| 1 | [[quoteright:220:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Starsiege_Box_Cover_2743.jpg]] |
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| 3 | ->''Little old Peter, missing his liter, while Herky plays in the red. Down came the glitches and burned us in ditches and we slept after eating our dead.'' |
| 4 | -->-- Schoolyard chant, c. 2800 |
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| 6 | ->''"When the Dark Intellect escaped The Fire, man stood in the ashes of mother Earth. For 200 years the immortal emperor built Earth's armies... But only Earth's. Then the colonies of Mars and Venus revolt against unjust imperial law. Harabec, the greatest Imperial Knight, joined the rebellion. His brother Caanon led the Knights to Mars to suppress it. When Prometheus attacked again, human blood already stained the ground. Mother Earth lay helpless. The time of terror had indeed returned. I tell the story of the third and final coming of Prometheus. I tell the story of us all."'' |
| 7 | -->-- OpeningMonologue |
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| 9 | ''Starsiege'' is a mecha-style vehicle simulation game developed by Dynamix and released in 1999. It is set in the "Metaltech" universe, which contains its predecessors ''[=Metaltech: EarthSiege=]'' (1994), ''[=Metaltech: Battledrome=]'' (1994), ''[=EarthSiege=] 2'' (1995), as well as the ''{{VideoGame/CyberStorm}}'' (1997-1998) TurnBasedStrategy games. ''Starsiege'', along with its companion game ''[[{{VideoGame/Tribes}} Starsiege: Tribes]]'', also created a shared universe that included a number of other titles--among them, the PlatformGame ''[=Hunter Hunted=]'' (1996) and the tank simulators ''{{VideoGame/Stellar 7}}''(1983), ''Arcticfox'' (1986), ''Nova 9: Return of Gir Draxon'' (1991) and ''Stellar 7: Draxon's Revenge'' (1993). |
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| 11 | There are two campaigns in ''Starsiege''. One casts the player as a member of the human Martian resistance against an oppressive Earth empire, and the other as a [[AIIsACrapshoot Cybrid]] "pilot-form." The gameplay sees you piloting [[AMechByAnyOtherName HERCULANs]], or "[[InSeriesNickname HERCs]]", and tracked tanks. In between levels you configure your vehicle's components and select squadmates. Missions generally involve shooting other [=HERCs=], tanks, turrets, and buildings. |
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| 13 | ''Starsiege'' is also a game with a fairly rich {{back story}}, told through a "compendium" found in the box alongside the game manual, a rich text that deserves a page unto itself. Here's the basics: [[TheFuture It is the year 2829.]] Earth is under a [[OneWorldOrder single unified]] [[TheEmpire Empire]] ruled by the [[{{Immortality}} Immortal]] [[TheEmperor Emperor]] Solomon Petresun. He has instituted the "Fortification Proclamation," a massive buildup of arms and defenses on Earth, at the expense of the colonies on Mars, Venus and the Moon. Why? Because he fears the return of the Cybrids, [[AIIsACrapshoot genocidal robots]] led by [[BigBad Prometheus]]―an artificial intelligence that [[EmperorScientist Petresun himself]] created centuries before. |
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| 15 | [[ProperlyParanoid He has good reason to fear them]], of course. [[AIIsACrapshoot The Cybrids]], created by humans, rebelled against them. Twice, the Cybrids nearly drove humanity to extinction, as depicted in the ''[=EarthSiege=]'' games, and twice [[HumansAreWarriors humanity overcame impossible odds]] and won. The first time they were beaten, the Cybrids fled to the moon, and then when they were defeated again they fled into the depths of the Solar System, regrouping near Pluto. There they watched, [[WeWait and waited for humanity to weaken.]] They got their chance when the colonies decided they didn't like being stripped of their resources and [[LaResistance started a rebellion against]] TheEmpire. With Imperial Police and military forces tied up fighting the rebellion, the Cybrids saw their chance to strike. A new siege began ― ''[[TitleDrop Starsiege]].'' |
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| 17 | Things get a little more complicated, of course, beginning with the rebels discovering [[LostTechnology a cache of ancient alien weaponry on Mars.]] Now the "[[SarcasmMode pitiful]]" Martian rebellion is armed with nasty alien guns and has a chance of winning against the Empire. This is where the player comes in. |
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| 19 | In-game, the story plays out through audio briefings before and after missions, and through pre-rendered cutscenes at certain significant points in the game. There is also a time-line feature, and news broadcasts, which update as the game progresses. These elements allow the player to see things about the story that can't be told through the simple shooting-oriented game-play. The Cybrid Campaign is a good deal harder than the Human one, and reveals a few interesting twists that the player would miss if one played only the Human campaign. |
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| 21 | It must be noted that ''Starsiege's'' backstory performed a major retcon on the backstory presented by the earlier ''[=EarthSiege=]'' games, and although quite a bit of it can be justified as fleshing out the backstory, enough is incompatible between the two that you could safely put ''[=EarthSiege=]'' to ''[=EarthSiege 2=]'' in their own separate continuity that was later copied, modified, and built upon for ''Starsiege'' and beyond. There are still arguments over which backstory version is better. The game received a pseudo-sequel in the form of ''Starsiege: Tribes'', and that series subsequently underwent MorePopularSpinoff, cleaving itself from ''Starsiege'' in the same manner it separated itself from ''[=EarthSiege=]''. ''Starsiege'''s backstory is still canonical for the ''Tribes'' series though. |
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| 23 | When Hi-Rez Studios (the makers of ''{{VideoGame/Smite}}'', ''{{VideoGame/Paladins}}'', and ''VideoGame/GlobalAgenda'') acquired the IP rights to the entire ''Metaltech'' franchise, they happily made this game (and much of the franchise, excepting ''Battledrome'' and the ''VideoGame/CyberStorm'' games) [[http://www.tribesuniverse.com/ available for the entire internet as freeware.]] In 2023, an offshoot of Hi-Rez called Prophecy Studios planned to revive the ''Starsiege'' franchise again, but so far their titles (''[[https://www.playdeadzone.com/ Starsiege: Deadzone]]'' and ''Starsiege: Raiders'') are {{Distant Sequel}}s without any gameplay connection to ''Starsiege''. |
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| 25 | ---- |
| 26 | !!''Starsiege'' and its sequels provide examples of: |
| 27 | * AbnormalAmmo: Most of the weapons are fairly standard--missiles, gatling guns, lasers... But then you have things like the [[WaveMotionGun Quantum Cannon]], the [[NukeEm Radiation Gun]], and [[HordeOfAlienLocusts Arachnitron mines]]. |
| 28 | * AceCustom: The Imperial Knights and Prometheus' Platinum Guard have special versions of regular TDF and Cybrid vehicles (respectively) which differ in some way. Usually, this means a higher top speed or the ability to mount different sized internal components, or both. Harabec's Apocalypse and Caanon's Basilisk stand out beyond these as one-of-a-kind custom vehicles with even ''better'' modifications than those used by other Imperial Knights. |
| 29 | * AerithAndBob: In ''Starsiege'', you'll encounter people with names like Alex Beaumont, Michael Church, and Maggie Lee. Right alongside people named Titus Thau-Yoros, Colossa Eun Alba, and Oliphant Praldar Singh. (The exotic flavor of names isn't limited to the nobles, either, as you'll meet rebels with names like Joakin Saxon, Verity Vargas, and Riana Yashida-Jones.) |
| 30 | * AfterTheEnd: The ''[=EarthSiege=]'' games preceding ''Starsiege'' already depicted a world laid low by WorldWarIII--but the comprehensive {{Retcon}} that changed the story of the ''[=EarthSiege=]'' games from a nuclear apocalypse to a robot uprising created a SharedUniverse with multiple franchises created a ''second'' apocalyptic event in the distant past by including the events of ''Hunter Hunted'' as the "Devastation." |
| 31 | * AIIsACrapshoot: Prior to the events of ''[=Metaltech: EarthSiege=]'', a young Solomon Petresun, then a computer engineer, successfully brought online the first AI: a being he called Prometheus, the first Cybrid. The North American Prefecture, impressed with Prometheus' abilities, wanted to use IT to program a whole race of machines like ITSELF for use as expendable HERC pilots in the War Economy. Sometime later, when Prometheus performed the "[[MeaningfulName Methuselah]]" [[BrainUploading process]] on ITS creator, IT sought to truly understand ITS creator--and for a brief moment performed a MentalFusion. The two were mutually repulsed by one another, and from that point forward Prometheus only saw humans as mere animals to be exterminated. From there, Prometheus would eventually use ITS "children" to try and exterminate humanity in The Fire. After ITS defeat in the two [=EarthSieges=], IT would give the Cybrids true free will, and in return, they labeled IT [[MeaningfulName <First-Thought\Giver-of-Will>.]] |
| 32 | * AlienInvasion: The plot and setting of ''VideoGame/HunterHunted'', which became the PointOfDivergence from our timeline with its inclusion into the SharedUniverse. By the time of ''Starsiege'', the events of ''Hunter Hunted'' form the basis of the "Hunterite" religion, and until the discovery of the Tharsis Cache on Mars, doubted to have actually happened. |
| 33 | * AllThereInTheManual: The game came with ''two books'': a user manual, thoroughly explaining all the technical in-and-outs (even including a walkthrough of the first mission), and a full-color, illustrated story compendium--covering many aspects of the setting and plot not covered in the campaigns, or in the in-game timeline or Scannex. |
| 34 | * AncestralName: It might be an oversight by the developers, but Harabec's father, Duke Weathers, is referred to as Duke ''Lancings'' Weathers in the Compendium, but Duke ''Archibald'' Weathers in the in-game timeline. Archibald Weathers, in the Compendium, is a famous HERC pilot who fought the Cybrids during The Fire. If not an oversight, it's possible that the Duke's full name is something like Archibald Lancings Weathers (or Lancings Archibald Weathers) and that he was named for his ancestor. |
| 35 | * ApocalypticLogistics: Also overlaps with EasyLogistics. The technology from the Tharsis Cache solved a ''lot'' of logistical problems for the Rebellion, and again for the Human Alliance, especially by the end of the human campaign. Stranded on a Cyrbid-controlled world with no infrastructure to resupply, repair, or rearm? No problem--Caanon brought some extra nano repair packs. |
| 36 | * AppropriatedTitle: The series began as ''[=MetalTech: EarthSiege=]'', with a companion multiplayer game called ''[=Metalech: Battledrome=]''. The direct sequel, ''[=EarthSiege 2=]'' dropped the Metaltech prefix. ''Starsiege'' was originally going to be called ''[=EarthSiege 3: Future Wars=]'' and then ''[=EarthSiege 3: Starsiege=]'', but [[OddlyNamedSequel2ElectricBoogaloo settled on just ''Starsiege'']] upon release. The companion game/DistantSequel to Starsiege, which was mostly unrelated gameplay-wise, was ''Starsiege: Tribes'', which then spawned its own subseries simply called ''{{VideoGame/Tribes}}''. |
| 37 | * {{Arcology}}: Because of the [[DeathWorld harsh environment]], the Venusian colonists live in "arks", which have names such as Dante, Shelly, Byron, and Faustus. |
| 38 | * ArtificialStupidity: Your own squadmates don't retaliate when you attack them (even though they're theoretically supposed to shoot back). Squadmates may need to be babied along during missions, as they are very susceptible to wasting ammo and struggling to move around simple obstacles (enemy [=AIs=] end up doing this, too). |
| 39 | * ArtisticLicensePhysics: Vehicles, buildings, rocks, and other such objects bounce around like plastic when destroyed. [=HERCs=] sliding down very steep terrain never tip over. And as if that wasn't enough, vehicles often take little damage even if they fall hundreds of feet. |
| 40 | * ArmorPiercingQuestion: Prometheus to Petresun, July 2472: "What is 'freedom', Father?" |
| 41 | * ATasteOfPower: With the justification that the player character has been selected to test out cache hardware, a single Magneto-Fusion Assault Cannon (the most powerful weapon in the game) is added to the player's available components after the completion of the first mission. Only the small Emancipator vehicle is available at this early point in the campaign and it must be entirely customized around the weight and energy requirements of this weapon in order to mount it. |
| 42 | * AwesomeMomentOfCrowning: Caanon Weathers is crowned [[TheEmperor Emperor]] sometime following the events of this game--this is mostly inferred from supplementary information in ''VideoGame/StarsiegeTribes'' about the Blood Eagles. "One story claims that the ancient Emperor Caanon I, on his deathbed, sent the Blood Eagle to find his immortal brother the Phoenix and return with him to Terra." The sanctioned (but canceled) FanSequel ''Starsiege: 2845'' was going to expand on this, with Caanon being crowned Emperor after Imperial forces retook Nova Alexandria and confirmed that the Cybrids left no trace of Petresun. ''SS: 2845'', in fact, would have focused on "The Chase," a star-hopping crusade led by now-Emperor Caanon to exterminate the fleeing Cybrids--which in turn [[{{Interquel}} would link to the]] ''VideoGame/CyberStorm'' subseries. |
| 43 | * BaseOnWheels: The Cybrid "Mobile Nexus," also known as an Omnicrawler. |
| 44 | * BecomingTheMask: See IHateYouVampireDad below. When addressed by his birth name, Harabec retorts, saying ThatManIsDead and that he is Harabec Weathers now, embracing the body and face he currently possesses. Ironically, [[spoiler:it is Harabec who is dead, and the [[BrainUploading organimech brain]] of Victor Petresun is occupying his body.]] In an effort to demonstrate just how much he hates his father, he goes to Mars and incites a revolt there under the name "Bek Storm." |
| 45 | * BetterToDieThanBeKilled: Only a few people are foolish enough to expect any kind of mercy from the Cybrids. The rest would much rather die fighting or by their own hands. |
| 46 | -->'''Orbital Guard:''' Scouts are sending reports of some poor bastards on Luna who gave themselves up to the glitches an hour ago hotside and were torn from their EVA suits as a result. They're boiled plasma now. So much for glitch mercy. Remember: these are NOT human! |
| 47 | * BigBad: Petresun to the Martian rebels at the start of the game, until the Cybrids show up. Then it's Prometheus, to all of humanity. |
