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Let's Play The Ur-Quan Masters
<< | ^^ | >>
Chapter 0: Prologue
Part 2: In Which the Plot is Revealed
When we last left off, Earth was in the alarming state of being red and glowing, with an Ur-Quan threat message waiting for me when I arrived.
Going to the planet itself yields nothing but an ominous inability to land or contact anyone, so I'm instead going to head for the space station.
(I'm sure this species requires no introduction.)
HAYES
Attention unidentified space vessel!
I am Starbase Commander Hayes of the slave planet Earth.
our HyperWave broadcasts -- extremely weak...
...situation critical -- energy cores exhausted...
...scanners and deep radar are non-functional...
...we cannot identify your vessel.
Are you the scheduled Hierarchy resupply ship?
Repeat, are you the resupply vessel?
(As a note, Zelnick as a character can vary widely in personality depending on your conversation choices. I'm going to be playing him a bit wackier than I usually do, for kicks.)
ZELNICK
'Slave planet!' 'Hierarchy resupply vessel!' What is going on here?
HAYES
Look, I don't know who you are, or why you're here...
..but right now the only thinkg I'm worried about...
..is saving the lives of the 1900 men and women aboard this starbase...
..and right now you're our only hope.
I can't keep the transmitter on too much longer -- we need the power for heat and air...
..so if you don't have any radioactives on board your vessel...
..please get some and bring them back here before it's too late.
(Metagaming wins again!)
ZELNICK
We are ready to transfer radioactives.
HAYES
We are initiating transfer of radioactives, Captain.
Now, as soon as your engineers can refit the energy cores...
...there, that's much better. Power ratings are climbing, life support is coming back into the green.
Deep radar systems and sensors are now online and I can scan your vessel.
!!!? -- WHAT THE HELL KIND OF SHIP IS THAT!?
Just who ARE you, Captain?
ZELNICK
I am Captain Zelnick of the starship Vindicator. We are the survivors of a Star Control science research team to the Vela star system.
Hayes
Star Control science mission, eh?
Captain, I served as a Star Control officer during the war, aboard several cruisers in the Coreward Front...
..and if there had been any 'scientific mission' to Vela...
..I would have heard about it.
ZELNICK
The mission was highly secret.
HAYES
Hmmm... you know, come to think of it...
..there were some rumors that Corridor Nine, the special operations divison of Star Control...
..was directiong some hush-hush operations near Androsynth space.
The Vela star system... yes, that would be in the right direction...
..So, Captain... if you say it's true...
..how do you explain that huge, alien starship you're flying...
..and why are you here? What do you want from us?
ZELNICK
We have returned to Earth to give you the technological secrets of the Precursors, and to help you fight the Hierarchy.
HAYES
Ahh... fight the Ur-Quan! Win back our freedom!
I remember having such thoughts myself... once, a long time ago.
But that was in the first years after the defeat, when it was still terrifying to look up...
..and see the bloody glow of the pulsating slave shield overhead.
Through day and night we gazed up at the impenetrable wall...
..as though the sheer power of our hatred would pull it down.
But over the years, I spent so much of my time struggling...
..down on the surface under the shield and then later up here, trying to keep this station alive...
..that I'd forgotten what it means to be free... to hate our Ur-Quan Masters!
And now, here you are, in an alien ship of unknown power,
offering me your assistance to fight against the Hierarchy again, after all these years.
Captain, your offer is intriguing.
It's tempting to think that with your advanced Precursor technology...
..we can somehow crack Earth's slave shield...
..and reassemble the Alliance to attack the Hierarchy, and THIS time win the damn war!
But... consider the consequences if we should fail.
The Ur-Quan won't just punish us here on the station.
They will exact a gruesome retribution on the surface below as well.
Before I commit this station to helping you attack the Ur-Quan...
..and accepting the risk of annihilation if we are defeated...
..I have to make sure that you and your ship have what it takes to oppose the Hierarchy.
I'll make you a deal.
If you can eliminate the alien base on the moon, and get rid of that threat, at least...
..I wil seriously consider your offer.
ZELNICK
We shall go now and neutralize the base.
HAYES
Be careful, Captain.
There are probably a dozen Spathi Eluders and Ilwrath Avengers down there on the lunar surface.
I don't know why they haven't come after you yet...
But when they do, you'd better have your weapons armed, and your thrusters burning hot.
And so we have our next short-term goal: Pacify the moon! It's just a quick hop over to the place, so we'll go there right away.
