Galactic News Bulletin: Era 5.4

[TheBugKing]

::Era 5.4::4181::00.00::
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Welcome Welcome Welcome to an unforeseen series of events. The return of the ancients in a bid to rule the galaxy!
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Briefly, for those in hiding, let us recap the past eons...
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Eons ago, in the exact same galaxy--but differently configurated--humans across the galaxy banded together and strove by all means necessary to undo the loss of former empire by taking all for their own. Terran Empire, Felor, Reformed Empire, Newbie, Finnian, and The Republic of Reason ascended to heights of power and began to war.
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Ages past as Reason among the stars waxed and waned. A plight of chaos, of havoc and forces from beyond held sway in a moment known only as The Time of the Bugz. During this fierce and terrible age, galactic wars ripped across the universe, and there was no peace. One great emperor, named WatchTvDoNothing, took it upon their-selves during a time called the Great Reformation to compile the Compendium of Bugz. This was an epic golden era when the Great George himself held court, resetting the universe at will and clearing out the scourge of Bugz that had wrecked havoc for so long. And then his presence was gone once more. The realm did weep for his absence as incense went up to the heavens in prayers for his return... The Age of Refinement had come and gone.
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In the Fall of the Bugz was the Rise of Reason. Minds across the universe were taken by ideas of lofty pursuits. However, a dark and sinister mind took them by their hand and forced them to create against their will until all had been dominated with no hope of ever being free again. Many brave and mighty forces came together to attempt to breach the terrible occupation of the mind to be swept aside like mosquitos of annoyance, and Reason did reign supreme... for a time.
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The Great George saw the madness that had become in his absence and waved the Great Scepter of Reset once more.
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Suddenly, Era 5.4 was born in the blink of a screen, and a new order had come to be, one of freedom. However, this did not last long. Within moments, those that woke from the dream to a galaxy without Reason banded together to assert their dominance once more. And the Ancients heard an echoing call deep in their bones to assemble once more.
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After a time of gentle chaotic ambition, many new empires cropped up, decayed, vanished, and exploded into existence! It has been a New Galactic Renaissance among the emperors as they vie for power and stride across the expanse. In the absence of acountability among the people, however, many empires stalled, fell short of their lofty goals, succumbed to infighting and intrigue, to fall back to the sleepy days once more.
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And Era 5.4 slid into the Time of Dreams. A peaceful quietness drifted across the expanse. The Republic of Reason began to fall into ruin and decay. At some point during this time of slumber, their capital fell as the population dreampt of vines and fog and listlessness. During the Time of Dreams, several empires blossomed: Xaios, beetlejuice, Solar Federation, and Sentinels. Meanwhile, the empires of 47corperation, Mercs, and House Hawkwood, tossed and turned in gentle slumber. There where and are blips of empires coming and going, as though the Era was dreaming them up on it's own.
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After the fall of the Republic of Reason's diminished capital, a few steadfast and highly reasonable fellows fled to the dark nebula between the rifts to reawaken the RoR and continue their fell deeds in hidden corners.
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And here I leave you, for here begins a new time, a time of awakening, a time of production, a time of enslavement and a time of war. May George have mercy on you all, because Reason won't.
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[TheBugKing]

Galactic Update ::4230::

Yes, yes welcome to the ‘30’s. At cycle’s end, we look on to what 4231 will bring, but before we make our moves, let us look back on the past few decades.

Circa the 4190’s of the past century, a tumultuous war broke out between Xaios and upstart The Commonweal over Xaios’ expansion in the south to thwart their epoch’s long rivalry with the RoR. Threatened and concerned their territorial expansion would be threatened, the Commonweal attacked Xaios, but was ferociously fought off by the hordes of the enslaved Xaios.

To the knowledge of no one, a black hole appeared in the southern rift, swallowing any and all who ventured to that world. While the world was saved from the onslaught of a vicious assault from Commonweal, none could escape. It was a lost world. In an attempt to replicate this phenomena, The Commonweal and Xaios agreed to limited peace via the search of scientific exploration.

Under the guise of peace, Xaios continued to rapidly expand, taking over their neighbors. However, the black hole’s effects grew, effecting the space time machinery of the Xaios’ communication channels. The battle sequencing A.I. was thrown into disarray. Unable to hide the military campaigns from their citizens, the population learned of the horrendous and vial acts of the Xaios command.

In an outrageous cry of defiance, the beleaguered citizenry of Xaios pleaded for freedom, and freedom was granted. Shortly prior to this incident, the nameless empire vanished. The Commonweal now found itself without competition. The Commonweal empire expanded freely and has surpassed 600 worlds, still growing.

