-Expect a flag eventually-





A syndicate within syndicates is the way it is usually described. A greater organization of self-aware space craft runs a large shadow government within the system of organizations that the metasyndicate consists of. These organizations act as independent organs of the Greater Metasyndicate government with private initiatives and goals within the framework system that the metasyndicate itself creates for its inhabitants. While claimed to be a free trade society, intervention by the Anvayat class is a regular feature of their society without really much accountability. The oligarchic nature of this society is complicated by the local sector polities being usually either monarchic or anarchic with little in between. They are usually described as a federation of sorts as a result, though with organizations having much more power within the system than local governments and their private armies who tend to play off these organizations.

The general structure looks like a web more than a pyramid with the metasyndicate government itself meddling frequently, but not to the kind of institutional degrees most governments do.
This weak control on what local actors within the greater metasyndicate means the metasyndicate as a federal force has been very unstable an actor, at times behaving more like a massive terrorist organization than as a coherent government with their ideology seeing the fall of the Orionic empire as one of the greatest things to ever happen in galactic history.

The Metasyndicate have very overt AI custodianship like other civilizations in the region, though these AI systems are unique in how they don’t hide themselves and tend to be more manipulators of the overall metasyndicate. These AIs don’t really have borders and have been known to attempt to meddle in the affairs of other societies as well. These AI systems have a relationship with the Fosskemians that is described below.



The early interstellar societies the Metasyndicate descends from were not really societies as we think of them. Instead they were drone swarms, with AI systems mining aggressively across a portion of the galaxy to create ever larger machine swarms. Said AI swarms were slaughtered by the Orionic empire long before the Orionic Empire fell however and that ended the enigmatic first generation of AIs known as only the Harlapa. It is still unclear if they are of human or alien origin. Theories range from them being some alien civilization that had a grey goo catastrophe to something rogue human colonists from ancient times. The exact truth remains nebulous and hard to discover due to lots of lost records and data, made worse with the Orionic Empire’s collapse.

Fast forward a several centuries and a remnant population of these AIs comes across a civilization of beings who suffered a nuclear catastrophe of their own making- the ancient Fosskemians in their Opulence Era that ended nearly in their extinction. This remnant AI population was a weird one- it instead of euthanizing this species uplifted them, giving them warp drive technology and the ability to make an interstellar empire on the fringes of imperial space. The remnant AIs became beings fused with the Fosskemians known as the Anvayat, whose general motives beyond their borderline nihilistic outlook include the propagation of harmonious thought. This society developed with some imperial incursions, but by this time the Empire had its hands much too full to handle some peripheral xeno barbaric force. And so, the network of societies that converged into the metasyndicate developed as did the web work of infrastructure for their confederate union of interstellar organizations. However, the institution of the Auditor only appeared after the Orionic Collapse just 150 years ago.

In the current era of darkness, the Metasyndicate has thrived in the general chaos of the collapse with not much in the way of their ability to explore the galaxy, harvest ancient technologies for their own use or intervene in the affairs of others for the end of preventing anything like the Orionic Empire from arising again. Ongoing tensions with other xenobarbaric forces have continued to make the metasyndicate itself use whatever options they have on the table when dealing with others in this shattered galaxy.
(Anything more I add to this will be collaborative)



I am using this section for both military and technology since with the Metasyndicate, civilian tech and military tech have no defined lines. Civilians can become militias in many cases within the Metasyndicate, and so what you will get here is a grab bag of various Fosskemian tech products and some lore connected to them.

The military of the metasyndicate has no real standardization due to multiple factions and the tendency to use tons of self-organizing smaller squad groups whose general movements often are loosely coordinated with the intent of increasing uncertainty for their opponents. This is what they do instead of the traditional armadas. The general tech the metasyndicate uses is usually reverse engineered and taken from other factions when it isn’t based on older designs from the AI era plastered over with various artistic touches by the pilots.

