Black Cloud Destroyed, Silver Lining Revealed!

[BlendMeAnother]

Normally President <needs name> disliked the planetary news media reports. This report was one of the rare ones that made him smile.

 

“This is Bent Krockman with an important news flash… According to sources high up in the government an embarrassing defeat was thrust into the claws of the would-be invaders known as The Black Cloud. Details are classified but we can reveal that the BCL War Dreadnaught was completely obliterated by one of our own Festivous class Nova Dreadnaughts.

 

In related news, White Shadow Imperium forces were also stunned by the presence of a Festivous in high orbit. Three White Shadow Imperium troop transports joined the war dreadnaught in the agony of defeat as their mangled and pitted hulks entered the atmosphere and burned up in a fiery display.”

 

President <needs name> looked up from the holotank as his war advisor entered the room. Grand Admiral Larry accessed the main computer and called up the display. With a smile, Larry began the report.

 

“Mr. President, we cooked their scaly, pustule ridden butts! That 20 megaton war dreadnaught barely scratched our shields. The overwhelming firepower of the Festivous class completely burned through their estimated 10.75 billion shield points and incinerated that ship in a single salvo! We one-shotted them! Those witless pansies never even had an opportunity to hit the escape pods, there were no survivors. We were fortunate to salvage enough bits and pieces to give a fair analysis of their technology. Of course the 7.5 million tons of troop transports of the hapless White Shadow Imperium never stood a chance. Simply spectacular.”

 

The President gazed at Grand Admiral Larry for a moment then spoke. “Larry, I share your sentiment but you might wish to contain your joy just a bit. Remember, we did lose those ground bases in the last engagement. And aren’t there reports of an 81kt scout being overdue? It may have succumbed to recent action.”

 

Grand Admiral Larry looked chastised. “You're right Mr. President. But consider. In the three recent major engagements our losses amounted to less than 4 megatons of outdated equipment. In exchange, we’ve eliminated over 27 megatons of what must have been some of their most recent technology. Certainly their shields were on par with our Mk9 version and those weapons generated what amounts to 256 damage points per ton. Don’t forget the engines which we project will provide equivalent thrust at the next step of Total Conversion engine development. And the computer systems appeared to have some sort of neural interface with a holographic tank. We're close but cannot yet match their engine or computer tech levels. In addition to the naval forces annihilated, a major invasion force was decimated before it ever had a chance to besmirch our soil. Based on the chunks that remained freeze dried and in a relatively stable orbit, we estimate that they were able to pack in the equivalent of 252 division’s worth of troops in those weak transports. Truly a staggering loss by any standards.

 

The President allowed himself a grin. “Perhaps your jubilation is justified Larry. Maintain your forces in orbit as we put the new groundbases into operation. Continue with your plans for an offensive into Black Cloud and White Shadow space. It's time to take the battle to these pathetic creatures. Soon their population will toil in our mines and serve as feature attractions in our Imperial Zoo's."

[Jodookus]

Festivous? Sounds like you two had an airing of the grievances as well as the exhibition of feats of strength.

[BlendMeAnother]

Pathetic. That was all that President <needs name> could think. In the last two cycles, the Combined Forces were involved in twenty-two separate battles with The Black Cloud #3067 forces. Of those engagements, fully 1320 enemy ships had been reduced to subatomic particles at the cost of one Heavy Cruiser. Over sixteen million tons of ship and crew in exchange for less than 500k tons. Combined with earlier Black Cloud losses, that was over 36 megatons erased from the universe to date.

 

In addition, the fools have allowed us to find what appears to be a homeworld. Conclusive proof will be available next cycle when a thorough examination of planetary installations will be conducted. Is it the homeworld of the Black Cloud or merely a captured homeworld? Based on the incompetent way the defense was conducted, the President could not believe that the leader of an interstellar empire could fail so miserably. The world and it's defenses must be under local control and this must be a minor holding indeed. The real challenge has to be found in the future in other systems against credible forces.

 

Then again, what kind of leader would have instigated an interstellar war of aggression without the ability to prosecute it? That does appear to be the actions of a miscalculating bumbler. Perhaps this is the source of The Black Cloud after all. No matter, barring any sudden and unlikely instances of intelligence or ability, this world will shortly be in our possession.

