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A frown passed the Chairman's face. Lee had requested an immediate invasion of the University with all available members of the Drop Corp after seeing Marine Institute. Yang had refused. Yes, it likely meant betrayal was imminent, but Yang hoped there was some other reason. Only a madman would attack a friend and ally on the eve of victory. The alliance for progress was on the verge of final victory was it not? The end of conflict and a return to the stars was imminent, was it not?
It was not. Zakharov chose to repeat the folly of Earth. He succumbed to fear and greed an now stood in the way of progress. Obviously he had had far too much exposure to the others. Miriam and her fear. Morgan and his greed. Dierdre and backwards ways. Sadly, the man who was greatest proponent of science chose to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Unable to have the pinnacle of human science and engineering, the Space Elevator, in the hands of an ally, he chose to destroy it instead. Zakharov had reached out and seized control of the fate of humanity and steered it to ruin like old Earth.
Yang had tried to shepherd humanity through its second chance on Chiron, but he had failed. His Hive had only taken up arms when necessary. First Deidre and impediment to progress. Then Santiago when everyone agreed she must be stopped. Finally Miriam and Morgan when they preferred war to lasting peace. Now Zakharov had chosen the same. If the man of science couldn't stand being an integral cog in the machine of progress without being the main wheel, Zakharov's minions would feel the same way. He too would be betrayed. With the repeated mistake, the failing lay not just with Zakharov. Humanity was a failed experiment incapable of putting aside or mastering its failings. Zakharov might not know that yet, but he would eventually. University labs did lag behind those of the Hive after all.
Yang sighed. What were his options. He could drag things out. He could delay the University's victory for cycles yes, but to what point? To see Chiron ravaged? To see the enlightened Hive torn asunder by the failing of old Earth? No, Yang was done. The dice had been cast cycles before and he had been too hopeful to notice Humanity had rolled snake eyes. Or rather humanity had tipped the dice to snake eyes on themselves. He had no interest in seeing Zakhrov's folly play out. His ennui was powerful, and amplified by his will and the Guild, it carried to all the citizens of the Hive. Within the hour, the Hive was no more. Shut down, body and mind, with and by the Chairman's will. With the Hive went humanity's last chance to cast aside the shackles of history and failed philosophies.
Only time would tell if humanity would survive Zakharov's folly and live to repeat it on another world.
I saw the sea base and saw the writing on the walls. I could have attacked and it looked like I might have been able to knock out the Maritime Control Center. But as above, why? I had played the Hive as an enlightened builder (Deirdre really was in the way of progress at the beginning) and the whole point of teaming up on M&M was to end the game. If Kalin had stuck around long enough for Hellraiser to show his colors, we might have turned it around even without the elevator. That would have been worth playing out. Hats off to agentorange and The Brazilian Slaughter for sticking things out after a thorough kicking! Willingness to play on when defeat is certain is one thing the AI has over human players.
Would be swell, but see this pizza_microwave guy wanted in and has been waiting patiently for over a month. Might still have a spot open though but that depends on Grimgravy. He has been awol since before we posted the new game conversation, probably working on getting drunk since it's the weekend, but obviously he will get a shot at retribution if he wants it.
Partially reconstructed audio transcript of final meeting between Mirriam and war cabinet. Recovered from beneath rubble of Chapter House following Believer destruction in Planet War Prime.
Technician Adept Samuel: A parting gift from the Chairman, no doubt. The information made its way into our datalinks shortly before the Hive's comm channels went dead.
Miriam: And we have the materials to build them?
Technician Adept Samuel: Barely, but we may be able to further cut back on our food production and air purification facilities.
Miriam: So be it, our endless fast continues.
Technician Adept Samuel: There is one thing, however, while we can build the fusion reactors, we will not have nearly the remaining resources to provide them with adequate safety measures. That is, any unit using these reactors will be exposed to lethal amounts of radiation.
Miriam: I see. Burseg, your thoughts?
Burseg Abel: Our soldiers are willing, sister. The time is at hand, and we would gladly lose life and limb if it means sending even a few of those University sickos to hell. I will lead the first fusion troopers myself.
Miriam: God be with you, Brother Abel. I believe these are the final hours of Chapter House, but your noble sacrifices will not be in vain, as you will take a place among the Heavenly host. And we will all soon be joining you there in Paradise.
Chapter House might withstand 1 turn more, 2 at most. Gravy's gifts have been helpful in prolonging Mirriam's last stand. Obviously my doom was inevitable from the start, but I've gotta take as many of Hellraiser's units down as possible!
Rushed a needlejet and used it to destroy one of Zakh's ships that was in bombardment range of Chapter House. My original plan was to use it against the big stack of ships to the south but Zakh reinforced them with a Starship Class with skinsuit defenses, and since I had to rush the needlejet it was only carrying gamma weapons.
I attempted to send a ship filled with all the probes I had collected from my abandoned/destroyed bases, in an attempt to subvert or at least wreak some havoc on a University base. But it ran right into a yuge stack of Zakh's high tier ships. It at least managed to evade being captured by the foil with a marine detachment, but it quickly sank beneath concentrated fire of the destroyers.
YULIYA'S PLANET NAVIES C156 UNIVERSITY EXPLORATION NAVY VESSELS
The University Exploration Navy is by far the most powerful Navy in Planet's history, a force that has secured planetary peace and the supremacy of reason against Morganic greed, Believing superstition and Hive slavery. Even when Morgan was still a terrifying force and the Hive has just begun its assault on continent beta the Exploration Navy started to outnumber all other navies combined, especially after many early victories against the corporate and fanatic navies.
