Heart of Fire Tracking Tread

[Barinthus]

Heart of Fire - PBEM game
SMAC v5.0

STARTING YEAR: 2102

[B]
CMN        Email [/B]

Barinthus  [email]xxaeolusdata@yahoo.com[/email]xx
[B][I]
TURN ORDER[/I]
FACTION              PLAYER                GMT EMAIL [/B]

Gaia's Stepdaughters Lady HongHu               [email]xxhhu003@mchsi.com[/email]xx
Human Hive           Chairman GeoModder    +1  [email]xxgeomodder@hotmail.com[/email]xx  
University of Planet Provost Minute Mirage     [email]xxminutemirage@hotmail.com[/email]xx
Morgan Industries    CEO Jamski            +2  [email]xxj_maunders@yahoo.co.ukx[/email]x
Spartan Federation   Colonel Kody          +10 [email]xxjohn@users.alphadimensions.net[/email]xx
Lord's Believers     Brother Frankychan    -10 [email]xxfrankychan0112@hotmail.com[/email]xx
Peacekeeping Forces  Brother Hercules      +1  [email]xxcathal.mullaghan@ntlworld.com[/email]xx

[B]FINAL SETTINGS[/B]
Map size	|      Standard
Ocean		|      30-50      
Erosion		|      Strong
Life		|      Aver
Clouds		|      Aver
Difficulty	|      Transc

Transcend	|      Yes 
Conquest	|      Yes               
Diplomatic	|      Yes 
Economic	|      Yes 
Cooperative	|      Yes
Do or Die	|      Yes  
Flexible start	|      Yes
Tech stag	|      No
Spoils of war	|      No
Blind research	|      No
Intense riv	|      No
No survey	|      Yes
No scatter	|      Yes
No rnd events	|      Yes
Time Warp	|      No
Iron man	|      No
Rand person	|      No
Rand social	|      No

[B]RESTRICTIONS/MODIFICATIONS:[/B]
1. No Empath Guild
2. No permanment pacts
3. A player may insert stockpile energy into the build queue after the production of a 
   military unit.
4. No interceptors on auto
5. A player can not use a former to accumulate teraforming while the former is in 
   transit.
6. A player may not restart a turn without good reason. The player should specify the 
   reason in the game thread if he was not able to avoid reloading the turn. (Obviously, 
   if a player has suffered some sort of crash during a turn, such a reload is 
   unavoidable) 
7. A player is not permitted to establish contact with another faction prior to having 
   met them in-game. 
8. If a player performs a probe team action other than to infiltrate against another 
   player with whom (s)he is in a truce, treaty or pact, they must inform the probed 
   player what it was they did and what they stole/sabotaged. They must also choose the 
   'declare vendetta/cancel pact' option when they perform the action.
9. A player is not permitted to make more than one social engineering change per line, 
   per turn. For instance, one is not permitted to start the turn in wealth, switch to 
   power mid-turn for the extra disbanded minerals, and then switch back to wealth that 
   same turn, getting the refund. 
10. A player is not permitted to use the 'demand withdrawal' feature against another 
    player, leaving the AI the decision of whether to withdraw or not. 
11. A player may not accept a bribe from another player's AI during council sessions. 
12. A player may not perform multiple airdrops in a single turn with the same unit using 
    the right-click menu. 
13. A player may not use the F4 screen when infiltrated to change an opponent's workers 
    to specialists.
14. If a player declares vendetta upon another player, either directly or indirectly, 
    they must not accept a pending diplomatic agreement between the two factions in the 
    same turn. 
15. A player may not upgrade a particular type of unit using the design workshop, and 
    then attack with that unit in the same turn. 
16. A player may not make air drops using the right click "air drop to" function, when 
    it is not possible to do so with the "i" button, ie. after already having moved or 
    made a drop.
17. A player can not exploit the demon boil bug by setting patrolling waypoints for a 
    mindworm.
18. A player cannot use colony pod to breach the base population limit without 
    appropriate facility being built.
19. A player can not set the home base (Control-h) for a unit to be the base of another 
    faction when the diplomatic stance is pact so that the unit will require no support 
    from either faction.
20. A player can not reverse engineer rover chassis from probe team.
21. Submissive pacts are allowed.

[B]NOTES:[/B]
Those emailing Jamski, put 'PBEM' in the subject line.

[Barinthus]

Well, the moment you all have been waiting for!

I want to thank Mart7x5 and Googlie for their help and patience in answering my questions. Also, I appericate everybody's willingness to accomodate my schedule and my efforts to straighten out glitches and so on.

