STGOD 2k8 background thread

[Crossroads Inc.]

For me the only Military Grade Warships is the single "National Gaurd" sector force. The other ships I mentioned are going to be fairly large, orginally designed as compact "CityShips" between 1000 and 5000 meters. These will have been rapidly uparmoured and outfited with weapons. You can think of these as a Weaponized version of "Moya" from Farscape. So they are visually massive, and could hold thier own aginst most of the rest of others "Uparmoured Frighters" but would quickly retreat from a Military Grade warship.

[Hawkwings]

STGOD 2K8 concept

Imperial Remnant Faction

Corona Stars Commonwealth

Background: The Corona Stars Commonwealth is just inside the frontier of the Empire. It is civilized enough to live in, but wild enough to attract tourists and thrill-seekers who have money to spend experiencing the "frontier". Its proximity to several interesting stellar phenomena make it one of the top tourist attractions in the Empire, as well as home to several Imperial research stations and patrol bases. Many rich retirees call the CSC home, and several prominent celebrities also maintain mansions here.

As war with the Enclave dragged on, the Imperial facilities were sealed and abandoned. Many of the Imperial upper class fled from the war-ravaged core and ended up in the CSC. The CSC made use of these new people, persuading many to donate their money or skills to protect the nation and plan for the future.

Economy: Mainly tourism, supplemented by agriculture and mining of rare minerals used in high-energy devices. Recently, as tourism has slacked off, the CSC has worked to develop its light industry and pharmecuticals industry, hoping to become a provider of these supplies to nearby nations.

Industries: tourism, agriculture, mining, consumer manufacturing, pharmecuticals, rare foods, entertainment.

Exports: food, rare food, raw materials, rare minerals, consumer products, medicine, music, movies
Imports: heavy machinery, ship components, weapons

Military: The CSC military is also its police force. The CSC maintained its militia in accordance with Imperial guidelines. It is mainly suited for policing and anti-smuggling work, but also has heavier ships for assisting frontier colonies and responding to hostile threats that have sneaked past the Imperial Navy lines. The CSC military has a proud tradition of professionalism and good relations with their people. They also have not forgotten what it was like to be on the edge of Imperial space, and are constantly on guard against outside threats.

[Darkevilme]

Corvette done, tis a scout and sensor ship

The Chamaran fleet will of course be dedicated warships as for the rest.

Economy: Asteroid and gas mining to provide enough spare parts and fuel for the armada, deteroriating bio vat systems on motherships capable of sustaining the population for a limited time before loss of productivity reaches critical famine levels.

Exports: Trouble

Military: Defensive ships for the mothership fleet and dedicated pacification and conquest ships forming a rather nasty collection of curved and deadly craft.

[Covenant]

I did a little concept art sketch of an Imperial Battlesphere off in the distance on my wacom and Neph made fun of it.

[Spyder]

She did? ...ok I won't tell her how long it took me to draw a Vanguard Impulse:

[Adrian Laguna]

Imperial Battlesphere

Looks like a Hrothgar Dropship from BT/MW.

[Academia Nut]

All of you with your art and such made me spend the day (well, the parts where I wasn't moving furniture or sleeping) writing up this little piece to show you the ascension of the current leader of the Metallkonige.

Enjoy.

---

Magnus Körblson emerged from his private shrine after three days of prayer and meditation, smelling strongly of sacramental wines and hallucinogenic incense. He was wearing his full armour and had his axe slung over his back. The grim resolve on his face nearly dissolved the instant he saw Birgit standing outside the shrine, glaring at him, arms crossed just bellow her ample bosoms and resting on her swollen belly. If not for the child she carried, Magnus knew she would have hauled him out of the shrine three days ago.

“You’re not going to go through with this,” she said with enough finality that a lesser man probably would have been blown off his feet. As it was, Magnus merely winced and began, “My Iron Maiden I…”

“Oh, don’t give me that crap! Don’t think that I don’t know what you’re going to do!” She says furiously, her glare never wavering.

His initial speech vanished from his lips, and his mouth hung open like a gutted fish for a moment before he hung his head and said, “Birgit, no man can know how he exits this world, only the Lady her Lord know that for certain. But a man can choose how to meet the paths presented before him, to travel the ones he thinks most Awesome. I see too paths before me, one filled with bitterness and anger, and another with hardship and pain, and very likely my own death. As much as it pains me to think of you going on without me, it pains me more to think of me hurting you or our child in my own anger. Better a man die a noble, Awesome death than betray his own blood.”

