The Procyon Sector Authority. Basically a few systems around Procyon as the central system formed together and (very recently) declared independence, which is quite exciting since Procyon is pretty close to Sol (11.4 LY). Systems, I thought about to join it are, for example, Luyten's Star, Sirius, Ross 614 and a few more around that area, especially mining systems. Since they are so close to Sol, they are pretty much very old colonies, with quite the population and a strong, mining based economy as well as the Procyon Shipyards. Of course they will never have either the military or the economy to challenge a huge empire, but they can be self-sufficient and also defend their borders.
@Sigma Mhhh. They are basically defectors of both empires, so yeah... xD Nevertheless, I'd planned for the faction to be very, very defensive focused. Giant space stations/gun plattforms with FTL-Inhibitors and their navy being very defensive as well. Few ships, but the few they have are almost to the point of over-engineering.
@LordZell I don't think I said an exact date. You'll just have to wait until Part 2 for the >MUSCULAR< king and other fantastic things.
Edit: my CS is reaching the lenghts of a smaller lexicon already. I have over a 100 images in my Imgur accout just for Gashathi ships, and I still have only corvettes up. I am a disgrace, leave me be
A. something akin to the borg from startrek and a bit of the Geth from mass effect, however unlike the borg they retain individuality (unless the species that joined them never developed individuality, and also people can elect to join hiveminds within the civilization) most of the population exists in virtual reality worlds completely incomprehensible to human minds. The "civilization" began with Space Workers of some ancient empire responsible for maintaining FTL communication and the galactic internet, over time other less advanced cultures wanted access to the internet and over time became integrated with it. Recently a group of human cyborgs joined the network and regularily interact with other cultures. While the rest of this society has no government or agency that humans can understand, the Human portion of the network still acts fairly human (for now, it will inevitably retreat with the rest of the civilization to become either nomads thinking on galactic timescales or solipsists never leaving the comfort of virtual reality)
B. Or a militant race of insectoids protecting themselves from a far superior technological civilization using relatively primitive tech, this race conquers other lesser species in hopes of feeding its war machine. While they enslave other species most species they enslave end up living far happier lives with increased technology.
I could make both empires, the first one being more Aloof tricksters occasionally visiting planets and stuff while the second one could be more involved with galactic affairs.
@Lucidnonsense Nice to have you with us :) And I'm liking the second idea.
The main problem with the second one is the Civilation they are at war with, perhaps the enemy civ is in the andromeda galaxy, My civ could be a fleet of ships that in order to escape the clutches of the other civilization went through a wormhole and then collapsed the wormhole in order to build an empire capable of fighting back. Perhaps they want to unite the galaxy into a massive Military empire or something.
@Lucidnonsense Eh, hmm. I'm not too sure about that, we already got two factions from outside our galaxy, a third might be pushing it. Would it be alright if your faction and the civ they're running from are local to the Milky Way? Perhaps they both were from the otherside of the galaxy, virtually untouched by the old imperium and sort of a mystery.
@Lucidnonsense Eh, hmm. I'm not too sure about that, we already got two factions from outside our galaxy, a third might be pushing it. Would it be alright if your faction and the civ they're running from are local to the Milky Way? Perhaps they both were from the otherside of the galaxy, virtually untouched by the old imperium and sort of a mystery.
I guess that could work, that could also make the mission more urgent.
Now I just need to come up with some religion names :p
Name of Nation: Imperial Coalition Migrant Fleet Banner/Flag: dont have one yet Type of Government: Military Technocracy Leader(s): Board of Directors of the Migrant Fleet Persons of Importance: Leviathan Chakitox (Member of the Board of Directors, something akin to an admiral), Queen Hlthj (a rogue element within the Imperium, gains resources for the Coalition through methods many in the coalition find unacceptable) Agent I'h't (Sanctioned Rebel Sabotuer, funded by the government to fight against the government in a civicly responsible manner.) Kakiri-45 (Legendary Kia supersoldier reanimated from the dead) Blight (insane paranoid artificial intelligence that has caused chaos within the coaliton, while psychotic this AI is highly intelligent and many within the empire are trying to cure its madness. This is difficult as Blight was designed to counteract hackers...and Blight believes it is under control by hostile forces so it makes constant attempts to destroy itself) Rex Cerciri Takata (Scientist who has a peculiar talent for alien technology, member of the Board of Directors) Species(s) and Demographics: Kia: The Founders of the Empire, the Kia resemble giant insects, cybernetics and genetic engineering has given the Kia remarcable diversity. The Original Kia did not have exoskeletons but instead a leathery hide and an endoskeletons, the exoskeletons are actually cybernetic space suits. While not emotionless (though some are) Kia tend to fall more towards the analytical and logical side of intelligence and have a skill with mathematics. H't'tk: While the Kia only resemble insects due to the cybernetic