Battletech: The Ork Invasion of 3020 (WH40K/B-TECH Crossover, CYOA Gone Horribly Wrong)

[GooseElite]

Thanks for the update.

 

[Titanicmark2]

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February 12, 3020
Luthien
Unity Palace, Strategy Room 30
Afternoon

Coordinator Takashi Kurita beheld the vast alien fleet on the battlerom as it slowly overwhelmed the Adeptus Mechanicus Fleet. Albeit at the cost of dozens of scrap vessels every hour. An incredible amount of material. Still, they had results. Over 100 vessels survived the battle, alongside 4 'super-capital' vessels. Chief-Fabricator speculated this likely wasn't their home system either.

The scale of the battel made conventional review on a normal hologram difficult. The ships were simply too vast for his technicians to show him the finer details. Viewing the scale at large left little for analysis.

On the hologram, the 'Invincible Creed' furiously fired a sundering broadside, crippling another 4 vessels. Its brethren were not far behind, as blinding flashes of light lit the void, sending easily 20 ships to their doom. Thousands of ASF dueled in the air. The sight would have been spectacular if it wasn't so worrying.

How did the Indomitable Spirit's guns rate against the 'Invincible Creed's'? How many shells remained. He counted the minutes before they fired again. A mere 10 minutes. Those shells were the size of buildings.

From what he understood, over 60 million citizens, and countless technological treasures were trapped aboard Cradle, and by extension Behemoth. By the time they had recovered the materials, the Fleet was gone. Nineteen ships. By all that was good, nineteen peers to the Indomitable Spirit! A monumental waste. It was close, but he would hold his judgement until he learned exactly what the former rulers of the Adeptus Mechanicus had been forced to rescue.

The front of Ark Akaska glowed blue, and an approaching capital class vessel abruptly rammed another.

To his brief disbelief, both ships opened fire on each other. It was an exchange almost as violent as-

The battlerom flared as 'Victorious Faith' was sucked into a gaping maw, its emergency jump failing as the ship was twisted into the portal. The unstable portal erratically changed shape. Victorious' structural integrity gave out as the ship ripped itself apart. A trio of small alien ships were undiscouraged by the violent rent in space and rammed the ship, plunging them all into the rapidly shrinking tear in space.

In retaliation, Cadia launched what must been thousands of nuclear missiles.

His eyes widened in shock at planet devastating barrage. An attack of that scale would destroy a world. Not even the Succession War featured such brazen destruction. In minutes, dozens of alien vessels laid ruined, radioactive wastes. Hundreds of disabled ASF hurtled through the void. The battlerom flickered from the sheer amount of radiation. An included rad counter skyrocketed. He idly marked a note for the ISF to look later. The yields on those warheads were concerning.

Then Goliath struck. It paved a path straight through the battleline. At first it pushed allied ships aside as it rapidly accelerated. By the time it cleared their lines it was simply plowing right through them.

He noted how fast it moved. An absurd high rate of acceleration, especially for a warship. Absent mindedly, he added another mental note to his quickly growing understanding of the aliens. To be in the same system as Goliath would be suicide.

The alien super capital rammed the Revelation of Recovery. The energy shield, at full power, gave out in an instant. Malcador's home ship disintegrated from the sheer force of the blow.

But Goliath was not done. It was going too fast to change course, but didn't that stop its suicidal crew, it glanced the Ark Akasha's shields, shattering it.

His focus sharpened as he felt the flow of the battle shift. This was the critical moment. Where defeat was assured. Where hopes of victory turned to ash and loss. In those critical moments, the choice to stay or fight determined everything.

Over the next 5 hours, the Adeptus Mechanicus attempted a staggered retreat. The Destiny Ascension, mighty flagship of the Adeptus Mechanicus made way for the battleline, followed by the 'Silica's Bane', 'Cadia', and 'Sigillite'. Behind the formation, the Indomitable Spirit, 'Perennial Harvest', and 'Vulkan's Ambition' changed course, escorted by the 'Eternal Quest'. The remaining vessels slowly placed themselves through the elongated formation. He watched the Indomitable Spirit's main gun fire. To his disappointment, it did not fire again. He would have to find its reload time from another battlerom.

