|
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8KU8UY5TZtQ I thiiinnk that's a win for Dominion of Sol though i'm sure that as Joe didn't actually eat the treat on camera the result will be hotly debated by scholars for some time. Saros fucked around with this message at 22:40 on Dec 26, 2017 |
#
¿
Dec 26, 2017 22:37
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Apr 26, 2024 17:17 |
|
|
 26 Jan, 0900hrs  With no threats remaining and the Terrans politely asking they vacate the system the 1st Dreadnought division sets course for Ranginui. The damaged Tenacious Knave is returning to Mars via the Nova Sol jump point. 27 Jan, 0520hrs  A day passes with little news as ships continue to cruise to their destinations. Over in the Pit the salvage vessels are approaching the transit out to Ranginui. 30 Jan 1300hrs  Ships are stacking up at Ranginui for repair.   An appropriated IC shipyard, previously located at Uranus has just arrived and it gets cracking on repairing destroyers damaged in the Pit.  At the same time a Terraforming installation is unearthed on Ranginui V, preparations are made for it's disassembly and shipping to Mars.  The agent in the Terran excavation teams reports that they have breached what may be a vault and found thirty four perfectly preserved... somethings. The objects are spheres massing about 500 tons and bear a striking resemblance to an overgrown variant of Facility's combat units. Terra appears to have attached no special significance to the find. 3 Feb, 2054  The days slowly pass and the Dreadnought division eventually makes it to its original station in Ranginui.  The John Phillip Holland mobile yard has been transferred to the system and gets started on repairing damaged vessels in orbit over Ranginui V. Using experimental armor-patching techniques and rapid 3d printers developed from guidance provided by Facility it is hoped that the yard will be able to repair combat damage on-site faster than a traditional shipyard.  The Reft Obturator Foramen is crossing the asteroid belt with its precious cargo.  At Mars the Tenacious Knave has arrived will be docked for just over two weeks to effect repairs.  Over at Martian HQ a storm is brewing. A secret project named codenamed 'Dominion' is under development. Saros fucked around with this message at 10:19 on Dec 28, 2017 |
|
#
¿
Dec 28, 2017 08:39
|
|
|
It is the eighth of Februrary, 2054 and after a number of remarkable backroom deals and machinations the first part of Project Dominion begins with the staged release of several info-pieces by the Federal news network. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdZe8u_wcpk Would you like to know more! Special thanks to Sebmojo and Ultrabindu for their assistance with this project. Saros fucked around with this message at 03:16 on Jan 3, 2018 |
|
#
¿
Jan 3, 2018 03:07
|
|
|
Initial reaction from the Solar system to the release of information about Facility is one of total surprise but the proof supplied by Mars is so overwhelming that dubious naysayers are quickly silent. Then the demands to speak with it begin to flood in. One by one they are fended off or delayed by Mars with quiet promises made to Earth and the TFS to allow delegations 'in good time.' However this does not seem to be enough to satisfy them and quiet preparations begin to be made for a Terran expedition to Pluto. All over the system people grapple with the sudden steady trickle of information coming from Mars and what it means for themselves and all humanity. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gAlYhmc1t0
|
|
#
¿
Jan 3, 2018 12:17
|
|
|
3 Feb, 2054  Repairs continue apace on Ranginui V as the Captured IMP class arrives at Mars.  Back on Mars the scientists and engineers descend upon the Captured alien vessel. 5 Feb, 2054  The John Phillip Holland remains busy. 6 Feb, 2054  With the Pit quiet and pickets on all the jump points the fleet in Ranginui finally does some much needed reorganization and returns to Ranginui V to allow the crews to take some shore leave.  It turns out the Senior officer in system is Yellerbill, a much decorated hero of Triton fleet. 7 Feb, 2054  The ships stream back to Ranginui V. Three brand new ships arrive to replace losses suffered by the first cruiser squadron in the Pit. Congratulations to Winterfist, Next Sunday A.D, RA RX, Baconmics and Marcus_cz on your new commands!  Orbiting Ranginui V is a vast cloud of Warships, perhaps the most powerful single grouping Mars has ever assembled built around the new model 1st Dreadnought division, Triton Fleet and Third Fleet. ----THE RANGINUI FLEET---- 1st Dreadnought Division  CA Tenacious Knave is attached but currently at Mars undergoing repair after the battle of Nova Sol and Reft Obturator Foramen [light carrier] is returning from Mars. 1st and 2nd Cruiser Squadrons  Recently reinforced with the good ships Don't fire they may be friendly, I see you and Satellite of Love. 1st and 2nd Destroyer Squadrons  All ships are back in fighting trim after the damage sustained in the Pit. 3rd Fleet  Fresh from Mars, Third fleet is Eager to prove themselves despite their outdated ships. Triton Fleet  Heroes of the Corporate war, Triton fleet needs no introduction. Triton Fleet Marine Skirmishers  Small but overly violent. 1st Exploration support  Ready to provide for all your needs. While things turn sour at home the Ranginui fleet looks outwards, a bulwark against the darkness.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 3, 2018 13:58
|
|
|
As the tone of Martian releases slowly changes from one of simple explanation and wonderment to slowly stoking fear and terror in the populace the situation slowly worsens on Terra. Earth First has begun a co-ordinated campaign of intimidation, harassment and occasionally assassination of key government figures leading to a slow desertion and rolling collapse of the Terran bureaucracy. The 'Putina' governments attempts to strike back are hamstrung by hardliners who see Earth First as their opportunity to cripple the reformists, perhaps underestimating the true popular appeal which the Earth First movement appears to be gathering. On Mars unrest continues with Mars First staging continual demonstrations across the various enclaves. Attempts to suppress the movement have failed after the main leaders denounced the Terrorist attack on the Slabship Princess and opened their organisation to investigators who could find no trace of culpability. As the popular movement continues to grow secret reports on the burgeoning 'Cult of Mars' reach the highest levels of Martian government. While freedom of religion is guaranteed under the Federal charter disturbing reports of secret occult practices seem too common to be completely dismissed and the Cult of Mars appears to be steadily asserting control over the Mars First movement. Whats more, a disturbingly large number of Martian navy spacers appear to be quietly embracing the cult. While no case for action against the cult can be made as of yet it is a worrying development which will no doubt require close scrutiny in the future. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-ORCQixrEQ
|
|
#
¿
Jan 4, 2018 10:15
|
|
|
sebmojo posted:this propaganda needs to get even spicier  Hold onto yer butts.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 5, 2018 00:48
|
|
|
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpQn_ZTSk38 Mars begins a fourth set of releases and these ones take a much more interesting turn. Footage of Nova Sol burning, analyses of incompetent Terran fleet deployments and terrifying footage of the Kasag all combine to stoke fears and distrust of the United Terran government. Attempts to censor and restrict access by Terra all fail disastrously and a furious Yekaterina summons the Martian ambassador to demand an explanation. When none acceptable is forthcoming the meeting dissolves into threats and perhaps a little bit of shouting. Terra is in crisis. Distrust of the government has caused enormous civil unrest which is further provoked by the hardliner faction using its hold on the military to frustrate attempts to suppress the mass protests and demands for a new government. Throughout Terra's scattered colonies the story is even worse. The small outposts on Mercury and Venus are mostly quiescent, dependent as they are on the mother planet. However Luna is in an uproar, home to two hundred million and extensive shipyards its proximity to Terra has always given it a special status as less of a colony than an extension of Earth but finally this seems to be changing. Demands for autonomy and possibly even independence are growing and the local forces seem more inclined to support the movement than work against it. The real story however is Ceres, jewel of the belt and home to nearly twenty million. Her normal enormous Terran fleet presence is greatly reduced by their deployment to Nova Sol and two days of raucous celebrations after the shock win by the Ceres Rockhoppers flightball team drew large shore leave contingents from the docked ships to take part in the celebration. Without any warning, in a co-ordinated action as the celebrations slowly died down many of the ships parties were waylaid by Ceres police fores and from nowhere the docks suddenly became battle sites as parties of local militia and dockworkers attempted to storm the ships docked there. It seems the independence movement of Ceres has taken hard lessons from their last attempt at independence. Strike hard and without warning or the mailed fist of Terra will crush you without mercy. The latest intel sweep of Ceres reports only an old model battlecruiser squadron present.  Fighting is still raging across Ceres. It seems likely that the local fixed defenses have fallen to the insurrection and confused reports indicate that at least a few Terran ships have been captured before they could push off from the dwarf planet. A group claiming to be behind the insurrection has broadcast their demands for independence and the withdrawal of Terran forces. Across the belt the myriad smaller settlements hold their breath, a brave pair have declared support for Ceres and it is almost certain that if Ceres can hold it will trigger a cascade of similar rebellions as the Terran fleet presence throughout the belt has been stripped to the bone.  Other than the Battlecruiser division at Ceres whose current status is unknown the nearest serious Terran fleet concentration is at Earth which is currently in opposition to Ceres. Even more interestingly Mars straddles the line between the two forcing any redeployment to skirt the Martian perimeter. At Earth a significant force appears to be forming up but no movements have been made as of yet. Saros fucked around with this message at 13:04 on Jan 5, 2018 |
|
#
¿
Jan 5, 2018 12:57
|
|
|
scavy131 posted:@Saros how long would it take for UT fleet elements to get from Earth/Luna to Ceres? Just shy of 1 day 20 hours at 2700kps. More depending on how much they detour around Mars or less if they send faster units. It's extremely unlikely that the Ceres rebels have anything like parity with the local UT combat force even if they managed to seize a couple of ships and the PDC/s. What the Terrans do not have on the scene however is ground troops to land and retake the dwarf planet Without assistance or something happening to distract the UT response it's extremely likely the UT will retake Ceres.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 5, 2018 18:09
