stDarNES1: Stars! -- UPDATE 11 (PART I)
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GALACTIC NEWS ORGANIZATION (NDE 11)
Debate continues as we try to find for you, the viewer, exactly who the Vakkra are, and where they come from. We can rest easy for now, though, because they only seem interested in killing humans.
Mr Dee, how fare our favorite naked apes?
Well, Mr Grey, the news isn't all that good, I'm afraid. The Vakkra continue to advance upon human worlds, and seem to be concentrating on controlling entire sectors before moving on. We'll have a lot more information over the next few years, as we watch and study Vakkra tactics.
Moving right along...
VAKKRA INCURSION
Deep scans show a small amount of Vakkra reinforcements arriving in Ramidi, Kalekka, and Venever.
Emey (Miria): --see Mirian Update--
Oncol (Astral Sojourners): --see Astral Sojourner Update--
Naqu (Haven): --see Haven Update--
Vayin (Skyjacks): --see Skyjack Update--
Astral Sojourners
While awaiting a reply from the Vakkra, the Sojournship has been busy building up Nox and Oncol, and establishing a new colony on Sierra with Interstellar Bus. Meanwhile, the military has been busy building new warships at Oncol, including the first major production of Starlight Fighters.
2 Cruisers break of from Vengeance and form the First Impressors Fleet. First Impressors fleet jumps to Colos (MDP 6). It is a decent system with almost a dozen planets, but oddly enough, no planet in the system has any kind of moon or ring. It is definitely a unique system as far as Sojourner knowledge goes. Vengeance leaves the Sierra System and jumps to Sabro.
The Vakkra response comes late in the year, in the form of 4 Destroyers, and a new ship that appears to be some sort of carrier/transport. Instructed to cooperate with the Vakkra, the military at Oncol maintains discipline and does not fire at the intruders. The Vakkra Carrier dispatches over a hundred smaller ships that disperse to the Sojourner worlds. Other smaller ships disperse and attach themselves to many of the ships in the system.
It is then when all hell breaks loose. The Sojourner leadership had concluded that the Vakkra would accept cooperation, but such is not the case. All the myriad ships dispersed from the Vakkra Fleet, it becomes quickly known, are part of an assimilation force. The ships that entered the colonial spaces dispatched troops determined to assimilate the populace.
Luckily, at least a little, the Sojourner leadership had a back up plan, and quick action was taken to react to this unexpected turn of events. The populace was quickly rallied into a resistance, but for now, little is effectively accomplished aside from attempting to hide from the assimilation force. Those unlucky enough to be caught are encased in some kind of bio-mechanical shell, and emerge mere hours later as a cyborg-like drone, acting to aide the Vakkra in assimilating others. There are no returns to any kind of communication sent to the Vakkra. They are cold, calculating, and ruthlessly efficient.
(Astral Sojourners: 20M people assimilated, -5M civilian casualties)
In space, several ships fall to Vakkra assimilation before any action can be taken. Data collected from the ships indicate that the Vakkra take over essential ship functions first, then assimilate the crew one by one. The speed at which they accomplish this is astonishing: a cruiser is fully assimilated in less than an hour.
As action is taken by the Oncol fleets, combat breaks out between the Sojourners and the Vakkra. It is a mess. Cruisers move in, targeting the Vakkra Destroyers as best they can, fighters and Starlight Fliers are unleashed. Laserts, missiles, sabots, EMP bombs, and ionised plasma stream from the Sojourner Fleets. The Vakkra ships begin responding to the attack and unleash their own terrifying weapons on the Sojourners. The assimilated Sojourner ships seem inactive, and do not make an attempt to join the combat.
In the end, with heavy losses, the Sojourner ships break to the jumpgates. Curiously enough, the Vakkra ships do not pursue.
(Astral Sojourners: 5 Cruisers assimilated, 1 carrier assimilated, -67 Starlight Fliers, -98 Fighters, -3 Carriers, -12 Cruisers. VAKKRA: -1 Destroyer, -48 Fighters[assimilation pods])
The stage seems to be set for a battle to regain Oncol.
