The Chiron Chronicle: 2181

[Guardian]

Planetneck

The troops were going wild! Planetmind was literally playing with the Hive forces! The Peacekeepers in the bunkers were just watching the show... for now! The nerve gas shells, or "Yang farts" as they'd taken to calling them, didn't hurt them much now that they were all huddled up inside the bunkers with their protective gear on, but they were apalled and annoyed that the Hive would use such weapons against them. There would be a time when the leaders on the other side of the neck would regret this! The bastards had allied themselves with the hated Spartans and then proceeded to attack Peacekeeping Forces with nerve gas! They should have known better... Oh yes, there would be a day of reckonning and the Hive would pay for its crimes. Unfortunately, it would have to wait... they would have to stay put for now... Luckily, they knew the gas was harmless to the mindworms outside.

There were fresh cheers when the Unity chopper came back after performing the "Skyworm" attack on the Hive forces, then concerned mutters when they saw how badly damaged it was. Then there were more cheers as they watched the chopper settle down in a fungus patch and fresh curses when the fungus was hit by canister after canister of napalm. Commander Grafton looked around himself and noted that his troops were getting angry...


U.N. Missile Foil Crusader

Ensign Pete Mitchells was standing on the deck looking out over the ocean. He loved the ocean, and today was a beautiful day to be at sea. The entire ocean seemed so... friendly, almost as if it was cheering them along in its own smooth, gentle way. He pondered that thought for a moment, then suddenly stopped and frowned... disoriented... Had he heard music?? Nah... it couldn't be... or... wait a minute... there it was again... Something seemed to be tugging at the edge of his consciousness, but when he tried to grasp it, it pulled away... was this...??!? He forced himself to calm down and try a different approach... whatever this was, it couldn't just simply be grasped... but maybe, if he opened his mind to it, perhaps it would come to him... He closed his eyes and tried to clear his mind of all conscious thoughts, leaving it blank and open to new impressions... He stood there like that for a few moments, and... yes! There it was again! It was... like a melody... a song of some sort... and it was beautiful! It was growing stronger... Something caused him to open his eyes and turn right, to look up ahead, and there, about a quarter of a mile off to port, was a massive Isle of the Deep!
Where in the heck had that thing come from!?
It is not a thing!, he told himself.
And it didn't matter where it came from. It was... a friend!
-And it was heading the same way they were...

Slowly, he walked all the way out to the railing, stood at attention and saluted the friendly alien creature as the Crusader came up alongside it. Almost immediately, he felt another gentle tug at the edge of his counsciousness... was it... a question? He had heard that some poeple could communicate with Planet creatures, and that a few "chosen ones" could even "talk" to the Planetmind directly. Commissioner Lal was supposedly one of them. He didn't know how they did it... but... he could try... Assuming that the... this thing he felt... was a question, he formed a response in his mind and concentrated on it, as if willing the thought to jump over to the Isle out there...

This is a gesture... a show of respect...

For a while he felt nothing, but then something came back to him, and it brought out associations of... a shy, happy smile... accompanied by an expression of amusement and a hint of laughter...
Tears welled up in the ensign's eyes as he took in what had just happened.
The Isle and he had just "talked" to each other, and they had understood each other!
He stood smiling as the Isle "waved" happily and submerged, disappearing from his sight, but he sensed it was still nearby. Then he turned and looked aft, where the Sirius and the Arcturus were following. Out in the distance, 10 miles west of them, the three "knights" Sir Galahad, Sir Lancelot and Sir Tristam were also making their way north. Six U.N. missile foils, all heading north towards the Planetneck. This should give chairman Yang something new to think about...

(OOC: These are missile foils with plasma armor and deep radar. They are cleared to engage any and all Hive forces encountered. Hive doesn't know about them yet...)


U.N. Data Acquisition

News that the Spartan probe team had been identified and eliminated helped calm things a little, but it just wasn't enough. Yes, they may have been eliminated, but it was much too late! They had already done what they came here for. Still muttering curses under his breath, the garrison commander took stock of the situation. He had lost two of his men in the riots. One man dead and one injured. Then the unthinkable had happened; Peacekeeping Forces had opened fire against their own citizens, killing 5 rioters and injuring 17. Then they had finally backed off and left the soldiers alone... Damn! This wasn't supposed to happen no matter what! Yet it had happened, and he knew there would be a public investigation of this whole bloody mess after the war... But then they would have to win it first... Once again, he tried to focus on the task of defending against the oncoming Spartans. His forces were taking up positions in and around the base, some of them badly shaken by what had just happened, all of them furious at the f@*?ing Spartan b@stards who were behind all of this. Not a pretty picture, but not Fort Apache either. Or... maybe it was, but at least they would give the attacking Spartans a very bloody nose indeed. They might use nerve gas though... The thought made him shudder at the horror and repress tears. He could order the troops under his command to prepare for a chemical attack, but under the circumstances there was very little he could do for the civillians who were still around...


U.N. Enforcement Base

The dock workers cheered as the three Impact Rover groups from the Data Angels disembarked from their transports and rolled into the base, heading towards the armory. Before moving to the front, the allied forces were to be upgraded with the best weaponry and equipment the Peacekeepers had to offer. This would take about a week or so, at the end of which one of the units would be fully equipped with missile launchers while the other two would get gatling lasers. That was the best they could do in such a hurry.

[This message has been edited by Guardian (edited March 27, 2001).]

