Advent Origins and other Mythology (and some history too)

Fokxnim

Join Date 05/2008

+51

Advent Origins and other Mythology (and some history too)

A place to consolidate all known Advent lore and to fill up the holes with our own ideas.

So this is the Advent version of the original Vasari history thread (http://forums.impulsedriven.com/363669) and the new TEC history thread (http://forums.impulsedriven.com/364997).

Basically, this is a spot where the Sins community can place all their thoughts on anything that has to do with Advent history and culture, and we as a group can decide what we'd like to actually have as part of the Advent lore (unoffically, of course). This is the spot for any holes in the Advent lore that you'd like to fill. And this is the spot where you place any really awesome ideas about the Advent that you'd like to share with everyone. I'll add some things later, but feel free to begin posting stuff. And I highly recommend going to the Vasari and TEC versions and placing your comments or even ideas on the topics discussed there. Happy idea spamming!

Also: I'll update this top part once we've come to an agreement on the ideas discussed here.

Current lore:

The origins of the Advent began well before recorded history. It is said that they began as one of many broken peoples who sought spiritual escape on peripheral worlds following the great wars. the earliest known records trace back to the formation of the Trade Order. At its inception, the Order sent emissaries to recruit all known inhabited planets into the organization. One such group discovered a single desert planet orbiting a massive red star surprisingly populated by a thriving civilization. Excited by the profitability of this potential market, the Order authorized immediate integration and the emissaries initiated contact. The representatives of the planet decidedly rejected the membership offer. Not willing to accept failure, the Order sent a series of market research teams to acquire data that could be used to formulate a more elaborate strategy. They received a single, incomplete report containing disturbing information. Shocking acts of deviancy, at every level of society, violated the venerable taboos common to all Trader worlds. Sinful cerebral integration technologies, unrestricted biological experimentation, strange forms of collectivism, and the wholesale usage of countless neurochemicals were but a few of the transgressions. The Trader Worlds overwhelmingly voted that such an aberration had no place within the territories of their new Order. With an instinctive fear, the Traders took control of the planet by force and exiled the inhabitants far into uncharted space. The exiles would integrate the story of their origins into myths and prophecies. They believed that their destiny was to exact retribution and assume their rightful place in the galaxy. One thousand years later, when it became clear that the rare and precious resources that empowered their unique way of life approached exhaustion, the society unanimously decided to return to their original home and fulfill their prophecies.

Here are the ship summaries for the Advent, as they add a bit to the little lore we have on the Advent, and they might spark an idea. I'll add my opinion to the summaries in [ ]. They are all opinions, so please argue with me about a take on a summary if you disagree with it.

Seeker Vessel

The Seeker Vessel is a fast-attack ship built for quickly scouting out enemy fleet positions and jumping

back without being noticed. Its twin pulse lasers also make it useful in small skirmishes against lightly

armored targets. Dedicated to the will of the Unity, Seekers will not hesitate to sacrifice a portion of

their presence to follow the enemy or to martyr themselves against the hulls of the unenlightened.

[maybe their captains are all tough men and slightly suicidal? Remember, Advent women did not work in the tasks that required small amounts of PsiTech.]

Disciple Vessel Primary

Armed with a single forward pulse laser, the Disciple Vessel may at first seem underpowered, but that

is deceptive. Shedding extra crew compartments and relying on total integration of the ship‘s crew into

its systems, the Disciple is agile and deadly. Once further trained and equipped, the Disciple Vessel

submits itself to becoming an important battery of antimatter for the more powerful of the Unity‘s

vessels, while at the same time denying antimatter to the enemy. The Disciple is crewed by expendable

low-level Advent acolytes who have demonstrated their personal submission to the Unity, but have no

particular psionic talents.

[crewed by a couple of women "controlling" the psionic flows, but the ship is mostly male dominated]

Illuminator Vessel

The Illuminator Vessel is a frightening sight to behold on the battlefield and a true testament to the

Advent‘s mastery of beam technology. Featuring not one but three long-range beam cannons, the

Illuminator can quickly tear through shields and hull, leaving nothing but a cloud of debris in its wake.

Despite its weak armor, the Illuminator is able to survive due to its ability to project false images of

itself into the minds of nearby enemies, confusing and bewildering them. The adversary facing a

cohort of Illuminators can never be sure of how numerous his enemies really are.

