Turns of AXT-042, third thread

[cbn]

2221 to Allen
I'm out of town this weekend and will be unable to play until Monday (sorry)-- I may be able to play later today if the turn gets back before I leave

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Foreman cbn read the memo from the gaian defense minister, obtained after great effort and addressed the assembled generals.

"They seem to be gaining confidence. What is the cause of this?"

"Well foreman, we turned our attention to the Spartans in 2219 and captured 4 of their bases. You will recall that in 2219 we won 18 battles and lost only 3.If you care to look at the executive summary you will see our 2220 accomplishments"

The foreman looked at the document before him

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 2220

New Virgin Soil (Gaia) captured
Hydrodock (Sparta) captured
2 conciousness bases captured
4 native life destroyed
5 choppers completed
First Centauri Preserve on Planet completed
First AAA upgrades completed


"Well this all looks fairly favourable but what is the downside. There must be a reason for their confidence"

"Sir, the Gaians now have an airforce thereby forcing us to invest in AAA protection. They have tacticals protecting key areas from our air power and have perimeter defenses around most bases. They are pumping out cheap trained troops from new recruits and then outfitting them with the latest armour and AAA equipment. Frankly sir, we will take considerable losses in any future attacks."

"So what are our plans"

"Well sir we have operation Juno prepared for this eventuality. essentially we move Force A here --

SCRRREEEEEEEEEEEEE
A high pitch whine shreiked through the audiocomm while a bright flash signalled the end of the vidcomm transmission. The Gaian spy picked up the discared mop next to him and tossed the screen and receiver into the refuse bin where, seconds later, a small pop signalled that the destruct sequence was successful. His movements were quick and precise but then suddebly he was transformed as he adopted the shuffling gait of a man 50 years his senior (only apt considering his altered appearance) and exited the maintenance room, pushing the mop and bucket, and moved up the main hall toward the exits and freedom. He knew that within 5 minutes the building would be sealed and his credentials would not stand up to close scrutiny. he held his breath as he nodded to the guard and stepped outside . . .
.

[Tenchusatsu]

Dang, had I known Stephen would be away today, I would have held the turn until I got back home on Sunday. Oh well. In any case ...

Year 2221 to Stephen.
_______

Senior Advisor: Minister, New Virgin Soil just fell to a Drone attack! What should we do?
Defense Minister: Excellent, the Drones are getting reckless.
Senior Advisor: (look of shock on his face) Sir?
Defense Minister: You heard me. This is the mistake I've been waiting years for. Now's our one and only chance to capitalize. Gather the rest of the senior advisors and call an emergency meeting ...

[cbn]

2222 to Allen. I am gone for the weekend now so take your time. I feel a major Gaian counterstroke coming on.

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Notable Drone achievements


Entire Peacekeeper air force eradicated
Iowa sunk-- avenging the Defiant

[Tenchusatsu]

I've got the turn, and I've done part of it already, but I'll wait 'til I get back home on Sunday before completing it.
_______

Covert Ops Center
Fallow Time

We have good news to report! We were able to mind-control two bases occupied by the Drones: New Virgin Soil and Hydrodock. We were also able to take control of the Drone units in those two bases, including two Chopper units in NVS.

Even better, we spotted a massive Drone chopper fleet stationed near our NW territory. We sent one of our mind-controlled chopper units toward the location in an attempt to bypass their early warning systems and weaken their fleet as much as possible. Despite already being moderately damaged when we took control, the chopper unit was successful in destroying over half of the Drone fleet before going down. Not only did this sneak attack throw a monkey wrench into their plans for invasion, it also testified to the awesome power of these Drone choppers.

We are taking the second Drone chopper unit back to the mainland for repairs and study. But even before that, our people have already reversed-engineered the design and have hastily drawn up plans for building choppers of our very own. We recommend building these choppers in all of our major bases as soon as possible.
_______

Command Center
Gaia's Landing
Transcript of Security Camera Video

(Lady Deirdre Skye and Druid Tenchusatsu are both looking over the shoulder of the tech who just received the report from the Covert Ops Center. Deirdre is dressed in her work uniform, a chocolate-brown bodysuit, while the Druid is dressed in a blue jumpsuit. The two leaders rejoice in glee after reading about the first major victories against the Drones. They start hugging each other in joy for quite a while. Then Druid Tenchusatsu suddenly breaks the hug, takes a deep breath, and starts walking toward the exit.)

Deirdre: Wait, where are you going?
Tenchusatsu: To my quarters.
Deirdre: What for?
Tenchusatsu: To take a nap. Now that I know this war isn't as hopeless as I once thought, I can finally catch up on my sleep.

