STGOD 4 Game Thread

Raptor 597 · Post by **Raptor 597** » 2004-05-09 12:16am

To the Great Speaker that has treated with such honour I am leaving to ship. But upon hearing of the destruction of Earth I would like to aid in the search and destruction of the Overseers. More of my fleet would arrive if you alot. also, I soon hope to enter a military alliance and true mutual partnership with your glorious realm.

SirNitram · Post by **SirNitram** » 2004-05-09 12:22am

consequences wrote:Four hours later, the Combine fleet moved into combat range, with their entire Superdreadnought force in the lead. The four ships commenced bombarding the Machines' shield with their spinal cannons, as a wall of communications jamming was erected by the fleet, in an effort to keep the Machines from communicating the details of their doom.

The shield lasted only precious few minutes under the terrible onslaught it was faced with, but even that was long enough for the surface guns to do some damage. Range in the normal sense had no meaning in space; the Dreadnoughts sitting at extreme range could be boxed in with a flurry of shots and then pasted with a hard Fusion Cannon hit. There were misses, but the computers doing the estimating for these incredible ranges were very, very good.

As the shield broke under the weight of the fire, the ground guns were silenced one by one, leaving.. Only the barren surface of the moon. No Constructs or Doomed sighted anywhere.

Deep below, EMP shielded Doomed prepared the ambushes...

Hotfoot · Post by **Hotfoot** » 2004-05-09 12:35am

+++GCN: Galactic Consortium News+++
+++GCN is a wholly owned subsidiary of RCN+++

-=RAPE OF TERRA=-

Consortium citizens continue to express disbelief and sorrow on the tragic attack on the birthplace of humanity. While there are still those who see the attack as proof that we should have never reentered the galactic sphere, the majority of Consortium citizens see this as proof of the Director’s move outward. Aid packages continue to flow to the Monacorans to help in the relief effort.

In related news, Fleet Admiral A.J. Radim, continues his vigil over the battered planet alongside numerous other fleets, an impressive view of solidarity in this time of tragedy. Admiral Radim, best known for his part in the heroic defense of the Consortium in the Yliaum system and the counter-assault against the Dra’kol empire certainly seems to be showing no signs of slowing down, and has vowed to hunt down those responsible for this reprehensible attack.

-=DIRECTOR TO VISIT VEITHAN HOMEWORLD=-

In an unexpected turn of events, the Director of the Consortium left earlier this week to go visit the Veithan Government face to face at their homeworld. Experts wonder why he would be so willing to venture outside of Consortium territory so soon after the Rape of Terra. Some speculate that he wishes to personally express his condolences to the Veithans of the people they lost in the attack on Terra, while others suggest that he is attempting to dissuade fears in the Consortium concerning travel to other powers. It should be noted that no formal agreements have been made just yet concerning tourism in other powers, so anyone who was planning to spend a week’s vacation in Veithan space or elsewhere had better put their luggage back in the closet for now.

-=NEWS FROM GALACTIC SCENE CAUSING A BUZZ=-

The Veithan collection of newscasts have finally been made fully public, and Consortium Media has been playing them almost nonstop and showing few signs of stopping. As a result of these newscasts, public opinion has been rapidly forming concerning various governments that have been highlighted. While the public has been urged to wait until some of the more controversial newscasts can be verified before creating an informed opinion, already the Citizen Datanet is filled with all sorts of opinions on various subjects. As more newscasts come in from sources such as VNN and USN, the debates intensify. Always conscientious of the will of the citizens, the Director’s office has passed down assurances that contact with governments that are deemed “undesirable” will be limited and passive.

-=TOP PROGRAMMERS AND SCIENTISTS DEBATE SILICONOID SENTIENCE=-

The debate over the supposed sentience of the Siliconoid beings responsible for the Rape of Terra continues today in Corvus, prompted by Fleet Admiral A.J. Radim’s controversial stance concerning the Siliconoid threat.

“It’s obviously a very important matter to determine if these synthetic beings are sentient or not,” said renowned Dra’kol scientist Morta’nos. “The Consortium, as a nation, holds sentient life in the highest regard, and to callously remove an entire species from the galaxy is one of the greatest crimes in existence. Unfortunately, there is still really no method of measuring sentience; we have to rely on our best guesses. Obviously this race is a threat to organic sentient races everywhere and must be stopped, but what we are discussing is if genocide, if we can even use that term, is the proper response. Whatever the outcome of these talks, however, we must be prepared for a long fight.”

