Rise of the Remorhaz Society

[sachmo]

A small victory

2409.5

At the University of Manticore, scientists from both the Navy and the university were able to apply the principles of anti-matter to the weapons field, and the first anti-matter torpedo was successfully test fired. Also, the capital weapons project harnessed the power of meson bursts to a meson bLaster. Mesons were an effective weapon against armor because their density allowed them to penetrate further into the material then a solid shot weapon would be able to. The depleted uranium cannon was still a superior weapon, but the meson bLaster would open all sorts of possibilities for the next stage of capital ship weapons. Both weapon types would be able to be made into miniaturized Versions, for use as troop weapons. The Army and Space Marine Corps began working together to construct a prototype for a handheld meson bLaster for the infantry, and trials were begun to test the effectiveness of the meson bLaster when attached to the Blazer assault craft. The General Staff of both services were hoping that these new weapons would increase the lethality, and in turn the survivability, of their troops. In the meantime, the Research Guild focused all of its efforts on designing the next generation of spacecraft…the light cruiser. It was hoped that with enough light cruisers, any technological gap between Remorhaz and their enemies could be overcome with superior firepower. The light cruiser would be able to bring a large amount of firepower to any fight. The research was expected to take a little over half a year.

Gina Jager watched the viewscreen as the space yard at Norak faded in the distance. Nemesis and Furious were heading to the Lapzooli-Lundra wormhole on patrol. The fact was that Grand Admiral Urian had wanted to send a more powerful patrol out, but these two frigates were the only two ships on which all upgrades had been completed. Gina was confident that they could slow down anything that the Rage sent their way. With this latest refit, she felt that her ship had vastly improved its combat power. They were equipped with the latest Contra-Terrene engines, point defense cannon, and the latest generation of capital ship missiles. Also, her crew had been able to take liberty on Norak, and so was much fresher than they had been when they had arrived back in system months ago. She knew that eventually, everyone would want to get back to his or her home planets, but since they were engaged in a two front war, everyone was in it for the long hall.
Captain Jager was in command of Task Force 9.5. She was ordered to patrol the wormhole and eliminate any threat presented to the Lapzooli system in that area. This gave her a lot of tactical flexibility, but she intended to keep everyone alive and not do anything foolish. She quietly hoped that her crew would get a chance to strike back at something. Everyone in the fleet had been on edge since the Ukra-Tal had wiped out Timerron. While the capture of Nova was definitely a moral booster, it might as well be on the other side of the universe. Her people needed to feel like they were doing their part. Maybe they would get the chance, but she would be damned if she would be goaded into doing something stupid just to satisfy those urges. As Grand Admiral Urian had reminded her before they had left port: above all else, her duty was to get her people home.

Chairman Sachmo picked up the hardcopy of the communication that Ambassador Mulatti had sent to him. Early this morning, a ship, presumably equipped with a very powerful transmitter and stationed in Rage space, had broadcast a message to the Remorhaz Society. It read:

“Your pathetic ships must be removed from the Xillantha system.”

No one knew quite what to make of it, as that was all that the message said. Was it a request, stating that if the Remorhaz presence in the Xillantha system was removed, there could be a possible peace? Was it a ruse? There wasn’t really any way to know for sure. Ambassador Mulatti felt that it was a boast, a sort of diplomatic slap in the face by the Rage. He thought that they were daring the Remorhaz Navy to try and stop them from taking the system. Well, Sachmo knew that the Rage had entered the system many times, but they had been unwilling, or unable, to attack Fort Justice. Chairman Sachmo didn’t see much different this time, so he decided to fight fire with fire.
He spoke into his com unit. “Yarboro, get me Ambassador Mulatti on the line, please.”
“Yes, Chairman.”
The Chairman and the head of the Remorhaz Diplomatic Corp discussed the matter at length, but in the end it was the Chairman’s idea that they decided to go with. Norak would broadcast a message, directly to the Primary Sequencer, stating that the Remorhaz would not withdraw from the Xillantha system under any circumstances, and in fact demanded that the Rage remove their colony on Lezzari IV A immediately, or that colony would be “annexed” by the Remorhaz Society in due course. As he dictated the message, Sachmo smiled. That response ought to get the Primary Sequencer’s chips in an uproar, he thought. It was time to teach those machines that humans can be as unpredictable as they are.

The shipyard on Remorhaz turned out the only ground assault ship in the Remorhaz Navy, the RSS Quasar. The destruction of Timerron had driven home that face that the enemies of the Remorhaz Society had no qualms with destroying innocent colonists. While the policy of the Remorhaz government was still to spare the lives of as many noncombatants as possible, these ships were found to be of immeasurable value during any opposed planetary assault, and needed to remain in the fleet. The Chairman hoped that it and its load of planetary napalm would be used sparingly.
Next, the Remorhaz shipyard began construction of another Mongoose class troop transport. This vessel would join the fleet in Xillantha. From here the Navy would be able to launch the “left hook” of its two-pronged assault on the Rage Collective, with the intent of recapturing the Fezzran system. To do this, more Space Marines would be needed, so many of the planets in the rear area of the Society began calling up reserves with the intention of forming another brigade. If the Rage presence in Fezzran could be eliminated, Lenoltris would only be threatened from one direction, and Xillantha would finally be safe from direct invasion.

