Turn 27 (Patreon)

Even as the wheel of destiny turned in the north-west, in Iron Shores, the Directorate dedicated themselves to their greatest aid package yet. In the asteroid thicket, they assembled a manufacturing facility, one that would process vast amounts of material to create tools, machinery,  and autonites to crew themselves alongside Ijin: for the first five years, the facility operates without issue, providing the autonites a greatly expanded labour pool.

In the fifth year the facility is impacted by a projectile that pierces its central reactor with enough force to cause a major breach, bathing the facility in enough radiation to fry even the hardiest electronic system: an entire crew of several thousands plus however many machines in construction the facility was producing, left with only two hundred and seven survivors. It's only afterwards that the culprit was found: a trap set during the Organocide, designed to trigger and fire microshrapnel if it noticed significant industrial build up. It is a crude, simple, and horrifically effective device: something that can only be described as a terror weapon, as even basic combat shields or ablative armor would have stopped the debris, meaning that it was almost certainly intended to harm civilian installations by its creator.

Forensic evidence indicates that its constructor was AutoVessel Ijin.

To say this turn of events is traumatic would be a severe understatement, unfortunately, as in the aftermath, once the survivors have been rescued, the ship immediately goes into low power mode, only issuing (with increasing delay) the most basic of orders to their crew.

Afterwards, the facility does not return to operation.

Things otherwise go excellent!

Koptu would assist with the construction of the temple, using (for now) a variety of different of Teklian lifeforce to staff the biocomplex, providing a large amount of lifeforce for the Autons to experiment with the energy, especially its creator, who immediately begins working to attempt to create a storage medium for the energy: extremely large drums, exactly three, capable of storing a years worth of collected lifeforce. Two they gift to Ijin and Vlahk, and one they keep for themselves, installing it into their frame as an emergency power source: should they encounter a threat, all of their systems would enjoy a surge of vital energy to push them far past their limits.

Vlahk meanwhile deploys a patch to his own Autonites code structure: one that makes them smarter, stronger, more intelligent, which pairs nicely with the living metal the vessel somehow stole and began incorporating into the shells of its crew. When called on this act of technological theft, the AutoVessel simply states that it doesn't owe the Directorate awnsers or cooperation, especially when it's decided the liberation of its people a matter they're willing to let lie for centuries.

[Spoiler: Ships and Outposts]

TKK Endeavor [Destroyed]: The pinnacle of Tekketi engineering, the Endeavor is the first real space ship constructed in the aftermath of the Destroyer War, incorporating a variety of technologies to enable it to perform its mission. A hypermodular vessel build from grey dyed ferroplastic bloks, its design consists of a wide, thick disc connected via finned spine to two large nacelles. The majority of the crew and work decks, alongside the main Ship-Shrine, are housed in the disc structure alongside next generation gravity engines, wheras the Nacelles each contain sub-engineering decks, redundant systems, and storage.

Armed with advanced shieldtek, heavy fusion torpedos and comm-jammers, the Endeavor is not intended to win a stand up fight, and though its armaments have increased in recent years, it's purpose is purely exploratory. It also comes equipped with an experimental Warp Drive and particle barrier, allowing it to enter, at fairly substantial risk, a dimension that allows for faster than light transportation. In order to offset the risks of the Warp Drive, the Endeavor has recently been expanded, upgraded with both an Academy attachment providing a great deal of technical support and scientific expertise alongside a Mystek Deck where the ships occultists performed protective rituals and strengthening rites alongside esoteric lore to be used at the Captain's behest. Further, it contains a Frontier Explorer compartment, host to several hundred civilians, members of the Frontier Society, civilians who have agreed to join the fleets pioneering expeditions, establishing small observation outposts on worlds the Endeavor visits and providing a number of useful services to the Endeavor such as expanded medical stores and agridecks to produce food. It was also the home of Stizlak the Grot until in-depth biological examinations had been performed. Destroyed.

TKK Accomplishment: The second pride of the fleet, the Accomplishment was designed around much of the same principles as the Endeavor, for much of the same purpose. In many ways, it was essentially a second Endeavor in its entirety, though that was still an accomplishment in and of itself. Recently upgraded to bring it back to parity, the Accomplishment had a full suite of upgrades. Recently, it has been improved by augmenting several key support systems: new engines for improved speed, as well as advanced revelation class science scanners, as well as experimental holo-shields, warp-space topographical mapping systems, and even a shiny new Laser Battery. Moderate Structural and Crew Damage

TKK Valiant: The first and only warship constructed by the Directorate, the Valiant has stripped out every single civilian or exploratory system that doesn't contribute to it's primary role. Instead, it has far, far more armaments, including a full compliment of superheavy perpetunite torpedos, several point defense laser batteries, a full accompaniment of Commander-Machina, and, critically, a relic grade Teeth model super fusion cannon designed using advanced and very singular GodTek components. Recently provided improved scanners and engines as well as shields. Modest structural damage.

TKK Delivery: The first Endeavor created for purely transport purposes, the Emissary moves between Teklia and Sandscorn, carrying vast amounts of water, soil, and a much more modest compliment of useful minerals and small amounts of plutonium, platinum, and other stratigically important elements. Locked to Ruinate trade route. Can be reassigned, but doing so breaks the trade route and will cost points to re-establish. Current value: 2 Khimer Respect Per Turn, +0 Points in all categories.

TKK Emissary: The second endeavor created for transport purposes, the Emissary ran the Trove-Teklia-Naklis circuit, helping supply the Directorates first out of system colony. Locked to Trove Trade Route. +1 EXP, discount to Trove projects.

TKK Discovery: The fourth endeavor created overall, it has a standard loadout with no special features.

Red Sun Monitors: A collection of remote long term observation outposts intended to study solar activity in the Barren Expanse for use in advancing Directorate scientific knowledge. Each platform was home to roughly fifty or so people, with supplies to last them a good long while before they'd need relief. Collects 2 ACD every turn for 10 turns max that can be harvested by sending a ship in for resupply.