Other experts note that, even if the Siliconoids are sentient, they do not appear to be terribly intelligent. Their single-minded attack on the birthplace of humanity has done a tremendous amount of damage to the planet and its people, but has not significantly weakened the ability for a unified response. “If these things really are out to destroy all organic life, then why the hell attack Earth?” asked Daul Vicioso, a senior programmer at RavenSoft Inc. “It makes no sense. We can see from the Galactic newscasts that the Galaxy was on the verge of another great war. All the machines have achieved from this attack is a show of galactic solidarity, as all powers band together against this new threat. Unless they possess a fleet beyond the combined forces of the current galactic powers, they are going to be burned to the ground. While some of my colleagues may credit them with a certain level of intelligence for assaulting the cradle of humanity, I see it as the height of stupidity. They clearly went for the weakest military target they could see. They didn’t withdraw when they began to lose control of the situation; they just kept hammering away at the planet doing as much damage as possible, despite near total losses. If they keep this single-minded behavior up, it won’t take long until they’ve lost everything and have to go into hiding in order to survive, assuming they’ve planned that far ahead. I’ve designed Virtual Game Simulation AI with more intelligence than these Siliconoids. I hope Radim blasts every last one of those damn things into subatomic particles.”

RavenSoft Inc. would like to remind our viewers that the opinions of Mister Vicioso are not necessarily the opinions of RavenSoft Inc.

consequences · Post by **consequences** » 2004-05-09 12:42am

"Damage?"

"Minimal, that big gun may have one hell of a punch, but we were able to focus all shields against it, and trade off which ship was in the lead. I'd hate to have to face it in an open fleet engagement though. Sheng-Long and Nobunaga are going to be spending a couple of weeks in the yards regardless."

"Send in the first wave."

Dozens of shuttles descended from the fleet toward sthe moon, surrounded by a cloud of decoys.

SirNitram · Post by **SirNitram** » 2004-05-09 12:49am

consequences wrote:"Damage?"

"Minimal, that big gun may have one hell of a punch, but we were able to focus all shields against it, and trade off which ship was in the lead. I'd hate to have to face it in an open fleet engagement though. Sheng-Long and Nobunaga are going to be spending a couple of weeks in the yards regardless."

"Send in the first wave."

Dozens of shuttles descended from the fleet toward sthe moon, surrounded by a cloud of decoys.

The feinting maneuver provoked no response; the Overseer's forces were fully aware their opponent was coming for them, and the only option was to inflict greivous enough casualties that they could enact the underlying plan. The last of the ambush points was completed, and even the tunnels under the surface seemed unoccupied.

The Constructs waited for the first unfortunates.

consequences · Post by **consequences** » 2004-05-09 01:12am

"Ah well, that would have been too easy. At least our forces will have some resupply waiting for them."

The real assault wave soon descended, as dozens more assault and cargo shuttles made their way down to the planet, carefully establishing a perimeter, and off-loading heavy combat equipment before moving to the nearest openings. The shuttles started sending sonic pulses through the ground in an effort to map the subterranean warrens, as the first vac suits moved forward. Instead of the usual occupant, these suits contained only four things, a man-portable sensor array, a spool of fiber optic wire that trailed behind them, a remote control unit, and a powerful EMP charge, while carrying a training weapon.

It was expected that vast numbers of the suits would be lost, but that was okay, suits were cheap. And the fleet had brought thousands with them.
The first suits entered the holes, as sensor operators payed close attention to the readings that were coming though.

SirNitram · Post by **SirNitram** » 2004-05-09 01:54am

consequences wrote:It was expected that vast numbers of the suits would be lost, but that was okay, suits were cheap. And the fleet had brought thousands with them.
The first suits entered the holes, as sensor operators payed close attention to the readings that were coming though.

The suits were allowed in, descending into the depths. Still no signs of the machine invaders came; the Constructs were scanning for lifesigns before launching their ambushes.

The miners, however, were another story.

"It's got no life signs!"
"Shoot! SHOOT!"

A microfusion cannon opened up from one of the Doomed, as the Secondary Programmer pulled the strings of it's puppets. They sported no obvious external cybernetics, and behaved much as the miners had when they themselves had been tracked down.

