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The Nature of Predators 171
🕑 Added 2023-11-20 12:00:04 +0000 UTCMemory transcription subject: Onso, Yotul Technical Specialist
Date [standardized human time]: March 25, 2137
After the human troops leapt from our ship toward the lunar surface, survival up in the stars proved to be a harrowing task.
There were several factors that left our warship in a precarious spot. On a grander scale, the gap we’d cleared with three rounds of antimatter bombs had sealed. The UN drones had borrowed seconds for us against hopeless numbers, falling by the thousands; half of our allies were situated on the other side of the shadow fleet, but were unable to help us retreat due to their own problems. Turning back wasn’t an option, and with that door closed, it was a matter of avoiding immediate death. The nuclear weapons tucked away on the moon were launched as soon as we got past the fleet, leaving us quite the radioactive payload to evade. Drones scrambled to cut them down, despite having Kolshians spitting plasma at their heels.
While our drones on this side of the globe had suffered heavy casualties, manned ships hadn’t gone unscathed either. Our vessel had taken a beating, with several direct hits to our underbelly, and we lacked any shields once those were taken down. Honestly, if someone didn’t engineer a way to facilitate a shield current despite magnetoresistance, they were all but useless in future battles; the United Nations hadn’t scrounged up any alternative innovations on that front yet. While I had my eyes on any missile launches, we couldn’t afford to take many more hits from conventional weapons as well; our craft was hanging together by a thread, with a single love tap able to cause structural integrity to unravel.
Even if Sovlin, Carlos, and Samantha are able to gain control of the ground stations, that will take time. I’m not sure how we’re supposed to hold out against nukes, free shots for planetary defense lasers, and shadow fleet ships.
The Terran fighters were mere nuisances to the drones, and were getting their asses handed to them. Though it was difficult to discern through the sea of sensor blips, the Duerten Shield and Sapient Coalition seemed to be struggling against a Dominion assault. The Arxur had brought tons of spacecraft into the fray; while the avian alliance was showing novel aggression, the grays were the seasoned veterans in that department. The carnivores hadn’t been expecting such a fight from the Homogeneity, but they adapted their strategies swiftly. Concurrently, on the far side of Aafa, Chief Hunters Ilthiss and Usliff’s fleet had been reduced to stray remnants. The UN drones and Technocracy craft there were left outnumbered, on their own, and unable to join our engagement by the moon.
“This is not how we wanted the battle to go. Particle beams alone won’t win this fight,” I hissed.
Tyler scratched his blond scalp. “Let’s hope taking the planetary defenses is enough. We don’t have many tricks left in the bag. ‘Less ya got something in mind, Onso?”
“My suggestion is to get somewhere those lasers can’t have free rein to shoot us. Except we can’t go back the way we came, and we’ve suffered enormous losses. The way I see it, we just need more ships. The Shield and Ilthiss just don’t cut it.”
“This goes to show why we ain’t provoked the Dominion. We didn’t wanna fight them and the shadow fleet at the same time, or for Betterment to know how much we had their number. Guess that ship has sailed, huh?”
“I think if things get much worse, the Duerten will follow through on their promise to bomb Aafa. Since we are on the brink of defeat, maybe you should tell them to.”
My friend’s jaw muscles tightened. “I don’t want to authorize that.”
“I know. Neither do I, after seeing how senseless the glassing of Caato was…but even if we flip the planetary defenses, it’ll be too late to bring back our losses. We might’ve lost fifty thousand ships across all our allies, which is a large chunk of our fleet. Enemy casualties are maybe twenty thousand so far, and that’s almost solely from particle weapons…which most of our fleet doesn’t have. I don’t see a scenario where we win here.”
The sensors officer’s scowl deepened, displeased with my suggestions. His blue eyes seemed to be counting the minutes that had passed since Sovlin and his team leapt into space; they should be barging into the complexes by now, given how close their landing sites were. It was a miracle we’d managed to keep out of range and alive that long. What would happen to the troops if we fell, and they were left stranded on that moon with limited oxygen? What would become of humanity and the Yotul, if our all-out attack came up short? I supposed before drastic, scorched-earth action would be authorized, we should see if the planetary defenses could be impactful enough.
