Opening Post
- Location
- the Republic
- Pronouns
- He/They
Mobile Suit Gundam: Desolation Frontier II
Following eleven months of desperate warfare and devastating loss, the Martian Revolution came to a close in September of the twentieth year of the Independent Era with a cataclysm of heretofore-unknown scope. The Gravity Burst, a man-made event, destroyed the moons and the artificial ring orbiting Mars, threatening to rain a devastating shower of debris down on the unprotected populace below. Only the intervention of the Messiahs, two psychic presences whose advent was birthed by the Martian insurrection, shielded the people from total devastation.
It is now March of IE 25. The Martian Republic established during the Eleven-Month War has all but collapsed in the intervening years, leading to widespread strife across the war-torn planet. The inability of the Jupiter Energy Fleet to reach Mars through its surrounding debris field, the Graveyard, resulted in a period of life-threatening energy shortages. This brush with death was averted only through the discovery of the G-Cell, which promised a new source of portable, albeit limited, power.
The status quo is disrupted decisively by the advent of the LS Satoshi Nakamoto, a heavily-modified Lunarian blockade runner intended to break the isolated Martian market open once more with its heavy shields and armor. While its G-Field fails catastrophically and the wreckage of the Nakamoto is left to plummet to the planet below, it does succeed in one respect. The disruption caused by the Nakamoto's descent triggers a Gravestorm of unimaginable proportions, the Grand Storm, which devastates Kasimov City and showers the Martian surface with an abundance of valuable salvage.
Salvage teams and battlegroups from across Mars, motivated by greed and charity alike, descend on the Grand Gravesite and do battle there; in the aftermath, the reavers seeking to prey on the defenseless citizens of Kasimov are repulsed, and the other, less objectionable warlords now stand to reap the rewards of the greatest prize of the last five years. Following several weeks of running battles, a double-handful of victors emerge; while the sought-after helium-3 was nowhere to be found, each faction now possesses sufficient salvage not just to survive, but to expand.
And just as this wealth floods the ailing Martian planetary economy, the Graveyard begins to shed more and more of its bulk; more Gravestorms follow, and with each new gravesite, the sky becomes a little bit clearer. This is a time of renewed promise, of dire danger, of opportunity and peril. As old forces stir awake once more, new contenders emerge from the red soil, and war goes from a memory... to an inevitability.
Welcome to Mobile Suit Gundam: Desolation Frontier.
In this game, you play a warlord of Mars, a commander and pilot with psychic Advanced abilities and control over a unit of Mobile Suits, as well as either a colony or a battleship. At the start of the game, warlords are divided into magnates and pirates. Magnates command fortified dome-cities and control vast resources, but are tethered to their static locations. Pirates are in control of a flying battleship, which gives them incredible mobility, but their ability to replenish their losses is limited. I expect these distinctions to break down very quickly. You can be an honorable magnate or pirate; these are mostly just useful categories for my benefit.
A note on where this game is headed: This is the second installment of an intended four-part series (three seasons and a movie), and while Salvation Frontier was about breaking free of the colonial yoke and establishing the consequences of an independent Mars, this game has a more specific purpose from the jump.
The aim of Desolation Frontier is to establish two (ideally; at most, three) coherent factions capable of contending to be the unified ruler of Mars by the end of Episode 13. The game's GMing and conflict resolution will be directed towards that general aim.
Some important notes before we proceed any further:
1. All players are expected to be active and engaged. This principally means sending orders each turn, but also includes being active on Discord (see note 2). In-character posts are optional but very welcome.
2. Players MUST be active on the GSRP Discord for coordination purposes. I should be available most of the time to answer questions.
3. Please try to review the setting details BEFORE you ask me questions.
4. If you're new to the game, please go through the previous installment. Only the updates are required, though my players did do some excellent ICs that I sometimes got around to reading. You don't have to memorize it, but do be aware of what happened.
With that said, I will note that only a basic familiarity with the Gundam franchise is required to play in this game, which can be easily obtained through reading up on the wiki or watching a few YouTube videos. This is a game of mech-bashing and high drama. You will be yelling at people while you fight them. If you want a quick grounding in the Gundam aesthetic, check out the Witch of Mercury prologue on YouTube. I'm not saying Sunrise stole some of my ideas, but there are some similarities there.
Turns will take place in 'episodes,' each comprising one in-game month. I've tentatively scheduled this game for 13 'episodes,' but we'll see how the network feels about it.
Every player will have access to one Personal Order and one Organization Order per turn. Personal Orders encompass actions directly performed by the character that have a meaningful impact on the situation. Organization Orders are more abstract, representing the actions performed by the forces or institutions under the character's control.
Additionally, each player can have several Research Projects in the works at a time, which are multi-turn efforts designed to scientifically design new and exciting ways to kill one another, or maybe even do something productive. The number of Research Projects available is determined by your Research Capacity.
Finally, each player will direct the construction efforts of their faction in the form of Build Projects, which require allocations of Build Capacity to produce new mobile weapons and battleships. Players can gain temporary Build Capacity by finding valuable salvage.
A note on player-designed characters: You are strongly encouraged to mine previous Gundam shows for inspiration, and even to make homages to those shows, but don't post thinly-veiled carbon copies or mix-and-match names. That's just tacky. Also, we already have a Red Comet homage.
Interested players should refer to the following post for signup rules and guidelines.
The previous OOC thread can be found here. The Discord can be found here. Please find an updated glossary of terms below.
Following the expansion of mankind into space, the nations of Earth gradually fell under the aegis of a single world government: the Earth Federation. From its inception, the Federation promised to be a beacon of freedom and democracy, bringing technology and peace to all its citizens.
But in truth, the hundred-year legacy of the Earth Federation was one of corruption and ineptitude. Liberated from the shackles of national laws, corporations tore down the last feeble barriers between themselves and absolute hegemony. Those not sufficiently privileged to be elevated to the corporate oligarchy were reduced to techno-serfdom at best and idle subsistence at worst. Unrest was staved off through comprehensive media distractions and the pressure relieved by the opening of new frontiers: the space colonies, the Moon, and the Solar System's red jewel: Mars.
The Martian colonies were largely the product of corporate efforts. Tech-billionaires, seeking greater wealth or historical immortality, founded multiple settlements on the surface of Mars, pioneering entirely new fields of technology in the process. Those who chafed under Federal rule found on Mars an endless hunger for creativity, energy, and independence. The direct influence of the corporations was often limited given the vast distance involved, leaving much in the hands of the colonial governors. The Federation's sole influence was in the construction of planetary infrastructure, including terraforming facilities, a ring of orbital mirrors, a space elevator, and a small garrison on the satellite Phobos.
Unfortunately for the Federal elite, not even the establishment of the Jupiter colonies was enough to save them from destruction. As corporate conflicts over limited resources escaped the courtroom and ended up on the battlefield, public order broke down and Earth, already wracked with separatism and discord, found itself falling apart at the seams. Private military companies flourished and arms sales skyrocketed, with nuclear-powered war machines taking the field for the first time in conflict regions -- the predecessors of the Mobile Armor.
The destructive conflicts were ultimately brought to a climax through the advent of new technology. The Colonial Energy Corporation, headquartered on neutral Luna, announced a major breakthrough in harnessing the fundamental force of gravity. By capturing and manipulating gravitons, actual particles of gravity, the CEC had unlocked countless new avenues of research.
As functional anti-gravity prototypes entered public awareness, corporate security forces turned them towards their own ends. Heedless of the consequences, they incorporated anti-gravity into their war machines, giving birth to the first Mobile Armors. These colossal engines of destruction heralded a new and much bloodier era of corporate warlordism, leading to the wholesale disintegration of Federal authority.
In the end, the corporations were brought down by their own aggression. The Eurasian Terrestrial Resource Company found itself the subject of a bloody coup, carried out by their increasingly powerful security forces, who had been granted unlimited autonomy and resources to prosecute the corporate war against its competitors. With a global corporation's resources behind him, the new leader of the ETRC set his R&D department to designing a weapon to end the war, once and for all: the Mobile Suit.
