Hylotl Naval Fleet

Do you know the name of the Hylotl homeworld?

 

I think roleplaying a Hylotl navy that doesn't know the name of their own homeworld will be very awkward.

 

Moved to Roleplay Planning

 

I think it's a good idea. But maybe not THE hylotl fleet, but some kind of hylotl faction, they should hate florans or something to make them interesting

 

Hylotl hardly have much lore behind them. Only that they got pushed off their own planet by florans and that avians used them as sacrifices sometimes. I suggest to wait until they'll release hylotl towns and such, so that we could see how it is atleast.

 

I'm working with Captain on this. If you havent noticed me before trying to get something like this out there, you havent been on much. I have many of the details worked out. To answer Sen, I think the Hylotl will refer to their homeworld as 'our homeworld' and only when necessary to avoid painful memories. This specific fleet will focus on learning from their past mistakes and adapting to the galactic community after being isolationist for so long. Feel free to bomb the hell out of me with criticism and disapproval. Ive gotten it before. Hopefully ill be more prepared to answer your questions.

More details will be uploaded as needed, or with the Faction Page if not.

 

That's a bit presumptuous of you to say, but okay.

It'd be pretty nice to have the details expressed here so we could have something better than just "WE NEED A NAVY" discussed here, whether it's quoting your ideas from another thread or otherwise, so people can be interested with something that's so far just been presented to exist just for the sake of existing.

I'm not against this idea, but there's one thing I'd like to point out: There needs to be a decent reason as to why a Hylotl Navy force would forcibly exclude itself from the activities surrounding the rest of the galaxy. Humans have a good explanation for it: They lost their Homeworld and were given a large mandate to close their doors to everyone and remain in their bases since they had been decentralized. A similar explanation could be brought about for the very same Navy, but there is a discrepancy between how these species conduct policy, most notably the fact that the Hylotl are an incredibly extroverted in terms of their relations with other species (this is ironic given the nature of the cultural parallel they represent, since Japan was culturally isolated for many, many years along with many other Asian countries). This would mean that the first move a Navy would do when cut off from whatever home planet it came from would be to monitor current happenings in the galaxy itself.

Another detail that should be made clear is that it was never perfectly made clear that the Hylotl would have bases in more than one planet: They have a home planet, which could easily imply that they have other planets under their domain. This is further reinforced by the fact that current lore has shown that efforts on Hylotl diplomacy have continued despite the destruction of their Homeworld (re: Agaran Menace); this implies either a) After the Hylotl planet was destroyed, they all regrouped in another planet via evacuation efforts, or b) Had other planets to rely on. Judging by the nature of future Hylotl cities, a) seems more likely, which means that it would defeat the point of having the concept of a Navy being cut off from all civilization when it should had received coordinates to make it to the closest Hylotl destination possible.

I don't want to deter you from your efforts, these are just things I feel should be addressed first before getting anywhere with the concept of a Hylotl Navy drifting around space with no contact from anyone else, lest it feels so out of the blue.

 

Ehhhhhhh. I don't like this, mostly because you're making up canon that's unconfirmed. Things like this:

Are largely unverified. They were very notably into farming, but there's no real evidence of them every stowing away technology; with the mentalities they've been shown with, the opposite is more likely. And things like this:

Is contradictory to canon, since they've always done excursions in getting to know races. Isolationism is when you have absolutely, positively no contact to the outside world(s), which is something that not only does not apply here, but is absolutely inaccurate. This:

Is also wrong, with the implications behind the posters shown in-game that depict the very racial armors the Hylotl use as living proof that the Hylotl did have superior technology and thus were most likely did not lose due to firepower. It's more likely that they lost due to whatever strategies the Florans used that were unfamiliar with the Hylotl at the time, especially since the Hylotl are very peace-faring creatures, a planet-wide attack with basic weapons despite having advanced weapons would still have ended in a massacre of Hylotl. And this:

Is a good detail. This is what I was most curious about, honestly.

You would think a Science Fleet would have been learning long before they realized they had to take the initiative to learn.

