The Culture Explores 40K III: Just As Planned

[The Glyphstone]

Isn't this the second time you said that?? :P

But really, it's fine. It's not like I am paying you. Though, if you said some sort of 'donations appreciated' and put up a paypal link, I'm sure you'd get a bit of lucre here and there...

*Coughcough*

[Gavinfoxx]

*Coughcough*

Oh right, sorry. Won't happen again.

[The Glyphstone]

Just didn't want anyone inadvertently getting into trouble. Such requests have been considered for-profit advertising before.

[jseah]

part 10.5 Miscellaneous Interlude - Tying up loose ends and random Justifications/Explanations

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Eldar Response to Reload Technology (Week 25)
Culture Citizen (CC): "Thanks for coming to meet me, I understand you are very popular. " *laughs*
Eldar Wanderer (EW): "Yes, thank you. What was it you wanted to discuss?"
CC: "I believe you have explained quite a bit about these Warp objects you call soulstones that store your memories and personality when Eldar die. Is this some form of mind-uploading you do? What is it like to be inside a soulstone?"
EW: "An Eldar's soul is preserved in his soulstone upon death. It is said to be a dream-like state, although I don't have any personal experience, and is not at all like your virtual realities... that I believe are experienced similarly to fully uploaded intelligences?"
Culture Drone (CD): *bobs* "They are. "
EW: "Then no, the soulstones do not... are not people in the same way that living Eldar are. Yes, they contain our soul but like I said, it is a dream-like existence, not being fully alive. "
CC: "I have heard many of your talks and interviews and you mention 'soul' alot. Do you mind explaining what a soul is?"
EW: "A soul is a thing that separates what is alive from what is not. You and I have a soul, it *points at the drone* does not. Your virtual reality intelligences do not, and this includes your Minds. "
CC: "But he *points at the drone* is intelligent and sentient. How can he not have a soul?"
EW: *shrugs* "A soul is not required for intelligence. A machine can be intelligent if complex and powerful enough, but it will never be alive and will never have soul. "
CD: "It must seem very disturbing to you that the 'living' are governed by the non-living?"
EW: "Not at all actually. No race can be expected to be the same after all. If you choose to live this way, I will not fault you. "
CC: "Very interesting. What happens to the souls of those who die without a soulstone?"
EW: "The dead Eldar are consumed by The Enemy. You know her as She Who Thirsts. They are tortured for eternity by those who reside in the Immaterium. Only soulstones prevent this fate. "
CC: "What about when I die?"
EW: "The same happens to humans. They go into the Immaterium where they are consumed by Chaos. Only they do not remember their identities. Humans do not have the will to stay coherent when they depart from this world. "
*a pause*
CD: "Pardon if this seems rude, but how do you know this?"
EW: "Evidence? A psychic can, with great effort and danger, recall the soul of those who have passed on from the immaterium. It is possible to converse with them, although this attracts unwanted attention. "
CD: "You can speak with the dead then?"
EW: "Yes. "
CC: "What happens if we Reload though? Do our souls return to our bodies?"
EW: "I am unfamiliar with that process. Explain?"
CD: *gives explanation*
EW: "If I am right in that your process does not involve any psychic will, then I can only say that when you are Reloaded, a new soul is created around the body. The old souls are most likely still being tortured in the Immaterium. "
GSV Reporting for Duty: "This is very worrying. Do souls being tortured help Chaos in any way?"
EW: "Each soul gives a small amount of power to those who can and is willing to use it. It is small, but there many souls who die every day. "
GSV: "Thank you, that's all from me. "
CC: "Would it be possible to combine a Reload-like process with your soulstone in some way so as to preserve both the body and the soul?"
EW: "I do not know. I was not trained in psychic abilities. I imagine it will not be an easy task. If you do know of a way, we Eldar would be very interested. "
CC: *bows* "Thank you for your time, it has been very informative. "
EW: *nods*

Memo RE exponential expansion - Consensus policy notice board, General Section (Week 23)
A recent vote has agreed that we will cease our exponential expansion across the galaxy. New ship construction will be limited to GSVs near the frontier and expansion will be aimed to have survey coverage of this galaxy by the end of next year.

