text: [Themes: sci-fi]
  
  > Yes
  Alright, which ending did you get?
  
  > Mankind's Conquest
  You've picked Mankind' Conquest.
  
  > Continue
  Did you kill Cabana?
  
  > No
  In this game, there's now a minor feature where random events can happen. Please choose one of the three options to see how lucky you are.
  
  > Continue
  Well, let's get started then.
  
  The COALITION variable refers to your relationship among the Old Coalition races such as Humanity, the Clones, the Remnants, Tarn, the Chosen, the Free Mundar Republic and other Alliance immigrants who joined the Old Coalition.
  
  The ALLIANCE variable refers to your relationship with old Alliance races, such as the Creators, the Probiscans, the Brain Bugs, the United Mundar Dwellers, the Antimites and the Moogli.
  
  The GARAVAN variable refers to your relationship with the Garavan Tribes, such as the Thar'Garavan, the Iron Scales and the Mal Flint.
  
  The STRENGTH variable refers to the strength of the new Coalition.
  
  > Continue
  It's been a year since the end of the Coalition-Alliance War. After their brutal defeat in the war, the Alliance has joined the Coalition along with many Garavan tribes, bringing peace. Of course, there's still tensions between the Alliance races, who are still referred to as the Alliance races despite the absolving of the Alliance, and the old Coalition races. The Alliance species have little power and much worse conditions than the Coalition races, who again have much worse conditions and less power compared with Man. Technology has improved considerably, mainly in the arms race that's arisen after the discovery of the Chykri, a massive military of several cybernetically enhanced and genetically altered alien races that's been mountain an invasion of Coalition territory.
  
  The new Coalition is being led by the Grand Council, which has placed you as the General of all Coalition forces. It's your job to unite the new Coalition in a war to destroy the Chykri.
  
  > learn about the Galaxy
  What would you like to learn about?
  
  > Continue
  You walk into the Grand Senate Chambers, and look around. The twelve Senators are there, quietly discussing something. Despite being one of the twelve most powerful and influential politicians, you still have an immense dislike of politicians. You prefer to be around soldiers, who are simpler, down to earth and ready to do whatever's worse. Still, the politicians are people you have to deal with. There's two Creators, a Probiscan, a Moogli, a Remnant, a Chosen, Tarn, a Brain Bug and a Garavan, as well as three humans including yourself. Well, technically, two and a half. The half, Cabana, walks up to you.
  
  Cabana is the only case of interspecies breeding ever recorded, and is an interesting case. His mother was impregnated by an unknown alien parasite with surprisingly similar biology to humans, leading to Cabana's birth. Cabana's pale green skin is prone to cracking releasing waves of blood and mucus, he has no hair, he requires extensive medicine to survive and has many other medical issues. Still, the man's a loyal and trustworthy friend.
  
  "Achilles! How are you? I'm lying, I don't care. You're late, sit down." Cabana says.
  
  You take your place next to Cabana and Senator Chang, the other human, who's considerably better at politics and public speaking than you. Today's agenda is mainly about the Chykri. A negotiations team has been sent to discuss a peace negotiation with the Chykri. There were no survivors.
  
  Senator Kalt, a Probiscan Politician whose known for his extremely left wing views and as a hero of the Probiscans, takes his place at the podium. The other councilors universally switch their translators to Probiscan.
  
  "Good evening, fellow Senators. I would like to thank you all for coming. We have multiple issues to be dealt with. The Scairtt need to be convinced to start giving troops and ships to the Coalition. We should send a diplomacy team. I propose we send Senator Cabana, Senator Achilles, Commander Delta-1, Grand Admiral Yarcel and Lesser Chieftain Thar'Kaan."
  
  You take out your tablet, which is used to quickly vote on a topic.
  
  > agree with the Proposal
  You tap a small button on the tablet, and your vote is made. A few seconds later, the Senator checks his tablet.
  
  "The vote is passed. On to the second matter. The new drug Carn Seed..."
  
  You slowly go through several boring, meaningless motions, most of which don't involve you. Eventually, you're given your newest duties as Senator. You need to recruit Scairtt forces into the Coalition military, improve on the current military forces, prepare a defense,, assemble a War Council and begin a counter-attack against the Chykri. It's time to get to work.
  
