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The Codexian Saga LP

Esquilax

Arcane
Joined
Dec 7, 2010
Messages
4,833
It'll be sad to see this come to an end, but I'm sure it will have a great finish. The writing in the Tyrannic Age installment has been your best work yet. Awesome stuff!

:thumbsup:
 
Self-Ejected

Ulminati

Kamelåså!
Patron
Joined
Jun 18, 2010
Messages
20,317
Location
DiNMRK
w7mn9t.jpg
 

anus_pounder

Arcane
Joined
Mar 20, 2010
Messages
5,972
Location
Yiffing in Hell
Barbarian is Root. He ran out of ideas or interest in this LP and then started the 40k LP just so that not too much fuss would happen when this one died.
 

treave

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Jul 6, 2008
Messages
11,370
Codex 2012
Measly floodwaters would be entirely unable to hold back the Barbarian's smighty wrath should he decide to unleash it. He is just waiting for the right time.
 

The Barbarian

Liturgist
Joined
Mar 21, 2010
Messages
599
Location
Melbourne, Australia
Comrades, the Barbarian has run out of neither interest nor ideas.

Sadly, he has not had the inclination to update for a number of reasons - and one overbearing one that he will not burden you with.

Suffice it to say that the update remains pending. Conan envisions perhaps three or four more updates and an epilogue remaining for this circle jerk. Then we will be, as they say, fin for the time being. The Barbarian does not begin that which he will not finish. It is not his way.

Barbarian is Root. He ran out of ideas or interest in this LP and then started the 40k LP just so that not too much fuss would happen when this one died.

Nay, dear friend, the Barbarian cannot claim root's 40K talents for his own!
 

The Barbarian

Liturgist
Joined
Mar 21, 2010
Messages
599
Location
Melbourne, Australia
Human Nature

‘Chuang Tzu in dream became a butterfly,
and the butterfly became Chuang Tzu at waking.
Which was real--the butterfly or the man?’

- Li Po ‘Chuang Tzu and the Butterfly’ 750AD

’Baseline humans refuse to understand that sapience is not their private reserve. We have met, befriended and warred against alien species as complex and as deserving of recognition in their own right as we are. We have created artificial intelligences that dwarf unmodified intellects, and yet combine them with a distinct gentleness and regard for all life. If you ask me today ‘why’, then I must answer ‘to teach’. Teaching the Homo Sapien that he is not the sole proprietor of goodness, righteousness and greatness requires an object lesson in pain. I am but the instrument of a harsh universe. Through me, it wants to tell Man: ‘enough!’. My people modify themselves because they know that their bodies are utilitarian contraptions. Their true worth lies in their sapience. And for this, they are hounded by moribund fools, who use their religion like a club, and their conservatism like a blanket.

I have this recurring dream in which ‘Mankind’ no longer exists. In that dream, we are limited not by some tactile conception of skin and tissue, but only by the boundaries of our own imagination. Sapience is our strength. ‘Humanity’ is a cocoon, to be shed when we are ready to undergo maturation and metamorphosis. If I thought for a moment that those fanatics would have allowed this to happen naturally, none of this would have been necessary. Unfortunately, to err is human, is it not? And they are so very human. We are tired of being looked on contemptuously by beings whose limitations define them. They insist on being sentients without an ounce of sapience, so we must treat them as such. And if that means making sure that they can never harm us again, then so be it. Do you understand me, sir? Do you? I do not hate the unmodified. I feel pity for them. But my birthright is not humanity. It is sapience. So my kin are like-minded sapients – not simply homo sapiens. To us, the intrinsic worth of your lives directly corresponds to your valuation of ours. If you want to explain my ‘vile genocide’, start there.’


***

The Respublican government took the initial series of defeats against the forces of the Tyrant in its stride. Like Roman senators after Hannibal savaged their field armies at Cannae, Respublican leaders simply explained to a bewildered, angry public that errors were made, regrettably, and that ousting the monstrous Newman would require more than a band-aid military approach. Rather, a true war effort was needed, one that would necessitate mobilization on a scale unseen since the 4th century AU. Somewhat surprisingly, the people proverbially nodded their collective head, and got to work on facilitating the refurbished approach to quelling and halting the Tyrant’s murderous rampage.

