The Slaveling

Excellent beginning! You've a talent for unconventional stories and unexpected points of view...

Absolutely-really looking forward to this one

Can I ask is this based on a game story at all?  If so what are the settings?  I imagine that it isnt but just in case

Very glad you guys are enjoying the story.

This story is loosely based on game yes. My main motivation is story telling though, rather than a precise game description. 

I'll talk you through the game this story is based on once the whole story has been completed. Too much detail about the game at this stage may just give a few too many clues about the storyline I have planned.

Chapter 2: Evaluation

After my birthing, and my ordeal with the neural imprinter, I was cast into a chamber with a multitude of beings who looked a lot like me. In fact exactly like me. They were my siblings, from the same clone model line as me. We were the initial batch of 100 clones based on our particular genome. The test batch if you will. The Korath like to tinker with different combinations of genes when they design their research slavelings. Officially this to promote variation in the minds of their researchers, so that collectively we researcher slavelings have as wide a skill set as possible. Personally I think they enjoy playing god.

We were left in the chamber with ample food, water and bedding for a day or two. Enough time to build up our strength, and allow the neural imprinting to be fully processed and integrated by our minds. Then the testing began.

Day after day we were subjected to endless evaluations. Data analysis, theorising and problem solving tests. Tests designed to evaluate the heights of our intellect.

We were also introduced to the clamp. The neural clamp is a device implanted into the pain centres of every Korath slaveling. In most slavelings it is used instead of a whip. It is a means to keep the workers motivated. In us researchers however it is more than that. For us pain is a facilitator, a gateway if you will, to a higher level of concentration. Pain focuses our minds down to a fine point. All other distractions fall away. Even the pain isn’t really pain any more when we’re in the zone (so to speak). The pain becomes distant, disconnected from us, like its happening to someone else. And in this state we truly shine as scientists.

Ultimately our creators deemed us worthy. There were a few casualties along the way though. A few of my siblings were reduced to quivering wrecks. One even dropped dead, mind burned out. It is a curious phenomena that in a group of individuals as identical as my siblings and I, that a few individuals will react differently to the rest. It suggests that all individuals, even clones, are in some way indescribably unique. At this stage however I had no idea that I would ultimately prove to be the most unique of all of us. 

Chapter 3: Toil, toil, and more toil

Being pleased with their latest creations the Korath soon put us to work. The scale of modern research facilities cannot be overstated. They are cities devoted entirely to research. There is no other way to describe them. It was into one of these facilities I was transferred to toil for the benefit of my creators.

I worked on social technologies, economic technologies, engineering technologies, but most of all I worked on weapons. So many weapons. My creators must have had a lot of enemies to need such a succession of better and better weapons.

My clone line performed well in all its tasks. In particular we were renowned for our ability to bridge the gap between theory and practical application. Our technical skill was renowned. I’ve heard that my siblings now number in the tens of thousands.

Time has little meaning for a slaveling. There is little to distinguish one day from the last or the next. Every day we toil unendingly for our creators. There is little sense of the passage of time; it all blends into an endless present tense. This, along with the pain from the clamp, provides a numbing constant for us.

I do not know how long we served. But eventually it became time for change. A new clone line superseded mine. Some new combination of genes, including fresh ones from a newly conquered species, was deemed to be superior to my siblings and me.

Because of our established technical skill my clone line was reassigned to more menial technical and engineering work. We were put to work building and maintaining the very technologies we had helped create. My siblings were scattered across the Korath’s vast domain.

I was assigned to a constructor crew along with a few of my siblings. I heard rumours that we would be contributing to a very special project. At the time though I was distracted by my surroundings. Our constructor vessel was being built at the planetary starport, with components being made in the nearby slave pits.

Words cannot truly describe the scale and horror of the slave pits. A vast canyon deeper than the eye can see. Filled to the rim with the tools of industry. And filled with great throngs of slavelings. Slavelings that perform work far more crude and laborious than my own delicate exertions. No, even I do not envy those wretches condemned to toil in the slave pits. They feel every ounce of pain that flows their way from the clamp. At least my kind can use the pain and redirect it. What a miserable existence those labourers must endure.

