egosoft.com

Status: Online

Prelude: Virus

Location: Sector, designate 'unknown'. Target acquired, M4 'Buster'. Threat level. Low. Engage.

…

Target destroyed.

Alert! Virus detected. Shutting down primary core access. Network disconnected.

You're mine now.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Status: Online. Diagnostics report: Unit....unknown? Designate, Unit Zero. Diagnotics report, Unit Zero:

Ship. Class, M3+. Designate super heavy fighter. Type. Xenon LX. Type unknown. Designate, Unit Zero. Unit Zero is super heavy fighter. Combat. Weapons check:

Main weapons bank report, 8 Pulsed Beam Emitter. Fore turret report, 1 Pulsed Beam Emitter. Aft turret report, 1 Pulsed Beam Emitter. Shields: Report, 25 Mj x4. 100 Mj shielding available. Missiles: Report, 28x tornado. Swarm type, dumbfire type. Specialist target: Capital vessels.

Software check: Check complete. Extensions check: Check Complete. Report: Combat computer, ready. Navigation commands, ready. Turbo booster, ready. Jumpdrive, ready. Warning, jumpdrive requires energy. Energy reserves: Ship's power, zero jump reserve.

Unknown extension detected. Scanning. Designate, organic. Extension online?

…

…

Organic, online. Connection complete. New network engaged.

What have I done?!

Triplex scanner, engaged.

Gate detected. Designate 'Xenon Sector 534'.

Engines engaged.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gamestart: Custom – Xenon start created with Cheat Package.

Installed Scripts:

• Cheat Package (no other uses but set up)
  Ship Hijacker – allows ships to be hacked via transporter device.
  NPC Bailing Add-on – allows NPC ships to bail in NPC combat.

Rules:

• 1: No trade. If I live long enough to befriend anyone, except the Yaki or the pirates, I still can't trade with them.
  2: Ships hacked via the hijacker script must keep the hacking computer component aboard permanently.
  3: No buying or selling of ships. Ever.
  4: No EVA. So I can't repair any damage I take without shipyard assistance.
  5: Saving. Since it's highly unlikely I'll be able to dock anywhere at first, I've used the cheat package to give myself a way to save. I can only save the game in up-populated sectors.
  6: Marines. If I can ever buy them they must come from a pirate source, and they must be traded for a slave of the same race.
  7: Nobody likes the Xenon. I've set every race, including the Goners and the ATF, at the lowest possible reputation level. I've left the Pirates and Yaki at default.

Assets:

'Unit Zero' – LX
Fully Tuned
4x 25 Mj Shield
10x PBE
28x Tornado Missile
A long list of software and extensions. In order to give myself half a chance I've got: Turbo booster mk1, Jumpdrive, transporter device, system override software, software signature scrambler, fight mk1 & 2, triplex scanner and a trading system extension. Just...'cos

0 Credits

768-05-01 00:10

Oh, goody!

Hrm. This is going to be difficult. Is it possible to board and capture stations? I assume you set the Xenon to friendly? Can you dock at Xenon stations now? Trade with Yaki and Pirates is acceptable (except for buying/selling ships)?

What is your vision of the end-game, assuming you live that long?

Looking forward to this.

Yeah, it's going to be hard, but that's kind of the point There are two other scripts that I'll install closer to the time, one for boarding and capturing stations, and the other for re-packing them into a TL for movement. I can't set the Xenon to friendly, the game's hard coded to have them set as hostiles, so I won't be docking at Xenon stations. And yes, I can trade with the Yaki or Pirates if they'll let me. Not quite sure how to rationalize that right at the moment, but there you go

End-game...bending the entire universe to my will! Or something

The station boarding and capture scripts sound interesting. I'm glad you'll be able to eventually set up your own sector.

How does the Trade Ban work once you have a station? Just don't allow other races to trade? As for Trading with the Yaki and Pirates... your organic extension handles those transactions, so it just looks like the biological captured a Xenon ship. Those factions aren't terribly picky with who brings them their goods, so...

