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Completed Let's Play Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri
- Thread starter Cassidy
- Start date
1A
2C
3B
2C
3B
Corporate_Jew_Master
Arcane
B
B
B
B
B
1. A
2. A
3. B
2. A
3. B
anus_pounder
Arcane
BBB
Cassidy
Arcane
1 - B, no Cloning Vats
2 - A, Retain Agenda 23 forever and 3 - B, use attack helicopters, and needlejets for air superiority, have won.
Yang's hordes are a serious pain in the ass, and use of mind worms will be very important.
================
As someone who respects real science and advocates real public commitments to science and critical thinking education and real public investments in research and sustainable infrastructure, I am annoyed of course with the deranging futurological frames and narratives of techno-transcendentalists -- immortal cyberangels! nano-magick utility-fog! -- and disasterbators -- Robocalypse! grey goo! -- who cater to the fears and fantasies of the uninformed and skew policy priorities -- for instance, the futurological enablement of reactionary talk about raising the retirement age.
-- Dale Carrico, "Condensed Critique of Transhumanism", Datalinks.
I, Robot
: Great job! My agents are awaiting for transportation in the designated embarking area. Yang will not even know what has hit them!
: I am not completely at ease with this, but at this point, this is the lesser of two evils.
Another horde is successfully stopped, but, like in a trash film about the endless cannon fodder of the Soviet Union almost four hundred years ago, the Human Hive can reckless sacrifice more and more, and worse, drown Jerusalem with corpses.
The air raid sirens roared, swarms of missiles flew in the air and many feared this was the end, but after the first air strike, there was no aircraft remaining, for against all odds, all of them were destroyed.
The intensity of the Hive's air assault increased drastically. Fearing Jerusalem could fall, measures were already in motion to ensure the other cities could withstand such a massive assault. The Perimeter defense in the Western Culture Hub would be critical, in that case.
The fight for air superiority is a harsh one, many good pilots dying, the Hive still in vast numerical superiority.
Companions the creator seeks, not corpses, not herds and believers. Fellow creators the creator seeks -- those who write new values on new tablets. Companions the creator seeks, and fellow harvesters; for everything about him is ripe for the harvest.
-- Friedrich Nietzsche, "Thus Spoke Zarathustra", Datalinks
: We have finally achieved the degree of technological advance necessary to translate those mysterious monoliths in this Planet, and more importantly, to translate any form of language from any sentient alien species which may exist in this universe. This will be a costly project, but its benefits, the knowledge we could uncover, it would propel us towards certain technological supremacy, and serve mankind and the United Nations for all eternity.
: Proceed, but know that the Gaians will also certainly attempt to build this for their own purposes. We will have serious competition.
: We have finally reached the capability to map the genome of all sentient species on Alpha Centauri, and there is a hypothesis that the mind worms can identify a certain kind of "tag" that marks native species, and prioritize their aggression on any living being that lacks such tags, which could, as you may have already guessed, Commissioner, allow us to re-engineer ourselves with such tag. With our technological grasp of genetic engineering, it is more than possible to create a mutagen that will "tag" everyone and make the Planet and the mind worms assume we are native species. All we need for now is to commence research on mapping the genetics of this Planet.
: Would there be any side effects to such mutagen project?
: We cannot yet confirm.
On the very base that was central to the Peacekeeper war effort as the primary source of new ground forces, something happened in spite of all ecological safeguards.
And once again, fungus explore, consuming an entire section of forests and sprawling a horde of dangerous mind worms.
Probably the strange and alien Planetmind was not responsible for this.
Legions and more legions assaulted Jerusalem. Nearly all defenses were lost, and all Vishnu fighters were overwhelmed.
The situation became simply hopeless, however, every year was valuable, and Jerusalem held a long time considering the odds. Those who gave their lives for freedom will never be forgotten.
Morgan offers a very valuable technology.
Time dilates as the speed of light approaches. To the extent that light consists of particles, it is in its own way timeless. Through simple perturbations of the temporal manifold, we can refract or repel photons most efficiently.
-- Academician Prokhor Zakharov, "Now We Are Alone"
Morgan's end might draw near. The Gaians zealous defense of the environment and the Morganite desire to exploit everything and everyone without restraint made such a conflict inevitable.
