You are Sonia Reynard, Baron of Rioja. One small world among many in the House of Jerik-Dremine. From it you control the fates of a dozen others in the so called Smuggler's Run. With your new position you have the opportunity to become one of the most influential people in your House.
It is from this world that you draw your fleets and armies from. Both have seen their share of action with anti-piracy actions, an invasion of Bonrah's local territory and raids into the next Nav Relay.
It is 4033 and as the Dominion slips deeper into civil war you and those under your command have been fighting to protect your little corner of known space. With the return of the Forbearance and its fleet House Nasidum and their allies attempted to intercept them and deprive you of vital ships. Though they failed they began to take control of space surrounding a Navigator station in the Centri cluster that would allow them to cut you off from the shortest route to the homeworlds.
Over the next week they and their allies mustered more of their fleets as the Ruling House and other allies did the same. Launching an all out attack to disrupt their efforts the allied fleet were able to get a vital gravity well generator through the fighting. It will allow your fleet an incredible advantage when the attack on the DRH 1 relay begins.
While the Ruling House and Ber'helum were forced to withdraw their attack did buy time. Nasidum is now awaiting the arrival of additional Heavy Carrier groups from House Bonrah before they can launch their attack on your territory.
Knight Captain Katherine Drake is your fleet's Wing Commander. Having returned from raiding actions she is now overseeing hurried last minute training of the squadrons under your command.
Uyi Rna the General of your Army is now busy overseeing the readiness of the army and PDF forces of your various worlds. You now have roughly a million ground troops at your disposal.
Wiremu Tama is the admiral of your Fleet. He's been working to strengthen inter-unit cooperation between manned and unmanned starfighter squadrons.
Fadila Saqqaf is your leading diplomatic adviser. She has remained busy trying to help shore up relations with minor allied Houses in the region that are beginning to panic in response to the recent battle.
C.F. Vanderwal is a former House Erid noble now serving with your intelligence division as part of his parole. After uncovering a number of conspirators in the capital working against you he's been transferred to Rioja, both so you can keep an eye on him and to make use of his experience.
Chide Dlam'ard, the Governor of Rioja has started preparing Rioja for a potential siege. If an attack reaches the Smuggler's Run the enemy may be reluctant to directly engage the world's now powerful orbital defenses. Blockading it until more of their heavy warships are available is certainly possible and may even be expected after the RH blockade of Bonrah worlds.
Cooper Miller
I must have missed it last thread, but BH got a grav well through? Thought it was just Forbearance and escort
Lucas Phillips
Before the recent battle and the beginnings of a new blockade Helios brought additional ships and other forces into the region.
Included among them is an envoy that wishes to officially discuss the situation with the Knights Errant. Helios is prepared to donate a squadron of new Chevalier class ships towards the formation of a chapter in the region.
Refugees and survivors of the Knights Errant of Helscion Ten have been living on Rioja or working on the Moon base for roughly a year now. They've made some efforts towards a similar goal but so far you've largely ignored it or given noncommital responses.
There are a few locations that Helios has in mind if you were to support such an endeavour. An abandoned base in the Smuggler's Run within a nebula would seem ideal. The the future Helios may be able to pressure RH supporters into selling a nearby colony to them.
A base in the former Bonrah territories near your new shipyard and sensor array would let them help anti-piracy efforts there and give access to the nearby nav station.
Helios could instead look to one of their own allied Houses in the region to provide a suitable location. The local chapter would then be outside your sphere of influence, though you could still make money through trading with them and maintain your good relations.
Alternatively you could continue to ignore the situation or refuse to offer additional assistance.
[ ] Former PMC Base, Smuggler's Run [ ] Base near Shipyard, former Bonrah territory [ ] Other location, Helios territory (Errants leave sphere of influence) [ ] Refuse / ignore. (Errants permanently leave sphere of influence)
Christopher Myers
>[ ] Base near Shipyard, former Bonrah territory Would work out best for us yeah?
Brayden Roberts
Forbearance managed to get through. Enemy forced then began to siege allied bases near the nav station in the Centri cluster. 6 days later there was a major battle.
Give em both [ ] Former PMC Base, Smuggler's Run [ ] Base near Shipyard, former Bonrah territory
Luis Flores
Oh right, the one where Mike almost died.
