All The Way Back STGOD Recruitment

[Murazor]

I'm interested, but my original idea was giving me problems, so I'm introducing these guys as a last moment contingency plan.

The Strabior.

Biology.

The Strabior are humanoids native to this galaxy, having evolved in Tesala of the Suranian Cluster, a high gravity world. While Tomari biologists classify them as sub-humans, there is no genetic kinship between the Strabior and the many species derivative of the Terran Humans of myth.

Slightly shorter than average humans, any Strabi will be twice as heavy as a human of similar size and between three and five times stronger by virtue of the higher gravity of Tesala. In the other hand, they are naturally slower than humans and their great strength makes them clumsy with delicate work (their hands with four stubby fingers and

In spite of their robust circulatory systems, the Strabior lifespan rarely exceeded fifty standard Imperial years, even with widespread usage of modern medical technology. Among the groups that moved off-world and settled lower gravity worlds, life expectancy has doubled.

These groups, currently outside the Imperial sphere of influence, have used for generation bionic implants to enhance their mental capabilities, breathe the thinner atmosphere of their new worlds and interact with their technology. The purpose of the implants is twofold: in one hand, they allow them to differ themselves from their enslaved relatives (that they don't consider true Strabior), while in the other, they make up for the complete lack of Strabior telepaths.

History.

Three thousands years ago, in the days of Tomari rise, a loose confederation of democratic governments (the so called Sentient League) tried to contain the aggressive state that threatened them. They both out-numbered and were more advanced than the Tomari, but Imperial ruthlessness went a long way during that war. Although the test was harsh, the Tomari were eventually victorious.

As a result of the war, seven races (including the human-related Bistrei and the Strabior) were enslaved and two others completely erased from the galaxy. A number of Strabior managed to flee off-world and settle new worlds, far from the Tomari domains of that time. The first bionic implants were created then, to preserve the knowledge of the Tomari atrocities.

In order to even the odds in their war against the Sentient League, the Tomari had ignored all rules of civilized warfare and after the war, their powerful telepaths had removed the knowledge from the minds of the defeated survivors. Nowadays, no one within the Empire save the royal family remembers that the irradiation of Tesala was not the result of careless industrialization, but the handiwork of a Tomari warfleet. Outside the Empire, few care about such details from the remote past, excluding the exiled Strabior. With their bionic implants, they remember exactly what happened. And they don't forgive. The Strabior have nursed their hatred for many generations, waiting for the moment to make the Tomari pay dearly for their many crimes. For the crime of destroying Tesala, for those Strabior that were transformed in memoryless automatons and worked to death, the Tomari shall pay.

More info incoming. Tell me if I have made some big mistake.

[Hotfoot]

Mmm, lots of conquered races, interesting, should be fun :)

Only real nit is that the Empire is very old, the specific number is not quite ever given, I don't think, but 3,000 years ago for conquest is more than fine. :)

[Hotfoot]

Okay, with this, we can shortly get started on the pre-game. I'm going to send off a couple of reminders to people that we're getting started within the next week.

[Rogue 9]

Question: Are FTL-capable fighters a possibility, or is it nixed to preserve the weapons range hierarchy?

[frigidmagi]

Pretty sure that's gonna be a no.

[Hotfoot]

Most likely, no. Microjumps in and of themselves are not considered to be viable for the most part in combat situations, and even if they were, hypermissiles would still have a considerable range advantage over hyperfighters.

Fighters, like missiles, are considered to be armaments, rather than seperate things. It's a bit of an abstraction, but it works for the purposes of the game. It also keeps things like uncatchable fighter groups from popping up and Inter-Steller Ballistic Missiles.

[Rogue 9]

I'm not suggesting microjumps for local combat situations. I'm asking if fighters can be used as a separate strike force entirely.

[Hotfoot]

Problem with that is, it means a whole new layer of complexity for a combat style that is, in a word, ineffecient. Now, instead of points paid for system defenses and militia (which can include space fighters and atmospheric fighters), such fighter wings would have to be built seperately. This also means that carriers have to be re-worked entirely, as right now they are coidered to be warships that deliver their payloads by means of fighters and bombers.

