Rise of the Remorhaz Society

[sachmo]

Actually, they both have their upsides. I hope to have another chapter up before the weekend is over. I really don't intend to abondon this story, however I make no promises that it will end before I die of old age!

[dumbluck]

LOL

[sachmo]

Consolidation, Part II

2411.5

In the Jethanis system, the rogue Rage fleet fell on the recently liberated planet of Peonei. Having no signal from a Sequencer, the fleet bLasted the planet’s surface to powder, exterminating all life. Such was the ruthlessness of the Rage.

The Iolo system saw the Ukra-Tal establish a colony on Iolo Prime. They acted almost as if the fleet at Correlia did not exist. Consequently, Midguard and Shining Victory made best speed for the colony and destroyed all traces of it with an orbital bombardment.

On the diplomatic front, the Ukra-Tal once again rejected a peace offer.
Despite the best efforts of the diplomatic corps, the Romulan Empire officially declared war on the Remorhaz Society.

Rear Admiral Sakazawa detached Honor from the offensive in Sutran to scout the unknown wormhole in the system. Upon exiting the wormhole, a new system was discovered which held two Rage worlds: Zezzis III and IV. Both worlds were populated by over 100 million Rage and it was decided that the offensive would carry on into this system once Surtran was liberated. The admiral’s staff estimated the attack on Zezzis could begin within three months.
Sakazawa’s fleet closed on their next target, Sutran Prime. Twenty million Rage colonists took cover as the fleet appeared high above the planet. There were no defenses, and the 2nd Space Marine Brigade took the planet without firing a shot. The planet was renamed Surtran. Apparently the Rage were having a hard time coordinating their efforts since the loss of the Primary Sequencer. This intelligence was beamed back to the Naval Staff for analysis.
The next planet to fall was Surtran III. This planet was a research center, and it was also undefended. It was taken with very few casualties. It was renamed Gordov.
The fleet headed for Sutran IV, and once that fell, Sutran would be secure.

2411.6

The Rage wiped out the colony of Gerean in Jethanis, and set course for Cetarus, and Brennan.
Correlia completed construction of a repair station, and immediately went to work repairing the damage done to the ships of the fleet. Skydancer was rushed thru, and back in combat shape before the month was finished. The Ukra-Tal moved five cruisers into the system, but their purpose was still unknown.

The Research Guild had improved the range and firepower of the point defense cannon and also the anti-matter torpedo. The Design Bureau updated the design of the Ganymede Class cruisers, to take advantage of both advances. They also designed a new space mine, the Correlia, which boasted a larger warhead. These were put into service right away.

Both Glory and Fort Justice launched colony ships. The first set course for Fezzran V, one of the few remaining uncolonized oxygen worlds in the known galaxy. The ship from Glory headed for the Tudran system to colonize a new mining colony.

Throughout the Society, mining operations were running at a fever pitch, trying to keep pace with the expenditures brought about by the war. Currently, they were building up a nice surplus of minerals, and also had ample supplies of organic and radioactive resources. The addition of Rage to the Society was a big boost to the economy, with its two billion people. Once they were brought into the Remorhaz way of life, they contributed quite nicely.

Remorhaz launched another Rochester class light cruiser, the RSS Buffalo. She took up station above the homeworld, ready to guard against any incursion.

Sutran IV fell to the 2nd Space Marine Brigade with light casualties. The planet was named Isla Bella, and with its capture, the Sutran system was completely in Remorhaz hands. Sakazawa detached two frigates and a destroyer and formed a relief fleet, and this he sent toward Jethanis to join Brennan’s fleet. The main fleet turned to continue the offensive against the Rage in the Zezzis system.

Meanwhile, Honor moved thru Zezzis to explore the system next to it. The display lit up with Rage signals, and it was quickly surmised that this new system, Bardron, was a major Rage stronghold. Honor sent the information back to the fleet, and was ordered to proceed to Jethanis at best speed to join Brennan in what was hoped to be the Last space combat against the Rage.