John Smith
>They've made some efforts towards a similar goal but so far you've largely ignored it or given noncommital responses. Did that ever come up again after we told them they should stick to house territory so they'd not piss of bonrah?
>[X] Base near Shipyard, former Bonrah territory Are there any interesting locations on the borders of the hazard zones? I'm not sure if the navigators have kept the charts up to date.
Xavier Rodriguez
>Give em both Helios is only prepared to fund the equipment and startup of one base and the Knights lack the necessary personnel for 2 at the moment.
>Did that ever come up again after we told them they should stick to house territory so they'd not piss of bonrah? Everyone ignored it last thread.
Eli Allen
>Everyone ignored it last thread. I totally managed to miss it as the time skip was a tad distracting when reading that part the next day. I'd guess I'm not the only one.
Jack Hughes
>[x] Base near Shipyard, former Bonrah territory
Dylan Nguyen
You've agreed to letting the Knights Errant set up at base in the new territories in former Bonrah space. It should be close enough to let them cover the nearby trade lane. At the moment only a small number of people leave Rioja to help with base setup. Helios provides most of the ships and equipment necessary to get things started and they should be able to begin patrols soon.
When Forbearance reaches the Relay the Super is immediately brought in to the yard for repairs. What little damage it took in the escape has been patched but it was already in need of a minor refit from the extended campaign. The work should be done in 3-4 days. Plenty of time if Nasidum is waiting another 2 for reinforcements, plus the long jump.
Ber'helum's failure to get more ships through during the more recent battle may have longer lasting consequences. Their ambassador informs you that they were hoping to bring in heavy weapons to temporarily upgrade the SRL Merc's recently repaired Super. That is no longer possible.
To make up for this they are prepared to compensate you and J-D for a quick fix solution.
They'd like you to loan the pair of Iratar heavy fusion cannons you have in reserve. They'll also pay for a set of range boosted Dominion medium plasma cannons which will be fitted to turrets their engineers are fabricating.
1) Do you approve the loan of the weapons to upgrade Foss' Super? 2) Are there any restrictions you would want place on their use?
Isaac Butler
>1) Do you approve the loan of the weapons to upgrade Foss' Super? Yes. >2) Are there any restrictions you would want place on their use? Given how many upgrades Foss is receiving, I'd like very much for him to solidify ties with the Dominion. Perhaps a standing contract to work & remain in the relay as an anti-pirate force for a minimum of ten years?
Eli Howard
>That is no longer possible. Has our house considered to start building cloaked transports?
>1) Do you approve the loan of the weapons to upgrade Foss' Super? Can't see too much trouble coming from this. Check with Fadila to make sure.
>2) Are there any restrictions you would want place on their use? If Ber'helum, RH, and Helios decide to start beating each other up, he can either keep the super in neutral territory, or have the guns removed and then join whoever he wants.
Cameron Williams
>Iratar heavy fusion cannons Could we use them to boost the Accelerator array?
Is there any last minute tweaks that can be done?
Samuel Harris
>1 Yes >2 They can be used for the duration of invasion and then it can be renegotiated.
I am disappointed in Ber'Helum dropping the ball on this on. Still we may be able to use this. Nasidum and Bonrah could invade and then the Ruling House, Ber'Helum and Helios(?) could strike from the Centri Cluster. Destroying their supply line from that direction and then jump them from behind.
Eli Harris
Also sorry ahead of time but expect delays this week as I can't get a new fridge or get mine repaired due to the long weekend. Going to have to step out to grab a few things.
>Could we use them to boost the Accelerator array? That's not the best use for them as they're too powerful to work together normally. They'd have to be turned down so that they only ejected plasma into the array's containment bottle.
>Is there any last minute tweaks that can be done? Not to the array. Everything that can be done, has been done.
Ethan Smith
How does the range of the accelerator compare to the siege cannons on the asteroid fortress?
Where are all the RH asteroid fortresses? The wiki page says they're using mobile ones as well.
Hudson Hernandez
>That's not the best use for them as they're too powerful to work together normally. That's a shame. If the accelerator doesn't get destroyed in this battle I hope we can use it in future to put the hurt on a Neeran command ship.
Good luck with your refrigeration problems!
Landon Lee
Your command staff wants to discuss planning with you, especially Admiral Tama.
"When the enemy fleet arrives around the Nav station the first thing they'll want to do is secure their logistics train. That means either moving to capture local bases or setting up their own.