[crewed by medium-level women capable of making psionic tricks. Most of the crew is male, as they are not needed for large psionic tasks.]

Purge Vessel

To the humans of the Trader Worlds, the shape of the Purge Vessel is reminiscent of a great bird, but

it‘s one bird nobody wants to see in their sky. Lightly shielded with moderate armor, the Purge Vessel

can rain down powerful kinetic bolts onto an undefended world, laying it to waste. Purge Vessel

crews are recruited from amongst the most zealous of Advent converts, and see themselves as direct

incarnations of the Unity‘s desire for retribution. Although the ship is not heavily armored or shielded,

Purge Vessels will often rush through a contested area in their eagerness to deliver justice to the

unfaithful.

[run by the most zealous in the Advant race, no real need for women here, unless to fire the kinetic bolts a jumpstart of psionic energy is needed. but even then, a group of men working together could achieve the same end.]

Defense Vessel

Although designed to counter enemy fighters and bombers, the Defense vessel is also adept at taking

on opposing frigates and cruisers. With its pulse laser turrets, the Defense is capable of targeting

enemies in almost any direction. Single Defense Vessels are weak, but used in large numbers or as an

escort group, they can be a force to be reckoned with, especially when used as escort for capital ships.

An Advent crew member feels at ease when he can sense the presence of a fleet of Defense Vessels

guarding his flank.

[crewed by at least one low- to mid-level women. not a favorable job, but a noble one.]

Missionary Vessel

The Missionary ship spreads the Unity‘s will throughout the galaxy by seeding new Advent colonies on

newly claimed worlds. Missionaries are given special psionic training that allows them to encourage

indigenous peoples to submit to the will of the Unity, and to break the spirits of those who resist.

In addition, specialized members of the Unity are onboard who are willing to separate themselves

for long periods of time in order to establish isolated mining facilities. Like most colony ships, the

Missionary is weakly armed and armored, and succeeds in battle by avoiding it at all costs.

[almost all are women, thought not many are above low-level in PsiTech, as only special training is needed to crew a Missonary, not large amounts of psionic power. The name itself implies the Advent are deeply religious. The only men aboard this craft would be those willing to work in mining facilities.]

Aeria Drone Host

The Aeria Drone Host is the Advent answer to the TEC light carrier; the key difference being that its

fighter/bomber squadrons are unmanned. Instead, multiple onboard psionic anima are integrated into

the Aeria‘s systems, allowing multiple drone fighters/bombers to be piloted remotely using a highly

sophisticated telepathic link. Anima members are among the most skilled psionics in the Unity, and

their telekinetic skills are revered and feared even by those in higher castes.

[unlike the Vasari and TEC who's fighter and bomber pilots are low ranking men/Vasari, the Advent fighter and bomber crews are high-level women. The Aeria permits no men to cross its threshold.]

Iconus Guardian

The Iconus Guardian is a relatively recent addition to the Advent fleet and reflects the new focus on

ship shield technology. The hull of the ship is weak, but the Guardian has an extremely powerful shield

generator, which can be projected outwards to protect nearby vessels. The shields do not completely

prevent the target from being damaged, but they can help nearby ships to survive battles which would

have otherwise have destroyed them. Guardians make excellent supporting ships and combined with

offensively oriented ships, like the Destra, can be part of a devastating force.

[crewed by low-level women, men making up the main work force. no psionic ability is needed besides that which is used to fly the ship. the shield generator is run with electrical energy, not psionic energy, and can be worked easily by males.]

Domina Subjugator

Utilizing the Advent‘s unique telepathic skills, the Domina‘s specialized hull is capable of projecting a

psionic suppression field onto enemy ships. Once hit, the opposing crew is unable to move, rendering

their vessel open to attack by more powerful Advent ships. This makes the Subjugator a fantastic

complement to any of the more combat-oriented vessels, or to any of the Advent capital ships. Domina

crews are highly trained psionics and can also telepathically encourage nearby ships‘ crews to work

well past the point of exhaustion.

[high-level women dominate the bridge, and most of the work force as well. a small portion of men also work on this ship.]

Destra Crusader

Destra Crusaders bring enlightenment to the masses, if not typically in a friendly manner. The Destra‘s

design is dominated by four huge plasma cannons which make it more than a match for most enemy

frigates and cruisers. The appearance of the Crusaders in the first few battles of the war marked the

beginning of the end for the TEC forces. The resulting tales of the survivors created a widespread

superstition in the TEC military that the appearance of a Destra on the battlefield signifies bad luck for

the TEC.