With the battle raging at Oncol, there has been a rippling effect across the Sojournership that has stopped the growth of the economy, as virtually no goods are able to leave Oncol, and passage through Oncol for internal tradeships has essentially ceased.
(NOTE: Starbase is disputed. No ships can be built at Oncol. Also, because of the current battle with the Vakkra, Oncol is producing only half EP this turn).
Harpellian Hegemony
Lander is colonized! A truly spectacular system, and one the Hegemony has plans for. New technology has been researched to increase ship weapons strength and power, the Hegemony being as plagued by paranoia of the Vakkra as everyone else. A new groundforce is established at Qomoc.
Haven
After seven long years of debate, construction, revision, and whatnot, University of MechTech is completed at Xanthus Prime! The university is expected to bring focus and dedication to the fields of Construction, Energy, and Robotics. On another scientific note, new ship weapons have been rolled out to the Fleet, in hopes of increasing defense against the new Vakkra threat.
Three new fleets are constructed at Xanthus Prime, 2 cruiser fleets (Bronze and Platinum) and 1 carrier group (ShieldForce). Money has also been invested into improving the Scourge Foam. Fingers are still crossed at Byblos as to how much longer the Scourge will be encased.
Preparation continue in Fetarra to provide defenses around the jumpgate, in case the Sojourners decide to make their move while Haven is preoccupied with the duel threat of the Scourge and the Vakkra. Havenite military strategists are exercising their brains attempting to figure out reliable strategies to use against the Vakkra when the inevitable combat begins.
Swarmforce continues to foam the Scourge in Byblos. It is thought that every piece of Scourge is now safely encased in foam. Still, SwarmForce remains busy constantly checking to see if the scourge is breaking through. Blue Flame is set up under quarantine, in case any Scourge had secured itself on the ship. No sign of Scourge is found, and Blue Flame is returned to normal duty. Hive Force remains defensive, assisting in the preparation of defenses in Fetarra.
Sentinel moves to Trinity, to avoid running into the Vakkra.
TF Alpha is sent to Naqu, attempting to evacuate as many colonists as possible before the Vakkra arrive. It's not a question of if, but when. The fleet arrives and begins loading colonists, foregoing any personal effects and cramming people in like sardines. It is not long before the warnings come in that a Vakkra fleet of 3 Destroyers has entered Naqu. The commander of TF Alpha makes the hard decision to leave those not yet boarded behind, and makes all haste to the jumpgate to Byblos. His fleet is set upon and destroyed mere moments before the jumpgate is reached. The last received transmissions from Naqu indicate the colonists attempting to resist the Vakkra, but ultimately succumbing to them.
(Haven: TF Alpha destroyed, -6M colonists, 7M colonists assimilated, Naqu Occupied By Vakkra)
Jaenar
Things are quiet in the new Jaenar Empire. Construction continues on the Raptor Production Facility. Most of the Empire's economy is geared to military production, doubling the cruiser force, and adding 10 new transports to the fleet.
One battlestar from Domaar loads 250 fighters and jumps to Xanj.
Miria
Scientists on Miria have devised new methods for ship hull production which they believe will allow them to build ships that will rival the Vakkra in size. The military wastes no time in putting Mirian Destroyers on the production line.
On Centaus and Hr'Tor two sister fleets are built, consisting of 6 Destroyers, 12 Cruisers, and 100 fighters. 1,000 Soldiers are trained at Ingram. A small amount, but enough to keep the colonists confident.
In Silodon, the scoutship receives orders to contact the native population. The meeting is tense, with translators working overtime to establish reliable communication. The captain of the scoutship finally is able to meet with several of the world's leaders. During the course of the meeting, the Mirian captain demonstrates Mirian technology, shows the leaders videos and holos of the regions of space explored by Mirian civilization. He has them captivated. The offer is made for the Silodons to join the Mirian Empire, and receive the full rights and technology of the rest of Mirian civilization.
