Rise of the Remorhaz Society

[sachmo]

Starmap of Remorhaz Space and other points of interest

code:

---

  

Knoglam-----Regotha		Tudran-----Zanthris-----Koltan



    |         \		           |		|	   |

Lezzari	      Lapzooli-----------Wurtuy-----Neckron----Velocitas	

    |		|		   |		|	   |

Jethanis—Aldan--Lundra----------Xillantha---Yullado-----Organtrix

                                   |	        |	   |

	                       Fezzran-----Lenoltris----Ultrinox

                                                |	   |

                                              Yukra-------Iolo

                                               /	   |

                                         Devonshire	Wanduk

---

System Information
1. Velocitas- home system, this is where Remorhaz is located along with Vilnius
2. Neckron- home to Glory, Black Hills, and Salvation
3. Wurtuy- asteroid filled system with no planets. Was site of many battles with Norak
4. Tudran- first system captured from the Norak, home to Spitfire and Hera.
5. Zanthris and Koltan- Empty systems.
6. Lapzooli- former home system of the Norak Continuum, now home to planet Norak.
7. Regotha- Last system of the Norak, now home to Providence and Prospect
8. Knoglam- asteroid filled system.
9. Lezzari- home to Nova, first planet captured from Rage
10. Jethanis and (UE)- home of Rage colonies, unexplored system is suspected home of Rage Collective homeworld.
11. Lundra- asteroid filled system, main transit system for Rage, now to be interdicted by Remorhaz
12. Xilantha- home to Fort Justice and front line system in war with Rage.
13. Yullado- home of Deniper, small planet which mainly serves as a resupply base. Early in the war, a Rage colony in this system was glassed.
14. Organtrix- empty system with rouge gas giant traversing system
15. Fezzran- Rage controlled system which houses former Remorhaz colony Cirius. Objective of next Remorhaz offensive.
16. Lenoltris- not currently colonized, but system is claimed by Remorhaz. Wormholes from this system to Fezzran and Yukra are seeded with defense sats.
17. Ultrinox- empty system filled with organic growth
18. Yukra- Ukra-Tal controlled system which is home to former Remorhaz colony of Timerron. Here is where Peregrin met her fate.
19. Iolo- home to Correlia, lynchpin to right flank of Remorhaz society.
20. Devonshire- Ukra-Tal system. Not known if this is homeworld system or only flank.
21. Wanduk- home of Cherek and Ymoria. Quickly becoming major industrial center for Remorhaz Society.
22. Aldan- home of Texrak Hegemony

If anyone has any questions/comments, just let me know. Hope this helps, Geo!

[ August 10, 2002, 09:28: Message edited by: sachmo ]

[sachmo]

Preparations

2409.7

Captain Brennan sat down in the captain’s chair aboard his new command, RSS Fortitude. She was the first capital ship built by the Providence shipyards, and she was twice as powerful as Artemis was. She was also his reward for his performance in the invasion of Nova. His actions had helped save Comet from destruction, and his attacks against the surface defenses on Nova had been so effective that the Space Marine landing had gone virtually unopposed. Because of that, Naval Command had decided that his task force needed more firepower, but Brennan would get the first ship out of the yard. That was a very high honor indeed.
Brennan cast a glance around his bridge. It would take time for him to mesh with the new crew, but he was confident that they would all be on the same page before they went in to attempt to take Lezzari IV A. They would not reach Nova for approximately three months, and when they did they would face the daunting task of recolonizing the planet with Norak colonists. He didn’t expect that mission to go smoothly. He didn’t understand much about the Rage as a species, but if they were anything like Humans they would not like being moved from their planet. For once, he hoped that in this instance the Rage were very different, otherwise this mission could get very ugly.

Task Force 9.5 entered the Aldan system in the first week of the month. They were expecting the system to be Rage held, as this was one of the wormholes from which Rage fleets had been observed jumping from. When the scanners made a system sweep, it wasn’t the Rage that they found, but a race known as the Texrax Hegemony. Gina immediately started the first contact protocol, and sent a message back to Norak.