A laser from the moon was identified as aiming at us, leaving us mere seconds to swerve off its vector. I could feel my heart pounding in my chest, as my brain came up empty of any last-ditch strategies. We would’ve won this battle if it was just the Kolshians; we’d done admirably to make it this far, with the Dominion joining in. But now, I could see two shadow fleet vessels tearing after us, lining us up for when their plasma weapons recharged. I desperately passed along the nearest drone’s coordinates to weapons, but thanks to the foe’s dramatic twirl, our shot didn’t cripple it like I’d hoped. It merely made a dent in its armor, so meaningless that the hostile didn’t slow in its pursuit.
There had been a momentary pause in the planetary defense firing, but I could see the entire complex lighting up below us now. It was a shame we were out of bombing range, and that we’d committed to foot soldiers taking the installation regardless. I fumbled with the sensor readout, searching to map the laser’s path. How were we meant to dodge two plasma beams that would tear off any second, and a laser? We still had a physical barrier to deploy to impede one incoming munition, but we couldn’t shield both sides. I made a split-second decision, and relayed the suggestion to drop it in front of the shadow fleet. While the lasers were stronger, the chances of evading synchronized plasma arcs were slim without some fortress.
Captain Monahan’s weary eyes turned to the bridge crew. “We’ve received word from our unit leaders on the ground. All planetary defenses are under our control, except for a single module that was able to initiate self-destruct.”
I could see an explosion near the shadowy border of the moon, where sunlight wasn’t illuminating its cratered surface. The sensors readout had switched the defense complexes to friendly indicators, after that new info was fed into its database. I tilted my head in confusion, wondering why the nearest lasers were powering up and pointing at us. My befuddlement turned into a laugh, perhaps a sign that I was delirious from the stress of the battle. We might not be on track to win the battle, but it was amusing that the shadow fleet had no idea what was coming. A bluish flash radiated from the powerful weapons, and I tracked its lightning-quick path across the viewport.
The complex’s computer had charted the optimal angle to sizzle through both Kolshian drones, splicing them clean in half before the algorithms realized what changed. Planetary defenses revved to life on our side, finally granting some breathing room to our battered fleet. Without having to worry about flying straight into a stream of hostile lasers, I relayed a suggested course to sensors; it would take us as close to the lunar surface as possible. Further, that locale was in the blind spot of the complexes, so we didn’t have to worry about friendly fire. It would also aid in getting the shuttles, evacuating our soldiers, back onto the ship. As insensitive as Sovlin could be, it felt weird standing on the bridge without his jabs.
With our former pursuers dead in the water, our warship beelined toward the moon with a new lease on life. I highlighted the marker of the UN shuttle assigned to our vessel, seeing that it was circling over the evac point. The soldiers would need a few minutes to travel by foot to the pickup site; to my knowledge, the rovers had been left behind and jury-rigged with explosives, in case any Kolshians thought to retake the facilities. Sovlin, Samantha, and Carlos wouldn’t return for a little while longer. I tried to focus on picking out long-range targets, knowing that we needed to tilt casualties in our favor. The lasers had struck down thousands of enemies, in the brief span we had them online, but the Kolshians were mobilizing on a bombing route.
We had to push the shadow fleet back, despite how ill-equipped we were. It would be nice if we could rally the Technocracy and UN vessels from the other side of the globe, but they were in hot water. The shadow fleet was pelting them with missiles and plasma, and if the hostiles burned through their munition stores, they would ram themselves into Terran ships. We couldn’t replicate that crash and burn strategy, given that we were outnumbered. Back on our side, it would be a sacrificial play, summoning the Duerten Shield and the Sapient Coalition to hound the Kolshians from behind. Still, even though the Dominion had them on their heels, I thought we had to bring them to us.
If the planetary defenses are bombed out, with hardly a chance to rack up casualties, it’s over. We got mowed down like flies taking the complex, so we need an equalizer.
I pinned my ears back against my head. “Tyler…sir. Have comms reach out to the Duerten. I know they won’t like orders from us, but persuade them to abandon their positions against the Arxur. We need something to hound the shadow fleet from behind.”
“The Shield will be massacred, and then the Dominion will come at us too!” Officer Cardona objected.
“I know, but it’ll keep them at bay for a few extra minutes. We’ve invested too much in the planetary defenses. The UN drones took too many losses on our side to get us to the drop point, and we can’t handle the shadow fleet alone. The lasers are all we have; it's a simple calculation of what the greatest asset is.”
“Fuck. We can’t have gone through all of this to lose the lasers, and the Shield are gonna fall one-on-one with the Arxur anyway. I’ll…have Monahan pass along the message. She’ll tell them the truth—that it’s the only way—and hope they go for it.”
