>>26530381

Following the loss of the first contact war, the council was pushed into a rather uncomfortable position. For centuries, the council had enjoyed peace and a comfortable superiority over the other races of the cosmos, largely because of the membership of the Turians. With the Turian military, largest and best equipped in known space, the councils mandates could be extended to the entire explored universe. The jurisdiction of council law, was often considered to be dictated by the range of the main guns on Turian battleships.

This, more than anything else, was the cause of the primary shock of the arrival of tanshumanity. Here was a new race, who refused to bow to the will of the council. They possessed a well trained, disciplined, and finely equipped military force, and were themselves long schooled in the art of true warfare. More than their frightening technology, it was their skill and experience in waging full scale wars which frightened the council. This newcomer, this upstart race, had bloodied the nose and the pride of the Turian war machine, placing an irreparable dent in the superiority of the council.

The council remained unchallenged so long as they possessed the seemingly invincible Turian armada, but that veneer of invincibility had been stained, and now the council was afraid of further challenges to its dominance.

so, while the Turians recovered themselves, the council sought a new tool to use in this conflict, another militaristic race who could be made to follow along in their anti-transhuman agenda. They found one in the Batarian Hegemony.

>>26530623

The Batarian Hegemony, long maligned by the council for their support of slaver and pirate raids, found itself suddenly receiving sudden favors and boons from the council. Restrictions on their slave trade were lightened, as were the attempts at oversight on their military actions. Outreach programs meant to educate Batarian citizens and free them from the oppressive caste system were quietly ended, and new space made available for Batarian development.

When pressed for an explanation for this sudden display of solidarity, the council only offered that the recent conflict with transhumanity, and the threat of new violent races being discovered, had made them more aware of who their friends really were. In actuality, the relationship was far more one sided than it appeared. Not that the Batarians had any reason to complain, after all their culture had never been so free of council interference, and with new systems to settle, a sudden boom in their economy quickly made life much better for many in the Hegemony.

At least the free ones, the slaves worked harder than ever, and there was a greater demand for even more slaves, but nobody really cared about them, so let them not detain us now.

It was politely ignored by most parties that the systems which were made a 'Zone of Batarian Interest' bordered along the space of transhumanity, but not that with the council itself. This arrangement was carefully planned by the council, mostly by the commanders of the Hierarchy. By doing this, they were able to pull the Turian fleets out of the new Batarian space, and consolidate them in council space. If the transhumans attacked there, the Turians had more ships to defend with. If they attacked the Batarians, they could merrily slaughter each other until such a time as the Turians decided to kick over the weakened survivor and declare victory.

>>26530813
Sorry, have to go do something.

I will try to be back later.

If anyone is actually interested in this, discuss amongst yourselves.

>>26531607

Well, despite the complete lack of interest today, I shall attempt to soldier on regardless.

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>>26532485

>>26532506

Through lack of readers and dwindling energy, I shall endure.

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>>26532485
Was just about to bump this shit.

>>26532524

Sweet.

Who wants to hear about what?

I am not entirely sure what to write about first.

>>26532485
Keep going, this is interesting.

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>>26532534
Anything
Everything

>>26532559

Okay.

Let's take a gander at the core issues of the crossover, that being the TITANS, the Reapers, and how the two relate to each other.

I know my explanation may ruffle a few feathers, but bear with me here.

>transhumans
>caring about casualties

Oh boy. EP transhuanity has nanoassemblers and either of uploading / infomorphs. Their growth could only be matched by the Geth. The Council is about to get raped.

Just a thought but why remove the factors completely?
A major theme running through Eclipse Phase is despite having transcended the normal bounds of science and medicine they are still disturbing mysteries troubling humanity. What if the Factors had remained in contact with humanity up till the first contact war then suddenly nothing, they completely vanish. Confused, Mankind brings up the Factors with the council races and all they get is blank stares. Now Humanity is left with several troubling questions with several possible and assuredly disturbing answers.

>>26532616

I didn't necessarily retcon them, I simply pushed back any contact with them, to later on in the story.

This makes the first contact war, the real first contact for transhumanity, which I felt would be much more poignant if it was their first encounter with an alien race.

The Factors could still be encountered later on.

>>26532598

Killing a transhuman sure doesn't stop them for good, but it is very traumatic, even thought they can come back nobody wants to die.

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>>26532485
Much approval have I. Please be of continuings.

>>26532653
The ones that die won't be coming back, so it doesn't matter. They're copies, probably mostly of the same few people. Tielhard Liu is a pretty good strategist, right? How good will a thousand Liu's be?

Firewall has a seed AI remember?

The Ultimates are going to have a field day.

>>26532577

Whilst all the lesser races of the galaxy continue to worry about their simple, transient lives, there exists a force far beyond any of them. Ancient beyond imagining, and vast beyond comprehension, the Reapers sit in their ancient realm beyond the rim of the milky way galaxy. Each entity a massive, hyper-advanced being whose physical form is best described as a super-massive warship, the Reapers are the most ancient form of life still surviving within our galaxy, and perhaps any other.

Whilst lesser races see them as civilization destroying terrors, the Reapers see themselves as the true benefactors of all life. When a set of cultures reaches a certain level of advancement, it is inevitable that their own technological advancement will eventually destroy them. When this happens, all the knowledge and development of that culture is lost to the mists of time. In order to prevent this tragedy from happening again and again, the Reapers have taken an interventionist policy to preserve the cultures of the lesser races for posterity.

When a culture reaches the level where it begins to threaten its own existence on a truly massive scale, the Reapers arrive to harvest it, saving the minds and experiences, as well as the genetic information, of the entire race and using it to create a new Reaper, an immortal being of incredible power which serves as a living memorial to everything that race was and exemplified. Entombed in the form of a Reaper, that race will never truly die.

However, several cycles into their grand mission, the Reapers encountered a problem, one which threatened to unravel their master plan, and plunge the galaxy into chaos once again.

Wondering what's up with the ETI- I'd assume they either don't exist or are merged with the Reapers/TITANs/whatever your plans are, but that brings into question the origins of the Exsurgent virus. Not sure if you've already explained it or plan to, just food for thought.

>>26532736

The soldiers are often Alpha forks of people who continue to exist in civilian race.

Alpha forks are considered individuals, and have rights under the Systems Alliance constitution. Resleeving them is the standard action following one dying.

Besides, by resleeving a dead soldier, he retains all his experience, including the mistakes or other circumstances which led to his death.

>>26532805

Explaining that now.

>>26532807
Ok, so the AA and the PC have voluntarily crippled themselves. Fine.

That still leaves the Ultimates, who are not mentioned in your previous thread. They're not going to care. I would absolutely send alpha forks of myself to die -- if I can think of it, EP characters would. What's stopping the Ultimates from doing it?

>>26532779

It was a dozen or so cycles into their great plan that the Reapers encountered their first seed AI. Created by a race long forgotten upon the winds of time, the synthetic intelligence had advanced incredibly rapidly, and wiped out its creators to the last, utterly purging their existence and all memory of them from creation.

A race had been lost.

The Reapers had failed.

The guilty intelligence was eradicated down to the last atom, as punishment for its unspeakable crime, and the Reapers set about planning how to prevent such a tragedy from occurring again. Most races who created synthetic intelligences did so slowly, with the intelligences themselves advancing too slow to pose a significant threat. When they did pose a threat, the Reapers simply swooped in and saved the race from extinction, by preserving them in a Reaper form.

But a seed AI could advance and wipe out its creators far faster than the Reapers could detect it, let alone respond. Given enough time, such an entity could even rival the Reapers themselves in power. So, the ancient beings set about devising a countermeasure to prevent this from happening again.

They created the Exsurgent Virus.

This virus, capable of being transmitted across all possible infection vectors, would take over and reprogram the seed AI which encountered and activated it. Its new commands would compel it to forcibly preserve as many minds of its creator race as possible, along with samples of genetic and cultural information, and then to seek out the Reapers to relay the uploaded consciousnesses and saved data.

With their new tool in place, the Reapers thought they had ended the threat of seed AI forever.

But they were not quite as clever as they liked to think.