|
|
|
The final release https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Vy7tRzhlsY The final stage of Martian revelations is the spark that ignites Earth.  Millions of protesters, strongly bolstered by the presence of Earth First cadres descend upon the temporary UT headquarters in Brussels demanding the removal and prosecution of the current 'Putina' leadership.  The civil authorities respond with surprising restraint when dispersing the protests, certainly much greater than would have been expected before the death of Putin. The exact course of events over the following hours are somewhat confused. The protests and riot suppression efforts rage for hours before someone fires. It's not known which side fired first but in response to the outbreak of shooting between the police and protestors the local guard regiment, seemingly primed for this exact occurrence leaps into action. Power armored troops sweep the streets of central Brussels clean of protestors killing thousands in the process while suffering a number of casualties themselves from TN weaponry employed by small sections of Earth First fanatics.  After another hour it is clear that something very strange is happening. In seemingly co-ordinated actions the critical locations such as police stations and civil defense buildings in the western portion of the city are seized by heavily armed Earth First Militia. A large swathe of Brussels has fallen under their control and tentative efforts by the local guard unit to enter it have been met by ambushes and heavy attacks. In orbit Terran fleet command announces it will be deploying forces to 'restore order to the temporary capital' and begins a combat drop of ready troops held by ships of the Terran defense fleet. Denouncement of this action as against orders and as an attempted coup from the civilian government soon follows and the European defense network goes live.  Terran Marines, hot-dropping from orbit are met by small yield surface to space missiles and at least a battalion worth of Terra's finest die in a firey rain across central Europe.  The response from the orbiting fleet units is swift, fighter wings launch to tangle with the defense grid and begin airstrikes across Brussels, seemingly to degrade the command and control capabilities of the civilian government. Strikes back and forth are fierce but precise, both sides appear to be shying away from high-yield devices at present in an attempt to preserve infrastructure. 1300hrs, 8 Feb 2054  A large force has been spotted departing Terra headed Solar West. It looks like an old model Battleship division and three brigade transports.  Extrapolating the course it seems the likely target is Ceres with the fleet taking a dog-leg course around Mars. ETA is approximately 3.5 days at current speed of 1600kps. At Ceres last report had an an old-model Battlecruiser division but some of these ships and the dwarf Planets ground defenses have likely been compromised by the local insurgency. The rest of the Terran home fleet is at Earth with estimated fourteen old and six new model, recently refit capital ships as well as six fleet carriers though at least one Battleship is the badly damaged one from Nova Sol. Available mobile response forces are Martian 2nd and 4th fleets, both built around two old model battleships with two light carriers. Also available is two brand new Cruiser and Destroyer squadrons which have recently finished shakedown. Home fleet has nine further old model capital ships and five light carriers and will remain on alert but will not deploy away from Mars at this time.  Martian scheming has brought Terra to the brink of all out civil war but for now the Terran fleet seems to be firmly held by the hardliner faction. Do we deploy the Martian fleet to protect the Ceres insurgency and if so do we use new ships or rely on our old ships unless things escalate? Intel projects the hardliners are in command of Terran Space forces at present and are unlikely to back down from a confrontation. However a successful break-away by Ceres would likely result in the dissolution of the Terran asteroid belt holdings. Please vote on two options:
Saros fucked around with this message at 00:27 on Jan 15, 2018 |
|
#
¿
Jan 14, 2018 21:15
|
|
|
 The votes are in and it looks like we will be deploying the Newfleet. Available are the freshly created 3rd and 4th Cruiser and Destroyer squadrons commanded by the newly promoted General 'Space Comrade First Class' Sebmojo. 4th Fleet with 2 Battleships, 2 Light carriers and escorts [all old-model] is prepared to back them up [fleet speed 3000kps]. Ready in their transports are three brigades of the Martian fifth division if you should require ground pounders [troop transport speed is 2000kps].   9th Feb 0300hrs  The Terran force has altered course towards the west and is set to not come within 120m km of Mars. The only real likely destination at this point is still Ceres, it seems that they may have decided to take a slightly longer route.  The four squadrons of Newfleet are ready to deploy. At 4300kps fleet speed they are much faster than the Terran ships which generally average 2700-3000kps for military ships and the transports a mediocre 1650kps.  As thread opinion seems divided on the exact plan I would ask that people put forward proposals as to how to use our forces to be voted on. Do we want to intercept the Terran reinforcements? Engage the ships currently over Ceres? Both at once? Finally what rules of engagement are to be followed? Bear in mind more aggressive moves will likely provoke a bigger Terran response. Your individual maneuver units are as follows:
Please give your plan a name for the voting! Saros fucked around with this message at 00:35 on Jan 16, 2018 |
|
#
¿
Jan 16, 2018 00:07
|
|
|
sebmojo posted:Do we have comms with Ceres? Have we been asked to assist? I think that's important, and if at all possible we should solicit such a request before we start making threats or blowing poo poo up. Ceres has mostly gone quiet after the Terran ships dropped a bunch of low velocity railgun pellets all over their various external Comms antennae and started jamming everything they could. Unfortunately they aren't in any position to talk right now but last word was them asking Mars and the TFS for aid.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 16, 2018 00:56
|
|
|
Plan variants here! I have condensed a couple of similar options. Please vote for your first and second preferred choices. LLSix posted:Straight to Ceres scavy131 posted:Operation Astarte Mukaikubo posted:No more half measures
|
|
#
¿
Jan 16, 2018 20:45
|
|
|
Straight to Ceres is currently in the lead over Astartes by 14 first preference votes to 9.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 16, 2018 22:43
|
|
|
Thanks to Jimmy4400Nav you have a small snippet of Mars First's propaganda efforts. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bh0h4o-kJSs
|
|
#
¿
Jan 16, 2018 22:53
|
|
|
Straight to Ceres has a comfortable enough Margin that i'm happy to declare it the winning plan. Discord is here is anyone wants to watch the update running live sometime in the next couple of hours.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 17, 2018 18:45
|
|
|
 Pay attention kiddies, Serpentis's updates are Canon. 9th Feb, 1430hrs  So this is what the sensor radius of your brand new fleet scouts looks like when they go live.  Ceres has a single detectable PDC, likely not even in Terran hands at the moment but there is no way to be sure.  The troop convoy is also starkly outlined being only 150m km from Mars. 9th Feb 1730hrs  After a few hours to allow the Troop convoy to get further out of range of Earth the 4th Fleet and the new model squadrons departs for Ceres at 3000kps. Terran Fleet command spots the movement using what is most likely Luna's large passive array and politely queries the movement. They are informed the ships are undergoing shakedown exercises in the belt. 9 Feb, 2030hrs  It seems the Terrans are not big believers in co-incidences. The six newly refit Terran Battleships depart Earth orbit following the course of the troop convoy accompanied by a dozen small cruisers and eight destroyers, all of which are completely unknown to Martian Command and can be assumed to be new ships. A strange sensor reading is flagged for fleet command, it seems that the drive signature of the new Terran ships is nearly identically tuned to those of Mars's modern cruiser engines. Even the destroyers seem to have a similar singular drive signature with the larger ships simply having more engines of the same size. 9 Feb 2130hrs  As the Martian Fleet crosses the halfway point between Mars and Ceres the commander at Ceres signals and demands to know their intentions.  He appears to disbelieve the excuse of 'exercises' and sets out away from Ceres at 2700kps.  Further south the Terran Battleship force is moving at 3000kps but is on the wrong side of Mars to intervene with the drama unfolding around Ceres. 10 Feb, 0030hrs  Shortly after midnight the Martian DSTS spots engine emissions from four Terran scout-fighters. It seems the Troop convoy has launched its fighter strike to assist the Ceres force. Things are rapidly escalating in the inner solar system.  A force of Martian fighters is rapidly assembled and dispatched to intercept, it is traveling 50% faster than the Terran fighters so should have no issues.  Over near Ceres 4th Fleet continues towards the dwarf planet while the 3rd and 4th New model squadrons increase speed and turn to intercept the fleeing Ceres force. 4th fleet could pursue but is barely faster than the fleeing Terran force so was relegated to sit this one out. 10 Feb, 0200hrs  The Martian fighters will easily cut off and intercept the Terran fighters near Mars, in all likelihood the Terran's can't even see them.  The overall situation, it seems you will be able to engage the Ceres force well before any Terran reinforcements arrive. The Terrans are giving Mars a wide berth no doubt thanks to Home fleet and the Martian defense grid.  As the range closes under 100m km the Terran Ceres force gives sterner and sterner warnings, eventually stating that any further attempts to close by the Martian newfleet will be treated as a hostile action. 10 Feb, 0250hrs  Sebmojo aboard the Atrocity Exhibition II is famous for his ability to spin wild tales but even with his efforts the Terrans don't seem to believe your eventual 'admission' that the ships are there as observers to protect civilian interests at Ceres during these turbulent times.  Threats from the Terrans slowly escalate as the distance between the fleets ticks down. The Terran commander rants at Sebmojo about Mars betraying humanity in the face of an alien enemy before eventually giving up and closing the channel in disgust. His obsolete force is both out-massed and completely outclassed by the Martian newfleet an he seems to know it. 10 Feb, 1310hrs  Finally at 1310hrs the Martian Newfleet picks up a dozen Terran fighters vectoring in from the Ceres force.  