Total War: Principia IC

[kemmotar]

Oracle Family Company
Influence 5
Morale 5

Spoiler: Sublime Clans of Zultar - Morale 5

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"You may have the use of it this season in return for supplies to us, with our best wishes for a good hunt. We hope you find this fair. We hope also to conduct much more business with you in coming seasons. Though perhaps you shall find us not so small where it counts."

Spoiler: OOC

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1 eco for 1 turn.

[Writtensanity]

Spoiler: To the Archive; MOR 7

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We are sorry that you believe that. We are under the impression that the Nascence will be unable to destroy the archive this year, especially with less invasion forces to muster.

We will speak to you next season, should it be needed.

Neptune.

Spoiler: To the Magnus Apparatus; MOR 7

Show

> Message received from PPS, likely congruent.
> Archive bid > Channel Seldvia or Factory Bid
> Channel Seldiva want: PPS Offensive on Invading Sublime Clans before impact with Competition of Minds
> Query: Goals aligned? Channel Seldvia + Magnus Apparatus Bid > Archive Bid. Probably 93%

> Additional Entry: Shade assist non-offensive. Magus Apparatus standing with Seldiva = Stable
> Caution: Shade history of trade. Proceed with caution during lending.

Spoiler: TO the PPS: MOR 7

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Seeing as you read our mail. You know we're working on it.

Neptune.

Spoiler: To the Nascence: MOR 7

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Unlikely that we can afford ECO payment anymore. PPS takes priority. Consider communications terminated unless the offer is changed.

Ferro

[A_Dinosaur]

The Magnus Apparatus

Morale 12, Rep 6

Players

The Idrian Nascence

Spoiler

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[Output:] Failure registered to dissuade PPS
[Output:] Amaranth Archive throwing everything to dissuade outbidding of contracts
[Output:] Potential avenue of opportunity to join Seldiva in bid
[Output:] Prevention of Destruction of Principia Production Facilities = Secondary Directive
[Output:] Protection from Amaranth Archive Stat Attack in exchange for permanent and sole access to all Archeotech among the Idrian Nascence territory.
[Output:] Science of Idrian Nascence will take time to recover, Magnus Apparatus needs sites to explore
[Output:] Statement: More 0’d stats will be difficult for the Nascence to survive longterm.
[Output:] The Magnus Apparatus can prevent any more stat loss.

Channel Seldiva

Spoiler

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[Output:] Barbarian Tribes =/= relavent to Magnus Apparatus
[Output:] Usage of PPS assets by channel Seldiva would only serve to destroy further production capabilities in Principia Sector
QUERY: What is the value of assisting Channel Seldiva’s Bid?
OFFER: Future Assistance in exchange for Successful bid?

Hecetian Shade

Spoiler

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[Output:] Offensive Capabilities of the Magnus Apparatus = Limited
[Output:] Secondary Directive = Prevent Devastation
[Output:] Potential Alternative Offer
OFFER: Reconstruction assistance [4 military, lvl 2 Eco VIP, lvl 1 Eco VIP. Must be used non-offensively]
OFFER: Reduced focus by Channel Seldiva
EXCHANGE: Science Assistance in exploration of Archeotech sites for a total of 10 points paid out over 4 Years (3/3/4)

NPCs

PPS

Spoiler

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[Output:] Acknowledged.
[Output:] Will Discuss Details with Channel Seldiva

[n0ble]

The Ultrum Domin
Public

Spoiler: PPS

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This is agreeable to us.

Spoiler: OOC

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Confirmed for me.

[Let'sGetKraken]

The Chrysaorian Hegemony

Morale 6
Influence 6

Spoiler: To Channel Seldiva

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We will not trade with you, as we have said. But we are willing to promise a [Tier 2 Morale VIP], permanently, should you completely drop your bid for PPS' services and do not provide your [ECON] to support another's bid, to be delivered next season. We require nothing else; it is the only demand we make of you.

[DragonOfAsh]

---

MOR 7, INF 7

---

Spoiler: To Channel Seldiva

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Certainly arrangements can be made, and Adnachiel's services could be brought down to 2 instead of 3. There is more than just pure might involved in combat, and every proverbial point counts in a conflict that seems filled with arbitrary numbers. Such is the nature of the grand scope of interstellar war.

Spoiler: To the Hecatian Shade

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The Lord Commander would not shy from a fight. He is yours for whatever you have available.

Spoiler: ooc

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Just let me know before EoT, I'm not gonna be super picky on it just being SCI, ECO, etc.

[Vrock Bait]

Spoiler: Shade, MOR 4

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Greetings,

We’re glad to hear of our aligned interests. I hope you find the attached agreement agreeable.

Yours in nadir,
Logopathor & Co.

Spoiler: OoC

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5 ECO for 5 MOR, +1 MIL for 1 ECO.

[Writtensanity]

Spoiler: To the Magnus Apparatus: MOR 7

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Input > Status: Materials Required to purchase PPS Assistance = X
Input > Trade Offer: Channel Seldiva Agents + Unknown Materials
Input > Delivery times: Next Solar Year for Unknown Materials. Current Year + Next Year Repeating Loop for Seldvia Agents.
Query> Expected results?

Spoiler: OOC

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2 ESP this turn and Next + 4 MISC next turn for adding your points onto our bid for victory (Would need 8)

Spoiler: To the Hegemony: MOR 7

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The defence of Current Channel Seldiva Assets from the oncoming Clans is more important than future gains. We regret that this has put us at odds.

[A_Dinosaur]

The Magnus Apparatus

Morale 12, Influence 6

Channel Seldiva

Spoiler

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[Output:] Proposal Accepted
[Output:] Funds will be sent to Channel Seldiva to complete transfer
[Output:] Expect 5 Economy and 3 Influence
[Output:] Magnus public involvement = minimal

[St. Justicar]

The Idrian Nascence

Fall of Sousward, Part 4

The Pyrian Republics had welcomed the protection of the Amaranthine Archives, opening the gates wide and granting them free rein in their schemes for the Sousward system. The Parlamins and Ministers who did so had hoped – and been promised – that they would be protected, and that the Archivists were their best, only hope at survival in the face of the Nascence.

For their trouble, the Archivists at least took them and their families when they ran and left all the system’s teeming billions as so much bait for the trap. At first it was easy to miss – but the chaos following the loss of Lao Station and the new piece of stellar geography in its place soon made it incredibly obvious that the system had no officials to try and order the sudden, desperate flight of every ship capable of reaching the gate to Zephyrus. No teams of geniuses with a plan to save the day. And, as the Nascence surged into the system, certainly no Amaranthine fleets to protect them.

There were, however, many, many cameras. Sitting comfortable light years away, teams of Archivists ensured that the entire galaxy saw what happened in the following hours, days, and weeks live and in high definition.

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

[TIMESTAMP: 00:00:01. DEEP SPACE. LOCAL TERMINUS, SOUSWARD-LANALLA VEIL GATE]

The camera drones turn on in perfect time with the Veil Gate’s opening, allowing an excellent view for the full parade of horrors as they come pouring out.

The Nascence’s fleet is scavenged, courier shuttles and orbital habitats and research stations, smuggler and survey vessels, and the wreckage of old prey. All have been subsumed into the Nascence, void-scarred chitin or verdant foliage or softly glowing, jellyfish-like flesh grown over any gaps or tears, anemone-like tendrils trailing behind them. Engines burn hot to propel some, while others seem to simply swim through the void, or are propelled without apparent cause. The larger ships were ecosystems in their own right, and aeries for vast flights of voidborn Nascent, flying through space on invisible currents or swimming through some nonexistent aether.

The fleet is not large, by galactic standards, but each ‘ship’ is filled to bursting with life, in a couple cases quite literally. They face no opposition as they enter the system, the crews of the picket ships having chosen to live as soon as they saw the number of signatures coming through.

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[TIMESTAMP: 02:13:45. LOW ORBIT, TARANOKE, POPULATION 5,424,000,000]
The Pyrian fleet, at least the portions that had accepted the inevitability of their deaths, had made their last stand in the skies above their homeworld, buying as much time as they could for the endless stream of refugee ships leaving the planet’s two space elevators. It was a massacre.

Kinetic barrages slammed into chitin and left nothing but a fair scar. Missiles deformed and transformed in flight, engines sputtering and flying off course as bizarre plant life grew over it. In reply, flights of three-winged predators tore through hulls with impossible strong claws, flying back to their homes with a different corpse in each claw and their fangs buried in freezing, twitching flesh. Arcs of mesmerizing lightning and gobs of physics-defying acid shoot out from the ship’s strange, luminescent flesh, burning through hulls and engines as some of the smaller ships ram into them wholesale, acting as grandiose boarding torpedoes, the living elements of the ship beginning to grow over and subsume its new home instants after impacts. Dozens more of the smaller ships shoot past the conflict entirely, fiery halos glowing as they descend onto the surface, as the larger ships approach and begin to digest the wreckage.


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

[TIMESTAMP: 05:18:13. ORIAT VALLEY, TARANOKE]

The ships lands like meteorites, their impacts along plunging the densely populated region into chaos. Most take the few hours they have to run or hide, a prudent but wholly inadequate reflex. As the ships decompose and unfurl on the planet, they bring the touch of the Nascence with them, spreading the Horizon Signal with every beat of their many hearts. Viewed from ten thousand feet, the change is shockingly fast and dramatic. Packs of Manticores and Fenrir pull themselves from the ships, and soon seem to be swimming out of the pool of thick, primordial sludge that they have broken into, far more than could ever fit in them. They’re soon followed by whole bands of Kanthi, richly decorated in warpaint and wielding wicked weapons of living wood and bone.

The cameras split apart into a hundred different views, providing different angles on the largest groups as they begin to hunt. Or, maddened with rage as they are, to slaughter. Safely cloaked, drones get intimate views of Manticore tails disembowelling any family members lured out by the screaming as they feat on the young or the infirm. Fenrir cornering cowering civilians, and howling until their eardrums split and they collapse with blood leaking down their face, only then beginning to fight over the meat. Only the more intelligent Kanthi take any prisoners, driving them back to the pockets of Nascence and, as the Song began to take them, slitting their throats or jamming a spear in the roof of their mouth, denying them immortality at the last moment. Each corpse was thrown is thrown in the growing pools while the remaining prisoners are forced to watch, as they begin to spread and dissolve the ground around them.

