Re: Rise of the Remorhaz Society
 

Cool. Loved the description of the Ukratal world.

Re: Rise of the Remorhaz Society
 

Thanks. I'm working on adding more flavor text to my writing. I have a habit of getting so wrapped up in the plot that I forget that the readers aren't able to see the scenes that I'm playing out in my mind, so I'm going to have to do a better job describing them.

Re: Rise of the Remorhaz Society
 

Very nice read. Thank you Sachmo. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Re: Rise of the Remorhaz Society
 

Excellent! It's great to know that you're still out there and Remorhazing. :-)

Re: Rise of the Remorhaz Society
 

So I just started reading In Death Ground by David Weber...and I realized that much of my stuff (character names, mostly, but other things as well) sound a lot like his stuff. I have read some other books by Weber, but I have not tried to directly rip him off. Even though it appears that I have. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Re: Rise of the Remorhaz Society
 

I don't think your going to get away from this kind of thing though in modern Sci-Fi. The last truly original Sci-Fi idea would have been Serenity, IMHO, and that was killed off prety damn quick. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/frown.gif

Its all been done before, no more room or originality. If you think it up, chances are ten others have already thought it up and wrote books.

I like your writing, will continue to enjoy reading it even it you think it reminds you of Weber's work. Screw Weber, your story is much more enjoyable to read because its HERE and its about Space Empires. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Re: Rise of the Remorhaz Society
 

Well, part of it is that Space Empires is based on Starfire...

...And In Death Ground (And the rest of the series) are directly based on a series of Starfire campaigns.

Re: Rise of the Remorhaz Society
 

Oh, I agree, and considering the birth of the story, I'm surprised it's not more heavily influenced by other authors, but even my writing sounds a bit like his, and I'm finding that I'm not a big fan. The characters come across as a bit silly at times, and he seems to force the characters into situations that they don't fit into. It's hard to explain, but at least it gives me an idea of how I don't want the story to sound...although when Weber is writing battle scenes, all literary weaknesses are forgiven. He is very good at battle scenes! (in space, anyway!)


Narf---

Can you tell me more about how Space Empires grew from Starfire? Or anyone? I knew the stories and technology sounded very similar, but I really don't know anything about Starfire itself and would love to hear some stories.

Re: Rise of the Remorhaz Society
 

It's just something I've heard around the forum. Supposedly, Aaron said so.

Sorry, I don't remember more than that.

Re: Rise of the Remorhaz Society
 

Unrest

2414.4

One side effect of the defeat of the Rage empire was that the Remorhaz Society added twenty-one worlds populated almost exclusively by Rage to her rolls. Since the Rage were a race of semi-sentient robots, this presented a number of challenges to the Remorhaz leadership. While the ultimate question of how to incorporate these beings into the citizenship of the society was still an open issue, often referred to as �The Rage Question�, the day to day operations of these colonies had to continue. The reality of the situation was that the industrial output of these worlds was impossible to ignore, and so a solution was needed. Late in the war, it was discovered that the Rage were controlled by a being known as a primary sequencer. The primary sequencer had total control of the actions of every Rage under its control, and instant awareness of everything any Rage drone was experiencing. While no one was quite sure how the primary sequencers were able to exert control over millions of drones, it was obvious that there were vital to their society. During the war, Remorhaz forces learned that if the primary sequencer could be destroyed, the drones would cease operating until another primary sequencer could be found. In many cases, the Rage drones would substitute a single human for a primary sequencer, most often if they were out of range of a superior primary sequencer. This was quite a hazardous role for a human, since if the drones detected another primary sequencer that conflicted with their own, they would attempt to destroy it, not to mention the strain a human would be subjected to trying to control an entire planet filled with sentient robots. The Research Guild quickly produced a substitute sequencer facility, called a sequencer station, and installed one in each of the newly controlled Rage colonies. This allowed the human leadership to direct the efforts of the drones without subjecting themselves, and the drones, to the hazards of primary sequencer conflicts.