Similarly, missile ships would have to be reworked, and this sort of behavior would allow for massed bombardment of worlds from several light years away, without any significant danger to the attacking fleet.

And on the other side, a force made up entirely of fighters will lack the overall longevity of a combined arms navy. While specialized ships are always a part of a given navy (hence, combined arms), navies that are overspecialized tend to get stomped rather quickly for being one-trick ponies.

However, if you want to have quick-strike fighter wings and such, just make escort and cruiser-scale carriers and load them up with nothing but fighters. Jump the Light Carriers in, launch fighters, do your damage, call the fighters back home, and away you go. Maybe even include other escort defense ships to help keep the carriers safe.

[InnocentBystander]

Howdy folks, I've been cooking something up, and Hotfoot has been bugging me to post something, so here I go. Just a rough outline of the pre-history of my proposed power, the Kushani.

Of Kushani

It is written in the ancient texts of Hiigarr that there was a time before the stars, when there was only void and Admar the Unum, the first. It is he who crafted the stars and breathed light into the void. Lovingly he crafted, and set forth his creation into the void.
When it was finished, Admar surveyed his work, for it was grand, yet something was missing. Deeply he meditated, while his creations did as they would, until finally he awoke, and again he surveyed his creations, for it was long since he had viewed them. They were no longer as a whole, but they were now many and unique. He saw form and function; he saw their creation and destruction. It was then that he understood the full impact of his creations and sought to understand them.
He joined his creations, saw as they saw, felt as they felt, did as they did. Yet the Admar was not yet satisfied, his creations were beautiful and many, but they lacked something, something to make them whole.
Again Admar withdrew inwards to ponder, ages passed and the first suns began to cool, the void which was once full of light began to dim. When at last the he awoke he had new purpse, and thus he became the Higar, the Home.
There he breathed life over the lifeless, and like his first creations, and to them he gave purpose and meaning. The first creations of the Admar too had purpose, they would be the crucible in which his children would rise up.
In time life spread beyond the Higar, existing in harmony with the first creations. Yet there were those who remained, and they grew. Kushan, the Admar called them, for they were his most beloved children, forever to reside upon the home, the world, Hiigara.


More than six hundred years prior to the fall of the Tomari Empire a small star nation of only a few systems was gobbled up by the ravenous empire, the Kushani . At the time the worlds of the Kushan were quite distant from Tomari influence; poor spy work, masked as diplomacy gave away their purpose, giving the Kushan precious years to prepare for what they learned to be the approach of an unbeatable enemy.

The Kushani Council commissioned six great arks, with which to carry some six million Kushan from the homeworld far away from the Homeworld, in exile they should built a great fleet with which to free the homeworld from the Tomari. Upon the eve of their competion a great battle took place in orbit of Hiigara, where fell the last defenders of the Homeworld. Yet theirs was not a loss, for the Ark Fleet of the Exiles took flight before the Tomari learned of its existence.

Centuries passed, and the exiles became myth, and ledged. As ages passed the Tomari Empire began to crumble. Whispers and hearsay began to circulate, cults began to form, and all over worlds which were home to Kushan a quite message began to spread, The Exiles would return.

Pre-Fall –
Before the fall of the Tomari agents of the Kushan Exiles began to creep into Tomari space. It is likely that during the time of decline Kushan agents had managed to infiltrate some of the highest orders of the Tomari military, and laid down the seeds of dissent on more worlds than simply Hiigara.

[Hotfoot]

Since the pre-game is quickly coming on us, I'm just going to remind people of some of the basics.

Younger races start off with roughly 42 worlds (you can fudge this number between 32 and 52 if you want to, but those really are the extremes). You can organize your clusters however you like, though 7 star clusters is the generally accepted norm.

Six Cluster Fleets is considered the standard for a Younger race, plus whatever troops you think are reasonable. We'll be playing a little fast and loose with the pregame, rather than getting all worked up about specifics.

Pre-conquered worlds will have larger claims to territory (~major) than younger races once the empire has fallen, but will have very poor militaries, limited largely to militia and self defense forces. They will, however, have the best access to intelligence and the best chance of espionage and sabotage.

