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Owners of Mars

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Alright, here's take two Three for Chryse.

Settlement Name: Chryse
Nationality: Mixed (Commonwealth English as official language)
Map Color: Navy Blue
Location: In or around the Chryse Planitia, and nearby to the Chryse Chaos
Settlement Type: Manufacturing
Bio:

Settlement Name: Chryse
Nationality: Mixed (Commonwealth English as official language)
Map Color: Navy Blue
Location: In or around the Chryse Planitia, and nearby to the Chryse Chaos
Settlement Type: Manufacturing
Bio: One of Mars' earlier colonies, The Chryse Colony was founded by a coalition of space-capable powers in the late 2070s as an experiment in larger scale habitation on Mars. Volunteers from all over the globe were selected to take part in one of humanity's most ambitious projects upon the red planet; a colony larger than any other previously built on the surface of Mars. A few thousand of technical crew, along with support staff and some scientists (Primarily geologists & sociologists), were brought in as part of the project, paid in the promise of a home on mars (And a large sum of money). Within a year enough permanent habitation had been built to house the construction personnel and their support staff and well on their way on constructing the other domes that would constitute the colony.

Two years into the project, and tragedy struck. The communications array used by the colony was struck by a meteorite shower catastrophically, rendering interplanetary communication entirely inoperable and short range communications heavily damaged, further compounded by the lack of a replacement parts for either, effectively cut off the colony from earth. Within hours, the crew shifted priorities; and work ceased upon the expansion of the colony and focused itself towards survival and re-establishment of contact with earth. Several days after, satellite imagery revealed the supposed extent of the 'damage'; several domes half built and exposed to the martian atmosphere lent credence to what became popularly known as the 'Ghost Colony'. Further satellite flyovers would reveal a steady deterioration of the half-finished domes (In actuality caused by the Chrysian colonists salvaging material), an area of mars which would be permeated with rumour and superstition.

During what the colony calls the 'isolation years', outside resupply became minimal & security tightened, even as the short range communication relays were repaired. Reliant on a few brave souls migrating to the other colonies they knew of to arrange for supplies to be delivered, dependant on what money the colonists had been paid and what could be loaded onto existing transportation and discreetly moved to Chryse.

In the last days before the earth fell silent, Chryse's interplanetary communications was finally brought online after 70 odd years of jury-rigging, adaptation and ingenuity, It was able to bear witness to the final moments of a world that had mostly forgotten them.
 
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*Visibly strains himself from pointing out a few flaws in that outline*
 
Taricus said:
Ah, point them out. Can't fix them otherwise.
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Well, for one, we've all got transport vehicles, both ground and aerospace shuttles. (I asked about this beforehand to the GM). Two, in the early days especially( as you note you're one of the oldest), you wouldn't actually 'see' anything degrading, martian atmosphere being what it is/was would basically mean things are relatively static, outside dust build up that occurs naturally and eventually potentially covering stuff. Further, the level of zoom available on orbiters today (not to even comment on future orbiters, or the fact you could overfly with a camera drone) would be quite easy to see that buildings were being dissasembled by people, especially with more orbital infrastructure in place to make 'gaps' in sat coverage smaller/shuttle overflights. A disaster on that scale in the early years would get tons of coverage, and potential rescue missions or salvage efforts.

Further, as there are a dozen orbital habs, and your own sponsors at home, it'd be simple enough to send over a shuttle to check for survivors, or since you point out you're or were a collaborative project they would want to send work crews to recover the materials for use in other mars missions, or to send follow up crews.

In addition, as you yourself point out that you have people who go out and trade with the other habitats. It'd be trivial for these travellers to go

"Hey the meteor shower damaged our long-range comms array, and our 3d printers have somehow all been corrupted to forget how to make basic spare parts, can I make a call to orbit from here and to borrow some of your printers software? We'd appreciate it." Crisis resolved.