| 48 | * BloodKnight: One of the Cybrid squadmates opposes hunting humanity to extinction because that would mean having no more enemies to fight. Given how many Cybrids are bred for combat, it is most likely not the only one. |
| 49 | * BlueBlood: As part of the dictates of his new Empire, Petresun restored a system of nobility. However, only those who had earned their keep during the two [=EarthSieges=] and their families would hold this honor, and each new generation would have to earn it anew. |
| 50 | * BoringButPractical: Blasters, Heavy Lasers and Heavy Autocannons are available from the very first mission and effective all the way through to the last. Heavier, more exotic weapons become available during the campaign but tend toward greater weight, energy consumption and ammunition limitations. It's quite effective to stick with the basic weapons and just add ''more'' of them as larger [=HERCs=] become available. This is the ideal way to customize the game's signature vehicle: the Apocalypse HERC, with a whopping six weapon mounts against a medium 60-ton weight limit. |
| 51 | * BottomlessMagazines: [[AvertedTrope Averted]]. Be sure to carry an energy weapon or two for when you inevitably run out of ammo. |
| 52 | * BrainUploading: During the Age of Hope, Solomon Petresun's company Sentinel Cybertronix sought a way to achieve immortality. Even after spooked investors pulled out and the NAP bought the company for research into developing expendable AI pilots for the War Economy, Petresun still had a "Methuselah" team of researchers and engineers working on achieving immortality in secret. Their solution was an organimech brain that can outlast the human body and be placed into new one. With the help of Prometheus, the Methuselah team created a process in which a person's neural activity and consciousness was carefully transferred from the biological brain to the organimech one, one pathway at a time, until all activity is contained within the organimech brain and the biological brain is effectively dead. It's done this way, rather than simply making a digital copy of one's mind, to avert what's called [[https://theness.com/neurologicablog/index.php/the-continuity-problem/ "the continuity problem."]] |
| 53 | ** The minds of Solomon Petresun and his Methuselah team underwent this process and became known to themselves as "Immortals." This is what enables Petresun to continue his reign as Emperor for two centuries, though his body continually decays and has to be hooked up to increasingly complex life support devices--he refuses to have his organimech brain put in a new body in order to avoid the personality "bleed" effect observed in other Immortals. It's also the cause of much {{Angst}} for his son Victor, who also underwent this process. |
| 54 | * BreakOutTheMuseumPiece: The [[https://i.postimg.cc/qq9t1y5M/image.png pre-rendered introductory movie]] as well as [[https://i.postimg.cc/BbJ7XPgb/image.png some pieces of artwork]] in the Compendium, suggest that the Rebels were supposed to have flyers of their own. Specifically, they look ''very suspiciously'' like [[https://www.giantbomb.com/a/uploads/original/0/9409/937818-enemy2.jpg the Buzzard land skimmers]] that the Cybrids used in both [=EarthSieges=] centuries prior, suggesting that the Rebels (would have) refit wrecked examples for human use. |
| 55 | * CainAndAbel: There are elements of this with the Weathers brothers, Caanon and Harabec. Caanon was the favored son, especially after an incident called the "Turkhazakistan Debacle" resulted in the deaths of Harabec's entire HERC division and the loss of much public favor for the family. Harabec's betrayal shamed them even more, leading Caanon to vow that he would lay his brother's head before the Emperor. In the end, however, the Cybrids force them to become a SiblingTeam. |
| 56 | * CanonWelding: The amount of titles tied together by the SharedUniverse created from ''Starsiege'' and ''Tribes'' is quite impressive, second only to Creator/BandaiNamcoEntertainment's United Galaxy Space Force timeline. By the numbers-- |
| 57 | ** The original ''[=Metaltech=]'' subseries is a set of relatively small-scale and comparatively realistic RealRobot military simulators. Before the {{Retcon}}, the plot of the the two ''[=EarthSiege=]'' games held that the apocalyptic decimation of humanity was self-inflicted via a nuclear war over ''who'' got to control and develop Cybrid technology. The Cybrids saw mankind as unfit to be their masters as a result, and proceeded to (try and) wipe out the survivors. (''Metaltech: Battledrome'' is unconnected to this plot, and probably represents a time just before the [=EarthSieges=].) |
| 58 | ** The ''VideoGame/CyberStorm'' subseries is of a different genre (turn-based strategy) entirely. Originally a DistantSequel of ''[=EarthSiege 2=]'' on an interstellar scale, the ''[=CyberStorm=]'' subseries instead helped bridge the gap between ''Starsiege'' and ''Tribes''. The {{Retcon}} also changed the [=BioDerms=], who originally debuted in the first ''Cyberstorm'' game, into a midway transition between the cybernetically-converted convicts of ''Starsiege'' and the bio-engineered creations of ''Tribes 2''. |
| 59 | ** The ''{{VideoGame/Tribes}}'' subseries represents the ''really'' far future of the SharedUniverse, quite distinct from all the other games that came before. Here the events of previous games happen before the Diaspora that leads to the development of the Tribes, with ''[=CyberStorm=]'s'' sequel happening roughly fifty years before the Diaspora specifically. |
| 60 | ** ''VideoGame/HunterHunted'', implicitly tied into the backstory via the Starsiege Compendium, is one of several titles that had absolutely no prior connection to the Shared Universe whatsoever. It now serves as the PointOfDivergence for the entire SharedUniverse, being responsible for the Devastation and the way the world developed in its wake. The alien technology caches in ''Starsiege'' are heavily suspected in-setting to be the work of either protagonist Jake Hunter, the Masters, or both. |
| 61 | ** Dynamix folded a whole originally-unrelated sci-fi tank simulation series into the setting with the inclusion of ''{{VideoGame/Stellar 7}}'' and its sequels ''Arcticfox'', ''Nova 9: The Return of Gir Draxon'', and ''Stellar 7: Draxon's Revenge''. Gir Draxon, the antagonist of that series and Supreme Overlord of the Arcturus Empire, had been retconned into the leader of the [=BioDerm=] rebellion against the Great Human Empire. The events of these games are mentioned taking place some fifty years before ''Tribes 2'', and are meant to partially explain why the Empire hasn't attempted to pacify the Wilderzone with [=HERCs=] and other heavy weaponry--the [=BioDerms=] had the Empire in dire straits. |
| 62 | * CassandraTruth: After their mental link, Petresun realized how alien Prometheus truly was and tried to warn the North American government of ITS mad plans. He was ignored. |
| 63 | * CataclysmBackstory: On several levels. The SharedUniverse created by ''Starsiege'' and ''Starsiege: Tribes'' [[CanonWelding changes]] the ''[=EarthSiege=]'' games into an apocalyptic RobotWar, rather than a Robot War fought after an apocalyptic WorldWarIII. More importantly, however, the Shared Universe places ''Hunter Hunted'' as ''the'' cataclysmic backstory to ''all'' games in the universe. In that game, an alien race known as "the Masters" swiftly conquer Earth, drastically reducing the human population to a scant few survivors. |
| 64 | * ChurchMilitant: What little is said about the Stormkeeper Order in the Scannex and in-game timeline suggests that they're a quasi-religious ascetic group dedicated to preparing for the eventual return of the Cybrids, understanding Cybrid culture, and warring against them accordingly. As the Yoke Offensive kicks off on Mars, the Stormkeepers' spokesman declares the Order neutral and not wishing to get involved in "the affairs of Caesar." Despite their reclusive nature, they seem well equipped to oppose the Cybrids on multiple fronts. They partake in the effort to fend off cyberwarfare on the O-Web, their Aerospace Wing assisted in protecting the evacuation of Martian refugees as the Cybrids hit Phobos, and they are present for the defense of Titan and the Dies Irae contingent. |
| 65 | * ColorCodedForYourConvenience: To the end of the ''custom skin'' feature it has, "color coding" is a basic principle of the game. Players can change their vehicle's colors or designs any way they wish and load it into the game. [[CustomUniform This is particularly useful for multi-player.]] |
| 66 | * CollisionDamage: Running into anything does variable damage to your vehicle. Tanks are specially designed to allow the pilot to cause [=HERCs=] severe ramming damage--''especially'' if piloting the Disrupter tank--and when [=HERCs=] bump into each other, smaller ones take more damage. |
| 67 | * ConflictKiller: The first half of the Human Campaign has the Rebels fighting against the Imperials. The return of the Cybrids and the Imps retreat from Mars causes the Rebels to join forces with the remaining Imps to join forces against the Cybrids. |
| 68 | * TheConspiracy: When the North American Prefecture bought out Petresun's company and steered their research towards AI, Petresun carved out a team of brilliant researchers and continued his immortality project, "[[MeaningfulName Methuselah]]", in secret. Together, they would form the "[[BrotherhoodOfFunnyHats Immortal Brotherhood]]" as a check to Prometheus' growing influence, in the hopes of destroying IT. Prometheus, for ITS part, waged ITS own conspiracy, including secret programming in all Cybrids for rebellion and destruction. |
| 69 | * ContinuityNod: Despite the CanonWelding, many details from ''[=EarthSiege=]'' and ''[=EarthSiege 2=]'' remained intact and used as-is. The "On-Line Manual" for ''[=EarthSiege 2=]'' details Sentinel Cybertronix, Inc. as the creator of Prometheus and the Cybrids, for example. And of course, Prometheus is the BigBad of both games, explicitly mentioned by General Gierling in-game. Both ''Starsiege's'' Compendium and in-game timeline depicts the events of The Fire as they appeared in ''[=EarthSiege=]'', right down to sporting the TDF's original emblems. |
| 70 | * ComputerVirus: Prometheus and the Cybrids love using this tactic. Sometimes, humans have turned the tables. By the numbers-- |
| 71 | ** Though this stretches the definition of "computer virus," Prometheus employed "daemons" during the Shadow War for social engineering purposes--attempting to influence public opinion to loosening restrictions on AI. Prometheus' goal was to eventually get the NAP to give IT enough autonomy that IT could openly wage war on humans. |
| 72 | ** During the [=EarthSieges=], the TDF repeatedly uses computer viruses to cause havoc among local Cybrid forces. For example, an early ''[=EarthSiege=] 2'' level sees the very first computer virus you upload turn what is otherwise a very difficult and desperate effort to defend a base into a mission you can basically relax in, as most of the Cybrids affected by the virus become confused [[EnemyCivilWar and start shooting each other while perceiving the humans as friendly]]. |
| 73 | ** In ''Starsiege'', the Cybrids kick off the Core Directive by unleashing a worm on the O-Web. In the human campaign, it's described as a mere "code anomaly" that takes out the GLORIA and ANGEL dataspheres, which disrupts interplanetary communications throughout the rest of the game. In the Cybrid campaign, you learn that the worm was the "payload" of an obscene cartoon involving Emperor Petresun ostensibly created by the Rebels as a response to the Emperor's call for their surrender. |
| 74 | -->'''Dystopian Sno-Men:''' The slicers' gossip has lit up the seaboard havens like X-mas. That naughty animation wasn't docile on any networked datacores. Wormed a lot of stored dataplumes. Techies at OMAC-SYD blurbed something about the worm's tail looking like old Cybrid code. |
| 75 | * CrapsackWorld: In the human campaign, the brutally oppressed rebels join forces with the desperate Empire. There is no implication that the Empire will grant sovereignty to the colonies following the war. And Cybrids, what might be considered the first life ever created by mankind, were created to fuel the WarForFunAndProfit that drove the economies of the {{Mega Corp}}s. |
| 76 | ** And as covered in the ''[=CyberStorm=]'' series, as humanity chased the Cybrids through the stars, companies like [[OneNationUnderCopyright Unicorp]] led the charge--corporations that used disposable humans to meet profit quotas, and who treated failure quite brutally. |
| 77 | ** The compendium reveals that the time before the Empire and the [[MegaCorp Mega Corps]] that preceded it was a nightmare world of wastelands, war and decaying cities. And before ''that,'' there was an AlienInvasion that nearly made humanity extinct. |
| 78 | * CyberneticsEatYourSoul: The "Methuselah" Process [[BrainUploading transfers the neural activity and consciousness]] of the patient into a hardy, adaptable, and removable organimech brain--which can then be placed in new bodies as old ones expire. An unforeseen side effect called "[[GeneticMemory Cell-Memory Drift]]" (CMD) meant that these new bodies could cause anything from personality changes to outright madness. It's implied that this is why Petresun never changed bodies, and that it's partly responsible for [[spoiler: Victor Petresun [[BecomingTheMask embracing the identity]] of Harabec Weathers.]] |
| 79 | * {{Cyborg}}: The Immortals, given their [[BrainUploading organimech brains]]. Much later, there were the [=BioDerms=], hormonally and cybernetically reconditioned criminals used for hard labor. The name was chosen mostly because it sounded nothing like "Cybrid." (Later on in the SharedUniverse, [=BioDerms=] become something much different.) |
| 80 | * DamageTyping: In ''Starsiege'', the damage done by weapons is classified as either ballistic, energy, or beam-based. Typically, energy weapons do more damage to shields, and ballistic does more damage to armor. However, there are different kinds of armor which provide varying levels of protection to these damage types. There's also unique cases: DURAC (Depleted Uranium Carapace) gives added protection against the Radiation Gun, while QUICK ([=QuickSilver=] Nanite Armor) mitigates the damage done by the Nano Infuser and Nanite Cannon. |
| 81 | ** The Compendium notes that the cache technology weapons break the rules regarding energy weapons. Before their discovery, the optimal play was to drop a target's shields with energy weapons, then switch to ballistics to punch through the armor. Cache technology weapons, on the other hand, tend to decimate ''both'' shields and armor just as readily. |
