Yes, having Covfefe so close is "fortunate" - or not from the perspective of the AAR.
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Ok, pictures for the next chapter are taken, I need to edit the ones I want and write the chapter. Expect to see "Decade 10: The Great Covfefe Crusade" up later.
I will leave this spoiler here, because I genuinely laughed out loud when I saw it.
I will leave this spoiler here, because I genuinely laughed out loud when I saw it.
The enemy leader gained this trait after its first failed attempt to take The Wall. In this photo, Hoggagha is going for its 2nd attempt to take The Wall.
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Can't say I can blame the poor fungoid... I'd be a pretty nervous driver too after slamming directly into a wall.
Can't say I can blame the poor fungoid... I'd be a pretty nervous driver too after slamming directly into a wall.
Looking at some screen shots of the battle, you're not too far off from what happened. The AI likes to ram corvettes head-first into the opposing fleets.
Decade 10: The Great Covfefe Crusade
In the previous chapter, the Qasvalyvia Shipping Alliance and their Ruphaari allies declared a hostile "asset seizure" war against the TO on December 2, 2281. The war ended on June 1, 2294 without a single shot being fired. The only casualties were the egos of the comm officers stationed at The Wall and Muscida Station station, both of whom spent the war finding creative ways to send insulting messages to each other. Diss tracks, dank memes, and "your parent" jokes appear in the majority of communications between the two opposing stations.
However, the end of the war did not mean the end of hostilities between the TO and the Qasvalyvia Shipping Alliance. On January 1 of 2294, the Great Covfefe Crusade had begun, with the Bos'Pachtux Void Riders and Ul-Tur Freebooters beginning raids on Gorf planets prior to the declaration of war.
Orders of Battle
===========================
Attackers:
Trump Organization
Human Union
Defenders:
Gorf Trade Union
Qasvalyvia Shipping Alliance
Glost-Wehani Coalition
Gulk-Furki Hegemony
The overall strategy was to focus on heading straight to the Covfefe system, while leveraging any captured star bases to repair the fleet. Space Force was operating far from home territory, and engagements were to be chosen wisely, considering reinforcements would take a minimum of 2 years to reach Glolindus Starfleet. Thradd Starbase was the only station near Covfefe capable of repairing ships, and was targeted as the first major strategic objective of the Crusade.
Given the distances involved and political situation in the region, the Gulk-Furki Hegemony would have to take a long route to assist its allies due to the Alari border closure. Likewise, the Qsvalyvia could only assist by attacking The Wall, as they had no direct route to Gorf territory. The Glost-Wehani did have a common border, but it would take at least 2 years for their fleet to arrive at the warzone. To guarantee the success of the crusade, the Gorf fleets had to be engaged individually and destroyed before the Glost-Wehani arrived to support. Likewise, The Wall had to hold against the Qasvalyvia without any fleet support, otherwise Trumpland itself would be open for invasion.
The area of operations for the first leg of the Crusade
The Wall was put to its first test on September 20, 2295 by Ordoloho Stellar Cluster. Fighting was fierce, and 4 of the outlying defense platforms were destroyed, but the battle ended with Admiral Hoggagha's staggering loss of 32 out of its fleet's 86 naval capacity. The primary reason for Hoggagha's loss was its tactic of rushing head-first into The Wall, hoping the speed of its ships would cause The Wall's tracking systems to fail to lock on properly. Unfortunately for Hoggagha, The Wall's defensive platforms were recently installed with tracking computers, which allowed their small weapon mounts to fire at a 79% hit ratio.
The first major engagements of Glolindus Starfleet occurred in the Barban system, on March and April of 2296. The Ul-Tur Freebooters raiding the system were joined by the Crusaders, who together fought and defeated both the Glahrer and Forgoolag Stellar clusters, suffering a total loss of 3 ships while the Forgoolag Stellar Cluster suffered heavy losses. Admiral Igorim itself was killed in action.
With the two primary Gorf fleets defeated, Glolindus Starfleet proceed to Thradd. The fleet took the station at the cost of 1 corvette, but in return had secured a key defensive point for the second leg of the Crusade. At this point, Saint Plort's 1st Army was no longer needed, as there were no colonized planets between Thradd and the Covfefe system. However, Saint Plort argued that keeping the army in formation with the fleet had several tactical advantages. First, the transport ships could contribute to any future battles through target saturation; by presenting a large number of targets to the enemy, the enemy can be tricked into spreading out its firepower. Second, Saint Plort mentioned that the soldiers volunteered to continue following the sailors in the Crusade, and morale will be increased by keeping all participants together in the journey to Cofvefe.
