Blood Between the Stars. a record of the second war of the Milky Way

[Janduin]

Centuries ago man exhausted the resources of its home world Earth, and spread to the stars in a desperate bid to survive. The scattered seeds of the human race flung themselves into the Milky Way, Terraforming a whole host of new earths. Man soon discovered that they were in fact alone in the universe, or at least in their galaxy. Though there was a period of peace as the new worlds established themselves the darker side of human nature soon asserted itself, and war broke out between the survivors of Earth.

The year is 672 A.D. (after departure), and the worlds of man have been consolidated into several interstellar super powers by centuries of conquest and desperate alliances. They are as follows.

The Crux-Sagittarian Alliance, ruled by a council elected by representatives of each planet, The Sagittarian Alliance is less a nation and more a conglomerate of likeminded powers. While it is the largest of the Interstellar nations, controlling large parts of the Sagittarius and Crux-Scutum arms of the Milky Way, it is the least cohesive. It is divided into several regions each of which maintains its own military and economic system.

The Norma Empire ruled by the ascendant god-emperor Hiromasa. The Empire rules the Norma arm, and part of the Crux-Scutum as well. The empire is divided into several fiefdoms, which owe complete loyalty to the Emperor. The Empire is capable of working as a whole, but disagreements among the lords can breed discord if the emperor does not intervene. A rigid caste system exists in the empire, but moving up the ladder is not unheard of.

The Tri-arm Hegemony, which holds parts of the Orion, Perseus, and Sagittarius arms of the Milky Way. The hegemony is highly bureaucratic, and its government is rigid. Everything is controlled and monitored by the central state. Every facet of life, from economics to military, and even child birth is controlled and regulated. There is little to no dissension inside the Hegemony, in part because its inhabitants are taught to obey from birth and raised to be subservient, and in part because they are too frightened to fight the system.

The Union of Outer Worlds, which consists of the remainder of the Perseus and Orion arms. The Union is ruled by a parliament, which is presided over by an executive known as the First Speaker, elections are held every three and six years respectively. Each planet is given representation in the parliament based on their population, and contributions to the nation. The union can be either extremely cohesive, or downright fractured, depending on the political situation at the time. They are however, on average quite willing to cooperate with one another. And their divisions do not in any way spill over into their military.

There has been peace for the last sixty years, as the nations attended to the wounds of the first Galactic War. But recently there have been rumors of shipyards working at high capacity, and the recruiters have been unusually active.

Combat in this Rp will take place in two separate venues, in space, and on planet. First I am going to discuss the mechanics we will be using for space travel and combat. These are largely based on the lost fleet series by Jack Campbell. Why? Because I like the way he does it, no you don't have to have read the books to participate in this.

Space, space is vast, this is a fact and there is no way around it. The distance between stars is tremendous, at light speed it would take decades to reach other star systems. Not only that, but the resources needed to make such a long journey would likewise be substantial. Another fact, nothing goes faster than light. Given these two facts man’s escape from earth seemed impossible, until a very significant discovery. While it’s true that nothing can go faster than light, physicists found a loop hole. They discovered that at certain points on the outer edge of any given solar system, the interactions of gravity and several other universal forces allowed for “Leaps” into a parallel plane of existence, these points would latter come to be known as Inlets. This plane, which came to be known as the Confluence, was devoid of planets and stars. Distances worked differently in the Confluence, and by transitioning between Inlets a ship could make trip in days that should have taken years. Though ships could only go from one Inlet to the next, their course controlled by a mathematical formula based on gravity, it was still a massive improvement.

Early leap generators were clumsy, and allowed only short transitions into the Confluence, however newer models allow ships to stay in for up to a week. Though options are limited each inlet can potentially have several others in range, allowing for interstellar travel. Because of the discovery of the Confluence man never needed to reach light speed travel and they never did. In regular space ships move at fractions of light speed, taking days to cross solar systems (for relevant calculations see below). Most movement is done between speeds of .1 and .2 light, though there are ships capable of reaching .3 light. Combat maneuvers are likewise usually done between .1 and .2 light.

The reasons for this are quite simple. First is that moving beyond .2 light puts tremendous strain on a ship, strain that can be crippling to a vessel and her crew, which we cannot yet fully compensate for. Second is that as a ship moves closer to light speed it increases the amount of distortion in the input of the ships sensors. At .2 light combat sensors have difficulty aiming, and at .3 the ship is effectively flying blind.

Communications in regular space are conducted at the speed of light, and distance is measured in light minutes, the time it takes for light to cross said distance. For example, the distance between the sun and the earth (our solar system of course) is 8.3 light minutes. This means that it takes light from the Sun 8.3 minutes to reach the Earth. Applying this distance to space travel in the Rp, if something happened 8.3 light minutes away it would be 8.3 minutes before your ship could see the change. If you wanted to communicate with a ship this distance away your message would take 8.3 minutes to reach them, and there’s would take a similar time to reach you. If you wanted to cross this distance at .1 light it would take you eighty three minutes to traverse it, and forty one and a half minutes at .2 light. To provide additional perspective the distance from the Sun to Pluto is 328 light minutes, I’ll let you do the math.

