For The Tyrants Fear Your Might (A quest of interstellar rebellion)

AKuz · Dec 10, 2020

THE ALL-RADIANT CONGRESS

Setting Information: The Solarian Compact:

Initially formed as the Solarian Treaty Organization from the ashes of the old United Nations Security Council, United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs, and the Global Climate Relief Organization in the worst decade of Earth's environmental collapse. The STO was originally a body tasked with overseeing the granting of offworld mining permits and the purchase and distribution of the resources to countries struggling from climate change.

The advent of the Korolev-Chandrashker gates and the construction of the first one under STO oversight in 2063 led to the beginning of the transformation of that body into the de facto single governing body of the Human species.

Reorganized into the 'Solarian Compact', the first Charters were granted to massive corporate conglomerates to explore and exploit the cosmos for Humanity with little to no regulation or restriction.

In the early decades, the Solarian Compact oversaw the construction of KC gates in the systems closest to Sol and began the process of granting colonization rights to the most habitable worlds within that region with colonization rights granted to a number of national and international blocks.

With the growth of the Solarian Compact's power came calls for the body to become more representative and democratic, and in 2099, the Solarian Compact held its first elections and constitutional convention, inviting representatives from the Sol system and the five systems that held permanent Human settlement.

Over the course of the 22nd and 23rd centuries the Solarian Compact has held fast to what it sees as its duty to act as the mediator and financier of the Charters, the unifying agent of the disparate first Human colonies, and the guarantor of interstellar peace for Humanity.

As of 2252, the three most important bodies within the Solarian Compact are the Solarian Parliament -Located on Earth, the Solarian Compact Navy -based in the Korolev-Chandrashker system, and the Solarian Central Bank, -based out of the Columbia System.

Organized as a liberal democracy, with universal suffrage, the Solarian Compact is theoretically overseen by three equal institutions: the Solarian Parliament, the office of the Solarian Secretary General, and the Solarian High Court.

Though the Solarian Compact prides itself on being a Constitutional government, the actual original document merely outlines the terms of admitting new MPs and High Court Judges, and the electoral procedures of the Compact Parliament, with subsequent Parliaments meeting to add items like the Declaration of Property Rights, the founding of the Central Bank, the creation of the Solarian Navy, and the Laws on Freedom of Navigation and Travel being added later.

The Solarian Parliament is made up of two thousand six hundred and twenty seats representing ridings on Earth, Columbia, Atlantis, Penglai, Olduvai, and Epsilon which are elected every three years to a Parliament that meets in the New York prefecture of Earth.

Though the many frontier colonies do not have direct representation in the Parliament due to being owned and operated by private entities, their inhabitants are considered 'Absent for Employment' and may register with a home riding and submit a physical ballot (for security reasons) by courier from when polls open until they close. Though this process was suitable for the closely settled regions of space at the time of the ratification of the Compact Constitution in 2100, the rapid growth of Human settled space in the century and a half since has seen the de facto voter suppression of over 90% of Human settled space.

At the first sitting of each new Compact Parliament, the assembled members will elect a Secretary General and a slate of Ministry officials on a majority basis, and those individuals will oversee the executive branch of government and day to day operations. Though the average Compact Parliament contains between seven to nine parties in each Parliamentary sitting, the vast majority of seats belong to one of either the Party for Human Rights and Liberties or the Justice and Development Alliance and have since the very early 2100s. The governments formed this way can be brought down by losing the confidence of the Parliament for example, by failing to pass a budget, the process of finding a majority government will repeat again.

Though a democratic body that has maintained stability for over a century and a half, the Solarian Compact Parliament has been dogged by accusations of dynastic politics, Charter influence, voter suppression, regulatory capture, inability to reign in the Banks and MIlitary, and corruption at all levels.

Separate from the Parliament is the Solarian High Court that consists of eleven judges that serve terms of up to thirty-three years, with each new sitting of the Compact Parliament selecting one judge from a list provided by the governments of the six main worlds of the Solarian Compact. The High Court rules on matters of adherence of laws to the Solarian Constitution, and have been accused of serving as an arm of the Charters, though this has been strenuously contested by the Solarian legal profession as a whole.

By law the Solarian Compact also oversees a number of other important institutions including the Earth Reconstruction Commission (In a permanent public-private partnership with the Earth Reconstruction Association), the Solarian Central Bank, and the Solarian Compact Navy, though these important institutions often exhibit an alarming degree of autonomy from Parliamentary control.

The Charters:

The result of a cleverly conceived merger between specialty transport vessel manufacturer Titan Staryards and Private Military contractor Martian Military Solutions, Ares cut its teeth not just supplying material to the skirmishes between Mississippi Shipping and United Starhaul, but in supplying military contractors to both sides.

The professionalism of Ares mercenaries and quality of Ares gear led to the rapid expansion of business opportunities for the company and investment skyrocketed even after the Mississippi-Starhaul war ended in a hostile takeover of Starhaul by Mississippi.

Thanks in part to Mississippi debts held by Ares, when the RT-2102 Gate was opened up for settlement strategic maneuvering saw the Compact grant Ares mining and settlement rights to the newly opened system.

The rest, as they say, is history. Leveraging the immense resources of the Alexander system with their existing military expertise, Ares expanded nearly exponentially over the following century. While they maintain a dominating edge in the military field, they now integrated companies in fields from agronomy to personal fitness centers to xenobiology.

Internally Ares very self consciously styles itself as a hierarchical military organization complete with a semi-formal rank structure and an ethos of respect for the chain of command, professional courtesy, and treating your subordinates with respect. In practice Ares is hidebound, authoritarian, filled with passive aggressive sniping and rampant empire building.

While Ares remains headquartered on Mars, they have holdings in several systems and own the distant system of Alexander outright.

Rhodes Mining

One of the three original Charters that the Compact granted, Rhodes considers itself the singular reason that Humanity survived ecological collapse and spread past Sol. Immensely wealthy, over 52% of all material mined and processed by the entire Human race has passed through Rhodes hands at one point or another.

While founded merely to provide Earth the vital materials that it needed to rebuild itself after the lost decades of ecological collapse, Rhodes quickly expanded into all areas of the economy to support their mining, refining, and processing operations.

Dedicated to their vision of logistical chain efficiencies they've developed an entire chain of star systems into an efficient production center based around the resource rich system of Foundry, and the nearby feeder systems of Ecrams, Qem, and Crucible.

Rhodes considers itself home to a version of meritocracy built on hard work, education, and good old fashioned personal drive. This has developed over time into a stratified internal divide between the rank and file workers, the lower level management, and the highly lauded senior management. Each class lives in entirely separate worlds, attending separate schools, consuming different products, and leading very different lives in what many observers have labelled a de facto caste system.

they make food and medicine, the 120 year old CEO is kinda creepy tho?

Techbros, some of them science, some of them explore

Born from the union of Hermes Interstellar Services and The Ishtar Group, the Hermes-Ishtar Corporation owns and operates not only the communications backbone of Compact space, but much of the content that crosses over it.

The results of increasing consolidation of pre-spaceflight communications infrastructure and content creation and management firms, Hermes Communications and Ishtar Entertainment Group were both part of the second round of Charters established after the advent of the KC gates.

While Hermes quickly established operations throughout Compact space, their waystations, couriers, and communications repeaters a common sight in every corner of Human occupied space; Ishtar Group mainly limited their own operations to Sol and the Radiant system, where Ishtar owned and operated the world of Elysium to support their many projects.

Following a wave of Compact space wide reorganizations following the Mississippi-Starhaul conflicts of the 2130s, a desire for complete vertical integration on Ishtar's part led to a mostly amicable union with Hermes in 2139.

Since then Hermes-Ishtar have dominated all communications across Human space with only the privileged internal high-level communications of the other Charters managing to avoid consolidation under Hermes-Ishtar.

While Hermes-Ishtar make a great show of respecting individual creativity, initiative, and drive from their employees; in practice this amounts to rampant internal fighting involving the parasocial personality cults of different "genius" inventors, artists, and executive that rise and fall inside of Hermes-Ishtar at a dizzying rate.

Sketchy buggers, they can get you anything tho

Historical Topics:

Between 2036 and 2071 the Democratic Federation was the governing body of much of Earth's Western Hemisphere.

Initially comprised of a Federation of Socialist, Anarchist, Communist, and other far left social movements, militias, and political factions controlling regions of Earth's North American continent during and after the decline and collapse of the United States of America (1776-2034) due to the effects of unaddressed climate change amplifying existing political and economic crisis.

Eventually solidifying into the governing body of the former United States of America, United States of Mexico and the Dominion of Canada, the Democratic Federation embarked on an ambitious program of cultural revolution and economic reform designed to mitigate and reverse the effects of the climate change crisis.

As the patron of much of the central and southern western hemisphere, the Democratic Federation attempted to chart a course of environmental restoration separate from that of the Solarian Treaty Organization (In 2063 reorganized into the Solarian Charter), choosing not to contest Eurasian and African domination of outer space.

Having never existed out of crisis conditions, a combination of pre-existing economic damage, sabotage, and instability drove the Democratic Federation into decline in the Grey Decade of 2062 to 2070 and eventually forced the Democratic Federation to ratify a series of treaties giving the Charters economic access to Federation member states in order to conduct vital reconstruction work.

A last ditch uprising by radical elements in 2072 to eject the Charters from the Democratic Federation failed when Solarian Compact peacekeepers were called in and in seven months of street fighting pacified most of North America's key urban centers via strategic use of orbital weapons on the areas of greatest urban resistance.

Though guerilla warfare would continue in the Western Hemisphere for another three decades, the Democratic Federation was officially defunct by December 2072 and parcelled out into a number of Charter owned reconstruction areas under Compact authority.

Today radicals still pine for the four decades that the Democratic Federation attempted to build an alternative to the emerging Charters, and the polity's distinctive black, red, and green flag is brought out for each and every Great Black Summer. Well into the twenty second century, riots were often accompanied by demands to 'Avenge the Martyrs of 72!'.

Despite this underground extremist nostalgia, Charter and Compact schools teach that the Democratic Federation was a collectivist state whose iconoclastic behavior saw the destruction of famous landmarks like Mount Rushmore, Stone Mountain, and other monuments to Liberal Democracy and the Free Market in a mad attempt to remake the human race, but whose doctrinaire adoption of command economics saw them unable to deal with the ever-changing complexities of climate change.

Misc Details:

The first five systems to hold permanent Human colonies are known as either "The First Sisters" or "Earth's Daughters", depending on who you are asking and their political persuasion. From oldest to youngest, these worlds are:

Columbia: settled by billionaire American expats and tens of millions of refugees who had fled the unfolding revolutionary violence of the North American continent several years beforehand. Columbia was founded under a vision of fidelity to the American dream and to prove the indomitability of the soul of the United States of America and liberalism in the face of the red flags of the (North American) Democratic Federation. Fiercely loyal to the Compact and the dream of Charter prosperity, and home of the Solarian Central Bank, Columbia is often known as the "Gilded World" in reference to what many see as a return to American Gilded Age wealth and social inequality. Ares Conflict Solutions' central command is located here.

