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Fifth Interlude: Little Galaxy
Fifth Interlude: Little Galaxy
Government Information, Modifiers and Rough Breakdown of the population of the Saiiban Confederation in 2450.
As our wings spread out, growing
Their spreading shadow grow wide
Like atoms, we grow heavier, glowing
Shooting of free radicals as we divide
And the galaxy grows smaller until it shrinks
Into something we can gently grasp
And raise, singing to it, see how it thinks
Enfolding it, in our secure clasp
Singing
Rise galaxy, Rise
Empires will fall before us
Rise galaxy, Rise
All else can bow before us
Rise galaxy, Rise
little galaxy
Into space we are blending in
As the future pulls us into the unknown
into the mystery contained within
Showing us how much we have grown
As we fall we sing out to the little galaxy
Surrendering to its gravity as we go
Knowing that know all is a fallacy
But seeing its entirety spread out below
Singing
Rise, Galaxy Rise
History will flow over both of us
Rise, galaxy Rise
The future yet has surprises for both of us
Rise, galaxy Rise,
little galaxy.
And as we are flying out
over our little galaxy
Falling in
to its future unknown
We’re blending in
to its echoing past
Singing until
our own echoes grow silent
Singing out our songs,
into the ears of the universe
Surrendering
our Song to its score
And when the stars grow dim
and go out in the darkness
We know our song will be in
Its faint echoing tones
And so we sing
To our little galaxy
Growing up,
To a past we’ll never know
And we spread out
Over our little galaxy
Knowing full well,
It will continue to sing
Past the future we’ll know
Singing it’s own song
to future listening singers
Singing in turn,
Rise, galaxy, Rise,
Sing of the past before us
Rise, galaxy, Rise,
Sing of what we might not know
Rise, galaxy, Rise,
Echo into the future
Sing into the unknown.
Rise, galaxy, Rise
little galaxy
General Diplomatic situation, sorted by relative power compared to the Saiiban Confederacy. The Saiiban were now in a category unto themselves.
Political makeup of the Confederation. The Alien Rights society continued to be the second most powerful political force behind the Committee of Technological Progress, but the dominance of the leading faction had become more pronounced such that all other political factions combined did not equal it’s own numbers.
The demographics of the confederation had became, in a word, complex. (Even this leaves out some of the species with less than 100 pops. I didn’t take xeno compatibility, but I suspect the UNE, who I had a migration treaty with, did)
The galactic situation in 2450. The Saiiban dominance in terms of population, economy and technology was built on its control over a vast expanse of the northwest quadrant of the galaxy.
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Our song grows louder
its notes rise up, spread out
it's echoes fill us.
Who knows what terror
the future brings us all
or what hope it brings us.
Well, thanks for commenting.
So much time has passed
but to the watching galaxy
it is but a blink
---
As is custom now, some fun facts about our progress:
1) The previous update was the 99th update. (so our next update will,, fittingly, be update #100)
2) 2200-2230 was 26 updates and took about 2 months (May 27th, 2020 to August 6th, 2020).
3) 2230-2260 was 25 updates and took about 7 months (August 6th, 2020 to April 4th, 2021)
4) 2260-2290 was 23 updates and took about 6 1/2 months (April 4th, 2021 to October 24th, 2021)
5) 2290-2320 was 11 updates and took about 2 1/2 months (October 24th, 2021 to Jan 9th of 2022)
6) 2320-2450 was 15 updates and took almost exactly 4 months (Jan 9th of 2022 to April 10th of 2022)
The Q1 ACA's are open for voting. You should head over there and vote. I deeply appreciate those of you who have already voted for this AAR.
Two years and 99 posts, all of them in verse? That's a pretty amazing accomplishment!
Saibaan of flesh and steel
Humans and Molluscs abound
As one people, with one will
The Saibaan make the galaxy go round
Saibaan of flesh and steel
Humans and Molluscs abound
As one people, with one will
The Saibaan make the galaxy go round
Sleepers Awake
Sleepers Awake
In 2452, the Pithok left whatever mysteries they had been contemplating and began to concern themselves with affairs outside of their borders once more. It would be the first event that would signal a escalating series of crisis for the next few decades.