Since there are now not just one but potentially two exile races (something I'll admit I didn't consider fully before), having thought about it a bit, it makes more sense to have fewer holdings outside the Empire proper, especially if you've been in exile for a relatively short time or starting with relatively limited resources. Thus, unless anybody really opposes (and I'm sorry Rogue, I know this sort of goes against what I told you last night), holdings of Exile nations outside of the Imperial sphere will be considered "Lesser", or 3 clusters of seven worlds apiece (21 worlds). Subsequently military strength will suffer in terms of numbers, having only half the fleets of a normal younger nation, however in the fight to regain their lost homeworlds and exact bitter revenge on the Tomari (and perhaps having trained every day of their lives for many generations waiting for this chance), their militaries will be considered higher quality against any Tomari forces. Their holdings inside the empire will be below what a pre-conquered nation has claim to, but above the current holdings of the younger races.

If anyone has any problems with this, please let me know now as opposed to two weeks into the pre-game.

Basically the way it works is this:

Total Claimed Worlds
Younger - 42
Pre-Conquered - 63
Exiled - 52/53 (of this, 21 are useable)

Total Fleets
Younger - 6 (Base Quality - Moderate)
Pre-Conquered - 1-2 (Base Level - Low)
Exiled - 3 (Base Level - High)

Total Intel Advantage
Younger - Low
Pre-Conquered - High
Exiled - Moderate.

For those that care, specific numbers for fleet construction will follow shortly. These values will not be required for the pre-game, but I'd like to get them out of the way just in case.

I should be posting a few bits and pieces to help kick off the pre-game soon.

[Cynical Cat]

A proposed nation, if I may join.

The Narsen Domain

A minor civilization on the fringes of charted space, the world of Narsen was originally settled by people trying to build an ideal society as far from outside influence as possible. The Narsen have historically tended to be somewhat isolationist, but have become increasingly active as of late.

Government: Elected Representatives (Senate) with an appointed advisory council (Consuls) with an elected executive (Executor).

Population: Over 90% on the population are posthumans, genetically and cybernetically augmented individuals of human ancestory. There is no official discrimination, but those lacking augmentation often find advancement difficult.

Society: The Narsen Domain tends to favor collective rights (in practice security and stability concerns) over individual rights. Citizens enjoy the right to bear arms (most of the worlds are fairly recently colonized and possess dangerous wildlife), broad rights of free expression, and most liberties found in free societies. While access to cybernetics and biological manipulation is widespread, it is subject to government control.

Religion/Philosophy: Freedom of belief is protected in the Narsen constitution (The Declaration of Principles). The founding philosophy and dominant belief system is entirely secular, that of Posthuman Transcendence. Briefly, the philosophy proposes the continuing progress of the human species not by evolution, as man has become powerful enough to shape his enviroment to suit him, but by deliberate modification and improvement. Achieving a higher physical, and more importantly intellectual, state is a moral duty given humanity's ability to shape the universe for good or ill.

Psionics: Psionics is a relatively new development and area of research among the Narsen. The science councils are currently asking for more funding so they may make broader studies of psionic disciplines and their effects upon individuals and societies.

Military Strength: Until recently the Narsen military was of modest size, which enabled them to deter raiders while relying on their isolation to protect them from more serious threats. This allowed them to pour considerable resources into planetary development. In the last several decades they have begun building up the size of both their fleet and ground forces.

[Hotfoot]

Looks good, Cat :)

The pre-game, by the way, has started.

Feel free to begin negotiations, actions, and so on - however, before actual fleet movements outside your empire can be declared, you need to make a place for yourself on the official game map.

Notes for maps - Clusters are roughly 10ly in radius, 20ly in diameter.

Feel free to set up your clusters however you like, there will be plenty of empty space for people.

Standard minor empires will be (roughly) 25ly radius bubbles (so 50ly diameter), but of course this will vary depending on how you set up your clusters (or if you even keep to the standard cluster model).

The base map, by the way, is here

Small planets represent exile starting points, then younger nations, then conquered nations, with Tomari Cluster representing itself a Grand (when we get to that point).

Just copy and paste your planet and put your name on the map where you want it to be. This is just the political map, if people want to make detailed maps of their empires and such, you're welcome to do as much as you like (or as little). I just want relative positions for everyone.

