Forging Ahead (GURPS Interstellar Wars/Celestial Forge)

[Kildar]

omnidirectionally propagate to be picked up by every HPG receiver within range. The Inner Sphere had used a hub-and-spoke network of large, long-range 'class A' HPGs at key nodal points and shorter-ranged 'class B' HPGs on almost every inhabited world to propagate packet transmission across the entire network, each node forwarding a packet one step closer to its listed destination until they arrived with the 'all HPGs in range receive the signal' feature used to prevent packet loss via redundant transmission routes.

Click to shrink...

Sorry Cliff, but to the best of my knowledge this is actually incorrect.
You had most of it right, but a HPG actually acts more like a laser communicator, not a radio. It basically opens up a path through hyperspace (wormhole) that radio waves gets beamed through. It's one way, because it's basically a "constant jump event", but that's still one of the best ways to describe it.

The difference between A and B class facilities, is how long the transmission can be held for AND how often the transmission can be made.

Honestly though, the update doesn't need much alteration as it was only roughly a paragraph. The rest is bang on and even matches my theories about why the star league used HPGs.

I'm guessing you were reading about the black box and thought they worked the same way? That's what it read like, as that part was exactly how the black box works.

 

[ranmatoushin]

Sorry Cliff, but to the best of my knowledge this is actually incorrect.
You had most of it right, but a HPG actually acts more like a laser communicator, not a radio. It basically opens up a path through hyperspace (wormhole) that radio waves gets beamed through. It's one way, because it's basically a "constant jump event", but that's still one of the best ways to describe it.

The difference between A and B class facilities, is how long the transmission can be held for AND how often the transmission can be made.

Honestly though, the update doesn't need much alteration as it was only roughly a paragraph. The rest is bang on and even matches my theories about why the star league used HPGs.

I'm guessing you were reading about the black box and thought they worked the same way? That's what it read like, as that part was exactly how the black box works.

Click to shrink...

Could you please quote your sources? Because that doesn't seem to jive with what I know about HPGs.

 

[GeekGod_of_Speed]

That's the fundamental problem with the Cosmic Forge in any story. It isn't just a collection of cool tech from lots of settings. It's also a collection of overblown fanwank abilities that have no connection to any of the settings it draws on, and are designed in a way that destroys storytelling options by the truckload.

IMO retcons, fiat powers and conceptual abilities are poison to good writing, and should be avoided by any serious author. You might be able to handle one of them, if it's limited in scope and you put some thought into it. But each extra ability of this type makes it exponentially harder to write a decent story, because they contort the plot into implausible shapes while wiping out vast tracts of story options. So if you keep introducing them the story quickly degenerates into a boring wankfest where nothing can ever challenge the MC, because they're protected by a thicket of conceptual fiat retcon bullshit that automatically overrides all logic and reason. That's one reason why even good Celestial Forge stories tend to go downhill rapidly as the MC racks up perks.

In this case the retroactive doctorates aren't too bad - they just cut off a million potential plotlines involving various parties noticing that Sophia is getting information from nowhere, and responding in an interesting way. But Blank is dangerous and hard to write around, because it's intended to completely cut the MC off from a major aspect of reality. Now Sophia can no longer be spied on by anyone, ever, no matter how clever they are or how sophisticated their methods - which means there's now an entire category of plotlines that can no longer be used in her story. Another perk or two like that and it will get really hard to write this story.

Click to shrink...

It's why I prefer Inspired Inventor or Tinker of Fiction as although it's bullshit, it forces the author to give a problem, and find a way to explain a solution via wacky physics, so far this story was really good, the abilities were just knowledge and brain boosts that would look really weird from the outside but could be explained somehow, but author fiat removes the ability to need or even write about strange occurances.

All the brain boosts were fine as that would be an interestingly strange occurrence for her higher ups to investigate.

The Nanotech was an interesting technology that opened too many doors that could have the story over quickly so Sophia destroyed it in a fear reaction but still gained something from it.

