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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DracoDracul · Feb 12, 2023

Model DC.14F said:
Frankly, it's telling that the SolBank's take is the most braindead take we've seen, even more so than the actual conspiracy theories. Because the possibility of the AIC being some sort of fake government/ad campaign created by rogue ASIs as part of an ARG is actually higher than us being a "Potemkin Planet" that somehow managed to not only to fool our entire population of millions, but have enough military power to conquer a decent chunk of the Far Spinward. Wouldn't just calling the entire broadcast a lie be similar and less convoluted?

It's not surprising, it's thier job to make theories that justify what the charters are already doing. Like many things in Tyrants it's a slightly more over the top version of how capitalism today already works. Like the foundation of modern mainstream economics is looking at this when you have two people haggling and then extrapolating it to all of society.

It's also why they only focus on very specific metrics to declare the health of the economy.

DracoDracul · Feb 12, 2023

VillaininGlasses said:
SolCoin is a normal state currency that just happens to be on the blockchain. IIRC the reason why Cryptocurrency are so expensive is because they exist to be investment vehicles that most people don't consider to actually be worth anything

Should be noted that it is going to function more like a currency on the gold standard than modern currency as being on the blockchain means it is inherently deflationary.

Godwinson · Feb 12, 2023

DracoDracul said:
Should be noted that it is going to function more like a currency on the gold standard than modern currency as being on the blockchain means it is inherently deflationary.

Not necessarily true, as it's centrally controlled and thus the mining rates and hash requirements and such can readily be adjusted. Yes, this does defeat the entire original point of cryptocurrency, but it allows it to retain the commercialization of coin mining, which is the part they care about here.

DracoDracul · Feb 12, 2023

Godwinson said:
Not necessarily true, as it's centrally controlled and thus the mining rates and hash requirements and such can readily be adjusted. Yes, this does defeat the entire original point of cryptocurrency, but it allows it to retain the commercialization of coin mining, which is the part they care about here.

Keeping it deflationary is a key part of keeping coin mining going because people aren't going to mine if they think thier coins are constantly losing value. SolBank likely tries to maintain gental deflation of ~2%.

Setsul · Feb 12, 2023

nocarename said:
Let me just check in here and see if I've got this straight:
SolBank's official position is that we are winning because we have found a way to turn happy thoughts into armed spacecraft.

Do I have that correct? Because wow would that make us even more dangerous.

Sort of. Their main issue is that we have more spaceraft than we possibly could've paid for.
Lesser minds would assume that we either used a currency other than SolCoin (obviously impossible, only a currency issued by a trusted institution like the Solarian Bank could ever provide the necessary stability) or didn't pay for them at all (but no one would work if they're not paid, so that's obviously impossible as well), but they know the truth:
Obviously we took their system for generating money out of thin air and increased its output by manipulating the market. Which is evil and not sustainable.

The rest is just natural economics. If you are offering enough money for a ship, the market will provide you with a ship. The exact details of how that works are not an issue that economists need to concern themselves with. That's industry, not economy.

MrRageQuit said:
Also, "naturally outcompeting the rebel's output"? I know, minor in comparison to all the other issues, but do they not know or remember how wildly successful the Radiant (read: AIC produced) subsidiary corporation was?

See above, by giving HI and MM a tax break they can throw more money at the problem, and if you throw enough money at the problem, the market will provide you with a solution.

DocMatoi said:
lemme just make sure of something, is this before or after HI annopunced they were putting us under blackout? both options are hilarious but for different reasons

The announcement was in the October/November Frontpage, so presumably they hadn't heard of it, then probably went ahead with the tax break anyway because why not? A communications blackout is nothing that enough money can't overcome.

Also, it's a bit messed up that the Solarian Bank is trying or even succeeding in setting tax policy.

Torgamous said:
That was before they knew they were in a proper war, and the closest they came to making media targeted at Elysium was making media to justify to the rest of the galaxy why Elysium had to die.

Nah, this is October 19th, post 201st, Triage Commands have been announced months ago, the Trailing Frontier is probably already known to be on fire, whatever happened to the CSDF battlegroup that was sent to Penglai already happened, and they still don't realize they're in a proper war.

Torgamous · Feb 12, 2023

Setsul said:
Nah, this is October 19th, post 201st, Triage Commands have been announced months ago, the Trailing Frontier is probably already known to be on fire, whatever happened to the CSDF battlegroup that was sent to Penglai already happened, and they still don't realize they're in a proper war.

They realize that Amaranth isn't going away on its own and they need to take specific measures to combat it even at the cost of profitability (because making media targeted at the ass end of nowhere wouldn't be profitable even without our frequent unapologetic piracy). That's about as close as they can get to realizing that they're dealing with a peer.

Setsul · Feb 12, 2023

Torgamous said:
They realize that Amaranth isn't going away on its own and they need to take specific measures to combat it even at the cost of profitability (because making media targeted at the ass end of nowhere wouldn't be profitable even without our frequent unapologetic piracy). That's about as close as they can get to realizing that they're dealing with a peer.

Maybe I misunderstood what you meant, but if their reaction is "Tax cuts for HI and MM will collapse the rebels' economy" then they're still not taking us seriously and they definitely don't see it as a war. At best it's an insurgency.
Also tax breaks wouldn't affect SolBank's profitability, since that's not how banks work. Unless taxes somehow go to SolBank, but that would be extremely weird.