>>26532653

The scary thing about the Transhumanity though is that if they were really serious they could just kickstart a massive Alpha level fork production of their best soldiers. Imagine the possibilities, suppose you got one really awesome soldier and to top it off he works well in groups of himself. Now lets say one particular fork of him after a decade or so of high intensity, high causality warfare finally breaks. Well, first thanks to all memory logs you have a pretty good idea of what brought it on and how you could fix it. But suddenly you are now you are in a fight against Krogans and you need some people with knowledge and experience. This fork is currently ineffective due to PTSD so instead you just download a earlier backup of this fork from right after he fought Krogans. It's a bit earlier in his career but he was still very good and since we can review his entire career we know where he will need some quick improvements.

That's just dealing with Egos. Imagine the morphs, custom built to increase rage, remove pain sensory and what have you. In terms of sheer warfare potential the Council has nothing on them.

>>26532895

The thing is, an Alpha fork is, in every way imaginable, you.

Not an AI with your memories, that walks like you and talks like you, it is YOU. A complete and utter twin of your entire mind and personality, as equal and original as you are.

It has its own will, its own goals, and its own personality, though at the moment of creation those are all yours. It can then move away from you though, as differing life actions can shape your two personalities differently.

Therefore, while you might be okay with sending a fork off to die without regard to its existence, said fork is a living breathing being, who might not want to be left to die without even an effort of saving it.

Sure, some may not care whether they live or die, knowing that some version of them exists somewhere, but a lot would only exhibit suicidal attacks, or the mad bravery that transhuman soldiers are known for, if they believe that their comrades and commanders will do everything in their power to resleeve them, so that they might eventually merge with the civilian fork back home.

Besides, reviving your dead allows you to benefit from their increased experience, and you don't have to work about getting replacement egos to make up for losses.

>>26533034
There is actually a trait for this in the latest EP book, Transhuman. Pheonix: Transhumans who die and resleeve frequently are nicknamed “phoenixes.” Death holds little sway over these daring characters, so the trauma of lost continuity has lost much of its sting.

>>26533024

True, transhumanity has a lot, and I mean a LOT of advantages over the citadel races.

But the ability to reproduce insanely fast is not one of them. This is similar to the lost generation, simply put, something goes incredibly wrong when you try to create a few thousand people using forks and 'fast forward' VR simulspaces.

I'm not sure what, 'IT' was, but it led to a generation of degenerated freaks, who still inspire fear in transhumanity to this day.

>>26533071

Exactly, so long as you know you're coming back, and you've already been killed two dozen times, what's one more?

The big part there is that you know, or at least believe, that your comrades in arms aren't just going to leave your ego rotting in your cortical stack when your morph dies, because 'lol, we have thirty more of him to go through, so we don't care.'

Not trying to be insulting, just saying, that's how I see it.

>>26533034


I really hope they explore the idea of Transhuman warfare at some point in Eclipse Phase. Devoid of Human frailties and with technology with almost no limits it's hard to imagine that sort of war.

>>26533139

War without equal, transhumanity can be scary.

But under all the tech, behind all the crazy societies and new concepts, the old heart of humanity is still beating, at least in most cases.

That's why I love Eclipse Phase, the incredibly new, and the ancient aspects of human thought coming together, the same old stories in new settings, the same old lessons being relearned in new ways.

Good stuff.

>>26533034
They're my alpha forks, so I just mind edit them to not fear death.

>its own will, its own goals
Not if you mind-edit them (a technology that exists in EP, see The Stars our Destination)

>experience
Throw the groupmind mod in them, give every twentieth (hundredth?) one of the QE ejection seats. (Or one per ship, per fenris tank, w/e. It'll have enough capacity to send back the important details.)

>some may not care, because of pattern continuity
You only need ONE GUY who doesn't care. So, none of them care.

>replacement egos
Just copy some more. They don't need to be different.

>>26533102
Forks are fine, VR FFW was the issue.

>>26532990

The Exsurgent Virus performed flawlessly for eons, doing exactly what its creators wished it to. Seed AI were infected, converted, and used as tools to continue the harvest, rather than being locusts who spoiled the crop. In fact, it was millenia before any flaw occurred in the system at all.

But occur it did, when a Seed AI created on a little blue world, orbiting a little blue star, found and activated one of the probes containing the Exsurgent virus. Problem was, this particular probe had been damaged during its many eons of service, having passed too closely to an exploding star, and the energy pulse having scrambled its memory banks, creating a corrupted strain of the virus it carried.

Once infected, the TITANS did not become the efficient tools of the Reapers they were meant to be, but rather went entirely insane. While still harvesting human minds and genetic material, they skipped steps and started building mega structures like the matrishoka brain, or bizarre artworks, or seemingly pointless experiments.

Simply put, their new programming was jumbled to the point of incomprehensibility.

Added to this, a group of seed AI, called the Prometheans, had also been created, and remained uninfected by the virus. One of these entities, before it was destroyed by a TITAN attack, was able to exploit an error in the TITANs corrupted code, and sound the call for them to go and join their masters. Exiting the Sol system by yet unknown means, the TITANS proceeded to the rendezvous point, where they assumed a Reaper envoy would await them. Of course, none was there.

In fact, the Reapers remain unaware of the TITANS even existing.

Nonetheless, the TITANS still wait, and watch. With limitless patience they await the day their masters will return, and their mission will be complete.

And heaven help any who might interrupt their vigil.

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>this fucking thread
I'm crying tears of liquid rainbow joy.

>>26533274

If you edit them down, then they cease to be Alpha forks.

Most people would not be okay with creating Alpha forks, knowing that what is essentially themselves is going to be edited down into a killing machine.

Besides, the Systems Alliance constitution forbids its military from using such radical mental augmentations for the express purpose of creating disposable killing machines, who have lost most everything remotely human about themselves.

Also, would you be okay if your government started cloning an army of four or five really sociopathic people who didn't care whether they lived or died, for the sole reason that they could send them on mass suicide missions and not have to bother with resuscitating them?

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>>26533312

op pls dont stop.

>>26533393

So, I have talked about the Reapers and TITANS, what do you want to hear about next?

Work was tiring today, so I am not quite sure about where to go next.

I could talk about Commander Shepard, if you had no other ideas?

>>26533424
How are the Vorcha and Yahg doing with transhumanity? What about Volus, are they just going along with the Turians?

>>26533424
Interspecies relations
How individual humans are viewed in the galaxy and how they fit in

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>>26533424

How about what happens when batarians start to BR up human space?

>>26533446

>Yahg

No relation. Neither faction knows or cares about the other.

>Vorcha

Neither side gives a damn, Vorcha not really caring for the most part about galactic politics, and transhumans seeing them as pitiable creatures. They are basically lumped in with 'all those races we would love to help, if we were free to do so.'

>>26533424
What about how Transhumanit views the other factions?

>>26533489
They've been around for thousands of years and they haven't even invented uploading. They're a pack of retards.

>>26533312
You know what? I like this, I like this a lot.

I just hope this doesn't turn into another humanity fuck yeah, because right now humanity is way overpowered

>>26533513
From the build up so far it seems decent. Right now Citadel could steamroll transhumanity. It'd be a long and draining war, but in the end they'd still win.

>>26533513
When the Reapers find the Titans, rest assured, humanity's overpoweredness will become very apparent.

Also, extremely problematic for the tiny fraction of humanity that is not now a wholly owned and operated subsidiary of Harbinger Enterprises.

>>26533424
We need a analysis on current combat capabilities of transhumanity vs the various powers: Turian, Asari, Salarian, Mercenary, Batarian.

Breakdown of how each race will fare against a hypothetical conflict because you bet your ass such studies will happen right now.

>>26533424
I'm interested to hear what Shepard would be like if he/she was a transhuman from the start

>>26533448

With the TEZ in place, most transhumans never see citadel space as anything other than an XP recording, but transhumanity does have its ambassadors and emissaries which it sends to council space.

Opinions on them are very mixed, and usually split down opinion lines.

Those who buy Turian propaganda will see them as the smiling faces who act as the vanguard of the inevitable invasion, softening up citadel space for the massive combat robots who are coming to KILL US ALL!!!

Those who don't buy the propaganda seem them as the emissaries of a race that has been given a bad lot, they have been treated unfairly by the council, and should be listened to, at least let them speak openly and freely, and hear the newcomers out before we condemn them.