The technology from other series is interesting but would be much better if it didn't work perfectly because of slightly different physics but could be rapidly developed between her perks and sound principals

The fiat computer is a decent plot device that couldn't be abused much beyond simplifying problems and streamlining R&D whilst hiding projects that shouldn't be anything more than advancing her understanding but could be complicated by the need to keep it hidden.

The PHD's would've been more interesting if it was just the credentials appearing in systems whilst nobody remembers her being there but she has the knowledge so we don't question it much whilst having that niggling "but why did we send her onto the officer track if she was this qualified?"

The blank perks just remove a load of the logistical issues of trying to fight a higher being, where's the human ingenuity of overcoming ridiculous odds by quantum locking only specific locations preventing interaction? or discovering sub dimensions such as a psionic realm and blasting white noise to prevent eavesdroppers? The problems can be solved without having to drop author fiat stamp to give our MC a chance. This could still be a problem because the Celestial forge and Sophia only believe they are free to act because she hasn't gained the direct attention of this superpowered being, and when she does all bets are off.

Honestly I really enjoy the celestial forge until it starts adding secondary powers, why the fuck would the MC need pyrokinesis? And if they do need it don't be a pussy and make them craft the stuff to grant it to them. I'm of the belief that the celestial forge should be exactly what it advertises itself as, the knowledge and ability to craft, if it gives you superpowers form the wording of a perk you need to craft something and inject yourself/install something to gain access to it, thus making the MC choose between powersets or spend time perfecting a formula to grant everything

 

[Amrynel]

Whoof. Sophia experiences something of a surreal Dungeon Bypass moment thanks to the PhDs perk - and then wham, I've A Feeling We're Not In Kansas Anymore with a bit of We're Only Level Two What Do You Mean It's The Final Boss?

Could you please quote your sources? Because that doesn't seem to jive with what I know about HPGs.

Click to shrink...

Mechwarrior, 2nd Edition, p. 152, "HPG Communications": "The key piece of ComStar equipment is the HPG (Hyperpulse Generator), which operates on the same general principles as a Kearny-Fuchida drive", "HPG stations must be aligned perfectly for a clear transmission".

ComStar, p. 6, "Linking the Stars": "The hyperpulse generator was essentially a large "gun" that fired an extremely high-frequency compressed pulse through Kearny-Fuchida space at a target world", "The pulse traveled the immense distance instantaneously, just like a ship".

HPGs are unidirectional; you can't use one HPG to eavesdrop on a transmission being sent to another HPG (edit: speculative: unless your HPG was parked right next to the other HPG, maybe?). Black Boxes are omnidirectional; anyone with another Black Box within range can pick up the transmission.

I might dig through more of my old RPG stuff to find a direct quote on the Black Boxes, but the sarna wiki sums it up: "Unlike an HPG, a black box radiates a signal that propagates outward through hyperspace, like ripples in a pond." - sarna.net/wiki/Black_Box

 

[ranmatoushin]

Mechwarrior, 2nd Edition, p. 152, "HPG Communications": "The key piece of ComStar equipment is the HPG (Hyperpulse Generator), which operates on the same general principles as a Kearny-Fuchida drive", "HPG stations must be aligned perfectly for a clear transmission".

ComStar, p. 6, "Linking the Stars": "The hyperpulse generator was essentially a large "gun" that fired an extremely high-frequency compressed pulse through Kearny-Fuchida space at a target world", "The pulse traveled the immense distance instantaneously, just like a ship".

HPGs are unidirectional; you can't use one HPG to eavesdrop on a transmission being sent to another HPG. Black Boxes are omnidirectional; anyone with another Black Box within range can pick up the transmission.

I might dig through my old RPG stuff to find a direct quote on the Black Boxes, but the sarna wiki sums it up: "Unlike an HPG, a black box radiates a signal that propagates outward through hyperspace, like ripples in a pond." - sarna.net/wiki/Black_Box

Click to shrink...