The Csontos system is the closest to the station which is why Nasidum took it last time. Ruling House logistics bases along the main trade lane are also a priority target. Our newly built bases may seem farther back but they're quite close if a fleet follows the main lane."
Rna points to the former Bonrah territories on the map. "There's still the remaining Bonrah colony worlds that haven't surrendered. They'll have some logistics capacity and can provide more ships to their fleet."
It's quite a trek off the trade lanes but, as you proved, a powerful enough force could still make good time.
"We need to start thinking of how best to engage their forces and where to deploy both the gravity well generator and the siege array."
Heading out for real this time.
Alexander Reyes
>"We need to start thinking of how best to engage their forces and where to deploy both the gravity well generator and the siege array."
I would expect them to use at least one of the heavy carriers along with its escort to stir up trouble in the former bonrah territory. Unless the ruling house has smuggled one or two v-torps into the relay, I feel like we'll have to focus on engaing the part of the invasion fleet that's not supported by the fortress.
Do we know who will command the invasion fleet? Do the major houses have any information on them?
Nathan Hernandez
>We need to start thinking of how best to engage their forces and where to deploy both the gravity well generator and the siege array.
If we can move the gen+array as a single unit, we should try to pick-off any isolated supers or heavies.
Ideally I wanted to drop them out of hyperspace into a minefield but I don't think that's going to be happening.
Evan Smith
I don't see them flying through our territory to get to the former Bonrah holdings. Too much could go wrong for them. I do see however Bonrah forces hiding starting to cause problems on a MUCH larger scale once they enter the Relay. To either capitalize on our forces faceing the main fleet or to distract naval elements from joining battle against the main fleet.
At lest for the early stages of the invasion:
Siege Array should be kept hidden until we really want to commit to a battle. If that is at the beginning or not remains to be seen.
I would say we deploy the Gravity well along the trade lane and use it to intercept any hostile ship going down it. With any luck we can ambush their vanguard with Heavy Cruisers and slag them while the main enemy fleet goes for Csontos. If they go for the colony we can then move in the Gravity Well there along with the Array and try to put them between a rock and a hard place.
Nathan Nelson
Back and reading.
>Get told to stop by parents place on way back >Here's some food! >Okay that's not so bad... >"And since you're here you can look after your nephew for an hour." >FFS
Wyatt Morales
>look after your nephew for an hour. Get him in on the H&D action.
Caleb Torres
On the plus side I learned how to play world of warships.
>Unless the ruling house has smuggled one or two v-torps into the relay This seems unlikely with the currently existing subspace damage to the region.
>Do we know who will command the invasion fleet? Three people. Tandi Nasidum Haern Xygen Rile Bonrah
With leaders of the major enemy Houses having declared themselves Arch or Grand Dukes, the leadership of this attack force is supposed to be comprised of a triumvirate of slightly lesser nobles. They've declared themselves "The Three Dukes" and are believed to have been working together for months now to prevent inter-house rivalry from becoming an issue while their fleets are on the attack.
After the last battle the rank and file of your allied Houses are calling them the Dukes of Hazard.
You still have everything needed to deploy a minefield.
>deploy the Gravity well along the trade lane and use it to intercept any hostile ship going down it. Did you want to coordinate this with spies or cloaked ships closer to the nav station? If you're dragging tons of civilian traffic out of FTL ahead of time it may give away your position.
Hudson Smith
>They've declared themselves "The Three Dukes" and are believed to have been working together for months now to prevent inter-house rivalry from becoming an issue
That actually seems like a decent idea. Do we have an idea what strategies and tactics they prefer?
Has the RH fortified any of the planets in their territory?
Charles Hall
What happened to the person who snuck us the message warning us of the invasion? It was Avun right? Did she drop out?
Andrew Thomas
>Has the RH fortified any of the planets in their territory? Most colonies to a degree. They're hoping to delay capture as long as possible to tie up enemy forces. The closest logistics base has been prepped for demolition but will remain operational for the time being. The bases you've built should be able to withstand an assault by heavy cruisers which should be adequate. Their logistics capacity should more than make up for the loss of forward bases.
Mostly they're trying to stay decentralized.
You haven't had any subsequent contact but intel believes the Knight Commander is in charge of a heavy carrier in the enemy fleet.
The larger escorts for the Sulos contingent include, 4 (Iratar)Alliance Medium Escort class ships of which two are carrier types, 2 Sledge and 1 Shukhant. They're well stocked with assault corvettes.