By time of Operation Kurgan the fleet has grown to a size that can only be described as epic thus enabling University Hegemony on Chiron, for the benefit of mankind and reason. Itself the Exploration Navy is the second reincarnation of the University Navy, with the first one being destroyed by the Spartan Fleet during the pursuit on Caladan Mare after the raid that resulted in the destruction of Zoloto-Gold 1.0. Here are the ship types that currently make it up.
Mariner Class Corvette
Role: coastal patrol and border control
Length: 50 meters
Armament: 2 Turbo Lux Laser Gun Batteries
Power: Hindenburg Hydrogen Cells, Lux Solaris solar array
Crew: 20
Ships in active duty: Piranha Bytes, Spiderweb, most vessels scrapped or converted into Pioneer Class Frigates
The Mariner class was the first of its kind, the new hull designed represented significant improvement over the prior foils, including the modular hull assembly approach which in theory allowed the hull to be disassembled and extended in either direction easily. Some say that the history of the University Exploration Navy which replaced the former navy obliterated by the Spartans, begun with the original ships of this class. They were designed with the Curiositas Naval Nexus in mind.
Their main mission was not so much exploration as sea control, it was this class that sunk multiple isles of the deep and other enemy vessels of the Believers and Morganites in the early Second Gaian war. It prevented technology theft, kept the new ports of the north safe from attacks and obtained great wealth from wild isles of the deep.
Prior to Operation Fedora Tyrant several vessels of this class were overhauled including hull extention into the successor class of ships known as the Pioneer Frigates.
Sputnik Class Foil
Role: exploration, transport, archeological support
Length: 60 meters
Power: Hindenburg Hydrogen Cells, Lux Solaris solar array
Crew: 10
Capacity: 200
Ships in active duty: None, the last vessel of its kind, the Da Vinci, was scrapped in New Arazmas for the erection of the local cosmodrome near the end of the Second Gaian war.
The sputnik was seen as a cheap measure to ferry troops into low risk area, however it spent most of its life exploring Tatooine Mare, Vulcan Mare and Tollan Mare aiding xenoarcheologists. It discovered multiple xenotech, including two pieces of particular importance that boosted research.
Falcon 9 Class Coastal Assault Ship
Role: logistical support, shore landing support, transport
Length: 120 meters
Power: Early - Hindenburg Hydrogen Cells and Lux Solaris solar array, later - Ulam Naval Stellarator Type 1
Crew: 20
Capacity: 400 (early) to 800 (later)
Ships in active duty: None, all converted into Ariane class a cycle before D-Sol
The Falcon 9 class was designed as a more expensive improvement over the Sputnik class meant to perform the same duties only further away from port. It was also used in Operation Fedora Tyrant to land some of the ill-fated troops on the shores of Continent Beta.
A few cycles after it entered service the Spartan Remnant was located and the progenitor device that aided fusion research was recovered, thus it became more efficient to produce later versions of the Falcon 9 equipped with the new Ulam Stellerator Fusion Reactors and the Sputnik became obsolete in its role as a mass produced and cheap transportation vessel.
Like the Sputnik it also aided xenoarcheology in Tollan Mare and further east, all the way in the northern Hive seas. In the late war one ship of this class built in Razvieta-Reason, the Starlancer, was also assigned to such an expedition west of Solaris Mare in the great southern ocean.
Ships of this class recovered at least two pieces of xenotech, one in the northern and one in the southern seas.
Saturn V Class Coastal Assault Anti-Air Cruiser
Role: shore landing support, point defense, anti air support, transport
Length: 120 meters
Armament: Lux Praecisionem Laser Point Defense System
Power: Early - Hindenburg Hydrogen Cells and Lux Solaris solar array, later - Ulam Naval Stellarator Type 1
Crew: 34
Capacity: 400 (early) to 800 (later)
Ships in active duty: None, all converted into Ariane class a cycle before D-Sol
The Saturn V class was designed to aid Operation Fedora Tyrant and future raid on enemy bases on Continent Beta. The Columbia and Odyssey were two ships of this class built for that purpose, they provided cover for other vessels in the Fedora Tyrant task force preventing Morganic air force retaliation after dropping the troops ashore.
They were meant to evacuate the raiding force at Morgan Ocean Dew but the surprise counter-offensive eradicated the troops before it could happen.
Later in the war they were split up, the Columbia was tasked with sending a second raiding group against Morgan to secure nerve gas and retroviral know-how, the Odyssey was sent to join the Operation Kurgan task force assembling to the south of the Monsoon Jungle at the Fort Fleming fungal encampment.
Unity Class Dreadnought
Role: naval supremacy, escort, shore bombardment, point defence, anti-air support
Length: 180 meters
Armament: Early in construction – Korolev M Rocket Weapon System and Lux Praecisionem Laser Point Defense System, Final design – 4 Tesla Arc Cannons and Lux Praecisionem Laser Point Defense System
Power: Early in construction - Hindenburg Hydrogen Cells and Lux Solaris solar array, Final design – 2x Ulam Naval Stellarator Type 1
Crew: 52
Ships in active duty: Unity (flagship), Vostok
The Unity was built with one purpose, to obliterate anything threatening naval operations in the area where it is present. However it cannot operate alone, it lacks the superior radar and surface to air missile system of the Pioneers making it poor at reconnaissance or aerial denial.
The Unity participated in multiple operations including Fedora Tyrant, the retrieval of xenotech by hte Psi Corps Isle of the Deep Beta and finally supported Operation Kurgan by protecting the Maritime Institute.