Alright, thank you, obviously my memory was off.

 

[Kildar]

Awesome Sources

Click to shrink...

Thanks for this mate, my own sources were from the wiki and years of paying attention to grognards on Spacebattles. I'm fairly good with my background knowledge now, but I can't really reference most of it.

The really interesting stuff comes when you try to combine the travelers tech and battletech though. As there are actually a couple of potential quick fixes for example.

Controlling gravity allows for jumps anywhere and majorly eases the use of HPGs (as you are basically doing that anyway).

The use of non 'hyper adjacent' fusion reactors "potentially" allows for 24 hour recharges, as the star league used to have recharge stations that let you use their power to recharge in 24 hours. While using the battletech reactors close to a jump ship is "potentially" the reason why using them to charge is a bad idea.

Honestly battletech is a mix of well explained and "handwave" so you can fill in the blanks really easily.

 

[asdsaadsasd]

I enjoyed the chapter and I'm excited to see how she'll MacGyver her way out of being stranded on another planet with only a bikini. As far as narrative choices in the story I'm just not qualified to give an informed opinion, it seems to me that the Author has managed to write an interesting story with quite a large handicap i.e. Celestial Forge is so OP that the only use most people have managed to get from it is to write power fantasy porn.

I'm looking forward to see where this story will take us from here. It would be cool to see how Earth will use FTL Communication to win a war with whatever the Empire sends their way.

 

[drakensis]

I assumed the bit in this story about HPGs signalling everywhere in range was just how ComStar operated their HPGs, sequentially contacting all their neighbouring stations in turn, rather than them transmitting to all at once, which - as you say - isn't how they work. HPGs are point to point transmitters, Black boxes are general broadcasters and receivers.

 

[ryune]

Honestly, I'd like to see the sheer level of "Oh Shit!" going on with her security detail. No way was she allowed to go completely unfollowed and monitored and the way she disappeared is going to raise serious questions about the universe considering she seemingly just popped out of existence.

 

[Cheetored20]

It's why I prefer Inspired Inventor or Tinker of Fiction as although it's bullshit, it forces the author to give a problem, and find a way to explain a solution via wacky physics, so far this story was really good, the abilities were just knowledge and brain boosts that would look really weird from the outside but could be explained somehow, but author fiat removes the ability to need or even write about strange occurances.

All the brain boosts were fine as that would be an interestingly strange occurrence for her higher ups to investigate.

The Nanotech was an interesting technology that opened too many doors that could have the story over quickly so Sophia destroyed it in a fear reaction but still gained something from it.

The technology from other series is interesting but would be much better if it didn't work perfectly because of slightly different physics but could be rapidly developed between her perks and sound principals

The fiat computer is a decent plot device that couldn't be abused much beyond simplifying problems and streamlining R&D whilst hiding projects that shouldn't be anything more than advancing her understanding but could be complicated by the need to keep it hidden.

The PHD's would've been more interesting if it was just the credentials appearing in systems whilst nobody remembers her being there but she has the knowledge so we don't question it much whilst having that niggling "but why did we send her onto the officer track if she was this qualified?"

The blank perks just remove a load of the logistical issues of trying to fight a higher being, where's the human ingenuity of overcoming ridiculous odds by quantum locking only specific locations preventing interaction? or discovering sub dimensions such as a psionic realm and blasting white noise to prevent eavesdroppers? The problems can be solved without having to drop author fiat stamp to give our MC a chance. This could still be a problem because the Celestial forge and Sophia only believe they are free to act because she hasn't gained the direct attention of this superpowered being, and when she does all bets are off.

Honestly I really enjoy the celestial forge until it starts adding secondary powers, why the fuck would the MC need pyrokinesis? And if they do need it don't be a pussy and make them craft the stuff to grant it to them. I'm of the belief that the celestial forge should be exactly what it advertises itself as, the knowledge and ability to craft, if it gives you superpowers form the wording of a perk you need to craft something and inject yourself/install something to gain access to it, thus making the MC choose between powersets or spend time perfecting a formula to grant everything

Click to shrink...