The cameras pulls back as larger shapes began to rise out of them, though not before a few feeds go dead for no readily apparent reason.

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

[TIMESTAMP: 19:18:13. CITY OF AURDWYNN, TARANOKE]

The planet was doomed from the instant the infection began, infections rampant in every region and on every continent. Still, in some places there was credible resistance, the capital city among them. It didn’t last.

The Hound of God – the towering, multi-headed and many-eyed monstrosity the Archives have codenamed TITAN – led the final assault, its influence disciplining the feral hordes ravaging the planet into a terrifyingly cohesive army. Three dozen house-sized Kymera play the part of an armoured spearhead, their digestive tendrils staying safely under their carapace as they smash through the fortified lines of the last Pyrian redoubt, as thousands of Kanthi and swarm behind them like a tide, whooping and chanting ecstatic war cries. Any attempt to salvage the situation collapse when Arboreal infiltrators massacre the artillery crews, smashing open their skulls and slurping up the grey matter within until they’re able to turn the big guns on the defending lines instead.

From then on, it is just hours and days of bloody, joyous cleanup. The Nascence quickly follows such a large host but the Kanthi, at least, seem to take it as a challenge to slaughter as many as they can before they can be subsumed, and to do it in as painful a way as possible. They get increasingly inventive, as the days go on and the Kymera and Behemoths and other megafauna seem to almost deliberately destroy the city around them. After week or so they start competing to take the most grisly trophies.

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[TIMESTAMP: 35:12:50. SOUSWARDI ASTEROID BELT, PYRIAN REFUGE FLEET]

A grand assemblage of a significant majority of every remaining spaceworthy craft in the system, the life support systems of each and every one of them straining under the passenger load. They had attempted to hide in the asteroid belt and plot a course for the Veil Gate to Zephyrus. It hadn’t worked.

This was not a battle. It wasn’t even a massacre, really. It was play. Four large Nascent nest-ships had driven themselves into the midst of the refugee ships, and from them endless flights of Shrieks and Furies poured forth. They took their time, focusing on crippling the engines of the entire fleet and then leisurely playing with their food. They descended on any ships that tried to escape the killing ground, rewarding those who stayed frozen, watching the unlucky spill out into the void, where the Furies squabbled over the freezing corpses and the Shrieks made a game of racing to escape pods, or working as teams to grab them and smash them against the ships hull like raptors cracking tortoise shells.

The broadcast didn’t include sound, for a thousand different and obvious reasons, but it was a particular mercy in this case. The Laughing Sky, what the Archives named SCOURGE, joined the games as enthusiastically as any other, though it was just as happy to feat on any Nascent who came too close. It’s laughter carried across the void, and through ships hulls, echoing through the densely packed corridors of the refugee ships its tendrils and teeth were in the process of tearing apart, more than drowning out the sobbing and praying of those with in as one tendril broke through the ship’s armor and dragged through the hall, all by liquefying those within before they had a chance to feel the cold of space.

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[TIMESTAMP 73:23:07. DEEP SPACE, LOCAL TERMINUS, SOUSWARD-ZEPHYRUS VEIL GATE]


After more than two months of nearly uncontested slaughter, the Sousward system was thoroughly ‘pacified’, its new ecosystems growing red and vital across fields of corpses. The ‘fleet’ is both emptier and nearly half-again as large, vast chunks of Pyrian ships and stations incorporated or subsumed into it.

It surged forth toward the Veil Gate to Zephyrus, every heart racing with anticipation at the idea of finally reaching the stars whose denizens had caused so much pain, claws still sharp for the blood they were stained with, eager to add another coat.

But as the Veil Gate began to open, the Archives finally, finally, made their move.

There was no warning when the first bomb went off, the anti-matter reaction flaring out and simply erasing much of one the largest Nests from reality, ichor and blood pouring out into the void from the sudden gaping wound. The second and third bombs went off within minutes, reducing it to so much vapor.

From there, the detonations went off like a chain reaction, or a symphony conducted by some wrathful god. It seemed like every ship in the system had had a bomb hidden within them, and now they were being activated en mass.

Nothing ever emerged from the Veil Gate, on either end. By the time the last antimatter bomb went off, there wasn’t a Nascent ship left in existence, nothing but scraps and fragments of hull far too small and scattered to dream of repairing.

And so Zephyrus stood, for at least another year.

Influence 0, all messages public

Spoiler: Magnus Apparataus

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“You’ve got yourself a deal, you son of a bitch.”
“I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship...”

Spoiler: Oracle Family Company

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[Sorry, brain too dead for cool vision right now. But confirming trade]

[Writtensanity]

Spoiler: To the PPS: MOR 7

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Sometimes you know you're overpaying, but you just need to have that Dinosaur skin bag:

Bidding 21 Points:

18 ECO, 3 MOR for an attack on The Sublime Clans with this order of operations:

Hit - MOR - MIL - INF - ESP - ECO - SCI - PSI

[3SecondCultist]

Turn 4 - Parasitic

"Be strong, saith my heart; I am a soldier;
I have seen worse sights than this."
- Homer, The Iliad



Clanfall - 9448.11

Day 1 - 12th Lethyx

"Through strife!" came the cry from atop the balcony of the ArkSeed. There they stood in plain view of their forces: the leaders of the WarClans themselves, the paragons of Zultar who would lead them to victory. Ndabacile of Clan Ibezi stood in front, the weaver of webs and seer of futures, and by her side her armoured ankylosaur partner. When her staff thumped against the ironwood floor, it created a thunderous sound to quell all other voices, for it was she who had called forth for the faithful to answer.

"Strength!" came the reply from the massed thousands below. The war paint glittered in the firefly-light, a dizzying array of banners and colours. Each represented a family, a clan who had sent their fiercest to test their mettle against these Principian contenders.

Madu had always considered himself a natural fit for the role, and after sending his cousins to Recreance his mother had agreed to send him forward in the first wave. There could be no higher honour.

"Through battle!" echoed a second voice. It was the primus of WarClan Aksum, Xolisan the Merciless. He sat astride Deathshrieker, the famed psiwarped pterosaur who even now it hurt to look at too closely. Forcing himself through the psychokinetic ward, Madu found himself staring at the carved patterns of the creature's flesh, the ridges and spikes that had once been protruding bone but were now tipped with noqual adamantine. And who could miss the great missile launchers embedded in the folds of Deathshrieker's wings?

"Glory!" All around them, the sacred rains were falling. Collected through the ArkSeed's nutrients, an impossibly complex network of living veins throughout the vessel that kept them in reserve. Madu could hear the singers blessing the deluge as it fell, each iridescent pearl a prayer against the encroach of night. Each of the anointed would be shielded from an unworthy demise for as long as they stayed true to Sublimation.

"Through death!" came the final call to arms. All the eyes of the chosen, who had looked to the two other elders, now turned to the monstrous shadow that loomed over its peers. There stood Heartrender, king of the carnosaurs, and on its back Qalrani of WarClan Mardulu. Well over sixty feet from tip to tail, its flesh had been pierced by countless battles... and put back stronger every time. Slung across its reptilian frame was an entire battle arsenal of lasers and rockets. Qalrani himself was similarly adorned, his famed chainsaw-glaive held aloft and adding its keening wail to his words.

Madu felt a surge of fire deep in his chest. Oh, to look upon the face of his own clan's champion of champions! Was this how his ancestors had felt when they had fought alongside the Great Survivor themselves all those millennia ago?

"Immortality!" The accompanying chorus was deafening, as the Scarred Ones of Zultar screamed and smashed their weapons into every nearby surface.

From the great hall, Madu stared out over the host. All told, they were easily ninety thousand in number. The ArkSeed would carry all of them through the Veil Gate and the reaches of hyperspace to the gates of Xyrtharl, protected from the predations of the Competition by its outer wards. From there, they would march on the psykers and prove the truth of Ayé: existence was a proving ground, and their will to survive was unmatched.

They were unstoppable. And what could the Competition do but bleed?


Day 2 - 13th Lethyx

It had started to go wrong from the start.

The instant before the ArkSeed had passed onto the Arco-Medean hyperspace highway, a series of energy pulses had been detected on the vessel's sensors. The seers had since divined that the first was on the Veil Gate, a long range electronic attack launched by covert operatives in the system to scramble the outgoing coordinates. The grand vessel of the Zultari did not pass onto the hyperlane as expected.

Instead, they had been cast into the Void, the Place between Places. Here there were no stars, no light save for what they carried with them. Though time did not function outside the walls of the ship, the war drummers had kept it within, and so for them the seconds continued to accrue. The warriors had stared out at the inky expanse, rage at the treachery that had kept them from battle fuelling them onwards.

Then, not two hours later, the second pulse was registered and ArkSeed's engines started to fail.

The treesingers had not believed that such a thing could even happen! Madu had watched alongside his brothers in arms as the roots of the great tree began to wither and die. He'd heard whispers since that the scouting parties they'd sent down to the lower levels had unearthed a mass of... something, though the elders had ordered it jettisoned out into the nothingness outside before confirmation of the rumour could spread. That in turn had gotten the companies to talking more than anything else.

"Don't tell me you believe the whispers too, Madu?" Striding up next to him in the feasting hall, as glorious as the day they'd met, was Uchenah. Clan Ibezi didn't produce as many fighters as the others, but those it did had the ability to instantly assess the moods and mindsets of those around them. For the rest of the Clan, that made them good diplomats and halfway useful at the quiet arts, but its warriors tended to use it as a psychological weapon. And Uchenah? She was the best of the best. It could also make her incredibly obnoxious.

"Of course I do. We have been cast out of Ayé and into some in-between hell where only demons tread. Who knows what lurks in these spaces?"

She met his words with a deep belly laugh, a sensation that he probably should have been used to by now.

"You are a fool, Madu of Mardulu. Why set us adrift here? The ArkSeed will keep us fed and replenished for years; their distraction will not stop us from - "

But she was cut off by hoarse shouting from the other end of the feasting hall. Whirling to look, the two warriors only saw the flurry of weapons and the splattering of blood. Taking off at a run, they closed the distance in a matter of moments only to witness an unusual scene: two of their lancers, along with their bond-saurs, tearing into each other with unbridled ferocity. Of course such displays were encouraged, yet not here in a place of peace and not during a communal meal.

Snarling and spitting, it took four to get the one warrior off of his brother. Yet when Madu went to take the wounded man's weapon, he charged forward with a surprising intensity to use the disruption to gut everyone around him. Attempts were made, appeals to clan and honour turning to threats and finally to violence.

