They put up one hell of a fight by the sound of that, nicely written! But if the Spore have taken control of the space around the planet and began landing, its all over for Wacegi, no matter how long their ground resistance might last.
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Are you deliberately damaging your relations with other empires through insults, in order to stimulate that they would see the spore as a danger to all life?
Yes I do, but the AI isn't easily goaded into aggression. So far only two empires have declared on me, one of wich was across the galaxy and white peaced 20 years later without ever attacking, and the other will be a footnote in the next update *munch*.
There's no empire left with an attitude above -350, but nobody is actually keen on attacking me. Some even still try to ask me to attack with them... wich I might take into consideratio at some point, and crafting it into "someone was dumb enough to employ this shit as a bio-weapon". For 2300 I thought something fun would be in order, so expect something more exiting then just slaughtering what's left of the Wacegi.
@sebas379 : They fought like lions on the ground and kept sending single corvettes disrupting my bombardement. 12 Psionic Armys + 6 Militia are a pain to get rid of, if you have to engage them with penalties and normal assault armies...
There's no empire left with an attitude above -350, but nobody is actually keen on attacking me. Some even still try to ask me to attack with them... wich I might take into consideratio at some point, and crafting it into "someone was dumb enough to employ this shit as a bio-weapon". For 2300 I thought something fun would be in order, so expect something more exiting then just slaughtering what's left of the Wacegi.
@sebas379 : They fought like lions on the ground and kept sending single corvettes disrupting my bombardement. 12 Psionic Armys + 6 Militia are a pain to get rid of, if you have to engage them with penalties and normal assault armies...
"We are now live from the ekwynian battleship Intrepid, where one of the greatest events in intergalactic politics since the Nova Convention is about to commence. Never before have so many heads of state met in person, thereby recognizing the Spore as a threat of galactic proportions. Initiated by the Maiden Empress of the Imperial Wacegi States Gablal the first and hosted by our revered Strategos Blim den Iridar, the conference is also attended by President Frolaxen of the Democratic Rak'Thalak'Nak Nation, the Lady Protektor Salkion Lobbtika of the Xanyr Galactic Federation and God Emperor J'Kir the First of the Holy Igarian Empire. With only Matriarch Sisalin of the Andigonj United Systems refusing to honor the invitation.
While the Wacegi are actively trying for a formal alliance, experts expect this proposal to be dropped in favor of a commited joint military action against the Contamination Zone as proposed by the Ekwynian Stratocracies military advisors. The conference is set to last for a full week and will be closely monitored by journalists of all species involved.
The meeting was scheduled surprisingly fast after the fall of the Imperial Capital planet and the subsequent infestation of the Planet Voldop, the native population of wich had begin to employ FTL-Travel only recently and was wiped out after attempting to expand into the Contamination zone." - Ekwynian News Report from 2294
Private Log General Koralex - Entry 2803 - 2298.11.29
It seems strange that I should return to fight the spore after such a long time. Seems High Command is scraping the barrel to find commanders with some experience. Many of the old guard got clawed during the civil war and most of the hatchlings experience is in fighting our own, not the enemy. The Grand Gen told me to pick my eggs, since I'll be leading the charge, so I called together some of the old lads who served along side the Yalon as I did. Aside from that, I got my talons on some of the survivors from Bunda Defense Corps. They're eager to take revenge for losing the colony in the last Spore War, though they resent High Command for abandoning it in the first place. I guess I'll have to give them some action asap, to make sure they know I mean business.
Operation "Pest Control" shapes up to be the biggest coordinated campaign in history, not only ours, but the galaxies. This has been in planning for several years now. On the surface it's quite simple. The First Void Skulkers under Admiral are to invade Itraben, while the Igarian First Starfleet will push into the former Yalon Home System and Second Starfleet liberates the Voldop System. Meanwhile two Ekwynian Task Forces are to attack Ksora and Ze'Zebb, both of wich are heavily suspected to contain what Command has dupped "Ground Zero", the source of the contamination. Securing it would probably not incapacitate the Spore, but allow us to learn more about it then any blind experiment could hope to unveil.
The Xanyr and their Namarian subjects will be attacking targets of opportunity along the southern front, while the Wacegi will have to wait until the main assault gets the spores attention, before their navy tries for the liberation of their home planet.
The Nation has devoted 36 Legions to the expected ground efforts with more to come later this year, we're to take what we can get our claws on and put it to the torch. I suggested glassing it, but HC seems to think its still valuable real estate down the line.
While the Wacegi are actively trying for a formal alliance, experts expect this proposal to be dropped in favor of a commited joint military action against the Contamination Zone as proposed by the Ekwynian Stratocracies military advisors. The conference is set to last for a full week and will be closely monitored by journalists of all species involved.
The meeting was scheduled surprisingly fast after the fall of the Imperial Capital planet and the subsequent infestation of the Planet Voldop, the native population of wich had begin to employ FTL-Travel only recently and was wiped out after attempting to expand into the Contamination zone." - Ekwynian News Report from 2294
Private Log General Koralex - Entry 2803 - 2298.11.29
It seems strange that I should return to fight the spore after such a long time. Seems High Command is scraping the barrel to find commanders with some experience. Many of the old guard got clawed during the civil war and most of the hatchlings experience is in fighting our own, not the enemy. The Grand Gen told me to pick my eggs, since I'll be leading the charge, so I called together some of the old lads who served along side the Yalon as I did. Aside from that, I got my talons on some of the survivors from Bunda Defense Corps. They're eager to take revenge for losing the colony in the last Spore War, though they resent High Command for abandoning it in the first place. I guess I'll have to give them some action asap, to make sure they know I mean business.