The Vostok did not see combat, it operated to the north of Prosperium Isle and was supposed to support a future landing in the north of Continent Gamma. However both the rushed nature of Operation Kurgan and the sudden self-destruction of Yang’s communal horror put a stop to those plans.
Armament: Korolev M Rocket Weapon System, Korolev Triarii Surface to Air Missile System
Power: Ulam Naval Stellarator Type 1
Crew: 23
Ships in active duty: Black Isle, Westwood, Bullfrog, Origin, SSI, Golden Era Gaming, Troika, Microprose, Maxis, Blizzard, Egosoft, Valve, Ion Storm, Larian, Paradox, id, Relic, Obsidian
The workhorse of the Navy, the most numerous class following the introduction of the revolutionary Ulam Stellarators. Thanks to fusion power the prospect of mass producing a missile frigate became a possibility. Prior designs for this class called for much more materials due to the needed solar array coverage and fuel cells. With fusion it became easy and fast to build these ships in bulk.
Unlike the Mariner which it replaced the Pioneer is equipped not just with superior weapons but also with SAM capability from its Korolev Triarii missile batteries allowing it to perform airspace denial operations. Multiple Morganic aerial scouts were destroyed by the Korolev Triarii missiles during the battle of Solaris Mare and Operation Fedora Tyrant.
Its Korolev M rocket artillery battery excels at eliminating sea vessels, the system can also be used to bombard shore targets or launch Seaquest torpedoes against submarines as was seen during the interceptions of the Believing submarine transports in Cycle 151.
Voyager Class Verminator Frigate
Role: Psionic Warfare, Wildlife Control, Border Control
Length: 90 meters
Armament: Korolev M Rocket Weapon System, Rasputin 2 Mensonator Device
Power: Ulam Naval Stellarator Type 1
Crew: 28
Ships in active duty: Hippocrates, Plato
The Voyager class was built with one purpose in mind, to find and eradicate hostile native species regardless if they were weaponized by the enemy or wild. The development of this class was ordered after IntelTechs retrieved data regarding the Morganic Native Lifeform Breeding Program.
The ship was the first wider collaboration between the Navy and the Psi Corps since the isle of the deep breeding program was terminated. The vessel boasted a larger on board compliment of empaths than usual while also being equipped in a large scale Mensonator Device, usually employed by Verminator cohorts.
In the end the Voyager class never saw action against the enemy lifeforms as Morgan went into hiding after torching his failed corporate empire.
Soyuz Class Submarine Transport
Role: Stealth Operations, Coastal Raider
Length: 120 meters
Armament: 2 Lux M Laserbeam Guns
Power: Ulam Naval Stellarator Type 1
Crew: 38
Ships in active duty: None, all converted to Ariane Class.
The Soyuz class was designed primarily to hide from Hive sea patrols during Operaton Kurgan. Shortly before the operation the Admiralty decided to outfit the existing vessel with the Lux Praecisionem Laser Point Defense System and improve armor plating in order to increase survivability in case of detection by Hive sea or air patrols.
Starship Class Dreadnought
Role: Naval Supremacy, escort, Shore Bombardment, point defense, anti-air support
Length: 180 meters
Armament: Korolev M Rocket Weapon System and Lux Praecisionem Laser Point Defense System,
Power: Ulam Naval Stellarator Type 1
Crew: 48
Ships in active duty: Arthur C. Clarke
The Starship Class is essentially an update of the original plans for the Unity, redesigned so that it would be less costly to deploy. Only one of these was deployed from Razvieta-Reason in an effort to protect the Planet Neck from hostile incursions of Morganic nature.
In the end the Arthur C. Clarke lead the blockade of the Chapterhouse Inlet during the final stages of the Planetwar, stopping the last believing vessel from performing acts of terror while also preventing aerial retaliation from the last believing air force squadrons.
Ariane Class Submarine Transport
Role: stealth operations, coastal raider, shore landing support, point defense, anti air support
Length: 120 meters
Armament: 2 Lux M Laserbeam Guns and Lux Praecisionem Laser Point Defense System
Power: Ulam Naval Stellarator Type 1
Ships in active duty: Cygnus X1, Sagittarius A*, TON 618, Fornax A, RX J1131, Holmberg 15A
The Ariane Class was designed to improve Operation Kurgan’s odds of success by combining stealth, the best plating type available at the time and a point defense system. The first ships of this class were refits of other similar transportation hulls of the Falcon 9, Saturn V and Soyuz classes.
Currently the Ariane class is the only transportation ship class in active duty and it is easy to see why, no single Ariane class ship has ever been sunk, they all delivered the cohorts on board to the designated targets safe and sound.
Zuma Class
Role: possibly covert ops
Length: 60 +/- 6 meters (optical estimation)
Armament: ???
Power: Undisclosed fusion power source
Crew: ???
Ships in active duty: at least two confirmed, possibly more
The Zuma class is the biggest mystery of the Navy. It is only known that exists as it visits military harbours from time to time, at one point two such ships were spotted in different ports which is as much as is known about their numbers. Nothing else is known. It is speculated that these ships are used for covert ops but the exact possibilities are unknown.
Armament: Korolev M Rocket Weapon System, Europa boarding pods
Power: Hindenburg Hydrogen Cells, Lux Solaris solar array
Crew: 22 plus 40 marines
Ships in active duty: None, Opportunitas was sunk
The Opportunitas Class was often called a living fossil. It was designed still for the prior incarnation of the Navy. The sole Opportunitas class foil was also for a long time the flagship of the Navy as it was the most powerful ship until the Pioneer and Unity classes entered service. It was uniquely equipped with the Europa Commandeering System boarding pods, no other ship class was ever equipped with this system.
