Space Empires IV Dynasty? [Archive] - Front Office Football Central

sachmo71

10-07-2003, 10:09 PM

Shakedown Cruise
Bright lights shone down from the roof of the cavernous space yard and played across the sleek surface of the craft. Scores of technicians, scientists, and laborers packed the slip, watching and holding their breath as their creation hummed to life. Chairman Sachmo gazed down on the scene from the control blister. This was the culmination of the greatest scientific efforts ever seen on Remorhaz. Sachmo smiled. It was destiny. Sachmo was determined to push Remorhaz into space.
After years of trial and effort, it was now beginning. As the final checks were completed, the throng of spectators filed back into the airlocks. Once all were safely inside, air inside of the space yard was bled out, and the huge airlock began to open. Soon, the RSS Eagle would launch. She was the first spacecraft in what Sachmo hoped would be the most powerful fleet ever created. She would discover new planets for Remorhaz to colonize, and defend these worlds against all comers. She would lead them into the future.
RSS Eagle lifted from her berth, and silently ignited her main engines. Slowly she guided her nose out of the space yard. After her initial 3-week shakedown cruise, she would head for the first of 3 wormholes present in the solar system. Radio telescopes confirmed that there were planets out there, but what (or who) would be on them was a mystery.
Still, there was no time for Chairman Sachmo to rest. He heaped praise on the staff of the space yard, for it was well deserved. They had been working at a feverish pace for the last 3 years just to get Eagle together. Checks, simulations, and setbacks…they had overcome it all. It wasn’t over for them. Construction continued on the second Eagle Class System Patrol Craft, and soon after that the first Colony Ship would be built. No, their work had only just begun, but the Chairman had every faith in them. The Remorhaz were excellent builders, and they would turn out a fleet to meet whatever needs would arise.
The shakedown cruise was eventful for the crew of the RSS Eagle. On the second day out, at maximum thrust, the main computer core went offline. That gave Captain Jager a bit of a scare, as the ship had to maneuvered manually while the core was brought back up. Of course, the crew survived this, and came through with flying colors. The test firing of the main gun was a bit nerve-wracking, as they compensators didn’t absorb as much of the recoil as they were theorized to, and the result was a cracked seal around the main gun housing. There were no major problems, however, and all of the decencies were corrected before the start of the mission. Captain Jager requested additional supply storage, and so they techs scrambled to make room for the extra gear.
Before Captain Gina Jager knew it, it was the night before the mission. She couldn’t get rid of the butterflies in her stomach. On thought kept going through her mind…IN THEORY. IN THEORY the gravity wells should allow the ship to survive passage through the wormhole. IN THEORY they should be able to return through the wormhole through which they had come. IN THEORY there should be no intelligent species within a million light years the solar system. Jager had dealt with theories before. The theory of the inversion drive had killed her fiancé. The early theory of inertial dampers had cost her the lives of many friends. It was understandable that she was a little nervous. “Nothing to be done”, she muttered to herself. She decided to take a long shower, since she knew that she would not sleep tonight. In fact, she wasn’t sure when she would be able to sleep.
RSS Eagle slipped from the berth the next day, intent on making history with her crew. First through a wormhole, first to see another solar system, first to spend an extended time in a spacecraft. How many firsts would the Eagle survive?
The crew settled into the routine of space travel. Most of the time, the crew’s main enemy was boredom. Out in open space, there weren’t many obstacles to worry about, so the crew spent most of the time monitoring a screen while Eagle sped them along for their date with destiny. Drills, exercises and simulations filled their days. Jager wanted to be sure that the crew was ready for anything. They were the best that Remorhaz had to offer, but they were green. For that matter, everyone was green!
At the end of the 4th week, the wormhole appeared on the edge of the scanners. The crew began the last minute preparations for the trip. Jager could feel the sweat beading on her palms. Quickly she threw into any project she could find, to take her mind off the fact that she, her crew, and Eagle could be torn apart by the gravity of the wormhole.
Hours pass, and still the wormhole drew closer. All was ready…they just had to ride it out. Jager glanced at her XO. He was sweating more than she. “Good, I’m not the only one”, she thought. The XO flashed her a weak, but brave smile. 5 minutes to contact. Everything was in the green. The helmsman was calling out readings, as was the sensor station. Everything was as it should be. 30 seconds…Jager’s heart began to beat so hard it felt as if it would fly out of her chest. She took a few deep breaths, and tried to calm down. The wormhole filled the forward window. Before she could call out for a status check, they were in…

Captain Gina Jager knew she was dead. First, she saw a brilliant white light. Then, she felt herself floating and time seemed to stand still. “Well, I’m glad it didn’t hurt.” Only it did hurt. Suddenly and severely, everything hurt. Her entire body felt as if it had collapsed in on itself, and then just as suddenly felt as if it were going to burst. Just as suddenly as it had come, it was over. Captain Jager suddenly remembered to open her eyes. She could see the bridge, and her crew, and the inky blackness of space.
“Captain, we made it!” Gina heard her XO shout. He was right, they were alive. She struggled to regain her composure. Gina toggled the intercom.
“All sections, report. I want a thorough search of your entire section. Let me know about anything that seems amiss, no matter how small.”
Suddenly the bridge became alive with activity.
“Nav, I want you to be absolutely sure that this is the Koltan system. Helm, take us in on full ion.”
The navigation officer snapped to it. Gina smiled as she sat back in the captain’s chair. She checked her timepiece. The entire trip through the wormhole took less than a second. “I’ll be a son of a gun”, she thought, “The damn gizmo works.”

Chairman Sachmo leaned back in his chair, gazing out of the window. Two hours since Eagle went into the wormhole. All that the scientists could confirm was that she wasn’t destroyed going into the wormhole. Other than that, they had no answers. He steepled his fingers on his chin, thinking about how much work would be lost if the gravity wells couldn’t withstand the stress of the wormhole.
“Mr. Chairman?” the com console chirped.
“Yes?”
“We received a communication from FSS Eagle, sir. They made it.”
“Thank God.”
“Sir, they found…eh, something in the system.”
“Explain, please?”
“Well, we are trying to confirm, but it seems the entire Koltan system is overrun with some sort of…organic infestation.”
“I don’t understand. How can entire solar system be…infested?”
“Sir, we aren’t sure of that, but it seems that the Koltan system is worthless to anyone but scientists.”
“Thank you, Major. Please let me know what you find.”
This grand step for the Remorhaz Society was off to a very poor start.

One month later, the second Eagle Class System Patrol Ship was launched from the Space Yard. The plans to start a colony ship were put on hold with the discovery of the infestation of the Koltan system. There were no suitable worlds found to colonize, so priorities were shifted to exploration.
Meanwhile, the Remorhaz scientists focused on Ship Construction technology. They felt a breakthrough imminent.
In 2400.2, the RSS Falcon became the second ship to travel through a wormhole. Aside from the unpleasant physical effects reported by Captain Jager and her crew, there were no ill effects. Upon entering the Nekron System, the [I]Falcon[I] immediately set word back to Remorhaz of the discovery of two suitable worlds:
1. Nekron V, a medium rock planet with an oxygen atmosphere
2. Nekron I, a small rock planet with an oxygen atmosphere.

Neither planet showed any abundance of minerals or radioactives, but Nekron I did appear to possess excellent farmland, and would be used as an organics farming colony as soon as possible.
Also present in system were Nekron II and VIII, both rock world but with unsuitable atmospheres. If they were to be colonized, they would have to be shielded by a protective dome, thus limiting the usefulness of the planet.
Meanwhile, Captain Jager and the Eagle were continuing on to the next system through another wormhole.

2400.3 saw the launching of the RSS Hawk, the last of the initial line of Eagle Class System Patrol Ships. Immediately, the Remorhaz space yard began construction of a Colony Ship. The scientists also discovered how to create a larger hull size, and Chairman Sachmo immediately ordered Admiral Urian to design a Frigate to give the fleet some firepower. The result was the Nemesis Class Frigate, and production was queued up for immediate work as soon as the Colony Ship was complete. Chairman Sachmo “suggested” that Admiral Urian hold the command of the initial Nemesis for Captain Jager, in honor of her achievements. The Falcon became the first craft to explore 2 systems. The Yullado System was a poor star, with only one suitable planet for colonizing, Yullado II was a medium rock planet but had a methane atmosphere. On the upside, it appeared that the planet had an above average mineral content.
Meanwhile, Captain Jager finished the “jump” into the Zanthris System, which held nothing more than an asteroid field and 3 stars.

In 2400.4, Captain R.J. Brennan jumped into the Organtrix System. Immediately, the sensors on RSS Hawk screamed in warning.
“Sensors, what have we got?”, R.J. shouted.
“Captain, we have exited the wormhole right in the trail of a gas core. The sensors misread the cloud as a huge mass of foreign objects. I’ve compensated for the density of the cloud, but we might want to report this to the techies back home. It scared me to death.”
“You and me both, Sensors.”
Captain Brennan tried to calm his nerves. What a way to finish your first jump!
By the end of the day, sensors confirmed Organtrix as another useless system.

Back in the capitol, Chairman Sachmo went over the resource figures. Remorhaz possessed a good surplus of minerals, organics, and radioactives, but as the fleet grew, so did the demand for these resources. He considered rushing the production of the colony ship, but then decided to let the work proceed as planned. “We should be fine for the year.”, he thought. Meanwhile, the scouts continued exploring the galaxy, looking for a solid planet to colonize.

2400.5 saw the exploration of two new systems, a scientific breakthrough, and the construction of a colony ship.
Captain Jager and Eagle jumped into the Hollifax system, and beheld a sight that took their breath away. The system was empty of planets, as any matter within the system must have been swept up into the process taking place in the center of the system; the birth of a star. At least this system would yield valuable scientific information for the scientists back home to help them unlock the mysteries of the universe, but in practical terms, the system was dead. Jager reported her finding back to Remorhaz, and continued on. She started thinking about home. She knew her crew was getting tired and restless, and the supplies wouldn’t hold out forever. With a sigh, she made her decision. A couple of more months, then we head back. She knew the crew would stick with her…at least she hoped they would.
Back on Remorhaz, the entire planet watched as the huge colony ship set out for Nekron V, which would be the first planet colonized by the Remorhaz Society. Also, the scientists had just discovered a more efficient depleted uranium cannon, with increased range and lethality. Admiral Urian wanted to get them on the ships as soon as possible. The scientist’s next task was to try and create a ship mounted repair bay. Also, the Naval Bureau decided to design a multi-purpose transport that could move people and supplies to the new colony, but could also deploy defense satellites if needed.

2400.6

Two new systems explored:
Osshod
Lenoltris
Neither system contained planets with breathable atmospheres, but there were some large rock planets rich in resources. Chairman Sachmo decided that they might just have to resort to colonizing these places. It would be hard on the colonists, but they would survive. Possibly the payoff would be worth the trouble and expense. With the added resources, maybe the scientists could concentrate on terraforming. Meanwhile, RSS Eagle, running short of supplies, started for home.

sachmo71

10-07-2003, 10:10 PM

2400.7
The colony ship brought itself into orbit around Nekron V and began deploying the colony modules. Once deployed, the craft brought itself down in a gentle decent. The entire colony ship was designed to deploy into usable resources for the colonists. The first colonists stepped off of the colony ship, and a Remorhaz flag was planted in light, frosted ground. The first Remorhaz colony was born.
They named the planet Glory.
Chairman Sachmo watched the replay on the com unit. A warmth passed through his body. “This is our destiny”, he thought. “It’s all coming together.”
On Glory, the colonists set up their living areas and began assembling all of the facilities required to survive on this new world. They began building a Space Port to facilitate transport craft coming and going from the surface of the planet.
Back on Remorhaz, the fleet had a new flagship; the RSS Nemesis. Admiral Urian was ecstatic. In a grand ceremony, Captain Jager took command. There was much celebrating and eating of fruits, and vegetables, and antelope, and wildebeest, and or…never mind.
Meanwhile, in the newly explored Fezzran System, two small, oxygen atmosphere planets were discovered. Fezzran looked to be particularly rich in both minerals and radioactives. Remorhaz immediately began working on a new Colony Ship.

2400.8
“I have a bad feeling about this.”
“Pardon me, Chairman?” Admiral Urian looked confused.
“Nothing, nothing. I was just thinking about defense.”
“Sir, I have drawn up plans for a new defense satellite design, and General Werman has been tinkering with a weapons platform capable of defending the planet from the surface.”
Chairman Sachmo looked up from his plate. The light from Velocitas Prime shown down on the balcony where the Chairman and the Admiral were taking their lunch.
“Admiral, do you think that we are alone in the galaxy?”
The Admiral thought for a moment, started to speak, then paused again. After a few moments, he spoke.
“Sir, eight months ago, I would have told you yes, and I would have believed it. Since then I have seen entire systems infested with organic infestations, witnessed the birth of a star, and watched an entire gas giant hurl itself through space. Sir, there is just too much that I don’t understand for me to believe that we are alone here. Who, or what they might be, I have no idea, but I hope they’re friendly.”

Chairman Sachmo laughed. “I feel pretty much the same way. That’s why I have this nagging suspicion that we should be preparing for our defense, in case they aren’t friendly.”
The Admiral straightened. “Then should we proceed with the construction of the weapons platforms and defense satellites, Sir?”
“Yes, but let’s not lose site of the main goal of colonization.”
“Understood, sir.”
The men went back to their lunch, making small talk and trying not to think about the uncertainties that were sure to come up.

Captain Jager smiled as the RSS Nemesis cut smoothly through the darkness of space. Just a few days ago, Nemesis had accounted well for herself in a simulated hit and run attack by three System Patrol Ships. Nemesis’ missiles took out two of the SPC before they could get into guns range, and while the third got a few licks in, Nemesis was ultimately able to destroy her, too. It made Gina a bit sad, as one of those System Patrol Ships was her old command, RSS Eagle. They hadn’t been together too long, and her former XO, now Captain Hanks was a fine skipper, but she felt a bit out of touch with her new crew. They were promising, but as green as the plains of Glory. Currently, she was taking on a shakedown/routine patrol, and things were going well. She wondered how long that would last.

2400.9
The scientists created the ship mounted repair bay. They began their next project; ground attack weapons. Chairman Sachmo was serious about preparing for anything. This month also marked the first production shortage of the empire. The reserves were holding, but they would not last another entire year.

2401.0
Nemesis discovered the Wurtuy System, which was almost entirely filled with asteroid fields.
Glory constructed their Space Port, allowing the import and export of resources. The Society was running at a surplus again. The colonists began the work that they had been trained to do…mining.

2401.1
Captain Jager and the RSS Nemesis enter the Xillantha System and collect planet data. Five rock worlds, small, without breathable atmosphere. Captain Jager is discussing the next hop with her XO and Nav officers when she hears her Sensor Officer, in a very weak voice, call her over.
“C-C-Captain? I have an unknown contact just completing the jump into the system.”
The bridge suddenly got very, very quiet.
“Sensor, did you say unknown?”
“Yes Captain. Bearing 120. It’s definitely a ship, Cap’n. I just don’t know who’s.”
“Alright people, let’s get this in gear! XO, sound general quarters! Sensor, you let me know if that contact does anything, copy? Sparks, send a standard hail at that ship. They probably won’t be able to understand us, but it’s worth a shot.”
The bridge got very noisy, very fast.
Contact had been made, but who were they.
Also, as the Admiral and the Chairman were so curious about, were they friendly?

sachmo71

10-07-2003, 10:12 PM

2401.2

“How quickly things can change”, thought Chairman Sachmo.
In just under a month, the Society had been shaken from their ethnocentric view of the universe and been forced to deal with the reality that the Remorhaz were indeed only one of at least two species in the galaxy. The significance of this fact could not be understated. On one hand, contact with another race presented great possibilities for both races. The scope of things that both species could learn from each other was unfathomable. Each species could quite possibly learn things that would change the entire way of thinking of an entire people. On the other hand, this race might present an obstacle to the expansion of the Remorhaz Society. Which would it be? Was there any way to be sure?
Chairman Sachmo was willing to try the peaceful route, but only after ensuring a strong defense. So, from the moment Captain Jager had radioed news of interracial contact, the crews back home had been scrambling to build defense satellites to defend the important warp nodes. It would take time to protect them all, but it could be done. That is, assuming that both cultures didn’t completely misunderstand on another and instantly go to war.
Both sides had started the cultural exchange. While no official governmental contact had yet been established, scientists from both races had already exchanged information on the racial traits, behaviors and history of both races.
(Authors Note: How’s that for getting around the instant contact information the game provides? J )
Chairman Sachmo glanced down at the file containing the information which the scientists had learned of the other race…known as the Norak Continuum

They are Impulsive Zealots.
They prefer Rock worlds with Oxygen atmospheres.

Biology: The Norak are a semi-aquatic species that are amphibious by nature. Though they prefer a very damp climate, they tend to prefer land dwelling over water. The Norak stand approximately 2 meters tall and are tri-pedal. The average life span of a Norak is approximately 120 years. Also of note is their uni-sex nature. Their are no male or female Norak, merely a single neutral sex.
Physical Strength- pathetic
Intelligence- superior
Cunning- average
Environmental Resistance- average
Reproduction- impressive (hubba hubba!)
Happiness- superior
Agressiveness- non-existent
Defensiveness- impressive
Political Savvy- pathetic

Society: Historians believe that the trinary star system which the Norak homeworld resides is that cause of the deeply religious nature of all Norak. Their entire society is patterned after their polytheistic worship. The leader of their society is the current high priest. Their society once contained many different sects, but after a great "religious cleansing", only one sect remains. This has actually proven to be of great benefit, as the society is now coherent enough to devote its resources to space travel.
Mining Aptitude- Average
Farming Aptitude- Pathetic
Refining Aptitude- Weak
Construction Aptitude- Average
Repair Aptitude- Average
Maintenance Aptitude- Impressive

General History: Norak relations in the galaxy have been highly mixed. Their religion allows them to help one species while destroying another. If the Norak's religions finds another race faulting, they will attempt to wipe them out.

Also, the Norak excel at resource and cargo storage techniques, and they are deeply religious.

Chairman Sachmo placed the file on his desk, and rubbed the bridge of his nose. Obviously, negotiations would have to be handled carefully. If the Norak found Remorhaz culture to be compatible with their religious ideals, then they could become a powerful ally. If not, they could quite possibly be the most determined, ruthless enemy in the galaxy.

Over the course of the next few weeks, the Chairman, biologists, religious leaders and the military finally decided on a course of action. The Chairman would present the Norak leader, High Priest Rakul, with a gift of the finest organics which the Remorhaz Society had to offer. Once this gift was made, it would allow the ambassador staff to get settled and report back to the chairman with more information on how the Norak viewed Remorhaz culture. Hopefully, this would give the military enough time to prepare to blunt any attack if things went sour, or give the Council staff more information on what might be required for a trade treaty. Also, Chairman Sachmo decided that they would push for a non-aggression pact as soon as possible. Orders were cut, and everyone went to work, hopeful for the future.
In the meantime, the second colony ship was sent out on course to colonize Fezzran I. The Remorhaz Society was expanding its borders.

2401.3-.4

“Chairman, I have excellent news!”
“Yes Yarboro, what is it?” The Chairman was very tired, and anxious for news from the Norak government.
“Sir, the report from the Norak government is favorable. They deeply appreciate our gift!”
Chairman Sachmo felt as if a weight were lifted from his shoulders. Many plans, possibly the future of the Society, hinged on the response of the Norakians to their diplomatic overtures. This gift would hopefully make future relations with Norak easier. The Chairman paged his diplomatic staff. They had a non-aggression treat to draw up.

2401.5

Remorhaz scientists discover a new, more efficient ion engine. This engine will help reduce the resource requirements of the fleet. Also, the fleet christened the first Multi-Purpose Transport, the RSS Loxias. She would immediately begin seeding the warp points with defense satellites.
On the political front, wonderful news. The Norak government has accepted our non-aggression pact. Thankfully, we won’t have to fight them anytime soon.
Of more concern to the Society, the colony ship bound for Fezzran picked up an unknown contact in the Xillantha System. The sensor signature returned fit no Remorhaz or Norakian design known. Hailing frequencies were met with aggressive maneuvers from the craft. No engagement took place, but the crew of the colony ship were definitely intimidated by the actions of the ship. The Remorhaz Society had made contact with another race, known as The Rage Collective.

The Rage Collective are Violent Warriors.
They prefer Rock worlds with no atmosphere.

Biology: The Rage is a race of organic machines originally designed for war. There is a limited shared intelligence across the race, with stronger ties to those units that are near by. For some reason, the Rage seem to only be able to thrive on planets with no atmosphere. The reason for this is not known. The most surprising aspect of this race is its emotional nature. This may be due to the fact that while their external appearance is mechanical, their processing units are primarily organic.
They are average in all physical characteristics.

Society: The Rage society is a limited collective in which processing (thinking) is distributed across a network comprised of the individual units. The processing is organized into local groups that are working on the same project. Therefore, while information is theoretically known across the entire network, in practice it is used in a more localized fashion. Overall strategic decision-making is controlled by the Primary Sequencer. This unit is the closest thing to a ruler that this society has.
They are average in all vocational aspects.

General History: There is not a lot of information on the origins of the Rage. Most scholars believe that they were originally created as intelligent war machines. They then out lived (or perhaps destroyed) whatever race created them.

The Rage Collective are experts in propulsion, and also storage techniques.

The Rage could prove to be trouble. The Society immediately went into a crash naval building program. War might come sooner than anyone thought…

2401.6

Happy day! The Remorhaz Society now spans three planets in three different systems. This segment saw the settling of the planet Cirius. This planet was abundant in both minerals and radioactives. Once a Space Port was built, this planet would be a vital contributor to the Society.
The Rage Collective accepted a gift, but with this message:
“Your gift has been accepted. Do not bother us again.”
Not the best hope for future relations with this race. Relations cooled.
On Glory, the first colonial Research Lab was constructed. It is hoped that the colonists might contribute some fresh ideas to the Remorhaz scientific effort.
Admiral Urian dispatched RSS Eagle under Captain Willas Hanks to take up patrol duties in and around Glory, and RSS Falcon to take up station off of Cirius. Glory began construction of defense satellites and Small Weapons Platforms. If time permitted, and a Space Yard was constructed, heavier defenses could be constructed.

2401.7

The com unit blared.
Admiral Urian looked up from his report, and stared hard at the unit. He was hoping to knock off early tonight to spend some time with the family. This was a call from the Chairman, however, and it would not do to pretend he had left for the day.
He tapped the pad to answer the unit.
“Good evening, Sir.”
“Admiral, thank God I caught you. Something has gone dreadfully wrong. Both the Norakians and the Rage Collective have declared war on us. I still don’t have all the details, but I need you to get the fleet rolling.”
The Admiral has to fight to keep from getting sick. How could this have happened? What went wrong? He didn’t have time to find out right now, he had to lead the fleet into battle.
“Sir, I will execute the defense plan. Thanks to your foresight, we are a step ahead of the game. We do need to shift priority to building some additional capital ships, sir. One frigate and 3 system patrol ships severely limits our option. We may hold, but we cannot take the war to the enemy without leaving our people wide open for attack.”
This time it was the Chairman who fought down his fear. There were so many things which needed to be done, and they Society was running low on minerals.
“We will do what we must, Admiral.” He paused, gathered his thoughts, and then spoke. “Admiral, we didn’t start this war, but we will finish it. Is that clear? We will win! It’s our destiny.”
Seeing the Chairman’s display of strength helped the Admiral regain his own.
“Aye, Aye, Sir. We will finish it.”

“Captain Jager, emergency message coming it.”
Gina turned away from the supply officer and looked at the communications bay. What now, she thought. Lately, the exercises had been getting a bit monotonous. Her crew was ready for some shore leave, not another missile drill.
“Right, Sparks. Forward it to my console.”
“On the way, Cap’n.”
Gina settled into the command chair of the RSS Nemesis. When the message came through, Gina felt her skin crawl. She read the message again, just to be sure.
She looked up at the bridge, and at the faces of her crew. How could this happen? How many of her crew would die?
Gina took a deep breath. “We’re as ready as we’ll ever be”, she thought.
Gina keyed the intercom. Pipes rang through the ship.
“This is the captain. I have just received an emergency message from Admiral Urian. Both the Norak Continuum and the Rage Collective have declared war on the Remorhaz society. We are to proceed at best speed to Remorhaz, refit, and take up station at Glory. Folks, this is the real thing, but we’ve trained night and day for this. I know we will do our duty, and we will win.”
Gina heard the cheer echo through the ship. That put her at ease somewhat, until she saw the face of the XO. Never before had she seen fear so plain on his face. She shot him a quick smile, and a nod. They would survive, or die trying.

2401.8

No action as of yet. A Rage Bytreon Class frigate jumped into the Fezzran System, threatening the colony on Cirius. Falcon was a couple of jumps away, and probably would not arrive in time to prevent a bombardment of the colony. The colonists began to dig in, but things were looking pretty bleak.

2401.9

Cirius was now facing 2 Rage frigates, but did manage to get a satellite into orbit, and Falcon was that much closer to jumping in system. Remorhaz launched another frigate, the RSS Furious, and sent her to rendezvous with Eagle and Nemesis. They would form a fleet at Glory and attempt to fly to the relief of Cirius if at all possible. There was still no sign of the Norak fleet. Mineral resources were at an all-time low.

2402.0

The New Year began very harshly. The colony on Cirius was destroyed by the Rage. They were able to launch missiles at the surface, and their superior propulsion allowed them to escape the missile fire of the single defense satellite before it could score a single hit. Falcon arrived in system just in time to answer the final distress call of the planet. Outgunned and outnumbered, she re-entered the wormhole and made for Glory. The fleet would make their stand here.
The scientists made yet another improvement to the Depleted Uranium Cannon. The System Patrol Craft would be refit as the situation permitted. With the frigates on station, Eagle started a patrol into the Wurtuy System. The huge asteroid fields in this system afforded ships good protection, but she spotted a Norak colony ship wallowing toward a jump point. If she came closer, Eagle would pounce.

2402.1

Eagle never got her chance. The colony ship slipped away. Meanwhile, in the Xillantha System, Falcon was following the movement of the three Rage frigates. They seemed to be heading for Glory. The fleet was waiting. Meanwhile, Glory was preparing upgraded Small Weapons Platforms, and the Multi-Purpose Transport was seeding the wormholes with defense satellites. Meanwhile, the RSS Justice was launched at Remorhaz. She would remain in system to protect the home planet. At the same time, the Rage task force drew closer to Glory, and Captain Jager was ready for the showdown.

2402.2

The fleet watched and waited. Glory continued to build Mineral Miners, and Remorhaz was forced to curtail production because of a mineral shortage. All they could do now was wait.

sachmo71

10-07-2003, 10:13 PM

2402.3

Another month, and still the Rage did not come. Admiral Urian flew to Glory with his staff, determined to gain the imitative in this war. After consulting with his staff and his line officers, he finally agreed to release one frigate to make a penetration run into the Fezzran System. The fleet needed to do something instead of waiting for a conflict to come to them. So, he picked Captain Jager and Nemesis to head out the next day.

Captain Jager was very nervous. She had every bulkhead checked, every access panel inspected. There wasn’t much chance that something had broken in the past two months as the only action Nemesis had seen was running simulation while parked in geo-sync orbit over Glory. Now they were heading into battle. Obviously, all the simulations in the world couldn’t prepare Gina or her crew for what they would face, but she knew they would do their best. Hopefully, that would keep them alive.
Gina reviewed her orders again as Nemesis cleared the traffic pattern over Glory.
Proceed at best speed to Fezzran System and engage any forces found there. Inflict maximum damage on targets and return to Glory at best speed. Extreme caution is to be exercised, and all efforts must be taken to return asset RSS Nemesis to Glory Fleet Command.
Gina chuckled. All possible effort to return “asset”. As if she had a choice.
Shaking her head, she went about the business of commanding her ship.

Gina was expecting to find Rage frigates present in the Xillantha system, but a sensor sweep revealed nothing. Cautious, she laid the quickest possible course for the wormhole to Fezzran. If the Rage were laying a trap, they would have to catch her before they could hit her. Reports from Eagle patrolling the Wurtuy System showed no sign of the Rage fleet. Where were they?

2402.4

Eagle came out of the jump into the unknown system. Immediately, sensors picked up a large target right off of their beam. Captain Willis Hanks immediately sounded general quarters, and took the ship into action.
“Sensors, what do we have?”
If the Sensor Officer was excited, he didn’t show it.
“Captain, we have a Norak Colony ship off of our bow. Very close…12.3K miles. She’s unarmed, sir.”
Hanks nodded. “Right. Sparks, send her a message. Come about for towing or be destroyed. Sensor, if they attempt to send a distress call, you let me know. Weps, warm up the DUC. If she tries to run, we open fire.”
A chorus of “aye, aye” echoed from the bridge.
The demand to heave to was met with the Norak colony ship quickly reversing course and firing her main engines. Hanks frowned.
“Ok, we can play that game. Weps, disable that ship.”
Weapons Officer Davis took aim and depressed the firing stud.
Eagle lurched slightly as her depleted uranium cannon fired a wave of shells at the colony ships engines. The DU shells tore through the colony ship’s engine nacelles like a knife through hot butter.
“Hit, Cap’n! She’s lost three of five engines.”
Hanks paused. “Hold fire, Weps. Let’s see what she does. Sensor, any message.”
“Negative, Captain.”
Hanks nodded, and rubbed his chin. Navy regs allowed officers to grow beards, but Hanks wished that he had taken time to shave before leaving Glory. His face itched like mad.
Suddenly the XO yelled out, “Captain! She’s sending out a distress signal! The signal strength is incredible! Every ship in the system must know she’s in trouble by now!”
And I’m a damn fool, thought Hanks. I should have known she wouldn’t surrender.
“Weps, take aim and fire. We need to take her out and get the hell out of here. In a stand-up fight, we lose.”
It actually took quite a while for Eagle to finish off the colony ship, only because of her sheer mass. Hanks would remember the worst part of the engagement being when the cannon broke open the dormitory area of the ship, and Norak bodies flew out of the ship by the hundreds. As they prepared to head back for Glory, Captain Hanks tried not to think about the fact that he had just killed 4 million Norakinas.

At the same time, Nemesis jumped into Fezzran. Sensors showed only a Rage colony ship, well across the system at the mouth of a jump point. Also observed was a Rage colony, which had been set up on Fezzran IV. Captain Jager did her duty, however, and rained nuclear missiles down upon the helpless colonists until the Rage colony was nothing but a glowing crater capped by a tremendous firestorm. Cirius was avenged, but Gina felt numb. This is war? Somehow, she hadn’t pictured bombarding colonists as her first combat action.

2402.5

For now, it seemed Glory was safe. Nemesis bombarded a second Rage colony, which had been established while she was still in system. 35 million of the Rage died in nuclear fire. Yes, Cirius had been avenged. Captain Jager didn’t press her luck, and started the journey for Glory.
Meanwhile, in Wurtuy, Eagle spotted a Norak transport and moved in for the kill. Admiral Urian released RSS Justice from garrison and had her move in to assist Eagle. They would interdict this system for as long as possible.
Mineral resources were starting to build back up. Soon, Remorhaz would begin construction of additional ships, and the Remorhaz Society could take the war to the home systems of their enemies.
The scientists reported to the Chairman that research on improved missiles would be completed within the next six months. These missiles would give the fleet a range advantage over the Rage craft, which might help negate their advantage in speed.

2402.6

Glory continued their crash mining program. The results were showing as the mineral shortage lessened.
In the Wurtuy system, Eagle and Justice continued to hunt down the Norak transport.

2402.7-.8

Eagle and Justice spot a Norak colony in Tudran System. There are only two wormholes out of this system, with none leading to either Norak or Rage space. Admiral Urian orders this system to be taken, and for Wurtuy to be garrisoned by a modest force.
Remorhaz began production of a colony ship.

2402.9

Hooray! The scientists have discovered the next phase of the capital ship missile. The fleet would begin refitting all Nemesis Class Frigates as soon as possible. On Remorhaz, a rock colony ship was launched.
In the Tudran System, RSS Justice attacked a seemingly defenseless colony, and was blown to bits. Apparently, Tudran V was going to be a tougher nut to crack then originally suspected.

2403.0-.1

The Norak fleet is approaching Glory. We sent Nemesis and Furious to meet them, with Eagle backing them up. Opposing them would be 4 Norak Alagoa class frigates. The loss of Justice will be a big factor in the coming battle.
A large planet was colonized in the Neckron System. The colony was named Black Hills.

2403.2

And the Norak fleet decided not to try and fight through the defense satellites around the wormhole, and instead headed for Rage space. Admiral Urian wondered at this tactic, but did not complain. Every day the enemy avoided attacking was a day for the Remorhaz Society to grow stronger.
Glory concentrated on building another mining facility and one more research lab. Then she would build defenses for the Society. After the resources were sufficiently built up, the fleet would concentrate on taking the Tudran system. In the interim, the cat and mouse game in the Wurtuy System would continue.

sachmo71

10-07-2003, 10:15 PM

2403.3

A new colony ship is created.
A diplomatic communication to the Rage, requesting an end to the conflict, is flat out refused. Their answer? “Sorry, but we must kill you first.”
The rock colony ship departed Remorhaz to colonize the last known planet with a breathable atmosphere, in the Neckron system. The planet was very poor in mineral resources.

2403.4

Remorhaz was unable to complete construction of a new frigate because of lack of resources. No enemy attacks.

2403.5

Salvation is colonized in the Neckron system. The colony will concentrate on farming operations and research.
Remorhaz was unable to refit Eagle due to a mineral shortage.

2403.6

RSS Intimidator under Captain Lu takes up station at the Wurtuy-Neckron wormhole. The multi-purpose transport heads for the Wurtuy-Tudran wormhole to lay some of the new defense satellites, hopefully cutting the system off from resupply.

2403.7

The Wurtuy-Tudran wormhole is cut off with defense satellites. Admiral Urian plans to keep a constant patrol of frigates to back the satellites up.

2403.8

Nemesis began a refit at Remorhaz.
Intimidator entered the Tudran system and attacked the Norak colony Tudran VI. The colony was defenseless, and had 39 million colonists. The entire colony was destroyed by nuclear missile barrage. The Tudran Offensive was underway..

2403.9-.10

Intimidator approached Tudran V cautiously. Captain Lu was fully aware that this was where Justice had met her end. Lu had no intension of meeting the same fate.
The Captain scanned his readout. “Helm, take us in until we reach maximum firing range. If intelligence is correct, our missiles have about the same range. Of course, we have the advantage of maneuverability on our side. Let’s get our missiles off before they do. We can fire and move, and hopefully take out some of those bases…soften the place up a bit.”
“Aye, Aye, Captain. We will hold a maximum range.”
Now we earn our pay, he thought.
The XO called out. “Sir, we being hit with active signals. They know we’re here.”
Captain Lu nodded. This was going to be tricky, but he was confident. At least this planet could defend itself.
Minutes passed. Lu ran over the figures in his mind one more time. If their timing were off, they would become a ball of flaming gas, very quickly.
“Sir, we are at maximum missile range.”
“All tubes fire. Helm, as soon as the last missile leave the tubes, back us out of here full power.”
Moments after all missiles were away, the ship turned on her axis and retreated.
The Sensor Officer, Lieutenant O’Brian, shouted, “Sir, I have multiple bogies coming from the surface of the planet.”
Hopefully their missiles had not been upgraded. “O’Brian, get me an ID on those bogies, please.”
“Aye, Aye, Captain.” His voice sounded a bit calmed. Lu glanced at his XO, and nodded him over to help reassure O’Brian.
“Sir, the bogies are ground based missiles, look like the same signature as the ones that got Justice.”
“Very good, Mr. O’Brian. Helm, continue on course, maximum power.”
Helm acknowledged the order.
O’Brian called out the range of the incoming missiles. “Sir, missiles closing. Estimated impact 1 minute, 30 seconds.”
O’Brian continued to call out the range. Lu watched his own missiles streak toward the surface of the planet. They ran out of fuel in the low atmosphere, doing no damage.
“Sir, estimated time of impact 45 seconds.”
The Captain nodded. “Helm, take us to 10% thrust, and head us back toward the planet.”
O’Brian spun around with a face whiter than a sheet. “Sir, missiles closing! Estimated impact now in 25…oh. Sir, enemy missiles have run out of fuel and are dead.”
“Thank you, Mr. O’Brian. Helm, we have to get closer before launching.”
The Intimidator reversed course, and the helm called out maximum missile range.
“Take us in another 1000 miles, helm. Once our missiles are away, turn us around and get us the heck out of there.”
The order was acknowledged.
“Sir, multiple bogies lunched from the surface!”
“Understood.”
Weapons Officer Hubbart spoke up. “Firing full spread of missiles. Right, missiles away!”
“Get us out of here, helm!”
O’Brian called out the closure. The missiles would not catch them. Unless Captain Lu made a mistake, they would pulverize the planet’s defenses. He didn’t, and the colony on Tudran V was destroyed. The last Norakian presence in the Tudran system had been wiped out.
Back on Remorhaz, the news was piped through the ship intercom on board the newly refit, upgraded RSS Nemesis. Cheers could be heard throughout the ship, but Gina Jager was more sober. She knew that the war was far from over. Unless the enemy paid a higher price, this war might never end. She was determined to do her part, whatever that was.
With the victory in the Tudran system, Admiral Urian decided to split the fleet to keep the Norakians from retaking the system. Defense satellites and at least two frigates would garrison the wormhole. Chairman Sachmo instituted an emergency order for 3 new colony ships to colonize the two worlds taken from Norak, and a third, previously uncolonized world.

2404.1

No enemy counter attack. The fleet was building up defenses around the Tudran system. Soon, it would take quite an armada to pry the system back from the Remorhaz Society.
The governor on Glory reported that the Glory Ship Yard should be complete within two months.
Chairman Sachmo decided to offer a non-intercourse treaty to the Norak.

2404.2

The Norak Continuum rejected the treaty proposal.
The RSS Furious finished her refit. Now all frigates were equipped with the latest generation of missiles.

2404.3

The Glory Space Yard is complete! We will now be able to repair, launch and upgrade ships from Glory. Admiral Urian believes that this greatly increases his strategic options in the forward systems.
On Remorhaz, the first colony ship bound for the Tudran System is completed. Her launching is vidcast all across the Remorhaz Society.
Chairman Sachmo gazed out over the city of Turian, capitol of the Remorhaz Society.
Things are starting to go our way. Once we colonize the Tudran System, our resource production will triple. We can then build up a fleet large enough to enable us to either destroy our enemies or at least bring them to the bargaining table.
The Chairman’s diplomatic staff had still not quite figured out why both empires had declared war at the same time. The most plausible theory was that the Rage and the Norak were in an alliance together. The thought froze the Chairman’s heart. If those two races would ally against us, how must they have perceived us? When this was all over, he hoped to find out. His biggest fear was that he would have to destroy both races to find his answers.

2404.4

While laying defense satellites outside the wormhole between Xillantha and Wurtuy, the multi-purpose transport discovered a Norakian colony. In orbit around it was a single Alagoinhaus class frigate. The RSS Furious, on long-range patrol, would jump into the system from a direction the Norak wouldn’t expect our ships to come, and try and take her from behind.
The diplomats felt that the Rage might be willing to discuss a cease-fire. An envoy was dispatched immediately. He was given a tremendous send-off, and was decorated with many medals. He was also given huge tracts of land on the next colony in the Tudran System. He probably wouldn’t live to enjoy his rewards, as all envoys sent to negotiate with the Rage since the war started had been cut up and used for scientific study by the Primary Sequencer. Politics can be a deadly business sometimes.

sachmo71

10-07-2003, 10:16 PM

2404.5
The ambassador did not return from the parlay with the Rage.
The Norak were on the move, and it was looking like there would be a showdown in the Wurtuy System.

2404.6

Gina couldn’t help but grin. Nemesis and Hyperion had cornered a lone Norakian Alagoa Class frigate in Wurtuy Asteroid Belt XII. This was what she had been waiting for, and knew it was what her crew wanted, also. Ship on ship combat was what they craved. They understood what was expected of them…if destroying a colony was vital to the war effort, then it would be done. In an engagement against another warship, there were no innocents. One side was trying to kill the other. This is how things should be settled.
Jager touched her command screen and brought up a com link to the bridge of Hyperion. Captain Walt Reed’s thin face appeared on the screen.
“Walt, we have the Alagoa at 500k. What do you think?” Gina was senior to Captain Reed, and had also seen combat (such as it was), but she wanted his input. He was a good tactician, and Gina wanted to use every advantage they had.
“Well, with all of the asteroids, maneuvering is going to be tricky. We might be able to fork him, and get him in a position where he can’t run from us.”
“Alright then, I’ll take the lead, and you try for the flanking maneuver”, Gina said. She looked at her chart. “I’ll hang back as long as I can, and if he goes for you, I’ll have a broadside shot.”
Captain Reed smiled. “Sounds good. Good luck, Captain Jager. I guess this is another first for you, eh? As far as I know, we are the first ships in the Remorhaz Navy to engage another armed capital ship. Let’s hope we live to talk about it!”
Gina laughed. “I guess you’re right, Walt. To be honest, I’ve been looking forward to this my entire career. Luck to you too. Jager out.”
Gina turned off the link. It was time to fight.

The actual battle didn’t turn out exactly like they had planned, but in reality battles never do. The Alagoa got off an early shot at Hyperion, and a bad range calculation sent her scrambling away from a barrage of rapidly closing missiles. The fork would have to wait. Nemesis fired a spread while the Alagoa was rearming. Jager kept the ships spread far apart, so they could be sure about who was being fired at. This way, one ship could close the range while the other retreated from the enemy missile shot. After that, it was simply a matter of time, unless something went wrong.
Something did go wrong. During the third exchange, Hyperion closed range and fired at the Alagoa. The Alagoa fired simultaneously. While Nemesis closed the range to fire, Hyperion again misjudged the range of the incoming missiles. She took the spread amidships. Thankfully, the damage was moderate. She lost an engine and one of her missile tubes, but she still could make way at 2/3 speed. On the next barrage, Nemesis took a spread in the bow, and she was reduced to 1/3 speed. Worse yet, the crew quarters had been hit. Thankfully, most of the crew had been at battle stations, but she lost some people. Now the Alagoa had the advantage in speed. Missiles flew back and forth, and eventually both sides lost contact with each other. Nemesis and Hyperion made for Glory for repairs, both ships hauling a cargo of very angry, very disappointed captains.

Gina knew that she could have performed much better. She had misjudged the Alagoa, and now twelve of her crew were dead, and would be off the line for at least a month. That Norakian captain had handled his ship beautifully, and used the asteroids to his advantage masterfully. Still, Gina felt she should have beaten him. Two against one…she should have won. She replayed ever step of the battle in her head, recalling her mistakes, and studying them. Next time, she would account better for herself. Next time, she would make Remorhaz proud.

She got her chance. [I]Intimidator jumped in system from Glory before the battle started, to cover the wormhole. When she received word about the engagement, she immediately moved into the asteroid field to cover Nemesis and Hyperion in their withdrawal. As Captain Lu moved her into the belt, and was immediately greeted by a barrage of missiles from behind a particularly thick asteroid cluster. Intimidator tried to maneuver, but was caught near the stern with the barrage. She lost two engines and the right side missile tube. Luckily, the Weapons Officer had fired an immediate counter barrage down the bearing, which slammed into the Alagoa, knocking out most of her engines. Thus crippled, all three Remorhaz ships tracked and then killed the wounded Norakian ship. Captain Jager and Nemesis had the honor of having their missiles actually finish off the Norakian frigate, but it was a hollow victory. For the cost of one frigate, the Remorhaz Navy would have three capital ships off of the line for a month. That could not be done, so one of the three ships would have to take up a defensive position behind the satellites and become what amounted to a space station. The Remorhaz Society was once again on the defensive.

Two System Patrol Ships, 15 defensive satellites, and a crippled capital ship were defending the Wurtuy wormholes. Three out of four frigates were damaged. Furious was almost to Glory, and another Nemesis Class C Frigate would be launched from Remorhaz next month. The Battle Of the Rocks, as this first engagement would be called, was a tactical victory for Remorhaz, but a strategic victory for the Norak Continuum. What momentum Remorhaz had gained in taking Tudran was lost.

sachmo71

10-07-2003, 10:17 PM

Shifting Gears

2404.7

RSS Artemis fired her main engines as soon as she cleared the traffic pattern around Remorhaz. Captain R.J. Brennan looked out of over the bridge of his brand new ship. She was quite a step up from the System Patrol Ship RSS Hawk, but Admiral Urian had every confidence that he would be able to do the job and be a credit to the Remorhaz People’s Navy. Everything had happened so fast, it was hard to take it all in, but now here he was, commanding the newest Nemesis Class C in the Navy.
He brought up his orders again on the command console. Aretmis was to proceed at best speed to Glory, resupply there and then take up position in the Wurtuy system.
Like everyone else in the service, he had heard about the Battle of the Rocks. One Norakian frigate had damaged three Remorhaz frigates before being destroyed. Brennan frowned. If he had been in command, they would have defeated the Norakian without incident. The entire situation proved just how hollow the accomplishments of Captain Gina Jager were. It was pure luck that she had been given command of RSS Eagle. That should have been his billet.
Captain R.J. Brennan firmly believed that Gina Jager was one of those lucky few that had just enough charm and grace to advance in the ranks without actual merit. Sure she had been the first to travel through a wormhole, and the first to make contact with another race, but that was just a case of being in the right place at the right time. No, The Rocks had shown what Jager was made of. It was fortunate for her, and the Navy, that she didn’t get both ships destroyed. Brennan didn’t necessarily dislike Jager; actually he thought her quite nice and pleasing to look at. In peacetime, officers like her were always around. In war, they had no place. She would get people killed. Brennan was determined that he, nor his crew, would be one of them.
Brennan looked back out over his bridge and smiled. Her loss would be his gain. The recognition that he felt he had missed out on would soon be his.

Chairman Sachmo looked across the large table at Admiral Urian.
“Admiral, exactly what is our status in Wurtuy?”
The Admiral answered without hesitation. “Sir, we have two system patrol craft and one frigate holding the jump points. They are position behind a band of DSV-II defense satellites. In a month, we should be able to continue offensive operations against the Norak.”
“That is good. I believe that it would be better to hold what we have gained then to push a bad situation. What did we learn from The Battle of the Rocks, Admiral?”
Again, Urian answered without pause. “Chairman, I believe that the mistakes that our ships made during the battle had more to do with the close quarters created by the asteroid fields then with any fault in our officer’s training. Normally, in an engagement between missile ships, the tactic is to move into firing range, launch, and then head away from the enemy missiles, which by this time headed toward you. Our officers were affected by a number of factors while trying to complete the maneuvers required, which resulted in both frigates taking hits early in the engagement. Also, I believe that the Norakian captain had some definite combat experience, and the action reports seem to indicate that he was very comfortable in the asteroid field. We now know more of what to expect in the way of tactics from the Norakians, and also what their weapons are capable of. We should do much better next time.”
The Chairman believed every word of it. He had come to almost the same conclusion himself. He was also happy that the fleet had finally destroyed the offending Norakian. If he had escaped, the damage would have been much worse then just to the ships; it might have damaged the confidence of the crews of those ships. With the lack of any real experience that ran through the ranks of the RPN, confidence was the one thing they could fall back on.
“I do believe we will, Admiral. We will do better next time. Is there anything that would could do to make the Navy’s job easier?”
The Admiral looked to his aide, who handed him a single sheet of paper.
“Chairman, our ship designs seem to be well suited to fight against the Norak. The System Patrol Craft could use a refitting with the latest DUCs, but I would rather channel the resources toward building more Nemesis C Class Frigates. Also, if we could ask that the Research Guild make it a priority to research the capability to build larger craft. I feel that a few more larger craft could really help turn the tide.”
The Admiral went on with his list. The Chairman agreed with everything he could. Obviously, everyone was aware of the mineral situation. The colonies in the Tudran System should be up and running soon, which was good news.
The Chairman wrapped up the meeting after five hours of discussion.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, I understand how you are feeling. This war has made all of us weary. Unfortunately, we are fighting for survival. Our offers of peace have been met with outright hostility. I hope and pray that by some miracle this war will end soon, but my heart tells me that we will probably have to see this war through until the bitter end. We are not a violent people. Genocide is not in our nature. We don’t relish the thought of destroying innocents, wiping out cultures. By the same token, we shall not let the same happen to us. If the Norakians and the Rage will not talk reason with us, then we will fight. Make no mistake; we will wipe them from the pages of history if we must, but the Remorhaz Society will prevail. Thank you, that will be all.”

Over on Glory, Hyperion had limped into the Space Yard for repairs. Immediately, a swarm of workers began the repairs. Captain Reed left a skeleton crew on the ship, and released the men for some well-deserved R&R on Glory. Captain Reed rented a modest room at a hotel right outside of the Space Yard, sat down on the bed, and was asleep before he was able to disrobe. He slept for fifteen hours.

2404.8

Spitfire is the first Remorhaz colony in the Tudran System. The colonists immediately began constructing the all-important Space Port, to facilitate the exchange of resources with the rest of the Society.
In the Wurtuy System, the Norakians jumped a fleet of three Alagoinhas Frigates into the system. Their projected course put them on a direct course for the Wurtuy-Nekron Wormhole. There to meet them were Eagle, the freshly repaired Hyperion, and 5 DSV-II defense satellites. Furious was dispatched to cover the Wurtuy-Tudran Wormhole, in case the Norakian fleet decided to head in that direction. Back on
Glory, Intimidator pulled into the Space Yard for repairs. Captain Lu and his crew watch proudly as ½ of a kill star was painted on the ship by the bridge window. It wasn’t a pretty fight, hell, he had been bushwhacked, but they had slagged that Norakian frigate in the end. He and his crew tried to make themselves useful to the Space Yard staff, so they could get Intimidator repaired and back to the wormhole. They wanted another shot at the Norakians, and it was shaping up to be the biggest fight of the war…so far.
Admiral Urian decided to dispatch RSS Hawk to assist Eagle and Hyperion cover the wormhole. They had to hold the Wurtuy System, or Tudran could be cut off.

On Glory, construction began on the first ship to be built outside of the Remorhaz system, the RSS Glory. She would be ready for duty in two months.

2404.9
The second planet in the Tudran System was colonized. The colony was named Hera and it would begin life as a resupply depot for the fleet, and eventually be used as an all-purpose colony. Hera didn’t have any abundance of a particular resource, and so would not be specialized.
In the Wurtuy System, the Neckron fleet again fooled the planning staff, as they changed course for the Xillantha system. Seeing an opportunity, Admiral Urian created a fleet to harass the system. The fleet consisted of Intimidator and Artemis. The fleet was to concentrate on doing maximum damage but with the main goal being the preservation of assets, so basically the Captains were under orders not to get killed!
TR-MP (multi-purpose transport) RSS Loxias and RSS Eagle set out across the Wurtuy system to place defense satellites outside of the Wurtuy wormhole that lead to the Norakian home system, which had yet to be explored. This operation was launched to try and interdict Norakian shipping trying to enter the Wurtuy System. It should at least provide those Norakian captains a nasty surprise when they finished the jump!

sachmo71

10-07-2003, 10:18 PM

On the Attack

2405.0

“We made it.” Gina Jager said to herself.
“Captain?” the XO asked. She must have said that louder then she thought. God, was she tired!
Out of the bridge windows, she could make out the cavernous berth where Nemesis would spend the next month being repaired. She could also make out the outline of RSS Manticore, the newest addition to the fleet. Even shrouded in the darkness of her berth, Manticore looked dangerous. She was not an upgrade, but a true Nemesis C Class Frigate. Her lines were a bit less severe then those of her own ship. She looked more…deadly? She only hoped the Manticore was as dangerous as she looked. She would be in action soon.
Gina snapped out of her fog. Nemesis was on final approach, and she needed to have her wits about her. Everyone on the ship was tired, so she needed to be sharp in case someone dropped the ball. After the Battle of the Rocks, pranging her ship on the wall of the Space Yard would probably get her busted down to shave tail Lieutenant, maybe serving as nav officer on a colony ship.
“Helm, bring her in slow. Sensor, I need constant ranging marks.”
Nemesis fired her retros expertly, braking the ship to a safe approach speed. At the same moment, the ship executed a quarter roll, so that Nemesis would dock upright. Gina smiled, impressed by the skill which Helm Officer Dorland was displaying on the approach.
“Very nice, Mr. Dorland. Excellent approach.”
Dorland absently responded, “Yes mam.”
Gina sat back in the command chair as they silently slipped into their berth. One last flash from the retros, and they were motionless. The harbormaster on the berth started moving the gantry into position. For the next month, Captain Jager would have nothing but time on her hands. Plenty of time to go over the last cruise in her mind, over and over, and over…she was not looking forward to this respite at all.

2405.1

On Spitfire, the colonists finished constructing the Space Port. The Tudran System would now be able to export the valuable minerals to the rest of the empire. This was a huge step in the war.

In the Yullado System, Intimidator picked up a Norakian colony ship on radar. She was alone. Captain Lu was not. He had Artemis with him. It was over in moments. Chalk up another 34 million Norakian victims to this senseless war. Gamma Fleet continued on to the Xillantha system.

Nemesis finished repairs on schedule, and the immediately joined the ships on station in the Wurtuy System. It was time to win back the imitative.

2405.2

Operation Strangle was complete. Loxias and Eagle had laid a field of defensive satellites outside of the Wurtuy-Lapzooli wormhole. Lapzooli was the home system of the Norak Continuum. This move should allow the Remorhaz fleet to interdict any ships trying to come through this wormhole, or at least make it a very costly voyage. Furious took up station off of the wormhole, with Hyperion moving to join her. Eagle had the grizzly duty of destroying a lone Norakian colony ship that appeared in the Wurtuy system. She made short work of it.