Continuous exponential expansion is not a measure we should take. For one thing, this galaxy is crowded and there is little empty space for Orbital construction that will inevitably be in demand once we are more secure. There is also the growing concern at our rapid pace of interference and expansion is bordering on HS-like behaviour.

For these reasons, the issue titled Exponential Expansion was put to a vote and a limitation was passed with 70% majority.

Eldar Outcasts - Open Door policy? (week 29)
A number of Eldar criminals have been mentioned to undergo some form of mental surgery that disables their psychic power. We have put in a request to study these Outcast Eldar in some way, perhaps even take them on as citizens in a limited fashion.

---------------

A certain discussion in Alaitoc
Eldar 1: "Those barbarians again. I wonder when the Culture will stop meddling in our business?"
Eldar 2: "At least they're respectful. They even said something about giving Outcasts citizenship. "
Eldar 1: "They ought to. "
Eldar 2: "So, should we block it? I think they might go along if we don't. "
Eldar 1: "It's not our decision to make though. We're already too far ahead with the whole artifact-hunting, the other Craftworlds might not support further interference in Zahr-Tann's affairs. "
Eldar 2: "They'll think we're bullying them. "
Eldar 1: "Only for their own good. But the fact is that we can't fight them on every issue. I think this is a relatively harmless one that, when it backfires, will demonstrate our point about sleeping with meddling aliens quite well. "
Eldar 2: *bows* "Understood. "

Meh, donations are not my style. I'd go so far as to say that anyone ought to be able to copy, revise and add to this. No need for acknowledgement either.

Although that is not to say that I'ld include everyone's writing into my personal version, especially if it requires too much explanation. And I write following my version.

[Forum Explorer]

part 10.5 Miscellaneous Interlude - Tying up loose ends and random Justifications/Explanations

Spoiler

Show

Eldar Response to Reload Technology (Week 25)
Culture Citizen (CC): "Thanks for coming to meet me, I understand you are very popular. " *laughs*
Eldar Wanderer (EW): "Yes, thank you. What was it you wanted to discuss?"
CC: "I believe you have explained quite a bit about these Warp objects you call soulstones that store your memories and personality when Eldar die. Is this some form of mind-uploading you do? What is it like to be inside a soulstone?"
EW: "An Eldar's soul is preserved in his soulstone upon death. It is said to be a dream-like state, although I don't have any personal experience, and is not at all like your virtual realities... that I believe are experienced similarly to fully uploaded intelligences?"
Culture Drone (CD): *bobs* "They are. "
EW: "Then no, the soulstones do not... are not people in the same way that living Eldar are. Yes, they contain our soul but like I said, it is a dream-like existence, not being fully alive. "
CC: "I have heard many of your talks and interviews and you mention 'soul' alot. Do you mind explaining what a soul is?"
EW: "A soul is a thing that separates what is alive from what is not. You and I have a soul, it *points at the drone* does not. Your virtual reality intelligences do not, and this includes your Minds. "
CC: "But he *points at the drone* is intelligent and sentient. How can he not have a soul?"
EW: *shrugs* "A soul is not required for intelligence. A machine can be intelligent if complex and powerful enough, but it will never be alive and will never have soul. "
CD: "It must seem very disturbing to you that the 'living' are governed by the non-living?"
EW: "Not at all actually. No race can be expected to be the same after all. If you choose to live this way, the Eldar will not fault you. "
CC: "Very interesting. What happens to the souls of those who die without a soulstone?"
EW: "The dead Eldar are consumed by She Who Thirsts. You know her as Slaanesh. They are tortured for eternity by those who reside in the Immaterium. Only soulstones prevent this fate. "
CC: "What about when I die?"
EW: "The same happens to humans. Only they do not remember their identities. Humans do not have the will to stay coherent when they depart from this world. "
*a pause*
CD: "Pardon if this seems rude, but how do you know this?"
EW: "Evidence? A psychic can, with great effort and danger, recall the soul of those who have passed on from the immaterium. It is possible to converse with them, although this attracts unwanted attention. "
CD: "You can speak with the dead then?"
EW: "Yes. "
CC: "What happens if we Reload though? Do our souls return to our bodies?"
EW: "I am unfamiliar with that process. Explain?"
CD: *gives explanation*
EW: "If I am right in that your process does not involve any psychic will, then I can only say that when you are Reloaded, a new soul is created around the body. The old souls are most likely still being tortured in the Immaterium. "
GSV Reporting for Duty: "This is very worrying. Do souls being tortured help Chaos in any way?"
EW: "Each soul gives a small amount of power to those who can and is willing to use it. It is small, but there many souls who die every day. "
GSV: "Thank you, that's all from me. "
CC: "Would it be possible to combine a Reload-like process with your soulstone in some way so as to preserve both the body and the soul?"
EW: "I do not know. I was not trained in psychic abilities. I imagine it will not be an easy task. If you do know of a way, we Eldar would be very interested. "
CC: *bows* "Thank you for your time, it has been very informative. "
EW: *nods*