  > Continue
  The choices for the War Council quickly becomes apparent. Grand Admiral Yarcel, Tarn Commander Delta-1, Lesser Chieftain Thar'Kaan, General Gig, Commando Ashley-Dante, Commissar Mast and of course, Cabana. You organize your first meeting in the Main Chamber of the Probiscan Claw-mark Battleship the Maw, a room specifically designed to hold the War Council. When you arrive, you see why. There's a massive monitor, a holographic board to display a battlefield for tactical decisions. The seats are also personally designed, with a massive metal chair for Delta-1 and an aquatic tank built under the assumption that a Scairtt leader would join the War Council. You take your seat, which is a massive oak chair with gold trim that's more like a throne. The other leaders file in and take their seats, and you quickly assess the commanders based on what you know of them, previous experiences with them and their history.
  
  Cabana is a loyal friend and a bit of a clown, but behind his hideous face, disgusting smile and cheerful attitude is a genius mind that can make hard decisions and be incredibly smart in his attitude.
  
  Grand Admiral Yarcel is in charge of the Maw and an incredibly popular man of the people. He represents the average troops, but has also proven to be a brutal and efficient leader who's won many battles. He is one of the most famous Probiscans, and has massive amounts of influence in the Alliance.
  
  Lesser Chieftain Thar'Kaan is a psychopath. The commander is a tough, brutal leader who has personally skinned enemies of the Coalition. He is cold, calculating and bloodthirsty.
  
  General Gig is a Brain Bug. She is in charge of a massive group of terrifying death machines such as spaceships, tanks and other war machines. She is a proud and friendly person, and despite usually inhabiting a massive tank that could wipe out an entire city.
  
  Commander Delta-1 is a soldier, first and foremost, and a Remnant hero. Despite being a Commander, he still takes part in every battle he can. He hates whatever enemy is at hand, loves his allies, and is eager to get into a fight.
  
  Commissar Mast is a Moogli Commissar and a tactical genius. He is constantly making decisions, and has seemingly knows every great military commander's tactics and has improved on them.
  
  Tarn is an alien hivemind who is made up of billions of Tarn Drone bodies. His military experiance will be invaluable.
  
  Finally, Commando Ashley-Dante is a quiet Clone. She rarely speaks up, but whenever she talks she imparts incredible wisdom. Despite her quiet and shy demeanor, you've seen footage of her personally kill a dozen Garavan assassins in melee with a machete.
  
  "Ladies and Gentlemen, I am Senator, and more importantly, General Achilles. You are the smartest minds and the greatest fighters in the galaxy, and probably the universe. Some of you are old Coalition, some Alliance, some Thar'Garavan. None of that matters now. The Coalition has the Chykri at our doorstep. We don't know their motives. We don't know their reasons. We only know they want to kill us, so we need to kill them first. Our task is to build up a force that'll send an army of cyborg-monsters running. So let's get to work."
  
  > Continue
  "Achilles!"
  
  You look up from your current project, a plan to reinforce CDF with retired attack animals such as Dogs, Flurets, Fenrir and Pumi Garavan, and turn to Cabana.
  
  "What?"
  
  "There's a lot of complaints about... Well, everybody, about the level of tech we have in the army. It seems most military tech comes from the Elysium project."
  
  "Oh yeah." Admiral Yarcel yells. "What the hell's with the Greek names? I'm getting really sick of all the Greek goddamn names of the tech my men are using."
  
  "All Probiscan tech is named after sea creatures."
  
  "Well, alright. We'll keep some of the terrible Greek names. But we need new tech."
  
  "There's the Daedalus Facility on the Daedalus moon. They're working on new tech." Cabana adds.
  
  > Agree
  "Fine. If any of you have proposals for new tech, submit them to me." You reply.
  
  "Perfect. Now that we've united all species, we can have the galaxy's smartest engineers working together on the project." Cabana replies.
  
  "Just get to work. We have a lot of work to do. We'll pay a visit to Daedalus right before we visit the Scairtt. Who has proposals?"
  
  Several hands raise, and you sigh.
  
  "Alright. What do we have, then?"
  