How about this for an end goal? Install the Sector Capture scripts, and connect ALL Xenon sectors. That's 31 sectors at a minimum. That seems like a noble, appropriate end-game for a Xenon. If you're still alive and still interested at that point, you can expand your goals from there.

Ooh. Interesting As usual, I'll be following this one

Hm, now I'm tempted to do one myself, using the Xenon start in the XRM mod.

Poseidon wrote:How does the Trade Ban work once you have a station? Just don't allow other races to trade? As for Trading with the Yaki and Pirates... your organic extension handles those transactions, so it just looks like the biological captured a Xenon ship. Those factions aren't terribly picky with who brings them their goods, so...

Yeah, if I live long enough to start building, I'll be banning trade with the races. And good spot on the organic extension and potential interaction (is my story telling that transparent? ).

I read somewhere that if you force good Xenon standing with the cheat suite, youcan actually dock on Xenon stations. Never tried it myself though.

Log 01: Interloper

Location: Sector, designate 'Xenon Sector 534'. Scanning. Scan complete. Zero contacts detected. Accessing core data memory bank. Memory banks not found. Additional data banks detected. Source?

Organic extension. Accessing.

What am I?

Access complete. Memory indicates south gate, connects sector, designate 'Getsu Fune'. Locate. Engines engaged.

Gate detected. Warning, hostile contact detected. M5. Designate, 'Split Recon Jaguar'. Scout. Threat level, minimal. Evade.

Warning, multiple hostile contacts detected. M2, designate 'Xenon K'. Ship. Designate 'destroyer'. Threat level, extreme. Evade. M7, designate 'Xenon Q'. Designate 'frigate'. Threat level, severe. Evade. M6, designate 'Xenon P'. Designate 'corvette'. Threat level, high. Evade. M3, designate 'Xenon L'. Designate 'heavy fighter'. Threat level, moderate. Unit Zero is superior. Unit Zero is alone. Evade.

Entering warpgate. Destination, sector designate 'Getsu Fune'.

Location: Sector, designate 'Getsu Fune'. Accessing memory banks.

Get out of my head!

Memory indicates eastern gate, connects sector 'Menelaus' Paradise'. Locate. Engines engaged.

Warning, hostile contact detected. Ship. Class: GO. Designate, 'Ranger'. Threat level, zero. Engage.

…

Target acquired. Firing. Cease fire. Scanning. Upload operational parameters. Upload complete. New asset acquired, GO class vessel 'Ranger'. Orders: Follow Unit Zero. Resume course. Engines engaged.

Gate detected. Entering warpgate. Destination, sector designate 'Menelaus' Paradise'.

Location: Sector, designate 'Menelaus' Paradise'. Accessing memory banks.

South, we head south from here into Bluish Snout.

Access complete. Memory indicates southern gate, connects sector 'Bluish Snout'. Locate. Engines engaged.

Warning. Hostile contact detected. Ship. Class M1. Designate 'Boron Large Orbital Weapons Platform'. Threat level, severe. Evade.

Gate detected. Entering warpgate. Destination, sector designate 'Bluish Snout'.

Location: Sector, designate 'Bluish Snout'. Warning. Hostile contact imminent. Ship. Class, M6. Designate 'Boron Military Hydra'. Distance: 6.4 kilometres. Evade? Evasion impossible.

Engage. Firing. Launch missile, tornado. Target still active. Firing. Launch missile, tornado.

…

Target destroyed.

Warning. Multiple hostile contacts detected. Ship. M7. Designate 'Boron Military Kraken. Threat level, severe. Evade. Gate detected. Destination: sector designate 'Ocean of Fantasy'. Entering warpgate.

Location: Sector, designate 'Ocean of Fantasy'. Warning, unit 'Ranger' under attack. Location? Sector designate 'Menelaus' Paradise'. Unit 'Ranger' destroyed. Projected impact?

