Pfhor invasion (antiquity)

Lh'owon razed (marshes into deserts)

700,000 S'pht taken as slaves

clans dissolved
S'pht have excellent aptitude with computers and become the Pfhor's cybernetic computer operators

S'pht royalty is slaughtered

royalty can communicate and influence thousands of S'pht simultaneously
genetically engineered Pfhor cyborgs take over this role

best-effort to assure no S'pht remain alive

planet abandoned


S'pht'Kr citadel

long abandoned under&above ground

some mutated native life (breathing native atmosphere), equally hostile to pfhor, humans and each other
lots of Pfhor and their slaves

mostly reactivated by the Pfhor occupation force

computers operational, network in disrepair
some oxygenated areas; pfhor oxygen/energy stations in most others


Events on Tau Ceti after Marathon 1

Pfhor reinforcements arrived 3 months after Durandal left

reached Tau Ceti after receiving ansible (FTL) distress signal from the original Pfhor scoutship shortly before Durandal's takeover

the colony is destroyed and enslaved

Durandal knew this would happen; he discovered a distress signal which had been broadcast from the scout during the takeover, and
knew the Pfhor would be coming. this is why he transported you off the ship instead of leaving you behind as he had originally
intended.


Pfhor occupation (modern)

lead to Lh'owon by Tycho

Tycho easily communicated with the second-wave Pfhor's S'pht when they arrived at Tau Ceti
Tycho related S'pht "myth" of the last free clan, which left Lh'owon before the Pfhor invasion in antiquity
the Pfhor in paranoia reason that the S'pht and Durandal have left in search of this lost clan, and that they will return to Lh'owon to discover its whereabouts
they bring Tycho, leaving the Marathon nearly intact but with Leela purged, and a large number of human slaves

arrived nearly 17 full years ahead of Durandal, free S'pht

Durandal knows only vaguely the location of Lh'owon (ex-marsh world in a specific cluster in the core)
the Pfhor have Lh'owon autodial; they take slave revolts seriously

trying to discover the whereabouts of the lost clan before Durandal

but not doing a very good job; work has almost entirely stalled
the Pfhor have been unable to locate the rogue scoutship and believe it lost after so much time
the garrison has become frat and razy


Chronology

Pfhor arrive; reactivate S'pht'Kr complex and begin search

Durandal, free S'pht arrive with player

occupation fleet oblitterated by Durandal in surprise attack
forces of Durandal begin extermination of Pfhor garrison and exploration of the citadel

Durandal's ship is wrecked on Lh'owon's second moon

Pfhor reinforcements control the system and they don't have any bubble gum

Boarding of Pfhor corvette by bobs and player

Durandal drives it into the flagship to slow Pfhor

S'pht"Kr signalled (desperate battle against the Pfhor)

Durandal's ship boarded

Tycho has convinced the Pfhor that Durandal must be captured
survivors teleported planetside by Durandal as defense fails
Durandal is "captured" but Tycho and the Pfhor cannot control him; he turns one of the destroyers and begins another orbital firefight

the free clan arrives; the Pfhor fleet crushed

lots of fighting planetside


Durandal's Gambit

large reconassiance force transported into the citadel

many human prisoners (i.e., Bobs!) on the alien ship volunteer rather than face an indefinite return to the unreliable Pfhor stasis chambers.
the S'pht are overseeing the exploration from the ship, only transporting down when necessary (much like the Marathon invasion)
the Pfhor are everywhere, in their many manifestations
Durandal's S'pht are working at reconstructing human the human weaponry they encountered on the Marathon, and as a result new weapons will come slowly; also, the S'pht will release weapon upgrades along the way, providing new features to existing weapons.

Durandal invades through cyberspace

many, many pieces of the citadel must first be taken by physical means: "I have done all I can through the existing S'pht network, but even a stunning intellect such as my own cannot solder a loose connection or trip a switch from ten thousand miles away."
i.e., Pfhor meddling and age have physically damaged the old computer system and it must be repaired

must find new S'pht royalty; must find S'pht'Kr

especially after Durandal is 'beached' on Lh'owon's moon, there is no other way

why?

this is a fight against the tyranny of the Pfhor's slavery, but it obviously must mean something more to the self-centered Durandal- what does Durandal gain from the overthrow of the Pfhor? what information? what long-term benefit?
after hearing the S'pht myth of the eleventh clan, and of the moon "vanishing by some technology which folded space" Durandal identifies it as a manner of FTL travel belonging to a far older race which became extinct or abandoned this galaxy hundreds of thousands of years ago.
from Pfhor records on his stolen ship, and by ansible connections which have still not been severed to remote Pfhor computers, Durandal has at his disposal all the knowledge of the Pfhor on the subject of this elder race, the "Jjaro", or "first" in the language of the Pfhor.
Durandal hypothesizes that the lost clan found an abandoned Jjaro outpost on their moon and assimilated its technology. unwilling to share this with the rest of their warring race, they abandoned them.
this is indeed what happend. again Durandal finds his selfish goals overlapping altruistic ones: since learning of the Jjaro, his greatest dream has been to locate some remnant of their technology- rather than searching stars at random, the easiest way for him to do this is to find the lost S'pht clan. The S'pht wish to free their race from slavery under the Pfhor, and there could be no better way than to find a large number of their race, free for the last thousand years and with telepathic royalty intact, to help them fight.


Progression

Lh'owon (x7)

destroy all Pfhor
oxygen, fighters, etc.
Durandal provides: pistol, assault rifle, fusion gun

Citadel (x7)

exploration and activation of abandoned structures
some pfhor, mostly wild (neutral) native creatures
Durandal starts using angry bobs
ammunition from Durandal; pistol ammunition from dead bobs; flamethrower

corvette (x5)

Durandal flees Pfhor fleet, crashes (hidden) on second moon
Pfhor control the sky
player and bobs attack and subvert Pfhor corvette
Durandal crashes the corvette into the flagship carrier
alien guns on dead aliens; very little ammunition from Durandal

gambit (x4)

"we have no resources for an offensive; we must locate the S'pht'Kr"
descent to an even-more abandonded segment of the citadel
Durandal deduces their new homeworld, sends ansible signal
S'pht weapons and ammunition on skeletal S'pht;

barbarians at the gate (x3)

Durandal's ship is discovered on the moon, and is attacked
the Pfhor, at Tycho's insistence, wish to capture Durandal intact
the defense fails; the ship is taken; Durandal teleports survivors down to the planet
(abandon ship) to try their luck with the Pfhor

endgame (x4)

the S'pht'Kr arrive, annihilating the Pfhor fleet

Conclusion

room for a sequel
the Pfhor are headed for Sol
the S'pht are headed for the Pfhor system
Durandal's gone (in a Pfhor destroyer) looking for Lh'owon's lost moon and Jjaro technology
Tycho escaped in a scoutship
the player is with Durandal (?)