Great Wars of the Galactic Sector

[Azatol]

The Second Battle of Calatius Homeworld, Part 2

Vader redirected the fleet's focus, telling them to focus on destroying each ships weapons before moving on. The fleet had a clear firepower advantage over the Collective, they may not have had the bigger guns, but they had more. Also the laser fire was more damaging than Collective cannonry fire, since research into lasers was a priority in the empire.

With the remaining rear elements of the Imperial Fleet finally arriving, Vader used all the firepower he had turning one ship after another into merely a weaponless shell. The Anterab class ships were especially dominant, able to almost destroy an entire frigate in one weapons firing suite.

The Local Archivist processed all this information, he now guessed that the Collective would need around sixty frigate warships to take down such a well armed fleet. Along with them, almost 20 refueling ships would be needed, as well as two or three troop transports. He continued processing data from the battle.

The Battle turning his way, Vader ordered the fleet to fire and then retreat as a precaution against ramming. The Empire destroyed six more ships in a matter of minutes, routing the collective.

The Refuelers of the Collective began moving forward and forming up for ramming duty, while concentrated fire from the warships was sufficient to cripple one enemy ship. Another barrage of missiles were launched by the collective as well, but missile warfare was slowly dying and direct fire weapons dominating on the battlefield.

The right flank of Vader's fleet engaged the second 3B3, which among the Collective ships, was the only one armed as well as the imperial ships, with six cannons to the Adz II's seven lasers. It was destroyed by the combined fire of five ships. The Anterab, on the other hand, carried NINE lasers.

The battle had so far been more civilized than previous ones, as ships with weapons left fired them instead, and the other ships had no engines either. It was doubtful whether the refueling ships of the Collective would get in range for ramming before being destroyed.

The collective corralled what few warships were remaining, ramming those who could move but did not have significant firepower left, and firing with the others. Their fleet was surrounded on three sides, but then the Collective never retreated anyway, better to ram and rebuild, they figured.

The secondary fire control centers of the Anterab light cruisers proved handy as these ships devastated everything left of the Collective warships, leaving only the troop transports and refuelers remaining.

The Anterab's were set up as forward picket for these repurposed ramming ships, to destroy them before they came in range, and retreat as needed to wipe them out. They did their job well, proving them to be the best ships in the sector.

The effective result of the battle was, on the imperial side, the damaging of five ships, and the loss of none. The five ships varied in damage from lots to hardly any. On the AI Alliance side, the entire collection of warships from both sides was destroyed in an incredibly futile attempt at defeating the Empire.

Palpatine laughed like a sith would on such a victorious occassion, while Vader still felt something, somewhere that was just barely breaking into the force somehow, despite the fact that only Palpatine and himself should be adepts in it at this time. It was like an almost silent whisper, but he could hear it, and it irritated him as to where this could be happening.

Since the local archivist was destroyed, the one back home took up the task of analyzing the results of the battle, as did the Initiative. It was decided that since the Initiative could field the biggest ships around, they must build a strong fleet as well. Only a vast endless supply of Collective warships, and a reasonably large number of Heavy Cruisers from the Initiative would be able to strike the finishing blow. The Initiative was tasked with leading the way forward the next time, for now they had to prepare their defenses, and watch the pendulum swing around again.

The Collective reported they were now able to build Destroyers and would make that the main hull of their next main warship. The Omega, their new Destroyer design, was changed, the missiles were dropped, and the missile defense halved.

[Azatol]

The Second Imperial Offensive

The Empire decided not to immediately launch a counterattack, having no fueling ships, and thus spent its time building fuelers, and recruiting troops, ensuring it would have enough troops to decisively take planets, unlike the previous Army fiasco.

The Archivist of the Collective decided to go for an overwhelming advantage before making any more moves. Their plan was for fifty warships of the latest design.

2413.2
Over twenty Collective warships are all undergoing a retrofit. The Archivist has come to the conclusion that the Empire won the last battle by playing to its technological advantage in direct fire. The Collective, after researching missiles further, now sports the most sophisticated missiles in the sector. All warships are under retrofit to replace cannons with missiles. Also, new research has finally allowed the Collective to design and build Heavy Destroyers. Their latest design, the Omnicron Heavy Destroyer, carries 5 missile launchers.

