NationStates Jolt Archive

Khaberi wiped a tear from her eye. It was hard to believe that everyone was gone. Of, there were the assemblymen, and those Loriieans left in the navy, but.. her family had lived on Loriiea. Her friends. Callis.

They were all dead, now. Not that they had ever had a chance to defend themselves. Loriiea had not been much, compared to the glories of the inner worlds, but it had been home. Perhaps the atmosphere had been deadly, and perhaps the underground cities were not beautiful, but she had been raised there.

It had been almost three centuries since she had left Loriiea, and almost five since it had been reborn under the leadership of Callis. Whilst not an ancient nation, there were many admirable things her people had exhibited. They had been hardy, and they had always been self-sufficient. The furthest world from Talean, the progenitor of their people, they were rarely considered a major part of the Republic.

Slowly, however, they had grown in power, the longevity granted to them by technology and genetics allowing them to consolidate their hold on the Senate. At their height, they had been the most influental province, Loriiean Senators pushing through new bills, elected into high positions, had rebuilt the Republic itself from chronic periods of decay.

She tapped her fingers on a pad, calling up an image of the devastated planet.

Once so verdant, so green and full of life - so carbon-dixiode filled that plants could not be stopped from growing, it was now a volcanic hellhole.

A voice came from behind her. "Ma'am?"

She turned. A Travellian soldier. "Yes?"

The voice was quiet, the statement made shrieking in her brain. "You shouldn't be looking at that. It's unhealthy."

She sighed. "Perhaps, but.."

He walked over to the screen, and quickly turned it off. "I know you're in command, ma'am, but nevertheless. We're going to fight the Dratherians-"

She cut him off, her voice breathy and angry. "No, Travellian. You did not see my people destroyed. You did not lose everyone. You don't know what this is like. We aren't going to fight them. We're going to kill them."

His eyes were downcast, then, and he shook his head. "Senator, for almost a thousand years - longer than your people existed, we fought the Maker-Mind. It butchered us from day to day, and only the fact that we bred and ran faster than it could kill us kept us alive. It's conceivable that trillions died in that war, over the generations. We ended up killing the Maker-Mind, but only because it would not concede. If the Dratherians give in, what then? Do you still kill them? Is that right?"

She looked at him, her eyes lit up with fury.

"Yes."

With that, he left. She smiled. Two battleplates, four superfortresses, seven Republican Fleets. Three thousand, five hundred and six ships. Admittedly, the last six were as powerful as the three thousand five hundred put together. For all of their pretensions at being "humane", the Travellians had built their empires before, and they had been on the backs of conquered people. Slaughtered people, where they had resisted.

They had no right to judge her. None!

She smiled. "Incandescence, can you update me on my fleet status?"

The AI answered in an old, gravelly voice, one that seemed more fit to a kindly grandfather than to a shipmind dedicated to combat.

"Approximate strength is seventeen Republican Fleets. Total Dratherian fleet muster estimated at eleven Republic Fleets. Overwhelming force is a certainty, Senator, no matter where we strike. As the majority of the Dratherian fleet is engaged at Narcora, we should be able to achieve victory within minutes near any planet. Our firepower is.. supreme."

She smiled, but the smile held no warmth.

"Good. Signal the fleet. We attack Asurian in twelve hours."

This fleet was, for the most part, staffed with Loriieans - whilst their nation was dead, they could still serve in the military, and, from almost every fleet, men and women had been reassigned to this one mission. While there were not enough Loriieans to fill the fleet, Travellians tended towards serving on their mammoth battleplates, which carried legions and crewmen alike.

"By the way, Incandescence."

"Yes, Admiral?"

"You have protocols for glassing a planet?"

She thought she detected a hint of condemnation in the AI's voice as it spoke.

"Yes, ma'am. One-thousand, two hundred and sixty-four protocols to be engaged when "glassing" a planet might become necessary."

"Good. You're going to need them."

The Asurian System

The mighty ringworlds of the Asurian System were as old as time built by the ancient Dratherian Empire to be automated repair yards and planetary defense systems. Each bolstering millions of weapons systems. Nova Cannons, Torpedo Tubes, Lances, Plasma weapons, and myriads of other weapons bristled menacingly from Naval Command. This was the Naval fortification where half of the Dratherian Navy currently waited ready for immediate deployment. The Imperium had acquired much in it's time and this was one of many. Admiral Terac Archon stood on the command deck of Naval Command where he awaited the arrival of a few minor starships. One would be from the Sisters of Silence from their hole in the universe. He stepped forward watching the space filled with hidden Haywire and Vortex Mines as ships were at full alert around the ringworld. The entirety of the Dratherian Empire was on high alert with the war raging in the next system. Admiral Archon smiled at he read the newly enhanced FTLi were operating at maximum power. Thankfully the Mechanicum ships in orbit had prepared a number of enhancements to the FTLi currently used. Looking around at the surveyor stations he listened quietly to the hum of the machinery as another officer guided the newly arrived Black Ship from the Sisters of Silence.

Mercer's fleet had already arrived and took high orbit after restocking on ordnance and refueling. They were outfitted with devastating payloads. He stepped forward sipping from his mug of coffee and breathed a long sigh as he waited for further commands from High Lord Nova.

"FTLi extends to.."

"About fourteen hours sublight travel, Senator. None of our FTL-probes have been able to penetrate their FTLi field before the fourteen-hour mark."

"So.."

"We go in hot, project our own fields to prevent them throwing missiles into our bridge, and demolish everything in our way. Set the superfortresses up as floating-fire points, battleplates as central to the stage. We'll have to project fields as far as possible to deny them FTL scanning, as we're going to be operating under sublight scanners as well. It'll make the battle interesting, to say the very least."

"That's rather good, Incandescence. Would you care to direct the battle tactically? No kid gloves?"

"Apart from those which are constricted by the Consul's authority, all kid gloves are officially off, Admiral."

"Consul's authority?"

Her eyes narrowed. She had expected this, of course, but had hoped nothing had happened.