Point is, they've reached the point of proposing to do something about us (and that plan wouldn't even work due to HI cutting off the relays), at a time when it's clear that the Compact is descending into an all out civil war in systems right next to them.
No, they have not at all realised that this is a proper war.

EDIT:
Their plan was to let HI outcompete us. Then HI went bankrupt. This moved their "understanding" from
"the anarchist economy will naturally be outcompeted and collapse" to
"the anarchists are actually state-capitalists that have been subsidizing the most important part of the economy" and their plan changed to
"subsidize HI and MM to level the playing field again, then wait for the rebels' economy to be outcompeted and collapse."

They are so unfathomably far from treating us as a peer or considering this a proper war that it's mindboggling.

trooperist · Feb 12, 2023

Redshirt Army said:
A young looking man in the back rows slowly stood up - his name and vivid green hair marked him as one of spacer heritage, and there were narrowed eyes and disgusted frowns at his appearance. "Sir. While I do not doubt the Board's conclusions, this proposal seems entirely at odds with what has been shared with us in the Weismann Reports-"

A slow, rumbling laugh cut the younger looking man off. "Whatever Emily Weismann's… talents… as a mid-level gacha coordinator may have been, she has no backing whatsoever in economics. It is, of course, concerning that the rebels were able to fool her agents so thoroughly. But we will give no thought to her flights of fantasy about economic organization - the woman is clearly two steps away from iconoclasm herself. Are there any meaningful questions?" There was a moment of hesitation in the face of Purfield's clear annoyance… and the audience faltered, their questions withdrawn.

"But sir, what about this evidence from their neighbor?"
"Those people obviously don't know what they're talking about. Also if we took that evidence seriously it would make our theory wrong."

It's funny how much the finance people act like a religion. A religion where everything that happens can be explained through the holy market forces. To think that something doesn't involve money is heresy of the highest order.

wallabon · Feb 12, 2023

Godwinson said:
Just wait until we start seeing Ares boardroom or flag officer meetings.

Forget that what the hell does the surviving remnant of the reinvented caste system corporation even look like at this point?

Setsul · Feb 12, 2023

trooperist said:
"But sir, what about this evidence from their neighbor?"
"Those people obviously don't know what they're talking about. Also if we took that evidence seriously it would make our theory wrong."

It's funny how much the finance people act like a religion. A religion where everything that happens can be explained through the holy market forces. To think that something doesn't involve money is heresy of the highest order.

It's not just finance people, it's the entire "meritocracy".
According to the meritocracy, the people in charge of the economy are by default the people most suited to it, so they must know best. If anyone disagrees with them, then those disagreeing must be wrong, since if they actually knew better than those at SolBank, they'd be in charge of SolBank, per circular meritocracy logic.

It's basically "your boss must know better than you or they wouldn't be your boss, therefore you are wrong", except the entire economy hinges on the Columbia Wall Street nepotist clique actually knowing what they're doing, and as demonstrated, whenever anything diverges from the expected patterns, they usually don't.

And yes, this is very much like "the pope is right by default because he's the pope", except it applies to the PM, the charter execs, and everyone else. They can do no wrong by virtue of their office, unless they fuck up so badly that it can't be ignored, then they are replaced and everyone pretends the meritocracy is working just fine.

Chloe Sullivan · Feb 12, 2023

Setsul said:
The rest is just natural economics. If you are offering enough money for a ship, the market will provide you with a ship. The exact details of how that works are not an issue that economists need to concern themselves with. That's industry, not economy.

See above, by giving HI and MM a tax break they can throw more money at the problem, and if you throw enough money at the problem, the market will provide you with a solution.

I'm pretty sure there's a Syndicate Methodology (Quants) that works exactly like this.

And I do mean works. Because in Mage, economics actually are magic.

Sadly, RL is not so accommodating.

Redshirt Army · Feb 12, 2023

Lords of War

The Columbian Office of Ares Conflict Solutions ("The Spartaniod"), Nova Europa, Columbia, The United States of Columbia
October 1st, 2255

There were no projectors or holographic screens in the room - if you were going to participate in a meeting of the new, streamlined Chief Officers of Ares, it was simply expected that you would be viewing the AR displays. To be part of Ares was to use the most efficient means to solve a problem, after all - and ridiculous luddite squeamishness about virtual worlds had no place in this boardroom.

"A toast, to us!" A 2013 Dom Perignon had been cracked open, re-carbonated, and messily poured into four champagne glasses, filled high with ice in rebellious breaking of tradition. And if perhaps some pills were dropped, and fizzed and bubbled within those glasses, well, who was to say?

Observe Davies Richardson, the Chief Financial Officer, his stylish dark-shaded glasses, his irreverent leather-styled jacket with its many patches, his boots up on the table. He has never been one for formalities, and he delights in the contempt of his SolBank counterparts. His smile is psychotically wide, his pupils dilated, and his drink the most fizzy and bubbly of all. He practically shivers with excess movement, barely contained. Beneath his jacket is a AS-23 Peacekeeper revolver, with a caliber so large it could pierce most armored drones in a single shot.