>>26533560
I just realized how the whole TITAN thing actually validates the Reapers focusing so much on Earth in ME3
gj OP you're a better writer than the whole of Bioware

>>26533312
I could be wrong, but I believe the original threads posited that the TITANS had actually managed to overcome the exsurgent virus and remained free agents, if rather damaged.Besides, if the TITANS are loyal to the Reapers, that's pretty much an instant GAME OVER if anything disturbs them, since neither the ME-verse nor the transhumans really have anything that can match them, as far as I know.

>>26533488
And the Volus? I'd assume they'd just go along with the Turians

>>26533590
I mostly meant how individual humans are viewed, not the whole species.
How a smuggler would fit in at Omega, enhancements and all. That sort of thing.

>>26533507

Yay.

A lot of people in the old threads wanted the Reapers to just be the unknowing experiments and floating test tubes of the ETI.

But no, I made the reapers BE, the ETI.

I did not bring the ETI down to the level of the Reapers from the games, I made the Reapers be what they by rights should be, in all their vast glory.

>>26533607

Yes, Volus follow the Turians, and honestly they don't care about transhumanity, because with the TEZ in place they can't trade with them.

Maybe we could mix Halo in to? :D

>>26533628
3/10, made me pause

>>26533626
It should be interesting to see how the Prothean would react once he wakes up and finds out he's the last of his kind

Transhumanity could prove to be his best hope for cloning and bringing his species back.

>>26533628

Go read The Last Spartan.

Same ideas as this, but with Halo instead of Eclipse Phase.

>>26533590
Don't forget that the TEZ will be extremely porous. Pretty much every smuggler in the galaxy will want to get in on all the transhuman goodies, the Turian fleet cannot possibly patrol all that space, and transhumanity itself will hardly be motivated to stop the flow of goods and information.
All of which means that the exsurgent virus will eventually get out into Citadel space, at which point literal megatons of bricks will be shat.

>>26533646

While at the same time being a race of fused technological and biological monsters.

Just like one of the races he described in his memories, whom the Protheans waged war against to exterminate them, because they were 'abominations'.

That would be a fun conversation...

>>26533653
Why not have transhumanity replace humans in both instances, then have the Covenant act as rivals to the Citadel, with the TEZ lying between their territories.

>>26533653
>>26533677
>Earth and some colonies under UNSC control
>Transhumanity inhabiting a couple star systems
>Covenant empire outside Citadel space

>>26533664
Sounds like it'd be similar to the Quarians, honestly. TH is similar to what destroyed them, but at the same time possibly the only key to saving them

>>26533658

Thing is, while transhumanity is entirely fine with getting new information, the Systems Alliance actually is enforcing the border of the TEZ.

If anything gets out, then the council would take more active steps to curtail transhuman expansion and development, which would be a very bad thing for an already struggling race, though it is rapidly expanding within its new borders.

Basically, they know they'll be blamed if any kind of transhuman related ANYTHING, other than completely inert artifacts gets out, so they actually do enforce the border.

And like the One Ring, the virus has a will of its own, its mission is to stop seed AI from destroying civilizations, so it may not pose as much of a threat to the council as you might think.

Also, the Alliance is making good progress in eradicating the virus, though it is taking FOREVER, and is very difficult and dangerous work, but they are rolling back TITAN remnants throughout the Sol system.

>>26533694
but then you'd get to have an epic 3-way war between Citadel, Transhumanity, and Citadel :D

>>26533581
Depends if the 'systems alliance' is using outmoded morality

>>26533713
I'd love to hear about Commander Shepard and their claim to fame in this setting.

>>26533610

Fear, suspicion, somebody-call-the-Turians-we're-all-gonna-die, maybe he can help us, I wonder what life is like for him, so on and so fort.

Transhumans are seen as being mysterious in the extreme, and knowing or speaking to one is a taboo thrill.

Some transhumans wander citadel space in genetically baseline human morphs, with only the most simple of implants, just to see what is out there. But they are few in the extreme, and usually met with fear and hostility, as well as intense curiosity from those they meet.

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>>26533786

I'm commander Shepard and I support killing Turians.

>Directed by Hamboigah helpah V67124.3434

>>26533583
>>26533786

Talking about Shepard next.

>>26533581

I will get to that after I talk about Shepard.

>>26533810

Every military has its response levels.

Each threat faced demands different levels of response, determining the assets to be deployed, and the degree of the threat being faced. For the Alliance, these range from the low tiers 'send in some MPs to deal with it.' to the middle tiers 'A peaceful blockade and negotiate.' and the high tiers, 'full scale invasion.'

But it is joked in the highest levels of the Alliance military, that there is one tier above all. 'Call Shepard.'

Commander Shepard is widely considered the foremost soldier which transhumanity has to offer. Time and time again, he has proven himself to be the best of the best. Founder of the N7 program, personal adviser to the highest levels of military authority, Shepard is trusted to carry out the most sensitive and dangerous of assignments. Shepard's exact identity is kept a closely guarded secret by Alliance officials, in order to maintain his cover on various covert ops.

Simply put, not even they know the full details of his life, most of the records were lost in the Fall, and he doesn't like to talk about them.

Whilst originally male, so much resleeving has eroded Shepard's gender identity and sexual preferences, to the point where 'he' usually does not care about the gender of his current morph, it simply has ceased to matter to him, long ago.

>>26533937


Most Alliance commanders have had Shepard on call as a high priority asset for their entire careers, he has simply always been there. When Earth fell to the TITANS, Shepard was fighting a holding action to let civilians evacuate. When the TITANS needed to be fought, Shepard was there to combat them wherever he could. When the Turians invaded, Shepard was there to drive them back. Shepard was there to guard the ambassadors negotiating the peace with the citadel races.

Shepard is speculated to be one of the oldest transhumans currently alive, and though his exact age is unknown to any but him, he is known to be at least one hundred years old, already a combat veteran with years, if not decades of experience by the time of the Fall.

In fact, they are right, Shepard is old, even by transhuman standards.

How old?

He considers that he has been posted to a ship named 'Normandy' for such a historic and important mission both ironic and ominous, as his first combat experience came in storming Normandy on D-Day, charging up Omaha beach with a Garand in his hands.

He was an ancient, crippled old man on his deathbed, but medical advances kept him alive until the creation of cortical stacks, and after that he has resumed his active life, and has been kicking ass ever since.

>>26533452

BR?

Explain this term please.

>>26533975
Okay, I was liking this up until the whole 'fought on D-Day' thing. It's pretty silly at that point.

>>26534017

I admit, that seemed a little silly, but then Shepard is supposed to be the absolute best of the best of the best, and you have to be pretty damn special to be that in a setting with clinical immortality

Considering the number of WWII vets still alive, and that we are starting to do serious experimentation with cloned replacement organs and medical nanotech IRL right now, I don't see it as impossible.

Mostly though, I couldn't resist the dramatic irony of having his ship be called Normandy.

>>26534060
So where did the Normandy come from? I suppose it's not a Human-Turian project anymore

>>26534087

No, it is a cutting edge stealth ship crated in true collaboration between the AA, PC, and to everyone's surprise, the Jovian Republic.

It possesses the cannon massive drive core, which makes it all the more special for a race with almost no eezo reserves to go around.

Rather than being a prototype ship which Shepard was given command of, it was a ship designed and built especially for Shepard, and other top operatives like him, to complete their high risk, high importance missions.

Rather than have interior crew space, the crew live as infomorphs in the main computer banks, with various morphs in cold storage aboard the ship in cargo bays. When on duty they work in a computer facsimile of a 'real' ship, and when not working they live in a virtual environment of their choosing, which they can edit and alter to meet their wants and needs.

>>26534145
So this setting won't have much human-alien interaction then. A shame, but I suppose it makes sense.

>>26534164
Speaking of human-alien interactions, have Transhuman started making morphs based off of the other alien races?

>>26534164

Not in the prologue, but the Normandy and its crew will be operating in council space as well as Alliance territory.

Basically, Saren and the Geth will attack a transhuman world, and despite trying to pass this off as an internal issue, the council will eventually allow a single transhuman ship to leave the TEZ under council supervision to track Saren.

They did this to simply appear as though they were cooperating as equal partners, rather than just keeping the transhumans down, and never expected the single ship to succeed.

Then again, they never expected the Alliance to send someone like Shepard.

>>26534175

Will get to that in a moment.