Chairman Sachmo was just finishing reading a new bill proposal when the com unit range. Yarboro’s voice chimed thru informing him that it was Ambassador Mulatti. The Chairman quickly accepted the call.
“Good afternoon, Sangi. What can I do for you?”
The ambassador looked serious. “Sir, Captain Jager has made contact with a new race, the Texrak Hegemony. Their home planet is in the newly explored system of Aldan, which is west of Lundra. This was a system we had hoped would be the Rage home system, but we were shocked to discover that there was a previously unknown race inhabiting the system.”
The Chairman did not dare let his hopes get the better of him.
“Oh, this is important news. Hopefully, these Texrakians are a peaceful people. I don’t think we need any more enemies.”
The ambassador shook his head. “Chairman, the initial reports are that they are moderate towards us. This is the best initial contact we have had with a race since the very early days with the Norak.”
“Well, Sangi, I have every faith in your abilities to keep us peaceful with them. If we get any information from them, please let me know as soon as you can.”
The ambassador nodded. “I shall, Chairman. I have already begun assembling a diplomatic team that should reach the system in a month. I will update you as soon as we know anything else.”
The Chairman smiled. “Thank you, Sangi. Have a nice evening.”
With that the closed the connection. Immediately, he had Yarboro connect him with Grand Admiral Urian. He wanted to be sure that the Navy was ready, and in a position to hold their ground against these Texrakians . He would not allow another Timerron to happen again.

This month, 4 million Remorhaz colonists set out from Glory to colonize the Lenoltris system. It was deemed worth the risk by the government since the Fezzran system would soon be under attack by Remorhaz forces anyway, and that action should keep the Rage from counterattacking in the Lenoltris system.

Remorhaz finished construction of the RSS Badger, a Mongoose Class Landing Ship. This ship moved out to the Neckron to pick up the newly organized 2nd Space Marine Brigade, and would then move into the Xillantha system to join up with the rest of the fleet. From there, Fezzran would be the target. Remorhaz began construction of a supply ship for this attack fleet.

In the Yukra system, RSS Falcon abandoned it’s station outside of the wormhole from Lenoltris and attacked the undefended Ukra-Tal colony on Timerron. Her depleted uranium cannons destroyed the colony completely.

2409.8

Chairman Sachmo felt as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. Of course, it was only the beginning of a negotiation process, but the Texrak Hegemony had approached the Remorhaz Society offering a Trade Agreement. With this treaty would come a non-aggression pact, and valuable cultural input from another race. He hoped that this treaty would come to fruition, and that eventually the Texrak would fight alongside the Remorhaz Society, but not having them immediately declare war on the was a start, and a nice change of pace. The Chairman began to wonder to call this day when it became a Society-wide holiday. He was thinking “Harmony Day”, but he would have to get the input for his staff. Maybe they could tie it in with the Norak somehow…

Norak launched the RSS Faith, another Glory Class Destroyer. She moved into the Lundra system to help Task Force 9.5 hold the Lundra-Lapzooli wormhole. The Navy took the discovery of the Texrak Hegemony as a serious threat, and until the treaty was signed they would be treated as so. Norak began building a colony ship to occupy some of the smaller, incompatible worlds in the Lapzooli system.

RSS Shining Victory and Skydancer arrived in orbit over Correlia. If the Ukra-Tal made a push for the Iolo system, the Iolo Defense Fleet should be able to at least slow them down. Once Correlia finished construction of it’s shipyard, then the fleet would grow in size and eventually move back into the Yukra system.

2409.9

Remorhaz launched the RSS Jenny Cushman, a Cyllene Class Fleet Supply ship. She headed out for Fort Justice to join up with the Xillantha fleet.

On Nova, the population transfer went off without a hitch. One of the keys that the Remorhaz xenopsychologists discovered about the Rage population was that in order to function as a society, there needed to be a sequencer to issue orders to the population. In fact, without the presence of a sequencer, the local population would cease to function. While there were still many holes in the knowledge of how this entire process worked, the scientists were able to make an amazing discovery on Nova. They found that a human could be substituted for a sequencer and the population would treat this human as their “controller”. At this time, Governor Mitchell Cantberry was the human “sequencer”. Governor Cantberry was able to issue orders to the population and have them carry them out with absolutely no question. Through this method, he was able to keep the population completely peaceful and productive.
There was, of course, a downside to this arrangement. He always had to have at least one Rage being around at all time, to act as a “herald” for Cantberry. Since he was human and could not communicate through the instant link that the Rage population seemed to share, there had to be one Rage being to pass Cantberry’s orders on to the rest of the population. So when it came time to load the Rage population onto the Mongoose, it only required a few simple orders from Cantberry to get the entire population moving. What he would discover soon was that he was going to have to move with them, as they refused to allow the ship to leave orbit if their “sequencer” was not with them. So Cantberry agreed to travel to Lezzari IV A with “his people.” The process that began here was sure to be repeated as more Rage systems came under Remorhaz control.

