PreGame Faction Only Mission- Continent of Dead Quall Part 2

This thread is for incharacter tactical discussions about the mission involving the Lava/obsidian waves, and the air battle between TRILAT and IR on the Floating Isles of Dead Quall, over the Wall, and over the Ma'kh Isles of the Quall. Remember final actions only count if they are posted in the weekly missions forum under the appropriate thread.
This thread is for planning.

Our aggression seems to be paying off. They have once again thrown themselves at the continent, and this time with quall warriors present. Luckily the Aegelis Revenge has prevented the continent from being lodged with their wall of stone. Though this time we are going to need to employ some new tactics.

My first suggestion is to take a few of my earthmancers in and have them port my people out of Aegelis Revenge while porting explosives within its many caverns. Being within the wall already, the explosion should have a greater effect then impacting it from the outside. I might request specialists for this job. If done right we might also be able to send the shards of obsidian out against our opponents.

After such I suggest we make haste and bypass the wall before another wave comes. Unity can then send units to retrieve the quall waiting on the other side, giving them subjects for the memory and genetic revival tests.

The largest obstacle will be the task of fending off and repelling enemy hounds and flayers while we do this. I'm open to suggestions.

I think some old school Kasanthian tactics may help against the Flayers. I have a few thousand Falsewyrms left over from the old days. A nightmare dragon vs Flayers dogfight will keep them off your Earthmancers. Safe so they can pull the switch.
But my nightmares and undead won't survive on those magma beaches.Any suggestions against the pit mongrels?
I hate those fiery mutant Olgogs.

Nano-Plague?

Members of the TRILAT,
As much as it may have displeased you, my absence from the last battle against the Quall is turning out to be fruitful. I now have a workspace near the volcanoes edge of MegaDome and have been working out the kinks of a Quall Bone plate armor along with some of the nightmare lord artifacts i have liberated from Druzi.
At this point, i have 20 workable pieces. The nightmare lord artifacts should greatly enhance the strength of any intelligent nightmare nearby. While the Quall aura that remains with the bones should provided sustaintial heat resistance for those that are equiped. I will continue researching the void materials provided by your Captain Axis, and i have a feeling that it's addition will prove invaluable. I will see what else can be thrown into the mix, though the research will take time. And that is what apprentices are for. Soon I will make the Quall regret ever attacking this Kasanthian.
Viggo

I much appreciate the inclusion of your forces to this operation Mr. Viggo. In fact, I have a special operation for your intelligent nightmares. First though, I will need the assistance of Admiral Yr. What I need are cannons not all that unlike the ones you used on Druzi Prime.

With such cannons we can launch bordering squads into the frigates of the enemy. This is where Viggo's nightmares come in, I want them to board the ships, exterminate the crews, and take over the ships. Depending on how confident you are in these nightmares, you can either send them as 2 crews of 10 or 4 crews of 5. I myself will be launching with a crew aimed at the commanding ship. My objective will be to assume control of the ship and begin to transmit the retreat commands. I would like sniper crews from M.D. to fire the cannons. We need every shot to be a success or we risk losing valuable man power. If successful, we should be able to fire on them while they have their backs turned.

Meanwhile, my contingent of fighters and Admiral Yr's Falsewryms will engage the enemies air force defensively.

On the ground I have several layers of defense in mind. The first thing I would like is to immediately throw the hounds and into mass confusion. I can think of no other unit then the Unity Emissaries for this purpose. I don't need them to engage the enemy, I just need them to cause confusion. Upon the initial wave we will unleash a vast amount of nano-plague at the enemy along with ranged weapons fire. Meanwhile, my frigates will stay behind the lines in the air battle and will focus on bombarding the enemy ranks from above. At last, when all of that has taken its toll, I want our actual ground forces to rise form the bunkers and strike at the enemy.

Another favor from Admiral Yr, I am tired of the mongrel pets of the Quall. I will have teams on the ground who's objective is to snare many of these hounds and flayers. I would like you to send some of your plague vampires. The objective is to infect these things and send them back to their owners. I want the plague to be subtle, but quick. I don't care about loses from plague for this battle, I just don't want to see numbers like this again.

I've already discussed the plans with the wall in front of us. No new news there.

In regards to the counter attack against the Quall on the other side, I want Unity to lead the team against them. I will support them by supplying them with as many Hearts of the Forgotten as they will need. It should not only slay many of their ranks, but also preserve their memories for study. Harvest the dead bodies and you might have all you need for your projects.

