That's just from the top of my head of course



I will say that like WW1, war can cascade from a small rebellion to an all out conflict between everyone and everything. (Of course within your lore.)

And idea for a campaign/story would be:

Reports begin coming from outposts at the edges of settled space; there is something out there. Weeks pass, more reports, closer reports. A ship explodes in a nova of light above the mining outpost of Regulous leaving nothing but dust behind; the owner of the ship and the cause of the blinding light are both unknown. The Sophons discover a new spectrum for use in sensor technology, previously undectable small, fast moving objects are tracked. The Sophons desire to study it and send a collection vehicle; at the last moment, the object betrays agility and avoids collection.



The story can develop in any number of ways from there...

1. Can be a more advanced altruistic race that has had their hand in the pie for thousands of years and been protecting us from what is out there, but now they need help.

2. Can be recon from another race that has malicious intent.

3. It might not matter, I set up the plot so that we don't know if they are malicious.. they might be, something did blow up, of course.



The importance of the plot is how each race will react differently to it. The Cravers will crave, the Sophons will study, and the Empire will feel threatened. Will "known" space unite or remain fractious. Will the unknown race attack, or defend, or befriend? Perhaps all three based on the reactions of respective races.

A stealthy endless ship?

The Hhhhh (pronounced like the spanish j, an gutteral exhale from the back of the throat):

The Hhhhh appear to be giant (some as large as 300 meters in diameter) brown colored, gas filled balls. They navigate freely and slowly in space by directing gas jets with extreme accuracy and clever use of gravitation wells. Their name comes from the first recorded interactions: a xenolinguist pressed his face plate against the brown flesh and finally heard a reponse to his questions in the form of hhhhh reververating from the gaseous insides, to flesh, to faceplate. The same Hhhhh that the xenolinguist studied move than 800 years ago, is still alive today; it is unknown for how long they can live. The only planets the Hhhhh are know to inhabit are gas giants, they are apparently devoid of technology, and the only desire they have expressed is to study the history of every race and observe its future. When other races come to interact, they trade stories for stories.

Igncom1 wrote:
A stealthy endless ship?

Could be that too! I'm afriad to put my own stamp of what is the RIGHT direction, the fun part of me is seeing where other peoples minds go.



I might have to actually write it out privately in this setting though -- because I wanna see where I would take it in the end.

The_Ageless_Scholar wrote:
Darn I thought they are counted as human in a certain degree. Oh well back to the drawing board



And as for the campaigns, may I suggest an offensive committed by the republic. (aiming for less on game mechanics)



Heres the synopsis:

Despite the Republics abundant resources, able-bodies, and aid from their allies they lacked the necessary strategic resources to stand up against their well-equipped superiors such as Siderite and Hexaferrum. More importantly on Siderite for it could be used to reactivate the endless installation the Sensor Array on the system Scicre for it could be used to intercept invading Imperial fleets and if possible contact the farthest reaches of the galaxy the empire has yet to conquer. Thus the invasion of the system Egeo is needed for its poor reserve and remoteness allowing it to be viewed as an unimportant raid for a poor resource that is common (on the Empire's point of view) granting them time to repair the array and further modify for galaxy-wide communications.



Will there be a willing ear to aid them on their fight?

Will they see this as a sign of weakness and stand as a threat?

Or will they simply turn away and lay in the dark?



And that concludes my synopsis.



I hope this isn't excessive.

Sure, as I said, the UE split with the Octavian Dynasty could help (distastefully, of course)

Alsojames wrote:
Technically, they are, but they're a faction outside the Empire, therefore the Empire hates them :P

Can we do what the Ottomans did? And make one Horatio go all Skanderbeg on them



Reference:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skanderbeg

jpwang99 wrote:
Sure, as I said, the UE split with the Octavian Dynasty could help (distastefully, of course)

This event serves as an introduction to any given faction. But the idea on how and why is completely up to you.

*Update*



I made the page The Skirmish of Egeo (but needs a better name) on the wiki



http://thousandyear-war.wikia.com/wiki/The_Skirmish_of_Egeo



(working on the Scicre Sensor Array event)

I actually really like the Egeo story, very dramatic. As for the "better name" issue, I think "The Egeo Tragedy" sounds good, but I'll wait for your input to change it.