The Initiative has a new hull available for future ships as well. The unprecedented Battle Cruiser hull size is used in the latest ship, which is the first Initiative design to reject the old philosophy of General Design. There are no fighter bays, satellite launching equipment or mine equipment onboard. It is packed with cannons and supply storage, which is still integrated by ship unlike the other three nations.

The old Heavy Cruisers have been retrofitted to a more military design as well, scrapping all the old support componentry.

Six 3D-4BB Heavy Cruisers and one 4/NG Battle Cruiser stand ready, having been informed of the arrival of an Imperial Warfleet, headed their way. This marks the beginning of the second offensive campaign of the Empire.

9 Adz IV, 5 Anterab II, 6 Fuelers and a fully loaded Troop Transport are among the elements of this fleet. The battle worth of the Initiative's ships will be tested soon.

There were no mines blocking the way of the Imperial fleet, as all the efforts of their enemy have gone into the construction of warships. Day after day the Initiative have hoped for the arrival of another Collective fleet, but not got it, now they must fend for themselves. The only Collective presense is two Troop Transports, which could possible end up retaking any conquered homeworld of the Initiative, but only if they can survive the initial invasion.

2413.3

However, the Collective transports remain above the homeworld, and surely the Empire will seek to destroy the soldiers onboard them.

The tight knit group of Initiative warships face twice as many yet smaller ships across the black void, waiting.

All of the Adz class vessels have been outfitted with new Energy Shields, a technology recently discovered by the empire itself, but off course known well to Vader and Palpatine. The amount of shielding on the ships is minor at best, but may offer a small defensive advantage. No space could be found in the Anterab ship design to add shield generators as of yet.

As the two fleets close in, the Initiative retreats to a solid line from their compact formation, hoping to get a first shot off as the Empire closes in. They focus on the southern flank of the Imperial fleet, which will require the Empire to rush reinforcements southward as ship for ship the Initiative has the advantage.

Initiative cannon fire at maximum range misses alot but has some hits. The large mounted cannons are having some affect however as each hit has a visible impact on the target's systems. An Anterab explodes as Initiative fire continues amidst the counterfire, then a second Anterab, and a third Anterab is heavily damaged. The Counterfire from the Empire will likely say everything about which side will win.

The Empire quickly closes to point blank range to ensure every beam hits, and they do. The new Adz design with shields has not been tested yet as the Initiative focusses soley on the Anterabs. Three 4BB class Heavy Cruisers explode from Laser fire, revealing both sides to be very effective with their weaponry, the Initiative because of thier superior mounted weaponry and the Empire because of their research into Laser design and production.

The Adz warships prove to be very manueverable even at point blank range as fire from the remaining four warships of the Initiative misses about half the time at that range. The Initiative has to get better at targetting, but they don't have much time left to do so.

Two Adz are destroyed and surely now, the Empire will win, once again the Lasers have come through for them. The Adz shielding proved almost pointless, but not quite, a minor extra amount of protection at best.

Two more Initiative warships become orbiting collections of dust gas and metal hulk, as does an Adz on the Imperial side.

The Army campaign is likely to begin soon as the Troop Transport of the Empire is ambling slowly towards the planet.

The last two ships of the Initiative, including the single Battle Cruiser are destroyed without further losses to the Imperial fleet. The ships are sent after the Collective troop transports now, as their own close in.

As parachutes eased the descent of Space Troop Expeditionary Vehicles, there was no Initiative to watch the descent. Except in cyberspace where control and observation mechanisms sent the status of what might be roughly translated as 'meatspace' to the ais who wished to observe. This information was received as pure text, but the AIs who watched knew what was happening, but they did not know the consequences.

A small group of AI entities believed that actions in the meatspace could destroy their own world. This was a belief not shared by most of the Initiative, but these people were paniccing today. Surely the Empire would discover what in meatspace was the buttress to cyberrealm, and shut it off, wiping out billions of intelligent agents forever.

The Imperial Army, having regrouped on touchdown, found only a few mechanical warbots, and no citizens. They never really had understood what the nature of the Initiative was. Vader and the army crisscrossed the country trying to understand and take control of Initiative operations, but they never decommissioned the central servers which supported the cyberrealms and its inhabitants.

