Mods/Scripts:
Cadius' Ship and Station pack (Mod)
Advanced Weapon Research Mod
NPC bailing addon
Cycrow's Salvage Claim Software script
Improved Races r15.something
Tatakau's Marine Repairs
While I actually have an expanded list of mods and scripts compared to last time, they should run more smoothly and less wierdly than in my other DiDs, since I'm actually using the right version of the Plugin Manager now.
Rules: DiD.
Reloads allowed for gatecrashes/autopillock stupidity.
Also reloads allowed for the new 'Vanguard Aldrin' Class of missile from the AWRM. It does 6Gj of damage with a fairly huge blast radius. It broke one plot mission while I was practicing and I had to actually script it out of the cargobay of the battleship which launched it to make the mission work.
Reloads allowed for (allied) AI misuse of other missiles like the Hammerhead.
Chapter 1/Prologue
The Split Great Families discussion hall was in uproar. Of course, Split being Split and therefore individually arrogant, selfish, argumentative and violent, this would be expected. The meeting of the Great Families had not yet begun, but the issues to be raised were hinted at by the representatives with either inconsequential parts to play or dangerously loose tongues, and the massive dining table was loaded with chelt meat, Ghok Dragon steak fresh from the deathmatch pits, scruffin fruits stuffed with various spiced fillings, and, of course, Chokh'an - the exclusively Split alcoholic beverage so dangerous to other races that an Argon would run the risk of death to drink even a small amount, and a Paranid would be hospitalised after a single tankard. Naturally, the Split took great pride in this fact, citing it among so many other things as proof of Split supremacy.
The discussion hall itself was a huge, bland rectangular structure in the centre of the Family Pride planet's capital city, and rumoured to have originated from the time of the great patriarch-emperor, Thuruk. Over the years (or, until recently, jazuras) it had been extensively upgraded and extended from the primitive - and relatively diminutive - Rinanium alloy building it had been in 2250, as a fortification for the Emperor in the Split civil wars.
Inside, however, it was adorned with Split hunting trophies, artifacts from pillaged settlements who dared oppose the Split Emperor, and the distinctive Split battle-mosaics constructed from damaged body armour plates recovered from the field of battle. The one taking pride of place was actually made from fragments of outdated Argon and Boron battleship plating, a relic of the Boron Campaign.
The structure's layout was typically haphazard, most rooms being blocky but not the clean-cut rectangles of Argon building - more irregular, and sporting the typical red-brown colour of Split materials. The largest room was, of course, the meeting hall itself, expanded somewhat from the ancient bunker it originally was.
The Judician, a chairman of sorts from the ruling family Rhonkar, called the crowded hall to attention, directing the attending Split to take their places at the family tables. Shoo t'Rgt of the T'Rhen family - an offshoot of the much-respected Thuruk line - bowed as custom dictated when adressed by a percieved superior (noting that there were few who observed the same courtesy) and took his place at the right hand of his patriarch - an honour he was given as the chief general and military adviser of the family.
He wouldn't admit it even if offered utmost secrecy, a substantial number of credits and his own Taipan superbattleship, but he was borderline terrified of the views he and his patriarch, Gyn T'Rhen intended to put forward in an attempt to right the wrongs against Split honour committed by the current ruling family and their supporters. The time came for discussion, and t'Rgt decided to let some debates run past before he made his speech.
The family officials had decided beforehand - with his consent - to allow all responsibility to fall on his shoulders, something which - while dangerous for his own career and recognition in warrior circles - was the least damaging way for the family to show its views: he had enough political clout to possibly cause some reflection on the part of the Rhonkar family, but was not vital to the running of the family if he was assassinated, imprisoned or banished. Very pragmatic, very Split, but not dishonourable. That was important.
Shoo t'Rgt resolved to raise the issue after the next representative, who was arguing for a change in Split military design philosophy towards a more balanced approach. While t'Rgt could relate to the family's ideas, he did not agree with the justification: he would have argued that, to be truly effective, a warrior needs to be balanced in his ways and style. He would have cited the Boron Campaign and the Split's crushing defeat at the hands of the Argon due to their better balance. No matter that their honour was questionable and their skill certainly lower than that of the Split, the balance of their style was what made them better.
