Zro Effect: A First Contact Ironman AAR

[Arithmetician]

(Hi! Arithmetician here! Still working on Stellaris Wars, a Nemesis Ironman Saga II - Rebellion: The Imperium at War, but besides some regrettably difficult times IRL, I’ve also been a bit slower with updates lately because I was playing a First Contact campaign.

This is not actually the first major campaign Ive done since Rebellion (I actually did a proper Clone Wars campaign too, back in December), but, in the interest of variety, I figured I’d share a campaign inspired by Mass Effect next! While I’ve never actually played Mass Effect myself (though I’m increasingly interested in doing so), I appreciate the rich lore of its setting, and I found a few ship, outfit, music, and advisor mods that I could use give my campaign a Mass Effect feel while still being ironman/achievements compliant.

Regrettably, I was not able to completely finish this campaign, because I eventually got a crash to desktop error that kept occurring on a certain game date no matter what I tried, even if I disabled all aesthetic mods for a completely vanilla setup. But I think the trajectory of my campaign was quite clear from there, and just a matter of time. And even while the abrupt nature of its end was frustrating to me, the journey to that point was a very memorable campaign, which I would be glad to share with you all.

For our campaign, we have a preset generation of 22 custom AI empires, each a pastiche of a canonical Mass Effect civilization. In the case of my player empire, we have the “Allied Systems of Earth”, serving as this galaxy’s counterpart to the Systems Alliance, and presented as an alternate development instead of Stellaris’s own United Nations of Earth.)

(Key to the run is the Eager Explorers civic, giving us access to Subspace Drives instead of standard hyperdrives, and ensuring that we start with fewer pops and less technology at the start of the game, representing how humanity is starting off relatively behind the other civilizations of the galaxy, as in Mass Effect.

Parliamentary Systems was chosen for RP considerations, representing the Systems Alliance parliament, but also synergizes with our Egalitarian ethic for lots of faction unity generation. It’s also useful for putting out a lot of early scientists and for rushing early traditions/ascension perks.

The Systems Alliance is largely a military organization, and that is reflected in our ethics as well.

We chose Slingshot to the Stars, as opposed to the more traditional Mass Effect Origin of Galactic Doorstep, because of the sheer amount of synergy that it would offer with our subspace drives. We would both be able to reach and explore distant star systems, far sooner than if we followed traditional hyperlane routes to them, and then we would have a major influence discount for establishing outposts in them. Xenophobe further decreases our influence costs and increases our population growth - humanity ends up stepping on a few alien toes with its rapid expansion in Mass Effect, and the Xenophobe ethic in Stellaris epitomizes rapid expansion at the detriment of Xeno empires. Though to be clear, we aren’t allowing purging or slavery for the Allied Systems - that is considered barbaric. Though a significant fraction of our population, will at least at first, be distrusting and fearful of alien empires, especially since most that we encounter will be much stronger than us from the start.

Furthering the idea of rapidly colonizing any and all planets that we can get our hands on, even ones far from Earth, Adaptive has been upgraded from the standard Stellaris human traits to Extremely Adaptive, paid for by the additional negative trait of Unruly. Nomadic is retained for increasing population growth via immigration from Earth to humanity’s new colonies.

Lastly, game details... I think everyone can already tell what the Crisis is set to be...)

 

[Arithmetician]

A unary system centered on a G-type star, approximately five billion years old, putting it halfway through its main sequence lifetime, during which it converts hydrogen into helium to release energy by nuclear fusion within its core. It is located a bit more than halfway out from the Galactic Core, along the minor Orion-Cyngus Arm, also known as the Orion Spur.

The system contains eight major planets, multiple large moon systems around its gas giants, which would soon be home to orbital mining stations, and two major debris fields left over from its formation, the rocky Asteroid Belt, and the frozen Kuiper belt, in addition to the outlying Oort Cloud.

The Sol System is most notable on the galactic stage for its third planet, Earth, known for being the birthplace of humanity, the planet’s dominant mammalian species, and its sole native sapient one. With 71% of its surface covered by water, its landmasses are divided among seven major continents. Each has a remarkable variety of ecosystems, which humanity has proven itself remarkably adept at colonizing and exploiting. It is the opinion of many observers in the Galactic Community that this would foreshadow the startling speed with which humanity would establish footholds on new worlds, even those that should have been considered marginal or too distant.

