[SG2] Battle Report - Iron Empires Part 1

Iron Empires and all data contained regarding it, excluding the
narrative at
the end of this message are Copyright Christopher Moeller & Dark Horse
Comics.

THE EMPIRES

The IRON EMPIRES consist of 8 tiny interstellar nations which cluster at
the
heart of the long-dead HUMAN FEDERATION.  The Federation once controlled
a
vast volume of space, containing several millions of worlds.  The Iron
Empires, last vestiges of that mighty nation, control less than 10,000
worlds.

SCIENCE in the Iron Empires is devolving.  The occupation of science is
to
uncover the secrets of the past, rather than press ahead into the
future.  A
medieval rather than a renaissance view of the universe.  The "Golden
Age"
of humanity is seen as long gone, and those shreds of wisdom which
moulder
in the archives must be preserved and studied.	A strong social stigma
exists in Academia against direct experimentation.  Like Plato, they see
science as a mystical and theoretical exercise, removed from the dirt
and
squalor of the physical world.

MILITARY TECHNOLOGY in the Empires varies quite a bit from world to
world.
There are a number of weapon/armor/detection devices used, ranging in
technological sophistication from bullet-firing side arms to lasers and
particle weapons.  One of the most romantic technologies, particularly
among
the nobility is Mechanized Armor (or IRON).  This is a powered
semi-robotic
suit of armor which can turn a simple infantryman into a metal
juggernaut of
destruction.  In the Empires, with their aristocratic fixation, Iron is
the
noble's priapic badge of office.

The Nobles justify and enforce their existence by monopolizing military
command.  Their heroic mandate is "to protect the helpless with our
bodies."
More often then not it is the bodies of the common folk that strew the
fields of battle, but the myth endures, the separation of the nobility
from
the masses.

Two distinctly military peerages have evolved over time:  the Peers of
the
Hammer (whose realm of action is in space) and the Peers of the Anvil
(whose
realm of action is on worlds).	Most major nobles are FORGED, meaning
they
are members of both peerages.  Forged military units, combining both
Anvil
and Hammer elements, are common in the Empires, where the nobles are
jealous
of their privileges.  Fleets are often haphazard masses of these forged
units, with hundreds of independent commanders knit together by bonds of
personal fealty.  Although separate military arms would prove more
efficient
(i.e. a single Imperial Navy or Army), the centralization of power
required
for such a system is non-existent in the Iron Empires.

THE ENEMY

Humanity is the most obvious plague infecting the Empires.  Fearful and
tribal, the people of the Empires are in a constant ferment of
internecine
warfare and conflict.  Unity is a rare and short-lived commodity.
Outraiders, organized bands of brigands, plague the near drift, while
mercenary Shivakahn companies sell their services to the highest bidder
and
revert to brigandage while between jobs.

The parasitic Vaylen are humanity's greatest external threat.  They have
been conquering human worlds at a steady pace for the last thousand
years or
so.  A race of parasites, they're a cross between slugs and eels,
unsavory
but harmless in their natural state.  They take on more sinister
dimensions
when they come in contact with another creature's central nervous system
(particularly with the brain).	The Vaylen secrete an electrically
conductive resin with which they control the nervous systems of much
larger
creatures, effectively short-circuiting the "will" of their host. 
Vaylen
farm-worlds have become the concentration camps of the age, where people
are
harvested as hosts to their overlords.

NARRATIVE:

    Being a forged unit, the first company were always considered to be
the
best that Torrell could field.	That was until the the new Cotar
arrived.
He was a different breed of man.  He didn't play by the normal rules
that
the other Cotars had played with.  No, this man was different indeed. 
He
challenged the position of the Dragutai, and he had the ear of the high
priest.  Things were going to be different with him in charge of the
armed
forces on Torrell...

    The new Cotar had the division in the field conducting live fire
exercises within a week of his arrival.  He didn't care that the fuel
cells
and ammunition were horribly expensive; we went through them like they
were
water in our canteens.	The Cotar had also brought his own soldiers with
him.  They were drilling the first company like they hadn't even been to
boot.
    The Cotar's troops were tough.  They even had a Kerrn in their
midst.
He was a big brute lizard man like thing.  He talked strangely too.  So
we
were drilling in the mountains about five kilometers from the Mundas
temple.
We had humped halfway up the hill in our iron when we were jumped by
some of
the Cotar's soldiers.  We didn't know it at the time, but it was a
readiness
drill.	They ended up zapping all of us within only a few seconds.  Good
thing the ammo were all knock-down rubber balls.
    We learned a valuable lesson that day.  Living as close to the
Vaylen as
we did, we shouldn't feel to comfortable with ourselves.  I can tell you
that I will be carrying a loaded weapon with me from now on.  If the
Cotars
troops could whack us that fast, even in Iron, we were certainly not
good
enough to fight the Vaylen.

