The Story of the Laythean Conflict (WIP)

[Generalstarwars333]

Please note that none of this actually happened in KSP, I just wanted to write some fiction about it just ‘cause and I don’t have the ability to even make any ships the size of what I’m writing about, much less get them into orbit, or send anything to Laythe. Also, fleets as large as what I write about would simply melt my computer from having to think about them, or it would at least bring me down to about one frame every five weeks. Although now that I think about it, I might actually design a fighter for this simply because I’m curious now. Maybe I’ll even make a launch system for it and put it into space to see how it handles and if the missile(s) I make for it even work. Or I’ll just put BDArmory weapons on it since I have that mod and because it takes a lot less skill and space to plop on a 30mm gatling or two and the weapon manager and ammo on a ship than it does to add mountings on it and decouplers and design a missile/torpedo and add it to an action group and everything and figure out how accurate it is and fix all the kinks and see how effective it is and everything. I did make a Landship though, and that inspired the landships part. It wasn’t as heavily armed as I imagine the battleships or even the destroyers in this to be, but I’ll probably make another version of it, bigger, longer, wider, with more ammo and more abram’s turrets. and better platforms so that the goalkeeper 30mm CIWS don’t inexplicably fall off. And more flak guns. And stuffs. But yeah. The landship I made is pretty good at defending itself against aircraft, although granted I did make a straight on attack run with no dodging and not really trying to hit it, though it did seem to only use its CIWS though it may have used others and I didn’t notice it. I imagine a determined attacker with air-to-ground missiles and/or rockets and guns attacking from above or at the very least trying to dodge would give it more trouble since it doesn’t have any missiles for defense or offense.

 

T-minus 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1! Lift-off! The massive warship’s ascent stage roared with the might of massive engines, straining with all their might as they clawed their way into the air, fighting for every meter of altitude. They 12 Kickback SRBs kick in, and the ship begins to climb faster, picking up speed, but still fighting for altitude. It passes through the lower atmosphere and into the upper, and gains speed. The first stage cuts out, and jettisons with an explosive WHOOMF! The second stage starts up, and carries the ship through almost to the edge of the atmosphere, at which point the second stage and SRBs jettison and the ship’s own engines kick in, carrying it out of the atmosphere. They then stop, and a cloud of monopropellant is created as the ship orients itself in preparation of its final burn. Suddenly, the engines start back up, and push the ship into a circular low orbit. The helmsman wipes his forehead with his handkerchief, and puts it away. “Ground control, this is KSS Illustrious reporting in. We have successfully circularized our orbit, and are awaiting orders.â€Â

 

“KSS Illustrious, this is ground control. Please open docking bays and resupply ports and prepare to receive fuel, fighters, and ordnance.†The massive warship extends its solar arrays, and opens docking ports and hangar bays. From a polar orbit, an orbital tanker makes a burn to rendezvous with the Illustrious. It carefully docks with the fuel ports, and fills up the Illustrious’ reserves of liquid fuel, oxidizer, monopropellant, and xenon gas. It then disconnects, and burns back to a polar orbit. From the launch site, a squadron of fighters flies up, followed by five more, each squadron carried in a single launch system, that soon jettisons so the individual fighters can dock in the hangars. A cargo ship comes into position, and carefully loads the missiles and torpedoes of the warship, and then sends the rest of its load into the hangar for the fighters. The supply operations complete, the Illustrious awaits further orders. “KSS Illustrious, this is ground control. Please rendezvous with the rest of the fleet in Kerbol orbit.†The ship locks in all fighters and ordnance, closes the hangars and docking ports, and prepares to move out. A cloud of monopropellant from the RCS angles the ship towards the proper burn position, and starts the engines. Jets of flame issue from the mouths of the nuclear rockets, and the ion engines produce a gentle blue glow, as the ship picks up speed and leaves Kerbin’s orbit. It rendezvous with the rest of the fleet and moves into the center of the fleet. With the addition of the KSS Illustrious assault carrier, the fleet is complete, and they all move in sync. A massive glow lights the stars, as they all burn towards Laythe, and the enemy fleet.

