[Xargon]

Hello people.

First post

Im just inquiring about this:
http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php/topic,18138.0.html

It's the shivan manifesto 2.0 and i read the entire thing, or at least i thought so...i read till the end and it finishes at

"  Think of the matter in this fashion.  The massing of the juggernaut fleet to destroy Capella must have one of two purposes: either as an offensive or defensive action.  If we assume that the Shivans are efficient creatures, then the first option stands upon"

And thats it, is that the end of the read???? It was very interesting but it just stopped without any conclusion what so ever. And im just asking if there was anything missing or something

[Phantom Hoover]

who cares, it was a boring theory anyway

[Xargon]

Well.....me obviously?

I thought we're all fs fans right?

[Luis Dias]

don't mind him, he's being deliberately provocative . Hope you'll find what you want, can't help you much...

[The E]

who cares, it was a boring theory anyway

User has been warned for this post. If the only thing you can say is something like that, just keep it to yourself. No need to just **** in the thread like that.

[Black Wolf]

This sounds like that bugbfromawhile ago where long, old posts got truncated. I believe that the manifesto is on the wiki, try there.

[Goober5000]

The wiki links to the thread; it doesn't keep a duplicate copy.

It sounds like the bug to me too.  I'll have a look at the backup database when I get home.

[Goober5000]

Well, that's interesting.  It was, indeed, truncated.  But it wasn't truncated due to an apostrophe or an illegal character.  It was truncated due to being an excessively long post.

The HLP forum database runs in MySQL, and the message body uses the TEXT data type.  This is allowed to contain arbitrary text data up to a maximum length of 65535.  It just so happens that the truncated content of that post is 65535 bytes long.  Storing a longer message is not possible unless the data type is changed to MEDIUMTEXT or LONGTEXT.

The Shivan Manifesto was written in 2003.  I would speculate that the truncation happened when we moved from vBulletin to SMF in late 2005.  So unless anyone has archived the full copy of the Shivan Manifesto, you may have to resign yourselves to the first 65535 bytes of it.

(As a bit of trivia, the largest post in HLP history was probably when Stryke 9 posted the complete text of David Copperfield.  Yes, the complete text.  Apparently, it overran his clipboard buffer, so he had to type the last few chapters by hand.  It ended up wreaking minor havoc with the database until one of the admins deleted it.)

[Xargon]

Thanks a lot for helping anyway, apreciate.

[Kie99]

Pulled the rest of it from Archive.org

Think of the matter in this fashion. The massing of the juggernaut fleet to destroy Capella must have one of two purposes: either as an offensive or defensive action. If we assume that the Shivans are efficient creatures, then the first option stands upon shaky ground; to destroy every star system in GTVA space would be extremely time-prohibitive, and it would be much faster to evenly disperse the Sathanas armada throughout Allied space, instead. This time delay would be amplified if the Shivans lost a percentage of the fleet to every supernova, because these ships would need to be replaced. For these reasons, we will assume the Shivan actions are defensive in nature. The Shivans may have originally rallied the juggernauts in preparation to invade the GTVA, but since the juggernauts all headed for the Capella star instead of moving to adjacent systems, we know that some crucial event must have changed the Shivans' minds in order to necessitate a withdrawal of their forces.

For clarification, we will ask ourselves the precise cause of the Shivan retreat. We are left with four possible scenarios:

1. The Shivans deploy all of their juggernauts to the nearest compatible star in order to save them from destruction at the hands of the GTVA's Colossus battlegroup (meaning the destruction of the Comm Nodes is unimportant).

2. The juggernaut fleet (consisting of the original nine) is intended as an invasion force, but following the destruction of the vital Comm Nodes by SOC forces, the Shivans choose to gather all of their forces for a full retreat as opposed to an attack (meaning the Shivans held no regard for the possibility of a Colossus fleet).

3. The Shivans send the whole of their armada to Capella to make a retreat, but the destruction of the Comm Nodes speeds up the evacuation process.