The suits, with no human operators, were a plausible means of sowing some chaos. But the Programmer needed humans down here.

consequences · Post by **consequences** » 2004-05-09 02:13am

"Right, the miners just happen to have a weapon we don't stock in our inventory, we're going to believe that. Have the next suit go maximum thrust towards their position and release its EMP, their failsafes should keep them alive long enough for us to get to them if they are recoverable.

The suit burst forward towards the group that had opened fire, catching a pulse in the chest even as it triggered its EMP. The suit collapsed, along with the cybernetically controlled miners.

"How's the mapping progress going?"

"Pretty crappy sir, the only things we're able to determine is where the solid matter stops, echo location in a vacuum is a bitch. We're setting up coverage of every potential breakthrough point we identify, but its still going to be hellish down there."

"With the number of suits and sensors down there, we should have some warning. Start sending down manned groups, I want at least one cleric with each of them."

Hyper-alert, teams began to filter down the passages, while on the surface, guided missile crews set up to fire on any contacts. It was good to know that those slow-speed wire-guided missiles that had been sitting in inventory had some purpose after all.

SirNitram · Post by **SirNitram** » 2004-05-09 02:29am

consequences wrote:Hyper-alert, teams began to filter down the passages, while on the surface, guided missile crews set up to fire on any contacts. It was good to know that those slow-speed wire-guided missiles that had been sitting in inventory had some purpose after all.

As life signs were detected, the traps sprung.

Not every one went off successfully, of course. Some breakthrough points were anticipated, others delayed just long enough for hypertense humans to launch their ordinance and bring down the attacks. But it was a chaotic slaughterhouse, as tanks and drones burst out of the walls, ceiling, and floor to open fire.

The EMPs provided only minor relief. Spider Drones dropped, but many other constructs proved immune. Worst of these were Deathstrikes, tanks that filled entire halls and unloaded incredible amounts of weapons fire at anything that moved, their dual magnum cannons roaring silently as they discharged hundreds of slugs.

The Doomed joined the ranks quickly, the temporary facade of helplessness in the face of EMP dropped in favor of escalating the bodycount. Only through making this too costly would the Overseer's minions have a chance of escaping the moon.

consequences · Post by **consequences** » 2004-05-09 03:08am

It was a really shitty day to be an Imperial Marine. On the plus side, he probably wouldn't have to clean that damned assault shuttle, Captain Kenji thought as he tried to lay down suppressive fire. Half his team was already down, and to make matters worse, his ex-wife was still the one on his will. One of those huge tanks loomed up, and Kenji prepared himself to activate his grenades, and fling himself at it in the hopes of giving his people time to bug out.

Before his hand made it halfway to the activator, a black combat suit interposed itself between him and the monstrosity. The Deathstrike had an eternal electronic moment to note the surprising speed with which the lifeform moved, and another to wonder about that strange subspace interference centered on him, as its guns swung towards the figure, and the pathetic meatbags it was so amusingly trying to shield. The Deathstrike then had one more moment to wonder where in Silicon Hell the fleshie had pulled that anti-tank cannon from as it fired, momentarily blinding its sensors.

In that instant, the figure hit the big red button on the side of the cannon, and flung it towards the tank, even as he kicked backwards, knocking Kenji back down the corridor even as he had started to rise into a lunge, his senses having not yet caught up with events. As the gun neared the tank it exploded, while the figure flung himself up at the ceiling, moments before a flight of missiles launched at the first contact report flew through the area he'd just been occupying, then straight through the fireball obscuring the tank, before impacting upon it.

As Kenji struggled to his feet to rally the remains of his squad, he reflected that death might not have been so bad. After all, it couldn't hurt much more than trying to clean an assault shuttle with Buddha only knew how many broken ribs.
____________________

Casualties were bad, but the performance of the attached Clerics, and the addition of indirect fire support seemed to have caught the machines by surprise. Reserves were sent up, and the new decoy sensor suits were now liberally festooned with conventional explosives duct taped on by enterprising souls, and were being given an even wider berth than before.

