At the dawn of the 25th century, the galaxy was divided into three great powers. The first were the xenocidal religious-freaks called the Casmonde Star Hunters who covered just under half the galaxy, of late subjugated beneath the heel of the rapidly-ascendant Kovil Zealots who had reawakened from their long slumber. The second were the xenocidal metalhead-freaks called the Galactic Kehuk Hierarchy, who had gotten their start through warring with other genocidal powers but rapidly stalled out against their neighbors. The third were the fair (as long as you're Alani), right-dealing (of course), and ascended synthetic Alani Syndicate, who had in spite of their pacifism expanded through their xenocidal dealings to cover the remaining galaxy, including the ancient remains of what had been a xenophilic fallen empire, and are probably the most pleasant of the lot in that they won't slaughter or consume you, but rather will simply assimilate you into good little Alani. Needless to say, this is a rather unpleasant galaxy to live in if you're not one of the big three, and of the remainder, a small scattering of half a dozen or so lesser powers of which the largest rests a mere 9 worlds cluster around the galactic core, not large enough to be worth invading in this tripolar diplomatic situation.
The growing malfunctions among the synthetic and robotic races of the galaxy had finally culminated in the awakening of an ancient evil, the Contingency, who sought to annihilate all life in the galaxy. In this, their timing was ideal, for they had chosen to emerge in the middle of a war between the Alani and the Kovil. Their positioning, however, not so much: their first sterilization hub emerged right next to the major Alani fleet logistics hub of Khahre, which was also serving as the staging ground for the Alani invasion of Kovil space immediately after the fleets had left for Kovil space and thus threatened to cut the invasion off at the knees. The second and third emerged in Casmonde space, at which the Alani were amused. Unfortunately, karma bit them right on the tuchus as the fourth sterilization hub emerged just two jumps away from their homeworld and first extrasolar colony, and a mere three jumps from the first of two major ringworlds they had constructed. Their homeworld and the first extrasolar colony both fell to the Contingency threat, and the greatly expanded ringworlds, each of which were equal to eight of the very largest Gaia-class planets and housed the heart of Alani shipbuilding, were now at risk.
Abroad, the invasion fleets successfully reduced the Kovil capital worlds in a series of invasions and extracted a white peace to free both great powers to handle the Contingency threats in their own worlds. Returning, the invasion fleets systematically annihilated a major defensive fleet and offensive incursion arm combined over the skies of Khahre, securing the path to the first of four Sterilization Hubs. While this occurred, dire tidings came from home: the Contingency was dismantling the new bodies of the Alani citizenry and repurposing them for use as Contingency drones, destroying the consciousness of the original inhabitants in the process. With no time to wait for the main fleet to arrive, the home guard fleet was hastily reinforced by the full manufacturing might of countless trillions of Alani and dispatched to reclaim the homeworld. Fire ravaged the skies of over the once-proud capital of the Alani Syndicate, Contingency warforms burning in the night as Alani fighter pilots hard-wired into their bombers drove home desperate attacks deep into their hearts. In the end, the Contingency spear had been shattered, and as Alani troopers landed to galactic acclaim, the fleet moved to reclaim the annihilated colony of Azadrow, where the Contingency had already completed their purge of the local inhabitants, and the second sterilization hub. With revenge in their hearts, the main Alani warfleet moved out to destroy the first of the two sterilization hubs in Casmonde space.
The year is now 2426. Three of the four sterilization hubs have been shattered. The fourth remains, but the Kovil had forbade the Alani further access to their space, believing their own forces adequate to handle the Contingency threat. While the Alani quietly scoff at this, as the Kovil have been thoroughly reliant on the emerged Amrocon Defense Protocol to handle the Contingency fleets in their space, they are not yet willing to force the issue. Rumours also swirl about whether this is even the end. Alani scientists have confirmed that the sterilization hubs are only repeating the Ghost Signal that continues to disrupt Alani cybernetic processes; the source is still unknown. Still, the Syndicate is safe and its ancient homeworld continues to survive, even if the government now rules from the ringworld of Shahra. The Alani fleet reigns supreme in their space, and perhaps only the Galactic Kehuk Hierarchy are a concern: taking advantage of the distraction of the two great powers, they consumed an ancient power that had survived in splendid isolation since the Kovil were young. The long-term ramifications of this seem unclear as of yet.
...on a side note, I think I may have accidentally made the Kehuk and Casmonde too tough. Both times I put the Casmonde in as AI, they've snowballed out of control.
EDIT:
Hee. Soo, not an "own" or a "death" yet, but just in case you didn't think the above was enough of a cliffhanger, the game definitely a knack for timing. I just declared war on the Casmonde to cut through their space to reach the last Contingency sterilization hub, and no sooner am I stuck in than a "mysterious galactic power surge" arrives. Read: the Unbidden have just arrived, and the second crisis has just begun.
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Topic: How did you last *own*? (Read 1352417 times)