Hopper: A citizen of the Empire unauthorized for interstellar flight, who hides on a interstellar transport. The term "Billy Hopper" comes from the fact that the first recorded case of such action was taken by a man named William, the hopper refers to the fact that most of these "Billy Hoppers" must stow away aboard several ships before reaching their destination.

Mutant: Describing one who has mutated.
1. A human being who has suffered genetic or biological mutations of some form.

Xenocide: Refers to the systematic annihilation of a non-human species.

Slambred: Slambred, meaning one bred in a slam or maximum security Penal colony. Slambred citizens are often drafted into the Icaran marine corps or Imperial Guard regiments, following extensive "re-socialization" processes.

Re-Socialization: A series of drug, hypnotic, and brain print treatments which allow an otherwise unsuitable citizen to operate as a normal human being.

Joey: A marine

Bootstamp: Referring to the imprint left after a kick from an Icaran Jackboot, meaning chewed out by one's superior. ex: "John just got a bootstamp from his Commander for sleeping in."

Dancing a Molly: Refers to a hanging, the standard sentence for traitors and heretics.

Sweetjuice: Slang term for an illegal Phong drink which has intoxicating results on said species, and toxic results to humans.

Heretic: One who defies the existance of the divine, an atheist, a cultist, or one who has defiled the name of the Praetors.

Blackshirt: Slang term used by military personnel to refer to a State Security trooper.

Dragger: A dragger, an unproductive citizen, a lazy individual.

Warping Willies: A humorous name for warp sickness, caused by the effects of the warp on some humans.

Bouncing Brenda: Slang for a landmine used by Icaran State Security, it pops up from the ground prior to exploding when triggered.

Kissing Steel: Slang term for being slapped by the flat of a sword, punishment inflicted on undisciplined recruits.

Spanking Anna: Crude Slang for slapping a charge/magazine into a rifle, origins unknown.

Darter: Weapon used by State Security and Ship Board Marines. Fires a micro explosive "Dart" at transonic speeds via magnetic acceleration.

Auto-Rifle: Refers to an automatic darter assault rifle carried by SS and Fleet Marines.

Green Meanie: Stimulant pill used by the military during long periods where sleep is not available, side effects include explosive vommiting and diarrhea after prolonged use, as well as headaches.

Vac Suit: A soft form fitting suit worn over clothing aboard starships during combat incase of sudden exposure to vacuum.

Hard Suit: Refers to a Marine or Army armored Vac suit.

Slasher: Slang term for an energy blade carried by marines for hand to hand fighting aboard ship.

Charlie Foxtrot Polite version of Cluster ****, used to describe a situation where an officer who does not know what they are doing is placed in charge of those who do. See also goatscrew.

Slam: Maximum Security Penal colony.

Halfer: A being of mixed species, also classified as mutants.

Glassing: The destruction of a world by orbital bombardment, comes from the fact that energy weapons and fusion weapons turn soil to glass upon impact.

OpFor The Opposing Forces

Burner: Used by navy pilots to describe afterburners, by land forces it is used as slang for a flamethrower.

Bessy: A Mk12 Bessamalt Arms assault Rifle.

The State: Refers to the body politic, government as a whole throughout the Empire.

Nugget: A new pilot

Mud Eater: A ground pounder, generally army personnel.

Expect a New Chapter soon http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif btw you guys don't mind me going a little off game for a bit do you?

Starhawk

January 25th, 2005, 01:07 PM

Anyone still reading this http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/frown.gif

BTW don't worry about that link anymore it stopped working about two weeks ago http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Atrocities

January 25th, 2005, 01:15 PM

Yes, still reading. To bad about the link.

Hey don't worry if you don't get any posts in this thread. People often read but seldom post. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif I have found that writing for review is less rewarding than writing just to write. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

So please keep writing, and we will keep reading. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Also check out this site, it might be of interst to you. http://www.lit.org/

Rasorow

January 25th, 2005, 05:18 PM

reading...... and waiting........

And Atrocities is right.... I try to post as little as possible once the story is going so not to break it up.

Rasorow

Starhawk

January 28th, 2005, 04:39 PM

A Crisis on Valhalla:
William Ross Admiral Lord of the Icaran Empire woke up to the chiming of the com panel, he wiped the sleep from his eyes, before gently running his left hand down the naked side of his beautiful wife, a soft contented moan from her made getting out of bed even more anguishing to the Admiral, they had only been in their little cabin for a week, they had been hoping for a month of leave after their return from inspecting the newest superdreadnought to join the royal navy, their first visit to this cabin lasted only two days and that was months ago after twenty six long years in space, but as they say the navy never rests. William left the bedroom and grumpily walked over to the com panel in the small main room of the cabin so as not to disturb Lin. After a second he donned a robe and pressed the receive button, immediately Ross braced too attention and saluted �Grand Admiral!� he blurted, more then a little surprised to be seeing the Haggard face of Grand Admiral Halice, the old man was scheduled to step down in a few weeks, at the ripe old age of 168 he deserved a break, but until then he had sworn that he would do his job with as much diligence as he had when he was but 46 years old.
�Hello William.� The Admiral replied softly the set of his face serious, with an expression of concern that confused Ross, ever since the warp points to outside space had been sealed, the Admiralty had relaxed considerably, and began the process of mobilizing the smaller fleets into one massive fleet of warships that could strike at enemy systems in the blink of an eye.
�What�s wrong Admiral?� Ross asked hesitantly, a lump in his throat prevented him from speaking further as the concerned frown on Hallice�s face grew deeper.
�Maybe nothing, maybe something, we don�t know Ross, that�s the problem, Valhalla has suddenly gone quiet and the other nobles in that system are a little worried, they�ve called for a navy or SS explorative mission, I have decided we�ll send in the professionals so I�ve contacted Captain Fowler aboard Blackbird, she�ll stop by Icara to pick you up then make the jump to Valhalla to see what�s going on there.� Hallice paused and allowed the message to sink in as Ross stood stunned by his orders, he and Lin had just gotten off from duty now he�d have to leave on a stupid explorative mission of an Icaran colony that was probably just experiencing com malfunctions.
�Admiral with all due respect I am sure I�m not necessary on a mere explorative op, Miss Fowler is an excellent officer and capable of making decisions on her own, she doesn�t need me standing over her shoulder.� Ross took a pleading tone but Hallice simply shook his head.
�Sorry Ross, but Miss Fowler is not a noble, nor are most captains in the navy, you however are and you are also a Knight in service to the Praetor Saints, even a noble would have to listen to what you have to say�.unless of course you prefer I send Lin instead of you since she is also now a noble and knight? Hallice shrugged, he knew Ross would never let Lin go into a potentially dangerous situation if he could take her place.
�That�s a cheap trick sir.� Ross said sourly �When do you want me ready to leave?� he resigned himself to the fact that it was either he or Lin that would be leaving, for Valhalla.
�Tomorrow afternoon, sorry Ross I know that you and Lin haven�t had much of a vacation lately but you�re the best man for this job and I need you. Hallice out.� the screen went black, after a moment of staring into the blank screen Ross turned toward the bedroom and quietly walked in, the moon shone dimly through the window into the dark room, revealing the slim fit body of his beloved wife Lin, he stood in the doorway for a moment admiring her slim beauty, her soft curves, even the sound of her breathing, a few seconds later William heard her breathing change and realized she had just awoke.
�Wil, Whats wrong?� she whispered into the darkness.
�I�ve just received orders to depart for Valhalla tomorrow afternoon, they�ve been having a communications blackout for a few days now and the other nobles are getting all nervous, they want me to go in with the i]Blackbird[/i] and investigate.� He walked over to Lin, gently kissing her on the neck. She was a naval officer herself and knew that this could happen, a fact William was grateful for, as most women would probably demand explanations or reasons before leaving the night off in an angry silence.
She grinned �Well at least we can take advantage of some of the time we have left.� he returned her grin and slid off the robe he had donned to talk with Hallice.

When Lin woke in the morning the smell of eggs met her nostrils, and she heard humming coming from the small kitchen, she smiled to herself as she slipped on some clothes and left the bedroom.
William was already fully dressed in his duty uniform as he set up the table for breakfast, he looked up at her and smiled sheepishly.
�You weren�t supposed to wake up for a little while you know?� he said cheerfully as he smiled again.
�Oh I�m sorry would you like me to go back?� She said laughing, smiling wickedly at him as she took her place at the other side of the table from her husband. For an hour the two of them ate in silence neither of them enjoyed the fact that William would be leaving for at least a few weeks to complete an inspection of Valhalla but finally William cleared his throat.
�Lin, if you don�t mind me asking what are you going to be doing while I�m away?� his voice was still sheepish as he looked into her eyes, they always comforted him, the strength, dignity and confidence they exuded had helped him through the hardest moments of his life but today they looked anxious.
�Well, I was hoping to tell you later but since your leaving this afternoon, I�ve been given a new commission Wil.� she smiled and William sat back shocked for a moment by her silence.
�Come on the suspense is killer.� he said jokingly, her shrug made him all the more curious.
�It�s no big deal� she started casually �I received word a few days ago, I�ve been given command of one of the Five Swords.� she smiled broadly and William almost fell out of his chair as he stood up to hug her. The Five Swords-often called the Five Swords of Heaven- were the most powerful warships in the galaxy and the true representation of the fighting and engineering prowess of the Icaran people.
�Which one is it?� he said, overjoyed she smiled brilliantly back.
�The Sword of Wrath.� she said, giggling like she had once when she was fifteen.
The two talked for hours before William finally left for the shuttle port that would take him to the Naval base on the southern coast of the primary continent of Icara. As he flew over the scenery below Admiral Lord Ross admired the beauty of Icara�s lush green forests and brilliant blue skies. Icara was a warm world compared to the average human world, but Ross liked it�s warmth it�s long sunrises and sunsets, the beauty of the blue-winged eagles flying overhead in the long summer season and the smell of Chacka Oranges blossoming in the pseudo spring that Icara had. It was hard for Ross to even believe that when his ancestors first landed on Icara they had to struggle just to find food, and that the pleasant warmth that he knew today was once a steaming sauna before weather grids were placed around habitable regions, and that the very heat had killed many of the weaker colonists when they first landed on Icara all those long centuries ago.

So much had changed for Icarans, they were once philosophers, poets and healers when they were almost slaughtered by the Spartans that all changed, they became hardened conquerors, they had swept across the face of Earth like a great shadow, unstoppable, unchecked until they ran against the Asian Empire, for centuries they coexisted peacefully, the Icaran military protected the Empire and the Asian Empire, though an enemy was rarely ever met on the battlefield, until the treacherous independent nations formed their own alliance, the Sol Coalition and nuked dozens of Icaran and Asian cities, colonies and outposts. Billions died in that war and left the remnants of Icara and Asia shattered and homeless, their desperation led them to Icara and Brandenburg, for two hundred years they had rebuilt and finally when they decided to reach for the stars again they again met with disaster as they encountered the Phong and the Neo-Star Empires, the war was brutal and millions died, which again ruined the possibility of peace within the Empire and the crusades began, crusades which claimed billions in a wave of fire and purification, for the first time in two decades the Icaran Empire was in a state of peace, but even in this time of peace, even now there was a crisis and Ross felt an uneasiness about his �inspection tour� of Valhalla and a touch of nerves about the future of the Empire, of a people that had seen so much death, blood and sorrow in their existence.
Ross finally reached the spaceport outside of Sagatarian city, the view was amazing, dozens of sky scrapers rose hundreds of stories into the sky, shuttles and public transports darted around like bees around a hive in an amazing buzz of activity and life. But the crowned Jewel of Sagatarian city was it�s massive spaceport, which was so large that it could land 3 dreadnought sized ships side by side and still have room for a squadron of fighters and a civvie transport or two, not that any dreadnoughts could make atmospheric entry.
Many people even claimed that Sagatarian was built for the spaceport and not the other way around, a theory Ross was willing to accept after he heard that of the 1.6 million souls in Sagatarian one million worked in some function at the Spaceport.
The transport landed silently in the eastern number two landing field, Ross walked down the ramp to find a full squad of marines waiting for him, they were all wearing full combat armor and many of them looked around nervously, something Ross found most disconcerting considering they were all on the capitol world of the entire Empire. As the confused Admiral stepped forward a Marine Lieutenant braced to attention in front of him, when Ross returned the salute the marine cocked his head.
�Lord Star Admiral William Jefferson Ross?� the Lieutenant asked, probably feeling rather stupid about asking such an obvious question, though protocol still demanded it.
�Yes Lieutenant that�s me.� Ross said a little amused.
�Sir we are here to take you aboard Blackbird by order of Captain Sandra Fowler, please follow me.� The marine turned around stiffly and signaled the squad to move toward a landed cutter, which bore the crest of the Blackbird for some reason Ross always found that ship�s crest disturbing, it was a blackbird of old earth, wings extended to their fullest span, and a body extended as if about to land, with a sunset in the background, it always seemed like a symbol of bad luck to him, especially after Lin told him that many cultures considered a blackbird a foretelling of imminent death.
�Tell me Lieutenant why a fully armed and armored squad of marines to pick me up on our own homeworld?� Ross said politely as he followed the marine.
�Orders sir.� The marine said bluntly, Ross� face reddened slightly at what could easily be considered a slight to his honor.
�Excuse me Marine?� Ross� voice had a bite to it this time but the marine didn�t even flinch.
�Sir, I mean you no disrespect, but I don�t know why we were sent down in full armor or loaded out for combat but I am following my orders to the word sir, oh and sir this is not m homeworld I�m from Valhalla.� the Lieutenant said in the same unflinching tone that he would have if he were under fire from the enemy.
Ross however froze in place and instinctively reached toward his holster.
�Marine do me a favor, take of your helmet.� Ross said warily, and noticed with some bit of nerves that the other marines in the group were all looking directly at him, he wished he could see their faces, but the breather attachment and visor to infantry helmets prevented that.
�Yes sir.� The marine replied as any Icaran soldier would, instantly and without question, the helmet came off with a hiss and Ross instantly relaxed, realizing he knew the young officer, of course the man was only a private when he first met him years ago aboard the Yu Hing Pe straight out of boot camp.
�Mahony Isn�t it?� Ross said with a bit of a smile as he let his hand slip away from his holster.
The marine bowed politely and smiled �I�m honored you remember me sir.� he placed his helmet back on his head and gestured for Ross to follow him. Ross had only met the man once during the closing days of the Phong Crusade but the marine made a good impression on him.

On the ride Ross looked over at Lieutenant Robert Patrick Mahony �Hey Lieutenant, what do you think is going on, on Valhalla?� Ross knew that it was probably a sensitive question but he figured would be best to ask of a Valhallan native.
�I don�t know sir, Valhalla is as loyal and devout to the Empire as the next world, maybe even more so I don�t understand why my people would go silent like that.� the young man replied and his eyes flashed pain at the thought. The rest of the ride went in an uncomfortable silence, Ross sympathize with the young man, Ross was a native to Icara as were seventy eight percent of the human population that was his age the rest were Brandenburg citizens and Rebels, but there were a lot of people born on colonies, and to them their world was just as important as Icara it�s self. And to them the loss of their world was just as much of a nightmare as it would be to an Icaran native or Brandenburg native.

End of Part One

:As I said Looooong chapter, part two and three are going to be just as long, if not longer:

Atrocities

February 3rd, 2005, 09:55 PM

That was a very nice read Starhawk. Thank you. How many words do you have so far for the entire story?

Starhawk

February 4th, 2005, 04:42 PM

So far my empire has 293 planets in 53 systems and a population of 132 billion.

I haven't fully finished colonizing the decimated worlds yet but when I do I'll probobly have an extra 50 or so planets in my empire.

Starhawk

February 7th, 2005, 04:32 PM

I've decided to add a bit more backstory to the Icaran Empire as I write part 2 of "Crisis on Valhalla".

Space Travel Within the Icaran Empire

Civilian Space Travel:
Space Travel within the Icaran Empire for civilians is limited to "sub-stellar" ranges, which means though the vast majorty of starships are equipped with GFGs it is illegal for a civilian starship to exit it's own star system without explicit government edict to the contrary, such as what happened during the early portion of Operation Exodus when all civilian ships with GFGs were permited to attempt a retreat from the systems that were being sealed off from the warp.

Even sub-stellar cruises are rare for the average civilian as the operating liscense the government places on all spacecraft is extremely expensive for the average citizen, which means that most Icarans never see another world, much less another system.

There are ways for civilians to see other worlds and other stars, however, these options are listed in detail below:

Colony Bureau: The Colony Bureau is the first hope for most civilians to see another world. A citizen that signs on to the CB is bound for a period of 20 years to a contract that forbids them from, joining the military or mining corps, in this time the CB attempts to find a colony project that best suits the citizen's skills.
Unfortunately for most civilians in the CB they do not find themselves on a beautiful Icara type world but instead are sent to mining worlds or armory worlds which are only safe because of massive blasteel domes, these worlds are often barren and toxic to human life and so the colonist may spend their entire life inside the dome, never again seeing the blue skies of an I-Type world. And any colonist must remain on world for 5-10 years prior to being allowed to sign on to another colony project.

For some citizens however the CB is their only hope for leaving such a barren wasteland of a world and they are willing to chance anything for the opportunity to leave.

Mining Corps: For some the Mining Corps is a worse choice then the CB, but to others it's a life of excitement and adventure that they would turn down for nothing.

The Space Based arm of the Mining Corps was established in the year 2412 when the remote mining devices requried to mine asteroid belts was invented and has for the past decade provided valuable raw materials to the Icaran economy.

The life of a "world" miner is a dangerous one, and a hard one, they spend hours a day, five days a week, every week of the year below ground digging for precious raw materials that are required to keep Icara's economy alive.

A "space" miner's life is just as dangerous but far more exciting to many. A "space miner" serves on a mining ship and spends years on end in space with his/her crew mining the valuable asteroid belts of Icaran space.

The benefit to being a member of the mining corps aside from high pay, is the chance of reasignment, the chance to be asigned to a "core world" that has already been terraformed or is at least undergoing the terraformation process.

Of course the opposite is also true, a miner may go from being based out of a beautiful gem of a world to a barren rock where ferocious creatures are trying to kill you in horrible ways.

The Royal Navy: The Royal navy is another option for a civilian who wishes to see the stars and other worlds, however service to the navy has it's price as well. Miminum service is for no less than 50 years, meaning that a person who signs up at the minimum recruitment age of 16 will get out when they are nearing middle age, It is also a dangerous occupation if you are assigned to a warship or frontline base, or a tedius one if the navy assigns you to a freighter or interstellar transport. Even with the chance of a boring assignment millions of people every year flock to the service of the Royal Navy.

Royal Marines: Like the Navy the Royal Marines attract millions of volunteers every year, civilians who want to see the stars and live a life of adventure and danger. Millions every year washout however and are forced to wait yet another year before they can try again.

Royal Army: Unlike the Romance of the Royal Navy or Royal Marines the Royal army is a machine of no finesse but instead is a hammer of destruction, a blunt objecct used to crush enemy worlds into submission. Those who join the army know they will likely spend the rest of their lives moving from world to world on a troopship in the middle of a warfleet, only seeing a world when they are deployed into battle or deployed for Garrison duty.

State Security: The SS is the only option for those who seek to serve Icara but are unable or unwilling to join the military, a citizen with a clean record and a loyal background may join the SS and hope to be assigned to one of the dozens of brigades guarding Icaran worlds, the main fear of joining the SS is being assigned to one of the "frontier" brigades on an occupied world where the population may be hostile or may not even be human at all.

The Warp:
The reason FTL travel is forbidden to all but government liscensed ships is because the only form of FTL travel is a "warp point" and travel through such points must be strictly enforced and scheduled to prevent tragic accidents.
Another reason for banning FTL travel to all but liscened ships is because millions of citizens would flock away from in-hospitable worlds and leave the vast majority of worlds within Icaran space empty, leaving massive ammounts of resources unreachable.

Starhawk

February 10th, 2005, 07:07 AM

This is a little bit of stuff I actually got the idea from someone who said it would be interesting to know how the average soldier feels when they are going to war in the days of Icara.

Well the best way I feel I could do that is to write prayers or battle hymns/songs because it is often in the songs of war that we can most often feel what the soldiers feel in my humble opinion.

Imperial Battle Prayer:

Lord you have chosen us to do this work
Give us Strength to face the fire.
And courage to face the sword

Give us resolve to be victorious
And Wisdom to be merciful

Give us this day to conquer
And tomorrow to spread your word

Give us your love and care
And allow us to do the same

We ask you now for your final blessing in prayer
So that when we die we can raise our faces to the sky
And know that no matter where our bodies lie
We are home, and have seen the end of our struggles. Amen

1st Icaran Regimental Battle Hymn:
The stars cried out the heavens fell
Yet still we charge into gore and hell
The earth may shake and burn with fire
Yet we fight on till our bodies meet the pyre
They Sound the call Fleet and Army into the endless night
So Come on brave lads be ready to fight
No matter the world green or barren
They shall say of us they died Icaran!

Call to Arms: Spoken in Icara city by an unknown speaker Circa 2402
They say of these Phong, They are too powerful!
They say they can not be overcome by mere humans
I say they know not the strength of our hearts!
They know not the strength of our soul and our faith!
These Xenos are just another test placed before us on our quest to unite man under one banner
They are just another obstacle which must be overcome for our future
And I say when history looks back upon this day it will say Icara can not be overcome, Icarans can not be overcome for as long as we stand together we are unbreakable! Stand and fight these creatures and bring us victory, in the name of all we consider holy by the time we are done with this galaxy they will say We are the only power in all of creation behind God that can not be overcome!

P.S I am still writing the rest of the story http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Atrocities

February 10th, 2005, 11:10 AM

Thank you, I needed a good read this morning. LOL, please keep up the great work Starhawk. I tried to sing this to a tune but could not find one that fit. Perhaps the melody "Battle Without Honor Or Humanity" might fit. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Starhawk

February 10th, 2005, 03:55 PM

Well you have to remember AT they don't speak english so that's of course a translated version, played to a foreign military march, yup that's my story and I'm stickin to it http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif.

rdouglass

February 11th, 2005, 04:59 PM

Starhawk said:
Well you have to remember AT they don't speak english so that's of course a translated version, played to a foreign military march, yup that's my story and I'm stickin to it http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif.

LOL! All I can picture is B-rate KungFu movies that were poorly voiced-over. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/laugh.gif

EDIT: Oh yeah, still a great read.

Atrocities

February 11th, 2005, 09:51 PM

One way to explain away why every alien race speaks english is to "discover" a gene that all races share that make them develop their language to be simular to english.

Something that an ancient race instilled into the genetic make up for each planet they seeded. (English, the ancient english language)

narf poit chez BOOM

February 12th, 2005, 02:23 AM

It is due to an ancient race known as Bee'nn Cow'n'ters.

Starhawk

February 12th, 2005, 11:43 PM

LOL love that last remark narf http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Yeah the story is still coming along all well and good but Its a busy weekend for me so I'm not likely to be doing anything on it till monday or tuesday.

Starhawk

March 2nd, 2005, 02:18 AM

(update) Just to let you all know this story is not dead, I have been busy re-making the Icaran Shipset to a much nicer and more menacing appearance, plus with better Special FX http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Here is the Icaran National Flag to give ya'll a taste of how the new set is going to increase the feel of the Icaran's true "nature". http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

If you want a closer look at the Icaran "Royal Crest/Naval Insignia" I've added an extra picture of that.

Atrocities

March 2nd, 2005, 02:28 AM

Thanks Starhawk. With the story drout we have been having around here it is nice to know that your still planning on writing.

I want to write but I simply am just to lazy to do so. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/frown.gif "Bobs your uncle." (Thats just the way it is)

Starhawk

March 2nd, 2005, 02:30 AM

That's fixed you can now download the two pics http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif I think most of you won't find the "theme" suprising at all.

Yah I Just love writing but lately things have been getting hectic and the like http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Starhawk

March 11th, 2005, 02:04 AM

As Promised part 2 of 3 of "Crisis on Valhalla". Enjoy http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[EDIT]: THIS POST IS RATED R for strong violence, graphic language, gore, and creatures that are probobly naked (the first 3 are serious!)

