Terra Invicta (Diary of a madman)

Introduction

I remember when it all started… (it seems like centuries ago). I remember a crystal clear winter night... and gazing up at the endless stars. It seemed to me that I could just reach out and touch them… gather them in my arms and claim them as my own.

A desire was born in me that day, a burning passion that lived in me… like a violence contained…those stars, they would be mine, they had to be mine…nothing could stop me.

This was no idle wish or fanciful boast, (if only it were)…I joined our fledgling military as soon as I reached age and devoted myself wholeheartedly. While others partied, I drilled, while others dated and fell in love, I studied and focused even more on my career.

The years passed and promotion followed promotion, until at last, I was in a position to overthrow the civilian government and take control of humanity as an absolute despot.

I am Gaius Ezekiel Nash… and this is my story.

I wish I could tell you that it’s a story of human achievement and enlightenment. A story of mankind rising up and forsaking his predatory nature as he ascended new heights… but it isn’t.

Instead, it’s the story of a galactic bloodbath, a story of destruction, on a scale that cannot be imagined. A story of a possessed madman who brought nothing to the galaxy save sorrow, despair and ruin…

My story…

Gaius Ezekiel Nash.

 

Prologue

An entire world with all that implies, was now at my command. The sheer power alone would have destroyed a lesser man and corrupted him beyond recognition. Oh you may think that I was some ham-fisted tyrant… but I was far too clever for that. All the trappings of democracy were kept intact and indeed one of my first initiatives was to root out corruption wherever it was found. Those who were corrupt and incompetent were publicly prosecuted in grand spectacles, while those who were corrupt but competent were quietly re-assigned to new areas of responsibility after a little “chat”. This initiative served me well, the public at large felt that I was on their side, in reality I was just removing all that stood in the way of efficiency and tightened control.

The scientific community feared me the most, expecting persecution, they received instead un-heard of sums for research and all the auxiliary support I could muster. While all the disciplines received an increased budget, it was those working in two areas that got the lion’s share of government funds. Those working on propulsion techniques and F.T.L. solutions were one group, and those working on an anti-thanatic program were the other. The public only knew of one these efforts, the other never officially existed.

It wasn’t long before the second group made a breakthrough, a prototype drug designed to arrest the aging process and trigger the ability for partial tissue re-generation. They warned me that the drug was not complete…they warned me about possible psychosis and other unknown side-effects…but I did not listen, I could not listen. I was dying you see, a wasting disease that slowly robbed me of vitality and would eventually rob me of life itself. I gathered enough of the existing drug to live hundreds of years and arranged to have every single individual involved in the project killed in a “tragic accident”. I could not be stopped from my birthright, I would not be stopped.

Eventually the other group achieved their breakthrough as well and a prototype F.T.L. Drive was successfully tested. The public was wild with euphoria and excitement…only I alone understood the implications however…

Where the public was optimistic, I felt utter dread and fear because I knew, I knew they were out there, waiting in the darkness and hiding in the shadows like the hideous monsters of our nightmares… waiting to strike us down…

 

The Curtain Rises

“GAI-US! GAI-US! GAI-US!”… ahh, my heart still swells with pride when I remember that day. The crowds were ecstatic as they chanted my name… it was the un-veiling of the T.S.S. Sparrow and T.S.S Robin, the first two human ships capable of travel in interstellar space… it was the genesis of a new era.

Yes, the people were happy, the media was drooling, and the scientific community pleased with themselves… I on the other hand was not. These ships were crude and I could not see how they could be effective in combat if needed. Later that night, I gathered my closest advisors and demanded they come up with something more. Over their objections, I commissioned a new class of ship and directed that 50% of our production be dedicated to constructing the first of this class.

At the same time there was no reason to not take advantage of the Sparrow and Robin, and so, I sent them to some nearby systems for some reconnaissance work. Granted they lacked effective technology to truly explore these systems, but at least they could provide basic information thereby allowing us to determine where to focus our deep exploration efforts.

As for the scientific community… they were immediately tasked with discovering new colonization technologies that would allow us to settle the Huge desert world within our own system. Upon completion, they were to then focus on a number of basic technologies spread across a broad spectrum of disciplines.

