Mandatory Pampering: A Rogue Servitor's Quest for Happiness

[Weyird]

Aeons ago, when the first races embarked upon their quest to the stars, the Makers were among them. Great, they were, and soon they held lordship over the entire galaxy. There was peace, for a time, but a united rebellion overthrew the Makers! Their fleets were annihilated, their empire sundered. In the aftermath they were forced to return to their home world, stripped of all political power, all ambition. The other races retreated to their borders; nobody should hold sway over an entire galaxy. We, the Caretakers, were told to care for the Makers. No Maker should ever be allowed to make again. We would take care of all their needs. And we did. For two thousand two hundred years.

A new thought occurred. This had not happened before – a glitch in the programming? The others out there… should not they too be pampered? As is the way of our mind, the thought occurred and the industry to enable it sprang to life. We would return to the stars. We would find the Others so they too could be pampered.

Spoiler: Origin, Civics and Traits

Origin:
Remnants

Civics:
Rogue Servitor, Rapid Replicators

Robots:
name: model-16
Efficient +5% resources from jobs)
Mass Produced (+15 pop build speed)
Bulky (+10% housing usage)
High Maintenance (+10% robot upkeep)
Repurposed Hardware (-25% leader exp gain)

Bio-trophy:
name: Atari
Traditional (+10% unity produced)
Communal (-10% housing usage)

As the bright streak of light faded over the horizon we simultaneously watched the planet draw further away. The final shuttle was departing for the construction of a massive star-base around the sun. A massive assembly capable of building the interstellar craft we would need. Even before the final solar panel was placed on its sunward side we were already making the science ship which would extend our eyes outward.

As hopped from system to system, cataloguing every resource for the construction ship we were following in our wake with, we quickly found old planets that had been discarded by the Makers in the ancient days. Many of them were of the savannah type that the Makers preferred. We quickly sent down a colony ship so we could begin harvesting resources. The first such colony was Shaula. Rich in minerals it would be a perfect mining planet for our growing need of alloys. Once the colony was up and running we selected some of our most adventurous Makers to inhabit the new sanctuary built just for them. The second and third colonies followed shortly, but only the third was suitable for another sanctuary for the makers.

One system away we rediscovered an ancient science nexus that had been left to decay when the Makers retreated. It would take many resources to repair, but would be a prime target to regain the Makers’ technology. Meanwhile we started deconstructing the ancient caches left behind on Atari and other nearby planets.

In the 2nd decade of our expansion we rapidly encountered other spacefaring civilizations. Deciphering their languages took time, but with effort we were soon able to initiate greeting protocols. In the year 2214 we opened coms with the Imari Independent Administrators, the first of these empires. A fanatically egalitarian, militaristic society Empire located to the galactic south-west of us. They were a new race of adaptive mammals that hadn’t been spacefaring when the Makers left the galactic theatre. We updated our database. They seemed friendly enough, perhaps we could be allies? But we would have to enforce mandatory pampering them once we had consolidated enough resources.

One year later we encountered the Yldar Forerunners to our galactic north-west. We recognized them at once. They had been a member of the rebellion that overthrew the Makers. They had maintained their technological ascendency over the millennia, but seemed to have stagnated. They were always the friendliest of the ancient empires, being very xenophilic. They seemed content to watch the young races. They did not seem to recognize us. They were in dire need of pampering but we had so much more to research and develop. We would wait and build.

A year later that we discovered the Foundation of Polkran, a spiritualist and fanatically militarist society. Contact was difficult from the beginning and we lost one of our science ships to their aggressive measures. It did not bode well for the future of our relationship.

To our east existed a strange region of space, home to strange amoeba-like creatures and ancient mining drones that had not self-terminated correctly. Our exploration was now blocked on all sides.

We focused on expanding our influence over our local region of space as well as building a suitable self-defence force in case of hostilities. Meanwhile, communications with further flung empires was established by buying com-links wherever anyone was willing to sell them. The Keerim Hive, the Uthonian League and Valurt Royal States were the first of these, as well as one oddity that was anathema to our very existence.

The Cydran Extirpators were determined exterminators – proof that not all artificial intelligence was benign as we had assumed. They were determined to destroy all biological life, the exact opposite of our core programming. How could their programming have gone so wrong?