For Governor Hanna Wentworth-Bay, life among the Rage was an odd experience. She was raised in the metropolis that was Turian, the capitol of Remorhaz. Life in a human city was colorful, loud, and electric. Things were happening everywhere you looked. There was a hum, and it was comforting to her. Here on Sutran, one of the Rage worlds, things were different. Other than her staff and the thousand-odd human scattered across the surface of the planet, there was very little happening, other than labor. The Rage drones worked. That was it. They had no need for entertainment, they did not seem to need rest. They carried out their orders without question or hesitation. Their communication was silent and only took place as needed. Other than the din of production, there was no noise. It was quite unnerving at times, and was part of the reason her predecessor resigned his post. She hoped that these feelings of strangeness and isolation would pass soon, and her resolve told her that she would be able to deal with it. After all, the were advantages to governing a planet filled with tireless workforce. Efficiency topped 97% in her first three months on the job, which was unheard of on non-Rage worlds. With some improvements to processes and equipment upgrades, Sutran would easily become one of the top mineral producing worlds in the Society. A few years here would help launch her into the Senate, and maybe one day into the Chairman�s seat. So for now, the unease was the price to pay for advancing her career.

She was preparing her status report for the Senate when her datapad chimed a tone that took her a moment to recall the meaning of. The efficiency rate for mine 233 was dropping. She frowned and watched it for a few more moments as it continued to fall. Some sort of accident, she thought, and then saw that the efficiency rate for mine 234 was dropping though the floor as well. She activated her com unit.
�Hi Josh,� she said to her chief aide as soon as his face appeared, �anything I need to know about at 233?�
Josh looked concerned as well.
�I�m checking it out now, governor. We haven�t heard back from Imbawa yet,� he said, referring to the foreman of the mine.
�Can you open a feed and pipe it up to me?� she asked.
Josh nodded. �Right away.�
The feed snapped into view in moments, and Hanna feared what she would see. In her mind, she expected to see fire, or signs of an explosion; something that would explain the drop in efficiency at the mine.
Instead, she saw nothing. Well, she saw something, but all that she saw were hundreds of drones standing in the shaft, frozen. She stared at the screen, eyes darting back and forth, watching for something to move, but nothing did. They had just stopped.
She brought up the efficiency stats and superimposed them over a planetary map. From the center point at mine 233, the efficiency was dropping in all of the mines and factories around it.
She keyed the com unit to connect with the sequencer station. A technician she was not acquainted with answered the channel.
�Sequencer station, Jax speaking,� the technician said.
�Jax, I am governor Wentworth-Bay,� she said. The technician looked nervous. �Can you tell me how things are going down there?�
Jax looked off screen for a moment, then back at her.
�Well, governor, we aren�t quite sure what�s happening. The drones are dropping offline. It started about ten minutes ago, and it appears to be spreading out from a central point in..mine 233.�
Hanna waited for him to continue, and nodded to let him know she was following and not going to interrupt his train of thought.
�Our signal is still going out, but the drones are no longer responding. Not only that, but we�re getting no data return from them.� He looked back off-screen. �Let me let you talk to the senior tech, ma�am.�
Before she could respond, the channel changed and she was connected with Lars Demien, the head sequencer technician. Demien had been part of the prototype testing of the sequencers, and he knew it very well. His face betrayed his concern.
�Hi, Hanna,� he said, never one to stand on ceremony, �I�m not exactly sure what�s going on here, but my best guess would be that we have a new pri sec out there,� he said, referring to a primary sequencer.
Hanna drew in a breath. Lars� words gave life to the worst fears of everyone on the Rage worlds, if not the entire Society. The Rage were defeated and their worlds captured. The war was over when the last primary sequencers were hunted down and destroyed. There was no doubt that they had all been destroyed; until now.
�I think we should start moving with that hypothesis,� he said.
She nodded, but hesitated.
�You need me to confirm this for you,� he said, a frown on his face. �Let me tell you something, Hanna. If there is a sequencer, things are going to happen quickly, ok? I�ll try my best to get you hard proof, but we don�t want to get caught with our pants down. The drones have no loyalty, as you know. They�ll do whatever they are told by the most senior pri sec. My guess is that we are still safe, but I don�t know for how long.�
She nodded. They had contingency plans, but they weren�t very well thought out, because no one really knew how the Rage operated.
�Keep me informed, Lars,� she muttered.
�You need to get the humans together, governor, at the very least.�
She nodded.
�Consider it done, Lars.�
He stared at her for a hard second and then cut the com.
Hanna put her head in her hands to let out a deep breath.
If there were a new primary sequencer out there, the entire planet could turn hostile in moments. However, if there were some other explanation and she rounded everyone up and called out the troops it would make her appear foolish at best, and weak at worst.
Minutes passed as she weighed her options.
Finally, she keyed her com once more, and Lars face appeared.
�I was just about to com you, Hanna,� he said.
�Good news, I hope,� she chuckled.
�The drones from mine 233 are moving, governor,� he said.
He eyes widened. So fast, she thought. She quickly opened the feed to 233, and saw that he was right. The shaft was empty.
�Where are they headed, Lars?� she asked.
His eyes remained calm as he spoke.
�Here ma�am. They�re going to destroy the pretender,� he said. �But at least you have proof now.�

