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Re: History of the Galaxy, part 1-Story Thread
2413.1
In some ways, I envy Pellwain and probably were it not for my sound knowledge that the Almight leads all to their rightful course, I might have gone with her. I continually receive Messages from her detailing her trip. Despite her prominance as a space explorer and colonizer, she has hardly left the Xiban system. Certainly this is the furthest she's ever been from our cottage by the sea on Xiban I....and from the quaint Temple where we both learned the ancient prayers. She's just about to leave what could be termed Norak space, were the Norak High Counsel ever to develop a system of annexation and territory, and enter the space of the Farzah. Pellwain is not the captain of the ship...that job was given to the military, but once the ship lands in the Knoglam system, Pellwain will take the reigns. Since the world they are bound for is Methane, most of the colonists are Xi'Chung. I've tried to describe under the oppressive rule of language, what it is like to live on world a Methane world and under a dome. You soon begin to miss a natural breeze and smells that accompany the freedom of Nature. She'll soon wish to sell all she has for a cool pond to dip her hands in. Perhaps the Farzah will permit her to frequent one of their oxygen worlds. But so is a life strung from the fixtures of many worlds. Ever since the Sergetti made their peace with us, Tallik and I have had nothing to do. Now that the Sergetti mine fields no longer bother our ships, we've given up thinking about them. I do think in fact that the Norak are at peace with every known race. The High Counsel has taken the opportunity to update the fleet. After an assesment it was found that fewer than one third of the entire Norak armada had components developed within the Last 5 years. Most had been built when the Amon'krie and the Norak teetered on the brink of all out war. The Templar fleet has hardly left Olontra since it saved the planet from the Amon'krie. Tallik cannot say enough on the topic of our armada. The High Counsel has decided in favor of scrapping the Nevada X, which has been used to create 20 or so worlds. This will free up enough resources to up the strength of the fleet. I personally have to wonder at the recent obsession with military strength. Never have the Norak needed more than 10 ships at any time in any given system. I suppose the argument is that these 10 ships cannot be in all systems at all times. True. But is not our purpose a peaceful one. Do not grand armadas breed reasons for them to exist? Who shall we fight? Perhaps only the Sallega have the capabilities to threaten our survival, and any war with them will be mutually destructive. The Sallega empire is far more compact than ours. It would be no problem to cut us in two or even three. No, war contains little wisdom. I say rather, use these resources to improve the conditions of those who suffer. Build infrastructure. The Almighty's blessings can easily rot on the vine if the farmer tends not the fields. Our grand allies, the Praetorians have given us partial news of some trouble brewing in the northern quadrant between them and the Farzah. Our alliance with the Praetorians has been extremely fruitful over the Last months, and I doubt the High Counsel would let much come between it. There are banners and salutes all over Xiban I tributing the power and respectiblity of the Praetorians. No doubt these banners don't come so much from pro-Praetorian factions, but anti-Farzah Groups. Several members of the High Counsel are taken by this influence, but not enough to threaten the peace. After talking at lenght with Tallik on the subject, I've come to realize, no one within the Norak intelligence community knows what is transpiring between them other than the fact that the Praetorians have destoryed several, what they call, "stray" Farzah ships. Perhaps this speaks to a lack of cooperation between the Farzah leaders. I certainly do not know. Tallik brought up an interesting development he's heard circulating through the halls of the Continuum. Since the galaxy is filling up quickly, many think it might be wise to define what would be called, Norak Space. The only real empty space left is in the center of the galaxy, where the warring empires of the Sergetti and Xiati once roamed in force. I've read a bit of the history of this long war, and until the entering of the Sallega, who destroyed most of the Sergetti empire in several months, they were quite equal in strenght. The Norak were one of the first to move into Sergetti space, and we did so, without the intentions a conqueror would have. The Sergetti at first tolerated our colonies, of which there were only two. As the first foundations of our proto-colony deep in Sergetti space were being laid, primitive sensors picked up some activity nearby. It was actually a scientist, whose visual telescope array happened to be trained upon the Sergetti homeworld 7 or so sectors away, who first noticed the Xiati fleet. The pictures are famous...one can actually see the napalm explosions. Every Sergetti not living on a colony or a ship was vaporized. Tragic. Ghastly. This war has so weakened the two empires that most of the center of the galaxy is empty. The two empires now probably inhabit no more than 10 worlds combined, with about as many ships between them...most of which are not equipped for war. I pose the question, how would one define Norak space? We share systems with five different empires and are about to change that to six once Pellwain reaches Knoglam. Tallik thinks me naive..perhaps I am. He says it is not so much saying, "This belongs to us," but rather, "Within these systems our interest lie." I wonder at the implication of this side-ways talk. To me it sounds like a transition from the traditional, co-existence we have promoted. The planets are merely a means to spread the Text...nothing more. Within the Last month, several covert converts within the Amon'krie empire have warned the High Counsel of ships turning over their reigns to the Farzah. For what reason, we do not know. Certainly the war between the Farzah and the Amon'krie has been a long one. Tallik doubts that these defectors where actually gifts from the Amon'krie. The High Counsel will never stand for this continued action. The Amon'krie/Farzah war has been greatly limited due to the fact that neither has direct access to the other's space. We will not allow this quadrant to be thrust into the mouth of carnivorous War! The Farzah are not attempting to live peacefully as we first thought. Perhaps their only reason for making peace was practical in the light of other, more pressing, wars. Be as it may, the Continuum continues to grow by the blessed hand of She who clothes the moon flowers of Xiban I. |
Re: History of the Galaxy, part 1-Story Thread
Year 2413.1
The Maiden Voyage of the S.R.S. Gartok (500Kt Gartok class - series 0001) had been quite successful. Captain Tadminum had led his ship and his crew as far east as the black hole system of Equandul before having to turn back for resupply. The route plotted had been a little more circuitous than he would have liked, but it was necessary to avoid several unstable wormholes the Fazrah had charted in the area. They also needed to avoid the heart of Sergetti space as they didn’t have the weaponry to fight off a fleet of their ships. First contact was made with two new races. The first, a race calling themselves the Nultoh Group inhabited the Utekra system. Despite a decent level of technology, and having colonized several planets in their home system, the Nultoh did not apparently have any desire to explore the areas around their space. The Gartok had in fact not encountered them until warping into their home system. The were basically peaceful, if rather isolationist, and had no problems with enacting a trade agreement with the Sallegan Republic. The second, and far more important race was the Eee. A gas dwelling race inhabiting several systems in the eastern part of the galaxy. The discovery of the Eee caused quite a stir, as there was evidence that they, or their ancestors were the race that had inhabited the Gas Giants in Narcisston and the other systems in the west. Apparently this was either an offshoot of the previous race, or some calamity had befallen them in the distant past, because technologically the Eee were no more advanced than the Sallegans or any of the other races they had met. A treaty was enacted and plans were made to send cultural and exo-biology experts to the Eee empire to try and unlock these mysteries. The Last major event to occur on the Gartok’s mission was on the return trip. While skirting known Sergetti space the ship was passing through the Marjoram system and came across an unarmed Sergetti ship in some significant distress. They had run afoul of an ion storm and the crew was close to death. While the Sergetti had two colonies in the system they had nothing close enough to respond to the distress call. Captain Tadminum responded and saved the crew and dropped them in an escape pod close to one of the colonies for one of their orbital ships to pick it up. It was not clear if it was this act of charity, or some other unknown factor, but soon after the Sallgan consulate in Ushphada received a communication from the Sergetti requesting a dialogue for peace. A Non-Aggresion pact was signed, and plans made for a conference towards closer cooperation. “The next ship to venture into those parts should be able to take a far more direct route.” Tadminum thought as his shuttle landed at the New Capitol City SpacePort on Narcisston VIII. He had been summoned to report directly to Admiral Grandow. Not unheard of, but unusual nonetheless. Tadminum had rather expected it considering the momentous events of the Gartok’s mission, and the fact that she was currently in space dock on Ushphada III being retrofit to the latest in solar cell technology that would greatly increase her range. As he entered the Admiral’s office he could see that Grandow had something serious on his mind. After some general pleasantries, Tadminum ran through the events of the preceding two-year mission for the Admiral. It was all a formality of course. The Admiral had read all the reports, and had an intimate knowledge of what had taken place. Captain Tadminum tried to give him a deeper understanding of those things that don’t get put into official logs. When he was done the Admiral spoke. “What do you know of the conflict between the Fazrah and the Paretorians lately?” “Only what has been in the news, and in the daily briefings sir. We saw no Praetorian ships on our mission, and only encountered a few Fazrah once we returned to Sallegan space” the captain answered. “Do we think there will be a war?” “We do.” Grandow answered. “And we fear for what that may mean for the stability of the quadrant. The Fazrah are strong, but the Praetorians are as well. And recently the Paretorians and the Norak have become quite close.” “Does this affect us?” Tadminum asked. “The Fazrah-Pretorian border is far from us. And we are allies with both of them, as well as the Norak. Do we have an interest in this?” “We believe we may.” Grandow answered. “If the Fazrah were to be overrun, the Norak-Praetorian alliance would be quite strong. Much stronger than us alone. We must think of the long-term consequences if something like this were to happen. We occupy a strategic position between the Norak and the rest of the galaxy. They may someday decide they no longer need us around if they feel they can remove us without too much trouble.” “So you mean to attack the Norak? If I may speak freely sir, that would be madness! They are quite strong. Even if the Fazrah were able to handle the Praetorians, we would have quite a fight if it were to come to open warfare between us and the Norak. And would the people support it? Their religion is quite popular these days, even among my ships crew there are converts. I don’t doubt their loyalty to the republic, but I would hate to have to put it to a test such as this.” “No captain. We do not intend to attack the Norak, or even the Praetorians. But we are making preparations. We have not been asked directly by the Fazrah for assistance as of yet, but we plan to be ready when such a request comes. The Fazrah have been a loyal ally, but they are erratic. Their chaotic government, if it can even be called that, has trouble maintaing control over their own ships. We do not cherish the thought of them defeating the Praetorians any more than we wish to see them defeated. We intend to give them sufficient aid to maintain the status quo.” “This will be a dangerous path Admiral. Do you wish for me to go to the Fazrah as an advisor?” “No Captain. I have another for that job. I need you to return to your ship and head east again. The Eee tell us of another race farther to the east called the Jraenar. We wish you to make contact with them, and any others you find along the way. And we need you to scout the strength and extent of the Praetorian Empire to the northeast. We have the maps of all the systems, but no Sallegan eyes have ever seen those planets up close. We need to see it for ourselves so we can have a fuller picture of what is to come.” With that Captain Tadminum was dismissed and returned to his shuttle. As they lifted off and returned to orbit he looked out over the capitol below. He thought back to the ruin that was left after the first attack in the Great War. A visitor from another planet, or even another city would have trouble locating any remnants of that battle over thirteen years ago now. But having grown up on a farm in this province, and having been involved in the cleanup and rebuilding of the city afterwards, he knew all too well. He knew where the mass graves for the millions with no identification, or no surviving relatives were located. He could still make out the scarred earth in the few areas not yet redeveloped. Scarred by the fire from above, and the bulldozer afterwards. He wondered if those fires would burn again on his homeworld. He would do his best to make sure they didn’t. |
Re: History of the Galaxy, part 1-Story Thread
2413.7