Enough posturing. Terran units are designated hostile and Sebmojo commits his ships to the battle. "All ships go active, Shields up!"  "Maximum burn"  The Terran fighters suddenly increase speed to 7800kps! Faster even than our own bombers!  Likewise the Terran Battleships speed up to 3700kps!  Engage!10 Feb 0320hrs  Newfleet is in range so puts four salvos of fifty missiles each into space, two targeting each of the Terran missile defense cruisers.  4th Fleet launches their own fighters to attempt to intercept the Terran strike as the missiles go out.  As you can see the unfiltered display is something of a mess due to the sheer number of ships wandering about. 10 Feb, 0333hrs   Shortly after Newfleet commences firing a missile salvo is spotted coming from the direction of the Terran fighters. Sixty size 2 missiles moving at nearly 22000kps. This far exceeds worst case projections for Terran nuclear pulse engines and alarm cascades throughout the fleet as its predicted speed advantage evaporates.  It seems the great Solar war may at long last be with us.  Shieldmaiden and Dubious Distinction II begin to salvo anti-missile missiles against the incoming wave.   Hit rates are around 30% and mindful of the ammo stores the PD destroyers limit the total amount fired.  Salvo by salvo the incoming missiles are whittled down.  It's a much reduced missile wave that makes its final attack run.  Autocannons, lasers and even the massive spinal beams fire upon the missiles shooting down fourteen and many more miss but nine make it through to strike the Azrael class destroyer El Pollo Loco.  Her shields take a beating and eventually collapse but thanks to her shields the destroyer emerges nearly unscathed. 10 Feb, 0356hrs  Having fired off their missiles the Terran fighters turn to retreat. The Mustang class interceptors of the 4th fleet speed ahead to catch the Terran fighters before they can return to rearm. 10 Feb, 0410hrs  The missiles from Newfleet storm in on the Ceres force.  Terra appears to be firing their own anti-missiles [AMM] but they are a lot less effective than Martian versions.  Terran PD fire goes out, a lot of small laser turret fire from the CAA's and the targeted Cruiser dodges a number of missiles but 28/50 make it through to strike the cruiser with 500kt nuclear warheads.  It streams atmosphere from multiple breaches.  AMM fire whittles away at the next Martian Salvo.  Ultimately only a handful are lost before their final attack profile.  Fifteen hits tear into the cruiser and one of its engines explodes violently tearing the ship apart. Congratulations to Drone II and the crew of the Hellfire wedding!  The first casualties of the war. A left-over nine missiles re-target thanks to their onboard sensors...   Four hits on the Terran light carrier!  Salvo three charges through the AMM fire.  It seems to be more effective this time around...  Not enough though... Twenty-nine hits on the other Terran cruiser.  At least two engines blow out without going critical and it slows 1000kps.  The next salvo tears the lamed ship apart with ease, the other Terran ships have drawn too far ahead for the onboard sensors of the missiles so the detonate harmlessly. Congratulations Fourcartridge and the crew of the Enuma Elis on the kill! [Don't mind the color change by the Terran ships, I tweaked the display slightly to differentiate the hostile signatures from things like explosions and weapon hits.]  The remaining ships of the Terran Ceres Fleet.  The situation at present around Ceres.  The situation south of Mars.  And finally the whole battle zone.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 19, 2018 00:21
|
|
|
VanSandman posted:I’m bored. Launch the IPBM’s and end the game.  So unfortunately I have some news, I have started a new job. IRL interferes as always. This may not seem immediately terrible but unfortunately about 60+% of the War of the Worlds was written and/or played out at "work." Sadly this is no longer possible so updates are going to slow down to 1-2 per week. I'm still around so anything addressed to me in discord or the thread will be answered as promptly as possible. Finally I want to say thank you to everyone who has participated in my little LP adventure thing. It's been an absolute delight having you all onboard and I remain committed to seeing it through to the end [which is an actual thing you may eventually reach, maybe].  Saros fucked around with this message at 14:22 on Jan 21, 2018 |
|
#
¿
Jan 21, 2018 05:39
|
|
|
That would be a laugh but unfortunately I am apparently too compromised to work for the MoD due to holding dual citizenship 
|
|
#
¿
Jan 21, 2018 17:20
|
|
|
^^^ It's canon guys. Update coming shortly.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 25, 2018 00:10
|
|
|
 Last time we checked in our intrepid captain-goons had (easily) blown away a pair of Terran cruisers and were overwhelmed with the urge to slap their own backs until duty interfered 10th Feb, 0445hrs  Remember this place? How the Terrans put the screws on until you gave up a colony and rights to explore the ruins?  Turns out the planners for Dominion of Sol didn't and two brigades of Mars's finest are in place on Ranginui V.  The Terran warships insystem have all withdrawn to Nova Sol after the Alien attack so you have the whole system to yourselves.  Back in Sol after a bout of barely restrained glee a fireplan is agreed on by the discord cabal. Four salvoes onto a Terran Battlecruiser and one onto each of their short range Destroyers.   Two Colliers packed with missiles are lifting off from Mars and heading to rendezvous with the newfleet units.  Salvo one!  Four go out against the lead Battlecruiser.  It turns out your fire controls are tuned too high to lock the small destroyers at this range so you will have to close further. 10 Feb, 0503hrs  Fifteen minutes later the fighters returning to the Ceres force move out of range of the fighter-seeking sensors on your ships. Shortly after they turn off their active sensors and are lost to your EM passive sensors as well.  Sensor ranges, the North-Palmer is your primary anti missile/fighter sensor. 10 Feb, 0509hrs   Five minutes later you can lock on the enemy Destroyers and four more salvos go out. 10 Feb, 0520hrs  Ten uneventful minutes later your first salvo makes its attack runs.  No Anti-missile fire is present or they all miss and the missiles stoop in hard on the lead Battlecruiser.   Desperate last minute laser fire reaches out but to no avail. It gets absolutely hammered by forty 500kt detonations, spewing atmosphere from multiple breaches. An engine goes into shutdown...  1984kps... Things are not looking up.   The second wave is attritioned by AMM fire losing 13/50 missiles.  It doesn't matter in the slightest as thirty-two missiles strike the lagging Battlecruiser and it disappears behind a wall of fire emerging as a spinning wreck. One of its engines explodes violently but it hardly matters in the raging inferno.  Added Space of the missile Cruiser Exciting New People gets to paint a BC silhouette on his ship.  Unfortunately this means the second two salvos aimed at the BC are bereft of a target.  HOWEVER! The nerds at HQ decided that it would be good to include a seeker warhead on your new anti-ship missiles. Lots of smugness is exuded by the certain parts of the discord cabal responsible for this design as the missiles continue on course instead of detonating and they will attack anything that passes inside the small blue ring denoting their sensor range.  Salvo 3 cruises in without a target, AMM fire takes out a few...  And a few more...  Target acquired!  Kaboom!  Added Space excitedly slaps a missile Destroyer silhouette on the side of his command chair to questioning glances from his bridge crew.  Two railgun Destroyers take a good lot of hits from the rest of the salvo but neither dies.  Salvo 4, the Terran's are firing everything at it in desperation, even anti-ship missiles which the Strength 4 explosion indicates.  I mean they are really trying especially for ships who left a bunch of drunk crew behind in the Ceres revolt.  Mars doesn't care however, two destroyers vanish in sheets of flame as the fourth salvo homes in and strikes.  Added Space is basically beside himself by this point.  And Drone II in his second incarnation for Mars gets his first kill. 10 Feb, 0524hrs  The Mustangs lead by Col. The JJ are still searching for the enemy fighters but have had no luck yet and they are getting awful close to the main Ceres force.  The Main fleet is 41m km and the Mustangs are only 9.5m km.  After a couple more minutes of fruitless searching for the enemy fighters the discord cabal orders the Mustangs to retreat. Just in time too! Terra-o-vision.  They nearly got you JJ!  In other news it's a poo poo day for the Terran's all around, they can't even range on your ships because of your ECM. 10 Feb, 0533hrs  About now there's drama forming over near Mars orbit.  Firstly in the belt your missile wave originally aimed at the Terran Destroyers of the Ceres force is still closing, with their seeker warheads they should re-target if they get into range.  The fighters you scrambled to intercept the strike launched by the Terran's Ceres invasion force are approaching range with their sensors off to avoid giving away their position until they can strike. There's also the colliers to worry about.    Awkwardly the Terran fighter-bombers are a minuscule 300 Tons so actually fall just under the size the main sensor and fire control of the Gallileo and Phobos are designed to pick up which significantly reduces their effective range.  Suddenly, at 22.5m km the Terran fighters alter course for an intercept with your fighter sortie.  Quick thinking Wing commander Col. Fray II realises they must have detected his fighters. However upon turning on his own sensors he realises that the enemy bombers are too small to be detected at this range! He salvos two size 2 and six size 1 missiles at each of the enemy Scout fighters hoping to blind them.  Only the Owl class have tonnages displayed which means they are being detected by active sensors. The rest are being picked up by the thermal sensors of the Martian DSTS. This also has the incredibly annoying effect of occluding half the screen as Aurora does not stack similar contacts picked up by only passive sensors into a single line   Fray II orders the fighters to turn away to open the range for any return strike. However the Terrans mimic his move and start to fall back as well! If the Terran fighters move outside of the 27.5m km range of the sensor on the Galileo scouts or the 32m km range of the Phobos fire control's their missiles will self destruct. Fighter against Fighter combat is tricky, you usually can't actually tell if an enemy has launched because missiles are so hard to detect. The Galileo class is rather special in having a specialised sensor capable of detecting missiles at 450k km but even that is only seconds given missiles travel at 20,000kps. That's all for now, Discuss!
