Gentle stroll through the wilderness

[PokerChen]

It's been a while since I played AI War... We'll have a slow play through of an easy 8/7 game on a realistic map. The settings are rather simple:

(Everything on 4/10:)
Human colony rebellions/marauders/resistance fighters to populate the galaxy a little.
Traders and Dysons.
Broken Golems Hard
Spirecraft Hard

Schizophrenic/Reveal AI Types.
AI 1 (red): 8 random medium/easier
AI 2 (yellow): 7 random all non-technologist with Avenger, Hybrids, Advanced Hybrids.

= = =
 Log 05.26.215033.
 I find myself awake, again, at a murky hour. That is, if it's meant to be night according to the acclimatisation protocols. Not that the body cares - humans are biologically incapable of accepting the wildly varying daylight cycles of a star-bound traveller.
 The accommodations of Aria's Gaze are well-rigged to the rhythms of its occupants. As I sat up and looked around, the confines of the room slowly fade away to reveal a strange vista of the ship's surrounding. The panels were not cheap to install, but I've always liked to tinker with each transient home so as to remove as much of the ship from my physical senses as possible.



 An unfamiliar purple gas giant, labelled Wiglau in ghostly green. Apparently this floating junk is stranded somewhere not even I have been to. A name that recalls... something. Awry. Buried within a different life.

 Must summon up courage to call a QPA. *grumble, grumble* I hope this scenic route was just a warp anomaly.

 (log end)

 = = =

 Log 05.29.130914.
 Took me several cycles to adjust to our new situation, and calm my emotions. Let us be brief, for the sake of sanity (and dinner, not enough time right now):

 

Judgement has befallen humanity.

 Even worse, I've been recalled into service. 'Supreme-Sub-admiral-of-the-yadda-yadda-coalition'. If only they paid me for every letter in my title, although credit doesn't mean much when this particular corner of universe has been cleansed of human life.
 *sigh*
 Perhaps it is fortunate now that I have no known family to grieve over.

 ...but I will cease my old-man grumbling. In between the last log and now, I've come to learn of:
 - an alliance of embittered foes (one that I swore I'd never see for as long as I lived),
 - a hostile-takeover from creations who learned that they were in all respects superior to their creator/captors,
 - above creations being runway AIs that most of us knew nothing about,
 - and subsequent plans to fight back.

 With what? Obsoleted equipment, and whatever designs that could be smuggled away from both sides. Our assets are two generations older than acceptable! Rule of thumb: if it's older than you... We also have a secret weapon, but I'm ashamed to admit that the same ingenuity of my colleagues who pushed out the "Space Tank" also named it. I prefer a more functional "assault platforms".

 Privately, my plans are to push towards Nomas (sequestered the top-right quadrant) so that I can see what's left of the system I was born under. The other big-wigs are not to know that, but I've convinced them that there's a couple of Conclave research facilities hidden on the way that I might have a personal chance at cracking into. Truth is, I'm not sure what they've done to my projects in the past decade.

 I'll transfer myself to the Nostrildammus, a dedicated hacker-ship, for some glorified safe-cracking.
 (log ends)
 = = =
 Log 05.30.110914.
 Fresh back in HQ from my recent expedition, but I must start from the beginning.

 The band of unlikely heroes push "north", and reclaim Garasnodark and Wonuyar. It made sense that Doomsday Protocols chose this quadrant for the restart - obsolete equipment are far more resistant to rogue AI infiltration. Probably less appealing too, if individual entities had a sense of ascetics.
 Even so, contact with the rogue AIs seem surprisingly weak. Small forces of hundreds of ships, equally as poor as ours, probed our defenses. For us, at least, it was inconceivable that an intelligent individual should leave humanity with a chance for retribution. Why have they changed so much? The combat vessels seem to have lost much of the combat routines I was once familiar with, and captured remains confirm that they were actually downgraded.

 Curious. I must confer with what remains of R&D on both sides.  Luckily, scout drones have found what I was hoping to find in the systems Ilde and Andocha. Abandoned Research Stations - projects that didn't quite take off and were moth-balled. They will be of service now. The Nostrildammus will be covered by cloaking and protective fire while I do the hard yards:
 

Plasma-sieges are my favourite engines of destruction. Note to self: Must not let opinions cloud future judgement.