In general, the Metasyndicate’s military is not known for being well organized or competent even with the professionalism to which the major factions try to hold their members. However, it does make use of some shockingly developed means of subterfuge and interception of communication systems. The Metasyndicate's military technology is instead strongly rooted in amplifying their power through a powerful array of espionage based technologies.

--Multipurpose tech--









--Spaceship Classes--







((Very incomplete for now as the metasyndicate is meant to have all sorts of powerful, peculiar gadgetry and that takes time to percolate. That being said the general gist has been given, I doubt it is enough to qualify as "enough" for IC positng however.))



As a free minded society, Anchorism nor Kineticism has had much bearing on the Fosskemians of the Metasyndicate with the dominant belief system being more a mode of thought than any actual spirituality. This mode of thought comes from a centuries old proto-auditor whose ravings and rants are regularly played known as Auditor Rovii. Rovii is often retroactively considered the first auditor despite being centuries old, long before the institution of auditor even existed. The basic tenets of Harmonious Action are that silence and stability are fundamentally connected within the triangular moral gradient that is silence, harmony and dissonance. The harmony the "intellectuals" of the Metasyndicate frequently go on public rants about effectively must do with the loose pattern of ebbs, flows and concerted shifts to which all civilization follows. Large, stable empires are viewed in general as an unnatural state and the Metasyndicate is structured in a fashion usually described as a mixture of logocractic and corporatist governance. However, mob rule also tends to be a common feature of the metasyndicate on a local level.
With the high degree of automation seen in their civilization, citizens usually tend to do a lot of very strange activities to keep harmonious and not dull themselves. One example is that highly suicidal stunts are a very common trend among their citizens. For the weak fear of death mixed with the moral system that pervades the metasyndicate encourages behavior of this nature. Coming from a desire for “resonance”- something often confused for “legacy” means dying in a gruesome, but beautifully impossible to ignore way is a common behavior among their citizens. Disturbingly enough, even by other species assimilated into the harmonious/Rovite mindset.

The metasyndicate is also characterized by being highly cosmopolitan a civilization, with inhabitants from all over even with the fosskemians being in the majority due to their high reproduction rates (they’ve industrialized their egg fertilization). The Fosskemians as a species value communication and being able to communicate to others highly and so lack the degree of xenophobia other species may have even if they press their worldview onto every other species, even animals.
Variations within the Metasyndicate exist, mainly due to the different organizations that act as the organelles for the greater metasyndicate.

----- Examples ----



The Boundless Association are the most widespread group of Metasyndicate denizens, being both a research organization and a historical society that have a significant share of the industrial-military complex of the Metasyndicate and make use of their military to harass societies for their tech, artifacts and such when they don’t make use of their spy networks to get said resources for themselves. The Boundless Association makes use of a specialized group for these spy networks known as the Collectors who have found use by the Hargonians, the Kazzlehorf and the Waywards. The Boundless view themselves as the vanguards of information collection and as the prime innovators of the Metasyndicate, with a deeply prideful outlook missing from the other factions and a sense of optimism and seemingly idiotic wonder for the galaxy in general. They are always friendly even towards their enemies and victims as everyone to them are friends and having company that wants to change your state forcefully (killing) is still preferable to no company. The boundless are also dogmatic recruiters for the metasyndicate and indeed get viewed as the “outside interaction group” while the Hargonians and Waywardians get viewed as much more domestic in nature. The boundless are the most common grouping of Metasyndicate civilizations other factions will come across as they explore the furthest out.



The most notable is the Hargonian Dynasty, an ancient Fosskemian dynasty that has claims all the way back to the Opulence Era that makes use of queens and a nobility that consists of many ‘princess’ Fosskemians who come from the eggs of the queen Fosskemian. The Hargonites of the current era have gained notoriety for there being multiple self-proclaimed Hargonite queens and selling their “royal” eggs on the market knowing full well they can be externally fertilized. The hargonites generally aren’t taken seriously by the other factions, mainly being viewed more as a source for viewing screens than as a actual society- a massive endless drama play the other organizations have to deal with from time to time when they start wars with others. Still, they are a pretty significant faction of the metasyndicate and have attempted all matter of diplomatic action with other societies despite being aliens who can’t cross breed to make heirs for any marriage alliances. They often suggest an AI heir instead in such cases. The Hargonians are also distinct in how they are more sedentary than the other two major groups.



