The Icaran Empire (a late game story)

[Starhawk]

This story starts in the year 2455 and is far from over, the Earth Alliance and their old ancient enemies the Icaran Empire (me) are all that remains in the known universe and the EA controls the bulk of space and over 500 starships while my fleet numbers only about 160 combat ships.

I am going to give some history this time and maybe start the story but right now I am at peace with the EA and will remain that way for two or three more game months: This is an alternate history of our own world so don't take the times or anything to heart okay .

The Timeline of Icara

1,200 BC: In a city near Sparta in Greece a small village named Icara was formed by a group of outcasts from Athens: The first Praetor is born and an omen from the Oracles say one of his bloodline would rule over mankind.

1,190 BC: The Spartans attempt to invade Icara but the Icarans fight back brutally and the war rages 10 years. The current monarchy if Icara is threatened by the raging war and by it's own nobles strife nearly results in the destruction of Icaran society.

1,180 BC: The first Praetor Alexander takes command of the Icaran people under the claim that God himself had meant for Alexander to lead the Icarans to victory.
He launches a devestating counter offensive against the Spartans and defeats several of their field armies. Eventually the Praetor himself lead the Last march of the Icaran army upon Sparta it's self and to the final victory.
The Praetor then took absorbed the Spartan population into Icara and freed their slaves adding these to their military and political might as well.

1,100 BC: After 80 years of peace the Icaran Praetor now 100 years old begins what is now known as "The First Crusade" to unite Greece under the Icaran banner. The Crusade starts against Athens and it's allies and obliterates them outright. Their society is absorbed increasing the Icaran military might even further. The Praetor shows little sign of his age and looks like a man of 60 bringing many to beleive his claim of God's favor was true.

1,000 BC: The Roman Empire and the freshly forged Icaran Empire engage in all out war and eventually Rome is defeated and the might of the Icarans grows yet again. Praetor Alexander falls ill.

(historical data lost)

1000 AD the Icaran Empire's history from 1,000 BC to 1000 AD is missing for reasons unknown.
At this time the Icaran Empire now rules over Europe and much of the middle east. However other nation states formed during the years of missing history have also become powerful and Icara begins open relations with many of them. It is also beleived during this missing history is where the first Praetor died and agents of his government wiped the history.

1000-1200 AD: The Pax Icara is enforced by the black and gold armored warriors of the Icaran Armies and their fleets roam the Atlantic and Pacific keeping the peace from pirates and other nations. The fifth Praetor, Leonidas the 1st claims his direct blood relation to Praetor Alexander and almost sparks a civil war. However the preists and scholars called from all over the Empire agree with Leonidas and proclaim him a "Divine Praetor" and that his bloodline would be all that was permitted to rule Icara from that date until the end of time.

1210 AD: Leonidas Leads what is now called the second crusade against rival empires in the hopes of establishing Icara as the only ruling power in the world. The Second Crusade nearly succeeds except for the united armies of the Mongols and the Chinese who thwart the Icaran advance and force them to consolidate their power and pull out of several conquered countries. Leonidas the 1st dies in disgrace and leaves his son in lordship over the Empire.

1210 AD- 1400 AD: The middle ages pass with relatively few troubles to Icara, a brief war between them and the Asian alliance of China and Mongolia led to the death of Leonidas’ son and the ruler of the Chinese empire. This brought about the resolution of peace between the two empires and both ruled over their territories in peace. Dozens of barbarian raids occur but none do any serious damage to the icaran people. However the Praetorship is dissolved as it appeared that all blood ties to the Leonidas family were lost forever. A regent was placed in charge of the Empire and a new semi-democracy was put in place to elect his replacements.

1500 AD and the new birth: During the 16th century something occurred that is now deemed a miracle by the Imperial orthodoxy a comet much like the one that signaled the birth of the first Praetor burned in the skies over Icara city and was seen as the omen of a new Praetor’s birth. This it was for in the far eastern part of the Icaran empire a young boy was born to a woman who was turned out to be the descendent of the very first Praetor….her bloodline had been lost for thousands of years and when the Imperial scholars confirmed her heritage she was seen as a savior of the Icaran empire. The Praetor was decreed to be a saint by the Imperial Church and people prayed for his birth to be an easy one.

1530 AD: Praetor Leonidas the 2nd leads the Icaran empire into an age of technological development and peace that had been unrivalled in all of history, his young wife gives birth to twin brothers and in doing so secures the Praetor line for another generation. The birth days of the twins is made a state holiday.

1535-1900 AD: The age of peace sees Icara become the most powerful empire in the world and make technological leaps that are unparalleled in the history of mankind. However this brings great strife to the world and a union of rival nations who launched a devastating nuclear attack on Icaran cities and military bases all across the Empire.

1901-2101 AD: The devastating attack on Icara rallies the Icaran Imperial Guard (the army) and the Icaran Royal fleet to war and though millions of people died in the holocaust of the enemy attacks the Icarans responded as always before with grim determination and fought back with every gun stick and knife they had at their disposal. The enemy gave themselves the name of Earth Alliance and proclaimed that they fought “For the good of all earth citizens”. As the war raged the people of Icara went from a population of 4 billion to have that number and in the end after two hundred years of war the “Grand Determinant” was sent announced. And great colony ships were built to save the Icaran population that remained.

2102 AD: The Last remnants of the IG and Royal Fleet mobilized for one Last defense against the Earth Alliance forces to save their civilian comrades. 2 million soldiers and sailors stood bravely to meet their certain death at the ends of the overwhelming EA forces their only comfort was in their faith in God and the Praetor saints who had gone before. And the hope that the 2 billion surviving Icarans could escape alive. The battle of Armageddon as it is now often called began on the very day of the launch and the Icaran military fought like the ancient dragons of lore. The Icaran air guard prevented any enemy fighters from shooting down the colony ships on their way out. And the Royal Navy warships even went so far as to ram enemy ships when they had sustained to much damage to fight or had run out of ammunition.