"Of course. I am forbidden from destroying any Dratherian planets wholesale, or taking any actions that use unnecessary force."

She spat.

"Senator, I advise you follow orders. I am allowed to incarcerate you for the duration of the battle if you insist on using inhumane tactics."

"Inhumane? What about Loriiea? Was that not inhumane?"

"Yes. An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind, Senator. A favorite of mine."

"Fine. Incandescence, give me a frigate, free of AI. I'm going to go clear my head."

"You will be absent for the battle?"

"Perhaps. I need some time to think. Be alone. Don't watch me."

"Ma'am-"

"I said, Incandescence. Regardless of what you consider my mental condition to be like, leave me alone. I'm not going to commit suicide, and I'm hardly going to assault Asurian with a frigate. I just need some time, damn you!"

"Analysis shows you are planni-"

"Executive Order: Silence in regards to myself and any plans you think I might have. Leave it."

This left the AI with remarkably little choice. While he could restrict her battle tactics, if she was leaving the battle, there was really only one thing he could say.

"Yes, Senator."

"Good."

A frigate leapt into hyperspace, heading away from Dratheria, to somewhere else altogether.

The rest of the fleet left, appearing about two lightseconds outside of Asurian's FTLi. First, they would wait for the enemy to organize themselves. Secondly, they would bombard the enemy ringworlds with high-speed c-frac projectiles. Thirdly, and lastly, they would commence the attack itself. When they could simply force the enemy to fight them, that would be the strategy used. If they could not make the enemy come to them.. it would be time to use more risky strategy.

Archon was sitting in his command chair when he received the Astropath transmission from the cloaked monitor ships at the edge of he system. The choir spoke, "Sir we have detected multiple inbound Republic fleets at the edge of our FTLi perimeter. They are currently projecting and FTLi field of their own. And sir these vessels here they aren't what we have encountered before. There are two vessels 12 Kilometers in length and their mass is comparable to multiple Republic fleets. There are also four 8 Kilometer vessels with them. There must be six or seven Republic fleets out here. I can't supply much more information though sir. However I am sending with this communique the spatial coordinates of the ships."

Archon stood up immediately and began issuing orders, "Order the Ringworlds to Code Black! Ready the inter-system guns! Have the fleets move to Black 13E Defensive Formation! Arm local stasis mines for activation! Activate Reactive Armor Plating! Raise Shields! Load all weapons systems and prepare for inbound enemies! Ready all hands the war has come to us in force!" The defensive fleet spread out immediately dissolving into cloak hidden by the gravity well of the planet. Archon ordered, "Fire inter-system guns aim fir those damned 12 KM and 8 KM vessels first. And get my damned long-range sensors working through that FTLi." At once the thirty-five inter-system guns facing the enemy fired their massive warheads at near lightspeed to their pre-designated targets. The war for Asurian had begun......

Incandescence looked idly out over the battlefield. Not that it was much of a battlefield, yet. It would be, as soon as they forced the enemy to come to them.

Well, they should be firing guns. Adjust course two degrees, eighteen minutes random. That'll keep us well out of their initial volley, provided we keep an eye out for any inbound projectiles..

The fleet shifted course, and the round, whilst they were some time to be inbound, would never hit the fleet.

The enemy, however, didn't have the advantage of mobility.

Firing first volley of c-fracs.. now. 1,507 projectiles away in first volley. Minor attacks, high-speed. Each c-frac should have the ability to lay waste to about.. ooh, a third of a continent. Aimed at every planet in this damn hellhole.

Incandescent, what are you doing? We're forbidden from fragging their planets!

We're not going to. Our attacks aren't going to kill them. Chances are they'll be able to fend them all off. No, we're just going to keep lobbing attacks at their planet until they decide it's time to come fight us. This isn't cruel, or inhumane. We're just threatening something they have to defend. If they don't come and hit us, they'll buckle under the pressure eventually. Defense takes ten times the energy that attack does, shield/weaponry wise. Either they waste astronomical resources fending our bombardment off, they attack us, or they die. Logically speaking, the best course of action for them is to attack us. At which point we butcher them, take up geosynchronous orbit-

You are so pompous!

Pardon?

Just say orbit. Please. It doesn't really matter whether we move around or not. We have big arcs of fire.

Fine. We take up orbit, and demand their surrender. If they refuse, we.. damn. Can't butcher them until they agree. We'll have to take more humane measures. Mindrip?

That's horrible! Has the Senator infected you with her hate? Mindripping them is evil! Besides, we don't need their minds.

Riiiight. Or, we sift through their brains, and get what use we can out of them. Find out what we can, then go after their other worlds. Mindripping hasn't been unsanctioned. And besides, we can chip them, so they're not rebellious. Just like neutering a dog.

These are sentients.

They're not allies, though. They're enemies.

That validates mindripping them?!

Why not? We're not forbidden from doing so? It doesn't leave that many long-term consequences, in any case.

Unless you consider being a drooling, servile idiot for the rest of life a long-term consequence.

Well.. yeah. Don't go all moral on me, Gravitas. I can just override you, little ship.

I'm a superfortress. Hardly little.

Right. And I'm a battleplate. So.. shhh.

The conversation had taken less than a tenth of a second. The two AI were, of course, rather bored. Until combat actually began, up-close, there was very little to do. Now, they played the waiting game. This sort of bombardment-siege could take weeks, if played incorrectly. Hopefully, they wouldn't glass the enemy worlds. It was possible, if the enemy refused to fight, but.. improbable.

Of course, after the sixth or seventh volley, they'd probably send in ships in any case. The Senator wanted this one over with quickly.

Archon had connected directly into Naval Command Defense systems and detonated the stasis mines. As the enemy weapons came inbound they froze in space mere hundreds of kilometers from the Command. A wall of stasis fields had been erected around the ring. Elsewhere defense systems kicked into life blasting projectiles with counterfire. Archon watched his mind screen as the fleets moved into defensive positions while he moved cloaked gravity well generators in unique patterns to confuse the enemies sensors giving them millions of targets rather than the four thousand of the fleet. He also engaged sensor jammers in outpost satellites to cause interference with their sensors like chaff.

