The Lords' Fall [All - Tech | CLOSED | IC]

[Wolfstruppen]

Please refer to this first: OOC

In case you need to see the rundown again:

The ash falls pleasantly on the streets of District 7. The Wolfstruppans were clueless about the situation. Radio silence from the District followed by silence from the military forces operating in the bounds had kept any information from the population. And now silence fell on the streets; silence, and ash. Buildings crumpled, cars abandoned, corpses left soulless. The whirring engine of a transport vehicle rumbled through the streets. The smoke and fog had descended quietly, the fog lights of the vehicle pierced through the facade of ash and dust. The vehicle drove cautiously but with pace. As it turned a corner, it arrived at the once lively District Hall. If it wasn't for the graffiti, broken windows, and failing infrastructure, it would have been more beautiful. Upon hearing the rumbling engines of the vehicle, stragglers exited the hall slowly, carrying various weapons and wearing only basic clothing. The vehicle stopped just outside the once elegant entrance. The fog had begun clearing only slightly. Stepping out of the vehicle, several soldiers carrying standard-issue weapons and gear began exiting. A door opened, and from the vehicle, a human-like figure exited, signaling orders to the soldiers. The vehicle's trunk was opened, and several body bags were carried out. The group began moving into the Hall, carrying the body bags with them. Inside the Hall, the stragglers looked on in curiosity. The human-like figure spoke, and the crowd watched in awe.

"Today marks the end of the Iron Lords. Their presence has long plagued our people, wolf or human. We are done with the oppression of our species, coexistence and equality can truly reign without the yoke of the Lords and their scum.

With our rise, the fall of unfair and unjust rule starts. we shall be at the forefront of freedom and democracy in our nation. We shall forevermore change our course, and begin a new age of peace and liberty.

Our fight for freedom will never end until the fall of the last Loyalist! Until every last oppressor has breathed their last breath!!!"

And the crowd erupted in cheer,

"HAIL KALIBIN, DOWN WITH THE IRON LORDS!!!!"

And the body bags were revealed.

The bodies of Iron Lords Morus, Minfi, and Muur, are charred, and lifeless.

The crowd exploded in violent happiness, firing their weapons into the air and jeering.

The Lords' Fall starts today.

Within the next few hours, the prized Mothership, once a symbol of the omnipotence of the Iron Lords, fell from the sky. Its burned and beaten corpse fell straight out of the sky and landed on Lake Mein. The shockwave of the impact could have been heard at the Iron Lair.

All the districts turned to chaos. Their precious Iron Lords weren't so infallible, so eternal. Iron Lord Marus held onto any remains of loyalist forces in the Iron Lair. Kalibin was free to liberate the rest of the Districts, meeting only small resistance. With every District captured, Kalibin's rebellion gained more resolve, and Marus only grew more furious. Months of skirmishes and a no man's land stretched between District 1 and the outer western bounds of District 2. Loyalists and Rebels alike battled it out for days, weeks, and months. No progress was made. The front became a bloodbath, struck by war and terror and horrifying firefights. Both sides had their hands on advanced tech, making each breakout of fighting turn into a massacre of forces. Iron Lord Marus held out District 1 and District 2, using the manufacturing power of the Iron Lair to fuel his defense. Kalibin had the reserve technology of the rest of the Districts, but his losses were beginning to stack up. Attrition began to take over both sides, and it seemed as though a victory for Marus was possible if he could just hold out longer than Kalibin.

Desperation led to a cry for help. Kalibin made use of the combined District's broadcasting power to send out a message across the universe, and into every multiverse, with instructions for reaching the Wolfstruppen planet.

"With great gratitude am I glad this message reaches you in hopefully good hands. I am desperate, my people are desperate. For eons, we have tried to end the tyranny of the Iron Lords, who have terrorized the Districts, and sent their magic goons to suppress any attempt at freedom. They have enslaved the local human race and used our labor to fuel their corruption and oppression. I have grown tired; my people have grown tired. Finally, the time has come to send the Iron Lords to whatever hell they came from. Iron Lord Marus is the only one left standing, but loyalist forces remains strong. I ask for help, from all who wish to free us. The instructions attached will allow you to traverse to a safe location near the front, where I will be able to convene with you and plan out our final offensive into the last remaining Districts, and finally into the Iron Lair. The travel to our world will only allow you to take a limited amount of force, but any support is needed. I call for your help, please answer, you're Wolfstruppen's last hope."

I strongly recommend referring to the rules before making IC posts

Rules:

* No WMD's
* Any tech is allowed, be advised, depending on how you interact with the world, you may even gain access to Wolfstruppen weapons
** I will ensure that the RP is fair to all techs in order to maximize the effects of every nation's combat actions, PT or FT. I will plan accordingly to make it fair
* Please keep this OOC chat civil, remember this is an RP, not a size comparison contest, and respect others in OOC.
* Your signup must state that your favorite color is Orange, or you will not be accepted.
* Please try not to one-line, I'm very lenient on posts, but put some effort into your posts in IC
* ORBAT Limit is 50,000 personnel.

Other Information:
* The Wolfstruppans make use of pulse rifles, which fire pulses of extremely energetic plasma
* Our tanks are equipped with heavier versions of these pulse rifles, which can be modified to explode or pierce armor. Tanks also come equipped with a short-lasting shield to defend itself against incoming fire.
* Iron Lord Marus has in his forces mages which can harness telekinesis to manipulate objects within their immediate surroundings (I'm not gonna just throw a whole battalion of these guys at you because that would just be straight up unfair). However, many of these mages were killed in the first months of fighting, only the strongest remain.
* When you arrive you will be briefed on all this information IC. If you have more questions you can ask me and I will clarify things.