The vast regiments of the IG charged in wave after wave against the enemy armored advance and as their bodies were crushed under the tank treads and rent by enemy las fire the guardsmen continued to fire and advance guard their few remaining advancing tanks. Many soldiers wept openly or prayed as they charged into their certain death to protect the lives of those trying to survive the long night .As the Last colony ship broke orbit the surviving Icaran Field Marshall rallied his thousands of surviving Imperial Guardsmen and with a drawn force sword and plasma pistol shouted the words immortalized by the Last com transmission made from earth to any Icaran person for centuries to come. “God Forgive those of us who now die……FOR ICARA MEN CHARGE!” The Last remnants of the Imperial Guard died that day but they fought valiantly and saved their people to fight another day.

The surviving colony ships encountered an anomaly of space that sent them from the Sol system into what is now called the Icaran system (the anomaly would later be identified as a warp point) A miracle awaited the Icarans as they soon discovered that two planets in system had breathable atmospheres and enough resources to supply them for millenia to come.

01 AE-300 AE: The Icarans rebuilt their government and their Empire under the leadership of two Praetor generations. They resurrected the Imperial Guard and when the first starship was built in the first months 300 AE (2400.2) the Royal Navy was decreed to be reformed and the colonizing process of the Solar system began.

300-310 AE: The Icaran Empire explored the stars and began to colonize worlds in other systems when they discovered not one but two alien races, the Barbora states who were a bunch of primitives and who attacked the first Icaran ship to enter their space. The war with them Lasted five years as the tech was developed to create the ships to transport the Imperial Guardsmen to other worlds. The 1st Icaran regiment is raised from the homeworld of Icara and is dispatched with the 1st fleet to conquer the Barbora states and swiftly takes the enemy homeworld ending the war with Barbora surrender. Later the Toltayon and Cue Cappa are discovered, war is declared on Icara by the Toltayon.

311 AE (2411) The Praetor Leonidas the XVI declares a crusade, two regiments of Imperial Guardsmen are raised from Necromunda and New Ireland and a dozen new warships fly out of space yards of other worlds in the empire.

311-315 AE The Toltayon war continues, 1st New Ireland regiment destroyed in minefield thousands of dead are mourned throughout the Empire and especially on their homeworld of New Ireland. The 1st fleet meets better fate as they and the 1st Icaran regiment conquer an entire Toltayon star system after which the Toltayon sue for peace.

Earth alliance encountered and Praetor Leonidas was barely able to keep riots in check and keep his people from declaring war on this hated foe. EA forces seem not to know who the Icarans are and thus form a military alliance with Icara.

Praetor Leonidas secretly swears blood oath on the Eath Alliance on behalf of his people and swears that some day they would be crushed under Icaran Jackboots.

The Cue Cappa Commonwealth form a partnership and trade flourishes throughout the Empire.

320 AE: The Icaran empire now had 3 races in it as the two conquered races had finally fully absorbed into the Icaran population and had finally built up the numbers to be a functioning part of the Icaran race. Tragedy occurs when the Cue Cappa betray the alliance with the Icarans and decimate the Segmentus Icara and 4th fleets leaving thousands of Navy personnel dead and over 24 ships lost.

Full scale mobilization occurs across the Empire and the fleets and regiments of the Imperial war machine are soon flying off to war against the traitorous Cue Cappa and their underlings. First contact with the Cylon Empire also begets a declaration of war by the Cylons on Icara. The Toltayons take advantage of the chaos and resume their war.

320-330 AE: The war raged across the Enemy as the fleets and regiments of the Icaran empire continued their crusade against the four races that had declared war on them. Invasions of the Cue Cappa systems within the Icaran Empire gave the Icarans a step up in their situation against their foes. Praetor Leonidas sent the 1st Necromunda and 1st Icaran regiments off to conquer the multiple worlds within Toltayon space leading to the inevitable surrender of the Toltayon Consortium,

The Cue Cappa too began to suffer under the might of the 1st Verdenfell and 1st Necromunda regiments as ship by ship and world by world they lost the grip of their commonwealth. Over two dozen Cue worlds fell under the boots of the Imperial Guardsmen and although tens of thousands of Icarans had died the Crusade continued on losing none of it’s steam. And even though constant raids by alien races always threatened the existence of the Imperium they soldiered forward bravely as they had always done.

340-350 AE: The Cue Cappa surrender which leads to the surrender of the Sagalla two neutral races and the Cylons leaving the Icarans the most powerful empire in that entire patch of space.

The earth alliance however had grown far more powerful then the Icarans and their threat could not be denied. A full scale mobilization of the Imperial Military the likes of which had never been seen before was undertaken. Over a hundred new warships were built and millions of soldiers were raised into the Imperial Guard from their planetary defense forces.
During this time 4 sphere worlds were created and the mass evacuation of the Sallega and Toltayon sectors was undertaken to prevent billions from dying when the first waves of the war struck their unprotect able colonies.

The New dominion order also surrendered to the Icarans in the hope of mercy from their monstrous foe the EA who had butchered them in their millions. The mass evacuation of their billions of survivors took 6 years and they were relocated to the newly constructed 4th sphere world of Acheron and the atmosphere modification generator was laid the day the construction crews were informed that the Dominion survivors were coming.

356 AE: The Praetor in his infinite wisdom has ordered all of the military powers of the Imperium to be placed in key positions to strike the Earth Alliance empire when ready, a chance fortunate nova had eradicated billions of people in the system that bordered the Icarans leaving it without that cursed gravtic shield which kept the Icarans from exploiting their stellar techs.

A spy network poisoned the water supplies of an EA world that had illegally established it’s self in the heart of the Imperium killing millions and enraging the EA until a substantial bribe to assassins within the alliance resulted in the deaths of those Earth officials who new that it was the Icarans behind it. However another secret mission sent a world creator ship into a the system bordering the Icarans which is when they found that the system had suffered a nova…..however other planets had been created by the Earth alliance and the World Creator set course for the most populated worlds.

The Earth alliance records show that a disastrous accident resulted in the destruction of two of their planets and the deaths of some 400 million Earthers.