enhancements, the H't'tk are very much like naturally evolved intelligent arthropods most resembling early sea creatures from earth, H't'tk have brains spread throughout the body and do not experience the same kind of unified self that humans do, H't'tk view themselves from an outside perspective, as a collection of parts. modern H't'tk attach cybernetic components to nodes within the brain and regularily sell parts of their own bodies and minds or rent themselves out. The H't'tk occupy numerous niches in the empire such as bureaucrats, administrators and workers. Hnlis: Serpentine aliens, all Hnlis are born as males and become females at about 14 years of age. Hnlis males are not considered people by the Hnlis and are treated as a form of currency until they grow up, most Hnlis females choose a few of the most promising males and groom them to be people, the rest are used as slaves, toys, and money. Of all the species in the empire, the Hnlis are the ones who have had the hardest time integrating, many Hnlis have turned to lives of crime. The reasons for letting them into the Empire was because They had developed surprisingly effective military tactics against one another and the emotional nature of the Hnlis provided a nice contrast to the more logical species. Unfortunately, the Hnlis where not as effective as anticipated. Social Scientists have been attempting to subtly influence Hnlis culture to fit in better with mixed results. Leviathan: The leviathans are intelligent superorganisms something akin to the man-o-wars of earth, they appear something like giant whales made of algae, each Leviathan is made up of millions of smaller organisms like cells but many of the organisms are capable of detaching from the body to hunt for food. Leviathans come in a variety of sizes the larger ones tend to be the most intelligent. Tumbleweeds: Highly Dangerous, possess 'psychic' abilities, exposure to these creatures can cause intense trauma in sentient organisms and in some cases, sentient machines, a colony of these creatures is kept onboard a research vessel in a special containment site but reports of them on other ships are spreading. While the tumbleweeds themselves are dangerous, the knowledge that a tumbleweed might be able to take control of a friends brain is even more dangerous so the existence of these creatures is classified. Scientists have had limited success in weaponizing and controlling these dangerous creatures, though few are willing to use such a horrific weapon. AI: treated as equals within the Empire, come in many forms. Generally a kia AI will be called a Kia unless they are very very very mentally divergent (like...a hivemind AI spanning a fleet of starships might not be called a Kia, but will be seen as equal to a person) Non-sentient AIs are sometimes considered equals but generally not. Other species: while those are the majority races, a few other races have been put under Imperial rule protection during the War with the enemy.
Religion Description and Demographics: Many different forms of religion are found within the Empire, the empire itself is secular in nature they tend to be tolerant of religion but stamp out any that causes problems within the empire. some major religions include.
Nativists: One of the More common religions largely derived from Leviathan Philosophy mixed with old Kia religious teachings Nativism is divided into countless smaller religions with slightly different beliefs (though they are generally tolerant of eachother and other religions) Mainstream Spiritual Nativists believe that the universe was created by an entity (a "god", though less personal than the God of human religions, though some sects do claim that this god has interacted with the universe) The Universe was created with a fractal blueprint that followed mathematical patterns. Nativists believe that these patterns can be divined by examining nature along with deep meditation. Unlike the Conservative Nativists (considered misguided by more liberal nativists) these Nativists do not see Cybernetics and genetic engineering as morally wrong and tend not to see religion as a source of objective morality.
Evangelical Conservative Nativists: The Evangelical Conservative Nativists is a popular religion among the lower classes of each race except the tumbleweed, The Evangelical Conservative Nativists are an extreme form of Nativism generally imposing strict religious laws that vary from sect to sect supposedly based on "Nature" interestingly this religion tolerates all naturally evolved life forms and gives each species unique laws based on "natural behavior" Many Nativists have antagonistic relationships with the Rampant industrialization of the Empire and the widespread practice of cybernetics and genetic engineering by the Kia (although the majority of Nativists are Cybernetic Kia, they seek to purge themselves of the unnatural, attempting to create "pure" kia...unfortunately many of the old genetic samples are tainted by mutation) Some view the Leviathans as especially Holy (though most Leviathans, especially the eldest leviathans who founded Nativism in the first place reject The anti-technological messages of the conservative nativists)
H't'tk Religions: The most common religion among the H't'tk is something very much like earth buddhism in basic philosophy. (might expand more on it later)
The Hnlis have a variety of religions and tend to be more spiritually inclined than other races, though I will not go into much detail right now due to the fact that hundreds of different Hnlis religions exist and most other races in the empire have no interest in these religions.
Most scientists believe that the tumbleweeds have nothing even resembling religion...though as attempts to communicate with the tumbleweeds usually drives people mad its really hard to tell.