I agree with most of this. But the pyrokenisis bit? That makes making alloys stupidly easy, because it's control of heat.

 

[Empress]

60k words of prologue for an isekai.

 

[cliffc999]

It's why I prefer Inspired Inventor or Tinker of Fiction as although it's bullshit, it forces the author to give a problem, and find a way to explain a solution via wacky physics, so far this story was really good, the abilities were just knowledge and brain boosts that would look really weird from the outside but could be explained somehow, but author fiat removes the ability to need or even write about strange occurances.

Click to shrink...

Yeah. My second experiment with the Celestial Forge is basically returning the results to me that the Celestial Forge is very difficult to use to get a good story out of, and that tech-wank fics would go easier with some other kind of OPness as the MC's main power.

I suppose my somehow nailing a very hard-to-hit sweet spot with my first CF fic by blind luck spoiled me, but man, my second time around is flowing nowhere near as well. I did this big jump just now to try and get me past a roadblock, and I'm really hoping it works out.

Oh, and in the category of fun tech-wank powers, SleepyWriter's 2nd Gift of Faves has Spark of Creation, which is basically the Spark from Girl Genius but with all the downsides removed, plus some other minor utilities bundled into the package. It could use some more love.

But, I started this one, and I still have some ideas on what to do with it, so, let's keep running out the string and see what happens.

 

[Kildar]

But, I started this one, and I still have some ideas on what to do with it, so, let's keep running out the string and see what happens.

Click to shrink...

I trust you enough that I'm definitely looking forward to the next couple of updates. Honestly I'd probably read you stuff even if I hated how it was going, because your writing is that good. Plus sooner or later things would get better and I'd be enjoying things again.

All that said, if you need any help checking battletech stuff, feel free to ask. I'm definitely not as good as drakensis but I can spot check for you if you have ideas.

 

[Vrenze]

I agree with most of this. But the pyrokenisis bit? That makes making alloys stupidly easy, because it's control of heat.

Click to shrink...

Not disagreeing that it can't be used for crafting but most of the Naruto stuff doesn't fit a "crafting" power except as a "weeelll if you squint punching hard and good means he can swing a hammer gooder too!" I mean yeah shadow clones, which IIRC are a standalone power, do mean the character could build stuff quicker but thats a secondary knock-on or the entire Uchiha library of jutsu that shit should never have been in a crafting themed power unless the exception was explicitly made so the MC could defend themselves without having to craft anything at which point you might as well simply be playing with the entire jumpchain catalogue.

 

[Domino]

You know what else controls heat? High tech forging tools you can build.

 

[Jaykko mimmzy]

Not disagreeing that it can't be used for crafting but most of the Naruto stuff doesn't fit a "crafting" power except as a "weeelll if you squint punching hard and good means he can swing a hammer gooder too!" I mean yeah shadow clones, which IIRC are a standalone power, do mean the character could build stuff quicker but thats a secondary knock-on or the entire Uchiha library of jutsu that shit should never have been in a crafting themed power unless the exception was explicitly made so the MC could defend themselves without having to craft anything at which point you might as well simply be playing with the entire jumpchain catalogue.

Click to shrink...

I believe in that situation, the jutsu library is a database to help 'craft' the new jutsu by getting access to others. This leans into magical "Crafting" that Cliff has completely forsworn in the fic by saying the forge is limited to science.

With the quest system and arbitrary access to perks, Sophia is far more limited then the full forge who is to help a person onto the galactic scale. Her protection for me is not so devastating because endgame cosmic enemies can throw problems in her general direction and she will need to build things to survive and any allies will have less personal protection. The Protagonist is merely preventing an instant death prematurely ending the story. If the plot point of a cosmic power being bullshit to eventually counter a bullshit cosmic power then I figure you can find a more conventional power rating in another fic. Just please don't discourage the author.