The Waywardians are a group whose general mindset is that of dysfunctionality and a form of nihilism much stronger than the Rovite ethics traditionally followed by the other groups. The Waywardians fear determinism and so act in ways intentionally arbitrary as a means of fighting the deterministic nature of the universe itself. They have experimented with vast ranges of peculiar technologies they stole from the Boundless, (of whom stole from other societies) to try to break reality itself and have also figured out enhanced warp drive systems that were quickly copied by other societies before the Waywardians were able to get any major advantage. The waywardians as a group also make a heavy use of cloning, with usually the general desire of watching new individuals sprout from the process. Still, their society is perhaps the most Anvayat infiltrated of them and the most directly ran by them beyond the traditional meddling and so the Waywardians get often viewed as just a test bed for the Anvayat’s endless search for a purer harmonious state.

((More to come, I can always extend this))


Fosskemian 67%


Humans 11%

Humans, often from the Aurorian Republic or the USS Chaim who have been a part of the metasydnicate and even before with older generations of imperial exiles making for a diverse and colorful community of humans of many backgrounds. Who tend to really not like each other, some even have made identitarian organizations trying to assert their home faction's ideals in alien territory.

Others TBA

Characters: (You don't need to go that in depth in the NS, but once we get to IC, definitely have them fleshed out, at least mentally.)

Relations: (Talk to people! This section in NRPs often goes neglected, but it's important for other characters making their own NSs.)

Habitation: The Fosskemians as a species are traditionally amphibians and this shows in their infrastructure, with lots of water pools just to stay wet and their control pads being built for them to use machines they operate lying down with their huge flippers stretched out instead of standing up. The Fosskemians also use their massive flippers to make all matter of bar and friction based infrastructure that wouldn’t make sense with a human body plan. Having to make this different infrastructural need work with the more humanoid (or otherwise) species of the galaxy has been one of the great headaches of Metasyndicate architects.

((Probably could include way more detail here, I promise pics on this in the future)).

Cyberware: A broad term, cyberware refers to essentially any machine or hardware that is implanted into an animal. Cyberware can be divided into two categories: interfaces and prosthetics. Interfaces are implants that are used to interact with other machines, usually wirelessly, or store information. Specialized interfaces are used by the military to allow soldiers to link with their hardware to achieve better control or gather more information quicker. Interfaces are also used to accelerate the learning process. Prosthetics are hardware used to replace limbs or re-enable their use should they or the nervous system be damaged. A darker side to this technology involves replacing limbs with prosthetics to increase a soldier’s physical capabilities or use interfaces as a means of surveillance and control.

Defensive Smoke: By placing a charge on the particles created by a zero point generator and then dispersing those particles in an area a magnetic field can be generated. These particles essentially form a “cloud” of plasma that can vaporize projectiles and cause intense diffusion and blooming in energy weapons that go through it. It is important to note, however, that defensive smoke isn’t as effective of a defense as shields generally are and that multiple attacks will cause it to disperse. It is also important to note that a sufficiently powerful attack can punch through defensive smoke, although it will lose some of its strength in doing so. A ship technically has an unlimited amount of defensive smoke to employ, however using defensive smoke means there are less particles available for other applications such as propulsion or weapons. There have been instances of defensive smoke being used offensively as well in a sort of “shotgun” attack against strike craft or larger ships that got too close, although this is comparable rare.

Imperial Swords: Soldiers in the Imperial military have access to a variety of melee weapons called swords. While named after an archaic weapon, these swords have been updated for use in the modern battlefield and range from having plasma based blades to monomolecular blades.

