[RFC]GTV Faction Profile

[Gideon020]

From: [REDACTED]@shell.clearinghouse.fen
To: [REDACTED]
Subject: GTV Enquiry

Hello [REDACTED],

I recently received your request by your government for information on the Material Defender splinter group known as the GTV. I am quite happy to make the necessary inquiries for you and your superiors for the necessary information regarding the faction as a whole, but be aware that while the Material Defenders are quite secretive, the GTV take this to new levels. I dare say that outside of the major factions, Great Justice and Star Patrol, there isn't any Fen who actually know of the GTV's existence. Be aware that much of the information is incomplete and outright not available and the Material Defenders will not press for those details as it is they who are the sole point of contact with the GTV.

However, I will endeavour to acquire the information once payment from your group is confirmed.

Good day.

From: [REDACTED]
To: [REDACTED].shell.clearinghouse.fen
Subject: Confirmed

Payment has been made. We expect prompt delivery of the information.

From: MD0000.node8472334.secure.fen
To: [REDACTED].shell.clearinghouse.fen
Subject: GTV Profile Information

[REDACTED],

Do not think we are unaware of your attempts to sell out our brothers and sisters in the GTV to MI6, nor should you think that we will allow such an insult to stand. The corporate masters that hold your leash acknowledge your usefulness, in spite of your weakness that you share with the rest of the Daneside naifs and the Fen who disarm even as pockets of Boskonians still fester for us to recruit from, but have sealed your doom.

Your masters have approved this information release, but you will not live to see the money. The GTV will ensure that for them.

Farewell,

MD-0000

GTV Faction Overview:
Formed early in the formation of the Material Defenders, the GTV are a splinter group from the outlaw Fen faction, following their intent to recreate as much of the Descent Freespace games as possible. Because of this focus, the GTV would focus on deep-space survival, fighter and bomber tactics, and coordinated military strikes that integrated their Boskonian and Reaver raiding tactics to form a group of highly-trained and exceptionally dangerous fighter and bomber pilots who take their own secretive and volatile nature to its natural extreme. Unlike the Material Defenders who are forced to exist in the open, the GTV disguise their activities as Boskonian activity and operate from the darkest corners of the Solar System, concealing themselves from a society that they have rejected fully, interacting only through their Material Defender kin.

The GTV's existence is often difficult to prove, as their willingness to act as Reavers, Zwilniks and Boskonians in order to hide their true nature, ultra-hostile attitude to anyone but Material Defenders and their total shunning of Fenspace at large, make information on them difficult to acquire. That you are reading this document means you are a fellow Material Defender or one entrusted with our secrets. If you are not, it will not be the Material Defenders who will see you dead, it will be our brethren in the GTV who will be your executioners.

Heed this single warning, and destroy this document, else read onwards and risk their fury.

-Document requires authorisation decision to access fully. Do you wish to continue reading?-

[robkelk]

"Sir, you might want to take a look at this e-document that was gathered by an Alexandria Archive probe."

Noah Scott looked up at his computer systems administrator, then accepted the datapadd she was holding out to him. "Thank you, Takami." He read it, frowned, and read it again. "Forget you saw this, and advise the Jason to do the same. Oh, and are any of the guest houses we own in Serenity Valley available at the moment?"

She smiled slightly. "The one right beside the Tango Shoes base is."

"Good. Reserve it for me; I need to go talk with the top brass of JMC."

"You do? Why?"

"Find a reason and let me know. Oh, and would you call Ben Rhodes and Dana Maeter, and ask them to see me there, too?" He pocketed the datapadd, then walked over to the closet that held his Troubleshooter uniform. Fury? he thought. They don't know from "fury."

And that's the calm, rational response this version of GTV will get when (not if - the Alexandria Archive aren't the only data-gatherers in Fenspace) their existence becomes known to the higher-ups of the more militant factions and companies...

Just saying.
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

[HRogge]

Heed this single warning, and destroy this document, else read onwards and risk their fury.

-Document requires authorisation decision to access fully. Do you wish to continue reading?-

I think the typical Fen response to a threat like this it to upload it to a Fen-version of Wikileaks or Bittorrent.

[M Fnord]

I think the typical Fen response to a threat like this it to upload it to a Fen-version of Wikileaks or Bittorrent.

Well, the Soviet response would be to upload one copy to Wikileaks, one copy to the Federation Council, one copy to Great Justice and then put a copy on the front page of their public website with the header "YOU'RE ADORABLE." And then they'd turn facility defenses up to 10.5, because trust in God but keep your powder dry.
Mr. Fnord interdimensional man of mystery

FenWiki - Your One-Stop Shop for Fenspace Information

"I. Drink. Your. NERDRAGE!"

[Dartz]

To: [[Undisclosed]

Two recent KS jobs related to these 'people'. Tagged as dispute resolution. Dispute resolved in favour of the settlers. Pro Bono Publico. We have one of their shuttles in a reasonable definition of intact after the cockpit popped. It'll be delivered to the usual address within the next few days, once we've made sure they can't track it. Parked it shut-down on an empty asteroid under cover. A tinfoil hat will keep it from being detected for the time being.

I'll fetch it personally once we can slip the Knightwing home. I think we pissed them off. They are looking for us.

Coordinates of the shuttle and the affected rocks attached. I recommended altering a few standard patrols to keep an eye on them for the next few weeks until things settle down. Someone else can handle the name and shame public side of things. People won't stop hiring these scumbags otherwise.

-Saber White.
________________________________
--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?

[Gideon020]

From: MD8422@node9688745.secure.fen
To: [REDACTED]

Troubleshooter,

MD-0000 leads our organisation for a reason, as no others have proven capable of keeping our criminal pasts from destroying us internally and externally, and who she chooses as her replacement will be one whom she has groomed to take up the reins of the organisation. But I am not writing this to moderate your opinion of her. As for the document in question...

It uses a standard GTV Theta-Hydra One Time Pad encryption pattern based on their Tier-level encryption patterns, this one being Tier Four and thusly a standard pattern for sensitive information, and is linked to a TN-902 'Tapeworm' Data Smart Bomb to destroy the file if a brute force decryption is attempted. It uses a split-decryption key, more than one Material Defender or GTV 'officer' must be present to fully unlock the file. The Faction Overview is public viewing for verification's sake, but the rest will remain encrypted and disguised as a data authorisation request.