4. The Shivans destroy the Capella star to collapse the outgoing jump nodes (since all inter-system jump nodes lead to systems with at least one star, and presumably, no such nodes can exist without a star's gravity to support them), thereby sealing off Gamma Draconis and the rest of "Shivan space" from potential GTVA invasion; a similar strategy to that employed by the GTVA.

Any option is, on the surface, equally likely, but information in the next section gives credence to the third theory.

i. I'm still a little fuzzy on the whole "Comm Node = Life Support" thing. Can you clarify?

As I mentioned earlier, the role of the Shivan Comm Node as a subspace energy device is largely conjecture on my part, but conjecture that is supported by the facts. The destruction of the Comm Nodes and the retreat of the juggernaut fleet may simply be nothing more than a coincidence; we will never know for certain what would have happened if Commander Snipes had opted not to destroy the devices. However, consider this:

1. "In the Lion's Den" is considered by many--including myself--to be the most compelling and exciting of all the FreeSpace missions. It provides a unique perspective from the cockpit of the Shivan Mara, an exhilirating intro ("DIVE, DIVE, DIVE!"), and witty commentary throughout by Snipes. It also gives the player the first real glance at Shivan "space", unobscured by thick nebular clouds. Wouldn't you think it somewhat anti-climactic, therefore, for the main targets in this mission to be little more than glorified satellite dishes?

2. Don't you think the Comm Nodes make unusually big bangs upon their destruction, if they are really simple communications equipment? The Alliance has studied Shivan comm systems before, but these give off "unusual" sensor readings before they go kablooey. Why?

3. The SOC recon mission signifies the first real Allied incursion into strictly Shivan territory (as the nebula itself remains contested throughout much of the game), and is perhaps the first such "invasion" that the Shivans have ever experienced at the hands of an adversary. With their first juggernaut destroyed and the Alliance advancing ever-further into their space, the Shivans are left with no choice but to switch to more effective tactics.

4. The binary system where the Comm Nodes are discovered is heavily-defended. Secured within a Shivan fighter, you are able to conduct espionage, a tactic with which the Shivans are likely to be unfamiliar (as, to the best of our knowledge, it was used against them only once, and against a totally different fleet, in "Playing Judas"). Thus, you are able to fly freely (for a short while) among the Shivan defenses, composed of at least three Rakshasa-class cruisers, numerous Astaroth and Aeshma fighters, several wings of Nahema bombers, and--if you stick around long enough--infinite waves of the awesome Dragon-class fighters. Even when you are engaged by the Shivans, you are piloting one of their heavily armed craft, one that has been made even better than the original by Terran engineers. Had you arrived on the scene in a lesser craft, like a Herc II, a Perseus, or even a Myrmidon, your chances of survival would have been much lower, due both to your more fragile craft, and the fact that you would have been instantly recognized and fired upon by the Shivans. In all probability, the Ravana-class destroyer Nebiros would also have been recalled from its station more quickly, so that it would sooner engage your fighter wing.

All of these factors suggest that the Shivan Comm Nodes serve a purpose far more important than your average radio.

j. Isn't the disruption of enemy communications important to any war?

Normally, this would be true, except that this late into the war against the Shivans, disrupting their communications would have no effect on the outcome. It would make the mission as a whole rather pointless if that were the sole objective.

k. If the Shivans need subspace energy to survive, couldn't their ships make a short subspace jump in order to "recharge"?

I considered this possibility myself, but from a biological standpoint, it seems infeasible. Subspace isn't something the Shivans can just pick up a pint of and chug down on their way to a sortie; the unstable nature of subspace energy means it would dissipate quickly. You certainly don't see Shivan vessels hopping in and out of subspace every few minutes when they need a "fix".

Think of subspace being to Shivans as to what oxygen is for human beings. We breathe, but healthy people breathe regularly, without significant interruption. We can hold our breath, but not for any reasonably long period--a few minutes, at the most, unless you're a freak and it's something you make a point to practice. We don't breathe in frequent gasps; oxygen is all around us, ready to be inhaled at our leisure. For the Shivans, however, subspace energy is more than simple air; it is the very essence of their beings, literally their life-force. It is something they would require in a ready, constant stream, something to sustain their existence on our material plane. Hence, our theorized purpose for the Shivan "Comm Nodes".

l. If the Shivans' goal is to preserve subspace integrity, wouldn't they sacrifice themselves rather than destroy Capella and risk creating a black hole?