[crewed by low-level women, men make up the rest of the work force.]

Radiance Battleship

No ship personifies the Advent‘s vengeful nature more so than the Radiance Battleship. Literally

bristling with varied energy weapons, it can unleash a torrential downpour of plasma bursts and laser

fire. Those who endure such an onslaught have little respite, as the Radiance‘s axial beam cannon can

cut a wide swath of destruction through enemy ranks.

[as with all capital ships, women are what you'll find at every level of this ship, even working the cannons. there are perhaps a few men that will take up positions on a capital ship, but not many are allowed.]

Revelation Battlecruiser

Immense arrays of powerful PsiTech project through the hulls of the Revelation Battlecruisers, allowing

them to amplify the natural skill of their Battle Psintegrae up to a planetary scale. While such power

occasionally finds benign use, the Advent show little hesitation using it to channel their wrath and

inflict chaos upon the hapless populations below.

[high-level women only crewing this ship, although medium- and low-level women can work outside the bridge. men are not allowed.]

Progenitor Mothership

While the Advent certainly seek to exact revenge for their exile, they also strongly desire to spread the

influence of the Unity. Few ships are as capable in this objective as Progenitor Motherships—their

ability to tap into the Unity‘s collective consciousness is unrivalled. The most skilled Progenitor crews

are so attuned to the Unity that they can psionically transfer the spirits of a destroyed ship‘s dead

crew into another vessel. This ensures that the Advent‘s best and brightest are never truly lost, as their

presence can be recovered and reinserted into willing hosts of the Unity.

[the Advent have their own way of cloning, which involves removing an Advent's presence or "soul" from a dead body, no matter how mutilated, and replacing it in another willing Advent. The original soul of the host will be discarded or transplanted back into the dead body, and the new presence will have full control. this ship is crewed only by high-level women on all levels.]

Halycon Carrier

Responsible for remotely piloting groups of the Drone fighters, Drone Anima are valued crewmembers

aboard all Advent capital ships. The most veteran of this caste are reserved for positions aboard

Halcyon Carriers; leveraging the piloting skill of these elite Psintegrat allows the ship to host a

veritable swarm of strike craft. Halcyon Carriers employ a number of systems to augment the combat

effectiveness of their own fighter wings, as well as those of allies.

[high-level women crew the ship and work the drone anima. the rest of the work force can be male, but will usually be mid- to low-level women.]

Rapture Battlecruiser

Rapture Battlecruisers carry relatively few and often lighter weapon emplacements than most similarly

sized capital ships, leading many early TEC captains to believe they were an easy target. Such

smugness often gave way to display as their crews faltered and succumbed to the true strength of the

Rapture: an abundance of both advanced PsiTech and the Advent‘s most gifted Battle Psintegrat.

[high-level women crew the ship and run the special abilities, the rest of the ship's tasks are run by high-level men (high-level by male standards)]

I conclude from this that there is at least 10-20 women for every 1 male, probably much more than that, in Advent society. Everything else I believe I mentioned under each ship. Now I want to know your thoughts on my opinions, and your own opinions as well.

Note: when I say crewed by women, I mean women in the bridge or command center. maybe captained by was the better phrase, but there you have it.

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Just because they begin questioning it doesnt mean they look at each other and say. "oh you have a penis, you cant fight in our war go sit on that bench over there and make me some more ships."

And I never said they were mindless drones I said they act LIKE ants which is an analogy not a direct parallel to ants. The analogy was to show you that they all feel compelled to do their part for the Unity and that they will accept any job needed to fullfil this mission to seek vengence. In the beginning everyone would have believed in their Crusade to banish the TO and bring those willing into their Fold, But like every war, People start to question it after it isnt a hit and run type deal. Especially a race that can feel every death, every loss personally wether they knew each other or not.

It makes no sense for only females to fight a war, unlike the Vasari, they arent Asexual, they probably dont use cloning all the time, And women are the lifegivers of humanity, To sacrifice that many females to a war effort is totally ridiculous.

also

You know what that would do to the Advent Population? With in just a few years their birthrate would severly drop. Simply because an ALL Female Navy would be on the frontlines dying. While men.........who cant give birth are stuck at home building ships and other necessities for the war effort. Let alone 25 years into the War effort, I cant possibly imagine how the Advent would be able to keep rebuilding their population other then turning fully to cloning. Which has its own issues. The reality is, Men are easier to sacrifice, all you need to do is leave 1/4 the male population behind, for varying reasons and the population will still hold. But if you take 3/4s of the female population and throw them into war, your definitely gonna see a very big drop in birthrate.