"What in the Survivor's name..." Madu murmured. But there were already more fights, more screaming breaking out. What was going on?


Day 3 - 14th Lethyx

By the time anyone realized the true extent of the Competition's answer, it was far too late to stop the virus.

Pandemic and quarantine measures on board the ArkSeed had never been necessary in the past. The Zultari had always believed in inoculation through mass exposure, a practice that culled off the weaker strains and made the survivors stronger for it. Such was the way of Ayanmo. In the thousands of years of conditioning and strengthening, the Sublime Clans had not found an illness that could wipe them out.

In hindsight, it had been the perfect weakness for their enemies to exploit. The seers had divined that whatever had been buried in the ArkSeed's tree had been tainted by a psionic working of great power, producing food that was spoilt and carried the disease. When exposed to it, somehow the brain of the host was afflicted. For any other being the symptoms would be fatal, yet the sacred rains and incantations had stayed true and so the warriors did not die.

What they did instead was turn into feral animals beyond reason, animals who could no longer be killed to stop them from infecting others. All it took was a single scratch, a bite, a claw, and before too long there was nothing left to reason with. In short, the two very pillars of the Zultari's strength - their inability to die and their willingness to fight - had been expertly turned against them.

The elders had been forced to work quickly. Madu and Uchenah had been tasked with heading up patrols in the cleanest areas of the ship, building barricades to keep the others out while they went at each other.

"Come on! This way!" he cried at her as they ducked through one of the arched boles of the tree that made up the heart of the ArkSeed. Behind them he could hear the clamour of combat, the heavy footfalls of a bond-saur coming their way. Sparing a look, he noted the distinct profile of a megaraptor with cybernetic optics.

"Get down!" Not hesitating for a moment he fell into a practiced roll, leaping underneath the pulse of cascading energy emitted from Uchenah's bead bracer. The wave hit the saurian right in the center mass, tearing it apart. It would be a lethal hit, he thought... yet at the moment of impact he was faced with something even more uncanny.

Where the theropod once stood, there had emerged instead a hole in space. It was as if a clumsy painter had made one errant brushstroke on the corner of the canvas, one whose edges were rough or perhaps incomplete. A swirling miasma of dark indigo surrounded the aperture, through which Madu could see a singular silhouette. The figure was gaunt and incredibly pale, and Madu noticed that it had no eyes.

"Thank you for the offering," said the stranger, "I look forward to the rest."


Day 4 - 15th Lethyx

This was it; this was the end. Of the Clan forces, only Qalrani and a few scant thousand remained. They had fortified the last upper echelons of great tree. From here they could see the rest of the ArkSeed and the Void outside. More than three quarters of the vessel had been claimed by the psychic chorus, great swathes of it burned away or devoured by emptiness. Even now the siege raged on: the infected and diseased ran rampant and would soon overwhelm them entirely.

Madu had not slept in three days, had barely eaten, and had seen most of his kith and kin transformed beyond recognition. What were these foes they faced, that had drunk so deep from oblivion that they would use their might to rend the world so irreparably? Conflict was about strength, about change, not this... ruining. Not this twisted existence.

They could die now - the blessing of the rains had faded not long after the last of the singers. Many had seen that as a blessing, had taken their own lives to avoid their fate. It was the fate Uchena had taken. But even in death they had been claimed, fuel for a fire half a galaxy away.

He still shivered as he thought of her flesh erupting outwards in floating ribbons.

The resultant detonations from those who had sought Recreance had only served to thin their ranks further, so Qalrani and the surviving leadership had put a stop to it. Who knew what the abominations on Xyrtharl were doing with this energy?

Madu watched with something approaching numbness as the first of the rabid carnosaurs broke through the defenses. He charged forward, vibro-spear in hand, and joined the fray even as his mind registered the twisting of the air, the great psionic feeding that came from the deaths.

"Through death..." he whispered to himself, seeing a braided warrior approaching dual wielding chain blades, and fell into a low stance. If he was going to fall here, better to do it weapon in hand than meekly cowering to prolong the torment.

Gritting his teeth, he kept his eyes open until he had no more eyes to see.

---

The Galactic Congress - 9449.1

The Clans of Zultar are destroyed! Many eyes were on the Clans this year as they surged forward towards Xyrtharl, the homeworld of the Competition of Minds. All three WarClans, led by their trio of elders Xolisan, Qalrani and Ndabacile, headed for the newly refurbished Veil gate and promptly... disappeared. Reports start to flow out across the sector in the hours that follow about targeted ordinance, deep cover agents and psionic energy readings off the charts. PPS, as usual, gathers together most of what they know to release to the public, but most of what gets out is theorizing and guesswork rather than the celebrity that has followed the sector's drama so far. Everyone is asking questions about what might have happened.

In the days that follow, the mostly abandoned Zultari holdout on Kanouvael is overrun by a single squadron of Channel Competitors. There is nobody left to resist them.

Meanwhile, the Logopatronite-Ultrumite conflict comes to a brutal and bloody end. Fresh off their victory at Vykareth, the Domin has amassed new forces in one last attempt to wipe out all the followers of the Artificial God. The success of the Fivefold Scourge and the return of Warleader Tara Hapaxia after her injuries puts enough momentum behind the swing to make for a decisive victory as the Ultrumites arrive in the Korykabria system, shattering the assembled mercenary fleets and massed believers of Logopathor. The victory through force is captured and streamed live across the sector, with several stations expecting the dramatic turnabout of last year being shocked at the cleansing sweeps of the Domin in full public view.

As the worlds of Principia adjust to the new balance of power, a proposal by the Oracle Family Company has been taken up by the assembled worlds. Aware of the many ongoing works of the various factions, the people believe that such projects should be completed so as to more quickly end the struggles that have led to the chaos of recent years. A more cynical mind might postulate that the worlds are sick of the conflict, or perhaps the OFC simply bribed their way into getting this motion put on the table this year. Either way, it presents a potential opportunity for those who seek to complete some schemes.

Finally, the Congress hears reports of a strange event occurring over Nymerius-9. A warp storm of cosmic proportions is building around a singular point in space occupied by the entity the Archive has dubbed 'Umbra'. According to initial thaumeteorological reports given to the Congress, this particular signature mimics the same given off by the Arco-Medean Veil Gates.

Unless the Congress decides to intervene, Umbra will surely be finding a new home by the end of the year.

Spoiler: Faction Event - Unfinished Business

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This motion has been presented by the Oracle Family Company.

This turn, all factions who start or are working on an LTP can choose to discount 5 from any single LTP.

Spoiler: Galactic Event - Beyond the Veil

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An unstable Veil gate opens… at the end of turn, Umbra will teleport to a random territory on the map.

Spoiler: PPS After Action Report - Clanfall

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As PPS was brought in to coordinate with the stat attacks that killed the Clans (being part of said attacks), they are releasing what data they know to the sector. They know considerably less this turn than they did for the Anti-Ultrum Coalition, but they can estimate the total attack size and make educated guesses about who took part.

The overall attack was at least 50 points, launched as a trio of coordinated attacks against the Clans. PPS sent 15 Esp and they know from the amount of damage dealt to the Clans that their Esp was matched in Esp/Psi at least one other nation, likely 2-3 with that magnitude. Taken together, such an offensive was enough to deal at least 24 points of stat damage, which resulted in enough 0 stats that the Sublime Clans were completely destroyed.

PPS is naming the Competition of Minds, Channel Seldiva, and Idrian Nascence as the most likely co-conspirators for the attack, given the source of the bid for their services, the amount and stat types used, and the obvious geopolitical interests. However, as PPS was not brought into any meetings they can't confirm anyone's involvement 100%. Whether any faction publicly takes credit for the act remains to be seen.

OOC: Midturns are due at end of day (EST) on Friday, May 7th

[Let'sGetKraken]

The Chrysaorian Hegemony

Morale 12
Influence 8

Spoiler: To the Magnus Apparatus

Show

The Clans have fallen. Many of us will rejoice; I am sure that there is no love lost, given their abrupt declaration of war. However, what it represents – the total destruction of a previously untouched galactic faction – has enormous implications for all of us. The threat posed by Channel Seldiva, the Competition of Minds, and the Idrian Nascence is too great to be ignored. Divided, we shall fall to them one by one.

We believe that it is imperative that we put our differences behind us and discuss what can be done to restore some semblance of balance to the galaxy. Together, we can apply enough pressure to shatter their alliance before it wipes out the rest of us. As such, we are requesting that you send a representative to a private summit on Mount Orthrys, here in the Hegemonic Territory. Each other nation, besides those responsible, are receiving a similar missive. We implore you listen and act, before it is too late.

On a personal note, you have shown yourself to be more reasonable - and less hostile - than we previously assumed. We believe that there is much to be gained from cooperation, and apologize for our harsh treatment of you in years past.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

So here’s the deal. Channel Seldiva, the Competition of Minds, and the Idrain Nascence almost certainly launched a stat attack capable of destroying a single nation, in a single turn. Look at your stats, and honestly tell me that you’re capable of surviving a 40+ point stat attack each turn. I think, at the very least, it’s worth taking the time to discuss what we can do to defend ourselves and organize before the three of them cement their power and any chance of victory for the rest of us is fleeting. As such, I’m proposing a PM conversation between every nation (including NPCs) save the three involved in the Clan’s destruction. Cooperation here is essential, because if we stand aside and let them take out obstacles one by one, we may as well crown the victors now.

Spoiler: To the Ultrim Domin

Show

The Clans have fallen. Many of us will rejoice; I am sure that there is no love lost, given their abrupt declaration of war. However, what it represents – the total destruction of a previously untouched galactic faction – has enormous implications for all of us. The threat posed by Channel Seldiva, the Competition of Minds, and the Idrian Nascence is too great to be ignored. Divided, we shall fall to them one by one.

We believe that it is imperative that we put our differences behind us and discuss what can be done to restore some semblance of balance to the galaxy. Together, we can apply enough pressure to shatter their alliance before it wipes out the rest of us. As such, we are requesting that you send a representative to a private summit on Mount Orthrys, here in the Hegemonic Territory. Each other nation, besides those responsible, are receiving a similar missive. We implore you listen and act, before it is too late.