“If you remind them that this is all to stop the shadow fleet from marching on Kalqua, I believe the Duerten will make that sacrifice. They want to bring the Kolshians down, at all costs.”
My human friend shuffled off, and I snuck a glimpse at the shuttle’s sensor dot near the lunar surface. It was lifting off with our crewmates in tow, assuming all had gone well. Sovlin was a brave Gojid, to pull that death-defying stunt alongside the primates; I couldn’t wait to hear some version of how a primitive like me wouldn’t have been able to handle a jet pack (ignoring the fact I’d used them during maintenance spacewalks). Regardless of our fleet’s dire straits in the battle for the galaxy, some things never changed. If there wasn’t some kind of comment about my intellectual capacity, I would be concerned.
My attention returned to the present circumstances on the bridge, where Monahan huddled over her comms. I didn’t envy that conversation, but whatever she was saying seemed to be working. The Shield was trying to sidestep the Arxur vessels, who’d moved in for an up-close-and-personal kill. The Sapient Coalition was running interference; as the weakest links, their prey crews still proved selfless, standing in the way of blistering guns. Our plasma weapons could land a few long range shots, but between drone evasion capabilities and distance, our accuracy was lacking. Watching our side’s desperate actions now, I wished I hadn’t gotten my hopes up back when early reinforcements entered the system.
“Hey, don’t go doom and gloom on me.” Tyler tapped his palm against the work station for my attention. “Your spirits look in the toilets, my man, and I won’t be having that at my station. Give me one piece of good news, Onso.”
“Uh, we’re not dead yet?” My tail drooped further between my legs, as I struggled to find a bright side. Reading the shuttle’s passenger data, which showed 3 KIAs listed among the dozens of soldiers returning to our ship, meant I couldn’t attest to our friends’ safety. “Oh, I got one positive. Sovlin, Sam, and Carlos are heading back on the shuttle now…assuming they’re alive, we’ll see them soon.”
“That’s fantastic! Y’know, I was worried about sending that Gojid out on somethin’ extreme like that. He’s really come a long way since we first met him, and I’m glad we got a chance to make everything right between us.”
“By making things right, you mean that you punched him in the face.”
“Well, I was angry—you gotta know what that’s like, Onso. My knuckles may have grazed his jaw, but it all worked out. This fight will work out too, so keep your head in the game. I need you to keep watch for the Dominion ships, in case they turn on us. We gotta fight to our last and be ready if the whole damn fleet comes at us.”
“Yes, sir. I’ll have the Arxur’s vectors mapped pronto. It might help to forward any assessments to the SC and the Shield.”
Tyler gave me a hearty clap on the back, as I tried not to watch the Shield and Coalition bleed numbers. The Duerten were hurling munitions toward the shadow fleet with fury, forcing some to turn their attention away from our encampment by the moon. The Arxur hadn’t relented for a moment, and I could see their ships burning full thrusters ahead in our direction. However, in between my last visual and the present one, it seemed like something had discombobulated them. Their movements looked uncertain and disoriented, like they’d been thrown out of subspace by a disruptor pulse. My inquisitiveness prompted me to solve the puzzle, seeking out what had caused the sudden hesitation.
The majority of the Dominion ships seemed to reach a decision, forging ahead with shaky focus. However, before my watching eyes, an inexplicable breakdown occurred. Some Arxur vessels began firing on their own remnants; other agitated hunter craft turned their sights away from the Duerten, and peppered the shadow fleet from behind. A handful were shooting at both the Shield and Coalition, and their own side, blurring their allegiance even further. Any semblance of cohesion broke down with the in-fighting, as no party had a clue where to turn their guns. The Kolshians were taken off-guard by the grays’ betrayal, and after a moment of consideration, began shooting all Arxur vessels with blanket condemnation.
“Sir, the Arxur and the Kolshians started shooting at each other…why, I have no clue. Ilthiss said he couldn’t get through the comms embargo,” I explained. “What I can say is the same chaos is unfolding on the planet’s flip side. Our drones seem to be having a resurgence in efficacy.”
Tyler’s frosty eyes widened. “This changes everything. We have to seize this opportunity, while they’re reeling!”
“How do you say it? ‘Damn straight.’ We need to kick their ass before Sovlin shows up, so he can know we did it all without him.”
“I dunno about that. There’s still hundreds of thousands of ships to clear out, even if a shit-ton of the ones here were Dominion. How many are on our side? We could have numbers in our favor now.”