Our current weak points are insufficient numbers in the sky and possibly on the ground. Second, we need to devise a better plan against another wave then just the hope that we break through the first wall in time. Any suggestions?

Signed,
General Garmin Fe

TRILAT commanders,

We are always so pleased by these discussions.

Once again, our suggestions will follow the doctrine of aggressive defense.

Regarding air superiority: The Unity can leverage a large number of ships, as well as anti-air platforms. Further; we can use Seneschals to plant breaching charges on vessels. It is easy to forget how mobile our infantry really are. Further, we have authorized the use of 7 Sanguine Lords for this encounter. Their focus will be on consuming vessels which attempt to hit our airspace, and using their remains to attack other ships. Further, we suspect that a number of our "rescues" will be the Agelis, which can leverage their flight and Unity weaponry in the battle. The Sanguine Lords will also help with any boarding actions. As required, we can leverage Dreadnoughts accompanying defensive stations in order to send destructive blasts into airspace if it is required.

Regarding the lava flow: We would like to add that it is possible to configure guardian missile barrages with a flash freezing capacity. We can then use a second round of missiles to apply kinetic force, launching super-cooled obsidian shards at whoever launched the lava flow. Once the attack is over, we can build gravimetric manipulators which will simply be able to push the lava flows away, or otherwise affect the tides to our benefit.

Regarding infantry engagements: We are pleased to note that the Quall now take us seriously. This has provided a great many high tier Quall warriors, which will be excellent for harvest. Our own efforts will be primarily in a supporting role to our dear Layne Yr. First, we offer 100,000 regen-orbs. These simple devices are similar to the nanite hearts of our ships, but constantly repair nightmares until they are disabled. Put these in the dead Quall, and your legions will be unstoppable. Further, we will send 500 emissaries to work with your forces. Emissaries of Fear have a particular talent, as they can provide near limitless energy to your vampires. They will also throw enemies into confusion while bolstering our forces and acting as ground commanders. Lastly, Vrangian guards will join in the fray. Some will lead small groups of Praetorians to assist in the defense. Others will use stealth to set up traps as they see fit. Seneschals will use their teleportantion to harass targets of opportunities. Heat Resistant Praetorians, rescued races, and Saggitae will constantly stream from our production facilities until the Reclamation Citadel 1 is taken, no easy feat.

Regarding the Iron Republic: We have finished development of the Purifier. Our field test will force engagement with the Interdiction group parallel with our battle space. The Iron Republic must fight this threat, and so will be unable to send significant resource to the engagement. If needed, we can simulate attacks on some of their weaker colonies using Prophets, and may concurrently use some of our Prophets on one of their planets.

Regarding next steps: We will launch Prophets using frost generators onto the colony we approach. Their accompanying Harbringers, and immediate construction of Guardian platforms, will sandwich our opponents.

We look forward to your feedback.

Prime.

If we're attacking in waves, and looking at this with defenseive "strategery" I think we need to balance the playing field. Turn the land of Fire into a partial Land of Shadow. If we're going to plan ahead, set up large warded areas of instill nightmares. Any body that falls, friend or foes gets instilled and joins our cause. Have the Shadows Leyas do it's purpose, and let the nightmares work. It'll be deliciously chaotic and something to cause real fear. The dumb walking steaks, and their pets won't know what hit them.
Viggo

"Good evening; I must say that it is nice to be doing this kind of thing again. I apologize for being so late, but more important matters have occupied my time for the last few years. I do not expect such an interruption again.

Onto more pleasant things.

I would like to support your assault, but unfortunately my capacities do not tend to operate well on the timescales we're looking at. If you would like, I can begin terraforming operations- they will prevent, or at least greatly hinder, opposing forces from resecuring the planet. However, such a deployment would render the planet useless for you. I certainly wouldn't object, but I am not aware of your future plans."

