EV: Interlude: Battle Of Kangju

Iapetus' fleet was burning all around him as the Exalted Jade Emperor, Yu Huang Shang Ti, sat on his command throne in the Pel'tac of his flagship, the Ha'tak Cruiser Tian Lung. Lord Yu smirked as he watched the tactical screens. Iapetus' Fleet wasn't as large or as technically advanced as his own modified Ha'taks, but he had made up for that with morale and suicidal tactics. More than once, a Jaffa Crew of one of Iapetus' Al'kesh Gunships had decided it was better to die in the service of their God while at least taking an enemy ship with them and attempted to suicide ram one of Lord Yu's ships. He had lost two Ha'tak Cruisers and a quartet of Al'kesh Gunships to such tactics.

Now, however, that tactic had played out for Iapetus, and the Titan Lord of Kangju had no more suicidal cards left to play. Not if he wished to have any ships remaining at all to maintain control of orbit. Lord Yu's smirk widened into a smile as he noticed one of the four remaining Ha'taks of Iapetus' Defense Fleet ping the sensors of the Tian Lung, a pre-arranged signal used by his boarding parties to notify their Lord that they had captured an enemy vessel. That would at least salvage one of his lost cruisers, though the vessel would need repairs to be properly fielded again, as well as a new name. What sort of name for a Warship was Tachys Spourgítis, anyway? The very sound of it tasted foul on his tongue.

Regardless, as the vessel changed from Red to Blue on the tactical plot, indicating an allied ship, Lord Yu turned to his First Prime. Wei Han was dutifully manning his station, keeping an eye on the battle and waiting to hear his Lord's Command, as a leal subject should in the presence of his Emperor. He nodded at the Jaffa to draw his attention, and Wei Han, ever dutiful, snapped his gaze over to the Jade Emperor, tossing off a salute in the process that made Lord Yu's grin widen further.

"My Lord? What are your orders?" Questioned Wei Han.

"It is time to end this battle once and for all and begin the planetary assault. Order the Tiānshàng Ji and its reserve division to advance on the enemy's flank. We have winnowed them down enough, and they have even helped in that regard by throwing their lives away recklessly for little gain." Commanded Lord Yu.

"As you will, My Lord. However, there is the vulnerability of such a move." Pointed out Wei Han.

"You believe the Enemy will attempt more suicide ramming? At this juncture?" Queried Lord Yu.

"I would not presume to know what goes on in the minds of such barbarians, My Lord, but they are on death ground, after all." Pointed out Wei Han.

Lord Yu frowned at that. Having his First Primes all be clones of Sun Tzu, his original First Prime came with certain tactical mindsets. All his First Primes tended to be wedded to the treatises and texts that Sun Tzu had pioneered or revolutionized. That wasn't a bad thing, per se. The Art of War was still highly applicable in a wide variety of situations, after all. In the end, Lord Yu recognized the wisdom in heeding the advice of his First Prime. After all, had he not chosen this particular method of procuring First Primes for a reason? He nodded at Wei Han, taking the advice under consideration as he amended his commands.

"Very well, Old Friend. I see the wisdom in your advice. Have the Tiānshàng Ji's reserve division approach in Skirmish Order, just in case. That ought to lessen the risks of such wasteful and moronic tactics." Ordered Lord Yu.

"As you say, My Lord, it will be done." Nodded Wei Han before saluting once again and moving back to his station to relay Lord Yu's order.

Satisfied that this battle was now all but over, Lord Yu sat back in his command throne, eyes glued to the tactical screen as he watched the end of the Battle Over Kangju unfold before him. Five Ha'tak Cruisers and Ten Al'kesh Gunships, led by the Tiānshàng Ji under the command of Oshu, a Second Prime and another Clone of Sun Tzu, though Lord Yu altered Oshu's Genetic Recipe just enough that any physical resemblance between him and Wei Han would seem incidental and distant. It was easy to alter physical features, after all, but the formidable intellect of the Original was the thing that Lord Yu consistently demanded his Clones of Sun Tzu retain. It was one of the very few things that Lord Yu wouldn't ever change about the genetic recipe of the various Sun Tzu Clones that served him as First Prime. He could tinker with muscle density, physical appearance, Prim'ta Compatibility, and a whole host of other things, within reason, but he would never tinker with the Intellect of a prospective First Prime. To do so would not only be counterproductive, but also be an insult to the man who provided the Genetic Template, and who Lord Yu had loved like a son.

Regardless of any physical changes that Lord Yu had made to his Genetic Recipe, Oshu had been brought up in Lord Yu's Court like a son to his Emperor, the same as he had done for the Original Sun Tzu, and would replace Wei Han when his current First Prime entered his dotage, which would likely happen sometime in the next decade, as the years caught up even to Wei Han's enhanced Jaffa Constitution. For now, however, Oshu needed the seasoning that being allowed to strike the finishing blow in such an important battle would provide if he were to truly become the frontrunner for the next First Prime. That was something that Lord Yu was eager to provide, since it meant his plans would remain on track for the future.

As Lord Yu reminisced, however, the thing that Wei Han had warned him would happen occurred. One of the remaining enemy Ha'taks, with the ghastly barbarian name of Ágrios Kriós, according to the tactical screen, attempted to ram into the advancing line of Oshu's Reserve Division. It therefore proved a wise and prudent decision for Lord Yu to have listened to Wei Han's concerns and advice. The looser skirmish order allowed the Tiānshàng Ji and its Reserve Division to break apart and avoid the suicide ram. As they did so, the Tiānshàng Ji unloaded a full broadside of staff cannon fire into the rear of the Ágrios Kriós, breaking through the already failing shields and disabling the engines of the Enemy Ha'tak, before continuing on its journey. As he watched the tactical Screen, Lord Yu's grin turned wolfish as another of his Ha'tak's, the Xùnsù Zhàn Chē, sent boarding parties to capture the disabled Ha'tak, staying behind to lend support, along with a pair of Al'kesh to do so. That would recoup his other lost Ha'tak, though again, yard time would be required to properly field the ship once more, plus another name change.