[ December 12, 2002, 05:33: Message edited by: sachmo ]

[sachmo]

First Battle of Cetarus

2411.7

The Rage fleet of nine ships closed in on Cetarus as Brennan watched. His five combat ships would have to use everything that they had to defeat the enemy fleet. These Rage ships, like most that they had fought before, relied on speed and missile fire for their strength. The ships could get off a salvo of missiles and be out of range of return fire before his own ships could react. Since Brennan’s force was a mix of gun ships and missile launchers, he would have to modify his tactics to allow his fleet to gain the advantage over the Rage.
When the Rage fleet entered the system, Brennan had the defense forces on Cetarus produce as many anti-missile batteries as they could fit on the small planet. Brennan planned to have his fleet wait behind this extra wall of protection while the Rage ships fired their missiles at them. He was hoping that one of their ships would come a bit to close and present his fleet with a chance to pounce on one. He realized that he could very well wind up sitting and soaking up missile fire and never get a chance to engage the Rage fleet, but he had the luxury of knowing that help was on the way. If he could ride the attack out, he might be able to counterattack and defeat the Rage. He could lose, but only if he acted impatiently. He chuckled to himself, remembering days earlier in the war when the Rage could have counted on just such behavior from him. If he had learned nothing else, he had learned patience. If he had not learned, he would probably be dead already.
The Rage ships deployed into a wall formation, preparing to close range and let fly with a salvo of missiles. Their scanners were creating electronic noise on all of the fleet’s sensors as the Rage eagerly tried to find out what they were up against. Still the wall advanced, with four of the ships moving back into a second rank to wait and launch a second salvo. This told Brennan that they probably had not seen the anti-missile batteries on the surface of Cetarus. If they had, they would try and fire all of their missiles in one salvo to overwhelm the Remorhaz defenses.
Once they reached maximum range, they opened fire. Missiles streaked across the darkness of space, casting an orange glow until they reached maximum velocity and cut their engines, homing in on their targets.
The sensor officer called out targets and the ranges of the incoming missiles. Tension gripped the deck. Brennan did some quick math in his head, and he knew that the missile salvo would probably not be large enough to penetrate the Remorhaz defenses. He was right. Once the missiles reached maximum engagement range, the point defense cannons on the Remorhaz ships opened fire, knocking a number out. The fire from the anti-missile batteries on the surface quickly smashed the few that penetrated the ship’s defensive fire.
“Surprise”, Brennan thought as the tactical display snuffed out the Last of the threat icons. “Now let’s see how you react.”
The Rage did not hesitate, and the second rank opened fire. This salvo too was knocked out. The Rage moved into range, fired, and then pulled back. Every time, the Remorhaz defenses held.
Finally, the Remorhaz chance came. Once of the Rage ships closed past his optimum missile range, and quickly closed distance with the Remorhaz ships. Brennan took his own light cruiser Sierra and the frigate Catreus at full burn toward the Rage ship. Quickly realizing his mistake, the Rage captain turned his ship and tried to open the range. The ship had already fired its missiles, and was defenseless. Sierra was the first to reach weapons range, and she fired everything she had. They hit with the heavy depleted uranium cannon and the anti-matter torpedoes, causing considerable damage to the Rage frigate. As the other Rage ships turned to react to this threat and fire their missiles at Brennan and his wingman, Hawk, Comet, and Fortitude moved to engage another Rage ship which had moved into range while changing position to fire at Sierra. They scored a few hits on a Rage destroyer, but did no major damage. All of the Remorhaz ships raced back toward Cetarus and the cover from the anti-missile batteries.
Soon the Rage presented them with another opportunity. A Rage Notorious class destroyer came charging at the Remorhaz fleet. Brennan assumed they planned to concentrate their fire on one ship and fire at close range, possibly to overwhelm their defenses by limiting reaction time and flooding the ship with missiles. However, the Rage ship moved in alone. Sierra and Catreus closed range and fired on the enemy destroyer. Depleted uranium shells tore thru the hull, knocking out two engines, it’s point defense cannon, and one of its missile launchers. Hawk was able to close range with a Claymore class frigate that was in the process of reloading its missiles and pump a few shells into the ship’s dark hull. The ship lurched as the shells tore deep into its interior, wrecking havoc with the ship’s components. Hawk turned and ran back to the protection of the batteries on Cetarus.
At this point, the Rage broke off the attack. They left having done no damage to the Remorhaz fleet while having four of their own ships damaged, one of them heavily. Brennan watched as the Rage ships fled, slowed by their damaged ships. He immediately began weighing his options. He had taken no damage, and had almost full supplies. His ships were outnumbered, but the enemy was fighting with reduced capacity. He called his XO over.
“Well Benson, they turned tail. What do you think we should do?”
Lieutenant Benson cracked a smile that split his face in two.
“Well sir, we have the initiative. They are going to be slowed by their stragglers. I say we go after them.”
Brennan gave Benson a little wink.
“Good idea. Let the fleet know we are counterattacking. Also, I need to speak to General Townsend. I want to see if he can go after Jethanis VII with his Marines while we keep the Rage busy here.”