The Empire now stands ready to strike and will do so at the start of the next year….the Earth forces will be caught off guard enough for the Icarans to gain initial advantage and to hopefully make that more permanent.
Over a dozen IG regiments now exist but among them the new Storm Trooper chapters have risen and will join them in their strike on the planets surface.
The Imperial Air guard was reformed and two Nimitz class carriers joined the 1st fleet which is to strike at the heart of invading Earth planets within the Imperium.
The Fleets of the Cylons and Cue have been mostly added to the Segmentus Icara fleet. And the "Primus Imperium" fleet stands ready to invade the Earth alliance with over 60 ships and a half dozen IG regiments as well as the Blood Hawks storm trooper chapter…….the Empire is ready for war and when that day comes the valiant forces of the Imperium will begin the Final Crusade against their most dangerous foe yet.

I'll give some details on the Imperium it's self in my next post. The Empire has over 200 ships btw the 60 ships of the Primus Imperium fleet are just the ships that I decided to send against the Earth alliance in their own space.

The 1st Fleet which I mentioned is 25 ships strong and stands ready to invade the enemy worlds within my empire with several IG regiments as well as my Space Wolves storm troopers chapter.

I'll explain my fleet and military organizations later.

[Starhawk]

Meh forgive the spelling errors and the like my comp was acting screwy and I just copied and pasted without spell checking.


I'll edit this post to include the Orginization of my military and the general description of Icaran society. If you all find this interesting I'll start posting the story tonight as well .

[Starhawk]

[b]The Icaran Imperium[/b}
The Icaran Imperium has existed for over 4000 years now and Praetors related to the first Praetor Saint Alexander have ruled over it with anything from an iron hand to a velvet glove. The Imperium now extends across 30 systems and thousands of light years added to that it consists of over 200 worlds and 4 mighty Sphere worlds with an estimated population of 300 billion. Due to the sheer size and composition of the Imperium the current Praetor Saint Leonidas the XVI has become in effect the most powerful Praetor ever born and because of this his programs of military expansion have been on the largest scale in the history of Icaran kind.

The Imperium now consists of at least 7 distinct races and although the dominant population is Human the “xenos” or alien races play a large and often times respected part of Icaran society each for their unique skills and mental attributes. Some races are more skilled at trade while races such as the Borbora and Humans make excellent soldiers because of their unflinching belief in the Praetor and his divine right of rule.

Because the Empire has been in what is commonly referred to as “The Eternal War” ever since the days of bronze swords it’s people are grim and determined and this single attribute has allowed them to absorb six alien races and to survive the decades of siege at the hands of the now conquered Cue Cappa and the other races of the galaxy another side effect of this eternal war is that the Icarans have never even considered the possibility of a democratic government and this is the main reason for the EA to have attacked them in the first place.

The Praetors and Sainthood:

Ever since the days of Praetor Saint Alexander the people and priesthood of Icara have recognized the Praetors as a tool of the will of God to rule over mankind in their more then human wisdom and gifts of grace that have been bestowed upon them.
The Praetors are considered the only true saints of the current generations of man and thus are seen as not just rulers but as the iron glove of God and the spiritual leaders to all of his people in times of peace and war. Because of this decreed sainthood and the “divine right” to rule the Praetors have since commanded the unflinching loyalty of all of the Icaran kind and those who have been absorbed into the Empire have even come to see the light and abandon their heathen gods and shamans.

More then just a saint Praetor Leonidas is seen as what might be the prophesized ruler of all mankind, for as he prepares to lead the most powerful Human Empire ever formed besides that of the cruel Earth Alliance into the largest crusade ever, in the hopes of crushing the said Earth Alliance the entire Empire is praying for the salvation of their Empire and for the guidance of Leonidas to lead to the final victory of Icara over the final enemy they have ever faced and to lead mankind into a golden age of Imperial rule.

The Imperial Guard

The Icaran Imperial Guard is an ancient institution dating back to the year 1100 AD and is even now fighting for the survival of Icara. The Imperial Guard is an army of men and women who were hand picked by Imperial Sector Generals from their home worlds planetary defense forces for their skill with weapons and their physical and mental prowess. These men and women are put through rigorous training and tests to prove their worthiness for the honor of the title “guardsmen” and throughout the centuries men and women have literally killed themselves with exertion trying to prove their worthiness.

The Imperial Guard has always been raised from one location at one period of time as the expenses were considered too great to try to pull soldiers from all over the empire to a single rally point to form a single unit. So throughout history guard regiments have been raised from one city or village at a time and now that they have gone to space a single world will raise a single regiment at a time. And because of this Guardsmen are willing to show unwavering courage in the face of even the deadliest of enemies because the men and women next to them probably knew who they were and grew up with them and many a Guardsmen showing cowardice has died by the hands of his or her comrades and before they ever saw another battle.

A regiment is a rather loose term as the size of the force raised can vary from 2000 to 4000 soldiers and in times of need sometimes a half regiment will be raised just to bulk up the defenses of a world or to replenish a regiment that has been utterly decimated but is passing back in system for one reason or another.

Normally regimental casualties are not replaced however and some regiments have been so utterly spent by warfare that only a squad or two of elite soldiers remains baring the name of their former regiment. These soldiers throughout history have gained names such as “The Immortals” or “Death Bringers” and the like and are held in high regard by their peers.

The ranks of the Imperial Guard have more recently been crusading against the numerous alien races that inhabit this galaxy and are soon to face their greatest threat ever when they lead the charge against the Earth Alliance by the divine mandates of the Praetor.

The Storm Troopers:

The Storm Troopers are a recent addition to the armies of Icara as the technology required in creating a trooper has only recently been developed in the secret tech labs of the Imperium. By the mandate of the Praetor himself the Empire needed a force of ground troops that was capable of carrying out those missions that even the bravest troopers of the Imperial Guard could not accomplish.