Further, you have to remember the relative population on mars is kind of small, especially in those earlier days when things would largely be done by more automated processes. People -would- know people by face, and I doubt your early colonists would be some sort of hyper-paranoid people who'd try to pretend they're from elsewhere, especially if they are getting supplies. Your backstory suggests a scientific and technical population primarily, so what's made them go 'we cannot ask our neighbour colonies for help but we must secretly trade with them instead!'. That's hardly a rational response to the situation.

Edit: and 70 years to fix a comm array seems a bit of a stretch too. (Edit 2: That's british for lol70 years dear god are the people there absolutely stupid?).
 
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Alright, thanks for the feedback, it's very much appreciated.

On the first point, media coverage aside, there is an issue that there might not be a whole lot of activity if/when an observational satellite flies over (And how many those would be, especially ones that can monitor in high resolution, would be in orbit at this stage). Potential rescue missions would be dependant on confirmation of survivors as well, and a salvage mission might not go too well depending on the timing. (Side note, when did those orbital stations get deployed exactly?)

Now, for the traveller bit, that's where the media coverage comes in, since I did have it somewhat planned that, they would actually say they're from the Chryse, only to be dismissed as some that'... well, crazy. And thus just not broaching the topic unless necessary due to the social stigma there is for bringing it up. Furthermore the trade is hardly a secret (And given the available resources on mars, I don't think there's going to be much trading on it for a fair while since industries have to diversify and specialise). And more to the point they aren't, technically speaking, trading with the other colonies insomuch as they're just getting their deliveries on the same ship. It is something that could use a rewrite though, so I'm grateful for that being pointed out.

The part about the 3D printers is hardly viable though. While they could produce basic equipment, a much larger and complex piece of equipment would be well out of the realm of what a basic set of 3D printers could do, and that's before running into the issue of the available feedstock. Something as large and complicated as a large telecommunications transmitter would probably require a lot of specially manufactured parts you wouldn't be able to print out, especially if resources are being dedicated to the upkeep of vital systems to keep everyone alive.

The automated process thing was assumed when going into this with a large crew, because as stated it was a large and ambitious project, and for a large part the machines which automate the processes to need a handler nearby to ensure everything is going smoothly, because a major cock-up, especially on a large project on mars would be extremely costly.

As for the 70 year timeline, it's more or less a relatively small industrial base repairing a piece of particularly sophisticated equipment from just about the ground up. Not exactly an easy task by any stretch, though you're likely right about it being stretched out for too long.

All in all though, it looks like I've got to change several things at least, so the heads up on that is appreciated.
 
A communications array is hardly a difficult technology to cobble together. Further, why would the other habitats (and be careful now, since you're now forcing the other players cities to be derpy and taking away their agency) dismiss your people saying they're from 'Chryse'? There aren't that many habitats on mars, and a quick call to orbit/time delayed call to earth would be able to pull up personnel files on people for the mission if there is disbelief. You went as part of an international mission, likely one that has to follow same rules as NASA so things like that are public.

Also why would a salvage mission not go well? Its easy enough to predict dust storms and meteor showers on the planet. A dome alone is tens of tons of materials that dont have to be shipped over.

I dunno, the ISS antennas break every now and then and they fix it using on board parts, you have a lot more supplies and area and people to fix a radio with.

888

Sorry for being such a pedant about all this >.<
 
Well it's more the minute you show up unannounced to take someone's stuff and they catch you in act that leads to problems of the kind that possibly involve shooting when it comes to the salvage mission. And it's not particularly difficult from the technology base as it is the amount of supplies needed to fix it (Though good point of the other colonies opinions)

No worries about being pedantic about this though, as I said I do appreciate the feedback you're giving.
 
Taricus said:
Well it's more the minute you show up unannounced to take someone's stuff and they catch you in act that leads to problems of the kind that possibly involve shooting when it comes to the salvage mission. And it's not particularly difficult from the technology base as it is the amount of supplies needed to fix it (Though good point of the other colonies opinions)

No worries about being pedantic about this though, as I said I do appreciate the feedback you're giving.
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What? They'd wear the same equipment, and Mars is a fairly demilitarized place. You're a colony of scientists not a survivalist camp xD. Plus, they'd use short range comms/look about for people -and- they'd likely have procedures for things going wrong, most large scale efforts do for reestablishing contact, equipment breakdown, etc. Furthermore, a salvage mission getting shot at would bring -more- attention not less?

