-=+ +=- [COMPLETED] The Second Universe -=+ +=-

Part 10: Operation Payday and Universal War One

These guns fire modified payloads into CROS formations, this payload being thaumaturgically enhanced black hole-creating munitions, which fire shells at near instant speed -- at least to both sides' perspectives -- which, upon arriving at set points, use drones and other G-Cell based mechanisms to crush a literal tiny piece of shit--specifically chosen to insult the enemy--into large black holes, which, with hyperaccelerated gravity, begin to nigh-instantly suck in CROS ships. As the systems absolutely UNLOAD into the enemy, more of them keep coming, in more numbers.

The combination of nuclear and nuclear-enchanted munitions along with what are essentially experimental fully automatic black hole guns do not deter the CROS and specifically do not dent the pride they hoped to regain after the Union's opening strike, but instead have completely shattered it. As soldiers quickly start to listen to ambient epic music over their headsets while receiving orders and slamming CROS formations, they begin to rack up millions upon millions of CROS kills, leaving many unfortunate souls to rot in space.

However, some New World Union vessels still take the risk to scoop up some CROS PoWs, also realizing that the system would award them with extra experience points for capturing prisoners. Guns also fire at specific places, which are meant to carve paths of escape for those who capture CROS prisoners, and shield them from returning enemy fire. The battle goes on long enough for, eventually, another layer of massive guns to be revealed closer to the star, which open fire with their own munitions too.

CROS fighter and light naval units often go in for strafing runs, destroying gun emplacements every now and then, though they are unfortunately met with Sisyphus-esque scenarios, where they destroy the guns, then, a short time later, find the guns respawned, and repeat the scenario until the aircraft is destroyed. Dreadnoughts resembling huge flying-wing aircraft last seen at the site of the New World Union's opening strike also rain fire and take out a few chunks of the megastructure every now and then, compromising shields, but are often shot down by active protection system (APS) structures, ripping holes into them and occassionally cutting them in half.

As waves of CROS naval vessels begin to continuously appear after a short lull in the fighting, so too do what seemed to be bizarrely-formed eldritch abominations of nature carried under their ships. As guns fire back and successfully kill only a few of them, the now promoted  Lieutenant Colonel Tommy Miller transmitting to HQ for backup. "Overlord, this is Miller. We got a sitch. CROS fuckers brought out their eldritch dogs and we're having some trouble killing them. CAN WE GET THE CSF OUT?!"

"Fuckin' hell- did you say eldritch?" Overlord paused, taking a deep yet quick sigh. "OVRB unit vectoring in on Benben, ya want an opening strike with that?" Overlord responded, as Miller spoke too. "Yuh, requesting strike on grid square Fig 17." "Confirmed." Overlord responded. As the telepathic comms route closed, a solid 30% of the opposing CROS aerospace forces were instantly annihilated along with severing their thaumaturgical warp drive lines, as massive OVRB strike groups began laying down fire on the now REALLY unfortunate CROS.

As Lt. Col Miller watched the OVRB vessels lay waste to the technologically inferior CROS vessels, he took a quick deep breath, before continuing to man his gun station. By now -- meaning a few almost eternal hours later -- the CROS had stopped attempting to drop in, and the OVRB units, being reassigned to return to combat patrol in L-3, left a small contingent of their force, being just three strike groups. However, wherever these strike groups were, they wrought havoc onto the enemy.

Ships started to incrementally slow, and the battle kept going, day after day and then week after week. It seemed the CROS industrial capacity was at its breaking point at this point in the theatre, and the war raged on outside of this one constant siege. Personnel continued on the grind, so to speak, and eventually, their own battlecries derived from pieces of music had begun to develop, which were constantly repeated across almost all unnecessary screens for combat and were also repeatedly documented by media personnel that visited the fort:

"STAND! HOLD YOUR GROUND! 

COME AROUND 

HOSTILE LAND

[IT'S] THEIR LAST STAND"

Another battlecry also developed, which would end up being used much more famously later on.

"THEY SHALL NOT PASS!"

(5799 words)

v1.0.0. release, February 17, 2024

v1.0.1. minor edit to 1st paragraph, July 29, 2024