[/Spoiler]

[Spoiler: Diplomatic Ledger]

Imperium of Man: A highly xenophobic genocidal space empire consisting primarily of the species known as humanity. Their government consists of a theofascist dictatorship led by a figure they call the God-Emperor, who obviously going by the title seems to occupy the position of both Monarch and Diety, and have a highly authoritarian, reactionary culture where religion and government occupy the same location. Reputation: -200 (Will likely attempt to kill us on sight)

Chaos: A conglomerate of different human factions that are united only by what can be described as a campist hatred of the Imperium despite largely having the same code of ethics and religious practices. Most (but not all) seem to worship one or more of a series of malevolent dieties known as the Chaos Gods. Reputation: -190 (When it comes to ideology these guys are basically the Imperium with a different coat of paint on their human skin banners topped with skulls)

Autons: A collection of different robots manufactured by the same extinct race, currently the majority of the Auton civilization was enslaved by an alien logic-virus that drove them into an organocidal frenzy. The friendly ones consist of the AutoVessels Ijin, Vlahk, and Koptu, along with their crews, each a few hundred strong. In possession of both an advanced mega-decoder array used for decrypting adaptive code and an advanced AutoLab facility, the Autonites have begun preparing for the assault on CPUMoon: Koptu by supplying its peers with Lifeforce Drums filled by the Autonite Temple and pursuing mystical research, Vlahk by using the decoder and lab you provided him to steal your technology, and Ijin by building a manufacturing complex that was then destroyed. Reputation: N/A - Too small. Generally positively inclined, however. Feigned friendliness on behalf of Koptu, extremely grudging respect from Vlahk, actual friendliness from Ijin.

Khimer: The enigmatic remnants of a once vibrant civilization, the Khimer have been reduced to a handful of military bases on a dying world, and a small fleet they had no means to repair or expand. While their exact social structure is unknown, the War-Brain seems to operate in a position of prominence in it. Technologically, the Khimer are adept with biotech manipulation and have access to weaponry designed to petrify organic material, and in theory have all the requisite knowledge and technology for space and even warp travel, but no industry capable of supporting it. Recently, they had been given access to a cloning facility, some resource donations, an early warning deep space monitoring array, and a heatshield to cool their planet and keep it from warming up. They were also receiving regular shipments of useful materials for rebuilding purposes, largely ice, soil, and a handful of useful metals. Reputation: 24- Gruff Respect. Provides 1 CUL and 1 ACD.

Yr Albain: An exodite world owned by members of the Aeldari species, Yr Albain was a very recently acquired ally. Deliberately living simple lives in harmony with their world, the otherwise peaceful residents of Yr Albain are currently recovering from the genocide enacted on them by the Imperium and Chaos, a process sped up by its World Spirit awakening as the diety Dhia'Albain and the variety of mystical tools provided to them by the Directorate to complement their own considerable abilities. Reputation: 40- Healthy respect. Provides 1 FTH and 1 CUL.

Winterspite Kabal: An organization of Dark Eldar that make their coin acting as pirates and mercenaries. Formerly led by Lord Nisraen, its current archon is the Banefrost, the former flagship turned demigod. Currently has a contract with the Directorate allowing them to purchase their services and stopping them from being raided by the organization. Reputation: 15- Just another client.

[/spoiler]

[ ] Survey Mongus: The largest gas giant in your system, Mongus has a green atmosphere, the result of several rare-teklia gases according to probe and scan data, alongside a great deal of hydrogen, methane, and electrical storms. SCAN LEVEL: 1

[ ] Survey Meeklak: The second largest gas giant, but the one with the largest ring (consisting of ice, mostly), Meeklak was too far for casual probe use, and had proven annoyingly resistant to even advanced probe and exploration due to its crushing atmosphere (comprised of caustic chemicals and gasses of, admittedly, extreme rarity) capable of popping your vehicles like aluminum cans. Deep below, several ships are crashlanded, still intact, floating in the hyperdense sea of liquid gas. SCAN LEVEL: MAX.

[ ] Erichtheo: Named after an old goddess from Classical Myth, Erichtheo, a moon of Mongus, is host to a number of creatures that exist primarily in its subcontinental abyssal zone, some of which can grow to titanic size, and in the magmafields, home to a number of extremophile sea-life and valuable minerals. SCAN LEVEL: MAX

[ ] Spraa'ng: The furthest planet in your solar system, Spraa'ng had high quantities of precious metals in its crust, seas full of ammonia, an argon atmosphere, and fairly hostile planets. SCAN LEVEL: MAX

[ ] Drydock: With the construction of the Shipyard, the Endeavor could finally come in for repairs, maintenance, and upgrades. Upgrades ships with all existing Compartments and Components. Repairs most damage.

The following require a Warp capable ship. Note that travel to them is not without risk, either during the journey or at the destination: your world is ringed in by many warp storms.

[ ] Explore Galactic North: It was time for Tekket to begin exploring the galaxy! This direction had been where the Destroyers had emerged from: with luck, perhaps you would finally get awnsers. The closest Sky-Storm in this direction was the Mawket Voidstar, which was a great distance away. Requires Warp Capable Ship.

[ ] Explore Voidmarches: The most immediate region in the galactic north, the Void Marches so far consisted of a trio of stars known as the Three Brothers System. Recently source to a number of extremely concerning astronomical events. Locations Found: 2. Outpost Level: 1

[ ] Three Brothers Xenoscience Monitors: A proposal by some xenologists in the Directorate was establishing monitoring platforms in the region to help study the developing cultures of the Three Brothers. Much like the Red Sun Monitors, they would require regular supply runs, but the data this would produce would be fascinating. 10 EXP, creates Xenoscience Monitor Outposts, generating collectable CUL per turn.

[ ] Explore Galactic South: In this direction lie the Grimket Astrolabe, a Sky-Storm that was only rarely visible on Teklia. It was also the direction of a variety of smaller systems as seen by your sky-mapping programs, some of which had shown some stellar oddities that led to many believing that there existed in this direction, such as the Reach, potential alien civilizations that weren't destroyers.

[ ] Explore Galactic West: In this direction was the Infernaket Blazestorm, the new closest Sky-Storm to Teklia: it had seemed small in the sky next to the Malket Configuration, but it was, according to astronomers, likely several orders of magnitude larger. In this direction there existed a cluster of aged stars, black holes, and dead planets known as the Barren Expanse, but additional exploration could potentially reveal other regions. After all, space was big.

[-] Black Hole Study Duty: The Directorate wanted to use the opportunity presented by the Expanse to study one of the Black Holes of the region. There were three of note in the region: Martellus, Gigant, and SBH-134, and the Academy was salivating for more close range study of the stellar bodies. Ironically likely very safe, considering that even from a distance far enough to ensure the Endeavor wasn't affected by the gravity of the black hole the scan data would likely still be incredibly novel. At this point, there existed little practical reason to continue scans: with your current technology, the chance of gaining new data was...minimal.