[BlendMeAnother]

President Kris Kringle reviewed the Orbital Recon of planet one:

 

 

 

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

PopGroup Population Governing Empire

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

 

xxxxxx 656,209 The Black Cloud #3067 (A Swirling Black Cloud Enveloping The Galaxy)

> 48933 Advanced Industrial Complex(s), 33000 Advanced Stripmining Complex(s), 42 Antimatter Power Plant Complex(s),

> 1 Astronomical Observatory, 2020 Caldaran Crystal Mine(s), 1650 Chemical Refinery(s), 3499 Cloning Center(s),

> 10 Deep Core Surveyor(s), 1164 Fuel Distillation Complex(s), 6 Hydroelectric Power Plant(s), 1 Imperial Army Boot Camp,

> 1 Imperial Information Ministry, 1 Imperial Intelligence Service Complex, 1 Imperial Medical Center,

> 1 Imperial Museum, 1 Imperial Naval Academy, 1 Imperial Navy Military College, 1 Imperial Navy Training Base,

> 1 Imperial Palace, 1 Imperial Port Authority Complex, 1 Imperial Science Center, 1 Imperial Science Institute,

> 1 Imperial Science Lab, 1 Imperial Science Outpost, 1 Imperial Science Station, 1 Imperial Zoo,

> 29915 Improved Industrial Complex(s), 36415 Improved Stripmining Complex(s), 415780 Industrial Complex(s),

> 3915 Iron Mine(s), 2675 Light Metals Mine(s), 33 Linear Accelerator(s), 2890 Lumber Mill(s), 1 Naval Gunnery Range,

> 1805 Orbital Crystal Refinery(s), 155 Petrochemical Refinery(s), 600 Provincial Capitol Administration Center(s),

> 10 Science Center(s), 6 Science Institute(s), 14 Science Lab(s), 16 Science Outpost(s), 1 Science Station,

> 2720 Shipyard(s), 1 Shrine, 1 Top Gun School

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

xxxxxx 3 Galvorn Protectorate #1050 (Silver Trident Upright On Ebony Field)

> 1 Cloning Center, 1 Wormhole Generator

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

 

 

A reasonably advanced HW for certain. But who were the Galvorn Protectorate? Why did they have a colony on the HW of The Black Cloud? Were the Galvorn related in any way to the White Shadow Imperium, known ally of the BCL? And what's at the other end of that Stable Wormhole Station?

 

Another point of interest for President Kringle were the 2720 Shipyards listed in the report. Assuming BCL shipyards have an output similar to ours, that would mean BCL is able to launch 27,200,000 tons of shipping maximum. That explains the doomed Mover class Star Dreadnaught, discovered in orbit around planet 1. At 32,470,000 tons, it must have been under construction last cycle and unavailable to participate in the debacle that BCL suffered at that time. A shame the green and timid crew was saddled with such a poorly designed ship. The estimated 2103 Siege Tachyon Blasters provided formidable striking power but the relative lack of shielding at 1.5 Billion points doomed the ship from inception. It packed a punch but due to the lack of shielding had little opportunity to strike before being transformed into scorched debris. At least ship and crew were afforded the opportunity to rejoin the planet of their birth (screaming through the atmosphere at ionizing rates of speed). It was fortunate for us that their forces crumble so easily, I'm sure none of our admirals are complaining. It will be interesting to see how well our generals handle their part of the operation.

[Unit Prime]

Academician S'nore pored another cup of tien while glancing at the Galactic News and intelligence reports for the day. Finally a detailed

account on the most recent battle between the allied forces of "Coconutheads" and "Blend Me Another" against their hated enemies

"The Black Cloud". Battle details are always hard to obtain in this atmosphere of distrust and secrecy. This just made S'nores job

harder in finding examples for his fleet cadet students at the academy. Thankfully there had been spies on the Black Cloud home world

who were well placed to gain the top secret after action reports.

 

This was shaping up to be an excellent example for his young students. At first glance the allies should have made short work of

Black Cloud. The allied fleet of 260 million tons far out weighed the Black Cloud force of 171 million tons. Both sides were using the

most advanced armor and shields available as well as 9th generation weapons. On paper the Blend Me Another NDN Festivous was a

formidable ship with 93.75 billion shield output and 14 billion weapon damage output. The key issue was in the overall ship & fleet

design philosophy between the two sides. The allies had a fleet of four ships (two warships of the Festivous class), a troop transport and

a tanker. Black Cloud's fleet had a couple medium sized surface fortresses, two Nova Dreadnoughts, a Star Dreadnought and some 1100

swarm/ghost ships.

 

This is where S'nores brighter students would get a chance to demonstrate in class their understanding of the impact of technology on

fleet tactics. The brighter students would quickly identify the problem with the allied fleet, it had no advanced C-in-C systems. Neither

the Coconutheads nor the Blend Me Another ships contained computers, Holographic displays, communication gear, Fleet sensors, Fire

control, Flag Bridge, Aux Bridge or Gestalt Awareness equipment. Instead the allied fleet relied on 10 flag rated officers to identify and

evaluate potential targets as well as managing the basic flow of the battle. S'nore could only imagine the frantic efforts of those officers

to understand the battle while Black Cloud forces fired chaff, decoys and sensor ghosts to confuse the allied targeting. Black

 

No wonder Black Cloud losses were less than 1/2 million tons of decoys and ghost stations while the entire allied fleet was destroyed.

Certainly Black Cloud tacticians and naval architects had shown a clear understanding of the requirements of fleet combat. Unfortunately,

the allies had been handed a painful lesson. One made all the more painful with the inclusion of the "Coconutheads" troop ship

with the initial fleet attack. It's one thing to lose a battle fleet. Still another to lose 200+ divisions because you haven't done a

proper recon of the target.

