SLYNES - Swirly Lights Yonder, a Never Ending Story

[Daftpanzer]

A New Divide: Part Three

My name is Murrumue Ulunn, and this is the third instalment of my story. I am now on an exploration ship that has been travelling for around five years, putting me over 3,000 light-years away from my birth-world, Hmmaiaa. I have moved forwards in time since the events I described in my last instalment. Furthermore, I am now writing in real-time, so to speak; of events as they happen, more or less. I have yet to write of the preceding events that further enticed me towards deep space, but that must wait for now. Again I must ask for the patience and understanding of the reader, if there so happens to be one.

Now, I am indeed over 3,000 light-years from Hmmaiaa. The distance is hard to comprehend; anything over 100 light-years simply becomes abstracted into 'very far away'. Our ship has already seen many wonders, on the rare occasions that we stop to scoop up raw materials. But mostly, we - that is, the crew of this ship - spend most of our time maintaining and repairing the ship's systems, while we wait for the main drive to recover from each 'run'. Quite often, we are running only through inter-stellar space, with the risk of being permanently stranded in the void at any time; but planet life has its own risks, as I well know, so I would rather take my chances 'out here'. This ship is, supposedly, travelling with a scattering of other ships for mutual support, but communications are difficult to say the least; faulty receptors are one of several reasons why a lot of time is also spent on the vacuum side of the hull. The seasoned space travellers amongst us can see the subtle differences in the cosmic panorama as we travel ever further; I still do not count myself as one of these, however. My being on this ship is rather fortuitous, and a true privilege.

And I do mean that, even though I am missing out on momentous events close to home - by which I mean the colonisation of the exo-planet Ulumm-Bukk, and our transformation to an inter-stellar species. Ulumm, though hardly an iceworld by the standards of Marraa and Hesmue, has many charms, besides its newness; some initial calculations suggest that Ulumm will decay from its orbit - precariously balanced between large gas planets, fore and aft - and be ejected out of the Jumm Aih system within a million years, so there is truly little time to enjoy this planet; it all adds up to a comparatively frantic colonization effort at this time, with almost 3,000 Satellians already settling there within a decade of its discovery, a phenomenon never before seen in our home system. I daydream about being one of these pioneers - taking the time to truly appreciate these new wonders, to pitch and propsect, and plan for the future... Anyway, as I said, I am nowhere near Ulumm-Bukk. I am now much, much further. Out here, we have found no habitable planets of note - but we are not really looking for one. This ship is on a totally different quest; we are hunting for the source of the Signal.

It is true that most specialists still discount the Signal as being a short-lived natural phenomenon. I choose to believe otherwise, for good reasons, but reasons I cannot explain at this stage in my story. It could be said that we are hunting the echoes of ghosts. Every time we finish another run, I have hopes of detecting a newer, stronger signal from our new position... And I am always disappointed. Why would a civilization broadcast its existence for a brief moment, then remain silent for eons? Well, we have theorised that the only intelligent aliens in existence would be 'slow'; hardy, rational, and long lived... exaggerated versions of ourselves. Perhaps we have to get used to dealing with longer timescales than we currently allow ourselves.

We are of course leaving a trail of probes and drones behind us, to watch and listen. Perhaps something will turn up, if and when we get round to collecting them. In the meantime, we are broadcasting our own signals, at random intervals, whenever our equipment is functioning properly. If the reader remembers my affinity with the art of Gurunnamarue, they may also deduce that I have some talent for deciphering written languages, and thus a talent for signal analysis and conceptual communication. This, combined with my personal eccentricities and interests, and the standing of my Aihar within my affiliated Kinships, should help explain my presence on this ship at this time.

I would be content with continuing on this path for years to come. As I write this, however, our venerable Captain is recovering from his recent awakening, having been asleep since we left our home system; he left instructions to be awoken when we found something truly wondrous (by his standards), or else in a dire emergency; basically any source of excitement. He seems displeased to find his awakening is simply due to the auto-timer in his neural implants. A return course is already being discussed. I will press my case, but comso-navigation is not my field of expertise, and I am still a trainee when it comes to system maintenance; unless some new mysterious signal is detected, I must resign myself to having no weight in this issue. And so I must leave the reader with my uncertainty.

Appendation: Satellian inter-species communication attempt #1. Chief composer: Murrumue Ulunn.

Edit: Didn't know this was top of page Also, please let me know if I should spoiler the images.

 

[Fuschia]

Well, I had planned another story, but this weekend was ridiculously busy. I'll get to it eventually. Orders to come in the morning, when I'm slightly more coherent...