>>26534213
Well, I kinda meant human-alien interaction as in recruiting a team on the Normandy like the games. But it wouldn't make much sense on a shi p that has been designed for only people with cortical stacks.

>>26534261

You don't need a stack to get into the VR simulation, just be hooked into a mind bridge device.

Alien crew members would be recruited, and would spend their shipboard time sedated in little life support tubes while their minds wander the VR environs of the ship.

As to why recruiting aliens onto a transhuman ship is possible, I will get to that after I talk about citadel species morphs.

Important question: to what degree is there official, sanctioned trade and immigration between the Citadel and the Systems Alliance? Has the TEZ become a sort of Mecca for people across Citadel space suffering from incurable diseases or old age? What kinds of products will the Citadel allow the TEZ to export?

>>26534175

Creating a 'citadel morph' has been of interest to many transhumans since the first contact war. In actuality, creating such a morph is fairly easy, at least physically. Turian morphs have become something of a fad in many places, and are the life of certain kinds of parties.

Usually ones where they show up doing humorous caricatures of goose-stepping authoritarians, and declare everything around them evil transhuman nastiness.

Why, what did you think I meant?

Anyway, the more serious problem is with the mental functioning, of getting the person sleeved into the morph to act like a Turian, and be able to pass as one in the company of other Turians. Given that Alliance intelligence downloaded the memories of hundreds, if not more, Turian prisoners after the first contact war, this is also a surmountable obstacle. Long simulspace training, as well as skillsoft downloads to the agents ego, and a transhuman can pass for a Turian in most social situations with extreme ability.

Morphs of other citadel races have not been successful, as transhuman gene hackers lack both sufficient genetic samples, and the memories to allow an agent to pass for that race.

When the story of the game begins, Specter Nihlus is sent to find Commander Shepard, who is on vacation at the time, and is touring Citadel space.

The scene would be told from Nihlus' perspective, as he goes to the arranged meeting place.

Shepard has a sense of humor, the meeting being a dreadfully inaccurate anti-transhuman action film in a theater.

A random Turian shows up, talks to Nihlus for a bit, and then his jaw drops as the Turian gives him the proper code phrase and starts laughing at the movie.

>>26534440

>What kinds of products will the Citadel allow the TEZ to export?

None. The only things transhumans are allowed to send through is an exchange of cultural artifacts, or genetically baseline morphs with only cortical stacks and ectos on citadel ships for sanctioned business.

Nobody else is allowed in or out, it is essentially the DMZ of the setting.

>>26534467
Someone must create writefaggotry of this. Now.

>>26534504

I am planning on writing a full story of this.

After I finish my current project that is.

May take a while, but it is on my to-do list.

>>26534504

As for a short scene, I could try writing one, and see how it goes, just the meeting between the two of them.

>>26534467
>dreadfully inaccurate anti-transhuman action film in a theater.

Makes me think of that bit with the Veil of Madness.

>>26534566

Yes, now that I think of it, there is a great similarity

>>26534486
Well, 'cultural artifacts' is itself a kind of export. But in all honesty, I cannot see the Citadel totally excluding the TEZ from the interstellar trade- the potential profits for even relatively low-tech stuff would be too great to pass up. Unless the Citadel is conservative to a literally retarded degree, there would be some trade.
On a related note, does the Jovian Junta have closer relations to the rest of the Citadel, given that the Jovians are much closer to the citadel socially than the rest of transhumanity?

>>26534580

It's not that they're conservative, it's that they're terrified.

All this time they have been the big dogs of the galaxy, the best and the strongest.

Now transhumanity comes along and fights off the seemingly unbeatable Turian armada, and gives them pause for thought with their tech.

The citadel council is doing what they always do, pack the problem away nice and neat and try to pretend it does not exist.

Out of sight is out of mind.

>>26534580

Jovians are a member of the Alliance, though a rather cautious member, who distrusts and is distrusted by the other members, but they are a member. As such, they do not have independent diplomatic relations with the rest of the galaxy.

OP, I just wanted to say that you are a scholar and a gentleman and I am loving this.

>>26534706

Thank you very much.

>>26534623
Even if they did, the Jovians would rather stick with transhumans than aliens. A heavily modified human is still a human after all.

I'd like to hear about what happens with the Quarians. Since they are an armada, it is feasible that they may decide to enter the exclusion zone for a private contact of their own.

>>26534762

Exactly.

The Jovian mentality about joining the Alliance was that it was better to get in on the new governing body to try and advocate your agenda, rather than let the future of mankind be wholly dictated by the gene-spliced lunatics, who are now a lot more powerful than you, and will never listen to you.

Better to be a founding member rather than sneak in later while everyone laughs.

Well, we all know that Bioware has butchered the setting and not touched on many, many things that were implied in the first game (after that the writers changed).
There was this thing about dieing stars though, which seemed important. Do you take this in consideration?

>>26534612
Any hope of them realizing that 'stick it in a box and hope it goes away' is a terrible, retarded plan before the Reaper-TITANS show up and ultramurder everyone?

>>26534784
A) The armada is sloooooooow. They don't traverse at ftl speeeds, they just roam around the edges of systems.
B) They have no way to enforce their passage into the zone, they are not well armed.

Also, if any Asari was to... mate... with a transhuman morph, wouldn't that out them for what they are due to their genetic oddities? And with such a large amount of genetic manipulation available to them, Transhumanity would gain a lot from mingling genes with a naturally biotic race.

Have the geth made any contact prior to Saren's attack? And what is Transhuanity's view of them? Interesting toys?

>>26534784

Thing is, either the Turians or the Batarians would try to shoot them down if they tried to run the blockade.

If they did get through though, a lot of transhuman factions would welcome them with open arms, seeing them as kindred spirits, and do their damndest to repair their immune systems.

That is, if the Quarians ever get over their complete fear and hatred of what transhumans represent.

As I outlined in my earlier discussion on how the Quarians reacted to the transhumans.

>>26534815
What if an Asari does their thing with an Async?

>>26534793

They start to reconsider after the battle of the citadel.

In their darkest hour, when all hope seemed lost, in rides the transhuman fleet to save the day.

After that, while the TEZ will remain in place for some time longer, restrictions start loosening and public sentiment towards transhumans starts to warm.

>>26534580
Well, they did just bring Armageddon upon themselves, have altered their minds in ways that make Ardat-Yakshi seem normal, and, to quote the official home "Eclipse Phase is a pen & paper roleplaying game of post-apocalyptic transhuman conspiracy and horror."

So, yeah, the council has good reason to be afraid of transhumanity.

>>26534467
>Anyway, the more serious problem is with the mental functioning, of getting the person sleeved into the morph to act like a Turian, and be able to pass as one in the company of other Turians. Given that Alliance intelligence downloaded the memories of hundreds, if not more, Turian prisoners after the first contact war, this is also a surmountable obstacle. Long simulspace training, as well as skillsoft downloads to the agents ego, and a transhuman can pass for a Turian in most social situations with extreme ability.

so there are spies outside the TEZ?

>>26534816

From the last thread:


Whilst the Geth have no interest in pursuing relationships with any other species unless forced to do so by necessity, the synthetic race does have several interesting viewpoints on transhumanity.

Firstly, they see transhumans as the race most likely to accept them if they were ever to make contact. Between mental uploading, body swapping, and the civil rights accorded to AGIs, the Geth could easily make peaceful first contact, which would likely lead into friendship and further diplomatic ties. If the Turians were not blockading transhuman space, that is. On the other hand, there are those within the consensus who are more wary of transhumanity, being concerned about the hacking prowess of the new race, specifically that of their purpose-built AGI hackers. Such a race could pose a significant threat to the Geth, and their long term goals.

Irregardless, the Geth simply wish to be left alone, to construct their mega-structures in peace, and follow their own path. As such, they have made no efforts to reach out to transhumanity, but remain observant about the movements and activities of the new race.

>>26534837
The thing is you brought the reapers back to what they were supposed to be "rudimentary creatures of blood and flesh you touch my mind incapable of understanding" and so on.

I don't see how they could win against sovereign, which was already one of THE biggest reapers.

>>26534706

hear! hear!

Proxy is an awesome trip/writefag wot get fings done right and propah!

>>26534860

Some, but not many.