Birgit wanted to deny this, but she was as much Könige as he, and even the lowliest of faans knew the importance of honour and nobility. Still, she would not have been his Iron Maiden if she did not resist this path he had taken up.

“You would never hurt me,” she stated imperiously.

“Me? No, but there is a beast that dwells within me, a beast that was caged in a Garaug for ten years, and you cannot deny that. It is best for the man to die with the beast if he cannot control it. I can control it today, but if I continue down the path I have been on since I left that cell fifteen years ago, then perhaps tomorrow in my own bitterness I will let go of that which I have struggled with for so long. So Birgit, I strike out over a new path. Can you forgive me for that?” Magnus says apologetically.

Sighing, she pauses for a long time before finally saying, “I assume that you have plans to have the child and me taken care of should this foolhardy scheme of yours fail.”

Nodding, Magnus says, “I travel this path alone for now, so my brothers will remain after me, and they all swore a blood oath to protect my family should I fall, as I did for their families.”

Smiling, Magnus finally looks up and says, “Worst case scenario, I expect you can snag yourself a man worthier than I when I am gone. The number of skulls decorating the nursery shows that you do not lack for suitors when single.”

Birgit smiled at the memory of how Magnus had presented her with the heads of two dozen other potential suitors as a wooing gift. They had been childhood friends before Magnus had discovered that he was blessed with Awesome. After spending most of his adolescence and the start of his adulthood locked away in a Garaug, a berserker only taken from his cell when cannon fodder was needed, he had mastered himself and come into his own as a Rücker. At that point, he simply could have asked Birgit to marry him, and as a lowly faan she would have had to have been crazy to refuse, but Magnus decided to be classy about it and romance her properly first.

Pointing a finger menacingly at him, Birgit says, “Just come back to me, okay?”

Cupping her head in his enormous gauntleted hand, Magnus leans over and kisses her on the forehead, saying, “My Lady, by tonight’s end I promise I will feast at your table, one way or another.”

Tears running down her face, she waves towards the household’s exit and says, “Go. Kick some motherfucking ass.”

Throwing the horns in salute to her, Magnus says, “As you wish my Lady.”

Leaving the house and not looking back, Magnus hops on his iron steed, firing up the engine and kicking the bike off into the air. An inheritance from his grandfather, a cagey old Dümrider, the old girl had been involved in at least one raid against the Empire and had the battle scars to prove it. While neither he nor his father had ever shown the technical aptitude of their Rhodai ancestor, at least the old man had seen his line ascend into the ranks of the Rückers before he passed away.

Carried aloft by wheels of fire, Magnus skilfully manoeuvred his bike out into the stream of traffic along the main thoroughfare of the city, cruising along casually, other traffic yielding to him, his gear marking him as a powerful and wealthy Rücker, and for those with the knowledge of the badges he wore, a Tsar, a leader of men and a commander of ground cracking forces.

But not an Über Tsar, despite his exploits. He had been told, repeatedly, by his superiors, that he deserved promotion, but he did not have the wealth to purchase a ship bigger than a Tenacious-class destroyer, and there were no avenues to greater riches open to him. The old families had their interests elsewhere, and advancement was stalling for everyone in the nation, so there were no new, wealthy families to tap. Stagnation was settling in. The Könige needed fresh blood, fresh resources, and the Empire was collapsing after the loss of their capital, leaving so many worlds undefended for the first time in countless generations.

And yet the current Rück Tsar sat on his Iron Throne and did nothing. This was the time to organize a Great Tour, to remind the universe why the Könige had managed to stand against the Empire since its foundation and had not broken. It would be a time of glory and plunder.

And yet, for ten years they had waited.

Arriving at the palace, Magnus parked his bike and began to march forward, towards his destiny. He had no idea what the Lady had in store for him, whether the presence he felt over his shoulder was the Lord of Destruction come to reap his soul or those that stood in Magnus’ way. All he knew was that today would be a Day of Awesome, a day of change.