Operation "Pest Control" shapes up to be the biggest coordinated campaign in history, not only ours, but the galaxies. This has been in planning for several years now. On the surface it's quite simple. The First Void Skulkers under Admiral are to invade Itraben, while the Igarian First Starfleet will push into the former Yalon Home System and Second Starfleet liberates the Voldop System. Meanwhile two Ekwynian Task Forces are to attack Ksora and Ze'Zebb, both of wich are heavily suspected to contain what Command has dupped "Ground Zero", the source of the contamination. Securing it would probably not incapacitate the Spore, but allow us to learn more about it then any blind experiment could hope to unveil.
The Xanyr and their Namarian subjects will be attacking targets of opportunity along the southern front, while the Wacegi will have to wait until the main assault gets the spores attention, before their navy tries for the liberation of their home planet.
The Nation has devoted 36 Legions to the expected ground efforts with more to come later this year, we're to take what we can get our claws on and put it to the torch. I suggested glassing it, but HC seems to think its still valuable real estate down the line.
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Well well, it seems some folks have woken up to the danger lurking in their backyard. Attacks from all sides, thats both problematic and an opportunity to defeat enemy fleets in detail.
Day of the Fireflies
Red lights illuminated the way to the launch tubes, as Cara sprinted through. Of course they'd come just as she was taking a dump. Entering the hangar bay the woman in her yellow pilot suit turned left towards the first of the starboard tubes, where her fighter was already waiting. Her mechanic handed Cara her helmet, as she strapped in. "Just don't." she warned him, well aware of his grin, indicating the emergence of one of Baxters universally bad jokes.
He didn't, at least not while she could hear him, but his grin just grew even more amused.
"This is Valkyrie Leader, are you set?" One after the other, her fellow pilots reported.
"Valkyrie 2, ready for launch." "Valkyrie 3, ready to go." "Val 4. I'm good." "Valkyrie 5. Ready for launch." Cara checked her instruments. "Valkyrie Leader to launch control, we're ready to go." "Confirmed. Launch sequence initiated. Good Hunting Valkyries." Cara leaned back and breathed out, as her fighter was yanked forwards and flung into the dark.
Valkyrie formed up alongside Gryphon. The enemy was still far out, but the hunks of metal shone brightly against the cold background, if viewed in infrared. The mission wasn't all to glorious. They were to distract enemy point defense, to make sure the missile-heavy alpha strike would land. There would be no bombers to intercept, or missiles to shoot down, nor enemy fighters. There never were and if anything, the Spore began to rely on heavier ships, rather than light ones.
At the beginning of the war, the spore fleets had consisted primarily of corvettes, armed with a long range energy beam and point defense. Recently she had noticed a considerable increase in destroyers, though those were really just up scaled corvettes, using the same layout with considerably more punch and bulk. Annoyingly, even their cruisers and battleships carried point defense, making it hard to overwhelm them by pure missile spam.
At least they weren't using anything like the advanced shields of the Ekwynian Fleet, but rather some kind of crystalinfused hullplating reminiscent of the crystalline entities found in every shitty corner of the galaxy.
"We're moving into range. You know the drill, so have fun and don't get shot. Take podshots, but stay unpredictable." "You heard the lady, don't get comfy." her second in command laughed. "Awww, but they're so cuddly and sweet!" Caitlyn chimed in. "If you want something sweet…" "F*ck off."
Cara grinned. "If you want to fight, fight the enemy." she suggested, breaking up the argument about to begin. The Spores point defenses began to fire. "Valkyries!" "TO VALHALLA!"
Cara dove into the enemy formation, using the ships as cover against other ships PD and goading the spore into shooting itself. Wired into the ships mainframe, every action and reaction was a mere thought away, often times not even that, as her reflexes had been honed by battle after battle.
The fighter tipped into a deep dive, rolled over ad weaved to the side, in between another two of the spore ships, dancing around the bright blue lances thrown at it. Cara was all to aware a single hit could end her - and certainly would end her fighter - and that it essentially came down to chance, but she told herself it was her skill which kept her alive all these years, not just a roll of the dice.
Passing the first destroyer, she engaged her own beams targeting its main weapon, before breaking of into another direction. Behind her, the first missiles were ripping apart the Spores Vanguard.
A quick look assured her that all her Valkyries were still intact, but she noticed 3 Gryphons missing. "Marc. You boys alright?" she asked, barely evading the bright orange beam aimed at some of the bigger ships of the Ekwynian fleet. "Don't know." he answered, stress showing through his voice. "Al seems to have mistaken his wings for a missile. But I think he jumped ship in time. Dan and Sammy got focused."
Cara managed to maneuver close to one of the cruisers at the edge of the spore formation, exploiting a blind spot to get just enough time to fire of a sensor pulse. "Got them, they're drifting out of the hot zone." she informed her colleague. "Thanks. Now focus on not dying yourself, will you?" Cara fired a barrage of lasers into the cruisers hull as it began to turn in order to bring its point defense to bear and made her escape. "You worried?" "Sure." she could hear him grin. "Who's gonna mess me up tonight, if you buy it?" Cara flipped her fighter to avoid several point defense beams. "Tina, Martha, Amy, you got choice boy." she returned flippantly. "Sure. All eager to screw me over your dead body. Thanks, but no thanks."
It was getting hot. Cara glanced at her crafts heat capacity, which was rapidly approaching the red. "Valkyries, how’s your heat?" "Valkyrie 2, just went red." "Valkyrie 3, a nice shade of orange." "Val 4, a little feverish." Valkyrie 5 failed to report. "Valkyrie 5 this is Valkyrie leader. Status report." Cara listened to the static, trying to find her wing mate on screen at the same time. "Tina?! Answer me! Shit!" Cara curved around a wrecked spore cruiser, blue beams cutting its hull as they missed her by just a few milliseconds.
"This is Valkyrie 5. I'm red like a lobster and ready to get out." Cara was about to jump out of her seat, but the straps kept her in place. "F*ck you. You got me scared." "Sorry love, was about to shed my skin and had to focus." Cara exhaled, trying to calm down. "Valykries, back to base. If you see hitchers outside the red zone, giv'em a ride home."
