Atlatl
System: Hawkes
Sector: Cooper
Atlatl is a barren, barely habitable world in the Hawkes system, and is one of only three planets in the star system. It lies the closest to its yellow dwarf star, about .8 A.U.s away. The planet was partially terraformed by the Arkhon before they ceded it to the Terran Protectorate as part of the Volo Accords. On the far side of Cooper’s Veil, with only scarred and troubled Volo within reasonable range, it did not attract a wealth of settlers. As a result, the Terran Protectorate turned the world into a fortress, housing a full battle fleet and an entire army of the Colonial Marines. Ares-Draconis colonists and Proletaran builders moved in at last, and the entire world became a part of the Protectorate’s military industrial complex and the center point of its defense against the Arkhon.
The main
military facility is a sprawling base known as
The Protectorate knew that if the Arkhon were to invade, they had to contend with Atlatl first. The belief was that the Arkhon did not have the political will to absorb the horrendous casualties the Protectorate military would inflict on them if they moved on Atlatl following the last war. They were wrong. The Arkhon have too much control over the flow of information in their territory. They sent a massive fleet to Atlatl, knowing they’d lose a significant portion of it. They also used, according to scattered reports, massive, high-yield nuclear devices and new, powerful strike cruisers. There was no finesse about their attack, just overwhelming brute force. The Arkhon believed, rightfully so, that by smashing the sector fleet for Cooper Sector at Atlatl, they could replace their losses before a shocked and off-balance Terran Protectorate could respond. The Arkhon knew war was coming, the Terran Protectorate did not. Ships to replace their losses were already in production.
However, the
victory at Atlatl was not complete. While they destroyed the fleet and chased
off the survivors, the marines and naval personnel on the surface proved to be
tougher than expected. The Stellar Navy fought valiantly even after it knew the
planet was lost, in order to ferry the wounded and crews of ships that could
not escape, as well as arms and armaments from the ravaged
The Arkhon have, so far, kept the system isolated, and while the Protectorate knows there are likely survivors, it has no real information on their current condition. What’s more, the Protectorate has no real plans to save them. It is clear that whatever is happening on Atlatl is tying up some of the Arkhon ground forces, and bleeding supplies and personnel. That’s a good thing for the war effort, and if the Protectorate mounted a successful rescue of the planet’s survivors, then the Arkhon would be free to send those forces against new targets. It is a cold, but calculating and reasoned, logic. However, the Protectorate still cares about its people, and is working on several plans to drop supplies, weapons and more troops on Atlatl, as well as to strike at the powerful enemy fleet presence there.
For the survivors, both military and civilian, it has been a nightmare. The Arkhon have unleashed scores of Spectral Hunters to attack the humans. Impervious to the radiation from Arkhon bombs, the cybernetic hunter-killers are merciless and tireless, and equipped with state-of-the-art weaponry, stealth and sensors to track down the resistance. They have also put a large number of Fallam troops on the surface, primarily because Arkhon soldiers don’t want to risk radiation poisoning and the Fallam are seen as expendable.
But the Colonial Marines and the surviving naval personnel refuse to give up, and refuse to be content with just surviving. They’ve made being an Arkhon a dangerous profession on Atlatl, using ambushes, hit-and-fade attacks, snipers and booby traps to whittle away at the enemy. They’ve destroyed a major airfield, killed the Arkhon landing force’s original commander, poisoned the Arkhon water supply, twice, and even snuck an explosive device into an enemy shuttle, which detonated on one of the Arkhon command ships, disabling it and killing a significant portion of its crew. However, their supplies and rad pills are running out. And attrition is beginning to wear on them.
Population: Unknown, was 4 million before the Arkhon conducted a limited nuclear bombardment. Estimates range from 60,000 to 200,000 survivors in total, not including Arkhon troops, of which there are 400,000 and climbing.
Controlling Clan: Formerly Ares-Draconis, now the Arkhon have control.
Diameter: 8,204 miles (13,203 km)
Atmosphere: Terraformed to be close to earth-like, but currently barely habitable due to radiation clouds, a dry “nuclear winter” and massive dust storms kicked up by high winds.
Gravity: 1.15 G
Calendar: 46 hour days, and a 216-day year.
Satellites: Three small moons; Kopesh, Dagger and Slingstone, and the Arkhon have captured the Atlatl Anchorage and are converting it into an Arkhon sector command station.
Defense Assets: The extent of the Arkhon forces are unknown, but they are believed to be arrayed in the system at fleet strength, and survivors say the equivalent of at least four full fleets folded into the system for the initial assault. Much of that fleet has dispersed to carry out the attack on the rest of Cooper sector, however, and they reportedly suffered significant losses in the attack. No more than two pinnances and a handful of fighters are believed to remain on the planet’s surface in the hands of Terran Protectorate troops.