While Mobile Armors boasted tremendous firepower, they were often cumbersome and vulnerable to sabotage. The Mobile Suit, with its humanoid design, made use of a man-machine interface and anti-gravity thrusters to move with unparalleled speed on the battlefield. By reading the pilot's brainwaves, the man-machine interface allowed the Suit to be commanded by a single pilot, and with near-seamless fluidity. A squadron of Mobile Suits could dismantle a slow-moving Mobile Armor at a fraction of the cost and manpower required to field one of the mighty war engines.
Not content with wrapping up his own company's conflicts, the ETRC leader turned his attention on the rest of the corporate forces, and finally on the Federal capital at Luxembourg. The hopes and dreams of billions were realized that day, only to be cruelly dashed in the coming years, when the new President of the Earth Federation declared himself Emperor. The Old Federation was dead, with even its hollow promise of freedom gone. In its place would now exist the Terran Imperium.
Though the Corporate Wars resulted in some low-grade skirmishing amongst the Martian colonies, most colonial governors were more than happy to ship raw and processed materials home, to fuel the fighting on Earth, and otherwise stay out of it. During this time, with travel to and from Earth limited by the conflict, native Martians were gradually promoted into a system that had previously favored Earthborn management, further distancing the colonies from Old World strife.
When the Wars of Unification broke out, hands-off management quickly became no management at all, as personnel from the home offices were either busy fighting off ETRC forces or engaging in a panicked mass exodus to Luna, Mars, or even the Jupiterian colonies, contributing to the rapid collapse of corporate resistance. The sudden influx of Earthnoid elites, many of whom usurped the positions previously held by native Martians, further exacerbated tensions, resulting in a series of uprisings, revolts, and insurrections. Some colonies fell entirely to Martian control, while others managed to work out a balance of power between their citizens, and a rare few hung on to Earthnoid supremacy.
Little was heard from the Imperials until four years into the newly declared Imperium, when the long-departed Federal garrison at the base of the Olympus City space elevator was replaced with a sizable force of Terran Mobile Suits. Having assumed control over the orbital mirrors and the moonbase, the Imperials did not attempt to further expand their control. Instead, the Imperial governor at Olympus declared that all corporations had been dissolved and that all colonies were the property of their residents, in a somewhat misguided attempt to win over the Martian population.
It quickly became clear that the Imperial government had no interest in exercising direct control over Mars, busy as it was asserting itself over the remainder of Earth and the orbital colonies thereof. Instead, it preferred to retain control of the space elevator and the high orbitals, using the leverage provided to become Mars' sole consumer of material exports. Otherwise, the Martians were left to their own devices. With the establishment of the Imperium's Penal Export Program, in which Mars was officially designated as a dumping-ground for criminals and political dissidents, the Red Planet officially became the Imperium's neglected backwater.
Two years ago, the quiescent political landscape of Mars was shaken to its core by the October Uprising, in which a young man and a group of his fellow students from the Asimov Technical Institute fielded an entirely new kind of Mobile Suit: the GUNDAM. Incorporating both a graviton-powered reactor and a revolutionary man-machine interface, the GUNDAM proved to be lightyears beyond what the Imperial garrison troops were prepared to handle. The GUNDAM and its pilot, supported only by a handful of civilian-use Mobile Workers, nearly succeeded in taking Olympus City in a month-long campaign. At the base of Olympus Mons, the October Uprising was brought to an end by the deployment of the Imperial Guard and a series of brutal reprisals across Noachis Terra. The GUNDAM was destroyed, and its unknown young pilot became an instant martyr to the Martian people.
The suppression of the Uprising did not bring the much-anticipated peace and calm hoped for by Imperial officials. Instead, the GUNDAM plans were leaked onto the Martian infosphere shortly after the end of the unrest. Despite only existing in the public network for seventeen minutes, they were instantly snatched up by the colonial governments, many of which now speculated on what might happen if another GUNDAM had some proper support...
But in truth, the hundred-year legacy of the Earth Federation was one of corruption and ineptitude. Liberated from the shackles of national laws, corporations tore down the last feeble barriers between themselves and absolute hegemony. Those not sufficiently privileged to be elevated to the corporate oligarchy were reduced to techno-serfdom at best and idle subsistence at worst. Unrest was staved off through comprehensive media distractions and the pressure relieved by the opening of new frontiers: the space colonies, the Moon, and the Solar System's red jewel: Mars.
The Martian colonies were largely the product of corporate efforts. Tech-billionaires, seeking greater wealth or historical immortality, founded multiple settlements on the surface of Mars, pioneering entirely new fields of technology in the process. Those who chafed under Federal rule found on Mars an endless hunger for creativity, energy, and independence. The direct influence of the corporations was often limited given the vast distance involved, leaving much in the hands of the colonial governors. The Federation's sole influence was in the construction of planetary infrastructure, including terraforming facilities, a ring of orbital mirrors, a space elevator, and a small garrison on the satellite Phobos.
Unfortunately for the Federal elite, not even the establishment of the Jupiter colonies was enough to save them from destruction. As corporate conflicts over limited resources escaped the courtroom and ended up on the battlefield, public order broke down and Earth, already wracked with separatism and discord, found itself falling apart at the seams. Private military companies flourished and arms sales skyrocketed, with nuclear-powered war machines taking the field for the first time in conflict regions -- the predecessors of the Mobile Armor.
The destructive conflicts were ultimately brought to a climax through the advent of new technology. The Colonial Energy Corporation, headquartered on neutral Luna, announced a major breakthrough in harnessing the fundamental force of gravity. By capturing and manipulating gravitons, actual particles of gravity, the CEC had unlocked countless new avenues of research.
As functional anti-gravity prototypes entered public awareness, corporate security forces turned them towards their own ends. Heedless of the consequences, they incorporated anti-gravity into their war machines, giving birth to the first Mobile Armors. These colossal engines of destruction heralded a new and much bloodier era of corporate warlordism, leading to the wholesale disintegration of Federal authority.
In the end, the corporations were brought down by their own aggression. The Eurasian Terrestrial Resource Company found itself the subject of a bloody coup, carried out by their increasingly powerful security forces, who had been granted unlimited autonomy and resources to prosecute the corporate war against its competitors. With a global corporation's resources behind him, the new leader of the ETRC set his R&D department to designing a weapon to end the war, once and for all: the Mobile Suit.
While Mobile Armors boasted tremendous firepower, they were often cumbersome and vulnerable to sabotage. The Mobile Suit, with its humanoid design, made use of a man-machine interface and anti-gravity thrusters to move with unparalleled speed on the battlefield. By reading the pilot's brainwaves, the man-machine interface allowed the Suit to be commanded by a single pilot, and with near-seamless fluidity. A squadron of Mobile Suits could dismantle a slow-moving Mobile Armor at a fraction of the cost and manpower required to field one of the mighty war engines.
Not content with wrapping up his own company's conflicts, the ETRC leader turned his attention on the rest of the corporate forces, and finally on the Federal capital at Luxembourg. The hopes and dreams of billions were realized that day, only to be cruelly dashed in the coming years, when the new President of the Earth Federation declared himself Emperor. The Old Federation was dead, with even its hollow promise of freedom gone. In its place would now exist the Terran Imperium.
Though the Corporate Wars resulted in some low-grade skirmishing amongst the Martian colonies, most colonial governors were more than happy to ship raw and processed materials home, to fuel the fighting on Earth, and otherwise stay out of it. During this time, with travel to and from Earth limited by the conflict, native Martians were gradually promoted into a system that had previously favored Earthborn management, further distancing the colonies from Old World strife.
When the Wars of Unification broke out, hands-off management quickly became no management at all, as personnel from the home offices were either busy fighting off ETRC forces or engaging in a panicked mass exodus to Luna, Mars, or even the Jupiterian colonies, contributing to the rapid collapse of corporate resistance. The sudden influx of Earthnoid elites, many of whom usurped the positions previously held by native Martians, further exacerbated tensions, resulting in a series of uprisings, revolts, and insurrections. Some colonies fell entirely to Martian control, while others managed to work out a balance of power between their citizens, and a rare few hung on to Earthnoid supremacy.