Ship Lords' Log, Alpha Tau Spaceyard I was ready to pilot the Wisconsin class right through the lines of the Praetorian, along with a dozen warships behind me. But it appears the praetorians have withdrawn, and said nothing, so at Last it seems we we are at peace, if only for a moment. Life on a ship equiped for construction and repair is rather different than anything else. First order I made was rechristening her the Alpha Tau. Laru has called the fleet she's in the "Elite Guard". I suppose it fits his idea of a proper force. He's much more militant than I am, but his strategies are mostly defensive. Since we are orbiting homeworld, Laru and I have stayed in touch. There's been a hell of a lot of fowl ups with colony ships trying to colonize where a colony already is. There's quite a bit of communications about a transport and minelayer rushing back to homeworld. It appears our demonstrations of Fazrah freedom and Fazrah gold have converted 2 ships fed up with Amon'krie's totalitarianism. Unfortunately they have to pass through space teeming with traffic from 3 different empires. We can't reach the Amon'krie directly, because we fear sending our main fleet through some of the systems filled with the Norak would draw their wrath, and because we still don't know what the Praetorians are planning. With a bit of time, and a lot of delicate manuevering, Laru plans to learn about Amon'krie technology through this. I have no moral objections, for we are releasing these citizens of Amon'krie from a life of burden and orders, and giving them wealth and freedom. Strange as it may seem, his choices for research are very wise. He is studying stellar mechanics, trying to find out if there is any way to reach the Amon'Krie without going through Norak space. I feel like this is aiming for the moon, but considering how surrounded we are, it may be the only way to spread our interests past the Norak and Praetorian borders which constrict us. The Norak seem to be galactic peacekeepers with their own agenda as well. They have a presense in the systems of every empire we've seen. They've set up shop in our territory, preaching that book of theirs. I'm sure some of the poorer members of the Fazrah will be convinced. Relatively speaking, our poor people rarely riot, as there are few truly poor, while most people have moderate incomes. |
Re: History of the Galaxy, part 1-Story Thread
2413.8
Tallik and I are back in Cephedri. The Last year has been a shuttle from one system to another assessing fleets, ships, satellites and the theory of how they best support one another. Something I am particularly interested in is the newest starbase class. 2500kt simply boggles the mind. I've been on several of the smaller stations, and those had more than enough of every luxary a Norak could want. Those things must look like cities in space. Several military designs are under construction about the continuum. Being the simple man, or simpleton, I'll let the reader judge, that I am, I am wary of this new integration of technology and religion. My ways are the ways of century old traditions. In spite of the fancy gear our space marines now storm about in, I still wear a robe and sandals. I see some of the gear they wear and I see the points of those who argue our military is by existence alone, aggressive. I think if I were clad from head to toe in black and leather, I'd have a degree of bloodlust as well. The new integration I speak of is a device made of metal from a most unholy place back on Xiban I. The quarry for this ore is the very site of the imprisonment of He Who Is Not Named. Our legend tells us that long ago, when the universe was but an infant and the Creator had finished Her work, She fell into a deep sleep beyond the Void, in a place unthinkable to mortal creatures, but some call it the Womb of Eternity Past. Here She slept, but the fabric of the universe felt the lack of Her presence. Things began to grow cold; the Divine Geometry lost much of its original truth; murder crept into the world; and the first rebellion began. Never doubt that evil is very much aware of itself, and only by the Hand of She who guards the eternal watch, was evil made knowable and partitioned. But in those dark days, Evil grew and all its various emmanations existed as a single, focused personality. A personality which eventually became presence, which eventually became shadow, which eventually became force, which finally became being. The Great and Holy Text tells of the wars and death wrought upon Xiban. Life, on its Last breath and Last leg. Life itself was not worth the pain. He Who Is Not Named moved freely over and through all there was. Nothing stood before him which he feared. But the Almighty awoke and reentered Existence. Angered the She ripped a jagged mountain from Xiban's thick crust and thrust it through the belly of He Who Is Not Named. His blood ran down the mountain, soaking it, penetrating its very molecular structure. Still full of divine rage, She drove the mountain, top down, back into the crust of Xiban, burying deep the rotting body of evil. The plain, which was a mountain, is barren and contains a metal found no where else. Within the Last year our scientists have suddenly encountered strange properties within this metal. I say suddenly because now that I know what it does, I have to wonder about much of Norak history. Are we really the first to know about this metal? It seems agression and hate and malicious intent are intensified by this metal, giving the user great success in his path of destruction. The supposed discovery came when the science community did tests upon several sacred blades residing in the old Imperial Palace. They contain some of this metal. Apparently this metal is too brittle to use solely in the making of blades. On to the important... Several of our star ships are now equipped with a large chunk of this metal. Still too brittle to use in the hull of the ship, a large quantity of tonage must be allocated for the installment of this, what the pilots call, Talisman. Personally it makes my skin crawl. Surely the Almighty will not condone benefit from her one and only true enemy. I pray constantly for forgiveness from the blindness our ambition spawns. The Praetorians have contacted us about buying the Nevada X, and we are more than willing to sell it to them. They have already paid us the cost of having her unmothballed, and upon delivery they have promised to show us several new technologies we do not possess. I have not gone back and checked my starcharts, but I suppose they have a system or two full of useless asteroids. Pellwain contacted me from deep within Farzah space yesterday. We had a holographic tea party, like we used to do when we were younger. Several hours passed in conversation probably only of interest to the two of us. She said the new colony was coming along. Basic infrastructure would soon be in place and the Counsel has allotted most of the world as deep space research. Perhaps there are phenomena in Knoglam which we have not seen yet. I do not know, and neither does Pellwain really. I asked her about living within telescope distance of the Farzah, and she said they can be charming in an offensive kind of way. I think that is her way of saying she feels right at home. Pellwain herself has always been considered offensive by the majority of people who meet her. If anyone can talk to the Farzah, it should be Pellwain. |
Re: History of the Galaxy, part 1-Story Thread
We could name this "History of Europe" and it would be just as accurate.
The more I've got into this game, the more it seems to parallel the Medieval feudal society, with the church as a unifying force for all the little kingdoms and fiefs and such. As you might have expected from above, just like in Medieval times, where the Church owned property in many different places, the Norak now have planets in the systems of nearly all of the other "empires". Like in Medieval times, the Norak are trying to keep us in line with religious teachings, but we continue to fight our petty disputes, plunder, kill and such (although so far the game is relatively peaceful by comparison.) The Fazrah which I play, seem to represent the truly chaotic knights and assorted others that serve to stir things up, and whom offer only token fealty to their overlord. The Praetorians and Sallegans represent more organized nations, which really seem to come more from the later stages of the Medieval period. They both are powerful, but no where near as powerful as the Norak, especially if the Norak managed to convince all the Groups with some tie to its religion to join them. The remaining empires that the Norak have met represent some of the other small nation-states. And then there may be a few empires the Norak haven't met, but unfortunately we have no real enemy to go on crusades against, so I predict internal conflict to continue. Fazrah at least seem to be boxed in, and pretty much limited forever in what empires they'll have contact with. |
Re: History of the Galaxy, part 1-Story Thread
2413.9
Alpha Tau, Ship Lords' Log When I called for election nearly a year ago I assumed we'd be at war with the Praetorians within a month and I'd be far from homeworld. Instead neither side has said a thing in the conflict, indeed most all contacts are silent at this point. The only thing keeping the warships from going berserk from boredom is constant news about undisclosed contacts within the Amon'krie, and the progress of two ships that have defected and are heading to Homeworld for a celebration and feast. Its rare to see this many ships orbitting homeworld. Many captains and their crews have been visiting other ships, exchanging war stories and other gossip, and getting a Oom'vra championship set up. The Cue'Cappa are here as well, with a light cruiser and crew, and they plan on being the first outsiders to play Oom'vra in the championship. Oom'vra tournaments are sporadic at best, occuring when at least 32 lords promise to play throughout the duration. Individual Oom'vra games are played frequently in any corner of Fazrah space, and Oom'vra is a game that is vastly different every time it is played. The tokens that are used are made by the players, and they may have bizarre rules that would seem to unbalance the game. However the real fight is in the first phase of each game, where players try to get the right tokens, as each player may end up with mostly tokens brought by the opponent, or not, depending on the play. The main mark of skill in the game is to confuse your opponent, while making the Token understandable enough for the judge to allow it. (Pure gibberish and truly ambiguous tokens are not allowed) Amateurs and outsiders often have difficulty with the odd quirks of this game, as it gives a first impression of simply being a matter of making "I WIN" tokens. An old saying goes, "The fool writes 'I win', while the master uncovers it." I've played a bit of Oom'vra, but I'm not up to the top players. I've seen their tokens, and they manage to fit quite a bit into 100 words. Other than the 'I win' tokens, even our Fazrah gold coin has Oom'vra token rules on the back, as it can be played as a token. It is a very broadly used token, more popular than 'I win' and all good players have to account for its rules and try to counteract them. Oom'vra is good fun, and a good example of Fazrah ways for outsiders. It can get rowdy, with a whole gaggle watching every token played and cheering them on. We plan on showing it to the Amon'krie captains that defected. The bit of the Gold being a token gets them every time. I've also heard a few Lords banter about a new Token in play, thats been christened in my name as, "Lord Alzene's Undo Mischief" [A rough translation from Fazrahn of course, but the best that can be had] |
Re: History of the Galaxy, part 1-Story Thread
Disturb the ether but slightly,
We ride the soft currents in joy. Disturb the ether with great force, We ride the cyclone in fear. It is thus within as without. - Poet Eed (SR 451) "We are the Many and we are One." The Elders of the Eee recited the Song of the Truth at the beginning of every gathering. Translated into the limited language of alien races, it was but a line of text, a few syllables. For the Eee, this simple idea was the basis of their society. Their language embellished this simple idea in the same way that others embellished simple churches to make them into cathedrals. To invoke the Song was to invoke the harmony of the Eee. There was no epic more profound in the Eee language, no work more sacred. It was Truth. High Elder Elw beheld the candidate for the Eldership that was before the assembly and waited. "The Eee have decided that I am not ready for the Eldership," the candidate said finally. "This is so, E'en," Elw said simply. "The Eee are wise in our harmony. It is not my role to be an Elder." There was no disappointment from E'en. The Eee had decided and E'en knew it was for the best. E'en began to withdraw. Elw was not finished, however, and spoke to E'en. E'en was among their best. Elw would not let him leave without an explaination. "The Eee know that you are a wise Strategic Coordinator and a fine scientist. You have learned much from the alien races we seek to befriend. You have learned their ways from your time on the borders." Elw paused. "You know of a thing called Gold?" E'en made the wordless vibration in the ether that was like the nodding of a head to some alien races. "The Eee know that you have employed new ideas and tactics," Elw continued. "Some alien races use stones or metals such as Gold to assign value to themselves. You have also sought to work with these aliens by similarly using Gold and heavy metals to assign a value to what is beyond value: the Eee. You do this to foster understanding among traders and politicians. The Eee appreciate your efforts to foster understanding and peace." "And yet...." E'en said expectantly. "And yet, Gold is a heavy metal and we are a light race, both of mind and body. The Eee have never used Gold and Gold is a new idea. The Eee fear it for its weight, not just in mass, but also in how it can pierce our harmony as easily as an asteroid would pierce the atmosphere. An asteroid can drag us into the Underether, into the great liquid Darkness below. The same thing can happen to the Eee under the weight of these new ideas. You feel that the future is to play with Gold, but the ideas are too new for us. You cannot play with Gold and yet lead the Eee." There was nothing else to say. E'en understood and began to leave silently, but then stopped and said one Last thing. Strangely, it sounded almost apologetic. "The Eee honor me when they considered for the role of Elder. I will continue to be honored in my role as a Strategic Coordinator. If there is a time the Eee can accept Gold, I will be here to serve. I should have known that my ideas were too new but I have spent too much time among those who harbor such ideas. I shall return to my fleet and coordinate its actions in the spirit of the consensus." Having finished, E'en floated away from the assembly and withdrew. |
Re: History of the Galaxy, part 1-Story Thread
Great story, i really loved reading everything so far. How about another placing update, and a gam file?