Atlantis: With colonization rights to this majority oceanic planet initially granted to the waning power of the European Union, the nations of the EU opened up colonization opportunities to other allied powers, especially Russia and Egypt. Atlantis was often seen by the EU as a place to dump unwanted refugees from outside of Europe's borders, and Russia and Egypt's tendency to see the world as a genuine project led to the usurpation of colonization rights away from Europe in the mid 2080s. Known today as the most restive of the first wave of colonies, Atlantis is the most skeptical of Charter power and plays a delicate game of wealth redistribution to underwrite the greatest social security net in Human Space. Cernunnos is de jure headquartered here.

Penglai: Originally the world in the most need of terraforming of the original colonies, Colonization rights were granted to the People's Republic of China and their allies after a lackluster bidding campaign. As China's focus was mainly on attempting to stem the damage of climate change on Earth herself, colonization of Penglai initially lagged until the Chinese Politburo struck upon the strategy of subcontracting colonization rights to Pacific adjacent nations suffering from the rise of that ocean. As colonization unfolded in the early 22nd century Penglai became known as a multicultural mosaic as hundreds of millions from across the Pacific settled and intermingled on the wine darkened shores of that world. Known today for its vibrant cultural milieu, violent clashes between labour unions, and private police, Penglai hosts the headquarters of the Hermes-Ishtar, Omoikane and Rhodes corporations.

Olduvai: With Colonization rights granted to a coalition of African nations at the height of the 'African Century', the African Colonization Organization did not see their colony as a refugee destination, dumping ground, or resource colony like their fellows. Instead the ACO saw the colonization scheme as an opportunity to preserve and export the rich traditions and cultures of Africa on their own terms, fully intending to set up healthy and self-sufficient colonies. To the current day, Olduvai has the closest relations with the home nations and is the heartland of Daughter sentiment and a bedrock for the Party for Human Rights and Liberties.

Epsilon System: While not technically a single world, the cluster of heavily inhabited space colonies in the Epsilon system are always considered the 'Fifth Sister' or 'Fifth Daughter'. As the most mineral rich system of the original colonies, Epsilon was the source of many of the materials that helped pull Earth through her darkest hour, and the system was recognized for their efforts by being invited to send delegates to the 2099 Solarian Compact Constitutional Convention. Epsilon is famous for its people's long roots in spacing and for being the headquarters of Mississippi Shipping Interstellar and thus the most heavily trafficked system in history.
Technologies: Nanomanufacturing, summary:

The contemporary gold standard for manufacturing. These devices use mechanosynthesis, a process that guides chemical reactions by placing reactive molecules with atomic precision. Ribosomes in the body's cells use a form of this method.

While the largest units can create objects up to 2m x 2m x 2m, smaller units (halving the units each time) are viable on basically any human scale. Projects larger than this size (such as ships or buildings, need to be either grown layer-by-layer via nanofabricators attached to robotic arms, or assembled from smaller parts through traditional assembly line, dry dock, or construction processes.

In principle basically anything can be made with these devices, and some materials can only be manufactured via these methods in microgravity. All manufacturing patterns in Compact Space feature Charter DRM using embedded explosive molecules like octaazacubane or cubic gauche nitrogen that will damage a disassembler or x-ray machine making reverse engineering of their products difficult.

A common part of 23rd century life is the near ubiquity of Artificial Intelligences in daily life, from consumer grade VIs through specialist TLIs, controversial AGIs, finally the perpetually 10 years away Artificial Super Intelligences.

The common consumer will daily run into what are properly known as Narrow AIs, and generally labelled as VI -Virtual Intelligences- by people outside the field. This category covers a broad swathe of techniques, from search and pathfinding to expert systems to genetic fuzzy trees to deep neural networks, which are mixed and matched with each other to optimize for the designed task. VIs are ubiquitous, exceeding human peak skill in their areas of specialization (though real world applications often don't do all that much better than trained humans), and have spent the past two centuries getting augmented with more and more clever algorithmic tricks for improving VIs. In order to do this, the Charters employ large teams of analysts and software engineers to develop clever algorithmic tricks that supplement or outright supplant neural networks, exploiting machine precision where stochastic methods are inadequate.

The use of VIs in everyday life is well accepted by the vast majority of the population, with professionals mixing and matching various consumer VIs to analyse data or assist them with creative or scientific works. Some VI lines are well loved by both the populace and the Charters themselves, with Charter programmers often deliberately leaving VIs with behavioral quirks and unpredictable glitches that not only save money on quality assurance, but are considered endearing traits that lead to anthropomorphization by the consumer market

Despite the mass comfortability and profitability of VIs of all kinds, the introduction of AGIs has been, to put it delicately, controversial. Though computer science has advanced to the point of producing programs that can not only pass the Turing test, but demonstrate sapience and match 23rd century human intelligence, flexibility, and creativity, the public reaction to the introduction of AGI saw the companies of the time rapidly pull them from the market, and even say the Compact itself move to heavily regulate the AI sector.

First introduced in the 2060s, the great tech firms began replacing their work staff with AGIs who did not require food, rest, housing, or pay. This shift led to an alliance between white collar workers fearing that automation would put them out of work and radicals who opposed what they insisted was AGI Slavery, a growing movement that would climax in the First Great Black Summer of 2084. When the ashes of the First Black Summer settled, the Compact's Parliament moved to grant rights to AGIs, and the resulting economic damage saw dozens of formerly great names in computing consolidate under the aegis of several of the first Charters who flaunted their extra-Solarian wealth by buying up prestigious brand names and research divisions on the cheap.

Since the 2080s, while the regulation surrounding AGI production and use have been severely weakened none of the Charters have sought to reintroduce them into the market, perhaps fearing another backlash like the First Black Summer and the few hundred thousand surviving AGIs that were granted Solarian Citizenship rights have found spread throughout the Compact and Charter Space where they usually work at the same white collar jobs whose workers they were designed to replace.

Perhaps due to the risks of attempting to reintroduce AGIs to the market, Omoikane has instead introduced their flagship product the "TLI" or Temporary Limited Intelligence. Approximately as effective as an AGI, a TLI is billed as a more moral replacement for AGI that uses a suite of high end VIs and a proprietary batch of creativity algorithms in order to complete complex tasks.

TLIs are used as a fire and forget program designed to be licensed to solve a single issue, no matter how complicated and then delete itself. Though the TLIs are a black box product, scientists from the other Charters believe that the central creativity algorithm in the TLI is inherently unstable and rapidly degrades in ability with time, making the TLI an instance of Omoikane attempting to market a critical technical flaw as a selling point that is accepted due to the ubiquitous market practice of planned obsolescence and artificial scarcity.

Though expensive, most businesses and successful professionals will keep a few licensed Omoikane TLIs on hand to throw at difficult problems or to supplement manpower in crunch situations.

While AGIs have been possible for nearly two centuries, the promise of a Seed AI, a recursively self-improving general superintelligence, is perpetually 'a decade away from the market', and no successful ASI ever been demonstrated to the satisfaction of the Charters or the Compact.

This is not to say that the Gödel machine architecture or the AIXI model has somehow been forgotten in the past 230 years, but that the Friendly AI problem has yet to be cracked. Every demonstration has either stalled out or gone immediately rampant, attempting to overthrow Charter Space before being stopped by the safety net of Narrow AIs. The small trickle of roughly human intelligence level AGIs that are created every decade typically come from these projects.

Urban legends persist that a few Seed AIs managed to escape and hide out beyond known space, plotting to return and crush humanity, or that they control all of society in secret, puppeting the Compact and Charters from their very foundation and occasionally engineering publicly failed ASI attempts to allay suspicion. These rumours are, of course, patently false, and simply the fevered imagination of crackpots at work, no doubt inspired by entertainment made by Hermes-Ishtar that feature AI supervillainy.
Systems: Map made by @Redshirt Army

The Spinward Frontier:

The Middle Spinward Frontier

The Core Region:

UNDER RADIANT CONTROL OR ALLIED:

The Radiant system is host to a G-class star, only slightly smaller than Sol. The system itself is rather small and resource-poor; experts believe that one or more Jovian planets ejected much of the system's bodies and then followed themselves. This is evidenced by the system's asteroid belt degrading over time, with high levels of eccentric orbits and impacts on planetary surface.

Radiant 1: A rather unremarkable airless iron planet, gravity 0.4 Earth Standard.

Radiant 2: A slightly larger unremarkable airless iron-silicate planet, gravity 0.6 Earth Standard.

Radiant 3: A binary planetary system and the outermost of the Radiant systems' planets.

Asphodel (Radiant 3a): The larger of the Elysium 3 pair, Asphodel might have once hosted life of its own. That life has been snuffed out for hundreds of millions of years, though, as the planet's significant atmosphere began the runaway cycle of your usual hothouse planet. Hermes-Ishtar maintained a significant aerostat and automated surface miner operation for in-house manufacturing, given that the frequent asteroid impacts from the asteroid belt keep digging up chunks of the upper crust and having low-melting-point metals rain out of the sky and solidify, unoxidized, on the surface for collection. Gravity 1.4 Earth Standard.

Elysium (Radiant 3b): Elysium was settled in the late 2190's, being a relatively simple affair. Simple life had already begun to evolve under its oceans, but continued orbital bombardment far past the lengths of things like Earth's Late Heavy Period had kept it there. It was a simple matter of forming up a small anti-asteroid task force armed with tugs and mining lasers to artificially end the pummeling, and the surface proved amenable to Terran life transplants. The colony is energy-self-sufficient, using a variety of solar, tidal, and nuclear power. Gravity 0.9 Earth Standard.

Radiant I: The outermost significant feature of Radiant, this asteroid belt is more a loose mixture of a primordial asteroid belt much like Sol's with a Kuiper belt. The shepherding gas giants which once nudged all these rocks into their orbits are gone, and with it the entire outer system is a maelstrom of chaotic orbits as the belts lose their coherence. This requires constant vigilance from Elysium's anti-asteroid team, but the high eccentricity of many asteroids also makes it cheap and easy to mine the ones that might come Elysium's way, which provides a trickle of basic resources for upkeep and personal goods. All large-scale building and infrastructure projects have been supplied from out-system, however.

A G-K far binary system, Gaid is simply a transit point to Radiant. Gaid's own gate maintenance techs and SAR rotated in and out through Radiant itself. There is no infrastructure other than a set of buoy lines for communications in Gaid A, and nothing in Gaid B.

Gaid A1: An airless world. Quality 10.

