Member
Master EffeX
Half Pint
Lemons
Sep
Eviledd1984
AlteredTundra
Master Bruce
Izurich
Simple Unicycle
Damycles
[Intro]
We lost the United States in July, 2125. It took 'em turning the entire state of Virginia into a crater, but they did it. Everybody was sure we were witnessing the beginning of the end.
It's almost funny. Just a few years ago we were popping champagne and waving around flags with little green men on 'em. NASA had finally done it; they'd made contact with extraterrestrial life. Lotta people were scared then. We'd seen enough movies to know aliens were probably bad news. But the experts assured us that nobody would travel so far just to kill lil' ol' humanity. They went on TV and yelled at people for bein' paranoid fearmongers; after all, when was the last time a more advanced civilization ran over a native population to make room for itself?
I've been wondering lately why the stars were so quiet for so long, only for us to run into...this after yellin' into the void for a century. I think I figured it out when I was watchin' Mittens hunt mice last night. I think the stars knew there was somethin' waitin' to pounce on 'em the moment they squeaked a little too loud. Or maybe they all made the same God damn mistake before we did. Who knows.
All I know for sure is that I'm not goin' out quietly.
[Setting]
Earth: Besieged takes place on a future earth in the year 2125. The world looks very different after a century of development and conflict.
The Russian Federation has been broken up into over twenty-two independent republics, with much of its territory being absorbed by China, Ukraine, and the Baltic States after its attempted invasion of Europe in 2052. Their president had foolishly believed he could retake the former territories of the Soviet Union due to the weakening state of NATO. China and the U.S intervened with swift, violent effectiveness, causing the Federation to capitulate in less than a year. Russian leaders had attempted to respond with a nuclear salvo against the aggressing countries, though they found the majority of their commanders unwilling- the threat of mutually assured destruction caused all but a few to mutiny against the orders. That lessened salvo was almost entirely intercepted by NATO and Chinese Missile Defense Systems...save for one, single rocket, which managed to slip through.
It hit Berlin, causing approximately half a million casualties and flooding the region with radiation. The wind sent fallout as far as Hamburg and salted the earth with Cobalt-60, making Berlin completely uninhabitable for a decade. Though the city was eventually repopulated, the effects of the attack are still felt in German industry and culture to this day. The country became far more militarized, its people spurred on by paranoia and anger to grow into the largest military force in Europe; the phrase 'Für Berlin' still populates propaganda and recruitment campaigns, even after seventy-two years.
China has elevated itself into a world superpower, far outpacing the U.S and Europe economically. Its pacts with Unified Korea and Japan have allowed it to soar ahead in terms of technology. They were the first country to deploy Exo-Frame mechs in combat, design shoulder-mounted anti-rocket laser systems, and they popularized the use of adaptive camouflage for special forces.
The United States, however, has continued its dominance in the space race thanks to the discovery of Thorneium underneath the Martian volcanoes. Thorneium, named after Dr. Robert Thorne, is the primary component in the most efficient battery currently in production. Its presence across Mars prompted American colonists to flock to the red planet in 2070, where they've been rapidly expanding for the last fifty some years. Other colonies have been erected on Mars's numerous moons, where mining and research operations are in full swing. A handful of attempts at independence by these colonies have ended peacefully, with the U.S providing better resources and trade options in exchange for continued dependence on their country of origin.
Technology in the U.S has kept up alongside Asia, for the most part. The Americans have yet to yield their dominance of the oceans, their submarines and aircraft carriers continuing to outpace any of the competition through ingenuity, sheer numbers, and the use of Railgun artillery cannons on all of their major bombardment vessels.
They also developed the first Fighter plane capable of both in-atmosphere flight and, by means of a one-use carrier rocket, space flight; this Spaceplane, known as the X-40 Medusa, was the basis for the currently running X-45 Gorgon series.