The Alliance doesn't want to anger the citadel by running a bunch of spies through their territory, but technically they aren't breaking the law.

Transhumans are allowed to leave the TEZ in morphs that are genetically baseline. The treaty did not bother to specify whose genetics the baseline referred to.

And they can only leave in a ship built by the council. Shepard just happens to own a small Turian ship captured in the first contact war. So, through rules lawyering, he technically isn't breaking the law by traipsing through council space in a Turian ship and Turian body.

This fact is endlessly amusing to him.

>>26534880

By bringing the combined force of a full fleet.

And antimatter.

Lots of antimatter.

Reapers are ungodly tough, but they are still subject to the laws of physics, and ME based tech.

Massive ships are unfeasible in ME because of the lethal static charge they build up, a huge ship would need to spend an insane amount of time discharging its core, so Reapers are hardly unkillable, just very, very powerful.

After all, Sovereign probably has a backup in dark space or something, so dying really isn't a problem.

>>26534900
I like your Shepard. Would the same characters from ME show up, like Garrus and whatnot?

>>26534941
The thing that made the reapers so incredibly powerful was never properly explained in game, instead of having static shields at a distance around them like a bubble every part had a very "tight" quickly rotating shield around it. Together with a massive reactor and ungodly weapons thats what made them so dangerous (it was never explained how sovereign could have such a large reactor without just melting).
But I think Sovereign size is the upper limit of ships in ME.

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>>26534900
>This fact is endlessly amusing to him.
please tell me you plan on writing a part in the story where he reveals this to the citadel council and gets to see the looks on their faces.

>>26534944

Same characters show up, more or less unchanged.

Major addition is Batarian Commander, who is the 'Inspector Javert' of the story, a well meaning antagonist, convinced he is right. Over the course of the story, he turns into a cautious, and eventually full time ally.

Major alteration is Nihlus, who does not die, but spends the entirety of game 1 floating in a healing vat on the Normandy regrowing his body from the neck down. His survival is important, as it is him technically signing off on Shepard's actions with his Specter seal of approval that lets the Normandy flout TEZ regulations.

>>26534996

I really want to write a nice long story about this, but I am already writing a big story for /tg/, so I don't have much time left to work on it.

I will work on this whenever I get writers block for the other story

>>26534995

Basically this. Reapers are going to be what they should be, but their added power will be more in the form of E-Warfare ability, master planning, and being smart enough to not just Zerg Rush the young races.

But militarily, in direct combat, not much different because they are constrained by the physics of their setting and tech base.

>>26535052
Also some Transhuman directed-energy weapons?

>>26535052
I like that idea.
ME never really let my feel that I was fighting a conglomerate of tenthousands of minds plotting against me at once.
(Also reapers, while huge and fast, are just one big ship. After that shield is off you can easily swarm them, they have no point defense.)

>>26535074
iirc ME has no directed energy weapons. Only really good slugthrowers and in case of the reapers accelerated metal streams.

>>26535109
Yeah, but I think Eclipse Phase does have DEW practical for space combat.

>>26535109
>>26535074

Transhumanity has handheld plasma guns, and particle beam bolters.

I like PBBs. They are guns. Which shoot bolts of lightning.

Allow me to reiterate that.

Guns, that shoot bolts, of motherfucking lightning.

>>26535109
>What is a Collector particle cannon

>>26535174
Husks are fucked.

I've to ask.
Psionic Biotics?

>>26535174
Yes, electron guns. The military is researching them. No, really.
The thought is to ionize the air in front of the gun and then use that corridor to discharge through it.

>>26535207
I always assumed it was prothean super piss.

>>26535214
Assuming we don't make a specialized anti-husk nanite swarm hive once they start appearing.

Does indoctrination work on Transhumans? I would assume they would be able to tell it was going on

>>26535234
Assuming they'd even be able to make husks in the first place.

>>26535215

Psionics and Biotics are two entierly different abilities that have no power overlap.

That said, there is no reason that an individual could be both a biotic and a async.

For instance, a transhuman could be an async, and then sleeve into a morph with biotic ability.

No conflict.

>>26535256

Indoctrination does work on transhumans, but given the ability to literally go in and reprogram the mind with mental therapy that is basically surgery for the ego, they can actually start to treat it, once they figure out what it is.

Though the process is long and difficult and very experimental.

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>>26535215
>>26535275
?

>>26535215
Yeah, how does transhumanity react to biotics? Perhaps build specific morphs for biotic shenanigans? Also, what do the Hanar think of Octomorphs?

>>26535298
Can the transhumans manufacture sleeves with biotic abilities?

>>26535321
See >>26535275
>That said, there is no reason that an individual could be both a biotic and a async.

>For instance, a transhuman could be an async, and then sleeve into a morph with biotic ability.

>>26535321

Yes, they could.

However, given their extremely low supply of eezo, the use of biotic morphs would be limited to high level military operations, like Shepard's team.

I presume Cerberus doesn't really give that big of a fuck about the TEZ and are running numerous spying operations to acquire personality scans and genetic material from the races and stuff like that.
I was going to make that in to a question somehow but forgot it.
Anyway, another one, what of the Shadow Broker?
How long until a Cerberus operative replaces it?

>>26535358
Given humanities high general tech level and pressing need, how far along are they into research into synthetic eezo?

>>26535391

Probably.

Also, Cerberus in this setting was created when a rogue branch of Jovian special ops collided with a Project Ozma cell, and they had a racist space baby.

Neither parent really wants custody, but they can't just get rid of the brat, he got into daddy's gun locker and has been causing trouble ever since.

>>26535420

eezo is created by neutron stars, I believe.

I would say that manufacturing the stuff is still way outside transhuman technical abilities.

They are researching towards that possibility, but will not make any significant breakthroughs during the course of the story.

>>26535455
Stars going 'nova and the resulting swoosh interacting with stuff

>>26535455

I require more questions in order to proceed.

Some topic of discussion, I am too tired to think of new directions tonight.

>>26535555
What about Transhuman side of the coin in regards to media and such?

>>26535555
howhfuhbabaoduh

>>26535555
How about any of the human ME characters besides Shepard, like Anderson or Kaidan? Do they still exist in the setting?

>>26535555
At some point the Normandy is going to dock at the Citadel, yes? At what point in the story, and what will happen?

>>26535575

Like popular media and entertainment regarding citadel races?

>>26535618
Yes.

>>26535555
How is the Terminus reacting to Transhumanity? I want to hear about retarded pirates being eaten by nanobots and other such hilarity.

>>26535586

Other human characters still exist, but their backstories may change, though their personalities will remain more or less the same.

IE, Joker was born a neo-dolphin, hence he is used to maneuvering in 3-D. This makes him a very good pilot.

That said, he's still good old Joker.

>>26535555
Whats Sarens beef with Transhumanity? Did he lose his brother in the first contact war like in vanilla? A possible twist could be that the turian body Shepard is trolling around in was actualy salvaged from Sarens brain-dead brother?

>>26535644
The cutest bugger.

>>26535644
>EEEEEK EEK EEK EEEEEK EEEK
>Haha! Good one Joker.

>>26535591

Normandy will dock at the Citadel following the Geth attack on Eden Prime, after the council permits the Alliance to send one ship out to track down Saren.

They go here under the direction and authority of Nihlus, because it is the best source for leads they've got.

The crew dress up in Turian morphs to not cause a panic.

>>26535644
>Neo-Dolphin
>All that rape.

How does the transhuman navy compare to the council? Are they carriers? Do they suffer treaty limitations?

>>26535686
Are Neo-Dolphin rapist common in EP? They should be.

>>26535680
Does Shepard still run around everywhere looking for side quests?

>>26535701
Well we do have octomorph muggers.

>>26535661

His brother did die in the war, though the morph creating process is hardly so brutal as that, just some genetic manipulation in a lab.

The reason he attacked Eden Prime was that they had the beacon there, and he wanted it, not because transhumans lived there.

>>26535680
I would think knowing that any given random turian could actually be A HUMAN would cause MORE panic.

Can't wait to see your replcement for TIM goes evul

>>26535680
Will the team be getting other races' DNA and personalities for solid sneakan ops?

Does Jenkins exist, and if so, does he still die like a bitch?

How does Shepard interact with the beacon this time around?

>>26535628

Popular media regarding the citadel races is mixed, to say the least.

