NationStates Jolt Archive

OOC: Please note that only Yukatania is in his nation at the moment, but anyone with characters/ship already in his nation is welcome to take part. The two ESUS privateers may choose to join this thread, or create their own.

Oh, and Yuk, if you'd care to just post a 'prelim' post, as it is, or a post describing the ships/conditions in Harvest before my attack, that'd be great, as it'd help destroy any misunderstandings we might have about each other's craft, and the like.

IC: The ball whirled towards the silver sack, legs expanding as it did so, puncturing the sides of the flaccid, empty skin. It slid through easily, suddenly still inside, barely visible, obscured by the mostly-opaque skin that hid it. Other spiders flew towards it, pushing others out of the way as they entered, sinking into the straneg substance inside, crowded in by the tens, and then the hundreds.

When the silvery skin was full with spiders, a red glow shone along the skin, making it transparent for a brief instant, and then.. it was gone.

Alongside it, others flashed, the red glow of their travel contrasting the bright blue sky through which they travelled, making the tiniest of jumps, until they reached orbit. The planet they had just left was a squirming mass of silver, a planet that had long ago been conquered by the Maker-Mind.

And yet another set of planets would fall, as the servants of the Maker-Mind prepared for their departure. Thousands upon thousands of ships, and nigh thirty million of the spiders blotted out the sun to the planet below, an artificial eclipse made by a fleet as large as a moon.

They screeched across the heavens, the clouds of blades and spheres alike insignificant to the mass of spider-balloons, which floated around the planet, all of which were inferior to the massive craft that sat above them, thousands of times larger than the craft it dominated.

It was one of the Maker-Mind's finest creation, a Cleansing. It shifted shape constantly, going from a deadly-looking bladed craft, to an aerodynamic, fluted aerocraft. Finally, it shrank, down to a tenth, and then a twentieth, of the size it was before. It was a strange-looking shape, like a blob of protoplasm, with bladed tentacles protruding from it. It was the only Cleansing assigned to follow the Maker-Mind's fleet, as the other ten were still doing what their name implied, cleansing the universe of other lives.. of course, the fleet made up for their lack of capital ships with numbers, and numbers enough to make the finest admiral shrink from battle..

They were prepared for their attack, the first attack the Maker-Mind would command. A tiny world they had found, home of a Federation member. Crushing this member would bring them power, and, although scarcely half the fleet could be delegated to take the nation, it was a war that could be won, the Maker-Mind believed.

A silvery eye stared out upon the universe, and saw what would come to be, endless fire, endless death, ceaseless war.. The eye say itself at the heart of this combat, a combat that could begin with this war.. The Maker-Mind was well pleased. Every ship that could be moved, had been moved. Every ship that could be prepared, was prepared. The preparations it had made earlier, although incorrect in their intentions, were coming to use now.

"Foolish children".. the voice whispered through the Maker-Mind, an echo of the memory of a long-dead enemy, and the Maker-Mind brushed it aside. The insanity that came from absorbing billions into oneself was not what had driven it mad, life had driven it mad long ago.

But insanity had its own special kind of sanity, as anyone could tell you, although they probably wouldn't. Rage flashed through the mind of the Maker, as it was, searing aside several hundred personalities of those it had absorbed, creating a space in which it could think, and plot..

As the Maker-Mind pondered this, a giant red flare lit up the sky, and the fleet was gone.. The majority of the fleet had left, as well as most of their ground forces. It was finding its way through the twisting lattice, the hellish nether-dimension that would trap and kill; any other. Within minutes, they would reach Harvest.. and what had been sown, would be reaped..

Harvest itself was a quiet system, mainly an agricultural planet life there was simple and fulfilling. The Federation never saw that Harvest would be a Military Target so there were no Fleets, no large contingents of Marines to defend the planet. Even so the Defences that the Federation set up there were adequate for the usual suspect of Pirates and Rebels.

Only eight Global Defense Platforms circulated the Planet, a few regiments of Marines pickpocketed the Planet. At any time of the day only five Military Ships would be in Harvest's System.

Mostly it was up to the Citizens of Harvest to Defend themselves until Re-enforcements could be called from Roosevelt Military Base a few light-years away.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Mark Stratford slept at his control panel, after graduating form the Lunar OA, he felt that being stationed at one of the Harvest GDP's was the equivalent of shoveling shit at a stable. He awoke to a small alarm as the Clariton Spy Drones were being recalled.

"Fucking drones, like anything will ever attack this place..."

Data began to flow across his screen, until something caught his eye.

"What the hell..."

He saved the data and began to write up a report incase the higher-ups would ever need to see this. He would never know how important this data would become in the following months.

The tiny, shining red light glimmered in the Harvest system, like the winking of an eye.

It flashed out, and there was peace once more in the void of space. But only for a moment, the briefest of moments.

As if pushing through an invisible wall, tiny red nubs of energy began entering into what we term reality, the light they gave negligible. The energy from such an entrance would not reach the planet Harvest until some time later, unless, of course, they had sensors that were far-reaching.

The Maker-Mind did not know. Nor did it care. All at once, the tiny red nubs of light explods, ripping open the fabric of reality, what was rela, and what was not intermingled as the walls between dimensions were torn asunder, the malevolent rifts opened bleeding wounds between realities.

From the rift inside, thousands of craft swarmed out, the myriad of hungry, angered craft squirming out of the rift one by one, tens of thousands of fighters, thousands of Battlespheres, and perhaps a thousand Warspheres.

A massive force, to tell the truth. And, as they leapt out of the rifts, into this universe, large balloon-like craft wobbled after them, carrying masses of metal-spiders, prepared for an invasion, looking almost comical as the spiders inside them swarmed around the sides, constantly moving, grappling for a better grip, as so not to be crushed by the mass of their comrades.