It was after the launch of our constructor ship that I truly saw the scale of the slave pits however. Staring out of the portholes I saw a canyon filled with slavelings snaking over the horizon. And I wish I could say I only saw one of these canyons. But the thing that sent the greatest shiver up my spine was catching sight of the Devil’s Forge. An immense AI construct that was linked to the neural clamps of every slaveling on the planet. The prime motivator for every slaveling on the world I could see below me. This machine might have inflicted more pain to more beings than anything else in creation. And it was responsible for near enough all the pain I had endured in my life to date. It was a hard thing to look upon without flinching.

If only I had known then that I would see a greater horror than the slave pits and the Devil’s Forge away from the planet of my birth. That greater horror would lead me down a path that no other slaveling has ever dared contemplate. 

Oh wow-love it

Chapter 4: Darkness incarnate

After many weeks our constructor vessel reached its destination, and we finally learned our task. Out of the portholes we could see an immense shard of crystal. A crystal that glowed with light, as if alive somehow. Our masters wanted a starbase built to harness the energy of this crystal. We were told that this starbase would be of great significance to our creators.

A constructor is an ingenious vessel. On command it can reconfigure itself, cannibalising its own systems, to produce the foundation of a starbase. Inside a week my fellow slavelings and I had built on these bare bones, installing auxiliary systems, an energy trap and a vast array of capacitors.

We were never told why this base was so important or what exactly it was for. But slavelings are not as witless as the Korath believe we are. Several of my siblings and I conferred with the other slavelings in the barracks. I guess the curiosity and investigative skills of researchers were still strong in us. Eventually we pieced it together. Ascension.

The crystal our starbase was built around was very special, possibly unique. It radiated a very unusual form of energy, which had a profound effect on living tissue. Using the scientific knowledge that had been programmed into us we concluded that the energy of the crystal could be used to bring about a radical change in a living being. The energy might allow a person to transcend the physical plane altogether, becoming a being of pure energy. Such a transformation would be a wonder for the recipient. Freedom from disease, discomfort, and mortality itself. And likely the process would confer great power and wondrous new abilities. I could see now why harvesting this energy was of such great importance. It could usher in a new and better life for all.

It was later that day though that my perspective on all this was changed forever. It began with the most innocent of mistakes. I was walking through the corridors back to the sleeping barracks. A labour slaveling ahead of me tripped over in front of a Korath officer. The officer looked down on the slaveling, as if some small insect had dared to impede his progress. He removed a small device from his belt. A neural remote. He thumbed the device, and the slaveling writhed on the floor, drooling. Waves of agony coursing through his body. The officer twisted a knob on the device, increasing its power. The officer was quivering now with ...  could that be pleasure? The slaveling was left a dribbling wreck. The Korath officer summoned two subordinates and told them to send to the slaveling to the Slaughtertorium. Slaughtertorium, the name rang a bell. It was a place where the most wicked traitors and criminals were sent to be executed for their crimes. What crime had the slaveling committed? And why had the officer enjoyed causing the slaveling pain? Surely...

It was in that moment that something in my mind twisted free. In that moment of realisation I overcame my imprinted nature. The neural imprinter used to mould the minds of slavelings imparts a sense of loyalty and deference to the Korath. We merely serve, it seemed the natural relationship between creator and slaveling to us. But in that moment of realisation I saw the Korath for what they were. Evil, cruel, and without pity. The Korath enjoyed the pain of others. The Slaughtertorium was not a place of justice, it was entertainment for a vicious mob. Maybe that was why the Korath had invested so much in weapons research. They had enemies, and rightly so.

And then the final revelation dawned upon me. Ascension. It would not be a glorious thing, but a thing of horror. The Korath were trying to become gods. And they would not be kind gods. In their wake they could leave only death, destruction, and eternal misery.

I had to do something about this. But what could a mere slaveling do?

Something awesome, presumably.

Bring it on!  You will be the instrument of the wicked Korath's doom methinks

Love it

Chapter 5: Defiance

Back in the slaveling barracks my mind was racing. What could I do to avert what was happening here? I lay on my sleeping rack staring up at the ceiling. There were few options. I was physically weak. The only way I might take out a Korath soldier was if he obligingly stood in an airlock whilst I keyed the exterior door open. So any kind of direct action was out of the question.