Also, what about allowing members of the forum to act as lawyers and such in disputes amoung different parties over ICQ or AIM or by email? maybe too lengthy but could be cool. |
Re: History of the Galaxy, part 1-Story Thread
2414.9
My stomach is grumbling. I think it's the stress and exhaustion and lack of a steady diet of something substantial. I'm a monk, so I am supposed to be able to handle times of persecution. I am leaving the Tribunals and the Insanity behind in fear that I too might lose my life. The recent cleansings have taken many good friends of mine. Tallik, while not dead, is unable to leave Xiban I. He is watched round the clock by secret police of the Tribunals. What are the Tribunals? History must know. I personally don't know how long they've been worming their way into positions of authority. But I do know their elite come from an underground order of pious monks, who left the homeworld in the early years of colonization. I doubt any of their rhetoric concerning those races which are infidels and that aren't come from real conviction. They are power hungry. They are hate filled. May the Almighty strike them down for their blasphemy!! They've perverted the Holy Text! They've mistranslated and cut its meaning to suit their purposes. And now...they seek the death of those who know the difference in what should be and what is. I pray constantly that Tallik will find a way off of Xiban I, but he is in Her hands now. I would to Pellwain, but because of the High Council's new agenda, I fear we may be at war with the Farzah before the year is out. We are heading to the two worlds on the outer rim of the Norak Continuum. Here the local officials are tolerant to those the Tribunals are persecuting. They will retain us till this has passed, or until the Elders decide to send a fleet out this far and crush this defiance. But until the course laid is completely seen, they will not risk ships on a few disgruntled intellectuals and powerless theologues like myself. We will take up communications with all empires in an attempt to coordinate operations against the Tribunal government. Hopefully, we can incite enough Norak, enough Priests to rise up and retake power, and it won't have to come to the complete destruction of the Norak empire in order to change things. I only escaped because I disguised myself as a first degree priest and caught a military freighter to Organtrix. From there I was able to find a ship, organized by a group of local dissenters, heading to the outer rim. I've come to find out that all the passengers aboard are in the same boat I am...literally and literally. The brain drain back on Xiban I fear will drag us back 100 years. We've already lost just about every capable diplomat. The Tribunals don't trust those who've stayed too long with other races. That is why I was targeted and that is why they want to remove Pellwain. Tallik is suspected because of his incredible knowledge of Norak weaknesses militarily. They'll never let him leave Xiban alive. I've been out of the loop for the Last few months. For certain, I cannot predict what is happening. Not until I reach the outer rim and regain contact with the excommunicated. However, I fear that already the Tribunals are moving against the Jraenar. The reason I am officially excommunicated is because I refused the position of double agent/diplomat within the Jraenar empire. Right as the Tribunals gained the upper hand in the High Council, the Council was about to vote in favor of a trade agreement with the Jraenar. I have it on good authority that members of the Council were threatened and bought...anything to strike down the Jraenar treaty. I do not know what they plan. I only know that if they are allowed to carry on, the entire galaxy will fall into war. |
Re: History of the Galaxy, part 1-Story Thread
The plot thickens... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon6.gif
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Re: History of the Galaxy, part 1-Story Thread
Ship Lord Alzene's log
All quiet on the Praetorian front, but although most other shiplords have been dormant, our ship has been tasked to greet the defecting Amon'krie captains. After we took on three captains, my crew examined their ships, and found nothing of interest. It appears the Amon'krie are quite limited in their technology. Through various contacts, I've discovered our espionage against the Amon'krie is shifting to sabotage of their industrial facilies. More significantly, radio traffic indicates the latest Grand Lord received threats from the Xiati to break treaties with the Sergetti. This Grand Lord decided to stop trading with the Xiati because of their insolence, and through his threats and diplomacy they have agreed to subjugation, paying the Grand Lord tribute in exchange for leniency. No contact I'm aware of has been made with any other allies lately. The Norak have set up their colony, as mandated by treaty, without any fuss. Jacob and I have returned to homeworld orbit, where traffic and general noise level remains high, due to the large number of ships in orbit. Among the orbiting fleet 7 obsolete ships have been decommissioned and are gradually being replaced by the latest Idaho class designs. Most captains have spent their time listening to reports about the destruction of Amon'krie factories and the tariffs from the Xiati; anything to keep them from facing the calm and peace that prevails. Drunkedness and fights are becoming a problem, but the captains are discussing various training scenarios, which should lead to some much needed battle training for the crews. I've run a pretty tight ship myself. The Alpha Tau has a crew of 130, 15 of those being junior officers. We've worked on repair and construction drills as well as retrofitting and salvage missions. The researchers I still have contact with report continued investigation into stellar phenomenon and how to manipulate such. I still think we are merely experiencing the calm before the storm, but I am not sure how the storm will manifest itself. [ May 24, 2002, 15:25: Message edited by: spacefan ] |
Re: History of the Galaxy, part 1-Story Thread
What's the scores/standings? Haven't been any new storys lately and was wondering what's going on. I'm missing it. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif
Also...*Bump* |
Re: History of the Galaxy, part 1-Story Thread
All hell is breaking loose, but I didn't want to post again until we get another empires perspective. The Norak have infiltrated my Fazrah intel networks, somehow my intel was changed to covert recon of the Praetorians, and war may break at any moment. I'm not sure whats going on with the Praetorians, but even the Norak are like 3 times my size, so its likely to be a quick war, but we'll see. My Fazrah's seem to be widely hated among the Theocratic and Despotic empires, (Norak, Praetorian, Amon'krie all at war or almost with me. Xiati I have subjugated.)
Fazrah will probably be first to fall, as I am weaker than most of the large empires and surrounded by all three of them, but perhaps the Sallegans will have something to say as well, who knows. |
Re: History of the Galaxy, part 1-Story Thread
I said I wouldn't post yet, but things have gone to hell in a handbasket so I feel its important to get a snapshot of the Fazrah before they die
Alzene's Log ---------- They are everywhere. Agents of the Norak or some coalition of forces opposing us. They have infiltrated us everywhere, so that we may no longer trust those who we had trusted before. We were united at Homeworld, and Knoglam, and unity is a rare thing for our people. Our enemies, though they remain hidden, have used our unity against us. I have never been a warrior, but the events of the Last month have me wanting Norak blood. Whatever dark, evil magic they used to infiltrate and manipulate us so well, it is driving us all to the point of insanity. The Grand Lord said that we must rendevous our Homeworld fleet with the Sallegans. This was stupid, as the homeworld would be defenseless. Many opposed this, but our mistaken unity lead to its acceptance. Fools we were. Most of us now believe this newest Grand Lord, the mining lord I've discussed, is an agent within the Norak or other enemy state. Whatever diabolical plot is in motion, they have captured the loyalty of the CueCappa, who were completely loyal to us, but suddenly we discover they are now a hostile threat to us. And they have forces deep in the bowels of Fazrah space. This dark alliance is likely to see the joining of Praetorian ships soon, as we are weaker than can be believed. Dealing with the Mining Lord agent, we put one of our own men on homeworld, and that scoundrel of a Norak agent has been executed. Our only unity will occur through dispersal. We have no fleets today, only ships acting on their own ideas, and a very rough idea of what we need to do. We declared war on the vile agents of the Norak, and whatever dark magic they have found, shall be destroyed. Even as we perish we shall take what we can of the Norak, with us. The Sallegans, though they were great allies, are a mystery to us. They told us to worry about the Praetorians. The Norak have been our undoing. We should have struck the Norak from the first agent we captured. Perhaps the Sallegans will join us, or perhaps they will see their easiest way out, which is to help destroy us. Like many times in our past, we once again face extinction. We shall not present one target, but many. |
Re: History of the Galaxy, part 1-Story Thread
From the personal journal of Admiral Fineas J. Grandow
Admiral and Commander-In-Chief of the Sallegan Space Services President Pro Tem of the Senate of the Sallegan Republic Stardate 2415.8 I feel it important that I commit the recent events and decisions made within and without the Sallegan Republic so that future scholars may understand the true context in which they took place, and so that future leaders may possibly learn something from them and be able to better serve the Republic. It is with a heavy heart that I put these words to paper. I fear that war with the Norak Continuum may be inevitable. It is not exactly clear how the situation deteriorated so rapidly, but it is the result of the recent political upheaval within the Continuum. Their government is now being led by a radical ultra-fundamentalist sect calling themselves the Tribunal. Our previous contacts within the government are all unavailable. In some cases we fear they may be under arrest, or worse. Contrary to the former government, the Tribunal does not appear to have any reservations about spreading their religion by cooersion if nessecary. They have been overly aggresive, almost imperialistic towards the smaller races in the quadrant, primarily the Fazrah and Jraenar. We have confirmed reports of many incidents of sabotage, espionage, and rabble rousing by agents of the Tribunals within neigboring empires. So far they do not appear to have directed those attacks towards us. It is not clear whether it is our larger counter intelligence network that is responsible for this, or the fact that the Sallgan People have so widely accepted thier religion over the years. Perhaps the Tribunals feel that these individuals that are loyal to the Sallgan Republic, the same republic that gives them the freedom to worship the Norak Goddess, would betray their own people on the orders of these despots. I doubt seriously this is the case. A much more serious issue for us is the fact that the Norak have begun using the Cephredi system, soverign territory of the Sallegan Republic, as a staging area for their Military forces to intimidate and harrass the Fazrah people. This is a clear violation of the aggrement between our poeples giving them permission to keep their colonies in the Cephredi system at the end of the Zynarra-Amonkrie. They currently have a fleet of nearly 30 ships located in this system. We have insisted that they withdraw this fleet to Norak space, but our demand has been rejected so far. Negotiations are continuing as I write this, but if they continue to be intrasigent, I may be forced to order the Sallegan Space Service to remove them by force. This would no doubt result in open hostilites between the Republic and the Continuum, and would very likely draw the entire quadrant into the conflict on one side or the other. Many lives would surely be lost on both sides. If this Goddess of the Norak does in fact exsist, and if she cares for the lives of her people and the others in the quadrant that do and do not worship her, I pray that she moves the hearts of this Tribunal government towards peace. |
Re: History of the Galaxy, part 1-Story Thread
Stardate 2415.9