As Cara emerged from her cockpit, taking off her helmet, she was drenched in sweat, her brown hair looked more like a tangle of seaweed. "Like a drowned kitten." a man leaning on a railing above her remarked. He was bold, lean and his facial features seemed more like a work of art, then one of nature. One of his eyes sported a cybernetic implant. "Danny. Hoped you were dead." she replied, grinning. "Paddled my way back home." he answered. "Don't bother to take the suit of, the Cpatain wnats you out there fighting again asap."
Caras brow furrowed. "Seriously?" She felt exhaustion, as the adrenlaine ebbed. "Yes." he answered in earnest. "Looks like we're to win this one, but we need the missiles doing damage." "What about you?" "I'm gonna replace your most tired, no fspare fighter left." Cara nodded. "Fine, but you tell Tina she's grounded yourself." His grin reappeared. "You could just punch my face yourself, you know?" "I'm your superior, woulnd't be appropriate. Was it worth losing your wings?" He had not lost his fighter, but instead intentionally rammed it into an enemy ship. He had no right to take Tinas place, safe for the fact he was several orders of magnitude better at the helm. "Took out a cruiser, so I guess it was."
Red lights illuminated the way to the launch tubes, as Cara sprinted through. Of course they'd come just as she was taking a dump. Entering the hangar bay the woman in her yellow pilot suit turned left towards the first of the starboard tubes, where her fighter was already waiting. Her mechanic handed Cara her helmet, as she strapped in. "Just don't." she warned him, well aware of his grin, indicating the emergence of one of Baxters universally bad jokes.
He didn't, at least not while she could hear him, but his grin just grew even more amused.
"This is Valkyrie Leader, are you set?" One after the other, her fellow pilots reported.
"Valkyrie 2, ready for launch." "Valkyrie 3, ready to go." "Val 4. I'm good." "Valkyrie 5. Ready for launch." Cara checked her instruments. "Valkyrie Leader to launch control, we're ready to go." "Confirmed. Launch sequence initiated. Good Hunting Valkyries." Cara leaned back and breathed out, as her fighter was yanked forwards and flung into the dark.
Valkyrie formed up alongside Gryphon. The enemy was still far out, but the hunks of metal shone brightly against the cold background, if viewed in infrared. The mission wasn't all to glorious. They were to distract enemy point defense, to make sure the missile-heavy alpha strike would land. There would be no bombers to intercept, or missiles to shoot down, nor enemy fighters. There never were and if anything, the Spore began to rely on heavier ships, rather than light ones.
At the beginning of the war, the spore fleets had consisted primarily of corvettes, armed with a long range energy beam and point defense. Recently she had noticed a considerable increase in destroyers, though those were really just up scaled corvettes, using the same layout with considerably more punch and bulk. Annoyingly, even their cruisers and battleships carried point defense, making it hard to overwhelm them by pure missile spam.
At least they weren't using anything like the advanced shields of the Ekwynian Fleet, but rather some kind of crystalinfused hullplating reminiscent of the crystalline entities found in every shitty corner of the galaxy.
"We're moving into range. You know the drill, so have fun and don't get shot. Take podshots, but stay unpredictable." "You heard the lady, don't get comfy." her second in command laughed. "Awww, but they're so cuddly and sweet!" Caitlyn chimed in. "If you want something sweet…" "F*ck off."
Cara grinned. "If you want to fight, fight the enemy." she suggested, breaking up the argument about to begin. The Spores point defenses began to fire. "Valkyries!" "TO VALHALLA!"
Cara dove into the enemy formation, using the ships as cover against other ships PD and goading the spore into shooting itself. Wired into the ships mainframe, every action and reaction was a mere thought away, often times not even that, as her reflexes had been honed by battle after battle.
The fighter tipped into a deep dive, rolled over ad weaved to the side, in between another two of the spore ships, dancing around the bright blue lances thrown at it. Cara was all to aware a single hit could end her - and certainly would end her fighter - and that it essentially came down to chance, but she told herself it was her skill which kept her alive all these years, not just a roll of the dice.
Passing the first destroyer, she engaged her own beams targeting its main weapon, before breaking of into another direction. Behind her, the first missiles were ripping apart the Spores Vanguard.
A quick look assured her that all her Valkyries were still intact, but she noticed 3 Gryphons missing. "Marc. You boys alright?" she asked, barely evading the bright orange beam aimed at some of the bigger ships of the Ekwynian fleet. "Don't know." he answered, stress showing through his voice. "Al seems to have mistaken his wings for a missile. But I think he jumped ship in time. Dan and Sammy got focused."
Cara managed to maneuver close to one of the cruisers at the edge of the spore formation, exploiting a blind spot to get just enough time to fire of a sensor pulse. "Got them, they're drifting out of the hot zone." she informed her colleague. "Thanks. Now focus on not dying yourself, will you?" Cara fired a barrage of lasers into the cruisers hull as it began to turn in order to bring its point defense to bear and made her escape. "You worried?" "Sure." she could hear him grin. "Who's gonna mess me up tonight, if you buy it?" Cara flipped her fighter to avoid several point defense beams. "Tina, Martha, Amy, you got choice boy." she returned flippantly. "Sure. All eager to screw me over your dead body. Thanks, but no thanks."
It was getting hot. Cara glanced at her crafts heat capacity, which was rapidly approaching the red. "Valkyries, how’s your heat?" "Valkyrie 2, just went red." "Valkyrie 3, a nice shade of orange." "Val 4, a little feverish." Valkyrie 5 failed to report. "Valkyrie 5 this is Valkyrie leader. Status report." Cara listened to the static, trying to find her wing mate on screen at the same time. "Tina?! Answer me! Shit!" Cara curved around a wrecked spore cruiser, blue beams cutting its hull as they missed her by just a few milliseconds.