By far the most dominant active power in the south, the Commonweal is currently taking the Southeast sector and has a solid grasp on the southern rift. Current excursions include but are not limited to a few skirmishes with Sentinels PMC, and thwarting an uprising of fledgling pirate activity along their southeastern border. With more than 500 hundred thousand exo-troops, they are a force to be reckoned with. One wonders what their ultimate goal is.

With the fall of Xaios, the Republic of Reason has gone quite once more. This slumbering giant, the bane of the galaxy, sleeps in mighty slumber once more. With more than 12 million Minotaur class gunships and over 19 million Helion class explorers, the fleets strike fear in even the most distant empires.

After the fall of Betelgeuse in the northwest, Sentinels PMC and their co-conspirator Solar Federation, have settled down after a post war boom era. Solar Federation took some time to gobble up the open territory and has ballooned their forces in an effort to match size and economic output. They are thriving with a healthy 260 world empire. Free of enemies in the local vicinity, Solar Federation has had time to perfect their empire, progressing all worlds to Post-Industrial status. The galaxy looks on at this beacon of rich opportunity.

Slightly to the north and east, the Sentinels PMC seem to be in a cool down period and reorganization efforts to demilitarize the old border zones have gone according to schedule. After a brief expansionary phase post war with Betelgeuse and several ill-fated excursions into Commonweal space, the Sentinels PMC have refocused to internal matters and bolstering their forces on the news of a pirate scurvy in the east.


To address internal concerns of old naming schemes, correction to the names old empires is irrelevant. History is written by the writer.*

In more news:
the long standing empire of 47corporation is now in a final stage of decay. With it’s legitimacy in question the burgeoning fresh empire of Northmen for Northern Traders, located in the northwest, has begun to colonize the area. Updates on this new empire are as follows:

Little is known about the fledgling upstart aside from poisonous spies hidden among them, placed only by the enthusiastic Sentinels PMC. Leaking a certain internal memo, the Northmen asked for military support should their quest for resources go sideways in their attempt to take 47corporation’s planets. However, with 47corp in decline, it is unlikely there will be much resistance. Further leaks of conversations between the northern empires has divulged the NfNT as a trading empire focusing on Hexacarbide trade with the Mesophon. Little else is known.

With news of a pirate invasion, all eyes turned to the rapscallion scum and their boisterous calls for free booze and women and endless chaos. They are known only as Charon Pirate. While their call to arms be premature, they do go about it with spirit, losing their home world mere cycles after their announcement to a much annoyed Commonweal. Instead of a killing blow, the Commonweal has merely pushed the problem elsewhere as the Charon Pirate fled to the northeast. The galaxy looks on in amusement and caution as the pirate horde moves into the large free space of planets once controlled by the Xaios.

To keep the tally going and the news a flowing, we shift our attention to the black hole momentarily. No new news has come out of that space, but the world itself seems to be intact. Galactic Update will keep you posted on any further development.

It should be noted that the appearance of the Great George occurred once more. It may be that he uses the black hole to travel between realms. As we stood in awe, he left. The galaxy continues to be square and tedious, no reset in sight.

To further our own agenda, it has come across the boards that there is a desperate attempt on Commonweal’s behalf to wrangle the entire southeast corner of the galaxy, developing deep dark secrets. With the absence of the Xaio’s to keep them in check, no one knows what dark mystery they have uncovered in the realm of the black hole and surrounding rift valleys.

More to come, please stay tuned into the Galactic Update frequency.
This message will be stored in the annals archive for blackmail.
::Message Terminated::

[TheBugKing]

::4250:00.00::

Well well, what do we have here? It’s the Very Biased Galactic News of course and it looks like it just so happens to be the 50s for crying out loud.

The map has changed once again with the steady disintegration of 47corporation. The Northmen for Northern Trading is steadfastly consuming any stockpile they can get their hands on from one side and new comer Fauny Consortium eating the other, 47corporation’s remnants may not see the 60s. However, in the span of 10 cycles most but the largest empires can meet their demise.

Moving on to the much begrudged and highly fraught Charon Pirate. This burgeoning pirate empire has been the cause of much debate in the communication forums as they poke, prod, and defend their idealistic ways of chaos. Over the past 10 cycles, they have fought back wave after wave of attacks from centauri and Sentinels and even The Commonweal. Much to the chagrin one of the competing empires, Sentinels has overrun both northern outposts of the Charon Pirate, taking their capital by thunder and lancer just this past cycle. Congratulations, but I assume the pirate hoard is undaunted, perhaps even encouraged as the loss of yet another world they called home goes up in the flames they adore. It could be that they simply call the flame of anarchy and chaos home.

I am glad to welcome the Shadaow’s People of Void to the universe. Good luck to you. You have a long, arduous, angst filled, micromanagement intense cornucopia of decisions to make, not to mention you are live and may be attacked at a moments notice or no notice at all!

