LGALAXY3 (PART 3 OF 5) 17) MINING AND INDUSTRY During the campaign against the Technic Giants the Emperor Legonius captured many technic devices which were to become the basis of new industries in the Empire. In particular the Engineers of the General Technics Corporation (based on the planet Ix) and the planet of Technotron became centers of manufacturing of technic items. The technic advances soon led to improvements in robotics and many new varieties of robots were designed. In addition the Minifig Hazard Suit was developed at this time allowing Minifigs to work in hostile environments and colonize previously uninhabitable planets. The developers of the hazard suit lived upon the mining planet of Magnetron which became the most powerful planet of the Empire outside of Octagon itself. The M-Trons, as they were usually called, had also developed a magnetic tractor beam technology that aided them in their mining endeavors and allowed them to accumulate great wealth. Their mining ships soon crossed all of LEGO and even gained access to the Cyborg Empire due to a treaty between the Cyborgs and the M-Tron. 18) THE REIGN OF FRED BRICKSTONE Marcus Legonius broke with tradition and anointed his eldest son (Rossper O. Legonius) as his heir apparent. Lingering resentment over the constant demands that Legonius made upon the LEGO treasury to support his many military campaigns and serious doubts about the competency of the younger Legonius led to opposition among the senators. Even more critical was a movement from the Tron Reach senators to elect a Tron as Emperor. It had been implied at the time of the creation of LEGO that the imperial succession would be rotated among the reaches. The Gaian, Jewel and Arcolony Reaches had worn the purple, only the Tron and Astron reaches had yet to have an Emperor of their own. Thus ensued 38 consecutive senate votes with no majority winner between the younger Legonius, the candidate of the Trons (Billklin Tron) and the candidate of the Gaian Reach aristocracy (Baron George Shrubbery, a space knight of the Order of Nee from the Planet Python). Finally the exhausted senate settled on an unknown compromise candidate, Fred Brickstone of the planet Bedrock. It was a terrible mistake. The Emperor Brickstone came from a backward frontier planet and had little experience governing the sophisticated technological society of LEGO. Furthermore Brickstone was something of a playboy. While he was out having a yabba-dabba-do time the Empire was going to hell in a hand cart. He was weak and vacillating and was unable to recognize that many of his appointees were corrupt and venal. The treasury of LEGO, already diminished by the wars of Marcus Legonius was now driven deeper into the red by the thieving of Imperial officials and Brickstones numerous expensive building projects. The powerful planets of LEGO were able to successfully lobby for greater representation in the senate. There were 79 inhabited planets and 79 senators, but ancient tradition held that a senate should have 100 members, so Brickstone granted the edict to elect a further 21 senators from the most powerful worlds. In the squabbling that ensued over which planets would get the extra senators it proved impossible to compromise and so 24 new senatorial positions were created for a total of 103. One of the planets that now had two senators was Carnival in the Jewel Reach, the home of the Fortunate 400 who were some of the richest and most powerful of the non-Tron Minifigs from across LEGO. Carnival had by this time become a center of banking, tourism, media and entertainment and rivaled Octagon itself in power and glamour. The Emperor Brickstone suffered a stroke in the year 107 of the LEGO era and was totally mentally incapacitated (he had previously been only partially mentally incapacitated). Unfortunately his wife, the Empress Wilms Brickstone was able to rule the Empire for the last six years of her husbands life. She was no better an administrator than Fred and LEGO continued on a downward path of rampant corruption and increasing overspecialization. 19) THE GNUTRONS It was during this time a scientist on the planet of Cyteen, Dr. Barbara McGnutron rediscovered the ability of the Gaian Old Ones to create genetically engineered clones. This feat was eventually copied by the clonemasters of Genentron. The biotechnologists of Cyteen and Genentron soon made new lines of clones, usually referred to as Gnutrons after Dr. McGnutron. Some of the most powerful planets and organizations purchased expensive Gnutron genetic material which allowed them the advantages of improved Trons. Some examples are the officer Gnutrons of the new Space Police, the smirking agent Gnutrons of the Spyrians and the explorer Gnutrons of Unitron. There were also some lines of less expensive Gnutrons often referred to as Simtrons (for simulated Trons). Simtrons are similar in features to basic Trons but are of lower quality, malfunction more easily and are really really stupid. They are sometimes contemptuously referred to as "Homers" after Homer Groentron, the Genentron clonemaster who created them. The new lines of Gnutrons also have had the unfortunate side effect of reviving racial tensions which didn't exist when almost everyone was a :). It was also during this time that the furthest regions of the Tron Reach revived their identity as Blacktrons of the Tron Reach under the aegis of the Blacktron Border Baronies. The new generation Blacktrons were contentious and aggressive and frequently in conflict with the frontier planets of the Gaian Reach (in particular, Cyteen, Mars, Arrakis and Terminus). 