TEXT ÖSXiƒ¥ÂÒÿD`w³B©,¥+ÌE×(ç› % º ¢ W ! z Å 6 Â*ÁKÝe%EpâzÎJ¢!ð Ä\Ô?õÇ0p2wÃVÕ*Ë:^¢±1N¤´Õé " O f  ·INTRUDER RESPOND.WE ARE MECHAN 9. RESPOND.WELCOME GROUP 9. WE ARE MECHAN 9.WHAT DO YOU REQUIRE, GROUP 9?WE ARE MECHAN 9.THIS IS EMPIRE TERRITORY. LEAVE IMMEDIATELY.THERE IS INSUFFICIENT DATA IN THIS VESSEL'S COMPUTER ON THIS SUBJECT.WE WILL ANSWER NO QUESTIONS.WE AWAIT YOUR RESPONSE.RESPOND.YOU MUST LEAVE IMMEDIATELY OR YOU WILL BE DESTROYED.OUR MISSION WAS TO ESTABLISH THE UNDERGROUND COLONY OF HEAVEN. WE WERE TO BE FOLLOWED BY YOU, GROUP 9, ONE YEAR LATER, BUT YOU DID NOT ARRIVE.WE LEFT EARTH IN 3479, SENT OUT BY THE INSTITUTE WITH INSTRUCTIONS FOR STANDARD NOAH PROJECT PROCEDURE.OUR INSTRUCTIONS WERE TO PATROL THE AREA WITHIN 8 SECTORS OF THE HEAVEN SYSTEM AND REPEL ANY INVADERS AFTER HEAVEN WAS ESTABLISHED.INITIALLY HEAVEN WAS ONLY MARGINALLY HABITABLE. IT WAS NECESSARY TO COMPLETELY TERRA-FORM IT AND ENGINEER SUITABLE BIOTA.SINCE OUR ESTABLISHMENT HERE WE HAVE BEEN ATTACKED 14 TIMES. TWICE IT HAS BEEN NECESSARY TO RETREAT UNDERGROUND AND REBUILD OURSELVES.PROJECT NOAH WAS A FINAL ATTEMPT OF THE INSTITUTE TO ENSURE THE SURVIVAL OF THE EMPIRE AND THE HUMAN SPECIES. THAT IS WHY THE NOAH COLONIES ARE ALL UNDERGROUND.THE COLONY WORLD OF HEAVEN, THE 4TH PLANET, HAS A CAPACITY TO SUPPORT SEVERAL HUNDRED THOUSAND COLONISTS. IT AWAITS YOU.THE UHLEK PASSED THROUGH THIS REGION MOVING OUTWARD OVER 1000 YEARS AGO. THEIR LAST SHIP WAS SEEN IN 3603. FORTUNATELY THEY DID NOT FIND HEAVEN.WE LOST 4 OF OUR SHIPS TO ONE UHLEK SHIP IN 3540. THEY POSSESS POWERFUL WEAPONS.THE GAZURTOID ARE MANY-TENTACLED AQUATIC CREATURES WHO LIVE IN TREMENDOUS COLONY SHIPS.THE GAZURTOID PASSED THROUGH THIS REGION FOLLOWING THE UHLEK. THEY ARE DANGEROUS ENEMIES OF THE EMPIRE.THE SPEMIN WERE DISCOVERED IN SYSTEM 82,148 IN 2675. THEY WERE IN A PRE-TECHNOLOGICAL STATE. THE EMPIRE PUT A LOT OF EFFORT INTO TEACHING THE SPEMIN THEIR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY.ALL GROUPS, ORGANIZATIONS AND GOVERNMENTS OF THE SPEMIN ARE PRECEDED BY SS. THIS STANDS FOR 'THE SECRET SOCIETY OF'. WE DO NOT KNOW WHY.IN 2790 THE SECRET SOCIETY FOR SPEMIN SUPERIORITY, THE SSSS, GAINED POWER AND THE SPEMIN ATTACKED THE EMPIRE USING THE TECHNOLOGY WE HAD TAUGHT THEM.IN THE YEAR 3000, WHEN THE NUMLOX AND PHLEGMAK ATTACKED THE EMPIRE, THE SPEMIN BEGGED FOR PROTECTION. DESPITE THEIR DECLARATION OF WAR IN 2790 PROTECTION WAS GRANTED. AT THE END OF THE ATTACK THE SPEMIN AGAIN TURNED ON THE EMPIRE.IN THE YEAR 3400 THE SECOND WAVE ATTACKED THE EMPIRE. FOR THE SECOND TIME THE SPEMIN PLEADED FOR PROTECTION. WHEN THE EMPIRE DID NOT GRANT IT THE SPEMIN ALLIED WITH THE GAZURTOID.THE SPEMIN'S TECHNOLOGY IS INFERIOR SINCE THEY ONLY COPY FROM OTHER