"This is Valkyrie 5. I'm red like a lobster and ready to get out." Cara was about to jump out of her seat, but the straps kept her in place. "F*ck you. You got me scared." "Sorry love, was about to shed my skin and had to focus." Cara exhaled, trying to calm down. "Valykries, back to base. If you see hitchers outside the red zone, giv'em a ride home."
As Cara emerged from her cockpit, taking off her helmet, she was drenched in sweat, her brown hair looked more like a tangle of seaweed. "Like a drowned kitten." a man leaning on a railing above her remarked. He was bold, lean and his facial features seemed more like a work of art, then one of nature. One of his eyes sported a cybernetic implant. "Danny. Hoped you were dead." she replied, grinning. "Paddled my way back home." he answered. "Don't bother to take the suit of, the Cpatain wnats you out there fighting again asap."
Caras brow furrowed. "Seriously?" She felt exhaustion, as the adrenlaine ebbed. "Yes." he answered in earnest. "Looks like we're to win this one, but we need the missiles doing damage." "What about you?" "I'm gonna replace your most tired, no fspare fighter left." Cara nodded. "Fine, but you tell Tina she's grounded yourself." His grin reappeared. "You could just punch my face yourself, you know?" "I'm your superior, woulnd't be appropriate. Was it worth losing your wings?" He had not lost his fighter, but instead intentionally rammed it into an enemy ship. He had no right to take Tinas place, safe for the fact he was several orders of magnitude better at the helm. "Took out a cruiser, so I guess it was."
Timeline of the Great Effort
2300.11.27 The Battle of Itraben
The 1st Void Skulkers of the Rak'Thalak'Nak under Admiral Loxodal were engaged by a sporian fleet responding to their attempts to raze the Systems infrastructure. Heavily outnumbered in both hulls and firepower, the Void Skulkers nonetheless stood their ground trading their corvettes and destroyers in equal numbers, however losing all of their three cruisers as they covered the retreat of their two main battleships.
2301.02.07 The Battle of Pekona Yal
The 1st Starfleet of the Holy Inarian Empire under Admiral Bur B'Scorak engaged a sporian fleet in orbit over Yal, as they were preparing ground troops for invasion. While numerically superior, the outdated fleet made up entirely out of corvettes (44) and destroyers (11) lost 30% of their hulls before retreating back into Inarian Space.
2301.03.17 The Battle of Ze'Zebb
After marauding through what is now believed to be Ground Zero and laying siege to the spore Colony in the System, the 7th Ekwynian Task Force under Admiral Birm den Polosch was hit with overwhelming force by a sporian defense force, wich seems to have been the same fending of the 1st Void Skulkers, based on the damage observed. Out of 49 ships, 31 - most of wich corvettes and a few destroyers - were lost, before the fleet retreated, having done little tangible damage to the enemy.
2301.07.20 The Battle of Ksora
Valdrig den Rothorag and her 5th Ekwynian Task Force faced the same enemy as her colleague a few months later, losing all but one of her 23 ships, among them six cruisers, claiming only 2 sporian cruisers and some corvettes in return. Only the battleship Intrepid escaped the scene with major damage.
2301.10.02 The 2nd Battle of Itraben
In a second attempt to take Itraben, Admiral Loxodals 1st Void Skulkers attacked the System, backed by the Inarian first Star Fleet to provide the allied attack with superior numbers. Loxadal meant for his now 3 Battleships to take the brunt of the attack, while the 1st Star Fleet would provide supporting fire.
While promising, the operation turned into an utter failure, as the Void Skulkers were wiped out by the fleet wich had previosly fought the 1st Starfleet, before the latter could get into range proberly resulting in minimal losses for the Spore. The Inarian fled the scene, attaining no losses themselves.
2301.12.27 The 2nd Battle of Ze'Zebb
Known as the "Day of the Fireflies" ofr the pivotal role of the Ekwynian Fighters in the Battle. The newly reinforced 4th Task Force had attacked the Ze'Zebb system once more, being greeted by the fleet they had fought before, wich was by then noticably worn down by continued engagements. Using his fightercraft to distract the sporian point defense, Admiral Birm den Polosch was able to bring all of his weapons to bear, claiming 18 sporian corvettes, 3 destroyers, 2 cruisers and a battle ship as his prize merely loosing 3 destroyers and half a dozen corvettes in return. He was awarded his fifth star for the feat and many thought his success to be the turning point of the war.
2302.06.09 The 3rd Battle of Ze'Zebb
While counted as one, this was hardly a battle. As the Fleet wich had decisively defeated the Rak'Thalak'Nak and the Inarians at Itraben entered the System, the 4th Task Force withdrew from its vastly superior numbers, but got caught on its way to the outer system. Losing another destroyer, den Polosch retreated via emergence FTL to covserve his strenght.
2302.08.08 The Battle of Fevallion
The Wacegi had taken the "Day of the Fireflies" to be a cue for their own attack, launching an assault on their former colony world and staging an almost imidiate invasion in hopes of establishing a forward base of operations. The 2nd Abyssal Fleet under Admiral Gah'uni retreated from the threat of a seemingly completely now sporian, losing only a hand full of corvettes tasked to cover the ground troops, who where just about to capture the planet.
2302.09.03 The Battle of Voldop
With a joint operation of den Poloschs 7th Task Force and the 1st Inarian Starfleet a push into the Voldop System was made - and met by none other then the spore ships of the yet undefeated sporian fleet, now dubbed the "first cluster". This time, the Inarians took the brunt of the attack, losing again about 30% of their ships in exchange for nothing but a few corvettes. The battle ended in a hasty retreat.