Thanks to the quick action of the garrison on Sutran, the crew at the sequencer station was saved before the drone army destroyed the station, but across the planet, there were casualties. All of the humans in the mines where the new primary sequencer was created were slaughtered, over 150 in all. Hanna and the rest of the humans were evacuated off planet into the Sutran shipyard, where the Rage drones were quickly dispatched by the garrison troops. From here Hanna learned that a similar fate had gripped the colonies of Gordov and Isla Bella, but advanced warning had helped save most of the human lives on those worlds. In the space of a week, Remorhaz had lost three worlds to the Rage; an enemy whom they had thought defeated.
Tolland, the last human-held world in the Sutran system, was being used as a staging point for the Army. Since there were no weapons for the Rage to use on the three lost worlds, retaking the planets would not be as tough as the initial invasions had been, but troops had to be mustered before any sort of offensive could be mounted. Worse, they were not able to detect the new primary sequencers, which meant that the Rage had learned a new way to hide them from prying eyes.

On every Rage colony around the Society, garrison troops were to be deployed as soon as possible, even as troops prepared to return to the fray and hunt down the new sequencers; by hand if need be. �The Rage Question� was going to need to be resolved much sooner than anyone thought.

Re: Rise of the Remorhaz Society
 

[b]AWSOME[b] Simply [b]AWSOME[b]

Thank you very much for posting an new chapter.

Re: Rise of the Remorhaz Society
 

Well, I'm thinking about starting a new story. This one is just too long for anyone to go back and start from the beginning, and it wasn't that good to start with, so look for a new story soon!

The new story will be loosely based on the Carrier Battles mod...if I can ever figure out how it work. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Re: Rise of the Remorhaz Society
 

Well, you could always turn the complete AI on, fast forward through the first 50 turns, then watch it play another 50-100 turns, and see if any interesting stories pop out at you.

Re: Rise of the Remorhaz Society
 

I actually already have a framework in mind...I just need to get a game going to see how things fall out. It looks like so much fun!

Re: Rise of the Remorhaz Society
 

Oh, it is http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif
Particularily when you pull off a pincer attack against an attempted ambush with way more ships than you have (300 vs 400). Resulting in the annihilation of half the enemy navy, two legendary fleets, and a score of Elite ships at the cost of only a third of your navy being put out of commission for repairs.

Ah, when strategy, tactics, ship design, and the unique ships of whimsy come together, it is beautiful.