GeoModder, any chance for that free tech?

Alright, I've tested this PBEM again and again - there shouldn't be any problems but if there are, do let me know.

Feel free to share your stories, feedback, and input at anytime, please.

Should you need a refresher on what your password is, give me a hollar.

Minute Mirage, don't forget to include 'PBEM' in the subject line when you pass the turn to Jamski

Ok I'll shut up now and let you guys play the game.

Oops, one more thing I need to say... I've sent the first turn to Lady HongHu of the Gaia's Stepdaughters.

[Barinthus]

Background Story Part 1

’Luck is the greatest power in all things and especially in war’ – Gaius Julius Caesar

On a road between Ravenna and the Rubicon River in Cisalpine Gaul
11 January 49 B.C.

A group of men on horses steadily made their way throughout the forest depending upon the moonlight from waning moon to keep them on the trail. Upon a closer examination, you can see that those men are Romans. Some has bearings of military discipline hammered into them while others carried themselves more casual considering the seriousness of the situation.

Among men riding, you can see Curio, Marcus Antonius, Caelius, and somber-looking Gaius Julius Caesar. Throughout the journey, Gaius, the former Consul of the Roman Republic, has been mulling over his dilemma.

Throughout his consulship, Gaius has brought much glory and land to the Rome. He even recently put down a nearly successful rebellion by a Gaul chieftain named Vercingetorix. Despite his success at extinguishing the rebellious fires that set the entire province of Cisalpine Gaul aflame, the jealous Senate has demanded that Gaius return to Rome without his legions to face charges of corruption.

Those selfish spineless sons of dogs! Gaius’ consulship term was drawing to close but he had to stay in Gaul to complete his campaign of pacification. He hoped that the Senate would grant him the right to stand for other term of consulship in absentia which was normally granted. However, the Senate was controlled by a faction loyal to Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus who were threatened by Gaius’ military successes and political ambitions. So the request was never granted and with the expiration of the consulship, Gaius was now vulnerable to the charges fabricated by the same faction who took over the Senate.

Despite pro-Caesar tribune Marcus’ best efforts to derail all motions which would summon Gaius to return to Rome to face charges, he was roughed up at a Senate meeting and his inviolate right to veto granted to all tribunes was infringed. Marcus along with Curio and Caelius fled north to Ravenna to notify Gaius of the unfavorable situation brewing against him.

So here is the dilemma facing Gaius. Obey the Senate and return to Rome which would basically mean a death sentence for him, retreat into self-imposed exile for life, or return to Rome on his terms with his troops behind him. The latter option pained him the most. To do so would basically transform him from a national hero and an admired general into an enemy of the state and the man who plunged the Republic into its first civil war. Yet his ambitions would not let him rule out that option.

“Curio, you know your constellations better than I do. That one, over there above the tree line, I do not recognize it,” Caelius spoke, interrupting Gaius’ mulling.

“That one? That would be Centaurus the Centaur,” the former tribune answered.

Gaius looked toward the night sky above the tree line to examine the constellation. After a moment, he could see an outline of a centaur. According to the stories told to children, centaurs were half human and half horse being wiser than humans. After a brief time he found himself thinking how nice it would be if the Centaur was able to come down to the ground and provide him with some counsel

Smiling inwardly at himself and his childish foolishness, he began to draw himself deep into his thoughts once again when he noticed the right hoof of the Centaur flashing brightly at him. His mind froze that second. Was it a sign? This was not a simple twinkling of a star, it was brighter than what was normal for that star. Also, generally, the right side implies good fortune and strength.

Looking around himself, nobody else seems to have noticed the strange flashing of the right hoof. It must be a sign after all. Gaius Julius Caesar knew what he will do. In few hours, they will have arrived at the puny stream maps called the Rubicon River and he will across it and seize his destiny.

Meanwhile, in an orbit around Manifold Six

Aboard the Progenitor science vessel orbiting the Manifold, the commander sat in his chair looking at the display wall showing the artificial world below him. His mission was an important one. He was to observe the Manifold from the space while maintaining communications with the research facility on the surface known as the Manifold Nexus. Sounds quite boring only if one does not know the story behind it.

Millennia ago, the Progenitors, in their pursuit of knowledge and desire to proclaim the greatness of their civilization to the Universe, had created six artificial worlds throughout their space. Those were known as the Manifolds. Using their nearly godlike knowledge and heightened sense of resonance fields, they ought to use Manifolds to further manipulate resonance fields throughout their sector on the quantum level.

