BLUTGANG INVASION3450 AM hibernation cycleDouble suns greeted the soldiers the moment Curvature Drives stopped working, space in front straightened and visible colours returned to their normal spectrum. The time has come. Ravens and Starhunters maintained constant speed and drifted silently through the void. That time everyone was sure not everyone would survive and the incoming battle was likely to mean high casualties. The only realistic expectation was for everyone to survive planetary defense lasers striking at the fleet till it reaches orbit, deploys soldiers and leaves the range of these weapons. Radars mounted on Ravens serving as the only eyes Ascension Pathfinders had still could not pick anything. No Umbara presence anywhere. The route to their planet remained silent and clear. Soon Human Space Fleet warped into the system to serve as a rear cover in case of emergency space situations and kept its distance, ready to close in any moment.
Eventually the sensors picked up all kinds of signals originating from Blutgang-A I. A quick comparison with data brought by 3410-3416 AM Blutgang Expedition was made, because something didn't feel right about them. And for a good reason: they were much weaker. A plethora of space-originating signals was reduced to only two spaceships resting in orbit, various space stations, starports and all kinds of bizarre constructions with no clear purpose were non-existent and the surface activity was much lower, as if half the planet went hibernating or something. Moreover, a brief telescope checkout and full spectrum scan displayed the temperature on the planet being much lower, in fact reaching the Groaxian comfort zone. The atmosphere composition and weather had changed, too, now featuring a bit less oxygen and frequent cold, dusty storms. Even on the attached pictures there was less green and more grey on the surface than the last time, the purple oceans also looked kinda bleak. However, all answers were to be found if only the conquest was to be successful.
Human Space Fleet accelerated to catch up to Ravens and Starhunters and made short work of the two Umbara ships with the particle beams of Strikers. Soldiers were cleared to close in and descend to the surface. Everyone onboard braced themselves for laser impacts. But nothing like that happened. Ships were closer and closer, with the planet already visible with naked eyes as something more than bright dot indistinguishable from distant stars, but nothing opened fire on them. At first it was expected that Umbara is preparing to overcharge their guns and fire them all at once in the least expected moment, but past a certain distance such strategy stopped being even slightly justifiable. Eventually the entire fleet pushed as far as reaching lower orbit, but still nothing happened. The altitude was so low that no telescopes were needed to see the remnants of the Precursors down below. Their buildings formed hypnotising shapes from above, twisting and swirling in the eyes of observers. There was something in them that brought memories of a few genesian cities. And they all looked very similar to many circuits and patterns of the monolith. This complex was shining with not only reflected, but also its own light, but the rest of the planet wasn't so impressive. Many regions showed signs of rust and decay, with the amount of ruins being at least as high as the number of still functioning cities, with the latter usually being smaller. Some patches of the ground were irradiated. Sea in the horizon looked intoxicated according to surface scanners, although that information was meaningless without comparison with some kind of reference measurements, because obviously this planet had always been toxic for Groaxians. Whether it had always contained so much chlorine was a different question, though.
Finally the decisive moment came. A total of two independent operation units had been prepared for the battle. First wave of soldiers had just been sent to the world down below. First to land were Gliders, both the models used in direct assault and providing kinetic support. Bound By Dark Forest Shadows followed them soon, tasked with taking advantage of the emerging chaos to conceal themselves and prepare for "their moment". Gravitational Destabilisators and Barricade Breakers were to be dropped as a last batch into an already established perimeter. Ravens opened their hangars and a swarm of Avengers began atmospheric entry amidst the roar of dozens of engines fired at once, expecting to dominate the skies not much later after land units would start dominating the ground.
First gliders landed on a dark green surface that looked as if someone took a mushy plant and froze it. It was surprisingly good for gliding, though, allowing the vehicles to drive efficiently without having to revert to their cryogenic systems. Sometimes they had to be used, though, because the whole ground was littered with purple patches of creeks and water sources still in liquid form. There must had been a geothermal water source just beneath the ground. There was no fauna in sight, but the vegetation was thick. Many plant lifeforms also looked like a mushy sponges which had been frozen. Some very small specimens seemed to be clinging to life and looked well-nourished, concentrating around sources of liquid water. They were pulsating with warmth. Quite some distance further a dense wall of grey plants began. They looked like a big balloons which were about to explode, floating in the air with only three strings attaching them to the ground. The sky was white and bright, but the two suns above were barely visible through the dense layer of clouds.