20) THE REIGN OF TRONIUS After the Brickstone fiasco, the Tron planets threatened rebellion if one of their own was not elected Emperor. The senate acceded and Tron THX1138 from the planet Polytron was elected Emperor taking the name of Tronius. The imperial bureaucracy, now filled with self-interested crooks appointed by the Brickstones proved to be treacherous as they thwarted or subtroverted every attempt that Tronius made at reform. The senate even asserted its independence and began to meet on the planet Plateau instead of on Octagon allowing them to plot away from the eyes of the Space Police. Tronius proved to be persistent and energetic and genetically cheerful (as all Trons are) and his enemies eventually found it necessary to have him assassinated to prevent his reforms from taking effect. He was pushed into a vat of acetone, turpentine and benzene and perished in the year 122 of the LEGO era. 21) THE REIGN OF RICHARD DALEY XXXVII It is common knowledge that the next Imperial election was corrupt and that the Emperor Daley, the leader of organized crime from the planet Chicago bought his way onto the throne. He soon filled the upper echelons of the Imperial bureaucracy with his cronies from the Chicago Mob and began to skim off the resources of LEGO in a way that the corrupt officials of Brickstones day could only have dreamed of. The worlds of the Tron Reach broke into rebellion at the word of the assassination of Tronius but Daley proved to have a deft hand at politics and bought off the rebels by granting them and all the planets of LEGO increased autonomy. Only three planets were not pacified and they became the core of the smoldering Greytron rebellion (Greytron, Carbotron and Galactron which have currently been deprived of their representation in the senate). All out civil war was averted but much of the centralized power of the Empire that Octagonius had worked so hard to create was lost. Individual planets became almost independent and the Emperor became only the first among many powers. 22) NEW TECHNOLOGIES AND NEW CENTERS OF POWER Several new powers came into prominence at this time, often by exploiting their command of some new and powerful technology. The Ice Planet people of Krystos developed a 4 parsec Jitlov Hyperspace drive for small crewless messenger rockets which has allowed them to gain control over the communications network in the Empire because of the great improvement in speed due not only to the increase from 3 to 4 parsecs per jump, but the ability to take more direct routes. The Ice Planet people have used their new found wealth to buy several lines of Gnutrons to crew their extensive starfleet. The planet of Spyrius, having eclipsed Astrograd, its old rival for the leadership of the Astron Reach, has become a first rate power due to the invention of the Spyrian Cloaking Device. The cloak has allowed the Spyrians to conquer Urbana, one of the planets of the Android Warlords and thus gain the ability to construct androids. They have stolen giant robot technology from the Berserkers and magnetic tractor beam technology from the M-Trons. They have also purchased their own lines of Gnutron secret agents. Another group to become wealthy are the Unitrons from the planet Metropolis. They developed an antigravity repulser device which allows them to construct efficient and inexpensive monorail transport systems which are much in demand across LEGO. They have undertaken exploration and research programs. They too have their own Gnutrons. The Cyberpunks of the planet Intertron have also recently become powerful due to their development of advanced computer technology. The Emperor Daley is currently in the 19th year of his reign (year 141 of the LEGO era). The Empire is falling apart at the seams. The Space Police are desperately trying to hold LEGO together when they are not plotting to remove Daley. The Emperor has recruited the most powerful of the Android Warlords from the far edge of the Astron Reach, the sinister Darth Legar to enforce his will and spread terror throughout the Empire. The Senate has asserted its independence and raised its own red-clad Praetorian Guards. The new BBB is at the brink of war with the frontier worlds of the Gaian Reach. The Order of the Maker at Billund is valiantly using its diplomatic influence to keep the peace. Epcot, Blacktron, Ix, Carnival, Elysium, Intertron, Genentron, Magnetron and other powerful planets are hiring mercenaries and spies. Construction of mighty warships is proceeding apace at shipyards all around the Empire. LEGO is rife with plots and counterplots, civil war could break out at any time or attacks from one of the numerous external threats could forge temporary unity. [OBQUOTE: You are the Lego Maniac. Only you can decide the outcome.] 23) NOTES ABOUT STARSHIPS There are five general classes of starships. Class I starships, the smallest of all carry only 1 crewmember and little else. An example would be the Spyrian saucer scout. Class I starships are analogous to the LEGO town scale cars which look to be about the size of golf carts. There really isn't any room for fuel, life support or anything else of consequence, therefore Class I ships are generally short range personal transports with nothing more powerful than an impulse drive (1 parsec) with a jump range of only 1 before requiring refueling. Class II starships are slightly larger but still only carry one crewmember. They are longer range (Jitlov Hyperdrive) scouts and fighters. An example would be the (new) Blacktron Allied Avenger. Here we might imagine that there is some space to carry some equipment and fuel although the lack of space for life support means that the Tron and Gnutron crews must be very hardy. Class III starships are probably the most common, they usually carry 2-4 crewmembers and are generally 2-3 parsec hyperdrive capable. They are generally freighters, corvettes (3 parsec drive) or gunboats (2 parsec drive) An