A War for the Stars

[jimbob]

Bravo! Bravo!

This story is very like the memoirs of Churchill (Their Finest Hour, etc.) in it's diary like descriptions. A compelling story which I'm enjoying emmensly. I especially like the way you take simple occurances within the game play and expand upon it. Keep up the story writing, I'm cheering on your anti-hero and his fragment of the Empire.

Give it to the Hutts, but take it easy on any Jawa you might meet up with

[Erax]

CODED TRANSMISSION
From: Commodore Telar, Sector Starfighter Force
To: Admiral Wiers

Gesaril II, 2404.9

Admiral,

We have analyzed the footage and shipscans transmitted to us by the Fleet and formed a reasonably clear picture of Alliance capabilities.

Their carriers are much larger than any of our current vessels, but rely solely on their fighter loads - the carriers themselves have no weapons. Each carrier has 16 launch bays distributed along its length; their bays launch fighters at half the rate of ours.

The remaining space is taken up by cargo bays, which are 50% more efficient than ours. Each carrier can therefore hold an estimated total of 128 Alcestis light fighters, the only model we saw them deploy at Aram I. In that engagement, one carrier released 80 fighters and the other 72; we believe this was their entire load at the time.

Their carriers can release 16 fighters at a time. We believe this is also the size of their squadrons - 16 fighters in 4 flights of 4 craft each. Each carrier is probably designed to carry a total of 8 squadrons, organized into 2 wings.

The technology employed aboard the Alliance carriers is on a par with ours, but when it comes to the fighters we are completely outclassed. The Alcestis light fighter is larger than a TIE bomber, but its speed is comparable to that of a TIE fighter. Its twin projectile cannon make it five times as deadly as our fighters, on an equivalent tonnage basis. Our lasers outrange their weapons, but that is a small advantage. At the moment, their space fleet is far superior to ours.

I recommend we raise TIE bomber defense squadrons along the border with the Alliance. In our simulations, the bombers fared better against the Alcestis than our fighters. This will strengthen our position in the short term, but we must develop anti-fighter ships and larger carriers if we want to match and counter Alliance capability. The gap is large and we must try to narrow it.

[Erax]

Hi all. I got back from the con, but still have a serious sleep debt to pay. I'll try to do a chapter later today.

[jimbob]

oooo. sounds like our fledgeling empire might be in for a rough ride!

[Erax]

CODED TRANSMISSION
From: Commodore Haase, ISB
To: Admiral Wiers

"Long Live the Emperor"

Virgillia IV, 2404.9

Admiral,

With the capture of Aram I we have re-established contact with several undercover intelligence teams which had been installed on-planet before the war. Their reports provide us with a reasonably accurate portrait of Yakrin society and culture. This is a summary of our findings; a full composite report is being drawn up and will be sent later.

Yakrin society is organized into castes, with the priest, warrior and worker castes common to many other human and alien societies. Medical, technical and scientific personnel belong to a variety of sub-castes with status levels between that of the warrior and the worker castes.

Their society is governed by the priest caste, which has been following an agressive policy of expansion since the Yakrin developed interplanetary travel. They have grown steadily more xenophobic after contact with the Alliance and with us.

The warrior caste is loyal to the priests, who direct them by means of threats and promises regarding their afterlife. Yakrin ground troops therefore have unusually high morale. They rarely retreat and never surrender.

When we landed on Aram I, all surviving members of the priest and warrior castes banded together into militia units to resist our invasion. Once these planetary militia units were defeated, there was no resistance from the remaining castes.

Freed from their priests, the workers and professionals have cooperated fully with our troops, teaching them how to repair and operate existing facilities. Controlling Aram I should require no more than our usual complement of planetary security forces.

We have been warned by the Aram I Yakrin that their brothers and sisters will no longer consider them a part of the same species. According to their religion, those who have contact with humans become as impure as the humans themselves and will be treated as such. If any Yakrin frigates reach Aram I, it is quite likely that they will attempt to bombard their former homeworld. We strongly suggest that you guard each and every captured planet against attack from space.

[ June 03, 2003, 17:28: Message edited by: Chief Engineer Erax ]

[Raging Deadstar]

So how is the Galactic Empire going to treat these new additions? Will there be laws passed to give the aliens lesser rights and they be treated like lesser citizens like in the films? Or will you fashion the empire in your own way? Your character has choices that could bring him immense power!

*Sighs* I wish i had those lucrative choices, right now i'm wondering if i should drink my cup of tea

[narf poit chez BOOM]

*cup of T? puts a golf ball on top of raging's T and T's off*

[Erax]

Seeker I, Captain's log, SGY 2404.9 (third part):

This is turning out to be a long, long tenth. Word came through yesterday from Fleet Command to intercept and destroy the oncoming Yakrin vessels before they reached our position. The Fleet left orbit almost immediately, leaving the Assault Regiment back on Aram I, where they and the natives have already begun to rebuild the planet's starport infrastructure.

A few hours later, we were within scanning distance of the two Yakrin frigates. Our carriers launched some fighters at long range, then approached in close formation with the Seeker while launching the rest of their fighters.

The enemy ships drifted apart as they came towards us; one of them had some engine damage and began to fall behind. Our leading fighters reached the lead ship and swarmed around it, trying to disable its engines. It was like Aram III all over again - the enemy weapons were mounted on turrets with low traverse speeds, which allowed our TIE fighters to avoid their fire. The leading enemy ship was disabled before the second one could fire on our fighters.

We approached its drifting hulk and destroyed it with the Seeker's lasers. Meanwhile, the fighters had already disabled the second frigate, which was destroyed by Black Sword I.

We recovered our fighters and went on to meet and recover Lieutenant Haad's flight, which was approaching us on their Last supplies. We now have our full complement of fighters and will head back to Aram I. So far, the Fleet hasn't lost a single unit in space combat.

I wonder how long this record will Last.

[ June 05, 2003, 01:46: Message edited by: Chief Engineer Erax ]

[Krsqk]

Okay, that's it. I'm downloading the Sci-Fi Crossover mod right now so I can have some clue as to what you're talking about. Sure, that's why--it wouldn't be for me to play it myself. Noooo.

[edit]Wooooooooah. That's a lot of download. Maybe I meant to say I'l download it while I sleep. That looks like a two or three night project.

[ June 05, 2003, 06:38: Message edited by: Krsqk ]

[Erax]

Andres has been doing a lot of work on the mod, so maybe the Version that's up for download is different from mine. And my Version has been tweaked (a few important 'standard' tech areas were made available, more troop types were created and fighter propulsion was redone).

You really only need the mod to see the tech trees so you'll know what research leads to what components. Everything runs on either standard SEIV tech or Star Wars tech straight from the movies. The exception is what I call 'pre-tech' - implosion drives and such - which you don't see in the movies but are logical steps in the technological evolution that leads to the tech seen in the original trilogy.