After Activation 1178 - Origin Universe
After Insertion 1139 - Cultivation Universe
Millennium 151-32M - 40k Universe
AD 2010 - C Red Alert/Generals - Rise of the Reds Universe
The Scrin ships were in range. Or rather they had been range for a long time now.
After all in space one didn't need to worry about things like air resistance, just firing the hunk of iron at the enemy was enough, it would reach them eventually. The problem was that it could be detected in the confines of space and avoided. And if it wasn't avoided, then it was very likely that it would hit as planned, but the fleet would take evasive actions meaning that any followup attacks would all miss since they had such a delay to them.
In short, things were not as easy as just sniping them at range as could be done with rifles and the like on earth, but instead they were forced to wait until the enemy was close enough that they could then engage without the fear of the enemy fleet dissipating and that a majority of the shots would impact.
It was a concern that had then been made it so that they were forced to wait until the enemy was 1 hour away from them at the current speeds. Each cannon could fire at an estimated 1 round per 30 seconds, giving them 120 rounds per cannon. Of which 500 had been grouped together on this side of the world. In other words, 60,000 rounds were going out against the fleet. 60,000 rounds that were all grouped together in such a way that they were in turn, able to account for any changes in the manner in which the fleet was going to disperse when faced with massive slugs of iron coming at them from what they had probably assumed to be a defenceless planet of some kind.
A trap of the most devious kind…
And so it was that the stations began their fire mission, firing 500 rounds in the first salvo, these first ones were all on target, the next salvo and all of the others being at the very least based on the idea that the fleet would disperse itself. The 6 massive ships that were present could not be all of their force after all, who decided to invade a planet with only 6 ships?
It was very likely that the 6 present were just a way to hide the other ships of the fleet, it was the only explanation possible that might explain why there were just 6 ships present. A conundrum and NOD hated those. They did have backup plans however and if the ships were just the vanguard, then they would deploy them. Ships that big? Hah, giant targets all of them.
The next shells fired, the ones after that, and the ones after that. Each station going through its entire inventory of shells as the crews then prepared themselves to drop back to the surface. The stations in turn, would be set to self-destruct if there were any who tried to board them. The enemy fleet would not take kindly to the idea that their fleets had been destroyed after all and a retaliation strike would be inbound. Without any way to destroy the more substantial ships, it was best for them to just not be in the area when it came down to it.
While they were prepared to die for NOD, they were also prepared to die deaths that were worth something. To die meaninglessly was the greatest taboo in NOD beside that of insulting Catherine.
As for the fleet, an hour out the first of the shells slammed into the ships of the fleet, gouging out of them enormous holes that tunneled through, tearing apart the biomechanical flesh, tunnelling through the ship itself and shattering inside, the fragments tearing apart any soft surface that they found.
Each of the massive ships was hit multiple times, 500 times, in fact, their insides gutted, their exteriors marked by what looked to be many little pinpricks. As if something had taken a pin and had great joy in puncturing them.
As for the ships themselves, they stopped dead in space, unable to continue any further, the combined mass of hundreds of shells slowing them down enough that it was as though they were actually drifting backward. The secondary barrage and all those that came after were in fact, unnecessary, many of them hitting the ships assuming it would take longer than 30 seconds to change course, but the vast majority of them sailed off into space. No doubt hitting something insignificant at some point in the future.
It looked as if the mobilization was unnecessary, that they had managed to destroy the fleet. Anti-climatic but better than the idea of the fleet arriving and then proceeding to destroy and kill a large portion of the planet's population.
Only for things to once again shout in their faces that they had been wrong, that they had made a very large mistake. There were 42 pods, 42 smaller ships that emerged out of the carcasses of the massive ones. 42 ships that were now speeding to earth where there was no more Gauss Cannons to shoot them down. Indeed they were small enough that the Gauss weapons themselves would be unable to counter them in time, or even to shoot accurately at them.
Which was what the second line of defence was for thankfully. The smaller cannons ready to engage the Scrin as they breached the atmosphere. Only it was looking increasingly as if the Scrin were very much looking at the idea of trying to breach the atmosphere in what looked like a single concentrated push. They had recognized that the planet was far too well defended and they needed a different way to break in and make their arrival known.
With 42 of the ships in the same area, it was likely that they were going to be able to break through a very real concern. Especially if they were going to weaponize Tiberium and use it against them, a concern of great import. The estimated landing zones were marked and the forces of the Coalition and NOD were being deployed even as they came in to land. Thousands upon thousands of aircraft, tanks, many more times that in men and who knew what else. The entire deployment being a disjointed mess as the Coalition and NOD threw whatever they had closest at the enemy while also bringing up units further out for transfer.
