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Posts: 828
Aug 5 12 5:26 AM
Super Power For the Empire! Mechanical Pimp
The Federation was seen in the Imperium as a quiet, mostly harmless neighbor, especially after the Core wars. Seemingly borderline paranoid, it was believed the burden of insecurity that seemed to be prevalent everywhere in the Federation would prevent them from doing anything rash or daring. The Imperials often emphasize the qualities that they consider weak in their neighbors in an effort of lifting themselves up. Thus, while the Imperium believes in ambition and strenght, the Federation was seen as a people with softer qualities. Equality, direct democracy and other things which didn't fit the Imperial psyche and as such was considered weak. And now, as the hordes of Wild Space drew closer, the Federation was so preoccupied with them that most daring generals of the Imperium suggested a flanking attack against this old enemy in an effort of gaining a better position for the future. Even the thought of the Federation planning something similar was met with ridicule.
They were wrong, as it would soon seem. The soft humanists of the Federation would soon be changed into calculating ideological fanatics in the minds of the Imperials. It was not the Federation that was soft. It was the Imperial people. This decadent society had, over the years in the past, grown used to the fact that they are the Imperium Galactica. In the exact meaning of the words, holding supreme power over the entire galaxy. That was perhaps the case a century or more ago. Now however, of that power, only arrogance and blind belief was left.
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Scanning station Delta-Ultima-Six-Five-Niner
Orbiting the frontier world of Claustrum, the scanning station was tasked with monitoring space traffic in the system of the same name and its vicinity. The planet itself was moderately populated, with about 4 billion people, it contained both urban and rural areas. Most of the population wasn't from the Aresian gene pool and were in fact subjects of the Imperium, without the full rights of an Imperial citizen. As was common with any moderately sized planet in the Imperium, the planet held a strong Aresian minority, consisting of government officials, immigrants of various backgrounds, soldiers and retired soldiers who have been granted estates here. Planetary garrison held an appropriate number of legions supported by a much larger amount of auxiliaries. As was the norm, the planet's auxiliaries came from another side of the Imperium and the troops recruited from the planet itself were serving where these eastern men came from.
As for the orbital defences, a token defensive perimeter was present, consisting of the usual orbital defences one would find around such frontier world. Missile stations, railgun stations, even a few pulsar arrays, all were in reasonably pristine conditions due to the frontier location. Many of the inner Imperial worlds have seen some of their orbital defences neglected due to the lack of possible threats. The Navy itself around the planet was a skeleton compliment of ships. The brunt of the Imperial Navy was pinned in patrol duties or combat with the forces of Wild Space. Nevertheless, the largest ships around the planet were two Battleships.
''Navarchon Terentia, is the Navy making large maneuvers in the vicinity. I'm seeing a lot of our traffic.'' an officer of the station adressed his superior in station's control center.
''We haven't been informed. But I suppose it's the Navy's standard policy to keep us in the dark, again.'' said superior.
''Just ignore them.''
Indeed they did. Until the comms traffic could be heard and both of them concluded that it was definitely not Aresian. But then it was already too late. The Federation's navy was within firing range and the station was destroyed. The other battleship had been docked and undergoing maintenance so it was destroyed before it could properly leave the docking station. The other one and the rest of the fleet offered resistance although the Federal ships were making the most out of their element of surprise. Much of their dismay, the Imperial vessels noticed that the Federal ships were mimicking Imperial recognition signatures so targeting was forced to be done manually until the recognition signatures were switched to new ones. What the captains had time to conclude was that they were victims of a sabotage. Most of the ships were destroyed and the rest retreated to hyperspace, leaving only the defence stations between the planet and the invading fleet.
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Planetside
Federal troops were landing all around one of the urban centers on the planet. Lupus Gate it was called, named after the planet's original spaceport. Alarm sirens were ringing and the sky was filling with flak as both anti-air railgun artillery and missile defences responded against the invaders. Farther away, silos could be seen loosing their heavy anti-ship missiles at the skies, aimed at the orbiting ships. Sounds which sounded like thunder indicated that somewhere heavy railgun batteries were also firing against the orbit.
Lupus Gate spaceport was one of the prime targets of the invading force as it would allow further troop deployment into the city. The enemy had got a head start, but the legion positioned nearby was quick to wake and troops were on their way to the spaceport only a while after reports of initial drop troops there were received.
Multiple mech convoys headed there. First one to arrive belonged to the legion's first cohort. The forward elements were under a shield bubble provided by a shield mech behind them. Anti-air mechs were constantly loosing missiles against enemy aircraft and sometimes even used their railguns to turn descending grav chute infantry into bloody mess.
As the civilians had been fleeing the spaceport in panic, multiple hovercars were scattered across the wide avenues. the mechs simply stomped over them or cleared larger obstacles with the large plasma cutters the sapper mechs were equipped with. Even if taking back the spaceport would fail, they intended to make its use by the enemy as hard as possible. Therefore the enemy had been facing a constant artillery barrage for the moment the initial forces landed. With the range provided by the Imperial artillery railguns, the spaceport could be reached from the legion's base.
Nearing it, the enemy had taken position behind a few downed columns and other things, efectively making themselves a good barricade. The sudden appearance of a Vesuvius-class Sapper from behind a corner stirred up their activity. Particle beams fired and at least one missile was shot down by the mech's active defences. Then the mech opened fire, a shot from the plasma mortar made a hole in the barricade, vaporizing anyone within the blast radius. The enemy was diverting more men to the point of engagement and the legion expected to meet the enemy's tanks soon. Any advantage they might have in speed would largely be negated by the urban environment, making them easier prey for the slow mechs.
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