[Guardian]

To: Chairman Yang of the Hive
From: General Braddock, Peacekeeping Forces

Chairman, there is yet time to reconsider...
If you cease all hostilities immediately, you might still walk away from this...
I am not asking you to switch sides, just back off and stay out of it.
The Spartans have little to offer you except death and destruction.
We will offer you peace instead, and an opportunity to continue your social experiments undisturbed while your enemies are busy blasting each other to pieces... Will you at least think about it?

General Braddock

[This message has been edited by Guardian (edited March 27, 2001).]

[Cyber]

OOC: Okay, Guardian. I´ve got 8 attacking units poised towards Data Acq. 3 War rovers, 3 AAA and 2 Xrovers. Without the Perimeter defense, the Plasma garrisons are much more helpless, especially against Nervo Which the Spartans will definitely use! (Hey, they´ve even nuked a base…) So its three of your plasma garrisons for my two of my War rovers, deal?
There´s one elite Xwar rover unit, with a pulse armor, in a bunker stacked full with Nerve gas, and two Xartilleries a little further to the north. So don´t think “plugging” this hole will be easy
BTW, how did Major Kurita know about the one Spartan units at the defense lines???


From: Colonel Santiago
To: Foreman Domai

I knew we would come to this. What is the matter with you, Foreman. Have you forgot the Blockade, or the peace treaty? Where is your gratitude?
We have always been your friends, and we will always be! And don´t give me that Neutral cr*p, we know Chiron alliance units have been moving through your territory, and might be moving even as we speak.
However, I was prepared for this. So, were are willing to buy enough land from you for a small channel. We will give you energy credits for exchange of the lands, agreed?

(OOC:LordLMP, please play Domai now, and not Svensgaard )

[This message has been edited by Cyber (edited March 27, 2001).]

[Guardian]

(OOC: I don't expect it to be easy, but it can be done! As for Data Acquisition, yes, the defenders are significantly weakened, but you're not taking them without a fight! (Two war rovers sounds fair to me... ) Oh, and don't worry about how anybody knew about Spartan unit in the bunker. Any fool would know they didn't leave it unguarded! )

South of the defense line, north of Data Acquisition

Colonel Christopher swallowed hard and quietly went through the battle plan, wondering if there was any better way to do this with the forces he had available... The artillery would start the whole thing by targeting the conquered bunkers and letting loose with everything they had. Under cover of this barrage, the rovers would advance, and once they were within missile range, they would fire one salvo in unison, pummeling the defenders with a swarm of missiles, whereupon the advancing rovers would switch to serial fire; half of them firing while the other half targeted their next salvo, then fired it while the first half was looking for new targets, and so on. Thus, the defending Spartans would be under near continous fire from the moment of first contact, giving them no time to assess their situation or to coordinate a coherent response. As he stood there planning his approach, a thin grim smile started spreading on his face...
It could be done...
[This message has been edited by Guardian (edited March 27, 2001).]

[Natan]

quote: Originally posted by Guardian on 03-27-2001 08:10 AM To: Chairman Yang of the Hive From: General Braddock, Peacekeeping Forces Chairman, there is yet time to reconsider... If you cease all hostilities immediately, you might still walk away from this... I am not asking you to switch sides, just back off and stay out of it. The Spartans have little to offer you except death and destruction. We will offer you peace instead, and an opportunity to continue your social experiments undisturbed while your enemies are busy blasting each other to pieces... Will you at least think about it? General Braddock [This message has been edited by Guardian (edited March 27, 2001).]

From: Chairman Shen-ji Yang of the Hive
To: General Braddock
My good general, I thought you knew me better. If you don't have an offer to make, you might as well stop trying now. We both know you want this war to end more than I do.

Let me add, Braddock, that I was not the one who intiated hostilities. I merely constructed a series of defensive bunkers, which your ally proceeded to destroy, thus provoking my response. If nerve gas is an atrocity, than so is the use of a psi warfare.


From: Chairman Shen-ji Yang
To: Hive ministers of industry and defense

With the great upgrading job having been completed in a record three monthes, you are now to return to the work of equipping the troop quotas for this year, as you were doing before the upgrade. Specifically, you are expected to produce five 6-3-1 X gas infantries, one 6-1-2 missile X artillery, and 2 6-1-2 X missile rovers..


OOC: Is this a reasonable number to expect to be built in a year? Too low for my +2 industry? Too high? I think infantry would be the Hive's mainstay since it has such high population growth.
[This message has been edited by Natan (edited March 27, 2001).]
[This message has been edited by Natan (edited March 27, 2001).]
[This message has been edited by Natan (edited March 27, 2001).]

[Argonaut]

OOC: Guardian, I'll leave the deployment of my forces there up to you, as you'll know best where they're needed. Just try not to kill them all
Oh, and Darkcloud, don't know what your planning, but every Data Angel base is guarded by a probe team.

Angel's Herald

Morgan Sues For Peace!

Outstanding news today as CEO Morgan brought his forces out of the war. Having lost too much already in the conflict, CEO Morgan pulled out of the Apex Alliance and signed a tentative peace treaty with Chiron Alliance factions. Datajack Roze has sent negotiators to Morgan Industries to iron out the treaties, and return trade to normal between our two factions.

Troops Arrive at U.N. Enforcement Base

Our forces arrived in U.N. territory today, to aid in defense against the Spartans and Hive. The Peacekeepers have offered to upgrade our units with more advanced weaponry in exchange for the efforts Data Angel technicians have made in improving U.N. security protocols. The forces will shortly be deployed along the border by General Braddock who is commanding allied forces in the region. The foils which had been escorting the troops are now en route to meet up with the Pirate and U.N. fleet near the Fossil Field Ridge to engage the Spartan Fleet.