With Forbearance in the shop and Ber'helum unwilling to waste more time, the Sam Bellamy is brought into orbit of Rioja's moon to have its guns fit. The forward most dorsal and ventral turrets are each fit with a single Iratar heavy using the older turrets that had been built for the EX-Mega modification. The odd looking aft turrets are equipped with the range boosted medium cannons arranged in a 3 barrel Gatling configuration.
They have no idea how it will perform in combat.
Jackson Mitchell
I'd really like to get the mobile reynard solutions assets out of the relay before that fleet arrives.
Brayden Morales
You could send the civilian ships out through Terran space. They could make for the Pandora cluster where RSS has operations.
You'll probably need to keep the Kilo in the area for continued fortress construction support.
> 1) Send the Francis Alfonso and most RSS forces out of Relay? Y/N ?
With the upgrade completed Foss brings up an interesting point. His boss isn't technically a signatory to the full Factions Treaty. Despite the beating the Bellamy took in Bonrah space there are still a few bombardment arrays that the Forbearance yard engineers didn't rip off.
They could swing by the occupied territories on a shakedown tour and do some damage to the Bonrah fortress worlds.
2) [ ] "Do it, I'll arrange for people to look the other way." [ ] "Thanks but no, you'll get in serious trouble." [ ] Other
Nolan Torres
1) Y 2) Is it possible to turn their power down enough to not break the treaty by using them?
Xavier Ross
>Is it possible to turn their power down enough to not break the treaty by using them? They can punch temporary holes in the atmosphere without firing the beams, but generally no they cant turn down the power much. At best they could fire mass drivers instead to take advantage of it. But then you'd need to fire a ton of mass drivers to counter lower level shields from the starships.
Angel Flores
Okay, going with >[x] "Thanks but no, you'll get in serious trouble." in that case.
Camden Garcia
1) Yes 2) [X] "Other"
As much as I am tempted to do so if we chose to do something like this it would be after having the option put on the table for the War Council. I'm reluctant to do it, but it would mean we wouldn't have to worry about a potential gathering point for the enemy forces.
Connor Thomas
>1) Yes. God I hope the Terrans don't impound it.
>2) [x] "Thanks but no, you'll get in serious trouble."
Jayden Ward
>God I hope the Terrans don't impound it. As long as they're not carrying war material they should be okay. They could even take a contract carrying supplies for the Terrans closer to the front.
Working up the list of names for said War Council. Not looking forward to this but it has to be done.
The Bonrah fleet has linked up with the Nasidum invasion force. Intel is monitoring enemy preparation for launch.
Fadila contacts you. "I've been talking to Mister Vanderwal..."
You get the impression from the tone of her voice that she doesn't especially care for the old spy.
"He believes representatives of both Ber'helum and the Ruling House are on their way to see you regarding a certain promotion as a result of the Count Jerik's recent elevation in rank."
"Oh really?" you reply. About frigging time as far as you're concerned.
"I my last conversation with Count Jerik he did express his interest in promoting you personally but realised that may not be possible even before the attempt to intercept the Forbearance. I'm certain that if you were to contact him and informed him of this latest development he may feel inclined to skip the formalities.
On the other hand we could use this to our advantage."
"Elaborate please."
"Allowing one or the other representative of the major Houses to deliver your promotion would understandably increase our relations with them. Having one of them wait could also be seen as a sign of displeasure."
You're certainly annoyed with Ber'helum right now. That would be a way of showing it.
"You could show them both up by informing them of your promotion by the Count. Or you could force both to approach you at the same time. That could be awkward but would show you hold both in equal regard."
>What say?
Justin Parker
TSTG confirmed Maple
Also could we set up lone sensor ships between DRH1 and Centri. Their job is to make sure no force detaches undetected to go around the nav hazard and enter the run through those 2 gaps in the south
Charles Barnes
>Also could we set up lone sensor ships between DRH1 and Centri. Their job is to make sure no force detaches undetected to go around the nav hazard and enter the run through those 2 gaps in the south If you positioned about 5 of them at the bright green dots they would probably do the job. You do have sensor arrays that cover those approaches from within the Run. A large fleet would have a difficult time passing through those regions. It would be the equivalent of sending a column through a one lane mountain pass.