Not all stars create black holes upon going nova; a star must (in theory) meet certain criteria in terms of mass before a black hole will result from its demise. Surely, as subspace-conserving beings, the Shivans would be careful not to open jump portals by destroying stars that would only serve to cause subspace damage in the long run. This is just one more reason for the Shivans to choose to utilize Capella instead of searching their "home" space for a star with the right qualifications.

m. Could the Shivans have destroyed Capella for the sake of creating a nebula from which to harvest gas?

Unlikely. Nebulae are very, very large, on the order of light-years across. The nebula existing beyond Gamma Draconis would have provided an abundance of gas to the Shivans, to say the least; it's difficult to fathom circumstances under which A) their manufacturing has reached such a level that they're actually suffering a gas shortage, and B) they'd be willing to sacrifice so many juggernauts to procure said gas.

n. If the Shivans were retreating from Capella, then why didn't the other Shivan craft in-system try to escape?

Who's to say they didn't? It seems rather apparent that when Capella goes supernova, the lesser Shivan craft within the system are otherwise occupied with Allied forces; it would be a little difficult for a Shivan cruiser to jump out when engaged in a duel with an Allied corvette. The real question here, however, is the availability of escape routes. The "main" jump node leading to Vega is successfully guarded from Shivans by the GTCv Lemnos, and even if we accept the existence of other "hidden" nodes within the system which only the Shivans have charted, it is extremely unlikely that enough inter-system jump points exist for the Shivans to make a clean getaway. As we've discussed, sacrificing cruisers and smaller craft in an attempt to kill the Allied refugees would be acceptable, but the clear majority of the Shivan forces are stationed upon the juggernauts; it is they who have priority to survive.

That said, we've figured out why the Shivans went where they did; the remaining question is, where did they go?

IV. HellSpace

We mentioned earlier that a "home" of one sort or another is necessary as a concept to keep the Shivans' numbers in check. Providing them with a fixed base of operations gives us a place in which their various craft are constructed, and in a sense, provides us with a "goal" of our own; presumably, if the Shivan camp is destroyed or otherwise blockaded, the Great War will come to a permanent end.

As to the exact nature of the Shivan home--which, for the purposes of this essay, we shall refer to as "Cocytus" (named for the lowest level of Dante's Hell, literally frozen over by the flapping of Satan's wings)--we can only speculate. Cocytus may very well be some sort of planet secluded deep within subspace, but given the Shivans' total disregard for planets in our own universe (the FreeSpace Reference Bible makes a point to reveal that the Shivans used no ground troops of any kind during the siege on Vasuda Prime, further reinforcing this sense of disinterest in planets), this seems unlikely. At the same time, this suggests that there is technically no "Shivan space" in our dimension to speak of, meaning that the juggernaut fleet did not destroy Capella in order to seal this territory off. It is more probable that Cocytus is some kind of installation or station, likely composed of the same crystalline material pervading Shivan architecture.

Specifics on Shivan construction have been a matter of some debate. There are those who despise the suggestion that the Shivans might "grow" their vessels, but with a crystalline base material, it is the most likely conclusion. Specific subsystems such as sensors and weaponry are probably added later, after the initial crystal mold has fully matured. This lends credence to the idea that at least some Shivan craft are "alive", as evidenced by the unusual dexterity shown by the juggernaut armada shortly before the destruction of Capella.

While we can only guess at Cocytus's true nature, our knowledge of the Shivans and of subspace helps to provide us with some general guidelines. If the Shivans originate in subspace, then the location they select for Cocytus--or the location at which they inherently reside, whichever is applicable--would exist as a sort of "subspace hub": a location isolated in subspace, existing in a set place, but at the same time, possessing access to all other points within subspace. If Cocytus existed within a standard subspace corridor, then surely the Shivans would have preserved their juggernauts and simply used the correct node to return home instead of making such a sacrifice and destroying an entire star. Therefore, it is likely that Cocytus exists in a place "set apart" from regular subspace, on a level that is more difficult to reach. If subspace is water in a large fish tank, then Cocytus is a bubble resting in the middle.

a. If the Shivans can travel to any point in subspace--and, by the same token, any point in normal space--then why don't they just jump their whole fleet into the heart of the GTVA?