Little was heard from the Imperials until four years into the newly declared Imperium, when the long-departed Federal garrison at the base of the Olympus City space elevator was replaced with a sizable force of Terran Mobile Suits. Having assumed control over the orbital mirrors and the moonbase, the Imperials did not attempt to further expand their control. Instead, the Imperial governor at Olympus declared that all corporations had been dissolved and that all colonies were the property of their residents, in a somewhat misguided attempt to win over the Martian population.
It quickly became clear that the Imperial government had no interest in exercising direct control over Mars, busy as it was asserting itself over the remainder of Earth and the orbital colonies thereof. Instead, it preferred to retain control of the space elevator and the high orbitals, using the leverage provided to become Mars' sole consumer of material exports. Otherwise, the Martians were left to their own devices. With the establishment of the Imperium's Penal Export Program, in which Mars was officially designated as a dumping-ground for criminals and political dissidents, the Red Planet officially became the Imperium's neglected backwater.
Two years ago, the quiescent political landscape of Mars was shaken to its core by the October Uprising, in which a young man and a group of his fellow students from the Asimov Technical Institute fielded an entirely new kind of Mobile Suit: the GUNDAM. Incorporating both a graviton-powered reactor and a revolutionary man-machine interface, the GUNDAM proved to be lightyears beyond what the Imperial garrison troops were prepared to handle. The GUNDAM and its pilot, supported only by a handful of civilian-use Mobile Workers, nearly succeeded in taking Olympus City in a month-long campaign. At the base of Olympus Mons, the October Uprising was brought to an end by the deployment of the Imperial Guard and a series of brutal reprisals across Noachis Terra. The GUNDAM was destroyed, and its unknown young pilot became an instant martyr to the Martian people.
The suppression of the Uprising did not bring the much-anticipated peace and calm hoped for by Imperial officials. Instead, the GUNDAM plans were leaked onto the Martian infosphere shortly after the end of the unrest. Despite only existing in the public network for seventeen minutes, they were instantly snatched up by the colonial governments, many of which now speculated on what might happen if another GUNDAM had some proper support...
Advanced: A human who has developed superhuman mental abilities, including expanded perception, fast reflexes, and the ability to telepathically communicate with other Advanced, as well as other yet-unconfirmed abilities. Previously only available to those who had bonded with an N-DAM System. It is speculated that the N-DAM bond stimulates the brain into tapping into its full potential, leading to a next stage in human development. While active communion with the N-DAM System strengthens an Enhanced's abilities, it is no longer necessary for their manifestation, and Advanced abilities vary widely between individuals. What long-term effects this will have for and on the human race are as yet unknown.
Asimov City: Previously the foremost center for advanced research and development on Mars. The place where the original GUNDAM was built. After the October Uprising, Asimov City was destroyed and its inhabitants scattered. Following the Revolution, the ruins of Asimov City were recolonized by refugees and it is now a lawless, chaotic place.
Awakened: A Mobile Suit equipped with an N-DAM that has, through extended communion with an Advanced pilot, developed its own quasi-personality. While most N-DAMs simply mirror the personalities of their pilots and Awakened will always reflect their original pilot's personality to some degree, the longer-lived Awakened often develop unique personas, along with a degree of autonomy.
Carrier: The generic term for the massive gravity-powered ships controlled by warlords, known formally as strike carriers and dreadnoughts. Often heavily armed and armored, with the capacity to hold numerous Mobile Suits and Mobile Armors. Many of these are modified from salvaged or rebuilt Revolution-era ships. Also known as battleships.
Clash Sensor: A modern development, this is a sophisticated proximity sensor that can near-instantly trigger a beam-based melee weapon's particle effect when contact is imminent. This device allows modern beam sabers and similar weapons to operate in a low-power standby mode when not actively cutting through or clashing with something, substantially reducing the drain on the Mobile Suit's G-Cell.
Colonial Energy Corporation: A Luna-based energy company formerly headed by Vincent Sinclair, known for its pioneering gravitic research. One of the few corporate survivors of the Wars of Unification. Headquartered at Armstrong City on Luna. CEC forces intervened militarily during the Martian Revolutionary War and were largely destroyed at the Battle of Deimos.
City: The term for a self-contained planetside habitat. Generally consists of one or several large residential domes along with a plethora of smaller domes and nearby outposts, connected via personnel tube or anti-gravity shuttle. Found principally on Mars and Luna. Martian cities are almost always located in a crater or extinct volcanic cone and named for the feature. The Revolution saw multiple cities destroyed and the survivors are uniformly heavily armed and fortified.
DIAGRAM System: The Disconnected Integrated Authority Group - Remote Active Manipulation, or DIAGRAM, is a system that uses gravity tethers to both manipulate and power small quasi-autonomous drones. DIAGRAM drones rely on the man-machine interface to be semi-consciously directed by the human mind, with a high-capacity quantum computer assisting in the process. Military-grade DIAGRAM systems, which used the N-DAM System and an Advanced pilot as the coordinating authority, are presently not in use, as their power requirements far exceed the capacity of the G-Cell.
Earth: Humanity's birthplace, population 9.1 billion. Much of the surface is controlled by the Terran Imperium, though pockets of resistance continue in Southeast Asia, Australia, North America, and Central Africa. Contact was lost with Earth at the conclusion of the Revolution.
Earth Federation: Also known as the 'Old Federation,' the previous world government of Earth. Dominated by multinational corporations and largely ineffective at containing their rise. Brought down by corporate warfare and officially ended with the rise of the Terran Imperium.
G-Cell: A recyclable container of variable size that is capable of retaining activated gravitons and can thus serve as a mobile power source. As graviton collectors are currently impossible to fit into anything smaller than a battleship, G-Cells are in high demand for all kinds of machines, particularly Mobile Suits. G-Cells range from the size of a small dog to the size of a large person. Manufacture of G-Cells is a difficult, technically complex process, and is thus largely restricted to cities and battleships.
G-Field: The energy field produced by a graviton power source. The G-U Drive's high output was able to produce a 'bubble' of warped space around its GUNDAM capable not only of cancelling g-forces for its pilot, but also of deflecting solid-state projectiles and rendering long-range observation and tracking completely pointless. G-Cells and G-Drives also produce G-Field effects, but the field is generally only sufficient to cover a cockpit-sized area unless channelled in a particular direction.
Gravestorm: A rain of Graveyard refuse on a particular area. Containing equal parts mineral-rich satellite debris and military-grade salvage, gravestorm sites are hotly contested. Being inside a gravestorm when it happens is a great way to become a permanent part of the salvage site, and those who can predict their arrival are highly prized.
Graveyard: The field of debris surrounding Mars, comprised of now-pulverized former satellites, the wreckage of the orbital ring, and the leftovers from the Battle of Deimos. With the complex interplay of debris and the resulting signal disruption this produces, orbital transit is considered dangerous at best. Some pirates are known reside within the lower layers of the Graveyard and descend from the sky to attack their targets.
Graviton: The fundamental particle of gravity. Gravitons can be harvested and activated for use as reaction mass by CEC-designed graviton collectors, which can also function as (building-sized) power sources in their own right. Gravity fuels are anticipated to one day render most other forms of energy production obsolete, but without refined helium-3 to trigger self-sustaining reactions, their use is presently limited.
Gravity Burst: During the Battle of Deimos, a man-made cataclysm threatened to bring down the orbital ring and the moons down on the people of Mars. Those alive at the time witnessed and felt the superhuman intervention of two Advanced presences who deflected the debris up into a stable field surrounding Mars that is now known as the Graveyard. Following the Gravity Burst, individuals who had never previously bonded with an N-DAM began manifesting Advanced abilities. This event is widely considered to be the end of the first stage of the Martian Revolution.
Gravity Tether: A connection formed between two G-Fields that can be manipulated to transmit data and energy faster than the speed of light. Gravity tethers can also be used by one G-Field to invisibly manipulate another, smaller object, though this requires much greater power output.
GUNDAM: A cutting-edge Mobile Suit that utilized both a G-U Drive and an N-DAM System. The first GUNDAM was named by its pilot as a combination of the two acronyms. In addition to those pioneering advances, the GUNDAM also boasted high-output thrusters, highly durable new-alloy armor, and devastating particle beam weaponry. GUNDAMs were very expensive to build and are presently unusable given the lack of fuel for their G-U Drives.