Area of operations for the second leg of the Crusade.
The second leg of the Crusade began with Glolindus Starfleet engaging the leaderless Forgoolag Stellar Cluster in the Jezemei system on December 28, 2297. Despite not having a central command, Forgoolag Stellar Cluster inflicted minor losses on Space force and the Human auxiliaries, casualties that could not be readily replaced. By this point, the Humans had lost one corvette, but the majority of their ships were damaged, some significantly so. Space force had also suffered losses totally 1 destroyer and 5 corvettes. Compared to the Gorf's losses, the Crusaders' losses at this point may seem minor to the casual reader, but the Gorf could replace lost ships far faster than Space Force could and the Glost-Wehani fleet had yet to arrive to the warzone at this point. Every lost TO and Human ship had a far greater impact on the overall success of the Crusade than a lost Gorf or Glost-Wehani ship had on the successful defense of Gorf territory.
While Glolindus Starfleet was repairing at Thradd*1 after the battle at Jezemei, Ordoloho Stellar Cluster made another attempt to take The Wall. Having repaired and reinforced its fleet, Admiral Hoggagha nervously engaged The Wall on February 1, 2298. Surprisingly, Hoggagha chose to use the same tactic, and rushed straight toward The Wall at maximum speed. Hoggagha's tactic turned out to be a spectacular failure, as The Wall's defenders had calibrated their targeting computers to counter the tactic. Careful study of the figure below shows destroyed Qasvalyvian ships drifting past The Wall, carried by the momentum of their charge.
Back on the Trailward Front, the Galactic Corps was finally spotted in Gorf space on July 21, 2298. At that time, the Crusaders were in the Jezemei system, heading toward Covfefe. After the initial scans showed that Glost-Wehani engines were inferior to Space Force engines, the decision was made to take Covfefe then engage the Galactic Corps in either Jezemei or Arcturus. The Covfefe system was occupied by the Crusaders on October 22, 2298. While word of the occupation would take time to reach TO home space, Saint Plort held a ceremony on the first moon of the gas giant Covfefe II. All non-essential personnel attended, including the Human auxiliaries. Each Crusader was blessed and granted a commemorative coin (non-essential personnel were given a coin later), and the remaining coins were auctioned off. Of note is the fact that only the Magas bid for the extra coins meant to be handed out to the soldiers and sailors who had been killed earlier in the Crusade.
The capture of the Covfefe system triggered an all-out counter-offensive by the Gorf and its allies. Galactic Corps had united with the remnants of the Ghlahrer and Forgoolag Stellar Clusters, under the commands of Admiral Hoggagha and Admiral Feather of Teal, and the newly raised Hologo Stellar Cluster. Together, the combined force strength was 7.4K, facing the Crusader's fleet strength of 7.1K strength (Glolindus Starfleet consisted of 5.1k strength).
Rimward, the Gulk-Furki Y'Sarka Star Flock was making an attempt to take The Wall, and would be the first to strike as part of the counter-offensive. The Gulk-Furki also failed spectacularly, and were unable to destroy even one of The Wall's defensive platforms while losing almost half of the fleet.
Meanwhile the Crusaders faced a far more dire situation. While able to repair in Thradd just in time to meet the combined Gorf alliance fleets, the Crusaders had to do battle against a superior foe while in enemy territory. However, unknown to the Crusader Admirals, in their haste to join forces with the Galactic Corps, the Gorf failed to repair their damaged ships. The 7.4K allied fleet strength was calculated by the Crusaders under the assumption that all opposing ships were at full strength. This failure on the Gorf to repair would cost the Allies the 2nd Battle of Jezemei.
The Crusader fleets prepare to engage the combined Gorf / Glost-Wehani armada
The other key failure of the Gorf alliance during the battle was the failure to coordinate all fleets to bring their full firepower into play simultaneously. As seen in the figure above, the Crusaders were able to effectively maintain formations and focus the combined firepower of all ships. In contrast, the battle opened with the Galactic Corps and Forgoolag Stellar Cluster entering the Jezemei system first, followed by the Glahrer and Hologo Stellar Clusters 2 weeks later*2.
After the 2nd Battle of Jezemei, public calls within the Gorf alliance states to end the war became louder. Despite winning the battle, the Crusaders were still outnumbered by their opponents, and reinforcements had yet to arrive from TO home space. To swing Gorf public favor to end the war, Admiral Lort and Saint Plort devised a plan to occupy the colony in the Mauthula, hoping to take advantage of the alliance retreat to capture the colony before the enemy fleets could reorganize.