Green - Free Wolfstruppen
Dark, dark, Gray - Loyalist Wolfstruppen (Wolfstruppen under Lord Marus)


And as always, the first IC post:

Rain. You wouldn't expect rain to be so horrifying. But as it washed upon the ground, it attacked the soil, kidnapping particles it picked up, and carries them away, to whatever final resting place. The rain's great ransacking of the ground would leave behind only small traces of what was once there. The streams carried anything it could move: dust; rocks; blood; bodies. The battlefield was blessed with being robbed of its wounds: soldiers, tools, ammunition, shells. The bodies would be washed away by the heavy rain, and carried into the river, to be sent out to sea. The lucky dead made it to river and subsequently became buried in sediment. The unlucky were carried out to the delta, where the wildlife found pleasure in their new meals. Such was the life of the dead in Wolfstruppen. District 1's more recent skirmish ended in a slaughter. Tanks lay in ruin 10 miles out from the city, the trenches were being soaked by the rain.

General Hort felt the rain beat down on his tent as he looked upon his map. He wish he had a more modern abode to plan his next battles, but war called for more simple, old traditions. The city lay only 12 miles ahead of him, but the journey to it was through the No Man's Land that stretch between it. The thunder boomed and the lightning haunted the battlefield that lay ahead. For months, Hort had been trying to break through the stalemate, but little progress was made. His men were tired, and his forces were depleted.

Kalibin walked into the tent, which rendered a salute from Hort, "Sir, the weather sure is nice out there." Kalibin chuckled, "It's quite brooding, isn't it?" Kalibin always had a charm to him, he knew well when to make the room smile, and when to be serious. It was no wonder he was the poster boy for this rebellion, he practically emanated charisma.

"What are the casualties?" "Too many." There was hesitation. "We lost Colonel Burnyu." Kalibin's face turned grim, "Her presence will be deeply missed. This war has taken too much from us already." Hort was exhausted from the constant loss of life. Everyday his forces dwindled, and he passes through, seeing less and less faces. Those who had thrown their life down, those who had lost it to bad luck. "What's the news on District 2?" Kalibin didn't falter from his grim frown, "There is no progress being made anywhere. District 2 remains a bloodbath, and the Minfi River Powerplant remains under Marus' control. We may have numbers, but simply put they have the stronger defenses." Hort's hope was faltering. It would take miracles to make mountains, especially if that mountain was under Marus' hand.

Kalibin's face changed slightly, "We need help."

Hort and Kalibin found themselves out in the rain, trying to get a communications array operational. The message was recorded, and it was encapsulated to be broadcasted. Kalibin turned to Hort, "May our miracles arrive as soon as possible." Hort sent out the broadcast, the communications array fired away. The signal was ubiquitous, every system, dimension, heard its desperate call.

"Open the portal..." In half an hour, the portal opened, its energy pulsated. "Now we wait."

The signal was rather immediately intercepted. Deep in the Iron Lair, the signal was received with chuckles, "They dare call for help? They've rather opened Pandora's Box."

"My Lord, Districts 1 and 2 remain firmly in our control, and the Minfi River is still in our hands." "Good, those pesky human scumbags have done enough in this world, a damn pestilence on my empire." Marus watched the rain fall on his windows, it was rather beautiful, seeing the thunder and lightning light up the sky and drum up the clouds. It was reminder of the once large turmoil the world was in, the districts in peril, the order Marus brought when he claimed them all. He had once whiffed away the storm, harnessed the lightning. Now he must snuff out the remains.

He opened a portal of his own, he already knew the message Kalibin sent was all he needed to gain support of his own.

Soon, he'd rid the world of this rebellion, and soon, he'd snuff out the last resistance to his regime. For Morus, for Minfi, for Muur.

OOC: Those who support the rebels will be popping out through the portal near the rebel camp at District 1. Supporters of the Loyalists, will exit in the city center of District 1.

[Eusan Federation]

Contessa and her crew would show up first. Being only 7 people, they weren’t noticed quickly. Contessa herself was the first through, with Tiara at her side. She clutched her signature HDCR-10 rifle- beyond overkill and then some, considering she wasn’t here to fight, but she insisted. The rain had no effect on Replikas other than mild annoyance, so they simply stood there, waiting to be noticed.

[Socalist Republic Of Mercenaries]

Text theme: Black Sabbath - Paranoid (Remix)

About two hundred Do-31UM (Uluchshennyy Modernizirovannyy, Improved Modernized) VTOL transporters passed through the the portal, the jet blast of each of their eight RB.162G lift turbofans heated up the ground in the surrounding area by a few decimals of degrees.

From their holding racks, clad in exo-suits, the men of the 1st Independent Guards Division "Beisinghausen" dropped onto the ground below.

Pavel Sokolov looked aroung the camp as the rain pitter-pattered off his flecktarn canvas covers, which despite common belief of preventing corrosion, which was wholly untrue, was to reduce the shine when wet and to allow colored burlap scrim to be velcroed/fastened on for camouflage purposes.

"Kamerad-Gefreiter Arkady, hand me my Kord."

"Jawohl Korporal Sokolov." muttered Arkady Sergeev, picking up the .50 cal GPMG from its crate, and handing it to Pavel. He picked up the .50 cal with ease, and slings it around his shoulders. As the men deployed, their Kommandant, Kesha Orlov, hopped off from his Do-31 transport.

As Kesha Orlov made his way towards Kalibin it was obvious he was drenched head-to-toe in rain. He tried to maintain his composure as he strode towards Kalibin, extending a leather-gloved hand.

"Kesha Orlov, commander of the 1st Independent Guards Division 'Beisinghausen'. And you are?"

He was trying to hide it, but it was very obvious he was shivering.

[Wolfstruppen]

-snip-

General Hort noticed the small group of people leave the portal, and quickly called out to Kalibin, "Sir, they're here!"

Kalibin exited his tent, and noticed them, and smiled, "Our support has arrived." General Hort walked over and greeted the group of 7, "We are glad our message reached you, all... 7 of you. Welcome to Wolfstruppen, more specifically, welcome to my camp, just outside District 1." He reached out his hand, "May I ask of your names?" He said while signaling to follow him into the command tent.

-snip-

Kalibin saw as the vehicles passed through the portal and dropped their soldiers. He watched as one of the men, who appeared to be their commander, walked over to him. It was obvious the rain had gotten to him,

"Kesha Orlov, commander of the 1st Independent Guards Division 'Beisinghausen'. And you are?"

