I.N.N. Issue VII (92) on 4614.10.29

[989613]

Intergalactic News Network

 

The   Galaxy** ’ s   Most   Recent   News   For   You !**

 

 

 

B.I.O is obsessed with space flights, especially she’s attracted with places she’s never visited before. Our staff fly with her on occasion, showing her our world and telling her what’s happening from our (human) point of view. We hope that with the course of time she becomes our messenger of good will, still we guess biomorphs won’t just sit and listen to us.

 

These days B.I.O. and I (MoonLight) made our way through one of the imperial border sectors. Suddenly she told me that she received a strange signal, and it was not a mere coordinates exchange between the Hunters. It was a call for regroup. B.I.O. interpreted an extract of their transmission to us.

 

B.I.O. : - Stop. I’m receiving something…

Me: - ?

B.I.O. : - We have to move back to these coordinates: -200, -3100, +52.

 - О K…

 - Yeah, that’s it. It’s a signal.

 - The Hunters are coming ? Again?

- Nope. I mean, negative. It’s something different. Trying to decipher… Yeah, got it.

- So what’s that?

• A rendezvous signal, a very strong one. That’s not a Hunter.

- But who_?_

• Well, that’s a cruiser under your classification. Or even a dreadnought.

- What sort of rendezvous is that?

• I’ve got the rendezvous point coordinates. Uploading to our mainframe… They are here, not too far. Here, got another one… a bunch of them. Can’t recognize them, they are weaker a bit, but very distinct as well. Maybe cruisers or something like that.

- Can you describe them? You probably got blueprints in your memory?

• Nope… Ain’t got any. They haven’t been extracted from the Hunter’s memory core. But I remember the procedure of a massive attack. The main dude there, he’s like… big and… bulbaceous, green, with such sprouts here, here, there, everywhere… He gathers numbers of Hunters around, they look like small drones near him. Then he performs a jump and opens gates summoning the whooooole fleet… And if someone doesn’t agree with that…

- О__h… So, you even can decide, to agree or not?

• Sure thing! If you want, you may go attack with others. If not, you’ll become hull patches for those who attack. Freedom of choice and all the stuff…

- …    :01515:__ 

• So, the dissenters are momentarily utilized for hull repair parts, and those who try to resist are just annihilated…

- And if…

• A group of ships is approaching that sector. Looks like it’s a federates’ assault team. Their signatures belong to Vanguards mercenary corps, they seem to snoop around patrol the imperial sector. They’ve been noticed, engaging…

- B . I . O_?_ Go on!

 

Here she froze motionless. I tried to kick shake her, then scanned her for the electronic systems’ status. The scanner showed that she was active and operating, but heavily overloaded. In an instance she started talking with herself in different voices, her eyes still shut:

 

• Engaging target. One down. There’s more… Belay! Squad 2, cover the left flank… Holy sh*t, WHAT’S THAT?! Squad 1, engage this… whatever it is! Attacked with green spheres, maneuvering… 5th is destroyed… Everyone, focus fire at his cannons, let’s tear his claws out…

Attention, enemy ship approaching! Charlie team, I need eyes on this round piece of scrap! Damn, his shields are impenetrable… Everyone, engage the main target! Aaaahh!.. What the…

 

“Surrender to our discretion, unknown life forms! You’ll be studied and after series of experiments absorbed by the Unity. If you resist, all the unknown matter in this sector will be annihilated.”

 

Ugh… It’s over… It must be some kind of acoustic attack of the aliens, they seem to try make us panic… Squads 3 and 4 are destroyed. Bravo-2, get back to the formation now, or I’ll report you as a deserter!  Damn, he bugged out… Warning, energy kick detected in the enemy ship’s circuit!

 

“The last warning, unknown life forms. You’ll be annihilated in 5…”

 

Here B.I.O. fell, having lost control over her own body, but then she opened her eyes and shouted:

 

• We have to turn back! NOW! 

• But shouldn’ we…

• Pleeeeease…

You just can’t say no when she begs with these eyes of hers. 

• Well, OK…

• The Creepy is ordering all his troops to activate anti-bigbadaboomer protection… Whoo… I’m just happy we slipped out.

• The Creepy?

• Yeah, he scares me…

 

On our arrival to the Centre I reported what B.I.O. has discovered, but it was a complete chaos and mess there, so they paid little attention to what I was saying. 