A number of unusual things present themselves to us here. 1: No enemy forces. 2: The small green dots on the map indicate life forms, or at least things that are moving around on the surface. 3: The small white dot on the right side is an energy source. Let's investigate!
As it would seem, the "life forms" are robots, randomly roving around the surface. I'll snag some of the resources on the surface before going to investigate the energy source.
The energy source turns out to be an abandoned lunar base, with robots set to endlessly push random piles of sand and dust around, with the same alien message playing on repeat on the HyperWave caster. No resistance whatsoever.
That was easy enough. Back to the starbase!
ZELNICK
We, uh... attacked the moonbase, and completely destroyed the enemy!
HAYES
You fought them, Captain!? I hope you didn't suffer serious casualties?
ZELNICK
Actually I lied. We found it abandoned.
HAYES
I'll be darned!
All these years we've been listening to their incoherent broadcasts, and we never even guessed.
Captain, listen closely!
Long range sensors show a ship closing on this station, fast!
Our computer identifies it as Ilwrath, Avenger-class.
I think you've got a fight on your hands, Captain.
Your best bet is to wait until you have point bl-nk r-nge...
..C-pt-in! It's ja-min- ou- s-gn-l!...
Meet the Ilwrath
Honestly, I'm not sure what there is to say about these guys. They're thralls of the Ur-Quan, but they definitely enjoy their servitude, since their entire culture seems to be devoted to causing suffering in other living beings.
ILWRATH
A Hu-Man In An Alien Starship... How Fastinating!
When I Intercepted That Ur-Quan Drone, And Learned That An Unidentified Starship Had Approached Earth,
I Never Expected To Find Such A Remarkable Vehicle In The Hands Of A Hu-Man.
Hu-Mans Are Prey Animals - Weak And Helpless-
But Here Is A Hu-Man In An Armed Starship!
And Therefore In Direct Violation Of The Oath of Fealty.
I Am Sure Our Masters, The Ur-Quan Will Punish Earth Most Severely For This Treachery....
When I Present Them With The Twisted Wreckage Of Your Ship And Your Many Charred Corpses.
ZELNICK
Where the hell did you come from?
ILWRATH
Since You Will Soon Be Dead, I Will Gladly Explain.
We Have Spent Many Years Gleefully Preying On The Pkunk.
They Are A Pitiful, Easily-killed Species...
..and We Would Have Continued In This Divine Worship Of Dogar And Kazon...
..But We Required Additional Crew Members And Repairs To Our Cloaking Device.
So We Departed The Giclas Constellation And Set Course For Home.
But Before We Had Reached Our Region Of Space, We Detected The Passage Of A Nearby Vessel - The Ur-Quan Drone.
It Informed Us About You... So Here We Are.
And Now, YOU DIE!
Welcome to our first space battle! Time for some more explanations.
The left side is our actual battle, which shrinks and grows as our ships change distance. It also wraps around the edges. On the right, we have the enemy ship HUD (top) and mine (bottom). The green bar represents the ship's crew and therefore health, and the red bar is their energy, which regenerates over time.
This game has about a jillion ships, which I will be introducing as I encounter them.
EARTHLING CRUISER
This is the only ship in my fleet, save for the Vindicator. It's slow, but turns fast, and fires powerful, long-range homing missiles. Its special weapon is a short-range point defense laser, more suited for intercepting enemy projectiles than attacking.
ILWRATH AVENGER
The Avenger is slow, but faster than the Cruiser, and specializes in close-range combat. Its primary attack is a short but deadly flamethrower, and its special ability is a cloaking device, rendering it (mostly) invisible.
This Avenger has a reduced crew complement and no cloaking device, but that doesn't mean I can relax. If he can shoot down my first few missiles fast enough to get into attack range, then I stand a very good chance of losing my ship.
Yep! I got one shot in, but was unable to weasel in a second shot before falling prety to its superior close-range combat abilities. Now all I have left is my flagship, which is barely capable of combat at all...
But with the Ilwrath ship at 3 HP, it's more than enough!
I've won my first battle, with a few losses.
HAYES
I haven't seen an Avenger blown away like that since the Battle in Draco.
I guess you've shown that you can handle yourself in battle, Captain...
..so my last reservation about helping you has been dissolved.
I will commit this station to helping free Earth and defeat the Ur-Quan.
We may get our atoms rearranged in the process, but by God, Captain, we're going to try!
So, the obvious first step is to get your Precursor equipment and software over here...