I can partially decrypt the document for you but I ask this of you.

Destroy them Troubleshooter, the GTV are becoming a cancer to our group and should they fully move their operations offworld from Sedna they will grow into a threat deadlier than any Boskonian, and though they are blood brethren many of my comrades fear their plans. We cannot strike at them, they are brethren and to betray brethren as I am doing is normally unconscionable to us, but they are now too powerful for us to destroy and their recent leadership change has made them too willful, too reckless, too dangerous. You call us hard people, barely better than the boskonians we rose from, violent scum beholden to Daneside naifs and those in your society who have need for us but in their weakness and hypocrisy label us as outlaws to save face. I cannot stop you from thinking these thoughts, but whatever your opinion on us, the GTV are worse, for we at least acknowledge that we must coexist with the Fen, the GTV do not.

And I fear for the future if they are not destroyed.

I have attached the partially decrypted document, speak with MD-9923, her email is provided in the attachment with the partially decrypted file and give her the pass phrase 'Freespace is on sale' and she will decrypt the rest. Do not even hint about what Great Justice might intend with this information, else she will destroy the document and deny you valuable information, for though they are becoming too dangerous, the GTV are our brethren and by old debts and alliances we must move in their defence if they are threatened.

MD-8422, Material Defenders 3rd Squadron

-Data Authorisation Received. Opening Document Section One: History, Practices and Tactics.-

GTV Faction History:
The extremist splinter group that formed from the Material Defenders formed in 2013 during the Boskone War from a faction within the Material Defenders who took their rejection of Fenspace to the extreme, opting to go into total isolation and retain their criminal methods and tactics while the Material Defenders opted for a facade of legitimacy to their existance. Even we in the Material Defenders look upon them with a measure of unease, as their extremist nature and knowledge of resource and technology caches allowed them to establish their own private operations after the fall of Boskone Prime that are unknown to us, their brethren. Their activities during the period from 2014 to 2018 were spent building their base and establishing their forces, recruiting from the same pockets of social undesirables and hidden boskonians in the bolt-holes as we do, but while we recruit with the intent of providing a place where those that would eventually be rejected by Fen society can find solidarity and unity, the GTV seek only to maintain their philosophy of violent isolationism, despite our efforts educate them of the changing times.

The 2019 to 2021 period is unknown to us however, save for their single extrasolar base established with the intent to further distance themselves from the Fen. The location of the base remains top-secret and will only be referred to by its Material Defender code-name and we believe that the GTV are circumventing the PEPPER and PEPPER II treaties by moving manufacturing equipment to this extrasolar base while disguising them as part of the same demilitarisation measures being taken, a deception that we were all too willing to believe of them, for we had made a place for ourselves in the shadows of Fenspace, and had hoped that they too would join us rather than move deeper into the darkness.

As for 2022 however, the extent of their deception became known to us when they contacted us to act as liasions for mercenary contracts, but refusing to be introduced to our clientele, our allies in the Black Talon Group, and our primary supplier in the Triax Corporation. When we pressed them, they revealed the extent of their preparations to ensure their isolation and their intent to form an independant nation. We allowed this, not realising that while we had moved beyond our pasts to become at least publicly respectable to the Fen, regardless of their actual opinions of us, they had not.

This was further proven with the death of Commander Nicholas and the rise of Commander Strelnikov early in 2022 after what we believe to be a coup within the faction. By the time Strelnikov's extremist agenda came to be known to us, the GTV were already beginning to form their nascent rogue star-nation and had become far too powerful for us to rein in either with words or threats of action, and at the time of writing this document, we are hereby forced to make a request of our Russian and Chinese clients that will almost certainly see us destroyed should the Fen find out in order to enact Operation Katyusha, an internal direct action contract to destroy the GTV if our negotiations with Strelnikov fail.

All Material Defenders are hereby ordered to tread lightly around the Sol-GTV until we can enact Operation Katyusha upon delivery of the necessary tools from Russia and finish construction of the Albatross at Proteus. Should the Fen find out about the GTV and use their own military capabilities to destroy them, we shall continue business as normal but all Material Defenders should expect deployment orders for Operation Katyusha in Winter 2022.

GTV Faction Practices:
The GTV style themselves as a professional naval warfare group, but this is a facade put up to allow their pilots to appear professional, unlike our own hard-earned professional nature. Their pilots are reckless mavericks and the pocket carriers that they use are crewed by people little better than pirates. But they are all skilled pilots, many are veterans of the Boskone War and their training is both brutal and comprehensive, made from an ad-hoc arrangement of modified computer game simulations, extensive training flights, and the same hypnolearning systems we provided them when they were under the command of Commander Nicholas before the coup. After the coup, we believe that stimulants and drug therapy are also in play, along with a more brutal physical training regimen as well as live-fire battles to ensure that only the most skilled and vicious become pilots, and creating false bonds based on deception and constant seeking of weakness.

Recruitment of new GTV pilots and ship crews is done from the same sources as we Material Defenders; Boskonian holdouts, disgraced military and intelligence personnel seconded from our Daneside clients, and the wide array of Mundane and Fen who find no place to fit in either on Earth or in space. Unlike us, who provide solidarity and discipline in exchange for constant and well-paid work, the GTV take their recruits in and poison them against the Fen, and against us. If it were only the Fen, we would not care, conflict breeds unity but with Strelnikov's coup, he has painted us as weak, unable to build out power without the aid and resources of the Fen and Daneside, and in doing so has made our brethren belligerent and prideful, too self-assured of their skill to realise the need for secrecy in establishing facilities and bases. This makes the GTV come across quite rightly to our clients as overly arrogant, and more than a little insulting both to them and to us. Maintaining our professional nature is a necessity to doing business with our clients and the Fen, but the GTV in their isolationism make no such efforts.