However over centuries, the Progenitors began to notice an unexpected surprise occurring on Manifold Six. Somehow, life has appeared on that world and has been evolving toward an extremely advanced ecological system which suggested a planetary sentience similar to the hive mentality of insects.

The scientists throughout the Progenitor Empire were thrilled. The organism was providing them a wealth of data to be interpreted to discover more knowledge and increase their ability to unlock even more secrets of the Universe.

However, philosophers were worried. They have been arguing that the Progenitors has been becoming overconfident and drunk with the sin of hubris which will only bring ruin to them all in the end. Unknown to everybody, the seed of schism was sown the day the discovery on Manifold Six occurred.

The philosophers were dismissed as worrywarts and everybody listened to scientists and their advice. An institute was established and its purpose was to focus completely upon the Manifold Six. Over centuries, the Progenitors has been coaxing the planetary sentient toward the state in which scientists predicted that a flowering from half-sleeping sentience to aware sentience. They were hoping to be able to harness the resulting energy to push their species into the next step in the evolutionary ladder.

Now the entire empire was holding their breath, awaiting the expected transformation.

“Commander, our sensors show that on the surface there is a massive build-up of resonance fields concentrated at a point,” a crewman reported.

“Just on the time as predicted. Excellent. What does the Nexus say?” the commander queried.

“They confirm our readings and everything is going the way they are supposed.”

“Good, display the energy build-up.”

The display of the Manifold Six’s surface disappeared and was replaced with a display of readings of various energy fields with markers marking the levels which were beyond Progenitors’ ability to control. They had prepared a resonance counter-signal that would be transmitted to the Manifold via the Nexus and linked monoliths which would slow down the surges to prevent an overload.

The levels on the display were slowly climbing toward the parameters necessary to achieve the crossover of the planetary sentience. The bridge was quiet as well the entire empire as everybody watched the levels slowly rising.

“Commander, there is a message coming in from the Nexus,” a crewman announced. The commander turned toward the crewman, annoyed at the distraction yet curious. “They wish to report that they have noted some seismic activity where the resonance fields have been gathering but they believe it is of no concern…”

A shout burst over the communication systems, interrupting the crewman, “Activate the counter-signal! Before it’s too late!”

“What’s going on!?” the commander looked at the display and to his horror, the levels has surged quickly through the safe parameters toward the markers. “Acti…”

It was too late. A burst of energy violently radiated from the Manifold and when it smashed into the vessel, all systems aboard was knocked out. The burst was quickly followed up by a second larger burst.

This second burst was much more powerful and it affected all other Manifolds which were connected to each other on the most basic level. The uncontrollable force was amplified every time it traveled throughout a Manifold and sent toward the next Manifold resulting in ricocheting of massive destructive energy force crisscrossing the Progenitor Empire.

The hubris of the Progenitor race has plunged their entire civilization into a dark age it would take them millennia to recover from.

[Barinthus]

2152 years later, in an orbit around Chiron

UNS Unity has finally arrived at her destination after carrying her precious cargo for so many years from a dying planet to a new one.

However, despite the successful completion of the journey, it was not without tragedy. Somehow its captain was killed in an accident… or was it truly an accident? The resulting turmoil has found humans in the same state they were on their homeworld – divided into different factions.

The hope of the U.N. Charter to provide a unified humanity was destroyed.

Let’s hear thoughts of some of those faction leaders as their landing pods rapidly descend upon Chiron….

Director Jamski of Morgan Industries

CEO Jamski of the Jamskites put 100ecs in his pocket and carefully guided his escape pod onto the surface of Planet. His followers laid back on luxurious upholsted couches, and prepared to build an economically free society on the surface of this new world - even at the cost of that world's natural resorces and beauty. Better clean, than green

Lt. Commander HongHu, Chief Botanist and Xenobiologist

Such beautiful planet ... Lady Hong watched as the escape pod approaches fast to the surface. Her heart aches when she thinks about what the planet will suffer from its various intruders, especially a certain greedy and cold-hearted one ...

Commander GeoModder, Chief of Security

Geo watched the throng flocking to the pod's viewscreens to have a first look at the planet they're descending at. "Discipline", he thought "that's what those drones need, a hard hand to mold them in the perfect shape for my plans...

Lt. Commander Frankychan, Psych Chaplain

Deacon Frankychan stares through the viewport at the fast approaching planet. Lord, protect us in this endeavor. Thumbing his pewter cross, he addresses the assembled....

