Jump 094: Homeworld

Jump 94: Homeworld
>Seven of Swords (A desperate attempt to resolve a matter without conflict. The use of cleverness or outright deception to turn the tide in your favor.)
Because the enemy cannot adapt to... DIPLOMACY!
>Age: 28
>Location: Kharak Orbit
https://youtu.be/u3fyt322eGo
>Identity: Drop-In
>Drawbacks: The Greatest War (+1000)
Okay, yeah, there's no fucking way that diplomacy is going to work. But getting my enemies to fight each other? That's promising.
>Unbound (1700, Drop-In)
WE WILL NOT BE BOUND!
>Capital Ship: Carrier (1500)
If I'm going to be in a position to guide a fleet, I'm going to damn well make sure I can build one. Of course, with any amount of luck, I can convince the Hiigarans to permit me to buy more carriers from them... one is good, but not sufficient for resupply and bolstering the fleet on short notice.
>Sajuuk (300)
And if I'm going to be in a position to guide a fleet, I'm damned well going to make it worthwhile. It's going to take a long time to build, but I'm going to bring Sajuuk to bear.
>Progenitor Dreadnaught (Free, Sajuuk)
So. This is the craft I'm tethered to, then. On the plus side, it is better than even the two Dreadnaughts that are the key to Sajuuk. On the negative... well, repairing it is going to be a chore. But with the carrier, I can make repair corvettes and frigates to attend to such duties.
>Advanced Phased Telemetry (200, Frigate+ Class)
This is how you use Unbound to truly control all aspects of a fleet. As time goes on I'll be working this technology into all of the craft under my control - I shall stand at the ready, conducting battles as a lesser man might conduct an orchestra.
>Inertialess Drive (0, Frigate+ Class)
This... this is a technology I will keep in reserve. When the time comes, I'll have the Dreadnaught upgraded appropriately, but it will be a long time until it's installed where it belongs.
>Great Core (Free, Sajuuk)
Secreted within the Dreadnaught, no doubt - I can bring a fleet across the galaxy with this. And unlike the Hiigaran core during their flight from their scorched home, this is not working at six percent efficiency - this one fully operational.

This will be a very long jump. And I will be spending a great deal of time in cold sleep, between scenarios, but I have every intention of having a hand in all three of these scenarios. My greatest challenge is going to be taking everything appropriately, rather than just using some out-of-context ability to pave my way through what is clearly the HILARIOUSLY BROKEN fleet scaling that was in the Remastered release before it was patched.

Guess how completely fucked the later missions were for me before that was patched? We are talking HUNDREDS of ion cannon frigates, dozens of cap ships...

But enough about that. Let's take these scenarios one at a time, shall we?

Kharak. Desert planet. Your time has come. As I arrive, the Exiles are simultaneously launching their craft to intercept the Taiidan frigates attacking the cryo trays. One Dreadnaught of unknown design, launched to intercept, lobbing plasma at the frigates and aiming to cripple them - and a lone carrier of design suspiciously similar to one the Kushan have a theoretical plan for. Regardless, the Dreadnaught cripples the frigates' drives and flips them about in space from the sheer force of its projectiles, and they're promptly captured by the Hiigarans-to-be. I remain silent, withdrawing until they make contact with me; I explain that I was thrown from another universe, lacking technical data, but confirm that I am using a carrier of their design. I know their objective. They need to reach Hiigara. I cannot offer advice on how to do it, but what I can do is offer my support. While the Dreadnaught cannot get involved for the most part... I can lend them support with my carrier, if they share technical data so that I may bolster my fleet.

Cooperative campaign is a go.

Much happens the way it otherwise would, until we reach the Great Nebula. I tell the Exiles not to use their harvesters and to remain in place - and the Dreadnaught advances instead, ever so slowly. Once I am well enough away from them, I announce myself.

>"Brothers. Sisters. I have been sent here at the behest of He Whose Hand Shapes What Is. I am not his chosen, but witness: I am his herald, his prophet, and he has sent me to your Garden. I know of your defeat of the raiders who thought they could take what they wanted from the Garden, and I congratulate you on a job well done. Come forth, and let us speak of what was and what is to be."

The Exiles were understandably shocked when a trio of Kadeshi motherships appeared from the clouds of the nebula and activate hyperspace inhibitors, boxing in my Dreadnaught. The Exiles are told to remain calm, and all shall become clear. And then I turn the diplomacy up full-force, abusing every bit of information that I should not know to bolster my position.

>"There is a great evil that drove you here. Drove you from your home, from Hiigara. For thirteen generations, you have watched. Waited. Kept the Garden of Kadesh from those who are unclean. Behold, your lost brothers and sisters - trapped for thirteen generations upon a desert world, Kharak, destroyed by that same great evil. All of you are the children of Hiigara, and fate has decreed that they are to return to the birthplace of our people. Fate has left unspoken whether you are to join them. Whether you shall hide forevermore within the sacred Garden... join them in purging the great evil... or set foot once more upon the ground of your home. It is up to you.