This is another clash with established canon, which is something I noted above: Efforts have still been made to keep coming into contact with other species (re: Agaran Menace) despite the loss of the Homeworld, which directly conflicts with the notion that the whole Hylotl race has simply stopped talking to people.

It also doesn't make sense that the Space Fleet prior to this would remain isolated for so long: Would they not land eventually for re-fueling? Would they not have friends and families back home to visit? Is there a pact? Can they bring their families with them? Are there therapists to consolidate for the isolation, assuming fuel was never a problem? How would they report the technologies back to whatever superiors they had? How would they even deliver the physical prototypes to their superiors? Why wasn't all this technology taken advantage of in the first place if they're assumed to have made this kind of powerful stuff? How powerful is all this stuff, since you've mentioned armor through nanomaterial? How powerful are they, and if so, is it within reason?

The rest on how the whole fleet works is fine, though really? A white and black design? I've gotta warn you now, that's going to be a very hard palette to work with. If you can make it look good, though, more power to you. As long as you also avoid using actual Japanese scripture to refer to them by (because they are aliens and would not know Japanese; you can get away with names and the like thanks to the Universal Translator, but the text they use in posters is just a kanji knock-off that resembles actual letters when you look at them hard enough), you should be fine in that aspect.

It's a good draft, but you gotta think this through a bit more before you go anywhere with it. You especially need to avoid making up things that would tie so close to canon lore; it's not just because I'm a stickler for canon, but it's also because if you bind yourself with the existing lore too much, you run the risk in future Starbound updates in terms of future lore that may come in that would simply just wipe out your entire idea and bury it into the ground, forcing yourself to retcon everything you thought about and having to start from scratch again. I know from experience that absolutely no one wants to start from scratch again. This is an especially notable thing to do with such an incomplete race as the Hylotl: No codexes, no structures, and barely any lore as it is beyond Agaran stuff and that one Hylotl adventurer. This treads on thin ice.

Some recommended advice for thinking it through is to keep the original concept as simple as possible and just build on it with details that would sound reasonable, logical, and fits with the canon. Example:
You want a Hylotl Navy.
- Why would it exist? Because most civilizations would have one.
- Why would the peace-faring Hylotl need one? Perhaps in the event war, but to protect their image, they kept it a secret.
- What would the navy work on? Basic Hylotl training procedures, along with some isolated research endeavors involving space-related things.
- Where were they in the war? They were fighting back against the Floran, but lost, so it's likely they retreated.

From there, you keep building on it. With these simple questions, I've already made a similar basic backstory as to the nature of the Hylotl Navy while keeping it as basic as possible:

The Hylotl Navy was a hidden force brought about by the governing forces of the Hylotl Homeworld, which were kept hidden for the sake of not harming their diplomatic ways. Due to being idle in action, most were kept as off-land research teams to secretly prepare technologies for the betterment of the Hylotl race. However, when the Floran struck, they fought back and subsequently lost, as they retreated with whatever survivors they could muster. Dishonored and an enigma to every race including their own, they decided to remain in isolation to rebuild their forces and harken a new golden age for all Hylotl, wherever they may be.

The premise is plausible in canon, vague enough to allow for any subtle changes that would ensue in future canon, yet direct enough to highlight the why and how of not only their existence, but also their future plans.

I really hope this helps.

 

Thank you very much for your analysis. Being new to RP in general, its really helpful to have some experienced chaps help along so much. To be honest I assumed since there was no lore about it I could make some stuff up. Obviously you picked up on that. I honestly have been really busy OOC and didnt bother to do research on Hylotl lore updates. You clearly know what you're talking about.

