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The Warrior
Date: 17 November 2000, 8:52 pm
>Opening log from entry:-04.14.6:2308 [ent/(DE H c-2)//173-104-925-ADM]
>Reading three records...
>Open entry:-04.14.6:2308 [ent/(DE H c-2)//173-104-925-ADM]
A journey is often begun so that another may be avoided. On the many-branched path of existence, a difficult path may be the only one possible to take, or the only one which does not end in disaster. It is thus that we set out upon this journey, a journey of such great importance that the path we avoid would lead to all our deaths. We must do battle with an enemy we had hoped never to meet, with unwitting monsters who would see all we have built and discovered razed.
The Devotion arrived in-system some hours ago. We now await only the Sacred Promise and her support group, and then we may make the jump to the enemy. Word has arrived from the commander of the Contrition, which encountered and destroyed a human vessel some hours ago while on advance patrol on the periphery of the target system. I see no reason why our victory here should not be as complete as those before.
Most of the fleet has been waiting in this asteroid field for at least a week, and the troops are becoming restless. I understand their eagerness to fight, and yet I know that preparations must be made and the omens observed if this battle is to be fought correctly. When the time is right, we will go to battle with faith as strong as our weapons and nothing shall stand before us.
My Swords and I will know victory again soon.
>End of entry:
>Open entry:-04.15.6:1420 [ent/(DE H c-2)//173-104-925-ADM]
The Sacred Promise is here. All preparations have been made, and the fleet is about to make the jump to the target. Maugur addressed the crew a short while ago to say that the Gods are watching us today. I do not doubt that all aboard were aware of that already, but the message grows no more stale with each retelling. This is a holy war, and we are but the tools of the Gods, the instruments of their Will.The humans call this world Reach. It is an abstract, meaningless name, and its loss will bring sorrow to no-one but the foul creatures that inhabit it.
It is said remorse is the pain of sin. We feel no remorse.
>End of entry:
>Open entry:-04.15.6:1625 [ent/(DE H c-2)//173-104-925-ADM]
It is over. We made the jump scarcely two hours ago, and now nothing remains. The humans are cunning and fight with the fury of the possessed, but their vessels are woefully inadequate when pitted against our own. Our resolve was unshakable and our victory absolute. Not having any active duties to perform in a battle of spacecraft, I remained at my standby station and observed the combat via holograph. I feel it necessary to record my thoughts on the action as I have done in those that have passed before.
The fleet folded into the system as one and quickly moved into a high orbit over the planet that the enemy dishonors with the name Reach. As predicted, the enemy warships present there attempted to draw our vessels away from the planet so that some degree of evacuation could be carried out. To counter this the fleet divided into three sections, as was planned, each section beginning to bombard a different spaceport/orbital terminal facility. The humans, lacking the firepower or numbers to engage all three groups, concentrated all of their vessels on one (in this case the group containing the Purity of Spirit, gifting me with an excellent view of the combat). We then had simply to spring the trap, converging all of the sections back onto the attacking vessels and catching them in a crossfire that rivaled the stars themselves in its brilliance.
I have not yet had chance to examine the results of this battle in detail, but by my estimation the enemy lost twenty six sizable combat vessels, and many more lighter ones. Our casualties number at four: three CPVs and, regrettably, the CAR Repentance, which was engaged by several of the larger human vessels and hit four times by some manner of superluminally-powered thermonuclear weapon. I have witnessed this weapon in use by the enemy on several occasions, and I still believe it to be of non-human origin: their grasp of space-folding technology is far too rudimentary to allow them to make such a compact drive unit. It is in all probability their plunder from another race, whose loss we shall in passing avenge.
Several enemy spacecraft, all of them small, fled the engagement and are currently being hunted down by our patrol vessels. As I speak, our capital ships are completing the obliteration of the colony with plasma beams and seismic induction charges. I must confess that I would prefer to cleanse the place from the ground, so that we might defeat the enemy face to face and claw to claw, but time is short and efficiency must take precedence over our own preferences. The fire of our wrath is enough, whether dealt from above or below. None will be left alive to question our methods.