Of course the Tribunal rejected the ultimatum to remove their ships from the Cephredi system. They did not attempt to deny the charges they were behind the massive Intelligence campaign damaging the smaller empires of the quadrant. They made no excuses for harrasing and intimidating the peaceful Fazrah people. Instead they claimed to be acting in self defense and reasserted their right to maintain a large military force inside a Sallegan system. They then had the audactiy to suggest the Cephredi system be cleared of all military forces and left as a demilitarized zone. Grandow snorted when he read that and wondered if the Norak would be so kind as to leave the system immediaetly next to their home system completely undefended and open to attack from three seperate directions. It was doubtful. He didn't really expect them to acceed to the Sallegan demand. He was still hopeful a peaceful settlement could be reached in the matter however. What happened next took him completely by suprise. All this time the offending Norak fleet had been stationed in orbit around Cephredi I, the old Zynar homeworld. It was the most populated planet in the system, and a significant base of operations for the Norak since the end of that war. The Norak did have an oxygen world in the system as well, Cephredi II. This of course was the colony that had percipitated the original hostilities between the Norak and Zynars so many years before. It had been destroyed at least once, maybe more than that, and rebuilt every time. THe Last population figures Grandow had seen were that there were some 1.4 billion Norak living on this world. It was likely their largest colony outside their home system, and obviously an important one. Grandow had expected the Norak Fleet to be moved to defend it against the Fazrah battle fleet that had entered the Cephredi system, and against us were we to make good on our threat to remove them by force if neccesary. Of course the Sallegans had made no such demand on the colonies, only on the military ships the Norak were keeping stationed there. But instead of moving the Norak fleet to Cephredi II, they moved to Cephredi VI, location of the Sallegan fleet that had come to remove them from the system. For a brief moment the Sallegan defenderd thought they were under attack, but the Norak simply moved their fleet of 32 ships into the same sector with the Sallegan fleet of 47 ships. They stopped at the extreme edge of the sector and sat there, unmoving. Grandow was unsure at first what was going on. Were they surrendering? Why didn't they attack, or withdraw, or move to defend their own planet. It didn't make sense. But then he realized what they were doing. The minefields! They were moving their ships into position under cover of the treaty so they would have the current minefield access codes as all Sallegan allies have. Added to this theory were two other facts. First, the smaller, but still potent, Norak fleet in Arklite had left that system and had moved into Hwansul, out of range of Sallegan sensors and on a course for Cephredi, and another small previously unknown fleet had just moved out of Hwansul into Cephredi and appeared to me moving towards Cephredi VI as well. Currently the Sallegan fleet had a slight numbers advantage of 15 ships. But the majority of the Sallegan ships were older Light Cruisers and smaller ships left over from the end of the Xi'Chung war. They had been updated with newer weapons and sensors when practical to do so, but they were still small. And the Norak had recenlty developed a new mysterious device that appeared to give their ships amazing, you could say almost miracoulous accuracy. The Fazrah claimed that they never missed. Grandow doubted that was possible, but even highly accurate weapons combined with those larger hull sizes could make the umcomming battle a bad one for the Sallegans. He could not allow the Norak fleet to be reinforced and his fleet lose what little numerical advantage he did have. The time for a decision was at hand. The Norak had forced him into a corner, he had to act. He could not repeat the mistakes made at the beginning of the Xi'Chung war. The Norak were too large. If he allowed them to get the advantage and wipe out the Cephredi fleet, there would be nothing stopping them from completely anialating or enslaving the Sallegan people. The Messages were sent. --------------------------------FLASH TRAFFIC----------------------------------- TO:SALLEGAN SPACE SERVICE SHIPS EVERYWHERE FR:SALLEGAN SPACE SERVICE COMMAND RE:IMMINENT HOSTILITIES WITH NORAK EMPIRE. EXPECT ATTACK SOON. ALL NORAK SHIPS ARE TO BE TREATED AS HOSTILE FORCES. DO NOT SEEK OUT CONTACT UNLESS SPECIFICALLY ORDERED. IF APPROACHED, DEFEND YOURSELVES BY ANY AND ALL MEANS NECCESARY. WAR TIME ROE APPLY. IF NO FURTHER CONTACT RECEIVED FROM SPACE COMMAND RECEIVED, ASSUME CONDITION OF WAR EXSISTS. SPECIFIC INSTRUCTIONS TO FOLLOW....... ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------FLASH TRAFFIC---------------------------------- TO:SALLGAN SPACE SERVICE FLEET, CEPHREDI VI FR:SALLEGNA SPACE SERVICE COMMAND RE: NORAK FLEET IN SECTOR. COMMENCE OPERATION FRONT DOOR. ENGAGE AND DESTORY NORAK FLEET IN SECTOR. DO NOT SEEK OUT NORAK SHIPS ELSEWHERE. AVOID DAMAGE TO NORAK CIVILIAN POULATIONS AND SHIPPING. IF NORAK SHIPS ATTEMPT TO WITHDRAW FOM CEPHREDI SYSTEM, ALLOW THEM. DO NOT, REPEAT, NO NOT PERSUE INTO HWANSUL WITHOUT EXPLICIT AUTHORIZATION. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------FLASH TRAFFIC----------------------------------- TO SALLEGNA SPACE SERVICE FLEET, NIZARUM VI FR:SALLEGAN SPACE SERVICE COMMAND RE:RECENT NORAK MILITARY BUILDUP IN AREA. COMMENCE OPERATION BACK DOOR. ENGAGE AND DESTORY NORAK FLEET, NIZZARUM VIII. DEPLOY TROOP TRANSPORTS AND SECURE PLANET. AVOID DESTRUCTION OF PLANETARY FACILITIES AND CIVILIAN POPULATION. PREPARE SYSTEM FROM POSSIBLE NORAK/PRAETORIAN COUNTER OFFENSIVE. DO NOT SEEK OUT FURTHER NORAK SHIPS UNLESS THEY CONGREGATE IN LARGE NUMBERS OR MAKE OTHER HOSTILE ACTIONS. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
Re: History of the Galaxy, part 1-Story Thread
2415.6
IN EXILE I've considered little the need for friends and community since my feet first left Xiban. Here on the outer worlds, in the empty systems south of Praetorian space, east of the Farzah, north of the Sallega and Sergetti and west of the little known Eee, I have come to feel more at home than I have in these Last 15. There are about two score of us hold up in a run down ghetto in the heart of this worlds only real town. It is truely a frontier atmosphere. From my second story window can just catch a section of a trading alley. Kiosks, shops and dealers limp around looking for a break. I think I could retire here. I've been given the horrid task of leading our little rebellion; however, I am not sure if you can call yourself a rebellion when you haven't killed anyone. I meet often with the leader of this world, and it's sister colony. Everyone is keeping their quite. Recently a small force of Tribunal officials set up shop on our sister colony. Several of the rebellions members there were caught and questioned. It is just a matter of time. Our only advantage is that they consider us an unimportant threat. From what I have heard the Tribunal government has gotten itself into hot water as it were. We've attempted to contact the Praetorian, the Sallegan and the Farzah governments, hoping to bring our plea before them. We wish that the Tribunals could be systematically removed, rather than destroying the entire Norak empire in an all out assault. I doubt they will listen to us. Not that all of them aren't trigger happy...they just seem to have their own interests in mind. The Norak empire has near 30 billion citizens. Who is willing to take on the responsibility of deciding their fate in a humane manner? That is if the Tribunals lose. May She who rolls the dice of war not let them win. Our insiders have relayed to us some news. The Tribunal Government has started an intense war of subVersion within the Farzah empire. We do not know their ultimate intentions. However, in the Last months, the Sallega in a bold move began protesting the Norak military presence in Cephedri, the system boarding the Farzah empire. In a show of force the Sallegan government has sent several fleets of warships to the system. I cannot imagine the carnage were these two forces to butt heads. If the Tribunals sent the Arklite fleet to Cephedri, like I heard they were, near 40 Norak warships must be stationed in that system. More than one billion Norak citizens live in Cephedri on three worlds. The Sallega need to better understand the mentality of the Tribunals. I am sure they do not seek open conflict. They are back stabbers, cheaters, subverters, etc. They've never had to do battle in the open field before. I doubt they would know how. They like to draw things out in the open. In allowing others to compromise their good intentions with an initial hostile action, they are able to champion themselves as righteous. 2416.0 IN EXILE The news of the war has come and gone...like a breaking wave to those in too deep of waters. I feel like I just stepped from the icey baths of Xiban's polar regions. My body is numb, and I do not know whether to cry or laugh. I still wear the robe of a monk. I carry the side arm of a warrior. I drink like freighter captains. I am misery embodied. The list of destroyed ships sits on my desk. We compiled it slowly over the Last week through every means possible. I've refused to put names to ships. I know hundreds of faces are gone...gone to the Underworld. To us, the Excoms, they calls us, events are only now beginning to explain themselves. The Norak war of subVersion against the Farzah has done great damage to the reliability of their own channels, but it hasn't had accomplished all it set out to do. The souless Tribunals send out hords of subverters, knowing well that less than a tenth will return. The Farzah have killed thousands of Norak agents, caught in the act of sabotage or subVersion. From our own intel, we've learned that the Farzah fleet once stationed in their homesystem, first entered Cephedri several months ago. Soon as they by passed the outer defenses using the security codes given to all allies, they declared war on the Tribunal government. It was a feeble act. A stupid act. Their resources could have been put to better uses. The 1st Planetary Guards stationed above Cephedri I mobilized and moved out of orbit. My theory is that the War Counsel couldn't determine where the Farzah were headed. But the Tribunals, being their own paranoid selves, must have become convinced that the Farzah fleet was going to link up with the Sallega, stationed over one of their planets. This thought certainly must have frightened the War Counsel. A fleet of 60+ ships! It astounds even me. I figure, the War Counsel did not want a battle happening in orbit over a Norak world, so as a preemtive move, the 1st Guards were ordered to move into an extremely high orbit over Cephedri VI, the station of the Sallega fleet. Perhaps those fools thought this would discourage the Sallega from getting involved. I have to give them this though...for a bunch of back-stabbers, the Tribunals here showed strenght. But they underestimated the resolve of the Sallega. The Sallega then canceled their treaty. I am not sure how the actual fighting started. I have heard the Sallega attacked first, but I suppose that by that late hour, he who shot first certainly was not the more guilty party. The battle no doubt filled the night sky of Cephedri VI with enough signs of wonder and explosions to herald in a dozen messiahs, inspire a legion of painters, and celebrate every Last hero the galaxy could dig up. By the end of the battle, the entire Norak fleet had been destroyed. In the process they had taken out half of the Sallegan fleet and severely crippled another quarter. The "official" Tribunal line calls the battle indecisive. How can they say such a thing? The deaths of some 25,000 Norak is indecisive. It's like two brick walls falling into one another...whatever is left is rubble. I refuse to bestow any blessings of bravery on either side. Sure, the Tribunals have mobilized a second fleet, and another such battle may take place, but it won't end anything either. The Sallega in a secondary move sent an invasion fleet upon Nizzarum VIII, and subsequently captured it. I know there was a small colony of Excoms on the planet, and in addition to that a billion or so inhabitants. They have the right idea. Until the feet are cut from under this iron fisted authority, it will assert itself over all the weak, all the poor and anyone who disagrees. However, I am truely angry at the foolish Farzah. I hesitate to give them the blame for everything, even though my hatred burns so strong my eyes cook in rage. Did they need to destroy Cephedri II? Was it necessary to burn every Last walking talking lifeform from its face? The Tribunals had miscalculated. The Farzah got lucky, in picking the only Cephedri world devoid of a mine field. The only thing between them and Cephedri II was a fighter squadron...five