Sleepers, awake!
The song cries out, rising
Awake, Saiiban, Awake!
Dangerous winds are arising
Those who closed their eyes
And refused to see anew
Arise now, seeking to see who
They will need to chastise
For disturbing their chosen slumber
Their fleets come, screaming
Demanding obedience to their will
And it is clear they will not rest until
They have rebuild an empire gleaming
All rise! Fly into the sky, singing
All rise! The time of peace passes
But even as the song of war forms
Ancient, broken voices, incomprehensible
Demand something impossible, nonsensical
That we lie still and surrender to these storms.
By 2463, as the Confederation debated what to do, the Pithok had begun their campaign of conquest in earnest against other, weaker powers, such as the Ix’idar Star Collective.
It was in this general sense of the Galaxy sliding into crisis that the Saiiban scientific community elected Wings of Olive. Wings of Olive’ focus on fleet expansion and building spoke to the felt need to put the Confederacy on war footing. The election of Wings of Olive also itself represented a notable moment: the robotic synthetic intelligences the Saiiban had developed had grown and developed to the point where one of them could rise in the field of science and politics sufficiently to become Director General. Wings of Olive would turn out to be Director General during arguably the most crucial period of the Confederacy.
Wings of Olive:
Now is the time, now is the hour
It is time now, then, for us to gather our power
Time to see what can be done by a galactic super power
Time to fight, time to science, time to sing
Time to spread our wings and build a future worth living in.
Saiiban! Awake! Arise!
Greet the new morning!
The wind rises, spread your wings.
Time to spread out.
Not a people who
have but one will but rather
a chorus of voices
I sometimes remember that my original goal was to finish this over the summer of 2020 and I laugh and laugh and laugh.
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The Q1 ACA's are open for voting. Vote if you haven't!
As I mentioned previously, this last post was update number 100.
The Saibaan's Power
At last challenged
Will their songs cower
Or shall the Ancients be humbled
With threatening accusations
Of underlying corruption
The Synthoid set the stage
For even greater disruption
At last challenged
Will their songs cower
Or shall the Ancients be humbled
With threatening accusations
Of underlying corruption
The Synthoid set the stage
For even greater disruption
The Stand
The Stand
Wings of Olive:
The time has come to fly
Their flocks are scattered,
Saiiban! Sing! Be ready to fly! Be ready to die!
It is time to show these ancients what we have mastered.
Our talons and wings are ready
Our beaks and our eyes are sharp
Let your wings spread out and be steady
Our murders will show these ancients our art.
The completion of a Mega Shipyard complex in Tallasus, complete with a nearby gateway, just as the crisis of the late 2400’s got under way, would prove crucial to the Saiiban’s ability to respond to it.
Wings of Olive:
We know the threat we face
We know death we embrace
Whether we are killed or we murder
Nothing after will remain the same
But we cannot simply stand idly by
And let these ancients force others to silence
Simply because they wish a repeated refrain
Of their own ancient song of glory.
They have a right to their songs,
But they do not have a right to all singers
And so, we fly forth, our feathers red, ready to kill,
Ready to change, ready to climb
Into the highest reaches of the sky
And plunge, into the unknown darkness
Of a future where we, and our song,
Leads the chorus that is the galaxy.
In 2469, the Saiiban, after much debate, finally decided to intervene and end the threat of the Pithok.
As predicted, after the Saiiban declared war on the Pithok, the Synthoid Continuity declared war on the Confederation, bringing it to war against two ancient empires at the same time.
The symphony of war
has started it's rapid song
we shall see what remains.
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Quick reminder that the Q1 ACA's are open for voting. It's seemed a little quiet over in the thread, so make sure to vote if you haven't. Thanks to those of you who have already voted for this AAR.