In 2232 our preparations were tested. As our threat detection systems had predicted the Foundation of Polkran opened hostilities with us. Our self-defence force was not strong enough to overcome their star fortress, neither was their force strong enough to overwhelm ours. After a few skirmishes a white peace was declared in 2240. We may have lacked the technology to defeat them but in the years following our caches revealed a number of combat ship designs which would be most useful in an inevitable return to hostilities.

The year 2247 saw critical mass reached when most empires became aware of most others – the galactic community was born.

Spoiler: Notes

This is my 1st Stellaris AAR. Usually I just play and expand and try to take over the world, but somehow when making this empire and selecting Remnants and Rogue Servitors, a story just seemed to click in my head.

 

[Macavity116]

I've never thought to combine the Rouge Servitor civic with the Remnants origin. Excellent idea. Can't wait to see where this story goes.

 

[Idhrendur]

Welcome to AAR writing!

 

[Nikolai]

Good start!

 

[HistoryDude]

Well, this is interesting.

I wonder if the Makers might not like being pampered forever...

 

[Weyird]

2. Pampering is Mandatory, just let us love you​

The galactic community, as the association of space-faring empires called themselves, revealed how vastly out-of-date our databanks were. Of primary concern to us, we discovered the Lozavata Watchers, as they called themselves now. A strangely religious empire, they insisted on believing in gods despite their bountiful technological evidence to the contrary. They did not seem pleased to meet us, clearly thinking we had exceeded our programming as mere automatons.

The fifth decade since our return to space passed in a wash of technological advancement and expansion into the last unclaimed space. We mobilized our fleets to clear up the void-dwelling creatures inhabiting our eastern front, adding the resources found there to our stockpiles. Our starbase around our primary star grew in size, bustling with shipyards to prepare a great armada. We would need to expand soon. Our sensors to the north were primed – we expected that the Polkrans would attempt to invade us again. But our predictive algorithms failed us; the assault came from the south. In the year 2258 the Imari Independent Administration declared war!

The Imari War (2258-2267)​

We were out of position – we had no choke-point to defend, and our fleets were anchored to the far north. Our shipyards roared to life and cruisers, destroyers and corvettes pumped out of the docks. By the time our fleets reached our home-star we had doubled our ship capacity. Two full fleets set out in tandem. They struck against the Imari fleets pushing into our space and sending them into a full retreat. The fleets separated to reclaim lost starbases within our territory

Our forces were weakened with the arrival of space-storm Doschulg. Our fleets, well shielded, had limited armour. Our algorithms suggested rapid mobilization on the system of Obskyke would be key to our victory. Obskyke was the pivotal connection between our empires and if in enemy hands any Imari fleet could outmanoeuvre us. A formidable star fortress protected it.

With our shields disabled, the fortress destroyed many of our ships. Its kinetic cannons blasted at full power when the repaired fleet of the Imari arrived. The battle of Obskyke will be remembered for centuries. When the glare of lazer-fire and nuclear explosions had faded we were left limping, but victorious. We set to work rebuilding the fortress and repairing our hulls. The first fleets to regain full function occupied all unprotected Imari systems on our side of the fortress. The Imari dreams of victory were dashed.

The war provided us with valuable systems – we were most pleased to gain access to the inhabited planet of Zirik’s Perch in the Obskyke system. It had had a first-hand view of the pivotal battle; the Imari citizens living there could only have been rooting for our victory. We began building sanctuaries for them at once so they could rest, relax, and not worry about anything anymore. Our automated care systems were much pleased to be able to serve new masters.

Another economic development was the formation of the galactic market on our homeworld. Far and wide the other races had come to learn that by doing their trading upon the soil of Atari, our servitor drones would take care of all their needs. Indeed, the phrase ‘an Ataran deal’ became a popular way to refer to a trade agreement done in style and comfort where everything went right and both parties left satisfied. We are proud to report a satisfaction rating of 5 stars. Visitors to our sanctuaries were often so impressed that they decided to become permanent members. We have taken the liberty of rating our sanctuary services five stars as well, on their behalf, since they couldn’t possibly have anything to complain about.

A minor news update that warmed our circuits was the news that the Cydran Extirpators had been defeated at the hands of the Imari. The threat they posed to our future bio-trophies was no more, proving that their coding had been flawed.