They take contracts by requesting them from us, though this has changed recently to arrogant demands, and we provide them by acting as liasions with clients. With Strelnikov's coup, and the Knight Sabers interference in our attempt to slay his Inner Circle, we have been forced to act as sole points of contact to ensure that the GTV do not engage in actions that will affect our client relations, as well as allowing us to modify their contracts to try and restrict their actions to be less extreme, but that is rapidly failing in the face of Strelnikov's ambitions.

Their arrogance will be their undoing however, as while their information security is exceptionally well-made and secure, their pilots have loose lips and enjoy bragging their 'achievements' to us. It will be to their downfall should Operation Katyusha be activated.

GTV Faction Tactics:
The GTV's pilots are truly mavericks and reckless blowhards, but they are skilled blowhards whose skills are not mere grandstanding. Many of the military personnel in their number are ex-naval and air force pilots, and they have managed to instill some pitiful measure of discipline, but the GTV are as sharks and that is to their detriment. Once a casualty is confirmed, they will hound it in order to destroy it first, which will be instrumental in protecting the Albatross until it reaches launch range for the weapons we are expecting from Russia along with the MOAB devices promised by our American clients for the operation. However, it will be necessary to inform you briefly of the basic tactics employed by the GTV so that when the time comes, you can neutralise them with their fighters relatively intact and ensure that their base on Sedna is neutralised with as much intact hardware as possible for the infiltration of Shiva.

Basic tactics for the GTV revolve around their most elementary of formations; the Fox and Wolves. The Fox is an aggressor-scout, deployed to engage with hit-and-run attacks while scanning the target vessel to locate weakpoints and weapon locations while forcing the target to expend ammunition to shoot it down. Once it has enough data, it will transmit it to the waiting Wolves, who move in and engage with heavy firepower to overwhelm defences. The similarity to our own harassing and raiding tactics against shipping is not coincidence, it is a core tactic perfected during the Boskone War before the GTV splintered off from our ranks, but while we use coordinated strikes to force ammo expenditure and distract for precision attacks, the Fox and Wolves formation is a brutal sledgehammer of an attack, often using a fast ship as the Fox and then a group of heavier GTV bombers to pummel the target it is dead in space, before picking it clean and leaving it to drift.

Be aware that the GTV will take prisoners, and your duty as a Material Defender is to ensure that this distasteful practice is mitigated as much as possible by using the 'Unusual Expenses' account held in Switzerland to purchase prisoners from our GTV brethren and then use the standard chemical memory suppressants to ensure that we are not remembered and that any secrets revealed cannot be recalled. But their tactics of taking prisoners is something we may have to leak through our clients to those in Great Justice and Star Patrol, along with some of their more well-worn raiding routes, in order to ensure that the number of prisoners being sent from Sedna to Shiva to work on Strelnikov's Monster, the GTV Solaris, remains low. However, ensure that such information leaked does not compromise the Albatross and the Katyusha Strike Fleet.

This information will help you counter the GTV's tactics upon the initiation of hostilities with the GTV and will be used to supplement the combat warbook of your vessel.

WIPE YOUR DRIVES REGULARLY COMRADES, DO NOT ALLOW INFORMATION ON THE ALBATROSS AND OPERATION KATYUSHA TO FALL INTO GTV OR FEN HANDS! ENSURE ALL BACK-UP SECURITY SYSTEM TIMERS ARE SET TO FORTY SECONDS RATHER THAN ONE MINUTE TO ENSURE INFORMATION SECURITY AND PRACTICE WITH THIS NEW TIMER REGULARLY!

-Data authorisation is required to access the next section: Technology, Weapons, Vessels, Target - Sedna, Target - Shiva, Briefing File - GTV Solaris. Do you wish to continue reading?-

From: md9923@node45618486.secure.fen
To: [REDACTED]
Subject: Meeting place.

I am loathe to leave my squadron for long Troubleshooter, especially on a matter as sensitive as this. However, as we are being rotated in as security for Clearinghouse, I can make time to meet you on Mars. If you do not have the passphrase, I will not help you Troubleshooter.

MD-9923, Material Defenders Sixth Squadron
 

[HRogge]

It uses a standard GTV Theta-Hydra One Time Pad encryption pattern based on their Tier-level encryption patterns, this one being Tier Four and thusly a standard pattern for sensitive information, and is linked to a TN-902 'Tapeworm' Data Smart Bomb to destroy the file if a brute force decryption is attempted. It uses a split-decryption key, more than one Material Defender or GTV 'officer' must be present to fully unlock the file.

Just as a comment from someone interested in cryptography.

1) One-Time pads are proven (mathematical proof) to be unbreakable as long as you stick to the rules.
2) If you don't stick to the rules, One-Time pads become easy to break
3) linking a "worm" to a data-file you sent to someone else is pretty useless, because you cannot force the other side to execute the worm... or to copy worm and data as often as he/she wants before he executes the package.

[Rajvik]

the problem there HRogge is that just by opening the file you can execute the worm its how a lot of Viruses get around the internet

that said:

From: WW@F-SOG.net
To: [REDACTED]
Subj: support

Sir;
my intel branch has been keeping me abreast of these movements and as such my vessel has a current ETA of one hour to Phobos and Mars orbit, I have two strike teams and an intel team ready for operations if you so wish.
 

[robkelk]

the problem there HRogge is that just by opening the file you can execute the worm its how a lot of Viruses get around the internet

You're assuming everybody uses the same operating system, which has already been stated to not be the case.

Example 1 (real-world): Instead of the usual *nix behaviour where "priority 0" equals "superuser," the sysadmin of a Multics system sets the superuser's priority level to an arbitrary number, any process executing at a lower level is not superuser, and any process trying to execute at a higher priority is locked out. Any Multics sysadmin worth his salt - assuming any are left - is going to set the superuser priority at a different level on different systems that he maintains. What priority level do you set your worm for?

Example 2 (Fenspace): What OS does Lime Zor-El run on? Is it the same OS that Yayoi Fujisawa runs on? Do either of them share an OS with Lun Alekseeva?
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

[Dartz]

To: ww@F-SOG.net
From:[[Redacted]
RE: Support

Appreciate the offer, but Mars is my back garden. How long before you can prosecute a mission 80AU out? How fast can you get out there? What can you get out there with? I need options on my table by tomorrow.

If you need information. I need to know what you need to know within the hour to be sure of getting it.

