Rise of the Remorhaz Society

[sachmo]

Not over by a long shot, but football season DID just start! I shall return...maybe tonight!

[Ragnarok]

Originally posted by sachmo:
Not over by a long shot, but football season DID just start! I shall return...maybe tonight!

Good excuse. Football rocks.

[sachmo]

Rolling up the flanks in Lezzari

2411.0

Chairman Sachmo looked at his chief diplomat with a mixture of shock and disbelief on his face.
“Exactly how is that possible, Sangi?”
The ambassador poured himself a drink before turning to answer the Chairman.
“Well sir, the research guild has invented some very clever gadgets which will allow Remorhaz agents to disguise themselves as any race we know of. If we can get a few teams behind enemy lines, they could do some major damage. Bribing officials, sabotage, and assassination…whatever it takes. All that remains now is to set up a few intelligence compounds, train some agents, and get them to their targets.”
The Chairman leaned back in his chair.
“Do you really think this will work?”
The ambassador nodded. “Yes, Chairman. I don’t think the Ukra-Tal, or even the Rage, are aware of this sort of tactic. If we play our cards right, they may never know. I think if we get the right people, and train them well, we can have a corps of agents who can do damage well beyond their numbers, and in places we can’t even hope to reach conventionally.”
The Chairman nodded. “Give me an outline of what you need, and I’ll get it taken care of.”
The ambassador smiled and reached into his coat pocket. “It’s already prepared, sir.”

In the Lenoltris system, a fleet of five Ukra-Tal light cruisers came thru the wormhole from Yukra, and smashed the satellite defenses stationed there. On Highrock, Captain Gina Jager was organizing the defense forces into the Lenoltris Defense Fleet when the cruisers appeared on the long-range scanners. She decided that she would move to engage them with what she had on hand. Her force consisted of two Glory destroyers and Nemesis, plus RSS Eos a transport that was loaded to the gills with Kursk space mines. Her calculations told her that while they would not reach the Ukra-Tal fleet this month, that also meant that the Ukra-Tal would be unable to attack Highrock without going thru her fleet. If the Ukra-Tal forces proved too strong, she would probably be able to fall back to Highrock with most of her force intact. If they moved back into Yukra, she would be able to mine the wormhole, and provide the Ukra-Tal with a nasty surprise if and when they returned. He ships filled with provisions and her crew itching for battle, they set course for the Lenoltris-Yukra wormhole.

Commodore Brennan consulted for weeks with Brigadier Harry Townsend about what to expect in Lezzari. Brennan had theorized that the threat to their homeworld would cause the Rage to withdraw the fleet that had chased the Remorhaz forces out of the system less than a year before. While the Rage worlds would probably be armed with weapons platforms and satellites, there would be no fleet to slow Brennan and the Space Marines down. That left four Rage worlds to be taken. The 1st Space Marine brigade was ready for the fight.
The first target was Lezzari IX A, the moon of Lezzari IX. The fleet closed in on the moon. Scanners discovered that the planet was armed with phased polaron beams, which had a long reach and packed quite a punch.
Brennan had his missile-armed ships close to maximum range and fire salvos at the planetary defenses. Artemis moved into range and fired her missiles, but was unable to get out of range in time to avoid the polaron bLasts. Two out of four beam carved huge gashes in her hull. Atmosphere bled out of the stricken escort. With two of her engines and all of her weapons destroyed, Artemis was out of the fight.
The missile strikes did their damage, killing 30 million Rage colonists in the bLasts. The guns were silenced, however. Mongoose moved into position and prepared to drop troops.

Private Jake Renton ran across the catwalk with the rest of his platoon. This was their fifth combat drop, and so they moved with precision, not once giving Sergeant Williams an excuse to yell and scream at them. Of course, Sergeant Williams didn’t need an excuse to yell and scream.
“GET YER ARSES IN THE BLAZER, LADIES! MOVE MOVE MOVE!!”
Renton tuned the sergeant out and quickly took his place in the blazer. In moments his weapon was stowed and his drop brace was locked into place. In ten more seconds, the entire platoon was locked in, ready for the drop. Williams patrolled the aisle, checking drop braces and ensuring all of the equipment was stowed correctly. When they dropped, anything that was loose became a deadly projectile. They had all seen the inside of a blazer where a weapon had come loose during the drop. The errant rifle had killed two Space Marines, and they had not died quickly. So while Williams could have bet a month pay that everything was stowed correctly, there were no corners cut here.
Renton laid his head back against the harness. He could feel the butterflies in his stomach, although they were less active then they had been during his first drop. He tried not to think about all of the ways that he could be killed today, and instead concentrated on thinking about how he would spend his leave when they had finished retaking this godforsaken system.
Without warning, he felt the familiar thud of the blazers below them began dropping into orbit. He started to count down from twenty…and at one he felt his stomach trying to climb out of his throat. The blazer bucked and shook as the moon’s gravity grabbed for them. The pilot pointed the nose down for the combat drop, and the craft lurched as they gained speed. Renton was a bit surprised at the lack of buffeting and noise during this drop. Then he remembered that this moon had no atmosphere and so the only bucking he could expect was from ground fire and anti-aircraft artillery. During the decent Renton always felt like a sitting duck, but once again there was no quick death from a missile waiting for him. Moments later the blazer slowed drastically, and then bumped as it disconnected from the landing sled. Almost immediately the yellow light started flashing, ordering the Space Marines to stand in the door and prepare to disembark. Williams dropped his headset and grabbed his weapon, shouting orders the entire time. The door hissed open suddenly, and Renton saw before him a pile of molten slag that had once been a Rage stronghold. His platoon’s target had already been “neutralized”.

