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Battle of Fexkla
The grin of Admiral Avelina Hauteville reached from one ear to another. There she was- the Fex’Klangan homeworld. Small moon orbiting a gas giant. And there they were- the Fex’Klangan fleet. Just as she had predicted.
The Fexkla, the Fex'Klangan homeworld
“Auntie...” young man next to her started speaking
Avelina sighed. “Admiral Hauteville here, Ensign Hauteville” she corrected the man for about a thousandth time.
“Sorry, Aun... Admiral,” the youngster corrected himself. “Old habits...”
Nepotism? Avelina thought to herself? Perhaps, in a small scale. But Sayer was also a bright young officer, just fresh out of Academy and well, there is an issue of most captains are not really feeling comfortable with second son of the Emperor as their aide-de-campe. In a way, it was a situation where Joscelin could not be assigned anywhere else but here. Avelina remembered herself as a daughter of an Empress and Lieutenant of the Columbus and the strange relationship between her and the captain. On one hand, you have to occasionally shout “get your feet from under your ass, Lieutenant, and get it done,” on the other hand, telling the Emperor’s daughter that...
Even though everyone understood that the position of Ensign Hauteville took precedence over Sayer Hauteville, second child of Emperor Tancred. At least in the fleet. In real life, things are never that easy. So, it can be called nepotism, but at least, Sayer has an Admiral who is not afraid to scream at him. On the other side, he tends to call the Admiral Auntie. And to be fair, the Admiral also sometimes slips and calls her aide-de-camp Sai.
“Admiral,” Sayer asked again. “Why are you grinning like you found a box of 2199 Cabernet in your cellar?”
“Because two of my predictions came through,” Avelina grinned again. “First, I predicted that the Fex’Klangan fleet is not actively searching for the Quiramulan Fleet, but instead, is set to defend their capital world. Or, as they would put it,” she winced at the words “to resupply and reinforce before heading out to final engagement with the enemy.
“Means they’re just slacking?” Sayer asked.
“Or avoiding combat with a superior enemy,” Avelina added thoughtfully. “Quiramulans have about the same strength as us and i’d avoid combat too...”
“Apart from raids to enemy territory and fighting a guerilla war,” she added after a thought. “Scatter the fleet, small strike teams, force the enemy to split or to react... or hit their space economy hard. But, that’s not what the Fex’Klangans are doing...”
“What are they doing then?”
“If I thought them to be religious persons, i’d expect them waiting for a miracle. Them being not, i have no idea.” Avelina shrugged
“And the second prediction, Aun... Admiral?”
“That they are still using the same weapon systems they did use when we were allies. And look at that,” Avelina pointed at a screen displaying Lorod-Kalen class corvettes. Missiles!”
Mainstay of Fex'Klangan Fleet, Lodor-Kalen class Corvettes
The Admiral started laughing in relief. “You know, Ensign, we have 10 destroyers equipped with point-defence weapons, plus this and the other Tancred-class cruiser comes with fighters and also with point-defence capacity. So, we are neutralizing most of their fleet!”
“But they have plenty of different corvettes?”
“Yes, and Lorod-Kalen is one of the oldest designs, but they all share the same characteristic- two missile slots. One small, one medium. And their choice of weaponry, let’s just say we would have most likely won anyway, but the difference is the Normans lives lost in the battle.”
“Are you expecting a clean battle then?” Sayer enquired. Half-hopingly.
“‘’Fraid not, Ensign,” Avelina didn’t sound very happy about it. “There is still some brand new Lorod-Dugal class destroyers, equipped with energy weapons that have high reach. Just three of them, but they are still a threat- they can do a lot of damage before we even get to range. We are bound to take some losses. Not much though.”
Bigger destroyer, with considerably less missiles
Avelina’s grin became even wider. “One thing for sure- this is not going to be a Phyrric victory!”
“Phyrric victory?”
“Boy, did you sleep through history classes? Your task for tomorrow is to study up and give me report on Phyrros!”
“And the Cynn? They shouldn’t be much of a threat?” Was it true interest or desperate ploy to avoid ancient history, we will never know.
“Well, the Cynn with their nine quite ancient Disfigure corvettes... can actually do quite a damage. They are using mass drivers that rip through our shields. There is 9 or them and even though their shields are a joke, they can punch.”
Disfigure corvettes
“Should we make them a priority?” asked Sayer.
