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Let's Play The Ur-Quan Masters
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Chapter 2: Pimp My Ride
Part 1: Crossing Spaces
July 5, 2155
Departing on my 168th birthday, I have quite a journey to make.
That's my destination. Again, I'm definitely not making this all in one trip. I'll be making pit stops along the way to plunder up. There's an emerald world in Beta Chandrasekhar. Then, in Beta Pegasi, there's an auric world, and...
A rainbow world. Aside from being a nice source of radioactives, the Melnorme will pay big for its coordinates.
Anyways, I'm running out of fuel here, so let's stop dicking around and finish our quest. To Alpha Pavonis VII!
...alien junk. We have made holos of everything, but I don't think it will be much use to anyone but those egghead xenotechs back at the base.
We have found one piece of equipment which is relatively intact. It is a huge hyperspace warp pod; the starboard unit, I think. We will bring it aboard.
---- END OF REPORT ----
All right, now we have a Warp Pod. That in tow, we will go to where a Spathi mentioned something peculiar when I wasn't narrating it: I will hang out in space for three weeks.
While doing so, I run into some old friends!
Meet the Arilou
The Ariloulaleelay are an extra-dimensional race of highly-intelligent aliens, who were part of the original Alliance. However, as soon as Earth was trapped in a slave shield, they vanished from our space, never to be seen again.
ARILOU
You have done well for yourself. It is gratifying.
ZELNICK
I'll be. It's the Arilou. Why the hell did you run out on the Alliance of Free Stars? What happened?
ARILOU
You're annoyed. How interesting. It has been so long since I dealt with Humans. I had forgotten what it was like. Now let's see, how shall I best appease you? Yes, if I remember, an honest answer would help.
We didn't exactly 'run out' on the Alliance. We chose to leave because there was no longer a reason to stay. You humans seemed safe enough under the Ur-Quan slave shield. In fact, we rather liked the idea and wished we had thought of it ourselves. For your safety, of course.
ZELNICK
We still struggle against the Ur-Quan. Can you help us/
ARILOU
With shps and weapons... blood and bones... no. Too many shipmates were forcibly... discorporated... in the last conflict. Our cooperation is not necessary. You are the focus. However, knowledge transcends reality perimeters, and this we can share with you. An example: to discover the nature of the red probes, seek creatures who inhabit a world with no surface.
ZELNICK
Goodbye, Arilou.
ARILOU
Farewell, child.
I do have more to say, but it can wait. You see, the reason I'm waiting in this area is that there is a portal that opens here, but only between the 17th and 19th of each month. So, I must wait for it.
While waiting, I encounter another Slylandro Probe, but this time I lack the fuel to make an escape. It's battle time!
Time to roll out our new toy, an Orz Nemesis. This ship is unique in being the only ship in the game with two special abilities. It can rotate its main cannon, or it can launch marines that invade the enemy ship and damage it over time. Also, hopefully, it's fast enough to outrun the Slylandro.
Nope. One ship down.
The next ship to take the field is my Spathi Eluder, piloted by Fwiffo himself. This ship is very fast, with the special ability of launching rear-firing homing missiles. Very appropriate for the cowardly spathi.
Fwiffo expertly dispatches the probe with zero casualties. Back to watiting.
As a side note while I'm waiting, the dialog you see here is maybe 20% of the total dialog in the game. Every race has pages of background information they can talk about, and there's all the other conversation branches I'm not taking. That should give you a good idea of the scope of the game. Huge.
Here it is! time to take the plunge.
Welcome to Quasispace. As Hyperspace is to normal space, Quasispace is to Hyperspace. Also, traversing Quasispace costs no fuel. This is my big ticket to exploring the galaxy quickly and efficiently. But first, some business.
This is the map of Quasispace. Each of the dots is a portal to a different point in Hyperspace. Except for the one I'm heading to: The Arilou homeworld.
ARILOU
You are the first, brave human! No others have made the trip.
This is our homeworld, Falayalaralfali, nestled safe in this TrueSpace eddy. The portal you passed through is a rarity, a natural point of interdimensional fatigue. We use these phenomena to speed our transit through the realities. We are wondering, have you met with the Umgah recently? We entrusted an injured Talking Pet into their care, and we were curious about its progress.
