Defender_16

+ + + Three hours later they were deep in a large patch of forest north east of the city. Shanna peeked around a tree and looked through a small pair of macro binoculars at the structures to the south. It looked to be another of the giant starfish shaped constructs like those in the city, but this one had wrapped itself around and between the trees. With the heavy cover it would be impossible to spot from the air. Surrounding it were dozens of smaller shell like objects standing a little over two metres tall. They appeared to be empty at the moment and only a dozen of the taller warriors patrolled the grounds. "Twelve outside on regular patrols." Said Vance to the others. "Should be around the same number inside." Commented Rowan. "Some of our people tried to go in closer but were caught. When that happened about an equal number of them rushed outside." "How far out were they? Did they set off an alarm?" "One hundred metres or so. The rest of us were too far away to tell what tipped off the warriors." "Ok. We set up no closer than two hundred meters. You should have a minute to sight your targets. I'll give a double click for a ready signal then a second double click a few seconds later for everyone to fire. Stay low and quiet. Move." The Stormtroopers and Commandoes took the flanks while the armed civilians went up the middle along with the Rowan and Jag. They took their time, careful to stay behind cover and not make very much noise. One of the civies tripped and almost fell but was caught in time by one next to him. Rowan waved them to take cover for a moment while a patrol came towards the area. When they were far enough past, the group continued on until the proper distance. The civies set up under the remains of a fallen log and some underbrush and waited. They watched the patrol circuit carried out and had familiarised themselves with it by the time the first double click came. Everyone sighted down their weapons, either at the closest enemy or those in position to respond. The second click came and fifteen blaster bolts flashed out at their targets. The Commandos downed their targets either with powerful or well targeted head shots. Jag's weapon burned most of the way through the chest armour a warrior was wearing, throwing him off his feet. Fire from the rest burned tiny holes in armour or spun enemies around. All pretences at stealth abandoned with some of the enemy patrol still alive, some of the troopers opened up with support weapons. Less than a handful of surviving warriors charged the civilian positions. Jag's blaster burned off a fist sized chunk of a warrior's arm but otherwise seemed to have no effect. The Vong swung his melee weapon in an arc at the tree stump Jag had been using for cover. He fell back as the blade like edge bisected the stump, dropping it to the side. The pilot fired blind from his prone position and the beam struck his enemy in the throat. The Alien grabbed the remains of his neck with one hand and raised his weapon to swing with the other. A second bolt caught it in the forehead and a third in the chest, then it dropped. The last warrior was dispatched in a spray of automatic fire from Rowan's carbine. Two of the civilians were dead. "Move up and take up new positions before the next wave comes out!" Yelled Shanna. "Leave the dead." Instructed the mercenary. "If we win we can come back for them later." Crashing through the underbrush they soon reached the new line formed by the troopers. Then the enemy came charging out of the main structure. Twelve tall warriors appeared but not alone. Thirty others, a mix of the little troopers and implanted humans raced out ahead of them. Moving erratically, dodging back and forth as they came, all of these targets proved to be much more difficult to put down. The hail of razor and blast bugs that preceded them were just as deadly as the close combat weapons. One Trooper was hit in the face while another lost an arm but kept fighting. Rowan rolled behind cover to the downed trooper and picked up his heavier blaster. Using the E-11 on auto fire while conserving power on the heavier one. Before the charging mass could reach their positions Shanna yelled out. "Grenades then pull back!" Six fragmentation grenades went flying into the patch of forest already filled with enemies. Four seconds later blasts and shrapnel ripped through running bodies, tearing the closer one to pieces or maiming others. The fragments bounced off the armour of those farther away. The troopers pulled halfway back to their first position, dodging or shooting at razor bugs. They set up behind whatever cover was available but the tall warriors had quickened their pace. Some continued to throw razor bugs while those that had used all that they carried ran in. One, which appeared to be better armed than the others, had noticed Shanna giving orders and charged her. The Vong spun his weapon in front of him while he continued to dodge, preventing any solid blaster bolts from landing. Then his weapon went rigid, straightening out like a lance. Vance barely ducked and dodged to the side in time to avoid the slash but her carbine was cut in two. Rolling to the side she came back to her feet with her silver handled weapon at the ready. An overhead cut by the warrior that should have split her from head to navel was deflected by a yellow beam of light springing from the lightsaber handle. Not seeming phased at all by the new development the two started trading lightning fast blows slashes and kicks when the weapons were out of position. In a blinding series of slashes and deflections Vance drew her opponent's weapon out wide allowing her a slash across his chest. The lightsaber couldn't penetrate the strange armour however, only leaving a not so deep looking gash in it's surface. Surprised, she nearly missed seeing the melee weapon arcing in towards her neck from the side. The lightsaber came up in time to stop it but there was enough force behind the blow to knock her back nearly off her feet. A Spray of full automatic fire from a trooper's support weapon caught the warrior in the side throwing him to the ground. Before he could recover Vance was above him and driving her lightsaber into his throat. Two of the warriors had retreated running for help, leaving the remaining smaller ones to fight and die. They were out of range before any of the marksmen could spare attention for them. Most on the team were sporting wounds now and the scout trooper was dead. The one missing an arm was still alive, the stump having been cauterized shut by one of the civilians before they retreated from the first line. "Everyone patch yourselves up for a bit then a few of us try to take a look at that building. Once that's over we call in an air strike." 043