2410.0

In the Lenoltris system, Remorhaz colonists landed on Lenoltris II and renamed it Highrock. This huge planet had a methane atmosphere, so the colonists would be forced to live in domed communities. The planet also had absolutely no native vegetation, and the surface was covered with granite continents. This harsh world was rich in mineral resources, and would be mined as soon as a spaceport was constructed.

The Texrak Hegemony agreed to enter into a Trade Alliance with the Remorhaz Society. Ambassador Mulatti had his men establish an embassy on their homeworld, and personally traveled to Norak to bring their diplomats to Remorhaz. Immediately, traders from both sides began exchanging star charts so that they would be able to navigate each other’s space ways. Not long after, ideas began to move back and forth between the empires. Hopefully, some scientific advances would come from this.

At Providence, Comet was repaired, and a new Glory Class Destroyer, RSS Liberation was launched. Both ships immediately headed for Nova to join with the rest of the fleet for the eventual assault on Lezzari IV A. They were set to arrive in system in 2 months.

The Navy Design Bureau was able to create a larger hull size for their ships- the light cruiser. The prototype of the Ganymede Class would be created at Glory, while a second would be launched from Fort Justice. The first cruiser was scheduled for delivery in just under two months. Along with the ability to build the light cruiser, the physics of the hull design also would allow the building of a larger class of transport craft. These ships would be introduced when practical. The next project was an attempting to upgrade the anti-matter torpedoes. Command felt that these weapons might be able to tips the scales even further toward the Remorhaz Society, as point defense weapons could not defend them against.

In the meantime, a Rage fleet of seven ships jumped into Lezzari. Since no one could be sure what the Rage intentions were, the assault fleet remained in orbit over Nova. If it seemed like they had no chance, the fleet abandon the planet and fall back to Providence.
Captain Brennan didn’t like the idea of running, however. He was prepared to send these Rage ships to hell.

To be continued...

[Atrocities]

Right on Target. Very nice read indeed.

[ August 12, 2002, 13:16: Message edited by: geoschmo ]

[Ragnarok]

Nice story once again.

[sachmo]

Stick and move

2410.1

“Captain Brennan, I understand that the odds of your ships defeating the Rage fleet are not in our favor. Nevertheless, the Norak colonists here on Nova feel very strongly about fighting for their freedom. It was hard enough getting them to agree to evacuate 6 million colonists. They all wanted to stay and fight. As it stands now, you would probably have to force the remaining 1 million into the shuttles at gunpoint. They simply refuse to abandon the planet.” Governor Nina Leeks held up hands and shrugged.
Brennan ran his fingers thru his close-cropped hair. The fact remained that the Rage fleet was within a parsec of Nova. They still had enough time to evacuate all of the colonists from the planet. If Brennan’s fleet remained behind to cover their retreat, Mongoose stood an excellent chance of escaping and making for Providence. However, that would mean that Remorhaz ships would not be able to count on the support of the recently constructed weapons platforms on the surface of Nova. Without those platforms, the Remorhaz ships lost a significant amount of firepower. Still, when weighed against the lives of 1 million Remorhaz citizens, there was no choice.
“Governor, Major General Brooks can make them leave. Please don’t force us into anything” Brennan glanced at Brooks, who nodded imperceptivity.
“If they aren’t smart enough to save their own lives, Governor, then my men will do it for them. Haven’t those Norakians seen enough of this war? If the Rage ships push thru our fleet, the colonists will be sitting ducks. I can’t in good conscience leave this planet without them.”
Governor Leeks stood up.
“Gentlemen, you are both officers in the military. I understand that it is your sworn duty to protect the lives of Remorhaz citizens. However, there is something you are overlooking here. These Norakians have been given a whole new outlook on life in the Remorhaz Society. Never before have they enjoyed the amount of freedom that they have now. It stirs strong feelings in many of them, as you can see. They see this as a chance to pay us back for the gift we have given them. They see this as a chance to keep their families and people free from tyranny and harm. So you would force them to leave, because that is your duty. However, in doing so, you may be denying them their most basic rights. Also, if the Rage defeat you here, what is to stop them from catching Mongoose in space, destroying her and everyone on board? At least this way, they have a fighting chance. Please, let them stay.”
Brennan looked over at Major General Brooks again. Clearly, he was considering the governor’s words.
“Alright Governor, we will discuss this. Of course, we will have to clear any decision to let these people stay with Remorhaz. Neither of us can approve something like this on our own. I hope you understand,” Brennan said.
The Governor nodded. “Of course. Please contact me if I can help in any way. If you will excuse me, I have to help prepare for the defense of our planet.” She headed toward the door.
Brennan watched her leave. Once the door was shut, Major General Brooks let out a long breath.
“Good god, Brennan! If you had told me a year ago that I would be arguing with a Remorhaz citizen to protect Norakians, Norakian citizens of Remorhaz no less, I would have told you to go eat your hat!”
Brennan laughed. “Yes sir. It’s quite a turn of events.” He thought for a moment. “Governor Leeks makes some good points, doesn’t she?”
The general folded his arms across his chest and leaned back in his chair. “She does. You know, situations like this are usually celebrated as heroic acts. Why is it that I am so uneasy about it?”
“Because it’s suicide. Our chances of defeating that Rage fleet are pretty slim. We just don’t have the firepower. If we had another month, I would feel a lot better. As it is, it’s going to be a rough ride. I hope we make it out of this.”