Crisis On Valhalla Part 2:
The Blackbird sat elegantly in space, she had taken up formation with a civilian fuel station in orbit of Icara which she dwarfed easily, her beautiful gray, and red cylindrical hull shimmered in the starlight making her look like some living behemoth out of ancient mythology. Ross felt an excitement he had not felt in a long time, he hated leaving Lin and Icara after so long in space, but when he saw the elegant death bringer that was a super dreadnought once again his heart warmed with a glee that only the stars could bring to a man, his joy at seeing the Blackbird was for another special reason as well, she was commanded by Captain Sandra Fowler, the young woman that he had seen rise from command of his old frigate which now lay in orbit of Icara as part of the fleet museum to command of a Super Dreadnought, one of the Empire�s deadliest warships. He remembered how proud Sandy�s parents were of her when she first received command of HMS Saber all those long years ago, and thought back to how happy he was as well.

�Admiral, this is [/b]Blackbird[/b] LSO Kerensi, we have your shuttle on scopes, and have acheived maglock you are hands free, and welcome Admiral.� The voice on the other end of the com sounded young but professional, making Ross smile once again remembering his early days in the Royal Navy.
The massive super dreadnought turned her gun ports to broadside and fired their salute to welcome a flag officer, the area lit green as the minimum power beams fired off in sequence in a centuries old naval tradition..
Ross�s shuttle came to a halt just below the open boat bay doors of the massive super dreadnought, the mag beam held locked the shuttle in place for a moment before gently pulling the shuttle into the huge bay. As the shuttle lifted silently into position a marine and spacer honor guard braced to attention and saluted smartly at their head stood three command officers in full dress mess uniform, Captain Fowler and Commander Higgins were wearing the newer blood red jacket and black pants of the Royal Navy while Major Jahonis wore the dark green jacket and tan trousers of the Royal marines, and each was decorated with several medals and orders making them stand out even more amongst the other officers and crews.
Ross stepped off the shuttle and smiled as soon as he saw Sandra standing in salute a marine Sergeant shouted �Aten-Shut!� bringing the entire honor guard to salute. Sandra stepped forward and smiled at her old friend.
�Welcome aboard Admiral� her voice was virtually brimming with joy her eyes gleaning with pride.
�Thank you Captain Fowler.� Ross said cheerfully as he shook Fowler�s hand.
�Would you like a tour of Blackbird sir?� her voice held all the professionalism required but her eyes were alight with pride, sure it was just another super dreadnought in a fleet of a hundred but it was her ship and that made it unique just as it would for any captain. Ross nodded and smiled again, as she led him toward the boat bay doors and dismissed the honor guards and receiving crew.

After the tour Ross, Fowler, her XO Higgins and Marine Major Jahonis had a private dinner in her day cabin, unfortunately it was more then a social gathering as the questions revolving around Valhalla had to be discussed in detail.
�I do not understand why the local planets could not simply dispatch an SS team to investigate the sudden silence on Valhalla, or why in the universe it took them four months to report it!� Major Jahonis said irritably as he looked over the other officers in the room.
�I too would like to be home right now Major but I�m afraid that for some reason the admiralty decided that we would be the best people to send on this little foray.� Admiral Ross barely hid his own irritation, he understood that the marine officer was probably not whining but the other man�s complaints only reminded him that Lin and Icara would very soon be far behind him.
�Sir you misunderstand me, I do not mean to offend or say that we should not be sent, only that if the local lords had sent an SS detachment to investigate before calling for the military right away then we might have some intel on what we are going into, for all we know sir my marine detachment may not be large enough to deal with problems on the surface, we may need an entire SS brigade or army regiment at our backs, if I implied otherwise sir I am sorry.� The marine hunched in his seat slightly like a child that had just been scolded by his parents.
�I�m sure the Admiral knew what you meant Major, it is just a stressful situation to be sent into as we all know, and you are correct if the local lords had done their jobs then we might not even have been necessary, but things being what they are do you believe you can handle a potential ground fight?� Sandra interceded with the same incredible skill and diplomatic grace that had made Lin like her so much, and which made William smirk just about every time he noticed it, Lin and he often teased Sandy that she should have been born to the nobility instead of the citizen stock because she would have made a perfect diplomat.
Major Jahonis sat up straighter and seemed to regain his confidence when Ross nodded at him, �Well Ma�am I think we could secure a small number of personnel on surface, or we could be used as recon but there are over two hundred million citizens on Valhalla, and most of them are of Icara-pure birth origin, they are from the defunct Rebel alliance so their loyalty already may be at question should we land. So if it came to a true ground conflict I do not believe even my marines could fight off that many people by themselves.� the major paused when Higgins made a grunting noise.
�You have something to add Higgins?� Ross said in a more even tone then he had managed for Jahonis, and made a note of it to himself to do something that showed he respected the marine officer as well.
�Sir it�s just Major Jahonis is assuming two hundred million hostiles, the entire population of one of our own worlds, doesn�t that seem more then a little extreme? With all respect major but an entire planet rebelling against their own Praetor?� Higgins voice sounded almost amused which brought a look of steel from the marine officer.
�Well the Commander has made a point, he was not always their Praetor, nor were all the RA worlds taken peacefully, some required threat, or even application of force before they were subdued.�
�Okay, that�s enough, Commander Major I want the two of you to work together on a plan for ground operations should they be required and how we can support any action by the marines from orbit, short of full scale bombardment, is that clear?� Ross said sharply as the two officers glared once more at each other before returning their attention to him.
�Yes sir.� the two men echoed.
�Dismissed.� Sandra spoke softly but sternly as she watched her two officers stand to leave.

When the two other men left Ross stood, stretching stiff muscle and sighed as he thought over the situation, was it even possible for Icarans to be disloyal to their Praetor it would be the first time in thousands of years of history that an Icaran ever deliberately turned against their government. Ross shivered as a chill ran down his spine. And after a short conversation with Sandra went to his cabin to get some sleep, or at least rest for a while after the long day, and possibly his last chance for a real rest any time in the near future as God only knew how many long days he would have ahead of him until this situation was resolved.

A week had passed on board Blackbird before they even entered the Valhalla system, and another twelve hours at six gee�s of acceleration before the dreadnought had entered scanning range, and though Ross was relieved they had finally reached their destination things became very strange almost the moment the Imperial warship began scanning the surface.

�Ma�am, Sir, I am getting very odd readings from Valhalla Capital.� The tac officer of the watch sounded wary as the his Captain walked over to the main holo display at the back of the command center and punched up a larger version of the tac station screen while Ross read an orbital scan report from the astral survey station.
�It�s totally black down there.� Fowler said nervously as she looked over the holo display.
�What do you mean totally black?� Ross cocked his head as he turned his command chair around to see the display, �My God, that�s impossible.� his voice matched the sickly look on Fowler�s face. The only way a city with cold quantum technology could go totally black is for every single power station, backup station, and orbital relay to be completely warm, which meant that for some reason the entire planet was just �unplugged�.
�Admiral if the surface is totally black then�.� her sentence was cut off as battle klaxons howled and speakers sounded the beat of war drums to call marines to quarters.
�Tactical?� Ross said instinctively, as the chief gunnery officer began running checks on his gun crews� status.
�Sir I have a single, cutter sized vessel approaching from starboard, I can�t get a clear reading beyond that sir.�
�What do you mean you can�t get a reading Ensign it�s a bloody cutter how can you not get a reading?� Fowler blurted, frustrated by the situation, a cutter was far too small to carry any form of stealth and the fact they couldn�t get a reading was just weird.
�Ma�am the cutter is signaling.� The com tech sounded timid after hearing an officer get a bootstamp from the Captain and almost cringed in her chair when Fowler looked her way.
�Open channels please.� Fowler managed to keep her voice calmer this time as she tapped the com panel and the holo display switched from a view of the planet to a young looking obviously Icaran face.

�Your really the navy? Oh thank God and all the saints I thought you�d never come.� The man sounded almost tearful as he snapped a half dignified salute, not much of the man was showing but the black collar and crossed lightning bolts emblem emblazoned on it told Fowler that the man was an SS officer. She returned the salute as a matter of courtesy rather then necessity as military officers automatically outranked any SS personnel.
�What is going on here Mister?� Ross voice was calm and cold as he addressed the young man on the screen.
�Sir! Please let us dock then I�ll tell you everything, I don�t want to talk over the com line it�s not safe, you must understand sir, please!� The man�s pleading tone took the entire bridge crew aback, not many military people respected the SS, because they saw them as unprofessional amateurs but to see even one of them almost sobbing was enough to make anyone nervous.
�Tactical can you get me a reading yet?� Ross said under his breath, as he turned his back to the screen.
�Aye sir, but something about that cutter just isn�t normal sir.� The man replied in the same hushed tone.
�Care to explain further Ensign.� Ross hissed back as he turned to face the officer.
�I wish I could sir but I can�t, I�m sorry.� The officer cringed at what he expected to be a furious reply but Fowler and Ross simply looked at each other and nodded.
�Thank you tactical.� Ross managed a whisp of a smile before returning to face the screen.

�Whom am I addressing officer?� Ross kept his voice cold and calm even as the strange feeling in his gut continued to gnaw at him.
�Sir?� the man looked stunned at the question and Ross felt another twist in his stomach, any Icaran soldier, or even SS personnel with any shred of discipline left would answer the question immediately.
�I said who are you mister.� Ross tone turned dangerous as he took a step closer to the screen.
�I am citizen captain Brochensky sir, 33rd SS brigade, Midenshield.� the officer replied in a less then respectful tone. �Sir please let us dock I�ll explain everything.�

Ross signaled his com tech to cut the channel, and began pacing the deck for a moment until Fowler walked up to her superior, she looked worried but Ross knew her well enough to know she wasn�t about to admit it.
�Something about this whole situation doesn�t feel right Sandy, an entire world gone black and one of our own blasted cutters that we can�t get a proper reading on, add to that an SS captain who�s acting like hell is chasing him.� he paused in his pacing for a second and made eye contact with Sandra.
�I know sir, but if we don�t grant him permission to dock it�ll be a lot harder to find out what the hell is going on down there.� Sandra kept her gaze locked with Ross and felt like she could feel his brain churning with thoughts.
�It�s your ship Sandy, I won�t risk it�s safety unless you feel that this is the only way.� they both knew that he was senior officer and could easily order her to do anything he wanted, but Ross was no the type of man that would shove another officer�s opinion aside simply because he was senior.
Fowler nodded and turned to her com tech, �Spacer, open a channel to that cutter if you�d please and grant them permission to dock in boat bay 1.� she waited until the young woman at the com station nodded and tabbed a personal com key on her command panel.
�Major Jahonis, have a full platoon of your best marines assembled in boat bay 1 to greet our guests I�ll be there momentarily to join you.�
�Aye ma�am.� Major Jahonis voice boomed in reply.
Sandra turned to Ross and saluted �You have the bridge sir.� she grinned and headed for the bridge doors.

Moments later she was at the entrance to boat bay one along with a full platoon of Blackbird�s marines, she made her way to Major Jahonis and returned his salute.
�Status Major?� she was still buckling armor to her vac suit as she walked up to the marine Major, who like the other marines was wearing a �hard� vac suit, which meant it was built with armor plating already on it.
�Ma�am the cutter is coming in now, the boat bay crew are all carrying side arms, but there are only 6 of them at the moment and there are at least 20 people on that cutter.� He shrugged �I was waiting to go in until you arrived ma�am.�
�Alright let�s get in there I want to find out what is going on here.� she pulled a dart pistol and followed the marines through the blast doors that led to the boat bay.
The cutter bore the marks of the SS orbital security force but something about it�s hull looked deformed, though Sandra couldn�t put her finger on it, she looked nervously at the large guns that the cutter was armed with and frowned deeply.
�Major, tell your men to be careful.� she whispered over the secure com channel.
�Aye ma�am.� the reply sounded strange to Fowler, Major Jahohis voice was almost anxious something she had never thought she�d hear from the big fearless marine Major that had fought boarding actions and ground fights for the past two decades.
The cutter�s door slid open, the marines formed a semi-circle around the entrance as the armed deck crew and Captain Fowler found a place to get out of the way, they weren�t cowards by any means but marines tended to get a little protective of their navy comrades whenever there was a security risk aboard ship and all the off duty jokes aside the navy respected their �joeys� and stayed out of their way when it was a marine area o expertise.
Several minutes passed and still nobody emerged from the cutter, which seemed to make everyone more aware the gun turrets on the cutter.
�This is Captain Sandra Fowler, of His Majesty�s Ship Blackbird I order you to step your cutter now to be inspected!� Fowler said sternly over her com�s �announce� channel.
Yet still nothing but eerie silence came from the cutter, Fowler repeated her order twice more and both times no reply.
�Fowler, this is Ross, what�s going on down there?� Though his tone was cold and professional Fowler heard raw nerves in his voice.
�I don�t know sir, I don�t understand it, there are twenty life signs aboard yet no reply.�
�Tell Jahonis he has permission to send in a team if he sees that as an acceptable option. Ross out.� his last order made the hair on the back of her neck rise, to give a Marine permission �if he sees it as acceptable� meant that if Jahonis chose he could order his marines out and have the navy flush the cutter back into space, where it would be �cleansed� be a secondary gun turret that was probably already being trained on boat bay one�s doors.
Fowler passed on the orders verbatim to the major and after a moment his crisp strong voice echoed over the Blackbird�s tactical com channel.
�I need three volunteers to form an entry team.� almost the second he barked the order every marine in the formation took a step closer to the entrance.
�Alright, Johnson, Sakowitz, Kim you three move up, everyone else covering positions.� Jahonis voice was still wary as the three marines stepped forward, one of whom was carrying an SM 93 breaching gun, a weapon that fired twelve micro-explosive darts simultaneously into a target.
As the three entered the hatch the two marines carrying auto-rifles switched on their flashlights, making the scene even more eerie, as the light from the marines vanished from sight Fowler�s stomach knotted and her spine felt like it was about to twitch it�s way out of her back.
�Advance team, what do you see?� Jahonis voice hissed.
�Sir, there�s barely any light here, we are making our way to the cockpit but, stand bye.� Marine Talia Sackowitz voice stopped and for a second the com went quiet before the three marines began speaking again
�Can anyone else hear that� a voice Fowler didn�t recognize said
�What the hell was it?
�I can�t see, where is this damn smoke coming from�
�It�s not smoke, wait something is moving in here, oh my God!�
The sound of gunfire erupted from within the cutter followed by screamed orders and more firing.
�God get out get the hell out!�
�My leg oh son of a ***** it tore off my leg��
�[censored] [censored] [censored]!�
�Kim where are you?!, Kim oh God no!�
More muzzle flashes flared, over the com the sound of rending flesh and bone could be heard followed suddenly by silence from within the cutter, Fowler could see that Jahonis wanted to go in but he was too much of a veteran to rush into that kind of situation.
�Advance team reply, advance team please reply.� Jahonis sounded tortured over the com until a quiet whisper came over the com net.
�Sir, their life signs are gone, they�re�..they�re dead sir.�
�There�s movement sir!� A marine almost shouted over the com line.
A figure emerged in the shadow of the cutter�s hatch, the surrounding marines turned their weapons in the figure�s direction; a marine turned on their flashlight revealing a horrible sight, it was Talia Sackowitz or at least what had once been Talia the bloody wrecked body that stood before them could no longer be called the young marine, her helmet�s face plate had been torn away revealing the last agonized expression she had when she died.
The marines stood shocked for a moment, Talia�s torso was torn open and something that looked like a spike was the only thing holding her mangled body upright, until suddenly her body was thrown forward onto one of the marines standing watch over the hatch, knocking him over.
The creature that emerged from the hatch looked like something out of a science fiction book, a mangled ruinous creature that looked as if it had armor plates some how melded into it�s flesh, it lunged from the hatch with amazing speed and tore one of the marines open in a flash of arterial spray and torn flesh. The creature lunged at Major Jahonis but the veteran marine jumped out of the way and attempted to drive his force bayonet into it�s side, unfortunately the bayonet snapped off clean sending sparks and shards of broken metal flashing away from the creature, it turned around attempted to drive the spike that was it�s right arm into Jahonis again but a burst of fire from a marine knocked the creature off guard.
�Open fire, bring it down!� Jahonis shouted as he managed to level his rifle again, firing a burst of explosive darts into the creature�s chest but managed only to take a small chunk out of it�s armor, the other marines opened up on the creature but it barely slowed down as it lashed out at another marine sending her flying several feet back into a crate with a resounding crash of armor on metal.
While the marines were distracted by the man sized creature, no one noticed several much smaller creatures slipping out of the cutter�s hatch, one of which jumped onto a marine knocking him to the deck, the marine whiled around to aim his auto-rifle at it but was too late the creature slammed six centimeter long �fangs� into his stomach and began motions that resembled Earth crocodile�s death rolls, the marine howled in pain until a spray of Auto-rifle fire from a nearby marine tore the creature apart in a gruesome eruption of innards and liquids.
�Sandra what the�.[static] is going on down there?� Ross� voice boomed over her com, Fowler dodged for cover as she tabbed her com key.
�Admiral get more marines to deck three forward, and seal it off for God�s sake, there are some sort of creatures in that cutter, we�ve got five dead marines already and I don�t know if we can stop them.� Her voice sounded terrified even to her own ears but she hardly had time to notice as an unbearable pain tore through her left leg and a blood curdling scream that she could hardly believe was hers cut the air like a knife.
She managed to kick the creature off of her with her right leg but her side arm had fallen out of reach and the injury began burning like fire, the creature jumped for her face to strike it�s death blow when a bayonet tore it�s side open and a rifle butt knocked it aside.
As her vision began to fade and the world turned to blackness and silence, Fowler remembered looking up into a marine helmet an hearing someone that seemed far off shouting orders to fall back.

The marine that picked Fowler up handed her off to one of the armed deck crew as Jahonis shouted orders for the navy personnel to fall back and began barking orders at his marines.
The man sized creature had finally begun to slow down, but the corpse on the end of it�s right arm was providing it a grizzly shield as the dead marine�s comrades attempted to get a clean shot at the beast.
Just then one of the turrets on the cutter came to life, and fired a green hellish blast into a fire team of marines that had taken cover behind some crates, vaporizing them all and turning the area into a fiery wreck.
�Get the hell out now!� Jahonis shouted, until his marines began shuffling back towards the big blast doors that sealed off the boat bay, a scream from behind him made Jahonis turn around just in time to see a marine�s head severed and thrown aside by one of the smaller creatures who�s four limbs could barely even be called proper legs. A marines darts quickly ended the fowl creature�s life but another leapt over the ruined heap of the other and lunged for on of the deck hands, taking him down in bloody cloud that didn�t even have time to scream.
The turret fired again and sent the upper half of a marine sprawling across the deck plating, having vaporized the rest of him with the deck plating he had been standing on. A brave marine charged forward with a hand grenade, barely dodging the manlike creature�s vicious spiked arm, Jahonis almost wept as he saw the young marine ram the grenade down one of the gun barrels taking the turret out with him and saving his fellows from more ruinous fire.
The last marine barely managed to slip through the blast doors before quarantine effects sealed the boat bay off and the sound of air rushing out signaled the purging of the filth that remained in the bay, a secondary battery outside did it�s job with precision and turned the cutter into a cloud of particles and vaporize plating.
Major Jahonis took stock of his dead and counted eight marines and two deck crew, as well as another two marines wounded with horrible bites like those in captain Fowler�s leg.
�Alright let�s get these three to sickbay and get some more troops down here to make sure we�ve completely purged that filth from the boat bay.� He felt weary yet part of his mind would not shake the fear that some how one or more of those smaller creatures made it out of the boat bay while the blast doors were still open.

To Be Continued

Starhawk

March 11th, 2005, 04:03 AM

Come on folks I've posted the longest chapter EVER! and not even one read?

narf poit chez BOOM

March 11th, 2005, 04:09 AM

Skimmed it. Rooting for the monsters. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/laugh.gif

rdouglass

March 11th, 2005, 03:54 PM

Good read. Kinda' had a familiar ring to it, but still a good read. Been waiting for new chapters for a while; thanks much!

Starhawk

March 12th, 2005, 03:30 AM

rdouglass said:
Good read. Kinda' had a familiar ring to it, but still a good read. Been waiting for new chapters for a while; thanks much!

Thanks for the good read part http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif as for the familiar ring, well sadly a lot of stories now a days have a familiar ring to something hehe.

As to you Narf http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/tongue.gif don't just skim and you'd probobly enjoy the story much more lol http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif seriously though thanks for the comments guys. Part 3 is forming up in my head now but it might take a week or two, hopefully not much longer then that.

Starhawk

March 12th, 2005, 08:42 PM

Oh BTW anyone who wanted to know what an Icaran Cutter looks like, here is a pic http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Atrocities

March 14th, 2005, 02:19 AM

This latest chapter must have taking some time to write. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif So far so good. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif It is so nice to come back from vacation to find a gem like this waiting for you.

Starhawk

March 14th, 2005, 05:50 AM

Thanks so much AT http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif I'm glad you enjoyed it and hope you guys continue to enjoy my work as much as I enjoy writing it.

Hunpecked

March 14th, 2005, 07:14 PM

Kinda' had a familiar ring to it, but still a good read.

I was reminded of the Niven/Pournelle novel The Mote in God's Eye , except that the novel's navy had the sense to make contact using a quarantined proxy ship.

There's a deliciously wicked sense of anticipation when you just KNOW the characters in a story are doing the wrong thing. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/biggrin.gif

Starhawk

March 15th, 2005, 12:41 AM

LOL Valhalla is an Imperial world that went silent Hunpecked that's why they dispatched a single superdreadnought http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

They didn't expect to make contact with anyone.

Hunpecked

March 15th, 2005, 02:30 PM

No, no, the dreadnought's OK. But I was screaming at Ross to meet the cutter with one of his shuttles, while secretly hoping he wouldn't. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/biggrin.gif

NullAshton

March 15th, 2005, 02:41 PM

There's aliens in the story?

Starhawk

March 15th, 2005, 07:15 PM

Uh yeah in the story as a whole but these ain't aliens they're something else http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/tongue.gif

Read the WHOLE story if you really want to know what's going on that's all I can suggest as it's a rather long history to sum up in a few sentences.

Starhawk

March 22nd, 2005, 11:34 AM

Crisis on Valhalla Part 3: Shadows

�Alright we�re going to need bonemend, artiskin and synth blood here now he�s been torn open rather horridly here.� Chief Doctor Ferrisin�s voice boomed out his tone a mix of worry and professional confidence as the wounded marine was placed in front of him, the trooper�s chest was torn open so badly that two of his broken ribs were visible and blood gushed out of his body like a crimson geyser.
Blackbird�s sickbay was a mess of organized chaos as the wounded marines from the �incident� in the boat bay and Captain Fowler were being attended too by the doctors and sick berth attendants. Even the wounds that were rather minor had begun to baffle the Icaran medical staff as a bizarre form of infection began to set in almost immediately even under sterile fields and las cutters, with all the chaos Ferrisin barely took notice of the four heavily armed and armored marines Ross had ordered placed in the sickbay.
�Alright SBA Keller get me a�.� Ferrisin was mid sentence when the lights suddenly cut and the gravity switched off for a moment.
�Secure your patients now, get the ones you can in breathers in case life support is gone, and for God�s sake strap them down!� Ferrisin managed to �swim� his way to a �vacbag� locker. Vacbags unlike vac-suits were designed for wounded personnel that couldn�t be placed in a normal suit, it contained a full micro-life support system and enough oxygen for them to last 72 hours. Fortunately the emergency systems were tripped seconds later and the gravity, life support and minimal lighting came back on. But Ferrisin continued to pass out vac bags to the wounded that were already closed up, as he turned to get to the wall com to find out what was happening the chief doctor was met with a sickening sight, the wounded marine he had been treating was bent in a completely unnatural way on the deck, a grizzly spilling of organs and fluids lay on the mangled body an the deck plating next to it and Ferrisin realized with no small amount of shock that when gravity cut his patient had somehow drifted loose of his restraints and must have floated high enough for the grizzly wound.
Just as Ferrisin was about to order an SBA to clean up the wounds he heard what sounded like screaming coming from the corridor beyond his sickbay, as the realization that others must have been wounded sunk in Ferrisin�s medical training took over completely �Alright I want free hands to form medical teams, Keller, Suchi, Lewis take team one get out there and find out who and how many are hurt and bring them here only if you need to, Jackson I need�..� Ferrisin�s team recovered from their shock quickly and began assembling the necessary medical supplies, little did they know what true chaos and death was about to come upon them.