Know therefore and discern, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the anointed one, the prince, shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: it shall be built again, with street and moat, even in troublous times. And after the threescore and two weeks shall the anointed one be cut off, and shall have nothing: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and even unto the end shall be war; desolations are determined. And he shall make a firm covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease; and upon the wing of abominations shall come one that maketh desolate; and even unto the full end, and that determined, shall wrath be poured out upon the desolate.
-- The Conclave Bible, Datalinks.
You see in this dome the intermingling of native and earth plants. Outside, they are competitors, struggling over the trace elements required for life. Often, one destroys the other. Here, they are tended with care and kept well nourished. They thrive together, and the native fungus does not unleash its terrible defenses. As you can see, competition is unnecessary when resources are plentiful and population growth is controlled.
-- Lady Deirdre Skye, "Planet Dreams"
The first Hybrid Forest of the United Nations is constructed in the Education Agency, and its benefits are very substantial.
After the construction of a Hybrid Forest in U.N. HQ was finally concluded, the Universal Translation project began. Because of its benefits, its success was imperative.
: Give them an objective, and the Corps will seize it.
: Skip Jerusalem altogether, and try to sneak into Godwinson's "Hope". Speaking of hope, I really hope what I am unleashing is not worse than what the Hive does every day.
: I have no doubts it isn't. This will be a long travel, however, but we will be ready. Godwinson's Hope will be liberated.
Remember, genes are NOT blueprints. This means you can't, for example, insert "the genes for an elephant's trunk" into a giraffe and get a giraffe with a trunk. There -are- no genes for trunks. What you CAN do with genes is chemistry, since DNA codes for chemicals. For instance, we can in theory splice the native plants' talent for nitrogen fixation into a terran plant.
-- Academician Prokhor Zakharov, "Nonlinear Genetics"
: Commissioner, may I suggest immediate research of Centauri Psi? The offensive potential is much great, and it could turn the tides against the Hive. Furthermore, there are other, very... interesting applications from understanding exactly how psychic capabilities work.
: I do not like where you are going with such "interesting applications", but I will nonetheless approve such research.
UNATCO operatives are called to halt the Hive offensive through officer assassinations and incitement of defections. Yang is totally unwilling to reason, and this will be truly a war to the bitter end. The First Planet War is far from over.
The Shard Marines of the Hive defected, and now, ready to die as free men rather than ever return to the horrific life of slavery within the Hive, they immediately attacked nearby enemy forces.
With their conquests of Morganite bases, the Gaians had a devious plan in mind, and Morgan, in spite of his Vendetta against the Gaians, simply abstained instead of voting for Lal. Deirdre thus was once again elected Planetary Governor, but hopefully soon this would change.
Not so soon, unfortunately.
Good news, other than for healthcare concerns.
With their infrastructure once again drastically augmented, the Education Agency will resume training of UNATCO operatives to make up for the many sacrifices the struggle for freedom have demanded.
: The Mind Worms are the natural defenses of the living Planet -- the white blood cells, if you will. In a world in which unassimilated thought represents danger, the Mind Worm seeks out concentrations of sentient mental energy and destroys them, ruthlessly and efficiently.
-- Mind worm, mind worm
: Pravin, my old friend, I really believe your ethics on what is humanitarian and what is not have become long old fashioned. Most of us have already embraced this new future, I see 69.5% odds you will argue against the creation of this new take on the old philosophy of Will to Power, but the truth is, the future is changing, we are on the eve of a New Age, of a New Planet Order, and it is long overdue for the Humanitarian initiatives of the United Nations are set under a more modern ethical framework.
: Freedom is an unalienable right of every human being, augmented or not. Let us focus on the most immediate application of such concept: the transformation of everyone into a true übermensch through educational reforms that will redefine our human nature for the best as much as the genetic and nano-augmentation projects already did. That will be the legacy we will leave in this 24th Century, not any immoral attempts of justifying a totalitarian Brave New World beneath the facade of a democracy through updates on Nietzschean ideas.
: I am not saying we should transform our society in one where everyone casts the same votes a secretive thought control system ensures they will. There will be other applications to such doctrine, and I am sure Secretary Bester would like one of them in particular.