I would record more of my thoughts on this day, but Maugur has tasked me with organising airborne patrols over the planet, so that any survivors may be destroyed. Though my Swords remain unbloodied today, I have no doubt that tomorrow will set us against our Nemesis on more honorable terms. The path to virtue is never so easy.
The Reverence has located one of the fleeing human vessels. I am going to the focus deck to watch the hunt.
>End of entry:
>Continue with next entry? Y/N
The Warrior (part 2)
Date: 03 December 2000, 9:22 pm
>Reopening log from entry:-04.1.7.0242 [ent/(DE H c-2)//173-104-925-ADM]
>Reading three records...
>Open entry:-04.1.7.0242 [ent/(DE H c-2)//173-104-925-ADM]
We have remained in this obscure system for more than two weeks now, completing the destruction of the colony and hunting down the survivors of the human fleet. I have passed much of the time in a remote command holograph net, directing the flights of aircraft that we have dispatched to eradicate the remaining humans on the surface. The tedium and detachedness of it made me squirm in anticipation of actually reaching the surface to fight, but I know that restraint is necessary. Such is the responsibility of leadership.
In all truth, I have missed little by remaining on board the Purity of Spirit, as the remnants of human resistance have been too sparse and disorganised to warrant any ground contact. The main settlements were destroyed by orbital bombardment in the hours after our arrival, and since then the whole exercise has been a case of searching out the remaining enemy and directing aircraft strikes or orbital weapons fire to their location. Collateral damage is irrelevant here. Nothing on this world is of any worth to us. They taint whatever they touch.
To alleviate the monotony, I accompanied one of the reconnaissance flights yesterday, deferring command of the operation temporarily to Amgac. It was satisfying to gaze on the fruits of our work: the leveled cities, the shattered vehicles, the landscapes cleansed of the evil forever by our fire and faith. Yet I have a haunting feeling that this battlefield may have been our easiest, and that victory in this war will cost us more than victory over this rock.
Our sweep of the system has successfully located all but one of the remaining human vessels. The Esteem has just reported sensor contact with the last one, which has been evading our scouts in an asteroid belt for over a week now. When it is destroyed, it will take us no more than a few days to finish our tasks here and prepare to move on to the next target. I hope that our battle there is more of a challenge than this one has been.
>End of entry:
>Open entry:-04.2.7:1352 [ent/(DE H c-2)//173-104-925-ADM]
Fate has proved me right about our ease of victory here. It has made us complacent, and now we have paid the price.The last human vessel waited until the Esteem was almost within firing range, and then folded out of the system. Before any attempt could be made at tracking the jump, the vessel reappeared beside the Reverence, which was isolated from the rest of the fleet, and opened fire at near point-blank range. The element of surprise served them well.
After the destruction of the Reverence, the Esteem moved to intercept the enemy, this time with the support of several of our capital ships. The human vessel fled into the asteroid belt again, but with so many vessels in pursuit I was sure that it could not hide from us. Yet again the humans demonstrated our complacency as they detonated a set of thermonuclear charges attached to a cluster of smaller rocks through which they had led the Esteem. Many angry words were spoken of this, but our lack of caution was ultimately to blame. We will learn from our mistakes and our retribution will be all the more deadly.
After a brief chase within the asteroids, the human vessel was finally forced to leave its cover by the skilled maneuvering of the Penance and Sacred Promise. Apparently unwilling to face our larger warships, it then folded out of the system on a course presumably leading to human reinforcements. Exercising caution, Maugur assigned the Penance, Sacred Promise and Divine Message to hunt it down before it could warn anyone of our location or strength.