G-U Drive: The Graviton Unrestricted Drive, a third-generation anti-gravity generator that relied on power derived from graviton-fusion reactions rather than on externally provided nuclear or solid-state fuel. Smaller and far more potent than previous anti-gravity drives. Second-generation drives, which were bulkier and produced less output (and were much easier to produce), were known simply as G-Drives. Despite the supposed energy independence of the G-U Drive, it still required refined helium-3 as the catalyst to activate its reactor core, and without the Jovian energy supply, both it and the G-Drive are presently unusable.
Independent Era: The calendar currently in use by most Martians. Originally the Imperial Year, established by the Terran Imperium during its official founding, and changed following the end of the Revolution. The previous era was the Galactic Calendar, dating from the foundation of the Earth Federation, but is now known in retrospect as the Corporate Era. It is presently IE 25, or GC 143 under the old calendar. Events before the advent of the Imperium are dated BIY, or Before Imperial Year, with the Independent Calendar and Galactic Calendar using similar naming.
Interplanetary Consortium: An obsolete alliance formed by the Mars-based Paesam Corporation with several Lunarian corporations, which intervened militarily in the latter half of the Eleven-Month War. The end of the war and the Gravity Burst saw the scattering of the Lunarian contingent of the Consortium forces, though Paesam forces escaped the battle in more or less one piece. Through inheriting the Consortium's assets, Paesam now possesses legal (albeit largely disregarded) title to most of Mars under (defunct) Federal law.
Jupiter: The largest planet in the Solar System, population estimated at roughly 20 million. Home to a variety of orbital and satellite colonies whose principal purpose is energy extraction. Jovians rarely venture into the Inner System except as part of the once-yearly Jupiter Energy Fleet, which delivers fuel to Mars, Luna, and Earth. Much about their culture and way of life is unknown. The Energy Fleet has been unable to deliver fuel since the conclusion of the Revolution, which has plunged Mars into chaos.
Luna: Earth's satellite, population 214 million. Home to the Colonial Energy Corporation and a few other surviving megacorps. Considered neutral ground due to its centrality in technological development and thus one of the few places in the inhabited System without an Imperial garrison. Its unofficial capital is Armstrong City.
Magnate: An individual who controls a city, along with Mobile Suits. Ranging from benevolent protectors to despotic tyrants, the magnates of Mars are united only in their desire to keep what's theirs from being someone else's. Magnates often feud over resource-rich territory, settlements, or particularly valuable salvage hauls.
Mars: The Red Planet, population 1.4 billion. Home to several dozen autonomous colony "cities." Partially terraformed, with progress stalled following the rise of the Imperium. While much progress was made in achieving self-sufficiency during the Revolution, inter-system trade has been completely severed and resource shortages are common. Officially independent of the Imperium as of the conclusion of the Revolution, though the Earth government has yet to acknowledge this de-facto state of affairs.
Martian Renaissance: Despite the collapse of the Martian Republic's central authority, a pan-Martian identity has nevertheless continued to spread through the cities and tetherlink networks of Mars, driven by the success in ousting the Imperial garrison forces. Combined with planet-wide stringency, necessitating a wave of new recycling and efficiency technologies, this has led to a flourishing of Martian culture and aspirations. The project emblematic of this Renaissance is the so-called search for the Philosopher's Stone: the scientific breakthrough that will enable the resurrection of the Gundams and their G-U Drives without the need for Jupiterian helium-3.
Martian Republic: The largely defunct government of Mars. Originally founded by the northern cities of Garek's Bluff, Pavonis, and Oryza, then expanded through a combination of military and diplomatic victories. Ultimately victorious in the war against the Imperium and then later the Consortium, but with the destruction of Pavonis at the end of the war and the secession of Garek's Bluff afterwards, the fragile ruling coalition collapsed and a state of anarchy has ensued. Many Martian warlords claim to fight either on behalf of or against the Republic. The official capital is presently at Oryza City.
Martian Revolution: Also known as the Revolutionary War or the Eleven-Month War. Lasted from October of IY 19 to September of IY 20. Multiple Martian cities, equipped with experimental Gundam units, declared independence from the Terran Imperium and brought about a period of civil strife. Eventually, anti-Terran forces coalesced into the Martian Republic and successfully brought the majority of Martian territory under their control. The intervention of Lunarian corporate forces midway through the war threw the status quo into chaos, culminating in the Battle of Deimos and the Gravity Burst.
Messiah: The term for the two Advanced who intervened during the Gravity Burst to save Mars from destruction. Formerly known as Ercia Jomon and Hanaa Kamis, these two women are venerated by the Church of the Messiahs, also known as the Messiah Cult, which has a widespread following among the Martian public. Jomon and Kamis are never referred to by name except by those who knew them, and are instead referred to as the Founder and the Successor. Also a colloquial term for Advanced used by the particularly devout, who ascribe mystical abilities to their saviors.
Mobile Armor: Massive non-humanoid war machines crewed by multiple individuals. Originally created during the Corporate Wars with the advent of anti-gravity technology, first-generation Mobile Armors are no longer in use, being cumbersome and heavily reliant on nuclear fuel. Second-generation Mobile Armors that utilized the G-U Drive were fielded to great effect during the Revolutionary War. Modern third-generation Mobile Armors are less impressive, given their reliance on limited G-Cell availability, but benefit from other technological developments.
Mobile Suit: A humanoid machine that incorporates a "half-control" man-machine interface, or neuro-system, as well as anti-gravity thrusters that overcome the square-cube law and provide it with unparalleled speed and maneuverability. Mobile Suits are the mainstay of most Martian armies and are powered by recyclable G-Cells, which limit their deployment times. Mobile Suits are principally armed with beam rifles and beam sabers, with each weapon drawing on its own small G-Cell for power. With the end of the Revolution and the decline of the Martian Republic, Mobile Suit production has become increasingly non-standardized among the Martian cities, though many harken back to the Zeadorsas and Garands of the war.
N-DAM System: The Neuro-Dynamic Access Manipulation System, a next-generation man-machine interface designed for Mobile Suits. Unlike previous "half-control" neuro-systems, which read pilot brainwaves and convert their intentions into actions, the N-DAM is a "full-control" system that both receives and sends data, resulting in an exponential leap in pilot-machine synergy. N-DAM Systems are highly idiosyncratic; experiments have shown that only adolescents between the ages of 16 and 24 can properly synchronize with an N-DAM. Once synchronized, an N-DAM is "locked in" to its pilot. N-DAM System schematics warn of the potential for "unexplained phenomena" when overused. Absent the power supply provided by a fully operational G-U Drive, the N-DAM is reduced in capacity to a high-quality half-control system.
Normal Suit: A full-body protective suit rated for exposure to hostile atmosphere or vacuum. Much less bulky and more flexible than early 'spacesuit' models. Equipped with highly compressed air reserves, atmospheric condensers, radiation shielding, and even small maneuvering thrusters.
October Uprising: The one-month campaign waged by a cadre of students from the Asimov Technical Institute against the Imperial authorities on Mars. The lightning-swift advance, enabled by the GUNDAM's raw power, resulted in a push that nearly ended at the Olympian space elevator. Only the intervention of the Imperial Guard at the base of Olympus Mons stopped the GUNDAM's rampage through the Imperial garrison. In the wake of the Uprising, Asimov City was levelled and the Imperial garrison at Olympus City redoubled in strength, including a permanent detachment of the Guard. The first anniversary of the October Uprising served as the catalyst for the Martian Revolution.
Olympus City: Formerly the largest settlement on Mars, located at the base of the ruined space elevator installed at Olympus Mons. Once an Imperial stronghold, Olympus City today is much reduced due to warfare and strife but remains an important center of commerce due to its heavy fortifications. Barely avoided total destruction during the Gravity Burst; some say their salvation was due to the direct intervention of the Messiahs. Now headquarters to the Knights of Olympus, a militant order of ex-Imperial soldiers who defend the city from warlords and pirates.