MS shuts down Halogen mod ... why now? The mod team was within a week of releasing the beta when they were shut down... after three freakin' years work.

( Decided this needed it's own topic or it'd be lost in the Randomness thread. ) http://www.game-warden.com/bsg/ The working demo has finally been released allowing all flight sim fans to fly Vipers and blast Cylons in the new series setting. Due to the heavy downloading torrents are in use instead fo diret downloads. The gallery has some kick ass shots. http://www.game-warden.com/bsg/images/screenshots/screen02.jpg Trailer Multiplayer test EDIT: Oh god, there's word going arround that there may be aother BSG game under development by Sierra. I hope we don't have a repeat of the HALOGEN incedent.

Gumball Rally New Russian Artillery system.

+ + + The team hiked up the embankment, crossed an abandoned roadway and headed northwest. Tree lines bordered a series of fields along the river, running in straight lines away from the water. The fields were filled with un-harvested crops nearly at maturity. Why the Vong hadn't taken in the crops yet was beyond Jag. Pirates or insurgents would have stripped the fields by now and loaded the food into ships. Unless it had been poisoned somehow. The young pilot didn't feel interested in testing that theory at present. The scout that had taken point halted and held up a fist. Everyone in the column stopped and crouched or looked for cover. The scout, also crouching now made quick short chopping motions with his hand, pointed roughly forty-five degrees to their right. Vance keeping low headed up to the point man. "There's five or six of them." She whispered to the scout. "Hard to say, some of them are close together." "I only counted four." Replied the scout. "Some are behind trees. I think they're humans." She gave a hand signal for everyone to take cover, though most had by now. The tiny light of a signal flasher appeared from behind a bush, sending a message in blink code. It was just a basic signal that even civilians knew. "Send the counter signal." She instructed the Scout. "Everyone hold fire." She whispered back to the others. A half minute later a handful of humans dressed in painted clothing emerged from the underbrush. From the way they moved all but one of them were civilians. A tall man waved them towards his position. Standing the squad moved up and took cover in the bushes along with the civilians. The tall man looked like an ex-Stormtrooper and wore patched together armour with leaves and parts of other local plants adhered to it. His hair was streaked through with grey at the temples. "Quan Rowan." He introduced himself, sketching a light salute. "Professional Soldier." "A Mercenary." Frowned the Commander. "Business was getting slow so I had signed on with the local constabulary. When the invasion sirens went off I tried to get as many people out as I could." "What have you seen from out here?" "Just enough. We were farther north but started heading back towards the city after we saw the landings yesterday. Any idea who these guys are?" "Some. How widespread are they in the area?" "Not very. They swept the farming areas and killed or took away anyone they could find. We tried to fight a small group of them once but that didn't go well. We were able to contact another survivor group closer to the city. They said the captured people were being experimented on." "They have been." Said Jag. "There was some kind of growths put on them and they attacked our troops like they were possessed." "Yeah… Makes sense. We dragged away the body of one of their weird little soldier types. Had some kind of bony hooks and things sticking out in places." The man shook his head. "Creepy." He reached down and traced a line through the dirt. "That's the river, I figured we were about here. We tried to come in from the northwest yesterday but there was a base hidden in the forest." "There's a third base structure?" Questioned Vance. "Yeah I guess. We didn't get very close. We did see a lot of those shell shaped little out-buildings they use." "The teams in the city didn't report any smaller structures near the captured landing pad. There may be some in the campus but we might have mistaken them for debris." “We’ll have to check them out.â€

Transcript from at work. Jon: Hey guess what? Me: *Sigh* ok, what? Jon: Ducks are going to win, DUCKS ARE GOING TO WIN>! Etc

Well yes I suppose it does look a bit better, and mine can go higher than a handfull of meters off the ground too. *Debates putting a Spoiler on the AB-Wing*

Oh no, looks like someone had a similar idea years ago! Only diffrience is that I strapped some A-wing engines to the thing. Thankfully it's not fully canon.