After a couple months of deliberating, the leaders of the world agree! (Silodon joins Mirian Faction)
At long last, EF1 reaches Xanthus Prime. Massive reorganizations occur amongst the military fleets. The creation of the Black, White, Red, and Yellow Guardian Fleets is seen as a step forward for the Mirian Navy. Incidentally, there has been a sharp decrease in the number of ulcers, heartburn, and headaches amongst Mirian Logisticians.
The Yellow Guardian Fleet, newly organized, arrives in Emey on the eve of battle unbeknownst (though not completely unexpected) to them. They are greeted on arrival by Duke Atreides himself, who has been sent to command them from the HMS Vengeance. His arrival is well met, and preparations begin for planning the attack on the Vakkra ships present in Venever.
In the middle of the night (relative, of course, to the Mirian day/night schedule), alarms go off across the fleet. The Vakkra have arrived in Emey. 2 Destroyers, no more. Atreides takes command and the Yellow Guardian Fleet moves in for combat. The two fleets approached each other. Yellow Guardian's morale was high, as they had a larger fleet than what had been destroyed at Kalekka, against a smaller force. It was time to even the score, at least a little bit.
Weapons began firing. The now-infamous shimmering effect of the Vakkra ships taken in stride. The accuracy of their targeting systems might not be high against whatever the Vakkra were using, but the Mirian Fleet had a large amount of weapons to unleash against only two ships. The fleet spread out to maximize the weapons spread. The Vakkra ships unleashed their fury of weapons onto the cruiser. Several Mirian cruisers were destroyed almost immediately, but still Yellow Guardian pressed on, now concentrating fire on one Vakkra ship at a time.
More shots fired by the Vakkra ripped through several more cruisers. Then, an unexpected hit to a Vakkra ship ripped through it. The ship ruptured, exploding silently in space. The remaining Vakkra ship let loose a volley of energy, destroying more cruisers, but it was not enough. With only one ship to contend with, the remaining cruisers of Yellow Guardian barrelled into the destroyer, tearing it to pieces in short order!
(Miria: -21 Cruisers. Vakkra: -2 Destroyers)
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GALACTIC NEWS ORGANIZATION (NDE 11)
Debate continues as we try to find for you, the viewer, exactly who the Vakkra are, and where they come from. We can rest easy for now, though, because they only seem interested in killing humans.
Mr Dee, how fare our favorite naked apes?
Well, Mr Grey, the news isn't all that good, I'm afraid. The Vakkra continue to advance upon human worlds, and seem to be concentrating on controlling entire sectors before moving on. We'll have a lot more information over the next few years, as we watch and study Vakkra tactics.
Moving right along...
VAKKRA INCURSION
Deep scans show a small amount of Vakkra reinforcements arriving in Ramidi, Kalekka, and Venever.
Emey (Miria): --see Mirian Update--
Oncol (Astral Sojourners): --see Astral Sojourner Update--
Naqu (Haven): --see Haven Update--
Vayin (Skyjacks): --see Skyjack Update--
Astral Sojourners
While awaiting a reply from the Vakkra, the Sojournship has been busy building up Nox and Oncol, and establishing a new colony on Sierra with Interstellar Bus. Meanwhile, the military has been busy building new warships at Oncol, including the first major production of Starlight Fighters.
2 Cruisers break of from Vengeance and form the First Impressors Fleet. First Impressors fleet jumps to Colos (MDP 6). It is a decent system with almost a dozen planets, but oddly enough, no planet in the system has any kind of moon or ring. It is definitely a unique system as far as Sojourner knowledge goes. Vengeance leaves the Sierra System and jumps to Sabro.
The Vakkra response comes late in the year, in the form of 4 Destroyers, and a new ship that appears to be some sort of carrier/transport. Instructed to cooperate with the Vakkra, the military at Oncol maintains discipline and does not fire at the intruders. The Vakkra Carrier dispatches over a hundred smaller ships that disperse to the Sojourner worlds. Other smaller ships disperse and attach themselves to many of the ships in the system.