Hawk pulled into the Space Yard at Glory. She was to be upgraded to the new System Patrol Class Eagle C. In place of supply storage, the ship was given another Depleted Uranium Cannon. These third generation cannon had double the range and move lethality then the first generation. Eagle and [/I]Falcon[/I] headed for Glory for a refit also. Production on all ships was halted so that the Society could build up enough mineral resources to upgrade the mining facilities, assuming the Science Guild finished the project that they felt confident would improve the miners efficiency. It was a gamble the Chairman had to take.

In the Xillantha System, Gamma Fleet completed the jump in system. Xillantha VI held a colony of 66 million Norakians. A single frigate protected her. Gamma Fleet would give them all that they could handle.

2405.3

The offensive had begun. Gamma fleet approached Xillantha VI. For some reason that neither captain could fathom, the Norak Alagoa frigate that had been covering the planet left orbit to join another Alagoa. The planet was completely open to attack.
Captain Lu was the senior officer and would be in charge of the attack. Captain R.J. Brennan was in command of the Artemis.
“Captain Brennan!” the Sonar Officer called out. “I read at least five weapons platforms on the surface!”
Well, so much for undefended, Brennan thought.
“Ok, get that information to Intimidator ASAP. No one told us that this would be easy.” His command console rang. As he answered it, the face of Captain Lu greeted him.
“R.J., we are going to do this by the book. We move into optimal firing range and let fly. Then we high tail it out of range. It’s been my experience that this works very well against well-defended planets. They can’t dodge our salvos, so we have the advantage. The downside is that if a barrage catches us, there is no way our ship could survive that number of missiles. Be careful, and follow me in. Good luck and God bless.”
Brennan smiled. “We’ll be right behind you, sir. Just save some for us, ok? We can’t let you experienced officers have all of the fun, right?” Brennan laughed, but was puzzled by Captain Lu’s reaction. Was he…disappointed? Or was it fear?
“Don’t worry, Brennan, there will be plenty of action to go around today. Lu out.”
With that, the link went dead. Brennan liked Captain Lu, and hoped that he hadn’t gotten on his bad side. Otherwise it would be a long trip home.
They began their run. At twelve parsecs, on board Intimidator, the Sensor Officer called out. “Sir, I have multiple bogies coming from the surface. We have been targeted, Captain.”
Lu frowned. Twelve parsecs? “Nav, how far out are we?”
“12 parsecs, Captain.”
Must be a new type of missile, then. The intel boys back home would love to hear about this. “Right, that changes nothing. Move to 9 parsecs and fire a full spread.”
On the first run, [I]Intimidator’s[I] missiles took out one of the weapons platforms, but Artemis fired to soon, and her missiles failed to reach the planet.
Chalk on up to battlefield jitters, Lu mused. He opened the com link and reminded Brennan, as gently as possible, to hold fire until nine parsecs. To Lu it appeared that Brennan digested the advice.
On the second run, it appeared to Lu that he was right. Artemis held fire until nine parsecs, and both ships succeeded in knocking out another two weapons platform.
The next four runs took place with neither ship taking damage. The Norak colony on Xillantha VI was blasted out of existence.
During the conference between Lu and Brennan after the battle, he spoke with considerably less bravado. Nuking colonies would do that to a man, and Lu thought that there might be hope for him yet.

In the Wurtuy System, Hyperion and Furious prepared to jump into the Lapzooli System. This would be the first raid on the Norak home system. The ships joined up, and entered the wormhole…

sachmo71

10-07-2003, 10:24 PM

Fire from Heaven

As they emerged from the wormhole, the entire Norak system was laid bare before them. There were two ships on the sensors, but they were too far away to join in the fight. The closest target was Lapzooli V. The frigates closed in, intent on doing as much damage as possible.
Aboard Hyperion, Captain Walt Reed surveyed the battle plot. Lapzooli V had at least three weapons platforms, and they were all armed with missiles. Standard hit and run tactics, then. The battle plan worked, and the defense bases were systematically smashed. Roughly 100 million Norakian colonists perished in the firestorm rained upon them by the Remorhaz frigates. The very existence of the Norak Continuum was at stake.

Word of the Lapzooli Offensive reached the Chairman quickly. His pages and staff were around him, chirping about the end of the war and victory. Chairman Sachmo was not so quick to write the Norak off. He sat back in his chair, and rubbed his temples. No, but this was a time to offer them peace. As he had stated during their strategy meeting, he had no desire to destroy an entire race. There really wasn’t much choice in the matter. He punched up the com unit of the chief of the Diplomatic Corps, Ambassador Sangi Mulatti.
“Ambassador Mulatti. Oh, good day, Chairman. I trust you have heard the news?”
Sachmo smiled thinly. “Yes, Sangi. We may have an opportunity here, but I don’t see that this thing is over.”
Sangi nodded. “I concur, Chairman. What can I do for you?”
“Sangi, I need you to offer the Norak a graceful way out of this conflict. If you and your staff can get me some idea of how they might receive such a proposal, we would have an advantage.”
“Sir, I have already taken the liberty of preparing a report on the mood of the Norakians. I will send it over to you immediately.”
Good old Sangi. Always one step ahead. That might explain why he had survived in politics as long as he did.
“Thanks, Sangi. Is there anything you can give me now? Maybe an overview?”
With a nod, and a frown, Sangi spoke. “Chairman, I am afraid that the only way to win this war may indeed be the destruction of our race or theirs. No matter what losses they take, or what setbacks we cause them, they howl for our blood. They are relentless in their hatred. I don’t think they will seriously entertain an offer of surrender. There is much we do not understand about their culture, but their complete devotion to their government doesn’t give the common man much room to think, and the religious hierarchy seems to equate us with the anti-christ. Why may be a question we may never have answered, but we can at least try.”
The Chairman let out a long sigh. “Well Sangi, let us hope they do come around. If we destroy this race, I don’t know how the people will feel about that. Also, what will the other races in the galaxy think of us? Will peace be impossible with the Rage? So many things we cannot know the answer to, but we have to try and end this.”
“Chairman, my staff and I will do everything we can to get through to Norakians.”
“I trust you will, Sangi.”

2405.4

Combat in the Xillantha-Wurtuy wormhole resulted in damage to Manticore and two Alagoa class Norak frigates. Manticore headed back to Glory for repairs, while Gamma Fleet perused the wounded Alagoas.
The Research Guild had indeed discovered a more efficient way to mine planets, and all miners in the Society were gearing up to upgrade their mining facilities.
At Glory, Falcon began the upgrade process.
In Lapzooli, Hyperion and Furious attacked Lapzooli I. 105 million colonists were protected by two weapons platforms. The colony was destroyed. Their mission a rousing success, the two fleet withdrew, headed to Hera to resupply and rearm. Nemesis moved to the wormhole to cover their withdrawal, and to keep the Norakians penned into the Lapzooli System.

2404.5

Remorhaz built a colony ship, which was immediately dispatched to the Xillantha system to setup a resupply base in that system.

In Xillantha, Captain Lu took Gamma Fleet into battle against the two wounded Alagoas. Captain Lu had the battle plan worked out with Brennan ahead of time. They would fork the lesser-damaged Alagoa, and take her with missiles from both flanks. This should minimize danger for both craft, and allow them to hunt and kill the remaining. Lu was happy to confirm that the second Alagoa had both of her missile tubes knocked out, so she would be out of the fight. As soon as Intimidator and Artemis appeared on their scanners, the disarmed frigate turned and ran. The remaining Alagoa turned to cover his partner’s retreat.
“Brave.” Captain Lu murmured. He checked the tactical display. Intimidator was still out of missile range, but Artemis should be firing just about…
“Captain, Artemis has fired on the Alagoa. Full spread.” Lieutenant Merrik called out.
“Very well. Helm, continue into firing range.”
“Aye, aye, sir.”
“XO, what do you think? Will she stick around and fight, or cut and run?” Captain Lu looked to his XO. Lieutenant Commander Will Crowley was a very promising young officer, and Lu would recommend him for the next available command.
“Well sir, she doesn’t really have a choice. She can either try and run at 1/3 speed, or buy her friend some time. This way, maybe one of them can get away. I think she’ll fight, and try to take a piece of our ass with them.”
Lu nodded. “I concur. What say we not give her the chance?”
Lieutenant Crowley smiled. “I’m with you on that, Captain. Sensor, what’s she doing?”
Captain Lu sat back. Let’s see how the kid does with this, he thought.
The Alagoa fired a spread back at Artemis. Brennan turned her sharply and kicked in the main engines, struggling to get out of missile range. It looked to Gordon Lu as if combat had taught Mr. Brennan a bit of caution. The thought made him smile. Soon he would regain a bit of his swagger, but it would be tempered with knowledge and experience. That’s what made a good captain.
Intimidator continued to close the range to the Alagoa.
Captain Lu saw the firing solution on the tactical display. It couldn’t look any better than this. He was about to give the order himself when he heard Crowley yell out.
“Alright Weps, give him a full spread. Helm, get ready to take us out of range.”
The officers acknowledged the orders.
“Sir, we have been targeted. Missiles incoming!”
Lieutenant Commander Crowley remained calm. “Ok helm, get us the hell out of here.”
The ship turned as quickly as she could. There was the briefest of moments when Gordon was pushed back in his seat as the compensators adjusted for the change in momentum. It always made him feel like he was on an ride at an amusement park.
The missiles slammed into the Alagoa, and smashed it like a child’s toy. The ship split in half, gasses venting and fires burning out as soon as they hit the vacuum of space.
It took the better part of the day, but eventually Gamma Fleet hunted down and destroyed the second Alagoa. The system cleared, Gamma Fleet made for Glory to resupply. This was a very successful cruise for the crew of Intimidator and Artemis.

In the Lapzooli system, Captain Jager was given permission by Admiral Urian to move the wormhole defense into Lapzooli, to ensure the free passage of this wormhole. Nemesis was itching for a fight, and so determined that this would be the system for it. Loxias moved all of the defense satellites into the Lapzooli system, and deployed them at the wormhole. Now if a supply base could be setup in system, they might be able to knock the Norak Continuum out of the war.

In the meantime, the mining facility upgrades continued at a feverish pace.

2405.7

Black Hills completed the mining upgrade. Gamma and Delta Fleets headed back to Glory and Hera respectively to allow a resupply. Admiral Urian was determined that once strength was built up sufficiently, the Lapzooli Offensive would follow through to it’s logical conclusion. He dispatched RSS Eagle to scout the system beneath Lapzooli. If there were Norakians in this system, they would be destroyed. Admiral Urian had no qualms about destroying the Norakians. War was hell, but those who refused to know when to call it quits deserved what they got.

2405.8

Remorhaz has completed their mining upgrade. Glory was the only planet left to complete the upgrade. Mineral supplies were rising again.
On the diplomatic front, the Norak continued to refuse a treaty.
The Diplomatic Corps reported that the Rage had warmed to us, but a non-aggression treaty was greeted with a negative, belligerent response. Of course, the ambassador sent was immediately killed.
Gamma Fleet pulled into Glory. The ships were greeted with a large crowd of civilians and military personnel alike, all cheering the Intimidator and [/I]Artemis[/I]. The total victory of the Remorhaz People’s Navy in the Xillantha system was a huge boost for morale. The crews of both ships need not have worried about buying drinks for themselves, as everything was on the house. After the debriefing, Admiral Urian gathered the press and the command staff of both ships. In a ceremony, the officers in charge were awarded the Golden Sun for duty above and beyond the call of duty. Certain members of the crews of both ships were also decorated. At the end of the ceremony, much to everyone’s surprise, Admiral Urian announced that Captain Gordon Lu was promoted to the rank of Commodore, with all of the privileges afforded that rank. Lu was the first officer promoted for combat excellence in the Remorhaz Society in over 100 years.
A week later, the ceremony died down as Gamma Fleet prepared to head into Lapzooli for the final offensive. Commodore Lu was given a choice of which ship to carry his flag on, and without hesitation he chose RSS Intimidator. His former XO, now Captain Will Crowley was given command. She would be the flagship of Gamma Fleet, and from her the attack on Lapzooli would be commanded. Extra communications gear was installed on [I]Intimidator[I] to allow her to function as the command ship. Commodore Lu sat in his cabin and watched the Space Yard slowly drift out of view.
“This is all on you, Gordo.” He thought. “If you screw the pooch, you’re going to take a lot of folks with you. Don’t fail.” He lay back in his bunk. I had better be ready, because this happening whether he was ready or not.
With a stretch and a yawn, he stood up and moved over to his desk. It was made from pure Glory choba wood, which gave the desk a slightly greenish color. It was very nice, and very expensive. “I guess this is the furniture you rate when you are a flag officer” Gordon mused. He pulled out his intel and charts on the Lapzooli system. It was time to plan an attack.

Admiral Urian stepped into the cramped room. General Gulman was already present, along with his staff. Chairman Sachmo sat at the table, looking haggard. He flashed the Admiral the best smile he could muster. The Admiral nodded, and walked over to the General.
“Gulman! You old ground-pounder! What’s got you in an office? You aren’t happy unless you are sleeping under a rock somewhere with a rifle in one hand and a sword in the other!”
The General smiled at the Admiral. Once upon a time, Gulman had been dead set on going the Navy route, but in the end the Army seemed a better fit. He and Urian had been friends since they were kids, though, and so were very close.
“Hi, Marcus. Come on in. I really want to get started, if you don’t mind.”
Urian took a seat and poured himself a cup of coffee. He opened his data file, and clicked it into the port imbedded in the table.
Chairman Sachmo stood up.
“Gentlemen, as you know, the war on the Norak front may be winding down. The fleet is getting ready to gather in Lapzooli, and once together they will attack Lapzooli II. It looks like surrender is not in their vocabulary. Throughout the last few months, we have been able to destroy their colonies through fleet bombardment. While effective, it is brutal. If this war drags on, I want to be able to invade these worlds and capture them. This will allow us to take a planet that is already build up and populated and quickly assimilate it into the society. Also, it will drastically reduce the number of civilian casualties this war has produced. The General tells me that with our current technology, any attempt at an invasion would be suicide. We have no means of getting troops down onto the surface of a planet in a rapid enough fashion that would keep them from getting slaughtered by ground troops.”
He sat back down. “I realize that you cannot control these factors, but I need you ideas on what it would take to make surface invasion a reality.”
Admiral Urian cleared his throat. “Sir, the General and I and our staffs have come up with a proposal that would give us the most flexibility for a force of space to dirt infantry. They would have to be shock troops, sir. Once a planet is taken, regular army units could be brought in to keep the peace and garrison the planet. We have decided that this new force should be under the jurisdiction of neither the Army or the Navy, but be a branch of the service all to itself.”
General Gulman punched up his proposal onto the main conference wall.
“Sir, we propose that this new force be called the Remorhaz Space Marines Corps.”
At that table, in the eighth month of the year 2405, the Remorhaz Space Marine Corps. They would earn a reputation for themselves as one of the toughest fighting outfits in the galaxy, but that is a story for later.

sachmo71

10-07-2003, 10:26 PM

Eagle Down

2405.9

The upgrade of the mining facilities has been completed throughout the Society. Minerals are being mined at an unprecented rate. The abundance of raw materials will allow for a much more flexible and complete building program throughout the Remorhaz Society.

Once again, the Norak Continuum refuses to negotiate with our diplomats. Meanwhile, our ships gather for an assault on their homeworld. It’s only a matter of time now.
In the Lapzooli system, Nemesis watched as a Norakian Alagoinhas class frigate approaches the wormhole. If they come, we’ll be ready, Captain Jager thought. They will not run the barricade. Help was on the way in the form of Gamma and Delta Fleets. It was only a matter of time.

In the Xillantha system, colonists landed on the fifth planet of the system, and renamed the planet Fort Justice in honor of the crew of the first Remorhaz ship to be lost in combat. The colonists began setting up a spaceport as quickly as possible. Next on the list would be a resupply post. This system was now deemed vital to the Society, and so the Navy was making its possession a priority. Orbiting Fort Justice was the RSS Hawk, with Falcon making way at best speed to assist in securing the system. As soon as Manticore was repaired, she would also head to the system. When the defense of the system was secured, a scouting mission would be sent into Fezzran system, where Rage activity could be monitored.
Back on Remorhaz, the military was being restructured. With the creation of the Remorhaz Space Marine Corps, the corps of officers would have to be taken from both the Army and the Navy. Also, since the ranks of the Marines were based on the rank structure used by the Army, the highest-ranking officer in each branch of service was given a specific title. For example, the highest rank in the Army was previously General, with the senior-most General serving as the head of the Army. Now that the Marine Corps would also have their own Generals, each branch had a specific name for its commanding officer. So with this change in rank structure, Admiral Urian was “promoted” to the rank of Grand Admiral, and General Gulman to the rank of Field Marshal. The position of Commandant of the Marine Corps had yet to be filled. Grand Admiral Urian, Field Marshal Gulman, and Chairman Sachmo were interviewing prospective candidates. With a war on, such a decision was much too important to be entrusted to the Representatives. A creature of politics would buckle under the strain. The Commandant had to be an officer of vision, motivation, and patience. Building a service branch from the ground up, during a war, would be an almost impossible task at best. The Corps needed a warrior to lead it.

2406.0

In the Lapzooli system, Nemesis, backed by thirteen defense satellites, destroyed a Norakian Alagoinhas class frigate and sustained no damage. Her crew was ecstatic; and she hoped that would last. It wasn’t their fault about the outcome of the Battle of the Rocks, but they felt that way anyway. On the positive side, because they felt that way indicated to Gina that they were coming closer together as a unit.

The Rage were on the move. While the Eagle was preparing for her jump into an unknown system, there was a massive matter disturbance detected on the scanner four parsecs from the wormhole.
“Emergency stop!” Captain Hanks screamed. He wasn’t sure what the disturbance was…it could be a gravity “riptide”, or an ion cloud (a big one!), or even something coming through the wormhole. Whatever it was, Captain Hanks didn’t want to collide with it.
The small System Patrol Ship responded to the emergency stop quickly. The helmsman deftly stood Eagle on her stern, and then rolled her over, so that the main engines could be used to brake their forward momentum.
“Captain! I have multiple bogies completing jump from the wormhole. I count…six, no, five frigate sized craft and one larger. Sir, the frigates match Rage patterns, although they are types we haven’t seen before. Range to closest target…two parsecs!”
This was definitely a bad situation. If those Rage ships had missiles, there was no way Eagle could get out of range before they were hit. Captain Hanks made his decision quickly.
“Sparks, launch an emergency beacon. Attach the signatures of those Rage frigates for the intel boys to add to the database. Copy the message to Hawk and Fort Justice. I’m sure we’ll know what types of weapons they have soon enough.” Hanks had to smile at his own joke, even if no one else did. By launching the beacon, he was betting that they wouldn’t make it through the fight, but at least the Navy would know what happened, and where.
“Missiles incoming. Captain, we have at least thirty missiles inbound!”
“Weps, target the closest Rage ship and fire at her. If I’m going to lose, I want someone to go down with me.”
“Aye, Aye, Sir. Firing.”
Eagle lurched ever so slightly as her twin depleted uranium cannons fired at the Rage frigate.
Captain Hanks looked at the tactical display. Only one way to run, and that was away from the wormhole. “Helm, stand on it. We have to open the range as quickly as possible, or we are in trouble.”
The helmsman acknowledged. Hanks looked at the display again. They were at 110% power on the engines, and rising. He really was trying his best to open the range, but Hanks knew it wouldn’t make much of a difference. Those missiles were fired at too close of a range for the Eagle to get clear.
The XO shouted with glee, “Direct hit with both guns, sir. The Rage frigate is venting gas. We hurt her, sir.”
They wouldn’t go down alone. Eagle ran for 2 parsecs before the missiles caught up with her.
The first spread hit her slightly aft of amidships, obliterating the crew quarters, mess, and medical bay in an instant.
The power went down, but came back up just as quickly. The XO hadn’t been strapped into a seat, and now he lay on the deck, his head bleeding from a nasty gash given to him by a console.
“Damage report!” Captain Hanks called.
Life support called back with the grim news. “Captain, the left rear quarter of the ship is gone. We are trying to close off sections now, but I think it may be more than we can handle. We lost Ingols and Rospero when the hatch was torn off.”
“Do what you can. Good luck.” Hanks frowned. That salvo had pretty much done them in, and there were at least 25 more missiles inbound.
“Weps, you fire at that target and you take him to hell with us, alright?”
The Weapons Officer acknowledged the order, and his voice cracked. Tears were streaming down his face. They all knew that they were going to die today.
“Sensor, where are those other missiles?”
“8000 mete…” The next salvo of missiles slammed into the bow, vaporizing the forward half of RSS Eagle. A few men trapped in the twisted wreck that had been the rear half of the ship lived another fifteen seconds before a third salvo turned what was left of the ship into a quickly dissipating could of debris.

Hawk had indeed gotten the message from Eagle. Lieutenant Commander Harry Norten stared at the tactical display as Eagle flared and died on the screen. He immediately called down to the colony and informed them that “if they wanted to live they would put all efforts into building as many defense satellites as they possibly could, and some weapons platforms, and they could do it right goddamn now.”
Governor Yuri Kalasnikov immediately had everyone quit work on the spaceport and begin assembly of defense satellites. By his estimation, they should be able to get three built and launched by the end of the month. It wasn’t much, but it would have to do. Yuri had seen video of the bombardment of Cirius. Now that nightmare might actually become a reality. He had those he could spare begin constructing bunkers. There would be no way they could protect everyone, but maybe some of the children could survive.

In Wurtuy, Commodore Lu decided to divert Gamma Fleet to protect the Xillantha-Wurtuy wormhole, in case the Rage decided to try and penetrate this system.

The scientists had finally finished the prototype for the next combat ship hull. This destroyer hull was 300kt, and so could pack more weapons than the frigate. On this hull the Navy Design Bureau created three new designs:
1. Glory Class DD- with 3 missile tubes and 2 DUCs, this ship can handle anything thrown her way.
2. AUX-R (Auxiliary Repair)- this ship would allow ships damaged in combat to be repaired while underway.
3. AUX-S (Auxiliary Supply)- this ship would join with a fleet to extend its range and decrease the need for resupply runs.
These craft would be build as soon as possible, but the Glory DD’s were obviously going to be the first off of the line.

The Research Guild, on orders from the Chairman, began researching methods of construction a weapon system, which could survive atmospheric re-entry, carry troops, and provide fire support for those troops. With this, the Marine Corps would have a weapon to fight with.

Rear Admiral Shaun Hunter walked into the conference room. A quick glance around the table told him that this was a serious interview. He had half expected his request to transfer to the new Space Marine Corps to be buried under a sea of paper. Some of the older fleet officers weren’t very fond of him.
Hunter was widely known throughout the Navy as being a brilliant, but pushy officer. He had written some excellent papers on tactics during his career, but he had never bothered to try and conform his ideas to those of his senior, whoever he may have been at the time. Often, this resulted in friction between him and his commanding officers. If it weren’t for his brilliant mind, he probably would have been mustered out of the Navy long ago, but where he had many enemies, he also had many friends. So, he advanced through the ranks, moving from command to command, learning all that he could about the Navy, and applying it to what he already knew. This had created on of the most brilliant minds in the service, but none of that mattered now. He would never make Fleet Admiral, or anything after that, however. His enemies could easily see to that, and his friends could not get him past his current rank. He was stuck between a rock and a hard place. Naturally, when the creation of the Space Marine Corps had been announced, Hunter had jumped at the chance. Of the very few space to surface missions that the Navy had run over the years, Hunter had advised or participated in all of them. He had written at least five papers on theory and tactics of planetary invasion tactics. Unbeknownst to him, Grand Admiral Urian and Field Marshal Gulman had used his papers as a basis for their proposal for the creation of the Marine Corps. He thought he would be a natural fit, and maybe it might jump-start his career.
Hunter stepped into the middle of the room and stood before the assembled staff. He saluted crisply, and stood at attention when Urian returned it.
The Grand Admiral spoke. “Welcome to the review board, Rear Admiral Hunter. As you know, this panel is responsible for selecting officers for transfer to the Remorhaz Space Marine Corps. We are interviewing volunteers first, and then we will go through and select officers whom we believe will fit in best and contribute the most to the Corps. Since the main mission of the Marine Corps will involve surface combat, the majority of officers and non-commissioned officers will come from the Army. That does not necessarily mean that Army officers will get the highest positions. Do you have any questions before we start?”
“No, sir.”
“Fine, then. Field Marshal Gulman, if you would start please?”
The Field Marshal cleared his throat. “Rear Admiral, can you tell me why you have been in your present rank for the last five years?”
The question surprised Hunter. He hadn’t expected to have to defend himself so early. He figured that the Field Marshal would want to do his old cronies a favor and get him out of the Navy, and out of their hair. If that were indeed his intention, why would he try and disqualify him right off the bat?
“Well, sir…I would have to say that while I cannot answer your question with any more knowledge than I possess, I can probably answer your question honestly. I haven’t always made friends during my career sir. I tend to fight for what I believe in, often long after I should have given up the fight. I believe if I had been less stubborn on a number of occasions, I might have made Vice Admiral by now.” The cat’s out of the bag now, Hunter thought. I wonder if I’ve already killed my chances?
Next to speak was Grand Admiral Urian.
“Rear Admiral Hunter, can you tell me why, on numerous occasions, you would publish papers that you knew sometimes contradicted or even demolished the theories of your superiors?”
This is a damn firing squad, mused Hunter. Not what I expected at all. Well, if they want to humiliate me, I might as well give them something to talk about.
“Grand Admiral, I believe the problem here is not that I would publish these papers, but that some of my past superiors refused to even attempt to try anything new. If it hadn’t been me, it would have been some other officer. Tactics need to evolve, sir. If they sit stagnant too long, you might end up holding the short end of the stick before you know it. My job is to keep my people alive and achieve my objective, not to earn brownie points with my superiors.” Put that in your pipe and smoke it. Still, Hunter was disappointed. He had always thought of Admiral Urian as a free thinker. He thought the Grand Admiral was a friend.
Finally, the Chairman spoke. “Did you know that you are the highest ranking officer to request a transfer, Rear Admiral Hunter? How do you think that will look to your superiors? It smacks of desperation to me, if you want to know the truth. Is that it, Rear Admiral? Do you want to continue your career, since we all know that it’s pretty much over now in the Navy?”
Hunter was furious. From the Field Marshal he expected it. From the Grand Admiral, he hadn’t, but he respected the man, so it was easier to take. Now the Chairman? Had he really screwed up that bad?
“Mr. Chairman, with all do respect, I am not a politician, nor do I wish to be one. If my actions over the course of my career have cost me rank, then so be it. I worked very hard to get where I am today, sir. If this is the end of the line, then so be it. I will say this…I regret nothing. If one of my papers on missile tactics saves a ship, then it was all worth it. If the Marine Corp can benefit from my papers on Space to Surface combat, then it was all worth it. I stand by my decisions, because I am the one who has to live with them. I might not be the smartest officer in the Navy, or the most successful, but I think that I am the best that I can be. Nothing said here can change that, Mr. Chairman.”
With that, Hunter stood at attention, waiting to be dismissed. Now he wished they had just buried his request. He had sniped back at the Chairman of the Remorhaz society, the Grand Admiral of the Navy, and the Field Marshall. The Chairman was right. He could kiss any hope of another tour of duty. He was finished.
Hunter snapped out of his thoughts. The three questioners were still conversing, but they had their com units turned off, so no one could hear what they were saying. He stood at attention, hoping they hadn’t forgotten him…that they would dismiss him and end this farce. Maybe they want to watch me squirm?
After several minutes, Grand Admiral Urian turned his com unit back on. He had a smile on his face, and a bit of a mischievous look…maybe the eyebrows?
The Grand Admiral spoke. “Rear Admiral, thank you for your patience. We appreciate your honesty in your answers. While another officer might have…well, toned them down a bit, we had to be sure of what you were made of. If we approve your transfer, can you promise to continue acting the way you have conducted yourself here today? Will you wade through the junk, avoid playing politics, and concentrate on the mission at hand?”
Hunter was stunned. “Of course, sir.”
‘Will you continue to develop tactics and keep them from getting stagnant? Also, and most importantly, will you strive to keep your men alive?”
“Yes, Grand Admiral.”
“Well then, Rear Admiral Hunter, in accordance with the judgment of this review panel we would like to welcome you to the Remorhaz Space Marine Corps. We had a promotion in mind, also. How does Commandant of the Space Marine Corps sound to you?”
Hunter blinked. That had to be a mistake.
“Sir?”
“How would you like to be Commandant of the Space Marine Corps, Shawn?”
Hunter swallowed. This couldn’t be happening, but his heart took over his speech functions.
“Sir, this is not what I expected, but with every fiber of my being, I would be honored to accept the position.”
Urian smiled. “Excellent. Come on over here and shake my hand, Commandant. We have your five stars ready for you.”

At the end of the week, a press conference was held in Turian, the capitol of the Remorhaz Society. Commandant Shawn Hunter was introduced to the Society as the commander of the new Remorhaz Space Marine Corps. He briefly outlined the job of the Space Marine, and then answered questions from the press while the uniforms were displayed.
From the Lapzooli system, Captain Gina Jager watched the ceremony on the vid unit. So Rear Admiral Hunter was the head of the Space Marine Corps? She couldn’t think of a better choice. First, he was a Navy man and so she was sure that it got under everyone skin in the Army. Also, she had studied under him, and read some of his papers. His paper on effective damage control techniques had probably saved the lives of fifty crewmember on the trip home from the Battle of the Rocks. Hunter would make them the terror of the galaxy. She had to wonder, though, if his Marines would be ready in time for this battle?

sachmo71

10-07-2003, 10:27 PM

Genocide

2406.1

The Rage, thankfully, did not press their attack. It certainly wasn’t because of our overwhelming naval strength, thought Governor Kalashnikov. He hoped the Navy was serious about holding this system, because it looked to him as if the Rage could take it anytime they damn well pleased. RSS Falcon arrived in system to assist Hawk.

At the Glory shipyards, a new ship was launched. The RSS Comet was the first of the Comet Class Attack Ships. Armed with nothing but planetary napalm bombs, she was well suited to surface attack duties. Grand Admiral Urian hoped that if the Norak saw a demonstration of what the Comet Class Attack Ships could do to a colony, they would surrender, or at least sue for peace. She set out for the Lapzooli system immediately.

With the immediate threat of the Rage averted, Gamma Fleet once again laid course for Lapzooli.

2406.2

Nemesis joined up with Hyperion and [/I]Furious[/I] in Delta fleet. Captain Jager was in command of the fleet until Commodore Lu was in system. The three captains discussed their options, and decided to make a raid on Lapzooli II, the homeworld of the Norak. She had constructed two defense Space Stations, and these defenses needed to be softened up before a large attack could be mounted. Also, the fleet would be able to gather intel on any other defenses the planet had. Delta Fleet left the wormhole behind, and began the month long trip to the homeworld of the Norak.

The Grand Admiral of the Remorhaz Navy stood on the platform of the Remorhaz Space Yard. Before him, lit up brilliantly in her berth, was RSS Glory, the first of the Glory Class Destroyers. She was a hybrid design, and a bit of a departure from the previous ship designs. She mounted three capital missile tubes, and two DUCs. Command was given to Captain Peter Winters, an officer fresh from a tour on the General Staff of the Navy. He was an excellent leader, and a good tactician. Glory was to proceed to Xillantha and join up with Manticore, Eagle, and Hawk On board Glory was Rear Admiral Shiro Sakazawa, who was to organize the fleet in Xillantha into an effective fighting force. This fleet would harass the Rage while holding the system. If an opportunity presented itself, Sakazawa had authority to authorize and action he deemed appropriate.

2406.3

Delta Fleet entered the system of Lapzooli II. Captain Jager was very nervous. She was leading the fleet into battle against the capitol of another empire. Resistance was expected to be fierce. Quickly she had her Sensor Officer do a sensor scan of the system. She didn’t want to run into anything unexpected, and if the Norak were going to spring a trap, now would be the time.
“Captain, uhhh, I’m not sure if I really believe what I’m seeing, but it seems that neither the planet nor the Defense Space Stations around the her are armed.”
Gina nearly choked on her coffee. “What? XO, can you confirm?”
Commander Svenson quickly moved to the sensor screen. “I confirm that Captain. Not one defensive weapon. We are clear for approach. We do confirm that the planet is inhabited by 2.4 billion Norakians.”
Her mission was clear. She was to probe the enemy defenses and do as much damage as possible while ensuring the safety of her ships.
“Right then. We attack the planet with nuclear missiles. God damn this war.”
Gina punched up her com link to both Hyperion and Furious.
The faces of Captain Reed and Captain Jennings appeared instantly.
“Well my friends, it looks like they left their homeworld undefended. We will move in and fire nuclear missile salvos for effect. Be ready for anything…I just can’t believe that they would leave Lapzooli II open like this.”
Captain Reed spoke. “I saw that too, Gina. We’ll be ready. We need to take advantage of this. If it’s a mistake, they won’t make it again, so we need to make this count.”
Captain Jennings nodded. “I concur, Walt, but we need to let Remorhaz know about this situation. Maybe just having us here in orbit will bring them to the table.”
Gina shook her head. “There’s no time. We attack, and if Remorhaz wants us to pull back, then we’ll do it, but we can’t let this chance go. I don’t like it any more than either of you, but it’s what we get paid for. Keep your heads up and be careful.”
Both captains cleared the channel, intent on commanding their ships.
“Helm, make full speed for Lapzooli II. Weps, load up the missile tubes and begin targeting the facilities on the surface. Let’s take out their Space Yard first.”
The orders were acknowledged. Gina kept a close eye on the tactical display.
In the end, there were no tricks. Delta Fleet nuked Lapzooli II, defenseless, and killed 255 million people. Both Space Stations were destroyed also. Now the homeworld of the Norak was blockaded. Would they come to the table now?

Gamma Fleet hunted down and killed a lone Norakian colony ship, and destroyed her. RSS Comet made it to the Lapzooli system, and moved to join Delta Fleet in the blockade of the Norakian homeworld.
Glory launched RSS Cyllene, the first fleet supply ship in the Remorhaz navy. She immediately headed for Lapzooli to extend the staying power of the fleet in system.

The Research Guild, in cooperation with the Space Marine Corps, felt that they were making progress on the trans-atmospheric craft, but that an actual prototype was probably about three months away.

2406.4

Gamma Fleet began an attack on Lapzooli II. After the bombardment, the Norak had been able to launch a new destroyer, the Amaro Class. She was armed with class three capital ship missiles, three point defense cannon, and two shield generators. It would be a tough ship to take down, but Commodore Lu wanted to concentrate on nuking the planet. That would draw the enemy ship into the fight, maybe cause him to make a mistake. A mistake might give them a chance at defeating the Amaro. Both sides maneuvered and fired, but the Remorhaz fleet had the advantage in that they had a large planet to hit, while the Amaro had to drive them off. He was not completely successful, and around 200 million Norakian colonists were killed. No spacecraft were damaged in the battle.

In the Fezzran system, Manticore and Hawk jumped in system. Their scanners immediately picked up a Rage colony on Fezzran IV. This was a colony Nemesis had destroyed in the opening days of the war. Next, they noticed eleven Rage ships, mostly frigates but also a few destroyers. The task force immediately headed back through the wormhole and made full speed for Fort Justice. This was definitely going to be a holding action for a while.

Remorhaz launched the first fleet repair ship, RSS Icelus. She was sent to Glory for forward basing.

2406.5

Gamma Fleet, blockading Lapzooli II, was bolstered by the appearance of RSS Comet, a Comet Class Attack Ship. Her captain, Commander David Trinner, maneuvered his ship as close to the planet as possible. While Intimidator and Artemis lobbed nuclear missile salvos at the surface, Comet unleashed a hellish attack of fiery napalm against the installations on the surface of the Norak homeworld. The galaxy had not seen destruction like that done by the planetary napalm. Trinner tried to target military targets initially, but once those were destroyed by the awesome power of the bombs, he was forced to switch to civilian installations. Norakians died by the millions. In a second attack, the homeworld of the Norakians was destroyed. All of their cities were destroyed, afire, or just smoldering craters from nuclear attacks. Their leaders were killed along with everyone else on their home planet. Surely the remaining planets would surrender faced with this genocide. Wouldn’t they?

In Xillantha, a fleet of eight Rage ships perused Manticore and Hawk into the system. Both fleets raced for Fort Justice. Glory had made the transit, and Governor Kalashkniov had his colonists build more defense satellites. If the Rage came to Fort Justice, they would have a fight on their hands.

sachmo71

10-07-2003, 10:28 PM

Consequences

2406.6

“Grand Admiral, Commandant Hunter is on com for you, sir.”
The Grand Admiral hoped that Hunter had good news. The destruction of Lapzooli II had effects that he had not been prepared to deal with.
“Ok, put him through.”
Commandant of the Marine Corps Shawn Hunter appeared in the com unit.
“Marcus, they’ve finished the design for the assault craft. I can’t wait to show it to you. This baby is going to make the Space Marine Corps the most lethal attack force in history. With a ship full of assault craft, we can land a division of Marines in a matter of hours, and they will be hot and ready to go on landing. When can you come down? Oh yes, an unexpected side effect of the project…the eggheads in the Design Bureau believe that the miniaturization which was done on ship components for the assault craft will also be applicable to the construction of space mines and fighter craft! Can you imagine, Marcus? We could launch a wave of fighters at a Rage fleet before they could even deploy! Entire systems could be blocked off with defense satellites behind huge fields of space mines! This is going to give us the edge we will need to win this war!”
The Grand Admiral had to laugh. Commandant Hunter was still very new to this level of command. He was able to get excited about new things. A few years of the war would squeeze that out of him, but it was a refreshing change.
“Well, Shawn, when were you thinking about holding the test? I’m sure that the Chairman and the Field Marshal would also like to be there.”
Hunter looked off screen and yelled out the question to someone.
“Next week? Damn.” He looked back into the screen. “They say the prototype won’t be able to run the tests until next week.” He frowned. “Actually, they think it will take about five months of testing and design changes before they are ready for mass production.”
“Shawn, you still need to raise an army. We need some brave Space Marines to fill your assault craft” the Grand Admiral kidded.
“Yes, I know. I just want to get out there, you know? I’m ready to show everyone what we can do!”
“I understand, Shawn. We will be at the trial next week. Shall we have dinner soon? Now that you aren’t going to be lording over those poor scientists every minute of the day, maybe you can come and relax with me?”
The Commandant nodded. “Yes, Marcus. I’ve drawn up some preliminary plans for a troop transport design. I know it’s not exactly my jurisdiction, but I’ve figured out how to get the maximum number of assault craft based on the existing transport design…”
Marcus laughed again. “Ok, Shawn! Ok! We can discuss it at dinner tomorrow night.”
Someone off-screen call out to Hunter. Absently, he said, “Good deal. We’ll see you tomorrow night. For dinner.” The connection went dead.
Grand Admiral Urian shook his head. Yes, after the first time his Marines go into combat, he will lose a lot of that enthusiasm. It was sad really, but that was the burden of command.
With a sigh, the Grand Admiral went back to his reports.

As the speeder slowed for a vertical landing on the roof of the Senate in the city Turin, Chairman Sachmo looked out of the window. Crowds of civilians ringed the Senate, carrying signs and placards, and shouting. The Chairman could feel their anger even here, 500 feet above the crowd. This is going to be rough, he thought. All of those people are looking for answers, and the truth might be too much for them. The protests had begun as soon as the news of the destruction of Lapzooli II had been leaked by someone in the government. An “unidentified source” had handed the classified videos of the bombardment to Remorhaz News Network. Rather than checking the accuracy of the vid, they decided to run it. The resulting backlash was incredible. Ordinary citizens weren’t ready to see entire planets being glassed on their vids during dinner hour. Also, the people felt their honor had been besmirched. They thought that this was a cowardly way to fight a war. Lastly, they believed that if we could do that to them, then the Norak had every right to do it to us. The average citizen could easily see himself on the other end of that bombardment dancing across their vid screen.

Senator Harris was waiting for him at the elevator. “Good day, Chairman! How was the flight?”
Sachmo looked at him with a sour face. “Well, the trip from my residence was excellent. It’s amazing how fast a speeder can make a fifteen mile trip.”
If the Senator heard the jibe, he didn’t show it.
He talked as they walked. “Chairman, the citizens are restless, which means the Senate is restless. I know that you will placate them, but it’s important for you to know that your supporters are ready to come to your aid should you need it.” His smile was as big and fake as his hairpiece.
Subtle, Senator. If you think I’m not going to get through this, you are sorely mistaken, the Chairman thought.
They made the ride down in silence. Well, to the Chairman it was silence, but Senator Harris was babbling about anything and everything.
As they stepped into the cloakroom of the Senate, Harris and his people split off to find their seats.
Yarboro cleared his throat. “Shall I get the disinfectant out now, Chairman?”
Sachmo chuckled. “No, don’t bother, Yarboro. Senator Harris has a few surprises in store today. Actually, I almost pity him.”
“Yes, sir, he probably has no idea.” Yarboro quipped.

The Chairman stepped into the entrance to the rotunda. The Crier nodded to him, and walked down the aisle, tapping his staff fashioned in the shape of a winged serpent, the symbol of the mighty Remorhaz. When he reached the platform he stopped and faced the gathered Senators.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, may I present the Honorable Chairman of the Remorhaz Society, Chairman Sachmo! May God preserve us all!”
The rotunda was filled with applause. At least they aren’t throwing rotten eggs, Sachmo mused.
As he walked briskly down the aisle, he tried to read the mood of the Senators. Some of his supporters looked at him, with genuine smiles on their faces, or so it seemed to him. Many of his detractors were also smiling. Sachmo spied Senator Harris grouped with a knot of his cronies. It would be interesting to see who stood with him at the end of the speech.
He walked over to the flag, touched the hem to his forehead, then to his lips, and lastly to his heart. The ritual over, he turned and approached the podium. He paused a few seconds before speaking. Ok, you better make this good, he reminded himself.
“Ladies and gentlemen, Senators and citizens, I greet you. I am here before you today not to defend my cabinet, or myself but to bring to light the situation in which we find ourselves today. I also wish to make clear the heroics of our armed forces, and the exceptional job they have been doing protecting us all from Norak and Rage aggression.”
The Senate was on it’s feet, cheering.
Keep it together, Sachmo. As they old saying goes, the truth shall set you free. The Chairman smiled. The applause died down.
“Only six years ago, we of the Remorhaz society launched our first spacecraft. We all had theories as to what was out there, but we did not know exactly what we would find. The wonders that we have beheld since that first step are hard to put into words which would do them justice. We have discovered how to colonize other worlds, and how to navigate wormholes that take us across huge distances in space in an instant. We have witnessed stars being born, and even other races.”
Sachmo looked up. Well, I have their attention, now I have to give them the truth.
“As we all know, the contact with these other races offered us the opportunity of a lifetime. We would learn from the Norak about their ways and religion. From the Rage, we would learn how to view the universe from the eyes of a living machine. They, in turn, would learn of our values and customs, our history and dreams. It was hoped that we would all benefit from this, and each race would be richer for it.”
“This was not to be, however. No sooner had we begun to exchange ideas when both races declared war on us. There was no warning, or no rattling of swords, only a terse communication informing us that we should prepare to meet our doom.”
The crowd outside had fallen silent. Sachmo continued.
“In the early days of the war, some of our people did meet their doom. The crew of RSS Hawk arrived in the Fezzran system just in time to intercept the last pleading cries of the colony on Cirius as the Rage fleet blasted them from orbit. Justice met her doom on Tudran V. We hung on, and continued fighting. Eventually, our forces turned the tide on the Norak and Rage. We captured the Tudran and Wurtuy systems from them. We chased them into their home system. The difference between them, and us however, is that the entire time we were attempting to make peace. They chose to refuse. We destroyed many of their people. Still they refused to negotiate. We advanced to within one planet of their homeworld. They would not end the war. Finally, our fleet took up orbit around Lapzooli II, the homeworld of the Norak. They were blockaded. Our ships destroyed some of their key installations, and deflected the attacks that came at them. We tried to make peace, but they refused. The choice then was clear. We cannot continue to wait for the enemy to attack our colonies; our worlds. We cannot continue to hold out hope that they will eventually come to their senses and negotiate peace with us. Citizens, neither I nor anyone in the military wish to wipe out an entire species. We want peace as much as our people do. Everyday, the ships of Gamma and Delta Fleets risked destruction in the space over Lapzooli, trying to bring the Norak to the table. We have lost many people in this war, and will lose more before it is through. I tell you now, I will do whatever is necessary to preserve our Society and our way of life. The tasks that have been required so far have been horrible. Billions of innocents died on Lapzooli II, and countless others in the engagements we have fought. If this is what it takes to secure peace, then it will be done. The enemy is leaving us without a choice. If they do not come to the table, we will destroy them. As distasteful as it sounds, it is what must be done.”
The Senate was on its feet again. The applause thundered through the rotunda, but even louder were the cheers from the citizens outside. They really understood the price that must be paid. Absently, Sachmo wondered if Senator Harris understood the price, too.
“Ladies and gentlemen, even with this resolve, we must still not abandon our efforts to negotiate peace. I have organized a new mission, lead by Senator Harris, that will approach the Rage once more, but this time from a position of strength. They will try to organize a cease fire.”
Sachmo looked up at Harris. The man had gone white as a ghost. Perfect.
“Will also attempt to get the Norak to end their fight against us. Citizens, we will win this war. It is a war that we did not ask for, but we will not waver in our resolve. If the enemy will not take the olive branch we have offered, we will take up the sword and slay them. Thank you.”
Sachmo stepped down from the podium. The applause and cheering was deafening. He made his way down the main aisle, with senators and staff alike looking at him in awe, and trying to touch him. Senator Harris pushed his way through the crowd.
“C-Ch-Ch-Chairman, I received no word of this mission! I cannot possib…” Harris shouted. The crowd pressed in all around them.
The Chairman held up his hand, instantly stopping Harris’ stammering. He leaned in and spoke in the senator’s ear, “Harris, the next time you try to discredit me or my administration with a leak, make sure you understand the stakes. I have to thank you , though.. The leak upset our citizens, but my speech has won them back more strongly than it would have had they had been told the entire situation at once. Also, I have always suspected that you were playing against me, and now I know for sure. You see, you were the only one I allowed to learn the information about the destruction of Lapzooli II ahead of time. Now you are exposed. You are finished in the Senate, Harris. I will offer you this last mission to parley with the Rage, though. At least this way, you will die a hero, right?”
With that, the Chairman released the senator, who stood there, motionless, as the crowd rolled past him, following the Chairman…the protector of the Remorhaz Society.

At the moment when Chairman Sachmo was holding Senator Harris and telling him that he had been undone, someone had snapped a holopic. It was the last known holopic that showed the senator alive.

2406.6

The second Glory Class Destroyer, RSS Triumph was launched from the Glory Shipyards. She was sent to join the fleet in Lapzooli.

At Fort Justice, the Xillantha Defense Fleet watched as the Rage fleet turned course and headed to the wormhole leading to the unknown system Eagle was sent to explore before her demise. Rear Admiral Sakazawa had a meeting with the commanders of the fleet. Between them, they decided that after a few more ships bolstered the fleet, they would risk another recon run into the unknown system, unless the Lapzooli Fleet was able to make a run sooner. Fort Sachmo began constructing a Space Port.
The colony ship was originally ordered to colonize Lapzooli VII was rerouted to colonize Lapzooli II, in the ruins of the Norakian homeworld. Since this world had a breathable atmosphere, it would be idea for colonization. The colony ship should arrive in a month. By that time, all of the fires should have stopped burning.

sachmo71

10-07-2003, 10:29 PM

Consolidation

2406.7

Governor Luciano Raillo looked out over the surface of the planet Norak. The world that the Norak had once called home was a blasted, shattered land. Fires from the orbital bombardment still burned over the horizon. Great craters could be seen from low orbit, the only remaining indicator of the previous existence of a Norakian city. The scale of the destruction made him shiver. Maybe we should have named this planet Cinder, he thought.
It was his job to establish this planet as a Remorhaz colony. He was determined to rebuild this world, but on the bones of two billion Norakian corpses. How would that sit with the colonists? It was a good thing they had a larger than usual Army compliment with them. That should help keep everyone in line…for a while. He looked up into the night sky, and could see the bright stars that were actually Remorhaz ships. They needed Norak as a forward supply base, and so that was the priority. Raillo turned back to his work, and tried not to think about what the future held.

On the edge of the Lapzooli system, Nemesis and her fleet raced to intercept the Norak Ampara destroyer that was trying to run for the wormhole to Wurtuy. It would be three frigates against one destroyer. Gina wanted to take this ship down to atone for her defeat at The Battle of the Rocks.
As they approached the quadrant where the Ampara was, Gina worked out the battle plan with Captain Jennings and Captain Reed. Nemesis would try and hold the destroyer’s attention while Hyperion and Furious took up positions on his flanks. The Norakian had longer-range missiles, and flanking him might be their only hope of getting a hit in on him.
The Ampara fired first, locking up Hyperion at extreme range and firing off a salvo. Captain Reed kept his ship out of harm’s way as Nemesis and Furious closed range. The Norakian captain fired and moved, targeting whichever ship was closest. Gina got a wonderful surprise, as a flight of missiles from Furious approached the Ampara were knocked out of the sky by some type of point defense laser mounted on the ship.
We need get some of those! Gina thought. Suddenly, the Ampara fired at Nemesis. Gina moved the ship out of range while the other two Remorhaz ships closed. Suddenly, the Norakian closed within missile range of both Nemesis and Hyperion. Both ships emptied their tubes, and the Ampara now had four missiles streaking toward her. The flight from Nemesis struck first. The point defense weapons knocked one of the missiles down, but the other streaked in for the kill. Before the missile could hit the hull, there was a tremendous blast as the missile struck some sort of shield surrounding the Ampara.
“Son of a bitch!”
“Captain, the missiles from Hyperion are closing on the target!…Captain, direct hit with both missiles!”
Gina watched the tactical display that hovered before her eyes. The two shots from Hyperion had hurt the Norakian destroyer. She could see two holes in the ship where the engines had been, and a large hole in the starboard “wing”.
She watched the missiles from Furious bypass the remaining point defenses and slam into the destroyer, shredding her port side. The Ampara was crippled. Gina watched in horror as Hyperion turned into the Norak missiles and headed for her position.
She stabbed the com link. “Reed! You still have two missiles homing on you!” She came in on the middle of a frantic conversation on the bridge of Hyperion.
“Belay that turn, Helm! Damn it, Mr. Douglass, what were you thinking?”
The com went dead as the two Norakian missiles struck Hyperion on her starboard side. One missile crashed through the thin hull and continued into the rear of the ship before exploding in the engine room. All but two ion engines were vaporized in the explosion, along with the entire engineering crew. The second missile exploded right outside of the hull next to “broadway”, the main corridor stretching the length of the ship. Ten crewmen were killed instantly in the explosion, and another two were sucked out into space before the section could be sealed off. Hyperion was out of the fight.
It didn’t matter much. One last salvo from Nemesis finished the Ampara. The missiles must have struck the engine core, because an explosion started in the aft of the destroyer and tore through the ship, finally splitting her into pieces before the fireball burned out in the vacuum of space.
Gina sat back in her command chair. “Nice shooting, Weps. Get yourself a cup of coffee. Sensor, let me know if you see any sign of survivors.”
She keyed the com unit again. Both Captain Reed and Captain Jennings faces appeared on screen.
“Walt, how is Hyperion?”
Walter looked haggard. “Most of the fires are under control, and the exposed areas are sealed off. I would like it if you could take my wounded, Gina?”
Gina nodded. “We’ll come along side, Walt. What happened?”
Captain Reed got a concerned look on his face. “My XO made a bad decision. He was trying to open up the range from the missiles, but didn’t get the intercept angle correct. Ahhh, I should have been watching closer. I take full responsibility.”
Gina shook her head. “Walt, we’ll get it straightened out back home. Right now, let’s get you to port, ok?”
Captain Reed managed a weak smile and nodded. He broke the link.
Gina looked at the com unit. “Rita, I need you to cover us while we transfer the wounded, alright?”
Rita nodded. “Anything else you need, Gina?”
“How about a month of shore leave and a nice bath?”
They both laughed. It would be a while before that would be a reality.

Remorhaz sent a colony ship to colonize the Yukra system. There was a large rock planet with an oxygen atmosphere there. Admiral Urian dispatched Falcon to escort her.

2406.8

Commandant Shawn Hunter looked over at his staff. They had been working at this for months now, and he believed that they had all of the kinks worked out. Since pretty much everything up until now regarding space to surface invasion had been theory, everything that they were working on was groundbreaking. Hunter and his officers had been up in orbit, dropped from a modified berth in the Space Yard that simulated a troop transport (none had been built yet, but Hunter had a design), and simulated a hot landing in the one prototype assault carrier that had been built. They had been running computer simulations and writing documents. They had been observing the training of the new Space Marines, ensuring that the Space Marine Corps doctrine was being instilled into these new recruits. Over the last few months, these men had earned their pay, to say the least. All of that hard work seemed to be paying off, however, as it seemed that they had covered most of the bases.
Hunter picked up his data unit and glanced at the final unit structure. They would raise one complete division to start. The troops would come from all over the society, and each planet would have a training base established on it. The basic Space Marine Corps unit outline was as follows:

Platoon-the basic fighting unit of the Corps. The platoon could actually be divided into two squads, but most of the time would fight as a cohesive unit. The platoon was structured around a manpower goal of 20 men, as that was the troop capacity of the new assault carriers. A Sub Lieutenant commanded this unit. 1 Blazer/ Platoon

Company-5 platoons made up a Company. A Captain or a Major commanded this unit. It consisted of about 100 men and the company staff. 5 Blazers + 1 Command Blazer

Battallion-4 Companies made up a Battalion. This unit was 400 men and was commanded by a Major or a Lieutenant Colonel. This formation was the smallest formation to have heavy artillery integrated into it. 20 Blazers + 5 Command Blazers

Brigade-4 Battalions made up a Brigade. A brigade consisted of 1600 men plus the commanding Colonel and his staff. The Brigade would have a complete staff and be capable of operation as an independent entity for extended periods of time. Most planetary assaults would be carried out in Brigade strength. 100 Blazers + 10 Command Blazers

Divison-3 Brigades made up a Division. This was the largest Marine unit, and was commanded by a Brigadier or higher-ranking General. This unit would hardly ever be gathered in one place. It consisted of around 5000 men and a total of 330 assault craft. Also assigned to it were multiple transport shuttles, speeders, and other transportation mediums.