2303.05.06 The 3rd Battle of Itraben
Attempting to strike against the sporian wormhole stations in the area, the 1st Void Skulkers were caught out by the 1st Sporian Cluster. Outmatched, they lost 4 of their 5 ships (3 Corvettes and 1 Cruiser), while Admiral Loxodal and his Battle Ship once again escaped destruction.
By the End of 2303 the Great Effort had proven vain. As every nation retreated its fleets into its own borders, the temporary alliance forged in 2294 broke down and the tides turned, as the spore poured out of the contamination zone to enact its revenge. While the Ekwynians escaped the spores wrath relatively unscathed, within but a few years the Imperial Wacegi States collapsed under the spores assault, the Nemarian aliies of the Xanyr went extinct as their homeworld was consumed and the Xanyr all but lost both of their empires, save for a small pocket nested within the Rak'Thalak'Nak borders, the latter abandoning one of their forward colonies as to avoid more civilian casualties.
The Contamination Zone in 2311
2300.11.27 The Battle of Itraben
The 1st Void Skulkers of the Rak'Thalak'Nak under Admiral Loxodal were engaged by a sporian fleet responding to their attempts to raze the Systems infrastructure. Heavily outnumbered in both hulls and firepower, the Void Skulkers nonetheless stood their ground trading their corvettes and destroyers in equal numbers, however losing all of their three cruisers as they covered the retreat of their two main battleships.
2301.02.07 The Battle of Pekona Yal
The 1st Starfleet of the Holy Inarian Empire under Admiral Bur B'Scorak engaged a sporian fleet in orbit over Yal, as they were preparing ground troops for invasion. While numerically superior, the outdated fleet made up entirely out of corvettes (44) and destroyers (11) lost 30% of their hulls before retreating back into Inarian Space.
2301.03.17 The Battle of Ze'Zebb
After marauding through what is now believed to be Ground Zero and laying siege to the spore Colony in the System, the 7th Ekwynian Task Force under Admiral Birm den Polosch was hit with overwhelming force by a sporian defense force, wich seems to have been the same fending of the 1st Void Skulkers, based on the damage observed. Out of 49 ships, 31 - most of wich corvettes and a few destroyers - were lost, before the fleet retreated, having done little tangible damage to the enemy.
2301.07.20 The Battle of Ksora
Valdrig den Rothorag and her 5th Ekwynian Task Force faced the same enemy as her colleague a few months later, losing all but one of her 23 ships, among them six cruisers, claiming only 2 sporian cruisers and some corvettes in return. Only the battleship Intrepid escaped the scene with major damage.
2301.10.02 The 2nd Battle of Itraben
In a second attempt to take Itraben, Admiral Loxodals 1st Void Skulkers attacked the System, backed by the Inarian first Star Fleet to provide the allied attack with superior numbers. Loxadal meant for his now 3 Battleships to take the brunt of the attack, while the 1st Star Fleet would provide supporting fire.
While promising, the operation turned into an utter failure, as the Void Skulkers were wiped out by the fleet wich had previosly fought the 1st Starfleet, before the latter could get into range proberly resulting in minimal losses for the Spore. The Inarian fled the scene, attaining no losses themselves.
2301.12.27 The 2nd Battle of Ze'Zebb
Known as the "Day of the Fireflies" ofr the pivotal role of the Ekwynian Fighters in the Battle. The newly reinforced 4th Task Force had attacked the Ze'Zebb system once more, being greeted by the fleet they had fought before, wich was by then noticably worn down by continued engagements. Using his fightercraft to distract the sporian point defense, Admiral Birm den Polosch was able to bring all of his weapons to bear, claiming 18 sporian corvettes, 3 destroyers, 2 cruisers and a battle ship as his prize merely loosing 3 destroyers and half a dozen corvettes in return. He was awarded his fifth star for the feat and many thought his success to be the turning point of the war.
2302.06.09 The 3rd Battle of Ze'Zebb
While counted as one, this was hardly a battle. As the Fleet wich had decisively defeated the Rak'Thalak'Nak and the Inarians at Itraben entered the System, the 4th Task Force withdrew from its vastly superior numbers, but got caught on its way to the outer system. Losing another destroyer, den Polosch retreated via emergence FTL to covserve his strenght.
2302.08.08 The Battle of Fevallion
The Wacegi had taken the "Day of the Fireflies" to be a cue for their own attack, launching an assault on their former colony world and staging an almost imidiate invasion in hopes of establishing a forward base of operations. The 2nd Abyssal Fleet under Admiral Gah'uni retreated from the threat of a seemingly completely now sporian, losing only a hand full of corvettes tasked to cover the ground troops, who where just about to capture the planet.
2302.09.03 The Battle of Voldop
With a joint operation of den Poloschs 7th Task Force and the 1st Inarian Starfleet a push into the Voldop System was made - and met by none other then the spore ships of the yet undefeated sporian fleet, now dubbed the "first cluster". This time, the Inarians took the brunt of the attack, losing again about 30% of their ships in exchange for nothing but a few corvettes. The battle ended in a hasty retreat.
2303.05.06 The 3rd Battle of Itraben
Attempting to strike against the sporian wormhole stations in the area, the 1st Void Skulkers were caught out by the 1st Sporian Cluster. Outmatched, they lost 4 of their 5 ships (3 Corvettes and 1 Cruiser), while Admiral Loxodal and his Battle Ship once again escaped destruction.
By the End of 2303 the Great Effort had proven vain. As every nation retreated its fleets into its own borders, the temporary alliance forged in 2294 broke down and the tides turned, as the spore poured out of the contamination zone to enact its revenge. While the Ekwynians escaped the spores wrath relatively unscathed, within but a few years the Imperial Wacegi States collapsed under the spores assault, the Nemarian aliies of the Xanyr went extinct as their homeworld was consumed and the Xanyr all but lost both of their empires, save for a small pocket nested within the Rak'Thalak'Nak borders, the latter abandoning one of their forward colonies as to avoid more civilian casualties.