Actually I've already been designing the next gen of Imperial ground vehicles. Hey, did Chariot LAV's have shields? I remember the NR using something similar to it with really weak shields. + + + Jag had recognised the woman in the Intel officer's uniform as the cloaked figure from the bridge of the Superior. Though he had done his best to pretend that he didn't recognise her, he had the distinct feeling that it was of little use. Now he looked over the strange vehicle that he had been tapped to pilot out over the enemy held portions of the city. From the outside it looked like an assault shuttle but the internal spaces were closer to that of an armoured personnel gravsled. Troopers armed with heavy weapons and camouflage gear were strapping themselves into tightly packed jump seats facing each other. At the front was a single pilot’s seat and another jump seat. He climbed in to begin system checks and soon located a bank of controls for explosives planted in the hull. He had only heard about vehicles like this, never seen one. The Intel officer climbed into the forward most Jump seat. She was wearing a combat suit that was somewhat of a cross between regular and scout trooper armour. A lightsaber was attached to special mount on the leg armour. "Colonel, here's your briefing." She spoke up. "You're to take us out over the city in a search pattern until those sabotage bugs that downed your fighter attack us. Once they've done enough damage to the outer shell we trigger the explosives and then crash land behind enemy lines." Jag wasn't happy with where this was going but he was under orders. He brought the shuttle up on Repulsors and into the light of the sun coming up over the horizon. They headed for the city once the ship cleared the tree line. "Are there any areas that I should aim for as we crash?" He asked. "We're trying to put our insertion team behind enemy lines with as little interference as possible. You're an experienced pilot Colonel. Find a place." He scanned the city layout and surrounding land mass. "Will this vehicle work underwater?" + + + The head of High Admiral Burgan stared out from the holo projection hovering above General Richardson's desk. "According to the data from the ExGal facility, the creatures that were attacking your starfighters are called 'Grutchins.' They can eat through just about anything given enough time. It looks like the Vong have to destroy any of them that survive attacking their enemies after release. Either that or the particular alien that was observed didn't care for them too much, it's hard to say." "They arn't very tough, but they can cause a lot of damage. Can I expect any starfighter replacements?" "No, I'm afraid not. We're sending down a full garrison base for you so that should help with starfighter maintenance." "It's something. I don't know how well one would hold up to these 'Range' artillery creatures they use. It takes a lot to down one of them." "Ok, ok, you'll get five more Tie bombers with your garrison base but that's it. Command doesn't want us sitting here any longer than necessary. Once the planet has been pacified I'll leave a garrison on the ground, a Destroyer and escorts in orbit then we pull back. If the enemy lands more ground forces do you think you can hold?" Jerej grinned. "Worried I won't make it if you leave me behind?" "You're not staying behind, I'll need help with assaults on other planets. Will whatever commander you leave here be able to hold?" "Hard to say. I give us a few days if the fleet has to run for it, provided we have defence shields in place." "The Core fleets are starting to mobilise. Faster ships are already on their way out but it will be months before we have enough strength here to force a total victory. The Garrison base should be finished inside the week. We'll keep the main force in orbit until then. How many troops should we leave behind?" "Two augmented Regiments should be enough." "Good. I'll see about finding occupation troops from the other Star Destroyers. One of them is bound to be carrying a Floating fortress or two. Burgan out." The General grinned, the HAVr A9 Floating Fortress was preferred by occupation troops but were shunned by attack forces in favour of the AT-AT. Against Rebels they were roughly equal in their preferred terrain types. Against these Vong there was no easy way of knowing. + + + Jag watched as the red warning lights went off indicating more damage was being done to the engines. They were losing power and if they didn't throw off the bugs now they would soon plummet from the sky. It was time to set off the charges in the aft parts of the shuttle. He started to reach for the switch but it suddenly flicked upwards on it's own. The explosives detonated throwing him against the restraints and sending the shuttle out of control. He angled away from the city as much as possible finding that they were headed straight for the river on the northern side of the city. When he tried to level their descent the falling deathtrap nearly went into a flat spin. Commander Vance took the opportunity to send out a distress signal. "Mayday! Mayday! We've been hit! Engines out, we're going down!" Using every trick he knew Jag still couldn't slow the descent of the shuttle. He aimed for the water as called for in the plan but now he wasn't sure if they would survive the impact. At the last second he yelled out, "Brace!" and grabbed his restraints. Everything seemed to slow down as if the air inside had turned as thick as water, restricting movement. When the air returned to normal the vehicle was surrounded by water and sinking. "Anti-concussion field." Said the Intel officer replying to his unspoken question. She then reached over and flipped the rest of the detonation switches, setting them off in sequence. The explosions ripped their smaller insertion vehicle free of the wreckage. Engaging the small repulsors Jag started them moving upstream. Within minutes they had moved out of the city and around a bend in the river. They continued against the current at a slow pace for the next half hour. Vance signalled him to bring them in to shore and Jag grounded their vehicle in shallow water just short of land, the topside hatch exposed above the water line. Vance was un-strapped and out the hatch in seconds. Stormtroopers and Commandos followed, quickly making their way to shore and establishing a perimeter. The Intel officer spotted something amiss and re-entered the ship to speak with Jag. "There's damage to the starboard repulsors just below the water line. The burns continue all along that side." "It's worse than that. We only have the two small aft repulsor plates working. The main repulsors must have been chewed up by the charges. The water could have reflected enough of the blast. This thing wouldn’t make ten kph over land now.â€