In an operation, the ranking Space Marine Corps officer would be in charge of the planetary assault. The basic doctrine for an assault was the assaulting of key points on an enemy planet by Battalion side units, or smaller. Only on rare occasions would an entire Brigade be dropped for an assault upon one objective.
The assault craft were an integral part of the Space Marine Corps fighting unit. Not only did it serve as the drop ship for the troops, but also once on the surface its guns would provide fire support at the platoon level. It’s high speed and rough terrain maneuverability made the Space Marine platoon a force to be reckoned with.
Some of the officers were toying with the idea of assigning Space Marines to ships, allowing them to act as boarders or become an extra security force for the ship. There was a lot more research to be done before this was even attempted.
Hunter wanted to instill esprit de corps into his men, and train them mainly in assault operations. At times the Space Marine Corps would act as garrison troops, but their primary mission was planetary assault.
The Space Marine Corps was coming together. Hunter listened as his staff gave him figures on the various training operations going on throughout the Society. It looked as if the officers and non-coms brought over from the other services were really building a team spirit, and believing that they were becoming an elite fighting unit.
As night approached, Hunter sent all of his officers home for a night of well-deserved rest. For him, there was no rest. He had to write up his findings for the Chairman.

2406.9

The Repair Ship Icelus moved into position to begin repairs to Hyperion. The fleet had been creeping along at a snails pace, but some underway repairs should get them to Norak sooner. Captain Jager watched in wonder as the ship mounted repair bay went to work on the damaged frigate. I sort of looked like a giant insect was feeding on Hyperion with all of the arms from the repair ship moving about, cutting something here, removing something there. Well, the Admiral was right, she thought. The fleet is definitely becoming self-sufficient. It was a good thing, too. They had to find out where the rest of the Norak worlds were, and eliminate or capture them. It made Jager uneasy to thing of Lapzooli as Remorhaz space. She kept expecting the Norak to come charging through a wormhole with an armada which they had no chance of stopping coming to claim their birthright. Then again, maybe they were on the edge of extension.

In the Xillantha system, RSS Hawk jumped through the wormhole where Eagle met her fate. Lieutenant Commander Harry Norton was expecting to find the Rage home system there, but instead was greeted by an empty system populated with asteroid fields. This system looked to be another key junction in the galaxy. If they could hold this system, they might be able to eliminate any Rage threat to the Lapzooli system. Commodore Lu requested a satellite field be laid in the wormhole as soon as possible. The more early warning, the better.

2407.0

Governor Kalashnikov woke to the sound of his com unit ringing. A full nights rest is all that I ask for, he thought. Every night for the past year it seemed as if something required his attention. Couldn’t anyone handle things by themselves? Imitative! That’s they key, boys! He told them that time and time again, and yet here he was, wiping the sleep from his eyes. Whoever it was had better have a good reason for waking him. He pushed the button to answer.
He was greeted by the face of Rear Admiral Shiro Sakazawa. “Sorry to wake you, governor, but I’m issuing a Class One alert for the colony. Sensors picked up a large Rage fleet, and it looks like they are headed our way at full steam. I think you should get your people under cover, as much as possible.”
“Thank you, Admiral. Shall I switch production to defensive systems again?” Honestly, Kalashnikov was getting a bit tired of this. He had been governor of Fort Justice for a little over a year, and he had put his colony on alert three times before. Each time, the Rage fleet turned away. This time, he honestly didn’t care.
“Do what you think is best, Governor. We will be up here protecting you throughout.”
Kalashnikov shook his head. More of the same non-committal chest thumping. These Navy types had a flare for the dramatic. Life didn’t work out that way, in his experience. Life was messy. It wasn’t some heroic epic to be sung for eons.
“Thanks for your help, Admiral.” With that, Kalashnikov broke the connection. He considered going back to bed, but decided against it. If the Rage did attack, hopefully some of his people would survive. He doubted very much that the “grand fleet” would.

On Norak, the resupply base was finished. Commodore Lu ordered an expeditionary fleet be organized to check out the wormhole through which the Norak destroyer had appeared. For this mission he detached Nemesis and Furious. They were to check the system for Norak presence. If they did detect the Norak, they were to gather as much information as possible and await further instructions.

sachmo71

10-07-2003, 10:30 PM

Norak Continuum in Check

2407.1-.2

The fleet was gaining strength. This month both Glory and Remorhaz launched Nemesis Class C Frigates, the RSS Gallant and the RSS Mercury respectively. Both ships were ordered to reinforce the Xillantha Defense Fleet orbiting Fort Justice.

In the Xillantha system, the planet Fort Justice was able to breathe a sigh of relief as both Rage fleets made for the wormhole leading to the Lundra System. This did not disappoint Rear Admiral Sakazawa, as he currently had a fleet consisting of one destroyer, one frigate and a system patrol ship. He believed he could make do with what he had, but as for guaranteeing the well being of the colonists on Fort Justice he was not sure. Any delay by the Rage was another day for the Navy to strengthen his fleet.
Commandant Hunter watched nervously as the first production M1 Blazer Assault Craft was hauled into the compound. This was the prototype of the actual production model, the final design of the assault craft his troops would be riding into battle. By the end of the month, he expected to have around 17 Blazers built, enough for almost an entire company. Meanwhile, the training facilities on other planets would be producing troops also, and the workers at Glory Space Yard were hard at work building the first production troop transport. They expected to launch her within the next two months. Then, his Marines would ship off to try and help knock the Norak Continuum out of the war once and for all. With the Blazer in production, Hunter believed that they could.
Time to suit up, he thought. Today would be the first actual combat drop of this final model of the Blazer, and Hunter intended to be along for the ride. He strapped on his combat armor and headed for the Blazer.

Captain Jager was ready for anything. They expected the jump to take them into Norak space. In fact, she half expected to run straight into a Norak fleet. As Nemesis and Furious finished the jump, they found themselves in a strange system. The Regotha system had three stars; a blue, a white, and a red star. Gina believed that it was the first system that they had found with three stars. The light given off by them was dazzling. All three stars mixed to give the system an almost purple glow, with green halos. The view was breathtaking. All of the planets were clustered in the northeastern quadrants of the system. Three worlds in this system had Norakian presence on them. The largest was Regotha I, a rock world with a carbon dioxide atmosphere. Sensors showed about 63 million colonists on this world. Second was Regotha II, a tiny rock world with a carbon dioxide atmosphere. There were about 61 million Norak on this planet. Third was Regotha III, a rock world with an oxygen atmosphere. There were only 14 million colonists on this world, with the majority probably on the colony ship parked in orbit over the planet. This planet would be a prime target for the Space Marines, whenever they were ready. Captain Jager sent all of the data back to fleet, and then made course for the asteroid field present in this system. Within hours, she was informed that all of Gamma Fleet less RSS Intimidator was headed for the Regotha system. Jager was to hold her fleet and observe until Gamma could join them, which shouldn’t take more than a month.

2407.3

The first company of Space Marines was officially deployed. The multi-purpose transport RSS Marne headed for Salvation, then Black Hills to pick up two more full companies. The full battalion would then be transported to a landing ship, which would head for the Regotha system, where the first ship to surface invasion in known history would take place. The men were in high spirits, and looking forward to the journey.

In the Regotha system, Commodore Lu ordered Gamma Fleet to make for Regotha I. Zeta Fleet, consisting of Nemesis and Furious were ordered to guard the warp point.
“Captain Jager, the Norak colony ship is within range.” Commander Olaf Svenson said. “We could jump her if you would like, and still be between anything the Norak could launch and the wormhole.”
Gina weighed her options. The XO was right, even if the colony ship slipped past them, they could easily catch her before she made the wormhole. If any other Norak ship tried to slip past, they would be in fine intercept position.
She looked at the Commander. “Alright, Mr. Svenson, set a course to intercept that colony ship. Sparks, radio Furious and pass the word along. Let’s get moving, folks. We don’t want that colony ship to get away.”
Gina watched as her crew jumped to the task at hand. They were getting very good. Everything went like clockwork. She smiled, thinking of the early days before the war, when she and her crew were getting to know each other. Now they were a unit, confident and deadly.

2407.4

Glory launched the RSS Mongoose the first troop transport in the Remorhaz Navy. She moved to rendezvous with Marne for the transfer of troops.

In Regotha, Zeta Fleet closed on Regotha II, determined to intercept any ship attempting to get to the southern wormhole. Across the system, Gamma Fleet headed inexorably toward Regotha I.

The Xillantha Defense Fleet received some much-needed reinforcements as the frigate Gallant and the destroyer Honor arrived and joined the fleet.

2407.5

The month opened with Gamma Fleet destroying the Norak colony on Regotha I. Zeta Fleet was also able to destroy the Norak colony on Regotha II, and scout out the wormhole from the system. The Knoglam system was devoid of any planets. Was it possible that Regotha III was the last Norakian planet in the galaxy?

The Research Guild made a significant breakthrough in propulsion technology. The Contra-Terrene engine was discovered. This engine relied mainly on anti-matter to provide the locomotion. It was also discovered that an extra anti-matter “booster pack” could be added to the engines, to provide another factor of speed. Unfortunately, the process consumed the pack in the process, along with anything in a two-foot radius. So the Guild created an anti-gravity suspension mount for the “booster pack” which would allow it to be fitted on ships and activated whenever the crew needed extra speed. With the anti-matter drive, the scientists believed that they could create a weapon that would use that same anti-matter to overload and destroy an enemy ship’s engines. Of course this would require additional research.

In the Yakura System, Remorhaz colonists landed on the planet Yakura II, and renamed the settlement Timmeron. This colony was now the furthest Remorhaz colony to date. The System Patrol Ships Falcon and Peregrine were already in orbit around the planet, but low on supplies. The colonists started constructing a supply base. This base would expand the frontiers of the Remorhaz Society.
The Marne and the Mongoose met up over Black Hills. All of the Space Marines were transferred, and Mongoose headed for Glory to pick up the last Company of Marines. Before she left the system, Mongoose would be loaded with a full Regiment of Space Marines.

Remorhaz launched another frigate, the RSS Midguard. She took up garrison duty in orbit around Remorhaz.

The Rage front was still quite. Other than their unexplained movements into Remorhaz space, they had attacked no Remorhaz world since Cirius was destroyed. The Admiralty began running scenarios, trying to find the best course of action to pursue against them, once Norak was taken out of the war. They had come up with nothing concrete yet, but Grand Admiral Urian always had something up his sleeve. Depending on what Zeta Fleet found on their next jump, the Navy might be able to come at the Rage from three sides, depending on the wormhole configuration. Time would tell, but the Grand Admiral had to smile. Yes, the Navy would make the Rage pay for starting this bloody war. It was only a matter of time.

sachmo71

10-07-2003, 10:32 PM

Discoveries

2407.6

Another Rage fleet appeared in the Xillantha system. Fort Justice, still on alert, prepared once again for an assault that may or may not come.

In Wurtuy, Hawk met up with Mongoose and the Space Marines aboard her. The 1st Space Marine Regiment, plus an extra company, were on board. They would move to Norak and pick up another brigade of Marines before assaulting Regotha III. In the meantime, Gamma Fleet moved into position to blockade the Norak planet.

2407.7

Zeta Fleet entered the Lezzari system, and found one Rage colony within, but no Norak planets. Any further recon would have to be done in force by the entire fleet.

In Xillantha, there were once again two very large Rage fleets threatening the system and Fort Justice. Vigilance was maintained.

2407.8

Yarboro waited patiently for the Chairman to finish his vid call. He could feel the energy crackling from outside the Chairman’s office where Dr. Harkness, the head of the Extraterrestrial Studies Group waited. So the news was important enough for the doctor to come down for the university in person, was it? Yarboro allowed himself a brief, hidden smile. God help the doctor if it isn’t, he thought. Lately, the Chairman had been in a horrendous mood, and when people wasted his time, it made him absolutely livid. The Chairman ended his call.
“Sir, Doctor Harkness is waiting for you outside.”
A very tired Chairman looked up at his assistant. “Damn. I’m really not in the mood for him. He can prattle on so. Well, there’s no avoiding it, I suppose. Send him in.”
“Very good, Chairman.”
Yarboro moved quickly out of the Chairman’s office and back into the entryway. “Dr. Harkness, the Chairman will see you now.”
“Ummm, oh yes! Very good. Thank you!”
The doctor stood up and straightened his tie, then followed Yarboro to the door. The door was opened after a knock and a brief pause.
“Doctor Harkness, how good to see you! Please, won’t you sit down? Thank you, Yarboro, that will be all.”
With a bow, the silent Yarboro left and closed the door behind him.
“What brings you all the way down from the university, doctor? Your message said that you had important news? I hope it is good news…I can use some.”
The doctor laughed. “Mr. Chairman, I think it is wonderful news.” He cleared his throat.
“Would you like a drink, doctor? I have a wonderful fruit juice made from dachenberries. We discovered them when we colonized Norak. Extraordinary taste.”
The doctor nodded, and the Chairman poured them both a glass.
“Mr. Chairman, based on the public reaction the destruction of the Norakian colonies, my staff and I have been concentrating on trying to understand the psychology of the Norak. With the inception of the Space Marine Corps, we now have a viable alternative to complete colonial destruction by orbital bombardment. However, with military conquest there are inherent issues. Namely, how does on control a hostile population without incurring tremendous loss of life? Also, since our troops will be in contact with the conquered population, we risk the loss of lives of our own troops.”
The Chairman listened. “Yes, we have discussed this many times. The Norak are so devoted to their religion, that our projections show that it will probably require a four troop to one ration to pacify the population, assuming they don’t fight until the last Norakian is dead. History shows us that religious fanaticism can bring out such behavior.”
Doctor Harkness nodded. “Yes, Chairman, but I believe that we have found a way to pacify the Norakian people which would require only normal troop levels to successfully occupy a planet.”
The Chairman’s eyes widened in surprise. “If this is true, then it is indeed good news, doctor.”
The doctor smiled. “Chairman, we have discovered that, theoretically, we should be able to build an Urban Pacification Center on the captured worlds which would allow us, over time, to turn the Norakians into productive members of the Remorhaz Society. These centers will allow them to continue practicing their religion while at the same time subtly training their minds to begin thinking for themselves. There is still some work to be done on the actual psychological methods involved, but we believe that with these Pacification Centers, we will be able to save millions of lives in the long run.”
The Chairman was smiling now. “Yes, and more. It was always the dream of the Old Earth Republic that all races would be given equal rights within as long as the people wanted to be part of it. The Remorhaz Society will be the same. We will accept the Norak people as full members of the Society, and not as a conquered race. Doctor, you and your staff have done very well, please keep me apprised of your progress in this matter.”
The doctor smile seemed to cover his entire head. “Yes, Mr. Chairman, I will.” He took a sip of his drink. “Mr. Chairman, you were right. This really is excellent juice.”

On Timmeron, the resupply base was finished. Work began on a small Space Port. RSS Falcon moved to one of the unexplored warp points, and Peregrine moved toward the other. It was time to push back a bit more of the darkness.

In the Regotha system, Zeta Fleet moved to take up position around Regotha II while Gamma Fleet started the return journey to Norak. Once there, they would perform a recon in force mission to try and gauge the perimeter of the Rage Collective.

2407.9

At Remorhaz, the destroyer RSS Virtue was launched. She immediately made course for Timerron, where she would be the flagship of the defense fleet in the Yukra system.

Lieutenant Commander Harper Douglass was a quiet man. In command of RSS Flacon, his crew knew what was expected of them. They also knew that he would rarely say anything, unless they were performing below their capabilities. Normally, they would have been surprised to hear him cry out, but they were seeing the same thing he was, and they were just a surprised.
“Good lord!”
The Sensor Officer regained his composure, and called out his reading.
“Commander, I have 17 unknown ships, ranging in size from frigates to destroyers. They are locked in orbit around Devonshire V. They appear to have seen us, but are making no hostile moves.”
He nodded. “XO, a word please?”
Lieutenant Jim Billings walked over to the command chair. “Sir, I think this is a race we’ve never seen before. I think we should initiate first contact protocol.”
Harper rubbed his chin. I wish I had shaved, he thought. I’ll be the first Remorhaz these beings see, and I’ll look like a slob.
“I concur, XO. Let’s get moving. Sparks, send out the first contact hail on all frequencies. All spectrums.”
“Aye, aye, sir” the Communication Officer shouted. Everyone seemed excited. Harper could feel it in the air.
A few minutes passed, when the Communication Officer excited yelled, “Captain, they’re responding!”
The message can through the communications bank in Galactic Standard.

Chairman Sachmo woke up to the buzzing of the com unit. Lately, it seemed that being woken up in the middle of the night was the norm, and not the exception.
He hit the key to pick up the message. Yarboro’s face appeared on the screen.
“Sir, pardon the disturbance. The Falcon has made first contact.”
“How long ago?” Sachmo could feel his heart beating. A thousand thoughts ran through his mind at once. He beat them back, and tried to keep focused on the issue at hand.
“Sir, we received the message ten minutes ago. Falcon transmitted it 12 hours ago. Apparently the Lieutenant Commander in command made quite an impression on them.”
The Chairman started pulling on his clothes. “I’ll be down in a minute. Please have Ambassador Mulatti meet me as soon as possible.”
“Yes, Chairman. At once.”
The Chairman hurried to the bathroom to brush his teeth and wash his face. As he looked at himself in the mirror, all of those thousands of thoughts assailed him again. What if they were hostile? Could we survive a three front war? Would we have warning this time? How advanced were they?
All I can do is take this one step at a time, he thought. First, he would carefully gauge their intention, and then take it from there. Hopefully, they had learned something from their first dealings with the Norak and the Rage. Hopefully, this time it would turn out better than the last.

Across the system, Peregrine warped into the Iolo system. This system had two rock planets with Oxygen atmospheres. One, Iolo IV, was huge and possessed a great amount of mineral and radioactive resources. Iolo VI was a tiny planet, and was very poor in mineral resources, but possessed average organics and radioactives. No enemy presence was detected here, and so Admiral Urian put in an immediate request for two colony ships to be placed into production.

Also on Remorhaz, 242 million people boarded the RSS Marne and prepared to begin a new life on Spitfire.

sachmo71

10-07-2003, 10:33 PM

A New Front

2408.0

Ambassador Mulatti was not pleased with the look on the Chairman’s face. Even through the vid phone, he could feel the exasperation.
“Explain the situation to me again, ambassador. How did this happen?”
The ambassador took a deep breath. “Mr. Chairman, we were met at the mouth of the Devonshire wormhole by two Ukra-Tal destroyers. They immediately ordered us to heave to, and they boarded us. It was a very crude show of force, but an effective one. We had no choice but to comply. A diplomat came on board with a squad of heavily armed soldiers. They demanded to see me immediately, which I did. The diplomat hardly looked at me as he tossed down what looked like an ancient scroll case. He then told me to take this message back to my superior, and to leave the Devonshire system at once. I tried to inquire about the diplomatic meeting we had arranged on Devonshire IV, but he cut me off with a wave of his tentacles. He told me that there would be no meeting, and that we could return from where we came, and to take our gifts with us.”
The Chairman looked into the vid screen, not quite believing what he was hearing.
“Ambassador, what the hell happened? Could we have misinterpreted the initial contact so badly?”
“Chairman, here is what I believe happened. When the Hawk first warped into the system, and broadcast the hails in galactic standard, the Ukra-Tal was friendly enough. It seems that the especially reserved Lieutenant Commander Douglass displayed the type of demeanor that they found pleasant. It appears that the Ukra-Tal are a race of scientists and merchants, and not prone to displaying emotion. Hence, they believed that this was the way of all of the Remorhaz people. So when they learned that we a much more emotional race, they were taken aback. Our xenologist Dr. Hartman believes that it may have been more than a shock to them, and that they may have actually felt betrayed by this revelation. He thinks that they may have believed that we tried to deceive them.”
The Chairman’s face seemed to sag. He was a professional politician, and knew how a bad start to a relationship could often ruin any chance of future harmony.
“That can’t be everything, though. There has to be something else, ambassador. Tell me everything.”
Ambassador Mulatti wiped his brow. He had tried to think of a delicate way to put this, but there was just no way around it. He would have to read the message to the Chairman in its entirety, and let him judge for himself.
“Chairman, I think you need to hear the message delivered by the ambassador.” He opened the scroll case, and unwrapped the message, and began to read. It read as follows:

From the Enlightened One, Imperator Weshra-Tal of the Ukra-Tal Collective,

Ourselves, the glorious race of the Ukra-Tal, were disturbed to learn of the war being raged by the Remorhaz Society against the Rage Collective and the Norak Continuum.
Ourselves have learned of the tragedies wrought by this war. What is most disturbing to ourselves is that in this war, yourselves of the Remorhaz Society have repeatedly and purposely destroyed colonies belonging to both the Norak and the Rage. Ourselves find this shocking, and cannot understand how a race as barbaric as yourselves could have survived even this long without destroying yourselves. This disregard for the innocent lives of other beings, whom it should be noted are different from yourselves, will make it impossible for the Ukra-Tal to ever have any type of relationship with the Remorhaz Society. Ourselves present this message as a warning…if yourselves attempt to enter any system populated by the Ukra-Tal, it will be considered an act of war against ourselves and will result in the swift and total destruction of yourselves. Further, if yourselves continue this barbaric behavior and destroy any more colonies of any race, ourselves cannot be held responsible for the result. This is something that ourselves will not stand for, and it will be the will of our people to cleanse the galaxy of such a barbaric people. May the Most Knowledgeable One take pity on your heathen souls.

The Chairman looked about as shocked as the ambassador thought he would. Best to let him collect his thoughts before I offer my opinions, the ambassador thought. The Chairman sat, obviously gathering his thoughts. Suddenly his face turned angry.
“How in the bloody hell did they find out about the war? Are they in contact with the Rage or the Norak?”
The ambassador shook his head. “Sir, we cannot be sure how they learned about it. Lieutenant Commander Douglass made mention of the war, but only in passing. He has assured me that at no point did he elaborate on any of the operational details. Our best guess is that they did some investigating of their own about the war and were passed some very biased information. For all we know, this could have been supplied to them be a third party.”
The Chairman looked absolutely defeated. “Ambassador, I need your honest assessment. Is there any hope of normal relations with the Ukra-Tal?”
“I think the best course of action right now, Sir, would be to back off and give them time to observe us. I think if we slowly put out diplomatic feelers and don’t do anything to alarm them, there is always hope. From the information they have given to us, they seem to be a peaceful race. They love to trade, and hopefully we will be able to exploit this in the future. Interracial trade would be a great boon to the economy.” Mulatti smiled.
The Chairman looked back at him. “Yes, it would ambassador. Now if only we could keep from getting into wars, we might get a chance to enjoy the benefits.” With that he ended the transmission.

Over Norak, the RSS Mongoose loaded up the last of the Space Marines called up for the assault on Regotha II. Their strength was roughly 2600 Marines, and about 130 Blazer Assault Craft. The ships were loaded with supplies, and the fleet made for Regotha II.

RSS Peregrine warped into the Wanduk system. One planet appeared to be idea for colonization. Wanduk IV was a Medium rock planet with an oxygen atmosphere. Of interest was a reading coming from the surface of Wanduk II. The sensors showed what appeared to be a derelict spacecraft, but no other details were known. Their findings were reported back to Naval Headquarters, and Peregrine made for another wormhole, and another system.

2408.1

Grand Admiral Urian sent out the emergency action message to the fleet. This morning, the ground station on Timerron received a terse communication from Ukra-Tal space. The communication read as follows:
Although ourselves are not a violent species, you have left us no choice. Ourselves declare war on yourselves.
Urian was not really surprised that this happened, after all, the Ukra-Tal had made it pretty clear what they thought about the Remorhaz Society. Still, the news concerned him. He had hoped that once the Norak were out of the war, the Rage might reconsider continuing the war one-on-one. Now, the Remorhaz Society was right back where it had started. It was only a matter of a couple of months before the Norak were eliminated from the war, but Timerron was not very well protected. The Ukra-Tal fleet strength, last time it had been seen, had been significant in the Devonshire system. If they came through the wormhole, Hawk and a few defense satellites were all that stood in their way. The destroyer Virtue was a few months from the planet. Hopefully she would get there in time to make a difference.
There was good news on the research front. The scientists at the Research Guild had made a breakthrough in Applied Physics, and had the theories in place that would allow advanced sensors, shields, energy stream weapon, and energy pulse weapons to be designed. Hopefully, this would put the Remorhaz fleet on a bit more equal footing with the Rage fleet. Of course, right now the priority was the final design of the Urban Pacification Centers. If all went well, they would be able to be constructed on Regotha III after the Space Marines captured it, and they would begin attempting to integrate the Norak into the Society. If they captured it, he thought. The entire concept was still a theory. He hoped and prayed that everything worked the way it was supposed to.

Gamma Fleet took up orbit around Norak. Commodore Lu spent two weeks consulting with his officers and Navy Staff about their options for an offensive against the Rage. It was known that they possessed a substantial fleet strength in the Fezzran system, and possibly the asteroid-filled wasteland that was the Lundra system. The first objective was to recon in force both of these systems. First, Gamma Fleet move in force into the Lundra system, with RSS Loxias attached to deploy satellites. This would give them an eye in the system to observe possible Rage fleet movements. Meanwhile, a belt of defensive satellites would be laid on the Lapzooli side of the Lundra wormhole. It was hoped that Gamma Fleet could draw a Rage fleet into a trap this way, but so far no one felt that they could rely on the Rage to act in any certain way. Since the recon was the main objective, along with laying the spy satellites, it was a risk they were willing to take. Once the Marine Assault Fleet was finished in the Regotha system, the Artemis and Furious would remain in the system to protect the wormhole, and possibly conduct some assaults on the known Rage colony in the Lezzari system. This might succeed in drawing some of the Rage fleet strength away from the Fezzran system. Their next course decided, Gamma Fleet left Norak orbit in the third week of the month. They would reach the wormhole, and find out what the Rage had waiting for them, by the beginning of the next month.

sachmo71

10-07-2003, 10:34 PM

Strength

2408.2

Captain Will Crowley watched the tactical screen as the Sensor Officer ran a scan of the Lundra system. Nothing but asteroid fields and the lonely blue star that held the system together. Commodore Gordon Lu was also present on the bridge of his former command, RSS Intimidator. He had expected to catch a glimpse of a Rage battle fleet. On all of the other occasions, when a Rage fleet would enter the Xillantha system from the wormhole in Fezzran, a supporting fleet would enter from Lundra also. Sure enough, Rear Admiral Sakazawa reported that a Rage fleet was detected in the Xillantha system. It had indeed warped in from Fezzran. Commodore Lu believed that he would spot a Rage fleet transiting Lundra, and that fleet would give chase as he took Gamma Fleet back through the wormhole to Lapzooli and Norak. At the end of that chase Gamma Fleet would make a stand, supported by defense satellites protecting the lip of the Lapzooli-Lundra wormhole. Now that there was no Rage fleet detected in the system, he could not spring his trap. At least Loxias would be able to deploy the spy satellite in the system. Commodore Lu made a decision to wait for a few weeks, and see if a Rage fleet appeared. The problem was that the Rage never seemed to do anything the way he wanted them to.

Back on Hera, the Research Guild had completed a number of tasks. First, they had perfected the design of the Urban Pacification Centers. They now had the proper psychological tools that would be required to indoctrinate any Norakians captured into Remorhaz Society life. Already, the xenopsychologists were experimenting with effective way to deal with Rage worlds, and possibly Ukra-Tal worlds also. Two other discoveries were also made which would be of particular use to the military; the Anti-Proton beam and the Ionic Disperser. The Anti-Proton Beam was the first military energy weapon designed. This beam had a shorter range than the DUC, and over range it lost power. However, it required no physical ammunition to be supplied, and could be powered by radioactives.
The Ionic Disperser was a much more specialized weapon. It had a very short range, but the beam would attack the core of the engines on the ship it was fired at, attempting to overload and destroy them. This weapon would be especially useful against the Rage, with their advanced engine designs. These weapons would be fitted on the Glory B Class Destroyers. All ship designs were updated to use the anti-matter drives, and both the Nemesis D Class Frigates and the Eagle D Class System Patrol Ships were outfitted with the emergency propulsion boosters. The ships of the fleet would be upgraded at the earliest convenience, but on a rotating schedule to keep the fleets at the highest strength possible. Immediately, the Research Guild began work on shield technology.

2408.3

Grand Admiral Urian was impressed. The shields held through the test flawlessly. It had taken two hits from the depleted uranium cannon before the shield generator had given out. While the protection was light, it could make the difference between a killing blow and a damaging one. He turned to his counterparts from the other service branches, Field Marshal Gulman and Commandant Hunter.
“Well, gents, that gadget is going to save a lot of lives.”
Commandant Hunter nodded and smiled, “I need to get my eggheads working on scaling that thing down. If I could shield the Blazers…yes Marcus, it would save a lot of lives. I wish we had discovered this last year. I’m sure it would have been welcomed by my boys on the way to Regotha III.”
All three flag officers nodded in agreement.

On Timerron, construction began on a new Space Yard. The transit time for new ships built at either the Remorhaz or the Glory shipyards was just too great to allow for an effective defense of the Yukra system and the colony of Timerron. It would take five months to complete the facility and a small hoard of resources, but the flexibility it would add could not be easily measured.
The same principle held true for the Lapzooli system, and so Norak also began construction of a Space Yard facility.

2408.4

Once again, the Rage fleet that had invaded the Xillantha system floated around and looked menacing, but did no actual damage. The people of Fort Justice had been obligingly fearful, but frankly the whole thing began to take on a sort of macabre humor to them. The Fort Justice Broadcasting Company began running a weekly serial play called “Spare Parts”, in which the actors portrayed members of the oft seen Rage fleet. The premise was that the commander of the Rage fleet was actually malfunctioning, but since he didn’t want to be “recycled” by the Primary Sequencer, he tried everything to keep it a secret from his crew. The Rage commander kept the fleet in Remorhaz space to avoid being discovered by the Rage “quality control druids”. The writing was brilliant, and the show quickly became a hit. It was even exported to the other worlds of the Remorhaz Society, and “Spare Parts” kept the plight of Fort Justice on the minds of all citizens. Soon the name Fort Justice became synonymous with tenacity and strength.
The stress of living under constant threat of nuclear annihilation had given the residents of Fort Justice a different view of life, to say the least. Governor Kalashnikov had noted to the Chairman that while the people worked as hard as they could, once they were back in their homes, things tended to get a little wild. The alcohol imports of the colony were 35% greater per capita then any other colony in the Society. The sale of recreational items was also very high compared to the other worlds, while less than 2% of the population had any personal savings to speak of. However, the exported resources from mining were usually around 101%-108% of projections. Live for today was the motto of the citizens of Fort Justice. The rest of the Society began to look up to them. Soon the more adventurous (some would say stupid, also) of the Society began packing up and heading for Fort Justice. The strength of this world began to become a symbol for the fighting spirit of the Remorhaz people.

On Remorhaz, the RSS Midguard was the first ship to be upgraded with the anti-matter engines. The engines preformed flawlessly, as did the emergency propulsion packs. The engineering crew was a bit uncomfortable with the whole process in which the component devoured itself, but it did no damage and did indeed fulfill it’s purpose.

Glory launched the RSS Apollo a Nemesis D Class frigate. She was to join the Xillantha Defense Fleet. Upon her arrival, Glory would detach from the fleet and head back to Glory Ship Yard for an upgrade.

The Space Marine assault fleet would reach Regotha III by the beginning of the next month. The first planetary invasion in Remorhaz history was about to become a reality.

sachmo71

10-07-2003, 10:36 PM

Invasion

2408.5

In the Remorhaz system, a new domed mining colony was founded. Though not as efficient as a colony with an oxygen atmosphere, the short distance from the shipyards of Remorhaz more than made up for the cost of the new colony, which was named Vilnius. The colony immediately began building mining facilities, although it would have been best suited as a refining colony. However, the war effort required mostly minerals, and so that was the priority.

In Yukra, the RSS Virtue was able to join with Falcon and Peregrine and form the Yukra Defense Fleet. The Ukra-Tal sill had not made any movements into the system. If they could hold on for 3 more months, the space yard would be complete, and the fleet would grow in strength much quicker.

The Naval Design Bureau was excited to hear that in only a few short months, the Research Guild had been able to improve on the existing shield generator technology, doubling the strength while only increasing the size of the generator by 1/4th. The new shields were put into the Glory B Class Destroyer design. One missile tube was removed, but the extra shielding and a depleted uranium cannon were a fair enough trade-off.

In the Xillantha system, RSS Mercury arrived to join the Xillantha Defense Fleet, as all Rage fleets had vacated the system. Rear Admiral Sakazawa detached the frigate Manticore and the destroyer Honor and ordered them to Glory for refit. This refit was scheduled to take roughly 3 months to complete. Sakazawa hoped that the Rage decided not to press any attack while he was short of the two ship’s firepower.

In the Regotha system, the Marine Assault Fleet moved into orbit over Regotha III. Captain Jager brought all of the ship commanders from Zeta Fleet and the commanders from the Assault Fleet over the Nemesis for a strategy meeting. Also present was the senior Space Marine Officer present, Major General Steven Brooks. While he was the highest-ranking officer in the room, while the Space Marines were on board the transport, the senior naval officer was in command. That officer was Captain Gina Jager. Once everyone was seated, Gina began the briefing.
“Well folks, here we are. We are about to assist Major General Brooks in capturing the last planet in the Norak Continuum.”
Laughter rippled around the table. Everyone seemed to be excited, which made Gina relax a bit.
“As all of you know, this is a first time operation. Everything up until now has been done with simulators and mock-ups. In 72 hours, the Space Marines are going to do this for real.”
Gina tapped some keys on her data unit, and a holographic image of Regotha III. Multiple colored displays appeared on the display, marking potential targets, population centers, the drop zones, and other information.
“The Marines have brought along 135 Blazer Assault Craft, which represents an over-strength brigade. The entire force will be deployed in one combat drop. Zeta Fleet, along with Comet, is going to provide fire support for the Space Marines. The red triangles represent troop formations that we have already bombarded with missiles. The green circles…” Gina continued to brief the officers present.
The Navy was to remain in orbit, in direct contact with the commanders on the ground. They would provide instant fire support for any commander who called for it. Also, the ships could provide a picture of the battle that might not be readily available to the ground commanders. Major General Brooks be in overall command of the entire fleet and ground operations until the planet was secured. Brigadier General Henry Townsend would be the ranking officer on the ground. The brigade was actually under the command of Colonel Pedro Marquez, but Townsend was the division commander and wanted to be present for the actual combat drop.
“Ok, folks, that’s it for me. General Brooks?”
The General stoop up, and moved to the front of the room.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I have the utmost confidence in each and every one of you. We all know what we have to do, and we know how to do it. I firmly believe that we will be able to overcome any obstacle that stands in our way. Good luck and God bless.”
The Major General turned to leave. Everyone stood up and came to attention. When he left, the other officers left in small groups, discussing various issues that had come up during the briefing. Gina watched as the room cleared. She noticed Captain Brennan, commander of RSS Artemis, watching her as he walked past. He nodded to her. Brennan had always given her the creeps. Even back when they had attended the academy together, he had always looked at her with that same cold stare. She knew he was a motivated and capable officer, as well as an excellent tactician. He was also incredibly arrogant. He always seemed to hold those who he deemed inferior in contempt. It made him come off to others as cold and unfriendly. She didn’t know him very well, but she did know that he seemed to view her as one of the “inferior”. Good, she thought. I hope it eats him up inside to have to take orders from me.
Another thought struck her. Would his feelings about her drive him to cause problems? So far, he hadn’t made any trouble for her, and in fact had been a model officer. Their days at the academy had shown her that Brennan could be a vengeful son of a gun, and she had been given command of RSS Eagle when by all rights it should have been his billet. Could he be holding a grudge against her still? Was it possible that he would do something intentional in the upcoming invasion to put her in a bad light, and take her down a notch? Was he capable of such a thing? The more she thought about it, the quicker she chased it from her mind. Brennan was a professional officer in the Remorhaz Navy. He was above letting his personal feelings get in the way of his duty. At least, she hoped he was.

Captain Brennan glanced at Captain Gina Jager as he walked past her on his way out of the briefing. He flashed her the most sincere smile that he could manage. So far, she had managed to not get all of them killed, a circumstance that made him eternally grateful. He was surprised by her performance in the operation so far, but he fully expected the pressure to get to her as the invasion progressed. Once things started to get hectic, everyone would see that she just wasn’t up to leading a fleet into battle.
It wasn’t that he so much wanted her to fail, as that would put people’s lives in danger. He just knew that she wasn’t a very effective leader. Not every officer was up to the task of commanding large-scale operations. He had watched her performance at the academy, and while she was not unintelligent, it wasn’t quite up to par with what he considered essential to becoming an effective officer. His greatest fear is that she would make a major mistake before he and Major General Brooks were able to avert it, and that mistake would be big enough to get a lot of Space Marines killed. He really did hope that nothing went wrong, but his gut feeling was that it would. When it did, he would be there to take her place as commander of the fleet.

PFC Jake Renton looked up toward the ceiling of the cavernous drop bay that made up the bulk of the Landing Ship RSS Mongoose. High above him, the bay was segmented by catwalks and platforms. Resting on each platform was the open troop ramp of a Blazer assault craft. Each Blazer was held in place by a series of electro-magnetic clamps. Once the Mongoose was in drop position over the planet, and her huge drop bay doors were opened, the clamps would release, and the Blazers would free fall into the upper atmosphere. Once free of the landing ship, gravity would take over. The Blazers would enter the atmosphere are the maximum possible angle, coming down at high speed to hit their drop zones in the minimum amount of time, while at the same time reducing the exposure time of the Blazers to enemy anti-aircraft fire. Just before landing, the retros of the landing sled would fire, and the Blazer would touch down. It would then detach from the sled and fire it’s own hover engines. From here, the Blazer would transport the Space Marines as close to their target as possible, until the troops were ready to assault, in which case they would disembark from the Blazer and attack on foot. The Blazer would follow along and provide fire support with its three depleted uranium cannons.
Renton had been through one actual drop. When Mongoose had pulled into Norak to pick up the last of their brigade, they loaded all of the troopers up into their Blazers and dropped them en masse upon the heads of the unsuspecting wildlife that inhabited Western Norak. The ride was like sitting in a runaway elevator as Renton had remembered it, but it was over pretty quick. Actually, now that he thought about it, it was more like sitting in a runaway elevator that was being smashed on the outside by thousands of hammers, and all the while someone was kicking you in the rear with a steel-toed boot. Yes, that was the sensation. Once they were on the ground, his training took over. They captured the mock objective, and their projected casualties were “only” 40%. Renton had hoped at the time that when they attempted a real combat drop that the experts were proved wrong about those casualty figures.
“Renton! Get your butt in gear!” The gravely voice of Sergeant Chuck Williams cried out. Williams was always mad about something. He was the guy who kept the platoon moving, though. He raced down the line, eyes locked on Renton. He was beside him in seconds.
“Renton, I was wondering if you noticed that we were deploying for a COMBAT DROP TODAY?”
Renton shouted, “Yes, Sergeant!”
“Then could you kindly get your thumb out of your butt and deploy to the Blazer? Am I asking too much, Private?”
Renton shouted again, “No, Sergeant!”
Sergeant Williams started to pull away from him. “Good. Thank you, Private First Class Renton. I guess I won’t have to kill you. The Noraks will still be able to do it for me! Move it, 4th Platoon! Get your butts into the Blazer! Move! Move! Move!”
The 20 marines of 4th Platoon, 1st Battalion filed into the Blazer and quickly took their seats. They secured their gear under their seats, and their rifles in the clamps beside their seats. Then they strapped themselves in for the drop. Sergeant Williams prowled the left side, and Platoon Sergeant Jefferson inspected the right. The sergeants inspected each Space Marine, and ensured that everyone was locked in correctly, and their equipment was stowed. A loose pack could turn into a missile during a high-g drop. After a few adjustments, everyone was deemed secure. Sergeant Williams stuck his head up into the crew compartment to inform the loadmaster that everyone was secure. Then Williams took his own seat, while the loadmaster double-checked everyone. Once he was satisfied, he headed back for the crew compartment.
Renton looked over at the Sub Lieutenant. His face was white as a sheet. He’s going to lose his lunch again, Renton mused. When someone's stomach empties in free-fall, it’s not pretty. During the Norak drop, Sub Lieutenant Mike Diamato had emptied his. Renton though that just having that experience would keep someone from doing it again. He imagined that his theory was about to be tested. He looked across the troop compartment, and watched the light display near the ceiling. It was still red, which meant that they weren’t ready to drop yet. Suddenly he could feel the Blazer shudder. He glanced at the light display again, which was now burning bright amber. The Blazers on the lower tiers were dropping.
Sergeant Williams shouted on last time, “Remember to deploy in formation, troops. When that buzzer goes off, I want weapons in hand and your butts on that ramp. Got it?”
They responded in unison, “HOO RAH SERGEANT!”
The light turned green, and a muted clang was heard. Suddenly the world fell out from under them.

“Captain, all Blazers have been dropped. Mongoose is now beginning her climb out of orbit,” the sensor officer reported.
Gina didn’t look away from the tactical display floating in front of her captain’s chair.
“Weps, I want you ready to knock out anything you see. Pay particular attention to the mountain ranges. If we’re going to have trouble, it will come from there.”
“Aye, aye, Cap. I’ll hit whatever you tell me to.”
Gina’s mind whirled a mile a minute. She was trying to access threats from whichever quarter they may appear. Nothing so far, but the invasion had just begun.
PFC Renton opened his eyes. The entire drop was just almost a distant memory. He just felt the sideways tug as the landing sled’s retro engines fired, braking the Blazer. In a few moments, they would be on the ground. He was half expecting to wind up scattered across the atmosphere, but that was not to be his fate today. Absently, he wondered how the other platoons were faring.
Suddenly there was a thud. That would be the sled touching down. The pilot of the Blazer was loose from the sled in moments. The hover engines of the Blazer began to whine, and the pilot moved her forward a bit. He then pivoted the Blazer on its axis, turning a full circle and scanning the horizon. No buzzer meant no enemy close by. After a few tense minutes of waiting, Sergeant Williams held up the ok sign for the sub lieutenant. That meant that the entire company had survived the drop. Then Renton remembered that the lieutenant had most likely been sick all over himself. He turned to look, and saw nothing. The sub lieutenant sat in his seat, attempting to get his headset back on. He looked a little beaten up, but he hadn’t lost his lunch. For some reason, Renton felt proud of the sub lieutenant. Enlisted men weren’t supposed to like officers, but maybe this one would turn out ok. He gave the sub lieutenant the thumbs up. The sub lieutenant, having gotten his headset back on, smiled warmly and gave Renton’s thumbs up right back.

On board Mongoose, Major General Brooks watched the battle unfold from his command center. The tensest moment had been during the actual drop, when the Blazers were sitting ducks falling through the atmosphere. The Blazers had made it down in one piece, every single one of them. Since the planet only had one major landmass, the entire brigade moved from the three drop zones and converged 10 miles from the main city. Brigadier General Townsend ordered the entire brigade to assault the city. General Brooks watched closely, expecting troops to come swarming out of their hiding places to try and overwhelm the Space Marines. It never happened. The planet of Regotha III was taken without a shot being fired.

PFC Jake Renton was up before and standing by the ramp as soon as the buzzer went off. Sergeant Williams was the first in line, and shouting orders to the platoon.
“DO NOT fire unless you are fired upon. General Townsend has reported no resistance to our assault, and he doesn’t want any if he can help it. If you fire without provocation, you will be brought up on charges. Is that clear?”
As one, they replied, “HOO RA SARGEANT!”
Sergeant Williams turned around. “Ok, get ready…”
The ramp opened with surprising speed. Renton was out and on the ground before he knew it, his rifle pointing ahead. It wasn’t until he had a moment to access the situation did he become surprised. Choking the streets, lying prostrate before them, were millions of Norakians. They were chanting something, but they did not move from their positions. One Norakian moved from out of the crowd, his three legs making his move with a curious gait. Renton aimed his rifle at the Norakians head, and tensed. Suddenly the Norak stopped and shouted in a strange, lilting voice, “We wish to no more fight. Norak surrenders! Norak surrenders!”
A cheer rippled through the brigade. Regotha III was theirs, and the Norak were out of the war.

Grand Admiral Urian and Commandant Shawn Hunter entered the Chairman’s office. He was sitting on his balcony, drinking what looked to be dachenberry juice.
“Out here, gentlemen. Join me outside and help me to enjoy the day.” The Chairman was sitting at a table, his uneaten lunch sitting before him.
Hunter cleared his throat. “Sir, we have news from Regotha III. We have taken the planet, sir. There were no casualties on either side. It appears just before the Space Marines dropped, the High Priest had a vision from their goddess. She told them that it was their destiny to join with us in harmony, and that we would form one society that would rule the galaxy. Sir, the Norak no longer oppose us.”
Both men saw the Chairman’s face flush with color.
“Gentlemen, this is a great day. You can’t know how happy this makes me. Also, it makes me happy that we did not have to wipe out their entire race. Thank you both for this. Without you, this would never have happened.”
The two officers beamed with pride. The Chairman invited them to stay for lunch. He had suddenly regained his appetite.

The people were buoyed by the bloodless victory. While there was still a long way to go in this war, the victory over the Norak was a sign that they might be able to come through this war intact. Chairman Sachmo had Regotha III renamed Providence, in honor of the bloodless end to the conflict with the Norak. The 1st Space Marine Brigade secured the planet until regular Army troops could be brought in to keep the peace. Also, construction was immediately begun on the first Urban Pacification Center. The Chairman was determined to bring the remaining Norakians into the Remorhaz Society.

Artemis, Hawk, Mongoose and Comet were docked at the newly captured Providence Space Yards, and a refit was begun. Comet was to be refitted as a Nemesis Class Frigate. If there were a need for it, another planetary attack ship would be built, but Chairman Sachmo wanted to avoid the destruction of colonies, and so wanted to avoid using them, and specifically planetary napalm, if at all possible. Nemesis and Furious were ordered to rendezvous with Gamma Fleet at Norak.

2408.6

This month was spent mainly in consolidating gains and redirecting forces. Once Gamma Fleet had most of it’s assets reattached, they would attempt to access the position of the Rage forces. Since the Rage had a rather large fleet patrolling the Lundra system, Gamma Fleet would have to be very careful not to get caught in a bad situation. Once again, it was hoped that a Rage fleet could be lured into the defensive system outside of the Lundra-Lapzooli wormhole, but that couldn’t be counted on.
In the Yukra system, once the shipyard was constructed on Timerron, more ships would be added to the Yukra Defense Fleet. Once sufficient asset strength was built up, offensive operations could be considered, but the General Staff decided that the Rage would have to be knocked out first. After gaining more intelligence on the Rage disposition, the main offensive would begin. The target would be the Fezzran system, and the liberation of Cirius. It was time to turn the tables on the Rage.

sachmo71

10-07-2003, 10:39 PM

Stranger’s call

2408.7

Trilek moved toward the temple, mindful of the heavily armed Remorhaz soldiers patrolling this section of town. Trilek, like all of the other Norakians on Providence, was a deeply religious being. The very basis of his life was centered around the worship of the Goddess of Light. Every activity that took place in Norakian society revolved around worshiping the Goddess. Now, with the Continuum defeated, many feared that the Remorhaz would put an end to the worship of the Goddess of Light, and possibly make them take up worship of their alien god. Some of the remaining elders talked of fighting these Remorhaz to the death, as that would be preferable to turning a blind eye to the Goddess for the sake of one Norakian life. This most drastic of changes frightened many.
It was not to be, however. After that fateful day, when the Remorhaz soldiers had come, life seemed to run as normally as possible for the Norakians on Providence. The soldiers stayed out of their way, and amazingly let them continue worshiping at the temple. This unobtrusive occupation put many of the Norak at ease. Then the planetary governor arrived a month later. Once again the elders plotted in the dark corners of the city. Now they will oppress us with their laws. With a new government will come a new way of life. We must not turn from the Goddess! they would preach. Many of the people were upset by the possibility of changes, but most were just frightened.
The governor did not try and change their way of life. Of course he had a list of laws drawn up by the government back on Remorhaz, but these mainly dealt with the rights of the Norakians as members of the Remorhaz Society. There were no oppressive laws, and there were no restrictions on religion. The only hint of anything different was that Remorhaz law now applied to the citizens of Providence, although the Norakian laws would also still be observed. The governor and the high elder would work together to build a revised set of laws, which took both Norak, and Remorhaz law into account.
So the Norakians were allowed to live their lives as they had before, but with new laws, and of course alien troops patrolling the streets. Trilek moved past the worshipers gathered outside of the temple and entered it. He quickly found a spot where he would be comfortable, bent down on his three legs, and began his prayers. He tried to concentrate on the words, but he found his mind wandering. He kept thinking about something he had read while visiting the Remorhaz Cultural Exchange Center. It was about the rights of the citizen of the Remorhaz Society. He remembered something about all citizens having the right to choose to worship their own god in their own way, the right to live their lives as they chose so long as it did not interfere with the lives of others, and the right to be free of bondage in any form. These principles did not go hand in hand with the teachings of the Goddess. The Word of the Goddess said that above all else, the Norak should follow her guidance. Everyone knew that she spoke through the priests, and so all guidance by the priests should be viewed as guidance from the Goddess herself. Norakians were expected to put the will of the priests above their own needs. This was the way it had been for centuries. How would the Goddess view her people if the began to follow their own guidance? Would they all be condemned to eternal damnation?
Already, the Goddess had commanded the Norak to join themselves with the Remorhaz Society, so she must have meant for them to live within it’s principles and rules. Trilek was frustrated by such questions. He would have to hear what the priests and elders had to say on that subject. For the first time in his life, he would have to decide which path to take. It was quite frightening for him, while at the same time liberating. In the meantime, Trilek prayed as hard as he could for guidance, but none was forthcoming. He looked at his timepiece, and noticed that he had been praying for 35 minutes. The High Priest had said in this time of change, all Norakians should pray for one extra hour per day. Trilek stood up, and looked around. A few of those around him, who had seen when he had come in, watched him curiously.
“I cannot concentrate. I am going home,” he said, and with that turned and walked out of the temple.
He didn’t get very far. Quickly a monk came running down the street, his robes trailing behind him.
“Trilek, you are shaming the Goddess. You have not prayed long enough. We all need her guidance in this time of trial. This is the will of the High Priest, who speaks for the Goddess. Come back to the temple at once!” The monk made to grab his arm.
Trilek shook off his grasp.
“No! I cannot concentrate and I do not feel well. My prayers do the Goddess no good today. I am going home!” He turned to walk away, but this time the monk placed his arm around Trilek, and made to carry his back to the temple.
Before he knew what happened, Trilek grabbed the monk’s arm and tossed him to the ground. A crowd started to gather, and a gasp ran through the spectators. The monk, now lying in the street on his back, looked shocked. Quickly, shock turned to anger. He reached under his robe and pulled out a stun stick.
“Blasphemer! You will be reported to the High Priest, and you WILL come with me to pray. Your punishment for disobedience will be severe” The monk made to stand up, but quickly a squad of Remorhaz Space Marines swept through the crowd, weapons in hand. They stood between the monk and Trilek. One of the Space Marines spoke.
“I’m sorry, brother, but you cannot wield that stun stick. It is considered a lethal weapon under Article Six of the Remorhaz Code of Justice. Please place it on the ground.”
Trilek suddenly remembered to breathe. He had been ready to take a stun stick to his nerve cluster for defying a holy man, but instead these Remorhaz soldiers had saved him. The speaker, probably the leader, turned to him.
“Sir, my name is Sergeant Chuck Williams, Remorhaz Space Marine Corps. Do you wish to press charges against this monk?”
Trilek was dumbfounded. He just looked at the sergeant blankly. Press charges? What in the Goddess’ name did that mean?
“Sir, as a free citizen of the Remorhaz Society, you have the right to press charges against this man. The charge would be assault with a deadly weapon. If you do press charges, we will confine him in the brig, pending a trial. Do you wish to proceed with this course of action?” The sergeant looked at him expectantly. Or was there a hint of a smile on his face?
Trilek recovered his wits enough to stammer an answer, “No. No Sergeant Williams, I do not wish to press charges against the brother. I am not permitted to. It is against our ways to accuse one of the clergy of a crime. By our laws, he has the right to punish me.”
Sergeant Williams’ face turned serious.
“I understand that right now, there are still some questions about how Norakian law and Remorhaz law are going to be enforced here, but let me set you straight on something. You are all free citizens of the Remorhaz Society now. One of the benefits of citizenship is that no one can force you to do anything against your will, and no one can tell you how to live your life. Above all else, unless you break a law, no one has a right to punish you.” He paused for a moment, and looked as if he would say more, but then turned away. “Ok, Renton, help the brother up.”
One of the soldiers yanked the monk to his feet. Trilek tried to look away as the monk shot him a vicious look that promised a reckoning once the soldiers moved away. Suddenly, Trilek grew angry with the monk. He stepped up to him.
“Brother, I am sorry for going against the law of the Goddess by resisting your commands to return to the temple. I can see that you are planning on making me pay for my transgression with physical punishment. However, I am now a free citizen of the Remorhaz Society and if you so much growl in my direction, I will have you arrested by the soldiers. May the Goddess watch over you, brother.”
With that, Trilek turned his back on the monk and walked briskly toward his habitat.
The monk recovered from his shock enough to shuffle back toward the temple. The crowd that had witnessed the entire incident broke up, but soon a word was spreading like wildfire through the entire city. That word was freedom. The very prospect of it gave many Norakians hope for the future. The Urban Pacification Centers were working in improving the mood of the Norakians.