�Damn it chief I don�t need maybes I need to know why the hell my ship�s power just cut off do you understand me?� Ross barely managed to keep his voice calm as the Chief Petty Officer on the other end of the screen shook her head.
�Sorry Sir whatever happened I can�t find it, the main power should be on, but sir I can�t get in touch with power room one so I sent an engineering team to find out what happened.� The poor young woman sounded terrified but she tried to keep her face calm, she wasn�t even supposed to be in charge of engineering Ross realized, and paused a moment, she had mentioned that Commander Geller wasn�t anywhere to be found already, Ross forced his expression to relax and his voice to soften at the pang of guilt over reaming a junior CPO for something that wasn�t her fault.
�Alright Chief do the best you can but I need to know if our power is going to fail completely and I need to know that much at least now.� Ross� voice was much softer as he spoke to the young woman that was presently the senior person in Engineering as no one could seem to find Commander Giller.
�No sir I got my-ah- the teams that were down here to divvy up main power between PR 2 and Main Quantum Reactor, but sir that�s the problem we rerouted the power but so far there has been no improvement in our condition, and I can�t manage anything better then emergency back ups.� Her voice still betrayed her terror at facing an angry Admiral but she was remarkably cool headed about the engineering glitch and how to fix it.
�Alright contact that engineering party and find out what happened down in PR1 and get back to me.� The young woman on the other end saluted and cut the com channel.

To Ross� surprise the CPO in main engineering commed him only seconds later.
�Sir there is something wrong here I can�t get in touch with the team that I sent to PR1, or the two men I sent to find them.� The look on her face told Ross she wasn�t overstating matters but before he could reply he noticed his Flag Commander trying to get his attention.
�Hold on chief.� Ross muted her screen and looked up at the Commander Higgins.
�Sir I�m getting reports from all department heads, we�ve got people missing and we�ve lost coms on decks twenty-five through twenty-seven.� Higgins was a veteran and had seen action during the Xiati crusades so his voice betrayed none of the nerves and fear Ross glimpsed in his eyes.
�Alright order marine fire teams and armed Crewmen to seal off deck twenty five and cut all lift access and ladder access off, I want Major Jahonis and his marines decked out in full tac tell them we�ve got intruders on board and sound the alert.� Ross was surprised to hear how calm and organized his own voice was even as hell seemed to be chasing him and his crew, but what made matters more gut wrenching was that he knew sickbay was on deck twenty-six in the very center of the ship which would have normally made I one of the safest places on board any warship.
�Alert Alert all hands intruders detected marines to stations all hands arm, arm, arm!� the mechanical voice boomed over the ship�s speakers and Ross felt a surge of bile in his throat as the realization hit him at last, someone or something was on his ship, his thoughts grew instantly dark as the fear of not knowing what was going on began to tear at his heart in a way that he never had felt before, and he tried to force his mind to calm when he felt a tap on his shoulder and heard a gentle female voice.
�Admiral your sidearm.� the young Yeoman said as she gestured timidly at the holster and belt she was carrying, Ross took the holster belt and forced his face to smile confidently.
�Thank you Yeoman.� he said quietly and fastened his weapon in place.

�Alright you grunts keep your eyes open, I want those decks sealed off but I do not! want to lose anyone in this understood!� Major Jahonis confident voice boomed out as his marines sealed their armored vac suits and grabbed their auto-rifles and rushed for their duty stations. As each marine passed the door they quickly brushed their hands on a picture of Icara at sunrise, hoping they would see it once more.

An hour had passed before the decks were fully sealed off due to the constant power fluctuations that made simply getting from the marine barracks to the necessary sections extremely difficult as the marine fire teams and armed naval personnel had to use the ladders to get from deck to deck and then had to go through multiple compartments just to get to the right position.
By that time all contact with the decks below twenty-five had been totally lost, not even sensors were operational and it was by now far from certain just what was happening, and what had happened to the 200 personnel trapped behind the sealed compartments on deck twenty-four.
Major Jahonis was just about to assemble a search team to �go below� when a sudden pounding echoed on the massive blast doors that sealed deck twenty-five�s ladders shut, the marines snapped their rifles up and formed a disciplined firing line. Jahonis watched anxiously for a moment, his mind racing over the options, or rather so far the lack of options, after a moment more of pause that seemed like an eternity Jahonis switched the com link to the command channel and tabbed the send key.
�Admiral sir, this is Major Jahonis I�ve got a rather loud pounding noise on blast door, oh-five-niner forward of frame 37, I have two platoons with me but I haven�t got a clue in hell what�s coming up and�..� the major�s voice faltered for an instant as he looked around at the young men and women that stood next to him �Sir seal off deck twenty-four and don�t reopen it until you hear from me or my marines, we obviously have a breach and I�ll be damned if I let the bastards loose.�
�Major if I seal those doors you�ll be trapped!� Ross� voice sounded cold and calm but both men knew how agonizing that thought was.
�I know that sir but if you don�t and whatever is coming up her gets by me we could have a hell of a lot worse problems then 80 trapped marines.� Jahonis� almost sounded like he was pleading for his superior to seal him and 79 other marines in to where no reinforcements could reach him should anything go wrong. Unfortunately both men knew that this was their only option and after a long silence over the comn Ross� stern cool voice replied.
�Alright Major, I�m sealing deck twenty-four but you�d better call me back to let you out of there eventually, that�s an order marine.� Jahonis grinned sourly to himself as the com channel cut off, seconds later the sound of blast doors sealing and ladders retracting alerted Jahonis that he and his men were truly alone against whatever it was that was coming at them.

The pounding became louder, almost rhythmic as it continued for the next several minutes; every pounding that kept the rhythm put another massive dent in the blast doors and brought whatever was on the other end one step closer to the waiting marines.
After minutes of anticipation the actual breakthrough happened almost faster then the marines minds had time to register as the heavy blast doors flew off the ladder casing and slammed into the ceiling before crashing back to the deck with an amazing crash, the creature that leapt from the hole shocked Jahonis as recognition dawned, it was the same bastard they had flushed out of the boat bay!
The trooper closest to the breach died almost instantly as a massive �spear� arm drove through his armor and torso and turned his innards into wreckage, the beast that had speared the marine tossed his corpse casually and turned to swipe at another with that spear �arm� but was stopped as dozens of auto-rifles and breacher guns sprayed dozens of darts into the beast tearing gouges out of it�s armored hide.
Even as the marines opened fire on the massive beast several smaller creatures crept their way out of the hole and leapt into the attack, all that is except for one which closely resembled a large snake quietly, almost invisibly slithered it�s way out of the melee, several marines screamed in pain as several of the small ugly creatures sunk 15 centimeter long fangs into flesh and rolled in a terrible rending thrashing bite.
Their larger consort was as juggernaught, seemingly unstoppable as it speared down a marine and swatted another away like she was a toy doll and turned to look for it�s next victims even as explosive darts tore into it�s thick hide.
�Son-of-a-*****!� Someone shouted in pain as their leg was torn open by a fanged creature just before he put a burst of explosive darts through it�s head causing an eruption of gore as the creature tore open.
�Got one!� someone else shouted as the splattering thump of another small creature echoed across the corridor.
The massive �juggernaught� had finally come clear of the main melee and Jahonis winced as he saw the severed head that it was carrying with it�s three fingered hand, he turned his com on to platoon wide and had to keep himself from shouting.
�Terry, Liza now!� his voice crackled over the com and two marines that had stayed out of the fight stepped forward, Marine Terry was carrying a micro AP cannon, and Sergeant Liza Backowitz carried her own heavy plasma flamethrower, both weapons erupted with hellish light, but the screaming whine of the AP cannon firing shook the deck plates as the AP �ball� tore across the corridor and slammed headlong into the massive creature, the blast of light tore the creature�s gizzard open and it howled in rage and pain as it began it�s march forward, only to be engulfed in the purifying fire of Liza�s plasma flamethrower�..
�Move that flamethrower up!� someone shouted from the midst of the marines that were fighting the smaller nasty creatures whose fangs had already rendered so many bodies into dead lumps of flesh.
�Fall back and reform your lines on me!� Jahonis yelled as he leveled his rifle on another small creature and unleashed a burst of solid darts straight into it�s back, swiftly turning the ferocious creature into a subdued puddle of goop, many of the remaining marines managed to fight their way clear of the horrid beasts unfortunately Jahonis could only watch as two others were dragged down by the small monsters and rend limb from limb in a screaming bloody mass of chaos.
�Damn it, light those *****es up!� he shouted as his heavy weapons sergeant brought her flamethrower forward.
�Aye sir!� her reply came out almost like a curse as she switched the ignition toggle on her weapon from safe to �ignite� and a massive stream of hell�s own fire erupted from the weapon�s barrel.
The blaze engulfed the dozen or so smaller creatures that had survived the marines rifle fire but even that did not seem to stop their sheer desire to kill, as a burning creature hurled it�s self at the marines only to be cut to peaces by three rifles simultaneously firing into it. Even as the fire sprayed forward like divine wrath the marines continued to fire bursts of solid shot and explosive darts into the creatures to make sure non of those still alive got the same idea as their exploded comrade, none of the marines even noticed the snake like creature slithering up from behind them�.

�Doctor, Doctor can you hear me?� a soft whispered female voice came from across the darkened sickbay.
�Captain Fowler, is that you?� he whispered back, he was still shaken by the attack that some hideous creature had launched on his sick bay, and his skin turned cold again as he remembered the blood spraying and the flesh tearing apart as it jumped into the midst of the wounded, killing almost all of them as well as two SBAs that tried to stop it, the four marines had barely managed to kill the damned thing before it had finished off the other wounded men and women, the chief doctor didn�t even intend to �hide� per se but as he backed away from the carnage he tripped over something soft and he dare not think further about what it could have been with the limbs and gore flying about, his embarrassed memory came back as he realized he had fallen and slammed his head against the table he was currently lying under and had been knocked out cold.
�Yes Doctor it is, where are you hiding?� her voice came back coldly and Ferrisin felt his face heat as the embarrassment came racing back in force.
�I wasn�t hiding ma�am I just, fell.� he said louder then he had meant and a hissing sound came from the corner of his sickbay
�Be quiet doctor we are trying not to attract attention from those creatures.� her voice was hushed but her tone was clear enough and Fierrisin shivered for a moment.
�Come over here doctor.� at her command Ferrisin rose to his hands and knees and tried to regain some semblance of direction, when he did he immediately crawled towards the voice of his captain.
As he reached an over turned bed he suddenly felt a stabbing pain in his back as two sets powerful hands clenched down on his coat and legs, the doctor forced himself to fight back a yelp of fear and pain as his body was lifted over the bed, as the pain began to fade he felt an even sharper pain as his chest hit the deck plating with a thump, again he gasped as the air was knocked out of him, his fear and panic was almost total until he heard a calm almost mocking voice.
�Sorry doc, couldn�t very well let you stay out there now could I.� the voice sounded familiar but Ferrisin only felt the throbbing in the back of his head and now in his chest and back as well, he managed to roll himself over and saw three marines looking down at him, he rolled back on his belly and noticed the fourth marine, Captain Fowler-who�s leg was still in a bad way- and his two surviving sick berth attendants.
�Don�t worry about it.� he grunted out as the marine who had apparently dropped him patted him gently on the back.
�What the hell is going on Captain?� Ferrisin croaked as he finally felt like he was breathing again.
�Apparently we didn�t kill all the little bastards when we spaced their cutter.� she murmured as she tossed him a dart pistol one of the marines had been carrying.
�What do you expect me to do with this ma�am?� Ferrisin had never fired a gun on a practice range much less shot at anyone.but the sharp glare Fowler shot his way was visible even in the dimly lit �barricade� that she and the marines had created, again he felt his gut knot as he picked the weapon up.
�I really don�t know how to use one ma�am.� he uttered pleadingly but his captain didn�t even flinch.
�You aim, you pull the trigger it�s that simple doctor, and whatever comes through that door over there is not going to be coming to pay a social call so if something does come through you shoot it, get me?� her voice was ice as she glared at him again.
The nervous doctor managed a ghost of a nod before he turned away from her and tried to get a good look at the sealed sick bay doors, wondering how long they would hold out of something chose to attack them, it was moments later that the pounding began�.

�Oh GOD what the hell is it?� a marine shouted as the huge snake like creature snapped up one of his comrades in it�s large fangs, biting deep into the battle armored trooper as blood geysers erupted from the bite wounds.
�Fire!� Jahonis� voice commanded from what had moments before been the front of the fighting, the disciplined marines obeyed instantly and the whining clatter of auto-rifles echoed off the corridor walls as volleys of fire slammed into the armored hide of the creature, it barely flinched, rearing it�s head back and snapping out at a marine with blinding speed, the same bloody geysers erupted from the chest but unlike the other marine this trooper had his head caught in the same bite and it vanished in a spray of blood and brain almost instantly.
The Plasma flamethrower roared to life once again, unlike the conventional weapons the other marines were using the flamethrower actually seemed to be hurting the great serpentine creature unfortunately not fast enough as a third marine was caught up in it�s great jaws.
�Get out of my way!� a voice shouted over the din, instinctively the marines jumped clear of the creature as a massive green ball raced forward and slammed into it�s face, searing it�s armored flesh and melting it�s eyes with the fury of a sun. Finally the great beast slumped forward it�s head crashing to the deck, only to be shot by several more bursts of gunfire.
�Alright let�s move below decks and clear out the rest of these vermin.� Jahonis murmured as he stepped forward and rallied his marines around him to go below, to the sealed off decks and clear out the hostile creatures which attempted to take their ship.

�They�re coming through!� Ferrisin blurted as the sickbay doors tore open and a rush of small creatures charged forward, his voice was quickly drowned out as the marines and Captain Fowler opened up on the creatures, killing several instantly, it took the doctor a moment to come back to his senses but when he did he immediately lined up on one of the beasts and squeezed the firing stud of his darter and to his surprise the creature�s head erupted in a spray of blood and brain, dropping it instantly to the deck.
But even as the first wave fell the second came on and then the third, until one of the creatures leapt over the bed that acted as their barrier and dug it�s fangs into one of the marines sending him sprawling across the deck, the sick stench of bile mixing with blood as the marine screamed in agony surprising himself Ferrisin leveled his darter and squeezed the trigger unflinchingly blowing the creature off the wounded marine.
Another scream behind him told the doctor that another one of the marines had been wounded, the gurgling and chocking whale followed by sudden silence told Ferrisin that the fallen marine had just expired. Yet another wave was coming in through the doors even as the last creature that had slaughtered the other marine died as it�s skull was crushed by a marine rifle butt.
For a moment Ferrisin thought for sure he and his comrades were going to die, and it was in that moment that a brilliant green flash tore through the creatures waves followed quickly by the popping sound of �cracker� grenades with their micro-fragmentation charges. The last noise was the whine of auto-rifles as a platoon of marines charged through the wrecked sickbay doors and cut down the vicious creatures left and right. As he saw the marines charge in to the rescue of those survivors in sick bay Ferrisin uttered a brief �Thank God for the marines.� and turned his full attention to the wounded dying marine in front of him, �after all� he thought to himself, �this is the kind of war I fight.�

It took hours for the marines to sweep the ship, and even after the had done that Ross had ordered all hands into vac suits and exposed the entire ship to vacuum to ensure that any of the vermin that may be hiding were sucked away into the blackness of space.

Ross sat in a chair next to the bed where his friend lay, her leg still a mangled wreck of it�s once muscular and lithe form, it was still being repaired by the bone molding treatments and the flesh would be easily replaced with arti-skin until the real skin�s re-growth could be stimulated. Her eyes opened and for the first time in his life Ross realized just how much younger then him she was, this proud tough and smart woman was so weary that she could barely look straight at him.
�How bad is it sir?� she whispered painfully, still to weak to manage her normal voice.
�I�m not going to lie to you Sandy, it isn�t very good, we�re breaking orbit of Valhalla and returning to Icara as soon as possible but we�ve still got a lot of repairs to do.� his voice was soft but strong as he held the wounded captain�s hand.
�How many of my people?� she whispered again
�We lost about 500 people Sandy, maybe more but worry about that when your better.� he patted her hand softly and tried to keep himself looking strong for her sake even though he himself felt her pain at the loss of so many people over what was supposed to be a simple survey of an Imperial world, what Ross was also not telling his injured friend was that he had deployed the survivors of the marine brigade to the surface of the planet to find the population and what they found in the capital city would have turned anyone�s stomach, millions of bodies, thrashed shreds of human beings that had once been Icaran citizens, somehow though even with all that carnage most of the planet�s population had turned up alive, hiding in the mines and bunkers that dotted their world. Unfortunately Duke Tyrol had died leading a brigade of SS in an assault against the main force of creatures, but his death had not come without some success, most of the creatures that attacked the planet were butchered by the Planetary defense forces and SS brigades before the human military forces were over run and driven back or slaughtered, out of 12 SS brigades attached to the planet, including the Midenshield orbital brigade only 2 brigades had survived the battle and one of them was down to two third�s strength.
All in all including the losses aboard Blackbird the tactical officers had guessed that nearly twelve million of their people had died. Ross patted Fowler�s head gently again as she drifted back into the bliss of unconsciousness, while her ship hurtled into the void of warp space to make her long journey back home.

rdouglass

March 22nd, 2005, 05:06 PM

Great chapter. Enjoyed it very much. Keep up the good work!

Strategia_In_Ultima

March 22nd, 2005, 05:25 PM

"SS"? Ok, I agree with you the German Imperial Eagle is a beautiful sign in itself but getting the Nazi elite military police into this.....? I know it's bound to be something military-ish, but still using "SS" as an acronym for a military organization is not considered kosher in most of the Norther Hemisphere..... still, nice story.

edit: [removed]

edit2: Removed the site, as it was superfluous and in German.

Starhawk

March 22nd, 2005, 05:57 PM

Strategia_In_Ultima said:
"SS"? Ok, I agree with you the German Imperial Eagle is a beautiful sign in itself but getting the Nazi elite military police into this.....? I know it's bound to be something military-ish, but still using "SS" as an acronym for a military organization is not considered kosher in most of the Norther Hemisphere..... still, nice story.

edit: [removed]

edit2: Removed the site, as it was superfluous and in German.

As stated earlier I mean no offense by this what so ever, the "SS" in this story simply stands for "State Security" and is in no way related to the Nazi "SS" which was in fact made up of two branches, one of which was little more then a bunch of criminals Hitler freed and allowed to "serve the fatherland".
The Icaran SS do wear black uniforms but that's mainly because the other colors are taken http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif they are not military forces or the sadistic SOBs that the Nazi SS was, and in fact they are the Icaran police force.
I initially decided to call the SS the SSB "StateSec Brigades" but decided that that may in fact offend some Russian folks who though i based that on the "FSB".

Let's face it there are a LOT of modern organizations with security involved that would probobly involve the initials SS "Secret Service anyone?" and simply going after them based on the letters is a little odd imho, especialy since the Icarans are from a parallel history where the Nazi party was a minor rebellion that was squashed brutally.

Oh and btw there are Stormtroopers involved and I will admit that they are based on their German WWI counterparts, the elite and brave soldiers who charged the trenches and launched special assaults on targets regular units could not.
NOT the pre-WWII "brown shirts" who were little more then thugs and punks and ruined the rather honorable history of the true German Stormtroopers.

Starhawk

March 22nd, 2005, 11:53 PM

2428 was a busy year for the Icaran Empire, as the first carrier ever built by the Royal Space Navy boosted into orbit over Icara her name was HMS Hallice after the Grand Admiral of the RIN as a last parting tribute to the honored hero before he stepped down as Grand Admiral and left the position to Admiral Lady Tanya Bright.
The months went by and the carrier completed her shakedown cruise with flying colors, once she reentered Icara orbit the massive carrier met up with her fighter wing, which consisted of a full wing of the newest Bullshark attack bombers, each one capable of carrying multiple �baby nuke� missiles that could destroy either a ship or planet with equal speed and brutality.
In the meanwhile Yu Lin Ross was promoted to full Rear Admiral status and given supreme command of the Five Swords of Heaven in the name of God and Country, Sandra Fowler found herself on the end of a promotion as well as she was promoted to squadron commander (Commodore) within the home fleet.

Five Swords Strike:
Rear Admiral Lady Yu Lin Ross sat comfortably in her command chair, located in the massive Flag Bridge of the Sword of Icara flagship of the vaunted Five Swords of Heaven fleet, and one of the five most powerful starships ever created by any known empire human or Xeno alike, and those five gods of war were even now closing on their first target of conquest, the Neo-Star colony of Torque IV, the single Neo-Star ship in the system had proven to be a lowly colony ship and unfortunately for their 36 million refugees their crew was to stupid to yield and Sword of Wrath burned through its unarmored hull with ease and destroyed the colony ship with a single I-laser. Lin like most Icaran officers didn�t enjoy killing millions of civilians with such casual violence but they knew their duty and those civilians could have just fled to another world within Icaran territory and built up yet another colony, and that simply could not be allowed.
�Admiral, we are closing on target, 3 LS and falling.� the tactical officer�s voice announced crisply as he watched the master plot in front of him.
�Thank you tactical, inform Sword of Wrath that she will lead the strike on the planet to unload her storm troopers while we cover. Lin yearned to be back aboard Wrath instead of aboard the fleet flagship, even though her current station was far more prestigious and glorious the Wrath had been hers and now she�d watch that same ship go into battle without her.
�Aye Ma�am.� The tac officer�s crisp calm voice jarred Lin away from her train of thoughts, she un-strapped her shock harness and casually walked over to the massive holotank that displayed the entire system, it was something so marvelous and so large a dreadnought�s captain could only dream of it, yet in battle it was rather useless as it was a system wide display and not �local� to within the ranges a battle normally took place. Her expression became more tense as she filed away a mental note that ever other colony in this system belonged to the Sol Coalition, and worse still they had 2 battleships in system, and no doubt they were all watching the Icarans launch their strike against Torque IV with more then a little passive interest. She was certain that her ships could easily overcome any Solaran defenses in system but the truth was that they could possibly get a message out to their coalition as a whole and inform them of Icara�s actions, and no matter how confident the Admiralty was Lin was just not sure that the RIN could handle a war with the Solars, Neos and Anderman, and that was all excluding the fact that Royal Navy ship shad also intercepted and destroyed Remorhazian super monitors in Icaran space since the sealing and God only knew what would happen if the Remorhaz People�s Republic got word of that little tidbit.
�Admiral Wrath reports that she is being engaged by planetary defenses, all are those weird *** energy cannons their ships mount, only a lot bigger.� the tactical officer spoke calmly yet the tension in his voice spoke volumes, and as Lin watched her secondary plot she knew why he was so tense, the amount of fire those Neo weapon platforms were throwing into space would have been enough crush a dreadnought, or even a superdreadnought but the massive Flag monitor�s shields held without even burn through, and Lin felt her breath return for a moment, that was at least until two main cannons aboard Wrath came to life suddenly, their beams lashing out toward the planet like some mystical beast, the impact on the planet was visible even from this far out as the massive dust ring and brilliant flash indicated the destruction of the enemy weapon platforms, the atmospheric eruption that loosely an old Terran tornado signaled the destruction of the surrounding domed city along with millions o lives, Lin felt that familiar lump in her throat even as she watched the display signal the deployment of dozens of dropships carrying the 3,000 storm troopers of the �Death Wings� formation to their targets on the surface, one of which was a single weapon platform that had managed to survive the orbital strike.
As the hours passed Lin listened to the com chatter of the storm trooper forces and found herself shocked at just how quickly they were overpowering the planetary defense forces, even though the neostar PDF wouldn�t have stood a chance against a regular army Regiment it was still humbling to hear just how fast they were swept aside by the storm troopers.
There had still been a lot of armed resistance even after the Planetary Defense force had been wiped out, but with their disorganized �concerned citizens� these pockets of resistance were either forced to surrender or were crushed outright by the brutal efficiency of the advancing Icaran soldiers and in under two hours the world had been totally pacified and claimed in the name of God and country, but Lin knew in her heart that this was just the beginning and that once the �Final Crusade� began her fleet and the normal navy and army units would be deployed against proper military forces in numbers and then it was going to get very very ugly.