Then, for reasons which are as unclear to me as they are to almost all here, the circle of prophets aboard the Purity of Spirit began divining warnings of what these humans would do if not stopped immediately. Neither Maugur, nor I, nor any of the leaders could get them to disclose exactly what they were afraid of, yet they were adamant that we should employ every resource at our disposal to ensure the destruction of this vessel. As confusing as this message was, we may not disobey the instructions of the Gods, that our priests are gifted with relaying to us. The whole fleet folded out in pursuit of this one, small vessel an hour ago. Against a force of such strength they cannot hope to prevail, whatever obscene plan they are hatching.
>End of entry:
>Open entry:-04.7.7:1658 [ent/(DE H c-2)//173-104-925-ADM]
What began as a purge has become a hunt, and our quarry is an elusive one. The human vessel folded into a planetary nebula in the vicinity of Arculba, in an unimportant part of the galaxy with no nearby populated worlds and no particular significance. Their choice of destination puzzles me, unless it is some ploy to tie up our fleet searching for them in this cloud before they escape and seek reinforcements. Perhaps they are trying to return to their homeworld, although I doubt very much that so cunning a foe would lead us to our final goal so readily.
In any case, they will never have the chance to return to their home. The fleet arrived in a standard dispersed pattern across the less dense volumes of the nebula, and the Truth and Reconciliation achieved a sensor fix on their position almost immediately. Her commander signaled the enemy's location to the rest of the fleet and then moved to engage. Their weak firepower and lack of shielding will put them at a grave disadvantage against so large a vessel. They cannot hope to succeed here.
Yet still the prophets convey their warnings. We are taking no chances: all available vessels are converging on their position. No trick will save them today.
>End of entry:
>Continue with next entry? Y/N
The Warrior (part 3)
Date: 31 December 2000, 7:41 pm
>Reopening log from entry:-04.8.7:1202 [ent/(DE H c-2)//173-104-925-ADM]
>Reading three records...
>Open entry:-04.8.7:1202 [ent/(DE H c-2)//173-104-925-ADM]
Today we have truly faced demons. Someone or something has modified this human vessel almost beyond classification with the rest of their fleet. In addition to the advanced weaponry and unerringly accurate jump capability, the vessel has exhibited the use of some kind of metallic thread dispenser, apparently intended as a countermeasure against primitive guided projectiles, as a tool for disrupting our energy weapons. Who among us would have thought that this midget craft would cause the entirety of the crusade such difficulties?
The Truth and Reconciliation has been periodically engaging the enemy for over a day now, and has met with limited success. The density of this nebula favours our small adversary and hinders our movements, but the duration of the battle has at least allowed engineers aboard the Truth and Reconciliation to devise a way of minimising damage from their missiles. Despite this, she has sustained damage disproportionate to the size of her opponent.
In the last hour the Sacred Promise was able to join the Truth and Reconciliation in her battle, and the human vessel is gradually being worn down by our superior firepower. It is not a valorous battle, but this conflict has hardly been our most honorable moment. No matter. As long as our safety is ensured and the Gods are obeyed we will have succeeded. At the current rate of attrition, it should not take more than another day to destroy them. The prophets' fears will be allayed and we shall be able to continue with our task.
>End of entry:
>Open entry:-04.11.7:0407 [ent/(DE H c-2)//173-104-925-ADM]
Inconceivable! We have been surprised yet again and perhaps left in a situation that for once endangers us. I am beginning to agree with the prophets as to the risk posed by these humans. Much has occurred since my last recording. I shall start from the beginning.
Just as the Sacred Promise was beginning to cause significant damage to the human vessel, the vessel issued a bizarre communication to our capital ship and then folded out, apparently with some difficulty due to damage to its superluminal engines. The communication was relayed to the whole fleet by the commander of the Sacred Promise, and it reads:"... He says I came not to send Peace but a Sword ..."I cannot decide whether this is simply a threat or if it has some deeper meaning, but its ominous tones have been echoing in my mind since we folded out in pursuit of the vessel.