On a personal note, we provided you with aid - aid that ultimately helped you in your war against our former neighbors to the south. We know that we received benefits too, but we could have allied with Logopathor and worked towards your destruction, instead of remaining neutral. We hope this is remembered.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

So here’s the deal. Channel Seldiva, the Competition of Minds, and the Idrain Nascence almost certainly launched a stat attack capable of destroying a single nation, in a single turn. Look at your stats, and honestly tell me that you’re capable of surviving a 40+ point stat attack each turn. I think, at the very least, it’s worth taking the time to discuss what we can do to defend ourselves and organize before the three of them cement their power and any chance of victory for the rest of us is fleeting. As such, I’m proposing a PM conversation between every nation (including NPCs) save the three involved in the Clan’s destruction. Cooperation here is essential, because if we stand aside and let them take out obstacles one by one, we may as well crown the victors now.

Spoiler: To PPS

Show

The Clans have fallen. Many of us will rejoice; I am sure that there is no love lost, given their abrupt declaration of war. However, what it represents – the total destruction of a previously untouched galactic faction – has enormous implications for all of us. The threat posed by Channel Seldiva, the Competition of Minds, and the Idrian Nascence is too great to be ignored. Divided, we shall fall to them one by one.

We believe that it is imperative that we put our differences behind us and discuss what can be done to restore some semblance of balance to the galaxy. Together, we can apply enough pressure to shatter their alliance before it wipes out the rest of us. As such, we are requesting that you send a representative to a private summit on Mount Orthrys, here in the Hegemonic Territory. Each other nation, besides those responsible, are receiving a similar missive. We implore you listen and act, before it is too late.

Previous deal stands, of course. We appreciate your continued services.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

So here’s the deal. Channel Seldiva, the Competition of Minds, and the Idrain Nascence almost certainly launched a stat attack capable of destroying a single nation, in a single turn. Look at your stats, and honestly tell me that you’re capable of surviving a 40+ point stat attack each turn. I think, at the very least, it’s worth taking the time to discuss what we can do to defend ourselves and organize before the three of them cement their power and any chance of victory for the rest of us is fleeting. As such, I’m proposing a PM conversation between every nation (including NPCs) save the three involved in the Clan’s destruction. Cooperation here is essential, because if we stand aside and let them take out obstacles one by one, we may as well crown the victors now.

Spoiler: To the Oracle Family Company

Show

The Clans have fallen. Many of us will rejoice; I am sure that there is no love lost, given their abrupt declaration of war. However, what it represents – the total destruction of a previously untouched galactic faction – has enormous implications for all of us. The threat posed by Channel Seldiva, the Competition of Minds, and the Idrian Nascence is too great to be ignored. Divided, we shall fall to them one by one.

We believe that it is imperative that we put our differences behind us and discuss what can be done to restore some semblance of balance to the galaxy. Together, we can apply enough pressure to shatter their alliance before it wipes out the rest of us. As such, we are requesting that you send a representative to a private summit on Mount Orthrys, here in the Hegemonic Territory. Each other nation, besides those responsible, are receiving a similar missive. We implore you listen and act, before it is too late.

We have exchanged harsh words, and have not seen eye-to-eye, but unless we act now, you will be crushed beneath the combined forces of your western neighbors, the moment you become an obstacle to their plans.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

So here’s the deal. Channel Seldiva, the Competition of Minds, and the Idrain Nascence almost certainly launched a stat attack capable of destroying a single nation, in a single turn. Look at your stats, and honestly tell me that you’re capable of surviving a 40+ point stat attack each turn. I think, at the very least, it’s worth taking the time to discuss what we can do to defend ourselves and organize before the three of them cement their power and any chance of victory for the rest of us is fleeting. As such, I’m proposing a PM conversation between every nation (including NPCs) save the three involved in the Clan’s destruction. Cooperation here is essential, because if we stand aside and let them take out obstacles one by one, we may as well crown the victors now.

Spoiler: To the Knights of Orias

Show

The Clans have fallen. Many of us will rejoice; I am sure that there is no love lost, given their abrupt declaration of war. However, what it represents – the total destruction of a previously untouched galactic faction – has enormous implications for all of us. The threat posed by Channel Seldiva, the Competition of Minds, and the Idrian Nascence is too great to be ignored. Divided, we shall fall to them one by one.

We believe that it is imperative that we put our differences behind us and discuss what can be done to restore some semblance of balance to the galaxy. Together, we can apply enough pressure to shatter their alliance before it wipes out the rest of us. As such, we are requesting that you send a representative to a private summit on Mount Orthrys, here in the Hegemonic Territory. Each other nation, besides those responsible, are receiving a similar missive. We implore you listen and act, before it is too late.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

So here’s the deal. Channel Seldiva, the Competition of Minds, and the Idrain Nascence almost certainly launched a stat attack capable of destroying a single nation, in a single turn. Look at your stats, and honestly tell me that you’re capable of surviving a 40+ point stat attack each turn. I think, at the very least, it’s worth taking the time to discuss what we can do to defend ourselves and organize before the three of them cement their power and any chance of victory for the rest of us is fleeting. As such, I’m proposing a PM conversation between every nation (including NPCs) save the three involved in the Clan’s destruction. Cooperation here is essential, because if we stand aside and let them take out obstacles one by one, we may as well crown the victors now.

Spoiler: To the Hecatian Shade

Show

The Clans have fallen. Many of us will rejoice; I am sure that there is no love lost, given their abrupt declaration of war. However, what it represents – the total destruction of a previously untouched galactic faction – has enormous implications for all of us. The threat posed by Channel Seldiva, the Competition of Minds, and the Idrian Nascence is too great to be ignored. Divided, we shall fall to them one by one.

We believe that it is imperative that we put our differences behind us and discuss what can be done to restore some semblance of balance to the galaxy. Together, we can apply enough pressure to shatter their alliance before it wipes out the rest of us. As such, we are requesting that you send a representative to a private summit on Mount Orthrys, here in the Hegemonic Territory. Each other nation, besides those responsible, are receiving a similar missive. We implore you listen and act, before it is too late.

We do not trust you, but alliances are often borne of necessity. You will be welcomed regardless. I suggest you attend, given that you are likely next.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

So here’s the deal. Channel Seldiva, the Competition of Minds, and the Idrain Nascence almost certainly launched a stat attack capable of destroying a single nation, in a single turn. Look at your stats, and honestly tell me that you’re capable of surviving a 40+ point stat attack each turn. I think, at the very least, it’s worth taking the time to discuss what we can do to defend ourselves and organize before the three of them cement their power and any chance of victory for the rest of us is fleeting. As such, I’m proposing a PM conversation between every nation (including NPCs) save the three involved in the Clan’s destruction. Cooperation here is essential, because if we stand aside and let them take out obstacles one by one, we may as well crown the victors now.

Spoiler: To the Archive

Show

We will not equivocate. You know the threat, and you would be welcomed at the summit we now organize between nations. Something must be done to prevent the West from becoming victorious, and your contributions would be welcomed. We could meet privately, should you wish it, during the summit's course.

Spoiler: To Channel Seldiva

Show

It appears as though you worked alongside those you promised to wage war upon. We are deeply disappointed. How can any nation trust you if this is how you behave? We would ask you to justify yourselves, and honour your commitment.

[Writtensanity]

Progenitor Victorya was the first to make Planetfall on Kanouvael. Then each other competitor that the Channel considered a leader of the competition landed behind her. They'd all been expecting robust orbital defences and had wasted power on forward shields that weren't needed.

They'd known that the Clans were attacking the Competition this turn, the Clans had said as much. That was why they were here, to cut off this lifeline while the Voidsingers of the Competition used the invaders as test subjects for their newest voting block from Supreme Judge Anderson.

"Hilde, Princess, perimeter search now."

The two contestants took off into the Kanouvael night, leaving Victorya alone with a single Clan military tree in front of her. She ignited her engines and flew up to the top level.

A psionic-tipped spear slammed against her shields as soon as she landed. That was the fight that she'd been looking for. Victorya primed her weapons as the sparks flew. A second spear bashed into her barrier but this time the Progenitor snatched it before it could be drawn back. There was almost no resistance to her pulling the weapon away.

Two young Zultar girls had been holding the spears. Victorya tossed the first spear out of the tree and then disarmed the second girl as well. Neither of them backed off they raised their fists against a woman and battlesuit that could destroy fleets.

Victorya smiled, "Welcome to the meritocracy competitors," today the clans fall, but you rise."

---

By the End of the Solar Year

Coming fresh from the destruction of their warriors, the remaining forces of the clans of Zultar on Kanouvael crumbled under the attention of the heads of Conquest Principia. They had been sent to the planet armed for proper conflict and found themselves sorely wanting.

Except for warriors brave enough to stand up to Progenitor Victorya! PLEASE WELCOME TO THE STAGE OUR NEWEST COMPETITION HEADS! THE TWIN QUEENS OF ZULTAR!






And then! Hailing from the bloodline of Progenitor Vicotrya herself! STANDING 8 FOOT 6 and always in her battle suit! PLEASE WELCOME!




Victorya clapped at the back of the room, but she was still stewing. The twins were a bonus on what had been a ****ty broadcast year. The clan war was supposed to be something epic. That was why every military head of Conquest had personally gone to the conflict. Instead they'd just found that the Competition of Minds had struck much harder than expected when the power of the PPS was added.

The heads of Conquest, all of them, had arrived in what was pretty much a neutral system. It had been a joke. It had been a waste of her time, and it hadn't been the war they were expecting.

-----

9449.1

CHANNEL SELDIVA DECLARES WAR ON THE IDRIAN NASCENSE

Please expect hyperlanes to your territory soon. Negotiations for the next 2 solar years may not include the word peace or they will be terminated.


----

Messages

MOR 8 INF 8

Spoiler: To the Archive: MOR 8

Show

We keep our words. Were any of your resources devastatingly deleted this season? If so we will cover the repairs of up to 2 of them.

OOC: As promised, if they have 0s this year I will donate a stat to cover them.

Spoiler: To the Hectian Shade: MOR 8

Show

It has been clear that we are funneling the Umbra towards your space now that it has ripped holes in many of the systems in ours.

Avoiding the Umbra and directing it is costly. Despite our war, let us agree to work together to remove this road block between us so that conflict can be honest once more.

Unsurprisingly, the public outside of Principia voted fairly unanimously on attacking the Dinosaurs, you were correct about how that was going to go. Unfortunately, it was far from as impactful as we wished.