He watched the 2 colossal fleets almost literally collide. With a gesture, attendants slowed the battlerom down. This was where he would see their true mettle. Both the Adeptus Mechanicus and the Alien's.

Coordinator Takashi Kurita beheld the war to come, and learned all he could.

[-----------------]

February 12, 3020
Terra
Classified Location
Evening

"You're not running the Behemoth simulations?" The administrator asked the adepts tending to the simulator the Adeptus Mechanicus gifted them on February 6.

"Precentor ROM considered it a waste of time ma'am." One of them replied, as the green hologram depicted alien vessels jumping in orbit of a world. Inner Sphere warships, an entire fleet, were opposing them. Even though she was no military officer, she could tell the odds were horrible. 30 alien ships to the defending world's 12. With a significant tonnage difference between each fleet's flagship.

As she looked closer, she made out the planet's name. Luxen. She didn't know that planet.

An alien warship fired, and the strike missed a frigate. The fleet returned fire. Their strikes met energy shields. The alien fleet opened fired with everything it had. Their accuracy was laughable, and many of the weapons failed to get even within 1,000 kilometers of the defending fleet.

Focusing fire, the alien warships eventually fell, one by one. To her disbelief, not fast enough. The alien fleet accelerated, getting closer and closer. Eventually the alien fleet was close enough for its shots began to connect. A bright red light appeared in the bottom left corner. The simulation paused.

"What happened?" She asked. A tired analyst looked at her. "Almost every simulation we made with the Indomitable Spirit against Behemoth ended in a Adeptus Mechanicus loss." He held out a noteputer to her. She gingerly took the coffee stained noteputer and tapped through the notes.

"Unless Behemoth was crippled by boarding parties with nuclear weapons, every scenario ended in a loss in 20 to 600 days."

Single engagement. Hit and run tactics. Ambush. Massed nuclear saturation. By Blake, they tested supporting Comstar Fleet elements! Her blood froze as she saw a scenario featuring an entire Star League fleet. A sight not seen since the Amaris Coup. Then at the end-a soul crushing result. Loss in 105 days, Behemoth moderately disabled.

"The pause means the simulator considers the scenario a loss, and wants to know if we want to keep the data." He continued, reaching for a clipboard.

"Alien Ambush scenario, conventional SLDF line squadron loss." He announced without a sign of surprise.

The people of Comstar continued their testing, and their unease grew with every terrifying answer.

[-----------------]

February 12, 3020
New Avalon
NAIS Conference Room
Morning

Doctor Banzai whistled as the Adeptus Mechanicus super ASF performed another pilot killing evasion maneuver. He didn't care how tough you were. A turn that steep would leave most trained ASF pilots dead. Probably wreck their ASF too.

Shuffle. He ate another handful of popcorn. Crunch.-

The specialized dropship sized ASF, the "Damocles" ignored his scientifically backed rejections by hunting down 3 more alien ASF with its rotary 'lascannons', before leaving the rest of its friends behind in the void of space.

Down went his pencil on one of his handy dandy notepads. Blessedly smooth. He only brought these out for big projects, since the factory that had the only lostech printer capable of making it got blown up

It was like a weird, mutated cousin to the slowly disappearing Eagle ASF. Strange coincidences aside, it was bigger, thicker, and meaner, but it was sleeker with a head more dare he say bulky cockpit. The wings were more angled, with the front pair closer to the middle than the back. It had 4 engines thrusters instead of just 1.

Spoiler: Eagle ASF

That crowd of bogies was getting big. He did a quick count on the battlerom's radar. At least 70. To his disbelief, some of the aliens starting shooting each other trying to stay on the Damocles.

The Damocles closed on its target, finally leading the warship's protection far enough away for it to circle back too fast for them to do anything. There it was again! How did it do that? Those Codex notes were as useful as a Capellan textbook! A brief mention of 'grav-plates', and that the Damocles was filled with them to keep it together.