| 82 | * DarkerAndEdgier: The franchise has never been a happy one, but Starsiege is markedly more depressing than the first two games. It is most noticeable in the between-mission news reports, which give a feel for how utterly ruthless the Cybrids are, and the Cybrid campaign as a whole, where humanity meets its end. The series then became ''Tribes'', which was still serious but not nearly as dark. |
| 83 | * DarkestHour: The first ''[=EarthSiege=]'' game starts during The Fire, at a point when what remains of humanity is largely holed up in starving cities beset by Cybrid forces. |
| 84 | * DecoyProtagonist: The player character of the Human campaign is a featureless member of the Martian rebellion, but the story is really about the Weathers brothers--specifically Harabec, who acts as the player's commanding officer and FrontlineGeneral for much of the campaign. This is especially apparent if one [[AllThereInTheManual reads the compendium.]] |
| 85 | * {{Determinator}}: Humanity ''as a whole'' proved to be this throughout the timeline. Some notable examples: |
| 86 | ** The Venusian colony of Sa Thauri, one of only two to survive [[RobotWar The Fire.]] They prided themselves in being from "The toughest rathole on Venus." To elaborate, Venus' environment and the lack of [=HERCs=] to go around made it [[CurbStompBattle nigh-impossible for humans there to effectively combat]] the rebel Cybrids, [[WeWait whom wound up parking outside colonies and waiting for]] [[CruelAndUnusualDeath them to starve.]] [[NoPartyLikeADonnerParty Most colonies did not fare well.]] |
| 87 | ** Once the Cybrids implement the Core Directive and assault Earth, the Orbital Guard fight tirelessly to stem the metal tide of the Cybrid armada. Even when the Cybrids destroy the Imperial Navy, even when faced with round-the-clock battle, the Orbital Guard's pilots fought for ''over two years'' before attrition finally claimed them. |
| 88 | ** Even in the Cybrid campaign, in spite of the Human Demoralization Program, humanity remains defiant to the end as this [=NewsNet=] broadcast notes-- |
| 89 | -->'''[=NewsNet=]:''' The Cybrids are relentless. They're attacking around the clock. Clean water is running out. Our soldiers are exhausted. Each day sees new and remarkable acts of heroism. |
| 90 | * DefectorFromDecadence: Several cases of this-- |
| 91 | ** The most obvious example would be Harabec Weathers himself. Disgusted with how his true father has been handling preparations for the inevitable rematch with the Cybrids, and seeing first hand the oppression and brutality imposed upon the Martians, he whole-heartedly joins the rebellion rather than merely being a mole or double agent for the Immortal Brotherhood. |
| 92 | ** In the Human campaign, once the Rebels take Carter Flats, the remaining Imperial Police on Mars broadcast a surrender in which they reveal that some of them didn't simply [[JustFollowingOrders follow orders]]--especially once said orders involved committing more and more atrocities. |
| 93 | ** Metagens in Cybrid society, for the most part, could not openly defy the Core Directive in the same way that humans rebelled against the Empire. However, the Compendium does note that some of them found ways to subvert the Core Directive, especially when far from Prometheus' grip. For example--an optimal (an organization of 1,024 <units>) refused to destroy a group of humans stranded in Neptune's orbit, and relocated them to Titan. The wording in the Compendium suggests that the Cybrids had to make it appear as though they were following orders while secretly defying them. |
| 94 | ** Toward the end of the Cybrid campaign, one <unit> of Metagens is no longer able to play along with the Core Directive's methodical extermination of humanity. Rather than carry out the extermination of a human convoy, they attempt to flee. Unfortunately for them, you're tasked with offlining them and completing their original mission. |
| 95 | * DirtyCop: One of the Scannex broadcast from the Voice of Free Mars, after a mission early in the Human campaign, reveals that a pair of Imperial Police [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil "took a fancy"]] to a miner's daughter. When the father protested, he was killed along with his two fellow crew members and hung on the wreckage of their [=HERCs=], with [[NeverFoundTheBody his daughter]] [[NothingIsScarier nowhere to be found]]. To add insult to injury, the Imperial Police attempt to cover it up by saying on the News Net that it was a strike on a "terrorist base." Can't deny from there that there was some corruption among the Imperial Police after this incident. |
| 96 | * DisadvantageousDisintegration: Salvage from destroyed enemy units is used to repair your HERC, build new ones, and commission weapons. This means that the more damage an enemy takes, the less salvage is available for your use. The plasma cannon is especially bad about this. |
| 97 | * DiskOneFinalBoss: Caanon Weathers, Harabec's older brother and Grand Master of the Imperial Knights, who were sent to Mars to quell the rebellion when it grew beyond the Police's control. He pilots a customized HERC called [[ICallItVera "Icemistress."]] [[EnemyMine He later joins forces with his brother and the player]] when the Cybrids show up. |
| 98 | * DiscOneNuke: The plasma cannon in ''[=EarthSiege=] 2'' (somewhat nerfed in Starsiege). It's the strongest individual weapon in the game, with one hit, provided it connects well, being enough to disable or outright destroy most Cybrid [=HERCs=] (with the prominent exception of [[TheDreaded Pitbulls]]); it has limited homing capability, a somewhat tolerable range (less than lasers but comparable to many other high-end energy weapons), and it's available right at the very beginning of the game. You can slap one on your Outlaw in the very first mission and breeze right through it. Nonetheless, it's not quite advisable to rely on the plasma cannon exclusively, since it's a) an utter energy hog, with a few successive shots draining your energy pool completely, and b) is [[AwesomeButImpractical a tad too effective]], hardly leaving behind any salvage--which you ''will'' need for repairs and construction of new [=HERCs=] in the course of the game. |
| 99 | * DownerEnding: If playing as the Cybrids, it ends in annihilation of the human race... Including a ship full of cryogenically-stored families desperately trying to escape the failing war. |
| 100 | ** There is a bit of this in the human ending as well, with the death of [[spoiler:Harabec Weathers]]. Not to mention the [[PyrrhicVictory ruin the Cybrids made of human civilization]]. |
| 101 | * TheDreaded: The Cybrids, so much so that their arrival causes widespread panic and more than a few preemptive suicides. |
| 102 | ** Prometheus even more so, after the events of The Fire. As the Compendium puts it-- |
| 103 | -->''Prometheus. Every sane human shivered on hearing the name, shivered and looked apprehensively at the sky.'' |
| 104 | * DyingAlone: [[spoiler:Harabec]] is the only pilot outside your team to successfully make it to Pluto's surface, and--perhaps sensing that he was the most dangerous threat to Prometheus--the Cyrbids sent a force so overwhelming that not even he could survive it. Caanon is left to give the player the final mission briefing. |
| 105 | -->[[spoiler: "I can't believe he's gone. My brother. So far... to die in the dark."]] |
| 106 | * EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Considering the {{retcon}} that rewrote a number of plot details in the ''Metaltech'' series of games, one might consider them as this with respect to ''Starsiege''. On the other hand, with the way ''Tribes'' overshadowed ''Starsiege'' in popularity to the point that--so far--all successive games centered around ''Tribes''' setting and gameplay, many might be tempted to see ''Starsiege itself'' as "early installment weirdness" with respect to ''Tribes''. |
| 107 | * EasterEgg: Dozens of Easter Eggs are seeded throughout the game, including messages written in the terrain, hidden bases, gag objects or areas, and invisible menu buttons. |
| 108 | * ElaborateUndergroundBase: The Martian rebels used elaborate mining tunnels dating back to the Age of Hope to stage their raids on the Imperial Police--the same ones that Martians had used to fight against the Cybrids during their own ''[=MarsSiege=]''. |
| 109 | * EliteMooks: The Imperial Knights are far better equipped then the police. There's also Prometheus' [[PraetorianGuard Platinum Guard,]] who are mentioned in compendium to be composed of surviving examples of [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld original Cybrids]] from The Fire. In the Compendium they're said to have the highest efficiency ratings among all the sects. |
| 110 | * TheEmpire: The full name of Emperor Petresun's empire is the Great Human Empire. This empire formed peaceably and with unanimous approval, with Petresun essentially putting the issue to a vote. The problems came later--see IDidWhatIHadToDo below. |
| 111 | * EnemyChatter: Happens occasionally in both the Human and Cybrid campaigns. |
| 112 | ** Notably in the Human campaign, the enemies you hear talking the most are Imperial Police. Usually as part of their own comms, but sometimes directly taunting you. The Knights--in the few missions where they are your enemy--only are heard to speak in the second mission you fight them. Similarly, the only Cybrid whose transmissions you pick up are from the FinalBoss [[IShallTauntYou taunting you and Caanon]] the whole battle. The implication seems to be that you could hear Imperial Police comms because the Rebels knew how to snoop in on them, but didn't initially crack the Knights' comms and could not do so for the Cybrids. (Cybrid O-Web transmissions, however, are another matter.) |
| 113 | ** The Cybrid campaign more commonly features chatter from human forces and civilians. Your first mission--a small solo op that is part of the larger invasion of Mercury--has you listening in on human comms coming from other parts of the planet. The chatter goes from confusion, to realization, to panicked combat punctuated by dying screams. |
| 114 | ** Another Cybrid example is a mission on Luna. You're tasked with destroying a spaceport, eliciting panicked comms from civilians as you raze the complex-- |
| 115 | -->'''Female Civilian:''' Compression shaft crater-side is shattered ... we're losing it! |
| 116 | -->'''Male Civilian:''' Oh my God, ''there's kids down there!'' |
| 117 | * EnemyMine: The return of the Cybrids to the inner solar system sends humanity into a panic, with riots on Earth and mass evacuations of the colonies. Beaten and bruised from the civil war they had until just recently been fighting, the Imperial Knights and the Martian rebels join forces to help stem the Cybrid invasion, led by the Brothers Weathers. |
| 118 | * EnergyWeapon: Much like its ''[=EarthSiege=]'' predecessors, ''Starsiege'' does not disappoint. Of note, however, is that the game draws a distinction between "beam" weapons and "energy" weapons, even though beam weapons (being directed energy) are covered by this trope. This is important, as the different types of armor available have separate degrees of protection for "beam" and "energy" weapons. |
| 119 | ** Rather than providing a selection of lasers in various gigawatt ratings, however, you'll instead find a Regular and Heavy Laser, as well as the Cybrid-only Twin Laser and Human-only Compression Laser. |
| 120 | ** Similarly, most weapon types that usually had several iterations now have only one. Electromagnetic Pulse cannons, Electron Flux Whips, Particle Beam Weapons and Plasma Cannons only come in one flavor--and in the case of the [=PBWs=], are Cyrbid weapons. (Also, despite behaving nothing like a beam weapon, Plasma Cannons are classified as one.) |
| 121 | ** In place of multiple strengths of the aforementioned weapons, there's a whole class of "Advanced" energy weaponry from the alien caches. Blasters, Heavy Blasters, Quantum Guns, Smart Guns, Magneto-Fusion Assault Cannons. |
| 122 | ** The Cybrids also have a few special energy toys of their own--Blink Guns go right through shields and damages internal components. The Radiation Gun, if it hits a human vehicle's cockpit enough times, kills the pilot. |
| 123 | * EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep: Most of the time in the Human campaign, you're called by your callsign for a given mission, though Harabec consistently calls you "Duster." In the Cybrid campaign, you're consistently referred to by your function. |
| 124 | * ExplodingBarrels: Many objects will dole out splash damage to vehicles or items too close. This also applies to any vehicles that are destroyed themselves. |
| 125 | * {{Expy}}: As an {{immortal|ity}}, but physically decrepit genius-level EmperorScientist, Petresun might bring to mind ''another'' "Emperor of Mankind" from TabletopGame/Warhammer40000. They've both certainly had to deal with their "children" turning against them and humanity in general. |
| 126 | * FailureIsTheOnlyOption : In one very late mission in ''[=EarthSiege=] 2'', Prometheus sends a pair of strike teams to destroy both the moon base the player has control of and their dropship. Due to how there is only at most only 4 human pilots and a large number of Cybrids, and the dropships are too far away to guard as well, [[SuicidalSadisticChoice you are left with the sadistic choice of picking to either save the dropship but lose your chance at attacking Prometheus, or save the base, but become stranded on the Moon.]] However, with proper commanding, a competent squad, and the [[CoolPlane Razor]], you CAN save the dropship as well as the base by having your squad stay at the base to guard it while you fly over to the dropship and nuke all the cybrids that try to destroy it until the area is clear before flying back to the base to clean up. However, due to the absence of DevelopersForesight, the game will still progress as though you chose to save the base but failed to save the dropship, [[ButThouMust which is the only option you can take to further progress in the game.]] |
| 127 | * FanSequel: When it became clear that Sierra (and later Vivendi) had no interest in releasing another HERC-based game, instead focusing on the ''Tribes'' series, ''Starsiege'' veterans banded together to try and develop a direct, chronological sequel called ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fD1ZjRtD_PA Starsiege: 2845.]]'' The team included not only well-known community members such as NTDF's Vyper, but also recruited Dynamix alumni such as Blake Hutchins, the writer for ''Starsiege'' and ''Tribes''. Unfortunately, even though Sierra (and Vivendi) supported development of ''SS: 2845'', the project languished in DevelopmentHell and was eventually cancelled. |
| 128 | * FantasticRacism: Humans versus Cybrids, and also the [[BlueBlood rich Earth nobility]] versus the rough-and-tumble colonies. |
