January/ February Hive CGN Challenge

[Buster's Uncle]

Scenario Name: January/ February Hive CGN Challenge
SMAC/ SMAX: SMAX
Author: Darsnan
Date of original posting: 1/6/05
Original host site: Civilization Gaming Network

Prologue

In MY 2105 the First Progenitor Invasion began. Often referred to as
“The Great Progenitor War” at the time, the “invasion” actually only
consisted of the remnants of two opposing Progenitor Battle Cruisers.
For almost 150 years afterward the ragtag human bands fought tooth and
nail to survive against the vastly superior Progenitor forces. Finally
in MY 2247 the last Progenitor stronghold disappeared in a brilliant
fireball caused by the first man-made nuclear explosion on Planet...
In retrospect it can be said that the humans survived the “invasion”
not only by their dedicated self-sacrifice, but also by the fact that
the Progenitors were just as intent on destroying each other as they
were the humans, and only too late realized the threat posed by the
human interlopers on Planet.
In MY 2311 the wreckage of a Progenitor spaceship was found by an
expedition to the moon Nessus. Although no longer spaceworthy itself,
the ships memory banks were still intact, and the humans were able to
download the ships star charts, as well as the technologies necessary to
build their own interstellar starships.
By the eve of the Second Progenitor Invasion in MY 2446 the humans had
spread to many nearby solar systems, and although they were a fractious
amalgamation of Factions belonging to a loosely built Federation, the
humans had always remained undivided in their mutual support of each
other in the face of the threat posed by the Progenitors.
When the first Progenitor scoutships from the Second Invasion fleet
appeared on the fringes of human-controlled space, they encountered
lightly armed human vessels. Easily overcoming the human ships defenses,
they were able to board and capture many of the ships’ crews. However,
unbeknownst to the Progenitors these human ships had been specifically
staffed with human “volunteers” whose genome had been altered such that
if they did not eat a specific diet supplied to them, then within weeks
they would start to generate and secrete retroviruses that had been
specifically tailored to attack the Progenitor genome. The Progenitor
scoutships, their bioscans picking up no pathogens at the time,
transported their human captives to their respective motherships for
interrogation. By the time the Progenitors realized their mistake, the
human Trojan Horse viruses were rampantly running their course amongst
the ships of the invasion fleet. The human space assault force, although
far outnumbered, were then able to pick their targets at will,
bypassing strong healthy ships, while destroying others, and in some
cases the human Interstellar Marines were able to board and commandeer
several faltering Progenitor ships, turning them against their former
masters!
The Second Progenitor Invasion lasted barely 3 months, with the
survivors of the Progenitor Invasion Fleet escaping back towards the
Galactic Core.
The humans, proud, victorious, gloating, and determined never to have
to live under the constant threat of another Progenitor Invasion again,
built an armada of their own based upon everything they could glean from
the Progenitor ships that had been abandoned in human space. The human
attack fleet was launched in MY 2467 with the intent of obliterating the
Progenitor Menace once and for all.
The fleet was never heard from again…..
It is now MY 2679, the eve of the 3rd Progenitor Invasion…..


