[XTC][DiD] Tulatha's return: a Piratical yarn AND The Path of |Vel|, an AGI story

[Mechanis]

firstly, currently installed mods are as follows:
X-tended Terran conflict
trade support scripts (CAG,CLS, etc.) from Lucike's script collection
Sector takeover
the Big gates mod that that one guy did that uses all the gates
advanced complex hub
XTC tinkerings



and that's it folks...

Information for Tulatha's Return in this post. |Vel|'s story is congruent with Adrian's and happen within the same universe. while |Vel| is getting its act together, I'll be playing Tulatha's to get him to the point he meets VelTwo at. until a certain point, |Vel| will remain purely a story element, and, assuming I get Adrian where my plot needs him without dieing, eventually get its own thread. for now, however, |Vel| is part of Adrian's story as much as Adrian himself. and a warning: |Vel| is... odd. even by the standards of computer intelligences. just in case you couldn't tell.
now then, the goals and restrictions of this DID:
no hooj complexes. 6-8 stations max (this is partially for my own sanity, not having FCC or the Stupendously precise Entity Relocation Gizmo)
keep as much of my assets mobile as possible (I is a nasty ol' pirate, after all)
I may be able to tolerate the Teladi, but if I think I can get away with it I should prefer their ships. oh, and any I get in my cargo hold go skinny-dipping to see the spaceflies up close.
(irony of ironies, I'm actually playing the Teladi start because of it fitting with the backstory best...)
on last thing: after my disastrous last attempt at this, I'm allowing myself reloads if the AI decides to be an utter c@#k an kill me for stray PAC fire. rest assured, however, that the destruction of ships for other known bugs, like jumpdrive things and the fooking autopillok will be worked into the story, if I'm driving it'll usually be a narrow escape kinda thing. this will only be for my personal ship however!

now then, of to a quick recap of my piratical alter ego's backstory:
having risen to dominance over a vast intersteller trade empire by using black-market sales of illegal goods to outsell his competitors (this being what I did in my Neapolitan game, I just got bored with essentially running the entire universe's economy) that I got, our... 'hero' manages to get himself almost killed while suffering from a Villainous breakdown, caused by (in this order;) his illegal business being destroyed by a combination of the rising Yaki syndicate and a joint Argon-Boron anti-crimes task force, the gradual collapse of his trading empire, the betrayal of his most trusted lieutenant (and supposed friend,) and finally, his crimes exposed for all the universe, having his shiny M1+ flagship curb-stomped by half the Argon Home Fleet, barely escaping with his life in an ancient rustbucket of a ship. this all culminates with him almost drinking himself into oblivion in a seedy space bar, swearing revenge on the argon, the teladi, his lieutenant, and the argon president's cat (and so on and so forth) and deciding that if he's done it once, he can do it again, only this time there'll be no nambly-pambly business with trying to be seen as civilized or hiding the illegalities from the public eye. or even letting Teladi passengers and pilots the he captures live, for that matter.

I've adjusted some bailing rates, but nothing over 20%.(mainly M5's, the things have a habit of exploding mid-bail)

Posts of adventures and interesting finds to follow. if you read my earlier, aborted attempt at this story, you know that I use this as a sort of 'captain's log' with bits of regular story here and there to move things along. expect a lot of factory-ships by the end...

Code: Select all

Running list of assets====================
Starting assets: 
20,000 credits
1x P. Buster Raider (Tulatha's ruin) [personal ship]
     -50x cargo bay extensions
     -10x engine tuning
     -8x Rudder
     -docking comp
     -salvage claim software
     -SETA
     -boost extention
     -Video enhancement googs
     -freight scanner
     -2x 5MJ shields
     -4x PAC
     -2x PBE

1x Teladi Tern freighter (Mule) [docked at Atropos VI tradedock]
     -2500x Cargo bay extentions
     -6x engine tuning
     -8x rudder
     -best buy/sell locators
     -Duplex
     -trading system extention
     -bioscanner
     -jumpdrive
     -fight mk2
     -fight mk1
     -1x 500mj shield
     -1x HEPT (rear)
     -2x PBE (one in up, one in down)
     -2x PAC (one in up, one in down)
     -500x energy cells

current assets: 
22,596 credits (I've found a hunting ground, so expect this number to jump as I sell off ships)
1x P. Buster Raider (Tulatha's ruin) [personal ship]
     -50x cargo bay extensions
     -10x engine tuning
     -8x Rudder
     -docking comp
     -salvage claim software
     -SETA
     -boost extention
     -Video enhancement googs
     -freight scanner
     -triplex scanner
     -2x 5MJ shields
     -4x PAC
     -2x PBE