Not really planning on changing any of the existing parts except to fix grammar or smooth action out. I've already done that with a lot of them. Some of these next few posts will seem rather short. 4 more posts until all of the older stuff is exhauseted. + + + "That was annoying." Grumbled the large General. "We lost nearly half of our Tie Starfighters to those stupid bugs in one way or another." "It's a good thing the Assault Gunboats had been pulled back from the city sir." Commented the aid. "Yes. Now we have to do most of the action on foot the same as the enemy is doing. How are our troops faring?" "The infantry are exhausting their power packs as fast or faster than we can get new men to the font lines. The enemy body armour is very durable. At the moment we're only able to advance because of the heavy fire provided by the walkers." Richardson made a noise of further annoyance. "We don't have enough troops at the front line to take the entire city right now. We need time to rearm and reorganise. Have our men begin setting up defensible positions and scout around for good locations to place a forward command post. Once you find a good spot start sending in shuttles with weapons, equipment and ammunition." This was going to take some time Jerej knew. Night would be coming on soon and there was no way of guessing at the enemies' night abilities. Symbols on the map representing deployed E-web positions began to appear slowly, forming a line across the city. AT-ST's took up positions on the streets that intersected that line. Their concussion grenade launchers would serve well for defence and give time for some of the troops to go for ammunition. A few undamaged AT-AT's located a good position for a command post and formed a perimeter. Soon shuttles were arriving carrying ammo for the Imperial troops. With the setting sun this would now be a waiting game. It would be many hours before all of the ground units were ready in sufficient numbers to resume the advance. + + + The sun sank below the horizon well before Jag had made it back to the landing zone. He wasn't the only pilot to have been downed and the Stormtroopers were too busy to help uninjured ones that were on their side of the font lines. He had met Tarth at one of the bridges on his walk. Other than having his flight suit soaked through he didn't appear any worse for wear. He reported into the command post, received permission to take shifts flying for pilots that were rotated off for sleep, then found a cot for a few fours. Three hours later he was woken up by a woman in an intelligence officer's uniform. "Colonel Fel?" She asked but before he could reply she continued. "Come with me." + + + "Sir." Interrupted the General's aid. "There's an intelligence officer here to see you." "Intel, what do they want? Who is it?" "It's a Commander Shanna Vance sir." "Oh her. Fine send her in." The door to the tactical room opened and in stepped the woman Jerej had last seen on the bridge of the Admiral's command ship. This time wearing a uniform instead of the dark hooded robe. The Aid stepped outside, not wanting to be a potentially disposable witness. "Welcome!" Belted out the General in his best booming voice. "Come to see how inept I am at planetary invasion?" She tilted her head and looked sideways at him. "Come now General. I've read your file. If you were truly inept at this sort of work you would have been dead long ago. As this could be considered one of the first ground engagements against this species it's expected that casualties will be high." "They're higher than I thought they would be. AT-AT's are nothing but large targets to the enemy’s equivalent units. Our fighters are being chewed up when they provide any cover fire. The Stormtroopers are almost forced into retreat again and again with the enemy close combat tactics. I think I’d do better fighting defensive battles against these little monsters than offensive ones." "I heard reports about some kind of parasite." "Yes, yes. Human Civilians that were captured by the enemy by the looks of it. We found some other civilians that had been hiding in the forests since the invasion and they didn't look to be infected. From what the medics have been able to figure out, the infected ones appear to have been implanted with parasitic nodes or things. It's not airborne like we feared at first. At least... we don't think it's airborne.â€

I deffinetely think that's hot enough for my purposes.