The 23.5 degree axial tilt of the planet ensures a regular seasonal cycle in each of its hemispheres, the 24 hour day prevents either side of the planet from being scorched or becoming too cool, and its unusually large moon for its size, Luna, regulates ocean tides, further enhancing Earth’s habitability. It takes 365.25 Earth days for one complete orbital period, slightly longer than the 360 days of the Galactic Standard Year.

With nine billion inhabitants as of the time that its civilizations became FTL-capable, the four largest urban areas on Earth included the BosWash Metropolitan Axis, the Mesopotamian Urban Corridor, the Delhi Sprawl, and the Pearl River Agglomerate.

The threat of mutually assured destruction had long hung over humanity, following their invention of nuclear weapons 255 years before their development of the subspace drive, and while a devastating nuclear exchange was averted, nuclear accidents, such as the Great Scandinavian Containment Breach had poisoned significant areas. Climate change, from the burning of fossil fuels, had also threatened to lead to a collapse of the planet’s biosphere, and while the very worst-case scenario was averted in the end, many species were lost forever, and countless humans suffered and died as they braced against its effects. And 711494 Satis led to a panic when it was discovered to be on a collision course with Earth, causing significant devastation when it crashed into and wiped out much of Alberta, but ultimately sparing humanity from extinction.

The planet’s history is also one of repeating cycles of warfare, xenophobia, authoritarianism, and religious intolerance, though over time, relative periods of peace, tolerance, democracy, and scientific progress emerged. At the dawn of the first successful subspace drive tests, humanity was in a renewed period of liberalism in its history, with democratic governments and the protection of basic rights resurgent after the backsliding that had been seen earlier in the 21st and 22nd centuries, and efforts were being made to heal the planet, such as through the Saharan Irrigation Project, and plans to clean up the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Nonetheless, the chaos of the BosWash Riots lingers in popular memory, as does the last stand of the rebellious Colonel Tetchu and his brigade in Mauritania. There are also still those who live in extreme poverty in sprawling slums, and toxic industrial wastelands that must be cleared before more sustainable developments can replace them.

But while the incontrovertible discovery that other life in the universe once existed and visited the Sol System has forced a reevaluation of many belief systems, and brought people together with their common humanity like nothing before it, there is also a darker undercurrent to this. Many of the loudest voices see alien life as inherently threatening to humanity, and believe that only by banding together can Earth and its people be kept safe.

 

[Arithmetician]

Docked at Sol Station, humanity’s first FTL-capable vessels await deployment, each equipped with the subspace drive. Powered by an onboard fission reactor, the subspace drive creates microtears in spacetime, allowing vessels to jump to nearby star systems. However, these microtears become increasingly unstable as longer jumps are attempted, lest the tear snap shut while the vessel is in transit, instantly killing all aboard. This limits the drive’s effective range. Even a successful jump requires an enormous amount of power and puts significant strain on a ship’s systems, limiting them to no more than one jump every 150 standard days, except under emergency conditions, when certain safety protocols can be bypassed.

Humanity’s first two Subspace Drive-equipped exploration vessels are the SSV Tereshkova, commanded by scientist Minato Saito, and the SSV Equinox, commanded by scientist Valery Markov.

But there are some who say that a successful FTL jump was actually made years earlier, in an experimental vessel funded by a shadowy conglomerate of shell companies run by an Elusive Woman, who supposedly was the author of an online manifesto about the need to ensure human dominance over the galaxy by any means necessary...

Yet these rumors aside, at the start of 2200, preparations are finally complete, and the crews of both exploration vessels activate their Subspace Drives, with the Tereshkova heading to Barnard’s Star, the most likely location of the catapult alluded to in the alien archives, and the Equinox heading to explore Alpha Centauri, spurred on by preliminary observations suggesting that there might be a habitable world there...