Political Map of the galaxy on January 1, 2300
Empire Rankings, tooltip covers Glost-Wehani Coalition power breakdown
TO Parliament
War Status
Return to Table of Contents
==========================
1. For reasons unknown, the Human fleets refused to dock and repair at Thradd Station.
2. Not shown here is that the former Deep State Battleship suffered heavy damage to its engine, and was unable to be towed back to Thradd station for repair. It is effectively destroyed.
Player's note: I really wish the empires involved in my wars had spawned with different name lists. The Gorf, Qasvalyvia, and Mesh'Ben all use the same name list, so some of their fleet names and leaders are the same. Makes it confusing to keep track of what is going on where.
In the previous chapter, the Qasvalyvia Shipping Alliance and their Ruphaari allies declared a hostile "asset seizure" war against the TO on December 2, 2281. The war ended on June 1, 2294 without a single shot being fired. The only casualties were the egos of the comm officers stationed at The Wall and Muscida Station station, both of whom spent the war finding creative ways to send insulting messages to each other. Diss tracks, dank memes, and "your parent" jokes appear in the majority of communications between the two opposing stations.
However, the end of the war did not mean the end of hostilities between the TO and the Qasvalyvia Shipping Alliance. On January 1 of 2294, the Great Covfefe Crusade had begun, with the Bos'Pachtux Void Riders and Ul-Tur Freebooters beginning raids on Gorf planets prior to the declaration of war.
Orders of Battle
===========================
Attackers:
Trump Organization
- Glolindus Starfleet, 5.5K Strength, Admiral Lort
- 2 Cruisers
- 5 Destroyers
- 52 corvettes
- The Wall, 5.8k Strength
- 17 Defense Platforms, 8 small weapon mount configuration
- 1st Army, 145 strength, Saint Plort
- 5 transport ships
Human Union
- Perek's Armada, 556 strength, Admiral Monnobaki
- 12 Corvettes
- Hissnak's Armada, 622 strength, Admiral Rhass
- 15 Corvettes
- Galathor's Armada, 854 strength, Admiral Ghuum
- 17 Corvettes
Defenders:
Gorf Trade Union
- Glahrer Stellar Cluster, 2.1K strength, Admiral Feathers of Teal
- 2 Destroyers
- 38 Corvettes
- Forgoolag Stellar Cluster, 5.5K strength, Admiral Igorim (KIA)
- 13 Destroyers
- 27 Corvetters
- 8 Destroyers
Qasvalyvia Shipping Alliance
- Ordoloho Stellar Cluster, 4.4K strength, Admiral Hoggagha
- 18 Destroyers
- 50 Corvettes
Glost-Wehani Coalition
- Galactic Corps, 3.8K strength, Admiral Merould ov'Gut
- 2 Cruisers
- 13 Destroyers
- 31 Corvettes
- 2 Cruisers
Gulk-Furki Hegemony
- Y'Sarka Star Flock, 2.0K strength, Admiral L'Matreek
- 9 Destroyers
- 23 Corvettes
The overall strategy was to focus on heading straight to the Covfefe system, while leveraging any captured star bases to repair the fleet. Space Force was operating far from home territory, and engagements were to be chosen wisely, considering reinforcements would take a minimum of 2 years to reach Glolindus Starfleet. Thradd Starbase was the only station near Covfefe capable of repairing ships, and was targeted as the first major strategic objective of the Crusade.
Given the distances involved and political situation in the region, the Gulk-Furki Hegemony would have to take a long route to assist its allies due to the Alari border closure. Likewise, the Qsvalyvia could only assist by attacking The Wall, as they had no direct route to Gorf territory. The Glost-Wehani did have a common border, but it would take at least 2 years for their fleet to arrive at the warzone. To guarantee the success of the crusade, the Gorf fleets had to be engaged individually and destroyed before the Glost-Wehani arrived to support. Likewise, The Wall had to hold against the Qasvalyvia without any fleet support, otherwise Trumpland itself would be open for invasion.