ZELNICK
So, what DID happen at the end of the War?
ARILOU
Forgive us if we forget the important you attach to such events as this. Our... context, is infinitely broader than yours ini scope, both in space and *time*. Nevertheless, to please you I shall try to recall... yes, now I remember. Here is the sequence:
The Ur-Quan fleets have moved through your solar system and you are defeated. Your people make the choice not to fight with and for the Ur-Quan. A shield is cast about your world. Your people are now safe. This makes us happy.
The Armada departs your star system and moves towards the remaining Alliance members; ourselves, the Syreen, the Yehat and their adopted Shofixti. The Yehat and Shofixti withdraw to Delta Gorno, but they do not permit the Syreen to follow. We are content with the flow of events and leave the area to return here. From our perspective, this sequence of events ends here.
ZELNICK
Well, what about the Ur-Quan? What are they up to?
ARILOU
Soon after the Ur-Quan defeated the Yehat and imprisoned the Syreen in Betelgeuse, their siblings arrived to initiate the Doctrinal Conflict. This battle continues as we speak.
ZELNICK
What, exactly, have you been doing on Earth?
ARILOU
You desire honesty. It is given.
We have visited your world for many thousands of years into your species' past. We have changed things... made modifications.
ZELNICK
What did you change and modify on Earth, AND WHY?!
ARILOU
Our motives are multiple, our desires complex. Part of what we do on Earth is for your own protection. There are parasites. Creatures who dwell Beyond. They have names, but you do not know them. They would like to find you, but they are blind to your presence... unless you show yourselves. The Androsynth showed themselves, and something noticed them. There are no more Androsynth now. Only Orz.
ZELNICK
This sounds creepy. Please go on.
ARILOU
No. In a way, your ignoarance is your armor, your best protection. They cannot see you now. They cannot smell you. Much of our work with your people involved making you invisible... changing your smell. If I tell you more, you will look where you could never look before, and while you are looking, you can and will be seen. You do not want to be seen.
ZELNICK
You said you had much to give my people. Can you be more specific?
ARILOU
As you know, we live in a dimension adjacent to HyperSpace which we call QuasiSpace. Our ships move between these dimensions through weaknesses in the inter-dimensional fabric. Although many such weaknesses, or Portals, exist which lead from our dimension, QuasiSpace, to various locations in HyperSpace, there is only one naturally occurring Portal which will transport a ship from HyperSpace to QuasiSpace. We therefore find it convenient to generate our own Portals artificially, with focused dimensional fatigue rays. As a sign of our long-standing relationship with your species, we would happily fit your vessel with a Portal spawner of its own, but your ship is so massive, our units would be ineffective. However, we suspect you may find a sufficiently powerful warp pod, the key element in a Portal spawner, in the wreck of the Ur-Quan Dreadnought on the seventh world of Alpha Pavonis. Bring that warp pod back here, and we will prepare a Portal spawner for your vessel.
ZELNICK
I have optained the Warp Pod unit from the Ur-Quan wreck.
ARILOU
What a surprise! As we have always said, Humans are a MOST resourceful and clever species. We are so proud of you! But don't worry that you shall have to wait. We are prepared. Even now our technical personnel are equipping your ship with a custom version of our Portal spawner device.
The device is useable only in HyperSpace. Whenever it is activated, the spawner will focus several inter-dimensional fatigue beams adjacent to your vessel, opening a temporary hole into QuasiSpace. Move quickly through the Portal! After your ship has passed into QuasiSpace, you can choose any of the nearby Portals which lead back to HyperSpace, thus saving you needless transit time.
Be keelny aware of this fact! The Spawner requires a great deal of energy to function. We estimate taht each time you use the device, it will consume ten of your fuel units.
ZELNICK
You mentioned a Talking Pet. How did you find one?
ARILOU
We are an endlessly curious species, and we spend much of our time on, how should I say, reconnaissance missions. During one such trip, we witnessed the crash landing of an Ur-Quan Dreadnought on the surface of Alpha Pavonis VII. Normally, when an Ur-Quan vessel is disabled, it automatically engages self-annihilation circuits, to prevent other species from learning the Ur-Quan's technological secrets. In this case, however, these circuits must have failed. The Dreadnought did not disintegrate on impact.