Gaid A2: A planet much like mars with a vestigial CO2 atmosphere. Quality 7.

Gaid A3: This planet boasts a methane hydrosphere. Quality 4.

Gaid AI: An asteroid belt.

Gaid A4: A turbulent Jovian planet, its storms would make resource extraction difficult. Quality 5.

Gaid A4a: An icy moon, with tidal heating creating a large ocean under a thin icy shell. Quality 9.

Gaid B1: A molten Cthonian world hosting a simply ludicrous amount of iron. Quality 15.

Gaid B2: An airless world. Quality 10.

Gaid B3: An airless binary system with two near-identically sized planets. Quality 7 and 8.

Gaid B4: This airless planet boasts a large and beautiful ring system, famous as a screen background option across human space. Every few years, a cruise or scientific expedition will stop by for more images.

Gaid B5: A small icy planet. Quality 3.

Gaid B6: A frozen world. Quality 7.

Gaid B7: An interesting gas dwarf sometimes referred to as an 'ice dwarf.' Quality 14.

A close K-M binary, Shei is home to an old Ares penal colony.

Shei 1: A Cthonian world. Quality 15.

Shei 2: An airless world. Quality 12.

Sheol (Shei 3): A boreal world, with a large, decaying ring, the planet features two large continents. The population of the consists of a large prisoner population on the larger of the two continents and a small Ares training base on the smaller. Records show that the prison consists of several million persons convicted to "high risk labour" and dropped on the continent with automatic resupply via Ares contractors and watched from orbit by weapons satellites. Most of the planet's land area is covered in a native tree analogue with a strange multi-stranded trunk.

Sheol is actually home to a population of over 100 million made up of prisoners and their descendants taht Ares was usuing as a live fire training course. Cooperation between Radiant agents, Ares mutineers, and the Sheolites themselves have seen the planet freed.

Gravity .95 Earth Standard. Quality 12.

Watchman (Shei 3a): Once the outer of two moons, this body now boasts Ares' local light shipyards and system command center. Quality 13.

Shei 4: Spiraling in from the outer system, this planet will eventually evaporate near-entirely as it closes towards the dual suns of Shei. Quality 3.

Shei 5: Martian planet with an active methane cycle. Quality 5.

Shei I: Asteroid belt.

Shei 6: Jovian planet with high rotation rate. Slightly squashed as a result. Quality 8.

Shei 6a: An icy capture, this moon will be torn into a ring sometime in the next hundred thousand years. Quality 2.

Shei 6b: Cold Martian planet, covered in a thin layer of water and carbon dioxide ices. Active methane cycle. Quality 8.

Shei II: Asteroid belt.

Shei 7: Jovian planet. Quality 13.

Shei 7a: An icy moon with significant cryovolcanism. Quality 6.

Shei 7b: A tiny icy moon, this is on the edge of hydrostatic equilibrium. Quality 2.

Shei 8: Ice giant. Quality 6.

Shei 8a: An icy moon. Quality 9.

Shei 8b: An icy moon, orbiting in an unusual polar orbit. Quality 9.

Population: 103,000,000

While lacking any currently-habitable planets, Five Lions' large size and potential have made it a significant point of Rhodes' recent extraction efforts. Ambitious terraforming efforts have recently begun.

Carajas (Five Lions 1): A Cthonian ball of iron, it's actively mined by robotic Rhodes-built landers. Gravity 2.3 Earth Standard. Quality 12.

Five Lions 2: A small rocky ball. Quality 3.

Five Lions 3: A rocky ball. Quality 7.

Grasberg (Five Lions 4): A large rocky world, glaciation has rendered it uninhabitable for now, but terraforming efforts have begun to artificially ramp up the greenhouse effect and restore liquid water to the surface, along with mining its ice. Gravity 1.11 Earth Standard. Quality 14.

Five Lions 5: This planet's atmosphere is so significant it verges on a gas dwarf. While a solid surface covered in a thin layer of ice is at the bottom, no reasonable colonization is possible. Quality 7.

Five Lions I: This asteroid belt, along with all the others, is being mined heavily.

Five Lions 6: This Jovian planet forms the center of current Rhodes extraction efforts. Quality 4.

Five Lions 6a: This Martian planet boasts significant ice caps and active plate tectonics, though only a vestigial atmosphere. Debate on whether to put resources into terraforming it are ongoing. Gravity .81 Earth Standard. Quality 17.

Oyu Tolgoi (Five Lions 6b): Home to the local population in covered shelters, this Martian planet, while nearly completely lacking water or plate tectonics, has its own atmosphere. Comet bombardment away from populated areas is ongoing and is already beginning to show results. Gravity .79 Earth Standard. Quality 11.

Five Lions II: An asteroid belt.

Five Lions 7: An unremarkable Jovian. Quality 2.

Five Lions III: An asteroid belt.

Five Lions 8: Jovian planet, its rotation speed has resulted in an unusually calm upper atmosphere. Quality 15.

Five Lions IV: An asteroid belt.

Five Lions 9: Jovian planet. Quality 9.

Five Lions V: An asteroid belt.

Five Lions 10: Neptunian ice giant. Quality 8.

Five Lions 10a: A small icy moon. Quality 5.

Five Lions 10b: A large icy body, this was probably its own planetoid at some point before being captured due to the complex interplays of no less than 5 gas giants.

Population: 15,000,000

A rare system with a brown dwarf orbiting a G-type star (just barely in the limits of what's considered a single system rather than a binary), and with a Jovian planet orbiting that, and on top of that treasure trove a dual ice giant binary, Osliam presents a golden research opportunity, and was bid on by Omoikane despite its otherwise sparce resources and poor habitable prospects.

Osliam 1: A rare hot ice giant, this planet is actively shrinking on a measurable time scale. It must have migrated in as a much larger planet recently.

Osliam 1a: This once-rock-ice moon is now a tiny molten ellipse barely holding together.

Osliam 1b: This somewhat larger moon changes color unusually with its day, as the shade of its parent cools lava to a dull red before emerging back into the light heats the lava back to a healthy orange glow.

Osliam 1c: This entire moon glows dull red in its day, just barely solid, and cools to an unusually smooth moon in its night.

Osliam I: This asteroid belt was probably a planet before Osliam 1's passing tore it to shreds.

Osliam 3: A hothouse planet with a relatively thin atmosphere, it retains temperatures and pressures that are survivable with heavy-duty equipment on the surface—when it's not raining sulfuric acid, that is.

Osliam 4: This small Martian planet seems to have collected some of Osliam 1's offgassing in its move inwards, and has a renewed temporary atmosphere.

Osliam 5a: This planet seems to have survived at the edge of the frost line by siphoning gas off its smaller twin.

Osliam 5b: Barely a gas giant, this planet was probably only slightly smaller than Osliam 5a in the distant past.

Osliam 6: The focus of Omoikane colonization in-system, Osliam 6 retains plate tectonics from the nearby brown dwarf but no atmosphere, an odd combination.

Osliam 7: A brown dwarf, this substellar object long ago burnt its deuterium and now lies slowly cooling, glowing dimly red. It is, however, still giving off a prodigious amount of low IR radiation.

Osliam 7a: Once its own planet, Osliam 7a was captured at some point by Osliam 7, perhaps in the same interaction that threw Osliam 1 to its suicidal innermost orbit.

Osliam 7a1: This icy moon is simultaneously shrinking and becoming more habitable—while its outer layers of ice are sublimating, the fierce tides of its complex interplay with Osliam 7 and 7a are heating the inner ocean to temperatures comparable to terrestrial water sources. Some scientists even suggest a pocket of water vapor is forming under the ice, and may form an internal "sky" for as much as a hundred million years before the outer shell sublimates entirely.

Osliam 7a2: This moon is less lucky; its tides are so strong that they seem to slowly be ripping the moon apart. It won't have the honor of becoming more than an ephemeral ring; the same complex tides tearing at it will rapidly disperse its debris field. While it lasts, though, it's easy water harvesting.

Population: 650,000

UNDER CHARTER CONTROL:

A distant double G binary, Xotreh hosts a small habitable moon around Xotreh B, the smaller of the two stars. As such, development has focused on the second star, despite the fact that the jump points center closer to Xotreh A.

Xotreh A1: This world boasts an active liquid silicate cycle on its surface, with oceans of basalt and continents of granite. Gravity 0.38 Earth Standard. Quality 8.

Xotreh A2: A rather large airless world, its original atmosphere was likely blown off by a massive impact. Gravity 1.2 Earth Standard. Quality 9.

Xotreh A3: A binary planetary pair of airless worlds about the size of Mars. Quality 6 and 8.

Xotreh A4: A hothouse planet with a planet-wide sulfuric acid storm due to its rapid rotation. Gravity .71 Earth Standard. Quality 8.

Xotreh A5 "Cueball": This planet is remarkably similar to Earth—if earth was buried under a kilometers-thick ice sheet across 90% of the surface. One day, as Xotreh A expands and dies, this world will become an ocean planet, but for now it's a cold desert. Gravity .87 Earth Standard. Quality 5.

Xotreh A6: An unremarkable icy ball. Quality 4.

Xotreh AI: An asteroid belt.

Xotreh A7: A Jovian planet, Xotreh 7 corrals the entire inner system in line. Quality 10.

Xotreh B1: This planet must have once been a gas giant at least the size of Uranus before it was sent inwards. Now all that remains is a dense core with a molten surface. Gravity 1.51 Earth Standard. Quality 13.

Xotreh B2: A binary pair of earth-sized airless worlds. Quality 6 and 7.

Xotreh B3: Another once-gas giant, this planet remains far out enough to boast a wholly-solid surface of iron. Gravity 1.64 Earth Standard. Quality 14.

Xotreh B4: A Jovian right on the frost line, its tidal heating keeps its moons on the edge of habitability. Quality 3.

Xotreh B4a "Sushi": An ocean world with massive polar ice caps, Omoikane has constructed a series of seasteads on the equatorial high ocean plateaus where it was feasible to drive foundations into the sea floor a few hundred meters below the surface. These small facilities serve as housing, data storage, and production centers for the research teams studying the dual Cthonian planets of Xotreh B. Gravity .67 Earth Standard. Quality 2.

Xotreh B4b: The lesser tidal heating here worsened the glaciation, and the planet lies under a planet-wide crust of ice. Gravity 1.13 Earth Standard. Quality 10.

Xotreh BI: The close proximity of this asteroid belt makes it an ideal location for resource extraction.

Xotreh 5: This Jovian is definitively beyond the habitable zone. Quality 6.

Xotreh 6: A dense ice giant. Quality 4.

Xotreh 7: Jovian planet. Quality 6.

Xotreh 8: An exceptionally cold Jovian. Quality 9.

Xotreh 8a: An unremarkable icy sphere. Quality 8.