“First, the destroyers. Then, the Cynn. Then, Fex’Klanga corvettes. Then, space station”
After that, they watched in silence as the Hauteville fleet was approaching enemy fleet. Then, they went to sleep. Had breakfast. Watched again. Had lunch. Did a staff meeting to finalize tactics. Then grabbed a snack, watched again, had dinner, went to sleep and continued to do so as the Hauteville fleet moved through annoyingly low speed towards the Fexla.
The Battle
16th November 2255, the fleet finally reached the range of enemy space station. Armed with the hugest missiles, the station sent them out in pairs. Normans put pedal to the metal and with full speed and a bit of extra, they raced towards the enemy. The reason was clear- the enemy was having an advantage in range that needed to be closed as soon as possible. As for missiles- fighters launched from the two cruisers made short work of them.
The battle starts with salvo from enemy space station
As the Hauteville fleet raced towards the enemy, they came to range of the corvettes. Several salvoes of missiles flew towards the Norman ships- but much to dismay of the Fex’Klangans, the Norman fighters had just reached the enemy fleet. Quick, nimble and small crafts, around 20 metres in length- even the smallest enemy cannons were having a hard time tracking them and the big, clumsy capital ship killing missiles did not have a chance against them. They made havoc inside the enemy fleet, shooting down the missiles, hitting the enemy ships. In the latter part though, their small size came with a cost- small weapons. Not really able to penetrate the enemy shields and armour. But the brave pilots did not let themselves to be disturbed by such minor details and like a swarm of angry bees, they kept on, forcing the enemy captains to react to them and sway their attention away from the real battlefield.
As the enemy ships send a salvo, the Norman fighters move to intercept
More and more enemy corvettes came to range and soon, the number of missiles was too damn much for the fighters to handle. First enemy salvoes passed the fighter screen, heading towards the fleet. As the same time though, first Norman cannons came to range and started sending their salvos towards the enemy fleet.
First missiles getting through, while the Normans also open fire
First Norman ship to fall was HTV Specter, a raider-class ship, found derelict somewhere in space. It was once powerful, but now antiquated ship. For example, no shields! The crew knew their ship full well though and as the first plasma charges started breaking through hull, they promptly hit the life pods and made out. Mostly.
First casualty of the battle
Normans moved closer and closer, where their mass drivers are more effective. The sky started to get littered with explosions as the Fex’Klangan ships started to blow up. At the same time, the remaining ones were desperately trying to damage the Norman ships. Their missiles destroyed by fighters or point defence guns of Norman ships. The victory was now almost guaranteed.
As Normans move in, the enemy starts exploding
Then, the Cynn jumped, having lost half their fleet and unwilling to lose more. Leaving the already diminishing numbers of Fex’Klangans on their own. Until there was nothing left but their space station. And then, there was none. The space was cleared of the enemy ships and Hauteville ruled the day.
Then, there was just the station. Soon, there were none.
Losing just three ships- two of them antiquated raiders- Normans managed to destroy 28 Fex’Klangan corvettes, 3 destroyers and 5 Cynn corvettes. Plus one space station. It was total victory of the Hauteville Empire.
Norman defences made the enemy missiles a no-threat
Aftermath
“The war is won,” stated Avelina to Sayer.
“With just one battle, Admiral?” the Ensign was a bit surprised. First battle and all of that, he felt more nervous then he was willing to admit. Even though HTV Barcelona, the flagship, was hit with just few stray energy shells, the crackling of shields and a bit panicked voices of the shield operators were enough to make a young man to shake a bit. Very secretly.
Avelina didn’t even seem to notice the ship getting hit though. She had instead ordered champagne to be brought from her personal supplies and now, the bridge was celebrating. But she always had time for the young Ensign.
“See, Sayer,” she started lecture more. Sayer switched automatically to “looking like listening intensively” mode. “In this day and age, in order to win a war, you only need one thing. Total control of space. Both yours and enemy space.”
“In order to achieve that, you need three things. First, a fleet. Fex’Klangans have none, for we just blew decades of their military budget to kingdom come. With that, we also made our space secure, mind you.”
“Second, you need production facilities to build new ships. When we blew up the orbital ship factory of Fexkla, we destroyed their biggest and most advanced station. Sure, they have some left in their remaining planets, but nothing of the size and production power of the Fexkla factory”
“Third, you need resources. And for that, there is also Fexkla. Their homeworld. Richer than all their other planets combined. And so conveniently under our blockade now. Basically, with one battle, we have stripped them of their fleet, their fleet production capacity and resources to build a fleet. Hat-trick. And Sai, you can start listening again, i’m done!”