fighters. Of course, they couldn't stop twenty or so Farzah ships. Perhaps I am getting twisted and that which is comically dark has nested a warm place in my heart, but I did laugh when I heard that those five fighters came out alive...even though some billion Norak citizens died when the Farzah glassed Cephedri II. Farzah ships are not equipped with anything that can target fighters. So the fighters were able to skirt around the larger cruisers, picking several apart. The remaining Farzah fleet then laid in a course to attack Cephedri I. The fighter squadron chased the fleet picking off a few stragglers, but the Farzah reached Cephedri I, homeworld of the Zynarr, ahead of them. Three Farzah warships remained, and host of other support vessels. The Last design Tallik made before he was arrested was for a lt Crusizer called the Huron. It was to be equipped with the latest in engine destroying weapons. He figured that a small fleet of these ships could stop almost any invasion. Sure enough, as our Zynarr insiders have shown us through relayed video transmissions. The single Huron stopped the attacking fleet before it was vaporized. Several days later some reinforcements arrived from Olontra cleaning the sector of the remaining Farzah ships. Where does all this madness go from here? I don't know. Everyday I get disheartened at the weakness of our rebellion and the completeness of our exile. Two other notes remain to be added. We intercept what little we can. The planet elder meets with me once a week. This is what he gave me yesterday. I am writing them from memory. He allows me to see the transmisson records for half an hour, then we burn them. PRIORITY 3 FROM: PELLWAIN - ELDER OF THE KNOGLAM SYSTEM -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- High Counsel. We need defense urgently. The entire northern Farzah fleet is gone. Dead on our mine field. Small fighter defense force growing slowly. Cannot repel another large attack. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- End of Transmission PRIORITY 1 FROM: WAR COUNSEL SECRETARY --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Praetorian fleet on the move. Ultimate destination unknown. All ships be advised. Assist with all they demand or ask. Farzah are without a significant force. All ships everywhere ready themselves for another Sallegan attack. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- End of Transmission |
Re: History of the Galaxy, part 1-Story Thread
Aboard the cruiser, Alpha Tau
Personal Log of Ship Lord Alzene The Fazrah Empire is splintering, returning to our more natural state, as spectacular failure has sent those of us who survived on our own desperate paths. From communications I've received, the systems of the Fazrah are now operating as independent states, as they face the Praetorian and Norak menace. Huju is the strongest of these states, and the only one I can get answers from. Praetorian starships are poised to attack the system, which is beginning to resemble a fortress at this point. From reports, it is loaded with weapon platforms, satellites, fighters and mines. However easily the Praetorians may lay waste to the other states of Fazrah, Huju shall be the Last exponent of the Fazrah flame. That is, except for my own private endeavor. With protection from one of Fazrah's oldest cruisers, we are racing towards the final outpost of the Fazrah. A place where we can not be attacked, no matter the situation. Where we may rally for the Fazrah cause. It reminds me of our distant past, specifically the many legends of near vanquished Fazrah states hiding unseen for countless generations, before finally returning to rebuild the Fazrah flame. Because of my orders to set course for this refuge, the Alpha Tau and her guard were not killed in the death trap that ensued. Our trouble is not yet over, as we must find place to ressuply within the Sallegan Republic. Then we must pass through a system controlled by the Norak. This will be our Last test before we pass into our final freedom.... ---- Lord and Refugee Alzene, signing off |
Re: History of the Galaxy, part 1-Story Thread
Once again I'm here asking what's the standings of players now? The story is coming along nicely and I'm enjoying it almost more then a hot fudge sundae. Well ok, MORE then a hot fudge sundae. Also this needed bumped. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif
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Re: History of the Galaxy, part 1-Story Thread
The game is on a 10 day break cause Mensch is on vacation.
Geo |
Re: History of the Galaxy, part 1-Story Thread
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Re: History of the Galaxy, part 1-Story Thread
Is this still on it's vacation? I thought it was only 10 days. Oh well, I just can't get enough storys to read. There's none right now that I haven't read and I'm bored here doing nothing wanting to read one. lol. Just thought I'd check up on this one.
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Re: History of the Galaxy, part 1-Story Thread
No, I'm back. And I wrote this just for you.
-------------- Encrypted Log 2416.9 -------------- Tallik - General of the Interior I am placing this log in a sub directory of Raeghar's personal files, of which I have access to. I am placing upon it all of my signatures. If I die without an end coming to this insanity, at least I know here, in this file, when one day the Ministry of Historical Records proceeds to write the biography of my one-time friend, as I know they will do, it will be found, and the truth will be known. While the rest of the galaxy calls the Tribunals fanatics and religious purists, I know the reality. I, with great meditation, spat on all that purports to be sacred. I left civilization for a while, wandered out into what the ancients called "the wilderness" to track down my tombstone. My dreams burned, never consuming my mind. Self-exiled, in a shuttle stolen from two priest, dead by my own hand, I sat atop the crumbling Pillars of the Sky and cursed the Almighty. I cursed Her with my entire history, and pushed the shuttle over the edge. I wanted to die there, atop that proud, evil member of the world. Right under Her eye. Let Her soft eyes scratch with the dust, my dust. In the distance I heard the great wings of the flying reptiles. Soon I'll be dead, I thought, and a day won't go by, when my bleached bones don't pass under Her gaze. I woke up days later in confinement, in a cell in a mining outpost. Two Tribunal friendlies took me back to the capital. I told them of what I had done. I actually confessed of evil done to the priest of evil. But there was no guilt. So here I am...now a decorated general. I kill. I hate. I curse. I seek my own death, and I am rewarded. I have learned that the overly-righteous need people like me to do what they cannot. The zealots need minions of murders who've forsaken their own souls. While the fleets build, while the resources run ever lower, while the workers die in droves from constant double shifts, while the priests and the locals sway the masses, while society is being carved into classes, while faith is corrupted into blindness, while hope is turned to lust, I have been given the task of undoing the society we inherited from the our peaceful years. As General of the Interior, I have first off the responsibility to maintain and further the defense of our planets and our internal warp points. However, my second charge, one that is not reported on and the one that takes far more time, is what we call culling the masses. The grand scheme is quite simple. All research is going toward designing superstructures. These planet like things will be in essence, giant work centers--grand centers of industry. After their construction is complete, I also have the task of overseeing that every citizen be transported to these work centers along with all industry. The galaxy is evolving...the Norak need to evolve as well. After all citizens are removed from the planets, they will be home to the select, what we call, the Enlightened. As the workers toil, the Enlightened will persue, through all means necessary, to facilitate their evolution into cosmic beings. This is what lies behind the Tribunals. They are just the stewards, the heralds of the future. A society toiling for another, supporting, feeding, taking care of everything, so they can meditate toward evolution. The present turmoil masks our intentions. External wars mask our inner workings. The Beginning was a band of dusty, disobedient monks brooding in a cave, formulating a vision. I am the Middle, the Facilitator. The End is a Machine, a perfect social machine, producing a Face which will one day intimidate even She who knows no rival. This project will be my Last. It will take me the rest of my life to complete it. It's vision is my volition. Its hopes are my streets. My destiny stands in its light, or it does not stand at all. I can do nothing else--may it be my gift to the galaxy, and not the curse I fear it to be. |
Re: History of the Galaxy, part 1-Story Thread
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Re: History of the Galaxy, part 1-Story Thread
Norak = Devout Followers of Nietzsche
Irony in itself. This is becoming more interesting as it goes along http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif |
Re: History of the Galaxy, part 1-Story Thread
Aboard the cruiser, Alpha Tau
Personal Log of Lord Alzene I received a message from the Lord Huju recently, in regards to the quandry my project has found itself in. It seems the Norak have sent a cease fire proposal which involved this ship as a large part of the bargaining. Strangely enough, the translators had difficulty understanding a Norak expression, which literally means, Flag Ship. Through local transmissions in Knoglam with the Norak presence there, Lord Knoglam learned that the phrase Flag Ship meant the leaders' ship, or a ship that represents the entire empire somehow. This is of course pure insanity, not only because we never had one ship that somehow represented all of Fazrah. Even if we did, I can say for certain it would not be a Construction Ship run by me. If such a thing existed at all, it would be some large weapon-loaded warship. The reason my plan was foiled, was simply that the Norak regarded my ship as the most important of all, and therefore moved to surround it. As part of the Norak cease-fire proposal that Lord Knoglam agreed too, my ship and its escort will be granted free passage to Huju. Lord Knoglam hounded me rather incessantly about my project and its silliness, but the humorous part is that the only reason it failed was because the Norak thought my ship was a "Flag Ship" and I was an "Admiral". I have since heard that the Sallegans, Norak and Praetorians all have "Flag Ships" and "Admirals" which lead their entire militaries into battle, and are highly revered. The silliness of these titles is one of the few things the System lords can agree on these days. From talking with Lord Huju, it seems every System is disputing with neighbors about military protection, free trade and anything else they can find to disagree. The politics make me a bit naseous, but then they are a lot more normal than the pre-war unity. As a summary of what I know, Lord Huju and the entire Huju populous are rebuilding slowly, in the aftermath of massive losses from the Praetorian war fleet. In Huju, the war is now called the Massacre, and all taste for war has been sapped from Lord Huju and followers. This is good news for me, as I shall definitely be welcomed in Huju as an advocate of peace. On the bad side, the balance of power among Fazrah has shifted away from the Huju system to the Knoglam system. Huju has always been a bit cut off from the rest of Fazrah, and this is cause for Lord Knoglam stating that if the empire is rebuilt as one, it should be centered in Knoglam. Arguing his case well, Lord Knoglam has managed to collect a fleet of over a dozen cruisers in Knoglam. These warships bolster his power and agressiveness almost daily, and Lord Knoglam has already begun gathering support from other System lords for his political agenda, which calls for a new empire of Fazrah with him as leader, and a military agenda. It is likely he would support an attack on the CueCappa, whose agents seem to have replenished the espionage threat that had faltered when the Norak agents pulled out. Lord Huju has promised to oppose such a plan, and I have promised my opposition as well. In all likelihood, within the next year or so, there will be two factions of Fazrah, instead of the nearly dozen there are now. The question now is which side the System lords will join. The war fleet is composed of forces from only a few systems, so those will be most crucial. If Lord Knoglam gains support from all the War Ships, he can simply suppress our faction. |
Re: History of the Galaxy, part 1-Story Thread
More! More! More!