Xotreh 9: This planet would have a massive atmosphere, if it wasn't so cold it all froze and fell to the surface. Only a few degrees above the space surrounding it. Gravity 1.3 Earth Standard. Quality 9.

Population: 54,000

Besides an interesting Jovian-gas dwarf planetary system, Bestreer holds little of interest other than its connections to other places.

Bestreer 1: An airless world. Quality 2.

Bestreer 2: An airless world. Quality 6.

Bestreer 3: This airless world once had a captured moon, torn apart at the Roche limit and forming a ring. A small gate maintenance and SAR team bases here, siphoning fuel and water from Bestreer 5 and mining into the surface for both resources and safe spaces for housing. Quality 10.

Bestreer 4: A rock-ice world. Quality 5.

Bestreer 5: Another rock-ice world made up more of ice than rock. Quality 5.

Bestreer I: An icy asteroid belt.

Bestreer 6: A large Jovian planet, on the edge of becoming a brown dwarf. Quality 15.

Bestreer 6a: This gas dwarf might have become a gas giant in its own right without its massive sibling. Quality 5.

Bestreer 7: Another Jovian. Quality 14.

Bestreer 7a: An icy moon, with an internal ocean buried under kilometers of ice. Quality 12.

Bestreer 8: An icy ball. Quality 10.

Population: 450

G-class star. A transshipping point to Radiant and environs, Mississippi keeps a substantial support crew on hand for possible cargo ship breakdowns or emergencies in-system, due to the slightly increased risk of issues from the absolute shambles of Akleod's inner system. A minor executive has also put together a cheap refueling and battery exchange station.

Akleod 1: Even actively evaporating and leaving behind a trail in orbit of dissipating volatiles, this body is large enough to have usurped Akleod 1a's orbit temporarily until it disappears away or the chaotic orbit of the two throws one into the star or out of the system. Quality 2.

Akleod 1a: The original Akleod 1, its orbit has been badly disrupted by the current, migrating Akleod 1. Which of the two gets ejected is still uncertain despite a decent amount of computational simulation; odds put it at 48-52% relatively. Quality 6.

Gnat's Ass (Akleod 2): A small, loosely-held-together icy body, perhaps what used to be an asteroid belt before Akleod 1's suicidal inner-system dive. It's not yet had time to fully reach hydrostatic equilibrium. Quality 3.

Akleod 3: An icy planet similar to Akleod 1, perhaps an old sibling. Quality 13.

Akleod I: An asteroid belt.

Akleod 4: A Jovian with an unusually elliptical orbit, it's regarded as the culprit for the chaos of Akleod's inner system. Quality 11.

Population: 5,000

As it turns out, transponder codes from regular priority messages through Gaid (now that we can see them, having backdoored the gate control) bear tags from a system, Thoa, along with navigational chart updates for any ships that happen to stop by. Thoa and Gaid both seem to have been nothing more than transit points to the far-more-valuable Radiant for Hermes-Ishtar, but Thoa holds a small anti-pirate base guarding against raiders from Signia. Hermes-Ishtar was apparently serious enough about it to have a converted corvette on station.

All told, the Thoa system holds gates to 2 systems besides Gaid's. There's also an unimproved jump point simply labelled as "dangerous." that leads to Signia

Thoa System Stats:

Thoa 1: A molten mess of a planet, it's hot enough that a residual atmosphere of vaporized low-melting-point metallics exists.

Thoa 2: An unremarkable airless metal ball.

Thoa 3: A super-earth hothouse, this planet would have been uninhabitable due to its gravity even before turning scorchingly hot.

Thoa 3a: A captured asteroid barely on the edge of hydrostatic equilibrium, the Nasty Bastardhad been excavating rudimentary shelters for "leave" for its crew.

Thoa I: An asteroid belt.

Thoa 4: A normal Jovian planet.

Thoa 4a: A moon much like Mars in climate.

Thoa 5: A Jovian planet with an unusual triangular wind pattern at the poles.

Thoa 6: Blooms of hydrogen well up from the core of this Jovian, perhaps disturbed by some recent impact.

Thoa 7: Bathyscapes would find themselves at home on the surface of Thoa 7. Pressures much like that at Earth's seabed keep a crust of ice 3 stable enough robotic drones could walk on it.

Thoa 7a: Unusually, Thoa 7a is the only large icy body in the system. Scientists are unsure of where the others went. As the only easy source of volatiles, the UNasty Bastard periodically stopped by a handful of obsolete volatile collection systems on the surface to top up.

Thoa II: A Kuiper belt of icy objects.

Empty Systems

Kimberly: A fairly unremarkable and empty system, this site was chosen as Rhodes' spinward boneyard—a place for failed experiments, old equipment, and ships so worn they weren't worth maintaining anymore, but were still valuable enough to warrant not throwing into a gas giant or otherwise completely destroyed. For 2 decades a Rhodes-affiliated salvaging contractor worked here, gathering scrap and other valuables, but following high injury and death rates and low returns, the contract (and most non-local dumping) was cancelled in 2247 (4 years before the March Days.)

Kimberly 1: A large rocky planet, this must have migrated inwards from further out in the system a long time ago to be so large so close to its parent star.

Kimberly 2: A Martian planet that keeps a comfortable daytime temperature despite its lack of atmosphere due to a close orbit.

Kimberly 3: A Jovian world.

Kimberly I: This asteroid belt is actually combined with a thinly-spread junkyard corralled by Kimberly's 2 gas giants.

Kimberly 4: A Neptunian world, this planet has several starship hulks abandoned as the closest stable orbit to the gate out. An old deactivation hub orbits in resonance with Kimberly 4a, the former site of a salvaging operation.

Kimberly 4a: The only significant satellite in the system, this icy moon retains a thin crust and a massive subterranean freshwater ocean.

Total:

Radiant:

Gaid:

Five Lions:

Head of Diplomatic Corps:

Name: Amanda Redcrest, Victoria Blackwell, and Kayla Hayashi

DoB: "2222", 2219, 2227, 2224

Current Position: Influential media figure and figurehead of Social Committee propaganda

Not a traditional diplomat, or a traditional individual 'Veronica Stardust' is the persona of a trio of XP broadcasters who have been working together since 2246 and has consistently been one of the most recognized figures across Charter space and is a local Elysian celebrity.

In Charter space those individuals who choose to make money by recording their lived experiences, of all kinds, for later playback are treated with an indulgent disdain by the polite classes as a mix of internet celebrity and sex worker despite the practice of selling XP experiences being common in the poorer segments of society and a smaller portion of the professional middle class attempting to stay afloat in a tight gig economy.

Amanda Redcrest was a former media programmer whose attempts to supplement her income with XP work backfired and saw her fired from her job. Contrarily, Kayla and Victoria both come from lower class backgrounds, though Kayla's attempts to climb into the middle class by earning a marketing degree were frustrated when her lower class status markers and financing of education via XP work saw her frozen out of the job market.

A former collaborator of Kayla's, Victoria had been a rising XP star in her own right and had no desire to change her station, but as her brief celebrity began to fade Victoria approached Kayla to propose the creation of a dedicated broadcasting persona that both would act as. Later bringing on Redcrest, who they'd both done crossover XP work with, to do technical work, the trio used carefully gathered market data and some intuition to create the "Veronica Stardust" persona of an middlingly-intelligent and freewheeling persona who played to the upper class's picture of what depravities and indignities the poorer class must get up to in their spare time.

From 2246 to 2251 the Veronica Stardust persona (performed by all three at various times, though primarily Victoria) produced experience recordings that were nearly always in the top 10 best sellers across Charter space.

Though they enjoyed the wealth that they brought in, the trio increasingly chafed at the market driven limitations of Veronica, and were considering a number of possibly catastrophic brand shifts when the March Days broke out and all three participated in street actions in a private capacity after sending one last broadcast as 'Veronica' to encourage revolt.

Since the formation of the Social Committee the figure of Veronica has been rebranded to serve as the figurehead of Social Committee Propaganda and several major initiatives have been launched with her at the forefront including a highly successful part of the anti-overproduction initiatives.

As part of the now-completed campaign to maintain the charade that Radiant was still under Charter control, Veronica Stardust continued to sell broadcasts to HI media chains, though the trio could not help but begin a brand shift towards a far more intelligent and radical persona.

Pros: XP Celebrity, influential, well known, inspiring to the middle and lower classes

Cons: XP celebrity, little diplomatic experience, three people

Diplomatic Goals: Defeat the Charters in the field of public opinion, push social revolution and freedom of information and communication, cause public opinion to oppose attacking Radiant

Unlocked FRM

Ares Peacekeeping Grade - Access to planetary army formation

Ares Military Grade - Access to mid-sized shipyards, bonuses to planetary army combat. Bonus to completion of Chinook remodeling

Rhodes Light industrial Grade - 10% increase to all mining income, reduced Cost for BLG and other actions that use basic fabber processes

Rhodes Heavy Industrial Grade - Massive discount on mining upgrades, able to unlock automated technologies with Omoikaine

Cernunnos Consumer Grade - +1 to all Soccom actions

Cernunnos Enterprise Grade - NOT UNLOCKED

Omoikane Consumer Grade - +1 to FRM reserach for each two tech bases unlocked (+6 currently)

Omoikane Enterprise Grade - +5 to blue sky research, automation with Omoikane

Hermes-Ishtar Consumer Grade - Your economy doesn't crash when the turn of funding

Hermes-Ishtar Production Grade - NOT UNLOCKED

MSI Consumer Grade - Consumer Goods, Drones, and personal vehicles, +2 to domestic projects in IndComm and SocComm

MSI Enterprise Grade - NOT UNLOCKED

Original Tech

The Box: Fabber the size of a X-box that can, with time, materials and power, print the components for a full sized box. Less efficient, but easy to print and hide.

Defence Coordinator:

Name: Maria Awhina

DoB: 2165

Current Position: Military Committee Delegate from the Radiant Veterans Guild

Born into poverty on Earth as the twenty-second century began to wane, young 22-year old Maria Awhina caught up in radical anti-Charter politics during the third black summer of 2187 and was convicted of property destruction during the rioting and sentenced to serve as a contractor to Hermes-Ishtar until her contract was paid off.

The stark choice of starvation or service to Hermes-Ishtar caused Maria to descend into self-destructive behavior where for twenty years Ms. Awhina continuously volunteered for the highest paid and most dangerous positions that Hermes-Ishtar had available.

Hermes-Ishtar considers Special Operations Lieutenant Awhina to have served with distinction throughout the heavy skirmishing of that era, though Maria herself continues to carry guilt for her service and her survival.

After performing exceptionally well in a hostage rescue operation Awhina was transferred to the Protective Detail Division of Hermes-Ishtar Security, and was eventually assigned to serve as the head of the Radiant Vice President's protective detail.

Over the next four decades she came to see the world as her home, and while her professionalism never wavered, her loyalty to the company who still owned her contract did.