[Charon]

The Kainan Empiricate

A relatively small empire of which some of the books reach as far back as the founding of the Tomari, though if these books are forged or real, well that's a matter only the highest up Kainan know. Rumor has it the Kainan were found by an expidition of the Tomari deep into space while the empire was still young. They went to the Teler Cluster, and there they found a small empire who reacted hostile, destroying or taking over every ship and learning from them. With that the Kainan were allowed to make extensive leaps in technology and set up an empire properly. That was thousands of years ago, then the Tomari was at their doorstep and the Kainan were worried. Their empire expanded vastly in preparation and many pirates and independant star systemsbegan calling them the demon race.

When the war came, the Kainan were a late, but very welcome entry, their forces bolstered the tired rebellious forces and caused even more Tomari forces into the fray. Eventually though, the Tomari made the mistake of slaughtering a passenger train full of Kainan, in retribution the Kainan destroyed a city. The rest of the civilized worlds immediately looked at their ally in horror at the casualness with which they could perpetrate such an act. In the end the Kainan carved out for themselves quite an empire.

Biology
The Kainan appear quite odd, a dark leathery hide covers their bodies, meaning they are hairless. Spines protrude from the back of their head as well as down their forearm and shin. Their nose is recessed as a reptle's would but they have no snout. They have four fingered hands and their legs are built like a dinosaur, elongated and higher foot, leaving only the toes on the ground. Kainan are very strong creatures able to easily pick up and throw a man when they are adults, and that is unenhanced. Kainan stand, on average, at about 2.5 meters tall. (I'll do a picture)

Government
Limited monarchy. There is a ruling family which has much of the power but a senate was created 900 years ago under the threat of civil revolt. The senate has some power, but controling the armed forces of the Empiricate is left directly in the hands of the ruling family.

Socially
The Kainan are slightly xenophobic as well as believing themselves to be superior to other species, not enough to stupidly arrogant usually, but enough to consider the glassing of an imputant non-Kainan world as not a last resort.

Population
Nearly then entirety of the population of the Kainan Empiricate is a Kainan, though a few colonies which do not yet have a voice in the Senate or the military have non-Kainan populations. The language of the Empiricate is Pendran, a language many find hard to learn the intricate use of tones within a sentance that allow meanings to change.

Religion/Philosophy
The Empiricate has a polytheist religion though most of the population is rather secular. The Kainan do however appraise knowledge as one of the most important things and as such seek for as much knowledge as they can obtain, either through trade or conquest. Some of the finest libraries and schools can be found in Empiricate territory, short of being in Tomari territory anyway. Though as all the texts are written in Pendran, it can be a little difficult for non Kainan to learn from them. The other important issue to Kainan is war.

Psionics
If you find a Psionic among the Kainan's numbers, consider yourself to be a very lucky being. The Kainan have almost no naturally occuring Psions and those who do recieve the gift are highly prized. Much of the reason for this is genetic engineering that occured shortly after the Kainan had interaction with the Tomari scout force. The mind of a Kainan is highly compartmentalized and difficult to read, and control. This protects Kainan to some extent against Psions attempting to contol them. However it means that they have lost all chance of ever taking the step such races as the Vell-O have taken.

Military
The Kainan's unique structure means that many of their tools of war cannot be quickly adapted by other civilizations The Kainan do however have a rather large military of which a good portion are gigantic missle ships that fire gigantic salvos at approaching enemies. Chief among the Kainan though, is the want to take enemy ships. As such many of their ships are loaded with boarding troops meant to capture enemy ships to either use as scrap, to rehaul, or to learn from. Among the Kainan's greatest achievements however, is a cloak field which can hide entire fleets from all but some of the strongest of sensor sweeps. This field takes an immense amount of energy and as such the ships cannot power shields or weaponry while the field is up. But it allows for frightening surprise attacks which has caused many pirates and independant star systems to declare the Kainan as demons. The Kainan are rather fond of cybernetic enhancements and as such a good portion of their military is cybered. Increasing their strength and stamina to the point of some of the stronger specimen being able to be able to harm people in heavy armor with just a strike.

