The Reluctant Vassal's Guide to Living in the Frontier (with some Treason)

When observed from above, one could make the mistake that the planet had a seeming ring of fire that split it down the middle horizontally, an equator of flames that divided the world. However, when within direct sight, the flickering flames are revealed to be a trick of the eye, the medley of beautiful warm orange, red, and yellow orchids moving with the wind to create the image of a wildfire. These flowers now rippled and swayed in the wake of the large gusts kicked up by the landing colony ships, their engines giving one last effort to hold stable long enough.

Then, the moment that the bottom of the ships touched landfall, they finally groaned and died for the last time, their energies spent. It was as if they held together long enough for the sole purpose of seeing the people within to safety and now, with the duty fulfilled, they may finally rest. Their voyage through the stars was complete, their story complete.

But for the people within, their own story was only just beginning. The airlocks cycled and hissed open, revealing the settlers within. Cautiously, curiously, bravely, they took the first steps onto their new home.

The Helmsmen were here.


"New Helm?" You read aloud with a hum. "Is that really what our new city is going to be named?"

"It's just what most people have voted for when referring to the landing site for now. I'm sure that if a better name emerges down the line, you could declare it so and few would contest it so. You are House Iris after all." Radana paused, then turned to you with an apologetic expression. "Ah, that is the rightful House Iris."

You sighed and dropped the stack of papers onto your desk, seemingly adding to the rat's nest that was forming made of reports and proposals coating the furniture. But little did others know that there was a hidden code to your laziness, the ability to simply pull out whatever relevant paperwork to a scenario at a moment's notice! This was perfectly demonstrated to your friend when you reached into the disorganized stacks and then withdrew a certain poll that was relevant to the conversation at hand.

"A near unanimous decision that, in the wake of the Solar King's sudden passing, Violet d'Iris is hereby to take command of the colony expedition over her sister, completely disregarding any previous appointments or arragnements. So voted by all adults and elders, many of whom were either in or had family in the evacuation." You let the paper with the results drift out of your hand, then most unceremoniously slammed your face into your desk and sent more papers flying everywhere. "How did this happen?! Why me!"

"Because you ended up being the only one who had a heart in this entire mess?" Your friend mumbled, then reassuringly walked around the desk to pat you on the shoulder. "It might only be a temporary vote into power until things calm down. Maybe your sister would even come to her senses." But even as she said it, it was in an unconvincing and doubtful tone that such a change was likely.

It was hardly surprising given how greedy you knew your older sisters had been and chewed your lip. "I don't think it'll be happening anytime soon. Maybe?" After a moment, you shook your head and delicately withdrew a certain artifact from a desk drawer that had Radana staring. "Until then though, I need to find a good place to stash this."

"Please don't tell me that you've been keeping the Solarium Codex in your messy desk this entire time," She croaked, looking very much scandalized. "That's the original copy! If it had gotten lost or shuffled amid all the paperwork-!"

"Good thing it didn't then." You carefully laid it on top of your desk now and gently ran a finger along metal front. You let out a forlorn sigh and considered the next step seriously. "But you still bring up a good point that we need to put this safely away somewhere. I'm actually surprised it's here! Isn't this supposed to be back on Helm?"

"It is, in the deepest data vault where it had been first rediscovered." Radana recovered from her shock quickly and frowned, putting a thinking expression. "It is supposed to be in the care of only the eldest Prisms who have proven their worth. But I suppose that technically, the Solar King has the authority to withdraw it so for whatever purpose, being the highest law in the land. For what purpose though now, that is the question. Were the rumors of the First Princess being such a hedonist that concerning?"

"Or perhaps they had a strong element of truth to them all," You mumbled, already imagining if she had seized it by whatever means in the Solar King's absence. A crisis within House Iris was the kindest way of putting it, one that made the current standoff between you and your sister look like a minor yard brawl.

Your eyes flicked over to where a small computer terminal alerted you to approaching visitors. The Solarium Codex was casually hidden with a pile of paper, you wanting to keep its presence a secret a little while longer. Perhaps it would be a hidden card to play for great effect, a potential massive bribe for your sister to clean up her act? Yes, you warmed up to that idea now, envisioning how thankful and blind she would be for your support in these trying times, allowing you to step away and begin weaving your dark webs in the background! And if it didn't work with her, there was other brothers and sisters back home on Helm once you made contact back home, whenever that was. The tragic passing of your sire aside, maybe you could make something out of this.