 

*Onboard the KSS Illustrious’ bridge* “Kaptain! We have finished our transfer burn and our due to have our laythe encounter in about two weeks!â€Â, the Helmsman says. “Very good. Alert me if anything bad happens.â€Â, replys the Kaptain.*Exit KSS Illustrious’ bridge*

 

*Two weeks later*

 

The fleet is now approaching their target. They make the burn to get into an orbit near that of the enemy fleet. Then the bay doors open and fighters stream out, open their solar arrays, and get in formation. empty bay doors are then closed, torpedoes and missiles are armed, action stations are manned, etc. The ships are clouded in monopropellant as they turn to face the enemy.

 

2 korvettes are sent out in advance to relay information back to the fleet. They execute a prograde burn, and then move over the horizon. They see the enemy fleet, turn, burn retrograde, and reverse their orbits to go back to the fleet, yet again reverse their orbits, and, having relayed the information, rejoin their formations. Now the two fleets come into view of each other, and the true scope of the battle is revealed. The Kerbal fleet consists of the Assault Carrier, a pair of Battlecruisers, 7 Cruisers, 10 Destroyers, 15 Frigates, and 25 Korvettes. The Laythean fleet consists of a Carrier, 5 Heavy Cruisers, 10 Light Cruisers, 15 Destroyers, 20 Frigates, and 25 Korvettes and other small ships.

 

The Fighters’ ion engines glow a warm blue, and their RCS systems spew monopropellant as they charge to meet their opposite numbers. They select targets and fire off missiles, and the space is filled with rocket propelled fuel tanks and explosions. Fighters twirl and roll in frantic clouds RCS as they spin about into firing positions and struggle to change direction back towards their respective ships, colliding with others in the massive orbital furball. A few stray missiles hit the looming capital ships, but simply bounce off or fail to affect them. The few remaining fighters from both sides limp back to their ships, some of them missing solar panels, others slowly crawling along using RCS alone to move. They dock back in the hangars, and technicians swarm over them, rearming, refueling, and repairing the battered craft. The bay doors close, the part of the fighters done.

 

Now it is time for the rest. The ships of both sides slowly move in, a few sending out flights of torpedo bombers and extra fighters. The bombers are met by anti-fighter missiles, and they whirl and spin in elegant vacrobatics as they attempt to avoid them. Some are hit and explode into flashes of light, but others make it through the hail of ordinance, and disgorge large, solid fueled arrows of death unto the enemy. The ships do some minor evasive action, but mostly stay put and take the hits to avoid colliding with others, even if it’s at their own expense. The bombers dash back through the hail of fire, and re-enter their ships, lest they be stranded in the coming chaos.

 

The fleets come into range of their bigger weapons, and open fire. Streaks of exhaust crisscross the space between them. The launches of the heavy torpedoes are marked by large flashes of explosions in the hulls of the ships, and by the loud bangs heard within their hulls. Smaller ships shatter or snap like a twig under the sheer explosive and kinetic force of them, and larger ones rock and wobble as their SAS’s struggle to regain control. Then the rest of the fleets open up, and unleash hell upon each other. They launch smaller torpedoes missiles at each other, peppering the hulls of bigger ships with explosions. Korvettes dive in between the bigger ships, performing 90 degree turns to pop off salvoes at bigger ships before facing the next one as their momentum carries them forwards. Cruisers exchange broadsides at point blank range, and the sky is filled with debris. The Kerbal fleet slowly wears down the Laythean one, despite their superior numbers. Soon, the remnants of Laythe’s fleet are either hastily leaving the system or are attempting to re-enter the atmosphere and land. The Kerbal Fleet clears the debris field, and re forms its formation. They have taken heavy losses, with most of the Korvettes and Frigates destroyed, but they have won. The fleet’s landing ships and surviving Korvettes and Frigates capable of atmospheric flight descend to take control of the surface.