The Contamination Zone in 2311
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OKay, this will be somewhat of a public service announcement, as there are serveral things to talk about:
First of all, I've noticed the Spore has been nominated for an ACA, thx @Idhrendur for this. I highly encourage everyone to cast a vote, not necessarily for the Spore, but any AAR you really like. Because getting meaningless trophies from people who like what oneself as a writer usually isn't all to content with, is soemthing most of us like.
Second: I'll be away for the next two and a half weeks starting monday. I do plan on another update to be released on Sunday but while I'm larping, I won't have internet (and wouldn't want to, either) so it's gonna be awfully quite around here. Nonetheless this AAR is by no means dead and I'll be posting new updates sometime in the second week of august.
Third: As one might see from the last post, the spore has become a major powerhouse by now. I actually played the ten years from 2300-2310 a number of times with various restrictions to my build, in order keep things somewhat interesting to play. Technically, the Spore is currently able to field particle lances and hypershields, wich would have made the Day of the Fireflies utterly impossible (wich was unlikely to begin with, two of these fighters just didn't want to day and stuck around for the whole thing thanks to R.N.Jesus).
Thus the spore will not advance beyond Gamma Lasers and Crystal Forged Plates (I may even exchange those for crystal infused). And I won't take any +Hull research. Also to provide the AI with more playthings, I'll go into the files and crank up the difficulty to Insane and experiment with some of the AI-Tweaks form the workshop. Last but not least, no spore fleet or cooperating fleets may ever exceed 50 Ships in total.
I don't mind winning, but curb-stomping everything for the rest of the game would be pretty dull.
Let me know what you think and especially let me know if there's an AI-Mod you think is commendable.
First of all, I've noticed the Spore has been nominated for an ACA, thx @Idhrendur for this. I highly encourage everyone to cast a vote, not necessarily for the Spore, but any AAR you really like. Because getting meaningless trophies from people who like what oneself as a writer usually isn't all to content with, is soemthing most of us like.
Second: I'll be away for the next two and a half weeks starting monday. I do plan on another update to be released on Sunday but while I'm larping, I won't have internet (and wouldn't want to, either) so it's gonna be awfully quite around here. Nonetheless this AAR is by no means dead and I'll be posting new updates sometime in the second week of august.
Third: As one might see from the last post, the spore has become a major powerhouse by now. I actually played the ten years from 2300-2310 a number of times with various restrictions to my build, in order keep things somewhat interesting to play. Technically, the Spore is currently able to field particle lances and hypershields, wich would have made the Day of the Fireflies utterly impossible (wich was unlikely to begin with, two of these fighters just didn't want to day and stuck around for the whole thing thanks to R.N.Jesus).
Thus the spore will not advance beyond Gamma Lasers and Crystal Forged Plates (I may even exchange those for crystal infused). And I won't take any +Hull research. Also to provide the AI with more playthings, I'll go into the files and crank up the difficulty to Insane and experiment with some of the AI-Tweaks form the workshop. Last but not least, no spore fleet or cooperating fleets may ever exceed 50 Ships in total.
I don't mind winning, but curb-stomping everything for the rest of the game would be pretty dull.
Let me know what you think and especially let me know if there's an AI-Mod you think is commendable.
The coalition took a tremendous beating there, it sounds like at the moment there is little left thatcan stop the spore from eradicating a few empires. Well, apar, from houserules of course
Enjoying this AAR so much. The Spore remind me so much of The Borg from Star Trek. As Q put it:
'You can't outrun them, you can't destroy them. If you damage them, the essence of what they are remains. They regenerate and keep coming. Eventually you will weaken. Your reserves will be gone. They are relentless!'
'You can't outrun them, you can't destroy them. If you damage them, the essence of what they are remains. They regenerate and keep coming. Eventually you will weaken. Your reserves will be gone. They are relentless!'
Oh, you would've loved the Infective trait mod for this! Oh yes, you would have loved it so much! ^^
Maybe I would have, and it would've been a game much closer to how I originally envisioned the Spore to behave. But the spore as it is now (and morphed into right after I heard of the "abandon planet" cb) is a tool of eradication first, and selfreproducing second. Taking over a planet after eradicating the population is a way to make sure it won't be repopulated by others.
I may play a game featuring the infected mod and others in the future, but the spore is not really about the fear of being turned into something else, but rather about an enemy that is more akin to a force of nature, then a sentient opponent with relatable goals.
It's also in what they differ from the borg. The borg can't really just grow more drones anywhere. The rely on assimilation. Some may even embrace the collective willingly. But there is no embracing the Spore, no negotiation, no dialogue. It just murders everything, covers the ground and moves on.
I may play a game featuring the infected mod and others in the future, but the spore is not really about the fear of being turned into something else, but rather about an enemy that is more akin to a force of nature, then a sentient opponent with relatable goals.
It's also in what they differ from the borg. The borg can't really just grow more drones anywhere. The rely on assimilation. Some may even embrace the collective willingly. But there is no embracing the Spore, no negotiation, no dialogue. It just murders everything, covers the ground and moves on.
The Wacegi Campaign
The Empire lay in ruins, ruins crawling with sporocarp drones and warriors hunting down what little resistance remained in the 2nd capitol. All whom had a chance to flee had done so in a great migration towards the Fiiral Council avoiding the total annihilation of our race just then and there. Only we knew our escape was a temporary one.
Hardly could one of us understand the Councils position of noninterferance, as we knew they were the next to face this threat. But it is to say that the Council and the Empire had just formed a non-aggression pact in the first year of the Great Effort and thus the Fiiral were somewhat skeptic towards all the refugees calling them into a conflict they did not understand to be theirs.
However as the Spore spread to Paggoll and devoured what remained of the Wacegi Empire, the Councils Admirals recognized the threat it now posed to them, and in turn petitioned their government to allow them a preemptive strike despite the firmly pacifist nature of the Fiiral.