He ascended the great basalt stairs that fronted the palace three at a time, this armour carrying him forward, past the Trollmäche guardians that stood to either side of the Gates of Awesome, forty meter high bronze doors embossed with the history of the Könige. As he went under them, Magnus silently promised every god watching that he if he won this day he would return the Könige to the glory days, when even the dead went on tour, grateful for the chance to sow chaos and destruction amongst the enemies of the Könige.

And then he was in the great hall of the Rück Tsar, filled with honour guards and milling, prattling Gröpais. Power and wealth flowed and exchanged hands within these walls with the merest gesture and word, an intricate dance played out throughout all levels of Könige society. The outsiders thought the Könige simple barbarians. They were the simple ones, having no comprehension of the honour that bound their society tightly together, of the feuds that kept them keen, and of the spirit that drove them onward to increasingly Awesome heights.

At the centre of it all was the Rück Tsar, surrounded by the thirteen Eisengrafen. Rück Tsar Horst Rikard, age 107, had ruled the Könige for 53 years, nearly half his life, and easily had another century before the pickling of his body from copious drug use began to break down and some young upstart saw fit to overthrow him as his health declined.

Magnus walked right up to the circle of the fourteen most powerful men in the nation and said, “I am Tsar Magnus Körblson,” before pulling an ornamental black powder pistol from his belt and firing it point blank at the Rück Tsar.

There was stunned silence moment after in the thunderclap after the shot rang out, but then Magnus reversed his grip on the pistol and handed it to the nearest Eisengraf, saying, “Nought but lead and powder went into the weapon.”

For his part, Horst was looking equally shocked and annoyed at being shot, the soft lead bullet having flattened itself impotently upon one of the pauldrons of his armour. Any Rück Tsar caught unarmoured outside of his private quarters deserved to die.

“What is the meaning of this?” He sputtered hoarsely.

“What does it look like old man? Or has age addled your wits such that you cannot recognize a challenge to a duel when you see it?” Magnus says sneeringly.

The Eisengraf Magnus had handed the pistol to finished his inspection and declared, “The weapon of challenge is legitimate, and the touch is confirmed. The Lady has decreed this challenge legit, do any wish to lay claim against?” After a moment of silence from the entire court, he handed the weapon to Horst and said, “None have laid a claim against the legitimacy. The challenged may respond.”

Horst grabbed the weapon angrily and stared at it angrily for a time before Magnus said, “Kill me today or I will sit at your successor’s table tomorrow.” An old saying, practically a truism amongst the Könige, it was a reminder of how much face a Rück Tsar would lose if he turned down a challenge. Then, to add on another insult, Magnus added, “Or has your senility made you forget your powder next to your mother’s bed?”

Horst growled and replied, “You’ll regret this pup,” before pulling out his own duelling powder and loading the pistol where all could see that nothing but powder and lead shot was being put into it, even going so far as to place the bullet upon his tongue to show that no poison tainted it. Once he was finished with the loading, he raised the pistol and aimed at Magnus.

Magnus did not flinch when the trigger was pulled, but he did pray for a solid hit. Smoothbore pistols with black powder and round shot were used because they were so inaccurate that they could not be used reliably at any range beyond point blank, and even then there was a chance of missing. With heavy armour, the bullets usually either flattened or bounced off, so it was perfect for issuing duels and not assassinations.

There was a solid thump on Magnus’ chest as the round struck him and shattered against his armour. If the bullet struck him a fatal blow, then that would have been a sign that he had displeased the Lady, while if it had missed the duel would have been invalid but Horst would have lost nearly as much face as if he had refused the duel, as clearly the Lady favoured the challenger. It encouraged shooting at the centre of mass.

“The challenge is accepted!” The Eisengraf who had taken over the refereeing of the duel declared, before turning to Horst and saying, “As the challenged party, with what weapons shall this duel take place with?”

“Axes,” Horst said, slinging his own weapon while Magnus did the same.

Nodding, the Eisengraf says, “Tsar Magnus Körblson has challenged Rück Tsar Horst Rikard to a duel, to be decided via axes. As a challenge to the Rück Tsar, this is to be to the death or the surrender of the challenger. All in attendance are to bear witness to the legitimacy of this duel. If any man or woman feels unworthy to bear witness, please leave now.”