The area of operations for the first leg of the Crusade
The Wall was put to its first test on September 20, 2295 by Ordoloho Stellar Cluster. Fighting was fierce, and 4 of the outlying defense platforms were destroyed, but the battle ended with Admiral Hoggagha's staggering loss of 32 out of its fleet's 86 naval capacity. The primary reason for Hoggagha's loss was its tactic of rushing head-first into The Wall, hoping the speed of its ships would cause The Wall's tracking systems to fail to lock on properly. Unfortunately for Hoggagha, The Wall's defensive platforms were recently installed with tracking computers, which allowed their small weapon mounts to fire at a 79% hit ratio.
The first major engagements of Glolindus Starfleet occurred in the Barban system, on March and April of 2296. The Ul-Tur Freebooters raiding the system were joined by the Crusaders, who together fought and defeated both the Glahrer and Forgoolag Stellar clusters, suffering a total loss of 3 ships while the Forgoolag Stellar Cluster suffered heavy losses. Admiral Igorim itself was killed in action.
With the two primary Gorf fleets defeated, Glolindus Starfleet proceed to Thradd. The fleet took the station at the cost of 1 corvette, but in return had secured a key defensive point for the second leg of the Crusade. At this point, Saint Plort's 1st Army was no longer needed, as there were no colonized planets between Thradd and the Covfefe system. However, Saint Plort argued that keeping the army in formation with the fleet had several tactical advantages. First, the transport ships could contribute to any future battles through target saturation; by presenting a large number of targets to the enemy, the enemy can be tricked into spreading out its firepower. Second, Saint Plort mentioned that the soldiers volunteered to continue following the sailors in the Crusade, and morale will be increased by keeping all participants together in the journey to Cofvefe.
Area of operations for the second leg of the Crusade.
The second leg of the Crusade began with Glolindus Starfleet engaging the leaderless Forgoolag Stellar Cluster in the Jezemei system on December 28, 2297. Despite not having a central command, Forgoolag Stellar Cluster inflicted minor losses on Space force and the Human auxiliaries, casualties that could not be readily replaced. By this point, the Humans had lost one corvette, but the majority of their ships were damaged, some significantly so. Space force had also suffered losses totally 1 destroyer and 5 corvettes. Compared to the Gorf's losses, the Crusaders' losses at this point may seem minor to the casual reader, but the Gorf could replace lost ships far faster than Space Force could and the Glost-Wehani fleet had yet to arrive to the warzone at this point. Every lost TO and Human ship had a far greater impact on the overall success of the Crusade than a lost Gorf or Glost-Wehani ship had on the successful defense of Gorf territory.
While Glolindus Starfleet was repairing at Thradd*1 after the battle at Jezemei, Ordoloho Stellar Cluster made another attempt to take The Wall. Having repaired and reinforced its fleet, Admiral Hoggagha nervously engaged The Wall on February 1, 2298. Surprisingly, Hoggagha chose to use the same tactic, and rushed straight toward The Wall at maximum speed. Hoggagha's tactic turned out to be a spectacular failure, as The Wall's defenders had calibrated their targeting computers to counter the tactic. Careful study of the figure below shows destroyed Qasvalyvian ships drifting past The Wall, carried by the momentum of their charge.
Back on the Trailward Front, the Galactic Corps was finally spotted in Gorf space on July 21, 2298. At that time, the Crusaders were in the Jezemei system, heading toward Covfefe. After the initial scans showed that Glost-Wehani engines were inferior to Space Force engines, the decision was made to take Covfefe then engage the Galactic Corps in either Jezemei or Arcturus. The Covfefe system was occupied by the Crusaders on October 22, 2298. While word of the occupation would take time to reach TO home space, Saint Plort held a ceremony on the first moon of the gas giant Covfefe II. All non-essential personnel attended, including the Human auxiliaries. Each Crusader was blessed and granted a commemorative coin (non-essential personnel were given a coin later), and the remaining coins were auctioned off. Of note is the fact that only the Magas bid for the extra coins meant to be handed out to the soldiers and sailors who had been killed earlier in the Crusade.
The capture of the Covfefe system triggered an all-out counter-offensive by the Gorf and its allies. Galactic Corps had united with the remnants of the Ghlahrer and Forgoolag Stellar Clusters, under the commands of Admiral Hoggagha and Admiral Feather of Teal, and the newly raised Hologo Stellar Cluster. Together, the combined force strength was 7.4K, facing the Crusader's fleet strength of 7.1K strength (Glolindus Starfleet consisted of 5.1k strength).
Rimward, the Gulk-Furki Y'Sarka Star Flock was making an attempt to take The Wall, and would be the first to strike as part of the counter-offensive. The Gulk-Furki also failed spectacularly, and were unable to destroy even one of The Wall's defensive platforms while losing almost half of the fleet.
