SPICE PRESCIENTS

Spice Prescient MkI Weirding Warrior

Mastery of the neurotropic known as spice can only be done through a rigorous discipline known as The Weirding. Initiates learn to channel the consciousness-expanding powers of spice until they begin to catch fleeting scraps from the future.

Through intense dedication the warrior learns to channel and control their prescience on demand, stealing glimpses of foresight against their opponent during battle. Most achieve limited to moderate prescience, allowing them to see seconds or even minutes into the future. Some even begin to dilate their own time-flow, granting preternatural speed, evasion and accuracy in battle. Once trining is complete a single weirding warrior armed with spice-prescience can stand against, and sometimes defeat, an entire squad of mundane space marines.

However this power comes at a terrible cost, leading to psychosis and total cognitive collapse if the strict regimen of meditation and discipline is not mastered. Most eventually fail. Like hashish-eaters of old, these unstable practitioners make fearless shock troops for the armies of the galaxy. 

  • Rated equally for atmospheric or zero-G combat.
  • Ultra-fast interstellar speed.
  • Heavy hull plating and shields.
  • Zero cargo capacity.
  • Above average weapons.

Firepower >> 36.47
#AT  >>  2038
Accuracy >> 70%
Collateral Damage >> 0
Defence >> 98
Speed >> 90 LYW (light-years/week)
Lift >> 0

Upgrade from Aegis-Class MkII Terran Battlecruiser:
Retrofit Rig Bandwidth >> 1000 fabrication module weeks
Retrofit Rig Max Queue >> 5
Production Facility Start-up Cost >> 1000 Unobtanium
Base Price >> 75

Spice Prescient MkII Weirding Witch

Sentient organic lifeforms from all known species are capable of receiving a cognitive boost from the neurotropic known as spice, but for poorly understood genetic reasons it seems human women are particularly adept at staving off the lethal side-effects through the rigorous discipline known as The Weirding; almost all practitioners who survive to achieve rank II are human women.

Known as a weirding witch, a novice achieves the second rank of The Weirding through an epiphany that unlocks the ability to dilate personal time-flow. Space-time outside her frame-bubble seems to slow or stop, while her own continues normally. Combined with her increasing powers of foresight, this combination of abilities grants preternatural speed, agility and accuracy from the perspective of those beyond the witch’s frame of reference.

Limited purely to weapons that make physical contact with the target, any projectiles emitted from her dilation bubble will resume the outside frame of reference. With time at a leisurely crawl around her, the witch sidesteps attacks and casually lines up fatal blows with her hand-held weapon of choice, all in an instantaneous blur to observers outside her dilation bubble. 

Unfortunately this time-dilation effect can only be sustained for a short duration, from her point of reference, as the tug of the surrounding Higgs-field quickly drains the stamina of the witch’s will. Once exhausted the time dilation bubble collapses, shunting her frame back into synchronicity with her surrounding environment.

Hopefully by then her enemies are bleeding out.

  • Rated equally for atmospheric or zero-G combat.
  • Ultra-fast interstellar speed.
  • Heavy hull plating and shields.
  • Zero cargo capacity.
  • Above average weapons.

Firepower >> 36.47
#AT  >>  2038
Accuracy >> 70%
Collateral Damage >> 0
Defence >> 98
Speed >> 90 LYW (light-years/week)
Lift >> 0

Upgrade from Aegis-Class MkII Terran Battlecruiser:
Retrofit Rig Bandwidth >> 1000 fabrication module weeks
Retrofit Rig Max Queue >> 5
Production Facility Start-up Cost >> 1000 Unobtanium
Base Price >> 75

Spice Prescient MkIII Revered Mother

Elite masters of spice, the revered mother has achieved rank III in The Weirding Way, and is one part mentor, one part priest, one part sensei. 

As her powers of spice prescience grow, a weirding witch will eventually begin to have sustained flashes of the future and the past, as time dissociates into a fourth physical dimension. The revered mother has, through the mind-expansion of spice, learned to walk that dimension at will, bending it to her will.

While formidable in open battle, the reverend mother is even more adept at the use of subtlety. Patient, cunning and manipulative, the order of reverend mothers see all, know all. Plans within plans, there are few eventualities that their prescient foresight has not accounted for.

