Etheirian Ascendancy

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Note on game setup:
--SE4, Carrier Battles 1.6b
--Large, AI friendly quadrant.
--Low frequency, catastrophic severity events.
--Low Technology start, High Technology costs, with Applied Intelligence disabled.
--1 average planet, low resources start.
--2000 racial points, High number of AI players (WITHOUT neutrals).
--Etheirian Technotheocracy AI empire manually added (using EEE AI files)
--AI has medium difficulty and no bonus settings.
--Sim move game.

My empire, the Etheirian Ascendancy:
--Berserker culture, Bloodthirsty happiness type
--Advanced traits: Xenoarcheologists, supply misers, and propulsion experts
--Characteristics: Trade is bottomed out, intelligence is maxed out, cunning is bottomed out. All the resource attributes took a small hit, as did reproduction.
--Homeworld location: SW corner of the galaxy



A New Dawn

2400. Twenty four years and seven months since we last heard the Warppoint-distorted distress calls from Sigma. Jumar and Alpine had already been ravaged; Sigma was our last connection to the Technotheocracy Homeworld, and it was just barely within range of our communications gear. Sigma is 7 jumps from here, far beyond our immediate reach; we couldn't have sent any ships to assist them even if we'd been allowed to. I suppose it's just as well. If we HAD broken quarantine (and managed to repelled the attack), 2/3 of US would probably have died from the Great Calamity, as well. We would also have drawn unwanted attention from our so called “friends”. Bah! Friends indeed. We opened our markets to them, GAVE many of them gifts of ships, blueprints of highly efficient engine designs... And how is our generosity repaid? In our hour of need, our “friends” turned on us like rabid iricolirs, taking anything they thought they could pry from our disease-crippled Technotheocracy. Our glorious machines that we put so much faith in ...turned against us by our “friends”.

2400. A new millennium. A new dawn for the Etheirians. We scavenged our own ships for parts, for raw materials. We turned Egoria X, this lonely, forgotten military outpost, into New Haven, a world capable of sustaining us. With our sweat and blood we turned this planet into a home. Every last available military asset had to be scrapped to make it work, but we did it. Thankfully, no one has poked their noses around; as far as we can tell, our “friends” don't even know we're here. If they did, we would have undoubtedly suffered the same fate as Sigma IV and the countless other colonies that were simply too far away for us to pick up their distress calls.

2400, first cycle. Twenty four years and seven cycles since we've had contact with the Technotheocracy, and the first month that we shall venture into the stars once more. The first month that we shall visit our “friends” anew, and remind them of what they've done, of the promises that they've broken. The first month that we shall bring vengeance to the lost ideals that were the Technotheocracy.

I don't know if anyone is left on the Homeworld. I don't know if there is still a Technotheocracy to find. Frankly, I don't care. They abandoned us out here, just as surely as our “friends” cut us off from them. The Administrators knew what was coming; it was plain for all to see. They could have broken the quarantine, could have recalled us back to the core systems to help shore up the defense grid. But they didn't. Instead, they severely punished anyone who broke quarantine. The shuttle of 15 refugees that tried to make their way home weren't even responded to. I listened to my friends and comrades plead for mercy, plead to simply be allowed to travel into the core systems to see their families. They were willing to risk the Great Calamity, just to see their loved ones again. But the Jumar defense grid simply shot them down, without a word in reply. They shot down their own brother's-in-arms that just wanted to get home!

No, not even the Technotheocracy, if there still is one, shall be spared. Her ideals died with Sigma IV. Trust and Friendship lead only to ruin; we understand that now. “Friends” are not to be trusted. If the Technotheocracy hasn't learned that lesson, then they will be nothing but a hindrance to us. None shall be spared our wrath. It's time that our “friends” learned what it's like to have a treaty broken over their backs. It is time for the Etheirians to rise from their own ashes, and bring the galaxy to heel.

The first order of business, of coarse, is to find out where our enemies are, and where WE are. We don't even know what the surrounding systems look like; all of our star charts were lost in the Dark Years after the Great Calamity. Hopefully there will be some planets worth exploiting, and hopefully the Traitors are not nearby. We need to get a Space Navy up and running, and go find our enemies in whatever dark holes they're hiding in. And we need to improve our Sciences; much of the Technotheocracy's vaunted technology was lost during the Dark Years. We sacrificed much to survive, and now it's time to rebuild what was lost.

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Author's note: due to a boneheaded action on my part, the savegame for this story was lost. Infancy's First Steps has been heavily edited to reflect the "new" first ten turns.

Infancy's First Steps (2401.0)

Yet another Colran Ibar left dry dock today. She'll shake down this month, and then be on her way. I can't say that I agree with Command's decision to focus on a rapid exo-system colonization push with minimal defensive constructions, but it's not my call to make. Despite this plan, however, one of the first places we went was Egoria VII; there were some structures there that seemed worthy of research. And indeed, we discovered some strange lotion from a long-forgotten race. What it could be good for, however, I don't know.