Internally, the Respublican military leadership refused to bow to bigotry and knee-jerk responsiveness, and instead conducted a thorough institutional investigation into the intelligence leaks that resulted in Respublican war plans being made available to the Tyrant and his cronies. Eventually, two norm and three modified sympathizers were discovered in Space Force’s Logistical Planning branch. These erstwhile fellows had been delivering deployment details to the Freedom Army for years. The elimination of the cell provided a morale boost during a difficult period, but uncertainty over whether there were other moles embedded in Space Force continued to hound the General Staff. Nonetheless, preparations for a renewed offensive continued apace. Almost eight hundred previously mothballed vessels were re-activated and brought into service to replenish Space Force’s mustered strength. Dozens of rapidly deployable Ground Force brigades were also readied for action.

But the greatest boon of all was the co-opting of the Middle Belt into the Respublican fold. In truth, the Middle Belters had little choice. After all, the Tyrant would ostensibly go after them first, before any decisive effort against the Respublica. They were, in an overall sense, the weakest faction. And Respublican officials had gone out of their way for months to ease Middle Belt apprehensions about the Respublica’s longstanding structure and governance. Nonetheless, their six hundred-odd vessels were nothing to be sniffed at, and they were to be a welcome, if belated, boost to Respublican power. By December 543AU, the Second Offensive was almost ready. The best Respublican estimates put the Tyrant’s forces at some nine hundred ships, in all. Facing them along a tremendous, disjointed front were almost three and a half thousand Space Force vessels of all types. It was seen to be an unassailable advantage. The 5th, 6th, 9th and 14th Fleets were concentrated for action against Old Phyrria, whereas the 2nd, 7th and 16th Fleets were arrayed against the Old Commonwealth. The 1st, 8th and 10th Fleets were being husbanded in a strategic reserve.

New ships were entering service on a weekly basis, swelling the Respublica’s already considerable strength. With the addition of the Middle Belters, such was the confidence of the Respublican military leadership that a criminal tribunal was set up in anticipation of the Tyrant’s looming demise or capture. He would be tried before all of humanity for his crimes against it. The example that would be set by his downfall would serve to bring the recalcitrant back into the loving embrace of the Marianite state.

As they say... ‘The best laid plans of mice and men / Go oft awry’

The ponderous strength of Space Force was something to behold. A seemingly endless procession of warships and transports awaited transit at every jump-off point for the Second Offensive. Hundreds of thousands of men and women crewed these proud, gleaming monstrosities, ready to give their lives for their idea of humanity. Many more would twiddle their thumbs in the troop compartments of the lumbering modern galleons. Foot soldiers, they would spring into action at the very last. Or maybe they would die wordlessly, soundlessly in the depths of space, without ever having seen their killers. On 12 January 544AU, the wait was over. The manifold forces of the Second Respublica transited into enemy space. And the merciless din of battle once again resounded throughout human space.

The offensive prong aimed at the Old Commonwealth achieved immediate success. At Yuris it met the first line of Freedom resistance, in the form of an over-strength battlegroup of decrepit cruisers hastily retrofitted for combat duty. It must be said that they fought well and died gallantly. But that is all that need be said for them. The ‘Southern Front’ (the Old Commonwealth being in the galactic ‘south’ of the human sphere) burrowed deeply into Freedom territory. Within six weeks, it had made enormous inroads and soundly defeated the nominal resistance facing it. By then, ground invasions were underway on three separate worlds. Hoping to recapture those worlds without extensive collateral damage, the troops went in with the assistance of tactical orbital support only. And they met a veritable wall, in the form of the Freedom land army.

