Rise of the Wrix

[Theokrat]

*unlurks*

Interesting read as ever, keep it up.

Good luck for your exam!

[xeryon]

uuh, was that 5 pages already?

Must be pretty good if I read it all in one sitting and didn't realize until now that it was 60 some posts.

[Gyrfalcon]

How're you simulating the two factions? One battalion mobile infantry and one garrison battalion?

[Rabid_Cog (OP)]

One side has two marine companies and the other has one. I figured marine companies would give better granularity and the numbers disparity would better illustrate the difference in force level. Remember, a mobile infantry has 5 attack, while a garrison has 10 defence. That kind of takes the urgency out of the thing.

[Rabid_Cog (OP)]

5 August 2016
DTP fired a short burst from his pulse rifle at a head that had been poking out behind a rock and it quickly ducked back. He followed suit as a burst of return fire chipped at the rock he was hiding behind. Gamma's forces had finally begun moving closer. Instead of the sudden rush they had been expecting, however, it had been a slow, cautious crawl, mostly under the cover of mortar bombardment. And still they were keeping their distance.
He and his squad mates were being worn down, slowly but surely, and casualties were slowly climbing. It was only a matter of time before Gamma's forces made their final push. For the umpteenth time DTP wondered how long it was before the Hudson arrived with reinforcements. Their communications equipment had been hit some time ago by a stray mortar round, so they had been out of contact with Wrixom for some time.
Just then one of his mates crawled up to his hidey spot. He was positively grinning.
"What's news?" DTP asked.
"Those bunch of crackpots in the ruins just managed to receive a signal from the Hudson using some doohickey jury-rigged from the remains of our comms unit and some of their stuff. It just crossed the halfway mark between us and Wrixom. It's going to be here in just over fifteen days."
DTP's grin nearly touched his ears. That explained why Gamma was moving up. Their odds suddenly looked a lot better.

20 August 2016
The surviving defenders sat in a spread circle, eating their rations in silence. Gamma had been pushing hard and shelling almost non-stop for the past several days. Almost all of them were injured in some way by now.
DTP looked around the faces. Nobody wanted to be the first to say it, but they were all thinking it. The Xenologists had managed to establish a short range communications link to the Hudson and it appeared it was going to be late. They were down to less than fifty percent strength and they had caused almost no casualties to Gamma's forces.
To make matters worse, they had finally heard what their reinforcements consisted of. A bunch of tank jockeys and a few leftover drones that barely had any combat training. The tankers would be useful as soon as their tanks arrived, but those weren't scheduled to get here until the freighter from Epsilon arrived, which wasn't going to be soon. Freighters were slow as smeg.
All in all, the situation was a bit bleak.

What is really happening:
The Swarm has been getting a bit of a one sided pounding in the ground war. Rather expected, as they are outnumbered 2-1. What is surprising is that casualties on Gamma's side has been 0. They've lost something like 4% readiness total. Perhaps because the Swarm isn't attacking?

[xeryon]

What's the commander of the Swarm forces look like stats wise?

For the effect you were going for it might have been a little better to have done 3-2 odds.

[Rabid_Cog (OP)]

No leaders. Leaders would be infertiles who cannot be trusted not to blab the secrets of the ruins to all the other hives and/or steal it for themselves. Only drones are loyal.

2-1 odds created the perfect situation of desperation.

[xeryon]

I was thinking more along the lines of a 'squad leader'.  Right about now the appearance of a standout amongst the ranks with ground combat bonus might be enough to save everyone's bacon (or at least stay off execution before backup arrives).

Love the story so far.  Don't mind me.  I just put my .02 in on everything.

[Rabid_Cog (OP)]

Perhaps. I've been considering it actually. I'll have a look at it sometime.