**********************************************

***Private Message : Enhanced Encryption***
To: Aki-Zeta Five c/o Cybernetic Conciousness
From: Datajack Roze c/o Data Angels

Greetings Aki,

I'm rerouting the bulk of my Western Forces to Inspiration Point to aid in the assault and defence. I cannot spare more at the moment, as I can not fully leave my Western Front undefended, and the University are proving troublesome on my Southern border. But look for two special weapons arriving at Inspiration Point shortly, coming in from the Manifold Nexus. A gift from Planetmind that will prove most useful.

Roze

******************************************

[i]The garrison at Inspiration Point looked on with shock and disbelief at the two hulking machines making there way towards the base. The University forces had already given up pursuit, not daring to risk these hulking machines without an organized assault. Most of the troops didn't know what to make of it. One of the soldiers turned to his commander.

"What the hell are those things?" he asked.

"I'm not really sure. All I care about is that they're Data Angel. And they're certainly going to give Zakharov a run for his money," replied the Commander.

[Christantine The Great]

OOC: DarkCloud, if you really want the AntiMind then fine take them. I was just about to use them but never mind. LordLMP, the Ogre came from a supposed "Unity Pod". They can and will spring up once in a while. Isn't there a pod near the place where the IoD landed? If there isn't then forget that post.

Commander Deep Blue, or "Blue" as his fellow probe operatives called him, surveyed the ancient Unity Rover. By Peacekeeper law, he was intitled to keep the rover. He decided he would. After reporting where the other Unity prefab rovers could be found he decided to take a look over his rover. He took the uniform that they had found inside the rover. It was passed along the probe team members, each writing some type of swear word on every inch of the uniform. Even one of the mindworms bit a section out of the chest, around the area where the heart would be. They stamped it with the Unity Mission seal, shot it with the shreaddar gun, and then Blue tied it to a mindworm. He instructed the worm to go as close to the Hive lines as he could, drop the uniform, and run.

After that, Blue uncovered the engine. He saw the dead mindworm husk. He took a can of liquid-seal and coated the husk with it. He then wrapped it in some plastic and gave it another coat of sealant. That should hold, he thought.

Planetneck, Hive side...

The mindworm had been slithering for hours now. It was intent on completing its mission, despite the unimportance. It dug a little grove in the soil and got itself well messed up. It then called a trooper with its psi powers. Not really called but more like "directed" the trooper to look in the general direction of the worm and blue uniform. The trooper caught the blueish speck from the corner of his eye and walked over to the blue spot on the ground. He was then blasted with the message, "BRING IT TO YANG! NOW!"

The man was quite stunned after that but quickly came to and hopped in his rover. He sped away before anyone could stop him.

[Blake]

OOC: One cult mindworm Great Boil had been trucked to UN Data Acq, it didn't engage in battle because the human psi talents got gassed.

In the sewers of UN Data Acq...

The Cult mindworms cowered deep in the sewer system of the devestated base, parts had collapsed from the explosions above but the mindworms could fit through the smallest crevice or pipe. The psi talents had all been killed by the nervegas, despite the mindworms efforts to drag them to safety underground. Without human guidance the mindworms were lost, survival instinct took over and they escaped the explosions by going underground... where no human could follow.

Yet they could not escape the silent screams of the peacekeepers, altough not harmed by nervegas the mindworms could feel the pain of it's victims, a constant roar on all psi frequencies, pain, suffering, misery. Caused the the spartans. Mindworms knew of good and evil, and they knew spartans were evil. Evil must be destroyed.

Scout worms had returned to the surface, and lurked in dark shadows, observing the spartan patrols, the mindworms collectivly formed a plan. slowly the main body of worms moved closer to the surface, some slithered up pipes into an adandoned building, others lurked under the manholes and vents.

The hapless spartan patrol didn't even know what hit them, the mindworms fell from windows and burst from the gutters, moving at unbelievable speeds the mindworms leapt or fell onto the heads of the spartans, chewing through the gasmasks in mere seconds before burrowing into the brain via the eye or ear, not a single spartan managed to get a distress call out, altough other patrols heard the screaming, two patrols ran around the street corner to see the spartans lying on the ground screaming and writhing.
With human guidance prehaps the mindworms would have retreated to the sewers at this point, but were driven to avenge the peacekeepers and launched an assualt on the new patrols, such was the fury of there attack that both patrols fell, many paralysed with fear and unable to draw their weapons, however this time the distress call was raised.

More spartans descended on the area, now armed with flame guns and ready for the mindworms, the mindworms continued the assualt, but the sheets of flame quickly reduced them to ash, a few individual mindworms escaped back into the sewers but the vast majority died in flame. The surviving worms continued to pop up in unexpected areas, killing several more spartans.

It was several days before the attacks ended.

OCC: As the mindworms had no trainers with them there is nothing linking them specifically to the planet Cult, Planetmind or Peacekeepers. 10-20% damage inflicted on a few spartan units.

