Arcen Games

General Category => AI War Classic => AI War Classic - After Action Reports => : Pumpkin March 25, 2015, 08:01:53 AM

: Outa Track MkI - Nefarious Pumpkin
: Pumpkin March 25, 2015, 08:01:53 AM
Setup

Minor Factions:

Human Resistance Fighters: 10
Dark Spire: 10
Neinzul Roaming Enclaves: 10
Neinzul Preservation Wardens: 10

Map:

Map Style: grid
Map size: 40
Starting Homeworld: random

Difficulty:

Auto AIP: 1/30min
AI Modifiers: Schizophrenic
AI Plot: Counter Post (both)
AI Types: Random Moderate
AI Difficulty: 7/7

All I'm left with

Terra is gone long ago. Mankind is scattered all over the galaxy, hiding in deep-space or drifting toward hazardous encounters, growing accustomed to its new life, made of space stations, salvation and piracy. Now, all kids know how to fly a spaceship and soon Terra would be a legend. Without anyone noticing, humanity is becoming a space race.

I was supposed to be the new standard. First human of a new kind. The incarnation of the future of our race. The next step toward space adaptation. It's funny to see the crap they can tell when they're looking for a guinea pig. It's funny to see my early life through the lens of today. I used to be human. This is not the future of mankind, this is just madness. Yet another human madness.

I'm a SupCom. A one-man-army. A body plugged in a station-sized machine, with overclocked brain, regenerating tissue and full neural interface, controlling all the necessaries to survive, build and expand. Prototype 001, codename Pumpkin, first of its kind. You bet your ass, a "kind"! 002 was not even funded. When they realized what they've created, even themselves were convinced 002 shouldn't be funded. "First of its kind" became "one of its kind".

From the sensors of my station, I can see the scars of the gray planet below. I can build a scout, send it away and look at the sky around us. I even have a telescope: I can watch stars dying and nebulae drifting. I can see the cryogenic pods, beside me, of the ones that are not yet awoken because of lack of place. I can see the bubble-cities, zoom and watch humans walk in the streets under the protecting dome. It sometime lifts my spirit to watch them and forget that I can't even see my own body. It's probably better this way. They are one of the many splinter groups that fled Terra at AI's sedition. They're only civilians and scientists. Some of them wanted to adapt better to space and created me. Then they realized that was foolish and returned to their bubble-life. The AI doesn't care about them any more. They're at peace.

But I'll bet their lives for my very selfish purpose. I'll kill the AI or die in the attempt and bring them in my doom. I'll go to war because all I'm left with is one hope. One unique, selfish wish. To see Terra one last time. To see Terra and die. Because it's all I'm left with.

When times would come, when the AI's threat would be on us once again and they would realize that I doomed us all, I wouldn't beg for pardon. I wouldn't because they wouldn't forgive me. Because I couldn't forgive them now.

Going to War

I've got all the human military plans from Terra's saved databases and a scavenged a Siege Engine blueprint from some Zenith artifacts we found before the civil war. My space docks proved able to assemble these unmanned military ships, even the Zenith model I crammed into their circuits and one of the big "flagship" Human model.

I sent my scouts through the wormholes surrounding my base. Oddly enough, the wormhole network appeared to be shaped into a very regular grid. Did some symmetry loving alien race build them for their own traveling purpose? It looked like a Zenith endeavor.

There were AI stations and guards all over the place. Strangely, the AI seemed to have split itself between two strategies: one half use nearly only Zenith models and the other half Spire models. . Some of these models were stored very close to my position and I planed on hacking some of them. Also, many co-processors and a super terminal were lying around. I realized that the AI wasn't at all aware of my impending onslaught and that I would be able to easily disrupt its latter reprisal.

Xeno Encounters

I heard of heavy Neinzul presence, in this sector of the galaxy. Sparse data I had on them were quite poor, but I guessed I would be able to communicate with them, at least for bare greeting. Some times latter, a starship labeled as a "Neinzul enclave" by my tactical AI crossed a wormhole and entered my territory. I deciphered what match the "song of peace" at 67% in my Neinzul database. The enclave approached my stations without sending younglings as I knew they do when they attack, so I let it slip under my forcefield. My remote stationary scouts spotted another enclave in enemy territory that the AI wasn't attacking. I surmised internal dissent in the Neinzul race and understood that sheltering one faction would induce the wrath of the other. Actually, another enclave soon jumped in and released angry younglings. My autonomous took them down, but I was aware that this first attack wouldn't be the last.

[Work in Progress]

- dark spire finding (pirates treasure?)
- zenith time-prison cracked by DS

AI First Skirmishes

- spire by AI (royal armada)
- zenith by AI
- AI hacking

Dark Spire Turmoil

- pirate encounter (3:19:50) + archive
- neinzul autonomy (04:40:07)
- dire guardian, Dark Spire and Zenith Time Bender (05:00:00)
- fortresses and more comfort
- last hack, last ZTB (?)
- AI strike back (07:00 - 07:20)
- dire guardians VS Neinzul enclaves
- victory
: Re: Nefarious Pumpkin
: Pumpkin March 25, 2015, 08:02:12 AM
00:00:01
I heared of heavy neinzul presence, in this sector of the galaxy. Sparse data I have on them are quite poor, but I guess I would be able to communicate with them at least a little. I heared about human pirates living in deep space in this quadrant. I've got all the human military plans from Terra's saved databases and I scavenged a Siege Engine blueprint from some Zenith artifacts we found. It's few but I count on stealing some AI ship's plans before the end of this. Let's send some scout around and see if my production line can handle some military grade projects. I also have some raw data I can refine into new weapons, but let see what's around before wasting it into inappropriate gear.

00:06:29
Oddly enough, the wormhole network seems to be shaped into a very regular grid. Did some symmetry loving alien race build them for their own traveling purpose? Anyway, it seems I'm near a corner of this grid, coordinate 1:1. All the 10 planets at distance 2 are under scout visibility. 3 co-processors and the superterminal are in range. The AI isn't seeing me coming. Good, I'll be able to mess with its data. Strangely, the AI seems to have split itself between two strategies: one half use nearly only Zenith models and the other half Spire models. Some of these models are stored very close to me. Oh, I'll have a great time hacking you all over the place, baby! On the production side, my space docks proved able to assemble unmanned military ships, even the Zenith model I crammed into their circuits and one of the big "flagship" Human model. I'll see later if I can tweak them up. No Neinzul trail, no Human pirate, no evil artifact... for now.
: Re: Nefarious Pumpkin
: steelwing March 25, 2015, 08:18:10 AM
But I'll bet their lives for my very selfish purpose. I'll kill the AI or die in the attempt and bring them in my doom. I'll go to war because all I'm left with is one hope. One unique, selfish wish. To see Terra one last time. To see Terra and die. Because it's all I'm left with.