Memo RE exponential expansion - Consensus policy notice board, General Section (Week 23)
A recent vote has agreed that we will cease our exponential expansion across the galaxy. New ship construction will be limited to GSVs near the frontier and expansion will be aimed to have survey coverage of this galaxy by the end of next year.

Continuous exponential expansion is not a measure we should take. For one thing, this galaxy is crowded and there is little empty space for Orbital construction that will inevitably be in demand once we are more secure. There is also the growing concern at our rapid pace of interference and expansion is bordering on HS-like behaviour.

For these reasons, the issue titled Exponential Expansion was put to a vote and a limitation was passed with 70% majority.

Eldar Outcasts - Open Door policy? (week 29)
A number of Eldar criminals have been mentioned to undergo some form of mental surgery that disables their psychic power. We have put in a request to study these Outcast Eldar in some way, perhaps even take them on as citizens in a limited fashion.

---------------

A certain discussion in Alaitoc
Eldar 1: "Those barbarians again. I wonder when the Culture will stop meddling in our business?"
Eldar 2: "At least they're respectful. They even said something about giving Outcasts citizenship. "
Eldar 1: "They ought to. "
Eldar 2: "So, should we block it? I think they might go along if we don't. "
Eldar 1: "It's not our decision to make though. We're already too far ahead with the whole artifact-hunting, the other Craftworlds might not support further interference in Zahr-Tann's affairs. "
Eldar 2: "They'll think we're bullying them. "
Eldar 1: "Only for their own good. But the fact is that we can't fight them on every issue. I think this is a relatively harmless one that, when it backfires, will demonstrate our point about sleeping with meddling aliens quite well. "
Eldar 2: *bows* "Understood. "

Meh, donations are not my style. I'd go so far as to say that anyone ought to be able to copy, revise and add to this. No need for acknowledgement either.

Although that is not to say that I'ld include everyone's writing into my personal version, especially if it requires too much explanation. And I write following my version.

Small nitpick but the ranger likely wouldn't say Slaanash. Even ordinary humans feel very uneasy actually saying the names of the four Chaos gods which is part of the reason why they have so many 'corrupted' names that are used instead as well as titles.

Chaos cultists naturally have no problem saying their names.

[The Glyphstone]

True, 'The Enemy' would probably be the default term. If pressed, the Ranger might elaborate that enemy to be She Who Thirsts. Actually naming the god would be extremely unlikely.

[Gavinfoxx]

He might be able to start to say the name but be unable to name it completely, and then talk around it, and then huffily say something like, "Oh look in Imperial records!"

[jseah]

True, 'The Enemy' would probably be the default term. If pressed, the Ranger might elaborate that enemy to be She Who Thirsts. Actually naming the god would be extremely unlikely.

Edited. (10 characters)

[Salbazier]

I just want to say that I really love this story. Not that I ever read much of 40K or The Culture, but this one sure grab me more than the others I've read.

[Gavinfoxx]

And FYI... some Eldar will most definitely fault a race for being governed by non-living, soulless monstrosities. In fact, that would be fairly common amongst Craftworld Eldar. Eldar that find craftworld social mores stifling, it's plausibly something that they wouldn't fault The Culture for. Also, humans aren't necessary consumed by Slaanesh. Any multitude of daemons and aligned and unaligned parts of Chaos could consume human souls (and also possibly The Emperor; that's left ambiguous...)

[jseah]

More edits. Changed the wanderer's lack of finding fault with AI governance to be a personal thing. Clarified what happens to human souls when they die.