  > Continue
  "Achilles, look at this new design."
  
  You walk over to a massive ship the size of a Behemoth ship.
  
  "I've had the plans drawn up. I call it the Void Ship. It takes the famed ship weapons from humanity, Probiscan-designed engines, Mundar hulls, Brain Bug control systems, Creator Stealth Systems, the Remnant shields, Chosen Medical facilities and so forth. Basically, the best stuff from all races. They'd be completely self-sufficient and able to take on entire enemy fleets. It will require serious funding, but I think it'll be worth it."
  
  > authorize the construction of Void Ships
  "Fine. I'll authorize the project."
  
  "Perfect. I'll make sure the Void ships are a success. They'll be incredible war machines, sir. I promise you, they'll be incredible." Grand Admiral Yarcel happily replies.
  
  "One minor issue." You add.
  
  "Yes?"
  
  "The name. Change it."
  
  "To what?"
  
  "Something Greek."
  
  Yarcel raises his hands in frustration.
  
  "Really? Void ships wasn't a good name? I'm getting real sick of these names. No, I refuse to allow myself to get mad about this. Fine. What about... I don't know. I'm not familiar with Greek mythology.
  
  Ashley-Dante raises her hand.
  
  "How about Tartarus Ships? That's Greek, to my knowledge, though it could be Roman." She says.
  
  "Perfect." You reply. "Get it done, Admiral Yarcel.
  
  Soon, the Tartarus Ships begin construction. Early prototypes and tests are successful, and you have great hope that this will succeed."
  
  > Continue
  "I introduce, the Laelaps Project." The massive Commissar says, holding forth a small, holographic tablet displaying a robot gorilla-bear-dog, with a scale indicating they're the size of a Black Bear.
  
  "What?" You ask.
  
  "The Laelaps Project. It's a robotic companion designed by Dr Henry Monroe, Dr Nilt, Dr Kapp and Dr Alpha-18. about the size of dumpsters, given a sophisticated AI with level just below Moogli intelligence levels."
  
  Commissar Mast taps the holographic display. The Laelaps' robot's shoulders open as two machine guns and grenade launchers pop out of the shoulders.
  
  "They're capable of fighting with these weapons, they're capable of jamming enemy radar while boosting allied radar, and are capable of scans to find hidden enemies."
  
  "What purpose would they be?" You ask.
  
  "They can act as companions to Communications Officers, assist squads and help reinforce lines of defense."
  
  "Alright. Well, the fact that the name is Greek is a plus."
  
  "Which took some serious work to find a suiting name." Commissar adds.
  
  You think briefly on whether to begin making the Laelaps.
  
  > authorize the Laelaps Project
  "Fine. Start producing the bots. Make sure the AI's are triple checked for malfunctions, and begin producing them."
  
  "Thank you, Senator."
  
  The Laelaps Project is set up and begins manufacturing. Within a few weeks, the project begins showing results. The project falls considerably below Commissar Mast's optimistic expectations, but still performs well enough to be worth doing.
  
  > Continue
  Delta-1 stands in front of you with his proposal, the Apocalypse missile.
  
  "General, Nuclear Weapons are currently one of the greatest pieces of war we have, but they're not enough. The Apocalypse Missile will have a nuclear warhead, with a dark matter core. These missiles would be capable of wiping out entire solar systems, in the best conditions. They're fired out of space stations designed for firing the missiles, and would give us the most firepower that's ever existed. It'll make God's Wrath look like a six-shooter."
  
  > authorize the construction of the Apocalypse Missiles
  "Fine. Get it done."
  
  Delta-1 salutes proudly.
  
  "Yes, sir. I'll get to work making the missiles."
  
  The missiles are soon developed. Although they greatly increase your firepower, these are still incredibly expensive projects, requiring the incredibly expensive missiles to be made and maintained, and having massive space stations to be built, maintained and staffed, and end up taking massive amounts of resources from other military needs.
  
  > Continue
  Next is General Gig's proposal, the ATLAS Spaceship M2. The Brain Bug is operating a small pod with an anti-grav generator, as her tank would obviously be too big, and her body is incapable of speech, or movement beyond a crawl.
  