[Rabid_Cog (OP)]

29 August 2016
RZ-67 stepped off the Hudson and stopped dead. In front of her was not the team of battle hardened drones ready to take the fight to the enemy as she had been expecting. Instead, waiting for her at the bottom of the ramp, were three ramshackle soldiers, nearly all injured.
"Welcome to the First Swarm Expeditionary Force" the drone which seemed the least injured greeted her.
"Hello, drone. Where are the others?" she asked.
"Watching the front lines. But don't get your hopes up. They don't look any better."
RZ shook her head in shock. "And Gamma's forces? Surely they cannot be faring much better."
"Sorry to disappoint. Besides using up some ammunition and mortar shells, I would say they are in pretty much the same condition they were in when they got here."
"How is that possible?" RZ demanded. Behind her, drones had started unloading supplies. They had landed on the far side of Gamma's forces and the landing had been completely unopposed.
"They just haven't given us a shot, mostly content with dropping mortar shells on our heads from miles away. The one time we tried to move on them, we nearly got ambushed. Since then, they've been shelling as more and more frequently. In fact, I'm quite surprised they aren't shelling us right now. The ship is a mighty sizable target."
RZ paused. That didn't make sense. While a mortar round would be unlikely to cause any sort of serious damage to something like the Hudson, it might be able to damage some of the more sensitive subsystems enough to prevent it from being able to bring up any further reinforcements.
In fact, the only reason NOT to shoot at the Hudson, was it Gamma thought she could retake the ship somehow. A notion which was... plainly...
RZ's eyes widened as she realized the truth. "Everybody, cover, now!" she shouted and flattened herself on the ground. Just in time; a staccato of gunfire pinged off the Hudson's hull and ripped into one of the drones carrying supplies off the ship. Soon, bullets were flying through the air, kicking up puffs of dust or pinging off the metal hull of the nearby starship.

30 August 2016
The fight had been brutal, but the Hudson had managed to take off fairly easily. It seemed as if Gamma's forces had been careful not to accidentally hit it with any heavy weaponry, and as soon as the ship took off, Gamma withdrew. But the fight had not been without casualties.
One of the defending troops had been killed by a bullet that went in just behind the ear. Death had been instantanious.
The enemy had stayed out of the immediate landing area that the Hudson had scanned with its rather primitive sensors (mostly visual) until it was down, before finally moving in. That was how they had managed to get so close to the ship. On the up side, this meant that all of the reinforcement troops and most of the supplies had already been offloaded. It wouldn't turn the tide, but it gave the soldiers on First Stop a fighting chance to make it until the freighter arrived.

What is really happening:
Hudson arrived at First Stop and I SM'ed a replacement battalion onto the planet to simulate the reinforcements. Also, RZ-67-CGA, as the only 'trustworthy' infertile with any combat experience, has taken command of the marine battalion holding the planet. However, she only has a 10% bonus, so I don't have my hopes up. I think it might be too little too late. Might have to consider negotiating with Gamma.

[xeryon]

Go Swarm!  You can do it!

[Rabid_Cog (OP)]

6 September 2016
'To Swarm Command; From RZ-69-CGA, Military Commander of Swarm Forces on First Stop
Regarding: Current Status

After reviewing our current forces on First Stop, my conclusion is that we are one hard push away from a decisive defeat and likely complete eradication. Gamma's superior numbers, tactics and equipment for a not-insignificant amount of time has rendered our forces incapable of further action. Most units are injured and the new reinforcements are NOT up to the task of replenishing our losses and in fact are taking terrible losses themselves. Even with the armored reinforcements on the way, I find it very unlikely that we would be able to successfully go on the offensive against Gamma and tanks are not suited to a defensive fight.

In light of all this, my recommendation is simple: withdraw all troops from First Stop and find another solution besides military aggression, most likely diplomacy. Failure to do so would just result in extermination of the expeditionary force and loss of the ruins without leverage.'

IM looked up from the message she had been reading aloud and looked at her assembled advisors in turn. PC was visibly squirming. She didn't really have the stomache for politics.
"Well?" she asked. "What do we do?"
"What can we do?" PC asked.
"We can do a lot of things" US replied. "Withdrawing our troops is merely one option."
"Then perhaps you can enlighten us?" IM asked. They were sitting around the table in the bunker below Swarm Hive, where all their clandestine business was conducted.
"Well, for one thing, we can inform the other hives of the ruins on First Stop. Under pressure from the rest of the Swarm, Gamma would have no choice but to withdraw."
"I do believe there was a reason we have not done so already" DH-51, the chief of the academy, stated.
"Not exactly" US replied. "The reason we did not reveal their existence initially and opted for the covert response was to protect my source. Since then, our only reason has been inertia. If we were to reveal the existence of the ruins, we would have to reveal that we hid it from the rest of the Swarm. That could be disastrous."
"Isn't that reason still valid?" DH asked.
"Perhaps, but not if we reveal it as a fresh find" US replied.
"I think pretty much everyone suspects that something is up. I doubt they would buy it" PC interjected.
"Regardless of what the rest of the Swarm will think of us, revealing the ruins' existence would result in every hive demanding to have a team there" IM said. "I would rather not have the mass of drones trampling all over the ruins."
The rest of the group nodded their agreement. The first priority was whatever they could find in the ruins.
"Any other ideas?" IM asked.
"How about we let Gamma have First Stop?" PC suggested. The rest looked at her incredulously. "Listen. Do we really care who gets the planet? In fact, isn't First Stop going to be the last planet evacuated anyway?"
"PC, the problem isn't the planet, its the ruins on the planet we want" US explained patiently. "The two are a bit of a package deal."
"Or are they?" PC asked. "Do we really care about the ruins or do we care about the knowledge the ruins might contain? It's simple, we make a deal with Gamma..."