1st Brigade efficiently located and destroyed the local sequencer, ending Rage resistance on Lezzari IX A without any Space Marine casualties.

The next week, 1st Brigade loaded up and made the short trip to Lezzari IV A and B, which were both Rage colonies. Only Lezzari IV A was armed, and so Providence fleet moved to neutralize this planet first. Both colonies fell without incident. On A, they captured intact a resupply depot and five radioactive extraction facilities. On B, a spaceport and two research facilities were captured. Unfortunately, no new technology was discovered here. The Rage flank was now exposed. Remorhaz was closing the vice.

[sachmo]

Probes

The Ukra-Tal destroyer appeared as a tiny dot against the background of space, barely distinguishable from the stars that pierced the dark veil. Commodore Hitcher watched the Ukra-Tal ship close range with his own fleet, seemingly oblivious to the danger he was facing.
The enemy ship continued coming toward the Remorhaz ships, increasing velocity every moment.
It won’t work, Hitcher thought. The Ukra-Tal ship had to close into guns range to have any hope of damaging the Remorhaz ships. Hopefully, their own missiles would finish her before that happened.
As soon as the enemy ship moved into effective missile range, Skydancer and Shining Victory opened fire.
Hitcher’s eyes followed the missiles as they streaked across the gulf of space, reduced to tiny white dots on the tactical display.
The Ukra-Tal destroyer began maneuvering to try and break the seekers lock, but it was futile. Both flights crashed into her hull, causing massive internal explosions. If Hitcher had been looking into space with his naked eye, he would have seen a brilliant flash as the destroyer met her fate. As it was, the craft simply disappeared from the display.
“Ok, let’s go home” Hitcher said. He wasn’t sure how long the Ukra-Tal would keep sending ships thru Iolo one at a time, but as the opportunities presented themselves, he would take them.

2411.1

Brigadier General Townsend was ecstatic. Lezzari V was the Last Rage planet in this system, and it had been undefended. The planet was taken with only a single casualty, the local sequencer. Lezzari was now firmly back in Remorhaz hands.

In Zekrat, Sakazawa gathered all of his combat power for the assault on the Rage homeworld. Within the next month, the final battle would be joined.

2411.2

The Research Guild perfected the third generation of the anti-proton beam. This weapon was still less effective than the depleted uranium cannon, but it required no ammunition as was more effective at shield penetration. The guild began work on an even more powerful depleted uranium cannon, which would be ready within the month.

In the Iolo system, Commodore Hitcher watched as a fleet of nineteen Ukra-Tal ships moved toward Correlia. However, before they were able to move into attack position, the lead ship triggered the Kursk space minefield that had been laid the previous year. All eyes stared in disbelief as the Ukra-Tal ships were overwhelmed by the destructive power of the minefield. The mines homed in on the ships, detonating at precise range to cause maximum damage. The mines preformed their duty far beyond the expectations of naval planners and scientists alike. The mines were too small and moved too quickly for the Ukra-Tal ships point defenses to stop. Each ship was lost in a brilliant display of explosion, and still more mines homed in. The devastation was utter and complete. The Ukra-Tal fleet was reduced to a cloud of fine debris.
Shaking himself out of a disbelieving stare, Hitcher ordered his fleet to move into the area to check for survivors. He was confident that he would find none.

In the Koltan system, a science vessel sent word back to Remorhaz of contact with a craft of unknown origin. The craft did not make a hostile move toward the science vessel, but did not respond to hails. Chairman Sachmo knew that if this new race turned out to be hostile, there would not be much hope for the future. He ordered Ambassador Mulatti to immediately draw up a message of piece, and he prayed to his god that this race respond favorably to his overtures.

Commodore Brennan took his fleet back into Jethanis. Apparently the Rage had been busy here. Where there had been one, there were now five Rage inhabited worlds in this system. The first target world would be Jethanis III.
The fleet closed in on the planet. Jethanis III had no surface defenses, but was protected by a space station. However, when long-range scanners studied the station, they found that it was in fact only a repair station and had no defensive weapons whatsoever. The 1st Space Marine Brigade captured the planet without casualties, capturing a space yard and a mineral miner facility. The Rage troops and workers on the space station refused to surrender, and so it had to be destroyed by the fleet. It would have been nice to capture intact, but the shipyard was the biggest prize of all.
Providence finished construction of a rock colony ship, and this ship set course for Nova with four million Norak colonists. These colonists were determined to continue the work started by their brothers who had died here in the Rage attack.