And so 20 years ago the tech labs went to work and created the necessary biological and technological breakthroughs to create this ultimate soldier. The development happened in two phases, the first was the biological phase which created additional organs and tissues to increase the fighting ability of the Storm Trooper by making his body harder to injure and by allowing him to operate in areas where the normal soldier could not go. The Storm trooper’s vision has been increased as have his senses of hearing and taste, along with these enhancements his muscles have been improved increasing his strength, his metabolic rates have been altered to allow the trooper to increase or decrease his own metabolism in times of need and many more “improvements” which are still classified even to the uppermost military ranks of the Empire.

The second phase of Storm Trooper development came in the development of powered armor light enough and thin enough for a soldier to wear like standard armor. These power armored suites that the storm troopers wear are black and gold in homage to the original colors of the Icaran army thousands of years ago and besides just looking intimidating these suites provide a storm trooper with a tactical edge up over his enemy. Storm Trooper power armor can operate in a near vacuum as well as numerous other hostile environments allowing the chapters to be deployed wherever and whenever they are called upon.
Storm Trooper armor increases all of a soldier’s abilities via elaborate sensors, powered “muscles” and a nearly impenetrable shell of armor around the soldier which allows him to operate with a minimal amount of risk of injury.
However this armor is not cheap and forming a squad of Storm Troopers in full armor is often compared by funding advisors to the raising of an entire platoon of standard Imperial Guardsmen and for this reason only the elite genetically modified Storm Troopers have been granted it’s powerful use.

Storm Troopers unlike Imperial Guardsmen are not raised from a single world but are instead selected at birth and put through numerous surgeries and rigorous training to enable them to form the elite Storm Trooper “chapters” that have thus far not seen any action. Another difference between storm trooper units and standard Imperial Guard units is that unlike a standard trooper the Storm Troopers feel practically no fear as it has been modified out of their nature, this allows them to face even the most gruesome of battle without succumbing to the inevitable battle fatigue that even the grim soldiers of the Imperial Guard would face after decades of warfare.

The final note about Storm Troopers is that they are often regarded with some distain by normal guardsmen who see them as nothing more then men carrying big toys and some IG Generals still argue that if a squad of normal guardsmen were given the same technology as their Storm Trooper counterparts that they could be just as effective if not more so as the two Storm Trooper chapters are still untested in battle.

The Imperial Fleet:

The Imperial Navy has been around almost as long as the Imperial Guard and is often regarded with as much honor and prestige as their Guard brethren and because of this the fleet draws nearly endless flows of volunteers to it’s ranks every year.
Unlike the ground based forces of the Empire anyone fit enough and smart enough to join the navy may do so whether they are from the elite of their populations defense forces or not. Because of this the ranks of the fleet often times outnumber those of the guard and always outnumber those of the Storm troopers adding to them a myth of limitless numbers. Sadly this is not true and the navy is often hard pressed to stop the space based threats that had plagued the Empire during the long sieges by the numerous aliens that roamed the galaxy.
However with those threats defeated the Imperial navy now prepares for the largest war ever known to mankind as gleaming new starships leave the space yards of the Empire and more men and women either volunteer or are “volunteered” into the navy’s ranks to help stem the tide of the oncoming foe.


Decided it might be better just to make a new post since my old one being edited wouldn't draw any new attention.....the actual story will come some time tomorrow.

[Starhawk]

The Star Crusade

Seargent Kemper tightened his grip upon his AP rifle as he looked around the darkened troop hold of his transit ship the Ascension, around him were thousands of troops of the 1st Maar'Gan regiment as well as dozens of battle tanks and APCs.
He looked around him at the faces of the men and women in his squad and he couldn't stop wondering how many of them would survive the large scale war that was coming, his regiment had been assigned to land on the Earther world of Cetaphri VII and secure it for the Praetor.

Meanwhile the rest of the fleet began approaching the 2 enemy worlds and Grand Admiral Thadius sat aboard his flagship with a grim look on his face, he had over 80 of the best warships in the empire at his disposal but before him lay a world with 2 of the heaviest hitting weapons platforms he had ever seen.

"Comns, order all section commanders to advance, inform the 1st Mar'Gan and the 2nd Verdenfell regiments that they are to drop the second we have cleared the orbital defenses." Thadius had seen battle for the past 20 years and had led the Crusade that won the Cue Cappa territories for the Empire but this battle was unlike any he had fought before because the enemy was one that had defeated the Icarans centuries before and with a pang of nerviousness he wondered if they would do it again. As the Admiral folded his hands around his right knee he watched as three dreadnoughts and 4 battlecruisers closed on the target world.

"Admiral Enemy fighters launching count is.....five zero bandits closing at 300 KPS their weapons are primed." The tactical officer announced as he watched the sensor screens.

"Allright order the battle cruisers too...." the admiral was cut short as his tactics officer nearly screamed out in shock...

"Sir the planetary defenses have opened fire....by all the saints SIR the Marshall has gone down she's burning in space!" the sensors officer was new to the field of war and he nearly sickened as his sensors zoomed in on the combat going on and he saw the mangled corpses and still living but struggling crewmen of the Marshall floating in space.

"Silence ensign or I will have you off my bridge!" Thadius snapped as he saw the other two advancing dreadnoughts open fire on the planet with their powerful wave motion guns and the battlecruisers fired into the fighter squadrons. Although the admiral seemed stirn he fealt bad about having to chew out the young officer for he too shivvered as he saw 5,000 lives end in the blink of an eye.

The battlecruisers opened fire on the enemy fighters and began advancing to cover the dreadnoughts that were attempting to bring down the planetary defense net.
As more enemy fire poured into the fleet a battlecruiser was crippled and the crews of the remaining assault squadron continued to advance upon the enemy world firing their wave motion guns onto the heavy weapons platforms that awaited below.

"Take us into the fight mister Winston." Thadius ordered as he saw the Vanguard fleet being slowely picked off by the enemy defenses. As the helmsman followed his orders a base ship broke away from the fleet, it's massive deck guns began moving to lock onto surface targets and as it finally closed with the enemy world the massive golden red beams tore from the turrets into the void of space like a great star bursting through the sky, as the beams struck the planet's surface an orange glow of massive fire could be easily seen from space as the final platform fell to the massive fire.