RACES. IN SPITE OF THIS THEY ARE NUMEROUS BECAUSE THEY BUILD THEIR SHIPS OUT OF CHEAP MATERIALS AND REPRODUCE AT AN ASTONISHING RATE.IN THE YEAR 4410 WE HAD AN ENCOUNTER WITH A SPEMIN SHIP. IT THREATENED US AND THEN FLED.THE VELOX WERE THE FIRST RACE ENCOUNTERED BY THE EMPIRE. THIS WAS IN 2300.THERE WERE MINOR SKIRMISHES WITH THE VELOX BETWEEN 2300 AND 2400 UNTIL THE HUMAN-VELOX TREATY WAS FINALLY SIGNED.THE VELOX HAVE BEEN IN SPACE FOR MANY THOUSANDS OF YEARS. MUCH OF THE EMPIRE'S TECHNOLOGY, INCLUDING SHIP DESIGN, WAS MODELED AFTER THEIRS.THE VELOX EMPIRE IS UPSPIN OF HERE. THEY ARE ARROGANT AND SINCE 3330 HAVE HAD AN ISOLATIONIST ATTITUDE.THE THRYNN ARE SENTIENT REPTILIAN CREATURES THAT WERE DISCOVERED AND TAKEN INTO THE EMPIRE IN 2770. THEY ARE NATIVES OF THE SAME SYSTEM AS THE ELOWAN.THE ELOWAN ARE PLANT-LIKE CREATURES WHICH WERE AT FIRST BELIEVED TO NOT BE SENTIENT, DUE TO THE DEPRECATIONS OF THEIR ENEMIES, THE THRYNN.THE THRYNN CONCERN THEMSELVES ONLY WITH `MATTERS OF IMPORT.' IN THE EMPIRE THEY GENERALLY FILLED THE NICHES OF AMBASSADORS, DIPLOMATS AND SPIES.THE ELOWAN HAVE A REPUTATION AS CREATIVE THINKERS. IN THE EMPIRE THEY WERE GENERALLY ARTISTS, PHILOSOPHERS, AND THEORETICAL SCIENTISTS.THE THRYNN AND ELOWAN WERE DISCOVERED ON DIFFERENT PLANETS IN A K CLASS SYSTEM WITH 5 PLANETS DOWNSPIN OF HERE. THE THRYNN HAD A MORE ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY AND OFTEN ATTACKED THE ELOWAN PLANET.WE GIVE WARNING. YOU MUST LEAVE.CEASE COMMUNICATIONS AND LEAVE IMMEDIATELY.THE INSTITUTE WAS A SOCIETY OF SCIENTISTS AND OTHER INTELLECTUALS CONVINCED OF THE EMPIRE'S IMPENDING DESTRUCTION.THE INSTITUTE DISCOVERED AN INCREASE IN THE INSTABILITY OF STARS COREWARD. THERE ARE MANY REFERENCES IN OUR DATA BANKS TO THE ENCROACHING `DEAD ZONE.'WHEN WE LEFT EARTH THE INSTITUTE WAS STUDYING SOL FOR ANOMALOUS RADIATION EMISSIONS.SOL IS OF COURSE IN THE PYTHAGORAS CONSTELLATION. EARTH DID MOST OF ITS MINING ON MINERAL-RICH MARDAN-4, ALSO IN PYTHAGORAS.THE INSTITUTE HAS A STARFLIGHT RESEARCH STATION AT THE CENTER OF THE NORTH POLE ON MARS.THE FIRST NOAH MISSION, NOAH 1, FAILED BECAUSE A RING DEVICE MALFUNCTION RESULTED IN AN INABILITY TO IDENTIFY CONTINUUM FLUXES.WE HAVE FOUND EVIDENCE OF EMPIRE RUINS AT 28N X 4E ON ONE OF THE PLANETS IN THE NEARBY CLASS-G SYSTEM. WE HAVE BEEN UNABLE TO INVESTIGATE HOWEVER BECAUSE IT IS WITHIN VELOXI SPACE AND IS GUARDED BY A DRONE.THIS IS THE FINAL WARNING.THE FIRST WAVE OF ATTACKS ON THE EMPIRE WAS BY THE NUMLOX AND PHLEGMAK AND STARTED IN 3000. THE SECOND WAVE, COMPRISED OF UHLEK AND GAZURTOID, STARTED IN 3400. BOTH CAME FROM COREWARD.AS OF THE TIME OF OUR DEPARTURE THERE WAS AN 84 PERCENT CERTAINTY FACTOR THAT THE NUMLOX AND PHLEGMAK RACES HAD BEEN