Master of the Galaxy: a Space Opera game

[Groogy]

The translation lags a bit as incomprehensible clicks and hisses emerges from the Speaker of the Crhz'Lek Confederacy.

- "click, different kind of click 'This one bring greetings from ...' hisss~ the fangs slams together '... the great queens of ...' clicks that sound like Crhz and fangs slamming sounding like Lek" The drone stops for a moment before continuing. "I will continue this session in a language that is easier for your machines to translate."

 

[Galren]

"Greetings," said Wesk Wist'bar, representative of the Bothan Council. "Zrask Eshka'ra, First Secretary, would like to greet all and hope for prosperous, close relationships."

 

[BlackBishop]

Vanity's Home​

It was easy to see how cultures as self obsessed and decadent as the core systems could breed such a person as Horatio. Every man and woman of importance in the core, was completely concerned with status, sacrificing everything for the latest fashion, the newest gadget, the most modern rejuvenation therapy. Horatio had seen them lose their homes because they could not keep up with paying off their latest surgery. One hundred and fifty year olds rejuved to look twenty. He supposed they did make for attractive homeless, though.

Horatio studied himself in a hand mirror as he sat behind a marble desk, flanked by sparked statues of himself. None looked half as good as Horatio. “You are beautiful” said his smiling reflection.

Horatio laughed with delight, “you really think so?”

“Yes, of course I do. You made a good decision to leave those drab courtesans of the core” said the handsome reflection.

Horatio tittered happily, “I am so happy to hear you say that!”

“I’m sorry I ever doubted you.”

Horatio set the mirror down on the desk, turning around in his swivel chair gleefully to view the large terrace behind him. The balcony gave way to huge expanse of dry arid land, the White sun was beginning to set, sending crimson fingers across the sky, kissing the purple clouds.

Horatio walked out on the terrace where a strategist board lay neglected, its beautifully carved pieces seemed to scream for attention. Horatio’s happy face dissolved into sadness as he remembered when one of his children defeated him at the game last year. He had been so enraged that he threw his child from the balcony and never played the game again. A pity, the board was a gift from an emperor and was a beautiful set. Horatio found that he missed sharp Ilos. He was never one to control his temper, and if Ilos was so sharp, he should have let him win. He should have known better.

Horatio pushed the thought from his mind and his smile returned as he surveyed the red canyons that stretched out before him. Stretched across the sky, in low orbit was an immense ship. Smaller ships zipped to and fro, preparing the vessel for its journey. Further out, beyond the hot, dry atmosphere of Horatio’s home planet, which was called Home, were many more ships. But none were as grand as the one before him now. Pride swelled in Horatio as he watched his busy bee’s scramble to do his bidding. A few more days and his new ship would be ready to depart, and him along with it. His face grew sad once again thinking of having to say good-bye to his home but it had to be done.

Where the last age belonged to the Core and the Galactic Council, now belonged to Horatio and his children. Horatio and his great fleet would create an new galactic order with himself at its head. All people’s would bow down before his great beauty and magnificence. Horatio beamed happily again as he thought of coming into his power.

There was a chime as one of his children entered his solar.

“Ah! Dinner.” said Horatio clapping his hands excitedly as he briskly returned inside.

“Greetings your beautifulness” said his child, “dinner is served.” His servant set a plate of food down on the marble desk. The smell of the meat filled the office. A delicacy courtesy of one of the seized merchant freighters. Steamed Amoebas of Aquarum. Delicious.

Horatio put his hand on his child’s face, admiring his work. “You are beautiful.”

“Thank you, your excellency. I take after my father.”

Horatio laughed happily. “Wait for me at my bedchamber.” Steamed Amoebas was a potent aphrodisiac as well as a fine dish.

His child bowed and made his exit. Horatio sat behind his desk, sighing with pleasure at each bite of his dinner. He prompted a holo on his desk to show what would be his new home. A lush green world, two continents separated by a great ocean. No doubt it would be muggy and unbearable. Damp air was bad for the pours and Horatio could not abide bad skin. Typing commands the holo shifted to the moon revealing a structure on its surface. The real prize. Horatio would tolerate a muggy climate and clammy skin for the secrets he would learn from this system’s moon.