We landed to explore the wreckage, and were amazed to find a survivor... a Talking Pet! As you may know, the Ur-Quan use these non-sentient creatures for the task of inter-species translation, a task the Ur-Quan find ultimately demeaning.
The Talking Pet was severely injured, and we did what we could for the poor creature, but it grew clear that without superior measures, the Talking Pet would die. We turned to the Umgah, whom we have known for many centuries. Their bioscience skills are far superior to our own. The Umgah promised to do what they could, and let us know how the Pet fared. We have not heard from the Umgah since. Perhaps if you are travelling through their stars, you can ask them for us.
ZELNICK
Goodbye, my Arilou friends.
ARILOU
Goodbye, clever child.
OKAY that was kind of talky huh. Anyways, there are fifteen portals in QuasiSpace, leading to different places in Hyperspace, which we will use for the rest of the game to travel quickly and efficiently between parts of the galaxy. This is probably the single most important artifact in the game.
This is one of the portal exits, the closest to Earth out of all the portals. We get back with scarcely any fuel to spare.
Extra news from Hayes:
Scientist Reports on new artifacts:
SUBJECT: QuasiSPace Portal Spawner
DATA: Device is a hybrid of different alien technologies, including Ariilou and Ur-Quan elements. our tests show that this device temporarily creates a weakness in the fabric between HyperSpace and a different, unidentified dimension. The energy cost for this process is extreme, and since the unit's power supply is self-contained, we cannot estimate how long it will remain functional.
SUMMARY: Use of this device will permit a starship to make transit to a different dimension. The hazards and benefits of this process are impossible to gauge without field study.
Again, very few changes. I'm coming close to the part of the game where this ship will start rapidly evolving. Maybe next post.
NEXT TIME: Galactic Moneybags Tour!
<< | ^^ | >>
Chapter 2: Pimp My Ride
Part 1: Crossing Spaces
July 5, 2155
Departing on my 168th birthday, I have quite a journey to make.
That's my destination. Again, I'm definitely not making this all in one trip. I'll be making pit stops along the way to plunder up. There's an emerald world in Beta Chandrasekhar. Then, in Beta Pegasi, there's an auric world, and...
A rainbow world. Aside from being a nice source of radioactives, the Melnorme will pay big for its coordinates.
Anyways, I'm running out of fuel here, so let's stop dicking around and finish our quest. To Alpha Pavonis VII!
...alien junk. We have made holos of everything, but I don't think it will be much use to anyone but those egghead xenotechs back at the base.
We have found one piece of equipment which is relatively intact. It is a huge hyperspace warp pod; the starboard unit, I think. We will bring it aboard.
---- END OF REPORT ----
All right, now we have a Warp Pod. That in tow, we will go to where a Spathi mentioned something peculiar when I wasn't narrating it: I will hang out in space for three weeks.
While doing so, I run into some old friends!
Meet the Arilou
The Ariloulaleelay are an extra-dimensional race of highly-intelligent aliens, who were part of the original Alliance. However, as soon as Earth was trapped in a slave shield, they vanished from our space, never to be seen again.
ARILOU
You have done well for yourself. It is gratifying.
ZELNICK
I'll be. It's the Arilou. Why the hell did you run out on the Alliance of Free Stars? What happened?
ARILOU
You're annoyed. How interesting. It has been so long since I dealt with Humans. I had forgotten what it was like. Now let's see, how shall I best appease you? Yes, if I remember, an honest answer would help.
We didn't exactly 'run out' on the Alliance. We chose to leave because there was no longer a reason to stay. You humans seemed safe enough under the Ur-Quan slave shield. In fact, we rather liked the idea and wished we had thought of it ourselves. For your safety, of course.
ZELNICK
We still struggle against the Ur-Quan. Can you help us/
ARILOU
With shps and weapons... blood and bones... no. Too many shipmates were forcibly... discorporated... in the last conflict. Our cooperation is not necessary. You are the focus. However, knowledge transcends reality perimeters, and this we can share with you. An example: to discover the nature of the red probes, seek creatures who inhabit a world with no surface.