You already knew who it was who was knocking at the office door, but went through the motions anyway with an activation of the door panel. Once the panel had verified the identities of the visitors, the automated system opened the way and your two other aides stepped in. They approached your desk with focused expressions and you gave them a plastered smile in response. You idly wondered behind the mask their reaction should they ever find out that your people's holiest text was right in front of them under a pile of population reports.

You supposed that the slight knowing twitch in Radana's eye would suffice when she stepped away to stand at a more respectable distance from you.

After the appropriate amount of pleasantries was exchanged, it was time for an actual briefing. You turned first to the fidgeting Hyacinth Prism and asked for her report first. "How goes converting the landing ships into our first city? I imagine that once you removed the engines, it was very smooth going," You hinted.

Kat nervously coughed first. "It...it is going well. A-after we took apart the engines, conversion was ea-sy!" She stuttered, then warmed up slightly at the mention. "About the ship engines, all have been, um...disassembled and I found m-many faults."

"So we definitely are going to have to start building new large engines from scratch," You summarized with a nod. But you already knew this long before the fidgeting aide gave her report, along with a detail that she hadn't mentioned yet. You made a show of pulling out a paper anyway to seemingly 'stumble' across this information. "Ah, but it looks like our small engines are still fine, shuttles and the like. It means we can actually travel between local planets in the system, provided one is fine with a few hours of transit time. Have you given them an inspection already?"

The Prism's eyes widened and she gave a small smile. "Th-that is right. I...I was in engineering for a while making those checks," She cheerfully told and you resisted the urge to reveal that the Prism had spent those checks swearing and cursing 'whoever designed this fucking shit-ass engines that move slower than an obese slug needing a shit.'

Sometimes your bugs were a bit too good. "Then you'll be glad to know that I might just send you back there to get back to working to a fix for our engine problem. That, or mapping some new industrial expansion on the planet or any others." Kat seemed to relax at your suggestions and didn't have much else to offer, so you turned next to the other aide in the room. "Now onto something that's a bit more dire. Dorothea?"

"Your intuition proved reliable once again!" The Lycoris Knight exclaimed, half in disbelief and half in awe. "My colleagues and I went through the armed forces that came along us with a discerning eye, and found out that many of the current leadership had already been compromised one way or another with ties to those outside their chain of command. Were it have gone undiscovered, future plots may have occurred that further complicate the current state of affairs!"

You gave a slight nod externally, but internally was cheering massively. Of course it hadn't been a gut instinct, but it more had been a recent discovery from your various information taps across the fleet when some let slip opportunistic statements that drew your attention. All it took then was a casual mention to the ever-passionate Dorothea to spark an internal investigation as was her order's mandate. It made you preen ever so slightly that your secret web spinning had resulted in this great success, one that would mean whoever was in charge of these armed forces would be occupied for a while.

Hang on. You were the one in charge now as per your new leadership role.

The feeling of ecstasy came crushing down with Dorothea's next few words that confirmed your work. "It goes so deep that we have had no choice but to disband our current standing forces and reevaluate our entire leadership hierarchy. In short, this is an opportunity for the new leader of House Iris to mold a force in her image!" The Lycoris Knight absently babbled with clear look of admiration. "Truly, you already have great plans on how to reform our military into something truly great. It will be much work to do so, so rest assured you may count on me to help with whatever lesser burdens you can entrust."

You gave a weak smile while so desperately trying not to scream. "Of course. You two may take leave now. I will send individual orders soon enough." Once they obliged, the office door sealing behind them, all your lessons and training in royal etiquette went out the window as you slid down your chair with a small scream. "My reward for resolving work is more work! Why can't somebody else handle this all!"

That is always an option to give up, but you won't. Radana quietly thought to herself, then wordlessly made her way over to the small office kitchenette while you ranted and raved about how you'd rather much be concocting secret plans in darkened rooms. The office tea kit was a poor replacement for the treasured personal tea set that you had gifted your best friend so long ago, but the fact that there was a kit in this barely used unit told volumes about just how well you two knew each other.