Where were the details? He gleamed as much as he could from the supporting documents, but nothing on the distribution or strength of the plates was in there. He didn't know what it was made out of.

Four nuclear missiles launched. Damn, those were fast. And huge considering the ASF was dropship sized. Christ that still felt weird to think. The Damocles deviated from its approach, angling to approach the ramshackle bottom of the warship.

At least 4 nuclear missiles. Initial speed of…damn fast. He eyeballed it. An assistant would crunch the initial numbers for him to go over. Was that 1 thousand kilometers a second? It was a big missile…

The shield fell. Oh, another maneuver, as it circled back around, opening its bomb bay doors.

More nukes. He would have uncomfortable if he wasn't so focused on this enigma that popped into his lap.

Doctor Banzai studied, and wondered may else could be.

[-----------------]

Imperator announces recall of 2 jumpships back from planned resource expeditions. This evening...

-Marian Nuntius​

[End Interlude 2]

Notes

• Luxen: Critical Planet in the Magistry of Canopus, home to of the Canopian Medical Sciences Research and Training Complex, where most of Cannopus' medical experts are trained. It managed to escape the damages of the Sucession Wars by being to far away from Terra. A cruel irony since its location on the southern edge, where the aliens will appear from. Luxen
• I still have no idea on ASF maneuvers, beyond turning so fast it pulps you and might break the plane.
• There are no canon lostech paper recipes, but I like to think it lostech is as broad as STC's, they used them for everything and reaches a ton of fields. The Star League probably shelled out cash for really good paper at some point.
• Spoiler: Ordinatus Damocles

  An experimental airframe made after the Fall, the intention was to make a ASF beyond the xiphos. Capable of speeds and maneuvers that would be lethal even to Astartes and destroy many other vessels, integrated grav-plates are placed throughout the ship are used to produce counter forces. A noticeable weakness of the Damocles is it cannot easily make the transmission from space to atmosphere, requiring time for the cogitators to adjust for the change in forces
  
  The design required data from the Panacea STC, the Votaan node, numerous STC fragments and the experience of many expert mechanicus archmagos. Almost approaching 70 meters in length the Damocles was planned to operate in squads of 5. An unstoppable force intended to outrun and outfight almost any human or ork ASF force. They were almost successful.
  
  As Astartes numbers fell from 50 to 10, the aircraft was deemed a proof of concept to continue research, but not enough to justify further production.
  
  Plans to produce models for modified human use are pending, but have run into delays after the transfer of 2 project leads to other projects. The Damocles is interred in a specialized stasis vault to reduce maintenance costs.
  
  Crew Needed: 2 Astartes, 3 heavily modified archmagos, 1 specialized modified techpriest
  
  Primary Weapons: 2 heavy autocannons, 4 rotary lascannons, 10 medium range missiles,
  Specialized Weapons: 4 long range nuclear missiles and 6 low-yield nuclear bombs for anti-warship operations
  Available Equipment: Secondary Void Shield, Archeotech fusion reactor (limited stock), Noosphere node, Improved Jammer, 1 darkage nuclear mine (limited stock), additional fuel supplies
  In development equipment: Life Eater Virus missiles, nanite missile (limited stock), or a stealth system
  
  Successful missions: 62
  Enemy fighters killed (approx.): 463
  Dropship kills: 92
  Warship Kills: 4

 

[Titanicmark2]

Ordinatus and Ordinatus Minoris are sanctioned Mechanicus weapons when there are extreme situations the conventional armies of the Imperium cannot easily defeat. Under normal circumstances, it is almost impossible to obtain the needed political will to produce these customized pieces of technology. As the risk of human extinction in the Battletech universe remains unresolved, almost any means have been authorized. Magos Logis have raised concerns over the Chief-Fabricator's inclination for new, expensive projects. This has lead to many long meetings on the subject of research costs/scientific advancement compared to reliability. Further complicated by a lack of manpower, and thus need to vertically invest in their human resources.