It participated in Operation Fedora Tyrant and served many cycles after that until it was sunk during an attempt to capture the Believing “Ark” during the blockade of the Chapterhouse Inlet. That battle was the only direct engagement during which the Europa boarding pods were used, the attempt was unsuccessful and the boarding was repelled by the zealots.
Isle of the Deep Aquatic Organism Colony
Role: Psionic Warfare, exploration, transport, archeological support
Length: varies
Armament: Isle of the deep symbionts
Power: Hindenburg Hydrogen Cells, Lux Solaris solar array
Crew: 12 empaths
Capacity: up to 300 troops
Ships in active duty: Isle Beta
The lab-breed Isles of the Deep were an early psionic experiment with the goal of exploring the fungal-infested Vulcan Mare prior to the erection of the Xenoempathy Dome. The structure formed by the colony supports a command shack that serves as the “bridge”, crew quarters and cargo hold of the isle. Occasionally archeological expeditions or other personnel travelled aboard these isles. Non-psionic staff had to wear special “nullifiers” to not trigger a hostile reaction by the isle.
Two isles were breed, both in the Psi Corps facility at Planetary Archives. Isle Alpha explored much of Vulcan Mare and Tollan Mare uncovering many Unity supply pods still floating on the surface or sunken just beneath it in the shallows. It was killed by a wild isle of the deep during the middle of the Gaian Defense campaign.
Isle Beta was reassigned to support a Custodes covert operation against Morgan Industries. It delivered three teams of operatives into enemy territory before heading east towards the vicinity of Garland Crater Isle where it spent decacyles recovering Unity pods and fighting wild isles of the deep.
During the very end of its deployment to the south of the Geothermal Sea it recovered xenotech which it then delivered to Razvieta-Reason in Cycle 156.
BFR Class Submarine Supercarrier
Role: aircraft carrier, power projection, stealth operations, airspace control
Length: 298 meters
Armament: 16 Lux M Laserbeam Guns
Power: 4x Ulam Naval Stellarator Type 1
Crew: minimum 50, up to 170 (including at least 10 support staff per drone squadron)
Capacity: 64 aerial combat drones or 800 troops
Ships in active duty: Galileo, Copernicus, Halley, Kepler
The most powerful weapon ever built on Planet, designed to provide air support during military operations on other continents. It is the apex of University naval engineering and a proud final achievement in the history of the reborn Exploration Navy before the obsolescence of war. Compared to similar vessels from the end years of earth it boasts extreme automation and robotics allowing a much smaller crew. Even the aircraft stationed on board the BFRs are robotic.
The ships utilize deep pressure hull technology and organic hangar door seals that make the unorthodox submarine carrier concept practical. Aircraft are launched using magneto-catapults from inside the hangar with one of two launch-rails. They land on the deck of the carrier essentially crashing into a 10 meter thick kinetifoam wall that slows them down from 200 km/h to standstill in about 3 seconds, a vast improvement over the grappling mechanism of earth supercarriers. Due to the autonomous nature of the drones, up to 3 drones can simultanously safely land on the carrier.
Each BFR supercarrier can support up to 8 full squadrons of air units such as Aquila Bomber drones, Cybindis Air Superiority drones or Orca Gunship drones. To quote one officer “if we had one of these before mongol-mongol and if Santiago knew we have one she would kill herself then and there, after shitting herself from fear”. These words definitely ring true in the context of Operation Kurgan.
The first of the BFR class the Copernicus was supposed to aid the assault on Continent Beta. Rapid Hive advancement on the Believers made STRATCOMM redeploy it to Operation Kurgan. It was joined by the Kepler which was built third shortly before Operation Kurgan started. From both carriers sorties were launched which destroyed the defenders of Factory Maze allowing the cyborg legionaires on the ground to clean up. The carriers were never equipped with more than half of their capacity due to the rushed nature of Operation Kurgan.
The second BFR carrier was the Galileo which was launched in Razvieta-Reason and outfitted with drones to aid Operation Death Star against Morgan. Operation Death Star was cancelled as Morgan went into hiding and the Galileo was assigned to deploy against the Hive in the second Kurgan task force. That assignment was also cancelled as the Hive’s mass suicide meant the support of a third carrier was not needed. It was redeployed against the Believers and from it the air attacks that almost destroyed Chapterhouse Planet were launched.
The last BFR carrier to be built was the Halley which is the only BFR class carrier to ever see a full complement of squadrons in its hangars also including an Orca squadron unlike the other three carriers. It was built in the end days of the Planetwar to help in the pacification of the zealot menace of continent beta and was actually not big enough to fit all of the squadrons that were ready to be sent to the frontline.
Wanted to do this for a while since I built a shitload of ships and ship classes (17 Pioneers alone). Also this is really the first PBEM game where my navy did something meaningful, there was also some naval action in game 2 especially against Sparta (and the Black Tuesday invasion) but mostly it was just choppers and jets vs Miriam there on the sea. Nowhere near the number of ships I used now and nowhere near this extent. It could have been more, but alas the foes feared the might of my army and navy so they gave up rather than face the guaranteed ITZ so I didn't use it as much as I planned for.
The Maritime Control Center turned out to be extremely useful for this game, especially combined with the xenoempathy dome in a situation where the enemy has a probing advantage and the Hunter Seeker algorithm is not built (and can be countered, since this is SMAX). I actually just said fuck it and did not put probes in most of my northern ports (moving them elsewhere) because the sea control was so good, no point on the probes sitting on their asses there if nothing can slip past my patrols. Sent them to transports for covert ops support against Yang and Morgan.