It is then when all hell breaks loose. The Sojourner leadership had concluded that the Vakkra would accept cooperation, but such is not the case. All the myriad ships dispersed from the Vakkra Fleet, it becomes quickly known, are part of an assimilation force. The ships that entered the colonial spaces dispatched troops determined to assimilate the populace.
Luckily, at least a little, the Sojourner leadership had a back up plan, and quick action was taken to react to this unexpected turn of events. The populace was quickly rallied into a resistance, but for now, little is effectively accomplished aside from attempting to hide from the assimilation force. Those unlucky enough to be caught are encased in some kind of bio-mechanical shell, and emerge mere hours later as a cyborg-like drone, acting to aide the Vakkra in assimilating others. There are no returns to any kind of communication sent to the Vakkra. They are cold, calculating, and ruthlessly efficient.
(Astral Sojourners: 20M people assimilated, -5M civilian casualties)
In space, several ships fall to Vakkra assimilation before any action can be taken. Data collected from the ships indicate that the Vakkra take over essential ship functions first, then assimilate the crew one by one. The speed at which they accomplish this is astonishing: a cruiser is fully assimilated in less than an hour.
As action is taken by the Oncol fleets, combat breaks out between the Sojourners and the Vakkra. It is a mess. Cruisers move in, targeting the Vakkra Destroyers as best they can, fighters and Starlight Fliers are unleashed. Laserts, missiles, sabots, EMP bombs, and ionised plasma stream from the Sojourner Fleets. The Vakkra ships begin responding to the attack and unleash their own terrifying weapons on the Sojourners. The assimilated Sojourner ships seem inactive, and do not make an attempt to join the combat.
In the end, with heavy losses, the Sojourner ships break to the jumpgates. Curiously enough, the Vakkra ships do not pursue.
(Astral Sojourners: 5 Cruisers assimilated, 1 carrier assimilated, -67 Starlight Fliers, -98 Fighters, -3 Carriers, -12 Cruisers. VAKKRA: -1 Destroyer, -48 Fighters[assimilation pods])
The stage seems to be set for a battle to regain Oncol.
With the battle raging at Oncol, there has been a rippling effect across the Sojournership that has stopped the growth of the economy, as virtually no goods are able to leave Oncol, and passage through Oncol for internal tradeships has essentially ceased.
(NOTE: Starbase is disputed. No ships can be built at Oncol. Also, because of the current battle with the Vakkra, Oncol is producing only half EP this turn).
Harpellian Hegemony
Lander is colonized! A truly spectacular system, and one the Hegemony has plans for. New technology has been researched to increase ship weapons strength and power, the Hegemony being as plagued by paranoia of the Vakkra as everyone else. A new groundforce is established at Qomoc.
Haven
After seven long years of debate, construction, revision, and whatnot, University of MechTech is completed at Xanthus Prime! The university is expected to bring focus and dedication to the fields of Construction, Energy, and Robotics. On another scientific note, new ship weapons have been rolled out to the Fleet, in hopes of increasing defense against the new Vakkra threat.
Three new fleets are constructed at Xanthus Prime, 2 cruiser fleets (Bronze and Platinum) and 1 carrier group (ShieldForce). Money has also been invested into improving the Scourge Foam. Fingers are still crossed at Byblos as to how much longer the Scourge will be encased.
Preparation continue in Fetarra to provide defenses around the jumpgate, in case the Sojourners decide to make their move while Haven is preoccupied with the duel threat of the Scourge and the Vakkra. Havenite military strategists are exercising their brains attempting to figure out reliable strategies to use against the Vakkra when the inevitable combat begins.
Swarmforce continues to foam the Scourge in Byblos. It is thought that every piece of Scourge is now safely encased in foam. Still, SwarmForce remains busy constantly checking to see if the scourge is breaking through. Blue Flame is set up under quarantine, in case any Scourge had secured itself on the ship. No sign of Scourge is found, and Blue Flame is returned to normal duty. Hive Force remains defensive, assisting in the preparation of defenses in Fetarra.
Sentinel moves to Trinity, to avoid running into the Vakkra.