Particle Beam: By manipulating the G-Field into both a containment field and a concentrated focusing lens, coherent beams of particle-based energy can be projected with a measure of stability. This effect was showcased most remarkably with the GUNDAM, which was armed with both a beam-firing rifle and a particle-based cutting implement known as a beam saber. Both weapons were seen to shear through Mobile Suit armor and G-Fields without any noticeable resistance. Technological advancement during the Revolution led to higher-caliber beam weapons, known as particle cannons and mega particle cannons. Beam weaponry is principally powered by G-Cells in modern Mobile Suits.
Phobos/Deimos: Formerly the two satellites of Mars. Previously home to much of the Imperium's orbital infrastructure, these satellites were destroyed by the Gravity Burst at the conclusion of the Revolutionary War, and now make up a large portion of the Graveyard's debris.
Pirates: Warlords who rely on a nomadic lifestyle devoted to pillage. While some style themselves as honorable rogues, most are in it for the loot. These forces are depressingly common, and many use salvaged Revolutionary-era battleships to wage their campaigns of plunder. All pirates are warlords, but not all warlords are pirates.
Terraforming: The process of transforming Mars into an Earth-like planet. Originally started under the Earth Federation but abandoned during the final years of the Corporate Wars. Mars presently has an atmosphere comparable to a high mountaintop on Earth, requiring the use of a normal suit to move about on the surface. Vegetation outside the cities is nearly unknown, and most sustenance comes from vast hydroponic agri-domes.
Terran Imperium: The present government of Earth. Ostensibly organized under the absolute rule of the Terran Emperor, in practice the Imperium is a military junta in which vast districts are delegated to the control of the Marshals of Terra and ruled with an iron fist. Much of the Imperium's energies are devoted to suppressing unrest on Earth and in the colonies. With the end of the Martian Revolution, the already tenuous Imperial control over Mars disintegrated.
Tetherlink: With the destruction of Deimos and the collapse of the infosphere, Mars plunged into a new Dark Age. Infosphere contact was impossible to re-establish given the interference produced by the Graveyard. However, the gravity tether technology pioneered by the famous Dr. Momoko Dzerzhinsky was quickly repurposed to serve as a high-speed wireless network to convey information. Tetherlink stations are limited in that they require unobstructed line of sight to function, but a fully operational tetherlink connection allows near-instantaneous data transfer and communication.
Asimov City: Previously the foremost center for advanced research and development on Mars. The place where the original GUNDAM was built. After the October Uprising, Asimov City was destroyed and its inhabitants scattered. Following the Revolution, the ruins of Asimov City were recolonized by refugees and it is now a lawless, chaotic place.
Awakened: A Mobile Suit equipped with an N-DAM that has, through extended communion with an Advanced pilot, developed its own quasi-personality. While most N-DAMs simply mirror the personalities of their pilots and Awakened will always reflect their original pilot's personality to some degree, the longer-lived Awakened often develop unique personas, along with a degree of autonomy.
Carrier: The generic term for the massive gravity-powered ships controlled by warlords, known formally as strike carriers and dreadnoughts. Often heavily armed and armored, with the capacity to hold numerous Mobile Suits and Mobile Armors. Many of these are modified from salvaged or rebuilt Revolution-era ships. Also known as battleships.
Clash Sensor: A modern development, this is a sophisticated proximity sensor that can near-instantly trigger a beam-based melee weapon's particle effect when contact is imminent. This device allows modern beam sabers and similar weapons to operate in a low-power standby mode when not actively cutting through or clashing with something, substantially reducing the drain on the Mobile Suit's G-Cell.
Colonial Energy Corporation: A Luna-based energy company formerly headed by Vincent Sinclair, known for its pioneering gravitic research. One of the few corporate survivors of the Wars of Unification. Headquartered at Armstrong City on Luna. CEC forces intervened militarily during the Martian Revolutionary War and were largely destroyed at the Battle of Deimos.
City: The term for a self-contained planetside habitat. Generally consists of one or several large residential domes along with a plethora of smaller domes and nearby outposts, connected via personnel tube or anti-gravity shuttle. Found principally on Mars and Luna. Martian cities are almost always located in a crater or extinct volcanic cone and named for the feature. The Revolution saw multiple cities destroyed and the survivors are uniformly heavily armed and fortified.
DIAGRAM System: The Disconnected Integrated Authority Group - Remote Active Manipulation, or DIAGRAM, is a system that uses gravity tethers to both manipulate and power small quasi-autonomous drones. DIAGRAM drones rely on the man-machine interface to be semi-consciously directed by the human mind, with a high-capacity quantum computer assisting in the process. Military-grade DIAGRAM systems, which used the N-DAM System and an Advanced pilot as the coordinating authority, are presently not in use, as their power requirements far exceed the capacity of the G-Cell.
Earth: Humanity's birthplace, population 9.1 billion. Much of the surface is controlled by the Terran Imperium, though pockets of resistance continue in Southeast Asia, Australia, North America, and Central Africa. Contact was lost with Earth at the conclusion of the Revolution.
Earth Federation: Also known as the 'Old Federation,' the previous world government of Earth. Dominated by multinational corporations and largely ineffective at containing their rise. Brought down by corporate warfare and officially ended with the rise of the Terran Imperium.
G-Cell: A recyclable container of variable size that is capable of retaining activated gravitons and can thus serve as a mobile power source. As graviton collectors are currently impossible to fit into anything smaller than a battleship, G-Cells are in high demand for all kinds of machines, particularly Mobile Suits. G-Cells range from the size of a small dog to the size of a large person. Manufacture of G-Cells is a difficult, technically complex process, and is thus largely restricted to cities and battleships.
G-Field: The energy field produced by a graviton power source. The G-U Drive's high output was able to produce a 'bubble' of warped space around its GUNDAM capable not only of cancelling g-forces for its pilot, but also of deflecting solid-state projectiles and rendering long-range observation and tracking completely pointless. G-Cells and G-Drives also produce G-Field effects, but the field is generally only sufficient to cover a cockpit-sized area unless channelled in a particular direction.
Gravestorm: A rain of Graveyard refuse on a particular area. Containing equal parts mineral-rich satellite debris and military-grade salvage, gravestorm sites are hotly contested. Being inside a gravestorm when it happens is a great way to become a permanent part of the salvage site, and those who can predict their arrival are highly prized.
Graveyard: The field of debris surrounding Mars, comprised of now-pulverized former satellites, the wreckage of the orbital ring, and the leftovers from the Battle of Deimos. With the complex interplay of debris and the resulting signal disruption this produces, orbital transit is considered dangerous at best. Some pirates are known reside within the lower layers of the Graveyard and descend from the sky to attack their targets.
Graviton: The fundamental particle of gravity. Gravitons can be harvested and activated for use as reaction mass by CEC-designed graviton collectors, which can also function as (building-sized) power sources in their own right. Gravity fuels are anticipated to one day render most other forms of energy production obsolete, but without refined helium-3 to trigger self-sustaining reactions, their use is presently limited.
Gravity Burst: During the Battle of Deimos, a man-made cataclysm threatened to bring down the orbital ring and the moons down on the people of Mars. Those alive at the time witnessed and felt the superhuman intervention of two Advanced presences who deflected the debris up into a stable field surrounding Mars that is now known as the Graveyard. Following the Gravity Burst, individuals who had never previously bonded with an N-DAM began manifesting Advanced abilities. This event is widely considered to be the end of the first stage of the Martian Revolution.
Gravity Tether: A connection formed between two G-Fields that can be manipulated to transmit data and energy faster than the speed of light. Gravity tethers can also be used by one G-Field to invisibly manipulate another, smaller object, though this requires much greater power output.
GUNDAM: A cutting-edge Mobile Suit that utilized both a G-U Drive and an N-DAM System. The first GUNDAM was named by its pilot as a combination of the two acronyms. In addition to those pioneering advances, the GUNDAM also boasted high-output thrusters, highly durable new-alloy armor, and devastating particle beam weaponry. GUNDAMs were very expensive to build and are presently unusable given the lack of fuel for their G-U Drives.