[jseah]

part 10.5 Dark Eldar

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It has become clear, from contact with other groups, that the practice of these Other Eldar of capturing their enemies live for purposes of torturing them is endemic to their society instead of being an isolated sub-culture. We are considering potential measures for reform, although these would be highly intrusive.
To date, we have contact with four different groups, with another two who will be contacting us soon.

Week 3
A meeting with a small Other Eldar group (the fourth group to contact us) has been disrupted. The system contained a small alien race of an unusually pacificistic crustaceans. (unusual for this galaxy)

The Other Eldar arrived through the webway gate at the agreed time and began negotiations for weapons. Shortly afterwards, another group of Other Eldar emerged through the webway gate right behind them. Evidently, they were from a different faction and were distinctly unwelcome as we detected hostile messages being exchanged as soon as transits began.

We were uncertain of provoking either faction and stood by in the initial stages of the battle. 'Our' group appeared to be weaker in absolute numbers compared to the attacking group and used the gate to gain a tactical advantage. By destroying the initial escorts that exited the gate, they surrounded the webway gate on all sides and destroyed all ships that transited it.

After a particularly short time, no more transits were detected through the gate and the Other Eldar decided to try sending a scout through it to determine if the other group had given up. At this point, they found out that the gate had been damaged by the combat and is now inoperational.

We expect that this is going to pose a problem.

---------------------

The Sorceror consulted his runes. Yup, just as planned. It helped that both races were future-blind, that was always his favourite prey. Bribing one group to attack another was ridiculously easy.

If everything continued to go according to plan, then the Culture would soon decide to interfere with Dark Eldar matters, and soon after, be able to find a way into the Dark Eldar held webway. And THAT was when his real plan began.

I'm basically just making the Sorceror do everything I want a Tzeentchian faction to do. So he's turning into this puppet master with future sight and a penchant for insanely complicated galaxy-wide Xanatos Gambits.

Perfectly fine by me!

[The Glyphstone]

It's interesting that he isn't getting any competition in his plans from anyone but the Eldar so far, such as other sorcerers. That seems to imply Tzeentch itself is taking interest in his schemes and 'running interference' for him, so to speak...which is not out-of-character, but unusual enough to be noted.

[jseah]

It's interesting that he isn't getting any competition in his plans from anyone but the Eldar so far, such as other sorcerers. That seems to imply Tzeentch itself is taking interest in his schemes and 'running interference' for him, so to speak...which is not out-of-character, but unusual enough to be noted.

Its more of a personal limitation. Given the complex plans anyone with future sight will use, I am basically unable to handle more than a few players.

Of which, we have Zahr-Tann, Alaitoc/Ulthwe and the Sorceror and its pretty darn complicated already. I mean, I pretty much do it the wrong way around and make X happen then attribute it to someone who it will benefit (and make sure to drop at least one beneficial event to each future-sight side per 3 week 'turn'), but by this point, I'm surprised I have so far managed to give plausible explanations for everything...

[Forum Explorer]

It's interesting that he isn't getting any competition in his plans from anyone but the Eldar so far, such as other sorcerers. That seems to imply Tzeentch itself is taking interest in his schemes and 'running interference' for him, so to speak...which is not out-of-character, but unusual enough to be noted.

Well he is trying to deal with the Culture, the biggest threat/prize since the Emperor created the Primarchs.

Something to note is don't underestimate the Inquisition. They are scarily competent and have a huge success rate. It's why so many Chaos groups fear them so. They also makes the most deadly Chaos cultists when they go too far Radical. Anyways I wouldn't be surprised if they managed to track down the Rogue Trader with all the clues he's been leaving.

[Tiki Snakes]

Going by my skim reading of the Dark Crusade 40k rp book, having a single stand-out sorceror doesn't actually feel that unlikely. He's a fast rising star, his infamy and corruption scores (forget the names) racing each other to the inevitable limit. Smarter or simply less confident or ambitious sorcerers might simply be keeping their heads down, as in a relatively short time, the one currently running the show will either be a Demon Prince or a gibbering chaos spawn. Win or lose, all on the line and pretty much gambling everything on this particular exchange.

[jseah]

Well he is trying to deal with the Culture, the biggest threat/prize since the Emperor created the Primarchs.