[Tenchusatsu]

Year 2222 to Stephen. Couldn't wait to get back home ...

[cbn]

2223 to the Gaians-- good playing Allen-- those probes really were used to maximum effect

The terranx bug reared its ugly head and crashed the game each time a Gaian jet scrambled-- Ouch

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The foreman addressed his assembled generals

"Gentlemen , I know that you are discouraged by the mind control powers exercised by the Gaians. We lost some good units to them. But we always knew that this war would be difficult and we are far from beaten. We remain ahead in most categories and are beefing up our probe defenses. We hold the bulk of territory on Planet and our military remains first rate. We have had some setbacks but we remain strong. Our inner lands are strongly defended and we maintain the ability to strike at the gaian interior. Just this year, an impact jet totally destroyed a Gaian base in the interior . We must regroup but with cunning the war may yet be ours.

[Tenchusatsu]

Year 2223 to Stephen.
_______

Report from Field Commander
Command Nexus, Alpha Prime

I am pleased to report that Alpha Prime is now ours and the Conciousness' headquarters are no more.

Better yet, we have occupied their Command Nexus and found a wonderful assortment of weapons labs, computer networks, military barracks, training facilities, and anything else a grunt could love. We have hastily set up a command post in the Nexus and are in the process of assimilating all of the technology and infrastructure into our own. In a few months, we should have the whole place ready for operation.

We recommend relocating top brass here, even though it is on the westernmost edge of Gaian occupied territory. In the meantime, we will quickly beef up the defenses here on Alpha Prime and impress upon the locals to serve as conscripts specializing in anti-air warfare.

[cbn]

2224 to the Gaians

Remember that saturday the 25th is moving day as I will be moving 6000km to Calgary. I may be unavailable for a week of more while I find an ISP etc.

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

The Drones are scrambling to contain the Gaian attacks. Drone forces are regrouping to hold current lines and rearm for a counter- attack.

[Tenchusatsu]

I've finished my turn, but I'm having problems with Yahoo mail. I'll send the turn tomorrow morning, either through Yahoo or through my work e-mail.
_______

Battle Report
Lt. Col. Billy "Ninja" Lee, Wing Commander

I was the wing commander of the squadron that was composed of B-1 Vulture strike fighters and F-1 Falcon air-superiority fighters. Our orders were to make an interdiction attack on the Drone army and air force occupying Morgan Energy Monopoly. (Why the Drones had kept that name is beyond me.)

All of the aircraft in my wing locked their Chaos guns onto their targets and started firing. All of our weapons found their mark and explosions flashed from what used to be Drone military vehicles and hangars. After accomplishing our mission with minimal damage from Drone defenses, we started our flight back to Memory of Earth for refueling.

However, as I looked back on the base through my scanners, I noticed more explosions consuming civilian buildings that were not part of our list of targets. At first, I thought they were caused by fires from our attacks belatedly reaching synthfuel tanks or other explosives. But as the explosions continued, I noticed that there were no way our attacks could have caused such a chain reaction of destruction, unless for some strange reason the Morganite buildings are made out of dynamite.

Unfortunately from the limited resolution of the scanners on my fighter, I could not accurately determine what was causing those explosions. I did have just enough fuel to turn around and survey the destruction from a better viewpoint, but because there were still Drone military units present there, I did not want to take unnecessary risks to satisfy my curiosity. So the only thing I could do was witness the tragic destruction on my scanners as my wingmen and I continued flying away.
_______

Personal Log
Executive Producer, Propaganda Videos
National Fundamentalist Party of Gaia

My offices have recently obtained a video from the Covert Ops Center in Fallow Time. The video showed footage taken from intelligence cameras capturing the "factional cleansing" of Morgan Energy Monopoly. The video had it all, from building collapsing with civilians still trapped inside, to former Morganite citizens being lined up and vaporized by fusion laser-wielding infantry, to women and children screaming and running for their lives into the fungus-covered wilderness.

To a political publicist like me, especially one with a penchant for negative ads, this was like finding pure gold. I had my people immediately make copies of the video and start production on a series of new propaganda videos. Nothing makes a stronger statement than genocide, especially that carried out by our mortal enemy.

[Tenchusatsu]

Year 2224 to Stephen. For those who haven't figured it out already, this game is looking to be a textbook struggle between industrial might and economic efficiency.

[NorthSwordsman]

Not to mention, Ideologies. On one hand are the Ecological Guardians, on the other are the Ecological Destroyers. Should be interesting to see who wins. You both are pretty well matched, really. Let's see who the superior tactican is.

You can make all kinds of comparisons in the struggle between the two of you, if you really think about it.