If their numbers were to look like anything it would be 3/4s of the Advent Navy were men. And 1/4 would be female. While there would be high ranking Males, most of them would be Females given that they dont number as many and they are more valuable. The males would be spreadout most of them along with the few weak females would be doing the more laborous jobs amoung the Advent.

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I agree with your first bit. I'm sorry, I didn't understand your ants reference. But you misunderstood my meaning on women and men. Men would still be working on every ship, except for the Aeria. They just wouldn't be in the bridge, which is the most important part of a ship, Advent especially. I mentioned before that groups of 5-6 men would work each weapon/cannon on each ship. And there's all the other nonessential jobs that only require a little PsiTech. Only the women would captain the ship from the bridge, however, cause that's just how Advent tradition is. And it takes something big to change tradition. Yes, nearing Entrenchment or I'm thinking more likely Diplomacy, Advent men will start entering command positions because there's been a severe drop in Advent women. But that's not till the expansion that hasn't even been released yet.

But as for your last paragraph, that's exactly what I've been saying, the men would do most of the grunt work along with a couple weak women, but high-power women would captain the more powerful positions. Guess we just misunderstood each other.

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Yeah but at the same time, Im saying that Men wouldnt just be apart of the lower grunt work they'd be all over. Like I said There would be plenty of strong psionic men. Its just the Elite is Dominated not completely controlled by females. There would be plenty of men in the higher ranks. Even captaining atleast 45% of all vessels including Captials. They wouldnt suppress their most gifted members, male or female theyd be looked to to lead them to victory.

I have to disagree with there being any tradition of the Advent keeping Females as leaders and men as just grunts. Its just not logical. Its like test scores in schools, women usually round out at the top of the class, usually, but that doesnt mean theirs a lack of men at the top of the class. Infact Im sure the same thing can be said about the Advent, while the females usually make up the strongest of the psionic they arent the only ones. 1,000 years of expansion, Im willing to bet theres Millions if not Billions of strong psionic men. Im still not getting where your idea of this tradition from. But Id like to see some lore to back it up.

With newcomers coming in here to see what the fuss is about their gonna attach themselves to what we agree on. We cant JUST make stuff up, we need to build off of the foundation logically and expand on it keeping ourselves from stepping off the edge and taking this well beyond what logic tells us.

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Quoting Allegiance86,

reply 28

Im still not getting where your idea of this tradition from. But Id like to see some lore to back it up.

To be nitpicky, what lore are you basing your men make up 45% or many of the high positions theory? These threads were made to fill the holes in the Sins lore (I believed), and for that to happen you have to make things up. Now I'm not saying make up any old thing, but something that makes sense. As long as you can explain it, it's a valid issue. Now both of us have explained our view of the Advent hierarchy, neither of us is wrong as there's nothing to base this off of, this can only be our separate opinions, and now we have to wait for the Sins community to choose which idea they like the best. There's really nothing left to say at this point on men's roles in Advent society.

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now we have to wait for the Sins community to choose which idea they like the best.

well in that case I go with Allegiance, while there are societies were the weaker of the two genders to get downplayed to a second citizen level, there are others that dont have this problem near to the level that you speak of. And when you consider that the societies that dont have many gender issues usually have greater amounts of freedom for their citizens, and the Advent, according to the lore, teach their children, notice no gender specification, to reach thier full potential in whatever way suits them. Therefore they have greater amounts of freedom and Allegiance's explaination of the gender roles fit quite well with this bit of lore.

as a side note, werent you guys also going to do the history/explainations of the ships, that would be cool as well, I did that for the TEC thread

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I actually just added the ships to the Vasari thread. Right now im trying to pull everything thats been agreed on into my OP

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Quoting Ryat,

reply 30

as a side note, werent you guys also going to do the history/explainations of the ships, that would be cool as well, I did that for the TEC thread

I said I wasn't that good with making up ship histories (meaning I'm just too lazy to try), but I posted the ship summaries from the Sins manual and I added my impression that each summary gave me.