+ + + Richardson looked over the reports coming in from the city and shook his head. "I want the Corvette Merser back down there engaging that last Artillery unit. I don't care if it's headed farther away into the University complex, just kill it." "Sir the Corvette can't kill one by itself and the Gunboats are taking heavy damage. The Interceptor Squadron assisting them have already pulled back." "Fine, send one of the other Interceptor squadrons in to assist them. Once they're in place pull that Gunboat unit back to the landing zone. The Ties and the Corvette can harass that thing until the Tie Bombers are ready for their run." "Yes sir." The General went back to watching the holo displays of the city as his troops continued to advance. Towards the east a fully supported AT-AT unit had reached one of the strange star shaped structures the Aliens had built, this one in a park. This one looked to be quite flat and there were what looked like landing pads for corvette sized vehicles. This had to be their equivalent of a spaceport. The Vong forces protecting it put up only token resistance, choosing instead to retreat either into the city or public gardens overgrown with strange foliage. In the tighter confines of the city it would be easier to set up ambushes while they could set any number of traps in the gardens. Knowing these dangers the Stormtroopers flanked the gardens while the walkers vaporised the plant cover with laser cannon. The forward elements of the groups that had entered the city via different bridges finally came into contact. Before long all approaches to the entire southern waterway were under Imperial control and a more concentrated push into the city could begin. "Tie Bombers are now reaching attack range sir." "About time. Where's the surviving Range?" "It's headed for the other star shaped structure sir, here." Pointed the aid. "All right, hit it with everything. Proton bombs, missiles, everything they have. We have one of their structures, it won't be seen as a loss if we destroy the other one instead of capturing it." + + + Jag watched as the Tie Bomber squadron dropped down towards the remaining Range. They came in, flying in a double stacked V formation out of the east. As they swept below the Merser, which was holding fire for them, they dropped their heavy proton bombs. The fall of the heavy bombs appeared almost slow, as if they were taking their time and had no intention of being rushed. The Range did it's best to project defences to protect itself from the falling weapons. Six bombs were dragged into singularities, the rest hit all around it. Eighteen explosions ripped through that part of the city, half of them overlapping, giving no chance for anything to survive. A dying burst of plasma fire reached up to grab at the bombers but these were newer craft, equipped with shields to ensure their payloads reached target. The Bombers were shaken up by the fire but took no losses. The shockwave carried through the rest of the city, shattering poorly built windows and rattling troopers inside their helmets. When the dust and flame cleared Jag looked down into the crater from above and found no remains of the monster. Tie craft began over flights of the city without serious worry of ground fire. Every so often one of the pilots would report taking hits from razor bugs thrown by enemies on the ground but they could never penetrate armour of a Starfighter. As Jag was heading back to the South again he heard a very different clank come from one of his stabilizer wings. "Fel to Elsin, I just heard something come from my portside stabilizer. Did you see anything?" The other pilot's voice came back sounding uncertain. "Yeah I was just about to com you. Something landed on it. It's about half a metre long, looks to be another kind of bug. I think it's-" The sudden scream of tearing metal failed to drown out Tarth's response. "Sithspit! That thing just took a bite out of your stabilizer!" Another one of the bugs flew up and latched onto the front of the same stabilizer this time near the laser cannon mount. Large mandibles latched onto the cannon and acids started to burn through the armour like it was candy to them. Tarth's scream of alarm drew his attention away. "It's trying to burn through my canopy! I can't shake it off!" Other starfighters were also starting to report attacks by the new wave of bugs. "Tarth, set your self destruct and eject before it gets near your hatch!" The sensor contact indicating his wingman changed to a blinking indicator showing he had ejected. The Tie spiralled out of control and crashed on the south side of the river. Damage diagnostics lit up showing that the portside pylon was weakening and would soon be in danger of collapse. Running the risk of tearing the stabilizer off Jag went into a hard dive and armed missiles. As the ground swiftly angled up at him he fired the missiles nearly at point blank range. The explosion rocked the Tie, dropping the shields and putting a series of star shaped cracks in the forward canopy. Barely in control he brought his fighter out over one of the abandoned fields half way to the main landing zone and set down on repulsors. The landing was a bumpy one as the underside of the fighter was damaged which included the repulsor lifts. He set the onboard systems to go through an automatic shutdown and lifted up the pilot seat pulling out an E-11 Carbine. Cracking the hatch open and peeking out Jag could see that one of his hitchhikers was still alive. Though it was burned and half of it's body was now missing, the bug was still moving. It's mouth was still secreting acid and chewing through the wing pylon. Several legs were also intact letting it move just enough to keep up the destruction. Setting the Carbine for full auto Jag lifted it above the hatch sill, aimed, and fired. The first shot blew it's tiny little head off and the next second's worth of fire ripped it to shreds. The damage to the fighter was done though and it would need the entire pylon replaced to fly again. Pulling out his comlink Jag found the main frequency used by the starfighters in atmosphere. "This is Colonel Fel to all starfighters, try to shoot down the new bugs before they can get to your fighters. They don't seem to be all that strong, a stray cannon shot should take any of them out." The commander of the Tie Defender squadron came on the com half a minute later. "Thanks’ Colonel. We also had to set target recognition to flag smaller flying objects. Hope that helps you out, over." "I was a little too late for my own advice. Good hunting up there." "Roger Colonel." With that dialog over the downed pilot began making his way toward one of the roads used by the ground forces. Hopeful he would be able to catch a ride back to the landing zone. 039