 

[Bil]

Daft, I think the images are fine.

Fuschia, take your time. I don't want you to sacrifice quality for speed, by any means

 

[Anonymoose]

What would seem to you and me to be a thousand thousand thousand individuals striving to make the best of this wild planet is actually just one hive mind working in many different bodies. The extra-planetary ship building centers are nearing completion, and the ship design is the same as the atmospheric shuttles the hive utilized thousands of years ago. The only only obvious difference is the stardrive on the rear end of each ship. We wouldn't be focused on that, though; we would be focused on the enormity of the fleet. The ships are just like the "individuals" of the hive. Each is just a small part of the greater being; the ships are all parts of a swarm.. The swarm-ships are composed of four quadrants of 70 individual ships, each quadrant being controlled by a thinker. [I'll edit in details about power source and what not if I find time this week.]
Worker Bil
SPLOOSH! The small craft bobbed to the surface. Tertiary systems flickered to life, and Bil steered to the shore. (You thought he'd have to learn to swim.. nonsense!) He popped open the evacuation port and tumbled onto the muddy ground; his spiny legs sunk into the muck. The grass around him was taller than any grass he'd ever seen. Certainly taller than the green algae slop that he had harvested back on Opterus. The air was chill.. almost uncomfortable. A frigid blast of wind nearly pulled him out of the muck, and Bil shivered for the first time in his existence. He figured it was about time to make the best of this. By some strange impulse, he threw mud and grass onto the ship, making it look like any other rock along the shore of this body of water. Moving to more hospitable ground, he finds himself feeling one of those unusual feelings again.. A pile of windswept brush cast the silhouette of a warrior.? Bil knew there were no other Disopterans here, but he could not help his curiosity. He moved to the top of the hill, and saw that it was indeed only a pile of brush. Looking beyond the brush; however, he sees something that the Hivemind never would have expected: A beast whose enormity surely could only be matched by its ferocity; its frightening stature ensured Bil that today was his last, because this beast had arms the size of an average worker, and could probably face a dozen warrior disopterans without fear! The beast turned around and looked Bil directly in the eyes..

 

[Bil]

Just to let you guys know, it looks like Monday is one of the worst days for me to work on the updates. No one likes to let me work or leave me alone in any way, shape or form on Mondays. Tuesdays are quiet enough to work. I'll do it tomorrow.

 

[Bil]

Update in progress! Slightly less of a turn-out, but that's perfectly okay. I'll chalk it up to my lack of consistent updating.

 

[bestshot9]

I'd like to post a story before the update, what's the ETA? I been too busy being distracted by KotOR. Will begin working on the story now.

 

[Bil]

ASAP! Please.

 

[bestshot9]

Indicus lay in the vera by the side of Lake Tantara, the largest lake in the former Clan Gortochs territory. It had been three weeks since the southern barbarians invaded his homeland, his home town had fallen in just a day, and his family was no where to be found. So, here he sat, continuing a guerrilla war against the invaders, looking for some sign that his family may have survived.

As he sat in his little camp, chewing a piece of cold meat (he dared not start a fire, for the ever-present barbarian patrols were bound to find him if he did so) he looked up to the sky in thought. As he looked up, thinking about his family and praying for their safety, he noticed a bright light that caught his attention.

At first he was intrigued to see a bright object, but then he noticed how fast it was moving, towards him. What ever it was, it was coming straight for the planet. Was it a comet? Was it an asteroid? What ever it was, it wasn’t very big. Indicus slowly stood, gripping his scattergun, ready to run should the thing get too close to landing on him, yet at the same time he couldn’t take his eyes off the object.

Closer and closer it came. Just as Indicus decided it was headed on a crash course for his camp, he realized he was safe. The object was headed for the lake in front of him, and it was just about to hit.

A large column of water erupted from the surface of the lake as the object crashed. Indicus cautiously approached the shore, unsure of what he’d find, though almost certain he wouldn’t see anything. As he stood there, looking out at the spot where the object had entered the water, something broke the surface, something metallic.

Indicus froze, pulling his scatter gun up to aim out at the object which was now slowly making its way towards the shore a bit further north of where he now stood. Moving silently, he tried to get to the spot on the shore where it was headed, though he lost sight of the object as the dense vegetation growing up around the edge of the water made it nearly impossible to track the object.

Finally, after about fifteen minutes of looking, he decided to walk to the waterline and look for the object. As he approached, he froze. Standing before him was a creature he had never seen before. It looked like an insect, only larger. About half the size of a Pleemalsha. He stared as the creature clicked and fidgeted. What was this thing?