EDIT: but if you wanted to do it for the Advent too, go ahead

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oops did not see the updated OP

but yeah I wouldnt mind taking a shot at it, I like to do it ship by ship and not all at once. You get more thought into it.

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same here, ive got alot on my plate as it is with making sure what i add isnt against whats been already said, as well everything else in my day. if you wanna start that in the Vasari, go for it.

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COOL!

I love doing things like that

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The Radiance

Revenge is best served hot, blazing hot. The Advent have been planning their vengeance for a millennium, and nothing says it better then the Radiance. Armed with powerful lasers, plasmas guns, and beam cannons the Radiance carves a path of destruction through even the toughest of fleets. Bring in the axial beam cannon that fires for a torrential downpour of firepower that is further enhanced by the PsiTech of the Advent and the Cleansing Brilliance shines across the galaxy burning the hated enemy to ash and dust.

Always on the forefront of the battlelines the Radiance is feared. It can often stand alone, but is usually part of a greater whole so as to enhance its already powerful and deadly weapons and abilities. Many of the crew can reach out and cause the enemy's antimatter to explode and become useless allowing the Advent to completely dominate its targets of vengeance.

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The Revelation

A soldier is only as effective as the support in which he is given. And the Advent know this well. In crafting the Revelation they put much thought into its development. Guidance help the fleet to use their abilities more effectively, while Clairvoyance allowed them to see what was at the next target to better plan their attacks.

Of course any good warship had offensive abilities as well. Reverie allow the Advent to temporarily put a ship that was causing them problems on hold in a sense while they deatl quickly with the rest of the enemy fleet then later turn on that helpless ship now stripped of any support itself and destroy it. Provoke Hysteria was an ability to top all abilities, why bother bombing and destroying a planet with your own ships when you can make the populace do it for you.

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The Progenitor Mothership

The Mothership was an ancient design. In the early years of their exile the Advent knew they had to build an empire in hopes of getting revenge. The Mothership was designed to build that empire. So many were sent forth with powerful weapons and more powerful PsiTech crews. Over the course of the thousand years many adaptions were fitted to these powerful warship, such as the abilty to colonize planets at a more effecient rate, the ability to increase the regeneration rates of its own shields and that of its many escorts, and increase the damage caused to many of the enemy ships that sought valiantly to defend their planets. The final ability was found towards the end of the colonization period when a PsiTech inadvertently reached too deep into the Unity consciousness, there was found the lost imprints of the dead which could be copied and put into the living. The Resurrection abilty was born.

Now the Progenitor Mothership moves among the fleets, helping where it can and increasing the Advent empire to greater heights on the carcass of the hated enemies.

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The Halcyon Carrier

While the TO had forgotten many of the lessons of warfare, the Advent had studied them relentlessly in their quest for vengeance. One lesson learned in the ancient planet of Terra of the Second Worldwide War was the power of strike craft. The Advent took this to heart and developed the Halcyon Carrier. With support for six squadrons of strike craft (newer versions will soon host 8) the Advent could send a steady stream of telepathicaly operated strike craft to weaken enemy fleets or send a whirlwind of strike craft to devastate the enemy, which every was needed.

Understanding the need to keep every ship useful to the greater whole, a Telekinetic Push was developed to protect the fleet from any strike craft that managed to pierce the web of defensive fire, often pushing the strike craft back into the fire envolope. Further testing found that such PsiTech could also improve firing rates on many Advent ships to increase the overall firepower of the fleet.

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The Rapture

The Revelation was a success. But the Advent wanted more then just a helper support vessel. They wanted a support vessel that took the fight to the enemy. The Rapture was born. The Vertigo ability took the best fighting crew the enemy ever had and brought them to their knees. Any harm inflicted upon a ship of the Unity was sent back to the enemy often at twice of what was given. And if that was not enough the enemy often saw their own ships turn up on them. Though weakly armed with regular weapons the Rapture often brought so much destruction to the fleet that many an Advent fleet commander made sure to have at least one if not two of these awe inspiring vessels in their fleets.

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thanks a ton ryat! thats some karma heading ur way.

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Volt_Cruelerz

Join Date 06/2008

+115

Okay, I'm too lazy to read through it myself and don't have the time... Has anyone tried addressing why exactly the Advent have PsiTech? If not I've got a good idea. If someone has, I would like to see what they have come up with and add on to it...

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i cant for the life of me explain the Psionic abilities other then maybe the Psitech unlocked it. Or maybe evolution.....but go for it Volt.