[Charon]

I assume on that map that the black circle is the border of Tomari control?

[Hotfoot]

Yes, that would be correct. Also, the three worlds in a row are just there so people have an easy way to cut and paste where they want their empires.

[InnocentBystander]

What's the approx travel time in this btw?

[Cynical Cat]

FTL travel has no exact speed as of yet, but it will likely work as such:
Capitals have the slowest speed, taking nearly a day to travel between clusters, and several hours to travel inside of clusters.
Cruisers are faster than capitals, about twice as swift.
Escorts are about three times as fast as capitals.
Quickships (couriers, etc.) are ships which are little more than a reactor, an oversized hyperdrive and realspace engine, and are the fastest ships in the galaxy, but have virtually no combat potential.
Cargo vessels will run the full range, depending on what type they are.

[InnocentBystander]

Yes, as of that post, Hotfoot did not have travel time ironed out yet, thanks for the update.

[SirNitram]

The Vell-Os

(Homo Psionus)

The first Telepaths.

Litany Of Shame.

In the First Times, all humans lived on Earth, the Luminous Cradle. It was a better time. Terraforming and atmosphere shields were unneeded. Wars scorched battlefields, not continents. But even in this glowing, golden time, there was shame and chains. Among the humans were the powerful, the telepaths. Their powers were growing, but the others feared them. Some wielded their powers for evil, and the many felt the pain of retaliation.

There was no choice. To stay was to encourage a cycle of violence, as one lashes out against the many for their acts, and the many descend upon the few, encouraging another to lash out. Vell, a king amongst his human people, led the path. He taught his brothers the art of striding stars, of crafting vessels of telekinetic force, and leaving the world of their birth.

So it was that Human and Vell-Os diverged. In the endless night, grand new worlds were built; gossamer realms of metal held together by telekinetic force. The limits of the universe were pushed back; even lightspeed knelt before the realms we discovered. We spread, a small, but powerful host.

We never forgot our brothers. As the centuries turned, they would journey outwards. When they came to the edge of Sol's light, we met them there. We taught them how to duplicate our powers; how to construct shields, how to cross the vastness of hyperspace, how to extend their lives and health.

We had no idea of what would come. The rise of the False Ones was our fault; we had discovered how to transform Human to Telepath, if not a true Vell-Os. After centuries of rule by those who would see our true natures, we didn't fathom how it would backfire. The False Ones would dominate the Empire that rose, and we were enslaved by threats against our populace.

It would take centuries to gather the power and the allies to topple the Empire. But we had no choice; it was our mistake, and we had to atone. Even today, we must atone for the horrors we brought forth in our attempts to rejoin our brethren.

Government: None recignizable. A hive-link between the entire species causes a near Athenian democracy, mixed with a psi-based meritocracy as the most powerful among them are most readily heard.

Population: Entirely Homo Psionus. Homo Sapiens, Post-Humans, and other species are welcome on their worlds, but due to their lack of connection to the mind-link causes unconscious exclusion, as many Vell-os simply never use their vocal cords.

Society: Without privacy of thought, society has become extremely different for the Vell-Os. While crime exists, it is far easier to control, yet personal freedoms are curtailed as one would expect. Most Vell-Os view this as perfectly normal, but have come to realize other species dislike 'casual' intrusions on their mind. Still, few would live among them comfortably, with no secrets.

Religion/Philosophy: Vell-Os beliefs are curious and based on the fleeting glimpses of the future the vast gestalt-link have revealed over the centuries. It is heavily influenced by the buddhist ideals of enlightenment through discipline and insight, and postulates new levels of existance once a sufficient level of enlightenment thrugh psi-power is acheived.

Psionics: Put simply, the Vell-Os are second to none in the Galaxy. Their Psi-science is at the peak of all powers known, and individually, only the most bio-engineered and trained of the Tomari nobles could match them. Their Gestalt-Link, however, allowed them to vaporize the nobility during the Great Uprising.

Military Strength: Virtually all known Vell-Os warships and ground forces were destroyed in the uprising against the Tomari. Remaining forces are unknown, but presumed lethally destructive individually.