...Please tell me I'm not the only one who read this and thought... "For great justice!" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_your_base_are_belong_to_us) :D
: Re: Nefarious Pumpkin
: Pumpkin March 25, 2015, 01:08:31 PM
But I'll bet their lives for my very selfish purpose. I'll kill the AI or die in the attempt and bring them in my doom. I'll go to war because all I'm left with is one hope. One unique, selfish wish. To see Terra one last time. To see Terra and die. Because it's all I'm left with.

...Please tell me I'm not the only one who read this and thought... "For great justice!" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_your_base_are_belong_to_us) :D

That was not very "cricket", Steelwing. This is my first AAR and maybe the first time I write something that hard and that long in English. Do you speak another language than English? If so you know what I'm talking about. I know there is many mistakes in there, and I'm willing to correct them. Could you please point my errors more precisely and direct me toward a correct way to spell it? Anyway, the "all your base are belong to us" reference made me smiled. That's why you're half-forgiven. You'll be fully if you help me correct that mess. ;)
: Re: Nefarious Pumpkin
: steelwing March 25, 2015, 01:48:32 PM
That was not at all what I intended, and my apologies for it coming across that way  :-[.  The line I quoted from your OP made me think of that scene, but not because of your English.  I honestly thought it was very well written.
: Re: Nefarious Pumpkin
: Pumpkin March 25, 2015, 03:24:47 PM
That was not at all what I intended, and my apologies for it coming across that way  :-[.  The line I quoted from your OP made me think of that scene, but not because of your English.  I honestly thought it was very well written.
Oh?!? You mean... no spelling mistake? I can't believe it. There must be mistakes. It's like AI eyes in a galaxy: it's a bad thing but unavoidable. Well, and sorry about my misinterpretation of your reference.

Anyway, I spent some time in game and wrote down some "hot-notes". I'll organize them and post soon. Just for the sake of teasing*, there is 12 Vengeance Generators on 30 scouted planets, and 4 friendly enclaves at the 00:30 time mark. This game is going to be... !!fun!! and it's already way off my tracks! (thanks, Mal ;D)

*: Oh, maybe you don't use this word the way we use your word. I mean... I tried to make a suspenseful sentence, or to spice up your waiting, something like that...
: Re: Nefarious Pumpkin
: steelwing March 25, 2015, 06:12:32 PM
Fun as in Dwarf Fortress (http://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/DF2014:Losing)? ;D
: Re: Nefarious Pumpkin
: Pumpkin March 26, 2015, 03:51:39 AM
Fun as in Dwarf Fortress (http://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/DF2014:Losing)? ;D
As in Dwarf Fortress (http://dwarffortresswiki.org/images/4/40/FunComic.png), indeed. I love this game. I love this !!fun!! concept as in "losing is fun". An I feel the same with AI War, but it's rather "pain is fun" (losing in AI War is not that fun). I can spend hours playing DF and I check the dev's page as often as I check Arcen's news and forum. I'm really excited about the temples and libraries byproducts of the forthcoming taverns' work. They are also both emergent gameplay, which is truly fascinating; I hope to be able to create emergent gameplay, one day...

Anyway, you're not here to hear me speaking about dwarves but about AI, Neinzul and Dark Spire. So let do this!

For now I only have hot-notes. They're short and maybe not that interesting. I tried to keep them thematic and consistent with the character discovering things. I think I'll post hot-notes as I play and at the end write a more narrative ensemble on the first post, which I hope will be more interesting (more "big picture") and coherent than hot-notes.
: Re: Nefarious Pumpkin
: Pumpkin March 26, 2015, 03:59:54 AM
00:09:05
Oh, first Neinzul encounter. I deciphered what match the "song of peace" at 67% in my Neinzul database. The enclave approached my stations without sending younglings as I know they do when they attack, so I let it slip under my forcefield. And my stationary scouts spotted a red one that AI doesn't attack. Bad news.
Some stray AI ships are announced on the radar. They might have lost their way. They'll never tell where I am.
On the scout side, I decided to use scout starships instead of wasting time trying to improve the base scout model. I know they're not for deep scouting, but they'll do the job.

00:10:37
AI hit. Ok, maybe they were not stray ships. Maybe it didn't appreciate my curiosity. There were only a dozen of ships, but 7 different Spire models. Big ones, for some. I don't know if they are AI's reproduction or true Spire beings. I heared tales of the Royal Armada's firepower, and I fear the AI made a pact with them. But if they're only replicas, I'll be able to steal their blueprint, eventually.
And the yellow Neinzul enclave reacted, sending younglings in the battle. They were friendly! I imagine they found the place comfortable and helped me to keep it safe. My Neinzul starship model feels weak, in comparison.

00:14:12
"knock knock. Who is it? The second AI; can I get in, me too?" No way, pal! This Zenith blueprint proved quite useful. I can sustain only some, but I wrote down a note about future R&D.
On the 23 planets I scouted (24 with mine), I found 6 with a strange device that I think linked to the "evil" ones the pirates were looking for. 4 of them are adjacent. My starship scouts proved not that good at deep scouting. So bad, but I won't spend time and data tweaking scouts on such a little wormhole network.

00:16:48
31 planets, 12 scary artifacts. One corner and the center are infested. I'm beginning to feel like the human pirates are not gone for a treasure hunt, and that maybe they'll never come back. On the bright side, I notices two heavily fortified planets around a corner I can't get in with my scouts. I feel like this is where the AI hid one of its central processing unit. The bright side, as I said, is that there is a path with no Spire artifact that lead to it. I'll see later how to use it to my advantage.

00:17:38
Hey! A red enclaved jumped in without saying hello. It released angry younglings and my autonomous ships take them down, with a help from the yellow enclave. I hope the next enclave would be more polite.
And my scout starships are done exploring all they can. Still 31 planets out of 49. Now go for some conquest. But I need to be very careful with where I step. The immediate surrounding is full of co-processors and design backups. I need to overclock my brain and think faster. Where to attack? What to capture? I need more power to survive in this wormhole network and kick this AI in the teeth.

00:17:39
Fourth co-processor spotted. I didn't notice. But deep in Dark Spire territory. I'll need raid starships, and good ones. I'll improve them, hunt down the coproc and learn more about the AI's network doing so. I'll certainly be able to steal some more blueprints with that. I'm afraid the AI would respond and not only on the network. The Zenith siege engine would prove useful for defending a static relay of mine near the design backup. I'll upgrade them too. I'll lack metal, but I'll expand on the hacked planets. But first, raids! Let's do this.

