The guys over at Dark Sky Entertainment are doing something cool to help stir up interest for their upcoming MMORTS: Beyond Protocol. This will come out every Wednesday for the next 6 weeks as a journal-style piece, so I will accompany each post with this same header to make sure you know what’s going on! So, here’s part 4 (It came in late last night):
The missing Gifford McCray and wormholes, huh? Isn’t that something…? Oh, I bet I forgot to mention, that one was classified. The elders don’t like anyone readin that one unless they’re gonna do what you’re gonna do, and of course doin what I do, I need to have read it. They never did find out what happened to him and his rouge crew, and that might have been for the best. After that little incident, the officials of the time became real careful about who knew about wormholes at all. This next one’s a bit different than the rest. It’s not from some scientist, or ship captain, it’s the entire journal of a factory manager, but don’t worry it’s only 7 entries! His name was Tom Angus, and he wrote this at the time of the first Galactic War.
The journal of Tom Angus
March 1st, 3550 TE
Alright, I’ll start off by saying, this was not my idea. My therapist told me it might help with my stress level… Honestly, I think it might help more if the whole system wasn’t getting attacked every few days! What’s worse is that the enemy seems to be in the habit of leaving no survivors, so we don’t have any idea where they are or how to stop em. Because of all this, the factory has been in constant production of weapons and armor. The team is overworked and the equipment is dated and in need of replacing. So, sure, writing in a little book might help me vent, but if all these other problems went away, that would probably help more!
March 8th, 3550 TE
I heard yesterday that two more systems came under attack, Alathfar and Yvelad, and it fit the same mo as what’s going on here. Those systems are both clear across the known galaxy in different directions! Whoever or whatever these guys are, they’ve got reach…
Well, there was one good thing that happened this week. The factory got an overhaul and now we’ve got more power, more production capacity, and a little extra storage. I think that’ll just mean we’ll have a higher daily quota, but with the increased capacity, we’re hiring some more operators, and the team is fairly happy about that. Anything to raise moral!
March 15th, 3550 TE
Another slew of colonies have been leveled, this time it was in Fadlar. Something has to be done. The divided nations spread in various corners of the galaxy are starting to realize that this problem won’t just go away. The news channels have reported a few meetings discussing a giant alliance, if for nothing else then just to put a stop to these monsters. I really hope that’s the case, there’s no point in remaining independent nations if we all end up dying… We could use some technologic influence as well. I’m seeing what we’re sending out to the battlefield and it’s the same old stuff we’ve been making for years.
March 22nd, 3550 TE
The news channels have been squawking non stop for the past few days. On Tuesday, all feed went dead for about 30 seconds and suddenly a robed representative, looking very much like a religious zealot, claimed to represent a group called The Four Horsemen. He claimed they were from Cursa originally and that they were responsible for these unknown attacks and called for the surrender of the entire galaxy! That would explain a few things, first, Cursa and the near by Sargas went silent centuries ago without any sign of why. Expeditionary teams recently went to repopulate those worlds, and all they found was rubble. Second, it seems their entire civilization is wholly geared towards conquest and destruction, so their knack for leaving no survivors is a form of devotion, not simply a battle tactic. Of course this was enough to get the politicians to agree, finally, that they had to do something. On Thursday, the Galactic Alliance was announced, with the sole intent of ridding the galaxy of this threat. They stated their confidence in being a larger force than that of the 4H, which is the charming abbreviation now used by the media… Along with this announcement they said that, with a name to pursue, spies were successful in locating several 4H bases around the galaxy. I’m not entirely convinced that they can, but I certainly hope they will bring these malevolent psychopaths to justice!
March 29th, 3550 TE
After nearly a week of constant engagements, and a near doubling of our quota at the factory, no end seems to be in sight of this conflict. I have a good friend who works in central intelligence, who probably shouldn’t have told me this; Jamie is the only name I feel comfortable writing down. He says, for every five of our ships, we manage to bring down one of theirs. He did say though, that they don’t seem to be producing new ships. So it’s possible that once we grind them down enough, they won’t be able to keep up with our production. I’m thinking of telling my crew that, I think it would really help raise spirits, but I need to do that without telling them how I know… I wouldn’t want to get Jamie in trouble. He’s got a wife and kids…
April 5th, 3550 TE
Unbelievable! Apparently the information Jamie gave me was dead on. The Galactic Alliance hit a bunch of production facilities and 4H was forced to retreat. That is the problem though, they only retreated, but that means we’ve had 3 days without an attack. A year ago, that might not be so unbelievable, but we’ve been under constant attack ever since these guys showed up. Maybe that means they’re really gone! Production around here hasn’t slowed at all though. I think everyone wants to be sure we’re prepared if they do come back. On the other hand, moral is high! I can already feel the stress peeling away. If this keeps up, I won’t need to vent to a book!
April 12th, 3550 TE
Well, it has been a week, and production has been cut back to prewar levels and everyone’s pretty happy again. The 4H must have returned to whatever hole that they crawled out of. The news casters, Jamie as well, are pretty convinced that they didn’t go back to Cursa. All sorts of rumors are flying as to the origins and even the embodiment of the four. Some people, and a few of the broadcasters, seem convinced that they came to Cursa from the fabled Pluto colony. The common theory is that Pluto is a utopia, as we have been told by the occasional, “I’ve been to Pluto!” nuts. However, with the latest events, I think opinion is starting to swing towards the possibility that the isolationists went crazy…
I’ve also heard a few of my workers say they don’t think that the 4H leaders were human, only their followers. I tend not to buy into theories about aliens, humanity has been flying around the galaxy for almost two millennia now and has yet to see anything non human capable of little more than making a nest. I’d believe they’re no longer human, some sort of mechanical or “elevated” human… but I’m not going to tell anyone that… Maybe I should erase that last line…
All of that aside, I’m feeling much better, so I’m going to tell the shrink to take a hike! Ha, that makes me feel a lot better! Unless the 4H come back, I think this’ll be my last entry here.
- Tom Angus, 3504 – 3587 TE
Beyond Protocol is a game focused on control, over an empire, over planets, and over solar systems, but the ultimate form of control here, is over the game itself. This power comes from the Galactic Senate. Players have the ability to add, subtract, and modify game mechanics through a complex, but engaging voting process.
To fully explain what the EC is, it is important to understand what the title of Emperor entails and what those risks are. The known galaxy, as of the EC’s initial inauguration, was composed of over 40 star systems, each containing an average of 10-20 planets. Each one of these seven initial emperors controls every planet in at least one system. Theirs is the largest colony on every planet, they collect a tax paid on every mineral mined there, and they decide how that entire system votes in the GS. Should an emperor loose even a single planet in their system, through war or aggressive building, the rank is lost and research is crippled for a real world week, unless the title can be regained. That is the basic gist, there are many more subtleties but playing the game is more fun than reading about it! In light of that, here is a more detailed description of the EC and GS.
For the sake of an example, say that there are only two players in the game. The vote is to add a new class of battle tank to the game. Player A is in control of 6 planets while Player B is in control of 4 planets. Player A votes against the issue and Player B votes in favor of the issue. Player B has two weeks to either convince Player A to change stance, be it by flowery words, threats, or bribery, or take 2 planets by force and change the votes of those planets, otherwise this new battle tank will not make it to the game. In both the EC and the GS, players are allowed to make statements on issues which can be seen by anyone viewing that issue.
