[img]https://img.roleplayerguild.com/prod/users/e3d432f0-f36b-4a5c-95e6-650f64e62c48.png[/img]

The spiralling clouds of Skylord Aurora hovered over the ocean, with countless lesser air elementals flitting about her form. Soon, a great mass of liquid hydrocarbons rose out of the sea beside her, Arene the sea-lord. The ocean teemed with the great density of hydrocarbon elementals. Finally, a small mountain of rust-red stone reared up from the ground, revealing Ferrum, and the earth shook as myriad stone elementals surged underneath it.

[b][i]We are all gathered,[/i][/b] Aurora announced. [b][i]It is almost dawn. Let us not tarry any longer.[/i][/b]

Aurora and her retinue took to the skies, Arene and her forces sunk back into the ocean, and Ferrum and his army merged into the ground. The three elemental lords headed north across the ocean, heading towards Promethean territory.

[center][b]~~~~[/b][/center]
[code]Elemental army at [-4.2,10.6] moving.[/code]
[code]Elemental army at [60.1,3.9] moving.[/code]
[code]Elemental army at [10.1,-1.32] moving.[/code]
[code]Observation: Elemental armies moving at dawn.[/code]
[code]Knowledge: Elementals apparently lack long-range communication.[/code]
[code]Deduction: Elemental armies using dawn as cue to move.[/code]
[code]Consequence: Remaining elemental armies will move when dawn occurs locally.[/code]
[code]Factoring deduction into prediction of elemental army locations.[/code]
[code]Route plotted for D0003051.[/code]
[code]Launching long-range missiles.[/code]

[center][b]~~~~[/b][/center]
A storm of driving winds, sleet, hail and fog rolled towards the colony in the far north, concealing the great horde of elementals within. Great boulders and shards of ice hurled in front of the storm triggered many landmines before the elementals reached them. Railgun shells and missiles were hurled into the storm, but the Prometheans were firing blind, making it impossible to tell whether the bombardment was effective. Destroyers which flew into the cloud were swiftly destroyed by the overwhelming number of elementals within.

The cloud rolled forwards and enveloped the front line of Promethean defences. There was the thunder of railgun shells, crack of gunfire, buzzing of capacitors, flare of missiles, bang of warheads, searing of flamethrowers, billowing of wind, creaking of metal, rumbling of earth, sloshing of liquid, crackling of ice. One by one the radio voices of Promethean destroyers fell to silence, while the cloud was still vast and impenetrable, merely slowed in its advance.

Yet a beacon of hope remained for colony. A bright flare of rocket-fire marked the entrance of a new Promethean Destroyer as it swooped down from its sub-orbital trajectory to powered flight parallel to the ground. The three thousand degree torch of its nuclear rocket engine billowed out below it. The Destroyer, designated D0003051, passed over the great cloud, and wherever the flame touched the cloud instantly evaporated, along with any elementals unfortunate enough to get too close to the fire. The wash of super-heated gases expanded outwards and the fog which had been concealing the elemental army boiled away to a few pitiful shreds.

The cover gone, the Prometheans were able to bring their artillery to bear, and the larger elementals were picked off from afar. A furious stormlord turned its focus towards the thruster-wielding Destroyer and shot off in pursuit. Sensing the threat, the Destroyer launched several explosive shells at its pursuer, which burst in mid-air. This hindered the djinn's pursuit for long enough for the Destroyer to throttle up its rocket engine and manoeuvre the fiery jet to be pointed directly at the djinn. With a screech of tortured wind the stormlord burned away and from this great rocket thrust D0003051 launched itself away. There were more elemental hordes to deal with, and D0003051 could not afford to squander propellant on wasted manoeuvres.

[center][b]~~~~[/b][/center]
Gale force winds battered the coast of a Promethean colony. The ocean swelled as Arene and her legions surged forwards, driven by Aurora's mighty winds. When this swell hit the shore, it welled up into a tsunami which surged forwards, unfettered by gunfire and flaming oxygen. The great wave tossed Prometheans about, and the dislodged robots were set upon by the myriad elementals with-in the wave. The tsunami only stopped when it struck a dike which the Prometheans had built to defend against such an assault. The momentum of the wave spent itself on the earth wall and the ocean receded revealing the army of elementals within, which continued their charge along the beach and up the dike.

They were met by more gunfire and artillery from beyond the barrier. Oxygen being pumped out of vents along the top of the dike coupled with incendiary rounds set the advancing hydrocarbon elementals ablaze, crowning the wall of earth with a wall of fire. Overhead fighter jets engaged air elementals to clear the way for bombers, which rained explosives upon Arene's legions.

This bombardment could not continue as Stormlord Aurora was close behind, forcing the flying Destroyers to withdraw or be destroyed. Salvos of missiles burst against her, although they did little to harm her vast form. Aurora's winddjinn darted out from the cover she provided to deliver rapid strikes against the Prometheans. Aurora herself lifted up many hydrocarbon elementals with her cyclonic winds and hurled them deep into the Promethean's defences where they could wreak havoc.