Much more discussion came after this... but not a shot was fired. In time, they came to state that their place was no longer on the ground, but amongst the stars in their holy place - but to drive a stake into the heart of the evil that drove them there would be nothing less than a holy war, and they took up arms beside the Exiles. Ship designs were shared between the two of them, and while their technologies were only barely compatible, it meant the Exiles still got multi-gun corvettes. And I, as Sajuuk's prophet... got the designs of their swarm fighters.

Hey, gotta start somewhere.

Much of the remaining journey went as might be expected - the Kadeshi fighters had a key hand in negating the ghost ship's control, and the Bentusi shared super heavy chassis technology with the both of them, while I simply got to catch up with what I could produce with my carrier, and with the application of what I already have, it means I can operate them all unmanned. The combination of technologies under my design, Kushan and Kadeshi, makes for an interesting series of ships - ultimately they are no more effective than either side's, but they are slightly more compact, and lean toward the better in all respects.

The Kadeshi are ecstatic to receive super-heavy chassis research; this alone would have justified their journey out of the nebula. One of the two motherships that accompanied us out returns to the nebula, in order to make sure they have that technology and can build upon it for the future.

The attack on the Bentusi trade ship is routed quickly, though my carrier and the Dreadnaught both take damage as a result from a pair of heavy cruisers. Only partially repaired before the next jump, we are caught in a trap and all strike craft neutralized due to gravity wells. Fortunately, the trap was not for us, but for Captain Elson, a Taiidani rebel. Once the trap is dealt with, I go with the Kadeshi fleet, and let the Exiles follow up with him.

On our way to Hiigara, we act as the diversion to help them fly under the radar. Outposts are raided, technologies stolen, I manage to capture a Taiidani carrier and a couple of missile destroyers for myself (to say nothing of what the Kadeshi capture - salvage corvette army, anyone?), and we push on to Hiigara, reconnecting with the Exile fleet at the hyperspace inhibitor.

With the two fleets, the field generator at the Bridge of Sighs was annihilated, and the defending force... well, let's just say that this is where the Kadeshi knew that the Exiles were their brothers. Both sides sent in strike forces to distract the numerous defending frigates, before capturing them for salvage and using that to bolster their fleets. No less than eighty percent of those hundreds of frigates were captured and broken down by the Kushan and Kadeshi motherships and carriers. (Lucky me; I got a portion of them as well.) It was understood from that point forward that the Kadeshi and I would be dealing largely with strike craft, corvettes and frigates on the final approach to Hiigara, while the Exiles themselves would be primarily focused on heavy ships - destroyers and heavy cruisers.

And then, as we approached the Hiigaran system, we were wrenched out of hyperspace on the edge of the system and an asteroid was sent out way, on a collision course with the Exile mothership. An asteroid with a supporting fleet. At this point... the Kadeshi broke out their secret weapon: multibeam frigates. While the Exiles fought the defending cruisers and destroyers, the Kadeshi carved the asteroid to pieces most expertly. And then... we entered orbit around Hiigara.

Within range of the Emperor.

Whatever voodoo he worked on Karan to take her out of action... it worked on me, too. I was still able to guide my fleet, but 'sluggish' is too optimistic a word. It took me minutes to command the AI running my ships and it went very poorly for me as a result - my destroyers were lost, my carrier crippled, and if not for the Kadeshi covering for me, the Dreadnaught would have been destroyed by the simply massive fleet waiting there that came for us all.

In the end, I could only engage in one tactic that I know would work. I had dozens of strike craft under my command, and I sent them for the Emperor's mothership. Every single one of them.

He was fighting off the uncoordinated attacks of the Exiles, and his defenses were minimal at that point. The multi-beam frigates of the Kadeshi were punching well above their weight class, and for every two of them that was lost, a heavy cruiser or two destroyers were destroyed.

When it was least expected... my masses of fighters got into position above and below his mothership. And with one last command as I slipped into unconsciousness, I gave them their final command: kamikaze.

I woke once more after the battle had been won. My attack was not crucial - victory, as it turns out, had been inevitable - but it sped things along handily and losses were greatly lessened. When all was said and done... I left to rest within the Garden of Kadesh. I knew I would be needed again in the future, and I told the Hiigarans that when their time of need came... to send someone to awaken me, and I would aid them.

In the meantime, I made the Kadeshi an offer: I had a ship that needed to be built. A greater undertaking than any ship they had ever built before, but I could tell them how to build a shipyard that could assemble it. I could share its technologies, so that they might incorporate them into their own vessels.

