Hand_of_Nordok

@lamartheslayer: @9th-wonder:

The Kalari tended to be a grim, pragmatic people; not inclined towards inspiration speeches or gestures. They were pure soldiers; when instructed to fight, they simply followed orders, and left further considerations to "less focused" professions. That being said, their pragmatism did still extend to an appreciation for military aid, it's unexpected form notwithstanding. Mal'ar was just opening his mouth to mention this, when a readout on his armor's gauntlet began beeping most insistently.

"Blast it...another air raid," he grunted. "They're targeting a civilian sheltering point, probably because they've recognized that our defenses are focused in sectors of defensive significance, or possibly just as an attempt to demoralize us..." turning to Kensei and Alex, he offered them a fatalistic grin. "Well, here's your first opportunity to help us repel the invaders. Our anti-atmospheric batteries are realigning, and our interceptors are en route, but if you have some means of getting there faster..."

@cutting_edge: @red_jay:

"What is it?"

The Inevitable One turned in mild irritation as the skirmish screens detected something incoming. His annoyance at the distraction aside, he was almost hoping that some would-be rescuers had appeared to challenge him; several days of battering a planetary shield and devising commando raids on the planet beneath it were becoming quite tiresome. He strode to the console displaying the approach Arthur and Will, not initially believing the data. His siege fleet was evidently being assaulted by two individuals, who had left behind the one ship they'd evidently arrived in. Still, it wasn't as though the Imperium was without beings who could move through and even fight in open space, sans ships. It paid to be cautious; after all, such beings tended to wield considerable power. No sense overreacting without testing the waters first, however.

"Launch a wing of Strikers," he ordered, with a dismissive wave of one gauntleted hand. "If that fails, have the nearest cruisers open fire."

@red_jay: @cutting_edge: @9th-wonder:

The Kalari security team approached warily, though not aggressively. Recognizing the near-universal symbol for a peaceful approach, they had no intention of forcing a battle if one was not intended. That being said, they were an inherently cautious breed, made all the more so by the enemy armada that currently blockaded their world. There had already been numerous infiltration attempts, and they certainly wouldn't put using a "diplomatic" approach to trick them into lowering their guard above the Imperium. As they drew to within a dozen meters of Kensei, their ranking officer stepped forward and addressed him.

"Please do not make any sudden moves stranger. You seem peaceful enough, but I trust you'll understand our leaving nothing to chance, under the circumstances, especially as one who can bypass a planetary blockade with your apparent ease is not someone to be taken lightly. I am Mal'ar, security primarch for this sector. Who might you be, and what are your intentions?"

Meanwhile, high above the planet...

"You know how little I enjoy long blockades."

The Betrayer of Delos' deep voice was thick with menace, and his armored form stood with arms folded as he faced holograms of his sub-commanders. That most of them were mechanical beings that were not capable of feeling fear or any other emotion did not matter to him; his natural setting was one of intimidation and threat. He also was not speaking purely for affect, he had little patience for extended campaigns, especially those involving a single planet being obstinate. "Have you determined the planetary shield's weakness?"

"Analysis is complete," responded a dead, digital voice. "The Kalari shield is maintained entirely by geothermal energy generated by a central facility. Coordinates have been identified and are being transmitted to your systems, Lord Zedracus. Awaiting orders."

The Inevitable One thoughtfully stroked his bearded chin for several moments as he considered. In all reality, the geothermal plant simply presented another version of the same challenge that the planet itself did: it could not be bombarded from space, and any craft entering the atmosphere would be quickly shot down by the defenders. Unless, of course, the defenders simply had too many targets to hit...

"Assemble three separate infiltration teams," he finally snapped. "They will descend to the world in three different landing craft, at three different points of entry, and proceed to different landing points, but they will all have the same objective. Launch 20 wings of Strikers to screen them. Have them attack civilian and cultural targets, to encourage the Kalari to focus their attention upon them."

If Zedracus had no qualms about the mass extermination of unarmed civilians for a mere distraction, the Imperium's automatons were utterly incapable of having any. In less than an hour, the operation was underway, and the skies above one of Kalar's major cities were darkened by the arrival of hundreds of Imperium fighter craft, a storm cloud that brought with it a rain of superheated plasma. In the wake of the swift assault followed the three innocuous landing craft that carried small teams of Necrommandos to the positions from which they would begin to make their way towards the geothermal plant that sustained Kalar's most critical defense.

@rosso: My guess is: it would hurt.

Just to clarify, no one needs to wait until next Friday if you want to post; that deadline was just in case no one was interested, to give myself a cutoff point.

@red_jay: @grimmwald: @catalina_liafador:

The Battle of Kalar

For untold millenia, the planet Kalar has stood as the homeworld and capital of the Kalari Protectorate, a small coalition of worlds united under the military rule and protection of the Kalari themselves (although the degree of willingness with which some of the vassal worlds joined the Protectorate is a subject of rather hushed debate among historians). A highly advanced and thoroughly militant civilization, it had been generations since the Kalari had pursued any campaigns of conquest, and common wisdom held that, for the foreseeable future, the Kalari were content in their holdings and interested only in defending what they saw as theirs and attending to internal matters.