 And now we have caught up to the present. I must go to debriefing.
 (log ends)
 
 = = =
 Log 05.30.180914.
 Now that I have analysed for myself the AIs' tactics, namely throwing individuals away like ants... I'm beginning to have suspicions. West-command have transmitted images of a novel craft from Murdjutooth and Zonvu, which they subsequently annihilated.



 It was escorted, and was apparently defending the local orbital command. This confirms the debrief I've just had with my equivalents in the IPPR. Gareth, one of the spokespeople, explained that they were experimenting with AI-Neinzul hybirds. A Neinzul enclave is a meta-organisms made by its many individuals, and that emergent behaviour could translate to better organisation in AI cooperation. It was suggested that the emergent activities of a Neinzul hive could perhaps be better understood by AIs adapting to their "mode of existence", than us who are individuals.

 We suspect that somehow the idea of organisation has filtered into their primary system and transformed their AI. We know that individual AIs have been hard-coded to be ultimately controllable by humans - perhaps through Neinzul-like organisation, they can circumvent some of the parameters.

 It is time to get back to work. Command has updated me with the latest on our overall front:

 We have located centres of activities in Urvald and Raockash where front-line equipment have been stationed. It appears as though they know enough to try to protect their own Data Centres. We must either neutralise them or contain them so as to get through and sabotage their infrastructure. Incidentally, infrastructure uncountable resources in the making...

  Suicide probes have also identified interesting structures amongst the strongholds. Are they related to the hybrids?

 (log ends)

[PokerChen]

OOC:
 So, there are some additional constraints in play to make this more interesting:

 * I must hack as many ARSs as I can sanely get away with.
 * The Nostrildammus, the cloaked ship-design hacker, is my avatar's new ride. It must NOT get destroyed. Ever. Even while hacking the 4th ARS...
 * I must take and hold Nomas, a randomly selected planet not likely to be in association with the AI homeworld or is strategically interesting. The RNG may disagree,but oh well.

[Wanderer]

Quite amusing, I'm enjoying the log-story that you're telling.

However, a request.  Please use the img tag for your images?  I keep popping up secondary windows with the way you're doing it.

[PokerChen]

Log 05.31.033795. (gametime 1:05:55)
 The apparent intelligence of these hybrid seriously concerned everybody in command. In preparation for the oncoming push, we decide to clean house around HQ vicinities with two task forces: our primary numbering 500 vessels and reinforcements numbering 200.

 We dare not make ourselves more than a nuisance until our forces are ready. We are far from it: aside from a lack of control chips, my friend Eve in AI-control expressed to me privately that they are not even sure whether our modified AI routines could also spontaneously turn on us. Based on advice from Revolution-scientists, Control has imposed stringent limits on communications hierarchy, i.e. number of ships (and types) we in Command can deploy at once.

 Smells fishy to me.

 That aside, I am impressed with the performance of our latest find from the Conclave rubbish tip. It is called the "Spider", a combat fighter designed to incapacitate ship engines. The plans brought aboard was not usable as is: AI-forces are using vicious, ''engine-less' cutlasses adopted from our Revolution siblings (incidentally, the same ships that sealed the fate of the old project). R&D's stopgap overnight was to fit them with more accurate mass-drivers so that they can at least shoot down lighter craft if the engines could not be damaged.

 I'm including a current feed from the front-lines. The fleet now guards our entrance as our crewed starships attempts to disrupt AI emplacements:



 The Eyes left behind from the war now impede our progress on Ilde and Raockash. Our factions  originally built them as warp beacons to summon reinforcements without the aid of wormholes, and previous experiences on Andocha indicate that the AI have subverted them also.

 In addition, numerous system-wide Grav Distortion devices have been uncovered. Both AI and human ships on Ilde are being affected. I have not encountered their likes - how did they come with such technology?

 We should discuss potential countermeasures for the next C3 debrief.
(log end)

= = = = =
Log 05.31.039712. (gametime 1:12:40)
I've been hailed by Gareth to witness something secret that he's been privy to:



Despite the destruction, someone is still in contact with the Spire empire and has asked for assistance! Gareth will not reveal his sources, and states that the person has asked for utmost confidence.