B.I.O. - I’m pouring my heart out to them, and they… Oh, nevermind…

 

 

All the governments issued orders to hire the most experienced pilots with modern ships. The reason was one of federates’ patrols missing. A couple of hours ago a Vanguard team located a strange signal and immediately disappeared from the radar screen. The Federation reported a barbaric attack on its harmless patrol by imperial forces. Still, it gave no convincing argumentation of what has its military patrol been doing on imperial territory. 30 minutes later a single fighter (not exactly the fighter, rather the remaining 40% of it) docked the station with a Vanguard emergency beacon on it. No pilot was found inside, the seat was completely burnt. The pilot’s wing pin was found fused into the floor. All the ship’s electronics has been confiscated by the imperial police and sent to Antipiracy committee. The decrypted data has been circulated to the military command of each faction. Immediately after this the Federation officially withdrew its charge against the Empire.

 

B.I.О.  - See? They definitely can run quicker when something is burning close to their butts…

 

 

During this week the Empire managed to perform an effective regroup and a successful attack. Imperial forces in vicious battle took WX-47 from the Federation with its numerous trade stations and a few inhabited planets. Jericho, in its turn, has lost 3 sectors to the Empire, which is forced to defend its acquisitions now. Defence is a hard task for imperials now, as well as to federates.

 

Jericho is trying to cut off some of its former sectors and to make its slaves dig more minerals osmium. The operation is just commencing, so success is quite moderate. If the countrattack fails, Jericho will lose a few sectors at a time.

B.I.О  - Ouch… hands off… who are you?! Shhh… Shhh…

 

 

Some guys in military uniform have just walked in, stunned B.I.O. with an EMP shocker and took her somewhere. So we have to end our news and go find the poor girl…

 

 

 

ECMs.  New ways and new deeds are awaiting. Maybe not so epic as the recent ones, but each of them will definitely be a success.

Recon. This week you’ll have an opportunity to show the best of yours. But your further destiny mostly depends on how your bosses estimate your deeds.

Covert Ops.  The stars advise you to be careful. First you’re almost hit by disintegrator, then an engineer swarms its drones on you… Maybe it’s time to mind your manners a bit?

Gunships. Here’s the lucky! Old friends will come and organize a party for you. Despite the fact it will be spent in another place and in a new style, it will deliver good old pleasant moments.

Command fighters.  Try something new. Feel free to experiment. Maybe you’ll find some fresh experience for yourself.

Tacklers.  Howdy? Still kinda staggering? This week you’ll kinda feel a surge of energy and +100500 regen, but what awaits you after? The stars kinda don’t know themselves, and stuff.

LRFs.  Something constantly drags you aside. First you can’t find the target, then the target can’t find you. Try to stay focused this week.  

Guards.  Keep crawling your way, and some day you’ll finally reach… somewhere.

Engineers.  You are a high priority, and your importance is as high as never before. Raise your head and put on airs - you deserved it.

 

_______________________________________________________

The issue was prepared by:

MoonLight  SeraX  GaLathea  Disly  LexxVIII  and our AI - B.I.O.

[3402178]

The thing that jumped out at me was the description of the Biomorph ship. Gee, an alien race that assimilates its victims into a “Unified” whole… and is clearly biomechanical in form and function.

 

So, the real question is this: which series are the Devs lazily ripping off in place of trying something original? Borg, Flood or Infested are my current favourite choices.

[6682534]

I think Replicators from SG, once from those far galaxies.

[16855879]

I’d be cool with the Borg. I mean, flying cubes in space. Can’t be much cooler than that.

 

Also, quite possibly Zerg, too.

[3075578]

The thing that jumped out at me was the description of the Biomorph ship. Gee, an alien race that assimilates its victims into a “Unified” whole… and is clearly biomechanical in form and function.

 

So, the real question is this: which series are the Devs lazily ripping off in place of trying something original? Borg, Flood or Infested are my current favourite choices.

Have you never LOOKED at Biomorph Fighters? Those things look like Jericho Katanas. Or vice-versa…

[rakza]

Tyrannides too

[7521768]

The question now arises … ONCE you have been assimulated…  and somehow escape the grasp… will you EVER return back to normal ?  

[3402178]

Have you never LOOKED at Biomorph Fighters? Those things look like Jericho Katanas. Or vice-versa…

That’s kind of my point. Rather than do something new and interesting, the “aliens” are just Jericho ships that have been “infected with alien ebola” or somesuch crap.

 

So, we’ve gone from “we’re going to have a Precrusor race that indirectly caused a surge of Human expansion into space,” to “we’re going to have generic aliens,” to “coming up with our own aliens is too much work. Let’s just reskin Human ships and say the aliens stole their brains.”

[3075578]

That’s kind of my point. Rather than do something new and interesting, the “aliens” are just Jericho ships that have been “infected with alien ebola” or somesuch crap.

 

So, we’ve gone from “we’re going to have a Precrusor race that indirectly caused a surge of Human expansion into space,” to “we’re going to have generic aliens,” to “coming up with our own aliens is too much work. Let’s just reskin Human ships and say the aliens stole their brains.”

All re-re-re-re-used tropes, regardless of version.

[3402178]

All re-re-re-re-used tropes, regardless of version.