..so that we can make it work with our ship repair fabricators.
But then what, Captain?
ZELNICK
Er... trust me Commander, I have a plan... a really good plan! But for now it must remain a secret.
HAYES
If you feel it's necessary Captain, I understand.
By the way Captain, I think we need a name for this new alliance we're going to forge.
And since it was your idea, it's only fair that you get the honor of naming it.
So, what will it be?
ZELNICK
The Empire of Zelnick!
The New Alliance of Free Stars!
HAYES
Okay, that sounds pretty inspiring. So be it - The New Alliance of Free Stars!
Now Captain, I expect the configuration process for the starbase...
..to take at least 2 weeks, so let's get to work...
TWO WEEKS LATER
HAYES
We have successfully integrated the Precursor technology from your ship into our fabricator system...
..and as you can see, we have already begun minor repairs on your ship, patching up some of the micro-meteorite holes.
We noticed that your ship does not have an emergency warp escape unit...
..So our engineers rigged up some for you and each of your escorts.
Now you should be able to escape from a bad situation...
..with the touch of a button. But there is a cost, however...
..The unit gulps up five fuel units each time your precursor ship uses it.
Also, we now have a limited capacity to make modifications to your ship...
..to refine starship fuel, to build additional combat ships...
..and to train new members of you crew for the flagship and any ships you acquire for your fleet.
Captain, I know you're eager to get to work, so I'll be brief.
If you have any questions -- how this Starbase works, what resources we need...
...or just some background information on the galaxy -- don't hesitate to ask.
Okay, now we can stop looking at Hayes all day. Well, YOU can, but I'll still be chatting it up with the guy every time I want to offload minerals or analyze new devices. The minerals from Mercury and the moon provide us 403 Resource Units, on top of the 2500 we started with. So, it's time to get to work.
This is where our resources come into play. The Vindicator is a skeleton, which can be filled at my discretion with all kinds of sexy modules and technologies. Also, I can buy fuel, which is pretty important I guess.
First priority for today will be fuel. I max it out at 60, leaving 1883 RUs for ship modification. Since this thing is like a tortoise right now, I'll spend it on two turning jets and a thruster.
NEXT TIME: Scouring the solar system, and our first actual conversation with aliens.
<< | ^^ | >>
Chapter 0: Prologue
Part 2: In Which the Plot is Revealed
When we last left off, Earth was in the alarming state of being red and glowing, with an Ur-Quan threat message waiting for me when I arrived.
Going to the planet itself yields nothing but an ominous inability to land or contact anyone, so I'm instead going to head for the space station.
(I'm sure this species requires no introduction.)
HAYES
Attention unidentified space vessel!
I am Starbase Commander Hayes of the slave planet Earth.
our HyperWave broadcasts -- extremely weak...
...situation critical -- energy cores exhausted...
...scanners and deep radar are non-functional...
...we cannot identify your vessel.
Are you the scheduled Hierarchy resupply ship?
Repeat, are you the resupply vessel?
(As a note, Zelnick as a character can vary widely in personality depending on your conversation choices. I'm going to be playing him a bit wackier than I usually do, for kicks.)
ZELNICK
'Slave planet!' 'Hierarchy resupply vessel!' What is going on here?
HAYES
Look, I don't know who you are, or why you're here...
..but right now the only thinkg I'm worried about...
..is saving the lives of the 1900 men and women aboard this starbase...
..and right now you're our only hope.
I can't keep the transmitter on too much longer -- we need the power for heat and air...
..so if you don't have any radioactives on board your vessel...
..please get some and bring them back here before it's too late.
(Metagaming wins again!)
ZELNICK
We are ready to transfer radioactives.
HAYES
We are initiating transfer of radioactives, Captain.
Now, as soon as your engineers can refit the energy cores...
...there, that's much better. Power ratings are climbing, life support is coming back into the green.
Deep radar systems and sensors are now online and I can scan your vessel.
!!!? -- WHAT THE HELL KIND OF SHIP IS THAT!?
Just who ARE you, Captain?
ZELNICK
I am Captain Zelnick of the starship Vindicator. We are the survivors of a Star Control science research team to the Vela star system.
Hayes
Star Control science mission, eh?
Captain, I served as a Star Control officer during the war, aboard several cruisers in the Coreward Front...
..and if there had been any 'scientific mission' to Vela...
..I would have heard about it.
ZELNICK
The mission was highly secret.