Ignoring the last remark, Sayer just asked: “So, we’re done? We can go home?”
Aveline shaked her head and made a sad smile. “Unfortunately no. The enemy does not see it this way. And even if they do, they don’t want to give up yet, waiting for a miracle that is never going to come. Don’t worry, Ensign, we still have plenty of battles to win. Against space stations mostly. And planet to bomb. It will take at least a few years before it is over.”
She was right. Though the war had already been won, the war was just starting.
I'm still here and writing! 
Hope you haven't forgotten my Normans just yet!
And the battle of Fexkla- i gave such a good thrashing that i thought it deserved another chapter. Btw, with this, I have reached chapter 50. Thanks for all who have been reading!
Had to happen sooner or later. This is a multi-species empire after all...
I'm pretty sure that doesn't stop them claiming! But yes, it is a landmark.
I bale the Zithorans who kinda took over after being conquered!
Why hello Jacob. Hope to see you again some time!
Right you are. Just that.. after this, i'm going to find it very hard to find proper backs to stab
Hope you haven't forgotten my Normans just yet!And the battle of Fexkla- i gave such a good thrashing that i thought it deserved another chapter. Btw, with this, I have reached chapter 50. Thanks for all who have been reading!
Had to happen sooner or later. This is a multi-species empire after all...
I'm pretty sure that doesn't stop them claiming!
But yes, it is a landmark.I bale the Zithorans who kinda took over after being conquered!
Why hello Jacob. Hope to see you again some time!
Right you are. Just that.. after this, i'm going to find it very hard to find proper backs to stab
Some tidy observations about the nature of Hautville's brand of effective nepotism.
The last line is quality.
The last line is quality.
The last line sums it up nicely. That battle ended any chance of you losing. Now we just have to make them accept the results.
The enemy fleet is history, now the boring bombarding of planets until they too realise that
Just caught up, very nicely done, and hilarious. Because, and not despite, all the grammatical errors as well. Looking forward to how the Normans deal with the endgame horrors...
I'm embarrassed that it took that long for me to figure that out. And I was kinda hoping either for AI or Unbidden, as lots of people have been getting the Prethoryns recently in AARs.
Alien Abduction, part 2
Thurs Opih watched as Sobak was pouring a cup of tea. He assessed the situation. The alien looked old, with patches of gray on his fur. And repulsive. He looked even more disgusting then the humans... and five minutes ago, he didn’t think it possible. Yet, the overall musculature of the beast. Thurs sighed. Average human, he could overpower easily. Perhaps even five average humans. But Sobak looked like he could be quite a match for Thurs, despite his age. Still, he looked as hard as he could, but he saw no signs of hostility coming from the beast. Instead, he saw curiosity when the old beast handed him a cup and gazed upon him. Despite his size, he seemed to handle the cup with finesse and care. Bit doubtingly, Thurs accepted and sniffed the contents carefully. It just smelt well. He took a small sip.
They were in closed room. With guards outside, no question about it. But the view from the windows showed Thurs that the escape was pointless too. An alien world, blue, with white clouds and specs of land, was shining through the window. Quite like Thurs-Opaluud, his homeworld, actually. But the continents were off. And the blue hue was a bit different in colour. But apparently, they were in some sort of space installation. Judging by the space allocated to him, a huge space installation.
“So,” Sobak begun with a voice that seemed to growl and yet was soft and compassionate. To the grand surprise of Thurs, he didn’t use a translator. Instead, he spoke in not perfect, but acceptable Qix-Lufran. Even more, the beast spoke in his native dialect. And it seemed like the “acceptable” part came from differences in physiology- the beast just couldn’t physically make the proper sounds needed to make himself totally understandable.
“I trust you have had a chance to read the papers our captors gave to you? About the Hauteville-Tokugawa effect?”
“Our captors?” the beak of Thurs was left open.
Sobak seemed rather pleased that he noticed that. She smiled softly- though in her case, it looked more like baring teeth. “You know, i used to be E’Lan’Rah, one of the scientists in M’Rak’Vo. Our homeworld is not very far from here. And in 2218... Gods, that was, 40 years ago, the Normans took my in a manner similar to yours”
“They have kept you captive for 40 years?” shock in Thurs’ voice was genuine.
Sobar chuckled in return “I am citizen of the Hauteville Empire. I am registered in the capital of Palermo and i am actively voting in the matters of my local district. I actually have quite a nice flat there too, though i rarely visit it. So much to do...”