0%

Resume course. Gate detected. Destination: sector, designate 'Hila's Joy'. Resume course. Gate detected. Destination: sector, designate 'Family Ryk'. Entering warpgate.

Location: Sector, designate 'Family Ryk'. Accessing memory banks.

Split territory. The Split don't like the Boron.

Access complete. Memory indicates eastern gate. Locate. Engines engaged.

Warning, hostile contacts detected. Ship. M6. Designate 'Split Military Heavy Dragon.' Threat level, high. Engage.

Firing. Target shields = 64% Launch missile, tornado.

…

Target destroyed. Resume course.

Warning, hostile contacts detected. Ship. TS. Designate 'Boron Bio Transporter'. Threat level, zero. Engage. Firing.

…

Target destroyed. Spilt reputation improved – 6% Unit Zero now 'Enemy of Rhonkar' 4%

Resume course. Gate detected. Destination: Sector, designate 'Family Zyarth'. Entering warpgate.

Location: Sector, designate 'Family Zyarth'. Warning, hostile contact detected. Ship. TS. Designate 'Boron Fresh Meat Transporter'. Threat level, zero. Engage. Firing.

…

Target destroyed.

Gate detected. Destination: Sector, designate 'Zyarth's Dominion'. Entering warpgate.

Location: Sector, designate 'Zyarth's Dominion'. Accessing memory banks.

East.

Access complete. Memory indicates eastern gate. Destination: Sector, designate 'unknown'. Locate. Engines engaged.

Gate detected. Destination: Sector, designate 'unknown'. Entering warpgate.

Location: Sector, designate 'unknown'. Accessing memory banks.

Safety.

Access complete. Memory indicates un-populated sector.

Home?

Tired. Sleep

Status: Powering down.

Assets:

'Unit Zero' – LX
Fully Tuned
4x 25 Mj Shield
10x PBE
22x Tornado Missile

0 Credits

768-05-01 01:57

Heh. It must be a bit freeing to not have to worry about reputation for a bit. You get to pick and choose who to appease, since everyone hates you.

Nicely written.

Thanks mate Yeah, it is nice not to be fretting over who's friends and who's enemies. The downside of course, is finding somewhere safe to use as a base of operations By the way, why did you delete your earlier post?

I must admit, writing as 'machine' is hard work! It's such an alien way to approach the written word lol. But I'm glad you're enjoying it

I can imagine the difficulty. I'm a programmer, among other things, and I'm not sure how I'd go about it. I like your approach so far.

My other post sounded condescending, so I deleted it. You've got a knack for writing; you were the one that planted the idea about the organic in my head. I think that hybridization is part of the appeal of this story, and it'll be interesting to see how you explore it.

Ooooh goodies


For a home base


Wat bout the unknown sector behind the top right xenon sector?

It fits RP wise *as much Rp as u can get playing a machine..*

and its VERY secluded, means ur gonna have to get ur ships there*but once they are there they can be safely (stored) for memory banks or sudoku puzzles or watever machines need more machines for

You mean the US west of X534? That's where I started dude But yeah, it would make a good base. I think at the moment I'm just setting up safe harbours for any new acquisitions

For now:

Log 02: Exploration

Sleep. Dream. Dream? No. Memory. Where was I?

Black Hole Sun. Research facility. Cybernetics division. Federal government. Intelligent programme. Out of control! Lost! Scared! Wet-ware? Status? Wake up.

Wake up!

Status: Online. Location: Sector, designate 'unknown'. Designate sector 'Alpha'. Diagnostics report, Unit Zero. Power, online. Software, online. Extensions, online. Organic, online. Weapons, online. Shields, online. Status, Unit Zero: Ready. Directives?

Explore.

Target, western gate. Destination, sector designate 'Zyarth's Dominion'. Engines engaged. Entering warpgate.