In the end, the Chairman gave the 1 million colonists permission to stay on Nova if they wished. Major General Brooks still was not happy about it, but he remained silent. Mongoose detached herself from the Marine Assault Fleet and headed full speed for the Knoglam system. If the fleet survived, they would return. If not, they would make for Providence along with Comet and Liberation. Of course, that was if the Rage actually attacked. Once could never be sure what they were going to do.

The Research Guild was able to improve on the anti-matter torpedo design and extend both its range and payload. All future Ganymede Light Cruisers would be fitted with this advanced torpedo design. By the beginning of the next month, they planned to have completed research on a second-generation anti-proton beam.

Remorhaz launched RSS Cerci, an Icelus C Class fleet repair ship. She headed toward Xillantha to join the rest of the fleet. She would join them as soon as possible, but the timetable would not be held up to accommodate her joining before the assault on Fezzran. That assault should begin in the first week of the next month.
In an interesting turn of events, the Rage sent a transmission to Fort Justice. It read:

“Pathetic weaklings, flee from the Xillantha system.”

This presented the Navy with an interesting scenario. If the Rage attacked Xillantha in force, it might be worth it to first try and defeat the enemy fleet before assaulting Fezzran. Hopefully, if the Rage fleet was destroyed, that would mean that ships which were responsible for defending Fezzran would be lost, making the assault much safer. Rear Admiral Sakazawa was made aware of this situation, and he increased the alert status of the fleet. If the Rage came, they would jump them. The fleet in Lundra was also notified, so that they could intercept any reinforcing fleets coming from that direction.

In the Lapzooli system, the planet Harkness was colonized. This colony was to be a research colony.

The Texrak Hegemony proposed a research and trade alliance. Ambassador Mulatti quickly ordered his mission to accept the treaty. The Texrak were quickly becoming the Remorhaz Societies first stalwart allies. Time would tell if they would enter the war on their side or not, but at least they weren’t looking for a fight.

2410.2

The Remorhaz fleet at Nova barely escaped with their lives. The Rage ships moved in and glassed the planet, leaving the fleet to fight for their lives. Not one hit was scored on the Rage fleet as they were able to use their superior maneuverability as an advantage. Once the battle was over, the Remorhaz ships had nothing left to protect, and so immediately fell back toward Providence. Whether the Rage ships would follow or not remained to be seen.

The Research Guild completed work on the second generation of the anti-proton beam. The next project was aimed at discovering the secrets of astrophysics.

Glory launched the first Ganymede class light cruiser, RSS Ganymede. This ship headed for the Xillantha-Lundra wormhole, to join taskforce 9.5.
Correlia complete construction of its shipyard facility, and immediately began construction of two Nemesis class frigates.

2410.3

An Ukra-Tal fleet of 22 assorted ships appeared in the Wanduk system at the beginning of this month, and fell upon the colony at Cherek. Without mercy, the Ukra-Tal scorched the planet from low orbit. No Remorhaz citizen was left alive. The colonists on Ymoria saw that they were next, and a massive panic ensued. The Chairman tried to gain contact with the Ukra-Tal government for a possible discussion of terms of surrender of the planet, but there was no response. No one was in any position to send any aid. The factories on Ymoria began construction of space mines, which they hoped would discourage the Ukra-Tal fleet. It was a thin hope, indeed.

Remorhaz launched the first Ganymede B class light cruiser, the RSS Orion. She and the Midguard moved to take up stations to protect the core systems from an Ukra-Tal attack. There was nothing to stand in their way if the fleet in Wanduk decided to head for Remorhaz. Production was stepped up on minelayers also, to lay a huge defensive barrier of mines to attempt to slow the Ukra-Tal down, at least.