They did not do this because they never identified it as such. What droid experts that could be found managed to utilize the production machinery of the Initiative for their own purposes and began to make full use of the world. However they never touched any of the servers they found, under orders of Vader, on the assumption that this might sever the control of the various worker bots used.

In the cyber realm, information about the Meatspace was gradually lost, and the fanatics who believed the Meatspace could effect their own realm were discredited, ironic then, that they were correct. The Initiative returned to its old ways which were insular to the Cyber realm. This was how things were on the days before the first transrealm connections were discovered.

Meanwhile, the robotically controlled colonies of the initiative remained free but uncontrolled by the Initiative. They operated independently and heralded the brief Machinery Control Coalition, before the Empire took over these too. The troop transports of the Collective were likewise destroyed.

The Empire, which had faced an alliance of enemies, now could focus on the Collective, while also gaining the production and administrative advantages of a second developed world. But the wars of the Galactic Sector were not over yet, not by far.

[Azatol]

Here comes the Monarchy!

With his ally gone, the Plans Archivist of the Collective pondered his options, and determined that despite the risks, the D'Anconian Monarchy must be involved in this war. Surely their military perspective would help in countering the Empire.

The negotiations to enter the Monarchy into the war were difficult, but the Queen agreed to join the war on condition that full support would be given to Monarchy forces in establishing a forward operations center on the Collective homeworld.

As a result of the negotiations, the Collective was informed that the Queen's forces included nine carriers, eight support warships, and two troop transports that were under construction currently. There were also a number of refueling ships in the fleet.

The Queen informed the Archivist that the 1st Elite Royal Army was almost formed up and ready for action. These were all elite infantrymen and women who had trained and met rigorous standards over the past ten years of recruitment on the harsh Elite Army Training Grounds planet.

The Collective in turn informed the Queen that they had the most sophisticated missiles in service under any navy, and 22 warships crammed full of them to fight off the Empire.

2413.5

The Imperial fleet took some damage from mines overhead Polaris V, they are limping back to the Initiative homeworld, having destroyed that colony.

The First Mechanized Army of the Monarchy was forming up, composed of small war machines instead of infantry. Transport craft were under construction at the moment, ready to take these troops to the staging area above the Naval Training Grounds colony, where training exercises were frequently run to improve manuevering, targetting and team work.

The Second Royal Army was the only standard grade infantry force deploying. This was the first unit formed up under the auspices of Queen Laraina's rule. Many of these soldiers had served as the Outer Palace Guard for over a decade.

There were nine squadrons of fighters with pilots who had graduated from the recently constructed Elite Fighter Pilot Academy. They piloted fighters with slightly toughened hull strength and greater manueverability. The total squadron count was 84 Small Fighter Squadrons and 18 Medium Fighter Squadrons (including the 9 elites).

The Small Transport Carrier design used could carry 12 Small or 9 Medium fighters per ship. The Agmen class missile defense ship was built as a precaution, since if the Collective was using so many missiles, it clearly would be a good idea to sweat a little about missile defense. Once a few of these ships, along with two troop transports were fully loaded and in formation with the fleet, then they would make their move to the Collective homeworld to assess conditions and plan the next actions.

The Collective, as of 2413.6, still had a substantial portion of its fleet being retrofitted to missile designs. The Plans Archivist was frustrated with the slower construction rate of the bigger ships being built now. More ships always seemed better than bigger ships. But a lesson had been taught by the battles with the Empire, bigger ships are better.

However the lessen the empire took from the early stages of the war was, small ships are a real bear to hit, because of their manueverability. They focussed research efforts on why the weapons crew missed so much and how to make improvements.

In those days and months, the Archivist always believed the Empire would be on their doorstep any month now. In fact, the next battle would once again be in the Polaris system.

[Azatol]

The First Battle of Imperial Polaris

2415.9

The Empire has finished the design of the Badlands Cruiser, the first Imperial ship to have significant shielding. The Badlands also had superior targetting and ECM technologies as well as the Empire's signature lasers. It has only just begun construction just as the combined allied forces have set off to attack the Imperial presense in Polaris. The Collective will make the first assault, if there fleet falls, or the result is indecisive within the first month, then the Monarchy will attack.