Spoiler: To the Competition of Minds: MOR 8

Show

We need to meet. Does Host Station work again or does the supreme judge need to work closer to home?

Neptune.

Spoiler: To the PPS: MOR 8

Show

Your services are greatly appreciated though for an assassins guild you have a way of running your mouth about your assignments.

We look forward to hearing where your discounts may be pointed this season. We have ideas.

Neptune.

Spoiler: To the Umbra: MOR 8

Show

[52] Preferred.

[n0ble]

The Ultrum Domin

Public
Inf. 4

Spoiler: The Hegemony

Show

Do not mistake your actions for benefaction: you traded with us singularly to suit your own purposes. The only reason you exist due to the temerity of the God of Logics's demands. And yet in this boldness they are better than you. Were better than you. What can you threaten to those that have already known extinction once in their lifetime? Ten times? One hundred times? Ultrum Endures.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Honestly all of us joining in in what you want while your high rep keeps the NPCs in your back pocket/on your side and/or neutral vs Seldiva's side seems ill-conceived insofar as we lesser INF factions would just lose out more anyways while fighting your battles for you, nevermind the fact that I would need to surrender effectively 6 mil to speak privately about threats to your power.

As to getting slapped around by a 40+ point stat attack...I mean it does kind make plain whose side I should be on right? You've done a great job of point out my weaknesses to the people who might read your messege to me, are definitely reading this message, and with 1/3 of those people amassing the stat I'm weakest against...really just seems like I'm being set up to act as ablation for you. Better to face things on my own terms, I should think. How can you guarantee I'll be safer not joining their side?

Morale 15

Spoiler: The Shade

Show

You will give us what is owed over the next 2 cycles. You will do so without complain or what has occurred to the Living God will occur to you.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Use of 5 Econ this turn, use of 5 econ next turn. Anything else-other bargains, other deals or counter offers or the like-will be met with a declaration of war this midturn.

[3SecondCultist]

Principia Personnel Solutions
Esp 16, Mor 12, Inf 4

Spoiler: To Everyone

Show

The message comes in the familiar ad format, this time showing a series of happy families watching television, phoning each other from across the galaxy and tapping into secure networks together.

AT PPS, WE BELIEVE IN THE POWER OF COMMUNICATION!

Over past years, the powers of Principia have beaten each other bloody over territorial disputes and resource shortages.

Are you worried that you'll be next? Wouldn't you want to be sure of everything that happens in the sector?

FOREWARNED IS FOREARMED.

Why take a chance? Make certain you're covered today, or you might regret it tomorrow.

SIGN UP FOR THE OMNISCIENCE UNLIMITED PACKAGE TODAY!

Safety. Surety. Security.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

This EoT, PPS is increasing its subscription price to reflect the new Mor power in the galaxy. With a 16 Esp, they can read even the mail of the really hard-to-crack Mor factions such as the Domin, the Hegemony, or the Apparatus.

If anyone would like to be able to read literally all of the mail in the game, it's just a simple 2 Eco payment per turn! They are retiring the old rate of 1 Eco; as of this EoT, minimum payment is 2 Eco, with the extra 1 for the Immunity deal for a total of 3.

Spoiler: To the Chrysaorian Hegemony

Show

This call is being recorded for quality assurance purposes.

"Hello there, this is Pallas from Principia Personnel Solutions returning your call.

We are quite pleased to hear that you are setting up a meeting, and rest assured that Calepri, our VP of Customer Relations, will be in attendance. We are also in the midst of making a few calls to other clients to try and persuade them to join for the sake of cohesion.

However, please note that PPS has an ongoing - if somewhat lapsed - business relationship with Channel Seldiva. They may offer terms to counter yours, though we will hear claims from both camps equally should there be another bidding war for our agents this year.

Thank you for choosing PPS, and have a splendid day."

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Confirming that they're sending a PM to a meeting with you... and that Seldiva didn't pay them this turn, so they can't read any messages. Shame that the Domin outed you though.

Spoiler: To Channel Seldiva

Show

This call is being recorded for quality assurance purposes.

"Hello there, this is Adias calling from Principia Personnel Solutions,

We're pleased to hear that you were satisfied with our product; here at PPS, we believe in 100% customer satisfaction or your money back! If you have the time, we have a post-operation survey we'd like to send to Host Station for your team to sign and return. Surely as an entertainment conglomerate you understand the need to make sure your core client base is pleased.

Please let us know if there is anything you would like us to change or update. Purchasing a new OMNISCIENCE UNLIMITED Package would go a long way towards restoring our ability to trust in the business of the Channel.

We hope you choose PPS again, and have a splendid day."

---

The Amaranthine Archive
Mor 6, Inf 4

Spoiler: To the Chrysaorian Hegemony

Show

Confirmed.

Spoiler: To Channel Seldiva

Show

Thank you for your kind offer, but it is not necessary at this time. Our stores - such as they are - have been raised above emergency levels for the remainder of this year.

However, given your immediate declaration of war, the Archive would like to revisit the issue of combating the Nascence that threatens to destroy us once and for all. Will you send protectors as we once asked of you in the past?

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Asking for Mil or Mil VIPs to beat back the Nascence. They'll go 1:1 for Eco and/or Inf, up to 9 total. You can also attack the Nascence yourself and they will pay for that.

[Let'sGetKraken]

The Chrysaorian Hegemony

Morale 12
Influence 8

Spoiler: To the Domin - Public

Show

It was a genuine offer, in response to the threat of a dominant alliance between the Competition of Minds, the Idrian Nascence, and Channel Seldiva, meant to work towards stopping them while we still could. It was made in good faith, and we are unsure from where your hostility comes, given that we have done nothing but cooperative. All we did was remind you of the goodwill that should have existed between our nations.

Regardless, Channel Seldiva has formally declared war on the Nascence. As such, our earlier position - that action must be taken for the good of the galaxy - is no longer tenable. Should this prove to be a deception or smokescreen on Channel Seldiva's part, we shall call a separate meeting when that occurs. This, hopefully, should prove our point that this was not just done out of self-interest.

Spoiler: To the Knights of Orias

Show

Well, it appears as though the pressing need has passed. However, we would still meet with you, the Apparatus, the Archive and PPS, as mostly neutral parties in the galaxy, should you be willing.

Spoiler: To the Magnus Apparatus

Show

Well, it appears as though the pressing need has passed. However, we would still meet with you, the Apparatus, the Archive and PPS, as mostly neutral parties in the galaxy, should you be willing. We still believe in the threat posed by the Nascence, and would like to discuss your recent cooperation.

Spoiler: To the Archive

Show

You will still be warmly received this season, should you wish to attend.

[kemmotar]

Oracle Family Company
Influence 5
Morale 7

Spoiler: Chrysaorian Hegemony - Morale 7

Show

"We will send you a representative this season. Provided you guarantee their safety."

[DragonOfAsh]

From a distance, the small moon that orbited the outer-most planet in the system seemed relatively normal. An atmosphere wasn't an impossible thing for a moon to possess, but this one was unique. As the Lord Commander's Cuirass fired its retro-thrusters, landing as gently at the platform as it was able for a multi-ton death machine. Reaching across the cockpit with one of his secondary arms, he settled the machine in place, and disengaged the main reactor, causing the machine to effectively grind to a halt, one hand held up in front of the chest giving him a platform to stand on.

Stepping out of the open cockpit, he looked ahead of him, his gaze steely and unmoved. At the same time, there were few that could say they had ever seen such a sight. The entire spaceport he had landed in and stood at was nearly packed shoulder to shoulder, and some Vambrace and Hauberk mechs were being used as mobile platforms letting some sit head and shoulders above the crowd. Gathered here was a massive force, more than 10,000. Knights all in spirit if not in rank.

"Today, is a day to remember." Arkh's voice was broadcast, filling the area for miles clear. [b]"Today is a day that was brought to us, by the Lord Quartermaster and all under his command. Today is a day brought to us by the Shield Oath, who's work in the factories and who's tireless diplomacy has allowed us to build the very ground we stand upon. Today..."[/i]

Arkh's gaze moved over the assembled crowd. "Today is the start of something new, and grand, but we cannot ignore what lay behind us, even as we turn our gazes forwards. This moon was once a barren, gray wasteland. Like those who join our peoples, it has been transformed into something greater than it was. It has gained purpose. The air we breathe, the buildings we stand in, all brought together for a singular purpose."

"The fires of war burn brightly across the galaxy as they always have. As they always will, but today is a day where those fires are harnessed. With that flame, you will be forged anew. With that flame, and this Crucible, you will become the finest warriors the galaxy has ever known. Soldiers without equal. This Crucible will mold you for a thousand battles across a thousand worlds. You are the pride of the Knights! You are Orias, Phenex, Samigina, Leraje, Ronove, Human, and others as numerous as the stars in the galaxy. Together we shall band together, we shall be first into the fray and the last to leave! We--"

---

The signal was abruptly cut as the power button was pushed on the holo-tablet, and a webbed hand took it from the hands of another. A young green-skinned man with a fringe of red scales nearly squawked indignantly. "Hey, I was watching that!"

The face that responded to him was like looking in a mirror. Everything about him, from the tone of his voice to motion of his body was identical. "You know that's all just propaganda to rile up the rank-and-file and make the Shield Oath feel patriotic, right?"

"Of course, and it was working too, dammit. Gimme it back!"

A third, mirrored face entered the conversation, poking their head around the door. "You two fighting again? You know the Knight Commander doesn't like it when you do that."

In unison the two replied in perfect harmony. "Buzz off!"

"That's no way to treat your elders."

The first one muttered under their breath. "By half a cycle."

The three of them looked up when the intercom crackled to life. "Cut the chatter. Unlike the fresh recruits at Crucible Station, we work for a living. X-24, gear up. Play nice, X-25, X-26, and maybe you'll get to spend some time on that tourist trap of a moon, for good behavior." The voice was mocking towards the end, but the three identical Leraje snapped to attention.

"Sir, yes sir!" All three voices in perfect unison. As the "eldest" clone, X-24 made their way down to the hangar bays, the other two settled in to a pair of dark, lightless pods. A pod to simulate the Syn-haptic armor's feedback with the ARMAMENT Naberius. The machine had long been known to be rough on it's pilots, and there simply were not enough people that could activate ARMS in the modern Knights. That left some drastic measures in some cases. Nowhere was this more prevalent than in Naberius.

