Arachi's Lunarium - TheGiraffe3/Endless-Sky-Creators-Handbook GitHub Wiki

Original text by Arachi, AKA fgnt

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ALLIES

RESOURCES

CHARACTERS

ALLIES

The Quarg

The Quarg have been helping the Resistance ever since news of an organized group fighting them reached the Heliarch Consuls. Though they are not inside the rings, the Quarg still hold control of surveillance systems in all three rings, and have used them to gain knowledge on what the Heliarchs plan and do. Every project, mission or strategy discussed in the Heliarch rings is something the Quargs are aware of, and they relay this information to the Resistance, with the aid of House Bebliss. None in the Resistance know it's the Quarg who are providing them with this intelligence.

Fleet movements, plans to root out the Resistance on X planet, plans to send undercover agents to infiltrate the Resistance, anything the Heliarchs discuss on their rings can be relayed by the Quarg to the Resistance.

The Quarg also provide the Resistance some of the initial human outfits for them to replicate and mass produce, leaving the cargo without a trace of them being there, using an Arfecta they managed to capture from the Pug.

House Bebliss

The Arach House responsible for maintaining the Coalition's hyperlane communications network, they are capable of, to some extent, masking information and ship activity (read: who jumps in and out of where) to help hide the Resistance. They are helped by House Idriss in this.

As the House seated on Stronghold of Flugbu, House Bebliss would also provide aid to the Resistance in stealing the ceremonial Heliarch fleet parked on the planet, to give them some fighting strength.

House Idriss

Besides helping House Bebliss hide Resistance activity, the remote location of this House's headquarters provides the Resistance a relatively safe port to flee to when needed. Ablub's Invention would be one of the strongpoints the Resistance gets when they begin setting up frontier stronghold systems.

House Plumtab

Initially an ally, coaxed into helping fund House Bebliss vague "projects." They are aware of the rumors of Bebliss working with a subversive group, and imagine this is what the money is for, but given their wish for change they choose to look the other way.

They were not anticipating a full-blown war, however, and when the conflicts begin will stop being so generous.

House Mallob

Their oldest allies, House Ablomab, have grown loyal to the Heliarchs, and the Heliarchs have made special concessions to House Mallob in order to keep them happy. They have not, however, been happy, having lost their previously constant supply of the best of the best alloys, and having to make do with what is "civilian-approved," needing to keep themselves to building civilian ships only.

They also provide some financial aid to the Resistance, but are mainly involved in being the bulk of those who built their hidden manufacturing plants they use to mass-produce outfits to arm their ships, and, when they feel the Resistance has enough of a fighting chance, and have been provided the alloys, will shift their shipyards from a commercial to a military focus, building new, stronger ships for the Resistance to use.

Kimek from Remote Blue

The isolationist planet of Remote Blue gained a lot more people after the Coalition drove the Quarg out, many going there heeding the Archons' warnings. At present day, the world's inhabitants, for the most part, don't trust the other two species, and are still wary of the rings and what the Quarg may bring to take them back.

Remote Blue has been fortified tremendously, and as such would provide a very safe point for the Resistance to recover when they begin fighting the Heliarchs more openly, and the large population there would provide many of those that would fight the Heliarchs out in the void.

Saryds from Secret Sky

Though Secret Sky is home to Heliarch laboratories where they produce most of their combat-enhancement drugs, a lot of the Saryds there aren't fond of the Heliarchs, or the other species for that matter, being similar to Remote Blue in that regard.

They too would provide a stronghold system for the Resistance, one that is very close to the Saryd homeworld.

RESOURCES

Quarg Intelligence

By monitoring Heliarch Consul meetings and their council gatherings, which all happen in the rings, the Quarg have access to almost everything the Heliarchs will do, be they fleet movements, orders to attack the Resistance on some planet, orders to investigate some other planet, orders to pretend to be civilians in order to trick the Resistance, and so on.

They do not have access to information the Heliarchs discuss outside of the rings (such as more localized, minor fleet movements), or things that the Heliarchs deem too important to discuss openly, and instead talk of them in vague terms (for instance, the moon where the Punisher division with Quarg outfits is kept would never be mentioned directly, the closest is it would be referred to as "The Fortress," but the Heliarchs may also use codenames that don't allude to anything).

House Bebliss' specialty

House Bebliss is responsible for maintaining all of the Coalition's hyperlane communication network. Messages that come from one system to another cannot go through if they tamper with the network, and they can use this in order to keep Heliarch orders from reaching other systems.

One of the mission sets I have for the Heliarch Intro includes the player being on Station Cian, when suddenly all signals from other systems appear to malfunction, and shortly after that Resistance ships fleeing from Remote Blue enter the system. This is one such usage of this ability, nulling the Heliarchs' communications to allow for Resistance ships to pass by without being immediately reported, giving them a better chance to hide somewhere else.

