Battle Thralls/Fallow Slaves

[chenjesuwizard]

Also, they said that the Chimts tendrils grew and pulled down the veils of Fahz. This may refer to the slave shield.

[Bleeding Star]

It seems unethical to contribute to the Ur-Quan's war of conquest, thus I like to think I'd go for Fallow Slave. Of course, battle thrall gives a) more freedom, and b) more chance to strike back at the Ur-Quan, and c) no giant red slave shield, so perhaps if it actually came down to it I would vote differently.

[Alen]

If you think about it, why didn't the Ur Quan have tons of different ships also as battle thralls? If they've been on this conquest for thousands of years shouldn't they have a ridiculous armada?

[Sage]

Yeah, I wondered that too. Within our "sector" (so to speak), the Thraddash were the first local species to be conquered by the Ur-Quan. Their fleet should have been brimming with vessels from other areas, and their Dreadnoughts filled with enslaved crew members from the same.

Only thing I can figure is that they don't bother calling in the extra numbers unless the situation was dire. I imagine if Zelnick had shown up with a massive fleet of Avatars instead of doing the sneaky "blow up the Sa-Matra" plot, the Ur-Quan may have eventually called in reinforcements.

Hell, reinforcements from another sector has great potential for a sequel. Say we take the Warlok Files version of the post-SC2 era. Ur-Quan have all but vanished as a fleet, you only encounter them as single vessels. But meanwhile, the Ur-Quan you *don't* see are busy speeding between the various conquered sectors of the galaxy, using the authority they've built up over the past 20 millennia to press various fleets back into active "battle thrall" service.

[chenjesuwizard]

What's the wallock files?

[Lukipela]

Yeah, I wondered that too. Within our "sector" (so to speak), the Thraddash were the first local species to be conquered by the Ur-Quan. Their fleet should have been brimming with vessels from other areas, and their Dreadnoughts filled with enslaved crew members from the same.

This has come up a few times, hasn't it? I've always been partial to the idea that "Battle Thrall" is a temporary position. Once a sector / cluster of sentient species has been conquered, Thralls become Fallow slaves. The Ur-Quan don't lie, but the Thrall contract is probably pretty long and complicated.

This would solve two problems. First off, it naturally explains why there are no foreign Thralls around, or even any foreign slaves abducted off the Dreadnoughts. But secondly, it means that the Ur-Quan can move their entire fleet onwards towards the eventual Kohr-Ah meeting, rather than leaving troops behind to guard their fallow slaves. After all, discipline in our sector broke pretty quickly once the Kzer-Za were distracted. Keeping in mind that they actually upgrade Thrall ships (such as the Avenger), it'd seem borderline suicidal to first conquer a species, then arm them and then leave them alone for thousands of years without any oversight.

My bet is that while the Kohr-Ah only leave dead worlds behind, the Kzer-Za only leave slave shields behind.

[Alen]

If thats the case then it would be best to be a slave, unless you become battle thralls and blind side the Urquan to give the other races more of a chance.

[chenjesuwizard]

Do you really think so? I mean, otherwise they would off slave shielded the Yehat. I thought they left them to keep control of any possible Rebel races.

[Lukipela]

The Yehat weren't the last free species in the sector. Once they had conquered everyone, including Druuge, Utwig and Supox they might have started the next phase and begun slaveshielding the Thralls. But as long as there are enemies left, better to let the Thralls take the fall. of course they never got that far, since the Kohr-Ah interrupted them.

[Alen]

Another interesting point is, if the Kzer-Za were going to lose the doctoral conflict. Why wouldn't they use the Samatra against the Kor-Ah?

[chenjesuwizard]

They couldn't the Sa-matra was given as the prize. You can't use it. They got it fairly.

[Sage]

The whole point of the second Doctrinal Conflict was to remove the unfair advantage the Kzer-Za had by using the Sa-Matra against the Kohr-Ah in their first conflict, so as to put their respective doctrines to a fair test against one another.

The Warlok Files I speak of are a collection of someone's attempt to write Star Control 3, before what we know of as SC3 had seen the light of day. I think I still have copies of that zip file on my computer somewhere...

EDIT: Here it is.

[Draxas]

This has come up a few times, hasn't it? I've always been partial to the idea that "Battle Thrall" is a temporary position. Once a sector / cluster of sentient species has been conquered, Thralls become Fallow slaves. The Ur-Quan don't lie, but the Thrall contract is probably pretty long and complicated.

This would solve two problems. First off, it naturally explains why there are no foreign Thralls around, or even any foreign slaves abducted off the Dreadnoughts. But secondly, it means that the Ur-Quan can move their entire fleet onwards towards the eventual Kohr-Ah meeting, rather than leaving troops behind to guard their fallow slaves. After all, discipline in our sector broke pretty quickly once the Kzer-Za were distracted. Keeping in mind that they actually upgrade Thrall ships (such as the Avenger), it'd seem borderline suicidal to first conquer a species, then arm them and then leave them alone for thousands of years without any oversight.

My bet is that while the Kohr-Ah only leave dead worlds behind, the Kzer-Za only leave slave shields behind.

I've always subscribed to this theory, and could swear it's in the canon somewhere (no idea where, though, since it's not in the SC2 dialog. Maybe the SC1 manual?). There is no way the Kzer-Za would bother with the effort required to maintain garrisoning, support and supply network, and need to staunch rebellion a galaxy of Battle Thralls far away from the main fleet of their Masters would generate. It's much simpler to convert an entire sector of Battle Thralls to Fallow Slaves once there is nobody left to conquer in the local area.

Another interesting point is, if the Kzer-Za were going to lose the doctoral conflict. Why wouldn't they use the Samatra against the Kor-Ah?

That defies the entire point of the Doctrinal Conflict. It's a war of diametrically opposed ideas (fought with starships, but yeah) to determine which is superior. The only reason that the Eternal Doctrine didn't die off with the first Doctrinal Conflict is that the Kzer-Za felt that they had "cheated" by using a foreign weapon to tip the scales. Using it again would invalidate the results of the second Conflict, which is why fleets from both factions guard the Sa-Matra and coexist. They are the honor guard, and serve to prevent either faction from using the weapon on the other.

[chenjesuwizard]

It does make sense, otherwise, why would you choose to be a fallow slave, if you were going to be left behind to do what you want?

[Lukipela]

I've always subscribed to this theory, and could swear it's in the canon somewhere (no idea where, though, since it's not in the SC2 dialog. Maybe the SC1 manual?).

I'm pretty sure I made it up, so probably not canon. But thanks