[ ] Red Sun Security: Directorate Fleet wanted to start equipping the observation outposts with a few bases for security purposes. Against essentially any foe, they'd fold like wet paper, but as time went on, these bases would be expanded alongside the Outposts. Costs 15 EXP. Increases Regional Defenses alongside Outpost Level. Increases region Outpost Level.

[ ] Red Sun Extraction: Meanwhile, some Frontier Explorers wanted to set up a few mining outposts in the Expanse: this would allow for the outposts to expand somewhat, and the...very LARGE amount of surplus could be shipped back to Teklia. Cost 15 EXP. Red Sun Outposts generate 1 extractable EXP per turn to a max of 5 EXP.

[ ] Survey Broken Edge Ship Graveyard: The remnants of a massive battle. Surprisingly, the ships weren't the same as the Destroyers so much as the remains of ships designed along the same general principles of largesse. The other ships meanwhile had proved incredibly, incredibly crude. Directorate scientists wanted to conduct more surveys. Scan Level: 6

[ ] Survey Broken Edge Eco-Station: Most curiously, the Eco-Station, which consisted of multiple hemispheres attached via central section, seemed to be a giant hunting preserve, specifically for hunting sentients. The primary ecosystem simulated seemed to be a jungle. Scan level: MAX.

[ ] Broken Edge Monitoring: If the Orks were right, the current caretakers of the Eco-Dome were due for a visit. With this in mind, the Directorate wanted to station a monitor ship in the hopes of gaining potentially valuable intel about an unknown transtellar polity with access to advanced metallurgy, space flight, and enough other indicators towards a peer society. Requires Endeavor Class.

[ ] Exploring the Expanse: A region located to the Galactic West of Teklia. Mostly dead, but perhaps additional focused exploration of the region might reveal some manner of secret. Locations of Interest found: 2/???. Outpost Level: 5 (MAX): region requires additional investment.

[ ] Assisting the Khimer: Technology couldn't be shared, but there were a variety of helpful things the Directorate could do without that. Assists the Khimer on a random minor project, generating 2 Reputation. Required for any Biosphere Repair Project.

[-] Survey Ruinate Battlefield: The location of the last fight between the apparently barely victorious defenders of this system and their attackers, a field of dormant but still functional marble coffin-ships containing Khimer naval specialists and fossilized space-beasts. Requires 25 Rep w/ Khimer.

[-] Survey Bioship: A massive formerly organic vessel located in orbit around Sandscorn. Whatever it was, its now dead, but the Academy still wanted to explore it: prior data had shown a handful of (incredibly small, mostly bacterial) living organisms on the ship, likely remains of the bioships 'gut flora' so to speak that had avoided dying when it was petrified. However, additional study would require Khimer permission, first. Requires 50 Rep w/ Khimer.

[ ] Warp Route R-19: The first of the Khimers leads, this Warp Route apparently lead to a desert world that the Khimer had intended to colonize before their civilizational collapse. While long term they still planned to do so, they were willing to let the Directorate take the first shot at it, especially since they currently lack the means.

[ ] Warp Route R-20: The second lead, this Warp Route led to a location in the expanse that could be summed up as 'a massive, system-wide debris field stuck in a black holes orbit'. Plenty of useful minerals, if one was willing to set up shop next to spaces ORIGINAL great devourer.

[ ] Warp Route R21: The third, this system had a planet with a high amount of surface nuclear deposits. They warned, however, that they had sighted the Phasmid many times in this direction, and as such, they advised bringing a great deal of nuclear weapons to drive it off or at least temporarily kill it if need be.

[ ] Warp Route R22: The fourth world, a pristine garden world according to what little data the Khimer had acquired. If it still existed, it would be a massive prize to be sure, though, if it still existed and hadn't been claimed.

[ ] Exploring the Reach: A region located to the galactic south of Teklia. Exploration was extremely preliminary, but you had managed to find at least one world capable of sustaining life. Locations of Interest found: 1/???. Outpost Level: 1

[ ] Explore Galactic East: The direction facing the galactic edge. The Sky-Storm in this direction was the Horizons End, a colorless scar that bled silver, and a small nebula that existed slightly before the hole in the sky.

[ ] Explore Horizon: A great number of Neutron Stars dotted this region of space, and it was the location of at least one AI controlled system. Perhaps more locations of note could be discovered. Location of Interest found: 2/???. Outpost Level: 2

[ ] Liberate CPUMoon: According to the AutoVessels, the CPUMoon contains several million Autonites, general purpose sentient labour robots created by the AutoVessels creator, as well as several AutoNodes, higher order AI meant to act as high level managers. They were all extremely corrupted by the Logic Virus, and unfortunately, their systems were likely to be more robust than that of the ships, meaning freeing them was likely to be far more difficult.

[ ] Assisting the AutoVessels: The alien machine-ships known as Ijin, Vlahk, and Khoptu had not come out of their long derangement unscathed, and had requested the Directorates aid both in repairing themselves and designing preventative measures to ensure they can deal with the logic virus going forward. Required to perform AutoVessel related projects during the same turn: not taking any AutoVessel projects alongside this action will still grant positive reputation with the AutoVessels as you help them with more minor or esoteric problems. Repeatable.

[ ] Moby Monstro: The Academy wanted a ship to hunt down Monstro immediately: it was no longer in Broken Giant, but they theorized it was somewhere in the Reach still. If a ship could find it and scan it and perform bio-studies WITHOUT crashing, it could prove immensely valuable data.

[ ] Hunting the Phasmid: The Khimer didn't know what it was, only that it was possessed of immortality. With that in mind, perhaps it would be prudent to send some combat ships to collect data and study the Scourer-Phasmid in order to help design methods to repel it from Directorate ships and colonies.

((((()))))

The Fleet had wisely decided that preparation was the better part of valor, a decision that would pay off during Captain Wurfs legendary battle: before it had been sent in, it and its peers had been upgraded with a full suite of technological improvements.

The first was a series of laser batteries. While it wasn't expected for them to do all that much damage compared to the main weapons of the ship, they had another use: point defense. Even if it only knocked down a fraction of torpedos, that was however many less torpedos for the shields and armor to survive.