Meanwhile the Crusaders faced a far more dire situation. While able to repair in Thradd just in time to meet the combined Gorf alliance fleets, the Crusaders had to do battle against a superior foe while in enemy territory. However, unknown to the Crusader Admirals, in their haste to join forces with the Galactic Corps, the Gorf failed to repair their damaged ships. The 7.4K allied fleet strength was calculated by the Crusaders under the assumption that all opposing ships were at full strength. This failure on the Gorf to repair would cost the Allies the 2nd Battle of Jezemei.
The Crusader fleets prepare to engage the combined Gorf / Glost-Wehani armada
The other key failure of the Gorf alliance during the battle was the failure to coordinate all fleets to bring their full firepower into play simultaneously. As seen in the figure above, the Crusaders were able to effectively maintain formations and focus the combined firepower of all ships. In contrast, the battle opened with the Galactic Corps and Forgoolag Stellar Cluster entering the Jezemei system first, followed by the Glahrer and Hologo Stellar Clusters 2 weeks later*2.
After the 2nd Battle of Jezemei, public calls within the Gorf alliance states to end the war became louder. Despite winning the battle, the Crusaders were still outnumbered by their opponents, and reinforcements had yet to arrive from TO home space. To swing Gorf public favor to end the war, Admiral Lort and Saint Plort devised a plan to occupy the colony in the Mauthula, hoping to take advantage of the alliance retreat to capture the colony before the enemy fleets could reorganize.
Political Map of the galaxy on January 1, 2300
Empire Rankings, tooltip covers Glost-Wehani Coalition power breakdown
TO Parliament
War Status
Return to Table of Contents
==========================
1. For reasons unknown, the Human fleets refused to dock and repair at Thradd Station.
2. Not shown here is that the former Deep State Battleship suffered heavy damage to its engine, and was unable to be towed back to Thradd station for repair. It is effectively destroyed.
Player's note: I really wish the empires involved in my wars had spawned with different name lists. The Gorf, Qasvalyvia, and Mesh'Ben all use the same name list, so some of their fleet names and leaders are the same. Makes it confusing to keep track of what is going on where.
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War proceeding favourably. Hopefully will not be too long before returns can be realised and hostile assets stripped
Won't take much longer. To be honest, I thought I was going to be doomed on two occasions. The first was when The Wall was attacked the first time. In my experience, a fleet of slightly lower strength can kill a station with few losses, because once the weapon platforms are gone the station is really not much more than a big stack of hull points. In this case, the AI lost so badly, because it put P slots in as many places as possible and I wasn't using missiles beyond the default slot all star bases have, so its firepower was nerfed through bad ship design.
The second time was when that combined fleet attacked near the end. Really, the only thing that saved me was that the AI didn't repair Forgoolag, which had taken a serious beating in the previous fight. It repaired Glahrer and merged Trothjod into Glahrer, so I don't know why it didn't repair the larger Forgoolag fleet. I also had tier 2 engines and afterburners, while the AI only had tier 1 engines at this point. Check out the dodge ratios. Mine is 25%, while the AI's is 3%.
So this was fittingly enough the first Gorf war in the middle east of the galaxy... to secure the oil ressources covfefe.
Nice one ;D
Nice one ;D
Hopefully the second Gorf War doesn't proceed like its real-world analogue. Things could get really messy.
Decade 11: The Journey Home
The 10th decade after achieving FTL travel saw the TO make great gains against the Gorf during the Great Covfefe Crusade, and while the Covfefe system had been occupied, the war was not yet over. The Crusade's leaders, Admiral Lort and Saint Plort, were waiting for the first wave of reinforcements to arrive in March 2300 before initiating a plan to occupy the Gorf colony in the Mauthula system. The goal of the operation was to increase the Gorf's public war exhaustion and leverage the resulting unrest to end the war.
However, in August 2300, two events occurred that prevented the operation from starting, but would end with the same desired result: the Battle of Roscan and the 4th Battle of The Wall.
With both battles ending in victory for the Crusaders, on November 28, 2230 the Gorf agreed to surrender the claimed territories and cease all hostilities. The Human Union Crusaders immediately returned to their home territory. The Great Covfefe Crusade was over, but the crusaders were not yet able to return home; the Mesh'Ben Reavers had attacked the Alari again, and cut off access from the Covfefe enclave to the rest of the TO.
Systems annexed by the TO, including two colonized systems.