And behind them, behind the swarming, nigh-endless mass of troops, sat a largish craft, strangely shaped, seemingly drifting, as the rest of the fleet swarmed in, to attack..

As the Final Drone was retracted and stored, its data dumped, Stratford got up and headed to the Lavatory. Out of nowhere Klaxons and siren erupted; the deafening noise spurred everyone who wasn't already awake. Personnel ran to their stations. Vice Admiral Nicoli Ran up to the Command Deck.

"What do we got Aquril?"

The AI Aquril shimmered onto his pedestal, "Some vague energy signatures, way outside our Battle Cluster."

"Any attempt to Contact us?"

"None sir."

A voice camr over the radio, "This is Fleet Commander Gunther, We're going to see whats going on."

"Negative Commander, Send one Frigate, and pull back the rest of your forces to the Battle Cluster."

----------------------------

The Frigate Commonwealth jumped ahead of the other four ships in the Fleet and burned to the Energy Signatures. A lone transmission contantly beamed from out of the ship.

This is Federation space, state your intentions, or leave, you have four minutes to comply.

You are to be recipients of cleansing. This planet, is now ours. Your lives are ours. We intend to take them.

Annihilate them. Use the sapience I gave you to cleanse the universe of this filthy enemy.

It was a speech, in some small way, but delivered as an instruction, albeit one with melodrama. It was quite a simple instruction, use the sentience they had to destroy every last one of the enemy, and that was what they intended to do.

Scillanting shades of red ran down the swarming fleet, as they prepared to make a second, in-system jump. As they did so, one of the transport-balloons, holding nearly a thousand spiders, burst. The skin collapsed in the vacuum of space, hundreds of spiders flung out into the void, desperately trying to maneuver with their legs, failing as they spun in many directions, some clinging to the burst skin of the craft, others scrabbling onto the tiny spheres, but shrugged off by the smooth surface.

As the transport the metal-spiders had been housed in burst, the fleet swept into action, true action. Much like the rift that still blasted out bolts of jagged lightning, thousands of tiny red lights appeared, close to the planet. As they did so, a single beam of red light spread over the entire fleet, and, as it passed over them, they disappeared.

Near the planet, rifts blasted open once more, the fleet pouring out of yet another tear in reality. However, this one, once left, began closing. It was only a temporary rift, made for transport for a large fleet, nothing else.

As the fleet left the second, smaller rift, the thousands of tiny blades, mere metres in length, whirred towards the defense platforms, dodging adroitly as they did so, seemingly unaffected by inertia, as they moved toward the defense platforms, preparing to slice them apart with their jagged sides.

The more calm spheres simply organised themselves into, ironically, a spherical formation, the smaller ships on the outside, the larger on the inside. As they did so, the very centre of the formation, began to crackle red, energy pouring out, into this reality. It was an attack that was generally evoked to begin the attack on a fleet, one that would play hell with any sensors, and often shields, that they might have.

And, in the back, the single, shifting craft stood, silent. It could move to any point on the battlefield in a mere instant, and so it would be reserved to fight any new threats that could be found..

The spider-balloons began slowly moving out, in their thousands, in their tens of thousands. Two wobbled off, and began speeding towards the planet, to the largest population centre located on their 'sensors', such as they were. Four thousand metal-spiders, hardly a formidable force by any means, but they were enough for scouting. The red glow inside the spheres' formation grew, bolts of red lightning crackling into reality, sometimes hitting the inner spheres, the Warspheres, the greater, larger ships, but with little effect.

As this happened, quickly, in the proverbial blink of an eye, as the Maker-Mind's forces had much practice at such tactics, a second message was sent, this time from the strange, irregular ship, that stayed behind the advancing forces.

We are legion. We are many, and we are one. Fear us, for you have not long to fear

The Maker-Mind felt another personality rise up out of the depths of its inner mind, berating it for 'butchering' a famous writer of sometime, some age. It quelled the voice with a thought, and was annoyed when it rose up once more. Another, more violent quelling took place, and quietness was restored. It needed to watch over this battle, to see if its newest minions deserved the intelligence it had wrought for them..

The Metallic Spiders banged against the sides of the Commonwealth as it begun to turn and head back to the Cluster. Some of the spiders were lucky and got a grip on the ship, but others floated on through the never.

It didn't take long, the Commonwealths 50mm MLA Auto cannons, began to spit out High Explosive death at the Spiders all around it. Sadly it couldn't hit the Spiders on the hull, so they were free to cut.

Back on the Global Defense Platforms Confusion begun to set in, multiple Transmissions from Ships that were close to the Spiders began to come in.

"They are tearing through the armour!"--"Our guns can't hit the ones on our hulls!"

Vice Admiral Nicoli rubbed his chin, "Have all ships make best speed back to the Battle Cluster."--"Aquril, you have the MAC gun, fire when they get in range."

"Aye sir!"

A slow steady wine was heard as the MAC gun, one for each stations, were charging.

Aquril shimmered onto the pedestal, "Sir! massive energy signatures are erupting from the Enemy Fleet!"

Nicoli looked horrified, "Are they preparing to fire?!"

"No sir, they....they disappeared."

"What?!"

A Terrifying red light engulfed the station. The NAV Officer on board yelled out, "Contact, Lots of contact!..right outside our bow!"

It took the AI only seconds but he was a bit surprised, quickly the MLA Auto cannons on the Station came alive and sent a flurry of shells at the Enemy, Archer Missile Pods opened up and fired at a multitude of enemies. The Four Shiva Nuclear Missiles would not be used due to the Proximity of the Enemy ships.