When in combat, Naberius was the one that took control, able process information and act with a reaction-time far superior than that of any biological pilot could. It would eventually "burn out" it's pilot's nervous system... if they didn't die of a brain aneurism first. For that reason, the Knight's used clones, copies of the pilots who could pilot the machine, like cogs in a machine. The clones, the current "X" series, knew this. If a Knight took pride in being born for war, the clones took pride in being among the few able to activate the ARMS. That alone was enough pride for them. Mortality came face-to-face with everyone, sooner or later. Few could say they indifferent about it like these clone pilots. And for that, they were a perfect match for the Naberius, the Pale Demon.

Spoiler: Mercenary Contracts

Show

ECO and SCI preferred for trades this turn.

Adnachiel (MIL 1/ESP 1) - 3 points
Naberius (MIL 1) - 2 points
The Blackwolf Knights (MIL1) - 2 points

---

MOR 7, INF 8

---

Spoiler: To the Hegemony

Show

If you wish to talk, we shall listen. A promising member of our society, Rasai Greytalon is at your disposal for discussion, if you still seek to host such a talk.

[A_Dinosaur]

The Magnus Apparatus

[Output:] additional devastation registered
[Output:] initiate strategy shift calculations

*******Log 1.10: The Stolen Memories********

Spoiler

Show

Terius’s transport got nuked. I think it was a Medean nuke too. Haven’t managed to get ahold of the other guys. Dunno who is alive or dead.

Well I suppose I know a few who are dead. This facility got nuked yesterday too. Farsi and the rest of the engineers were topside in their bunks, I was on the graveyard shift in the bunker making an extremely illegal snapshot of some netforums. We’ve got a downloadspeed faster than half the Sem sector fleet. Only took a minute or two. Glad I did too, its gonna be a lonely death down here, may as well have something to read.

Locks and systems are fried, coms unit is down, whoever wins topside will probably never even find this place. I certainly can’t get out to tell them. Been chatting with Magnus a bunch. He has stopped single threading for me, wonder if he’s getting bored of me. I’ve kept patching his systems, kinda something to do I guess? I feel bad for him, I’ve got maybe two months of food and water, but with the Cyclonic Inverter Generators he’ll have thousands of years to live down here, all trapped and alone. Maybe I should just shut him down entirely?

I think I’ll leave him running. I never got the chance to have kids to watch over my deathbed, but in Magnus I kinda made one?

Does that make me selfish?

*******Log 1.10:END********

Morale 12, Influence 6

Players

The Chrysorian Hegemony

Spoiler

Show

[Output:] Invitation Accepted
REQUEST Register Location

The Idrian Nascence

Spoiler

Show

[Output:] Define available archeotech sites per previous agreement
[Output:] Register damage scale of Archive conflict.
[Output:] Damage statistics required for further strategic planning.

The Hecetian Shade

Spoiler

Show

REQUEST reconstruction report.
[Output:] Further arrangements available, if further reconstruction is required.
[Output:] 3 science is expected per previous agreement.

[St. Justicar]

The Idrian Nascence

Influence 1, Morale 3

Spoiler: Magnus Apparatus

Show

A pleasure doing business with you
We hope you enjoy your new home in our tropical paradise!
Please find payment attached

Don’t you see, nothing is stronger than the power of friendship!
We’re untouchable!

Trade is the lifeblood of a civilized society, and commerce the foundation of peace.
The Electrodyne Everseer is the Sector’s premier research and survey ship, with full sensor suites and bleeding-edge onboard laboratories
Here at General Massive Systems we offer the fruits of the modern economy – high quality fabricated goods, when, where, and in whatever quantities you need.
Spies! Assassins! Cowards hiding in the dark!
All this and more can be yours! For the low, low price of-
The synthetic monstrosities preparing to slaughter us in our beds!
Do you think you’re psychic? You might be.
In any conflict, the management of popular sentiment is key to sustaining the war effort over the long term. The state must be both willing and able to sustain the fires of patriotic feeling, or the cancer of defeatism at home will destroy it long before the enemy does.

So, whadya say?

[A more substantial data packet is attached to the message, the complete, but badly corrupted, reports from the old Republic of Mei regarding a strange anomaly, sensors were unable to penetrate its boundaries, and none who went in ever returned. Given the utter failure of any attempts to map its exact shape or size, it was designated The Boundless Expanse ]

Spoiler: Competition of Minds

Show

[The vision is sent with a questioning, hopeful tone behind it]

A Sultari hunter – fully covered in their power armour, plasma lance activated, their mount roaring - prepares to charge, while opposite it a Behemoth paws at the ground, its hooves gouging deep furrows in it as it does, lowering its head and preparing to charge in turn.

At the last possible moment, a cloud obscured the sun, and strange, impossibly substantial shadows flow over both of them. The shades whisper in their ears, and after a moment they calm. Stalking forward to meet peacefully in the centre of the field.

[GameOfChampions]

Competition of Minds
Mor 3
Inf 2

The Competition leaders meet once more as the year ends. This is no fun argumentative meeting to see who won their little competition of who could murder the despicable Clans the best, a day of arguing and polling lesser psykers decided that Zughals rage fueled death plague was the winner. This was far more important and dangerous to them.

The Supreme Judge and Faction leaders watches the footage from the event. Zultari clansmen tearing themselves apart and, with the psykers manipulating the images show, the overlay of psionic energies from the deaths. The three faction leaders watch the psionic energy feed into the massive ritual that Skail and his faction of demon lovers had enacted as their own strike. They witness the planned effects of the ritual, tears in the Warp and horrifying pulses of energy from it or demons erupting.

Genesis is running calculations as they watch "The ritual worked as planned their but we did not account properly for the raw resilience and power within these savages. The ritual enacted by Skail and his faction used the energy calculations for standard mortals, 5 parts of psionic energy for their death, but the clans were beyond normal mortal norms and fed twice that amount back into the ritual. The ritual was specifically made to handle the expected amount for its precision and the extra energy being pushed into it created... unforeseen events."

The images show strange images of battalions of Zultari Clansmen being sucked into the warp, dinosaurs mutating with their weapons becoming living attachments as they fall into the horrors of the warp. Finally as a brutal deathmatch on one of the ships between the rage fueled zombie creatures, dinosaurs, and the living the ritual mutates into something... larger and different. The last ship starts to mutate into a warp fueled nightmare before it is pulled into the warp. The images zoom in and focus on a mutated Treesinger crooning to the ship, growing the mutated living horror around it to slowly begin covering the entire ship as the Zultari seem to change as they enter the warp. Still mutated and still savage but now seemingly directed.

As the ship enters the warp and the picture starts to fade it is still clear enough to see the Tree singer, the dinosaurs, and the Clansmen all look up towards the recording ritual and all seem to mouth the same thing.

Genesis freezes the recording on that final image "The unexpected side effect seems to be the merging of the Warp energies with the targets of the ritual as they are sucked into the Warp. I have not arrived at a conclusion as to why they all seemed to gain focus and direction when they entered, I also do not recognize the language they spoke in unison."

Skail is frozen as he sees the last end of the recording, he had spent the entirety of that attack cherry picking corrupted warriors to use on planet as guards and subjects. He didn't see how that attack ended or the horrors resulting from the botched ritual. His demonic half came with many benefits, including the language of the Warp. He repeats it back in the common tongue "They are saying... 'The Warp Will Come'."

The other three freeze and look again at the forces sucked into the Warp and then out of the window towards their entire planet dedicated to using the psionic powers, the Warp, and demons.

In unison the three swear "****"

Spoiler: Channel Seldiva

Show

Greetings,

We survived this year though the danger was great. Please come and meet us on Xyrtharl.

Regards,
Supreme Judge Anderson

[Writtensanity]

Spoiler: Banners for the rest of the contestants:

Show

"You know it's critical that we talk about what's going on right now in Principia," the host said with while leaning in close to the microphone for all the radio listeners in their starships, "we're talking a conspiracy. If the messages from the Ultrum Domin broadcasted on public channels and then then the response from the Hegemony is saying what it seems like they're saying. There was an attempt to make a cabal of every power in Principia to slow down the Channel, which isn't just a possible disaster for Season 3 of Conquest, but it's downright cowardly... Let me tell you what I think the Competitors should do...."

Spoiler: To the Hegemony: MOR PUBLIC

Show

Your messages to the Domin and the rest of the world are foolhardy. Those who attempt to band the Galaxy together under a bond of 'unity' or a 'good cause' are always schemers who want to make the strong fight so they can snatch prizes of the battlefield.

Last year you messaged us and attempted to bribe us away from hiring the PPS to protect our Contract with the Competiton of Minds, something we are sworn to do. All we did was show how effective we were at keeping our word while you tried to make us throw it away.

We are not declaring war Hegemony, your reputation saves you from that... but if the Ultrum Domin were to declare war on your people. Channel Seldiva would back them.

Proving that you would help Seldiva and other nations that have dealt with the Umbra would help with this. A direct donation of Galactic Congress Influence to assist in letting the Umbra leave Seldiva space would be a great boon to our relationship.

Spoiler: SPOILER OOC EXPLAINATION:

Show

This is still IC logic, just keeping my statement clear:

Channel Seldiva did not like the attempted bribe to stop hiring the help from the PPS last turn.

Channel Seldiva WOULD declare war for the cabal it seems like you just attempted to start based on your and Domin's messages.

You have INF 8, so you get this pass, but it does put you well below the Domin in our opinion, far enough down to make us take sides.

"In other news! More rumors of a power struggle in Principia! Progenitor Victorya's list of accomplishments during this season has been falling short, especially with the lack of resistance during the end of the Zultar invasion. Though she already proved herself during her wildly one-sided arena match with Ferro, both Princess and Hilde are apparently looking to find time this season to have their own battles with Victorya.

Princess' victory would mark the first time the Progenitor has been any species other than Fotuan since the start of the Meritocracy.."

Spoiler: To the Archive: MOR 8

Show

We run into a small issue when it comes to a direct MIL strike this year. Partially that some of our ships are committed to capturing the remainder of the Zultar outposts in our sector but more importantly..

The Umbra is a variable this season. We likely need to assume that the Galaxy, aside from the Shade and ourselves, will vote for the Umbra to remain in our space. If this is the case we do not have the SCI to create a veil gate to the Nascense, we would need to spent our resources closing those between the Umbra and ourselves.