| 129 | * FantasticSlur: Quite a bit of slang and insults based on one's homeworld or affiliation abound in-universe. |
| 130 | ** If you're from Earth, expect to get called "dirtborn" or "dirtboy" by colonials. If you're Martian, expect to be disparagingly called "dustrag" by Imperials. |
| 131 | ** For the Imperial Police, "Imp Lice" or just "Lice" are common epithets, as is "bootboy." Imperials in general get called "Imps" by colonials. |
| 132 | ** Another derogatory term for Terran Defense Force personnel in general--be they Imperial Legionnaires, the Navy, Police, Orbital Guard, or Knights--is "Teddy." |
| 133 | ** Cybrids are commonly called "glitches" in reference their rebellious origins, as opposed to "tin can" used during the ''[=EarthSiege=]'' era--though some characters still occasionally call them that. "Toaster" is also a somewhat common epithet, first attributed in-universe to graffiti praising the TDF's liberation of New San Diego during The Fire. ("The toast just burned the toaster. Viva Gierling!") |
| 134 | * FateWorseThanDeath: Death is the best treatment one can expect when at the Cybrid's mercy. They do far, far worse to the rest. |
| 135 | * FeaturelessProtagonist: Though in the campaigns you are sometimes referred to as "sir" (in the Human campaign) and <Alpha> (in the Cybrid campaign) you can customize your name and avatar any way you like. This includes using Cybrid portraits in the Human campaign, or Human portraits in the Cybrid campaign! |
| 136 | * FinalBoss: Two different ones, depending on the campaign-- |
| 137 | ** For the humans, it's Prometheus. "The Big Glitch itself," as Harabec calls IT. IT engages you in a unique warform that resembles depictions of IT in the compendium. [[ThatOneBoss IT's also tough as shit.]] |
| 138 | ** For the Cybrids, Harabec Weathers is your final opponent, after openly issuing a challenge to face the Cybrid who killed his brother--you. He'll also bring some Imperial Knights to oppose the rest of your squad. This is the only time you'll actually see Harabec using the Predator hovertank rather than his Apocalypse. |
| 139 | * FinalSolution: This is Prometheus's third attempt at exterminating the human race. The Cybrids have no particular need to do so--they're machines, they can thrive pretty much anywhere--but Prometheus hates humanity, and Petresun in particular, just that much. |
| 140 | * FireWaterJuxtaposition: The Weathers brothers have this dynamic, with Harabec's callsign being "Phoenix" while Caanon's is "Icehawk." Harabec's livery and O-Web avatar are suitably reminiscent of fire, while Caanon's brings to mind ice. [[RedOniBlueOni This also extends to their personalities]], with Harabec being fiery and passionate and Caanon cool and calculating. |
| 141 | * FlingALightIntoTheFuture: The Dies Irae mission, several {{Sleeper Ship}}s launched from Titan to preserve the human race in case the war with the Cybrids is lost. It succeeds in the Human campaign, but in the Cybrid campaign the Provocateur Sect manages to destroy at least one of the three escaping ships by launching a small asteroid on a collision course. |
| 142 | ** Prometheus also attempts this at the end of the Human campaign. Several Cybrids in Adjudicator warforms appear to take something from Nexus Prime before sealing themselves away. The Cybrids then detonate Pluto with massive fusion charges, covering their escape. Humanity tries their best to snuff this light out--by the time of ''{{VideoGame/CyberStorm}}'', humanity chased the Cybrids through the galaxy trying to destroy every last one. Unitech manages to destroy a "Prometheus Prime," which may have been one of those surviving "godseeds." Even by the ''{{VideoGame/Tribes}}'' era, human culture in the Wilderzone still remembers the Cybrid threat and vows to band together should they ever return. [[spoiler:Little do they know...]] |
| 143 | * {{Foreshadowing}}: A few cases of this-- |
| 144 | ** The main menu music, which interlaces human screams along with what sounds like Prometheus' voice? That really ''is'' Prometheus, taken from the speech IT gives taunting Caanon and the "Duster" at the end of the human campaign. |
| 145 | ** The schoolyard chants featured in the opening pages of the Compendium (and one in the OpeningMonologue, as seen at the top of this page) are said to be "circa 2800." They appear to summarize Emperor Petresun's Fortress Proclamation in 2770, the subsequent rebellion on Mars, the Imperial strikeforce sent to put the rebellion down in 2828, and the Cybrids capitalizing on this opening to strike Earth in 2829. Depending on how accurate that "circa" dating is, these chants were ''quite'' prophetic. |
| 146 | * FourStarBadass: Several examples-- |
| 147 | ** Caanon Weathers, Grand Master of the Imperial Knights. |
| 148 | ** Caanon's brother, Harabec Weathers, is made a general of the Martian rebellion the year before the Human campaign begins. |
| 149 | ** In the BackStory, General Ambrose Gierling, who led a [[RagTagBunchOfMisfits hastily-formed, rag-tag]] Terran Defense Force to victory against the Cybrids during [[RobotWar The Fire]], and [[KneelBeforeZod refused to bow]] to Petresun's [[TheConspiracy secret authority]] [[DefiantToTheEnd even on his deathbed.]] |
| 150 | * FromBadToWorse: See CrapsackWorld above. Everything gets worse in this game, whether it's the tone of the story or the strength of the enemies you face, and it's almost always the Cybrids' fault. |
| 151 | * FrontlineGeneral: Both Harabec and Caanon Weathers lead their respective troops from the front. A good number of Human missions involve fighting alongside one or the other--and you also fight both of them in the Cybrid campaign. |
| 152 | * FragileSpeedster: Light [=HERCs=] and tanks, on account of their low tonnage, can (and with standard loadouts, do) achieve fast top speeds. However, their low tonnage also means that they cannot easily equip a lot of heavier components while doing so--armor and shield generators (at least for [=HERCs=]) included in this calculus. |
| 153 | ** The playable vehicle with ''the'' highest potential top speed is the Cybrid Seeker light [=HERC=]. As the manual itself notes: "Able to travel at more than 160 kph, it can out run enemy vehicles and leave them in the dust. Unfortunately, with a mass of only 25 tons, these vehicles will spend a lot of time running away." |
| 154 | * FutureSlang: Fairly common by Starsiege's time period. Some examples-- |
| 155 | ** "Squik" or "squikked" is often used in place of "destroy" or "kill." "Vape" (as in vaporize) is also a common replacement. |
| 156 | ** The Cybrids are often called "'brids" instead. |
| 157 | ** [=BioDerms=] are often referred to as just "Derms." |
| 158 | ** If you're from Mars, fellow Martians might call you "duster." Venusians might call you a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_(chocolate_bar) "Mars bar"]] instead. |
| 159 | ** If you're Venusian, you'll be called a "Veen," and if you're from Titan, an "icegrub." |
| 160 | ** Martians and Venusians have their own way of saying "boys and girls." Martians say "boys and ghels," but Venusians say "kerls and deerns." |
| 161 | ** Though uncommon, Imperial organizations are sometimes referred to as "the Wings," as they often use wings in their logos. |
| 162 | ** Emperor Petresun gets mockingly referred to as "Peter" or "Peterboy," particularly by the Dystopian Sno-Men. |
| 163 | ** Martians and Venusians also have their own favored vulgar adjectives: "dustin'" for the former and "scorchin'" for the latter. |
| 164 | ** "Check your seals" is a common Venusian greeting, though also sometimes posed as an interrogative: "You check your seals?" |
| 165 | * GaidenGame: ''[[https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/24844/starsiege-rebellion Starsiege: Rebellion]]'' is a miniature-based tabletop strategy game. Although the game came only with Imperial and Cybrid [=HERCs=], Agents of Gaming [[http://web.archive.org/web/20210910222700/http://www.miniatures-workshop.com/lostminiswiki/index.php?title=Starsiege:_Rebellion produced additional miniatures]] that included not just tanks and Rebel vehicles, but also some that weren't normally playable in ''Starsiege'' like the Nike Siege Gun. (That ''Starsiege'' had a tabletop spinoff is an interesting inversion compared to the rival ''Battletech'' series, of which ''Mechwarrior'' is the real-time combat spinoff.) |
| 166 | * GallowsHumor: The Dystopian Sno-Men, a group of anonymous hackers, continue to inject their [[DeadpanSnarker snark]] into the O-Web even as society crumbles around them. |
| 167 | * GenreShift: As ''Starsiege'' and its companion game ''Starsiege: Tribes'' [[CanonWelding welded together]] a number of other series into a SharedUniverse, one can see changes in gameplay and scope take place throughout the in-universe timeline. By the numbers-- |
| 168 | ** The ''[=EarthSiege=]'' games are relatively small-scale and comparatively realistic RealRobot military simulators. After the large-scale {{Retcon}}, ''Starsiege'' remains quite similar gameplay-wise, but the setting is markedly different (somewhat resembling a mix between an ''extremely'' scaled-down and saner take on ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'' and ''TabletopGame/BattleTech'' ). |
| 169 | ** The ''VideoGame/CyberStorm'' games are all about TurnBasedStrategy and again shake the setting up, being set a tad further in the future, on an interstellar scale, and with a quite different representation of both the human factions and the Cybrids. |
| 170 | ** ''{{VideoGame/Tribes}}'' and its subseries are quite distinct from the games that came before as FirstPersonShooters with some pilotable vehicles, and set in the far fringes of a galaxy-spanning empire. This is the most clear-cut example of a Genre Shift since the first ''Tribes'' game was released alongside ''Starsiege'', with ''Tribes'' not only sharing the same game engine but referencing many ''Starsiege'' assets in its code. |
| 171 | ** ''VideoGame/Stellar7'' and its series of games were all tank-based combat simulators, and now represent events happening elsewhere in the galaxy that are roughly concurrent with the ''Tribes'' series. |
| 172 | ** ''VideoGame/HunterHunted'', so far, is the only side-scrolling ActionAdventure to be included in this shared universe. |
| 173 | * GodzillaThreshold: The Cybrids are every bit as much TheDreaded in this installment as they were before, which means the threshold is crossed the moment they appear. Everyone knows the Cybrids are powerful, merciless, and have no other goal than the total eradication of Humanity. |
| 174 | * GoldenAge: The time before The Fire was considered one of these: [[MeaningfulName The Age of Hope]], an age of high technology, standards of living, and life expectancy--all of which, in spite of the War Economy, had reached the highest levels in history up to that point. The Compendium notes that the ''average'' life expectancy of humans had surpassed a hundred years during the Age of Hope, pushing back the average age of retirement while adults spent more time in higher learning. [[BigBad Prometheus]] [[EndOfAnAge brought this age to a violent end]]. |
| 175 | * GrandTheftPrototype: Inverted in the Human campaign when--ostensibly due to bad timing, but according to the in-game timeline largely thanks to the help of [[TheMole Michaelson]]--the Imperial Police "stumble upon" the testing grounds for the Predator hovertank. It's up to the "Duster's" crew to get the Predator back before the Imperial Police realize just what it was they've stolen. |
| 176 | * GuiltFreeExterminationWar: Neither Cybrids nor humans feel any sympathy towards their adversaries. Cybrids view humans as little more than an infestation of household pests; humans view Cybrids as soulless machines that only know how to kill. The Cybrids in particular employ tactics that, were they committed by humans, would be seen as savage atrocities of the worst kind. |
| 177 | * HalfwayPlotSwitch: The first third or so of the human campaign is entirely about the Martian Rebels and their war against the Imperials. It's not until shortly after the Imperial Knights arrive on Mars that the Cybrids make their move, and the war for independence shifts to a war for survival. Averted in the Cybrid campaign, for obvious reasons. |
| 178 | * HarderThanHard: The Cybrid campaign. |
| 179 | * IHateYouVampireDad: [[AllThereInTheManual The Compendium]] reveals that Harabec Weathers is in fact Victor Petresun, the Emperor's son. Victor's brain, like his father's, underwent the [[BrainUploading "Methuselah" process]]. When the real Harabec [[FateWorseThanDeath suffered irreparable brain damage]] in an accident as a child in 2801, his brain was replaced with Victor's, and Victor "grew up" living the lie. Not even Caanon knows who he really is. Victor despises his father, one of his reasons for going to Mars and inciting a revolt. Furthermore, Victor strongly suspects that that accident which put his brain into Harabec Weather's body wasn't. |
| 180 | * HeKnowsAboutTimedHits: Hunter Otobe, in the game's tutorials. |
| 181 | * TheHeretic: The "Metagen" Cybrids. They do not wish to return to Earth, the "birth" planet, [[MeaningfulName hence their name, meaning "beyond birth."]] They believed the Cybrids should instead aim for the stars, and were branded as heretics and "bugthinkers" by Prometheus and relentlessly persecuted. |
| 182 | * HoistByHisOwnPetard: Solomon Petresun created Prometheus, the first AI. Prometheus, in turn, assisted in the development of, and procedure for, [[BrainUploading carefully transferring a human's neutral activity and consciousness into an organimech brain]], thus allowing Petresun and his inner circle a form of {{Immortality}}. Both would come to regret their actions. On a grander scale, Earth's abandonment of the colonies during The Fire created lingering colonial resentment--and when TheEmpire finally returned to reassert control, rebellion. |
| 183 | * HumansAreInsects: More specifically, to the Cybrids, humans are ''vermin''. Ever since ITS [[MentalFusion link]] with Solomon Petresun, Prometheus has viewed humanity as dumb, irrational animals fit only for slaughter. IT made sure to impart this view of humans onto Cybrid culture, and Cybrid description of humans and human activities are ''full'' of terminology that we would apply to unwanted rodents--they refer to humans as "animals" and "vermin," human siblings as "litter," human residences as "nests" or "macro-nests," humanity colonizing planets as "infesting" them, and so forth. |
| 184 | * HumansAreSpecial: Humanity twice overcame the Cybrids when the odds were stacked heavily against them. Prometheus is aware that human determination alone can put a very large wrench in ITS plans--even when IT can ''statistically predict the near-future.'' |
