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The ground in the colony lurched and fractured. Splitting earth caused railways to buckle, and mining shafts collapsed on themselves. The Processors had stopped manufacturing and were trundling away from the slowly crumbling ground. Even the Nexus had uprooted itself, and was departing along a level road of gravel being produced ahead of it by Harvesters. Destroyer turrets walked with the evacuation, their guns scanning the horizon in case any elementals attempted a direct attack.

Manipulators moved along the quaking ground. Precision seismic measurements tracked the motion of many earth elementals below the colony, who were undermining its foundations. The Manipulators planted the occasional burrowing explosive and set it going. These devices had a drill head attached which was designed to propel the device forwards through the ground, until its warhead was detonated. This device allowed the Prometheans to damage underground earth elementals, although they were comparatively slow and had limited range. Regardless, it was the best the Prometheans had for attacking enemies protected by dozens of metres of stone.

For this colony, though, it hadn't been enough. The earth djinn had made the location uninhabitable, and the Prometheans had been reluctantly forced to abandon it and its mineral resources.

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The hydrocarbon lake was draining much faster than it should have been.

The primary use of hydrocarbons by the Prometheans was in manufacturing chemicals. With no ambient oxygen, hydrocarbons were almost useless as an energy source (save for stripping the hydrogen for use in fusion), but the simple organic molecules were essential for creating explosives, rocket fuels and plastics. With the war in full swing these resources were in high demand. The Prometheans siphoned hydrocarbons from surface lakes and oceans to supply this demand.

While the Prometheans consumed a lot of hydrocarbons, their consumption could not nearly account for how quickly the level of this lake was sinking. The lake was draining at a rate of a metre a day, and it was getting faster.

Carriers, Manipulators and Destroyers from the adjoining colonies went to investigate. Flow and acoustic measurements were made and aquatic probes were dropped. The Prometheans soon determined that the lake was being drained from the bottom into underground oil fields. The cause behind this disturbance were hydrocarbon elementals, identified when they attacked some of the probes.

A countermeasure was necessary, or else the colonies would be deprived of this resource. The Prometheans built a new Carrier and Destroyer type capable of submarine travel. Their hulls were made liquid-proof and capable of resisting crushing pressures. Then they dived into the depths, and were confronted by the sea djinn.

The battle was furiously energetic. The Prometheans targeted the otherwise invisible hydrocarbon djinn using sonar, and spears of flame lanced forth at the elementals. The elementals surged forth, carrying with them thousands of tonnes of liquid creating turbulent currents to disorient the Prometheans. The djinn latched onto the Prometheans and squeezed with the amplified pressure of the lake. Some of the Prometheans were destroyed by this, the extreme stress exploiting small flaws in their manufacture and allowing the djinn to get inside and rupture the robots. But this also brought the djinn into close contact with the Promethean flamethrowers, and many elementals were burned away in this assault.

Then came the elemental lord who had been leading these djinn. The Prometheans sensed his great bulk approach and loosed a salvo of torpedoes. When they burst within the djinn's liquid form he roared in pain. An amorphous limb shot forwards in retaliation, crushing one of the Destroyers against the lake bed. Fire licked at his swiftly retracting arm, and another limb gripped another Destroyer, flooded the pressurised oxygen vents of its flamethrowers, and squeezed until it ruptured. Meanwhile, the other Destroyers launched more torpedoes while the Carriers turned and fled.

With the might of an ocean the sea lord lashed out at the Prometheans and weathered their attacks until all the Destroyers had been reduced to scrap metal. The sea lord then flowed after the fleeing Carriers. He grasped at one and swallowed it, forcing liquid ethane into every little fault in its hull and tearing it apart from the inside. His pursuit of the rest took him closer to the surface, which put him in range of the more developed Promethean army and air force. Incendiary shells ripped through the lake and missiles burst at its surface, and the sea lord was forced to withdraw.

The Prometheans' submarine assault had been repelled, but they had an alternative plan. The Prometheans manufactured then sunk marine-grade mines into the lake, equipped with basic propulsion, and primed to explode if substantially disturbed or given a remote trigger. With the liberal sowing of explosives across the lake bed, it was only a matter of time before the sea lord came too close to one and triggered the explosion. At this cue, the other mines propelled themselves towards the source of the first explosion, converging upon the hydrocarbon elemental. More explosions tore into the djinni's form, and he had to move nimbly to avoid the mines.

After hours of dodging and the occasional explosion, the Prometheans stopped detecting the strong currents characteristic of hydrocarbon elementals. After waiting a few hours to ensure that all activity had stopped, they sent in the submarine Carriers escorted by the two submarine Destroyers they had managed to build since the last fight. They reached the bottom of the lake unopposed, where the lake intersected a layer of porous rock. The Carriers injected concrete into the layer, blocking it off and preventing any more hydrocarbons from being drained from the lake.