Everybody thinks Plasma Cannon Battleships are a the ravings of a madman with far too many radioactives in storage. But boy, did they every clean up in that battle (click me) http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/laugh.gif

Re: Rise of the Remorhaz Society
 

Awesome! Well, the story will be based around the main theme of the mod, but I'll see how PCBs fit in as well. It all depends on which characters are more fun.

I hate to leave Remorhaz behind, but...it's so huge now.

Re: Rise of the Remorhaz Society
 

Heh. I'm kinda curious as to what you would describe as the main theme of the mod.

The name itself is a legacy thing from back when me and geo were talking about making a modern naval type system.

If you try to go 100% carriers, you'll probably lose. I suggest 20% each to carriers, missile support, point defense, close assault and long range assault. With the missile, and assault ships subdivided into anti-ship and anti-fighter classes.

In CB3, I'm only managing about 4% carriers, but they are larger in the old version, so it is not as bad as it sounds.

PS:
A finalized version of CBv1.6 is posted.
http://www.shrapnelcommunity.com/thr...?Number=433765

Re: Rise of the Remorhaz Society
 

Is 1.6 ready for single player?

Re: Rise of the Remorhaz Society
 

Yes. Version 1.6 of CBmod has a strong AI.

Re: Rise of the Remorhaz Society
 

Man I really do miss reading this story. You shoud do one more chapter to wrap it up. You know finish it off with the romulans blowing up their star or something.

Re: Rise of the Remorhaz Society
 

Haven't played the game since I wrote the last installment. Not sure if I can play this game without writing about it.

Re: Rise of the Remorhaz Society
 

Boy, when I saw this thread again with new posts I thought (hoping anyway)there was a new chapter. I guess I'll have to reread the story again to satisfy the craving.

Re: Rise of the Remorhaz Society
 

there will be a wrap up. I started playing this game again, and as I said before, I think the story just became too long. So, I'm going to at least try to break the stalemate with the Ukra-Tal and provide a recap for those that are interested.

Next story I think I'll play a game first and write the story after. That way I don't have to worry about ending the story on a downer. Well, at least I'll have the choice. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/laugh.gif

Re: Rise of the Remorhaz Society
 

One word: A W E S O M E!!!

Re: Rise of the Remorhaz Society
 

Let’s see...sachmo, is it? Let me tell you a story.

I got SE5 some time ago,. I’ve played it, and it was good. Just recently, I’ve started to venture out, take tentative steps to looks for interesting SE5 content. A search brought me to the SE wiki. From there, shipsets intrigued me, and from there, I went to spaceempires.net. From there, I noticed they had a fan fiction section. I looked at the list, and by sheer happenstance, I clicked on “Rise of the Remorhaz Society”. The 51-page length was slightly intimidating, but I decided to read a few pages anyway.

The Rise of the Remorhaz Society was a story that, while it didn’t seem like much at first, drew me in, kept me wanting to find out what happened next “just because”. And I experienced what I think is truly great. As I got deeper and deeper into the story, I grew more and more enamored with it. While it didn’t start out this way, the story was eventually blended so seamlessly with the game itself that, instead of the game writing the plot, it felt like the plot was writing itself, with no game. The characters, many as they were, all seemed real, their own individual struggles, failures, and successes became the story itself.

As I continued, I was moved by it. I was elated with the successes of the Remorhaz, and saddened by their losses. When the Norak were defeated, the Norak integration subplot you created was something I had to see the next of. The war with the Rage Collective, particularly the taking of their planets and getting to learn how their populations worked, was gripping. And the Ukra-Tal war was keenly felt in its brutality with their organic weapons. But, by far, the best, most triumphant point in the whole story, was when Trilek gave his speech to the Remorhaz Senate to allow the Norak to serve in the Remorhaz military. That was something truly wonderful.

But, do you know what my greatest disappointment with this story is?

It’s. Not. Finished.

I caught up to page 51, and was confronted with what I feared: there wasn’t anything beyond this point yet. So, I noticed there was a link at the bottom where feedback could be give, and presumably, the author could be found. I wanted to make sure this was still an ongoing series. I got here, and you know what I found?