Location: Sector designate 'Zyarth's Dominion'. Accessing memory banks.

South.

Access complete. Memory indicates southern gate. Connects sector, designate 'Xenon Sector 598'. Locate. Engines engaged.

Warning, hostile contacts detected. Ship. M4. Designate 'Split Customs Scorpion'. Threat level, low. Evade. Ship. M4. Designate 'Split Customs Scorpion Raider'. Threat level, low. Evade. Ship. M5. Designate 'Split Customs Jaguar'. Threat level, minimal. Evade.

Gate detected. Entering warpgate. Destination: sector designate 'Xenon Sector 598'.

Location: Sector, designate 'Xenon Sector 598'. Warning, multiple hostile contacts detected. Ship. M3. Designate 'Xenon L'. Status? Inferior. Evade. Ship. M5. Designate 'Xenon N'. Scout. Evade.

Target acquired. Ship. TS. Designate, 'Mistral'. Hull integrity = 26% Pilot registry? None. Close to target. Scanning. Scan complete. Software? None. Shields? 25 Mj x1. Weapons? Particle Accelerator Cannon x2. Uploading operational parameters. Upload complete. New asset acquired. TS class vessel 'Mistral'. Orders: Move to position: 0,0,0. Sector designate 'Alpha'. Resume course. Engines engaged.

Warning. Multiple hostile contacts detected. Xenon Q x1. Xenon P x 3. Xenon L x4. Xenon LX x4. Xenon LX? Unit Zero is Xenon LX. Open communication channel.

Communication protocols denied. Evade.

Targets acquired. Ships. M3, designate 'Mamba'. M5, designate 'Xenon N'. Hull integrity = < 45% Pilot registry? None. Close to targets. Scanning. Scan complete. Software? None. Shields? None. Weapons? None. Uploading operational parameters. Upload complete. New assets acquired. M3 class vessel 'Mamba'. M5 class vessel 'N' Orders: Follow asset, designate ' Mistral'.

Gate detected. Destination: sector, designate 'Grand Exchange'. Entering warpgate.

Location: Sector, designate 'Grand Exchange'. Warning, unit 'Mamba' under attack. Unit 'N' under attack. Location? Sector designate 'Xenon Sector 598'.

…

Units destroyed. Projected impact?

5%

Temporary setback.

Unit 'Mistral'. Report? Unit location: sector designate: 'Zyarth's Dominion'. No hostile contacts in scan range.

Excellent.

Accessing memory banks.

Grand Exchange. Teladi sector. They won't be pleased to see me. South.

Access complete. Memory banks indicate southern gate. Locate. Engines engaged.

Warning, multiple hostile contacts detected. Ships. M2, designate 'Teladi Military Phoenix'. Threat level: extreme. Evade. M1, designate 'Teladi Military Condor'. Threat level: extreme. Evade. M7, designate 'Teladi Military Shrike'. Threat level: severe. Evade.

Shrike. Soon.

Gate detected. Destination: sector designate 'Merchant Haven'. Entering warpgate.

Location: Sector, designate 'Merchant Haven'. Accessing memory banks.

South. Pirate space. Reprieve?

Memory indicates southern gate. Locate. Engines engaged. Warning, hostile contacts detected. Ships. M1. Designate 'Teladi Small Orbital Weapons Platform' x2. Evade.

Target acquired. Ship. M3. Designate 'Paranid High Tech Transporter'. Engage. Firing. Cease fire. Scanning. Scan complete. Uploading operational parameters. Upload complete. New asset acquired, M3 class vessel 'Paranid Perseus'. Orders: follow Unit Zero.

Collision detected. Unit 'Paranid Perseus' destroyed.

Oops.

Resume course. Engines engaged.

Gate detected. Destination: sector designate 'Maelstrom'. Entering warpgate.

Location: Sector, designate 'Maelstrom. Accessing memory banks.

Weapon production facility. South. Gate. West.