ZELNICK
Goodbye, Arilou.
ARILOU
Farewell, child.
I do have more to say, but it can wait. You see, the reason I'm waiting in this area is that there is a portal that opens here, but only between the 17th and 19th of each month. So, I must wait for it.
While waiting, I encounter another Slylandro Probe, but this time I lack the fuel to make an escape. It's battle time!
Time to roll out our new toy, an Orz Nemesis. This ship is unique in being the only ship in the game with two special abilities. It can rotate its main cannon, or it can launch marines that invade the enemy ship and damage it over time. Also, hopefully, it's fast enough to outrun the Slylandro.
Nope. One ship down.
The next ship to take the field is my Spathi Eluder, piloted by Fwiffo himself. This ship is very fast, with the special ability of launching rear-firing homing missiles. Very appropriate for the cowardly spathi.
Fwiffo expertly dispatches the probe with zero casualties. Back to watiting.
As a side note while I'm waiting, the dialog you see here is maybe 20% of the total dialog in the game. Every race has pages of background information they can talk about, and there's all the other conversation branches I'm not taking. That should give you a good idea of the scope of the game. Huge.
Here it is! time to take the plunge.
Welcome to Quasispace. As Hyperspace is to normal space, Quasispace is to Hyperspace. Also, traversing Quasispace costs no fuel. This is my big ticket to exploring the galaxy quickly and efficiently. But first, some business.
This is the map of Quasispace. Each of the dots is a portal to a different point in Hyperspace. Except for the one I'm heading to: The Arilou homeworld.
ARILOU
You are the first, brave human! No others have made the trip.
This is our homeworld, Falayalaralfali, nestled safe in this TrueSpace eddy. The portal you passed through is a rarity, a natural point of interdimensional fatigue. We use these phenomena to speed our transit through the realities. We are wondering, have you met with the Umgah recently? We entrusted an injured Talking Pet into their care, and we were curious about its progress.
ZELNICK
So, what DID happen at the end of the War?
ARILOU
Forgive us if we forget the important you attach to such events as this. Our... context, is infinitely broader than yours ini scope, both in space and *time*. Nevertheless, to please you I shall try to recall... yes, now I remember. Here is the sequence:
The Ur-Quan fleets have moved through your solar system and you are defeated. Your people make the choice not to fight with and for the Ur-Quan. A shield is cast about your world. Your people are now safe. This makes us happy.
The Armada departs your star system and moves towards the remaining Alliance members; ourselves, the Syreen, the Yehat and their adopted Shofixti. The Yehat and Shofixti withdraw to Delta Gorno, but they do not permit the Syreen to follow. We are content with the flow of events and leave the area to return here. From our perspective, this sequence of events ends here.
ZELNICK
Well, what about the Ur-Quan? What are they up to?
ARILOU
Soon after the Ur-Quan defeated the Yehat and imprisoned the Syreen in Betelgeuse, their siblings arrived to initiate the Doctrinal Conflict. This battle continues as we speak.
ZELNICK
What, exactly, have you been doing on Earth?
ARILOU
You desire honesty. It is given.
We have visited your world for many thousands of years into your species' past. We have changed things... made modifications.
ZELNICK
What did you change and modify on Earth, AND WHY?!
ARILOU
Our motives are multiple, our desires complex. Part of what we do on Earth is for your own protection. There are parasites. Creatures who dwell Beyond. They have names, but you do not know them. They would like to find you, but they are blind to your presence... unless you show yourselves. The Androsynth showed themselves, and something noticed them. There are no more Androsynth now. Only Orz.
ZELNICK
This sounds creepy. Please go on.
ARILOU
No. In a way, your ignoarance is your armor, your best protection. They cannot see you now. They cannot smell you. Much of our work with your people involved making you invisible... changing your smell. If I tell you more, you will look where you could never look before, and while you are looking, you can and will be seen. You do not want to be seen.
ZELNICK
You said you had much to give my people. Can you be more specific?