The second was an upgrade to the shields, another defensive improvement: using experimental hard light modulation technology, the shields were augmented to withstand physical assaults as well as repel energy: no more was survival with solid projectiles a matter of a mere few meters of armor.

While both these subsystems would drastically increase power draw, the performance would prove worth it in the coming battle, with the Valiant returning triumphantly having suffered no damage because of its improvements and the creativity of its captain, who upon their return was granted a shiny medal, one Cpt. Wurf wore with pride, a badge of accomplishment.

The biggest naval development, however, was the creation of the Fleet MegaDocks, a vast series of Assembly Bays designed solely to manufacturing warships and parts. Over a thousand cubic kilometers in size, this largely hollow structure consisted of a series of hexagonal plates attached magnetically, each plate containing factories, living quarters, hospitals, laboratories, and training facilities for the fleet, as well as a variety of other pieces of infrastructure. Together, these plates formed the five 'faces', creating a space station that, from a distance, resembled an open box. The small openings left by the hexagonal structures that formed the box would be used for transit, thousands of ships using them to access the inside and outside of the structure as needed.

On the outside, each plate served as a small dock in its own right, printing out, repairing, modifying, and hosting all manner of civilian vessel. As a result of this increased capacity, the amount of Tekket and Hobbgrots who would grow tired of city living and decide to pack their bags and join that great wagon train to the stars, with more and more civilian ships joining the Orbital Pioneer initiative.

On the inside, the plates instead worked to produce military vessels, largely transport ships. However, now that the MegaDocks were operational, it was expected that a Resistance class would be soon to follow: none too soon, in the thoughts of many, who eagerly looked forward to the creation of the Directorate flagship. Of course, with the completion of the MegaDocks, another question found itself on the lips of the Directorate.

Over a century ago, the first Endeavor was destroyed. The first real loss the Fleet had had, even if most had survived. It's ruins still float in space, a grim reminder of the risks of space travel. However, with the Victory at Yr Albain, many believed it was finally time to do something with the remains of the ship.

[ ] Recycle: Much of the structure was unsalvageable, but there were some components that still functioned, including pieces of the reactor. It was the hope of many that the machine spirit would one day fly again: how fitting would it be for the soul of the Directorates first flagship to be made from the same spirit as their first ship? Provides 10 Point and 1 NK discount to Resistance. Resistance class is automatically renamed Endeavor class: Endeavor class renamed to Accomplishment.

[ ] Memorial: People would die. A few did: casualties might have been minimal, but they hadn't been zero. Some believed the remains of the Endeavor should be used to create a memorial: one dedicated to those who gave their lives in pursuit of a better world. Establish Fleet Memorial Complex, increasing CUL and improving crew performance.

[ ] Museum: Sure, the Endeavor might have eventually been destroyed, but she had been the first REAL starship! What's left should be converted into a museum, to help educate people about what it was like all those centuries ago, back when they didn't have wards or even shields, as well as teach people how to run a ship. Establish Fleet Museum, increasing ACD and science officer performance.

[Spoiler=Planets and Special Infrastructure]

Teklia: Teklia, oh Teklia. The second planet from your star, and your homeworld. A variety of mostly hospitable climates of variable comfortability, it is covered in what can only be described as space garbage: the ecosystem has largely adapted to it and millenia of exploitation has done much to clear it away, but its undeniably a very garbage covered planet. The past few centuries had seen incredibly VAST amounts of garbage cleared away, however, and a complete revitalization of the Teklian biosphere and explosions in biological diversity as the Autorecyclers turn ecosystem choking garbage into useable materials, freeing large amounts of space for habitation, agriculture, parks and forests, the material repurposed into into the Teklian orbital space, its off world colonies, and the Arcolocubes, giant cubic self contained ecofriendly metropolis. At this point, it was estimated that 79% of the world was scrap free: at this point, most remaining scrapzones are being treated as preserves for the species who are so thoroughly adapted to garbage that removing it would neccessitate their extinction.

Luna: A trash filled wreck, unlike Teklia Luna didn't have pesky things like an atmosphere or ecology to degrade its debris, meaning it had very well preserved trash. It was also the site of a modest metropolis consisting of a single CityBlok supplied by lunar spire allowing a high amount of traffic too and from the lunar city, as well as several AutoRecyclers absorbing large quantities of material. It would likely take many, many lifetimes to clean Luna of trash, but the AutoRecyclers had already begun to pay off thanks to the massive amount of material Luna and its colonists now had to play with, as well as the space, largely used for perpetunite and soil manufacturing. It was also the home of Mt. Wander, may he forever sleep above us and never stir, and a small sea formed from the blood of the titan.

Orbital City One: An Orbital Metropolis, this space station consisted primarily of its orbital docks and a handful of city-bloks, making it a vibrant and bustling mid-point between Teklia, the Moon, and the rest of Directorate Space, frequented by a variety of residents, travellers looking to visit Wonderpark or the Orbital Parks, and asteroid miners looking to deposit their hauls and get some well deserved shore leave. It was also the location of the Fleet MegaDocks, a semi-cubic structure dedicated to manufacture of ships.

Deep Space Monitoring System: A Fleet initiative that utilizes a great deal of surplus processing power to scan the sky both to map it out as well as detect incoming threats before they arrive, giving early warning to the Directorate against hostile threats, recently expanded and upgraded to improve efficiency.

Nuclear Stockpiles: The defensive nuclear warhead stockpile, consisting of advanced perpetunite warheads, weapons capable of releasing a near-apocalyptic nuclear reaction the size of a city capable of lasting over half an hour. Most were assigned to homeworld defense, but a few had seen their way onto the ships of the Directorate and even the educational system.

Naklis: Home to an extremely extensive mining operation in the Geode Canyons near the poles, this firey planet had two cities: a massive Spire that doubled as a space elevator and Comm-Hub, host to several hundred thousand residents, primarily mining and industrial engineers, who produced vast quantities of material, primarily Rare-Teklian-Minerals and nuclear materials, and the Mega-Harvester, a mobile burrowing city-machine that extracted minerals and living metal from below the crust, as well as four Elemental Master Control Shrines dedicated to the spirits of fire, earth, metal, and gems. As of late, the Elemental Spire, a vast facility equipped with a massive perpetunite reactor that, through GodTek holy-engineering, converted nuclear energy to arcane power, strengthening all manner of elemental manifestation on the planet. It was also home to a Wonderpark outlet.