[sachmo]

Second Battle of Cetarus

While Brennan was preparing to chase the Rage fleet, they unexpectedly turned at extreme range and regrouped to attack Cetarus again. They came in a wall formation again, only this time they did not have a second rank of ships. They closed to extreme missile range and opened fire on the fleet. Brennan had his ships move into position between the Rage fleet and Cetarus, and waited for his chance.
The mass wall of missiles flew toward the fleet. Sierra opened up at maximum range and killed a few. Brennan ordered the fleet to make for the far side of the planet to allow the anti-missile batteries a few more moments to engage the Rage missiles.
The extra time worked as planned, and all of the Rage missiles were destroyed with no damage to the Remorhaz ships.
A Rage Furious class destroyer moved to engage Sierra, but watched as her missiles were destroyed by the fleet point defense. Meanwhile, the Remorhaz ships moved into within four sectors of the Rage ship, ready to engage the enemy.
Brennan felt a surge of pride as his old command Hawk scored a telling blow on the Furious, bLasting an engine apart with heavy slugs and pumping a few more into the ship’s internal structure. The Rage ship turned to flee, but began to slow. Fortitude and Catreus closed range, firing missiles but missing with their depleted uranium cannon. The Rage ship struggled to open the range between it and the Remorhaz fleet. Fortitude’s missiles struck her, bLasting apart most of her engines and missile launchers. The Furious was still slowing, and the sensor officer reported that her remaining engines were definitely damaged. At this point, the entire Rage fleet fired another salvo of missiles, and so Brennan ordered his ships to dash back to Cetarus but not before firing one Last salvo at the Furious. Catreus fired a DUC salvo that ripped chunks out of her armor and turned its Last missile launcher into a twisted wreck. Eagle and Catreus both missed, but Sierra’s heavy cannon were able to destroy the Furious. It exploded in a spectacular display, lighting up both fleets as her missile ammunition exploded. The bridge crew cheered as they turned to head for the safety of the surface guns.
A Rage Claymore frigate was the next target. After it fired its missiles, Catreus raked her with cannon fire, and Hawk continued her lucky day by hitting an engine with cannon fire and having it explode, taking two more engines with it. The Claymore limped away at half speed as the Remorhaz ships moved back under the anti-missile cover. In the meantime, a missile salvo from Comet struck the already damaged Claymore, crippling the ship. Gasses exploded from great holes in the hull and debris twisted and rolled in space around the ship. Comet fired one Last salvo at the enemy frigate, hoping that would finish it off. They did. The Claymore split in half as the missiles struck her, with the two huge pieces of ship drifting apart until the lower half exploded, vaporizing everything around it.
On the tactical display, something caught Brennan’s eye. One lone Rage Claymore had split off from the Rage battle line, and seemed to be making an end run around the Remorhaz ships. Brennan opened a com channel to the captains of Fortitude and Catreus, Lieutenant Commanders Eddard Boggs and Risa Frotov, respectively.
“Risa, Eddard, I want you two to go after that Claymore trying to sneak around our flank. I don’t want him getting a free shot at the colony”, Brennan explained.
Risa’s cold, blue eyes fell on him as she calculated the situation.
“Sir, we will be compromising our firepower. If we…”
Brennan stopped her with a raised hand.
“I need you to stay aware of the situation. If the Claymore turns to run, don’t get led off on a hunting trip. Try to stay close so you can get back if I need you. If you can take him out, so much the better.”
Risa and Eddard nodded.
“Good luck. Remember, stay close.”
He closed the link and watched as half of his firepower detached and moved to intercept the lone Rage frigate. They didn’t get very far before the Rage made a huge mistake. As the two Remorhaz ships split off from the battle line, the remainder of the Rage fleet cut the corner to open fire at these two ships. Every Rage ship save two fired its missiles at Fortitude and Catreus. This allowed Brennan to lead Sierra, Comet, and Hawk to engage a defenseless Rage Claymore. Sierra bLasted the ship with heavy cannon fire, and Comet fired another missile salvo. All the Rage ship could do was turn and try to escape before being destroyed. Once again the Rage fleet turned in confusion, this time to engage the new threat. Sierra was able to damage two more Rage frigates before turning back to toward Cetarus. One Rage missile salvo was able to overwhelm it’s point defenses but exploded harmlessly against the shields.
Missiles from Fortitude and Comet finished off another of the damaged Claymores. The Rage still continued to fire and run, but every time they miscalculated, they paid for it dearly. After their next salvo, Brennan counter attacked. Sierra closed to three sectors from a Claymore and smashed the Rage ship with her weapons. Hawk moved in and finished it off. The counter attack was not without cost. The Rage ships concentrated their fire on Sierra, and the combined point defenses of the fleet could not stop them all. The first wave finished off the shields and tore the anti-proton beams and torpedoes apart. The second salvo struck her in the stern, ripping engines apart. Sierra was reduced to ¾ speed. She turned to head back for Cetarus once again. Fortitude and Catreus went after another Claymore. Catreus scored a hit on the enemy ship with cannon fire, but did not slow it down. Working together, the two ships were able to close in and pound it with cannon fire. Before long the Rage ship exploded when the hot depleted uranium shells set off secondary explosions that ripped the ship apart.. Hawk joined them once Sierra was back under the anti-missile umbrella, and they closed on the Defiance. The combined missile and cannon fire of the three Remorhaz ships took this ship down in short order. The Rage were down to only two ships. The Rage captain appeared to be prepared to fight to the death, because his remaining destroyer and frigate held their ground and continued to fire missiles at Brennan’s ships. Brennan gathered his forces to him, and they joined to finish the Rage ships off. One more salvo was launched from the Rage ships, but this was easily swept aside by fleet point defense. Hawk closed range with the enemy ships first, puncturing the hull of a Defiance class frigate with cannon fire. This attack knocked out an engine, slowing her a bit. Fortitude closed range and fired her missiles at the Notorious class destroyer. Hawk and Fortitude remained locked on the Defiance and bLasted the ship with depleted uranium slugs. These hits tore thru the heart of the Rage frigate, with the final shot of this barrage hitting the bridge dead center, killing the bridge crew instantly.
It was only a matter of time. Battered beyond all hope of escape, the Rage ships moved to ram Sierra, but were unable to as missile fire from Comet destroyed the Defiance, and Sierra finished off the Notorious with a cannon barrage.
Brennan felt his body relax as he watched the debris cloud that was the Last Rage ship expand on the view screen. Watching the Rage ships fall under his guns, his mind had wandered, telling him that he had done what he was asked to do, and that soon he would be able to go home. He frowned and scolded himself for thinking that way. They still had a long way to go to ensure that the Rage had been eliminated from the galaxy. Everyone though this was the Last of the Rage navy, but no one knew for sure. He had to hunt them down and kill them. After that, he might be able to relax for a while, but there were still the Ukra-Tal to contend with. As quickly as the relaxation had come, it was gone as damage and casualty reports began to come in from the stations of his damaged ship. No, he had to keep his mind on the task at hand and ensure that the Rage were no longer a threat to the Remorhaz Society. Only then would he allow himself to relax.