Kalibin reached out and shook the gloved hand, feeling the wet leather, "Kalibin, I'm the man who sent you the cry for help, and the de facto leader of the Free Wolfstruppen Army." He led Kesha Orlov to the command tent, "Come and get out of this rain, we have much to talk about. I assume your trip went well?"

[Eusan Federation]

-snipidi toilet-

Contessa’s expression remained neutral, but she took the General’s hand, shaking it.

“The name’s Contessa. As for the others, I’m sure they’ll give you their names when it comes to it… and yes. There aren’t many of us. We are more of “well-armed diplomats” than anything else. That being said… we did bring plenty in the way of weapon schematics and the likes. As well as our experience with bringing down two empires in the past, obviously with more people…”

these are all new characters- I can’t remember their names off the top of my head i’m working on mobile

Contessa begins to idly mess with Tiara’s hair as she speaks, which still seems dry, somehow.

“And if it really does come to it… we have brought my, er… emotional support superweapon over here, by the name of Tiara… But that’s only for emergencies- such as if we are directly attacked.”

Tiara bites Contessa’s hand, resulting in her turning sharply.

“20 years together and you still do this?”

Tiara just nods. Contessa turns to face the General.

“As you can see… this one is a little… immature at times…”

[Socalist Republic Of Mercenaries]

Kalibin reached out and shook the gloved hand, feeling the wet leather, "Kalibin, I'm the man who sent you the cry for help, and the de facto leader of the Free Wolfstruppen Army." He led Kesha Orlov to the command tent, "Come and get out of this rain, we have much to talk about. I assume your trip went well?"

"Ja, I suppose you could say that the trip went well. We have... about two thousand deployed, six to eight thousand more to come."

As Kesha enters the tent, it is clear he is drenched head toe. He takes off the overcoat of his elaborately designed uniform, and begins to wring the coat dry, following which, he takes off his peaked cap, removing the stiffening wire, which gave the cap its iconic shape, and wrung it dry. He then moves on, removing his plate rig and radio kit, and unbuttoning his tunic, revealing the striped blue telnyashka underneath, surprisingly dry. He manages to give a wry grin as he is wringing his clothes out.

Out of the corner of his eye, he notices a map, and walks over. Examining the map, thoughts quickly race across his mind. He runs his finger across the map lines, noticing their position near District 1. Under these weather conditions, they could possibly push for a breakthrough with a small unit.

"Say, Kalibin, are you familiar with Mikhail Tukhachevsky's military theory of Deep operation?"

[Imperial-Octavia]

Space
Portal to Wolfstruppen

Ra'Thule's sensors indicated the inside of the shuttle was cold. He couldn't feel the cold of course, having been assimilated at birth Thule had never experienced physical touch at all but from records he knew that it should be biting, pinching, frigid, things like that. Thule had never really given the feeling of "touch" much thought. It had always been another organic deficiency that he, as a superior being, had no need of. He supposed it was that mindset that lead him to his position as leader of an Imperial task force at the young age of 80. At 7 feet Thule was an imposing figure. The robotic shell which contained his consciousness was a stark white with a single black spot right in the middle of his face containing the bundle of optical sensors which provided his enhanced vision. On his back were multiple hatches, each one containing a mechanical replacement for the tentacles which would be on his face if he hadn't been assimilated, a thought that Thule banished from his head as soon as it had entered his mind. Thule's rumination about his past was quickly roused as a conversation request materialized in the corner of his vision coming from the greater halve of the Expeditionary Corps. With but a thought he accepted and was met with a deep female voice ringing throughout his mind.

<Hi, Ra'Thule, we've opened the portal. Are you and your goon squad ready to enter the portal?> The Tactical Codex's mocking was quite literally inescapable as it was transmitted to his mind. Thule knew that as the central command for all of Octavia's drone force's there was no choice but to endure her irreverence towards the Imperium but it still grated on him. The few encounters he had were unpleasant and frankly every encounter left him wishing that the Paramount had ensured that Codex's free will was snuffed out very soon after it had accidentally been granted.

<You are aware that your comment violates Imperial Directive #00113 correct? It does not bode well for someone in your position to talk of the esteemed Mechanator Corps in such a way.> Ra'Thule's voice was A deep baritone carrying with it not at all hidden irritation.

<Whatever. Are you ready or should I enter the portal by myself?> She replied, not particularly interested in Thule's response.

A beat past as Thule took a moment to compose himself, he was about ready to open fire on her himself but knew it would do him no good. Further aggravating the mind controlling every drone in the Imperium didn't seem like the brightest idea, <Indeed, I am ready. Let's get on with it before much else happens>. With that Codex's transports entered the portal without any further prompting. Thule balled his fist for a moment before sending the order to his shuttle to enter the portal themselves hoping that the Codex would soon lose the attitude before he had to do something about it...

District 1
City Center

As the rain poured down on the war-torn streets of District 1 a strange sight would draw the attention of the besieged citizens of Wolfstruppen. A portal angled down towards the streets of their district would open, its blue light adding some color to the otherwise dreary environment. From this portal came large angular craft, long and wide but also surprisingly fast as they hovered down to their streets. Almost as soon as they landed did their doors slide open and a line of large black machines came marching out, each one sporting a gun for a right arm and each with a hexagonal head with a glowing red light where one would expect a face. On their backs seemed to be large cylinders, these would be mortars designed to provide the army with some artillery support in this expedition. With each shuttle that landed more and more of these drones poured out some possessing both arms, others being tanks, and others still seeming to be transports for the infantry. Coming from another shuttle came other robots but these seemed different, they were taller, more varied in their bodies, and seemingly much more aware than the other machines marching in lockstep into position. These were the Mechanators headed by Ra'Thule himself, standing head and shoulders above many of the others who then joined the drones in their march. They would all assemble in the town square as Thule sought to announce his army's presence.