Then Ferrum's stonedjinn burst forth from beneath the earth, tearing apart the dike and the oxygen pipes within it as they emerged. The hydrocarbon elementals surged forwards through the breach. They were met by more concentrated gunfire and artillery. Yet Arene saw this and she surged forwards as a mighty wave, carrying earth and hydrocarbon elemental alike, sheltering them from the bombardment and carrying them up to the Prometheans.

[code]Long-range missiles arriving in: 12 s.[/code]
[code]promethean.N0001045> missile.002492.set_target(enemy.001415) ("Storm elemental, colossal")[/code]
[code]promethean.N0001045> missile.002493.set_target(enemy.025431) ("Hydrocarbon elemental, colossal")[/code]
[code]promethean.N0001045> missile.002494.set_target(enemy.001415) ("Storm elemental, colossal")[/code]
[code]promethean.N0001045> D0003050.update_task(Task=task.3001282.000049,Status="execute")[/code]
[code]promethean.D0003050: Processing Task No. 3001282 Sub-Task No. 000049.[/code]

Arene stood amidst the Prometheans, swatting them aside with limbs like tsunamis. More stonedjinn emerged from the ground to assault the Prometheans at close range. As the artillery weakened, Aurora pressed forwards. Yet, while the elementals watched the ground below, only Aurora truly watched the skies above. There were three specks of light, rapidly getting brighter. Aurora could immediately tell what was coming and her form started to disperse. She called out a warning. [b][i]Arene, look out! Above you![/i][/b]

The liquid colossus twisted her visage to look skywards, yet it took her precious moments to find what Aurora had warned her of. She started to dive out of the way, but it was too late.

The missiles, which were far larger than any carried by a Destroyer, burst open to deliver their payloads. Explosions hurled forwards great metal rods, adding to the speed of the missile. These metal rods delivered devastating amounts of kinetic energy. The rods pierced through Arene like beams of fire, vapourising much of her body and tearing apart the rest of it through the shockwaves. Then the missile itself struck, an explosive in the fuel tanks converting the remaining rocket fuel and oxidant into a ferocious fireball, consuming what remained of Arene. Two such missile struck Aurora, although with her advanced notice she had managed to dissipate enough to soften the blow. Nevertheless, the explosions still sent ripples through her form.

[b][i]Arene![/i][/b] Aurora cried out. Yet all that remained of the once-grand hydrocarbon elemental was a patch of smouldering carbon and a cloud of steam. [b][i]Ferrum, Arene has fallen. We need you up here.[/i][/b]

[b]"I'll need cover,"[/b] rumbled a voice from the earth. Then the earth itself shook and quaked as Ferrum rose up. Using seismographs and gravimeters the Prometheans had been tracking Ferrum's rough location, so they knew to avoid leaving Prometheans too densely clustered in that area. Still Ferrum crushed a Destroyer under a colossal stone hand as he climbed up to the surface, weathering cannon fire and missile bursts.

Several of Aurora's skylords rushed forwards and covered Ferrum in an obscuring cloud of mist and dust. A storm of pebbles and rocks was thrown up to hinder missiles and confuse the Prometheans' radar. Ferrum raged against every Promethean he could reach, his enormous mass able to crush steel armour with ease. Yet the cover which the skylords provided was meagre at best. Aurora finished reforming and pushed forwards to catch up with Ferrum.

Yet Aurora's path was suddenly blocked by a horizontal jet of three thousand degree plasma, ionising her front fringe. An eye of lightning turned to look at the source and saw a unique Promethean Destroyer made entirely of black metal and with an incandescent nozzle from which it had spouted the flame a moment ago. It was large and rotund in form, had caterpillar treads on both its underside and topside, a total of four nozzles pointing in all four cardinal directions and an array of more conventional-looking weaponry.

The unique Destroyer, designated D0003050, turned to face Aurora more directly and released another jet of plasma - a rocket jet, Aurora realised even as part of her form evaporated and ionised. She tried to Aurora swirled around the Destroyed to try to flank it, but the jets on all four sides fired leaving no safe direction of approach along ground level. Aurora gathered above the Destroyer, her form sloping up and away from the Destroyer to keep clear of the rocket jets. The Destroyer fired mortars up at Aurora, although its mortar fire was much less impressive than its rocket jets. Aurora slammed down on the Destroyer, slipped her grip between the firing arcs of the rockets, then lifted the Destroyed into the air and hurled it.

The Destroyer fired its rockets as it spun. Plasma jets sliced through Aurora who recoiled in pain, while also attempting to stabilise itself. The modified rocket nozzles lacked the thrust to provide true lift, instead optimised for maximal energy flux, but they helped a little. The Destroyer landed on its treads with a terrible thud which dug a crater into the earth. Yet, to Aurora's horrified amazement, the Destroyer had suffered hardly a dent from a fall and landing which would have obliterated other Prometheans.