Making tea was always a calming experience for the Camellia Knight, every step from boiling the water to cleaning the cups a precise and familiar ritual that helped center herself. This time though, her chosen leaves for the taste featured a vibrant red crimson color, a stark difference from the normal collection of dark leaves she normally brought. The water was even carefully taken off the heat sooner than expected for a merely warm temperature, one that was sufficient enough to begin seeping the leaves in. Within moments, the clear fluid turned into a rather vivid shade of orange that Radana poured out for you.

You paused mid-shout and stared at the mysterious cup of tea. "This isn't your regular selection," You commented and gingerly picked it up to sniff at. "What did you do?"

"It's simply made out of the local flame blossoms that surround our new home," She answered and produced one such flower for you to study. "That's what the locals have been calling these incredible lifeforms at least. Rest assured, the studies say that despite everything, they should still be safe for humans to interact with. This includes being valid for making into tea leaves."

The reports she was talking about did indeed say so. You recalled reading them before they even were released to the wider public, having already pulled a few strings to get an unedited copy before anybody else. These 'flame blossoms' were an organic lifeform that sparked endless interest from biologists, fascinated at the way this plant survived in the extreme heat of the planet by simply accepting it so. It was a flower that thrived in temperatures that others wilted in, and embraced it to the point where it actually needed high heat to survive. A few tests showed that even when harvested, the flame blossom would actually retain a high level of heat that would only slowly cool off after a considerable period of time.

Already, there was much buzz about how such a plant could possibly open up new opportunities for this planet's development...and then Radana just went ahead to turn it into some tea leaves.

You stared at the cup of tea for a moment longer, then shrugged and drank it without a moment of further doubt. You trusted your friend so, especially when she too was poured a cup for herself to sip at. After a moment, she spoke your thoughts aloud. "My, what a rather stimulating taste."

"It's definitely something." You set it down and closed your eyes, feeling a mild sort of heat begin to warm you up from within. It wasn't as powerful as something like an energy drink, but it definitely hit that perfect spot of perking one up after a long morning. You idly wondered if there was an opportunity for further research there, but that'd likely require dedicated research labs for your Prisms to have at it. "It's not bad, but a bit sharp."

"Yes, apologies. I need to refine the ratio just right. Oh!" Radana's eyes lit up with an idea. "What if I were to combine it with some of the other leaves? The hydroponics facility is finally operational from what I've heard, so we can expect to see some of the regular offerings to become available soon."

"Oh, some fresh food is definitely going to be a welcomed change. It'll definitely help cement that this place is our new home." A pause, then you set aside the cup and cleared up some space on your desk. Once enough papers were out of the way and properly stored in the coded manner only you understood, a stroke of your fingers alongside the surface activated the holographic screen built into the table. Moment's later, the display lit up and projected a three-dimensional rendering of New Helm, showing the cluster of colony ships that has since been disassembled and rebuilt into a new urban city core. "That, and the finalization of our Data Reliquary."

Radana nodded gravely, taking your words seriously and without a hint of compromise. The Data Reliquary was a sacred construct of your people, the sum total of all your collected knowledge and history in the system sent, processed, and archived within for future generations to behold. The idea behind it was to ensure that, should tragedy strike again, your people could perhaps recover in the future much like how they had found the data vault built by their ancestors to rediscover the formula for Solarium. It was a tradition to build one wherever the Helmsmen settled, and one you dared not propose a change to without significant cultural shifts.

It was slightly annoying needing to construct it first as soon as enough spare resources were available after basic survival necessities were met, but one could never understate the religious significance of the building among the Helmsmen. Though properly honoring it so would definitely be a popular act, one that could no small amount of backing from your people. This was especially even more important when mysteriously, communications attempts to contact Helm via the FTL beacon went seemingly nowhere, like there was nobody on the opposite side, so the people desperately needed something to help ground them. Speaking of grounding however, there was something you wanted to consider.

A small report to the side, one of those that had been casually covering up the Solarium Codex, that described the colonists' attempts to reach other planets in the system through their shuttles. While the inner two planets had been fine and you could already considering expanding and harvesting the resources there, it would appear that any attempt to even approach Andernia III, the planet which your sister claimed, was a different story. Warnings had apparently blared through the radio systems of these shuttles that if they were to even enter the atmosphere, they would be considered invaders and shot out of the sky appropriately.

The less said about what was described to be the fate of such captured crews, the better.