In devious concordance
The ancients seek to crush the future
The Saibans sing hymns of resistance
Ready to defy the vultures
The ancients seek to crush the future
The Saibans sing hymns of resistance
Ready to defy the vultures
The sleepers awake
At last from their slumber
Their final mistake
Will tear them asunder
At last from their slumber
Their final mistake
Will tear them asunder
Hit Em Up
Hit Em Up
My fellow Saiiban!
Time to sing, spread your wings!
When this song drops,
it’s time to get crazy
Come on, Come on (Take Victory)
When this song stops,
Time to take some spacey
Come on, Come on (Take Victory)
Time to hit em up.
So, first off, let’s kill their fleets and their systems claim
They might have started this, but we’ll finish the game
Our troops are cold song killers, sharper than any knife
Engineering for precisely one purpose of taking your life.
You think we’ll sit by, and play the game by your rules?
You haven’t been paying attention, too late now, fools.
Your colonies crashing to the ground, nothing but wreckage
Hello? Are you hearing this? Better check your messages.
While you were sleeping to death, we’ve been wide awake learning
Too late to catch up now, this session is adjourning.
The Saiiban strategy was simple. Focus its invading fleets and forces on the Pithok worlds that represented the center of their power. With their core economic and industrial power negated, the Pithok fleet could then be wiped out at leisure. The invading troops of genetically engineered xenomorphs caused some unintended damage, but their ability to dominate enemy forces would prove vital during the most challenging ground invasions the Saiiban would have to perform in the war.
Grab your guns, when you see the enemy
Time to take flight, time to cause envy
Come on, Come on (Take Victory)
Trying to rule all, trying to rule the galaxy
Time to teach em all, they making a fallacy
Come on, Come on (Take Victory)
Time to hit em up
Yeah, look, your fleets are nice, oops sorry,
what was it, you were saying?
Looks like I hit em up, hope they were paying attention
This lesson’s over now, take what you’ve got left
Go on home, or what’s left of it
Don’t you worry now, we’ll be right on over.
Hope you enjoyed your brief time back in the sun
Looks like that’s just about over
Saiiban fleet power was sufficient to also devote a fleet to chasing down some of the main Pithok fleets. The Pithok fleet in this area had been escorting a Pacifier Colossus which had already sealed away a few Ix’Athrak colonies. The one sided battle demonstrated that the Pithok advantage in technology was not nearly wide enough to make up for being outnumbered in terms of capital ships.
At the same time as the Saiiban advanced into the Pithok home worlds and started to eliminate the Pithok fleet, another fleet was tasked with advancing quickly into Synthoid space and eliminating that front in the war quickly. The resulting combat eliminated the primary Synthoid fleet and proved that the Saiiban were more than capable of standing up to both powers with few losses.
Grab the knowledge of victory, It ain’t no special mystery
More guns in the right place, fly true, give chase
Hit em up so hard they can’t ever replace
Make em lose face, keep up the pace
Embrace victory as you leave them in disgrace
Leave them nothing but space
It’s awful lonely when you lose your base
Learn from your enemy and victory awaits
Learn faster, harder, these aren’t debates
Ain’t no rule against stealing, no points for grace
Move fast, kill hard, spread your wings,
Hit em up till their gone.
The Saiiban worked quickly to decipher the wreckage of the first fleets it defeated. Whatever technological advantage the Pithok and Synthoid fleets would quickly be eliminated.
To go back into
a lost, glorious past
is just another death
While they lay sleeping
we have been learning, growing
it is time for spring.
--
Quick reminder that the Q1 ACA's are open for voting. I believe your deadline is this Sunday.
In other news, I got a new computer and safely and successfully transferred over my safe files and screen shots. Stellaris starts up much faster now, which is nice, although I still am playing under Butler since I want to keep access to the saves from this AAR. This is also why there was a bit of a delay in updating.
It feels like the game has changed quite a bit while I've been working on this. The perils of modern day Paradox game development, I suppose.