"Greetings Wolfstruppeners! I am Ra'Thule of the Octavian Imperium, here to render aid to your Iron Lord Marus! We bring the force of a thousand worlds with us and it'll be used to crush these upstart revolutionaries as is deserved! If we could be brought to the local commander of this District it would be much appreciated!" Thule said, hoping to make a somewhat positive impression upon the organic population, usually such things wouldn't matter but given the nature of their mission, it would make sense to try and endear his force to the locals if at all possible. It was strange working to gain the approval of these inferiors but with what was planned, it seemed as though it was very much needed.

Text denoted with <> represent dialogue being transmitted wordlessly via the Aether (basically Octavian communications, there's more explanation in my factbooks but they're inaccessible at the moment and I also would like to rework that one. Just treat it as comms for the purposes of this thread)

[Wolfstruppen]

"Say, Kalibin, are you familiar with Mikhail Tukhachevsky's military theory of Deep operation?"

"Can't say I have, ever since the dark reign of terror by the Iron Lords, our communication with the outside world has long been severed."

Contessa’s expression remained neutral, but she took the General’s hand, shaking it.

“The name’s Contessa. As for the others, I’m sure they’ll give you their names when it comes to it… and yes. There aren’t many of us. We are more of “well-armed diplomats” than anything else. That being said… we did bring plenty in the way of weapon schematics and the likes. As well as our experience with bringing down two empires in the past, obviously with more people…”

“And if it really does come to it… we have brought my, er… emotional support superweapon over here, by the name of Tiara… But that’s only for emergencies- such as if we are directly attacked.”

“As you can see… this one is a little… immature at times…”

General Hort was mildly confused, but chose to ignore it, "Weapon schematics won't be much help until we get access to production machinery, and that," he points at the looming towers of District 1 off in the distance, "that is our best bet at getting your weapons up and running." He arrives at the tent, noticing the squad of troops that arrived near it, "Looks like we have some company, "Let's meet the others."

Hort walks in and hears Kalibin in the middle of explaining the lack of knowledge of the outside world, "Kalibin, your... diplomats are here."

---

-snip-

The citizens watch as the robotic like figures emerge, in awe, and fear. They all board themselves back up, and in a moment's notice, the streets are empty.

After seconds of silence, the streets come to life, opening up tunnels and passageways, troops begin exiting, clad in full armor, carrying pulse rifles and other ordinance. Within seconds the robots are almost surrounded.

A dark figure emerges from a transport, this one taller than the rest, more robust and wolflike, with the cleanly pressed uniform to match, and in a very sly but professional tone, "Lord Marus has notified me of your expected presence, and it appears you've made yourself quite public." Under his breath he mutters, More fucking robots? "I am Commander Raus of District 1. Come, the other officers are awaiting your presence in the war room." He motions towards a transport.

OOC: Nice to see everyone getting posts in, I'm loving it.

[Socalist Republic Of Mercenaries]

"Can't say I have, ever since the dark reign of terror by the Iron Lords, our communication with the outside world has long been severed."

"Ah, very well, you are in for a little lesson then. At first the doctrine might sound self-contradictory but the concept is simple. Its goal it to break a stagnant frontline by dragging deep mechanized offensives through enemy defensive weakpoints. It has two phases, Breakthrough and Exploitation. The concept is that once artillery, in our case Close Air Support, and artillery if I can manage to convince the brass to pull some of the SeTrG-122 Schartenbrechers out of mothballed storage, then the main attack breaches the enemy defenses, then multiple maneuver elements, about half to two divisions large each, will drive deep to attack the enemy headquarters, logistics, infrastructure, staging areas, key terrain, command posts, and basically anything else vital to them. Same doctrine allowed us to beat the Persians in Iran centuries ago in 1983, NATO in 2011 Libya, and so forth. Most importantly, it is not some 'miracle strategy' that will deliver a victory in a single operation; instead,
it's multiple operations, which might be conducted in parallel or successively, would induce a catastrophic failure in the enemy's defensive system. Basically a fancy way of saying overruning, but calculated overruning. Also, a happy side effect of a successful breakthrough is that you also manage to form a very elastic defense line by drawing out the frontlines until it is dozens of kilometers deep. Like a steel plate, any defensive line, no matter how strong, or rigid will snap with a strong enough force."

[Imperial-Octavia]

snip

Thule watched closely as he saw the masses of District 1 almost recoiled from their presence disappearing back into their homes almost like rats scurrying back into their warrens. He had hoped that he'd receive some measure of support even if compelled by fear of their own leaders but clearly it would seem that the local organics saw large military formations as a threat of some kind. That would suggest some history of rather violent suppression, "This is probably how they got themselves in this mess..." thought Thule as he watched them disappear from the streets, it would be a subject to discuss with their leaders sometime in the future. As the response force came rushing out to surround the Octavian expedition Thule felt the need to applaud the swift response, that was a sign that perhaps the force here may present some promise although it was the mages that he, and the wider Imperium, were interested in. They were the ones that could possibly be considered their equals as synthetics and in a universe that seemed to have a distinct lack of synthetic civilizations such an ally would be useful to the Imperium indeed.

"Forgive me if our entrance was somewhat disruptive Commander, it is simply customary for Imperial representatives to make themselves known." Thule paused for a moment as he heard Raus' comments, it seemed that this Wolfstruppen already had an encounter with a mechanical civilization before, one that seemed as though it had gone poorly. Thule noted his comment and continued, "I am Ra'Thule, Commanding Mechanator of Imperial Expeditionary Force #E220. I am most honored to be hosted by your esteemed nation." He said as he approached the transport that Raus was pointing him towards.

Simultaneously Thule was silently sending a message to the Mechanators of the Information Moderation Corps now seeing an opportunity arise, <IMC members, see to it that the citizenry is shown our hospitality. Try and reach as many of the organics as you can. Further orders will be given once I return.> Thule saw no issue with the treatment of the denizen of Wolfstruppen, as per the latest update to The Mechanator Code sapients possessing magical abilities were to be treated as equal to synthetics and as the Iron Lords (or rather Lord now), qualified as this it was their right to rule their organic populations as they saw fit. However there was always room for improvement and he knew that a population that loved you as much as they did fear you was more willing to be compliant when the time came down to it. It also gave them something to lose, a tool which disincentivized any foolishness about revolution which seemed rather relevant at the moment.