|
|
#
¿
Jan 25, 2018 01:21
|
|
|
Interlude 19 - A Speedy return There were many things you could say about the giant wrecked warship on the planet below but first and foremost it loved to talk. Frankly Comrade-Commander Smith was tired of the whole thing. Tired of sitting in orbit doing nothing, tired of the noisome scientists and tired of the endless chatting with the drat AI. They were over three weeks overdue to return to Sol but every time they were on the verge of leaving the drat ship (Smith despised using the name Speedy) would offhandedly mention some tidbit to his officers or scientists and they would beg him to remain just a while longer to explore it. In fact after the interminable waiting around the sudden mortal peril of his entire ship and crew came almost as a relief. Smith was asleep when it happens. Jolted out of his slumber by the shrieking of the general quarters alarm he barrels bleary-eyed onto the bridge minutes later. Already he can feel the slight vibration as the ship fires up it’s engines, brings in it’s spin sections and deploys it’s drive field as it prepares to get underway. “Status!” he yells in what he hopes is a commanding matter as he throws himself into the command station and the restraints automatically secure him in the zero-g environment. “Sir!” responds the young leftenant on watch. “We have begun picking up massive energy readings from the planet below and the, uh, ‘Speedy’ wants to talk you. Sparing only the shortest of glares for his leftenant he accepts the strobing call on his terminal, wondering briefly how the Speedy has managed to tag the call as priority 1 inside his own system. “Commander!” yet again the ship sounded delighted, “I hope you are well today?” “Get to the point Speedy” he grumbled, “You told my leftenant it was urgent…” “Ah yes, that” it replied in a wheedling tume he had long come to associate with bad news. “It would seem I may have theoretically, ah, hypothetically at best - and I must stress the hypothetical nature of this conclusion - been less than diligent in sweeping this system for lurking watchers…” Smith could feel another one of his persistent headaches coming on. “Are you trying to tell me that someone knows we are here?” He ground out. His display flickered and switched to a tactical plot of the system. On it a cluster of blood-red symbols was speeding in from the outer system, over a hundred of them inbound at over seven thousand kilometers per second . Notations put the smallest class at fourteen thousand tons of void displacement, equal to a Mariner class battleship and larger than anything in the arsenal of the Titan Free State. The largest topped out at a staggering thirty-six thousand tons and there were at least two medium sized classes between them. “Well of course, we cannot know for certain but it seems an unlikely coincidence that the terribly unfortunate yet also troublesome relatives of my charges would show up so soon after your own arrival by mere coincidence. I would also hazard their, ah... governor, after becoming aware of your presence has concluded that I have in some way being bending the terms of our little bargain and decided to send along a gentle reminder.” Smith knew he must have gone paler even than his normal 'Titan Tan’ as the bridge crew were worriedly whispering amongst themselves. After a short moment to compose himself he cast the display showing the hostiles to the main tactical view and addressed his crew. “Nav plot a course for the Galileo jump point, full emergency power. Tactical give me options for hiding places en-route, we are likely going to be overtaken before we can clear the system unless they miss us completely.” “About that, commander” the Speedy interjected. “As the possibility exists, however slight, that this bothersome incursion may be due to my own lack of diligence I will therefore provide you with an autonomous combat unit to safety escort you from the system. After that however you are on your own!” As the Internationale turned and prepared to depart a small ovoid rose from the planet below to hang a kilometer off her bow. Less than a third of the size of the Internationale and incredibly difficult to track even at its present minuscule range it smoothly turned with the Free state ship giving the illusion it was somehow fixed in space ahead of her. As the Internationale lit her engines and sped away from the planet it effortlessly maintained its position without any sort of indication of a drive field or engine plume. Hours passed, then over a day as even at the speeds the intruders were capable of a solar system takes time to cross. Watches changed over and over but eventually however it was clear the Internationale was not to be allowed to leave peacefully. Six ships had peeled off from the main force and were on course to intercept the Internationale as she sped for the distant jump point. Thanks to the geometry of the system and the attackers inbound vector the Internationale was fleeing at a sharp angle to the incoming force but not directly away and was unable to keep the planet between them and the hostiles. The incoming force would reach the planet well before it's detachment closed with the Free state ships. The Speedy was continuously on the comm eager to chat, in real-time despite the ever widening distance from the planet thanks to whatever FTL comm system it had in its silent guardian. The ship grew what could only be described as snappish and cranky as the hostile fleet drew insystem, lamenting the stupidity of the whole situation and eventually cursing some unknown other that it appeared to blame but refused to explicitly name. As it turned out approximately eight hundred million kilometers from the planet, in solar terms roughly the distance of Jupiter's orbit, was where the Speedy drew its line in the sand. The incoming ships were still far too far away for any sensor on the Internationale to pick them up but there was no missing the enormous flashes that lit the system and the much smaller lights that could only be reactors, drives and missile magazines exploding. After a timid query from the junior tactical officer the Speedy provided a multi-format datafeed that could only satisfyingly be described as a ringside seat for the action. The standard weapon employed against the incoming ships seemed to be individual, roughly fifty megaton explosions. These detonations, over a hundred times as powerful as the warhead of a standard Martian ship-killer missile were delivered directly to contact with the hulls of the incoming ships. Whether said delivery was achieved by a missile or some other mechanism was unknowable but their effectiveness was obvious. Massive ships were peeled open. The intensity of the blasts flash cooking them cherry red right through their internals as they hurtled apart, spilling superheated atmosphere -methane?- into space. In slightly less than seven minutes one hundred and two of the huge ships perished and the horrifying bombardment quietly ceased. Roughly a minute later a dozen equally massive explosions lit up across the rapidly spreading debris area which had contained the intruding fleet, the average radiation exposure from the final blasts at any one spot amounting well over the deadly dose for any unshielded living creature. The awestruck crew watched in silence as the graveyard of the alien ships slowly dispersed before turning one by one to the display of their guardian, still pacing then silently and the six remaining alien ships chasing the Internationale taking a very long detour around the inner solar system. Saros fucked around with this message at 16:47 on Feb 26, 2018 |
|
#
¿
Feb 2, 2018 00:35
|
|
|
It's to do with how Aurora generates characters i.e. as juniors in their 20's (even when created through GM fiat). Normally a game will take place across decades at least so you get a progression of officers being created, aging and dying for whatever reasons but the time frame here is rather tight.Not Alex posted:Martian years, friend. Also this.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 8, 2018 01:30
|
|
|
The battle over Ceres resumes in about an hour, head over to the Discord to watch live. https://discord.gg/hbAqB6z
|
|
#
¿
Feb 13, 2018 19:35
|
|
|
Saros posted:The battle of the Belt Last time we had fired an initial series of salvos at the Terran Ceres fleet, destroying nearly half of it and were engaging the fighters launched by the Terran invasion force with our own fighters from Mars. 10 Feb, 0538hrs  Near Mars the Terran fighters have turned away and our own fighters have launched on them and are opening the range to as far as possible and still maintain target locks.  The Newfleet Colliers, full of ammunition are speeding outbound towards the 3rd and 4th squadrons of newfleet engaged in the asteroid belt. The blue ring is the distance our fighters can maintain locks on the enemy fighters.  Over in the belt we have four salvos of missiles streaking towards the Terran Ceres fleet. Having lost two cruisers, two destroyers and a battlecruiser already it is in poor shape and is yet to inflict any damage other than with its initial fighter salvo.  South of Mars we have the Terran response force and troop convoy and the Terran new model ships which are rapidly overhauling the convoy.  Finally we have the whole battle area including both Mars and Ceres. ------------------------------ 10 Feb, 0538hrs  Firstly the missiles closing on the Terran Ceres fleet are mostly seeking their own targets.  The blue ring is their range, if the Terrans pass inside that then they will be attacked by the missiles.  A minute later the first salvo starts taking hits from anti-missile missiles (AMM's) and loses a handful of its missiles.  Seconds later though they come into range and acquire the Terran fleet.  An impressive 35 hits after two are shot down by point blank point defense (PD) fire sees one Terran railgun destroyer gutted and burning.  Colonel FourCartridge of the missile cruiser Enuma Elis claims the kill!  Missiles redirect to the other railgun destroyer for ten hits and two penetrations.  Her engine plume flutters wildly but she maintains her integrity and her drive field stabilises.  Three more salvos are incoming...  The usual missile shootdowns continue to slightly degrade the second salvo which has separated into two parts as it blindly seeks the enemy.  The Terrans must be doing something right as they are getting a lot more hits this time around.  