Axis Kast
Warlord
Somebody encouraged me to cross-post.
Some of You Guys Have Issues
Aboard Unity
The Exiled anxiously prepare a Landing Pod for descent, but, aware that daring now could spare them hungry winters later, faction leadership commissions a raid forward into ship’s spaces held by the Lord’s Conclave.
The plan is simple: a small body of volunteers, leavened by the faction’s blooded fighters, will probe forward in hope of being able to secure heavy equipment. They will pose as refugees, volunteering their services as porters, then, once inside the bays, attempt to decapitate Conclave leadership. An audacious plan, to be sure, trusting much to the theory that most of Miriam’s followers are with her solely out of desperation.
The plan succeeds: the infiltrators are given safe conduct back through Miriam’s lines even as Conclave men surge forward as far as the Bridge. Making a concerted effort to pick clean the heavy equipment bays in this section of Unity, Miriam’s lieutenants are only too happy for the additional hands. When the Exiled strike, they are modestly successful. In two bays, with the exception of a few holdouts loyal to Miriam, most of the other porters prove willing to transfer their allegiance. (Those declining to do so quickly suffer acute lead poisoning.) It is a great irony that, even as Miriam preaches to hundreds of frightened colonists only a few hundred meters away, the “tail” end of her logistics train scatters like chaff in the wind.
"Modestly successful" doesn't mean wholly successful. In a third bay, Miriam’s forces (along with an unexpectedly large number of sympathizers) rally in sufficient numbers to suppress and overwhelm the attackers before they can capitalize on their initial round of killing. Survivors are crucified and placed in the crew spaces leading forward as a warning to their comrades. The Conclave doubles the guards on duty outside each bay. The loss of equipment is significant, but not crippling. Although many of the forward compartments have already been picked over by both the Hive and the Tribe, Miriam nevertheless secured a significant deal of exclusive real estate. Her “flock” will still come away from Unity better than a large majority of other factions – assuming she survives transit to the surface.
While the Exiled wreak havoc in the heavy equipment bays, Conclave saboteurs up the ante on the starship’s bridge. Here, unmolested, they engage the ship’s maneuvering thrusters yet again. The immediate result is to cause collisions with dozens of nearby pods, several of which promptly explode or depressurize. Another pair are immolated by the heat of the blast event. As the Unity turns into Chiron’s gravity well, factions attempting to escape the ship find that their ability to plot a specific course to the surface falls into doubt. Destroying the controls behind them, the martyrs at last retreat to the forward spaces where they join in Miriam’s exodus.
The Guardians, making use of their atypical complement of weapons and fighting skills, succeed in clearing out the last of Santiago’s fighters along with a few sticks worth of Labyrinth troops who complain of having been left behind. Wearing protective gear, a volunteer force is sent to launch several of the remaining landing pods and attempt a complicated operation to dock them forward of the hydroponics bays. The effort, managed by highly-qualified pilots, might have succeeded with flying colors – if not for the fact that the security police arrive at the bridge to find it a shouldering ruin. Meanwhile, one of the two Landing Pods making the “hop” is knocked radically off-course by Miriam’s surprise maneuver and presumed lost. The remaining pod succeeds in temporarily “mating” with the main hull just long enough to take on about half the available cargo. The remaining colonists must now make a mad dash for the rear of the vessel, radiation be damned.
The Exiled, leaving the Unity, are exposed to the radiation soup building aft and suffer minor casualties as they transit amidships to reach a Landing Pod. Working together with the remaining Guardians personnel, both factions pile into the few remaining Landing Pods and punch out just as the ship starts to break up around them.
In Space
Miriam's gambit succeeds in damaging, destroying, or knocking off-course a significant fraction of the heavy infrastructure and grown food required by those colonists already away, but this specific act of sabotage, while the most catastrophic thus far, was not the last attending Unity's final hours.
The Restoration, after making a heroic effort to keep station above Chiron long enough to spot the active Orbital Survey Pod in its orbit, successfully hacks the onboard computer despite attempts by the original operator to foil the intrusion. While the Pod does send a final burst of data to an unknown user just before security protocols are broken by Darlan's techs, it is ultimately directed to serve the Unity Marines.
On Chiron
The Hive landed at Sunny Mesa and immediately set upon an ambitious building programme, clearing large tracts for agriculture and raising several machine shops. The latter were quickly set to expanding the Hive’s small fleet of terraformers, all working ‘round-the-clock to set in motion the faction’s extractive economy. Meanwhile, Yang was said to be cached in his warren, perfecting some finer point of his philosophies.
Yang also directed that the Hive establish a self-defense militia, to which end arms were distributed and drill conducted. When scout vehicles of an unknown faction appeared in the fields, Hive defenders mustered in good order behind concrete bunkers and sandbag bunkers. Converted to mount light and heavy machine guns, the scout rovers were a potent threat – but one apparently outmatched by the Hive’s show of force, which included the conspicuous demonstration of rocket-propelled grenades and makeshift mortar tubes. After a tense standoff, the unknown party retreated.