[Rabid_Cog (OP)]

7 September 2016
PC sat curled up in a little ball, warily watching the group of drones 'guarding' her. The deal had to be done face to face and since she was the one who had dreamt it up, IM and the others had unanimously voted for her to go deliver their terms to Gamma, who had so far kept her waiting for just under two hours.
Finally, a drone scurried up from around a corner. "Queen Gamma will now accept your presence" it stated.
PC got up, stretched her stiffening joints and followed the drone into the Queen's Chambers. A new gaggle of rather larger and more threatening guards took up station around her.
"So IM sent and envoy to speak to me in person. I do wonder what is so sensitive that our communications systems cannot be trusted?" Gamma boomed from the far side of her chamber. A number of drones were occupied with the monitors on the left and even more scurried to and fro on errands to all ends of the hive. PC had to avoid walking into them as she headed for the small open area around Gamma's seat. To an outside observer, the lack of bowing or any similar act would have seemed strange, but the Wrix had no method of showing respect; they had no need. Hive Queens had it by default and everyone else was unworthy of it.
"Your Majesty, I come before you as a representative of the Swarm, authorized to make a deal with you regarding our situation on First Stop" she repeated the speech she had prepared beforehand.
"Continue" Gamma said simply, her face kept carefully neutral to avoid showing emotion.
PC took a deep breath. "Swarm Command will shortly be withdrawing all its armed forces from First Stop. This we will do regardless of Gamma's actions. What we ask of you is to cease the fighting and give the Hudson time to return to First Stop to collect our forces."
"And in exchange you will not destroy the ruins?" Gamma mused.
"The ruins are too valuable to make such a bluff. The Swarm as a whole needs them intact."
"Then you still need to tell me what I would gain from this. Although, I suppose I'm not exactly losing anything. Yet" Gamma said.
"The actual deal is not about a few unimportant drones on a distant planet" PC stated, trying her best to appear decisive and confident. She couldn't keep a note of nervousness out of her voice, however. Eventually she just read directly from the sheaf of papers she had brought along. "We will acknowledge First Stop as the property of Gamma Hive, including all artifacts found on it and provide the infrastructure necessary to survive there. In exchange, Gamma will continue to let our team work on the ruins, simply because they have the most experience and they are the best the Swarm has. In addition, all industrial facilities Gamma Hive is no longer able to operate on Wrixom as drones are moved offworld must be turned over to other hives that are able to operate them. No facilities can be moved offworld without Swarm Command's approval."
Gamma sat and digested this remarkably simple deal, staring at PC until she began fidgeting with nervousness.
"I notice there is nothing in that deal about sharing any of the results of the xenological team. Is there anything particular I should read into that?" Gamma asked.
"The team working it is ours. Killing or detaining them after their task is completed would constitute an act that could result in Gamma's expulsion from the Swarm. Of course, you would definately be getting first glimpse of whatever they find." This was the hook Swarm Command had hoped would get Gamma. It was also a bit of a gamble. If their team found technology that would result in Gamma no longer needing the Swarm to escape Home's deadly cooling, she would keep it for herself and tell the Swarm to go hang itself. They hoped that Gamma's lack of significant industrial capacity on First Stop and the bad environmental conditions would prevent such a situation. In the worst case scenario, their xenology team had orders to cover up or destroy such technology.
"Hmm" Gamma finally responded. "Suppose I rejected this deal and did my level best to wipe out your pathetic little forces on First Stop, how would that differ from what your 'deal' offers me? Don't I get all the same things?"
"If you refuse, we tell all the other Queens in the Swarm as little or as much as we need to to get them to send troops to First Stop to remove your forces." The Swarm had access to both the Hudson and the two Myrkuls and could transport more and better armed units to First Stop than Gamma could with only the Drake, and they both knew it. The implication that this could result in the ruins becoming public knowledge was left unsaid.
"Alright, you and IM drive a hard bargain" Gamma finally admitted. "But I have a requirement of my own. I want the Hudson returned to its rightful owner. And the first real colony ship the Swarm constructs, all crewed by my drones and subject to my orders. Without those, it would be far too easy for you to strand my hive on a doomed planet with no hope of escape."
PC thought quickly. They had never even considered this, but Gamma had a good point. The colony ship she was sure IM would not mind ceding to Gamma - under certain conditions, of course - but the Hudson? It was the Swarm's only starship and link with other planets. And with Gamma still nominally in command of the shipyard...
"Then we want the shipyard" she stated, surprising even herself with her audacity.
"Excuse me?" Gamma replied.
"We will give you both the Hudson as soon as our forces are back at Wrixom and the first colony ship constructed by the Swarm in exchange for full access to your shipyard. It must be moved to orbit over some neutral territory and full command access must be transferred to Swarm Command" PC stated. The Gamma Yards were already crewed and operated by drones from all hives as IM had commanded some time before, but most were from Gamma Hive and Gamma still held the command codes required for full control of the yard.
Gamma shrugged. "Fine, take it. It's not like its really mine anymore, anyway."