 

The dropships coast into the atmosphere from above. Their hulls are lit by the fires of reentry, and the roaring of superheated air against the hull fills the ears of the troops within. They slow, and engage their engines as they head to the landing point. They disengage their main engines, engage their VTOLs, pull up sharply, and then level out and lower themselves down. The doors open, and soldiers and vehicles stream out. The now empty dropships lift of, engage main engines, and rocket into the air to return for another load. A base is set up, with a pad for the dropships. Fortifications are erected, and prefab barracks are set up. An artillery position is set up to provide fire support. Then the troops not assigned to duty in the camp roll out. Troops pile into APCs, tanks start up, and the group leaves the camp.

 

The troops soon encounter a far superior Laythean force, and are annihilated. Reinforcements are requested and a few of the transports de-orbit and begin the process of landing. They exit the everything-trails-fire-and-looks-like-it’s-melting-even-though-it’s-really-not part of the atmosphere, turn, and go full throttle to slow down, before slowing down to a stop and opening their bays. They slowly lower down landships, and then lift off. The landships assemble, and move off in the direction of the base. There are smaller wheeled destroyers with main batteries of 30mm dual purpose flak cannons in superfiring positions, with triple A batteries of 30mm chain guns, 20mm gatlings, and dual 50. cals. Then there are the battleships, hulking half-tracked behemoths with massive 120mm single mount turrets in superfiring position, as well as broadsides of 105mm howitzers and cluster howitzer batteries on the nose., with massive batteries of 30mm chain guns, flak cannons, and CIWS, as well as more 20mms and 50.cals.

 

The arrival of the landships is announced by a loud rumbling and a cloud of dust. They come over the horizon to find the camp under attack. Enemy planes scream downwards in steep dives before dropping their bombs and pulling up. Shells streak across the battlefield, and the clatter of automatic weapons fire is heard throughout. The ships come about and form a line of battle. Their main guns turn towards the enemy, and fire. The resounding booms of the 120mms and 105s echo through the plains, followed by the explosions of the shells. Planes begin attack runs on the ships, only to be met with a solid wall of hot lead. The destroyers leave the battle line and charge ahead, their 50. cals firing on the enemy ground forces instead of the planes. The battleships follow, their lighter guns firing at will. The enemy is routs, and the process of regrouping begins.

 

The battleships form a sort of wagon fort around the camp, and the troops begin rebuilding. More soldiers and vehicles were dropped in, as well as several howitzers for base defense. Ditches and earthworks are made, bunkers are established, barracks are built, guns are emplaced, landing pads are designated, and all is well. They even get a new landship. It’s bigger than the battleships. It has 3 superfiring 120s fore and aft, multiple CIWS and flak guns, multiple howitzers, and a battery of cruise missiles. With the arrival of the flagship, the other landships form up around it, surrounded by the assorted AFVs and IFVs of the initial force. They begin steaming north, heading towards the enemy capital.

 

A few enemy planes appear and try to strafe them, but are driven off by concentrated flak. Hours pass uneventfully, and night falls. They continue on, searchlights sweeping the darkness, looking for hostile forces, but none appear. As dawn arrives, the armada crests a large hill, and are greeted by the sight of a massive enemy force of AFVs. The enemy opens fire, and artillery shells scream in from concealed positions. Tanks and transports explode into balls of fire, and the air is filled with the deafening sound of large caliber combat. The flagship, its secondary armament preoccupied with the nearby enemies, turns its main battery in the direction of the artillery. It fires off a salvo, the entire ship rocking on its suspension from the recoil. The shells streak out, becoming explosions on the distant hills. The artillery fire persists, however. The cruise missiles are fired, streaking up with the aid of their boosters, they turn and track the artillery, and then do a steep dive directly onto them. The artillery stops. The landships roll onwards, literally crushing enemy vehicles under their tracks. The enemy begins to route, until a fleet of massive planes appears on the horizon. Cheering, the Laythean forces redouble their efforts to stop the oncoming force, knowing that they now have air support. The planes launch cruise missiles while still well out of range of the flak, and veer off just outside of the dome of anti aircraft fire generated by the ships. Many of the missiles are shot down by point defense systems, but those that remain streak in and explode. A battleship is hit in the tracks, and lists to one side as it starts to turn in circles. A destroyer is hit in the magazine, and the explosion rips it in two. The others desperately flare and perform evasive maneuvers, and remain undamaged. The bombers circle back around, and begin another attack run. They launch another volley of cruise missiles, and then begin launching dozens of Hellfire missiles and hydra rockets at them. The sky is filled with bullets and explosions as the point defense systems and even the main batteries try to knock as many missiles and rockets out of the air as possible. Explosions pepper the battlefield. The main guns aim up at the bombers, sending a hail of shells at them. A few hit home, sending bombers down in trails of smoke and fire. A rocket hits the flagship, nearly breaking through its armor plating, which starts to regenerate immediately. Suddenly, a massive roar is heard as an object streaks through the atmosphere, trailing fire.. The object slows, and is revealed to be an assault ship. It levels out, hovers, and heads towards the enemy bombers. They turn towards it, and are met with a hail of missiles and a wall of bullets. The bombers explode, the fragments falling down to earth in trails of fire. The assault ship signals down to the armada to continue on, and they do.