From the soaring skies
From the soaring skies
The beginning of 2471 saw the Synthoid surrender to the Saiiban. The Saiiban seized most of the outlying systems and left the Synthoid with little else other than their home system.
The battle of Ydria represented the complete annihilation of one of the last major fleet concentrations of the Pithok. From this point, the campaign would mostly consist of cleaning up the remnants.
After an intense period of bombardment that saw the reduction of the Pithok capital of Font of Knowledge into mostly rubble, the remaining defending army, while still sizeable, had bene sufficiently weakened to make an invasion practical. It was nonetheless the case that the invading force the Saiiban brought down represented by far the largest planetary invasion force organized by power in the galaxy by several orders of magnitude. The ensuing land battle would be the largest land battle fought by the Saiiban.
From the soaring skies of Saiiban
To the darkest halls of ancient rot
We’ll fight the confederations’ battles
As we descend down from the sky
Happy to fight for reason, for science and Saiiban
We fly down screaming, singing,
Our battle song fills the air
And victory we’ll be bringing
Our xenomorphs are hungry to start.
Victory’s descending, time for us to depart.
The flocks of our singing starships
Have sent down thunder from the skies
Our flocks flew true, our talons struck
The song of the enemy is silenced
Our judgment descends fast and freely now
Our song flows vicious and violent
And it's the armies turn, descending
Into the wreckage of the past
The future is here now, screaming
Your armies have sung their last
Every last morphing and every last marine
Is here to clear you from the wreckage
Of your foolish imperial dreams.
After three months of hard fighting, the Saiiban captured the Pithok capital and thereby controlled the Pithok core systems. All that remained were the various Pithok fleets scattered around the galaxy and their more recent conquests.
Flying triumphantly
Above ancient land
The Saibaan promise:
The future will be grand!
A new world will be created
From the ashes of the old
At last free of ancient hatred
At last free of horrors untold
Above ancient land
The Saibaan promise:
The future will be grand!
A new world will be created
From the ashes of the old
At last free of ancient hatred
At last free of horrors untold
The Hurricane
The Hurricane
In 2476, as the Saiiban were chasing down various Pithok fleets and in general cleaning up after their conquests several tracking stations picked up faint but growing subspace echoes from outside the Galaxy, coming closer.
Just as we seem to break through the clouds
Comes a new wind screaming loud
The wind howls and cracks and cuts our feathers
It comes to see if we have its measure
I am here and hungry, it says, you can tell
I’m ready for feeding,it says, I shall eat well
It isn’t long now, it says, I’m ready to go
Don’t go anywhere now, it says, time for the show
Here I am, it says,
I am the Hurricane
Here I am, it sings
Time for the Hurricane
In 2479, the subspace echoes could be localized to some degree, it was clear there were two groups of them, a main body and a smaller but still sizeable group that was closer and was about to arrive.
The encroaching contacts would first arrive in the Galactic Northeast. The good news was that this was far away from the Saiiban confederation. The bad news was that this was far away from the Saiiban Confederation.
I’ve been hunted by the winds,
So I’ll chase them down, rein them in
Swallow them whole, cough them out
I’m here, I’m ready, to scream and shout
I’ve been hunted, I’ve been killed
And so by murder I’m now fulfilled
I’m here and hungry, I’m ready to blow
Don’t bother running, I’ve started the show
Here I am, I say
I am the Hurricane,
Time to eat, I say
Time to bleed
Are you ready?
Ready for the hurricane?
Near the end of 2479, whatever it was that was about to arrive sent out a subspace signal.
The only “meaningful” transmission the Saiiban would ever receive was little more than garbled chaos. No success was ever had in interpreting the language or communicating with the beings that would be called the Prethoryn Scourge by the Galaxy.
Time to feed, time to slay! Time to kill! Time to maim!