Pretty much anything done after M&M bailed from Continent Alpha was supported by the Navy and its extensive patrols. The mere fact I was never infiltrated or probed after letting the Hive probe me as part of our deal is because of this fleet. I had essentially naval control of the shores of my whole continent and beyond going deep enough to know the Hive could not spot Operation Kurgan. Only Pholus Sea was a mystery, but it was Yang's and Morgan's problem.
It is time for some WARWANKING. Of course this nodecasting channel could not be considered the proper channel for all warfare related content without touching on the very end of warfare, Cycle 157 and operation Dawkinsian Deluge.
The cycle itself was rather uneventful otherside, of note was that Isle Beta’s xenotech findings finally got studied and our scientists got from them the knowledge of… creating fungal gin. Yeah, everybody could see why Morgan was not pleased so much with that one. Probably cursed it right to his grave or he is actually alive and hiding deep underground, and still cursing fungal gin.
In the east the Kurgan Task Force made its first coastal landing operation deploying Custodes Operatives near the base aptly called “The Last Days” by the Nun Queen. They successfully retrieved the Hive files on Mind-Machine Enhancement which were gifted to the Believers by the Chairman before he ordered the mindcontrolled suicide of his commie subjects.
However back to the real nucleus of this whole affair. The Dawkinsian Deluge, a stomping if Planet ever saw one. The previous cycle was light on combat as forces prepared for the final assault. In the east the Kurgan task force was finally in range to drop troops and launch aerial drones against continent beta targets. They didn’t have a lot of those but it was nothing to laugh at. This task force also concentrated the bulk of the Science Legion Cyborg infantry, cohorts that were initially dispatched with the sole purpose of obliterating as much of the Hive as possible before reinforcements join up with them or before the Hive counterattacks.
In the west though there was a superior air force, Galileo was close to maximum squadron capacity while Halley was filled to the brim with aircraft. Halley also had one more advantage, the first and only squadron to ever utilize the Ishii Bioshard Weapon System developed by KANAGENE completely by accident when trying to defictionalize the T-virus.
Its ground forces were less numerous but slightly more advanced, boasting the Equites Hovertanks which were meant to obliterate Morgan Pharmacon in the cancelled operation Death Star, with the support of the Galileo’s squadrons of course. There was also the single drop troop cohort of custodes augments meant to secure Believing bases and capture test subjects. And the Marine Biology Lab submersible barge, officially a civilian vessel, which erected a sea base to be used as a staging ground within mocking range of the Believing coast and its inhabitants.
The first to attack was the Ishii-armed Aquila drone squadron, it made a successful attack augmented with nerve gas on Chapterhouse Planet effectively eradicating the base. Of course believing environmental suits allowed their garrison to survive, surrounded entirely by corpses and debris. Mop up was strangely enough more difficult.
The Believers hope to fight using ambushes outside of their bases, also hoping that our drones would not bomb their bases. The Kurgan task force used it to their advantage and landed a custodes cohort that easily took the Last Days, unfortunately the base’s high priest decided to make himself and the base martyrs and eradicated it just as they saw the troops. That kool aid they were drinking must have been exploding with flavor.
Both the custodes cohort and the operatives reported spotting enemy combatants and operative hiding in a nearby sector, waiting to ambush Science Legion forces. A Legionaire cohort made landing and engaged the Believers. Dumbfounded by the unexpected not to mention highly efficient and lethal assault they were not merely routed but became one with the plasma fired by the tesla arc rifles.
In the west engineers were ordered to scrap some Equites Hovertanks for spare parts and used them to convert the frontline hovercavalry cohorts delivered to the Marine Biology Labinto the Icarus aerial assault variant.
After the first cohort was upgraded it used its Icarus Heavy Paragliding Harnesses to drop into “House of the Forest”. The local inhabitants quickly surrendered as they thought the aerial drop was the archangel Michael sending in heavenly reinforcements and salvation. They were quite shocked when neural prods started to pacify them for transportation and study at the Marine Biology Lab. Just because it is Marine doesn’t mean the biology research there is limited to aquatic lifeforms obviously, it is merely a biology lab that happens to be on the sea.
In the ruins of Chapterhouse Planet fanatics were still clinging to their superstitious ideas of holy war. Without more Ishii Bioshard squadrons it was problematic to take them out as the Believers build an extensive sensor network alerting them of aerial assault. Furthermore the last zealots were the only known unit equipped with fusion powered combat suits and AAA gamma cannons.
Attempts in prior cycles to destroy the sensors with Korolev M missiles fired from Pioneer Frigates have failed. The bulk of the airforce from three aircraft carriers, all except for the Galileo basically, was dispatched to bomb the sensors.
It took many sorties to finally destroy the sensors; drone commanders blamed believing concealment for the multiple failed attack runs. One squadron was lost due to a refueling oversight, increasing the number of Astrum Corps drone squadrons lost to 5, including first generation Cybindis drones shot down near the occupied Gaia’s Second Landing before it was razed.
With odds of success deemed sufficient the final attack ran by our airforce was made eradicating the last known Believing military unit.
Almost simultaneously a Custodes cohort equipped used Icarus Hopper Gliders to seize the undefended base of “The Seventh Seal”, it was here where the greatest victory of all happened.
Sister Miriam Godwinson, zealot bitch prime, was captured. The war was over, warfare became obsolete.