Something to note is don't underestimate the Inquisition. They are scarily competent and have a huge success rate. It's why so many Chaos groups fear them so. They also makes the most deadly Chaos cultists when they go too far Radical. Anyways I wouldn't be surprised if they managed to track down the Rogue Trader with all the clues he's been leaving.

The Rogue Trader they know about. He has an indirect line to an inquisition contact. And that other groups are already interested in him, but catching someone who is zooming around the sector with hyperspace drives is very hard.

As for everyone else, the IoM is too slow when it comes to dealing with xenos.

[jseah]

Part 10.5 Necrons

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Week 1
The Necrons are very interested in our recent advances in femto-engineering and I am negotiating a mutual transfer of technology in that area. The Necrons seem to have lost a large portion of their production base in the hibernation and our understanding of femto-engineering is not the same as theirs given our differing technological backgrounds. I believe a deal may be possible if we agree to provide raw materials for rebuilding to sweeten the technology exchange deal.

The Necrons in particular are interested in the nuclear properties of femto-matter, specifically our fission-catalyst and ultra-heavy armour. We are interested in the basic properties of femto-materials and other complex engineering principles.

I'm going to have to push forward the Culture technology advances by one 'turn'; forgot that this was going to happen. So Electronics & Gravity manipulation in part 11 when this transfer goes through, hyperspace in part 12, nanobots in 13.

So far, I'm considering the following tech swaps:
Neutronium for Femto-Electronics
Gravity Manipulation for Basic Warp Theory

Necron ships with stupid armour and gravity cannons... Enemies dug into the mountains and hard to assault? Tear down the mountain.
Fission-inducing artillery shells (hit someone's armour and watch him explode like a tactical nuke)

The idea being that the Necrons need more immediately applicable technology like weapons and armour while the Culture wants basic theories.

[Gavinfoxx]

Your portions are getting shorter and smaller.

*has a sad*

[jseah]

Your portions are getting shorter and smaller.

*has a sad*

Nah, when I post in the morning, it's usually a 'bonus' post. I still make 'normal' posts at night. I'm at GMT +8 btw. Sometimes my schedule does get in the way, of course.

Normally, I do this when I get an idea I want feedback on, so I can write a longer 'stuff happens' post later. So get on with it, tell me whether you think the Necrons will go along. =P

[Gavinfoxx]

Well, again, it depends on the noble house and the court in question... Have you managed to read the 5e and 3e Necron codices yet (at least the fluff and storytelling parts of them)?

[jseah]

I have managed to read the fluff bits yes (or at least, what fluff exists in the first half of the two codexes). All that says is well, that basically whatever you said applies.

It depends. =P

So why not, I'll make that dynasty Ogdobekh since they're technically competent and probably will be interested in a minor technological trade.

Now for a little bonus:

part 10.5 The Culture

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Week 2
GCU Experimental Psychology - Notable ship for its deviancy from normal Culture social structure
We have come across an Imperium passenger vessel enroute to a shrine world. At the time we arrived at the uninhabited system of transit, the ship was under attack by those known as the Other Eldar. A survey of crew with lower than 40% Network Integration Index indicated favourability towards intervention.

The Other Eldar were discouraged from their attack by warning shots and the majority of the IoM crew and passengers were rescued. Unfortunately, the Other Eldar targeted their engines and warp drives first to prevent escape and the ship is doomed to drift in this system. Its escorting vessels had been completed destroyed by this time.

Rather than leave them to die, or provide help from an alien source and likewise doom them to the Inquisition, we opted to repair life support on their vessel and attempt to assimilate the citizens into the Network as even though the wider Culture looks unfavourably on immigration, Experimental Psychology is willing to take on responsibility.

After their life support was stabilized, a ship-wide Network was constructed on their ship. This necessitated disarming all weapon-like objects from the crew as well as taking over of all the ships' systems. This Network was separate from ours on Experimental Psychology and contains a core of six drone volunteers and one Low Integration (sub-20%) agent who is registered as Contact.

Following this, the situation regarding their ship and the Inquisition was explained to them, as well as our decision that we could not morally allow them to return to the IoM to be executed. All IoM crew on the ship were offered to join this GCU as crew, with the condition that they accept a Network Implant. After some explanation, the one surviving techpriest asked for us to adjust his already present neural implants to interface with the Network.