But yes, the celestial forge is rather absurd. I rationalize it that if you gain power slow enough in a very dangerous setting you will need the escalation. But it is ultimately the author's choice how to address the problem.

 

[Vrenze]

With the quest system and arbitrary access to perks, Sophia is far more limited then the full forge who is to help a person onto the galactic scale. Her protection for me is not so devastating because endgame cosmic enemies can throw problems in her general direction and she will need to build things to survive and any allies will have less personal protection. The Protagonist is merely preventing an instant death prematurely ending the story. If the plot point of a cosmic power being bullshit to eventually counter a bullshit cosmic power then I figure you can find a more conventional power rating in another fic. Just please don't discourage the author

Click to shrink...

I'm not trying to discourage the author I am talking about how some things fit and don't fit per the conversation. I even explicitly used an example that I'm pretty sure will not feature in this fic because it's magic. I personally have no issues with the recent chapter because of its stated canonicity and the seemingly natural consequence of something clearly capable of moving someone further than known jump drive faster than know jump drives and in a fashion that prevented her premise accepted abilities from perceiving the passage of time. While I don't strictly hold to the adage of "if you give frodo a lightsaber you give sauron a deathstar", in fact i kinda hate it, the concept of sufficient antagonist for proficient protagonist is one I think does apply here. Especially because as stated the new antag is canon to the setting and likely therefore has reasons to look in on anyone/anything rocking the boat.

 

[GeekGod_of_Speed]

Yeah. My second experiment with the Celestial Forge is basically returning the results to me that the Celestial Forge is very difficult to use to get a good story out of, and that tech-wank fics would go easier with some other kind of OPness as the MC's main power.

I suppose my somehow nailing a very hard-to-hit sweet spot with my first CF fic by blind luck spoiled me, but man, my second time around is flowing nowhere near as well. I did this big jump just now to try and get me past a roadblock, and I'm really hoping it works out.

Oh, and in the category of fun tech-wank powers, SleepyWriter's 2nd Gift of Faves has Spark of Creation, which is basically the Spark from Girl Genius but with all the downsides removed, plus some other minor utilities bundled into the package. It could use some more love.

But, I started this one, and I still have some ideas on what to do with it, so, let's keep running out the string and see what happens.

Click to shrink...

I don't have many issues with your storytelling or writing I'm just pointing out issues I've spotted because it's going to write you into a corner that's only solution is to bulldoze your way through, which is what Brockton Bays Clelestial forge does, and it's been hitting issues of actually taking the story anywhere for years.

Thanks for the recommendation never heard of it before but imma check it out.

P.S I'm a terrible author but if you wanna throw ideas, my DMs are open

 

[SemiSaneAuthor]

and that tech-wank fics would go easier with some other kind of OPness as the MC's main power.

Click to shrink...

Have you considered inventing your own thing so you can control the exact OPness of such a fic? I mean, for example, if you combined something like the Starsiege Methuselah project or some other form of brain uploading into a computer in a human body, with something like a Commander's Lore capabilities with refining technology ... But with the smaller computer put into a human body compared to a Commander's hard drive? (While maybe making some form of overclocked super creativity in a psuedo Spark Like Madness state, but that has limits due to the hardware.)

Well, just with that off the top of my head thing, you can limit how much OPness of such a reverse engineering has. While keeping the person to just a fleshy body other than the brain, and that as a digital soul in computer hardware? It's limited to no magic unless it exists in setting, while inhertently the person is still a person and has to watch out for themselves.

And, if it's a destructive upload, that was unwillingly done to the person. Then you get into the philsophical, "Am I still me? Or just a very good copy?" To make the ethical implications of creating more Digi-Brain people be problematic. While having inherent hardware limitations that you can't just build a supercomputer based on it that you shove an AI into and thus break the setting with a super intelligent AI if you were willing to even risk making one.