  "Hello, General Achilles. My Engineers have recently began work on the current human ATLAS Spaceship, and made several additions, including an improved engine, more advanced weaponry and computer system, an AI, better life-support and a more advanced hull. I'm awaiting your approval or disapproval."
  
  > authorize the upgrading of the ATLAS ships
  "Alright. I'll have the funds given to your Engineers."
  
  "Thank you, General."
  
  The ATLAS ships are soon upgraded. It's not a monumental success, but the upgrade considerably improves your ships.
  
  > Continue
  Lesser Chieftain Thar'Kaan takes a seat in front of your desk, holding a holographic tablet and a long, serrated hunting knife.
  
  "Alright, I have a proposal. The current Coalition fighters, the Omega Fighters, are expensive and useless. I have a proposition for the Hera Fighter. It's a Fighter based on Thar'Garavan design."
  
  You glance at the hologram. An arrow-shaped space ship with a small engine, an arrow-shaped ram and a large caliber gun and missile launcher.
  
  "They're fast, effective, and most importantly, cheap. They'd save a resources."
  
  > authorize the construction of the Hera Fighters
  "Start making the fighters than. Get in touch with industry worlds and get them making these."
  
  "Good choice, commander. These will perform well."
  
  The Garavan slashes his hand open, and offers the knife for your to do the same. Merging blood is a Garavan tradition.
  
  "Thar'Kaan, I'm not cutting myself. I make a lot of deals. I'd pass out from blood loss if I did that."
  
  "So be it."
  
  You begin mass-producing the Hera Fighters, but they perform much, much worse than expected. They're so cheap they're prone to malfunction, bad at maneuvering, have little armor and firepower and cause massive numbers of death. You bring back the Omega Fighters, but the damage is done.
  
  > Continue
  Cabana walks up to you, and drops a small paper folder on your desk.
  
  "Whatever this is, the answer's no." You say without looking up.
  
  Cabana has already given up proposals to remake Thor's Hammer, the Death Star, a galaxy-sized fist to ram the End, rocket-powered chickens and just sending him with a katana to take out the Chykri.
  
  "I'm done joking, Achilles. That's my proposal. I call it the Hercules Project. Look long and hard at it. I'm not even sure if I want it passed."
  
  You look up, and see Cabana has entered one of his cold, stony states where he actually acts like a leader rather than a foolish buffoon.
  
  "So it's risky?"
  
  "No. There's no risk whatsoever. It's guaranteed to be successful, and the propaganda I've prepared will stop a public backlash. The only question is what we're willing to do to win. The Hercules Project is a project involving extreme genetic manipulation, hard training and cybernetic enchancements."
  
  "We already do that to our soldiers."
  
  "Not at this level, Achilles. These give people incredibly strength, faster healing, increased speed, perception, reflexes and a hell of a lotta other stuff. They make super soldiers who could kick the actual Hercules' ass."
  
  "So what's the issue?"
  
  "It involves incredible amounts of pain. More than most people can handle. It'll lead to a lot of deaths. The survivors will be driven so insane that they'll need to be brainwashed to fight."
  
  You pause, thinking.
  
  "There's... another thing." Achilles adds.
  
  "What?"
  
  "The Hercules Project works many times better when the subjects haven't hit puberty yet. The choice is yours, Achilles."
  
  > Don't authorize the Hercules Project
  "No. I won't allow it."
  
  Cabana nods.
  
  "Probably for the best. It'd fuck some people up, Achilles. I'm pretty glad you said no. That shit would've been borderline evil."
  
  > Continue
  You watch as the small grey moon slowly approaches, and you begin to make out the massive lights doting the surface, showing the massive facilities that cover the planet. The planet was a massive Alliance industrial world that made ships, tanks, weapons, armor and other equipment, until the Alliance was disbanded. They became a massive corporation, supplying many Garavan Tribes, the Colony Defense Forces, the Coalition and even pirate crews. With the upcoming war approaching, they've began mass producing weapons in hopes of a weapons deal with the Coalition. The moon holds such famed scientists as Dr Awad-Masari, the inventor of the modern translator, ex-Staff Sergeant Whirldwind-44, who rediscovered and improved upon the Remnants Apocalypse ships, and Dr Giagtan, the designer and engineer behind the Metal Whirlwind of Fire and Death, the terribly named yet destructive Brain Bug Tank.
  