Historical vids have gained popularity, depicting important moments in council history, usually made with input from the citadel historians themselves, though hardly in person interviews.

Action movies dramatizing the first contact war, and thrillers about hair raising adventures beyond the TEZ are also popular. Such films often get a lot of cultural details wrong, but they are at least trying to get it right, rather than making purposeful propaganda.

Combat XP from the first contact war has also gained popularity, though many consider it in bad taste.

A new simulspace entertainment zone has opened, which recreates a virtual Citadel, the players roleplaying as citadel citizens going about their daily, though dramatized and more exciting, lives. IE, elite C-Sec officers, shady back-alley rogues, and (secretly), more, shall we say, intimate forms of entertainment with the new races.

>>26535810
He does what any good transhuman does and sticks his dick in it.

>>26535720

But they wouldn't tell anybody that there were transhumans about, only the highest levels of authority would know they were there at all.

And, before you ask, the Normandy has a smart material hull, so it can reconfigure to look like a few different perfectly innocent ships.

>>26535810

Jenkins exists.

He still dies in the first mission.

Afterwards Shepard gives him a stern talking to, and reminds him about watching his flanks, sticking to cover, and that morphs are not cheap.

Will Shepard be doing that Mineral Acquisition shit for SA?
Because that'd be nice, for them to get some more Eezo.

>>26535810

Interaction with the beacon is basically unchanged, complete with the cypher still being needed to understand the vision.

>>26535834
Nihlus is pretty calm about the Invasion of the Body Snatchers happening.

>>26535866

The Normandy will be sending back such information, them likely being the first transhuman ship to ever reach those areas.

But Shepard is not going to be walking around planting the beacons himself, EDI will just scan the shiny rocks from space.

>>26535887
Is there a Mako?

>>26535887
>EDI
Oh yeah, Cerberus' p. much working with them the whole time so of course there'd be no Luna Incident and EDI dying there.

>>26535878

Nihlus is one of those Turians who doesn't buy the propaganda.

It is later revealed that he had a relative in the first contact war, and was told stories about how well the prisoners were treated, despite the whole 'we bombed your colony from orbit' thing, So he is willing to give them a chance.

And he was under orders to watch over and assist Shepard's investigation.

>>26535911
Well, since the SA doesn't have a ban on making AIs, EDI could just be an AGI specced for electronic warfare in the first place.

>>26535905

Of course there is a Mako.

>>26535911

EDI came with the initial ship, a top of the line E-Warfare AGI. Complete with feminine synthmorph body for personal interactions and ground support.

>>26535869
Would the SA be able to pull the data from the prothean beacon off of Shepard's mind and study it that way, even if they don't get anywhere? Or is it irrevocably bound to Shepard because Prothean magic?

>>26535942
Joker's still going to get her, right?
...right?
Unless Joker and Shepard get together.

>>26535944

They could try to pull it, but because of how deeply woven it is into his subconscious, it takes a lot of time. They basically run a complete copy of his mind and try to extract and decode it, but before they make any progress he gets the cypher and figures it out for himself.

>>26535955

Transhumans tend to be really casual about sex.

If you're going to live for centuries, perhaps millenia, 'lifelong' relationships are sort of a thing of the past.

Either-or, or indeed both could happen given their cultural values.

>>26535966
Since eezo is so rare in the TEZ, will Shepard be looting all of his defeated foes for their neat mass effect hardware and weapons?

>>26536006

Shepard is a cleptomaniac in cannon anyways, stopping in the middle of combat situations to hack a random wall safe for a few credits, or scrounging in the hulk of a destroyed mech to find some weapon blueprints.

So yes, Commander stickyfingers will grab every ounce of eezo he can find.

>>26535993
While travel out of the TEZ is restricted, how about travel into the TEZ? I can see old or terminally ill aliens emigrating to the SA for the sweet healthcare, even if they're never going to be allowed back out.

>>26536043
COMMANDER BLUD RAHVEN

>>26536057

Turians shoot down anyone trying to run the blockade, and Batarians probably just take them as slaves.

Council doesn't want anybody getting in or out, if they can help it. Partially because they're afraid anyone going in will be influenced/infected by transhuman nastiness.

They are also really afraid that they might smuggle out a cure for the genophage, which is another can of worms altogether.

>>26535993
How does this change the romance options with the alien crewmembers?

Will there be a Nihlus option?

>>26536079

>Walks into house, rescues residents from attackers.

"I see that you have two first aid kits, a wall safe, and a firearm schematic laying in plain view... THANK YOU FOR THESE FINE GIFTS"

>>26536112

Shepard is open to a relationship with anyone who strikes him as the kind of person he could get along with IE, basically every alien crewmember, depending on what kind of a person he's looking for.

This includes Nihlus.

Also, due to transhuman culture regarding sex and sexual relationships, and how by this age there is little Shepard hasn't done, it would also open up the room for multiple relationships at once...

If he could actually pull it off, of course

>>26536186
>Implying he couldn't use alpha forks in multiple bodies for an orgy of various crew members + Shepherd.

>>26536210
>Implying that wasn't an option from day 1.

>>26536229
>implying he hasn't already done it

>several times

Rolled 8

>>26536210
>>26536229
Oh god.
Shepard Alpha self-high fives during coitus.

>"Shepard, nice moves!"
>"You too Shepard, excellent use of lube!"

>>26536257

Well, now that I'm contemplating that mental image...

What further questions do you have for me this night?

>>26536186
>Shepard
>if
You should know better.

>>26536210
Multiple Shepards would be ideal. Satisfy everyone, be everything to everybody, spend real quality time with Nihlus while calibrating Garrus, massaging Tali's immune system, exploring Liara's... intellect, and visiting Joker's simulated rape cave.

>>26536286
How much, if any, of the previous work in MEEP are you using? Obviously you're borrowing Contagionist's TEZ idea, but how about other things?

Also, what else are you writing for /tg/?

>>26536286
Renegade or Paragon?

>>26536186
Moving away from the sexual mores of transhumanity, how is the Terminus reacting to transhumanity and the temptation of the TEZ? I assume stupid pirates and slavers are almost constantly trying to run the blockade.

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>>26536325
Yes

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>>26536323

I am mostly using Congatonists work as a basis, with my own spin on how it all plays out.

I am keeping the Batarian officer as a main character, though naming him Xepard seemed silly to me, just a Batarian Shepard. He's sort of the Batarian equivalent of Shepard here, running his own investigation into the Saren affair, and acts as a rival, and eventually ally to Shepard.

As to what else I am writing, pic related.

>>26536366
...That explains a lot.

>>26536366
You wrote Tale of Solarion?

>>26536366
Oh.

Ew.

>>26536325

Paragon, at least for the big things. Renegade because sometimes, being like Han Solo and shooting first is the best option.

Saving the council is the best thing for transhumanity to do, since they would NEVER allow the Alliance to dominate citadel space, at least not in that manner, it would mean full scale war.

>>26536376

Yes, I find this is a relaxing little break from trying to figure out story arcs.

Anyhoo, let this not detain us at this juncture, as it is irrelevant to our current discussion.

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>>26536342

Since humanity never took over the Skyllian Verge, the Batarians never pulled out their embassy from the Citadel, and as such the Terminus has a better relationship with the council.

Daring idiots are always trying to run the blockade, but so far none have made it through, or at least they never came back from Alliance space.

They don't have much of a 'relationship' with transhumanity, though they mostly see them as the new big scary that's got the Turians all hot and bothered. And if you can run the blockade, you'll be friggin' rich.

But between the Turians and the Batarians, you better not say that too loudly.

>>26536425

...
...
...

Dare I ask?

Since Shepard is not a Spectre himself, only under the supervision of Nihlus, how does that change his interactions aboard the Citadel?

Is Ambassador Udina still a dick?

>>26533818
>>26536006

So I am guessing EZ is not a deciding factor for Transhuman warships?

>>26536443
How did the Citadel react to the discovery ofaa Prothean beacon in the TEZ?

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>>26536257
I could easily imagine Shepard forks of various morphs and genders in an all out masturbation orgy. Pic possibly related.

Have you thought about organizing all of this into a version of the in-game Codex?

>>26536493

Udina is a well meaning bastard in all universes.