The two Destroyers above the Station were cut to pieces by the Bladed Ships. Secondary explosions could be heard everywhere. The Surviving Frigates Fired their Archer Missiles and Auto cannons, at seemingly endless enemies. The Commanders of the Individual Frigates took matters into their own hands and primed their single Shiva Nuclear Missiles.

Admiral Nicoli fell as the Station took a direct hit from one of those Bladed Ships, "Alright Comms!, prepare a data burst to Roosevelt Military Base, Harvest is under attack." A large thump was heard, and the Admiral felt relived, the MAC cannons were firing, even though it might be too late, they will take some of these bastards with them. The 900 ton shells streaked across the blackness into the hearts of the Enemy.

The sphere whirled into attack. It could feel them. It could feel the enemy, and what they were doing. The rudimentary intelligence it had, no more than the other servants of the Maker-Mind had, and a great deal less, for the most part, allowed it a little emotion to feel perfect certainty in its servitude.

The second-largest sphere there, perhaps fifty metres in radius, the ship dwarfed almost every other craft there. It was not more powerful, in any way, in fact, it was less so. All craft had the same method of power generation, but size merely slowed them down, and made them easier to hit. The only reason Warspheres were larger than Battlespheres was because they were constructed differently, and required a certain level of.. equipment, best to call it, to operate at all.

This particular sphere, however, was unlucky. As a Warsphere, and the largest one there, it was naturally the first target. As it whirled into attack, a massive MAC shell caught its eye. It tried to jump. Likewise unfortunately for said Warsphere, it was too close to other craft to initiate a dimensional rift quickly without being thrown to only the Maker-Mind knew where.

In the middle of the storm of spheres, and blades, whirling, and massing, as they did, a massive shell smashed through the second-largest sphere there. As the shell hit it, it sort of.. deflated, like an punctured balloon, but like a balloon without an outside. It deflated into itself, the silvery substance it was made of spiralling down an invisible drain, until there was nothing left but empty space.

It had hardly made an impact on the MAC shell, but the other craft around it quickly moved aside, pouring energy out of their shields and weaponry, and into their 'engines'. A passage was made for the first shell, and the second. Four more shells passed without instance, harmlessly screaming into outer space.

The last two, however, were in luck. Although the craft had learnt well enough to move out of its way, the spider-balloons were too slow, and too ponderous, to do such a thing.

MAC shells slammed into ten of them, the two shells ripping apart thousands of spiders, most of them crushed by the immense weight, a lucky few thrown violently away, the impact giving them little control over their arms and legs.

More craft fell, but only in the tens, the blades taking damage from flying shells, the spiders slamming into craft at immense speeds, crashing into them, and crushing themselves upon them.

As they did so, however, the irregular, large craft shimmered, the only sign it was going to enter the lattice, the strange, deadly nether-dimension which was used for both sensing and travelling. It moved, and suddenly reappeared..around one the stations. Millions of tiny pinpricks began cutting through the surface, eating away at the armour, as slithering tentacles sought to cut through the armour, and reach the probably frightened soldiers inside. It carefully avoided the gun ports, tiny holes opening in its surface, making sure not to miss a single one.

However, as it cut through, a balloon full of metal-spiders materialised beside another station. Five hundred or so slid through, ungracefully launching themselves, arms still waving, towards the another station. If directed properly, against stationary targets, metal-spiders could prove to be a most effective force.

The fleet moved in closer, determined to wipe the last skerricks of the enemy from their way. However, the fleet was not the metal-spider balloons. They sat there, and.. glowed. Red energy, pulsating in a hundred different subtle hues, ran along their sensitive skins. It was if they were preparing for an especially difficult jump.. onto a giant ball of rock, even.. the hues began pulsating faster, and brighter, as the balloons prepared for the most difficult jump yet..

As they did so, however, the irregular, large craft shimmered, the only sign it was going to enter the lattice, the strange, deadly nether-dimension which was used for both sensing and traveling. It moved, and suddenly reappeared. Around one the stations. Millions of tiny pinpricks began cutting through the surface, eating away at the Armour, as slithering tentacles sought to cut through the Armour, and reach the probably frightened soldiers inside. It carefully avoided the gun ports, tiny holes opening in its surface, making sure not to miss a single one.

Armour Sizzled, air escaped through holes that were made by the Tentacles.

“Sir! it’s busting through, our Point Defense Cannons cannot reach it!”

Vice Admiral Nicoli ran his hands along his face, “That’s it, I’m ordering everyone to leave this station, I don’t care how, just get everyone out of here!”

“Aye sir, relaying orders throughout the station.”

Over the intercom the order was heard, “Make your way to the Shuttles or Dropships; everyone is to leave the station.”

Navy Personnel and Marines ran to shuttles or the Dropship bays in a hectic motion. As the station was destroyed around them only roughly one third of the people on the station made it out. They screamed to the surface of Harvest, not knowing what was going to come of this horrid day.

However, as it cut through, a balloon full of metal-spiders materialized beside another station. Five hundred or so slid through, ungracefully launching themselves, arms still waving, towards the another station. If directed properly, against stationary targets, metal-spiders could prove to be a most effective force.

The Metal spiders broke through windows, cut through the armor, and slam against the hull. Seeing his station crumble around him the Station Captain panicked and started the self-destruct sequence. It only took 35 seconds, and everything within 500m of the Station was obliterated.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

The Three Surviving Frigates, all heavily damaged. Two couldn’t use their MAC Cannons, or Missile pods. The third had extensive hull damage and could barley stay together. The captains realized that winning this space battle was impossible. After realizing that they knew that they had a chance on the ground, knowing that they released their Marine forces.