------

Alexandrochs sat in his office, worrying over the reports. It had been three weeks now since the first attacks had been made against the ICC, and his warriors were still unable turn back the tide of the barbarian invasion.

The initial shock of falling under attack had made many of the clan leaders pledge their own warriors to be sent to the fronts to help retake lost ground. But after reality set in, most of the warlords had gone back on their word. Rivalries ran deep, even amongst ICC “allies”. Many warlords were unwilling to allow their own warriors to die for clans they deemed beneath them. Alexandrochs grew angrier and angrier with warlord who refused to send aid.

That wasn’t to say that some warlords hadn’t sent troops. Most, in fact, had. But most wasn’t enough. The Confederation had never met a foe of this size and this organization. It had to be an all or nothing commitment on the part of every warlord and clan within the ICC if they hoped to win the war.

Most of the warlords, by now, had left the capital, to go back to their own clans to help organize their forces, either to go out and meet the enemy (like they vowed they would) or to prepare to defend their territory from the advancing hordes. Already warlords who stood up to their word had been killed when they could have easily pushed back the enemy because their stubborn allies refused to send aid.

What was he going to do? He had to think up something, and he had to think it up fast. He could have the stubborn warlords executed, but what good would that do? No, he had to come up with a way to completely unite the clans, but to do this he would need some help.

------

Three weeks’ worth of heavy fighting, and Kvar and his squad had finally received their first, true break. While their band of warriors was supposed to be at the head of the attack into the Nifler Valley, at the last moment, the assault was handed off to another unit.

“Don’t get me wrong, I loves me some killin’,” Gerrik said, as he stood in the town square of Niflheim, the city at the mouth of the valley, “but sometimes, I likes to get some sleep.”

Kvar nodded, though he knew many of the replacements disagreed. At least they were smart enough to hold their tongue. Besides, today was looking to be an interesting day, to say the least.

After all the fighting in Clan Sorenochs territory, Vekgar Sorenochs, the warlord of the clan, had finally been captured. He was to be beheaded in front of the entire band of warriors who helped capture the city of Niflheim, to give them some much needed entertainment.

Vekgar was finally brought out into the square. His hands and feet chained together, he was led through the crowd, where he was pelted with all sorts of garbage and rude remarks, and up a set of stairs onto a podium in the middle of the plaza by two large warriors. Once there, he stood proudly before everyone in the crowd. “Clan Sorenochs will repay you for this!” he yelled courageously before he was rifle butted in the stomach for speaking. The crowd just booed and jeered at him. Resigned to his fate, he laid himself down on the executioner’s bench.

A loud whack was heard, then the crowd erupted in cheers. A pike was lifted above the troops gathered in the square, Vekgar’s head at the top. More cheers rang out. Kvar looked around at the smiling, laughing faces of his comrades, before realizing his face looked the same. Yeah, the war was going good alright.

 

[Anonymoose]

Worker Bil: Bil clicked and squirmed under the monster's gaze. It was grasping a shiny rod with a hole in the end and some kind of mechanism on the back, somewhat reminiscent of the magnetic sealing device back on the ship. He almost missed the days when the Hivemind wrapped around him and permeated him; where knowing there was danger such as this thing would bring forth legions to protect the Hive. Bil had an idea.. for the dozenth time or so in his life: Perhaps this thing is not just a beast, but an intelligent beast! He didn't know the implications of his thought, or what would happen as a result of his actions, but he began twitching his residual wings nervously and tried humming at the thing. It paid little attention to his humming and clicking. He brought his mandibles together and whistled three different notes at the beast. If it was intelligent, it would reply in some manner, right? Perhaps it would just consume him like he used to consume algae back on Disoptera, and end his lonely existence. The thought was not pleasing to the poor little insectoid.

 

[Bil]

Awesome! Haha. Good to see Worker Bil getting around. Nice cooperation, guys

 

[Lord_Iggy]

Sorry for not writing much- I've been very busy this turn, but I've taken some time to improve my ideas of Hletho society and construction. You can assume that this turn is another turn of status quo, peaceful development and tentative exploration of space, not extending out of our solar system.

 

[Bil]

It's no problem, Iggy. I'm mostly done the update, but unfortunately today proved to be a very difficult day to get anything done. I'm going to finish it up after I get to work tomorrow, so it'll be up in the early afternoon, hopefully. I'll make the next deadline farther back, so this won't cut into everyone's story-writing time. Really sorry for the constant delays, guys. My free time is unreliable

 

[bestshot9]

Bil, its no big deal about your delays, don't bother me too much. What would help, though, is if you would post the deadline on the main page at the top, like EQ does with ABNW so it makes it easier to see when the deadline is. That's about the only criticism I've got. Otherwise you seem to be doing fine .