This request was carried out and the techpriest eventually stabilized at 30% Network Integration. The techpriest's assurance of safety, and the rather convenient placements of living areas had necessitated the isolation of the local priest from all but one group, was instrumental in completing Low Integration of the vast majority of the passengers and crew of the passenger vessel.

Week 3
The subsidiary Network on-board the IoM vessel was then examined for anomalies, which were not present. Warp sensitivity ratings were taken for all the passengers and all except the priest were confirmed to be within Culture baseline. Permission was then granted to unlock higher levels of Integration, to which almost half the Network agreed to.

As with our own ship, all portions of the Network above 50% integration are referred to as a single entity. Apart from the remaining few crew and the priest, we hope this demonstrates the innate flexibility of human psychology that may convince others in the Culture of the feasibility of assimilation.

This GCU runs a hivemind, fast and loose. Crew onboard this ship are networked to varying levels that is flexible and can be changed at will, increasing and decreasing individuality on a sliding scale. Everything from 50% up is considered one thing; everything below 50% gets one vote each and it gets a vote that is weighted for the number above 50%.

The ship's Mind itself is not in the Network, although it is highly involved.

Needless to say, this was a Culture-take on a Tyranid Hivemind (although not psychic based and isn't all-or-nothing) and is regarded as highly irregular among the main Culture. Just a little side thingy. =D

[jseah]

part 10.5 Necrons

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Week 2
It is lucky for us that this Necron dynasty is willing to engage in productive exchange of knowledge. We have a preliminary agreement to a technology exchange on the topic of femto-materials although details still have to be worked out.

While it is certain that the principles of stabilized neutronium and gravity manipulation will result in major military superiority on their part, I am of the opinion that the advantage of a better understanding of their sub-atomic engineering will benefit us more in the long run. Knowledge is the best kind of power after all.

Week 3
I have created a drone to serve as an independent point of contact to facilitate the exchange of technology. I believe that a Mind's perspective is detrimental to our negotiations and a Contact drone would serve much better in that role. After this mission, I intend to request that the drone transfer to another ship of its choosing.

Continuing to track the fleet that left the first Tomb World with a scout drone has revealed that they are meeting another fleet of Necrons from a different dynasty. The Necrons are unaware of the tracking drone and I have launched a second drone to take over its duties. The current drone will now track the new Necron fleet.

--------------------------------------------------

Alaitoc
Farseer: "Its too late. We did not forsee it in time. "
Exarch: "How so? Something that so concerns us as the Necrons gaining so much strength from the Culture could not have passed unnoticed. "
Farseer 2: "It has taken us too long to force our way through the skein, so polluted as it is. We cannot see as far, nor as clearly, as we ought to. "
Exarch: "Are we doomed to fail then?"
Farseer: "Perhaps not. I cannot say. The threat of the Culture grows daily, like the Black Council said, we cannot go untouched, even out here. "
Farseer 2: "You cannot be thinking of co-"
Farseer: "I don't see what other choice we have. But I know, it cannot work, not as Alaitoc is today. "
Farseer 2: *casts a rune* "Yes, I see that. So you will not try then? The council will at least listen to you. "
Farseer: "They will not change their course though, and even I am unsure if changing our stance so radically can be good for us. The ancient Eldar ways are strong, and we have to be strong enough to use them. "
Exarch: "You sound like you are convincing yourself. "
Farseer: "Yes. I understand that. I just wonder if we made the right choice at all. "
Exarch: "Time will tell. "
Farseer 2: "Have faith, we are strong. Our ancient enemy will ever be our prey. "

------------------------------------

White Devil
I have further discovered that some factions of the Necrons seem to regret their transfer of consciousness from flesh to machine. Biological engineering, together with the intelligence engineering technology we have already given them, is likely to be just as attractive or more than our insights into femto-materials. Especially since functional immortality was a primary driver of their behaviour.

Something as momentous as a major Necron dynasty suddenly getting a totally new form of weapon would not go unnoticed. Gravity weapons are in a different ballpark from the puny beams and missiles that Warhammer uses.

Even deployed in limited numbers as an experimental technology, gravity weapons have the ability to reach through an atmosphere unhindered and simply destroy entire armies from orbit. Or disable the crew of a ship and if powerful enough, possibly cause structural failure as most starships aren't made to land.

And its part 11 now.