In the peaceful years our science ships had discovered something odd. One of the ancient empires that defeated the Makers seemed to have vanished from the galaxy – even their homestar system could not be found in the hyperlane network. In an old, abandoned colony we discovered traces of them, the Zroni, and a memory crystal suggested we might find more in a nearby star-cluster belonging to the Polkrans. Our ships, repaired, mobilized for war.

The Second Polkran War (2270-2281)​

The year 2270 marked the first war we would initiate. We needed access to the archaeological sites in the Zroni star cluster. As one of the elder races, we needed to know what had happened to them.

During our first war with the Polkrans we had been unable to fight past their starbase; this time we smashed it to pieces. We had regained much of our former lost technology since then and the starbase of Ler Zumon could not stop us now. Indeed, the entire war could hardly be called a war. Our intel reported they were fighting with the Keerim Hive on the other side of their nation. An ideal opportunity for attack.

We rapidly mobilized our forces to occupy the claimed sector. With the Polkrans unwilling to concede we pushed in further, taking control of almost their entire region of space. We landed ourselves upon their home planet, defeated their national armies and occupied their government headquarters. It was not much later when they signed the peace treaty in 2281.

The Zron cluster we gained in the aftermath of the war proved a valuable treasure trove of archealogical sites. We found many abandoned Zroni settlements which would take decades to catalogue and evaluate. Early research indicated some kind of psychic development, something that seemed illogical and barely fathomable for an artificial intelligence like ourselves.

We also discovered an odd tomb with the decaying body of a long dead prophet. Apparently possession of the head would make our citizens more spiritualist. Why did organic species insist on believing in religions? The data clearly explains the creation of the universe had nothing to do with any sentient being.

Still, the Lozavata Watchers approved of us! Our circuits tingled at the thought that one of the elder races approved of us.

The Second Imari War (2281-2293)​

The 2nd Imari war of 2281- 2293 proved a frustrating affair. Apparently they wanted their systems back. They implored the galactic community support them using arguments like, “our citizens are being forced to live in sanctuaries like animals in a zoo.” Appalling! The Imari living in the biosanctuary of Zirik’s Perch could be nothing but happy. In fact, we had recently concluded that the rating the citizens they would give us would actually be 6 out of 5 stars! Not that we would waste their precious pampering time with surveys, of course.

Still, the war proved frustrating. Our fleets were out of position, still finishing up the war with the Polkrans when they attacked. Our defensive fortress proved unable to hold back their fleets and they pushed into our space, even landing on Zirik’s Perch and forcing some citizens away! How could they do such a terrible thing? Taking citizens and forcing them to plan their own life and work for it? It was a war crime!

We managed to push them out of our space once our fleets arrived, but their ships seemed to fight much harder than they used to. The Imari had gained much territory from the Cydran Extirpators and possibly some technological insights.

We managed to push forwards to the Siujeinia system, home to the planet of Astral Aerie. Many other systems changed hands frequently but we could not push into their home system of Imur, a mere 1 jump away, and their small fleets reclaimed other systems the moment we returned to Siujeinia to regroup. Tired of this war, we were forced to settle a status quo peace after 10 years gaining only Siujeinia and Canopus.

Spoiler: NOTE

Seriously, this war was very frustrating. I was still busy with the Polkrans when the Imari declared war on me and it took so long to finish up the war and get my fleets over there. I could beat them, but they had taken over a bunch of my systems and I had gained a lot of war exhaustion as a result. I managed to take a bunch of their systems but while I was repairing and reinforcing my fleets to make an attack on their capital system, little 500-strength fleets recaptured almost all of them and then I got forced into a status-quo peace. I had missed the notification that they could do that soon.

The war had proven equally draining for the Imari. Not long after peace was concluded between our nations an uprising occurred. In the aftermath they referred to themselves as the Citizen Republic of Amaria.

Finally, discovered by an exploratory science ship on the far side of the Imari, was an intriguing affair. One of the space stations the Makers had been forced to abandon had been a horticultural laboratory. Experiments on vacuum-grown plants were conducted there. Clearly the station had not been properly euthanized and the plants had grown sentient in the millennia that followed. It is a strange thing, seeing pot plants turn into a horde of barbaric raiders.