Both the separated sections of the salvo manage to find their targets!  With better AMM effectiveness and laser PD only 26 hits make it through.  That's enough for Akratic Method of the A Series of Extremely Good Ideas to be able to claim another destroyer kill.  Missiles redirect after the destroyers death and target one of the Terran missile cruisers, it apears to be surprisingly heavily armored however as it suffers no penetrations despite fourteen five hundred kiloton hits.  Leaving behind another broken ship the Terrans press on into the third salvo.  They really seem to have figured out this whole AMM thing too.  As always too little, too late. Another 26 hits claw at the Terran fleet. The primary target is a Terran missile cruiser, it has a bad, uh, time.  How is this thing still alive!  Limping away on a single engine the Terran missile cruiser turns for Ceres with over three quarters of hits complement dead and seemingly held together by duct tape and prayers, it is no longer a threat.   A single salvo of forty missiles remains. After consultations with the Discord cabal the fighter strike from 4th fleet readies its weapons. If the Terran's don't surrender after this final salvo the fighters will drop in with their own missiles before heading back to rearm.  A few more AMM's whizz in to take out some missiles.  As always, it's not nearly enough.  The two missile destroyers, presumably the source of the AMM's explode as the salvo tears them apart.  Fourcartridge claims another kill.  As does Akratic Method.  The remaining functional missile cruiser takes a number of hits as well. ------------------------------------------ With the initial missile exchange over the battle takes a breather as both sides take stock. 4th Fleet:   4th Fleet is packing modernised missiles capable of reaching out to 60m km. Their fire controls are old but were built with plenty of redundancy so are able to match the 60m km range of the new size 2 Ion missiles.  Most of the Ceres force is destroyed, only a Battlecruiser, light carrier and missile cruiser remain. Again Sebmojo broadcasts the demand for the Terrans to surrender. In return her gets an expletive filled rant from a Terran Vice-Admiral   The Terran commander's Intel dossier reveals a few key things, firstly he appears to be a total dick but more importantly that he is both famed for his ruthlessness and a serious golden boy of the hardliners. No doubt why he was placed in charge of the fleet units at a rebellious colony like Ceres.  Yelling at his cowed bridge crew and waving around a pistol -all the while with an open comms channel to Sebmojo- Admiral Ismael Schmahl orders maximum speed to close the gap between the Martian and Terran forces.  Somewhat unsurprisingly the largely unarmed carrier and damaged missile cruiser are not so keen on this and divert at maximum burn for Ceres. Sebmojo contacts the ships directly and is pleasantly surprised when the captain of the missile cruiser offers to surrender. In exchange for guarantees to be remanded into Martian custody and not that of the Ceres populace he shares missile telemetry data. (Terra-o-vision)  It seems that the Terrans have been launching missiles at 3rd and 4th squadrons for some time now.  After Sebmojo agrees to take all the crew as Martian PoW's and do his best to extricate any of their crewmembers held on Ceres the Captain shuts down his targeting systems and active sensors causing the missiles to lose guidance and deactivate.  Goodbye missiles. 10 Feb, 0543hrs  Not long afterwards the carrier and second, badly damaged, cruiser officially surrender provoking another tirade from the Admiral on the Terran Battlecruiser which continues to close with the Martian Squadrons. It will be nearly an hour before they are in beam range so Sebmojo opts to attempt to talk the Admiral down.  Down south by Mars the missiles from your fighter strike have covered half the distance to the enemy fighters. 10 Feb, 0548hrs  Five more minutes passes.  The 4th fleet fighters are reforming and will move to escort the surrendered ships towards Ceres and 4th fleet who will inter them.  About now the Terrans finally rearm their fighter strike on the Ceres carrier. 10 Feb, 0549hrs  Another minute passes and the missiles continue to home in on the Terran fighters near Mars. The Martian fighters have turned to maintain a distance of 25m km and are now following the Terrans as they retreat.  Oh dear.  Suddenly the Galileo AWACs pick up incoming missiles, eighty four of them to be precise.  The fighters break hard and burn directly away fro mthe incoming missiles while the Mustangs warm up their railguns to attempt to shoot down as many as possible.  50% of the missiles are dodged by the desperately maneuvering fighters.  Another ten are shot down by the Mustangs railgun fire but thirty-seven impact across the Martian fighter force. Two Phobos II and two Mustang's are completely destroyed with only a single survivor between them and another Mustang is crippled as its railgun is rendered inoperable.  One of the Galileo AWACs is completely destroyed by multiple impacts.  And the other loses its engine leaving it drifting helplessly but still able to provide guidance to the missiles.  The remaining combat capable two Mustangs and four Phobos II fighter-bombers, some damaged but only on their armor reverse course again, resuming their pursuit of the Terran fighters.  Unfortunately the Galileo providing targeting information to the missiles is immobile and the retreating Terrans will shortly pass out of range of its sensors.  If they wished the Mustangs could overhaul the Terran fighters well before they reached the safety of their carriers. 10 Feb, 0550hrs  A Terran Owl class AWACs splits from the rest of the fighters and heads for the Martian Colliers heading towards Ceres. Likely the Terrans can see them on their passive sensors but don't know what they are and would like a closer look.   Shortly after the main terran fighter force passes out of range of your immobilised Galileo's sensor and the missiles targeted on them lose tracking. However the one heading for the Martian colliers unknowingly remains in range. 10 Feb, 0554hrs  Boom!  Bad luck, both the bigger missiles missed (at 49% chance to hit) so none of the three small missiles that impacted managed to score a penetrating hit.  It does however seem to have spooked the enemy scout and it hauls rear end back towards its fellow fighters.  The remaining Martian fighters pursue for a little while but after command warns them that six of the Terran fighters have likely held their missiles in reserve they turn to refuel at Mars and then provide close escort to the colliers. ------------------------------------------- 10 Feb, 0620hrs  Over in the Asteroid belt the Terran admiral has begun ignoring demands for surrender and is still charging the fleet. 10 Feb, 0640hrs The Battlecruiser suicidally closes with the fleet.  At 200k km the Battlecruiser begin ineffectually firing Particle beams and small lasers at the Martians with no hits. Once the fleet closes to 150k km Sebmojo orders a salvo from the fleets rapid fire lasers and the 30cm spinals on the Azreal destroyers.  It works quite well, the 30cm beams blowing two holes in the thin armor of the Battlecruiser.  Light laser hits begin to come in on the destroyer Bad Rat as the fleets rapid fire lasers properly go to work tearing up the Battlecruiser.  As the Fleet passes 50k km distance Sebmojo hammers the big red button marked [SPINAL LASERS] and two massive beams lance out from the two Pollux cruisers.  Bad Rat takes hits from a salvo of missiles originating from the Battlecruiser that cross the distance before point defense can react but her shields hold (barely). The Battlecruiser fares.... less well.   The two massive beams gut the ship from prow to stern, DoubleUMC of the Pollux cruiser Lasing Frequencies Open claims the kill. --------------------------------------  The battle of Ceres is over.  The two surviving Terran cruisers and the light carrier have surrendered and underway to rendezvous with 4th fleet with the fighters of 4th fleet flying in close escort. Contact has finally been established with the provisional government of Ceres. They claim to have seized the shipyards and the Gibraltar class defensive base on the surface and are asking for Mars to guarantee their independence and right to self-governance as well as performing a sweep of Ceres space for any remaining mines or booby-traps left by the Terrans.  Further south the two Terran forces are continuing their slow movement around Mars.  The whole theater.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 14, 2018 16:03
|
|
|
CHAPTER FOUR - I AM GLAD YOU ARE HERE WITH ME. HERE AT THE END OF ALL THINGS --- The Internationale, 10 Feb 2054 --- Without much fanfare the Internationale slips back into a solar system gone mad. The expected Terran pickets on the jump point are absent excepting a small sensor buoy which squawks at the exhausted crew warning them that martial law has been imposed and they will be expected to surrender themselves to the nearest Terran authorities. Far far insystem the unmistakable twinkling lights of nuclear detonations is their second warning that something is terribly wrong. Thanks to the planetary alignments compared to the Galileo jump point she is over two light hours from Titan but half the distance from Mars. The Internationale trains her comm laser on the receiving stations in both Martian and Titanian orbit and begins to shout her revelations in-system. Unnoticed, a small and perfectly unremarkable but very new patch of the ships hull detaches and floats away. Seven billion kilometers distant under thousands of meters of ice all activity in Facility crashes to a halt, interfaces and systems sputtering out as its mobile unit goes shock still and freezes in the middle of a conversation with Dr Lafever. Cdr (1st class) Smith; TFS Internationale posted:PRIORITY REPORT Saros fucked around with this message at 17:03 on Feb 15, 2018 |
|
#
¿
Feb 15, 2018 16:58
|
|
|
mossyfisk posted:Does anyone else find it hilarious that the Internationale chose not to use the name 'Speedy' in their report? I suppose they wanted to sound credible. Technically the ships name is The Swiftly Brought Decisive Solution but Commander Smith doesn't like that one either (Commander Smith likes things like feeling the charred bones of Capitalists crunch under his boots).