I’ll discuss the lesser empires first for a change. The small and never mighty still may be the discourse of the realm from time to time. The Kurgan Worlds made their debut 6 cycles ago, taking 3 worlds plus claiming their home world. We have the Sheboygan, who are steadily expanding as they cross the interstellar wastes in their sub-light engines. The Vhassa empire has been steady for 28 cycles and is now seeing some stalemate in the extreme Northeast. Next we have the sam2011empire… long live the great sam.

Welcome to the long lost Oddball commanding the empire of centauri and quickly filling the old realm of the vanished Xaios. Good luck to your inhabitants in and long may you hold out against the chaos the pirate surge and overwhelming hoards of the Commonweal.

The Commonweal. They have conquered the vast Southeast clearspace pocket and are slowly but surely turning those free people’s into cogs of their great war machine that now spans from the southeast into the great nebula, through the treacherous rift and into the heart of the galactic center. Their might has seldom been seen in times of old and should they dream so may become, if not already, one of the greats of the Anacreon realm. For empires of their size and might only two forces prove to be the great grinder, time and war. The great George is watching, but probably not.

The Northern Coalition has voted and is now so named. That consortium of power holds absolute sway over their realm. They are peaceful, waging war only when necessary. They are traders, deep chasms of knowledge, and hoard their powerful and pent up yet reluctant populations. They have proven their-selves against Pspspsps and Beatle. The empire called Sentinels in the Far North holds back the pirate storm while Solar Federation remains steadfast and strong. Meanwhile the Northmen for Northern Trading, situated in the Northwest, are busily trading and freeing the old populations of the 47corporation’s remnants in the galactic center.

Last but not least we look to the utter Southwest, that grand old empire that spans eons the Republic of Reason. Although reason has nothing to do with their dying empire they hold great sway and fear goes before them from their uncontested shadow. Do they slumber? Do they lay in wait? The galaxy spins on as empires sift like great sand dunes across the stars with one eye on their ambitions and another on the slowly dissolving shadow of a tyrant.

[TheBugKing]

::4260:00.00::

And so passes another decade bore, but wait! there's more!

It's muchado about war crimes. Songs of songs and epic poems as the empires take their bickering to the discord.

In the last decade not much happened, it was drab. Then a few quips about epic wars and defeat, reminiscing of simpler times had by all, when the universe broke by tyrant naming schemes and squanderous slanderous syllogies. But hey we can name our empiers emojis these days. Not much came of the bickering except a dull call to arms to be part of a song naming group and the alternate call to arms to murder said song naming group. After which, the court convened and all went about their to do nothing lists.

With the return of the return of RoR, it seems the last bulletin hit a nerve, the resurgence of the empire is coming to fore as day after day those of Reason restore the empire to days of lore. And yet, The Commonweal goes unmatched in number, but will it stand? It is as difficult to tell as trying to decide between Mayo or Man. With the two neck and neck the nerves of the North begin to tingle. Jingling all the bells, blowing all the whistles, it seems there could be a call to muster. Northmen for Northern Trading has made a blockbuster move and taken the center of the galaxy, tripling in size in a single cycle. Curiously though, they have not routed out 47corporation's husk nor exterminated Kryme or Fauny Consortium. As that empire makes great strides, centauri, Solar Federation, and Sentinels hold stead fast. Are they dead? Do they slumber? Obviously they are not in decay, but neither do they grow or taunt or flaunt.

With the departure of the Charon Pirate lord, a sleepy slumber has lulled the galaxy into a dreamy state. But activity is brewing. The inactivity without a release of pent up forces are beginning to boil and roil. What will the 60s bring if not a rupture? Perhaps just more slumber.

[TheBugKing]

::4270:21.26::

Let us pause momentarily to remember the fallen empires of the decade: Void and Krym and Fosium Consortium and Kurgan Worlds; 47Corporation holds on by only a thread and will doubtfully see 4280.

Quietly, the galactic empires press on, slowly crawling over the independent worlds. Over this past decade RoR and Commonweal have both surpassed 800 worlds, as of this cycle Commonweal has surpassed 900. These are large empires, but still paling in comparison to the grand behemoths of with worlds approaching or even exceeding 1500. With the latest surge of world taking, Commonweal has sealed their dominion over the SouthEast Clear Space. Meanwhile, RoR pushed North to establish several large clusters. With the new clusters in Western clearspace and three fully functioning clusters within the main nebula, RoR has the greatest armada of ships in the galaxy. Rumor has it that the number of Megathere RoR posses surpasses 250K. A threat to all in the West or a very determined defense.