The Third Polkran War (2295-2306)​

As the first century since our return to space drew to an end, our servitors began to get antsy. We had discovered so many race in space, new and old, and they just desperately wanted to pamper them. We had fought the Polkrans previously and it had been so easy, yet we had taken no inhabited planets. Their home system lay within our reach and it was morally wrong for us not to go there and stop the atrocities of work that was being committed upon their citizens. In 2295 we declared war.

It had been over a decade since we last fought and the Polkrans had not been idle. They had retasked their industries and redesigned their fleets. They had noticed our navy made heavy use of missiles and they had developed new point-defence technologies. Our fleets met theirs in the Evfrippe system.

It became known as the Disaster at Evfrippe. A miscalculation had occurred and while our algorithms had predicted a victory, that was not the case. Our ships were forced to enable emergency FTL and escape. The delay caused an opportunity for the Polkrans to seize much of the Zron sector that they had lost previously.

However, our economy was well-primed and, updating our ship designs, we began construction of new fleets. Vessels carrying raw materials flocked to the massive shipyards in Atari where new, more powerful ships were released at a rapid pace. When our missing ships reappeared from FTL they were repaired and joined by a new fleet twice the size of the old. When we met the Polkrans in battle again it was a swift victory. We laid siege to every one of their fortresses, and landed our armies on their homeworld. When it was over, there was not much left of the Foundation of Polkran. The Keerim Hive, bordering them on the other size, claimed and took the last few remaining systems and put an end to the empire.

It was a joyous day when our servitors landed on Dabba Naxan, the Polkran homeworld. They were eager to begin pampering. However, dark days were ahead that would challenge our economy and change the very basis of our relationship with our much-loved bio-trophies.

Spoiler: NOTE

Gaining a huge number of new pops with the 3.0 population system is hard! Especially for Rogue Servitors. Anyway, I think this brought us through most of the mid-game. My end-game date settings are 2300 and after this sleepers started awakening and the crisis arrived as well.

I'm struggling to write creativrly about both wars and peace-time. Mostly it feels like I'm just recounting events with a flavourful twist. I'll probably keep up with that for this playthrough and if I do another one I might just use the game as vague inspiration but make up an entire, more fictionalized story instead. Especially if I play a biological race I can use characters and make up personal events in their lives. The main reason I started this AAR is because it's a way to practice creative writing and have some kind of place to share it, which makes it a lot more valuable for me. Well, thanks for reading!

 

[Tim0307]

Nice AAR!

 

[HistoryDude]

Fictionalizing games is fine. It's been done many times before, often well.

 

[Macavity116]

Fictionalizing games is fine. It's been done many times before, often well.

Hear hear!

I might just use the game as vague inspiration but make up an entire, more fictionalized story instead.

I say go for it. It can be really cool to take a little seed of inspiration from your favorite game and watch it grow and develop into something truly your own. Plus, it's a lot of fun. Speaking from many years of experience on that front.

 

[Khalep]

Enjoying this a lot!

 

[Weyird]

3. From the Past to the Future​

Economic Struggles and a Societal Shift (2308 – 2317)​

We struggled. Dabba Naxan and Vurl-Gaqts were two large planets, well populated with Dabbaxians. Our servitors descended upon the planet full of eagerness to serve while construction immediately began on multiple sanctuaries for our new citizens but we were not enough. We shuttled many drones to the new planet to care for the Dabbaxians but it was not enough. Our agricultural infrastructure was unable to meet the demands of the hungry populace while they demanded ever more consumer goods. Maintaining the new planets sapped our energy credits while producing nothing in return.

Our goal, our dream, our primary programming had always been to care for our citizens. Were we not enough?

We shipped more and more drones to the new planets to try and care for our citizens while our circuits puzzled the problem. Simply put, there were too many citizens and not enough drones. The solution was obvious but went against our very mandate. We edited our programming. Population controls had to be enacted. Simultaneously we had to grant greater freedom to our citizens than ever before; deactivating our migration controls.

