Andromedan Invaders (Star Fleet Universe)
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In the fictional Star Fleet Universe as represented in the range of games from Amarillo Design Bureau Inc. as well as the first two Star Fleet Command games (and the Orion Pirates stand-alone addon for Starfleet Command II) from Taldren, the Andromedan Invaders are a mysterious race of extra-galactic beings from M31 which ruled the Lesser Magellanic Cloud for several decades and launched a devastating invasion of the Milky Way Galaxy, sparking a war lasting from Y188 to Y204.
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[edit] Racial characteristics
No evidence regarding the physical appearance of the Andromedan race has been catalogued by an Alpha Octant government - the only Federation Marine to witness one could not be brought to recall his experiences. Andromedan boarding parties are comprised entirely of robotic combat systems. While Module C3 includes data on Andromedan ground stations, established for a number of uses on conquered planets, no concrete link between these activities and the Andromedans' true nature have been determined - though from the evidence uncovered at Andromedan agricultural depots, it has been postulated that if the Andromedans are organic, they must be capable of ingesting anything which could even remotely be considered organic.
[edit] Location
Information on the holdings of the Andromedans in their home galaxy is unknown, although it has been hinted in Federation Commander that the Andromedans hold sway over M31 (or at least the portion where a Tholian exodus fleet arrived, after fleeing M81 in the wake of the Seltorian Revolt). Over the course of the Invasion, their holdings included the LMC, as well as significant portions of the Alpha and Omega octants during the War, yet their success in other regions of the galaxy - not least, their fate against the formidable Xorkaelian Empire - are as of yet undocumented.
[edit] Starships
Andromedan starships are divided into two main categories - Motherships (cruiser or dreadnought analogues, as well as an incompleted battleship-sized vessel) and Satellite Ships (escort analogues). Each kind possesses Tactical Warp engines - allowing them to fight at FTL speeds - yet Satellite Ships are transported by Motherships for strategic deployment and usually operate in tandem with the parent vessel.
Andromedan warships operate on quite different principles to those of races in the Alpha Octant or Lesser Magellanic Cloud. Instead of shields, their vessels are protected by efficient power absorption panels, which are able to absorb incoming fire and use it to power their own systems.
In terms of weaponry, Andromedan vessels were armed with Phaser-analogues, as well as Tractor-Repulsor Beams - capable of tearing a target warship apart. In addition, they used the formidable Mauler cannon on one of their Satellite Ships to attack enemy installations.
Perhaps the most prominent example of superior Andromedan technology, the Displacement Device allows an Andromedan Mothership to literally displace itself several thousand kilometres simultaneously - or do the same to a target starship! However, this technology is also a strategic weakness, as no more than two Displacement Device-equipped Motherships can safely operate in the same region of space.
In all, a combination of an Andromedan Mothership and accompanying Satellite Ships are a threat to even larger squadrons of Magellanic or Galactic vessels, with fleets of Andromedan ships a danger to heavily fortified systems.
[edit] History
| Andromedan War | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 A Federation warship experiences the devastating effect of the Tractor-Repulsor beam, as an Andromedan force engages Star Fleet. |
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| Combatants | |||||||||
| The Andromedan Invaders | All known races in the LMC, Alpha and Omega Octants | ||||||||
| Commanders | |||||||||
| unknown | Klingon Emperor Kellish, Romulan Empress Rolindra | ||||||||
[edit] The Launch from Andromeda
There is no direct information regarding the initial deployment of Andromedan forces. Year after year, successive waves of Andromedan warships were launched from Andromeda, heading for the Lesser Magellanic Cloud - the springboard for an invasion of the Milky Way. Included were the components necessary to construct the first Desecrator - the starbase which would provide the hub of Andromedan operations in the Cloud.
[edit] War in the Cloud
The LMC had been home to several star-faring races, such as the the Baduvai Imperium, the Eneen Protectorates, the Maghadim Hives (together referred to as the Magellanic Powers) and the Yrol Septs, who had their own history of conflict. Indeed, the Andromedans launched their first strike against the Baduvai and the Eneen a year after a costly war between the three aforementioned Magellanic Powers, fought over the contested Neutral Worlds.
Unfortunately, these races could not stand against the onslaught of the Andromedans, and were crushed, one by one, as the invaders used the Cloud to gather resources and launch raids into the Milky Way. The Eneen and Baduvai fell first, and the Uthiki (an allied race to the Baduvai) were virtually exterminated as a race. The Maghadim held out behind their radiation shell, along with a number of Baduvai and Eneen colonies, until the Andromedans swarmed into the Core of the SMC in Y183. The Chomak Community, the last Magellanic faction left standing, was conquered in Y185. While elements from these races struggled for survival out in the Fringe of the Cloud, these scattered groups were only saved when the Unity races arived in Y202.
[edit] Preparations for Conquest
Once established in the Cloud, the Andromedans prepared a chain of Satellite Bases linking the LMC to the Milky Way, which served to establish a Rapid Transport Network into (and within) the galaxy proper - which allowed their vessels to travel at superior strategic speeds. (Their vessels could use the Network to travel between nodes at Warp 15, far in advance of what their enemies could achieve, but were slower than Alpha Octant warships of the same period without the RTN.)
