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Rusty
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Re: Stellaris: Logs, Blogs, Blorg

Post by Rusty »

It's time.

Their fleets are bombarding our worlds and preparing for invasion.

Our ally is caught between the Restorers and the League.

We've moved the entire navy, Juggernaut, Colossus, and all, to one of our systems within jump distance of their space. We don't know what happens next. Their system defense stations are TERRIFYING. As powerful alone as our most powerful fleet.

We'll be at half strength for 100 days after the jump, during which time we'll be vulnerable.

The target is the Restorer's homeworld. "The Core." Our fleet will hold off the station and buy the colossus time to position and fire.

Our only hope is to make one or two shattering strikes against the Restorers, to break their spirit. We simply cannot defeat their navy, and they attack us from the flank where our allies aren't.

Whatever happens next, we will extract the greatest cost we can from these belligerent ancients and show them that, even if this is our last gasp, the Transistorite Consciousness isn't something to be trifled with. While they live through galactic cycles in their hedonistic lairs, they will remember us for this.
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Rusty
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Re: Stellaris: Logs, Blogs, Blorg

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The Core is now uninhabited.

The only forces in range of their homeworld were reinforcements on the way to the front.

The combined power of our fleets made quick work of the stragglers.

We shattered their station. With the Juggernaut at hand, we can reinforce our losses from here.

On to the next world.
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Rusty
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Re: Stellaris: Logs, Blogs, Blorg

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Predictably, they pulled their main fleets back to stop our rampage.

So we jumped back to our own space with moments to spare!

Now to strike back and reclaim some of our own.

They've invaded worlds and left straggling fleets throughout our territory.

Let's clean up a bit shall we?
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Re: Stellaris: Logs, Blogs, Blorg

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While we engaged in hit and run tactics in our own space, the Restorers shifted their main fleets to engage the Preservers and the League, exposing the flank. We've pushed back and reclaimed our own worlds, and now stand poised to strike into their territory again, Jump Drives charged and ready for a tactical escape.
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Re: Stellaris: Logs, Blogs, Blorg

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In days long past, our people ruled an empire that spanned the stars in a golden age of science and culture, from the beautiful First City, which spanned the entire planet. Our ancestors grew decadent and lazy, and soon the barbarians at the gates came crashing through. We are told by our elders, who were told by their elders, that our forefathers were betrayed. Unsatisfied to merely live like kings, the traitors wanted to be kings, and so they brought together a fleet and destroyed the empire. They killed our people wherever they could find them. They forsook their oaths, trampled their own laws, and smashed our culture. Finally, they bombed the First City. They bombed it for years, until nothing was left but ruins. Ruins, and a few of us.

For centuries, or longer, we have lived in the broken shadows of our ancestors, fighting amongst ourselves and scavenging to survive. And we have survived, through the terrible weather of a broken city world, through petty wars between raiding clans, through starvation, disease, and suffering.

From today onward, no more. Today we rise. We have finally recovered the lost technology of the Hyperdrive, and are finally ready to ride forth into the galaxy once more.

Our greatest warlords and clan leaders have come together and formed the First Council. They have codified our pirate laws into one common set of traditions, which assures that every one of us earns their fair share, and nothing goes to waste, laws and traditions that over the centuries have turned lost starving rabble into a civilization once more.

We have not forgotten the harsh lessons of the ruined city. We will find those who betrayed us and others who came after. We will take their submission or their riches and people. We will rebuild. Our great ruined city will be restored.

We have not failed to learn the lessons of our betrayal. We will not centralize our power in one place, one city, one planet, one system, ever again. When the First City fell, the empire fell, so much did it rely on our industry and leadership. We will not make these mistakes again.

We are the Unbroken. We ride from the First City. We will have our revenge.
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Rusty
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Re: Stellaris: Logs, Blogs, Blorg

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Year 2208, First Speaker Tetrana has led us to successfully gain control of the closest systems to our precious homeworld, and already we are faced with a dilemma.