“You mean you are not a prisoner?”
“You know, my capture was involuntary. Me staying- that was totally voluntary,” Sobak smiled at some memory she did not share with Thurs. “Let’s say that the Normans lured me with promise of freedom of research and near unlimited funding. And they have kept their word”
“But... but you are working for aliens? They very same who captured you and dragged you away!”
“And who had been lurking in the skies of my homeworld for a few years. Now, more then 40 years,” Sobak took herself a sip of tea and then continued: “But they are doing it the nice way. Anything they abduct, they put back later on.”
Normans above M'Rak'Vo
“You really don’t mind?” Thurs asked, then paused for a second, and then bursted out: “Hey, wait, that means that the Normans are lurking above my homeworld as well!”
He looked disgusted.
Sobak looked thoughtful “You know, once, it bothered me too. And one of my demands for working with the Normans was the removal of the station from my homeworld.”
“But?”
“But then, the person recruiting me had the following question- if the roles were reversed, what would you do?”
Thurs thought for a moment, then said, thinking as speaking “Not 100% sure. I would rule out the invasion, at least. But similar station, i think. With extra mission to contain the filthy aliens to their homeworld.” He paused for a moment, then admitted “And i’m not sure we would adopt “If you abduct something, put it back” policy.”
“See?” Sobak was actually grinning. “It is nasty for it to happen to us, but it just means we were not the first. And as shadows in the sky go, Normans are actually quite nice.”
Norman station above Thurs Opaluud
“But back to the matter at hand,” Sobak made a general gesture, “You have read about the Hauteville-Tokugawa effect?”
Thurs nodded. His eyes lit up. “It is amazing! To be able to fold space in such a matter...”
“So, you do understand it?”
“It took me a while to figure it out, really. The math behind it so so bloody complicated. But i had lots of time. The journey was a long one.”
Sobak chuckled “And after a week of rampage and banging on the walls and screaming obscenities, you slept for three days and then begun to study”
“You didn’t go crazy?” Thurs asked
“I was frozen the whole time,” Sobak chuckled at the experience. “I’m not even sure what is better.”
“But you are laughing at it now?” there was amazement in the voice of Thurs
“I was pretty angry with the Normans in the beginning, but 40 years can make everything seem to be... smaller and less significant” Sobak replied.
“As for the Hauteville-Tokugawa effect,” Thurs went back to the subject. “I noticed that there are two sets of math. Like done by different persons?”
“Oh yes,” Sobek beamed. “I managed to perfect it. Now, opening a wormhole costs less energy, is quicker and one jump can get you further.”
“So, what part is yours?” Thurs asked.
Sobak showed him. For the next three hours, they were having a most interesting conversation that only handful of Normans would understand completely. Most of the them Normans were working under Sobak, actually. But Thurs was captivated.
After then, they took a break. Sobak ordered some food and soon it arrived. Something that was edible to both species. Believe me, that was not such an easy task to find such food.
They ate in silence, Thurs lifting his eyes occasionally and gazing down on Earth. After dinner, the servants brought in dessert- and to Thurs’s pleasure, a pack of Qix’Lufran version of tobacco. He lit the smoke, gratefully, and commented to Sobak “These i have missed”
Thurs smoked in silence for a while, then asked in silent voice: “So, you are planning to make me an offer? To work on your team?”
“No,” said Sobak. “I’m planning to give you my team.”
“What?”
“I’m 82. I have about two decades left. I’m retiring,” said Sobak. Somewhat longingly. “Of course, i’ll not leave this instance, i’ll bring you up to speed until you are comfortable, but that’s the general plan.”
“You want me to run the entire physics department?” Thurs actually dropped his cigarette, then picked it up quickly, took a puff and continued: “Of the entire Hauteville Empire?”
“I have no other physics department to give you, so yes,” there was a grin in Sobak’s face.
“All the research, all the resources, all the facilities?” Thurs continued.
“Of course- the secrets of the universe will be yours to discover,” said Sobak
And as you know, some temptations are impossible to resist. Especially if you happen to be a brilliant scientist and you get an offer like this. Thus, Thurs Opih became quite voluntarily the new head of the physics department.
Met Thurs Opih, new head of the Physics department
As for Sobak, she retired in a year. Went back to her homeworld, found it boring and provincial after a month and then, returned to Earth. She stayed in Palermo and was found quite often in the palace, playing chess with Emperor Tancred. Rest of the time, she was writing something on a completely different topic- the complete history of M’Rak’Vo.