: This vaccine will take years to be developed, but once it is done, the mind worm problem that happened in Information Agency will likely never repeat again.
: I still find the idea of forcing people to chance their genome, even if for such good intentions, unethical.
: There is no need to make such mutagen mandatory. Just announce it for what it does: making the odds of you being attacked by a mind worm far less likely, and people will flock to the lines to have it. Trust me on that.
: I see. Very well, commence the Pholus Mutagen project.
Einstein would turn over in his grave. Not only does God play dice, the dice are loaded.
-- Chairman Sheng-ji Yang, "Looking God in the Eye"
Deals were made with every possible faction when intel arrived on how the Gaians were on the verge of completing the Universal Translator. It was expensive, but this would pay off immensely.
In M.Y. 2326, the first true offensive operation of Psi-Corps began. Hive aircrafts attempted to stop them, but one initial attack against the now empty isle of the deep ensured only several pilots drowning in the ocean while clawing their own eyes out and uttering "hopw roewr ne" and "good hwerta", among other things.
A second airstrike wiped out the isle, but another was already on the way, and the surrounded base could yet be liberated.
: Let us just forget what was written in one of those monoliths, and focus on useful translations. This scant evidence there could be an alien species of Lord's Believers... I really do not want to think about it.
: Or perhaps the ALIENS! invented all Earth religions.
: Nice one! I didn't know you watched that silly and unscientific Morgan TV documentary. "Ancient Aliens" inventing the religion of the Believers, how ridiculous!
: I wouldn't dismiss that possibility so quickly. First, we jumped immediately to The Will to Power thanks to the translator.
Man is a rope, tied between beast and overman -- a rope over an abyss. A dangerous across, a dangerous on-the-way, a dangerous looking-back, a dangerous shuddering and stopping. What is great in man is that he is a bridge and not an end: what can be loved in man is that he is an overture and a going under. I love those who do not know how to live, for they are those who cross over.
-- Friedrich Nietzsche, "Thus Spoke Zarathustra", Datalinks
The second result of the Universal Translator was the beginning of nanotechnological applications beyond the human body.
Our scientists now use fractal theory to "teach" the molecules to assume, or resume, a particular form. Substances of amazing strength become simple once the formulae are properly computed.
-- Col. Corazon Santiago, "The Council of War"
Manipulation of materials at a molecular level becomes a reality, Old repair techniques are replaced by nanolathes capable of repairing any device incredibly fast, and volumes and geometries can be reshaped to allow incredible feats, including practical submarine aircraft carriers on the hostile conditions of Planet and nanotechnological healing and repair bays on transport vessels capable of restoring any military force to peak condition no matter how bad the losses they previously suffered in battle.
: Yang only rules with an iron fist because his weak-willed subhumans refuse to stand up for themselves, Commissioner. Why should we have any "mercy" upon them? Why is living under the regime of the Hive less of a nightmare than anything such Dream Twister project could achieve? Death is mercy to those under the boots of the Hive, and those few who prosper there deserve anything the Twister shall inflict upon them.
: I may yet cancel this project at any moment, Secretary Bester. This may be going a little too far for us. I understand your Corps suffered many terrible casualties in the operation to liberate Godwinson's "Hope", and I offer their families my condolences, but do you understand what this device could be used for, were it to fall in the wrong hands?
: You lost dozens of units defending Jerusalem, and look what only five units of Psi Corps controlling mind worms achieved, although at a high price. With the Dream Twister, the Corps will crush Yang and free his people from their terrible slavery, Commissioner, I really recommend you continue with this project!
New designs were proposed. The Delhi is an economic, unarmored yet mighty submarine. "Submarine" however is a misnomer, were it to be compared with the submarines of Earth, for it is far more massive, as large as one of the battleships on the beginning of the 20th century, yet agile thanks to the possibilities of nanometallurgy. It could truly rule over the seas. Furthermore, a new class of transport helicopters with repair bays and an armored aircraft carrier were also designed.
: This is my current solution counter the massive air force of the Hive.