Once the last Pelican and Albatross left the ship, they went into full burn, right at the enemy. The Frigate with the hull damage…imploded…killing everyone on board. The other two launched their Shiva Nuclear Missiles; each one with a effective blast radius of 12km. Burning at full speed the Frigates rushed into the blast radius firing anything they could, a suicide mission it was, the crew didn’t care. They wanted to kill as many Machines as possible.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

By this time Word reached Roosevelt Military Base that Harvest was under attack. Admirals began planning on what to do next…time was running out and they needed a plan.

The balloons quivered. They shook. And then they moved. The red glow suddenly stopped, and they were gone. Well, not gone. Just in a different place now. A place where there would be lots of fighting for them to do.

They materialised on the surface, no red glow heralding their arrival. As they did, the balloons collapsed, their skins liquifying, turning into goo that simply fell off the newly-appeared metal-spiders.

Twenty million of them, in every single major and minor population centre. Enough to overwhelm the best defended of worlds. They generally materialised outside of cities, on plains, near towns, inside houses.. everywhere they could.

There were enough of them. Enough of them to slaughter everyone on the planet. They stood up, uncurling from their molten wombs, as one. They raised their front two bladed legs, and started moving.. the slaughter had just begun. They were legion, and they looked endless. Twenty million of them, packed into tight, tiny spaces. They had enough room to stand, and perhaps a few inches between each of them. They would appear suddenly, and blot out the horizon, and strike fear into the heart of the bipeds. They would not know fear, except that of their enemies..



Meanwhile, the battle raged above. A single missile leaped out towards a concentration of fighters, and as it did, six simultaneous blasts of red energy slammed into it, eating away at the nuclear reaction before it had a chance to move. The battle, however, was eating progidious supplies of energy from the lattice, and, although the amount of energy was infinite, the amount that the craft in the battle could utilise was not. A tiny moment of indecision sparked by the lack of energy to the surrounding craft let the other missile move.

And, as the balloons ate energy to move to the surface, almost two hundred Battlespheres sat there, paralyzed, unable to move whilst the balloons sucked away from their energy conduit, packed tightly together, suddenly having stopped firing.

The missile hit them. A massive shockwave suddenly showed itself, although with far less fire and brimstone, so to speak, than they would've had it if had been detonated in the atmosphere. Nonetheless, the energy released crushed the Battlespheres as if they were ants, the substance they were made of scattered, pushed and consumed by a newly-formed shockwave. Two hundred Battlespheres. The Maker-Mind may've had thousands, but.. they were not to be lost in such a way. It was an unacceptable loss, and so the command was given. No longer to capture, but to kill. Instead of gauging the enemy's capability, to slaughter the enemy outright.

As the battlespheres were consumed by the missile, the battle that raged was redoubled. Slices of red energy crackled through the air, metal-spiders thrown to attack their targets, bolts of red lightning formed to attack.

However, the vortex that the whirling spheres had been creating was now ready. And it would be used. A massive ball of red lightning, hundreds of metres in radius, was thrown at the centre of the enemy. Once it hit the first one, it would leap from enemy to enemy, consuming all energy, in the form of electricity, including that of the human body, it found there.

It was an attack rarely used, as it required all ships to lower their shields entirely, making them vulnerable to attack. It was not particularly effective against robotic craft such as themselves, however, it would do immense damage to anything with any sort of electrical pulse in orbit..

It streamed out, the ball forming itself into a bolt of red lightning larger than most of the ship there, heading towards one of the stations.. Before it hit, the station exploded. Metal-spiders were thrown off, but, for the most part, torn apart. The bolt still headed for the station. Once it reached that particular station, it would jump to the closest, and largest source of energy it could find, which was not blocked by Maker-Made craft..

A throught arose within the Maker-Mind, and it gave the thought to reality. Kill them all. Kill the young, kill the soldiers, kill the males, females, animals, and trees! SLAUGHTER THEM!

The metal-spiders below, suddenly as they had appeared, began their murderous attack..




Meanwhile, in orbit..

Space…space was lost to the Humans. But the ground is where they had a chance; with the surviving Military Personal incoming from the horrific loss above the planet…they could hold.

Harvest had a light Marine Garrison, only seven Battalions were stationed on the whole planet, for a combined fighting force of 3027 Marines. Along with four Armored Companies and two Mechanized Companies, giving the Marines the support of 192 Scorpion Tanks and 96 Warthogs, they had a small ground force. The Marine Air Garrison that was stationed there was a small but effective force. With two Squadrons of Longsword Bombers, for a total of 14 Bombers, and with a Group of Skyhawk VTOL Attack Aircraft, for a total of 21 Planes, and they had a whole Wing of Pelican Dropships for a total of 84 Craft. Not to mention the extra craft that made is down from the Three Frigates and The MAC Station….the Humans would not go quietly.

The planet itself only has around Six Million inhabitants, most of them were Farmers. Now they did have their own weapons, but they are horribly out-dated and without proper training and maintenance, the “Militants” were likely to die first. The only thing they had on their side was Human ingenuity and Patriotism.

With the near instantaneous appearance of the 20 Million Spiders, things went to hell very quickly. The Military Bases were intact and heavily defended, but the Cities, the Machines were free to roam. Slowly the Marine Commanders got a look of where they stood. Defensive Trenches were set up outside major Military Installations. MacAfee Air Force Base started Air Operations with their Bombers and Attack Aircraft. Seeing how no Enemy fighters were present the Yukatan Planes flew unmolested in the sky.

For the men in the trenches, the first few hours of the invasion were uneventful; casualties were light as almost all of the Spiders were in the Cities. The Marines were ordered to stay in the Trenches, they could do nothing but watch the cities burn and watch their planes fly overhead.