    One day a few weeks later, the sergeant came by and asked me to
rally
the troops of the first company real quiet like.   Something big was
underway, but I wasn't sure what it would be - maybe an other readiness
drill.	When we all finally mustered in the motor pool, we learned that
there was a ship waiting in port for us.  We loaded up into the trucks
that
took us directly to the port and to the loading ramp of the waiting
freighter.  The sergeant was in charge, but he didn't tell me anything
about
what was happening until we were off the ground.
    The sergeant's face was stern.  "Listen up you apes!"  He always
started
a serious briefing with that line, "The Cotar has sent us up here to
interdict a vessel.  He thinks the crew may have been hulled by the
worms."
He looked to each of us, looking to find a reaction.  Some showed signs
of
disbelief, others utter disgust.
    "We are coordinating this attack with the ground operation which
will be
raiding the temple of the divine light, or whatever they are calling
themselves these days.	We wait for the captain's orders to board the
incoming ship.	We may have a big fight on our hands, maybe not.  Let's
not
let those damn worms past us.  Do you get me!"	He almost yelled.  "We
get
you SIR!"  was our response.  The Captain finally had given us the order
to
go.  The ramp opened.  I was one of the first off of the ramp and after
the
battered and smoking ship.  The raider that we were riding in had a lot
more
to her than what showed.  Sure shot the hell out of the cargo ship.

    Smith was first up.  He had the charge to blow the door open.  It
went
off without a hitch.  The door was open and Smith, Blake, and Stevens
were
the first in through the hole.	Inside the vac-suited crew were waiting
for
us.  Blake bought it with a hole in his helmet.  Stevens tried to climb
in
when one of the crew got up close and planted something on his thruster
pack.  A moment later the crewman, Stevens and Smith were blasted all
over
the corridor.  We responded with a few small demolitions of our own. 
The
three remaining crewmen were splattered meat in just seconds.  Once we
were
through the air-lock, the gravity and pressure returned to normal,
allowing
us to move about without using our air supply.
    We moved along the corridor and met a 'T' junction.  Second squad
went
left, we went right.  We searched each cabin with extreme caution.  As
we
came to the next 'T' junction we found ourselves in the midst of a den
of
the bastards.  Both left and right they waited.  Jones was wasted as he
stepped into the hall.	Perforated from both directions.  Sanders tried
to
step into the hallway timing his grenades just right.  The one to the
left e
xploded first while the one of the right rolled down the hall, he caught
a
bullet in his right leg and hit the deck hard.	The second grenade went
off
a second later clearing the way for the remaining four members of the
squad.
We left Sanders with Jones and went towards the left, which seemed to
lead
further into the ship.	We were trying to capture the crew, but the left
us
with very few options.
    The left passage led around a corner and turned right.  I peered
around
the corner quickly.  A hail storm of shells ripped through the corner of
the
wall and into the opposite wall.  Amazingly I was unhurt.  There was a
whole
group inside what looked like a cargo hold.  The hatch was open and it
allowed me to see four men, maybe more clustered around the entrance.  I
gave the first squad my orders.
    I counted to four using my fingers.  As soon as four arrived, I
stepped
out into the hallway kneeling and firing into the hold.  The other three
stepped out behind me and begun firing.  I hit two men on the left. 
They
were operating an heavy SAW on a tripod.  The other men hit the three on
the
right.	All five dropped like flies.  We quickly scuttled back behind
the
wall for cover.
    A grenade dropped and bounced off of the opposite wall.  It stopped
at
my feet.  Quickly I picked the grenade up and hurled it back through the
door.  The concussion was to much in that small space.	Our ears rung
like
they were inside of bells.  I pointed for the men to return the way that
we
had come.  We moved quickly back towards the 'T' junction where Sanders
and
Jones were (failed morale roll here).  We took up positions to defend
the
hallway there.	That's when they rushed us.  They came running out of
the
cargo hold and down the hall right into our blazing guns.  They weren't
even
able to let off a single shot before they were lying in a pile.  Ten men
we
sent to their deaths.
    We moved along to the cargo hold again and quickly secured the area.
There wasn't anyone else in the hold.  I called for the sergeant to come
down and take a look at the cargo.  He opened one of the cylinders which
rolled out on a trundle.  The entire tube was clear and contained a
slimy
looking liquid.  In the liquid there were what seemed like millions of
worms...

SG2 Rules:
    The boarding action was completed using a combination of the FMA
Skirmish and SG2 standard.  The ship's crew used the normal squad rules,
while the boarding parties used FMA Skirmish individuals.  The card draw
system was again used to allow for a greater range of randomness.

First Platoon Stats:
26 Regular Soldiers
Flak equivalent body armor (D6)
1 Falise Skirmisher gauss rifles (FP: 3, Impact: D8) each
3 HE Grenades each

Ship's crew & troops:
20 Regular Soldiers
Flak equivalent body armor (D6)
1 Triton Taliban Thrasher SMG (FP: 2, Impact: D6) each
2 'Sure-Hit' VRF Gauss machine gun (FP: D8, Impact: D8)
2 Grenades each

    The interior walls were considered impenetrable by the weapons
presented
here considering the size of the ship as well as the number of
components
and other such things that would be behind under or above deck plates,
etc.
So there was a number of clobbered deck plates and holes in the walls,
but
no hull puncturing or depressurizations.
    We used the deck plates from the evil Space Hulk game in a number of
different patterns to simulate the 'rooms' and corridors leading
throughout
the ship with each new piece being laid down when the boarders were able
to
see the direction the corridor would lead.  Since the boarders were able
to
capture the cargo hold so quickly, the game was fairly short (about an
hour
and a half).  The next installment will be the assault on the temple of
light with the combined efforts of Hammer and Anvil...

Scott