HAYES
Hmmm... you know, come to think of it...
..there were some rumors that Corridor Nine, the special operations divison of Star Control...
..was directiong some hush-hush operations near Androsynth space.
The Vela star system... yes, that would be in the right direction...
..So, Captain... if you say it's true...
..how do you explain that huge, alien starship you're flying...
..and why are you here? What do you want from us?
ZELNICK
We have returned to Earth to give you the technological secrets of the Precursors, and to help you fight the Hierarchy.
HAYES
Ahh... fight the Ur-Quan! Win back our freedom!
I remember having such thoughts myself... once, a long time ago.
But that was in the first years after the defeat, when it was still terrifying to look up...
..and see the bloody glow of the pulsating slave shield overhead.
Through day and night we gazed up at the impenetrable wall...
..as though the sheer power of our hatred would pull it down.
But over the years, I spent so much of my time struggling...
..down on the surface under the shield and then later up here, trying to keep this station alive...
..that I'd forgotten what it means to be free... to hate our Ur-Quan Masters!
And now, here you are, in an alien ship of unknown power,
offering me your assistance to fight against the Hierarchy again, after all these years.
Captain, your offer is intriguing.
It's tempting to think that with your advanced Precursor technology...
..we can somehow crack Earth's slave shield...
..and reassemble the Alliance to attack the Hierarchy, and THIS time win the damn war!
But... consider the consequences if we should fail.
The Ur-Quan won't just punish us here on the station.
They will exact a gruesome retribution on the surface below as well.
Before I commit this station to helping you attack the Ur-Quan...
..and accepting the risk of annihilation if we are defeated...
..I have to make sure that you and your ship have what it takes to oppose the Hierarchy.
I'll make you a deal.
If you can eliminate the alien base on the moon, and get rid of that threat, at least...
..I wil seriously consider your offer.
ZELNICK
We shall go now and neutralize the base.
HAYES
Be careful, Captain.
There are probably a dozen Spathi Eluders and Ilwrath Avengers down there on the lunar surface.
I don't know why they haven't come after you yet...
But when they do, you'd better have your weapons armed, and your thrusters burning hot.
And so we have our next short-term goal: Pacify the moon! It's just a quick hop over to the place, so we'll go there right away.
A number of unusual things present themselves to us here. 1: No enemy forces. 2: The small green dots on the map indicate life forms, or at least things that are moving around on the surface. 3: The small white dot on the right side is an energy source. Let's investigate!
As it would seem, the "life forms" are robots, randomly roving around the surface. I'll snag some of the resources on the surface before going to investigate the energy source.
The energy source turns out to be an abandoned lunar base, with robots set to endlessly push random piles of sand and dust around, with the same alien message playing on repeat on the HyperWave caster. No resistance whatsoever.
That was easy enough. Back to the starbase!
ZELNICK
We, uh... attacked the moonbase, and completely destroyed the enemy!
HAYES
You fought them, Captain!? I hope you didn't suffer serious casualties?
ZELNICK
Actually I lied. We found it abandoned.
HAYES
I'll be darned!
All these years we've been listening to their incoherent broadcasts, and we never even guessed.
Captain, listen closely!
Long range sensors show a ship closing on this station, fast!
Our computer identifies it as Ilwrath, Avenger-class.
I think you've got a fight on your hands, Captain.
Your best bet is to wait until you have point bl-nk r-nge...
..C-pt-in! It's ja-min- ou- s-gn-l!...
Meet the Ilwrath
Honestly, I'm not sure what there is to say about these guys. They're thralls of the Ur-Quan, but they definitely enjoy their servitude, since their entire culture seems to be devoted to causing suffering in other living beings.
ILWRATH
A Hu-Man In An Alien Starship... How Fastinating!
When I Intercepted That Ur-Quan Drone, And Learned That An Unidentified Starship Had Approached Earth,
I Never Expected To Find Such A Remarkable Vehicle In The Hands Of A Hu-Man.
Hu-Mans Are Prey Animals - Weak And Helpless-
But Here Is A Hu-Man In An Armed Starship!
And Therefore In Direct Violation Of The Oath of Fealty.
I Am Sure Our Masters, The Ur-Quan Will Punish Earth Most Severely For This Treachery....
When I Present Them With The Twisted Wreckage Of Your Ship And Your Many Charred Corpses.
ZELNICK
Where the hell did you come from?
ILWRATH
Since You Will Soon Be Dead, I Will Gladly Explain.
