Hello, and welcome to Blah's Bonanza. I bring you a tale of toil and despair.
You know of our 80 planet galaxy. You certainly remember the four glorious nations that warred. You remember the AIs that each planet developed, the ones to manage the forces and production of everything. You remember how, many years ago, the AI turned against us, using our own production facilities and technologies to reduce us to a mere four worlds. But despite our conflict, we have united against the monster we created. Our four-way war was an unstable balance of power, with the strongest nation being united against and the weakest nation threatened and harassed. That is why our AIs have such tactics. And it is our job, our duty, nay, our destiny to destroy them.
But it's not just us humans and the terrible AI in space. No, this galaxy has given us wonderful allies, and vicious enemies. There are colonies of ours still hidden from the AI, but seeking help. The cruel vagabonds wait to strike from space, as do our resistance brethren. And there are non-human forces in this galaxy as well. A ship said to consume all it meets wanders the galaxy. There is a mysterious spherical construct that wants nothing more than to be alone on its planet, and fights against those who would control its planet. A large ship collects resources, but does so in a deadly way. There is also a benign ship who will help us... for a price. But is it truly benign? It helps the AI as well.
There is a rumor, however, that even if we destroy the assassin's command center, that the true core lies in a behemoth of a battleship, prepared to assassinate our home worlds.
We may have fought, but it was not always so. Our nations are bonded in a very unusual way; when our alliance was created, our home command centers were bound together so that if one fell, we all fell. Thus the name of our alliance, the Four Foundations.
We once fought, but we fight ourselves no more. We will fight against this AI, and we will win together, or we will die together.
Non-story Explanation:
The AIs will be level 7.
One is an Assassin.
One is a Bully.
The Assassin is an avenger.
All minor factions are on. All ship types are on except for astro trains (I feel they add little strategy and a lot of annoyance).
If an AI kills one of us, the game is over. Defense must be a priority!
There will be four of us, including me and my roommate.
I will create a Ventrilo channel for us while we're playing; microphones are optional, but I'm most comfortable on a mic. I type faster than I talk, but I can't type and manage at the same time.
No time is set yet, but my roommate and I have a lot of flexibility. Arizona time (UTC -07:00), I'm available almost any time saturday and sunday, and any time after 13ish monday through friday, with few exceptions.
I plan on recording (either via video or pictures and audio) and recounting the tale.
The options are up for debate, particularly the number of planets. I'm considering removing the trader, since he'll sell a lot of orbital mass drivers to the enemy, which makes me sad.
I'd like to have this game started by Saturday, April 10th, 2010. Sign up here, tell me about your available hours, argue about game settings, and generally contribute to this scenario I've devised.