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Let's hear your idea first, Volt. Then see what we have.

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My thoughts...

Why Advent use Psi'Tech: From the original SINS intro movie and ingame windows in the tech tree, I get the feeling the Advent, before they were banished from the TEC, used machines to enhance or make add ons to their bodies. (think cyborg-like) After they entered exile i'd wager they found a way to use similar machines to unlock their brains to use more then the 10% humans use right now, which could be explained for the psychic prowess the Advent use everywhere. It could be after that as a culture they moved to pure psychic use over machines-human hybrids with psychic abilities.

Why women are dominant in Advent culture: Going back to when the Advent were first exiled, i'd say the danger of space caused the majority of the men to die off. Leaving women to take up holes in the military. As time goes by the gender difference grew so present-day Advent gender ratio may be 20 to 1 (women to men) or even 50+ to 1 (at least!). Men would still be able to fill the roles that the Advent women fill but seeing one would be rare from a cultural standpoint in my opinion. Since the gender ratio is so unbalanced they could be limited from serving in the military to keep the population of the Advent stable and growing as they expend colonies.

I am a man so that may be coloring things differently.

Two things also I take away from playing as the Advent...

1) The Advent may have (or had) 1 single leader at a time to guide The Unity in it's direction. I pull this from the Advent research for expanding fleet capacity and culture research flavor text. If they have 1 single leader at current it could be that research expands that one individual's will over more and more of The Unity as a whole. (Not really mind control but it would be on par of them imparting some maner of their will in decisions) If no 1 single leader at the top just replace 1 leader with The Unity imposing influence over the individual to a degree. (Makes it sound sinister no matter which way that came out...)

2) The overall aggressiveness of The Unity military doesn't really seam something I'd atribute to a woman's mentallity. Since women by nature are nurturing and caring, I entertain the idea that the men may be focus points for The Unity military. Perhaps have 1 to a handful of men researved on each ship for the rest of the crew to psychicly draw the natural agression men have for fights. I know women can be very agressive (hell hath no fury as a woman scorned) but it seems to me the agressiveness the Unity shows militarily does not come from the women in the military mainly.

This could also explain the pretext for the Advent Diplomacy options come next micro-expansion. Some members of the Advent are questioning their leaders. (perhaps their leadership is made up mainly of men importing their agresiveness onto the Advent as a whole.) Just a thought!

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thanks guys for the compliments, will soon be doing the Vasari, they seem to be taking a bit more thought

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only thing i would disagree on is the amount of men in the Advent, 1000 years would be plenty of time for the Male population to return to normal. Just logic that pregnancy brings 50/50 chance of having a boy or girl.

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Again agree with Allegiance (even if he wants a minesweeper, just kidding )

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haha

MINESWEEPERS FOR SINS '10

TIME FOR CHANGE CAMPAIGN

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Volt_Cruelerz

Join Date 06/2008

+115

Okay... I shall begin...

Well, along with my Dawn War series, I also have a fledgling idea for another book... Not unlike the TV show Heroes, it would be about, well, superheroes. Now, as most of you know, I am technically and logically oriented, so simply saying that the having the brain at 100% won't cut it for telekinesis IMO. You need something more realistic.

My response was nanites. Ahh, the wonders of collective computing. Just as in the Vasari, they would be used, but the Vasari use their nanites for a far different purpose. Vasari Nanites would be microscopic freighters. They transport material. Such is the way in which they repair objects. Now, that is not to say that they do not have neural ones (as I certainly believe they do), but their physically based ones are far superior.

Advent Nanites would focus their space on computing ability. Currently, we use a base 2 system in computers at the basic level. Human beings use the Roman Numeric System (or at least most of us do) which is a base 10 system. In other words, the number 10 in RNS is the same as 1010. Simply put, the higher the base, the more efficient the system. Hex, if I remember right is a base 16. In the Dawn War, I have a Tridecal Code which is a base thirty. Simply put, big base=good.

Now, currently, we are designing computers on the pico scale where a single atom is doing the calculative action of a transistor which is quadrillions of times larger. These computers use a base 4 system. So, one could assume that by going down to the femto scale, one could achieve even larger bases by dealing with quarks and changing their forms.