The first official contact with the Andromedans for the Federation and Klingon Empire came in Y166, when an Intruder was engaged by Galactic vessels. Over the next decades, further sightings and ship classes were encountered, yet the fires of the General War swept these accounts from the minds of the Alpha races.
In the Omega Octant, the Andromedans were first uncovered by the Chlorophons, who spent the years of the Superpower Wars and most of the Second Great War investigating the mysterious race. However, most of the Omega races were too pe-occupied fighting each other - and the ancient Loriyill Collective was too concerned with their search for their ancient nemeses, the life-draining Souldra.
In Y186, the ISC Pacification Campaign began, and the Alpha Octant races were primarily concerned with the buffer zone created by the Interstellar Concordium, while the Omega races fought the Second Great War to a conclusion. Neither octant's inhabitants were prepared for what was to come.
[edit] The Onslaught
In Y188, the Andromedans launched their first known full-scale operations against the Milky Way Galaxy.
In the Alpha Octant, the ISC bore the brunt of the initial attacks - as it was the largest power and was spread across the octant in its peacekeeping role - taking severe losses to the invaders, with the renowned Echelon of Judgement - a powerful squadron of ISC X-ships - rushed all the way from the Klingon-Federation border back to defend the capital world of Veltrassa from an Andromedan deep strike. Over the coming years, the War spread to other races in the Octant - the Federation was asaulted by the Invaders in Y192 - and former enemies were forced to co-operate for mutual survival. Most of the Alpha powers were forced into defending their core provinces, but had learned of the effectiveness of X-ships in the fight against the Andromedans. However, the Lyran Democratic Republic was unable to hold out from the Invaders, and was crushed in Y195 - a bitter lesson for the Alpha powers in what to expect should their own efforts prove insufficient.
In the Omega Octant, which was less advanced technologically than the Alpha races, the Andromedan invasion commenced with the occupation of the abandoned Ryn Nebula and the destruction of the Iridani New Kingdom in Y191, and went into full swing in Y192. As if this was not unfortunate enough for the Omega races, the Andomedan assault corresponded with a Souldra expansion into the octant, which smashed the Bolosco and Singers as star-faring races, and left scores of vessels and colony worlds drained of life. Each invading force inflicted great losses on the Omega races, with the prospect of eventual defeat looming. (It should be noted that despite the concurrence of the invaders' actions, the two races were just as likely to fight each other as anyone else, and were not co-belligerents.) While the Loriyill managed to defeat the Souldra, the only bright spot in the war against the Andromedans was found in the successful liberation of the Iridani Cluster from Andromedan control, which was followed by an Iridani Crusade into the Milky Way to aid the Omega allies. However, without external assistance these efforts would not have been enough to hold back the tide.
At present, nothing is known regarding the Andromedans' fortunes in other regions of the galaxy.
[edit] Operation Unity and Operation Concerted Strike
Things looked bleak for the Alpha races until the discovery of the RTN in Y195 by the famed Federation Galactic Survey cruiser Darwin, which was soon realised to be the Achilles' heel of the invasion force. Over the next few years the Alpha races severely disrupted the Network, facilitating a rolling back of Andromedan successes. The Magellanics had long known of the RTN, and the Iridani had made a similar discovery in the liberation of their Cluster, but neither were able to fully capitalise on their findings - unlike the allied Alpha powers, who took to the destruction of the RTN with great effectiveness.
Finally, in Y201, the allied races of the Alpha Octant launched Operation Unity, a three-pronged strike against the Lesser Magellanic Cloud, where in Y202 the Unity powers and the remaining Magellanic fleet assets destroyed the two remining Desecrator starbases, breaking the back of the invasion.
(Recent data presented in Module C5 indicates that there were three Desecrators in total present in the Cloud. The first was built in Y145 and destroyed by the Magellanics in Y154. The second was built in Y152, but remained undetected for several years. It was crippled by a Magellanic assault in Y163 and destroyed in Y202 while attempting to build a Devastator battleship. The third Desecrator was completed in Y158 and was also destroyed in Y202. In addition, the Andromedans had been attempting to build a new Desecrator in Iridani space, but these efforts were reversed when the Iridani re-took their home worlds.)
This action rescued the Omega Octant from the spectre of Andromedan domination, as well as cutting off support for any Andromedan forces in other parts of the galaxy. The last known stronghold in the Milky Way, in Omega's Ryn Nebula, was destroyed by a combined force of vessels from the Maesron Alliance, the Federal Republic of Aurora, the Probr Revolution, the Trobrin Empire and a host of other Omega allies in Y204, as a result of Operation Concerted Strike.
Afterwards, the Andromedans remained a nuisance for the Galactic and Magellanic races, but the spectre of full-scale war was finally removed.
[edit] References
- GURPS Prime Directive, 4th Edition
- Star Fleet Battles Module C2: New Worlds II
- Star Fleet Battles Module C3: New Worlds III
- Star Fleet Battles Module C5: The Magellanic Cloud
- Star Fleet Battles Module Ω3: The Omega Wars
- Federation Commander: Romulan Attack
- Captain's Log, issue 25