Starhawk

March 24th, 2005, 09:07 AM

The New Year:
The admiralty building loomed like an ancient fortress in Icara city, it�s ancient looking stone construction lent it a look of authority and majesty that was second only to that of the mini-city that was the Praetorian Palace within the empire. A large formation of soldiers and tanks wearing the symbol of the �Praetor�s Own� oversized regiment ringed the admiralty in as much a show of authority as an actual security force, for any Icaran knew that wherever the Praetor went his elite oversized regiment assigned units to go with him, and today the showing was impressive as 1,000 soldiers and 100 tanks blocked all possible entrances to the building they surrounded, their glittering red, gold and black armor of the elite shining brilliantly in the Icaran sun.
Inside the building another 50 �Praetorians� stood watch beside their regular army comrades to ensure that absolutely nothing could harm their Praetor while he met with some of the military�s most prominent officers..

The massive holotank displayed the entire Empire, but two systems in particular flashed a golden hue as Grand Admiral Tanya Bright highlighted the home system and another system near the fringe where there had once been a border warp point to Sol Coalition space. The other officers present included Commandant of the Marines Patrick Harris, Star Admiral Tyson Babcock, Commodore Liza Adair, and General of the Army Lucas Bradly, the Praetor sat quietly with his chief advisor Countess Brandenburg Percilla Torry next to him, unfortunately Ambassador Lord Michael Branch, the leader of the so called �Peace Movement� sat watching as well. As the systems on the map began to glow and Tanya Bright cleared her throat all eyes in the gigantic room focused on her.
�Praetor, lords ladies, colleagues these are the locations of our two major fleet formations, the 5th fleet under Rear Admiral Patrick Raley and the Home Fleet under Star Admiral Tyson Babcock as you can see the 5th fleet would take about a year to reach home system from it�s current location, unless we open a warp point to it and bring the entire fleet home.� Bright let that thought sink in for a moment before she began speaking again.
�Star Admiral Babcock and I have spoken in depth about the deployment of our forces and their effect on the plans for the Andermanian crusade and we�ve come up with an idea, As his Majesty and My Lordships know when we open the warp point from home system to the targeted enemy system we will not be able to close that warp point again for years due to the spatial disturbances that would be caused by such an action, since the amount of power required to generate such a long distance warp point is tremendous to begin with.� Her slow confident soprano echoed in the empty hall as she highlighted and focused the map onto a single star system, Lacerta the former Rebel Alliance capital system.
�What Babcock and I propose is that instead of us using a single deployment position and committing our entire mobile fleet to one point-specifically home system- we order 5th fleet and Shaman Squadron to rendezvous in Lacerta, where there is already a warp point ship waiting, if we can do this that will put 13 ships of the line together, and with your permission Praetor we were going to detach one of the army regiments from home fleet and instead give it to 5th fleet so that we can�.� her sentence was cut off as a far less calm, and far less polite voice boomed over hers.
�That is preposterous! What you suggest is deploying the vast bulk of our military away from the entire Empire and sending them all on some wild goose chase into Anderman space, well My Lady� the title came out bitterly and Bright noticed with some odd amusement that the Marine Commandant tensed visibly as if he was about to pound the man who just spoke into a puddle of slime. �What if they get wise and realize we don�t have any ships left defending our space? Hmmm? What if they dispatch a fleet to attack us we�d be leaving a door wide open to the two most important systems in this empire!� Branch nearly spat his last sentence, but he remained staring at the Grand Admiral defiantly; the �ambassador� and his followers had started popping up about two I-years after the Phong crusades had ended claiming that �God had chosen them to bring peace to the Empire at last.�
And since then have been becoming more and more of a pain in the ***. Bright thought as she saw the rude nasty little man standing, practically demanding she play his game like so many other officers-unfortunately her predecessor among them- would have done, but she simply refused and stood perfectly relaxed as she stared at Branch, watching as his face further reddened.
�Well aren�t you going to say something!� he practically shouted, every eye in the room was now on him and he knew it but what he didn�t seem to ever comprehend was the disgust in those eyes.
�Actually my Lord, I was going to say before I was distracted that this two pronged offensive will ultimately prove safer for us, as it will give our front line forces 2 places to fall back to should there be any unforeseen problems, and it will also give us the ability to put 2 entire branches of our empire�s military production to work and get said units on the lines where the fighting is far faster then if we just used home system and attempted to route every ship here. As my lord may not know but that can take up quite a lot of time.� The Grand Admiral kept her voice calm and cold, as if she were addressing an impatient child rather then a Lord.
�Well there you have it Grand Admiral.� Branch�s voice grew venomous and quiet as if he had just won some sort of victory, he paused a moment to savor the feeling and then turned to the Praetor �My Praetor, as the Admiral has just pointed out, launching an Attack from just the Home System would indeed be too dangerous, but as she also just said we would be opening two of our three major regions of our empire open to invasion, and not just one system my lord but several would likely pay the ultimate price before any reinforcements could be drawn back home, and what if�God forbid of course�.something accidentally happened and our warp points were sealed off, our poor military personnel would be trapped on the other side for decades before we could even reopen those warp points, it is my belief we should just remain happy with what we have and not leave to engage others and bring unimportant people�s into our empire.� The Ambassador bowed politely and returned to his seat, an arrogant smirk on his face, but after a moment Praetor Leonidas simply nodded curtly and turned to face the Grand Admiral again.
�As you were saying My Lady.� he said softly, ignoring the sudden white rage that crossed Branch�s face.
�Well my Lord the ambassador�s arguments would have been valid if it were not for the fact that we will not be sending the warp ships through with the fleet as we first intended, instead we will deploy them to two reserve fall back systems in the event that we absolutely must seal the warp points in Home System and Lacerta, so no matter what we will be able to bring our military forces back home should the need arise.� her smile was outwardly nothing but polite but anyone who knew her realized that it was also a predatory smile, one of satisfaction as she knew one of her enemies had just fallen into his own snare.
�Very well Grand Admiral, but I must ask, what kind of forces are we talking about here? And how do you plan on keeping pace with the Anderman being that they outnumber us 2 or 3 to 1? Especially since we will in fact need additional ships as our operations grow broader, not to mention protecting home system and Lacerta.� The Praetor said softly making sure not to give any hint of giving ground to Branch as Lord only knew how far that man could run with it.
�Well Highness right now we have 97 ships of the line in home fleet plus 6 additional super dreadnoughts coming in under designation Delta an Epsilon groups, we also have 4 army regiments totaling 16,000 ground troops and 1600 tanks stationed with Home Fleet, with permission I would divert 1 regiment to 5th fleet, putting 5th fleet�s strength at 13 ships of the line, 4,000 ground troops, and 400 tanks.� She paused a moment and shrugged �To be honest Highness this operation will take up most of our military strength, but I would also like to recall Hallice carrier group from their assaults behind enemy lines, and of course the Five Swords and bring them in to protect Lacerta and Home System respectively, and when the Nimitz carriers are complete I will assign them to assist Hallice and the Five Swords.� Tanya bright paused once more and allowed the situation to sink in.
�Grand Admiral, that will indeed be a problem in the long term if we can not bring our ship tonnage up, and more importantly localize those forces were we require.� Commodore Liza Adair of NavInt spoke up this time, her tone was soft and respectful as she glared at the holotank. �The way I see it our shipyards with adequate work forces are too few and far between and that will become a major problem for us as our crusade expands.� she frowned again and was more then a bit surprised to see Tanya�s eyes twinkle.
�Commodore you have addressed the one problem I was hoping someone would, thank you, and you are correct presently our shipyards with any quality in manpower and more importantly numbers of workers are too few and far between and though that is changing it will still take far too long for enough of our shipyards to go into full capacity to affect the outcome of our present operation, not to mention travel times between our major yards. Fortunately Tyson Babcock and Bureau of Design were able to come up with something to help us there. Tyson?� She smiled as the younger man rose from his chair and placed a chip into the information feed of the holotank.
�Thank you Grand Admiral.� He said politely as the screen behind him lit with the schematics of a massive space station.
�Highness, Lords, Ladies, Mister Branch, I give you the HMSS Lexington, she is 36 kilometers long, 10 wide, and 3.9 high, and her purpose is to increase our production capacity while simultaneously increasing our stationary defenses, in short she is a heavily armed orbital shipyard and unlike planetary yards she can produce even a super dreadnought in four months, no matter what type of world she orbits or how large it�s populace, the way she is able to do this is because she will not have to worry about boosting the ship from a grav well or the atmosphere she is working in, unlike planetary yards which obviously do.� Tyson Babcock smiled broadly as he observed the stunned expressions on his colleagues faces, and the fuming expression on Branch�s.
�They also are heavily armed with the latest shield grids, point defenses, and I-Laser cannons which will no doubt provide heavy fire support should enemy ships breach our system.�
�How soon can you have them on-line Star Admiral, and when will the first ships be completed?� Liza Adair asked, obviously excited by the prospect of a new way to catch up in numbers to the Anderman and Mantis.
�Well Commodore we can have the first several yards on-line in eight months, most of the others in nine, and the very slowest in a year, the first super dreadnoughts will roll of the lines in twelve months, and as more yards become operational more ships will come off the lines.� Tyson�s smile changed into a grin as he saw the Intelligence officer�s expression turn positively glowing.
�And just how much MONEY is this going to cost the tax payers?! And how much valuable resources?� Branch spoke up again, trying to sound calmer this time but his anger was still apparent.
�Well mister Branch, the initial construction costs will be rather high, at 3.2 trillion Icaran Crowns, and as for resources we haven�t quite compiled that data yet, however we do know that our economy can easily handle both the cost in credits and in resources, our hardest problem will be getting enough trained yard dogs willing to work in orbital conditions.�
�Well then Grand Admiral Bright, Star Admiral Babcock let�s get down to it, put the drafts on my desk by lunchtime today and I will have them approved so you can begin construction immediately, I will also authorize your military plans.� The Praetor said in a surprisingly friendly tone as he rose from his seat and walked up to shake the military officer�s hands in turn, his guards staying just behind him the whole time.
�Thank you Highness, I�m sure we can get the personnel issue worked and initial deployment strategies by then.� Grand Admiral Bright said as she smiled and shook her Praetor�s hand firmly.

An hour Later Liza Adair briefed Praetor Leonidas in private of a top secret NavInt discovery, several Anderman soldiers had been captured alive from the 4 super dreadnoughts that had been found and destroyed by Icaran patrols and something most disturbing had turned up in their physicals, it appeared that the Anderman genetically enhanced their military forces, though for what purpose Icaran scientists still hadn�t discovered.
Even though this discovery was top secret Count 6-11 (Kevin Richards) a powerful man tied to the �Peace Movement� had somehow gotten word of it, and immediately turned the resources of his company �Delta Corp� to the training of a private army, and fleet with which he could launch his own personal assault into the Anderman territories and capture a world or two as laboratories.

rdouglass

March 24th, 2005, 11:53 AM

Another great chapter. The storyline is becoming quite interesting. I for one, enjoy it a lot and look forward to the next.

Finally someone's building space-based SY's that build faster than planet-based! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

And the Anderman line is very curious indeed but what about that snake creature? Or am I getting too far ahead? Anyways, great stuff.

Starhawk

March 27th, 2005, 08:43 PM

2429.5 The Anderman Crusade (C-Day +4):
Wa�Tor system
It was hard to believe it had only been four days since they opened the warp points back home, leading o the enemy systems of Wa�Tor and Zerrzinbroduch, for Star Admiral Tyson Babcock, commander 1st fleet the first three days had flown by so quickly that it was just a blur of memory, his fleet had slammed into Wa�Tor VI like a Spartan Kraken through a herd of Osalynxes, the defenses had fallen in under an hour and the army regiment took out the planetary defense militia in a single well coordinated strike.
Now the 1st fleet was closing in on it�s second target, Wa�Tor IV the second target on his three planet list for the opening stages of the crusade, the three worlds closest to the warp point were selected not only because of their proximity to the warp point but because it was believed that the system�s governor was on one of them.
�Admiral sir, I�m reading two starships in orbit of target planet.� Tactical Office Manroe�s voice cut into Babcock�s thoughts suddenly, and gave himself a mental shake.
�Say again tactical?� Captain Susevni said as he took a step forward to stand beside his resident tac officer.
�Sir I am reading two unidentified starships in orbit of planet Wa�Tor IV, I don�t recognize their power signatures or their configuration.�
�Admiral Babcock I�m getting a com signal from one of those ships.� The com officer looked up from her station and frowned.
�Put it through.� Babcock fixed his tunic collar and rose calmly from his command chair.
The main screen rippled from the view of the planet ahead to be replaced by the image of a man wearing the uniform of an unknown navy, the man�s face was like cut granite, a deep frown and ice blue eyes completed the intimidating appearance.
�I am Captain Tamerlane Smythe of the ECANS Vulture, I demand in the name of the Earth Corps Alliance that you turn your fleet around and leave this system, failure to comply will result in hostile actions.� The man�s voice was calm and cold, startling Babcock with such a foolish demand two ships against 97 ships of the line, but if that captain was willing to make such a demand could a fleet be hidden somewhere?
Babcock managed to keep his expression completely blank as he looked at the man on his screen.
�Captain, I�ve never even heard of the so called Earth Corps Alliance, nor do I care what you want or believe, there are two of your ships battleships against my dreadnoughts and super dreadnoughts, you don�t stand a chance, now get out of our way.� The Icaran Admiral�s tone was subdued and almost respectful. Captain Smythe kept his own expression perfectly blank as he stared back at Babcock, those piercing blue eyes scanning the other man.
�Don�t you think for one moment Icaran that I will yield to you, I�ve studied history, we all have, we know what you were like when you ruled most of Earth, and we�ll be damned before we let you rule over any more worlds then those you have already subjugated.� This time Smythe�s voice held a deep resentment, and Babcock�s curiosity turned to anger, whoever these Earth Corps people were they obviously descended from a nation that Icara had conquered back in the days of old Earth and obviously that hatred had lasted for 400 years, but for a man who commanded two inferior ships to take on almost a hundred enemy ships was either very brave or very stupid, either way it was somewhat frightening.
�Birds in the air!� the shout cut through the air like a knife and barely a split second later the alarms started howling in response to the threat.
�Sir counter missiles responding!� The tac officer whirled around to face Babcock as the holo-tank lit to show a spread of dozens of tiny missiles closing the gap, unlike the incoming enemy missiles the counter missiles the Icarans were launching carried no warheads, but instead relied on inertial force to tear the enemy missiles apart and thus were much smaller then their targets.
As the two lines of dots converged on one another Babcock took a deep breath, those missiles couldn�t much hurt a warship but they could easily kill the troop ship the were closing in on if any of them got through, the two lines that represented the missiles and counter missiles became one for a brief instant on screen and in an instant winked out, Babcock watched his the main screen as several brilliant flashes lit space.
�Fleet, permission to retaliate, open fire!�
�Fleet, this is flag, loose weapons I repeat loose weapons.�
Babcock turned back to face the master plot as a single super dreadnought broke formation with the rest of the fleet and close the range with the two enemy ships, as the Superior�s scopes zoomed in on the Despoiler closed the range with the two enemy battleships and turned her guns to face the enemy in a broadside, in a split second her port shields dropped and the entire portside arsenal was brought to bare on her targets, the green beams tore into the enemy�s shields and armor like they were nothing, and a split second after that two balls of expanding fire and wreckage were all that remained of two battleships and 4,000 lives.
Wa�Tor IV fell just as quickly, though they put up quite a tougher fight then the two ECA ships in space had, and 40 soldiers of the 1st Icaran regiment would never return home because of it.
Wa�Tor X fell the very next day, however 80 soldiers of the 1st Brandenburg paid the price for their victory, as 100 enemy regulars had joined the fight with their Planetary Militia comrades.

Meanwhile, in the Zerrzinbroduch system:
Rear Admiral Patrick Raley and his fleet had destroyed Zerrzinbroduch VI in their first assault against the enemy system in revenge for the 500 soldiers of the 1st Germania that had been killed when their transport was hit by planetary Weapons systems and even now her skies burned with fire a symbol of Icaran wrath and might to the other worlds of Zerrzinbroduch, including the world that the fleet was currently approaching, designated Z 5 by the command staff of the 2nd fleet, her defenses were far more impressive then VI�s had been which meant that they were being far more careful on this approach, keeping the Patton far to the back of their formation.
�Admiral, we are entering enemy weapons range, in 35 seconds and our own in 60.� Commodore Timothy Marks frowned as he read the report, he was in command of the 4th Dreadnought division, the only dreadnought division presently within the 2nd fleet, Raley had the dreadnought division closing range with the enemy, while the SD division of the 2nd fleet protected the Transport.
�Admiral we are�..� The screen suddenly filled with static, cutting the commodore off mid-sentence.
�Dear lord in heaven!� The whisper sounded almost like a curse as the ship�s scopes suddenly focused in on the Raven as massive purple beams lashed out at her shields, within moments the shields flared out of existence and 5 beams raked across her hull, tearing out gouges of armor, and shields, a 6th beam raked across her unprotected shell, shattering weapons batteries along her with solar grav sail, the scopes zoomed further and Raley felt a twitch of nausea as he saw bodies sucked into the void.
God hopefully they were suited up. Raley thought a silent prayer as he turned to the master plot and saw the other 5 ships of the 4th DD close in to their own weapons range, the five mighty warships unleashed a devastating broadside and wiped the weapons platforms that had injured Raven from the surface with ease.
�Send in the ground troops, and deploy SAR teams to recover whatever personnel were spaced when Raven was hit.�
�Aye Admiral.� The com officer began relaying orders with the quiet professionalism that the Empire demanded from all it�s armed forces.

Three hours later:
Rear Admiral Patrick Raley sat in his day cabin, drinking a cup of coffee as he read various reports from his department heads, trying to ignore the quiet discomfort in his heart as he waited for the casualty lists to come in, the admittance alert buzzed softly and Raley forced himself to sit calmly.
�Come in.� he kept his voice level as he looked up from the flexi pad with the latest engineering reports on it.
Captain Susan Lap walked in slowly, holding the flexi pad in her hand almost as if it was a frail piece of ancient glass, she paused and braced to attention, the look in her eyes made Raley�s gut tense even further.
�What is it Susan?� he was surprised to hear that his voice was level, he had almost expected it to sound as upset as he felt.
�Sir, we have the casualty lists, we have 300 dead from Raven, that brings our total up to 800 so far, and sir�..one of those killed was Captain Martin Fielding.� Her voice cracked as the name forced it�s self from her lips.
Raley knew that Fielding and Lap had gone to the academy together, that they had served together on the destroyer Enterprise and the battle cruiser Midwinter and that they had both received their first commands, him with Raven and her the Terror only three weeks from one another.
�I�m so sorry Susan.� he stood and placed a consoling hand on the younger woman�s shoulder, as he took the casualty list from her.
�Thank you sir, um, I have to go back on watch to oversee the deployment of those work control parties that are going to oversee the construction of that new Shipyard station.� Raley nodded gently and watched her turn around and leave, they had all realized that there would be losses on this crusade, just as there had been on the Phong, Xiati crusades yet Raley despised the fact that he had lost so many to achieve so little, and wondered how many more lives he would lose before the crusade came to an end.

Starhawk

March 28th, 2005, 08:44 AM

2429.2
�Hello all and welcome to Fleet Live I am Jane Semore reporting for IIN state channel 1 from the flag deck of HMS Raven as we approach Zerrzinbroduch I as the 2nd fleet continues it�s conquest of Anderman territories, this is the third target this month as two other worlds have already fallen to our valiant fleet!� The young reporter who was speaking was wearing the standard navy skintight vac suit with a sealed helmet but even with that it was obvious she was a beautiful woman, even for an era where any wealthy snob could get themselves a face mold done to make them pretty, and her light cheerful voice made even some of the old salt spacers smile as the passed by her. She and her three man crew had just arrived two days prior on an IIN yacht to get interviews with the crew of a �Division flagship� even while another camera crew and reporter team were interviewing members of the fleet flagship�s crew and likely doing the same thing with the 1st fleet.
�Sir three-zero seconds to enemy weapon range, flagship commands all ships to hold line of battle, and prepare a counter attack in three-seven seconds.� The voice came from off camera, causing Jane to turn and look.
�As you can hear we are just now closing on the target world, again for those viewers in the home system and in Lacerta this is a live transmission to be rebroadcast throughout the empire, we are unedited and I ask that you have all children leave the room immediately.� She smiled into the camera with a casual air, but in the privacy of her mind she was terrified as this was her first battlefield coverage ever, though she thought with little humor, at least I�m not the ground cameraman.
�Sir energy spike, we�ve been tagged!� the voice from off camera sounded more urgent causing Jane a visibly startled reaction, even she knew �being tagged� meant that an enemy weapons system was even now pointed at her ship.
�We�ve Got FLARE!� another voice spoke up from behind Jane, the man�s voice an icy eerie calm brought by military training and experience.
The Raven bucked and lurched as beam after beam slammed into her shields the young reporter managed to compose her voice and looked back into the camera.
�What you are seeing ladies and gentlemen is the result of heavy beam fire coming from the target world, I don�t know what kind of weapons they are but even this great dreadnought is being buffeted around under the fire and�.�
�Damn it! Shields gone, brace for impact!� the familiar off screen voice bellowed sharply as a thunder rolled through the ship, followed swiftly by damage alarms and screams.
�Oh God, ladies and gentlemen Raven�s been hit dead on, and�.� an explosion tore into the bridge, tearing splinters out of the battle steel hull like it was wood, one such splinter struck the cameraman straight in the head, tearing the top of his head clean off, another splinter tore through Jane�s causing a spray of blood to erupt from the arteries it had struck, her sobbing agony visible as the camera continued to record.
�Abandon ship, all hands get out, someone get that reporter.� a voice commanded, but it was already too late another beam tore the entire port side of the ship open like a tin can, and a hissing sound brought the camera up to high speed, a brief scream was heard but as the camera was sucked clean out of the ship it caught the gruesome glimpse of a body being torn in half as it slammed into the rent hull.
By a fluke of nature the camera was spun around 360 degrees, bringing into full view the burning hulk that had once been an Icaran ship of the line, as well as dozens of bodies floating around it like a grotesque parody of an old earth shark and it�s cleaner fish. The screen quickly reverted back to the view of another woman, one Janet Cranston, the her face was pale and sick, and the sound of crying could easily be heard over the camera�s audio feeds.

�Oh God, Jane can you hear us? Jane please say something.� Janet�s voice cut like a knife, as the sorrow and fear expressed it�s self. �Jane please, say something�� she said once more before pausing and looking down at her folded hands, a tear streaking her face.
�Ladies and gentlemen, it seems�. we have witnessed a tragedy today, I�m sure the navy will do everything it can to recover survivors but from what we just saw�..� she paused once more as this time the tears started flowing openly �But as we just saw it looks as if the possibility of any survivors is low, please stay with us as we continue to cover this breaking news story�.and please Pray for those souls who may have survived this disaster�.I�m Janet Cranston and you are watching IIN state channel 1.� as the screen faded the sound of the popular reporter beginning to sob was heard for a split second, before the commercial break replaced it. Billions of people had just seen an entire starship, and a blossoming young reporter extinguished in a matter of moments and though the news would later come in that the 2nd fleet had conquered the enemy world and that the first fleet had taken three more in the cause of victory, the news was also broken with three stories of tragedy.
HMS Raven flagship of the 4th DN division had been destroyed and all hands had been lost, including one young reporter named Jane Semore who�s body was recovered later by SAR teams, she had been awarded the �Citizens Cross� in recognition of the price she paid to bring the people of Icara the news, her body was cremated and returned to her family, she is survived by her sisters, brother, mother and father who shall never forget their daughter.
Commodore Timothy Marks had also died that day and was posthumously awarded the �Guardian�s Sword for Valor� as were all 5000, other Icaran officers and ratings who had died with him.