A squadron of Hive Scout Rovers conducted reconnaissance in the vicinity of Sunny Mesa. The scout resulted in recovery of numerous Colony Pods. Along the Sea of Chiron, just east of their own colony, Hive troopers also stumbled upon fledgling colonies of both The Arm and The Restored Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
When Hive offers of “protection and assistance” were rebuffed, the armed reconnaissance fell upon both neighboring settlements, doing great slaughter. Caught flat-footed, both the Arm and the Restored Church were routed handily over the course of less than three hours. If the Mormon militia put up a sufficiently enthusiastic defense to at least distract attention from their fleeing women and children, the Arm were liquidated almost wholesale. Because of the nature of the weapons employed, most of the material assets of both colonies remained operable: the Hive looted what was moveable and razed the remainder.
While the various newly-arrived factions begin unloading their Landing Pods, the Marines launch an ambitious land-air-and-sea operation to recover the Unity Fusion Reactor, deploying rover, 'copter, and foil in a large, well-armed expedition. Leveraging the Orbital Survey Pod to conduct a search, they discover that the jettisoned reactor lies somewhere in the shallows of the Great Northern Ocean, just off a broken, fungal-infested landmass aptly called, "The Ruins." The operation is ultimately successful and the Marines return to the newly-christened Garland City with the reactor under tow by no less than eight foils, including two recovered from splash-landed Colony Pods en route. This Herculean effort is widely understood to have been possible only thanks to Darlan's willingness to collaborate with other leaders while still aboard Unity, expanding the pool of resources from which each participating faction is able to draw.
Wrap Up:
In case it was not clear, Unity will crash on Planet's surface. The secondary reactor, already leaking, will explode with the force of a large nuclear detonation.
Some of You Guys Have Issues
Aboard Unity
The Exiled anxiously prepare a Landing Pod for descent, but, aware that daring now could spare them hungry winters later, faction leadership commissions a raid forward into ship’s spaces held by the Lord’s Conclave.
The plan is simple: a small body of volunteers, leavened by the faction’s blooded fighters, will probe forward in hope of being able to secure heavy equipment. They will pose as refugees, volunteering their services as porters, then, once inside the bays, attempt to decapitate Conclave leadership. An audacious plan, to be sure, trusting much to the theory that most of Miriam’s followers are with her solely out of desperation.
The plan succeeds: the infiltrators are given safe conduct back through Miriam’s lines even as Conclave men surge forward as far as the Bridge. Making a concerted effort to pick clean the heavy equipment bays in this section of Unity, Miriam’s lieutenants are only too happy for the additional hands. When the Exiled strike, they are modestly successful. In two bays, with the exception of a few holdouts loyal to Miriam, most of the other porters prove willing to transfer their allegiance. (Those declining to do so quickly suffer acute lead poisoning.) It is a great irony that, even as Miriam preaches to hundreds of frightened colonists only a few hundred meters away, the “tail” end of her logistics train scatters like chaff in the wind.
"Modestly successful" doesn't mean wholly successful. In a third bay, Miriam’s forces (along with an unexpectedly large number of sympathizers) rally in sufficient numbers to suppress and overwhelm the attackers before they can capitalize on their initial round of killing. Survivors are crucified and placed in the crew spaces leading forward as a warning to their comrades. The Conclave doubles the guards on duty outside each bay. The loss of equipment is significant, but not crippling. Although many of the forward compartments have already been picked over by both the Hive and the Tribe, Miriam nevertheless secured a significant deal of exclusive real estate. Her “flock” will still come away from Unity better than a large majority of other factions – assuming she survives transit to the surface.
While the Exiled wreak havoc in the heavy equipment bays, Conclave saboteurs up the ante on the starship’s bridge. Here, unmolested, they engage the ship’s maneuvering thrusters yet again. The immediate result is to cause collisions with dozens of nearby pods, several of which promptly explode or depressurize. Another pair are immolated by the heat of the blast event. As the Unity turns into Chiron’s gravity well, factions attempting to escape the ship find that their ability to plot a specific course to the surface falls into doubt. Destroying the controls behind them, the martyrs at last retreat to the forward spaces where they join in Miriam’s exodus.
The Guardians, making use of their atypical complement of weapons and fighting skills, succeed in clearing out the last of Santiago’s fighters along with a few sticks worth of Labyrinth troops who complain of having been left behind. Wearing protective gear, a volunteer force is sent to launch several of the remaining landing pods and attempt a complicated operation to dock them forward of the hydroponics bays. The effort, managed by highly-qualified pilots, might have succeeded with flying colors – if not for the fact that the security police arrive at the bridge to find it a shouldering ruin. Meanwhile, one of the two Landing Pods making the “hop” is knocked radically off-course by Miriam’s surprise maneuver and presumed lost. The remaining pod succeeds in temporarily “mating” with the main hull just long enough to take on about half the available cargo. The remaining colonists must now make a mad dash for the rear of the vessel, radiation be damned.