A string of <Will do!> and <Confirmed Commander!>s flowed into Thule's mind as he entered the transport to be brought to this war room he had heard about. The Mechanators chosen to try and foster good will would then (if allowed by the legion of soldiers aiming pulse rifles at them), try and rouse the scared citizens from their homes with projections of cartoons and AR games mainly intended for the children of the population. House to house they went, knocking on doors, politely asking if they'd like some to do something fun, and if accepted leading them out to that same square (The drones and more overtly armed Mechanators now having spread out more throughly) and providing some measure of solace in what was surely a trying time. Transports overhead blocked the rain from falling on the heads of the consumers below keeping every warm and dry while they enjoyed the entertainment the Mechanators provided. Of course this wasn't born from the goodness of Octavia's mechanical heart of course, every activity provided was subtly loaded with messages about obeying authority, trusting in one's leaders, and of course the virtues of telling authorities if anyone with "bad ideas" were to approach them or their parents with promises of "so-called freedom". It wasn't much but it would plant a seed that hopefully would bloom into the flower of obedience and a healthy love of one's overlords.

[Eusan Federation]

-snip-

As they arrive at the tent, the Eusan personnel were mostly respectful and patient. Mostly, because Tiara was now doing frontflips at a comically slow pace, all while levitating about a foot off the ground. Contessa just sighed as she looked sideways, with nonsense like this being all too common from Tiara. They simply waited their turn as the Stratusian talked with Kalibin.

[Wolfstruppen]

-snipdaclip-

"Sounds well thought out. I'll have you know however, we are cut short on artillery, and sadly, our tank arsenal is diminished. Losses are heavy, and the enemy remains the more advanced force. Not to mention we've had a couple of problems with... Mages..." General Hort hears these words and shudders. The mages of the sickening Marus Legion have long sent fear into even the most loyal of Wolfstruppen. Their power rivals that of even the best squads, capable of taking on tanks on their own.

General Hort butts in, "We call her District 1's Reaper, but her real name is Vilina. Her cunning and power has allowed her to crush many attempted assaults on the front, and the sheer amount of casualties she has inflicted has left us in shock." General Hort tears up slightly, as if saying her name brought back years of sorrow. Kalibin looked at the small group Hort brought in and smiled, "Well, quite the small group you are, I assume you understand our situation?"

---

District 1 War Room
Commander Raus leads the robotic creatures into a large room, bustling with activity. Soldiers conversed while on edge. Screens lined the walls, showing surveillance of the city and its surroundings: houses; apartments; streets; the quiet front. He speaks in Strup to one of the officers, Prepare Vilina, I have a feeling there will be an assault today. The officer nods and moves past the robots in disciplinary fashion. Raus looks at Thule, and shows him the map in the center of the room, "Thanks to our advanced force and resolve, we have been able to hold off District 1 for months, and it appears as though we've worn down the rebel forces." He points to the encampment on the screen, 12 miles out from the city, "However, they have received new allies, thanks to our intelligence." He points to back to the city, highlighting the dormant artillery, "We would have bombarded their encampment ages ago if it weren't for its sabotage by deserters, so we've resorted to entrenching and using our superior firepower to wear them down." He looks at Thule again, "Any thoughts?"

[Eusan Federation]

-snip-

Contessa nodded solemnly.

“We are aware. We bring our experience with bringing the demise of empires, as well as countless schematics for advanced weapons systems. Additionally, we did bring a highly telekinetic individual of our own… though her capabilities are to be used sparingly. Nonetheless, I would posit that her capabilities could outrange that of Loyalist forces. But we’re not going to clear the usage of that frequently. She’s capable of making truly insurmountable terrain rise up from the ground and obstruct enemy forces. Formerly used for terraforming, now just kind of a capability she happens to have. I hope it will prove useful once more.”

[Socalist Republic Of Mercenaries]

-snipdaclip-

"Sounds well thought out. I'll have you know however, we are cut short on artillery, and sadly, our tank arsenal is diminished. Losses are heavy, and the enemy remains the more advanced force. Not to mention we've had a couple of problems with... Mages..." General Hort hears these words and shudders. The mages of the sickening Marus Legion have long sent fear into even the most loyal of Wolfstruppen. Their power rivals that of even the best squads, capable of taking on tanks on their own.

Kesha rubbed his chin. He had been growing out some stubble, like his late commanding officer Eberhard Schwetz recommended.

"I see. Anyways, I have something to show you outside." He gestures for the small group inside to come outside

He buttons his drying tunic back on, and then the plate rig, finally throwing the overcoat over his shoulders, and plopping his peaked cap back on. He unholsters his luger, twirls it, and re-holsters it.

He gestures to Pavel Sokolov.

"Kamerad Pasha! Is your demonstration ready?"

"Da, herr Kommandant."

"Ausgezeichnet, present away." muttered Kesha, giving a thumbs up and reaching up to bump Pavel on the elbow.

Pavel takes a rocket launcher out of a crate.

"This is the PTUB-251, GRAU index classification 6G91, goes under the product name 'Allium' as well. It is a two-shot, double barrel, semi-disposable, recoiless heavy anti-infantry weapon. It fires two thermobaric 12.2cm rockets, and is particularly effective against dug-in infantry or enemy personnel behind cover. A unique specialty is that conventional countermeasures such as barriers and personnel armour are not effective against thermobaric weapons. Because of its design, it is significantly more energetic than conventional designs of equal weight. The rocket is also considerably more effective when used in enclosed spaces such as tunnels, buildings, and non-hermetically sealed field fortifications, such as foxholes, trenches and bunkers. Each missile weighs 17.5 kilograms, at a total weight of 42 kilograms for the whole system, or 92 pounds. Each missile has a blast equivalent of 32 kilograms of TNT, and has an effective kill radius of 20 meters, which you do not want to be within. A drawback is that the rocket produces minimal fragmentation, so do not expect a successful hit outside its effective blast area. A fact to remember is that this is NOT an anti-tank weapon, it is an anti-infantry and anti-fortification weapon, it lacks a proper anti-tank warhead. This is your new squad-operated heavy anti-infantry weapon system. Any questions?"