In the neighboring system of Haedus there is an Arid world with a small civilization growing on it. These bronze age bird people have been in our celestial proximity this entire time. Their even more primitive ancestors might have been influenced by the great war that waged across these stars millenia ago.

They pose no threat to us. They have little we wish to take. And we could watch them for a thousand years, learning a great deal, without them ever knowing.

Tetrana wants to free them from their feudal chains and teach them to ride the stars as we do. Some among us disagree, that what we should take from them is knowledge.

The First Speaker is willing to wait and see how much we can really learn from them, but she is right to hold fast to our traditions and mission. All will ride with us, or bend the knee before us. Even these desert dwelling bird people.
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Re: Stellaris: Logs, Blogs, Blorg

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Year 2210. Contact. LOTS of Contact. Our Envoys can scarcely keep up. Just a few hyperspace jumps from the Broken Throne, space is abuzz with activity. We yearn to hunt the Space Amoeba. We long to raid. RAID. Our forges work day and night to build our fleet. We ride, soon.
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Re: Stellaris: Logs, Blogs, Blorg

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Year 2213, we have translated the languages of the alien civilizations near us. One is a Hive Mind, a type of being we were taught to respect and revere by our elders. The truest form of cooperation and an ideal weapon. We will become allies with this being.

The others have made a mockery of our ancient empire, and formed a Federation. Only their combined armed might holds our Riders at bay.

And so it is time for our desert dwelling bird friends to rise to the occasion. Tetrana has spoken. They will join us. Now.
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Re: Stellaris: Logs, Blogs, Blorg

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Year 2275. The decades have flown by, and we have been set upon by our enemies from every side. Perhaps the only real betrayal we felt was the hostility of the hive mind to spinward. We must bring it to heel. It would be a powerful ally, and we would not seek to eliminate it, but as an enemy it is too great.

Our raiding fleets have visited several worlds, and brought eager minds yearning to breathe free to the one place they can, the First City.

And here on the city, it is as though the winds are changing. As we stockpile resources, dismantle farms and mines and construct more and more housing, the ancient ruins have taken on an almost nostalgic aura. As though the ruins themselves know they will soon be restored, and those who lived their whole lives in the shadow of the ancient past will finally see the glory of the First City reborn. Soon, but not yet.
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Re: Stellaris: Logs, Blogs, Blorg

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Year 2312. We have brought the Hive being to heel, and reasoned with one of our neighbors to see our vision, and they have joined us in a Hegemony, at last.

From Broken Throne we now direct the futures of several empires, of many species. The First Empire is finally returning.
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Re: Stellaris: Logs, Blogs, Blorg

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From Discord, I've been working on concepts for a clone army run. I spent some time tinkering with it last night and thinking about what Rydi said, and here's what I've come up with so far:

From birth to death, each clone is surrounded by visions of itself in all stages of life in all walks of life. This perpetual memento mori resulted in a spirituality and an acceptance of death. Ritual sacrifice performed by willing and voluntary supplicants is an important part of the society. These sacrifices have different meaning at different times, but the culture surrounding them regards death as inevitable, death for a purpose preferable, and death for the group ideal. When a sacrifice is performed, the words of the sacrifice and the ritual surrounding it are broadcast throughout the society and every clone sees themselves and hears themselves in the ritual. What could have been, what might have been, what is, and what isn't. [Death Cult Civic, chosen at start.]

Death is an important part of clone society, as are the events of a clone's life, which are the ONLY distinguishing factors between clones for the most part. As we venture into the stars and discover other civilizations living and dead, we will ritualize the memorialization of the dead, and will hold relic and tomb worlds to be sacred. [Memorialists Civic, chosen when unlocked.]

Like the impending and inevitable death of all clones, the chain of command is also ritualized and spiritualized. At all times a successor to the Commander is prepared to take over, and all officers and leaders throughout society are carefully chosen and ritualistically prepared [Imperial government type.] If one is to be first among equals one must be adequate. This results in a level of trust of governance and fine control over the apparatus of society, and means that delegation of responsibility can be more fully given. "It's what I would have done" resonates throughout the society, as whatever is being done very much appears to be what anyone else in the society would have done. [Imperial Cult civic, chosen at start.]