"Brothers and sisters, we begin a new life under God on this alien world. God has given us this second opportunity to right past wrongs....to forgive us for the secularization that plagued Earth. We turned from God and He punished us. Let us not squander this blessing. Praise be to God!"

Praise be to Him..........and no one better stand in my way.

Director Hercules, Chief of Surgery

Commissioner Hercules looked out with wonder and anticipation as the pod moved closer to the planet's surface. Can all that hope, that idealism, that initiated this whole expedition, nurture new life and democracy on this second chance for humanity in this new beginning. He hoped so and would do his best to ensure that outcome.

Meanwhile the citizens in Commissioner Hercule's Pod look out on the rapidly approaching planet surface. Yes with fear and intrepidation but also promise of a better life.

Lieutenant Kody, Security

Survival, the oldest of human instincts and what drove the human race away from our dying planet to seek a new life on an alien world.

The battle on the ship had been successful the Spartans had secured their place on the new planet, but at the loss of many loyal men and women. However, the chaos on the ship was just the beginning a simple precursor for the battle that will occur on the planet. The struggle on the planet surface would be against the alien world itself and the worst enemy would be ourselves.

Six other escape pods also spiralled downwards towards the planet carrying the seeds of factions that would ultimately strive for dominance. Each of these had their own ideology, but stripped away of pretences and their need for justification of their actions they would be just the same as us. Wanting to survive.

As the planet approached the men and women on the escape pod were grim, they knew and understood what was expected of them. There was something else, a repressed glimmer as they watched the viewscreen. Was it hope?

As I looked around I noticed Santiago watching me from a corner. She stared at me meeting my gaze head on and smiled. I shuddered, suddenly ill at ease with my surroundings and concentrated on the viewscreen for the remainder of the planetfall.

Concluding Thoughts

Will the remnants of humankind be able to unite and work together? Or are they doomed to repeat mistakes made on their homeworld they left behind? Will their greatest hopes be realized? Will their darkest nightmares so horrible become reality?

Only time will tell.

’Let the dice fly high!’ – Gaius Julius Caesar.

[Barinthus]

What Gaius saw...

I'm sure you can find Alpha Centauri

[GeoModder]

Originally posted by Barinthus
I'm sure you can find Alpha Centauri

If I'm not mistaken, next to Proxima Centauri, which lies in the general direction of Hadar

Nice intro, Barinthus, you earned some info in our little PBEM I'll be lenient in a future negotiation.

[Jamski]

Very nice intro

You get a gold star, and a base named after you

-Jam

[Snowflake]

... So this is the planet ...

Lady Hong watched out from her crude camp. The two suns are hanging at the edge of the sky. A scatch of plain earth lay in front of her. No trees, no animals, she cannot see any sign of life. But not far away, she heard sounds of water. Yes water ... The mother of all lifes ... She now knows where she would send her brave followers.

The new world will be a beautiful one, she decided to herself.

Turn 2102 Sent to Hive.

[Enigma_Nova]

Somebody said Minute Mirage was willing to give up his position?

[GeoModder]

Turn sent to Minute Mirage, and notified both Minute and Enigma to discuss this transfer.

Anyway, I keep a copy of the save on my comp.

MY 2102.2404

Geo looked around the nearby steep cliffs surrounding him. The many rivers in this area had eroded this bizarre landscape, and created numerous caves in the area. Perfect shelter in this cold climate, and a way to shape the minds of his people in due time.

[Minute Mirage]

I also sent Enigma_Nova a PM and I'll wait for his response for a while before either playing the turn or sending it to him. I hope you can bear the wait.

[GeoModder]

Turn resent to Provost Enigma of the Nova Universitas at his request.

[Enigma_Nova]

Mind completing the Hive turn and hitting 'end turn' so that I get the University?
Or are you going to keep admiring the first turn with a grin on your face?

Geomodder: For future information, post the turn here.
My e-mail automatically trashes hotmail and yahoo.

[Jamski]

Hey! Play nice or don't play at all. Making mistakes doesn't make one an idiot

-Jam

[GeoModder]

Well, he did ask nicer on a private PM and almost friendly in a mail.

Turn is resent with a mail provider that was not on the black list (Yahoo, Hotmail, AOL,...)

Sorry for the inconvenience, Enigma, RL is demanding my attention as well. Can't upload files here since this feature won't work for me here in 'Poly, I don't know why and MarkG doesn't has an answer as well.

Edit:

Well, you're original did let me have a good laugh