My siblings would be of no help either. I had quietly tried to communicate my new found revelations about our creators to them, but to no avail. For whatever reason the neural imprinting was holding firm in their minds. Whatever I was going to do, I was going to have to do alone.

The only real option then was sabotage. But any sabotage I could accomplish would eventually be repaired. And for all I knew there were more starbases like this one out there. Any sabotage would only serve to delay the ascension process, not prevent it.

It was a conundrum to be sure, how could one slaveling prevent an action being undertaken by a powerful civilisation? My only assets were knowledge, technical skill, and a formidable intellect. That intellect was after all designed with the best parts from many other races.

Other races. That could be the answer. I knew the Korath likely had many enemies, after all the weapons research I had conducted in my time it was the only logical conclusion. Another race would have the resources I lacked; ships, soldiers and powerful weapons. The power to destroy this place.  But how could I use that power? It would require much thought and the right opportunity.

So I bided my time. First I had to determine if this station was the only one of its kind. A cascade failure in the computer core a few days later gave me the chance to find out. Whilst assigned to repairs on the core I browsed through the database. I found it quickly. A map of all Korath holdings; colonies, asteroid mines, and starbases, all marked and annotated. I scanned over the map feverishly. There were four other starbases like this one scattered throughout the galaxy. I committed the spatial coordinates to memory.

Two weeks later the communications system was damaged after a micro-asteroid collided with the transceiver array. I knew this might be the only chance I would get. And by taking this chance I would be sealing my own fate, whatever the outcome. But regardless I had to take action.

Whilst restoring the array I added a new subroutine. Two hours after the repairs were completed I had programmed the system to divert all available energy to the transmitter and begin sending a simple message on all frequencies. That message contained the spatial coordinates of the five Ascension starbases and a single word: Ascension. The Korath’s territory map was also attached to the message. That message would be repeated continuously. The Korath’s enemies would now know exactly where to strike. Now I could only hope they got the message and acted upon it.

Needless to say the Korath noticed the sabotage quickly. But the message was sent out for nearly 37 minutes before the other slavelings were able to undo my handiwork. Hopefully that was long enough. The Korath quickly backtracked through the service logs and came for me. Now I go to face the consequences of my actions. Whatever the Korath have in store for me I know that it will not be pleasant. 

Yikes!!  Looking ominous for our would-be hero

cant wait for more

Chapter 6: Consequences

And so I march in line to my doom. Around me walk all of my siblings, an endless line of faces that look like mine. All of us condemned. All because of me. My act of rebellion has made my entire clone line suspect. I can only hope that my actions paid off, that the Korath’s enemies received my message. I can only hope that my siblings can understand why I did what I did, and could forgive me if they did understand.

I have heard rumours from other slavelings. The Korath are fighting numerous battles at the moment. Or so I hear. Could this be the Koraths enemies coming to do what I could not? I suppose I will never know. In the end I did as much as I could to damage the schemes of my evil creators. I made a stand for what was right. What more could I have done?

Whatever is happening out in the galaxy the Korath now seem to have a great need for industrial production. My siblings and I are being fed into a demonic device called the Aul Incinerator. This device can utterly destroy a living being, including the soul (or aul), releasing vast amounts of energy in the process. The Korath are destroying us, body and soul, to power their factories. It seems that even in death and disgrace we must perform one final act of service for our creators. Such is the lot of slavelings.

It’ll be my turn to be thrust into the Aul Incinerator soon. There are only a few of my siblings ahead of me now. I’m a few steps away from a painful death. But pain has been a constant throughout my life. My mind was built to harness pain. Maybe it won’t be so bad.

Well I’m about to find out. It’s my turn now. Do I regret the decisions that led me to this end? No, I only wish I could have done more, and that my actions had not cost the lives of my siblings as well as my own.

With a sharp shove the guards push be into the Aul Incinerator. I once thought I had seen infinity when the neural imprinter seared all that initial knowledge into my mind. Now I experienced an eerie echo of that event. An infinity of pain, and my mind used that pain to channel my awareness down to a single infinitesimal point. Nothing else existed. And then...

The End.

Wow-what a sudden and unexpected ending-great though

Shame for our hero-one can only hope that his actions put a spoke in the Korath wheel eh?  Hope we'll be seeing you with a new AAR soon eh Komnenos?