It was indeed a new era. An era full of promise and unknown possibilities, both for achieving new heights… or descending to un-fathomable depths.

 

First Contact

Within a few short years, (filled by a whirlwind of events)… my worst fears were realized, we made contact with an Alien species.

But I get ahead of myself.

I had come to terms with two talented individuals, the very well-known Sophia Santini, who was given the governorship of Terra, and a promising young officer named Anthony Yang. Lieutenant Yang was given command of the T.S.S. Robin along with a newly acquired survey ship and tasked with the rapid exploration of all nearby systems. To his credit, Anthony made a lucrative discovery at Ra which yielded a small fortune to our treasury, (it was this action in fact that allowed me to come to terms with Governor Santini).

Sophia for her part accelerated the production of our newly established colony at Terra III, while also insuring that our first Destroyer, the T.S.S. Viper, was completed ahead of schedule… I was pleased, but the feeling was fleeting.

Within what seems like moments, we soon encountered the Draguul. My people experienced mixed emotions from this event, some were happy, others apprehensive, and as always, my scientists fascinated…I… I was revolted. I felt the same revulsion that any sane man feels when un-expectedly encountering a large snake. My blood froze.

We were caught un-aware and un-prepared. Our technology was still in infancy and we knew nothing about them save that they were considerably more advanced than we.

I quickly ordered the Viper and Sparrow to Pliopos at the very edge of our logistical range with orders to observe, possibly deny the system to the Draguul, but under no circumstances engage them in combat. We simply weren’t ready for this, and with our production geared towards an outpost ship, (to take advantage of some recently discovered Helium-3), it would be a long time before we could build more warships and augment our fleet.

My scientists were asked to finish their research on missile and shield technology, after that, I insisted they focus on facilities to aid the training of our troops, followed by a focus on our economy.

This was a delicate time for us and discretion seemed the better part of valor, I thought it best to lay low for the time being, lest we be annihilated before we even made a mark in history as a space faring race.

 

Wonders and Demons

We had been in space for a while by now… and nothing could have prepared us for the reality of it all.

More ancient Ruins were discovered at Acrail, and hidden deep within the structures, we discovered the Chaos chain, an ancient weapon of untold power. I wondered then who had built such a device, where did they come from, and more importantly, what became of them.

We heard fantastic rumors and stories of huge space borne entities orbiting around stars… hostile entities, but they were the least of my worries. Soon enough, my nightmares became reality.

A second alien species was encountered, the Moltar, yet I alone realized the truth. These were no aliens, these were the very demons of hell, inhabiting a world that would burn you and I to a crisp in an instant if we landed on it un-protected. Imagine my horror and my loathing, imagine my fear.

To the south of us we had the serpent and to the west we faced the lords of perdition itself, but I kept my cool, my facade. Envoys were sent to the Draguul and we established a trade treaty, we needed time to prepare. At one point it seemed as if it was for naught as a Draguul fleet arrived at our outpost around Pliopos. I ordered my fleet there to not open fire but defend itself if attacked. Luckily, we had a sizable squadron there of 2 Destroyers and 2 Frigates. The Draguul did not attack and withdrew their forces a short while later.

It was a close call this, we couldn’t afford to go to war just yet… but the time would come…oh yes it would come soon enough, but on my terms not theirs.

I diverted our research teams to explore colonization of Ice worlds, there was a huge one at Gri, and I needed to establish a perimeter against the new threat. Research was a constant headache now, there was so much we needed, yet every effort not directed towards military ends could have easily spelled disaster.

At least, another fine officer was added to my staff when I came to terms with Gaelen Ruiz, a talented General. I quickly gave him command of the fleet at Pliopos and slept just a little easier at night because of it.

 

The perfect neighbor

We colonized Gri soon enough, and after that another ice world at Abreay… we continued exploring the space in our section of the galaxy and found many more ruins, monsters and hidden systems that yielded precious resources.

All the while we kept friendly relations with the hideous Aliens and maintained trade treaties with both of them, yet each passing day I suffered their existence was pure torment… but it had to be done you see, there was no choice.

My scientists continued their frantic research, they focused on improved drives, better shielding, advanced weaponry, military installations… and even found time to give us some precious tech in Planetary engineering and construction techniques. Soon, we were improving our existing worlds, and mighty support ships accelerated the development of strategic systems.