Beyond the safe return line it's dangerous to return to real space. You can still make jumps that arc around it like Drake's unit did when recalled but there is a danger to it.
Luis Walker
Have the count promote us, were still planning to stick around with he house after all. At this point BH should already know were firmly in their camp anyways.
Shit happened, they still got a grav well to us, we shouldn't be displeased at all
James Butler
"Have them both approach at the same time. Over they years I've been helped immensely by both sides, and I doubt I'd be at this level if it weren't for their efforts. Although the issue with Ber'helum is an annoyance, I don't feel it's worth causing a diplomatic incident over, and I'm certain they're already kicking themselves over it too.
I imagine they have a lot to wager in the run.
They're also not yet the Ruling House, although they would clearly like to be. Agitating the actual Ruling House at this time is a foolhardy endeavour, we need to focus on putting an end to the civil war before we turn our swords upon each other again."
Luke Ramirez
See you in the morning.
William Rivera
See ya then.
Christopher Price
Page 9 bump.
Jonathan Clark
Krumping it
Leo Kelly
Get the Count to perform a long range promotion. Much as I am displeased with Ber'Helum I do not think we should actively seek to be mean to them. I am sure they will send fleets to assist us given time.
Jace Price
bump
Angel Carter
Did you guys want to combine these with this? Earl promotes Sonia, then make the announcement to both?
Brandon Martin
It seems like a decent way to minimize the fallout from this without annoying the people involved too much. So unless Fadila has a problem with that solution, I'd be okay with it.
>Helios provides most of the ships and equipment necessary to get things started and they should be able to begin patrols soon. Maybe offer to them to get their torpedoes from us?
Kayden Howard
>Earl promotes Sonia, then make the announcement to both? Agreed. Perhaps point out that now is not the time for political games seeing as we're about to be invaded by a much stronger force.
Lucas Thomas
>Where are all the RH asteroid fortresses? The wiki page says they're using mobile ones as well.
Due to the logistics intensive nature of moving them most of the Dominion mobile asteroid forts are positioned in key areas in or near RH territory. The closest one has been moved to Gesuar to protect the shipyards there.
Mobile forts built using asteroids may have better protection and be cheaper to produce, but they mass more and are harder to move than the new Nasidum forts.
Dominic Powell
>Earl promotes Sonia, then make the announcement to both? Yes. >Did you guys want to combine these with this? They basically sound the same so yeah.
Christian Ortiz
I just realised that with everything else going on I never mentioned the Yacht racers that passed through the region. It would have been after the assassination attempt and attack on the station but before your invasion of Bonrah space. You're able to contact the Count with little difficulty. A short wait is necessary by which time his people have already prepared everything on their end.
"I Count Gernot Sigurd Jerik name you Viscount of Rioja and the Smuggler's Run! With this title I charge you with the defense of our House territory and vital trade links in the region. Use the wealth and power of your position wisely.
The people of House Jerik-Dremine wish you luck in the coming battles. Our thoughts are with you."
When the respective ambassadors of the Ruling House and Ber'helum are both led in you greet them warmly, partially as a distraction while the tailors are quietly escorted out a side door. They're both taken aback by the recent update to your uniform, neither expecting you to have been promoted before their arrival.
After explaining that the Count wished to promote your personally the ambassadors seem slightly embarrassed at having made the trip.
Thanking them for the visit you point out how you've been helped immensely over the years by both sides. "We need to focus on putting an end to the civil war before we turn our swords upon each other again."
Thomas Ramirez
>the ambassadors seem slightly embarrassed at having made the trip.
Can they stay for dinner?
Ayden Brown
>Can they stay for dinner? Only if it is Shark Fin Soup
Brody Gomez
Sharks are friends not food.
Brayden Martinez
They're invited to dinner and neither feel themselves in a position to decline.
I was half expecting this.
Luke James
>I was half expecting this.
I've never seen that one. Finally, a webm on my computer that isn't racist or po... nevermind. It's pretty lewd.
Parker Cooper
There's a saying in my country "Dire times can make man eat even his friend."
Angel Cruz
You and the Barons of the Smuggler's Run are called to a War Council in orbit of the former Posat capital. On the way in you see the smaller defense platforms each acting as temporary docking locations for many more gunsats. There must be thousands of them.
You've briefly met Count Al'mari Nirium. Baron Usela is there as well.
Earl Tarse-enic is representing Ber'helum along with leaders for their 6 local vassals.