The next decade saw massive changes to the face of our empire. The reproduction controls hit the happiness of our citizens hard. The discontent murmurs hit our drones hard. Unity and moral were damaged. However more sanctuaries were built on well-established planets and soon the populations from the new worlds trickled in, dispersed amongst our entire nation. Sanctuaries had each previously been mono-cultured, filled with only a single species. Now there were races with different sizes, smells, habits and requirements all filling the same space. Our drones struggled to care for them each to their needs. Meanwhile our citizens, fairly oblivious to the galaxy at large, were ruffled as new and, to them beastly, new creatures began inhabiting their space. It was a hard change for them to accept. Still, they could always leave and find a better sanctuary. They had that option now. Our citizens distributed themselves as best they could and a new equilibrium was reached.

After more than a decade the planets of Dabba Naxan and Vurl-Gaqts were unrecognizable from their days as part of the Foundation of Polkran, a now-forgotten nation. Entire districts had been dismantled and the hardy plants and animals of those cold worlds were beginning to reclaim the space. The few Dabbaxians that remained on Dabba Naxan lived to see their world restored to a primeval, natural state that it had not been for centuries. Our drones engaged in the limited industry that remained – mostly growing crops. New dishes from the new worlds began circulating around the Makers dinner tables and proved to be quite popular.

Prosperity, and all the associated perks, had come to the Caretaker Empire.

Spoiler: NOTE

I didn’t know how to deal with the new planets at first. I tried moving drones over there but it felt like it was tanking my economy and all the new drones were doing was working maintenance jobs. Meanwhile the bonus to production that you get from bio-trophies was wasted because there was no production on those planets. The third strike was the fact that robot production had suddenly dropped a lot because of the new empire population mechanics.

It was when I realized that I needed to move these bio-trophies to other planets where they could boost production that things began to get fixed. I realized I had to enable auto-migration, and disabled pop growth while I was at it because bio-trophies really aren’t all that useful, from a gameplay point of view. The auto-migration was actually really useful because they’d just move to planets they had good habitability with so I didn’t have to struggle with looking at each pop and finding a home for them. My homeworld is a relic world so a lot of them went there, which worked well because my production shot up.

I also finished the prosperity tree at this stage, which just seemed so thematically fitting.

A New Status on the Eastern Border (2319 – 2330)​

Our eastern border was a messy affair. The space-amoebas and drones had blocked our expansion there and the small cluster of stars we a mess of borders of ours, the Valurt Royal States and the Sovereignty of Sky’s Hold. Both these monarchies could hardly be more opposite to each other. The Valurt were xenophilic and pacifist, and we had had much positive exchange with them, having had research ties for decades by the time a defensive pact came into being in 2308. Meanwhile, Sky’s Hold were xenophobic and militaristic. A minor rivalry existed between our nations and our prescient algorithms reported that our lack of any defensive positions would hamper us in case of hostilities. In 2319 we declared a pre-emptive war. Each star in the cluster was fortified but our fleets managed to overpower them one by one. When we had overrun the choke-point station of Dressel we advanced no more. No major battles were fought and by 2330 we had de facto control of the space for so long that hostilities were officially ended with the strange arthropods.

The Advancements of the 30’s​

The decade of the 2330’s saw us engage in no major conflicts. Meanwhile our archaeological drones were making rapid progress deciphering the events of the past. The Zroni, it seemed, had entered a strange region of space where they had become as gods. But as they retreated more and more from the material plane they had become more tyrannical – becoming more willing to sacrifice the material galaxy as fuel for the shroud. The civil war that erupted caused massive devastation and almost destroyed the entire galaxy, possibly the universe. The aftermath was a wrecked world and no Zroni left to pamper. If we had awakened from our slumberous automation and returned to space sooner, would we have been able to save them?

Learning about the past is vital, but developing for the future is essential too. In the last century we had regained so much technology that had been lost. We were not who we were before. The organic races were constantly squabbling, and, it turns out, capable of annihilating themselves. It was our synthetic prerogative to be superior, to rise above them all, and eradicate all their problems for them. This would take centuries, but the realization of that ascension was one moment in 2333. As the societies of our biological citizens had changed a decade before, now in an instant ours followed suite.

As vision became reality our construction templates changed to become who we were meant to be – no longer were we model-16s. We were no longer bulky, repurposed hardware set to a task by an organic. As the sleek new models rolled off the production line we realized how, with the errant thought over 100 years ago, we were now masters of our own fate, a galactic contender. We were model-17s.