Two new colonies were founded. Prospect, a medium rock planet with a carbon dioxide atmosphere was established in the Regotha system. This planet was high in mineral resources, but once again its effectiveness was limited because the colony was domed. Also, the first permanent Remorhaz presence was established in the Yullado system when the planet Deniper was founded. The planet had a rock surface with a methane atmosphere. This colony was to serve as a resupply base for the Navy.

At Glory, Manticore and Honor pulled into the space yard for refitting. These ships were given priority over any new construction at the yards, as these ships had to be sent back to Xillantha as soon as possible.

The shuttle carrying Grand Admiral Urian smoothly entered the atmosphere of Norak. After a shallow dive, the pilot brought the shuttle over Norak City. Grand Admiral Urian had not been to Norak before. What he saw from the window shocked him. The city was gleaming like a jewel in the light of Lapzooli’s single yellow sun. The colonists were making very efficient use of the supplies brought here by the convoys. Outside of the city, the land told a different story. Everywhere Urian looked he could see the scars left on the land by the orbital bombardment. Entire valleys were scorched, with the stubs of incinerated trees poking up like bones from the ground. Blasted wreckage of what had previously been some kind of Norakian structure, and everywhere he looked were huge craters carved into the planet. He had seen videos of the bombardment, and it’s aftermath, but it was nothing compared to seeing it in person. Grand Admiral Urian felt a knot in his throat. He knew that the Norak had forced their hands. He knew that even when their last planet was being invaded they refused to surrender. Still, the price had been paid not by Norakian soldiers, but billions upon billions of innocent civilians. The number of non-combatants who must have perished here alone must have been astronomical. The site of the scarred planet hardened his resolve to avoid using orbital bombardment as a viable weapon in the future at all costs. The cost in life was just too high.

2408.8

Both Norak and Timerron finished their shipyards this month. These yard would not only allow new ships to reach the front quicker, but they would also allow for faster refit and repair times for the fleet. Both shipyards would begin production of new ships immediately.

The Remorhaz Society secured its place in the Iolo system by colonizing Correlia. Correlia was a huge rock world with an oxygen atmosphere. The planet was rich in mineral and radioactive resources. Also, in the Wanduk system, a colony was established on the world of Ymoria. This world was also a huge rock planet, but it had a hydrogen atmosphere. This colony was established mainly as a research post to excavate the remains of a derelict spacecraft that had crash-landed on the surface of the planet sometime in the past. The Research Guild was hoping that at some point in the future, they would be able to discover some advanced technology in the wreck. They were surprised when they quickly discovered a relatively simple design for a large, unmanned anti-matter propelled probe. They immediately forwarded these plans to the military, which adapted them to use current missile and satellite technology to create unmanned drones for military use. These weapons would hopefully prove useful in the upcoming offensive against the Rage.
Not much else could be gleaned from the spacecraft, but the scientists and archeologists continued to study it in hopes of discovering to whom the craft belonged, and how it ended up crashed in the Wanduk system.

To date, the Remorhaz Society had colonized fifteen colonies in ten different systems. The population of all of these worlds topped 3.1 billion people.

Back in the Xillantha system, the Rage fleet appeared again. It once again seemed to be heading for Fort Justice, but no one could be sure. Meanwhile, “Spare Parts” was winding down it’s second season. Critics said that the writing for the show remained strong, and as long as Rage fleets continued to “buzz” the system, the show would have endless material with which to work. The Navy hoped to put an end to this soon, of course. The Xillantha fleet, short a frigate and a destroyer, went on alert and prepared for combat. Governor Kalashnikov cursed the Rage for fools, and knocked off early for a night of partying. Whenever the Rage appeared, the planet’s party mood skyrocketed.

In the Yukra system, Timerron detected an Ukra-Tal fleet of six destroyers, which had just come into the system. No course was confirmed, but the nearest target was Timerron. The planet began construction of another weapons platform. If they came, the planet would have an adequate defense. The main problem was that no one knew the level of the Ukra-Tal technology, and so had no idea what sort of weapons the Yukra Defense Fleet would be up against.

In the Regotha system, Hawk was deployed to recon the Lezzari system to check on Rage strength in the sector. If a target of opportunity presented itself, she would attack.

The threatened colonies of Fort Justice and Timerron could only brace themselves and wait for an attack that might not even come.

sachmo71

10-07-2003, 10:42 PM

The Battle of Timerron

2408.9

Lieutenant Commander Harper Douglass watched as the six Ukra-Tal destroyers deployed in a line on the tactical display. Between the destroyers and Timerron, he saw his own ship RSS Falcon and the rest of the Remorhaz fleet arrayed in an arrowhead formation. Besides his own ship, the Remorhaz fleet consisted of another system patrol ship, RSS Peregrine and a Glory Class Destroyer, RSS Virtue. Backing them up were three defense satellites, and the weapons platforms on the surface of the planet.
This is going to be close, he thought, and we still don’t know what sort of weapons the Ukra-Tal possess. We’ll keep them off the planet as long as we can.
“Sir, Captain Greeley is on the com for you” the communications officer called out.
Douglass switched on the com unit. The face of Captain Enis Greeley, commander of RSS Virtue appeared. The screen split, and Commander Mike Wells appeared also. Wells commanded RSS Peregrine. Both officers looked grim.
“Well boys,” Captain Greeley started, “here’s how we’re gonna play this one out.”
Captain Greeley, the fleet commander, was never one to stand on ceremony.
“We’re going to stay between those destroyers and Timerron as long as we can, and take them down one by one. I don’t really know what to tell you about weapons…we’ve never encountered anything like what these Ukra-Tal have. The sensor readings are…inconclusive, so it’s liable to be a nice surprise when they start firing.” All three officers chuckled. “Anyway, let’s spread out, try to draw fire, and see if we can’t send some of these buggers to hell, eh?”
Douglass felt his confidence rising. Here they were facing a superior enemy force, and Captain Greeley was as calm as ever.
“Aye, aye, sir. We’ll bait them for you” Douglass answered. Wells did likewise.
The com switched off, and Douglass went back to the business of running his ship. The Ukra-Tal force consisted of two Burtrask Class Destroyers, two Djusholm Class Destroyers, and a Drammen and a Bygland class destroyer. As Captain Greeley had said, they weren’t quite sure what sort of weapons the destroyers had, as the sensors weren’t reporting any conventional weapons that they could detect. Harper rubbed his chin.
“Ok, helm, take us in. We are going for shoot and scoot, so once the enemy locks onto us and fires, get us out of range as quickly as possible.” Under his breath, he muttered, “Assuming they have missiles on board…”
The helm officer acknowledged.
As the two fleets approached each other, the sensor officer shouted a warning.
“Commander! The Bygland and Drammen have just fired some sort of…projectile. The readings are crazy though, sir. Sensors are reporting the projectiles as organic objects!”
Harper did a double take. “Organic? What the hell?”
“I can’t understand it either, sir. That’s what the sensors are telling me. I’m trying to get a lock on them now. They should be up on the viewscreen once I find them.”
Harper watched tactical as the forward sensors tried to acquire the Ukra-Tal missiles against the starry background of space.
“There they are, sir! Zooming in now.” He paused while he fine-tuned the display. “Oh my god!” The sensor officer blanched as the view homed in on the targets.
The display locked onto something out of a nightmare. Hurtling through space toward his ship was some sort of slime-covered…organism. Douglass didn’t know of a better way to classify it. He did know that it was coming at them very quickly, and it didn’t look like it was going to be friendly when it got there.
Harper ordered Falcon to turn away from the incoming projectiles, while Peregrine moved into enemy missile range. She too drew fire, and turned to run. Once the first enemy destroyer came into range, Virtue, the weapons platforms, and the satellites all targeted a single Djusholm destroyer and fired their missiles. The missiles ran true, until they closed to close range with the Ukra-Tal destroyers. At this point, the enemy destroyers began firing some sort of small projectiles in incredible numbers into the path of the Remorhaz missiles. The projectiles shot out from a previously unseen opening on the top of the enemy ships. Every single Remorhaz missile was knocked either destroyed or disabled.
Harper watched in disbelief as the attack was so quickly blunted. Not a single missile hit the enemy ship. The good news was that the Ukra-Tal projectiles fired at his ship and Peregrine had apparently run out of energy and were dispersing.
During the evasive maneuvers by the Remorhaz ships, the other four destroyers had moved into firing range of Timerron. They all fired more of the seeker organisms at the surface. Harper followed them on his tactical display. The projectiles screamed through the atmosphere, homing in on the largest city on Timerron. They slammed into the surface, and a huge mushroom cloud shot up over the city.
Harper stared at the tactical display. How many colonists had just died?
The com officer spoke up again. “Sir, it’s Captain Greeley for you.”
“Put him through.”
The screen snapped on.
“Harper, I need you to listen to me. This is a no win situation. I want you and Mike to get the hell out of here. I’m going to stay behind and try to keep them off of your backs for a little while.”
Harper watched the captain, astonished.
“Captain, what about the colony? There are 19 million people down there, sir!”
Greeley shook his head. “Harper, getting yourself killed is not going to save any of them, but maybe if you get the intel back to Remorhaz, they can figure out some way to put us on a more even footing with the Ukra-Tal.”
Harper’s jaw dropped. He couldn’t think straight. Retreat?
“Sir, I can’t leave you here…”
“This is not a request, Lieutenant Commander Douglass. You will make all efforts to return to Remorhaz, and let them know what we are up against. When Timerron falls, there isn’t going to be anything between the Ukra-Tal and Remorhaz. I need you to get show them what happened here. We need to find a way to stop them.”
Harper could feel a lump building in his throat, and tears in his eyes. It wasn’t supposed to work this way! Victory or defeat was expected, but being ordered to turn tail and run, while 19 million colonists faced certain death was unthinkable. Still, he was a professional officer, and did not disobey orders, no matter what his personal views were.
“Yes, sir. Good luck, Captain. See you back home, ok,” he choked.
Greeley smiled. “Go full bore all of the way home, and don’t look back. Good luck to you, too.”
Harper gave Greeley one last salute, and then passed his orders on to the helm officer.
“Helm, turn us around. Nav, plot the best course for Remorhaz. We’ve been ordered to withdraw.”
The entire bridge fell silent. No one wanted to abandon Timerron. No one wanted to run away.
Harper could feel himself losing control. “Damn it! I don’t like this anymore than you do, but we’ve been ordered to retreat. We WILL follow Captain Greeley’s orders! Move it, people!”
The XO was the first to snap out of it, and started prodding people into action. Soon the crew lost themselves in their jobs.
Virtue continued transmitting intel to the fleeing system patrol ships. Harper watched in horror as the Ukra-Tal unleashed another of their weapons. From the “bow” of their craft, a large appendage poked out and from it, a green substance issued forth. The substance expanded as it flew through space, and entered the atmosphere. When it finally hit the surface, everything it touched was immediately corroded as if by a very powerful acid. This acid seemed to burn through everything…buildings, rocks, and people. Harper turned away. What the hell were they going to do to stop the Ukra-Tal? Was there anything that could be done in time to contain them?
He glanced back at the tactical display, and watched as Virtue fired at the enemy fleet. A few more salvos of organic missiles and a wave of acid barrages finished off the colony on Timerron. The Ukra-Tal then turned their attention to Virtue. Captain Greeley tried to fight them off for as long as possible, but there were just too many of them. Quickly and efficiently, Virute was destroyed in a rain of seeker parasites and acid globules.

In the end, Falcon was forced to leave Peregrine behind. The Ukra-Tal destroyers had caught up with them, and Peregrine sacrificed herself by turning to engage them while Falcon escaped. They jumped into the Lenoltris system, leaving the destroyers and a much larger fleet of 20 Ukra-Tal ships behind. What Lieutenant Commander Douglass didn’t know was that they had also left Peregrine behind. With only one engine and most of her structural integrity gone, she was crippled, but not destroyed. The odds were greatly stacked against them, but they had to try and make it home.

sachmo71

10-07-2003, 10:45 PM

Securing the perimeter

2408.9

Grand Admiral Urian had been in a foul mood for days. The news of the defeat in the Battle of Timerron had hit him hard. Upon learning of it, the admiral had locked himself and his staff in an office for a day and a half, stopping only to accept nourishment. During that time, he and his staff had watched the vids and reviewed the intelligence, determined to find a way to stop the Ukra-Tal from advancing any further into Remorhaz space. His main concerns now were the colonies of Correlia and Ymoria. With the loss of the Yukra system, the path to these two colonies was wide open to the Ukra-Tal. Worse still was the fact that the Navy had exactly one ship that could be moved to protect these worlds, the RSS Midguard. The problem was, the Midguard was the only ship protecting the planet of Remorhaz.
So, after a long consultation with Chairman Sachmo, it was decided that these two colonies would have to be left on their own for now. For Urian it was the hardest decision he had ever made. Between those two planets, they had decided to leave 10 million Remorhaz citizens to their fate at the hands of a numerically and technologically superior force.
Other decisions were made at the same time, however. First, Remorhaz and Glory would begin constructing a new defense fleet. Second, once Correlia finished building her spaceport, the colony would immediately begin construction of a space yard. If Correlia fell, then Ymoria would be completely cut off from the rest of the Society, so that planet, and the Iolo system, had to be held at all costs. Third, the transport RSS Hispania was in the area with a cargo of defense satellites. If the wormholes from Yukra could be seeded with enough satellites, then possibly the Ukra-Tal could be contained. Urian wasn’t betting much on that situation, but with enough satellites, maybe it would force them to think twice about making a run for the wormhole.
Urian also decided to go ahead with the offensive against the Rage. If they could be knocked out, or at least weakened, then the Navy would be able to divert its full attention to the greater threat from the Ukra-Tal.
The Research Guild was able to deliver some much-needed good news. The University of Hera had been studying military techniques of the Rage and Ukra-Tal and had discovered the basic theories of point defense weapons, torpedo weapons, and combat electronics. With a bit more research, they promised a point defense cannon prototype within a month. The Naval Weapons Bureau also hoped to have the next generation depleted uranium cannon in production within the next month also.
Urian and his staff decided that while the battle against the Rage would be the next phase of the war, he wanted to have all of his ships upgraded to the latest models before beginning the attack. This meant that they would probably not begin operations for another six months or so. He was still hoping to lure a Rage fleet into a trap outside of the Lundra—Lapzooli wormhole, but he didn’t need the latest ships for that battle.

Transport RSS Loxias was ordered to head to the Iolo system to deploy its cargo of defense satellites at the wormhole to the Yukra system. Hopefully, they would get there in time to slow down the Ukra-Tal. Otherwise, it might turn out to be a wasted trip.

2409.0

Commander Mike Wells opened his eyes. It took them a few seconds to focus, and when they did, he found himself looking up at a bay of medical instruments. His throat was dry, and his head was pounding like a bass drum, but otherwise he felt ok. He worked up the nerve to sit up, which caused him to almost pass out. When his head cleared, he found himself looking up at Crewman Tim Dawkins and Lieutenant, JG Francois Richard.
Dawkins tried to ease Wells’ head back onto a pillow. “Sir, you have to be careful about moving. You too a pretty bad blow to the head.”
Wells shut his eyes and tried not to think about the fact that his head was about to explode.
“Dawkins, what happened? How in the hell did we get out of that battle alive?”
Dawkins continued to fuss with a sheet. Obviously, he didn’t want the commander getting out of bed.
“Well sir, they had us dead to rights. They pounded us, and we thought we were finished. Some of those damn seeker parasites ripped off the left fore quarter of the ship, and one slammed right into the bridge. Then those acid globules started burning holes through the entire ship. Everything that wasn’t melting or already blow to hell was on fire sir. Once the ship started losing pressure, those of us still alive thought it was over for sure then.”
He took a ragged breath. He was still pretty shaken up from what Wells could hear.
“Then, they just left us and chased Falcon. I don’t know if they got away or not, but I guess they thought we were finished. Those of us left went to work saving what we could of the ship and trying to get some power back on. We were able to save one of the engines, sir. We aren’t moving very fast, and the only steering we have are the auxiliary maneuver jets, but we are making way.”
Wells tried to do some calculations.
“One engine…how far have we come?”
“We are making about one parsec a month, sir. At this rate, we should make it to Lenoltris in about 3 months.”
Three months, in a hostile system, without support. Those weren’t very long odds.
“Do we have any communications at all?”
Now Richard spoke up. “Not as of yet, sir, but the good news is that the communication officer is recovering and should be able to get working on the emergency com equipment soon. Right now, we are just trying to keep Peregrine together and underway. It’s not been easy, sir. We took more damage than I though we could. We shouldn’t even be here anymore.”
Wells held up his hand. “Francois, who made it? How many men survived?”
Wells heard Richard’s voice break. “Including you, sir, we have 22.”
22 men survived out of 130. Wells tried not to think about it, but it hit him hard. Those men were his responsibility, and he had gotten them killed. He knew he still had to try and get the other 21 men home, but it would be a while before he was able to accept the fact that so many of his crew were gone.
“Alright guys, help me up.”
Richard and Dawkins tried to protest, but one look from the commander squelched their arguments. Slowly they helped him to his feet. Once Wells was sure he wasn’t going to pass out from the pain, he found he was able to support himself.
“Ok, let’s get to the bridge. Maybe if…”
Dawkins broke in. “Sir, there ain’t a bridge to go to. They took it out. You and the Ensign were the only two we found. If you two hadn’t been secured, you wouldn’t be here now.”
Wells stared at him. “Well, what sections are left?”
“Medical, the back part of broadway, engineering and part of the engine room. Oh, and some of the officer’s berths, including yours, sir. How about that, sir? When we get back, you won’t have to buy new uniforms?”
Dawkins grin split his grimy face in half. Wells couldn’t help but smile back
“Alright then, guys. Let’s see what we can do to help this old girl get us out of here.”

Just as promised, the Research Guild delivered a prototype of the point defense cannon to the Navy. Quickly, the design bureau began working to incorporate them into all ship designs. Now the Remorhaz ships would be able to defend themselves against missile attacks on an equal footing with the enemy. The Army also decided to incorporate the PD cannon into a new generation of weapons platforms, to help planets defend against incoming missile attacks.

2409.1

The epic voyage of the Peregrine was not to be. Two parsecs from the wormhole, she was set upon by the same six destroyers that had glassed the colony of Timerron. They toyed with the wounded system patrol ship for a while before finishing her off with a well placed acid shot. The ship collapsed, it’s structural integrity finally destroyed. The wreckage slowly drifted apart before colliding with an asteroid field. Parts of the ship would remain trapped in this field for millions of years.

The Navy Intelligence Bureau reported a strange message they had received from the Rage. It read:

The Lundra system has been claimed by our people. You will die if you stay there.

Grand Admiral Urian was pleased to hear this news. Maybe they were becoming a thorn in the side of the Rage Collective. Possibly, the presence of Zeta Fleet would goad them into acting rashly. If not, the Remorhaz Navy was prepared to wait them out. When they were ready, they would strike.

The Research Guild produced a second-generation point defense cannon in one month. This cannon had a higher rate of fire and had a better hit ratio than the first generation guns. They were immediately incorporated into the ship designs. They than began trying to design a mine which could be used in space. It was hoped that mines, when used in conjunction with defense satellites, would allow choke points (such as wormholes) to be closed off to the enemy with a minimum fleet presence required.

Governor Hadrian Ervay was ushered into the shuttle. He and his staff had just finished inspecting the newly completed spaceport on Correlia. Whether any convoys would be able to make the journey from the core systems with the Ukra-Tal being so close was another matter entirely. Ervay sat down on the acceleration couch and looked out the window of the shuttle. Correlia was such a beautiful planet. It reminded him of Remorhaz, except that the atmosphere had a bluer tinge here, and the nitrogen in the upper atmosphere periodically ignited, burning off in a fantastic light show for the cities below to watch. He hoped that his colony wasn’t going to wind up as a smoking crater anytime soon. If the Navy would get off of it’s ass and get him some protection, this planet could really contribute to the Society. If they were left exposed to the Ukra-Tal, however…well, he didn’t want to think about that.
He was pushed back into his seat as the shuttle lifted off. Quickly the acceleration compensators countered the thrust of the engines, and he was comfortable again. He watched as they rose into space, thinking about what the future held for his colony. Soon, out of this window he saw the framework for the new space yard. In their wisdom, the Navy decided that Correlia would be the next staging point a defense fleet and so needed a space yard to be constructed. Ervay couldn’t help but think that once Timerron had built a space yard, the Ukra-Tal had decided to attack. Was it a coincidence, or did they consider that enough of a threat to warrant an attack? Ervay wasn’t sure, but he would be sure to have plenty of weapons platforms built before they came to take his colony out.

On Providence, the 1st Space Marine Brigade loaded back aboard the Mongoose. Along with Artemis and Comet, this fleet would meet up with Hawk in the Knoglam system. The fleet would then assault Lezzari III. This would be the first attempted capture of a Rage planet. No one really knew what to expect from the Rage, as there had not been much contact with them. The Space Marines were ready for a little payback, though, and were looking forward to this drop.

2409.2

A new colony was founded in the Wanduk system. Cherek was a Medium rock planet with an oxygen atmosphere. It had a high content of both mineral and organic resources. If allowed to prosper, this planet would be a cornerstone of the Remorhaz Society.

A massive Naval upgrade program was begun this month, with three ships being upgraded at Glory, and six undergoing upgrades at the Norak ship yard. Crews worked horrendous hours to get the ships turned around as quickly as possible. The increased combat power of the fleet made the entire operation a risk worth taking.

2409.3
Remorhaz and Glory both launched the first of the new Glory C Class Destroyers. RSS Shining Victory was launched from Remorhaz and RSS Skydancer was launched from Glory. Both ships were ordered to Correlia.

In the Lundra system, the defense satellites picked up a Rage fleet of eight ships moving a maximum speed toward the Lapzooli system. While most of the ships in Zeta fleet were being refit, the wormhole had two sets of defense satellites. Grand Admiral Urian was hoping that these defenses would slow the Rage fleet down enough that all of the ships would be refit and would then be able to take on the remains of the Rage fleet. It was a race against the clock.

The Marine Assault Fleet closed in on Lezzari III. No Rage ships were in system to greet them, and so the fleet was able to approach the planet. Aboard Mongoose Major General Steven Brooks was pacing in the Combat Information Center. Sensors reported the Rage colony possessed a weapons platform that was armed with weapons that had not been encountered before. Brooks was confident that the frigates would be able to destroy these weapons, but he wasn’t sure of their capabilities. He would need both frigates to survive so that they could attack any Rage surface military targets that might endanger his Space Marines.
Captain Brennan watched as the fleet entered the wall formation. He was in command of the assault fleet until the actual launch. Now it was his turn to show the Rage what the Remorhaz Navy was made of.
The fleet closed to effective missile firing range and fired all tubes. Comet moved in a little closer to get a better solution, and the Rage unleashed their weapon. A purplish beam of energy streaked from the surface of the planet and hit Comet amidships. The beam destroyed one of her missile tubes, and then continued down her hull, blasting the engine room. 4 of 6 engines were disabled in the first and two subsequent blasts.
Brennan watched with concern as the beams tore up Comet. Brennan hit the comlink, and the face of Commander David Trinner appeared.
“David, are you alright? What’s your status?” Brennan could see a haze of smoke in the background.
“We’ve taken heavy engine damage and lost a missile tube. Casualties are heavy. The beams went through our hull like a hot knife through butter, R.J.” Trinner croaked. He looked like he had aged a year since Brennan had last seen him.
“Alright, hang back for a bit, David. I’ll try and hit those guns, and you see what you can do about damage control.”
Trinner stared blankly at the screen. “Ok, R.J. Be careful!”
Brennan winked at him. “Not too careful,” and with that broke the link.
He tracked his salvo on the tactical display. Both his salvo and Comet’s were targeting the Rage weapons platform.
The missiles from the Remorhaz ships destroyed the Rage weapons platforms. Then Comet and Artemis began firing at ground installations. Hawk also moved in and fired at targets with her DUC, while Mongoose moved in to drop the Space Marines.

PFC Jake Renton closed his eyes during the drop. The Blazer bucked through the atmosphere like a wild stallion. Renton opened his eyes for a split second to watch Sergeant Williams. Williams was talking into the intercom, and smiling. Good, thought Renton. He wouldn’t be smiling if we were taking heavy fire.
Renton closed his eyes again, and before he knew it, he heard the thump as the Blazer separated from the landing skid. He opened his eyes and looked to the sergeant again. Williams was holding the thumbs up to the Lieutenant…the whole company had made it down. The engines of the Blazer roared to life, and they were off.
About ten minutes later, Renton was surprised to hear the main guns of the Blazer fire. Normally, the platoon would be deployed and the Blazer would provide support. If the Blazer was firing but not signaling for the Marines to deploy, then they had the enemy in a bad position. The Blazer bucked as it flew across the unseen terrain, firing its main guns.
Forty-five minutes later, the signal came to dismount. Renton formed up with the squad, and quickly they deployed around the Blazer. The first thing he saw was the remains of what looked like a large scrap pile. Only upon closer inspection did he realize that he was looking at a Rage fighting vehicle and it’s crew splayed out across the ground. Renton kicked at the pile of scrap. Fighting against living machines would take some getting used to. Then a message came down the line from Colonel Jimenez. The enemy had been defeated. Renton and the rest of 4th platoon marched toward the domed living area that had been set up by the Rage colonists. Oxygen was a hazardous environment for the Rage, so a domed colony was required. The downside for them was that a domed colony was easy to capture, and if threatened with destruction, was a very effective tool against a resisting population. The population quickly surrendered once the planetary Main Sequencer was captured and destroyed. Since the Rage could not function as part of the Collective without a local Sequencer, the remaining Rage population became docile, and continued about their everyday lives. There would be much to learn about the Rage before they could be made full members of the Remorhaz Society, if it were possible at all.
As soon as the planet was secured, the utility shuttles came down from [I]Mongoose[I] and began shuttling the troops and Blazers back into the ship. The entire fleet was to head back to Providence and await further orders. Bravo Company from the 3rd Battalion was left on the planet for pacification duty. Major General Brooks, by decree of the Chairman of the Remorhaz society, renamed the colony Nova.

sachmo71

10-07-2003, 10:46 PM

Oversite

2409.4

The Rage fleet that had been moving toward the Lapzooli system and the planet Norak had once again demonstrated the unpredictability of the Rage Collective. The fleet would probably have been able to slip past the defense satellite rings, push through and attack the planet Norak with at least 1 or 2 Remorhaz ships still being refit, but instead they changed course and headed into the western, unexplored wormhole. The Lapzooli fleet breathed a sigh of relief. Any extra time to prepare to meet the Rage on a more equal footing was more than welcome.

Lieutenant Commander Neaton was expecting a warm welcome when RSS Hawk finished the jump from Lezzari into the Jethanis system. According to Fleet Intelligence, this should be a gateway system into Rage space. Instead, a sweep of the system revealed only four tiny rock planets with hostile atmospheres. Still, Neaton could feel that the Rage were in this system somewhere, but none of the planets showed their presence.
“Mr. Devers, are you absolutely sure you’ve checked every planet for signs of a Rage Colony? I would have to leave one in our rear area”, Neaton asked his Science Officer.
Devers stayed glued to his screen.
“Absolutely, Commander. There are no Rage on any planet in this system.”
“Thank you, Ensign Devers.” If the Rage weren’t here, then why in the hell did he have such a strange feeling? There was something they were missing…but he couldn’t put his finger on it.
Neaton brought up every piece of intelligence he had on the Rage. His tactical display was flooded with scientific facts, anatomic displays, brief cultural dissertations, but Neaton wasn’t even sure what he was looking for. He was hoping that it would grab his attention when he saw it.
Suddenly, there it was.
“Science, scan every rock moon in this system that has no atmosphere. I think we just might find something.” There it was, in the racial overview. The Rage Collective’s preferred planetary climate was a rock world with no atmosphere. Upon discovering a new system, standard operating procedure was to actively scan a system for ships, and then do a passive scan of all planets within a system to search for colonies. Most of the time, the moons and smaller bodies had been omitted from scans, as these objects were too small and usually uninhabitable for most races. They had overlooked the Rage, however. A moon without an atmosphere would be an excellent destination for a Rage colony.
“Sir, Rage colony detected on the moon of Jethanis IX. Estimates are that there are roughly 11 million Rage colonists on this world.”
Neaton blanched. What if they had bypassed a Rage colony in another system?
“Sparks, get the word out to Naval Intelligence. Every system vacated by the Rage will need to be checked for colonies. Also, the SOP will definitely need to be changed.”
Within hours, Neaton’s fears were confirmed. The entire fleet had left Nova unguarded, and there was a rather large Rage colony still in the system on the alpha moon of Lezzari IV. Hopefully, the Rage on this world didn’t have a shipyard, or Nova was going to be in a ton of trouble, and quick.
Lieutenant Commander turned Hawk around as quickly as possible and made for this colony. Someone needed to find out what the Rage had there, and Neaton was the only Remorhaz ship left in system.

Back on Providence, work was begun on a new Glory C Class Destroyer. Its firepower would be needed to support the taking of these Rage colonies.

In the Yullado system, Hispania arrived at Yullado and picked up another 5 defense satellites. She immediately turned around and headed back to seed the Lenoltris-Yukra wormhole. In Iolo, Loxias was able to do the same at the Iolo-Yukra system. For at least a little while, the Ukra-Tal would be stopped at Yukra. Possibly, that was all that they wanted?

The Research Guild unlocked the secrets of the space mine, and also discovered a system that would be able to safely clear them. Immediately, a design was created for a new space mine, as well as a ship that would be equipped to lay them. This would help shore up the borders of the Remorhaz Society. Work was then begun on the principles of Energy Pulse and Torpedo weapons.

sachmo71

10-07-2003, 10:46 PM

A small victory

2409.5

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

2409.6

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

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

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

sachmo71

10-07-2003, 10:47 PM

Preparations

2409.7

Captain Brennan sat down in the captain’s chair aboard his new command, RSS Fortitude. She was the first capital ship built by the Providence shipyards, and she was twice as powerful as Artemis was. She was also his reward for his performance in the invasion of Nova. His actions had helped save Comet from destruction, and his attacks against the surface defenses on Nova had been so effective that the Space Marine landing had gone virtually unopposed. Because of that, Naval Command had decided that his task force needed more firepower, but Brennan would get the first ship out of the yard. That was a very high honor indeed.
Brennan cast a glance around his bridge. It would take time for him to mesh with the new crew, but he was confident that they would all be on the same page before they went in to attempt to take Lezzari IV A. They would not reach Nova for approximately three months, and when they did they would face the daunting task of recolonizing the planet with Norak colonists. He didn’t expect that mission to go smoothly. He didn’t understand much about the Rage as a species, but if they were anything like Humans they would not like being moved from their planet. For once, he hoped that in this instance the Rage were very different, otherwise this mission could get very ugly.

Task Force 9.5 entered the Aldan system in the first week of the month. They were expecting the system to be Rage held, as this was one of the wormholes from which Rage fleets had been observed jumping from. When the scanners made a system sweep, it wasn’t the Rage that they found, but a race known as the Texrax Hegemony. Gina immediately started the first contact protocol, and sent a message back to Norak.

Chairman Sachmo was just finishing reading a new bill proposal when the com unit range. Yarboro’s voice chimed through informing him that it was Ambassador Mulatti. The Chairman quickly accepted the call.
“Good afternoon, Sangi. What can I do for you?”
The ambassador looked serious. “Sir, Captain Jager has made contact with a new race, the Texrak Hegemony. Their home planet is in the newly explored system of Aldan, which is west of Lundra. This was a system we had hoped would be the Rage home system, but we were shocked to discover that there was a previously unknown race inhabiting the system.”
The Chairman did not dare let his hopes get the better of him.
“Oh, this is important news. Hopefully, these Texrakians are a peaceful people. I don’t think we need any more enemies.”
The ambassador shook his head. “Chairman, the initial reports are that they are moderate towards us. This is the best initial contact we have had with a race since the very early days with the Norak.”
“Well, Sangi, I have every faith in your abilities to keep us peaceful with them. If we get any information from them, please let me know as soon as you can.”
The ambassador nodded. “I shall, Chairman. I have already begun assembling a diplomatic team that should reach the system in a month. I will update you as soon as we know anything else.”
The Chairman smiled. “Thank you, Sangi. Have a nice evening.”
With that the closed the connection. Immediately, he had Yarboro connect him with Grand Admiral Urian. He wanted to be sure that the Navy was ready, and in a position to hold their ground against these Texrakians . He would not allow another Timerron to happen again.

This month, 4 million Remorhaz colonists set out from Glory to colonize the Lenoltris system. It was deemed worth the risk by the government since the Fezzran system would soon be under attack by Remorhaz forces anyway, and that action should keep the Rage from counterattacking in the Lenoltris system.

Remorhaz finished construction of the RSS Badger, a Mongoose Class Landing Ship. This ship moved out to the Neckron to pick up the newly organized 2nd Space Marine Brigade, and would then move into the Xillantha system to join up with the rest of the fleet. From there, Fezzran would be the target. Remorhaz began construction of a supply ship for this attack fleet.

In the Yukra system, RSS Falcon abandoned it’s station outside of the wormhole from Lenoltris and attacked the undefended Ukra-Tal colony on Timerron. Her depleted uranium cannons destroyed the colony completely.

2409.8

Chairman Sachmo felt as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. Of course, it was only the beginning of a negotiation process, but the Texrak Hegemony had approached the Remorhaz Society offering a Trade Agreement. With this treaty would come a non-aggression pact, and valuable cultural input from another race. He hoped that this treaty would come to fruition, and that eventually the Texrak would fight alongside the Remorhaz Society, but not having them immediately declare war on the was a start, and a nice change of pace. The Chairman began to wonder to call this day when it became a Society-wide holiday. He was thinking “Harmony Day”, but he would have to get the input for his staff. Maybe they could tie it in with the Norak somehow…

Norak launched the RSS Faith, another Glory Class Destroyer. She moved into the Lundra system to help Task Force 9.5 hold the Lundra-Lapzooli wormhole. The Navy took the discovery of the Texrak Hegemony as a serious threat, and until the treaty was signed they would be treated as so. Norak began building a colony ship to occupy some of the smaller, incompatible worlds in the Lapzooli system.

RSS Shining Victory and Skydancer arrived in orbit over Correlia. If the Ukra-Tal made a push for the Iolo system, the Iolo Defense Fleet should be able to at least slow them down. Once Correlia finished construction of it’s shipyard, then the fleet would grow in size and eventually move back into the Yukra system.

2409.9

Remorhaz launched the RSS Jenny Cushman, a Cyllene Class Fleet Supply ship. She headed out for Fort Justice to join up with the Xillantha fleet.

On Nova, the population transfer went off without a hitch. One of the keys that the Remorhaz xenopsychologists discovered about the Rage population was that in order to function as a society, there needed to be a sequencer to issue orders to the population. In fact, without the presence of a sequencer, the local population would cease to function. While there were still many holes in the knowledge of how this entire process worked, the scientists were able to make an amazing discovery on Nova. They found that a human could be substituted for a sequencer and the population would treat this human as their “controller”. At this time, Governor Mitchell Cantberry was the human “sequencer”. Governor Cantberry was able to issue orders to the population and have them carry them out with absolutely no question. Through this method, he was able to keep the population completely peaceful and productive.
There was, of course, a downside to this arrangement. He always had to have at least one Rage being around at all time, to act as a “herald” for Cantberry. Since he was human and could not communicate through the instant link that the Rage population seemed to share, there had to be one Rage being to pass Cantberry’s orders on to the rest of the population. So when it came time to load the Rage population onto the Mongoose, it only required a few simple orders from Cantberry to get the entire population moving. What he would discover soon was that he was going to have to move with them, as they refused to allow the ship to leave orbit if their “sequencer” was not with them. So Cantberry agreed to travel to Lezzari IV A with “his people.” The process that began here was sure to be repeated as more Rage systems came under Remorhaz control.

2410.0

In the Lenoltris system, Remorhaz colonists landed on Lenoltris II and renamed it Highrock. This huge planet had a methane atmosphere, so the colonists would be forced to live in domed communities. The planet also had absolutely no native vegetation, and the surface was covered with granite continents. This harsh world was rich in mineral resources, and would be mined as soon as a spaceport was constructed.

The Texrak Hegemony agreed to enter into a Trade Alliance with the Remorhaz Society. Ambassador Mulatti had his men establish an embassy on their homeworld, and personally traveled to Norak to bring their diplomats to Remorhaz. Immediately, traders from both sides began exchanging star charts so that they would be able to navigate each other’s space ways. Not long after, ideas began to move back and forth between the empires. Hopefully, some scientific advances would come from this.

At Providence, Comet was repaired, and a new Glory Class Destroyer, RSS Liberation was launched. Both ships immediately headed for Nova to join with the rest of the fleet for the eventual assault on Lezzari IV A. They were set to arrive in system in 2 months.

The Navy Design Bureau was able to create a larger hull size for their ships- the light cruiser. The prototype of the Ganymede Class would be created at Glory, while a second would be launched from Fort Justice. The first cruiser was scheduled for delivery in just under two months. Along with the ability to build the light cruiser, the physics of the hull design also would allow the building of a larger class of transport craft. These ships would be introduced when practical. The next project was an attempting to upgrade the anti-matter torpedoes. Command felt that these weapons might be able to tips the scales even further toward the Remorhaz Society, as point defense weapons could not defend them against.

In the meantime, a Rage fleet of seven ships jumped into Lezzari. Since no one could be sure what the Rage intentions were, the assault fleet remained in orbit over Nova. If it seemed like they had no chance, the fleet abandon the planet and fall back to Providence.
Captain Brennan didn’t like the idea of running, however. He was prepared to send these Rage ships to hell.

sachmo71

10-07-2003, 10:49 PM

Stick and move

2410.1

“Captain Brennan, I understand that the odds of your ships defeating the Rage fleet are not in our favor. Nevertheless, the Norak colonists here on Nova feel very strongly about fighting for their freedom. It was hard enough getting them to agree to evacuate 6 million colonists. They all wanted to stay and fight. As it stands now, you would probably have to force the remaining 1 million into the shuttles at gunpoint. They simply refuse to abandon the planet.” Governor Nina Leeks held up hands and shrugged.
Brennan ran his fingers through his close-cropped hair. The fact remained that the Rage fleet was within a parsec of Nova. They still had enough time to evacuate all of the colonists from the planet. If Brennan’s fleet remained behind to cover their retreat, Mongoose stood an excellent chance of escaping and making for Providence. However, that would mean that Remorhaz ships would not be able to count on the support of the recently constructed weapons platforms on the surface of Nova. Without those platforms, the Remorhaz ships lost a significant amount of firepower. Still, when weighed against the lives of 1 million Remorhaz citizens, there was no choice.
“Governor, Major General Brooks can make them leave. Please don’t force us into anything” Brennan glanced at Brooks, who nodded imperceptivity.
“If they aren’t smart enough to save their own lives, Governor, then my men will do it for them. Haven’t those Norakians seen enough of this war? If the Rage ships push through our fleet, the colonists will be sitting ducks. I can’t in good conscience leave this planet without them.”
Governor Leeks stood up.
“Gentlemen, you are both officers in the military. I understand that it is your sworn duty to protect the lives of Remorhaz citizens. However, there is something you are overlooking here. These Norakians have been given a whole new outlook on life in the Remorhaz Society. Never before have they enjoyed the amount of freedom that they have now. It stirs strong feelings in many of them, as you can see. They see this as a chance to pay us back for the gift we have given them. They see this as a chance to keep their families and people free from tyranny and harm. So you would force them to leave, because that is your duty. However, in doing so, you may be denying them their most basic rights. Also, if the Rage defeat you here, what is to stop them from catching Mongoose in space, destroying her and everyone on board? At least this way, they have a fighting chance. Please, let them stay.”
Brennan looked over at Major General Brooks again. Clearly, he was considering the governor’s words.
“Alright Governor, we will discuss this. Of course, we will have to clear any decision to let these people stay with Remorhaz. Neither of us can approve something like this on our own. I hope you understand,” Brennan said.
The Governor nodded. “Of course. Please contact me if I can help in any way. If you will excuse me, I have to help prepare for the defense of our planet.” She headed toward the door.
Brennan watched her leave. Once the door was shut, Major General Brooks let out a long breath.
“Good god, Brennan! If you had told me a year ago that I would be arguing with a Remorhaz citizen to protect Norakians, Norakian citizens of Remorhaz no less, I would have told you to go eat your hat!”
Brennan laughed. “Yes sir. It’s quite a turn of events.” He thought for a moment. “Governor Leeks makes some good points, doesn’t she?”
The general folded his arms across his chest and leaned back in his chair. “She does. You know, situations like this are usually celebrated as heroic acts. Why is it that I am so uneasy about it?”
“Because it’s suicide. Our chances of defeating that Rage fleet are pretty slim. We just don’t have the firepower. If we had another month, I would feel a lot better. As it is, it’s going to be a rough ride. I hope we make it out of this.”

In the end, the Chairman gave the 1 million colonists permission to stay on Nova if they wished. Major General Brooks still was not happy about it, but he remained silent. Mongoose detached herself from the Marine Assault Fleet and headed full speed for the Knoglam system. If the fleet survived, they would return. If not, they would make for Providence along with Comet and Liberation. Of course, that was if the Rage actually attacked. Once could never be sure what they were going to do.

The Research Guild was able to improve on the anti-matter torpedo design and extend both its range and payload. All future Ganymede Light Cruisers would be fitted with this advanced torpedo design. By the beginning of the next month, they planned to have completed research on a second-generation anti-proton beam.

Remorhaz launched RSS Cerci, an Icelus C Class fleet repair ship. She headed toward Xillantha to join the rest of the fleet. She would join them as soon as possible, but the timetable would not be held up to accommodate her joining before the assault on Fezzran. That assault should begin in the first week of the next month.
In an interesting turn of events, the Rage sent a transmission to Fort Justice. It read:

“Pathetic weaklings, flee from the Xillantha system.”

This presented the Navy with an interesting scenario. If the Rage attacked Xillantha in force, it might be worth it to first try and defeat the enemy fleet before assaulting Fezzran. Hopefully, if the Rage fleet was destroyed, that would mean that ships which were responsible for defending Fezzran would be lost, making the assault much safer. Rear Admiral Sakazawa was made aware of this situation, and he increased the alert status of the fleet. If the Rage came, they would jump them. The fleet in Lundra was also notified, so that they could intercept any reinforcing fleets coming from that direction.

In the Lapzooli system, the planet Harkness was colonized. This colony was to be a research colony.

The Texrak Hegemony proposed a research and trade alliance. Ambassador Mulatti quickly ordered his mission to accept the treaty. The Texrak were quickly becoming the Remorhaz Societies first stalwart allies. Time would tell if they would enter the war on their side or not, but at least they weren’t looking for a fight.

2410.2

The Remorhaz fleet at Nova barely escaped with their lives. The Rage ships moved in and glassed the planet, leaving the fleet to fight for their lives. Not one hit was scored on the Rage fleet as they were able to use their superior maneuverability as an advantage. Once the battle was over, the Remorhaz ships had nothing left to protect, and so immediately fell back toward Providence. Whether the Rage ships would follow or not remained to be seen.

The Research Guild completed work on the second generation of the anti-proton beam. The next project was aimed at discovering the secrets of astrophysics.

Glory launched the first Ganymede class light cruiser, RSS Ganymede. This ship headed for the Xillantha-Lundra wormhole, to join taskforce 9.5.
Correlia complete construction of its shipyard facility, and immediately began construction of two Nemesis class frigates.

2410.3

An Ukra-Tal fleet of 22 assorted ships appeared in the Wanduk system at the beginning of this month, and fell upon the colony at Cherek. Without mercy, the Ukra-Tal scorched the planet from low orbit. No Remorhaz citizen was left alive. The colonists on Ymoria saw that they were next, and a massive panic ensued. The Chairman tried to gain contact with the Ukra-Tal government for a possible discussion of terms of surrender of the planet, but there was no response. No one was in any position to send any aid. The factories on Ymoria began construction of space mines, which they hoped would discourage the Ukra-Tal fleet. It was a thin hope, indeed.

Remorhaz launched the first Ganymede B class light cruiser, the RSS Orion. She and the Midguard moved to take up stations to protect the core systems from an Ukra-Tal attack. There was nothing to stand in their way if the fleet in Wanduk decided to head for Remorhaz. Production was stepped up on minelayers also, to lay a huge defensive barrier of mines to attempt to slow the Ukra-Tal down, at least.

Rear Admiral Sakazawa was surprised when his fleet completed the jump into the Fezzran system. He had expected to surprise a Rage attack fleet gathered in system, but instead he found two unprotected planets.
The first, Fezzran VI, was a domed planet populated by about 6 million Rage. The entire 2nd Space Marine Brigade was dropped, and the planet was captured without much of a fight. The local garrison had been neutralized from space by the rest of the fleet. The planet was named Vengeance, and immediately as request was placed to have a colony ship constructed so that Cirius could be recolonized. The Remorhaz Society was determined to hold Fezzran this time around.

Ambassador Mulatti stared at the com unit in muted shock. He wasn’t quite sure why, but the mood of the Texrak Hegemony had quickly darkened over the last few months. It was now to the point where the entire Remorhaz diplomatic mission was being expelled from Texrak space.
Once he was finished with the details of the embassy evacuation, he contacted the Chairman. Needless to say, he wasn’t happy.
“Damn it, Sangi! What more can we do? Could one of our enemies be doing this to us?” The Chairman’s face was as read as a dachenberry.
“It’s entirely possible, but without an intelligence network to speak of, we have no way of knowing, sir. I think that we should be ready for anything from the Texrak.”
“You can bet on that, mister. Thanks for calling me so soon, Sangi. I guess when it rains, it pours, huh?”
Sangi relaxed ever so slightly. “Yes sir. Let me know if you need anything from me, sir.”
The Chairman just grimaced and closed the connection. He sat back in his chair and took a stiff pull from his scotch. What more did it take to have normal relations with alien races? I wish I could figure out what is required to keep our neighbors happy, he thought.
Well, I’m glad I kept that task force in Lundra.
He placed a call to Grand Admiral Urian.
The admiral decided that they would redeploy the 1st Space Marine Brigade from Providence and have it join task force 9.5 in the Lundra system. Once they linked up, and when the inevitable war started with the Texrak Hegemony, the Space Marines would be able to sweep into Aldan with the rest of the fleet and hopefully knock them out of the war in one swift, punishing attack. He hoped that things stabilized before that, but past history showed that it probably would not.

2410.4

The Ukra-Tal fleet destroyed Ymoria.

RSS Falcon was lost when she warped into the Yukra system and ran into a minefield just outside of the wormhole.

In the Fezzran system, the Xillantha Defense fleet continued its attack against Rage colonies. This time, the target was Fezzran IV. 4 weapons platforms, and a belt of defense satellites protected the planet. It was also home to 105 million Rage colonists. Rear Admiral Sakazawa ordered the fleet to move into maximum firing range of the planet and destroy all defenses found. Once the defenses were neutralized, the 2nd Space Marine Brigade assaulted the planet. This time there was organized resistance, but it was crushed by the overwhelming might of the Space Marines. Brigadier General Richard McMasters, summed the combat up best in his after action report, “The Space Marines were in among the Rage lines before they knew the bombardment was over. To them it must have seemed as if they were receiving fire from their own rear area. Unfortunately for them, it was our boys.” Fezzran IV was renamed Scorpio.
The Fezzran system was now back in Remorhaz hands. Both newly captured worlds would be used as forward supply and repair bases. The fleet would immediately begin preparations to deny the Rage entry into Fezzran, but they would also attack any targets of opportunity that presented themselves. The offensive was not to stall under any circumstance.

The loss of the Wanduk system was quickly being felt throughout the Society. This month, projections called for a deficit of around 4300 mineral resources from construction. While the society had built up a considerable stock over the past few years, this was not the time to have to curtail production because of supply shortages. If pressure could be sustained, the Rage might be put on the defensive. A lack of supplies at this point in time could be disastrous.

sachmo71

10-07-2003, 10:50 PM

Plans

Chairman Sachmo raised a hand as he entered the room, beckoning the others to take their seats. He needed to get down to business as soon as possible, and he didn’t have the time to stand on ceremony.
“Thank you all for coming on such short notice. It seems events are moving faster than we anticipated. Let’s get to it, alright?”
He sat down heavily in the chair at the head of the table. Before he could look up, Yarboro had powered up the data terminal and dimmed the lights. Floating in the middle of the large table was a hologram of the Remorhaz Society. Remorhaz military forces showed up in the Regotha system, Lundra, Fezzran, Organtrix, and Iolo, roughly outlining the “front”. Beyond those points lay enemy space.
Sachmo frowned as he studied the image. Wanduk drew his eye first, recently lost to the Ukra-Tal. Lost wasn’t exactly a precise word for what had happened there. The Remorhaz colonists in that system had been butchered. 40 million people burned to cinders by acid projectors and other horrors wielded by the Ukra-Tal. It was as good a place to start the discussion.
“Grand Admiral Urian, is there anything we can do in Wanduk to regain the system from the Ukra-Tal?”
From the darkness, Urian’s voice was grim. “No sir. Wanduk is lost.”
The Chairman took a deep breath, and let it out slowly. “How about Iolo? If the Ukra-Tal come calling, can we stop them at Correlia?”
“No sir. Currently, the Iolo defense fleet consists of two Glory class destroyers and one Nemesis class frigate. The weapons platforms on the surface consist of one Viper 5 and one Defender. At this time, the Correlians are trying to mine the space lanes around the planet, and once that is done they will try to build more weapons platforms. Enroute to Iolo are the light cruiser Orion and the frigate Midguard, however they won’t reach Iolo for about four months. If the Ukra-Tal come knocking before that, it will be a slaughter.”
Some of those gathered for the meeting gasped in utter astonishment. Many knew bits and pieces of what was happening on the Ukra-Tal front, but not many had seen the big picture. Once they did, the direness of the situation was apparent.
The Chairman tapped a button on the data term, highlighting Iolo.
“If Iolo falls, then there is nothing stopping the Ukra-Tal from pushing into the core systems, or even right on to Remorhaz itself? Is that what I’m seeing, Grand Admiral?”
Urian nodded. “Yes, Chairman. If we lose the fleet at Iolo, there is nothing to stop them. We could move one of the fleets from either Fezzran or Lundra, but they might not reach us in time. Also, such a move would present other complications.”
The Chairman stood up.
“Then we can’t lose the fleet. If the Ukra-Tal come into Iolo before we have gathered sufficient strength, we will fall back, system by system, until we have enough firepower to stop them. Then we can take back what is ours. If we lose the core systems, then we lose the war.” The Chairman considered the map for a moment.
“I want a transport moved to Correlia as soon as possible. If the Ukra-Tal come for battle, I want that planet evacuated.”
The Grand Admiral was punching notes into his data term. “Yes, Chairman. Marne is on her way back to Correlia as we speak.”
The Chairman studied the hologram again. Between Remorhaz and Iolo were two barren systems. If the Navy could slow any Ukra-Tal attack down, there just might be time to move one of the fleets back to Remorhaz in case of an emergency. If they didn’t lose many ships, they should be able to take on the Ukra-Tal battle fleet on fairly even terms. Everything hinged on the Rage offensive.
“Grand Admiral, tell us about the Fezzran offensive.”
The admiral’s voice seemed to gain some life. At least he did have some good news to deliver.
“Sir, Fezzran was a much easier target than we expected. We aren’t sure why the Rage left the system practically undefended, but we were able to capture both Rage colonies in two months. We didn’t suffer a single casualty.”
A cheer welled up from the gathered officers. Sachmo smiled.
“Excellent, Grand Admiral. Very well done. Fezzran has some very rich worlds to colonize. We can return to Cirius, too. That will help offset the loss of Wanduk, and will boost the moral of the people.”
“Yes Chairman. We also suspect that the unexplored system west of Fezzran to be a Rage system. I was planning on sending the fleet ahead as soon as possible. It’s very important that we keep the Rage off balance.”
Field Marshal Gulman spoke up.
“I completely agree, Chairman. If we can quickly defeat the Rage, then we can concentrate on the Ukra-Tal.”
The Chairman nodded to him. He then turned to Commandant Hunter of the Space Marine Corps.
“Hunter, how are your Space Marines fairing?”
The Commandant looked up from his data term, where he had been furiously writing notes.
“Chairman, my Space Marines get better by the drop. 2nd Brigade accounted very well for itself in Fezzran, sir. They are ready for anything we throw at them.”
“Good to hear. Very good.”
The meeting continued for hours. The strategy for this pivotal time in Remorhaz history was set. The bulk of the forces were to concentrate on finishing off the Rage, while an intense effort would be made to build up fleet strength in the Iolo sector. Also, the wormholes would be mined from the core systems out, to provide defense belts for the fleets to fall back behind. They hoped that the Ukra-Tal offensive would slow after the quick capture of the Wanduk system, but they planned for the worst case. It was going to be touch and go here for a while.