What were once men had become something... else. The Freedom Army’s ‘Newmen’ were incredibly varied. Many had retained a basic human shape. Others were sheer biological and technological horrors. Most were somewhere in between. But all had been catastrophically altered throughout their lives. And, uniformly, they were the most terrible foe any human has ever faced. Insanely tough, intelligent and resilient, the Newmen were proving themselves to be peerless warriors with every passing day of the incredibly vicious ground fighting on planets like Yuris Prime, Tortica and Romariq. Time and again, individual companies of Newmen (‘Newies’ to the Respublican fighting man) would halt Respublican battalions in their tracks. The 31st Ground Force Regiment ‘Doomriders’, for example, were pulped down to 20% effective strength in only two days of combat against a roughly comparable Newie force on Tortica. Without the ubiquitous orbital support available, all three invasions would have failed within the first week. Nonetheless, the Respublicans continued to grind forward across the Old Commonwealth.

Meanwhile, the Northern offensive prong met calamity. Not only was the resistance it faced far greater, on the fourth day of the effort the worst fears of the Respublica were realized. The Tyrant had concluded an inconceivable pact with humanity’s most hated foe – the Hin’in. An entire Hin’in fleet was involved in the fighting for Delorentis. The humans were, of course, not outclassed this time. The advantage of the Respublican shields was telling against still-unshielded Hin’in vessels. But the latter were seemingly available in abundance. And what did the involvement of the xenos mean? Did the Tyrant promise them territorial concessions? Or maybe the transfer of human technology?

What about the Raumeni? What had their reaction been to all this? Respublican intelligence services were blindsided by these startling developments. Then again, the Second Respublica had been deeply insular for so many decades, perhaps it shouldn’t have been that surprising. The aliens were still out there, living, fighting and dying. We had simply thought ourselves above noticing – secure in our obvious superiority. ‘Pride cometh before the fall’, no? In any case, the Northern offensive prong was stalemated almost immediately. Hundreds of ships were lost on both sides for little discernible gain. From all appearances, the Hin’in were pouring more strength into the theatre as the weeks wore on. An undeclared war was now on between the Respublica and the hated Hin’in.

A decision must be made...

Option One:

Do you... throw your strategic reserve behind the Northern Front, hoping that it is sufficient to break the Newies and their Hin’in allies before the latter could concentrate any greater force in the stellar region? If we break them now, we can break them forever. Then we can consolidate to deal with the Hin’in threat. We cannot afford to allow this stalemate to continue indefinitely.

OR

Do you... throw your strategic reserve behind the Southern Front, hoping to quickly finish off the Freedom presence in the Old Commonwealth, before swinging the combined force northwards for a decisive strike? The strategic reserve may not be enough to deal a concussive blow to the enemy, in and of itself. If they spring any more surprises, our range of responses will be severely reduced once we are committed. Instead, let us finish off their weaker disposition in the South. After that, we have the latitude to concentrate our own forces. Our churning industries can keep our forces in the North in fighting shape, in the meantime.

Option Two:

Do you... attempt to bring the Raumeni into the war on your side? The Clans have been quiet for a long time, but surely they have been building up their strength. If the Hin’in have crossed their territory without permission, surely they will be amenable to a joining of forces? It goes against the tenets of the Faith, but necessity is the mother of compromise. And if concessions must be made, thereafter, we can deal with it then, from a position of strength.

OR

Do you... forgo the assistance of the bugs? We can conclude this war without them. And the concessions they would demand would surely be onerous beyond reason. Leave well enough alone.

Please note: You can assume that the concessions the Raumeni demand would be extensive and may include territorial or technological ‘gifts’. Nothing is free.
 

anus_pounder

Arcane
Joined
Mar 20, 2010
Messages
5,972
Location
Yiffing in Hell
I hate it when Barb tells us how big our fleet is. It means the fleet is going down. Hard.

In anycase, I'll wait for a bit and edit in my vote later. Don't want to throw the first stone.
 

LusciousPear

Savant
Joined
Oct 22, 2009
Messages
722
Location
SF
MCA Project: Eternity Torment: Tides of Numenera Shadorwun: Hong Kong
This feels like The End for right now... all that work.