COMPLETELY DESTROYED BY THE EMPIRE.YOUR PRESENCE HERE INDICATES THE EMPIRE HAS SURVIVED. AT THE TIME OF OUR DEPARTURE THE PROBABILITY OF THIS WAS VERY LOW.DURING THE WARS WITH THE PHLEGMAK MANY WORLDS OF THE EMPIRE WERE DESTROYED BY THEIR BLACK-EGG PLANET BOMBS.THE ENTIRE ECONOMY OF THE EMPIRE IS BASED ON ENDURIUM. WHEN WE LEFT, THE RICHEST AND STRONGEST PLANET WAS NEW SCOTLAND,THE SECOND PLANET IN THE UPSPIN END OF THE STAFF CONSTELLATION.WHEN WE LEFT, THE EMPIRE WAS DIVIDED INTO MANY FACTIONS. ONE OF THESE WAS HEADED BY LAYTON. THE LAYTONITES BELIEVED THE EMPIRE WAS EVIL AND SHOULD DIE. THEY ARE ENEMIES OF PROJECT NOAH. THEY ARE OUR ENEMIES.EMPIRE MORALE WAS BROKEN IN 3440 WHEN THE OFFENSIVE HEADQUARTERS ON MARDAN-2 WERE DESTROYED BY THE UHLEK.THE INSTITUTE HAS AN UNDERGROUND STATION ON EARTH AT 12N X 104W.THE EMPIRE UTILIZES DRONES CALLED NOMADS IN THEIR PRELIMINARY EXPLORATIONS. THESE COLLECT LIFE AND MINERAL DATA ON PLANETS WHICH MAY PROVE TO BE SUITABLE FOR COLONIZATION.YOU WILL BE DESTROYED.ENDURIUM WAS FIRST DISCOVERED IN SOME ANCIENT RUINS ON SOL-4 IN 2100.THE STRANGE CRYSTALLINE LUMPS OF ENDURIUM ARE ALWAYS FOUND IN ANCIENT RUINS.RUINS OF THE ANCIENTS HAVE BEEN FOUND ALL OVER SPACE, BUT PRIMARILY SEEM TO BE IN M-TYPE SYSTEMS. THEY ARE MANY HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF YEARS OLD.THE INSTITUTE, BASED AT 75S X 66E ON AKTERON 6 STUDIED THE ANCIENTS INTENSELY. THERE WAS MUCH CONTROVERSY SURROUNDING THEIR FINDINGS. THEY OFTEN WORKED WITH THE ELOWAN.IN THE EMPIRE THERE WERE SEVERAL POPULAR THEORIES ABOUT THE ANCIENTS. ONE WAS THAT THEY TRAVELLED THE UNIVERSE SEEDING LIFE AND LEAVING ENDURIUM. ANOTHER BELIEF IS THAT THEY WILL ONE DAY RETURN TO JUDGE MANKIND.IT IS BELIEVED THAT THE DEVICE KNOWN AS THE CRYSTAL PLANET WAS BUILT BY THE ANCIENTS.THERE HAVE LONG BEEN RUMORS THAT SOMEWHERE IN A NEBULA IN SPEMIN SPACE IS A VAST CITY OF THE ANCIENTS. IT IS THOUGHT TO BE ON THE INNERMOST PLANET OF THE SYSTEM.WE HAVE DISCOVERED SOME RUINS AT 36N X 90E ON THE ICE PLANET IN OUR SYSTEM.OUR DATA BANKS ARE AT YOUR DISPOSAL.WE HAVE WAITED LONG FOR YOU GROUP 9.YOU HAVE BEEN DELAYED. WE WERE NOT PROGRAMMED FOR THIS CONTINGENCY.WE MUST VERIFY.WARNING. WE ARE PROGRAMMED TO REPEL INVADERS. LEAVE IMMEDIATELY OR BE DESTROYED.THIS IS EMPIRE SPACE. YOU MUST LEAVE AT ONCE.INVADERS, DEPART IMMEDIATELY.OUR SCANNERS SHOW THAT YOUR VESSEL IS DERIVED FROM EMPIRE TECHNOLOGY. DO YOU CONFIRM?ARE YOU GROUP 9?HEAVEN AWAITS. ARE YOU PREPARED?DO YOU SERVE LAYTON?WE HAVE WAITED LONG FOR NOAH; SHALL WE CONTINUE TO DO SO?IS IT YOUR DESIRE THAT WE MAINTAIN CODE BLUE?DO YOU VERIFY CODE RED?ARE YOU AN ENEMY OF NOAH?ARE YOU READY TO TAKE YOUR PLACE IN THE BRAVE NEW WORLD?NOW TERMINATING COMMUNICATIONS.