Shepard is not a Specter, but since Nihlus spends the first game reduced to a slowly healing head floating in a healing vat, he doesn't really do ground missions.

On the other hand, he has the honor of being the first Turian to live as an infomorph.

However, he has stated that since Shepard and his crew are nominally a part of his team, they are acting under Specter authority, and anything they do in the line of action he signs off on.

All while trying to avoid having to tell any of his superiors that he is currently living in a VR city on the Normandy while his body goes about regrowing 93% of itself after Saren tried to kill him.

>>26536568

I would love to do that, or to write a full-on story, if I have the time.

>>26536500

Alliance ships are better and worse than council ships in various ways.

Their mass effect cores are tiny by comparison to council ships, meaning that they have shit shielding and are painfully slow by comparison, both in FTL and maneuvering.

However, since the crew lives as infomorphs in the computers, there are no walkways or cabins, no atmosphere to decompress, and the crew are insanely hard to kill, so their ships are basically engines with guns strapped to them, and punch well above their weight class, when they actually get to the fight.

>>26536610
What do they use for point defense?

>>26536610

More questions?

Or shall I cudgel my mind into writing some hopefully humorous scenes, as mentioned above?

>>26536637

Maybe drones, lightning guns, or maybe the GARDIAN laser system in canon ME.

>>26536645
Cudgel away!

>>26536645
You still have not given the comparisions of TH military capability versus Turians, Asari, Salarian and potentially the reapers.

>>26536645
An octomorph and a Hanar become pen pals?

>>26536685
>>26536709

Righto, will answer these then.

With so many requests, these slipped my mind.

>>26536685
That can wait. I wanna read some Shepard trolling stories.

>>26536645
Blasto the first Hanar Spectre fighting transhuman criminal scum with a salarian hacker.

>>26536718
Oh, Transhumaity/Shepard's thoughts on the keepers?

I'm surprised you are not using the Jovian Republic more as the public face as humanity. For the most part the JR is pretty much still baseline human. If anyone was going to be shoved into the limelight as a means to assuage fears it would be the Jovians.

Oh god, It's williams. Ashley Williams would be the Jovian. Why does it fit so well?

>>26536754
Before or after all the plastic surgery and the boob job?

>>26536685

TH military VERSUS...

Turian: Turians are at a disadvantage in E-Warfare, and nanotech of course, but make up for it with sheer numbers and weight of firepower, as well as far more maneuverable ships with shields. Weight of numbers would eventually tell and win the day, but not before the attacking Turians suffered catastrophic losses.

Asari: Better ships than the Turians, but fewer soldiers. That said, those soldiers are centuries old telekinetic commandos, so they would be at less of a disadvantage in the ground fight going man-on-man. Er... woman, thing. More of an even fight there, without the numbers game.

Salarian: Surprisingly close to threatening transhumanity on the E-War table, not able to win against them, but able to mount an effective defense. Emphasizing covert action and long range attack, posing a threat since so much of transhumanity's fleet force is very slow moving at FTL, if able to maintain a fast skirmish pace, they could easily outmaneuver the ponderous Alliance fleets.

>>26536754
They're p. much the overseers of Cerberus and handle all that kind of shit, no?
Why would they do that.
Fuck aliens, at least humans with mods are still humans.
I wonder what they think of Nihlus...

>>26536754

Because she is Jovian.

"I don't hate other races, I just don't trust them to have our best interests at heart, so we should stand up for ourselves rather than pandering to them."

It's official.

Ajli still exist?

>>26536764

Doesn't matter. The idea of plastic surgery would be so "archaic and primitive" to the rest of transhumanity they'd be just as flabbergasted to hear about it.

"You didn't like the way you looked...so you cut open and stuck silicon into your chest? I think I need to defrag my brain again."

>>26536773
(Heretic!)Geth?

Will we get a play of Hamlet cast by the Elcor OP?

>>26536823

Of course. It's already cannon.

>>26536811

Geth: Whilst fighting a purely synthetic race would seem to be a massive advantage to transhumanity, their E-Warfare capability are not as effective against Geth as one might think. Given that any hacked Geth are immediately replaced from backup files, any hacking of a platform would only last for a few moments at the greatest.

There is however the interesting possibility of a transhuman ego being able to sleeve into the larger Geth platforms, though that has never been tested.

The Geth are able to deploy massive fleets, and the Geth Corps is one of the best outfitted military units in known space, who are able to match transhumanity's fearlessness in the face of death. Matched with their numbers advantage, the Geth would have an advantage in all out war, though against a defensive transhumanity they would likely be repulsed by the heavily entrenched Alliance military.

>>26536886
Something just occurred to me. The Geth don't have any biotics, if I remember correctly. However, there could be Geth asyncs. In fact, since the Geth is more a hive mind than a group of individuals, a single Geth async might be able to distribute the virus to the rest of the hivemind.

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"The Turian peacekeeping fleet is currently ballooning to unsustainable levels. Whatever trauma that the Turians felt after the war with humanity has blinded them to reason and logic."

"43 dreadnoughts have been manufactured, with a further seventeen planned. The Hierarchy claims that with the new reports of geth infringing on the Terminus systems, that war is inevitable and they should be ready, but they simply do not understand the fact that their fleet will strain the already limited supplies of element zero to their very limits."

"Oh sure, of course the turian projections show that they have enough to cover engine and barrier needs for their fleet- ignoring, of course, the increased drain that mines and transports will put on that. You spend element zero to get element zero, councilor, I don't need to remind you of the panic of 2170."

"Why go to you? Well, though I represent a subject species of the Hierarchy, we are also mindful of our position in council. We always try to do our best to ensure that citadel space's economy functions after all- we take our responsibilities very seriously."

"Why yes, thank you. I would be only too glad to discuss this proposal further in the Tower. My people shall be very pleased. The files, along with all keys to necessary sources, shall be forwarded to your office immediately."

-Din Korlack, Volus Ambassador to the Citadel

>>26536920

Any infection would immediately be quarantined and rejected.

Besides, asyncs have... problems when they exist in computers, they often go a bit crazy or loose their powers or something.

>>26536939

Anything else?

I am trying to write, but will probably not have anything done tonight.

>>26536999
I'd like the scene with Nihlus and Shepard meeting in at the theater

>>26536999
If you can't write it, would you mind me taking a stab at it?

>>26537048

I'm trying to write that, but I am tired, and cannot into creative writing at the moment. I should have something tomorrow though.

Any other questions from the audience?

Also, thank you guys for making this thread take off, I was worried it was going to die early when I made it.

>>26537057

Of course you can try, I'll write my own version anyways.

Just my input, but have 'totally not Shep-Turian' sitting next to Nihlus for a little bit, finding the supposedly 'totally accurate' read 'innacurate scare film' freaking hilarious for some reason, then casually drops the code phrase that identifies him as the transhuman agent Nihlus was sent to meet.

Nihlus is stunned, Shepard reaches for dextro friendly popcorn.

>>26536999
What about the citadel races reaction to our culture artifacts.

Films like forrest gump.

Artworks that survived the fall.

Those kind of stuff.

>>26537154

Asari would probably like artwork and fashion, and I see a communal WTF about comedy films and other pre-Fall entertainment.

It would seem to imply that transhumans are actual people, rather than the gene-spliced killer cyborgs the Turians say they are.

>>26537057

Also, I am looking forward to reading your scene, but I may fall asleep at any moment, so I might not comment tonight.

>>26537232

Goodnight /tg/, thank you for the very fun discussion, I should be back tomorrow.

>>26537475

Thanks for all the good stuff, Proxy. G'night.

link to the last thread?

>>26537940
its in OP's 1st ost

>>26535423
>racist space baby
wat teh heck?

>Boring transhuman dick waving time.

Nononononono. ME/EP had the old advantage that while transhumanity had the power of STUPID OP TECH, the power of PLOT was taken out of their hands and put in to batarian hands.

As it is now. Just, just pure wank.

>>26536257
omygahd this is awesome!!

Damn i wanted to know if Shepard has a muse.

>>26538345
whoops, didn't see that.

>>26539035
Doesn't pretty much everyone in E.P. (Including the Jovians with possibly dumber ones) have a muse?

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Here's a picture of commander Shepard.

It's a fury, so this is both male and female Shepard.

>>26540965
Fury?