For the purpose of interstellar combat there are six tools relevant to ships. First are missiles, which move at speeds comparable to the ships, and have homing devices. These are highly efficient long range weapons, but supply on any given ship is limited. Second are the ships “Scorpion” batteries, which fire condensed bolts of superheated plasma, these are a ships primary weapons. Third, is grapeshot, hundreds of tiny metal balls which shred through unshielded ships when they collide at.1 or .2 light.

This brings us to factor number four shields. Shields are absolutely necessary, not only for combat, but for interstellar travel itself. They protect the ship from collisions with particulate matter, which collided with when moving at fractions of the speed of light, can tear into a ship’s hull (note this operates on the same principle as grapeshot). In combat shields protect a ship from Scorpion bolts, missiles, and grapeshot, for a time at least.

Finally we have tools five and six, which while not directly related to ship-to-ship combat, are still relevant overall. Tool number five is kinetic projectiles, otherwise known as big rocks. These can be launched by ships as a sort of artillery against predictable targets. Due to a ships capacity to maneuver they are useless against enemy vessels, but planets and satellites- and the enemy instillations on them- are fair game. Last but not least are stealth mines, which are exactly what they sound like. Not the most useful tool in a three dimensional environment where your enemy can go above below or around them , but if you can predict your enemies course or place them at choke points (Inlets for example) they can be devastating.
In the early years of space combat commanders often had difficulty coordinating the actions of their ships, because in an unbound three dimensional environment terms such as up ,down, left, and right, quickly became relative.

Faced with the need for a system of reference a standard was soon developed. All star systems have a plane in which planets or other objects orbit. One side of that plane is labeled up, and one side down. This allowed for up and down to become constant, regardless of which direction a ship is facing at the time. The direction toward the star was labeled starboard, after the old naval term, and in the same manner the direction away from the star was labeled port. By taking their orientation from the star system, rather than from themselves or the aspects of their ships, fleets became able to coordinate combat maneuvers.

I think that’s sufficient background information on space travel and combat, if you have any questions just ask. Next we will cover planetary operations.

Here are some of the mechanics for the other side of the Rp, the Mechs and planetary combat. Mostly I’m leaving the planet side unspecified, after all we know how things work. That being said there are a few things I think I should say.

While terraforming allowed man to create new homes for themselves in the galaxy, it was far from a perfect process. Depending on their position in the solar system relative to its star, planets would be too hot, or too cold. Some planets couldn’t be Terraformed at all, and colonies were created using sealed domes, the interiors of which mimicked habitable climes. On some planets the seasons would be off, the years different lengths, planetary rotations would affect day cycles, Gravity varied depending on the size of the planet etc. In short there will be a lot of variety in the places we can visit and fight planet-side, and there are a lot of possibilities for places where your character could have originated. Hell, if you want you don’t have to have been born on a planet at all.

That’s all I’m going to say about planets, in truth most of it didn’t really need to be said, you probably could have figured it out yourself. Still I like to make sure that there are no misunderstandings so there it is. Now let’s talk about the Mechs.

Because calling them Mechs seems a little silly and generic to me, they will be referred to as Golems. If you have a better name I would be willing to hear it. Needless to say each interstellar nation will have their own individual Golem models, much like how different countries have different riffle or tank models. That being said, continuing the tank/rifle example while each may have their own models, there are design basics that are universal.

Golems developed shortly after man began to spread to the stars, as the derivative of a failed research project. The project in question was an attempt to mitigate the need for a crew by integrating a human nervous system into a ship, theoretically allowing a single individual to assume complete control of a vessel. It was a miserable failure, which in retrospect was not surprising, as the idea made little sense. While they were able to establish a connection, the prospective pilots were unable to do anything.

The technology seemed useless, but an enterprising business man saw promise in the project and bought the research. He began working based on the assumption that the project had failed because the ships functions were too dissimilar to human bodily functions for the brain to control. He was correct of course, and he soon saw results.

The basis of the Golem was a synthetic humanoid standing around fifteen to twenty feet tall, possessing a nervous system almost identical to that of man, with one exception. The complete lack of its own psyche. The pilot’s nervous system was connected to that of the machine by a cerebral tap (think matrix), and the golem behaved as if it was his own body. In order to allow the Golems to work in environments hostile to man, an armored exoskeleton was grafted onto their flesh. They quickly replaced most heavy machinery, as they were far more efficient. A Golem could do the work of any number of machines. Rather than buy a crane, and a backhoe, you could buy a single Golem.

In the beginning Golems were used purely for economic purposes. This changed when a terrorist using a stolen Golem destroyed a small military outpost before being brought down by concentrated fire. The powers that be realized the Golems possibilities. A highly maneuverable all terrain armored unit, for which pilots required little training beyond that of an infantryman. Furthermore the pilots could double as infantry when outside of their machines. Golems soon became the back bone of planetary forces in the interstellar age.

