Custom Map #734: Divine Intervention. By: Decagon

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This topic is for discussion of map #734: Divine Intervention


Author: Decagon
Size: 320x180

Desc:
Fleeing for their lives from the carnage that took place at the Singularity station, the Crystallids limp toward an asteroid belt to try and rebuild and brace for the storm. Problem is, the storm is hot on their heels and pursues them relentlessly. WARNING: Massive ships. Play at your own risk. Additional Credit: Dark Ambition.

[ChaosMaster130]

I gotta admit. I'm really digging your 'Cinematic' type maps.  8)
Keep on being awesome

[GoodMorning]

Good map, though I should have paid more attention to the name.

Why, though, does "Placid" inhabit a GalCorp-style HQ? (I choose a convenient identifier, as it seems that Crystallid names are hard to capture in human languages.)

[Keeper Decagon]

Good map, though I should have paid more attention to the name.

Why, though, does "Placid" inhabit a GalCorp-style HQ? (I choose a convenient identifier, as it seems that Crystallid names are hard to capture in human languages.)

Well, lore-wise, all of the Crystallid characters inhabit either the Starfire or the Catalyst (or indeed their own Titan-forms), though given map design and situation, either one or the other is not necessarily available. The GalCorp HQ is there because of game limitations. If I could substitute the GalCorp HQ with the Catalyst in that big button, then it wouldn't even be there.

[GoodMorning]

Interesting. I had in mind that each ship was a distinct shard, inhabited independently when it separated from the Starfire. I don't recall the name "Catalyst", but I take it that's the "CF-HQ" (I had mentally expanded "CF" to "Crystallid Fleet").

[Keeper Decagon]

Interesting. I had in mind that each ship was a distinct shard, inhabited independently when it separated from the Starfire. I don't recall the name "Catalyst", but I take it that's the "CF-HQ" (I had mentally expanded "CF" to "Crystallid Fleet").

CF-HQ does indeed stand for "Crystallid Fleet HQ", and was more of a codename I used for it when it was made, which I also did for the other HQ ships I made at the time (the Hydraxil and Hiigaran ones). The name "Catalyst" is its lore name, and is actually mentioned in the description for the vessel.

So, the actual way the Crystallids and their ships work is rather complicated. The Crystallid ships (everything you see in their fleet apart from the Titan-forms) are nothing but shells, and have no sentience of their own. Each ship is controlled by a single Crystallid; when they 'board' a ship, the Crystallids slot their bodies into a receptor on the ship's exterior and phase their consciousness, their very being, into it, controlling it as though it was their own body.

I suppose technically the Crystallids are both their own entities as well as their ships.

The Titan-forms, however, are something different, being the ultimate projection of a Crystallid's form that can only be achieved by the First Born (in this case, only Flare and Cobalt, since they are the last two living First Born Crystallids). Instead of the Starfire building the ship and then having them possess it, the Starfire is used by the First Born to enhance their existing body, growing them to many times the size of even the Starfire itself. In the past, this process was much easier (the Starfire you see in the campaign thus far is a young version; the ones from "back in the day" were far more grand). The Titan-forms were far more seldom used in the past however, for it gave the First Born incredible power that they knew would corrupt if taken for granted.

Also, this was one of the "back in the day" Starfires:

Prime Starfire

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[GoodMorning]

Interesting. I have the impression that such a Starfire may have had to survive the return of the Creeper at least once in order to reach such size.

[Keeper Decagon]

Interesting. I have the impression that such a Starfire may have had to survive the return of the Creeper at least once in order to reach such size.

Indeed. These Starfires had many thousand or hundreds of thousands of years to grow to their size. The thing is, the Creeper and the Crystallids largely ignored one another up until the 144th CE, since the Crystallids (being space-borne) were easily able to avoid it. They hibernated within the Starfires until things had quietened down, before moving to assess the damage the Creeper has done over the course of the cycle.

It was only in the 144th CE that the Crystallids became involved in the Creeper war, as the Seloi had become close allies to them, and as such they decided they would not stand for having one of their friends get exterminated by the Creeper. Unfortunately, that drew the ire of the Creeper Nexus, which directed the Loki-controlled Hydraxil Collective to wipe them out. This resulted in the destruction of nearly all of these grand Starfires, only one juvenile Starfire remaining to house the Crystallids of today. The Collective thought they would be rid of them once and for all when they caught the Starfire in a gravitational trap that caused the local asteroid belt to collapse in on it, burying the Starfire within the rocky mass up until recently. The shockwave of a nearby supernova caused the mass to break up, freeing them once more.

[GoodMorning]

So, what is it that makes the First Born more able? "Born" being a curious term.

[Keeper Decagon]

So, what is it that makes the First Born more able? "Born" being a curious term.

The First Born were the very first Crystallids to come into existence, only about two dozen or so, seeded by an ancient superpower for reasons unknown. Perhaps it was an experiment that was forgotten, or some sort of extra-dimensional interference. No-one knows, since there have been no discovered traces of whatever brought them into existence millions of years ago.

Being the First Born, these Crystallids are the "purest" form of their race wrought from elements not easily found in this Universe, giving them a range of unexplained powers beyond what younglings can achieve, which are grown from common minerals. From incredible psionic abilities to matter manipulation, to even their grand Titan-forms, the First Born are undoubtedly a strength to be reckoned with. Fortunately, they are also wise, and resist the corruption that comes with these powers... well, most of them do.