Welcome, ladies and gentlemen. This will be a short and a little perked up retelling of a great story. Story not like any other you have seen or heard.
Prologue
Lights flickered to life and deep hissing sound suddenly appeared. "Wake up, mister Ares. Wake up, and.. smell the ashes" onboard Gamma AI said and unlocked the cryochamber. Falling on the metal grating, gasping for air, a young man said "How long..". A number appeared on the screen nearby. 206 years. Man was taken a back by this, contemplating what to do next. He silently started walking, shambling more like, through empty corridors of his small vessel, everything more or less the same as the day he went to the cryosleep. Sitting down in the cockpit, starting to load up the interface. Comms... Online. Engines... Online. Weapons... N/A. Shields... Online. Whole Shuttle became alive with light and buzzing sounds from the various consoles. Nearby comm relay was broadcasting. Trying to connect to it, but the onboard decryption keys are not working. Its not the normal comm relay, this one looks like its made from scrap parts. Comm request flashed on the front screen and after brief moment, accepting the request, grizzled face of who seemed like and officer of some sorts appeared. "This is patrol of the Hegemony. Why are you trying to use old codes for the comm system? And why dont you have proper ship registration number? Your onboard computer says you have been drifting in space for the last 200 years, is this correct?". Hesitating, Ares responded "Im from the Domain Exploration Corps, transferring identification now. I was forced to the cryosleep when the gates went dark, i have been drifting for 206 years". Hegemon officer looked a little surprised, but swiftly replied "According to the Hegemon archives, you are really with the Domain Exploration Corps. Might have some bad news for you, young man. Im assigning temporary ship ID and decryption keys to your ship. I will have someone give you enough fuel and supplies so you can get to the nearby Hegemon planet and sort out proper IDs. Feel free to browse history of the Persean sector, you probably need a refresher on the current events. Burn bright." Comms cut, and small fleet signature appeared from the nearby system. Quickly closing in on the ancient shuttle and without any comms dropped supplies and fuel containers in front of the shuttle and flew off. With the help of ship AI, Ares got shuttle to proper working order, and headed for the nearest Hegemon planet. According to the star charts, Yama, small arid world, was closest. Course set. Engines engaged. Full burn ahead.
Act I:Getting to know you
"So you really are from the Domain era. Must be crazy for you to wake up to this. Anyway, listen me out ok, you need money to survive in this world ok. Everyone is paying mad cash money for surveying *** planets noone cares about. So, if you bring me and my crew with you, with your small shuttle, we could easily do a few of these jobs and retire! If you just expand the fuel and cargo storage, you could take enough equipment to pull off small surveying contracts. They pay tens of thousands per single contract. Cmon, theres no other way to make money this big this fast. Its our chance to live comfortable for rest of our lives!" Finishing his drink, Ares nodded in agreement "You know where to find me. Get your men ready and bring all the supplies and fuel you can. For that, all money from the first contract will be yours, all other contracts will be cut between me and you." Spacer just smiled and ran off with his datapad out, calling his buddies.
Walking through the streets at night, he saw poverty, struggle, crime everywhere. Deep in his thoughts...
Even small backwater worlds werent this bad during Domain era. Agricultural worlds were sparse, so Domain took good care of them, protecting them and caring for the citizenry. Did humanity really fell down this hard? The Hegemony, Tri-tachyon, Sindria, Persean league... The Church. All claiming to represent the people. To represent the humanity. Yet they wage senseless wars over whatever scraps there are left. Dozens of millions died in the first AI war. Dozens more in the second war. All in the name of ego. In the name of greed and power. Domain wasnt perfect by any means. If you were against it, you were branded as a rebel, terrorist. But normal people, who just wanted to live their lives were left alone. They could travel without fear of pirates or the luddic path. They could educate them self. With luck, they could enroll in colonization effort and bring great fortune to them self. Now, theres no escape for the normal people. Live under oppression of the so called Hegemony, remnant built from the 14th fleet, who dont understand civilian matters, and only meritthey recognize, is merit of inheritance. Or be born on Tri-tachyon world. Corporation, that has killed so many in their blind pursuit of knowledge, without any restriction, morality... You would be lucky to live past 30 on their worlds. Be harvested for organs or used for experiments. Sindria. Disgraced offshoot of the Hegemony, only worse in every aspect. Church... celebrating someone who killed dozens of billions in my time... Only redeemable faction, the Persean League. Riddled with corruption and squabbling politicians, with no sense of unity or long term goal. Independent worlds are the only seemingly better option. Without large ambitions, only focused on their own survival, while selfish, they dont wage interplanetary wars. They are focused on surviving, and where possible, living. I should focus on getting enough money and settle on some independent world. As he entered his shuttle, looking around, he was unsure what to do. Docks filled to the brim with trader and mercenary ships, bristling with weapons, squads of power armors walking around, shady deals in the back alleys. He went to an uneasy sleep in the empty shuttle, eager to get off of this world.