Horatio popped some meat into his mouth and chewed happily,
“Xenophros,” he smiled.

Finishing his dinner, and the sweet memory of the delicious amoebae in his mouth, Horatio typed some commands into his desk and his solar melted away and the Great Chamber of the Galactic Council appeared before him....

* * *​

The holo of Horatio flickered to life in the seat of the representative of Home, capital of the Horatio. He was a tall man, and lean. His skin was creamy and pale, Though he was over one hundred and fifty years old, the man didn't look more than twenty-five. His eyes looked warmly over the council and a smile formed on his lips.

"It is with a great honour that I hold this seat among the esteemed rulers of the galaxy. May you all live long and happy lives. As a new comer to this Council, Home is looking for friends to share trade and technologies for the benefit of all. I propose a trade agreement with the Empire of Eau and hope that this can blossom into a friendship that can be beneficial to both worlds."

 

[Deathknight15]

Representative Councillor Za'thradesh of The First Scale, Ruling Government of The Assorted Scales Of Kalkorak

"Hello, fellow councilors, I, and the rest of my people, are overjoyed to be accepted into this enormous Galactic Scale. It is with great honor and humility that I today, and until my government would like otherwise, officially represent The First Scale, and therein the ruling Scale of my home, who wished me to transmit their solemn vows of honor, duty, and justice in their conduct as a member of this great and honorable Scale!"

After the Councillor's speech, there is a brief translation explanation by The Assorted Scales Of Kalkorak's Senior Communications Attendant, who notified the Council that a Scale is technically 'the scale of a reptillian species' the Councillor really means a "Council", which the term is synonymous with in Kalkoraknian culture. The councilor will be notified that his traditional usage of the term may be confusing to some members of the Council..

 

[Plutonium95]

Of course the Empire of Eau and the Earian people accept your proposal for a trade agreement. We look forward to learning about your people and culture through trade, while strengthening both of our economies. All Earian corporations and businesses will be told to accept orders from your people.

((How does this work as far as orders and stuff? Would both of us put the trade agreement in our orders, or only one of us or what?))

 

[alexander23]

Of course the Empire of Eau and the Earian people accept your proposal for a trade agreement. We look forward to learning about your people and culture through trade, while strengthening both of our economies. All Earian corporations and businesses will be told to accept orders from your people.

((How does this work as far as orders and stuff? Would both of us put the trade agreement in our orders, or only one of us or what?))

(( you need to made a treaty post it and sign it, then each of you use an order to sign it)

 

[BlackBishop]

Horatio and Eau Trade Agreement
((BlackBishop & Plutonium95))


For the purposes of this agreement, the states of the Horatio and the Eau will be referred to as Partners.

Partners shall be awarded a sovereign plot of land within each capital for the purpose of building an embassy.
Embassies shall be independent from their host governments and represent the sole interest of their parent government.

As a show of good faith, Horatio is prepared to offer a free exchange of Arid Epigenetics and Soil Xenobiology technologies
for
Botanical Scanning and Particle Scanning technologies from the Eau Governement

All import and export tariffs shall be waved for the interests of strengthening the partner economies

May a prosperous future be in store for Horatio and the Eau Empire

Signed
[X] Horatio the First
[ ] .......................​

 

[Ranger900]

'Another day dealing with these aliens' Arthur Aldershof thought to himself as he sat in his seat at the Galactic Council. He swore this job was a punishment for his house supporting the other candidate in the last Dodge election, what didn't help that feeling was that all his support staff had been from the other houses that had voted against the Dodge. Still though if he did good work maybe he could get out of this job. Inhaling some smoke from his pipe the VOC Councillor thought about actually saying something, but decided against it. Since there wasn't much for him to say, as far as he could tell the Cynth were significantly too far away for the V.O.C. to properly fill a trade order.

 

[Deaghaidh]

((Sorry to be late to the party!))

