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The Planet Rising - May 2014 SMAX GotM scenario for the Pirates

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  • The Planet Rising - May 2014 SMAX GotM scenario for the Pirates


    Click to go to the GotM




    The Planet Rising


    In the year 2101, six factions left the damaged hull of UNS Unity and made Planetfall. Colonel Santiago, Lady Skye, Provost Zakharov, Brother Lal, Chairman Yang, and finally – you, Captain Svensgaard – led their people onto this alien world. The Gaians proved to be the luckiest and landed in a rich jungle, which helped them rapidly expand throughout the main continent. You remained in touch with Santiago, as you two had forged some rapport onboard Unity. However, the fate of the rest is still a mystery. It remains to be seen if they are dead or thrive in some secluded areas.

    You found a safe bay at the base of a dormant volcano called the Mount of Planet. After a while, in order to contain the Gaian expansion, you decided to send colonists onto the mainland. After founding the Outpost and New Hope, you managed to establish mining operations on a range of hills, deeper in the continent. Things were going well for a while.

    But then, something… happened. Nobody knows for sure what. Some say the Gaians awoke some kind of force among the ancient Ruins. Others, that the will of Planet itself manifested in a physical form. Perhaps the strangest rumors talk about a young boy who got lost in fungus and miraculously developed new powers. But whatever it was, it brought havoc to human settlements. Gaian bases, one by one, succumbed to hordes of mind worms, beyond doubt controlled by some wicked intellect. Gaian citizens were forced into submission, while Lady Skye herself, humiliated, swore obedience to her new master – self-proclaimed Prophet Cha Dawn, leader of the Cult of Planet. Now she is the head of a puppet government, a fraction of her former glory.

    Soon, yours and Spartans’ bases were quickly conquered as well. Despite heroic sacrifices of your people, they simply could not stand against ferocious attacks of countless mind worms. As the Spartans faced complete obliteration, you used your transport ship to evacuate some of their colonists to a small island to the North East. Colonel Santiago refused to come onboard the ship, but was grateful enough to sign a pact of cooperation with you.

    Shortly, waves of attackers reached the Outpost, your last settlement on the mainland. In order to evacuate the civilians, you have dispatched a transport to the base, loaded with your best soldiers, the Shock Platoon. They reinforced the garrison and saved so many people that you cannot possibly evacuate all of them. You need to choose whom to save…

    Your mission is to evacuate, find some territory to settle and rebuild your power, and then to reclaim Chiron for humanity. You’ll be damned if you surrender to some disgusting bugs, even if it means fighting the Planet itself.


    ------------------------


    It is 2106 and you play the Pirates. The main continent is overrun by the mind worms controlled by Cha Dawn. He is very powerful and remains a serious threat even when you leave the mainland, so consider yourself warned.

    You start pacted with Santiago, but it is not a permanent pact, unlike the vendetta with Cha Dawn and Deirdre.

    Your mission is first to survive, then to conquer Cha Dawn’s HQ. This is the only objective in the scenario.

    You start with a battleship, 8-3-6, but you have no technology for the components. Do not play any tricks to pull reverse engineering on it (although I’m not aware of such a thing).

    There is no Planetary Council. Nobody has the time for ballots and politics when the entire mission is compromised and the humanity itself is on the verge of extinction.

    Raising and lowering terrain is impossible.

    Other standard rules apply – no reverse engineering, crawler upgrade, bug abuse, etc.

    Other settings:

    large map
    victory conditions: conquest only
    Spoils of War and Do or Die off
    Supply pods and random events on
    Direct research, normal tech rate.

    I provided this scenario in three different versions:

    1) Light – for causal game, after evacuation you should get some peace for a while. Cha Dawn has no Projects and only a few IoDs.
    2) Normal – quite a difficult version in itself. Cha Dawn has 2 Planet-related Projects and many units to keep you on your toes from the early turns.
    3) Hard – look, some people just get off of pain and who are we to judge? Download this version if you’ve been naughty and deserve punishment. Cha Dawn has 5 Planet-related Projects and a horde of units to make your life miserable.

    This is my first scenario, so feedback will be appreciated a lot!

    Enjoy the game!

    ...

    Enter the contest with a save of your won game here: http://alphacentauri2.info/index.php?topic=8550.0 Badges to be awarded all AC2 members who post a valid submission.

    • Buster Crabbe's Uncle
      #3
      Buster Crabbe's Uncle commented
      Editing a comment
      ------------------------

      You stand on the deck of you flagship Fenrir, binoculars in your hands, watching the last stand of your faction against the devastating strike of Planet’s native life. The barrage of your ship’s multicannons is deafening, yet you would swear you can hear the screams of wretched victims of psi attacks, paralyzed with terror but conscious enough to know they are eaten alive. The perimeter is breached and explosions mark the destruction of vital life support installations. It is just a matter of time before the entire base is overrun. You turn around and step inside the bridge.

      Here, it is much quieter. Your officers say nothing and watch you anxiously. You signal your aide to establish the commlink connection.

      “It’s over, Corazon. They’ve made it through.”

      “Great. All the more bugs for me.” You see the holoimage of Col. Santiago smile, but you know she is tense.

      “I’m serious. You’re on your own. You know what this means, Corazon…” You pause suddenly and recall her wild laughter when you offered to rescue her from the mainland. No woman has ever humiliated you so much in front of your crew.

      “I know exactly what it means, Ulrik. And believe me, I appreciate. But I’m not going to leave my troops behind. You know I can’t.”

      You nod in silence, frustrated. “I see you in Valhalla, Corazon.”

      “Just don’t rush it. Good hunting, Ulrik. Santiago out.”

      You curse under your breath. Memories of Earth and thoughts of your compromised mission come into your mind. Two weeks ago you sent a distress signal to your home planet, warning them of the horrifying dangers lurking on this hostile land. You never cared about humanity or other silly ideas, and had enlisted on the Unity only to escape your past. Frankly, you don’t give a damn if they all die.

      So why did you warn them?

      You shake off this strange feeling. It must be distant echoes of psi attacks in the Outpost. Now is the worst time to get emotional. You simply cannot allow yourself to be weak.

      You turn attention to the harbor pier. Lt. Hammerseng, your best officer and friend, provides cover for the last civilians rescued from the invasion. But there is too many of them. You quickly notice that your transport ship cannot take them all onboard. Hammerseng must realize this as well. You can almost hear him shouting orders, setting up the last desperate defense.

      “Aide, get me the Lieutenant.”

      You wonder if it is just the first tough decision you will have to make in the coming future…

      -----

    • Kirov
      #4
      Kirov commented
      Editing a comment
      Nobody submitted their victory yet, feel free to give it a try and participate in the competition, the deadline got postponed. I hear this scenario gave a headache to a few people. Your feedback will be priceless!

    • Kirov
      #5
      Kirov commented
      Editing a comment
      I'm not sure if I know what you mean, but this scenario was launched a couple of weeks ago. So far we have one submission. The deadline has been postponed till the end of June, so go ahead and take part in our competition.
    Posting comments is disabled.

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