Man, that last time I tried that I nicked a branch and my sword broke. Screw this consumersim shit. *Pulls out anvil and some Rebar.* Hey guys, how hot does that flame off a busted propane BBQ get?

The inevitable conclusion to this discussion. http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2004/09/22

Death Star and Sun Crusher are one thing, at least they have to be in the same system to be used. Hell I'd even fight world Devastators in limited quantities before going up against someone with the Galaxy Gun. How are we supposed to have gigantically HUGE fleet battles without the Empire's enemies able to get some construction going on. Epic struggle is needed here Paul and I love conventional Arms. "At the time, the Galaxy Gun was the most destructive weapon we'd ever seen. But I wish we had it now. We could blast those Yuuzhan Vong worldships right out of the sky." ―Luke Skywalker[src] Omg, found this in the descussion area. Gave me an idea.

Ugh! Beer? Don't you guys have anything stronger? *Starts mixing some screwdriver.* Stupid url isn't working because of the brackets. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screwdriver_(cocktail)

+ + + "So, the local civilians may or may not be infected with some sort of parasite." Mumbled Richardson to himself. He knew what that meant; full quarantine or destruction of the population. Preferably one following the other. The life signs surrounding the artillery positions had just turned from potential shields for the enemy, into targets for his soldiers. "Inform the AT-AT units that friendly fire restrictions on Civilians have been withdrawn. If they can be easily captured do so, otherwise shoot to kill." Not long after the order was given the Walkers opened up with their large guns on buildings across the river. Their longer range fire now allowed them to stay farther back and fire with impunity. It would still take some time to demolish the buildings shielding the remaining alien artillery. "Sir, Corvette Merser is on station at medium altitude. Awaiting instructions." "About time. Tell them to descend to fifteen hundred metres above ground level. They're to target any artillery creatures they can locate. They're free to retreat to higher altitude if they take too much damage. Have the walkers ready to advance." + + + Above the city paired Turbolaser bolts from the Corvette Merser rained down on the artillery beast. Their slow rate of fire allowed the beast's voids time to absorb the shots and recover. The Merser’s Captain seeing this rolled the Corvette eighty degrees, bringing both heavy Turbolaser turrets to bear. When that still proved to be of little effect they fired into the surrounding buildings. The heavy beams struck three of the short apartment buildings blasting them apart with little effort. Shattered fragments of Ferrocrete and tansparisteel flew in every direction, some bouncing off the beast's thick hide others being sucked into singularities. Seeing the problem the Gunboat squadron swept down and fired a full missile spread at the buildings and ground around the target, again using cannon fire in an attempt to distract the singularities. The overlapping blast waves, debris and cannon fire proved too much for the monster and soon a Turbolaser burst burned through it, dropping it to the ground. The other two creatures must have known what was happening because they were soon on the move, directing more fire up at the fighters and Corvette than anything else. With no more artillery harassment the Imperial troops were clear to make the run to the city. The AT-AT's pounding across the landscape fast reached the south west bridge into the city. AT-ST's charged ahead across the bridge and throngs of ground troops and APC's followed close behind the larger vehicles. A second AT-AT formation reached a crossroad farther to the east leading to another bridge. This one was held by fifty or so Vong, again mostly the shorter blade wielding ones with a few tall thin commanders. This time though some of the smaller warriors were equipped with a few additional weapons. Globs of what looked to be a thick gelatinous substance were thrown by foot soldiers in the rear ranks. After impact the globs burst into flames, burning hotly. Several Stormtroopers that were hit went down writhing in flames as the substance soaked through cracks in their armour. An AT-ST was also forced off when it was hit by several globs, their weapons in danger of overheating. The infantry and their bio-weapons had no effect on the AT-AT's which marched right over their positions, crushing many. The following troopers were quick to dispatch any survivors, with three of the white armoured soldiers targeting each of the remaining aliens. The second bridge was reached before forces had even finished crossing the first one. Then they were into the city itself with the Vong artillery no longer able to easily hit them if they had wanted to. The street fighting proved to be harsh, with infantry having to move from building to building to be certain they were cleared. This was emphasized when swarms of the short Vong Reptoid soldiers came charging out of a building nearly flanking a platoon. Occasionally some of the altered humans would also be included in the mix, prompting surprise among some of the troops. Scout troopers reached one of the positions that had been used for cover by an artillery beast and found it empty. The humans had been scattered and put to use elsewhere in the city. + + + Jag swooped low above the roof tops firing paired lasers towards the sides of an Artillery beast. Some of the pilots were taking to nicknaming them 'Range’s' due to their mountainous looking spines. The lasers failed to get past the defences so he pulled up rather than enter the area where Turbolaser bolts were falling. The gunners on the Corvette Merser were poor shots and the bright beams struck all around their target as the Range stampeded down streets at impressive speeds. As Jag pulled up to get a better look at where it was heading the Merser's Captain came over the com. "We're pulling up for a few minutes to let our shields recharge. Let us know if there's a need for us before then." Now at a higher altitude Jag could see that the Range was heading back towards the Imperial ground forces. There were several taller buildings in the way, mostly ten story height structures, blocking it from firing into the approaching walkers. "Fel to forward AT-AT group you have a Range, -er artillery beast incoming from a street up ahead. From the east now." Most Stormtroopers quickly got off of the street and into buildings. A few heavy support teams took up positions in windows that had been blasted out and shoulder fired missile teams rushed forward as the AT-AT's stopped. The Range had been shielded from most of the fighters as it passed between two taller buildings. Then it lumbered around the corner and was immediately hit by everything the ground forces had. Six missiles peppered it with bloody craters while the heavy Cannon shots were sucked into voids. Small arms fire didn't penetrate it's tough hide but the E-web teams were making some progress. A plasma ball took the lead AT-AT in the front legs, the explosion lifting it up in the air and sending it slamming down onto it's back. A second knocked a heavy walker off it's feet and into a building, it's ferrocrete front crumbling down into the street. Enraged that it was still being injured the monster spun, firing streamers into the sides of buildings, blasting out whole sides of them. Troopers that had taken up positions inside were crushed under debris or thrown into other parts of the structures. Five Gunboats dropped down to street level flying between buildings and made strafing runs on the wounded Range. Cannon fire from the two remaining AT-AT's cut through one leg and then another, collapsing it and exposing it’s belly. A final burst of plasma scoured off the top on a third walker before the heavy fighters put it out of it's misery. 038