“It’s not so simple, sir, but the Kolshians are treating the Arxur all as hostiles. So I’d venture the ones who hadn’t turned on their mission will now. My…opinion is that we should target the shadow fleet with everything we have.”
“Damn straight. Whatever we have left, we’ll have it flying at them ASAP!”
True to my conjecture, the Kolshians’ targeting of all Arxur vessels resulted in Betterment’s entire fleet rounding on them. As the eye-popping number of ships on both sides traded blows, it was clear that the shadow fleet was annihilating the Dominion. While the grays landed thousands of kills through ship volume, their ranks were being ravaged much quicker. The Duerten Shield rallied among the confusion, eagerly shoving antimatter bombs meant for Aafa down the shadow fleet’s throat. Any nanodrones and cluster bombs the UN had left assailed the enemy, capitalizing on the confusion. Planetary defenses had never been contested, thanks to the diversion, and were still cranking out ship-ending lasers without refrain.
I eagerly passed along a target for our plasma railgun, and noted that the indicator denoting Sovlin’s transport had crossed into our ship. With the Gojid likely on his way to the bridge, I spared a glance back toward the other side of the globe; there wouldn’t be any gaps in my knowledge for him to question. The Yotul Technocracy was being aggressive in hounding the shadow fleet. With the Arxur to distract our foes, particle beams were surgically dissecting them. The Kolshians on that side were floundering enough that the UN could finally divert some drones to help our weaker flank here. We were on the cusp of winning the far half’s engagement altogether, which should tilt the lunar fray heavily in our favor.
My mind was reeling after, out of nowhere, it seemed that we could end the Federation within the hour. What had changed inside of the Arxur fleet, enough to sow that much division? Had humanity found a way through their cybersecurity, or was something else going on? Dominion vessels were falling in with Ilthiss and Usliff’s remnants on the far side, though on this half, their numbers were rapidly sinking toward zero. We needed to keep the pressure up while the shadow fleet’s focus was still on the Arxur. The Kolshians had lost not just their allies, but tens of thousands of their own vessels to the betrayal.
Even with our losses earlier, we have the advantage after this change. We have particle beams and planetary defenses still in play, to aid our reinvigorated fleet.
I watched with bated breath, as I wondered if this sudden infusion of chaos would be the deciding factor in the Battle of Aafa. Victory was within humanity’s grasp, and now, it was up to us not to let this opportunity slip away.
A/N - 171! While Sovlin and co. are busy capturing the lunar complexes, Onso and the rest of the crew are fighting for their lives in the stars. On the cusp of defeat, after staving off drones, nukes, and a dwindling supply of allies, the planetary defense lasers come to life to deal some damage to the enemies, but it's still not enough to turn the tide. However, a certain Arxur rebel's interference comes in at a timely moment, and absolute chaos breaks out between the Dominion and the Arxur.
Will flipping the massive number of Dominion ships be enough for humanity to go for the kill, while the Kolshians are reeling and spread thin? Had the Commonwealth not targeted all Arxur as hostiles, amid the confusion, how many would've turned from the new transmission?
As always, thank you for reading and supporting!
Comments
Illwood
A house and 2 million dollars please 🥺
pogman
I think you completely misread his character, at this point he is racist just to keep some stability in the crew, Onso and the other miss that stability. Other than that, he's old and has sacrified a lot for humanity while hating himself, what else do you want?
PhycoKrusk
@Lvm I was going to write a rebuttal, but I can't think of any arguments to make that are very convincing.
PhycoKrusk
Some of them, sure. But that's not enough to completely silence them; that isn't going to happen until Sovlin stops thinking of himself as a failed person.
PhycoKrusk
Well, I guess that just means that Onso is less spiteful and more empathetic then you are.
Julien Barrette
Chad Isif for the win.
Adam Myers
Yes, but humanity is operating as a separate military grouping. Given humanity's military prowess compared to that of the rest of the SC (as well as the fact that some members in the SC military aren't necessarily pro-human), it make the most sense to look at the raid in the Aafa system to be a human action with support from allies, rather than a SC action. Hence, human ships are positioned in different areas from their SC partners and have different mission parameters. In the future, the SC might reform into something more coherent, but as of now this is the most efficient way to fight. Another way to think of this is akin to the US and NATO on a mission. Imagine if NATO was seen as militarily inept and with multiple troops being deathly afraid of the US. In that circumstance, while the US would be a member of NATO, it would have its own priorities and organization.