HMS Neptune of the 1st fleet had also paid a high price for her efforts in achieving victory at Wa�Tor, she had moved in the way just in time to protect the troopship Rodger Young as several massive beams lashed out, in the process of protecting the troop ship she was rendered practically dead, unfortunately 3,000 of her crew were killed, including her entire bridge crew, and another 1,000 wounded. The dead were all awarded the �Guardian�s Sword� and buried in space-those who could be found- to make maters worse Neptune was left behind by the 1st fleet as she was no longer capable of fighting, currently she is docked at the Wa�Tor I space yard undergoing repairs as replacement crew are brought through from Icara Home System.

Starhawk

March 28th, 2005, 06:21 PM

2430.2 Heroes:
Admiral Flynn forced herself to remain calm and appear confident and relaxed as her SD division along with the rest of the main line of battle closed in on the ominous Ulda Frav IV, she as most of the other flag officers in the fleet were concerned over the fact that the atmosphere of this world was so thick and stormy that it was hard to tell what was on the surface, and the thought of leading her SD division into an unknown situation ate at her nerves like acid.
�Ma�am, if you keep worrying like that you�ll give yourself an ulcer.� A cheerful teasing voice said from behind the flag officer, a thin smile crossed Flynn�s face as she turned around to face her Flag captain, Rukia Fujita was part of the first generation born on the colony of Sparta and looked every inch the Spartan girl, she was well muscled yet still enviously built, medium height for the empire and her face bore what had become a traditional tattoo, the teardrop just below her left eye was something everyone in her generation had been branded with upon birth, it symbolized that those who had died in the process of colonizing Sparta and defending the empire in her name would never be forgotten, Fujita also had that rugged Spartan attitude that was unsurprising for a world where just about everything on the surface was trying to kill you, Flynn often wondered if there was anything that would make Fujita nervous beyond men, and forced herself to hide a grin at the thought: Rukia Fujita was only 25 Icaran years old and had been part of the navy since she was 15, in just ten years she had proven herself countless times, and risen through the ranks with astounding speed and competence, her current command was received after a promotion from Sailing master for her heroic actions during the �Valhalla Incident� where the Blackbird had almost been overrun by mutated creatures of some sort, she faced all the dangers of the universe with a grim self assurance that would earn her a place among the best flag officer�s in the navy some day, yet for all that she still blushed and got flustered whenever men paid her good looks and nice figure any attention.
�Well if I do get an ulcer Rukia, I�ll just get Sanders to fix it for me, then I can go right back to worrying.� Flynn smiled at her flag officer for a moment before returning her view to the Flag bridge�s main plot. Technically Rukia should have been on the main bridge but for a reason even Flynn wasn�t sure of she had a gut feeling that made her reassign the captain to the flag deck instead, leaving Commander Orland in command of the main bridge.
�Admiral, we are closing on target, weapons range in 5 minutes.� Tactical officer Han� cleared his throat in an attempt to hide his own nerves, but Flynn knew him to well and nodded with a reassuring smile.

�Admiral, sir we are closing on target, weapons range for main line of battle, 3 minutes and counting, Admiral Flynn reports that left flank is ready, all other commands report green across the board.� The communications officer reported from the main bridge�s com section.
�Thank you, order main line to accelerate and close the range at 50 gravities.� Babcock�s grim expression hid the fact that his stomach was a ball of raw nerve, he hated the situation, going in on a world who�s defenses were a total unknown, it wasn�t a good situation at all and the memory of the loss of Lord Nelson still haunted him.

�Flag, orders main line to accelerate to five-zero gravities, weapons range on enemy world in one minute at that speed.� Commander Orland relayed the order from the main bridge, as Flynn and Fujita watched the main plot, The only reason Babcock would order the fleet to accelerate is if he was afraid that if they went in at their current 1/3rd speed they�d be under fire for too long, that means he�s worried. Flynn thought to herself as she watched the distances close.
It was only thirty seconds later that it happened, a single light flare was seen on the main plot, before the massive volley of beams lashed out at the Tyrant herself, it had all happened s fast Flynn barely managed to bark out an order to brace before her body was turned into so much bloody wreckage as the flag bridge was shattered by a beam spray. A peace of shrapnel cut Fujita�s left arm clean off, but her scream of agony was cut short as another piece of wreckage slammed into her chest, crushing her ribcage and sending one of her ribs through her left lung, as the flag bridge depressurized Rukia Fujita heard the gurgling screams and brief shouts of agony from other officers who were killed in horrible ways as wreckage flew about the flag bridge like darts, even in her agony Rukia caught a glimpse of Lieutenant cutler being cut in half by a massive splinter as he ran for the bridge doors, the same splinter that killed him hurtled into Spacer 1st class Darwin slicing his throat open with horrible ease.
After what seemed an eternity Rukia felt her body go weightless and noticed that she was being pulled clear of the wreckage, another sharp pain cut through her like fire however as another shard of wreckage severed her right leg at the knee, then darkness took her.

�Dear God!� Someone on the flag deck swore angrily as the brilliant blue flash on Tyrant broke her apart like a toy, a second brilliant flash followed hurling wreckage and bodies away from the once mighty super dreadnought. Cairo too was hit, her shields were brought down in short order and half her armament was turned to wreckage and shrapnel.
�Silence!� someone else barked out, though they had just witnessed a horrible action in real time and at close enough range that they actually saw the ship die instead of just a simple light code winking out on a display, they were still Icaran spacers and discipline must be retained no matter what.
�Report now tactical!� Babcock�s mind raced back to the real world as he recognized the voice that had barked the order, Captain Michael Susevni�s firm baritone cut through the speaker�s in the flag bridge like a cold wind, and for the brief moment he had to think Babcock remembered how grateful he was for having an officer like Susevni on his ship.
�Sir, HMS Rodger Young is almost in position to drop troops, the 14th SD Division is moving to cover her, main line of battle is in weapons range in thirty seconds.� Babcock, heard the other stations replying, as the situation began to organize it�s self, but he still couldn�t shake a sinking feeling that something was still very wrong.
�Firing line achieved, all commands report firing solutions on enemy platforms.�
�Order all commands to open fire!� Babcock barked the order with more feeling then he had intended but that hardly mattered as his screen came to life, two SD Divisions of the 1st fleet�s main line of battle for this operation all opened fire simultaneously, unfortunately the planetary defenses got off another single volley and HMS Cairo vanished in a ball of flame and wreckage which started almost immediately burning up in the atmosphere of the enemy world, HMS Despoiler took several direct hits but her shields managed to hold somehow, barely saving her from the same fate of Cairo.
�Rodger Young is in drop position Admiral!� Captain Susevni�s voice strained over the com line.
�Drop troops, all ships cease fire!� Babcock�s mind raced as his ship�s scopes zoomed in on the troop transport containing the 1st Icara regiment, just as his weapons ceased fire the troop ship accelerated to 150 gravities and hurled loose over 360 drop ships as she raced clear of the planet�s atmosphere to prevent being destroyed like the two far stronger SD�s that had gone before her.

As planetary weapons fire was shifted from the fleet to the dropships, 4 vanished in small balls of flame and wreckage before they were even able to enter the atmosphere, the rest made it to the surface at 12 gee�s and unleashed the wrathful soldiers of the 1st Icaran in a single cohesive wave of destruction, unfortunately 40 more soldiers died as they dome city fell to the army, bringing the total army casualties up to 80 for this operation, but finally the remaining weapons platform fell silent and the warships in orbit were safe, Babcock immediately dispatched SAR teams though he honestly held out no hope of finding any survivors from the disastrous destruction of Cairo and Tyrant.

Ten minutes later however, while Babcock paced the main bridge the com lines buzzed to life as one of the SAR cutters returned to communications range. Babcock�s head whirled around as he all but ran to the com station to listen to the report.
�This is SAR one five, to base we have a survivor in stasis get med teams ready to meet us upon docking, I repeat we have a survivor, but we need medical teams right away.�
�Get medical teams to boat bay one, now, and tell Doctor Harris to prep sickbay for surgery.� Susevni said with a grim smile as he watched the cutter approach, one survivor, out of 12,200 crew, it was pathetic but at least it was something.
�What ship do you suppose the survivor is from Captain?� Babcock�s right eyebrow rose as he saw Susevni�s face turn into a mask of pain.
�Sir, it�s got to be from Tyrant it may sound horrible but if anyone survived Cairo they burned up in the atmosphere with the rest of the wreckage.� Michael looked down at the deck and frowned.

Sickbay:
Admiral Tyson Babcock walked through the doors to sickbay and flinched when he saw the wrecked body of Captain Rukia Fujita laying in a life support bed in the corner of the sickbay, a long black �box� where her left arm, and right leg had once been the bone molder nano-bots reconstructing the skeletal structure that had once been there, Babcock felt a momentary spark of happiness that the boxes were blacked out, he had seen videos of bone molders at work and the following flesh growth process and it always made him sick, he had distinct memories of vomiting on one Sharon Carlson back in the academy and how embarrassed he had been, especially since she happened to be one of the most attractive girls back in the academy.
His thoughts came to an abrupt end when he got close enough to see the real wreckage of Captain Fujita�s body, her chest was flat from the injuries she had sustained, and her face bore the scars of several pieces of glass that had apparently cut through her helmet.
Doctor Harris walked over to him, her face a mix of emotions, she braced to attention politely, more out of courtesy then any real necessity to do so since all medical staff were otherwise outside the chain of command.
�Admiral, I�m surprised to see you down here, are you alright?� Her soothing tone made him relax slightly but he still felt the sickening ache in his stomach at the thought of Rukia�s shattered body, and the 12,280 other lives lost just two hours ago.
�How is she Doc?� he kept his voice steady and calm though the grief he tried to hide showed through to the doctor and she placed a gentle hand on his shoulder.
�Well Admiral, her left lung was torn open, and her right was filled with stomach acid, we had to use two synthesized lungs to replace them, her stomach was literally knocked lose, which is how the acid got in her lungs, her ribcage was shattered, her heart was nicked by a piece of metal, her right arm was broken clean in half and her skull was fractured in two places, to be honest I�m surprised she made it as long as she did.� She paused as the Admiral flinched in response to hearing the list of serious injuries
�Will she make it doc?� he choked up again, remembering the losses that were so well embodied in the wrecked body of a young girl that was half his age.
�She�ll make it, but it�ll take time, her limbs must be re-grown from scratch, we had to replace her heart, lungs, kidneys and 4 of her ribs, the anti-rejection medicine will keep her body from rejecting the synth organs, but it will also keep her on her back for a few weeks, to be honest my biggest fear right now is for her mind, I�d like to have a psych tech take a look at her as soon as she is able to get out of sickbay.� Harris took her hand off Babcock�s shoulder and walked over to the bed that held Rukia, she pressed a button on the woman�s bed and Rukia�s eyes opened softly as she tried to look around.
�Your safe Rukia, I won�t keep you awake for long, but I think Admiral Babcock would like to talk to you, if you need anything you press this call button okay.� Carla Harris said sweetly as she turned back to Babcock.
�You can talk to her for five minutes Sir, after that I�m going to put her back under so she can get some rest.�
�Alright doctor, thank you.� Babcock forced a parody of a smile at the doctor and stepped closer to Rukia.
�Hi there Captain, how are you doing?� he felt stupid almost immediately upon asking the question, afterall how could she be feeling, her body was torn all to hell and she was the only survivor of a crew of 6,100 people
�I�m okay, sir.� Rukia whispered after a moment, and tried to raise her right arm in a salute, but Babcock gently took her hand in his own and smiled back at her.
�Don�t worry about that Rukia, you�ve earned a little rest I�d think.�
�Sir�.my ship�how is?� her body was wracked with a coughing fit, Harris stepped forward to get a closer view of the monitoring equipment but stepped back and nodded at Babcock.
�Rukia, I�m sorry but Tyrant and Cairo were both destroyed, you�re the only survivor out of the two of them, and from what the doc says your damned lucky.� Tyson smiled thinly at her and patted her hand softly.
�Oh, God�.it�s�.it�s my fault.� Her voice was choked and her breathing became noisy as her body tried to let her cry, but failed.
�Don�t you dare think that Rukia, you listen to me, I ordered the fleet in, I ordered Flynn�s division to the left flank, not you, and don�t you think for one moment it�s your fault that you lived, God only knows how you survived, and it was obvious he didn�t think it was your time yet.� his tone was sterner then he intended so he quickly put his right hand on the young woman�s bandaged forehead.
�Rukia you are a lucky young woman, and your parents will be glad to hear your alive so please don�t feel guilty, as a matter of fact when you recovered I was intending to give you command of Rochester since her Captain has been promoted to Brevet Commodore.�
�Thank�.thank you�sir�I.� she struggled to recover her voice but Babcock simply rubbed her forehead gently, and put up his other hand to stop her from speaking.
�It�s okay Rukia, you rest now�..I�ll talk to you again later.� His tone was so gentle that it surprised even him, Babcock had seen war wounded before, had seen men and women turned into twisted wreckage by flying debris and the weapons of war but for some reason he couldn�t put his finger on Rukia Fujita felt to him like he was looking down at his daughter and he couldn�t help but feel sorrow for her.
Harris tabbed a control on the life support bed and Rukia�s eyes slowly closed as her body relaxed back into a dreamless sleep.
�Let me know when she wakes up Doc, I have a lot of letters to sign to the families of those less fortunate then her.� Babcock patted the young woman�s hand once more then turned around and walked back out of the sickbay doors.

Atrocities

March 28th, 2005, 06:50 PM

�Dear God!� Someone on the flag deck swore angrily as the brilliant blue flash on Tyrant broke her apart like a toy, a second brilliant flash followed hurling wreckage and bodies away from the once mighty super dreadnought. Cairo too was hit, her shields were brought down in short order and half her armament was turned to wreckage and shrapnel.

You stoled my ship names! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Great read Starhawk http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Starhawk

March 28th, 2005, 08:37 PM

Well you want other names http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Despoiler
Dictator
Tormentor
Torture
Deathbringer
Hurricane
Typhoon
Harbringer

Yah get the idea of how my ships are named lol http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Strategia_In_Ultima

March 29th, 2005, 04:54 AM

Slight notice: when your arm is ripped from your body it is quite painful but not unimaginable agony. It would be more painful if a piece of debris pierced your arm and stuck there than when it knocked your arm off entirely.

narf poit chez BOOM

March 29th, 2005, 06:09 AM

Uh...How do I ask this?

Is that something you have personal experience with? Cause if it is...Ouch.

El_Phil

March 29th, 2005, 08:16 AM

Great new chapter, keep up the good work. Mind you a bit of fair ship to ship combat would be nice rather than planet pounding, stil you can only go where the game takes you.

And Rukia Fujita wouldn't half have a half sister named Honor would she http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/biggrin.gif

kerensky

March 29th, 2005, 08:41 PM

No he doesn't have an arm ripped off, since I know the guy (unless he has more than two and hasn't told me...).....

Hunpecked

March 29th, 2005, 11:20 PM

Yes! Gore! Mayhem! Glorious destruction! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/firedevil.gif

Minor nitpick: If the fleet is accelerating at 50G's, officers wouldn't be referring to "speed", which is constantly changing, but to "acceleration", or maybe "accel" for short.

BTW, what in the name of all that's holy were those weapons platforms firing that could slice up a super-dreadnought with one shot???

Starhawk

March 30th, 2005, 12:16 AM

Phil said:
And Rukia Fujita wouldn't half have a half sister named Honor would she http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/biggrin.gif

LOL actually I have a few Asiatic characters including Yu Lin Ross, though Yu Lin is based on a chinese girl I know in RL, personality wise and looks wise anyway http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif (though that girl's name isn't Lin) heh

Strategia_In_Ultima said
Slight notice: when your arm is ripped from your body it is quite painful but not unimaginable agony. It would be more painful if a piece of debris pierced your arm and stuck there than when it knocked your arm off entirely.

Uh actually from what I've heard having your arm torn off is agonizing, though you do swiftly go into shock if your lucky, but what would make that pain worse is that it's not a "clean" cut which means she'd still have nerve endings and other fleshy bits hang out from where her arm used to be, I just didn't want to get into too much gore because there may or may not be children reading this http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif Especially because if you "read between the lines" she also lost her legs, her chest was ripped apart (guess at what's on a woman's chest that would take surgical reconstruction and be extra painful when torn apart). So I was sort of aiming for the general OUCH of the situation LOL.

Oh hey thanks for the note on accel vs speed http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif that is going to prove useful in future chapters!

As to what those weapons were firing that tore my super dreadnoughts apart, they were level 12 AP cannons massive mount, and one WMG lvl 1 massive mount. And came as quite a suprise to me.

Re: Space combat, trust me this next chapter will be full of it http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif and it's going to be up sometime tomorrow barring internet hickups.

Strategia_In_Ultima

March 30th, 2005, 05:21 AM

Kerensky you do not know me for as far as I know since we're on opposite sides of the planet (well, same hemisphere then).

Hunpecked, perhaps massive mounted WMGs? Perhaps other mod weapons?

Bongosan

March 30th, 2005, 06:13 AM

Great read!
Uhh sorry about being nitpickey but what was the time frame of the SAR pickup of Captain Rukia Fujita. The brain can only go 4-6 minutes with no oxygen before permanent brain damage occurs. Of course the tech must be better but if no synth brains...
I am assuming of course that she would go into full arrest with both lungs essentially destroyed, her heart nicked, and her stomache ruptured. Oh and those persnickety limbs that were removed. Not too mention all the nasty things a vacuum would do to open wounds like that. But I suppose you could have a good "techy" work around.
Also just to chime in on the agony thing. Pain is relative. I've seen people with one or more limbs ripped off that could still talk and walk(assuming the the aformentioned limbs were not the legs but I digress)and I've seen people faint due to a minor almost paper cut.
Please keep up the good work on the story.

Starhawk

March 30th, 2005, 06:24 AM

Bongosan_the_somewhat_niffty said:
Great read!
Uhh sorry about being nitpickey but what was the time frame of the SAR pickup of Captain Rukia Fujita. The brain can only go 4-6 minutes with no oxygen before permanent brain damage occurs. Of course the tech must be better but if no synth brains...
I am assuming of course that she would go into full arrest with both lungs essentially destroyed, her heart nicked, and her stomache ruptured. Oh and those persnickety limbs that were removed. Not too mention all the nasty things a vacuum would do to open wounds like that. But I suppose you could have a good "techy" work around.
Also just to chime in on the agony thing. Pain is relative. I've seen people with one or more limbs ripped off that could still talk and walk(assuming the the aformentioned limbs were not the legs but I digress)and I've seen people faint due to a minor almost paper cut.
Please keep up the good work on the story.

Cool someone wants to know about background Icaran tech instead of just weapons!!! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif (big smiles)

1. Yeah they are about 1,000 years more medically advanced then us (remember they never went through the dark ages)

2. Vac suits have medical systems built in, basically the second her arm and leg were severed they were "sealed" vac suits and marine combat suits also have life support equipment (I think I did state that somewhere far back there).

3. Her one lung was out of action the other was just acid scorched, not to sound blaze but people can live for a while with a burned lung, as far as I know because I've heard tragic stories of people dying after they've been rescued from a fire, hours later because their lungs were burned to badly for our science to save them.

4. Well your heart being nicked is serious depending upon how badly it was damaged, I.E if the wound only destroys a small part of your heart you can live for quite a long while, people have been stabbed through the heart by knives and lived to tell the tale (though at reduced functionality).

5. Yes she probobly would go into full arrest with the damage done to her body, but that's the beauty of cryo freeze surgery, basically they recover your bashed and broken body "freeze" it and do the surgery while your still cryo. It's not as fancy as Star Trek surgery where there's not even any blood, and Rukai basically needed a full overhaul on her internals so it was a messy and long procedure. And as long as there was still brain activity "I've heard theories that your brain activity can be "suspended" so assuming the Icarans have drugs that can save the brain for a few hours then they can "reboot" her body and brain at the same time after the surgery is completed.
Unfortunately SAR recoveries of seriously injured crew persons are rare on the whole because of the fact that most people would go into full arrest and die rather quickly, but because of her "sequencial" wounds her life support and suspension systems were able to keep her alive. That's why the doctor pointed out what a miracle it is that she lived at all.

If you guys would like me to explain a lot more into the "background tech" of Icara I'd be more then happy to do so I just thought you guys would be bored by medical science of the future.

Yeah pain is relative, and as said also depends on just how the injury occurs and whether you go into shock right away or not.

Oh Kerensky was referring to me he knows me lol, I just think he misread that post.

Starhawk

March 30th, 2005, 09:16 AM

Shadows in the Void
�Are you sure it�s real, is there no way it�s a phony?� Praetor Leonidas crumpled the paper with anger and threw it away from his desk like it was an explosive, after a moment he looked up at the three members of the military council, the heads of the three �fighting forces� of the military.
�Yes Highness, it�s been confirmed, as of zero six hundred this morning the Mantis Star Nation has declared war on the Icaran Empire, worse still sir I believe they have shared their cloaking technology with the Andermanian Navy, though our operatives say that information is almost a year old now.� Grand Admiral Bright sighed as she frowned at her Praetor.
�Damn them!, damn them to hell their Queen signed a treaty only to break it now!� Leonidas turned red with rage as a much more serious problem hit him..
�My God we can�t warn the fleet admirals for another month!� Leonidas sank bank into his chair heavily as he thought about what that meant for the fleets currently deployed.
�Highness our Admirals are good people and our crews are experienced, if anyone can deal with stumbling into an ambush it�s them.� Commandant Harris sounded confident even though everyone else knew that was just a show for his comrades and Praetor.
�I should have never deployed them straight into Andermanian territory, if they had cloaking devices for a year we don�t know how many ships they have that may be equipped, or for that matter how many ships they have period.� Leonidas sounded almost pleading as he looked at his commanders.
�Highness, we�ve already dispatched the messenger drones, a month, maybe two and they�ll have the news, in the meantime all we can do is pray and continue deploying the cloak detecting satellites we do have.� Tanya Bright frowned, there was nothing else anyone could do, not until messenger drones arrived.
�Alright Grand Admiral, but do me a favor, order our fleets to fall back to the system�s they�ve already pacified until we can deploy additional forces to the region, understood?� Leonidas recovered his composure and folded his hands together in contemplation.
�Yes Highness, and sir I�ve already taken the liberty of dispatching an SD division to reinforce both Home fleet and Lacerta fleets, when our economy recovers from the Mantis treachery I will dispatch 3rd fleet under Admiral Lord Ross to the region to reinforce 1st and 2nd as the need requires�.but highness I am afraid I must be about it now to dispatch my orders with your leave of course?� She bowed at the shoulder and turned around at his nod�..and hoped to God that no one ran into an Andermanian or Mantisoran ambush, after all who could have guessed at the Mantisoran treachery?

Meanwhile Nepsis system, 1st fleet, Andermanian Crusade:
It was three weeks into the Nepsis assault and so far the 1st fleet had suffered only minimal losses to ground forces as they took out three enemy bases and added them to the Empire and so far not a single sign of the Andermanian navy.
Sandra Fowler sat comfortably in her day cabin, sipping a cup of chai tea as she read the fifth flexi pad in the past two hours, the one thing she hated about being a division commander-all the damn paperwork-this time it was from Catherine�s chief gunnery officer, apparently she had been having some issues with her crews after the fall of the first Nepsis target, something about their main guns targeting sensors being off by .05, she was requesting that division command give her permission to deploy 18 mark XIV target drones for a gunner exercise. Fowler placed her thumb print with a sigh of resignation, she had reports from the division heads of almost all six ships in her division and it was giving her a head ache just thinking about all the work left to do. As she reached for another flexi a soft buzzing from her com unit drew her attention away-with some joy at the temporary reprieve- Admiral Babcock�s face appeared, her joy at the break vanished in an instant when she saw the expression on his face.
�Admiral sir what is it?� She recognized the expression on her Admiral�s face, and knew that something was coming down.
�It looks like the uncontested phase of our naval movements has come to an end Sandy, scopes picked up 13 Andermanian ships, looks like 5 carriers and at least 4 SD�s, at our current acceleration we estimate intercept in under an hour.� Babcock looked like a man who�d been beaten with a stick, they all knew that the Andermanian navy would respond eventually, but something didn�t feel right about how small their current response was, sure they�d been battling it out with a few other stat nations but to respond with only 13 ships against 94 Icaran ships of the line seemed foolish.
�Aye sir, I�ll have all hands to beat to quarters�are you concerned Admiral?� her question came out in a whisper as the man on the other end of the screen nodded.
�Something isn�t right Sandy, we know the Andi fleet has to be stretched thin with their battles against other nations but this just seems wrong, especially since the Corrian Commonwealth surrendered to us two months ago, if anything that should have freed up their fleet in that region and allowed them to focus on us.�
�You think it�s an ambush of some kind sir?�
�I don�t know Sandy, they don�t have cloaking devices last we knew but if they acquired them somehow�..� he paused for a moment and shook himself of the grim thoughts that raced into his mind �Just be careful Sandy, I�ve already talked to most of the other Division commanders and will have time to speak to the others before we engage the enemy and I�m telling everyone the same thing�.� Sandra fowler nodded at her superior, he nodded back and cut the com circuit.
Sandra quickly tossed on her duty tunic and tabbed the bridge com channel
�Bridge, Commander Harkness here.� A young soprano came over the com as the 22 year old Commander�s face appeared on the screen.
�Harkness, order all division ships at action stations, Beat to quarters.�
�Aye ma�am!� The young woman snapped a salute and cut the com channel, an instant later the loud sounds of klaxons and drums echoed throughout the corridors of the ships of the 2nd SD division as they joined the primary battle line which was already forming up.