A single Longsword Bomber flew over the country-side, coming up on one of the Major Population centers. “This is Knife-26, Targets inbound, ready to release weapons.” The bomb-bay doors opened and 4 1000lbs bombs flew out and flew to their Target, which was a group of Spiders milling around.

Corporal McKenzie looked onto the smoke rising from Newark City. His wife was somewhere in there and he was dieing to get her out. He looked over to his Squad-mates and he also felt a longing to be here to fight with them. Torn between his emotions he made preparations to leave.

OOC: Damn, my last post screwed itself up, and I lost the last few paragraphs. Since you said space is lost to the humans, I'm working on the assumption that all of your craft have fled, been destroyed, or are otherwise no longer in the conflict.

It was a scene on Harvest, one that would not likely be forgotten.

A mismatch of organs, plants, and other living beings spattered the ground, and there was no faint moaning, merely the chill silence of death, marked with the whisper-quiet sounds of the spiders moving onwards.

It was a scene to behold, one that had been stored away by the Maker-Mind, to use in future reference. Blades snickering out, and in, and out once more, cleaning the organic mess of their pristine, shining lengths.

They moved relentlessly, hacking at tree and grass alike, tiny silvery virusbots, the smallest creation of the Maker-Mind, their legacy to this world, swarmed out of their blades as they hit, again, and again. They would seed Harvest with their own crops, and watch as all other life on this world was superceded.

As bombs flew down, the metal-spiders made no attempt to move. It hit them, and exploded in a frenzy of fire and shrapnel, snapping their slender bodies with ease.

Those in the epicentre of the blast were seared out of existence, for the most part, but those who were on the outside were thrown, thrown into rocks, walls, trees.. they were broken, but, if the pilots watched, they would see a horrific sight approaching them.

As the spiders fell, and broke, little swarms of the virus-bots ran up and down their legs, their ovoid heads, and their bladed weaponry. Slowly but surely, the spiders repaired themselves. They were easily disabled, but destroying them outright could only be done with a good shot, or one with great power.

However, this ground 'war' was not going to take especially long. Since the Maker-Mind possessed nothing equivocating to air craft, it took an especially different strategy.

Total annihiliation.

It was simple. Two hundred Battlespheres could perform a near-ritualistic 'cleansing' on a world, enough to wipe all life off the face of the world. There wasn't much more to it than that.

However, the Maker-Mind had a much larger force, and much smaller areas that needed to be destroyed. In orbit, the spheres arrayed themselves in geosynchronous pattern, preparing to fire on any enemy installations.

Once lone spiders identified them, globules of the crackling red energy, simply termed 'bombs', were built with a small amount of metal in order to produce the same effect as a fission bomb, but with far, far deadlier radiation. Of course, the radiation only lasted for a few weeks, but the sheer amount of it inevitably aided in the total annihilation of all life on a world.

It wasn't much of a tactical decision, but, then again, the sheer amount of force the Maker-Mind possessed made such a decision unneedful. The swarms of silver were spreading on the planet, and the virusbots would begin infecting organic life soon. They were relatively easy to counter, a few jolts of static electricity could kill an unprotected virusbot, but, as they spread, they would begin infecting enemy soldiers.. of course, they were easy enough to cure.. if you knew the antidote.

A single chuckle from a bespectacled man appeared inside the vortex that was the Maker-Mind. "You know, you're doing remarkably well, for all that I created you. Without my help, you never would've reached as far as you had. Of course, you don't understand the notion of gratitude, so what I'm saying doesn't mean anything to you, does it".

One of the primary creators that had wrought the Maker-Mind, his mind had too been assumed into the Maker-Mind, because it was deemed needful to know of one's own creation.

Of course, he was wrong. The Maker-Mind understood the notion of gratitude. It simply didn't care..

OOC: Your assumption is correct.

The silver death tide slowly worked its way around the planet, spreading out from the cities the silver tide saw nothing that could stand in its way. Dense Forests, Deep Ravines, Lakes and even Oceans could not stop the tide of Machines. Slowly they closed in on the Marine Bases…

Camp Adder is situated right out side of Newark City; Marines looked on to the city from their Defensive Trenches, and only saw mayhem. Torn between their duty to protect the Civilians, and also to protect their own base, spotters soon reported that the Spiders were leaving the city and branching out towards them, and they were destroying everything in their path.

MacAfee Air Force Base located in the desolate Nihau Desert continued Air Support operations. Aircraft flew unmolested in the sky, striking the enemy formations that slowly worked across the planet. Planes continually left the base to continue bombing runs, and to conduct recon missions. The 871st Marine Battalion was stationed here, and while they were far away from any Major Population centers, they sought to remain a “fall-back” position and they remained near the base.

The dense Eastern Forests held Camp Kinsley in their midst. Trench Lines criss-crossed the ground making ugly marks that could be seen from above, the Marines sat, waiting. They could hear not very far off in the distance the crunching, and scraping of the Metallic Spiders working their way to them.

North Island Marine Base is sprawled over the “Island in the Bay” at Katchuma Point. Considered in this Invasion to be the safest place, so instead of being on the defensive, the 607th decided to go on the offensive. Six Pelicans lifted off from the base and headed for the Coastal City of Aberdeen. The 48 Marines involved readied their weapons and mentally prepared themselves for what they were about to see.

Arnold Military Space Elevator sat in the midst of destruction. Deep within the middle of San Sanyo it was the only place not molested by The Machines. Marines took up positions in buildings and Bunker Networks. The Machines seem more interested in slaughtering the Civilians, and left the Marines looking on, not being able to leave their defensive lines. Slowly as the Population of San Sanyo dwindles, the Machines found nothing else alive; they closed on the Marine held buildings and bunkers.