When compelled into direct combat the reverend mother is fiercer than an entire platoon of space marines, and just as likely to prick you with poison or kill you with your own weapon. What everyone can agree on is that you will probably not see her coming.

  • Rated equally for atmospheric or zero-G combat.
  • Ultra-fast interstellar speed.
  • Heavy hull plating and shields.
  • Zero cargo capacity.
  • Above average weapons.

Firepower >> 36.47
#AT  >>  2038
Accuracy >> 70%
Collateral Damage >> 0
Defence >> 98
Speed >> 90 LYW (light-years/week)
Lift >> 0

Upgrade from Aegis-Class MkII Terran Battlecruiser:
Retrofit Rig Bandwidth >> 1000 fabrication module weeks
Retrofit Rig Max Queue >> 5
Production Facility Start-up Cost >> 1000 Unobtanium
Base Price >> 75

Spice Prescient MkIV Kwizat Zaderac

The Kwizat Zaderac represents pure mastery of spice, and with it the complete subjugation of conscious will over matter and energy. 

Many individuals from all species are drawn to the neurotropic power of spice, craving the power without regard to the risks. This includes a steady flow of terran men undaunted by the mortal danger. Almost all succumb to the lethal side-effects of spice consumption before reaching the second rank of The Weirding Way. Almost.

The extreme selection pressure winnows out the weak-willed, culling the “animals” from the herd until eventually, purely by chance, a male initiate will arise with the mental fortitude needed to survive the spice, plus the innate strength to bend space-time to their will. 

Dilating time and penetrating to the deepest mysteries of consciousness, there he will reside, mastering his consciousness outside the Higgs-field, learning to bend all 27 dimensions of space-time to his will. When he returns he is another being, ascended to a higher plane of consciousness, the transcendent avatar of martial perfection.

Armed only with a sword of pure unobtanium, molded and honed by the power of his mind, the solitary Kwizat Zaderac can dismember the largest and most powerful capitals in the gap between the moments, folding and dilating the dimensions of space-time around him at will. Though still a mortal, with mortal weaknesses, it takes an entire army to stand against the onslaught of “he who can be many places at once.”

  • Moderate interstellar speed.
  • Heavy hull plating and shields.
  • Medium cargo capacity.
  • Above average weapons.

 

Firepower >> 10.95
#AT  >>  12
Accuracy >> 50%
Collateral Damage >> 0
Defence >> 95
Speed >> 90 LYW (light-years/week)
Lift >> 120
Sensor Range >> 1 light-year
Bandwidth >> 450 fabrication modules
Max Queue >> 5
Production Facility Start-up Cost >> 600 Unobtanium
Base Price >> 200

Spice Prescient MkV Bodhi GUILD Navigator

The MkI Aegis-class destroyer is a marvel of Terran efficiency. With the tonnage of a light warship it is never-the-less rated as a medium capital: good speed, heavy hull plating and shields, full weapons spread and a significant cargo hold for fighter bays, ground troops and drop-ships. All engineered around a light hull design that is efficient and cheap to produce.

The only real drawback to the class is that it is a victim of its own success: warlords, mercenary squadrons, pirates and corporate security all favour the Terran destroyer, frequently driving up the cost on the open market.

For Terran empires the class gets even better. The MkI design permits extensive retrofits of the hull for upgrade to the more powerful MkII Aegis-class battlecruiser. In turn the battlecruiser can be retrofitted into the mighty MkIII dreadnaught, one of the most powerful interstellar capital ships in the galaxy. The secrets of retrofitting the MkII and MkIII are only known to Terran empires, though systems with production facilities already in place can be conquered and enslaved by other empires.

  • Moderate interstellar speed.
  • Heavy hull plating and shields.
  • Medium cargo capacity.
  • Above average weapons.
Firepower >> 10.95
#AT  >>  12
Accuracy >> 50%
Collateral Damage >> 0
Defence >> 95
Speed >> 90 LYW (light-years/week)
Lift >> 120
Sensor Range >> 1 light-year
Bandwidth >> 450 fabrication modules
Max Queue >> 5
Production Facility Start-up Cost >> 600 Unobtanium
Base Price >> 200

STATISTICS

RED = OFFENCE
GREEN = DEFENCE
BLUE = MOVEMENT
YELLOW = PRODUCTION
PURPLE = INTELLIGENCE

FIREPOWER

A rough numeric composite of the unit’s combined offensive and defensive values according to a precise formula. On average, a unit with higher firepower will typically be better, but there are many circumstantial exceptions to this. Firepower is just a rough guide.