As planned, Brigadier General Townsend had taken his Space Marines across the system and invaded Jethanis VII. This tiny planet was home to a Rage research center that surrendered even before the Space Marines had dropped. The Rage Collective continued to crumble.

[Atrocities]

Awsome read.

[sachmo]

Changing Tactics

“Are the repairs finished?” Thom Hitcher asked his Operations Officer.
“Orion is one hundred percent completed, sir. We’re back in business. The Harbormaster has promised us that Narvik will be finished by the end of the month. When the Ukra-Tal get here, we should be at full capacity.”
Commodore Hitcher simply nodded. He was so tired of fighting, but there was another Ukra-Tal taskforce headed for Correlia. Thom wasn’t sure if four cruisers could accomplish what twenty-two were not capable of, but that didn’t change the fact that the enemy was coming again. Protecting the people of Correlia was his responsibility, and so had would have to fight.
He tabbed a key on his data unit, and brought up the report sent to him by Governor Ervay. A small minefield made up of the new Correlia mines had bolstered the planet’s defenses. These mines had twice the hitting power of the Kursk mines, and better seeker heads. Also, they were installing another battery of ground-based heavy cannon.
Hitcher was pleased with the preparations that had been made so far. If not for the incredible work of Governor Ervay and his staff, Remorhaz probably would have lost the first Battle of Correlia. The ground-based batteries made the difference then, and they would do so again. Hitcher only hoped that his fleet would not have to pay such a high price this time. He had lost over five hundred sailors in that battle. They could not afford such losses, or soon the Ukra-Tal would bleed this system dry.