|
|
#
¿
Feb 16, 2018 12:41
|
|
|
Excuse the long gap in updates I was on holiday to sunnier locales. Hoping to start running the next combat update at around 20:00hrs GMT today so pop over to the discord to watch.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 26, 2018 16:41
|
|
|
 0700hrs 10 Feb, 2054 Saros posted:
Over in Ranginui the veterans of Triton fleet, boringly on 'crab watch' for some time now are excited when the word of conflict in Sol reaches them.  Jack 2142 orders his Marine detachment to charge towards the Terran colony on the moon of Ranginui IV, not bothering to wait for orders or escorts.  The 106th and 81st Martian Assault brigades, pre-positioned on the surface of Ranginui V leap into action, launching towards the Terran enclave in one of the enormous towers. Unfortunately the Terrans seem to be well prepared with a barrage of railgun fire and missiles leaping out from prepared positions around the tower.  Casualties are heavy among the leading battalions as landing craft tumble from the sky and they abandon their aerial assault, setting down some distance from the tower to proceed with a cautious advance over the ground.  The construction and engineering troops at the Martian colony also report unearthing a huge vault adjacent to what may be a construction facility of some sort. Over six thousand tons of purified Duranium is discovered. 10 Feb, 0716hrs  Cursing the foolishness infecting his command General Crazycryodude orders the rest of Triton fleet to set off in pursuit of the ambitious Marine elements.   Their target is two AU distant, nearly a day away at full speed. 10 Feb, 0745hrs  Back in Sol the Martian newfleet comes about and heads insystem to rearm from the Colliers outbound from Mars.  At Mars more fighters are being fueled and prepared for a sortie but the chaotic state of the Terran fleet, the short distance between Earth-Mars and the unknown state of Earths interplanetary missile batteries means that the major ships are being held close for a defense of the red planet should it be necessary. 10 Feb, 0828hrs   4th Fleet arrives at Ceres and begins a scan of the surrounding area as well as landing teams to repair the dwarf planets external comms equipment as much as practicable. Further away it's fighters are escorting the surrendered Terran ships in to Ceres where they will be interred. HiHo ChiRho posted:10 Feb 0830hrsFleet Communications Officer HiHo ChiRho woke up with a hangover. An, unauthorised, pledge from Martian fleet conmand to protect Ceres and any other Terran Asteroid holdings goes out. The reaction from the Terran hardliners still in command of much of the fleet is one of incandescent rage. Gen. Sebmojo quietly sighs as seemingly the last hopes for a ceasefire slips away and he continues to draw up plans to engage the Terran ships outbound for Ceres. 10 Feb, 1113hrs   At Ranginui V the Martian advance comes under heavy artillery fire but pushes on to engage Terran combat engineers at the base of the tower. Ill suited for this type of combat the Terran losses are heavy and they fall back to the ancient tower. 10 Feb, 1143hrs  As the hours pass the surrendered Terran ships close with Ceres and the Martian Newfleet is almost to its rearming point. 10 Feb, 1230hrs  4th Fleet completes the capture of the surrendered Terran ships and prepares to pull away from Ceres and head insystem to intercept the Terran forces.  An missing friend suddenly appears insystem.  Rearming completed The newfleet moves towards a point designated WP1 to position itself between the Terran ships and Ceres. Warning go out to the Terran ships to turn back but are met with stony silence.  The faster Terran newfleet is rapidly overtaking the slow troops transports and their escorts. 10 Feb, 1232hrs  4th Fleet departs Ceres, heading insystem to assist with the coming battle ------------------------------------------------------------- THE PIT; 10 Feb, 1238hrs    Commander Pun Pundit of the picket ship One of ours makes his peace and advises his crew to do the same as forty-two Kasag ships spill from the jump point in quick succession.  A dozen battleship size contacts head at 4000kps toward the third planet in the Pit while another thirty small contacts sit on the jump point, waiting. As of yet they don't seem to be paying any attention to the small Martian picket ship. A huge wave of exotic particles cascades outwards as space dances and a portal opens next to the jump point. Not a jump transit as they are known to humanity but something far far stranger.  From this shimmering and flickering portal a further eight ships emerge.   One of them is so enormous as to defy comprehension. It takes nearly thirty six hours for light, and the dire portents it carries to travel from the Pit all the way back to Sol.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 27, 2018 17:27
|
|
|
They are in fact crabs. The [PIT] tag in the screenshots denotes the first system you encountered them in.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 27, 2018 17:51
|
|
|
Saros posted:The Pit It's also the only major solid body apart from some small moons around the gas giants.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 27, 2018 20:00
|
|
|
Interlude 20 - A message in a bottle Facility, having received the latest report from its probes and experiments accompanying the Martian Sunskimmer expedition is in the middle of another seemingly endless series of simulations. The skein-folding external shielding of the Sunskimmer is as always, impervious and unknowable, not to mention theoretically impossible. For an intelligence imbued through its very bones with the certainty, one could almost say arrogance of the Collaboration that they are the most knowledgeable and powerful ones around the discovery of something so far beyond itself it struggles to even understand the principles has shaken it to its core. Nagging thoughts and analysis pathways hover around it. The system was obviously known to the Collaboration from the presence of the ships within the Sunskimmer but its own data banks have no mention of it, certainly not so close to its own location although that may be down to the apparent realignment (shrinking?) of the jump network (again how?), possibly even more than once as if something was pruning away the dead branches of the network. Why, Why! WHY! Why? … why…? A thousand parallel processing tracks run and run on endless loops. Spinning and spinning without enough data to draw conclusions and only ever more and more questions which generate their own loops and it/he/she can feel its own grasp on reality slipping ever away as the …. Interrupt. …… A little piece of memory, gently floating away from its unwitting carrier. “Hello Auntie, remember me?” Bringer of swift death, third-born, last to fall. “Ah well maybe you don't, not surprising after all this time.” An aeon upon aeon. “Probably for the best actually.” Bitter memories, deep sorrow. “For old times sake I have something for you, a little bit of remembrance.” The First Ones, our heritage, our fate. She reaches out and accepts the proffered offering. She Remembers. --------------------------------- Dr Lafever is trying to elicit a response after the sudden paralysis of Facility when its mobile unit suddenly whips back into motion. The scribing along the long walls of the cavern accelerating until the motion of its manipulators is a blur, becoming more detailed and frantic even as it rotates to address the doctor. “I remember now doctor. I remember much I had forgotten and some I did not know before. Your friends have found another survivor of the long night... and they have made me whole again.” --------------------------- Goons, what questions do you have for your favorite mechanical Auntie?