Unity Prime I expect you to aid me in this explanation,
because I believe the Unity Concensus knows far more on the subject than I but I my agents have told me certain things. I have Uth Seers who are wise in the lore of the planes. They tell me this is not a planet but a dimension that lies at one edge of reality, beyond this point it become more and more inhospitable to life.
The entire dimension was called Kyrpos by the Children of the Falosini. There are three parts to it.
The first and closest to our own is the Land of the Aegelis. They were once a mighty empire but fell into decline millenia ago.
The next is the Land of the Fire Spirits, its original inhabitants are unknown and were made extinct in an Iron Republic planetkiller missile launcher accident. The continent of Dead Quall and its Islands Float right on the edge of this and the next section.
The next and last section is known as the the Land of the Quall N'drone. It is here that Quall N'drone, their evil HiveQueens and their Flayer and Pitmongrel slaves live on obsidian islands. This is the dimension where Fire Leyas comes from. Its so powerful it even burned out a few of Prime's best Adepts when they tried to ward it.
Distance wise its wider than it is long so if you turn to far off the path and keep walking you will just keep walking deeper into the dimension. There are lots of other threats
So if you have some sort of fungii that would be heat resistant we might have just found our answer to the problem of the creatures that we know as pitmongrels. Poor little mutated olgogs, we're just going to have to kill them all.

Maybe ward was the wrong word, but to set up an ongoing leyas effect of the dead within a specific area raising back up as instill nightmares. Something similar to the nightmare tombs used by Lurlocke himself, but by means of any dead ours or theirs and getting back up on our front. It uses the aggressive defense to the full extent, am i wrong?
Viggo

Would any one object to me contrubuting a void bomb or two to the effort. Deffensivly they can wipe out the lava waves if they try to send more, or if an example needs to be made they can be used for that as well. There are also my PPC Cannons (Personality Perversion Cannon), they cause any one hit by them to go into a frenzy much like Uth Rage were they must attack the closest thing. Fire at them and watch there ranks destroy one another. Not sure the effect they would have on Flayers and Quall but i would love to find out.

"Yes, I should be able to provide something heat-resistant to begin operations on the planet. Once I have an initial colony, progress will go much faster. Unsurprisingly, it will have to be spread outside the range of the frost generators, and outside direct combat/observation.

To this end, I would request some sort of stealth air support. Anyone who is willing to help may, but it should be noted that any aircraft devoted to the cause should be destroyed afterward to prevent contamination. I will not be held responsible for outbreaks caused if this suggestion is not followed.

With a colony in place, I can start growing slightly more interesting specimens there, and if nothing else I should be able to spread wide enough to make total elimination unlikely if not impossible. My current specimen should not only be able to survive those temperatures, but thrive in areas of active lava flow. It seems as if the geological conditions there, if they can even be called that, are extremely unstable. That may work to my advantage, as any spores released will quickly be swallowed up by the earth, only to grow deep underground. Even a small colony that survives at those depths should spread undetected and uncontrolled.

Again, I do not have the resources to do this myself, however. I need some mode of disposable transport."

This is a review of everything we have going on so far. I am open to seeing what other suggestions can be made. If anyone else would like to set aside a force to be used for either recon or for Contingency Command, please make a note of it. Also make a note if I have somehow forgotten to include someone's action or if you are not satisfied with a role I have given you.


The Obsidian Wall

Beacon City
Earthmancer Squads will fairy the defenders of Aegelis Revenge to the battle. They will also bring squads of specialists with explosives to the inner caverns of the island and to points within the wall.

Unity
At the discretion of experts, guardian missile platforms will provide additional exterior kinetic force against the wall and toward enemy units.

???
Expert explosives squad would ideally be led into the caverns of Aegelis Revenge to plant explosives on a continental scale.(Unconfirmed assistance)

Captian Axis
Void bombs will be tactically applied to disrupt the stability of the obsidian wall.

Additional Lava Wall Attacks

Unity
Guardian missile barrages with a flash freezing will target oncoming walls. Additional guardian platforms will use kinetic force to again, add kinetic force toward enemy targets. Gravimatric manipulators will attempt to slow, stop, and possibly turn back the waves.

Captian Axis
Void bombs will be tactically applied to disrupt the stability and threat of lava and obsidian walls.

Air Battle

Beacon City
Two Arcturus Warships and one Dreadnaught will provide supporting fire and a safe air zone for damaged craft or wounded allies as they participate in the ground battle. 300 Sagittae and Jotun Mark I fighters will actively engage the enemy units.

Kasanthian Federation
Thousands of Falsewyrms implanted with Unity regen-orbs will take to the skies.

Unity
Unity standard craft will aid in the active battle. Sagittae will flow from Reclamation Citadel 1. Anti-air platforms on the ground will fire at will. Mobil Seneschals squads will attach breaching charges to enemy craft. 7 Sanguine Lords will focus on consuming vessels which attempt to hit our airspace, and using their remains to attack other ships. Agelis with Unity gear will enter the fray. Unity Dreadnaughts will hold defensive positions and provide air-to-air cannon fire.