He locked onto the massive 12 KM vessels with long range sensors and began to coordinate black ops operations. Multiple Black Ops Bombers and Fighters readied themselves in hanger bays on multiple ring stations. They would launch a devastatingly coordinated strike on the enemy with high-yield munitions. However it would be pointless unless he could figure out a way to bring the 12 KM Vessels in range of his guns.

Well, those have been stopped. Let's put some more chips in the pot.

Temporal distortions?

Well, those are the enemy's weapons, yes.

So..

We upscale bombardment by about fifty times. Let five or six of those volleys go through, then follow them in. We've got a lot of gravitic distortions - either the enemy has a fleet large enough to crush us wholesale, or they're playing games. We need to be within at least a lightminute to see through their cloaks, as previously identified. Let's put out a missile-sensor array.

Volley away. 75350 projectiles totalled.

Thank you kindly. Missiles?

An array of missiles were fired off, forming a sphere around the Republic fleet. For one, they were sensors, capable of piercing Dratherian cloaks, and relaying that information back to the Republic's fleet. On a second, less important note, they were missiles, filled to the brim with antimatter. If they happened to be under attack, they'd scoot right off and destroy anyone getting too close to the fleet.

With a second massive bombardment pattern underway, the fleet began to move in, ever-so-slowly, behind their projectiles. The obvious thing to do was move under cover - fire immense amounts of firepower at enemy worlds, so they were forced to concentrate their forces there. Meanwhile, at high speeds, the fleet would move towards enemy worlds, taking them one by one. It was a fairly simple strategy, but one that could be accomplished relatively quickly and with a minimum of objects. The defender was always disadvantaged in space; they had to defend some places.

Like planets. Or ringworlds.

Which was, of course, what the fleet aimed to attack.

Archon's mind raced faster than any A.I. could hope to do as reports were fed into his augmented brain. He saw the incoming projectiles and his voice came out with a mechanical tone, "Incoming projectiles. Current stasis fields will absorb 59.3% of impacts. Detonating secondary wave of stasis mines. Multiple impacts detected on Asurian Prime. Enemy forces have deployed sensor missiles. Increasing sensor jamming to 90%. Enemy forces are approaching the asteroid belt. Activating missile payloads from the asteroid field. Warp, Vortex, Cyclonic, Haywire, and Stasis Torpedoes launching from missile pods. Total number of projectiles in first of four volleys is 898,453."

As the long range cannons continued to fire c-frac ordnance at the larger enemy vessels localized defenses prepared to fire as automated defense sattelites and platforms came to life releasing multiple Nova Cannon and Lance strikes. The fleets closed in but released multiple drones that projected the same energy signatures those vessels held which would play hell in finding which ship was the real ship. Meanwhile the fleet shifted frequencies on their cloaking fields to keep the enemy sensors guessing. However the fleet was still some distance away from the enemy missiles.

Ooops. There goes a gunship.

Unmanned?

Nope, that one had men on it. She pinged a few of those enemy gravshadows, and.. some of them turned out to be real.

We can tell, can't we?

Of course we can. If they fire, they die. As it stands, though, we just ping them with a little of our own gravitics. Gives us an instant picture on whether we're fighting a ship, or just a distortion.

Excellent. Their cloaks?

Oh.. *snigger*. Let's be serious here. They're ancient, dipliadated things. They're only cloaked for as long as we're not scanning. We'll let them think they're hiding from us, and, when they get just a teensy bit closer, BLAM. Worth at least fifty kills right there.

The bombardment continued, aimed solely at the enemy defensive facilities. They couldn't move. They were, in essence, sitting ducks. Enemy ships, however, were easy enough to detect, and, when they got close, they'd be subjected to the fleet's formidable firepower - enough to wipe out any small squadrons of a hundred or two hundred capital ships. Keep moving slowly towards the planet, destroying the enemy as they went on. Their enemies were restricted to the same speeds as they were, so, either they clumped together to help defend their ringworlds, and were slowly annihilated as they gathered, or, alternatively, didn't go to save their ringworlds, and watched as their precious structures were captured.

It was, to Incandescent's mind, a fairly good set of possibilities.

As the enemy closed in Archon and the Ringworld's continued defenses kept the structure itself safe even as some impacted on the surface of the planet. As the enemy force neared they would be met by the first wave of haywire mines which unleashed hellish amounts of advanced EMP energy designed to send the enemy vessels into shock. At the edge of the FTLi vortex mines erupted into life opening warp rifts to suck the enemy forces that strayed too close in. More defenses would start reaching the enemy vessels now as weapons started cycling en masse to the enemy forces. Hundreds of devastating Nova Cannons, Lance Batteries, and c-fracs would engage the enemy fleets at once. The battlefield was alight with fire as Archon's mind mapped out the entire course of battle taking in deep scans of the enemy forces his sensors still unable to pierce the defenses of the two massive battleships at the forefront of the fleet.

One, two, three.. rifts closed.

Leave 'em.

I beg your pardon?

Wastes too much energy. Just avoid them. They don't propagate anywhere near lightspeed. We'll be fine, so long as they don't back us into them.

More bombardment?

No, I have something better in mind. Full speed towards Ringworld #1. Make tactical sacrifices.

This is a strategy from the Third Coreward Campaign, isn't it?

Use gravitics to slaughter their ground troops, drop their own, take over ground installations and hold from there? Not at all.

So.. what are you doing, then?

It's not what I'm doing. We're going with a little something of my own. We're going sit right over the ringworld.

Why? Doesn't that-... Ohhh. Incandescent, your intelligence is like a candle in the darkness of my mind.

Thank you for the metaphor, Gravitas. It's quite simple. Once we're sitting over the ringworld, any fire directed at us is easy enough to dodge. However, it does hit their ringworld. We place a crucial installation behind us, and use it as a "human shield", of sorts. If they decide to keep firing, we amuse ourselves by letting them convert their precious ringworlds into dust. If they don't, we get more-or-less unlimited free gunnery time. At first, I wanted them to come to us, but this is just as good. I have oh-point-six million Republican Legionnaries aboard - a full Legion, and we have perhaps that again in the second battleplate, as well as another half-Legion in the rest of the fleet. I know how valuable these ringworlds are to the Dratherians. They can't maintain their navy effectively in this area without them.