---

To: [[Undisclosed recipients]

Have a contact who may be willing to speak. I've arranged a meeting on Marsbase Sara within the hour. Could someone pick up the shuttle? Coordinates attached. It's a runner, but be careful with the security system. It's a complete rat's nest of a bypass on it. It'll thermite the drive and computer then trigger a beacon if it goes off.

Knightwing is parked at Safehouse Beta. Send my thanks to 617 squadron for the cover. Proof that the best way to hide a sheep's in a field full of them.

Based on what I get from this meeting I'm going to make a recommendation for action within 24 hours.

-Saber White
________________________________
--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?

[robkelk]

As for the document in question...

It uses a standard GTV Theta-Hydra One Time Pad encryption pattern based on their Tier-level encryption patterns, this one being Tier Four and thusly a standard pattern for sensitive information, and is linked to a TN-902 'Tapeworm' Data Smart Bomb to destroy the file if a brute force decryption is attempted.

sudo chmod -f 100 filename

File filename is now read-only and cannot be deleted or overwritten by any process, including worms.

This requires root privileges (to run sudo), of course. The -f forces the change in state, no matter what.
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

[Rajvik]

To: [REDACTED]
From: WW@F-SOG.net
Subj: support

ETA target 80AU 13.25 days.
Intel request: all available on target to include but not limited to: layout and bulkhead ratings. number of opposition, number of non-combatants, ROE requests.
Planning able to be done enroute.
Abiliity to execute: immediately
OPForce: two operations teams with Heavy arms weaponry and individual blades. 12 heavy fighters/bombers 6 light/medium space superiority fighters. Two micro tanks with LAW coilgun weapons, One Napoleon class mini tank, one armed tachcoma.
ops/intel: one intel/operational planning team
 

[LynnInDenver]

The monitor in the office blinked on, showing the balding virtual head of Holly... looking rather more serious than Jeph was used to seeing him.
"Jeph, you've got an important email, from Takami."
"From Stellvia Takami?" Jeph asked, pulling up his email program. Holly obligingly highlighted the email for him, and he opened it.

From: Takami Sakuragi (total-insecurity@stellvia.lib)Subj: Request for a meeting RE: Contract
Please be advised that Mr. Scott would like to have a meeting with yourself and your staff with regards to the fuel filter supply contract renewal inside of the next week. Contact us tomorrow at the usual time so we can arrange specifics.

Jeph frowned and his eyes narrowed. The "fuel filter supply contract renewal" was Stellvia to JMC code for "something's up in your neck of the woods, I'm coming by with my troubleshooter hat in my pants pocket to find out what rumors and scuttlebutt you might know about, and to provide you additional data you might need in case it explodes in our faces.""Holly... please cancel my appointments from two days from now through four days from now."
"Already done," Holly replied, as Jeph pulled out his wavephone and dialed a number. "Hey, Nene, yeah, it's me... yeah, something's come up that we'll need to deal with in a couple of days, I'll fill you in tonight. Noah needs to discuss those fuel filter contracts with us again. Also, if Natasha is close enough, is there any chance we can get her to come run a little security consulting for us?"
--

"You know how parents tell you everything's going to fine, but you know they're lying to make you feel better? Everything's going to be fine." - The Doctor

[Gideon020]

From: md0000@node75416826.secure.fen
To: mdall@centraldispatch.secure.fen
Subject: It is time

I have failed. Negotiations were ineffective, the poison is too ingrained, the cancer too malignant. Our brethren are no longer fit for existence and our secrecy protocols have finally given out. But we are ready, and have been for some time since the revelation of Strelnikov's madness.

Psychic Wars Protocol is in effect. All Material Defenders are to suspend all operations and prepare for Operation Katyusha. Extract the Luna Vista and Zombieland Caches and prepare for delivery of the Earth Shaker bodies and Grand Slams from Triax.

Operation Katyusha is now underway. We cannot turn away from this path.

We are at war. Make your peace and prepare for a one-way trip. MD-1032 is to assume command as per the Psychic Wars Protocol once Sedna has been neutralised and the Katyusha Strike Fleet is underway to Shiva.

Let this be how our fallen brethren are destroyed. Not under Fen guns for something as pithy as 'Justice', but at our hands.

I take no pride in declaring this, for we are betraying them. But it is better to betray them than let them be free to spread their insanity.

MD-0000

"Excuse me, I heard that Freespace is on sale."

Material Defender 9923 looked up from her drink and PDA to regard her contact with a neutral expression as she closed the email, "The file." A datapad was placed in front of her and she calmly plugged in her PDA, before nodding, "There. Decrypted." Unplugging the PDA, she made to leave.

"So where on Proteus is the Albatross being built?" MD-9923 paused and turned slightly.

"It's not. Proteus is where it will be finished. The same with the Strike Fleet." A hand stopped her departure.

"And where are they then? You do know what you're planning is illegal. If you had just simply turned them in..." MD-9923 slapped the hand away.

"For all that they have fallen, the GTV are Blood Kin. We will not betray our kin to others. Not when we are betraying them ourselves."

The contact frowned, "And if we stopped you? Or forced you to work with us?"

"If you stopped us, you would give time for Strelnikov and his Monster to vanish to another place, completed and ready to rain relativistic terror upon you. And why would you force us? Your kind consider us barely removed from the criminals you still find pockets of."

She buffed a mark on her helmet, "Frankly, you should be happy to be rid of us."

With that she walked out as the Troubleshooter looked down at the datapad.

-Data Authorisation Received. Opening Section 2: Technology, Weapons, Vessels, Target - Sedna, Target - Shiva, Briefing - GTV Solaris-

GTV Technology:
We've managed to identify key elements of the GTV's technology and have placed them here for you to take advantage of comrades. Be aware that the GTV may be working on improved versions and that these improved systems will be present on Shiva.

-Shields: GTV shield technology is comparable to our own, but we know that they can reroute additional power from their reactors to boost output and nearly triple shield capacity, particularly for their bombers. Be advised that we will be using Triax-supplied Star Blade Cannons to destroy the bombers alongside the few particle guns we managed to save from the Boskone War. We need to keep the Albatross and its cargo from being destroyed by GTV bombers so be certain to designate them for the Star Blades and Particle Guns.