The Monarchy have put into production the Agrimensor, a destroyer with a new weapon for them, the torpedo. No ships of this design will make it to the first battles with the Empire, but they will be ready for use as reinforcements for the attack on the Imperial home system, provide that Polaris can be captured.

Between the two allied fleets there are seventy ships, with about sixteen of those being fueling ships. The Monarchy has six troop transports, nine carriers, eight warships and two missile defense ships in addition to fuelers. The Collective has thirty missile warships and two troop transports likewise.

The Empire has 21 Warships, Two troop transports and two Carriers at Polaris as well as two warships in the Calatius system.

The Ala class represents a new kind of ship for the Monarchy, with a few torpedos as well as boarding parties, this ship can knock down the shields and then capture an enemy vessel. It is a Heavy Destroyer, a hull size which was the result of recent efforts to develop special carrier hulls. This specific goal has not yet been achieved but larger warship hulls have been one gain.

2416.6

The Imperial fleet is rapidly swelling in ranks as both homeworlds produce Badlands cruisers as quickly as they can. The allies' fleets are due to arrive in another few months. Very soon Palpatine will have still larger hulls available to him.

The Collective was about to get some results out of its missile research program after years of nothing but theoretical gains. The specialization of Collective and Monarchy technologies ensured the Empire would have to defend against two very different kinds of fleets.

2416.8

The Empire drops 2000 infantry units from the fleet onto Polaris VI. Even with Monarchical superiority in ground combat, this represents a very substantial ground forces power.

2416.9
The Imperial Heavy Cruiser Banthar is the first with heavy mounted lasers and has more shielding than any of the smaller vessels. Construction began just as the attack came from the Collective.

The allies make an agreement that if the Imperial fleet above Polaris IV is destroyed, the Monarchy will make the first troop invasion, because of their special capability in that area. If they succeed in defeating the sizeable ground forces the planet is under their custody, otherwise the Collective will make a second ground assault and take custody themselves.

Collective vs. Empire

The battle began in chaos as there was confusion as to how to organize both sides' fleets with so many ships. Some ships of each side had crossed close to other ships of the enemy while the main lines were distant. The whole situation was cluttered as best.

To the Empire's advantage several warships that had been unable to form up in the main battle line were within firing range of Collective warships. The Empire got its first shots off as both sides recognized what had happened.

An Imperial troop transport was actually behind the Collective battle line, having been running a simulation for whatever reason with the Collective so close.

Two Badlands ships were behind the enemy lines as well. The chaos served the empire as good missile fire and range required a structured line.

Unfortunately while many Imperial ships were far forward of its own line, Collective ships that went astray were far behind.

The latest laser technology gave the empire excellent range for a beam weapon as several Collective ships exploded from concentrated fire.

The fighters deployed by the Empire were the first able to keep up with the rest of the fleet, but point defense heavily damaged many squadrons when they closed in to an Omega class.

The Collective fleet called general retreat to form a new battle line and fire missiles evenly against as many targets as possible.

The Badlands ships which were close to the enemy line used what missile defense they could to knock out the missiles coming towards them and continued firing on the collective ships of the main line. Their ability to quickly alternate targets was very helpful.

Then the missiles came, streaking all over the place, they hit many of the forward targets, and others were heading for the main battle line of the empire. Anterab class ships that were hit were heavily damaged, while the Badlands ships had enough shielding to absorb one salvo of missiles. The Collective had lost a number of ships but the Empire did not have enough missile defense to prevent much of their main line from being decimated.

The forward forces of the Empire have been hit several times with missiles but are holding up, at least until the next Salvo. On the other hand, the right flank of the main battle line has been decimated as the missiles targetted those ships finally arrive causing much destruction. The Forward ships have done some damage, but without their presence, this battle would have been an overwhelming defeat for the Empire.

The only chance for the Empire is to charge forward to try to get into laser range. Easier said than done against a retreating Collective force.

On the plus side for the Empire, the one remaining Badlands destroyed one of the collective Troop transports, improving the chances that the allies will not have enough troops to win the ground campaign.

The second missile volley of the main battle line, which is finally forming up as stragglers arrive fires upon the left flank this time, as well as the forward elements. Only crippled ships remain anywhere near the collective fleet.