The Machines had to be destroyed. Letting them survive and spread would be allowing a malignant cancer to infect the body of the Combine, and like any good antibodies, the Marines were prepared to pay the cost. But they weren't dying stupid, nor were they dying cheaply.

frigidmagi · Post by **frigidmagi** » 2004-05-09 04:33am

Sir Brain Mattews stepped off the UP shuttle and onto the carrier. He took a quick look around at the truly Alien ship. He wore the standard formal gear for the UP these days. A black and red suit with no tie. Thankfully that piece of fashion torture hadn't survivied.

Saluting the Marine, breifing wondering what would be the correct term for the warrior in his own words, that was welcoming him on board, Sir Brain followed his guide to the meeting with Ambassador Hectori.

Shark Bait · Post by **Shark Bait** » 2004-05-09 04:43am

frigidmagi wrote:Sir Brain Mattews stepped off the UP shuttle and onto the carrier. He took a quick look around at the truly Alien ship. He wore the standard formal gear for the UP these days. A black and red suit with no tie. Thankfully that piece of fashion torture hadn't survivied.

Saluting the Marine, breifing wondering what would be the correct term for the warrior in his own words, that was welcoming him on board, Sir Brain followed his guide to the meeting with Ambassador Hectori.

Sir Brian stepped onto the command deck of the carrier where Ambassador Hectori waited. “Ah welcome fellow ambassador” Hectori said in a tone he had learned sounded friendly to humans “welcome to our ship it is an honor to have you as our guest. Now how might our pod help you in these new and confusing times?”

frigidmagi · Post by **frigidmagi** » 2004-05-09 04:47am

"Greetings Ambassador Hectori! I'm here to estblish formal relations with your people. We're hoping we can agree to trade and cultural exchanges, along with a trade of Ambassadors. As for anything else, I am at your disposal." Sir Brain replyed with a grin.

Shark Bait · Post by **Shark Bait** » 2004-05-09 04:55am

"A cultural exhange is most agreeable." Ambassador Hectori said attempting a smile (something still forigen to his people) that showed a few to many of his sharp connical teeth. "However the exchange of diplomats could still prove to be problamatic. There are two barriers that stand in our way the first is that I am the only one of my species who has learned your language, untill we can locate and train another with a gift for such speach I must be the ambassador to all human nations. The second while not as severe may still be a damper, we are very social people we can not stand to be seprate from our pods for long. Any perminant ambassador would probably bring a sizeable staff along with them, and this staff would need to be trained in human customs and affairs as well. Yet despite all this I will do my best to insure that our diplomatic relations as best they can."

frigidmagi · Post by **frigidmagi** » 2004-05-09 05:11am

Sharkbait said:

"A cultural exhange is most agreeable." Ambassador Hectori said attempting a smile (something still forigen to his people) that showed a few to many of his sharp connical teeth. "However the exchange of diplomats could still prove to be problamatic. There are two barriers that stand in our way the first is that I am the only one of my species who has learned your language, untill we can locate and train another with a gift for such speach I must be the ambassador to all human nations. The second while not as severe may still be a damper, we are very social people we can not stand to be seprate from our pods for long. Any perminant ambassador would probably bring a sizeable staff along with them, and this staff would need to be trained in human customs and affairs as well. Yet despite all this I will do my best to insure that our diplomatic relations as best they can."

"Excellant. You expect the full down loads from our historcal sections and whatnot anytime you like. As for the dilopmats we can drill out as large an embassey as you need. You won't have problems living underground will you? Some Outsystemers do. We can heat and supply water to whatever you need with no problems. I'm also instructed to inform you that several of our worlds have deep water oceans. If you like to send teams for sciencitic study?"

Shark Bait · Post by **Shark Bait** » 2004-05-09 05:19am

I'm also instructed to inform you that several of our worlds have deep water oceans. If you like to send teams for sciencitic study?"