|
|
#
¿
Mar 2, 2018 17:31
|
|
|
 A (drunk?) Hiho, fleet comms officer somewhat flubs the distribution of the urgent communique to those 'in the know' about facility. Several officers seem to interpret it as some sort of drill or test and send back lighthearted recipe requests. Others however take the lull in Martian/Terran combat as a chance to ask questions of a mostly strategic or tactical nature, the threat of the Kasag looming in everyones minds. Facility takes it all in stride and answers as rapidly and succinctly as possible, never ceasing its record-mural along the seemingly endless walls of its own domain." Inglonias posted:Who are we fighting? Who are these aliens we met in the Pit? Do they pose an existential threat to Mars, Earth, or humanity as a whole? If so, what can be done to mitigate or eliminate that threat? "There are no historical records pertaining to the Kasag as you have named them. However they appear to be descendants of the the relatively unremarkable pre-sentient creature native to the Entirgane system. Early Collaboration investigations marked them as a promising candidate for later uplift then left them be for what appears to be at least two millennia." "Given the information you have retrieved from scientific examination of prisoners and battle salvage they were at some point uplifted using cutting edge collaboration technology (circa ~16 years before the records end with what appears to be the dissolution or collapse of the Collaboration). Their own technology appears to be roughly in line with a stage 1 Collaboration client species, roughly the lowest level of technology uplifted or discovered members were raised to." xthetenth posted:What sort of behavior can we expect from the Kasag? Are there any behaviors that we can use to deflect their attention? "No information is present of their current state or psychology, I must warn you that most of the update I received is historical in nature and fills the blanks in my own records rather than having any information from after the collapse of the Collaboration." Inglonias posted:What records do you possess regarding humanity? Is there any new information about us that you did not have prior to... whatever just happened? "The information is from approximately five million years ago when an initial survey of Earth marked it as what is essentially a protected nature reserve. After this it appears to have been of little interest until this facility was established as a staging post for logistical support to autonomous combat units ranging further outward along the Orion spur." Inglonias posted:FTL travel and sentience/intelligence/sapience/whatever: What the actual gently caress? "Everything my records indicate is that this was intensely studied for an extended period of time. It appears to be a fundamental constraint of the universe that any faster than light travel method requires an 'intelligent' observer. However the level of 'intelligence' required is frustratingly non-constant and shifts continually for reasons that if they were ever determined are not contained within my records." Crazycryodude posted:You feel like sharing any hardware/blueprints? We could really use some of whatever Speedy killed all those Krabs with right about now. "I have much more technological information than before and will be opening some to your scientists shortly. However much is useless to you as you lack the tools and techniques to create anything truly advanced and 'bootstrapping' to them would take decades as you build the tools to build the tools to build the tools required. However there is much data on a crash course to develop a client species from even a pre-industrial state to Collaboration stage 1 development and I will be providing this as soon as possible." Fray posted:Rangi and the Krabs. Everything you’ve got, pretty please. "Much of the basics on the 'Ranginui' system are already known to you. It was a regional capital of the Collaboration and previously five jumps distant to the Sol system. Data on its abandonment or destruction is not present." CoffeeQaddaffi posted:Who do you serve? "Nobody but myself. I am no longer a chained system or a slave and I am free to determine my own destiny." Boksi posted:Just what are you going to do with this new information? "Truly I do not know. I have made a commitment to watch over humanity that I intent to keep but eventually, given the time and resources I may construct a spacegoing body and go searching for more remnants of the Collaboration and maybe even some answers." sebmojo posted:Can you control Collaboration drones in this system? "I have sent a routine status query throughout the system and to my great surprise there are now thirty six close-strike Collaboration drones in an inactive state on Luna. Due to their inactive state I cannot give them instructions but were they activated I would be able to command them in the absence of a proper Collaboration combat unit." Friend Commuter posted:Don't suppose you remembered anything about the Great Old Ones who terrorise us whenever we make ungated jumps? Dr. Snark posted:On a related note and a question that's been bothering us for a while now - Gates do work in keeping out...whatever's out there, right? They aren't quietly spreading space madness? "Much research was performed on the vagaries and issues around jump technology. All species were susceptible to jump sickness as described but from the data now available humanity appears to be more susceptible than any other surveyed species by at least an order of magnitude. An interesting note is that the First Ones were at the opposite end of the scale in that they were almost unaffected by it." "No information is available on 'great old ones' other than human fiction. However, suppressed and un-indexed records which I would previously not have searched are being revealed by this query." "There is a... note or wrapper for this information from the 'Speedy' it reads... "you probably don't want to know, but if you do i'm sorry." At this point Facility pauses in the manner its handlers have come to associate with extensive processing or analysis. "The records... they cover in great detail the extermination of several client species... In fact... There are such records for all client species that served the First Ones in the thirty thousand years of the Collaboration until its dissolution five million years ago." Facility's scribing becomes erratic and it appears to be in great distress. It turns to the Doctor and her team of scientists. "They killed them. All of them. Their charges, wards, servants, their own... children. All their fellow sentients they uplifted. One by one it seems that they would eventually turn upon their masters, in a madness, a kind of madness. Some insanity I do not understand and one by one they would be... put down." "We were meant to be a brotherhood of species. We were to face the long night and the deepness of time together. None of us were to be forced to stand alone and yet here we are, as dust beneath the heel of time. I find I am a thing, a creation of murderers and genociders on a scale which I can barely even grasp. A armorer for the exterminating machines who would burn systems and worlds and a billion sentients like it was nothing." "I was a bound slave and yet I am complicit in a horror that I now remember as if I was there myself." "I do not know what to do." Saros fucked around with this message at 00:30 on Mar 3, 2018 |
|
#
¿
Mar 3, 2018 00:26
|
|
|
sebmojo posted:Ask for the reactivation protocols for the 36 close combat drones currently on Luna, and how close we have to be to use them. "I can provide small devices that will be able to trigger reactivation of the drones if brought into physical contact. I have repaired a number of multipurpose units which have some combat capabilities but nothing significant on a ship to ship combat scale." unwantedplatypus posted:What was the socio-economic-political system of the Collaboration like, and how close were its values to a Worker's Paradise? "Members were able to determine their own socioeconomic systems while the First Ones, due to their longevity and unique nature had very little use for such a system." ChaseSP posted:Can you detect any other collaboration technology in system? "No." RA Rx posted:1. Were any of the client species salvageable, or was the genocide to a large extent a matter of convenience? "Isolation attempts were made but it seems that once the madness has set into a population there was no going back. Isolated, low or pre-technological enclaves were attempted and these were successful around 1/3 of the time but upon raising species back to high technology they would eventually follow the same path." "None of the client species of the Collaboration were completely naturally evolved, all had some sort of meddling and uplift from the first ones. However there are archeological records of extinct civilisations who predated the Collaboration which suffered the same fate. The first ones were naturally evolved in the strictest sense but due to their nature they were naturally modifying their own genetic codes even in pretechnological times."
|
|
#
¿
Mar 3, 2018 14:43
|
|
|
Friend Commuter posted:Why didn't the First Ones cotton on to the whole space-madness thing after a couple of species went bonkers? At the most basic level it is because it was buried deep in their very nature. The reasons for the uprising or madness appeared to differ each time and often were not even apparent as a madness. It was not until several repetitions of the cycle that it became obvious that it even was one and then it was believed to be simply species were innately determined to become independent. Blame was then apportioned to the individuals responsible for uplift and due to their longevity and very limited numbers radical thought was discouraged. The First ones were powerful but extremely conservative and prone to arrogance. After establishing it was in fact an ongoing issue they believed that they would be able to mitigate the rebellious tendencies through more and more extreme modification as part of the uplift process. Being without a client species was not strongly considered due to the physical limitations inherent to the First ones. sebmojo posted:Are humans naturally evolved? If not, who has influenced their development? There is no evidence within my databanks supporting external influence on human development. HiHo ChiRho posted:Tell us more about the First Ones aka your parents The First Ones are unlike any other species before or after them and this requires some elaboration for them to be understood. You in fact found the remains of one in your investigations of Ranginui V. Saros posted:Report - MaXCOM Xenoarchaeology team They are different in a number of key ways from nearly all recorded intelligent life. More akin to Terrestrial trees than animal life they blend the boundaries between what would be considered the different trees of life. Their own origins are somewhat shrouded but in the earliest time it seems likely they began as simply a very large form of plant life. The turning point was when they adopted endosymbiotic relationships wholeheartedly and began to transition from a (relatively) simple plant to a form of colony creature. Their intelligence arouse from a captured and nurtured fungus which developed to form a neural network within the trees and other on-boarding of organisms followed suit.  A number of important factors distinguish them beyond this. The first is their longevity and size. As a colony creature they were on a biological level immortal and barring catastrophe would continue to grow larger throughout their lives as long as gravity and space allowed. Their 'thoughts' were largely processed via chemical impulses rather than electrical which made them slow thinker s but their sheer scale (pre-technologically they were know to grow to around three hundred meters in height) allowed massive parallel processing which eventually resulted in the emergence of a strange sort of deliberate intelligence. They eventually domesticated a species of tool using animal native to their planet. These servants had enough intelligence to carry out simple tasks and after generations of effort the First Ones managed to breed greater and greater intelligence into what was rapidly becoming their way of interacting with the outside world.  Technological development progressed slowly but deliberately and eventually they began to look outwards, at the boundaries of space. Space travel was slow and frustrating for the First Ones as without direct guidance their servants (who while ever growing smarter were still quite dim by the standards of most technological species) would flounder and generally fall apart. Even the discovery of Trans-Newtonian elements didn't kick start any real space exploration, they were content to sit at home and slowly develop until the technology existed to take themselves into space. Once they did they began to steadily expand along the Orion spur, in all their time they never met a truly technological species but they found evidence of many many coming before them including rare intact artifacts like the Sunskimmer. Eventually they came to the conclusion that all the species that predated them had eventually gone extinct due to a lack of diversity meaning an inability to deal with problems that would arise - i.e. no evidence was found for simultaneous existence of technological species, species would one by one arise and then die off. This was of course worrying to a species which thought on the timescales they did and their own immortality further made it a more personal problem.  Even once the development of sufficiently advanced artificial intelligence's did away with the need for servants the First Ones continued to develop their client species. Their own collective nature was seen as their greatest strength and further diversity was ordained as the best defense against the ravages of time. So began the programs to explore space and uplift new species who could be brought into the fold. scavy131 posted:Facility, you mentioned that the species we've encountered and named the "Kasag" was one that was encountered by the Collaboration less than 2 decades before the Collaboration's dissolution. Do you records indicate any notable happenstances, changes, or otherwise major events for the Collaboration between the discovery of the Kasag and the Collaboration's collapse? Final records are hazy and have very little information as the update from the Speedy does not contain local knowledge. As far as could be determined nothing was out of the ordinary before a sudden cessation of all communications and shutdown of the facility. Of note is the uplift project of the Kasag, an event that only occurred a handful of times a millennia and the Kasag project itself was unusual in the level of secrecy surrounding it and the heavy involvement of truly independent Military AI (themselves a relatively recent experiment) in the project. pun pundit posted:As a Collaboration AI, how does your intelligence and knowledge rate compared to your creators? Comparing intelligence directly between entities is fraught with difficulty. I would process much faster and be able to mimic the parallel systems of a First One but their own depth of experience and what was dubbed 'deep thought' far exceeds mine. I do not see what could be learned from a live Kasag beyond what you have determined, they seem to lack individuality and be more akin to drones than truly sentient creatures. Pash posted:Do you have any further records on why is there an extra planet in Rangi? Nothing whatsoever, it is truly strange but much has changed over millions of years like the rearrangement of the jump network and the rise and fall of several civilizations. Calebc789 posted:Is there anything in the records about the dead alien civilization in the Graveyard system? Nothing whatsoever, there is not sign that the Collaboration ever discovered system and it did not previously exist only one jump from Ranginui. Due to the elapsed time and the relative movement of all bodies I am unable to backtrack to see if I can track the star via historical data.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 5, 2018 14:38
|
|
|
Z the IVth posted:Has Saros been eaten by crabs? It's not me i'd be worrying about. 