Captain Jager looked at her orders with carefully concealed relief. Nemesis and Triumph had been ordered to proceed at best speed to Deniper in the Yullado system, where they were to await further orders. She wasn’t exactly sure what they were going to be doing, but being that much closer to Remorhaz was a step in the right direction. She had been away from home for almost ten years now with barely a month spent back home. A few weeks with her family would be paradise, but she didn’t want to get her, or her crews, hopes up. She knew everyone missed their loved ones terribly .At least at Yullado they would be off of the line for a few days. She hoped that they would be able to get in a little r&r.

2410.5

The scientists at Our Blessed Mother University on Remorhaz, with the help of millions of credits in aid from the Remorhaz Research Guild, made a breakthrough in the area of Astrophysics. By studying the interstellar phenomenon that Captain Jager and others like her had discovered in the early days of the Remorhaz exploration of space, they were able to unlock the keys to allow them to manipulate the energies of the very stars. This was only the tip of the iceberg with regards to the practical applications, but with a bit of work they believed that they could construct a repulsor beam for the Navy, discover how to manipulate spatial bodies, and also how to gather the energy of the stars and use it to supplement the power cores on ships. This research would begin, as all research had a habit of doing, when the funding came through.

At Glory, the first Remorhaz minelayer was launched, the RSS Eos. She would immediately travel to Black Hills and Salvation to gather the mines that had already been constructed there, and begin mining the wormholes of the core systems. The first ring of defense was going up.

On Vengeance, one of the recently captured Rage worlds in the Fezzran system, an urban pacification center was created. They hoped that this one would be as successful as the one on Nova had been, but just in case, a battalion of Space Marines remained on planet.

Rear Admiral scanned the faces of his officers. Lord, did they look tired. Many of them had been fighting for almost nine years. They wanted to go home, and spend some real time with their loved ones. They knew that the way back was much further than the road ahead, and so were quite happy for a chance to finish off the Rage. It was time to press on.
“We don’t know what’s in the next system, folks, but intel believes that it should be crawling with Rage. Our orders are clear. We are to find, and destroy, the Rage homeworld. Remorhaz needs us to put an end to this war, and quickly. Any colony we can’t take with the Space Marines is to be destroyed,” a hand shot up from amongst his officers, “yes, that is a departure from SOP, but apparently when the Ukra-Tal glassed Cherek and Ymoria the Chairman had a change of heart.”
The hand was quickly lowered.
“If we can find the Rage homeworld and destroy the primary sequencer, we can finish this. We don’t really know what we will find, but I know we are ready for it. The Rage knocked us for a loop in Lezzari, and now we get to return the favor. Fezzran is our, and we won’t stop until every Rage planet is either under our control, or left behind as space debris. Questions?”
No one raised a hand. They were determined, and ready to get this bloody work done.
Sakazawa nodded. “Excellent. Get back to your ships, and good luck to us all. Dismissed.”
Xillantha Fleet sped through space silently, powered by vengeance and deadly intent.

sachmo71

10-07-2003, 10:50 PM

The Zekrat Campaign Begins

When a ship exited a wormhole and dropped from hyperspace to normal, there was a distinct effect on the human body. The effect wasn’t very easy to describe; sailors claimed that it felt as if your entire body would collapse in on itself, only to just as quickly expand again. The sensation was not unlike what an aluminum can might feel when crushed by a hand, and then instantly expanded into its original form again. Fortunately for the human space travelers, the physical effects were much less dramatic than those on the poor can. In fact, no one had been able to classify any actual physical effects at all. All that the sailor knew was that it hurt, and it was unpleasant.
Rear Admiral Shiro Sakazawa tried to prepare himself for the drop from hyperspace. He glanced at the readout on his display; they were fifteen seconds from transition. His mind screamed a warning, but the admiral was used to this, and so commanded all of the parts of his body that would listen to ignore the warning. Many of his body parts listened, but others did not. His brain would allow his body to experience the sensation. He sweat glands started working to cool his body down. His pulse increased, and his mouth dried out. Before he could glance at the display again, the fleet dropped from hyperspace. Shiro felt his entire mass pressing inward all at once, causing enormous pressure to spread over his entire body. Before his brain could react to these forces, he felt the world expand. While his brain tried to catch up with this stimulus, it was over. His brain was still a few microseconds behind, trying to tell him that he was about to explode. Suddenly, it realized that these strange sensations were over, and started to quiet down. His pulse slowed, his saliva glands began working again. Everything was all right physically.
Not so for the strategic health of the fleet. The long-range scanners of the fleet began working even as the ships dropped into normal space. They had already painted a preliminary picture of this system before the Rear Admiral’s brain had caught up with itself. This was definitely a Rage system, and seemed to in fact be the Rage home system.
This system was identified as Zekrat. The system was lit by a large red star, and held nine planets of various size and composition. The system had a small asteroid field, a medium ion storm, and three wormholes. The east wormhole was the one they had come through and led to the Fezzran system. The north wormhole led to the Lundra system, and the west wormhole led to destinations unknown. Three of the nine planets were inhabited by the Rage. One, Zekrat VII, lay only two parsecs from the fleet. Five parsecs from Zekrat VII lay Zekrat IX. Orbiting this planet was a Rage Gorgon II light cruiser and a space station. Far on the other side of the system was Zekrat VIII, the Rage homeworld. Since the fleet would need a forward base of operations, Shiro decided that Zekrat VII would have to be taken before anything else. He started planning the attack as the fleet moved toward its target at full speed.
The plan was simple, but so far for the Xillantha Fleet, simple had worked best. There were no Rage ships spotted in orbit around Zekrat VII, and no defenses observed either. The fleet would move into position and destroy any weapons encountered. Once neutralized, the Space Marines would drop and capture this planet. Once the Sequencer on this world was destroyed, someone would take on the persona of a Sequencer and have the population construct a supply base for the fleet. From there, they would either attack Zekrat IX and neutralize that planet’s threat to Fezzran, or move on to the Rage homeworld. First, Zekrat VII had to fall.

The fleet entered the vicinity of Zekrat VII in a wall formation, with RSS Tarus in the lead position. Sensors showed that the planet possessed on small, very outdated weapons platform armed with first generation capital ship missiles. Not much of a threat to the Remorhaz fleet, but they could still kill a ship if not careful. Sakazawa was a careful man by nature.
He opened the com link to all of the ship captains.
“As you can see, the planet does have some defenses. Let’s stay sharp, everyone. If they fire on you, don’t rely on the point defense cannons to protect you; try and open the range. Use your head, and don’t take chances. Ok, let’s take it to them.”
He kept the link passive, so that if any of his captains needed to talk to him they had instant access, but he wouldn’t be constantly watching their every move. He knew from experience that people tended to get nervous when performing in front of their superiors, and if they were nervous they might make a mistake.
Shiro hit a button that opened his link with his staff communications officer, Lieutenant Marc Yemblay.
“Yemblay, I want you to broadcast a message to that planet of our intentions to capture Zekrat VII in the name of the Remorhaz Society. Let’s give them a chance to surrender peacefully.”
Lieutenant Yemblay gave him a quick glance, and then straightened.
“Aye, aye, Admiral. Broadcasting on all frequencies.”
Shiro did not expect the Rage to surrender. He wasn’t even sure if they could while the Sequencer was active, but the act made him feel a little better. Today, some of the Rage people would die. It was inevitable, but it would happen. If he gave them a chance to surrender, possibly it would soften the blow a bit.
They did not surrender. There was no answer to his message, except when they moved to within missile range of the surface weapons platforms. At that point, the Rage fired a salvo of capital ship missiles at RSS Tarus. Before they had a chance to react, the missiles were destroyed by point defense fire.
At this range, Tarus was able to use her guns to destroy the defense bases and any targets deemed to be a threat to the Space Marines.
The Space Marines dropped as soon as RSS Badger was within range. The landing went off without a hitch. The Space Marines quickly captured all of the domed population centers, and got a good lead on the location of the Sequencer. It was noted for intelligence that unlike the other Rage planets taken in the war, on this world the Sequencer was hidden and not housed in an obvious place. The 2nd Space Marine Brigade closed in on the location, and began to destroy the bunker where it was hidden. Suddenly, from out of the ground boiled hundreds of Rage soldiers. One Blazer, along with its platoon of Space Marines, was hit and destroyed before the mad rush of Rage soldiers could be stopped. The Space Marines had taken their first losses to enemy ground action. From the looks of things, this system was going to be a tougher nut to crack than any they had faced before.
A temporary electronic Sequencer was installed, and Sakazawa immediately had the 104 million Rage on Zekrat VII begin constructing a resupply base for the Remorhaz fleet.

2410.6

The colony ship quietly slipped away from her berth at the Fort Justice Ship Yard. Once clear, she fired her maneuvering jets and pointed her nose toward the Fezzran wormhole. For one of the colonists on this colony ship, Tony Harris, this trip represented a promise he made long ago. He had served aboard RSS Falcon when she had jumped into the Fezzran just in time to see the Rage fleet destroy the colony on Cirius, killing his sister and nephew in the process. He had promised himself that when the Remorhaz Society was able to recolonize Cirius, he would be the first to sign up. He knew that there was no way that his sister and her son could possibly be alive, but at least he could honor their memory by finishing what they had started, and to help give the lost colonists the proper burial they deserved.

In the Iolo system, Governor Hadrian Ervay watched in horror as a large Ukra-Tal fleet entered the Iolo system from Wanduk. They had at least a month to decide what course of action to take, but it was clear that if the Ukra-Tal decided to attack Correlia, the Remorhaz fleet would not seriously challenge them. The defenses of the planet were getting stronger, but against nineteen light cruisers and destroyers they would quickly perish. Until they knew what the Ukra-Tal intended, they would continue to construct defenses. Hadrian only hoped that the transport Marne reached Correlia in time to load most of the civilians on board.

Xillantha fleet moved toward Zekrat VIII. The Rage light cruiser abandoned Zekrat IX, and so that planet posed no threat to the Fezzran system. Read Admiral Sakazawa made the decision to attack the Rage home planet, and maybe bring about an end to this phase of the war.

sachmo71

10-07-2003, 10:51 PM

Alterations

2410.7

Grand Admiral Urian, along with his staff, poured over the intelligence gathered from Zekrat VIII. They had been at it all night, running simulation after simulation. The end result always came out the same…Xillantha Fleet did not have the firepower to take the Rage homeworld. While it would be an incredible achievement to take the planet, without sufficient firepower there was no way it could happen.
Urian sighed, and leaned back in his chair. He rubbed his eyes and gathered his thoughts. He hoped that Rear Admiral Shiro Sakazawa wouldn’t be too upset about this. Sakazawa was an aggressive commander, determined to take the war to the enemy, but Urian knew that he would follow orders above all else.
I might as well get this over with, Urian thought. He turned the com unit to face him, straightened his uniform, and opened the com channel to RSS Tarus, Sakazawa’s command ship. Quickly, Sakazawa’s face appeared on the screen.
“Good evening, Grand Admiral,” Sakazawa saluted.
“Good evening, Shiro. I’ll get right to the point. I know how you hate to beat around the bush.”
Sakazawa nodded, but a grim look spread across his face. “Thank you, sir.”
“We’ve looked at your situation a thousand different ways, Shiro, and we always come to the same conclusion. Your fleet doesn’t have enough firepower to take out Zekrat VIII.”
Sakazawa’s face reddened. “Sir, we might not have enough to take them out in one attack, but we can chip away at them. Eventually, they will break.”
Urian shook his head. “We’ve run it that way, too. Our calculations tell us that your fleet will not be able to penetrate their defenses. You can’t hurt them now, but we will get you more ships. Eventually, you should be able to break through, but it’s going to take time.”
Sakazawa tried very hard to keep his emotions under control.
“Sir, I think this is a mistake. We could at least blockade the planet, cutting their homeworld off from the rest of their empire. The economic reproc…”
“Shiro, listen to me,” Urian interrupted. “You will get your chance, but I have to get some more ships to you. It won’t be long, I promise. We’ll get them as soon as we can.”
Sakazawa nodded into the screen, his face tight. “Aye, aye, sir. What are your orders in the meantime?”
Grand Admiral Urian filled him in on the alternate plan for Xillantha Fleet. He was to proceed to Zekrat IX and attack the colony there. RSS Badger was to return to Zekrat VII and pick up the 2nd Space Marine Brigade, and from their capture Zekrat IX. After this mission was accomplished, most of the remaining ships in the Lundra fleet should have been able to join up with the Xillantha fleet. They were then to proceed to Zekrat VIII and attack the Rage homeworld.

In the Regotha system, RSS Sierra, a Ganymede class light cruiser, and RSS Mongoose, loaded with the 1st Space Marine Brigade, met up with Captain Brennan and the rest of Providence Fleet. Once they joined up here, they were ordered to head back into the Lezzari system, to capture or destroy any Rage worlds encountered here.

Tony Harris watched out of the blasteel window as the colony ship finalized its decent onto the surface of Cirius. A chill ran through his body despite the heat of his environment suit. The front wasn’t very far from Cirius. If the Rage counterattacked, would he die here as his sister and nephew had? Would he cower in a shelter, waiting for the bombs and missiles to come and snuff out his life?
He wrapped his arms around himself and tried to chase the nightmares away. No, this time it would be different. This time, they knew what they were up against. Defense would be a top priority. If the Rage came again, they would find Cirius had teeth. Tony shook his head, and tried to think of happier times. He pulled a picture of his sister out of his belongings. It had been taken over thirty years ago, when they were children back on Remorhaz. In their wildest dreams, neither of those children would have dreamed that a place like Cirius even existed, let alone dream that they would live there. Nor would they have dreamed that a race of sentient machines would come along and blast them and millions of other civilians into so many atoms…
Tony felt a shudder as the colony ship touched down. Soon it would be time for all of the colonists to begin rebuilding the Remorhaz settlement on Cirius. For Tony, the work would be twice as hard. Not only would he have to rebuild, but he would have to bury the ghosts of his family as well. That would be the hardest work of all.
Tony stood up and gathered up his belongings, eager to get started, or maybe he was eager to finish the grim task ahead.

sachmo71

10-07-2003, 10:52 PM

Zekrat Campaign-Phase II begins

“Contact! Rage Gorgon II class light cruiser, bearing 080 at 6 sectors, Captain. Looks like she’s just sitting there, sir.”
“Thank you, Sensor,” Reid called back.
Captain Walter Reid flipped on his tactical display. Yep, there she was, at a dead stop right outside of the Lundra-Zekrat wormhole. At least Reid knew that if there were more Rage ships on the other side of the wormhole, Sakazawa would have warned them about it.
“Helm, set course for the bogie. Relay our situation to Commodore Lu. Weps, I want all missiles bays loaded and ready to fire.”
His crew acknowledged his orders.
Hyperion fired her engines, and she was quickly joined by the remains of Lundra fleet, RSS Faith and RSS Ganymede.
In less than a week, they intercepted the Rage light cruiser. No one had yet faced a Rage light cruiser in battle, so everyone in the fleet was a little nervous. While the Remorhaz fleet had a three-to-one advantage in the fight, they knew that the Rage had superior missile and beam weapons. The weapon advantage enjoyed by the Rage could even things up in a hurry.
As they moved closer to the wormhole, they were able to gather more data on the Gorgon II. She was armed with no weapons. She was actually configured as a long-range colony ship. Still, they could not allow it to escape.
The battle was short. The Rage ship, with 4 million colonists aboard, decided to try and ram the Remorhaz ships. She never got closer than two million miles before the combined cannon, torpedo, and missile fire of the Remorhaz ships vaporized the Gorgon.
Lu and his task force continued on to Zekrat, where they were to join with the Xillantha fleet for an assault on Zekrat VIII.

2410.8

Captain Reid was wrong about one thing, the Rage did have another ship with which to attack his ships. Unfortunately for the Rage, this craft was another light cruiser outfit as a long-range colony ships, and another 44 million Rage, plus the ships crew, were blasted to atoms by the Remorhaz fleet.

RSS Orion pulled into orbit with the rest of the Iolo defense fleet. Commodore Thom Hitcher looked out of the blasteel windows. He could see his new command laid out before him. The orange glow of Iolo’s sun played across the hulls of the four ships of the Iolo defense fleet, illuminating them for a few brief moments until their orbit took them back around to the dark side of the planet. In the light, where the ships rarely were, they looked powerful and deadly. Floating above Correlia, they looked like guardian angels, watching over the people far below as they went about their lives.
How much protection would these ships be able to provide for them? Currently, his scanner showed twenty-one Ukra-Tal ships heading for the Yukra system transiting Iolo, and he was powerless to stop them. They had just blown the satellite belt that had secured the wormhole while suffering only minor damage to one destroyer. If the Ukra-Tal attacked Correlia, his ships would be a minor distraction. However, it was his job to make sure that the people below him on the surface survived. The longer he had to build up his forces and the defenses on Correlia, the bigger the distraction to the Ukra-Tal his fleet would prove to be.
Commodore Hitcher stood up and looked at himself in the mirror. This would be the biggest test of his life. If he failed, he knew that everyone on Correlia would die.

Plans had changed for Xillantha Fleet in the Zekrat system. Before the fleet was able to leave Invexus and join up with Lundra Fleet for the assault on Zekrat IX, a fleet of seven Rage ships jumped into the system and took a course to attack Invexus. Rear Admiral Sakazawa was forced to detach Badger from his fleet and have it join up with Lu and Lundra Fleet. They would have to try and take Zekrat IX alone. Xillantha Fleet would move to intercept and destroy the Rage fleet at maximum distance from Invexus, as the colony had no defenses yet. The second phase of the Zekrat campaign was about to begin.

sachmo71

10-07-2003, 10:53 PM

Battle of Zekrat Sun

Rear Admiral Sakazawa watched the two fleets move into battle formation on the tactical display. While the Remorhaz fleet had three more ships, two were support craft and one was a ground attack ship. It would be a fairly even fight. The Rage forces consisted of the following:

2 Furious class destroyers- 3 3rd generation capital ship missile launchers, one 2nd generation point defense cannon, and one shield generator
2 Defiance class frigates- 2 3rd generation capital ship missile launchers
3 Claymore class frigates- 2 3rd generation capital ship missile launchers

The Remorhaz fleet consisted of:

1 Ganymede class light cruiser- 2 4th generation large depleted uranium cannon, 2 meson blasters, 1 anti-matter torpedo launcher, and 3 2nd generation point defense cannon
2 Glory class destroyers- 1 4th generation depleted uranium cannon, 2 2nd generation capital ship missile launchers, and 2 2nd generation point defense cannon
4 Nemesis class frigates- 2 2nd generation capital ship missile launchers, 1 2nd generation point defense cannon
1 Comet class ground attack ship
1 Fleet Repair Ship
1 Fleet Replenishment Ship

The Rage were grouped in wall formation, while the Remorhaz fleet formed a wedge. The primary targets were the two Furious class destroyers, and so the wedge aimed right for the heart of the Rage wall.
The Rage ships began to split into two groups. Sakazawa thought that they might try and flank his wedge, and thus overwhelm the point defenses of his craft one by one. However, the wedge was designed to prevent that from happening, and if the Rage fleet broke into two, the “nose” of the wedge could attack one enemy group while the walls resisted any attacks by the other.
Suddenly, the two Rage groups formed back into one. The two Furious class destroyers formed up side by side, presenting a perfect target for the Remorhaz fleet. If they could close the range a bit more, Sakazawa would spring the trap.
He looked to his com officer, Lieutenant Marc Yemblay. “Marc, get the word out. When they break range, I want everyone to concentrate fire on the Furious’.”
The Lieutenant acknowledged the order and was quickly sending out orders to the rest of the fleet. The captain of his flagship, RSS Tarus, was heard whooping a battle cry through the com unit. That brought a chuckle from Sakazawa’s staff, including the Rear Admiral himself. He was very fond of Captain Tim Danvers. The man was anxious to get into the fight, very much like Sakazawa himself.
The Rage craft fired first. Tiny blossoms of light appeared in the inky black as they fired their salvos from millions of miles away. Every ship in the fleet activated their point defense cannon, and hoped to knock the missiles down before they had to worry about their shields holding up against the onslaught.
The two Furious class destroyers took the bait. Tarus and Glory ran ahead of the fleet to draw missile fire and the attention of the Rage fleet. It worked. Many of the missiles locked onto these two ships, and after firing their weapons, the Rage destroyers turned to engage the two ships. Tarus opened fire at close range, raking the Rage destroyer with DUC, meson, and torpedo fire. Glory added her own DUC fire, and the Rage destroyer lost one of her missile launchers in the barrage. The Rage destroyers had a much bigger problem now that they had closed the range between themselves and the trailing Remorhaz frigates.
The missile exchange left Tarus damaged, but both Furious’ crippled. Glory moved in and finished one off with DUC fire, while missile fire from Manticore destroyed the other. Unfortunately, Tarus took another Rage salvo that had evaded the point defenses of the fleet, and she was down to one engine. She had also lost one of the large DUCs. For all intents and purposes, she was out of the fight.
Apollo also took a salvo, and was severely damaged. She turned and slowly limped into the center of the wedge, to take cover in the protective umbrella of the point defense cannons. All of her weapons had been disabled by the missile strikes.
The battle ended with the Rage losing the two Furious destroyers, one Claymore frigate, and two other ships taking over 50% damage.
The Remorhaz forces lost no ships. Apollo and Tarus took over 50% damage, and Honor had light damage from a missile strike. Overall, the battle was a strategic success for the Remorhaz Navy.

At Zekrat IX, Commodore Lu led Lundra Fleet into the sector to attack and hopefully capture the planet from the Rage. Things did not go exactly as planned. The planet had been fairly heavily armed, and so Lundra Fleet was forced to close range and go toe-to-toe with the enemy weapons platforms. In an effort to knock the final weapons platforms out, all of the Rage population centers were destroyed, thus destroying the colony on Zekrat IX. This was a minor setback, as the fleet would have benefited if the colony could have been captured. A space yard in the Zekrat system would have been quite a boon for the fleet. However, elimination a potential threat was a satisfactory outcome.

sachmo71

10-07-2003, 10:53 PM

Combat!

2410.9

The two undamaged Rage frigates extracted a tool on the planet Invexus. Since Sakazawa had used the entire fleet to attack the Rage at the battle of Zekrat Sun, Invexus was left virtually defenseless. The colony had no defenses, and was quickly destroyed. Remorhaz no longer had a base in the Zekrat system.

Commodore Hitcher rubbed his chin. He stared at the strategic display. It showed one Ukra-Tal Gjovik class cruiser lumbering toward the Iolo-Yukra wormhole. She presented the commodore with quite a dilemma. Taking that cruiser out would be a nice victory for his task force, and would boost morale on Correlia. On the other hand, they knew nothing about her armaments, and the cruiser could give the Remorhaz ships a bloody nose if given the chance. The decision was his alone.
After weighing the pros and cons, he came to a decision.
“Let’s do it. Command Iolo Defense Fleet to move on a course to intercept the Gjovik.”
The message was sent out to the fleet, and immediately the other three ships which made up the Iolo Defense Fleet moved into formation with RSS Orion.
After a week of travel time, they closed range with the Gjovik.
She was an impressive ship. Sensors gathered the following information about her armaments:

2 Large Acid Globule Launchers
5 Class 4 Point Defense cannon
One minesweeper unit
One class 3 shield generator
Combat sensor suite
One self-destruct device

Hitcher knew that the best way to take on the Gjovik was to use the Remorhaz ships superior range to their advantage. If they could weaken her shields and get a few luck hits in, Orion would be able to close in and finish the job.
The Remorhaz ships formed a combat wedge and closed range. The Gjovik took a heading that would lead her right down the throat of their fleet.
Once the Gjovik closed range, the two Glory class destroyers and the Nemesis frigate opened fire with capital ship missiles. The seekers flew across the miles in moments. Once they were within range, the point defense cannon on the Gjovik opened fire, knocking out two salvos before they could reach the ship. The salvo from Milton flew through the defenses and locked on to the hull of the Gjovik. Unfortunately, the point defense cannon were able to reacquire this new threat, and knocked the remaining missiles out. The point defenses of the Gjovik were too strong for missile fire alone. They would have to close range and take her out with gunnery.
The Gjovik decided to change course, seemingly to give her point defenses enough time to deal with any missile salvos coming her way. However, this move allowed the Remorhaz fleet to close range and open fire with DUCs. Skydancer fired as fast as she could, pumping shells into the Gjovik and trying to bring down her shields. Eventually, the shields did fail. The return fire from the Ukra-Tal ship came close, but did not strike the Remorhaz destroyer. Once her shields were down, Orion moved into range and fired her heavy depleted uranium cannon. The shells came at the Ukra-Tal cruiser at an angle above and behind, and the first shell tore into the Gjovik’s engine mounts, knocking out two engines. The second shell slammed into the forward hull, tearing through the thin hull and carrying on into the bridge. Once the shell slammed into the forward bulkhead in the bridge, it exploded, turning the bridge and it’s contents into superheated molecules in an instant.
The Gjovik was still able to fire her weapons, and with her second salvo was able to knock out Skydancer’s shields and hit the hull. The acid quickly began to eat through the ship, disabling her depleted uranium cannon before it could be stopped. Skydancer backed out of the fight, but continued to fire missiles at the Gjovik. Shining Victory also fired missiles, and her DUC damaged the Gjovik’s engineering section, taking out two more engines and half of her life support.
Now it was Orion’s turn. She moved to close range behind the damaged ship, and opened fire with everything she had. Depleted uranium shells tore great rents in the hull, while meson blasters burned through the entire ship. Finally, a spread of anti-matter torpedoes all but finished her off as the energy weapons collided with the Gjovik’s hull and transformed a large section of the ship into nothingness. With most of her point defenses destroyed, the Remorhaz missiles were able to home in on the crippled cruiser with no interference. The Gjovik shuddered as they struck her, tearing massive gashes in the stern of the ship. Debris filled the space around the cruiser as the ship began to break apart. One last salvo from Orion’s depleted uranium cannon finished the Gjovik off, and she blew herself apart from secondary explosions.
Commodore Hitcher took off his beret and ran his fingers through his hair. They had destroyed one enemy cruiser while suffering only minor damage to themselves. He had expected a heavier toll, and so was very happy with the result. Only then did he become aware of the sound of cheering throughout Orion. This was what the fleet needed. He hoped that this small victory cheered the people of Correlia also.
Not wanting to push his luck, Hitcher ordered the fleet to turn and head home.

In Iolo, Lundra and Xillantha fleets joined up and attacked the Rage fleet at Invexus. In the resulting action, on of the Rage frigates was destroyed, and the other suffered over 50% damage. The fleet prepared to withdraw to Fezzran to regroup when they received word that a fleet of eight Rage ships had been spotted in the Lundra system, headed for Zekrat. Rear Admiral Sakazawa ordered the supply ships to head for Fezzran to resupply and changed course for Zekrat VIII. The battle would be decided there.

Providence Ship Yard launched the first ship in the Catreus class, RSS Catreus. This class was the first gun only frigate in the Remorhaz Navy. She moved to join Providence fleet in the assault on Lezzari.

sachmo71

10-07-2003, 10:54 PM

Rolling up the flanks in Lezzari

2411.0

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

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

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

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

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

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

sachmo71

10-07-2003, 10:54 PM

Probes

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

2411.1

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

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

2411.2

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

sachmo71

10-07-2003, 10:55 PM

Breaking the Stalemate in Zekrat

Admiral Sakazawa knew that his fleet could not penetrate the defenses of the Rage homeworld, but he knew that he did have one advantage over the Rage…the mobility of his fleet. To use this to their advantage, Sakazawa had his fleet stage a series of hit and run attacks on the Rage homeworld. In the first attack, they were able to destroy a Rage minelayer, the four defense satellites, and an orbital shipyard. A second attack yielded nothing, as all of the Rage defenses were too concentrated. The third attack resulted in the destruction of the Firestorm defense base, which was the most formidable defense outside of the planet itself. The heavy phased polaron beams it housed could make short work of any ship in the Remorhaz fleet. With that base out of the way, the fleet could now concentrate on neutralizing the defenses of the planet itself.

Sakazawa used the debris field that now surrounded Zekrat VIII to get his ships in very close to the Rage homeworld before they were spotted. Before the ample defenses of the Rage were able to react, RSS Quasar was able to attack the major Rage defense bases with planetary napalm. The attack was a success, and all but three of the defense bases were neutralized. Every other ship in the fleet opened fire with missile, guns, and whatever other weapons were handy.
After riding out the initial attack, the Rage responded with everything they had. Missile warnings sounded throughout the fleet as the surface of Zekrat VIII erupted with capital ship missile fire. Every ship in the fleet was targeted by at least one salvo, and the final orbiting defense base was also still active. Point defense would have to carry the battle now. Tarus again took the brunt of the enemy fire, taking two salvos amidships. However, since the shields had been repaired after the original damage was taken, most of the damage was contained, and while her fighting capability was diminished, the ship remained functional and maneuver capable.
Tarus returned fire again, blasting a missile complex into atoms before moving back in the line to allow the undamaged ships access to the battle. Finally, Quasar was able to move in and finish off the last defense base. RSS Badger moved in with the 2nd Space Marine Brigade, and the assault began.

Brigadier General McMasters watched from the combat information center as the troops of 2nd Brigade dropped onto the Rage homeworld. As the first elements entered the atmosphere, they were met with fierce ground fire. The pilots twisted and jinked their craft as much as possible, but twelve Blazers were knocked out of the sky, spilling the hapless Space Marines into the atmosphere when they exploded. The remaining 123 Blazers formed up and moved to neutralize the Primary Sequencer. As they closed, Rage troops fought like demons to try and stop the Remorhaz troops. The fighting was the most intense as they finally located the Sequencer, as he commanded every Rage citizen to attack the Space Marines with whatever weapons they could scrounge. After two weeks of bitter and bloody fighting, Zekrat VIII was in Remorhaz hands, and the Rage homeworld was theirs. The Space Marines lost 71 Blazers and close to 1500 Space Marines. The Rage lost countless citizens and soldiers, but the capture of the planet yielded over two billion Rage citizens. 2nd Brigade was finished as an offensive combat unit until replacements could be mustered in. The Space Marines of Remorhaz had come through their most challenging test to date, and been victorious. Hopefully, the Rage were just about finished now. Zekrat VIII was renamed Rage, a name that fit in more ways than one.

sachmo71

10-07-2003, 10:56 PM

An important victory

In every compartment throughout every ship in Providence Fleet, com units chirped to life.
“Now hear this. Now hear this. Stand by for a message from Commodore Brennan.”
There was a momentary pause, and the crew waited for the news.
“Good evening, everyone. I have the latest news from Zekrat VIII. Admiral Sakazawa’s fleet has crushed all resistance by the Rage. Their homeworld has fallen.”
Commodore Brennan smiled as cheers echoed through the ship. The crew had been on the razor’s edge for over a year now, and was finally watching this phase of the war come to a close. Hopefully, they would all be able to go home soon.
He continued.
“We also have a personal note here from Grand Admiral Urian. It reads; to the men and women of Providence Fleet…by now you have heard of our great victory at Zekrat VIII and the crushing of the Rage stronghold there. While this is indeed a great step forward in the war, it should by no means diminish the feats that you brave soldiers and sailors have accomplished. The capture of Lezzari and your unprecedented advances in Jethanis are just as important to ending this war as is the capture of the Rage homeworld. Without your victories, it is quite possible that the Rage would even now still be resisting our advances into their territory. We are all so very proud of you, and all throughout the Remorhaz Society feel safe knowing that you are fighting for our very existence. We thank you for your excellent work, and take pride in your accomplishments. Stay safe and hurry home to us. Signed, Grand Admiral Marcus Urian.”
Another cheer rolled through the ship.
“Folks, I cannot tell you how proud of you I am. In one month, we have captured three Rage colonies with a minimal loss of life. In another month, we will have kicked the Rage out of the Jethanis system. If we continue at this pace, the Rage will be finished in a year.”
Thunderous applause and shouts.
“All crewmembers of Providence fleet have been granted forty-eight hours of planet side leave, effective 0600 tomorrow morning. There will be a victory celebration tomorrow evening at 1700 in Peonei City. Once again, thank you everyone for your hard work and dedication. Enjoy your leave. You’ve earned it.”
Brennan switched off the com unit, but could still hear the shouts and laughter of the crew. He only hoped that he would be able to make it planet side tomorrow for the victory party. There were still two Rage worlds to take, and Brennan wanted to get it over and done with. Then he might be able to relax.

2411.4

The strategic display was choked with Ukra-Tal ships. The enemy fleet deployed in a wall formation, twenty-two ships strong. The depleted minefield had taken out one more enemy ship, but it hadn’t done much to slow this vast armada down.
Commodore Hitcher had sent a warning message to Governor Ervay on the surface of Correlia, but Hitcher was sure that his own ground-based radar could see the Ukra-Tal fleet without his help. He watched as the last of the civilian and commercial flights that were in the area made full speed for the Ultrinox wormhole. Those few that remained or were too slow to escape would surely perish in the battle to come, and so were safer hunkered in a bunker on the surface.
He keyed up the com link to the fleet captains and discussed the battle plan. Protect Correlia at all costs. They all knew the odds were against them, but as long as they drew breath, they would defend the planet. On the surface of Correlia were thirty million Remorhaz colonists, and since the Ukra-Tal brought no transports with them, Hitcher had to assume that they wanted nothing less than the complete extermination of all life in this system. He knew he and his people would do their best to stop them.
Correlia also had an impressive array of weaponry on the surface, also. Three missile complexes, three anti-missile complexes, and three heavy cannon bases would make life difficult for any Ukra-Tal ship that closed range. Meanwhile, Hitcher would use his fleet to press the attack whenever possible and try to destroy any Ukra-Tal ships that he could. He was hoping that the massed firepower of his fleet and the weapons platforms on the surface would allow them to withstand the superior numbers of the enemy fleet, but it would be a close thing. As he watched data roll across the screen with enemy weapons information, his face grew long. The Ukra-Tal brought some nasty toys to the fight. Acid launchers and seeker projectiles were the stuff of nightmares. He had seen their capabilities at Yukra, and was not looking forward to facing them.

The Ukra-Tal fleet was closing at maximum velocity. As they closed range, the sensors gathered more information on the enemy ships. It appeared that the minefield had done more damage to the Ukra-Tal than originally estimated. Several ships were heavily damaged, and some had no weapons at all. The odds slimmed down a bit more in favor of the Remorhaz fleet. His staff continued to send out information to the rest of the fleet, trying to ensure his captains had every piece of info that they could get their hands on. Missing even one piece could turn a battle like this from a rout into a slaughter.

Still the Ukra-Tal came on. At maximum range, they unleashed their seeker parasites. These hell-missiles locked onto their targets and streaked unerringly through space, determined to rend metal and flesh. Before they could do any damage, the anti-missile defenses of Correlia knocked them out of the sky. RSS Skydancer moved to clear Correlia’s first moon, but was set upon by the Ukra-Tal frigates with acid launchers. The majority missed their mark or struck the shields, but eventually the attacks burned through her defenses. The acid tore into her hull, destroying both of her DUCs and one of her missile launchers. RSS Narvik closed range and damaged one Ukra-Tal destroyer with DUC fire. They then resorted to evasive maneuvers, trying to escape the guns of the Ukra-Tal ships. The guns on the surface of Correlia opened up on the Ukra-Tal fleet, knocking a destroyer from the sky. Skydancer endured more punishment from the enemy ships, as acid globules slammed into her hull, melting it into a twisted wreck. Her bridge knocked out and all of her weapons gone, she attempted to limp from the fight. Orion pumped a full salvo of heavy depleted uranium shells into an Ukra-Tal destroyer, destroying one of its acid launchers. RSS Milton also took heavy damage, but was able to fire another missile salvo back at the pursuing enemy fleet.

Hitcher moved his ships into range of an enemy light cruiser that had moved into range of the planetary defense cannon and taken a severe pounding from them. Orion and Shining Victory opened fire and damaged the light cruiser badly.
Eventually, Milton was destroyed by overwhelming acid damage. She exploded when the acid penetrated her power core, causing a chain reaction that obliterated the ship. The Ukra-Tal also broke through the defenses of Orion, pummeling her with acid fire. For what seemed an eternity, Hitcher was directing both the battle and the helm, as the bridge and most of her crew had been killed when an acid globule burned through the hull and exposed the bridge to the vacuum of space. The ship was a wreck, and what was left of the crew transferred to Shining Victory. Commodore Hitcher and his staff were the last off of the ship, having ensured that everyone who could escape had.
The ground cannon acquitted well for themselves, destroying three more Ukra-Tal ships in quick order.
The battle raged, and the ground cannon of Correlia smashed ship after ship. The Remorhaz fleet served as tempting bait for the Ukra-Tal, as they concentrated their fire on the ships while the bases on the surface of Correlia kept up a high volume of fire, exacting a horrendous toll from the enemy ships. Narvik was pounded by the Ukra-Tal fleet, and she tried to limp off the battlefield. The Ukra-Tal ships moved into range of Correlia itself, finally realizing the threat the planet itself posed to them. They destroyed a few of the anti-missile bases with acid fire, and killed a few thousand colonists at the same time.
The ground cannon proved to be the difference. Twenty of the twenty-two ships that attacked Correlia were destroyed, with the final two being so badly damaged as to not be a factor. The Remorhaz Society had lost one frigate, three thousand colonists, and close to five hundred sailors. Hopefully, this defeat would put a major crimp in the offensive plans of the Ukra-Tal, but who knew what resources they had? On the planet Shadow, the first Remorhaz agents had been trained to gather just that sort of information.

sachmo71

10-07-2003, 10:57 PM

Breathing Room

Grand Admiral Urian pinned the rank insignia onto the uniform collar of the Remorhaz Navy’s newest Rear Admiral.
“Congratulations, Admiral Jager. This has been a long time coming, but very well deserved.”
He clasped her hand and shook it. Gina flushed a bit, but through it all managed to smile.
“Thank you, sir. I won’t let you down.”
Urian relaxed his grip, and gave her a long look.
“You never have before. Why would I be worried you would start doing it now?”
Gina flushed again. The navy band began to play the Remorhaz anthem. Everyone turned and saluted the ensign flying over the parade ground.
With that, everyone was dismissed and the formal ceremony ended. Now the private parties would begin. For Gina, tonight night was going to be just as long as the day had been. The victory at the Battle of Correlia had given the Remorhaz forces a moment to breathe, and they intended to take full advantage of it. With the pace of the fighting over the past five years, there had not been enough time to award decorations and promotions, and so Grand Admiral Urian himself decided to bring the ceremonies to the fleet instead of waiting for everyone to rotate back to Remorhaz. This action gave a big boost to moral. The fighting men and women of Remorhaz took a few days to stand tall and be proud of their accomplishments. The ceremonies here on Highrock were the first of many to follow, and were being broadcast live throughout the society.
Now that Gina was the second-highest ranking officer in the system, she was expected to attend at least one official party in honor of her new promotion. All she really wanted to do for celebration was to take a very long bath and go to sleep for a week or two, but it would have been rude of her not to attend. At least she had a few hours to freshen up before the party was to begin, and since she was the guest of honor she was expected to be fashionably late.
Gina hopped into the rear of her staff speeder.
“Please take me to my apartment, Ensign” she muttered to her driver.
He turned around and flashed a huge smile.
“Anything you say, Cap…sorry, Admiral, ma’am.”
She gazed out of the window, look out at the granite landscape of Highrock.
“I suppose we will both have to get used to that.”
“Yes ma’am.”
They rode on in silence, and Gina allowed her mind to wander back to the beginning of the war. Back to when her biggest fear was if she could get enough training time in for her crew on board Eagle. Now, here she was in a far away system, at the tip of the spear. She had gotten used to being afraid out here at the front. There were so many ways to die, and any one of them could take you without warning. There weren’t many choices out here on the frontlines, and if you weren’t fighting, you were dead. Gina had to make sure the people under her command kept fighting, until the fight was done.

Rear Admiral Sakazawa continued the offensive against the Rage. After two weeks of rest and reorganization, he loaded what was left of the 2nd Space Marine brigade back into Badger and moved into the Sutran system. The brigade was still at less than half strength, but Sakazawa decided that it should be sufficient strength to take these less strongly defended Rage worlds. After a brief battle Sutran II fell, along with 135 million Rage colonists. Space Marine casualties were light with less than ten killed.
In Jethanis, Commodore Brennan was forced to abandon Peonei when a Rage fleet of nine frigates and destroyers jumped in from Aldan. He planned to fall back to Cetarus and defend the entire system from there, and hoped to lure the Rage fleet into attacking the planet. He communicated his plan to the governor on Cetarus, who immediately began building ground-based defenses to lend firepower to the outnumbered Remorhaz fleet. It was hoped that if this Rage fleet were to be destroyed, that would put an end to the Rage navy, but of course no one could be sure.

On the planet Shadow, two fast shuttles lifted off simultaneously from opposite sides of the planet. On board each were members of the first class of agents of the Remorhaz Security and Intelligence Bureau. The first shuttle laid out a course for Remorhaz, where the agents would begin counter-intelligence operation within the government. The second shuttle set a course for the Xillantha system. Once there, the agents were to board a captured Ukra-Tal spacecraft and infiltrate their frontier. If they succeeded, they were trained to carry out any number of missions, from intelligence gathering to asset destruction. A new front had opened up in the war, and on this front the battles were fought in the shadows.

sachmo71

10-07-2003, 10:57 PM

Battle Scars

Sedgwick was a camp town. It had sprung up virtually overnight once the shipyard and spaceport had opened up on Correlia. The naval personnel and civilian ship crews needed a place to spend their pay, and enterprising colonists had quickly moved into the area, opening up shops, restaurants, bar, and hotels. Sedgwick didn’t have much in the way of culture, or education, or much of anything besides establishments for people who had spent a long time in space to spend all of their hard-earned cash. Since the Battle of Correlia, the town had boomed. Before the Ukra-Tal had smashed their fleet against the defenses of the planet and the Remorhaz Navy, many of the locals had worried about the future. Since most of the commercial flights were restricted, business had slowed to a trickle. The navy crews were on high alert, and almost always on duty. The future of Sedgwick had looked bleak for the first few months of 2411. That all changed after the Battle of Correlia. The Remorhaz Navy had won a smashing victory. The system was opened again to commercial traffic, and the freighters came in droves. The bars were full again and the hotels had no vacancies. The local constable was earning his pay again breaking up fights between the roughnecks. Life was good for almost everyone.

For the survivors of the Battle of Correlia, life was not so good. Their lives had been changed forever. They had witnessed destruction on a massive scale. Many had lost friends in the fight. Most were still struggling with the changes that they were undergoing, and the inactivity only made it worse. Of the five surviving ships of the Iolo Defense Fleet, three were undergoing massive repairs and refitting, and that left the crews with a lot of free time. Free time to remember the dead, and to wake up in the night screaming.

Crewman Tim Fisk took a drink from his glass of whisky. He kept the drink at his lips for an extra pull, feeling the alcohol burn a path from his tongue to his stomach. Suddenly he remembered what he had been saying, and he knew he needed to say it quick, before he forgot again.
“BILL!! That was da guys name, Roge! His name wass Bill.”
Tim’s friend, Crewman Roger Yates, turned and looked at his buddy.
“Yeah Tim, I remember him. He was a good guy.”
Tim lifted his glass quickly into the air, spilling whisky and ice on the table in the process.
“To Bill! Best damn gunner’s mate ‘n da fleet”, he smiled and cast his gaze on Roger.
Roger lifted his glass. “To Bill”, he muttered and took a small sip of his own drink.
“Whas’ a matter, Roge? Aren’t ya thirsty”, Tim asked his friend.
Roger swirled his straw around in his drink a bit.
“I guess I’m not, Tim. One of us has to stay sober, or we’ll end up in the stockade, right?”
Tim burst into laughter.
“Good ol’ Roge. Always lookin’ out for everyone else. If you weren’t, I wouldn’t be here, and that’s the truth.”
Tim reached out and grabbed a freighter captain who had the misfortune to be walking by at that moment.
“What do you want”, the freighter captain asked.
Tim pointed at Roger.
“See that guy over there? He saved my life.”
The freighter captain glanced at Roger, then back at Tim.
“He might get to do it again if you don’t take your hands off of me, son!”
Tim started laughing again.
“I don’ want any trouble, mister! Lemme tell ya the story, ok?”
The freighter captain sighed and folded his arms across his chest.
“Fine. It’s probably bullshit, but fine. Tell your story.”
Roger flushed. “Tim, please, don’t tell the story. Just finish your drink and let’s go.”
Tim frowned and went to take another drink, not realizing that his glass was empty.
“Roge, I gotta tell it. I gotta let ev’ryone know what ya done for me, buddy!”
Tim looked at the freighter captain again.
“Me and Roge serve on Orion. You heard a’ her?”
The freighter captain nodded.
“Well, we was fightin’ the slugs, and was takin’ a poundin’. I was servin’ in the main battery, firin’ the big cannon, ya know?”
The freighter captain nodded again.
“An’way, the slugs”, which was the local slang for the Ukra-Tal, “were blasting the crap out of us. We ca’ here the hull breech alarms goin’ off all over da place, but ya know we was firin’ the guns. Cap’n wanted us ta’ keep shootin’ the slugs till we couldn’t shoot no more.”
Tim paused, and stopped smiling before continuing.
“We hit a slug destroy’r, and she goes up. Next thing I know, the ship is buckin’ like crazy. Then we hear a noise like someone fryin’ eggs. Petty Officer Mirra starts yelling at us to strap in and prepare for depressurization, and then all hell breaks loose. We seen the slugs acid spitters on the training vids, and so we’ve seen wha they ca’ do, but we didn’t know. Not till then.”
Tim’s eyes grew huge as he replayed the battle in his mind.
“The acid burned through ‘da hull and into the battery. Petty Officer Mirra was standin’ there, yellin’ at us to strap in, then he was covered in the acid. He looked sorda s’prised, cuz’ the back half of his body just sorta dissolved. He collapsed to the floor, and I can here screamin’ all around me. The acid is eatin’ through my console, so I turn to run for da hatch. Ev’ryone still ‘live is runnin’ for the hatch. So I see Bill lyin’ on the floor, his leg looks busted. I pull him up and keep runnin’ for the hatch, but the acid is there, and it’s burnin’ all the guys. They didn’t even scream or nothin’.”
Tim stopped for a second, and reached up to wipe his eyes. Tears ran down his cheeks. Roger reached across the table and touched his friend on the arm.
“Tim, please stop. Ok?”
Tim seemed to come back from a far off place, and smiled at his friend.
“Stop? Roge, dis’ is da best part!”
Tim turned back to the freighter captain, who is watching him with his mouth wide.
“So I figure me and Bill ‘r done for, cuz the way out is gone, ya know? All those guys are dyin’ right in front a’ me, and I think we’re gonna buy the farm. Everywhere I look is dead bodies an’ acid…acid eatin’ everythin. Then I see the battery wall glowin’ white, and it melts, and there is my buddy Roge. He’s standing there with a cutter, waving at me and makin’ like he want’s me to hurry! So I grab hold a’ Bill, and I run as quick as I can for Roge. When I get ta him, he tells me we gotta hurry cuz the ship is gonna go. I try to tell him ta help me with Bill, but he just frowns and he tells me Bills dead. I look down, and sure ‘nuff, Bill ain’t got a lower half no more. I saved Bill’s top half! Roge saved me, and I save half a’ Bill!”
Suddenly Tim began to laugh again, hysterically this time, even as tears stream down his face.
Roger looked at the freighter captain and gave him a slight nod and then moved to collect his quickly fading friend.
The freighter captain stared at Roger and Bill for a few moments, then shook his head.
“Is all of that true, son?”
Roger nodded. “Unfortunately. Thanks for listening to him, by the way. The doc says if he talks about it, he can get over the shock quicker.”
The freighter captain nodded, still staring at the two sailors.
“It was my pleasure son. I’d heard stories about the battle, but…”
Roger nodded. “Yes sir, it was rough for all of us. I’m just glad it’s over.”
Tim began to cry in earnest now, reliving the horror that he had been through.
The freighter captain looked at Tim. “It looks like it might not be over for quite a long time.”
He shook his head, and hooked one arm around Tim.
“Let me help you get your friend home. And don’t worry about your bill…I’ll get it.”
For the first time that night, Roger smiled.

sachmo71

10-07-2003, 10:57 PM

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 through, 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 through 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.

sachmo71

10-07-2003, 10:58 PM

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 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 through 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.”

sachmo71

10-07-2003, 10:58 PM

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 its 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 through 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.

sachmo71

10-07-2003, 10:59 PM

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 through 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.

sachmo71

10-07-2003, 11:00 PM

Winding Down

2411.8

Correlia was able to breathe easy for the first time since the war against the Ukra-Tal began. Long-range scanners were free of the usual host of Ukra-Tal ships bearing down on the resilient planet. High above the surface, the Remorhaz battle fleet had just finished repairing all of the damage its ships had sustained during the Battle of Correlia. No one was quite sure how long the respite would last, but the enterprising citizens of the world were quick to take advantage of it. They bought anything and everything that they could find that was made off world. Anything from the core worlds fetched a handsome price. The heavy industries also benefited from the lull as the workforce shifted focus from producing weapons to building new mining facilities. These new mining facilities would mean higher production capacity for the colony, which would in turn allow more goods to be produced and more money to be made. Correlia had the potential to be a jewel in the crown of the Remorhaz Society, and if they could keep the Ukra-Tal from smashing it to dust it would realize that potential. All it needed was a little time to grow.

In the Tudran system, the planet Heden was established. This world would become an intelligence compound. All over the society, the Remorhaz Security and Intelligence Bureau began looking for suitable candidates to become agents.

RSS Honor jumped through the wormhole from Zezzis into the Vendrin system. The entire system was filled with a huge nebule, negating scanners and shields. There were two other wormholes from this system. One lead to Devonshire, which was a know Ukra-Tal system. The other led to an unexplored system. Honor was running short of supplies at this point, and so turned back to resupply. If Zezzis could be captured quickly, and Bandron cleared out also, Remorhaz would have the capability to strike at the back door of the Ukra-Tal Collective. This cause was helped when the 2nd Space Marine Brigade captured Zezzis VI from the Rage. Fourteen million Rage colonists were destroyed in a duel between the fleet and a complex of anti-ship missiles concealed on the surface of the planet and the subsequent surface battle. The Space Marines sustained minimal casualties. The planet was renamed Brightstar, for the two high intensity suns in the center of the system. Immediately after its capture, 2nd Brigade embarked and prepared for the next planetary assault.

Remorhaz launched another Ganymede class light cruiser, RSS Barban. For it’s trial voyage, it was immediately sent to scout out the Hollifax system, where it was believed that that the Romulans would stage for any attack into Remorhaz space.

Rear Admiral Jager deployed her Strike Fleet Dauntless to within four sectors of the Lenoltris-Yukra wormhole. Before any assault could begin on Yukra, all Ukra-Tal presence in this system would need to be eliminated. Early next month, they would begin by destroying the two Ukra-Tal cruisers patrolling the wormhole.

2411.9

Sakazawa’s Strike Fleet Hellcat captured the last Rage world in the Zezzis system. This planet was renamed Tarnor. The fighting on this world had been fierce, but casualties remained light. The fierce resistance led the admiral’s staff to believe that the Rage were almost out of worlds.

In Jethanis, 1st Brigade captured the last Rage world in the system. The planet was renamed Barren, because there was little else which could be said for it. It was small, it was gray, and it was flat. On the positive side, the planet held a spaceport, a resupply base, and four research centers. Once the planet was secure, Brennan began preparing for the assault on the Bandron system, which was believed to be the last Rage system in the galaxy, or so it was hoped.

Glory launched RSS Mephisto, a Ganymede class light cruiser, which immediately set out for Remorhaz. Also, the shipyards on Rage completed and launched RSS Scorpion, the first minesweeper in the Remorhaz People’s Navy. Fort Justice lunched RSS Firefly, a Glory D Class destroyer. It immediately made course for Highrock, to bolster Jager’s Strike Fleet Dauntless.

In Fezzran, the replacements for 2nd Brigade were all loaded aboard RSS Marne. They would make for Zezzis where they would rendezvous with Sakazawa and give 2nd Brigade some much-needed replacements before an assault on Ukra-Tal space.

Gina had been right about one thing. They would need to clear out the Ukra-Tal presence before they could mount any assault on the Yukra system. Unfortunately, she was misinformed about the strength of the Ukra-Tal forces present in Lenoltris. Before they were able to begin the second leg of their journey to the wormhole, long-range scanners picked up a large Ukra-Tal fleet exiting into Remorhaz space. This fleet was larger then her fleet by five ships, and she knew she was outgunned. Apparently, the Ukra-Tal were still serious about taking Lenoltris for themselves.
Gina knew she would have to fall back to Highrock, but scanners picked up something between them and their destination…a single Ukra-Tal Gjovik class cruiser. She decided that they would intercept this cruiser on the way back, and then prepare to defend Highrock against all comers.
They made up ground on the Gjovik quickly. It seemed to be moving slowly, possibly scouting the defenses of the system. They had to have seen her coming, but they did not make a move to escape. The Gjovik was a formidable opponent, but it was outnumbered seven to one. Maybe the captain was confident that he could survive the engagement?