Erichtheo: The third genuine colony of the Directorate, Erichtheo is an incredibly frigid ocean moon that was covered in a thick sheet of ice, one particular part of which was thick enough to serve as a continent of sorts. Currently, on the surface it home to one city located on the floating continent-berg as well as numerous smaller settlements dotted across the mile thick ice layer stretching over the planet, and one major orbital docking station used to transport material too and from the planet. Underwater, it had numerous cities built out of cultivated coral located in what had prior been the planets dead zones, alongside numerous artificial reefs constructed to house and be art as well as habitats for various flora and fauna.

Trove: The first real extrasolar colony of the Directorate, Trove was a planet covered in gems, a quirk of its somewhat undeveloped ecology. Biomes of interest include a series of mountains formed out of gigantic mega-gems, a large set of grasslands near the equator, and a single ocean, upon the coast of which was the first city of the planet, Gleam.

Tacchis: A frozen iceball that was stuck in a state of either night or perpetual evening broken up by the occasional Aurora Umbrealis caused by what little light reached the planet hitting the planets thin atmosphere. Most outposts on it either gather ice or diamonds, doing their best to avoid the numerous underground destroyer ruins on the planet.

[/Spoiler]

EXPansion Points (EXP Points): 105
Nuclear Material: 3

NEW ACTIONS

Resistance Class Ship: A ship that would be to the Valiants what the Valiants are to Endeavors. It would require multiple power cores, its own internal data hub, and likely the vast majority of the Directorates industrial capacity, but it would no doubt be fearsome. 0/60, cost 3 NK, 2 NT. Gain Resistance Class.

Endeavor Reactor Printer: At this point, the Directorate produced so many endeavors that it was, frankly speaking, more practical to begin mass manufacturing the things. Some of the yearly surplus would be set aside and stockpiled, which would be pricey, but, well. 0/30, Endeavors get their NK cost reduced by 1. Cost 3 NK.

AutoAssembly Berths: Frankly at this point, the Directorate could also likely save resources  by taking the time to design Mag-Tek Assemblers capable of fitting together whole starships. It would only somewhat reduce the labour cost and require a fair bit of processing power to accomplish, however. 0/30, gain AutoAssembly Berths, reducing the cost of Valiants and Endeavors by 5. Cost 1 NT.

TeraArt Gallery: There comes a point where "for art" stops being a sane answer and you passed it two sizes ago. 0/100, create small moon sized art installations, increasing CUL by 10. Cost 1 NK and 1 NT.

Secure Holding: You had several live destroyers who worshipped malignant entities, containment needed to be established immediately. Wards, fusion turrets, the entire nine yards. No expense would be spared. 0/10, cost 1 Warp, 1 ART.

Tachyonic Gate: This would, the Gravitonic Owl informed the Directorate, both make warp travel somewhat more reliable chronologically and, more importantly, would allow the Gravitonic Owl to accelerate the Spheres digestive processes. 0/50, increases EXP, Warp Jumps to and from systems close to the home system become somewhat more reliable.

Sandscorn Skyhook: The Khimer had no ability, at present, to get to space. They were asking for assistance correcting this: this would allow them to begin funnelling resources towards space projects. Of course, this still required resources, something that was sparse on Sandscorn, meaning any such projects would be slow, but it was still something. 0/25, Khimer gain Skyhook Spacestation, allowing them to ship resources to and from space without assistance, increasing respect by 2

Sandscorn Mining Ships: The Khimer were willing to purchase mining ships they could use to begin space extraction operations, giving them an outside source of minerals and material they could use for expansion. 0/25, Khimer gain Mining Ships, increasing EXP from their trade route, and respect by 3

Sandscorn Gigadrill: The Khimer just needed the resources to build it: then they could start extracting from deep in the crust various useful minerals that hadn't been slurped up by the Devourers, including deep earth nuclear deposits. 0/25, Khimer gain Gigadrill, increasing reputation by 5

Available EXP Actions:

(((())))

"Hi, I'm Dyg Diggadigg, owner of the Digsville Diggaland!"

"Tell me, are you tired of boring stuff like lasers, roller coasters, and nukes? Are you craving real excitement? The kind that a person can only get with a shovel and excavator? Then come on down to Diggaland!

Operated by myself, my family, and a small army of volunteer diggers, this park has everything an adult or child could ask for! We have mine carts, we have drills, we tractor beams, heck, we even have metal detectors! METAL DETECTORS!"

"So come on down and spend a month at the place everybody really digs!"

Even as the Park opened, the Directorate found its daily life revolutionized with the publishing of Tyygberts Sorcerous Primer. The result of years of labour, the Primer was a collection of textbooks intended for those in late primary and early secondary education, a sort of beginners guide to magic. Everything on how to construct your own mag-tek altar to methods to consecrate your house shrine using simplified Functionary theurgies, in every household in the Directorate.

The resulting revolution in lifestyle could be compared to the effects of mass electrification in the home. With simplified versions of the Rite of Anima available for use, more and more Bond-Drones  would begin forming, to the point where families typically had at least a few, serving as companions, pets, partners, and even as guard dogs. With the Rite of Motive Offering and simplified theurgies of the Functionary, a new breed of Vita would begin forming: House Vita, spirits of the home. While not as individually powerful as Bond-Spirits, these domestic vita, formed from the myriad smaller machine spirits that could be found in a dwelling, would still (if treated well) provide fine service: the House Vita of a space heater, for instance, would always ensure the temperature was at the degree prefered by the dwellings inhabitants.

Some Bond-Spirits or House Vita would be Enshrined, turning into House Guardians: far weaker than proper communal shrines, their blessings were still appreciated, aiding in the growth of family gardens, helping those who were ill among their dwellers recover, providing small blessings of fortune inside the home and even banishing nightmares.

In gardens and parks, the Rite of Natures Harmony would be used both as an alternative to bug repellent, even allowing for the urban city parks to import various wild animals to help simulate true nature. This, in turn, would cause a curious effect: on all levels of the Arcolocubes, it became more and more common to encounter various creatures in ones daily life: conveyer sidewalks that had once only transported Tekket and Hobbgrots became frequented by packs of large ursunoids moving between parks to search for better hunting opportunities, building facades would become host to foliage fed upon by goats, and the upper levels of the city had its spires filled with the sound of birdsong from the flocks that made their nests in the upper reaches.