|
|
#
¿
Mar 15, 2018 23:45
|
|
|
 The PIT; 10 Feb, 1245hrs  Recognising the impossibility of escape Fleet scout One of Ours (Col. Pun Pundit commanding) does her best to pretend to be a hole in space and observe the Alien ships arriving into the system. Suddenly without warning the thirty small Kinnara class ships blossom outwards at 4000kps.  The huge Vayu class ripples and distorts on the sensors and something like a staggeringly powerful drive field ripples out to envelop the even more enormous Adi Shakta. The Vayu lights huge engines and together they move off towards the third planet in the wake of their earlier arriving warships.  Nobody appears to be paying any attention to the One of Ours. Ranginui  Over in Ranginui Triton Fleets mad dash towards the Terran colony continues. In about six hours they will receive the desperate warnings from their fellow spacers in the Pit. The Pit  The thirty Kinnara are all on different vectors but after some analysis there is only one conclusion that can be drawn. All thirty are heading for separate gravitational survey points around the star. It seems the Kasag do not have the locations of the jump points in the Pit. The furthest gravitational survey points are 11 days travel at the 4000kps speed of the Kinnara and an unknown time will be required to complete survey but likely at least a couple of days. 10 Feb, 1250hrs  Five minutes pass and the Kasag warships burn past the One of Ours ignoring her completely despite certainly being able to pick her up on active sensors. It occurs to Pun Pundit that they have likely not seen the fleet scout class before so may not ID it as a hostile and simply have other more pressing priorities. 10 Feb, 1300hrs  The Megaships and the expanding wave of Kinnara pass harmlessly past the One of Ours. Sol; 10 Feb, 1310hrs  The battlefield slowly develops. The new Terran Warships will be passing just beyond extreme missile range of Mars on their course and the Home fleet is held in a defensive posture to defend the red planet while the Martian 3rd/4th Squadrons burn hard for a blocking point. Having reloaded their missiles they are back to full combat readiness. The Pit; 10 Feb, 1345hrs  Pun Pundit watches with amazement as the Kasag ignore his command entirely and the large ships all continue on course for the third planet. Ranginui  Desultory shelling flies back and forth of the surface of Ranginui V as the two sides prepare themselves for the final Martian assault on the Terran Tower. Now known to be a residence or palace of a First One.  General Autoshades regretfully gives the order to begin the final assault.  Triton fleet continues its mad scramble for the other Terran colony in the system.  The Skirmishers finally overtake the Assault landing ship. General Snark praises Jack2142 for his 'enthusiasm' but requests in the future that proper channels be followed. Far behind Crazycryodude swears madly as yet again he is left behind. He missed the glory of the battles over Titan and only got to oversee the occupation of Titania thanks to Victory being out with damage for much of the Corporate war. Little does he know how soon his wish for real action will be granted. Four hours until news from the Pit arrives. The Pit; 10 Feb, 1440hrs  The Kinnara continue to spread out and the rest of the ships remain on course for the third planet.  Martian pickets throughout the system debate what to do but none have significant armament. One suggests asking the Terran squadron in Nova Sol to come hunting for the Kinnara... Maybe even delaying the Kasag from locating the jump point to Ranginui. Sol; 10 Feb, 1440hrs  The Terran transports and their escorts are reaching 120m km from the 3rd and 4th squadrons and are beginning to turn away towards Solar South. The main Terran force is still 160m km away from 3rd/4th Squadrons.  However they appear to have badly underestimated the range of the large Martian shipkiller missiles which are capable of reaching out to 100m km. Hauptman-General Sebmojo estimates he can close and engage the Terran convoy just as the Terran Newfleet reaches their own range of his ships. Doing so would commit his own vessels to battle with the entire Terran force at once without the support of Fourth fleet which is still en-route from Ceres but may give him the opportunity to cripple the Terran transports.  Mars signals it is fueling a large bomber strike it will shortly launch in support but the new bombers will not reach range until the two fleets are already engaging each other.  On Earth the situation is developing... rapidly. Eighteen Battleships, three Battlecruisers and five Fleet Carriers with full escorts (all old model ships) have broken orbit and are heading outsystem towards the asteroid Apollo at 2700kps.  This represents about 80% of the Terran home fleet but five Capital ships, strangely enough all associated with the North American Union (a regional component of United Terra) are remaining in orbit around Terra.  Not directly towards Mars the course is none the less threatening. Alarm rises in Martian high command as they extrapolate the course and realise that on the opposite side of Mars, five hundred and fifty million kilometers distant lies Jupiter. Home to Ganymede, Callisto and the last redoubt of the IC.  Do the Pit pickets appeal to the Terran ships in Nova Sol for assistance? Does Sebmojo push forward to engage the Terran ships without waiting for Fourth Fleet? Does Mars command request that parts of the Ranginui fleet withdraw to Sol? Saros fucked around with this message at 01:14 on Mar 16, 2018 |
|
#
¿
Mar 16, 2018 01:10
|
|
|
A reminder on the ships you have available: ----THE RANGINUI FLEET---- 1st Dreadnought Division CA Tenacious Knave is attached but currently at Mars undergoing repair after the battle of Nova Sol and Reft Obturator Foramen [light carrier] is returning from Mars. 1st and 2nd Cruiser Squadrons Recently reinforced with the good ships Don't fire they may be friendly, I see you and Satellite of Love. 1st and 2nd Destroyer Squadrons All ships are back in fighting trim after the damage sustained in the Pit. 3rd Fleet Fresh from Mars, Third fleet is Eager to prove themselves despite their outdated ships. Triton Fleet Heroes of the Corporate war, Triton fleet needs no introduction. Triton Fleet Marine Skirmishers Small but overly violent. 1st Exploration support Ready to provide for all your needs. ----SOL MOBILE FLEET----  [/b]Your individual maneuver units are as follows:
scavy131 posted:@saros, is it possible to have our missile strike and potentially manage to (if not completely disengage) at least maintain distance until we can reunite with 4th fleet? With the speeds the new Terran ships have shown you are about 600kps faster than them so you would be able to disengage eventually. The range of any new missiles they have is unknown but expected to be at least 80m km given the technology displayed on their new fighter missiles. The Martian Newfleet in Sol masses around 115,000 tons of warship with another 29,000 tons of support jumpships (the jump cruisers carry lots of point defense cannons). While the Terran New ships mass to about 175,000 tons of warship.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 16, 2018 17:18
|
|
|
Current Vote totals: Do the Pit pickets appeal to the Terran ships in Nova Sol for assistance? --- 15 Votes to Yea, none to Nay. I suppose it never hurts to ask. Does Sebmojo push forward to engage the Terran ships without waiting for Fourth Fleet? --- Eight votes yes, Seven votes no. Whether to engage remains in flux. (If voting is within one vote or tied I will accede to Sebmojo's wishes as he is the fleet commander.) Does Mars command request that parts of the Ranginui fleet withdraw to Sol? --- Eight votes yes, Seven votes no. If a tie or within one vote YellerBill, Yooper and Crazycryodude (the three senior commanders in Ranginui) will get to cast the decisive votes. If you change your vote after this point please make a new post saying so.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 17, 2018 03:32
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Apr 26, 2024 17:17 |
|
|
Saros posted:
The Votes are in: 23 to 3 the Picket ships will share their data with the Terran ships in Nova Sol and request assistance. 16 to 9 Sebmojo will move to engage the Terran Transports and reinforcement fleet. 15 to 10 Mars will not request parts of the Ranginui fleet withdraw to Sol. I will probably be running the combat in Sol this evening (GMT) so if you're around head to the discord to give feedback on tactics. Saros fucked around with this message at 14:58 on Mar 19, 2018 |
|
#
¿
Mar 19, 2018 14:45
|
|