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Re: History of the Galaxy, part 1-Story Thread
2417.1
The small ship exited the lights and colors of the wormhole and plunged into the inky darkness of the Osshod Nebulae. The pilot immediately changed course, circled around, cut power to the minimum and watched the stellar portal closely for any signs that he was followed. The radiation from the Nebulae made sensors inoperable and visual sighting impossible beyond a distance of 1500 kilometers. For ships travelling at near relativistic speeds, 1500 kilometers was less than nothing. The thought of running into another ship in this soup briefly crossed his mind. Entire fleets of warships could pass through the same sector and even amongst each other’s formations and not even realize it. But the sheer size of space made the chance of that infinitesimal. That was something that spacers took for granted usually. But he was no spacer, so it bothered him regardless. His sensors would not help him detect a ship if it were following him, and his eyes, even at this close range would not help if the ship were cloaked. But even a cloaked ship caused minute fluctuations in warp points as they passed through. It was those fluctuations that he was looking for now. Once reassured that there was no one behind him, he set his course for the coordinates he had been given. Somewhere in this nebula was another ship, one belonging to the Sergetti Empire. He was to rendezvous with it, meet with it's occupant, and enter into negotiations to sell his soul. He thought back over the seventeen years since that awful day when his universe had turned upside down. He thought about the chain of events that had led him down this path to treason. In fact he had already been tried and convicted in abstentia for high crimes against the Sallegan Republic, but he rejected that. Before this day if he had been guilty of anything he would accept only that he had put too much trust in incompetents. His incompetent advisors that had assured him the Xi'chung were not a threat. And his incompetent nephew who allowed himself to get killed by the first shot in the war. Their incompetence had cost him his position, and nearly cost him his life. It was only by sheer luck that he had escaped the obliteration of Capitol City as he had taken that precise moment to visit the Space Yard to personally berate the incompetent mangers in charge of construction. In the chaos surrounding the bombardment anyone who knew his whereabouts on that day was killed. Fearing for his life he had taken to the caves along with hundreds of others in the outer province. Whether it was fear or shame that had prevented him from revealing his identity to his fellow survivors that terrible day he know longer knew, and he know longer cared. Whatever the cause it had been a wise decision. One that had saved his life. For upon his triumphant return that megalomaniac Grandow had issued orders for his arrest, not even knowing whether he was alive, and not even caring whether he was guilty. The trial had been a swift one, as all kangaroo courts are he thought. He had watched it on the television from the safety and anonymity of a refugee camp. He had decided then that his days as Senator Dravis Flicken were over. With forged papers, he worked his way onto a colony ship and set out for the Usphada system. Five years of manual labor producing minerals for the Republic had hardened his heart as much as his body. Another five of work more to his talents, advancing up the ranks of colony management had led to his present position as the real power behind the incompetent Governor Simpson of Usphada III. He could not risk taking the reins of power openly himself without being recognized. Before Simpson he had resigned himself to never achieving his revenge on Grandow and dying a lonely anonymous death on a backwater world of the Republic. But in this man he had found a true lump of clay that he could mold in his image. And through this man he would get that revenge. But he had never allowed before allowed his anger for the Admiral to take him down the road he was now travelling. He had never lost his love for the Republic, or at least that is what he told himself. Even now as he waited for the ship containing the enemies of his beloved Republic, he believed that the ends justified the means. He knew it was very likely that his plan would fail. And even if it succeeded he knew he would probably be viewed poorly by history. But he had to do something. He couldn't sit back and let that man destroy everything that thousands of years of Sallegan progress had built. He reached the coordinates and waited… |
Re: History of the Galaxy, part 1-Story Thread
2417.1 Continued
Along with the coordinates, he had been given a frequency to monitor, but no other information about what to expect. After a time his communication system chirped and the sergetti ship pulled into view. It was much larger than his own ship, probably frigate class, although Flicken was not all that good at identifying those sort of things. Space ships had never held much facination for him. As long as they got him where he wanted to go he cared for little else. This ship did not have the sleek cylindrical shapes that he was used to with Sallegan ships. It appeared to his untrained eye to be just a series of large spheres joined together with some engines hung off the back almost as an afterthought. He had been told to maintain strict radio silence to avoid detection, and suddenly realized he didn't know how he was going to dock with this thing as he had been given no instructions. As soon as that thought formed though several lights along the side of the Sergetti ship began flashing in a rythmic pattern drawing his eyes towards what was obviously a docking portal. He nuged his ship slowly closer until the magnetic clamps took hold and locked their ships fast. He made his way to the airlock and stepped through into the Sergetti ship. The sergetti airlock was very similer to his own. Idly he supposed there was only so many ways to design one of these things afterall. The only major difference was a complete lack of furniture of any kind. In fact the only thing in the room was an enviroonmental suit hanging on a hook in the wall. A closer examination showed the suit appeared to be designed for Sallgan pysiology. As he had been on their ship for several minutes now and had no communication from his hosts, Flicken surmised that they were waiting for him to put the suit on. As soon as he did so he heared a hissing and gurgling sound and the chamber rapidly began filling with water. The suit had some sort of breathing aparatus and something that appeared to be a communication device, but it was not very well insulated. The water was painfully cold. So much so that Flicken started to wonder if he would be able to function in it. He had no medical training, but he knew what hypothermia was, and what kind of effect it had on the Sallgean body. His body started to shiver uncontrolably Once the chamber was full the inner door opened and Flicken floated face to face for the first time with a member of the Sergetti race. Three meters long, and except for a larger head and arms it was the spitting image of the sea snakes that inhabited his homeworld. Seeing his discomfort with the water temperature the Sergetti swam towards him, reached out and pressed a button on the sleeve of the suit. Flicken felt the warmth flow over his body as the environmental suits heating system kicked in. Through the water Flicken could hear sereval clicks and whistles that he assumed was the aliens method of speech. His guess was confirmed when the communicator/translator crackled to life with a mechanical sounding voice speaking in Sallegan, "That is better, no?" Flicken nodded his approval, the shivers almost completely subsided now. "What is your designation, er, your name? Is that the word?" The Sergetti asked. "My name is Davisen," Flicken replied, using the name he had adopted all those years before. "I speak for Governor Simpson of Usphada III." "You may call me Riesta. My Queen wishes for me to be blunt with you. Why do you seek to betray your government?" The Sergetti had been swimming slowly around but stopped and locked eyes with Flicken while he waited for a response. "My governor and I, and many others in this part of the Sallegan Republic believe that it is our government that has betrayed us. They have failed to give us adequate protection from the Norak in the area. And now we have learned that they are prepared to give back the gains that we have fought and bled for for their own security. We feel this is a bad policy. We believe the Norak are not to be trusted." Flicken had told himself these things so many times he almost believed them. "Our Admiral is a shortsighted fool. He seized power years ago in a time of crises, and has refused to relinquish it. He has caused mch suffering among my people, and the Sergetti people in his attempt to keep the masses afraid and in line." "So," Riesta interupted "This is why your people have invaded our territory and enslaved our populations?" "Yes. Governor Simpson is prepared to return your planets to you in return for your assistance." Flicken stated flatly. The fact was Simpson had no knowledge of this meeting, and would probably have wet his pants at the thougth of conspiring with the Sergetti. "What is this assistance you need?" Riesta asked warily "We cannot openly oppose the Norak, we have a treaty with them. We are not particularly fond of their expansionism in the area, but they have not captured our people or destroyed our vessles as you have." "No, we understand this. We do not ask you to take arms against the Norak. We will deal with them. We have many ships that are loyal to our cause. But we need time. We need your ships to interfere with communications between Usphada and the Sallegan Homeworld. And when we deal with the Norak here will need your assistance in dealing with the Sallegan fleets that are sure to come to respond. Many will be tied up in Cephredi as this action will likely cause open warfare between the Norak and Sallegan fleets amassed there, but enough will come that it could be a problem for us." Riesta considered Flickens words for a moment without speaking. "And for this assistance, you will agree to remove your fleets and your colonies from Usphada and Narcisston once you have seized control of your government?" "Yes." Flicken answered without hesitation. "Then go, we shall do as you request. But do not fail us, and do not allow the Norak to learn of this arangement." With that Riesta swam away into the interior of the ship and left Flicken to make his own way back to his ship. ... |
Re: History of the Galaxy, part 1-Story Thread
2417.3
In retrospect it was remarkable that the Sallgan rebels had managed even the small amount of damage they did in the brief battle in Usphada. They outnumbered the Norak warships by 4 to 1, but these were not the outdated Norak ships that the Sallegan navy had faced in the Battle of Cephredi a couple of years before. These four ships were top of the line Norak battle ships, with much superior weponry, and the mysterious Religious Tailsmans that the Sallegans had so far been unable to decipher. While the rebels did have three Grandow class Battle Cruisers, they were early units of the series, including the initial Grandow herself, serial 0001. The remainder of the fleet were pratically relics. Frigates, and destroyers with hoplessly outdated weaponry and little or no combat electronics. Remainders of the Xi'Chung and Sergetti wars pressed into service due to the recent tensions and assigned to what was supposed to be a security post in a less critical area of the empire. In fact a couple of the Desroyers had actually taken part in the invasion of the Xi'Chung homeworld and were scheduled to be given to the naval museum as soon as the situation allowed. A few of their youngest crewmembers were not as old as the ships they were serving on. In tonnage and number of weapons it was far closer to an even fight than the number of ships relayed, and in fact in quality the Norak were far superior. Despite this the Sallegans did manage to destroy one Texas V class Battleship, although the rest of the Norak vessels escaped apparently without scratch. Many of the smaller Sallegan vessels were destroyed by the first Norak volleys before even making to their own weapons ranges. Davisen/Flicken had done a careful job of selecting officers for key fleet positions that were loyal to their cause. This in conjunction to a well timed Sergetti interferance had resulted in Admiral Grandow not being aware of the operation until it was too late to stop it. He attempted to warn the Norak government of the plot, but his signals either did not arrive in time, or were not taken seriously. Apporpriate appologies were expressed over the loss of Norak life on the battleship. Grandow considered them all very fortunate that that was the extent of the losses. He could not imagine the damage to Sallegan/Norak relations at such a critical juncture in the peace process had the rebels succeded in their attack. It very likely could have lpunged the quadrant into a war that neither side would have recovered from in his lifetime. In fact, since most of his frontline ships could not leave the Cephredi system, he had to dispatch the fleet garrisoning the Xi'Chung homeworld. He was not even sure they would have been able to deal with the rebel fleet in Ushpada had they been victorious. If they managed to get through this crises Grandow decided he needed to have a talk with his minister in charge of keeping the fleet retrofits up to date. Despite the incident the Norak government showed restraint. Negotiations were finalized to turn the colony in Narcisston back over to Norak control. The order was sent, although Grandow was not sure who was at the receiving end. The loyalist fleet he dispatched from Organtrix would not be in Narcisston for four months, and though he had issued orders for Governor Simpson to be arrested, communications had been sporadic from the eastern systems. Most of his concrete information over the Last couple months had come from the Norak themselves. There was still a large Sallegan fleet in Narcisston, and he was afraid that considering the events of late, he was not totally sure of their loyalty. |