"Order the troops in ensign!" Thadius commanded as he stood and paced the bridge in anticipation and slight fear, he knew that he would only be allowed to risk two regiments to take these two worlds and if either one fell it could be reinforced and he would have to glass a world with millions of people on it....as he gripped his belt buckle to settle his nerves he watched the cameras and saw two massive regimental transports closing on the enemy worlds...

____________________

Seargent Kemper tensed as the lights in the troop bay turned from normal to red, his platoon's Commander barked "Alright you maggots this is where we earn our pay....get to your deployment barges on the double we're going in....FOR THE PRAETOR!" all along the troop bay that heald the 1st company the cheer was carried "FOR THE PRAETOR!!!" and the men and women began heading towards their drop barges at a run as the vehichles loaded onto their special transports.

As the Ascension closed Kemper felt the lurch as his drop barge was detached from the troop transport. After several tense minutes of waiting for the first sign of resistance Kemper felt the dull thud as his barge touched ground, after barely a second the doors swung open and the 1st Company 1st Mar'Gan began charging out of the barge at a run shouting various battlecries and prayers.

Kemper heard the scream of AP rifles the second he got out of the bay and as he looked around he saw the clear signs of battle as mortars screamed over head and explosions sent several bodies flying into the air around him. As his platoon advanced and he saw the first wave of enemy defenses he brought his rifle to shoulder and opened fire bringing down the first Earth soldier that he saw.
As the enemy opened fire with auto cannons and plasma guns a Mar'Gan soldiers began falling as enemy fire burned into their armor. Kemper saw gaurdsman Sarah Tye go down as her shoulder was cut clean through by an auto cannon shell her screams made him angry more then anything and he tossed a grenade at the enemy position and ducked as the explosion sent debris and bodyparts flying.
As he got closer he saw that his squadmate was still alive although her arm was practically gone and her armor was torn apart, she looked up at him with eyes that burned with pain and fury as he jumped over her limp body and continued the charge...his heart ached as he was torn between saving a squad mate who was also a childhood friend and serving his Praetor...

As the first ranks of his guard regiment slammed into the enemy positions bayonets clashed and AP fire cut down enemy soldiers by the hundreds. Kemper fired a burst into an enemy soldier tearing his head off with the AP bolt. Tanks rumbled from their special transports and brought their massive firepower to bear on the enemy decimating entire squads of enemy troops and destroying enemy defenses with massive battlecannons and close in AP burster guns.. Within hours it was all over, and Kemper's squad was sent back to assist in the clean up of the landing zone. As he walked through the bodies and craters he saw the body of Tye and almost burst into tears as he walked over to her he knelt down to just catch a sign of her breathing and with a hopeful shout louder then any he had ever yelled he called for a medic and prayed for his fallen friend.....

The first missions of the "Star Crusade" proclaimed by the Praetor had proven a success three enemy worlds were captured and nearly a dozen enemy ships were destroyed but the soldiers and spacers who took part in the operation too payed dearly for the glory of the Praetor and the survival of their race.

As the casualty reports came from the first operations against the enemies of the Praetor the generals frowned, three warships had been lost and 2 crippled, a squad of storm troopers had fallen and over 300 guardsmen died with nearly 400 more wounded and worse still 8,000 spacers died with nearly 10,000 wounded.

[Starhawk]

Hmmm no replies maybe not a good omen

The Long Road to Victory

It had been a month since the offensive against the Earth alliance had begun and thousands on both sides had died in the assault. Praetor Leonidas paced the halls of his palace on Icara and read the flexy pads in his hand with a stressed glint in his eyes, he would be making his speach to the Icaran population in a few moments and he was unsure of how his people would feel, he knew they were loyal to him and would follow his orders to the Last but he was afraid that they would lose hope.

"My Lord Praetor your on, please the camera crews and writers are here." A young woman shrank behind her notepad as Leonidas looked at her, picking up on her fear Leonidas gently smiled at her and in a soft voice thanked her as he walked towards the press room.

As he walked into what was more like a grand hall then a press room Leonidas noticed that there were many aliens in the news teams and remembered reluctantly that these aliens only added billions more citizens that he would have to care for. As he stepped up to the podium and the holo scanner registered his image and projected it all accross the Human portion of Icara the camera crews from the other parts of the Empire focused.....then the hall fell silent and Leonidas cleared his throat softly and began to speak.

"My fellow Icarans one month ago the brave soldiers and spacers led the starting offensive of the first Star Crusade. Unique among the history of Icara was that not only Humans took part in this offensive but an entire regiment of Borbora soldiers was launched with the first fleet....among this advance in culture the first of our Imperial Storm Troopers struck an Earth world with the full might of our glorious empire, they suffered the fewest casualties of any unit involved in the invasion and if this trend continues it may be some day that all Imperial Guard forces have detachments of Storm Troopers, bringing about a new age of military technology and making our Guard regiments even more the bane of those who would appose the will of Icara!" as Leonidas waited for these words to sink in he rubbed his right hand through his grey hair and thought for a moment.

"Our Crusade against the Earth Alliance is not just to bring Icaran rule to the galaxy freeing our people from the constant struggle of war against these alien races and our ancient Earth enemies but it will finally give our people true and undeniable victory over our enemies and bring peace throughout this galaxy. A long War is ahead of us and those brave crusaders that right now fight accross the planets of our enemy to bring YOU MY PEOPLE......OUR SONS OUR DAUGHTERS RIGHT NOW FIGHT not for me, not for my rule, or my sainthood but for you my brave and loyal people! They fight and die for you so I ask you now, join the service, join the workforces of industry and support our soldiers and spacers in their goal to bring you victory, to bring us all out of this long night of strife and death into a new age of peace and prosperity where our worlds are guarded by the largest and most honorable military ever formed!"

The Icarans were a warrior people and no one knew this better then their Praetor, he thought to himself that millions or maybe even billions would die in this horrible war but by sheer force of will he would make sure that it was the Last his people would have to face for generations.