TF Alpha is sent to Naqu, attempting to evacuate as many colonists as possible before the Vakkra arrive. It's not a question of if, but when. The fleet arrives and begins loading colonists, foregoing any personal effects and cramming people in like sardines. It is not long before the warnings come in that a Vakkra fleet of 3 Destroyers has entered Naqu. The commander of TF Alpha makes the hard decision to leave those not yet boarded behind, and makes all haste to the jumpgate to Byblos. His fleet is set upon and destroyed mere moments before the jumpgate is reached. The last received transmissions from Naqu indicate the colonists attempting to resist the Vakkra, but ultimately succumbing to them.
(Haven: TF Alpha destroyed, -6M colonists, 7M colonists assimilated, Naqu Occupied By Vakkra)
Jaenar
Things are quiet in the new Jaenar Empire. Construction continues on the Raptor Production Facility. Most of the Empire's economy is geared to military production, doubling the cruiser force, and adding 10 new transports to the fleet.
One battlestar from Domaar loads 250 fighters and jumps to Xanj.
Miria
Scientists on Miria have devised new methods for ship hull production which they believe will allow them to build ships that will rival the Vakkra in size. The military wastes no time in putting Mirian Destroyers on the production line.
On Centaus and Hr'Tor two sister fleets are built, consisting of 6 Destroyers, 12 Cruisers, and 100 fighters. 1,000 Soldiers are trained at Ingram. A small amount, but enough to keep the colonists confident.
In Silodon, the scoutship receives orders to contact the native population. The meeting is tense, with translators working overtime to establish reliable communication. The captain of the scoutship finally is able to meet with several of the world's leaders. During the course of the meeting, the Mirian captain demonstrates Mirian technology, shows the leaders videos and holos of the regions of space explored by Mirian civilization. He has them captivated. The offer is made for the Silodons to join the Mirian Empire, and receive the full rights and technology of the rest of Mirian civilization.
After a couple months of deliberating, the leaders of the world agree! (Silodon joins Mirian Faction)
At long last, EF1 reaches Xanthus Prime. Massive reorganizations occur amongst the military fleets. The creation of the Black, White, Red, and Yellow Guardian Fleets is seen as a step forward for the Mirian Navy. Incidentally, there has been a sharp decrease in the number of ulcers, heartburn, and headaches amongst Mirian Logisticians.
The Yellow Guardian Fleet, newly organized, arrives in Emey on the eve of battle unbeknownst (though not completely unexpected) to them. They are greeted on arrival by Duke Atreides himself, who has been sent to command them from the HMS Vengeance. His arrival is well met, and preparations begin for planning the attack on the Vakkra ships present in Venever.
In the middle of the night (relative, of course, to the Mirian day/night schedule), alarms go off across the fleet. The Vakkra have arrived in Emey. 2 Destroyers, no more. Atreides takes command and the Yellow Guardian Fleet moves in for combat. The two fleets approached each other. Yellow Guardian's morale was high, as they had a larger fleet than what had been destroyed at Kalekka, against a smaller force. It was time to even the score, at least a little bit.
Weapons began firing. The now-infamous shimmering effect of the Vakkra ships taken in stride. The accuracy of their targeting systems might not be high against whatever the Vakkra were using, but the Mirian Fleet had a large amount of weapons to unleash against only two ships. The fleet spread out to maximize the weapons spread. The Vakkra ships unleashed their fury of weapons onto the cruiser. Several Mirian cruisers were destroyed almost immediately, but still Yellow Guardian pressed on, now concentrating fire on one Vakkra ship at a time.
More shots fired by the Vakkra ripped through several more cruisers. Then, an unexpected hit to a Vakkra ship ripped through it. The ship ruptured, exploding silently in space. The remaining Vakkra ship let loose a volley of energy, destroying more cruisers, but it was not enough. With only one ship to contend with, the remaining cruisers of Yellow Guardian barrelled into the destroyer, tearing it to pieces in short order!
(Miria: -21 Cruisers. Vakkra: -2 Destroyers)
(not to mention the 3-1 fighter loss rate)