"Yes, that would be most excelent my pod leaders have been questioning why I have stayed so long, this will be a wonderful justification for me to stay longer. Would you mind if we placed a pre-fabricated dome in one of them?" Hectori asked "And if you could be so kind would you please have the embassy set to an environment such as this? The building we were kept in on Earth was far to dry and cold one of my guards fell somewhat ill after we were held there for so long. Also as our way of saying thank you for all the humans hospitality I have been authorized to grant several, hrm I dont seem to know your measures of space. Well a large portion of land on our world of Little Pool."

frigidmagi · Post by **frigidmagi** » 2004-05-09 05:26am

Sharkbait said:

"Yes, that would be most excelent my pod leaders have been questioning why I have stayed so long, this will be a wonderful justification for me to stay longer. Would you mind if we placed a pre-fabricated dome in one of them?" Hectori asked "And if you could be so kind would you please have the embassy set to an environment such as this? The building we were kept in on Earth was far to dry and cold one of my guards fell somewhat ill after we were held there for so long. Also as our way of saying thank you for all the humans hospitality I have been authorized to grant several, hrm I dont seem to know your measures of space. Well a large portion of land on our world of Little Pool

"The measurements will be in the data. We will send a team to build a embassey on Little Poll as swiftly as possible. As for your dome New St. Paul would perhaps be the best place to set up shop for scienctic study. The oceans there are quite deep and warm and there is a massive varitey in the flora and fauna. I'll send a message so that you're expected. We will of course be expecting you to share the data. You send what you need for your staff and we'll see that it is built to specs." Brain said, he was gald to see a such a reasonable and friendly people. He had a feeling they would be greatly popular.

Shark Bait · Post by **Shark Bait** » 2004-05-09 05:33am

"We have one more request." Ambassador Hectori said in what he knew to be a worried tone for humans "In our religion, we believe that all worlds and life have a natural order as a result we try to avoid extinctions as well as terraforming or over industrialization. Because of this we would like to work with your bulilders on Little Pool to avoid harming the life of the land we have provided we will not interfear with architecture but we request that you at least consider our recyling systems they are very efficent and can reduce waste by about 93%."

frigidmagi · Post by **frigidmagi** » 2004-05-09 05:45am

Sharkbait said:

We have one more request." Ambassador Hectori said in what he knew to be a worried tone for humans "In our religion, we believe that all worlds and life have a natural order as a result we try to avoid extinctions as well as terraforming or over industrialization. Because of this we would like to work with your bulilders on Little Pool to avoid harming the life of the land we have provided we will not interfear with architecture but we request that you at least consider our recyling systems they are very efficent and can reduce waste by about 93%."

Sir Brain's eyebrows rose. The best that UP systems could do was an 85%. This was something that was going to be in demand.

"Of course. It is only natural for guest to respect the costums of their host. While I'm here can we set up a trading deal for those recyling systems? They beat ours by a good 8%."

Shark Bait · Post by **Shark Bait** » 2004-05-09 06:00am

"Of course. It is only natural for guest to respect the costums of their host. While I'm here can we set up a trading deal for those recyling systems? They beat ours by a good 8%."

Yes a trade deal would be good although our economy is not yet ready to handle your system of currency though it seems that we will soon need to change. Perhaps untill then we can trade in material goods tell me what can you offer?

frigidmagi · Post by **frigidmagi** » 2004-05-09 06:07am

Yes a trade deal would be good although our economy is not yet ready to handle your system of currency though it seems that we will soon need to change. Perhaps untill then we can trade in material goods tell me what can you offer?

"We have various nonrusting alloys. Excess foodstuffs and techonogly goods we could trade. Body armor, Powered armor, we would need the measurements of your various specis to make those..."

Shark Bait · Post by **Shark Bait** » 2004-05-09 06:20am

"We have various nonrusting alloys. Excess foodstuffs and techonogly goods we could trade. Body armor, Powered armor, we would need the measurements of your various specis to make those..."

Yes, Power armor that is excellent we have had weight problems with our prototypes they cannot function well in our aquatic environment.

frigidmagi · Post by **frigidmagi** » 2004-05-09 06:28am

Sharkbait said:

Yes, Power armor that is excellent we have had weight problems with our prototypes they cannot function well in our aquatic environment.

"We've had to overcome such problems in the past. Our armor is always NBC sealed and able to operate in various enviroment from the void of space to underwater. I'm sure we can supply you with armor to your satifaction."

Shark Bait · Post by **Shark Bait** » 2004-05-09 06:31am

"Thank you this is most wonderful, I will request that our leaders authorize the release of our recycling technology in return for your powered armor. In the mean time is there anything else we can help you with perhaps a tour of the ship?"

frigidmagi · Post by **frigidmagi** » 2004-05-09 06:35am

"A tour of your ship sounds most agreeable." Brain said, glad that the meeting had gone so well.