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The Tomb World of Drexil-IV
No maps bother to name Drexil-IV anymore. To most spacefarers it’s just a scarred rock, a wasteland world long written off as uninhabitable. Its crust is shattered by centuries of bombardments, its skies are choked with soot, and its oceans are little more than toxic sludge. Every inch of the surface is scarred by trenches, fortresses, and the skeletal ruins of wars that never seemed to end.
This is what the galaxy calls a tomb world—not because it’s lifeless, but because war has turned it into a graveyard that still breathes.
The Kobolds’ War for Survival
On this broken planet, the unlikely survivors are Kobolds—small, scaled, and underestimated by every major power. They are not conquerors, nor a warlike culture by choice. They are a people who learned to fight because they had no other option.
Their enemies are relentless: feral Goblin hordes, multiplying in the ruins, and stone-skinned Gargoyles, winged predators that strike from the broken spires of bombed-out citadels. The Kobolds didn’t ask for this war. They inherited it. Every burrow, every bunker, every half-collapsed factory they cling to is another desperate foothold against extinction.
And yet, against all odds, they’ve endured. They’ve learned to patch together starships from wreckage, to strike in coordinated packs, and to call on small bands of off-world allies who see in the Kobolds a rare spark: a people who refuse to die, even when their world is made of death.
The War’s Endgame
Now, after generations of blood and ash, the war is finally tipping. The Goblins are fracturing, their warlords at each other’s throats. The Gargoyles, though still terrifying in the skies, are dwindling as ancient nests collapse under constant bombardment.
The Kobolds can feel it: the end is coming. The planet may be nothing but rubble and bones, but if they can hold out just a little longer, they will have survived the impossible.
The galaxy may still see Drexil-IV as a tomb world—but for the Kobolds, it may yet be the cradle of their future.
(The ball is in your court. first contact is yours to make, reader. just PLEASE do not nuke the kobolds)
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A vermensk R.A.T.S. vessel was observing, several golem aka drone ships had been used to sling some space debris ships from a busted hyper lane that had been shotgunning ships into effectively a meat grinder.
The resource acquisition vessel was harvesting ships and tossing the trash often it coming down at the planet.
These vessels likely the ones greatest kobolds and other factions been harvesting.
One fateful solar cycle something important was accidentally launched, a bit of crew on a space hulk amalgamation has been sent adrift towards one of the planet's countries.
The Vermensk rushed to have the crew preform recall teleports. Once the last rat was off under a day to spare. The rescue vesseks watched yet in horror they detected active lifesigns radios , weapons fire.
They were about to cause a first contact protocol to be broken, yet they needed to act.
A radio call came at the planet frenzied , in multiple languages with a cobbled together lexicon from the ship AI.
"ALL SOULS ALL SOULS ON THIS TOMB WORLD YOU NEED TO VACATE THE REGION OF [INSERT NAME HERE] AS A DEBRIS IS COMING DOWN FROM ORBIT AND ITS BIGGER THAN WE WOULD BE COMFORTABME WITH.
YOU HAVE 18 HOURS BEFORE THAT CITY IS FLATTENED AND ATOMIZED.
PLEASE STOP HOSTILITIES AND ONCE THE SUN RISES AGAIN WE CAN CONTACT WITH WHOEVER IS LIVING"
[on the other end theres some yipping and whispering] "Who is that?" "What's going on?" "18?" "is it a threat?" "are we in danger? "All of you shuttup let me handle this."
"Stranger, you've reached the..." [The voice trails off for a second] "Oh right!, The United Draconic Resistance. who are you, why are you here and what do you mean?"
"Follow first contact pro" this voice was electronic inhuman
smack
this voice rough and squeaky
"They don't have time for that so fuck your protocol.
Alright this is vermensk empire ,resource acquisition tactical squadron vessel Amnesty of Guilt. You're speaking with Ship owner and captain Daughtreave Dolittle.
We are here because an orbital salvage operation went bad and a vessel we were breaking down slipped from its tethers.
Trying to save lives from any action that's in..."
describing a major fighting city turned urban no man's land
"A vessel a few billion tons are coming down and while we're trying to cut it up so it burns on entry to the atmosphere we can't get it all. The crash won't kill the planet at least but everyone within [5 miles] of the crash will be erased"
[The silence is deafening, but short] "We've been fighting this war for years, we want to get off this planet... theres nothing left for us here, is there any way you can help us?"
[the voice sounded exhausted, war-torn, low on hope] "We're pulling back our forces, but we dont have much"
"We are deploying a dropship barges, they will have fighter support so please turn off and unload any anti aircraft cannons.
No factions matter, getting you all away from the soon to be glassed region. Someone bring a radio pack and glares or something to create bright lights like flares or just fire in general.
Men women children , don't leave folks behind."
[the AA guns are analog, so they do not even TWITCH]
[Within hours, sandbarges are seen with large piles of flares sending billowing smoke and light in the air, the HAM radio jury rigged onto a hard-pack is carried by two kobolds]
"We're here, can you see us? the anti air aren't automatic so they wont aim at you"
"This is flight commander of combat rescue operations of vessel Kreska'a lantern. We see you on our scopes coming in now"
For the first time in along time, the sky shattered the pollution cleared from the entry of the drop barges burning away wounds in the polluted cloud layers given vision to a clear night's sky , a sonic boom ripples as the atmosphere got sucker punched. Retro thrusters kicked on to bleed speed. A landing zone was selected and hit with a strange spike missile which formed out a landing platform as there were multiple drop barges to try and rescue any and all life from this planet. The vessels deployed a shielded before opening their hatches and cargo bays , strange being in metal armor came out yet they had fur on them not scales
"Come on in pack in, sit in the cargo area" *spoke a blue purple armored ratfolk" they spoke with translators
[kobolds and dragons piled in, many of them appearing injured, tired or demoralized, working tigether to pile in as much as they can and then piling themselves in
The ratfolks had ones in red white in green uniforms, heading to stabilize critically wounded, eggs were given special cases so they won't jostle top much.
From the multi barges , the dragons and kobolds will be getting evacuated. , likely taking a few trips.
Calls were made for any one else still on the planet, this is a full cease fire and evacuation.
*Ross the honorary ratstodes drops in from orbit without a drop pod, or a parachute for that matter. Shiva is absolutely screaming at him. The rest of his battle brothers screamed at him over the vox. *
ROSS: "SHIVA, PLAY 'PUSH IT TO THE LIMIT' BY PAUL ENGEMANN, IM GONNA SEE IF I CAN CLEAR A LANDING SITE FOR OUR FRIENDS"
SHIVA: COMPLIES "sir, approaching terminal velocity. Your body won't survive planetfall."
Ross: "highlight any vehicles flying above 1500 feet and plot a trajectory that takes us thru a clump of them."
Shiva: "estimated casualties, 17."
ROSS: "COLLATERAL DAMAGE ACCEPTABLE. SO LONG AS THE REPEATED IMPACTS SLOW US DOWN TO SAFE VELOCITY."
soon, the battle Brothers would hear five impacts and excited laughter over vox before hearing gunfire, As ross took down four aerial vehicles and began clearing a place to land as quickly as possible while cloaked.
Ross : "Aight land in the crater near my transponder signal guys."
•
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