[one hour later]

�Admiral enemy fleet in weapons range in two zero seconds, tactical confirms their combat SD�s are in line of battle, the carriers and minesweeper SD�s are pulling back.� The air on the bridge of Superior was so thick with tension Babcock felt as if he could reach up and grab it by the fistful, as he watched the main plot on his flag deck he clenched a fist and turned his head to the main screen which was showing the 13 ships ahead of them.
�Thank you tactical, order all ships of the main line to set a course that will allow our line to meet theirs as quickly as possible, I want those SD�s out of commission before we worry about the fighters from the carriers.�
�Aye sir, new estimate on Weapon range is one five seconds.�
Tyson watched the main plot as if it was a predator standing ready to pounce upon him, he just couldn�t shake that feeling that something was wrong, it just didn�t make any sense until�.
�We�ve got new targets!� The tactical officer shouted even as the main plot showed 14 new Super dreadnoughts appear in the middle of his fleet, already in a line of battle.
Damn it intel was wrong, they do have cloaking devices Babcock thought furiously as he turned around to redirect his fleet.
�Reform the line of battle, to engage both groups of hostiles, con order all divisions not in the main line to engage as they can.� Even as he gave the first order of the battle the master display came to life as the enemy line that had just uncloaked opened fire in a single massive broadside.

Blackbird�s bridge:
�[censored]! Enemy ships uncloaking two five thousand klicks off!� the tactical officer aboard the 2nd SD division flagship barely managed to get his sentence out before the enemy line opened fire in a single devastating broadside�..a broadside Fowler realized to her horror was focused entirely upon her division!
�Oh God, Catherine�s gone, and Anasazi!� the tactical officer�s voice strained as the last distress calls of the dying ships came over the speakers.
�Helm turn us about, give them our broadside now!� Fowler�s voice cracked with agony as another light code vanished from her division display, signaling the death of Hawkwing and another leaving Warden a burning wreck in space.
�Aye Commodore turning us to broadside, gunnery crews achieving lock in�.� the tactical officer never finished his sentence as two enemy SD�s broadsides slammed into Blackbird simultaneously, tearing chunks out of her hull and turning other portions into massive splinters that spread death among the crew like a scythe. The tactical officer�s face vanished into a bloody pulp of gore as his console erupted in front of him and smashed his vac suit�s visor into his face with a force that shattered bone and tore flesh.
Another shard of wreckage tore the helmsman in half and passed on to slice through another crewman with remarkable ease, a fiery blast sent molten metal straight into the com section killing all four crewman in the blink of an eye.
Fowler screamed as a piece of debris cut into her back, another explosion tore her command chair loose and sent it, and her flying across the bridge like she was nothing but a rag doll. After what seemed like an eternity her chair slammed to the deck, unfortunately it threw her body straight into a spear like piece of wreckage, as she felt the sudden surprising pain in her chest as the wreckage impaled her Fowler�s last thoughts were of her friends, her family, and William Ross, she had never told him�.in one blinding flash her pain came to an end, as the Blackbird�s quantum reactor breached and a new star was born in the sky for several minutes as the once proud ship and her noble crew vanished in a fury of fire and light.

Flag Deck Superior:
�The entire division!?� Babcock tried to keep the fury out of his voice as his com officer nodded, tears streaming down his face even through the iron discipline of the navy.
�Yes sir, the entire 2nd SD division is gone, I�m reading life pods and vac suit rescue beacons but the ships themselves are all gone.� his voice cracked in sorrow as he passed on the news.
�Sir we are in firing position all ships of the main line have targets, and independent fire divisions also have the sight, permission to fire?� the tactical officer�s voice cut through the air like a knife as the fury in his voice reared it�s head, an entire division of Icaran super dreadnoughts had been destroyed in less then ten minutes and by all that�s holy the Icarans would have their revenge. �Sir enemy fighters in the air, two five zero bogies and counting, point defenses are acquiring!�
�Permission to fire granted.� Babcock spat the order out like it was a foul taste and turned about to face his main plot.

Two hundred and fifty enemy fighters raced towards the Icaran fleet like angry hornets, but their prey had stingers of their own, as hundreds of point defense missiles raced from the Icarans to meet the incoming threat space it�s self seemed to come to life in a brilliant ballet of lights and colors as missiles honed in on their targets and desperate fighter pilots dodged and weaved in every conceivable pattern in an attempt to shake the Icaran weapons, unfortunately for the Andermanian pilots the sky was too thick with missiles- at least three for every incoming fighter- and hundreds of explosions soon joined the light show as the fighter waves flew into their deaths before even reaching weapon�s range of the Icaran line.
Seconds later the Icaran main line of battle and independent fire divisions turned their wrath on the Andermanian main line crushing ten of the enemy super dreadnoughts in a single hellish minute, as more Icaran divisions came into the firing line even more fire was poured into the Andermanian main line, destroying two of the enemy carriers and shattering the hull of another enemy SD.

�Sir, Sumter�s been hit in her reactor room, she�s signaling distress to all fleet ships�� the com officer stopped speaking as a brilliant flash within the Icaran main line of battle forced the screen to darken to protect the eyes of the flag deck crew. When the flash cleared all that was left of Sumter was her forward hull and boat bay, everything aft of the main reactor room had burned up when the reactor went critical.
�Enemy survivors are attempting to withdraw from engagement sir, I read four minesweepers, three carriers, three mine layers and four SD combatants turning tail.� The tactical officer kept his voice level and crisp even thought it was clear that he as most of the others wanted to pursue and destroy the last remnants of the enemy fleet that had hurt them so badly.
�Order independent fire divisions to take on those SD combatants, main line of battle is to hunt down the carriers and non-combatants.� Babcock would have loved to chase down the enemy warships and blown them to hell himself but the way they were scattering his divisions of the main line were closest to the carriers and non-combatants.
�One five zero enemy fighters have just launched!� the tactical officer hissed as the Icaran line chased down the carriers.
The enemy fighters died swiftly as Icaran I-lasers and defense missiles swept them from the sky like gnats, two of the enemy mine-layers and one of the carriers joined the fighters in death swiftly as the twelve Icaran SD�s that remained in the main line of battle tore through them with broadside after broadside the other carriers died even faster as they were overtaken by the SD�s.
�Remaining enemy ships are destroyed Admiral, though Hercules reports fires on several decks and heavy losses sustained to enemy fire, other ships throughout the fleet reporting minor damage and losses.� The com officer�s voice shook with a mix of fatigue, sorrow, and victory as the casualty lists came in.
Babcock shook his head as he collapsed back into his command chair, the entire battle and pursuit had lasted less then two hours, that was the way these kinds of battles went, he told himself grimly, tens of thousands of lives lost and dozens of ships blown apart so quickly that it felt almost unreal when it was all over. Those holo drama�s wear main characters never die, and the good guys always win with minimal casualties after facing down overwhelming odds played back in Babcock�s weary mind with disgust, it never went like that in war, people died, �good guys� and �bad guys� were fictions of the media sure there were bastards out there, who deserved to die slowly and painfully, but they were on both sides of the line, but in the end it was just people-usually young people-who paid the price for the game that nations played when they chose to go to war, he never doubted for one minute that the Icaran cause was just but he knew that the Andermanian Admiral who had just led their fleet to death in a desperate attempt to hurt the Icaran fleet obviously felt that his or her own cause was the just one and to them the Icarans were merely invaders who were attempting to destroy their way of life. Babcock hid a faint grimace, as he realized just how the enemies of Icara must see him and his people, and how much they were willing to pay to stop Icara from unifying mankind under a single banner.
His thoughts returned to the losses he had sustained and the personal pain and grief he felt at the loss of Commodore Sandra Fowler, a pain that grew shaper when he remembered that her 31st birthday was only five months away, she was so young, yet still many thousands of other younger men and women died with her.
�Admiral sir, I�m detecting an Icaran Admiralty code messenger pod�.�

Icara:
The main hall of Icara�s Imperial palace was filled with thousands of reporters, citizens, and soldiers, all of whom had come to attend the memorial service for the losses sustained in the 1st battle of Nepsis�.many people had already spoken including the Praetor, the head of the Church of Icara, and nearly a dozen other politico�s but at this moment the hall was silent as a lone man stepped up to the podium, wearing the brilliant red tunic and black pants of the navy�s mess dress uniform, as he reached the podium a soft voice announced Admiral Lord William Ross, commander 3rd fleet as speaker.
Ross cleared his throat to cover over the fresh wave of grief came on, he cleared his throat again and looked up from the podium, and saw the huge audience and the dozens of cameras, and forced himself to work up the nerve to speak.
�Ladies and Gentlemen, we have all learned of the recent battle in the Nepsis star system, and we all know of the deaths that resulted from this battle, many of you are hear to grieve friends, family or loved ones who paid the ultimate price to spread the Imperial order Icara has brought to the hundreds of worlds we now control.� Ross paused and looked down again.
�I also know that for many of you that doesn�t mean a damn thing, because you know that no matter how or why your loved ones died, they are gone from you, gone for the rest of your life, I too know the feeling of loss, for a dear friend of mine, a woman who I often thought of as the kid sister I never had was slain that grim terrible day as well, but instead of feeling anger at the cause of her death I feel pride, pride that I knew her, pride that she was willing to put her life on the line for the betterment of mankind, forget about politics, forget who�s right and who�s wrong if you must, and focus on this, your loved ones died to bring not just Icara betterment, but all of mankind, they died so that one day in the future no more would our children, friends and loved ones die in wars far from home, they died so that one day mankind can rise together and say �We are one!� �One nation, one people, and never again shall we raise arms against our brothers!� Ross paused as hundreds of people began to cheer for a moment before returning to a more �respectful� silence.
�Those soldiers who have died should be remembered not with anger, with pain yes, with fondness yes, but not with anger for they died fighting for you, and for me, and for future generations, so please don�t rage at the soldiers that lived, don�t hate the government that sent your loved ones to battle, instead pray for the safety of our fighting men and women that have yet to return home, and pray for those who will soon be deploying to the front lines to join the wars.� The Admiral looked into the crowd and felt his own emotions twist within as he saw mothers and fathers holding each other, weeping for the loss of a child, or parents and children crying for a parent who would never return, he also saw people who wept alone for the loved ones or friends they would never again see in this life. But the feelings had changed, Ross felt it lift from him like a weight, the anger began to subside, yes sorrow and fear remained but the burning anger that so many had felt had given way to the sorrow and pain of loss at long last as the anger they had used as a barrier faded away.
�Ladies and gentlemen it is my sad honor to list now the names of the starships that were destroyed, please bow your heads in a moment of silence for our fallen heroes.� the crowd fell utterly silent except for the occasional noise of a crying person or child.
Ross forced his tone into rigid formality as he began: �Those ships who shall never be forgotten by Icara are:
HMS Anasazi (SD 156) 6,000 died aboard, one hundred survived.
HMS Blackbird (SD 74) 6,100 dead (Ross choked for a moment as he knew that among those 6,100 dead was his dear friend).HMS Catherine (SD 145) 6,100 dead
HMS Hawkwing (SD 144) 6,100 dead
HMS Samson (SD 133) 5,000 dead, 1,100 survivors
HMS Sumter (SD 85) 5,600 dead, 500 survivors
HMS Warden (SD 157) 6,100 dead
We also honor, the other 3,500 spacers and officers who died that day.
Ross folded the piece of paper he had been reading from came to parade ground attention and saluted, on his example every other soldier, uniformed o retired rose to their feet and returned the salute to the dead. Ross turned about smartly and walked off the stage, his head high and his back straight-and his heart throbbing with sorrow- as he left the hall and joined Lin outside.
�Are you alright William?� she asked softly as slid a hand through the crook in his arm and gave a gentle squeeze.
�I will be Lin, it�s just so hard to believe Sandy is really gone.� William turned to face his wife and saw the sorrow in her own eyes �Are you alright my love?�
�As you said, I will be�.let�s go home Wil.� she said gently and turned to walk again only to have William gently pull her back.
�Lin, I just wanted to tell you again.� William paused a moment and swallowed �I do love you Lin.� he knew he had told her that on many occasions, but with the loss of Sandra he felt his own mortality, and Lin�s like never before. She just smiled softly and raised her lips to his, their soft warmth felt like a soothing counterbalance to the cold pain in his heart and William pulled her close and savored her presence for just a moment longer before letting her go.
�Yeah, let�s go home.� he said and took her arm in his again as they both walked toward the waiting ground car.

The very next month the first fleet engaged and destroyed 11 Mantis mine layer and mine sweeper ships, 9 of which were super dreadnoughts, 2 were older battleships, 2 Empire of man minelayer super dreadnoughts were also intercepted and destroyed, unfortunately the enemy had deployed mines and three Icaran ships were heavily damaged, 1,000 more Icarans had perished in that engagement but the enemy�s losses were so much higher that even Babcock permitted himself the knowledge that they had struck a blow against their enemies.
After the battle 1st fleet turned around to abandon Nepsis as ordered and return to the more �defensible� position of their previous conquests.

Wall of the Fallen: This list is all those ships who have been lost during the Andermanian Crusade:
HMS Anasazi
HMS Blackbird
HMS Catherine
HMS Cairo
HMS Hawkwing
HMS Raven
HMS Samson
HMS Sumter
HMS Tyrant
HMS Warden[/b]

Total Icaran Losses to date in the Andermanian Crusade: 73,747 dead, 150,000 wounded.

Estimated Andermanian/Allied losses: 5 billion dead

Bongosan

March 30th, 2005, 12:04 PM

Very good answers and I like the tech your using.
All very rationale answers and rest of the injuries certainly do emphazise the "ouch" factor.
I for one am more than willing to do that whole willing suspension of disbleif thang!!!
I like the "Wall of the Fallen".
Another solid story.

El_Phil

March 30th, 2005, 12:11 PM

So do the "Wall of the Fallen" become the names for the next big flagships or get saved and not used as memorial?

Anyway another great chapter with copious amounts of BLAM! What more could you ask? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/laugh.gif

Strategia_In_Ultima

March 30th, 2005, 04:42 PM

Starhawk

March 30th, 2005, 06:52 PM

Phil said:
So do the "Wall of the Fallen" become the names for the next big flagships or get saved and not used as memorial?

Anyway another great chapter with copious amounts of BLAM! What more could you ask? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/laugh.gif

Well ships listed on the Wall of the Fallen are "reborn" I guess you could say, when another ship is created which takes their name, however no ship is EVER named the exact same again out of honor for the dead, for example:
Blackbird's successor is the Blackbird II and is officially designated as such though she carries the same registry on her hull and has a plaque that lists the battle honors of the first ship of her name and it's last commander.

If a ship is scrapped then it's name is recycled at will and a peice of the hull plating is cut away and added to the next ship to take the name. They do not carry the memorial plaque listing their predecessors battle honours as it is considered bad luck to steal another ship's honors if it did not die in battle, as most likely the crew is still alive and should keep their honors.

Though there are Shipyards right now that I've named after the four flag officers that were killed in the Andermanian crusades http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif.

Starhawk

March 30th, 2005, 08:03 PM

Oh and BTW Sandra Fowler's 31st birthday was a mis-type I meant 51st which would have made her 20 when she took over the Saber frigate 30 years ago.

Starhawk

March 30th, 2005, 11:33 PM

2431.4 The 1st Space battle of Sadalmelek:
It was third watch aboard HMS Terror and most of the crew was either asleep or off relaxing or working out in their off time, Lieutenant Jeffery Hellar was commander of the watch on the bridge and was pacing the deck in his boredom, he hated third watch but he was the most junior command officer on board which meant he always got dogwatch.
�Lieutenant sir I�ve got something odd coming in from DNX-N1 system, spyer sat just picked it up on range five minutes ago, but I can�t get a positive lock on what it is yet.� The tac officer of the watch frowned down at his screen for a moment and rubbed his jaw.
�Can you get me a clearer answer then that tac?� Hellar said irritably as he stopped his pacing, dogwatch always got the Officer�s in training or the rooks which made things a royal pain when it came to getting anything done.
Five minutes passed and Hellar resumed his pacing as he considered whether or not to wake the Admiral, until finally the tac officer cleared his throat.
�Sir I�ve got confirmation, I am reading two formations of enemy starships, by drive strengths I�d say most of them are battle cruisers and battleships I can�t tell you who�s they are yet though, but I can tell you they are moving under cloak and at present rate of acceleration will enter firing range of the outer planets in two four hours�..sir I think we should wake the Admiral.� The tac officer frowned again as he noticed the glare shot his way.
�Thank you tac I figured as much, sound general quarters and wake the Admiral.� Hellar growled as the klaxons came on and the sound of drums thundered, if anyone was still asleep Hellar figured they were in a coma.

A few moments later the entire fleet was in battle formation and Rear Admiral Patrick Raley was standing on the bridge of his flagship watching his master plot as the two enemy formations continued on their course oblivious to the fact that he saw them on his scopes and was moving at half acceleration to intercept them. Raley had chosen to �sneak up� on the enemy by setting his course to make it look like the 2nd fleet was moving out system instead of moving to intercept the two formations of cloaked enemy ships. And thus far it seemed to be working as his fleet had been heading towards them for the past eight hours and neither enemy fleet changed course or heading.
�Admiral if they are going to attack us it should be any minute now.� Captain Susan Lap said calmly as she watched the enemy light codes merge with that of the 2nd fleet, as they merged the master plot zoomed in to a much smaller plane and focused on the two forces which were now only light seconds apart from one another.
�Enemy ships uncloaking!� The Senior Tactical officer sang out as an alarm whaled into life signaling the �sudden appearance� of the enemy fleet.
�We�ve got missile launch sir, I count 77 birds in the air!� the STO said calmly as the point defenses came to life.
�Point Defense crews are acquiring locks Admiral, I don�t think these missiles of theirs will be a problem at all.� The Chief weapons officer concealed a grin as the tactical displays showed 77 new light codes dart out from the fleet, each one headed straight for an enemy missile. The main problem with missile warfare was in fact that missiles took time to arrive on target, and while it was true that if the Earth Corps ships had gotten the drop on maybe a lone division of SD�s the battle might be in question, but with the amount of Point defense fire that the Icarans could pour out was simply too accurate and overwhelming for missile warfare to succeed.
�Sir they are closing to energy weapons range, and firing.� The tactical officer winced as the five enemy battleships fired their heavy I-laser cannons, unfortunately for the ECA ships their energy weapons were too weak to cut down the shields of the much larger super dreadnoughts.
The enemy light and heavy cruisers had already turned about to disengage, unfortunately for them they could not build the acceleration required to get away from the more powerful drives of their Icaran enemies.
Patrick Raley arched an eyebrow and turned to Captain Susan Lap �Well Captain I think we�ve given them enough of a chance, order the main battle line to engage the enemy at will, let�s end this quickly.� The Captain nodded, a small smile on her lips as she passed on the order to the rest of the fleet. It was the kind of naval battle every Admiral dreamed of, the Icarans totally outmatched their adversaries, and as the 2nd fleet opened their broadsides to the ECA starships that superiority became amazingly apparent. Only one SD division closed the range with the enemy fleet, but with their Dreadnought class I-lasers they would prove more then enough for the ECA ships.
Three of the enemy battleships exploded almost immediately as the massive energy weapons tore through their shields and hulls like talons.
Two more battleships were torn apart as the Terror unleashed her own broadside on them, the green beams shredded the enemy so quickly that the ECA crews never got a chance to get into their escape pods.
Jupiter closed in on the three heavy cruisers, and one light cruiser and cut a swath of death and fire as she passed through their formation like a lion amongst sheep, ending the battle in a matter of minutes.
�Helm take us right down the throats of that second formation, I don�t want any of these ships getting by us.� Raley smiled at his flag captain for a moment before returning his attention to the master plot.

Barely two hours later the entire second ECA force was destroyed by the Icaran fleet, which brought the enemy death toll into the thousands while not a single Icaran life had been lost in exchange making this the single greatest Icaran space victory in nearly fifteen years, and it had all been thanks to the newly deployed Spier satellites.

Atrocities

March 31st, 2005, 02:58 AM

Barely two hours later the entire second ECA force was destroyed by the Icaran fleet, which brought the enemy death toll into the thousands while not a single Icaran life had been lost in exchange making this the single greatest Icaran space victory in nearly fifteen years, and it had all been thanks to the newly deployed Spier satellites.

Outstanding read. Please post more...... must have more. BTW, what is your word count up too? We figured that it takes about 450 to 500 words to equal one page on a normal paper back book. So far Sachmo holds the high count followed by the OUTS story at nearly 88,000 words.

Starhawk

March 31st, 2005, 03:30 AM

My total current word count is 104,270 excluding the various footnotes and technical notes I've posted up, which I'm guessing would only add a few hundred more words.

Glad you enjoyed the read http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

sachmo

March 31st, 2005, 03:44 PM

Excellent read, Starhawk!

Starhawk

April 1st, 2005, 06:43 AM

Thanks Sachmo it means a lot that you like my writing http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif afterall to be honest reading your story inspired me to both buy SEIV and write a story of my own.

kerensky

April 1st, 2005, 06:52 PM

Sorry Stratagia, I was refering to Starhawk.

Starhawk

April 2nd, 2005, 01:26 PM

The next "chapter" is coming later today or tonight, however due to it's sheer size I may break it down to two posts to make it "easier on the eyes", so far I think this new chapter is headed towards the 1,000+ word stage so heh two posts seems good.

Anyway in a wait for that here is the breakdown of the command chains of the 1st and 2nd fleets, this may also give you a feel for the sheer size of the Imperial navy and the ships involved in the Andermanian Crusade:

Important Ships an People of the 1st fleet:
HMS Superior, 1st fleet flagship:
Star Admiral Tyson Babcock
Captain Michael Susevni

HMS Jackal
1st Dreadnought Division Flagship
(Brevet Commodore) Sampson Hendricks
Captain: Paul Robins

HMS Neptune
2nd Dreadnought Division Flagship
Commodore Bradley Sharp
Captain John Serinopolese

HMS Bear
1st SuperDreadnought division Flagship
Commadore Carla Sanches
Captain Jeow Lung
(2nd division destroyed)

HMS Crystal
3rd Superdreadnought Division Flagship
Commodore Richard Scott
Captain Tomas Purechskia

HMS Dreadful
4th SD division Flagship
Commodore Luis Martinez
Captain Linda Carstairs

HMS Guardian
5th SD division flagship
Commodore: Chao Hai
Captain Paul Stanza

HMS Hotspur
6th SD Division Flagship
Commodore Horace Fahalad
Captain Leona Parks

HMS Julin
7th SD Division Flagship
Commodore Aaron McPherson
Captain Alexi Numenkov

HMS Nagglefar
8th SD Division Flagship
Commodore Tony White
Captain: Sarah O�Dell

HMS Redoubtable
9th SD Division Flagship
Commodore Linda Grayson
Captain: Emanuel Jackson

HMS Sabertooth
10th SD Division Flagship
Commodore Michael Eddison
Captain: Achmed Feyr

HMS Sato
11th SD Division Flagship
Commodore Theo Mullins
Captain: Agnis O�Leery

HMS Starrider
12 SD Division Flagship
Commodore Hoshi Kuchiki
Captain: David Sandoval

HMS Tiger
13 SD Division Flagship
Rear Admiral Donald Littlefield (2nd in command 1st fleet)
Captain: Julia Gates
HMS Rochester
14th SD Division Flagship
Commodore Tina Larz
Captain: Rukia Fujita

HMS Yu Hing Pe
15th SD Division Flagship
Commodore Paulo Sanches
Captain: Teya Leosan

HMS Rodger Young
General Peter Braun (ground forces commander 1st fleet)

Important Ships and People of the 2nd Fleet:
HMS Terror, 2nd Fleet flagship
Rear Admiral Patrick Raley
Captain Susan Lap

HMS Jupiter
1st Dreadnought Division Flagship
(Brevet Commodore) Lana Fitzgerald
(Brevet Captain): Orson Greer.