Here's my attempt to stay away from the volatile parts of lore. (Takes deep breath)

Years before the Floran invasion, the Hylotl put a scientific exploration fleet into development. This fleet was developed to be a mobile research base for the Hylotl to analyze new worlds for potential resources and to take advantage of the various environments and resources space has to offer (the unique trait and properties of black holes, neutron stars, tentacle worlds, etc.) The ships run off of hydrogen and can easily siphon the fuel out of any nearby Jovian planets in abundant quantities and store it in pressurized chambers. There is one central command ship where high-ranking engineers and scientists operate, along with the Fleet Admiral. There are a number of science vessels equipped with scanners to identify planet composition, search for life forms, analyze the terrain etc. These vessels come equipped with small ships for landing on the surface so science teams can do direct analysis on-site. There is a single ship whose sole purpose is to house the fleet warp drive to transport the entire fleet around from system to system. Other ships include agricultural vessels, liveships, and a single ring-shaped ship to serve as a particle accelerator for experimental purposes. All ships had standard kinetic projectile cannons, save the command ship which was also outfitted with high intensity gamma radiation lasers. I can provide further technical specifications if there are any issues.

The fleets initial occupants consisted of 100% volunteers. They all agreed they would be entirely disconnected from their homeworld, save for the Fleet Admiral, who had a private room outfitted with a quantum entanglement communicator linked to the Hylotl leadership. Many people came in families, the couple both being interested in the sciences and the exploration opportunity. Small private R&D corporations assimilated into the fleet, purchasing offices aboard the central command ship and supplying funds for more research ships and such. The fleet itself became a community of sorts, and the resident Hylotl thought of themselves as a separate entity from the rest of the Hylotl population on-world and among the stars.

Any research data was relayed back to command, once every standard cycle. Technological innovations in design were sent via quantum communicator as well in the form of blueprints and 3-D CAD drafts. The fleet relayed coordinates of planets of interest to the homeworld, should the homeworld be interested in the resources this planet provided.

Upon the news of the Floran invasion, communication with Hylotl command was cut off. The Fleet Admiral considered attempting to aid the homeworld but considered this a futile attempt. They were not nearly outfitted with enough weaponry to aid, and would only be throwing away remaining Hylotl assets. Instead, they decided to turn themselves into their own civilization. Mobile CIM (Computer Integrated Manufacturing) centers were constructed for development purposes. They found many lost Hylotl fleeing their ravaged homeworld and assimilated them into their society, causing a growth in population. The population boom was supported by the construction of larger liveships and more agricultural vessels. A few cruiser-size warships were added for enhanced defense, knowing the Florans were now a more prevalent threat to their race. Currently a supercarrier is under development, along with automated fighters to accommodate said carrier. This is the situation of the fleet as of now.

The current goal of the fleet is to show the galaxy that the Hylotl have not only recovered from this travesty, but are thriving with their new community. They hope to enhance their military to prevent further assaults, and possibly provide aid to nearby colonies. They hope to change the racial stereotype of arrogance the Hylotl are known for (although if this isnt canon I'll remove it). The Hylotl Kaizen Coalition wishes to bring about the next stage in Hylotl evolution through this revolution, sparking a thriving golden age of success, peace and prosperity their race has long pursued.

(Engineer major's attempt at being an english major. Creative writing GO!)

 

Note that the term 'Kaizen', originating in Japanese, has become commonly used in worldwide manufacturing industry as a term that means 'constant improvement'. This includes an increase in rate, quantity, and in general, profit. So, its kind of a Japanese word and kind of not. Hopefully it isnt a problem with Japanese not being the language the universal translator uses or whatever. Plus I like the abbreviation HKC.

 

I have read it. It seems pretty future-lore-friendly.
It's good.

 

Flawless. Now this is the premise of something great. Also:

This is very much canon. Pretty much every single quip about Hylotl objects from every single other races treats them as pretentious, arrogant, prideful folks.

You'd get extra points if the HKC was planning some sort of revenge against the Florans for what they did. They would probably heavily exclude Florans from joining their ranks with no exceptions simply because they decimated their homeland and burned it to the ground, so to speak. This would also be an excellent convergence on the current Anti-Floran sentiments that are being heavily expressed ICly by various characters and governing bodies, which would in turn motivate the current Florans we have to unite together against all this (something which is already starting to come to fruition), making for some very, very interesting times.

Keep up the good work.

 

Okay, great! Thanks for your suggestions, I'll be sure to keep the in mind while setting this up. Thanks also for taking the time to guide me through this.