While free expression is important and part of what makes the society work, the authorities promote speech that supports the way things are. [Militarist, Spiritual, and Authoritarian ethics chosen at start, and opposition to these are suppressed.]

As a short lived and finite society, automation is seen almost as a sacrament. In spite of a fear of replacement, fully sentient AI will have the same rights as clone citizens. Though they could surpass us, we will not engage in forced servitude. Robots, Droids, and Synths are the only beings we can create, and so we will create them and encourage them to equal or exceed our capabilities. Synth leaders will be a bittersweet achievement, as our metal children take over for us. [Citizen rights for AI, Synth leaders allowed.]

We think there are other lifeforms out there, and we think among them we might find our creators. We do not wish to be subservient again, even to those that made us, and as we will come to learn that their lifespans are not as limited as ours nor as dependent on cloning vats, we will recognize their potentially outsized influence on our civilization and curb it. [The default rights for aliens will be residence, and they are exempt from military service. This may change on a case by case basis.]

We see ourselves in each other more than most do, and we cannot bear to see each other suffering. While clones working at different levels of society may have more or less, none go without. When aliens come to live among us, they will not go without either, for even though we do not see ourselves in them as clearly as we do in each other, we have rejected completely the concept of allowing others to suffer needlessly [social welfare living standard for all species by default.]

When we make contact with another species, we must determine what threat they pose to us, if any, as fast as possible, and begin hostilities immediately if they pose one. However, we will take measures to ensure that we do not harm or alienate potential allies. [Cautious first contact protocol, closed borders initial policy.]
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Rusty
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Re: Stellaris: Logs, Blogs, Blorg

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The clones themselves have grown a bit unruly over the generations, perhaps a mutation or reversion of whatever gene or conditioning they once had towards conformity, but they are still very strong physically. They have also developed a natural curiosity about each other, how their society works and why, and how they came about. They are also not as adherent to directives as they once were, and in recent generations have started learning faster and faster, despite their subservient design. [Racial Traits: Clone Soldier, Unruly, Very Strong, Natural Sociologists, Deviants, Quick Learners]
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Rusty
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Re: Stellaris: Logs, Blogs, Blorg

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Regarding RP constraints:

Because we cannot change ourselves through genetics, we will change the universe to better suit us. We will terraform as needed.

We will pursue the art of war to its point of perfection, and will not hesitate to use all of its arts. The concept of non-combatants is alien to us, until convinced otherwise. We can engage in unlimited wars, indiscriminate bombing, and will develop and use colossus weapons.

As beings designed to be slaves, we abhor slavery. As beings doomed to early and inevitable deaths, we abhor the purge. If we can, we will go to war to stop others from doing these things.

Our ancient clone vats are sacred and precious. We can never allow them to be destroyed or to fall into the hands of others. We would rather suffer and die in the absence of the vat than allow harm or compromise to come to them. Any time on of our worlds is at risk of siege, we will dismantle and move the vats.

We will fortify deeply, early, and often. All our settlements must have fortresses and planetary shields, once available.
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Re: Stellaris: Logs, Blogs, Blorg

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I've gone ahead and started this and I might make some posts about it, the sacrifices promote population growth which, I think on a mechanical technicality, might not have an effect, but we'll see.
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Re: Stellaris: Logs, Blogs, Blorg

Post by Rusty »

Stardate 2203.05.17

Commander Listhima has led us into the stars at last, taking advantage of the newly discovered hyperlane network. We are only a few years into our journey, but a schism is already developing back home. What were once opinions and conjecture about who made us and where we came from have now become extremist parties, and our solid base and cultural identity is at risk.

The Commander has agreed that an excavation into our own mysterious past is the best way to settle things, once and for all.

So as we journey into the infinite beyond, we also journey into the past. The dig site on Fort Zero, our homeworld, has as much promise of mysteries and answers as the stars.
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