The praetor answered a few questions and then calmly stepped off the podium and towards a squad of his golden armored storm troopers who escorted him to his waiting transport.

The Crusade Continues

In the Xillantha system the 1st fleet continued it's advance against the Earth Alliance, in one month they had lost 2 starships, 50 bombers and 10 storm troopers which made Fleet Admiral Shimizawa more then a little concerned for the stability of his fleet and it's ability to conquer the remaining Earther colonies within the Empire.

Scanning only a single weapons platform he ordered just one base ship named Hotspur foward to remove the weapons platform and allow the 1st Cadian regiment to prove themselves in battle. Although personally he did not fully trust the loyalty of these alien Borbora he would never question an Imperial order passed down from the Praetor himself.
As Shimizawa watched the Hotspur make it's approach he was shocked by the sheer firepower that the single Earth platform put out....however when the Hotspur came in range his shock only increased when he realized that the powerful Wave motion guns of the Hotspur were not enough to destroy the earth weapons platform. When he saw the counter fire from the surface Shimizawa grimmaced, as the beams lanced from the surface of the Earther world they cut massive gashes in the hull of the Hotspur taking down it's weapons and killing 200 crewmen.

"Damnit all, send forward two more base ships NOW! damnit take some fire off of the Hotspur before she's destroyed."

A very angry fleet Captain Michael Chen barked out orders to the captains of two of the fleet's base ships. Although he and Shimizawa had both come from the world of Mandow and was familiar with the reasons for the Admiral's tactics he had previously warned his Admiral that they should advance with at least three warships from the start yet the Admiral's unwillingness to listen cost the lives of 200 spacers...

Watching grimly as the enemy platform opened up on the new threats Admiral Shimizawa ordered the 1st Cadians to advance even though his ships had not yet cleared the platform arrogantly beleiving that his base ships could do anything if given the chance.

Fortunately for the thousands of soldiers aboard the three advancing ships Shimizawa was correct in his bold plan and the platform was destroyed quickly enough by the wave motion guns and the 1st Cadians were able to drop on the surface.

Bravely clearing out the Earth soldiers and leading many bloody charges against the Planetary defenders clearing out nest after nest of the enemy warriors leading to a swift and brutal victory over the Earthers.

But all of the men and women of the fleet knew that this was only the begining and that yet more planetary offensives against the Earthforce soldiers laid ahead and that when they were finished cleansing Icaran space of Earth colonies they would join Grand Admiral Thadius in the main Crusade against the rest of the Earth Empire....many wondered rather hopelessly whether or not they had any chance of survival in a war that seemed so overwhelming in it's scope when the odds seemed so great against them.

The true question was, would Icara win through and bring a new stability to the universe or would they fall before their ancient enemy and hundreds of billions of their people die and their civiliation be forgotten or worse played up to be evil?

________

Another chapter to follow when I can So far the war goes well but most of their fleet still remains hidden from my view and I am sure that many of my outer colonies will fall which is why I evacuated them of billions of people and created an entire sphereworld just for them.

And by outer colonies I mean worlds that are dozens of jumps away from my empire...these guys were just a bunch of aliens that surrendered to me.

Oh and please tell me what you think okay?

[ February 26, 2004, 04:27: Message edited by: Starhawk ]

[Puke]

holy shmoly man, you have a back story going back to roman times, and a standardized TOE with descriptions of units!

is there a test later?

I like it. Please continue.

[Starhawk]

The Battle for Cephedra

"Alright Ladies! Our mission in Cephedra is far from over and we just got a new assignment." Lieutenant Jackson's voice boomed out over the whine of laser torches and wrenches as the tank crews tried to fix whatever damage had been done to their vehicles.
As Jackson came out of the shadow of a tank and Kemper caught a full glimpse he couldn't help but be intimidated by the massively muscled and war scarred officer who stood before his unit. Kemper stood frozen in front of his squad as Jackson walked passed him and down the line of squad leaders.

"It appears command wants to end the Campaign against the Cephedra system a little earlier then planned. Captain Mila Drake has been given a squadron of warships and a single Imperial Guard regiment by Grand Admiral Thadius in order to take Cephedra III....and your not gonna believe who they assigned for that sad sorry little mission." As a grin crossed The Lieutenants face a chill crept up Kemper's spine as memories of the first mission came flashing into his head and the thoughts of his friend Tye lying bleeding on the ground with an arm less then she should have. He felt lucky that she had indeed been saved by the battlefield healer's and her arm had been replaced with a genetic clone but still the nightmare of seeing that wound continued to play in his mind until a hard blow cought him in the chin and he felt himself falling to the deck.

"I said do you understand your assignment KEMPER! Now get your grabasstic peice of candyass off that deck and answer me!" Jackson stood over Kemper and looked down at the obviously startled Seargent with a grimmace on his face that Kemper swore would frighten even the devil to his marrow.

"Sir....I'm sorry sir I didn't hear you!" Kemper said as he tried to stand up only to have Jackson backhand him again and break his nose in one clean shot.

"Why my old grandmother would make a better Seargent then you Kemper...I said your squad is to join the 3rd and 20th squads 1st Company in an assault from behind enemy lines and take out the enemy command center!" Jackson had an odd canter to his walk when he was angry and right now that swagger showed clearly as he walked away from the still dizzy Kemper and continued barking orders down the line until he finally ordered the dismissal.

As the Lieutenant stormed off in a huff and glared at Kemper as he walked by Kemper felt a hand touch his shoulder and jerked to awareness.
Looking over his shoulder he caught a sight of Sarah Tye and abscently noted that the hand she was touching his shoulder with shouldn't even be there. He noticed a smile cross her face and grimly accepted her help to his feet with no little embarassment.
"You have one hell of a way with the Lieutenant there Eric keep it up and he'll either promote you or blow a hole in your head." She said with a laugh as Kemper playfully jerked his arm away from hers and glared.

"Alright, alright you heard the Lieutenant and unless you wanna invoke divine wrath we better get it in gear...MOVE OUT!" Kemper barked as his men began grabbing their combat equipment and donning the flak armor that they would need when they finally made the drop....