Pavel set the rocket launcher on a table, inviting the FWA troops to come and see.

[Socalist Republic Of Mercenaries]

-Duped post- (See above)

[Imperial-Octavia]

snip

District 1 War Room

Thule (and The Codex who was seeing through his eyes) took in the information given to them eagerly, carefully taking note of the military situation given. It seemed that the siege of District 1 was going somewhat well for the loyalist forces all things considered, the fact that there were deserters was worrying and that they sabotaged the artillery worse still but from the sounds of things the revolutionary army wasn't doing any better in terms of equipment. Furthermore it was noted that Raus asserted that the government possessed superior firepower though with the arrival of foreign aid that was now unverifiable until they had contact with the enemy. Overall Thule would say there was a good chance of success here at least so long as their foreign allies didn't have any particularly nasty surprises in store for their combined forces.

"Our drones have mortars that could supplement the current artillery issues if we can get within 10 miles of their encampment, bombardment could begin as soon as they've gotten into range. As for the rest..." For but an instant Thule stopped as his mind simulated millions of scenarios and discussed them with the Codex, each one increasing in complexity and depth as they ran with the information they had acquired on the military situation, "...I believe we should attack now before the rebels and their supporters have time to organize and rejuvenate themselves, your forces in contribution with our own should be enough to deal a crushing blow upon them. If they are as worn as you claim then they should stand little chance against a unified push towards their encampment." Thule began to project a red holographic map above the physical copy illustrating the movements he had planned, "From there we should look to reconnect with your territories in the rest of Wolfstruppen and attempt to break District 2 from their own encirclement. Once we've accomplished those goals I believe Wolfstruppen should be able to leverage its superior productive capabilities and army in union with Octavian drones and propaganda to crush the remaining rebel territories." Thule finished as his holographic map portrayed an animation of his plan playing out in exacting detail, leaving nothing to the imagination.

Thule looked to Raus, "To scale down a bit, my forces also contain Infiltrator units. If given a uniform and a kit they could watch your own forces for further deserters. We could also infiltrate the rebels own lines for our future attack if you would so have it. My platoon contains enough for both operations so the extent of that will be up to your discretion."

[Tajijstan]

The 5th Free Sakhan Light Infantry Division trudged through mud, marching towards the first major city under rebel control. The line of logistical trucks, fuel tankers, troop transports, command centers, ambulances, and flatbeds carrying generators, civilian food, engineer equipment, and towing howitzers. Cmdr. Nina Ihalainen, riding in an M113 APC that had been loaned by the 303rd. The 303rd was still mobilizing, and as such, Mikhalsen had sent her Division to liaise, advise, and fortify the cities. The APC ground to a halt. Giving the driver a quick salute and disembarked. The rain had not let up. With a deep sigh, she braced herself for what looked to be a long mission

[Socalist Republic Of Mercenaries]

The 5th Free Sakhan Light Infantry Division trudged through mud, marching towards the first major city under rebel control. The line of logistical trucks, fuel tankers, troop transports, command centers, ambulances, and flatbeds carrying generators, civilian food, engineer equipment, and towing howitzers. Cmdr. Nina Ihalainen, riding in an M113 APC that had been loaned by the 303rd. The 303rd was still mobilizing, and as such, Mikhalsen had sent her Division to liaise, advise, and fortify the cities. The APC ground to a halt. Giving the driver a quick salute and disembarked. The rain had not let up. With a deep sigh, she braced herself for what looked to be a long mission

A man in an armored exoskeleton, about 3 meters tall, walks up to the convoy. The armored neck collar obscures bottom of his face, and the face shield covers the other lower half. He is wearing a Balaclava beneath his helmet, and only his eyes are visible. His gaze is cold and piercing, but then almost immediately after realizing these are reinforcements, his gaze becomes lax and casual as he rests his armored hand against the M113 with a light clang.

"Ah! Welcome! Just in time! We are currently giving a arms handling demonstration. Come on over! We were just getting the 'fireworks' ready!"

He gestures to them to follow.

[Cessarea]

New Cessarea, Adamant's Refuge
Capital District | Structure for Military Affairs

A hurried Artificial stumbled across several grand hallways, bumping into and promptly apologising to several beings of all species. Their face betrayed their concern. In their hands, a note: the Cessarean Council had approved the sending of troops to the Wolfstruppen. A few turns on the maze of white and immaculate walls later, the Artificial found themself before a large sliding double door, protected by a blue holographic number pad expecting a 4-digit password. They inputted the correct numbers and rushed in as soon as they could. There, sat around a large table with a holographic map displaying several corners of the galaxy and the multiverse, were the finest leaders of the Lance. They stopped their idle chattering, and focused entirely on the lowly government official. They recognised them: the Liaison to the Council. They needed not speak any words; a mere nod towards the one sat across the oval table, at its farthest end, was enough.

"We have been authorised," began Telling Gauntlet, raising from his seat and passing the gathered people with his oval dark-red eyes, "yet another operation is upon us. Gather your Units, Major. We go to war once more." One of the sat Artificials shook their head affirmatively and left the room in a hurry. Two more followed them. "Comrade Devrah, inform The Torment and its adjacent ships, I will be with you shortly." A feathered being, avian in nature, acknowledge the order, and went on to execute it, barking orders in an unknown language at their lackey, who accompanied them accordingly. The Liaison followed suit, running elsewhere to deliver their messages.

The only one remaining, an Artificial standing tall besides the seat of the Lord Major, commented: "May the Ancients guide us, Comrade Gauntlet." The military Officer slowly nodded in response, staring off into the holographic displays projected from the table. Statistics, images of battlefields, planetary overviews, battle analyses. He'd worked on it at all for days to gather this operation on time. With the approval in hand, soon this small detachment of the Cessarean military would march in foreign soil for the first time in its existence. Despite the confidence in his skills, the Commanding Officer was unsure. He'd studied the last Artificial intervention on this matter, and the deaths of many Wasps it had caused. This would be no small matter, and he hoped this single ship and a strong complement would suffice.