Polity Name: Commonality of Solon
Government System: Technocracy/ pseudo Hive Mind
Leader: The Central Planner

R. Positive Traits: Shared memory system: Internal dissent develops slowly & crime is essentially impossible ; Cybernetic augmentation: Can survive in hostile environments ; Technological singularity: Develops and assimilates new technologies quickly; Reverse Turing Test: Very hard for foreign espionage to infiltrate
R. Negative Traits: Excessive conformity: Artistic and cultural advances occury slowly if at all; Repressed Biology: Low natural birth rate; Drones: Most 'individuals' cannot function without direction ;Uncanny Valley: Diplomacy and cultural outreach highly difficult

Species description: Solonians are cybernetic life forms, and their appearance varies wildly. Some with purely abstract functions (such as the Central Planner, and theoretical researchers) have had all their biological systems replaced except for their brains. Their original, biological form was a bipedal sapient species broadly similar to humans
Home world description: Solon is a world where every natural process has been modified to the point where there is no meaningful distinction between "natural" and "artificial." Every watershed and every biosphere has been engineered to maximize the benefits to the Solonians, and eliminate unnecessary cycles and species.

History: The Solonians present society is the result of an existential crisis several hundred years ago. They had developed a post-industrial civilization that had achieved worldwide unity and prosperity, but at the expense of heavy and escalating environmental disruption. The Solonians met this challenge by altering themselves to include adaptive technologies and developing artificial replacements for natural systems. This coincided with a revolution in cybernetics, robotics and telecommunications. Solonians began upgrading themselves to enhance their physical and mental prowess, which spurred further innovations in these fields in an escalating feedback loop. The defining moment came with the Interlink, a worldwide system that allowed total sharing of individual memories. This quickly lead to the development of a "cloud consciousness" emerging, creating contemporary Solonian society. Individual Solonians became less distinct, operating more like individual cells comprising organs within a single organism.

 

[Plutonium95]

Horatio and Eau Trade Agreement
((BlackBishop & Plutonium95))

[X] Eauroi Yos Kolini

 

[Noco19]

Nuncio Vek studied the mapped stars, the very stars created by Noco's Will. Near the Nocoii homeworld he noted two nearby civilizations, the so-called Assani Corporation and the Assorted Scales of Kalkorak. Relations with these heathens was prudent, and were the obvious choice for potential converts.

The Nuncio sent Ambassadors Uthor Yulan and Za'thradesh a message, detailing the Nocoii wish for peace and friendship, along with the copies of The Sacrosanct Learnings of Noco: Volumes I Through CCCXXXIII for a beginner's introduction of Nocoii Enlightenment.

 

[Thandros]

The Armed Forces of the AI Collective Part One: Ground Forces​

The Center Piece of the Standard ground army of the Collective is the B1 Battle Droid. A highly reliable if individually feeble droid it makes up for this by being excessively cheap and capable of being fielded in massed numbers to overwhelm any position if needed. Capable of using Anti-Infantry and Anti-Vehicle weaponry depending on the situation it is more than enough to overwhelm basic defenses by themselves only vulnerable to power supply problems and efforts to disrupt control signals from AI based either in secure bases or Orbiting Carrier Ships. But in the later case their extremely basic internal programming has on occasion been enough to over run enemy positions which had already been on the brink of falling giving victory in spite of the problems they faced.

When Simple B1 Battle Droids fail to take a position move elite forces are often called upon. The main Droid of these forces is the B2 Battle Droid often refereed to as the Super Battle Droid. This more robust Droid is primarily armed with a powerful Laser cannon mounted in the wrist capable of high rates of fire for periods of time when needed. Against armored forces they have to rely on rockets mounted on the other wrist to provide defense but they are usually adequately supported by Anti-Armor infantry, Collective Armor or Orbital forces to make this minor drawback not a problem. This more limited Anti-Armor protection was required to keep down costs as otherwise they would have become prohibitively expensive. Their more robust frame also holds a more powerful computer which holds much more advanced programming meaning even without an AI controller assisting them they can still operate at near peak effectiveness. Though lack of power can still be a serious problem for these units.