In many schools and the Academy, students would begin combining the Rite of Nuclear Enrichment to get more boom out of their nuclear playsets, with many institutions hosting competitions where competitors had to use only a Nuke Jr Playkit and a single herdbeast to attempt to create the most powerful (stable) nuclear reaction they could.

Parents would begin using the rite of lifes renewal to treat minor cuts and scrapes on their children caused by their play, and extreme sport enthusiasts would deploy the rite to help their bodies recover for the next insane stunt they pulled (meaning the ritual would prove especially popular with Hobbgrots).

Of course, this wasn't the only event of note in that generation: after the Victory at Yr Albain, the Directorate found itself host to several thousand humans. Hauled back to the Home System, the Directorate would quarantine both populations to their ships until sufficient housing was constructed. After, of course, removing the warp cores and weapons of each and surrounding them with a field of guns set to fire down any unauthorized ships that ventured near either without Directorate approval, assigning each ship a security team of several thousands to prevent them from killing each other or performing some malefic ritual.

The question became what to do with them: Directorate prison systems aren't designed to hold war criminals, let alone armies of war criminals where everyone was guilty to some degree or another. Some suggest simply leaving them to rot, a response that's followed by critics pointing out that even if that was a viable way to deal with them now, they weren't sterile: eventually the humans would reproduce, producing a generation that was innocent of any crime. By leaving them locked up with their forebears, they would simply internalize their prejudices, and the problem would simply continue.

Unfortunately, there existed no good answers here. A solution proposed was to break up the human population by dispersing it across the Directorate in small communities embedded alongside the Tekket: dispersed, their ability to organize would be greatly reduced and it would be far, far easier to condition them to accept Directorate values.

Another idea was a re-education facility. The institution being constructed on Tacchis by the Assembly would, with some expansion, suffice. There, each and every human would be subjected to deprogramming in the hopes that they could one day be rehabilitated and released.

Which route do you take?

[ ] Dispersal

[ ] Deprogram

[Traditions Go Here]

Culture Points (CUL Points): 89
BioData: 4

New Actions

Yr Albain Defensive Patrol: The Eldar would appreciate the Directorate investing in their mutual defense. This would also make it easier for Directorate citizens to visit Yr Albain, which would no doubt be very useful for aspiring druids looking to study Yr Albain. 0/35, establish Yr Albain Defensive Patrol, increasing FTH by 1 and Yr Albain respect by 3. Costs one ship.

Warded Visitor Centers: The residents of Yr Albain enjoyed visiting the Directorate, but they could only linger in most areas for a certain time before they began to feel the strain of their curse. By installing additional wards throughout the Directorate, more locations could be rendered less straining, allowing for extended visitations. 0/25, establish Warded Visitor Districts, increasing CUL by 1 and Yr Albain respect by 1.

Winterspite Hunting Resort: Archon Banefrost had an offer: he had several members of his kabal who were just as fond of hunting as Nisraen, and needed a way to buy their loyalty. He was willing to sign a good conduct agreement ensuring best behavior for his followers in exchange for the Directorate building a hunting resort for these Kabalites: in exchange, it would be credit towards future agreements. 0/15, increases Winterspite reputation by 5.

Illusion Matrixes: With the Manifestation of the Dancer and the creation of the Giga-Art Galleries, to say nothing of Holo-Tek, more and more Tekket were experimenting with illusion: some wanted to attempt to create devices capable of altering their appearance, size, shape, and even allowing them to potentially disappear entirely. 0/25, gain Illusion Matrixes, allowing for improved disguises, increasing CUL

Merchant Marine Doctrine: Instead of Drydocking, a Tekket dock-worker by the name of Sytra had proposed that a ship could be instead assigned to a trade route, taking it over for another ship: this would allow for it to be repaired between deliveries while not reducing the Directorates pool of available ships: it would require restructuring the Directorates logistical infrastructure, but this wouldn't be overly difficult. 0/25, Drydock removed: ships can be assigned to trade routes to repair themselves instead.

Medal of Accomplishment: In the aftermath of the Victory at Yr Albain, the medals that had been awarded had shown a strange property, especially those given to Hobbgrots. They seem to have become some sort of...Mojo Talismans, of a sort: whoever wore them would be luckier, stronger, faster, more creative, and would even find themselves possessed of stronger mental, spiritual, and moral fortitude. If this effect could be studied, it could prove a potent way to improve the fleet's officers. 0/25, gain Medals of Accomplishments, improving the performance of officers and veterans the longer they serve and providing the same benefit to those who inherit the medals.

((((()))))

And even as the question of the humans lingered, the Great Gallery experienced an artistic revolution. First, all across the Directorate religious institutions would adopt the neurochoir mass prayer system, a device intended to allow the faithful of all flocks to synchronize their prayers and rituals and act as spiritual amplifier, and, crucially, allowing for simultaneous coordinated lifeforce offerings across untold amounts of people. Powered by small amounts of lifeforce, these devices would rapidly cause a variety of phenomena such as shared dreaming, stronger theurgies, odd inexplicable warp-space deformations,

In coldest north, the final touches was put on the Temple to the Hermit. Constructed in the epicenter of the crater located in the heart of the pole. On the vast icewalls, a series of vast runes were etched into the sheer surfaces, glowing with faint power, the result of the mystical influence of the Hermit.

Above, the northern lights danced a kaleidoscope waltz against a backdrop of whirling stars and full moon, the crater valley bathed in an eternal, sunless night. In the valley, a small village constructed of brick and mortar was established: one with no access to the network, no ability to communicate other than a single, remote comms station placed an hours walk away. The adherants of the Hermit, deliberately cutting themselves from the world in order to pursue the mysteries of magic. Some would stay a short time, learning simply means to strengthen their soul in order to harden themselves to pursue more difficult mysteries. Others instead would spend their lives, pledging themselves to giving offering to the wintery goddess and attempting to recreate her lost gifts in order to call her back to the world.

While this occurred, the Great Gallery would find itself aflush with resources, both from the Great Conclave and a mysterious but extremely generous patron of means. The latter would commission the greatest work yet: a series of GigaArt Installations. Art installations so massive they doubled as space stations, many of which where large enough to contain the Great Gallery itself as well as numerous other MegaArt Galleries. Indeed, one such station WAS constructed around the great gallery.