That is, just off the top of my head, and you could probably come up with something much better than that. And that is just something brainstormed off the top of my head.

 

[cliffc999]

Have you considered inventing your own thing so you can control the exact OPness of such a fic?

Click to shrink...

Several times, especially recently. But dammit, I have enough of a reputation as the author who abandons stories, I don't want to make it worse. OTOH, I am starting to believe that several prior posters were right and I have written myself into a corner.

Welp, we're still trying for now.

 

[SemiSaneAuthor]

Several times, especially recently. But dammit, I have enough of a reputation as the author who abandons stories, I don't want to make it worse. OTOH, I am starting to believe that several prior posters were right and I have written myself into a corner.

Welp, we're still trying for now.

Click to shrink...

Does Sophia have to still be in the same universe?

If you throw her into a much more advanced setting, then she has to start teching up all over again.

 

[cliffc999]

Does Sophia have to still be in the same universe?

Click to shrink...

This was not intended to be a crossover story, much less an isekai, and I really doubt trying to "wing it" on that kind of structural change to the story would put me in a better position. Right now she's cast away, but it's still supposed to be Traveller.

 

[SemiSaneAuthor]

This was not intended to be a crossover story, much less an isekai, and I really doubt trying to "wing it" on that kind of structural change to the story would put me in a better position. Right now she's cast away, but it's still supposed to be Traveller.

Click to shrink...

Fair enough. Just throwing things at the wall and seeing what sticks. And it appears I threw a bouncy ball and it just hit me on the forehead.

 

[Lightwhispers]

Several times, especially recently. But dammit, I have enough of a reputation as the author who abandons stories, I don't want to make it worse. OTOH, I am starting to believe that several prior posters were right and I have written myself into a corner.

Welp, we're still trying for now.

Click to shrink...

One thing I thought of, was if [Endboss] took an interest without as much direct interference, that could explain things (for the original plan) that would otherwise require an idiot ball... but would require figuring out why he is doing that.

 

[TroyX]

I don't see how it's that much of a corner. I believe in you, cliff!

 

[cliffc999]

Only very tangentially related, but why did nobody tell me Industrious existed before today?

Man, so much for my dropping out and trying again with an Inspired Inventor fic. I would have to bring my A-game to even begin to match this, and my fickle muse means that I'm quite often writing with my B-game. My A-game only comes out under the right phases of the moon or some shit.

BTW, the simple brilliant device of slowing the charge rate down to 1/month fixed a whole ton of shit that I had trouble with re: Inspired Inventor in the past. Well done, Slayer Anderson.

 

[Vrenze]

Only very tangentially related, but why did nobody tell me Industrious existed before today?

Man, so much for my dropping out and trying again with an Inspired Inventor fic. I would have to bring my A-game to even begin to match this, and my fickle muse means that I'm quite often writing with my B-game. My A-game only comes out under the right phases of the moon or some shit.

BTW, the simple brilliant device of slowing the charge rate down to 1/month fixed a whole ton of shit that I had trouble with re: Inspired Inventor in the past. Well done, Slayer Anderson.

Click to shrink...

Curses! Now that you know you'll be distracted! /jk

Story is pretty neat for a heavy AU with genderbent Naruto/Sasuke. my favored/favorite II story so far has been Inspired Voyage. Shame it's effectively dead, also one of 2 decent Voyager stories I've found.

Edit to add you might find Understanding Does Not Presage Peace interesting. There's a bit of a big turn similar to this one in the latest chapter but seems interesting enough to see where it goes

 

[cliffc999]

Okay, having thought it over, the idea that I'd thought I had working fell apart on me - repeatedly - while I was actually trying to write it. In hindsight, the sudden shift at the end of chapter 8 was a stupid idea. Nothing like realizing that you hadn't spotted a major plot hole in your intended future plot until after you already started its first act. *le sigh*

And while I really don't like retconning myself, I like being a fucking idiot who wrote himself into a corner even less.