The second point is that, without the promise of large backing outside of Seldiva's forces, we cannot commit our ships or contestants to another war across the Galaxy. Though the Fotuans who died in the battle of the Five-Fold Scourge were weak, they were still forces that could have been used elsewhere, and the only benefit Channel Seldvia received was our opponent weakening.

In short, unless we can somehow know that the Galactic Congress will not interfere with the Umbra's transportation, we cannot commit to building the paths needed to strike the Nascense this year.

"Unfortunately, despite our best attempts during the abandonment of the Brenna system, none of our cameras were able to maintain focus on the Umbra for more than a single frame at a time. Even more unfortunately the frame, when viewed in any system other than the direct feed from the camera itself, vanishes. With the 100,000,000,000th of a second of footage that we have, we know the Umbra is a massive spaceship but aside from that, there is nothing we can concretely say about the anomaly..."

Spoiler: To the PPS: MOR 8

Show

Put us down for an Omniscience Package. Though we didn't have the money last year seeing as we were spending everything we had on your services, we do love your little USB sticks.

"ARE YOU TIRED OF YOUR BOSS? Do you want to make passive income? Working from home? Well here I am here in my garage with my new starfighter, but do you want to know what I value more than this starfighter? Knowledge. That's why you can buy my 34 audiocast set of..."

Spoiler: To the Knights of Orias: MOR 8

Show

Please standby for a likely incoming bid on: The Blackwolf Knights

Attached is a long list of things for potential hires to sign, most of which are about appearing on Camera.

"Look, we know that the Machcine and the Biomass have been talking to each other. Honestly I think the general voting public got distracted by dinosaurs last season. Who doesn't want to watch the most literal version of the Nature vs Industrialization matchup that we've ever seen? Sure, things seem fine based on what we can see on the Nascence end, but do we really think they're just going to get along? I wanna see machines vs storm whales and I want it on my tv yesterday!"

Spoiler: To the Ultrum Domin: MOR 8

Show

Well that's one mess from the Five-Fold Scourge Storyline cleaned up, isn't it?

Feel like participating in the second arc?

Attached shows an image of the broken Shade Arc Vessel in [48]

Additionally, we would like to remind you of our generosity in response to the Logopathorian attack on your people. We'd request that you show the same when it comes to removing our pests. (OOC: Asking for you to vote to move the Umbra)

Spoiler: To the Magnus Apparatus: MOR 8

Show

Debts owed. Debts paid.

What resources does the factory need this season? Please offer options :)

(OOC: I owe you 2 ESP and 4 more MISC stats, asking for preferences.)

[Let'sGetKraken]

The Chrysaorian Hegemony

Morale 12
Influence 8

Spoiler: Channel Seldiva (Public)

Show

You twist our words. How noble of you. What saviours you are. Here is what actually happened.

We messaged the entirety of the galaxy that was not the three architects of the complete and total annihilation of the Clans. This is not forming a cabal. This is organizing resistance against what actually could have been a cabal. And when you proved true to your word - admirably - and declared war on the Nascence, we retracted that call in a public message to the Domin. We shall see whether you follow through on your commitment; judging by your message to the Archive, we have our doubts.

You say we attempted to bribe you... This is true, if uncharitable. We were hoping to allow the Archive to solicit PPS in striking the monstrous threat (OOC: Inf 0) that had already grievously wounded them, who you have repeatedly offered help only to withdraw it for your own purposes. How dare you name us dishonorable for proposing a deal that in no way goes against any promises and obligations. This, coming from dealbreakers, who attacked the Shade for their own interests despite a public commitment to a one-year reprieve. Was it justified, in light of the Shade's own treachery? Perhaps. But you do not have much ground to stand on. Do not speak to us of honour, when so much you have done has been talk. You attempt to sway the Domin, with whom we have negotiated a peace treaty, to war without getting blood on your hands. We have never desired anything but peaceable relations with them. If they wish to war against the neighbors who traded them resources with which they traded to you (is that dishonourable? perhaps, according to your hypocritical standards), then they are welcome to, when our deal expires. We don't want war, but we refuse to be painted as the villains here, nation-breaker.

We shall prove it, then. Attached are copies of the missive we sent each nation. Perhaps you should not assume before denouncing others.

Spoiler: OOC:

Show

You're allowed to say you're disappointed, but offering someone something so that they let the Archive's bid through - that would have hit the 0 INF nation - isn't even slightly dishonourable. Now, trying to get the galaxy together to stop the cabal capable of fully destroying a nation each turn - how on earth is that worthy of condemnation?I get why it would be upsetting, but don't try to present it as anything other than looking out for the interests of every faction that wasn't you, the Competition, or the Nascence. Until you followed through on your promise to war on the Nascence - which might even be more lip service than action, based on your message to the Archive - we had every reason to think that you were securing a dominant position. And when you did, we called the galaxy-wide meeting off.

We have broken no deals, and have - at every stage of this game - let the Influence of other nations guide our actions. You somewhat temporarily allied with the two (as of now, I think?) lowest-influence player factions in the game and have broken a public commitment. Don't try to paint it as charitable that you're overlooking this.

And, to put our money where our mouth is, all messages sent in #163 are now public. All may read them. The Chrysaorian Hegemony will be judged fairly, or not at all.

[Writtensanity]

MOR 8
INF 8

Spoiler: To the Hegemony: Public

Show

First. We would like to establish that Cabals can be any size. You just need to be brave enough.

Second: Our message to the Archive, which was not for your eyes, pointed out that without the Umbra teleporting, we cannot commit to creating pathways to the Nascence. We also cannot know if the vote passed until it would be too late to close the veil gates. No matter the target of our war declaration, we could not compromise the safety of Host Station to make an offensive action in war. We must maintain the broadcast.

Furthermore your deal asked us to break our public contract with the Competiton of Minds to defend them from attackers. We have signed a contract with them, and we take that seriously, thanks.

Additionally: Letting the Domin who we’d previously fought with in glorious bloody combat, know that we WOULD support them in a conflict between the two of you is hardly spurring them to war. Unless the only thing keeping them from attacking was a perceived lack of firepower.

Thank you for the title, we at Channel Seldiva will wear it proudly. We clearly have different ideas of how to a nation can be influential. We prefer actions to calls to action.

How long have you been at war with the Nascence and Umbra? Hard to tell sometimes when there's no reason to televise your actions.

Neptune, Station Head @ Nationbreakers

Use #Nationbreakers for your chance to win of once in a lifetime trip to Principia!

[neriractor]

The Hecatian Shade

Lifeblood

The local leaders of the Araxia system were hesitant, paranoid even, more so than they had been since the fall of their close allies, the ONU federation, with heavy economic ties between them it was no surprise when a few years after the conquering shade moved against them again, the only surprise came with the terrifying plague they had brought with them.

It was very recent, and yet almost a distant memory in these most interesting of times. Araxia had already become accustomed to their new role within the shade, their economy flourishing after the abrupt end to their isolation. Only really struggling under martial requirements, Araxia had been a client state of the Arco-medeans for most of its history and given the low reproductive rates of the Araxian dominant species they preferred that sort of protection to the collective service championed by the Shade.

What few of their own had to fight, crewed new vessels made with Hecatian tech and went off to fight in the coming war to defend the machine god, whether they died or deserted is a mystery to all but them, all that mattered is that they didn’t come back.

Revolt and instability ensued as the enraged lower class failed to see their kin or any gain from their sacrifice. Being by the border, during the coming months Araxia suffered the most from the marauders (psychic or not) preying on the weakened shade, but that’s not what had them paranoid, no, it was another thing that made their trust falter...

Things got better, very much so, as Ala Cait and the centralized shade revitalized trade, improved a much blemished diplomatic stance and rounded up weak spots with reforms and investment, the banditry that plagued them rescinded, and with a small show of force from the wider Shade revolution was prevented, the leadership of Araxia never expected the day to come where they’ll regret that…

Their political position within the Shade wasn’t particularly tenuous by any means, it was in fact exactly the same as all other groups within the it: Free as far as you can throw your weight around, with the unspoken knowledge that no one but Hecan itself could throw their weight around as much as the follower, and crashing with something else worked about as well for the less heavy object as it usually did literally.

It was thus that the Araxia were faced with a choice “Pack up and leave with our aid or...” the or needn't be completed, if they were left behind it would be with nothing, in bare rocks so depleted as to put the actual Shade to shame. Those that knew of the ultimatum in Araxia were for a while reeling from the loss of their wall to reveal a new sword, joining the Channel to the 60s and the new arrivals to their sum.

It was this choice that made their hearts fill with such doubt, despite the lack of actual choice. Within a week the fleets prepared to work with them started arriving, with enough weapons to obliterate a moon even as they were supposedly only transport ships for the first wave of migrants and resources; no one but the leadership knew of the Araxian relocation before the fleets started loitering within their bounds and at the beginning most cheered, expecting the fleet to be directed towards the Clans or the channel! young ones played pretend wars, getting mad when they didn’t get to play the fivefold scourge… After a month of building forces without a single message to anyone but the higher of higher ups it was getting harder to hide what was actually…

The reply to the ultimatum was given shortly, in a public message originally meant supposed to rally the people against the Shade, before they remembered the shadow of reality looming in their stations and across their space. Val-Uruk had seceded when The Shade was at their absolute worst, and they had paid all the same. A tamer message was delivered, and of course, still caused outcry.

Some short-lived souls resisted physically, attempting to dislodge Shade forces from stations and planets, their governments quickly stamping such actions before they grew into a wider incident, and soon the move started, a colossal migration program relocated Araxians all across the wider shades, for the waste avoiding shade there was barely a totally free source of resources, and aside from understanding the need for a stable breeding population there was little care given to how close they were to each other and more to where their enclaves would be the most useful.

When all who could bear such an exodus were sent on it the Shade went about what it did best: consumption. And expectations were kept, when the massive crafts of resource extraction were done with the Araxian system it was hard to believe life had been previously sustained there, and what life remained in stations and ships despite Shade insistence to relocate could hardly be called lucky.

Summons

The reunion place had to be bigger this time around, the tech arrays that kept the Shade species comfy ever more impressive as more and more systems “joined”. Ala Cait presided over proceedings as per usual, flanked by Warmaster Adalith, an oxymoron of a fanatic who decided to take the post so their order had full control over the Herald’s deployment; and the first speaker of the Hecan Cult, who were flanked by representatives from the Alears and what was left of the Hecatian agrupations respectively, then those were flanked by the Rom Manufacturing Conglomerate that had recently muscled its way to relevance on being granted use of Magnus support and the ONU ministers respectively, and so on, until an extremely wide circle was formed, with an arena below them if ritual combat was called for.