Zakharov looked at his terminal. “See Feldt, in the end it went better than planned,” he told his colleague and rival.
“Well Zakharov,” Feldt responded, “I have to admit, your long game paid off and so did your short game. We lost only two teams of covert operatives and the Opportunitas, good people of course, but Project Ba’al needed only their deaths to bring the golden destiny, the true age of reason. Apart from that only some drones, replaceable hardware in any case.”
“Over planning and a bit of paranoia help,” the Provost explained , “the future of mankind was at stake and the long term war project Ba’al had to assume we would need to sacrifice everything to survive. Now those dead operatives are heroes, the lives they saved and the progress they have enabled will be remembered by the generations to be. Bah, I think we should use their neural records from V-Sims for project Moebius.”
“Would be a good way to test the process, recreating their consciousness based on data collected by the V-Sims used for their training. Copying it into a new organic host body…” Feldt hesitated for a moment “Why not? Still far from cloning the body though, it will take a while since Morgan wasn’t nice enough to finish his research so that we could steal it.”
“The Equites Hovertanks will probably need to be recycled into something more… scientific. Also not much use for the KANAGENE bioshard weapon system now, what did they want to call them again…” The Provost continued his musing.
“Ishii, after the Japanese bioweapons pioneer.” Feldt answered. “Of course I guess peace also means the Oppenheimer Device is no longer on the table.” He added.
“We would probably beat the Hive to the ground before a working anti-proton breeding facility would be built.” Zakharov enter into one of his famous audible stream of consciousness moments. “There would be a lot of ground to cover on the engineering side before the true legacy of Oppenheimer could manifest itself by eradicating chunks of Continent Gamma via the annihilation phenomena. Destroyer of worlds indeed. Still, the breeding facility idea has potential, we would make Alcubierre’s and White’s dream a reality with all that antimatter to power it. Have the guys behind the hover tanks get more funding for their graviton studies, maybe we could even construct a working gravship one day in addition to warp drives.”
“A pity it would be so late, there no believers out in the wild anymore for us to hunt down and capture.” Feldt lamented. “The thought of putting asgardians on it to collect those specimens is still hilarious. I want to believe UFO memes and all that. I think I will take care of that research myself, I have this idea how to improve on what White did, something that would eclipse the Unity, visit the homeworld and see what those fools did to it.”
“They probably nuked themselves over some worthless religion or stupid sport, the imbeciles. Lal’s ilk in the UN just let the morons run rampant and gain more power, any sane measures to contain them they would call crimes against mankind!” The Provost was visibly radiating anger as he spoke. ”Good thing we abolished the charter and could just eradicate and put down the regressive elements before they did the same here. Also Yang did us a favor killing that fool Lal.”
“What about Morgan, the tubes buzz with conspiracies that he faked his suicide.” Feldt asked.
“I guess the planetborn need their own version of Hitler hiding in Argentina or on the Moon. IntelTechs say their backdoors into the secret bunker comms confirm that Morgan’s associates believe him to be dead. I heard the chatter myself.” Zakharov added. “They live in luxury surrounded by genejack slaves deep underground somewhere, Harrisch still whining that we pirated their genejacks. We improved upon the concept of course, as if copyright and patents were honored by anyone else than those greedy goblins. Still no fix on their location because we had other problems to take care of, but now we have the resources to spend on such a vanity project. Those suited stoodges won’t be safe contrary to what their corporate guts tell them.”
“We could use gravimetric orbital scanning to look for anomalies, or we could use their whole continent for tectonic device testing,” Feldt suggested. “See how long it takes before they scurry back above ground when the whole landmass starts behaving like a pair of headphone cables in a pocket.”
“Ah, a splendid idea.” A smile appeared on the Provost’s face. “I will be sure to mention it to Deidre, she might not be so hot on the whole tectonic manipulation idea but Morganites really make her angry despite only a handful remaining in hiding. She wants these corporate mole people gone and I think she hates them more than tampering with Planet’s geology.”
“Well the Planet *is* sentient.” Feltd added.
“Crudely but without a doubt sentient, if it becomes unruly we will find a way to calm it down or we will just move elsewhere and let Deidre babysit the creature,” Zakharov replied. “We could go to Tau Ceti perhaps? Rebuild the homeworld? LARP Musk’s Mars vision? Maybe one of the TESS or Keppler worlds. With a warp drive we could go anywhere and be free of this fungal planet-child. The whole galactic arm might one day be ours to experience and study!”
“Or we will meet them.” Feldt said with a certain chill propagating from his words.
“The Progenitors?” Zakharov asked rhetorically. “A possibility, a frightening one in a way if you remember what Hawkins used to say. Perhaps keeping our head low until we know how their monolith devices work is prudent. Also we should bring guns with us on the interstellar exploration fleet just in case.”
“A lot is ahead of us, finally all this industry of war and all the sacrifices made put a stop to the insanity of Earth,” Feldt switched to a rather cheerful mood as he started talking. “Finally we can focus on science without the risk of those megalomaniacs interfering because they want power, money or some other insignificant things.”
“It is true that a lot is ahead of us, for now there is one thing, one final task we must do before science can once again become our purpose and focus.” The Provost proclaimed in a tone underlying the significance of duty they still had to perform.
Feld was a bit puzzled. “And that is?” He asked cautiously.
“This last bottle of Smirnoff I still have, over two centuries old by now!” The provost proclaimed. “This is the day when we make this last relic of the past we left behind on Earth a memory. A toast to the future Hieronymous!”
“A worthy task Prokhor, a worthy task!”