When on occasion where infantry based defenses are too powerful for even B2 Battle Droid the Collective calls upon it's best regularly deployed Battle Droid. The so called Droideka. This deadly machine has a shield generator capable of repelling even light Anti-Tank fire and has a pair of repeating blasters lethal to any infantry out in the open. While lacking in any Anti-Tank weapons some models have been equipped with Ion Blasters to disable Armored units and have proved fairly effective in a tight situation but otherwise they need support from other units to resist any major armored incursion. The other major problem with them is their highly expensive cost which means they are only used in the most urgent situations when the need is high.

The Main Armored Unit of the Collective is the Armored Assault Tank which with one Main Gun several Lighter blaster cannons and a number of projectile launchers has time and again proven it's worth against hostile armored forces winning many confrontations against such forces with it's thick armor often resisting concentrated attempts to destroy the tank. This combined with it's hefty fire power make it the ideal main battle tank of the Collective. It's hover system means even in rugged terrain it can maneuver effectively where other tanks would run into difficulty due to the terrain the AAT can just glide over the terrain giving it excellent maneuverability plus the ability to move sideways make a truly formidable tank on any terrain.

Several more specialized units in both the Infantry and the Armor are used on occasion but do not see widespread use and are only used very rarely in certain situations when particular enemies or circumstances mean their use would be both productive and beneficial to the overall operation.

 

[Noco19]

Nuncio Vek began to recite an excerpt of The Sacrosanct Learnings of Noco: Volume XLI at the Galactic Council, along with a translated written copy for all Ambassadors with added explanatory annotations.

The Sacrosanct Learnings of Noco: Volume XLI: Section XC: Chapter X​

Lur^[1]-herder Ulhuun wandered his fields, tending his flock with diligence and humility, ensuring the needs of his flock was sated, imbuing the teaching of Noco in his work.

Upon a cleared knoll did he find a Lur pup, still in it's movement, and cold to the touch. The pup had been attacked by a Dyriad^[2]. Ulhuun wept, for the pup was deceased, and it saddened him so. His heart knew naught why the pup had to die, and thus he cried out for Noco's guidance in this Mortal Confusion^[3].

From the blood didst Noco appeareth, rising in His chosen form to Ulhuun. With reverence, Ulhuun kneeled to this sight, for he was naught but a dark spot in the radiant holiness emitted from His presence.

"Weep not, for death art of mine own Will and Decision, bearing my Divine Magnanimity. All must take their place within my Ascended Kingdom, and All must embrace death of which I Will."

Ulhuun cried out to Noco, "Yes, My Lord, my doubt has been vanquished, and my heart is pure from confusion."

"You walk with mine own Teachings in your heart, and thus, you speak truly in Enlightenment. Now forth you must journey, far North to the Valley of Gul, carrying forth the pup to his rightful burial."

And thus, Ulhuun accepted his duty to Him. Bidding farewell to his Kin, Ulhuun began the trek North, arduous and perilous, and although he walked this path, Ulhuun remained safe, keeping Noco within his heart.

Along his wayward path, Ulhuun did meet many trials in his Faith, proving each and every time his commitment to His Teachings.

One such trial was that of the Quarreling Feasters^[4]. As Ulhuun walked, feet tired but heart not, he encountered two Nocoii facing one another in deep debate. Stopping to learn the root of this strife, the problem was soon clear to Ulhuun.

Both men claimed an enormous haunch of Lur, both exclaiming that it was needed for their subsistence and well-being. Ulhuun spoke wisdom to the Feasters.

"Art thou not filled with subsistence and health from the Teaching of Noco?"

Both Nocoii immediately professed their adherence to His Teachings, but were unconvinced. Ulhuun seized the mighty haunch, raised it skyward, and halved it with a deafening crack. Before their very eyes, the Feasters witnessed the halves expand and grow, creating two seperate haunches, equal to the original.

"Thou look to His Teachings, for he speaketh of cooperation and brotherhood, as shown here."

The Feasters kneeled before Ulhuun, shouting prayers to Noco and Ulhuun, who instructed them to rise, for he was no more than a conduit for Noco's Will, and desires no worship.