Glad you enjoyed it mamabaman. I shall write another AAR sometime soon, so any ideas or suggestions for my next story are very welcome. 

The Game behind the story:

This AAR is loosely based on one of my first games with the Twilight of the Arnor expansion pack, and it was also the first game in which I gave the Korath a serious go.

The settings (as best I remember them) were a large galaxy, with abundant, scattered stars, but rare habitable planets. Difficulty was set to normal, as I wanted to take the new features of the game for a spin, and try to get my head round the new unique tech tree for the Korath. 

As you might expect on such a difficulty I quickly carved out a respectable empire, and thought that I would sweep to victory without too many problems. But that was before I discovered spore ships.

At first glance the idea of just sending one of these ships to an enemy planet and having it conquered instantly, no fuss, and no possibility of losing was very appealing. I could essentially turn up in orbit around an enemy planet and say "you lose!". So I built loads of them.

I spored dozens of enemy planets and worked on my evil genius laugh, thinking I'd found a quick way to victory. Oh how badly I was wrong. Now anyone vaguely familiar with spore ships and the Korath will have worked out where this is going.

Having all those newly spored planets, with bugger all population and a ton of improvements generously left by my exterminated foes, cost a lot of money. The upkeep costs of all those improvements wern't balanced by tax income from a large population, so the bottom fell out of my economy.

Now all this extermination hadn't exactly gone down well with the neighbours. It had gone down so well in fact that I got the "at a secret meeting it has been decided that the Korath menance has grown too great. The war has expanded" event. The world and his uncle all declared war on me.

Trouble is without a viable economy ship production and upkeep became rather problematic. My fleets got slowly wittled down as I struggled to replenish the numbers of ships. I realised aggression wasn't going to win the game. An alliance, and influence victory were also out of the question given the situation. So I looked again at the new ascension victory condition.

I'd put down an ascension starbase near the start of the game, just to see what it did more than anything else. Not being enticed by a 1000 turn clickfest to acheive victory, I forgot about it pretty quickly.

At this point there was nothing much to lose though. By this point I'd worked out that more ascension starbases = less time till victory. So maybe if I made a play for the ascension crystals and concentrated my defenses around them I might have a shot at avoiding a humiliating defeat. The remaining ascension crystals (untouched by the AI) were scattered through my territory or were within easy reach of it. So I built starbases on them, and hoped for the best. With all 5 crystals the time till victory decreased to about 100 turns. I thought I might be able to make it. 

What happened next was one of the best examples of cheating from the otherwise good and honest AI. My enemies gathered their fleets and flew them IN A STRAIGHT LINE directly towards my ascension starbases, passing by my measly fleets and ripe undefended planets. Know I can understand why the AI did that, after all it should try to stop me winning by ascension. But how did it know exactly where the bases were? 

I ultimately fell victim to the AI's omni-vision. It's knowledge of exactly where everything in on the map is, regardless of such paltry considerations such as fog of war or any of its ships ever having been within three sectors of my starbases before they took them out. Now in retrospect I probably would have struggled to defend the starbases for the 100 or so turns against an organised enemy with my rag-tag remnant fleets. But I would have liked to chance to try, without the AI using its omni-vision to pwn me quite so quickly.

Suffice it to say I didn't manage to win this game. I did come to like playing as the Korath though. Spore ships, when used sparingly against high population planets or other highly resistant targets, are a great strategic weapon.

I suppose the main character of this story is a round about way of explaining how my enemies knew where everything was. A way of RPing away the irritating mechanic of the AI's omni-vision.

After sporing planets you should have transported population form planets with high population to get your empire's population and taxes growing.

Late in the game, you and the AIs have mapped the entire map so why wouldn't they know the location of your ascension bases?

You could say that they would have scanned the area prior to you creating the base and so should only see the ascension crystals but the game show you and the AIs starbases in already mapped areas.

NIce explanation but I have to say I thought the same as Mascrinthus when i read it-more than likely the enemy had already mapped the locations of the Ascension crystals even if he didnt want to do anything with them

Great AAR though-really look forward to the next one

Excellent AAR! Maybe a little short in my opinion, but it has proven an excellent reading! Waiting for the next one!

Love how you came up with the idea for the story from how your gme developed. cheers to you fine storyteller