Open Play Week 5 Space Battle: Purification of E-Strain Space

Prime's hulking figure stood before a pedestal in an unmarked black chamber. It was brought to his attention that the next extermination fleets were ready for launch. The seven red eyes on his face-plate glowed with hunger as he pierced the perfect surface of his command pillar with a single claw.

---Uploading high priority communication to Iron Republic Central Command

--User: Prime

-Extermination Fleet Briefing...Access Granted...Video-Briefing to Begin...

An image of Prime in his dress Uniform appeared in a well-lit tactical theater. Behind him there was a map of E-strain space, a huge expanse once owned by the Iron Republic a scant few years ago. The view alone was enough to enrage many of the Iron Republic Stockholders and Generals. Prime spoke in his usual crisp and efficient manner.

"Ladies and gentlemen. In accordance with our treaty, I am pleased to introduce the next phase of our extermination. Our extermination fleets have been prepared, and we now have the capacity to sterilize 58 additional worlds simultaneously. If we act at maximum operational efficiency, in one weeks time, the number of planets we can sterilize at the same time will become 116."

Prime paused for a moment. A portion of the E-strain space which bordered the Iron Republic was highlighted in light red. This was the incursion zone which had already been taken. The commanders felt a swell of pride over the large space which had been taken. They saw then multiple red lines streak into E-strain space, landing at planets throughout the entire sector of E-strain space.

"We propose to exterminate what our scouts have determined to be primary command sites of E-strain tribes. Comm traffic recovered by our scouts suggests that the planets we have designated are critical for the command operations of the E-strain tribes. Some of these planets have also been shown to have massive off-world production facilities or breeding centers that must be eliminated. The warring tribes are beginning to modernize. This operation and the one to follow will set them back significantly; such that we can eliminate them planet by planet at our leisure."

"We humbly suggest an attack in two waves. The first wave will draw defenders to the capitals of these tribes: there are 3 such planets. As the defenders move to attack those fleets, our second wave of prophets will begin extermination of their other production centers. Unity fleets will be held in reserve, and our agents will act in a saboteur capacity; we will be relying on your massive numbers to protect our ordinance. The reserve fleet will involve 6 Apostles, 10 Dreadnoughts, 1000 Saggitae, and 6 Unity Extensions. You are welcome to dispense with them as you wish, if you have a particular need."

"Regarding the disposition of Enemy forces; Each of the 3 Capitals is defended by 4 Battle Stations and 500 Bloom Ships. Each of the nations seems to have approximately 3000 bloom ships as a standing fleet. At the time of our attack, they will be in council at the station of Tribe 01, and so their response time will be delayed by jamming if you can sneak operatives on the station."

The image of Prime waited for the discussion to begin among the Iron Republic command structure, and he smiled.

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Meanwhile, Prime sent a quick heavily encrypted message to his two counterparts of the Trilat.

"My dear friends, the rouge E-strain seek to organize. The Unity and the Iron Republic will be attacking these 38 planets, turning three of the greatest E-strain tribes into rabble. Capitalize on this chaos as you wish and feed on those who would resist our inexorable strength."

This mission is open to all Iron Republic commanders, Angel D, Admiral Layne Yr, and those that they (and Prime) invite. A defense mission will be posted for those who think the E-strain should have a chance at survival. Once/if this is approved, threads will be made for discussion. Only actions posted in the mission thread will be locked in.

Sector General Stark did not like what he had learned about the Unity's extermination fleet plans.
Being a K'ias put a certain spin on the idea that being born a certain species simply marked you for death. And the indescriminate extermination of the rogue Estrain were exactly that.

He sent a token force of two Heavy Frigates and starfighter compliments to aid in the extermination. It was a large part of the small tarrisian fleet and was sent with the blessing of the TFS President Bergen.
Stark loved it when a plan could work on multiple levels. The video feeds provided by the Starfighters and Heavy Frigates will be broadcast to a few captured rogue Estrain Manslayers and Magnavores. This will be an experiment in how fast Rogue Hives can learn and work together.
As Tarris was the home and birth place of the Estrain Network during the Border Wars it was a perfect place for this experiment.

They will see and hear all commands relayed among the Extermination fleets, and see the plans and tactical displays as they play out.

They will be able to turn the extermination into an ambush.

And in exchange, Sector General Stark will request a force of rogue Estrain Bloom ships to secretly protect Tarrisian Starships.

Somewhere in the depths of space, an old Unity ally finally got a message he had been waiting on for some time. Michael was attending to his own matters for the last few months, simply consolidating and expanding at an almost lazy pace, content to savor the little joys of his work. Doting over each new species and result, he knew he would not have the time to relax forever.

He just wished he could get a little bit more time.

A videomessage is sent to Prime, but gone is the familiar image of Michael. In its place is a snapshot of Network One, the flickering light of Prometheus barely poking through its dense web.

"Yes. Network One is nearly fully operational now, and Network Two is progressing steadily. I hope to have more being constructed in the not-too-distant future, and I'm sure that real force-projection is not out of the question. Mass on the scale you are suggesting, especially given freely, is always welcome."

And with that, the feed cuts.

Michael soon begins to redirect the massive reality drills of his networks to new coordinates, breaching the fabric of space and time. He would soon be tearing apart the closest planets layer by layer, all while countless creatures of his own design flooded it mindlessly. It would be interesting to see how well things operated in a slightly more 'active' climate.

Dear Prime,

Thank you for your recent invitation to this extermination mission. However, the Stockholders are currently deadlocked in their decision with how to approach the ongoing extermination/rehabilitation of the E-Strain. There has been a minority, but powerful, voice which wishes to curtail the wanton annihilation of the E-Strain. The efforts, in its stead, wish to be directed purely against Angel D, the largest threat. There is discussion about how destroying lesser hives actually inhibits our ability to do so, should it actually become our prerogative. We are thus unable to assist in you in any overwhelming capacity on this strike until the Stockholders have broken their deadlock.

I send one Sector General and his compliment to assist you in this matter. I acknowledge it's paltry, but it was the best I can do. Fleetmaster Deer assured me he would be up to task.He will do his best to coordinate the attack.

Yours most sincerely,
Stockholder Maehl

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What Prime doesn't know is that this is the worst fleet in the Iron Republic. This is a virtual suicide mission, people who have histories of gross incompetence, cracking under pressure, and otherwise underqualified for the task at hand. The Sector General is a rookie who shouldn't have even become a Sector General; he relies entirely on his XO, who performed better on every examination to become Sector General. His fleet of 10 Starcruisers and 2 Cynos Heavy Frigates are under his command. His XO is a Delta V2 Bretheren plant reporting to Stockholder Maehl, who managed to secretly put together this fleet.

On each ship there are several Delta V2s whose singular purpose is to ensure that the E-Strain are not Angel D's E-Strain. They have been provided the specs (given by Prime to Maehl) of Angel D's tactics and E-Strain identification. If they do, they are to stop the invasion and directly attack her forces, calling to bear all of the Unity Fleets and reserves.

Otherwise, the XO will "advise" the Sector General to completely screw up the entire mission. While following the basic outline given by Prime, they will do a full force strike on the most heavily defended parts of each planet. They will attack before the defenses have been brought down, not do a coordinated attack, and wait too long to call in reinforcements. The fleet's attack will be disjointed, unorganized, and an absolute disaster. If the defense mounts any defense or counterattack, they will flee. It will be an embarrassment. Finally, the XO's other mission is to ensure that if any other IR forces show up, they are shielded from this disaster.