HMS Shaman
1st Super Dreadnought Division flagship
Commodore Kara Valerie
Captain: Daniela Thrace

HMS Kirasowa
2nd SD Division Flagship
Commodore Preston Louis
Captain: Sarah Troy

HMS Superator
3rd SD Division Flagship
Commodore Lea Thomas
Captain: Paul Hart

HMS Lysander
4th SD Division Flagship
Commodore Tony Piscotelli
Captain: Martin Sweeny

HMS Patton
Ground Forces
General Edward Marshall

Remember now there is also the Home Fleet which consists of the 5 Swords of Heaven as well as a super dreadnought division, the Lacerta fleet which consists of a super dreadnought division.
And the 3rd fleet which consists of seven SD divisions plus 2 regiments of infantry (800 units) when their training is complete.

Now those numbers don't even include the new "Project Artemis", the warpers the various support ships and the lone patrol dreadnoughts and super dreadnoughts. Heck I actually found an old General class HVC floating around lol.

(note)The 1st fleet does not have a 2nd SD division as their entire 2nd SD division was destroyed, along with the death of Commadore Sandra Fowler.

Starhawk

April 2nd, 2005, 06:18 PM

Reverence and Heroes

HMS Reverence had been detached from the 4th SD division 2nd fleet right after the battle of DNX-N1 VII, much to the chagrin of Captain Willard Scott who hated sitting on the sidelines while the 2nd fleet took out two more enemy worlds, but since there were no spier sats in this system Admiral Raley had decided to detach an SD to protect each of his three newest conquests while the 2nd fleet moved on.
Yeah moves on and leaves us here to play babysitter Willard tightened his grip on his coffee mug as his anger rose again, he had been here for a week now and he often scolded himself for what he thought of as a childish anger, Of course your not going to be left here for good idiot! he told himself once again and forced himself to relax and take a sip of coffee, as the liquid touched his tongue Scott let out a noise that loosely resembled a hiss and turned bright red as several of his bridge crew made a concentrated effort not to turn their heads, a chuckle made him turn brighter red as he turned to face his exec.
�Navy coffee eh skip?� Sailing Master Nikki Leung was tall for a Brandenburger, at about 179 centimeters she was a good 15 centimeters taller then the other Brandenburg women Scott had met, though he admitted to himself he hadn�t met all that many and for some odd reason Leung often had an odd effect of making him stare at her, she was pretty yes but it was more the fact that Scott was so used to seeing �Icarans� which after so many years of mixed relationships, it was nearly impossible to tell someone�s heritage just by looking at them. But Brandenburg had been a fluke of warp travel, two of the ESS colony ships that were with the Solar evacuation colony had crashed on Brandenburg�s surface and remained isolated there for over fifty years, which had kept their bloodlines far more �pure� then Icara�s had ever been, though these days Brandenburgers were joining the military in large numbers-with most of their naval recruits being women- they still tended to remain �ethnically proud� and many outright refused any relationship with a non-Brandenburg Icaran, Nikki�s mother and father had been like that and when Scott first found out that his exec was a Brandenburger he prayed like mad that she wasn�t going to be one of the �ethnists� that still plagued her homeworld, and fortunately she hadn�t been, unfortunately she was outspoken and often brazen when it came to her Captain and Scott had resigned himself to the fact that it was just her nature.
�If you can call this syrup coffee Nik.� He grimaced at her as he looked down at the thick liquid in his cup again.
�Well you should try tea more often anyway sir, that�s the problem with you Icara born people after all, your always drinking caffeine, it amazes me you ever get any sleep.� She grinned wickedly at his expression, she had tried introducing him to tea a few months earlier with something called �liquorish root� but that was so rich it made him gag, he was about to say something else when his tactical officer�s voice cut through the air like a siren.
�Enemy ships uncloaking, seven point niner five light seconds out and closing!� Willard quickly laid his coffee mug aside and slammed his palm down on the button which brought up his tactical display.
�Sound actions stations, all hands beat to quarters!� Commander Leung�s voice was smooth professionalism as she brought up her own chair�s tac displays, seconds later klaxons and drums sounded throughout the ship followed swiftly by the sound of running feet, as crewman and marines raced to their battle stations.
�Can you get me a count on the enemy, tac?� Willard turned to face the tactical station and saw the tac officer of the watch going from one of his crewmen to the other, trying to get a definite plot.
�Sir our sensors can�t seem to agree on count, Lscan One detects 5, Lscan Two detects 9 and our lightwave telescopes seem to think there are 8 of them.� the tactical officer reddened with embarrassment as he reported what was supposed to be impossible, they should know easily how many enemy ships there were by drive signals alone but�..but why couldn�t they?
�Alright tac let�s assume it�s 9 can you tell me what size enemy ships we are dealing with?� Willard forced the agitation out of his voice as he watched his own display change count on the enemy ships every few seconds.
�Aye sir, I can tell you that they are some of those small battleships the Earth Corps Alliance uses.� the tac officer�s voice sounded almost relieved as he was able to answer at least one question.
�Sir I can get us a better read of numbers if we get closer.� one of the Lscan operators whispered to her tac officer and blushed as she realized her voice had carried further then she meant it too as Willard�s gaze turned to her or a moment before turning back to the tac officer who simply shrugged and nodded.
�Alright helm, break orbit, navigation plot a soonest intercept course for the enemy ships, tactical�.try and get me a clean picture before we get into shooting range please.� Willard paused and turned toward another bridge station �Astrogation plot the enemy ships� current excel, course and velocity and see if you can tell me where they came from.�
�Aye sir plotting course.� The helmsman sang out
�Aye sir course plotted time to intercept one five niner minutes.� navigation rang out
�Focusing scans on mid range aye.� the tac officer said as he punched in some calculations.
�Plotting enemy drive signature aye.� the chief astrogator replied.
�Well I guess we�re going to be very busy.� Leung said sardonically as she toggled her tac display�s modes, Willard simply grunted a reply with a brief grin of his own.

Two and a half hours later the enemy signature had become all to clear, there were eight enemy Danube class battleships inbound at maximum military power, each one equipped with eleven fusion capital missiles and one heavy mounted I-laser cannon. When Willard heard the numbers his blood ran cold, not a single enemy troop carrier in the mix which meant either they were here to nuke the planet and it�s four hundred million people to keep it out of Icara�s hands or they were here for some other purpose that Willard couldn�t understand, and either way they were probably going to destroy his ship to do whatever it was they were here for.

Bridge: ECANS George Washington:
�What the hell is an Icaran doing here?� Junior Rear Admiral Brian Monteghue said angrily, his tactical section had detected the Icaran�s barely an hour ago which he knew meant they had detected him long before that.
�I don�t know sir but whatever she�s doing here she�s alone.� Commander Alex Stark said grimly as his own readers showed the enemy ship closing, he knew that for his Admiral to cuss in public he was worried, no matter how calm he looked.
The 5th battleship squadron Northern fleet had been ordered to proceed under cloak and maximum power to DNX-N1 VII in order to retrieve the planetary governor and his family before the Icaran StateSec forces �purged� the government officials and their families to ensure compliance. Personally Commander Stark was terrified by the implications of an enemy Superdreadnought holding a parking orbit over an ECA planet, had they already purged the government? Or worse yet did thy know the battleships were coming somehow? The media had broadcast reports of tragedy befalling the 36 ships of the Southern Cross fleet but no one knew for sure how the Icarans had engaged them, if there were any survivors from that battle the Icarans certainly weren�t about to tell anyone and so absolutely no information got out. Stark�s thoughts suddenly became more grim, he had heard from the Anderman reports of the atrocities committed by Icaran Naval and Army forces, entire world�s burned simply because there was no available troopship to secure it, or �no time�, entire governments wiped out because they might insight riots, the billions of Andermanian and Allied lives lost because Icaran warships intercepted and destroyed dozens of colony ships and population transports�.wherever the Icarans struck it was as if a shroud engulfed the region, no one ever heard from the conquered worlds again, and even now billions of people were behind that ever growing shroud of darkness and whether or not the Icarans could be stopped was a question that terrified every inhabited world in their path, the mere name Icara brought terror and tears where it was uttered and even though Andermanian newsies had said that their valiant 9th fleet had driven the Icarans out of Nepsis Stark knew the grim fact was that the only reason the Icarans left is because after they destroyed the Andermanian 12th fleet and the combined Alliance minelayer/sweeper task force they were simply too banged up to engage the 9th, and Stark felt with grim certainty that when the Icarans did return to Nepsis the 9th fleet was only going to slow them down.
�Admiral, enemy ship is closing the range with us, she�ll be in our weapons range in two minutes, we�ll be in hers in three.� the tactical officer sounded surprisingly confident considering the enemy ship outstripped their�s by an order of magnitudes but if they could saturate that bastard�s point defense with missiles and keep the range open then maybe they could take her out and get to the planet to retrieve refugees.

HMS Reverence
�I can�t believe those sons�a�*****es are going to nuke their own world just to keep us from getting it.� CPO Anders murmured from his station at Lscan Two, Willard was tempted to chew the Petty Officer out for breaking military discipline but he had just said what they were all thinking, Icaran news services had told them all how the ECA and the Andermanian alliance had destroyed several of their own worlds just to keep them out of Icaran hands, rumor had it that�s what happened in Nepsis when the 1st fleet was forced to pull out the Andermanian 9th had just moved in and laid waste to the planet.
Willard Scott would be damned before he let those hundreds of millions of Icarans die at the hands of that ECA naval task force.
�Captain I have an idea�..though it�s a little risky sir.� Leung whispered as she looked up from her tactical repeaters.
Willard could almost feel her grin as she said �risky� like it really mattered at this moment, he turned around and saw not a grin but a sharkish smile as she returned her attention to he repeaters.
�By all means Commander don�t keep me in the dark.� He managed a light tone even though his nerves were frayed and her habit of sinking into her work so much that she forgot the world at large tended to make that worse.
She looked up from her displays, with that same Sharkish smile �Well sir, I think we should let them fire their missiles off at us, if they do the might just try to get into energy range and bring our shields down before their missiles finish us off, and well as you know sir we could easily win a gun duel with them�.� she paused again for a moment in thought before her smile grew broader �Well Captain I think we could actually manage a broadside into their formation before we are forced to break range to keep from getting our asses blown off, but after that broadside we�d be restricted to chase mounts only if we want to keep our range open enough that we have time to get out of the way of their missiles�.but if we are off by even one second we�ll have about 88 missiles roaring up our rather large tailpipe.� her smile became a grin as she realized how cocky she herself sounded.
Willard quirked an eyebrow as he thought it over, if he got off a broadside with his full arsenal he could destroy at least two of those battleships, even at maximum range but his XO was certainly correct in her math, if they were off by one second 88 missiles would tear them apart like so much tissue paper.
�Alright Nikki let�s play risky.� He tried to smile back but he knew that she was just as afraid as him, and that her smile was pure nerves, for some reason it reminded him that she had once mentioned that she used to giggle like an idiot whenever she got nervous, and he was glad at least that she had outgrown that. �Helm, cut accel in half, I want to have the velocity to turn a broadside on those targets, but prepare to go back to full military power on my orders.�
�Aye sir.� the bridge suddenly went quiet as the crew focused on the tasks ahead of them, the chief gunnery officer sat on the edge of her seat, her two gunner�s mates were keeping themselves busy checking and rechecking the status of the gunnery crews and their weapons.

George Washington
�Admiral sir they are cutting their accel in half, and it looks they are changing course to bring themselves to a broadside to us.� the tactical officer frowned as he read off the numbers, the Icaran was indeed cutting her acceleration and turning broadside to the task force.
�Thank you tactical�..guns how much longer to range?� Rear Admiral Monteghue said softly as he looked over his shoulder at the gunnery station.
�Thirty seconds to missile envelope, fifty before we reach energy range.�
Monteghue turned to face Commander Alex Stark �They are either overly cocky, or they�ve got a longer range then we suspect Alex.� his voice was quiet enough that only the commander could hear him and his face was expressionless, but his eyes showed he was worried and Alex couldn�t blame him one whit.
�Either she�s got a cocky dumb captain or they�re confident they can stand up to us all�.and if it�s the latter we�ve got a lot to worry about Alex.� The Admiral turned back towards the display and saw the lone enemy super dreadnought turning her broadside to his fleet in defiance.
�Missile lock, all tubes firing!� the sudden announcement turned just about everyone�s head, unfortunately for them the tactical display showed a massive �wall� of light lance out from the Icaran towards two battleships as the SD fired it�s broadside�.

Reverence:
The two battleships that were hit rocked as their shields flared to life for barely a minute before imploding and the huge energy forces made contact with the hulls of the two battleships, as the beams lashed out the green beams slashed through decks and hull plating with ease, it wasn�t quite accurate to say the two battleships exploded, it was more like they just broke apart spilling wreckage and bodies into space.

�Incoming missiles, I count sixty six birds!� The tactical officer said coldly as the Reverence�s own tactical displays came to life with the light codes of the enemy capital missiles.
�Helm hard about�now!� Captain Scott clenched his right hand into a fist at his side as he saw the enemy battleships closing to within their own energy range, seconds passed and almost imperceptivity a light streak glowed to life on the displays as the ECA beams lashed out from their battleships, out of the six beams only two struck home but it was enough to reduce the shield power of the SD.
The massive warship spun about with surprising ease and grace as her main engine burst to life sending her at the full 500 gees of military acceleration back towards the planet she was fighting to protect.
The enemy battleships continued to close however, and even though the were slower to accelerate they would eventually gain on their prey.
�Gunner crews, aft chase mounts pick a target and open fire!� Scott barked the order out like a curse.

George Washington
�Holy mother!� The tactical officer blurted angrily as the Icaran�s aft chase batteries came to life burning through the Valley Forge�s shields with amazing ease.
The battleship�s hull plating collapsed before the wrath of the beam fire and within moments all that remained of the once mighty battleship was an expanding ball of fire, and wreckage.
�Admiral, no one could have survived that�.�Alex Stark said grimly as he watched the last flare of light die out.
�Alright keep the remaining ships together in a tight formation, if we�re going to take that bastard down we�ve got to focus our own fire.� Monteghue forced his voice to sound unemotional, even as his own heart was aching as the realization of what was happening to his command struck home, 3 battleships were blown out of the sky before they had even reduced their enemy�s shields, there were at least a thousand survivors out there floating in escape pods or vac suits but that still left almost five thousand of his people dead or dying.
The three remaining ECA battleships returned to energy weapon range and fired again, this time all three of their shots hit the enemy SD and it�s shields weakened even further, barely a minute later 66 more missiles rippled from the battleships and the closest 11 actually managed to strike home but her acceleration took her away from the remainders.
�Their shields can�t have much power left sir, we might just have�..bastard!� Alex swore louder then he intended as he saw the enemy�s chase mounts unleash another volley, this time James Madison was torn open from bow to stern like an old tin can, hull plating and atmosphere formed an icy cloud as they spilled free from the sliced hull, her power systems flickered for a moment and then stopped as she slowly drifted away from the fight, escape pods launched from her in droves as she continued to drift, until finally her hull began to break apart.

Reverence
The two remaining enemy battleships fired their I-laser turrets again and this time it had a dramatic effect as the Reverence rolled up on her starboard with the force of the enemy beams, her shields flared for a moment and then failed outright under the enemy fire, the only thing that saved the Reverence from direct damage was that just as her shields failed the energy pouring into her through the enemy beams faded.
�My God that was close�� Scott whispered to Nikki, and turned to see that she too was pale with the shock, by all rights those two cannons should have sliced into her armor and killed Lord only knew how many crewmen.
�Helm take us in, guns give me a lock on both those ships hold fire until we are point blank, then let�s end this.� Scott winked at his XO and grinned �I said we�d play it risky didn�t I Nikki.� She nodded nervously and his grin faded as he turned back to face the main screen, they both knew just how risky it was to run straight into two enemy ships without any shields, even in a super dreadnought.

George Washington:
�Sir she�s turning about to engage us!� A voice called out from the tactical station, but by then everyone already knew that the enemy ship had turned about and was closing in at maximum military thrust.
�She�s got no energy field around her, she must have lost her shields.� Stark stared at his display even as he spoke, his heart seemed to stop for an instant as he realized what the Icarans were doing, They�re going to try and finish us in one fell swoop they know they can�t keep taking us on with only they�re chase mounts or we�d be guaranteed a lucky shot on her eventually. his mind raced as he saw the enemy ship closing, it seemed an eternity but finally the two ECA battleships fired straight at their massive foe. The commander�s thoughts turned to his family, and his own failure to achieve their mission objective, for unless a miracle happened he knew that these were his last few seconds of life.

Reverence
The one enemy ship�s sensors had targeted one of the many sensor ghosts cost by the ECM generators carried by all Icaran warships and missed by over a kilometer, the second beam however passed barely a meter over the forward hull of the massive Icaran super dreadnought so close that a long streak of paint boiled with the heat. But her fire proved much more accurate as she opened fire on the Lake Superior tearing her apart with a hellish beauty.
George Washington too was struck, and went up in a brilliant flash of light as her reactor breached, there wasn�t even a chance for anyone of her crew to reach the escape pods, the only fortunate thing for those poor souls was that they never even had time to feel pain.
As their last opponent disappeared Scott felt an odd mix of triumph and horror, eight battleships meant 16,000 lives and Scott had been through battles before and had indeed been aboard a super dreadnought that was crippled during the earlier months of the Andermanian crusade, he knew what it was like for the crews of those ships in their last few moments of life.
�Sir I�ve got escape pod and vac suit rescue beacons, from all over the place, should I order out SAR teams.� Nikki�s voice startled him back into the present as he pulled his eyes away from the still sparkling debris of their final victim.
�Yes, deploy cutters and take us around to pick up as many survivors as we can, damned if I�m going to let those people die out here�.� Captain Willard Scott�s expression turned pale for a moment as the sheer destruction he had just unleashed, and the luck of his own ship�s survival sank in.

The SAR teams launched by the Reverence picked up 2,018 survivors from the eight enemy battleships, these POWs were then taken by StateSec transports to Icaran POW camps in the home system where they could receive medical care, food, and basic-albeit uncomfortable- living quarters until the war ended.
Neither side ever figured out what the other was doing there, as the survivors the Icaran�s recovered refused to speak of their final mission to their nation, and because not one ECA soldier ever returned home from the 5th battleship squadron their homeland would never know that the governor and his family were all still very much alive, though in political prisoner camps far away from their home world.

Fyron

April 2nd, 2005, 06:42 PM

Bah! Here I am in the process of formatting this for SEnet, and you write more! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/evil.gif

heheh, just kidding. Keep up the great work!

kerensky

April 2nd, 2005, 07:16 PM

Starhawk said:

Anyway in a wait for that here is the breakdown of the command chains of the 1st and 2nd fleets, this may also give you a feel for the sheer size of the Imperial navy and the ships involved in the Andermanian Crusade:

That is what you may think is sheer size, but wait until you have seen my empired navy, hehehe....

Anyways, keep up the good work SH.

Starhawk

April 4th, 2005, 01:00 AM

Important Worlds of the Icaran Empire:

[i]Planet Icara:
This world was colonized in the late twenty-first century by the Icara/Empire of the Shining Star evacuation fleet after they were driven from the Sol system by the Sol Coalition forces.
Population: 3,216,000,000
Distinguishing Traits:
Icara's capital city "Venture" is one of the few Icaran cities that kept to the old earth design school.
Icara also boasts one of the most active and friendly ecologies of the Empire.

Planet Brandenburg:
Brandenburg was an accidental co-colony of Icara, after a lone ESS transport crashed to it's surface after being thrown through the same stellar anomoly as the rest of the evac fleet, contact was reestablished during the late twenty second century after an Icaran survey craft overflew the planet.
It was fully rehabilitated into the empire in the year 2400 by Countess Percilla Tory.
Population: 1,553,000,000

Distinguishing traits:
Brandenburg's female population outnumbers it's male populace two to one.

Brandenburg also boasts one of the few "pure bred" populations in the Icaran Empire, as the vast bulk of this world's populace is Asian in origin, and fo the most part due to traditions many of the world's population still refuse to intermingle with others not of their race.

Their largest contribution to the armed forces of Icara is female personnel.

Planet Sparta:
Sparta was colonized early in the expansionist years of Icara and her early years were not easy as nearly every life form on the planet-including many plants-were hostile to human life by either proving non-edible or openly predatory against human life.
However the brave colonists eventually learned to thrive on their homeworld and to this day claim they are the toughest Icara has to offer.
Population: 544,000,000

Unique Traits: Every member of Icara's population born to the "first generation" has had a teardrop tatoo beneath their left eye symbolizing that they will never forget the sacrifice of the first colonists from Icara.

Sparta also boasts a large populace of former Brandenburgers who were drafted by the colonization branch of the Icaran government, these colonists unlike many of their counterparts on Brandenburg have since integrating into the general populace of Sparta in part due to the hostile nature of Sparta.

The Spartan Kraken is the largest and most ferocious predator in the known galaxy, being larger then an old earth elephant and brandishing claws and fangs that can rend battle armor in a single swipe.

Planet New Haven:
The exact colonization date of this world is lost to history, it is the former home world and Capital of the Rebel Alliance which surrendered to the Icaran Empire during the early years of expansion.
Population: 4,000,000,000

Unique Traits: Former homeworld of the Rebel Alliance, this world has the largest non "true blood" Icaran population of the Empire.

Planet Mandow:
Homeworld of the Delta Corporation Mandow rules over the entire 6-11 system like it's own private Empire, StateSec troops that are normally seen on Icaran worlds are instead replaced by Delta Corporate Security and many rumors are flying in the Court that the Delta Corporation is building it's own private military force for some sinister reason.
Currently 6-11 and thus Mandow are being "observed" by Icaran Shadowdagger agents.
Population: 8,000,000,000

Unique Traits: Mandow is a semi-autonomous state within the Empire.
The Solstoy shipyards in orbit are rumored to be producing more then just merchantmen and transports, many people say that they are buidling an entire division of SuperDreadnoughts flying the Delta Corporate flag and crewed by ex-pats from several of the conquered star nations in Icara's borders.

Planet New Brisbane:
Colonized after the destruction of the original Handra colony, New Brisbane served as the jumping off point for the Icaran invasion and subjugation of the Phong Federation.
Population: 697,000,000

Unique Traits: Of the 697 million people on New Brisbane 300 million are military personnel or under military employment aboard the two massive orbital shipyards that float above New Brisbane.

Sphereworld: Phong Isolation
The Phong Isolation was the first sphereworld ever constructed by the Icaran empire, it's sole purpose was to isolate the Xeno population from the rest of the Icaran empire.
This massive sphereworld contains a population of 19 billion Phong, and when fully occupied will contain every last Phong in the empire.
It is a grim dark world used as a massive work camp by the Icaran empire, the Phong who live here have nothing but work in their future.
Population: 19 billion and growing.