Ulhuun continued on his journey, followed by the Feasters and their Kin, now devoted to the Pilgramage.

By the end of Ulhuun's travels, he had gathered a large following, with hundreds of faithful Nocoii deciding to join him.

Entering the Valley of Gul, Ulhuun buried the pup, now nothing but mere bones, where the rays of light struck the highest stone pillar. As the pup was finally lain to rest, light filled the valley, and His voice rang out.

"My Will has been followed, and I am pleased."

As His Voice faded, rain fell from the sky, and the Nocoii gathered prayed together in harmony. In that valley those Nocoii did settle, constructing the largest temple to Noco ever built. As the Temple was finished, Nocoii flocked to the valley, turning the entire valley into the largest gathering of Nocoii ever seen before.

[1] - A plump creature breed for meat consumption.
[2] - A now-extinct carnivorous beast, once a bane of Lur-herders.
[3] - A term used to explain the ignorance of Mortal Beings before Enlightenment from Noco.
[4] - The most popularly told trial of Ulhuun, although many more exist.

Note from Nuncio Vek - Ulhuun eventually became Prophet Ulhuun I, after the death of Prophet Yug III

 

[Bialaska]

It is senior knight Sera Juun who is given the honor of being the Sha representative in the galactic council. She is a rather exotic sight, with a pale grey skin, purple hair and large pointed ears.

"To the esteemed members of the council, I have arrived to represent the Sha. We are new to the society of the galaxy, but hope for a peaceful coexistence."

 

[Tapscott]

Uthor Yulan, Ambassador to the Galactic Council for the Assani Corporation, sat bored in his chair. Amusing himself with his Data-Tablet, he watched the hourly stock-market reports coming in from the Assani Corporation. With a grimace, he noted that Yulan Industries had gone down 10% in value since the last hour. While not too concerning, something had to be done. While he thought of a way to boost the value of his family's organization, a message appeared on his Data-Tablet. Rising an eyebrow, Yulan quickly skimmed through the message delivered by Nuncio Vek, the Ambassador from the Nocoii Covenant.

Yulan yawned, before spluttering and nearly falling out of his luxurious chair. "Volumes I to CCCXXXIII?!", he thought, "That's ridiculous! I'll get that servant boy to read through it, and give me the jist of the damned thing." Calling over his servant boy, whose name he was sure he could recall if he desired to, he told him the task he required him to do. Yulan chuckled at the expression on the boy's face, before sending him away. "Right.", Yulan thought, "Time to make some money!"

Thinking quickly he began to punch out a response to Ambassador Vek's message.

To Nuncio Vek, Ambassador of the Nocoii Covenant
Subject: Cooperation

Greetings most esteemed Ambassador Vek! I thank you for the mighty tome you have sent to me, and will read through it as soon as I have the time. With our jobs though, that time may be, unfortunately, later than desired.

Due to the close proximity between our polities, a trade agreement would be most beneficial to us! The Assani Corporation would be delighted to work with such a spiritually devout polity, such as the Covenant, and would hope that you would be willing to negotiate a mutually profitable agreement. We have much to offer each other. Would you be interested in forging a trading pact between our great powers?

Yours faithfully,

Uthor Yulan, Ambassador of the Assani Corporation

Yulan sighed and with a press of the button sent the message. Looking at the time on his Data-Tablet, Yulan grinned as he realized he was just in time to watch the 30 Minute Economic Update.

 

[Noco19]

The hum of a small metallic..."thing" disturbed the Nuncio's reading. Looking at the device with disdain, he once again attempted to work it.

To Uthor Yulan, Ambassador of the Assani Corporation
Subject: Praise Noco

It is good to acknowledge the worth behind spirituality, and for that, we thank you. A trade agreement would indeed benefit both of our civilizations, as well as the possibility of sending missionaries to enlighten the Assani in the magnificence that is Noco as soon as possible. We would be remiss to delay your salvation.

I hope to discuss the Sacrosanct Learnings with you soon over a delightful Lur meal, and speak of our favorite passages in detail.