Dialogue in "Straight, No Chaser" reveals that intense subspace fields can disrupt the arrival coordinates of objects currently in subspace transit, as evidenced when the GVD Psamtik jumps in some 9,000 meters off-course from Knossos 2. The Shivans, having to jump into normal space from inside subspace itself--the theoretical center of subspace, in fact--are no doubt hindered by very intense subspace influences. This would still not prevent the Shivans from sending a large force deep into GTVA space, but there are secondary reasons explaining their inability to do so.

Firstly, we have established that Shivan activity is proportional to the amount of subspace activity produced by a spacefaring race--meaning that the greater subspace traffic a given race produces, the more likely the Shivans are to inervene. Shivans do not perceive the locations of star systems and planets as we do--because, to the best of our knowledge, these things do not exist in subspace--but instead perceive coordinates as the locations of subspace disturbances (this is not to say that the Shivans cannot map physical space once they are here, because the Lucifer fleet was able to determine the locations of Vasuda Prime and Sol during the Great War). These are what draw their attention, as did the Ancients eight thousand years ago, the Terrans and Vasudans during the T-V War, and the activation of the Knossos portal. Without notable subspace activity, the Shivans cannot pinpoint a location to which they can sortie their forces from Cocytus.

Secondly, for reasons unknown, the Shivans do not seem capable of sending messages from normal space back to Cocytus. If they were able to do so, they most certainly would have called for reinforcements following the destruction of the Lucifer during the Great War, or would have sent for larger, more destructive vessels as opposed to evacuating their armada of juggernauts. This is especially odd considering that even Terrans and Vasudans are capable of sending radio messages back and forth through the subspace barrier; perhaps it is a limitation of the Shivans' quantum pulse communication methods. The Shivans apparently deploy their forces from Cocytus to normal space in bulk, allowing them to call in backup from adjacent systems or previously deployed forces, but not request support from Cocytus itself. This also means that--barring the presence of enough resources to generate a strong enough jump node--any Shivan forces deployed from Cocytus are effectively stranded in normal space.

Thirdly, even if we accept that the Shivans are able to jump wherever and whenever they please, sending the whole of the Shivan fleet directly into the middle of GTVA space would not have been a very prudent decision, from a strategic standpoint. We know from Volition comments that--despite much in-game commentary to the contrary--Ross 128 was not the first system to fall under Shivan attack. In the FreeSpace Developer's Mailing List archives, Adam Pletcher states, in effect, that the Shivan forces approached Ross 128 through fringe systems of far less importance, so loss of contact with them was not an alarming thing. From all indications, the Shivans prefer to strike at the edges of an enemy's territory, and on multiple fronts. This wasn't possible in FS2, because the Shivans had only one point of entry into GTVA space. The Shivans like to "test the waters", so to speak. Assuming they could make an accurate jump into the middle of enemy territory, they would not do so, because such a tactic amounts to a suicide mission. The Shivans in the Great War had no prior contact with the GTA or the PVE, and would have known nothing of their weaponry or fleet capabilities; if the Allies were perhaps thirty or forty years more advanced in the way of technology, they would have been able to outmatch the Lucifer fleet, making such an attack a useless strategy. Instead, the Shivans take a more cautious route, "feeling out" the GTA and PVE before launching deep-strike sorties.

b. If the Shivans really are a subspace-based species, how are they able to operate in physical space as well as they do if subspace contains no physical matter?

This is a very uncertain area in which we are forced to make educated guesses. FreeSpace itself provides virtually no canon background for the Shivans, leaving the question of their origins open to speculation. This is the theory I propose.