Sphereworld New Icara:

This mighty construct is totally unlike the Phong sphereworld, it is a glittering jewel in the Icaran home system of Norvor and currently has a population of 12 billion Icarans, including many Andermanian ex-pats which were captured when their colony ships were seized by the new "light raiders" of the navy's Artemis project.
Population 12 billion

El_Phil

April 4th, 2005, 04:28 AM

Ahhh a treachorous evil corporation with diabolical plans for domination. Doesn't eveybody galaxy need at least one of those? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/laugh.gif

Starhawk

April 7th, 2005, 09:20 AM

This segment is rated R for Graphic violence, language, and scenes of gore if you are offended by such material please skip this chapter:

The Goddess of the hunt
To: Grand Admiral�s Office
From: Rear Admiral Alan Hindecker, His Majesty�s Bureau of Ship Design
Re: Project Artemis

Grand Admiral your excellency it is my happy duty to inform you that the Artemis project has finally born fruit, the two Nimitz class carriers are already in my yards being retrofit for the Artemis heavy raider configuration with the extended marine barracks and shield depletion weaponry, fortunately due to the size of the Nimitz carrier�s we�ve also been able to give her more individual firepower and shielding then we originally thought, she can easily destroy an enemy super dreadnought in a single broadside and can take enough punishment on her shields to get within boarding range.
The light raiders designed to capture rather then destroy those colony ships and transports we�ve been having to destroy will begin production shortly after the Artemis heavies have been tested in combat.
Unfortunately the Light raiders will not be able to take on capital ships or any proper heavy warships, so they must operate either in larger groups or with the protection of Royal Navy dreadnought or super dreadnought units.
Your Faithful Servant
Rear Admiral Hindecker

One Month Later:
His Majesty�s Ship Nimitz had once been a mighty carrier for the Royal Navy, however her and her sister ship had been gutted, her flight bays and munitions storage facilities had been removed and replaced with extended marine barracks, small arms armories, briefing rooms and �tubes� carrying the new breaching pods Her personal armaments had been dramatically increased though, with massive mount I-Las cannons and massive shield depleter cannons. Captain Harold Kimmel paced the command deck of his new �raider� configured command, that too was nothing like it�s carrier configuration no air boss, no CAG liaison officer or flight ops stations, now there were marine boarding command stations, armor suite monitors and a lot of other equipment that went with being an independent raider, including the latest and greatest cloak detection and long range scanner systems the navy could offer.
But even with all that High Tech equipment Captain Kimmel felt little better about his situation, they had been dispatched to pursue a lone Neo-Star super dreadnought that had been detected by a system�s spier satellites, but what made this a bad situation in his mind was that his lone little �raider� was now in a frontier system that was 350 light years away from any Naval base or even starship and the warp point which had brought him here had been closed to ensure the enemy ship did not escape him.
They don�t even know we can detect them why the bloody hell would they try to escape us? he thought irritably as the numbers ran down and the distance between his starship and his prey closed.
�Marine boarders to stations, tactical time to intercept.� Kimmel paused his pacing and looked at the officer he had just addressed, the young woman looked at her screen for a long hard second before returning her captain�s gaze levelly.
�Three minutes to intercept, one point five to boarding pod range.� Kimmel nodded at her and returned his gaze to the screen once more, three minutes and we�ll see if this new idea actually works.

Three minutes passed like an eternity as the massive raider closed on her much smaller prey at her maximum available accel until she had closed in with her weapons range, the only sign the enemy commander had that the raider had actually seen him was when the orange beams of massive shield depletes reached out from the raider and reduced his shields to less then half power, the following massive I-laser mount shot tore through his shields with incredible ease, unfortunately for the NeoStar super dreadnought the burn through knocked out two of her engines making her slower then the massive raider that was even now closing on her.
A few pot shots from the SD actually impacted on Nimitz shields but the huge raider shrugged off the blows like a Spartan Kraken shrugged off darter shots, as Nimitz passed broadside to broadside with the enemy starship dozens of strange objects darted from her side at speeds just lower then that of a missile volley, though in many ways their payloads were much deadlier then any missile, as the NSE crew was about to discover.

�Alright marines lock and load five seconds and we�re in!� Sergeant Nick �Sharktooth� Monroe grinned as he smacked a dart magazine into his auto rifle, the other marines in his breaching pod were also smacking their magazines into place, except of course for the one marine who was carrying a breacher gun, corporal Sally Faucet fed the �shells� into her heavy weapon�s hopper with a devlish look on her face, Monroe�s platoon had three heavy weapons operators, two carried the breachers which were the equivalent of a 14th and 15th century shotgun prior to the development of magnetic accelerated weapons, a breacher fired 12 micro explosive darts at a target with gruesome effect, it was a perfect weapon for boarding and breaching actions because of the sheer hell it could unload onto any poor bastard caught in it�s range. The third heavy weapons operator carried a perdition rifle, which fired balls of �energy� hotter then the core of a star, it�s purpose was pure and simple personnel extermination as anyone or anything caught in that energy ball would vaporize rather quickly even though the energy ball only lasted for about three meters before dissipating.
The rest of the marines were equipped with the simple auto rifle- which fired either explosive, incendiary or solid darts at a rate of 300 rounds per minute when at full auto, though most marines preferred firing their weapon in a burst in order to increase accuracy and save ammunition.
After a moment of absolute silence a thundering crash echoed through the breaching pod like the wrath of God, Sergeant Monroe smiled at his marines as the all unhooked from their shock harnesses and move into their positions with silent well practiced discipline.
Monroe counted to 10 silently and then slammed his fist against a green button at the end of the pod, a hissing replied as the pod sliced through the last layer of armor plating between the marines and their target, as the front hatch erupted forward in a sparkling fireball Monroe and his marines charged forward like wild animals leaping upon their prey.
An enemy security detachment was unfortunate enough to be caught by the marines right after the sparkling eruption had dazed their senses, Sally Faucet�s breacher hiccupped twice and turned five enemy soldiers into a cloud of blood and torn flesh as the explosive darts tore them apart, a sixth enemy soldier was reduced to a crying heap of shattered flesh as an explosive dart tore her legs apart.
�Alright marines get moving, we have an engineering section to secure.� Monroe hissed as he watched the crying spasming woman on the deck, he sympathized with her but he couldn�t afford to detach one of his marines to secure her so he simply walked passed her with the rest of his unit as the advanced over the blood slicked deck.
After a moment the sobbing screams died away and Monroe flinched absently at the thought, he shook off the feeling after a second only to hear the whine of darter fire erupt ahead of him, one of his marines went down as a half a dozen darts tore his chest open even with the armor and sent him down as blood geysers erupted from his wounds and the gruesome sewer smell of bowels loosed in death filled the corridor, Monroe switched his helmet to internal oxygen and was grateful as the smell of purified oxygen replaced the death stench that surrounded him, the breaching guns hiccupped several more times as auto-rifles whined, another marine went down, with a solid shot through his throat, his gurgling death throws audible over the din of weapons fire.
Monroe moved up and saw what looked like an entire platoon of enemy security personnel blocking the corridor, a few bodies and blood splattered corridors told Monroe that at least some of the enemy soldiers had been killed, he aimed his rifle at an enemy security soldier and let off a burst of deadly accurate fire, the enemy trooper didn�t even have a chance to scream as three darts tore through his helmeted head with ease, splattering blood and brain material everywhere.
Monroe nodded at the heavy weapon marine carrying the perdition rifle, and as the other marines laid down covering fire the world suddenly turned on it�s head and shook as the amazing sound and vibration caused by the powerful weapon firing momentarily stunned the Icaran marines, the lucky enemy soldiers had been caught full on in the blast and vaporized, other less lucky enemy soldiers could be heard screaming in agony as burnt remains of limbs dangled from their bodies, others could be heard screaming �my eyes� as they clawed at the burning eyes that would never see again.
Monroe�s marines moved up with practiced speed and the quick bursts of auto-fire brought a merciful end to the grotesquely wounded NSE soldiers pain and their shrieks of agony.
Seconds later the platoon was outside of the massive blast doors that sealed off the engineering compartment, however several well placed perdition rifle shots turned the doors into molten slag, just as the doors melted away the whine of a dart pistol from within the compartment split the air, and the ominous crack of bone and armor jerked Monroe around just in time to see another dart slam into the wounded marine, knocking him on his back, the wounded soldier jerked and twitched as the pain overrode shock.
One of the marines carrying a breaching gun fired three times in rapid succession destroying the handful of armed engineers with disgusting ease.
The rest of the marines charged forward into the surviving unarmed engineers, feet and hands flew as the marines struck down their enemies, the sounds of bones breaking and of people screaming in fear and pain echoed through the compartment as the marines advanced, several used their rifle butts with deadly effect on any of the engineers who resisted, and with their suit�s muscle enhancers the rifle butts struck like a grav sled, shattering bones with little work.
In under a minute the engineers who had survived the breaching gun were lying unconscious, or in the case of two younger engineers who panicked and tried to fight back they lay dead, their skulls broken.
The com signal passed over the command channel in less then fifteen minutes, the NSE super dreadnought Roma was officially in Icaran control enemy losses were in the hundreds and the Icarans had lost 23 marines but the first combat test of the new Artemis project heavy raiders had been a success.
Two weeks later the Nimitz had secured two more NSE dreadnoughts, the three enemy ships and the Icaran raider returned to Norvor, the three enemy ships were scrapped shortly after and added considerable resources to the troubled economic situation Icara was currently suffering from.

Starhawk

April 7th, 2005, 02:11 PM

OT: Oh btw I am starting college on the 12th of this month so I'll try to keep up with story chapters but lord only knows how much free time I'll have. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

El_Phil

April 7th, 2005, 02:36 PM

Nice chapter, lets face it boarding was never going to be easy with the other side rolling over like most SEIV boarding has it. Keep up the good work fella.

OK I am right that US college is much like UK university? If not skip the rest of this post.

So you'll have loads of free time, which is all spent in pubs, bars, clubs and various other non-SEIV things. Especially at the start, really don't miss any of those events, the stuff that happends then is the basis of jokes that will last your entire time their.

Starhawk

April 8th, 2005, 01:12 AM

Actually the college I'm using is online and is year round the only free time i'll be getting as in no work at all is either if I work my royal butt off and get lucky enough to finish a unit early, or if I manage my time right i'll also get the weekends off.

The only real time off will be the winter holidays where i get ten weeks off.

Starhawk

April 17th, 2005, 11:31 PM

2433.2
There is no price to high for order, no price not worth paying for unity, and no price worth the value of the dominance of mankind.

It had been months since the 3rd fleet began patrolling the Selene system and Admiral Ross was growing anxious, they had spotted an Empire of Man fleet orbiting a Mantisoran world over a month ago, yet the Admiralty had ordered Ross and the 3rd fleet not to engage the EOM unless they left orbit of the Mantisoran world at least for while the Artemis flight was still in the neighboring system nabbing enemy starships for scrapping back in the home system.
The Navy had decided that protecting the stolen enemy ships was the most important task for the 3rd fleet, so for months they had been sitting on a warp point making sure no enemy ships managed to get through to the rally point where the stolen ships were being corralled for the return trip home, and all that while 21 EOM dreadnoughts were sitting behind Ross� fleet leaving him wide open for attack which the Admiralty chose to ignore for the past several months, but now finally as the convoy of captured ships entered the Norvor Warp point, along with the 6 Artemis heavy raiders Ross felt his spirits rise and a great weight lift from his back, finally he could strike at the EOM and the Mantisorans in this system and then he could return to Icara for a few weeks anyway.

And so twenty-three hours after the convoy left the 3rd fleet closed in on the enemy fleet base like a juggernaught of ancient mythology, the EOM fleet and the Mantisoran base combined were of little threat to the overall victory of the 3rd fleet, the only question in the mind of Ross and his division commanders was how many ships and men Icara would lose before they achieved victory.
�Admiral we are entering EOM weapons range in three seconds, all commands report battle ready, main line of battle is positioned and ready for strike, PD ships also report in position for the assault.� Tactical officer Muller�s teeth were showing in a weird sort of smile as the anxiety of the moment caught up to him and he tried to look as relaxed as the veterans on the deck.
�Thank you Muller, inform all commands to commence assault, and godspeed.� Ross kept his tone level and friendly, though part of him wanted to laugh as the younger officer tried overly hard to look calm, it was his first combat action Ross knew and that gnawed at anyone, but if they survived it the next time and the time after that all became almost routine.
�Incoming! I count 231 birds in the air!� Muller�s voice cracked as the tactical plots showed 231 new crimson red lights blaze into life and race towards the Icaran battle line.
The counter missiles from the Icarans raced to meet their counterparts, the void of space came to life with hundreds of new stars as the two volleys collided upon one another.
But still more missiles came racing forward to engage the Icarans, only to have the thin blue lines of dozens of laser point defense batteries slice them apart as they closed creating an even more spectacular light show. Only eight missiles made it through and they splashed harmlessly against the Icaran shields.
The EOM fleet would never get off a second volley, as the entire 3rd fleet of Icara fired their broadsides off against their smaller, weaker opponents, a dozen EOM dreadnoughts vanished in a ball of fire as Icaran superdreadnoughts unleashed their broadsides against the inferior vessels, along with those ships thousands of lives also vanished in what seemed the blink of an eye.
Ross Frowned at his display as he saw the slaughter that was being inflicted by his fleet, he looked over at his exec and sighed again �This can�t be called war, it feels like murder.�
Commander Donald Sutherman looked at his commander with an equally grave expression on his face �M� Lord, the Icaran Empire must rule over all mankind for us to have any hope of survival against whatever Xenos we will eventually encounter, not all of them will be as primitive as the Phong or the Xiati, and look at how much trouble they gave us, almost three decades of warfare, imagine a Xeno race as advanced as us�..no sir this isn�t murder, it�s a necessity and if these EOM soldiers were wise they would have surrendered to us months ago instead of fighting like this.�
Ross� expression became even more grave as the last lights representing the EOM fleet vanished from the display and with them the last line of resistance between his fleet and the Mantisoran world. �Would we do anything less if we were in their place Don?�
The other man shrugged and then looked toward the main display as the 3rd fleet�s vanguard fired their broadsides into the main population centers of the undefended Mantisoran world.
�Sir to be honest with you I think we would have done nothing less than they had done, if we were in their place, but I also think we would not end up I their place as we would never ally ourselves with the likes of the treacherous Mantisorans or Andermanians.� Sutherman shrugged again and turned away from the main display as the last broadside from the 3rd fleet vanguard signaled the deaths of about 16 million people.
Ross couldn�t help but feel pity for those lives, or the soldiers who had died in a vein attempt to protect them, even now as his SAR cutters were launched he suspected they would not find many survivors, EOM ships were to frail and I-lasers too devastating for that to be possible. Of course in the end what were tens of thousands of lives compared to the 6.3 billion Andermanian alliance citizens and soldiers who had already died in what had started as a simple crusade against the Andermanian core worlds? Ross stood and left his command deck to return to his quarters, with the sudden urge to shower, yes Icara must prevail and yes mankind must be united, but at what price?

Meanwhile the �price� of unity was becoming even more clear as the entire former Corian Commonwealth erupted into a firestorm of riots, protests and full out rebellions, they felt as if their leaders had sold out to the Icarans and on top of that felt the Icarans had betrayed their oath to protect the worlds of the former commonwealth as there were no military or fleet units present in the Coria systems.
Thousands of people across dozens of worlds were dying as the rioters burned entire city blocks to the ground and fought against the local constabularies who tried to regain some semblance of order on their worlds.
When no Icaran military response appeared forthcoming the riots spread as rumors that Icara was losing the war against the Andermanian alliance spread through the Corian worlds like a wildfire, and the fact that Andermanian �liberation forces� had already taken over three former Corian worlds from Icara only helped the rumors of freedom from the Empire and the reformation of the Commonwealth spread.
What these people could not know was that the Icaran empire was not sitting still while over three billion humans rioted and rebelled, they were in fact mobilizing tens of thousands of State Security troopers in the Lacerta system aboard a massive cloaked starbase that belonged entirely to the State Security branch of the department of Justice. And that soon the steel fist of Icaran law and order would come crashing into the Corian Commonwealth like a giant smashing a toy.

El_Phil

April 20th, 2005, 05:05 AM

It is tricky the massed slaughter of people you outclass. Still does make for spectacular battle scenes ala Gladiator.
Hmmm sweet sweet Blam!

Good chapter matey, keep up the good work

Strategia_In_Ultima

April 20th, 2005, 05:39 AM

SH, just asking but, what are I-Lasers? Mounted APBs? Modded weapons? Just asking, as they seem to be your SDs main weapon.

El_Phil

April 20th, 2005, 06:06 AM

As I recall 13th Generation APBs, a modded weapon for the game.

Strategia_In_Ultima

April 20th, 2005, 06:10 AM

Ah. One more question tho, do you have more shipsets from this universe? Besides the Icarans?

El_Phil

April 20th, 2005, 06:19 AM

Check the first post, first page.

Strategia_In_Ultima

April 20th, 2005, 06:38 AM

Ah, I see.

The reason I asked this was because SH announced he was working on other shipsets (among which the Leon shipset) for this universe, and I wondered if he was using them.

Starhawk

April 20th, 2005, 01:26 PM

Yes the I-Laser is a 13 generation APB weapon with a green beam replacing the purple one, it is far deadlier then the 12th gen and has a longer range.

As far as shipsets goes the Andermanian shipset is completed yes and I actually posted up here, the Empire of the Shining star set is proving a pain in the butt as it's hard to get an "asian" looking design that hasn't been ripped off already.

The Leon are also a bit of a pain but they are coming along.

Starhawk

April 20th, 2005, 02:50 PM

2433.6 Cataclysm in Sadalmelek
A tearful face appeared on the vid screens as Janet Cranston put the flexi down on her desk.
�Citizens of the Empire, ladies and gentlemen it is my terrible news to report to you that this day is one of the darkest in Icaran history, the Sadalmelek system suffered a Catastrophe the increasing solar flare activity that has had Icaran State scientists worried for the last few months took a sudden turn for the worst last month as the flare activity spiked, evacuation ships were sent to retrieve the former Earth Corps citizens but it was too late�..� she paused and wiped her eyes as she cleared her throat �The Sadalmelek system went nova at 06:30 AM Imperial Standard, on the 3rd of March, estimated casualties are currently at one point six billion, and rising, but worse then these deaths�.if there can be such is that the Praetor himself was on an inspection tour of the newest provinces of the Empire�� Cranston�s voice went cold and tears began flowing again �I�m sorry it�s just�..� she broke down into tears and someone came from behind the camera and ran over to embrace the young woman.
An older man with gray hair stepped in front of the camera, his face set in stone yet his eyes also smoldering with tears �Ladies and gentlemen, citizens of the Empire it is my terrible duty this day to tell you that Praetor Leonidas the sixteenth chosen by God, was killed in Sadalmelek along with his senior aid and Duke Cromwell�.by noon today Crown Prince Rodrick will become Rodrick the 2nd Praetor chosen by God�..please bow your heads and pray for the sake of our Empire in the coming days�� the screen went blank for a moment as the sound of many sobbing people could be heard over the holocam�s audio pickup.

The loss of Sadalmelek would have been but a small tragedy within the Empire had it not been for the fact that Praetor Leonidas had insisted on touring the newest provinces of the Empire, to establish the true power and glory of the Empire to it�s newest citizens, instead now he was dead and his eldest son whom was presently only seventeen was now taking his place as the Praetor of the entire Icaran Empire.

Crowning a Praetor:
The Praetor�s Own regiment was turned out in full on the 3rd day of Solaris in the year, 6433 IY (Imperial Year, 2433.10 AD) in the courtyard of the Imperial Palace on Icara. Millions of Icarans were also present forming a seemingly endless sea of people around the Palace perimeter, banners waved and flapped in the wind as well as people showed their support for their new Praetor.
Inside the perimeter of the Palace a thousand nobles formed two great columns on either side of a long scarlet carpet which ran the length of the courtyard, from the outer gates of the palace to the traditional throne of the Praetor. Each column of nobles had a line of the Praetor�s Own in front of it, the soldiers wore the formal scarlet and gold armor their kind had for centuries whenever carrying out the formal responsibilities their duties required.

As trumpets blared the lines of soldiers drew their long sabers and held them high in salute, the massive palace doors opened loudly as their armored locks unsealed and their mechanisms hummed. The sound of drums beating turned the heads of the nobles toward the doors, it had been seven Praetors since anyone had heard those drums beat, seven Praetors since anyone had seen the regalia of the two drummers who marched in step through the armored doors, followed closely by the Praetor, Rodrick the 2nd himself, he was wearing the golden and engraved armor of an ancient Lord Marshall except in that the Praetor�s helmet bore the crown of his office. The Praetor was flanked by eight guards all dressed in the crimson and gold of the Praetor�s own, and all marching in a smart lockstep.
As the Praetor passed nobles dropped down upon one knee and bowed their heads in salute, the soldiers flanking the carpet all held their sabers high with pride as the new ruler of the Empire passed by them.

Rodrick though only seventeen was already the height of his father, he was well muscled and toned with years of physical exercise in the training yards of the Praetor�s Regiment, he kept his hair close cut much like the male soldiers he enjoyed training with so much, and his right cheek bore a deep scar from where a saber had cut into his face when he was twelve, despite the requests of his father he had refused to have the scar removed and said he would wear it with pride as the soldier who had given him the scar was one of the best commanders and swordsmen in the Praetorian Regiment before his unfortunate death in the latter stages of the Phong crusades.
Rodrick was almost the antithesis of his father and brothers where they were so concerned with politics and statecraft Rodrick was concerned with practicalities and martial training, where his father had been an excellent �tap dancer� of politics, Rodrick was a blunt straight forward young man who would take no disrespect from his peers. But perhaps more importantly Rodrick was unlike his father in that he was a man who would not settle for anything less then absolute victory, though it had never been publicly discussed Praetor Leonidas had actually considered pulling the Icaran military forces out of the new provinces and ordering them sealed off from the Empire for all time.
Rodrick was ambitious yet also cool headed, he knew it may take a century or more but he would not rest until Icara ruled the galaxy, there would be no giving their enemies the chance to eventually build warp point starships and invade Icara it�s self, for if the peace movement had their way Icara would seal it�s self off from the universe and dismantle it�s military.

The trumpets stopped blaring and the drums fell silent as the Praetor and his guards reached the dais that held the thrown of the Praetor, Rodrick swallowed hard as he stepped between the two drummers and took the short walk up the three steps that would forever change his life.
A man wearing white and gold robes stood next to the thrown, Rodrick recognized him as the highest priest of the Church of the Path on Icara and stared for a moment at the short old man who somehow held a calm sort of dignity that required no trumpets, no thunderous roar to be powerful. The young soon to be Praetor Rodrick the 2nd felt as if he should smile or bow to show the old man respect but he forced himself to keep the stone face and rigid back this specific duty required of him. The priest stepped forward and lifted the coronation crown high in the air as he said something in the ancient language that Rodrick couldn�t quite understand.
Then the old priest cleared his throat and looked Rodrick straight in the eyes �Lord Rodrick the second, son of Leonidas the sixteenth, Praetor chosen by God and ruler of the most holy empire of Icara, you stand now before the nobility and people of your Empire, you stand before the eyes of your God and you stand before the eyes of his church, your duty is clear by your blood, you are to be ruler of these people and of your Empire in the service of the almighty.� the Priest lowered the crown and Rodrick removed his helmet with respect.
�Do you swear to fulfill this duty with all your heart and soul, may you be damned if you lie before the eyes of church and empire?� the Priest�s voice had taken on the tone of a challenge as he stared into the eyes of the future Praetor as if he were trying to tear Rodrick�s soul out and examine it.
�I do so swear it before the church and Empire.� Rodrick said, managing to keep his voice calm.
The priests voice rose again �Do you swear to protect and rule your people with mercy and justice, to lead them against their enemies and guard them against treason may you be damned if you lie before the eyes of church and empire?�
�I do so sweat it before the church and empire� Rodrick replied
�And do you swear in turn to answer to the justice of the empire and people should you lead them astray, may you be damned if you lie before the eyes of church and empire?�
Rodrick swallowed hard again, that last sentence had resulted in the execution of three Praetors throughout history and he knew all too well that when they said �may you be damned� they meant it.
�I do so swear it before church and empire.� he managed to keep his voice strong, though his heart raced slightly as the priests gaze once again returned to the coronation crown.
�Then I say to the people of Icara as leader of the most holy church of the path on this world that you are fit to rule, all hail Praetor Rodrick the second, may he rule with wisdom and may his reign be long and glorious!� the Priest�s face wrinkled with a brilliant smile as he placed the coronation crown on the bowed head of Rodrick the second, and ushered in a new era for the Empire of Icara�..