00:20:44
One planet is mine. Raid Starships MkIII are so expansive I decided to blow a co-processor earlier and take more metal: these damn proc are emitting a powerful magnetic field due to quantum computing, I presume, that interfere with my long range power supply network.
I'm building a relay for my personal network on this one and sending a science lab in: an autonomous ship filled with all I'll need to analyze the AI's secrets remaining there. A second yellow enclave joined me and I broadcast the "song of attack" from my Neinzul database. Luckily, they understood I wasn't attacking them and followed my raid. These younglings are good warriors! They destroyed the last remote guard post before my siege engines could be in firing range.

00:24:20
Ouch! Aggressive enclave attacking. The enclave itself get destroyed rapidly, but near 80 younglings are a pain. As I said earlier, they're good warriors. Luckily, friendly enclaves don't hesitate to fight their siblings. Fire against fire.

00:31:57
I attacked another planet; it has no CoProc, no Design Backup, is only MkII and available through the one I just captured. This time, neinzul didn't follow. An AI Neinzul replica ship was a true pain to take down with my little fleet, and some spire blade spawners around the place made my life harder. I only half-neutered it and kicked out a counter post. Bright side: my economy is largely enough to quickly rebuild my little fleet. And by now the 3 MkIII Raid Starships are online. Let see how far my control network can reach, and how does it feel to "upload" myself in a blazing-fast starship!
Little precaution: send out engineer drones to build some automated static defenses, in case my raiders stirs up too much trouble.

00:32:41
Oops! The guards from the planet I tried to grab are seeking vengeance. They're very few, but a blade spawner is already firing at my expansive turrets! Oh, and a third friendly enclave is already under my forcefield. I'm sure they're communicating, but I can't precisely decipher it. Maybe I can register some songs and try to recast them. We'll see.

00:36:26
One hostile enclave and its 80 younglings get the forcefield of my relay station to 33%. I wish I had move turrets, but they are so expansive. I should have counted my metal before affording them.

00:39:03
Counter post's wave hit, sniper turrets just finished and helped, younglings bravely rushed the invader and a fourth enclave joined the team. Today was a good day.

00:40:48
Missile and sniper turrets on both planets are finished and my cheap fleet is rebuilt. I can't afford more for now, and it's time to raid!
: Re: Nefarious Pumpkin
: Pumpkin March 26, 2015, 08:47:59 AM
00:44:31
Raid done. On data center blown up with the remote co-processor. No dark Spire artifact awoke (I hope so) but some AI guards abandoned their posts and came after me; they are massing on the hostile side of a wormhole. Two waves lined up with 30 seconds of interval. I hope my friendly Neinzul would helm me clean this mess.
One of the three MkIII raider was blown in the way back: Spire gravity drains halted them under enemy fire range. My scouts report that the AI is already scraping the hull of my lost raider and I fear what it would do with it.
Anyway, operation completed. I'll send my raiders after the remaining CoProc; it won't be a big deal because they're very close. My knowledge of the AI increased: I feel able to corrupt and download its blueprints carelessly stored near my home. I'll do that when the retaliation would be denied.

00:45:36
Spire wave, Zenith wave. Quickly handled. The ambushed guards attacked my second planet while my fleet was occupied and wreaked my missile turrets. Clever you.

00:47:21
Spire angry guards down. Their tractor platform and the pursuit of a Neinzul-like carrier teared my formation apart. Anyway, turrets are back online and I'm ready to receive the scraped wave just in time.

00:49:10
Two raiders, two CoProc. My brain's overclocking allowed me to pilot both operations at the same time. How good it feels to rush through hostile territory and blow things in one shot! Fifth friendly enclave; no more CoProc; all Raiders online. The only problem now is threatening fleet massing around. But I believe my raiders and their immunity to missile's locking would help me raid guard posts too. I really made a good deal spending time and data tweaking them.

01:00:11
Gravity drain's design downloading on a planet adjacent to my home. Sixth friendly enclave; younglings doing wonders dealing with hacking's retaliation. Strange messages from the nearest Spire artifact and angry AI ships pouring from its planet. Scout sent to inspect.

01:01:36
Lone scout intercepted. I'll need to carve a path in tachyon sentinels. Hostile enclaves repeatedly attacking the same planet. I built all turrets I can handle but my metal and energy are running low, even if my relay stations are geared with metal and energy harvesting boosters. Once the design is downloaded, I'll capture one more planet and hope economy would be better.

01:05:34
What the hell is that?!? A bunch of Zenith ships suddenly contacted me from a deep AI territory. How, I have no idea, but they did! My Zenith's data seems enough to handle automatic translation, at least at a low level. However, when, our clocks automatically synchronized, I was sure something abnormal happened. Normally, as matter slightly twists the time's flow, the clocks may be few nanoseconds apart, but there the time shift was over nine thousand standard galactic years!
It appear that dark Spire artifacts' chaos broke their time-prison. Surrounded by hostile AI ships, they launched a distress call that my sensors caught and decrypted. They're asking for help, but I don't have the fire power to carve a path through AI territory. All I can do is send my raiders in and wish them luck.

01:05:34
They're requesting energy, too. I diverted all I can but it put me below strict balance. Luckily my energy network can hold it while I don't push it more. And I can't afford the load of a metal converter. All I can do is to grit my teeth and hope for the best.

01:06:05
Stargods! By the time my raiders flew to the rescue of the Zenith fleet, dozens of Wraiths were flying the place and blindly tearing apart both Zenith and AI.

01:06:31
Nothing remains to the Zenith prisoners. I let the AI deal with the dark Spire ships and recalled my wounded raiders. I fear the time where my fleet would be under such a dread fire power.

01:11:46
AI Waves are a easily handled; with their CoProc dead, there is nothing they can do for now. However, dark Spire ships are wreaking chaos on distant worlds. This is a good thing on the scout side, but angry AI ships are threateningly massing around my territory.

01:16:26
I was cleaning a world in my back that I plan to take as an economic world, and as there is an eye I sent my missile immune raiders against the missile-only guard posts. Unfortunately, the last one was close to the command station and a combat carrier guardian. The armor of my raiders were downgraded by the Spire armor rotters and the guardian's drone did a quick job of my starships. Only one managed to escape and the AI is already scrapping the two other. So bad, but I need to delay the conquest of the back worlds.