It seemed that for the moment, your sister wasn't very interested in even entertaining a dialogue with you. Perhaps she herself had crafted her own narrative of what had transpired to the colonization fleet, one that had entirely no grounds to work off. You weren't close enough to know whatever transpired in that cold business-like mind. You were already half-tempted to already start trying to discretely send in spies before catching yourself. Such a rough handed approach was not your style.

You had to plan for the infiltration first, and then tell somebody to be the spymaster while having them dance to your plans! You weren't going to be publicly known as the webmaster at the center of it all, somebody else would be recognized so and that was fine. You didn't care for the glory of the role, only the pleasure at seeing events unfold how you wanted them to and then acting all surprised when it was you who came out on top.

Yes, you'd come out as the hidden victor here. Well, the victor at least you could dully settled for. But that depended then on what sort of plans you crafted now to direct the development of your fledgling colony.

Create a plan that you and your aides will execute over the duration of the cycle. Each person will have a general order that they will attempt to carry out at your command. Orders can be repeatedly taken for greater progression, but characters will be locked in the order until it is finished. Many actions will require a target.








- The options are a little barren for the moment, but rest assured that this is mainly because you need to build a Data Reliquary first. Things will definitely open up after you build your first monument that marks the start of your settlement in Andernia.
- You can choose to found a city in the other previous landing spots if that's something you're interest in. This includes cross-planet founding, you only have to specify what planet and what location. Only the third planet is currently unavailable due to the your sister's odd antagonistic attitude.
- I will be updating the capital system post soon with more detail information, and then there'll be a full maps post of your starting system. I figured that you'd already like to start brainstorming or point out any mistakes I made. The vote may also be shorter on account of the dust finally settling and you being able to get into the swing of things.

Andernia System
Andernia I
Andernia II
Andernia IV

So as people are going for building your first class already, here's how ship stats generally works. Full battle mechanics will be another post, but if you can understand these, you've got a very solid handle on things already.

General Stats
Each ship has a few main considerations:

Hull: A measure of both current combat effectiveness and relative health.
Weapons: The weapon modules this ship has.
Defenses: The defensive modules this ship has.
Hangers: The launch bays this ship can support for aircraft.
Escorts: The small frigates/escorts this ship will typically have.

Hull
This is basically how many hit points a ship has. It is expected to almost always be ticking down when engaged in combat and when it goes below zero, the ship is most likely disabled and out of the fight.

However, before then, there is a threshold at every ten (10) points where it is possible to suffer a critical effect in the chaos of combat. This can range in variety, with the most severe even forcing a possible ship loss before the Hull is even depleted!

Weapons
Each weapon will have a classification that determines what sort of attack it makes, and what defense it goes against. The most common types are the following:
Missiles VS Point Defense
Ballistic VS Armor

Each weapon has a to-hit modifier, along with a minimum damage stat. If their attack roll exceeds 100, the excess is automatically applied as a negative modifier to the defense.

Defense Modules
Each defense has a single flat stat that adds together for a defensive stat that will go up against a weapon attack. There are two primary types to consider balancing between:
Point Defense which both counter missiles and can also be a close range weapon. If a ship doesn't have any, they cannot provide AA interception.
Armor which counters ballistics, along with a majority of other attack classifications. If a ship doesn't have any, they suffer a malus to critical checks.

Hangers
Most ships intended for battle will have the capability to bring along a complement of aircraft, with some designs even specializing in it. These are primarily divided into two roles, which are not mutually exclusive depending on the airframe:
Fighters which would handle air superiority and interception duty.
Bombers which would handle attack runs and CAS tasking for groundside support.

Aircraft need to be Launch Bay capable to sortie out of these facilities.

Escorts
These are the smallest class of ships that orbit around their assigned vessel. Their primary job is to engage other escorts before aiding in the main engagement if possible. They are often overlooked and mostly unnoticed in the clash between larger ships, but never underestimate the bravery from unexpected heroes.

The slight glint of light reflecting off the lens of the hidden camera went completely unnoticed by the room's occupants, even those who cast their gaze randomly about in boredom. Though had they noticed, the odds were significant high that they'd think it just a reflection of the digital clock casing instead of an actual spy camera. Adding to that, few would even dare suggest it belonged to the Solar Princess, meaning that overall, the risk of discovery was astronomically small.

That number only became more non-existent given the intensity of the ongoing debate between the assembled Prisms.