The new colony, which we named Erosion for the high amounts of wind erosion that take place there, has produced some warehousing facilities. Oddly enough, we seem to be running a surplus at the moment, so we'll tuck that away for future use. Eight colony ships have been built now. It's hard to believe that a year has already come and gone! We've had so many problems with the spaceyard we'd managed to piece together it's almost embarrassing at times. And colonist recruitment has been.... less than satisfactory. There is an apparent lack of enthusiasm in starting all over again, AGAIN. I can't say that I blame them, we only just managed to get New Haven turned into a viable home a year ago, and they're being asked to go off and struggle through it all over again?

Luckily, we've still not contacted any of the Traitors. We have yet to be able to fend off a concerted offensive; in fact, we barely have a military navy to speak. All of two measly missile corvettes are all that stand between the Traitors and New Haven. I'd just as soon avoid a Traitor's attention until we can make a better showing than that. But it will likely be some time in the not so near future before we focus our construction efforts more on ships of the line, and with our deep space colonizers now out beyond the Egorian system... We've been lucky so far; let's hope that our luck continues to hold out. But I, at least, am beginning to wonder about how we've been so lucky. Or more specifically, WHY. It's been almost 25 years now since we've had any contact with the Traitors at all. We haven't seen so much as a static filled radio intercept, much less an actual vessel. That implies that either we aren't listening on the right wavelengths, or our “friends” are VERY far away from us. But ... how could that be?

Now comes the arduous task of colonizing some of the planets that the deep space colonizers have passed by. Hopefully, continued colonization efforts will alleviate some of the overcrowding that New Haven has been suffering from. I just wish that more people would sign up for the colonization missions. We are beginning to exceed New Haven's sustainable housing levels; we NEED to move more of these people off-world! We're producing enough food to feed an army, but we just don't have the space to house that army. In fact, we're producing such an abundance of ALL of the resources that we just can't use them all! We're building warehousing facilities on Erosion, but it just doesn't seem like it will be enough. And additional research facilities need to be built off-world, as well. Our research labs here on New Haven are barely adequate. We need to augment them, and soon. At least we don't have to worry about FUNDING all these projects at the moment!

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So much has happened in the last year! We've now charted 9 star systems, colonized 3 more planets, and we've discovered 3 worlds with a breathable atmosphere. One of those is in Emminence, and it is one we have already colonized. While it's atmosphere is Oxygen rich, it's helium gas vents create pockets of disturbingly high temperatures, and a wildly fluctuating global temperature range. It is rich in organic matter, however, and it also contains structures similar in design to those we found on Erosion.

Two more breathable planets were discovered in Ellemm, 2 jumps east of Yukra, but I'm not sure that we can colonize them anytime soon. But more on that later. The MOST important thing that happened this year is that we made contact with one of the Traitors. On the thirteenth day of the fifth cycle, the Viking scum jumped in from the eastern Yukra Warppoint and attacked our Ro Meli class scout. She out-gunned her opponent, though, and took the day without taking any damage at all. Command's decision to outfit the Ro Meli class with light kinetic missiles in lieu of heavy armor has proven a wise choice so far. The failed attack was the only physical sign of the Vikings we've encountered (despite heavy communications intercepts), but they declared war on us just last cycle, four short cycles after the encounter at Yukra. Their animosity toward Etheirians knows no ends, it seems.

Needless to say, our shipyard construction efforts have taken a military turn. We now have 7 combat capable vessels on-line (including the two Ro Meli class scouts, which have proven themselves capable of taking the fight to the Traitors). We have also built a Defolag class carrier, but Command seems more interested in using it to shuttle citizens to the colonies than to use it as a combat platform. Not that we have more than a handful of fighters, anyway. And now it seems that Command has returned to constructing Colran Ibars at New Haven! While it's true that Erosion's shipyards continue to build Military vessels, they are far less efficient that New Haven's larger shipyards. Sometimes I wonder if Command WANTS the Traitors to win!

The Yukra system to the east is being set up as a military buffer zone between the Vikings and New Haven. While it's possible that the Viking vessel was on a deep space exploration mission, we are preparing for the worst as quickly as we can. Yukra III and Yukra IX (they have yet to be renamed) have both been colonized. Yukra III is being set up as a major Fleet base, with a resupply depot just completed, and repair facilities now in the works. Yukra IX is a secondary base, but it's MAIN purpose will be ore harvesting. It is extremely rich in many of the minerals needed for ship construction. Meanwhile, explorations east of Yukra continue, in an attempt to locate the Viking systems and get a sense of their force strengths. They undoubtedly outnumber our forces greatly, having plundered the Technotheocracy for all it's worth. But we still need to know what we're up against.

Our scouting efforts east of Yukra have also led to the discovery of the Ellemm system. With it's two Oxygen-atmosphere planets, it could be a boon to the Ascendancy. If we can secure it, that is. Unfortunately, initial estimates put it well inside Viking space. Exploration and colonization efforts to the north continue, as well. We're 3 jumps out to the north, and 2 jumps out to the west, and still we have yet to make contact in either direction. Perhaps this portion of the Warppoint network is still relatively untouched by the Traitors. One can only hope....