[[LordLMP]]

OOC: Chris, it can't be ignored anymore as Guardian pretty much aknownledge it with his actions. Will alow it, maybe a "suppose" unity pod along the beach, half submerge/buried. Guardian. I thought the Rovers were moving to Data Acquistion??? Cyber, where the hoot did those Artilleries came from? nowhere was mentioned of them earlier? Oh, nothing was mentioned of the PK Probe Team in Data Acquisition, so they may still be hiding and planning. The Spartans will be occupied there for a bit and they will have a lot of trouble from the remaining population :P The base is wrecked and even if the spartans have been kicked out, will not really be taken care of until after the war really Blake, how did the mindworm get to Data Ac? just before the attack? Natan, I will allow Northern and Southern forces to be mostly upgraded, but Western and Central forces, no or just some, and some of Security Forces mainly ment to defend the faction from itself. They may have good industry, but they also have crappy economy upgrading will be effected by industry and economy.
All at Central Continent, i would think there would be having a conflict at the Data Angel/University borders and north east of Garland crater near research heights by now aswell. Since the morganites are Neutral now, would be illegal to traverse their territory.


To: Colonel Santiego
From: Foreman Domai

The Chiron Alliance as help us defend us against the Hives at the blockades, not just your spartans units. And they are still at the blockades, under Free Drone command.

Buy some land? How could the Spartans possibly pay for some land after sending giving off a good some of energy to the University and continueously supporting your forces, especially with a lack of industry? My infiltrators reports that the spartan treasury doesn't have much left of energy credits.

Don't the Hive have ships in the channel which is practicly separating our continent?

Foreman Domai

[OOC: I am playing Domai Free Drones believed in Freedom of oppression, tyranny, police states, they are a democracy, and so on. So why would they seriously cooperate with the Spartans and Hive, who are allies now.
I don't give a hoot if the spartans are into money or not, energy credits are energy! they would be used to help support and build forces, especially how quick the spartans built its air force, its naval force upgrading some units with AAA and equipping units with nerve gas. ANd donating to University. Will be hard for Spartans to recover several decades of savings within a year, especially under Spartan's lack of economy and during a war. don't think spartans making enough of a surplus of energy to do so. not just industry suffers, but economy aswell.


***************

To: CEO Morgan
From: Captain Svensgaard
CC: Chiron Alliance factions


CEO, we have a proposition. We know that your economy is suffering, especially when University closed their borders on trade. We will help your economy out buying supplies from your people, like food, equipment and so on. We are also willing to stop our blockades and all harrassments to your merchant. So your vast air transports will be free to trade with any other factions, except of course the Apex Alliance, via the chiron alliance. In exchange, you provide us Planetary Economics. If you Agree and cooperate with the Chiron Alliance in the next 5 to 10 years, we will give Morgan Bank back to your faction.

What is your decision?

Captain Svensgaard

(OOC: he is pretty much proposing this without the consent of the rest of the alliance but svensgaard sees that it will improve trade via the chiron alliance, which means more income which can be used to support the alliances war effort and benefit the pirates indeed too. Also, the pirates is about to steal the tech fromt he morganites anyhow, but the honest way is preferable

[Cyber]

(OOC: Anyways, Guardian, do you want to write the attack post on the bunker and the outcome of the battle? I don´t have enough time for it right now. Just remember, decency and realism
The elite war rover unit is always ready for combat( Spartan routine paranoia, you see ) and there are the artilleries armed with nerve gas further north, so the attack is going to cause a MAJOR number of casualties for the peacekeeper side, as happened to the Spartans when they first punched a hole. BTW, the PK prisoners and wounded are still there(Sadistic ideas forming )


The Battle of the Crippling Poison


“Open Fire!” Shouted Commander Weiss over the comm.

A hundred missiles launched simultaneously towards the peacekeeper base, impacting with a tremendous fury into the buildings. In mere moments the base was burning, but the fires faded out soon because of Chirons atmosphere.

The Combined army was north of the base, ready to charge in and make the day of the Peacekeepers.
But first, it was time to test their newest war toy, the nerve gas…

The rovers armed with nerve gas started shooting their deadly missiles into the base.

As the missiles exploded in the base, the invisible poison started spreading throughout the base, going through every crevice and even battle armor.

Even the Spartans heard the screams, terror reaching their hearts. Screams of pure agony, coming from the bunkers and whatever shelters the peacekeepers had found.
Every Spartan soldier knew the power of nerve gas, and the horrible death it spread so effectively.
Mercy, their thoughts screamed but no one dared to say it openly.
Give them mercy, for God´s sakes…


Soon, the order came. Columns after columns of rovers started rolling towards the bombarded base. As the ECM Jammers started working, lasers started flashing between the Spartan rovers.

The Spartans came to the outskirts of the base, shredder fire from the surviving perimeter bunkers greeting them.
After a quick battle, the remaining bunkers were destroyed. But this was only the beginning, the whole base was probably full with bunkers ready to ambush an unsuspecting Spartan rover…


“Where the f*ck is it!” I shouted, looking for the AT-sniper somewhere near through the targeting system of the main gun.

I front of us was the burning carcass of already the second Spartan rover ambushed in this Hells alley.A narrow street bordered by high buildings that hadn´t been blasted to pieces by the initial bombardments, was causing heavy casualties to the attacking Spartans. My unit was caught here now, probably surrounded by those damn snipers. What made all of this worse, this base was as if designed to be as hard as possible for rovers. Damn those peacekeepers were clever.

Our rover was slowly moving through the street, as there was so much rubble on it.
I saw some movement on the second balcony, in the building right next to me.

So there you are…you think you’re clever, don´t you? Well, now you made a mistake… I targeted my main gun towards the balcony, seeing now clearly the fear on the peacekeepers face.