Observe Seo-Jun Lee, "Nine", the Chief Infantry Officer, her vulpine ears, her eyes glowing with an AR overlay as she sits unnaturally still. Once, very long ago, she had been the leader of Kumiho Squad, and for her feats had been called the Bloody Queen of War. But her talent with management was not unnoticed, and unlike lesser charters, Ares does not shy away from rewarding efficiency. And so she was promoted, and again, and again, and again, and now she was a Queen of War in truth, and millions - billions! - lived and died at her command. She carries no visible firearms. Nobody doubts that she's the deadliest person in the room.

Observe Gentle Selune, the Chief Naval Officer, their aged features, their sky-blue hair, how they hold themselves with a proud admiral's bearing, their uniform crisp and perfect. They are the most experienced of this board - not that surprising, since the rest of this board are the former Operational Officers, freshly promoted after Mars fell - but even on the old board, they were an ancient fixture, since the Second Frontier War. The whispers say they hold a near preternatural talent when it comes to determining which conflicts will be the best investment for Ares. They carry an N-7 in its ceremonial sheathe, a spacer's gun, a subsonic thing designed to fragment and kill without venting a vessel's atmosphere.

Observe Spencer Marshall, the Chief Executive Officer, in his unassuming tailored suit and tie, of the sort that you could see on any ordinary charter Vice Executive. His only concession to extravagance is his original 20th Century Rolex, as he raises his glass once more. His pistol is the baseline AR-2255, a simple, utilitarian thing, and the accessories that it came with have been left unattached and in their box. His hand is raised, holding his glass aloft, as he speaks. "It is my pleasure to announce that Q3 of 2255 has been the single best quarter in the history of Ares… beating out Q2 of 2255 for that honor! And by all signs, this is only the beginning!"

Richardson stands, a good quarter of his drink sloshing to the ground. "Fuck the moon, we're going straight to the FUCKING STARS, BABY!" He gestures, and the logos of the six charters pop into existence above the table. "MSI fuckin' imploded, they're dead, they're done! Omoikane, same deal, kaput!" As he spoke, the logos shattered into pieces and vanished. "H-I are holding the bag for this entire mess, they're heading straight to bankruptcy, SolBank's gonna carve 'em up like a prize bird!"

Richardson leans in. "From what I hear from the Far Trailing, Cern's gonna be a mess for years, too. They've lost Gaia, and competing interests on Atlantis are throwing their weight around." He chuckles. "So all that's left… is fucking Rhodes! And the day that Ares loses a war with their flying trash heaps is the day that we all deserve to kill ourselves!"

Chuckles fill the room, before Selune leans forward. "Of course, for an honest accounting, we must also consider our losses." They flick their hand out, the interconnected web mapping the gate network swirling into view. "Athene, Mars, Shei. Sheol isn't vital, we've already accounted for it in our prisoner distribution. But without Alex and Mars, our naval production capacity has lowered by over 70%."

Marshall nods. "There's still a silver lining there. With the dead chaff of Mars and the meddling busybodies of Alex done and dusted, we've been able to massively streamline and rationalize our operations. Ares has never run better - no offense!"

But Selune simply smiles. "It has been a long, long time since the Executive Board of Ares was filled with actual people of merit, instead of just squabbling failchildren. It has been an unmitigated pleasure to work with all of you."

The Board nods at this approval, and Marshall continues. "With the strong showing of the Eschatons, SolNav is beating down our doors to try to get access to the tech. They're desperate, and that means desperation pricing. We can recoup quite a lot of the nominal value of our lost systems that way… which leads into what Richardson and I have been doing in Epsilon."

Richardson lunges forward, his whole body bending over as he slams his fist into the table. "Mary's lost her touch. We've gotten a glimpse at the so-called IPA's finances with our SolBank contacts, and it looks real bleak. She's pouring money into a black hole with her social expansions, and at this rate she'll be insolvent by this time next year!"

Marshall picks up, smoothly. "Mary Zhang is continuing to play coy, but with her dire financial straits, it'll only be a matter of time before she's forced to fold. And when she does, the shipyards of Epsilon will be ours, production can resume at full swing, and the dominion of Ares will be assured. And until then…"

Lee steps forward, the display snapping to show a projection of the planet they're on. "Columbia is ours, totally. We've run out the remnants of the old guard, and our influence on the C4 is only growing with time. Our facilities in orbit are expanding at an unprecedented rate, and the civic unrest has only led to a greater number of reduced-rate-contractors entering Ares service. My people are speaking with the policing services as well, although proper values integration is a work in progress. Still, within the next six months we should be able to report full wartime readiness."

Marshall nods at her. "And, as an added benefit: with discipline, it's only a matter of time until we can civilize Columbians away from their more savage notions. The augment hiring programs have been a full success so far - they're just as good enforcers for a fraction of the pay. It was idiotic of the former administration to leave that money on the table - and we're getting Greene's evac funds too, to sweeten the pot. Win-win-win. We may yet see Columbian biochauvinism die out within a generation." He spits on the floor. "And good fucking riddance."

Lee leans forward, her eyes blazing with intensity. "That's all well and good, but there's another side of this conflict we need to manage. We need to make certain the anarchists don't lose too quickly. I'm the one with the most experience handling anarchist cells, and I maintain the need to stall SolNav's proposed Penglai plans."