Jerusalem is lost, but may yet be recovered, much has changed, humanity is no longer the same, but the old principles of democratic rule persist among the Peacekeepers, and Lal wonders about public opinion on a couple of subjects again, before making a clear decision about them.
1) The Dream Twister is justified under the principles of The Will to Power, but not under "old-fashioned" humanitarian principles of the United Nations. Should it be constructed to counter the gigantic hordes of the Human Hive with a true nightmare they will weep tears of blood over?
A) Yes
B) No
2) Projects are costly, and the Gaians strong contenders to beat them. List them by priority from most to least important to achieve:
A) The Network Backbone - negates the cons of the Cybernetic future society among other benefits
B) The Dream Twister - + 50% Psi attack
C) The Telepathic Matrix - Hivemind empathy and positive emotions ensures drones will never riot again.
D) The Nano Factory - Military units will recover faster and can repair anywhere.
E) The Space Elevator - "The Codex Astartes calls this maneuver Steel Rehn" - units with drop pods can operate like true SPEESH MAHREENS, dropped from orbit to anywhere on Planet.
F, G, H, I, etc) Other I forgot to list here
3) Plasma shards vs. Psychic amplifiers: which should be employed as the standard weaponry of the Peacekeepers for now?
A) Plasma shards have proven themselves, and without them Jerusalem would have been lost much sooner.
B) Psychic warfare is good and will be even better if the Dream Twister gets done, and most importantly, such devices cost less minerals than plasma shard weapons.
4) Are transport helicopters useful? Should some be constructed to allow any U.N. troops to drop off on the gates of Hive bases?
A) Yes, get on the choppa!
B) No, they are a waste of resources due to their limited range.
And thanks to that I managed to beat the Gaians just in time in a far more important Project than it
2 - A, Retain Agenda 23 forever and 3 - B, use attack helicopters, and needlejets for air superiority, have won.
Yang's hordes are a serious pain in the ass, and use of mind worms will be very important.
================
As someone who respects real science and advocates real public commitments to science and critical thinking education and real public investments in research and sustainable infrastructure, I am annoyed of course with the deranging futurological frames and narratives of techno-transcendentalists -- immortal cyberangels! nano-magick utility-fog! -- and disasterbators -- Robocalypse! grey goo! -- who cater to the fears and fantasies of the uninformed and skew policy priorities -- for instance, the futurological enablement of reactionary talk about raising the retirement age.
-- Dale Carrico, "Condensed Critique of Transhumanism", Datalinks.
I, Robot
Another horde is successfully stopped, but, like in a trash film about the endless cannon fodder of the Soviet Union almost four hundred years ago, the Human Hive can reckless sacrifice more and more, and worse, drown Jerusalem with corpses.
The air raid sirens roared, swarms of missiles flew in the air and many feared this was the end, but after the first air strike, there was no aircraft remaining, for against all odds, all of them were destroyed.
The intensity of the Hive's air assault increased drastically. Fearing Jerusalem could fall, measures were already in motion to ensure the other cities could withstand such a massive assault. The Perimeter defense in the Western Culture Hub would be critical, in that case.
The fight for air superiority is a harsh one, many good pilots dying, the Hive still in vast numerical superiority.
Companions the creator seeks, not corpses, not herds and believers. Fellow creators the creator seeks -- those who write new values on new tablets. Companions the creator seeks, and fellow harvesters; for everything about him is ripe for the harvest.
-- Friedrich Nietzsche, "Thus Spoke Zarathustra", Datalinks
On the very base that was central to the Peacekeeper war effort as the primary source of new ground forces, something happened in spite of all ecological safeguards.
And once again, fungus explore, consuming an entire section of forests and sprawling a horde of dangerous mind worms.
Probably the strange and alien Planetmind was not responsible for this.
Legions and more legions assaulted Jerusalem. Nearly all defenses were lost, and all Vishnu fighters were overwhelmed.
The situation became simply hopeless, however, every year was valuable, and Jerusalem held a long time considering the odds. Those who gave their lives for freedom will never be forgotten.
Morgan offers a very valuable technology.
Time dilates as the speed of light approaches. To the extent that light consists of particles, it is in its own way timeless. Through simple perturbations of the temporal manifold, we can refract or repel photons most efficiently.