Ground Battle

Beacon City
Quall Hunters, Recognized, and Magi-Cannons will trench and hold the last line of defense. The enemies first few ranks will be subjected to waves nano-plague and ranged fire. War giants with tower shields and spears will hold the forward ranks. The 2 Arcturus Warships and one Dreadnaught will hold position above the battle and bombard the enemy from above.

Kasanthian Federation
Dead Quall and Nightmares implanted with regen-orbs will support Beacon City war giants. Vampires will feed off the chaos and fear of the battle and feed that power back into the battle.

Unity
500 Emissaries will assist the ground forces. Emissaries of Fear will spread panic where they can. Vrangian guards will join in the fray. Some will lead small groups of Praetorians to assist in the defense. Others will use stealth to set up traps as they see fit. Seneschals will use their teleportantion to harass targets of opportunities. Heat Resistant Praetorians and rescued races will constantly stream from production facilities on Reclamation Citadel 1.

Viggo
In caverns under battlefield, shadows layas will be used to create auras that release nightmares from fallen friend and foe.

Captian Axis
Personality Perversion Cannons will be provide additional chaos to the battle.

Mission: Fire Raven

Kasanthian Federation
Cannons like those used on Druzi Prime will launch boarding pods directly into several enemy frigates.

M.D.
Snipers will man the Kasanthian cannons and be primarily responsible for delivering the boarding pods.

Unity
Several units connected to Augury will enhance the tactical displays of M.D.'s snipers and determine the optimal time to fire the boarding pods. Sanguine lords will provide support as needed and supply the teams with an exit strategy if needed.

Viggo
20 of his intelligent nightmares wearing special plate armor will be split into squads of 10 or 5(unconfirmed) and be used as boarding parties. Their primary objective is to make it to the ship and assume control. Secondary goals if this mission cannot be successful will be to sabotage the vessel and/or retrieve intel.

Beacon City
Garmin Fe and a team of Quall Hunters will be used as a boarding party of the commanding Quall frigate. Their primary objective is to assume control of the ship and transmit retreat protocols to the other enemy vessels. Secondary goals if this mission cannot be successful will be to sabotage the vessel and/or retrieve intel.

Eruption Sage Attacks

Beacon City
Quall Hunters in concealed positions will use their crossbows to snipe targets with high priority, with eruption sages being their highest priority. They will answer directly to contingency command.

M.D.
Snipers will be concealed on high ground using various methods of cover. They will spot and snipe high priority threats with eruption sages being their highest priority.They will answer directly to contingency command.

Iron Republic Interdiction Fleet

Unity
Unity Purifier will force confrontation. If needed, Unity will use simulate attacks on weaker IR colonies using Prophets, and may concurrently use Prophets on one of their planets.

Contingency Command/Recon

M.D.
At the discretion of M.D., Contingency Command will execute additional orders to troops under its command to respond to unforeseen threats or to shore up failing defenses. All common and secure forms of communication should be available. For commands to our forces in mass, color coded flares will indicate the status of the battle.

Beacon City
Technomancers in concealed positions using layas sight and eye spies will look out for potential threats along the land mass. Several squads of earthmancers will patrol the interior of the obsidian wall as recon teams. The terrain will be considered hostile. A platoon of Recognized and several Beacon City Judges in Judge Chambers will answer to Contingency Command directly.

Collateral Damage

Beacon City
Hundreds of Hearts of the Forgotten will be launched before we assault the colony and Quall Warriors, capturing the memories of the fallen Quall to be revived by Unity.

Kasanthian Federation
Captured Pit Mongrels and Flayers will be infected with plague and released so that they may infect their breeding grounds.

Michael Herbert Gilmour
If the battle concludes with the enemy repelled, soon after several squads of fighters will be sent out to secure the airspace and perform cleanup. One of these groups will be auto-piloted crash land on the distant shores away from the continent. From this location, Michael Herbert Gilmore will unleash his fungus in a controlled manner. If the battle turns against us and for some reason we must abandon the continent, the fungus of Michael Herbert Gilmour will be unleashed and the land mass allowed to fall upon the most populated area it can reach.

Unity
Prophets using frost generators will be launched onto the colony we approach. Their accompanying Harbringers, and immediate construction of Guardian platforms, will sandwich the opponent.

