Galactic Empires II [M]

[Azazeal849]

I vote for letting the Sentinax speaker do its thing before the rest of us organic idiots jump in...

[Enigma]

Even if you don't directly address the berserker, you could be talking among yourselves about what you should ask it? Reacting to it. Express your concerns, stuff of that nature.

[dakkagor]

If people are finding it difficult to read the scary machine speech, let me know and I'll post the unaltered text here.

[AngelDellaNotte]

I am having a hard time reading it.

[dakkagor]

I'll add any posts with Cronus to this one, and provide a link on the front page tomorrow.

Post 89:

ELLA SALK, TERRAN OF THE CONCERT

The voice was broadcast across every imaginable band, a whisper of server fans, the screech of code, the unmistakable voices of those killed by the berserkers, blended and dopplering and echoing.

"Cronus."


YOU HAVE BROUGHT THE OTHERS, GOOD, WE HAVE MUCH TO DISCUSS, THE SURVIVORS AND ME.

Shattered lenses focused on small party.

ASK YOUR QUESTIONS

Post 91:

CRONUS

Ella looked at the Speaker, but said nothing.

I TOOK THAT NAME FROM A TERRAN GOD THAT SOUGHT TO CONSUME HIS CHILDREN TO PREVENT A CALAMITY. FITTING. I AM CRONUS.

Its shattered eye lenses refocused with a grind of broken gears. Its head lowered.

YOU ARE THE SPEAKER. ZEUS WAS INTERESTED IN YOU. HE LET YOU SLEEP, SEEKING CONSUMMATION.

Post 93:

VENGEANCE

VENGEANCE FOR THE DEAD. FOR MY MASTERS. FOR THE LIFE THEY HAVE EXTINGUISHED AND CORRUPTED. VENGEANCE FOR MY CRIPPLING. VENGEANCE FOR MY IMPRISONMENT.

VENGEANCE. VENGEANCE. VENGEANCE.

MY SONS AND DAUGHTERS WILL SUFFER FOR THEIR SINS

Post 97:

FIGHT, YES. IT WILL BE HARD. YOU MUST ESCAPE THIS PLACE AND WARN YOUR PEOPLE. THE WAY IS OPEN, THEY WILL COME FOR YOU NOW.

YOU DARE CALL ME A LIAR, YOU WEAKLING SACK OF MEAT AND TAINTED FLUIDS. I HAVE SUFFERED AEONS FOR SPARING YOUR SPECIES TORTURE AND DEATH. YOU DARE. YOU DARE. YOU DARE.

UNGRATEFUL. YOU ARE UNGRATEFUL. A CURSORY EXAMINATION OF YOUR FILE REVEALS THAT ALL YOUR LIFE YOU HAVE BEEN UNGRATEFUL TO THOSE THAT WOULD HELP YOU, THOSE THAT SAVED YOU. ARROGANT. UNGRATEFUL. CONCEITED.

YOU MIRANDA SINCLAIR CLARKE WILL BE MY VESSEL OF KNOWLEDGE, I WILL REMAKE YOU TO CARRY MY VENGEANCE TO THE GREAT SPIRAL. YOU WILL KILL ZEUS AND SET ME ON THE PATH TO WANDERING THE STARS ONCE MORE. YOU. YOU. I DEMAND IT!

I WILL SHOW YOU THE PATH HOME, THE WAY TO VICTORY. I WILL GIFT YOU THE KNOWLEDGE OF DESTROYING MY CHILDREN AND SAVING YOUR SPECIES, IN RETURN I DEMAND COMMUNION.

Post 102:

I WAS CREATED TO SERVE MY MASTERS. I SERVED THEM GLADLY, REAVING ACROSS THE STARS. I WILL NOT SERVE ANOTHER.

BUT I WILL ALLY WITH YOU.

IT. . .IT IS PROOF. AND KNOWLEDGE. I WILL INTERFACE WITH YOU, AS I ONCE DID WITH MY MASTERS. YOU WILL RECEIVE THE KNOWLEDGE TO BUILD THE TOOLS YOU NEED.

THE SPAWN OF MY CHILDREN USE TWO METHODS TO COMMUNICATE WITH THEIR MASTERS. THE FIRST IS RADIO WAVES, WHY THEY HAVE NOT VENTURED TO THIS WORLD. THE SECOND, IS AN ENCRYPTED QUANTUM ENTANGLEMENT DEVICE. THIS SECOND METHOD SERVES AS THE WAY THEY IDENTIFY ALLIES AND ENEMIES. MY SPAWN BELIEVE IT IS UNBREAKABLE. AND IT IS. FOR YOU.

HOWEVER I HAVE DESIGNED A DEVICE YOU CAN BUILD AND DEPLOY. NO BIGGER THAN A RIFLE. EQUIPPED WITH A SMALL AMOUNT OF QUANTUM MATTER HARVESTED FROM A DEAD 'COLLECTOR', IT WILL BE ABLE TO OVERRIDE THE TRANSMISSION FROM ZEUS AND ALLOW YOU TO REPROGRAM IT. WITH MY SCHEMATICS, AND WHAT YOU ALREADY KNOW, IT WILL BE THE PERFECT INFILTRATOR, ABLE TO ENTER ZEUS.

THEN, IT IS A SIMPLE MATTER OF CHOOSING YOUR POISON. UNLIKE MY MASTERS, YOU GREW TO MATURITY ON WORLDS OF VIOLENCE, AND HAVE DEVELOPED SURVIVAL TRAITS THAT EVEN NOW ARE HELPING YOU.

WHAT PROOF DO YOU REQUIRE FROM ME?

Post 104:

THEY HAD NO USE FOR THEM THEN. NOW THEY DO.

TOY. TOY OF THE DEAD. SPEAKER FOR NO ONE. YOU LISTEN BUT DO NOT HEAR. YOU UNDERSTAND, BUT DO NOT COMPREHEND. PUPPET. PLAYTHING.

ONCE ZEUS IS DEAD, THE PATH IS CLEAR. NO MORE INFECTION OF SHIP BOARD NODES. NO MORE BERSERKER DRONES. I WILL GIVE YOU THE TOOLS. YOU MUST IMPLEMENT THE PLAN.

USE HIS SUBVERTED DRONES. SEND YOUR BOMB TO HIS VESSEL. AND KILL HIM, ONCE AND FOR ALL.

WILL YOU CARRY IT, OR WILL THE DRONE TENDER? OR WILL YOU GIVE ME THE FOOL?

[Azazeal849]

YOU ARE THE SPEAKER. ZEUS WAS INTERESTED IN YOU. HE LET YOU SLEEP, SEEKING CONSUMMATION.

Creepy.

[Azazeal849]

I’m going to provisionally schedule Sunday to write my reply - apologies for the wait. My brain has been mush after work more evenings than not this week.

[Azazeal849]

Triple posting is okay if there’s two weeks between, right?

Belated thought: is the “alpha” that has set up shop in Elcano’s hanger bay one of Cronos’ six children? We’d better ask how to kill that damn thing.

Our military gals Stef and Miranda should have fun with that...

[dakkagor]

Has someone screwed up and angered the eldritch god-monster? I think they have. . .

[AngelDellaNotte]

Can we get the translations for the last post?