-- Academician Prokhor Zakharov, "Now We Are Alone"
Morgan's end might draw near. The Gaians zealous defense of the environment and the Morganite desire to exploit everything and everyone without restraint made such a conflict inevitable.
Know therefore and discern, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the anointed one, the prince, shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: it shall be built again, with street and moat, even in troublous times. And after the threescore and two weeks shall the anointed one be cut off, and shall have nothing: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and even unto the end shall be war; desolations are determined. And he shall make a firm covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease; and upon the wing of abominations shall come one that maketh desolate; and even unto the full end, and that determined, shall wrath be poured out upon the desolate.
-- The Conclave Bible, Datalinks.
You see in this dome the intermingling of native and earth plants. Outside, they are competitors, struggling over the trace elements required for life. Often, one destroys the other. Here, they are tended with care and kept well nourished. They thrive together, and the native fungus does not unleash its terrible defenses. As you can see, competition is unnecessary when resources are plentiful and population growth is controlled.
-- Lady Deirdre Skye, "Planet Dreams"
The first Hybrid Forest of the United Nations is constructed in the Education Agency, and its benefits are very substantial.
After the construction of a Hybrid Forest in U.N. HQ was finally concluded, the Universal Translation project began. Because of its benefits, its success was imperative.
Remember, genes are NOT blueprints. This means you can't, for example, insert "the genes for an elephant's trunk" into a giraffe and get a giraffe with a trunk. There -are- no genes for trunks. What you CAN do with genes is chemistry, since DNA codes for chemicals. For instance, we can in theory splice the native plants' talent for nitrogen fixation into a terran plant.
-- Academician Prokhor Zakharov, "Nonlinear Genetics"
UNATCO operatives are called to halt the Hive offensive through officer assassinations and incitement of defections. Yang is totally unwilling to reason, and this will be truly a war to the bitter end. The First Planet War is far from over.
The Shard Marines of the Hive defected, and now, ready to die as free men rather than ever return to the horrific life of slavery within the Hive, they immediately attacked nearby enemy forces.
With their conquests of Morganite bases, the Gaians had a devious plan in mind, and Morgan, in spite of his Vendetta against the Gaians, simply abstained instead of voting for Lal. Deirdre thus was once again elected Planetary Governor, but hopefully soon this would change.
Not so soon, unfortunately.
Good news, other than for healthcare concerns.
With their infrastructure once again drastically augmented, the Education Agency will resume training of UNATCO operatives to make up for the many sacrifices the struggle for freedom have demanded.
-- Mind worm, mind worm
Einstein would turn over in his grave. Not only does God play dice, the dice are loaded.
-- Chairman Sheng-ji Yang, "Looking God in the Eye"
Deals were made with every possible faction when intel arrived on how the Gaians were on the verge of completing the Universal Translator. It was expensive, but this would pay off immensely.
In M.Y. 2326, the first true offensive operation of Psi-Corps began. Hive aircrafts attempted to stop them, but one initial attack against the now empty isle of the deep ensured only several pilots drowning in the ocean while clawing their own eyes out and uttering "hopw roewr ne" and "good hwerta", among other things.
A second airstrike wiped out the isle, but another was already on the way, and the surrounded base could yet be liberated.
Man is a rope, tied between beast and overman -- a rope over an abyss. A dangerous across, a dangerous on-the-way, a dangerous looking-back, a dangerous shuddering and stopping. What is great in man is that he is a bridge and not an end: what can be loved in man is that he is an overture and a going under. I love those who do not know how to live, for they are those who cross over.
-- Friedrich Nietzsche, "Thus Spoke Zarathustra", Datalinks
The second result of the Universal Translator was the beginning of nanotechnological applications beyond the human body.
Our scientists now use fractal theory to "teach" the molecules to assume, or resume, a particular form. Substances of amazing strength become simple once the formulae are properly computed.
-- Col. Corazon Santiago, "The Council of War"
Manipulation of materials at a molecular level becomes a reality, Old repair techniques are replaced by nanolathes capable of repairing any device incredibly fast, and volumes and geometries can be reshaped to allow incredible feats, including practical submarine aircraft carriers on the hostile conditions of Planet and nanotechnological healing and repair bays on transport vessels capable of restoring any military force to peak condition no matter how bad the losses they previously suffered in battle.