Within the next forty-five minutes, the hammer of the Tiānshàng Ji and its reserve division pummeled the last of the Enemy's Ha'tak's into submission, leaving them both so much twisted wreckage drifting in orbit of Kangju. The Ágrios Kriós sent over its capture ping to the sensors of the Tian Lung not too long afterward. The battle in orbit had only taken three hours. Now, Lord Yu knew what he could do to hasten the surrender of the planet. Once again, he nodded at Wei Han, catching his First Prime's attention. The Dutiful man saluted and made his way back over to Lord Yu's command throne.

"My Lord? You have more orders?" Asked Wei Han.

"I do. Our scans of Kangju revealed Iapetus had built a new capital complex, complete with a magnificent palace in that Barbarian Hellenic style of his. That will be where the defense is being coordinated from. I want it destroyed before we land Jaffa." Commanded Lord Yu.

"I can task some of our Al'kesh Gunships to deal that blow. However, the casualties among the peasantry of Iapetus' Capital will be substantial." Warned Wei Han.

"But not total, and should they survive the bombardment, they will learn that their new Lord can be benevolent as well as wrathful. See to it." Insisted Lord Yu.

"At once, My Lord." Saluted Wei Han before moving off to relay those orders.

Lord Yu sat back in his command throne, grinning as he watched the tactical screen. Three of his Al'kesh Gunships broke away from the fleet, heading for the planet, escorted by three squadrons of Ptah-class Fightercraft. That escort proved prudent as no sooner had the Al'kesh entered low orbit above Iapetus' new capital and palace than a group of Ptah-class Fighters rose up to meet them. Lord Yu could admit that while these Hellenics may be Barbarians, serving under the wrong master, they at least had courage. There were only two squadrons to face the three escorting his Al'kesh. That wasn't nearly enough to prevent the inevitable from occurring, but it seemed the Hellenic Jaffa would still try to stave off doom regardless.

As the dogfight over Iapetus' Capital commenced, it soon became clear that the enemy Jaffa's Skill at piloting was no less than the skill of his own Jaffa as well. Iapetus must have held back the most experienced pilots he had for the defense of his capital. A pity that Lord Yu's own Jaffa would have to shoot them down to carry out their orders. Lord Yu could use pilots of such skill, even if they were Hellenic Barbarians. In the end, however, the outcome was never in doubt, and though his Jaffa Pilots had their own share of casualties, the Enemy Pilots' casualties were total. Twenty minutes after arriving in low orbit, the bombardment mission was proceeding once again, as the short but brutal dogfight concluded.

Five minutes later, Lord Yu's Al'kesh opened up with their plasma warhead launchers on Iapetus' New Capital. Predictably, a large city-sized theater shield sprang up to meet the warheads, but there was only so much punishment that a shield could take without falling. Plasma Warheads were capable of damaging Ha'taks. They were the primary weapon Al'kesh used in anti-Ha'tak operations, after all, as their own Staff Cannons were too small to do more than degrade a Ha'tak's shields slightly. As the Theater Shield rippled from the force of dozens of impacts from that caliber of weapon over the course of the next hour, Lord Yu knew it wouldn't hold. Indeed, after an hour of bombardment, the theater shield protecting the city winked out, its generators overloaded from the punishment it had taken. Then the bombardment began in earnest, starting with Iapetus' Palace and the Government District.

By the time Lord Yu began landing troops an hour later, all that was left of Iapetus' New Capital was rubble and fused glass. Command and Control for Iapetus' Jaffa had collapsed entirely, and while Lord Yu's Jaffa were reporting casualties mounting, they were well within tolerances for a world whose Lord was Cronus' own Brother. After ten hours of fighting, the Ethnic Han populace still on parts of Kangju rose up to aid their Emperor's Forces. That cut down on casualties drastically.

Twelve hours after arrival in the Kangju system, the last of Iapetus' Forces surrendered to the forces of the Jade Emperor. Iapetus himself had seemingly been slain during the bombardment of his palace complex. Lord Yu had won. Kangju was now in his hands. A masterful victory, and one he expected to follow up on as soon as he could. As it would turn out, this would technically be the first complete victory of the Campaign, beating out his Nephew's Victory at Wusun by two hours. As it should be, in Lord Yu's mind. After all, his nephew may be a Young Dragon, but Lord Yu was an old hand at this.

Lord Yu had tricks to teach his nephew yet, and if Erlang Shen's filial piety held, he would take notice and listen. . .

XXXX

AN: All right, so here we have the Battle of Kangju from Lord Yu's perspective. Lord Yu may be more inclined than the overwhelming majority of Go'auld to work toward mutually beneficial arrangements and to not actively oppress his subjects when he doesn't have to, but he can still be damned ruthless as any Go'auld. In this case, his bombardment of Iapetus' Capital may have sped up the timeline for victory on Kangju significantly, but it also came with lots of collateral damage in terms of the civilian population, as any strategic bombing campaign would. Erlang Shen, meanwhile, is insisting on fighting clean, which is tacking time onto his victory at Wusun, even with the Saka Warriors and other tricks he has at his disposal.

At any rate, the next chapter will have us back with Erlang Shen for the land campaign at Wusun. Then we'll be onto the next pair of battles at Yuezhi and Yancai, which will take place before Cronus' Counterattack gets off the ground.

Stay tuned. . .