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Celebration of Grand Admiral Prestor Hahn


Gjorhaan

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I, Gjor'haan, called as a disciple of Gjo'jaol, Darkness of Darkness, and Shor'ha, his servant; to The Collectors , to those that have been sanctified in Darkness, disciples by calling, with all who in every place call upon Gjo'jaol for strength, present the following account of ceremony:

 

We gather here to honor our fallen and give praise to Grand Admiral Prester Hahn for his devotion and service to Gjo'jaol. We have survived a fearsome assault with a heavy price. Before I describe events, I refer our faithful to the following passage of our faith:

 

Then Maraj the Devourer stood at the borderlands of the people of Shor'ja and incited Kloja, leader, to count his followers. “Go, number our followers, from Baruk to Chadwik, so that I may know how many to conscript.” Every head was counted and this number was but a tenth of Maraj's forces. Kloja bowed to the cauldron, "Gjo'jaol, we are heavily outnumbered. We count our faithful. Our failure to spread your divine word to the masses is reflected in our minority. Free our bonds eternal and cast our every soul into the cauldron, tainted by our sins!" The followers came to the cauldron, one by one, prepared for final attonement.

 

It was the Gjor'haan child who interrupted the ceremony and stood upon the alter, blind, arms raised and told his vision: "A time will come beyond this day where our faith is tested once again. A behemoth in the sky with a heavy shield! I have seen this: our numbers are few but our resolve is unfaltering. We will find victory in every desperate hour. This hour is the first of these. Gjo'jaol's plan for us is not complete. "

 

The followers were inspired by the blind child-prophet and turned back the armies of Maraj the Devourer with resounding victory. In celebration, the child Gjo'jaol was lifted up before his people and it was first said: "Here is a small child who has more faith in his smallest finger than all of us combined!""

--- GH:KX 12, First Devotion

 

 

The Collectors have sent sorrow upon us of late, many of our own people sacrificed to the Cauldron. In fact, I see now that Maraj the Devourer had returned, in the form of that behemoth I prophesized long ago. I present the following report from our senior field servant. All be praised to Gjo'jaol:

 

=====================================================

OOC: A GM report. Very nicely written, Pete.

 

 

After causing havoc elsewhere in the system, several mighty Collectors warships swing into orbit over Chadwik 10, disgorged nearly ten thousand small craft and engaged the Fury of Gjor'haan homeworld defenses in what turned out to be a clash of titanic forces.

 

Very heavily screened and backed up by a million-ton Base Station, one Star Cruiser, a Battle Cruiser and a bevy of Assault Corvettes and other support ships, the Fury defenses were nothing to laugh at. They boasted several thousand Strike Fighters of their own and were commanded by the venerable Grand Admiral Prestor Hahn, an experienced leader and veteran of countless skirmishes over his long and storied career. Bombardment Drones and Strike Fighters slipped from their launch racks and swarmed in a cascade of flickering lights. A lone Insight class Surface Outpost pounded away with its 10cm Autocannons while Gjor'haan Frigates and Corvettes stung at the hated enemy ships. The smaller Fury vessels tried desperately to close with the enemy cruisers and use their Light Plasma Hellbores and Gauss Guns to effect, but they were hounded by countless Collectors fighters.

 

There were only three attacking ships in all, but they were awesome in their own right. A single Nut Husker class Star Cruiser and a two million ton Squirrel Nest Attack Carrier flanked the magnificent Gilded Cage, fully 7.5 million tons and bristling with Light Shaker Beams and Light Sonic Disruptors. Heavily armored and boasting ten thousand Mk III Force Shields, the Gilded Cage had already created panic among the Fury populace. It was considered an invulnerable juggernaut of death, an awe-inspiring engine of destruction. And it was pounding away at the Gjor'haan ships, swatting them into oblivion with unstoppable firepower.

 

Grand Admiral Prestor observed in horror as the dreaded Gilded Cage swung about and unloaded everything it had into his beloved Shorja Volley class Battle Cruiser, a ship he had once commanded. The hapless vessel jerked once and then was torn apart into countless flinders of space debris by the mighty Cage's Shaker Beams. Nothing could withstand that beating except for his Shield of Gjojaol II Base Station, and even the Shield was not invincible, though it did pack 500,000 tons of Cordellium Composite armor plating. The enemy carrier died early, followed by the Nut Husker, but there was precious little point defense in the Fury fleet--the Collectors fighters kept coming, gathering about the Gilded Cage like a swarm of locusts.