Tropes are not bad, but tropes added because it’s easier than thinking always are.

 

The aliens are a non-factor in Star Conflict. They do not exist in lore, they do not play a role in the narrative, and half of their assets are just stolen from Jericho. They are not worth the time and effort put into them. They are a force that cannot be bargained or reasoned with - a force that exists solely to destroy humanity without any kind of goal or objective beyond that. They are a dull, uninspired concept.

 

Now compare that to everything else we’ve got.

 

First, the Empire. Born from the overthrowing of a corrupt world government (corrupt according to the Empire, and possibly Jericho), the Empire serve as the setting’s status quo and the primary antagonist for the other two factions. They are rather generic, but in this capacity they are allowed to be to some extent. Their role is to provide the baseline, and even then there’s other elements dropped in. For example, the fact the Emperor is apparently over a thousand years old.

 

Next, Jericho. Ex-convicts who followed an extremist lunatic and came back teched up to the gills. Their gripe is technically with the Direktorium, but they either can’t tell the difference between the Direktorium and the Empire, or just don’t care. Jericho want to topple the Empire because they see it as a fundamentally corrupt and broken system. The fact that they are so advanced technologically might actually lend merits to their argument - the Empire is clearly holding Humanity back!

 

The Federation are rebels, and a more recent addition to the fight, chronologically. They descend from the Direktorium refugees, and when they staged a coup they pulled various disenfranchised Imperial worlds along with them.  Back when the ships had background, their vessels were often civilian models refitted for combat duty - that in itself gives them something of a clear character trait; it implies they are both desperate, and primarily militia based.

 

So, we’ve got the Empire trying to hold Humanity together; the Federation who feel the Empire is stamping its jackboot down too hard and wants to liberate itself, and Jericho trying to convince everyone that having an iPhone 2200 inserted into you skull really is the best way to live.

 

And then we have the Precursors. What are they? Well, they sent a signal out into the void a long time ago, which caused Humanity to rush out to the stars and find them. Finding them was meant to be the key point of the narrative to this game.

 

What exactly do the Aliens bring to this equation? Another generic enemy? We don’t need those. We’ve already got Pirates, Cartel (who are also pirates), Cybers (also pirates), the Enclave (apparently forgotten) and Blackwood Shipyard’s rogue AI (which unlike the aliens, has an excuse for killing indiscriminately). Why do we need ANOTHER faction whose background, character development and role in the game begins and ends with “something to shoot”?

[4341551]

Yay. Precursor borg zombies.

 

More green to shoot, and what sounds like a massive tentacled alien mothership with warts.

[4341551]

…the Enclave (apparently forgotten) and Blackwood Shipyard’s rogue AI (which unlike the aliens, has an excuse for killing indiscriminately).

 

Wait, who are the Enclave? I don’t remember anything referencing them.

 

As far as the rogue AI in Blackwood, I always just assumed they were pre-biomorphs who hadn’t turned green yet.

 

I’d completely forgotten that the entire reason we are in space was because humanity was chasing a Precursor signal. I really wish they’d develop that a bit more.

[9637827]

[6682534]

It’s Locutus of THE BORG! 

[3402178]

Wait, who are the Enclave? I don’t remember anything referencing them.

 

As far as the rogue AI in Blackwood, I always just assumed they were pre-biomorphs who hadn’t turned green yet.

 

I’d completely forgotten that the entire reason we are in space was because humanity was chasing a Precursor signal. I really wish they’d develop that a bit more.

Crimson Haze. When it came out the enemy were referred to as “Enclave”. No further explanation was given, and they were later changed to Cybers to be in-line with Invasion Mode.

[6864012]

Wait, who are the Enclave? I don’t remember anything referencing them.

 

As far as the rogue AI in Blackwood, I always just assumed they were pre-biomorphs who hadn’t turned green yet.

 

I’d completely forgotten that the entire reason we are in space was because humanity was chasing a Precursor signal. I really wish they’d develop that a bit more.

All the precursor references in mission texts, PvE and in game lore have been modified. It seems that the precursors were the Aliens all the time, but we didn’t know.

[16849841]

Why would they broadcast they were there if they just wanted to destroy us. It would’ve been easier to destroy a lone planet with no space defenses.

[4242384]

I am not a PvE fan myself, but i am some what excited to see how it plays out. Thanks for the work

[3075578]

What exactly do the Aliens bring to this equation? Another generic enemy? We don’t need those. We’ve already got Pirates, Cartel (who are also pirates), Cybers (also pirates), the Enclave (apparently forgotten) and Blackwood Shipyard’s rogue AI (which unlike the aliens, has an excuse for killing indiscriminately). Why do we need ANOTHER faction whose background, character development and role in the game begins and ends with “something to shoot”?

Because Motherland.