Unfortunately, external matters often fail to demonstrate a respect for an entity’s disengagement. The Abyssal Imperium’s Expansion has brought the cosmic scourge to Kalari space. Using the Ancient One’s inherent mastery of portal magicks, a massive battlefleet consisting of 20 heavy cruisers and 60 light cruisers, each packed to capacity with fighters, troops, and heavy armor, materialized within the Protectorate and managed to quickly subdue every planet except Kalar, itself.

As their outlying vassal worlds were ravaged, the Kalari managed to bring their own planetary defenses up to full alert and scrambled their well-trained and equipped military. As the Imperium fleet approach Kalar, it found the world fully shielded. The shields prevented an orbital bombardment, and without that to neutralize the planet’s anti-air weaponry, drop ships would be unable to make planetfall.

Zedracus has ordered his fleet to establish a full blockade of the planet, and has begun using black ops to attempt to probe and sabotage the planetary defenses. The Kalari security forces, which have trained for just such events, have thus far foiled all these attempts, but they have had several close calls, and have advised the Protectorate High Command that they won’t be able to maintain full alert status indefinitely.

Given the severity of the situation and their apparent lack of options, the Protectorate High Command has opted to swallow their multiple millennia of martial pride and do the unthinkable: they have called for help. Broadcasting on every known frequency and in every known language, the planet Kalar has formally requested any available military aid.

New alien species: Kalari

Kalari are a humanoid species whose most notable features are their blue skin and their highly-malleable genetic makeup, which allows them to adapt well to all manner of medical, experimental, and cybernetic processes. While baseline Kalari physical abilities are equivalent to those of humans, it is not at all uncommon for a given Kalari to have undergone one or more “augmentations” to allow them to more effectively perform their role in society.

Kalari society is highly meritocratic; positions of power and leadership go to those who have demonstrated the highest level of proficiency, with interpersonal challenges a common method of solving disputes. The most common and most highly-regarded profession on Kalar is military service of any variety, as the Kalari have always been a warrior culture. They are also a highly-developed society, from a scientific and technological standpoint, so a dedication to scientific research and development is usually the course of action for Kalari who do not desire a military career.

Rules:

• This RP is semi-open; if your character has a means of receiving the transmission and travelling to Kalar (it is located in a galaxy far from the Milky Way), please feel free!
• Getting to the planet is just step one. Once you arrive, you will still need to deal with the Imperium’s blockade (the heavy cruisers in particular boast some massive firepower, so please sell). You can also attempt to sneak through or just make a mad dash for the planet (the planetary shields will not stop ships), but unless you have some way of letting the Kalari know that you’re not one of the invaders, their anti-air turrets will likely turn on you.
• Feel free to create Kalari characters and NPCs, if you are so inclined.
• If no one comes to the defense of Kalar by next Friday (4/12/19), the planet will fall to the Imperium.
• CVnU rules apply.

@feral_nova:

Synthetic, robotic, organic...I have crushed them all underfoot.

High orbit above the planet Elezar-14:

The Supreme Commander of the Imperium Military sat in an almost ostentatiously ornate chair in the war room of his flagship, glowering eyes narrowed as data poured in from all quadrants of the battle raging below. Well, perhaps raging was less accurate than smoldering; every significant city and military outpost on the surface of the world had been annihilated. The mechanical legions of the Abyssal Imperium crushed the shattered bodies of fallen defender and civilian alike beneath their metallic heels as support craft circled overhead, seeking survivors and pockets of resistance. No living being was spared, as per the will of Nordok.

Zedracus rubbed his bearded chin as his adamantine aide de camp detailed the current complication. The surface of Elazar-14 had been all but scoured clean, and the humanoids who comprised its dominant civilization would be extinct in a matter of hours. There was, however, a secondary civilization on this world, a race of insectoid beings who dwelt in vast subterranean city-nests far beneath the planet's surface, far enough that no aerial bombardment would reach them, unless it was strong enough to literally break the planet itself apart. That always remained an option, of course, but the world had useful resources that could be harvested and used in the greater war effort.

The insectoids were not a particularly intellectual bunch, but they were fearsome warriors, and shared a hivemind that gave them virtually perfect coordination. Pushing wave after wave of conventional troops into the claustrophobic tunnels leading to their nests would be painstaking, and cost-prohibitive. No, the Expansion could not be delayed for so trifling a matter, but it simply would not do to leave an enemy capable of fighting in one's wake.

The betrayer of Delos brought up a holographic representation of the world below, and began to give his orders to his automaton lieutenant. "Establish garrisons here, here, and here," he indicated, the map glowing as he touched each location in turn, locations where it had been determined the insectoids maintained surface entranced to their underground kingdom. "Fortify them so that they would be challenging to take, but not impossible. Fill their armories with weapons programmed to violently self-destruct when their tenth shot is fired, stock their supply depots with rations containing the slowest-acting poison we have, and contaminate all the medical supplies with a wasting illness engineered to affect the enemy's physiology. Something highly contagious."

He sat back, a sadistic and satisfied smirk twisting his already cruel features as his orders were relayed to his planetside commanders. All intelligence gathered about Elazar-14 indicated that the insectoids bore no great love for what they viewed as their surface oppressors, and now they would likely see the elimination of the above-ground civilization as an opportunity to fully claim their world, when all they would be claiming was their own agonizing annihilation.