01:21:45
Reprisal denied, but the threat fleet stabbed my back and the now 8 friendly enclaves are on the wrong end of territory because of an enemy enclave.

01:23:29
My raiders rushed the Zenith bombardment ships; I was glad to have them. Their design backup is adjacent to my homeworld; I hesitate to take them for myself or to lose them for both of us.
Invasion repelled. Now borders are much safer. I hope I'll be able to take the backyard soon, at least before the next trouble. I think if I manage to keep a low profile, the friendly Neinzul would have more ease protecting my territory.
About the Zenith bombard, I'm growing confident that hacking would be soon near impossible due to the dark Spire awakening, and that the best I can do is to grab as much power as I can and the sooner possible. So my next goal is to hack and capture this world near mine and isolate the backyard from the rest of the network.

01:27:08
Hacking in progress. The turrets on my other worlds handle the stray hostile Neinzul and AI. Zenith siege engine and youngling are a blessing for hacking.

01:29:59
Zenith bombers design is downloaded; nineth enclave welcame; new relay station building.

01:35:31
Backyard is clean, but there is still a design backup to hack containing vampire claws. The only breach I know in the AI network that hasn't been patched already is about design corruption. I still can bruteforce the download, but it would be obvious and seriously handled. I'm still undecided about it.
A more immediate thread is the big reprisal wave spotted by my radars on my homeworld. The nine enclaves are here but I will rebuild and wait before if hit instead of going for the next step now.

01:39:20
One wave hit before reprisal, one hit after, and on two other worlds. My defense perimeter is pushed to its edge. It still lack metal for keeping all this turrets built and repaired, but at least my energy collectors are now enough for supplying them all plus the zenith and spire designs I hacked.
I'll scrap all this metal and end the job on the backyard, but I'm still undecided about the vampire design backup. I'll just blow up the warp gate to deny direct warp on my homeworld to the AI.
: Re: Nefarious Pumpkin
: Mal March 28, 2015, 03:16:05 PM
When times would come, when the AI's threat would be on us once again and they would realize that I doomed us all, I wouldn't beg for pardon. I wouldn't because they wouldn't forgive me. Because I couldn't forgive them now.

Nice setup to the story pumpkin, very well written. I like this "one of a kind" commander and his selfish motives/desperate outlook.

Oddly enough, the wormhole network seems to be shaped into a very regular grid. Did some symmetry loving alien race build them for their own traveling purpose?

Hahah! I love the justification for the wormhole grid array.

On the scout side, I decided to use scout starships instead of wasting time trying to improve the base scout model.

Scout starships are the best! I love using them over the scout ships themselves.

Normally, as matter slightly twists the time's flow, the clocks may be few nanoseconds apart, but there the time shift was over nine thousand standard galactic years!
It appear that dark Spire artifacts' chaos broke their time-prison

This was really cool, giving lore to what the Dark Spire does when the vengeance generator is activated. Nice touch pumpkin.

Overall, a solid start! Looking forward to more nefarious pumpkin and his  DS "doom" that he will unleash upon the galaxy.

PS - Just a friendly fyi,  I notice you use the word "eared" instead of heard. I think this is just a minor typo on your part ( using your ear...past tense "eared" ...) it makes sense enough but is incorrect syntax...I know you wanted to hear about any mistakes you made, this is the only one that popped up often enough and might be confusing to others.
: Re: Nefarious Pumpkin
: Red.Queen March 28, 2015, 04:55:36 PM
On the scout side, I decided to use scout starships instead of wasting time trying to improve the base scout model.

<voice of Aggressive Stupidity whispers>  Scout stars are good, yes... But why not try scouting with Raid starships... they're so much faster... Nothing could possibly go wrong!  (Mind the raid engines.) (And the Dark Spire...)

Normally, as matter slightly twists the time's flow, the clocks may be few nanoseconds apart, but there the time shift was over nine thousand standard galactic years!
It appear that dark Spire artifacts' chaos broke their time-prison
This was really cool, giving lore to what the Dark Spire does when the vengeance generator is activated. Nice touch pumpkin.

Seconded.  I'd been wondering about possible lore explanations for the Zenith Reserves since I first saw one, and if you zoom in to look at the detailed sprite you can see the structure is all weathered and moss-covered, so it's definitely ancient, not warehouses of ships the AI has been gathering.

nine enclaves

You seem to be starting a bed and breakfast for travelling Neinzul!  All the AI ships they can eat.  ;D
: Re: Nefarious Pumpkin
: Pumpkin March 28, 2015, 05:35:13 PM
Nobody noted the "over nine thousand" reference? Well, there is another reference in the next batch of hot-notes coming. I'll let you find out. ;D

Thank you both for the kind words about the lore justified features. I could wear "I love AI War's lore" T-shirts all days!!!

PS - Just a friendly fyi,  I notice you use the word "eared" instead of heard. I think this is just a minor typo on your part ( using your ear...past tense "eared" ...) it makes sense enough but is incorrect syntax...I know you wanted to hear about any mistakes you made, this is the only one that popped up often enough and might be confusing to others.
Thanks a lot. Indeed, this is a mistake. I'll correct it.
And I still can't believe there is no conjugation mistake.

On the scout side, I decided to use scout starships instead of wasting time trying to improve the base scout model.
<voice of Aggressive Stupidity whispers>  Scout stars are good, yes... But why not try scouting with Raid starships... they're so much faster... Nothing could possibly go wrong!  (Mind the raid engines.) (And the Dark Spire...)
Raid starships don't give scout reports. They don't have the "gather scout intel" ability that make what they discovered available from the galaxy map. The "scout-pause-see-remember" of the raiders feels too micro for a Supreme Commander player like me.
Hey? What about a MkIV Raid Starship with the "gather scout intel" ability?!
: Re: Nefarious Pumpkin
: Pumpkin March 28, 2015, 05:42:02 PM
02:16:11
A bunkerer subcommander forced me to research high end Zenith bombardment and siege engine. I found plenty of useful Zenith data in my knowledge hoard and started building them. Luckily my assembly lines were able to produce such Zenith like ships. I also improved my engineers and scouts thanks to AI's scavenged models. My zenith models require more workforce than my spacedock can supply alone and the new scouts' ad-hoc network would allows me to put an eye on every planets where the dark Spire cleaned AI's tachyon coverage. Which is almost all planets.

02:41:49
I sent some stealth science-equiped vessels near AI's Advanced Research Stations to passively scan them. Two of them proposed me some good youngling genomes; the temptation to hack for them was high, but the blueprint I can steal without forcing AI to patch its network are good too (infiltrators and beam frigates). I prefer to keep secret the breaches I know in order to use them for design downloading, especially spire ones.