Selune clinks their glass against hers. "Seconded. She's absolutely correct. Penglai's put up their fifth provisional government in less than that many months - they've been surprisingly adept, but now that we know their strategies, there's no way they can put up a meaningful fight. But if we roll in now and sweep them up, we'd be lucky to get a tenth of the total earnings potential."

Richardson rolls over from where he's remained draped over the table, facing up towards the ceiling. "Now that would be a fuckin tragedy. A war between two daughters, a fight that makes all the Frontier Wars look like peanuts, and us leaving nine-tenths behind and getting stuck with NO FUCKING MONEY."

Lee leans backwards, her eyes going distant and smile growing as she relives old memories. "The Frontier Wars… now those were the days. Some good, honest work down on the ground. And now, not just some Omoikane-Hermes-Rhodes whatever bullshit, but a real fight to the death between core worlds… I can hardly wait. God, it's been too long since '87."

She focuses on Marshall. "Speaking of, now that we've seen what the Cicadas on Sol have done, it's high time we ditched SolNav's asinine 'Delta-Phase 3 Standard', too. Ares must maintain superiority over the combat space, and they've passed us there. What me and my girls could have done if we weren't being crippled…"

Marshall smiles. "Approved. Both Penglai and the augs. Just let me handle SolNav. We can keep stalling for a while yet, and when we do move forward, it can be with probing attacks. Nine, if the need arises to prop up Penglai, have your agents prepared to funnel whatever the anarchists might need - prints, intel, materiel, anything."

Lee nods, her smile turning predatory. "Child's play. The seamstresses have always leaked like a sieve, and they've only gotten more disorganized with time. If giving them some extra toys is what it'll take to get a proper war, then consider it done."

Selune tilts their head, consideringly. "In that context, even the loss of Alexander is to our benefit. With that material basis, the war in the Trailing Frontier is liable to last quite a bit longer. We may yet recoup those losses in their entirety."

Lee's smile fades away, as she taps her fingers on the table. "We're in a strong position of course, but we still need to finish the fight to claim our prize. Only to the victor, go the spoils."

Richardson stretches out across the table, closing his eyes and smiling beatifically. "Ares, exceeding in strength, chariot-rider, golden-helmed, doughty in heart, shield-bearer. All we have to do to own the galaxy is win a fight?" He giggles. "If I knew it would be this easy, I'd have pushed to do a Broadcast of our own ages ago."

bdun140 · Feb 12, 2023

Lets see them keep that optimism when their foes start taking ground, and holding it.

slybrarian · Feb 12, 2023

Redshirt Army said:
Inside the Holy Sanctum
Building Two ("The Dip"), Head Office of the Solarian Central Bank ("The Triple Towers"), Nova Europa, Columbia, The United States of Columbia
13:30 USCT, October 19th, 2255
"All rise."

As the man walked into the presentation hall, everyone stood. After all, with that announcement, he was not here to act merely a man - he was here in his full capacity as the head of operations of SolBank - the instrument by which the Board of Governors would exert their will upon the greatest tool of human flourishing to ever be forged in all of history.

As he made his way down to the podium, the green of his suit rippled with the motion - in places, it seemed to shimmer, and then moments later those same places became so dark that it was almost indistinguishable from black. Murmurs followed him as he went, not unexpectedly. His choice of garment was a statement if there ever was one - nobody would miss that the last time iridescence like that was in fashion had been in the late '180s.

But even those whispers died out, as First Managing Deputy Governor Vitor Purfield took his place at the head of the room. He tapped the microphone twice, purely a dramatic affectation, and began. "Does everyone consent to not disclose any and all Confidential Information that is shared with you in this meeting?"

As the murmur of consenting 'aye's swept the room, Purfield smiled. "Gentlemen, Ladies, please take a seat. You are all here to receive guidance on how to approach the Radiant Matter directly."

"I'd like to begin today's presentation with an important lesson." He flung his arm back, and the entire back wall of the hall dissolved into color and light, projecting a singular quote.

"When you have eliminated all which is impossible, then whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth." - Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes

"For some time now, the Board has shared plans for the financing operations that will be necessary to reconstruct Elysium, once the time comes to rebuild them from their failed state." He gestured again, and behind him the wall filled with news articles from respected sources, each despairing and disbelieving at the latest continued shock to come from the Far Spinward.

"And each time such plans were shared, the impossible would seem to occur shortly thereafter - another success from the Elysian rebels. By all appearances, they have not collapsed - they are instead moving from strength to strength.This is impossible - and so the improbable remains." The articles disappeared, replaced with charts tracking the estimated costs of production for the media of the RBC, of the programs glimpsed by SolNav and Charter infiltrators, of the fleets presented.

"The Elysian Insurrection has fooled nearly everyone as to their economic status. A masterful display of stagecraft and misdirection that truly honors their roots in Hermes-Ishtar, and has fooled some of the best in Compact Intelligence. But not us. This initially began as a hypothesis from the Board, but as we looked into it, it seemed more and more plausible."

Purfield smiled grandly at his audience, as he gave the greatest revelation of the night. "Economically, the Elysians aren't anarchists at all." Murmuring filled the room, as the charts shaded away to dull gray.

