W3I: The Empress Wave and the Darghaur
In Traveller, for the most part, devouring alien hordes are usually quite localised, but at times there have been some rather big and nasty threats out there, particularly during the TNE period there were some devouring alien hordes. "Virus" was one such, then came "The Dominate" (a Virus/K'kree hybrid), Lucan's Imperium could perhaps be classified as a horde in some respects, but more so once Virus took it over.
From an RPG point of view having the Empress Wave as an existential threat, rather than a direct physical threat is probably preferable, as it would lend itself to some interesting role-playing. But from a wargames point of view, it is kind of hard to pit you marines against an existential wave effect on the table. On the tabletop I'd prefer a ravening horde to a vague wave effect that hits your soldiers with emotional baggage and maybe some EM, so IMTU I’ve modified the nature of the Empress Wave.
What brought on this idea is my tendency to link small innocuous sentences into something entirely other. For instance the comment about relics in the "By Dagger or Talon", the mention of "Taken" in the Darghaur description in the same book, and the premise behind the the Art of War Games setting, i.e. that a group of species’ have declared a pogrom against nearly all sentient species in the universe, because they pose a threat to their existence. In my mind I had the vague notion that the Darghaur (apparently pronounced like "Dark Hour") were created to prosecute that pogrom and simply let loose upon the galaxy (or maybe the universe). The Darghaur are psionic and according to the TW setting are advancing through the galaxy like a wave, albeit a wave that is rolling in from the rim and heading coreward not the other way around. The Darghaur program was flawed and the Darghaur got out of hand very quickly, actually reversing their programming somehow. So the message sent upon system entry became "Surrender and Die" rather than the original "Surrender or Die". Instead of saving the peaceful species that were expected to surrender, and exterminating those that resisted, they began slaughtering the peaceful and enslaving the warlike, with a view to selectively recruiting from those warriors who prove themselves worthy.
The Wave could still be a psionic phenomena, it functions almost exactly the same as described in the Traveller 1248 books, it carries within it the anguished emotions of billions of beings at the moment of their extermination, a sense of impending doom, and a clear imperative to flee. The Yaskoydri would have been the first peaceful species to be exterminated and were clearly aware of their impending demise, as they had time to prepare the technology for creating the wave and were able to evacuate some portion of their people. The wave was meant to urge the Yaskoydri refugees to continue fleeing for as long as they possibly could. It was also meant to serve as a warning and a cry for help. It just precedes the arrival of the Darghaur. The Darghaur can also fit into the Zhodani fighting each other, some Zhodani have been made into slave soldiers and are now fighting against members of their own species.
The difference is in the follow on physical effects, the EM effect is still there, as a side effect oft he technology used by the Yaskoydri in transmitting the Wave. But rather than a physical wave front from a cascade of stars going nova, there is instead a physical front line as the ever expanding Darghaur continue their expansion towards the galactic rim. The Darghaur were originally designed to use high tech warfare to eradicate violent species and protect those peaceful species that surrendered to them, they were to be resupplied and supported by Synod trade fleets. The Darghaur advanced steadily outwards from the core, surrendered worlds were accepted into the Synod of Worlds as new member worlds, while worlds that resisted saw their populations enslaved, their world stripped of resources by Synod corporations and finally sterilised, the slaves either continuing to serve during the advance or being exterminated on their sterile world.. However the Darghaur came to love the thrill of battle and began to respect their enemies, and gradually adopted more personal modes of combat to increase that thrill of battle. They still resorted to WMDs when face with enemies who used them, but would only do so in retaliation, preferring above all to engage in personal combat wherever possible. This trend led to a growing disrespect and contempt for those who would surrender without a fight, ultimately leading to several massacres of species who had surrendered rather than fight. When the creators discovered this they were at a loss about what to do, they had created the Darghaur to be warriors, because they themselves were not capable of the violence necessary for conducting a war, indeed amongst their entire population less than .012 percent were actually capable of violence without becoming physically or mentally ill, and even they needed special training and indoctrination to do so. The Synod was left with little option but to withdraw their support and hope the Darghaur advance ground to a halt as supplies dwindled and equipment broke down.
The Darghaur however were created to be intelligent warriors and as such there were some among them that had taken notice of the logistics of their war. When the Synod withdrew its support, the Darghaur continued enslaving populations and forcing them to supply and repair Darghaur forces by denuding their own worlds of resources. To replenish and expand their ranks was a simple task as the ritual of making a Darghaur warrior was well known to all of them as they had all undergone it at sometime in the past. It was just a matter of finding suitable candidates. The Darghaur are not actually a race or species, they are instead a military force. Recruitment and replacement of losses appears (there are few definites with these guys) by gradual assimilation of individual slave soldiers, who become more and more attuned to Darghaur psionic communications, and consequently more distant from their fellow slave soldiers, until they finally just up and walk onto a Darghaur ship and are never seen again. These beings are collectively and individually known as the “Taken”, by the other slave soldiers. Some theorise that once aboard the Darghaur ship, the “Taken” is ritually and permanently encased in his/her/its very own suit of Darghaur armour.