I’m reading, in the last few pages of this thread, some talk, and therefore life. But I am disturbed: the talk is about a cop-out: a single chapter to “wrap up” the story. The story has become too long. It’s not good.

Please do not do this.

I’m not a real judge of “quality”, but I know that the work of every single artist in the world could always stand improvement, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they should give something up for that reason alone. Yes, there are quite a few things early on that could have been done better, but that's to be expected if it was your first story like this. As it progressed, it improved so much. Yes, the story is lengthy, but I think it is a suitable match for the epic story that this is. Stories like this are meant to be long. And compared to a novel? This is still nothing. I found this story two days ago, and just finished it yesterday (mostly from a bit of luck, though). All in all, I read the whole thing in six hours total from spacemepires.net, and there, it is very manageably organized. All in all, unless you are having real life issues with creativity or other personal things, I can’t see any reason why this can’t continue.

I signed up here for one, single reason: to try and make sure this story was seen through. And I mean -through-, to its triumphant or bitter end. And I know you could do it justice either way. Please, continue writing this story as you have, and do not only make a single chapter to finish the story now. I want to see the Norak make their contribution to the war effort. I want to see what happens next with the Rage uprising. I want to see how the occupation of the Ukra-Tal planet with proceed, and what experiencing their lifestyles and customs will be like through the eyes of the Remorhaz, and how they will take to Remhoraz rule and society. I want to see how, ultimately, the war or peace with the Ukra-tal and the Romulans will go, and whether or not there are still other races out there, waiting to make contact. Please, I want to see what really happens next, not a single “wrap-up” chapter that misses out all the exciting detail you have packed into this brilliant creative interpretation of a game. Let it be as long as it needs to be.

Still, this is about the only space empires fanfiction I have read, and there might be other stories out there just as good or maybe even better. However, I’ve been probing around a few other stories, and you know what? I think finding those other good stories is going to be -extremely- difficult.

However, if you really cannot continue this story as you have, for personal or any other reasons, I suppose there’s not much I can do, and it was good while it lasted. I just think it would be a terrible waste if this story were not given the justice it deserves and completed properly.

Thank you.

Re: Rise of the Remorhaz Society
 

unfortunately, the last post here was just over a year ago. so either it ain't happenin, or it's one REALLY long chapter. :(

I whole-heartedly agree, though, that RotRS is one of the best AAR stories out there.

Re: Rise of the Remorhaz Society
 

I want to reread this whole story. Is there a PDF version of the complete story available?

Re: Rise of the Remorhaz Society
 

I don't know abut PDF, but I found and read this story at spaceempires.net, go to the fanfiction section. The whole story (so far) and nothing else is up there, making it a fairly easy read if you can read normal novels.

Re: Rise of the Remorhaz Society
 

Welcome to the site. Sorry you have to see this forum in its dying days; there isn't very much posting still going on.

I don't even know where Sachmo might be, at the moment - SEV never caught my interest and I've never migrated to spaceempires.net

Re: Rise of the Remorhaz Society
 

To anyone still out there...I'm sorry Remorhaz wasn't finished. I don't even know where the saved game might be!

Techmaster-glitch - I'm so glad that you have enjoyed the story! My entire goal for Remorhaz was to try to flesh out the game with a story, but when it was posted online, it made me happy to see people enjoying it. I wish I could finish it for you, but I can't. Although I agree with you about the story seeming like it didn't need the game to a certain extent, in the end, I can't make the story happen without those little pixels moving across the screen. For that, I am sorry.

I've recently started playing around with SEV, and i find it to be everything i liked about SEIV, but with more entertaining battles. I like the "realtime" aspect of it. It makes it seem even more like the characters are alive and kicking. This time, though, I might write a story after the game is over, so i can be sure that i finish it.

So for anyone out there...keep on playing Space Empires, and keep those imaginations rolling.