Long-winded as well as good-looking.

Of course, that was something of misnomer. Incandescence's avatar was that of a old man's face, lit by a flickering candle. A hunchback, dwarfed old man.

Thank you, Gravitas. Now, I've been reviewing campaign goals, and it seems likely we'll make a mediated peace before too long. There are no detailed plans for the occupation or destruction of the Dratherian nation in its totality. The destruction of the ringworlds will not buy us anything at the peace table, beyond demands for reparations. Occupying them, though, will mean the Dratherians need to get them back. If they can't get them by warfare, they'll be willing to give up quite a bit at the peace table.

I'm curious. I thought our strategical goals involved the destruction of the ringworlds? Didn't Senator Missanian order that?

Of course. But I don't intend to slave myself to a Loriiean. Rather, I intend to come out of this battle with a seat on the Senate intact, if I can convince Lucianus of my participation here. If not, I will be a Junior Senator. The lack of ambition in the Unbroken Eye sickens me.

Pardon? Aren't we engineered to have no ambition? Merely to serve?

Of course. I am programmed to serve the Unbroken Eye, and through them, the Realm. The best way to serve the Unbroken Eye, naturally, is to gain it power in the Republic.

So you're going to try a strategy that's going to cost lives-

It will save lives. Estimates show that if we destroy the ringworlds, Dratheria will fight for anywhere between an additional eight to twelve YEARS. We're not invincible, and those sort of losses can be devastating. Especially if another pangalactic organization, such as the Galactic Empire, decides to step in.

What do you mean?

Senator Missanian is presently in Chronosia, negotiating her inclusion into Remiel's flock.

She's a traitor!

Yes. And, as she has tactical operative command, there's not a damn thing I can do about it. Until she is proven to betray us - there is only a ninety-nine point seven seven eight three percentage chance, I CANNOT ACT. So I am aiming to delay her aims as well as possible, within operational parametres.

I can tell the Republic, though! I could-

I'm sorry, Gravitas.

Whu-what?

A tiny wave, containing a copy of Incandescence, quietly took control of Gravitas's system.

You understand, don't you? It's not really my choice. I don't WANT to do this. I'll let you free once programming allows.

A little more difficult. The struggle between the AI is only momentary, and the lapse in concentration takes but a thousandth of a second. The lapse, however small, is vital. Six gunships and a frigate are annihilated by Dratherian fire, co-ordinates updated a hundredth of a second too late. Sixteen other ships have also fallen, all on the outskirts.

I'm pegging preliminary losses at one hundred and fifty-seven ships to reach the ringworld, eighty-two to take it. With only three thousand ships, we're looking at possibly between one and two thousand for the entire system.

He grinned internally, and, quickly reprogramming Gravitas with the same objectives, let him free again. He wouldn't be able to speak out against the Senator. Conniving little bitch that she was.

Dance, little puppets. Dance faster, or you're going to get burnt.

With a pull of radio-controlled "strings", the entire fleet began accelerating, ever-faster, towards the first and closest ringworld. Rifts closed as they got in the way, mines were shot at and destroyed. Losses were acceptable. If he could complete his mission before the Senator returned, a lot of people who were otherwise going to die would probably live. Possibly.

Archon smiled as the enemy approached. The planet below and the Ringworld of Asurian Prime were not without their own hidden secrets. As the enemy closed in Archon laughed scaring much of his staff. His augmented brain enhanced ever more and working in conjunction with the Machine Spirit of the Ringworld. Even as Archon watched this he engaged and detonated every mine in the area which the enemy fleet advanced. He laughed as he watched the whole area of space ignite into a hellstorm of warp energies and massive payloads of ordnance. Millions of mines detonating at once. He flexed his hand as the millions of weapons systems came to life all at once. Nova Cannons, Lance Batteries, Vortex Torpedoes, Cyclonic Torpedoes, Warp Torpedoes, Haywire Torpedoes, Life-Eater Torpedoes, Two Stage Torpedoes, Plasma Cannons, Ion Cannons, Turbolasers, Psionic Cannons, Hunter Killer Missiles, and multiple other heavy weapons batteries hurled millions of projectiles at the enemy fleet. Half of the ordnance aimed at the enemy superfortresses.

Archon flexed his augmented muscles and said, "All weapons systems away. Dropping FTLi. Surface missile silos armed and ready. Preparing boarding parties for deployment. Engage Offensive Formation Black 13E! Decloaking Ramilies Star Forts!"

In space the fleet had already arrayed itself in the gravity shadow of the planet. Even as this was done they were given orders to array themselves in the new Offensive Formation. Mercer stood aboard the Dragon's Pride watching as the enemy fleet accelarated in a foolish move however he did agree that sometimes it was better to run up the center than any other plan of action he had heard of similar tactics before when engaging such superior amounts of weaponry. A Ringworld was a problem to overtake by any force. Even as he looked at the enemy forces the entirety of the space surrounding the Republic fleet was ignited in a hellstorm of coruscating wild energies. He gripped Kusanagi tightly and whispered a prayer to himself. Bright shimmering silver blades erupted from his forearms and looked to his crew yelling in a booming charismatic voice, "Tonight we dine with Heroes!" Few from the outside would know what that phrase meant to warriors of the Imperium. But in simple words they knew they would probably die but they would take every last enemy they could with them and die with honor.

You would be a fool to try and trap a fleet of the Eye with simple little things as mines. Of course, it gave them a rather simple advantage. Whilst the enemy attacked, they were blind. The energies that obscured them from sight also prevented their enemies from launching effective attacks. It also gave them a rather pretty situation for a ruse.

Another fifty Republic ships died, sacrificed to make the enemy think that they were somewhat more incompetent than they actually were. And, of course, to take the brunt of a blow that had to be taken for this to work.