A single missile shot towards the balcony, exploding right above it, the deadly nerve gas spreading all around.
A smile of satisfaction lighted up my face, as I waited for the body to fall down.
And it came down, in a small thump. I focused my vision to see the enemy… and saw… and saw something horrible…

It wasn´t a dead soldier, but a body of a dead child!

Oh God…what have I done?…why wasn’t that child in some bunker?…

“Nice shooting, Thompson. Next time, try to spare some civilians to the rest of us, okay. Sarge´s sarcastic voice came to me over the inline comm. I could hear the rest of the crew laughing at me. Laughing to this whole happening!

I was petrified, almost in a shock. I didn’t have anything against killing enemy soldiers, but killing a child with nerve gas…
As I was looking at the dead child, nausea and agony took over me briefly, only to be interrupted by the shouts of the second gunner below me, booming victoriously throughout the rover.

“I´ve found them! I´ve found them!” At the same moment the two gatling machine guns attached to the rover started firing furiously at some other balcony further away.

The peacekeeper AT- team was obviously trying to load their AT-gun in a hurry, but failed as a hail of gatling fire shredded them into pieces.

Our rover burst into cheers, with my comrades congratulating the second gunner. I was quiet and watched through the targeting system the small body, the rover about to go over it.

“Okay people, the street isn´t clear yet. We still have a long way to go… and now were first in the line.” Sarge´s voice pulled the rest of the crew back to the ground, and they concentrated again on their jobs.

I tried to calm down my nerves, but my hands were now shaking., and I couldn’t control it.

When will this hell end? I want to get out of here, I can´t stand this all…


After twelve hours of intensive and bloody battle, the Spartans finally took over the base. The place had sustained moderate material damage, but the remaining civilian population had been devastated.

With approximately one third of the population dead, the remaining were either wounded, somewhat paralyzed by the nerve gas, or severely traumatized by what had happened. In other words, pretty much useless.

Some of the civilians had tried to start up riots with the helps of some scatterred remains of the local garrisons, but their attempts had been quickly eliminated with brute force.

However, there still are small groups of soldier here and there, trying to cook up something or just to survive against the organised spartan patrols.

The local administration center had been the last stand of the peacekeepers. Unfortunately, the building was now nothing but smoldering ruins, so there was no hope for salvaging technology or information.

A small camp had been set up next to the ruins of the administration building.

Inside on of the tents, Commander Weiss was looking at a map describing the base, and giving orders to group of officers.
“…then I want all capable civilians to start building a large barricade here…” he pointed at the northern part of the base, where the perimeter had been blown up.” Search for all possible supply and weapon stashes, and collect everything useful and atleast somewhat working war machinery you can find.”

“Lucas, on the still standing perimeter I want defenders ´round the clock. And start repairing that base radar…”

“Yes, Sir!”, the officers saluted together, and turned to leave.

“Oh, and Lucas…”

One of the officers stopped and turned towards the commander.

“Yes, Sir?”

“If the civilians start protesting, pump the damn protesters full of nerve gas. That should quiet them…”

As the officer left the tent, Commander Weiss started pondering about the new name that this new base had to be given.

Hmm?... Falling Walls? Yes, that’s a good one…

(OOC: one War rover and one AAA rover are destroyed. The others have somewhere about 10-30% dam. The whole base is now practically being cannibalized for anything useful to the Spartans. They don´t care a sh*t about the population for now )


The Cult of War forces

They were in positions now, ready to attack. It was a two day trip to the bunkers for normal infantry, but it would take them probably only one day. And in one day, Von Halzburg and his troops would begin their attack.

The Cultists continued their quick marching forward, still not tired.
Soon now, soon…


[This message has been edited by Cyber (edited March 27, 2001).]

[Blake]

OOC: Mindworms moved by road to UN Data Acq, quite a long time I mentioned the cult mindworms intended to spread out along the defense lines, I think there was plenty of time for one mindworm to get to the base, it was meant to help defense but all the talents got killed by the initial nerve gas strike (talents overconfident, think they are protected by there worms, so didn't have enough protective gear). After that the mindworms kinda went feral. Once they got over the loss of the talents they did their natural thing - destroy creatures which cause pain.


FROM: Mutu , head of Cult Research
TO: Cha Dawn

We have made a major breakthrough! Combining the knowledge of High Energy Chemistry gained from the peacekeepers, and our own technology of gene splicing we have finally developed Synthetic Fossil Fuels - altough I am loathe to call them such a name, as fossil fuels were largely responsible for pollution on Earth.

This completes the Missile weapon system, the rover we probed from the spartan had missiles, but without SFF we couldn't power them. Fortunately from what we have learned from the spartan technology a prototype should not be required.

Aside, this technology allows the development of powerfull fungicides which can literally devestate whole fungus fields. I've got my top scientists working on an anti-fungicide, splicing resitance directley into the fungus would be ideal, but our understanding is of Centurai Genetics is much too poor.


Dawn of Planet

A large transport plane is loaded with a one of the first batches of synthetic fuels, the plane will fly to Chiron Stigmata to pick up cargo and refuel.

OOC: The Cult does not have Doc:Air Power yet, this doesn't mean they can't have aircraft, it does mean they can't have an air force. In the game when trading bases you get a message about someone flying over to take control, suggesting utility aircraft are available earlier.