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To feed their ceaseless expansion, the Prometheans had to always find more resources. Water to feed the fusion cores. Hydrocarbons and ammopnia to create chemicals. Iron and bauxite ore to create structural metals. Uranium and thorium to feed nuclear reactors. These were the main resources consumed, but many other minerals were used in lower volumes and were just as essential. Many rarer minerals formed essential components of electronics and the fusion cores. And this made places where such minerals could be mined very valuable.

The colony containing Nexus 001335 was one such colony, a rare earth mineral mine. The war with the elementals had changed the structure of such outposts. This outpost contained only minimal manufacturing capacity; most goods including most new Prometheans were typically imported, and the resources collected by the outpost were almost entirely exported. This logistical format made establishing the colony cheaper, and also meant that lots of raw resources would not have to be shipped to the outpost.

The war against the elementals had also changed how resources were transported to and from the outposts. Railways were too susceptible to sabotage, so were only used deep within Promethean territory. Goods were hauled to and from the outposts using terrestrial Carriers, which were always accompanied by an escort of Destroyers.

But now the elementals were besieging the colony of Nexus 001335, cutting off the supply route. It had been many days since a Carrier had travelled to or from that outpost, and the elementals seemed content to continue their siege rather than assault the colony directly. Stealthily the elementals had stolen what little ice was around the colony, leaving the colony under imminent risk of a major power shortage.

With this colony helpless but too vulnerable to abandon, the other Prometheans mobilised an army to rescue them. Hundreds of Destroyers rolled across the ground and flew across the sky towards the elemental blockade, along with Carriers with spare munitions and Manipulators to perform field repairs.

The army was first spotted by the various sprites who were keeping watch for Prometheans and long range missiles. They raised a telepathic alert with their masters as a squadron of flying Destroyers flew ahead to engage these forwards scouts. The lesser elementals were readily dispatched, and with the air sweep complete some of the Destroyers on the ground armed and fired their long range missiles towards the elemental blockade over the horizon. Carriers moved in to reload the missile launchers, while the rest of the army advanced.

Closer to the blockade, but still with it over the horizon, another group of terrestrial Destroyers broke off from the army and stopped. They raised their railgun artillery and, using targeting information from high-altitude Destroyers with better vision of the blockade, commenced bombardment. Salvos of long-ranged missiles periodically soared overhead to accompany the artillery.

The remainder of the army rumbled onward, and they were soon met by a charge from the elementals. The ground heaved and lurched, and a ridge suddenly rose from beneath one Destroyer and toppled it onto its side. Turrets on the other Destroyers turned and fired a battery of shells and missiles at the rising stone lord, who sunk back into the ground to take cover. Elsewhere smaller stonedjinn rose from the ground, slammed their fists against the Destroyers and tore off pieces of them. Gunfire flared in retaliation, shattering many stonedjinn.

Some Manipulators quickly dismounted from the Carriers and planted seismometers on the ground. These instruments networked with each other to triangulate the locations of any subterranean motion, then broadcast their data to all Prometheans in range. With the sensors in place, the Prometheans were able to anticipate where the earth elementals would rise and target their weapons accordingly.

A colossal stone arm erupted from the ground beside a Destroyer and slammed down onto it, crushing the machine. The next moment the arm was struck by a coordinated salvo of missiles from the Destroyers in the air and railgun shells from the Destroyers on the ground, such that the limb was completely severed. The earth quaked in pain.

Approaching the battle was a roiling cloud of ammonia and ethane, crackling with lightning. Eddies danced ahead of the cloud, itching to meet the Prometheans in combat. Over the horizon came another artillery salvo. Some of the missiles were intercepted by the lesser wind elementals, one by a bolt of lightning, while the rest of the missiles and the explosive shells burst within the great cloud's form, whittling away at its strength. Some of the fighter jets turned to face the storm lord, while some flew around to flank the cloud. Missiles flew and autocannons fired, and explosions crackled across the storm lord.

The elemental did not slow its charge, though. It ploughed through those Destroyers which had flew into it, hurling them to the ground, and it kept going until it rolled over the army. Hurricane force winds tore at the army. The Destroyers and Carriers were far too heavy to be significantly affected, although a few unsecured Manipulators who were enacting field repairs were lifted from the ground and tossed aside. What the storm lord was able to pick up, though, were all the seismometers, which it flung high into the sky and left them to fall and shatter on the hard earth.

Short range missiles, flamethrowers and incendiary rounds tore at the storm lord and its lesser djinn as they blew past, but in seconds the storm lord had left the army behind. The Prometheans were now blind to the earth elementals beneath their wheels. A contingent of airborne Destroyers flew after the storm lord and continued to harry it, along with the continued long range bombardment.

