04-11-2011, 03:35 PM
The lights came on to a disaster area that was once the hallowed situation room, the central command post of the Second Order of the Consortium. Party streamers lay strewn across the three bodies of government - Dewey, Lester, and Earnestine. They were the clerks that had, up until the party started, handled most of the daily business of running the hyper-efficient socio-economic empire known as the Consortium. Thanks to their ceaseless labors, the planet enjoyed some of the most impressive economic growth statistics in the galaxy.
Until the party started.
After the launch of the colony on InfoMine, it was decided that it was high time to celebrate the birth of a new interstellar empire. Meticulous planning went into every detail. Except for one. All three of these super-clerks were invited to join the festivities at the same time.
In true Consortium style, they became quickly inebriated, and to put it simply - all government functions came to a halt. Automated robotic systems continued to run, so the mines produced ore, the factories produced goods, and the, er, party supplies continued to be refilled. For five years.
The only thing that stopped the party was a short in the BeerTender 3000 software control panel. As sobriety crept slowly back into the brains of our three bodies of government, the scope of the damage dawned on them. "NoOOoooooooOOooOOOooOoooo!!!!"
* * *
Yes, I missed a turn. Sorry, oh benevolent moderator! Sorry, game-log fans! And sorry to the game designer, for having slagged the rules. Turns out, letting an empire go rogue in this game is actually fairly harmless under standard rules. Your economic output just gets dumped into Economic Units, which can be used as production next turn. There are some issues and restrictions, but by and large this has not doomed me to game hell just yet. It probably would later in the game, if there are evil invaders flying about. But not yet.
I got a turn in just in time early Sunday morning, without using full production, so I have a bunch piled up this turn.
On the PLUS side, my scientists have once against showed their excellence by propelling manufacturing tech ahead faster than expected. So now they will have to redouble their efforts to bring Mining tech up to snuff.
We finished our giant TR8 class freighter and loaded it with colonists and equipment for that nearby system. We will send it out next turn and see how it goes.
InfoMine, our in-system colony, is advancing slowly. It is a viable colony, though still greatly hampered by the harsh environment. One point I should make - letting my empire go "rogue" another turn WOULD have been problematic, because the default order set that was going to run would have dumped all homeworld production into developing InfoMine. Not a disaster, but definitely not the biggest bang for my interstellar credit.
On the MINUS side, we lost Scout 3. All the scouts went rogue (ie: followed their default jump orders, rather than stay on-station), and one of them has vanished into the aether. The other 2 have discovered new systems, though none with habitable planets. It will take a few turns to get our scouting program back in order and re-establish info dominance in our sector of the galaxy.
I have a day to think about things. Right now I am leaning towards a tech surge. Perhaps more Manufacturing/Mining, perhaps some Life Support to improve off-world performance. I should probably beef up some defense forces. We made contact with another species, but I have not yet fired off an email. Stupid real life has been keeping me busy! Perhaps a diplomatic surge is in order this turn as well...
* * *
"Sir, we've lost contact with Space Pioneers #3."
"Yes, I know that already you impudent fool. Why do you come to me with this again? Please, enlighten me before I assign you to KP duty for the rest of the cycle."
"Sir! Please, anything but that! It's just that, well, there was something else in the data. We ran a gravitics test pattern around the failed jump-target. We found the expected hyper-haloes, but there was something else as well."
"Out with it, dishwasher boy!"
"There was an anomaly in the background radiation. Something we haven't seen before. It was hard to translate, but we think it was an image - meant for us to find and decipher."
"Oh? And what would that be, kitchen help?"
"A finger. A grim finger. At least that's the way I would describe it. Here, take a look."
"Hmm, well, it *is* grim..."
"Our best guess is that this is a message - a warning from a starfaring species we have not yet encountered. They are out there, sir, and they are definitely evil. Or at least ill-tempered."
"Can we send them a reply? A response in the local background radiation?"