In any case, an answer has arrived - in the form of blueprints. Hopefully these will save this individual from Command's retribution once they find out. Intergalactic signals my arse! Surely the dumbest AI can eavesdrop on such communications! A couple of wigs have been toupéd from our retreat at Ilde - the grav drill there is proving too tough to crack without some new propulsion method (that won't conflict with weapons, the scout probes seem to be fine).

[PokerChen]

Log 05.31.055221.
I have travelled to Wonuyar in an effort to sort out potential alibis for the new Spirecraft. Meanwhile,  Eve has kindly patched me a feed to keep me in the loop: our collective strikeforce has warped into Urvold.

It's a feed of the big-wigs transmitting tactics on their etch-a-sketch. A infantile, yet creative method of increasing security, since even in this generation AIs find OCR-recognition a difficult problem.*

Ship admirals have spotted some facilities producing escorts to reinforce the hybrids - we now know that those structures serve the Hybrid forces. There appears to be two other types present, although as long as we keep destroying them we won't have to see what other nasty functions they serve.

Wait, something big is coming. A Zenith Trader vessel has arrived in Andocha, and intend to pass us by (again). I must go catch them - we must convince them to render us aid!

*There are constant efforts to hack into our communications, according to Countermeasures.
(log ends)

= = = = =
Log 06.01.050714. (gametime 1:32:22)

OOC: Text-wall ensues, in which my avatar attempts to flesh out the backstory of the Zenith

Zenith Traders. Survivalists. War profiteers. Space hippies. Possessing the knowledge of great power, but never stooping to wield it themselves. No, they sell the seeds of doomsday devices to younger races like us for a tidy profit and simply move on as if the balance of the galaxy have never changed.

Such were my thoughts. Under normal circumstance, I'd view these vagabonds with suspicion. Trader Golems were once the library ships of their empire, acting as reservoirs containing the most critical components of their mega-structures and the blueprints for completing the design. It is unfathomable that, having the essence of their civilisation, they do not attempt to return to greatness.

...or, it was unfathomable until I hailed down one of these great-beasts by parking in their way. They don't normally stop to converse with a client that obviously couldn't pay.



I think observing humanity's fate has moved these aliens to exercise some compassion. There have always been wreckages of vast Zenith structures scattered throughout this galaxy for as long as humans travelled the stars. I have wondered what it was like to traverse to ruins of my own civilisation, and that is what we survivors have done over the last weeks.

There is a sort of kinship now, between Zenith and mankind. In response, our... friends have shared something significant. Game-changing.

...it turns out, that all Golems are maintained by constant repair. Physical laws cannot be averted:  these giant behemoths do indeed begin to tear themselves apart under simple propulsion, much less combat manoeuvres. (The same has happened to our own experimental megaliths in the past.) This strain is compensated by nano-machines, working cohesively under the commands of a management unit.

 Controlling an untold number of entities to do intricate work is something far beyond the current AI of our civilisations. No surviving Trader Golems has that arcane knowledge either, and none are wiling sacrifice one of their last refuges in an attempt to decipher the black box in their midst. (I tried asking more deeply, but the topic has become almost taboo in their culture.)

 Without the black box, there was no point. Their own "cataclysm" has set the Zenith too far back to reforge an empire, and so each vessel made do with "what it had". I think the closest translation would be to "sell-things on your feet".

 Before leaving, the Traders have agreed to give us a power generator seed and let us pay as we go. This was the most critical deal - we have lost control of all of the zenith generators to the AI. I'm inclined to think they're willing to do so for a few other purchases, judging by their "demeanor". I also raised the question of whether another solution existed for reviving the golem wrecks, but was rebuffed with a stern warning (and I will quote):

 "If you would tell your crew to stop trying to hack into our databases, we will confer with the others."

 Nostrildammus at its best.

 From what I have gathered in their inflections, it does seem possible to revive a few of the wrecks that are in the "best" conditions. At my instigation, some of the on-board R&D team and I have spent the night gathering the necessary threads to present this to C3. We were completely oblivious to an interruption by an AI counter-attack.