Case in point - their Paranid allies had a great positive effect with a few of their well-balanced craft in the Campaign. They would have won the war if their numbers had been greater. Sadly, this case would be incompatible with his own - being that he intended to denounce the Boron Campaign and the actions of Split since.
The previous representative duly massacred, t'Rgt signalled his intent to speak. He walked to the podium, throat dry despite his mug of water back at the increasingly distant family table. He bowed to the ruling patriarch, his own patriarch and the Judician as was considered honourable, and greeted the congregation with his family's motto - again, according to custom. halfway through his greeting, however, he was interrupted by a member of the audience,
'Hurry up mister - we have other acts to see!' He stopped, partly out of shock and partly because this massively assisted his cause. The culprit was a member of one of the upstart families - y'Veri - one of many newer families founded as more systems were claimed by the Split. Their homeworld, if he remembered correctly, was somewhere in the region of the Family Njy sector. He addressed the entire throng, shutting out the dishonourable nervousness.
'Families, you have witnessed this breach of etiquette at a meeting of the Great Families. I ask you all, where is the honour of Split? It does not stem from this generation of families - this fool who interrupts my greeting likely knew no better - I have noticed that many of the so-called great families have done away with the traditional method of beginning their speech.
My belief is that the Split have moved away from the path of honour, and are merely becoming the thugs of the Universe today. We attack the Boron, a species unwilling to fight at the best of times. Where is the honour in fighting an unwilling foe? We are attempting to befriend the Argon - yet they would be more worthy foes than the Boron with their prowess and willingness in battle.
This loss of honour began with the death of the patriarch-emperor Ghus, who achieved more towards our advancement as a species in one curtailed lifetime than any patriarch since. Ghus proved that to act against our instinct and to show some respectibility is to progress in the right direction, and many of our supposed customs in the name of honour stem from his time. We do not still observe the credo that he set, to fight only the good fight, only against the worthy foe who is sound in mind and ability.
Instead, we pick on the weak and unwilling - the most appropriate foe we have fought in recent times is the Xenon, and we have negotiated a ceasefire with them when the Paranid didn't assist. Is that honourable? To give up because our reinforcements can't come? Yet we still happily beat away at the Kingdom of Boron's outer systems and unprotected outposts while they plead for peace. I do not call that an honourable practice.
I suggest we negotiate a ceasefire with the Boron, and instead work towards cleansing the Universe of the willing foes - the Kha'ak and Xenon who tear at our borders even as we blindly take out our anger with the Boron. Do away with the feuding, primitive Split of the year 50 and let us be honourable warriors.
I am finished.'
He bowed his head, and - as he had expected - was taken by Rhonkar officials. From behind, he noticed. How appropriate. He was taken away, and imprisoned while his fate was discussed. Eventually, he was told he was banished, and given a Jaguar fighter. His personal Drake class corvette, a new design by Cadius shipbuilding like the Taipan, was nowhere to be seen - probably either scrapped or taken to a storage sector far from normal space. Fortunately, his family had ensured he still had docking rights in Split space - just no money, a mere M5 and no ability to buy remotely useful equipment for his ship, never mind a better ship. He would leave the planet by Elephant TL the next time a materials shuttle lifted off.
Shoo t'Rgt drifted aimlessly in orbit around Family Pride, checking his newly-reduced assets. 1100 credits, one intact and fully-upgraded Jaguar with 2 megajoules of shielding and two Particle Accelerator Cannons, and -strangely - a Kha'ak Sting-class missile. Evidently this ship was a war veteran and the authorities hadn't bothered to check the cargo. That should be good for a few thousand credits at the local equipment dock... Hold on. A faint signal resonance from deep space, the ID looking suspiciously like his Drake's. Indeed it was, and though it had lost engine capability and all weaponry, it should be salvageable with advanced enough tools.
Assets:
1,100cr
1x Jaguar
1x Drake far, far away and inoperable as yet..
), so there's no chapter any more and I'm too irritated/lazy to do it again. Blame IBM for poor placement of keys on their laptop keyboards. 
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