Tyler Ellis
He’s got Hunter and Vysyth waiting on him back on Earth, I’d hope that would be enough for him to leave some suicidal thoughts behind.
Tyler Ellis
Maybe it’s me misreading but why is it worded as if the SC are a separate entity from humanity. Isn’t humanity a member of the SC?
Illwood
Honestly think both of these are terrible takes, Onso lost his entire life to the very racism that Sovlin constantly spouts. You're right, Sovlin has had so many rugs pulled out from under him and the dude is still a gigantic dick to Onso for no reason whatsoever. Fundimentally he has not changed at all, still believing himself to be superior not only to Onso but to humanity as a whole. His crisis isn't the betrayal of his people by the federation but rather the lost of his perceived innocence in the matter. If given the chance Solvin would ban humanity from eating meat entirely, because he still believes in the federation propaganda he was raised on at a basic level and his trauma stems from having to confront the fact that he is no better then the beasts around him. He still doesn't see humanity or himself as equal to "prey" species despite ample time and evidence to prove the opposite. There comes a time where ignorance falls away into malice, like breaking a law you didn't know existed while driving: If you want to drive it's up to you to know the laws involved, you can't use ignorance as an excuse. Solvin tortured someone nearly to death for fucks sake, he has a human "son" and he still can't see Onso as a legitimately smart person? Because of his species? No, Onso isn't the same as Solvin. Solvin is the guy speaking in Onso's ear. Onso should fucking hate the dude, anyone with half a functioning brain in his position having suffered what he suffered would.
Illwood
Honestly getting really sick of Solvin as a character, dude is pretty much an irredeemable racist asshole at this point and everyone (including two people who are massively traumatised by the very racism he spouts all the time, Sam with her family and Oslo with his... Entire life?) Is just like "Oh I sure do miss that prickly bastard." No, the dudes had ages to repent or learn differently in any shape or form and has barely nudged himself in the right direction. He is just such an irritating asshole at this point...
Adam Myers
Now, we just need to deal with he Kolshian who will probably start surrendering. I doubt the shadow fleet are all suicidally fanatical enough to throw their lives away if the battle looks like it will become unwinnable. The question is, how will the SC and the Duerten deal with that.
Cera Treascair
My money's on Sovlin getting back, taking his station, nodding at Tyler... and unable to hide the fact that *something* happened that's absolutely gut him emotionally. Bonus points if Sovlin apologizes for all of his bullshit.
Some Lvm
@PhycoKrusk actually - we have plenty of evidence to the contrary: 1. We know from the archives the Kolshians handed information on how to build ships with FTL to the Arxur. This is part of their uplift process - they do an "infodump" they don't hand them ready to fly ships. 2. Every species in the Federation seems to have different ships, which means they design and build them on their own. Even if they got the original instructions from the Kolshians, that still requires understanding. 3. Onso - he was trained by the Feds to maintain ships and how the different systems on them worked. I think you are confusing ease of use of technology with understanding of it. Its not like the Kolshians are manufacturing all the tech and just handing it ready to use to every planet. And we know they can't have completely automated factories, since they don't even have self driving cars. (Fed species in general lack automation compared to humans). So they must have engineers and technicians who do understand so they can make and maintain all the stuff. They never had the pressure to advance above a certain point, similar to how our advancement in space travel almost stopped once the pressure of the cold war was removed. But now that the pressure is on, I think they can pull through, at least some of them. As for Talsk: didn't humanity arrest and take away all the surviving leaders (with some committing suicide to avoid arrest) before closing the cage? I don't think they have any government left to overthrow, but it might be interesting to see what leadership they came up with during their isolation. @Valerie Morton no doubt it will take the Feds a long time to be able to match earth hackers, but they can always implement drastic measures to significantly reduce the attack surface. In Battlestar Galactica they had huge ships with no central computer system. The Battlestars, as advanced as they were, had a number of small independent computers that were never connected to anything besides the specific system they controlled. This was done because they couldn't fight off Cylon hacking, so they didn't even try. They just made sure there was nothing to hack.
Valerie Morton
Not to mention that humanity probably has a dedicated class of people who's only joy is hacking systems for fun and profit. If you figure that the Federation hasn't had a problem with hackers in the past, its going to take some time to adapt to the attacks that the very angry hackers of earth can aim in their direction. And the humans will just keep adapting their attacks.