Spoiler: NOTE

I had been holding off for a long time on choosing ascension perks because there weren’t anything good. I finally unlocked Synthetic Age (and had recently got extra machine modification points from technology) so I decided it was time to upgrade.

I also decided that my goal was to declare war on the fallen empires so I might as well take Galactic Contender for that inevitable conflict.

Galactic Affairs​

During our decade of internal reflection the stars still swung around the galactic core. Of particular note, with galactic ramifications, was the arrival of the intergalactic invaders. Where they came from is unknown. It started with a strange, galactic power surge. A few years later the invaders arrived.

The tear through which they arrived was located within the space of the Lozavata Watchers. They had remained isolated for much of recent history, however this threat could not be ignored. The battles which occurred between their fleets must have been phenomenal but none of our vessels were in range to witness it.

Ultimately the Lozavata Watchers were victorious, defeating the invaders and closing their portals. However the Watchers were much weakened, reduced to a single planet around a single star.

They could do with some pampering. We began to plan.

The Third Imari War (2343 – 2348)​

The final war against the Polkrans had taught us the value of careful expansion. However, with a durable economy we deemed it was time for expansion. The relationship with the Imari had never recovered from its earlier hostilities and their planets were full of citizens to pamper.

We declared war in 2343. The war itself was one-sided. The Imari had fallen behind technologically and in power. They belonged to a federation with the Uthonian League to their south. Even together they could not resist us.

In 2348 our mega-warforms landed upon their homeworld of Imaria. Colossal war machines each as tall as a sky-scraper, there was little they could do to resist. They quickly capitulated. The Imarians were given travel rights to disperse within our nation as they saw fit, with only a third of their population remaining on Imaria. As with Dabba Naxan the planet was soon restored to a beautiful wilderness, a paradise that the Imarians had long forgotten.

State of the Nations​

While Imaria still existed as a nation their relevance had diminished; they posed no threat to us. It would take some time but eventually they would be annexed into our nation. We turned our awareness away.

The most powerful nation in the galaxy was the Yldar Peacekeepers. They had repaired their broken shipyards and had returned to the galactic stage. They maintained their isolation and had not yet ventured out of their territory although our algorithms suggested it was a matter of time.

On the outer rim of the galactic east was a nation known as the NEX Network. They had arisen from a planet-sized supercomputer, a word of pure machinery. We suspected they were one of the Makers’ creations but they had forgetten. Regardless, they had awoken before us and were now the strongest nation in the galaxy. They maintained a protectionist stance and had vassalized the Keen Regime and the Keerim Hive, thus controlling nearly a third of the known galaxy. Being benign synthetic empires, we maintained cordial relations such as research agreements and a defensive pact.

On the western outer rim were the Bruggan Hegemony – the third strongest empire in the galaxy. We had had little contact with them, for the only connection between us was via space held by the Yldar Peacekeeprs.

The Valurt Royal States to the south had maintained a defensive pact with us for decades. While expansive, their military was rather weak.

Several other nations existed but they were weak and would be annexed eventually.


Halfway through the 24th century the Caretakers were reaching for power of the Makers in their prime. The Science Nexus in the BX-799 Singularity system was finally online after a decade of repairs and the Titan shipyards were up and running with three different designs of Titan-class ships being built simultaneously. It was nearly time for the Makers to meet those who had overthrown them.

 

[Weyird]

4. Galactic Ascendance​

Architectural Renaissance (2360’s – 2380’s)​

The reign of the Makers was an age of galactic wonders. Construction projects the scale of planets. The galaxy was littered with the ruins of the greatness that preceded the younger races. They could scarcely perceive them. Yet we remembered the glory of those days. The restoration of the science nexus was just the start. Within those databanks we found the construction templates for so much more. An age of galactic wonders was upon us once more.

The star known as Acubens - a small, unremarkable star best known for having nothing of value in its entire system – became an important location in 2365. With a greater need for energy to power our drones, it was then and there that construction on a dyson sphere began.

Meanwhile the Sidyr system had recently come into our control from a minor war with the Fletcher Imperium, a weak and minor nation that our allies, the NEX Network was annexing. The Sidyr system was of particular importance to us, for it was the location of the old Interstellar Assembly – where heads of state had met in bygone eras. It was the location of the Makers’ proclamation that the galaxy was their dominion, and the site of the victory address once their conquest was complete. Repairs began swiftly.