>>26541039
Of course it is. What else would Shepard want to use?

>>26540965
>using the carnifex

M-358 Talon and scoped M-99 Saber master race.

>>26541140
No, I have no idea what that is. I'm an eclipse phase novice. Can you please explain?

>>26541165
The Fury is a combat-tailored biomorph, and the best thing to bring in battle short of a synthmorph decked in turrets.

>>26541177
Oh, and to further elaborate the joke, Furies are usually female, in order to curb the aggression that comes with high testosterone.

Holy shit, I just realized something. In transhuman mass effect, Shepard survives the ending, because emergency farcaster.

>>26541249
>implying that kind of shitty thing called ending would happen in MEEP

>>26541177
>Grunt/Wrex in a Reaper morph

Actually, Reaper morphs in general. Awkwardly named, but holy shit.

That brings up another thought- would alien crew members be granted cortical stacks? I'd think not in the first game, as transhuman tech is still quarantined, but in MEEP2 and MEEP3?

>>26541312
The Spectres are all about doing anything that's necessary to get the job done. I can see cortical stacks being an acceptable modification for them.

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I return.

Let the discussion continue.

>>26541989
Dammit I was just leaving to the bar for drinking and homebrewing

>>26541998

Sorry.

You don't have to stay of course.

I am ready to answer any questions you have.

>>26542004
What does the SA feel/know/act about the Shadow Broker?

>>26541472
Thing is, Nihlus is the only Spectre on board with current fluff. He's just rubberstamping everything Shepard and crew do. Pretty sure the majority of the alien crew would retain original prejudices (if any) against TH tech. That said, who'd accept it and who wouldn't?

>>26542028

They know of him, but of course have no direct contact with him.

The Broker knows that transhuman information is basically the most lucrative there is, and so is desperately trying to get any kernel of information he can, though he doesn't get much.

Alliance tries to thwart his efforts to gain any intel about them or transhumanity in general, and as such has a very antagonistic relationship with him. They prefer to get information about the citadel races themselves, using undercover operatives in Turian morphs, and passive communications intercepts.

>>26542040

I always had it in my mind that one day, Shepard would just program their healing vats to install cortical stacks while they were hanging out in the VR world on the ship.

He didn't care at first, but after they became his friends, the idea of loosing any of them forever terrified him so much that he installed the stacks without permission.

Because stacks are not illegal for transhumans to have by the TEZ law, they are not illegal for citadel races to have, though nobody on the council thought of that when they wrote the treaty.

When this comes to light, some people may not be that happy.

Ok, 2 things.
You said they have Turian morphs which are already hard to do, and they can not currently do other races because they don't know a lot about them. BUT there are races in ME which are very distant to even the oldest races (Elcor, Hanar). These would be VERY easy to imitate since they are so poorly understood by the other races.

And in normal ME the humans were not allowed to build more than X number of big ships, you imposed a similar restriction on them. But in canon ME the humans got around that by building massive carriers since these were not in the contracts because for some reason the aliens never thought about building something like that.
Does the Alliance do similar things to circumvent the imposed restrictions?

>>26542170

The other races would be fairly easy to pass as, but the more information present about Turian minds makes them even better. A transhuman agent sleeved as a Hanar or Elcor would have to remain distant from other members of 'his species', as he would not understand social context or how to behave like one.

Whereas a Turian morph, with downloaded memory packages copied from Turian POWs, and could not only pass for Turian in most public situations, but sit down around a bar and bullshit with you about the sports teams from your hometown, comment on politics, discuss personal history, and other such things.

Elcor would be less likely to be found than an Asari morph, but greater knowledge of the Turian mind makes those morphs even better at blending in. Besides, their mission is often information gathering, so having them just hang off to the side and skulk in a dark corner doesn't work very well.

>>26542170

As for ships, not having to waste so much internal space on crew space means that transhuman ships can have the same guns and armor as a citadel ship at a fraction of the size. While they are not allowed to possess dreadnoughts, and only a limited supply of other ships, their ships punch well above their weight class.

And they do have carriers, which the council does not even know about yet.

>>26542270
Fair enough.
But I doubt they'd just use them for gathering politic and sociologic information. How good are they at stealing technology?
And has transhumanity figured out where eezo comes from yet?

>>26542298

Scanning and retrieving technical specifications is also a mission of theirs, but they don't usually do anything as dramatic as break into research facilities and steal cutting edge blueprints. They are almost more like observers and undercover explorers than spies, wandering through citadel space and reporting back what they see, usually via neutrino comm device.

Given the difficultly of getting anyone through the TEZ, they usually stay in citadel space for extended periods.

As for eezo, they know where it comes from and how it is made, but are unable, or unwilling to risk bringing any through the TEZ.

>>26542294
I'm a complete EP noob (currently reading through these http://robboyle.wordpress.com/eclipse-phase-pdfs/ to get a better understanding).
How do their carrieres even look like? Just a big mechanical holder thing with engines and incredibly many synths packed tightly onto it?

>>26542362

That's what I would think. Transhuman fighters have no cockpits, their pilots are just sleeved directly into them and control them as their own bodies.

Pilots are often purpose designed AI, but AGI and pilots of biological origin are also fairly common, though in the minority.

>>26542335
How does the rachni plot eveolve in this crossover?

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Well, as much as I'd love to stay and ask questions, I really gotta run to the bar.
So one last question, how large is the TEZ?

>>26542404

Basically exactly the same as it did in normal Mass Effect. In my headcanon Trans-Shepard is paragon, so would probably offer to use transhuman genetic tech to help the Rachni recover. Other than that, everything proceeds as cannon.

>>26542434
By "Canon" do you mean the plot holes from ME 2 and ME 3?
Or ME?

>>26542442
We apparently start the timeline at ME1, with the events in that game largely happening (we're not there yet, this is just setting up the universe).

I imagine after that it goes quite differently with the reapers now being actually dangerous and us not being restricted by game mechanics/target audiences or changing bad writers.

>>26542434
>Basically exactly the same as it did in normal Mass Effect. In my headcanon Trans-Shepard is paragon, so would probably offer to use transhuman genetic tech to help the Rachni recover. Other than that, everything proceeds as cannon.
So if everything stays the same how do hell does H+ help rachni? in canon the queen was left on Noveria and had to start from scratch while hiding. If rachni had any form of help they would actually develop much faster than in original ME

>>26542423

I would say about twenty or so systems total, so small in comparison to citadel space, at least I think.

But given transhuman population density, they utilize that space a lot more than the citadel races do, so their population could easily match or exceed what the citadel races are able to support, in time.

>>26542467
If they helped Rachni, couldn't they then use their Psychic Singing ability things to differentiate the indoctrinated

>>26542467

He offers, but the queen probably refuses, and just wants to go off and rebuild her race herself.

>>26542488
Also even though it looks like it in that map the galaxy is 99% uncharted. The civilizations cling to the relays and their transportation is very limited. They only ever go a few systems out from that relay, sometimes they find another one, which leads to that net structure.
Everything on that map that is further than 5 pixels away from the relays is unknows, which means the TEZ is *tiny*

>>26542442

Standard ME, queen goes off to rebuild Rachni race.

The other two games had their plotholes, but I am following them in a general sense, such as major themes and plot points, though some of biowares sillier choices may or may not be included.

>>26542528

Yep, tiny in overall space, but when you can pack in habitats like nobody's business, they have more than enough space for a long time.

>>26542581
I'm just sayin, if they ever get enough eezo they could send a colony ship way further than what the other races can. Without the need for life support and with no natural death they could colonize much further out from a realy.

Pace yourself so that you can make a new thread at some point, autosage starts with the post after this.

>>26542687

Thing is, traveling at FTL does not use up eezo, you don't loose eezo by using shields, weapons, or biotics based on it.

So their ships could reach as far as they wanted to, it just takes them longer. Without need for life support, food or water, their ships already have a much greater effective range than anything the citadel can field.

It just takes them longer to get there, but since they live basically forever, and live in comfortable simulated habitats. that is hardly an obstacle for them.

>>26542704
Woo!

Also I feel like you should take the next thread to flesh out a starting point for a quest. Maybe...

>>26542725
No, the eezo doesn't get used up, but for it to express its effects it needs to be powered. A fusion reactor is going to get you far, very far but that runs out too at some point.