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This is the
Genesis story, their victory seen from the glory of the victor. Two alliances,
fighting to the death over 8 months of pain and thunder. Let lose the dogs
of war, and watch the Genesis machine in it's magesty.... |
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The Genesis/Stompers war, part I.
Preface.
This is the tale of the first part of the conflict
between the alliances known as Genesis and the Stompers. The tale begins
in the early days of the Second Age of the Sphere, and ends with the destruction
of Bac Ho's clan hall, about 8 months later.
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The rebirth of the Sphere.
With the dawning of the Second Age, many clans poured
out from the lush green biomass fields in the northwest, and began spreading
across the Sphere. Some of these clans were aggressive from day one, while others
were more concerned with their own well-being. The aggressive clans were named
Hippy Stompers, while the clans which attempted to avoid confrontations were
dubbed Hippy Farmers.
The stompers and the farmers.
The clan which invented the terms for stompers and
farmers, Bac Ho, was a Stomper. Bac Ho set up titans on hills and mountains,
and opened fire on the passing breeders of the farmers. By preying on the farmers
in this way, the stompers could grow their clan size quickly.
The farmers endured the attacks from stomper clans, knowing that if they could
slip breeders with good technology past the stompers, they could quickly construct
a clan hall, to give them the advantage they needed to prosper in the hostile
world of Tartarus.
The unfortunate stomper.
Another stomper clan was known as Twilight's Bloom.
It was a reincarnation of a clan from the First Age. When Twilight's Bloom saw
Bloodguard spawn a clan hall in a very exposed location, he immediately declared
his intentions to destroy it.
Clan Eldar's most advanced breeders were in the same area, and had set their
eyes on the same patch of orange biomass for the contruction of their clan hall.
Soon a deal was made between Bloodguard and the Eldar to make a joint effort
to defend against attacks from stompers on the newly constructed clan halls.
A few weeks later, Twilight Bloom, who had also constructed a clan hall in an
only slightly more defensible area, had his clan hall destroyed by Eldar warriors.
The farmer clan halls were moved to more secure locations, and the farming days
of clan Eldar came to an end.
Chosing enemies.
With the clan hall secured, and surrounded by a few
close allies, it was time for the Eldars to strike, and grow.
Bloodguard had become entangled in a fight with a clan known as the Horde. The
Eldars joined this fight, while sending out its farseers to scout the unexplored
world. By sheer chance, one of these farseers stumbled upon the recently built
clan hall of the Horde. Warriors were dispatched, and soon the hall was a burning
husk.
A new enemy was required. The Eldars remembered the attacks they had suffered
from Bac Ho during their migration. Bac Ho was now moving east, not far from
the northern borders of the Eldars. It was decided that this would be a good
time to exact revenge, while the farseers worked to find a more permanent home
for the clan.
A war in the making.
The lines were drawn as the clans clashed. The battle
line expanded east, until it reached clan Buffy, later renamed clan Dark Angel.
Soon Buffy was fighting alongside Bac Ho, while the attacking clans were Catalyst,
Superior and Eldar.
The frontline continued to expand as the clans attempted to outflank each other,
and as the conflict grew, more clans were drawn into the battle.
The Stompers
A total of five clans joined their efforts to hold
off the attackers. These five clans were Ratsgut, Bac Ho, Retribution, Krieg
Machine and Buffy. Together they formed an alliance which they named the
Stompers.
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Genesis
The attackers counted four clans; Superior, Kalorn
Knights, Catalyst, and the Eldar. Eventually they became known as the Genesis
alliance.
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The war.
For many weeks the war raged. Hundreds of titans were
comitted on both sides, and a steady flow of reinforcement poured to the frontline
to replace their fallen comrades. This was the time when the Chief of clan Ratsgut
wrote the Creed.
Retribution attempted to relocate his clan hall, and gated it south. It was pursued,
caught and destroyed by Eldar warp spiders.
It became evident that even should the attackers succeed in pushing back the defending
Stompers, they would never have a chance at inflicting any permanent damage before
the enemy could cover their escape. Thus it was decided to attempt an attack through
the transgates which were scattered throughout the Sphere.
As the attack was maintained, a great host of gate titans assembled around large
transgates, which would take them straight into the heart of the enemy's territory.
When the gate attack was launched, it was almost too late. The enemy was in the
process of relocating. Retribution, who had rebuilt his hall, was caught in the
open, and chose to destruct his clan hall. Several of the other Stompers' clan
halls were damaged, but none other were destroyed.
Bac Ho went on a slide, for unknown reasons, and he realized that his clan hall
would be overrun in his absence. To save himself, he contacted Genesis, and negotiated
a cease-fire agreement, which would buy him enough time to get away.