New designs were proposed. The Delhi is an economic, unarmored yet mighty submarine. "Submarine" however is a misnomer, were it to be compared with the submarines of Earth, for it is far more massive, as large as one of the battleships on the beginning of the 20th century, yet agile thanks to the possibilities of nanometallurgy. It could truly rule over the seas. Furthermore, a new class of transport helicopters with repair bays and an armored aircraft carrier were also designed.
Jerusalem is lost, but may yet be recovered, much has changed, humanity is no longer the same, but the old principles of democratic rule persist among the Peacekeepers, and Lal wonders about public opinion on a couple of subjects again, before making a clear decision about them.
1) The Dream Twister is justified under the principles of The Will to Power, but not under "old-fashioned" humanitarian principles of the United Nations. Should it be constructed to counter the gigantic hordes of the Human Hive with a true nightmare they will weep tears of blood over?
A) Yes
B) No
2) Projects are costly, and the Gaians strong contenders to beat them. List them by priority from most to least important to achieve:
A) The Network Backbone - negates the cons of the Cybernetic future society among other benefits
B) The Dream Twister - + 50% Psi attack
C) The Telepathic Matrix - Hivemind empathy and positive emotions ensures drones will never riot again.
D) The Nano Factory - Military units will recover faster and can repair anywhere.
E) The Space Elevator - "The Codex Astartes calls this maneuver Steel Rehn" - units with drop pods can operate like true SPEESH MAHREENS, dropped from orbit to anywhere on Planet.
F, G, H, I, etc) Other I forgot to list here
3) Plasma shards vs. Psychic amplifiers: which should be employed as the standard weaponry of the Peacekeepers for now?
A) Plasma shards have proven themselves, and without them Jerusalem would have been lost much sooner.
B) Psychic warfare is good and will be even better if the Dream Twister gets done, and most importantly, such devices cost less minerals than plasma shard weapons.
4) Are transport helicopters useful? Should some be constructed to allow any U.N. troops to drop off on the gates of Hive bases?
A) Yes, get on the choppa!
B) No, they are a waste of resources due to their limited range.
Last edited:
Kalin
Unwanted
1 - A
2 - EDBCA
3 - A
4 - A
2 - EDBCA
3 - A
4 - A
1A
2BCDA
3B
4A
2BCDA
3B
4A
A
EBACD
B
B
EBACD
B
B
Cassidy
Arcane
Sorry man, but I already played through the next update before your vote but sort of forgot to post it here, and I really would rather carry on than redo it. With that in mind, the results were:
1) A - Build the Dream Twister
2) Weighing the first vote of everyone with 5 points, followed by 4, 3, 2 and if any last one is mentioned, 1, because nobody voted for a project not listed already, here the priority for now based on the sum of values:
B - The Dream Twister (18 points)
D - The Nano Factory (12 points)
C - The Telepathic Matrix (11 points)
A - The Network Backbone (10 points)
E - The Space Elevator (8 points)
3) B - Start deploying psionic weaponry instead of plasma shards against the Hive.
And in 4) there was a draw between A) get on the choppa and B) don't build transport helicopters.
I just learned the painful way that psi-weapons behave strangely on air combat. In one hand, when attacking those with SAM special ability are equally effective against air strike and ground units and with the Dream Twister, they will be very devastating, but on the other hand, when facing air units with SAM ability their psi attack is counted as only 3 points vs. the 13 of the plasma shard, and you can bet what happened because of that. I'm probably going to switch to psi helicopters with SAM as ground strike air units plus plasma air superiority needlejets for air defense.
===========================
The enemies of intellectual liberty always try to present their case as a plea for discipline versus individualism. The issue truth-versus-untruth is as far as possible kept in the background. Although the point of emphasis may vary, the writer who refuses to sell his opinions is always branded as a mere egoist. He is accused, that is, either of wanting to shut himself up in an ivory tower, or of making an exhibitionist display of his own personality, or of resisting the inevitable current of history in an attempt to cling to unjustified privileges.