If we hold as true the generally-accepted theory that the Universe as a whole is approximately 13 or 14 billion years old, we still have no idea as to when subspace came into existence to provide support for said Universe. The cosmos would have been in an understandable state of disarray following the Big Bang, so we will allot a considerable amount of time for things to "settle down", and assign the birth of subspace an arbitrary age of 5 billion years. This is roughly the same age of the Earth, meaning we can accept it as a reasonable date for when the Universe became a more or less stable place for life to exist.

As for the Shivans themselves, we can only speculate as to when they first evolved within the subspace void. Since they would have no bodies to speak of, they would have had relatively little need for evolution (barring their creation or construction by a higher entity or race). This could mean that the Shivans are quite young in historical terms, perhaps no more than a million years. However, since subspace itself seems to be a fairly static environment, devoid of change or substance to bring about change (save for the apparently random formation and collapse of unstable nodes), we can assume that the Shivans were not "brought into being" by any subspace material that was not already present when subspace stabilized, and can therefore assign them a date of creation around or near the birth of subspace itself. Again, this will be an arbitrary figure of some 4 or 5 billion years ago.

The Shivans' first foray into "normal" space is a total unknown to us. It would have been dependent on the emergence of a non-Shivan subspace-capable race at an indeterminate point in the past. If we must assign a date to this time for the sake of completeness, then let us use some Earth reference as the standard for our scale.

Assume, first, that this unknown race is terrestrial in nature, and evolves on a world either similar to Earth, or one that would have the proper conditions to foster the growth of complex life forms. Now, in a judgment call on our part, we will accept Earth's late Triassic period as being the earliest era in which large, multi-capable, vertebrate life--namely, the dinosaurs--can exist (something we know to be false, as vertebrates existed prior to this time, but many were wiped out in various extinctions; dinosaurs, however, are very well-recognized creatures, and provide us with a fixed reference point), at about 225 million years ago. We will also grant these creatures comparatively larger brains than said reptiles, perhaps on par with early human beings, allowing us to bypass the problem of gradual brain development, and continue our discussion in terms of figures we know to be approximately accurate.

Barring any world-altering event such as an ice age or asteroid collision, let us assume that the life forms currently living on our hypothetical world in this period are allowed to evolve, unopposed, into more intelligent creatures, able to fashion tools, metalwork, and soforth, until finally reaching a stage of relative technological advancement (computers, artificial satellites, and of course, subspace travel). This process took between 4 and 6 million years for human beings, so we will accept a mean figure of 5 million years for our alien society to advance, resulting in a nice, round figure of about 220 million years ago for the emergence of a subspace-capable race.

We can only wonder at what the Shivans must have thought when they felt the first subspace tremors. Perhaps they looked upon the walls of their dimension in the same way as early man looked upon the stormy sky, unable to comprehend the exact nature of the lightning bolts that split it asunder. As the Shivans follow a path of evolution and development unfamiliar to us, we have no way of knowing when they first began to experiment with ways to explore this phenomena, and determine its cause. Their initial science must have been crude, much like our own space program was, during its initial days. When did they manage to open the first portal into the material universe? We cannot know. Our knowledge of subspace, however, does permit us to form a rather grisly hypothesis about the first Shivans who dared to enter the rupture. We know that subspace is inherently unstable, both due to the brief formation/collapse of most nodes, and due to the fact that jump portals--once opened via jump drive--do not remain open for long, but quickly seal up after the vessel in question has entered the subspace corridor. If the Shivans are, in essence, living subspace energy, then their first explorers would have met a grotesque end, the very energy composing their beings dissipating and drifting off into the void.

Gradually, their techniques would have grown more cautious, more refined. They may have been able to catch brief glimpses of objects in the material dimension, and from their observations, begun to fashion the surrounding subspace energy into the first crimson containment crystals. From here, we see more progression; the advent of a protective crystal sheath to protect Shivan "astronauts". Modifying this material to make it more malleable, more flexible, permitting for physical movement. Developing an energy shielding system and other supporting materials to prevent crystalline degradation in outer space. Realizing the concept of an energy-driven engine to allow for independent locomotion in the vacuum. Creating electronics systems to properly operate said engines, and fashioning the hulls of their first vessels on which to install them. And, of course, a field of research into which the Shivans are most proficient: the development of energy weapons to discourage or kill whomever was wreaking harm upon their home.