G-U Drive: The Graviton Unrestricted Drive, a third-generation anti-gravity generator that relied on power derived from graviton-fusion reactions rather than on externally provided nuclear or solid-state fuel. Smaller and far more potent than previous anti-gravity drives. Second-generation drives, which were bulkier and produced less output (and were much easier to produce), were known simply as G-Drives. Despite the supposed energy independence of the G-U Drive, it still required refined helium-3 as the catalyst to activate its reactor core, and without the Jovian energy supply, both it and the G-Drive are presently unusable.
Independent Era: The calendar currently in use by most Martians. Originally the Imperial Year, established by the Terran Imperium during its official founding, and changed following the end of the Revolution. The previous era was the Galactic Calendar, dating from the foundation of the Earth Federation, but is now known in retrospect as the Corporate Era. It is presently IE 25, or GC 143 under the old calendar. Events before the advent of the Imperium are dated BIY, or Before Imperial Year, with the Independent Calendar and Galactic Calendar using similar naming.
Interplanetary Consortium: An obsolete alliance formed by the Mars-based Paesam Corporation with several Lunarian corporations, which intervened militarily in the latter half of the Eleven-Month War. The end of the war and the Gravity Burst saw the scattering of the Lunarian contingent of the Consortium forces, though Paesam forces escaped the battle in more or less one piece. Through inheriting the Consortium's assets, Paesam now possesses legal (albeit largely disregarded) title to most of Mars under (defunct) Federal law.
Jupiter: The largest planet in the Solar System, population estimated at roughly 20 million. Home to a variety of orbital and satellite colonies whose principal purpose is energy extraction. Jovians rarely venture into the Inner System except as part of the once-yearly Jupiter Energy Fleet, which delivers fuel to Mars, Luna, and Earth. Much about their culture and way of life is unknown. The Energy Fleet has been unable to deliver fuel since the conclusion of the Revolution, which has plunged Mars into chaos.
Luna: Earth's satellite, population 214 million. Home to the Colonial Energy Corporation and a few other surviving megacorps. Considered neutral ground due to its centrality in technological development and thus one of the few places in the inhabited System without an Imperial garrison. Its unofficial capital is Armstrong City.
Magnate: An individual who controls a city, along with Mobile Suits. Ranging from benevolent protectors to despotic tyrants, the magnates of Mars are united only in their desire to keep what's theirs from being someone else's. Magnates often feud over resource-rich territory, settlements, or particularly valuable salvage hauls.
Mars: The Red Planet, population 1.4 billion. Home to several dozen autonomous colony "cities." Partially terraformed, with progress stalled following the rise of the Imperium. While much progress was made in achieving self-sufficiency during the Revolution, inter-system trade has been completely severed and resource shortages are common. Officially independent of the Imperium as of the conclusion of the Revolution, though the Earth government has yet to acknowledge this de-facto state of affairs.
Martian Renaissance: Despite the collapse of the Martian Republic's central authority, a pan-Martian identity has nevertheless continued to spread through the cities and tetherlink networks of Mars, driven by the success in ousting the Imperial garrison forces. Combined with planet-wide stringency, necessitating a wave of new recycling and efficiency technologies, this has led to a flourishing of Martian culture and aspirations. The project emblematic of this Renaissance is the so-called search for the Philosopher's Stone: the scientific breakthrough that will enable the resurrection of the Gundams and their G-U Drives without the need for Jupiterian helium-3.
Martian Republic: The largely defunct government of Mars. Originally founded by the northern cities of Garek's Bluff, Pavonis, and Oryza, then expanded through a combination of military and diplomatic victories. Ultimately victorious in the war against the Imperium and then later the Consortium, but with the destruction of Pavonis at the end of the war and the secession of Garek's Bluff afterwards, the fragile ruling coalition collapsed and a state of anarchy has ensued. Many Martian warlords claim to fight either on behalf of or against the Republic. The official capital is presently at Oryza City.
Martian Revolution: Also known as the Revolutionary War or the Eleven-Month War. Lasted from October of IY 19 to September of IY 20. Multiple Martian cities, equipped with experimental Gundam units, declared independence from the Terran Imperium and brought about a period of civil strife. Eventually, anti-Terran forces coalesced into the Martian Republic and successfully brought the majority of Martian territory under their control. The intervention of Lunarian corporate forces midway through the war threw the status quo into chaos, culminating in the Battle of Deimos and the Gravity Burst.
Messiah: The term for the two Advanced who intervened during the Gravity Burst to save Mars from destruction. Formerly known as Ercia Jomon and Hanaa Kamis, these two women are venerated by the Church of the Messiahs, also known as the Messiah Cult, which has a widespread following among the Martian public. Jomon and Kamis are never referred to by name except by those who knew them, and are instead referred to as the Founder and the Successor. Also a colloquial term for Advanced used by the particularly devout, who ascribe mystical abilities to their saviors.
Mobile Armor: Massive non-humanoid war machines crewed by multiple individuals. Originally created during the Corporate Wars with the advent of anti-gravity technology, first-generation Mobile Armors are no longer in use, being cumbersome and heavily reliant on nuclear fuel. Second-generation Mobile Armors that utilized the G-U Drive were fielded to great effect during the Revolutionary War. Modern third-generation Mobile Armors are less impressive, given their reliance on limited G-Cell availability, but benefit from other technological developments.
Mobile Suit: A humanoid machine that incorporates a "half-control" man-machine interface, or neuro-system, as well as anti-gravity thrusters that overcome the square-cube law and provide it with unparalleled speed and maneuverability. Mobile Suits are the mainstay of most Martian armies and are powered by recyclable G-Cells, which limit their deployment times. Mobile Suits are principally armed with beam rifles and beam sabers, with each weapon drawing on its own small G-Cell for power. With the end of the Revolution and the decline of the Martian Republic, Mobile Suit production has become increasingly non-standardized among the Martian cities, though many harken back to the Zeadorsas and Garands of the war.
N-DAM System: The Neuro-Dynamic Access Manipulation System, a next-generation man-machine interface designed for Mobile Suits. Unlike previous "half-control" neuro-systems, which read pilot brainwaves and convert their intentions into actions, the N-DAM is a "full-control" system that both receives and sends data, resulting in an exponential leap in pilot-machine synergy. N-DAM Systems are highly idiosyncratic; experiments have shown that only adolescents between the ages of 16 and 24 can properly synchronize with an N-DAM. Once synchronized, an N-DAM is "locked in" to its pilot. N-DAM System schematics warn of the potential for "unexplained phenomena" when overused. Absent the power supply provided by a fully operational G-U Drive, the N-DAM is reduced in capacity to a high-quality half-control system.
Normal Suit: A full-body protective suit rated for exposure to hostile atmosphere or vacuum. Much less bulky and more flexible than early 'spacesuit' models. Equipped with highly compressed air reserves, atmospheric condensers, radiation shielding, and even small maneuvering thrusters.
October Uprising: The one-month campaign waged by a cadre of students from the Asimov Technical Institute against the Imperial authorities on Mars. The lightning-swift advance, enabled by the GUNDAM's raw power, resulted in a push that nearly ended at the Olympian space elevator. Only the intervention of the Imperial Guard at the base of Olympus Mons stopped the GUNDAM's rampage through the Imperial garrison. In the wake of the Uprising, Asimov City was levelled and the Imperial garrison at Olympus City redoubled in strength, including a permanent detachment of the Guard. The first anniversary of the October Uprising served as the catalyst for the Martian Revolution.
Olympus City: Formerly the largest settlement on Mars, located at the base of the ruined space elevator installed at Olympus Mons. Once an Imperial stronghold, Olympus City today is much reduced due to warfare and strife but remains an important center of commerce due to its heavy fortifications. Barely avoided total destruction during the Gravity Burst; some say their salvation was due to the direct intervention of the Messiahs. Now headquarters to the Knights of Olympus, a militant order of ex-Imperial soldiers who defend the city from warlords and pirates.
Particle Beam: By manipulating the G-Field into both a containment field and a concentrated focusing lens, coherent beams of particle-based energy can be projected with a measure of stability. This effect was showcased most remarkably with the GUNDAM, which was armed with both a beam-firing rifle and a particle-based cutting implement known as a beam saber. Both weapons were seen to shear through Mobile Suit armor and G-Fields without any noticeable resistance. Technological advancement during the Revolution led to higher-caliber beam weapons, known as particle cannons and mega particle cannons. Beam weaponry is principally powered by G-Cells in modern Mobile Suits.