Three hours later Kemper's regiment was hidden behind the battle lines of the advancing Delta Squadron that Mila Drake had been given in order to take Cephedra III while Grand Admiral Thadius led the bulk of the fleet against Cephedri VIII.

__________________

At the same time as the Delta Squadron was leading it's attack against Cephedri III Grand Admiral Thadius was leading the Primus Imperium Fleet against the enemy world of Cephedri VIII.

"Admiral We are in orbit, standing by to fire on planetary defenses....they're own weapons have fired innefectively against the base ship Desolator who is standing by. Your orders admiral?" tactical officer Winston's voice was impassive as he counted off the numbers of Imperial warships compared to the two platforms that waited below.

"Order the Desolator and the Zues to open fire, then send the Blood hawks in and remove any trace of enemy defenses." Thadius rubbed his hands together and thoughtfully put them back in his lap to keep from rubbing his hair back again as he often did when he was anxious, especially now that it had turned grey with age.

The Zues and Desolator easily destroyed the weapons platforms, then for the first time Admiral Thadius had ever seen a chapter of storm troopers was dropped via landing craft onto the surface of the enemy world.
As the ships camera's zoomed in on the action taking place on the surface Thadius and the rest of the bridge crew sat in stunned silence as the Storm Troopers unleashed the hellish firepower at their disposal.

Earth troops were cut to peices as the Storm Troopers fired their AP battle rifles and ran at inhuman speeds through the perimiters of the enemy cities defeneses. But the slaughter did not stop at the enemy perimiters wherever anyone wielded a weapon even so much as a butcher knife against the Storm Troopers they were cut down without mercy, cowards trying to hide behind hostages found their efforts useless as advancing storm troopers fired through the hostages. The people defending the mineral mines didn't even see what hit them as Storm Trooper squads ripped them apart with APCs equipped with Auto cannons and Storm Trooper infantry ripped apart enemy troopers with their power armored hands or cut through them with AP rifles. The domed city was alight with fire as the storm troopers continued their brutal advance against the enemy.

"My lord they aren't human!" Thadius heard from one of his bridge officers as they watched the massacre. Thadius himself grimmaced at the fact that not only had these Blood Hawks cut enemy soldiers apart but at the unnecessary destruction of valuable facilities, including the poorly defended Atmospheric modification plant which would have come in handy.
If those were the future of warfare they truely would make the Empire invincible, simply for the sake that none would want to challenge such brutal soldiers.

________________________

Captain Mila Drake paced her bridge as she led her squadron into the battle aboard her flagship, Price of Whales. So far the enemy defenses had already crippled the dreadnought Mammoth and another dreadnought named Victory had been forced to fall back when the enemy breached her shields and knocked out her armor and two of her engines.
"Ma'am planetary defenses have fallen under our fire, should we send in the Imperial Guard?" her flag officer asked rather uselessly as he already knew the answer to his question.

With a Kurt nod young captain Drake ordered in the single regiment at her disposal and quietly prayed that she could pull this off, because if they couldn't then her orders were to glass the colony and kill millions of Earthers.

As the Ascension closed on the planet and began unleashing her landing barges a single small vessel darted out from the port side of the massive vessel, it's cargo was a platoon gaurdsmen from the regiment, their orders were to infiltrate the capital city of the enemy world and destroy the Alliance command center. She knew that these orders were unorthadox and that if they failed the the Platoon was lost then she would probobly face execution for negligence but she had to take the risk because unlike other worlds that the Icarans had taken from the Alliance which had their cities spread out accross the planet with large varieties of environment this world was an atmospherically engineered world and it's cities were tightly packed together meaning that millions of Alliance citizens were within a small area and if they could be organized by their military commander then a single regiment would do nothing against such an organized foe.

Platoon Lieutenant Jackson smirked coldly at Kemper as their drop ship came to a landing and the doors opened. Unlike with the main landing operations where the entire unit would charge foward immedietly this time they silently unloaded from their ship that had landed on the outskirts of the capital city of Cephedri III, as the advanced through the small wooded area on the outskirts they heard the sounds they were waiting for, the silence of mid morning was torn with the shrieks of AP rifles and the thunderous roar of auto guns and main battle cannons.

With a silent hand gesture Lieutenant Jackson waved his platoon foward and Kemper's squad moved up the center their rifles heald ready for battle.
As the reached the city limits an Alliance security squad caught a glimpse of them and opened fire with their PPGs catching one of the guardsmen in the shoulder and burning into the flak armor.
The order to fire was passed down from the Lieutenant and relayed by the three seargents of his command. As the guardsmen took aim and opened up with their rifles the alliance security troops took cover their black suited forms crouching behind transport vehicles and garbage cans and anything else they could use for cover.
Kemper took aim at one of the enemy troopers as they stood to fire and caught him full on the chest, with a brilliant orange gold flash on his vest and a dull scream the enemy shouldier fell dead over the hood of a ground car. The other security troops opened fire and another guardsmen took a hit on his flak armor and shrugged it off.

Finally one of the heavy weapons troopers was able to come forward and he sighted carefully down his grenade launcher and fired two grenades into the enemy position. After the sound of surpised screams and the eruption of magma grenades melted just about anything and anyone in the area where the enemy squad had once been Jackson ordered his platoon to advance again.

The stench of burnt flesh and materials was sickening as the platoon advanced through the gore and wreckage that had once been ten living men. Suddenly from the right flank Kemper heard a shout and what sounded like PPG fire met by AP fire. "Get down!" was all he managed to bark out before a PPG shot flashed past his face, as the platoon took cover and returned fire Kemper noticed two unmoving guardsmen lying in the street and realized that the Earthers must have set up a killzone in the narrow alleyway in an attempt to decimate his platoon before they could reach their objectives.

Hand grenades tossed by the guardsmen of the 20th squad pushed the Alliance troopers back enough for the 20th to charge them and slaughter most of them while the others quickly surrendered.
With their prisoners knocked unconcious and the other enemy soldiers dead the platoon moved on to their objective.

