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[Niveras]

Why would you think that automated stations would have the necessary supporting infrastructure (namely, power) survive a cataclysmic scouring? Even if they did the transmissions may not necessarily survive 40 light years of travel, at least not in a form that can be distinguished from background radiation. Not without also being purposefully sent in that direction, anyway.

[10ebbor10]

Why would you think that automated stations would have the necessary supporting infrastructure (namely, power) survive a cataclysmic scouring? Even if they did the transmissions may not necessarily survive 40 light years of travel, at least not in a form that can be distinguished from background radiation. Not without also being purposefully sent in that direction, anyway.

Sattelites.... Some of the really old ones did survive that long. Also, it's a mere 4 years, not 40.

An explanation is that Earth was destroyed, by means unknown, during the Unity's acceleration cycle. It's massive fusion engine and resulting plasma exhaust would jam any signal coming from behind it. By the time the arcelleration cycle stops, (6-12 months), the last signals from Earth have already overtaken the Unity, leaving nothing but silence. So it didn't go silent suddenly, it just wasn't heard.

Also, how can mindworms kill a colony and all it's automated transmission equipment. After all, they only affect living beings, so there could've been some automated messages. Then again, the faction is paranoid enough to disable those. Another thing is that maybe the mindworms tend to confuse the electromagnetical radiation of computers with that of a (human) brain. Explains why they have a tendency to colonise supply pods.

[Loud Whispers]

Why would you think that automated stations would have the necessary supporting infrastructure (namely, power) survive a cataclysmic scouring? Even if they did the transmissions may not necessarily survive 40 light years of travel, at least not in a form that can be distinguished from background radiation. Not without also being purposefully sent in that direction, anyway.

Well we're currently doing so with planets 20 light years away, and some of the signals we've sent are powerful enough to be detected from hundreds of light years away as not being naturally formed, though they have not traveled such a distance yet and the Alpha Centaurians were picking up Earth signals, whether or not those signals were intelligible isn't revealed - but they were still receiving those signals in any case.
Secondly, EMP blasts can only fry delicate electronics. There are a lot of radios that don't use transistors and the like. Short of the planet Earth itself exploding, you'd have to be a drone to not be able to send out messages to Alpha Centauri - intentionally or no.

Also, how can mindworms kill a colony and all it's automated transmission equipment. After all, they only affect living beings, so there could've been some automated messages. Then again, the faction is paranoid enough to disable those. Another thing is that maybe the mindworms tend to confuse the electromagnetical radiation of computers with that of a (human) brain. Explains why they have a tendency to colonise supply pods.

Mindworms eat electronics too, but they're native to Alpha Centauri and don't appear to be the spaceship-building type.
We do however, know that there are other aliens...

[Xeron]

The Pirates from the expansion aren't supposed to be like the spartans at are.They live under anarchy.

[Vgray]

 Deidrie, or however you spell her name, has a quote about the Mindworms being able to chew through anything softer than Plasmasteel. Don't remember what Plasmasteel is though.

[MetalSlimeHunt]

Presumably, it is a form of steel that is able to withstand plasma exposure.

[loose nut]

Even if it was destroyed under the haze of planet busters, there would still be transmissions. Automated radio stations and things. But the whole planet just goes completely silent.

It seems to me that even a standard global thermonuclear war might knock out most automated radio due to EMP, never mind whatever planet busters are. The rest would just fade out over time.

My one problem with your theory of the official timeline is that it doesn't make sense that mindworms would be strictly parasitic and require human brains to reproduce. Because then where do they come from? As far as I can tell they just attack human brains, possibly because of concentrated psi energy, but otherwise subsist/reproduce in xenofungus, which has its own psi substrate or whatever. If they did require human brains, that would make the Gaians necromantically ghoulish from the get-go.

Also, did you include the little blurbs from whenever you build a new type of building in the timeline? I'm just asking because those are not super accessible, as I recall.