Inside Information

One of the characters in the Resistance main cast is an aging Saryd who served the Heliarchs as an Arbiter in his younger years, aiding them in conducting experiments on Secret Sky's facilities. Having reached the second highest rank in their hierarchy, he mainly counsels the Resistance on what to expect from the Heliarchs after each move they make (for instance, when they raid some world for resources in Heliarch warehouses, he'd tell everyone to scatter. When they want to create a diversion, he'd tell them what world would have a higher priority for the Heliarchs, and stage a diversion attack on that world to bring the some Heliarch ships away from their real target).

Human Resources

At the start of their side of the campaign, the Resistance uses the much weaker, civilian Coalition ships. They also have very few weapons and reactors they managed to steal from the Heliarchs.

To give them a fighting chance still, the player is tasked with bringing them weapons and generators that, while not very powerful, are simpler to produce in large quantities: human outfits. The human fusion reactors would provide enough power for their ships, while the most desired weapons would be Plasma Cannons and Flamethrowers, as Heliarch ships are vulnerable to heat damage, as well as Torpedo and Typhoon launchers, given the Heliarchs don't field anti-missile turrets, and so would be free targets. They definitely would need anti-missile turrets, though, given they would need to face Finisher torpedoes, so it would not be unusual for them to fit all of a ship's turret mounts with human AM turrets in order to try and serve as a screen against the Finisher barrages.

As for Hand to Hand weaponry, my current missions has the player bring them Grenades, which they would use to fill up bunk-fitted Kimek Spires, designed to capture Heliarch ships they disabled and bolster their strength.

(In case a player chooses the Heliarch side, the Resistance would still have these outfits, the Quarg bringing them in in secret, and just telling them where they dropped off the caches)

CHARACTERS

Chiree

Born to the usual poor family on Fourth Shadow, she joined up in factory work at an early age to help with the household income. She lost her lower leg of her right side in a work accident, continuing work then with great struggle as she could not afford a prosthetic at the time. Before she reached adulthood, she lost two more legs (top and middle leg of her left side) to the blast of a Heliarch rifle, when they raided the factory she worked at, getting hit as they shot at those who fled.

She was saved by a Lunarium team led by Elirom, who tended to her wounds and helped secure her and her family a safe spot on Remote Blue. He bought prosthetics to her, and asked her and her family to lay low so as to avoid the Heliarchs.

Wanting to prevent others from suffering as she did, though, she eventually made her way into the Lunarium ranks of Remote Blue, her dedication to the cause and eagerness to learn turning her into a very good organizer for the local Lunarium forces, as well as helping expand the smuggling operations of weaponry and equipment by meeting up with other members all around the Coalition, much to the fear of her family, who worried about the Heliarchs finding her out. Given the isolationist nature of Remote Blue's inhabitants, her being from another world made her one of the few willing to leave and meet up with the other regional leaders, getting her many contacts around the Coalition, and their trust helped her reach leadership of Remote Blue's forces.

Lady Lobmab

The young head of her house, Lobmab Bebliss is inexperienced in most fields the Lunarium commonly engages with, being raised instead to keep up the etiquette her House is known for, and to manage her House's trade, keeping the Coalition's hyperlane communications network functioning well, and doing everything possible to keep the Heliarchs from finding out their dealings with the Lunarium. As with her predecessors, Lobmab has kept House Idriss as a partner in their efforts to help Lunarium forces with intelligence on Heliarch messages and ship movements, being the ones to receive and relay to the others the mysterious messages they get about Heliarch decisions or plans.

She's also been present in House Bebliss' negotiations with House Plumtab, when requesting their funding for various needs the Lunarium has. House Plumtab is never explicitly told as to what the money will be really used for, but they are in the known enough to figure what's really being done with the money, looking the other way as they themselves aren't terribly happy with the Heliarchy.

Due to her upbringing, Lobmab is rather bratty and smug even to the other Lunarium leaders. She's not remotely close to capable in combat situations, though, and will remain in safe positions, far from systems where a battle is happening.

(former arbiter) Elirom

An only child from a very rich Saryd family, he was one of the thousands of Saryds inspired by the tale of Consul Aulori, the fearsome, accomplished author who had become famous after reaching the rank of Consul at a very early age for a Saryd. Wishing to follow that path, he joined up with the Heliarchy as soon as he could, aiming for their science teams.

Distinguishing himself in biochemistry research, he was eventually made a tribune, and met Aulori himself, the two discussing his work to great length. Not long after, he was promoted again, to arbiter, this time by Aulori himself, who put him in charge of a special research facility on Secret Sky, where they tested and improved combat-enhancing drugs, designed to give the Coalition people a greater chance in ground combat against the Quarg's own arsenal.

The facility received many live subjects for them to test on, ensuring the most accurate, verifiable results. And, also, the most gruesome failures, as the substances injected were invasive enough that any error would cause terrible symptoms on the subjects, who were not well inclined to be tested on in the first place. He blocked out what was obvious for as long as he could, getting frequent pats on the back by Aulori and other Consuls, who commended him on what progress there was, even if the new drug was still not perfected.