[Comrade Tortoise]

Map

[Charon]

Updated Map

[Hotfoot]

Dunno specifically what's been going on in IM's today, but Charon, Frigid, and CT, please get in contact with me as soon as possible, I'd like to coordinate some things.

[Bugsby]

More fleshed-out description....

The Bistrei are a sub-human species, an evolutionary shoot-off from homo sapiens. They are shorter than average humans, standing about 5 feet tall on average. What they lack in size and strength, they make up for in quickness. The Bistrei are remarkably fast and agile, with almost instantaneous reflexes. They are incredible jumpers. Their language is very different from the Imperial Common, sounds like a series of whistles, chirps, and croaks. For these reasons, the Bistrei are sometimes called the Birdmen (not to be mistaken with the Aracokra,who are just "the birds"). The Bistrei can mate with humans, although they rarely do so. Miscarriages and infant mortality are very high among the children of the few mixed couples that exist.

The Bistrei were some of the first to be overrun by the Empire and labored for a long time under its yoke. However, they were never heavily oppressed. Their worlds are not particularly abundant in resources, so the military and industry never had much use for them. After the initial conquest, the Tomari rolled on to bigger and better things, leaving the Bistrei behind. The Bistrei have been good vassals, as far as these things are measured, but their spirit has never truly been conquered. They have few psychics, so the Royal family was not too interested in them, yet they are strangely resilient to psychic suggestion. Some inquiries were made into this in the early years of the Empire, but all the best psychic scientists were able to determine is that the Bistrei'i brain has "tough mental fiber." Whatever that means. This may be the reason that the Bistrei were not crushed in the first conquest. The Empire is very capable of killing any dissidents through psychic detection of thought crimes. But since it is hard to read the Bistrei'i mind, resentment against the Tomari has festered for millenia, although it has rarely sparked into outright revolt.

The Bistrei are fiercly independent and refused even to send a representative to the Senate. This wasn't because they could see through the sham that the Royal Family had set up. Rather, they refused to participate in the system that cost them their freedom. For this, other nations regard them as outsiders. Moreover, they think the Bistrei are fools for refusing even the slight control over their fate that the Senate offered.

The Bistrei govern themselves through their clans. There are 137 clans of the Bistrei, each with their own chief. In many respects, the clan is the basic political unit of the Bistrei, with the different planets being united only by a common cultural (and biological) heritage. These clans are not recognized by the Empire, but despite several attempts, the Empire has never been able to make the Bistrei accept any other kind of political structure. In the end, the Empire just imposed its own political structure on top of the clan system. This seems to have worked out, since there are no direct clashes between the clan chiefs and the imperial governors, but the primary allegiance of the Bistrei lies with their own leaders. Since the Empire made several attempts to stamp the clans out of existance, the chieftans do their best to stay beneath the notice of the Empire. While it is likely that the Empire does know who every single chieftan is, the chieftans have gone through great pains to make sure the Empire has no reason to single them out. This is a matter of survival.

The Bistrei'i religion is pagan, worshiping the nameless gods of earth and wind.

The Bistrei are fierce in combat. One-on-one combat is used to solve many disputes, and a certain degree of aggression has always been present in the Bistrei'i culture.

On the ground they mainly rely on fast-moving infantry and power armor to close distance with their enemy and tear the lines apart with energy blades. Their light weapns and heavy artillery are excellent and their power armor is unrivaled, but in all other areas they are deficient. They have few tanks and heavy armor. In the air, they rely on a fighter-based fleet to maximize the natural advantage given them by their heightened reflexes. They have many different types of fighters and heavy bombers, and their fleet carreirs are impressive.

The Bistrei inhabit 60 worlds, all of which are under the control of the Empire at the moment. Some are highly developed urban centers, while the border territories tend to be more sparsely habitated resource-gathering colonies. More on this as the pre-game progresses and I can get a good sense of what can be considered "mine."

[Cynical Cat]

And my crappy (but finally successful) map and proposed position:

Successfuly Added. There was much rejoicing!

EDIT: updated map.

[Hotfoot]

Looks like someone wants to be the Ousters ;)

Just keep in mind, your position puts you very far away from the main action, so it's not as though the Tomari are on your doorstep if you're that far out. ;)