Cyrus Olken also joined our cause, and I now had three excellent fleet officers at my disposal… some Aliens also offered their services… did they think me a fool? Spies and saboteurs no doubt, I turned them all away and only regret not executing them on the spot.

And so we continued our development but always kept a strong military presence on our borders.. The peace held, and for the time being, we were the perfect neighbor.

 

First Strike

Decades! Two decades had passed since the day I took control of Terra and I was finally ready. Our Republic now claimed over 25% of our dwarf galaxy and had colonies in half a dozen systems as well as outposts in many more.

Our fleet had also grown, numbering over 20 vessels, with most of those being 2nd and 3rd generation combat vessels. We had by this time, 3 Cruisers, 6 Destroyers and 9 Frigates on-line, along with a survey ship, an assault ship and a support vessel. Many additional vessels were queued for further construction.

Our population had grown to over 29 billion souls and our first star base was operational, other star bases under construction would be completed soon. (We also had managed to accumulate a huge surplus in our treasury, this surplus would come in quite handy in the times ahead as our traditional support services were in-adequate for sustaining our forces).

Despite the strenuous objections of my closest advisors, I deemed the time was right to strike the abominations posing as aliens, I had tolerated them long enough, and I would tolerate them no longer.

Without hesitation, (or warning), I decided to strike them both across a broad front, at the same exact time. Our ships were now equipped with Anti-mater drives, meaning that I could easily shift forces or strike deep as needed, so I formed a plan and put it into action.

The newly minted General Yang, aboard the cruiser “Desdemona” would strike deep into Draguul space and attack the system at Reclusia. Accompanying the Desdemona would be the Destroyer “Cobra” and the Frigates “Sparrow” and “Wasp”. This Group would perform a classic reconnaissance in force and take any opportunity to damage the Draguul there.

General Ruiz, aboard the Cruiser “Caterineta”, along with the Destroyer “Viper” and the Frigates “Kite” and “Hawk” would Strike at Bri. His mission was two-fold. First he was to destroy the 3 Draguul Frigates detected at Bri and second, he was to blockade the system until our assault ships arrived to execute a ground invasion. This mission was harder as Ruiz would have to hold the system against any counter-attack, but if anyone could do it, it was Gaelen Ruiz.

Finally, General Olken aboard the Cruiser “Arianna”, along with the Destroyer “Python” and the Frigates “Robin” and “Eagle” would strike at the Moltar. His mission was to attack the outpost at Drid, destroy the lone Moltar Frigate detected there, and take the Outpost for the Terran Republic. By doing this, Olken would safeguard our borders and expose the Moltar territory to follow up attacks. This mission was also risky as Olken, unlike Ruiz and Yang, could count on little support if things went badly. But I knew Olken personally, not only was he a capable commander, he was quite possibly the luckiest human I had ever met, I had faith in him.

It was an ambitious plan, one that opened a two-front war and was sure to enrage my enemies… and there would be no going back. But for the first time in years I felt elated as I knew that it if this plan was executed correctly, the alien fiends would never recover from my first strike.

 

Flawed Victories

I was calm and collected, the perfect image of confidence and efficiency as the battle reports started to come in, but on the inside I felt like I had eaten a thousand live fire-ants.

General Yang arrived at Reclusia and found a Draguul Destroyer and 3 Frigates in orbit around the planet. He engaged the enemy and destroyed 2 Frigates and the single Destroyer before the remaining ship made good its escape. Throughout the battle there was a constant theme, our direct fire weapons, (particularly kinetics) were un-able to lock on to the enemy vessels and it was only the barrage of missile fire that managed to defeat the Draguul there. With the Battle complete, General Yang strafed the planet and managed to cripple the colony. I sent follow up orders to the task force instructing them to destroy the colony before falling back to Acrail V. While in orbit around Reclusia, my forces detected several Draguul vessels massed at Truac, including two Battleships.

In the meantime Ruiz had arrived at Bri and managed to sweep the three enemy Frigates there, destroying them to the last. His task force then proceeded to blockade the system with instructions to hold it until our assault ships could arrive. Unfortunately, due to a mix up in orders, those assault ships would take a while to arrive. This task force also reported problems with their direct fire weapons and I was beginning to get angry.