"Not yet, sir. Not without risking another Space Pioneer."
"Hmm, pity. I thought we might share with them an image of our famous Consortium 'moon'. Ah well, we'll handle that another day. Now off to the mess hall, boy, and fetch me some coffee!"
Until the party started.
After the launch of the colony on InfoMine, it was decided that it was high time to celebrate the birth of a new interstellar empire. Meticulous planning went into every detail. Except for one. All three of these super-clerks were invited to join the festivities at the same time.
In true Consortium style, they became quickly inebriated, and to put it simply - all government functions came to a halt. Automated robotic systems continued to run, so the mines produced ore, the factories produced goods, and the, er, party supplies continued to be refilled. For five years.
The only thing that stopped the party was a short in the BeerTender 3000 software control panel. As sobriety crept slowly back into the brains of our three bodies of government, the scope of the damage dawned on them. "NoOOoooooooOOooOOOooOoooo!!!!"
* * *
Yes, I missed a turn. Sorry, oh benevolent moderator! Sorry, game-log fans! And sorry to the game designer, for having slagged the rules. Turns out, letting an empire go rogue in this game is actually fairly harmless under standard rules. Your economic output just gets dumped into Economic Units, which can be used as production next turn. There are some issues and restrictions, but by and large this has not doomed me to game hell just yet. It probably would later in the game, if there are evil invaders flying about. But not yet.
I got a turn in just in time early Sunday morning, without using full production, so I have a bunch piled up this turn.
On the PLUS side, my scientists have once against showed their excellence by propelling manufacturing tech ahead faster than expected. So now they will have to redouble their efforts to bring Mining tech up to snuff.
We finished our giant TR8 class freighter and loaded it with colonists and equipment for that nearby system. We will send it out next turn and see how it goes.
InfoMine, our in-system colony, is advancing slowly. It is a viable colony, though still greatly hampered by the harsh environment. One point I should make - letting my empire go "rogue" another turn WOULD have been problematic, because the default order set that was going to run would have dumped all homeworld production into developing InfoMine. Not a disaster, but definitely not the biggest bang for my interstellar credit.
On the MINUS side, we lost Scout 3. All the scouts went rogue (ie: followed their default jump orders, rather than stay on-station), and one of them has vanished into the aether. The other 2 have discovered new systems, though none with habitable planets. It will take a few turns to get our scouting program back in order and re-establish info dominance in our sector of the galaxy.
I have a day to think about things. Right now I am leaning towards a tech surge. Perhaps more Manufacturing/Mining, perhaps some Life Support to improve off-world performance. I should probably beef up some defense forces. We made contact with another species, but I have not yet fired off an email. Stupid real life has been keeping me busy! Perhaps a diplomatic surge is in order this turn as well...
* * *
"Sir, we've lost contact with Space Pioneers #3."
"Yes, I know that already you impudent fool. Why do you come to me with this again? Please, enlighten me before I assign you to KP duty for the rest of the cycle."
"Sir! Please, anything but that! It's just that, well, there was something else in the data. We ran a gravitics test pattern around the failed jump-target. We found the expected hyper-haloes, but there was something else as well."
"Out with it, dishwasher boy!"
"There was an anomaly in the background radiation. Something we haven't seen before. It was hard to translate, but we think it was an image - meant for us to find and decipher."
"Oh? And what would that be, kitchen help?"
"A finger. A grim finger. At least that's the way I would describe it. Here, take a look."
"Hmm, well, it *is* grim..."
"Our best guess is that this is a message - a warning from a starfaring species we have not yet encountered. They are out there, sir, and they are definitely evil. Or at least ill-tempered."
"Can we send them a reply? A response in the local background radiation?"
"Not yet, sir. Not without risking another Space Pioneer."
"Hmm, pity. I thought we might share with them an image of our famous Consortium 'moon'. Ah well, we'll handle that another day. Now off to the mess hall, boy, and fetch me some coffee!"