Byron Ritchie
As a Star Trek fan seeing the faction called the dominion being the one to betray the bad guys (which call themselves the federation ironically enough) is pretty funny Also “Sovlin, Samantha, and Carlos wouldn’t return for a little while longer” 😢
richfiles
Cheif-Hunter Isif in a stylish fren hat.
richfiles
As a residential IT technician... I can assure you that people are dumb enough to fall for malware scams repeatedly... The Feddies are even dumber yet.
PhycoKrusk
@Lvm I generally agree with you: The best defenses against drones would be particle cannons or lasers, or something that's faster-than-lightspeed, but the technology hasn't gotten to the point where it can be practically used in this way. Evidenced by the fact that in this era of plasma, laser, and particle cannons, basically every ship is still carrying kinetic munitions because with kinetics, the only time to need power is when you're aiming them. They might fill a lot of volume, but as long as you can set off the primer, they will work even when it's dark. Which does mean that the best defenses against drones at this point in the story is good old fashioned electronic countermeasures: Even the best radar can, under the correct circumstances, be fooled by a piece of aluminum foil.
PhycoKrusk
@Lvm Not a lot to pick apart here, but a couple points I wanted to throw in: 1) The loyalist species don't have to be morons to fall for another cyberattack if they they don't actually know how their computer systems work. Now, we don't have any evidence that this is the case, but given how everything in the Federation appears to operate solely on "plug-n-play", it's not a wholly unreasonable assumption either. Could they figure it out and take effective action if they actually sit down and think about it without a Kolshian holding their hand? It would seem unreasonable to me to think that they can't, but who really knows? That said, whether they can at all is going to depend on the amount of societal damage caused by unrest. (For all we know, the Coalition could remove the Kessler cage from around Talsk and discover, surprise, the citizenry was so pissed off that they overthrew the government and replaced it with one that's... not really any better, but that can at least be negotiated with) 2) Even if the Coalition is repelled from Aafa, nobody is going to be in any position to do anything to anyone. The Coalition will need time to recover its losses, the Federation - or what's left of it - will need time to get its feet back under it (and that's assuming that whatever is left of the Commonwealth fleet isn't wrapped up securing its immediate surroundings), and the Dominion is very firmly in the throes of civil war. Humanity may not win here, but they won't lose either. I don't know, but it's looking more and more like NoP2 will be a saga of warring states.
Some Lvm
Maybe, but if they do manage to keep humans from landing on Aafa, or successful repel them once they do land, I wouldn't put it past the Kolshians to be able to turn the situation around. It will be difficult, but they have manipulated several hundred species for over a millennia successfully, and that is not the kind of enterprise to be dismantled in a day. The problem with cyberattacks is that they are not very repeatable. Unless you want to assume that all those Fed loyalists are complete morons, once they figure out what is going on they will start taking precautions and hardening their system, making the next attacks more difficult and less wide spread. Also, if humanity is repelled before subduing Aafa, they will have to lick their wounds too. The losses up to this point are already staggering, and some of the allies that helped turn this battle will not be making a repeat appearance if a second invasion is to be attempted. So no, I wouldn't count my squdlings before the are hatched...
Some Lvm
@PhycoKrusk from what we see in this chapter - the issue with lasers is the time it takes to lock on and aim them. If a whole lumbering battle ship can dodge the aim of a laser, a drone would have no issue with them. Another thing is, we don't really see ships firing lasers - plasma yes, slugs too, but even the shadow fleet isn't really doing it (unless I missed something). I suspect the reason lasers are relegated to stationery planet defense is their power consumption. Even plasma in the NoP universe is slow to recharge, so presumably a laser powerful enough to punch through armor would require a sizeable reactor to supply it. NoP is trying to be somewhat "hard" on the science front and lasers are not all they are cracked up to be. Now particle cannons are another thing - if they can be made more in to a "shotgun" configuration. If you can keep sufficient damage generation while spreading out the flow of particles, aiming would be less of a problem. I think for now though, the best weapon against drones would be sensor trickery. https://hackaday.com/2022/11/22/spoofing-lidar-could-blind-autonomous-vehicles-to-obstacles/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6CfR3Wpz7Y (The video is about patterns that confuse computer vision) And if real world humanity is discovering this type of things now, the fictional 2137 humanity is probably excellent at it while also have at least some defenses against it as well. It would just be a matter of figuring out how to most efficiently deploy these tactics in space, something humanity didn't have much time to do since discovering they weren't the only one's with drones.