"Missiles are clearly the superior naval weapon!" A Prism roared and slammed a fist into the table, the enhanced strength resulting in a crack that was promptly ignored. "They fire from a long range that helps in striking first, and then they also possess a tracking system to adjust if need be, making it difficult to simply evade!"

"Yet all it takes is a little bit of chaff and point defense, then it's cooked!" Another Prism fiercely countered with a snarl before smacking the table, creating a new dent. "But the beauty of ballistics is that it can't be shot! Ancient scientists from Terra knew already knew that it's impossible to stop a mighty force without an opposite force, so investing in ballistics is how we pierce through our enemies!"

"That opposite force is just good armor plating, you relic! The thing that every ship designers with good sense would insist on prioritizing, so we should as well!"

"Oh, how very typical for the one who happens to have connections to a new smithy to suggest. Can we eject this blatant corruption from the discussion already?"

"Like you're any better, isn't your son the one who just joined that threat detection software company, you complete fraud-!"

"OH SHUT THE FUCK UP!"

The gathered Prisms, some of the wisest and most knowledgeable technical experts of their people, winced when one of their youngest hefted her hammer and slammed it down on the table in her workshop, the poor furniture finally giving up and cracking into two halves. Kat growled and hefted her tool of the trade threateningly, a far cry from the stuttering young lady who had just gotten out of a meeting with the Solar Princess an hour ago. Now in her natural environment, any sort of nervousness or politeness was replaced with an unfiltered genius who glared harshly at her bickering fellows, most of whom were older than her.

But Kat just didn't care and snarled at them all the same, her undeniable passion coming out completely without any sort of restraints. "I invited you all here today to discuss a new Destroyer class project, not to start having a circuit-counting contest! We can't use the old ones, not without me popping a blood vessel at their shit and shoddy design. So I don't care who's got connections to what company, only that you've got the responsibility and know-how to contribute! So do your damn jobs, and start talking about what we're designing! Start from the goddamn basics so I know you aren't all full of shit."

There was a moment of silence, then one of them awkwardly cleared their throat. "Well, according to the widely accepted doctrine across civilized space, Destroyers are the smallest sort of ship meant for engagements in space. But they're not meant for such engagements in the first place."

"That's right." Another spoke now, easing into their field of expertise. "Destroyers are usually supposed to be the screening vessel that protects the defenseless troop ships as they journey between planets. Not to say that they can't hold their own in a pinch, but they can only have so much armor and weapons to keep up with the troop ships unlike the larger ships built for proper battle."

"Still, never underestimate what bravery could be found in the couple hundred or so crew that operate such tight vessels. Especially those led by our Brilliance Knights!" This was said rather fervently and apparently, it was the right thing when the leader of this Prism assembly laughed.

"Brave bastards all, even the fairer lot!" She cackled and then gestured to her workshop's ceiling. The lights dimmed, then faces were illuminated by a holographic projection coming from a machine installed above them all. The broken mundane table was ignored so while the Prisms gathered closer, studying the blank hull awaiting input. "So then, time to knuckle down and figure out what the fuck we're doing then. Let's put together something that'll make you lot profit and make Her Majesty very happy! Making a ship that'll take many eager lads and lasses to new brothels and whorehouses across the galaxy!"

There was a chorus of agreements with many politely ignoring the last bit, then the true discussion and debate began on how to design a new ship class.

Create a Design Plan!

Choose a Template

Choose Weapons


Choose Defenses

Finish it with a Name!
-[ ] [Name] ____ Class Destroyer (Mk 1)
--[ ] Design Company (Optional0

- So let's try this system then. I'm optimistic that it'll work out, and I'm interesting in hearing feedback from what people think. It should have room for expansion/improvement, and I look forward to hopefully fleshing it out as time passes with more options and new considerations.
- Long/Medium/Close weapon range is mainly defines when the ship will actually get to fire when it engages and 'jousts' an enemy ship. All weapons, if the ship is still intact when passing by, should have a chance to fire in their matching zone so don't worry if a weapon becomes ineffective. It will always fire if possible unless disabled.
- You might notice an optional fluff option under name. This is for people who want to really get involved and create a design company behind their equipment plans, so if you ever wanted to create Lockheed Martin or General Motors, this is your chance to flesh things out. Or you could go wild and say it's the work of a prominent Duke or Count, which does track with the theming. Just try to have it keep with the setting.