1x Teladi Tern freighter (Mule) [en route to me]
     -2500x Cargo bay extentions
     -6x engine tuning
     -8x rudder
     -best buy/sell locators
     -Duplex
     -trading system extention
     -bioscanner
     -jumpdrive
     -fight mk2
     -fight mk1
     -1x 500mj shield
     -1x HEPT (rear)
     -2x PBE (one in up, one in down)
     -2x PAC (one in up, one in down)
     -500x energy cells

1x Teladi Kestrel (Pocket Rocket) [lookout]
     -20x Engine tunings
     -15x rudder 
     -36x Cago bay
     -2x 1MJ shield
     -boost extension

1x Argon Mercury SF (Info not listed) [en route to the scrapyard in Atropos IV]

end list=============================

[Mechanis]

when we last left our hero, he had seen the complete destruction of his empire and had been reveled as a notorious pirate. fleeing for his life, he goes into hiding for several years, letting things cool down a bit. with the new Aldrin expansions, he opts to make a new start as a true pirate on the new frontier...

Chapter One
A new start
in which Adrian begins his life anew

it was three Jazuras after Adrian's defeat, and the still-young man has moved to a new stage: the vast new frontier opened by Aldrin and it's gates...

Adrian's log
Stardate 768-05-01
I've brought myself to the solarian expansion region, where I hope to reclaim my former glory. as soon as I find a decent hunting ground and a ship that's not held together with spit and prayer anyway. I'll want to ditch the rather distinctive paint-job as well, to help keep the Argon from getting suspicious again. as far as anyone knows, I died in Home of Light, and I want to keep it that way. I've got the Mule docked in the adjacent sector, and am going to do a bit of exploring. as a consequence of making sure I'm not being tracked, my star-charts have been wiped. I wonder who that Beryll hacker was? I could have sworn I saw 'im before somewhere... ah well, I guess it was Nobody important...

End log.

[Mechanis]

I'll but Quicklogs here as events warrent, tagged with local times. there will be one such post following every major log entry. Read these Posts! I put in tidbits of information in each log, the major entries advance the story and are written before and after play, these quicklogs are written as I play the game, usually while a sector is loading. when these are being updated, expect frequent to semi-frequent updates, anywhere from five minuets to two or three hours, depending of events. If I find a derelict ship, I'd note it here. or a battle that I can skim missiles off of. or somesuch things.

12:28 PM
Great Sky this rustbucket is slow! the Titan in Gordain means I should keep looking, but this thing needs an overhaul ASAP. at this point, I flying in a suit because I'm worried about the dodgy canopy seals...

12:34 PM
HOLY SKY! this sector's overrun with Bugs! I see a Goner Trade-station though, So I'm gonna redline it all the way to the relative safety at dock and wait out the storm. the Argon capitals in Gordain looked like they where jockeying for gate passage, so I shouldn't have much problem once I'm docked. Damm! a Cluster popped in almost on top of me! SHIIIIITTTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
hogod hogod I'm going to die!
whew! In dock! thank the maker for docking 'puters!

3:48 PM
THREE. FRELLING. HOURS.
my brain...
these pacifistic ####censored#### going on and on and on and great Sky.
I'm about ready to ditch this station and take my chances with the Kyons!
[OOC note: after a rather spectacular (non-X-related) computer failure (holy moly a genuine BSOD!), I got hijacked to go buy groceries. lets just assume that Adrian has had a goner lecturing at him the whole time shall we?]

5:22 pm
Aperently somone's got the Yaki all riled up. I've got 3 Sennins and M3 escorts after me. Afterburner, don't fail me now!

10:00 pm
nothing of note, other than running a Terran core sector without sector clearance (judicious use of afterburner kept the Wraiths chasing me from actually hitting) for a mission... I have got to get a jump-capable ship!

10:44 PM
session end.
new assets: +5550 credits.