[Guardian]

To: Chairman Yang of the Hive
From: General Braddock

So be it!
If you wish to wreck your military at the Planetneck, then that is fine with me, but I really don't see what you're hoping to gain from it.
Just think of all you could have built...
Anyway, I do realize that you were not the one to initiate hostilities, but I also know that you were planning an assault...
Also, while you do have every right to defend yourself, the massive force build-up near the Planetneck was an unnecessary provocation, as you know full well that we would not have attacked you.

General Braddock

[Guardian]

U.N. Enforcement Base

More allied reinforcements had arrived!
This time it was the Cyborgs who were coming, in the form of three regiments of Trained Silksteel Sentinels. These units had originally been dispatched to help bolster the Peacekeepers' defense line and ward off Spartan aggression, but the situation on the Eastern Continent had changed while they'd been in transit...


To: Aki Zeta-Five
From: General Braddock

Your forces have arrived safely, and I thank you for this explicit show of support. When you first dispatched them, you asked that they should remain nominally under your control, so I'll ask for your authorization before I make any plans involving these units. I know they were sent to help fend off Spartans, but may we deploy them along our side of the Planetneck to help counter aggression by Hive Forces? For the time being, the Hive army seems to be content sitting on their side and lobbing artillery shells and missiles at us, so no heavy losses would be expected. However, the Hive forces are using nerve gas, so your troops would have to be prepared for operations in a chemical environment. They'll probably stay here at U.N. Enforcement Base for a day or two to get organized and checked up before going anywhere, so you have some time to consider the issue if you so wish. I shall hope to hear from you soon though. Also, if there is anything we can do for you or your troops, let us know, okay? Thanks again.

General Braddock


U.N. Data Acquisition

So, the f@?!ing Spartan bastards think they've won, eh? Well, we'll see about that... I'd say the over-confident, self-centered sons of b#tches don't have a foggiest idea what they've gotten themselves into here. But they're about to find out... they think they can just roll in here and take over, huh? They think they can threaten us with nerve gas and make us serve them? They've got another thing coming...

Oh yes, we're f@`?ed now... we probably won't make it out of here alive... but we probably wouldn't have made it anyway... So... let's just give them hell! Let's not give them an inch! Let's make their lives as miserable as possible, and then let's see how they like their... "victory"...

John Murdock had never been so pissed off in his life!
Yet he managed to remain relatively calm and in control, but just barely...
The Spartans now moving through the base were the ugliest things he had ever seen. He never thought he would come to this, but right there and then, it seemed the Spartans weren't human at all, and it seemed no fate was too ugly for them. It was almost too bad they weren't all eaten alive by mindworms all those years ago...

Ooooh, if he could just freeze his enemies right now!

He would have gone down there and he would have gotten a big tanker full of flame gun fuel. Then he'd hose them down with the stuff, get them all really soaked in it, and they would just stand there frozen, unable to move... then he would seek out the officer in charge of this army... he would stand in front of the man, look him in the eye and then spit in his face... then he would step aside, and then... slowly, very casually... he would light a match... hold it up so they all could see it... take one last look at their faces... meet there gazes and let them see how much he hated them... let them see that there was no mercy left in him... let them see that they were all gonna die horribly and there was nothing they could do about it... not a damn thing!

Then throw the match and watch them all burn in Hell...

If he could have done that right now, he probably would have.

But... he couldn't. And he wasn't sure what was worse, the fact that he might have done it or the fact that it couldn't be done...


Spartan elite unit, guarding conquered bunkers, north of Data Acquisition

The commander of the Spartan unit was pleased. News of the victory at Data Acquisition had further bolstered the morale of his troops, but it had not decreased their readiness. The Spartans were all ready in the bunkers, with the captured and injured Peacekeepers strapped down in front of their positions, so that any would-be attackers would have to literally shoot through the Peacekeepers. A malicious smile started to spread on the commander's face, then faded suddenly. There was this one particular Peacekeeper that was starting to get annoying. The man kept turning his head and looking at him with this stupid smirk on his face, as if he kept saying, "You know, you're not gonna get away with this..."
Why, you little sh*t...
He started on his way out of the bunker to kick the silly bugger's teeth in, but just as he did so, two of his officers suddenly cried out excitedly. The Peacekeepers had just started jamming like mad again. Something was about to happen...

Their lookouts hadn't spotted anything yet, so he turned his attention back to the officer in charge of communication. "Get the word out to commander Weiss. And call up the artillery. Let them know we might have work for them soon."
The officer frantically tried to contact the combined army and the artillery regiments to their north, but only screeching noises and static acknowledged his calls... then, suddenly, the noise fell away and a song started playing... "Oh cripes! Not that again..."
It was another old Earth-song, called Desert Song by a band called Def Leppard. For lack of anything better to do, he went back to his lookouts and stood there watching the horizon for a while. There they were! Dust clouds. From the south, south-east and south-west. He estimated about 6 regiments of rovers were coming his way...


The sky is falling on this setting sun
In comes a silence ringing loud and long
This isolation is the king of pain
A lost horizon in an ocean of flame


There was that stupid PK @sshole giving him that look again!
He was out there in front of the man in less than five seconds.
"If you have something to say to me, say it! You're starting to piss me off with that stupid smirk of yours."
The Peacekeeper simply looked up at him, smiled and said, "You're f@cked!"
"You're mistaken", the Spartan answered. "You're f@cked."
The Peacekeeper simply shrugged and kept smiling.
"We're all f@cked", he said, still smiling.
"It's just that we have known it for a while and you're just finding out!"