Also, it should be noted that at this scale, you are actually storing data in a more dense form than DNA. DNA is a base 4 system but requires a dozen atoms per item. Now, since one can store the entire code of a human being in 23 macromolecules, surely femto computers would be able to store far more than that in a much, much tinier space.

Now, one of the wonders of computatively oriented nanites is that they have collective computing. This means that a single one can address problems around it and is much like a single brain cell. It can't do all that much and only sees a tiny part of the picture. However, once you get a few thousand, or a million, or a billion, or a trillion together, you start to see what these little things can actually do. Suddenly, you have a hypercomputer on your hands that will likely be semi-sentient.

Now, stick this in a human being's mind. What happens? Their IQ will shoot through the roof. I believe the cap is 200, but let's just say that doing this would send you to 300-350... Not only will the nanites be using themselves, but they can also unlock the vast untapped power of the hypercomputer that is already inside your skull (your brain).

The thing is, this is just what happens to one's intelligence. I have yet to mention the other functions of nanites...

Nanites are employed by all three cultures to repair ships, but only the Vasari truly use them on a macro scale. Others just use them for self repair. However, this also means that the nanites could just as easily be used to repair a person. This yields an increase in longevity and survivability in battle. Carrying between 1-5 trillion nanites with you would likely increase your life expectancy by 10 fold. Now, of course only a few hundred million could actually live in your blood, so what about all the others? They have to go somewhere. That somewhere would be the organ systems of the body.

This is where my second book idea comes in. In it, a group is injected with nanites by a man attempting to revive a cancelled government program. Now, each person reacts differently to the nanites and as such no two people have the same nanite grafting system.

Simply put, the way in which nanites graft is dependent on their programming and the body they are entering. Now, the Advent would desire something which would give them a couple things...

First, they want telekinesis. Seriously, who doesn't?

Next, they want telepathy.

The first is a rather difficult one to figure out. By definition, telekinesis is the manipulation of objects by altering gravity around the object. However, we do not yet know how to manipulate it. However, electromagnetism is much more conceivable and so long as Iron, Nickel, Cobalt, Samarium, or Neodymium is present, you still have influence.

Now, you may ask how can one go about turning oneself into an electromagnet with nanites. I have an answer. Your nerves are long skinny wires that follow your appendages. By grafting in a spiral around these natural wires, one could easily see how you could get an electromagnet. Also, because you have 600 nerve endings in your finger tips, you would likely control this ability with your hands.

Now the second relies on the same system but in reverse. By using the electromagnets around your nerves, you could act like a radio tower. By turning it off, you could "listen in" on someone else's thoughts by decoding the magnetic fields which go out indefinitely from a source. Surely by this time the brain would be fully mapped and the nanites inside of you would have all the basic neural configurations programmed in allowing for you to decrypt otherwise incomprehensible garbage.

Inversely, you could be a broadcasting station and broadcast interference to mess with the other ship's crew's heads. We already know that a certain set of frequencies will slow down brain function while others will stimulate it. A few thousand years from now, you can bet that they know what frequency does what. Just have every crew member broadcast what you want to a target ship and suddenly, that crew is disabled.

Also, this explains why women are superior at the usage of PsiTech. Men only use half of their prefrontal cortex at a time whereas women can use both. Now for those of you who don't know what it is, that is the part of the brain that allows for conscious thought. Nanites in the body would likely be controlled here as it would allow you the best usage of them. For this reason, women would be twice as efficient with their PsiTech nanites and thus would be more valued.

That said, men would still play a vital role in society. They would form the majority of the crews in all but the most elite PsiTech ships (like capitals). Now, of course since capitals are floating countries (they are thousands of kilometers in length after all), they would have men on board for procreative purposes.

I also believe that even on capitals, men would still make up much of the crew. I tend to believe that the PsiTech masters would be in a locked down series of chambers in the ship, cut off from the outside world to allow full use of their abilities. This means that these areas would be female dominated, but all other areas would likely have equal amounts of men and women.

On a related note, I believe the Advent could easily be run by a woman. Unlike the Vasari which have their memories implanted, the Unity would be just that. It would be a neural internet, connecting all minds. For this reason, no thought any member has ever really dies, it just gets sent to someone else when the original "owner" dies. This means that the thoughts the Unity had when it left are still fresh in its collective mind. This means that the Vasari could very easily be run by a woman. After all, there is a phrase, "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned." Men become angry but soon get over it. Women dwell on issues for very long times and will hold grudges sometimes indefinitely...

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