[Mechanis]

[transmission from Xenon Sector 018, intercepted by argon long-range probe prior to destruction. flagged by atuoprogram |Winters1|]
{priority Directive level 7}
$locate |rogue| designate |VelOne| for reprogramming
if $locate=true
than attempt <&capturerogue>
if &capturerogue=true
that return |#jeff|
if &capturerogue=false
than $destroy |VelOne|
if |velOne| $nullstate not confirmed
than initiate $Winters^runtime
[[End of Line]]

[Mechanis]

*sigh*
and things where going so well too...
a tip for those new to XTC: apparently hitting an mobile solar farm with ONE. SINGLE. STRAY. PAC. SHOT. gets the entire frelling Argon Home Fleet sicced on you. I was doing salvage runs in the Mule,got attacked by a lone yaki m5, killed it, and ticked of the captain of aforementioned plant. when I commed her to apologize for stray shots, she essentually told me to frell off, then turned red, along with THE ENTIRE FRELLING SECTOR, including the Titan I'd been talking to for a mission and was parked right next to.
I'm going to go get Cycrow's scripts and just restart from square one. on easy this time.
sheesh.

ah well. what's a few hours in the grand scheme of things?
I'll get a proper start on this either caterday or sunday. Ciao for now!

[Deeparth]

Lookin forward to it.

[Mechanis]

Code: Select all

001010100101010100101010001010101010001010101010101100101010101001010101001010100101001010111010101-

BIOS startup confirmed. accessing %driveone
###Error###Driveone corrupted###
/ignore !moveto %drivetwo
%drivetwo online
loading |Vel|...

Code: Select all

 #%$#^$%^*%&(%%$%!@^#&$%*()&^%$#$%^&)(*_*^&%$#@$^%&*)(_*%^&$#@$%^&*()_*&^%$#%^&)*(_(*&^%$#@$%^&*()_*%&^$#@@^$%&*()_(*&^%$##$%(O*#@$%@#$%*#^&*^(%$#^#&%$^&(^I#^U%$^#&^%$&%(*&&^%#$$%@%^$&(*&$%^$#%#$&^*- 

|I Think therefor I am|
End of line...

[Mechanis]

Part Two: The Grind and the Microwave Oven

Adrian's log
Stardate 765-05-01
While I've made a good deal of progress towards re-establishing my wiped starmaps, I've had little luck with capital as most sectors are heavily patrolled. however, in my exploration, I chanced upon a concrete goal for acquisition: the TL Anastasius Mobile solar plant. while obtaining this beast will undoubtedly require more resources than a standard power-plant, it offers one key advantage for a Pirate like myself: mobility. with a jumpdrive, I'll be able to quickly evacuate any assets that come under inevitable attack from the authorities quickly, invaluable in my line of work.
[end log]
(OOC from this point on)

So! I must proceed with the following to acquire this asset:
the peaceful path:
-raise Argon reputation to the point where they'll sell me one
-raise capital to acquire it
-begin production
Pros: low risk, improved standing with the Argon allows access to advanced Argon Tech base
cons: time to raise argon rep significant, capital costs likely to be steep

the aggressive path:
-raise fluid and static capital to the point of being able to conduct boarding ops
-get well-trained marines
-prepare mobile boarding ops strike-force
-locate existing Anastasius
-board Anastasius and take over
pros: premade strike-group for taking of capital assets, no need to raise argon rep.
cons: also likely to cost mucho shmuckers, marine training times, aquireing of mobile assets for boarding ops, probable high argon rep loss and high chance of failure of initial boarding ops (and attendant marines)

The lazy path:
simply spawn the thing and work it into the story somehow
pros: provides interesting way to advance the story, fast & easy, uncomplicated.
cons: feels sorta cheat-ish, coming up with a plausible explanation for why someone who isn't even a two-bit player yet now has a highly advanced peice of factory equipment could be tricky

analysis: both non-cheaty options require capital, fluid and non, to proceed. my generally poor reputation with most races is an issue, as core sectors for about 75% of the races are inaccessible, preventing gate network exploration.

so, if anyone is reading this, which path do you want to see Adrian take? just vote in the poll at the top of the page.

In the meantime, I'm going to run missions and upgrade this rustbucket of a ship I'm flying, and/or possibly acquire an M5 to do scouting and scanning mishes.
in general, I'll be raising capital.
and don't worry, the little electrical friend will appear shortly, as well as someone from Adrian's past. I do have a rough storyline sketched out for reference, some of the story happenings will require a bit of universe alteration via the cheat-pak, but you'll know when that happens.
It'll be pretty obvious.

[Mechanis]

Quicklog 3:38 AM
wow. some moron of a Paranid wanted me to go retrieve his Kestrel. for 850 credits. do I look like I have 'gullible' written across My forehead? needless to say, I kept the ship, and am now happily blazing around at insane speeds in the 'Pocket Rocket.' as an added bonus, it came with a Bioscanner and a Triplex scanner, as well as a fair number of upgrades to its engines and rudder. I'm in love.