It hit Berlin, causing approximately half a million casualties and flooding the region with radiation. The wind sent fallout as far as Hamburg and salted the earth with Cobalt-60, making Berlin completely uninhabitable for a decade. Though the city was eventually repopulated, the effects of the attack are still felt in German industry and culture to this day. The country became far more militarized, its people spurred on by paranoia and anger to grow into the largest military force in Europe; the phrase 'Für Berlin' still populates propaganda and recruitment campaigns, even after seventy-two years.
China has elevated itself into a world superpower, far outpacing the U.S and Europe economically. Its pacts with Unified Korea and Japan have allowed it to soar ahead in terms of technology. They were the first country to deploy Exo-Frame mechs in combat, design shoulder-mounted anti-rocket laser systems, and they popularized the use of adaptive camouflage for special forces.
The United States, however, has continued its dominance in the space race thanks to the discovery of Thorneium underneath the Martian volcanoes. Thorneium, named after Dr. Robert Thorne, is the primary component in the most efficient battery currently in production. Its presence across Mars prompted American colonists to flock to the red planet in 2070, where they've been rapidly expanding for the last fifty some years. Other colonies have been erected on Mars's numerous moons, where mining and research operations are in full swing. A handful of attempts at independence by these colonies have ended peacefully, with the U.S providing better resources and trade options in exchange for continued dependence on their country of origin.
Technology in the U.S has kept up alongside Asia, for the most part. The Americans have yet to yield their dominance of the oceans, their submarines and aircraft carriers continuing to outpace any of the competition through ingenuity, sheer numbers, and the use of Railgun artillery cannons on all of their major bombardment vessels.
They also developed the first Fighter plane capable of both in-atmosphere flight and, by means of a one-use carrier rocket, space flight; this Spaceplane, known as the X-40 Medusa, was the basis for the currently running X-45 Gorgon series.
The aliens made contact with earth in February of 2119 through the use of radio signals. Their language was impossible for us to even speak, let alone translate, but we were able to communicate more universal truths like math and the periodic table. We found a way to start sendin' each other images, and they showed us their home; a home they had destroyed in their ignorance. They showed us that our world would suffer a similar fate, but that they knew how to stop it. There wasn't any consensus on how to respond. China wanted to block communications and prepare for the worst. Europe wanted to keep talking to 'em before they decided what to do. America was split on how to proceed.
Eventually, it was decided that we should keep the line open but start amassing some kind of defensive force on the off chance things went south. We put together our own orbital defense network and a fleet of fighters more advanced than anything we'd previously been capable of building. We even started work on a few 'capital ships' of a much larger size that were meant to mirror our ocean-based vessels in terms of firepower. We weren't able to finish any of them in time.
Not that it would've mattered.
Their first ships arrived only two months later, far sooner than we had expected. Over two dozen, gargantuan ovoid-shaped vessels appeared in orbit around the earth in a flash of green light, trumpeting their arrival for all to see. The International Space Station sent an envoy out to greet them, flanked by hundreds of woefully underequipped Gorgons and other Space-capable fighters. They looked like gnats compared to their alien counterparts. The envoy was made up of our best and brightest- those we believed might be capable of communicating with the extraterrestrials- wielding the best technology and research in xeno-language we had available. Their shuttle was brought aboard the largest in the alien fleet, and humanity waited with bated breath to learn about the new arrivals.
Nobody knows who shot first. Some people think it was an American with an itchy trigger finger. Others think it was some kind of plot by the Chinese to start an Intergalactic war. Most think they hit us first. Whatever happened, the first space battle in human history was over in fifteen minutes. Every single ship, orbital platform and satellite orbiting the earth was destroyed by weaponry unlike anything we'd ever seen.
They entered the atmosphere only a day later, launching millions of much smaller craft that spread across the planet like a swarm of locust to a field. Four 'motherships' were sent to each populated continent, with the final vessel remaining in orbit. Once more humanity attempted to deploy its aircraft against the invaders, and once more they were chewed through like they were made of paper mache. Mass bombing campaigns began across the surface, destroying population centers enmasse. We thought they were invincible; we were sure they'd make us extinct in less than a year.
Then they landed in Germany.
And we massacred them.