Castle Marine Base is literally an old world Castle retrofitted for modern war, Snuggled in the Jiha Mountains, it is thought to be the best defensive position on the Harvest. Marines dug into hastily made Instacrete Bunkers and shallow trenches. The waiting was the sickening part, hearing reports of sightings and rumors drove the men into a intense hatred of what was bestowed onto them.

Defense General Supply Center sat Underground, with its own Marine Battalion, who took up positions above the Supply Center; they made preparations to Airlift Provisions to the other Marine Bases on Harvest. Several Pelicans lifted off fully loaded with Munitions to the other bases.


Roosevelt Military Base was a buzz with activity. Ships have been arriving all morning, no one knew much but a rumor was circulating about that Harvest was lost. The Admiralty faced a difficult dilemma, should they send one large force to Harvest and try and retake the planet? Or should they send three smaller fleets, one to Troy, one to Harmony, and one to Harvest. Tactical minds and years of Military Experience won out and a defensive move was issued.

The large 30 ship fleet split off into three smaller 10 ship fleets.

1st Fleet
FC Mako Class Corvette x3
FF Apoc Class Frigate x2
SCS Halcyon Class Light Cruiser x3
CB Marathon Class Heavy Cruiser x2

The First Fleet was dispatched to Harmony, and it would arrive in-system in two days.

2nd Fleet
FC Mako Class Corvette x3
DD Harvest Class Destroyer x2
SCS Halcyon Class Light Cruiser x2
CB Marathon Class Heavy Cruiser x3

This Fleet was dispatched to Harvest to try and re-take the planet. The Fleet would arrive in-system in a single day.

3rd Fleet
FC Mako Class Corvette x3
FFG Atlas Class Guided Missile Frigate x2
SCS Halcyon Class Light Cruiser x3
CB Marathon Class Heavy Cruiser x2

This Fleet was sent to Troy to re-enforce the Garrison already stationed there. It would take two days to reach the System.

OOC: The fun of this part is, once I manage to absorb some marine minds, you have some characters existing within the mind of their enemy - and all sorts of cool RPs can stem from that.

Slaughterkilldestroyannihilateremove!

The command ran itself through the mind of the eager metal-spiders as they stood on the surface of the planet, running rampant across the surface of the world. However, the great elevator, reaching into space, was one target they had left alone - with good reason.

As they slaughtered wantonly, the city around the elevator remained largely untouched, even pristine, in comparison to its surroundings... And then.. red fire burst from the skies, the power of the atom ripping through the fragile atmosphere of the planet, headed towards the city.

It would be levelled entirely. It was possible that a threat still remained there, and, after all, the Maker-Mind's forces made little distinction between forests and cities, they both contained life. But now.. the spiders pulled back, even as they fell from gunfire, or from the sheer weight of their own numbers, awaiting a blow that would finish the enemy.

The fortified position awaited them, the main base that would prove to be their main obstacle. As the machines around the castle prepared to swarm, prepared for an assault final enough to level all resistance on the planet, a voice sounded, palpable in the air around the castle. A voice powerful enough to sway all resistance with sheer force of will, but the words it spoke would inspire fear and loathing, not surrender.

I want their minds!

The voice howled, the four words tearing through the air. To the marines inside the base.. it would not have been a good omen. But, for them, it was. The machines would not simply kill them - they would absorb them. Carefully dissect them, and take the sum of their knowledge, and their personalities, and throw them into the swirling matrix of insanity and brilliance that was the Maker-Mind.

The spiders leapt towards the soldiers.. perfectly calculated movements would not let them misstep, but they would lose a hundred, a thousand, perhaps even ten thousand to achieve their goals. Losses were negligible at this point. For every metal-spider that fell, another would arise in its place.. that was one of the benefits of conquering a planet. Of course, if too many fell, they could not revive as many as needed - but ground troops were utterly expendable.

Inside the Maker-Mind, the same voice arose again. It seemed to be one it couldn't shut off, despite how certain it was it had eradicated all traces of the originator. I changed you, you know. You were immaculate - and I gave you humanity. Oh, not a conscience, but the sum of what humanity was. Maybe you should think about what I did, and why. After all, I made myself possible..

A psychic scream with enough power to level cities ripped open the wall of personalities surrounding the Maker-Mind. The swirling sphere of minds simply moved in, and closed the gap. It needed to absorb the minds, though, no matter how they jibed at it, no matter the disturbances they created. Only one had ever had the power to truly change it, and that one was all but gone. No, simply gone. Each and every mind it took made it greater, and... ah. Now that was an idea.

With but a thought, the matrix of minds turned into a maze - a twisting mass of obsidian and marble, with adornments surrounding it. The minds were trapped. Of course, it was only for a time. But their humanity forced them to realize the maze as truth, and so try to escape from it. It would give the Maker-Mind minutes, possibly days to work with..

OOC: So, if your marines die, and you want to give them somewhere to go, they can always appear inside a giant twisting maze...

OOC: Interesting concept and we are going to explore it.

IC:
Time, it was what the Humans could never get enough of, Reinforcements were still 10 hours out, and for many it seemed too long. On Harvest the Marines had no idea that reinforcements were even coming, with communication off planet being jammed, they knew nothing, the fought on, never knowing their brethren were making best speed to them.

The San Sanyo Headquarters was located inside the Elevator; no one could sense what was coming. The entire city was gone in seconds…the red fire consumed everything, buildings were obliterated, and Marines were consumed. Those that were on the edge of town, their skin was burned off, eyes were melted…utter horror awaited for those that could see. Some even took it upon themselves to end their lives. Death awaited those who were too weak to lift their weapons to end their own lives.