Of course, the Shivans of this era may not have been even remotely war-like; initially, the first physical Shivans may have been very peaceful and serene indeed. Perhaps, after initial communication difficulties, the Shivans were able to convince our hypothetical race to put an end to their subspace travel... and then again, perhaps they weren't. We have no way of knowing. What we know for certain is that eventually, the Shivans would have encountered resistance, come into contact with a race that absolutely refused to surrender the benefits of the subspace corridor.

And the Shivans would have crushed them. Brutally, without mercy, for there would have been no other option. After this first genocide, the Shivans may have felt remorse, even guilt, for what they had been forced to do. We do not know when their hive mentality developed, or if it was a trait they possessed since the time of the birth of their race; it may have emerged as a psychological defense mechanism, to prevent them from feeling sorry for the species they were forced to annihilate.

And there must have been others. Surely the Shivans encoutered more than one race across the eons who would not give up the prize of subspace. How many had to die? We have no indication, not the faintest estimate. If Bosch's guess is true, then the casualty figure is truly astronomical in scope: countless civilizations, entire species wiped clean from the cosmic canvas. Each and every one providing the Shivans with the same, simple, damning answer: "No."

How long was it, I wonder, before the Shivans finally stopped bothering to ask?

c. If the Shivans are as skilled with subspace as we think them to be, then why don't their shields function there?

This supports my belief that Shivan shields were originally developed to help them maintain their integrity in our dimension, not to defend against attacks. The shields do not function in subspace simply because they were not designed to; within subspace itself, the Shivans would have no need for them.

d. "Living ships" are stupid.

Again, an idea that science fiction has made use of for years, and has even been considered by contemporary science.

e. No Shivan reinforcements were available during the Great War because the FS2 box art canonically states that the Lucifer armada was nothing more than a scouting party.

I feel it necessary to decry the labeling of the FS2 box art as being "canon text". C'mon guys, I give you more credit than that. The wording on the box was probably handled by Interplay anyway, and therefore serves as advertising hype, not as evidence we can use in a comprehensive analysis. Use your common sense; would a scouting party, i.e., one intended for reconaissance, consist of innumerable fighters and bombers, several cruisers and transports, at least three major destroyers, and a heavy-assault superdestroyer almost three kilometers in length, equipped with an impervious energy shielding system and three flux cannons suited for planetary bombardment?

"Scouting party". Geez. 

f. The juggernauts that destroyed Capella must have been called in from Cocytus. The Shivans would have no advantage in holding a fleet of that size back until the endgame. Either these ships were reinforcements from Cocytus, or they were already present in our dimension.

You're half-right. We can work out a solution that allows the Sathanas armada to have prior station in our dimension (as our earlier explanation of how some Shivan craft are bound to be "stranded" here demonstrates) while still sparing the Alliance from an early-game Sathanas "rush".

Remember that the Shivans are probably efficient creatures. They must balance their needs between swiftly ending a conflict and preventing needless sacrifice of their own legions. A Sathanas-class juggernaut--the largest canon vessel we know for certain to exist in the Shivan fleet--was probably considered to be a suitable weapon against the Alliance. Why would the Shivans waste the time and effort of deploying dozens, when one would suffice?

V. Armistice

Thus have we set down, to the best of our ability, the origins, objectives, and capabilities of the Shivan race. We are left with one final question: can there ever be a peaceful resolution to the ongoing conflict between the Shivans and the GTVA? Might it be possible for the Shivans to convince other races to refrain from using subspace travel, as opposed to killing them outright?

The unfortunate answer to our query is no. There are two primary reasons as to why the Shivans are unlikely to ever see eye-eye-eye-to-eye with the Terrans and Vasudans:

1. The Shivans absolutely cannot risk the chance that any race they approach would refuse to give up subspace travel. Even if present-day humanity somehow discovers the secrets of lightspeed travel, the nearest star to Earth (with the exception of Sol) is Proxima Centauri (commonly called Alpha Centauri), at 4.2 light-years away. Abolishing subspace travel would effectively disband the entire GTVA, as well as destroy the capacity for space travel and exploration, as well as disrupt the galactic economy. For the Shivans, however, the matter is not one of convenience, but of survival.