While the resources for Ordinatus remain firmly out of hand, the resources for more deployable Ordinatus Minoris are available. Due to the unique nature of Ordinatus construction, they are considered a tool of last resort for the Chief-Fabricator due to difficulties in production and reverse engineering. It is deemed more useful over the long term to continue research into uncovering the secrets of the Dark Age, and be able to produce these vehicles naturally.

There are 3 Ordinatus Minoris in use by the Adeptus Mechanicus, and is unlikely to expand in the near future.

Ordinatus Minioris Damocles: ASF

• Status: Operational
• Ease of Reverse Engineering: Low
• Archeotech use: Low
• Replicating Difficulty: Extremely Difficult
• Units: One

Spoiler: Summary

An experimental airframe made after the Fall, the intention was to make a ASF beyond the xiphos. Capable of speeds and maneuvers that would be lethal even to Astartes and destroy many other vessels, integrated grav plates are placed throughout the ship are used to produce counter forces. A noticeable weakness of the Damocles is it cannot easily make the transmission from space to atmosphere, requiring time for the cogitators to adjust for the change in forces

The design required data from the Panacea STC, the Votaan node, numerous STC fragments and the experience of many expert mechanicus archmagos. Almost approaching 70 meters in length the Damocles was planned to operate in squads of 5. An unstoppable force intended to outrun and outfight almost any human or ork ASF force. They were almost successful.

As Astartes numbers fell from 50 to 10, the aircraft was deemed a proof of concept to continue research.

Plans to produce models for modified human use are pending, but have run into delays after the transfer of 2 project leads to other projects. The Damocles is interred in a specialized stasis vault to reduce maintenance costs.

Crew Needed: 2 Astartes, 3 heavily modified archmagos, 1 specialized modified techpriest

Primary Weapons: 2 heavy autocannons, 4 rotary lascannons, 10 medium range missiles,
Specialized Weapons: 4 long range nuclear missiles and 6 low-yield nuclear bombs for anti-warship operations
Available Equipment: Secondary Void Shield, Archeotech fusion reactor (limited stock), Noosphere node, Improved Jammer, 1 darkage nuclear mine (limited stock), additional fuel supplies
In development equipment: Life Eater Virus missiles, nanite missile (limited stock), or a stealth system

Successful missions: 62
Enemy fighters killed (approx.): 463
Dropship kills: 92
Warship Kills: 4

Ordinatus Minoris The Shadow of Intent-Archeotech Stealthcraft

• Status: Salvage
• Ease of Reverse Engineering: Unlikely within next 3 centuries
• Archeotech use: Almost entirety of vessel
• Replicating Difficulty: Effectively Impossible
• Units: One

Spoiler: Summary

Shortly after the Fall, significant concerns were raised among Mechanicus Command that Ork salvage teams could recover an unacceptable amount of equipment and technology. Up to 32 STC fragments were missing from the registry. Numerous titans were potentially in salvageable states. Capital weapons were free floating in the void. The Landers delivering the only surviving Astartes geneseed and medical equipment did not arrive at the final rally point.

Thus, the Adeptus Mechanicus needed to reenter the now named Hades System. The Indomitable Spirit could swiftly arrive and depart in system, but the risks were considered too high in spite of the consequences.

To solve this issue, the Adeptus Mechancius created the Ordinatus 'The Shadow of Intent'. Irreplaceable, substantial stores of archeotech were used. The collective minds of hundreds of thousands of the Mechanicus Magos and techpriests were turned towards the task. Maintenance and repair on the Indomitable Spirit were minimized. The Panacea STC was quickly utilized. The Votann node underwent repair and reactivation (albeit greatly reduced and now lethal to use). Dark Mechanicus hereteks were unsealed to lend considerable warptech. Within a month, it was ready.

It was a masterwork. A flawless stealthcraft despite being over 362 meters (395.88 yards) long. Undetectable by any means, even warp. Another of its kind will not be seen until the secrets of the Dark Age are truly rediscovered. Crewed by the Mechanicus' finest, the Indomitable Spirit jumped to the outside of Hades system on October 1st​, 3020, and deployed The Shadow of Intent. Operation Alexandria had begun.