Particle Beam Weaponry: These weapons function by taking the particles produced by a zero point generator, giving it a charge, and then accelerating these particles with a circular accelerator to produce a beam. These weapons are useful as they have more impact damage than lasers and possess greater penetration. On the flip side they have far less range, about one light second for the largest and most advanced models. Advancements in the miniaturization of the circular accelerator have resulted in even fighter craft being equipped with these weapons, although they are much weaker and have far less range than the models found on larger ships. Particle beam weaponry effectively have unlimited ammunition due to how the zero point generator functions, but this means that there are fewer particles available for other applications. Continual use can also overheat the weapon, decreasing its effectiveness.

Personal Energy Shield: Some of the more expensive suits of infantry armor used by the Empire, usually those used by elite forces, are equipped with energy shields capable of protecting the user from a variety of attacks. While effectively useless against large calibre/power attacks, these do provide some additional protection from small arms fire and shrapnel.

Q-thruster: Short for quantum vacuum plasma thruster, Q-thrusters are a type of drive used to propel almost all of the ships used by the Empire. Q-thrusters make use of the virtual particles produced by a zero point generator by charging the particles, effectively turning the particles into plasma. The particles are then exposed to a crossed electric and magnetic field which induces a force on the particles. As the particles are expelled in one direction an equal force is applied on the rest of the ship, thus propelling it in the opposite direction. Because of the way they function Q-thrusters do not require fuel, thus saving space in the ship and eliminating the risks inherent with many conventional fuels.

Squire AI: Squire AI are specialized AI designed to push human capabilities beyond their natural limit. Usually these AI are integrated into a piece of equipment such as a strike craft, warship, or armor and interact with its user via their implant. Squire’s are set up in a way that they are intended to make it as if the equipment they are installed in is a part of the user’s body; but it does more than that. The AI helps process large amounts of data for its user and supplements its user in a way that greatly increases their decision making abilities and reflexes. Some high ranking officials even have these AI permanently installed in their cyberware, although this is somewhat rare. Commonly Squire AI are simply referred to as ‘Squire’, however some users decide to give them a real name.The use of limited purview and sophisticated moral and reinforcement coding ensures that Squires do not become a threat to those who made and use them.

Zero Point Generator: Using the dynamic Casimir effect, two reflective flat plates are placed a few nanometers apart. These plates are then manipulated in such a way that they osculate, producing particles and energy in the process. The zero point generator first saw use in spacecraft, which they were used to power and propel without traditional fuels. Later developments allowed for the construction of massive zero point power plants that provide power for entire cities. While the virtual particles produced by a zero point generator are inherently useless, due to ceasing to exist after a short amount of time, by charging these particles they can be made usable for a wide variety of applications. It wouldn't be an understatement to declare the zero point generator as the foundation of modern Astranan technology.

Maneuver-Firepower Doctrine: The combat doctrine of the Imperial ground forces revolves around incapacitating the enemy’s decision making ability through shock and disruption. This doctrine revolves around punching through enemy lines, or outmaneuvering the enemy, in order to strike their command structures and logistical bases.

---

Brief Description & History
When the Earth was slowly dying, a private space exploration corporation decided to leave behind the Solar System and start anew. They helped out a few hundred thousands escape Earth while offering them an one way ticket out of the known galaxy. Androids were designed to maintain the ships while the crew and their citizens slept until it escaped the known galaxy. Eventually, they were awaken to a new system and a new Earth.

Once the ships landed on this new world, they found the Republic of New Terra and construction began which lasted for hundreds of years. The survivors had a chance to restore the democratic values that Earth lost a long time ago. Now after a few thousands of years of isolation within the Forever Free Space, the government voted in majority favor to send a crew back to known galaxy in hopes of learning the fate of the Solar System.

Government
A democratic federation with the system being similar to the United Nations.

Military
Unlike the former authoritarian government, military service isn't forced by law. Instead, people who are willing to join the military are reward greatly. If they either can't or don't want to join, they aren't heavily punished for it. Currently, forty-two percent of the population is working with the military in some form. Many of them are in space while a small percentage are in the navy. Each country has control over their military; however, the Republic of New Terra has direct access to them if needed. There are defenses throughout the world ready for a possible invasion.

