After being battled to a draw at Minex, the Surakari have escalated their war against the Heragul Empire. Within a two weeks, twenty more systems were under attack. Local defense fleets were being overwhelmed and destroyed. Verlanda is just another one of these systems.
“The enemy frigate is disabled, but the Battle Cruiser is still attacking,” the Weapon’s Officer reported.
“Concentrate Fire Catapults and Heavy Fire Cannons on the Battle Cruiser,” Captain Ally-Karn ordered back.
As she tracked the incoming Surakari warship, a bright flash burst from the Heragul frigate off the battleship’s front bow as if a star went nova. Alarms chirped in sequence with the explosion.
“The Verlantic Six has been destroyed,” the sensor officer stated, “I’m not seeing any escape pods.”
Heavy Plasma beams stabbed at the Heragul Battleship from the charging Battle Cruiser, stinging the hull of the massive Heragul Warship. The Verlantic One answered the challenge, delivering waves of firepower back at the Surakari attacker. Explosions blossomed across its hull, propelling chunks of armor into space.
Plasma rounds and fire cannon shells continued their conversation. The impacts spat debris and warship atmosphere into space. Ally-Karn felt the gentle vibration of her battleship as the Fire Catapult’s capacitors gathered their charge. A thunderclap boomed through the ship as the stored electricity poured into the rail guns. The shells leaped from the barrels of the ship, spearing the Battle Cruiser through one of its forward bridge sections. Momentum threw the wrecked Surakari warship end over end as it fell into the grip of Verlanda two.
“Enemy Target Des…” the weapons officer began.
Ally-Karn’s head crashed into her personal computer console as the Battleship rolled as if was struck by a tidal wave.
She threw her head back up, “What was that?”
“Surakari Battleship closing on an intercept!” the Sensor Officer answered.
More seismic waves rushed across the warship as the enemy plasma beams rent deep gouges in the Heragul’s armor.
“Two more Surakari Frigates are on an attack vector, escorting the enemy Battleship.”
“Fire port side heavy fire cannons at the incoming frigates. Bring us about to face that monster,” Ally-Karn yelled.
“I can’t get us a clear angle of the Surakari Battleship,” the helmsman replied, “It is moving too fast.”
Each Surakari Barrage shook battleship. The constant impacts felt as if a giant hand had grabbed the vessel and was violent shaking it about.
“Massive damage is being reported all over the ship,” the chief engineer chimed in, “Targeting systems are damaged, engines are failing, numerous hull breaches are occurring across the armor, and structural integrity is failing.”
An explosion tore through the bridge, exposing the encased room to the corridors outside. As the glow from the blast faded, darkness consumed the bridge crew. Emergency lights blinked on all throughout the bridge, casting the surviving crew in shades of red.
“Damage Report!” Ally-Karn demanded.
“Most primary systems are offline. Thrusters are barely keeping us in orbit.”
Noticing the warship’s stable position, the captain shot a question to the sensor officer, “Why have they stopped firing, is anyone still out there?”
No response came. The Captain turned her head towards the sensor officer station, but she only found debris and charred Heragul body parts.
“Captain, we have message coming in over the communication system, it is directed at you,” the weapon officer stated.
“Route it to my headset”, the Captain replied.
“Heragul Commander,” an electronic voice began, “Your warship is disabled. Prepare to surrender.”
Engaging her ship wide internal communication system, Ally-Karn bellowed, “We have enemy troops preparing to board!”
The next twenty minutes on the bridge passed almost entirely consumed by silence. Bridge crew and marines pointed their weapons towards the collapsed wall, waiting for anything to cross the gap. Heragul defenders had been engaged in running gun battles throughout the battleship and based on the chatter coming through her headset, Ally-Karn’s troops were losing.
A single alien head popped around the corner of the destroyed wall. Heragul rifles and pistols roared to life and a hail of bullets devoured the Surakari head. Multiple plasma guns flung around the walls, delivering waves of inaccurate fire towards the defenders. Heragul soldiers fell into cover as they responded in kind. Three Surakari grenades sneaked under the thundering of the gun fight.
“Grenades!” a Heragul soldier screamed.
Ally-Karn dropped behind the tactical station as three green flashes blinded the captain and the crew. Howls of pain filled the silence of the suspended gun fight. The pattering of alien feet rushed across the bridge floor as the Surakari flooded the bridge. Ally-Karn leaned around the corner of her station and launched two pistol rounds in between what she thought to be Surakari eyes. The creature’s head exploded and splattered blood onto the ground like flecks of paint.
An fireball blasted the secured rear bridge door off its frame. Pellets of burning metal stung the captain like a swarm of biting insects. She twirled around and unloaded a clip of bullets into the opening. Plasma fire answered her attacks and a round scarred across the right side of the Captain’s face. She screamed as her face burned as if it was being held in fire. Consciousness retreated from the pain and Ally-Karn collapsed to the deck of the bridge.
Verlanda had fallen to the Surakari.
The Heragul and Surakari Command Fleets will collide in one cosmic scale train wreck as the fate of the Verlanda System is decided. Two Battleships will enter the field of combat, only one will survive. Michicon 2013 took place at Oakland University on July 12th to the 13th.
By the end of the battle, the Surakari Battleship had out maneuvered the Heragul equivalent and inflicted nearly fatal damage upon its target. With this win, Verlanda has fallen to the Surakari.
Start the year off with a battle at the 7-11 at 14 mile and Ryan in Sterling Heights MI. I’ll post more details about this scenario as it gets closer.
Kalidasia Media Productions will be returning to u-Con this year. All the details about the convention can be found on their website. While I will not be running any large games, there should be space in the Vendor hall to run games of all sizes. Stop by our table and pick up a copy of the Exterion Fleets, or check out the variety of other merchandise available for sale.
In the one skirmish that took place, the Heragul forces drove back the small attacking Surakari fleet, earning them one campaign point. Pop! Caffeine, Comics and Gaming address is 45163 Cass Ave Utica, Michigan 48316. More information about the store can be found on their Facebook Page.
Sunday July 7th was the first time I ran a demo at a local game store, or in this case a 7-11. Herb Barents operates a 7-11 store, which also sells board games, on 14 mile and Ryan. He invited me down for the day and I ran a game with five players. Surakari and Heragul forces battled in the orbit of Verlanda three. Even though it appeared that the Surakari were turning the battle around, a last turn attack from Hunter fighters and Destroyer Fire Torpedoes disabled the last two Surakari warships. This battle earned the Heragul campaign point.
At Michicon 2012 the Surakari forces launched an attack on the planetary debris belt with the goal of destroying several experimental gun platforms. Blasting their way through the Heragul defenders, the Surakari destroyed on gun platform and heavily damaged another before Heragul reinforcements drove the aliens back. The final score of the event was 3 to 2 in favor of the Surakari.
Origins 2012 is over. Despite suffering heavy transport casualties, the Heragul Empire managed to pull out a win in the event because their overall fleet strength remained above 50%. The Heragul Empire earned two campaign points, while the Surakari captured one. After this event, the Heragul have a slight lead of 4 to 3.
At World Steam Expo 2012 in Dearborn MI, Surakari and Heragul forces traded blows. Each captured one victory and one victory point.
Penguicon 2012 was the second event for Kalidasia Media Productions in 2012. Battles occurred around all three of the moons of Verlanda Four. Heragul forces drove back the Surakari at one moon, suffered a defeat at the second moon, and battled the Surakari to a draw at the third moon. As a result, each of the races earned a single point.
Violence is the language of the Surakari. Fortunately, it is one in which we are also very fluent.