-Armour: GTV Armour technology for the Sedna phase of Operation Katyusha is comparable to what is available for purchase in Fenspace. They have the advantage in this respect but our weapons are tuned for penetrating armour so that advantage will be mitigate sufficiently that one shot will equal a kill on most fighters, particularly the Ulysses fighters and Ursa Bombers, but the more advanced Artemis and Perseus craft that will be also presence at Sedna will take multiple hits to penetrate, mostly due to anti-beam coatings and thicker armour. Be aware that the advanced UE-class fighters and bombers on Shiva will take multiple armour hits before they go down so be certain to focus your fire to bring them down.

-FTL: GTV forces use Subspace Jump Drives for FTL travel outside the Limit. Fast, fairly accurate but reliant on specific calculations based on departing from a set jump point. For moving between systems, its easy enough, but in a system this is limited to the Lagrange Points. This is to our advantage as combined with Shiva's exceptionally small CL, we can lure them into jumping away from Shiva and launch our attack, but once they realise the deception they will return very quickly. Subspace Jump Drives require at least two minutes to warm up between jumps, so we two minutes to strike at Shiva and destroy Strelnikov's Monster and his base.

-Power Generation: GTV reactors use hand-waved high-output Hydrogen-Hydrogen fusion reactors. Cheap and the amount of power they can supply to overcharge shields and engines is significant. It's also a distinct weak point. Shooting the reactor is a guaranteed kill on any GTV vessel, but be aware that their newer UE-class vessels use armoured reactor spaces, so that armour must be penetrated for a kill.

-Engines: GTV vessels save for the UE-class vessels use Ion Drives, but the UE-class vessels will be mounting Reactionless Drives like ours. Both are larger, more powerful and more efficient than our own systems, so don't get into a turning fight with them, break away and reacquire the target. Never engage alone either, engage with at least one supporting wingman. Be aware that both types of engines possess redundant systems and are not going to be vulnerable to standard strike tactics.

-Communications Technology: We have full knowledge of the Tier Five communications protocol used for the GTV's encrypted burst transmission radio frequencies. However, all GTV vessels are fitted with high-power laser communication systems and we can expect them to switch to these systems once they realise that communications have been compromised. To counter this, we will be using Triax-provided 'Sand Can' Beam Dispersal Canisters to degrade communications quality with the lasers. Modify tactics accordingly once Sand Cans are deployed.

GTV Weaponry:
We've acquired a full list of GTV weaponry from the surviving Loyalists who survived Strelnikov's Coup. As expected, the GTV are using primarily kinetic weaponry along with high power lasers. Missile technology is thankfully conventional but with the usage of Ion Drives for propulsion they can pack more explosives for greater yields. As we expected, they are mass-producing weaponry at levels that are clearly against the PEPPER and PEPPER II Treaties, but as they have no wish to be part of Fenspace, this is to be expected. If Operation Katyusha goes as planned, we should be able to recover sufficient weaponry to pay back Triax for their efforts should we survive.

Guns: We've identified several weapon types spread out amongst the GT and UE-class fighters and bombers on Sedna and Shiva. Read the more detailed info-packets that will be provided during final briefings for suggested tactics and plan your own squadron tactics accordingly.
-SCWS 6 Rapier Pulse Laser Cannon: Pulse Laser Cannon with high cyclic fire rate and integrated fire control and LIDAR system designed to optimise shield and armour damage. Standard GTV fighter weapon and easily countered, but still dangerous.
-SCWS 3 Scalpel Disruptor Cannon: We've managed to identify the Scalpel as an Electron Flux-based disruptor weapon. Essentially it is a long ranged lightning cannon that rides a carrier beam to its target and its effects on systems and weaponry are not to be underestimated. Target Scalpel-armed craft as priorities and do not allow them to get within firing ranges of the Albatross or the Earth Shakers when they have been fired.
-SCWS 10 Gattler Rotary Gauss Cannon: The Gattler is an original design firing 40mm high-velocity caseless shells from an internal helical magazine. Expected ammo capacity is in the area of 1200 shells using a Combat Mix of three Armour Piercing shells, 2 Electron Pulse shells, and 1 High Explosive Incendiary shell. Be advised that this is the primary kinetic weapon design and many vessels will be armed with this weapon, particularly the UEF Uriel Gunship. Expect GTV-made clones of Triax Smart Ammo to be in usage as well.
-SCWS 22 Redeemer Heavy Gauss Cannon: 120mm burst-fire Gauss Cannon mounted on Ursa and Durga-class bombers. While the Ursa can mount a single Redeemer, the Durga mounts 4 in its capacity as a ship-killer firing super-dense explosive shells to penetrate shields and armour.
-UX Accelerator: 75mm version of the larger Redeemer cannon. The UX Accelerator is thankfully restricted to the Durga-class Bomber, Kentauroi Interceptor Strike Fighter and Ainsarii Stealth Fighter due to its higher power requirements. It can still devastate us, so be prepared for it.
-SCWS 21 Archer Anti-Ship Cannon: The Archer is only mounted on the Uriel-class Gunship, but that should bring no comfort to you, Material Defenders. The Archer is a 40mm gauss cannon designed to launch a super-dense metallic slug at hyper-velocity speeds. It has massive recoil and only carries twenty-four slugs, but those twelve slugs can core a ship from bow to stern in a single shot and the mounting turret has a 180-degree horizontal arc and a 60-degree vertical arc, more than sufficient to track, shoot, and hit anything in front of it. Thankfully it useless against fighters, so engage it up close to protect the carriers and Albatross.