 

Yes, there was a wealth of course material here. There might still be time to set up a holo game of the two sides before the afternoon

class. Nothing like a pop quiz based on current events to wake up the backrow.

 

 

 

Coconutheads # 105 (+12 [Leaders * Lifeform]) -----

 

Blend Me Another #4416 (+17 [Leaders * Lifeform]) -----

Total tonnage: 260,607,900.....Base Fire Control: 1 [0 bridge]

Total tonnage: 171,879,013.....Base Fire Control: 8 [1,537,171,000 bridge]

 

 

 

Coconutheads # 105 [Palm Tree On Field Of Blue]

 

 

 

Fleet 2004 [ROE: R] *Column Attack* (Fleet Tonnage: 37,482,900)

[Deploy Location 7] 1 SDN Your Unconditional Surrender Please (Star Dreadnaught - 37,482,900 tons [each])

<4 Colonial Settler>--<2 Combat Engineer>--<3 EW>--<5,830,598 Fuel>--<3 Guerrilla>

<4 Imperial Army Air Force>--<4 Imperial Army Armor>--<6 Imperial Army Artillery>

<6 Imperial Army Heavy Air Defense>--<4 Imperial Army Heavy Armor>--<4 Imperial Army Heavy Artillery> <5 Imperial Army Heavy Infantry>--

<1 Imperial Army Infantry>--<3 Imperial Army Mechanized Infantry> <4 Imperial Army Special Forces>--<4 Imperial Army Strategic Bomber>--

<6 Imperial Guards Air Force> <4 Imperial Guards Armor>--<5 Imperial Guards Artillery>--<41 Imperial Guards Heavy Air Defense>

<6 Imperial Guards Heavy Armor>--<8 Imperial Guards Heavy Artillery>--<5 Imperial Guards Heavy Infantry> <4 Imperial Guards Infantry>--

<5 Imperial Guards Security>--<6 Imperial Guards Special Forces> <6 Imperial Guards Strategic Bomber>--<1 Imperial Marines Air

Force>--<5 Imperial Marines Armor> <4 Imperial Marines Heavy Infantry>--<4 Imperial Marines Infantry>--<6 Imperial Marines Raiders>

<4 Imperial Marines Special Forces>--<6 Intelligence>--<3 Medical>--<4 NBC>--<3 Security> <1 Space Defense>--<25 Transport>

 

 

**DESTROYED** [553rd] NDN Festivous (Nova Dreadnaught - 100,000,000

tons) [integrity: 0 / 88,010,000] [shields: 0 /93,750,000,000] (Green, Reliable)

10,000 Cargo Bay, 9,960,000 Fuel Tankage, 25,000 Mk I Total Conversion

Engine, 1 Mk IV Jump Survey Sensor

375,000 Mk IX Force Shield, 1 Nuclear Transwarp Drive, 4,000 Type D

Disintegrator

Energy Disruptor: 7,040,000,153, Matter Disruptor: 7,040,000,153

Maneuverability: 64.00, Missile Defense: 50.00 %

 

 

 

**DESTROYED** [319th] NDN Festivous (Nova Dreadnaught - 100,000,000

tons) [integrity: 0 / 88,010,000] [shields: 0 /93,750,000,000] (Green, Reliable)

 

 

**DESTROYED** [437th] SDN Your Unconditional Surrender Please (Star

Dreadnaught - 37,482,900 tons) [integrity: 0 /

27,708,580] [shields: 0 / 35,937,500,000] (Green, Timid)

55,000 Cargo Bay, 10 Drone Rack, 641 Fuel Shuttle, 8,200,000 Fuel

Tankage, 37,483 Mk IV Antimatter Engine

1 Mk IV Jump Survey Sensor, 143,750 Mk IX Force Shield, 10,500 Mk VI

Standoff Missile, 1 Nuclear Transwarp Drive

219 Troop Berthing

Missile: 1,075,200,000

Maneuverability: 64.00, Missile Defense: 50.00 %

 

**DESTROYED** [407th] STA Big Gulp (Star Tanker - 23,125,000 tons)

[integrity: 0 / 12,032,000] [shields: 0 /

19,250,000,000] (Green, Reliable)

4,000 Fuel Shuttle, 10,000,000 Fuel Tankage, 26,825 Mk III Antimatter

Engine, 1 Mk IV Jump Survey Sensor

77,000 Mk IX Force Shield, 1 Nuclear Transwarp Drive, 25 Type D Disintegrator

Energy Disruptor: 44,000,001, Matter Disruptor: 44,000,001

Maneuverability: 37.12, Missile Defense: 50.00 %

 

 

java script:emoticon('',%20'smid_16')

[cestvel]

ouch!

 

But it worked out in the end, didn't it?

 

And he had really only 6000 Mk IX Force Shields on his Star Dreadnaught`?