In Zekrat, four million Remorhaz colonists began to set up a resupply base on the world of Zekrat IX. They named the colony Grenville, and started immediate construction of a supply depot. It would be three months before the facility was up and running, and it was possible that the battle would be won or lost by then.

Rear Admiral Shiro Sakazawa closed the com channel and sat back in his command chair. This was the biggest battle fought by the Remorhaz Navy since the Battle of Norak all those years ago. They were finally bringing the fight to the Rage homeworld. If they succeeded in taking it, the war with the Rage was all but over. If they failed, the road was open to the heart of the Remorhaz Society, as well as over half of their fleet strength.
We must not fail, he thought.
Shiro allowed himself a quick glance around his command center. So many young faces, he thought. How many will die in this battle?
He steeled his resolve, and glanced at his communication officer.
“Signal all ships. Begin the attack.”
The communication officer sent the message out, and the orders were acknowledged. The ships took up a V-formation, and aimed right at the heart of the Rage homeworld.
The Rage defenses were impressive. Seven capital ship missile complexes, complete with anti-missile guns, defended the planet itself. There were also three armed space stations, formidable in their own right. The entire battle would be won or lost in whose weapons overwhelmed the others first.
The Remorhaz ships moved to engage an armed space station. The orbit of this station took it outside of the protective umbrella of the surface weapons anti-missile batteries, and so was left to fend for itself against the power of the Remorhaz fleet. At long range, the Remorhaz ships opened fire with missile salvos, overwhelming the point defenses of the station. Missile after missile struck the station’s sturdy shields, until they eventually burned out the shield generators and began peeling back the armor of the hull. Atmosphere and debris vented as holes appeared in the skin of the space station. Ganymede, Tarus, and Olympia closed to guns range to finish the station off, but not before it was able to deliver a broadside of phased polaron beam fire into Tarus. The beams tore thru her shields, and melted a huge furrow in her port side. Sakazawa was tossed and shaken as the ship bore the brunt of the attack. One of his orderlies, who was not strapped into his seat was flung against the bulkhead that he hit with a sickening crunch. For her efforts, the combined gunfire from the three ships finished the space station. Missile fire from the fleet also overwhelmed the defenses of another space station, destroying it in short order. Sakazawa decided to wait for the rest of the fleet to join him before pressing home the main attack. For the cost of a heavily damaged light cruiser, they had succeeded in weakening the defenses of the Rage homeworld by 20%. With continued success, the might be able to take this planet within three months.

2411.3
The Ukra-Tal came to Correlia once more. This time the minefield was not large enough to stop them completely, but only two light cruisers made it thru to orbit, and they were badly damaged. Three ships were destroyed. The Iolo defense fleet destroyed the remains with no damage to themselves or to Correlia.
Hitcher wasn’t sure that this would be good enough. Strategic display showed a fleet of 23 Ukra-Tal ships closing in from the Wanduk system. All he had were his six ships, a light minefield and the planetary defenses of Correlia. He hoped that it would be enough to blunt the attack. The ultimate test was coming.

In the Lundra system, another Ukra-Tal fleet was on the move. It lost two ships to the minefield Jager had set up outside the wormhole, but they had successfully swept the remaining mines. 13 enemy ships were on course for Highrock. Highrock launched the Last of the space mines, and had six ships left to defend the system. It was going to be a close call, for sure.

[Atrocities]

One day people will find this story posted on a web site and wonder who wrote such a work of art, and wonder at how the author was able to write such a detailed story as if it really had happened.

Little do they know...........

Great work. Thank you again for providing us with a great read.

[sachmo]

I'm glad you are enjoying it!

If anyone had any question/suggestions/comments, please let me know!

[Hotfoot]

I didn't want to say anything until I was finished catching up, only having found this thread a few days ago. Now that I'm on the same page as everyone else, I shall now share my thoughts concerning the story.

Sachmo, I am very impressed by what you have written so far. While game logs in general are enjoyable reading, the level of detail and personality that you produce is wonderful. I'll admit, reading this story got my juices flowing again, both for SEIV and for writing. Well, more like just got them flowing faster, but I'm sure you get the idea.

I also would like to say that I very much like your handling of the passage of time inside of the game turn and combat turn. It really gives me a good feel of the long-term scale of the game. Given the detail that you go into, however, I can only imagine the amount of time it takes you to play each turn.

This is not all about praise, however. You've also made me fall behind on my workload, however, as I have not only am I suffering from a severe case of the "Just one more turn" syndrome, but also a "Just one more installment" bug. I am holding you directly responsible for this and demand compensation*!

I'll send my people to talk to your people.



*and by compensation, I mean "Pie". Or more installments of your story. It's all good.