We've already had a whole thread dedicated to how the Vong could beat a Death Star. It would just be damn costly. Smugglers are indeed everywhere, just not right next to major Imperial Battlegroups. Force storm meh, palply would be too... wait, did you say FORCE STORM for use against Force ineffective Vong? I just started thinking earlier today (yesterday? need sleep.) about the Galaxy Gun. I don't think it would have been completed yet (The whole winning thing) but with the Vong becoming a threat I think Bevel Leminsk's clones might be called back to work. So I'm going to have to figure out a way to take out the Galaxy Gun that doesn't involve R2-D2. These are good questions and ideas all.

I'm expecting that eventually a Rebel fan will post here with damn/stinking Empire, etc. + + + Jag's flight and the Interceptor Squadron flew over the city. Taking a chance, they were only at about half the altitude called for in high flight observation. Nothing happened after their first pass but on their second the artillery vehicles started directing fire up at them. "Scatter formations. Keep it erratic and don't get hit." With most of the squadron breaking up and farther away from the fire sources, Jag heeled his fighter over and dove towards the ground, Tarth sticking right with him. Unwilling to waste a good chance for a strafing run, Jag fired lasers at the source of some of the ground fire. Before they could hit, both his and Tarth's laser bolts winked into nothingness at a familiar distance from the ground. Pulling up and putting all power to engines the two pilots soon rejoined the rest of the squadron. "Everyone stay at altitude and continue to dodge fire." He switched back to the Command Frequency the General had called him on. "Fel to Richardson." "Go ahead Fel." "We just made a run at one of their artillery. We didn't get a very good look at it but they are definitely shielded." There was a long pause then the General asked. "The same kind of shielding as their ships use?" "The same. It could take a lot of firepower to remove them." "That's a problem. I'm sending you a Gunboat squadron, do what you can. There will be a Corvette in firing position to hit those targets from medium altitude in five minutes, but their gunners arn't so good. There are buildings surrounding those enemy positions with human life signs. They're being used as shields from our ground forces. Do something about that as well will you?" Jag calculated numbers and forces then replied. "I need two Assault shuttles and a Sentinel. Any fire the other squadrons could direct toward the targets would help." "Fine you've got it, just get the job done." + + + Jag orbited above the combat groundside waiting for his forces to reach attack positions. "All fighters direct fire at the westernmost artillery setup. Gunboats, fire one missile apiece at the roadway twenty meters north of the target." As soon as the fighters opened up, two Assault Shuttles and a Sentinel dropped to the deck from their waiting position and screamed in towards the west side of the city. Laser and Ion cannon fire from twenty eight vehicles converged on the enemy position. As usual many of the lasers disappeared and return fire in the form of Plasma licked at the shields of the less maneuverable Gunboats. Most of the concussion missiles were ignored though, and they hit the street with a large explosion, throwing up a fireball the size of the buildings around it. Illuminated by the explosion Jag could see that the enemy weapon was a large lumbering creature almost as tall as an AT-AT. The large bony ridge along it's back served at the mount for the plasma weapon which appeared to be grafted to it. Then the explosion and shockwave swept under the tiny voids it had been using for defence, tearing into it's hind and flank. The creature's back end dropped but it kept firing, scoring a hit on an Interceptor and then a Gunboat that couldn't get out of the way in time. The Imperial fighters could no longer direct mass fire at it, being forced to dodge fire not only from the wounded