The talk was as calm as these things can get, with hardly any combat and screaming being kept to a minimum for the first few days of meeting. “The Magnus debt”, “Ultrum arrogance”, “devil deals”, “renewed effort”, “exploration”, “the fallout of relocation”, “lessons learned”, “the renewal of reverse Hecan”, “belief and power”, etc… the issues dealt with could be listed for the rest of time, or at least that’s how it felt for the representatives, but it was worth it, a scarce few weeks after the conference started the shade had its matters settled and mostly agreed by all. The course was set and as usual it was the follower who would steer The Shade towards its ultimate goal.

Morale 8, Inf 4

PCs

Spoiler: Channel Seldiva

Show

unsucessful as you have been, it is clear, yes.

We are no expert in media unlike yourselves, but frankly... "gianst psychic cyborg Saurians" is its own answer. A shame that they went down so easily.

As we were the ones to originally suggest dealing with the Umbra in any possible manner, what do you propose besides, of course voting for the nascense to go "away"?

-Ala Cait "The follower", second speaker of hecan, Magni.

Spoiler: Ultrun Donim

Show

To Lucan and the recently recovered Tara, warleaders of (what's left of) the Ultrum,

we acquiesce.

-Ala Cait "The follower", second speaker of hecan, Magni.

Spoiler: Logopathor, The artificial God

Show

To logopathor and its followers, adrift,

its late for what preemptive efforts we wished to take before, fixing the disastrous offense took precedence and now we are at the point we feared but failed to prepare for.

The torch is bruised, but still bright, regardless of other flames... Join us in unearthing the secrets of the past again, and our very own piece of these will carve out a place for you, and have you away from the Donim's predations.

With the utmost respect, as always,
-Chit'al, Head engineer of the Tria-khan shipyards and associates.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Lend me logopathor for my midturn crawls and I'll lend you the Herald (and some mor for protection) so you can use it with your +1 mil item to take over one of the nearby sectors, I'll let you know which after I talk with the Knights.

Spoiler: Magnus Apparatus

Show

A measure of our previous strength has been achieved, though we are open to more aid, if you are open to providing it.

If the 3 sci is for Arco-medean delving could you guarantee replenishment in case of attrition?

-Ala Cait "The follower", second speaker of hecan, Magni.

Spoiler: Competition of minds

Show

Supreme Judge Anderson,

may we continue a version of our usual deal, now that we have organized some practitioners?

--Ala Cait "The follower", second speaker of hecan, Magni.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

my 1 psi for either inf or sci, still deciding on which I need more this turn

Spoiler: Knights of Dorias

Show

To the knights, mighty as none other,

Your aid was instrumental on punishing the Val-Uruk Rebels, and we would certainly enjoy doing business with you again, even beyond the likes of hiring (though we may still do so).

Though we have two matters to discuss before any such deals:

do you need aid for making your way towards [44] we can always lend you some work crews.

Will the Lord Commander be available for this campaign season or is he preoccupied with the burocracy of the knigths?

-Warmaster Adalith, Commander of the Herald's servants.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

offer to trade sci so you can build the road to 44, if you actually need a trade or have something fancy like a piece of archaotech I'm all ears, otherwise just letting you know that the Shade is a big fan of the Lord Commander

Spoiler: The Chrysaorian Hegemony

Show

To the Hegemony, pinacles of knowledge,

We are of course, glad that a step has been taken towards reconciliation and hope trade can be reignited if it is not asking for much. If you still wish for a meeting let us know and we will join, a respite enough to finally pool our forces towards aiding the Archive may be on the cards, thought it will depend on the actitude of the Channel you currently bicker with.

-Ala Cait "The follower", second speaker of hecan, Magni.

NPCs

Spoiler: PPS

Show

We both made mistakes, but this is a matter of nations and companies, not of sentimental concerns.

We were hoping to hire the defense package, our squabbles made unavailable, and possibly omniscience, though I'll have to measure interest within the wider shade.

-Ala Cait "The follower", second speaker of hecan, Magni.

[n0ble]

Morale 15
Inf. 4

Spoiler: PPS

Show

We have economies to spare this turn.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Have 7 Econ for use, what options besides PEST would that get me?

Spoiler: The Shade

Show

Good.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Understood. I'll be declaring war on you this Midturn as a matter of course. Will rescind it when I get my Econ.

Spoiler: Magnus Apparatus

Show

//::Cycling]
//::[[input]: Offer

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Will lease the previous system you asked for: asking use of 3 Econ/Turn for use of the system and Ultrum will pledge to a mutual defensive pact with the Magnus Apparatus-publically if need be. Additionally, willing to negotiate further use of my archeotech site in [21] when it becomes open.

[Vrock Bait]

Logopathor, Artificial God

Transcribed from Recording 45-6A, eventually becoming part of Martyrdom, 27th book of the Creed

Exodus arrives at midnight.

The Domin ships are slow; unused to travel. Most of them used to fly in the open vacuum, after all. Their vessels are top-of-the-line Seldiva cameraships, but the steadfast steed does not save the poor rider.

Regardless, we have been in pursuit for five months and seven weeks. More accurately, they have been in pursuit. We run around this small asteroid, them and I, just three kings stripped of their crowns and the last Logopatronite in all Korykabria.

The built-for-TV ships eat fuel like nothing else. The Ultrumites refuel every five days, giving me a chance for escape, once again, around this little asteroid of our hopes and dreams. The xenomagnetic field it exerts prevents more than two vessels from going around it. We dance back and forth around our spherical ballroom; I throw my latest long-winded insult through their open channel, they respond with another of their creative euphemisms, no doubt inspired by the cosmic visions they had when we drained them of their powers. This is an expressive and smooth dance; they are expressive and smooth partners.

I often think of my death.

It will be my hands torn off, then my feet and my legs and arms and my head, I think. I wonder how they will do this without their great strength. Perhaps something from an Idrian aerobics routine. God knows they could use the exercise.

God knows other things as well. He knows that I cradle a portrait in my palm at night, drenched with the tears of my nerves. Perhaps Nian’s ship exited the system early. Perhaps she left in an escape pod before those dreadful explosions. I will never know. I know that I will never know. So why do I care?

Rationality. That great mistress of the universe, the rival of our lawful wife in Sentiment. No, they are not rivals. Rationality and Sentiment work in tune, one next to the other. No, the great rival of Rationality is Animalism. Animalism tells me that I should be afraid of my death.

Am I afraid? I am running out of fuel. I will not see Nian again either way. The long darkness… is disturbing, yes. But I have survived it for an eternity before my birth. I have survived it, and I am sane and alive and intelligent now.

Can a point of light truly be called the life of a being? I have lived an eternity of lives in the darkness… I will again. I have lived more lives in the shadows of the world than in the light. Perhaps the lady darkness is just reclaiming her creature again.

In the end, I think I will welcome death. I just cannot sate my curiosity.

[This recording was found in a blackbox orbiting around the rare earth asteroid Danvers-7D. No other ships have been found, and almost every other record in the blackbox is corrupted from age. The creator of this recording is unknown, as is the “Nian” he refers to.]

Public

Spoiler: Hecatian Shade

Show

Greetings,

Before we send the meeting codes to reconvene with our wayward ally, we shall have to ask exactly what you were discussing with the Domin. Our allies are few, you understand. Our wayward ally has their own plans prepared.

Yours in diplomacy,
Logopathor & Co.

[kemmotar]

Oracle Family Company
Influence 5
Morale 7

What is that you are scribbling there brother?

Meerza asked in curiosity as she entered the penthouse office belonging to Zerreshhk.

Hah? Oh...ah..this?

Zerreshhk seemed to have been deep in thought and having difficulty tearing himself away.

Ah Meerza...it's a vision board! I saw it on one of Seldiva's channels. The lady presenting the show had quite...a different vision. It was mostly about the ways she wanted to kill people...but it was quite interesting. Apparently...you have to "Visualise" what you want to achieve and put it in your "Vision Board" and then through the process of creation you focus your self into creating the vision..

Meerza looked unconvinced by the whole propsect as she examined what appeared to be a map of Principia with various pictures as well as sketches which seemed to be...

....have you been using paint...on the wall screens? And...you are a paragon of psionic power...why would you require...a vision board to make your visions your reality?

Zerreshhk replied, completely ignoring the paint comment, which appeared to be true.

In order to impose your internal will upon the world and bend it to your will. You must visualise imposing it upon the item. Now imagine...imposing your will upon the entire sector. It is mindbogglingly enormous. Capture it and hold it in your mind...you can't....

He said triumphantly.

But the Seldivan hada point even if she didn't know what she was talking about! Make it smaller fit the world into something physical, something that represents it but fits in your mind's eye. Understand it and what is within it. Then youn can bend it to your will.

Meerza looked dumbfounded at the absurd situation evolving before her eyes unable to decide if this was her brother's descent into insanity or moment of genius.

Spoiler: Ultrum Domin - Morale 7

Show

"Warriors of the Ultrum Domin, though perhaps late we offer you greeting. We had our eyes set on Korykabria though it seems we were hasty in creating a path to it and late in declaring our interest. The remaining floors of the installation there could be of interest to us. We hope you would consider a trade for it in the coming season? What would you seek to gain in exchange for it? We have heard...rumours that you were betrayed by an unreliable dealer. Are you able to name that so we would know not to deal with them?"

Spoiler: Chrysaorian Hegemony - Morale 7

Show

"So you attempt to create something...we hoped perhaps you had discovered some free will or backbone. We decide to give you a chance, we offer to send you a representative and you snub us? Perhaps your influence is only worth what you paid for it. How long before the Domin realise they can and should grind you under your boot. You squander any and all opportunities to actually make any allies.

[Let'sGetKraken]

The Chrysaorian Hegemony

Morale 12
Influence 8

Spoiler: To the Oracle Family Company

Show

Our sincerest apologies. In the excitement of our discourse with Channel Seldiva, it appears your message was overlooked.

Our missive was originally sent in the context of a dangerous, deadly cabal forming on the other side of the galaxy. We are still willing to meet with you, should you wish to discuss other forms of cooperation.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Sorry about that. Been busy IRL with a new job, and I missed your message.

I do have a VIP available for a meeting, if you're interested. Would you be opposed to it also including the Knights and the Apparatus?