Mounting a force of 3 Battle Ships and 5 Cruisers escorted by no less then 15 destroyers and 25 Corvettes under Admiral Tuyledek, the 2nd Stellar Rectrix was tasked with no less then the liberation of all worlds formerly of the Wacegi Empire and some as deep into spore space as Ksora, starting with the most recently lost Paggoll, thought to still harbor some Wacegi survivors.
Upon entering the system, the fleet was greeted by nothing but space port still under construction, wich was quickly disposed, before the fleet began to lay siege to the surface. It was not long however, before a sporian response fleet entered the system. Unwilling to risk an allout battle over the planet itself, Admiral Tuyledek decided to meet the Spore head on in open space.
While the Spore Ships charged head first into battle as they have done ever since they first were encountered, the Fiiral made sure to keep their capital ships behind a screening force, raining plasma and armored torpedos from a distance and providing some distraction by the way of fighter drones, a lesson learned from the battle now known as the "Day of the Fireflies".
Admiral Tuydelek, as seen from his holo-logs, was pleased to see his first encounter with the enemy be a fleet about the size of his own, but consisting mainly of destroyers and corvettes led by a lone cruiser. He estimated the enemies combat strenght to be lessen then 70% of his own fleets, a proposition most of his captains seem to have shared.
It is hard to say, what went wrong from such a superior position. It would be my guess that once more hubris would gift the victory to the Spore. At first the blows were traded in favor of the Fiiral Fleet, but at some point communications between the ships seem to have broken down as indicated by several holo-logs left of captains recording their at least temporary lack of directives. It may also very well be, that the ships spread their fire between to many targets, failing to destroy or cripple them decisively, thus leaving more vessels combat ready while the Spore vessels would have cooperated just as naturally as allways. It may even be that Admiral Tuydelek and other Commanders being overwhelmed by the existential dread so often described by those facing the spore in battle, leaving their fleet vulnerable.
In any case, the 2nd Stellar Rectrix' escorts were massacred as well as 4 capital ships, with only one battle ship and 3 cruisers escaping and Admiral Tuydelek among the many dead. In the wake of the battle, the spore swept across the Fiiral Colonies closest to its borders wiping them out without mercy and thereby killing most of the Wacegi refugees as well.
- Excerpt from "A history of Containment" by Ashedi Wax, former 1st Historian of the Wacegi Empire
The Contamination Zone in 2320
The Empire lay in ruins, ruins crawling with sporocarp drones and warriors hunting down what little resistance remained in the 2nd capitol. All whom had a chance to flee had done so in a great migration towards the Fiiral Council avoiding the total annihilation of our race just then and there. Only we knew our escape was a temporary one.
Hardly could one of us understand the Councils position of noninterferance, as we knew they were the next to face this threat. But it is to say that the Council and the Empire had just formed a non-aggression pact in the first year of the Great Effort and thus the Fiiral were somewhat skeptic towards all the refugees calling them into a conflict they did not understand to be theirs.
However as the Spore spread to Paggoll and devoured what remained of the Wacegi Empire, the Councils Admirals recognized the threat it now posed to them, and in turn petitioned their government to allow them a preemptive strike despite the firmly pacifist nature of the Fiiral.
Mounting a force of 3 Battle Ships and 5 Cruisers escorted by no less then 15 destroyers and 25 Corvettes under Admiral Tuyledek, the 2nd Stellar Rectrix was tasked with no less then the liberation of all worlds formerly of the Wacegi Empire and some as deep into spore space as Ksora, starting with the most recently lost Paggoll, thought to still harbor some Wacegi survivors.
Upon entering the system, the fleet was greeted by nothing but space port still under construction, wich was quickly disposed, before the fleet began to lay siege to the surface. It was not long however, before a sporian response fleet entered the system. Unwilling to risk an allout battle over the planet itself, Admiral Tuyledek decided to meet the Spore head on in open space.
While the Spore Ships charged head first into battle as they have done ever since they first were encountered, the Fiiral made sure to keep their capital ships behind a screening force, raining plasma and armored torpedos from a distance and providing some distraction by the way of fighter drones, a lesson learned from the battle now known as the "Day of the Fireflies".
Admiral Tuydelek, as seen from his holo-logs, was pleased to see his first encounter with the enemy be a fleet about the size of his own, but consisting mainly of destroyers and corvettes led by a lone cruiser. He estimated the enemies combat strenght to be lessen then 70% of his own fleets, a proposition most of his captains seem to have shared.
It is hard to say, what went wrong from such a superior position. It would be my guess that once more hubris would gift the victory to the Spore. At first the blows were traded in favor of the Fiiral Fleet, but at some point communications between the ships seem to have broken down as indicated by several holo-logs left of captains recording their at least temporary lack of directives. It may also very well be, that the ships spread their fire between to many targets, failing to destroy or cripple them decisively, thus leaving more vessels combat ready while the Spore vessels would have cooperated just as naturally as allways. It may even be that Admiral Tuydelek and other Commanders being overwhelmed by the existential dread so often described by those facing the spore in battle, leaving their fleet vulnerable.
In any case, the 2nd Stellar Rectrix' escorts were massacred as well as 4 capital ships, with only one battle ship and 3 cruisers escaping and Admiral Tuydelek among the many dead. In the wake of the battle, the spore swept across the Fiiral Colonies closest to its borders wiping them out without mercy and thereby killing most of the Wacegi refugees as well.
- Excerpt from "A history of Containment" by Ashedi Wax, former 1st Historian of the Wacegi Empire
The Contamination Zone in 2320
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Hey Guys,
I'm back in action and got to play some more today. You may expect an update sometime tomorrow or wednesday morning.
I'm back in action and got to play some more today. You may expect an update sometime tomorrow or wednesday morning.
