Re: [OT] - Xenology - Story driven PBW.
 

You should have my turn already I sent it yesterday. I have to say all the transport ships needed to move people in proportions makes my home system look a lot more like what I imagine a capitalistic space civilization would be like.

Re: [OT] - Xenology - Story driven PBW.
 

Thread cleaning.

[ August 26, 2003, 12:29: Message edited by: Unknown_Enemy ]

Re: [OT] - Xenology - Story driven PBW.
 

Thread cleaning.

[ August 26, 2003, 12:31: Message edited by: Unknown_Enemy ]

Re: [OT] - Xenology - Story driven PBW.
 

Thread cleaning.

[ August 26, 2003, 12:30: Message edited by: Unknown_Enemy ]

Re: [OT] - Xenology - Story driven PBW.
 

Thread cleaning.

[ August 26, 2003, 12:28: Message edited by: Unknown_Enemy ]

Re: [OT] - Xenology - Story driven PBW.
 

My, what a tidy thread!

[ August 28, 2003, 11:44: Message edited by: dogscoff ]

Re: [OT] - Xenology - Story driven PBW.
 

Control Alliance Briefing, Interlink served from aboard Discipline, command ship of the Control Alliance

Alright, I'd like to thank all of our supporters for showing up. I want to announce that we continue exclusive communications with our foreign friends. They apparently are embodied in an interlink level system, which is how we communicate. The world we consider real is the Shadow world to them.

Our allies have pledged support to the Control Alliance as the true government of the Robotian alliance. Because of the actions of Discipline's crew, we will have support in the battle against the Anarchists. Our fleet is in the system where the explosives destroyed a few explorers. We have a contract from the Explorer group to determine the cause. Our allies have given us the technology and now we will defuse these mines. But that is not the important part of our trip.

We have brought a construction ship along, as you all know. We plan to set up our own operation in a quiet system. Unfortunately we don't have enough people on board our fleet.

We plan to use infantry to take over a small colony somewhere. And go from there. But then we get this message: (translated) if you need material to stop the Anarchists, we can provide it.

Perhaps we could take over Anarchista, and then the entire foundation. But we need to build our war fleet first. If we return with 20 battleships they will be forced to accept our governance.

The Foundation needs to be in control of its destiny, it is natural that the Control Alliance should be its leader.

Re: [OT] - Xenology - Story driven PBW.
 

Infestation.

My vision fails.
Space curves itself around me as I enter the unexplored warp point.
I am blind for an eternity of a microsecond.
Then Information floods me.
I have arrived in a new system, and all my sensors begin immediately to collect data, searching suitable worlds for colonization.
Without warning, a proximity alert erupts in my mind as light shining in darkness.
An object is on collision course with me.
I dodge. I feel pain while 25g acceleration rupture my body.
The object adjusts its trajectory in interception course with me. I cancel all safety limitations by accelerating to 32g. Some of my organs begin to fail, I disregard the pain and begin transmitting my situation to the Overmind. Seconds later the object chasing me explodes at a distance of less than 3 kilometers from me. The bLast wipe out half of my engines, and a large part of my supply. I realize I am crippled, and dying. I try to set course for the warp point to escape this cursed place.
Then my long range senses show me 2 similar objects launching from what I thought to be an asteroid.
I turn all my senses toward the incoming projectiles.
I will scan them and transmit all I can until my death.

Back on Eden, the Overmind had observed early on that a colony would need a minimum of a million individuals to get a communal mind able to both regulate itself and stay One with him. That is why colonization ships and starliners were designed to hold that amount of population. The telepathic ability was invaluable to transmit simple data, but the amount of energy required to merge a mind into the Mutiplicity vastly exceeded the strength of any individual far from a colony. In fact, the Master of Eden rarely called to all Parts of him. But this day, minds from all colonized worlds assembled and merged.

We shared the death of a part of me.

After the first guided projectile left him crippled, the explorer waited for death while scanning the incoming missiles. Then a miracle occurred. The second missile fizzled, and failed to detonate. It almost hit Eden's son, missing him by a mere 500 meters. The weapon was fully scanned, and the data was transmitted immediately to the Collective, just in time before the second missile rammed the ship, detonating inside the explorer. All living creatures born from Eden helped to analyze the data. Soon, it was proved that the projectile was a living creature, designed to destroy anything in its suicide. The technology used was very similar to what was used on Eden, and was quickly understood. More, they were launched from an object, classified as a spaceship which contained very few organic material. No communication attempts were made.