Ambassador Vara Fauh'teth and one of their admirals are representing Helios, along with two other Barons and a few Knights from the region.
The Run Alliance are all grouped together.
More spread out are the various Houses not fully aligned towards any of the majors. Darrow and others that are more closely allied with the Run Alliance are situated closer to you.
Lastly are the independent mercenary groups chief among them being the SRL contingent under Bernard Foss.
You think you briefly spot Ambassador Issel from House Kharbos lurking in the shadows but can't be certain.
Count Nirium begins without much preamble. "This meeting is to discuss pre-invasion planning and determine actions that can be undertaken to strengthen our position before Nasidum sends their fleet into the region. While we resisted the previous invasion with the help of the Run Alliance, Ber'helum and Mercenaries, we've since determined that fleet was merely intended as a diversion. It pinned forces in this region, preventing both easy reinforcement and transit between South Reach and the Centri cluster."
The first topic is mobile forces and logistics. All Houses have been building up strength to some extent. Most were not aware that an enemy invasion would be happening now, but knew that eventually others would try to invade.
>Cont.
Ryder Cruz
Many have built up small stockpiles of reserve ships in secure areas. Right now if everything was mobilised there would be more ships available than the relay's logistics can easily support. There are good things and bad things about this. The good is that the you can weather some losses, and that the enemy will be hard pressed in their own attempts to secure supplies.
The bad news is of course that with every base you lose your side will have that much more trouble staying fully operational.
Count Nirium is of the opinion that the most ships possible should be fielded to counter the numbers that the enemy will bring with them.
Earl Tarse-enic supports the opposite approach, maintaining the fleets at levels that can be easily supported. "This would allow our units more freedom of movement." It's hard to tell if he's taking this position just to be contrary to the Ruling House, but he may have a point.
>What say?
Christian Carter
"If we are maintaining the fleet at the highest possible numbers or the more easily supported number will come down to how we will attempt to fight the invasion itself.
Do we aim to win by attrition. Grinding the invaders down upon our own fleets or do we attempt to cripple them quickly at the beginning? Throwing all our forces at them the moment they begin their attack?
Personally I feel like we should not exceed our supply limit unless things become truly dire. A ship with no fuel, no repairs and no food with a crew on it is worse than no ship at all."
Camden Brown
"I think maintaining mobility advantage until we've been able to assess the hostile fleet's strength and the strategy by which they hope to take the relay. The asteroid fortress will give them a big advantage in a head-on confrontation, so I'd prefer to engage them with a plan that goes beyond that."
Robert Wilson
I mostly agree with this. However I think a partial mobilization of reserves should occur. Not the full reserves, but enough (so maybe half or some arbitrary sum) to provide some initial bite against the invaders, with the morbid understanding that initial casualties will make supply lines not overstretched.
Dominic Brooks
"The enemy is bringing a fleet large in heavy vessels. I believe it would serve us well to mobilise a portion of the reserves we have available, keeping the rest ready for deployment in the event this becomes a grind of attrition."
Daniel Wilson
>will come down to how we will attempt to fight the invasion itself.
Really you can make either strategy work with the two logistics options, it can just make it a bit more interesting.
>Personally I feel like we should not exceed our supply limit unless things become truly dire. Noted.
>maintaining mobility advantage until we've been able to assess the hostile fleet's strength and the strategy
>I mostly agree with this. >partial mobilization of reserves
You voice your support for a more mobile doctrine. You also question if it might be possible to temporarily mobilise more reserves early on but after enemy strength has been determined.
"That could work." states Baron Usela. "Prep the reserves for a single action, then rotate them back to be resupplied as time allows."
Count Nirium sees that there is more support for this plan and accedes to the wishes of the others for now. A few are less enthusiastic but are silenced for now.
Baron Branimir Kelly mentions that there are some lesser used bases in the Run that could be reactivated to help resupply the reserves.
This triggers a heated and unexpected debate. A few nobles and leaders of minor Houses are concerned their reserve ships will sit behind the protection of the Run's defenses while their own worlds are left to fend for themselves. "You already did it when Nasidum attacked last time."
Others allied with you come to your defense, reminding them that the Houses of the Run did send considerable forces to help fight off the Pirate raids.
Things momentarily degenerate into a shouting match and the Count is forced to call for a quick recess as the majors try to get their minor allies under control.