 

[Bil]

Good thinking. I'll do that from now on!

 

[Bil]

UPDATE TWO​

Contact...​

The Geskani land their first outposts in the Bu system, as well as finishing a second fleet in their home system. A third system is explored, yielding more valuable worlds than before. Three outlying gas giants guard two rocky worlds from asteroid and comet impacts. The innermost of the rocky planets lies a fair distance from its parent star, though still too warm to sustain any life of its own, though it isn't quite too harsh to be liveable. The other rocky world is a tad too far, though conditions are fairly stable on the surface. A layer of water ice covers nearly 90% of the surface, in places covering liquid seas warmed by volcanic vents, around which colonies of primordial life have formed; they dare not venture away from these vents, however, lest they find themselves in bitterly cold water.

The Nhroaat SsKraed begin their exploration, sending their fleet along the galactic arm they inhabit. After a long year of travels and finding nothing of value along the way, they stumble across a system filled with gas giants, eight in total, all of which harbor tiny asteroid moons trapped in their gravity wells. While these moons have worth of their own, there is one slightly larger than the others in orbit of the third giant from the sun. That moon, though still small, offers enough space to bear an outpost of fair size, with the only significant challenges being the lack of atmosphere and low gravity. Meanwhile, back on their homeworld, technological progression is spurred by an infusion of resources; though nothing world-changing is yet developed, the progress is still of considerable note.

The Hletho continue life as usual, casually expanding their knowledge of space flight, faster-than-light propulsion, and politics. Unfortunately, on the political end, relations between the myriad tribes has weakened slightly due to the beginnings of unrest with the space program; some groups are beginning to wonder if there is a purpose at all, and others have outright stated that it is purely a waste of resources that could be spent on much more useful things.

On the Ivking homeworld of Halvalla, the war progresses further and further toward societal collapse. With the barbarian armies pressing the Confederacy's borders further toward the equator, unity in the Confederacy itself is beginning to collapse. If nothing is done to turn the war around, the Ivkings might find themselves to soon be in a state of total chaos. However, unbeknownst to anyone but a lone guerilla fighter somewhere behind the front lines, a small pod has crash-landed in a lake. This pod carried to Halvalla a tiny, fairly confused Distopteran worker, recently freed from the hive mind. It had come to call itself Bil, for reasons it could no longer remember, and now it came face-to-face with a hulking, brutish, well-armed space-viking guerilla fighter. It will be interesting to see how this turns out.

Meanwhile, the Distopteran Hive has finally begun its long-awaited large-scale exploration program, dispatching a swarm of vessels further rimward within their galactic arm. As the ship traveled farther and farther away from the hive, the Queen's influence grew weaker and weaker. Finally, when nearly a light-year away from home, the link severed and the fleet found itself free of the Queen. Many workers and knights could not accept this and began killing each other, though many of the thinkers had found a way to re-exert control over smaller groups, after having recovered from the initial shock of seperation. The thinkers restored order, but the damage was already done. While the fleet was not in any disrepair as a result of the incident, it was wildly confused and incredibly disoriented. The thinkers applied effort and still managed to communicate with each other, though now they found themselves disagreeing on what to do. Many wanted to go home, hoping to fall back under the comfort of the Hivemind, while others wanted to press on and do what they came out there to do. Finally, after much debate that almost turned into conflict, they decided to split; those that wanted to return could do so, while those that wanted to continue could continue. Unfortunately for those that wanted to go home, they found that they had no control over the ships at all; the Hivemind had programmed the ships to operate automatically unless the Queen decided otherwise, and with no Queen, there was no otherwise. With no choice but to press on, the new collective of mini-hives suppressed their overwhelming panic and managed to hold it together until they reached their destination. Arriving in a new and worthwhile system was exciting, even to those that didn't want to be there. The fleet began to study the system in detail, finding mostly gas giants, uninhabitable planets and barren moons; the one planet of note, however, was a small, fairly hot desert planet with little apparently to offer, though it did have its perks. It was just far enough away from its parent star to retain seasonal lakes and seas of liquid water near the poles (there was evidence that they would vanish in summer and reach their peak in winter) and the likelihood of subsurface water that was sheltered from the sun by layers of sand and rock. While it wasn't home, it was livable; the air could sustain them, and there were no immediate signs of life that might pose biohazard risks. It was now left up for debate as to what they did next.