-- George Orwell, "The Prevention of Literature", Datalinks
Art by Prosper
Twisted Dreams
Bear McCreary - Bloodshed
The base renamed ironically as U.N. Hope of Liberty was lost, Bester's agents slaughtered by the hordes of the Human Hive, and the Armageddon War continued to appear unfavorable for the Peacekeepers. Legions and more legions marched like ants from a hill, to die for their odious and totalitarian ideology.
However, the hope for liberty will never, ever die, no matter how many sacrifices are necessary to eventually defeat Yang and put an end to his horrors, even if it takes one thousand years of war, liberty will prevail. Let all who gave their lives to defend the principles of Democracy, Freedom and Human rights be remembered for all time.
A brave little theory, and actually quite coherent for a system of five or seven dimensions -- if only we lived in one.
-- Academician Prokhor Zakharov, "Now We Are Alone"
There was not really much of a choice in the next field of research, for in science the United Nations may yet find the means to finally turn the tide of this war. With the development of monopole magnets, many new potential applications would become possible.
On the productive field, the United Nations economy and industry is booming, and eventually, eventually, the Hive will no longer be able to gain any more ground.
Another wave wiped out, but they could afford such losses, and despite them, the Peacekeeping Forces have failed to gain ground. Worse, the loss of Jerusalem was still felt across the United Nations on Planet.
As the odds were changing, more bases were switching to training of new recruits in this seemingly everlasting war. Command Centers and Bioenhancement Centers were spreading as well.
The defenses were being readied as quickly as possible for the cost of this war has been very, very high, and the Peacekeepers were not yet fully mobilized. The Tachyon Field was a practical way of generating "force fields", at least in large scale, similar yet different from the ones depicted in 20th and early 21st Century Earth fiction books.
Over the Gaian territories, mass human cloning became the rule, which may point out a degree of hypocrisy in their fanatical environmentalism, and any reminiscence of old Earth family structures is likely to fade out completely.
The hordes of the Hive were not the only problem the U.N. was facing. While UNATCO probably saved one of the front line bases from being hit by a mind control probe, Drones riots happen one more time. Many bases are sub-optimal in terms of productivity as Empaths are utterly necessary to keep order in a humane way.
With sufficient enlightenment we can give substance to any distinction: mind without body, north without south, pleasure without pain. Remember, enlightenment is a function of willpower, not of physical strength.
-- Chairman Sheng-ji Yang, "Essays on Mind and Matter"
The klaxon began to wail, but we felt the reassuring tingle of the Tachyon Field crackling to life around us, encasing the entire base in its impenetrable glow.
-- Spartan Kel, "The Fall of Sparta"
Beware, you who seek first and final principles, for you are trampling the garden of an angry God and he awaits you just beyond the last theorem.
-- Sister Miriam Godwinson, "But for the Grace of God"
They kept attacking. Outnumbered, the superior training and nanoaugmentation of the UNAF pilots mattered nothing. The numbers dwindled and more hordes marched endlessly in this infernal war. The death toll of the Armageddon War, approaching 100 years of length, rivals that of the most devastating conflicts on Earth, but it must end, it has to.
For Yang, a perpetual war is much profitable, almost like an ancient book predicted about such brutal totalitarian states having constant war as a powerful ally to keep themselves stable. For the United Nations, it would be a tragedy.
This being repeated once again alone speaks volumes of what kind of man Yang is. A brutal tyrant that would make Stalin, Mao, Hitler and the most horrific criminals against mankind on Earth's history combine pale in comparison.
Note: I will remember this. On one hand an unit that can crush attack aircrafts and ground forces quite well, but on the other it needs escort from air units with conventional weaponry to survive, and if it gets intercepted... it's over.
The Western Culture Hub is about to fall, all struggles ending in vain. The Hive achieved air superiority, and the situation seems more and more desperate as the tragic 24th Century unfolds.
There is yet hope for the Peacekeepers, however, that the Übermensch of Freedom shall prevail against the "Morlocks" of the Human Hive.
And when the hourglass has run out, the hourglass of temporality, when the noise of secular life has grown silent and its restless or ineffectual activism has come to an end, when everything around you is still, as it is in eternity, then eternity asks you and every individual in these millions and millions about only one thing: whether you have lived in despair or not.