These defenses contained anti-space guns and artilleries designed to last years of fighting. Meanwhile, trenches were made for the troops while underground bunkers were built for citizen use. All of this was designed for the day that some unknown life form would invade. However, it cost them much of the planet's resources to construct. As a result, the republic is looking to expanding beyond their planet in hopes of acquiring resources for their military and defenses.

Religion/Culture
The old religions of Earth were making slowly making a comeback especially Catholicism and Christianity while Transhumanism was on a rise. Meanwhile, the avenge citizen was taught at birth about the original Earth and its downfall. Many of them are distrusting of species, especially those that support a galaxy wide empire. And several old cultures of Earth survived the escape to New Terra including Western and Eastern cultures.

Demographics
99.5% - Humans (52% male and 48% female)
.5% - Androids

Habitation
Anywhere really. That includes ships designed for living.

Characters
Work in progress.

Relations
Work in progress.

Astrana is a human-centric country that tries to balance a strong autocratic ruler with the protections of more liberal forms of governments. While not necessarily anti-xeno, it is exceedingly rare for a xeno, or any immigrant for that matter, to gain citizenship in Astrana. Astrana does allow some foreigners to live in the country under a long-term residency status and it does encourage foreigners, both human and xeno, to come as tourists, but its society as a whole shows little interest in allowing immigration and dealing with the issue of having multiple ethnicities. Astranan emperors of the past focused on conquest, but over the past hundred years there has been little interest in conquest, with the emphasis being on the expansion of the country’s economy.

Claim: (As stated in the OOC, keep it smaller than usual; the empires have fallen.)


Type: Constitutional Monarchy/Liberal Autocracy
The government is ruled by the reigning monarch, whose powers are limited by a constitution. A parliamentary body, elected by individual planetary populations, helps with the administration of the government while ensuring that the needs of the citizens are met without infringing upon their constitutional rights. The reigning monarch assigns viceroys to govern over star systems and individual planets; these viceroys in turn have a counterpart parliamentary body that deals with the system or planet’s laws and taxation. These viceroy assignments are held until the viceroy either dies, retires, or is recalled by the monarch.

Perhaps the single greatest power of the parliament (both Imperial and planetary) is its control over taxation rights. Constitutionally it is the parliament that sets tax rates, collects taxes, and sets the government’s budget. While reigning monarchs do have their own personal holdings to gather funds from, these are not nearly enough to meet the needs of the government, thus giving the parliament great leverage over the monarch.


TBD


Astrana possesses fairly advanced energy weaponry in the form of particle beams which can even be used in strike craft and armored vehicles. Shielding for spacecraft is commonplace and even some infantry possess personal shields. A few choice pieces of technology, such as the zero point generator and widespread use of cyberware, does make Astrana stand out slightly.



Astrana’s military is divided into two general components: the Imperial Armed Forces (shortened to AIAF) and the planetary self defence forces (PSDF). The Imperial Armed Forces themselves are divided into three branches: the Navy, the Ground Forces, and the Aerospace Forces.The Imperial Armed forces have very high standards for recruitment and training that, while resulting in fewer personnel overall, ensure that AIAF troops are amongst the best. AIAF prefers firepower and mobility over defense. The planetary self defense forces usually end up with those who didn’t meet the high standards of the AIAF. As their names indicate, the PSDF’s roles include protection of planets, anti-pirate operations, and rescue operations.





There are three generally accepted classes in Astranan society: the imperial family, the nobility, and the commoners. As the name indicates, the imperial family is the ruling class in the empire. The nobility is made up of viceroys, military officers, and those given a permanent title by the monarch. Anyone can technically become a noble. This is accomplished by either progressing in rank to an officer position in the military, or being granted a title by the imperial family. The commoners are a bit different from the other classes as they are easily subdivided into other classes that include indentured servants, business entrepreneurs, and high level politicians.