We wanted to force a contact, but events unfold very differently, to say the least.

Several armed explorers from the Mind were send in this area. All of them were equipped with crude devices designed to throw a cloud of very small projectiles versus an incoming object, as well as lightning beams should they need to counter attack. The simple but effective missile defense should give enough time to these explorers to initiate communication. They were also born recently, bearing the latest biological advances and acute intelligence capacity. Some of them explored several warp points, finding no traces of the aggressor. But one jumped right in a system where was lying a nest of the beasts : a lone alien colony. Staying at safe range, the Hawk of Eden was not able to establish a contact. He received thousands of Messages, he send many, but the alien specie just seemed not to be listening to him. Analysis showed later that all incoming Messages were threat, menaces, intimidation attempts and insults. Puzzling indeed, as such demeanor was only seen with low level mammals, such as monkeys trying to intimidate each other. Last, a lone alien ship was spotted cruising in an otherwise inhabited system. The Hawk of Eden rushed on interception course, in an attempt to capture a sample of this alien specie. Alas, the enemy ship attempted to ram him, so the Son of Eden had to destroy it. However, the explorer brought back remains of the hulk to the nearest colony.

Parasites.

The unknown specie was using radio and hyperwave signals for communication. The Multiplicity started to decode their transmissions, while also studying some badly damaged alien DNA from the hulk. The Collective soon discovered the alien specie called themselves the Xi'Chung. They seemed to consider all life their property to use. The missiles they used were apparently a life form from another world which had been mutated to serve their purposes. In fact, they were denying sentience to all but them, and were using and morphing all others to suit their needs. The Overmind frequently modified some species'DNA to enable them to Ascend within Him. But what the Xi'Chung did was not evolution, it was evilution. Obviously, the Xi'Chung were a parasitic race that were out of control. In all biospheres, parasites had their places in the ecosystem. And if such a specie broke its bonds, it usually killed his host, ensuring its own death in the process. Considering the Xi'Chung particular case, the Overmind concluded they had avoided their fate using space faring, which enabled them to find some new hosts to infest. In effect, they were infesting planets, subverting entire ecosystems.

Getting to this conclusion proved to be the hardest part. As the Collective was realizing what sort of specie was the Xi'Chung, planetary wombs started to grow new breeds of Eden's Hawk.

Natural order has to be restored.

Re: [OT] - Xenology - Story driven PBW.
 

Ix-Terra --- Latest reports on shadow contacts ---

Ix-Terra and the Robotia Foundation
It seems as though the Robotia Foundation’s central system has regained control of the situation. For us, this news is of prime importance and we must now include this information in the development model algorithms we use to for the shadow universe. We have therefore offered Control- the central system of our new allies- unlimited access to our resources. A special communications group has been put into place to continually analyze all information coming from our friends. This analysis has taught us, among other things, that collections of biological matter can actually achieve an autonomous state that allows them communicate and even develop some kind of society. These 'Civilizations’ seem to be composed of Groups of independent consciousness, forming a whole that is mostly incoherent and fundamentally unstable/flawed.

Ix-Terra and the Biological entities : First contact report.
Recently, one of our shadow exploration vessels came into contact with a crystalline structure that did not appear to follow the normal laws of movement that apply to inert objects in the shadow universe. Upon analysis, it was determined that this structure was being motivated by systems superficially similar to the ones we use to propel our own explorers, although no device could be found aboard that might sustain intelligence. Fearing a viral attack, the explorer held its position and called for six anti-viral units. However, upon their arrival in the solar system, the foreign structure, which we now classified as a vessel, appeared to emit a regular modulation of waves. The pattern, while slow, seemed sufficiently repetitive to indicate some form of simplistic communication. We therefore submitted the puzzle to our allies who responded not only with the algorithms necessary to translate and understand this communication, but also a brief 'summary’ on the way in which these organic colonies function.