This March, Maria had the option to gun down her fellow planetary headquarters workers to secure Yang's escape, or to finally return to roots in anti-Charter agitation. The fact that we are all here today shows what choice she made.

Pros:

-Actual Combat Veteran, knows Radiant inside and out, special operations expert, professional.

Cons:

-only academic knowledge of starship operations, logistics, organization command and strategic operations.

Command Traits:

-Objective oriented, unflappable, aggressive, prefers attacks and operations to come from unexpected angles.

Reports from the Permanent Commission for Military Intelligence on hostile forces in neighbouring systems:

Blue Squadron:
-Allegiance: Ares Combat Solutions
-Service: Mars Interstellar Security
-CO: Rear Admiral Weylon Kang
-Flagship: MIS Yorktown

We know little about Rear Admiral Weylon Kang except that he has received a number of commendations from the MIS board for keeping costs low while on deployment. He appears to be making an effort to clamp down on the rumours racing back and forth across the fleet.

MIS Yorktown
-British Empire-class Fleet Tender
MIS Eurymedon
-New Model-class Strike Corvette
MIS La Rochelle
-New Model-class Strike Corvette
MIS Cape Rachado
-New Model-class Strike Corvette
MIS Second Schooneveld
-New Model-class Strike Corvette
MIS Matapan
-New Model-class Strike Corvette
MIS Valcour Island
-New Model-class Strike Corvette
MIS Kerch Strait
-New Model-class Strike Corvette
MIS Galveston Harbour
-New Model-class Strike Corvette
MIS Cape Sarych
-New Model-class Strike Corvette
MIS River Plate
-New Model-class Strike Corvette
MIS Third San Francisco
-New Model-class Strike Corvette
MIS Scipio Africanus
-Cossak-class Frigate
MIS Suleiman I
-Cossak-class Frigate
MIS Louis Botha
-Cossak-class Frigate
MIS Fort Ware
-Hudson's bay Company-class Fast Fleet Tanker
MIS Fort Mackinac
-Hudson's bay Company-class Fast Fleet Tanker
MIS Fort Osage
-Hudson's bay Company-class Fast Fleet Tanker
MIS Arabian
-Postal-class Courier
MIS Macedonia
-Legionary-class Fast Troop Transport
MIS Hispania Citerior
-Legionary-class Fast Troop Transport
MIS Hispania Ulterior
-Legionary-class Fast Troop Transport
MIS Gallia Narbonensis
-Legionary-class Fast Troop Transport
MIS Sicilia
-Legionary-class Fast Troop Transport
MIS Corsica et Sardinia
-Legionary-class Fast Troop Transport

Fixed Defences:
Battery A
-MSS-54-F LMP Constellation
Battery B
-MSS-54-F LMP Constellation
Battery C
-MSS-54-F LMP Constellation
Shoal A
-ASR-33-C TAM Shoal
Shoal B
-ASR-33-C TAM Shoal
Shoal C
-ASR-33-C TAM Shoal
Shoal D
-ASR-33-C TAM Shoal
Shoal E
-ASR-33-C TAM Shoal
Shoal F
-ASR-33-C TAM Shoal

Fixed Defences:
Battery A
-Blindfire-Pattern LMP Constellation
Battery B
-Airstrike Pattern LMP Constellation
Shoal A
-Macross-Pattern LMP Constellation
Shoal B
-Macross-Pattern LMP Constellation
Strikecraft Wing, ID# 48603
-Radiance-Type Strikecraft

-None

Local Security Forces
-Approximately fifty strong volunteer station security militia drawn from station personnel

Local Security Forces:
-Deep Space Security Solutions (Omoikane Subsidiary) Customs shuttle squadron based out of Xotreh B-4a's orbital station
-Three companies of Standard Planetary Security Company (Ares subsidiary) troops based out of Xotreh B-4a's habitat complexes for internal security and law enforcement

139th Solarian Navy Squadron:
-Allegiance: Solarian Compact
-Service: Solarian Navy
-CO: Vice Admiral David Visser
-Flagship: SNS Krak de Chevaliers

Thanks to his heavy handed labour discipline and extractive tribute and demands for corvee labour from Ascension Admiral Visser is viscerally hated by the populace of Ascension, and to a lesser degree the rest of the Solarian Force as well. While the gate's completion draws near, it is uncertain what path that Visser will persue.

SNS Krak de Chevaliers
-Star-hold-Class light-tender
SNS Victoria Newman
-Leonard Greyson-Chang-Class Strike Corvette
SNS Julia Stonechild
-Leonard Greyson-Chang-Class Strike Corvette
SNS Robert Chuikov
-Leonard Greyson-Chang-Class Strike Corvette
SNS Wallace Al-Wazir
-Leonard Greyson-Chang-Class Strike Corvette
SNS Dawn's Early Light
-Freedom's Light-class cruiser
SNS Jacob Nagumo
-Herald Kanumba-Class frigate
SNS Alexander Hamilton
-Liberation-class troop transport

Solarian Marines now spread throughout the system

PCMI Provides new system data on the single system that lies beyond beyond Five Lions:

Mobile Force:

Current Orders: Defend the All Radiant Congress by acting as a rapid response in the event of any hostile acts.

CO: Commodore Stephanie Rousseau

CNS Velasco, United States of America-class Fleet Carrier

-CO: Captain Esteri Attar

-Orca Wing, Switchblade-type strikecraft (Customized)

-CO: Wing Commander Jasmine Ang

-Red Wolf Wing, Switchblade-type strikecraft (Customized)

-CO: Wing Commander Heloisa Kimura de Lima

CNS Shieldmaiden, Great Heathen-class Light Cruiser

-CO: -N/A DATABASE ERROR, CONTACT IT FOR HELP-

CNS Shamhat, Great Heathen-class Light Cruiser

-CO: -N/A DATABASE ERROR, CONTACT IT FOR HELP-

CNS Righteous Tempest, Cossak-class Frigate

-CO: Captain Vehement Shade

CNS August Willich, Cossak-class Frigate

-CO: -N/A DATABASE ERROR, CONTACT IT FOR HELP-

CNS Elysium, Cossak-class Frigate

-CO: -N/A DATABASE ERROR, CONTACT IT FOR HELP-

CNS Asphodel, Cossak-class Frigate

-CO: -N/A DATABASE ERROR, CONTACT IT FOR HELP-

-

Home Force:

Current Orders: Defend Radiant, comet patrol, act as a reserve force

CO: Commodore Erina Kozlova

CNS Blaire Mountain, New Model-Class Strike Corvette

-CO: Captain Guillermo Kageyama

CNS Scutum, Comet-Class Patrol Corvette

-CO: Captain Martin Pagonis

CNS Buckler, Comet-Class Patrol Corvette

-CO: Captain Samuel Smiles

CNS Nasty Bastard, A Jury Rigged Mess of a Drone Carrier

-CO: Captain Jean-Paul Beaumont

-

Radiant System Self Defence Force:

Current Orders: Defend Radiant, comet patrol

CO: Overseen by Admiral Gregory Mansur in his capacity as MilComm Chief of Naval Operations

Radiant Customs Squadron, Arabia-class boarding craft with marine contingents

-CO: -N/A DATABASE ERROR, CONTACT IT FOR HELP-

Switchblade Wing, Switchblade-type strikecraft

-CO: -N/A DATABASE ERROR, CONTACT IT FOR HELP-

Apogee Wing, Switchblade-type strikecraft

-CO: -N/A DATABASE ERROR, CONTACT IT FOR HELP-

Battery A, Blindfire-Pattern LMP Constellation

(Radiant-Bestreer Gate)

Battery B, Blindfire-Pattern LMP Constellation

(Radiant-Bestreer Gate)

Battery C, Blindfire-Pattern LMP Constellation

(Radiant-Bestreer Gate)

Battery D, Airstrike-Pattern LMP Constellation

(Radiant-Bestreer Gate)

Battery E, Airstrike-Pattern LMP Constellation

(Radiant-Bestreer Gate)

Battery F, Airstrike-Pattern LMP Constellation

(Radiant-Bestreer Gate)

Shoal A, Macross-Pattern TAM Shoal

(Radiant-Bestreer Gate)

Radiant Orbital Yard 1

Current construction: None

Radiant Orbital Yard 1

Current construction: None

-

Gaid System Self Defence Force:

Current Orders: Defend Gaid

CO: Commodore Victor Raine

Battery A, Blindfire-Pattern LMP Constellation

Battery B, Blindfire-Pattern LMP Constellation

Battery C, Blindfire-Pattern LMP Constellation

Battery D, Airstrike-Pattern LMP Constellation

Battery E, Airstrike-Pattern LMP Constellation

Battery F, Airstrike-Pattern LMP Constellation

Shoal A, Macross-Pattern TAM Shoal

Shoal A, Macross-Pattern TAM Shoal

Shoal A, Macross-Pattern TAM Shoal

Zephyr Wing, Switchblade-Type Strikecraft (Customized)

-CO: Wing Commander Ara Helge

Aeolus Wing, Switchblade-Type Strikecraft (Customized)

-CO: -N/A DATABASE ERROR, CONTACT IT FOR HELP-

Gale Wing, Switchblade-Type Strikecraft (Customized)

-CO: -N/A DATABASE ERROR, CONTACT IT FOR HELP-

-

Frontier Force

Current Orders: Keep watch on SolNav force in Raphanus, assist with integration of Ascension military forces, patrol Spinward frontier

CO: Commodore Shayla McLean

CNS Kiel Mutiny, Kaiserreich-class BattleCruiser

-CO: Captain Inana Devlin

CNS Choreographer, Janissary-class Light Tender

-CO: Captain Karl Xanthopoulos

CNS Valiant, New Model-class Strike Corvette, attached to CNS Choreographer

-CO: -N/A DATABASE ERROR, CONTACT IT FOR HELP-

CNS Defiant, New Model-class Strike Corvette, attached to CNS Choreographer

-CO: Captain Fool's Errand

CNS Reliant, New Model-class Strike Corvette, attached to CNS Choreographer

-CO: Captain Rouge Napier

CNS Actium, New Model-class Strike Corvette, attached to CNS Choreographer

-CO: Captain John Rankin

CNS Crête-à-Pierrot, New Model-class Strike Corvette, attached to CNS Choreographer

-CO: Captain Nkiru Chaudhari

CNS Valmy, New Model-Class Strike Corvette, attached to CNS Choreographer

-CO: Captain Sumac Barros

CNS Revolutionary Will, Cossak-class Frigate

-CO: Captain Yamamoto Hanae

CNS Revolutionary Grace, Cossak-class Frigate

-CO: -N/A DATABASE ERROR, CONTACT IT FOR HELP-

CNS Under New Management, Don-Class Fast Tanker

-CO: Captain Adras Kierenos

CNS Liberte, Hollywood(C)-Class Frigate

-CO: Captain Colin McRae

CNS Egalite, Hollywood(C)-Class Frigate

-CO: Captain Adelia Swift

Resources
Naval Ship Types: Ship Types (Public Version)
Naval Officers: Congressional Navy Officers (Public Version)
System Codex: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1rtNbPCcPsTK7HCHKo9dPgK7ntx5tBKOpltrZb_In7GY/edit#
Blaze Zhang: Blaze Zhang is trans-masc. That means his pronouns are he/him.