But this was not an exploration mission. First plasma missiles came out of nowhere. Gliders immediately scattered, but many of them were already hit. Some of them even suffered critical damage and while not destroyed, were immobilised. Surviving crewmembers rushed for emergency space suits and attempted to get out of the wrecks before another missile would destroy them. As soon as they stepped on the ground, laser beams started pulsating among them, taking their toll. But Avengers in the sky were able to quickly localise the positions of their defense lines and respond with their own laser beams. Due to the concealment techniques similar to planetary defence platforms encountered during Blutgang Expedition, they were hard targets and as if this wasn't enough their bunkers were made of reflective materials capable of lowering the severity of laser exposure. Kinetic Support Gliders joined Avengers shortly after, but they could only do so much from the ground level. Umbaras remained unmatched in their firepower.
Meanwhile Shadows and Qusmont Elide Guardians were landing among the grey balloons. From there they could take up nearby hills and try to walk around the defense platforms guarding access to the perimeter of the Precursor complex, but this plan failed before it even began. Upon movement detection, the plants started erupting with purple-red sticky goo, splashing the infantry and their landing pods. Cybersoul combat suits offered a decent protection both against the temperature of this substance and its corrosive properties as well, but there was another problem with it, namely radiation. The entire field occupied by these plant became irradiated very quickly. The ground itself began to dissolve under the amount of this organic glue, revealing organic remnants of many species that probably walked through these lands before. Further deployment of infantry was put on hold and the soldiers already on the ground had to evacuate from the dangerous fields before taking a lethal dose of radiation their armors could not protect them against well enough. The only way was to join the gliders in their desperate fight over the landing zone, but the plasma missiles flying all over the place left little chances for the infantry in the long term. As a temporary adaptive tactics, Gliders formed a few layers of barricades to help protect the vulnerable infantry. Many couldn't not resist commenting on the irony of going back to the good old barricade setup.
With Groaxians kept in a tight spot, extremely vulnerable for long-range fire, Avengers were to save the solar watch once again. They tried to fly deeper into the enemy territory, hoping to distract them and try to deal more threatening damage right where it hurts the most, but this plan failed miserably. Particle beams connected from the ground into the sky. Some fighters didn't even manage to crash down before exploding with very little left from them. An immediate withdraw of air forces was the only option. An emergency plan to let Gliders charge through the fields of grey balloons was made because they were sturdy enough to completely block external radiation, but Zu'Zhuchuziv overseeing the battle from above rejected it as it'd leave the infantry even more vulnerable than they already were. But then one of the officers leading Shadows to battle came up with something crazy, but effective if done right: since infantry leadership was given to the combat-trained Tempestsaurs, they could unite to create a Mental Synergy among all troops that'd serve as an early warning system: for every individual predicting the trajectory of a missile was impossible until too late, but if they could focus only on a two-three missiles each at most at one time and run their internal systems to calculate predicted impact spot and then use Transcendent Speech to tell this to the ones within explosion range, survivability would increase. Such system required a precise, fast-paced collective information processing, but a Mental Synergy entangling minds of all soldiers at once should be enough to maintain it. With that system in place, Gliders would be free to glide across the irradiated zone.
Tempestsaurs did their tasks well and soon an early warning system of a thousand voices was in place. Paired with joint boosters, increased leg muscle mass and internal stamina injectors contributing to their high mobility Shadows were able to rapidly adapt their location, dancing around the plasma fire. Still, with each volley more dropped dead, but even after Gliders departed they were able to dodge with an impressive success rate. In the meantime Gliders continued their offensive ride into the enemy territory. Eventually they were able to detect Umbara structures and start punching holes with particle beams and fusion missiles of theirs, evening out the situation on the battlefield. The labyrinth of fortifications on the one hand lacked a key defense line, allowing Groaxians for more mobility across the perimeter, but on the other hand with such structure it was a nightmare to locate next targets for elimination.
With initial landing zone cleared, more Gliders could land. However, the trouble with infantry remained. Dropping them down would only lead to more pointless deaths. Main work rested on the crews of Gliders. But at the same time there weren't many reasons not to drop a few Barricade Breakers. The complicated architecture of Umbara defenses harmed their effectiveness, but on the other hand it should be a straightforward and reliable way to deal damage, even if at a slow rate. The key goal related with pushing the battle in the right direction was to get first Gravitational Destabilisators ready to fire. It required a large safe zone, but in return could serve as a surefire way to wipe out any remaining Umbaras without worrying about their exact location. Razing the entire planet instead seemed to be a decent answer to their labyrinth. In the future the usage of this weapon would have to have limitations applied as to prevent any damage to whatever Precursor-made existed on the planet, but till the battle was unfolding far from the complex itself, there were no side effect from firing a gravitational pulse as long as every Groaxian was far away from both the weapon and the target.