We Have Spent Many Years Gleefully Preying On The Pkunk.
They Are A Pitiful, Easily-killed Species...
..and We Would Have Continued In This Divine Worship Of Dogar And Kazon...
..But We Required Additional Crew Members And Repairs To Our Cloaking Device.
So We Departed The Giclas Constellation And Set Course For Home.
But Before We Had Reached Our Region Of Space, We Detected The Passage Of A Nearby Vessel - The Ur-Quan Drone.
It Informed Us About You... So Here We Are.
And Now, YOU DIE!
Welcome to our first space battle! Time for some more explanations.
The left side is our actual battle, which shrinks and grows as our ships change distance. It also wraps around the edges. On the right, we have the enemy ship HUD (top) and mine (bottom). The green bar represents the ship's crew and therefore health, and the red bar is their energy, which regenerates over time.
This game has about a jillion ships, which I will be introducing as I encounter them.
EARTHLING CRUISER
This is the only ship in my fleet, save for the Vindicator. It's slow, but turns fast, and fires powerful, long-range homing missiles. Its special weapon is a short-range point defense laser, more suited for intercepting enemy projectiles than attacking.
ILWRATH AVENGER
The Avenger is slow, but faster than the Cruiser, and specializes in close-range combat. Its primary attack is a short but deadly flamethrower, and its special ability is a cloaking device, rendering it (mostly) invisible.
This Avenger has a reduced crew complement and no cloaking device, but that doesn't mean I can relax. If he can shoot down my first few missiles fast enough to get into attack range, then I stand a very good chance of losing my ship.
Yep! I got one shot in, but was unable to weasel in a second shot before falling prety to its superior close-range combat abilities. Now all I have left is my flagship, which is barely capable of combat at all...
But with the Ilwrath ship at 3 HP, it's more than enough!
I've won my first battle, with a few losses.
HAYES
I haven't seen an Avenger blown away like that since the Battle in Draco.
I guess you've shown that you can handle yourself in battle, Captain...
..so my last reservation about helping you has been dissolved.
I will commit this station to helping free Earth and defeat the Ur-Quan.
We may get our atoms rearranged in the process, but by God, Captain, we're going to try!
So, the obvious first step is to get your Precursor equipment and software over here...
..so that we can make it work with our ship repair fabricators.
But then what, Captain?
ZELNICK
Er... trust me Commander, I have a plan... a really good plan! But for now it must remain a secret.
HAYES
If you feel it's necessary Captain, I understand.
By the way Captain, I think we need a name for this new alliance we're going to forge.
And since it was your idea, it's only fair that you get the honor of naming it.
So, what will it be?
ZELNICK
The New Alliance of Free Stars!
HAYES
Okay, that sounds pretty inspiring. So be it - The New Alliance of Free Stars!
Now Captain, I expect the configuration process for the starbase...
..to take at least 2 weeks, so let's get to work...
TWO WEEKS LATER
HAYES
We have successfully integrated the Precursor technology from your ship into our fabricator system...
..and as you can see, we have already begun minor repairs on your ship, patching up some of the micro-meteorite holes.
We noticed that your ship does not have an emergency warp escape unit...
..So our engineers rigged up some for you and each of your escorts.
Now you should be able to escape from a bad situation...
..with the touch of a button. But there is a cost, however...
..The unit gulps up five fuel units each time your precursor ship uses it.
Also, we now have a limited capacity to make modifications to your ship...
..to refine starship fuel, to build additional combat ships...
..and to train new members of you crew for the flagship and any ships you acquire for your fleet.
Captain, I know you're eager to get to work, so I'll be brief.
If you have any questions -- how this Starbase works, what resources we need...
...or just some background information on the galaxy -- don't hesitate to ask.
Okay, now we can stop looking at Hayes all day. Well, YOU can, but I'll still be chatting it up with the guy every time I want to offload minerals or analyze new devices. The minerals from Mercury and the moon provide us 403 Resource Units, on top of the 2500 we started with. So, it's time to get to work.
This is where our resources come into play. The Vindicator is a skeleton, which can be filled at my discretion with all kinds of sexy modules and technologies. Also, I can buy fuel, which is pretty important I guess.
First priority for today will be fuel. I max it out at 60, leaving 1883 RUs for ship modification. Since this thing is like a tortoise right now, I'll spend it on two turning jets and a thruster.
NEXT TIME: Scouring the solar system, and our first actual conversation with aliens.
<< | ^^ | >>