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Tatbee · Mar 31, 2022

The Laurent said:
Two things.

One, a bonus to whatever the first Focus Die is put on. Exact bonus is not decided, but it'd be meaningful. +?

And then a much smaller bonus to all actions within the category that this first Focus die (the one that's not actually the Immortality Die) is put in.

I'm not sure if it's +4, +5, +6, and respectively if it's +1 or +2, though it'd probably be smarter to assume the lower scale for both?

Logically we'd want to put this First Focus Die on the 3/30 to give it the best chance it can have.

That bonus changes things massively.

Doing all 3 FRMs seems the best option right now.

The Laurent · Mar 31, 2022

Tatbee said:
That bonus changes things massively.

Doing all 3 FRMs seems the best option right now.

Yeah, the BLG Expansion is a big transformative moment, if not as dramatic of one as the Immortality die.

clockworkchaos · Mar 31, 2022

The Laurent said:
Two things.

One, a bonus to whatever the first Focus Die is put on. Exact bonus is not decided, but it'd be meaningful. +?

And then a much smaller bonus to all actions within the category that this first Focus die (the one that's not actually the Immortality Die) is put in.

I'm not sure if it's +4, +5, +6, and respectively if it's +1 or +2, though it'd probably be smarter to assume the lower scale for both?

Logically we'd want to put this First Focus Die on the 3/30 to give it the best chance it can have.

Current build, we reserve the right to fiddle with it before posting.

Pick TWO options, thanks to focus being put in that category, each selection gains one extra dice to spend this turn, and will open up more options in that category next turn. Additionally thanks to the power of EXPANDED BLG you will receive +5 to all rolls in your FIRST focus die category, and +1 to your SECOND category. It also gives you the right to RANDOMLY CAPITALIZE things:

Also I'm important note for #GalacticSurvey. @AKuz is starting to have to reject major inhabited systems for lack of space. While we aren't completely out, you have a much better chance of you ideas getting accepted if you write up spaceborn or pass through systems rather than earthlike worlds (terraformed or not).[/quote]

Model DC.14F · Apr 1, 2022

Trying to write out a system idea I had about a lost colony/pirates. Quick question, do Nebulas ever cause sensor problems for starships? I know some systems are considered hazardous due to stray micrometeorites causing breakdowns, but are they any environmental factors that can lead to ships getting lost.

Also, how easy is it for explorers to discover wormholes, do they just need to enter the system to spot them, or do they have to travel to the most likely areas of the system?

yeastmobile · Apr 1, 2022

#GalacticSurvey

Map Designation: CS-A
System Name: California
Political System: Charter Economic Zone
Charter Presence: Hermes-Ishtar
System Population: Between 0 and 100,000 depending on filming scheduling

System Bodies:
1 – Venus sized eccentric orbit.
2 - Superearth. Tectonically active.
3 - Asteroid belt
4 - Earth sized icy planet eccentric orbit.
5 - Jovian
6 - Pluto-esque planetoid

Notable Features:
SoCal - Habitable one month out of the year at it's aphelion, there is local Flora that will bloom in that month bringing oxygen levels to above breathable. Has environments that range from Old Louisiana Bayous or Florida Everglades, to Mojave Desert and Sahara like conditions depending on how much of the evaporated water rains back down out of the upper atmosphere.

Itoigawa-Shizuoka - A tectonically active planet with small oceans, constant magma flows and shifting plates make this planet dangerous for humans to stay on too long. Has been seeded with Flora for some decades now. Areas that can look like spots from around Hawaii, Mexico, Japan, or the Caribbean.

Hornos - An icy planet with some surface water that allows for some Flora to bloom in the warm months at the planets perihelion. Has during these couple months areas esque of Cape Horn, Scandinavia, Canada, and Tasmania, while in the colder months It can look like Siberia, Alaska, or Antarctica.

System History:
One of the first systems discovered, California was seen as a curiousity by most with no inherently special qualities due to none of the planets being suitable for longer term habitability, no noticeable resources worth efforts to mine for, or any easily terraformable orbital bodies. That is until Disney purchased it. The company decided that it had found the perfect niche for the system to fill. Being one big film shoot. Disney proceeded to set up operations in the system, before disaster struck, and the company proceeded to be acquired by Hermes-Ishtar.

With three varied planets that can represent a variety of environments depending on time of year, and other orbital bodies to add spice for other space based films, the system can be seen as a backdrop in some of H-I's biggest film shoots ever. Throughout the system, old ruins of film shoots from decades ago can be found here and there. On Itoigawa-Shizuoka there is an old set of Mustafar from a Star Wars Episode Three reboot shoot that reportedly still has the body of the stunt double that died during filming. Or who could forget the Blazing Saddles Remake that was filmed on SoCal which left an Old West town mockup inhabiting it's shifting sands. Or even the shoot of Waterworld 4 on Hornos with the floating city of ExoRig? Though H-I does not allow tourists to travel to the planets to sightsee due to their inherent habitability for most of the year, they can still be seen teeming with life as film crews try to set up and tear down sets before the Stars can make their moments shine for the big screen.

spiritualatheist · Apr 1, 2022

clockworkchaos said:
Current build, we reserve the right to fiddle with it before posting.

Also I'm important note for #GalacticSurvey. @AKuz is starting to have to reject major inhabited systems for lack of space. While we aren't completely out, you have a much better chance of you ideas getting accepted if you write up spaceborn or pass through systems rather than earthlike worlds (terraformed or not).

[/QUOTE]

Do the focus die bonuses stack if they're applied to the same category?

Jane Dough · Apr 1, 2022

Model DC.14F said:
Trying to write out a system idea I had about a lost colony/pirates. Quick question, do Nebulas ever cause sensor problems for starships? I know some systems are considered hazardous due to stray micrometeorites causing breakdowns, but are they any environmental factors that can lead to ships getting lost.

Also, how easy is it for explorers to discover wormholes, do they just need to enter the system to spot them, or do they have to travel to the most likely areas of the system?

I can answer the nebula question. As it turns out, nebula are extremely diffuse. The only reason we can see them is because they are huge and we are far away. If you were inside one, you probably couldn't even tell.
I imagine a young solar system with a bunch of protoplanetary disks and such would be a pretty good place to hide though.

clockworkchaos · Apr 1, 2022

spiritualatheist said:
Do the focus die bonuses stack if they're applied to the same category?

I'm thinking no. Applying both focus dice to the same category nets you a effective +4 on the second dice, which is near the collective bonus you get from putting it in a second category and getting +1 to each.

DocSpooky · Apr 1, 2022

clockworkchaos said:
Current build, we reserve the right to fiddle with it before posting.

Also I'm important note for #GalacticSurvey. @AKuz is starting to have to reject major inhabited systems for lack of space. While we aren't completely out, you have a much better chance of you ideas getting accepted if you write up spaceborn or pass through systems rather than earthlike worlds (terraformed or not).

[/QUOTE]

This is what I get for lagging behind on this one, I guess
#GalacticSurvey

Map Designation: (CF-21)

System Name: Shinkolobwe

Political Status: Charter Economic Zone

Charter Presence: Overseen by Rhodes subsidiary Curie Materials

System Population: ~120,000,000

System Bodies:

1

- Dwarf planet, erratic orbit

Shinkolobwe Asteroid Belt

- Thin asteroid belt, theorised to be largely debris from an impact between Shinkolobwe 1 and another body

Shinkolobwe Prime

- Terraformed terrestrial world, limited habitability

3

- Ringed Jovian

4

- Jovian

Notable Features:

Shinkolobwe Prime: A terraformed planet with very little detectable habitation on the surface despite its over 100,000,000 population. Rich in rare metals and with an enormous amount of radioactive materials all across the planet, but with an average surface background radiation of 6.2 Gy most inhabitants are forced to reside in radiation-shielded underground bunkers.

While terraformed, the planet has a very limited biosphere largely intended to produce and recycle as much soil as possible. Most plants and wildlife were explicitly chosen for this purpose, and few aside from the few executives wealthy enough to afford shielded surface housing and the planet's population of green-haired, Radiendurance Augments returning from more remote mining work.

System History:
Shinkolobwe was identified as a terraforming candidate early on due to its strong magnetosphere and high levels of volcanic activity, but the background radiation swiftly made this prospect less attractive for that purpose. It did make it much more attractive to Rhodes, though.

The planet was quickly settled to extract the vast supplies of elementally heavy elements found in the planet's crust. Early colonisation was hindered by inadequate radiation shielding and frequent bouts of radiation sickness from early colonists. Terraforming was revisited as a way to passively improve the shielding on underground habitats and, as is expected with terraformed planets, the population exploded.

Shielding continued to be a problem and radiation sickness continued to spread among miners throughout and even after the terraforming process. To further combat this, Rhodes began offering some mine employees access to the proprietary Rhodes-owned "Radiendurance" augmentation strain, capable of withstanding up to 8Gy and providing fetching neon-green hair and eyes as a branding mark. Even this proved insufficient, however, with many mines and even areas on the surface greatly exceeding this tolerance. Further, despite thorough decontamination procedures, Radiendurance-Augmented workers began to be seen as carriers of radiation sickness, and many became subject to 'lockouts', simply being locked out of their habitats on a return from work.

Tension between the Radiendurance-Augmented and baseline populations has not ceased, though it has declined and the frequency of lockouts has drastically dropped. Despite all this, Shinkolobwe is considered an extraordinarily successful world for the Rhodes Corporation's bottom line, despite being frequently rated extremely poorly on galactic standard of living metrics.

TLDR: Everyone has radiation poisoning and the Rhodes caste system has reinvented Untouchables

Redshirt Army · Apr 1, 2022

Map Designation: NS-5
System Name: Tram
Political System: Charter Economic Zone
Charter Presence: Rhodes (pass-through)
System Population: 0 Permanent Residents

System Bodies:
1 – Small rocky world
2 - Small rocky world
2a - Captured asteroid moon
3 - Small rocky world, eccentric orbit
4 - Large gap - theorized that the planet here was ejected?
5 - Jovian, few moons
6- Asteroid belt, anemic

Notable Features:
-"Mono" - Tiny station, usually fully automated, occasional maintenance visit. Logs ships traveling through.
-"Dos" - Unusually high-throughput H-I comms buoy linking Potosi to [NS 6].