Slowly, the flags of the Soviet Union and the Democratic Federation faded into view. "As shown by the Soviet Union, a state capitalist model can be used to fuel pseudo-anarchistic sentiment for decades. And as shown by the Democratic Federation, any move away from a market economy can only spell swift disaster for any state that attempts to ignore human nature."

"Based on the last available statistics from 2251, their contributions to the Emotional Futures Market made up roughly 38% of Elysium's evaluated Gross Colonial Product. Per the rebels' own claims, you would be told that number had gone to zero. Instead, we believe that the Elysian government has instituted its own Emotional Futures Market, and that upwards of 90% of their domestic production is in actuality fueled by this 'shadow market'. As shown in Dr. Kroese's groundbreaking 2206 work on Vibeometrics, with sufficient control over the media environment, a single actor would be able to make wide-scale changes to the EF Market - which is why we believe Radiant seceded from the compact, thus allowing their auteurs to bypass the controls we have in place to prevent this."

Purfield snapped his fingers, and a vast collage of RBC media began to revolve behind him, more and more works shifting into place as he spoke. "This neatly explains several factors. Since their revolt, media production on Elysium has only accelerated. Even factoring in only materials that were shared through their transmissions, the pace of output has nearly doubled, and no doubt there has been plenty of media made purely for domestic consumption. If there was no economic backing behind it, this would be inexplicable. But if producing media is the primary method of attaining capital in Elysium's "shadow economy", then suddenly this proliferation becomes only natural."

The maelstrom slowed, and rather than showing media, now it showed Images from the clash against 12.7. "It also explains their continued survival. The AIC, then, is in actuality pursuing a state-capitalist approach, but taking their propaganda to a far greater degree of unreality than the Soviet Union ever managed. Instead of merely attempting to fool the outside world with a Potemkin Planet, the AIC has constructed a fantasy for most of their naive and unaware citizens to live in, with only their privileged elites privy to the truth."

The reconstructed 3D models of Erina Kozlova and Maria Awhina appeared in the center of the storm of images, their sharp gazes snapping to the audience below. "As such, it is this Board's opinion that the Elysian revolt was not a true anarchist movement at all. Rather, we believe that Miss Kozlova's clique stage-managed an anarchist revolt to receive buy-in from an underground iconoclast movement that had been brewing due to Yang's mismanagement… before then shutting down that movement."

Awhina fell and disappeared, as Kozlova grew in size, her head taking up the entire projection space. "The outward manifestation of this was that Awhina was demoted and shuffled to a meaningless position, while Kozlova took her place as the Defense Coordinator of the AIC - and thus the de-facto leader of the entire Far Spinward Separatist movement. By that point, her clique would have taken control of the economic engine behind the rebellion, the shadow EF market, and would be able to dictate terms and steer policy through basic market manipulations." Many in the audience nodded, as thoughtful looks abounded - this sort of manipulation was their bread and butter, after all.

But not everyone was as convinced. Especially in the back rows, there were plenty of more skeptical gazes as well. And some were concerned enough that they had actually dared to depress the button on their seat - the yellow button that meant they dared to ask a question of the Board itself.

Vitor Purfield met these more skeptical gazes head on, his eyes betraying nothing but rock solid certainty. "I see there are questions. Branch Leader Artemis?"

A young looking man in the back rows slowly stood up - his name and vivid green hair marked him as one of spacer heritage, and there were narrowed eyes and disgusted frowns at his appearance. "Sir. While I do not doubt the Board's conclusions, this proposal seems entirely at odds with what has been shared with us in the Weismann Reports-"

A slow, rumbling laugh cut the younger looking man off. "Whatever Emily Weismann's… talents… as a mid-level gacha coordinator may have been, she has no backing whatsoever in economics. It is, of course, concerning that the rebels were able to fool her agents so thoroughly. But we will give no thought to her flights of fantasy about economic organization - the woman is clearly two steps away from iconoclasm herself. Are there any meaningful questions?" There was a moment of hesitation in the face of Purfield's clear annoyance… and the audience faltered, their questions withdrawn.

Purfield's smile brought to mind that of a shark. "Excellent. In that case, let us move on to what this means for our response to the AIC Situation. To undermine their economic control, it will be key to remove their control over their domestic EF market. As such, the Board proposes to give Hermes-Ishtar and Mercury-Manat significant tax breaks in exchange for creating media targeted at Elysian audiences, naturally out-competing the rebels' own output. In addition…"

The fact that no one even mentions Olduvai or Epsilon in this is just the cherry on top. We're on incosequential side show compared to them abandoning traditional market economics and yet they're still acting like it's a couple years ago and the problem just got started.

Redshirt Army said:
Richardson lunges forward, his whole body bending over as he slams his fist into the table. "Mary's lost her touch. We've gotten a glimpse at the so-called IPA's finances with our SolBank contacts, and it looks real bleak. She's pouring money into a black hole with her social expansions, and at this rate she'll be insolvent by this time next year!"