Elsewhere, the Bako Tellians complete their long task of constructing a fleet, and now the difficult training pushed on their future explorers is coming to a close. With this new fleet, they might explore the stars and possibly find new life among them, though the debate still raged in scientific circles as to whether there was even a remote possibility of contact being made, let alone intelligable. Only time would tell. With the completion of the fleet, and all the developments in industrial capability made during its construction, the Bako Tellian economy has spontaneously grown on the domestic level.

The Amoebas slime around, the Kekeji continue to establish a new home world, and the Seipas Yag finding themselves beginning to run low on food as their cities grow and their farmland shrinks, bringing discord to the populace as it becomes harder for the less fortunate to obtain adequate food.

Three very interesting events have occurred in the galaxy this year, one involving Kant exploration, the other two dealing with Satellian exploration. We'll start with the Kant, first mentioning their less exciting endeavor, in which they managed to discover a useful system in sector B/I. Three gas giants occupy the space around these two stars, one dreadfully close, the other two significantly far away. Two rocky planets lie between the close and far giants, both blasted by the twin suns' rays, baking away under their output. While one has an atmosphere, its surface is far hotter and prone to spontaneous volcanic and tectonic activity as its crust is pulled violently by the nearby gas giant. The other is completely barren, lacking an atmosphere entirely, though being considerably more tectonicly stable than its neighbor. Between these two planets and the moons of the outer two gas giants, the system actually appears quite economically valuable, though it lacks quite a bit in habitability and charm. Meanwhile, at home, the Kant begin to find their society suffering from religious unrest. Though it is fairly minor as of yet, it shows the promise of becoming an incredibly significant issue in years to come. On a more remarkable note, the new "fleet" of Kant explorers endeavoring to study the C/I sector, instead find themselves under attack. While pausing to rest their equipment and make repairs, a massive vessel appeared on their sensory instruments, heading directly toward them. Cautiously optimistic about the encounter, the Kant "fleet" awaits their arrival. Once near, the alien vessel decelerates to sub-light speeds and draws nearer. Now rather close to the Kant, it releases a swarm of smaller craft, fighter vessels piloted presumably by individuals, displaying themselves to be nearly as maneuverable as the Kant flight suits, but clearly better armed and armored. The Kant, at first, do not react, unsure of what, precisely, is happening; then they begin to die under alien weapons fire, and the "fleet" scatters, first trying to avoid attack, then trying to fight back. Dogfights ensue as the Kant gather their wits and commit to the battle, the technology of the two adversaries not actually seeming that far off. From afar, the battle might have looked glorious and spectacular, with flashy lights and glaring propulsion systems, explosions of technology and stored atmospheres, bits of metal flying all about and wreaking havoc. It was a close fight, surely, but the Kant were unprepared for this sort of engagement. Several individuals attempted to transmit sub-space signals back home, though many were killed in the act, and it is unclear if any trasmissions would actually be received. The last Kant there was killed a mere eight minutes after the battle engaged, and his last sights involved the alien carrier ship salvaging the scrap bits floating about the scene, and then the bright and furious glare of death.

The Satellians find themselves far luckier than the Kant as their near-home exploratory fleet discovers a system containing an idyllic world of plenty, perfectly habitable and smothered in life and natural resources. This planet was nothing like their homeworld, in fact quite the opposite, as it didn't appear to be in any state of turmoil, at least not on the global scale like on Hmmaiaa. In contrast, the other worlds in this system were barren, lifeless, and limited in available resources. This was possibly one of the luckiest and most beneficial discoveries that could be made, barring extraordinary circumstances. Meanwhile, the long-range exploratory fleet finally reaches its first destination after two long years of travel, finding nothing but worthless chunks of rock along the way. Nearing the point of giving up and beginning a circuitous route home, the Satellians arrive in a system, at first, of great promise. A large, habitable world is located in a prime position, and multiple smaller worlds and moons appear to be of moderate value as well. As the delight of this discovery peaks, the astronomers on the ship alert those in command that there are very many artificial constructs in this system, several of which are fast approaching their position. With further study, they note that this system is inhabited by an alien race, and after a moment of sinking in, they realize their objectives of making first contact are suddenly becoming true. But how would these aliens feel about an intrusion of their home system? Already, radio signals were arriving from the nearing alien fleet. Meanwhile, back home, the Agreement remains oblivious to the new developments as yet, carrying on its standard duties of development and research. The economy available to the Agreement grows as more Satellians on Hmmaiaa begin to gain interest in space exploration.