Rise of the Technocracy: The Kia homeworld of Iskata was much like earth, though a bit more arid, like earth Kia history was filled with conflicting organizations and nations that occasionally went to war with one-another. Over time however scientists and great thinkers across the planet organized a new government and using a robotic army, infiltrators, and peaceful diplomacy (among other means) Reorganized the worlds governments into one nation. The early years of the Technocracy were brutal with many rebellions but eventually the government stabilized and society flourished
The Colonization of space: The Kia where not biologically suited for space travel or life on other worlds but advances in genetic engineering and cybernetics (already seeing use by eccentric rich kia) allowed the creation of New forms of Kia, Cybernetic Genetically engineered lifeforms capable of surviving on alien planets. Scientists developed cheap and safe methods of cybersurgery and genetic engineering which eventually found themselves in use by the common people of Iskata. The first colonies had close ties with The Technocracy.
Early Interstellar period: Not all Kia liked the Technocracy, seeking to gain a fresh start many sublight colony ships were launched to nearby stars cut off from communication by lightyears of distance these colonies developed unique cultures. One of these colonies discovered an alien race known as the Mool, existing at a relatively primitive state.
Advent of The Warp Drive: scientists developed the warp drive, a method of faster than light travel, this allowed them to explore larger sections of space and reconnect with the colonies, while culture spread more easily the Colonies were allowed to retain independence. The Hnlis were discovered at that point in time at the late medieval stage of developement. The Kia watched from a distance. a few years later Leviathans were found living on an ocean moon orbiting a Brown Dwarf, these Creatures were at first thought to be non-sentient but soon scientists found out that they were, while primitive technologically, highly intelligent beings. Without fire the Kia believed, these creatures would never take to the stars, so the Kia helped teach them technology. The Profound Philosophies of the Leviathan mystics soon created a spiritual movement within Kia society.
First Interstellar War: While the original interstellar colonies where allowed to keep independence, many of the colonies created after the discovery of warp travel where under control of the Technocracy, while interstellar travel was possible it was often slow, sometimes weeks or months without word from the Core worlds, Some messenger ships started dissapearing and entire sectors went black. Eventually the raids started, planets where besieged by starships belonging to an unknown Kia faction, The Technocracy and various allied colonies began creating a new space navy, at first losses where heavy but when things started looking grim, the Technocracy reorganized creating a massive industrial complex and eventually the Tide turned in the Technocracies favor. During this war most colonies where forced to pick a side either joining the new "Empire of Iskara" or the "League Of Allied Worlds"
The Coming of the Enemy: Eventually The Empire determined why the colonies went dark, an unknown faction had been intercepting communication and supply ships and subtly manipulating the people of the League of Allied Worlds into believing that The Empire had become some dark dystopia, the mysterious enemy had even copied Imperial ships and attacked League of Allied Worlds. With this knowledge The Empire knew it had bigger problems and increased its military strength further. Eventually the enemy revealed itself, an alien species far in advanced to the Kia who are now known only as "The Enemy" The Enemy began attacking Kia colonies and starships. Still, the enemy seemed to prefer using the League of Allied Worlds as a proxy military. A faction within the Empire became extremely xenophobic, believing that the Leviathans religion was engineered by the enemy to turn people away, this gained further traction when it was learned that the reason "The Enemy" was attacking was because the Kia used "heretical technology" The War was now 3 way. The Kia Resistance, The Empire, and The League of Allied Worlds. The Hnlis joined the empire after The Kia defended their homeworld from attack and the Leviathans created the first bioships in aid of the empire. After years of fighting A larger force of "The Enemy" arrived in Imperial space...this time they werent playing around, Entire planets were destroyed by The Enemy. Many planets within the Leage of Allied worlds had second thoughts and within a decade it reintegrated with the empire after the destruction of the Mool homeworld. The war escalated with entire planets lost every year to the hyper advanced ships of the enemy. The Empires Tactics became to delay the enemy long enough to evacuate as much of the planet as possible and colonize countless worlds turning them into factories to build more warships, the Homeworld of the H't'tk was one such world. Some started to lose hope but while the Empire was constantly advancing, The Enemy was stangnant, advanced, but stagnant. eventually the Empire found the Key to survival, a gateway built by an ancient race that seemed to be antagonistic towards the enemy. A fleet of starships entered the gate and arrived at the other end of the galaxy before closing it behind them...now they seek to build an empire capable of destroying the enemy and restore peace to the galaxy.
Cultures: a brief overview, obviously much more detail could be added, but this is just a brief thing
Iskaran: Kia that descended recently from Iskara tend to be practical people but also interested in the arts of the kia species, they tend to be the best educated and most peaceful of the cultures. They also are generally agreed to be the most artistic bbv First Colonies: For civilians, the descendents of the first colonies tend to most embrace cybernetics and genetic engineering. Science is very important to the first colonies as many of the colonies where originally for research purposes.