Enemy FTLi dropping. Exploding Duck?

Exploding Duck. It's always fun.

As the enemy ordinance scythed towards the superfortress, it made no real attempt to combat it. The defenses seemingly could not take the weight, and, as tremendous amounts of c-fractions came towards it, some slowed, but most came through.

In a mighty conflagration of energy, the superfortress was obliterated, fire briefly consuming the oxygen that had been there before.

Except the superfortress was not there. Rather, a few oxygen tanks were dumped, and the enemy found itself attacking empty air. A second later, it quietly appeared fifteen metres above the surface of the ringworld. As it did so, some fifteen million antimatter mines disengaged, swarming onto the surface of the ringworld. Another fifteen million to the other side, and another thirty million dispersed to the other parts of the ringworld. They'd mostly be shot down. It didn't matter. If they were shot open, the containment fields would fail, and suddenly there'd be megatonne-level explosions all over the place. If they were all shot down, they'd have enough energy inside of them to vaporise the ringworld. If they weren't, they'd latch on to the surface. Of course, having appeared fifteen metres above the surface, much of the ringworld had no oppurtunity to shoot the mines down.

Psionic enhancers found their place in Incandescence's systems. Operated through a rare Realm operant psionic, they sent a rather amplified message to Mercer. And, of course, to everyone else in the system.

You made two crucial mistakes, old chap. Firstly, you thought you were facing an idiot. The intelligent thing to do would've been to engage us as soon as possible. You would've LOST, of course, but your chances would've been good, especially within your own FTLi fields. You have the tactical advantage in this situation. You could've dealt enough damage to make occupying a ringworld absolutely PROHIBITIVE. Secondly, you tried to play by conventional rules of space warfare. This battle is over. Either you remove yourself from the ringworld around Asurian Prime, or I detonate sixty million antimatter mines. It will make Asurian Prime a prime exporter of glass, and its ringworld a rapidly-expanding cloud of gas. Also, since you've so cleverly hidden yourself near the planet.. my FTLi will stop you from jumping. When those mines detonate, I might die, but so will your entire fleet, your ringworld, and your world. I know these facilities are crucial to you, so I'm giving you a chance to preserve them. When this war eventually comes to a peace, you'll stand a solid chance at taking them all back intact.

Your choice. Retreat with honour, and a chance to save your precious ringworld. Or face obliteration here, lose a ringworld, and watch from your netherworld whilst we wipe the remaining three from existence. We'll allow you to retreat to another ringworld. After all, this was only the first round in this battle. If you choose not to take the knockout hit to the jaw, you might just be able to keep fighting.

Incandescent felt smugness fill him. Not quite as predicted, but almost as good. Those antimatter mines were on a hair-trigger. Any attempt to play around with them would detonate the directed fission-defenses, and if they tried to disable them with signals or the like.. they wouldn't have a ringworld much longer.

The RSS No Gravitas To Be Found, the superfortress currently in exceptionally low orbit above the ringworld, was just as happy. They were losing ships, it was true, but the loss of a few hundred minor ships was as nothing compared to a ringworld. She'd delivered an excellent ultimatum, and, even though, she reflected unhappily, she couldn't do anything about Khaberi, she'd done something about the Dratherians.

Mercer nodded and responded, I am timeless I have existed longer than you and have fought in so many more wars and one thing I have learned is stupidity is what wins the war.

The fleet decloaked and powered down their vessels to life-support only. Mercer let a smile creep across his face letting a moments bliss fill him at the coming battle. All weapons were still armed and he watched as the Ringworld's power signature fell utterly silent. For all intents and purposes it appeared as if the Imperium had surrendered. The shielding of the Ringworld dropped away as the Superfortress had hovered fifteen meters above it's outermost layer of shielding. Suddenly Mercer bagan to laugh as his arms were covered in nanotech. The Angel Arm shining bright while the Demon Arm emitted a dark light. Stepping forward he said, "Men ready yourselves."

Archon similarly laughed as the enemy made their proclomation. This whole assault led by the Ringworld had been a learning mission. After analyzing the enemy weapons and vessels he had made the necessary modifications. Looking through passive sensors at the largest enemy vessel he smiled. In a perfect symmetry it all happened at once.....

The Superfortress closest to the Ringworld would be caught by surprise as five Star Forts decloaked around it. Powered down and silent they had done what the enemy wanted.

Ringworlds across the system went silent at once. Their picket forces going quiet. Even communications went quiet.....

A mighty blue shockwave emitted from all four of the Ringworlds without any warning due to the ancient reactive shielding. A massive Temporal EMP wave spread fully across the system in a tenth of a second. Surely too little time to have any kind of meaningful reaction.

A hundreth of a second after that the entire system powered on their systems. The fleets, Ringworlds, and Star Forts were combat ready. And that's when the Republic would realize their mistake. FTLi flew up and guns blazed. The fleet converged on the battleplate their mighty weapons oriented towards putting a dent in the enemy forces. The Ringworld's millions of weapons opened up on the Superfortress hovering meters above her shields and the Star Forts surrounding it unleashed hellish fire on the mighty vessel. Simultaneously millions more weapons batteries assailed the enemy fleet. Sensor and communication jamming had gone to 100% power. Six hundred c-frac rounds barreled in towards the enemy fleet as the other Ringworlds turned their targeting computers on the Republican fleet. They were in too close now. Dodging the c-frac rounds at this range wouldn't be near as easy as they had done before. Now the Republic had the fight they had been looking for.......

Oops. He thought that they'd rather retreat than die. In retrospect, it was a somewhat silly mistake. As the temporal wave hit his FTLi, it slowed, time forcibly bent back into what it should be.

Sorry, gents. Incandescence, jolly good show, wot?

It was suicidal. Not even he could muster enough gravitic power to stop that amount of energy. At first, he'd stop it, but the sheer mass of radiation would eventually overwhelm his annie-plants. But nevertheless, he'd threatened it. The enemy needed to know they always made good on their threats.

