Post by Nephill on Mar 12, 2013 19:56:12 GMT -5
Assault on Castle Kotyc!
The Setting
It is March, 534 BBY. Equipped with brand-new equipment fresh off of the newly restored MandalMotors' assembly lines, Cuyan, the leader of the traditionalist Vencuyanir Movement has decided that the feudalistic, Darasuum world of Cerar to be the first target of the new fighting season.
A unique world colonized by Mandalorians, this world has developed a feudalistic culture in which large amounts of slaves work under Mandalorian overlords, chipping away at the mountain world for sustenance and for its precious metals. These Mandalorians have evolved into potent fighting forces, learning to defend themselves against outside threats that would steal these profitable operations away from them. To set up these systems, these Mandalorians have settled and given up the nomadic way, and display their wealth and power opulently in magnificent palace-citadels equipped with hundreds of house servants while labor slaves toil in the fields and mines.
The heads of these citadels have thrown their weight behind the Darasuum Confederation, chafing at the Vencuyanir's advocacy against slavery and opulent displays of life, and instead emphasizing the nomadic tradition.
The dominant clan of Cerar is Aliit Awaud, a powerful clan spread out throughout Mandalorian space. The warlords of Cerar have thrown their combined allegiance behind the Aliit'alor of Awaud, a skilled and experienced warrior named Choruk Awaud.
Choruk Awaud
They amass at the largest citadel on Cerar, Keldab (Castle) Kotyc, intending to form a main force at which to send to join the Darasuum war effort.
Cuyan will not allow this.
He has decided that Cerar will be a worthy target to which to begin a new chapter for the Vencuyanir. Although no easy target, it is of moderate difficulty and it has been determined the forces of the Vencuyanir Movement have a more than reasonable chance of winning.
If everything goes to plan.
Cerar is an important target. If Keldab Kotyc is captured, and the warriors of Cerar slayed, than Cerar will fall into the hands of the Vencuyanir. This will allow for the slaves to be liberated from hopeless lives of toil, and wound the Darasuum by destroying their forces and cutting off an important source of ore and precious metals - something the Vencuyanir will then gain, increasing production of critical war equipment.
Destroying such an iconic and emplaced target will also send a message that the Vencuyanir are a potent and worthy cause.
The Target
[/castle]
Castle Interior ^
Castle Interior ^
The Target, as shown in the first picture, is built directly into a mountain's side. A full 500 m tall from tip to tip, the castle is an architectural masterpiece constructed by a well-known Geonosian. The mountain is made out of the native Ceraran Stone, a hardy material that has the natural properties of permacrete with added endurance against the elements (namely ice) and thus increased shock resistance.
The lake below is home to various fish, and several stairways lead all the way down to a small berths down at the water's edge.
At the top of the castle's keep, and in each of its individual towers, are several anti-aircraft mass-driver cannons and rapid fire laser cannons.
In the mountain that the castle is built into, a small but powerful defensive shield prevents orbital bombardment. Adjacent to the embedded and hardened shield generator is an array of heavy anti-aircraft guns and a turbolaser cannon that can fire upon capital ships in space.
The castle is home to a garrison of five hundred strong, augmented by a thousand troops that have been rallied across the planet, rallying for the Darasuum cause, entrenched in the hardened location. There are five main levels of the castle, with turbolifts inside for rapid movement of troops. A section of slits along the middle of the castle are home to a variety of cannon emplacements that can fire upon approaching personnel and aircraft targets.
An approach by air is therefore a costly choice. There are a multitude of anti-air emplacements that can only be engaged once one breaches the deflective shield. Taking down the shield is the near impossible with the concentration of defenses at that point.
A direct assault could succeed with sheer numbers, but would be extremely costly. An attack by smaller jet troopers would be equally unfeasible due to lack of jet-trained troopers and the anti-personnel cannons.
However, the Vencuyanir have a critical advantage.
One of the garrison soldiers has defected, and knows the secret passageways to the entire complex's power generator underneath the mountain. It is embedded in an island at the end of a sea tunnel which also serves as the castle's water supply (a closely guarded secret).
The Mission
The turncoat has volunteered to sneak an advance group through the shield and Kotyc's outer checkpoints all the way to the lower harbors. The advance group will be disguised as newly captured/purchased slaves and as skilled fishermen.
Once at the harbor, the turncoat will lead the advance group into the hidden tunnel in a boat, navigate through the twists and turns of the caverns to the island which holds the complex's secret massive power generator.
The advance group will disable the generator (which unfortunately not disable the shield, as the generators are separate), which will disable most of the actual citadel's defensive cannons. Only the uppermost cannons will still be operational (as they are tied into the shield generator).
This advance group will proceed to attack from within while the main assault group punches through the shield to attack from the outside. The defenders will only be armed with power pack weapons (which include heavy repeaters and hand-held missile launchers) and the few rounds the top emplacements can direct onto the gunships approaching farther below them.
Haran-class gunships and other starfighters (Tor-class starfighter and Werda-class Stealth Scout fighter) will harass the cannon emplacement slit strip. The first group within the assault team will be several squads of jet troopers, who will penetrate the castle and soften up the defenders in brutal close combat. The second team will be dropped off by the gunships, who should be safer once the jet troopers have disabled the anti-aircraft weapons armed outside defenders. This second wave will augment the jet troopers and push into the castle.
Air support will perform one or two strafing runs at most before retreating to minimize losses from the still functioning mountain emplacements and the hand-held launchers. Once troops have fought their way to the top and disabled the mountain site, air support will return to mop up any last defenders.
The advance group is to be composed of the most elite soldiers on hand, including Supercommandos, Protectors, and Watchmen. This force will number perhaps two dozen. The Jet Troopers (first wave) will number at a solid 400. The second wave, the gunship-dropped off troops, will number 700. Third wave will number 800. Fourth wave (reinforcements) numbers 500 and is last-string troops.
Although the turncoat is a traitor, and not to be fully trusted, his stories for motivation for defection check out (an executed sister for a trivial offense, further showing the sickness that has infected Aliit'alor Awaud). Leadership does advise the team to be careful, although his claims of the tunnel have checked out and a sketchy route has been provided through second-string infiltrators (forces unnamed).
The success of the attack depends on the advance team's disablement of the generator, the success of the jet troopers, and the main infantry, as well as the skill of the pilots.
Note: It is spring, and the winter frost is beginning to melt. That being said, this is the high mountains, and designed to be solely a fortress. Most of the snow remains solid, and only the top layers are beginning to slurry. Wind remains chilly and there is frequently fog and poor weather during various times of the day. Thus, exact time/conditions will not be able to determined - the time depends on favorable air conditions for the jet troopers and aircraft.
Weather main mean poor visibility and very adverse temperature conditions. Advance team may have to walk on (partly) frozen ice of the river. Sealed suit and environmental controls, along with close-combat weapons and training, are suggested in the strongest terms.