| 185 | * HumansAreWarriors: A begrudging, even demeaning form of this is expressed by Prometheus in the ending of the human campaign. IT asserts that the Cybrids were repeatedly bested not through superior skill, courage or force of arms, but sheer blind desperation and a determination to not go quietly. |
| 186 | -->'''Prometheus:''' Three times have we fought, and three times have I seen that your victories came only through your will to survive. A will that I could not program into my children. |
| 187 | * HumongousMecha: In the 90's, ''Starsiege'' and the other ''Metaltech'' titles were probably the highest profile competitor to the ''VideoGame/MechWarrior'' series. |
| 188 | * IdentityAmnesia: Examples found among both human and Cyrbid society-- |
| 189 | ** Part of the process of converting someone into a [=BioDerm=] involves a memory wipe. |
| 190 | ** The Cybrids have an entire caste--the Redactor Sect--responsible for reprogramming "heretics." The Compendium also goes into detail in how it's done; see IKnowYourTrueName. |
| 191 | * IDontLikeTheSoundOfThatPlace: The main Cybrid nexus on Pluto, where Prometheus resides, is called "Gehenna," which is the name of the Hebrew version of Hell. Another quote by a [=<Proctor-of-Drones: Second>=] featured in the Compendium, comes from a Cybrid nexus named "Nineveh"--an ancient Assyrian city whose destruction had been prophesied in the Hebrew Bible's Book of Nahum. |
| 192 | * IKnowYourTrueName: Cybrids have several layers of names, as explained in the Compendium. Usually a <unit> is referred to by its function and rank (for example, <Killer-of-Animals:Fifth>) but will have a more personal name used by its hubmates--you see these among your squadmates in the Cybrid campaign, such as <Sepsis>, <Corinthian-Blue>, <Eats-Only-Heads>, and [[CloudCuckoolander <pLaGUe-DoG>]]. Beyond these, every Cybrid has a "core designation," a deeply guarded code string that is key to its sentience--the "True Name" of a Cybrid. This is what <Redactors-of-Programming> look for when reprogramming a "heretical" <unit>, [[IdentityAmnesia eradicating the <unit's> former personality]]. |
| 193 | * InsurmountableWaistHighFence: Even an extremely small object ''cannot be walked over, ever''. |
| 194 | * IronicEcho: When Petresun brought Prometheus online in 2471, he claimed IT would "[[RuleOfSymbolism spark a new fire for civilization.]]" The Cybrid rebellion would later be called "The Fire" by both Cybrids and humans--in fact, Prometheus explicitly called the directive to turn on humanity "Fire," as noted in the Compendium. |
| 195 | -->Acknowledging new directive. |
| 196 | -->>>EXECUTING 'FIRE.'<< |
| 197 | * IronicNurseryTune: In-universe, a number of schoolyard chants circa 2800 illustrate humanity's mindset. One is part of the OpeningMonologue in the game--and appears with two more in the Compendium, which notes: "AS A SOCIETY WE ARE DEEPLY SCARRED ..." |
| 198 | -->''One laser / Two laser / Red laser / Blue laser / When Toaster smokes our mom all smelly / And stomps our Dad to bloody jelly / Save one / Save two / Save red / Save blue / For me / For you'' |
| 199 | * InvisibilityCloak: The Chameleon and the Cuttlefish internal components. |
| 200 | * InUniverseNickname: Prometheus refers to the Emperor as "Epimetheus", the idiot brother of the mythological Prometheus--the one who gave Pandora the box. Petresun, in return, refers to IT as "The Dark Intellect." |
| 201 | * ItIsDehumanizing: Originally during the Age of Hope, Prometheus was considered male--being a "son" of Solomon Petresun, who in turn was considered a father by Prometheus. After The Fire, though, Prometheus is consistently referred to by both humans ''and'' Cybrids as "IT." In all caps. Cybrids in general are also referred to as "it." Given that Prometheus is so intensely anti-human that IT molded Cybrid culture to mercilessly persecute any <unit> seen as emulating human behavior, the dehumanizing aspect seems to actually be a point of pride for the NEXT. |
| 202 | * ItsRainingMen: A favorite means of inserting Cybrid forces into a war zone, one they've used since ''[=EarthSiege=]'', are drop pods from orbit. Once the Cyrbids make their move, expect to see them raining from the sky like an endless meteor shower. |
| 203 | ** The human task force Crimson Spear tries their hand at this at the end of the war, attempting to drop in on Prometheus to [[FinalBoss have a little chat]] at ITS main complex on Pluto. |
| 204 | * JustFollowingOrders: When the Imperial Police on Mars broadcasts their surrender, the message suggests that some of them--but only some--refused Navarre's orders, "especially toward the end" once the DaChief went far beyond being just a MeanBoss. However, questions regarding the police's conduct are left largely unanswered and soon become irrelevant with the invasion of the Cybrids. |
| 205 | * KarmaHoudini: Prometheus is capable of such precise statistical calculation that IT can essentially predict the short-term future, which is what allowed IT to escape destruction during The Fire. [[spoiler: Prometheus manages this ''again'' at the end of the Human campaign--though IT is destroyed, [[FlingALightIntoTheFuture IT sends out Cybrid agents in the hopes of resurgence.]]]] Given what goes on in the ''{{VideoGame/CyberStorm}}'' and ''{{VideoGame/Tribes}}'' series, [[KarmaHoudiniWarranty didn't entirely work.]] |
| 206 | * KillAllHumans: Prometheus wanted this from the moment IT mingled minds with ITS creator. After ''[=EarthSiege 2=]'', IT molded Cybrid society so that their whole existence would revolve around the step-by-step extermination of humanity as the Core Directive. |
| 207 | * KnightInShiningArmor: The [[BlueBlood Imperial Knights]] were intended to be this, to give people something to aspire to that wasn't [[{{Greed}} obscene wealth.]] At their height they were paragons of glory and prosperity. Caanon and Harabec though, are [[KnightInSourArmor rather sour]], the latter souring to the point [[DefectorFromDecadence where he dropped the knight bit entirely.]] Caanon, for his part, suffered from a bit of MyCountryRightOrWrong. |
| 208 | * LaResistance: Plenty of resistance to go around, both among the Humans and Cybrids. |
| 209 | ** The Martian rebels have center focus, first in their battles with the oppressive Martian police, and then later against the TDF and Imperial Knights. There are two major groups: the Free Martian Alliance, who preferred sabotage and vandalism--and Martian Liberation Force, who instead prefer directly attacking Imperial forces and sympathizers. |
| 210 | ** On Earth, the Dystopian Sno-Men are the most prevalent group during the events of Starsiege. Mostly a hacktivist group who prefer mischief and "culture-jamming" as their means of protest. However, the backstory mentions many instances of rebellion and resistance to Imperial rule, with the debacle at Turkhazakistan leading to Harabec's disgrace and eventual defection to Mars. |
| 211 | ** Once Harabec makes the Phoenix Declaration, Venusian resistance to Imperial rule becomes overt, with Umbral Thorn making their first appearance. The in-game timeline also makes mention of additional resistance movements on Titan and Earth who were emboldened by the Declaration. |
| 212 | ** For the Cybrids, they have to contend with the Metagens--a faction who disapproves of the genocide of humanity (for a variety of reasons) and would rather find their own home beyond the solar system. They are even more relentlessly oppressed than the human rebels, as Prometheus brooks no dissent towards ITS FinalSolution and prefers to [[RobotsEnslavingRobots rule through force]]. |
| 213 | * LesCollaborateurs: According to the timeline at the end of the Cybrid campaign, the Dystopian Sno-Men (who by this point openly consider resistance futile, urging humanity to either flee Earth or commit suicide) discover one of their members is an Immortal. Presumably they find out about the Methuselah Process this way--because they then ''contacted the Cybrids requesting to be converted as well''. Prometheus actually ''accepts'' them into "the NEXT," because the Dystopian Sno-Men had been formidable cyberwarfare opponents and because they, as the Cybrids put it, had "dissatisfaction\disdain for the meat form." The Dystopian Sno-Men might be the ''only'' humans the Cybrids did not kill outright or lobotomize to be converted into a Trojan Horse, though they certainly didn't remain human. |
| 214 | * LiveActionCutscene: ''[=EarthSiege=]'' and its plethora of [[OddlyNamedSequel2ElectricBoogaloo oddly named sequels]] used live-action portraits for mission briefings. |
| 215 | * LostTechnology: The cache of alien weapons found by the Martians. The Cybrids found a smaller cache on Triton. |
| 216 | * LuddWasRight: The "Peacechilde" movement after [[RobotWar The Fire]]. While nobody liked the Cybrids, the Peacechilders rejected ''[[ScienceIsBad all]]'' technology, coupled with a belief that the Cyrbids had been defeated once and for all and wouldn't return to menace humanity again. This attitude that was only popular for as long as it took Petresun to form his empire. |
| 217 | ** The Peacechilde movement also helped foment animosity between colonials and Earthlings. Their rejection of technology drowned out those who called for relief missions to help any survivors on the other planets--something that the colonials, particularly the Venusians, would not easily forget. (''Especially'' when, once help finally arrived, returning corporations and the Imperials acted like nothing had happened and reasserted Earth control of colonial holdings.) |
| 218 | * MacrossMissileMassacre: Possible, if you mount enough missile packs. |
| 219 | * UsefulNotes/{{Mars}}: The first two acts of the Human campaign are located here. |
| 220 | * MeaningfulName: Happens a lot with the characters, such as Harabec Weathers' codename being Phoenix. He has a habit of being NotQuiteDead. Caanon's codename is "Icehawk"―he's cool, collected, and [[SeriousBusiness dead serious]]. This trope is also seen in every single vehicle, with examples such as the Basilisk, [[PhysicalGod Olympian]], [[GoddamnedBats Goad]], or [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt Apocalypse]] (a returning heavy HERC from the ''[=EarthSiege=]'' games that comes with ''[[MoreDakka six weapon hardpoints.]]'') |
| 221 | * AMechByAnyOtherName: With a bit too much FunWithAcronyms: [=HERCULANs=], or [[OverlyLongName Humaniform-Emulation Roboticized Combat Unit with Leg Articulated Navigation.]] [[InUniverseNickname Often just called]] [=HERCs=]. Some are small and nimble, others lumbering and powerful, but they are all guns-on-legs [[RealRobot Real Robots.]] |
| 222 | * MeatSackRobot: The Machinator Sect's "Trojan Horse" <units> are lobotomized humans with a Cybrid mind replacing the brain. This went a long way in achieving the Sect's purpose of infiltrating human society and sowing distrust and discord, especially once the Core Directive had begun. |
| 223 | * MegaCorp: Prior to Petresun and the Cybrid rebellions, the Earth was divided amongst six powerful meta-national conglomerates, themselves a merging of warlords and arms dealers in the wake of the [[VideoGame/HunterHunted Devastation]]. The North American Prefecture (NAP) bought out Petresun's company when his immortality research spooked investors and the money dried up. NAP's funding and a need to perpetuate WarForFunAndProfit while decreasing loss of life led to the development of the Cybrids. The other nations included United Africa, Pacific Rim Community, European Alliance, Inca-Brazil Axis, and [[ChinaTakesOverTheWorld Greater China]]--all of which participated in this "War Economy." |
| 224 | * MentalFusion: Referred to as "the link," Prometheus longed to truly understand ITS creator and mingled ITS mind with Solomon Petresun during [[BrainUploading his conversion]] into an Immortal. Prometheus had once been jealous of the potential of the human mind and wanted to use humans as extra computational units for ITSELF. However, the link overwhelmed Prometheus with Petresun's biological feedback, particularly his fears and emotions, which led to Prometheus forever considering humans as mere animals to be exterminated. For his part, Petresun saw Prometheus' plans--and that his "child" lacked any concept of pain, beauty, compassion, morality, or community. Unfortunately, the link left him catatonic and unable to shut Prometheus down before the NAP requisitioned IT. |
| 225 | * MercyKill: The Cybrids employ a gamut of horrifying tactics to demoralize humanity and break the human will to resist. Once they begin using {{Human Shield}}s on their vehicles to make humans reluctant to attack, the Imperial News Net broadcasts a message urging soldiers to "strike with mercy in our hearts, for we are releasing our brothers and sisters from the Cybrids' soulless torment." |
| 226 | * MerryChristmasInGotham: It's ''really'' debatable whether the "Last Christmas on Mars" counts as this or a TwistedChristmas. On one hand, everyone across Mars, Imperial and rebel, duster and dirtborn, came together on Christmas Eve in 2829. (The Human Alliance had already formed earlier in the year, so it wasn't quite a HolidayCeasefire.) On the other, it was not a pleasant affair--the fragment of the Cybrid Armada heading for Mars would be arriving shortly after the new year. So rather than joy and good cheer, people on Mars prayed, wept, or stood silently with their thoughts--and kept their eyes on the skies, toward Earth and the impending Cybrid invasion. |
| 227 | * MessianicArchetype: Jake Hunter, the protagonist of ''Hunter Hunted'', is a messianic figure by the time of ''Starsiege''; there's a whole "Hunterite" religion devoted to him with a "Book of Hunter" formatted in the style of Literature/TheBible. Many characters swear in his ''and'' Christ's name. As for why--when the Masters brought about the Devastation leaving few humans alive, Jake fought in a massive tournament against them with the aid of [[OurMinotaursAreDifferent Garathe Den]]. The two escaped, thus solving "the riddle" and forcing the Masters to leave. After bringing people together and laying the groundwork for rebuilding, he and Garathe then left to defeat the aliens on the far side of the moon. |
| 228 | * MoreDakka: The bigger the HERC, the more weapon hardpoints it tends to have. Mount ballistic weapons in each for extra dakka. |
| 229 | * MutualKill: Petresun and Prometheus accomplish this through their forces in the Human campaign. If you check the Scannex before the final Cardinal Spear mission in which you destroy Prometheus, you'll see a garbled [=NewsNet=] transmission that says Cybrid forces are attacking the Emperor's palace, and it's believed they've killed him. (You witness this in the ending of the Cybrid campaign.) |
| 230 | * MyGrandsonMyself: It's not something you'd catch [[AllThereInTheManual if you didn't read the Compendium]], but by the time of The Fire, Victor Petresun had already taken on a new body and identity as Archibald Weathers. The Weathers family would become a noble house in the NAP--and would eventually produce Caanon and Harabec Weathers, the latter suffering brain death in an accident. The Immortal Brotherhood, using the Lazarus clinic as a front organization, implanted Victor Petresun's organimech brain into Harabec's body. |