Research & Development has developed a new method of protecting our ship crews. It involves a vessel venting molten ice out into the vacuum of space. As the molten ice expands, it re-solidifies around the vessel, shielding it from incoming damage. Quite inventive, actually. Also, with the colonization of Emminence, the structures previously detected are being evaluated by the archaeologists now. However, they have already discovered a strange garment that has some odd qualities. R&D thinks that they have some potential. And finally, there was a breakthrough in engine technologies which should allow our fighters to travel much faster than before. Unfortunately, these new engines are significantly larger than the old technology.

In the coming months, we need to locate and ascertain the strength of the military forces the Vikings have arrayed against us. We also need to prepare an adequate defense against those forces. While Alpha fleet is just now jumping in-system, until now the Yukra system was completely undefended! Alpha fleet consists of only three vessels at the moment, hardly enough to stand against a Viking armada. It's strength needs to be bolstered as soon as possible. We also need to increase our industrial base in order to produce the amounts of military forces needed to hold the Vikings at bay. And it would be nice to get some fighters on that blasted carrier!

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Where to begin? Research into the two archaeological artifacts has led to some amazing discoveries. The strange lotion we discovered on Erosion turned out to be some sort of (very) alien sunscreen. It's energy dispersal methods proved to be both quite extraordinary and quite thorough, and our scientists were able to harness those methods to create a large energy shield array. Unfortunately, power requirements limit it to planet-based facilities, but this could be a big boost to planetary defenses. Then there is the strange fabric found on Emminence. The fabric has light-dispersion properties that are truly amazing; by incorporating them into a hull coating, we are able to make ships that are very hard for our targeting sensors to lock on to. Hopefully, our enemies will have similar difficulties...

In the east there has still been no sign of Viking activity. The Velarta (having earned it's name at the Yukra Encounter), pressed past Ellemm, and discovered the Cewandi system. Cewandi ALSO has two Oxygen atmosphere planets, ready for colonization. Now the Velarta is returning to Yukra for resupply, and colonization efforts are underway for all explored systems east of Yukra. Our military border defense is also being pressed further east. However, a military presence shall remain in Yukra due to the fact that the northern Warppoint out of the Turrin nebula (just east of Yukra) remains unexplored. That string of the Network shall be the next destination for the Velarta.

In the North, we explored all the way up to Rizzil before the Network turned east. Then, just east of Rizzil in Velocitas, we made contact with a vessel representing the Caspian Empire. It attempted to intercept our Ro Meli class scout there, but our vessel continued east out of Velocitas and took shelter in the Gul nebula. Our newly formed colony on Velocitas V watched as the Caspian vessel gave chase through the Warppoint. Now the Ro Meli, having eluded the Caspians in the Gul nebula, is proceeding to the northern Velocitas Warppoint to discover where the Caspian vessel came from.

Ellemm III has been colonized. It was christened Helios for its Helium vents. Unlike on Emminence, Helios's vents cause minimal atmospheric temperature fluctuations, so the environment is much more pleasant. Helios is building a fighter wing for defense against potential Viking attacks. In response to the first contact with the Caspians, Rizzil IX in the north was colonized and christened Forward. Construction efforts there are also focusing on a fighter wing for defense. And as previously mentioned, Velocitas V (east of Rizzil) was colonized. It was christened New Cornucopia, and again, construction efforts are focused on a fighter wing for defense. Unlike Forward, which has a toxic Carbon Dioxide atmosphere and is intended mainly as a military outpost, New Cornucopia features a pleasant Oxygen environment and a plethora of mineral and energy resources. It has the potential to be a Crown Jewel in the Ascendancy's industrial complex. If we can hold it from the Caspians. It is too soon to tell whether they are as hostile as the Vikings, but their response at first contact was not promising.

Yukra has built the Ascendancy's first out-system spaceport and resource production facility. Our fledgling Ascendancy is now officially an interstellar commercial power. Meanwhile, New Haven's shipyards have been set to continuously build colonizers, which will aggravate the inability to fully staff the shipyards there due to population attrition to the colonization efforts. Before, we had problems finding enough volunteers to fill the colonizers; now we'll have to scale back capacity and send them out with a partial compliment. This, of coarse, leaves the significantly slower Erosion shipyards as the only place our military is constructing vessels. Doesn't Command realize that any perceived weakness shall be pounced upon by the Traitors? We can ill-afford to have a small navy!

Now that the Caspians, too, have discovered us, it is IMPERATIVE that we locate the Vikings! We cannot afford to have them surprise us at an inopportune time. And while it is also important that we reconnoiter against the Caspians, they are at least 5 jumps away from New Haven. The threat they pose is not as severe; however we also need to establish a military presence at both Velocitas and Rizzil at the northern end of the explored Network. This would deny the Caspians access to our colony systems, however, we don't have the Shipyard capacity to accomplish this anytime soon.