At the time, the location of Bac Ho's clan hall was unknown to Genesis, and all
the others had either escaped through transgates, or rallied around their clan
hall, in defensible positions, so Genesis agreed to the cease-fire.
Upon Bac Ho's return, Genesis discovered why he had been so eager to negotiate
a cease-fire. His clan hall was completely surrounded by Genesis titans.
Honour, respect, and greater glory.
Throughout the war, the clans on both sides had come
to respect their opponents. The desire for a cease-fire was genuine, and there
were even the possibility of turning enemies into allies.
Genesis honoured the cease-fire, and spared Bac Ho.
The Stompers migrated their clan halls south and southeast, scattering them over
a large area, closer to the homeland of the Genesis alliance.
A difficult decision had to be made by the council of Genesis. Could the Stompers
be trusted? It was important to make a quick decision, since the Stompers were
still weakened, and struggling to rebuild.
In the end, the council decided that some of the Stompers could be trusted, while
others could not, which meant that peace could not be maintained with the entire
Stomper alliance. The Stompers were loyal towards each other, and there seemed
to be little hope of breaking them up, so Genesis took the hard won advantage
from the long war they had fought, and moved into the Stompers lands.
Broken promises and broken backs.
Breaking the ceasefire, Genesis overran the vulnerable
Stompers, and destroyed the clan halls of Dark Angel (formely Buffy) and Retribution.
Ratsgut sent his clan hall to safety through a transgate, but Bac Ho, who had
settle in an easily defensible position, remained.
As the Genesis titans cleaned up the Dark Angel stragglers, telltale signs that
Bac Ho had not moved drew Genesis' attention towards his clan hall. Eldar and
Kalorn Knight titans gathered to the north and west of the hall, Eldar and Catalyst
survivors from the assault on Dark Angel pushed south to contest a mountain east
of the hall, and Superior took up the south flank, coming in from the southwest.
Bac Ho could still slip out, but decided to make a stand, despite the fact that
two of his four allies were broken, and would send no help.
The assault.
Bac Ho's clan hall sat atop a mountain. Four ways lead
to and from the clan hall mountain. The southern was the widest, but it was under
total control of the Stompers and inaccessible to the attackers until they could
bring in blue breeders. The three other attack corridors were 2, 3 and 4 hexes
wide, and each guarded by an outlying mountain. The assault would be very difficult.
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The Eldar and Kalorn Knights titans gathered until
they were numerous enough to assault the two northern attack corridors simultaneously.
Weathering the indirect fire from the defenders, perched on the outlying
mountains, they charged.
Soon the western attack corridor was charged as well. Even if it would take
some time to break through here, it had to be attacked in order to draw
Bac Ho reinforcements away from the northern attack corridors.
The small mountains guarding the north corridors fell quickly, but then
the battle became bloody. Advancing towards the hall mountains was difficult,
and the fresh reinforcements had to wade over their wounded and falled brothers
in arms, suffering indirect fire in the process.
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As the outlying mountain to the west finally fell,
the attackers which had pressed south through the other corridors were within
range of the clan hall, firing small salvos to damage it until enough firepower
could be amassed to cripple it.
Seven fresh Eldar titans rushed through the western corridor into range of the
clan hall. Roughly 50 weapons aimed at the clan hall, and fired a barrage of
nano-destruction. The clan halls repair systems worked frantically, but the
estimate had been correct, the hall had sustained more damage than it could
repair.
The attacking titans were ripped to shreds by the defenders, but they were replaced
by even more, and another barrage of nano thundered towards the clan hall, crippling
it, leaving it only one engine system intact; too little to power its shields.
With a third and final barrage, the heavily damaged attackers blasted the unshielded
clan hall away.
Postface.
..and with that, the first part of the Genesis/Stompers
war ends.
Retribution destructed his entire clan after having lost his clan hall three
times to Genesis.
Dark Angel suffered a huge setback when he lost his clan hall and his most advanced
breeders, and he is now the weakest of the Stompers.
Bac Ho could easily send high tech breeders away from the final battle, and
thus only suffered a limited loss in the end.
Ratsgut and Krieg Machine are still alive and well, kicking and screaming like
the day they were born.
The Stomper alliance has become a battle-hardened group of clans which should
be considered one of the few significant powerblocks on the Sphere.
As told by Jain-Zar of the Eldar
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Perhaps we can now consider
the victims. The torn, downtrodden and defeated. The homeless, the lost
and the wounded. This is not glory or magesty, but bitter, bile filled
defeat. Can the future see the tide turned, we shall wait and see....
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