 

[Arithmetician]

A ruined megastructure constructed around Barnard’s Star, which up close appears very different from the red dwarf that it was thought to be. Scientists can only speculate that some sort of interference from the catapult or deliberate attempt at cloaking its presence accounted for the earlier excavations.

Allied Systems archaeologists are eager to begin investigating the site, especially after discovering logs left by its inventor, the ‘Quantum Architect’.

Also nearby is a cold and rocky, but habitable planet with a nitrogen-oxygen atmosphere, largely covered by permafrost, but appears to have a stable biosphere, supported by lichen and moss surface vegetation.

Allied Systems Command has determined that, If the Quantum Catapult can be repaired, it would be a valuable strategic asset, and thus colonizing the nearby planet, designated as Barnard Prime, is to be made a high priority.

 

[Arithmetician]

A triple star system, consisting of Rigil Kentaurus (Alpha Centauri A), Toliman (Alpha Centauri B), and Proxima Centauri, the closest star system to Sol. Rigil Kentaurus and Toliman exist as a binary pair with each other. This pair, and Proxima Centauri each are observed up close to have their own planetary systems orbiting them.

While Alpha Centauri III lacks a moon, it otherwise has conditions broadly similar to Earth, making it a promising colonization target.

Closer surveys however, revealed the prevalence of carnivorous megaflora in its biosphere, requiring that any future colonists will have to exercise caution.

Proxima Centauri B also drew the attention of Allied Systems scientists, who speculated that, with the proper technology, it could be terraformed into another habitable planet, though such an undertaking would require a tremendous amount of resources.

And a mysterious atomic clock was found in orbit around Toliman, steadily counting down to a date 42 years and 3 days in the future...

 

[Arithmetician]

A ruined and indescribably ancient ringworld in the Riak System, a few light years from Sol. At first, scientists believed that the readings had to be in error, but on 2200.10.17, the SSV Clarke entered the system and confirmed the ringworld’s existence.

No clues could be found regarding the builders of the ringworld, but many speculate that they could have also been related to the construction of the Quantum Catapult, or the alien civilization who left the ruins of their outpost in the Sol System. In any case, their technology was vastly beyond that of humanity’s.

The ringworld could have easily been home to entire civilizations, or the capital of a galaxy-spanning one. Yet curiously, archaeologists have estimated that the structure only fell into disrepair about 50,000 years ago.

What is clear is that this ringworld was called “The Citadel”, and it immediately captured the popular imagination as a symbol of the past, yet also stoking fears that primitive humanity had once been at the mercy of an ancient spacefaring civilization, powerful seemingly beyond comprehension, that had apparently vanished overnight.

Scientists expressed hope that one day, the Citadel might be repaired, giving humanity virtually limitless living space. But that would require vastly more resources than even terraforming Proxima Centauri b, and so would remain a distant dream.

 

[Arithmetician]

As closer surveys of the habitable planet orbiting Barnard’s Star were carried out, the mysterious ruins of an abandoned colony were discovered, along with more of the exotic aerosol that had been first discovered in the alien outpost in the Sol System. But unlike the traces that had been found there, the aerosol, which was dubbed ‘Zro’, was found in much greater concentrations, in some places even forming small piles along the ground.

Archaeological studies of the colony soon revealed a large crystal in the center of the colony, which some scientists reported they had felt strangely drawn to. Figuring out how to access the crystal, which was determined to be some sort of archive, took time, but the revelations within were beyond what anyone could have imagined, projected into the very minds of the researchers.

The colony had belonged to an ancient civilization, many millions of years old, or perhaps even older, known as the Zroni, who learned of another dimension beyond the familiar material universe, which they termed ‘the Shroud’. They had also mastered psionic powers, such as the telepathy that the archive that they had left behind at the colony used to project information into the minds of the researchers.

While religious belief had been waning for many years back on Earth, the discovery sparked a renewed interest in spiritual thought among the masses. It led to new questions about Earth’s place in the cosmos, and its relation to the ’Shroud’, though some fundamentalist groups decried the visions granted by the Archive as some kind of demonic trick. But undeterred, a few scientists began to formulate a theory that might make sense of such phenomena in a more rational way. But more information was needed, and so the hunt for the next Psionic Archive began...