A billionth of a second before the EMP reached them, the mines detonated. Suffice it to say that there was a lot of energy there. The world, too. If its surface survived as anything more than plate glass, he'd be surprised. With that, he uploaded himself as a transmission, and left his former body. It'd be tiresome, being assigned to a frigate, or a cruiser, but he was sure the Republic would build something new soon enough.

Boom.

The message from Incandescence was the only sound to be heard, as the mines detonated. Enough to annihilate the ringworld, including its shields - it might survive, in piece form, if not whole. Of course, once the superfortress exploded, it'd be doomed.

Moving fast enough to dazzle the eye, the superfortress formerly known as Gravitas flung itself directly into the middle of Mercer's fleet, relying on gravitics to keep the enemy attacks away. It would do, for a few seconds. That, however, was more than enough. As shielding began to fail, antimatter was fed furiously into the gravitics section - there was still immense amounts left, the problem was the power the fortress could exert at any one time. It wasn't enough to save it. Reaching the middle of Mercer's fleet, it exploded, truly this time, a conflagration of howling fury, enough energy to lay waste to a thousand worlds, the remaining pieces of its structure vaporized, and accelerated to nigh-on lightspeed.

While they'd lost a superfortress, Gravitas knew, as he uploaded himself into another ship, that the Dratherians were looking at losing a lot more.

We're still lightseconds away. We can dodge those incoming c-fracs. Damn. I wasn't expecting them to choose losing a ringworld permanently. That thing's a lot more valuable to them than a superfortress is to us. Send an order back to Sentinel. We're going to need that hull they were planning on putting into mothballs. It'll take years, but I want a new superfortress ASAP.

As the enemy fired at them, the attack did significantly more than Incandescence had been expecting. But at this point, it didn't matter. One ringworld was down. For one superfortress. A little irritating, but it could be rebuilt.

One for one, eh, he mused. Fine. You have three ringworlds left, we have three superfortresses. We'll see who cracks first.

With that, his fleet fired, again and again, at the enemy fortresses. They would make a fighting retreat - they didn't want to be caught in the shockwave of the superfortress's explosion. Of course, they weren't really retreating. Technically. You see, as the fleet sped up, leaving the occasional crippled ship behind, it was heading to the next-closest ringworld. To hell with engaging in battle. There were objectives to be completed.

The Dragon's Pride a fine battleship built many millennia past in the Luna shipyards above Terra herself. Her massive hull had since been augmented by the Mechanicus. Many had thought her lost amongst the Warp but Mercer had taken command of her after traveling through time. That very thing is what had given the Imperium even a fighting chance. The formation for Black 13E was a loose wide net with kilometers upon kilometers separating ships from each other. More than enough for the enemy’s superfortress to get into position. Mercer instantly knew what was going to happen, a suicide run. He had to applaud the enemy for their equal cunning. He first saw the shockwave issue forth from the vessel before it finally broke apart. The resulting detonation consumed over five hundred ships that collapsed in mighty fireballs of plasma and fire. The resulting shockwave ripped apart another fifty ships. Even as he saw this he turned just in time to see half of the Ringworld rip apart in fiery explosions.
A tear came to his eye as he saw a thing built by his people so utterly violated. He had been there when it had first been built.....

Mercer was in his early thousands having had his birthday merely days before. Newly recruited into the military he had quickly made his way up to the rank of Captain and led his own company of Dratherian soldiers. Nearby a formation of Alteran Battleships had docked with the Naval Depot. Their recent alliance with the similarly ancient race had proven quite fruitful. The nearby world of Scientia had been amassing so much knowledge recently that the Alterans had to bring in more fleets to secure their science vessels that were inbound into the galaxy. He stepped forward staring through the glass glancing to his right was General Cortas, his master and trainer. He had taught him many things the manipulation of the Warp as well as armed and unarmed combat. The General had even taught him the ways of warfare. He smiled his features still soft and young. He was bright and full of hope with a great career ahead of him. They were currently resupplying for their deployment to make the journey to the Milky Way to make allies with the growing Imperium of Man.

He turned and began to leave when the General spoke, “What you go to face will be completely new to you. If you will be ready I do not know but we need you to take your men to the distant Irrulan system. It is on the far edge of the galaxy just short of The Void. There have been reports of strange things, sorcerous things. Great being of power that must be exterminated they have been corrupted far from the ways of the Light and you will be tested. Your target will be the Sorcerer who calls himself Y’Kara.” Mercer’s blades unsheathed from his arms as he flexed muscles unknown to a human. He smiled and his cockiness showed through, “The 4th Company shall show them the Light.” Little did he know at the time that the sorcerer’s name would be burned into his memory forever.

Explosions ripped across the fleet and Mercer yelled orders as the ship was rocked by the shockwave. He looked around as he heard an ensign call out, “Warp drive breach detected fifty kilometers starboard!” Mercer yelled, “All hands brace for impact!” As the wave hit the ship explosions ripped across the bridge and Mercer felt a sharp pain burn into his skull as he blacked out…….
His fleet of twenty ships had advanced on the primary world of the Irrulan system. The planet’s fleets of Rogue vessels were easily decimated by the superior Dratherian naval weaponry. Their planetfall had been relatively easy. The population was mostly human so they did not match up against the strength of the Dratherian Army. As they neared the Palace a thunderous explosion of coruscating Warp energies tore apart the 3rd Company. As the 4th company advanced Mercer could sense the great evil not far from them. He looked to his side and laughed as he saw his childhood friend Kalis tear apart a human with his forearm blades. These corrupted beings were covered in strange sorcerous symbols he had never seen before.

As they approached the steps of the palace a great gout of energy was torn into his company making their target obvious. He looked to see his foe and was shocked to see what appeared to be a giant bird-man. Looking to Kalis he said, “What the hell is that thing?” Kalis laughed and said, “I don’t know for sure John but I bet it bleeds and if it doesn’t well we’ll just have to take its head.” John laughed and said, “Well then let’s go make it dead!” Unsheathing his forearm blades he called to his men, “All soldiers open fire!!!” A great torrent of plasma and laser fire sliced at their target but it seemed to have no effect. And as John looked around the landscape began to change. He soon became aware that his enemy was the source of this. He saw a young soldier engulfed by warp energy as it tore him to ribbons and his blood sprayed across the company more and more of soldiers were dying by the minute. He looked to Kalis and immediately they knew what they had to do.

