Shiver Station

A small outpost had been set up a few years ago on an otherwise unidentified world on the fringes of Recycler space. The planet possessed cold climate, but extensive geothermal activity. Shiver Station was actually a collection of three distinct main compounds:


 * 1) A small underground tank manufacturing & maintenance depot that leveraged the geothermals for industrial purposes. It also served as the power plant for the listening post and garrison. Vehicle crews had barracks on-site on the surface.
 * 2) An infantry garrison. Beyond the barracks building itself there was a few training grounds with rough concrete or metal fortifications scattered about leading to the tank depot.
 * 3) A small airport and listening post linked with off-world monitoring equipment, a bit further away than the first two

Shiver Station was not exclusively used for military purposes when the Draftdrive lines brought civilian ships past them. The operators would guide ships to their international destinations or broadcast frequencies for ships to rally at for in-space transactions. For this purpose, a small fuel depot operated seasonally in the system. Still, the site firmly fell in the category of ‘remote’, and turned out to be the unexpected starting point of the brutal Repzork-Betel front.

A Repzork Plan
When the 489th Armada began planning their assault into Recycler territory, Star Marshal Vinien chose this area of space as the ideal entry point for Repzork Forces. Field Marshal Ghanaz was to organize the capture of the capture of the listening post as part of a ground assault. While a small scale incursion by special forces would have accomplished the task, Ghanaz was uneasy about the Zaretian’s earlier defeat and wanted his officers to get a sense of what they might be dealing with for when the fight moved on to more operation-critical worlds. Thus, a conventional landing force was prepared.

Conflagration at Shiver Station
On the day of the assault, Vinien’s ships came out of warp on the edges of the system and began making for Shiver Station. The sensors planetside lit up immediately – efforts began in earnest to try and get a message out to the next system over to call for help. With no space assets to resist them, the Repzork ships reached the station quickly and began launching landing craft. Reconnaissance had identified the two barracks and the listening post, but the underground depot went unnoticed. Sensors also picked up some primitive anti-air defenses near the infantry garrison. An orbital strike was quickly authorized on the spot, shattering the crust and bringing forth a spectacular display of molten lava. The resulting ash clouds would end up obscuring the entire area, making further strikes too risky.

Before the clouds could fully block the area, however, most Repzork pilots managed to get boots on the ground. The landing point was between the garrison and the depot, with the intent to divide the Betel troops. Recycler infantry caught out during exercise saw the orbital strike and subsequent burning clouds and resolved to fall back away from the garrison and towards the depot. Using the training fortifications, efforts were made to dig in and hold the landing forces at bay in the fields until armoured or air support could arrive. Neither side was able to push a resolution, and the front line devolved into a chaotic mess. The landing Repzork troops were unprepared for the contingent of tanks, and mobile anti-air was able to prevent further landings when Repzork pilots dared to press. Betel skirmishers had spread out into the surrounding landscape taking out targets of opportunity. A heroic rescue operation was launched by low-flying transports to save the infantry trapped at the garrison, which successfully evacuated valuable soldiers back to the depot and listening post.

The Show Must Go On
With no other option than glassing their own troops, the Repzork had to simply wait and see how the fight played out. To discourage further monitoring, orbital bombardment was called down on the listening post, slaughtering anyone not in the air. Ships were to begin launching their assault from the system into the next objectives before resistance could be put up. A small contingent was left behind to support the ongoing ground invasion. Landings were performed far away from the action and ash clouds, but they remained over a days drive away.

Relieving the Defenders
The relayed message reached Brave Commanders & Bulwarks who had been preparing for a Zaretian attack, not a Repzork one. A massive logistical undertaking was haphazardly thrown together, with Helmwehr troops trying to intercept Repzork movements beyond Shiver Station to try and stem the tide. Overlance Irukon however managed to get together Bulwarks and quickly launch a relief mission for those trapped at Shiver Station in an attempt to flank the Repzork.

The skeleton crew of Ghost Eater ships found themselves outgunned when faced with the massive storm of frigates that entered the system. Vinien had already sent out the fleets, and the grand offensive was too far along to pull back necessary ships. To cement the outcome, a kamikaze charge by a Razik pilot crashed into the external fuel tanks of the fuel depot that was being secured by Repzork marines, obliterating the facility and taking their parent capital ship with it. The Reyclers took casualties but won one of their only space victories in the early phases of the war with the Repzork. With the high orbitals secured, remaining ground troops at Shiver Station fell back to take cover at the fortified underground depot while Holnoks providing space artillery support. Spear Captains began scrambling photon gunships to go planetside, drop off reinforcements and harass the advancing Repzork second wave as it scattered to reduce orbital damage. With only small clusters of disorganized Repzork left, the Betel were evacuated by triumphant Photons. For some of these soldiers, their duty was only just beginning as they were pressed into service as extra Marauder squads.

Epilogue
Shiver Station itself was strategically not particularly valuable, but Recycler delays and surprise victories here threw the disciplined plans of the 489th into turmoil. The Sky Spears would continue to heavily harass Repzork fleets, but soon learned these engagements would only get more and more costly. The defense has been touted as a major strategic success, as it drastically slowed down the advance and shrank effective supply lines long enough for Helmwehr forces to get planetside and entrench themselves, which was the catalyst for the bogged down nature of the front.

Eventually the Repzork sent down a party to investigate the remnants of the bases. Shockingly, there were still a small number of Repzork that had been trapped on the planet left without a long range radio.