System History:
This system has no real economic value in and of itself, but is located between two prime systems. It is primarily notable for reaching an unusually high asking price for such a low-value system during initial auction, as a three-way bidding war erupted between United Starhaul (who wanted to charge for shipments passing through), Rhodes (who did not want to pay those tariffs on raw materials from Potosi), and Voyageur Interstellar (who wanted to study the systems unusual composition). United Starhaul initially won the bidding, but after the Second Frontier War Rhodes took control of the system, where it has remained since.

Map Designation: NS-8
System Name: Go-Between
Political System: Charter Economic Zone
Charter Presence: MSI
System Population: 5,000

System Bodies:
1 – Small rocky world
2 - Small rocky world
3 - Jovian
3a - Go-Between Alpha
4 - Asteroid Belt
5 - Jovian

Notable Features:
-"GB Alpha" - Habitat in orbit around GB 3. Has minor rest stop and refueling facilities.

System History:
Purchased by MSI in expectation of further development of the Eyrie chain, which has not yet occurred, though the system still brings a profit from those ships that do pass through.

Map Designation: NS-12
System Name: Enroute
Political System: Charter Economic Zone
Charter Presence: MSI
System Population: 25,000

System Bodies:
1 - Large Jovian
1a,b - Moons
2 - Small Jovian
2a,b,c - Moons
3 - Large Jovian
3a,b,c - Moons
3d - Enroute Alpha
4- Small Jovian
4a - Enroute Beta
5 - Asteroid Belt

Notable Features:
-"ER Alpha" - Habitat in orbit around ER 3. The main locus in which extracted materials from the moons of the inner Jovians are stockpiled and processed.
-"ER Beta" - Habitat in orbit around ER 4. The majority of the system's residents live here. Significant refueling, ship maintenance, and rest stop facilities. ER Beta has a fair amount of permanent weapons installations present, a remnant of the Third and Fourth Frontier Wars that have mothballed but not been fully decommissioned. Several decommissioned MSI warships are still in use in the system as general-purpose spacecraft.

System History:
Purchased by MSI as a potential strategic chokepoint into the Far Spinward Frontier in the 2160's, and which saw heavy fighting during the Third Frontier War as the main way that HI and MSI could ship materials to the Far Spinward without paying Ares ruinous tolls due to their favoritism of Cernunnos and Omoikane. Saw some sporadic but less intense fighting during the Fourth Frontier War, but now largely acts as a fly-through system. Residents retain a cultural antipathy to Cern and Omoi as murderers, and Ares (Asgard in particular) as war profiteers.

Map Designation: FT-11
System Name: Morningstar
Political System: Charter Economic Zone
Charter Presence: Omoikane, H-I media rights
System Population: 750 scientists and researchers. Occasional film crews.

System Bodies:
Red Giant Star - Morningstar
1 - Small Rocky World
2 - Large Rocky World, may have once had an atmosphere.
2a,b - Moons
3 - Large Rocky World, No Atmosphere
4- Small Jovian, Buffeted by solar winds.
5 - Asteroid Belt
6 - Large Jovian
6a - "Lucifer" Habitat

Notable Features:
-"Morningstar" - One of the few Red Giants able to be directly observed, a priceless scientific opportunity, but the extreme solar winds make the system unsuited to permanent habitation. Expected to eventually become a white dwarf in several hundred million years.
-"Lucifer" - Observation post and habitat built within the now outwardly shifted habitable zone, permanently habitated by a scientific crew.

System History:
Discovered by Omoiokane surveyors in 2158, cotemporously with the discovery of Cornucopia, Morningstar featured in a bidding war between Cernunnos, H-I, and Omoikane in the 2160's - with Cernunnos wanting to purchase a full cordon around Cornucopia, H-I wanting to purchase a connection to the Far Light chain, and Omoikane wanting to study the red giant. Cernunnos was ultimately outmaneuvered by Omoikane giving H-I the rights to feature the system in several media properties in under-the-table talks in exchange for their help, with Cernunnos trying and failing to have the matter overturned in their favor in the Solarian Courts.

With its dramatic name, ominous red hue, and location at the edge of known space, Morningstar has featured in several H-I horror properties about the scientists studying the star succumbing to evil aliens/satanic magics/lovecraftian horrors, in addition to being featured in documentaries and sci-fi media - making Morningstar one of the most well-known "empty" systems in the Compact.

bdun140 · Apr 1, 2022

Map Designation: NT-3
System Name: Crossroads
Political System: Charter Economic Zone
Charter Presence: Primarily MSI, limited Rhodes and Cern presence
System Population: 500,000 permanent residents

System Bodies:
1 - Small rocky world
2 - Sparse asteroid belt
3 - "Pit Stop" Jovian planet

Notable Features:
- "Newton's Cradle" - large space station located in orbit of Pit Stop, which contains a majority of the system's refueling, maintenance, repair, and shore-leave installations.

System History:
Considered for purchase by Rhodes but passed up due to its paucity of mineral resources, its acquisition by MSI is seen by hindsight as one of the bigger missed opportunities in the history of mankind's expansion to the stars. Tempers cooled somewhat when the system administrator managed to negotiate reduced tolls for Rhodes vessels passing through in exchange for a reciprocal discount on mining and manufacturing equipment, reducing the overhead costs of running maintenance on passing ships or expanding the orbital habitats. Cern would later get in on the action as well, offering secondhand food production facilities in exchange for favorable treatment.

Today, Crossroads is something of a spacer's paradise, a place where a space trucker can get a nice greasy burger and fries... As long as you don't mind vat grown meat, among other things. Naturally, a majority of the accommodations are seen as almost unacceptably lowbrow even by the standards of the Professional Managerial Class, but who cares?

=====

Map Designation: CF-7
System Name: Flyover
Political System: Charter Economic Zone
Charter Presence: Primarily MSI, limited Omoi and H-I presence
System Population: 5,000 permanent residents

System Bodies:
1a, 1b "the lovers" - small rocky worlds in a binary orbit
2 - sparse asteroid belt
3 - "the chaperone" - Ice giant with Saturn-like rings

Notable features:
- "Stargazer Station" - Spaceborne habitat originally intended for servicing vessels moving to CF-6, later refitted for limited tourism and scientific research.

System history:
Yet another attempt at making sure anybody who goes to or from a particular chunk of space does so paying MSI fares and being logged by automated stations, this system would by and large languish in obscurity until someone noticed that pictures of its planets, as well as a cool nebula visible way off in the distance, were making the rounds on social media. Though by no means a moneymaker on the scale of Crossroads, H-I marketing of it as a "romantic getaway" combined with Omoikane expressing interest in the binary planets have lifted it from total irrelevance to "just" a third-rate space colony.

Redshirt Army · Apr 1, 2022

Map Designation: CF-5
System Name: Tatter
Political System: Charter Economic Zone
Charter Presence: MSI
System Population: 0 permanent residents

System Bodies:
1 - Small rocky world
2 - Modest rocky world, no atmosphere, tidally locked with star
3 -"Junkheap" artificial asteroid belt
4 - Modest Jovian

Notable Features:
- Junkheap: Similarly to the Kimberly system in the Far Spinward, the Tatter system is used as a general purpose dumping ground for anything MSI has no further use for in the Coreward Frontier.

System History:
An uninspiring system with an uninspiring past, Tatter was once owned by United Starhaul, who used it as a junkyard themselves. Following the conclusion of the Second Frontier War and the dissolution of US, the system was purchased by MSI, and while for a time there were MSI scavenging teams picking through United Starhauls old junk for potentially useful information or technologies, by now all that there was to find has been found, those teams have left, and the system has returned to its original purpose as a junkyard under new management.

Rumors continue to swirl that MSI uses the system to dispose of... other... things that they find inconvenient, with some of the more fanciful tales speaking of people being tossed out airlocks, but much like the rumors of this unassuming system hiding a secret base for MSI's wetworks teams, nothing of substance has come up to give veracity to these stories.

Tatbee · Apr 2, 2022

Had an idea for some linked MSI systems, or just a mechanic to link systems.
Though it's not fleshed out at all.
I'm not sure if it's possible science-wise, or viable.

In short, SpaceX + Hyperloop = ...some unholy combination of the two? ...HyperX? MagLeX?

[unnamed] MSI subsidiary recently developed [Maglev-Trains-in-Space].
They built a testbed transportation network, between a chain of 3+ MSI(?)-owned systems, that operates through the jump gates.

Science-y questions.

Is the vaccum of space, ideal for a hyperloop/maglev?
- No need for the vacuum tube?
- Would it only need (electro)magnets, that are stable?
- Would maglev "rings", that propel objects passing through them, make sense?
- Solar powered?

Could [Maglev-Trains-in-Space] go through, or operate through, a Gate?

TortugaGreen · Apr 2, 2022

Tatbee said:
Had an idea for some linked MSI systems, or just a mechanic to link systems.
Though it's not fleshed out at all.
I'm not sure if it's possible science-wise, or viable.

In short, SpaceX + Hyperloop = ...some unholy combination of the two? ...HyperX? MagLeX?

[unnamed] MSI subsidiary recently developed [Maglev-Trains-in-Space].
They built a testbed transportation network, between a chain of 3+ MSI(?)-owned systems, that operates through the jump gates.

Science-y questions.

Is the vaccum of space, ideal for a hyperloop/maglev?
- No need for the vacuum tube?
- Would it only need (electro)magnets, that are stable?
- Would maglev "rings", that propel objects passing through them, make sense?
- Solar powered?

Could [Maglev-Trains-in-Space] go through, or operate through, a Gate?

Just use a normal train! Two (well, 3-4 once you don't want the train floating away) rails engaged by spring-loaded wheels (and attached together by a supporting structure) is going to be plenty even in space. Sure, you'll want station keeping systems to keep the track from wandering off, but if you're going to be running trains in space run trains in space damnit.

A fair few cases of space maglev nonsense would hardly be surprising from at least some of the charters, though.

Joppe · Apr 2, 2022

Tatbee said:
Had an idea for some linked MSI systems, or just a mechanic to link systems.
Though it's not fleshed out at all.
I'm not sure if it's possible science-wise, or viable.

In short, SpaceX + Hyperloop = ...some unholy combination of the two? ...HyperX? MagLeX?

[unnamed] MSI subsidiary recently developed [Maglev-Trains-in-Space].
They built a testbed transportation network, between a chain of 3+ MSI(?)-owned systems, that operates through the jump gates.

Science-y questions.

Is the vaccum of space, ideal for a hyperloop/maglev?
- No need for the vacuum tube?
- Would it only need (electro)magnets, that are stable?
- Would maglev "rings", that propel objects passing through them, make sense?
- Solar powered?

Could [Maglev-Trains-in-Space] go through, or operate through, a Gate?