 

It was a slugfest, a maelstorm of dead and dying ships, all focused on the destruction of the lone Collectors ship. Assault Corvettes, Frigates, even a late arriving three hundred thousand ton Fury transport - all were fed to the great furnace as the Cage swept its Shaker Beams about in a fan of obliteration. The Gjor'haan attacks took their toll, though, and finally their surviving ships began calling out successful strikes against the hulking Cage.

 

Sensing an opening, the Star Cruiser Shorja Battery, miraculously untouched throughout the engagement, moved in to point blank range and unloaded everything it had in a full broadside. Heavy Missiles, torpedoes, lasers and plasma hellbores slammed into the Gilded Cage and finished her with a blinding flash of raw power.

 

Collectors fighters were forced to ditch following the engagement, a victory for the defenders--but at what price?

=====================================================

 

I cannot imagine what this looked like for those of you on the ground. The Guilded Cage was a worthy adversary. It slaughtered many of our pilots this day, most notably our Shorja Volley Battle Cruiser and surface outpost. 1800 Strike fighters. 120 bombardment drones. Heroes were made of each pilot of the 140 plus corvettes lost absorbing the devastation from the Guilded Cage.

 

Our victory is evidence that the divine intervention of Gjo'jaol has manfested himself through the skills of our devout Grand Admiral Prestor Hahn. I honor him with the Sheath of Vaua, most revered artifact of our warrior lineage.

 

To those who call themselves The Collectors, we pray for your dead this day. There is great loss for both sides. We extend you a well-deserved second offering to accept Gjo'jaol as your protector.

 

Can Gjo'jaol's supremacy be denied in this hour?

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So, the Collectors just lost 10 Million tons of top of the line warship. Not to mention 10 Thousand small craft (another Million+ in fighters and drones). I would love to hear a response from the Collectors on this. That's gonna put a dent in the old budget, trying to rebuild.

 

As for my stories, I'll post some once I get some interesting battles. All of the battles since the big one with the Big V can be summed up thusly

 

-----------------------------------------------

 

Captain T'Cip of the Girru class cruiser Teserect Pride had just settled into her bunk, preparing for her rest period. Suddenly, she felt a slight shudder pass through the ship. While most beings wouldn't have noticed such a trivial event, her 120 cycles of space service had resulted in becoming very attuned to the noise and vibrations of a properly operating space vessel. She immediately palmed on a light and turned to her comm panel. "Bridge, this is the Captain."

 

"Bridge here Captain" responded Tr'vel, Commander of the Noctu shift, "To what do we owe the pleasure of your call"

 

"Commander, I just felt a momentary change in the ship. Is there anything on sensors?"

 

"No Captain." replid Tr'vel. "But we just did run the ship over another NSI Corvette. Perhaps you felt the debris from the Corvette impacting on the shields?".

 

"Yes Commander, that must be it" replied T'Cip, relief replacing the small amount of anxiety she had. "I'll be turning in now. Be sure to contact me if anything important occurs".

 

"Of course Captain. Pleasant Thoughts".

 

---------------------------------------

 

That's it .. turn after turn after turn of Million ton Cruisers encountering 3K ton Corvettes. Oh, and one 20K ton Auxillery ship. Of course, I do know where there is about 6M ton in NSI ships. Just need a little more tweaking of my fleet based on everything we've learned about battle so far. Then ... story time!

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Is this really a turn result report ?

That's great !!!!!

 

RTG Pete can become very detailed when typing up the battle report for some battles. Of course when there is a lot of fighting going on, he can't add much. But when he gets going, a gem can be produced. Here is one battle I fought back in early October:

 

Admiral Thrasius Severin Binger was shocked awake by the sound of klaxons when one of his Pup E's spotted a huge enemy force moving into Diocles via warp point. Every Pup E, supported by four heavily armored Pooch class Heavy Cruisers stationed directly on the warp point, sprang to engage the enemy. Dozens of Dog Meat class Corvettes, manned by brave but somewhat

suicidal loyalists, dove directly into the heart of the fight, screening their brethren with their very lives. At first, Admiral Binger was pleased. His Mongrel opened up with its batteries, and the Pooches poured coherent beam, projectile and plasma firepower into the first enemy ship to appear through the warp point. It was a Dahak, one of the hated 326,000 ton Concordium Frontier Cruisers that had been harrassing NSI shipping for so long. The Dahak disappeared under brutal fire, incinerated by P-Cannons fired by the Beagle, one of the Pooches. Another Dahak appeared, and another. They were streaming into Diocles, powerful vessels built for war. It was hard to tell what was showing up through that tiny distortion in space, as the flaming maelstrom of battle encompassed everything. Did something huge appear, or was it just another Dahak?