Re: History of the Galaxy, part 1-Story Thread
2417.5
The "rebellion" was falling apart before it had even started. In fact most Sallegans in the eastern systems were not even aware they were involved in a rebellion. The distances involved nessecitated a lot of compartmentalization. Governor Simpson was the ranking representative of the Rebublic for the Usphada and Narciston systems, and as such his orders were obeyed unless contradicted by direct communication from the Sallegan homeworld. The Sergetti communication interferance had been quite effective. The few Messages that got through from the Space Service made little sense out of context of the other information on hand. A few officals and Naval officers had suspicions, but nothing that could be confirmed. They chose to wait for this confirmation to disobeying direct orders from the appointed local leadership and risk ending their carrers. If perhaps they had talked amongst themselves more they would have relized they weren't alone in their suspicions and things could have been ended sooner. But this was a war, declared or not, and in war you obeyed you superiors or people got killed. After the catastrophe in Usphada, Governor Simson had almost a complete mental breakdown. He was sure that any minute the full force of the Sallegan navy would come puring in from Organtrix to crush him. Davisen/Flicken had him isolated and began to issue orders more openly to the eastern colonies. About this time the message filtered through the Norak representatives on Narcisston VIII that the Sallgan republic had turned control of the colony back over to them and ordered the Sallegan troops and ships to leave the sector immedietly and relocate to Narcisston VI. Flicken refused, and informed the fleet that it was a forged order and told them that the Sallegan Navy had been destroyed in Cephredi and that there was an open state of war between the two empires. Whether it was their strict code of obedience, or the vision of their fellow officers and crew in Usphada being cut down by the Norak, the Sallgan fleet in Narcisston chose to follow Flicken's instructions and refused to move. On the surface of the planet things were different. Major General Jackson of the Sallegan Space Marines had been stationed on the planet for several months and had grown to have a deep respect for the Norak people and their religion. He had his doubts about the current Tribunal government, but he strongly believed that war with the Norak was a mistake. When presented with evidence of the agreement by Kelraeck the Norak formerly the Governor of Narciston VIII, he believed it. He didn't know what was going on, but he thought it was clear that Governor Simpson was not acting in the interests of peace. He ordered his troops to turn over control of the planet to the Norak despite Simpsons orders. Flicken was furious. He joined the fleet over the planet and informed the officers that the planet had rebeled with the help of disloyal marines and that the planet was to be destroyed immedietly. Having no defenses other than the the ships that had now turned on them, the planet fell quickly. There were no survivors among the Norak or the Sallegan marines defending them. When Grandow learned of this he was distraught. He had just sent an official offer of a non-aggresion pact to the Norak government, and he had no doubt that the Tribunal had recieved almost simultaneously the treaty offer and the knowledge of the destruction of their colony. He tried to put himself in their position and think what he would do if presented with such treachery. He hoped that they valued peace as much as he did would not allow this additional incident to stop it. He ordered the fleet in Cephredit to their highest level of preparedness in case things fell apart. The next 48 hours would be critical. |
Re: History of the Galaxy, part 1-Story Thread
Just a wild question; if you don't mind answering; out of the blue:
When is the gold Version of this incredible game starting on pbw? |
Re: History of the Galaxy, part 1-Story Thread
Well, this was really supposed to just be an experiment. We started with 1.49 because I didn't have Gold at the time.
Honestly, I don't know if I would even consider doing another one. Don't want to write through all of the same stuff that happens to an empire in the first turns. However, and this is something I think the lot of us have only learned in the Last 50-80 turns, these role play-writing games are only as fun as your imagination. Turn an attack into a conspiracy, like Geo did....much more fun. I can see that this genre of SE4 game could really be exploited with designed maps and pre-written storylines. Who knows...maybe I would do another...dunno. |
Re: History of the Galaxy, part 1-Story Thread
Well, I am definetly looking to do another one at some point. Maybe a few months down the road. If Mencsh doesn't join I will be sad, but I am sure there will be many that can step in. I can certainly understand his feeling about doing all the begnining stuff again. The next History will be totally seperate from this one. I will use a different race. If anyone chooses to use the same races that are in this game it will be totally separate histories. Not an actual continuation or anything.
Geoschmo |
Re: History of the Galaxy, part 1-Story Thread
2417.3
Raehar decided his typing would be more efficient if he got rid of this glass of Praetorian gin. Putting it on the floor, precariously close to his own foot, he went on entering coordinates and codes and technical stuff he was still getting even the most elementary hang of. Being a rebel, he thought, is a multi-disciplinary job. In the Last months, he's learned how to use several light weapons, pilot an escort class ship, decode transmissions using a juiced up Version of the universal translator coupled with a stolen Xaiti high-intelligence probability program, and preach the sermon of fanatics and outsiders. He'd spent the Last week convincing planetary officials in several eastern systems to feed him a little information now and then, if not join outright. Several old friends who no doubt thought him too idealistic to think him dangerous. But it was hard talking to them about change. The ones in power benefitted from every corrupt profit the Tribunal's were making, few caring about the billions slaving away beneath the social foundations. Raeghar's rebels controlled all power in the local system, and that despite the fact that the core members numbered only a few thousand among millions. He hated that they had resorted to threats, bribes and even murder in order to keep the other local officials from ratting them out. Raeghar was sure the Counsel knew something. Certainly, some word had reached their ears, but as the galaxy swooned with confusion there was little chance of any sustained effort to root the rebels out. This was his second transmission. Those faithless god-mongers demanded proof of some kind. Here it was. As before his transmission was being bounced off of a roaming satellite somewhere in the thick of a nearby nebula. If the Tribunals traced the signal, thought Raeghar, they'd spend till Time ran out combing that soup looking for him. May the Almightly grant favors to the fools who seek to rectify the disgraces of their own people. Several weeks later... Raeghar's head still pounded. A small patch of blood encrusted cloak looked back at him in the mirror. He wondered who it was that had attempted to smash his skull back at the local tavern. A disgruntled Sergetti conspirator? A Norak agent? A Farzah mercenary? A Xaiti mercenary? He could have gone on for hours making a list and checking it twice. Probably just a drunk who mistook me for someone else, he concluded. If it really had been someone with a purpose, he wouldn't still be living. No one knew his real name. No one outside of the leaders of their rebellion. As the pain killers finally kicked in, Raeghar tried to take stock of the Last months. It was in the same bar that he met a Sergetti outlaw, claiming to be a local miner/trader/philosopher. The Sergetti quickly took to Raeghar as they discussed every quirky thing they could think of, and for every odd question the Sergetti could pose, Raeghar, because of his formal training in rhetoric and thought, had an answer...or at least one good enough to impress a novice philosopher. The Sergetti went off talking about how the Sallega Empire had wrong his people, that they had killed his father in the war, and how most of his people have been living since then. He described what he called the Oasis on one of the old Sergetti worlds, where those who refused to integrate themselves into Sallegan society were stuck. If only half of his rants were true, no doubt this was a horrible place. Such a place existed in the Norak Continuum as well. Many Zynarra and Xi'Chung were sent there. No doubt, thought Raeghar, these instant cities, as the populace called them, have been revived for the criminal and for those opposed to the Tribunals. Two populations..divided by too many laws. The Sergetti was looking to talk to someone inside the Norak rebellion. He claimed he had it on good authority that he could find them here. So he had, thought Raeghar. Raeghar told him to come around to this address the next morning....as early as possible. Punctual, Raeghar opened the door to the same grinning face he'd left in the bar the previous night. "Would you like a cup of Praetorian tea?" Raeghar asked. "No, I can't stand the stuff." "I really can't offer you much else. It seems a bit early to do any drinking. I'm quite a poor man, but I get by. Since we're neglected by the Continuum, about all we find in the markets have the stamp of the Praetorian systems." "I'd rather just get this meeting on. Where's the rebel leaders?" he asked as they sat down. Raeghar just stared back him. "You mean.... You're head of this operation? But...you're...a..." "Priest," said Raeghar. "I used to be one. Escaped from Xiban in a military freighter." "I wasn't expecting a....." "I am all that you will get. I am as high as you will get. I am the only one you will meet, so please, say what you came to say." "I am not comfortable with you, priest. I know priests don't think like regular people. They're about the most unpredictable type to deal with. However, we seek the assistance of your...rebellion, if you even call it that." "We do, even if do so lying down." "How shall I start? The Sergetti have become a bitter people. I would even venture to say that we only still breath because one cannot stop one's chest and still curse the Sallega. As I am sure you know, the Sergetti have never had much of a problem with the Norak. We allowed you to colonize in our homesystems, mingle with our people, trade.... But we cannot abide the prosperity of our enemy, the Sallega. It is because of taking our homeworlds, our space, that they stand in the glow of their wealth today. Without our lands they would be stuck in their own system. We've moved on in space and worlds, but not in time or spirit. And finally, after years of waiting, hating, biding out time, the hour, nay the minute has come for action. That is why I am here. To enlist your help, to bring down the Sallega." "I have no quarrel with the Sallega. My quarrel is with Norak, the Tribunals, to be precise." "Hear me out. Our agents