And then, I slept.

Years later, I was awoken with the news of an impending Imperial attack upon Hiigara. Relations between the Hiigarans and Kadeshi were friendly, though for obvious reasons the rest of the galaxy simply wanted nothing to do with Kadesh - which was fine by me, since all they ever wanted was to protect their Garden from the unclean. Still, I responded with a carrier, serving largely in a support role. After things had been mopped up, I offered to help the Kuun-Lan; after all, I was already awake, and I quietly confided that there was more to come; best to ensure their safety.

I went along with them, right up until the point that they located the distress beacon with the Beast infection upon it. At that point... well, I still had clout from helping secure Hiigara, but despite my warning, they elected to study the beacon anyway and things occurred as I warned them they might. When the Beast later attacked the Bentusi, however... I warned them - I told them EXACTLY what the Beast was, and that it must be avoided at all costs. When the heavy cruiser arrived, I launched my own ships; with remote control, as soon as I saw an infection beam lance toward a fighter, I immediately caused it to self-destruct, but ultimately the heavy cruiser was destroyed much earlier than it might have been.

With its destruction, things got much easier - there was only limited use of infected cruise missiles, none effective. The Caal-Shto, which itself had later been infected, made for a handy target for the siege cannon that the Somtaaw obtained. When the showdown with the Naggarok happened... sure, the ship could move with insane rapidity. But by then, I'd brought the Dreadnaught out of storage and was using that; a few choice words caused the Taiidan to turn on (and be destroyed by) the Beast, bombers crippled the Naggarok's engines, and the heart of the Beast was carved out by the siege cannon of the Somtaaw. The Beastslayers had earned their name.

And I slept once more.

>"The End Times have come. Prepare."

I awoke in the Garden of Kadesh. At last, the project I had set them to a hundred years prior was complete. The Fourth Great Core that had been secreted within the Dreadnaught was where it belonged, in the heart of a scratch-built, customized, and rather heavily upgraded mothership of my own - that is, Sajuuk with the addition of an onboard production facility. My carrier's berths were full of Kadeshi/Somtaaw hybrid fighters. I had, by that point, been reduced to little more than a rumor; the Hiigarans had made quite a name for themselves and no one questioned their capabilities.

And so... Makaan called himself the Sajuuk-Khar. Thus when I appeared in orbit, launching gravity well generators and fighters from my carrier to engage his forces even as they began bombardment of Hiigara, I made it my mission to destroy all Vagyr forces and kill him personally. And... he promptly hyperspaced out ANYWAY, because apparently plot armor trumps hyperspace inhibitors. But at least Hiigara was no longer besieged.

[03:58] <Crux|> Dice don't fail me now.
[03:58] <Crux|> .d 1000
[03:58] <+Internets> :: Total 7 / 1000 [0%] :: Results [7] ::
[03:58] <Crux|> fuck you dice.
[03:58] <Crux|> fuck you forever.

As a result of my actions... battlecruisers made an appearance faster than anticipated, and in larger numbers. I had to up my game as well - the fighters were largely upgraded to bombers with an anti-fighter turret. With the addition of Somtaaw technology, two fighters could latch together and work as a corvette, basically functioning as a multi-gun corvette with a very lethal forward-firing weapon. It was surprisingly effective, even if it was difficult to keep up numbers when Vaygr lance fighters started being fielded against them.

I made it my mission thenceforth to deal with Makaan. I knew where he was going - he planned on getting Sajuuk. I knew what he needed - a Progenitor Dreadnaught. And so, when he went to the Karos Graveyard to hunt it down, I was there waiting for him, and Sajuuk's main cannon was charged and ready.

When the phased cannon array removed the engines from the flagship and caused breaches across all decks, it made me feel quite a bit better, and I got the Dreadnaught that Makaan would have gotten as a nice cherry on top.

The Vaygr forces were thrown into disarray with the death of their prophet and the proclamation that Karan S'Jet was the true chosen of Sajuuk - one that she proved when she recovered the true Sajuuk and brought it back to Hiigara. I'd already returned with my two Dreadnaughts and my version of Sajuuk, because I knew that the Vaygr would at least try to deny victory to her as well.

It turns out that three phased cannon arrays from Dreadnaughts and two main cannons from the Sajuuk(s) were EXTREMELY effective against the Planet Killers, and there was firepower to spare to deal with the fleet, as I had invited the Kadeshi to Hiigara (with the Hiigarans' blessing, of course - there was an open invitation and some had visited over the years). They were there to bear witness to the birth of the Age of S'jet; I left with three Dreadnaughts in total, my carrier, and my modified copy of Sajuur.

I wished all of the Hiigarans a prosperous and long life, Kadeshi and Kushan alike... and moved on. My time had come. One last trip into hyperspace... and into another universe.