[10ebbor10]

An electromagnetical pulse as caused by a nuke is the effect of ionized air rapidly moving upwards. They're not guaranteed to knock everything out, and certainly won't reach sattelites. Besides, global thermonuclear war seldomly results in evenly distributed nukes.

 Also, launching nukes on this scale would be a hell of a big signal, which should've been noted by the Unity's sensors. 

[loose nut]

Ok, sure.

What about antisatellite weapons? Seems like those may well be deployed in a global conflict of that nature.

[Vgray]

Mindworms must have acid for spit or something.

[Loud Whispers]

Also, did you include the little blurbs from whenever you build a new type of building in the timeline? I'm just asking because those are not super accessible, as I recall.

Check the data logs, they're all there. Can also find them on youtube, but I don't think that one lists their corresponding tech, just the quote.

What about antisatellite weapons? Seems like those may well be deployed in a global conflict of that nature.

You would have to:
-Destroy all of humanity so none can operate any surviving radios [there are a lot]. In addition, there were groups who were already preparing for the apocalypse, they'd have to be killed too.
-Destroy all radios [there are a lot].
-Destroy all radio stations [around 44,000 of them today, spread across the world including in rural villages. Uncertain how many in the future].
-Destroy all satellites

My one problem with your theory of the official timeline is that it doesn't make sense that mindworms would be strictly parasitic and require human brains to reproduce. Because then where do they come from? As far as I can tell they just attack human brains, possibly because of concentrated psi energy, but otherwise subsist/reproduce in xenofungus, which has its own psi substrate or whatever. If they did require human brains, that would make the Gaians necromantically ghoulish from the get-go.

It needn't be, mindworms might just find ideal living spaces within human brains. Any of the specific sciences aren't all that explained, so its all assumptions on that front. If you think about it, planet's fungus at first only sends tiny amounts of mindworms. Around large human cities, more of them appear - implying that up until planet starts becoming sentient and the fungus starts making more psi energy than the humans' brains, early on human hosts provide better habitats than the fungus.

[Akura]

Mindworms must have acid for spit or something.

I imagine that their teeth are exceptionally hard, and they have very strong muscles for closing their mouths. both of which would be needed to chew through bones in animals to get to their brains.

I remember reading something recently about some kind of worm-like thing living in methane ice here on Earth whose jaws are made a material far stronger than any man-made material. Scientists have been trying to study them to see if they can synthesize that stuff. So it's not unreasonable for a predetory alien worm to have a similar capability.

[Soadreqm]

You would have to:
-Destroy all of humanity so none can operate any surviving radios [there are a lot]. In addition, there were groups who were already preparing for the apocalypse, they'd have to be killed too.
-Destroy all radios [there are a lot].
-Destroy all radio stations [around 44,000 of them today, spread across the world including in rural villages. Uncertain how many in the future].
-Destroy all satellites

You only need to destoy radio equpment capable of sending a message four light years away, which is not something every radio transmitter can do. And non-automated radios as well as everything that relies on an external power grid is expediently silenced by killing all humans. There is only so much you can do to prepare for a global themonuclear war, and sending messages to another star is probably not the first thing in the survivors' minds. And there's a pretty long time for the destruction to happen. I don't know how fast the Unity was, but it's slower than light and during the journey any messages have to compete with Unity's own engine to be heard.

[Sharp]

Maybe something is blocking transmissions? Maybe Earth is covered by a slave shield!

Or maybe something is blocking Alpha Centauri from getting the messages?

[Loud Whispers]

I remember reading something recently about some kind of worm-like thing living in methane ice here on Earth whose jaws are made a material far stronger than any man-made material. Scientists have been trying to study them to see if they can synthesize that stuff. So it's not unreasonable for a predetory alien worm to have a similar capability.

Each individual worm is at most 10cm long. We've observed termites that can chew through some plastics and even metals, especially for digging critters it's possible.