The Indomitable Spirit would launch raids across 4 of the 8 Ork worlds, in an attempt to draw lingering vessels and distract any potential ork interference alongside its primary objective to secure data.

Over the next 4 months, The Shadow would operate in the Hades system, being resupplied and reinforced by carefully placed stasis-locked supply caches launched by the Indomitable before its deployment.

On January 15, 3020, the remains of The Shadow of Intent were recovered at the designated rally point, with all hands lost. Review of logs confirmed The Shadow of Intent had recovered all stasis supplies drops of materials and additional personnel.

Pushed into constant operations, with no time for maintenance or upkeep, under fire, and with dwindling number of magi onboard, The Shadow of Intent fell into an unrepairable state of damage during Operation Alexandria. Few of its remaining secrets could be recovered.

To the Chief-Fabricator's disbelief, the taskforce had succeeded in all of its other objectives.

All remaining STC fragments were recovered and onboard. Recovered archeotech samples from the fleet were also onboard or tied to the outside of the vessel. Mission logs confirmed destruction of all navigation stores. All but 3 Titans were confirmed totally destroyed. All Fleet vessels had been severely damaged or sabotaged. Near 80% of all Fleet capital weapons were converted into scrap or disabled. An ork-super capital warship was destroyed, and the blame for the betrayal placed on an aspiring warboss, reducing the number from 5 to 4. Exterminatus munitions were detonated in their holding cells or launched into the system's sun. Some members of the taskforce had even left behind notes of their knowledge.

The Shadow of Intent and its crew had successfully delayed the invasion.

For their deeds, the Chief-Fabricator swore they would be buried upon Sacred Mars, with the highest possible Honors.

It now rests within the Indomitable Spirit. Work goes on to recover what can be salvaged, but has reached an extreme point of diminishing returns. It will be interned in a stasis vault, for future generations to study and hopefully uncover more.

Ordinatus Minoris Aegis-Mobile Void Shield

• Status: In Development
• Ease of Reverse Engineering: Mixed*
• Archeotech use: None
• Replicating Difficulty: Low
• Units: 4 Prototypes

Spoiler: Summary

Ordinatus Minoris Aegis are mobile Void Shield shields mounted on large grav-propelled platforms. There are hopes to transfer the Aegis from Ordinatus to specialized platform in the Adeptus Mechanicus arsenal.

Due to the nature of void shields, Allied forces cannot re-enter the void shield without the Aegis deactivating its void shield. It is an expensive vehicle in both resources and personnel requirements.

Issues in properly powering the design have delayed deployment, but potential breakthroughs in fusion energy have allowed prototype models to function for acceptable time.

Prototypes models can remain functional for up to 4 hours in high intensity conflict and current models suggest they can take one direct strike from a moderate powered titan-class weapon with void shields at full charge.

While slow, at a maximum speed of 19.2 KPH (11.93 MPH) with shield active, Aegis platforms are intended to stay close allied forces and supply lines.

Currently, development is awaiting data from the Helm core for calibration in the event of conflicts with House or Clan forces.

Mechanicus Command considers the Aegis acceptable for field deployment, but would benefit highly from additional development time. A current weakness of the Aegis is its inability to shield itself from the bottom, as allied forces are intended to walk inside it. This leaves a unique vulnerability to mines undetonated by the void shield or attacks from ork breaching drills.

Ideal Crew:

• 6 Archmagos
• 15 Techpriests
• 10 Crewman
• 4 Guardsmen
• 65 Servo-drones
• 2 Hammer Division Ogryn

Dimensions of an Aegis:

• 40 meters (43.74 yards) long, 19.5 meters (21.32 yards) wide
• 15 meters (16.4 yards) tall (base)
• Void Shield Projector: 21 meters (22.96) tall (extends outside of Aegis' hull)

Void Shield Dimensions:

• Height: 45 meters (49.21 yards)
• Radius: 72 meters (78.74 yards)