beast but the other three in the city as well. Then the Assault shuttles swung around a corner in the city streets. Their Turbolasers, normally used for tackling resisting ships tore through the wounded back side of the monster, burning through it until beams came out the front of it's armoured hide. "Direct fire at the other artillery beasts to keep them distracted." Instructed Jag. "I'm going down for a closer look at the dead one and the hostages." The Sentinel Class landing craft hovered between buildings until it reached the burning smouldering hulk of the dead monster. The three vehicles set down and directed shields above them should any fire come their way. Stormtroopers charged from the landing ramps and entered the buildings. No sooner had they entered then the strobing flashes of blaster and stun shots flashed from the entrances. Moments later the Troopers backed out of the buildings and headed for the safety of the shuttles. A horde a humanoids charged out after them, some armed most not. They looked a great deal like humans except for strange calcifications and growths on them. Some appeared to have growths farther along than the others, looking almost like armour. The Stormtroopers formed a firing line two deep around the shuttles, overpowering the humanoids while the shuttle crews brought their weapons to bear. Jag punched up the General. "Fel to Richardson." "Go." "Recommend that you implement planetary quarantine procedures. The humans that were supposed to be in the buildings have strange growths. They appear to be parasitic but there's no way to be sure right now. They are attacking out troops without any regard to their own safety, most are unarmed." "That's going to make things tricky. Capture one, I don't care how, we'll have to study some. Do you believe that the rest of the humans we detected will be like this?" "There is no way to be sure sir other than to take the other positions." "Figures. Capture one and pull back. Don’t bother with the other artillery." "Aye sir." Jag swung his fighter around and poured laser cannon shots into the attacking mob, trying to cut it off from the buildings. At the same time contacting the trooper commander to capture some of the mutated looking humans for study. A man in a modified space trooper suit grabbed an opponent and backhanded him into unconsciousness before lifting and carrying him back to a shuttle. Another was shot with several stun beams and tackled by three regular troopers. All the while the laser cannon from both the shuttles and Jag's cycled, putting more energy into the mass trying to exit the building, turning the pavement and Ferrocrete molten. Jag was grateful he wouldn't ever have to find out what it smelled like out there. Then the Troopers were back aboard their shuttles, the landing ramps going up and the vehicles backing away. Without a second thought, he fired a pair of Concussion missiles into the base floor of the building, bringing the five above it telescoping down and into the street. He kicked the Tie backwards on repulsors just enough to avoid the falling debris then turned and followed the shuttles until they were out of the city. 037

OMG! A Command & Conquer novel? Hey J, someday can we get a version of your awesome woo-yay gif without the explosion ring? Just wondering.

Space Mutiny 1988 (Edit: Uh... lost the link.) (Edit 2: Found it again.) Way to tatally rip off another sci-fi series.

I can't believe that didn't even occur to me... wait it's not on one of those nutrient support frame things. He's dying! Quick!

I cut it for all capital ships since I was going to the enabling some of the more common ones for both sides. (Empire had 15 ISD's and 8 VSD's at one point. Most I've ever seen.)

All I did was cut the maintinence in half for the ships and enable the Star Destroyers, Corvettes and Nebulon B Frigates for both sides.

Hey, were getting closer to developing cryogenic suspended animation. We can just send some freezer ships like in the known space books. *Crosses fingers and hopes for lack of brain damage.*