[Gavinfoxx]

There are gravitic weapons in 40k. They just suck. Seriously, they aren't generally enough to kill a person, just disable them or be a field that deflects shots or immobilize people or interfere with targeting, etc. etc.

[jseah]

There are gravitic weapons in 40k. They just suck. Seriously, they aren't generally enough to kill a person, just disable them or be a field that deflects shots or immobilize people or interfere with targeting, etc. etc.

Emphasis. That is... whut. Unless it's a really big field (in which case you can easily compensate for it and would have other strange effects), any solid shot that could be deflected by a small gravity field (ie. less than about 10 meters across) would require a field strength enough to kill people.
EDIT: assuming a bullet going at Mach 2, a 10 meter field is crossed in just over 14 milliseconds; to deflect the bullet just 1 meter in any direction, the field strength has to be 9411 times earth gravity.

That is, of course, assuming the standard supersonic rifle round. But in an era with advanced armour, all rounds are supersonic hm?


But whatever. This one would be proper gravity weapons. A single 'ray' of ultra high gravity that ignores armour and simply shreds everything in a line. Or a field projected from a ship in orbit that causes everything within a circle a mile across to go flying upwards (only to suddenly drop again when the field reverses direction a minute later).

[Gavinfoxx]

Some of the stuff that deflects shots is starship scale. Some of it is personal shields that is only vaguely described as using gravitic technologies somewhere in them, with the implication that it is using gravitic tech to deflect the shot, but where those things aren't at all useful for melee combat in anything other than a defensive manner, so maybe that implication is false.

Also not all rounds are supersonic; various sorts of silenced rounds (of many types, needle or even whisper bolt [which I assume don't explode...] or normal bullets for suppressed weaponry) aren't.

Or it could just be a case of The Authors Didn't Do The Math.

[jseah]

part 11

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Week 31
Some additional analysis of IoM warp drives using automated test-jump ships indicates that gravitational wells have the ability to restrict warp jumps into or out of the warp. The range of the effect increases linearly with the mass of the object and seems to be related to the proximity of large gravitational wells.

Using this principle, we have created a warp jammer device. A massive Pancaker-like device is used to deploy a solar-mass equivalent in gravitational fields. The zone of high gravity merely about a million kilometers across will project a large area nearly an astronomical unit in size around it that no warp drive can operate safely; even Chaos warp drives that do not require a stable gellar field will fail within the area.
We have determined that warp drives themselves have the ability to detect if they are within the zone of effect that prevents their operation. Ambushing Chaos ships into a mis-jump appears to not be an option.

Due to the high stresses the device experiences (range and power requirements places the device inside its own gravity well), the device has to be re-inforced with femto-materials in the hull as well as military-grade forcefields. All-in-all, a warp jammer ship is the size of a GCU with none of its capabilities apart from the ability to project a defensive screen of Effector jamming (to counter scrapcode).

The huge gravity well renders our warp jammer unable to move much beyond a few times the speed of light when the jamming is active. We do not anticipate much of a problem in this.
Obviously, entering the radius of high gravity is hazardous for other ships and this leaves our warp jammer vulnerable to equiv-tech opponents, although it will be adequately able to avoid action since it has local FTL.

Week 32
With still-incoming data from the Necrons, we have made a major breakthrough into femto-electronics. Most conventional devices, including short-ranged, line-of-sight effectors, can now be constructed many hundreds of times smaller than usual.

In exchange, we have provided our production methods for femto-materials as well as demonstration pieces. Femto-electronics and other femto-material based miniaturization technologies are also being transferred.

We are assembling the first Anti-Chaos response fleet. The core Factory ship has been completed and the first mercenaries (mainly Kroot, Vespid and Eldar) have agreed to take on command roles. We have enough mercenaries to command a 40 ship fleet and we are already beginning fleet maneuvers and training exercises.

Week 33
New data from the Necrons indicates that there are possible patterns of femto-materials that also leave a warp-imprint. Further details of this awaits our translation of femto-materials into gravitational manipulation for the Necrons to exchange their limited warp understanding.