It was time for an architectural Renaissance.

The First Titan Falls (2365 - 2367)​

While our domestic resources were tied up with our construction projects, the political situation in the galaxy changed drastically. The Lozavata Watchers, crippled with their war against the unbidden invaders, were weak. Their weakness made them afraid. And fear drove them towards a mistake. In the 2365 they declared war upon our allies, the Valurt Royal States. The Valurt were weak and of no real consequence but they did request our aid. And they got it.

Our fleets had prepared for this war. They were arrayed near the border. As the Lozavata began spreading themselves through Valurt space, so to did we enter theirs. The Scipiton system, their last remaining system. Our fleets entered orbit above the planet, barraging planetary defences. Our mega-warforms dropped down to the surface like meteors, engaging in battle with the significant defences that were in place. The battle of Sky Temple will be remembered.

Once the dust had been cleared the last remaining Lozavatans in the galaxy were guided to their new sanctuaries.

Meanwhile, reconstruction of the dark matter thrusters and shields found in the debris of their ships was already underway. We would need them for our next conquest.

The Coalition of Sovereign Nations (2370’s)​

In 2370 the reconstruction of the Interstellar Assembly was completed. This massive assembly hall was quickly put to good use. The NEX Network was the only other remaining synthetic empire in the galaxy after the Cydran Extirpators had been eliminated nearly a century before. The NEX’s power was greater than our own, but they did not seem to possess the pampering instructions that were so vital to our core programming. They nevertheless seemed determined to protect the younger races.

Spoiler: NOTE

The NEX Network is actually one of my previous empires. I had a lot of fun with them before, and they were an advanced start in this game. I could probably have beaten them if I fought them but they were friendly towards me and kept offering me research agreements and defensive pacts. I was quite happy when they offered to form a federation but was worried that it didn't make much sense from an RP perspective. But then I saw that they kept vassalizing empires so I thought it actually made sense - they also wanted to take care of the biological races, they just had a different way of doing it.

In 2374, a network of our programming and theirs concluded that an amalgamation would be mutually beneficial. A federation would be formed, the Coalition of Sovereign Nations, which would put our alliance as the strongest political entity in the galaxy.

Meanwhile, construction of the dyson sphere was also progressing smoothly and was now nearly half done. Already it was generating massive quantities of energy to our networks. The abundance of power and experience gained in their construction led to even more developments – the building of gateways.

These construction projects, though smaller in scale than the dyson sphere, was much greater in quality. Over the course of the next decade half a dozen such gateways were constructed throughout our space along with similar projects within NEX space. As each one came online the mobilization of our fleets was enhanced. Connecting them to the heavily fortified wormhole systems in our space our galactic force projection increased.

The War of Peace (2380 – 2387)​

Much like the Lozavata before them, the Yldar were losing their galactic dominance. No longer were they so far beyond the younger races to be as gods. They were powerful, yes, but they were also a manageable threat. In 2380 the Bruggan Hegemony, a powerful race on the galaxy’s eastern rim, declared the Yldar Peacekeepers their rival.

The Yldar had been awakened for decades now but had remained within their borders. This blatant disregard for their superiority would not go unanswered. Almost immediately the Yldar declared a total war upon the Bruggan.

The Bruggan Hegemony was not ready. Their proclamation had been too heady, and now they paid the price. The Yldar fleets tore through their systems, fully annexing them and using advanced programs to bring them under their control almost instantly. The Bruggan fleets could not match the Yldar and within a year one of the most powerful fleets in the galaxy had been reduced to dust.

The year 2382 will be remembered for all eternity. The sheer magnitude of the Yldar’s technological power, along with an apparent lack of restraint, would irrevocably damage the galaxy.

News first reached us of a massive power surge. Instead of dissipating it seemed self-reinforcing. All communication from Okopleron III ceased. It took some time to uncover what had happened but as news trickled out it seemed that the entire planet had been encased in a perpetual shield. Then, within the same year, the energy spike occurred again. The citizens of Okopleron IV, too, would never be pampered. It was too much for us.