To maximise efficiency and create multiple breakthroughs in a short time span, several squadrons of Breakers were launched in many different directions, targeting most concentrated patches of bunkers. Showing no fear, these behemoths accelerated towards their enemies. Anti-armor concentrated lasers enemy had at its disposal besides plasma missiles struggled to get through the thick armor, barely overloading kinetic shielding alone. Moreover, these lasers were registered by the targeting cybersoul mainframes to precisely locate targets for fusion missiles. Counter-laser fire marked them and sent dozens of warheads straight into the bunkers, barricades, trenches and all other kinds of holes in the ground. Dozens, and later hundreds of small suns illuminated the collapsed structures. Temperature in the area increased, first melting everything and later boiling or setting ablaze every living being. Once fast enough, some Barricade Breakers were no longer riding on the ground, but just smashing through everything in a small line, digging tunnels underground or jumping across the cliffs or, if the gap was too wide to cross it, hitting the cliff on the opposite side with a devastating effect to the rocks, drilling through the underground until they could resurface again. Umbaras scattered around, with batches of bunker occupants trying to run away. Shadows and Elite Qusmont Guards were right on top of them, gunning them down as they abandoned their first line of defense. Avengers circled in the skies above, contributing to the mayhem with their powerful lasers. Encouraged, commanders introduced more Breakers to the battle while Gliders took a more defensive role for a bit to help first Phased Gravitational Destabilisators establish themselves on the ground.
Soon after the first achievement of the new army mighty weapons of mass destruction were ready for their first encounter. Their targeting systems left a lot to be desired, but by design they did not need a precise aim, wiping out everything in the affected area instead. Optimised to deal with planet's gravity better, Curvature Drives roared across the battlefield. Antigravity was activated so that the crews handling these monsters were able to survive the pure destruction all around them. Space contracted and expanded around, shaking the ground and liquefying the stressed matter. If there had been any guerilla Umbara unit left within the perimeter, it no longer existed in a living form. Meanwhile accelerated Breakers speeded forward, across patches of irradiated balloons, bubbles of toxic air breathed out by the ground in some places, cemeteries of whatever lived there before and occasional forests of triangle-shaped, brown static organisms lurking around with their small, but numerous eyes. The victory seemed to come easy, except it was not a victory. As the army moved deeper into the enemy territory, hills became higher and steeper, with an occasional mountain or two in the horizon. Also the fields of balloons became more frequent, often forcing infantry to take a long way around, slowing down the march and giving Umbaras more time to regroup and better organise themselves before Groaxians strike again. A bunch of defense installations were sometimes encountered here or there, but they were rarely occupied and never threatening. Most of them lied in ruins. What was surprising, though, was that the bodies and gear left in the half-collapsed pipe-shaped buildings were extremely well-preserved, almost as if the battle had just finished. A lot of them were irradiated or half-flooded. Or both. Whatever preserved the corpses and weapons must had been linked to the specific microclimate of the underground layer of the planet, but the details were left to study for the scientists that shall come if the battle was to be won.
After quite some time of peaceful march, a few cities have been detected by radars, still far beyond the horizon. They were built similarly to the one encountered on Eckesachs III, except larger and with more complex tube and pipe intersections. According to the planetary maps, they were located on a cliff beyond which a large rift in the ground opened. On the other side the Precursor-built perimeter began, the one and only target, the reasons Groaxians were fighting over control of this half-wasted planet. Still, no Umbaras were detected. Instead soldiers took note of a first encounter with local fauna. A pack of leg-less, slim blobs with wide eyes on both ends was approaching Groaxians. They seemed to stick closer to the warmer ground, preferring to glide over the landmass close to the hot water sources. From what was observed, they moved by cyclically attaching themselves and pushing away from the green sponges covering the ground. They were rather small, but very fast.
While nobody could tell for sure whether they're aggressive or not, everybody was certain that a pack of animals won't threaten an army easily handling the intelligent occupants of this strange world. First Shadows which were jumped at by the biological gliders did not do much besides using their rifles as maces to throw the animals off themselves. But that quickly changed when these things were observed to spit acid and then bite right through it, penetrating the armors and killing the soldiers. Concentrated plasma fire burned through the rest of the pack, but it was only one of the first to appear. Suddenly new packs poured from the ground, right in between of moving units. Gravitational pulses were out of the question and particle beams or fusion missiles were ineffective at dealing with these targets. Small arms fire was the best solution, but best did not mean good. Kinetic support providers and Avengers tried to help with the larger packs of the unexpected enemies, but they literally rose from the ground everywhere at once, chewing through infantry units, obviously separated from each other because they expected to be shot at rather than to experience being swarmed by an angry mob of local fauna representatives.