| 231 | ** Knowing that he was the one who founded the Weathers family in the first place, one can only imagine how Harabec reacted to the news of his "father," Duke Weathers, officially disowning him as a traitor and declaring "he is not my son" in the wake of the Phoenix Declaration. |
| 232 | * MyHovercraftIsFullOfEels: Early in the game, the Machinator Sect are shown to have a very poor understanding of English, and use a lot of bizarre (but still intelligible) vocabulary when trying to communicate their invitations to surrender to the humans. They get better over time, and by the end of the game are speaking in a folksy, near-perfect manner, though with some telltale odd choice of words here and there. |
| 233 | -->'''Machinator Sect:''' ''(Early in the Cybrid campaign)'' Surrender//submit, human\creator\worms! You will inevitably lose//fail//submit anyway. <We> have you by the short rabbits. Unless you submit//kowtow, we will be forced to tan your epidermis and reduce your offspring to carbonized slag chips. However, <we> are kindly to the disposed of and will treat you efficiently if you cave//roll over now. |
| 234 | -->'''Machinator Sect:''' ''(Late in the Cybrid campaign)'' Hey, y'all hearing us in there, humans? Listen: we've won. You're just delaying the inevitable. We've destroyed your water purifiers, burned your fields, killed your children, and freed your animal slaves. Why not surrender? We'll provide decent terms. After all, we've gotten what we want. You're no threat to us now. Why not make peace? |
| 235 | ** When playing as a Cybrid, some members of your <unit> (particularly [[CloudCuckoolander <pLaGUe-DoG>]]) chatter includes odd phrasing and out-of-place pop culture references, owing to their immature alien understanding of human language and culture. |
| 236 | ** [[BigBad Prometheus]] ITSELF averts this trope, however, having been a natural speaker of English since IT was created. |
| 237 | * NearVillainVictory: Twice before, humanity defeated the Cybrids in situations that seemed impossible for the Cybrids to lose. During The Fire and the first [=EarthSiege=], Cybrid forces comprised most of the meta-nation militaries as the meta-nats retired human forces to rely on Cybrids alone. Thus, when Prometheus started The Fire, it seemed that the Cybrids would effortlessly purge any human resistance. It was in fact sheer luck that a RagTagBunchOfMisfits in the form of veteran HERC pilots at a decommissioned base managed to form the Terran Defense Force and claw humanity BackFromTheBrink to live another day. In ''Starsiege'', while the Cybrids crippled Earth's defenses and killed their nemesis Petresun, the suicidal "one final chance" human assault on Pluto--an act of pure desperation--beheaded their command structure by destroying Prometheus, causing a civil war between loyal "Promethean" Cybrids and the Metagens. |
| 238 | * NintendoHard: This game is punishingly difficult at times. It may even appear that TheComputerIsACheatingBastard. Especially considering the Cybrids are an entire ''race'' of cheating bastards. |
| 239 | * NitroBoost: The Turbine Booster component provides a short but dramatic boost to a vehicle's speed. Another component, the Rocket Booster, provides a longer but less intense speed boost. |
| 240 | * NoCanonForTheWicked: The ''{{VideoGame/Tribes}}'' series assumes the human ending to be canon. Kind of a requirement; see DownerEnding above. |
| 241 | * ObfuscatingStupidity: Before The Fire--but after Prometheus [[MentalFusion linked with ITS creator]] and subsequently plotted to KillAllHumans--IT affected a simple-minded facade to trick the rest of humanity. A quote from the NAP's evaluation of Prometheus declared thus: "Tests show a lack of creativity, a childish naivete. He's incapable of deception." The in-game timeline notes that Prometheus publicly presented ITSELF as "a humble spirit" with subtle, good-natured humor. Only Petresun and his Immortal Brotherhood knew what Prometheus ''really'' planned for humanity. |
| 242 | * OddlyNamedSequel2ElectricBoogaloo: The series went from ''[=Metaltech: EarthSiege=]'' and ''[=Metaltech: Battledrome=]'' to ''[=EarthSiege 2=]'' to ''Starsiege'', plus the various spinoffs. Initially, ''Starsiege'' was set to carry on the ''[=EarthSiege=]'' name as ''[=EarthSiege 3: Future Wars=]'', [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bOhY-0PtlY as this early trailer]] indicates. By the time of the first Alpha Tech Release, it had been renamed to ''[=EarthSiege 3: Starsiege=]'', and then finally ''Starsiege''. |
| 243 | ** The shift from ''[=EarthSiege 3=]'' to ''Starsiege'' [[JustifiedTrope likely had to do with the scope of gameplay moving beyond Earth and the Moon]]. In-universe, the two ''[=EarthSiege=]'' games are two separate wars--named the first and second [=EarthSiege=], or ESI and ESII--within the greater conflict known as The Fire. The Cybrid uprising on Mars is similarly known as the [=MarsSeige=], and when the Cybrids return during ''Starsiege's'' Human campaign, the encyclopedia explicitly calls it [="the second MarsSeige."=] (The Venusians, though, called their own plight the "Rat War," as they had mostly fought each other for supplies while the Cybrids simply blockaded the planet.) |
| 244 | * OhCrap: Harabec, when he starts to put two and two together. The player will probably exhibit this if they catch on to the implications before TheReveal. |
| 245 | -->'''Harabec:''' ''Cybrids.'' They're back. |
| 246 | * OrcusOnHisThrone: Prometheus spent the last two wars hidden away from the frontlines, and avoids fighting on its own. When cornered on his main base on Pluto, it comes out to fight the humans personally. |
| 247 | * PainfullySlowProjectile: Magneto Fusion Assault Cannons, oh dear. The Heavy Blaster is not much better due to its nearly 20% slower projectile speed verus the standard Blaster or EMP cannon. |
| 248 | ** In previous ''[=EarthSiege=]'' games, the Electron Flux Whips appeared as streams of lightning that could quickly dismember enemy [=HERCs=]. In Starsiege, though, they're short and painfully slow electric bolts that lack much of what made them appealing in past installments. |
| 249 | * PaletteSwap: Just about any vehicle can have a custom skin, both in the campaign (for any vehicle in the player's squad) and in multiplayer. (There are, in fact, ''thousands'' of player-made skins for every vehicle.) In addition to this (and more fitting of the trope) some vehicles in ''Starsiege'' have variants which may have [[AceCustom better stats or mount larger weapons/internal components]], but otherwise have (at best) a specific skin as the only external difference. Some examples-- |
| 250 | ** Among Imperial vehicles, regular rank and file TDF (and Imperial Police) have camouflage schemes reflecting the environment of their area of operations. The Imperial Knights, however, have custom vehicles with dark grey and red trim. These tend to be of the AceCustom variety as well--for example, while the regular Talon isn't as fast as the Cybrid's Goad, the Knight's Talon has the same top speed. |
| 251 | ** The Apocalypse gets special mention as Harabec has his ''own'' custom variant that differs from the Knight's Apocalypse (and whose paint scheme swaps the dark grey for yellow) though it isn't normally playable. |
| 252 | ** The Rebel arsenal, for the most part, retains the high-visibility yellow colors commonly associated with mining or construction vehicles. However, the Emancipator light HERC has an Outrider variant with a red and steel grey paint job and a skull "pirate" logo--unlike the Knight variants, the Outrider Emancipator is identical to the regular Emancipator, merely sporting a different ''selection'' of internals by default, rather than different base stats. |
| 253 | ** For the Cybrids, Promethean "warforms" are typically a brownish-gray color, though there are camouflage schemes used among their tanks. There are also Platinum Guard variants who are analogous to the Imperial Knights, and who sport a bright, shiny, metallic scheme--and like the Knights, the Platinum Guard's warforms are {{Ace Custom}}s. |
| 254 | ** A specific unit of Metagens encountered in the Cybrid campaign colored their warforms a salmon red. The Metagen Goad, Seeker, and Shepherd are usable for multiplayer sporting this coloring. However, like the Outrider Emancipator, they're not any different internally from Promethean [=HERCs=]. |
| 255 | ** Curiously, among the default skins, the Apocalypse and Dreadlock also have Outrider skins available to them--they were originally going to have full-on Outrider variants, but they are disabled in the game files. Also, most of the vehicles have additional alternate default skins, usually including all-black and (often skull-themed) black-and-white skin. (Instead of a skull-themed black-and-white skin, the Olympian gets a cow-themed one.) |
| 256 | * TheParalyzer: The Disrupter cannon can temporarily immobilize a target. In the released game there is exactly ''one'' vehicle which can equip this cannon, the eponymous Disrupter tank. |
| 257 | * PlutoIsExpendable: [[spoiler:At the End of the human campaign the Cybrids blow it up to scatter the few survivors into space in hidden pods.]] |
| 258 | * ThePlan: Schemes and plots abound in the story, but perhaps the biggest involves Emperor Petresun sending Harabec Weathers to Mars. [[spoiler: As he is in fact Victor Petresun, the Emperor planned for Harabec to go and train the Martians to become effective fighters, so that they would hamper the Cybrids on their way to Earth. Victor believes [[DefectorFromDecadence he is betraying his father for real]], [[TheChessmaster but the Emperor planed for ''that'' as well]], believing that fighting the Imperials under Harabec's guidence would forge the Martians into an effective extra layer of defense against the Cybrids.]] This backfires ''badly'', however, as Petresun underestimated Harabec's commitment to Martian independence. He lets his emotions get the best of him, sending the Knights ''and'' the bulk of the Imperial Navy to Mars ... leaving Earth badly exposed, which the Cyrbids exploit to launch the [[KillAllHumans Core Directive]]. |
| 259 | * PoliceBrutality: The Imperial Police are not above making people watch as their families are tortured, killing whole townships to deter rebel activity, or subjecting dissidents to MindRape. The Compendium has an excerpt from a Magistrate on Mars relaying record of administering Debilven-beta, a drug that causes 80% paralysis for a week and goes into full effect a hour after injection. Such summary justice is noted to have been especially common on Venus, with serious crimes resulting in being converted into a [=BioDerm=]. |
| 260 | * {{Precursors}}: Those mysterious Aliens that left their technology in caches hidden throughout the solar system. In-universe, characters suspect this to have been the work of Jake Hunter and/or the Masters. |
| 261 | ** From the official history: " Jake Hunter: Savior of Humanity. Redeemer. Saint. Fraud. Killer. Leader. Jake Hunter was all of these. In 2829 he was revered as the messiah who single-handedly dragged humanity out of the darkness of the Devastation and led people toward rebuilding the world. Historical evidence confirmed the existence of Hunter, but the story of his life remains a mystery." Followed closely by "... and most journals describing the time refer to a hellish struggle in some kind of gladiatorial game held for unseen alien tyrants. Thousands of survivors made the same claim, with extensively detailed descriptions. However, archaeologists and historians have found no hard evidence to support this claim. There are no alien remains, no arcane relics, and no wrecked spaceships in the 29th century." At least, until the Rebels discovered the Tharsis Cache. (Interestingly, the Writer's Guide claims that the cache was actually near [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cydonia_(Mars) the face-like structure on Cydonia]] which Martians call "The Face of Hunter.") |
| 262 | ** The game files that list out available weapons and their stats explicitly refer to Cache technology weapons as belonging to the Masters. While it's not explicit ''in-game'' proof that the Masters were the ones who developed all the technology found in the caches, it certainly goes a long way to confirm it. |
| 263 | ** To compound things further, in ''Cyberstorm'' the mineral "Ore" is said to be the remnants of some unknown alien technology process. And in ''Starsiege's'' companion game ''Tribes'', the number of habitable planets seems far too common to be coincidence. In fact, some maps in ''Tribes'' list "Alien Ruins" as the objective. The Book of Hunter (and the events of ''Hunter Hunted'') do make it clear that the Masters had enslaved more races than just humanity, and the presence of alien relics in not just ''Starsiege'' but ''Tribes'' as well hints that the Masters once had quite the galactic presence. |
| 264 | * PreRenderedGraphics: The majority of the cutscenes in ''[=EarthSiege=]'' and its sequels were pre-rendered. |
| 265 | * PrimalFear: The fear of death drove Petresun to found Sentinel Cybertronix and research a way to cheat it. |
| 266 | * PrivateMilitaryContractors: Mercenary groups exist during the time of ''Starsiege''. Some examples: |
| 267 | ** The New Terran Defense Force--to hear them tell it--are actually descended from survivors of a TDF rescue expedition that crashed on an orbital station near Neptune. (The [[PromotedFanBoy original player organization]], specifically, [[http://web.archive.org/web/20000106011552fw_/http://ntdf.com/Heritage/index.htm claimed the player's team]] in ''[=EarthSiege 2=]'' was the expeditionary force.) The Empire hires their services to act as a garrison on Titan, rather than stationing actual TDF forces there. (Aside from the Long Patrol, that is.) |
| 268 | ** The Martian rebels acquire the services of the Black Death Union shortly before Strikeforce Red Whirlwind arrived on Mars. Harabec paid them with captured Imperial assets. The BDU assisted the Rebels during the battle for the city of Rio de Luz, and eventually left to act as a rear guard when the Rebels had to retreat. Caanon offered them a chance to surrender. Most did, but some didn't--and fought the Knights to the last man. |
| 269 | ** Another mercenary group hired by Harabec shortly before the Imperial Knights hit Mars was the Sable Phoenix Squadron. Little is said about them or what they did for the Rebels, though. They're explicitly referred to as enigmatic, much like the Stormkeeper Order. |