Rear Admiral Sakazawa was surprised when his fleet completed the jump into the Fezzran system. He had expected to surprise a Rage attack fleet gathered in system, but instead he found two unprotected planets.
The first, Fezzran VI, was a domed planet populated by about 6 million Rage. The entire 2nd Space Marine Brigade was dropped, and the planet was captured without much of a fight. The local garrison had been neutralized from space by the rest of the fleet. The planet was named Vengeance, and immediately as request was placed to have a colony ship constructed so that Cirius could be recolonized. The Remorhaz Society was determined to hold Fezzran this time around.

Ambassador Mulatti stared at the com unit in muted shock. He wasn’t quite sure why, but the mood of the Texrak Hegemony had quickly darkened over the Last few months. It was now to the point where the entire Remorhaz diplomatic mission was being expelled from Texrak space.
Once he was finished with the details of the embassy evacuation, he contacted the Chairman. Needless to say, he wasn’t happy.
“Damn it, Sangi! What more can we do? Could one of our enemies be doing this to us?” The Chairman’s face was as read as a dachenberry.
“It’s entirely possible, but without an intelligence network to speak of, we have no way of knowing, sir. I think that we should be ready for anything from the Texrak.”
“You can bet on that, mister. Thanks for calling me so soon, Sangi. I guess when it rains, it pours, huh?”
Sangi relaxed ever so slightly. “Yes sir. Let me know if you need anything from me, sir.”
The Chairman just grimaced and closed the connection. He sat back in his chair and took a stiff pull from his scotch. What more did it take to have normal relations with alien races? I wish I could figure out what is required to keep our neighbors happy, he thought.
Well, I’m glad I kept that task force in Lundra.
He placed a call to Grand Admiral Urian.
The admiral decided that they would redeploy the 1st Space Marine Brigade from Providence and have it join task force 9.5 in the Lundra system. Once they linked up, and when the inevitable war started with the Texrak Hegemony, the Space Marines would be able to sweep into Aldan with the rest of the fleet and hopefully knock them out of the war in one swift, punishing attack. He hoped that things stabilized before that, but past history showed that it probably would not.

2410.4

The Ukra-Tal fleet destroyed Ymoria.

RSS Falcon was lost when she warped into the Yukra system and ran into a minefield just outside of the wormhole.

In the Fezzran system, the Xillantha Defense fleet continued its attack against Rage colonies. This time, the target was Fezzran IV. 4 weapons platforms, and a belt of defense satellites protected the planet. It was also home to 105 million Rage colonists. Rear Admiral Sakazawa ordered the fleet to move into maximum firing range of the planet and destroy all defenses found. Once the defenses were neutralized, the 2nd Space Marine Brigade assaulted the planet. This time there was organized resistance, but it was crushed by the overwhelming might of the Space Marines. Brigadier General Richard McMasters, summed the combat up best in his after action report, “The Space Marines were in among the Rage lines before they knew the bombardment was over. To them it must have seemed as if they were receiving fire from their own rear area. Unfortunately for them, it was our boys.” Fezzran IV was renamed Scorpio.
The Fezzran system was now back in Remorhaz hands. Both newly captured worlds would be used as forward supply and repair bases. The fleet would immediately begin preparations to deny the Rage entry into Fezzran, but they would also attack any targets of opportunity that presented themselves. The offensive was not to stall under any circumstance.

The loss of the Wanduk system was quickly being felt throughout the Society. This month, projections called for a deficit of around 4300 mineral resources from construction. While the society had built up a considerable stock over the past few years, this was not the time to have to curtail production because of supply shortages. If pressure could be sustained, the Rage might be put on the defensive. A lack of supplies at this point in time could be disastrous.

To be continued......

[CNCRaymond]

You should put all of your work together and offer it as a download. I would love to read your story all at once. And leave it laying around the office for others to enjoy. Perhaps get a few people to buy the game.

Very nice work. Very detailed and easy to read. If you do not write for a living, perhaps you should consider doing so. Or at least writing a book as a hobby, kinda like what your doing here.

[sachmo]

Thanks very much, Raymond. No, I don't write for a living...I'm a QA Analysist, actually! If you want to read the story from start to finish without interruption, it's posted at www.spaceempires.org under the fan fiction section. I suppose if someone were interested I could email them the Word document of the story, but it's 95 pages long!