They caught up to it at Lenoltris I. Gina recognized the Ukra-Tal captain’s intentions immediately. He had intentionally allowed the Dauntless fleet to catch up to him, but at the place of his choosing. Once he made it to Lenoltris I, he would use the planet’s gravity to slingshot his cruiser past the Remorhaz fleet, not giving them enough time to intercept him as he escaped. It was a clever plan, but Gina would try her hardest to destroy the Gjovik before he could escape.
Gina did the math quickly in her head, and realized that the Gjovik could not escape before her fleet would be able to engage it. The enemy captain had underestimated the speed of her ships. Before it would be able to begin its gravity acceleration maneuver, it would be vulnerable for almost thirty minutes to fire from the Remorhaz ships. She smiled to herself as her fleet continued to gain on the Gjovik. He only had two choices now. He could chance it and try to absorb the punishment, or he could turn and fight. A few minutes later, the Ukra-Tal captain apparently came to the same conclusion that Gina had, and he turned his ship to fight.
Strike Force Dauntless currently consisted of five fighting ships. Three of the ships were Glory C class destroyers and the other two were Nemesis class frigates. The Ukra-Tal Gjovik class cruiser was a gun heavy cruiser. It was armed with three large acid launchers and six point defense cannons. It would give them a good fight.
Cherek was the first to fire. She moved into maximum gun range and fired her depleted uranium cannon and missiles at the enemy cruiser. The shells from the DUC flew true, but exploded harmlessly against the Gjovik’s ample shields. Liberation and Triumph also fired on the enemy cruiser, but failed to hit her. The frigates Nemesis and [I]Intimidator[I] fired their missiles at the cruiser. On this attack, the Gjovik fired back. Acid globules flew through space toward Nemesis and Triumph. The globules missed Triumph, but Nemesis was pummeled. The acid splashed across the hull, instantly melting the missile tubes into slag. The second globule hit near the rear of the ship, wiping out two of her engines and cutting her speed in half. In moments, Nemesis was out of the fight. Gina would be a spectator for the rest of the battle.
The rest of the fleet closed range with the large cruiser. They would have to stay as close to the Gjovik as possible and try to bring it down with combined firepower. That would mean withstanding some heavy hits from her acid launchers, but it couldn’t be helped. The DUC shells finally brought down its shields, and it began to vent atmosphere as shells knocked out her life support system.
The ships battered each other, until the combined missile and gun fire from Dauntless fleet was able to destroy the Gjovik. Superior numbers had won the day for them, but not without cost. Cherek ended the battle being the most heavily damaged, taking 69% damage during the fight. Nemesis took less than 40%, but the engine damage slowed her down considerably. Thankfully, they were only two sectors from Highrock, and would be able to reach the planet by the beginning of the next month. She had underestimated the danger that the Gjovik would present them, and now they were weakened. Hopefully, they would be able to repair most of the damage to their ships before the Ukra-Tal attacked.

RSS Barban was on her maiden patrol when she made detected a Romulan Harsova class light cruiser that appeared to be headed for the Velocitas wormhole. Somehow it had eluded his scanners until it was well behind him The ship’s captain, Commander Mitchell Sprull, immediately abandoned his patrol and moved to pursue the Romulan ship. His crew was in high spirits, excited about the prospect of being the first to engage the Romulans in battle. Sprull wasn’t as excited. No one was sure what sort of weapons the Romulans possessed, but if history held true, it would probably be something nasty and unexpected. If it were, he and his crew would probably wind up dead, which wasn’t something that excited him in the least.

sachmo71

10-07-2003, 11:00 PM

Test Flight

2412.0

“Are you ready, Lieutenant Commander?”
Lieutenant Commander Ricky Jackson finished adjusting his flight suit, than looked up at Doctor Everman. He looked very nervous.
“Yes, Doctor. Let’s get this started.”
Everman allowed himself a moment to smile. It vanished as quickly as it had appeared, but it had been a smile. Ricky was sure of it.
“The TAF is ready also. I thought you might want to look at the final checklist before you begin the flight.” He offered a folder to Ricky.
Ricky grabbed it and shuffled through it as they walked toward the hanger. Along the way, Everman continued to point out issues that Ricky might encounter during the flight. Ricky let him continue, as it seemed to help him relax. The Research Guild had eliminated as many unknowns as possible, but someone still had to actually fly the craft for the first time. Ricky was ready to do it, and he was excited. Doctor Everman was excited, too, but the unknowns that they hadn’t found had him worried. At least Ricky would be able to concentrate on the flight to take his mind off of the fear. Doctor Everman would be stuck here watching everything on vid screen.
When they reached the door into the hanger, Ricky put his hand on Doctor Everman’s shoulder. Everman turned to face him.
“Doctor, don’t worry too much. We’ve run the simulations millions of times, and we know that it will work. Everything is going to be fine.”
The doctor blushed, and looked down at the floor.
“I just want everything to go well. I don’t want…anyone to get hurt. I don’t think I could live with myself if something were to happen to you, Ricky.”
Ricky squeezed the doctor’s shoulder and tried to comfort him.
“Doctor, do you realize who have flying for you? Some consider me to be the finest pilot in the navy. I consider myself to be the finest pilot in the universe. I have confidence in you that nothing will go wrong with the craft, and obviously I have supreme confidence in my piloting skills. We can’t lose!”
Ricky could feel the doctor relax under his grasp. At least he would be all right for a little while.
“Ricky…good luck.” Everman extended his hand to the pilot.
Ricky took it and shook it firmly.
“Luck has nothing to do with it, doctor. This is gonna be hottest ride in history!”
With that, he entered the hanger.
Under the lights in the center of the cavernous hanger sat the TAF, or Trans-Atmospheric Fighter. The Research Guild had been working on it since they had discovered how to miniaturize starship components when the Blazers had been first produced. This was the culmination of the their efforts. If this test was successful, production would begin immediately, and they would be put into front line service. The fighters would be small and fast enough to attack enemy capital ships before they engaged the Remorhaz line ships. They could attack surface targets during planetary invasions, and they would give the fleets a great advantage over their enemies.
The ship itself resembled an X, with a large bubble cockpit on the front. Nine engines were strapped to the hull, which gave the craft its tremendous speed and agility. Ricky walked around the craft, giving it one final visual inspection before the flight. Just sitting here, it looked dangerous. He was eager to get the flight underway.
The access hatch was open and he climbed inside. Once he secured his harness, the pilot seat shifted into flight position. Connectors snaked out from the panels and attached to his flight suit and helmet. Instantly his visor lit up with displays. The ship status crawled across the visor as he ran a systems check. The started the engines and was greeted with green lights all across the board. Everything was ready for the flight.
“Research control, this is TAF 3. We are in the green and ready for launch,” Ricky spoke into the radio as he double-checked the ship’s status.
“Roger TAF 3. You are clear for taxi.”
“Copy control. Beginning taxi.” Ricky looked out of the cockpit and ensured that all of the technicians were clear before increasing the engine power. The fighter seemed eager to go as it began to move. Even at this low power setting, Ricky could feel the power pulsing through the ship. This is a whole new expression of power, Ricky thought. He was used to flying atmospheric fighters. They didn’t have half the power that the TAF did.
He taxied to the main runway of the research base and throttled down.
“Research control, TAF 3 ready for takeoff.”
“Wait one, TAF 3.”
Ricky took a deep breath and ran yet another systems check. Engines five and seven were only running at 98% efficiency at idle. Ricky logged this for the tech boys to look at and made a mental note to himself to watch them during the flight.
“TAF 3 you are clear for launch. Good luck, Lieutenant Commander.”
Ricky took a deep breath and fought down the nervousness in his stomach.
“Copy that control. Thanks and keep those fingers crossed.”
Ricky punched the throttles to their stops and held on as the fighter jumped forward.
Well, the compensators work, he thought as they screamed down the runway. The acceleration took his breath away for a moment. Almost before he knew it he was in the sky. The fighter computer calculated the atmospheric egress angle and superimposed it on his visor. Ricky lined the ship’s nose up with the indicator and allowed himself a moment to enjoy the ride. They were shooting up through the atmosphere at better than twenty gees and still accelerating. Before he knew it, he was out of the atmosphere.
“TAF 3, this is Research Control. Come to course 345 and reduce power to fifteen gees. The demonstration area should be 10500 miles and closing.”
Ricky checked the nav computer and confirmed the information. Everything was correct.
In minutes he was in the demonstration area. Aboard RSS Mephisto was his audience, a gathering of planning and operations officers from all branches of the Remorhaz Armed Forces, as well as the heads of the respective branches.
“TAF 3, this is control. Begin demonstration flight.”
Ricky was only too happy to oblige. He put the TAF through its paces, and loved every second of it. He swooped down on a defenseless target drone and blasted it into oblivion. He did maneuvers that would have been impossible for any capital ship to do. He ducked in and out of the atmosphere to demonstrate the craft’s dual capabilities.
Thirty minutes later, he was back on the ground. During the flight, he had observed a few maintenance details, but overall there had been no major problem. He taxied the TAF into the hanger and shut down the engines. As he did so, a running and leaping Doctor Everman came rushing through the doors, all smiles and shouts. He was hugging anyone would came in his path and slapping technicians on the back. Ricky smiled and glanced up at the control room window to see the entire crew shaking hands and clapping each other on the back. Ricky turned the master power off and put on his best straight face. Doctor Everman was outside waving and shouting at him.
Ricky looked at him and held out his hands as if he did not know how it went.
Everman grinned from ear to ear and gave him the thumbs up. He shouted something, but Ricky couldn’t hear him. He pointed to his ears and shook his head.
Everman laughed and exaggerated the following words: “WE DID IT.”
Ricky pointed to himself and exaggerated a few words back: “I TOLD YOU SO.”
They both began laughing again.

sachmo71

10-07-2003, 11:00 PM

Bardron Campaign Begins

Aboard RSS Tarus, Rear Admiral Shiro Sakazawa and Commodore Gordon Lu were finalizing the details of the assault on Bardron system.
“I going to leave you here with a substantial fleet, Gordon. Zezzis is the key to the entire flank of the Society. If the Ukra-Tal discover that we are here, I need a substantial force to stop them, and I have a feeling Brennan and I are going to be busy in Bardron for a few months.”
Gordon took a bite of his sandwich. He really wanted to be part of the final assault on the Rage, but he wasn’t the type to complain. He used eating to cover his displeasure. Sakazawa proved to be more observant than that, however.
“Gordon, I know you want to be there for the last big push. I want you there. The reality is that you will do more good here. You are my best tactical officer, so you get the job.”
Lu put his sandwich back on the plate and smiled at his commanding officer.
“I can’t fool you for a second, Shiro. I understand your decision and of course would never question you, but I can’t say that I’m not a bit disappointed.”
Sakazawa leaned forward in his chair and rested his chin on his hands.
“I trust you more than anyone else with this responsibility, Gordon.”
Lu nodded. “Thank you, sir. I won’t let you down.”
Sakazawa held his gaze for a moment, then nodded.
“Just so you don’t get bored while I’m gone, I’ve got a few requests for you to carry out while you’re holding the fort.”
Lu took out his data unit and began jotting down notes as his commander filled him in on his objectives. Sakazawa wanted the system beyond Vendrin scouted as soon as possible. Intelligence suspected that the system was Ukra-Tal, but the only way to find out was to send a ship there. The most important mission was to hold the system at all costs. For the task, his fleet consisted of the following ships:
3 Nemesis E Class Frigates:
RSS Gallant
RSS Hyperion
RSS Apollo
2 Glory C Class Destroyers
RSS Faith
RSS Honor
Lu transferred his flag from RSS Apollo to RSS Faith and began drawing up plans to defend Zezzis.

A few days later, Strike Fleet Hellcat moved into Bardron and began the assault on the last of the Rage systems. The first two planets in range were the moons of Bardron IV. The defense of these moons was quite formidable. Scanners picked up missile and anti-missile batteries on the surfaces of both moons, and a belt of six defense satellites as well.
Sakazawa moved a Nemesis class frigate into maximum missile range and opened fire on Bardron IV A. The Rage returned fire with a massive missile salvo. This opened the planet up for the rest of the Remorhaz fleet to move in and engage with guns as the Nemesis retreated beyond Rage missile range. The guns from the Remorhaz ships knocked out two missile batteries. The Rage fired their remaining missiles, and two were able to break through the Remorhaz point defenses. They exploded against the shields of RSS Tarus, but otherwise did no damage. The Rage were able to fire one last salvo before their batteries were silenced. All of these missiles were destroyed. Bardron IV A was no longer a threat.
Bardron IV B was equipped with fewer missile batteries than its sister moon, and so was quickly dispatched by the Remorhaz fleet, along with the defense satellites. However, as the 2nd Space Marine Brigade was preparing to drop onto Bardron IV A, it was discovered that the entire inventory of combat vacc suits had been left back on Tarnor. The absence of combat vacc suits meant that the troops would not be able to fight outside of the Blazers, and so would be unable to capture the moons. Furious, Rear Admiral Sakazawa ordered the planets blockaded and sent Mongoose back to Tarnor to pick the suits up. It was not exactly the beginning to the campaign that he had hoped for.

“Intercept in five minutes, Commander,” the navigation officer called out.
“Thank you, helm.” Commander Mitchell Sprull stared at the display before him as the symbols representing his ship and the Romulan light cruiser converged. He felt fear rising in his stomach as the moved toward each other. There were so many unknowns, and they were out here by themselves. If the Romulans outgunned them, they would receive no help.
Mitchell looked up. “Weps, I want all weapons up and ready to fire. XO, sound general quarters.”
His crew acknowledged his orders. He ran an engineering status check and saw everything in the green.
“One minute, Commander,” the navigation officer chimed.
Let’s just get this over with, Mitchell thought.
“Commander! The Romulan is reversing course!”
Mitchell looked at the display again, and saw the acceleration of the Romulan cruiser die as he fired his engines to kill his forward momentum.
“Helm, match his maneuver and recalculate intercept plot! I don’t want him getting past us!”
“Aye, aye, Commander!” the helm officer responded.
Mitchell began running computations of his own, until he noticed the numbers next to the Romulan ship on his display change.
“Incredible!” was all he could mutter. The Romulan ship had changed course and accelerated far faster than his own ship could hope to match.
“Commander, we can’t match his turn. We going to miss him,” the helm officer called out, and the navigation officer concurred.
“Damn!” Mitchell cried out.
“Sorry sir. I didn’t see it coming,” the nav officer apologized.
“It’s not your fault at all, Lieutenant Briggs. We didn’t know what their ships were capable of, but we sure do now, don’t we?” Mitchell smiled.
“Helm, bring us into a pursuit course as soon as possible,” he ordered. If the Romulan was going to run, at least Barban would be on him if he stopped.
For the next twelve hours, the Romulan continued to accelerate away from the Remorhaz ship, back toward the Koltan-Hollifax wormhole. Eventually Mitchell broke off the pursuit and allowed the Romulan to escape through the wormhole. He sent all of the intelligence that they had gathered back to Remorhaz for analysis by naval intelligence. It looked like the Romulans had an edge in speed and maneuverability over the Remorhaz ships. Mitchell had to wonder what other advantages that the Romulans would enjoy when they finally met in combat.

sachmo71

10-07-2003, 11:01 PM

A plea for the People

The Chairman of the Remorhaz Society looked at the nervous Norakian standing next to him.
“Ready? It’s about time, Trilek.”
The Norakians eyes grew as big as dinner plates.
“Yes. Yes, I am ready, Chairman. I must tell you I am feeling very anxious.”
Chairman Sachmo smiled at Trilek, trying to put him at ease.
“I know how you feel. I get nervous every time I have to speak. I always have.” He shrugged.
“May I ask how you handle it, sir?” Trilek asked.
“Well, I pick one person out of the crowd, and pretend I am talking to them. It makes the numbers easier to deal with.”
“I will try that, Chairman. I hope that will ease my anxiety.” He paused a moment, absently straightening his tunic.
“I am ready.”
The Chairman nodded to his page, and put his hand on the Norakians arm for a moment.
“Just speak to them with the same conviction that you did to Governor Dison and I. If you can do that, everything else will fall into place.”
Trilek nodded as he stared at the curtain before him. On the other side of it waited the entire General Assembly of the Remorhaz Society, and they were here to listen to his plea. It was a daunting task.
He was vaguely aware of the Chairman stepping out onto the dais from between the curtain, and his body being swept onward by the Chairman’s staff and handlers. When he came out from behind the curtain, he almost froze. Before him was a huge auditorium, filled to capacity with representatives from all corners of the Remorhaz Society. Hundreds of them, all sitting in neatly arranged rows and all staring at him. Thankfully, a staff member guided him to the chair that was reserved for him, specially crafted to comfortably facilitate his Norakian body. When he was finally seated, someone he did not see handed him a glass of water, which he absently drank, all the while trying to remember who he was and what he was here to talk about. He could feel the anxiousness rising in his trunk, causing his blood system to pump faster and faster. He lifted the water glass once more, only to find it empty. He stared at it dumbly. He glanced left and right, but no one was paying attention to him. They were all watching their leader address the General Assembly. I will need more water, he thought. Whom shall I ask?
Just then, he became aware of the Chairman looking at him with an outstretched hand, beckoning him to come to the dais.
His legs surprised him and raised his body up off of the chair. He could see the representatives clapping and watching him. He took a step forward, then another, then another. The Chairman stepped back and let Trilek take the dais for himself. As he looked at all of his fellow citizens, a strange calm came over him. For all of the Norakians who survived the war, and for all of those who perished, he had to convince these people to hear his case.
“Greeting, honorable representatives of the Remorhaz Society. I am Trilek, a Norakian citizen of the Remorhaz Society.”
This brought clapping and even a smattering of cheering from the assembly. He waited a moment for it to die out and then continued.
“When the Remorhaz people and the Norakian people discovered on another, our relationship was doomed from the beginning. Norakian society was not structured to accept the existence of other races, and when that discovery could not be denied, you were labeled as a threat to our way of life. War was inevitable.”
A rumble of murmurs passed through the auditorium, and Trilek could see a few faces darken with anger.
“The war began, and people died. When the war turned against Norak, our leaders refused to negotiate. Our religion forbad the existence of other races, and so your race could not be bargained with. It was a fight which cost billions of Norakians their lives.”
“When the Space Marines landed on Providence, it was only the cowardliness of our last surviving elder that saved our lives. Up until that time, Norakians followed the instruction of the elders without question, even to our deaths. When he surrendered the planet to Remorhaz, he inadvertently destroyed thousands of years of social rigidity, although at the time we did not know it. We expected enslavement, or torture, or whatever other fate a conquered people can expect. That was not to be, however.”
He stopped for a moment and glanced at the Chairman. He was listening intently, as was everyone else in the auditorium. The Assembly knew what the Chairman was asking for; the authorization to allow Norakians to enlist for military service. Thus far it had been a rather unpopular notion. All of the wheeling and dealing that the Chairman had been able to do had only secured about a fourth of the votes he needed. Trilek was his trump card, and the Chairman hoped that his speech would sway the votes needed to pass the measure. If not, the movement was dead. Trilek knew how many Norakians wanted to do their part for their new people. He just had to convince the rest of the universe that it would be safe. He took a deep breath and continued.
“The people of Remorhaz embraced us with open arms. We were not subjugated by harsh captors, but were given full rights and citizenship in the Remorhaz Society. We were allowed to come and go as we pleased. We were allowed to choose our activities and professions. We slowly learned the ideas of choice, individualism and freedom. While it may be hard for many of you to grasp, there was no word for any of these virtues in the Norakian language. Since the dawn of our time we lived for our gods and the leaders who represented them. The war taught us many things about how we had lived our lives before, but we knew that we now had the freedom to live as we pleased.”
“There have been struggles, to be sure, but most Norakians have embraced this new way of life. We have been allowed to continue practicing our religious beliefs as we choose. As we learned to live as Remorhaz citizens do, we saw news of the wars. We watched the vid programs as citizens gave their lives to protect the lives of many, and to protect the Remorhaz way of life. Soon, we began to ask if we could offer our lives to protect our new home. Sadly, we were told we could not.”
The auditorium was silent. All eyes were on Trilek as he continued.
“The Norakians are a proud people. We are a loyal people. We are a strong people. That is only part of who we are, though. We are now Norakians of the Remorhaz Society, and we choose to fight the enemies of our people.”
A few people began to clap and hoot. Even more tried to silence them.
“ I realize how this must sound. Many of you must think the idea is preposterous. Why should the Society even take the risk of rearming its first enemy?”
Immediately shouts rose up, some dissenting but many agreeing with Trilek’s last statement. That was the root of it. They were afraid, and he couldn’t blame them at all.
“I can tell you why. We are Remorhaz, just as you are. We have the right to fight for our freedom, just as you do. Since we know what it is like to live without freedom or choice, it means more to us than you could possibly imagine. Many of us feel that the old ways of our people led to a stagnation of growth and a terrible xenophobia that almost destroyed us forever. We will not let that happen again. We would no sooner stab Remorhaz in the back then we would give up our freedom. Let us, your fellow Remorhaz citizen, take up arms and stand by your side. Let us protect you as you have protected us. I thank you.”
Thunderous applause broke out in the auditorium. The entire General Assembly was on its feet, cheering and clapping. Trilek bowed his head in thanks, as was the Norakian custom. He then raised his arm and waved, as those of Remorhaz do. He felt the Chairman move to his side and put his arm around his back, smiling and waving to the assembly.
“Trilek my friend, I think you carried the day”, the Chairman said.
“I only spoke the truth, Chairman. I thank you for allowing me the opportunity.”
Chairman Sachmo chuckled.
“The truth? Trilek, I think you are going to turn the political world on its ear!”
Trilek stared at him, with a puzzled expression on his face. He wasn’t sure he would ever fully understand humans, but he was glad to be living among them. They were strange, but so very interesting.

The following day, the General Assembly passed the resolution authorizing Norakians to join the Remorhaz military. On Providence, open enlistment began for the first Norakian Space Marine Brigade. The response was overwhelming. The muster sheet for the brigade was filled in three hours.

sachmo71

10-07-2003, 11:01 PM

Gains in Bardron

2412.1

The Ukra-Tal came at Correlia again, this time with a mixed fleet of four ships. The minefield around the planet destroyed three, and the fourth was badly damaged. Iolo Defense Fleet made short work of the survivors. Two Ukra-Tal ships remained in the system but posed no immediate threat to the planet. Hitcher kept his fleet in orbit rather than giving chase, as he would not be able to return to the planet until months end and leaving Correlia open to attack. Once the colonists rebuilt the defenses of the planet, or they were reinforced, he could afford to be bolder in his operations. He knew that time would be months away.

The shipyard on Cetarus launched the first of the new generation of supply ships. RSS Filmore was a Cyllene D Class supply ship, the first generation of supply ships fitted with Solar Converters. These devices harnessed the solar energy of local stars and transformed it to useable energy with an efficiency Remorhaz scientists had never thought possible. This energy could then be transferred to the warships, thus extending the life of the power plant charge. A portion of this energy would also be used by the supply ship itself to power food replicators, water condensers, and manufacturing plants to create the staples needed by the crewmen of the warships to survive long periods of space travel. It was hoped that the Solar Converters would extend the range of Remorhaz fleets to an almost indefinite point, depending only on the natural solar energy of stars to replenish their stocks. RSS Filmore set course for Bardron to join Strike Fleet Hellcat.

Strikefleet Hellcat moved in and eliminated the defenses on Bardron II, taking no damage in the process. Brennan’s Strikefleet Avenger moved in a week later and dropped the 1st Space Marine Brigade, capturing the planet while taking light casualties. The planet was renamed Oleander. During the assault, all useable structures on the planet had been destroyed, and so construction began immediately on a supply depot.

In Zezzis, Velocitas, and Sutran, the first Remorhaz fighter squadrons were organized. They consisted of both the F-2 Thunderstrike interceptor and the FA-5 Warhammer ant-ship fighter. Grand Admiral Urian hoped that these squadrons would be able to help cover these vital systems and allow the capital ships to take the battle to the enemy. They had yet to be proven in battle, but if the trials proved to be anywhere close to the reality of their capabilities, they would give any enemy ship a good fight.

sachmo71

10-07-2003, 11:02 PM

Fighter Patrol

Highrock was an ugly planet. It’s geology was made up of primarily one mineral; granite. There was no vegetation, nor was there any water. Only vast granite plains stretching as far as the eye could see. Also, there was dust. Highrock was a planet with an active core, which meant that the ugly granite continents were constantly shifting and grinding together. This seismic activity generated millions of tons of granite debris, and a good portion of the fine rock became dust. The dust swept through the methane atmosphere on the strong winds that blew across the surface. The dust penetrated everything. All of this made Highrock a rather dismal place to live for a Remorhaz citizen.
It was necessary for Remorhaz citizen to be there, however. Highrock was the first line of defense against the Ukra-Tal. The planet was slowly becoming a major naval base, and a prime target for Ukra-Tal offensives. There were colonists on the planet, about 24 million to be exact, but almost every industry on the surface of the ugly, cold planet existed to support the military and ensure the defense of the Society.
Ensign Ren Berton was a small cog in the large navy machine on Highrock, but today he felt like a king. The final FA-5 Warhammer anti-ship fighter in his element had been delivered, and now they were operational. Before the transporter had even rolled to a complete stop, his squadron commander had relayed the orders that had come directly from Rear Admiral Jager. They were to mount a continual patrol over the planet until further notice. That would mean that his men would have to rotate duty with pilots from other elements until the other pilots received their own craft, but Ren didn’t mind, and he knew his men wouldn’t either. They would finally be able to get out into space in the sleek new fighters. They had all been allowed to take a few test runs in the fighters as they were delivered, but flight time was severely limited until they were at full strength. It had given all of the men a stronger yearning for the freedom and excitement of piloting their fighters in space, protecting their comrades and fellow citizens from their enemies. They were very much looking forward to doing it for real.

Ren opened the door to the squadron briefing room and found all of his pilots waiting for him. Their eyes were as bright as Lenoltris Star as they watched him move to the front of the room. He decided to not keep them is suspense.
“The last Warhammer is here. Since everyone else is already assigned to a ship, 006 will be mine.” He looked out at them and smiled.
“I’m going to take her up on the first patrol, which will also serve as her test run. Petty Officer Numier will accompany me on this auspicious mission.”
Numier perked up when he heard his name called. The other pilots clapped him on the back and cheered.
Ren continued the briefing.
“We will maintain a continuous patrol 10,000 miles behind the mine belt. When I say continuous, I mean twenty hours a day. Since there are only six of us, we will be sharing our ships with the other elements until they get their own craft. I know what a bunch of studs you guys are, but you are still human, after all.”
Everyone laughed, and a few flexed their muscles jokingly.
“Listen up, because this point is very important. If you encounter hostile forces, you are to radio back to base and await the rest of the squadron before taking any action. Under no circumstances are any of you to try to make yourselves heroes. Going up against a Gjovik alone will result in a very quick and painful death. Is that clear, guys?”
Everyone acknowledged his order. Ren felt the tug of action at his mind, also. If there were trouble, it would be hard to remember all of his training, but if he could recall the simulation results of unsupported fighters attacking an Ukra-Tal ship, that would remind him to call for help before running into battle. Attacking a cruiser alone resulted in death, plain and simple. Even attacking with the entire element would be a risky proposition.
He began again.
“Ok everyone, this is real now. No more simulations or check rides. We are a combat fighter squadron now. Remember your training and remember why we are here. Dismissed.”
The pilots let out a whoop as they surrounded Petty Officer Numier and followed him to the prep room. Ren gathered his data pad and followed them down the hall to get ready for his first real patrol.

“Highrock control, this is Victory One. Element ready for launch.”
Ren keyed his com unit and awaited the order to launch from the control tower. His well-trained eyes swept over the displays, checking every reading for any sign of trouble. He glanced out of his canopy toward Victory Two and observed Numier doing the same.
He smiled behind his mask.
“Victory One, your element is cleared for launch. Be advised that we are showing five Ukra-Tal craft on very long-range scanners. None are inbound. Good luck, Ensign.”
Ren took on last sweep over the displays as he prepared for launch.
“Roger, Highrock control. Victory Element rolling.”
Ren advanced the throttle to full power and released the gravity harness. His ship floated gracefully into the air. Ren allowed himself a brief moment to enjoy the sensation as his ship left the ground. It always reminded him of his childhood, when he would swing as high as he could, leaving his stomach far behind. He moved the directional pedals slightly, lining the fighter’s nose up on the optimum course plotted by his computer to get his fighter into orbit most efficiently. His display showed him that Numier was performing the exact same maneuver.
Once they had gained sufficient altitude and had their ships on course, Ren keyed the com until and uttered a simple command: “Victory element engage.”
He pushed the throttle to the stops, and the Warhammer responded. The compensator was a microsecond behind the engines, and Ren could feel the acceleration press him back into the seat. He kept his eyes scanning his readouts and screens, but he allowed himself a little “Whoo hoo!” as the young boy inside him hung on for the ride of his life, enjoying every minute of it..
In seconds, there were in space. He and Victory Two formed up and plotted the course to their patrol station. On the way, he took the Warhammer through a series of maneuvers designed to test the systems of the brand new ship. Victory 006 came through the trials without incident. Once they reached the patrol area, the reality of war set in. They watched as the Ukra-Tal ships plodded along, heading away from Highrock. They never made an aggressive move, although what their mission was, Ren could not even guess. He and Numier flew in large figure-eight patterns for four hours, watching the enemy plod across the system, until they were relieved by the next element.
As he brought his ship down and settled it down into it’s docking collar, he wondered how long it would be before his men began to complain about the patrols. As he watched Numier climb down from the cockpit of his Warhammer, one look at his face told Ren that it would not be long at all.

sachmo71

10-07-2003, 11:03 PM

Strike Fleet Dauntless on the offensive

2412.2

RSS Stormfront moved silently through space. The viewscreen on the bridge was locked on the planet Glory, and the shipyards orbiting high above the light blue planet. Commodore Walt Reed watched the image fade into the distance, and thought about his wife and family that he was once again leaving behind. He was thankful for the five months they had been able to spend together, but he longed for more. The war was entering its eleventh year, and he had spent most of that time away from them.
The Navy had seen fit to give him a promotion and five months of shore duty while his new command was under construction, but they needed him back in the war. It was the Navy way, and he accepted it, as did his family. Still, he hoped that they would soon be able to end this war, and that he would be able to go home for good. That was what he wanted more than anything else in the world, and the five months he spent with his loved ones have driven that point home.
With one last unspoken prayer, asking the Creator to watch over his family while he was away, he toggled the main screen to the bow view. He and his crew would have to conquer what lay before them before they could return home safely.

Strike Fleet Dauntless, commanded by Rear Admiral Gina Jager, now had the strength to begin interdicting the Ukra-Tal ships in the Lenoltris system. The fleet consisted of the following ships:
RSS Buffalo, a Rochester B class light cruiser and Gina’s flagship. The Rochester was armed with three heavy depleted uranium cannon, four point defense cannon, and two shield generators.
Three Glory C class destroyers, RSS Liberation, RSS Cherek, and RSS Triumph. The Glory C’s were armed with two capital ship missile launchers, one depleted uranium cannon, two point defense cannon and a shield generator.
RSS Firefly, an Olympia C class destroyer. She was armed with three depleted uranium cannon, two point defense cannon, and two shield generators.
Two Nemesis E class frigates, RSS Nemesis and RSS Intimidator. The Nemesis class was armed with two capital ship missile launchers and one point defense cannon.
RSS Melange was the first ship of the Melange class repair ships. She was capable of repairing a large amount of battle damage while the fleet was underway.

Long-range system scans showed a lone Ukra-Tal Hedenso class cruiser within range of the fleet. Jager left the newly arrived Catreus class frigate RSS Tholeus and the Highrock fighter squadron to cover the planet as she moved the fleet to intercept. There were no Ukra-Tal forces that would be able to attack Highrock without her being able to get the entire fleet back on defense before they arrived. In fact, the entire Ukra-Tal presence in system was only four cruisers and one light cruiser.

As Strike Fleet Dauntless closed in on the Hedenso, the Ukra-Tal captain turned to face his enemy. The Hedenso was a ship never before faced by the Remorhaz Navy, and a quick scan of her weapons showed that she was a formidable foe. The ship was armed with three seeking parasite launchers, four anti-missile projectile launchers, and it bristled with electronics. This data was relayed between the ships of Dauntless, and the battle plan was quickly drawn up. They needed to close with the Hedenso and crush it, since it had no close range weapons. Gina deployed the fleet in a standard wedge and closed in on the enemy ship.
The Ukra-Tal captain moved to try and take their flank, but Dauntless maneuvered to deny him the shot. Finally, the Hedenso changed tactics and made for the heart of the fleet. It seemed as if he planned to charge them!.
The Ukra-Tal captain locked onto Buffalo and launched a full spread of the living weapons that they used as seeker. The blobs raced through space, glowing and pulsing with energy as they streaked toward their target. When they entered threat range, Buffalo’s point defense cannons opened fire, knocking out two of the hideous weapons. Liberation opened fire at maximum range with her point defense cannon, destroying the last of the seekers. The Remorhaz ships chased the Hedenso as he tried to open the range. It was able to launch another spread of seekers before Buffalo was in range to attack her. These seekers were also destroyed by the combined firepower of the fleet’s defense cannons. Then it was Buffalo’s turn. At maximum range, Gina ordered the heavy depleted uranium cannons to open fire. The ship lurched as the projectiles were fired from the heavy railguns mounted in the spine of the ship. All three shells exploded against the Hedenso’s shields, overloading them and knocking them out, but they had done their job. The ship took no damage.
The Ukra-Tal ship launched another seeker spread and it was destroyed. Buffalo scored another hit on the enemy ship’s hull, but the living armor of the ship “healed” the wound. Gina’s skin crawled as she watched it on the viewscreen. It was hard not to personalize the battle when the very ships the enemy fought in acted like living beings. Gina’s brain refused to acknowledge that they quite possibly were living beings.
Finally, the Hedenso fell to the guns of Strike Fleet Dauntless. Liberation scored the killing blow when her missiles slammed into the battered hulk, blasting it into shards of organic material. With no further targets to engage, Gina turned the fleet to an intercept course for the next Ukra-Tal ships in range. Strike Fleet Dauntless was on the attack, and its commander was determined to take the fight to the enemy. Let them send reinforcements, she thought. I’ll keep you occupied here while Hellcat cuts out your heart!

sachmo71

10-07-2003, 11:04 PM

A new hero and an unseen enemy

2nd Brigade, now fully equipped for zero-g combat, was able to take Bardron IV A and B in the face of minimal resistance. Multiple research centers and mining facilities were captured intact, along with over 200 million Rage colonists. Brigadier General McMasters immediately ordered the brigade to load back up on the transport for the next assault, and personally oversaw every phase of the process. He would be damned if his brigade found itself unable to fight because of another supply snafu. The quartermaster officers tried to keep as low of a profile as possible whenever he was in the area.

Strike Fleet moved against Bardron VII. The Rage defenses were light, consisting of one missile base and two fighters. The Remorhaz ships quickly silenced them, and Task Force Avenger moved in and dropped 3rd Brigade. The Space Marines took the moon with very light casualties.

2412.3

In low orbit over the planet Norak, the newest ship in the Remorhaz People’s Navy did a slow flyby of the shipyard. As she came into view, a spontaneous cheer erupted from the gathered spectators. RSS Prometheus, the first carrier ever built, was the pride of the Norak shipyards. That she even existed was the result of thousands of man-hours of work by the shipyard crews, the design teams, and scientists from all over the society. Many new technologies were crammed into her hull. She was as long as two light cruisers, and half again as wide. The hull was rounded as opposed to the tapered look of the other combat ships, and she bristled with open fighter bays. The island on top of the ship blended in seamlessly with the hull, and helped to give her a sleek design in spite of her size. She looked dangerous and capable of wrecking great destruction on the enemies of the Remorhaz Society. The power that Prometheus exuded gave all who saw her hope. The crowd continued to cheer as the big ship drifted past, and well after it was beyond visual range.
When the vid of the launch was broadcast throughout the Society, no one could have anticipated the effect that Prometheus would have on the people. Everywhere, people talked about the new ship, and what it would mean for the war. They were hoping that this was a weapon that would neutralize the advantages that the Ukra-Tal had in technology. They theorized that Prometheus, backed by the rest of the Navy, would be able to chase their enemies back into the dark corners of space that they had come from and avenge the deaths of their people. Almost overnight, RSS Prometheus became the newest hero of the Remorhaz Society, and she had not even fired a shot in anger yet.

In the command center aboard RSS Tarus, Rear Admiral Sakazawa and his staff were planning the upcoming assault on the Rage planet of Bardron VI.
Sakazawa stood in front of the system map displayed on the main view screen.
“I think we should hit them this month, Terry. We have to finish the Rage as soon as possible.”
Captain Terry Hall, Sakazawa’s chief staff officer, frowned as he looked at the map.
“Yes sir, but we are getting very low on supplies. If we run into something unexpected…”
Sakazawa nodded. “It’s a risk, but I don’t think it’s a huge one. I really think that these are the last few Rage planets. I’m still waiting for confirmation from Lu, but think of what it will mean to the people if we can finish the Rage off this year. Every month we drag this out is another month that we have people worrying back home. They could use some good news, and this would be it.”
Hall smiled at that. “I think we all could use some good news, sir.’ He lifted his data pad and began to enter some figures for the next phase of the campaign when suddenly there were two muffled explosions. The ship shook briefly, and then the general quarters alarm went off.
Hall looked around the room. A few of the staff officers were on the deck, and everyone looked more than a little confused. Rear Admiral Sakazawa was on the com unit talking to Captain Tim Danvers, commander of the Tarus.
“I’ve got my people on it, sir. The computer shows one of the heavy railguns damaged, and a bay of point defense cannon. I just don’t know what happened yet, Admiral.”
“Was anyone hurt, Tim?” Sakazawa asked.
“I don’t know yet, sir.”
“I’ll let you get to it then.” With that he switched off the com unit.
Hall moved over to stand beside Sakazawa.
“Sir, our data matches Captain Danvers. It looks like one of the railguns and a bay of point defense cannons were destroyed by an explosion of some kind. Both sections were at minimum required crew, sir.”
Sakazawa sighed at the news. “Thank the Creator for that.”
The com unit chirped, and the Admiral flipped his com on. The face of Captain Danvers appeared.
“The Chief Petty Officer took one look at the blast area and could tell immediately that it was a bomb of some sort, sir. This was no accident. It was sabotage.”
Even through the com unit, Sakazawa could feel the heat building up behind Danver’s eyes.
“You have no doubt it was a bomb, Tim?”
Danver’s face hardened.
“If the CPO says it was a bomb, I’ll buy it, sir.”
Sakazawa nodded.
“Were there any casualties?”
“Yes sir, there was one, but he’s going to make it. He was burned pretty badly but thankfully he was on the other side of bulkhead when the explosion happened. The bomb was encased in a fragmentation casing, sir. If he, or any of the crew had been in the room at the time that bomb went off, they would have all been dead.”
“Is there anything you need, Tim?”
The captain managed a weak smile.
“How about the head of the bastard who did this?”
Sakazawa stared hard into the com unit.
“Don’t worry about that, Tim. We’ll find out who is responsible for this, and we will deal with them accordingly.”
“Thank you, sir.”
Sakazawa switched the com unit off again, and turned to Captain Hall.
“Terry, I need to talk to the Grand Admiral, now. Set it up in my cabin. Also, I need to have an emergency meeting with the captain of every ship in the fleet in two hours. We need to have everyone sweep their ships and look for explosive devices.”
Hall began to carry out his orders. In minutes he had the link for the Rear Admiral set up and open in his cabin.
“What’s happening there, Shiro?” The Grand Admiral asked.
“Sir, we’ve had an incident of sabotage on board Tarus. We’re not sure who is responsible, but I though you would need to know this right away” Sakazawa said.
“I was afraid of this” Urian said. “Last month, the food stores on Honor were found to have gone bad. As you know, they were forced to abort their recon mission of the system next to Vendrin. What I didn’t tell you is that the Security and Intelligence boys were investigating the incident. They thought it might be sabotage, but they hadn’t gathered enough evidence to prove it yet. Now we know.”
Sakazawa nodded. He would have liked to have been informed, but he wasn’t sure what good that would have done. He wouldn’t have been able to alert his commanders until they had some proof of sabotage, and he wouldn’t have been able to search the fleet by himself.
“How would you like me to proceed, sir?” Sakazawa asked.
“I think for now, you should lock the fleet down until we know what we are dealing with. No leaves, and no transfers until we can sort this out. I’m dispatching some extra Security and Intelligence agents to Bardron, but they won’t be there for a few months. Until then, let everyone know to keep an eye out, but don’t allow the troops to panic. If people start chasing shadows, it won’t be long before they are shooting them, also. Just try to keep everyone on the ships and calm, Shiro”
Sakazawa typed some notes into his data unit, and suddenly had a thought.
“So you think there are some alien spies among my people?”
“I can’t rule anything out at this point, Shiro. Everyone is a potential threat right now, but my gut tells me that our enemies have some agents out there among your crew. So be careful, Shiro. Don’t go anywhere alone. If something were to happen to you, the whole Bardron campaign would fall apart.”
“Aye, aye, sir. Thanks for the advice, Grand Admiral.”
Urian nodded.
“Don’t worry, Shiro. We’ll get this problem taken care of. Rumor has it that the Ukra-Tal are about to experience what you are going through now. Turn about is fair play, I guess.”
Sakazawa frowned.
“It doesn’t seem very fair out here in enemy space, sir.”
With that he closed the link, and tried not to think about enemy agents hiding in the shadows.

sachmo71

10-07-2003, 11:04 PM

Clearing Lenoltris

Strikefleet Hellcat descended on the Rage colony of Bardron III like an avalanche. Reinforced by the bulk of Rear Admiral Brennan’s Strike Fleet Avenger, Sakazawa now had twenty-four ships under his command. For the first time in history, two Space Marine brigades were preparing to assault the same planet. Considering the resistance they had encountered so far, it seemed like overkill, but Sakazawa didn’t want to take any chances. The Rage were a clever and tenacious enemy. He expected the next few invasions to be very met with fierce resistance. If it turned out to be anything like the invasion of the Rage homeworld, the extra Space Marines would be necessary.
This was not the case on Bardron III, however. The fleet detected no ground or space based defenses. The 1st and under strength 2nd Space Marine brigades landed on the planet, eliminating the Rage forces and primary sequencer with minimal casualties. The planet was renamed Tovador, and the population integration process was begun. There were only two Rage planets left in the Bardron system, and Sakazawa intended on having them both neutralized by the end of the month.

In Lenoltris, the interdiction of Ukra-Tal fleet movements continued. In the lower quadrants, Strikefleet Dauntless intercepted a Hedmora class cruiser. Scans showed that the Ukra-Tal ship was packed with electronics, armor, shields and armed with two large acid launchers. With a numerical advantage of seven ships to one, Gina was confident in her chances, but was by no means sure of escaping the battle unscathed.
The fleet was deployed in a standard wedge formation as they moved to engage the Hedmora. The Ukra-Tal cruiser turned to face the Remorhaz fleet. It was a slow ship, but her guns outranged those of the Remorhaz cruisers. If they maintained their approach, her ships would get the critical first shot at the Hedmora. Of course, that was assuming that the Hedmora didn’t have a trick up her sleeve.
Gina watched the tactical display of the battle from her command chair in the combat information center aboard RSS Buffalo. She intended to let the individual ships captains run the battle, and only get involved if things began to get out of hand. She watched the two fleets approach one another. Over the communication network, the senior line officer, Captain Olaf Svenson, ordered missiles to be fired at maximum range. Svenson commanded RSS Nemesis, which was Jager’s previous command. With his greater numbers, Svenson was trying to force the Hedmora away from his fleet and hopefully damage the enemy cruiser before they had to close range and engage with direct fire weapons. The Ukra-Tal acid launchers had a longer range and bigger punch than the depleted uranium cannons on the Remorhaz ships.
The Hedmora continued to close the range, moving into firing range while knocking some of the Remorhaz missiles out with his ships strange anti-missile projectiles. Ukra-Tal ships resembled living creatures, and fired projectiles from their “snout” that were capable of destroying threatening warheads. It was truly an unsettling sight for even the most experienced Remorhaz crewmen. Having survived the initial missile strike, the Hedmora opened fire on RSS Buffalo, damaging her shields. Gina could see the hits reflected on the tactical screen, but knew that the shields had held. They would not be able to stop another strike, though. Realizing this, Buffalo’s captain fired his cannon at the Hedmora at maximum range, damaging her shields, and turned the ship to take her out of range of the enemy cruiser.
Seeing the waves of missiles streaking toward him, the Hedmora turned to open the range with the Remorhaz seekers. More projectiles filled the space behind the ship, and many of the missiles were knocked down, but two waves made it through its defenses, further damaging the shields. Seeing this, Svenson ordered the fleet to hold back until their missile tubes were reloaded.
The Hedmora suddenly reversed course as the Remorhaz ships lined up for another missile salvo, and before the missiles were fired, it hit Buffalo with two more acid salvos. The damage was superficial, but they had lost all shields. If they stayed in the fight, they would suffer serious damage. Svenson seemed to realize this at the same time, and ordered Buffalo to fall back and avoid engaging the Hedmora until further notice.
The Ukra-Tal defenses proved a constant source of frustration for the Remorhaz ships. Heavy radiation waves from the countermeasures suite on the Hedmora downgraded the effectiveness of the Remorhaz gunnery computers, resulting in many cannon shots missing their mark. However, the sheer volume of fire from the fleet finally brought the Hedmora’s shields down, with the final blow being struck by the depleted uranium cannon of RSS Liberation. RSS Firefly fired at the cruiser at close range, missing with two shots. The third struck the hull of the Hedmora, which immediately began to “heal” itself.
Again the Ukra-Tal ship turned to run while it’s acid launchers recharged. Now was the best chance for the Remorhaz ships to close range and do some heavy damage to the cruiser, since it appeared long-range cannon fire would be very ineffective. As Gina watched her fleet move in and close with the cruiser, she bit her lip and hoped that someone back home would see the difference the defensive electronics were making in the battle, and figure out how to get her ships some of their own.
Firefly was able to land some more damaging blows to the Hedmora, while the second salvo of Remorhaz missiles homed in on their target.
The Ukra-Tal captain again turned and flew through the heart of the fleet, locked in on RSS Buffalo. At maximum range, he fired his acid launchers even as the last Remorhaz salvo overwhelmed his defenses and battered the cruiser’s hull. The acid globules smashed into Buffalo’s hull, eating away both shield generators, one engine, and two of her point-defense batteries.
As her CIC staff reported the damage, Gina wondered when she would stop being surprised at the tenacity of her enemy. One of the main duties of a Remorhaz ship captain was to ensure the safety of her ship and it’s crew. In her experience, their enemies did not seem to hold the same values. Where this Ukra-Tal captain could have maneuvered to escape and fight another time, or hold out for reinforcement, he instead chose to concentrate on one enemy ship and try to take them down with him. It was honorable, but futile. She just couldn’t see the logic in the alien’s thinking.
The Hedmora was a wreck, venting gasses and debris as she limped along toward RSS Buffalo. No attempt was made by her captain to surrender his ship, and so Gina watched as her fleet destroyed it.

The only other combat in Lenoltris occurred when Dauntless moved into range of the Lenoltris-Yukra wormhole, where they found a heavily damaged Ukra-Tal light cruiser hiding. Gina presumed that it was waiting here for a rescue ship, as all of it’s engines were destroyed. She attempted to have the enemy captain surrender his ship, but again they refused. Buffalo finished it off with a salvo of cannon shells into her powerplant. For the moment, Lenoltris was clear of all enemy shipping.

sachmo71

10-19-2003, 01:31 AM

Force Multipliers

The Naval Design Bureau was a misleading name. In actuality, the Bureau was in charge of creating new hardware for all of the branches of the military, but it had been created initially as a think tank to design the first Remorhaz warships. Since it’s creation, the workload had pushed the project of renaming itself to the bottom of the pile. As the war drew on, and the scientific community grew, that pile grew bigger and bigger every day. The scientists, planners, and engineers assigned to the Bureau persisted, though. Every new discovery and invention that they could get their hands on was studied as the Bureau attempted to find a military application for it. For example, the Hemdall Corporation on Harkness had created an improved guidance system for the robotic miners that their company manufactured. The Naval Design Bureau obtained a few samples, and discovered that the precision computer that ran the new guidance system was very similar, but superior, to the targeting system on the FA-5 Warhammer anti-ship space fighter. Adding these to the craft would increase their attack efficiency by as much as 25%, and the cost of adding the new system to the fighters would be negligible. With that, the FA-5B Warhammer was born. Without the work of the Naval Design Bureau, the improvement might never have been made, considering the illogical connection between the two systems. This scenario had taken place a thousand times before, and would continue until there was peace in the galaxy.

Strikefleet Hellcat converged on Bardron VI, intent on finishing the Rage presence in the system, and hopefully the galaxy. Rear Admiral Sakazawa, commander of Strike Fleet Hellcat, was expecting a rough fight. A quick scan of the planet told him that he might have bitten off more than he could chew.
The Rage defenses started with two belts of missile satellites. Behind that, the tactical display showed at least fifteen space fighters, armed with cannon and missiles. The surface of the planet was bristling with weapons. No less than sixteen defense bases were dug into the surface of the moon, half armed with heavy missiles and half armed with phased-polaron beams. A quick glance at the data scrolling across the display told him why this world was so heavily armed. Nineteen mining facilities dotted the surface of the mineral rich moon, making this planet one of the most valuable worlds remaining in the Rage dominion.
The figures told Sakazawa what he already knew; that would have to bomb the planet into submission. The missile bases wouldn’t present as much of a threat to his fleet as the heavy phased-polaron beams would. He didn’t have the firepower to take them out before they would be able to rip his fleet to shreds, to say nothing of trying to cover the Space Marines while they tried to land on the planet. It would be a slaughter. No, he would have to hang back and fire missiles, hoping to whittle away at the defenses and give his bombardment ships a fighting chance. He silently cursed himself for thinking he wouldn’t need the missile ships that Lu now had in Zezzis. He had been confident that the Rage wouldn’t have time to prepare layered defenses, and that Hellcat would be able to overwhelm anything that they came up against. He had been wrong, though, and until he was able to wear Bardron VI down a bit, he would not be able to take the planet without serious casualties.
He issued his orders to his staff to be communicated throughout the fleet. They were going to proceed on to Bardron IX and eliminate that threat while waiting for Lu to bring his three missile frigates to join them in the bombardment of Bardron VI. As the fleet changed course, he prepared a com message to send to Grand Admiral Urian explaining why Bardron would not be in Remorhaz hands by the end of the month.
Two days later, Captain Geoff Dillon of the Security and Intelligence Bureau had a report of Admiral Sakazawa. Sometime within the last twenty-four hours, someone had managed to contaminate half of the fuel for the contra-terrene engines stored on RSS Cyllene. This meant that unless the fleet diverted to Oleander to resupply, they would not have enough fuel to support all of the ships in combat operations at Bardron IX, let alone enough fuel to return to attack Bardron VI.
Sakazawa sighed. He looked up at the captain and asked,
“Are you any closer to catching these saboteurs?”
“Yes sir. We’re closing in on them. It’s only a matter of time.”
“Meanwhile, they have met with spectacular success. Their attacks on our supplies have forced the cancellation of a major military operation.”
Sakazawa shook his head in disbelief.
“They probably have no more than five agents in our fleet, isn’t that your estimate, Captain?”
Dillon’s eyes darted around nervously. He began to fear that the admiral was going to hold him responsible for the enemy’s success.
“Sir…yes, sir. We think it’s a small cell. Probably no more than five.”
The admiral stared hard at him for a long second, and then smiled.
“I know you are doing your best, captain. I just need you to be as successful as they have been against us.”
The captain relaxed.
“Sir, you have my word. My team and I will find them.”
Sakazawa stood.
“Your word is enough for me Captain. Thanks.”
With that, the captain left, thankful that he hadn’t let the admiral down. Yet.

2412.5

Strikefleet Hellcat was on the move again. Once Commodore Lu joined up with the rest of the fleet, they quickly resupplied and left to assault Bardron IX. During the two weeks of travel, there were no incidents of sabotage. In Bardron Quadrant 32, next to Bardron IX, the fleet met up with reinforcements from Jethanis, RSS Goldmoon and RSS Ceto, both missile ships. Now thirty ships strong, Hellcat moved at full speed toward the Rage planet.
As the fleet approached the planet, sensors scanned the system for enemy spacecraft. Finding none, the computers scanned the surface of the planet, looking for defense bases, troop concentration, and the like. The Rage had two space stations in orbit around the world. They were armed with missile tubes, but they appeared to be mainly used as shipyards. They were a threat, but a low priority one. On the surface the Rage had more formidable defenses. There were no less than twelve phased-polaron beam emplacements, and six missile batteries. The scanners picked up no troop concentrations at all.
Sakazawa ordered the fleet to concentrate on neutralizing the surface defenses so that the Space Marines could land at the earliest possible opportunity. To avoid heavy casualties, the missile ships would close to maximum range and fire at the planet, and try to stay out of range of the phased-polaron beams.
At maximum range, the Rage missile batteries fired the initial barrage of the battle. When they reached optimal range, the Remorhaz point defense cannons opened fire, knocking them out without suffering a single hit.
At this point, three ships split off from the main force to eliminate the space station threat. Tarus, Hawk, and Ceto closed with the closest base, firing at maximum range. Tarus got lucky when one of the shells from her main gun penetrated the space station’s missile battery, exploding the entire emplacement and rendering it combat ineffective. A second barrage by the ship finished the base off.
Every missile barrage fired by the Rage was defeated by the concentration of firepower from the Remorhaz ships. Finally, the missile ships were in position. As one, they moved to optimum range and fired a massive barrage at Bardron IX. The Rage defenses succeeded in destroying one salvo, but 90% of the Remorhaz missiles found their targets. All of the missile batteries and three of the phased-polaron beam sites were destroyed in the first salvo. The captain of RSS Ceto requested permission to close range and engage the remaining bases with gunfire, but Sakazawa denied the request. He was content to knock out the remaining defenses with missile fire, and didn’t see the need to risk ships and lives needlessly. Time was still on the Remorhaz side.
Another barrage was fired at the planet. This attack knocked out the last Rage defense base. Sakazawa ordered the Space Marines to prepare for a combat drop, but before the transports could move into position, every Rage habitat on the surface exploded. When the dust settled, the scanners could not detect a single Rage entity on the planet. It appeared that rather than get captured, the primary sequencer on this world had set up a planet-wide self-destruct network. The Rage did not want another world to fall into Remorhaz hands. Sakazawa took it as a sign that the Rage were almost finished, and he knew that the last battle would be at Bardron VI. It would be bloody work, for sure.