Eventually the enemy capital comes into sight, or at least its fortifications do. Massive walls loom before them, bristling with weaponry of all sorts. The battleships and flagship come about and prepare to fire. Meanwhile, the assault ship glides towards the walls, loosing clouds of cruise missiles on it. A wave of tracers come to meet them, destroying the missiles and deterring the assault ship from venturing any closer. The landships open up, sending shells towards the walls. They create a massive blast whose shockwave rumbles across the plains like an avalanche. And yet the wall is still unharmed.

The assault ship turns to make another attack, and the landships prepare to unleash the firepower of the entire armada. The assault ship opens up with flocks of cruise missiles and artillery shells, as the landships open fire with all they’ve got. The roar of artillery fire is joined by the clatter and thump of lighter weaponry, and explosions begin to cover the wall. Tracers reach out, searching for the cruise missiles as the assault ship continues on into the cloud of AA, firing its hellfires and mavericks, along with its lighter weaponry. The flagship launches its missiles in streaks of flame and exhaust. Suddenly, a great, thundering rumble is heard, and the firing stops. as the assault ship reappears from the cloud of dust, its exhaust reveals the destruction. A massive hole in the wall has been made, revealing a city of tall spires and arcing railways. The ships roll in through the gap, as the assault ship glides overhead. A signal is picked up by the fleet, requesting parley. A peace treaty is reached, and the Laythean Conflict ends.

The End

 

 

Edited December 4, 2015 by Generalstarwars333
Because the end.

[astrokerb]

This is great! I must have MOAR!

[Generalstarwars333]

Thank you! I plan to make this the first story that I don't get bored with and stop writing in the middle of a battle scene!

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also, how do you have a signature?

never mind I think I got one now.

Edited October 5, 2015 by Generalstarwars333

[Generalstarwars333]

I add moar by editing the post. I copy and paste it from the google drive doc that I originally typed this on in English class.

[Generalstarwars333]

This is sort of in homage to the youtube Spiritwolf series by Macey Dean and TapeGaming's Kerbol Wars series. At least the space part is...

[Generalstarwars333]

Rep is always welcome! And requested if you can spare it and you like this... Also, if you want to talk about this or ask questions about lore or anything you want to say about this at all then feel free to say it. I honestly don't mind and would like to hear what people think. Also, should I maybe break it up into paragraphs better? Or are you guys fine with the current wall of words?

Edited October 10, 2015 by Generalstarwars333

[Generalstarwars333]

Hey! I finished the story! Check it out on the original post! Yay!

[SpaceplaneAddict]

MOAR MOAR MOAR rep.