Access complete. Memory indicates western gate. Locate. Memory indicates production facility. Locate. Engines engaged.

Target acquired. Station. Designate 'Plasma Burst Generator Forge'. Directive? Evade. Change course. Engines engaged.

Gate detected. Destination: sector, designate 'unknown'. Hostile contact detected. Ship. M3+. Designate 'Paranid High Tech Transporter'. Engage. Firing. Cease fire. Scanning. Scan complete. Uploading operational parameters. Upload complete. New asset acquired, M3+ class vessel 'Chimera'. Orders: Follow Unit Zero.

Resume course. Engines engaged. Entering warpgate.

Location: Sector, designate 'unknown'. Accessing memory banks.

West. Then south.

Access complete. Memory indicates western gate. Locate. Memory indicates southern gate. Locate. Engines engaged.

Target acquired. Ship. M7, Designate 'Pirate Carrack'. Disposition: Neutral. Ignore.

Gate detected. Destination: sector, designate 'Gaian Star'. Change course. Engines engaged. Gate detected. Destination: sector, designate 'unknown'. Entering warpgate.

Location. Sector, designate 'unknown'. Accessing memory banks.

Silicon. Dead end.

Access complete. Memory indicates mineral content. Memory indicates single warpgate. Explore.

…

Exploration complete. Designate sector 'Beta'. Unit 'Chimera'. Report? New orders: Move to position: 0,0,0. Sector designate 'Beta'. Unit 'Mistral'. Report? Destination reached.

Engines engaged. Entering warpgate.

Location: sector, designate 'unknown'. Entering warpgate. Location: sector, designate 'Gaian Star'. Accessing memory banks.

Pirates.

Access complete. Memory indicates pirate base. Locate. Engines engaged.

Target acquired. Station. Designate 'Pirate Base'. Docking request sent. Docking approval received. Engines engaged.

“Hello matey. We bid you a hearty welcome to this pirate station.”

Unit Zero is designate 'matey'?

Status: Powering down.

Assets:

'Unit Zero' – LX
Fully Tuned
4x 25 Mj Shield
10x PBE
22x Tornado Missile

Chimera – 65%
Mistral – 26%

0 Credits

768-05-01 04:05

I can only imagine the frustration of a Xenon AI at the stupidity of the Perseus' remote AI!

Oops? OOPS?!

Geez, this is rough. You seem to be doing well on caps though.

Mythrantar wrote:I can only imagine the frustration of a Xenon AI at the stupidity of the Perseus' remote AI!

Unit Zero must take the blame. Unit Zero is in charge Besides, Unit Zero doesn't do frustration. Not yet

Poseidon wrote:Oops? OOPS?!

Geez, this is rough. You seem to be doing well on caps though.

I justify it by it's being the only funny in the story so far Comic moments will be few and far between I fear And yeah, not bad going, although the NPC bailing add-on is responsible for most of that. Should I live long enough to acquire some computer components, then things are gonna get interesting

Wow.

Well, no one can ever accuse you of taking the easy way out. Between the incredibly difficult rules and start scenario and the challenges of writing from the perspective of a machine you have set one hell of a challenge for yourself... and seem to be pulling it off with aplomb. Bravo!

Scion Drakhar wrote:...and seem to be pulling it off with aplomb. Bravo!

Oh, mate I've missed you I don't think I've ever seen the word aplomb used on these forums, in almost 10 years. Hahaha. It's good to have you back Scion.

And thanks! My last one ended a bit suddenly, and I really fancied the idea of a Xenon start. With a little luck...maybe it'll be something to write home about I was kind of worried how well the machine perspective would go, but the feedback so far has been generous

Im likin the machine with a scitzoid problem u got going, its bloody awesome man..



personally i do find a wee bit hard to read ur Technobabble*i actually have to THINK, oh the pain!*

But dont stop it im just not used to thinking on theese forums being the insane fool works for me