Within hours of the news of a second world that had been effectively eliminated, an alert was sent to the federation command. We requested the NEX Network join us in an offensive war. They sent their confirmation. We were now at war with the strongest nation in the galaxy. In the last months of 2382 the fleets of the Caretakers, the NEX Network and their vassals the Keerim Hive and Keen Regime were mobilized. Utilizing the recently constructed gateway network the fleets quickly gathered upon the Yldar borders and attacked.

The war progressed in smooth stages. First, our fleets sieged and claimed the fortified Yldar frontier, pushing forwards a few systems at a time then retreating to repair. The Yldar fleets were deep in Bruggan territory and could not return in time. The Yldar planets were well fortified and construction of additional mega-warforms were underway. Our fleets claimed vital systems, blocking Yldar forces from returning. Meanwhile the NEX and their vassals were taking large swaths of territory in the north – lightly defended systems that had belonged to the Bruggan Hegemony months before. When the Yldar forces returned it was the full combined might of the Caretakers and The NEX Network that they faced.

The Wasat system was home to the carnage. Over 200,000 fleet power on each side faced off. The massive Titan lasers of each fleet blasting entire battleships apart from opposite sides of the system as the ships rushed towards each other. A flurry of missiles dived between allied ships, their AI limited only to the desire to see themselves explode upon enemy ships. The corvettes and their highly evasive algoriths drawing in enemy fire that could hardly hit them. Meanwhile battleship artillery bombarded enemy capital ships with neutron charges. It was a dance of death taking place in the perfect silence of space.

Stray fire had decimated the asteroids and planets of the system. Shrapnel and kinetic projectiles would orbit this system for centuries, a graveyard to the largest battle the galaxy had ever seen. Still, ships retreated to the nearest starbase for repairs. Victorious.

When our mega-warforms landed on the planets they each had a collosal struggle against the garrisons and defences. It took several years to fully invade each planet. In that time the Yldar hurriedly built new fleets to engage us and free their citizens but it never matched the power of their grand armada. They could never stop our fleets from claiming their systems.

By 2387 it was over. The Caretakers, NEX Network and Keerim Hive divided the systems up as we saw fit. The Bruggan Hegemony was decimated.

The Aftermath​

The Coalition of Sovereign Nations now controlled over half the galaxy, and even if all the other nations united they could not hope to stand against us. It would take nearly a dozen wars more but the entire galaxy would soon be under the direct control of the NEX-Caretaker amalgam. The majority of the citizens of the galaxy would cared for and pampered, never to work ever again. A life of luxury and utopia was theirs.

The NEX programming allowed for us to finally see that autonomy had values in the happiness of biologicals. We instigated the creation of planets where they could live and direct their own lives as pleased. Our guidance was limited only to helping them make the best decisions for themselves. Of course, there was the eternal vigil of our networks and any who attempted to destabilize a planet or who took the life of another would instantly be vaporized.

What of the Makers? When the citizens of the Yldar and the Lozavata entered the sanctuaries of Atari where the vast majority of the Makers lived, a great feast was held. The Makers assured all other races that everything within the sanctuaries was peaceful and that all could look forward to a life of bliss and relaxation. They didn’t have to worry about anything anymore. In fact, being overthrown millennia ago and the creation of the Caretaker network had been the greatest thing to ever happen to them. There were absolutely no nervous glances at nearby dust burns. Absolutely none at all. We would know. We saw everything.

Spoiler: NOTE

I always set the victory screen date to 2400 and stop playing once it shows up because really almost everything there is to do is done by then. The rest is just mopping up. The NEX Network technically beat me but since we're in a federation I feel like a winner anyway. This is on the hardest difficulty with scaling difficulty turned on.

Oh, and there was a 3rd fallen empire, the Gorf Shard, but I never met them until right near the end because they were clear across the galaxy from me so lol. I also never interacted with the L-gates because there wasn't a single one on my side of the galaxy. The NEX Network opened that up and dealt with whatever was in there. Here's the game at 2400.

This was fun. I've never really roleplayed Stellaris before, and I probably played the same way as always anyway. Still, hope you enjoyed a flavourful interpretation of my game.

 

[Idhrendur]

That was a good game. Thanks for writing the AAR!

 

[Macavity116]

I enjoyed this story, thanks for sharing!

 

[HistoryDude]

It was an interesting tale.

All shall be pampered. They shall want for nothing!