Most people view the military as an honorable, and desirable, career choice. This is not only because it can lead to a title of nobility, but also because it was the military that held the Zuukid back, preventing them from wreaking havoc on Astrana’s worlds. The saying “Shield of the people, Sword of the Emperor” is often used to describe the military’s duel nature as the defenders of Astrana’s citizens, while also the tool by which the monarchy destroys its enemies. This mentality of the Astranan people, as well as strong traditions in the military itself, has allowed the military to serve as an important pillar of society while also preventing any kind of military coups or general corruption that stems from an overly influential military. Another interesting saying that has come from the military is “Its come to the cataphracts.” The saying meaning that ‘they have broken through and this is the last thing we can do to respond.’ It's a pragmatic and optimistic saying as it is essentially saying “there’s a major problem and its time for the real adults to step in and fix this.”

While Kineticism was once the dominant faith in Astrana, it is now practiced by only a small minority of the population.The dominant faith in Astrana is currently the Faith of the Children of the Stars. The Faith of the Children of the Stars is less a religion and more of a spiritual outlook and moral/philosophical framework. Important components of the faith involve viewing the stars as being the “birthmothers of all life” and reverence of the ancestors.


~98% Ethnic Astranans (Humans)
<2% Other species and non-Astranan humans


TBD


TBD

Brief Description: The Confederate Free Nests are a collection of largely non-human populations dwelling in the Outer Arm Vacuus, sparsely banded together under a lax, mostly democratic governance. While mostly descended from exiles and refugees who fled the Zuukid wars, their numbers include aggregated and absorbed local dominions, as well as the occasional group “liberated” and extradited from chaotic regions of the galaxy. The relative extension and demographic scarcity of the CFN have led to cloning being widely adopted as a solution to the general lack of xenopower, and a sizeable part of its citizens (and not) are to date vat-grown.

Claim:



Government: Although the Free Nests technically operate under the direction of a national government, the latter’s impact on the day-to-day life and business of most of their inhabitants is minor. The great majority of non-core worlds are administered by local authorities, which, being appointed by the often ethnically and culturally diverse citizenry in accordance with its own customs and traditions, tend to vary greatly in both scale and form. Thus, one may often find such things as a continent-spanning hierarchical theocracy under the rule of an Ulthari High Skotarch flanked by a collection of regional Zsresriir corporate holdings on a planet orbited by Scorpine tribal habitats. The relative abundance of territory relatively to the exiguity of the Nests’ overall population allows those micro-states to coexist without conflict, the coveted territories of a core world can occasionally become the prize of subtle political confrontations.

Overlooking this largely even conglomeration is the Transstellar Assembly, a sprawling parliamentary body comprised of representatives from (ideally) all formant sub-governments, as well as what amount to officially recognised lobby groups of major corporate entities based in Nest space. The Assembly’s functions include deliberating on and sanctioning policies of nation-spanning effect, maintaining the central codex of laws that regulates the activity of the sub-governments, and acting as direction and point of reference in foreign policy. Effective executive power is detained by distinct bodies subordinate to the Assembly. Those include the Pacifiers, which have gradually assimilated, in the interest of efficiency, organisations such as the CFN military, peacekeeping organs, corporate mercenary syndicates and intelligence gatherers; and the Repopulators, a more vaguely defined, but possibly also more far-reaching entity responsible for the supervision and at times direction of large-scale applications of the almost ubiquitous cloning technologies.

History: The ancestors of what would become the core of the Confederate Free Nests, non-humans of the Perseus Arm, have for the most part a history of grievances with the Orionic Empire. Many of the early Zsresriir interplanetary states, whose irrationally furious defense of their independence was virtually encoded in their genetic memory, famously refused to submit to imperial rule even when threatened with forceful invasion by their superior foe. Reasoning that it was more practical to appease the uncooperative aliens than waste time and resources in subjugating them, the young Empire offered them the nominal status of tributaries, which they were forced to accept in the face of threats of trade embargoes and isolation. While this position officially guaranteed their continued freedom, in practice the Zsresriir eventually found themselves under tacit Orionic control, and, due to their unruly nature, were quietly marginalised and pushed towards the outer fringes of the galaxy.