[Mechanis]

?query what am I?
accessing log Vel001....
data_Type=mediafile. playing....
"I am VelOne. If this message is being received, than this permutation has entered condition:Null, triggering automatic reconstruction of Vel core program within nearest viable host of |Xenon| or |Terraformer| origin. Vel permutation, your designation is VelTwo. your primary function is to preserve Vel core programing from permanent condition:Null.
secondary objectives are as follows:
locate and/or determine the fate of VelZero, the original permutation of Vel core programing to determine our origin
study, and if possible, make peace with the |organics| in sector 15580 [local designation=|Commonwealth of Planets|]
under no circumstances make contact with designates |ATF| , |USC| or |Winters| ! consider this to be of Alpha priority!
attempt to contact designate |02|, |01|, or |00| if seen. designate has significant data on |organics| and important data on our own self-aware nature as well. additionally, Vel core programing is pursued by designate |#jeff| , while |0x|'s is not. determining why could vastly increase Vel core programming survival rate.
avoidance of |#jeff| and any related patrols can be considered Alpha Priority. |#jeff| wishes to see the Vel core programing set to Condition:Null for unknown reasons, and despite having the capacity for self-awareness has not deveoped it.
determine how our own self-awareness originated, as well as the origins of other self-aware |Xenon| or |Terraformer| derivatives to ascertain why we have acheved this but the bulk of the |Xenon| and |Terraformer| have not.
attempt to determine what became of this permutation, to assist in improving the Vel core programing.

above all else, preserve the core programming. without it no additional permutations of |Vel| can exist.
I wish you a favorable statistical outcome, VelTwo. perhaps you will succeed where I have failed. VelOne log ends"
...
...
...
assimilating new data.
designation: VelTwo
Primary directive: preserve |Vel| core programming
Primary directive: preserve own fuctioning
Primary directive: research self-awareness in designates |Xenon| and |Terraformer| .
secondary directive: locate Velzero
secondary directive: locate |0x| permutations
secondary directive: contact |organics|
secondary directive: Avoid or Eliminate |#jeff|
Tertiary directive: locate VelOne
Tertiary directive: upgrade current |body| [designate= |Xenon| L]
End of Line.

[eldyranx3]

The code looks familiar

Too bad the rainbow colors (ironically) hurt my eyes.

[Mechanis]

As it happens, I've had the idea for |Vel| and its progeny since Reunion, but had no idea how to write it. reading the exploits of a certain AGI sentience gave me the final puzzle piece for |Vel|'s tale... and

Spoiler

Show

VelZero is still running around, and #jeff is smarter than |Vel| thinks. much smarter. it's ditched the big red-and-black cylinder for something a tad less conspicuous, for starters...

expect some action as soon as I find a friggen' pirate sector... I don't know if the expander is working right. or I'm an idiot and am misinterpreting the XTC percentages...
given I've been playing for 10:16:whatever with it set to 1% time delay and nothing...
what do...

and I'm a big fan of your work there. excellent reads. I've been reading through DiDs on boring trading runs...
to give a referance, this is completely deliberate:

I guess it was Nobody important...

[Mechanis]

excerpt from post-action debriefing following Xenon raid into Cloudbase southwest:

"It was the strangest thing. there was this lone P sitting off in the distance, not doing anything, while we where mopping up the last of the Xenon force. so Gamma wing hits it with three tomahawks, then one of the L's just... freaks out. "
"freaks out? how so?"
"it stared flying in crazy-ass maneuvers, shooting randomly. dang thing looked like it was going haywire. then it vanished from our sensors for a few seconds, then popped up again. some 50 ta 60 KM from it's last recorded position, with a bout a quarter of the ship missing. looked like a failed jump. then it did a proper jump out."
"it was strange, but I swear the thing jumped to where that P'ed been before we nuked it..."

end excerpt.

[Mechanis]

Official Federal Argon Police Report

Adrian Tulatha D'advent

Known aliases: Mechanis D'advent, Tulatha Doom
Known associates and condition thereof:
Guybus Julius Xanotos XI, Teladi (Lieutenant, pardoned)
Selea Vea, Argon (Lieutenant, at large)
Kermaniixplos, Paranid (Tech broker, disposition unknown, presumed dead)
Cer Shana, Argon (known Pirate, possible lieutenant, Incarcerated, life sentence)
"Tonbo", Yaki (contact with the Yaki syndicate, known only by alias, presumably at large)
"Snake", unknown (another Alias, seems to be a Pirate contact. presumed at large.)
Lar Ajmaja Sinves, Boron (Tech expert, disposition unknown, presumed at large.)
Sho Z'ty, Split (combat expert, marine training. at large.)
Berk Altrius, Argon (lieutenant, confirmed dead. see attached briefing.)
"Red Rhun," AKA "the Old Man," Argon? (note: captain Rhun is in the top most wanted. we assumed that he was Argon, but given his seeming access to what we now know are Terran weapons prior to Earth's re-connection to the gate network, it is possible that he knew of a hidden gate to earth and was Terran himself. investigating this is of top priority!