For the first time, the TO found itself administering a xeno population. 2 Gorf pops lived in the Barbon system, while 3 Gorfs, 3 Uv-Xantt, and 1 Qasvalyvia lived in the Lytirin system. The infrastructure of both colonies was decimated by both the marauder raids and by the TO occupation. The only functioning buildings were the colonial administration centers and a Precinct House on the planet Jem-Fhengoorem.
Trump's plan from the beginning was to turn the conquered sector into a TO subsidiary in the same manner as the Human Union. After the Precinct House was replaced with a consumer goods factory and a shipyard finished construction in Lytirin, the self-sytled "Chosen of Jem-Fhengoorem" was declared as a largely self-governing corporate-controlled nation that would join all TO wars and pay a 25% energy credit "protection fee" to the TO. To guarantee the viability and stability of the new state, a generous 30-year loan of 75 EC, 75 minerals, 5 consumer goods, and 5 alloys on a monthly basis. Within months after receiving "independence", the Chosen were given administration rights over all TO-owned systems trailward of Alari space, minus the Covfefe system. Also, the Gorf ruling class began a campaign of deportation, and by 2307 all non-Gorf, non-Maga xenos had been expelled from Chosen space.
Note: If the reader looks closely, the reader can see that TO reinforcements in the Kentharom system are not able to link up with the Crusaders due to the Mesh'Ben occupation of Alari territory.
Regarding the Covfefe system, a fortified shipyard was constructed. The station served three purposes. First, it could act as a home base for Glolindus Starfleet and serve as a focal point for repairs and reinforcements. Second, the fortifications would protect the holy system from hostile incursions. Finally, the station would serve as a profitable hotel for pilgrims and travelers visiting the system.
However, no pilgrimages could be profited from if there was no way for Magas in the TO to reach the Covfefe system. With the Covfefe shipyard going online, the Crusader's could be reinforced directly. On May 21, 2306, Glolindus Starfleet as back at full strength and in position to attack the Mesh'Ben Reavers, who were still at war with the Alari and the Glost-Wehani.
Because the Mesh'Ben were previously fighting a 2 front war, their forces were not in position to immediately counter Space Force's advance. However, on October 4, 2307, Admiral Lort was forced to return to the Fia Nita to protect the Chosen. Outnumbered, Lort chose to advance on the trailing Mesh'Ben fleet and defeated it with 1 lost destroyer and 5 lost corvettes. Lort then followed the leading fleet to the Hotram system, defeating it with 1 lost corvette.
The Mesh'Ben were fierce opponents, capable of surviving the heat built up by rapidly firing their weapons. While Mesh'Ben ships were inferior to Space Force ships in terms of technology, their ability to fire rapidly overcame any deficiencies in raw damage or accuracy. While Space Force was able to make gains toward Alari space initially, the bulk of the fighting in the 2300s took place in the systems between the Chosen and the Mesh'Ben home planet.
Political Map
Empire Rankings
TO Parliament Composition, including a new "alien rights" party
War Progression*1
Return to Table of Contents
==========================
1: The author does not know why the official name of the war was the "Trumpian - Mesh'Ben Machine Uprising". The name is not a translation error, as every source document clearly states "Machine Uprising". It is not the purpose of this work to speculate on how or why the official TO name for the war was chosen.
The 10th decade after achieving FTL travel saw the TO make great gains against the Gorf during the Great Covfefe Crusade, and while the Covfefe system had been occupied, the war was not yet over. The Crusade's leaders, Admiral Lort and Saint Plort, were waiting for the first wave of reinforcements to arrive in March 2300 before initiating a plan to occupy the Gorf colony in the Mauthula system. The goal of the operation was to increase the Gorf's public war exhaustion and leverage the resulting unrest to end the war.
However, in August 2300, two events occurred that prevented the operation from starting, but would end with the same desired result: the Battle of Roscan and the 4th Battle of The Wall.
With both battles ending in victory for the Crusaders, on November 28, 2230 the Gorf agreed to surrender the claimed territories and cease all hostilities. The Human Union Crusaders immediately returned to their home territory. The Great Covfefe Crusade was over, but the crusaders were not yet able to return home; the Mesh'Ben Reavers had attacked the Alari again, and cut off access from the Covfefe enclave to the rest of the TO.
Systems annexed by the TO, including two colonized systems.