02:57:01
After some planet takeovers and datacenter raids, I gathered enough network exploits to proceed to a safe design download of the Spire blade spawner model. My fleet handled the first counter waves, and suddenly the 17 friendly enclaves crossed the wormhole and unleashed a huge army of younglings that made short work of AI's recriminations. Aside of this, I didn't realize how gravity drain are a great counter to bladespawners.
The follow-up capture granted me an Advanced Research Station with the infiltrator model and a core sniper fabricator. I'm very glad about the bladespawner and the sniper because they will complete my long range fleet, and the infiltrators will allow powerful deepstrikes that raider starships are not good for. I hope to find some ways to improve my Spire models in the Spire Archive there. My huge data hoard already contained cloaking technologies and my new infiltrators are already tweaked'up. I hope my metal harvesting capabilities will handle such a fleet! I wonder if I can find a way to imrpove this... Great! My knowledge bank also have AI devices I can add to my command stations to improve their harvesting capabilities. The new model is compiled and transfered to backwater relays for immediate upgrade.

03:57:03
Oh, the AI developed some new designs. I guess my little vendetta was allowed some more computing power. However, my regular deepstrikes are keeping its grasp on its sector of the galaxy low. But it patched all the flaws I used and I'm getting short on hacking. I will need to bruteforce the next download, and I hope Neinzul would help.
On the other hand, I can continue to colonize this wormhole network and hack latter with better understanding of the AI network. The dark Spire will cause problems sooner of latter, because I need to capture and destroy these A-prime shield generators.

03:19:50
A raid against an orbital mass driver turned to a nightmare: the three MkIII raiders were immediately one-shot after uncloaking and the target was barely scratched. A big reprisal wave was detected and a lot of ships abandoned their guard post to mass near the wormhole leading to my planet with the Zenith Archive. My army was nailed to the defense of the Archive and the reprisal wave wreaked havocs into my stationary defenses on the targeted planet. I was hopping my turrets would hold and force the AI to retreat when familiar human language was received to my comlink.
"Havin' trouble defendin' a treasure, Com'der?
- Who's speaking? I replied while tracking the signal back to the attacked planet.
- Someone who can save your ass on this one. Capt'n Albator speakin'.
- Great timing, Captain!" I exclaimed as my scout spot an armada of pirate ships rushing toward the disbanding AI fleet.
Pirates hunted down the lingering bombards and frigates and started dispersing. The captain contacted me again.
"Let's talk 'bout business, shall we? This archive of yours seems a well-rounded chest. Might I lighten your shoulders of such a weight?
- If you're interested in weaponry, I can provide you with some refined technology and spare you the pain of a long analysis.
- Don't try to bamboozle me, Com'der. Aren't ya tryin' to keep the best of the booty for ya'self?
- I can see your fleet is using some old models of human missiles and bombs. What about equipping your ships with blackhole torpedo and antimatter charges?
- Ya're clever, Com'der. Let's agree on that for this time, but rem'mber that we won't hold your stern for trifle, next time."
I wouldn't have choose these pirates for team mates, but it's all I have in these times of need.

03:20:23
The now empty Archive selfdestructed. As I believed, it contained many interesting that allowed me to get the best from my Spire bladespawners and gravity drains.
The pirates dispersed into my territory, and I fear they would get destroyed one by one in AI engagements. Moreover, a cross planet attack is detected by my tactical analysis. Maybe sharing knowledge with them wasn't such a good idea.

03:21:23
Arg, the infiltrators are ineffective against orbital mass drivers and ion canons. The raid is a complete failure. I need to find another way to neuter these core worlds. Maybe hacking...

03:23:18
As soon as my fleet abandoned the now destroyed Archive defense to go after threatening fleets, the AI sent its long waiting fleet from the core world to attack: few fleetships but a bunch of core guardians. My fleet hurry back and pirates start being crushed one by one.

03:35:21
Cross planet attack piled on one system and attacked right before a moderately big reprisal wave, forcing me do delay my plans.

03:37:00
CPA handled. Now it's time to capture a planet with a A-prime CSG and a vengeance generator on it. I will earn the zenith beam frigate blueprint from the ARS and ignore a backup containing the polarizer design. Oh, and there is
 a core tackle drone launcher fabricator. Should I hack it before it's wreaked by the dark spire? Nah, I've already got the blade spawners, and I'm planning on some more interesting downloads.

03:40:16
Beam frigates tweaked'up. My K hoard is near empty. Dark spire didn't show up. For now.
: Re: Nefarious Pumpkin
: Red.Queen March 29, 2015, 12:17:08 AM
I wouldn't have choose these pirates for team mates, but it's all I have in these times of need.

Just remember, ye Nefarious Pumpkin, that the Pirate's Code is really more like what ye be callin' "guidelines" than actual rules...  ;)
: Re: Nefarious Pumpkin
: Pumpkin March 29, 2015, 10:49:04 AM
OMG*. I just sent 26 friendly Neinzul enclaves on cleanup duty. And I'm following them with a bunch of MkI starships and some launchers (tackle drones and blade spawners). Hot-notes are coming soon, but I wanted to let you know (and I won't write it in the hot-notes nor in the final rapport because it's too out-of-lore for that, but): following an armada of Neinzul enclave is like doing shopping with an overexcited girl. She's faster than you, unpredictable, and she spreads chaos around her while you run behind her and try to keep up, and sometime have to handle her mess and pay for havoc. And following roaming enclaves in 10/10 dark Spire territory is the same but with mafia killers lurking around trying to kill both you and her.

(There is a scene like that in the film Wasabi, but as it's a French film, I doubt any of you know; good fun film, however. [Wikipedia.en checking...] Oh maybe it's known in the states... "action-comedy", indeed. Overall bad reviews, apparently... Maybe fun if you don't expect too much from it.)

Now I feel like I am the nefarious minor faction. >D
Thank you so much, Mal :D

*: Orbital Mass Gunner.
: Re: Nefarious Pumpkin
: Pumpkin March 29, 2015, 11:28:39 AM
03:45:23
One Core Tackle Drone Launcher cost more than one MkII starship. This AI model is truly a high end one! The beam frigates shall wait I have more metal.
So, my next target is a A-prime CSG deep in a dark spire territory. Oddly enough, there is an ARS with the Spire Corvette as first available model and a design backup with this same model. The AI has been busy on Spire engineering at this planet.