[Generalstarwars333]

First of all, thanks for the rep! You're awesome! Secondof all: Hmmm... Well, I suppose I could start a new story since this one ended, which is a new thing for me since the other story of any length I'd written (had nothing to do with ksp, since it was before I learned of the glory of it.) is sitting in my miscellaneous stuff folder in my google drive, ending in the middle of a battle since I haven't gotten to it for what feels like a year but probably isn't. I didn't want this to end up like that. I'll probably end up writing another ksp story soonish, though I'm not sure what it will be about and whether it will be a continuous thing or something more akin to my fine flight story in length. Nor am I sure it will be regularly updated. I may make lore stuff for this though-I've already made a fighter akin to those mentioned in here, except it has four 20mm hidden vulcans instead of legit stock missiles since I have no experience with those outside of seeing TapeGaming, Macey Dean, and HatBat using them. Plus the strut-like parts I was using for the wing-like things don't do angle snap and it was kind of frustrating. Can't guarantee images since I'll likely be doing this on my school computer while I'm supposed to be doing homework, and since steam and imgur are blocked, unless I find a work around or email screenshots to myself on my game computer to drag them here, no pics.

[Generalstarwars333]

Okay, so I guess I'll give a description of the fighter I made that is like those used here: The standard kerbin starfighter is a small, presumably agile ion fighter. It is powered by a single ion engine as well as rcs, and electricity is supplied by 8 gigantor solar arrays. It has a crew of one pilot. Armament consists of four 20mm autocannon radially mounted on the nose. It has 8 small radiators supplying regenerating armor, and is capable of carrying stock torpedoes or docking with a larger ship with its nose mounted docking port. (I don't actually know if it is agile since I've never flown it and I should probably get hyperedit so I can fly it.) I will try to remember to get the screenshot of it into this post at a later time.

[Generalstarwars333]

Okay guys, some lore! (disregard the lore posted above this, since it is no longer relevant.) Also, remember that the lore below is a WIP!

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Lore for the Laythean Conflict

Landships

The Decimator class Artillery Frigate is a large, slow landship. Despite being a frigate, its large armament for its size makes it very slow, and requires a jet engine to accelerate. It has a main battery of two superfiring 120mm turrets in the front, as well as a nose battery of ten 105mm howitzers, and a 15 howitzer broadside. For AA weaponry it is equipped with 11 dual fifty caliber turrets, two 20mm Vulcan Gatling turrets in the forward firing arc, 8 30mm chain guns, and two 30mm goalkeeper CIWS on platforms on either side that have an annoying tendency to fall off, as well as a pair of superfiring 30mm flak cannons on the stern. It uses a pair of mole tracks and two pairs of large wheels, as well as a turbojet on the stern to move, with an okay turning radius and an unknown top speed. For power it has a pair of fuel cell arrays, as well as the alternator in the jet engine. It has regenerating armor in the form of radiators and deployable thermal systems. Currently being overhauled with the chainguns being replaced by 20mm turrets, due to the chainguns inability to track aerial targets as they were meant to. Hull is a Mk3 cockpit, a large cargo bay or two with batteries and ammo inside, and then some tail sections for more weapons to be mounted on and for the jet engine. Known AA abilities include being capable of shooting down an aircraft coming straight on without evasive maneuvers fairly easily, though it is unknown how it fairs against an opponent performing evasive maneuvers and actively attempting to damage it. Missile defense is unknown. Crew is about 4 people.

The Retaliation class Medium Frigate is a large, surprisingly fast, yet un-maneuverable landship. It has a main armament of 2 fore mounted superfiring 120mm single mount cannons and one aft mounted turret of the same caliber. It has an AA armament of one 30mm flak cannon mounted in a superfiring position above the forwards turrets, as well as 4 30mm CIWS on two platforms on either side of the superstructure that fortunately don’t seem to come off, along with 13-15 30mm chainguns, 8 of which are mounted broadside in front of the superstructure, with the remaining 6 on the superstructure. A final complement to its armament is 11 dual fifty cals. Its power plant is a single nuclear reactor under the flak cannon, plus an auxiliary 4 liquid fuel generators underneath the hull. Movement comes from two pairs of mole tracks that are placed fore and aft, capable of taking it to a whopping 13.1 m/s, a truly astounding speed for something of its size. Crew capacity is two Kerbals on the bridge. Known issues include a horrible turn radius and an inability to turn in place, likely due to the track placement, and the issue of the chainguns not firing on aircraft. Currently being overhauled for a replacement of the chainguns with 20mm Vulcans which should offset the decreased firing arc with the fact they actually fire. Current AA defenses from its four goalkeepers are still formidable however. Hull is made of the clipper bow, several clipper liquid fuel hulls, and a clipper helipad stern, and the superstructure and mountings for turrets are made of the stock metal plates. The clipper boat parts are from the maritime pack by forum user Fengist. Does not carry missiles, and its ability to destroy missiles is unknown. Notice: Unfortunately, due to the latest version of the Mk 2 Expansion pack either not having anything in it or me screwing something up when installing it, the Retaliation class is unavailable due to it having a nuclear reactor from that mod. When/If I get that problem fixed, I will asses said reactor against those of the Orion Nuclear Pulse pack to see which is superior. Until then, this ship is in limbo.