We've played it cautiously so far, and I think the enemy is expecting us to be smooth and ponderous.

1:A -- Let's throw everything at this, once and for all. I think the enemy has the "staying power" and will only modify themselves to defeat us more. Smash them!

2:A -- I'm sure The Barbarian is expecting this, but we need help, badly. The Raumeni are predictable and mercantile. We can work with that.
 

Nickless

Educated
Joined
Dec 16, 2009
Messages
960
Voting BB. It'd be betraying our xenophobic roots to beg assistance of the Raumeni. We don't want to fight a war of attrition with both the Hin'in and the Tyrant. (Although this decision could prove disastrous or brilliant!) If I was going with assistance from the bugs, I'd be voting AA, so our forces hold out for their reinforcements.
 
Self-Ejected

Ulminati

Kamelåså!
Patron
Joined
Jun 18, 2010
Messages
20,317
Location
DiNMRK
BB

Best to deal with the small problem first than let it grow and get stuck between two big ones. And fuck the bugs. Glorious Santi Maria would weep if she saw us fraternize with those filthy non-humans.
 

Esquilax

Arcane
Joined
Dec 7, 2010
Messages
4,833
For the folks picking AB - are you fucking insane? That sounds like a great way to lead us down the shitter. If we fuck up, it's a disaster. You are making a huge gamble in going completely XTREME at a time like this. I could understand the rationale behind getting the bugs on our side AND going up towards the Northern Front, but fighting a war of attrition without the manpower to do so is pure folly. There is absolutely no reason to break the Newies if we don't have the sheer forces to do so. You guys are too eager for a swift victory. If you want to go at it alone against the Hin'in and the Newies, fine, but it makes much more sense to attack the Old Commonwealth if you want to go that route.

And I don't get this whole argument about how it would go against the tenets of Marianism, as if that matters. Our society has been steadily liberalizing for a long while, we aren't really the Imperium of Man any more. We have been getting steadily more and more multikult, to the point where re-establishing relations with the Raumeni is hardly much of a shock. What is a shock to me is that the past several updates, many posters have went for the more conservative, diplomatic options, but suddenly XTREME is the way to go at this crucial time.

At the same time though, we need to look at the future of Man, after the war. I'm not sure if the aid that Raumeni have to offer is worth what we will have to sacrifice. If we manage to get some serious victories going against the Newies and their Hin'in allies, imagine what a blow to their morale it will be. It will be proof that their whole ideology is wrong - that even with all their mods and their alien allies, they can't beat us. And nothing is sweeter than that.

But we have to be smart about it. So, unless you want the future of humanity to look like :mhd:, I suggest we go with BB.
 

Nickless

Educated
Joined
Dec 16, 2009
Messages
960
I agree with Esquilax 100%, the two most logical choices would be either BB or AA.
 

treave

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Jul 6, 2008
Messages
11,370
Codex 2012
BA.

If at all possible, the bugs can slow down and harass the Northern forces with their raiding tactics while we try to smash through the Old Commonwealth so that we aren't fighting a war on two fronts. I don't expect the Raumen to contribute huge amounts of effort. The best we can hope for is a Great Muster - highly unlikely - but even if they commit raiding parties to divert merely the Hin'in forces, this will aid the Northern front in holding the line.

Our orbital superiority means that once we manage to interdict supply lines throughout the Old Commonwealth, their superior land army will fall soon after. Wiping out the Tyrant's fleets in the South ensure that we do not fall to any surprise attacks from that direction.

Now that the Hin'in are in the fight, the Tyrant should have assets to spare to increase his offensive in the Old Commonwealth. So, either he commits all his strength to attacking the Northern Front head on, in which case Raumen aid would be of help in slowing down his offensive, or he diverts forces in an attempt to catch us in a pincer attack from North and South - in which case pushing into the South will ensure that our own assets are already committed and responsive in that theatre of operations.
 

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