Glory to His Prescene,

Nuncio Vek of the Nocoii Covenant, Archbishop of Kue

After a few minutes of deciphering the send function, Nuncio Vek passes along the reply.

((Won't be able to do an actual treaty this turn, but the Nocoii welcome it.))

 

[Maxwell500]

A man in a large overcoat decorated from top to bottom in military honorariums enters the Galactic Council Chambers.

"I, Second Marshal Dekim, offer a welcome to all present on behalf of the Ordinavit and the Venarii Dominium."

He promptly finds a seat and sits down.

 

[Tapscott]

The hum of a small metallic..."thing" disturbed the Nuncio's reading. Looking at the device with disdain, he once again attempted to work it.



After a few minutes of deciphering the send function, Nuncio Vek passes along the reply.

((Won't be able to do an actual treaty this turn, but the Nocoii welcome it.))

((I love how Nuncio seems to struggle to get his head around this tech Makes the character loveable!))

 

[Groogy]

The First Crhz'Lek Purge - The Discovery of the Hivemind​

It was a normal session of the Galactic Council, actually less squabble than what the representatives were used to. But soon enough the reports started to stream in from one of the furthest away star systems. One of the member polities, a human federation, had just recently started a colonization project of that system, creating an off-shoot independent polity. Several of the planets had been starting to be reformed, no sentient life had been reported and the first wave of immigrants were already heading there. The main colony planet were already reaching several million civilians starting their new life. It was a success for the federation.

But the reports, a silence in the council for the few minutes as everyone read. The representative of the newly formed polity yelled out: "I DEMAND JUSTICE! I DEMAND THAT YOU AVENGE THE INNOCENT LIVES LOST!"

The planets that had been colonized had been under attack and the entire population, dead. An insecticide race had invaded and purged the entire system of human presence. The reports showed it to be only a small number and very primitive type of ships. Several polities deemed this threat to be top-priority and gave aid to them by providing an armada to strike in the system to avenge the civilians.

As the armada of four capital ships from different polities and their accompanying escort ships left the warp gate they found, nothing. No trace whatsoever that there had ever been anything there. No residual traces of any battles or anything. They went deeper into the system and there, around one of the inner planets was structures built in space. Orbital shipyards constructing ships of an alien design they had never seen before. A fleet was heading straight for them. Though the technology wasn't as primitive as it was before anymore.

The battle was bloody, a lot of ships was lost. But no matter how many ships they destroyed, these new enemies they had found were quick with replacing them. Some ships just charged straight into the capital ships, piercing their hull and no regard for their own lives. It was an endless onslaught, the insects lost much more than the invaders did but they didn't seem to care. Eventually the fighting stopped and the insects took complete control over the warp gate and allowed nothing to go trough it.

Today at the Council​

- "HOW DARE YOU ADMIT THESE MURDERERS? THIS IS APPALLING!" The representative was very upset, doing aggressive gestures and pointing towards the Chrz'Lek "THEY ARE NOT EVEN SENTIENT! HOW CAN THEY EVEN UNDERSTAND OUR POLITICS?"

The Speaker of the Chrz'Lek remained quiet, waiting for the disgusting humanoid to stop his yelling, it didn't seem to end any time soon.

- "They don't even own any systems legally in the eyes of this esteemed council! They broke every rule we have for warfare, you are allowing a race which performed genocide on million of innocent civilians." He slammed his fists into the data panel in front of him with every word he said next "And, I, Can't, Stress, This, Enough. They are not sentient!"

- "Just because this one does not have sentience not mean you can claim to own star." The Hive's silence had ended "We are proud to have exterminated invaders to star, and we will exterminate anything that comes trough gate again."

- "This ones function is to make sure you know consequence of testing our might."

The human continued to yell, the Chrz'Lek did not care, it did not listen. The swarm lives, the swarm eats, the swarm grows, the swarm survives.

 

[Fingon888]

Ambassador Kor was glad he was wearing his helmet. If he had not been the others would have seen his smile at the news. These insects are strong. Unlike these weak willed humans. It is laughable that they even think of us as the same.