Phobos/Deimos: Formerly the two satellites of Mars. Previously home to much of the Imperium's orbital infrastructure, these satellites were destroyed by the Gravity Burst at the conclusion of the Revolutionary War, and now make up a large portion of the Graveyard's debris.
Pirates: Warlords who rely on a nomadic lifestyle devoted to pillage. While some style themselves as honorable rogues, most are in it for the loot. These forces are depressingly common, and many use salvaged Revolutionary-era battleships to wage their campaigns of plunder. All pirates are warlords, but not all warlords are pirates.
Terraforming: The process of transforming Mars into an Earth-like planet. Originally started under the Earth Federation but abandoned during the final years of the Corporate Wars. Mars presently has an atmosphere comparable to a high mountaintop on Earth, requiring the use of a normal suit to move about on the surface. Vegetation outside the cities is nearly unknown, and most sustenance comes from vast hydroponic agri-domes.
Terran Imperium: The present government of Earth. Ostensibly organized under the absolute rule of the Terran Emperor, in practice the Imperium is a military junta in which vast districts are delegated to the control of the Marshals of Terra and ruled with an iron fist. Much of the Imperium's energies are devoted to suppressing unrest on Earth and in the colonies. With the end of the Martian Revolution, the already tenuous Imperial control over Mars disintegrated.
Tetherlink: With the destruction of Deimos and the collapse of the infosphere, Mars plunged into a new Dark Age. Infosphere contact was impossible to re-establish given the interference produced by the Graveyard. However, the gravity tether technology pioneered by the famous Dr. Momoko Dzerzhinsky was quickly repurposed to serve as a high-speed wireless network to convey information. Tetherlink stations are limited in that they require unobstructed line of sight to function, but a fully operational tetherlink connection allows near-instantaneous data transfer and communication.
Whether by manufacturing the parts directly or putting salvaged bits together, every faction has at least some ability to build new mobile weapons. Any faction without a dedicated home base is considered to have a Build Capacity of 1, which represents their flagship's mechanics being able to assemble parts; this rating cannot be improved through standard means. Most major cities have a Build Capacity of 4, which can be improved through the acquisition of additional facilities or the expansion or improvement of present ones. Factions should indicate in their orders how they want to allocate their Build Capacity. You may allocate insufficient Build Capacity toward a project; should you do so, the project will take multiple turns of construction. Build projects may be spread out over multiple sources of Build Capacity.
Below is a listing of the costs of each currently available build project:
Mobile Suit (2nd Gen): 1
Mobile Suit (3rd Gen): 2
Gundam (1st Gen): 6
Gundam (2nd Gen): 12
Mobile Armor (MP): 4
Mobile Armor (Adv): 12
Landship: 6
Strike Carrier: 12
Dreadnought: 18
Below is a listing of the costs of each currently available build project:
Mobile Suit (2nd Gen): 1
Mobile Suit (3rd Gen): 2
Gundam (1st Gen): 6
Gundam (2nd Gen): 12
Mobile Armor (MP): 4
Mobile Armor (Adv): 12
Landship: 6
Strike Carrier: 12
Dreadnought: 18
The Darwinian culture of Mars necessitates constant innovation in order to survive and thrive. As such, every faction has the ability to research new projects, including mobile weapons, battleships, and other, even more spectacular possibilities. Each research project will take a set number of turns, and can be sped up by the allocation of additional Research Capacity. Any faction without a dedicated home base is considered to have a Research Capacity of 1, representing its onboard team of specialists. Factions with home bases can invest in additional Research Capacity through their orders. No one-person faction can ever exceed 2 Research Capacity.
Mobile Suits (Second Generation)
Pre-war designs retrieved from the battlefield and adapted for a post-cataclysm world, second-generation Mobile Suits are the unappreciated mainstays of most warlord forces. While most second-generation machines fall into the usual three broad categories of design school, the truth is that many are simply assigned those categories by virtue of where the majority of their parts come from. Most of them are irregular in build, a problem further exacerbated by the inadequacy of their armor, which necessitates frequent repairs.
While second-generation machines are equipped with G-Cell power sources, they weren't built to use them properly and must equip larger cells than their more advanced counterparts to achieve near-parity in result. They are typically armed with a hodgepodge of shell-firing and beam weapons, often in a variety of calibers and outputs.
Examples of second-generation Mobile Suits include the Zead-R (built on a Zeadorsa IIA chassis), the Garand VS (based on the Garand Victor), and the Sarissa (Paesam's most profitable Mobile Suit line, based on the Myrmidon).
Mobile Suits (Third Generation)
Third-generation Mobile Suits are modern designs developed after the Gravity Burst. While pre-war mobile weapons were both larger and more numerous, as well as highly energy-inefficient, third-generation machines were built to natively support a large G-Cell and to maximize its limited power output. As such, third-gen Mobile Suits are far more efficient in their use of onboard power, owing to multiple need-based innovations in that particular field.
Finally, in response to the decline of suit-portable beam artillery and the proliferation of smaller handheld beam weapons, third-generation machines are built with sturdy, beam-resistant armor made from alloys created under artificially high gravity.
Third-generation Mobile Suits are typically outfitted with cell-powered beam rifles and beam sabers, as well as other custom weapons and mission-appropriate gear.
Examples of third-generation Mobile Suits include the Republic-designed Neuzea, the Imperial-derived Errant, and the Consortium's Tribune.
Gundams (First Generation)
A portmanteau of the G-U Drive and the N-DAM System, the GUNDAM is a high-performance machine that, in the hands of an Advanced pilot, is nigh-unstoppable without equivalent force being brought to bear against it. The tremendous output of the G-U Drive enables a Gundam to sport a variety of exotic weapons and support systems, giving it a decisive edge on the battlefield over conventional opponents, and its G-Field is powerful enough to deflect all but the most accurate small-arms fire.
First Generation Gundams are more properly known as 1.5th Generation, as all extant examples have been upgraded from their baseline models to better compete on the battlefields of the Revolutionary War. Unlike their more advanced successors, they can be modified to use the G-Cell, albeit with reduced overall performance and a partially-inactive N-DAM System.
Gundams (Second Generation)
Second generation Gundams are those equipped with the N-Frame, an extension of the N-DAM System's neuro-linkages throughout the whole of the Mobile Suit's internal skeleton. This results in an enormous gain in performance and synchronicity between pilot and machine, and when combined with cutting-edge weaponry and other technologies, an Advanced piloting an N-Frame Gundam is more than capable of dominating all but the most experienced lower-generation Gundam pilots.
Due to the helium-3 drought presently afflicting Mars, almost all second generation Gundams are presently inactive.
Mobile Armors (Mass Production)
The mass-production Mobile Armor is a non-humanoid machine an order of magnitude larger than a Mobile Suit, typically outfitted with heavy armor plating, high-output thrusters, and large beam weapons. Each Mobile Armor requires multi-person crews with special training to operate properly, but when fielded correctly, they can serve as excellent fire support platforms or fill other useful battlefield roles.
Absent a high-output power source like the G-Drive, the Mobile Armor as a concept is somewhat impractical on the modern battlefield. Pre-war designs are simply too inefficient to be fielded reliably, and few modern groups have the time, interest, or manufacturing capability to produce Mobile Armors when static fortifications are much cheaper.
Paesam Corporation's Mistral, designed for air-superiority operations, and Sharp City's Bogazkesen, built to provide artillery support, are the only two models currently in production, though some forces do deploy individual, custom-modified or salvaged Mobile Armors to intimidate settlements or rivals.
Mobile Armors (Advanced)
An Advanced Mobile Armor is just what it sounds like: a Mobile Armor built with an Advanced pilot in mind. Sporting the same G-U Drive and N-DAM system as a Gundam, these Mobile Armors are just as unique and powerful as their Mobile Suit equivalents, albeit generally specialized for large-scale multi-target engagements rather than the Gundam's more focused scope. The examples fielded in the previous war were often equipped with powerful G-Field emitters, devastating particle beam artillery, and a variety of other unique weapons.
Extant examples of the Advanced Mobile Armor include the Martian Republic's Helios and Hesperidea, both currently non-functional.