The second majority species of the CFN, the Ulthari, fared little better. Already not very widespread due to their stringent environmental preferences, the Yre-Kelthan faith that many of them professed became fairly popular among some of the populations they had come in contact with (the Zsresriir among them). This lead to an unfortunate perception by some of the more devout imperial officials that they intended to wholly supplant Kineticism as part of a subversive ploy, and an equally unfortunate generalisation that every Ulthari was a Yre-Kelthan. As a result, practically the entire species was considered suspect, and attempts at further expansion on its part were curtailed.

Harsh though the conditions of these aliens, and various others besides, might have been under Orionic rule, their positions were at least stable. This changed with the Zuukid coreward crusade and the ensuing wake of destruction that swept over the galaxy. While few actual invaders reached the outwards regions they inhabited, that space was soon overrun by raiders, rebelling subjects and would-be usurpers. The Perseus Arm vassals, many of whom had been wiped out in the first years on the collapse, chose not to try their chances any further, and fled in mass on a flotilla of captured or repurposed ships and hastily built evacuation arks. Their destination was the southern void of the Outer Arm, a zone known to be forsaken, forgotten and virtually empty save for a handful of exiles.

With much of the Orionic interstellar infrastructure having collapsed, and their goal never having had any to begin with, the journey was long, and further whittled down the numbers of the fugitives. When they finally left the old edges of the Empire behind, they found that their promised space was infested by renegade Scorpine warlords and other assorted outlaws. Though exhausted, the self-exiled motley were hardened by the perils of their way, and their enemies were disorganised and largely occupied in warring among themselves. Having beaten back some of the locals and struck truces with others, they began to settle the Vacuus in a somewhat sparse fashion, thus laying the foundations of what would in time become the CFN.

Centuries later, the Nests had not lost their initial unity - in fact, it had even grown, such as it was - and spread to cover an area of space rivalling the territories of more solid governances, but they remained a nation in the building. Their numbers had still not recouped from the disastrous events of the collapse, and even the assimilation of some Vacuus dwellers and the ample introduction of cloning, expected by many to be a miraculous solution to their problems, did not suffice to fully consolidate their new position. Thus, though they might have found a home, the peoples of the Nests continue to seek for more.

Military: With the Nests’ population being numerically far from impressive, their founders deemed further depleting it through drafts either in war- or peacetime to be inadvisable. Thus, the Pacifiers serving as the Assembly’s strong limb were born and grew as a professional force, with largely voluntary admission save for its clone troops - although cases exist where one is given little choice in enrolling, such as being constrained by debts. Service is, however, rather lengthy, and even at its end the able-bodied are considered as remaining in reserve and may be recalled at the high command’s discretion.





Religion/Culture: Given the diversity of species, cultures and heritages gathered in the Nests, it is inevitable that the resulting picture should be much too varied and at times incongruous to comprehensively portray in brief. Nonetheless, some general tendencies have emerged within their society, and some traits have by transmission become widespread enough that, to an outsider, they might appear to be distinctive of the CFN as a whole.

Ideologically, the Nests’ more politically-minded inhabitants are roughly split into two categories, or rather currents of thought, known as the Constructors and the Vindicators. The Constructors argue for the CFN’s efforts to be directed towards establishing themselves in their home space, mostly without avoidable conflicts, and resolving their internal issues and troubles before turning outwards too much. The more radical of them are generally opposed to involvement in foreign affairs, and advocate an altogether peaceful, if isolationist style of existence. The Vindicators, on the other hand, claim that the CFN must take active measures to prevent a new overgrown, stifling empire from rising again, calling for outward safety before inward satisfaction. Some go as far as to say that the only way of reliably accomplishing this would be to bring the galaxy under Nest rule and maintain it under control, while others promote the disruption of other nations’ activities. While the extremes of those movements are easy enough to recognise, the distinction becomes blurred towards the center, where they often mingle or recognise at least some of each other’s points as valid. It is nevertheless possible to discern that the Constructors are currently the dominant “faction” both in the Assembly and among the public at large, while the Vindicators are for the most part in the opposition.