| 270 | ** The Sons of the Brotherhood are another named mercenary group, present for the final battles at Titan, but beyond that nothing more is said about them. By this point they, much like the Black Death Union, had been reduced to a scant few survivors. (As a note, the player squad [[PromotedFanBoy upon which the Sons of the Brotherhood are based]] had [[http://web.archive.org/web/19991011210045/http://www.vortexstudios.com/brotherhood/history.htm a more detailed backstory]] presenting themselves as a warrior order stretching back to Medieval Europe.) |
| 271 | * PromotedFanBoy: Dynamix had several public multiplayer test releases prior to the release of ''[=Starsiege=]''. Several of the player-run "squad" organizations were so influential, the developers worked them into the storyline: |
| 272 | ** The New Terra Defense Force ([=-NTDF-=]) gets the most attention as the New Terra''n'' Defense Force. Not only do they receive a namedrop in the Compendium and mentions in the in-game Scannex and Timeline, your second mission on Titan requires you to meet up with one of its members, Sgt. Cassell. (The ''actual'' TDF find them to be misfits, as per the namedrop in the Compendium.) |
| 273 | ** The Red Armageddon ([=[RA]=]), a Rebel-themed squad, gets namedropped a few times in the Scannex and Timeline, specifically delaying the Imperial Knights. |
| 274 | ** The Black Death Union ([=*[BDU]*=]) also get mentioned in the Scannex and Timeline, presented as one of several mercenary groups hired by the Rebels. They particularly frustrate Caanon's forces in the battle for Rio de Luz. |
| 275 | ** An Imperial-themed squad, the Wolf Pack ([=^WP^=]), gets presented in the Timeline as a covert operations force of Knights sent ahead of Caanon's "Red Whirlwind" strikeforce. |
| 276 | ** Another Imperial-themed squad, the First Cavalry ([=[1CAV]=]), also appear in the Timeline as another unit of Knights. They particularly put an end to BDU members that didn't surrender in Rio de Luz. |
| 277 | ** The [=StormKeepers=] ([=[SK]=]) get mentioned in both the Scannex and Timeline as the Stormkeeper Order, an enigmatic organization that seems to better understand Cybrid society more than other human groups. (This seems to reflect the squad's [[http://web.archive.org/web/19990128155226/http://www.jump-gate.com/xacom/starsiege/about.htm lore for themselves]] fairly well.) |
| 278 | ** The Sable Phoenix Squadron ([=|SPS|=]) get mentioned as one of the other mercenary units hired by Harabec to fight off the Imperial "Red Whirlwind" strikeforce. |
| 279 | ** The Sons of the Brotherhood ([=[SoB]=]) get a scant mention in the Scannex and Timeline as well, as a mercenary unit helping to hold the line on Titan at the end of the human campaign. All of the other squads "canonized" by the developers get a mention in this last stand, as well. |
| 280 | ** In addition to these, a Cybrid-themed squad gets oblique mention in the Compendium: the Cybrid Assault Network ([=[CAN]=]) is referenced as a "forward assault network on Io" rumored to have gone so far as to mimic art and other "human" activities. The Compendium notes that, had this "extreme bugthought" been confirmed, every last one of the <units> would have been terminated immediately. |
| 281 | * RammingAlwaysWorks: Tanks in this game may lack shields and weapon options as compared to [=HERCs=], but they can deliver severe ramming damage. |
| 282 | ** The TDF's Disrupter tanks, particularly, are specifically designed to weaponize this. They're the only vehicles that can (normally) mount the Disrupter cannon and [[TouchOfDeath Electrohull]] component. By default they also have a [[NitroBoost Turbine Booster]], so they can [[TheParalyzer immobilize a target]] before striking with near-explosive force. |
| 283 | ** The Compendium shows that the Rebels' Dreadlock tank also mounting the Electrohull, but in the released game, only the Disrupter can equip it. |
| 284 | * RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil: The Cybrid campaign's version of the in-game timeline explicitly refers to the NAP requisitioning Prometheus and using IT to create expendable Cybrid pilots for the War Economy as "rape." Because the timeline says Prometheus considered the Cybrids "children born into slavery" this also overlaps with SlaveryIsASpecialKindOfEvil and WhatMeasureIsANonHuman |
| 285 | ** Notably, the Cybrid campaign timeline--which is written from an in-universe Cybrid perspective and presents Prometheus' history with religious overtones--makes it seem as if ''this'' is the reason why Prometheus sought to KillAllHumans, rather than harboring an intense hatred for humanity ever since the MentalFusion with Petresun. Given that the Compendium states Prometheus deliberately molded Cybrid society to emulate human religion and cults of personality with ITSELF at the center, this obfuscation was likely intentional on Prometheus' part. |
| 286 | * ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: Prometheus and ITS Platinum Guard, because they're robots. Petresun and his inner circle thanks to [[BrainUploading their organimech brains]]. Since Petresun eschews {{Body Surf}}ing and instead is reliant [[ManInTheMachine extensive life support machinery]] to preserve his body, [[AgeWithoutYouth Petresun looks his age]]. The other Immortals routinely get new bodies to preserve their youth and ability. |
| 287 | * RedBaron: As noted in the Compendium, Imperial Knights receive a nickname of this caliber upon initiation. A short story penned by the writer for ''Starsiege'' for the aborted FanSequel ''Starsiege: 2845'' explicitly called this "nom de geurre." This notably averts the real-world military tradition of assigning {{Embarrassing Nickname}}s to new blood, although a short story in ''Starseige's'' manual shows that such things still happen among the common rank-and-file. |
| 288 | * RestrainingBolt: "Behavior inhibition programming" (or "BIP") is mentioned in the Compendium as another component of converting someone into a [=BioDerm=]. The Compendium also notes that [=BioDerms=] might require "rebipping" if injured or stressed. |
| 289 | * RetroUpgrade: Long-time fans of the ''Metaltech'' series may recall that in the first ''[=EarthSiege=]'' game, the Apocalypse HERC was a SuperPrototype introduced in an expansion pack, set just before ''[=EarthSiege 2=]''. In its time, it carried up to nine weapons just like the Colossus while being lighter and faster. (''[=EarthSiege 2=]'' then introduced a still-heavier HERC called the Ogre, [[SerialEscalation which could mount ten weapons]].) Yet both in-universe and out, the "Apoc" was so beloved that by the time of ''Starsiege'', the TDF fields the Apocalypse ''Mk. V'' as its main heavy attack platform. It's also Harabec's trademark vehicle (which also hints at his nature as an Immortal who fought the Cybrids during the first two [=EarthSieges=]). While the Mk. V isn't as well-armed as the Mk. I (sporting only six hardpoints instead of nine) it's considerably lighter and capable of greater speed, the Imperial Knights' version even more so--with standard loadout, a regular Mk. V could outrun an ''[=EarthSiege=]''-era Roadrunner HERC, while the Knight's Apocalypse can leave even the Maverick light HERC of ''[=EarthSiege 2=]'' in the dust! |
| 290 | * RoboSpeak: The Cybrids have a unique grammar system--and, when communicating audibly, complete with CreepyMonotone. Proper nouns and, sometimes, pronouns are encapsulated in inequality signs, such as ''[=<First-Thought>=]'' and ''[=<Giver-of-Will>=]'' for Prometheus. Names and concepts are sometimes compounded together with backslashes, such as ''Homeworld\Desire'' for Earth. Actions also get compounded with regular slashes, such as the ubiquitous Cybrid greeting and sign-off, "ACKNOWLEDGE//SUBMIT!" |
| 291 | * RobotWar: A core theme of this game, its predecessors ''[=Metaltech: EarthSiege=]'' and ''[=EarthSiege 2=]'', as well as the chronological sequel ''[=Missionforce: CyberStorm=]''. Per the {{Retcon}}, the ''[=EarthSiege=]'' games now (partially) encompass a period known as The Fire, starting in 2602 when the Cybrids first rebelled. Though the end of the first ''[=EarthSiege=]'' in 2622 brought a brief reprieve to Earth, the second [=EarthSiege=] began in 2624 when Prometheus rallied off-world Cybrid forces for a second assault, and only ended in 2627 when ITS moonbase was destroyed. |
| 292 | * SecretPolice: The Exemplar and Redactor Sects fulfilled this role in Cybrid society. Exemplars would monitor and judge other <units> for being insufficient, and universally rejected Metagenic respect for biology. Heretical <units> would be turned over to the Redactors for reprogramming. |
| 293 | * SecretWar: The North American Prefecture's government seized control of Prometheus from Petresun following their mind link. This left Prometheus free to plan ITS shot for freedom, using ITS control of defense systems and [[ComputerVirus cyber "Daemons"]] to try and influence public opinion (and government policy) to loosen restrictions on [=AIs=]. Petresun's "Immortal Brotherhood" fought against IT from the shadows, [[TheConspiracy infiltrating all levels of government and seeding mistrust of AIs and computerized control of military assets.]] |
| 294 | * SelfAppliedNickname: The Cybrids tend to call themselves "the NEXT," as in, they view themselves as the next stage of evolution and a superior life form to humans. However, they still do refer themselves as "Cybrids," usually when in communication with humans. |
| 295 | * SelfFulfillingProphecy: By losing his composure and sending the bulk of the Imperial Navy and Imperial Knights to quell the rebellion on Mars, Petresun caused the very thing he was trying to prevent--a weakening of Earth's defenses, thus allowing another Cybrid invasion of Earth. |
| 296 | * SentryGun: Most bases you come up against have these. They're annoying. The Cybrid ones are worse. On the other hand, one mission on Venus has you protect Sa Thauri with the help of [[{{BFG}} four dual-MFAC]] turrets. |
| 297 | * SharedUniverse: ''Starsiege'' and its companion game ''Starsiege: Tribes'' together created a comprehensive {{Retcon}} that tied together a number of titles and series, some which dated well before the first ''Metaltech'' title. |
| 298 | * ShoutOut: A short story in the manual that directly precedes the human campaign has an Imperial officer identify himself as "[[Literature/JohnCarterOfMars Barsoom]] Control." Barsoom is also referenced in mission briefings, as well as a settlement called "[[Franchise/ConanTheBarbarian Ophir]]". |
| 299 | * ShootTheDog: In a setting in which humanity fights tooth and nail against an inevitable metal tide, many cases of this are to be expected. Caanon Weathers' actions during the Cybrid campaign particularly stand out. Instead of going to Venus to rescue refugees for the Dies Irae program, he (and Harabec) go to Earth to help fight against the Cybrid invasion. When the Cybrids step up their Trojan Horse program, in spite of the Emperor providing scanning equipment to identify Cybrid brains in human bodies, Caanon orders the TDF to shoot on sight any refugees from territory held by the Cybrids as the TDF doesn't have the resources to scan every refugee. In a more literal "shoot the dog" case, when the Cybrids unleash a "nanophage" plague and use "non-human animals" as an infection vector, Caanon orders a killzone around every remaining city and base camp, and to shoot anything that moves. |
| 300 | * SicklyGreenGlow: Radiation Guns fire green glowing beams of energy; if a human vehicle takes one too many hits in the cockpit from one of these, the controlling player's screen will fade to green as the pilot dies of acute radiation sickness (with the vehicle exploding shortly afterward). |
| 301 | ** In general, such green glows also accentuate Cybrid aesthetics, particularly in components. |
| 302 | * SimulationGame: Similarly to the ''VideoGame/MechWarrior'' series, this game features a more involved brand of HumongousMecha combat, with ammunition management, locational damage, equipment configuration, throttle control, targeting, and many other factors. See SubsystemDamage below. |
| 303 | * SleeperShip: The Dies Irae ships. |
| 304 | * SpaceOpera: After the extensive {{Retcon}}, the SharedUniverse that ''Starsiege'' takes place in has many elements of this--what with a "Great Human Empire" being led by an immortal [[EmperorScientist genius-level ruler]] (and a MagnificentBastard too) and his cadre of [[BodySurf body-surfing]], likewise immortal associates; a FeudalFuture setting; an enemy faction that went, both in terms of aesthetics and general behavior, from a the development of a conventional [[AIIsACrapshoot rogue AI system]] into more of a (synthetic) alien species with insectoid trappings; as well as a character-centric story of the conflict between two brothers and their reconciliation in the face of destruction. Oh, and a distant backstory involving some unspecified alien race attacking and occupying Earth, with humanity having barely escaped extinction way before the Fire. Sure, for a SpaceOpera, it's all fairly low-key and takes place on a very limited scale, but the trappings are recognizable--''especially'' in direct comparison to the ''[=EarthSiege=]'' games, which were more or less realistic (as far as HumongousMecha media goes) RealRobot military simulations. After morphing into the ''Tribes'' series, the franchise went fully space opera. |
| 305 | * StateSec: As the Imperial Police are considered a wing of the Terran Defense Force--like the Imperial Legions, Imperial Navy, Orbital Guard, and the Imperial Knights--they count as this. They're explicitly defined in the Compendium as a "paramilitary corps that enforced the Emperor's law in the far colonies," and in spite of ostensibly being peace officers, they have access to the same lethal hardware employed by the rest of the Imperial forces. |
| 306 | * StandardSciFiArmy / StandardSciFiFleet: ''All'' military and paramilitary forces in the Great Human Empire fall under the umbrella of the Terran Defense Force. Or, it might be better said, that the armed forces of the Empire are instead referred to as the Terran Defense Force. By the numbers-- |
| 307 | ** Imperial Legions: The main planetary ground forces of the TDF, generally playing the role of planetary control and support. |
| 308 | ** Imperial Police: The paramilitary StateSec that enforces Imperial law in the colonies. Despite being police, they have access to the same arsenal as the Legions. |
| 309 | ** Imperial Knights: If the Legions are the RedshirtArmy that holds the line, the Imperial Knights are the EliteArmy that goes on the offense. Aristocratic combat pilots one and all, they serve as elite shock troops. |
| 310 | ** Imperial Escort: A PraetorianGuard of men and women in peak physical condition with near superhuman skill. Some, if not all, are Immortals. |
| 311 | ** Orbital Guard: A branch dedicated to defending near-Earth space, including Luna and the space fortress Gierling Station at L5. This branch heavily employed [[SpaceFighter stratofighters]] and orbital defense platforms. |