03:51:01
A threat cleaning mission turned bad: a MkIV ion canon forced me to use only starships and big ships (zenith siege engine, bladespawner, tackle drone launchers); the threat was essentially some high mark starships and casualties were heavy on both sides (fortunately not that heavy on my side). However, while the vengeance generator here wokeup and was easily handled, other VG in the galaxy spawned some wraiths that back-stabbed one of my frontier world. I had to go stop dark Spire invasion then run for the reprisal wave triggered because of my threat cleaning. Running back and forth won't help capture the CSG! Well, at least it will give me some salvage opportunities.

04:06:10
Remote planet captured. CSG A-prime down. Spire Frigate blueprint stolen. Core medic frigate rewired; I don't know how long I will hold it, however, but I didn't bothered hanking it.
On the Frigate side, while I didn't researched advanced turrets and shields, only basic weaponry is compatible. However, if I would improve it, I would prefer tweak the hull rather than researching better turrets.
Ok, now I'm left with only two A-prime CSG, both deep in dark Spire territory. I need to carve a path through tachyon sentinels to send a science scout to see where are the best ARS. Maybe I should wakeup the Vengeance Generators. Let's see what can be done with some raider starships.
Oh, I've got a better idea! Let's see if my registered Neinzul songs can be useful. I'm not sure if I would be able to send the 26 friendly enclaves into a specific territory, but I hope I would be able to make them clean some worlds. I need to send a fleet following them in case the dark Spire attack them. Let say medic frigates, tackle drones launchers, blade spawners, and all the starships: no ion canon would frighten this fleet and the long range launcher/spawners would help younglings fleet from afar. The rest of my fleetships would stay in my territory and defend against roaming neinzul, AI waves and occasional dark Spire incursions.

04:40:07
The Neinzul enclaves are out of control. They wreak havoc in the whole galaxy and continuously wakeup dark Spire ships. They're too fast and my starship fleet can't keep up, so I re-affected them to territorial defense and send only raider starships after the enclaves. I feared their number would diminish, but as cleanup go, more enclaves join the armada. New worlds were cleaned from tachyon coverage and I sent scouts on each new one. Now more than the half of the wormhole network is in my sight.
Frontier defenses are stressed a lot but nothing that my mobile fleet can't handle. The AI is still denied from heavy reinforcement thanks to my earlier raids. One A-prime world is cleared; I sent a stealth science lab to see what is available in, but I still wait for the second A-prime to be cleared. Enclaves are totally uncontrollable, but they're so powerful. I must keep up.
: Re: Nefarious Pumpkin
: Pumpkin March 29, 2015, 02:04:36 PM
04:51:32
The two last ARS are in sensor ranges. One holds a youngling shrike genome and can be hacked for uninteresting blueprints. The other, however, holds the blade spawner that I already know but can be hacked for the Zenith viral shredder! I plan on hacking for the viral shredder; I have enough exploits left for that, but the AI's response will stir up the dark Spire.
I'll first send some raiders on blackops to activate the two vengeance generators that are still asleep on planets where Neinzul refuse to go. Then I'll send all my long range ships on the targeted A-prime world, hack for the viral shredders, then go back home and plan the two final assaults.
Oh, the target planet is adjacent to a raid engine. I shall sabotage it if I don't want the AI to be aware of my plans.

04:54:25
Blackops completed. Dire guardian detected on frontier planet. 10 minutes before fully functional. Problem would be that the planet it would attack is one with a VG. I fear to imagine what dark Spire would spawn with the vengeance generated by the death of a dire guardian, even if my fleet one-shot it.

04:57:10
Blackops went bad for the "back home" part: AI reprisal is high but no wave is yet announced. However, the dark Spire was more reactive, and a powerful Hatred was soon wreaking the turrets of my remote planet. Thanks to my powerful economy, the raid starships were quickly rebuilt, packed with the reserved ones, rushed through AI territory and took down the unpunished ghost.
By the time, the hacker reached its destination and the cheap sabotage is proceeding.

04:57:52
Sabotage done. Hacker on its way to the target planet, waiting for supporting fleet. Dire guardian in 6:30 and reprisal waves detected. Oops.
The main reprisal wave will hit my remote planet. The least wave will line up (5 seconds interval) with a regular wave on my frontier, but it's still insignificant enough to hope the turrets would handle this. I need to go for the big wave on my remote world and hope I'll be back in time and in sufficient health for the dire guardian.
Oh, ghost! Ion canons on the way. My raiders need to go ahead and clear the path now!

04:59:25
Raid done: path cleaned from ion canons. Fleet on its way; dark Spire spawning everywhere. 5:00 before dire guardian, 1:00 before 500 ships hit my remote world. Hold!
04:59:52
Fleet in position. Stray enclave took for AI invasion and instantly imploded. Stress is palpable.
05:00:54
Invasion hammered flat, dark Spire vengeance alike. Secondary reprisal bigger than expected, but handled by stationary defenses. Dire guardian in 3:30, fleet on its way back.
05:01:45
34 friendly enclaves came and put an end to the secondary invasion. Main fleet passing by the planet with the dire guardian lair on tip-toe. Spawning in 2:30.
05:01:57
Reprisal wave detected on dire guardian's target, 30 seconds after its spawning. If it take 30 seconds to reach the wormhole, the guardian would be surrounded by a 200 ships escort.
I can't believe humans are unaware of this. The galaxy is burning and peoples are chatting and working and eating and sleeping in their little bubbles...
05:03:26
Friendly Neinzul are attacking a distant world, awaking dark Spire; one of the spawned ghosts lurked into one of my world and destroyed my relay. Good thing the AI can't smell blood in the water.
Oh, and a Hatred is wreaking my remote planet. I feel like the raiders won't see the big battle.
Dire guardian in 1:00 and escort in 1:30.
05:04:22
Dire Widow incoming.
05:04:53
Dire escort spawning on the other side of the targeted planet. Hatred took down, raiders on their way back.
05:05:08
Escort vaporized. Raiders intercepted the dire Widow which decided to stop and riposte.
05:05:12
All MkI raiders down by the first Widow's salvo. Raiders sent on retreat, main fleet standing ready for impact and AI already salvaging the busted hulls.
05:05:26
Oh! The Widow is turning around the wormhole without crossing it! Damn it! My only choice is to attack on its territory (waiting for it to backstab me is not an option), which would give a lot of salvage to the AI. My economy is holding high despite the raider's regular reconstructions, and I hope I would be able to refleet before the reprisal hit. Let's hunt the widow on its world!
05:06:07
Widow down! Reprisal warning increasing from 2 to 3. Horde of dark Spire immediately spawning.
05:07:47
Two Hatreds slipped under the forcefield of one of my frontier worlds and rushed to my home command station. Energy bombs are hitting the forcefield and shaking near everything inside. Luckily the cryogenic pods and the bubble cities are on the other side of the force field, but my station is taking damage.
Is this... pain? Am I feeling pain? My "body" is being attacked and my... meat... is awaking? Make them stop! MAKE THEM STOP!!!