Finally, Olken and his group arrived at Drid but the lone Moltar Frigate there escaped as the Cruiser “Arianna” was unable to lock on to the enemy ship with her long range weaponry. Olkens’ marines quickly captured the enemy base and were then instructed to follow up with rapid attack on the Moltar colony at Udun. This was to be a hit and run mission as our priority was to hold the base at Drid, to this effect, the Destroyer “Anaconda” and the Frigate “Snipe” were dispatched from Gri to augment the defenses there.

One enemy Destroyer and five Frigates had been destroyed with no losses on our part, my advisors were ecstatic… I on the other hand was enraged.

Later that day, I called a meeting with my advisors and the director of weapons research, I demanded to know why our direct fire weapons were so in-effective. The director began to offer some techno-babble explanations about limits, training, ranges, etc… the more she spoke, the more I heard the proverbial nails scratching a blackboard. Then… (I’m not sure how it happened)… all of a sudden my side-arm was in my hand and pointed directly at where her head used to be.

Later that night I slept poorly, perhaps not at all as I pondered and considered the scrapping of our survey ship, cannibalizing the parts and re-assigning the crew. The next day I declared martial law and made it perfectly understood that there would be no tolerance in the future for any more flawed victories.

 

Courting disaster

Anthony Yang destroyed the Draguul colony at Reclusia and rapidly fell back to his base at Acrail V. His retrograde movement allowed me to shift forces like a grand-master on a chess-board. The garrison at Acrail V, (consisting of one Destroyer and one Frigate), was sent to Pliopos while the current garrison there, (also consisting of one Destroyer and one Frigate), was sent to fortify our outpost at Drirs. These actions ensured that our entire southern front was covered by a contiguous line of forces.

Gaelen sustained his blockade of Dri as his assault ships had yet to arrive. I hated having him locked down like that and I suppose he was none too happy either, he was a man of action who lived for the battle most cruel. Yet… his mission was critical, Dri had to be taken, and it had to be taken intact. I couldn’t risk someone else commanding this mission. (Indeed, rumors had started to surface that Yang had sympathies for the Aliens, he would be watched closely from now on)

But it was at Udun where things started to go badly. Olken arrived there with his task force to engage two Moltar Frigates… and they almost tore the “Arianna” apart. As usual, our direct fire weapons were proving useless… the Aliens however had no such problems. Olken’s group targeted the enemy with missiles but their shielding was highly advanced and the two enemy Frigates concentrated their fire power effectively. By the time the battle ended, one enemy Frigate had been destroyed and the “Arianna” was a wreck, indeed it was a miracle that she wasn’t lost. Olken bombarded the planet afterwards and destroyed it, after which he and the crippled “Arianna” fell back to their base at Drid.

My advisors had grown pale by now, fear clearly etched on their faces… I ignored their presence, as if they did not exist or matter in the slightest.

I calmly issued new orders for all groups to hold their designated positions and refrain from offensive actions until further notice, I had to solve the puzzle of the lack of support for our combat forces and their ineffective direct fire weapons, and I had to do it fast, to do otherwise would have been foolish, it would have been courting disaster.

 

Testing ground

Once our assault ships arrived at Bri, Ruiz was ready to proceed. A few surgical bombing strikes against the enemy forces there insured that the Ground invasion went smoothly and the colony was taken largely intact. The situation now had improved dramatically.

First, we salvaged Planetary Deflector technology from the Draguul and also expanded our ship support capabilities to a reasonable level. At the same time, our own scientists made an early breakthrough and we gained the Improved Targeting Algorithm tech. The combination of these factors meant that, (theoretically), our direct fire weapon issues were addressed. It also meant that the Draguul homeworld was now in range of our forces, an idea came to me then… an idea that was pure genius.

We would test the effects of these factors in real combat. At the same time, we would regain the initiative against our enemies and strike terror into them. But the most important, most vital test would be one Mr. Yang. It was time to see where the young man’s loyalties lay.