  > take the shuttle to the surface
  You take the shuttle to the surface with Tarn, Cabana, Thar'Kaan and Gig, who's slug-like body is inhabiting a spider-like vehicle for easy movement.
  
  "I've never been to do this planet, which is odd. I've been to most planets. Not this body, but other bodies." Tarn says. "Perhaps it's because I'm not creative. I've never had a lot of innovation. I've never needed to. I have a basically immortal lifespan, so I take my time with inventing things."
  
  "That's untrue. I fought with you at Silver Rock Canyon. " Thar'Kaan says. "A half-dozen Tarn Drones re-engineered a Mining Drill to break into a Brain Bug fortress. We massacred those inside. It was a glorious day. No offense, Gig."
  
  General Gig seems unnerved at the comment, but she makes no remark.
  
  "It was a tremendous display of ingenuity and courage." Thar'Kaan adds.
  
  "There was no courage to it. I am not brave. You are. The Garavan are. The Humans are. Every species but me is brave. You all face death every day, and you continue fighting on. I do not. I have nothing to fear from. I am, as I previously said, basically immortal. I am a lot of things, but brave is not one of them."
  
  "Perhaps. But perhaps there is bravery is facing pain through your billions of bodies every day." Thar'Kaan says.
  
  "Maybe." Tarn nods.
  
  The shuttle doors open, revealing two armed guards, a Clone and a Moogli wearing powered armor and holding laser rifles based off Probiscan design.
  
  "Greetings, esteemed ambassadors of the Coalition. Right this way, if you would."
  
  You follow the guards along to a generic meeting room, where dozens of aliens representing all different cultures sit around the table. At the head is a Mundar Dweller wearing golden plated clothing and silver chains.
  
  "Greetings, I am Chairman Gold-Hand. I represent Daedalus. I'm very glad you've come here." The Mundar, Chairman Gold-Hand, stands, and offers a hand which you shake.
  
  "Greetings, Chairman. I am General Achilles. I am here to request that you begin making supplies for the Coalition. You'll be well paid."
  
  "Of course, Senator. I know who you are. It was only a matter of time. I've already prepared several shipments of weapons, and I shall make sure the factories increase their workload."
  
  "Well, this was considerably easier than expected." You note.
  
  "Senator, I'm a capitalist. I work for money. You're a customer. And of course, at heart I'm a patriot. My father immigrated to the Coalition when I was young. I built this company from the ground up. It's the perfect embodiment of capitalism. In addition to us producing for you, we have several prototypes to offer you."
  
  "Prototypes?"
  
  "Prototypes for new pieces of equipment that'll be mass produced. For a price of course."
  
  "How much?"
  
  The Chairman tells you the figure, and your legs nearly give way.
  
  "You're talking to the leader of the largest military force in existence." Cabana says incredulously.
  
  "I have inventors to pay, engineers, factory workers, technicians and share-holders, as well as maintain the facilities. I'm sorry, but that's the price."
  
  "Thar'Achilles, say the word and I'll skin this weakling and make a leather jacket for you." Thar'Kaan says.
  
  "No. This is a place of business. We're not fighting." You say.
  
  "Plus, they have some of the most sophisticated tech and a lot of guards." General Gig adds.
  
  "Perhaps. But behind the hardened metal armor, there is soft flesh. My blades can pierce that soft flesh."
  
  > encourage a fight
  "We're not letting you do this, Chairman." You say.
  
  "Guards! Get these...!" The Chairman starts, but Thar'Kaan is faster.
  
  Thar'Kaan pounces forward with his two blades, slashing them and cutting the Chairman's throat. Two guards charge into the room, firing. General Gig is hit and her spider-vehicle collapses into a heap, but you manage to draw your pistol and kill them both. Cabana is struck down by a laser from a group of a half dozen guards charging in from behind you. Thar'Kaan grabs a gun and starts shooting, speeding around the room hacking and shooting. You take another few shots, but a laser hits you in the chest and your heart explodes. You struggle to stand, but a few seconds you collapse backwards.