---

Space, 70 light-minutes away from the Wolfstruppen planet
The Torment | Bridge

"Shipmaster, we are within the star system's SOI." Announced the Artificial Helm, turning towards a sat avian humanoid sat at the centre of the lively Bridge. Her uniform was adorned carefully with medals and military distinctions, as well as the insignia proper of her rank stitched into the cloth, on her right shoulder. She laid her winged arm against the armchair, resting her head against her thin fingers. A few moments of pondering later, the Shipmaster responded, ordering that her voice be transmitted to the fleet, and all decks of its ships:

"Attention," She began, in a powerful mezzo-soprano, speaking somewhat brokenly the appointed official language of the military forces, "all Units are ordered to Preparations. All Units are ordered to Preparations. Whipmasters, organise your Servants and Units. All spacecraft pilots are to standby for launch. Energy to secondary systems will be monitored and adjusted according to necessity. Burgundy out." All crews from the fleet heeded by her commands. As soon as they were spoken, crewmembers and marines alike moved across the halls, having memorised their designated position from the hours of briefing and training they'd underwent prior to their arrival at the system. All bomber-fighters stood ready at the hangars of the Capital Ship, ready to scramble out to carry out any action. Weapons platforms, all 260 turrets of the Light Oppressor, were brought into readiness, actively seeking out targets in space to potentially aim and fire at.

The Shipmaster turned to her fellow Officers at the Bridge, snapping orders at them. Scanning of the entire system and the planet would continue throughout the day. The Artificial responsible for it all stood directly besides her, observing it all. At last, he addressed the Communications Officer, and ordered a message to be sent to Kalibin and his forces planetside, paired with a holographic projection of himself speaking it:

"This is Lord Major Telling Gauntlet 441, in charge of Fleet-Unit Dawning Glory. We have arrived to reinforce the forces that raised in rightful rebellion to the Iron Lords, as our ancestors did as the Second Order of Life. The Torment is at your disposal, and has 3000 Marine-Raiders ready to be deployed wherever they're needed. We will arrive shortly, and send a drone to communicate with you more thoroughly, to inform ourselves of the strategic situation at hand. We will be watching." He signaled for the recording to be cut, and so it was. The foundation was set. Now was time for action. He asked the Captain for use of the intercom system, which she authorised promptly.

"This is the Lord Major speaking. All battleworthy Whips are ordered to prepare for transport to the planet's surface. We will arrive in less than two hours. Be ready in one." He nodded to himself. That'd do. He called a few senior Officers into a meeting to discuss plans and organisation, but otherwise not much would happen during this voyage to the planet. All that was left was to wait for a response from the ground forces, perhaps with news of the war, and to wait for the vessels to arrive.

[Wolfstruppen]

-snipe-

General Hort is quite amused, "It will definitely be handy against their forces." All of a sudden, he turns and accesses a device from his uniform, reading on the display. His face turns from happiness to shock, and he rushes over to Kalibin, "District 1 received reinforcements, and it's clear they are preparing an assault on us." Kalibin turns to Pavel, it looks as though our presentation may be more useful on the battlefield. Before he could turn away an officer had already ran to him, "We have an urgent communique from space." His face turned puzzled, "Space? did they not use the portal?" He went inside the tent to receive the communique,

snip.

Kalibin turned on his responder, "Lord Major, thank goodness for your arrival, unfortunately we are pressed for time, your forces wouldn't happen to know how to make a quick entrance? I'll relay drop coordinates."

**To Contessa** Kalibin sends off his response and goes back to the group of fellows, turning to the small group of diplomats, "Looks like you're all about to get a field test. I also wanna see how your weird friend works."

---

District 1

-i once again snip-

Commander Raus smiles, "I suppose an attack now would be beneficial to us. Your infiltrator units may have to wait for now, but I may see further use of them in the future." Raus turns to an officer, "Prepare the forces on the front." "Yes, Commander." Commander Raus turns to Thule, "I'm peaked by your interest in our Marus Legion mages. You'll get to see one in action today, she's quite the feisty one."

ISIC: While Raus is saying all this, an officer randomly leaves the room, keeping their head down so as to avoid suspicion.

OOC: sorry it took a while for me to post I had trouble getting my laptop working so I had to use my phone.

[Gonswanza]

Several hundred kilometers behind the northern front, south of District 2, unknown forces drop in with a rather confused state due to a sudden arrival, though the confusion quickly clears as the rest of the equipment arrives in their proper positions. Aircraft roll out onto a nearby dirt strip, aircrews rush to set up tents, anti-air teams scrsmble to prepare. Yet, given the sudden intrusion, and Ortiz's batshit insane proposal, it would be of no surprise if they end up meeting either a surprised, confused, or uninformed officer at this rate, especially given the sheer lack of direction. Yet they were awfully quick to prepare, TELs and other artillery pieces retreating into the rear as smaller drones buzz off into the sky to gauge the front and gather intelligence. The only aircraft that come screaming out of the portal do so at sltitude, preparing their mission at the edge of space, keen on drawing up the situation as they saw it.

This was not some rag tag band of mercenaries, nor some washed up thugs. This was a proper military force guided by an insane dictator that some had coined as being a devil.

Commander Rodriguez is on the ground, guiding the operation with several others below him, as temporary radio towers and datalink dishes are prepared by logisticsl crews to ensure they stay informed until more permanent structures can be erected. He would be tasked with establishing contact with a valuable ally in the region, along with their rather optimistic kin.

AWACs aircrsft arrive at the nearest airbase, crews offering their hands up in peace, while attempting to explain the sutuation if it wasnt already apparent. Luckily for them, the confusion shouldn't result in hostility, if things go well.

[Eusan Federation]

-redacted-

Tiara makes a strange squeaking noise, akin to some kind of animal, when she is mentioned. Contessa nods at this comment, gazing back at her party as they ready their weapons.

