[Psionics] [Space] Psi Trek - Worldbuilding

[Prince Charon]

On the War with the Crystal Computers in the Psi Trek setting.

In 2151, war was beginning. The Crystal Computers, silicon-based lifeforms native to the planet 1110100100001011 (called 'Von Berg' by the Solar Cooperative, which had a few small colonies there, mostly for mining and research), were violently hostile to organic life, and had powerful psychic abilities, but were unable to affect non-Crystal life without a vector: Their telepathy and organic minds operated on what might be called different frequencies, so that no communication was possible. However, the psychotronic technology that the colonists brought with them served as a bridge. Once the Crystal Computers understood the communication protocols that the human colonists' equipment used, they hacked into the Internet of Things. As they subverted the various systems, they found several with telepathic interfaces, which served as the key they needed to attack the humans' minds directly. Within hours, nearly the entire human population of Von Berg was 'mind-blasted into oblivion,' most dying, and many others rendered comatose. Those who remained conscious were attacked by their own equipment, save for a few that were not near anything that was both 'net-enabled, and capable of attacking; the latter survived longer, but in many cases died of starvation, thirst, or suffocation before help would arrive. A small number of colonists escaped on alien vessels that used different network protocols, or on military spacecraft that kept all the important systems air-gapped, and in most cases had telepathic shielding. Likewise, those already in orbit were out of range of the Crystals.

Von Berg was quarantined while the various affected nations tried to decide what to do. Meanwhile, the Crystals used the colonists' service robots and such to modify the spacecraft that remained on the planet, and to build more robots, space vehicles, and weapons, using the information in the bases' own computers; this construction is simplified by the much more limited life-support needed by the Crystal Computers (sunlight, and a nutrient bath around the Crystals' roots). A few of the Crystals were carefully cut out of the rock that supported them, and transferred to the jury-rigged attack vessels. The war entered it's second phase when the Crystals launched several vessels into space, immediately destroying the orbiting stations, and destroying or damaging those spacecraft that did not retreat fast enough. They then set about repairing the damaged spacecraft using parts from those that were destroyed, and recycled the rest of the spacecraft and station remains to build more, generally cruder, vehicles, often in rough geometric shapes.

The active and clear hostility of the Crystals merited a military responce, though there were other attempts to communicate. The limits of fleet size and the need to keep assets available for trouble elsewhere meant that an overwhelming force could not be sent, but a significant number of Space Patrol vessels, supplemented by Vulcanian, Pachekki, and Tellarite vehicles (along with observers from several other local races), arrived at Von Berg in less than a month. This large task force was able to defeat the Crystals, albeit not as fast as they might prefer. Towards the end, some of the Crystals took to assimilating the organics on the few vessels they managed to capture from the combined fleet, absorbing their knowledge and overwriting their minds with the Crystals' network; many other Von Berg Crystals objected to this, in a few cases violently enough to be noticed by the organics (though the reason was and is unknown). In 2152, a small Andorian task force and a second Solar task force arrived, and the remaining vehicles and surface installations controlled by the Crystals were destroyed. The planet was bombarded with precise munitions, and further attempts were made to convince the surviving Crystals to surrender. These offers were refused. Eventually, the bombardment was stopped, but Von Berg remains quarantined to this day. Few attempts have been made to establish communications since then.

Analysis of the after-action reports and debris fields determined that several vessels controlled by the Crystals, including a few with assimilated humans and other organic sophonts on them, are missing. Since the missing vessels appear to have all been either FTL-capable, or able to be carried by warp-equipped vehicles, this is a serious concern.


(OOC: The planet that the Crystal Computers are from being called Von Berg is in the article in GURPS Aliens (pp122-123), I didn't make it up. Given how long it takes to get a book published and when it came out, it's clearly a coincidence, but it's a sufficiently amusing one that I couldn't ignore it.)

Thoughts?