[SG2] Battle Report - Iron Empires Part 1

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

THE EMPIRES

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

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

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

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

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

THE ENEMY

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

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

NARRATIVE:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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