2. The GTVA has had little success combining Shivan technology with their own systems. Upon the first capture of a Shivan fighter in "Playing Judas", Terran technicians couldn't get the weapons or afterburners to work, and the jump drive frequently malfunctioned. The GTD Hades registered as having some Shivan electronic components, but since that vessel was destroyed, the level of successful Terran/Shivan integration is unknown. The Terran-modified Mara fighters used in "In the Lion's Den" proved more successful in terms of performance, but their blue engine glows and the use of Terran weapons suggest that Terran engineers could not successfully utilize the subspace crystal reactors, meaning that even if the Shivans were to provide "subspace-friendly" engines technology to the GTVA, the technology could not be properly used. The closest GTVA equivalent to Shivan weaponry, the Kayser laser, is "based upon" Shivans weapon design, meaning it may be either better, or worse than the genuine article; but such a point is moot when we consider that no similar research has been conducted upon Shivan engines, bringing the GTVA no closer to solving the subspace-deterioration crisis. It is not likely the Shivans would be willing to wait for the Terrans and Vasudans to perfect the science.

Faced with these facts, we reach a saddening, sobering conclusion: the only possible outcome to the Great War is xenocide, either of the Shivans, or of the member races of the GTVA.

a. The Alliance went from having a broken-down Dragon during the Great War to well-performing Mara fighters in FS2. Wouldn't they eventually be able to recreate Shivan engine technology?

Perhaps, but the key element here would be the time frame in which the Alliance is free to research the technology. Although some progress has doubtlessly occured over the last three decades, Allied understanding of Shivan materials is probably mediocre, at best. We can assume that the GTVA has a sizeable stockpile of captured Shivan equipment; if the GTI was able to experiment upon captured Shivan specimen, then those Shivans must have been on board something, be they fighters, bombers, transports, or cruisers. If Allied technicians had a detailed understanding of Shivan workings, however, then they would be able to regularly incorporate those features into Allied designs, instead of utilizing Shivan technology only when they are able to secure Shivan craft. Our point of focus is Shivan engines, however, and unless the Alliance can master those, then their other expertise in Shivan tools--be they weapons, armor, or something else altogether--becomes moot. It's unlikely that the Shivans would be willing to simply sit idly by and wait for the Alliance to perfect the process.


VI. Conclusion

Thus is my attempt to solve the Shivan mystery. Some of you may agree with my conclusions, and others may not, but in either case, I have tried to support my points with canonical evidence, when available. As I said, many of my answers draw upon assumptions that cannot be readily-supported, but I believe the plan I have laid out makes some degree of sense, nonetheless.

Forgive me if some of my ideas seem disjointed, or in the wrong order--i.e., if you see an idea you believe belongs in a different section of the document. This essay has been steadily growing, and edited in haphazard fashion; the larger it becomes, the more difficult the edits are to make.

I hope the preceding discussions meet with your approval. Whether you like them or hate them, they are here for your perusal and criticism. Most of all, I very much wonder what the folks at Volition--the only ones who will ever know the real secrets behind the Shivan menace--would think of the Shivan Manifesto.

VII. Appendix

a. Credits

The Shivan Manifesto is the intellectual property of S.R.H.

The FreeSpace Universe and all related trademarks are the property of Volition Inc. and are used here without permission. This essay is intended for the purposes of discussion, not profit.

Texts for the monologues of Admiral Aken Bosch, the Ancients, and the FS1 "pilot" are taken (with minor corrections) from Karajorma's FreeSpace FAQ and used here without permission.

The entry on the Shivans from the FS2 technical database is taken from Tech FreeSpace and used here without permission.

Special thanks to my editor Sybiene and all the FreeSpace fans at Hard Light Productions, without whom this essay would not be possible.

b. Who is Admiral Bosch?

