the result of the radical surgery needed for biological life to survive hyperspace, and then take command of the fighting forces that war for the colonial prospect at the end of that trip against other human factions for alien sponsors. 1997 – The Ship Avenged, a novel by S.M. Stirling. 1994 – Starfire board wargame, Alkelda Dawn expansion, originally created in 1979 by Stephen V. Cole. This "4X" (eXplore, eXpand, eXploit, and eXterminate) board wargame simulates space warfare and empire building in the 23rd century. In it, the J'rill are a race of cybernetic brainships. Originally humanoid, their meritocracy needed to process more and more information as their world grew and computerized. Development of brain–computer interfaces improved their services to society. However, the Directors became more distant from their bodies as technology advanced. Eventually, their bodies required only life support, making them effectively immortal. As they lost their humanity, their policy decisions became heartless, eventually leading to civil war. The J'rill Directors suppressed the revolt by destroying nearly all of their subjects. 1999 – Homeworld Neuroscientist Karan S'jet was neurally wired into the "Kushan" mothership as "Fleet Command" to replace an unsustainably large crew. Weaknesses 1. The remaining human physical parts of the fictional brainship (brain, nervous system, possibly others) must be maintained on constant life support. Any interruption is life-threatening. 2. The encased brain is usually completely dependent on its electronic connections for all sensory input, including communication with other sapient beings. Losing access to this input results in complete sensory deprivation so severe that extended periods of such isolation can cause psychological damage to the brain's personality, including catatonia and permanent insanity. 3. The sheer bulk of a brainship makes it ill-suited to performing certain tasks. To this end, fictional brainships generally have a mobile partner(s). Protection In McCaffrey's stories the ship's physical component is encased in a "shell" with life support and connections to the ship's computers. The mobile human partner is referred to as a "Brawn", a specially trained companion and aide. In her stories, brain/brawn partnerships can be short-lived and professional, lasting only as long as the mission, or they may be long, deep, meaningful friendships. In some cases, they may fall in love. Brawn obsession was formerly a serious concern, as a love-crazed brawn might have attempted to breach the life-support shell in order to get at the body entombed within, only to kill