His task force was reinforced and now swollen to seven ships, the Cruiser Desdemona, the Destroyers Viper, Cobra and Raptor, along with the Frigates Sparrow, Hawk and Wasp. Their mission was to raid Lau and cause as much destruction as possible before returning to their base at Acrail V.

Yes… the more I thought about it… the more I liked it… Lau would be the perfect testing ground.

 

The battle at Lau

I never really knew my own family, an accident of fate I suppose, in a sense, the only real family I ever had was the military. So when the “Raptor” was destroyed at the battle at Lau, they weren’t just some statistics to me or faceless soldiers… they were my brothers and sisters that were hurled into the black when the bulkheads exploded… I knew many of them by name.

Oh the battle was a victory, Yang faced off against a large enemy force consisting of one Battleship, two Destroyers and three Frigates, supported by a Battle-station. To his credit, young Anthony crushed them while suffering only a single loss… the Raptor.

After clearing the enemy forces, Yang strafed the planet and caused considerable damage, however, a larger enemy fleet was detected nearby at Truac and he wisely withdrew his task force from so deep in enemy space.

As for me, I fell into a morbid depression afterwards… a melancholy sadness that I could not shake, and so, I ordered our forces to take a defensive stance across all fronts. I withdrew into myself and mourned the poor doomed Raptor, lost at the battle at Lau.

 

Fury unleashed

Depression is a strange emotion, leave it in place long enough, and it can turn to anger. Leave anger in place long enough… and it can easily become hate.

Up until now, I was repulsed by the aliens… and yes, perhaps even feared them, but after the loss of the “Raptor”, all that changed. The only thing I felt for them now was hate, not any ordinary kind of hate… oh no, this was a hate that re-defined the very word. I vowed to avenge the Raptor… (the crew haunted me in my dreams, I woke at nights screaming as I heard their voices, “help us Gaius… help us father”).

I would make them pay! For every one of mine they took, I would take a million of theirs, I would eradicate them to the last.

Yang had re-grouped at Acrail and the Destroyer “Stingray” had been sent to bring his fleet up to strength. His group was now well on its way to the Draguul stronghold at Truac where a large enemy fleet consisting of 2 Battleships and assorted smaller vessels was detected. His instructions were simple, destroy everything!

Olken was also on the move, his group, centered around the Cruiser Arriana was now in striking distance of the Moltar colony at Eluna. Light forces were detected there, just three Frigates, but the hope was that he would draw more Moltar ships to that world and destroy them.

This was no longer about conquering territory, mass destruction was my only goal… that, and giving the fiends a taste of fury unleashed.

 

A quick briefing

Hi all, a quick briefing for you as it's going to be relevant to what you will be seeing soon. I'm switching over to auto-resolve battles from this point on, allow me to explain.

Right now, it is, (to use a colloquialism), like shooting fish in a barrel. I, and any other veteran of ISG, know full well how to use weapons mods and execute good tactical strategy in manual battle, the AI is not programmed to do either of these things at this stage of development, that will be coming sometime in the near future.

The thing is, there are two issues here. One, I'm enjoying telling the story of a my psycho character and two, I want to add some randomness to the outcome of the battles as it may give us all a better idea of what we can expect down the road.

For example, right now, my ships all have heavy mount direct fire weapons as well as missiles, (yeah I know, me and my missiles). That means that in battle, the AI tries to maneuver close to me while I pound away at it from long range and it can't fire back. By the time it gets in range to fire its own direct fire weapons it is already weakened if not crippled. I guarantee you this will not be the case once the AI goes from 1/3 to 2/3 or more.

So basically, I want to get a feel of what those contests will be like, when losses mount for the player and it isn't such a one sided affair.

Next episode by the way, will be very aptly named Victory and Defeat, it seems old Gaius isn't going to be too happy.

See you all later

 

Good to see you @Finestra you've been missed.

Well if you were following this, I ended it soon after this point. I went auto-resolve in the last stages, and while I took some casualties, it was already to late for the AIs. Luckily, I didn't see anything fundamentally wrong wit the AI, for this early stage it did well in developing itself. Once it can use ship mods, and is fine tuned behavior wise, it should be quite potent.

Glad to have you back... good timing by the way, the next release should be even more fleshed out and immersive with lots of cool new stuff to discover, I can hardly wait to try it.