Missiles: GTV missile technology uses mostly conventional shape-charged explosive warheads and unlike our missiles, they're larger, have greater ranges, and are of course more powerful than ours. GTV ships carry more missiles than us as well, and they are more than willing to use them.
-Hellfire Dumbfire Missile: The SES-O Hellfire Dumbfire Missile is the cheapest missile deployed by the GTV and many of their pilots consider it something akin to a secondary gun and carry these in large launch pods. Typically used by all classes of GTV fighters and bombers as a saturation bombardment weapon when shields are brought down.
-GES 1 Javelin: Standard-issue lock-on aspect seeking missile. Fairly basic but dependable and cheap, use Chaff to spoof their locks, and expect any fighter to carry at least one set in their missile banks.
-GES 2 Dirk Swarm Missile: The Dirk is useful for taking out slower ships, but we have confirmed that it has a high cost to projected kill ratio. We can expect only the Ursa, Durga and Uriel to mount these but pilots should remain on alert.
-GES 3 Dart Heat Seeking Swarm Missile: The GES-3 is cheaper than the GES-2, and fires in salvos of six, and we can expect this weapon to be deployed in greater numbers than the GES-2 Dirk. Low-yield warhead, but the sheer numbers that can be launched can overwhelm shields and armour.
-GES 10 Slammer Area Suppression Missile: We've confirmed from Loyalists that the GES-10 is not a rumour. They have created a weapon designed to take out light fighters and bombers by firing a main carrier missile carrying a number of small parasite missiles that are launched head on into fighter and bomber formations to scatter and damage them in preparation for the main strike. CIWS and Flak Cannons will be effective in countering them, be certain to remain within range of these weapons to ensure that they are rendered useless.
-GES 23 Warhammer Anti-Ship Swarm Torpedo: Unlike the Slammer, the Warhammer is a true threat to our ships, consisting of the same carrier missile as the Slammer carrying eight anti-ship missiles that launch 250-meters away from the target to saturate point defences and armour.
-Paveway Anti-Ship Missile: The Paveway ASM is a precision-strike munition designed to take out sub-systems, weapons, and command areas and receives its name from the US-made Paveway bombs its shape imitates. They have dense penetrators and their large explosive payload can easily tear open ship armour, so all ships are to deploy flak canisters to intercept them in flight.
-UEMSL Shrike Disruptor Missile: This is a missile designed to overwhelm targeting systems by filling space with high-power jamming signals and a focused electron blast upon impact. We should expect these to be fired against us early on in the fight if we do not strike at their launch facilities quickly.

GTV Vessels:
Thankfully, the only actual capital-class starship the GTV have is under construction at the time of writing this. Strelnikov's Monster, or as they blithely call it, the GTV Solaris, is designed to allow the GTV to operate on the move as a mobile fortress. As such, their main strike element are fighters, but we can expect them to be present in large numbers. Be aware that we do not have any hard data on any handwavium-related quirks that affect their fighters, but their deadliness should not be underestimated. The GTV operate two families of fighters, the older GT family which are now only found on the GTV's base on Sedna as they have been steadily phased out in favour of the more powerful and advanced UE family of fighters, which will be present on Shiva in large numbers. Going from known 'recruitment' numbers, the GTV have three hundred fighters and bombers spread between these two families.

GT-Family Fighters: The GT-family now consist of 108 fighters and bombers, though these numbers will likely drop as they are taken apart, but all of them are mothballed at the GTV's hidden base on Sedna. We can expect these craft to be at a low alert state and easy prey for our fighters and the Black Talon Group's infiltrators.
-GTF Ulysses Medium Fighter: The Ulysses used to be the GTV's standard fighter when the faction split off from ours. After Strelnikov's Coup, it has been phased out for the Uhlan and Kentauroi fighters. The Ulysses carries four weapons in two weapon banks and a missile bank of forty missile. It is largely obsolete in the face of the Uhlan and Kentauroi, but it is a respectable mid-range fighter. Standard dogfighting tactics apply, and you should be able to face it confidently. Salvage Priority - Moderate
-GTB Ursa Heavy Bomber: The Ursa is flying brick, but it's a flying brick that carries a massive payload of weapons and missiles. Anything caught in its sight that isn't fast enough to get out of the way will die in short order. It carries five guns; three in one bank and two in the second bank, and carries 240 in three banks of eighty. But the Ursa is incredibly slow, pilots will often shift power from shields to the engines in order to maintain some level of agility. Focused fire from multiple directions will destroy it in short order. Salvage Priority - Low
-GTB Artemis Strike Bomber: The Artemis is a Strike Bomber, designed for hit-and-run strikes against hard targets, and is thusly more of a threat to our ships than the Ursa. It can match our ships in agility and is armed with four guns, but the real threat comes from its three banks of 160 missiles. Salvage Priority - High
-GTF Perseus: The Perseus Fighter is a heavy interceptor fighter, more agile and faster than the Ulysses and frequently deployed in support of the Artemis Strike Bomber. Two weapons banks allow it to carry four guns and two missile banks allow it a respectable 80 missile. Salvage Priority - High

UE-Family Fighters: The UE-family of fighters were once part of the Blue Planet program, an upgrade program formed by Commander Nicholas to upgrade both the Material Defenders and GTV that should have begun in 2019. When Strelnikov initiated his coup in late 2021 and took control in 2022, the program was transformed into the one that created the UE-family of fighters and bombers. 192 fighters and bombers are confirmed to have been constructed and are expected to be loaded onto Strelnikov's Monster once the final phase of construction is completed.
-UEF Uhlan Fighter: The Uhlan is supposed to be a more cost-effective primary fighter and should take up the majority of GTV fighter numbers at Shiva and will be our main opponent during the attack next to the Kentauri Interceptor and Uriel Gunship. It carries five weapons; three in the nose and two on the upper wings with a missile capacity of 120 in three banks of forty. Like the Ulysses, it can be matched by our ships, but it's weapons will hit harder and it can take more hits, so fight accordingly.
-UEF Kentauroi Interceptor: The Kentauroi Interceptor is designed to be fast, hitting enemy ships, fighters and bombers before they hit. Its weapons loadout is similar, carrying one additional weapon for six guns, with identical missile capacity to the Uhlan.
-UEG Uriel Gunship: The Uriel is the most heavily armed vessel in the UE-family of fighters and is the most dangerous next to the Durga bomber and is the most dangerous because of its main weapon, the SCWS-21 Archer Anti-Ship Cannon. Alongside this gun is an additional 8 weapons in two weapon banks and 150 missiles in three missile banks. All Uriels are considered high-priority targets due to their firepower potential.
-UEB Durga Heavy Bomber: What information we have on the Durga indicates that it will be armed with four of the SCWS-22 Redeemer Heavy Gauss Cannon as its primary weapon alongside eight additional weapons in three weapon banks and 240 missiles in its launch banks. Heavy armour and shields combined with a level of agility on par with the Uriel Gunship make these equal priority targets alongside the Uriel.
-UESF Ainsarii: We do not have hard data on this stealth fighter, only that twelve of them are in existence. We expect these to be some form of final retribution as they are fitted with FTL drives and due to Shiva's high content of fissionables, possibly carrying nuclear weapons. This is unverified though, but should the Ainsarii be found, they must be destroyed.
-UEXF Lao Tze: Data on the Lao Tze indicates an incredibly fast, highly agile fighter that will be assigned to Strelnikov's elite White Raven Squadron and Strelnikov himself. We believe the fighter to have space for four additional weapons alongside two rotary plasma cannons called the Cavalier with a 120 missile capacity. We have no further data to indicate if the Cavalier has been manufactured and fitted to these fighters, but we must expect the worst and assume that they will be armed with such weapons. Numbers for the White Raven Squadron place the expected Lao Tze numbers to be incredibly low, and it is unlikely there are more being made.