We followed the human vessel for more than a day as it limped away, on another seemingly nonsensical course through unexplored and unimportant space. It folded into a system not marked on any of our charts, and at the time our navigators were unsure as to whether they had entered it by intention or simply because their drives had failed. The fleet followed still.
Once within the system the human vessel made for a gas giant planet with as much speed as it could muster in its state. Having folded in closest to its position, the Purity of Spirit closed in on our quarry, and we were determined to finish the chase there and then. We rounded the gas giant, by then accompanied by the Truth and Reconciliation, and beheld a sight both awe-inspiring and terrifying.
Suspended between the giant and its largest moon, hanging like some gargantuan jewel between the two masses, is a ring. It is undoubtedly an artificial construct: no such wonder could exist naturally; yet it is far larger than any of our vessels, rivaling the size of some planets in its diameter. Whoever or whatever built this construct must have been advanced beyond even the ancient ones who gifted our races with their technology. Every eye on the Purity gazed in wonder at the thing, and then stared in horror as the half functional human vessel steered straight towards it.
Our vessels opened fire as soon as we were in range, and for some reason the enemy did not use the countermeasures that we witnessed before. Within a few minutes the ship was crippled and unable to fight back, but Maugur interjected before we were able to destroy it completely. He has resolved to find out how the humans were able to find this world and how they managed to evade us for so long. However, to find this we must first board the vessel, which has taken up an unstable orbit around the gas giant and will be difficult to reach. I am loath to leave this kill unfinished: every moment we delay in destroying them is a moment they may use to plot our own destruction. If nothing else, this crusade has taught me that these creatures can never be underestimated.
>End of entry:
>Open entry:-04.21.7:1012 [ent/(DE H c-2)//173-104-925-ADM]
I could have told Maugur that this would have happened. His incompetence has cost us lives and time, and if the prophets are to be believed he may have made an error of even greater gravity. If it would not dishonour my name and those of my warriors I would kill him myself, but such things are not done in times of war. Fortunate for him.
We wasted more than a week of time waiting for the wreck of the human vessel to drift far enough from the gas giant for transports to be launched and fiddling with remote intrusions into the craft's near-defunct network. I paced in my quarters for hours, unable to remain still with the tedium of it. After all the warnings from those to whom the Gods themselves deign to speak! I released my frustration in training simulations, although it did little to ease my nerves.
While we sat inactive in orbit, several exploratory teams were dispatched to the surface of the construct, which has apparently been crafted to resemble the surface of a planet. Although nothing specific has been achieved so far, they continue to send back intriguing reports of the workings of the structure, and of strange machines located deep underneath its surface. Of the builders, there is no sign, and the feeling among the prophets is that this technology has been left for us by the Gods as a reward for our devotion, as was that of the other ancients that we discovered. It is imperative that such power should not fall into the hands of our enemy. Why did he not destroy them?
No matter, such talk is futile now. The fact remains that during a permutation of the human vessel's orbit that brought it close to the ring and far enough from the giant's atmosphere for us to mount a boarding action, Maugur sent assault transports to capture the wreck. No sooner had the transports docked than a flight of small shuttles and dropships separated from the human ship and scattered, heading towards the ring. Too late we fired on the wreck to prevent any more from escaping, obliterating it and the transports in the process. An hour later, contact was lost with one of the exploration teams.
The enemy are too few to engage our forces on the construct directly, but the dense terrain has made it possible for them to fight what the tacticians call an 'insect war', a conflict based on ambush and hit and run attacks. We are now forced to fight on their terms. I now have my conflict on the ground, face to face and blade against blade, not that I welcome it now, under these circumstances. At least my Swords will know battle again, for they have been idle too long. We go now to fight for the gift of the Gods. I am gathering my weapons; my Swords and I will leave for the construct on the next transport.
This world will be ruled in blood.
>End of entry:
>End of records-closing file:>Ready-
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