What is really happening:
The war is over! For now, I've just stopped the attacks but as soon as the Hudson returns to First Stop I will completely delete both subfactions. The Swarm got trounced hard. Their single Marine Company is at 30% readiness and their Replenishment Battalion is at 44%. All that while Gamma's two Companies are both still at over 90%. What happens next depends on what their xeno team finds in the ruins themselves.

[Rabid_Cog (OP)]

Sorry for the long delay, vacation has ended so work has begun again. And girlfriend is being needy. Regardless, I will write again as soon as I have a bit of free time.

[Rabid_Cog (OP)]

7 September 2016
PC had finally gotten back to Swarm Command, but her welcome down in the bunker turned out to be less than warm when she reported on the agreement she had made.
"You gave away the Hudson??" IM screamed.
"I got us the shipyard!" PC protested.
"We already had the shipyard!"
" And you gave Gamma our first colony ship? Before we even built one or know if we can build one?" US added.
"You said I should give any concessions to make the deal!" PC defended herself. Or tried to.
"Any 'reasonable' concessions" IM corrected her.
"That's it, I'm calling Gamma and telling her the deal's off" IM huffed and moved towards the communications area.
"Hold up, IM" US called her back. "Let's not be hasty. Besides, do you really want to appear weak and indecisive?"
This made IM freeze. After a few moments thought she turned around and took her seat, quietly fuming.
"Perhaps it's not that bad. You say she went for the 'no installations off Wrixom without my say so' clause?" US asked.
PC nodded vigorously. "Didn't even bat an eye. Not sure if she even noticed it."
"And we control the only freighters?" US asked again.
"Well, us and Epsilon" IM replied, although she was looking somewhat more upbeat. "But Epsilon won't cross us."
"Then we have just succeeded in essentially marginalizing the most powerful hive on Wrixom" US concluded. "Gamma will spend all her efforts on developing First Stop and consolidating her hold there, a most excellent waste of her time since her hive will have to be evacuated eventually." US left the 'or not' carefully unsaid, but very much implied.
"What about the ruins?" IM asked. "Gamma has first chance at anything found there."
"True, the ruins are the only wild card," US admitted, "but we have our team doing the analysis. Gamma won't find anything too dangerous and she has no way to prevent us from getting a look at it eventually, besides war, and as soon as she moves a significant number of drones offworld she will be more vulnerable than any of us without significant industry."

17 September 2016
The Hudson arrives back at First Stop and picks up a bedraggled group of injured and battered drones. Most of their supplies are loaded as well, but a few powerful explosive devices are smuggled out to the Xenology team in case some incredible discovery is made that Gamma is not allowed to have.
HN-31's geology team is left behind. They know about the ruins and cannot be allowed to spill the beans, just yet.

What is really happening:
Battle canceled, both factions deleted after RZ was transferred back to Wrix Swarm (main faction).