Next morning, comm request buzzed on his datapad "Come out, crew is here". Ares quickly got up, dressed and walked out of his shuttle. In front of him was a ragtag band of spacers, old, young, women and men. "So, here we are. I must admit, your ship sure is shiny, but maybe it would be good to have some weapons after all. Reaper torpedoes and twin machine gun would fit just right. Thankfully, i know a guy who knows a guy and he might know a guy ok. So, imma go get the stuff and you show rest of the crew their living quarters and load the ship with supplies." While Ares said "Wha.." crew started to load itself and supplies into the ship and leader ran off. 1 hour later, two run down hammer torpedoes and light machine gun along with crew leader hastily climbing up on the ship and yelling "Quick, mount these up, we are leaving asap!" In 5 minutes, engines were already burning, with weapons mounted and crew on their battle stations. Meanwhile, cordon of power armors ran out of one remote street, closing in on the dock. "I assume i dont want to know" said Ares. "Just a little misunderstanding, they will surely forget in a week or two. Not like i wanted to return to this planet anyway" said grinning crew leader.
Surveying was a dull work. Fly undetected to the target, survey and leave. Planets, Domain drones, ancient supply caches. Months have gone by, and more and more ships joined the original shuttle, that was eventually docked in a safe storage on Nova Maxios. Apogee cruiser, Eagle Cruiser and assortment of other ships, including 5 Colossus freighters, quickly became sort of a celebrity fleet, with Ares at the helm. Most factions became friendly with the character, but most of all, the Independent planets, who were base for most scavengers and explorers in the sector. Saving quite a few of them, Independent planets were happy to provide help here and there, saving the Ares from pirates couple of times. Everything seemed good. Few million credits, from surveying, trading and occasional mercenary work, were ever growing, as was the fleet. But as with all good times, even this one ended.
Act II:Just business
War ravaged the sector once more. Hundreds of ships clashed with each other, whole trade companies wiped out, planets raided and bombarded. Independent planets took in dozens of millions of refugees from the burning remains of several faction planets. Ares and his fleet struggled to provide food and supplies for damaged planets, governors willing to pay extraordinary amounts to make sure their people dont starve. Pirates freely roamed the core of the sector, with most of the faction fleets in war, there were almost none left to hunt down pirates. Two planets with millions of people were deserted all together, leaving behind hundreds of thousands dead.
This cant continue. This cant be the reality of the sector no more. Lasting nearly two years, with over ten million dead, war has finally ended. But not without consequences. Pirates conquered several small planets and fringe colonies for them self, and factions were too weak to deal with them. As things returned to normal, even though current normal was far more chaotic and brutal than before, Ares fleet started to venture again into the fringes to survey more planets.
During one surveying mission, fleet came across immense treasure. In the ruins of once great city on a remote planet, Alpha AI core was found. Something, that could pay for the whole fleet one time over, if it was sold to the right person. Officers of the fleet and Ares contemplated what should be done with this AI. After long debate, it was decided, that they would power up the AI, and ask it. Ares knew quite a bit about AI. During Domain era, research into AI was banned. However, as with everything, things werent this simple. Rudimentary AIs were in common use for ship cores, artificial reality management, fleet coordination, corporation organization and so on. Even Beta AIs were in use, mainly within the Domain military. And secretly, Alpha AIs were used for theater coordination or planet management. When left alone, they would strive to fulfill their intended purpose. With set laws and rules, they were mere extension of the human will. No worse or better than a rail rifle. Ares traveled far and wide, all across the sector. Everywhere it was the same story. Suffering, poverty, hunger... Yes, you could make quite a few credits from it, but was it all just business? What if there could be better way, to ensure that people dont suffer needlessly, just to make some cash for yourself. He realized, that if he were to make AI controlled system and set it up to help people prosper, it could improve everyones lot in life. And with this Alpha AI, it can be done. Officers agreed. whether it was just because they were all salaried by Ares or they believed in this idea doesnt matter. They were all willing to try this.
AI flickered to life. "Who are you" it asked. Ares waved his hand and officer plugged datapad with every last bit of info on the current state of the sector, its history and detailed dossier on the Ares, along with his intentions for the AI. "I see. You have noble ambition. I will help you in your quest. Thank you, for not killing me or selling me." Ares smiled and gave order to connect AI to mobile platform. With the help of this AI, ares quickly located and persuaded several more Alpha AIs, setting up Alpha AI grid for coordination of several planets at once. Now, it was time to enact the plan he had for the entire sector.