Conner Deese
Imagine Onso's shock I'd Sovlin comes back and says nothing no racism no snark just sadness and unrelenting anger at the squids
PhycoKrusk
I think that Onso "gets it" on a level that nobody else really does. Sure. Humanity has had to deal with Earth being bombed, with losing families among the billion other lost, and to be targeted simply because of what they are: Sovlin is dealing with all of that, plus the knowledge that everything he knows about himself is a complete fabrication, that his culture has been overwritten and replaced with a facsimile (and not even a very good one), and that no matter what he does with his life from here forward, he's always going to have that voice in his head asking, "Is this me, or is this the Federation?" Things that would have happened to Onso's descendants if not for the intervention of Humanity; he has the unique position of being able to look at Sovlin and not only what might have been, but what almost was. To an extent, I think he does perceive malice in Sovlin's remarks, because there isn't really any way to read them without at least *some* malice. But then he thinks back to that day when they had him watch the demolition of the trains, with that Gojid whispering into his ear everything that was coming next, and sees the difference between him and Sovlin being that he could swing at fist at his oppressor, and while it may have amounted to little at the time, it was still an opportunity to resist that Sovlin never had. In short, just as Sovlin is what Onso sees in the funhouse mirror, Onso is what Sovlin sees: Just as Sovlin is what Onso's future could have been if Humanity hadn't found the Yotul in time, Onso is what Sovlin's present might have been if they had found Gojid in time. As hard as it can strike to look at something and think, "I could've been him if things had been different," I think it strikes even harder to look at them and think, "He could've been me if things had been different."
Cheesy Power
It’s fascinating to see that Onso is actually fond of Solvin’s constant jabs at him- I think he understands the true motives behind Solvin’s racist remarks better than the majority of the reader-base, since he doesn’t seem to attribute any genuine malice to it.
Cheesy Power
The man has been actively suicidal for a while now. Heck, he’s wanted to die on some level or another ever since his family died.
PhycoKrusk
Just leaving a note here, it's not really relevant to this chapter: The more I think about it, the I convince myself that Sovlin volunteered for the insanely dangerous combat jump, and told Sam his "last request", is because he was hoping to die. Maybe not consciously, maybe not at the front of his mind, but he looked at what he'd be going into and told himself, "Yes, this is it. I'm finally out." Another suicide charge that didn't go the way he needed it to. Sovlin is a black cat.
PhycoKrusk
The only problem with that is that, since there is no gravity or air resistance in space, any such flak will pose a hazard to literally the rest of the universe until it moves close enough to a gravity well and crashes into something. Plus, there are hard limits on how fast flak can actually travel. Honestly, the best defenses against drones will be lasers and particle cannons; anything that travels at lightspeed will be difficult to account for. The best weapons against them will require more miniaturization, because munitions that travel faster-than-lightspeed will be almost impossible to avoid, especially in space where contact distances will be measured in lightseconds.
EliasArt2Life
I’m calling this as the point of no return for the Kolshians. Even if they win, the Arxur will be too divided to utilize again, their allies are going to be very reluctant to fight (due to the Kolshians working with the Arxur, the recording that humanity will no doubt leak to them, and the fact that the Kolshians will likely do nothing to protect them from future cyber attacks that will definitely come if the aid the Kolshians), and the planetary defenses will be destroyed making Aafa less impenetrable for next time. Even with their insane manufacturing capacity, there’s just too many things working against them; all the stability they need to fully utilize that manufacturing power will be gone. Most of the species who followed them out of fear will likely switch sides, seeing the Kolshians whittled down to a fraction of their former fleet power. The Kolshian citizens will not enjoy the fact that their government held them hostage, or tricked some of them onto suicide craft (I doubt they can cover that up well enough). The Secret Police can help maintain order a little, but with this much shared knowledge, I think this is beyond even the Secret Police. Especially on colony worlds.
PhycoKrusk
I don't suspect that Sovlin will go after Onso much anymore; after this, I don't think he's going to have it in him to do much of anything. Or, if he does, it's going to be so extreme and over-the-top that it'll be clear to everyone that the war finally got to him.
PhycoKrusk
Given his propensity for self-destruction, it seems more likely that they would rally under Usliff, because Ilthiss is already dead.
PhycoKrusk
All hail the Prophet-Ascendant!