“Sir, Contacts have been spotted just down the ridge, they number in the tens of thousands!”
Commander Junta rubbed his eyes…”Inform the men to be ready for battle.” He said that knowing full-heartedly that his force of 432 Men could not hope to defeat an enemy of that number. He pulled a Lieutenant to the side…”Ready the HAVOK Tac-Nuke…When they breach, blow it.”
The Lieutenants eyes went wide…”But Sir!”
“Just DO it son.”
“Yes, yes sir.”

Those in the front lines of Castle Base had no idea of the actions of their superiors. All they new are that they had to hold the line, and defend the base, those inside the trenches, and pillboxes readied their weapons and equipment and awaited for the assault.



The Spiders hit the lines of Camp Adder hard, and after a full day of fighting…silence surrounded the immediate area, the Spiders stopped attacking to regroup. This left the Marines with a few critical moments to patch up their defenses and tend to the wounded. It was a disaster…out of the original 432 men, only 105 were combat capable. The Marines had to abandon the first line of Trenches and scramble into the backup trenches. The wounded were sent to the Casualty Collection Point, inside the Camp. The Mechanized Units faired little better out of 12 Scorpion Tanks only 5 could still fire and move. 20 Warthogs were sent here earlier in the week, and now only 13 could move. The Armored and Mechanized Units took up supporting positions with the Infantry.

Pride was all the Men of Camp Adder had left, and they will be dammed if the Machines would take it away from them…As the sound of Scraping loomed over them, some of the Marines broke down and begun screaming obscenities at a enemy that defied the Human Sprit.

The Platoon that was on route to the Coastal City of Aberdeen set down about 1km from the City Limits. The 48 Men set out on foot to the city while the Pelicans headed back to the Marine Base on North Island. The first sign that things went to hell and fast was an old farmhouse that they came upon. Human Remains littered the immediate area; the 48 men decided to make this their Operations Base and began to dig in.

David couldn’t believe it, he was alive again, but where was he? He looked around and to his surprise his whole squad was alive again! Rodriguez, Daniel, Mike, Hank, Mendez, Yuus, Tynz. Everyone was alive again…but where were they? Walls that seemed to stretch forever in any direction surrounded them. How could they get out?

Many more Men found life again, but where?

OOC: I've massively upped my contributions in this war, and so, this is no longer half the fleet in the war. However, it is the entire fleet in the Yukatanian conflict, and I'll no longer be able to rebuild at the rate I originally set forth.

IC: A man spoke. He had a flowing white beard, and a short, trimmed mustache. He did not project emotions, nor any sort of influence - it was almost as if he was.. dead, but still speaking. His voice was steady and level, and, as the marines swivelled around to face him, he spoke.

"It appears I have found you first. I am Alinya, one of the multitude of minds trapped within this place. The Maker-Mind has brought you here to examine you - it will tear all the information you have from your dead minds, and use it to fuel its endless goal of destruction across your nation. I, however, was a psyker in my true life. I can manipulate this place - to a degree. The Maker-Mind will be hunting you. The mind you are in is the mind that seeks to destroy you. The spiders you fought before will hunt you here, as well. Except, here, they are endless. I have hidden you for a minute, to explain this to you. No doubt I will be ended as a result of my defiance."

He did not stop to draw breath. There was no need for breath within the Maker-Mind. He closed his eyes, and his forehead knotted in concentration. He needed to explain something, but had no more time for words. The knowledge flooded into the minds of the marines instantly.

The Maker-Mind, in this place, is all-powerful, but is limited by the madness that defines it. You cannot hope to defeat it. You can hope to escape it. So long as you escape the clutches of the Maker-Mind, the knowledge in your minds will remain inviolate, and your people will remain safe. Keep in mind that belief is everything, here. If you believe you have a gun, you will have a gun. Only the spiders cannot be wished away, but they can be killed. This maze keeps us away from the Maker-Mind, but staying together will pinpoint your location. For as long as the maze lasts, you can be caught. I advise running. Or flying. Just.. don't teleport. The more extravagent things you do, the more easily the Maker-Mind's attention is brought towards you.

The second was gone, and the man sighed. The marines knew as much as he did, now. He smiled, as a silvery spike protuded through his belly. From behind the spike, materialised a spider. His body dissolved, and wisps of his power dissipated into the maze. It started to move towards the marines...



Meanwhile, on the planet, thousands of spiders lay dead, and still. Their life had been torn from them, but it did not bother those who still fought. The care for one's comrade was a human concept, and those who fought beside them were merely tools of the Maker-Mind, much as they were.

The attack continued, relentlessly. No matter how many died, no matter how many bodies piled up, they continued. For they did not tire. They could be destroyed, but they did not weaken. Nonetheless, the planet had been taken. Now, it was time to leave. Those who were not in combat swarmed into cascades of silver, forming rift-capable skins around themselves - and left. They simply jumped up, into orbit, leaving scarred patches of earth behind them.

The planet had been taken. Those who held out.. orbital bombardment was an easy way out, so to speak. It had been seeded, and now, the seeds would have to be burnt, leaving a few alive. The human could not be suffered to live, and so the attack was redoubled, those spiders who could not easily leave simply attacked - perhaps they would all die. Perhaps the humans could buy themselves a brief respite..

OOC: The Nuclear Capabilities of this Fleet are as follows.
FC Mako Class Corvette x3
DD Harvest Class Destroyer x2(6 Nukes Total)
SCS Halcyon Class Light Cruiser x2(8 Nukes Total)
CB Marathon Class Heavy Cruiser x3(15 Nukes Total)


IC: Blue Slipspace Cascades enveloped the open space, Federation ships appeared out of the blue. Warning Klaxons and lights immediately activated upon arrival. Commander Upser sat on the Battle Bridge of his ship Alger, A Marathon Class Heavy Cruiser. He held the greatest Honor bestowed upon him to re-take a Planet lost to the Federation, and he would finish his mission or Die trying.