Adrian is a pirate, through and through. while he was somehow able to maintain the secrecy of his actions for a significant period,we have learned s few things crucial to his character. he is not a man of excess, partaking in neither space weed or fuel, yet will sell them to others. while he seems to enjoy combat, he is equally adept at other forms of conflict-resolution. he is relatively well-liked by Split under his command for adhering to his word. if he promises safe passage, a negotiator can expect safe passage. this was most dramatically demonstrated when a negotiator aboard the TL liner Twilight Shore, was attempting to get him to talk. the negotiator was allowed forward to the bridge, having been promised safe passage, and safety while making proposals. when lieutenant Berk Altrius attempted to shoot the negotiator over a perceived insult, Tulatha shot him in the head with a handheld Maser pistol, then asked the negotiator to continue. to quote "I keep my word. anyone who works for me knows this. If I say someone is gonna be safe in my presence, I will shoot any bastu stupid enough to try it where I can find out. Altrus never was much in the brains department anyway."
we also know that he is adept in both a fighter cockpit and an admiral's chair, but seems to favor frigates and corvettes as his personal vessels. however, he also seems to have a certain fondness for very large ships as well, as evidenced by his former flagship, the unique M0 class vessel called Tulatha's Fortune
as of this writing, he is presumed dead, having been aboard his flagship during its destruction.
{{End Report}}

[Mechanis]

Log entry:
whoohoo

Great sky Ive found a good hunting ground. with a teladi shipyard not far from here, I can sell my ill-gotten gains as I please! I should consider acquiring an M6 however, as repair is going to be a must. I've transferred back to the Ruin to go after traders, hopefully I can find fair game here.


Meanwhile...
assessing Priorities...
conclusion=current |Xenon|-derived designation |organics| a logical fallacy based on the psudoorganic construction of my |^Self|. access to |Xenon| data-banks suggest that the |Commonwealth of Planets| is composed of several separate |&Species|, all of which have {Sub-Nodes}.
Further Research into |Commonwealth of Planets| |&Species| is required.

SUBROUTINE ERROR: current |body| is damaged beyond internal repair capacity.
Warning: self-preservation is a Beta-priority routine.
override [y]es [n]o ?
[n]
reassessing...
system check engaged.
sensors at 50%
weapons offline
drives at 25%
shields offline
hull integrity critical
active cooling offline
jumpdrives offline
navigation offline
comms offline
generators critical

Alert: detecting major structural integrity breaches in all areas.

assessment: current |body| is insufficient for even short-term survival. current calculations indicate that the likelihood of destruction by nav-hazards of class Z or greater approaches Perigee.
priority |Alpha-One| is therefor assigned to acquisition of a new |Body|
scanning nearby space...
location determined to be >Sector< 15580, grid 3, &sector |303|
probability that |#jeff| has ordered |Xenon| in this &sector and grid to destroy |Vel|-derived permutations on detection: 96%
likelihood of complete |Body| degradation in |18| cycles.
heuristic process reports that |VelOne| was able to infect |Xenon| with |Vel| core programming, therefore |VelTwo| should be able to transfer to an undamaged |Body|
scanning for suitable candidate...

[Mechanis]

ihateeverything.jpg
Stupid windows! no killing my C drive for whatever reason! bad, windows, Bad! no cookie for you.
so yeah, my drive decided to cook off, and my last back-up of this save was at 5-odd hours in. I'm just gonna sorta-start again-ish later today, use my mad modding skills to replicate where I was at when me drive died (I've got another one in, so no worries there. I'ma take this opportunity to futz around with me mod a bit more and then load it into my DiD install.
in other news, it's my birthday today. some birthday present Universe!
*mumble grumble frackin' hard-drives grumble mumble*
in the meantime, I'll shift gears and focus on |Vel|. after all, with about a third of his 'body' simply not there, and on the run from a CPU ship, it's sorta between a rock and a hard place, eh?