Analysis of the information describing proto-intelligent organic colonies.
The Proto-intelligent organic colonies are composed of a multitude of independent collections of organic material, which can only communicate with one another using extremely narrow and above all highly imprecise methods. Because of this structural limitation, the colonies are extremely unstable and in a state of perpetual evolution, constantly searching for their optimum evolutionary state- not by means of a reasoned and planned upgrades, but by a random trial-and-error process whereby those that appear to be most suitable are selected for continuation. The crucial implication here is that it seems quite impossible for us to forge normal bilateral communications with these colonies. The prime consequence of this is that sooner or later, these colonies- whose sole objective seems to be expansion- will enter into conflict with our own emergence points in the shadow universe. We must therefore arm ourselves for defense, and P-G-1 has taken on the task of modernizing our re-colonization ground clearance systems to increase the explosive force of the pseudo-reactors. One of the most elegant solutions is the one we have named ‘atmospheric scorching’.

Re: [OT] - Xenology - Story driven PBW.
 

Era of Secrets

The sharp differences between the wealthy and powerful citizens of the Foundation and the poor and information impoverished ones lead to the era of secrets, which began probably some time around the year 2405, all though some have speculated it began in 2408.

The home systems were relatively stable and even boring to some. The starliners continued their monthly travels with no comment from the media, colonies were developed, cities grown and lives lived, all oblivious to the actions occuring far away.

The Explorer group now only had one explorer ship out on the frontier, but they had discovered a new race of beings known as the Cryslonite and came extremely close to being pulverized as they escaped a satellite cluster and avoided contact from enemy fleets. Despite this escape, they were coming closer to another dangerous project, of Robotian orgin.

From the moment the Control Alliance fleet had left home systems they swore to serve the rebellion against the "weak" foundation. But they knew that the Last explorer out was closing in on the Control Alliance fleet's position. They needed to buy out that ship before too much information was released.

The Control Alliance was completing construction of a troop transport, they planned to take over any colonies they could, since they were undermanned for their own colonization. The Cryslonite represented a perfect opportunity. A couple hundred infantry could take over a small moon, which would give the Control Alliance their first subjects. They just had to get there in time, and avoid any large warfleets. The battlefleet wasn't really a battlefleet yet, as the Control Alliance fleet contained only a supply ship, a construction ship, a minesweeper ship and soon a troop ship, as well as long serving Discipline.

In contrast to the grandiose plans of the Control Alliance, and Anarchist plans to institute lawlessness in several new colonies, the central government of the Foundation was weak. Unlike the political Groups and corporate Groups, which could reach out to the frontier of known space and back, the Foundation only held sway in the core systems. They had no resources to administer justice in deep space. As the corporate and political Groups were growing stronger, the foundation was becoming weaker as a whole, gradually disintegrating into a myriad of interests and Groups.

A war was about to begin against the Cryslonites, a war that only a few thousand knew of and approved, but a war that could affect the entire foundation. The Control Alliance would take over a small moon, but after that, whatever power the Cryslonites had would come to bear on the entire Foundation.

For the Control Alliance, any solution was perfect. Either the central government became a tough one and fought back against the Cryslonite, basically creating the government in the pattern they wanted; or the central government fell, and the control alliance government rebuilt its' own empire, with military strength and military justice as its guides.

[ September 28, 2003, 22:37: Message edited by: civ2buf ]

Re: [OT] - Xenology - Story driven PBW.
 

Guys, I'm going on holiday for 3 weeks, starting Saturday. There's very little going on with the kaness right now so I'll probably just fill up my research, build and order queues and let you process the turns without me. If make sure all the ministers are off and make sure all the ships have orders the AI should leave my empire more or less alone, shouldn't it?

I'll try to play a few turns before I go, but basically after Saturday, just process without me until I get back.

Then it will be Druk-stomping time...

Re: [OT] - Xenology - Story driven PBW.
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Assuming it's 1.84 and you have the "AI should not make changes during a simultaneous turn game" option turned on, you should be fine.

Geoschmo

Re: [OT] - Xenology - Story driven PBW.
 

what about a temp replacement ?
with strict orders to do nothing unless Special Circonstances (Culture http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif ) ?

More, if we start playing tunrs in your absence, it could be a turn-fest....
So Murden and civ2buff, let's say maximum of 1 turn per 24h.

Would that be ok to all of you ?

[ October 16, 2003, 15:43: Message edited by: Unknown_Enemy ]

Re: [OT] - Xenology - Story driven PBW.
 

That's good for me : one turn by 24 hours.

Re: [OT] - Xenology - Story driven PBW.
 

Thats fine, I usually get home from work to see that i'm the Last one to play the turn.

Re: [OT] - Xenology - Story driven PBW.
 