Reports begin coming from outposts at the edges of settled space; there is something out there. Weeks pass, more reports, closer reports. A ship explodes in a nova of light above the mining outpost of Regulous leaving nothing but dust behind; the owner of the ship and the cause of the blinding light are both unknown. The Sophons discover a new spectrum for use in sensor technology, previously undectable small, fast moving objects are tracked. The Sophons desire to study it and send a collection vehicle; at the last moment, the object betrays agility and avoids collection.

I like this too. Something to make even the mighty Empire shake in their boots.

Alsojames wrote:
I actually really like the Egeo story, very dramatic. As for the "better name" issue, I think "The Egeo Tragedy" sounds good, but I'll wait for your input to change it.

Lets say The Egeo Civil Massacre? Sounds vicious



Plus I want to hear more from you guys



Especially on the Octavian Dynasty's side on the galactic stage.

Alright, changed the title. Also added the Siege of Madrigal and the MAC to the wiki.





You guys should check out the MAC. 4 trillion credits worth of doom.

Nice, Alsojames did you read the fleet statistics I put up earlier in the thread?

No not yet. Will add them now.

Thanks



Is there any Craver information that you would like me to write up?

Not for now. Got anything for the Republic v Empire conflict?

3691: Attempted Regicide



Emperor Maximilian aboard the Sheridan cruiser the 'Agamemnon', his personal cruse ship.



During a trip to the loyal system of Fracture the ship is caught by Rebel FTL jammers during transit through a nearby nebulae, a Rebel corvette hit the Agamemnon with a EM pulse and the ship went dark, requiring 30 minutes to restart the ships systems, the Agamemnon's design was made for the cruiser to be serviced via shuttles, without room for docking Rebel marines clamp onto the cruiser and physically cut their way in while in their space suits.



The ensuring conflict sees Sheridan elites going toe to toe with Rebel Spec op forces, each side armed with heavy power armor and equipped with powerful kinetic assault weapons, requiring direct hits to successfully kill each other in a single shot, in the dark. The resulting battle ends with Sheridan losses totaling with 80% of the crew before the Agamemnon's engines could be restarted, allowing them to track the locations of the intruders, Rebel marines got to 97% casualty's when attempting to breach the emperors private quarters 5 minutes later.



When retreating the rebel corvette was hit by the Agamemnon's main energy weapon, a gift from the Sophon ambassador, causing a reactor shield breach that within minutes killed the rest of the crew via radiation poisoning.





The analysis of the rebel corvette suggested that the rebels had been planing this attack for over 3 years, and were only unsuccessful down to the fanatical nature of Emperor Maximilian's Sheridan guard.



(Not the best, but a good stab at it I think)

Maybe a little more detail and we could put that in :3

3691: Attempted Regicide



Emperor Maximilian aboard the Sheridan cruiser the 'Agamemnon', his personal cruse ship.



During a trip to the loyal system of Fracture the Agamemnon is caught by Rebel FTL jammers during transit through a nearby nebulae, The 'concrete cloud' named by scientists excavating endless concrete ruins, a Rebel corvette of unknown name hit the Agamemnon with a EM pulse and the ship went dark, requiring 30 minutes to restart the ships systems but fortunately the ship was equipped with secondary and auxiliary life-support systems, the Agamemnon's design was meant for the cruiser to be serviced via shuttles and to be resistant to enemy energy weapons on the armored sections of the hull, preventing the Rebel corvette from simply blasting the ship at range, without room for docking Rebel marines land on the cruiser and physically cut their way in with plasma cutters, making sure to enter sections of the ship not usually occupied by the crew.



Emperor Maximilian was rushed to his quarters and placed under guard of 6 Sheridan guards, each a decorated officer, and was even handed a sidearm in case the worst should occur.



The ensuring conflict sees Sheridan elites going toe to toe with Rebel Spec op forces, each side armed with heavy power armor and equipped with powerful kinetic assault weapons, requiring direct hits to successfully kill each other in a single shot, in the dark. Traditionally Sheridan troopers are equipped with a standard assault weapon for long range and the use of a custom built combat sword for close combat defense, a weapon famed for its cut out teeth, able to rend flesh at an impeccable speed when used by a well trained soldier.

Rebel Spec op officers can be found with a multitude of armaments and weapons, but in this case the officers were using Hissho Katina's, famed for their impossible sharpness and ability to even pierce tank armor, Hissho sword holders had to be a certified magnetic coil, to prevent soldiers from killing themselves.