example of a corvette would be the Ice Planet Deep Freeze Defender. Class III ships are the smallest ships capable of carrying out extended missions. Many shipyards are capable of mass producing the relatively cheaper class I-III starships. Only large shipyards can construct class IV starships, which are generally transports (2 parsec drive), cruisers (3 parsec drive), monitors (2 parsec drive) or light carriers and carry 5-25 crewmembers. Cruisers are often individually designed and only major powers can afford to build many of them. Class V ships such as Battleships (3 parsec drive), Dreadnoughts (2 parsec drive), Carriers (usually 3 parsec drive) and Free Trader City Ships (3 parsec drive) can only be constructed at the greatest shipyards. They frequently carry hundreds of crewmembers and are always individually designed. Most starships are driven by 2 parsec Jitlov Hyperspace drives. A few are impulse drive (1 parsec drive) only which limits their versatility. In general only the Free Traders, the Space Pirates and major planet or Imperial LEGO warships have 3 parsec Jitlov Hyperdrives. Thus most space commerce is limited to within individual reaches. A starship may make one "jump" in about 1 week. It usually takes a starship another week to get in position to make another jump, so starships may usually make two jumps in a month. Starships may only make a hyperspace jump to another observable star system, in other words they may not make a jump to somewhere in empty space. Thus they may only be intercepted at a star system. 24) NOTES ON DECORATION OF MINIFIGS AND DESIGN OF ALIENS The generic smiley face minifigures :) are "Trons". The newer more detailed minifigures are "Gnutrons". Both are subcategories of the "Minifig" race. True "Minifigs" (who are a small minority now) are individuals like humans are, each a bit different. In practice this means modifications done with permanent markers, sometimes after removing the generic "Tron" face. Careful application of a small amount of acetone (commercially available as fingernail polish remover) will do the trick. Many of the leading powers within LEGO already have their own "uniforms". Spyrians, Unitrons, the Ice Planet people of Krystos, the M-Trons of Magnetron and the new Space Police of Octagon are examples. Blacktron (the planet) is represented by old Blacktrons. Epcot is represented by the Old Space Police. New Blacktrons are the look of the Blacktron Border Baronies (Technotron in particular). This leaves several important planets without their own designs. Often I use rubber cement or small sticky labels emblazoned with the chosen planetary symbol. Genentron gets a "biohazard symbol", Intertron gets a printed circuit design, Enfield (and many of the Free Traders who have different designs for each ship) gets a two arrow trader design, the engineers of Ix get a "compass and T-square" design. Other planets get selected town minifigures, Chicago gets guys with razor stubble and sun glasses (and walkie talkies held like there were submachine guns), Carnival gets "rich looking" minifigures, Cyteen gets white uniformed medical-looking personal (with white helmets and air tanks). The Order of the Maker at Billund gets special hats (in red and white, their holy colors) consisting of a white 2x2 plate with a two piece red pyramid roof on top. The "Greytron" Liberation Front gets Blacktrons with grey helmets and legs and different weapons. The Legions of Elysium have a minifig head mounted upon a technic "exoskeleton". The Senatorial forces based on Plateau get the red uniformed imperial guards (from the pirate sets) with red helmets and a "blaster". Some planets within LEGO have pirate or castle or town or islander or train or boat or even Duplo themes. Some of the external powers are very simple. The Coneheads have a yellow conical "rocket cone" with a :) markered on instead of normal heads. The space pirates are just pirate minifigures with black space (or aviator) helmets and air tanks (and "modified" muskets). One might construct some sort of starship for them using a pirate ship hull. The "Bluetrons" are just minifigures marked up with blue with "alternative" space helmets. The Androids are just Spyrius androids although some of the Android Warlords themselves (such as Darth Legar) have their own designs. Darth Legar is an all black minifigure with a black head (from a ghost), an all black helmet and visor, a black rocket pack and a light saber modified from a long transparent yellow antenna. The mutants are simply minifigures who have been exposed to excessive heat or chemicals or have their heads replaced with nonstandard pieces (such as a round grey 1x1 with a three eyed smiley face markered on). The Ritviks and the Tyconauts are just clone minifigures (if you want to bother with them as they are somewhat scuzzy). Cyborgs are minifig bodies with technic 1x2 bricks mounted as their heads. One can add some round 1x1 plates and other pieces for detail. The Berserkers are just your run-of-the-mill Giant Robots or Crater Critters, pick one or design your own! Dragonriders and Majisto magicians make good inhabitants of the Dark Reach. The Centaurs of Olympia are minifigure torsos mounted on horse-like body constructions. The Awful Green Things From Outer Space are messy looking blobs of green (and green markered) pieces, just design your own, you can't go wrong, they are supposed to be....well awful. The Arachnoids are pure aliens that owe nothing to minifig design. Needless to say there is plenty of room for your own original alien creations to arrive from beyond the borders of LEGO (or perhaps they might be found lurking in the hinterlands of some poorly explored planet). I would be happy to hear about your favorite alien design! END OF LGALAXY3 (PART 3 OF 5)