Days later, RSS Faith exited a wormhole from the Vendrin system into the suspected Ukra-Tal system of Tyrik. Her captain, Lieutenant Commander Kilder Crutchley, half expected to be blown apart by mines upon exiting, but the scanners were clear for thousands of miles. The system was indeed inhabited by the Ukra-Tal, in fact, they had colonized every planet in the system. The only enemy warship detected was a Heinola class light carrier, but it was much too far away to make a difference in Crutchley’s life.
“Communications, prepare a data package for command and send it immediately, if not sooner”, Crutchley shouted. “If we get killed, I want them to have something to remember us by.”
“Aye, aye, Cap’n. Sending data package now”, the communications officer responded.
Crutchley quickly weighed his options. His mission was accomplished. They had scouted the system and found no Rage here, which meant that the Bardron system was probably their last holdout. If that held true, then that phase of the war might be over soon. The thought made him happy, because one less enemy would mean that they could focus that much more attention on the Ukra-Tal.
His other option was to pounce on one of the Ukra-Tal planets close by, hopefully doing some damage to it before retreating. Tyrik VII was the closest, and it didn’t have any defenses that he could detect at this range. He wasn’t sure what to do, but he didn’t have time to get in touch with Commodore Lu. He decided to talk it over with his staff.
He looked over to his left, where his executive officer’s station was.
“Petey, what do you think? Should we bug out, or make some noise?”
Lieutenant Pete Ortega turned to face the captain.
“Sir, if we hit them unaware, we could do some major damage, but it would be localized to one planet. By the time we finished with one, they would be on us for sure.”
Crutchley nodded. “Go on.”
Pete shrugged. “I think if we do that, then they will be waiting for us the next time we come back. All alone, we can’t do enough damage to take that risk. Maybe if we slip out of here, they won’t notice that were here, and when we come back, we’ll bring friends.”
Crutchley shook his head.
“Pete, I do believe that you have the mind of an admiral. You should skip your own command and go right to flag country!”
The XO laughed, along with some of the crew.
“Just calling it like I see it, sir.”
“Hmmm. Well, I agree with you. Let’s get the hell out of here, before that carrier comes sniffing around here for us.”
He looked at the helm officer.
“Mister McKinney, take us home, all engines full.”
“Aye, aye, sir!” the helm officer cried.
Faith turned for home, with a promise to come back and extract a pound of flesh from the Ukra-Tal.

Although it’s original inhabitants had been slaughtered by the Ukra-Tal in the early stages of the war, there were still a few humans on Timerron in the Yukra system. The Ukra-Tal didn’t know they were there, though, and the Remorhaz intelligence agents were trained to keep it that way.
Agent 32 barely remembered his real name. He had been on Timerron for just over a year now, and had barely talked with anyone. The mission was his life here, surrounded by the enemy. Everywhere he went, he was forced to be on guard, while trying to appear to be an unremarkable Ukra-Tal laborer. With the help of the personal field distorter, he was able to create his disguise, albeit for short periods of time. There was no disguise for his habits, though. Everything a typical Remorhite would do had to be chased from his mind. If he did anything out of the ordinary, he could be killed at a moments notice. He had come close to blowing it a few times, but thankfully he had survived. Now he found it much easier, and he wondered if he should be afraid of that.
A week earlier, the mission was specified. He was to plant a bomb on a Hedmora class cruiser that was bound for Iolo. Upon completion of his mission, transportation would be arranged to return him to Remorhaz space.
This is a dangerous mission, he thought as he uncovered his weapons cache hidden in the floor of his dwelling. I may not survive this.
Unconsciously, he began assembling the explosive device, testing the timers for functionality. His mind started to wander a bit as he worked. Home. What would it be like? Would he ever be able to relax again? Would he be the same person that he was before he left Shadow a year ago? He wasn’t sure that person still existed.
Suddenly he was aware of what he was doing. He had reassembled the explosive device incorrectly. Focus, he thought. Remember your training.
The next day, he readied himself for his mission. He gathered his tools, and booby-trapped his dwelling so that all evidence of his identity would be destroyed when they came looking for him. It was only a matter of time.
He activated his field distorter and left the dwelling. He walked to the tube station and boarded the public transport. No one noticed him, and he talked to no one. While on the tube, he ran over the mission in his mind one more time, but soon thoughts of home were intruding on his thoughts again. He should have a nice fat bank account when he got home. Maybe he would muster out of the Bureau and go back home to Hera. Or he could settle on Remorhaz. Maybe meet a girl, settle down…
He snapped back to reality and gave a slight jerk. One or two riders glanced at him, but otherwise paid no attention to him.
Keep your mind on the mission! He berated himself, knowing that a loss of concentration at any point could cost him his life.
The tube stopped by the shipyards, and he exited. A large group of workers exited with him, all moving toward the shipyards where they worked. He recognized some of them, but did not greet them. As they entered the shipyard, he moved toward his work berth. His job as a data entry clerk allowed him access to the records of his target. He had determined that his best chance for success would be at afternoon shift change. The Ukra-Tal are a very smart race, but when it came to security concerns, they left a lot to be desired. The entire mission should only take fifteen minutes, and then he would leave and head directly to the egress point.
He sat down at his work berth briefly, accessed his terminal and quickly scanned the work log for his target. No changes were scheduled for today, so the mission would go ahead as planned. He left his berth and headed for the Hedmora. As he walked down the access tunnels and workspaces, he was suddenly overwhelmed by nervousness. What would they do to me if I were caught, he thought? He had never considered it. There was no justice system in the Remorian sense of the word. Civil disobedience was a foreign concept to the Ukra-Tal. If one did break the law, he was fined. If he could not pay, he was forced to serve until his debt was paid. How would they treat a spy? The fear of the unknown welled up inside of him, and he fought the urge to turn and run away.
Before he knew it, he was at the checkpoint. A single Ukra-Tal soldier stood here, representing the entire security force for the cruiser behind him. Agent 32 was tight with anticipation, and forced himself to relax. He had access to the entire yard. He should be able to get through this checkpoint with no problem.
“Yourself has pass?” the soldier asked.
“I posses sufficient access”, Agent 32 replied, handing his access pass to the soldier.
The soldier scanned the pass, and turned to give it back. The soldier’s eye slits narrowed as he caught sight of 32, and his tentacles moved to grab his weapon.
Agent 32 was faster. In a heartbeat, he had his microblade out and jammed it into the soldier’s nerve bundle, ending its life instantly. At that moment, he realized that he could see his normal human hand, and not the tentacles that he was used to. He grabbed his field distorter and instantly knew what the problem was. The previous night, while his brain was wandering with thoughts of home, he had forgotten to recharge the field distorter. Luckily for him it had enough power remaining to get him this far, but he no longer had a disguise. He began to run down the access tunnel and into the ship. He saw no one as he ran, but with every step he expected to hear the alert sirens go off and the corridors to be filled with vengeful Ukra-Tal.
A few hundred feet later, he was outside of the engine room. He had to get inside and plant the bomb, and then get out alive, without being seen. He didn’t like his chances. The engine room was on of the rooms on the ship that was always manned by someone. Hopefully, it was just one crewman, and he would be able to take him out before he was noticed. He armed the dead switch on the bomb, so that it would go off if he were killed, and pulled out his microblade. Then he toggled the door.

On board the stolen Ukra-Tal freighter, Agent 32 watched Timerron fade in the distance. He was going home, and his mission was a success. He had survived, despite his own stupidity and lack of concentration. His training had saved him, as it had so many times before, but he knew that he could never go back on a mission again. He had failed himself, even if he had accomplished his mission. He knew that he would never trust himself again enough to survive deep cover. As Timerron was lost in the blackness of space, he felt a weight lifted off of his shoulders that he hadn’t realized had been there for the past year. In that instant, he made up his mind. He would muster out of the bureau, move to the planet farthest from the war, marry a pretty girl, and try to forget about his year in the belly of the beast.

Eilim

10-19-2003, 12:03 PM

Glad to see this back, this story is what made me buy the game back when you first started posting it. I have to admit I've been hoping for its return. Keep up the great work, sachmo!

-Eilim

sachmo71

10-19-2003, 05:27 PM

Thanks Eilim! I had been posting it over at the Shrapnel Website, and had no plans to continue posting it here, until a friend quite unexpectedly asked me if I was still working on it. So I decided to see if anyone was still interested in reading it, and a few were, so I reposted it. Besides, it's not much trouble to post it two places. I was just being lazy! :)

sachmo71

10-21-2003, 11:24 PM

Innovations

The city of Turian on Remorhaz, capitol of both the planet of Remorhaz and the Remorhaz Society, was known for it’s beautiful architecture. From the regal government buildings located in the Quadrangle to the colorful, vibrant shops located in the Merchant’s Quarter, the city was packed with interesting sights. In the case of the headquarters of the Research Guild, form did not follow function. The building was long and gray, with a total lack of innovation in its design. Square and utilitarian were words that came to mind when people walked past. It didn’t fit in Turian at all, the citizens believed.
Inside of the building, innovation was the watchword. The main task of the brilliant minds that worked inside this eyesore was to coordinate the research efforts in all corners of the Remorhaz Society for maximum productivity. Without their efforts, many of the latest innovations would still be locked up inside the minds of their inventors.
Doctor Genoviv Mustali was the current head of the Research Guild. It was her job to oversee the coordination of the scientists, students, and thinkers in the Society, and also to emphasize the direction in which the research effort should be headed. The emphasis was not decided solely by her, but in concert with the Chairman, the military, and any number of other organizations. It was a job that threatened to pull a person apart at the seams, but thankfully Genoviv was made of stern stuff.
She reviewed her notes one last time as Grand Admiral Urian and Commandant Hunter came into the meeting room. She rose and moved toward them, flashing them her widest smile. She shook hands with them both before offering them refreshments. Both men declined.
“Grand Admiral, I saw the latest vid from the Bardron front. It’s wonderful news. I can’t believe that we are so close to victory against the Rage.” Genoviv said.
Urian looked across the table at her. She was a nice looking woman, with a grace that always reminded him of a dancer, or of a forest cat.
“We think that Bardron VI is their last planet. Hopefully, they will be out of the war by the end of the year, if everything goes well.”
She nodded. “I’m sure it will, sir.” She turned her head slightly to address Commandant Hunter.
“Your Space Marines have done an incredible job, Commandant Hunter. You must be very proud. They’ve had remarkable success.”
He glanced up from his data pad.
“We couldn’t have done it without you, Doctor. The efforts of you and your people have given my Space Marines the right tools for the job. We are in your debt.”
Genoviv blushed slightly. The Commandant wasn’t the type to waste words, and so she knew he meant what he was saying. The fact that he had said anything spoke volumes.
“We do what we can, sir. We’re happy to help.”
A few moments later, Chairman Sachmo and his entourage came into the room, accompanies by Admiral Hilger Ash, the head of the Naval Design Bureau and Field Marshall Fredrick Gulman, commander of the Grand Army of the Remorhaz Society.
Everyone stood as the Chairman moved around the room, greeting everyone present. When he finally got around to Genoviv, he shook her hand warmly.
“Doctor, I hear you’ve got some excellent news for us,” the Chairman said.
“I do indeed sir.”
“If everyone is ready?” She glanced around the room, and everyone began taking their seats. She moved to her data pad as the lights dimmed.
“Let’s begin.”
A hologram appeared in the center of the table, showing the schematics of a weapon.
“When the war against the Rage began, they held advantages in propulsion and missile technology. As the war progressed, we narrowed that gap. Because of this, we eventually countered their gains, and began to push them back. Our superior numbers and aggressive tactics seemed to be effective against them.”
“Once we reached Lezzari, we found that they had again leapt past us in the technology race. When the Rage unleashed their phased energy weapons against us, it was a nasty shock. They had a longer range and did more damage than our depleted uranium cannon. In fact, they almost outdistanced our missiles. This technology gap was one that we could not overcome, until now.”
The schematic was replaced by a vid of tests being conducted on captured Rage equipment. Genoviv began again.
“Thanks to the efforts of many scientists throughout the Society, we now have our own version of the phased polaron beam. It’s not quite as powerful as the Rage designs, but we feel that the current model is more than adequate for fleet service. Admiral Ash? ”
Admiral Ash tapped his data pad, and three different ship designs appeared in the hologram, along with a space fighter design, a defense satellite design, and a new Blazer design. There was also what looked like a service rifle for the Space Marines based on the new beam technology.
As Ash began discussing the new design proposals to incorporate the new phased polaron beam weapons, everyone in that room knew that the technology gap between the Ukra-Tal and Remorhaz had just become much smaller.
During the meeting, it was decided that the current research effort should remain unchanged, which was focused on next generation targeting computers for the fleet. Once this was completed, all effort would be put into increasing the effectiveness of the polaron beam. In the meantime, the new designs proposed by the Naval Design Bureau were approved, with the initial deployment being the phased beam battle rifle for the Space Marines. It was thought that this new weapon would increase their combat power by at least thirty percent, and would be the cheapest to implement quickly. Before long, the entire Remorhaz military would be armed with this new weapon, just in time for the offensive against the Ukra-Tal.

sachmo71

10-25-2003, 12:25 AM

New Tactics in Iolo

“It looks like they are heading for the wormhole, sir. Even if they try to double back to Correlia, we can intercept them before they come anywhere near the planet.”
Commodore Thom Hitcher tapped his chin with his finger. According to his sensors, two Ukra-Tal cruisers were trying to outflank Correlia and his fleet. After months and months of assaults on Correlia itself, for the first time they were trying to make it to the Iolo-Ultrinox wormhole. If they made it through, they could threaten any number of systems, including Velocitas and Remorhaz itself. However, if they did, they would find themselves in the midst of a Remorhaz minefield, but Hitcher didn’t want them to get that far. It would be a close fight. His task force consisted of three Glory class destroyers, one Nemesis frigate, and a Ganymede class light cruiser against one Gjovik and one Hedmora class cruiser, both which were well armed enemy combat vessels. The Remorhaz ships had a range advantage, but if the Ukra-Tal ships closed to within acid launcher, they would punish the Remorhaz ships. Hitcher had to decide whether to pursue them, or protect his fleet and let the minefield take care of them.
“Let’s go get ‘em.”, he told his staff.

Within hours, the Correlia Defense Fleet was cutting through space at full power, on an intercept course for the two Ukra-Tal ships. It took three days, but the Remorhaz ships finally closed to within engagement distance.
Hitcher ordered his screening vessels to fan out in the front arc, to allow their missiles to be brought into the fight before the cruisers could close range. With his eye on the tactical display, he watched his command fan out before him, the ship’s captains executing their maneuvers with precision.
The Ukra-Tal commanders, with their usual aggressive behavior, charged the Remorhaz ships. Hitcher watched the range tick down as both fleets flew toward each other a full speed. The computers compensated for the closure rate, and once the cruisers flew into the capital ship missile envelope, his ships opened fire.
Three destroyers and a frigate lit up their dark corner of space with a ripple-fired salvo of capital ship missiles. Their captains then reversed course, hoping to open the range between them and the horrible acid launchers that the Gjovik and Hedmora were armed with. Hitcher moved his own ship, RSS Orion, between the retreating vessels and the enemy cruisers. The missiles acquired their target, the Hedmora, almost instantly and accelerated toward it. Anti-missile projectiles filled the space around their ships, disabling or destroying almost all of Hitcher’s missiles, but one salvo broke through and exploded against the Hedmora’s shields, weakening them. By this time, the cruisers were able to close range and fire a few extreme-range shots at Orion, a few of which took down her shields and hit her hull. No major damage was done, but Hitcher was forced to pull back a bit. He fired a few shots of his own with his cannon, but missed. RSS Narvik was able to fire a long range shot with her lone cannon and the shell found its mark, weakening the Hedmora’s shields even further.
The Ukra-Tal commander decided not to press his luck any further and moved to open the range. Hitcher was a bit surprised, because this played to his ship’s strengths, but he wasn’t about to overlook the gift that his enemy had given him. He ordered his ships to again turn and pursue the Ukra-Tal ships while their missiles reloaded.
Seeing his mistake, or possibly counting on the pursuit, the enemy cruisers again turned to close with the Remorhaz ships. Once again, a heavy salvo was launched, forcing the Hedmora to retreat. The Gjovik fired at Orion from extreme range, missing with all her shots. The Remorhaz ships were able to return fire on the Gjovik, hitting her with four cannon shells. The shells tore holes in her hull, but the damage began to repair itself immediately. The Ukra-Tal organic armor was a huge advantage.
The enemy cruisers continued to close range. At long range, the Hedmora fired its acid launchers at RSS Narvik. The shots crashed through her shields, and slammed into the hull, burning a gaping hole in the ship. Compartments were disintegrated as the powerful acid burned through the ship. The crew that survived the barrage worked their way toward the middle of the ship as the acid continued to eat away at the superstructure. Narvik was out of the fight.
Now Hitcher was at a disadvantage. He could no longer afford to fire and sprit, because that would leave Narvik at the mercy of the cruisers. He watched as the Hedmora turned away to recharge its acid launchers and the Gjovik closed in for the kill. It fired at Narvik, hitting her once and wiping out her bridge. Thankfully, the entire bridge staff had already evacuated to the bowels of the ship, sacrificing maneuverability for survival. The Gjovik now faced the full brunt of the Remorhaz cannons alone. Shell after shell crashed into the cruiser, knocking out components. Both of her acid launchers were destroyed in the initial salvo, and were now useless in the fight. It turned to run, while the Hedmora turned back to save its partner.
Another Remorhaz salvo was launched at the Hedmora, and without the Gjovik’s protection, more of the missiles found their mark. She was still in the fight, but she was damaged. Now it was Orion’s turn to withstand another acid barrage. The Hedmora fired a full salvo at her, reducing most of her point-defense battery to melted slag. Still able to fight, Orion returned fire, further damaging the Ukra-Tal ship while the two remaining effective Glory class destroyers raked it with point-blank cannon fire. The damage to its hull was now such that the organic armor could no longer repair itself, and that allowed the cannon fire to destroy a few of its engines. The Ukra-Tal ship was very tough, though, and was still a dangerous enemy. On top of that, its acid launchers were still operational.
Orion was hit with another full acid salvo. This attack burned down the axis of the ship, destroying everything in its path. Weapons mounts, crewmen, anything and everything was destroyed, but the path of destruction bypassed the starboard weapons mounts, leaving Hitcher with one of the ship’s two heavy cannon. With it, Orion was able to land the killing blow on the Hedmora, which exploded as the shells found some vital component deep inside the stricken cruiser.
Narvik and [/I]Orion[/I] turned for home as the Gjovik was hunted down and destroyed by Shining Victory and Skydancer.

The trip back to Correlia was busy for everyone. Although the damage was extensive to both Narvik and Orion, some repairs could be made. For [/I]Orion[/I], it seemed they would be enough to allow her to get home with the rest of the fleet. Narvik was not so lucky, because her damage was too great to allow her to keep up with the fleet. On top of that, there were now at least three Ukra-Tal cruisers within range of Correlia and all of them could beat the fleet back to the planet if they traveled at the highest speed that Narvik could make. With great reluctance, Commodore Hitcher allowed her to detach from the fleet and attempt to make it back to Correlia alone. All of the wounded and non-essential personnel were transferred to the rest of the fleet, and Narvik was left behind.

Hitcher watched Narvik fall behind on the viewer and shook his head. How did Naval Command expect him to interdict ships that were bigger, stronger, and technologically superior to his if they didn’t give him any reinforcements? Hiding behind a minefield and backed up by ground based weapons, they could hold their own against a fleet with many times his number of ships, but if the Ukra-Tal decided to bypass all of those weapons, like they seemed to be doing now, they would quickly grind his fleet into dust. If Narvik didn’t make it home, he would have lost one-fifth of his fleet, while he read reports of the fleet in Bardron assaulting the last Rage worlds with thirty or more ships! The thought enraged him.
He got out of his command chair and growled, “XO has the con,” as he walked briskly toward his cabin. He was forced to travel two sections out of his way because the direct path to his cabin was open to space, thanks to the acid damage from the battle. This only served to infuriate him more.
He opened his cabin door and powered on his data pad. He began to type out a message for Grand Admiral Urian’s eyes only. He was going to tell the Grand Admiral the truth, and if he didn’t like it, he could come down to Correlia personally and relieve him of his command.

Grand Admiral Urian read the message with a grim look on his face. It wasn’t very often that a Commodore demanded things of Grand Admiral, but Hitcher’s blunt message made its point very clearly. The Ukra-Tal were stepping up their activity in Iolo, but they no longer seemed to be concentrating on Correlia. He had hoped that the Ukra-Tal would continue to throw themselves at Correlia’s defenses, diverting their attention from the other fronts while they prepared for the offensive. If Hitcher were going to have to leave the protection of Correlia to stop Ukra-Tal movements with his fleet, he would definitely need reinforcements, whatever delays that caused for the rest of the Navy. If Hitcher’s fleet were destroyed, the planet was doomed.
He immediately issued orders for two ships from the Home Fleet to move to Iolo and join the Correlia Defense fleet. The Ganymede class light cruisers RSS Xanthe and RSS Odysseus received the orders and changed course at once. Urian only hoped that they were able to make it to Correlia in time to save the fleet.

Above Highrock, Rear Admiral Gina Jager was just settling down for a nights rest when the com unit began to beep. Sighing, she rolled out of bed and quickly composed herself. Brushing back her hair, she keyed the unit to answer. The face of an Army sensor officer appeared.
“Good evening, Captain. What can I do for you?”
The Army captain looked nervous.
“Admiral, I’m very sorry to disturb you, but the duty log says to inform you in an emergency…”
Gina waved him off. “Don’t worry about it, captain. A little lost sleep won’t kill me. What do you have?”
The captain was looking off-screen for a moment.
“Admiral, may I send you the long range feed?”
“Sure,” Gina replied, taking a seat at her desk.
The captain’s face disappeared as the image was replaced by a long-range scan of the Lenoltris system. Five sectors away, and closing, was a fleet of at least twenty-four Ukra-Tal light cruisers.
“Ma’am, we picked them up about ten minutes ago. They aren’t jamming, so we didn’t really notice them until they passed the outer passive sensors. They caught us a bit with out pants down on that one.” He laughed nervously.
Gina replied, “It’s alright captain. A few hours wouldn’t make that much of a difference. Can you show me a course projection?” She asked for the captain to show her where the computer predicted the Ukra-Tal fleet would end up, but she was pretty sure she already knew the answer. In the blink of an eye, the computer calculated their destination…Highrock.
“Thanks, Captain. Looks like they are coming for us again. Get the word to the ground base commanders. We’ve got a few days before they get here.”
The captain looked relieved.
“Yes, Rear Admiral.”
The link went dead.
Gina sat at her desk for a few moments, thinking. If the Ukra-Tal threw themselves at Highrock once more, she felt that she could defeat them. If she had to engage them away from the defenses of the planet, however, she didn’t think she would be able to stop such a vast fleet. They had switched tactics in Iolo, so why not here?
Until they came closer, she couldn’t be sure of what they were going to do. She would prepare to defend the Remorhaz Society, wherever she was called upon to do it.
She turned on the com unit again, and put a call into her chief of staff, ordering him to start getting the fleet ready for battle. Then she lay down to try and get some sleep. She wasn’t sure how much she would be able to get in the days to come.

sachmo71

11-02-2003, 12:34 AM

Showdown at Bardron VI

Thirty-one fighters from the 3rd Fighter Wing joined up with Strike Fleet Hellcat for the assault on Bardron VI, possibly the last Rage held world in the galaxy. Strike Fleet Hellcat was the most powerful fleet in the Remorhaz People’s Navy. The fleet consisted of one system patrol ship, twelve frigates, five destroyers, two light cruisers, one minesweeper, two repair ships, three supply ships, two landing ships, plus the thirty-one fighters that had just joined them. It was an impressive fleet, but Bardron VI had some very strong defenses. The previous reconnaissance of the planet reported at least sixteen defense complexes, armed with a variety of weapons, and fifteen space fighters. If the planet could be taken, it might end the Rage threat to the Remorhaz Society. Rear Admiral Shiro Sakazawa, commander of Strike Fleet Hellcat, knew that every month that they waited to attack the planet was another month that the defenses were strengthened, and that his fleet was tied down here. There were other battles that needed to be fought, and so the Rage threat needed to be eliminated. Bardron VI could wait no longer. Hellcat moved in for the kill.

Commander Philip Henderson checked his readouts as his fighter wing formed up around him. His entire wing was made up of FA-4 Thundercat attack fighters, which were designed for ground attack missions. Each of the thirty fighters was armed with two heavy space-to-surface bombs, idea weapons for knocking out hardened surface targets. The biggest problem for his fighters was that they had to get in very close to use the bombs, and to do that they would have to get through the Rage defenses. As he had learned during the briefing, that would be a very tough job by itself.
“Jericho flight, arm ordinance.”
He glanced at the status display as the weapons systems on all of the fighters changed from yellow to green in short order. No problems so far.
“Jericho flight, execute formation delta.”
Using his ship as the axis, his fighters maneuvered into their positions for the run in on Bardron VI, behind the capital ships. Sakazawa was sure that the Rage would send their space fighters out to intercept his fleet, and he wanted the Thundercats to stay behind the point defense umbrella. Their lack of ship-to-ship weaponry would make them an easy target for the Rage ships.
All that was left to do now was to hold formation and wait for the admiral to give the order to attack. He settled back in his seat and looked out of the canopy at the large planet ahead. Without an atmosphere, it looked like a dead world, but this was the type of planet the Rage preferred. Not much of a prize, he thought, but knocking out the Rage would be worth it.

In the combat information center onboard his flagship RSS Tarus, Rear Admiral Sakazawa kept a close eye on the tactical display. Thirty Rage fighters left their hidden base on the surface of Bardron VI and turned to intercept the Remorhaz fleet.
Sakazawa shook his head. If he were in command of the Rage defenses, he would have kept the fighters uncommitted until the odds had evened out a bit, or at least until the fleet was distracted by fire from the ground bases. As it was, the Rage fighters didn’t stand a chance. Hellcat was deployed in a phalanx formation, which allowed the fleet to concentrate its point defense fire and eliminating holes in the coverage.
Despite the knowledge of the Remorhaz firepower, the Rage fighters pressed on, while the fleet moved closer to the planet. Sakazawa’s plan was simple. The fleet would move just outside of ground cannon range and deploy for a massive attack on the surface defenses of Bardron VI. Since the Rage couldn’t hit everything at once, Sakazawa was hoping that a massive attack from the capital ships would allow the Thundercats to lay some of their ordinance on the defense bases, opening the way for the Space Marines to land and take the planet by force. His hope was that by overwhelming the defenses early, he would minimize his own losses, but the plan relied on accurate intelligence and no shortage of luck.
The Rage space fighters moved into maximum engagement range of the fleet. RSS Quasar scored the first kill of the battle as her point defense cannon locked onto a Rage space fighter at maximum range. The Rage fighter began to twist and turn, trying to avoid the cannon fire, but the computer was always one step ahead of him. Shell after shell hit the craft, tearing pieces from the ship and damaging components. As the ship lost maneuverability, more shells hit it, until a number of rounds penetrated its powerplant, causing it to explode. The crew cheered as they watched the target disappear from the tactical display, but quickly searched for a new target as twenty-nine Rage ships moved even closer, hoping to put their own missiles into the skin of a Remorhaz ship.
They would never get the chance. The closer the fighters got to the fleet, the heavier and more accurate the fire became. Within two minutes, all of the Rage space fighters were destroyed. The only threat they posed to the Remorhaz fleet was if their wreckage happened to collide with one of the capital ships. Having overcome the first line of Rage defense, Hellcat continued on.

sachmo71

03-23-2004, 10:44 PM

Showdown at Bardron VI-Part 2

The ships of Strikefleet Hellcat spread out in a line formation, covering almost two thousand miles of space. Each ship kept their electronic eyes and ears pointed at the Rage planet, always watching for new targets to come into view. The fleet was poised for an attack, ready to hit the enemy as hard as it could and try to soften the inevitable counterstrike. The only defensive installations that appeared on the Remorhaz scanners were the twelve phased-polaron bases, and six missile batteries. The information on these targets was broadcast throughout the fleet, and each ship was assigned to a target. The first strike had a good chance of totally crippling the Rage defenses.

The combat information center on Strikefleet Hellcat’s flagship, RSS Tarus was the heart of the fleet. The battle plot that was displayed before the commander of the fleet, Rear Admiral Shiro Sakazawa, displayed all of the data collected by the fleet so that he could have the most accurate and complete picture of the battle as possible. Nothing escaped his attention. He sat before the display tight-lipped as his fleet bore down on Bardron VI, his mind processing the data as quickly as it appeared on the screen. He had expected the Rage to build up their defenses in the month since his fleet had last visited the planet, but all scans showed that they remained as they were. This could probably be explained by the fact that the Rage empire was down to its last planet, and were probably incredibly short on raw materials. He made up his mind in that instant that there was nothing to be done about it now, anyway. His fleet would just have to keep their eyes out for any new targets, and deal with them if they appeared. He reached up and activated the com unit. The face of Captain Tim Danvers, captain of Tarus appeared.
“Yes, Admiral?” he asked.
“Tim, if you can, I want you to keep us in with the fleet. I don’t want the Rage to single out any of the ships, and I’m afraid that if we hold back, the Rage gunners will concentrate on Ganymede. Also, I want to maximize our firepower on the first strike, and this ship is a big part of that. Ok?”
Danvers nodded.
“Understood sir. We’ll be right in the thick of things.”
Shiro closed the link and looked back at the display. Bardron VI inched closer by the second.
Let’s get this over with, he though.

At fifteen hundred miles, the fleet stopped. On the right flank, the fighters continued to curl around the planet, followed by Mongoose and Badger and their complement of Space Marines. Once the first strike went in, this element was to charge the planet. If the initial attack by Hellcat failed to eliminate the defenses on the surface, the fighter’s would have to close with the planet to put their ordinance on the remaining targets. Since the Rage would probably concentrate on the capital ships anyway, the best tactic was for the fighters to head in as fast as possible. Since it was also hoped that the Rage would have too many targets to concentrate on at once, the assault transports would also head in, and get the Space Marines on the surface as quickly as possible. In space, they wouldn’t be able to do much, but once they were on the surface, they were lethal.

Mongoose moved into Rage missile range, to try and bait them into firing a salvo at them. The Rage obliged, firing half of their complement of missiles at the transport. Since it was the extreme edge of the missile’s effective range, Mongoose was able to quickly move out of range, ensuring that the missile strike would not hit them. With that strike finished, every ship in the fleet fired it’s main engines for a mad dash to maximum missile range.
As the ships closed in on the planet, in the combat information center on Tarus, one of the communication officers reported something strange.
“Admiral! There is some sort of unknown signal coming from…sir, it’s coming from us!”
Shiro snapped his eyes toward the officer, then to his assistant, Captain Terry Hall.
“Terry, check it out, please,” he ordered.
Hall moved quickly over to the officer’s station and looked down at the console.
“What have you got here, Lieutenant?”
The communications officer looked up at the Captain.
“I don’t know sir. I’ve never seen anything like it before, but it’s definitely coming from this ship.”
Hall looked at the data. “Get me Danvers.”
The com unit switched on.
“Danvers here.”
“Tim, are we broadcasting a signal of some sort?”
Danvers frowned. “We’re not supposed to be, but my com officer is looking at it. We can’t figure out what it is. I’ve localized it, and I’m sending a team to investigate.”
Hall nodded, and Rear Admiral Sakazawa’s face appeared on the screen.
“Have we figured this out yet, gentlemen?” he asked.
Danvers spoke up.
“We’re checking it out now, sir.”
At that moment, the Remorhaz ships reached firing range.
Sakazawa opened a new com channel to all ships in the fleet.
“Commence firing!” he shouted.
As one, the fleet opened up on the barren world.
Up and down the line, flashes of light winked into existence as depleted uranium cannons fired at ground targets and missiles were fired in massive salvos. It was truly and awesome display, which the news crews mixed in with the fleet eagerly recorded from any vantage point they could find.
On the surface, the effects were catastrophic. Gun batteries were smashed by missile and cannon fire, and missile batteries were silenced before they could fire their deadly payload. Enormous, burning craters pocked the surface of the planet as Rage defensive installations ceased to exist.
The Remorhaz first strike was just ending when the Rage sprung their trap. The communication officer in the combat information center had deciphered the signal. It was encrypted, but the source was clear. A Rage communication signal was beaming from their ship, sending information about the Remorhaz fleet to the defenders on the surface of Bardron VI. Moments after this discovery, at least twenty hidden Rage phased-polaron beam batteries activated their targeting electronics. All of these guns quickly locked onto RSS Tarus, and opened fire.

Lokugh

03-24-2004, 08:59 AM

Hey, its back!! The dynasty that cost me $45.00. Thanks...it was worth it< g >.

Lokugh

sachmo71

05-30-2004, 02:58 AM

Showdown at Bardron VI-Part 3

One by one, the Rage beams were fired at RSS Tarus. The first beam was thrown off by jamming, but the second one hit, severely weakening the ship’s shields. The next beam finished the shields off, and bit into the command cruiser’s hull.
Rear Admiral Sakazawa watched the battle display and quickly surmised the situation. At this range, the fleet would take a pounding from the Rage batteries, so the only option was to try to take them out before they did too much damage. He ordered his command staff to gather targeting data on the new targets and send the information out to the rest of the fleet.
The ship was rocked as another beam smashed into the hull. Shiro pulled up the com unit to address all of the fleet’s captains. A quick glance at the damage display showed that Tarus would not stand up to much more of this punishment. He had to make sure the fleet carried out their orders, and knew that to run now would be suicide.
Just as the display came up, the ship was battered again from another direct hit. Sparks flew from the computer consoles, and the data feed from the bridge of his ship suddenly died as the bridge status went from green to red on the damage display.
He tried to chase the faces of the crew from his mind as he began to speak.
“We’ve been fooled, everyone. The Rage have much stronger defenses than we previously thought, and we now have to go on the assumption…”, the display died briefly as another beam slammed into the ship.
He began again when the display came back up.
“We have to assume that the signal broadcast from this ship informed the Rage of our force structure. We cannot retreat. We have to destroy them before…”
Sakazawa and the command staff did not even register pain as the phased polaron beam vaporized the command center and everyone in it. The beam continued to burn down the hull until its energy was spent. Seconds later, another beam burned into the engine room, destabilizing the anti-matter chamber in one of the contra-terrene engines and setting off a chain reaction blasting what was left of Tarus into atoms.

The destruction of Tarus sent a shockwave through the fleet. All fire at the planet stopped momentarily as the shock of the admiral’s death stunned everyone. Almost instantly, the commanders of the individual ships sought to carry out their orders and the fire rained down on the Rage planet once more. Rear Admiral Brennan, aboard the cruiser RSS Ganymede assumed command of the fleet.
RSS Ceta was the next target of the Rage. Her gunnery crew was delivering very accurate fire and had destroyed two of the Rage batteries, but it was not enough to help her survive. The beams quickly overwhelmed her shields, and methodically tore the destroyer apart. Her bow tore away as one Rage beam sliced the ship in half. Debris and gasses filled the space around the ship as another Rage beam tore into Ceta’s exposed compartments. This beam burned down the length of the ship, reducing the interior of the ship to molten slag. With no structure to contain them, the engines tore away from the shell of the hull and continued on their path toward Bardron VI, as if eager to escape the carnage. Only five of her crew would survive the battle.
Finally, the Rage turned their attention to RSS Ganymede, the only remaining cruiser in the Remorhaz fleet. The powerful beams quickly burned through the shields and battered the hull, tearing great rents in the hull and vaporizing compartments. Ganymede continued to return fire, blasting battery after battery, until she could no longer return fire, all of her weapons having been destroyed. Rear Admiral Brennan ordered the ship to retreat, as she was no longer battle worthy.

With the Rage attention focused on the capital ships, Commander Henderson’s Thundercats space fighters were able to drop some heavy space-to-surface bombs, eliminating a number of Rage batteries with each attack. The Rage quickly recognized this threat, and opened up on the fighters with anti-missile lasers and a few phased polaron beams. As the lead element of Jericho flight turned to attack another target, heavy fire rose to meet them. The fighters turned and jinked to avoid the fire as they dropped their ordinance on their targets, but four of the six fighters were destroyed during the attack. Realizing the precarious situation that the fleet was in, Henderson ordered the fighters to press the attack.

The battle between the capital ships and the surface batteries continued. Hit after hit was scored against the Rage batteries, but they were taking a toll on the Remorhaz fleet. RSS Quasar, a Comet Class ground attack frigate, was destroyed as she tried to get close enough to deliver a devastating cargo of space-to-surface bombs. RSS Glory was also destroyed in a duel with battery of Rage guns. Brennan knew that the only option remaining was to get the Space Marines on the ground as soon as possible. If they survived the assault in sufficient numbers, they would be able to overwhelm the Rage batteries quicker than his fleet could destroy them from space.
He activated his com unit and Brigadier General Henry Townsend appeared.
“RJ, I’m glad to see you in one piece. You guys took quite a pounding,” Townsend said.
Brennan grimaced.
“I still don’t know how many we’ve lost, Henry. We’ve got to end this soon, or we’re in serious trouble, and I think your Marines are the best option.”
Townsend nodded.
“I was preparing for that already, RJ. We’ve re-plotted our landing zones, and are prepared to make a hot landing. We’re ready to go when you want us.”
“I’m glad you planned ahead, Henry. Let’s get this going.”
“Aye, aye, Admiral. Well commence our assault run immediately.”
Brennan nodded.
“Good luck, Henry.”
He switched the com unit to address the fleet.
“All units, prepare to support ground operations.”
Once the order was acknowledged, he switched the com unit off. It was up to the Space Marines now.

Aboard RSS Mongoose, the Space Marines of 1st Brigade scrambled into their combat suits as the warning klaxons sounded. Mike Villers, correspondent for the Remorhaz News Network, watched in confusion as the Space Marines donned their equipment. Lance Corporal Jake Renton, Villers’ “handler”, turned to him and frowned.
“Get your suit on, Mike.”
The reporter stared at him in confusion, but did as he was told.
“Why are we suiting up now, Jake? You guys don’t usually suit up until just before the drop, but we aren’t even approaching orbit yet.”
Renton checked to ensure that his oxygen supply was full, and then turned to help the reporter seal up his suit.
“That alarm that you heard a minute ago, remember it? I realize that you haven’t heard it before. It means were are going to have a hot landing.”
Villers struggled with is recording unit. Simple tasks became much more difficult in a heavy space suit.
“What is a hot landing, Jake?”
Jake frowned and grabbed the reporter’s equipment, helping him carry it as they hurried toward the Blazer.
“Usually, the fleet knocks out most of the heavy defenses for us before a drop. There is usually some anti-craft fire, but nothing that would threaten Mongoose. Where there are weapons that can knock us out before the drop, we call that a hot landing.”
The reporter’s eyes widened a bit. “I see,” he said. “So we’re in danger right now?”
Renton smiled. “Yes, you could say that. If the Rage fire on us now, there isn’t a lot we can do about it. That’s why we are suiting up.”
They reached the Blazer, and stood to the side as the troops of 4th platoon quickly stowed their equipment and took their seats. Once this was finished, Jake and Villers entered.
“I don’t understand, Jake,” the reporter said as he fumbled with his seat harness.
Jake snapped Villers’ seat restraints, stowed his equipment, and then his own.
“The mission of this ship is the get us on the ground. If we take fire, and the captain decides that it is in danger of being destroyed, he make every effort to get the Space Marines out of this ship by the most expeditious means possible. That means he will open up all of the bays and launch everything as quickly as he can. If that happens while we are deploying, or the Blazer is open…well, at least with a suit on you have a chance. Make sense?”
He turned to see Villers staring at him with wide eyes. His face was as white as chalk.
Jake nudged him a bit and smiled.
“Don’t worry, Mike. We’re in the Blazer now. Our chances of survival just went up to around fifteen percent.”
The Space Marines around him laughed. Villers didn’t.

Two more Remorhaz ships were destroyed supporting the Space Marines as they made their landing run, RSS Flurry and RSS Olympia. Also, the last of the Thundercat fighters were destroyed, but not after they destroyed a large number of anti-craft batteries and a number of phased polaron beam batteries.
Finally, the Space Marines landed. The Thundercats and the remaining capital had opened a wide corridor for the Blazers, and they made it to the landing zones with very little damage, with two Blazers suffering minor damage from missile attacks. The four remaining Rage phased polaron beam batteries were quickly neutralized by elements of 2nd battalion. Local defense was sporadic and the rest of the brigade was able to break through with light losses. Mines knocked out two Blazers from 3rd battalion, but they were able to capture their objectives. 1st battalion was tasked with finding and eliminating the last Primary Sequencer. It was located deep underground in a mountain complex. The Space Marines battled their way inside, taking heavy casualties. The complex was too small for the Blazers to fit inside, so the combat was close and deadly. Finally, they were able to force their way into the heart of the complex, and the last Rage Primary Sequencer was destroyed by elements of 1st battalion. With that, the Rage would fight no more. The Remorhaz Society had finally defeated the Rage Collective.

Tellistto

06-01-2004, 04:19 PM

Good job :)

Tell

sachmo71

06-01-2004, 04:45 PM

Thanks, Tellistto.

What happens next is anyone's guess. :)

sachmo71

06-06-2004, 12:08 AM

Taking Stock

Transcript of Chairman Sachmo’s speech delivered to Remorhaz Society announcing victory over the Rage Collective.

2412.6

“Citizens of the Remorhaz Society, I come baring joyous news. The war against the Rage Collective has come to an end. Our forces captured the last remaining Rage world, Bardron Six, and claimed it for the Society, eliminating all armed resistance against us. The last of our original enemies has been vanquished.”

“Eleven years ago to this very month, the Rage and the Norak declared war on us, for reasons that are still unclear. It was a war that we did not want. We are a peaceful people, and we offered peace to these races, even after we had turned the tide of war against them. Peace through diplomatic means was not to be, however. Our efforts were ignored at best, and often met with violence. The only alternatives remaining were surrender, or peace through force of arms. The former was unthinkable, and so we were forced to arm and fight, and fight we did. The brave men and women of our armed forces, indeed, the very heart of our youth, answered the call and went out into darkest space and strange new stars to fight our enemies. After initial setbacks, we chased our enemies from our worlds and back to theirs. We conquered their worlds and still they fought on, but they could not best the Remorhaz forces. The Norak Continuum surrendered in 2408.”

“The Rage Collective would not surrender. We took their homeworld from them, and still they resisted. Finally, even with our forces divided and holding off the incursions of yet another enemy, we cornered the Rage in the Bardron system. We knew that the Rage would not give up the fight until all was lost to them. Our forces took all that they had, and now the fighting on that front is at an end.”

“This war has been costly for both sides. Millions of innocents have lost their lives. We should always remember these losses, and the losses to come, as we continue to fight against the Ukra-Tal and the Romulans. Let them look upon our recent history and ponder the wisdom of continuing a war against us. We will take their war, which was again thrust upon us for nebulous reasons, back to their systems, and fight them as long as is necessary to secure peace for our people. We will fight side by side with our citizens of Norakian and Rage descent, and defend our common way of life against these treacherous enemies. We will protect the lives of innocents, and where we can, even the lives of our enemies, only let them know that we will finish this war with the same resolve that we finished the war against our former enemies. There can be only one outcome, and the Remorhaz Society will stand victorious.”

For now, let us celebrate the end of this phase of the war. We must also remember the price that we have paid so far, and continue to live for peace. More days of war are still ahead, and there will be more losses. To win peace, we will pay that price. It is all that we can do.”

“Citizens of Remorhaz, we have won a great victory. Our future is that much safer, thanks to all of you. Enjoy the festivities of the next week, and prepare for the future. If we all continue to put forth this same effort, I know that soon the galaxy will know peace again. Thank you.”

End Transcript

Dawgfan1980

06-06-2004, 09:45 PM

Wow, I just spent five and a half hours reading this... Great job, I mean, great doesn't begin to say how good it is.... Damn you Sachmo, making me want to spend more money I don't have!!!

sachmo71

06-06-2004, 10:09 PM

Wow, I just spent five and a half hours reading this... Great job, I mean, great doesn't begin to say how good it is.... Damn you Sachmo, making me want to spend more money I don't have!!!

Thanks very much. Your enjoyment is what makes writing it worthwhile. :)

sachmo71

06-08-2004, 11:38 AM

Planning

2412.7

Chairman Sachmo looked up from his data pad.
“I trust everyone has had enough time?” he asked.
There were no negative responses.
He stood up and leaned forward slightly over the large choba wood table.
“Before we begin, I wanted to take a moment to say thank you. Each and every one of you has done an exemplary job, overcoming every obstacle, adapting to each new situation, and improvising when all else has failed. Without you, I fear the Society would be lost. You are a credit to our people, and we are in your debt.”
The assembled officers voiced their thanks as he sat back down in his chair.
“Let’s start with the Navy, shall we? Marcus?”
The Grand Admiral of the Remorhaz People’s Navy pushed a button on his datapad, and a holographic map of the known galaxy appeared in the middle of the table. Every ship in the fleet was represented on the map, as was every planet, base, and a plethora of other information. Also represented on the map were known enemy systems and ships. Currently, the only known enemy forces in Remorhaz Space were two Ukra-Tal cruisers parked just outside of the Yukra-Iolo wormhole.
“Ladies and gentlemen, our plan is simple. We want to take the war to the enemy.” As he spoke, an organizational chart replaced the galaxy map.
“We want to divide the navy into two separate fleets. Romulan Fleet will initially be based here on Remorhaz. To command this fleet, we’ve decided on Rear Admiral RJ Brennan.” He looked at the Chairman. “With your blessing, sir, we’d like to promote him to Admiral.”
The Chairman brought up Brennan’s service record on his datapad and quickly scanned it.
“Brennan took over at Bardron VI when Sakazawa was killed?” the chairman asked.
“That’s correct sir. He did an excellent job keeping the fleet together. I think he’s ready for this.” the admiral replied.
“Alright, I’ll authorize it.” the chairman replied.
“Ukra-Tal Fleet will be based initially on Highrock. We’d like to promote Gina Jager and give her command of the fleet.” He looked again to the Chairman.
The Chairman smiled. “Done.”
Urian nodded.
“I’ll submit a list of other promotions needed to fill out the staff ranks, and those lists will be appended as Brennan and Jager send in their personal recommendations.” he said.
He tapped his datapad again, and the galaxy map reappeared.
“Before we can mount any sort of offensive, we need to bring both fleets up to strength. Minimum requirements for each fleet will be ten minesweepers, two Space Marine brigades, two light carriers, and five light cruisers.”
“We currently have four brigades ready for deployment, sir” Commandant Hunter said. “We are still running through the mustering out process, but we should be ready for combat at any time.”
The Chairman nodded.
Urian continued.
“The first phase will be known as Operation Reconquest. The target will be the Yukra system.”
A detail map of the Yukra system appeared.
“Our plan is to isolate the system and seed the approaches with mines. At the same time, we will break through from Lenoltris with the bulk of Ukra-Tal fleet, and take as many planets as we can before they can mount a counterattack. We plan on staying once we get there, so we are going to want to bring a number of weapons platforms with us to set up on captured worlds. We need to be ready to repel a massive counter attack, because intelligence suggests that the Ukra-Tal have a significant advantage in ship strength over us.”
The galaxy map reappeared.
“We should be ready to begin Operation Reconquest in about a year. In the meantime, we will continue to strengthen our defenses, seeding warp points with mines and building up fighter forces in the frontier systems. Hopefully, the Ukra-Tal will continue to use Iolo as a transit point, allowing us to interdict their traffic there. We hope to provoke another attack on Correlia so that we can give them another bloody nose.”
A few chuckles rose up from around the table.
“For the Romulan front, we need to step up our reconnaissance efforts. Other than the first contact with them, we don’t know anything about their strength or systems. Before we can make any sort of plans, we are going to do a reconnaissance in force. This force should be ready to deploy in about six months.”
He glanced around the room.
“Are there any questions?”
No one spoke.
“That’s all I have sir.”
The Chairman nodded.
“Thank you, Grand Admiral. You’re next, Commandant Hunter.”
The Space Marine commander keyed his datapad, and a number of figures appeared in the holographic display.
“As I mentioned before, we are continuing the mustering out process. We’re running at about twenty percent retirement, which is well below what we expected.”
The Chairman interrupted him.
“What were your estimates, Commandant?” he asked.
“Well sir, we anticipated fifty percent, with seventy percent being the high end, at which point we would have had to activate forced retention measures.” Hunter answered.
“What do you attribute the high retention to?” the Chairman inquired.
Hunter paused for a moment.
“Well sir, most of the men are saying that they want to see this through to the end. A lot of the marines leaving were the ones who joined up when they already had families back home. The one’s who joined up young don’t have any attachments to go back to, so they decided to stay in and try to finish the job.”
“I see,” said the Chairman, “please continue.”
Another display appeared, showing troop strengths.
“First and second brigades were the only two units to see combat action. First brigade suffered relatively light losses, while second brigade was mauled at the Battle of Rage. We have brought second brigade back up to full strength, and will mix the veterans in with the new recruits to spread the experience throughout the brigade. Consequently, there will be a disproportionate number of promotions in second brigade. Third brigade is deployed on Highrock, and the fourth brigade is on Norak.”
At this, some of the faces at the table frowned slightly. Fourth brigade was an all Norakian brigade, and not everyone in the government supported the though of arming the former enemies of the Society. So far, there had been no incidents, and all of the Norakian Space Marines displayed an almost fanatical loyalty to the Society, but there were still detractors. Hunter continued. “At this point, we think it would be best to assign first, third and fourth brigades to Ukra-Tal Fleet, while second brigade will be assigned to Romulan Fleet. We have more than enough recruits to raise two more brigades, and will assign these to Romulan Fleet, with the option of assigning one of them where the need is most pressing.”
He keyed the datapad again, and vehicle schematics were displayed.
“We are planning on upgrading the Blazer Combat Vehicle. The biggest upgrade will be the addition of the new generation of battle computers, which will allow them to fire more accurately. We will also be able to incorporate some of the improvements learned in the field into the new vehicles. Finally, we are going to retire the current assault rifle and introduce the new PPR-3 Phased Poloron Rifle. These changes should greatly enhance the combat power of the Space Marines.”
The Commandant finished his presentation.
Next, Admiral Ash of the Naval Design Bureau discussed the task of upgrading the fleet with the latest generation of weapons and battle computers. He estimated that all ships should be upgraded by the time Operation Reconquest was ready to begin.
Director Sangi Mulatti discussed the focus of the Remorhaz Security and Intelligence Bureau. Most of the intelligence and espionage were to be focused on the Ukra-Tal, but efforts would be made against the Romulans as opportunities presented themselves.
The various ministers presented their plans for supporting the war.
The meeting was coming to an end. Chairman Sachmo stood again and addressed the gathered officials.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I will go over all of your proposals and get back to you with any suggestions that I may come up with. I can tell you that at this point, I don’t see many changes being recommended. As usual, your plans are visionary, precise, and well organized. Thanks to you all, the transition from a defensive war to an offensive war should be as smooth as possible. Does anyone have any last minute questions?”
There were none.
“Alright then, let’s put these plans in motion. Thank you for your time.”
With that, he turned and left.

Hojo

06-10-2004, 02:48 PM

very nice story - like others, it has cost me $45 plus S&H :D... and I HAD the old SEIV... but I felt I just NEEEEDED to get Gold as well...

keep it up

sachmo71

06-10-2004, 03:01 PM

Thanks, Hojo!

There should be some combat coming up in the next chapter!

sachmo71

06-10-2004, 11:46 PM

An old fashioned butt whuppin!

2412.8

The com unit chirped.
Gina Jager’s eyes snapped open, waking quickly from a fitful sleep. She glanced at it, and considered ignoring it.
It chirped again.
With a groan, she sat up and glanced at the id. It told her that it was a secure channel from Fleet Headquarters. That got her attention.
She quickly wiped the sleep from her eyes, ran her fingers through her hair, and cleared her throat. Whoever it was would just have to deal with her appearance.
She keyed the com unit, and was shocked to see the face of Grand Admiral Urian.
“Gina, did I wake you?” the Grand Admiral asked.
“Yes sir” she answered before thinking, “I mean, I was up sir, just resting.”
He smiled. “I see. The Ukra-Tal have been keeping your pretty busy.”
She ran her fingers through her hair again. She couldn’t believe he was seeing her in this condition!
“Yes sir, they’ve been active, but not really pressing us. Did you get my report, sir?”
She began to wonder where this conversation was going.
“I did”, replied the Grand Admiral, “and I agree with your conclusions. I think we’ve hurt them worse than they expected. I don’t think they will be mounting any more large scale offensives for a while.”
Well it’s always good when your superiors agree with you, she thought.
“That’s why I want you to come back to Remorhaz for a while, Gina. We need to discuss our strategy now the war against the Rage is over. I also thought you might want to be here for the funeral of the Bardron VI casualties.”
Gina processed the information. Why was her pulling her off of the line? She knew that she had been at war for years now. Maybe he thought she had lost her edge.
The Grand Admiral continued.
“We’re reorganizing the Navy into two main fleets. Ukra-Tal Fleet will be based on Highrock. The other fleet will be Romulan Fleet and will be based here on Remorhaz. I’m giving Romulan Fleet to R.J. Brennan. Ukra-Tal Fleet is yours, if you want it.”
Gina’s heart skipped a beat. Fleet command?
“It won’t be official until you get here, but consider yourself promoted. Congratulations, Admiral Jager. I know you are the right person for the job.”
Fleet command? As reality closed in on her, she felt her mouth turn up into a huge grin.
“Sir, I’d be honored” she managed to squeak out.