 

Now Dahak II's began to appear while Dog Meats and Pup E's perished in nuclear fireballs, chased down and blown into billions of pieces by swarming Concordium Light Drones. The invading Concordium ships suffered mightly, though. Admiral Binger's Pooches pounded the enemy ships one by one as they appeared, concentrating their firepower to deadly effect. Then something changed. The Pup E's and Dog Meats were gone. The Concordium fleet, battered and smashed almost beyond recognition, most of its Dahak and Dahak II's either gone or crippled, soon to die, rallied. Unthinkable firepower reached out from the center of the Concordium formation and vaporized one of the Pooches outright. Another Pooch was crippled, and then the last of the Concordium screening vessels, Frontier Cruisers one and all, perished. Smashed and reeling, Admiral Binger's Mongrel was destined to meet the furnace....when he saw the Concordium Vindicator class Battleship full on his display screens. The Concordium Commander, Vice Admiral Nelson, twitched his whiskers in anticipation as his Vindicator swiveled its port batteries to lock onto the NSI War Cruiser. Hundreds of P-Cannons and a Type B Plasma Torpedo were channeled into the doomed NSI ship at point blank range. The thunderous fire emanating from the Vindicator vaporized the War Cruiser with a hammerblow straight from hell. Three Pooches remained, hard to kill and determined to sink their teeth into the Vindicator. They died, but they died well. A good third of his Battleship was blasted into space by NSI P-Cannon gunners. Fires raged aboard his beloved flagship, and a Pooch almost managed to ram, but the Vindicator was surprisingly nimble and dodged out of the way. Turning to concentrate every remaining turret onto the last Pooch, it unleashed a full broadside and atomized the Pooch on the spot. Only the Vindicator remained, streaming atmosphere. Armor plates, engines, weapons, chunks of once-proud warships, clanged off of the brutalized outer hull of the Vindicator. Flotsam and jetsam, the wreckage of war, drifted about Nelson's ship. Victory? Diocles was his.

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OOC:

 

Is this really a turn result report ?

That's great !!!!!

 

Yes! Pete's descriptions were superb. The player running The Collectors has run a magnificent campaign thus far. I was very impressed with the design of the 'Guilded Cage' (aptly named) and am convinced that my homeworld defenses were spared by Cordellium and screens.

 

Two players have inquired about screen effectiveness: I cannot emphasize their value. I will not disclose the actual details of the battle out of respect for the player running The Collectors. The design of the 'Guilded Cage' was elegant and formidable. In my view, The Collectors deserve the exclusive right to share the detailed battle report with the rest of you.

 

I appreciate the kind words on my 'roleplaying' and encourage the same. A majority of my spare time is devoted to writing fiction and Live Action Role-Playing (Larping). In fact, I hope to escape Seattle to make GenCon in August.

 

I confess my monthly fixation of 'WKE' battle reports and 'MMB' sightings. I eagerly await my first encounter with the ancient GSL alliance or the Phoenix Arisen. Do Shar-tar's felines still seek alien prey? Where has the hilarious CaoCao gone? Does Queen Azuth still prepare her young for conflict? Has Locklyn abonded his Gremloids? Will Eternus revive the scattered Galactic Senate?

 

I've grown accustomed to several board personalities, ranging from the subtle genius of 'Lord Xaar', 'Hobknob' and 'Ur Lord Tedric' to the playfulness of 'Athonian', 'Krelnett' and 'Kurassier.' Will 'ali-t-akua' maintain his peaceful composure once in the throes of war? Will 'Kahless' eventually devour the HBOB for its incapacity to deliver Bloodwine? I've wrongly neglected the rest of you by name.

 

Kudos for making me ponder such things! I hope my 'noise' isn't so intrusive to offend those who strictly turn to the boards for game mechanics.

 

'Gjor'haan' will ramble in the spirit of PBM flavor, until a more worthy saviour can usurp him.

 

-- Erik

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OOC:

 

Is this really a turn result report ?

That's great !!!!!

 

............................................

 

Kudos for making me ponder such things! I hope my 'noise' isn't so intrusive to offend those who strictly turn to the boards for game mechanics.

 

'Gjor'haan' will ramble in the spirit of PBM flavor, until a more worthy saviour can usurp him.

 

-- Erik

 

OOC:

 

Erik - thanks for that - it's revitalisd my keeness in the game no end......

 

In the end, it's for reasons like this that I play.

 

And this is a game that can truly have the depth to underpin the politics and rhetoric...

 

Mark

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OOC:

 

Cheers, Mark

 

I hope that our empires can survive long enough for an in-game encounter. Gjor'haan would never promise flowers under the circumstances, but his creator would certainly offer you a beer if given the opporunity.

 

Glad to see that others are still enjoying the game as much as I am.

 

-- Erik

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