With the Prometheans no longer able to sense beneath the earth, the earth elementals were able to strike the Prometheans by surprise then quickly retreat back into the ground. While the Prometheans were often able to shoot back, they were much less successful at killing the earth elementals than before.

A group of elementals sprung up from the ground around a Carrier laden with ammunition. A large stonedjinn stopped the Carrier in its tracks, while the rest tore the doors off their hinges and surged inside. Gunfire from the Destroyers struck some of these djinn. From within the Carrier came gunfire from its internal turrets, and resistance from Manipulators who hacked at the elementals with power tools. The elementals overpowered the internal resistance, and they would have trashed the Carrier and its cargo from inside out if a nearby Destroyer hadn't fired its railguns through the Carrier, striking and shattering the earth elementals within. The Carrier, although damaged, was still functional.

The army spread out and scattered, driving quickly. By staying on the move, few earth elementals were able to keep up and effectively attack the Prometheans. The stone lord was able to catch up, though. Giant stone limbs burst from the ground to punch the Prometheans, and more than one speeding Promethean collided head first with a rising cliff face. However, the stone lord could not catch all the Prometheans, for they had split up. With the army fleeing and the storm lord departed, the battle came to an end.

Concurrently with this battle, a few flying Carriers had gone around the distracted elemental blockade and delivered vital supplies to the besieged colony, including hydrogen for the fusion reactors. With the storm lord dispersed, flying Carriers were able to make more regular trips to and from the colony. In the following days the Prometheans were able to fight for a clear path past the stone lord too, so the terrestrial Carriers were able to resume travel along the transport routes as well.

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Far from Promethean territory, Stormlord Aurora had expanded into a great hurricane crackling with a pyrotechnics display of lightning which could be seen from orbit. Closer to ground level, a wind djinni sat in the eye of the storm and delivered a report to Aurora.

"Five of their colonies have been undermined by the stone lords, and they have been forced to abandon those locations. Another colony has been sufficiently starved for an assault to successfully destroy it."

[b][i]Excellent. And the others?[/i][/b]

"Nautilus' force was able to wash away one of the coastal colonies, although with considerable losses. Alkanus' attempt to drain the lake failed when he was repelled by the metal beasts. There is a new variant of metal beast which can swim and fight underwater."

[b][i]Coward.[/i][/b]

"The blockade established by Regolith and Mistral was broken by a sizeable enemy army. Mistral has been gravely wounded, and Regolith has also been substantially weakened."

There was frustrated silence from Aurora. The messenger continued.

"Rime's underlings have been stealing ice from the outer colonies, but he has been unable to penetrate far into their territory, so the metal beasts have still been able to deliver ice and other fuels to the outer colonies. Raids on the supply lines continue, but with limited success. Even if we kill some of the beasts, if we do not hide the bodies they consume the corpses and create new beasts. Meanwhile, our numbers are dwindling. They build new lords every few days, but we are losing our lords faster than they rise."

[b][i]That is why our strategy must be to starve the beasts, rather than simply fight them. If they have no metals, no hydrocarbons, no ice, then they cannot multiply.[/i][/b]

"But to achieve that, we must outlast the reserves which lie within their territory. Their strength is formidable!"

An eye of lightning glared at the elemental for a few seconds before receding.

[b][i]We will see who is strongest once meteor are on our side.[/i][/b]

[hider=Summary]
Another post detailing the war between the Prometheans and the elementals. I would like to acknowledge Cyclone's assistance in helping to brainstorm some of the elemental strategies in this post.

With direct combat not so effective for the elementals, the elementals have turned their energy to undermining the Prometheans' infrastructure, logistics and resource economy.

Earth elementals tear open sink holes and crevasses underneath colonies, forcing them to relocate.

Some hydrocarbon elementals attempt to drain the lakes which the Prometheans harvest hydrocarbons from. The Prometheans develop submarines (0.25 MP) and sonar (0.25 MP) to bring the battle to the sea djinn.

Because railways don't work so well when elementals keep trashing them, the Prometheans build Carriers on wheels/treads to transport goods to and from the outposts.

The elementals try besieging outposts. They steal ice from nearby so they don't have fuel for the fusion reactors. Then they blockade the supply routes. The Prometheans respond aggressively.

We have a scene with Aurora talking to a messenger, giving an overview of how the war is going. While the elementals are dealing some serious damage, they are taking losses, and the Prometheans are far better positioned to fight a war of attrition than the elementals. Aurora is trying to signal meteor elementals for backup.

[u]Might Summary[/u]
[i]Start:[/i] 26 MP, 2 FP (12.25 MP reserved by Workshop)
[i]Spent:[/i] 0.5 MP (submarines, sonar)
[i]End:[/i] 25.5 MP, 2 FP (12.25 MP reserved by Workshop)
[/hider]