In that moment, the streaks of incoming missiles appeared in the distance and the Spartan quickly re-joined his men inside the bunker, leaving the defiant Peacekeeper to his fate.
The man died with a smile on his face and a look of pride in his eyes, and with the absolutely true knowledge that he had not in any way served the Spartans...


U.N. Data Acquisition

Okay, the Spartans were moving accross the compound, approaching the armory... They were moving cautiously, checking for traps or ambushes, finding neither... they were just about to enter. Yes! Now some of them were inside whilst others were guarding the entrance. It was time...

He pressed the red button.
The blast took out everything within a radius of two blocks or so...


South of the bunkers...

Colonel Christopher sat up straight and started counting down... 9... 8... 7... The Spartans had superior training and superior starting positions... Christopher and Kurita had superior numbers and a lot of determination... 6... 5... 4... This might have been a bad idea, but oh hell... war was a bad idea in the first place! 3... 2... 1... He took a deep breath... NOW!

Even as they fired, he saw that the Spartans had fired everything they had as well. Now the missiles were flying all over the place. Then battle instincts kicked in and time lost all meaning...


U.N. Data Acquisition

A Spartan patrol was cautiously moving down the dark alley... they were on full alert... ready for anything... or so they thought...

The explosives were rigged into the very foundations of the walls on either side of the alley, prepared a long time ago for just such a contingency. At the righ moment, an unseen finger pressed a button and the walls collapsed, crushing frail bodies between them.

There were a few similar incidents elsewhere as the Spartans fanned out accross the base.


Near the bunkers...

Colonel Christopher was on the ground, scrambling for cover, moments before his command rover blew to pieces, debris falling all around them. As he was fighting off the shock and nausea, he saw the man in front of him yell something. It seemed to be a question, addressed to himself, and he could see that the man was yelling at the top of his lungs, but he couldn't hear a word of it... Shaking his head slowly, the sounds and sights of the battle started coming back to him, and the man repeated his question...

"I said what the hell do we do now, Sir?! "

The attack was on the brink of stalling, the attackers losing their momentum and being pinned down or knocked out by enemy fire. The damned Spartans must be thinking it was New Year already, the amount of sh!t they were flinging. Rovers were blowing up left and right, or being disabled or simply abandoned because they couldn't make the final push to the bunkers, the crews continuing the charge on foot.

They had been prepared for lots of sh!t, including nerve gas, but they'd still lost a lot of people to it. Christopher estimated that a full third of his force was gone by now, and they still hadn't taken the bunkers...

Taking a deep breath, he scrambled to his feet and charged with fury towards the bunkers, vaguely aware of others following...

They were cut down by the dozens, but they were determined to win, and they were doing it. The Spartan training and discipline had paid off in terms of the casualties they had inflicted, but had failed to stop the assault. A missile slammed into one of the bunkers, igniting flame gun fuel that had been stored there in case of an attack by mindworms, and suddenly, half a dozen human torches came running out of the bunker, screaming like mad. A PK officer was screaming at the top of his lungs,

"Don't shoot, let them burn! "

Mere weeks ago, the troops would have been disgusted and appalled by such an order. Not anymore. These were Spartans.

When they saw that they were not only outnumbered and outgunned, but also being outfought by these maniacal Peacekeepers, a few of the Spartans even attemped to surrender!

No way!
There was no mercy left in these Peacekeepers.
They killed even the ones who wanted to quit.

You can't just come down here and massacre our children with nerve gas and then say "fair enough, game's over" when you realize that you're about to lose. Welcome to your own world, @ssholes!

In the end, the Spartan return fire became sporadic, then gradually fell away completely as the Peacekeepers went about mopping up.

Into the bunker.
Shoot. Stick. Yell.
Out of the bunker.
Run on.

Until there were no Spartans left.
None alive and dangerous, that is.

A few prisoners. A few wounded.
Some crying...


(OOC: Peacekeeping Intercepting units now consists of two 30% damaged rover groups. They paid a high price, but they've closed the hole in the defense line. The Spartans in Data Acquisition are on their own...)


U.N. Data Acquisition

Night was falling and the Spartan patrols were still taking sniper fire from the scattered pockets of resistance throughout the base. Other places, they were being harrassed by crazed victims of chemical attacks or civillians who were just too damned furious to think much about personal security. Occasionally, a bomb would explode and light up the night sky.

The invaders wouldn't get much sleep tonight...

[This message has been edited by Guardian (edited March 29, 2001).]

[Cyber]

In Data Acquisition

The sewers were being effectively cleaned for any surviving mindworms. Dozens of large napalm bombs exploded together in the key sewer areas, the fire engulfing the whole sewer system.

While this was being carried out, there was an emergency meeting in the Commander tent.

“Sir, we´ve completely lost contact with the troops in the bunker, and this time it can´t be jamming. There´s been no contact with them for twenty hours now… what should we do, Sir?”

“”Don´t start losing your nerves now, we´ll assume the worst and proceed according to plan…”” Commander Weiss was as if the symbol of calmness.
I knew it. There has to be a third PK army somewhere around, or rather in the bunker now… otherwise the damn traitor Hivers wouldn´t have dared to attack us…

“”Okay, next subject…” commander Weiss said with a casual tone, taking a cigarette from his pocket and lighting it. The cigarettes were a rarity among the Spartans, only people with a lot of power were allowed such a privilege.
The ground rumbled slightly below them because of the sewer cleanings. No one in the tent noticed it.