Pre-war designs retrieved from the battlefield and adapted for a post-cataclysm world, second-generation Mobile Suits are the unappreciated mainstays of most warlord forces. While most second-generation machines fall into the usual three broad categories of design school, the truth is that many are simply assigned those categories by virtue of where the majority of their parts come from. Most of them are irregular in build, a problem further exacerbated by the inadequacy of their armor, which necessitates frequent repairs.
While second-generation machines are equipped with G-Cell power sources, they weren't built to use them properly and must equip larger cells than their more advanced counterparts to achieve near-parity in result. They are typically armed with a hodgepodge of shell-firing and beam weapons, often in a variety of calibers and outputs.
Examples of second-generation Mobile Suits include the Zead-R (built on a Zeadorsa IIA chassis), the Garand VS (based on the Garand Victor), and the Sarissa (Paesam's most profitable Mobile Suit line, based on the Myrmidon).
Mobile Suits (Third Generation)
Third-generation Mobile Suits are modern designs developed after the Gravity Burst. While pre-war mobile weapons were both larger and more numerous, as well as highly energy-inefficient, third-generation machines were built to natively support a large G-Cell and to maximize its limited power output. As such, third-gen Mobile Suits are far more efficient in their use of onboard power, owing to multiple need-based innovations in that particular field.
Finally, in response to the decline of suit-portable beam artillery and the proliferation of smaller handheld beam weapons, third-generation machines are built with sturdy, beam-resistant armor made from alloys created under artificially high gravity.
Third-generation Mobile Suits are typically outfitted with cell-powered beam rifles and beam sabers, as well as other custom weapons and mission-appropriate gear.
Examples of third-generation Mobile Suits include the Republic-designed Neuzea, the Imperial-derived Errant, and the Consortium's Tribune.
Gundams (First Generation)
A portmanteau of the G-U Drive and the N-DAM System, the GUNDAM is a high-performance machine that, in the hands of an Advanced pilot, is nigh-unstoppable without equivalent force being brought to bear against it. The tremendous output of the G-U Drive enables a Gundam to sport a variety of exotic weapons and support systems, giving it a decisive edge on the battlefield over conventional opponents, and its G-Field is powerful enough to deflect all but the most accurate small-arms fire.
First Generation Gundams are more properly known as 1.5th Generation, as all extant examples have been upgraded from their baseline models to better compete on the battlefields of the Revolutionary War. Unlike their more advanced successors, they can be modified to use the G-Cell, albeit with reduced overall performance and a partially-inactive N-DAM System.
Gundams (Second Generation)
Second generation Gundams are those equipped with the N-Frame, an extension of the N-DAM System's neuro-linkages throughout the whole of the Mobile Suit's internal skeleton. This results in an enormous gain in performance and synchronicity between pilot and machine, and when combined with cutting-edge weaponry and other technologies, an Advanced piloting an N-Frame Gundam is more than capable of dominating all but the most experienced lower-generation Gundam pilots.
Due to the helium-3 drought presently afflicting Mars, almost all second generation Gundams are presently inactive.
Mobile Armors (Mass Production)
The mass-production Mobile Armor is a non-humanoid machine an order of magnitude larger than a Mobile Suit, typically outfitted with heavy armor plating, high-output thrusters, and large beam weapons. Each Mobile Armor requires multi-person crews with special training to operate properly, but when fielded correctly, they can serve as excellent fire support platforms or fill other useful battlefield roles.
Absent a high-output power source like the G-Drive, the Mobile Armor as a concept is somewhat impractical on the modern battlefield. Pre-war designs are simply too inefficient to be fielded reliably, and few modern groups have the time, interest, or manufacturing capability to produce Mobile Armors when static fortifications are much cheaper.
Paesam Corporation's Mistral, designed for air-superiority operations, and Sharp City's Bogazkesen, built to provide artillery support, are the only two models currently in production, though some forces do deploy individual, custom-modified or salvaged Mobile Armors to intimidate settlements or rivals.
Mobile Armors (Advanced)
An Advanced Mobile Armor is just what it sounds like: a Mobile Armor built with an Advanced pilot in mind. Sporting the same G-U Drive and N-DAM system as a Gundam, these Mobile Armors are just as unique and powerful as their Mobile Suit equivalents, albeit generally specialized for large-scale multi-target engagements rather than the Gundam's more focused scope. The examples fielded in the previous war were often equipped with powerful G-Field emitters, devastating particle beam artillery, and a variety of other unique weapons.
Extant examples of the Advanced Mobile Armor include the Martian Republic's Helios and Hesperidea, both currently non-functional.
Landships
Venerable relics of pre-War transport, the landship is a massive vessel whose size is on par with the strike carrier, but is unable to operate in the atmosphere. Instead, it hovers just above the ground to avoid rough terrain and obstacles, albeit slowly. While most are armed, their large-caliber shell-firing cannons simply aren't up to the challenge of the modern battlefield, and can generally only serve to threaten a colony with bombardment. However, they can still carry a full complement of Mobile Suits, and their ability to host a graviton collector makes them useful in these very limited days.
Strike Carriers
The Martian strike carrier traces its roots back to the Terran Imperium's Thunderbolt-class vessel, an aerospace combat ship designed for area dominance. Armed with relatively light but still potent beam artillery, a strike carrier's main utility was in its capacious hangars and multiple launch ramps, capable of deploying numerous mobile weapons. Combined with onboard maintenance facilities and supply bunkers, the Thunderbolt-class strike carrier could embark, sortie, and support an entire Mobile Suit division in the field. It was a key tool in the Imperium's order-enforcement arsenal.
Present second-generation strike carriers are noteworthy for their ability to carry a graviton collector, which permits independent operation and the ability to recharge G-Cells far from home. They include the Republic-built Kodiak (that polity's first and last mass-production ship design), the Lunar-built Acquisitor (often heavily modified), and the Imperial Interceptor, the last remnants of that ill-fated reconquest fleet.
Dreadnoughts
Vast warships, heavily armed and armored, with even more substantial carrying capacity than a strike carrier, the dreadnought is a relic of the War of Independence. Each one was either custom-built or otherwise heavily modified, and the ability to make more is beyond the capacity of most modern powers. Several are currently missing, presumed lost, and the wrecks of several more lay within the Graveyard. Prominent examples of presently operational dreadnoughts include the Jeanne d'Arc and the Indomitable.
Venerable relics of pre-War transport, the landship is a massive vessel whose size is on par with the strike carrier, but is unable to operate in the atmosphere. Instead, it hovers just above the ground to avoid rough terrain and obstacles, albeit slowly. While most are armed, their large-caliber shell-firing cannons simply aren't up to the challenge of the modern battlefield, and can generally only serve to threaten a colony with bombardment. However, they can still carry a full complement of Mobile Suits, and their ability to host a graviton collector makes them useful in these very limited days.
Strike Carriers
The Martian strike carrier traces its roots back to the Terran Imperium's Thunderbolt-class vessel, an aerospace combat ship designed for area dominance. Armed with relatively light but still potent beam artillery, a strike carrier's main utility was in its capacious hangars and multiple launch ramps, capable of deploying numerous mobile weapons. Combined with onboard maintenance facilities and supply bunkers, the Thunderbolt-class strike carrier could embark, sortie, and support an entire Mobile Suit division in the field. It was a key tool in the Imperium's order-enforcement arsenal.
Present second-generation strike carriers are noteworthy for their ability to carry a graviton collector, which permits independent operation and the ability to recharge G-Cells far from home. They include the Republic-built Kodiak (that polity's first and last mass-production ship design), the Lunar-built Acquisitor (often heavily modified), and the Imperial Interceptor, the last remnants of that ill-fated reconquest fleet.
Dreadnoughts
Vast warships, heavily armed and armored, with even more substantial carrying capacity than a strike carrier, the dreadnought is a relic of the War of Independence. Each one was either custom-built or otherwise heavily modified, and the ability to make more is beyond the capacity of most modern powers. Several are currently missing, presumed lost, and the wrecks of several more lay within the Graveyard. Prominent examples of presently operational dreadnoughts include the Jeanne d'Arc and the Indomitable.
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