The Schiltron class AA Frigate is an as yet hypothetical design for a landship whose purpose is to basically be the thing you keep all planes, missiles, or anything that flies at least 5 km away from. It would have multiple SAMs and goalkeepers, and probably be pretty fast and not that good in a ship to ship fight. More info will be available once it has been developed and we’ve overhauled the existing two landship classes.

The Amagi class Landcruiser is an in development version of the Space Battlecruiser Amagi that is in the process of being tested after several design flaws were revealed. However, since it will essentially be the same thing except without the RCS and some/most of the radiators mounted on the hull (which is all of them) and without the four Masamune Nuclear Atmospheric and Spaceborne engines, and with tracks and/or wheels, most of the design specs are known. Main battery will consist of Five superfiring Oerlikon Millennium 30mm Flak cannons, with three in the front and two in the back. These were decided on due to their high rate of fire, explosive shells, high damage, and small size, as well as the fact that they use the same 30mm ammunition as the heavy AA battery. The Heavy AA and Point Defense battery will consist of six 30mm Goalkeeper CIWS, mounted three to a side on platforms to either side of the main superstructure to unleash a withering hail of bullets on any missiles or aircraft coming at it from either side, and an only slightly less withering hail of bullets on anything coming at it from the front or back. These will be supported by the Secondary AA and Point Defense battery, which will consist of a total of 25 20mm Vulcan turrets, with 11 on each broadside, one on either side on the stern at an angle to provide better coverage, and one pointed completely to stern for rear coverage. It is as yet unknown whether these actually fire upon missiles and/or aircraft. Power generation will come from a pair of 1.25m nuclear reactors in the superstructure, and auxiliary power will likely come from generators on the underside of the hull. Crew will consist of either one or three people, depending on which version of the bridge is used.

Weaponry

Terrestrial Weaponry

Artillery

The Single mount 120mm naval gun, nicknamed the ‘Abrams Turret’, is the mainstay of the Mianin Land Navy. It has an extremely long range, most likely exceeding 5km by a large amount. It shoots on a flat trajectory, with a high muzzle velocity, which is offset by a long reload period. It can turn in a 360 degree arc, but cannot aim very far up or down.

The 105mm Howitzer is a fixed gun generally mounted en masse on the broadsides of landships. It has a limited firing arc, although that is generally not needed. It has a long range, but a slower muzzle velocity than the 120mm, which is offset by a quick reload time, probably half or a third of that of the ‘Abrams’. It generally uses a higher trajectory, which is befitting since it is a howitzer. It can also be mounted on smaller land vehicles in greater quantities than the above naval turret.

Anti-Aircraft Guns

The Oerlikon Millennium 30mm Flak gun is a single mount turret with a 360 degree fire arc and the ability to point almost straight up. It fires high explosive 30mm flak shells at a fast rate that explode on contact or at a certain range. This makes it both an ideal flak gun as well as a main armament for smaller landships. It is unknown if it will attack aircraft due to a lack of testing.

The Goalkeeper 30mm CIWS is a single mount Gatling turret that can shoot basically anywhere but straight down. It fires a massive amount of bullets at targets, making it a very effective anti-aircraft gun, as well as an excellent point defense weapon.

Edited November 16, 2015 by Generalstarwars333