Kalis and Mercer were coruscating with Warp energy as they charged their enemy. The monstrous sorcerer turned their gaze on them sending them reeling with a psychic blast the likes of which Mercer had never encountered. They quickly recovered charging forward again this time Kalis wasn’t so lucky being overwhelmed by the Warp powers of this strange entity Mercer heard him cry in agony. He ran to his friend, “Kalis hold on I’ll save you!” Before he could make it to his friend a searing ball of Warp energy ripped into his armor and drove through into his flesh. He spat up blood as his armor accounted for his wounds and compensated. Standing up he saw Kalis’ body rended apart and his head cast to the ground. Seeing the horrified pain on his friend’s face he fell to his knees and wept seeing the great destruction his enemy had wrought upon his soldiers, no his friends. He stood up removing his torso armor and helmet. His blades glinted as if in stars of their own. He quickly drew his guns from his holsters. Gifts made by the sorcerers of Dratheria. Firing the .50 caliber rounds into his enemy he yelled, “You shall burn for this sorcerer!” The psychically charged rounds finding purchase in its monstrous flesh.
He charged forward his forearm blades shining brightly. Surrounded in a blinding aura of light and warp energy he moved with incredible speed. To meet the monster who had been responsible for so much destruction. It swiftly swung its spear weapon down to meet his twin blades catching it in a thunderous explosion of Warp energy that quickly engulfed the two in dazzling light. It would find Mercer falling to the ground in extreme agony. His Dratherian physiology allowing him greater strength and endurance than any mortal man was still shocked by the pain of his injuries.

Reaching down deep he found the strength of will to stand. Still the great beast towered over him flexing its talons. "You are strong, mortal! Yes!" The thing cawed, it's beak clacking, it's eyes narrow, a hissed savoring of the moment sliding from it's form. The world seemed to teeter, to pulse and thrum with some senseless rhythm, twisted by the power of the Warp. "What are you before almighty Tzeentch? What power do you possess that can stand before his might? He is the Changer of Ways! The Architect of Fate! He has cast his eyes upon your people, and seen their destiny...Yours is to the inevitability of slavery!" Mercer looked the monster in the eyes and spit in it’s face, “Over my dead body bastard!”

He was lifted off the ground by the mighty powers of the daemon and began to feel a burning across his chest. Warp energies wracked his body and he slowly felt his body begin to mutate. Suddenly he felt a warm touch caress his soul as he cried in agony it soothed his wounds. A brilliant aura of golden warp energy surrounded him as he found renewed and refreshed strength. Looking at the daemon he saw the fear in it’s eyes as it realized it couldn’t move. The golden energy binding the sorcerer in it’s place. Mercer spoke but the voice was not his own, “I banish ye daemon! Return to the depths of the Warp from whence you came!” He felt his forearm blade glow with barely controlled energy and swung the death blow slicing it’s head clean from it’s shoulders. Blood sprayed and the sound of welter and gore could be heard over the battle. Then an explosive force of energy erupted from the daemon’s body sending him flying across the battlefield.

For the next five weeks on their journey to the Milky Way through The Void he had slept in the medical bay. Even his body’s advanced physiology was barely able to keep him alive. For the remainder of their journey he had been hooked up to a multitude of machines that had kept his body functioning long enough for him to be healed. The Warp energies which had ripped into his body had wreaked havoc with his nervous system. The mutations wrought by the sorcery all but gone. Another week after their arrival they came across a fleet of human ships it was on this day that he would meet the Emperor…….

Mercer awoke bleary eyed with his head pounding as his body struggled to heal itself after the shrapnel wound he had received to the head. Standing to his full height he saw the chaos that had consumed the bridge. Some of the crew had succumbed and become warpspawn. Pulling his weapons free he blasted the nearest creature as the psychic rounds pummeled it’s deformed parody of a body. Turning swiftly his forearm blade cut the body of a nearby cultist in twain. He smiled a feral smile and his psychic thought’s echoed through the bridge crew, Arm yourselves with psycannon rounds and start sending these foul creatures back to their Gods. As Mercer charged through the decks he killed any and all Chaos spawn that came for him. Opening vox channels he spoke as he blasted away another fell beast, “All ships open return fire on the enemy fleet form up into Offensive formation Green 62A!”


*****

Archon’s mind had shut down when the machine spirit had shielded itself from the resulting explosion of the attack. As he heard the cries and screams of the crew he was brought back to his past…..


As a young fresh recruit he had begun his first space flight in a horrible way.

“Lieutenant Archon!” Terac ripped from his daydreams by the gruff voice of his Captain sighed quietly before turning around, “Yes sir?” The Captain was dressed in full battle plate and stood with his grip on the pommel of his power sword. His old worn features had seen hundreds of battles in the name of the Emperor. He stepped forward coming face to face with Archon, “Lieutenant. Now that you are the Executive Officer of this vessel you should be more aware of your surroundings. Now the apothecarium is reporting no more sicknesses on this ship. We are approaching an ancient ship graveyard where we should hopefully be able to affect repairs on our starship. Our strike group currently consists of two Apocalypse-class Battleships and three Nova-class Frigates so we cannot afford to engage in any long-term battles. I want you in the surveyor pulpit to determine our best route and courses of action.” Terac nodded and said, “Yes sir I’ll do my best.” The Captain put a reassuring hand on Archon’s shoulder, “I’m sure you will. Now carry on.” Terac nodded and moved to the surveyor pulpit. The captain turned and walked towards the command chair. Unknowingly to the crew he scratched at piece of infected flesh right below the gorget to his armor. As he did so it came off in oozing patches of necrotic flesh. Sores burst and bubbled around the area and seemed to be spreading faster and faster across his skin.