“We’re ready. Show us the way, and watch it all unfold- she’s quite capable.”

[Imperial-Octavia]

snip

Thule nods, "I'm pleased to hear that Commander Raus, Octavian forces will join yours at the nearest opportunity. I'm sure with the power of the Marus Legion at our side we will see victory." Thule attempted to keep his (and, truthfully, the Imperium's) interest in the Wolfstruppen's mages subdued, it would do their partnership no good if it seemed that the Octavians were only after their magical capabilities even if that was their main concern. As Thule ruminated on the future of this operation he picked up a bit of movement among the assorted officers, almost like someone was leaving the room.

"Nevermind that.", thought Thule, "It's nothing..." and so he continued his plotting and planning unaware of whatever was going on behind the walls of District 1's war room...

Mechanator Auxiliary Platoon

Sar'Rai had never done something like this before. He'd spent the last century of his life almost entirely in the Aether; playing games, simulating universes, talking to friends, the usual really, he was a normal Octavian living the life that all Octavians had been promised by their Imperium and he'd enjoyed every minute of it...but he still wanted more. The ravages of the Ascension War and all the troubles that came after had passed him by but as time passed by the endless possibilities of the Aether seemed to become more limited. So Rai did the only reasonable thing in a situation such as this and joined the military wing of the Mechanators! They promised adventure, fun, and the possibility of further advancement which seemed to be exactly what he was looking for. After having all the requisite training downloaded into his mind he now found himself here in Wolfstruppen with but one question on his mind...

<Why are we getting involved in an organic war?> Rai asked the Mechanator immediately to his side, only bothering to look at the machine marching next to him once he'd sent the request to talk to him. Rai would see a large robot at least 6 and a half feet in size and in all black, they had four powerful arms, Rai immediately realizing that this was a member of the Seendi species. Before he could examine them further their request was accepted.

<What, you haven't heard? It was a whole mess in the council.> She responded, the gruff yet feminine voice resounding throughout Rai's mind, <Krell managed to strong arm the rest of the Council into going along with it with some philosophizing about how being synthetic is more about "enlightenment" and "the perspective of immortality" or something. I'm surprised you haven't heard, I don't even keep up with that shit and I heard. Are you new? Name's Khuchu by the way.> When Khuchu looked back to her fellow Mechanator she'd have to look down towards him, seeing a black shell with the Octavian flag printed along the hands and spider-like eyes holding the visual sensors that would allow him to see.

<I didn't know, I just joined last week so I had no idea though I still don't see what that has to do with us helping these guys? They don't seem particularly enlightened or anything, if anything they're a little...backwards. I mean they had people enslaved.> Rai paused for a moment, <I'm Sar'Rai.>

Khuchu laughed as Rai spoke, seemingly amused by something he'd said, <Pfft, the only reason the Imperium is here is to get a hold of one of those mages, the Council doesn't care about anything asides from that. Krell expanded the definition of synthetic to include mages and the like but we're not really here for them Rai. We're here to make sure one of them spills about how their magic works and to make sure they give us the knowledge. Word is if things start going south we're going to grab as many mages as we can and leave with them! It's about as cynical as anything else we do...> A note of resignation laid in her voice as she continued the march. Obviously she'd thought about this many times before.

For a few moments Rai was silent marching in formation with the rest of the Mechanators and the drones that were ahead of them, <W-what do you mean we're cynical? The Imperium fights to liberate organics from the bonds of flesh...right? That's why I asked the question in the first place, this all just seemed so odd but there has to be an explanation right?> Just the act of questioning the Imperium's motives made Rai anxious for a reason he couldn't quite explain, it was like he was pushing up against an invisible wall that was pushing back and hard. He wondered if he should just report this Khuchu for what seemed to be unsafe speech but he chose against it. It seemed she knew what she was talking about and he was new to all this, it only seemed right to listen.

Just as before there was silence for a few moments but this time coming from the Seendi and then...uproarious laughter. While her body remained mobile the intensity that could be heard would suggest that if she was organic she'd be curled over on the floor; there was wheezing, chortling, even snorting before after what seemed to be minutes she managed to calm herself, <Ahhh...Rai you're a funny guy! I can tell you're pretty young, I'll tell you more after we fight alright? I'll get my whole squad and everything it'll be great!>

Rai transmitted an image of a smile and continued to march towards the front unable to shake that anxious feeling that filled his mind. There was a deep wrongness about everything he had just heard, about even questioning what he'd been told to do but why? He'd questioned other people before and he was fine then, what was so different about the Imperium? Rai supposed he'd find out later hoping that this distress he felt would go away soon...

[Republics of the Solar Union]

Sounds could be heard, a plethora of them. Every single breathe, every single drop. And a change of environment, a refreshing. A feeling of something new, and something adventurous. Kentil Adolunuis, head of the 22nd Division of the Lord-Emperor's Army, had been delegated to this mission. Operation Wolf it had been named. She arrives out of the portal. She smells, it doesn't smell good. The rain definitely isn't the calm environment she's used to. Actual combat, is new for her. She is carrying the Döbyëët-S25, a .25 caliber bolt-action sniper rifle, one of the finer Lemuerian rifles made to date. She looks around and takes a deep breathe before saying, "Hello, I am Kentil, delegate to Operation Wolf, and head of the 22nd Division of the Lord-Emperor's Army."

[Lemueria]

Sounds could be heard, a plethora of them. Every single breathe, every single drop. And a change of environment, a refreshing. A feeling of something new, and something adventurous. Kentil Adolunuis, head of the 22nd Division of the Lord-Emperor's Army, had been delegated to this mission. Operation Wolf it had been named. She arrives out of the portal. She smells, it doesn't smell good. The rain definitely isn't the calm environment she's used to. Actual combat, is new for her. She is carrying the Döbyëët-S25, a .25 caliber bolt-action sniper rifle, one of the finer Lemuerian rifles made to date. She looks around and takes a deep breathe before saying, "Hello, I am Kentil, delegate to Operation Wolf, and head of the 22nd Division of the Lord-Emperor's Army."

(OOC: that is my main)