[Tenchusatsu]

Year 2225 to Stephen.
_______

Public Announcement by Deirdre Skye

We are temporarily suspending our fundamentalist regime and reinstating democracy. In addition, we have resumed research in all of our Network Nodes and Research Labs. We realize that specialists have been carrying out their own private research projects for quite some time now, and we thank them for keeping the pursuit of science alive even as current projects were being mothballed. Now that we have a lull in the storm of warfare, we are taking advantage of this opportunity to advance our technology in hopes of catching up to and perhaps even surpassing the Drones.
_______

Report from the Gaian Defense Minister

We have begun our major thrust into Peacekeeper territory. Our first objective was the home of their Citizen's Defense Force, U.N. Planetary Trust. Our air force not only struck their base defenses, they also disabled their capabilities to launch a counterstrike. In short time, U.N. Planetary Trust became ours.

Our next target will be U.N. Disaster Relief, the mecca of the Peacekeeper nation. Not only is this base the largest in terms of population, it also houses three Secret Projects: The Virtual World, The Merchant Exchange, and The Planetary Datalinks. The conquest of this key base will greatly enhance our overall effort against the Drones. However, it will not be a cakewalk for our forces.

We recommend continued funding of our military efforts until at least this base falls into our hands. We realize that this will take some focus away from our reinstated research efforts, but I feel our mission should take first priority.
_______

Current SE settings

Drones: Demo, Free Market, Wealth (used to be Demo, Planned, Wealth or Knowledge, I believe)
Gaians: Demo, Green, Knowledge (used to be Fundy, Green, Survival)

[cbn]

Turn 2226

No time to post storyline-- I move in 2 days-- My computer is resting on the floor (where I am sitting) since ALL my other stuff is gone-- Addicted to Smax ??

[Tenchusatsu]

Year 2226 to Stephen
_______

Covert Ops Center
Fallow Time

Intelligence reports that Foreman CBN is moving and will be unavailable to micromanage the affairs of his empire for a while. This is the best time to strike! ... Wait, what do you mean we just slammed labs to 100%? Come on, we don't have a better opportunity than right now!
_______

Report from the Gaian Defense Minister

U.N. Disaster Relief is ours with minimal civilian casualties. The three Secret Projects stationed there are also ours: The Virtual World, The Planetary Datalinks, and The Merchant Exchange. Already the Virtual World is being integrated into our Network Nodes, and the nationwide response is overwhelmingly positive. We are now able to shift some specialist roles from Empath to Thinker or Engineer and boost our economy and research.

From here, the rest of our war against the Peacekeepers will be a mop-job.
_______

Journal Entry, Year 2226
Lady Deirdre Skye

It pains me to attack the nation of a friend, Commissioner Pravin Lal. We were very good acquaintances way back onboard the Starship Unity, the Ark which brought us to this Planet and started this next step in humanity. Both of us were biologists. His specialty was medicine; mine was plant life. We both once loved peace, democracy, justice, and balance between scientific progress and human rights. Had times been different, we could have been peaceful allies and partners in our collective struggle to survive and thrive on Planet.

But the dreams of peace and brotherhood are over. I was naive to think that war could be avoided at all costs. Now I know that the only way to avoid war is to give up our beliefs and our promise to Planet. It is a tragic dilemma, but I will always choose defending Planet over anything else, even peace, and even my friendship with Pravin. I can only pray to Gaia that Lal can eventually forgive me for the sins I have committed against him.

[Tenchusatsu]

Year 2227 to Stephen. Good turn rate!
_______

Personal Log, Year 2227
Druid Tenchusatsu

We got a surrender offer from Lal, and we took it, only to break it moments later. The good news is that we got quite a bit of money out of the very short-lived terms of surrender. The bad news is that our reputation is now Treacherous. I hope Planet doesn't hold that against Lady Deirdre in their daily conversations.

The power graphs now show us ahead of the Drones in Population, Technology, Military, and Overall. The Drones still lead in Wealth (although not by much) and Territory. Plus they are only several years away from Advanced Spaceflight, which will not only give them the ability to build orbital energy satellites, but also a fearsome new weapon which can potentially break through our front-line defenses. Already they were able to use their existing choppers equipped with Fusion Lasers to take over Memory of Earth. We were forced to counterattack, but in the heat of battle, MoE was reduced to nothing but rubble. It was only a minor loss, considering that base was only serving as a military outpost, but it serves as a reminder that none of our bases are safe.

I'd like to think that we have a slight advantage, but experience tells me that slight advantages are fleeting. I'm sure the Drones thought they had a slight advantage before their blunder at New Virgin Soil. I hope we don't make a similar blunder.

Sigh ... no rest for the weary.