The Recruitment

The Command Center doors opened, and a tall, lean Spartan General entered the room.
The first thing that jumped out at the assembled Hive officers was that
almost half of the Spartan’s head was a dull metallic silver, as was
his right arm. A cyborg! The other item that quickly caught the Hive
officers’ attention was that the Spartan General was wearing the battle
decoration for the orbital assault on Sereth 5.3! The room grew tense as
the Hive officers collectively recalled this bitter defeat at the hands
of their traditional Spartan enemies.
Nevertheless the Spartan General was the senior ranking officer in the room, and the Hive officers as one rose to attention.
“As you were”, the cyborg, bin Kaleel, responded in a guttural machine-like voice as he proceeded to the room’s podium.
General bin Kaleel surveyed the assembled Hive officers. His artificial
eye, capable of viewing into the infrared, told him that the Hive
officers were seething, and he knew the reason why. Sereth. Bin Kaleel
had been instructed to wear the battle decoration prominently, “this
will be your opening with them. Win their hearts, and their minds will
follow”, the Psych Mullah had instructed.
Bin Kaleel addressed the group, “You may have noticed I am a veteran of
the Sereth Drop, “he paused, taking the time to look at all of the
young officers in the group before continuing, “I commanded an assault
platoon which was involved in some of the heaviest fighting of the
campaign. The Hive forces I faced were brave and fought with much valor,
and on more than one occasion I was reminded of my own Spartan
ancestors at Thermopylae: because no matter what the odds, and no matter
how forlorn the situation, the Hive forces continued to fight
tenaciously, even in the face of obvious defeat”. General bin Kaleel
paused for a long moment, as if completely lost in the events of his
youth 30 years ago, before continuing, “and that is why I am here
before you now, because of my experiences in combat against you, you
have won my respect, and my admiration, as fellow soldiers, and that is
why I only applied to Chairman Benediem for volunteers for this
mission”. Bin Kaleel again swept the room with his cyborg eye, noting
that the mood had changed from barely concealed hatred, to consternation
and indecision. Bin Kaleel continued, “I am told by your People’s Army
commander General Yin that the number of Hive volunteers for this
mission were considerable, and because of this General Yin assures me
that she was able to select only the best for this mission“. bin Kaleel
raised his cyborg arm and swept the room before him, “ In effect she has
stated that you are the best the Hive has to offer, and that is damm
good because at this point we need the best to step up, to volunteer,
and to deliver us in this hour of need”.
Turning his attention to the holo-projector above him, bin Kaleel sent a
neural message dimming the lighting, while at the same time calling up a
pre-loaded holo projection of a section of space, “this is the Xi
Sector in Human Space, which is humanities furthest ventures towards
what is commonly believed to be the core of the Progenitor Empires”. Bin
Kaleel sent another neural command and several of the star systems in
the Xi Sector turned from pale blue to red, “four weeks ago the 3rd
Progenitor Invasion began. In that time they have already overwhelmed
the defenses of the solar systems indicated, and have forced us
decisively onto the defensive”. Bin Kaleel sent another command and the
holo projector advanced again, this time showing a closeup of the battle
front of solar systems, “by this situational map you can see that the
Progs knew exactly where to hit us. From the space they control in the
Xi Sector they can now effectively strike out in whichever direction
they choose, thus forcing us to either disperse our fleet into a
defensive screen, or to evacuate several solar systems and allow the
Progs to move in”.
Bin Kaleel let the Hive officers view the situational map and digest
the choices before he continued, “We are going to do neither”, he said
sharply, before sending the final neural command for his presentation,
which pulled the view out and sent a white hot arrow piercing deep into
the heart of Xi Sector, far behind the Progenitor front lines, “Instead
we are going to take back the Safe Haven solar system, which the Progs
have been using as a springboard for their operations. Then while the
Progs have to backtrack and deal with this threat to their supply lines
our fleet will launch our real assault on their front lines, breach
these, link up and relieve our forces in the Safe Haven solar system,
and eliminate the remaining pockets of Prog resistance in the Xi
Sector”.
One Hive officer, realizing their part in this operation was to be the orbital assault, blurted out, “that’s suicide!”
Bin Kaleel let the presentation fade, turned and faced his audience,
“if our offensive fails, then yes, those forces committed to the Safe
Haven operation can be viewed as lost, especially”, bin Kaleel paused,
looking at the assembled Hive officers, “the ground forces.”
Bin Kaleel finished up his presentation, “What I am looking for are
officers to command our ground strike force”, bin Kaleel paused again,
surveying his audience, and noting that most were trying to avoid eye
contact. “My office lies through that portal”, bin Kaleel said,
motioning to the back of the Command Center, “if your interested in the
job then come see me, otherwise”, bin Kaleel cast one more long glance
around the room, purposely increasing the intensity in his cyborg eye to
an angry red glare before continuing, “I’d suggest you start brushing
up on your defensive strategies, because by the time the Progs get to
you all that’ll be left will be Garrison troops!”
General bin Kaleel turned and strode from the room, not looking back.
Twenty minutes later the door to bin Kaleel’s office opened and one lone Hive officer entered.
One…..
Bin Kaleel sighed internally. But it could have been worse. Obviously
the officer had given this some thought before committing, indicating
both intelligence and resolve. And who knows, bin Kaleel thought, this
person may just be the grain of rice that tips the scales in favor of
humanity. “This person may even be The One”, bin Kaleel thought to
himself.
“Please sit down”, bin Kaleel motioned to the empty chair opposite him.


The Briefing

Background: the Safe Haven colonization project was a joint Drone and
Believer endeavor founded in the early 2500's. The planet was very
hospitable to humans, and the original population quickly grew to
approximately 4 billion humans. As the planet was explored, it was found
that there was a semi-operational Manifold Nexus present, however
neither the Drones nor the Believers were able to exploit any benefits
from this Nexus.
Because Safe Haven was a human world you will be provided with a scan
of the planet: we advise you use the terrain to your advantage.
Because of its close proximity to the Progenitor Empire, it was one of
the first worlds to be attacked, and the first to fall during this
Progenitor invasion. There is a rumor that the Believers managed to
destroy one of the Progenitor invasion ships. If this is true the ship
may have scattered its cargo across the face of Safe Haven, appearing to
your sensors as Unity Pods, and meaning you may find salvage units to
help your cause.
Note that the Progenitor tactic of using fungal missiles has been
detected on the surface of Safe Haven, and so probably you will
encounter both fungus as well as mindworms, Fungal Towers, and Isles of
the Deep.

Your mission: the fast attack carrier Leonidas under Admiral Mitscher
will execute an orbital incursion into Safe Haven’s nearspace where your
force will be dropped in standard orbital assault formation. Your
assault force will be embarked upon 5 standard DRACa Mk3 re-entry
vehicles and will consist of 5 Brigades of Interstellar Marines for you
to command under the Hive banner. In case the Progenitors have orbital
defenses a number of chaff missiles will also be dropped with your
DRACa’s, which should hopefully draw off any Progenitor orbital attack
vehicles. You will proceed to the surface of Safe Haven, rescue and
protect any Believer or Drone survivors, engage and eliminate all enemy
forces, and report back once successful. Note that several Scout Probes
have been dropped previously which have identified ideal targets of
opportunity for your invasion force. We recommend you use this intel to
your advantage when launching your initial assault.

Other info: we have picked up transmissions from several Progenitor
battle groups on the surface of Safe Haven. We therefore anticipate that
once you are on the surface of the planet that combat will be intensive
and prolonged. Also understand that you will be commanding an
interstellar formation consisting of several human Factions
capabilities, including Consciousness technicians which can steal
technologies from conquered Progenitor bases.
Finally, it has been over 230 years since the last Progenitor invasion.
In that time it is estimated that the Progenitors have adapted
themselves to our previous tactics. Understand this, and be prepared for
their riposte.

Good Luck Commander!

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