Target - Sedna:
FOR MATERIAL DEFENDERS EYES ONLY

Sedna, a dwarf planet in the Kuiper Belt's orbit, used to be the main base for the GTV when they were under the command of Commander Nicholas from 2014 to 2018, training and building up forces and expertise in preparation to form their own independant nation-state away from Fenspace. In 2019, the GTV began their colonisation of Shiva, slowly stripping the base of all necessary equipment and mothballing their old GT-family fighters and bombers in underground storage bunkers. We do not know when Strelnikov actually planned his coup and formed his faction, but the result in early 2022 was hard to miss when Loyalist survivors fled Shiva, gathered their fellow Loyalists on Sedna and came to us with the horror story of Strelnikov's coup and Commander Nicholas' execution.

Sedna is still operational and that will be key to our efforts. The fighters and bombers there along with the remaining weapons and missile stockpiles will give us much needed firepower to take on Shiva's defences. As such, the Black Talon will be tasked with neutralising the GTV on site at Sedna while we secure local orbital superiority and begin loading our carriers with the fighters and bombers that have not been taken apart to be recycled and shipped off to Shiva. The following information is based on our latest intelligence gathering operations on Sedna.

-Defences:
-Multiple Heavy Pulse Laser Cannon Turrets, inactive.
-Six Anti-Ship Torpedo Launch Turrets, inactive.
-Multiple Rotary Gauss Cannon Turrets, inactive.
-Multiple Missile Launch Sites, inactive.
-3x 150mm Heavy Gauss Cannons, inactive.

-Facilities:
-Mining Facility, stripped.
-Refinery, stripped.
-Starport, operational.
-Manufacturing Facility, partial operation, converted into recycling facility.
-Barracks, operational.
-FTL Communications Building, operational.
-Storage Bunkers, operational.
-Launch Hangers, inactive.
-RADAR Facility, inactive.
-Nuclear Power Plant, partial operation.

Fighter Strength:
-45 Ulysses Medium Fighters. Expected actual numbers: 10
-45 Ursa Heavy Bombers. Expected actual numbers: 9
-45 Artemis Strike Bombers. Expected actual numbers: 20
-45 Perseus Heavy Interceptors. Expected actual numbers: 14

Strike Objectives:
1. Neutralise FTL Communications Facility.
2. Destroy Launch Hangers.
3. Destroy Barracks.
4. Support Black Talons in capturing the rest of the facility.
5. Take possession of surviving fighters and bombers in storage bunkers and arm up.
6. Liberate any prisoners awaiting transportation to Shiva.
7. Depart to Shiva.

Target - Shiva:
FOR MATERIAL DEFENDER EYES ONLY

Shiva is the codename for a planet orbiting the star Groombridge 1618, off the known star maps and within easy reach of Earth. We've managed to get a spy-sat there and have confirmed that Shiva is a planet with a thin atmosphere in partially geosynchronous orbit in the small habitable zone possessed by Groombridge, a K-class main sequence star slightly dimmer than Sol. Volcanic activity is high and the planet has large amounts of metals and fissionables that the GTV can mine straight from the lava. Breathable atmosphere only exists in deep fissures and only at a certain depth. Too deep and the heat convection will kill you, too high and you suffocate. It is an unpleasant place that would have been suitable for terraforming experiments, had Strelnikov not taken over.

Now it is a place where the GTV hold prisoners used as slave labour, taken from Fenspace and Earth, to build Strelnikov's monster. We cannot be certain if any still survive on Shiva, and as such any rescue attempts are to be done at your discretion.

Shiva's sole colony is Fortress Dagger, a massive complex that covers the length and width of Dagger Fissure, one of the few tectonically stable regions on the planet, used as the place to construct Strelnikov's Monster. As such, it will be heavily defended against attack, but we expect to badly weaken the fortress sufficiently to bring it crashing down into the lava with the Earth Shaker and Grand Slam missiles. The priority in the Shiva strike is to take out Strelnikov's Monster before it can be launched, as we know that the final phase of construction is already underway. We expect them to throw everything they have at us. Be ready.

Defences:
-Many Missile Launchers, active
-Many Rotary Gauss Cannons, active
-Many Flak Cannons, active
-Many Heavy Pulse Laser Turrets, active
-192 fighters and bombers, active
-GTV Solaris weapon systems, active

Target Facilities:
-FTL Communications Facility, active
-Sensor Hub, active
-Launch Hangers, active
-Geothermal Power Plant Complex, operational
-Solaris Construction Yard, operational

Fighter Strength:
-48 Uhlan Fighters
-48 Kentauroi Interceptors
-38 Uriel Gunships
-38 Durga Bombers
-12 Ainsarii Stealth Fighters
-8 Lao Tze Advanced Fighters

Strike Objectives:
1. Protect Albatross as it moves to launch range.
2. Escort Earth Shakers until they strike target locations.
3. Protect and Aid Albatross in bombarding key structural areas to weaken fissure mooring connections.
4. Any prisoners are likely dead. But if you can locate survivors, attempt a rescue at your discretion.
5. Extract any prisoners if possible.
6. Protect the Albatross during terminal guidance towards the Solaris.
7. Any and all survivors to retreat once destruction of Fortress Dagger and Solaris are confirmed.