Because either:

1. Someone is stealing company property
2. The survivors are still present and have gone insane
3. Aliums.
 
To be fair, survivalist camp is actually what I'm trying to achieve in stead of a scientist colony. It's just the trouble of trying to figure out how to do that with a decent population.

As for salvage teams going missing, yeah I think you've pointed out the big problem with that. Back to the drawing board!
 
Settlement Name: Kasei Kaiyōkenkyūsho
Nationality: Japanese
Map Color: Sea Green
Location: A little north of the bay to the west side of the map
Settlement Type: Agricultural
Bio: The Martian Oceanic Institute, or Kasei kaiyōkenkyūsho, was founded by Japan with the help of its American allies among others and while it does include some members of other nationalities is primarily a Japanese venture. It's principal purpose has been to study the newly reconstituted ocean of Mars and find ways to adapt life to it, for the future colonization and terraforming efforts of the planet. To this end, they have a large somewhat independent facility located out on the water itself, a floating dome city given direct access to the ocean to aid their research. With the best and most extensive pumping and purifier systems available, as well as large pools of water that contain various fish and other ocean animal life thought suited for the climate, as well as plants that would contribute to both the biodiversity of the potential new ocean and help to fortify the atmosphere and make it more breathable, such as kelp, and algae among others. The Institute has worked to adapt the various plant and animal specimens they have to survive in Mars ocean, plants being the first new living colonists to add and animals being introduced later, they have retained large enough stocks for the purpose of self-sustaining and have enough DNA and seed stored to replace their numbers should anything happen. Of course, in addition, the Institute also wishes to study the potential building blocks of extant Martian life, such as it might exist, and for this purpose is well prepared to both modify and study various forms of life as well as robotic probes to study the seas geography, currents, and features. Instead of rovers, Kasei Kaiyōkenkyūsho has robotic or piloted ships and submarines to aid in their research and to haul whatever resources they require oversea.
 


Settlement: Grand Luxembourg
Nationality: Luxembourgian
Map color: Prussian Blue
Settlement type: Agriculture, focusing on cattle and potatoes
Bio: Grand Luxembourg was developed by the government of Luxembourg after a referendum voted in favor to establish the colony. The colony was originally meant to be for the entire country to move their population on because the people saw it as their only hope in a dying world, but after far left radicals against moving to Mars took control of the government, people on the colony felt resentment for the people on earth and stopped listening to the government. The colony had several elections of their own, choosing Neo-fascist leaders focused on a self sustaining colony, creating a culture focused on hard work but the colonists have become less and less happy over the years. The system that has been set up has created a powerful oligarchy and powerless underclass.
 
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Taricus said:
Alright, here's take two Three for Chryse.

Settlement Name: Chryse
Nationality: Mixed (Commonwealth English as official language)
Map Color: Navy Blue
Location: In or around the Chryse Planitia, and nearby to the Chryse Chaos
Settlement Type: Manufacturing
Bio:

Settlement Name: Chryse
Nationality: Mixed (Commonwealth English as official language)
Map Color: Navy Blue
Location: In or around the Chryse Planitia, and nearby to the Chryse Chaos
Settlement Type: Manufacturing
Bio: One of Mars' earlier colonies, The Chryse Colony was founded by a coalition of space-capable powers in the late 2070s as an experiment in larger scale habitation on Mars. Volunteers from all over the globe were selected to take part in one of humanity's most ambitious projects upon the red planet; a colony larger than any other previously built on the surface of Mars. A few thousand of technical crew, along with support staff and some scientists (Primarily geologists & sociologists), were brought in as part of the project, paid in the promise of a home on mars (And a large sum of money). Within a year enough permanent habitation had been built to house the construction personnel and their support staff and well on their way on constructing the other domes that would constitute the colony.