Imperial ships explode in rapid succession from missile hits while the limited point defense available preserves a portion of the battle lines of the Empire.

Hulks, and heavily damaged ships with limited movement are everywhere behind the Imperial battle line which is increasingly looking like an arrowpoint instead. Fighters are slightly ahead of the main line and one straggling missile warship was destroyed by three Imperial ships.

The Collective is running out of room as the Empire continues to press forward despite its losses. The next volley is likely the last safe one after which any surviving Imperial warships would be able to fire back.

There are no healthy warships left in the Imperial fleet as the last salvo before the Empire comes in range damages the remaining ships of the advance. The losses are huge as two fleets will be available to sweep into the Imperial home system. But first Polaris IV must be captured to allow for refueling. That job will be turned over to the D'Anconian Army chief and his troops.

For now, the Collective navy has clean up duty, destroying the fighting force and the wrecks left floating adrift above Polaris.

[Azatol]

The Army battle of Imperial Polaris

The Collective left the zone of battle upon clearing last of the Imperial ships, allowing the Queen's Fleet to slip in and drop their waves of troops, thus beginning the ground combat phase of the battle.

Word arrived from the battle scene, Darth Vader informed the Emperor that the Collective had returned to exclusively missile weapons. The Emperor ordered a rush design completed, and the anti-missile warship design was rushed into production for the future defense of the home system.

Monarchy vs Empire
2417.0

"The force grows stronger," Darth Vader speaks to the emperor. "Perhaps this Monarchy has somehow uncovered the secrets of the Jedi way in this ancient time. I can not pinpoint an individual of Jedi strength, yet it seems there may be several soldiers of this monarchy who are force sensitive and on the verge of achieving a breakthrough. Their force strength is no more than that of the young children that were at the academy during the republic."

"Crush the Soldiers that are arriving, do whatever it takes to return to the home system."

"Yes my master."

...

All five Aedes troop transports were ready to launch the smaller touchdown troop containers. The First Mechanized however did not require this, since its Mechs could be space dropped without any extra equipment. The Mechanized units were planned to be first on the ground, which took up two and a half Aedes, followed by the elite First Royal Army, and then the Second Royal Army.

The Mechs were dropping parachutes hanging in the air in mass formations when heavy calibur rounds started ripping through the air. No whole Mechanized army was operational when they hit the ground. The Imperial army presence was stronger than expected. It seemed like all that training was meaningless since they hadn't even made touch down.

Nonetheless a few rare mechanized units had made it down alive and had local victories before being swiftly overwhelmed in the early hours. Morale in the monarchy was devastated by the losses, as even the Elite First was cut apart by overwhelming fire. Only 140 units of the Imperial army were defeated.

The Monarchy had vastly undermanned its efforts, and needed a troop transport that could carry a thousand units, not two hundred. They had gone for the smaller more focussed transport for some unknown reason and now that plan would be changed, as the Monarchy ramped up its army recruitment at every colony and training center. The Queen demanded a new design for a troop transport that could support a larger initial drop force.

The Arma was then designed. It was a medium transport with five times the capacity of the Aedes. Namely a single Arma could contain as many troops as the entire Aedes fleet that was brought along. Elite Army programs halted for the time being as regular army recruitment began writ large in the Monarchy.

Collective vs. Empire

The Collective still had one of its troop transports, so the Archivist went forward with an invasion by their forces.

The Collective army was not defeated in the drop itself, mainly since they had higher troop capacity in their transport, but their troops were repulsed not far from the landing zones. Without the Polaris homeworld, there was no place to resupply, and the collective fleet was low on fuel.

The order went out for battle droid construction on a large scale from the Archivist, and the Collective blockaded the Polaris homeworld.

[Azatol]

The Standoff

Several years of this war were cold as a standoff developed between the Empire's overwhelming ground forces on Polaris IV and the Allies' blockade of that planet, with an impressive arsenal of firepower in the combined fleets.

Darth Vader, upon returning to Calatius, informed the emperor that he had personally seen to it that the nascent force sensitive infantry of the Monarchy were smashed. On the ground on Polaris, imperial legions were composed of droids originally designed by the Initiative, as well as controllers to keep all of them doing the right things.