On Nova, the Rage variety of an Urban Pacification Center was constructed. Since the Rage were sentient machines, it had been quite a challenge for the Remorhaz xenopsychologists to uncover the secrets to pacifying a captured population. What they had come up with was simple. The pacification center would broadcast, on millions of frequencies, information packets that would illustrate to the Rage population the concept of free will. Since the Rage would communicate on different frequencies to convey emotion, no one was quite sure how the Rage would respond to these broadcasts. Tests with individual subjects had been inconclusive, but most tests with isolated Rage beings usually turned out the same way. The success of this pacification center would have to be observed on the Rage population as a whole. Needless to say, this first month would prove to be one of frayed nerves for the Space Marines and Remorhaz government officials on Nova. Not knowing if you were about to be suddenly faced with over 26 million angry, sentient machines would do that! The Space Marines had the small consolation of knowing that the scientists were right there with them, and if something did go wrong, they would be in as much danger as everyone else.

In the Wanduk system, Cherek was finally able to complete the system spaceport. The mining companies on Ymoria were more than happy to pay for the initial shipments of resources over to Cherek, as the spaceport would allow them to finally transport their cargo out of the system, and to get paid for doing it. The Wanduk system had become a key resource supplier for the Society in less than a month.

2409.6

Fort Justice completed construction of a shipyard. The fleet would now be able to complete repairs on station, and new ships would be able to be launched from here. The first task of this new shipyard was to refit RSS Honor. Eventually, all ships in this system would be upgraded, and aggressive patrols of the Fezzran system could begin.

In the Regotha system, RSS Mongoose took on a population of 8 million Norakians. These colonists would populate Nova, and the Rage on this planet would accompany the assault fleet to Lezzari IV A, where the Space Marines would again invade a Rage colony. While the transfer of colonists was taking place, most of the Space Marines were given liberty. They bought everything that they could find, drank everything put in front of their noses, and ate everything that wasn’t still alive, and even in those cases exceptions were made. If the Norak had been impressed with the Space Marines at work, they were doubly awed at their ability to carouse and find whatever fun there was to be had when off duty. For many Norak citizens of Remorhaz, it was another huge lesson in the advantages of a free society. They learned that these men, who months before had been their bitter enemies, were now quite easily able to relax on a planet filled with Norakian beings. The Space Marines seemed to treat the Norakians as fellow citizens, and not as a conquered people. Quite a few of the more liberal thinking Norakians had even made a few friends among the Space Marines before they shipped off for war again. The impression that was made upon many of the Norakians by the Space Marines would soon become apparent.

In the Lundra system, Task Force 9.5 moved into range of a single Rage Furious Class Destroyer. Jager deployed Nemesis and Furious in a wall formation. She ordered Furious to go high and left to try and draw the Rage missile fire. Scanners indicated that the enemy destroyer had already sustained significant damage. Jager was wary of a trap, but the Sensor Officer assured her that the scan was clean. If only she could be so sure that nothing would come out of the wormhole…
Jager closed to within range. The Rage ship had superior missiles, and fired a salvo first. Gina felt her heart skip. She was pinning most of her hopes on the new point defense cannon. She had seen them work in vids of the tests, but actual combat was a whole different world.
“Helm, get ready to move with best speed.”
“Yes ma’am,” Ensign Ernst Dorland responded. Gina could her the doubt in his voice. He also was of the opinion that the best defense against missiles was to open the range before they hit you.
“Weps, make sure that those PD cannons are working properly. This is going to be a short fight if they aren’t.” She looked at the tactical display. All of the readouts for her point defense cannons looked good, but it never hurt to be sure.
“Aye, aye, Cap’n,” the Weapons Officer replied.
The Sensor Officer spoke. “Captain, Icelus is closing off of the port beam. She’s coming very close, Cap’n.”
Gina felt sweat break out on her forehead. She hoped that the combined firepower of her PD cannons and the PD cannons on Icelus would be enough to knock the Rage missiles out before they hit. If not, and those missiles hit Nemesis, Icelus wouldn’t stand much of a chance against the Rage ship.
The combined firepower of the PD cannons was enough to save Nemesis. Gina watched the tactical display as the Rage missiles were quickly disabled or destroyed by thousands of super-accelerated shells. She could see the ghosts that the shells fired by Icelus left on the viewscreen as they streaked across the blackness of space, and then the red and yellow blossoms that would appear as the shells found their targets.
The Rage Furious Class destroyer was able to withstand eight missile hits before her main reactor went and she was vaporized. Gina’s crew cheered as their spread of missiles finished the Rage ship off. Gina allowed herself a brief smile. It was a small victory, but it cheered the crew and buoyed their confidence. Now the Rage knew that there would be no more free passage thru the Lundra system. The Remorhaz Navy was intent on challenging their power in this system. No doubt the Rage would return with more ships, but this time the Remorhaz Navy would be waiting for them.

To be continued...