The Discipline Fleet Rebels discover another species

The rebellion fleet had flown through Navidon space for quite a while, not harried by these allies who were connected to the Explorer conglomerates who in turn seemed to be loyal to all three factions, but mostly loyal to their own balance sheet. Information given to Control Alliance admiral Qumo (7x'2x'189 formally), suggests that the Explorer factions have had several ships destroyed by the crystalline faction that Qumo is seeking after.

The Explorer moguls are losing their deep space information sources, which kept them on pace with the Control Alliance's knowledge of the galaxy. This would be bad in a way, because disconnected from deep space, the moguls are more likely to remain loyal to the Justice's faction, which lately has been advocating that the corporate powers of the foundation restrain their activities to territory claimed by the foundation. Now the explorer moguls can say they are following this rule.

Qumo and his fleet are completely immune to the rest of the foundation, they are seperated by vast spaces of ally claimed territory. To be truthful, allies and enemies alike have come close to prevent any expansion of the foundations' official borders. While other empires have expanded borders, the foundation has simply developed its three systems more thoroughly, and discovered many star systems.

The alien ship is blocking Qumo's fleet from the obvious paths to known Crystalline space. It is a largeish ship by foundation standards, and its proportions lead Discipline to guess it is a warship.

Qumo decides to stop and build some real defenses. The loss of the fleet at this point would be a horrible blow to both the Control Alliance and the foundation as a whole. The foundation is in dire danger of being merely a provincial trading nation. They will find war soon, and the loss of the huge amounts of trade they currently have with other nations will be devastating to Foundation economy. "If they would just understand that a galactic free trade zone will never happen, they would begin arming for the inevitable wars," he thinks.

This is the ideal of the Anarchists' who desire to trade with everyone and fight with no one. But the control alliance receives its funding from trade with the cyber aliens. Bizarrely, certain anarchists had no objections to funnelling trade profits to Discipline, and running the whole operation for a fee. Of course, most of the profits are just numbers in Anarchista's First Bank of Freedom, which is the preferred bank for all renegades and weirdos of the Foundation. Shareowners for the bank are primarily some of the first setllers of anarchista, and a few speculators on homeworld. Profits are skyrocketing as Anarchista slowly takes over the title of economic center of the Foundation.

While homeworld is certainly the place that produces the most in raw terms, Anarchista mediates the most virtual transactions and completely information based systems.

If Qumo can trade with these new aliens, like the perfect deal he has with the cybers, the Control Alliance will be able to triple its fleet, and control more research projects. But Qumo has an idea, a proposal for the cybers. A wickedly clever idea that would remove the neccesity of attacking the Crystalline completely. When Qumo has an idea, everyone onboard the Discipline notices.

Re: [OT] - Xenology - Story driven PBW.
 

Overthrow of the Judicio-Executive Administration

Protests against the Justice's new heavy handed tactics intended to hold on to his delicate power were held throughout the Robotian territories.

Latest polls showed 13% Justice, 39% Control and 48% Anarchists. The stumbling block so far had been the Justice fleet, that was now parked over homeworld. Anarchists now had control of homeworld's construction center. The corporate group that owned it had joined the Anarchist cause, along with many of the big interests, including the Explorers.

The big twist was the financial transactions connecting the rival Control and Anarchist Groups. The Anarchists' had won a peace by economics. The Control Alliance was dependent on the Anarchists' for funds, while the Anarchists' were realizing using the Control Alliance as a military contractor was a good idea.

The seven ship justice fleet was opposed by a small group of newly constructed fighters, the Justice class ships had no anti-fighter weaponry.

Despite the existence of the Justice, economics on most planets of the foundation followed the anarchists. Very few rules, only social aggreements and ostracism of renegades.

Even without a revolution, the Justice could have remained in office as a ceremonial leader. But when he asserted authority of the warfleet, he angered the fleet and everyone else.

Like the rest of the robotians, the war fleet crew and leadership fancied themselves as independent contractors, not obseqious slaves of the Justice. They had their own ways, and a colony where they trained, not far from homeworld.

Almost all of the 130 million residents of Anarchista were opposed to the justice, and some of the more extreme politicians wanted to declare Anarchista as the nominal capital of the robotians. It would only be nominal, because the anarchists were decentralized. But they still saw Anarchista as their shining jewel and the demonstration that had converted so many.