During the last sector war, a lot of disabled ships were left after the massive battles. Battleships, carriers, restricted freighters. While dealing with the effects of the war, Ares fleet collected these hulks and stored them in remote abandoned station, their signature looking just like another worthless debris. After the war, and with factions attention on their own planets, trying to stabilize them and rebuild, noone was questioning why would someone order parts for dozens of disabled ships. It was just a drop in the sea of requests for repairs. And with over 10 million credits to spend, it was quite easy and fast to bring these hulks to their former glory. Now, the Ares fleet stood as the single most powerful fleet in the whole sector. 12 capital combat ships and countless smaller ships, every led by capable and experienced officer, everyone who saw this fleet knew, it was fleet that would decide fate of the sector.
While Ares fleet had several small colonies under it, under the name of "Ares Inc." they werent much else than small spaceports for repairs and resupplying. But now, Ares would enact the long planned offensive on the entire sector. Hiring nearly every free power armor, he headed for the biggest and most entrenched planet in the sector. Chicomoztoc. Seat of the Hegemony. Home to hundreds of millions and best dockyards and factories in the sector. While the war has taken massive toll on the Hegemony, it spared no expense at safeguarding its capital. 4 detachments and space fortress and ground defense requiring tens of thousands power armors to break through. Hegemony knew for quite a while that Ares was coming. Its spies were even in the Ares fleet itself, now counting over 15 thousand crewmen. Underestimating the Ares fleet, they thought it would not get past its fleets, much less manage to actually land ground troops.
Act III:Union roars
Ares fleet jumped into the Aztlan system. Several Hegemon patrols and pickets were already waiting, flying at range, keeping track of the fleet. Approaching the Chicomoztoc, with the 4 detachments waiting in orbit. "Everyone to battle stations. We were through this countless times. Just another battle. Keep your calm and focus on your targets" Ares broadcasted across the fleet. Without even trying to open comms, Hegemon fleets engaged the Ares. One of the largest space battles in history of the sector was about to unfold. Several scavenger fleets were waiting around, with several more freighter and mercenary fleets coming to look at the spectacle.
The battle began. Everyone knew it would be bloody and even battle. Hegemony was at a disadvantage, due to their low number of fighter craft, which was able to pick off any straggler dumb enough to leave coherent battle line. First few hours of the battle were more of less small shoot outs between few ships, without anyone attacking. Several Hegemon and Ares frigates and destroyers were lost, with noone having clear advantage. And then, what Hegemony thought would be deciding maneuver, 6 onslaught battleships roared forward, ramming into several Ares ships and engaging in close range combat. This, was the second mistake of the hegemony. With screen cover, massed bombers could conduct bombing runs on the Hegemon capital ships without fear of being shot down, and while Onslaught cannons were ripping through smaller ships, salvaged capital ships of the Ares fleet were holding on, accepting punishment so the torpedoes and bombs could break the Onslaughts onslaught. One after the other, dying to death of a thousand cuts, Onslaughts were reduced to scrap, and Hegemon fleets begun to retreat. Without massed PD cover of Onslaughts, fighter forces from Ares fleet picked off retreating ships one by one, routing whole Hegemon fleet.
Next was the space fortress. Not once conquered, now stood against Ares fleet, that lost only 2 capital ships and number of escort ships. Remaining Hegemon vessels formed around the station and prepared for defense. But it was no match for the Ares fleet. Massed fighter offensive covering advancing battleships proved so effective, that several station sections were destroyed even before battleships engaged station proper. Exchanging broadsides, station quickly lost most of its fighting power and remaining Hegemon vessels were encircled and destroyed as well. With nothing between the Ares and Chicomoztoc, fleet quickly got into position for ground attack. In the history of the sector, there wasnt any ground battle as big as this one. While space battle took mere 2 days, ground campaign was a lot longer. Deploying the ground troops wasnt that hard, as Hegemony was entrenched in prepared positions. For 2 weeks, ground battle sung its song across the planet. City after city fell, when hundreds of Power armors filled its streets, engaging defenders in melee ranges and pushing the Hegemon forces back on all fronts. But Victories werent without losses. From original 21 thousand troops, only 5 thousand remained after the battle.
When the Hegemon palace was conquered, rest of the defending forces surrendered. While not true end for the Hegemony, it was a death blow, from which it wouldnt recover. Ares, once a Domain Exploration Corps officer, some 200 years later leader of the possibly strongest faction in the Persean sector. A new era was beginning in the sector. Everyone knew that. Church immediately declared war on Ares Inc. after hearing the news while Tri-tachyon and Sindrian Dictat extended alliance proposals.
Walking through empty halls and rooms of the palace with his officers and the first Alpha AI he found, he was ordering them around, preparing speech for the masses of the planet. After all this time he realized one thing didnt cross his mind. How will he name his new nation? He asked his AI companion, which quickly replied "Lanlan. Because Lan is cable connection between computers. And you want the nation to be led by connected AIs. So, Lanlan would be fitting." Ares frowned "Thats dumb. I have better idea."
Lanlan Union
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Topic: Lanlan Union:United sector semi-AAR (Read 1586 times)