For the first time, the TO found itself administering a xeno population. 2 Gorf pops lived in the Barbon system, while 3 Gorfs, 3 Uv-Xantt, and 1 Qasvalyvia lived in the Lytirin system. The infrastructure of both colonies was decimated by both the marauder raids and by the TO occupation. The only functioning buildings were the colonial administration centers and a Precinct House on the planet Jem-Fhengoorem.
Trump's plan from the beginning was to turn the conquered sector into a TO subsidiary in the same manner as the Human Union. After the Precinct House was replaced with a consumer goods factory and a shipyard finished construction in Lytirin, the self-sytled "Chosen of Jem-Fhengoorem" was declared as a largely self-governing corporate-controlled nation that would join all TO wars and pay a 25% energy credit "protection fee" to the TO. To guarantee the viability and stability of the new state, a generous 30-year loan of 75 EC, 75 minerals, 5 consumer goods, and 5 alloys on a monthly basis. Within months after receiving "independence", the Chosen were given administration rights over all TO-owned systems trailward of Alari space, minus the Covfefe system. Also, the Gorf ruling class began a campaign of deportation, and by 2307 all non-Gorf, non-Maga xenos had been expelled from Chosen space.
Note: If the reader looks closely, the reader can see that TO reinforcements in the Kentharom system are not able to link up with the Crusaders due to the Mesh'Ben occupation of Alari territory.
Regarding the Covfefe system, a fortified shipyard was constructed. The station served three purposes. First, it could act as a home base for Glolindus Starfleet and serve as a focal point for repairs and reinforcements. Second, the fortifications would protect the holy system from hostile incursions. Finally, the station would serve as a profitable hotel for pilgrims and travelers visiting the system.
However, no pilgrimages could be profited from if there was no way for Magas in the TO to reach the Covfefe system. With the Covfefe shipyard going online, the Crusader's could be reinforced directly. On May 21, 2306, Glolindus Starfleet as back at full strength and in position to attack the Mesh'Ben Reavers, who were still at war with the Alari and the Glost-Wehani.
Because the Mesh'Ben were previously fighting a 2 front war, their forces were not in position to immediately counter Space Force's advance. However, on October 4, 2307, Admiral Lort was forced to return to the Fia Nita to protect the Chosen. Outnumbered, Lort chose to advance on the trailing Mesh'Ben fleet and defeated it with 1 lost destroyer and 5 lost corvettes. Lort then followed the leading fleet to the Hotram system, defeating it with 1 lost corvette.
The Mesh'Ben were fierce opponents, capable of surviving the heat built up by rapidly firing their weapons. While Mesh'Ben ships were inferior to Space Force ships in terms of technology, their ability to fire rapidly overcame any deficiencies in raw damage or accuracy. While Space Force was able to make gains toward Alari space initially, the bulk of the fighting in the 2300s took place in the systems between the Chosen and the Mesh'Ben home planet.
Political Map
Empire Rankings
TO Parliament Composition, including a new "alien rights" party
War Progression*1
Return to Table of Contents
==========================
1: The author does not know why the official name of the war was the "Trumpian - Mesh'Ben Machine Uprising". The name is not a translation error, as every source document clearly states "Machine Uprising". It is not the purpose of this work to speculate on how or why the official TO name for the war was chosen.
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These xenos preventing free access to Covfefe... the galaxy is not sending its best.
An alien rights party? I can only imagine the apoplexy that is causing in certain quarters.
Does anyone know if you lose your vassals if you submit to the Khan? I'm asking for a friend.
I personally haven't played enough to see a KHAAAAAAN!! rise in my games, though in a much earlier version of the game I submitted to an Awakened Empire. In that case, the vassal state of militaristic starfishes became a vassal of the AFE alongside me. I'm assuming that still holds true in 2.0 and with the Khan, but I'll have to wait until one of Marauders unites to find out.
I *think* you do, because as I understand it vassals can't have vassals.
Epilogue: The Wrath of Khaaaan!
The war against the purifiers continued until April 22, 2311. The TO had finally consolidated a clear chain of hyperlanes leading from the Covfefe system to TO home territory. However, Trump wanted more; it wanted all systems between Trumpstar and Covfefe to be part of the TO's protection racket. "Think of all the toll money we can receive from the pilgrims!" it was reported as saying. It was under this pretense that the non-aggression pact with the Alari was broken.
The crusaders returned to Covfefe starbase for repair and upgrades, waiting for the 10 year truce to end before returning to the battlefield. During the following decade, the only events worthy of note were the malfunctioning caretakers gifting energy credits and raw materials to Trump directly, and an attempt by the Pelisimus Progenitors to buy Magas for their "Endangered Species Preserve" was rebuked.