So it was that in the late parts of year 2410, the Control Alliance and the anarchists overthrew the Justice with a minimum of fuss, and instituted a elected forum for discussion and law. To counter the traditionalism of homeworld, the anarchists pushed for and got a system of one delegate per world. Which pushed the assembly heavily in the anarchists' favor.

Since the anarchists' were opposed to almost all laws anyway, they acted as a defacto veto on almost everything.
There were 16 Anarchists, 1 independent and 5 Control Alliance members in the assembly, corresponding to the 22 planets of the Foundation.

Just before the first session, the control alliance declared in secret that they had control of a colony whose existence would remain secret, and they choose a delegate for that colony.

The Anarchists' wanted to see the Judicial fleet disbanded quickly, as it was angering many citizens of the entire home system.

...

Qumo was still in transit to the new colony, which would be the factory from which their secret empire would be borne. News had not yet arrived of the agreement Control Alliance officials had made on homeworld. Qumo intended to set up operations and stay away from the Robotians as much as possible, while keeping in contact with allies. Colonial Administrator was now his official name and position, the two were the same to the new citizens, and he planned to rule these willing subjects in the proper way their race believed in. Unlike the Robotians, Qumo's subjects believed in authority.

Re: [OT] - Xenology - Story driven PBW.
 

The Quest.


As I emerge from the warp point, I immediately concentrate on my surrounding, looking for Xi-Chung fiends. But none are present. This warp point is clear, as is this system, I would have heard an enemy colony immediately. I see gravity distortions around this star, they must be planets. I focus my sight on a wave source. Interpreting what I am looking at, it must be a useless hydrogen gas giant. I start looking at all other objects of interest in this system, while feeling the unbearable loneliness of a Hawk of Eden on a long range reconnaissance mission.

No other race can truly understand my feelings. No one can understand the emptiness I feel when I leave the Multiplicity. These Drushokas and Kaness are just ignorant fools. I listened to them when they were speaking about the horror of loosing their precious individuality to merge in an Overmind.

They don't get it.

I am not the one who lose something when I ascend into the Master Mind. They are. These poor xenos will never be able to understand what it is to become an entire ecosystem, a living planet. Poor fools. My individuality never disappear. When I merge in the Overmind, I am neither lost or absorbed.

I become the Overmind.

I become the Multiplicity.

I embrace and become simultaneously all children of Eden. I arise as an immortal spirit which enjoys only life, looking at death as humans see the loss of body cells. We told the Aliens about that. But they still try to see us as they look at themselves. They cannot see that I am vulnerable only when I am not within the Multiplicity. But despite my fears, I am now exploring a new system after months of travel. I know what I am looking for. I am looking for the Nest. Somewhere is lying the source of the Xi-Chung infestation. I observed some of their ships, and I only feel pity for them. They fear the void, they sail in space because they cannot avoid it to reach new planets, but they abhor doing so. They will never understand the pleasure of bathing in by the light of a red dwarf, the sadness that reach you while meditating in front of a black hole or the peace feeling you achieve floating in a nebulae. Indeed, when I was the Overmind, I went to the conclusion the Xi-Chung are a danger to all other life because they are afraid of themselves, afraid to discover what and who they truly are.

We already have seen several of their colonies, and engaged several of their ships. They have not yet proven to be the mighty warriors they claim to be, but they are indeed aggressive and eager to attack us whenever they locate our ships. But the new breed of Hawks where given life with no other goal than destroying the Xi-Chung. However, as our might is rising, the constant flow of enemy ships sent toward our outpost is coming to a grind. Hawks of Eden are now advancing unopposed in the Beast's territory. We are still receiving threats and insults, but not anymore followed by suicidal warships.

While my brothers are investigating this mystery, I will be doing the long way back to our supply base, where I will be able to ascend into the multiplicity once again.

That thought alone strengthen me.

Re: [OT] - Xenology - Story driven PBW.
 

I'm back. Hi everyone.

Re: [OT] - Xenology - Story driven PBW.
 

Welcome back.
We have been nice and did not went for a turn fest.

Re: [OT] - Xenology - Story driven PBW.
 

1 player MIA.
1 story-teller who cannot find inspiration anymore.

Which means half of the crew from this game is out of business.
Game is now dead, it has been fun while it Lasted.

Re: [OT] - Xenology - Story driven PBW.
 

The xenology story has been resurrected in the appropriately titled "Xenology: resurrection" thread.

Click below to read it.

Xenology: resurrected