Interstellar Colonies: Descendents of the Early interstellar colines Tend to retain an independent streak from mainstream Kia culture, they tend to be skeptical and more challenging of authority. while sometimes troublesome they still fight for the Imperial Cause with zeal and passion.
Frontier: Descendent from technocracy colonies founded after the advent of warp, Frontier Colonists tend to have less cybernetic and genetic modifaction. The frontier more readily embraces alien cultures and spirituality.
League Of Allied Worlds: after being deceived by the Enemy, the descendents of the League of allied worlds have a special zeal, They dislike being manipulated and prefer to be blunt rather than hiding intentions. many of them still hold some distrust for the empire though
Kia resistance: Descendent from the Kia resistant but non-radical enough to join the Empire, These Kia tend to be more xenophobic, not trusting alien lifeforms and paranoid about Enemy infiltrators.
Interstellar war Period Navy: Descendent from Soldiers of the First interstellar war, tend to be strict and disciplined and very loyal to the empire. Prefer working in groups.
New Navy:mostly Cybernetic Clones with uploaded memories telling them what they are fighting for, the people they are sworn to protect, The Most highly augmented of the Kia the New Navy is dedicated to protecting the Empire with fanatical loyalty, they will gladly die to save the lives of innocents. Different types of soldiers display different personalities.
Im kinda tired and will detail the alien cultures later, but some information about them can be found in the species descriptions.
Military: The Fleet is divided into 7 main types of Ships. Compared to many empires, crews of these ships (with the exception of cruisers) is small. When it comes to weapons the Empire prefers Swarms of Smart Missiles, Lasers, and Flak cannons with torpedoes gaining some popularity as well (but used less due to the cost of equipting a warp drive to a missile, and while these torpedoes are incredibly powerful while at warp the torpedo is essentially blind) Some ships use experimental weapons reverse engineered from "The Enemy" while extremely powerful each of these weapons has limitations due to imperfect understanding of the technology behind them. As for defensive technologies The Empire mainly uses two types of Shields, the first type uses the starships warp drive to create a bubble around the ship that wraps space time causing most weapons to go around the ship harmlessly...unfortunately this includes light so the ship is essentially blind while shields are up, certain weapons can break the shield usually with catastrophic results. The Second form of Shield is Nullification Fields reverse engineered from Enemy technology, these shields disintigrate matter that touches them but are less effective on lasers (they eat up plasma weapons fine though) The most recent developement in defensive technology is the Null-Space Field which uses similar technology to essentially disconnect a starship from the rest of the universe. Attacking a ship that no longer interacts with the universe is very difficult though the field generators remain in existence (but are very very small and hard to find. Drones: Non-sentient robotic warships of various sizes. Fighters: auxilerary craft, relatively cheap to manufacture, covered in weapons. Fighters are usually deployed in small swarms during combat, rather than being one big target the drones provide numerous small targets. Hundreds of models of fighters exist. Most fighters have the ability to convert themselves into powerful kamikazi missiles if needed. Frigate: Frigates are cheaper and smaller than battleships and are used for a variety of purpose, they are the workhorse of the Imperial fleet. many types of frigates exist for a variety of purposes. While generally better armed than fighters they pale in comparison to battleships Cruisers: a catch all term for ships that do not directly involve killing things, Cruisers serve a variety of purpose such as logistical support and even civilian habitation. Most cruisers are armed, but lack the killing power of other ships. Battleships:Large and expensive ships covered in weapons and often utilizing experimental reverse engineered technology, battleships are used sparingly due to the cost of building them. Carriers: Provide interstellar transportation and logistics for fighters (though nowdays most fighters have warp capability) Leviathan Bioships: Cybernetic Leviathans equipted for space travel, have onboard factories and fighter support.
The Ground forces are mainly Non-sentient Robots, Sentient AI using robotic Bodies, and Kia Cyborg supersoldiers who act as planetary "pacification" forces (if they want the planet they are invading dead, ground forces are not needed obviously) The Ground forces lack much in the way of reverse engineered "Enemy" weapons as those are mainly designed for space combat and simply dont work in the atmosphere, this is what gave the Empire a fighting chance on the ground, they were capable of building ground forces that could actually kill Enemy ground forces. Unfortunately, the Enemy eventually stopped trying to take over planets and started purging them from the other side of the solar system instead. The Ground forces might see more use in this part of the galaxy, with Empires that Might be willing to surrender rather than kill or die.
@SigmaAfter thinking for a bit, I've decided that I'll invade you after establishing myself. The thought of an assimilating force itself being assimilated is just too good an opportunity to pass up, imo.
@Ragenaut Sounds good, may have to get through the totalists though, but if you arrive at the right time, the invasion I have planned could have some real meaning to it :) (Namely, fleeing in fear of being assimilated)