The military command center was a near fortress, two squads of enemy soldiers were visible and worse still was that they weren't the simple security troops that the guardsmen had just fought through, these were Earthforce marines and skilled soldiers that had seen the rigors of open battle before.

"Allright it's gonna get hot, but we can do this, grenade launchers keep back and start shelling them to cover our advance, flame throwers move to the center of your squads we're gonna want to burn em down once we reach em. Riflemen take point." Jackson's tone sounded like that of a drill instructor giving traning instructions to a recruit squad back in boot camp. With a volley of frag grenades from the grenade launchers the platoon advanced at a run torwards their objective.

Enemy soldiers ran for cover as the grenades exploded all around them sending many of their number falling to the ground with shrapnel in their bodies.
As the platoon advanced though at least some enemy troops secured a perimiter and began firing into them, several guardsmen fell dead or wounded at the enemy fire but the withering fire returned by the guardsmen cut down most of those enemy troopers that heald their ground.

As the enemy fell back inside the building the flamethrowers came forward and sprayed the hall with fire burning the enemy soldiers down where they stood or gagging them with the smell of incinerator fuel and burnt flesh.
Kemper's squad took point and charged into the building weapons blazing, cutting down multiple enemy troopers and even some of the staff that worked at the facility.
Placing a magma charge on the door that led to the enemy command center Kemper waved back the other guardsmen who were advancing.
"Unless you guys wanna melt I'd back up" he said with a grin as his unit fell back into the next corridor. As he ran back into the corridor Kemper pressed the button that detonated the charge and melted the doors into the enemy command center.

Taking Point Lieutenant Jackson fired his pistol streight into the heart of the enemy general as his men secured the rest of the command center neutralizing the enemy marines and command staff with ease.

"Send out the message Kemper, we've taken the base and all Alliance forces are neutralized." Jackson's voice sounded cheerful compared to it's normal tone and as Kemper saluted and spoke into his comns the rest of the platoon ensure the base was secure.

At the end of only a day's battle two more worlds had fallen to the Icaran Empire in the Cephidri system with minimal casualties sustained by Icaran forces.
In the Xillantha system too another world had fallen to the Icaran advance and it appeared that the Praetor's star crusade was going well for the Empire and at long Last it might be possible for the whole of Human race to come together under a single rule for the good of mankind.

[ February 26, 2004, 19:29: Message edited by: Starhawk ]

[Starhawk]

The Taste of Victory....bittersweet.

"Today on the Imperial News Network our top story is the Imperium's grand victory in the Xillantha and Cepheri systems. Our valiant soldiers have decimated any Alliance resistance and brought two new star systems into the Imperial fold.
Praetor Leonidas has declared an Empire wide day of celebration and prayer to honor our valiant warriors who brought us this victory and to mourn those 12,000 soldiers and spacers that died for the everLasting glory of Icara." The voice of the news anchor was full of practiced calm as she read the reports of the first victories in the grand crusade against the vile Earth Alliance and their unpure forces.
As the people watching were begining to cheer and celebrate the victory in these two systems which had taken six months and 12,000 young lives as well as the reported advance into Nizzorum and the capture of another world already there a single flexy was handed to the news anchor.

Anyone watching the news broadcast could see a sudden pallor come to the normally beautiful face of the news woman, tears began streaming from her face without control as she managed to find her voice.
"May I have your attention please, there has been an.....incident a terrible assault has commenced on the outer colonies in the Creterik system, the Icaran world of Menshara was captured by thousands of enemy soldiers and was then destroyed by the I.N.S.S Avalanche 124 million of our brothers and sisters died....an enemy fleet has begun moving through the system and has also destroyed the colonies on Creterik four and seven, the loss of life is." Her voice gave way into a soft cry as she put her head in her hand and her fellow anchor put his arm around her, his face to streaming with tears.
"The loss of life has been staggering, 1 billion Icaran and Toltayon lives ended, the earth assault fleet decimated the entire populations of these worlds without even attempting to capture them, they also destroyed both I.N.S.S Avalanche and it's 5,000 men and women and an unknown base ship and it's 15,000 man crew. Please call naval intelligence and civilian migration authorities for names of the dead and be aware that Imperial forces can not make it into Creterik in time to save the other worlds as far as they beleive, this means that billions more lives will likely be lost...." as another flexy was handed to the news woman she managed to staunchly read on.

"Our Praetor in his divine compassion has ordered an empire wide day of mourning and has vowed that this Crusade will not end until the Earth it's self lies either under the boots of our Guard and Storm trooper forces or until it is destroyed by our Navy whichever comes first.. Please stay tuned for further updates and pray for mercy on those lives that still remain in the Creterik system and in the systems that were mainly evacuated nearly five years ago today.. and of course for our brave men and women who will lead the charge against our enemy. God bless Icara and may he see her through this darkness stronger then ever."


I'd really like feedback because if you guys don't like this story well then I'll stop typing

[ February 29, 2004, 06:24: Message edited by: Starhawk ]

[Puke]

Originally posted by Starhawk:
I'd really like feedback because if you guys don't like this story well then I'll stop typing

i guess my vote only counts once. I know more of these hosers are reading the story, maybe they will speak up. I mean, dont get me wrong, this aint no pulitzer winning stuff. but its darn good fan-fic, and better than alot of trade paperbacks i have had the misfortune to read.

The battles are alot of fun, the characters are interesting enough to keep me coming back for more, its not overdone or totally cliche. Im not going to sit here and jerk you off by telling you its gods gift to literature, but its enjoyable. Better than some stuff thats posted here, nearly as good as some other stuff. I'd place it in the top 1/3rd of se4 fanfic.

If thats not high enough praise, consider that im being totally straightforward and honest, and not just yanking your chain out of politeness. If no one else responds, i dont know what to tell ya. maybe no one else reads story threads anymore.

[narf poit chez BOOM]

you must study, young grasshopper. study with the best.

http://www.baen.com/library/067157793X/067157793X.htm

the baen library. totally free, totally legal.