Their infantry and ground vehicles were completely unprepared for combat on earth. Their walkers were painfully slow and liable to getting caught in trees, bushes, and sinkholes. Their infantrymen were dominating when they managed to close the distance, but their energy weapons lacked the range of our seemingly more 'primitive' ballistic weapons. The Exo-Frames turned out to be our greatest asset, however. They ran circles around the enemy and could move through territory the extraterrestrials considered impassable. It was an absolute slaughter. If it weren't for intervention from enemy craft, Germany would've routed them in a mere three days. The Germans started calling them Luftteufel when they were in the air and Kakerlake on the ground. The names stuck.
The last six years have looked much the same as those first weeks. The Roaches continue to hold an iron grip on the sky, using their air superiority to shell our ground forces and cities into rubble. But every time they attempt a landed assault, we manage to tear 'em to shreds and send them running back to their transports with their antennae between their legs. Its a war of attrition that the enemy knows they can't win, but humanity knows its only a matter of time before something changes. Either the Roaches retreat, or they come up with some new weapon to break our shell so they can turn us into mush.
Eventually, it was decided that we should keep the line open but start amassing some kind of defensive force on the off chance things went south. We put together our own orbital defense network and a fleet of fighters more advanced than anything we'd previously been capable of building. We even started work on a few 'capital ships' of a much larger size that were meant to mirror our ocean-based vessels in terms of firepower. We weren't able to finish any of them in time.
Not that it would've mattered.
Their first ships arrived only two months later, far sooner than we had expected. Over two dozen, gargantuan ovoid-shaped vessels appeared in orbit around the earth in a flash of green light, trumpeting their arrival for all to see. The International Space Station sent an envoy out to greet them, flanked by hundreds of woefully underequipped Gorgons and other Space-capable fighters. They looked like gnats compared to their alien counterparts. The envoy was made up of our best and brightest- those we believed might be capable of communicating with the extraterrestrials- wielding the best technology and research in xeno-language we had available. Their shuttle was brought aboard the largest in the alien fleet, and humanity waited with bated breath to learn about the new arrivals.
Nobody knows who shot first. Some people think it was an American with an itchy trigger finger. Others think it was some kind of plot by the Chinese to start an Intergalactic war. Most think they hit us first. Whatever happened, the first space battle in human history was over in fifteen minutes. Every single ship, orbital platform and satellite orbiting the earth was destroyed by weaponry unlike anything we'd ever seen.
They entered the atmosphere only a day later, launching millions of much smaller craft that spread across the planet like a swarm of locust to a field. Four 'motherships' were sent to each populated continent, with the final vessel remaining in orbit. Once more humanity attempted to deploy its aircraft against the invaders, and once more they were chewed through like they were made of paper mache. Mass bombing campaigns began across the surface, destroying population centers enmasse. We thought they were invincible; we were sure they'd make us extinct in less than a year.
Then they landed in Germany.
And we massacred them.
Their infantry and ground vehicles were completely unprepared for combat on earth. Their walkers were painfully slow and liable to getting caught in trees, bushes, and sinkholes. Their infantrymen were dominating when they managed to close the distance, but their energy weapons lacked the range of our seemingly more 'primitive' ballistic weapons. The Exo-Frames turned out to be our greatest asset, however. They ran circles around the enemy and could move through territory the extraterrestrials considered impassable. It was an absolute slaughter. If it weren't for intervention from enemy craft, Germany would've routed them in a mere three days. The Germans started calling them Luftteufel when they were in the air and Kakerlake on the ground. The names stuck.
The last six years have looked much the same as those first weeks. The Roaches continue to hold an iron grip on the sky, using their air superiority to shell our ground forces and cities into rubble. But every time they attempt a landed assault, we manage to tear 'em to shreds and send them running back to their transports with their antennae between their legs. Its a war of attrition that the enemy knows they can't win, but humanity knows its only a matter of time before something changes. Either the Roaches retreat, or they come up with some new weapon to break our shell so they can turn us into mush.
[OOC Information]
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