ATTACK #

The number of attacks per round the unit gets. Each attack randomly targets a non-friendly unit present at the system.

ACCURACY

The % chance each attack has of being on target and “hitting” the target, forcing the target to deflect the attack or be destroyed.

COLLATERAL DAMAGE

The number of production facilities destroyed by stray shots each attack.

DEFENCE

The % chance that each on-target “hit” is deflected by the defender. Deflected “hits” are nullified to no effect. “Hits” that beat the Defence rating of the target destroy the target, no matter the size. Even the largest and most heavily protected units have vulnerabilities (watch out for those thermal exhaust ports.)

The Defence rating functions similar to “armour,” but is an abstract aggregate of all defensive measures combined, including armour, shields, evasion, camoflague, dodge, jamming, spoofing, point-defence, prescience and foul-language.

SPEED

The number of Light Years a self-powered unit moves in a Standard Week.

Units with a zero Speed value have a negative Cargo Bulk value and must be carried to another star system by a fleet containing one or more units with a positive net Lift value.

CARGO BULK

The amount of Lift a unit requires to be transported from one star system to another. Cargo Bulk is always expressed as a negative number, while Lift is always expressed as a positive number.

A unit with Cargo Bulk has no Speed, and a unit with Speed has no Cargo Bulk.

LIFT

Lift is the amount of Cargo Bulk a unit can carry while moving to another system within a fleet. A fleet’s net sum of Lift minus Cargo Bulk must be zero or positive for that fleet to leave the system.

BANDWIDTH

Total production required to replicate the unit, expressed as weekly measures of Fabrication Moduel labour. A unit with 100 bandwith will require 100 Fabrication Moduels working for one week (one turn), or 50 Modules working two turns, or any combination of Modules working any combination of turns that add up to the required total.

PRODUCTION FACILITIY (PF) START-UP COST

A particular unit may only be replicated at a particular system if that system has set up a production facility for that unit. The cost listed is the one-time capital set-up cost, including training and infrastructure, necessary to enable replication of the unit in that system.

Production facility costs are borne by the particular system, are only required once, and once in place are considered permanently installed and may not be destroyed. Conquering a system captures all Production Facilities, which may immediately be used by the new controller.

BASE PRICE

This is the unobtanium price that the unit begins the game at. Current price each turn will fluctuate based on supply and demand pressure. Maximum (ceiling) and minimum (floor) prices for each unit are a function of the base price.

MAX QUEUE

This is the maximum number of units that can be ordered in a system production queue at one time. An order for multiple units locks the price for all units in that order at the price at the time the order was locked, even if the market price of the unit fluctuates on subsequent turns before the full order is complete.

SENSOR RANGE

Sensors represent an abstract compliation of all passive and active intellligence gathering methods, augmented by advanced AI pattern detection algorithms. Sensors located at a system do the following:

  • Sensors detect the warp bubble of a fleet in flight if and only if the warp bubble is CBDR or CBIR (Constant Bearing Decreasing/Increasing Range) to or from the system the sensor is located at. Warp bubbles that are crossing targets are too faint to be detected by current technology.
  • Any fleets in flight within range to or from the system with the sensor will display the following information on the sensor report for each fleet within range: origin system, destination system, distance remaining.
  • Additional information, such as speed, may then potentially be deduced. No other information regarding the composition of the fleet is revealed.
  • Systems within range will be displayed on the empire galaxy map with a full report including ownership and a roster of units present, less any units with stealth.

STEALTH

If a unit has stealth it will be listed here. A unit with stealth will not be visible on the regular system display. Units with stealth in flight between systems need a warp bubble like any other unit, which can be detected by sensors normally. Sensors detect warp bubbles, not the ships directly, so stealth does not conceal interstellar movement since there is no way to conceal a warp bubble.