Jason Baker
Once everything has calmed down to a degree and the war council resumes you inform those present that Bernard Foss has an idea.
The pirate Admiral has come prepared and puts forward his idea to bombard the remaining Bonrah colonies now, even if only to a limited extent, to reduce what help they could provide to the enemy in the future.
General consensus is that such an attack on the two more industrialised colonies would be out of the question. "The Ruling House is maintaining the blockades at the moment and we would have a legal obligation to either step in and try to prevent it, or try to arrest you after the fact. I'm sorry but we can't support it."
Well so much for that.
Before things can move on Beisi Aurlum, the current head of the newly formed House Ex'uad speaks up.
"One of the Ber'helum colonies that are undergoing terraforming is currently in a more questionable level of habitability. It falls within our territory so it can be treated as a rebellious planet. Put together these conditions should make a limited bombardment legally permissible."
There's plenty of grumbling about this. Ex'uad is a minor House, with nearly the entirety of their population currently living in a single city. Even if that city is a fleet base and shipyard built into the side of a plateau.
Fadila quickly texts you that the House is heavily aligned towards J-D due to your liberation efforts. You could offer to support them with your available HAGs to make the bombardment go more smoothly and minimise collateral. Opposing the bombardment may hurt relations slightly but could also reign in the new House.
[ ] Offer HAG Support [ ] Oppose the bombardment
Kayden Sanders
>[X] Offer HAG Support Seems reasonable. Time to get back to our toeing the line roots [flight of the Valkyries intensifies]
Jacob Gomez
Why haven't we already landed regular troops on that colony? I would assume they have weaker shields and supporting infrastructure than a world with a population in the billions.
Elijah King
>[ ] Offer HAG Support
Gavin Hughes
The shields are strong enough that it would require a serious bombardment. Without dedicated weapons like the bombardment arrays on the Sam Bellamy an orbital bombardment would cause serious collateral damage. There are ships parked on the surface like on the other two planets so it was considered too dangerous for your House to land troops.
Easton Gray
I see, thank you. Going with >[x] Oppose the bombardment
Josiah Miller
>[x] Offer HAG Support
Jacob Cooper
You offer the support of the HAG's from your fleet. They should help reduce collateral damage the colony suffers from the bombardment.
The Mercs and House Ex'uad send word to their respective forces to get the operation underway while the planning meeting continues uninterrupted.
Roll 6d20 for HAG assistance.
Oliver Long
Rolled 14 (1d20)
>Roll 6d20 for HAG assistance. 1
Logan Gonzalez
Rolled 15 (1d20)
2
Asher Hughes
Rolled 11 (1d20)
3
Eli Gomez
Rolled 20 (1d20)
4
Aiden Nguyen
Rolled 5, 2, 16, 6, 11, 14 = 54 (6d20)
Heeere we go.
Henry Carter
Rolled 1 (1d20)
5
Thomas Kelly
Rolled 1 (1d20)
6
Nicholas Foster
Rolled 17, 6, 6, 9, 15, 12 = 65 (6d20)
At least we can say we did it to reduce civilian casualties.
Nathan Campbell
>17, 15, 16, 20, 15, 14 Not bad.
Are our forces in DRH 3 strong enough to prevent Bonrah from sending reinforcements from DRH 2?
>You think you briefly spot Ambassador Issel from House Kharbos lurking in the shadows but can't be certain. Would it be sensible to speak to them about DRH 2?
Jacob Miller
>DRH 2 Speaking of DRH 2, a few thoughts I had: -The captured Warlord super. If we manage to recapture it who gets it? Do we return it to Foss with some kind of agreement?
-The territory. I'm assuming that JD doesn't want to own anymore turf, stretched thin as they are. Sell it to Helios/BH/RH for money and resources?
Jeremiah Harris
>Do we return it to Foss Foss seems like the logical choice. Guy has been an incredible help, and it would net us some additional influence in the SRL. So we can push Bervari as a replacement warlords for that one idiot.
>The territory Personally, I'd love to get more of the major houses involved in the other relays. It gives minor houses more options to pick their allies, and forces big houses to play smart because there's always more than 1 group to kick your shit in if you screw up.
Would any of the major houses be interested in that bit of real estate next to the nav station leading from drh1 to drh 2 ?