Marshall picks up, smoothly. "Mary Zhang is continuing to play coy, but with her dire financial straits, it'll only be a matter of time before she's forced to fold. And when she does, the shipyards of Epsilon will be ours, production can resume at full swing, and the dominion of Ares will be assured. And until then…"

And like SolBank these idiots don't understand that the finance numbers don't matter because Mama Zhang doesn't have to pay actual cash for any of this. She has huge shipyards, the spacers to man what they produce, and no shackles on productivity beyond the raw, real industrial and resource capacity. She will eat them for breakfast.

LuxemburgLover69 · Feb 12, 2023

Redshirt Army said:
"Mary Zhang is continuing to play coy, but with her dire financial straits, it'll only be a matter of time before she's forced to fold. And when she does, the shipyards of Epsilon will be ours, production can resume at full swing, and the dominion of Ares will be assured. And until then…"

As much as I'd like there to be any actual merit to this. I think what we're seeing here are Ares execs counting eggs before they hatch while huffing copium.

Redshirt Army · Feb 12, 2023

LuxemburgLover69 said:
As much as I'd like there to be any actual merit to this. I think what we're seeing here are Ares execs counting eggs before they hatch while huffing copium.

I assure you that they're snorting stuff a lot stronger than mere "copium". The drugs available to execs in 2255 truly are incredible.

AKuz · Feb 12, 2023

Redshirt Army said:
Lords of War
The Columbian Office of Ares Conflict Solutions ("The Spartaniod"), Nova Europa, Columbia, The United States of Columbia
October 1st, 2255
There were no projectors or holographic screens in the room - if you were going to participate in a meeting of the new, streamlined Chief Officers of Ares, it was simply expected that you would be viewing the AR displays. To be part of Ares was to use the most efficient means to solve a problem, after all - and ridiculous luddite squeamishness about virtual worlds had no place in this boardroom.

"A toast, to us!" A 2013 Dom Perignon had been cracked open, re-carbonated, and messily poured into four champagne glasses, filled high with ice in rebellious breaking of tradition. And if perhaps some pills were dropped, and fizzed and bubbled within those glasses, well, who was to say?

Observe Davies Richardson, the Chief Financial Officer, his stylish dark-shaded glasses, his irreverent leather-styled jacket with its many patches, his boots up on the table. He has never been one for formalities, and he delights in the contempt of his SolBank counterparts. His smile is psychotically wide, his pupils dilated, and his drink the most fizzy and bubbly of all. He practically shivers with excess movement, barely contained. Beneath his jacket is a AS-23 Peacekeeper revolver, with a caliber so large it could pierce most armored drones in a single shot.

Observe Seo-Jun Lee, "Nine", the Chief Infantry Officer, her vulpine ears, her eyes glowing with an AR overlay as she sits unnaturally still. Once, very long ago, she had been the leader of Kumiho Squad, and for her feats had been called the Bloody Queen of War. But her talent with management was not unnoticed, and unlike lesser charters, Ares does not shy away from rewarding efficiency. And so she was promoted, and again, and again, and again, and now she was a Queen of War in truth, and millions - billions! - lived and died at her command. She carries no visible firearms. Nobody doubts that she's the deadliest person in the room.

Observe Gentle Selune, the Chief Naval Officer, their aged features, their sky-blue hair, how they hold themselves with a proud admiral's bearing, their uniform crisp and perfect. They are the most experienced of this board - not that surprising, since the rest of this board are the former Operational Officers, freshly promoted after Mars fell - but even on the old board, they were an ancient fixture, since the First Frontier War. The whispers say they hold a near preternatural talent when it comes to determining which conflicts will be the best investment for Ares. They carry an N-7 in its ceremonial sheathe, a spacer's gun, a subsonic thing designed to fragment and kill without venting a vessel's atmosphere.

Observe Spencer Marshall, the Chief Executive Officer, in his unassuming tailored suit and tie, of the sort that you could see on any ordinary charter Vice Executive. His only concession to extravagance is his original 20th Century Rolex, as he raises his glass once more. His pistol is the baseline AR-2255, a simple, utilitarian thing, and the accessories that it came with have been left unattached and in their box. His hand is raised, holding his glass aloft, as he speaks. "It is my pleasure to announce that Q3 of 2255 has been the single best quarter in the history of Ares… beating out Q2 of 2255 for that honor! And by all signs, this is only the beginning!"

Richardson stands, a good quarter of his drink sloshing to the ground. "Fuck the moon, we're going straight to the FUCKING STARS, BABY!" He gestures, and the logos of the six charters pop into existence above the table. "MSI fuckin' imploded, they're dead, they're done! Omoikane, same deal, kaput!" As he spoke, the logos shattered into pieces and vanished. "H-I are holding the bag for this entire mess, they're heading straight to bankruptcy, SolBank's gonna carve 'em up like a prize bird!"

Richardson leans in. "From what I hear from the Far Trailing, Cern's gonna be a mess for years, too. They've lost Gaia, and competing interests on Atlantis are throwing their weight around." He chuckles. "So all that's left… is fucking Rhodes! And the day that Ares loses a war with their flying trash heaps is the day that we all deserve to kill ourselves!"

Chuckles fill the room, before Selune leans forward. "Of course, for an honest accounting, we must also consider our losses." They flick their hand out, the interconnected web mapping the gate network swirling into view. "Athene, Mars, Shei. Sheol isn't vital, we've already accounted for it in our prisoner distribution. But without Alex and Mars, our naval production capacity has lowered by over 70%."

