RE: Art of Domination Thread 04
03-28-2019, 06:19 AM
(This post was last modified: 03-28-2019, 10:46 PM by Mayu_Zane.)
(01-14-2019, 01:04 AM)gloomyMoron Wrote: »Our Cyber-warfare Specialists should focus on Region 1. We should prepare the bulk of our forces for probing/exploratory actions into Region 1. Better to keep our enemies on the defensive so they can't prepare more attacks, like what happened with Cadrow City. Carpenter will also be invaluable here. Our objectives are information gathering, to unbalance their defenses, and find a suitable place for a foothold.
Grenada should attack installations in Region 2. Semi-autonomously. We should know as little about what it is she plans to do as possible. Two or three of out Spec Ops units should outfit for sustained guerilla warfare. We then should make use of portals to make hard, fast hits at critical points in blitzkrieg -style. Those critical points can be calculated by our AI Allies. The goal would not to be to outright conquer Region 2 but to leave them with no real recourse but to surrender. Put strains on them between the military and the populace. Sow dissent. Our human spies could work wonders here. We need to change public perception in Region 2 in order to make continued production not only untenable but destabilizing. Our objectives here are precision strikes, minimal casualties (on both sides), and information control.
For Region 5... we should just maintain the border and maybe send 1 or 2 Spec Op squads to investigate stuff. If the Resistance in Region 5 needs help and asks for it, we should coordinate with them as much as possible. The goals here are basically maintaining the status quo unless we see an opportunity to affect meaningful advantages for minimal costs.
You order your Cyber-Warfare Specialists to devote more resources to monitoring any communications going in and out of Region 1. Carpenter, your Swiftback agent, is immediately assigned a task: Infiltrate Region 1 and get as much intel as possible.
He goes down planet-side to equip himself with captured enemy weapons and uniform, then uses a portal to arrive at the border between Region 1 and 2. He will inform you once he’s found anything noteworthy.
[[Agent in Region 1: Carpenter, Swiftback Infiltrator]]
Next, you order Grenda to strike deep into the heart of enemy territory in Region 2. The Operation to disrupt enemy activity in Region 2 has been assigned Operation Gadfly. She is given guidance by Feathers and Francoise with regards to how she will conduct Operation Gadfly. Though Grenda is a little annoyed by having her own judgement overridden, she complies and proceeds to attack designated targets.
Spec Ops Units 1 and 2 are sent into Region 5 for intel-gathering. You order them to report as soon as they find anything like hidden weapons or monsters. They faithfully obey.
WEEK 7 DAY 2
02 00 hours
You are awakened by Ghulls. You rush to the bridge, still in uniform. You’ve been so pre-occupied that you barely thought about changing your clothes.
Ghulls: Vora, we got an encrypted message from Agent Carpenter. It says:
“MISSILE LAUNCH. HUGE PAYLOAD. PREPARE FOR IMPACT IN REGION 3.”
You: A missile?!
Ghulls: A hidden silo in Region 1. Impact in six minutes. Weird thing is, we’ve checked the trajectory and it’s just going to hit in the middle of nowhere.
He shows you a map on screen.
![[Image: Kld68wB.jpg]](https://i.imgur.com/Kld68wB.jpg)
You: We should try to shoot it out of the sky. Send all aircraft to intercept!
Ghulls: Understood! All pilots, engage the missile!
Your pilots fly out to meet the missile, travelling to Region 3 at supersonic speed. Jesters, Reavers, Bloodprinces and Void Spheres travel as fast as they can. Streaker, one of the Bloodprince pilots, calls in.
Streaker: Commander, this is Streaker. Target in range, opening fire.
Your Reavers and Jesters blast the missile with everything they got. The outer shell, which had been obscuring the contents from your sensors, falls off.
![[Image: 3HP3eQP.jpg]](https://i.imgur.com/3HP3eQP.jpg)
Streaker: WHAT THE HELL?
Lagantis: Mechs!
Ghulls: Model unknown, can’t find anything like these things in the database!
Your aircraft intercept a radio message from one of the mechs. It sounds like someone reciting poetry:
“When the stars turn to steel
And Heaven pierces your gaze
Whose mercy do you plead?”
You: Fire everything you got at them!
The six mechs are shrugging off the missiles thrown at them. The armor is definitely taking impact, but they show no sign of real damage.
Only the Void Spheres are able to make any serious dents. However, it turns out the mechs have jetpacks and are taking evasive maneuvers, making it difficult for the Void Spheres to land solid hits.
Fortunately, a lucky hit to a jetpack takes one of the mechs out of commission, and falls to the ground covered in smoke. Five enemy mechs remain.
![[Image: Z2BlGjG.jpg]](https://i.imgur.com/Z2BlGjG.jpg)
Another radio transmission from a Paladin:
“Fortune smiles upon your efforts,
But fortune is never a friend.
Dare you tempt fate again?”
Feathers: Analyzing footage… designating enemy mech as ’Paladin Mech’. Extremely strong armor, equipped with jetpacks and eight laser cannons.
Streaker: Commander, our munitions aren’t having any real impact on their armor. Only the Void Spheres are doing serious damage. Should we return to base?
You: Jesters, Bloodprinces, Reavers, all of you disengage. Void Spheres, do your best!
Streaker: Understood, thank you Commander.
One of the Void Sphere pilots contacts you.
Death Egg: This is Death Egg. Enemy Paladins are separating. There are five of us and there are five of them. Should we engage one on one or all focus on one target?
Ghulls: Two of them are heading to Cadrow City. Another two are going to Gourdman. The last one is moving towards Mullville City.
A Paladin poem is heard over the radio:
“All roads lead to destiny.
A single seed into infinity.
Blood on your lands.”
Rainhar: What is it with these weird poems?
“We wanted limbs and mouths.
A fleeting, happy feeling,
Like a long-forgotten dream.”
Francoise: The mechs… they’re all driven by the same pilot. Another AI, like me and Feathers. Actually, it’s more like the Monash hovertank AI. A group of bodies networked together. This AI, it might just be having its own bit of fun with poetry.
Rainhar: Whatever it is, it’s annoying.
You: Is the AI receiving orders from Region 1?
Feathers: It’s definitely receiving signals, though we cannot decipher them.
What do you do? Do you order the Void Spheres to concentrate on one target? Split off into groups? Order ground troops to try engaging? Try to communicate with the Paladin AI? Get the CWS to try and hack a mech?
Keep in mind, that whatever kind of armor has been fitted onto these mechs, only the miniature black holes have been able to do more than dent the armor.
>_
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