Each of these had commensurately strong art spirits: after all, if the adoration and attention a mere gallery received could produce something as powerful as a MegaArt Gallery, how much could an entire city of aesthetic drink?

Indeed, these centers of cultures would have powerful spirits: capable of re-arranging themselves at a moments notice, the ability to channel all the theurgies of the Dancer at a moments call within their confines, they could even use hard light to create avatars for themselves capable of interacting with their inhabitants, these manifestations taking the shape of Muses of various stripes, depending on the aesthetic preferences of the GigaArt Spirit. And, as the Eldar would discover, capable of unshackling their souls, allowing them to indulge without worrying about their curse.

Within a few years, it becomes not particularly uncommon to encounter Eldar tourists in these locations, the exodites taking advantage of these properties to take a brief vacation from their usually sparse lives. Food, drink, games, parties,, cinema, art, leisure, and, eh hem, other things. A year, perhaps two, before they used their webway to return to Yr Albain. The Great Gallery in particular becomes particularly popular with young exodites, particularly couples going a-courting.

While this occurred, the Conclave would collaborate with the Great Masters of the Gallery and the Priests of the Dancer, as well as several minor Symposiads, to create a ritual like no other. On each plate of the Gallery, an Orchestrion was activated even as several million Muses and MegaArt installations prepared themselves across seven GigaArt Galleries arranged the same. On this day, every true faithful of the Dancer who was available donned the Neurochoir across the system, the Fleet having allowed their communication network to be borrowed to coordinate the ritual even as, above the Gallery, the Heart positioned to act as a titanic ritual super-nexus, the Engine working to provide excess power enough to cause the edges of reality to begin to fray at the center of this titanic array of space station. The Mask, being a more subtle power, intended to attempt to make psychic contact with the Dancer, help stabilize their identity and ease their manifestation, much the same way a good midwife helps ease the birth of a child.

The Calculators would prepare by arranging their networks to receive the Goddess, believing that now finally they could make contact with divinity, NV2 assisting by designing divine network matrixes intended to help establish a permanent bandwidth connection to the god of the Gallery.

Even the spirits of Erichtheo would help, the Vita combining the power of life, psychic powers, coral, and song to perform an altered version of the ritual at both the hearts of the Gallereefs and the Abyssal Temple, one meant to draw upon more the more gothic and cerebral aspects of the Dancer both.

And then the ritual would finally begin, and all

across

everywhere

song.

Light and soft, in the warp, for hundreds of leagues across the subsector, the warp stilled, filled with a music so gentle and so peaceful that those who heard it felt a supreme sense of peace. Even the Destroyers, so hatefully dwelling on their ship, would be said to pause, feeling an uneasy and confusing sense of serenity, a strange and bouncy tune on their lips whose origin they didn't know.

Artists would be driven into a strange frenzy, rushing into their ateliers and going into an insane rush of creation, making masterpiece after masterpiece as the Neurochoir connecting them began to amplify their inspiration, many of them managing to create strange, fantastic, and otherworldly paintings, holomural, sculpture, and novel, and even stranger things still, like tesseractical cubes that shifted colors that didn't exist, or fractiline prisms that reflected light through the fourth dimension.

Muses would burn with power, the theurgies that gave them form and thought overflowing with power, turning many of them almost molten. And yet despite this they remained cool to tohe ability to perceive colors and dimensions and ideas they never could before, or else giving tuch, instead imbuing power into whatever they touched: Tekket, Hobbgrot, Eldar, giving them them the stamina and energy to break into great dances and songs, or even animating common objects to have them join the chorus rising in the Directorate.

And the GigaArt Stations would begin, each one, to let out a pulse: with each pulse, the Home System would shudder and shake, until 16 such pulses had passed, with each motion of energy causing the strange phenomina shaking the system to increase in intensity, until finally, at the heart of the Great Gallery Giga Array, the seventeenth pulse caused the music to still, before gaining a great and supreme harmony, and those at the great gallery that day say that before their eyes form a figure resembling a muse comprised of pink light, once who upon appearing engaged in an elaborate dance whose movements were so graceful, so smooth that, combined with the ethereal choir and invisible harps that so gently created a glorious melody, brought the onlookers to tears, the ritual ending with a great crescendo, and the ephemeral figure fading after giving a great bow.

In the days after, the ease by which Muses were created was greatly increased, with the art spirits finally capable of performing the rites and procedures required for the process themselves, and on occasion, some few artists, true masters of their craft, would produce magnificent, impossible relics, technological and sorcerous masterpieces, impossible to replicate or modified, but with equally physics breaking abilities such as the ability to deform warp-space, create vivid mental impressions and psychic signals, or even deform real space and generate and destroy matter ex nihilo.

It was a new era: the era of the Grandmasters.

[Stuff that gets added later]

Faith Points (FTH Points): 84
ART: 4
Warp (WP): 1

New and Updated Actions

ConsecraTek Ateliers: The Grandmasters strange creations made extremely useful sorcerous and technological components, even being able to substitute for GodTek in many machines. Some among their number believed they could achieve even greater heights by developing a theurgic means of tying the Dancers influence to their workshops. 0/25, gain ConsecraTek Ateliers, increasing ART by 1 and CUL

Calling Dance: The Grandmasters believed that the Dancer could be summoned again by creating a smaller, more easily replicable version of the ritual used to manifest her the first time, blessing performances and allowing them to act as arcane conduits for the theurgic energies of the goddess. 0/25, gain Calling Dance, allowing for artistic performances such as song and dance to generate theurgic power, increasing Warp by 1 and CUL

Polar Tower of the Hermit: It was said that in ages past, the Hermit had once had a tower at the northernmost pole, a place of great mystic significance that was said to tie magic to the world: with her departure, it would collapse, and magic, no longer anchored, would fade. Her priests wished to recreate this Tower, powered through arcane means, in order to once more anchor magic to Teklia. 0/50, gain Polar Tower, greatly increasing the power of magic in all shapes and forms, increasing FTH. Cost 1 Warp.

Wands of the Hermit: Once, it was said, magicians did not use things such as Mag-Tek Altars and Orchestrions. In the age of magic it was said that using the power of the Hermit they carved from heartwood trees or the bones of great and terrible powerful monsters wands of magic instead that provided them mystical power and authority they could use to give them the ability to weave spells using only their own authority over the supernal. Many mysteks believed that these instruments could be remade using GodTek and theurgies of the Hermit. 0/50, gain TekWands, broadly useful magical tools useful to most mystic traditions. Cost 1 ART.