So I'm taking chapter 8 down, and will repost a revised chapter 8 at a later date. The Abductor now vanishes back into the land of non-canon, to maybe be hauled out later and maybe not. We'll see.

 

[ryune]

Okay, having thought it over, the idea that I'd thought I had working fell apart on me - repeatedly - while I was actually trying to write it. In hindsight, the sudden shift at the end of chapter 8 was a stupid idea. Nothing like realizing that you hadn't spotted a major plot hole in your intended future plot until after you already started its first act. *le sigh*

And while I really don't like retconning myself, I like being a fucking idiot who wrote himself into a corner even less.

So I'm taking chapter 8 down, and will repost a revised chapter 8 at a later date. The Abductor now vanishes back into the land of non-canon, to maybe be hauled out later and maybe not. We'll see.

Click to shrink...

So, I didn't actually dislike the idea behind "Sophia is stranded" being the plotline for the arc. I feel like the big problem came from vehicle that you chose for how to get her there. A sudden jump cut typically works best when you have either have something prefacing it that can give people an idea of what is going on or a way for the character to figure things out on their own. Having the CF basically tell her how shit was fucked was probably a mistake in this respect as part of the entire plotline for the arc should have been figuring out just what the fuck happened.

But like I said, I was actually fond of the stranded on a desert island idea. Hell, it's a great way to slow down and change the focus of things. The problem would be that Traveler is a space setting which means rescue is going to be somewhat trivial and from a plotting perspective, she was alone without anyone to play off of character wise.

It's been something of an issue for the story so far that might help a lot with the plotting if you gave her a sort of adventuring party to play off of. Not in the sense that they go on adventures but more in the sense of having characters that are actually a part of her solving problems. People that at the very least provide differing perspectives for her to play off of.

 

[Blade4]

Several times, especially recently. But dammit, I have enough of a reputation as the author who abandons stories, I don't want to make it worse. OTOH, I am starting to believe that several prior posters were right and I have written myself into a corner.

Welp, we're still trying for now.

Click to shrink...

Spoiler: Enemy info

For me the only corner you may have written yourself into is the last chapter jumping straight to a ultimate big bad that she functionally cant beat yet unless he is very stupid. This is supposed to be a guy around 10,000 years old and a super genius. And ruthless enough to remove anything that can actually threaten or annoy him. She lives because she is a interesting anomaly but if he was paying any attention then she just became a serious threat. She went from wide open to complete sealed off inside 30 seconds and he had to be reading her mind so should know she can keep doing stuff like this. The smart thing to do is to atomize her now.

The thing is you said this fic is about exploring empire building right? So why are you pushing a plot line that prevent empire building? A empire is more than one person. Even one people frankly. Sophia is a catalyst and critical one but she does not have to stay at the center of the story as the plot moves on and the changes she makes percolate. You have blown the setting wide open so why not extrapolate and say tell a story of the Confed trying to rapidly expand and build even as the Vilani slowly wake up to the fact that the Terrans have nuked the library they live by?

Sophia does not need to get into adventure style conflicts. Thats not who she is as you have already said but she still faces many problems. She can never have a normal life now and she will have to deal with the horrors of politicians and special interests groups fighting for her attention and time or to use her in their fucktard schemes. Conflict does not have to involve fist cuffs, blasters, and death.

She is now a critical asset that people will fight over even as they have to hide her from the public and the Vilani. The confed in this time is not even completely unified what happens if say separatists think to kidnap her to use as a hostage or force her to make weapons at gun point? What if the Vilani actually do figure out what is happening in a decade or two and send a heavy fleet by shadow emperor order to kill or take her?

The grandfather can still be used but instead right as Sophia is finally making real progress what if he starts poking at the Confed as they start expanding into the galaxy? Snatching ships or even dropping info to other races to see what happens next? You have so many options in front of you.