ARILOU
As you know, we live in a dimension adjacent to HyperSpace which we call QuasiSpace. Our ships move between these dimensions through weaknesses in the inter-dimensional fabric. Although many such weaknesses, or Portals, exist which lead from our dimension, QuasiSpace, to various locations in HyperSpace, there is only one naturally occurring Portal which will transport a ship from HyperSpace to QuasiSpace. We therefore find it convenient to generate our own Portals artificially, with focused dimensional fatigue rays. As a sign of our long-standing relationship with your species, we would happily fit your vessel with a Portal spawner of its own, but your ship is so massive, our units would be ineffective. However, we suspect you may find a sufficiently powerful warp pod, the key element in a Portal spawner, in the wreck of the Ur-Quan Dreadnought on the seventh world of Alpha Pavonis. Bring that warp pod back here, and we will prepare a Portal spawner for your vessel.
ZELNICK
I have optained the Warp Pod unit from the Ur-Quan wreck.
ARILOU
What a surprise! As we have always said, Humans are a MOST resourceful and clever species. We are so proud of you! But don't worry that you shall have to wait. We are prepared. Even now our technical personnel are equipping your ship with a custom version of our Portal spawner device.
The device is useable only in HyperSpace. Whenever it is activated, the spawner will focus several inter-dimensional fatigue beams adjacent to your vessel, opening a temporary hole into QuasiSpace. Move quickly through the Portal! After your ship has passed into QuasiSpace, you can choose any of the nearby Portals which lead back to HyperSpace, thus saving you needless transit time.
Be keelny aware of this fact! The Spawner requires a great deal of energy to function. We estimate taht each time you use the device, it will consume ten of your fuel units.
ZELNICK
You mentioned a Talking Pet. How did you find one?
ARILOU
We are an endlessly curious species, and we spend much of our time on, how should I say, reconnaissance missions. During one such trip, we witnessed the crash landing of an Ur-Quan Dreadnought on the surface of Alpha Pavonis VII. Normally, when an Ur-Quan vessel is disabled, it automatically engages self-annihilation circuits, to prevent other species from learning the Ur-Quan's technological secrets. In this case, however, these circuits must have failed. The Dreadnought did not disintegrate on impact.
We landed to explore the wreckage, and were amazed to find a survivor... a Talking Pet! As you may know, the Ur-Quan use these non-sentient creatures for the task of inter-species translation, a task the Ur-Quan find ultimately demeaning.
The Talking Pet was severely injured, and we did what we could for the poor creature, but it grew clear that without superior measures, the Talking Pet would die. We turned to the Umgah, whom we have known for many centuries. Their bioscience skills are far superior to our own. The Umgah promised to do what they could, and let us know how the Pet fared. We have not heard from the Umgah since. Perhaps if you are travelling through their stars, you can ask them for us.
ZELNICK
Goodbye, my Arilou friends.
ARILOU
Goodbye, clever child.
OKAY that was kind of talky huh. Anyways, there are fifteen portals in QuasiSpace, leading to different places in Hyperspace, which we will use for the rest of the game to travel quickly and efficiently between parts of the galaxy. This is probably the single most important artifact in the game.
This is one of the portal exits, the closest to Earth out of all the portals. We get back with scarcely any fuel to spare.
Extra news from Hayes:
- Good news, Captain! With no announcement, a small fleet of Ariloulaleelay popped into space adjacent to our starbase, scaring the hell out of the Deep-Radar operator, but right now I could kiss every one of those pale little weirdoes, because they gave us three Skiff vessels!
Scientist Reports on new artifacts:
SUBJECT: QuasiSPace Portal Spawner
DATA: Device is a hybrid of different alien technologies, including Ariilou and Ur-Quan elements. our tests show that this device temporarily creates a weakness in the fabric between HyperSpace and a different, unidentified dimension. The energy cost for this process is extreme, and since the unit's power supply is self-contained, we cannot estimate how long it will remain functional.
SUMMARY: Use of this device will permit a starship to make transit to a different dimension. The hazards and benefits of this process are impossible to gauge without field study.
Again, very few changes. I'm coming close to the part of the game where this ship will start rapidly evolving. Maybe next post.
NEXT TIME: Galactic Moneybags Tour!
<< | ^^ | >>