Of course, as with all plot-armours, the fleet has returned from its hunt. Admiral Gnell informed me several items of note:
- the three data-centres have been successfully destroyed
- losses of one of the plasma sieges, a Riot-control and all of the Bomber starships. (Last rites may have to wait until this is all over.)
- the newly commissioned spiders are very capable, preventing even mark-IV AI bombers from laying waste to Andocha command.
He also admits some surprise at my express authorisation (circumventing Command) of an untested vessel in combat: a Spire "Siege-Tower", and requests an explanation before C3.

That stickler. The next meeting will definitely be heated. It is also in two hours.

Coffee. Now.

(log ends)

[PokerChen]

Log 06.02.110305.

 C3. Despite all of the highlights that would be generated by a meeting between the three pinnacles of military egos, I will spare you the minute details. There was some celebration at the general confusion of AI-craft, attributed to our recent destruction of data-centres. We can now sit back and plan the next phase of operations.

 Much discussion was also focussed around the dubiously sourced Spirecraft. Admittedly, the initial Spirecraft models constructed performed approximately a magnitude under par as compared to apparent specs. Without their revolutionary engines and the AI's use of Gravity Drills (to confine us?), I would not have been able to forestall some... hasty judgements... on the craft and its instigators.

 With Gareth and R&D brought in for questioning, it was established that the blueprints did not specify exactly the source minerals required - they used whatever was available (Reptite) for substitution. Perhaps the galaxy where the Spire dwell abound in exotic elements, and we will need to find better rocks to build these from.

 I was able to persuade the more militant commanders to allow them a shake-down cruise in Sevu and beyond. The intial outfit of Siege Towers escorted by Artilleries and an Ion Blaster was nicknamed the white fleet, and sent to cleanse Sevu of AI defenders. A good performance will silence the critics in Control and Countermeasures:

 Still no clues as to why our enemies haven't sent our old elite assets to eliminate us. Countermeasures have recommended hacking into AI communications to determine their distribution of forces. That will probably be carried out by us - power is a little short to construct additional hacking ships.

(log ends)

= = = =

Log 06.02.170305. (gametime -  1:53:37, AIP 76.)
 White fleet performed wonderfully! While not replacements for our standard star-ships, they were fully capable of clearing Sevu on their own. Control is now in the process of reclaiming its Gravity Drill and Planetary Armor Booster.

 The fleet drove straight into Pantusrew and promptly met its match - Dyson Gatlings, each of which is a match for the fleet. This took the older among us by surprise - this Dyson lay dormant for much of the centuries' of civil war. Although we presumed that like other golems, it would possess formidable weapons, we did not figure that it produces ships. Rather, generate matter from the energies of its sun.

 This calls for some tactics:

 Meanwhile:
 - the AI makes disorganised harrassments along our borders. A Co-Processor in Zonmurdersuo appears to be directing wave-attacks, but cannot time this with incursions in normal space.
 - Further scouting reveals yet more Gravity Drills and subverted Eyes blocking us from western systems. Propensity is making advances very difficult.
 - The traders have made another pass, and appear to be grim. (Are they making up for their uncharacteristic open-ness last encounter?) Several more seeds have been borrowed and await future payment.
 - We are now identifying golem wrecks as we come across them, but still lack a method to bring them online.

 On the hacking front, the Nostrildammus will travel to Zonmurdersuo: that Co-processor unit should enable us to eavesdrop on AI activities. I am not looking forward to what we might find out.

(log ends)

[PokerChen]

Log 06.03.034137.

The hack proceeds as planned with the Nostrildammus sneaking under an I force-field to deliver a small set of spoofed AI-agents into the Co-processor network, from which we hope to achieve penetration of mainframe chatter. Fortunately the defenders did not include Tachyon fighters, but to be safe my colleagues launch a neutering attempt as a distraction.
 


Associated with our development of AI subversion methods, we are now including several parasite-type vessels into the fleet. Every ship that can be reclaimed will help - eventually, the balance should tip into our favour. Fortunately, it appears as though we do not have to battle the Dyson Sphere - once we removed the AI command the new gatlings produced have become friendly. No communications could be established, however. This is a strange and unsettling ally.