Aken Bosch was a Terran pilot who took part in quelling the GTI's "Hades Rebellion" against the GTA in 2335. Being forced to fight against his fellow Terrans apparently caused Bosch to grow disenchanted with the Terran government, and would later lead him to defect from the GTVA (with the forces of the 4th Fleet, under his command) to form the Neo-Terran Front in 2366. The governments of Regulus and Sirius defected to the NTF soon after.

Bosch's rebellion was in reality little more than a smokescreen; while the GTVA was occupied with the rebel forces, Bosch himself plundered the sites of Ancient archaeological ruins in GTVA space. Using the information he collected, Bosch was able to determine the location of the Knossos subspace portal, and--when the NTF collapsed in 2367--flee through the portal into the Shivan-controlled nebula.

Bosch developed a communications technology--code-named ETAK--which was based on modified quantum pulses. Bosch hoped to use this device to make contact with the Shivans; he did, on at least two seperate occasions. Bosch and his command crew were abducted by Shivan forces and taken away aboard an Azrael-class transport.

The current status of Admiral Aken Bosch--including his whereabouts, or whether he is alive or dead--is unknown.

c. What is the Neo-Terran Front?

The NTF was Bosch's rebel organization, a faction which sought to establish a new era of "Terran superiority" in the GTVA and to restore the lost grandeur of the planet Earth, isolated from the GTVA since 2335. The ideology of the NTF included severing all ties with the Vasudan race, with whom Bosch believed humanity had no future, and establishing an alliance with the Shivans. Bosch himself held no animosity toward the Vasudans, but used Terran prejudices toward their race to garner support for the NTF movement.

The NTF collapsed following Bosch's retreat through the Knossos subspace portal.

d. Who were the Ancients?

The Ancients were a technologically advanced race that once controlled an interstellar empire encompassing a large portion of the Milky Way galaxy. The Knossos subspace portals were constructed by the Ancients, and artifacts left behind by their civilization enabled Aken Bosch to locate and activate one of these portals. Ancient records also allowed fighters from the GTD Bastion to hunt down and destroy the SD Lucifer en route to Earth in 2335, collapsing the Delta Serpentis-Sol jump node.

The Ancient race is believed to have been annihilated by Shivan forces roughly eight thousand years ago. Whether or not any members of the civilization survived the war against the Shivans is unknown.

e. What was the Hammer of Light?

Soon after the Shivans emerged in 2335, Terran and Vasudan diplomats negotiated a treaty to end the Terran-Vasudan War, which had been in progress for fourteen years. However, one Vasudan faction calling itself the Hammer of Light refused to honor the peace treaty. The HOL was comprised of Vasudan fanatics who believed the coming of the Shivans fulfilled an old Vasudan prophecy fortelling the arrival of an all-powerful race that would destroy the current universe to pave the way for a newer, better one. HOL forces pledged to "assist" Shivan craft by attacking Allied forces, even though the Shivans themselves attacked HOL craft and installations without hesitation.

After the Great War ended and the Shivan threat had passed, support for the HOL waned, and most members surrendered themselves to the authorities. The movement was finally crushed in 2346 during Operation Templar.

f. What was the Hades Rebellion?

Following the end of the Great War in 2335, rogue elements of Galactic Terran Intelligence attempted to usurp the GTA government. They made use of advanced stealth technologies and attempted to combine Terran and Shivan technology together into a massive destroyer designated Hades in an apparent attempt to create a ship on par with the SD Lucifer. GTI pilots still loyal to the GTA fought against and defeated the traitors, destroying both the Hades and the GTI's base of operations. Aken Bosch participated in the operations against the GTI rebels, and would later use GTI information on captured Shivan specimen--classified in the aftermath of the rebellion--to assist in the construction of his ETAK device.

g. When is Armageddon?

It's coming...

The Great War ends: Christmas 2004

Full thing here.

[Droid803]

Put it on the wiki with some basik formating

http://www.hard-light.net/wiki/index.php/Shivan_Manifesto/Full

if somwan onets to clean it up feel free.