The Exiled, leaving the Unity, are exposed to the radiation soup building aft and suffer minor casualties as they transit amidships to reach a Landing Pod. Working together with the remaining Guardians personnel, both factions pile into the few remaining Landing Pods and punch out just as the ship starts to break up around them.
In Space
Miriam's gambit succeeds in damaging, destroying, or knocking off-course a significant fraction of the heavy infrastructure and grown food required by those colonists already away, but this specific act of sabotage, while the most catastrophic thus far, was not the last attending Unity's final hours.
The Restoration, after making a heroic effort to keep station above Chiron long enough to spot the active Orbital Survey Pod in its orbit, successfully hacks the onboard computer despite attempts by the original operator to foil the intrusion. While the Pod does send a final burst of data to an unknown user just before security protocols are broken by Darlan's techs, it is ultimately directed to serve the Unity Marines.
On Chiron
The Hive landed at Sunny Mesa and immediately set upon an ambitious building programme, clearing large tracts for agriculture and raising several machine shops. The latter were quickly set to expanding the Hive’s small fleet of terraformers, all working ‘round-the-clock to set in motion the faction’s extractive economy. Meanwhile, Yang was said to be cached in his warren, perfecting some finer point of his philosophies.
Yang also directed that the Hive establish a self-defense militia, to which end arms were distributed and drill conducted. When scout vehicles of an unknown faction appeared in the fields, Hive defenders mustered in good order behind concrete bunkers and sandbag bunkers. Converted to mount light and heavy machine guns, the scout rovers were a potent threat – but one apparently outmatched by the Hive’s show of force, which included the conspicuous demonstration of rocket-propelled grenades and makeshift mortar tubes. After a tense standoff, the unknown party retreated.
A squadron of Hive Scout Rovers conducted reconnaissance in the vicinity of Sunny Mesa. The scout resulted in recovery of numerous Colony Pods. Along the Sea of Chiron, just east of their own colony, Hive troopers also stumbled upon fledgling colonies of both The Arm and The Restored Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
When Hive offers of “protection and assistance” were rebuffed, the armed reconnaissance fell upon both neighboring settlements, doing great slaughter. Caught flat-footed, both the Arm and the Restored Church were routed handily over the course of less than three hours. If the Mormon militia put up a sufficiently enthusiastic defense to at least distract attention from their fleeing women and children, the Arm were liquidated almost wholesale. Because of the nature of the weapons employed, most of the material assets of both colonies remained operable: the Hive looted what was moveable and razed the remainder.
While the various newly-arrived factions begin unloading their Landing Pods, the Marines launch an ambitious land-air-and-sea operation to recover the Unity Fusion Reactor, deploying rover, 'copter, and foil in a large, well-armed expedition. Leveraging the Orbital Survey Pod to conduct a search, they discover that the jettisoned reactor lies somewhere in the shallows of the Great Northern Ocean, just off a broken, fungal-infested landmass aptly called, "The Ruins." The operation is ultimately successful and the Marines return to the newly-christened Garland City with the reactor under tow by no less than eight foils, including two recovered from splash-landed Colony Pods en route. This Herculean effort is widely understood to have been possible only thanks to Darlan's willingness to collaborate with other leaders while still aboard Unity, expanding the pool of resources from which each participating faction is able to draw.
Wrap Up:
In case it was not clear, Unity will crash on Planet's surface. The secondary reactor, already leaking, will explode with the force of a large nuclear detonation.
- All factions have now departed from Unity.
- The following factions are in-transit: The Ascendancy, The Exiled, The Guardians, The Lord’s Conclave, The Restoration, The Tribe, and The Workers’ Commonwealth. The Restoration, Conclave, and Exiled left the ship with virtual armadas of pods. Some Guardians and Exiled personnel are commingled aboard the same Landing Pods.
- The following factions have landed: The Ascendancy, The Restoration, The Tribe, and The Workers’ Commonwealth.
- The Restoration lands on the fertile western slopes of Mount Planet.
- The Tribe lands near the river delta south of the Upland Wastes on the coast of the inland sea that empties at Planetneck.
- The Ascendancy lands on the northwest side of the Garland Crater, along the coast.
- The Hive gains 2 pips of infrastructure and two new squadrons of terraformers. This is the result of having looted two settlements.
- The Conclave gains 1 pip of power, 1 pip of size, and 2 pips of infrastructure to reflect its activity aboard The Unity during that ship’s final hours.
- The Exiled gains 1 pip of infrastructure as a result of its efforts to seize heavy equipment from the Conclave.
- The Guardians gain 1 pip of appeal due to their obvious concern for the well-being of unaffiliated members of the crew during evacuation.
- The Conclave gains a wild pip, because wow.