By the time the aliens did land, there would be a veritable army waiting for them, waiting for them to leave their spacecraft and wreak unholy terror upon them. As for the massive Gauss Cannons utilized by NOD as part of the planetary screen, they were pulled from the opposite side of the planet and placed into the predicted drop zone. All the better to engage rather than have redundant cannons.
The wait could have been described as excruciating for those on the ground, unable to do anything but sit on their heels and just wait. Their anti-aircraft weaponry pointed at the sky, twiddling their thumbs as they waited for the enemy to drop down.
The Scrin were not as predictable as they had thought they would be however. The ships instead in the atmosphere proceeded to orient themselves horizontally and then fly all the way across the world to the Middle East, dropping themselves into the ground zero area of the Liquid Tiberium explosion. The place that logically they should have tried to defend in the first place, it was after all the event that the Scrin had been attracted to this world in the first place.
A few facepalms and the units were instead rerouted away from South America towards the Middle East, the Scrin being able to buy valuable time with their unexpected maneuver. The ground armies were out of place, the ships being able to survive temporarily.
As for the air force however, they were still very much in the area and flew over immediately, their forces ready and willing to engage the enemy. Only things didn't turn out the way that they had thought it would. Massive ships emerged from the pods that made their way to the planet following the destruction of the 6 main ships. These vessels on the other hand were large, insect-like ships that… also kind of resembled fishbones actually…
Another one that looked like a large vase of some kind set itself down on the surface of the planet while in the sky it was a different story. The fishbone ships, longer than aircraft carriers back in the home universe undulated their way across the sky like large fish, the fighters and bombers that got close were attacked by what looked like floating little dagger ships. Things that in all honesty looked like they shouldn't be airborne at all.
Their attacks consisted of what looked like little balls of light, light that moved extremely fast and they clearly had robust targeting computers since the flights that went in reported casualties almost immediately. The balls of light being able to destroy their systems, punch holes in their aircraft and short circuit their electronics.
From which the NOD scientists were able to guess that it was very likely some kind of plasma. Ablative armour of some kind would be necessary if they wanted to have more of a sustained ability against the enemy.
The Razorbacks were able to get some damage done, but the ships were enormous and they released what looked to be a truly staggering number of the little fighters. Each one overwhelming the Razorbacks before they could get close enough to the main ship to do damage, being struck by actual physical kamikaze runs by the craft.
While they were invisible, that did nothing when they could pinpoint where the lasers were coming from and swarm around them, bringing them down with sheer force of numbers, employing a level of suicidal tactics that even NOD didn't employ.
They were going to need many more fighters than what they had currently as well as ground AA if they were going to be taking down the big ships, it was simply impossible for them otherwise, a fact that was becoming increasingly evident with the deployment of further ground forces by the Scrin's pods that had landed not a few minutes previously. The Scrin being able to warp in units from another area it was clear, the fact that the number of units they were pulling out of what looked like nowhere, should not have been able to fit on a ship of that size.
Truly massive armies were being assembled and they were constructing in turn what was looking like an enormous leaf-shaped building. Something was happening and they were planning to stay for the long-term. And if the fact that they had enormous aircraft designed to destroy anything that came close was any indication, it was not going to be something that was… nice.
The Coalition decided to employ the Ares bombers. The knowledge that it was uncomfortably close to the Home Portal being part of the reason why they were being deployed at all. The aliens could not be allowed to attain knowledge of the fact that there was another universe present, one that likely had a copy of their empire in it.
As the bombers flew overhead, their payloads ready to be deployed, something happened again which infuriated the Coalition leadership. The rods were dropped according to the plan, but the problem came from the fact that the little craft that emerged from their fishbone aircraft rushed forward as one, dozens, hundreds of them all shooting at the rods, slamming themselves against the rods and more. In the end, there was nothing left, merely a tiny little explosion that a conventional warhead could have done instead of a massive tungsten rod that weighed a tonne. The entire thing whittled down to nothing by the damned fighters.
Something would have to be done against the flying carriers, they were proving to be far too dangerous to be allowed as they were. If this state of matters continued, their armies were going to be throwing themselves into what would likely be a literal meatgrinder.
The debate about whether or not to use weapons of Mass Destruction was beginning, the debate about whether or not to use some of their more esoteric weaponry not so much. NOD knew what they wanted to use, it was after all the best option available. What was known as a "Catalyst Missile" that served to destroy all Tiberium in the area of detonation via a chain reaction.
Particularly harmful against an enemy that was made partially of Tiberium.