A fully femto-tech drone has been made for the first time. While more limited in its effector range than most drones, this new fully capable SC drone is just as powerful as any normal drone while being the size of a tiny insect. It is not visible to the human eye except under ideal conditions.
A full scaling up of drone equipment for SC use is underway. The new SC drone femto-material chassis will be identical in its size as standard SC drones but is considerably more capable. Effector strength is sufficient to lift mountains, project IoM starship grade lasers and has subatomic resolution. Range is the same as current, although it is more limited in its ability to penetrate materials with its effector (metallic objects limit its range greatly). New mirror field ranges are approximately 400 meters. The shell of the drone is essentially impenetrable to classical forces, being of sufficient thickness to resist even a point-blank nuclear weapon blast.
While realspace components are all femto-materials, hyperspace components are using classical engineering. There is only a modest gain in processing power (~5%) but insufficient to change its rating on the sentience scale beyond 1:1. The real weight of the drone is roughly 100 tons (although this is decreasing slowly) but there should be no problems as it is mainly supported by the improved effector strength.

Gravitational manipulation is also available now with femto-tech devices.

As femto-tech devices are exceedingly hard to replicate, we are of the opinion that using them in sensitive missions (higher risk of loss to Chaos) is acceptable.

A major advance in warp understanding has also been made after retrieval, categorization and analysis of 40% of The Eldar List. We have enough samples that new understanding from a new sample provokes additional minor advances from the others upon re-analysis.
We are experimenting with combinations of warp effects, hopefully one that suppresses other warp effects can be found. Furthermore, this is indicated some theoretical methods by which the Necrons might have created a warp projector using only femto-materials.

[jseah]

part 11.5 Orks

Spoiler

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Week 1
Altered Marain words have been detected in the Orks' language. We attribute this to the SC agent's use of them in commands.

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The IoM fleet has arrived. A substantial force (for the IoM) consisting of one battlecruiser, four cruisers, twenty six escorts and three carriers. Fleet support ships include a tug/engineering ship, a fuel tanker and three troop transports.

Ork ships resist categorization due to mixing of roles and constant aleration. Nevertheless, size categories still work and they have six cruisers, four boarding carriers/cruisers and twenty one escorts.

The IoM fleet arrived far away from the Ork held world, a deep space battle appears to be likely if standard engagement practices hold. An IoM assessment is likely to indicate that the IoM has a slight advantage in this battle; indeed, they appear to be maneuvering for a conventional engagement.

[Gavinfoxx]

In general, the IoM Navy isn't really able to make new Battleships and Grand Cruisers (there are exceptions, of course). Unless something is very, very, very strategic and worth it to risk ancient ships, one is most likely to find Armageddon Battlecruisers and (ideally) Overlord Battlecruisers. It's definitely possible to up-armor, say, an Overlord, at the cost of speed to make it function more like a pocket battleship. Again, it's not impossible that they have an ACTUAL Battleship, but it is a bit more unlikely.. And yea, you can stat out an Overlord to be realllyyy well gunned and quite well protected, to be a Fleet Flagship!

[etesp]

Got my AO3 invite and put up the first three parts as a test of the interface mostly. If anyone would like to work with me on retcons and minor fixes, as well as possibly some forks (will discuss major ones here) then I can add you as co-authors. Not entirely certain what the tools allow with co-authors, but i'd like to test it and AO3 seems infinitely better than FF.net as far as interface (custom CSS skins on a per story basis and amazing tagging system vs site which has barely progressed since 2001 or something and does not allow links). I'll see about writing up a proper prequel/intro (I like The Glyphstone's headcannon about Tzeentch, the lord of change wishes to change the only thing about itself which it would have difficulty changing, its tendency to change things (or at least the negative side to it). Plenty of room for plots fighting themselves.).

Something to consider for fighting Chaos: If you're attacking with sublight (20% C?) ships, throwing rocks at 99.999999% C (or add more nines) would be a hell of a lot more deadly and less likely to get taken over by Chaos than this kind of ships, plus no loss of life with mercs. With culturetech that kind of speed should be simple enough. If a system is partially contaminated then sure, better to throw a lot of ships at it, because you may save some planets. If a system is 100% Chaos then wipe the whole thing from whatever distance you were planning to launch the armada from times 5 (because faster), and have a ship on the other side pick up the debris. I doubt Chaos can figure out how to contaminate a chunk of rock flying really fast in a problematic way before it hits them and disintegrates all vaguely material parts catastrophically.