Briefing- Solaris:
FOR MATERIAL DEFENDER EYES ONLY
The GTV Solaris, or as it is more properly know to us, Strelnikov's Monster, is a 3000-meter monstrosity that is unlikely to even be capable of launch. But the chance of it launching successfully is there, and as such it must be destroyed.

The Solaris is a mobile fortress designed around a spinal mass driver for bombarding planetary targets. We believe that Strelnikov in his lunacy wishes to extort the Danelaw governments with strikes from 50 tonne slugs harvested from comets, asteroids and rocky planets. The Mass Driver is the final phase of construction alongside the shields and FTL drive and we have confirmation that the FTL drive is being completed. Estimates place the Solaris at being several months away from being finished, but enough of it is usable that it can serve as an escape vessel if it successfully launches. This must not occur, but the Solaris' armour is incredibly thick and it is further protected by shield projectors built as part of the construction yard. Because of this, we have built the Albatross, a missile ship that also contains a doomsday device with sufficient multitonne-level detonation yield that the Solaris will be utterly annihilated along with Fortress Dagger upon ramming it into the vessel at full speed.

However, the Solaris is heavily armed with multiple turrets and missile launch points. Turrets mount rotary gauss cannons and flak cannons ranging in caliber from 25mm through to 150mm shells, Rapier Pulse Lasers, Redeemer Heavy Gauss Cannons, Archer Anti-Ship Cannons and four Particle Beam Cannons.

The Particle Beam Cannons are highly vulnerable however, requiring their own power supplies, which in turn are highly unstable in order to create the necessary output and still fit in the Solaris. Striking these guns will cause chain reactions and expose the internals of the Solaris, leaving it vulnerable to follow up strikes. The gun turrets and missile launchers themselves are less armoured than the hull and thus pilots should focus on destroying as much of the defenses as possible to weaken the Solaris. The engines of the Solaris have exposed cooling radiators and coolant lines, destroying them should prevent the Solaris from lifting off, leaving it vulnerable to the Albatross in terminal guidance mode.

We have precious little else in terms of information, and we do not know how well-prepared Fortress Dagger will be for our attack. But we do know this, if the Solaris is completed, it will almost certainly be able to rain death on numerous worlds before it is finally stopped.

That is unacceptable.

This information will hopefully serve you well in coordinating your attacks on Shiva and Sedna, and provide you with sufficient basic insight into the GTV's technology to complement the more detailed information packets you will receive upon the launch of the Katyusha Strike Fleet.

Good luck, and good hunting, Material Defender.

[Dartz]

So.

How effective is the Imperial Fleet at applying Base Delta Zero?
________________________________
--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?

[HRogge]

Hmm... building a new bad guy faction just to destroy them instantly?

[robkelk]

Some people like telling war stories...

(We all know I'm not one of these people, of course.)
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

[HRogge]

I hope you let some of them escape, recurring enemies are good for stories!

[Cobalt Greywalker]

Because of this, we have built the Albatross, a missile ship that also contains a doomsday device with sufficient petatonne-level detonation yield that the Solaris will be utterly annihilated along with Fortress Dagger.

Petatonne? SERIOUSLY?

This breaks my SOD so bad it's sodded off to Fenspace itself and so over the top that its most of the way to the centre of the Galaxy. I've spent the hours since I read this thinking up superlatives because this forum doesn't have a swear filter. Otherwise I'd be abusing it.

Abusing it most earnestly.

Change this. NOW.

[Gideon020]

Change this. NOW.
 

Changed to megatonnes, knew I missed something when I was doing the editing pass.

[Gideon020]

Hmm... building a new bad guy faction just to destroy them instantly?

Building two factions just to destroy them.

[Gideon020]

I hope you let some of them escape, recurring enemies are good for stories!

Heh, that will require some collaborative input.

[robkelk]

Change this. NOW.

Changed to megatonnes, knew I missed something when I was doing the editing pass.

TNT has a density of 1.654 grams per cubic centimetre. Thus, one megaton of TNT takes up 60.459 cubic metres.

To compare, a TEU - the space contained by a standard 8'-tall shipping container - is 36.317 cubic metres.

So, even scaled down, that "doomsday device" takes two shipping containers to carry ... without much room left over for the detonator. (Assuming you're using TNT, of course. Other explosives have different densities.)

Just how big and powerful is this ship, that it can afford to devote that much space to what is essentially dead weight?
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

[Gideon020]

Just how big and powerful is this ship, that it can afford to devote that much space to what is essentially dead weight?

 

It's a giant flying bomb with some disposable missile launchers and four modified SRBM bodies mated to the only truly dangerous explosive device the Material Defenders have, which are then bolted into place on a heavily stripped down and modified carrier hull and wired up to stripped down fire control system on an equally stripped down bridge. 100 meters compared to the usual 32 and that's only because there had to be space for the FTL. It's not two cargo containers either.

It's eight containers of mining explosives and blocks of melted down and moulded missile warhead explosives wired into the impact detonator built into the bridge. A battleship it is not, the Material Defenders entire battle formation is built around protecting this thing long enough to launch the missiles then move into position to ram into the Solaris and bring the entirety of Fortress Dagger crashing into the lava.

[HRogge]

TNT has a density of 1.654 grams per cubic centimetre. Thus, one megaton of TNT takes up 60.459 cubic metres.

To compare, a TEU - the space contained by a standard 8'-tall shipping container - is 36.317 cubic metres.

So, even scaled down, that "doomsday device" takes two shipping containers to carry ... without much room left over for the detonator. (Assuming you're using TNT, of course. Other explosives have different densities.)

I think you still misplace the decimal point...

1 cm^3 = 1.6 grams
1 dm^3 = 1.6 kg
1 m^3 = 1.6 tons

1000000 tons / (1.6 tons / 1 m^3) = 625000 m^3

or ~17000 shipping containers.

Just remember, a megaton of TNT is 10 times more mass than a Nimitz class aircraft carrier.