Author Topic: Mortal Engines RP - The Pursuit.  (Read 1979 times)

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Offline Admiral Taiwanpenguin

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Mortal Engines RP - The Pursuit.
« on: September 25, 2018, 04:54:35 PM »
The 2nd Chinese Republic roared to life, its massive Jing-Huang Type III engines buzzing with life, slowly moving the Nation-Cities forward. The mining rigs that had been so furiously drilling away the night before now slowly were raised up and back into their bays. Onboard its various tiers, workers, engineers, and scientists alike rushed to and fro checking diagnostics and readying systems. The 2nd Republic's two gargantuan 38-in Kruppen-Tai’er cannons were oiled, their coolers watered, the shells readied. Tier Nanjing, the Capital and command tier, located in the 2nd Republic's upper central area, was already bustling with the morning activities of the officers and crew, who had plotted an extensive course the night before and had set the 2nd Republic to head out earlier than usual. Though even at this early hour, the markets of the Trade tiers, the outer armoured belt of the 2nd Republic, were already open and bustling with the tradesmen of foreign cities. Unlike most Tracked Nations, the 2nd Republic did not possess a yawning jaw to snap up smaller cities for sustenance. Instead, it relied on its innate ability to actually mine resources from the earth, using great steam pumps that forced resources to the surface, where they could be mined. Granted, this meant that their entire ability to scavenge was severely decreased, but it did mean they possessed an absolute source of resources, while other nations relied entirely upon predatory pursuits. Because of such a threat of being pursued by a larger nation, the 2nd Republic possessed its incredibly powerful engines and an equally powerful compliment of guns to duel and and fight off predator nations. In addition, its 20 airship-strong Imperial Service Fleet guarded the nation from the skies, consisting of one dreadnought, five cruisers, seven frigates, and seven destroyers. The lower less-essential tiers were guarded from boarders by the Nationalist Armed Forces, and the critical sections, such as the capital, engines, research labs, and hospitals were guarded by the elite Imperial Marine-Guard Corps.

The city had begun its trek at first light, and now was traveling through a particularly rugged mountainous area when they happened upon a thick bog, fogged by toxic chemicals and gases. Upon first sight the Head Helmsman thought to circumnavigate it, but the Scientific Corps insisted on collecting what information they could from it, so accompanied by a frigate, a science vessel was dispatched to examine the bog. Upon analysis, the astounded research team found a small deposit of tungsten and raw bauxite, incredibly hard-to-find minerals, with all the tungsten being used to produce armor-belt-piercing rounds, armor, and gun barrels, while bauxite was even rarer to acquire, and was refined with skeins of gold to create a high energy-superconducting material that formed the core of Tesla Cores, incredibly powerful energy sources that were incredibly rare and sought after. The 2nd Republic rolled to a halt, armored shutters opening to reveal mining attachments and rigs, and steam pumps being drawn out from the depths of the great steel behemoth, plunging into the murky but shallow depths of the toxic bog, drilling, pumping and collecting the valuable cache of metals.



No less than seven miles away, the militant Nation-Cities of Cassalvae slowly rolled forward, stalking the 2nd Republic, following its tracks. Its scout airships had reported the 2nd Republic's halt to mine the bog to Cassalvae's Lord Halvaers. The Lord was exuberant at his chance to strike and snap up such a technologically unique Nation-Cities. He ran up and down the bridge, waving his arms and shouting and yelling excitedly.
"Put the engines to full power! Ready the guns! Ready the airships! Ready the jaws! Ready.....ready the marines and the boarders!"
Meanwhile, the local citizens of Cassalvae were already waving crowbars and tool-kits, jubilant to claim yet another unsuspecting prey into the gullets of the Nation-Cities. The Cassalvaeian airships were already headed towards the 2nd Republic, their gondolas loaded with bombs, boarders, and rockets.
The element of surprise was lost the moment one of the 2nd Republic's destroyers floated over a mountain and spotted the attackers.



Onboard the Lieutenant Wolff, Captain Hans von Staatenmacht was screaming orders at the top of his lungs, his hands on the helm, furiously trying to turn the airship to present its port side.
“Arm the torpedos and start shooting already! They are almost upon us! Verdammit, launch the rocket pods!"
The Lieutenant Wolff's six 20mm port auto-cannons began spraying a storm of heavy cordite-tipped rounds, the rocket pods hissing as they released their load of high explosive into the cloud of enemy airships. There was a hiss-chunk as the torpedos left their tubes, the dozen rather sizeable large munitions headed for the slower and less maneuverable enemy heavy cruisers. Instead of looking to confirm any kills, Captain Saatenmacht, a veteran airman, was far more concerned about getting his ship out in one piece.