In short order the hall had emptied of the majority of the Gröpais, only select members of the old families wanting to risk dying in the crossfire to bear witness to what would happen, while the Rückers stayed behind, not wanting to appear cowardly.

Once both men had their shoulder amps deployed and their axes plugged in, they saluted each other by throwing the horns and declared, “May the Most Awesome carry the day!”

Their armoured gauntlets rested on the strings of their axes, neither one ready to explode into violence quite yet, both trying to get a measure of their foe. An audible hum filled the chamber as the raw Awesome began to accumulate, charging the air electrically.

Then, with one smooth stroke born from decades of ceaseless practice, Horst launched a mighty power chord, sending out a wave of Awesome that blew Magnus off his feet and shattered his legs. The move was an obvious one, an overwhelming display of force to sweep away a pathetic upstart.

But Magnus had undergone the installation of Spinal Tap in his amour, so he controlled the motors in it directly. So long as his armour was still intact, he could still fight with his legs broken. Leaping back to his feet, he launched into a massive counter-assault that took Horst by surprise. Horst was a cagey old bastard, but Magnus had an instinctive touch for manipulating Awesome. Getting back up had quickly turned the tide on the duel.

The fingers of both combatants flew up and down their axes as Magnus marched forward relentlessly into the storm of Awesome, a dozen attacks and counters a second, notes coming out faster than shells from a rotary cannon. Several audience members exploded; their bodies unable to stand even at the periphery of such an incredible performance.

And then Magnus was right next to Horst and he swung his axe. The blades met in a shower of sparks while each man continued to play. There were several more enormous swings and parries from each party before the blades locked and they set to playing even faster, each man forehead to forehead, the air between them breaking down into glowing plasma and blue-white arcs of electricity that jumped between them.

Magnus was good; the fact that he was still standing two minutes into the duel with the Rück Tsar of the Könige testament to that, but by the gods could Horst shred! Little bits of Magnus were floating away every second as he was flayed away layer by layer from his armour and body. Several members of the audience were already diced chunks of meat on the floor. Magnus simply could not keep up the speed, and he was soon on his knees, Horst pressing him down.

Blood streaming from the ruins of his face, Magnus smiled as Horst leered down at him, the tempo and power increasing still, the volume great enough to deafen a man who had not already replaced his ears with cybernetics as protection against just such decibel levels.

“And what are smiling at fool?” Horst asks annoyed.

“I know something you don’t,” Magnus replies as his cheeks and tongue shred away from his face.

“I doubt that,” Horst replies before Magnus head-butts him in the face. Staggering back for a second, their axes now disengaged, Horst can only watch as Magnus flips his axe about, reversing his grip.

Still smiling, Magnus answers, “I’m not left handed,” before hitting a single note.

In that instant, all the Awesome Horst had built up turned against him in the sheer audacity of Magnus’ move. Blazing white light haloed Magnus as that single note rang forth, a single, absolutely acoustically perfect note.

Horst had just enough time for a single manly tear to roll down his cheek and for him to whisper, “So Awesome,” before the wave struck and he was incinerated, the flesh stripped from his bones and blackened like he had been hit by a nuclear fireball. His body remained standing for a second, nothing more than a charred skeleton encased in fused armour, mouth open in shock and arms still clutching his now molten axe. And then, like a great tree being felled, the corpse toppled to the ground and the remaining connective tissue broke apart into black ash, causing Horst’s head to roll away to the foot of the throne.

There was stunned silence amongst the surviving members of the audience, before insane cheering broke out. There was no man alive in the room who could claim to have ever seen a more Awesome duel. The Skalds would be singing about this for generations to come, and if Magnus died the next day he would still be deified upon death for that singularly Awesome performance.

Struggling to his feet, Magnus knew that he would have to get a doctor to see him soon as he knew he had suffered severe internal damage from the duel. He also knew that Horst had been a better fighter than he was, it was just that Magnus had just barely managed to be a better showman. There was a chance he might not be able to win the next duel if this was the calibre of Rücker this high up in the Könige hierarchy.

But for now he would celebrate his victory as proper. Taking an offered bottle from one of the Eisengraf, the original referee having been incinerated by standing too close to the duel, Magnus tore out the cork with his teeth, both because it looked cool and because his gauntlets had partially fused together and he couldn’t have grasped the bottle properly. Downing a third of the bottle, he then began to pour the rest out, saying, “A libation for the fallen! Horst Rikard was truly a worthy man!”