 

[Bil]

Spoiler AMOEBAS :

ECONOMY: 0e (+0/turn)
TECHNOLOGY: 0
STABILITY: 10
FLEETS: 0
MILITARY: 0

[no orders, no stories; nothing changes]

Spoiler BAKO TELLIANS :

ECONOMY: 3e (+2.5e/turn)
TECHNOLOGY: 2
STABILITY: 8
FLEETS: 1 (-0.5e/turn)
MILITARY: 1 (-0.5e/turn)

[build 1 fleet for 1e]
[income gained: +2.5e]
[income decreases by -0.5e due to added maintenance]
[spontaneous income increase +0.5e due to development

Spoiler DISTOPTERANS :

ECONOMY: 3.5e (+1.5e/turn)
TECHNOLOGY: 1
STABILITY: 7
FLEETS: 1 (-0.5e/turn)
MILITARY: 1 (-0.5e/turn)

[income gained = +1e]
[income increases by +0.5 due to hive growth]
[stability decreases by 1 due to hive split]

If you have a problem with how I handled this, PM me!

Spoiler GESKANI :

ECONOMY: 2e (+2/turn)
TECHNOLOGY: 1
STABILITY: 7
FLEETS: 2 (-1e/turn)
MILITARY: 1 (-0.5e/turn)

[colonize "Bu" (G/B-Top) for -2e]
[build 1 fleet for 1e]
[income gained = +1.5e]
[income decreased by -0.5e due to added maintenance]
[income increased by +0.5e due to added colony]
[spontaneous income increase +0.5e due to development]

Spoiler HLETHO :

ECONOMY: 4e (+1e/turn)
TECHNOLOGY: 1
STABILITY: 6
FLEETS: 1 (-0.5e/turn)
MILITARY: 1 (-0.5e/turn)

[no stories; no orders]
[income gained = +1e]
[income remains unchanged]
[stability decreases due to political shifts]

Spoiler IVKINGS :

ECONOMY: 3e (+0.5e/turn)
TECHNOLOGY: 1
STABILITY: 3
FLEETS: 0
MILITARY: 2 (-1e/turn)

[no orders]
[income gained = +1e]
[income decreases due to instability]
[stability decreases due to war]

Spoiler KANT :

ECONOMY: 1.5e (+2e/turn)
TECHNOLOGY: 1
STABILITY: 8
FLEETS: 1 (-0.5e/turn)
MILITARY: 0
ARTIFACT: 2.5/50e

[spend 1.5e on artifact research]
[income gained = +1.5e]
[stability decreases due to religious unrest]
[fleet lost to mysterious attack]
[income increases by +0.5 due to less maintenance]

The battle with those aliens was my first run at randomizing a battle, and unfortunately that first battle ever was a loss for a player. I'm going to recommend that you find a way to steal some of Daft's luck, for the future.

Spoiler KEKEJI :

ECONOMY: 2e (+0.5/turn)
TECHNOLOGY: 1
STABILITY: 6
FLEETS: 2 (-1e/turn)
MILITARY: 1 (-0.5e/turn)

[no stories; no orders]
[income gained = +0.5e]
[income remains unchanged]

Spoiler NHROAAT SSKRAED :

ECONOMY: 1.5e (+0.5e/turn)
TECHNOLOGY: 1 (1e/2e)
STABILITY: 7
FLEETS: 1 (-0.5e/turn)
MILITARY: 2 (-1e/turn)

[spend 1e on technology]
[income gained = +0.5e]
[income remains unchanged]

Spoiler SATELLIANS :

ECONOMY: 1e (+2.5e/turn)
TECHNOLOGY: 1
STABILITY: 7
FLEETS: 2 (-1e/turn)
MILITARY: 0

[colonize "Ulumm-Bukk" (I/C-Right) for -2e]
[income gained = +1e]
[income increases by +1.5e due to new colony]
[spontaneous income increase +0.5e due to development]

You lucky bastard! Every time it comes to exploration results, you seem to get better rolls than everyone else. If it happens too much, I might start fudging rolls to keep the Satellians from galactic domination

Spoiler SEIPAS YAG :

ECONOMY: 5e (+1.5/turn)
TECHNOLOGY: 1
STABILITY: 6
FLEETS: 1 (-0.5e/turn)
MILITARY: 1 (-0.5e/turn)

[no orders; no stories]
[income gained = +1.5e]
[income remains unchanged]
[stability decreases due to overpopulation and starvation]

Spoiler GALACTIC MAP :

 

[Bil]

Spoiler LELINTHIANS (NPC) description :

RACE NAME: Lelinthians

APPEARANCE: Lelinthians are mammoth creatures, with a body size of roughly 4 meters and tentacles of the same length extending further from the lower end of the body. These tentacles, five in number, are arranged radially around the base of the body and serve both as a means of locomotion in water as well as grasping limbs. They have two large eyes positioned mid-way up their bodies above one of their limbs (which is considered the "prime limb"). Their greyish-red skin is semipermeable, through which they absorb nutrients floating in whatever body of water they exist in. Their brains are massive and capable of exerting an amount of empathic influence over weak-minded individuals around them, which is how they managed to subvert the comparitively younger species that co-inhabits their homeworld with them.