Aaron Richardson
>Foss seems like the logical choice. If we return it to Foss I'd very much like to have them accompany us to the Neeran front when we eventually lead a DRH 1 fleet.
Austin Butler
You get reports and watch feeds of the attack between the sessions of the meetings as they drag on.
The Mercenaries jump into orbit and begin bombarding the planetary shields with with new and upgraded weapons. As the defenses begin to fail they switch to heavy phase cannons and arrays to open or widen gaps.
Once they've opened a hole in the planetary shield the bombardment arrays open fire on the starships on the ground. They've deployed their own shields, overlapping them with the other ships as protection as the planetary generators recharge.
The bombardment arrays are able to cut through the atmosphere to deal direct damage to the shields rather than having to deal with a rising column of super heated air scattering the beams. Things are still heating up enough that it's incredibly dangerous for anyone to be above ground, fortunately the shields are protecting them. For now.
Some of the fire eventually batters down the shields of parked starships before landing hits on them.
By now HAGs are descending below the outer layer of shields and begin picking apart targets with their mass drivers. All of these crews are veterans of the assault on Magdalena and have been training in the months since to put those lessons to the best use.
To anyone else it just looks like they're spraying mass driver shots in every direction, but nearly every shot is a hit on target. Ground bases and ships take enough shield damage for the HAG's to finish them off, disabling shields, missile silos and turrets.
Once the ships and facilities around the main population center have been disabled or destroyed it doesn't take long for the other cities to capitulate.
That doesn't stop the remaining Bonrah starships from trying to make a run for it. House Ex'uad and J-D ships are able to intercept many while the new Knights Errant unit tracks down a few others.
Jaxson Myers
>Their ambassador informs you that they were hoping to bring in heavy weapons to temporarily upgrade the SRL Merc's recently repaired Super.
Would Ber'helum be willing to deploy the Shallan Medium prototype we've built? It should be finished by now, and I'd hate to have it sit around doing nothing.
Nicholas Green
Medium cruisers deployed by Foss manage to prevent an Eminence from escaping. The ranking officer from the new House manages to convince the ship's captain to surrender to them rather than the Pirates.
Collateral damage is much less than it could have been but things are still a bit of a mess. Several hundred civilians were killed in the attack, though it easily could have been in the tens of thousands.
There is immediately a salvage dispute that requires arbitration. Rights to the Eminence that surrendered are being contested by Foss as it was his ships prevented it from jumping out.
House Ex'uad are still desperate for larger ships as too much of their GDP is spent on terraforming to purchase any.
How do you plan to handle this?
Levi Reyes
How much of a claim would the mercs have realistically? 75%?
Justin Bell
Approximately. But at the same time they surrendered to the other House so that complicates things.
Liam Fisher
Grant the new House the Eminence class and then give Foss an underhand deal to buy a brand new Shallan Medium for below production price? Alternatively we can get him priority access and a discount on A Shukhant?
New House will like us for getting them a ship over some former pirates. Foss will like us for getting him access to a brand new high tech ship.
Oliver Cooper
Would having Ex'uad pay 25% of the value, and J-D giving Foss 4-6 of the upgraded Vengeance class ACs we're building to cover the rest make sense? I feel strengthening Ex'uad is in our best interest, and if we can afford giving free stuff to our allies, it's now.
>Several hundred civilians were killed in the attack How did that happen?
Sonia Reynard, for supporting the Ruling House during the civil war we are willing to grant you a boon. Within very wide limits, we're willing to grant you anything you ask of us. Hmmmm..... I choose.... the next House you're creating has to be named Ho'use :3
Cameron Adams
>and then give Foss an underhand deal to buy a brand new Shallan Medium for below production price? >priority access and a discount on A Shukhant? These may annoy some people within the Dominion and possibly the Shallans. Certainly possible.
>Ex'uad pay 25% of the value, and J-D giving Foss 4-6 of the upgraded Vengeance class Could work.
>How did that happen? Very easily when you consider the range and penetration capability of the HAG's mass drivers. >nearly every shot is a hit on target >nearly
Some were also from the Bombardment arrays. The occasional shot penetrated ships shields instead of knocking them down. In those cases there was still atmosphere present to amplify the damage of the beam impact against nearby soft targets.
Dylan Reyes
>Very easily when you consider the range and penetration capability of the HAG's mass drivers. Could Sonia's bunker on Petras survive a direct hit? If it cannot, then we should upgrade it.