As the construction of droids escalated, more controllers were needed, and they had to be smuggled in, as there was no native life to Polaris, the Initiative live in cyberspace, and the Empire did not know the nature of their existence or how to control them.

While the Collective built additional infantry droids at a methodical pace, the Monarchy upgraded weapons again, and engaged every colony in the home system in recruitment. Of the three remaining nations, the Monarchy made best use of its colonies, since they served as military training and recruitment centers as well as producing modest amounts of needed resources.

The Monarchy was far removed from anyone else in terms of infantry and mechanized weaponry, but the lesson they had learned is that quantity still matters. Three of the new Alma's had been produced, and now were waiting on sufficient troops to deploy. Research was also developing on the construction of a new larger mechanized unit.

Meanwhile the Empire was constructing Basilisks, which were heavily focussed on missile defense while still providing a moderate amount of laser fire.

The Polaris controllers were disgruntled about their loss of contact with the rest of the Empire, and the difficulty in keeping control of the droids. Also, the Machinery Control Coalition was still around and creating mayhem on Polaris. They took control of whatever droids they could while the controllers were sleeping. The Coalition had never lost total control of the droids on Polaris since the guards that paranoid Initiative thinkers had placed in the immense server building which buttressed the cyber realm itself, had never been controlled by the empire. This server crew was able to start the guerrila campaign that made life on Polaris IV difficult for the empire.

2418.2

Troop Levels of the Monarchy
116 Adcrenscens Medium Troop
490 Centuria III Infantry

The Centuria IV and Adcrenscens II designs are now in production, they are equipped with better weaponry than their previous versions. The Medium Troops quickly fill up space, as Alma can carry 66 of them or 1000 infantry.

Troop Levels of the Collective
879 Psi Infantry

Troop Levels of the Empire on Polaris IV
1915 13X Infantry

[Azatol]

Ragnarok, the alliance ground war in Polaris

You would be hard pressed to find a larger scale ground war than the second battle for Imperial Polaris IV. All three nations have been recruiting. The Monarchy with a mix of Mechanized and Infantry are fielding 3000 kilotons worth of troops equipped with the best weapons and training. The Collective, with pure infantry, are fielding 3300 Infantry units. The empire on the other hand, has over 4500 Infantry units.

The Pendulum swings once more to the Empire as the surprise of missiles returning to the battlefield has faded, and once again an Imperial fleet is ready to sweep away its enemies. Vader once more is with an expedition rather than holed up in the palace with Palpatine. The last few years, with their naval gutted were nerve racking, but moral among the citizens is at an all time high because of the Initiative droids, and vids are taped and broadcast of segments of the war to citizens of the homeworld.

The First Spacedrop Army, composed of 66 Mechanized units and 10 infantry units made the first drop and was wiped out summarily. The Third Spacedrop Army followed, making a brief contest of things, and the Second came so very close to holding its landing zone.

Then it was the turn of the Collective army, which was delayed by unsupplied troop transports which reached Polaris IV several months late. The first army held its ground despite crushing losses and dealt some losses in return to the Empire. The second also held, but after all the troops were either dead or on the ground, only 700 infantry units remained of the vast effort by both Allied nations, and 2300 infantry droid units remained for the Empire.

The fleets were out of a supply, a fact that Palpatine planned to take advantage of with the new fleet of the Empire, without any missiles to fire, the Collective had no chance, and besides the new Imperial ships were loaded with missile defense.

To lessen the supply problem, a colony ship was headed to Polaris to set up a military resupply center. With support from this colony, the fleets could relentlessly bomb the droid infantry that irritated them so much.

Meanwhile the Queen authorized the construction of still larger troop transports which will carry purely Large mechanized drops, doing away with Infantry all together. Other solutions are being looked at as well, mostly variants on the idea of bombing Polaris IV back to the stone age.

The total dead from the ground wars of Polaris IV is immense, as the Empire invaded it when the Initiative was still around, and now many millions of Collective and Monarchical soldiers have died on planet as well. Imperial administration continues unabated despite the remaining army presence which should be defeated within the next month with no problems. The planet has been on the verge of rioting for years, but ruthless imperial tactics keep the few Imperial colonists from revolting. All the citizens that arrive on Polaris IV immediately end up working as a controller for the Initiative droid armies that the Empire has learned well how to use.