PhycoKrusk
@Blake Wriss *had* a sizeable defense fleet. From the shape of things, most of it was at Aafa, and now whatever's happened, any semblance of order has evaporated. If they get beaten back from Aafa, then I might actually be right and we'll see a breakdown of the Dominion into a scattering of warring kingdoms, the ex-Federation species struggling to do their housekeeping, and the Coalition in the middle trying to keep the peace.
Lokyar
I don't think sovlin is coming back. I suspect he volunteered for laser duty.
Mr. Walker
Nop 2: Electric Boogaloo.
Mr. Walker
I keep wondering if you could beat a drones maneuverability with something like a box-barrage. You just point at a square in the sky that the drone has to move through to get where it is going and fill that space with cheap/hard to detect munitions or flak.
kenneth Moore
With everything he did… They should erect a statue in his honor, one with Felra perched on his head.
Yannis Morris
Sovlin: *(gets back and calls Onso the word)* Onso: Carlos is dead. Sovlin: HOW DA- Onso: And that is one of the only reasons I’m not snapping your neck right now. But I swear, if you ever call me that again, I’ll make what Tyler did to you look like a f**king lovetap
Again, Isif shows he is a main political player and strategist in this universe. His movements, inside and outside the battlefield have bigger consecuenses and implications that many of the movements from other characters in this universe. The reptilian is quite a leader, one of the finest.
Blake S
Very easy to be loose threads for nop 2, sounds like wriss has a sizeable defense fleet and the sapient coalition forces are cooked. They got isif newly turned rebels but the SC barely wants to to tolerate herbivore survivors, how are we gonna get the former enemies to play nice in the long run.
Gavin Pierce
Ehh, they give humanity any time and we’ll very quickly outpace their capabilities. Especially if they give us time to dismantle the rest of their federation allies(definitely glassing the Yulpa) theyd show back up alone, to human fortress worlds that the entire fleet defending Aafa wouldnt be able to take
Paperclip
The shadow fleet is really finished after this. Now all that's left is to tell the public that the conspiracy leaders "committed suicide."
DemonVee
My fingers are crossed that some Dominion forces will flip over to Isif's side so that they could aid them directly. However, giving that he's not here, it's likely that Arxur wouldn't join a leader who wasn't in battle unless they knew he was holding proper power. My guess is that the majority of Arxur in Aafa's system will either side with Ilthiss or perish. Leaving maybe two/three factions left. Between Isif's Rebels, Ilthiss' Orthodox Arxur and Giznel's Dominion Forces. When it comes to Wriss, I imagine Humanity will be there to help Isif even if they're battered, but I hope that Isif going from system to system will grant him enough forces to take the majority of power and be able to take on the Dominion before Ilthiss makes the power grab, and that Giznel will have enough sense to surrender to Isif instead of going into a three sided war.
HiMyNameIsFelipe
Something tells me somone, somehow, sent a little recrding of a conversation to all ships
Izzet
Chief Hunter Isif needs to be protected at high cost after this. He could be the leader preventing further Arxur wars in the near future and putting them on a new path. It would not be good if there was an Arxur power vacuum now.
DemonVee
Honestly, I'd be surprised if they haven't left the planet already. Space is unimaginably vast, they could have secret colonies right under everyone's noses (Hell, from the sound of it that's what the Dominion was doing with their farm worlds.) and they could just bide their time while building up a bigger army. (I'm also wondering if there will be any truth to my theory of Aafa not being the Commonwealth's true homeworld or capital.)
John Benjamin Cate
Woo! The trap is sprung and the enemy alliance is destroyed! What amazing chaos this has brung! Now push forward, we cannot let the conspiracy regain its footing!
paintmelikeyoudoyoursheilas
My main man chief siffy is the god damn galactic MVP at this point. He has done so god damn much to improve the galaxy and is the reason so much societal change has occurred. Even if he were to die tomorrow his legacy will live on for generations.
Jonathan Cardoso Mota
So Isif's gambit worked. As always, every time, that man swoops in from mist to save the day. A true winged hussar he is. And it seems like it has turned into a true clusterfuck :D And hey, good news, the duerten bombers are using their paylods!
Alekss Žukovskis
unfortunately, i think i know where this is going. the shadow fleet will escape to somewhere. ending the ... current season on fighting their guerilla warfare incursions.
Alekss Žukovskis
dammit
Alekss Žukovskis
first
Come on Sapient Coalition, you can win this!!!!!!!!
Caleb Carter
Third!
print Path
First
Jackson Hazeltine
First!