Was it evil to use a race's biology against them? Possibly. But it was better than being wiped out so they could mine themselves some Tiberium.
After Activation 1178 - Origin Universe
After Insertion 1139 - Cultivation Universe
Millennium 151-32M - 40k Universe
AD 2010 - C Red Alert/Generals - Rise of the Reds Universe
Fiona knelt down from where she was, her rifle in her arms. This wasn't just any rifle, it was a Gauss Rifle, one issued by NOD so that their Coalition allies would at least be on a level playing field against the aliens. Something about the aliens being fucking unfair, so at least NOD and the Coalition should be as well.
She didn't have an exosuit, those were left to the NOD guys that actually knew how to use them, but for her, a rifle that was able to outrange anything else on the battlefield was pretty damned awesome on its own.
As for the aliens, the Scrin as NOD had said their names were, they were being fucking annoying. She was deploying out of an APC, it wasn't an American one, this was a Soviet APC with the same amount of armour as a tank had. There was something about the aliens being able to use reclamation beams of some kind, a weapon that just ate through fucking metal.
It was better therefore, to have as much armour as possible to at least slow it down enough to the point where they could escape in time. Word had arrived that the thinner armour of the American APCs had meant that entire crews and passengers were killed instantly. The sacrifice of speed over armour showing clearly in this case apparently.
As for Fiona, she was just glad that things didn't mean that she was going to die without being able to put a few bullets in the fucking things. She had seen the briefings, giant insect looking fuckers that were pouring out of their little portals. Each of them using weapons that shot lasers or something, others shooting plasma. She didn't think any of them actually used physical projectiles in their weapons and she was OK with that, she had plenty of them and was ready and willing to give them on the bloody things, they just needed to ask for it. Delivery would be swift and particularly painful.
Some of them were deploying what looked like shields, though, shields that did not block light because they needed to be able to see (duh). Which meant the European guys were bringing their microwave tech with them, as well as their lasers. The aliens wanted to cheat, then they were going to cheat harder.
The African guys had fucked them up pretty badly when they tried to attack the portal base. Stupid things got overconfident, tried to walk right up into the base and the Africans just threw packs of plastic explosive at their bellies, blew them right the fuck up. You would think that maybe not being fucking stupid would be an important asset for a world invading alien species, but apparently, the Scrin didn't get the memo.
As for the Africans, they had been relieved by the South Americans, their ability to just dig into any kind of terrain was absurd. The Africans would join them on the assault while the South American stealth craft (ground and air) would be providing support by relaying real time data as well as maybe hitting key areas that needed to go right now.
Off the coast the fleets were ready, the assets from all over the world being assembled to patrol the seas, each one armed with a variety of different weaponry as befitted their country of origin. The American ships using their prototype Gauss Cannons, each one capable of flinging shells over 1000 kilometers in range, each shell over 100 kilograms in weight. The South American ships were armed with more conventional weapons but made up for it in that they were 100% invisible to all forms of detection except the Mk1 eyeball.
The Europeans of course, mounted massive lasers on their ships, able to snipe satellites from orbit, which in turn meant that they were getting ready to snipe the enemy's flying carriers out of the sky. Carriers that were protecting the alien expeditionary force by the simple fact that they were dropping thousands of little aircraft that would engage and tear apart anything that came close to them with sheer numbers if nothing else.
The attack had been in the works for a few hours now, the time needed to bring their forces back from South America to the Middle East making up a majority of that time. The Coalition and NOD were prepared to drive the aliens out of their little corner of the world, ready to crush them once and for all.
The first strike would be by the Soviet and American ships and aircraft. A truly staggering number of missiles being deployed as well as conventional munitions, all of them directed at the exterior defences that the aliens had erected to hold them back.
Each looked organic, like plants, like coral of some kind. Some had been tested and it appeared that they could call in massive storms that were impregnated with Tiberium, dangerous to their troops that were not armoured and protected from the outside elements, others being what looked to be plasma casters, beam weapons and scaled up versions of those.
With those in the way any attack would be blunted due to the terrain in which they had embedded themselves. Direct attacks were funneled through chokepoints, prime killing fields. The Scrin at the very least knew how to set themselves up with a respectable killing field at the very least. Something that they could be respected for, even if they had no idea how to attack.
Once the attack began with the defences being torn apart, the ground armies would move in, a gambit as well as the real thing. A gambit in that they were relying on the NOD Gauss Cannon towers that had been relocated into the area to do their job, while the European microwave technology would allow for them to penetrate past the vast numbers of defensive fighters and strike at the carriers directly. If those were in the air, then they had no way of pushing forward, not unless they were prepared to lose tens of thousands of men and women, stalling the advance that wouldn't be able to accomplish their objectives in the first place.