Marshall nods. "There's still a silver lining there. With the dead chaff of Mars and the meddling busybodies of Alex done and dusted, we've been able to massively streamline and rationalize our operations. Ares has never run better - no offense!"

But Selune simply smiles. "It has been a long, long time since the Executive Board of Ares was filled with actual people of merit, instead of just squabbling failchildren. It has been an unmitigated pleasure to work with all of you."

The Board nods at this approval, and Marshall continues. "With the strong showing of the Eschatons, SolNav is beating down our doors to try to get access to the tech. They're desperate, and that means desperation pricing. We can recoup quite a lot of the nominal value of our lost systems that way… which leads into what Richardson and I have been doing in Epsilon."

Richardson lunges forward, his whole body bending over as he slams his fist into the table. "Mary's lost her touch. We've gotten a glimpse at the so-called IPA's finances with our SolBank contacts, and it looks real bleak. She's pouring money into a black hole with her social expansions, and at this rate she'll be insolvent by this time next year!"

Marshall picks up, smoothly. "Mary Zhang is continuing to play coy, but with her dire financial straits, it'll only be a matter of time before she's forced to fold. And when she does, the shipyards of Epsilon will be ours, production can resume at full swing, and the dominion of Ares will be assured. And until then…"

Lee steps forward, the display snapping to show a projection of the planet they're on. "Columbia is ours, totally. We've run out the remnants of the old guard, and our influence on the C4 is only growing with time. Our facilities in orbit are expanding at an unprecedented rate, and the civic unrest has only led to a greater number of reduced-rate-contractors entering Ares service. My people are speaking with the policing services as well, although proper values integration is a work in progress. Still, within the next six months we should be able to report full wartime readiness."

Marshall nods at her. "And, as an added benefit: with discipline, it's only a matter of time until we can civilize Columbians away from their more savage notions. The augment hiring programs have been a full success so far - they're just as good enforcers for a fraction of the pay. It was idiotic of the former administration to leave that money on the table - and we're getting Greene's evac funds too, to sweeten the pot. Win-win-win. We may yet see Columbian biochauvinism die out within a generation." He spits on the floor. "And good fucking riddance."

Lee leans forward, her eyes blazing with intensity. "That's all well and good, but there's another side of this conflict we need to manage. We need to make certain the anarchists don't lose too quickly. I'm the one with the most experience handling anarchist cells, and I maintain the need to stall SolNav's proposed Penglai plans."

Selune clinks their glass against hers. "Seconded. She's absolutely correct. Penglai's put up their fifth provisional government in less than that many months - they've been surprisingly adept, but now that we know their strategies, there's no way they can put up a meaningful fight. But if we roll in now and sweep them up, we'd be lucky to get a tenth of the total earnings potential."

Richardson rolls over from where he's remained draped over the table, facing up towards the ceiling. "Now that would be a fuckin tragedy. A war between two daughters, a fight that makes all the Frontier Wars look like peanuts, and us leaving nine-tenths behind and getting stuck with NO FUCKING MONEY."

Lee leans backwards, her eyes going distant and smile growing as she relives old memories. "The Frontier Wars… now those were the days. Some good, honest work down on the ground. And now, not just some Omoikane-Hermes-Rhodes whatever bullshit, but a real fight to the death between core worlds… I can hardly wait. God, it's been too long since '87."

She focuses on Marshall. "Speaking of, now that we've seen what the Cicadas on Sol have done, it's high time we ditched SolNav's asinine 'Delta-Phase 3 Standard', too. Ares must maintain superiority over the combat space, and they've passed us there. What me and my girls could have done if we weren't being crippled…"

Marshall smiles. "Approved. Both Penglai and the augs. Just let me handle SolNav. We can keep stalling for a while yet, and when we do move forward, it can be with probing attacks. Nine, if the need arises to prop up Penglai, have your agents prepared to funnel whatever the anarchists might need - prints, intel, materiel, anything."

Lee nods, her smile turning predatory. "Child's play. The seamstresses have always leaked like a sieve, and they've only gotten more disorganized with time. If giving them some extra toys is what it'll take to get a proper war, then consider it done."

Selune tilts their head, consideringly. "In that context, even the loss of Alexander is to our benefit. With that material basis, the war in the Trailing Frontier is liable to last quite a bit longer. We may yet recoup those losses in their entirety."
Lee's smile fades away, as she taps her fingers on the table. "We're in a strong position of course, but we still need to finish the fight to claim our prize. Only to the victor, go the spoils."

Richardson stretches out across the table, closing his eyes and smiling beatifically. "Ares, exceeding in strength, chariot-rider, golden-helmed, doughty in heart, shield-bearer. All we have to do to own the galaxy is win a fight?" He giggles. "If I knew it would be this easy, I'd have pushed to do a Broadcast of our own ages ago."

As discussed, canon

nocarename · Feb 12, 2023

Redshirt Army said:
I assure you that they're snorting stuff a lot stronger than mere "copium". The drugs available to execs in 2255 truly are incredible.

Recarbonated champagne is, uh

A Choice?

Once you've done that adding anything else to it is unsurprising, tbh.