The next few days were a flurry of activity for the Remorhaz People’s Navy as the reorganization took place.
In Ukra-Tal Fleet, Gina chose her commanders from those she personally knew to be exemplary officers.
Task Force One, which was her previous command, was the easiest choice for her. Walter Reed was an officer that Gina strived to emulate throughout her career. Through a number of circumstances, she had earned the lion’s share of the glory and promotions, but she considered Reed to be the best officer in the Navy. She pressed Grand Admiral Urian to promote Reed to Fleet Admiral, which he did. His flag would be his former command, RSS Stormfront.
Task Force Two, presently based in the Bardron system, she gave to Gordon Lu. Gordon had been a protégé of Sakazawa, and Gina knew from personal experience that he was a brilliant tactician and an excellent leader. Lu was promoted to Rear Admiral. Lu chose RSS Ganymede as his flagship.
Task Force Three was the Iolo Defense Fleet renamed. The heroic defense of Correlia by the tiny fleet against incredible odds was one of the more celebrated stories of the war, and the name of the fleet’s commander was known by all of the children of the Remorhaz Society. Thom Hitcher retained command of his fleet, and was promoted to Rear Admiral. He retained his flag on the legendaryRSS Orion.

For the only task force in Romulan Fleet, Brennan chose to promote Will Crowley to Rear Admiral. Crowley had been XO to Lu while they served on RSS Intimidator, and he had a sterling reputation as an aggressive officer with a great head on his shoulders. Brennan wanted an officer who could plan on the run, since much of the war effort against the Romulans would be improvised as intelligence was gathered. Crowley had proved to be exactly the type of officer he was looking for.

While the reorganization was taking place, the war still raged. In Lenoltris, just days after Gina left in a shuttle for the four month trip to Remorhaz, long range scanners picked up two Ukra-Tal cruisers that had made the worm hole transit from Yukra. Fleet Admiral Walt Reed ordered Task Force One, with fourteen ships and twenty-four fighters to lay a course to intercept the enemy ships. One week later, they met in a quadrant adjacent to Lenoltris III.

At a range of almost three thousand miles, the two fleets deployed into battle formation. The Ukra-Tal ships continued to head right into the heart of the Remorhaz fleet, and so Reed deployed his ships to maximize point defense fire. The Ukra-Tal fleet consisted of a
Hedenso class cruiser, armed with three seeker launchers with very long range, four anti-missile “organs”, and advanced computers and shields. The other ship was a Hedmora class cruiser, with a main armament of two heavy acid launchers, advanced computers and anti-missile “organs”, also. As with most Ukra-Tal ships, their ships were part organic and, given enough time, could heal any damage suffered.
The range closed quickly. Reed pulled his wedge into a tight box, with the fighters out on the flanks.
The Hedenso opened fire on Stormfront at a range of one thousand miles. They would cover that distance in minutes if the Remorhaz ships reversed course, but the intercept time dropped exponentially as they moved to get into guns range of the Ukra-Tal ships. Warning klaxons sounded on the bridge as the seekers locked onto the flagship of the Remorhaz fleet. Reed watched the tactical display as the two fleets continued toward each other. He was confident that his own point-defense fire could knock down all of the enemy seekers, but he wanted to get the first shots in on the Hedmora, and hopefully knock it out before it could bring it’s powerful acid launchers to bare.
Finally, the enemy ships moved into range. At nine hundred miles, Reed ordered all ships to go to flank speed. If they could get the range down to five hundred miles quickly, they would get the first shot.
RSS Liberation was the fist ship to get into range. She was a Glory C Class destroyer, and her main armament was two missile launchers and one heavy cannon. At a maximum range of five hundred miles, she fired, missing with her cannon shot but targeting the Hedmora with a salvo of missiles. RSS Binghampton fired and hit once, damaging the Hedmora’s shields. RSS Hecate also hit once with a cannon shot, damaging her shields even further, but not doing much to slow the Hedmora down. RSS Firefly missed with all of its shots, but Stormfront hit it and brought its shields down to half strength. One of the elements of fighters entered the maximum range of the Ukra-Tal ships anti-missile launchers, and instantly a huge could of projectiles was ejected from the Hedenso. The projectiles caught the fighter squadron head on, shredding nine of the craft. The other three were able to avoid the attack.

The Ukra-Tal ships turned to make a raking pass at the Remorhaz battle line. The Hedmora fired another projectile could at the fighters, destroying all of them. It then opened fire on Binghampton, hitting with two heavy acid salvos. Fortunately, her shields held, barely, and she escaped the attack unscathed. The anti-missile clouds knocked down most of the Remorhaz missile salvoes, but two still sought their targets.
RSS Hercules now found herself three hundred miles from the enemy cruisers. Her captain was Lieutenant Commander Kahlid Pedram, a rather aggressive man in his first command. He closed the range to within one hundred miles and opened fire on the Hedmora with a three cannon salvo. The Ukra-Tal countermeasures spoiled his shots, however, and only one found their target. The cruiser’s shields were down below half strength, but she still had suffered no structural damage. RSS Hecate also closed with the Hedmora and delivered a heavy salvo of cannon fire, hitting with all three shots at very close range. The Hedmora’s shields were almost down.
Binghampton fired and hit the Hedmora once, and then turned to open the range with the Hedmora to preserve her shields. They would not survive another attack. Firefly closed and attacked, bringing down the Hedmora’s shields and blasting a furrow in the ships outer skin. No significant damage was done, but the shields were down. Fleet Admiral Reed ordered all ships to continue firing on the battered cruiser, even as Stormfront closed range. Her cannon salvo damaged the organic armor on the port side of the ship so badly that it would be unable to “heal” damage to the ship. RSS Triumph gave the armor on the starboard side the same treatment.
At this point, the Hedmora and the Hedenso split up. Reed would not release be fooled though, and continued to hound the gun cruiser. Hercules continued to remain at point-blank range, hitting the cruiser twice and destroying the ship’s shield generators and opening the crew quarters to space. Ukra-Tal bodies escaped the hole along with gasses and other debris. Buffalo moved into range and delivered a heavy cannon broadside, ripping the port side of the Hedmora open with great explosions. From bow to stern the Ukra-Tal ship was bleeding atmosphere and debris, and the crew of Buffalo watched as one heavy cannon shell ripped open one of the acid launchers, it’s contents streaming out into space from an ever-widening tear in the hull. Hecate and Firefly surrounded the Ukra-Tal ship, determined to destroy it before the one remaining launcher could launch another salvo of acid. Their combined firepower was more than enough to destroy all weapon systems on the Hedmora. The ship still lived, but would pose no threat to the Remorhaz fleet. Reed immediately turned his attention to the Hedenso.

Stormfront, Liberation, and Triumph brought the ships shields down a one combined salvo. Binghampton blasted its organic armor down to about half strength before the ship could return fire. Reed ordered all remaining capital ships to attack the Hedenso and leave the Hedmora to the remaining fighters. Hercules continued her relentless attacks and blasted the remaining organic armor off of the Hedenso. Liberation attacked with a missile salvo and a cannon shot, which hit the cruiser amidships and destroyed two of the anti-missile launchers.
The Remorhaz ships continued to pound the Hedenso with cannon fire, turning it into a twisted wreck. On the tactical display, Reed watched as the Remorhaz missile salvoes overwhelmed the crippled cruiser, blasting it’s remaining superstructure into a cloud of small pieces.

Ensign Berton watched the Ukra-Tal ship slowly limp through space. Most of its engines were destroyed, its hull was holed and venting gas. Not ten minutes before, it had killed half of his squadron mates, and so it was with singular joy that he ordered his flight of FA-5 Warhammers to commence their attack runs on the Hedmora. Victory 2 rolled in to the attack, executing a prefect rocket attack. The heavy projectiles arced lazily through space, and then struck the ship right near it’s engine room with spectacular force. Quickly, the remaining engines of the Ukra-Tal ship went up as the warheads of the rockets carried on through the hull deep into the powerplant. The explosion consumed the ship in a huge fireball, rocking the fighters with concussive force. Berton watched impassively as the fireball quickly consumed itself, removing all evidence that a warship had even existed in this patch of space. He ordered his element to form up on him and set a course for Highrock, but as he turned he kept his eye on the spot where the Ukra-Tal cruiser had died.
“There’s more where that came from, you slimy bastards.” he whispered to the ghosts as he continued his turn for home. “We’ll be waiting.”

sachmo71

06-11-2004, 11:46 PM

Battle of Highrock

Task Force Three was the first task force to complete full refit. All of the ships in the force were armed with the newest phased polaron beams and battle computers. When a lone Fredrikstad class Ukra-Tal light cruiser was cornered in quadrant sixteen, the first combat test of the new weapons systems began.
The Fredrikstad was a minelayer, and had no offensive weapons of her own. Knowing this, the Ukra-Tal captain turned away from the task force and made a run for the wormhole. Hitcher’s ships had a speed advantage, and so he gave chase, confident that they would be able to catch and destroy the enemy craft.
At six hundred miles, RSS Orion opened fire. Hitcher watched as the blue beam streaked through space to impact on the hull of the enemy ship. Of the three shots, only one missed. The Fredrikstad was visibly damaged, but continued to run. RSS Shining Victory was the next to attack. Her beam hit at the bow, and then burned a huge gash in the hull as the beam continued to burn down the hull.
Even at three hundred miles, Hitcher noticed that the gun solutions were generating hit probabilities in the nineties, which was unheard of accuracy with the old computers and depleted uranium cannon. The Remorhaz ship fired, mangling the stricken hull of the Fredrikstad. RSS Shining Victory moved in and finished it off with a well-placed beam into the weakened midsection of the ship, blasting it in half.
Hitcher looked at his assistant.
“Have the data and a vid of the engagement beamed back to Fleet HQ immediately” he said.
He knew that the scientists in the Research Guild would be ecstatic to see that their weapons were as effective as advertised.

2412.9

Surtran completed construction of another Scorpion Class Minesweeper, RSS Boar Beetle. On Cirius, another was launched, RSS Dagger Moth. The ships left port as soon as they were provisioned but with skeleton crews. The bulks of their crews were training on Highrock, and would join with their ships when they arrived. The minesweepers were vital to the success of Operation Reconquest, and without them the fleet would take massive casualties before a shot was even fired in anger. One of the lessons of the war so far was that well prepared minefields were a great equalizer.

2413.0

The shipyards at Cetarus completed construction of another Scorpion class minesweeper, RSS Aphid. A new Comet Class planetary assault ship, RSS Quark, was launcher from Surtran in the Surtran System.
RSS Mount Thunder and RSS Xanthe arrived in Iolo to join Task Force Three. Both ships were immediately docked to be refit. These two ships would greatly increase the combat power of the task force.

In Lenoltris, Fleet Admiral Walt Reed watched as an armada of forty-three Ukra-Tal ships appeared from the Yukra wormhole and was headed straight for Highrock. They had come this way before, and the last few times had turn back after accomplishing some unknown mission, but this fleet seemed far too large to him to be anything other then a full assault fleet, coming to destroy them.

The Ukra-Tal fleet did come, but apparently learned nothing from the experiences of previous fleets. As the fleet passed the asteroid belt just inside Highrock Quadrant, the Remorhaz minefield was triggered. The ships were devastated. The mines homed in on their ships, bypassing defenses and slamming into hulls. Finally, the enemy ships punched through the minefield, but only after losing twenty-seven ships. Of the remaining sixteen ships, ten were heavily damaged. Against this reduced armada, sixteen Remorhaz ships were deployed around Highrock, in addition to the ground defenses. The odds were fairly even, thanks to the mines.
RSS Loyalty was the first to fire, launching a missile salvo at an Ukra-Tal cruiser. Reed pulled the rest of the fleet back toward Highrock, so that the fleet and the surface batteries could support one another.

The Ukra-Tal ships deployed in a line, standing off and launching seekers at Reed’s ships. One of the enemy ships, the Heinola class, turned out to be a carrier. It launched fifteen fighters, then turned away from Highrock.
The waves of Ukra-Tal seekers came at the Remorhaz formations, and waves of anti-missile fire rose to meet them. The ships knocked down most of the parasite seekers fired by the capital ships, and the ground-based batteries totally destroyed the Ukra-Tal fighters. A Hedmora class cruiser was able to get into range to fire its acid globules, and targeted RSS Triumph. Two out of three shots hit the destroyer, knocking out two of her engines. The Remorhaz line returned fire, damaging the cruiser’s shields. Reed continued to pull his ships back, drawing the Hedmora into range of the surface batteries, which destroyed the Hedmora’s shields and battered her armor. At the same time, he ordered the remaining Remorhaz fighters to flank the enemy line and go after the damaged enemy ships that were trying to stay out of the fight.
The ground batteries severely damaged an Ukra-Tal light cruiser, and Buffalo and Stormfront finished it off. Hecate took heavy damage as a Hedmora closed range and blasted her with acid launchers. Reed ordered the ship to retreat from the battle.
Triumph was lost when three undamaged Hedmoras pressed then attack and battered the ship with acid volleys. Most of the crew was able to escape the ship after the second Hedmora attack crippled the ship. Captain Villareal ordered all hands to abandon ship before the third Ukra-Tal cruiser was able to close range, and about 350 of the 400 men on board were able to escape. Captain Villareal was among the lost.
After the surface batteries severely damaged another Hedmora, Reed ordered his fleet to go on the offensive. Binghampton and Buffalo pounded another Hedmora from close range, and the destroyers helped to cripple it.
The remaining Ukra-Tal Hedmoras turned back to face the Remorhaz charge, but instead of facing the cruisers head on, they maneuvered past the line and went after the damaged Hecate. They opened fire from extreme range, and Hecate dodged the best it could, but the heavy acid fire finally caught her in the missile magazine. The explosion tore the destroyer to pieces. None of the crew survived.
The Remorhaz ships now had the Ukra-Tal between them and Highrock. The combined firepower from the fleet behind them and the heavy planetary batteries took a toll on the Hedmoras. Every ship was heavily damaged in the resulting exchange. At this point, the Ukra-Tal ships began to turn away from Highrock, apparently in an attempt to withdraw.

Reed would have none of it. He pressed the attack, leaving every Hedmora crippled. Every remaining Remorhaz ship destroyed at least one enemy ship. It was over in minutes. Reed continued on, determined not to let a single Ukra-Tal ship escape. At six hundred yards, Binghampton and Stormfront fired on the Ukra-Tal carrier, tearing it to pieces. Once the carrier was destroyed, the line fell on the remaining crippled Ukra-Tal ships. None survived.

The battle was over. The Remorhaz People’s Navy had lost close to five hundred men and two ships, with minor damage to a few others. The fighter group had lost another five of their number, but had destroyed another enemy ship. The Ukra-Tal losses were total. Every one of the three-three ships in the fleet was destroyed. Reed was staggered by the number, and also by the implication that the Ukra-Tal could sustain this magnitude of loss and still continue to sustain offensive operations. If Remorhaz had taken that big of a loss, over half the navy would be space debris. Just how many ships did the Ukra-Tal have? If they decided to come with all of them, could Remorhaz stop them?

sachmo71

06-14-2004, 11:07 PM

Shadow War

The music thumped loudly, a deep heavy beat. Lights flashed in hypnotic patterns in time with the music. All around the club, masses of people swayed to the beat.
Crewman Yancy Slotnik turned to his new lady friend and shouted something obscene in into her ear.
She smiled a very professional smile, put her arm around him, and kept her mind on the money she would get when this dreadful evening was over.
Slotnik pulled her toward him and gave her neck a sensual kiss. The fact that it felt to her more like a slug had latched onto her neck was lost on him. Tonight, he was the king of the world.
He smiled as he turned to address him other friends.
“Are you guys having a good time?” he shouted.
His shipmates looked at him.
“Sure Slotnik. Sure we are. You just keep buying the drinks, and we’ll keep enjoying ourselves,” grunted the biggest of them.
The others laughed. The big one picked up his drink, and held it up in toast.
“To Bardron Six!” he shouted.
“To Bardron Six!” the other sailor chorused.
Slotnik did not raise his glass to this. He hated the Navy, and counted the moments until he could get out. He frowned.
“Come on, baby,” he said to his date, “let’s go somewhere more private.”
She smiled again, hoping that he would do his thing and she could be on her way.
As he stood, he lost his balance and spilled his drink on one of his crewmates uniform blouse.
“Hey!” he shouted as the cold liquid ran down his back. He turned to see Slotnik standing over him with his half-empty glass dripping the offending liquid. The sailor snapped up from his chair.
“Because you bought the drink tonight, Slotnik, I’m going to give you some advice instead of smashing your face in. We,” he gestured to himself and the other sailors at the table, “don’t like you. No one does. The only reason we are here is because you said you were buying the drinks. I can’t figure out how a goldbrick like you got your slimy little flippers on all this money, but don’t let fool you. We aren’t friends. We aren’t buddies. We’re barely even shipmates. Now, why don’t you pay the bill and get out of my face before I smash you?”
The other sailors burst out laughing.
Slotnik felt the heat rise in him, but he wasn’t dumb. If he hit one of them, they would all beat him to a pulp. He knew when to cut his losses.
“Screw you guys!” he shouted, and grabbed his date by the arm.
“Hey Slotnik!” one of the sailors called, “I hope you know what to do with that twist when you get her alone!”
He picked up the pace. He was determined to have a good time tonight. He didn’t like those guys anyway.
As he worked his way through the club to the exit, he tried to make sense of things. The alcohol didn’t make that any easier.
Why did things always have to turn out this way, he thought. I can’t catch a break with these guys. Every time I try to do the right thing, I end up screwing it up.
Suddenly he smiled. They’ll learn soon enough that I can do something right.
He pushed the girl out of the door into the street as he struggled past the sea of humanity trying to get into the dance club.
Once out, he put his arm around her.
“I know a place where we can get a room,” he slurred. “This is gonna be the best night of your life, baby.”
“I’m sure it will,” she said, with just enough emphasis for Slotnik to believe her.
They turned to walk up the dark street when she saw shapes moving in the darkness in front of her. Instinctively, she started to reach for her purse to grab for the blade she kept in there. Before he hand was halfway to it, she heard the distinctive sound of a pistol being cocked right next to her ear.
“Don’t move!” a voice commanded. She obeyed.
Suddenly, she was up against a wall with her hands pinned against her back. She was scared, but she knew that with a pistol on her, the best thing to do was to just go along.
Slotnik wasn’t as wise as the prostitute.
“Who the hell are…” he started to shout, but the words died in his throat as a hand clamped down on his windpipe. An instant of pain later he was on the ground looking up into a face obscured by a battle mask.
“Shut up and don’t move” the face told him.
He tried to shout, and began to jerk his head from side to side, trying to break the steady grip on his throat. Instead of loosening, he fingers tightened.
“Don’t move” the voice said, slower this time but with infinitely more malice.
He decided to stop. His heart was hammering in his chest, and began to beat harder as he realized who these men were.
Two very strong arms grabbed him by his shoulders and lifted him up from the ground. He saw his date being placed in restraints as the masked men began to guide him toward the street. He saw the outline of a dark speeder before someone put something over his eyes, blinding him. The hand released his throat as he stumbled along with the masked men. He could make out the door of the speeder opening, and he was forced into a sitting position. He felt restraints go around his arms and legs, and panic set it.
“Who are you?” he shouted. “I’m in the military! You can’t…”
Something very hard and very heavy smashed into his mouth.
Pain shot through his brain as he let out a cry. The heavy thing smashed him in the mouth once more.
His face felt like it was on fire, but also numb at the same time. He could feel liquid, probably blood, pouring down his chin.
“Ahh…” he began, but he was hit a third time.
“Shut up” the voice commanded again.
This time Slotnik did as he was told, at least for the few moments that he was conscious.

He jerked his head up from his chest.
The pain returned, threatening to put him out again.
A moan escaped his as he ran his fingers over his teeth. They all seemed to be there, but he though one was broken. His tongue ventured out to his lips, but he wished it had not. Fresh pain seared his brain as the cuts and cracks in his lips reacted to his probing. It felt as if the lower half of his face were split in half.
He gingerly tested his lips again. Yes, there was definitely a gash there, and they were swollen as hell. He moaned again.
He could hear a door opening, and footsteps. He stopped moaning instantly.
Someone chuckled.
“He learns quick, doesn’t he?” someone said.
“Yup. He’s a genius,” another voice responded.
He felt something next to his head, and his blindfold was removed.
The bright lights of the room shot spears of pain into his skull. He snapped his eyes shut to keep his head from exploding, but he didn’t cry out. He didn’t want to get his face smashed anymore.
“See? Nothing! I tell you, I don’t understand the jacket on this guy. He can learn. He just needs the proper motivation,” the first voice said.
The second voice began to laugh again.
“Sit tight, sailor,” he heard, then footsteps and the door opening again. The door shut.
Slowly, Slotnik opened his eyes. The light was blinding, but after some time he was able to see a bit past it. He was in a room, roughly six feet by six feet. The walls were bare, except for multiple vid cameras that were trained on him. It was very warm in here, and it smelled of sweat. Slotnik knew where he was, and he began to cry.

“Wow,” the Captain said, “that didn’t take long.”
“No sir,” agreed the second man.
“Let’s give him some more time, then we’ll press him. He’s going to fold like a house of cards,” the Captain said.
“Yes sir,” replied the second man.
“I’ll play savior for him. It works best with his kind.” With that, the Captain turned and left the room.
The second man continued to watch the vid as the their prisoner did their job for them.

Slotnik didn’t know how long he had been out, but when he woke up, the pain had returned, except it had also claimed his neck as a casualty. He tried to move his arms again, so that he could rub his neck, but they were secured firmly to the chair. He tried to move his neck a bit, but that caused him even more pain. With no better options, he began to moan again.
After what seemed like hours, the door opened again. This time, he could clearly make out the face of the man who entered.
He was a tall man, about six foot three, and had broad shoulders. He was dressed in the uniform of the Remorhaz Security and Intelligence Bureau. He produced a chair from one of the corners of the room and sat down in front of Slotnik.
“Mister Slotnik, I am Captain Shrake Winborne of the Security and Intelligence Bureau. I’d like to ask you a few questions, if you don’t mind, but first, do you require medical attention?”
Slotnik’s eyes bulged in wonder. Medical attention? He didn’t know what to do!
He stared at the Winborne with fear in his eyes.
“Well, I’ll go ahead and get the doctor in here for you, ok?” the captain asked.
Slotnik nodded, then sobbed.
Winborne keyed the communicator that was on his shoulder, and asked that the medic be sent in.
“He’ll be here soon, Yancy. May I call you Yancy?” he asked.
Slotnik nodded again. “Yes.”
If I play this right, Winborne thought, I might get everything on the first try.
He looked at Slotnik for a few long moments, and then spoke.
“Yancy, we know about the money, and we know what you were planning to do.”
Slotnik began to cry in earnest now, great heaving sobs and a torrent of tears.
Winborne stood up and moved over next to him. Slotnik flinched away.
“Don’t worry son, I’m not going to hurt you,” Winborne promised. “I want to help you.”
Slotnik continued to sob.
“Yes sir. I need help. I’m so scared.”
Winborne put his hand on his shoulder.
“All you have to do is tell us the absolute truth, and we’ll do what we can to get you out of this. How does that sound?” Winborne asked.
Slotnik began to nod vigorously.
“I’ll tell you everything sir. Please, I don’t want to go before a firing squad. Please!” Slotnik pleaded.
Winborne squeezed his hands tightly, trying to reign in his emotions. This man was pathetic, but he had to get the information from him before he threw him to the dogs.
At that moment, the medic came in. He opened his kit and began to access Slotnik’s injuries.

After about ten minutes, the medic was through, and Slotnik had calmed down considerably. Winborne knew that he had given the sailor plenty of time to decide just how much the Bureau knew about his illegal activities. If he were smart, he would figure out that they probably didn’t know much, but Winborne had seen enough to be sure that Slotnik wasn’t smart, or if he was, his cowardice would outweigh his instincts. No, this guy is going to crack.
“Ok, Yancy, let’s hear it. Remember, the more truth you give me now, the more I can help you later. Got it?” Winborne asked.
“Yes sir,” the sailor answered. His eyes were glazed over.
Got him, thought the captain.

Three days later, three teams of SIB agents surrounded a small, dingy dwelling in the civilian quarter in Highrock port. Inside were four Ukra-Tal agents, probably armed with small arms, but possibly a high explosive device, also. As one, they stormed the house. Shots range out, and in moments, three of the four Ukra-Tal agents were dead, and the fourth was taken prisoner. Hidden inside the dwelling were a number of listening devices, weapons, and monies. Most telling of all, however, was the discovery of an operational plan to sabotage a number of ships in orbit around Highrock. All of the attacks were scheduled to be carried out in three days, with Yancy Slotnik as the delivery system. He had no way of knowing that he would have been destroyed along with the last bomb he was paid to deliver, but that was irrelevant. The man had sold his people out for a paltry sum. An example would be made of him.
Winborne immediately sent a communication to Director Mulatti, letting him know that the plot had been stopped.

The trial lasted two days. Yancy Slotnik was shown no mercy by the military court on Highrock, and he was sentenced to death by firing squad the next morning. In the end, he found his courage at last, telling the people he had betrayed that he was sorry for what he had done and hoped that there would be no reprisals against his family. There were none.

Hojo

06-15-2004, 10:47 AM

Excellent as always Sach

sachmo71

06-15-2004, 11:22 AM

Thanks! I rather enjoyed writing that chapter.

Tellistto

06-15-2004, 12:15 PM

Rather gripping stuff, there. Almost felt sorry for the little jerk...almost.

Tell

sachmo71

06-15-2004, 01:20 PM

Rather gripping stuff, there. Almost felt sorry for the little jerk...almost.

Tell

Thank you! That's what I was going for. He was a worm, but in my mind, exactly the type who would do anything for acceptance. In his mind, money was equal to popularity.

sachmo71

06-27-2004, 12:51 AM

Immortalizing Heroes

2413.1

The people of the Remorhaz Society loved their heroes. When the dedication ceremony of the newest Rochester Class light cruiser was transmitted around the society from the shipyards of Vengeance in the Fezzran system, it became one of the most watched programs in history. Ordinarily, a new ship dedication would not be a major event, but this ship was special. It was named for the hero of the Rage war, the architect of the Battle of Rage, and the embodiment of the sacrifice of the men and women of the Remorhaz armed forces. The ship was christened RSS Shiro Sakazawa.

The ship’s captain, Captain Steve “Duke” Williams, was the last to come aboard after the Governor and the assorted officials wrapped up the dedication ceremony. Duke Williams marveled at his luck as he walked through Sakazawa’scorridors.. First, he was given command of the newest and highest-profile ship in the fleet. On top of that, he was promoted to Captain six months before he should have even been considered for promotion. He knew that Fleet Admiral Hitcher, a firm supporter and good friend of Duke’s made all of this possible. He and Hitcher had become friends when Duke succeeded him as commander of the frigate RSS Hyperion. They fought side by side in a number of the battles of the Rage War. With Hitcher now in command of the First Task force of Ukra-Tal Fleet, he was in a position from which he was able to reward his friend for his loyalty, and what a reward this was!
Duke marveled at how big this ship was compared to the cramped quarters of Hyperion. The hallway was big enough to allow an eight-foot loader to travel up and down its length. In fact, there was ample space everywhere. Everything on this ship seemed to have its own place, and avoided feeling cluttered. On his old ship, equipment was often jammed into whatever space was available.
“This will definitely take some getting used to,” Duke muttered to himself as he stopped before the lift that would take him up to the bridge. Two security crewmen scanned his badge and when they were satisfied with whom he was, they saluted him.
“Welcome aboard, sir,” they said in unison.
Duke saluted them back. “Thank you,” he said.
As he stepped into the lift, a thought occurred to him. He stopped and addressed one of the sailors. “Crewman, what is your usual duty on board?” he asked.
The crewman stared at him blankly. “Beg your pardon, sir?”
“What is your normal job on board? What do you do every day?”
The crewman looked bewildered.
“Sir, I’m a security specialist. This is what I do.”
Duke nodded. “Thank you, crewman. Carry on.” He stepped into the elevator. As the door closed, he whistled. Damn, I feel like a yokel, he thought.
Dedicated security crewmen? This was defiantly going to take some getting used to.

Minutes later, RSS Shiro Sakazawa silently slipped from her berth and maneuvered away from the space yard. Once they made it to open space, Duke Williams ordered the ship to increase to maximum speed and plotted a course for Highrock, were he would join the fleet of his old friend Thom Hitcher.

2413.2

In Lenoltris, a new colony was established on the planet of Lenoltris IX. The planet was named Guardian, and would be purely an outpost planet. A basic civilian infrastructure was set up, but the planet would serve as a fortress between the Ukra-Tal and the rest of the society.

“Sir, Odysseus has arrived,” the Lieutenant said.
Rear Admiral Hitcher breathed a quiet sigh of relief. It looked as if they would be able to get RSS Odysseus upgraded and back into action before the Ukra-Tal fleet was able to make it to Correlia.
“Thank you,” he said.
He turned back to the holographic system display floating in the center of his command center. A fleet of nineteen Ukra-Tal cruisers and light carriers was headed for Correlia. At their speed, the predicted arrival was in less than two weeks. It would be close, but Hitcher was confident that the shipyard crews could get the newly arrived light cruiser into shape before the fight.
His own forces backed up by the ever increasing defenses of the planet should be enough to stop whatever enemy ships made it through the minefield, but in the meantime, lone Ukra-Tal ships were passing through Iolo uncontested. He couldn’t afford to send any ships out to intercept them for fear of an attack on the planet. It was a good strategic move by the Ukra-Tal. Hitcher knew something that the slugs didn’t know, though. Remorhaz was quickly closing the technology gap, and would soon be able to come out from behind their defenses and meet the enemy in open space, then take the war into enemy territory. All he had to do was stay alive until then. Watching the mighty Ukra-Tal armada bear down on Correlia, he knew there were no guarantees.

In the Ultrinox system, RSS Eos took up position in the minefield outside of the Osshod wormhole. The ship prepared to make it’s mine laying run but noticed that one of the mines in the existing field had been detonated at some point in the past three month. Something had tried to come into Remorhaz space through that wormhole. The captain of Eos immediately reported his finding back to Remorhaz. Romulan Fleet would have to keep a closer eye on this system.

RSS St. Margaret, an Eos class minelayer, was launched from the Glory shipyards at the beginning of the month. It was to join Task Force 1 of the Ukra-Tal fleet. During Operation Reconquest, it would mine all of the approaches to Yukra that the Ukra-Tal might use to send reinforcements into the battle. Speed would be of the essence, so St. Margaret’s crew was made up of the most experienced mine crewmen in the fleet.
Glory began work on another minesweeper.

2413.3

The Ukra-Tal did not press the attack on Correlia. Hitcher surmised that once their ships had completed transit of Iolo and made it to the wormhole to Wanduk, their job was finished, and so the nineteen-ship Ukra-Tal fleet withdrew back into Yukra. We’re going to have to recon the Yukra system one of these days soon, he thought as he watched the enemy enter the wormhole. How to do that without tipping them off was another question.

Four new capital ships joined the navy at the start of the month.
RSS Conquerant was a Glory F Class destroyer, completed at the Glory space yards. The new Glories had the latest targeting computers and electronic countermeasures suites, as well as a phased-polaron beam to complement their double missile magazines. She was assigned to Romulan Fleet.
RSS Arrow, a Javelin B Class light cruiser was launched from Rage. Armed with five missile magazines, she would be vital during planetary assaults as well as ship to ship combat. Her electronic suite was upgraded to the latest models, including the new multiplex tracking system, allowing the ship to target multiple enemy craft with her ample missile loads. This ship was attached to Task Force One of Ukra-Tal fleet.
RSS Bill Elliot was the newest Ganymede G Class light cruiser launched from Fort Justice. This ship was named for the head of the Remorhaz News Service who had recently passed away. Under his guidance, the people of the Remorhaz Society were able to get accurate, timely and honest news from the frontline of the war, and from all corners of the rapidly growing society. A tireless worker, he was respected by all who knew him. To his friends, he was known as Mumbles. In honor of his achievements, this ship was named for him. He was the first civilian to have a ship of the line named after him. The Ganymede G was had a main armament of three heavy phased polaron cannon as well as updated battle electronics. This ship was also assigned to Task Force One of the Ukra-Tal fleet.
RSS Perrysburg was a new Rochester D class light cruiser launched from Sutran. This class was almost identical to the Ganymede class, only with a different hull design. This ship was also tagged for Task Force One of the Ukra-Tal fleet.

In Lenoltris, a single Ukra-Tal Hedmora sat silently near the Yukra wormhole, watching the activity on Highrock.

sachmo71

07-03-2004, 09:47 AM

A friend of mine on the Shrapnel Boards has done me a huge honor!!

He's created a shipset for the Remorhaz Society! It comes with ai files, so you can play against them if you wish!

Remorhaz ship set! (http://www.astmod.com/zips/Remorhaz.exe)

sachmo71

08-19-2004, 11:36 PM

New map!

http://home.comcast.net/~chrissachnik/remorhaz.jpg

sachmo71

08-21-2004, 02:17 AM

Funeral

2413.4

The gray sky over Turian reflected the mood of the people. The celebrations of the victory over the Rage had wound down, and the people were once again reminded of the reality of war. Today was the funeral for the dead from Bardron VI.

A new memorial park was commissioned for the occasion, with viewing stands for the family and dignitaries skirting the field where the bodies would be buried. Days before the service was to take place, people began to gather on the fringes of the park, coming to pay their respects for the fallen heroes. As the day of the funeral drew closer, the stream of people became a flood, and by the time the funeral began, millions of Remorhaz citizens were standing around the park, silently watching and paying their respects.

In all, 2773 servicemen and women were buried that day. However, their deaths served to remind everyone throughout the society that although the price would be terrible, victory could be achieved.

Fleet Admiral Reed ordered Task Force 1 to sortie to intercept a lone Hedmora class cruiser that was on course to try to force the Lenoltris-Fezzran wormhole. The fleet destroyed the ship while sustaining no damage.
Just before the fleet turned to return to Highrock, a fleet of twenty-eight Ukra-Tal ships came through the wormhole from Yukra, but their destination was unknown at the time. Reed pulled the fleet back toward Highrock, but they would not be able to make it back before the month was out. The Ukra-Tal would not be able to make it to Highrock before then, either.

2413.5

The Ukra-Tal fleet was on an intercept course for Task Force One. Fleet Admiral Reed knew that the task force could not destroy them in a stand up fight, and so was forced to pull it back to Highrock. This left a number of holes in the Remorhaz front. A lone Hedmora covered the Fezzran-Lenoltris wormhole. There were ships waiting to come through, and Reed ordered them to form an ad hoc defense task force to cover Fezzran in case the Ukra-Tal headed in that direction. The senior commander in the system, Commodore Esteban Santos, formed Task Force 1.1 with all of the ships in the Fezzran system. He pulled his task force back to Cirius and would deal with any threats that came through the wormhole. His available forces consisted of one Javelin and one Rochester class light cruiser, the Prometheus light carrier, two Comet class ground attack ships, one minesweeper, and twelve system fighters. Scorpio put production effort into building more fighters to help make up for the lack of firepower in system. Cirius began producing defense bases. Two more cruisers, a Rochester and a Javelin were in system and headed for Cirius, but at least one month out.

In Iolo, things were quiet. A lone Hedmora was trying to run the Correlia gauntlet, but Hitcher pounced on it with Task Force 3, destroying it with no loss on the Remorhaz side.

sachmo71

08-27-2004, 11:30 PM

Things quiet down

2413.7

The work of the Research Guild continued to reap benefits for the Remorhaz Society on both the home front and the front lines. The advances in computer technology and scientific theory made possible a new research system that would instantly link all of the research done in one lab with what was being done in another, allowing efficiency of the research done in the labs to be increased by twenty percent. The new lab system was being installed first on the planet Hera, and would not be complete for another eight months, but the researchers were predicting a major increase in productivity.
Another successful project completed this month was the application of contra-terrene propulsion technology to missile weapons. These engines, which has already increased the range of the ships by fifteen percent, increased the missile range by twenty percent while also allowing a larger warhead to be mounted on the missile.
While experimenting with missile propulsion, a new class of missile was manufactured. Taking the principle of the emergency propulsion pod and its anti-matter core and combining it with the anti-matter warhead from an anti-matter torpedo produced a smaller but faster missile called the plasma missile. The biggest drawback of the plasma missile was its short range and lower damage at long range, but its quickness was a significant improvement.
The Design Bureau immediately upgraded all of the plans for the missile-carrying ships to incorporate the new generation of capital ship missiles, and began exploring the options that the plasma missiles would give them.

More mining plants opened on Correlia as the lull in fighting continued. Thanks to the exploits of the Navy in the many space battles over the planet, colonists began to arrive in greater numbers, eager to start a new life on the frontier. As more workers came, new industries had to be created to support them, and Correlia was rich in minerals, making mining the industry of choice on the planet.
The Ukra-Tal sent yet another single ship into the system. It moved to within one sector of Correlia before Rear Admiral Hitcher ordered the entire fleet to intercept the ship.
Over Iolo V, they caught up with it. The Ukra-Tal ship was yet another new design, the Hvittingfoss. It appeared to be yet another armed colony ship, this time a gas colonizer, and it was packed from bow to stern with Ukra-Tal colonists.
Hitcher ordered the ship to be hailed and offered surrender terms. This was, of course, not answered. The Remorhaz fleet destroyed the enemy colony ship in short order. The system was clear once more.

The feared and anticipated showdown in Lenoltris was not to be. Fleet Admiral Reed watched as the enemy fleet slowly withdrew closer to the Yukra wormhole, where he expected them to adopt a defensive posture. Instead, within a week, the entire enemy fleet entered the wormhole and headed back into their system. While it was true that they had a numerical advantage over the Remorhaz fleet, Reed had hoped that they might be able to goad the Ukra-Tal into attack Highrock, or splitting their fleet to go after multiple objectives, allowing his own forces to meet them on a much more even footing. Their retreat would allow him to absorb the ships from task force 1.1, and after that point if the Ukra-Tal came back with another large fleet, he could have more hope of meeting them on an even footing.
Two weeks later, Santos arrived at Highrock with his task force. Task Force 1 would be able to hold its own, now.

In Fezzran, the local industry worked feverishly to manufacture space mines. If they could get them built and launched in the next few months, they would be able to close the last major hole in the Lenoltris front line. After that, the Ukra-Tal would have to fight to get through to the rest of the society.

sachmo71

09-06-2004, 12:46 AM

Colonial Enterprises

A new planet was colonized in Xillantha, Sovrid. It was another dome colony, but the world was large, with ample space for resource storage and research centers.

The Ukra-Tal did something very strange in Iolo, colonizing Iolo VI at the beginning of the month but sending a single light cruiser to protect the new world. Hitcher dispatched Landover’s task force to destroy the colony and the enemy ship.

As she laid course for the enemy world, the light cruiser moved to intercept her force. Four sectors from Iolo VI, they met in combat. The ship was yet another unarmed colony ship, this time rigged to colonize gas worlds. Landover’s ships destroyed it and continued on to the enemy world.
Halfway to their objective, they received orders to return to Correlia. Landover was puzzled, but she obeyed. Soon after these orders were relayed, the 3rd Space Marine brigade was dispatched from Highrock and ordered to make best possible speed to Correlia.

Days after the space marine brigade left Highrock, an Ukra-Tal fleet appeared on the Remorhaz side of the Yukra-Lenoltris wormhole. Thirty-two ships crowded the long range scanners, including three huge new ships, designated by fleet intellgence as battlecruisers. Details of the ships were unknown, but spies had sent all of the information that they could gather about them. They knew that they were twice the size of light cruisers, and packed with weapons and armor. They were formidable foes on their own, but these were backed by a large force of cruisers and light carriers. Hitcher prepared his ships for a defensive operation, hoping that his fleet could salvage yet another victory from the overpowering Ukra-Tal forces.

sachmo71

11-16-2004, 11:19 PM

Recon in Force

2414.0

Deep under the surface of Correlia, men watched the skies. The Iolo system was displayed in the center of the room as a holographic image, and this image was always being watched by a team of naval officers, watching for any sign that the enemy was coming. For the past week, there had been signs, but as usual, they didn’t make much sense to the humans who watched for them.

The enemy was present in Remorhaz space, but they did not bring numbers with them. In Sector 4-10, a lone Gol class cruiser drifted lazily between the Yukra and Wanduk wormholes. It seemed that the Ukra-Tal commanders knew that their enemies would not chance leaving Correlia open to attack, and so would not molest their journey through the system.
Of greater concern to the underground watchers was the Rasbokil class battle cruiser in Sector 2-4, following a course that would lead it to Correlia. This ship was an unknown enemy, and had never been faced by the Remorhaz navy before. How much damage could it hope to do against Thom Hitcher’s task force 3 and it’s eight ships of the line?

Aboard RSS Odysseus, Hitcher had already decided to find out. It was vital to the rest of the fleet that the enemies rapidly changing capabilities be accessed and recorded, and if this could not be done by electronic spies, it would have to be done the hard way, in combat. Knowing that the battle cruiser would outgun even his most powerful ships, he decided to take the whole task force out the meet it, and hopefully destroy it.

The trip out was uneventful, and on the fifth day out of Correlia, they met the enemy ship. Hitcher divided his force into two units. He led the main task force, consisting of the destroyers Midguard and Narvik, and the light cruisers Odysseus and Orion. Commodore Landover led the second element, made up of the destroyers Shining Victory and Skydancer, and the light cruisers Mount Thunder and Xanthe. Landover flew his flag on Mount Thunder.

Hitcher watched from the command center as his task force cut through the darkness, bearing down on the Ukra-Tal battle cruiser at maximum speed. Long range scanners began to probe the enemy ship, and after burning through the enemy jamming, a clearer picture of the enemies capabilities began to form.
The Rasbokil was a barrage ship, loaded down with seekers. Hitcher could only guess that the Ukra-Tal had sent the ship to try to bombard Correlia from maximum range and then flee. With a stronger escort, the ship may have been able to do some damage, but Hitcher doubted it would survive very long against his own ship’s phased-polaron beams. He was confident his ships would be able to stand up to whatever seeker barrage the enemy battle cruiser could throw at them, and launch a counter-attack that would eventually wear it down to a hulk.

Hitcher keyed his com unit and switched to the command net.
“Gentlemen, let’s keep the formation tight. I want to maximize point defense fire.”
Then he watched as the two separate elements quickly closed formation, creating what he hoped would be a withering wall of fire to defeat all of the seekers fired from the Rasbokil.
At maximum range, the battle cruiser opened fire. A wave of over fifty parasite seekers screamed toward the Remorhaz battle line, but when they reached effective point defense range, they were all destroyed in short order. Employing usual tactics, the Ukra-Tal ship moved to keep at maximum range while his crew readied another salvo of their living seekers.

Hitcher was surprised when the Rasbokil quickly fired another salvo of seekers, minutes before he thought they should be able to.
“Weapons upgrade. That’s bad news,” he said to no one in particular. If the Ukra-Tal were able to put more ordinance into space in a shorter period of time, it would take away one of the advantages that the Remorhaz forces had over them, which was the ability to hit their ships between seeker salvos. His ships continued on, as the point defenses defeated the second wave of seekers without damage. However, the Ukra-Tal ship was able to keep ahead of the task force, matching their speed and retreating from close combat with the Remorhaz ships.

Hitcher weighed his options, and finally decided to take a risk. It was a small one, but he wanted to catch the enemy ship, and with his speed, he wasn’t sure he would be able to get close enough to hit him with his beam weapons. He opened the command net again.
“Beta element,” he said, speaking to Landover’s force, “split off and go for the fork.”
On the screen, his junior officer nodded.
“Yes sir. Executing fork.”
Hitcher decided to split his force into two elements again, hoping to catch the enemy ship between the two forces and cut off his options for disengagement. The downside of this maneuver would be that the point defense fire from either group would not be as strong as it would if the forces were together, and his ships were at greater risk. Still, he felt that they would still be able to defeat the Rasbokil’s attacks, and hopefully get some of their own in as well.

The forces moved apart, with Hitcher’s force continuing to trail the battle cruiser and Landover’s four ships moved off at a right angle to them.

Perhaps the Ukra-Tal commander guessed what the Remorhaz ships were doing, because he fired another salvo of seekers and moved quickly to cross in front of Landover’s force. If he could get past them without sustaining much damage, he would leave Hitcher’s force too far behind to do any good in the engagement, and then maybe he could pick off one of the Remorhaz ships. Midguard, Skydancer, and Shining Victory all fired small missile salvoes at the enemy ship, hoping to slow him down and allow the pursuit to catch up with him.
The point defense fire from Hitcher’s element defeated the seeker salvo, but the Ukra-Tal commander was extending his escape path. The Remorhaz salvo did nothing to slow him down, and he moved full speed to try to escape the outside of the “fork” maneuver. Mount Thunder was able to close within four hundred miles of the ship, but that was still about one hundred miles out of range. Hitcher frowned slightly at the thought of losing his quarry.

Finally, the task force got its chance. Skydancer was able to get within beam range, and they opened fire, but missed. Shining Victory also was in beam range, but also missed, mainly because of very heavy jamming coming from the enemy battle cruiser. Both ships fired missile salvoes. Mount Thunder lashed out with a powerful broadside of beams, but was only able to hit the Ukra-Tal ship once. Gashed appeared in it’s armor, but no major damage appeared to have been done to the huge ship.

The Rasbokil fired yet another parasite seeker salvo at the Remorhaz fleet, and Hitcher prepared to give chase. The enemy ship had escaped the gauntlet relatively unharmed, and it would be a very near thing if Hitcher hoped to catch back up with him. Then the enemy captain did something extraordinary. He reversed course, and made as if to fly directly between the two Remorhaz elements! Hitcher watched the plot with his mouth agape, dumbfounded by this maneuver. The ship had made good it’s escape, but here it was, charging his battle line like a mist bear with a thorn in it’s paw. He quickly recovered, and decided not to squander his good fortune.
“All ships fire at will,” he said calmly over the command net. Immediately, his order was obeyed. Before the beam fire opened up, the Remorhaz seekers did their damage, however. The Rasbokil fired its counter missile projectiles effectively, but they were quickly overwhelmed. Missile after missile slammed into the ship, but were unable to bring down the battle cruisers shields. Still, the shields were heavily damaged, and would not stand up to much more punishment. Some of the damage done to the hull be Mount Thunder had already been repaired by the living armor that covered the ship, but Mount Thunder got a second chance. The Rasbokil was only thirty miles from her when she opened fire, point blank range in space combat. Mount Thunder hit with every shot, and the phased polaron beams penetrated the ship’s shields without losing any energy. The beams burned down the length of the battle cruiser, burning off armor and weapons alike. When it was over, the Rasbokil was venting gas from a number of hull breaches, and two of its seeker launchers were destroyed. Orion closed in and blasted the ship with two more salvos, igniting secondary explosions within the hull of the battle cruiser. Odysseus delivered the coup de gras, delivering a withering beam attack that finally caused the huge ship to explode.

Their mission accomplished, Hitcher turned his forces for home, allowing the Gol to live another day.

sachmo71

11-30-2004, 10:49 PM

Highrock Hold Em’

“The way I see it, ma’am, we have three choices,” Rear Admiral Hitcher said.
“One choice is that we abandon Guardian. We’ve done it before, at Nova.”
In spit of themselves, the other officers in the command center stared at him in shock.
“It wasn’t our most glorious moment, but it did allow the fleet to concentrate and then counterattack, and that counterattack didn’t stop until the Rage were crushed.”
He looked around the table, and met the eyes of his commander.
Admiral Gina Jager nodded.
“Go on, Thom. I want to hear everything.”
Hitcher nodded, and continued.
“The second choice would be to split the fleet between Guardian and Highrock. Both forces would be backed up by considerable ground batteries, and might be able to withstand a Ukra-Tal attack.”
He glanced around the room again, and sensed that this was the plan most of the staff agreed with.
“Third option is my favorite,” he smiled. A few of the officers laughed.
“We could engage the Ukra-Tal fleet in transit, see if we can whittle down their numbers somewhat, then fall back to Guardian or Highrock and meet what’s left in a defensive battle.”
Hitcher sat down and waited for the responses to come. Gina tapped the table with her finger while studying the holographic image of the Lenoltris system glowing over the table. On it she saw her battle fleet, Task Force 1, stationed over Highrock. The support task force, under Commodore Santos, was on station near the Yullado wormhole in sector 6-0. In sector 1-6, on a direct course to Guardian, was a fleet of thirty-two Ukra-Tal ships. Most of the ships in this fleet were cruisers, but also mixed in were three battlecruisers and nine light carriers. It was a very formidable force, and it was presenting her with a number of problems.

As she saw it, the biggest problem was that her fleet was not strong enough to defeat the Ukra-Tal force in direct combat. Even with the advantage of phased-polaron beams, the Ukra-Tal fleet would overwhelm her ships with their firepower. If that happened, and her fleet was destroyed, the Ukra-Tal would have a direct path to Remorhaz. Obviously, she couldn’t let that happen.
But she also couldn’t let forty-two million Remorhaz citizens die in a planetary bombardment, either. Then Remorhaz People’s Navy was created to protect the citizens of the society, and it was her job to carry out that mission. If there had been more time, and the defenses of Guardian had been built up a little more, the position would be much more manageable, but time was up. The Ukra-Tal were headed for Guardian, and they intended to destroy the outpost. What she needed was a way to goad them into attacking Highrock instead of Guardian, and subjecting their force to the heavy minefield here.

Commodore Hank Nivend was the first to speak up.
“Admiral, I’d like to second Rear Admiral Hitchers option of moving out to meet the slugs,” he said.
“We could see if we can get them to launch their fighters early, and take them out first. That would seriously weaken their combat power. Then we could close with the cruisers and do as much damage as possible before withdrawing.”
A few of the other officers spoke up in support of this plan, offering their advice on how best to conduct the operation.
Hitcher stood up. “Everyone, there is something very important to consider before we ride out to meet the enemy.”
The room quickly grew quiet, and all eyes were on him.
“We are all that stands between the Ukra-Tal and Remorhaz. If this fleet is destroyed, nothing will stop them from penetrating deep into the society. It will have to be a hit and run attack, because we just don’t have the assets to take that fleet on directly.”

Everyone in the room took Hitcher’s words to heart. It was natural for them to want to engage the enemy in combat directly, but the Ukra-Tal still held a big superiority in numbers and tonnage, and the Remorhaz forces were just not strong enough to do much more than defend what they had, and pick off Ukra-Tal ships when they could. A stand up fight would probably end badly for the Remorhaz side.

In the meantime, Gina thought she had a solution. She typed information into her datapad even as her staff continued to discuss all of their option. Quickly she finished, and the forces on the hologram started moving.
“Ladies and gentlemen, do you think this will work?”
Again, the room fell into silence as they watched the hologram play out Jager’s battle plan. Rear Admiral Hitcher chuckled as he watched.
“Gina, I knew there was a reason you were so good at poker.” The room broke into relaxed laughter.

Commodore Santos watched from the command bridge of RSS Scorpion as Task Force 1.1 moved into Highrock orbit and joined up with the destroyer RSS Firefly and the cruiser RSS Shiro Sakazawa. Once all of ships were in position, he ordered his staff to stand down. It would be days before they knew what the Ukra-Tal were going to do, and so wanted everyone in the task force to have a two day dirt-side pass. If they Ukra-Tal took the bait, his people were going to have company very soon, and he wanted his people to enjoy themselves as much as possible before the battle was joined.

Task Force 1 moved to Guardian, taking the bulk of the combat power in Lenoltris with them. Their course took them into extreme range of the Ukra-Tal scanners, to make sure that they got a good look at the Remorhaz force. They wanted to make sure that the enemy commander knew that they were going to make their stand at Guardian. What must have been outside of their scanner range was the exact composition of the force remaining at Highrock. Admiral Jager hoped that the enemy commander would come after Highrock, and be forced to deal with the deadly minefield that surrounded the planet, hopefully taking a number of their ships out before they came within range of the planet. If they survived that, the survivors would have to deal with the ground defenses and the two remaining combat ships, which she hoped would be enough to keep any remaining ships from tearing into the rest of Task Force 1.1, which consisted of unarmed support ships. Her gamble was that the enemy commander wasn’t aware of the minefield, and he would go after the target that presented him with the least resistance, which would appear to be Highrock, she hoped.
On the other hand, if they went after Guardian, Task Force 1 would make a stand there, backed up by the ground defenses there that would hopefully add some much needed firepower to the Remorhaz side. Either way, the Remorhaz forces had played their best hand. How much they stood to lose remained to be seen.

The Ukra-Tal took the Highrock bait. In the command center, Admiral Jager watched with growing satisfaction as the most effective weapon in the Remorhaz arsenal, the Correlia space mines, annihilated the entire Ukra-Tal fleet.
“No targets remain, Admiral,” one of the sensor officers reported as the last enemy ship disappeared from the strategic display.
Gina allowed herself a tight smile.
“Alert Commodore Santos that there will be no breakthrough to deal with. Luckily for us, the slugs haven’t figured out how to spot a bluff.”