Golems are not remote controlled, the pilot does ride in the Golem. My apologies if I gave any indications contrary to this. The Golems “cockpit” as it were, is located on its upper back. The armor over the Golem’s scapulae, spine, and lower rib cage, pulls back revealing a small hollow. At the base of this hollow is a small seat. Connected to the seat is a trough, which runs along the bottom edge, circling the Golems torso at a slight diagonal.

The first step for a pilot boarding a Golem is to lower himself, or herself, into the seat. Next the pilot slips his legs into the trough and around the Golem’s torso. Higher up on the Golems back are a pair of apertures, into which the pilot slides his arms. Which, in a manner similar to his legs, wrap around the outside of the Golem’s rib cage below the armor on the Golem’s torso.

In the center of the cockpit is a recess into which the pilot presses their head. This recess creates an air tight seal with the pilot’s face, and serves as a breathing apparatus. When the pilot is so positioned, they press their body close to the golem, at which point restraints bind the pilot in place. This prevents the pilot’s body from moving while the golem is in motion, protecting it from injury.
After the restraints are in place the probe is inserted, establishing the connection between the pilot’s brain and the nervous system of the Golem. When the connections has stabilized the armor which had pulled away to reveal the cockpit returns to its original position, entirely encasing the pilot as it slides into place around them.

This is my first attempt at being Gm, so I would appreciate assistance from any experienced Gms who would be willing to Co-Gm, but if there are none to be had I will proceed alone. I am willing to take suggestions if you have any changes you think would be beneficial to the Rp.

I figured I should probably put this out there now. While there are a lot of mechanics involved in this Rp, it is not about the mechanics. It will be about collaborative writing and character interaction, along with battle sequences and politics. The mechanics are just to define the universe, help everyone understand what’s going on, and prevent misunderstandings. You do not need a perfect grasp of every little detail to participate, as long as you get the general idea.

I think that’s a pretty good place to stop for now. If you have any questions or comments I’m glad to hear them, frankly I'll be glad to get any interest at all. When interest has been expressed I will explain the ideas I have for the plot, since I think this is a long enough post as is.

[Lord Monbodo]

I'm interested in this. What roles do you have in mind for the players? Political leaders? Generals/Admirals? Common soldiers?

[Janduin]

Honestly? There are two ways this can go, and I’m going to leave it up to the participants.

Option one: Players will assume the roles of powerful political and military figures in their respective nations. Each nation would have one or two players who would work together to control it and attempt to out maneuver the other nations players. Players would generate minor characters as needed for their nation (i.e. make a captain for a battle sequence, or a Golem pilot for an on the ground POV during the invasion of a planet, etc). Essentially a nation RP. Personally this is not the option i prefer, for no other reason than I’m skittish of Nation Rps as I've never done one before, and since this is my first time as Gm I’d really rather not add any other firsts to complicate things. But if it’s what the players want, and i have a competent advisor to make sure i don't balls it up, it be willing to do it this way.

Option Two: Each Player will have a primary and secondary character. Their primary character will be the Admiral or Commodore of a fleet element of one of the nations, and their secondary character will be a captain or other senior officer in one of the other fleets. The idea behind this is that each player has a position of importance, and because each player will have a secondary character in one of the other player’s fleets they will be able to interact with each other positively as well as adversaries. Players would still need to generate minor characters as needed for their fleets, but less than they would have to in order to maintain a nation. I like this because in my mind it’s simpler than the Nation Rp model.

If you can think of an option three you think would be better feel free to let me know, I’m always open to ways to improve the game.

[Lord Monbodo]

Either of those options works with me. You could even mix them together. Let players be a political or military leader from one nation and a lesser military commander in another.

As a player from many Nation RPs and as a dabbler in GMing, I'd be willing to help you with it. But I think you've already got a good system. Lots of these roleplays devolve into arguments about whose imaginary gun is better, but you've detailed the technology well. Plus, having characters in more than one nation would reduce the need to "win" that causes most of the bad feelings.

[KnaveLord]

Looks interesting. I'll go along with whatever everyone else chooses.

[Talarion]

This looks... quite interesting, and fun. Normally I don't do much sci-fi, but I'm expressing interest in this

[Janduin]

I quite like the idea of mixing options one and two, so if no one objects that's what we are going to do.Primary characters will be the big-wigs who call the shots, secondary characters will be the go-to guys.

So do you lot think we should wait for one or two more, or should i start the OOC?

[Lord Monbodo]

I guess you could get started on the OOC. I'd like a few more people but it doesn't seem like we'll get anyone else without inviting someone.

[Janduin]

I've decided to hold off on putting up the OOC till after Christmas. I'll be busy anyway and won't have much time till then, and this way perhaps a few more people will come along.

On a related note Happy Holidays everyone.

[KnaveLord]

Alright then. Happy Holidays.