From an RPG point of view having the Empress Wave as an existential threat, rather than a direct physical threat is probably preferable, as it would lend itself to some interesting role-playing. But from a wargames point of view, it is kind of hard to pit you marines against an existential wave effect on the table. On the tabletop I'd prefer a ravening horde to a vague wave effect that hits your soldiers with emotional baggage and maybe some EM, so IMTU I’ve modified the nature of the Empress Wave.
What brought on this idea is my tendency to link small innocuous sentences into something entirely other. For instance the comment about relics in the "By Dagger or Talon", the mention of "Taken" in the Darghaur description in the same book, and the premise behind the the Art of War Games setting, i.e. that a group of species’ have declared a pogrom against nearly all sentient species in the universe, because they pose a threat to their existence. In my mind I had the vague notion that the Darghaur (apparently pronounced like "Dark Hour") were created to prosecute that pogrom and simply let loose upon the galaxy (or maybe the universe). The Darghaur are psionic and according to the TW setting are advancing through the galaxy like a wave, albeit a wave that is rolling in from the rim and heading coreward not the other way around. The Darghaur program was flawed and the Darghaur got out of hand very quickly, actually reversing their programming somehow. So the message sent upon system entry became "Surrender and Die" rather than the original "Surrender or Die". Instead of saving the peaceful species that were expected to surrender, and exterminating those that resisted, they began slaughtering the peaceful and enslaving the warlike, with a view to selectively recruiting from those warriors who prove themselves worthy.
The Wave could still be a psionic phenomena, it functions almost exactly the same as described in the Traveller 1248 books, it carries within it the anguished emotions of billions of beings at the moment of their extermination, a sense of impending doom, and a clear imperative to flee. The Yaskoydri would have been the first peaceful species to be exterminated and were clearly aware of their impending demise, as they had time to prepare the technology for creating the wave and were able to evacuate some portion of their people. The wave was meant to urge the Yaskoydri refugees to continue fleeing for as long as they possibly could. It was also meant to serve as a warning and a cry for help. It just precedes the arrival of the Darghaur. The Darghaur can also fit into the Zhodani fighting each other, some Zhodani have been made into slave soldiers and are now fighting against members of their own species.
The difference is in the follow on physical effects, the EM effect is still there, as a side effect oft he technology used by the Yaskoydri in transmitting the Wave. But rather than a physical wave front from a cascade of stars going nova, there is instead a physical front line as the ever expanding Darghaur continue their expansion towards the galactic rim. The Darghaur were originally designed to use high tech warfare to eradicate violent species and protect those peaceful species that surrendered to them, they were to be resupplied and supported by Synod trade fleets. The Darghaur advanced steadily outwards from the core, surrendered worlds were accepted into the Synod of Worlds as new member worlds, while worlds that resisted saw their populations enslaved, their world stripped of resources by Synod corporations and finally sterilised, the slaves either continuing to serve during the advance or being exterminated on their sterile world.. However the Darghaur came to love the thrill of battle and began to respect their enemies, and gradually adopted more personal modes of combat to increase that thrill of battle. They still resorted to WMDs when face with enemies who used them, but would only do so in retaliation, preferring above all to engage in personal combat wherever possible. This trend led to a growing disrespect and contempt for those who would surrender without a fight, ultimately leading to several massacres of species who had surrendered rather than fight. When the creators discovered this they were at a loss about what to do, they had created the Darghaur to be warriors, because they themselves were not capable of the violence necessary for conducting a war, indeed amongst their entire population less than .012 percent were actually capable of violence without becoming physically or mentally ill, and even they needed special training and indoctrination to do so. The Synod was left with little option but to withdraw their support and hope the Darghaur advance ground to a halt as supplies dwindled and equipment broke down.
The Darghaur however were created to be intelligent warriors and as such there were some among them that had taken notice of the logistics of their war. When the Synod withdrew its support, the Darghaur continued enslaving populations and forcing them to supply and repair Darghaur forces by denuding their own worlds of resources. To replenish and expand their ranks was a simple task as the ritual of making a Darghaur warrior was well known to all of them as they had all undergone it at sometime in the past. It was just a matter of finding suitable candidates. The Darghaur are not actually a race or species, they are instead a military force. Recruitment and replacement of losses appears (there are few definites with these guys) by gradual assimilation of individual slave soldiers, who become more and more attuned to Darghaur psionic communications, and consequently more distant from their fellow slave soldiers, until they finally just up and walk onto a Darghaur ship and are never seen again. These beings are collectively and individually known as the “Taken”, by the other slave soldiers. Some theorise that once aboard the Darghaur ship, the “Taken” is ritually and permanently encased in his/her/its very own suit of Darghaur armour.
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