The last experiment Aulori conducted was on a batch of Kimek subjects, which perished like the others before them did. One of them, however, was pregnant. Waiting for the eggs to hatch, he begged Aulori to allow him to move them elsewhere, to orphanages all over the Coalition, or to an isolated, barely known Kimek village. The Consul commanded him to carry on with the experiment as usual, citing that the Kimek are their largest population, and as such anything they could do to improve their growth and abilities would be of great value. Once the eggs hatched, he carried on with the experiment, and the results were what he knew they would be. The night after, he tore apart his circlet, and fled. Having heard of the Lunarium in some talks with Aulori and other consuls, he sought them out, telling them of his Heliarch past, though not disclosing what happened at Secret Sky.

Though distrusted by many in the Lunarium, he's proven an invaluable ally, as his knowledge of the Heliarchs and their operations has saved many Lunarium groups from capture, and with the immense wealth he's inherited from his family, he's helped much in funding minor operations and cover-up companies all over the Coalition.

Ever since the last experiment he carried out, which caused him to abandon the Heliarchy, he's not managed to keep his composure when dealing with a Kimek in person, as he is reminded of the occasion.

Tummug

Born to two young workers on Factory of Eblumab, he grew up a simple childhood on the manufacturing world until his parents made enough to leave the world. Moving to Dwelling of Speloog, his family was there for only a short while, as they were among the many civilians that daily were recruited for construction efforts in the rings. Living in the Ring of Friendship throughout his teen years and into adulthood, he met many Coalition captains and others who also came to work on the rings, and saw firsthand the law enacted by the Heliarchs, living in their capital ring.

Growing friendly with some Kimek and Saryd captains, he got some discounts for transport to Kimek and Saryd space in his vacation periods, accompanying the captains as they worked in those regions, helping them out with cargo and passengers as a "temporary crew member" of sorts. Seeing many of the planets his friends from Ring of Friendship talked about, he quickly noticed the stark contrast Saryd space had with the rest: richer, more planned out, no scars of famine or war compared to what Kimek or Arach cultures still held on to. And, most odd he found, an incredibly low rate of the "criminal activity" he heard so much about during his every hour in the ring.

Returning to the ring, he began looking into the Heliarch law system, seeing its origins, how it copied Saryd law to an unreasonable degree, and how little old Kimek and Arachi laws interfered in the current system's creation. He also learned of the old, original names for the home stars of the species, changed millennia ago in what he saw as an effort to further dissolve each species' identity.

During one more of his vacation trips, he met Pyakri as a fellow passenger, and heard her story, and of the Lunarium. Convinced by her words, and his own growing doubts about the Heliarchy, he found his parents a home far from the rings, near the Arachi home system, and began working with the Lunarium, doing well in their propaganda efforts thanks to his good mind for navigating the various city layouts of the Coalition, growing as he traveled more.

Pyakri

Thin by Kimek standards, Pyakri had a good childhood in an arcology, in good living conditions even by Coalition standards. Her father worked as a manager for local cargo operations, and in one of the Heliarch searches, was judged one of those responsible for cooperating with Lunarium smuggling activities, being taken prisoner.

She first heard of the Lunarium when she finally caught one of their agents, after months of keeping watch on the hangars, hiding in the night. Asking why they had involved her father on the whole thing, it took the restrained member a good while to convince her he really had no idea who her father was, though more explanations were cut short as the local Heliarchs too had found the agent. They fled on his ship, and when he went to take refuge in another base, they explained to her what the Lunarium was, and swore her father had never been contacted by any of them.

Her disappearing from the planet the same night the Heliarchs found the agent she had briefly interrogated, her mother too was taken prisoner. With nowhere to go, she agreed to join the group, and was put to use in their more delicate operations, where combat was involved, all while picking up from older members what she could about ships and fleet combat.

Young for one of the more prominent Lunarium leaders, she's got the usual Kimek energetic vibe, though she's also somewhat hot-headed, and quick to anger if one brings up the Heliarchs' actions in anything but a negative light. She doesn't shy away from fighting them when she knows she's got a chance, and holds great contempt for Elirom, not trusting him to have truly left the Heliarchy.

Oobat

The most recent addition to the Lunarium's main leadership group, Oobat was on the brink of being taken prisoner by the Heliarchs in one of their raids when Pyakri saved her with her own forces, rescuing however many they could before fleeing the system. Oobat led an academic life before being swept into the conflict, studying the Coalition languages and how each species approached diplomacy in its earlier days and throughout its history, taking an interest in each species' interactions with the Quarg, and dabbling in the Quarg language as best as she could.

Scarred by the Heliarch attack she was barely saved from, she's never involved in combat operations, instead working for the Lunarium as one of their representatives to the many scattered bases, and occasionally reaching out to groups they think might be willing to join or support them in some form.

Always present in any leaders meeting, she's the reason talks have been going more smoothly recently, as she manages to calm down Pyakri and others as they begin accusing Elirom, or when the commander of a regional pocket lashes at them all for having failed to rescue some members under their command, or protect their base. Occasionally, she also accompanies Tummug in some more arduous propaganda efforts, where the two try and bring on board more prominent groups, who are known to be unhappy with the Heliarchy, but haven't yet done anything to oppose them, and who might just report the two once they explain the situation. As a result of these trips, she and Tummug have grown very close.