Zakharov poured them two shots of the vodka. He raised his glass as did Feldt.
“Vivat Scienta!” Prokhor Zakharov toasted as they celebrated a true new beginning for Mankind.
***
In the cycles that came after that toast men have constructed great wonders. The cities teemed with life and free thought; their inhabitants were disturbed neither by death nor disease.
When the flowering came some stayed behind on Chiron and joined the Planetmind together with Deidre. Most came with us on the most noble of quests. Augmented we were with the fruits of our wisdom. Liberated we were by our genius and ingenuity from the flaws that nature’s genetic lottery bestowed upon the human form. Driven we were by curiosity and sought to know all that was not yet known.
We sought it in the void of the heavens amongst the stars of our galaxy. We set foot on world upon world across the Arm of Orion. We brought life to barren wastelands and studied the lush alien landscapes of countless worlds. Sometimes from the shadows we witnessed civilizations alien yet so familiar, unaware of the greatness that they can find in the Universe.
The Golden Eternity has begun, a reign of reason, logic and curiosity. A dream made real, one far surpassing what the great authors and visionaries of Earth have described in their ancient works. A dream built upon a desire to understand but also built upon a desire to embrace the opportunity that existence granted us, to cherish consciousness averting the fate of the humans of Old Earth. Most importantly however we built our destiny upon a desire to *know*.
Provost Zakharov, Memories of Chiron, Megacycle 42
The turn was 157, victory has been achieved.
Actual in game epilogue. I did not know/forgot it actually had the "spread across the stars" theme, thought it would end with we must be ready for transcendence tripe so I wrote my own for RP purposes. I am not fond of the transcendence victory as the science victory. Doesn't fit the University really.
Oh and yeah, The Brazilian Slaughter also won since this is a carebear co-op victory, says so on the scores. 31 points from world conquest for him
It says cheater either because Usury used the scenario editor to tweak some shit before we started or because of a bug where the scenario editor sometimes opens in PBEM when you load the turn. It happend to Brozil first and one turn before this final one both me and AO had it). This has been visible on the score screen since the start from the game IIRC.
Last Page from the Personal Journal of Sister Miriam Godwinson, Dated 12-6-2255
It has been a long time since I have written on real paper, this journal has lain neglected since the position of spiritual leader to the Believers was thrust upon me during the Unity disaster, but I fear that should I dictate my last words on holotape then even the most advanced TempleOS encryption would not keep Zakharov's hackers from finding and altering my words to suit his agenda, if he does not erase them outright. And yes it may be vanity to want some last fragment of my ego to survive, but none of us are perfect. I willy bury this journal in a cave on the shores not far from Seventh Seal, where I used to take my meditative walks. With this message I enclose a copy of the Holy Bible, the very copy that has been passed down through my family for countless Earth generations. No hand but mine has touched its pages since planetfall, and I believe it may be the last of its kind. I pray that you who have found this message have the mind to read it, and the will to carry its teachings.
The Hive invasion which devastated our eastern bases in the blink of an eye, and which had been crawling steadily towards our last remaining strongholds, abated overnight. One day Yang's drop troopers were on the doorstep of Chapter House, the next they were nowhere in sight. The insectile buzzing of their comm channels falling silent for the first time since our probes decoded them; I never in a thousand years thought I would miss the noise. As nearly all of our long range reconnaissance was rendered inoperable during the attack, we are in the dark as to what exactly happened.
But, as Zakharov's forces continue to bombard our last remaining bases from air and sea alike, we can only assume that the alliance between the Professor and the Chairman was not so ironclad as it appeared. In retrospect it was foolish for any of us to believe the Professor's atheistic pragmatism would allow such a tenuous "friendship" to continue. I imagine the Professor ran the numbers and determined such an alliance would not hold for long once the mutual target of Morgan and I were out of the picture; not to mention having to accommodate the Chairman's ideology would only serve to complicate Zakharov's own dark plans for the future of Planet, so he chose to strike first and eliminate an unwanted variable. Humans are nothing more than numbers on a spreadsheet to that sociopath. As a parting gift the late Chairman supplied our technicians with information on countless technologies, among them the secrets of fusion reactors. And while they have allowed us to stave off the inevitable for a handful of years, they were no miracles--the time is at hand for all us Believers.
In a moment of desperation I even sent a message to Lady Deidre, asking her to join me in martyrdom, but I received not even a rebuke in answer, only silence. Perhaps the Lady Deidre no longer exists at all, having been replaced with some sort of non-sentient algorithmic puppet controlled by Zakharov, another mechanical extension of his empire.
Sometime ago I received a final holo-message from Brother Morgan, and only recently, while the University attacks have abated as I presume Zakharov readies his forces for a final push, have I had the time to watch it. He seemed to be taking the situation rather well, surrounded by the last of his many earthly comforts in the ITZ Bunker. The man always had an aptitude for finding the bright side to any predicament, usually coinciding with his ability to exploit said situation for a profit, although I doubt even he could find such an angle to our present, dire situation. He enjoyed every gift of God to the utmost, and, unlike Zakh or Yang, no man could call him a nihilist. I pray for my brother, and wish him well whatever course he takes.
Lately I have thought that perhaps the second coming of the Messiah was never intended for Earth. Perhaps in the future a man, our Redeemer, will arise to lead the people of Chiron from under the yoke of atheistic tyranny. To make of Chiron the paradise that never bloomed on Earth. For as long as there be good and evil, there must always be war; one must conquer, the other must perish. And if the good has not the will to be conqueror, then evil will forever reign supreme. But I, like Moses, will not live to see this promised future.