Rear Admiral Gina Jager took a drink of her dachenberry tea and watched her staff and fleet officers file into the conference room. They all looked so tired, but at the same time professional. They were proud of their accomplishments here in the Lenoltris system. While the rest of the Remorhaz People’s Navy was making headlines in the Zekrat and Iolo systems, Gina’s fleet had quietly held the line here at Highrock. They had staved off one major attack and had fought far beyond what their resources had allowed, but they didn’t get much airtime on the news services back home. While Gina was not bothered on bit by the lack of exposure, she could tell that it did annoy some of her officers. She had heard rumblings among the fleet that they felt like Lenoltris was a forgotten front, and that they were missing the action.
She could understand this sentiment, even though she knew it was an inaccurate assessment of the situation. If not for their actions in this system, the Ukra-Tal might have attacked as far as Glory or even Remorhaz itself. If they had broken thru here, there would have been no one to stop them from driving right into the heart of the Society itself. The younger officers didn’t think about the war in these terms. They would see stories on the news of the great ship-to-ship battles at Correlia, or watch Space Marines wrestle control of the Rage homeworld to Remorhaz while starships pounded enemy troop concentrations from low orbit. The Lenoltris fleet missed most of that sort of action. The one major attack had been thwarted when a minefield destroyed an entire Ukra-Tal fleet bound for Highrock. There had been a few ship-to-ship engagements, but none that were very big and not for quite some time. Hence, Lenoltris had begun to get a reputation as a backwater system.
She couldn’t blame them for wanting to grab their share of the glory. Many of them were fresh out of the academy, and had not experienced the horrors of war yet. They still had the notion that war was mostly romance and bravery. They didn’t know about the horror, loneliness, and sadness.
“Well”, Gina thought, “it looks like they will get their chance soon.”
Everyone was present in the conference room. Gina stood up and addressed them.
“Ladies and gentlemen, we have been on the defensive in this system for over two years. With the successes we have enjoyed on the Rage front, Grand Admiral Urian has decided that soon it will be time to take the war to the Ukra-Tal.”
She watched the eyes of her officers as the news registered. Almost to a man, they began to smile and sit up a little taller in their chairs. She gave them another half-second to let the news sink in, and then continued.
“The first order of business is going to be a reorganization of the fleet. We will now be designated Strike Fleet Dauntless. I will be transferring the flag from Nemesis to RSS Buffalo, a Rochester class light cruiser, once it arrives. Admiral Urian says that since I am now a Rear Admiral I have to run around in something bigger than a frigate.”
This brought sincere laughter from the assembly. She smiled at them.
“We will be getting reinforcements. I don’t know what or how many, but I do know that we will be getting out own Space Marine Brigade. What I need is for all of you to begin planning for an offensive into Yukra. When the time comes, we are going to hit the Ukra-Tal from as many systems as we can at once, but Yukra is the main objective of the entire offensive. If we can retake and secure it, we take Lenoltris and Ultrinox out of direct danger and close the flank in Iolo. That would really help the guys out over on Correlia. So we will be stepping up our patrols and becoming more aggressive in our rules of engagement. Get ready to pull some dash recon runs in to the system. Once our combat power increases, we will perform more intercepts. When the time comes to attack, I want everyone to be ready.” She paused for a moment. “Questions?”
Gina answered the few questions that were asked. She could sense that this new objective had really galvanized her officers. Some of the tiredness seemed to have washed away from their faces. The moved a bit more quickly, as if they now had a purpose. She hoped that this attitude spread throughout the fleet. She needed them as sharp as possible, because the road to victory was definitely going to be a long one.

Chairman Sachmo sat down wearily. The Senate had been fighting him all day. The motion on the table was to allow a request by the representatives of Nova and Providence to be allowed to raise a Space Marine Brigade and to train intelligence operatives. Normally, this wouldn’t have presented a problem. In this case there was quite a snag. These two colonies were populated predominately by Norakians. Since the Liberal party controlled the Senate at this time, most representatives believed that full citizenship and rights for Norakian citizens of the Remorhaz Society was a good thing. However, when faced with the prospect of arming them and allow them access to vial intelligence missions, even the most liberal of representatives balked. There was just too much risk involved.
The Chairman’s argument was a simple one. If Norakians wanted to contribute to the Society and protect it, then he wanted them to be able to. Every citizen of the Remorhaz Society had that right, and if the Norakians were full citizens, and they had been given citizenship officially by the Senate years ago, then they should be allowed these rights too.
He wasn’t sure if he could get the Senate to bend on this issue. After a few more hours of debate, he saw that he would get no concession today. He asked for and was granted a continuance, and the issue would be revisited at a later date. On the way to his residence, he began to formulate a plan that he hoped would bring a majority of senators over to his side, but he would have to do some real political maneuvering first.

[Ragnarok]

Great stories Sachmo! I see you have been busy writing lately. Glad to see it. Keep'em coming!

[sachmo]

Thanks. I found some free time...somewhere. I think it started when the Sopranos season ended!

[dumbluck]

Excellent read. The only problem is that I'm reading your story instead of working on the AoW mod...