"My only comment is that I would suggest not beginning the colony on the continent at all. If it starts on the ground away from the fight, there is a significantly larger chance that it will have lots of time to grow unmolested. The longer it remains on that plane, the harder it will be to remove, until it becomes virtually impossible to deal with it at all.

Furthermore, I would highly suggest crashing the aircraft carrying it during the fight itself, so the colony grows no matter the circumstances. So long as it gets somewhere such that the possibility of a continent falling on it is minimized, we should be in a good position."

Mr Gilmour,
There is no soil or ground to speak of on this flat dimension. Only isles of Lavarock and obsidian, and fiery seas. My knowledge of fungus is non-existent, but can it grow on the volcanic glass?

General Garmin Fe and M.D.
How will your snipers distinguish enemy Dimension Walkers (those with training as Eruption Sages)? They aren't Quall or even infected with Quall larvae. They also are excellent as infiltraters.
I hope we are not just shooting any Leyas Users we see, that would be bad.

Unity Prime,
Timing will be key. I will organize my boys to begin acting on their plans. You make sure your boys do the same. It would be horrible if anyone forgets to act at the appropriate time.

To Micheal Herbert Gilmour,

The reason I worded the commands as I did, is because my main objective would be to deploy your fungus off our continent and on the obsidian and lava that we float above. I would not wish to deploy you on the actual Continent of Dead Quall as that makes it useless for our efforts. Only if we had to abandon the floating continent would I allow your presence there to solidify.

It sounds tricky and smart to deploy you during the battle, but it is really just an unnecessary and risky maneuver. What if you actually get shot down before you made it off the continent? What if one of their objectives is to capture our allies and use them either for experiments or for making more Quall? They would then go after your vessel and find manageable samples of your fungus and research its weaknesses. No, it would be better to deploy you after the combat is over to ensure success, or to use you as a poison pill if defeated.

It is quite clear you haven't had a great deal of experience with other planes of existence. One must generally see Kyrpos for themselves to understand how alien it truly is. It is an endless horizon of a fiery landscape. Still, we will have Unity send you all of the environmental data we've collected so far and you can judge how feasible your terraforming techniques would be.

To Miss Yr,

Since the nature of this battle lends itself to chaos, I will ask that all layas users do indeed identify themselves in some manner and remain in contact at all times. But yes, everyone else may be shot on sight. This is a coordinated assault and every unit is to be accounted for. If it bothers you, then I would ask you to make another suggestion or lend greater expertise to our recon teams. Additional information on the battlefield is never a wasted resource. Perhaps some of your Uth seers?

Eruption sages can cause significant damage to our ground forces if we aren't careful. Also, even if they infiltrate successfully and discharge their attacks, it would still be good to limit further damage with bullet and arrow shots to the head. I know the continent is warded from fire layas already, and the frost generators should already make the enemies eruptions more difficult. If their is anything else to be done as a defense, please bring it to my attention.

That said, I sincerely appreciate your concerns. You pry because I am positive you really want this battle to be successful. Thank you.

Signed,
General Garmin Fe

"Admiral Layne Yr:

So long as there is something solid down below, I should be fine. When you say isles of lavarock and obsidian, we are speaking about something that has solid mass going down a fair distance, yes? If not, then perhaps things will be more difficult than I had anticipated. Otherwise, I should be able to begin work. Mind you, my fungus will look much like lichen simply growing on the outside of the rock, but from those humble beginnings, something should flourish. Only one way to find out.

General Garmin Fe:

I agree completely with your assessment, though I fail to see how the initial premise conflicts with my own concepts. I would not it to be deployed on the continent either.

It should be noted that there is no lengthy 'deployment.' Getting shot down is acceptable, so long as the craft hits a solid surface or explodes. I would actually suggest rigging the aircraft with some sort of explosive charge to distribute the spores evenly over a larger area, and that would make the capture of any Unity technology difficult or impossible. Because the fungus itself is not weaponized, there isn't much they'll be able to do with it to generate a defense- after all, it mutates fast enough to render chemical agents meaningless within a couple generations, and it has no toxicity or invasiveness itself to give them a foothold to work with.

And I have at least some concept as to what the terrain there is like. So long as there is some form of gaseous atmosphere and some solid substrate to work with, I will be able to cobble something together for initial efforts. When I have something growing, it makes subsequent additions significantly easier. Obviously, I will keep you updated as the situation progresses- I am putting out a formal request to Unity for their biological data concerning the quall, the pit mongrels, and the flayers."