I hope that I will die in battle, serving the will of God, but even if Zakharov capture me and place me in one of his punishment spheres, I pray that my screams of agony be a signal to those of good spirit to rise up and dissent.
--
Sister Miriam Godwinson, Born May 4th, 2014. Athens, Georgia, Christian States of America.
"To surrender the city to you is beyond my authority or anyone else's who lives in it, for all of us, after taking the mutual decision, shall die of our own free will without trying to save our lives."
-- Constantine XI Palaiologos, Datalinks.
Well played to all. It was fun trying to hold out long as possible, but Hellraiser's victory was overdue. As a last ditch effort to take down as many University troops as possible I had rushed a plasma equipped high level destroyer with a marine detachment in the hopes of capturing Hellraiser's Starship Dreadnought, but his final assault came sooner than I expected, and much like Yamato it sank without ever getting to see some action.
It is time for some WARWANKING. While I was celebrating my first megacycle with a safari experience observing the Hivemind of Strader VI, it came to me that for kilocycles I have been ignoring one popular request. While most of you watching this channel now are mostly interested in the space battles with pirates, rebels and terrorists across distant galactic arms, or in the numerous botsurrections that pop out every time someone decides to improve AI tech, there is an old fashioned minority that still wants to hear of conventional planetary warfare. They want to hear how mankind has avoided the doom and gloom of Chairman Yang's vile despotism, and how the good Provost Zakharov flung our species into the tranhuman era of exploration, immortality and galactic caretakership.
When the Morganites decided to self-terminate the Hive vs University forces presented as following, according to declassified files from just before Operation Kurgan launched:
59 vs 91 land units seems like a major advantage for the chairman. But in this case quantity was not a quality of its own.
Out of these Hive forces 11 battalions were empaths with mind worm boils. 15 were semi-modern offensive units, including artillery. 61, including some heavily armoured counter-intelligence secret police squads, were garrisons. The rest was a mix of spies, formers and scouts.
For the University 19 cohorts were state of the art Tesla Arc cannon cyborg cohorts, including artillery. There were a further 4 hover cavalry units and another 4 light rover cavalry units, all armed with Tesla Arc cannons. Industrial advantage meant that while less numerous the University could quickly close the numbers gap, while its superior offensive capability would bog down the Hive. This was indeed the main strategic plan of the science legion. Still looking at just these numbers the outcome was not so certain.
What was the key deciding factor was naval and air power. 23 naval units and 16 air units versus 9 and 6 respectively. The data seems to be incomplete as only 4 air squadrons are visible for the Hive in the detailed list, strangely enough. Naval vessels have secured control of all seas necessary to invade either the University or the Hive. The most important part were the naval aviation squadrons stations on the 3 BFR class submersible super carriers. The Kurgan task force concentrated the bulk of the Science Legion cyborgs and operatives as part of its ground force contingent.
Combined with the extensive transportation fleet and cyborg marine legionaries the Science Legion possessed a significant mobility advantage allowing it to de facto strike anywhere on the Hive coast seizing any base before the enemy could react. The Hive had one major advantage, the Space Elevator and a large number of space marine drop pod battalions specialized in holding beachheads.
Science Legion STRATCOMM and the Provost feared the potential of this device. It was only due to a rather unexpected strategic mistake of the Hive that it was possible to knock it out so fast. The Hive built the elevator in a different base than originally planned, exposing it to an easier naval assault than initial theorycrafting by STRATCOMM HQ predicted. The prior location was hidden deeper inland, in theory possible to reach via the almost inland sea, but in practice it was hard to sneak in undetected, ruining the element of surprise STRATCOMM banked on.
The original plan also called for seizing the space elevator and using new orbital drop cyborg models to reinforce the position. This was deemed as too risky as there was a chance that the Hive could retake it, while also seen as possibly shortening the war in favor of the University.
It was expected that a Hive orbital drop first strike would seek to destroy vital infrastructure or bases. roughly a quarter of Science Legion forces, particularly air squadrons, were stationed on the mainland to destroy enemy troops as they dropped. They were aided by aerospace complexes, sensors and deliberately planted fungal fields, which were advantages for the Science Legion due to the xenoempathy dome. All of this was aimed to minimize and possibly neuter the offensive potential of orbital drops.
It was expected such a drop might happen before the elevator is destroyed when forces are spotted or if the Chairman gets angered by the refusal to support his claim to Planetary Domination in the council. The objectives of the first phase of the War of Obsoletion on the Science Legion side were to contain any drops on the mainland, destroy the space elevator and eliminate as much of the Hive's industrial and economic base.
Hive economy and population were second to the University, leaving much to be desired, therefore a slow long war was seen as optimal if the damage done by any Hive orbital drops was minimal. Due to superior reproduction policy and technology the Hive was more vulnerable to genetic warfare and terminator gas, as the drone population could not be replenished so quickly. While it was expected that the war will take time and will be a slog, it was believed that as long Naval superiority is maintained a campaign of gas bombings and coastal raids would chip away the Hive's power until victory was at hand.
Most importantly however, the University was preparing for the War of Obsoletion for Decacycles, while the Hive seemed to be certain of peace after Morgan's demise.
Well played to all. It was fun trying to hold out long as possible, but Hellraiser's victory was overdue. As a last ditch effort to take down as many University troops as possible I had rushed a plasma equipped high level destroyer with a marine detachment in the hopes of capturing Hellraiser's Starship Dreadnought, but his final assault came sooner than I expected, and much like Yamato it sank without ever getting to see some action.
