The Souldra Invasion
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The Souldra Invasion
Okay, noting the comments on the issues with altenrate settings (everyone wants to publish them, nobody wants to buy the ones that they didn't publish), I was thinking of an alternate history that 1. requires very few new ships (SSds), 2. No new rules. 3. Can be encompassed in a small PDF or as part of a captain's log.
Essentially just at the beginning of the Four Powers war, the Souldra somehow manage to create a number of rifts, allowing them to access nearly every region in the quadrant. Although the Souldra proved unable to take most high population worlds, due ot the fact that the various empires quickly fortified them, colony worlds, convoys and other such groups were not so lucky, so for approximately ten years, most empires were restricted to their core areas, with scattered "independent" powers that had more or less been abandoned to sink or swim on their own.
However, at the end of the ten years, some of the rifts start to close, evidently to the surprise of the Souldra. This allows the various empires to start to expand out into their old territories, hopefully before their neighbors do the same. The "present day" of the setting would involve most empires having very large "neutral zones" and the attempts to expand back to their original sizes, while Souldra remnants, pirates and worlds that were more or less unhappy at being left to fend for themselves would provide ample fodder for scenarios.
The two SSD's would be the WYN small and large merchant cruisers, vessels designed to quickly deliver cargo, while avoiding Souldra pirates and other forces that might contest their way.
Estimated lenght: 12-16 pages, including a Y170 map, and two SSDs.
IMO, it definitely has potential, but I'm not sure that would fit with how the Souldra, particularly their operational patterns, was depicted in the Omega books.
It's my understanding that, even in areas where they have operated in the past (i.e.: the ancient war with the Loriyill), their normal operational pattern is to send out survey ships to scout the region, not so much to look for new worlds to feed, but to find new areas of dark matter (or dark energy; one or the other) where they could set up their caches. Once those were established, something that, as I (vaguely) recall from their YiS Dates, might take decades, would they start ascertaining where they wanted to hit next.
As far as them raiding convoys, just because of the life energies present, I think they'd be less interested in the more vulnerable standard freighters than they would armed freighters, Q-ships, or escorts.
Still, since I'm usually WAY off base with things like this (
), I think it might make for a fun alternate history angle.
(Also, even if, against all odds, I have some mild understanding of things, there's a phrase I remember from one of the SSJs; "Impossible History." Maybe it can find a home there!)
Ever since the Souldra came out, I've thought they were a perfect explanation for the ISC/Romulan/Gorn dead zone.
They are, but in this case, I thought they'd make a great justification for a more "disordered" alpha quadrant where borders are not so tight as they are historically. Setting the invasion at the Four Power's War means most of the specieis have contacted each other (save for the ISC) and justifies A. why they survived the incursion (unlike EY eras) and B. Why they didn't curbstmp them (as with General War/Andro War era ships).
Originally, my idea was to have this be an early Andro invasion, but some playtesting made it incredibly plain that without creating a bunch of downgraded SSD's (costing too many pages), the Andro's would just steamroll this era's nations.
An example of one of the "winners" (because everyone wants to play a WYN DN.)
The WYN cluster
By Y162, many colony worlds were being abandoned to the Souldra’s ravages. The Souldra brought a visceral horror to their predations, and videos of civilians slowly dying in the tombs that their shelters had become sparked panic across much of the galaxy.
This led to a tremendous influx of refugees to the WYN cluster. Unlike earlier immigrants, these were mostly colonists, many of them highly skilled, all of them desperate to secure a place of safety. The surrounding empires, unable to protect their outer provinces, encouraged this immigration.
In Y163, the Klingons, Lyrans and Kzinti agreed to assist in the construction of a full scale shipyard within the sphere, making it the only secure shipyard in known space. The WYN for their part would commit to repair any damaged shps that could not make it back to their home Empires while also constructing the new fast merchant cruisers that would both allow surviving enclaves to maintain contact with each other, and allow them to concentrate on construction of military craft.
After the “Adjustment” of Y166, which was either the assassination of the Usurper, his successful covert take over of the Kzinti nation, or a peaceful power sharing agreement (depending on who you ask), the WYN nation came under the rule of an elected council and prime minister, who wasted no time in declaring that the WYN would take over security duties for a ‘protected’ zone three thousand parsecs in diameter, centered on the cluster. The surrounding powers, tolerated the declaration, largely because much of that territory had been depopulated by the Souldra, and in any case, they could always retake it after the Souldra were defeated. (This proved to be an erroneous assumption).
With the general withdrawal of the Souldra in 170, the WYN Security Zone has become a powerful force in its region, with its rugged ships guarding its borders and supporting recovery efforts within the zone. Despite some raids, the Klingons, Lyrans, and Kzintis seem unwilling to press the issue.
The WYN nation is one of the most diverse in known space, with enclaves of nearly every known group, with the singular exception of the tholians, living within its borders. Their sole, though distant, ally is the Orion nation and mercenary ships under long-term contract are a common sight within the cluster.