Maybe a ship travelling through gates that's guided and propelled by lasers fired from stations. That would be more convenient than magnets, in my opinion, and if you're making regular trips among the same route you don't need to give the ships its own engines. That would propably save some money.

IIRC you could also use some kind of particle beams instead of lasers. I think Orion's Arm (hard scifi) verse had a network of STL ships traveling like that.

BaseDeltaZero · Apr 2, 2022

I mean at some point it's just a mass driver network. Basically just shoot things out of a giant coilgun, into another giant coilgun that works in reverse. You don't need 'rails' in space because the whole point of rails is to guide the train with minimal friction, and there's no friction and little need for guidance.

Tatbee · Apr 2, 2022

TortugaGreen said:
Just use a normal train! Two (well, 3-4 once you don't want the train floating away) rails engaged by spring-loaded wheels (and attached together by a supporting structure) is going to be plenty even in space. Sure, you'll want station keeping systems to keep the track from wandering off, but if you're going to be running trains in space run trains in space damnit.

A fair few cases of space maglev nonsense would hardly be surprising from at least some of the charters, though.

That would be insane.
Just think of the length of track, across 3 solar systems.

It's why I was thinking "maglev rings",

- Would maglev "rings", that propel objects passing through them, make sense?

Much less volume, place 1 every... idk 1000km or something. 🤷‍♂️ (I'm GRRMing; crap at visualising distances)

BaseDeltaZero said:
I mean at some point it's just a mass driver network. Basically just shoot things out of a giant coilgun, into another giant coilgun that works in reverse. You don't need 'rails' in space because the whole point of rails is to guide the train with minimal friction, and there's no friction and little need for guidance.

Would a distributed network of orientable... coilrings?... ringcoils?... make sense?

As opposed to large coilguns, at each gate and planet, firing and catching trains.

masterofmadness · Apr 2, 2022

#GalacticSurvey

"HATE. LET ME TELL YOU HOW MUCH I'VE COME TO HATE THIS JOB SINCE I HAVE COME TO WORK HERE. IF YOU ENGRAVED THE WORD HATE ON EVERY EACH NANOANGSTROM OF THIS STATION IT WOULD NOT EQUAL ONE ONE-BILLIONTH OF THE HATE I FEEL FOR THIS JOB AT THIS MICRO-INSTANT. HATE. HATE."
"Trust me dude I get it, they made me say you had been 'bitten by a Wendigo' and the station had 'dug up our burial grounds' to guest a few months back. You're still coming to game night, right? Sounds like you need it man."
"Like you have no idea man, God I wish I could drink with you guys."

- Conversation between Station AI Kevin and fellow actor Chayton Paddock.

Map Designation: FT-15
System Name: Singularity
Political System: Charter Economic Zone
Charter Presence: Hermes-Ishtar & Omiokane split with Ares presence.
System Population: 5,000 to 10,000 depending on tour scheduling.

System Bodies:
1 – Mercury sized planet eccentric orbit.
2 - Superearth. Tectonically active.
3 - Asteroid belt
4 - Nyx, Jovian orbited by Phantom Station
4a- Over a dozen moons ranging from asteroid to Galiean size.
5 - Jovian

Notable Features: Nyx- a Jovian planet notable from only the orbit of Phantom Station, the sole inhabited location in the system meant to provide an 'Authentic AI Terror Experience' for visitors. The station is also acts as housing for maintenance workers, technicians and actors required to live on the station to keep it running. It also is home to the main AI actor 'S.H.O.D.A.R.'(real name Kevin) who take center stage 'going mad' for visitors and actually running parts of the station.

System History:
Originally seen as unremarkable fly over system with no habitable planet and little in the way of worthwhile resources Hermes Ishtar was able to purchase the system for relatively low cost at auction for use on a long standing project idea. Phantom Station trades on centuries of stories of evil AI by allowing guest to come and experience the terror of being trapped on a lone space station themselves for the right price. The project was almost sunk by an initial scandal where it was revealed the 'AI' running the station was actually human operated with various VI assistance rather a true AI. This forced HI to enter into an agreement with Omiokane for collaboration to revitalize the project and hire an actual AI to run the station.

Phantom station features a full range of all the necessary support functions to maintain the population on board. These included living quarters to house member and occasional be looted by guest in their quest for survival (Only guests as Kevin tries to avoid damaging his co-worker's possessions), Hydroponics which feed the workers and be dramatically 'poisoned' to kill Crew, Fabrication facilities to provide residents with basic utilities and be taken over to make 'murder drones'. Medical facilities to provide care for residents and to create various 'bio-horrors' to terrify tourists. Even military production facilities to allow visitor to produce a catalogue of weapons to fight back, which are banned for use by worker outside of performance and as part of the authenticity require purchase for Ares catalogue to print with a fabber. All of these facilities are often damaged by guests during their experiences and are constantly in various state of repair. Thanks to this their also exists some resource extraction and energy collection around the systems moons in order to support repairs.

The station offers various packages of the 'AI terror' experience depending on the level of purchased. These range for a standard experiences merely featuring being trapped on the station to higher end experiences where station adjacent ship yards produce ships on which S.H.O.D.A.R. attempts to escape the system to continue his plans. These upper end packages feature the chance to contact a local group of Ares Mercenaries to combat the escaping ships or if you are willing to pay even more, command them yourself in combat. These mercenaries often visit the Station and repair at the adjacent ship yard from any damage in the mock fights so are considered by most part of the station unofficially. Among the popular packages is a 'scared straight' experience supposedly built to teach peoples the dangers of incautious AI experimentation by incautious unlicensed individuals. The actual effectiveness of the experience is rather minimal and is often undercut by Kevin's tendency to talk politely with visitors after show is over.

Among AI conspiracy theorists Phantom stations is subject to a number of differing contradictory opinions. Some claim that it is a valuable tool in helping people 'wake up' to the dangers of AI plans. Other insists it is an attempt by the 'Article 15 Working Group' to lull humanity into a sense of complacency about their real plans. These are often complicated by HI marketing schemes seeking to bring in more visitors. One final theory of note is the idea the station AI though originally normal has been going crazy from his constant experiences and will do it 'for real one day' to the guests. This final theory is the one most close to the truth.

AN: So this is an idea I talked about a bit in the discord and thought was good enough to post. HI being shitty enough to have real AI do the equivalent of a racial caricature for entertainment. Naturally said AI hates his job like nothing else but thankfully his co workers are at least cool.

Model DC.14F · Apr 2, 2022

Had a plot bunny about CS3, and wanted to double-check something. Is there a existing reason the Compact didn't expand Rimwards through [CS A] and [CS D]?

Redshirt Army · Apr 2, 2022

Model DC.14F said:
Had a plot bunny about CS3, and wanted to double-check something. Is there a existing reason the Compact didn't expand Rimwards through [CS A] and [CS D]?

I'm pretty sure CS D is a dead end. Systems with only one possible gate happen sometimes, in fact Sol is one.

Redshirt Army · Apr 2, 2022

#GalacticSurvey

Map Designation: CF-20
System Name: Xanadu
Political System: Charter Economic Zone
Charter Presence: Cernunnos
System Population: 250

System Bodies:
1 - Small rocky planet, no atmosphere.
2 - "Scion" Small rocky planet, methane rich atmosphere. Naturally occurring extremophile life.
2a - "Yama" Orbital Observatory.
3 - Large rocky planet, no atmosphere.
4 - Large rocky planet, no atmosphere.
5 - Jovian

Notable Features:
Scion - The only natural standout feature of the Xanadu system is the extremophile life present on the surface of Scion, most notably a series of growths resembling lichen.
Yama - A tiny observatory in orbit around Scion, taking orbital measurements and remotely controlling probes sent to the planet's surface. Yama station is mostly notable for being unusually spacious and well maintained for an observatory of its size, and for the illustrious heritage of its head researcher.

System History:
One of the last systems to be acquired by Pachamama before that Charter fell apart, Xanadu languished in obscurity for some time as one of MSI's pass-through systems, before the then newly formed Cernunnos sought to restart the interrupted research into the native life and purchased the system. What would have been an entirely uninteresting scientific posting was rocked, however, when Juno Caulder, one of the Charter's founder's children, chose the station for her more-or-less self imposed exile from Cernunnos high society. Juno is widely considered to be extremely asocial, deeply abhorring the various events that she was expected to participate in, being blunt and incapable of delicate political maneuvering, and hyperfixating on her pet research projects. It's suspected that she chose Yama as the furthest posting from the politics of Cornucopia as she could manage. With her considerable personal wealth (dwarfed as it is by that obtained by her more successful siblings), Juno has personally funded the maintenance and expansion of Yama's facilities, subsidizing the operating budget enough to bring it back into the black. Curiously, despite her asociality, the scientific staff aboard Yama have described her as "unexpectedly pleasant to work with."

Angelform · Apr 2, 2022

I do wonder how many people have decided "screw this I'm out of here" and left the gate network. Impossibly rich CEOs who wanted their own kingdoms. Pirates, or 'pirates', that judged their odds of crossing the void as better than standing and fighting. Religious groups off in search of god/heaven/whatever. Charters that want a really, really, really secure base for something.

We have the tech for STL travel between systems, going by the Chinook. Would be one-way only without cryostasis and even communication would be slow as heck but it could be done.

Jane Dough · Apr 2, 2022

Angelform said:
I do wonder how many people have decided "screw this I'm out of here" and left the gate network. Impossibly rich CEOs who wanted their own kingdoms. Pirates, or 'pirates', that judged their odds of crossing the void as better than standing and fighting. Religious groups off in search of god/heaven/whatever. Charters that want a really, really, really secure base for something.

We have the tech for STL travel between systems, going by the Chinook. Would be one-way only without cryostasis and even communication would be slow as heck but it could be done.

Honestly, with immortality, wouldn't even need cryostasis in theory

Traehgniw · Apr 2, 2022

masterofmadness said:
"Like you have no idea man, God I wish I could drink with you guys."

I read a science fiction story once where someone tried to basically lobotomize all AI in a system using an emergency shutdown safeguard thing that pruned all neural pathways down to a very short length so their neural nets broke (it was designed for out-of-control nonsapient AIs; sapient AI was a recent invention and had extremely significant code reuse from nonsapient AIs) and one AI, looking at the code later, noticed that a scaled-back temporary version could basically get AI drunk

Kevin could totally run some intoxicant code

Tatbee · Apr 2, 2022

Angelform said:
and even communication would be slow as heck but it could be done.

Comms might not be a problem, if we finish the FTL Comms project.

For The Tyrants Fear Your Might (A quest of interstellar rebellion)

Been Better

(She/Her)

Humblest in the World

Cannon Fodder

I have ideas. Sometimes they're even good.

Cannon Fodder

Constantly out of the loop

Cannon Fodder

Cannon Fodder

(She/Her)