TheArcanist · Feb 12, 2023

Man, I can't wait for Penglai's anarchists to start wiping the floor with even more fleets and for these ice-chewing Ares psychos to realize that this is one scenario they won't be able to Wolf of Wall Street their way out of.

Model DC.14F · Feb 12, 2023

Huh, not exactly how I exactly Ares to react, but in hindsight typical for a Charter that views more war= more profits. However, now I'm wondering exactly how much control over their forces outside Columbia and Atlantis they actually have. Because the reason for my surprise is how different the Board reaction is compared to the loyalist forces we've seen in the last few updates, with Admiral Valentine's desperate evacuation of civilians from Alexander to Apotheosis and the CDA's active hatred of Drake and its genocide.

It gives me the impression that they assume that all military forces and planets that they control on paper are fully loyal and will automatically obey them, despite the actual situation and beliefs on the ground. Seriously, can you imagine what would happen if their "Don't let the Anarchist lose too quicky, up to providing them with support" plan somehow leaked? Especially since it sounds like they're planning to actively sabotage SolNavy's planned Invasion of Penglai. Which the news of which is worrying in its own right.

Now I'm wondering what would happen if Ares suddenly declared a Frontier War right now, or even tried to coup the Compact. I think half of the Loyalist/Reactionaries would support them as the Hard Men Making Hard Decisions, while the other half would claim they were secretly behind the entire Broadcast/Mutiny/Rebellion/etc.

Redshirt Army · Feb 12, 2023

Model DC.14F said:
Admiral Valentine's desperate evacuation of civilians from Alexander

Making the mother of all omelettes here, Jack! Can't fret over every egg!

Model DC.14F said:
the CDA's active hatred of Drake and its genocide.

Oh, the board has nothing for contempt for Drake either. Hidebound morons, unable to see that an augment can be a person - a soldier! - as good as any other! But their stupidity has given Ares an opening to profit, and refusing would be immoral!

Model DC.14F said:
Seriously, can you imagine what would happen if their "Don't let the Anarchist lose too quicky, up to providing them with support" plan somehow leaked?

Luckily, Ares has plenty of experience of supporting both sides of a conflict to draw out a war, without getting caught. Naturally if it leaks it'd be the end of them, but if you want to make ALL THE MONEY, you've gotta know when to risk it, baby!

DracoDracul · Feb 12, 2023

bdun140 said:
Lets see them keep that optimism when their foes start taking ground, and holding it.

God this is going to be the biggest war in living memory, we're gonna be so rich!

masterofmadness · Feb 12, 2023

Okay semi-serious proposal now.

Since we now know that the Ares board are Metal Gear Revengeance villains I think we need to supply the Left Caulderists with the technology to make their own cyborg ninjas to fight them properly. Sadly, after monster within and genetic jailbreak it will still need proper DRM since while the Right Caulderists won't use them Ares would have no problem stealing it for themselves. Robot Dogs will also have to be developed separately unless our AGI autonomy project goes some very interesting places.

Maybe Penglai can help smuggle them for use once we hopefully get our VDC Wormhole smuggling done?

Torgamous · Feb 12, 2023

masterofmadness said:
Okay semi-serious proposal now.

Since we now know that the Ares board are Metal Gear Revengeance villains I think we need to supply the Left Caulderists with the technology to make their own cyborg ninjas to fight them properly. Sadly, after monster within and genetic jailbreak it will still need proper DRM since while the Right Caulderists won't use them Ares would have no problem stealing it for themselves. Robot Dogs will also have to be developed separately unless our AGI autonomy project goes some very interesting places.

We already gave everyone the best everything money can buy, which includes cyborg ninjas and robot dogs. Remember the VdCB upgrading their bodies with what we put in the Broadcast?

masterofmadness · Feb 12, 2023

Torgamous said:
We already gave everyone the best everything money can buy, which includes cyborg ninjas and robot dogs. Remember the VdCB upgrading their bodies with what we put in the Broadcast?

Bah I say! We gave them the best 'money' can buy but that is pathetic compared to the might of anarchist science! Remember the words of our planner on this blessed project!

AKuz said:
We will make the half-hearted genetic augmentation of Ares' military Spacers and limited full body cybernetic conversions of Omoikane's Human Error Processing look like Homo Habilis banging rock and bone together for the first time.

When this project is finished the main volunteer arms of the Commonwealth, overseen by MilComm, will have the privilege of upgrading their frontline Soldiers and Spacers to posthuman capabilities that will make the clover-eaters weeps in terror.

Will you truly deny the good freedom fighter of Columbia that glory? Don't you want the Clover eaters to weep in terror?

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

Been Better

Transbian Communist

Transbian Communist

"Well, I've got nothing."

Transbian Communist

Aspiring Gynoid

Cinnamon Roll AI

Subdefective

Cannon Fodder

I have ideas. Sometimes they're even good.

Creature of Fable

Inside the Holy Sanctum

Building Two ("The Dip"), Head Office of the Solarian Central Bank ("The Triple Towers"), Nova Europa, Columbia, The United States of Columbia

13:30 USCT, October 19th, 2255

There are more things between Heaven and Earth...

Cannon Fodder

Been Better

Cannon Fodder

Transbian Communist

Aspiring Gynoid