have infiltrated the Sallegan military, especially their eastern fleets, and subsequent commanders, to such a degree we can move fifty ships without any knowledge of it reaching the Sallega High Command." "Impressive...but still I fail to see your reason for enlisting me." "In fact, this very moment, our plan is in action." "So you plan to use Sallegan ships to attack the eastern Sallegan empire, hoping it will fall and in the ensuing chaos the Sergetti retake their homesystems." "No." "I see." "Do you?" "Yes." Raeghar said slowly. "No that wouldn't do would it. It's not complete." "That would do, were it possible. You see, the ships we control in Upshada and Nizzarum are not the best the Sallega military has to offer. They hold other larger, more modern fleets elsewhere. After such an attack, these fleets could easily chase us from these systems. No, we are attempting what is dictated by ancient Sergetti wisdom--'Be late to a battle that is not your own.' It means if two others war against each other, march slow into battle...allow them to weaken one another first. No, priest, with these ships we will attack a third race...the Norak. So, do you now see why I am here?" Raeghar nodded, still running over all the outcomes. "You see, priest. We watched your Last war with the Sallega intently. At that time, we hoped your Norak would destroy enough of the Sallega that we might have a chance of pushing them back as well, but you prematurely made peace with one another." "Even the Tribunals don't want the destruction of every society in the southern quadrants, and that is what you would have had! You must understand, the Tribunals when they infiltrated the High Counsel knew nothing but the dusty caves of Xiban III. Those who paved their way were skilled in diplomacy, but they were just agents, the real Tribunals are backwards monks. It was like having your mind expand to the size of a room. They were lost, so they attempted petty wars with the Jraenar and then the Farzah, ultimately sparking the conflict you refer to. They've changed. They are now reverting to their xenophobic ways. They have turned inward. The Tribunals don't understand the sublties of galactic negotiation and diplomacy. I have it on good authority that many of the old diplomats, those not slaughtered in the cleansings, have been reinstated....just to act as machines...machines of state." "We could help you bring down the Tribunals." "I fail to see how. A few Sergetti ships are useless." "But fifty Sallegan warships...and once we have control of the empire, regain our lands, we will be in a perfect position to strike the Continuum." "Hopeless," muttered Raeghar. "The Norak have ships, the like, you've never seen." "Ah, but those ships could be persuaded. And I haven't told you of what we've acquired. Tectonic bombs. Ever heard of them?" "Yes, they can reduce a planet into just a bunch of asteroids in a matter of minutes." "If you help us plan our attack against Norak defenses, we'll sell your organization all the ships and tectonic bombs you need, at a reduced price...to be paid once you regain you former places. All we ask is that you talk to your friends and help us plan an attack against a Norak world. We will then make the rest of the eastern Continuum well aware that if they take you as their leader, we will not destroy them." Not long after that the Sergetti agent left. It was noon and Raeghar sat in his sparse kitchen thinking over the Sergetti plot. He was to meet the Sergetti outlaw in two days time...at the bar in which they had initially met. Countless doubts and questions moved over his mind like clouds, but one remained, and it was really more of a statement than a question--'perhaps this is the only option.' Realignment just might require total destruction. Tectonic bombs? Sallega fleets? Raeghar wondered if this actually was a Sergetti plot, or was there someone else behind it. He thought only the Norak and the Praetorians had such weapons. Possibly the Sallega, but certainly not the Sergetti. Killing Norak civilians, he muttered to himself. And that was the first time in which he considered that possibly, everyone of the more than 30 billion Norak still working, slaving for the Tribunals were guilty, deserving death. --To Be Continued-- |
Re: History of the Galaxy, part 1-Story Thread
I think I might participate in another if I can find something brand new and original to take on. I might enjoy playing a pirate race, or some such odd race that isn't going to play anything like the Norak. Possibly a pirate/nomad/mercenary race...but that might take a mod. Dunno.
I think the important question is what are we going to do with this history game. Go on forever...kill it off....kill off each other....declare galactic peace. |
Re: History of the Galaxy, part 1-Story Thread
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Re: History of the Galaxy, part 1-Story Thread
Heh... Too bad he's already heard of that particular Oracle trick, dmm.
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Re: History of the Galaxy, part 1-Story Thread
Perhaps....but the Last thing I want to do is end up writing the history of the galaxy by myself.
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Re: History of the Galaxy, part 1-Story Thread
Encyclopedia of Galactic History
59th edition, 2996GE Book 75: The Fazrah Chapter 7: The Factions After the near-complete loss of the prized Fazrah battle-fleet, and after the attack from Praetorian warships on the Huju system, and subsequent withdrawl of said ships, the shocked and frightened Lords who remained on the Huju homeworld agreed to peace with the Praetorian and Norak empires. Representing a new message in Fazrah history, the citizens of Huju denounced war and violence as a means of action and decommissioned all mercenaries and other soldiers under their control. The overwhelming, quick and devastating nature of their loss in the First Battle of Huju convinced those who had experienced it that warfare is nasty and brutish whether you win or lose. This might have been a short lived philosophy even in Huju if Lord Alzene had not taken asylum in Sallegan territory. Once the treaty with the Norak was confirmed Alzene returned to Huju, and was welcomed in open arms as the first to advocate peace. Though Alzene was not the leader of the new Huju Faction that arose, he became the main ambassador and spokesman for it. In sharp contrast to System Huju's message of peace, was the rebuilding of Fazrah military might occuring in what used to be outlying provinces and lesser territory. In the confusion of Huju's tragic defeat, the leader of the Knoglam system asserted that the empire could be rebuilt, and that Fazrah lords had become too soft. He ordered his supporters to build what ships they could and help him amass a warfleet worthy of the Fazrah name. Lord Knoglam planned to reunite the Fazrah under his rule and shift control of it to Knoglam from the Huju homeworld. He wanted to avoid a fight with the stronger powers until he had shown his fellow lords the rewards of war, by defeating such lesser powers as the Cue Cappan and Amon'krie. When Lord Alzene visited orbit of Lord Knoglam's homeworld, looking for support for Huju, Lord Knoglam knew the Fazrah would remain splintered until he could show the Huju lords that war lead to victory, not defeat. He toyed with the idea of assasinating Alzene, but decided it would create a backlash against Knoglam. While the two factions looked for support for other System Lords, some Lords decided they didn't want to be united for peace or for war, and just wanted to be left alone with their own agendas. Thus the Rim faction formed as a loosely governed council for the sole purpose of spreading the idea of more independence. They merely argued that no person, region, planet or system should be forced to work for some "greater whole" regardless of whether it was for peace or war. The faction was named Rim because the outermost systems of Fazrah space signed the original statement of intent. They felt that any union would force the rim systems to work for the core systems with no benefit for themselves. Thus three factions of Huju were formed, with their own agendas and leaders, and conVersions from one to the other were frequent due to lobbying or political events in other empires. |
Re: History of the Galaxy, part 1-Story Thread
So, did the Galactic Core go nova or something? I haven't been able to pick up the Galactic News Network for a week or two now...
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Re: History of the Galaxy, part 1-Story Thread
No, the game is still going. We lost Spacefan, but the rest of us are still playing. Just finding it hard to post. I thought Mensch had more to go on his story there. I will have a post soon relating my taking revenge on the Sergetti for their meddling of late.
Geoschmo |
Re: History of the Galaxy, part 1-Story Thread
Sorry people. I posted my Last one and then just ran outta steam. I have half of the next one to post...but am finding it hard to take the time to write on it.
But there might be more to write on in the near future. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif |
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Re: History of the Galaxy, part 1-Story Thread
When, and if, i get aroudn to it i think ill turn this thread into text file for easy viewing (only the stories) any thoughts?
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Re: History of the Galaxy, part 1-Story Thread
Year 2419.2 (The beginning of the end)
Commander Dennison looked over the pile of reports on his desk. The condition of the fleets in Cephredi were just shameful. It was his job to rectify that. He only hoped that the Norak gave him the time to do it. He reviewed the threat assesments. Nothing new there. Things had calmed down considerably in a remarkably short time. He hoped his intelligence was right and that the the internal flux apparently going on within the Continuum would prevent them taking any action against the Republic. He expected that the Amonkrie and Cue Cappa would be no problem for them here in Cephredi, even if they were to go crazy and attack. But it's been so long since either of them made a peep. There was no reason to expect a change from either of them. The Pretorians had no ships within three systems distance. Neither did the Sergetti. For that matter according to the recent reports coming from the east, the Sergetti may not have any ships anywhere. Grandow had apparently taken upon himself the personal mission to remove every Last vestige of the Sergetti empire from the galaxy. Not that Dennison blamed him all that much. Their meddling had very nearly cost the Republic their empire, and would assuradly have cost Dennison his own life along with the rest of the Sallegans in the Cephredi system. Official positions notwithstanding, he had no illusions about holding off the Norak fleets were it to come to that. No, the Norak were the threat that he was preparing for. And there was little hope of any assistance coming from the homesystem, and even less hope of assistance from the Fazrah. They had for all practical purposes ceased to exsist as an organized government. The planets were still there, but with the fleet losses to the Praetorians and Norak in the recent war, their remaining sytems had reverted to there prewar chaotic state. No, no help coming from there, Dennison thought. He picked up the retrofit reports again and had just started reviewing them, when the red alert klaxon started blaring. Dennison jumped up and ran to the operations center, "What's going on!" he barked over the din of alarms and officers shouting at one another. "Commander. It's the Norak. They are attacking sir!" the lieutenant said. The man was very obviously close to breaking down. "Get ahold of yourself man. Where are they attacking?" He asked the Lt. "Everywhere sir." the man stammered. "My god!" Dennison exclaimed. Just then he saw the tactical screen. The Norak were attacking in a two pronged assault. Even if all the ships orbiting the two Sallgan colonies had been fully operational, they would have been no match for the Norak and their damn tailsmans. As it was, fully half of the ships under his command were in various states of repair and retrofit. It was going to be a slaughter. Just then he heard the first explosions in the distance as the norak ships had sliced through the fleet and began pounding the planets surface. "Open a channel to Narcisston. Now!" FLASH TRAFFIC........CEPHREDI SYSTEM UNDER ATTACK....ATTACKERS POSITVLY IDENTIFIED AS NORAK......REQUEST IMMEDIATE ASSISTANCE......REPEAT....CEPHREDI SYSTEM UNDER ATT................................... |
Re: History of the Galaxy, part 1-Story Thread
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Quikngruvn |
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