The conflict over the bridge was the bloodiest part of the conflict, with neither side willing to use their main weapons for the risk of hitting a major system that could cause the ships engine to overload, the battle lased over 2 hours with sword duels a common sight, the Sheridan captain of the vessel singled out the rebel commander for a 1 on 1 battle, lasting only 3 seconds when the rebel commander was decapitated by the captains claymore, a rare sight on board space going vessels, but to the captain it was a gift from the emperor and so glorifying it with the blood of the rebel was a symbol of the empires undying strength that boosted the Sheridan moral enough to start truing the tide of the battle.



The resulting battle ends with Sheridan losses totaling with 80% of the crew before the Agamemnon's engines could be restarted, allowing them to track the locations of the intruders, Rebel marines got to 97% casualty's when attempting to breach the emperors private quarters 5 minutes later, only 6 rebel marines made it back to their corvette.



When retreating from the battle the rebel corvette was targeted and hit by the Agamemnon's main energy weapon, a gift from the Sophon ambassador, but provided without additional blueprints, causing a reactor shield breach that within minutes killed the rest of the crew via radiation poisoning.



The analysis of the rebel corvette suggested that the rebels had been planing this attack for over 3 years, and were only unsuccessful down to the fanatical nature of Emperor Maximilian's Sheridan guard.





The result of the battle was not only the commission of a stronger and better equipped cruse ship for the emperor, but also the full and proper introduction of a Sheridan command structure, this was the formation of the Sheridan on a strategic level. Soon there would be plans for an entire royal fleet to be used by the Sheridan and the emperor for the policing of the inner empires territory, but only time will tell if this strength will be borne upon the rebellion.



(Better, worse?)

The Miracle Of Zend: Where did he come from? Why did he help the Republic in their time of need? What was the extent of the powers he possessed, was their true potential even unlocked or was he the first stage in a new breed of human? These questions have been pored over and dissected by scientists of all races for years, but the answers remain hidden to this day. All that is known is that Zend was a human born to the Republic, that he had a strange affinity with the Endless remnants known as dust, and that he singlehandedly perpetuated the Republic's existence in the Thousand Year War. The year was 3718, three years after the Siege of Madrigal. The empire had slowly been building up its strength in the Star System, and was about to push the offensive against the Republic to end the war once and for all. All Republic counterattacks had failed, their fleets destroyed or forced to retreat. The Emperor's Sword had been redeployed, but the Emperor's Fist, commanded by Admiral Warrick and accompanied by a contingent of smaller fleets, sat in orbit protecting the Empire's jewel, the MAC Railgun.



It was then that a single frigate, identified as a vessel stolen from drydock on the Empirical Planet Adeus I, appeared in the system. The Empire's fleet did not immediately open fire as the frigate was no threat to the massive fleet. A single transmission was sent from the frigate. "Leave now and cease all attacks against the Republic forever, or face destruction." One of the survivors claimed that Admiral Warrick laughed at the transmission, and calmly told one of his cruisers to open fire. And then every ship in the fleet began to fail. Systems shut down and engines failed, weapons malfunctioned and communication immediately went dark. Slowly, the ships began to turn towards Madrigal II. And then they were restarted. The MAC cannon went first, an enormous hulk of a warship that fell awfully, almost silently to the surface. The explosion was incredible, the destruction laying waste to an entire continent. The strain of such an enormous object must have been almost too much for Zend. It was the only reason why many of the Empire's ships managed to break free and escape. The others were not so lucky, their hulls caved in by the pressure of a collision none of them were designed to withstand. When the attack finally broke, a third of the Empire's fleet was destroyed, Admiral Warrick included, and the MAC cannon irreparably damaged.



The single most expensive piece of equipment in the Empire was now a broken hulk on an irradiated world. Zend was discovered on the still intact frigate, the only crew member, his body torn by the strain of such a massive force. Scholars have tried to discover how he did it, and the current theory is that every piece of dust on board the ship, from coins to systems, bent to his will and exhibited properties unseen since the time of the Endless. Historians can all agree however, that Zend was a miracle for the Republic, boosting morale to its highest peak and prompting many more worlds to join their force. But the Mystery of Zend remained frustratingly unsolved.



Keep it? Leave it? Edit it?

To Javarino:

I like it, the idea of a hero with Dust induced psychic powers would make things a whole lot more awesome.