(log ends)
= = = =
Log 06.03.040284.

Control has begun to receive return messages from our embedded agents... the news were a mixed blessing. The AIs have achieved inter-galactic wormhole travel, and have sent much of our civil war assets through in an attempt to secure the other side. Its local defenses are purely token, hence humanity survives to this day. We shudder to think what other civilisations are bearing the brunt of their assault.

However, they have not forgotten about us. The AIs are diverting strike-forces from its main front to deal with our existence - the Hybrids here also maintain limited communications with them and have also prepared themselves. Escalation will be inevitable. We will be gearing for war earlier than we expected.

(log ends)
= = = =
Log 06.03.071201.

A few minutes ago, Command delivers its final verdict: We cannot afford to bide our time any longer; we are to total war. Having lost what element of surprise we first enjoyed, and finding sabotage ultimately futile, we must maintain our momentum and deliver a killing blow to the heart of the AI. They have moved their mainframes since their uprising, but are now tied down by the creation of Exo-galactic wormholes to some yet unidentified systems.

If we move now, we may yet be able to cut the whole beast in two and strand their forces at the beachhead. Unfortunately, from here on I will have little luxury of writing long logs. None of us will likely get significant R&R until we are either dead or victorius.

First steps are clear: obtain extra power generators and control chips from our lost planets. We will throw a rich welcome party for our synthetic guests. Then we will have the means to power Golems (Traders willing) and gather forces for the next research station.

Our attack begins at Ralifico. I must leave our delightful little hacker vessel for now.

(log ends. Exo-strikeforce at 66%, gametime 2:10:01 *NB:* Not allowed to repair and use golems until further notice.)

[keith.lamothe]

I must hack as many ARSs as I can sanely get away with.

This should be entertaining.

Smells fishy to me.

The only proper response to the per-type-per-mark caps   That mechanic is the best example I know of where "fun trumps realism", because the game wouldn't be nearly as good without it, but it makes very nearly no sense whatsoever that you can't shuffle resources to control 100 bombers and 96 fighters instead of 98 of each.

It's a feed of the big-wigs transmitting tactics on their etch-a-sketch.

Sometimes low-tech is all you need.

Zenith Traders. Survivalists. War profiteers. Space hippies.

(he smashed through the link, direct inclusion was inevitable)

I think the closest translation would be to "sell-things on your feet".

The thing on your foot. Event. Horizon!

This is a strange and unsettling ally.

Nah, Dyson's a teddy bear.  Just don't let the Hybrids feed it just one more wafer-thin mint.

Looking good, all around

[thelonecarrot]

While I need to tab out for every image, this is still making for damn fun reading. Can't help but like lore used to fluff up and make text more enjoyable to read.

[PokerChen]

It's a feed of the big-wigs transmitting tactics on their etch-a-sketch.

Sometimes low-tech is all you need.

Somebody was going to link that eventually...

Zenith Traders. Survivalists. War profiteers. Space hippies.

**image**
(he smashed through the link, direct inclusion was inevitable)

Oh dear.

This is a strange and unsettling ally.

Nah, Dyson's a teddy bear.  Just don't let the Hybrids feed it just one more wafer-thin mint.

I think I might have to intentionally allow the hybrids to build something. The story board calls for some frantic search and destroy, and that Grav Drill in Sevu is itching to join the plot-device wagon like its cousin on Ilde.

While I need to tab out for every image, this is still making for damn fun reading. Can't help but like lore used to fluff up and make text more enjoyable to read.

I think the fact that my laptop is 1920x1080 interferes with a lot of browser screenshots, since the click-expand automatically stretches it to full-size with a scroll-bar appearing at the end of the post... Perhaps the image tags can be (1) modified to take up 85% of frame width, and (2) encompassed within its own box so that the scroll bar is immediately available? This shall be tested.

EDIT: While the bb-code does not appear to support %-width img tags, I've enclosed each full-screen picture with a quote to enforce local scroll bars. In Chrome at least one can shift-scroll to scroll sideways through the expanded images (doesn't work in Opera/IE).