05:08:04
The force field is down. My body is uncovered and my fleet is furiously hammering the Hatreds. Pain is rushing through my whole body, both metal and meat. My brain is blazing and the whole galaxy under my sight is instantly reduced to the nano-point of pain which my world became. I gather all my will power and try to "look" at the battle field. One Hatred left, half destroyed under the doomsday firepower of my whole fleet. I see the energy bombs slowly flying toward my naked metal body.
In my ocean of pain, in my mind burnt to ashes by that elder forgotten feeling, one way out appear. One trigger that I long time ago refused to ever pull remind me. The Zenith Time Bender. Only one neural impulse and I can trigger it. Only one neural trigger and I escape... or rip the fabric of reality.
Pain reach yet another level in the unbearable and the fatal energy bomb rush through the void. Reality is nothing. Only pain exists.

05:00:37
Dire guardian spawning in 03:43, low reprisal warning, insignificant wave warping within 1:07. Whole fleet hunting remaining AI ships on the remote world.
I did it! The Zenith Time Bender worked! Reality is still intact! No more pain... such a peace.
Oh, the widow hasn't spawned yet. But soon. I know there is a way to configure the Zenith Time Bender with a sort of time beacon. I think it has one beacon and automatically increases it from time to time.
I promised myself to never use it in fear of a time paradox tearing reality apart. Now I promise to never use it again.
Well, let's kill this dire guardian again... but this time, beware the dark Spire's vengeance.
: Re: Nefarious Pumpkin
: Mal March 29, 2015, 02:38:55 PM
Haha!

The true pain of the darkspire is upon you! Pretty awesome AAR...its cool that it has kinda turned out how we were thinking it would be - A Clash Between Monumental forces, with you swaying each side as best as you can.

This is really neat.
: Re: Nefarious Pumpkin
: Red.Queen March 29, 2015, 03:27:03 PM
<eats popcorn>

I look forward to seeing if you can salvage this insanity, Pumpkin.  I wonder just how many Dark Spire ships are out there...
: Re: Nefarious Pumpkin
: Pumpkin April 07, 2015, 10:35:37 AM
05:06:29
The dire guardian is now a Sniper. It stood near its lair for a while, my fleet handled some backwater duties, and then it teamed up with a Hatred and destroyed my remote world. I lost the medic frigate, but it doesn't matter.
I'm tired of this petty game. I'll abandon this distant world.

05:18:06
I was hacking an Advanced Research Station away, and the dire sniper sneaked to a frontier world and took down the command station. However, it lingered in the range of my missile turrets and was destroyed away from any Vengeance Generator. Problem solved.

05:29:39
One the second remote world, I hacked the ARS and obtained the Zenith Viral Shredder blueprint. The dark Spire was handled with my raiders fleet. A massive fortress was developed with older human data stolen back from AI, in an attempt to deal with the dark Spire. As only few can be supplied by my limited power grid, they were dedicated to the protection of worlds with Vengeance Generators, especially remote ones. I lost the advanced starship constructor and I'm now unable to reproduce the MkIV raider starship. It doesn't matter, my strategy don't rely on high-end starships.
Now I need to take and advanced factory. There is also one last CSG network, I'll see where I'll take it down. I'm also planning on some bruteforce downloads on worlds with no dark Spire VG. My fleet should be powerful enough to handle the AI; it's not as scary as the dark Spire. But first I need to spend all my exploits on sabotage: a bunkerer subcommander on a core world is holding the shortest path to a home world with sniper and orbital mass drivers. Let's do this now.

05:32:38
The new fortresses were fire-tested against Hatreds and proved efficient.
The last Neinzul census counted 37 enclaves; one more world just got neutered.
Pirate fleet is reduced to a pair of patrolling frigates. Why did I trade with them?
My Spire fleet count Blade Spawners and Gravity Drains.
My Zenith fleet count Bombardment Ships, Siege Engines, Beam Frigates and Viral Shredder.
I also have core Snipers, core Tackle Drone Launchers and regular Infiltrators stolen from AI.
I'm planning of increasing my Spire fleet with Maws, Teleporting Leeches and Railclusters.
Let's see how far I can get with this.

05:37:25
Sabotage done. Core threatfleet roaming. Neinzul are handling it.

05:39:47
Threatfleet pushed into one of my remote world by Neinzul patrol. Enclaves, AI and dark Spire fought each other around my fortress. Neinzul won, obviously, but now wraiths are roaming the galaxy. Nothing serious, however: my defenses are geared enough.

05:41:55
Spoke too fast. Two Hatred nearly took down a fortress. Luckily, they focused their fire on turrets and the fortress finally destroyed them.

05:45:01
A big reprisal hit on my frontier. Neinzul and half of my fleet were on their way but didn't manage to get there in time. 72 pirates came to help.

06:02:57
Advanced factory bruteforced. I used all my remaining exploits at the AI and then went to brutal DDoS and aggressive key decoding. Half of my fleet held the reprisal and the final vengeance was the strength of my dedicated fleet. I would almost feel disappointed if my life wasn't at stake. Anyway, I feel confident for more brutal design download. I even fell like I would download all the designs that are not in dark Spire territory.
Let see what I can steal next...
Oh! It seems like my power grid won't be able to supply such an increased fleet. Well, maybe I will capture some planets too when their backup would be drained. But for now, I hope some metal converters would be enough.

06:08:44
After 20 seconds of bruteforce download, the AI sent 200 MkIII raider starships. I fell like I'll need to change my plans.
And reuse the Zenith Time Bender before not being able anymore...

06:06:44
Space-time fabric still intact? Good. This old artifact isn't that rusty, after all.
Well... So, no more bruteforce download, no more hacking. Then I'll take the planets I refrained to capture to avoid destroying the design backups. I'll get some energy and knowledge, and then I'll plan my final assault.
Oh, and there is one Core Shield Generator network left. One of the generators is on e planet with a Zenith power generator (probably an old golem's core) with a dark Spire vengeance generator. Why not? There is a superterminal on the way to it; I'll blow it up because the AI doesn't put me under pressure (aside from hacking) and it would connect the golem's core to my little empire. Let's do this.