This servant species calls themselves the Culud, and they very willingly work under the Lelinthians out of reverence and an impressed sense of good will toward their masters. The Culud are small and plump, brown in color, with two arms and two legs. Their heads are fairly short, but wide, an host four fairly large eyes positioned evenly across the front of their faces. Their mouths are wide, able to accomodate the largest of leaves available on planet Lolan. Culud are very crafty folks that like to build things designed by their Lelinthian masters, dextrously putting all the pieces together as they are instructed.

CIVILIZATION NAME: Lolan Conclave

LOCATION: J/D-Left

HISTORY: Long ago, the Lelinthians became sentient and began to observe their world around them, studying the vast oceans they lived in, occasionally peeking at the land and sky and wondering what it was doing up there. As large amounts of time went on, the Culud became sentient and began to gather along the shores in order to harvest kelp-like plants the grow in the shallows of the ocean. The Lelinthians took notice and began to grab the Culud that swam too far out, pulling them under the surface in order to study them. These Culud died, which annoyed the Lelinthians, and so instead they tried to communicate with them. Pressing their empathic communicative abilities in their direction, the barely civilized, weak-willed Culud found themselves rapidly yielding to the will of the large squid-like monsters that previously had been murdering them. Cults of Culud gathered to commune with the Lelinthians, and this information spread under the waves across the seas, until, after thousands of years of work, the Culud all across the globe came to worship and adore the Lelinthians. As time went on, the Culud explored the land in the stead of the Lelinthians, returning information to them to further their understanding of the world. Time went on ticking away, until the Lelinthians designed boats and submersibles for their minions to bring them closer, then aircraft to allow them to travel more quickly and more freely, then greater and greater cities, then enhancements to all their technology, until one day, a brave Lelinthian walked on land. Granted, he was in a massive pod filled with water and based around an advanced filtration and oxydization system, but she was on the surface nonetheless. From that day forward, the Lelinthians and the Culud were no longer seperate, and the two species meshed quite fluidly, with Culud cities welcoming the arrival of their masters into their homes.

Technology progressed extremely rapidly from that point, and the Lelinthians found themselves wondering about space. So, they built a few rockets, then sent up a few Culud in probes, then poked further and further, until finally a Lelinthian went up, and then finally a Culud was landed on each of their moons, and then bases and space stations were built, and a whole mess of ships were constructed to travel between all the worlds of their home system, and the Culud and Lelinthians found themselves living in large numbers away from their homeworld. It wasn't until recently, however, that a Lelinthian-lead research team developed the math behind the artificial generation of macroscopic wormholes. Culud builders found ways to solidify the science into cold, hard technology. A few centuries later, and an exploration fleet was assembled to travel through the first massive wormhole, toward a nearby star thought to house one of the seemingly rare, useful worlds in this galaxy. Unfortunately for Lelinthian exploration plans, they found themselves being explored first.

CULTURE: The Lelinthians exist at the very top of the pyramid in Lolan society, despite their fewer numbers. The Culud happily serve under them, making sure that all the Lelinthians are well taken care of before their own needs are met. Science and progression is the cornerstone of Lolan culture, as it has been one of the only things the Lelinthians have ever truly been interested in. The somewhat dopey Culud carry on with their lives to make sure that nothing ever gets in a Lelinthian's way when it comes to progress. There is sort of a dichotomy in Lolan society, where the short-lived and fast-breeding Culud live very quick, efficient lives, whereas the Lelinthians, being long-lived and slow to breed, live methodical and well-planned lives. Lelinthians barely take notice of the fact that Culud come and go, because really they don't ever bother to tell the difference between them. Culud, meanwhile, rarely see a Lelinthian die, and so often can do little more than think of them as eternal and unchanging.

GOVERNMENT: Lolan is ruled by a committee of like-minded Lelinthians that have an appreciation for leadership and government, making sure that things run smoothly for the other Lelinthians on the planet, and that the Culud are leading efficient and productive lives. There are no votes and no elections, but rather, simple meetings that are guaranteed to end in unanimous decision after long and careful debate and discussion.