The Last of the First
"Today, long range reconaissance unit Theta-224 confirmed our suspicion regarding spore activity in the Itraben system. A major enemy fleet consisting of thirtyone destroyer class vessels, seven escort corvettes, 2 heavy cruisers and 2 battle ships has gathered near the systems wormhole projector. Therefore all Colonies within Chimion, Bunda and Haedus as well as the Homeworld are in danger of attack." Gasps from the Audiance, Fleet Admiral Koxurem took a pause, waiting for them immediate wispers to die down again. "Usual spore tactics suggest the first strike to hit the Bunda System, as it is closest to the enemy and has the most colonies. We are to expect secondary strikes against Haedus and the Home System, a tertiary strike against Chimion, once the more threatening obstacles are removed." His gaze flew through the auditorium, monotoring the faces of politicians and military commanders in search of someone who could prove usefull. Most didn't seem to comprehend what he told them, even after all these years. The Rak'Thalak'Nak had lost Itraben to the spore some 60 years ago. In all the wars they had been on the aggressive side, never losing one of their own colonies. They'd thrown their allies under the figurative bus in order to maintain their own strenght, citing a civil war they had long won as the reason.
Now there were no allies. The Wacegi and the Yalon had been wiped out. The Ekwynians retreated to their own spiral arm and fought a war with their neighbours there. The Igarians had but half their fleet left and the once mighty Xanyr Confederacy was a shell of its former self, reduced to a single planet overrun with refugees.
"The 2nd Void Skulkers are armed, equipped and ready to take the battle to the enemy. Four Battleships, as many Cruisers, nine Destroyers and twentyfour Corvettes, armed with plasma weapons and autocannons. If we strike first, we may be able to delay the invasion long enough..." "LONG ENOUGH?!" one of the Senators rose from his chair. "What do you mean by 'long enough'?!" he screamed "We gave you billions to build up the fleet and you tell us 'long enough'?!"
Koxurem didn't asnwer. He just watched how the man was subdued by his neighbours He felt like an observer, not a subject and mentally noted said dissozitian.
"If we strike first, we may be able to delay the invasion long enough for the Robotic Defense Systems to be completed, allowing our troops on the ground for a fighting chance. While we may defeat and cripple the invasion fleet, there's sure to be more vessels deeper in spore space, wich we would be vulnerable against." He paused again, taking a small sip of water. "The Igarian Starfleet is currently in preparation for an assault on Mithaar, cojoined by the Rax'Thaak Assoziation and the Ymorz Nations. But this is of little use. We do not know when they want to attack and even if we did, we cannot afford to wait." Again there were whispers. He knew it in his heart, they wanted to wait. They would hope to sit it out until others drew the ire of the enemy. But they were wrong. As they had been with the abandonment of their allies before. "If we are able to sufficiently weaken the enemy before they attack, they might be able to deliver a decisive blow."
It was the smallest of slithers, but still, Koralex would not abandon hope. Not until the very end.
"Today, long range reconaissance unit Theta-224 confirmed our suspicion regarding spore activity in the Itraben system. A major enemy fleet consisting of thirtyone destroyer class vessels, seven escort corvettes, 2 heavy cruisers and 2 battle ships has gathered near the systems wormhole projector. Therefore all Colonies within Chimion, Bunda and Haedus as well as the Homeworld are in danger of attack." Gasps from the Audiance, Fleet Admiral Koxurem took a pause, waiting for them immediate wispers to die down again. "Usual spore tactics suggest the first strike to hit the Bunda System, as it is closest to the enemy and has the most colonies. We are to expect secondary strikes against Haedus and the Home System, a tertiary strike against Chimion, once the more threatening obstacles are removed." His gaze flew through the auditorium, monotoring the faces of politicians and military commanders in search of someone who could prove usefull. Most didn't seem to comprehend what he told them, even after all these years. The Rak'Thalak'Nak had lost Itraben to the spore some 60 years ago. In all the wars they had been on the aggressive side, never losing one of their own colonies. They'd thrown their allies under the figurative bus in order to maintain their own strenght, citing a civil war they had long won as the reason.
Now there were no allies. The Wacegi and the Yalon had been wiped out. The Ekwynians retreated to their own spiral arm and fought a war with their neighbours there. The Igarians had but half their fleet left and the once mighty Xanyr Confederacy was a shell of its former self, reduced to a single planet overrun with refugees.
"The 2nd Void Skulkers are armed, equipped and ready to take the battle to the enemy. Four Battleships, as many Cruisers, nine Destroyers and twentyfour Corvettes, armed with plasma weapons and autocannons. If we strike first, we may be able to delay the invasion long enough..." "LONG ENOUGH?!" one of the Senators rose from his chair. "What do you mean by 'long enough'?!" he screamed "We gave you billions to build up the fleet and you tell us 'long enough'?!"
Koxurem didn't asnwer. He just watched how the man was subdued by his neighbours He felt like an observer, not a subject and mentally noted said dissozitian.
"If we strike first, we may be able to delay the invasion long enough for the Robotic Defense Systems to be completed, allowing our troops on the ground for a fighting chance. While we may defeat and cripple the invasion fleet, there's sure to be more vessels deeper in spore space, wich we would be vulnerable against." He paused again, taking a small sip of water. "The Igarian Starfleet is currently in preparation for an assault on Mithaar, cojoined by the Rax'Thaak Assoziation and the Ymorz Nations. But this is of little use. We do not know when they want to attack and even if we did, we cannot afford to wait." Again there were whispers. He knew it in his heart, they wanted to wait. They would hope to sit it out until others drew the ire of the enemy. But they were wrong. As they had been with the abandonment of their allies before. "If we are able to sufficiently weaken the enemy before they attack, they might be able to deliver a decisive blow."
It was the smallest of slithers, but still, Koralex would not abandon hope. Not until the very end.