“Sir, last night several more of our patrols were ambushed, mostly by lonely PK snipers. But few patrols got it really bad, as it seems that the peacekeepers have taken the habit of rigging explosives around the base. The snipers were eliminated pretty quickly, most of them unable to do much harm, but the damn explosive riggers are the trouble now. These are some more organized remains of the garrisons, but we´ll…”

“”I´ll tell what you’ll do!”” Weiss was now obviously angry, his fists clenched. “”First gather all of the protesting civilians to the market square, and pump them full with nervo, as revenge. Then, reorganize a part of the patrols and put them on foot. You´ve all been trained in guerilla warfare, so I don´t want to hear protests. You´re new patrol routes won´t be the damn smashed streets, but the roof tops and back alleys. Your going out to play commandos, son.Understood!?””

“Yes, Sir!” The officer quickly left the tent.

********************
The Spartans quickly reorganized their troops and their tactics. They were going to fight fire with fire.
Dozens of heavily armed commando teams left for various parts of the base. They weren’t using the streets any more, but other, unseen routes. If they encountered trouble they couldn´t handle, the commandos would call the cavalry, dozens of rovers coming to their aid.

Soon, dozens of furious battles flared between the remains of the surprised peacekeeper garrisons and the attacking Spartans all around the base.

Meanwhile, the peacekeeper civilians that hadn´t rebelled, were now constructing the large barricades on the northern part of the base to somehow close the huge wound on the perimeter defense, while vigilant Spartan guards were supervising the process. After the barricades were ready, hundreds of mines and traps would be laid all over them.

“Lorenzo, get out of there now! The Spartans will be here any moment!” Sergeant Jack Norris was shouting from inside to his fellow sniper, who was on the fifth floor balcony, trying to aim and shoot with a badly damaged AT- gun at a rover.

“Just, wait a second, damn it! I´ve got it in my target…” And a second later, the balcony and the peacekeeper on it were blown to pieces by a missile.

The blast threw Norris on his back, and his ears started to bleed. He got himself on his legs, picking up his shredder rifle from the floor. He could hear nothing, and the world was rotating around him.

Two other peacekeeper soldiers came into the room, dragging a third one with them and all covered with blood.

They both started shouting to him and pointing at the door with their hands, but Norris couldn´t hear nor understand them.
He just stared at them, with a shocked expression on his face, his ears bleeding badly.

Two peacekeepers quickly noticed his bleeding ears. One of them started obviously to curse loudly, while the other was muttering something to himself, with an expression that all hope was just lost. They both let down the third peacekeeper soldiers, probably dying already, on the floor and went behind some old furniture to set up an ambush.

Norris just stood there, stunned and unable to do anything. One of the peacekeepers started waving his hand, as a sign to Norris to get down, but it was too late.

It all happened in a second.
A Spartan hand grenade flew into the room. One of the peacekeepers scrambled towards the grenade, in hope to catch and throw it back.
As the peacekeeper soldier took the grenade from the ground, a hail of gatling fire pierced him through. He and the grenade fell on the floor. The other peacekeeper ducked for cover
Another second later, the grenade exploded, sending out a deadly wave of impact shards and engulfing the room in fire.


Norris opened his eyes.
Where…am I?…

He wasn´t dead, yet. Norris had survived the grenade, but at a terrible cost. His both hands were gone now, and his left leg was a bloody stump.
A Spartan soldier was staring back at him, and the damn Spartan was laughing like a psychopath.


The crowd of Spartan soldiers was cheering below, as a badly battered peacekeeper was hanging upside down on a rope, from the fifth floor.

Norris wanted to cry out to, to scream and…die

Let me die! Let me die, you b*stards… his mind screamed but his mouth didn´t comply.


OOC: the remaining peacekeeper troops have been hit pretty badly. About the remaining population, I think there are atleast 1000-2000(?) people left in UN Data Acquisition.
I´ll write the attack by the Main and Cult armies later.



[This message has been edited by Cyber (edited March 28, 2001).]

[Clear Skies]

From: Prime Function Aki Zeta-5

To: General Braddock of the Pro-War Peacekeepers

Dear General Braddock,
Thankyou for the confirmation of our forces' arrival. I wish I could do more, but unfortunately so many of my forces are currently tied up defending ourselves against the University. With the withdrawal of CEO Nwabudike Morgan's forces from the assault, perhaps we will be able to spare some more units - perhaps some Mind Worms and more Silksteel Sentinels.

Please station my Sentinels wherever you see fit. My hope is that the Spartans will shrink from committing atrocities against yet another race. I had, however, had an inkling that Nerve Gas might be in the offing, so I took the precaution of equipping them with the latest in gas filters. Although they are nowhere near 100% efficient, perhaps they will prove useful.

Our involvement in this war is admittedly tenuous at best. I would rather not assault the Spartans directly, using my units rather for defence - my faction cannot fight a two-front war. We simply do not have the strength at this time. Perhaps when the University War has come to its final conclusion - a peaceful one, I hope - we will be able to support you further.

I do not expect your approval of this following plan, but I thought I might include it for completeness.
If you were to cede to us one of your bases - not frontline, of course, but a relatively small, out-of-the-way one - we could occupy it with our Silksteel Sentinels and use our energy credits (of which we have a reasonable store) to aid in the rush-building of some more forces. Defensive ones mostly, of course - my people have little interest in waging war - but we could provide some support for your forces.
Only a suggestion, my friend.

Yours in trust,
Prime Function Aki Zeta-5