This is kind of second part to original short story, Alien Abduction. Just this time, it seems like the abductee had become an abductor on her own
And it was perfect timing on the random number generator part. Sobak was just getting a bit old. It's a shame though that the game always renames the scinentist Sobak. I played around with idea to call him Sobak II, but then thought for the better or it. At least, physics department is rolling strong again.
Well, i just thought that the children of the Emperor need military training, but the actual command of the (potential) future Emperor would not be as pleasant
And thanks!
Yup. Kinda makes sense, but then again, kinda... i wish the enemy would do some guerilla strikes, force me to split up my fleet and so on. Oh well, perhaps with Stellaris 2
Oh yes, there is going to be some booring invasions
First war the Hautevilles fought was almost like that actually- take their fleet, their space station around homeworld and invade and puff, enemy surrenders. Now though. Well, i think that would make people complain that hey, the game is a bit too easy!
Thanks. And yes, i admit, i suck at proofreading and i'm not native English-speaker. Though i really hope things are not that bad!
And i'm curious about this as well. Around 50+ episodes left before i get that far though.
Since i'm going to get Jump drives and i'm not shying away from AI, i think it will be either of them.
But the MUGANI? will come anyway. Oh well, we'll see how things work out. Just hope they don't land between two Fallen Empires like they did in my last game. Or rather, i hope they do. It was kind of interesting
And it was perfect timing on the random number generator part. Sobak was just getting a bit old. It's a shame though that the game always renames the scinentist Sobak. I played around with idea to call him Sobak II, but then thought for the better or it. At least, physics department is rolling strong again.
Well, i just thought that the children of the Emperor need military training, but the actual command of the (potential) future Emperor would not be as pleasant
And thanks!
Yup. Kinda makes sense, but then again, kinda... i wish the enemy would do some guerilla strikes, force me to split up my fleet and so on. Oh well, perhaps with Stellaris 2
The enemy fleet is history, now the boring bombarding of planets until they too realise that
Oh yes, there is going to be some booring invasions
Wouldn't it be great if just the enemy could accept fate and bend over.
First war the Hautevilles fought was almost like that actually- take their fleet, their space station around homeworld and invade and puff, enemy surrenders. Now though. Well, i think that would make people complain that hey, the game is a bit too easy!
Thanks. And yes, i admit, i suck at proofreading and i'm not native English-speaker. Though i really hope things are not that bad!
And i'm curious about this as well. Around 50+ episodes left before i get that far though.
Since i'm going to get Jump drives and i'm not shying away from AI, i think it will be either of them.
But the MUGANI? will come anyway. Oh well, we'll see how things work out. Just hope they don't land between two Fallen Empires like they did in my last game. Or rather, i hope they do. It was kind of interesting
Hello, everyone!
I have a dilemma. Heinlein patch changes quite a lot, so here i was, thinking- perhaps it would be more fun to start over and see where the Hauteville Empire goes in the alternative future. You know, Normans and space dragons- match made in heaven. Unless you happen to be a space dragon, that is. Plus, the changes in colonization, ships and all that.
So, there i was, thinking that hey, perhaps i'll go for another Hauteville Empire AAR, this time with new patch and fresh dragons and see where this leads?
What do you prefer? Keep on going or try something new?
Heh, that's why i wrote it. Nothing like the story of abductee becoming an abductor
And decent conquerors too!
But then again, Sobak deserved retirement. She's been doing it for 40 years. And i'm keeping her in reserve
I have a dilemma. Heinlein patch changes quite a lot, so here i was, thinking- perhaps it would be more fun to start over and see where the Hauteville Empire goes in the alternative future. You know, Normans and space dragons- match made in heaven. Unless you happen to be a space dragon, that is. Plus, the changes in colonization, ships and all that.
So, there i was, thinking that hey, perhaps i'll go for another Hauteville Empire AAR, this time with new patch and fresh dragons and see where this leads?
What do you prefer? Keep on going or try something new?
There's a certain golden irony in that scene.
Heh, that's why i wrote it. Nothing like the story of abductee becoming an abductor
And decent conquerors too!
But then again, Sobak deserved retirement. She's been doing it for 40 years. And i'm keeping her in reserve
I wouldn't mind starting over with the new content. The latest DLC and patch definitely improves the game, and ought to do the same for the AAR.