In the meantime the weather began to worsen. Wind blew stronger with each moment and it started to rain. Interestingly, the water falling down was of intense blue colour rather than purple, but barely anyone had the time to notice, busy with repelling to sudden invasion. Since hostile animals were coming from the ground, Barricade Breakers received an order to dig down and try to ram through whatever they found there that spawned these deadly creatures. What was discovered below the surface was not something expected. Instead of natural caverns and hives producing more and more individuals and large colonies of theirs, a complex system of pipes was detected and mapped by underground scanners. Many of them stretched all the way to the surface. In each pipe a stream of the attackers was flowing. Their movements were precise. Too precise. These conclusions seemed to match the ones made by soldiers still fighting on the surface, because as more and more of the furious creatures were killed, it was observed that their internals were in fact purely mechanical. A robotic skeleton in a biological shell, that's what these "animals" really were. It was not local fauna, but another Umbara weapon. Non-threatening to vehicular units or artillery, but deadly for the infantry. While the Breakers were busy with trying to destroy and break as many connections as possible to cut out the influx of new killing machines, weather in the area was busy screwing everything that dared to exist on the surface. Wind was already extreme and dense fog had engulfed the surface. At least it stopped raining. In theory it was no problem for all kind of radars and sensors every soldier and machine were equipped with so the formation was maintained, but simply not being able to see each other impacted the morale negatively.
Soon it started to rain again, but that time it was not water, but missiles. Just as the swarm had almost been defeated, plasma explosions echoed across the ground once again. This time the missiles were equipped with armor-piercing core, because they made short work of Gliders' protective layers, penetrating them and then erupting with hot plasma boiling everyone inside. Groaxians had to scatter, but the logistical challenge of doing so in the extreme weather did not make it easy. Afraid of being left all alone despite their companions really being close to them, just invisible behind the fog, facing constant bombardment, seeing Gliders blow up one after another, some started panicking and terrifying thoughts began circulating through the Transcendent Speech network, spiralling out of control. However, thanks to the effort of Tempestsaurs, Shadows recovered first, reminding themselves about their training in isolation ops. Their true moment has finally came. They were supposed to infiltrate and, if possible, take control of the spotted cities. Gravitational Destabilisators were supposed to direct a few pulses roughly in that area before their arrival to soften up any Umbaras likely garrisoned there.
The storm and bombardment refused to cease, but not Shadows, not the ones Bound by Dark Forest. They closed in, covered under the stealth stasis, having distanced themselves from the main battle. Each city was to be attacked at the same time in one coordinated assault. After the infantry, next to come into action were Kinetic Support Gliders, trying to take key hills in between the urban areas and providing artillery support. The next leap of Groaxians had just begun. At one signalled moment, Shadows detonated breaching charges in many carefully selected places, gaining entrances to tubes of various sizes and height. After that, hell was let loose. Umbaras, stuck in different passages with their guns and barricades seemed to put a lot of effort in entrenching themselves in their labyrinths, but it was all for nothing. They were surprised by the sudden appearance of Groaxian infantry which had bypassed all their layers of defense put in front of the city. Chaotic firefights unfolded, with both sides armed with laser-guided plasma rifles, albeit of a different designs since Groaxian science and military engineering had matured a lot since the first time they reverse-engineered Umbara weapons. Both sides of these battles were extremely mobile, but this factor meant Groaxians were at a disadvantage. Umbaras knew their cities well and were adapted to navigating the mazes of pipes and corridors, meanwhile Groaxians struggled in this environment, something so unoptimised from their standpoint, just begging for harmful Mental Synergies to erupt among the inhabitants over and over again, with no end in sight. Moreover, these tubes from the inside appeared more like a one giant combined building than a set of separate buildings one might expect from a city.
Despite these limitations, Groaxians handled themselves (and their enemies) well. Suited for combat, efficiently commanded by the distributed high command overseeing various skirmishes at once, they operated as one single powerful mind crushing their foes. Umbaras were losing ground as plasma projectiles and beams fired by laser multicannons cut through their armors one by one. From what could be pieced together from their intercepted and deciphered communications, they did not expect Groaxians to develop so well in the military-related fields. Seeing no point in trying to stop the onslaught, they withdrawn from their cities, leaving them all in Groaxian hands. While in theory it was an astounding victory, the question was why they gave up so easily. Sure, Shadows had a surprise attack advantage and maybe better training and chain of command organisation, but Umbaras had the numbers and by the time they left their positions with haste didn't even take so many losses. Also losing a city, let alone a bunch of them, should be a big deal, meanwhile their defenses were stronger at the initial middle of nowhere land rather than right where they should fight the most. And most intriguing, their cities were deserted. Most buildings and rooms stood empty and there was no civilian population anywhere to be seen. It was practically impossible that somehow they all took shelter in the parts that were collapsed after gravitational phase shift preceding infantry attack or all perished in the kinetic bombardment later provided by Gliders.
Whatever the reason might be, Groaxians decided to rest and maybe wait till the end of the dust storm to continue with their attack. Only the wide abyss behind the cities separated them from gaining first foothold in the ruins of Precursors, the only hope for their civilisation left at that point.