Death waited for them, but they at least wanted it to be a proper death. Not one caused by something that they couldn't defend against, that was just a waste of life and that they were deployed against it was the height of foolishness.
Another problem that would need to be solved was the fact that the Tiberium had spread out and actually increased in density around the Scrin, them possessing some kind of ability to… harness it. Being able to eat it somehow, being able to use it to heal damage, able to use it to construct units in the field, able to use it to increase their speed and power. It was in a word, ridiculous.
Something needed to be done and thankfully a breakthrough had been achieved the night before. Sonic weapons tuned to specific frequencies while also conforming to certain beats allowed for the disintegration of Tiberium through some kind of effect that allowed for the forces to just push straight through without worrying about being infected and dying.
And so all the pieces were ready. The battle lines had been drawn (the aliens likely had no idea what was going on), and the Coalition was preparing themselves for the attack.
That was before what happened next.
Massive missiles appeared from launchers hauled into place by NOD. These missiles appeared to be using Tiberium in some way, they after all, glowed a very bright and vibrant green which was a very big giveaway in the grand scheme of things.
As the initial bombardment by the allied forces struck the defensive position, the missiles sailed deep into the alien lines, ignoring the fire from ground based interceptors or the little fighters, they sailed into key points from their initial launch positions, the ocean, the north, the south, the west. Some were destroyed, their warheads dropping harmlessly down, but a majority made it to their targets and detonated in what was a truly terrifying to behold explosion.
Or rather a series of explosions, the missile coming in and exploding in a small burst, that in turn led to all the Tiberium in the surrounding areas as well as the creatures themselves experiencing the same effect, many small explosions that served to tear apart the biomechanical flesh of their war-machines/creatures. The Carriers were no exception, their mighty frames wracked by explosions, the many thousands of smaller craft themselves destroyed by their fragility, the fact that they were so bunched up close to one another, the fact that they were so numerous that they in fact transmitted the explosions to other carriers.
The entire Scrin force being affected in some way, the explosions carrying across the entire Scrin area, stopping short of the Coalition held areas by the fact that they had been getting rid of the Tiberium with their modified sonic weapons.
Fiona watching it through the visor in the APC smiled a little in relief as the reports came rolling in. The aliens had been crippled, what was originally a battle that promised to be a desperate battle to hold the line and push the enemy back in time for more substantial reinforcements to arrive, was not going to be a much more one-sided affair… in their favour.
The damned aliens wanted to go around invading worlds, they were going to understand what it felt like being on the other end of that. Once they were done here, Earth would go out and find the fuckers before ending them as well.
It was going to be awesome, she knew that much.
As the APC crested the broken defensive fortifications, she could see the thousands upon thousands of broken bodies, torn apart by the explosions that consumed the very thing that made them up. It was a very… evil weapon, one that she was glad NOD had not decided to develop for humans instead of the aliens.
If NOD had weapons that could explode flesh… well, that would be the height of terrifying, as if NOD was not already fucking terrifying.
Fiona shook her head, better to focus on the mission.
As the passengers disembarked she grinned, time to clean-up.
As they walked through the fields upon fields of broken corpses, there would be the occasional live one one that wriggled a little desperately as it tried to live she assumed. A bullet to the head, or what she assumed was the head was the only sympathy they got from her. Maybe next time don't invade random planets and try to do stupid shit like harvest it from Tiberium.
As the infantry secured the initial zone, it was opened enough for the tanks to make their way in, ready to push deeper into the Middle East. While the Scrin had been catastrophically hit, they would still be able to create units, still be able to repair and heal themselves from the left-over Tiberium. The more they waited, the more likely it was that the Scrin would be a threat again.
It would be best if they made haste and pushed in as deeply as possible, destroying the Scrin that they encountered, denying them the ability to heal, to do their work, to escape if that was what they were planning.
Already reports were coming in from the South American spy planes that the Scrin were looking to recover from the effects of the attack, beginning to heal, beginning to deploy more units, to recover.
The fleets were restarting their bombardment, hammering the Scrin and delaying their recovery efforts, the aircraft instead moving in to strike at the wounded carriers, the armies pushing their way ever closer to ground zero.
The outer defences had been breached and they were going to need to focus if they wanted to get in there and wipe out the inner circle. The Scrin were going to be fighting and they were going to be fighting hard.
While the Navy was pounding away at them, how soon before they put up their shields? How soon before things went back to the way they were before and they lost thousands more men and women to the damned things?
Fiona frowned and shook her head, bad thoughts. Time to get her head back into the game.
Combat Sides to come tomorrow