Two years into the project, and tragedy struck. The communications array used by the colony was struck by a meteorite shower catastrophically, rendering interplanetary communication entirely inoperable and short range communications heavily damaged, further compounded by the lack of a replacement parts for either, effectively cut off the colony from earth. Within hours, the crew shifted priorities; and work ceased upon the expansion of the colony and focused itself towards survival and re-establishment of contact with earth. Several days after, satellite imagery revealed the supposed extent of the 'damage'; several domes half built and exposed to the martian atmosphere lent credence to what became popularly known as the 'Ghost Colony'. Further satellite flyovers would reveal a steady deterioration of the half-finished domes (In actuality caused by the Chrysian colonists salvaging material), an area of mars which would be permeated with rumour and superstition.

During what the colony calls the 'isolation years', outside resupply became minimal & security tightened, even as the short range communication relays were repaired. Reliant on a few brave souls migrating to the other colonies they knew of to arrange for supplies to be delivered, dependant on what money the colonists had been paid and what could be loaded onto existing transportation and discreetly moved to Chryse.

In the last days before the earth fell silent, Chryse's interplanetary communications was finally brought online after 70 odd years of jury-rigging, adaptation and ingenuity, It was able to bear witness to the final moments of a world that had mostly forgotten them.
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Gonna have to deny this again, sorry. It just doesn't fit with the pre-game narrative Skrevski and I have in mind.

Lord_Asmodeus said:
Settlement Name: Kasei Kaiyōkenkyūsho
Nationality: Japanese
Map Color: Sea Green
Location: A little north of the bay to the west side of the map
Settlement Type: Agricultural
Bio: The Martian Oceanic Institute, or Kasei kaiyōkenkyūsho, was founded by Japan with the help of its American allies among others and while it does include some members of other nationalities is primarily a Japanese venture. It's principal purpose has been to study the newly reconstituted ocean of Mars and find ways to adapt life to it, for the future colonization and terraforming efforts of the planet. To this end, they have a large somewhat independent facility located out on the water itself, a floating dome city given direct access to the ocean to aid their research. With the best and most extensive pumping and purifier systems available, as well as large pools of water that contain various fish and other ocean animal life thought suited for the climate, as well as plants that would contribute to both the biodiversity of the potential new ocean and help to fortify the atmosphere and make it more breathable, such as kelp, and algae among others. The Institute has worked to adapt the various plant and animal specimens they have to survive in Mars ocean, plants being the first new living colonists to add and animals being introduced later, they have retained large enough stocks for the purpose of self-sustaining and have enough DNA and seed stored to replace their numbers should anything happen. Of course, in addition, the Institute also wishes to study the potential building blocks of extant Martian life, such as it might exist, and for this purpose is well prepared to both modify and study various forms of life as well as robotic probes to study the seas geography, currents, and features. Instead of rovers, Kasei Kaiyōkenkyūsho has robotic or piloted ships and submarines to aid in their research and to haul whatever resources they require oversea.
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This is accepted, but you do not have access to submarines.

With that, signups are now CLOSED. Apologies for those who applied and didn't get in. Spots will likely open up as the game progresses, so keep a look out in both the IC and OOC threads.
 
It is very suspicious that the Americans have a Brigade of Marines on Mars when literally nobody else does. Especially since they instantly went 'we're mercenaries now' rather than see if the US govt survived, since the US has somewhat robust systems in place to ensure succession of government.

Most of us still hope that parts of Earth are ok.
 
Duzzit said:
It is very suspicious that the Americans have a Brigade of Marines on Mars when literally nobody else does. Especially since they instantly went 'we're mercenaries now' rather than see if the US govt survived, since the US has somewhat robust systems in place to ensure succession of government.

Most of us still hope that parts of Earth are ok.
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Especially when they are the only ones with outposts scattered across the planet.
 
@JbeJ275

Erm, JbeJ Wind power is actually viable on mars, even on an unterraformed one. I'd have to find the papers on it, but as a very quick thing I know Scott Manley talks about it in one of his more science focused episodes.
 
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