“Here, here!” Came the cries as the others in the chamber offered up their own offerings to the deceased Rück Tsar.

Slumping down into the throne that was now his, Magnus picked up Horst’s still smoking skull and held it aloft. “Let this mark the dawning of a new age! Earth has fallen, and her shadow shall never again oppress us! Let us carve up the carcass of the Empire and feast upon its entrails as the lords we are.”

Enthusiastic double horn salutes greeted this declaration. Many in attendance had been chomping at the bit to invade the territories of the now defunct Empire, but Horst had, for whatever reason, denied them that opportunity. Many would follow Magnus for having the balls to do what they had wanted while at a lower social standing. Many more would follow simply because he was Rück Tsar.

As for the rest… well, just as he had confidently manipulated the duel to his favour, Magnus knew he could get those who resisted him to come around. One way or another.

[Covenant]

Imperial Battlesphere

Looks like a Hrothgar Dropship from BT/MW.

Kinda. I don't know how many ways there are to draw a sphereship. I thought that perhaps we could give it a more millenium falcon style engine strip instead of a small array of engines, but a small array would give better turning characteristics.

I was also thinking we could add deeper ravines into the surface, trenches with guns, etc, but it all seems fairly derivitive.

I do like the idea of sphere vessels, but if we start sticking turrets onto the thing, then it really does look like a Dropship--and if we don't, then it ends up looking like a little Deathstar. Kinda confusing to think about. I think the best way would be to acutally have it be like a very short, fat rocketship shape with extra crud built up around it in a radial fashion until it was given a sphere shell.

Still, frankly, I'm looking over towads Crossroads' sig each time and wishing we could just say that we're using the Homeworld concept art for our ships. Those things are gorgeous, and obviously inspired my pic.

[Crossroads Inc.]

Still, frankly, I'm looking over towads Crossroads' sig each time and wishing we could just say that we're using the Homeworld concept art for our ships. Those things are gorgeous, and obviously inspired my pic.

Dude man... what design do you think im using for my oft talked about "Large cityship trading vessels"

I mean, thier design is just TOO perfect for this sort of thing.

And Aca Nut? You... are truely Awesom... StrongBad would be proud.

[Darkevilme]

She did? ...ok I won't tell her how long it took me to draw a Vanguard Impulse:

You know part of me when i saw that picture wanted to smarmily model it and wave the model around, but the picture's too freakin small for me to use it as a reference.

Also, Academia... stop producing stuff more awesome than us lowly model makers

edit: Fast attack frigate done, one more model and i can start taking requests

Edit two: Cruiser, electronic warfare and interdiction, done
now taking requests.

[Dahak]

Well, I go with this one:

The Mullduun Institute

The Institute started out as a research outpost for a minor survey agency a long time ago. Its responsibilities were the research of gaseous anomalies in gas giants and the study of chemical processes. It was that boring.
Over the years, it grew with glacial speed since the small outpost, floating in the upper atmosphere of a large gas giant in an otherwise uninteresting part of the Empire, did not attract hordes of people.

It changed when Admiral Mullduun needed a space to run his special research from. Being head of the Imperial Naval Bureau of Research and Development he found himself locked in a huge turf war that occasionally seemed to sweep the byzantine world of the Imperial Navy. Hiding the budget in layers upon layers of obscurity, the Institute got a sudden and huge growth.
It ran successfully for decades and except staff from the Admiral, no one really seemed to know or care about it. After the Admiral's death, it didn't change. In the decades that followed, the Institute grew and grew, slowly gaining self-sufficiency and getting an sustainable populace. They still received funds from the Empire, and sent reports back in what looked like a pure tradition by now.
But some time before the final days of Terra, someone got curious about the obscure payments to something no one knew about. A Task force was sent and dicovered the Institute. Both sides were surprised, and in the end the Institute became another vasall of the Empire (given that it had grown to the size of a small nation in itself) and that was the end of it. Any further problems the Institute might have encountered were dropped when Terra fell.
It shocked the Institute. Despite their way of living, the changes they made to themselves, they were still human and Terra still was the One Home. They began a huge naval build-up to have at least the chance to go down fighting.