06:34:43
Core world attacked and neutered. Reprisal wave hit the exact opposite of my empire, on top of a VG. AI handled, dark Spire mostly handled.
Dire spider guardian spawned and roaming outside the frontier. Still waiting on a VG world. Plan is to wait for it to get out of dark Spire territory and take it down with all available firepower.

06:36:28
Unexpected dark Spire bursts. Searched for the dire guardian: nowhere. 1,000 younglings on last known dire guardian's position, 44 enclaves returning from it. Neinzul assassination is the most probable cause.

06:55:41
Fleet fully rebuilt. 48 enclaves on their way to clear a CPA carrier (300). Ready for first home assault.

06:58:43
CPA fleet flew from enclaves and hit a remote world. Dark Spire woke up and are now fighting AI while my turrets do their best to stop both.

07:03:05
All core guard posts down. Fortress and command station not even scratched. Complete fleet whipe. 2,000 reprisal on remote world within 32 seconds. Reprisal warning level 4 remaining. 6:55 before vengeful exo. Metal production incredibly far from handling total rebuilt.

07:05:01
Exo within 4:59. 6,775 reprisal wave within 1:37 on VG world. Still 2,000 threat after remote world crushed.

07:07:23
Neinzul trying to handle tactical reserve leaking from neutered homeworld. Unstopable reprisal wreaking frontier world. No metal: no reinforcement. Lost core sniper and tackle drone launchers.

07:11:11
Exo wave on its way. One remote, two frontier and two backwater worlds lost so far. 4,700 threat in the galaxy. Dark Spire fighting reprisal carriers but not that much efficient.

07:18:39
Nine worlds lost. 2,700 threat.

07:20:51
56 Neinzul enclaves went to neutered core world and took down all remaining force field and the fortress. I need to send all I can against it now!

07:24:11
Home command station down. 660 vorticural cutlass MkII under the slowing field of my home force field. 55 enclaves arriving full speed.
07:24:20
100 younglings unloaded on top of the flying shurikens. Short range enclave's weapon starting to fire.
07:24:32
400 cutlas left. They change their course and hope to run toward a wormhole. Home FF gravity effect still affecting them.
07:24:54
No more cutlas on home planet. Threat indicator below red-threshold. 200 younglings singing victory song all together.

08:04:54
Fleet slowly rebuilding. Dire sniper spawned. Neinzul on their way.

08:06:45
Dire sniper assassinated by Neinzul. Dark Spire woken up and blown up.

08:27:14
Core world neutered; path to last homeworld is clear.
Capturing the old homeorld awoken a dire factory. A dire sniper is now roaming the frontier. There would be no problem for Neinzul to hunt it down as there is no dark Spire in this sector.

09:00:00
Fleet rebuilt and gathering for final assault.
180 AIP, 18 planets captured + one abandoned, 80~ HaP and 3,000 K unspent.

09:11:26
VICTORY
: Re: Nefarious Pumpkin
: Pumpkin April 07, 2015, 10:51:05 AM
I packed some older hot-notes with the last ones. I'll be back soon to discuss more this interesting setup and my (improvable) play. And of course I'll edit my first post with a more loreful narration of the game. I'll also seek for a new challenge, though I have a thematic Zenith game already running (first attempt at 8/8), but not worth a full bells-and-whistles AAR.

But as a rapid thoughts:
- dark spire at 10 is not that fun and sometimes quite frustrating.
- I was familiar with the roaming enclaves and I loved their impact in this game, though I feel intensity doesn't change much. Same for preservation wardens.
- Pirates... I mean "Human Resistance Fighters" sent only two waves of near 80 ships in the whole game, and their long-term impact was really... disappointing: they patrolled and slowly faded away against harmless Neinzul.
- Oh! Grid/40! Great! I love it! Totally different galaxy navigation and expansion. However, I prefer the more chaotic or shaped styles like realistic or concentric, but I never played on grid and it was fun. Thank you, Mal! And the 40 planets size is... well, I feel it too easy: everything is in reach, and only the diagonal homeworld was a bit away... I hope you, Mal, enjoy a true 80-sized map.

I hope I forget nothing. Well, I'll be back, anyway.
See ya!
: Re: Nefarious Pumpkin
: Red.Queen April 07, 2015, 05:39:42 PM
The dire guardian is now a Sniper.

I'm picturing a dire guardian painted in a camo pattern with foliage strapped to its hull, trying to be sneaky.

I'm also planning on some bruteforce downloads on worlds with no dark Spire VG. My fleet should be powerful enough to handle the AI; it's not as scary as the dark Spire.

This will end well.  ;D

A big reprisal hit on my frontier. Neinzul and half of my fleet were on their way but didn't manage to get there in time. 72 pirates came to help.

You have so many friends they're competing to help.


...anyway, I feel confident for more brutal design download. I even fell like I would download all the designs that are not in dark Spire territory.
Let see what I can steal next...

"Nothing can stop me now, I'm behind seven proxies!"

After 20 seconds of bruteforce download, the AI sent 200 MkIII raider starships. I fell like I'll need to change my plans.
And reuse the Zenith Time Bender before not being able anymore...

Oh, the AI installed the "Mass Raider Swarm" module in its Hacker Murderer 9000 anti-virus.

Space-time fabric still intact? Good. This old artifact isn't that rusty, after all.

Zenith Customer Service: "Dear Valued Customer, be advised that the TimeBender 2000 is 3728 years out of its warranty/Being out of its warranty, we cannot guarantee universe integrity/Not being able to guarantee, our lawyers remind you that for the destruction of all that is we have no liability!"  I managed to make that rhyme all the way through!

Searched for the dire guardian: nowhere. 1,000 younglings on last known dire guardian's position, 44 enclaves returning from it. Neinzul assassination is the most probable cause.

Cause of death: Neinzul Piranha Attack

All core guard posts down. Fortress and command station not even scratched. Complete fleet whipe. 2,000 reprisal on remote world within 32 seconds. Reprisal warning level 4 remaining. 6:55 before vengeful exo. Metal production incredibly far from handling total rebuilt.

<pops more popcorn>

Dark Spire fighting reprisal carriers but not that much efficient.

You finally found something that was at least a speedbump for the Dark Spire!

Nine worlds lost. 2,700 threat.

Ouch!

Capturing the old homeorld awoken a dire factory. A dire sniper is now roaming the frontier.

This galaxy is just loaded with snipers.  Would have been hilariously appropriate if one of the AI types was Assassin.

VICTORY

Congrats on surviving that madness!  :D

Look forward to reading your post-game notes.