ArkanoChoir: The Neurochoir was useful for religious ceremonies, but it could also likely be modified to also assist in secular rituals and arcane rites: after all, synchronized offerings and thoughts was something with non-theological applications. 0/25, gain ArkanoChoir, increasing FTH

BioPreservation Techniques: The NekroTeks had another proposal: using biotechnology research to create a way to perfectly preserve a corpse in such a way that, structurally, it would be indistinguishable from someone who was alive except for the small condition of being dead. 0/15, increases FTH, gain BioMummification. Cost 1 BioData.

Teknum Sarcophagi: Another idea they had was to use GodTek to upgrade the TekCrypts, engineering a sort of weak reanimation field: not enough to return consciousness or even restart most organs, but enough to allow the corpse within to generate constant (if likely small) amounts of lifeforce to feed the machine spirit of the TekCrypt. 0/25, increases FTH, TekCrypts upgraded to TekSarcophagi. Cost 1 ART.

Witherbone Talismans: The spirits of death, whether guide, reaper, ghost, or shade, could be found in nature as well as in Mausoleums. By taking the bones from Witherhollows, some NekroDruids believe they can manufacture talismans enstrengthening these shadow spirits of the wyld. 0/25, create Witherbone Talismans, increasing FTH by 1

Rite of Electric Force: Power was beginning to become a problem for the Directorate, primarily on ships. To solve the issue, some Mysteks had suggested developing a ritual that could be performed daily to generate excess energy, both directly and through the vita. 0/25, increases EXP and Ship performance.

AntiChaos Warding: The Chaos Artefacts recovered would be studied and wards would be adapted and improved to both contain those artefacts and, more broadly, more effectively counter the influences of Chaos. 0/50, Ward effectiveness Vs Chaos improved. Cost 1 ART.

Psi-Rituals: The Eldar wanted assistance translating the Tekket mystical tradition into something they can perform using their psi-sorceries instead of lifeforce. Costly, but it would buy good will, and let the Eldar deploy Directorate theurgies and rites such as that of Motive Force and Awakening at will. 0/25, increases Yr Albain rep by 3 plus bonus. Cost 1 Warp.

Other Fiddly Stuff

((((()))))

Meanwhile, technology would continue its forward march: the Directorate would establish the Court of Scrolls, using vast amounts of computational data to generate a multidimensional digigraphic key, the code of which would be taken by the Sphere even as their cult constructed a massive facility located in the desert.

Within a year, from the tombs the Graviton Owl would emerge, resembling a formless, shapeless phantom whose passage distorted time and space, causing light to bend in its wake, the only way to see the smaller machine god. Taking residence in their temple, they would immediately attract a flock of worshippers, whom the Graviton Owl would task with the study of particles and size. Within a few years, with its tutelage, they would publish papers that involved using the principles of matter shrinkage to engineer smaller, more stable, and more cost effective reactors that quite literally packed more nuclear material into themselves than was technically possible.

Just as the Sphere had said, the Graviton Owl was indeed generous. The Machine God would in turn visit its peer frequently, creating a variety of small devices they prodded the sphere with, things of shrinkage and gravity modulation, acting as a physician of sorts in order to reduce the gnawing hunger felt by the god using the closest thing the God Machines had to medicine.

The Sphere would indeed prove generous, burping out small amounts of useful gasses and trace  amounts of biometal ferrofluid, gifting both to the Court of Scrolls.

Even as this occurred, a revolutionization in warp-space traversal was made: the warp-space topographical mapper. Essentially, it would sense deformations in warp space and use those deformations to navigate warp-space. On Fleet ships, it would be supplemented to great effect by the Rite of Pathfinding, ensuring it was both easier to traverse both routes and explore and map out new ones, even if speed and cost of warp travel still remained an issue.

Fiddly Stuff

Academy Points (ACD Points): 76
Living Metal: 1
Network: 3

New Actions

Graviton Compression: An extremely crude and extremely effective method of both passing blockages and storing matter was compression of the involved material, allowing it to both be more easily stored for transport and passed through narrow biological passages. 0/25, increases EXP from Graviton Storage Crates and ACD from Graviton DeBlocker. Cost 1 BioData.

Psi-Map Reader: Using Mind-Machine Interfaces and Warp-Space mappers, it might be possible to translate topography into something the organic brain can understand, allowing for easier navigation. 0/50, create Psi-Mapper Interface, increasing EXP

Warproad Navigator: By blending the Theurgies of the Roadguide with Warp-Topography Scanners could allow for a sort of techno-theurgic appliance to be create to serve as a sort  of warp-autopilot, simplifying navigation of more well traversed warp-routes. 0/50, creates Warproad Nav-Unit, increasing EXP

Khimer Genetic Damage: The Khimer were asking for assistance. Apparently, some of the augmentations they had installed so long ago severely reduced lifespan. While they had developed a number of tools to try and solve this, none of them were wholly effective or easily scaled up. They wanted assistance researching a means to undo some of the damage these augmentations had caused, which should hopefully allow them to live longer than thirty years without technological assistance, allowing them to more easily build institutional knowledge. 0/50, costs 2 BioData, unaltered Khimer lifespan increased by decade, increasing respect by 2.

Khimer MultiTutorial: The Khimer wanted to commission some Virtual Reality tutorials designed to allow them to train their citizens in a variety of subjects at an accelerated pace, allowing for them to cram more education into the very short lifespans of the average Khimer. 0/15, creates Khimer MultiTutorials, increasing Khimer rep by 3. Cost 1 Network

Khimer NeuroProgrammer: Khimer neurology was actually very malleable: the benefits of this meant that with some research, they believed they should be able to design a version of the Tekket mind machine interface to allow them to much more quickly pick up skills and learn abilities. 0/45, creates Khimer NeuroProgrammer, increasing Khimer rep by 5. Cost 1 Network.

Protein Replicators: The Khimer might, with convincing, be willing to teach the Directorate the secrets to their Protein Replicator technology, allowing for its deployment on ships and colonies, simplifying logistics considerably. 0/25, gain Protein Replicators, increasing EXP. Cost 1 BioData, Requires 50 Khimer Rep