The crusade continued on November 26, 2323, with the crusaders attacking the Alari Partnership. The crusade's progress was slow. Anticipating the attack, the Alari had heavily invested in defensive fortifications, with every planet containing exactly 3 Precinct Houses and an additional 10 assault armies. Saint Plort's troops were too few in number to succeed in immediate planetary invasions, and the fleet was forced to spend several years attacking the trail-ward colony before the defenses were reduced to a point where an invasion would succeed. The slow progress was compounded by the Alari's defensive tactics, which called for 3 small fleets to harass Chosen space and threaten the Covfefe system itself.
The war ended not in the TO's favor on November 5, 2331. A truce was signed, with territory being transferred to the Chosen. The reason for this was not due to the Alari war effort or Maga war exhaustion, but rather the Khan. A psychic Ul-Tur had united the Ul-Tur Freebooters into a frightening mass of personified violence.
The Khan made it clear to Trump that if it did not submit to the Khan's will, then 4 fleets totalling 70k naval strength would come bearing down on Trumpland and the Maga people would never again be allowed to journey to the Covfefe system.
Trump faced a terrible dilemma. The humiliation of submitting to the Khan and losing the TO's protection racket would guarantee that no amount of blackmail could keep Trump in power when the next election arrived. However, failing to submit would cause the TO to lose not only Covfefe, but the Chosen as well. Trump eventually came to a third solution: submit to the Khan and blame the cabinet members for "failing to read the fine print of the treaty".
Thus, the history of the Trump Organization as an independent power in the galaxy came to an end on November 5, 2331, having achieved their orange prophet's goal of obtaining Covfefe.
Return to Table of Contents
The war against the purifiers continued until April 22, 2311. The TO had finally consolidated a clear chain of hyperlanes leading from the Covfefe system to TO home territory. However, Trump wanted more; it wanted all systems between Trumpstar and Covfefe to be part of the TO's protection racket. "Think of all the toll money we can receive from the pilgrims!" it was reported as saying. It was under this pretense that the non-aggression pact with the Alari was broken.
The crusaders returned to Covfefe starbase for repair and upgrades, waiting for the 10 year truce to end before returning to the battlefield. During the following decade, the only events worthy of note were the malfunctioning caretakers gifting energy credits and raw materials to Trump directly, and an attempt by the Pelisimus Progenitors to buy Magas for their "Endangered Species Preserve" was rebuked.
The crusade continued on November 26, 2323, with the crusaders attacking the Alari Partnership. The crusade's progress was slow. Anticipating the attack, the Alari had heavily invested in defensive fortifications, with every planet containing exactly 3 Precinct Houses and an additional 10 assault armies. Saint Plort's troops were too few in number to succeed in immediate planetary invasions, and the fleet was forced to spend several years attacking the trail-ward colony before the defenses were reduced to a point where an invasion would succeed. The slow progress was compounded by the Alari's defensive tactics, which called for 3 small fleets to harass Chosen space and threaten the Covfefe system itself.
The war ended not in the TO's favor on November 5, 2331. A truce was signed, with territory being transferred to the Chosen. The reason for this was not due to the Alari war effort or Maga war exhaustion, but rather the Khan. A psychic Ul-Tur had united the Ul-Tur Freebooters into a frightening mass of personified violence.
The Khan made it clear to Trump that if it did not submit to the Khan's will, then 4 fleets totalling 70k naval strength would come bearing down on Trumpland and the Maga people would never again be allowed to journey to the Covfefe system.
Trump faced a terrible dilemma. The humiliation of submitting to the Khan and losing the TO's protection racket would guarantee that no amount of blackmail could keep Trump in power when the next election arrived. However, failing to submit would cause the TO to lose not only Covfefe, but the Chosen as well. Trump eventually came to a third solution: submit to the Khan and blame the cabinet members for "failing to read the fine print of the treaty".
Thus, the history of the Trump Organization as an independent power in the galaxy came to an end on November 5, 2331, having achieved their orange prophet's goal of obtaining Covfefe.
Return to Table of Contents
And it was an ending worthy of the orange prophet. Any unacceptable price will be made acceptable; defeat shall become victory through both careful manipulation and skillful presentation of words; and anyone who says otherwise is an alien sympathizer... and I hope their house is the site of my next Nihilistic Acquisition mission.
This was a fun AAR. I'm going to miss it.
This was a fun AAR. I'm going to miss it.