[b][i]Ferrum, I need some help over here,[/i][/b] Aurora called as the Destroyer crawled out of its crater, jets of plasma and bursts of machine-gun fire dispatching most of the lesser elementals which attempted to hinder it while its incredible armour shrugged off the blows of those which did get through.

Yet Ferrum had another target in his eyes. Long-ranged artillery from further inland continued to chip away at his form. Between him and the artillery was the Nexus of this colony, and there were surprisingly few Destroyers between him and the Nexus. There were enough to hold back the lesser elementals, but a mighty stonelord like himself? Ferrum spared one glance at Aurora and made a decision. [b]"I have a better plan,"[/b] Ferrum roared as he charged towards the Nexus.

Prometheans were crushed underfoot. Bullets ricocheted off his form. Skylords swept ahead to keep bombers out of Ferrum's path. The artillery fire became more concentrated, yet even that was not enough to stop Ferrum's advance. In moments he was upon the Nexus and great stone fists plunged through its steel hull and tore it apart like paper. Ferrum let out a booming laugh, which was cut short when he saw what was inside the Nexus: not the usual manufacturing lines and half-built Prometheans, but stacks and stacks of explosives.

Ferrum did not even have time to curse before the Nexus detonated. A great flare of light filled the Nexus as the high-pressure blast wave converted it into twisted high-speed shrapnel. The blast wave ripped through Ferrum, reduced him to gravel and dust, and also hurled him outwards. The blast wave followed by the expanding cloud of debris shredded elemental and Promethean alike, and the battlefield was covered in a thick cloud of dust.

[b][i]Ferrum![/i][/b] Aurora cried out. Two elemental lords slain in one battle by the plans of these accursed machines. The Prometheans had known the elementals' plans and made their counter-moves, willing to sacrifice one replaceable colony if it meant killing two irreplaceable elementals. And all the while this black-hulled fire-spewing indestructible monstrosity of a machine mocked her and wore her down.

Aurora hurled a great lightning bolt at the Destroyer, to no effect. She knew that all but the most hastily constructed Prometheans were properly earthed so minimally affected by lightning, but she was frustrated. Aurora looked out towards the horizon. Distant Destroyers continued to fire artillery and a squadron of flying Destroyers were inbound. Closer at hand there was chaos, the remaining elementals brawling with the remaining Prometheans. But while the Prometheans suffered no ill feelings from the destruction of their Nexus, the morale of the elementals had been shattered and many were fleeing.

Reluctantly, Aurora issued a command, [b][i]Fall back. The battle is lost.[/i][/b]

The elementals swarmed away. Hydrocarbon elementals slipped back into the ocean. Earth elementals sunk back into the ground. Air elementals gathered into Aurora, who rose up and flew away. Even as the elementals were leaving, Prometheans were dispatched from neighbouring colonies to salvage and rebuild the ruined colony.

[center][b]~~~~[/b][/center]
[code]All elemental armies destroyed or retreating.[/code]
[code]Calculating casualties[/code]
[code]Re-calibrating strategy[/code]
[code]Conclusion: Elementals unlikely (p<0.05) to repeat this attack for at least 2.1 years.[/code]
[code]Increasing priority of interplanetary colonisation.[/code]

[hider=Kzinti Lesson]
[i]A reaction drive's efficiency as a weapon is in direct proportion to its efficiency as a drive.[/i]

The elementals launch their largest attack on Promethean territory ever, with armies assaulting from all directions. The Prometheans saw this coming and had prepared accordingly.

One countermeasure was the Destroyer D0003051, which is a spaceship which uses its nuclear rocket engine as a weapon against elementals on the ground. It is a rapid striker cutting great swathes through elemental armies before flying off to deal with the next army. This is a direct application of existing spaceflight technology.

Another countermeasure was long-ranged missiles. The Prometheans don't have nukes, but they can still fit hefty 'conventional' payloads on sub-orbital rockets. This is a direct application of rocketry, ballistics, explosives and missiles.

Another one was Destroyer D0003050. It's made of adamantine, making it effectively indestructible. Its primary weapons are four nuclear rocket nozzles which function as the mother-of-all-flamethrowers. This required 1 MP for [b]Adamantine Smithing[/b] (using Smithing Portfolio), and used most of the Prometheans' reserves of adamantine. (They probably also had adamantine-tipped tools before this, but nothing at this scale.)

A major battle involved three mighty elemental lords, Arene, Ferrum and Aurora. Arene was killed by long-ranged missiles. Ferrum was killed by a self-destructing Nexus. Aurora was repelled by by D0003050.

The elementals are repelled, suffering major losses. The Prometheans also suffered losses, but they can rebuild. With quite a few elemental lords slain, the Prometheans can turn more attention to space.

[b]Might Summary[/b]
[u]Teknall[/u]
Level 5 God of Crafting (Masonry, Carpentry, Smithing, Alchemy, Armaments)
[i]Start:[/i] 35.5 MP (17.25 reserved by Workshop), 1 FP
[i]Spent:[/i] 1 MP
[i]End:[/i] 34.5 MP (17.25 reserved by Workshop), 1 FP
[/hider]