Physiology:
They appear to be baseline humans, even though they are all what normal people would consider beautiful. Geneered and stuffed with nanotech and cybernetic enhancements, they are more than just humans.

Culture:
Their physical shell is just one form of the people. The real life is inside a huge datashpere, called the World. Everyone has multiple minds roaming the World, doing whatever they want. Yet they still cling to their humanity and have not abandoned their human shell. This is the topic of heated discussions within the World and a growing number of minds would rather have the Institute move on.

[Hawkwings]

For what it's worth, as soon as I read "I know something you don't" I knew that Magnus wasn't left handed. Because that's just too Awesome to not put in that story. Good job!

[Academia Nut]

If I'm showing you guys up then how's about an exchange? You give me some cultural details and maybe a few names and such, and I'll whip up a story for whoever wants one (may take some time though), in exchange for ships suitable for space metal vikings. I'm thinking basic design would be sort of longboat-ish, with a raised bridge at the back. But instead of a traditional bridge, it would be a massive stage sort of affair. And instead of guns, it would have amplifiers. Yes, amplifiers in space. Because its Awesome.

[Hawkwings]

OK Academia Nut, I'll offer up my ship design skills. I just need to load up Solidedge. No blockish curves for you!

I'll think up some ideas for my people and get back to you.

[Academia Nut]

Cool, either PM me or post them here.

[Spyder]

She did? ...ok I won't tell her how long it took me to draw a Vanguard Impulse:

You know part of me when i saw that picture wanted to smarmily model it and wave the model around, but the picture's too freakin small for me to use it as a reference.

Hadn't posted the big one, thought it needed more detail, but if you like...

Schwing!

(not shown, bluish tinges under the four...err...curvy bits and a red blinking light at the end of that black antenna thingie.)

Yay MS Paint!

And as a bonus, the as yet unnamed Vanguard...big ship of some description...work in progress...



Note: Profile view's way too short.

[Darkevilme]

Fear my smarmy model waving spyder.

[Nephtys]

The Beta Aquilae Concordat's space fleet. Whomped together with DOGA.

And I didn't make fun of Covie's space-orange! He overreacted!

[Darkevilme]

What is DOGA, where can i get it and is it easy to do texturing in?

[Nephtys]

What is DOGA, where can i get it and is it easy to do texturing in?

http://www.doga.co.jp/english/

It's a 'lego modeler' program. You can slap textures on it, and it comes with a few basic ones, but it's not what you want if you need to make your own textures. It is however, fast. I threw together that shipset in about 30 minutes the other day.

[Covenant]

I have a great dislike of texturing myself. I dunno, I may not make any modelled ships... I don't really like making ships. It requires an attention to detail that drives me pretty wacky.

I think it makes sense to say the Battlespheres are unlike other Imperial ships, and to make them more like little mobile spacestations than purpose-built warships. Like SSD's and Deathstars our Empire may have the need to have a lot of sector control vessels capable of shrugging off enemies and coordinating regional powers.

-edit-

Egh, these booleans behave so oddly. It's so much easier to stick ships together than try to divide an existing shape into parts. If anyone else wants to take a stab at sphere ships, go for it--otherwise, I say we ditch 'em, or leave it up to the imagination.

[Darkevilme]

*looks at nephtys's link* Yeah i think i'll pass on that one.

I dislike texturing cause i'm no good at it. that and it adds a good 900% to the workload per model.

Okay, officially taking requests for modelling of ships for the upcoming STGOD, note texturing is not part of this deal.

[Covenant]

*looks at nephtys's link* Yeah i think i'll pass on that one.

I dislike texturing cause i'm no good at it. that and it adds a good 900% to the workload per model.

Okay, officially taking requests for modelling of ships for the upcoming STGOD, note texturing is not part of this deal.

Why don't you take some stabs at modelling Imperial vessels? So far people have a few ideas for their own ships, but we haven't seen any strong contenders for the Imperial vessels. We don't even have a strong consensus on what they should look like. I could do some sketches of things I was thinking of besides the sphere, but if you're willing to give it a shot, why not?

[Darkevilme]

Sure thing, bring on the sketches and i'll see which ones i'd like to model...In fact i just got an idea for an imperial ship design right now.

[Darkevilme]

Imperium concept idea number 2, battleplate anyone?