Been on the run so long that dying and killings the same
I’ll blow you over, I’mm blow you through
You death will be cinematic, pay per view
I’ll say once and I’ll say it loud
I’ll chase you down like a hound
My wind will drive you down insane
Till nothing but blood and carnage remain
Yeah, I’ll rock you
Rock you like a hurricane
Here I am
To kill you, mute you howl you
Like a hurricance
Bleed and eat and die you
Like a hurricane
In early 2080 the nature of the threat finally began to be clear, dozens of fleets, more powerful than almost any Galactic Power except the Saiiban, were arriving and began to destroy everything in their path. The Scourge of the Void had arrived.
We truly say this now
we are so very tired
of all this winning.
Alas! If it were so!
horrors unspoken still hunt
seeking to eat all.
--
Fun fact. This game is the first time I have ever dealt with the Prethoryn Scourge. I almost always get the Contingency and sometimes the Unbidden, but never before the Scourge.
Fight like a Bird
Fight like a Bird
In early 2481, as the Scourge was spreading out from its initial arrival systems, the Saiiban eliminated the final resistance of the Pithok and could turn their attention to the new threat.
It was clear, by this point, that the Prethoryn Scourge was an invasion. Their fleets destroyed everything in their path and they began taking control over systems.
Our minds are a weapon of war
Our songs are our weapons of choice
Wings to the wind
Talons ready to tear
Songs ready to soar
We fight for our dream
We fight to the death
We fight to our destiny
We fight like a bird
Yes, we fight like a bird
Ready to sing and to scream across worlds
Flying fast and furious and far with the wind
If you could take heed you should plead and listen to these words
But our fleets are built and ready to go for a spin
Before all is done your blood will be spilled
Our murders are ready to command
And they know that it's kill or be killed
We are ready for what the war will demand
But the question is, are you?
The Saiiban were able to get some good quality scanning data on the invasion and three things became evident. First, the power of the fleets of the Scourge was well beyond that of any other power in the galaxy. Second, the hive fleets possessed no shields. Third, their weapons were best countered by armor. The Saiiban quickly began renovating their fleets to take advantage of these facts, something made much faster thanks to the Mega-Shipyard.
Our songs are a weapon of war
Our chorus, our weapon of choice
Songs to the wind,
Nests ready to hatch
We fight like the wind
We fight like the air
We fight with our flock
We fight like a bird
Yes, we fight like a bird
Our murders fly swift and certain
Even as the rest of galaxy closes its eyes
We keep ours on the stage ready for the curtain
When we suddenly arrive wont it be a surprise
We’ll flow with the wind with our wings steady
Even if no others will sing with us this song
We have our own chorus of singers ready
Ready to sing with voices certain and strong
Talons ready to sing, Songs ready to fly,
But the question is, are you?
By late 2481 the main force of the Scourge had arrived and the entire invasion was spreading out uncontrolled.
In 2481, the Saiiban used their emergency powers in the council for the first time to propose the galaxy unite to face the threat of the Scourge. Much to the frustration of the Saiiban, most other powers seemed to feel the threat was overblown. It was clear to everyone the Saiiban would be the main force resisting the incursion, all the Confederation asked was that others agree to help. Thankfully, the Saiiban were now sufficiently powerful that they could use various means to ensure the vote went their way even if the delegates from most other powers opposed the measure.
Our flocks are our weapons of war
Our murders are our weapon of choice
Fleets to the wind,
Fighters ready to fly,
We fight across space
We fight with our songs
We fight to survive
We fight like a bird
Yes, we’ll fight like a bird
Our fighters ready to fly and to flay
Our ships silent as death’s screaming songs
We know the methods of murder, we know the way
Every ship and song knows where it belongs
We’ll bring destruction savage and swift
Their long voyage has come now to its end
A fast death will be our parting gift
The songs of our ships are ready now
And the question: we know the answer
You are not ready
For us to fight like a bird.
Halfway through 2484 the Saiiban had assembled a total of six fleets, each of them with a little over 300k combat power, all of them retrofitted to combat the Scourge. Its offensive would begin shortly thereafter.