Although no discussion of exact tactics or strategies have come across my feeds to suggest what will happen in the 70s, a noticeable land grab did occur and may still be on going. The newest of the large empires is now Northmen for Northern Trading, more than tripling in size over the past decade. They have taken the galactic center, their tiny corner of the galactic NW (old Beetle territory) and nearly all of the nebula from the galactic center all the way to the northern galactic border. While their number does not surpass the two grand empires at the moment, they are not far behind with over 600 worlds. While they held up a hand claiming to be a trading empire, it may be that the word trading is merely a facade. However, no news has come from them in word or warning except their steady expansion in the North. One wonders how the Northern Coalition is fairing as their nearest neighbor surrounds them. At the moment it appears a sudden attack not possible. Although NfNT is large in worlds, it does not possess the density of fighting spirit as it's larger counterparts or smaller neighbors. It appears, from the documents, that NfNT is nothing but fluff.

Noticeable change is not something the Northern Coalition is known for. They are steady and steadfast. One even wonders if their governors are present or on some stupendous vacation paid for by their populous. The steadiest of the Coalition, Solar Federation, has a goodly size fleet to protect their core worlds, but almost no ground forces to speak of. Perhaps one battle would wipe out their ability to counter attack. That empire has only grown by a mere 3 or 4 worlds. And the other, Sentinels, has grown merely in population alone. While they do posses a notable ground force, it would only protect them for maybe two rounds of ground combat? And what about their space forces you ask? Minuscule. Surely they are on a golfing tourney on a wide grassy lawn while their citizenry bask in soft white light with cool drinks and pretzels.

Centauri, is a conundrum to the galaxy. Old as the stars they occupy, their emperor made a grand flare of an entrance to merely peter out in activity as soon as the Charon Pirate took a break to console their wounded empire. Perhaps with the return of the pirates, the Centauri would find cause for more action? Over the last two decades Centauri has been very quiet. If they joined the Northern Coalition, they would be another silent sentinel of the North.

Another odd little empire that has failed to be blown away by the shifting winds of time are the Vhassa. After decades of silence, they decided to experiment with colonizing a small territory in the South of the Eastern Clearspace, merely to go dormant once more. The image of seaweed for some reason or other.

Back to our two front runners, Commonweal and RoR. Boasting the largest exo-troop formation the galaxy has ever seen, coming in at over a whopping 1.3M, Commonweal is unchallenged in the ground forces arena. However, the rate of pace the RoR is pushing their citizenry for the sake of reason will quickly outpace Commonweal this next decade with over 750K exo-troops, not to mention the millions upon millions of other built up forces. All the while, Commonweal boasts of their impenetrable SouthEast Clearspace, they do not fear the RoR's reach or strong arm.

::THE COLDEST WAR::

While the North is taken over by NfNT without the Northern Coalition so much as batting an eye, the South has been entirely consumed by Commonweal and RoR in a grand standoff of worlds and arms. One empire mostly in clearspace and somewhat in the nebula while the other is mostly in the SouthEast clearspace and somewhat in the Western clearspace. The two largest empires in both size and might could take over the galaxy in one fell swoop before dividing the galaxy between themselves and a last final war to decide the winner... however, both bide their time, neither budging nor slowing their slow and ceaseless expansion of control. If one were to take to conjecture, what might the scenario bring about? Well, for starters, RoR will surpass Commonweal in exo-troop production this decade and already has surpassed them in other ways. Meanwhile, Commonweal has secured their hold totally on the SouthEast Clearspace, this will be their stronghold until the end. Isolated clearspaces like these are tricky to take and potentially disastrous for invaders who overextend. While either RoR or Commonweal could defend their empire should the other attack, neither seems to be able to push the other out of the space they currently occupy. It goes like so: should RoR invade Commonweal's Western home clusters, Commonweal would be able to hold by shear number of exo-troops and ability to funnel in non-local jumpships far more quickly than RoR could transport into the cluster. Should RoR attempt to push into the SE Clearspace held by Commonweal, Commonweal would be able to have enough time to prepare defenses or even launch a pre-emptive strike. However, let us assume that Commonweal takes advantage of their momentary ground force advantage to hold RoR before they can overtake, what then? Well, should Commonweal attack, RoR's probable response would be to move into the home cluster and take it anyways, sitting on those worlds with hundreds of thousands of Megathere, attacking at speed with their massive Helion armada anything that moved, mainly transports that would be attempting to bring in troops from the distant side of the empire. Furthermore, RoR would, without a doubt, move in with their nebula fleet to establish and protect any beachheads for invading the SE Clearspace. Time is nearly always on RoR's side, and so after the initial attack and hold, there would be a mountainously slow crawling creep that would take every last Commonweal world until they were no more. And so it seems they bide their time, neither knowing what to do, hoping to gain some edge before the other's will breaks and unleashes the flood.

Where does the North fall into this Coldest War? They don't. Should the North be swept up into this battle of giants, they would be crushed underfoot like small unseen bushes trampled by happenstance. Such are the numbers of this number game.