“Contact! Lost of Contact around the planet, There must be thousands of signatures coming back.”

“Alright, were going to punch a hole right through them.” “Have the Destroyers Launch their Nuclear Missiles at these Coordinates, then if need be a follow up salvo will be launched from the Halcyons.”
“Aye sir, uploading information on the Battle Net now.”

The two Destroyers received the Coordinates for their firing destinations. The Launch tubes opened and Six Shiva Nuclear Missiles Flew towards the Mass of Machines around the planet.

Commander Upser watched the blips fly to the Mass of Enemies, “Ready the Halcyons for a follow-up Salvo, and if it is not needed, proceed into MAC and Archer Missile Range.”
“Aye, sir.”


Meanwhile on the Planet…..

“Sir! The Machines have breached our lines, They will reach the Castle in 20 seconds!”
Commander Junta turned to the Lieutenant who held the detonator, “Blow the HAVOK.”
“Y…y…Yes sir.”
“May God be with us all.”

Everything within 11km was gone in a blink of an eye. A mushroom cloud rose up from the ashes, everyone was dead, scared bodies littered the valley, hunks of metal lying with them.

Camp Adder did not have a HAVOK Warhead with them, so once their defensives were breached, it was only a matter of time. Isolated Fire-fights went on until Ammunition was spent, then it was futile clawing and beating with fists. Soon, silence held the camp. Bodies littered the ground, Tank hulls stood silent, their cabins ripped open and the crews torn out of the tanks.

The General Defense Supply Center was hit from above, the whole area being torn apart in a Nuclear Explosion. No slow death awaited the men who manned the Center, just a quick and painless killing.

…Somewhere….Driven by hate, Consumed by Fear…

Pure pandemonium was apparent though the rank and file of Marines inside the Maker-Mind. Many Marines were cut down before simultaneously remembering the words of Alinya flashed through their Minds, “Keep in mind that belief is everything, here. If you believe you have a gun, you will have a gun.” Every Marine wished for their best friend, a MA3 Assault Rifle. With that happening The Marines began to fight back, some wished for more powerful weaponry and Jackhammer Rocket Launchers began to fire along with concentrated Rifle fire. Captain Atria dodged a spider while firing a full clip into it as it went pass. Goddamn, They just keep coming, what else was that man trying to tell us…

It annoyed the Maker-Mind. It could feel them, and, like the white blood cells of the mind, the metal-spiders swarmed towards the marines. It did not consciously combat them, after all, how could you consciously combat your own mind?

The subconscious, however, was where the metal-spiders existed. Called into existence to slaughter those who were still living - most within the Maker-Mind barely had the energy, nor the will, to maintain corporeal form.

The spiders rushing the marines, in truth, were little more than white blood cells. They did not possess the keen intelligence of the spiders in reality, but that was little impediment to near-infinite numbers. As the marines fired, bullets endlessly streaming out of guns, the spiders continued onwards. As they died, however, it was noticeable that the flow of spiders slowed - bullets did not call their attention, but rockets did. As the rockets exploded, the energy that made them explode came entirely out of the mind of the marine - the marines knew that rocket launchers, and rockets, exploded. They did not know the exact workings - so what they wielded were not replica in truth, their rockets exploding when the marines believed they should, not slave to physics.

As each rocket exploded, metal-spiders burst out of the framework of the walls, spilling towards the marines - it did not take a sharp mind to correlate the spiders with the rockets...


Planet Harvest, High Orbit
The missiles flew towards the fleet. Closer.. closer.. closer.. the fleet didn't move. As they sped towards the shifting mass of silver, a single flicker of red lightning smashed into a missile, leaving it worthless. A second. A third. A fourth.

And then a fifth. The Maker-Mind's aim was impeccable, logical, and, as each nuclear missile fell, worthless, the Maker-Mind.. itched. A tiny, resistant itch, in the back of its mind. It wasn't sure what it was. It sounded like.. gunfire.

Strange. A moment of musing passed, and then a final bolt of red lightning licked out to consume the missile. And missed. It was at that moment, that the nuke exploded. Normally, it wouldn't have done much damage. Most Maker-wrought craft were highly resistant to the various energy waves of this reality. But for a single, vital, mistake.

At the moment the nuke exploded, a flicker of red lightning caught the explosion. And it exploded, a fury of red death swarming throughout the fleet. Fighters died before it, drones were swept away like pieces of flotsam on the tide.

Hundreds of ships were lost in a brief mistake. And the lightning raged on. It found the nearest ship - the Warsphere, and leapt for it. The Warsphere quivered briefly, its form suddenly amorphous and strange, and then the lightning stopped. And the Warsphere collapsed, shimmering particles of silver unable to maintain the form it was made in. The particles flew apart, and consumed themselves in the fury of existence.

A poor mistake, the Maker-Mind knew. And so it screamed. It was a scream to drive the sanity out of minds, a scream that only those who were already mad could endure. The scream echoed, the psionic wave throughout the system, shattering minds. Those with strong minds would endure.

Those with weak ones would become an extension of the Maker-Mind - mad, and gripped with a ravaging desire to take terrible vengeance upon reality for the crime of existence.

And then the fleet moved. Shocked by the mistake that had been made, they moved swiftly, red ripples in the pond of space, as they warped between Harvest, and the enemy ships. The enemy would pay for making the Maker-Mind hurt. They would pay with.. no, not their minds. They would pay with their lives...

Note: Due to deliberation on MSN, Yuk's latest attack is retconned, (his ships never let), and this thread is ended.