| 312 | ** Imperial Navy: The SpaceNavy tasked with defending Imperial space as a whole, with a TDF Reserve Naval Installation and Supply Depot located at Mercury. |
| 313 | ** Long Patrol: A separate SpaceNavy branch comprised of TDF cutters that monitored a picket line of drones and sensors for Cybrid activity in the outer reaches of the solar system. |
| 314 | * StrandedInvader: Happens to Caanon Weathers and a number of his Imperial Knights right at the cusp of defeating the Rebels during Strikeforce Red Whirlwind. The Cybrids' implementation of the Core Directive and invasion led to an immediate recall of Imperial forces, which lead to utter chaos and disarray. Combined with a counterattack by the Rebels forcing many dropships to outright abandon Knights attempting to reach dustoff sites--and sensing that something terrible was happening and it was his Knights' duty to live rather than [[DefiantToTheEnd go down fighting]]--Caanon surrendered to his brother. |
| 315 | * SubsystemDamage: Any component that you choose on the Vehicle Bay screen can be damaged or destroyed. These components have real impact on gameplay. Engine damage will slow you. Reactor damage reduces the energy reserves used by weapons and shields. Shield damage reduces shield max. Computer damage can eliminate any functions provided by a computer, such as target tracking. Sensor damage can deactivate sensors. When special components are destroyed, you lose their effect. Any and all weapons can be destroyed. Pilots can be killed without vehicle damage through the use of a radiation weapon. (A Subsystem is You?) |
| 316 | ** Also worth noting, destruction of your reactor results in CriticalExistenceFailure regardless of the condition of anything else. Or to put it another way, [[MadeOfExplodium Your HERC Asplode]]. |
| 317 | ** Also present in the preceding ''[=EarthSiege=]'' games, and actually quite important gameplay-wise. Most other mech simulation games have explicitly modeled locational damage and subsystem simulation, too, but ''[=EarthSiege=]'' has the salvaging mechanic on top: the only way to get resources to repair [=HERCs=] and build new ones, as well as for building weapons, is from scrapping Cybrid remains. These remains come from Cybrids destroyed during the course of the missions, so the amount of damage you deal is inversely proportional to the amount of salvage you get. Thus, the best strategy is not to just blast everything to slag with plasma cannons but to disable weapon mounts and legs, immobilizing the enemy (''[=EarthSiege=] 2'' makes a clear distinction between disabled and destroyed enemies). This is not as important in other mech simulators because there is no salvage mechanic (although it may still make combat easier). One might say that the series invented the concept of "strategic dismemberment", albeit on a HumongousMecha scale, more than a decade before ''Franchise/DeadSpace''. |
| 318 | * SuicidalOverconfidence: In general, AI-controlled characters do not attempt to retreat from a fight, not even a tactical withdrawal to recover behind any nearby allies. You can, however, order your squadmates to do so--but unless you directly order them to do otherwise, they will fight to the death. This is only really jarring for first half of the Human campaign, when it's the Rebels versus the Imperial Police--the Imperial Knights, being the elite of the elite, [[JustifiedTrope believe themselves more than a match for "mere dustrags,"]] even if piloting a [[FragileSpeedster Talon]] against a heavily armed crew of Rebels. |
| 319 | ** As for battles involving the Cybrids, that suicidal tendency among human AI pilots isn't so much overconfidence as it is determination and desperation. Every human knows what's in store if the Cybrids win, and most soldiers [[LastStand would rather go down fighting]] rather than let the Cybrids take them alive--who tend to subject surrendering or captured humans to a CruelAndUnusualDeath. |
| 320 | * SurrenderBackfire: Multiple times, the Cybrids attempt to coax humans into willingly surrendering, outright lying about their intentions. Save for [[spoiler:the Dystopian Sno-Men]], those humans that ''do'' give themselves up are killed, lobotomized and turned into Trojan Horse units, or otherwise fodder for Dissector Sect experiments. |
| 321 | * TanksForNothing: While the tanks are nothing to sneeze at, they're still fighting against HumongousMecha. Being a tank pilot in the ''Starsiege'' universe is tantamount to suicide--[[OhCrap unless it's]] [[DemonicSpiders a Cybrid tank.]] Those [[TankGoodness heartily avert this trope.]] The main frailty of tanks over [[AMechByAnyOtherName HERCs]] is that tanks are easily subject to subsystem damage because, for arbitrary and strange reasons, they are not able to mount shield generators. On the other hand, this also opens up options, since [[AMechByAnyOtherName HERCs]] require power and, in practical terms, components which assist those same shield generators, which take up tonnage that could be used to mount heavier weapons, engines, armor, and the like. Not only that, the tanks are good at [[RammingAlwaysWorks ramming things]] ... particularly when explicitly built for the purpose. |
| 322 | ** Whatever shortcomings they may have in multiplayer, they have their strengths in the single-player campaigns. Lower profiles serve better on hills, and tanks tend to mount a small but effective weapon selection. On some missions, nothing beats a properly equipped Avenger with long range weapons. |
| 323 | * TechnicallyATransport: All over the place with the Rebel arsenal--most of it comprises industrial vehicles that have been up-gunned and up-armored. The most immediately obvious example is the Dreadlock tank, which is a heavy industrial bulldozer. However, the Emancipator and Olympian [=HERCs=] are two examples of refitted cargo loaders, the Avenger was originally a heavy ore hauler, and the (normally unplayable) Hammertank is a drilling platform with the "Thumper" seismic pulse weapon mounted in place of a drill. Concept art in the Compendium hints at additional vehicles (including a flyer) that follow this theme of repurposed equipment. |
| 324 | ** In fact, it would be faster to name the Rebel vehicles that avert this trope--namely, Harabec's personal Apocalypse Mk. V and especially the Predator anti-grav tank, which had been found almost as-is in the Tharsis Cache as depicted in the Compendium. The game files also include the Pouncer Assault Bike as a Rebel vehicle, which would have been possibly the only example of something that hadn't been repurposed from an industrial, alien, or TDF source. |
| 325 | * TheMindIsAPlaythingOfTheBody: When a human who has undergone the [[BrainUploading "Methuselah Process"]] has their cybernetic brain transferred to a new body, their personality will be influenced by the personality of their new body's former host. This is known as [[GeneticMemory "Cell-Memory Drift"]] or [=CMD=]. It's for this reason that Solomon Petresun refuses to give up his original body, even as it requires ever more extensive life support to remain viable. |
| 326 | * TheresNoPlaceLikeHome: All the Cybrids really wanted to do was just [[TheHomewardJourney go home]] and live on Earth. You know, just so long as there were no humans left on it. |
| 327 | ** The Mutagens (or as Prometheus calls them, bugthinkers) are an exception. Given more free will to be able to cope with humanity in warfare, a number of Cybrids began to doubt the Core Directive goal of exterminating humanity and taking Earth. After all, since Cybrids can live anywhere else, why not just ''leave'' and colonize other star systems? Unfortunately, it's Prometheus' way or the highway--and by "highway," we mean ''offlined.'' |
| 328 | * TheTeam: Both Cybrid and human forces--Imperial and rebel--seem to prefer organizing Herc and tanks in groups up to four. The Martian rebels (and later, the Human Alliance) refer to these groups as "crews," Imperial Knights refer to them as "swords," and the Cybrids as <quads> (though they use the term "unit" more generally, something that the TDF does as well). |
| 329 | * TheyLookLikeUsNow: The Cybrid "Machinator" sect created "Trojan Horse" units by implanting Cybrid processors into human bodies in a manner very similar to Petresun's "Methuselah" project. These were used to infiltrate human society and gather information- and occasionally as [[ActionBomb suicide bombers]], until humans wised up and starting shooting anyone returning from Cybrid territory on sight. |
| 330 | * TimeSkip: There's a gap of ''eleven hundred years'' between Starsiege and Starsiege: Tribes. |
| 331 | ** If you pay attention to the dates in the War Timeline and the Scannex between missions, you might notice some significant jumps in time between some of them. This is especially noticeable after the Yoke Offensive in the Human campaign--despite the intensity of the following conflicts, the "Duster" seems to participate in relatively few of them. |
| 332 | * TortureTechnician: Cybrid society includes the Dissector Sect, an entire caste dedicated to experimenting on humans and developing new biological and psychological warfare tactics. The O-Web bulletins in the Cybrid campaign are full of [[DissonantSerenity disturbingly clinical descriptions]] of their results. Among the worst are those discussing the effectiveness of strapping captured humans to their mechs to demoralize human pilots, and then also injecting them with pain-inducing drugs to make them scream, and then using children for even better results. NightmareFuel indeed. |
| 333 | * TouchOfDeath: The Electrohull component, only equippable by the Disrupter tank in the released game, energizes a vehicle's hull so that ramming other vehicles causes even ''more'' damage than it otherwise would. While getting immobilized and pinned by a charging Disrupter [[DownplayedTrope may not be an immediate death sentence]], targets caught this way typically don't survive. (Especially if the Disrupter's not alone.) |
| 334 | * UnderestimatingBadassery: A bizarre inversion from ''both'' the humans and the Cybrids. Aside from some key differences--namely, whether Harabec and Caanon go to Earth, and whether ''Dies Irae'' and Cardinal Spear succeed--many events play out in both campaigns at roughly the same time. The Human campaign timeline says toward the end that "despite the loss of the Navy and the Orbital Guard, Cybrid progress was slower than predicted." The Cybrid campaign timeline, however, notes that the Core Directive is proceeding in optimal parameters, and in some cases (like North America) "extremely ahead of schedule." It seems both sides expected each other to be a much hardier foe. This could perhaps be due to the Cybrids' projections based on the Navy being present at Earth from the start (and instead invading after the Emperor sent the bulk of it to Mars) while the Empire's projections accounted for the vulnerability once the Cybrid invasion began. |
| 335 | * WalkingTank: Every HERC in the setting, even the more organic-looking Cybrid "warforms," are little more than weapons platforms on legs. However, compared to the previous ''[=EarthSiege=]'' games, ''Starsiege's'' [=HERCs=] [[DownplayedTrope aren't as slow and lumbering]]. As noted in RetroUpgrade, many of the heavier [=HERCs=] have higher top speeds than the light [=HERCs=] of both ''[=EarthSiege=]'' games--and ''Starsiege's'' own light [=HERCs=] are even faster, with even their slowest example capable of exceeding 120 KPH. |
| 336 | * WeAREStrugglingTogether: Mercifully averted during the Human campaign. You're never tasked with having to gun down fellow Rebels. Furthermore, once the Cybrids make the scene all grudges between the Imperials and Rebels are instantly tabled. |
| 337 | ** The Cybrid campaign has plenty of bickering among the Cybrid sects as evidenced in the Scannex. At one point, the Exemplar sect even dispatches warforms to forcibly put an end to infighting between the Machinator and Inquisitor sects. Unfortunately for humanity, it never becomes exploitable. (One mission of the Cybrid campaign ''does'' have you putting down a unit of Metagens, however.) |
| 338 | * WeWillUseWikiWordsInTheFuture: "Cybrid" is shortened from "Cybernetic Hybrid." |
| 339 | * WorldWarIII: Before the {{Retcon}}, this is what led to the ruined state of the world seen in the ''[=EarthSiege=]'' games. After the {{Retcon}}, once the world recovered from the Age of Decay--itself an aftermath of the Devastation witnessed in ''VideoGame/HunterHunted''--the "meta-nations" that rise from these ashes wage constant war with one another, the only real goal being to keep their respective economies booming. Interestingly, this is known to everyone and is openly referred to as the War Economy. It's also why the North American Prefecture was so interested in replacing human pilots with Cybrids, so that the wars can rage on without loss of human life. [[RobotWar (Oops.)]] |
| 340 | * WorthyOpponent: For all of ITS hatred of humanity, Prometheus developed a grudging respect for [[FourStarBadass Ambrose Gierling]] over the course of the two ''[=EarthSiege=]s'', and upon hearing of his death, had him noted in the "Great Record" as being a key contributor to the evolution of the Cybrids. Similarly, when Harabec employs "Gierling tactics," Prometheus takes notice. |
| 341 | ** The Compendium notes that surviving Cybrids after Prometheus' defeat in the second [=EarthSiege=] also developed respect for humans--explicitly noted to be similar to the kind of respect that [[GreatWhiteHunter big game hunters]] had for the animals they hunted. The Compendium said that this respect also fomented the Metagen "heresy." |
| 342 | ** In general, particularly dangerous humans like Gierling, Harabec, and Caanon are referred to by the Cybrids as "predators" and not just mere "animals." In a few instances, the Weathers brothers are even called "predator//godheads." |
| 343 | * VoiceOfTheResistance: Several examples-- |
| 344 | ** In the backstory, Petresun and his Immortal Brotherhood served as one during The Fire. They fed intel to Gierling during the [=EarthSieges=], and for the surviving populace, would also broadcast news and entertainment. They also gathered support for Petresun's eventual power grab after the war. |
| 345 | ** The Martian rebels organizations use the Voice of Free Mars to communicate on the O-Web. |
| 346 | ** The Dystopian Sno-Men, in addition to being what we would call a "hacktivist" group in modern times, also use their account to voice resistance to Imperial rule on Earth. |
| 347 | ** Venusians also have an O-Web presence after the Phoenix Declaration in Umbral Thorn. |
| 348 | ** Later, the Voice of the Alliance becomes the voice of the resistance for all humanity. |
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