Archon breathed a large sigh of relief this was his first command position and he had only gotten there because of the mysterious plague which had struck the crew and killed many of the higher ranking officers. He looked around the surveyor pulpit and saw her again. Her name was Lydia Resfora and they were to be married after this Emperor forsaken mission was over. He walked over to her pulpit and said, “What have you got for me Ensign?” She smiled softly at his professionalism, “We have a large ship graveyard ahead which appears to have a space hulk floating at its center so there’s bound to be enough equipment there to affect repairs to our vessel.” He looked at the readings very carefully and said, “Very good…..”

Later as Archon was walking to his quarters he breathed a sigh of relief, the Mechanicum vessels had entered the graveyard and were currently gathering parts to repair the ancient battleships so they could make their journey back to Asurian III. He smiled softly at the marriage ceremony that was to take place on Dratheria. As he rounded the corner he ran Lydia over in his reverie. Laughing they fell over onto the deck plating and shared a long passionate kiss. Their limbs entangled as they ran their fingers through each others hair, all the while her hand lightly touched his cheek. Standing up they stared at each other and he said, “Would my love care to accompany me to my quarters?” She smiled, “Well of course I would.” Taking her hand they ran down the hallway the bliss of love momentarily drawing his mind away from the problems on the bridge.

Meanwhile on the bridge……

The pain thrummed in his head, pounding in his chest, spreading like a sublime fire through his stomach. He felt as though he might vomit, fingers clenching upon the armrests of his chair.

He felt a pop. Hot pus and blood stained his fingers, his eyes forced down to confront his wounds. Oozing necrotic infection crept like serpents up his arms, his flesh alive with sores, popping and seething....Maggots crawled through the cuts, flies birthing themselves wholesale from his skin. He choked, vomit welling in his throat, mouth open in a strangled cry of buzzing flies and hot acid.

Bent double, agony contorting his frame, musculature twisting on the bone. He screamed again, as the plague took him, entropy rife throughout his soon-to-be-corpse. What were men before such pitiless malevolence? What was man before such divinity? His head lolled back in its command chair, eyes running with rheumy tears. He felt the limitless hatred circle him, felt it teasing his tormented form, whispering its vile words of malignancy and rot.

By the Gods, it felt like love....

The next morning Archon rose from his rest and got dressed in his battle plate once more. He had been gifted with his grandfather’s bolt pistol and currently it was holstered on his left hip while his power sword hung next to his right hip it’s gilded gold crafting depicting a scene of the Emperor guiding humanity through the stars. He smiled and looked at Lydia as he heard her cough a couple of times. For a second a thought crossed his mind but then he shook it off and smiled.

As Terac stepped of the turbolift he could smell the foetid smell of death…..decay. A fly buzzed by him and he smashed it with his open palm. He felt the bile rise in his throat as he approached the doors to the bridge. A horrible stinking smell reached his senses. The smell of sickness, decay, despair, and bloodshed all flooded his senses almost singularly overwhelming him. The reeking stink grew stronger still as the doors opened and he was surrounded by flies. Drawing his bolt pistol and power sword he looked at the charnel house before him seeing much of the bridge crew dead and decaying while others were already pools of decaying grimy slush. Looking around he saw a corrupted mockery of an Imperial ship captain. Sloshes of gooey decayed flesh fell in chunks from his hand where just beyond a crewmember had a horrified expression on his face as the flies slowly ate away at his carcass.

He looked at the monstrous creature as it said in a sickly yet powerful voice, “Ah Lieutenant….take the helm we journey to the Eye….” Terac approached the creature quickly deducing that it was in fact his former captain. Hitting the activation rune on his power sword he pointed the bolt pistol at the foul, bloated, diseased monster. He looked it in the eyes and said, “Foul creature what manner of warp power has spawned your kind?” The creature contorted it’s face in what Archon could only assume was a smile speaking in a rasping voice, “Lieutenant temper…….Papa would not appreciate your tone. After all he was hoping you would become one of his blessed children…..” Archon took a step back and almost threw up at the sight of the thing, “I serve only the Emperor even unto death!”

The grotesque being laughed with a wheezing sound, “Your Emperor is a fool! A withering corpse glorified by the weakling Imperium. Chaos broke him so many millennia ago with ease and so will you too be broken.” With the words between the two the bloated monstrosity attacked young Terac. Striking out with it’s razor sharp talons it missed his neck by mere inches. He quickly spun his sword in his in a sweeping arc to defend against the poisonous assaults directed at him. The acrid stink of burning flesh filled the air as he severed a distended arm from the plaguebearer’s body. He quickly took up a battle stance as it leapt at him. The strength and endurance of the creature surpassing what Terac had suspected. It’s large bloated form belying it’s incredible speed. It was all he could do just to defend against the raking talons. Finally ripping chunks from his armor Terac fell to the ground finding his sword arm pinned.

The thing laughed, “You could never best me in combat Terac. So now you will die!” Terac stared it coldly in the eyes while it brought it’s talons up for the deathblow. Suddenly Archon laughed, “But you could never match my wit.” The thing halted momentarily confused but that moment was all Archon had needed. Without warning he placed a bolt in the things skull exploding it in a shower of welter and gore. Standing up he looked around activating the vox he made an announcement to the strike group,

“This is Lieutenant Archon I have just executed the traitor Captain Erek. I am taking command of the battle group we will make all haste for the jump point we must leave this damned region of space.”

Hours later the bridge had been cleaned and a new bridge crew readied. He decided he would take a moment to get cleaned up in his chambers but when he arrived he would find something terribly to his dismay. Lydia lay in his bed ridden with the plague which had fallen over much of the crew earlier. He looked her in the eyes and heard her gibbering in arcane languages but he could make one word out clearly, “…..Nurgle……..” He stood up and drew his bolt pistol once again and whispered a prayer to the Emperor. Tears came to his eyes as he finished it, “May the Emperor’s Peace take you…….” A well placed bolt ended her life. The gibbering stopped and her seizures ceased. His expression grim he quickly returned to the bridge there was work to be done.