-- Soren Kierkegaard, "The Sickness Unto Death", Datalinks
Note: unlike the typical stuff from pretentious hackjob Sci-Fi writers, I like how these descriptions don't try to point out a "truth", and what these secrets truly mean is left as a mystery.
Another tragedy happens, the hordes continue coming, yet, the United Nations might be close to a final solution, one that will put not only this war to an end, but Yang as well. Gazing upon the Secrets of Creation, one still blurry possibility begins to be speculated about: true singularity, the end of the human era, but hopefully not the end of human freedom and individuality.
Massed artillery bombardments ravage the last hope of the Peacekeepers. For behind the Folklore Agency defenses are so thin that the only defense left would be to violate the very principles Lal stands for once, to use a weapon of mass destruction and cut off the access of the Hive to the Peacekeepers continent by sinking an entire mass of Earth.
Objects once measured in meters have become so small that they cannot be seen by the naked eye, with revolutionary applications across the board. Gentlemen, forget what your courtesans have told you: size does matter!
-- CEO Nwabudike Morgan, Morgan Industries Annual Report
A new era is beginning, and the Peacekeepers are at the forefront. With nanotechnology finally going being the relative safety of the human body, a new, even greater industrial revolution than the ones that already happened on Planet may finally give to the Peacekeepers the edge needed to win this war.
However, if this conflict lasts too long, now that almost 100 years of total war already passed, this Nano-industrial Revolution may also lead to something else... only slightly less worse than the future Yang desires...
UNATCO agents are doing their best to ensure no more bases shall fall, no matter what.
The situation is so bleak that the last mindworms are being sent in what is most likely a suicidal operation.
Then...
Note: Kalin , this sounds way too familiar.
Fortunately, Deirdre's ploy failed. This also cutted off all last remnants of positive relations between them and the United Nations, and made it very clear that there is no hope of trustworthy allies, even with the common enemy of the Hive.
It also revealed the fact Morgan most likely surrendered to the Gaians. Otherwise he would not have voted in favor of this.
Deirdre's ploy however was not the most relevant and infamous news of that Mission Year.
...
...
...
Note: I hope my "dramatic depiction" of the Dream Twister was OK. For best results listen to the audio of the original video while gazing upon the prosperous masterpieces above one by one.
Already we have turned all of our critical industries, all of our material resources, over to these . . . things . . . these lumps of silver and paste we call nanorobots. And now we propose to teach them intelligence? What, pray tell, will we do when these little homunculi awaken one day and announce that they have no further need of us?
-- Sister Miriam Godwinson, "We Must Dissent"
The 24th Century was the last century of mankind with any remote resemblance to the men of Earth. Everything was changing, everything, and the United Nations, no matter how bleak the situation at the front lines, was not so far from developing the first true Artificial Intelligence, codename Daedalus.
The Nano Factory could dramatically change the course of the war, but for now, the situation remained bleak. Mistakes were made, serious ones regarding aerial Psi Corps forces, but there was a more pressing issue: Defeatism. Some of the population insisted on trying to make peace with the Hive, while others suggested a less drastic measure before the Planet Buster becomes the literal last resort. In the end, there would be only one answer:
1) Like the United Kingdom in their Darkest Hour on Earth's 20th Century did against another brutal totalitarian regime that seemed undefeatable, we will fight to the end, and if the United Nations lasts for a million years, post-humans will still say: This was their finest hour!
2) Launch a proposal to increase the sea levels to hopefully succeed at the voting and cut off the Peacekeeper's continent from the Hive's continent, and prepare for a long, brutal naval war.
3) This is hopeless, but the Peacekeepers must at least fight well enough to force the Hive to the negotiating table, and as long as they are willing to sign a peace treaty, accept it, even if they demand technology for the same.
4) The time for resorting to last resorts is already now. Use a planet buster to cut off the Hive's direct land access to the Peacekeepers territory, preferably somewhere that will isolate their forces in the front lines from the mainland, allowing the U.N. to retake their lost bases.
Last edited:
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2 Buy time.
2, and should the vote fail, 1.
1 -> 2
Corporate_Jew_Master
Arcane
2.
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