"Activate the afterburners!"

The Lieutenant Wolff threw its back towards the enemy, about to fire its engines' thirteen-ton overdrives when a cruiser's shots smashed into the gas-bag's side, tearing an engine pod open and lighting the rear gun deck on fire.
The entire airship shook, listing, and Captain Saatenmacht himself was thrown against the wall as the world around him exploded into bright lights. Groaning, he pried himself off the floor, and staggered back to the vague shape of the helm as his vision slowly cleared. He groaned again and blinked.
He looked up again to to see the helm control board, the afterburner switch blinking green for ready. He reached for it, when a hand grabbed him from behind and threw him to the floor.
He cried out in agony as his assailant shot him in the chest, shooting his arm out and yanking as hard as he could as he found his attackers foot. There was another yell as his assailant crashed to the floor and final scream as a saber plunged into the assailant's chest. He looked up to see the more-than-welcome armored helmet of a Nationalist marine, the ever-present smoking shotgun held ready in his right hand, a long, slender assault saber in the other, which he drew out of the now-limp corpse. The marine extended a hand, and Captain Saatenmacht took it and stood up. The marine gave a quick salute, to which the Captain responded likewise, albeit shakier.

"Captain, the enemy have boarded the ship. We can hold them off for now, but not too long. What are your orders?"

The Captain staggered back to the helm dashboard.

"You must keep them away from the critical areas of the ship at all costs until we reach the 2nd Republic’s docks."

The marine saluted and ran off, one of the sailors bolting the door behind him.
Captain Saatenmacht gripped the wheel and pulled the ship up, finally reaching the altitude he desired. He reached for the afterburner switch and flipped it.
An alarm howled throughout the Lieutenant Wolff as the afterburners ignited with a mighty fwoosh lurching the ship forwards as friend and foe alike hastily found things to hold on to.



The Emperor-Admiral Taiwanpenguin stood at his observation post, a armored balcony with a large observation glass, watching the mining operation slowly finish. The last loads were being loaded into the hulk of the steel behemoth, the mining contraptions slowing down as they found less resources to collect.
All of a sudden, a single destroyer with one of its four engines on fire shot over the top of a mountain and into the narrow valley where the 2nd Republic resided.
The Emperor-Admiral stared in astonishment until a bright scarlet flare streaked out of the destroyer's gondola.

Attackers inbound.

Alarms sounded even as the Emperor-Admiral turned and ran towards the bridge. Th destroyer slowed, and floated down to dock with the 2nd Republic. The moment the airship docked, a contingent of Imperial Marine-Guards stormed the gondola, their sub-machine guns poised, their sabers drawn. The Emperor-Admiral entered the bridge room to a scene of panic, the navigators shouting orders down speaking-tubes to the engines below and the Captain frantically throwing switches and checking diodes. The Emperor-Admiral ignored this and went straight to the intercom. He needed not to rally his people. They already knew what was at stake. He only needed to say two words.

"Battle stations!"

At once the previously calm and filled market dispersed as guns were manned and citizens evacuated into the lower, more armored levels. They were replaced by the army green and gold of the Imperial Service Fleet, beelining for the airships that sat ready and fueled on the docks. The two massive cannons swung towards the valley bend where the 2nd Republic had passed through earlier, the ka-chunk of the rocket batteries being raised from belowtiers.

The Cassalvae slowly rolled into view, its citadel presented, bristling with guns and airships swarming towards the 2nd Republic. The 2nd Republic refused to become easy prey though, as the last of the mining equipment was stowed away as the engines roared and the Nation-Cities rolled forward at an increasing pace. Cassalvae's guns were already firing, little streaks of light becoming loud thunks as they bounced off the armor and crutches and muffled explosions as they hit the armor plates. There was a terrific explosion onboard the Cassalvae as one of the 2nd Republic’s main 38-inch railroad-gun's shells smashed into the Cassalvae's upper tiers, leaving a smashed debris zone upon the upper area. The Cassalvae was seemingly unfazed as it continued as though nothing had happened and responded with a rocket barrage.

The chase had begun.


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