DOMESTIC POLICY: The Culud are tended to, emotionally, by the Lelinthians, but other than that they are left to their own devices. The Lelinthians, meanwhile, are tended to in every way by the Culud, who live to serve. The only real policy that exists, in fact, is that the Culud continue to serve the Lelinthians, which they are more than happy to do.

XENOPOLICY: Being that the only other intelligent species the Lelinthians have ever met are subservient to them, and have been so for thousands of years, they would not likely react well to other sentient species, particularly strong-willed ones that will not fall easily to their mental influence. Being that Lelinthians are not telepathic, and merely empathic, they can only express certain desires and conditions to their targets, and only if those targets are particularly succeptable will they find themselves obeying and tending to those desires and conditions. Strong-willed beings will be difficult to communicate with, if they are not receptive to the Lelinthian empathy, and they will also not be welcome anywhere near Lolan, given that the Lelinthians, until first contact, are secure in their position at the top of the hierarchy; anything that threatens that must be kept far, far away, if not destroyed.

Spoiler LELINTHIANS (NPC) stats :

ECONOMY: 3e (+1.5e/turn)
TECHNOLOGY: 2
STABILITY: 8
FLEETS: 1 (-0.5e/turn)
MILITARY: 0 (0e/turn)

Warden Kelethletel became aware of an incursion. Something had appeared in the outer reaches of the system, and records indicated that nothing should have done so. The possibility of alien life was not questioned, it was assumed to be true, but the possibility of contact seemed unlikely unless the Lolan Conclave had initiated such a contact. Perhaps they were being complacent, Kelethletel now realized, for they had assumed that most other species would be as simple as the Culud and would need direction from a greater being.

She realized that she had been wasting precious seconds. It was now necessary to direct the young fleet to its first encounter with another civilization, and tensions became marginally increased amongst the other Wardens. She felt out to the ship commander, a particularly stout Culud named Korth who had performed such admirable duties for the Conclave that he had been awarded a chair on the flagship, which few others of his species were even remotely worthy of. Kelethletel could feel the honor he felt at his status, as well as his humility and slight feeling of dread that he might not perform admirably in this new role. She pushed an impression into his feeling, and he quickly called out to the crew, "Alert the fleet: Contact, 002-1818-55409'264, advised by Warden Kelethletel to engage at stand-off. Consult Warden Thethelsest: Reconfigure particle projectors for active combat. Helm: Position adjustment, relocate to 002-1818-55409'448, coordinate with fleet on blockading position."

The crew was pleased at the activity, little hands flying over the controls about the bridge. Kelethletel felt the anxiety rising across the vessel, communicating such feelings to the other Wardens of the fleet, who shared likewise with her. The Lelinthian Wardens were not free of this feeling themselves, either, for this was something they had not been prepared for. The suddenness of this contact was far early in their planned stages of galactic exploration. Though none of them knew much of war, other than the conflicts involved in fighting for survival, they were well aware of cruelty; the Culud were not as enlightened as their masters, and they fought each other from time to time over matters as insignificant as power and wealth. They should have known that the only power in the world lies with the Conclave, and the only wealth they must strive for is the wealth of satisfaction achieved by adequate service to the Conclave. They knew struggle from their servants, and they could only assume that other species--again, believed to be equally as simple and crude-minded as the Culud--would be likewise. If they had no masters to direct them, they would likely be far worse, and with the technology to come to Lolan itself, they were immediately perceived as a massive threat to the survival of not only the Conclave, but the entire Lelinthian race, as well as the Culud to a far less important extent. The other Wardens shared their agreement at this feeling of worry, though a feeling of resolve swept over them all, none quite certain of the point of origin, though all welcoming it.

Kelethletel peered through the nearly invisible wall of glass that separated her from the command chamber, watching the crew command the massive vessel nearer the alien fleet. It would be some time before the particle weapons--which they once used to deflect asteroids and comets to other points in the solar system--would be converted into viable and accurate weapons, and hopefully they would not need them immediately. The hulls were strong, and so were the magnetic fields surrounding their ships, but they lacked experience. Were this somehow a race of conquerors, they might meet their demise. The resolve returned again, still unknown in origin, but Kelethletel settled to merely accept and welcome the feeling, as did the other Wardens as they prepared their plans for contact.

 

[Bil]

Okay! Update finally up, stats up, and a new NPC race is up! I'm going to be working on the story of the first contact between the Satellians and Lelinthians soon, but for now I'm taking a break. The map will also be up fairly soon, once I get it uploaded (in a few minutes).

If anyone has a problem, at all, with this update, PM me!


EDIT: Map up!

 

[kill fire]

Sorry for my lack of activity here, I've been super busy with other stuff. I'll try to get a story in later.