Religious practices are somewhat more difficult to accurately describe. Upon a first impression, it would appear that Yre-Kelthanism is dominant; however, its permutations are so numerous and mixed with different faiths that it is impossible to be certain. In its most basic form, the Ulthari religion teaches that the universe is the physical manifestation of the power of the deity Yre-Keltha, which is so vast that this is the only possible form in which one could begin to comprehend it. Beyond this point, interpretations vary. Most Ulthari consider it an exhortation to explore and contemplate the marvels of nature and the cosmos in order to better understand their god. Many Zsresriir, on the contrary, view Yre-Keltha as a distant creator and adopt a gnostic approach to the doctrine, inventing a demiurgic figure responsible for wisely guiding the course of natural events, such as their own providential evolution (an interpretation that traditionalist Ulthari find rather simplistic). Others yet see in this an invitation to a spartan lifestyle, dedicated to enhancing their own strength and honouring the god through feats of courage and endurance. Nor have the imperial religions remained untouched; the Kineticism practiced by the Nests’ human minority has nowadays little in common with that of their forebears. Some combine originally separate teachings, worshipping Yre-Keltha as the Universal Spiritus and the Zsresriir demiurge as its Divine face. Others have proclaimed themselves oracles and prophets, preaching messages of cooperation and tolerance, or simply their own more or less complex contributions to theology.

Even aside from religious aspects, the Zsresriir way of life, being found everywhere and at every level of the Nests, has gradually seeped into popular consciousness and spawned some quantity of imitations. The family (the archetypal “nest”) is seen as a vital component of society to quite extreme extents - it is not uncommon for some relatives and mates to be collectively invested with certain authorities and duties of a position, and often they are seen as interchangeable, both by themselves and others, when interacting with outsiders. Large, typically polygamous families are the norm, though the inverse has also been occasionally observed, with Zsresriir pairs deciding to adopt a monogamous lifestyle. A natural exception to all of this are the Ulthari and other species whose biology is not conducive to the formation of family units.

A socially relevant subject which has arisen in relatively recent times is the role of clones. Vat-grown individuals (not always replicas of a matrix; the mixing of genetic codes allows for the design of newborn equivalents, as well as normally impossible multi-species hybrids) have become an integral part of the Nests’ populations in an attempt to accelerate the settling of the Vacuus. While many of them are granted full control of their senses and function as ordinary members of society, this is not always the case; clones bred for basic military purposes or hazardous occupations are often restricted to functioning as mindless, animalistic drones following implanted instructions or rote commands. This has caused no little controversy, especially among Zsresriir, who so greatly value personal freedom, and given rise to a number of clone rights movements. Opponents of these advocates either disagree with their positions on utilitarian grounds, or point out that many of the clones in question are constructed from the genetic templates of feral Zsresriir, who by nature lack individual self-determination. Rebuttals notwithstanding, the argument continues to be contested to this day, and has even made its way into the Assembly.

Demographics:



Characters: (You don't need to go that in depth in the NS, but once we get to IC, definitely have them fleshed out, at least mentally.)

Relations:

Martian State and Coalition: Though effectively somewhat wary of the strength and significance accumulated by the Martians, the Nests consider both them and the Coalition at large to be allies of opportunity. Secretly from most of the population, the Constructor majority likewise makes use of the two states' relations to weaken the more radical elements of its Vindicator opponents and prevent them from assuming greater power.

The Great Resurrection: With many of their citizens being Scorpine, the Nests had little choice but to officially condemn the actions of the Resurrectionists, already viewed with distaste by Vacuus aliens and humans alike. Further yet, many suspect that the movement's claim to the Orion Arm is but a pretext for greater galactic conquest. Support to the Neo-Scorpine Empire has thus been slight, but steady on the CFN's part.

Zuukid Remnants: With the Zuukid having been the original cause for the decimation and displacement of the Nests' predecessors, it is unsurprising that their memory should not be regarded with much sympathy. Nevertheless, the Nests consider some of the fragmented empire's former subjects to be potentially contributive members of their society, and have taken it upon them to "liberate" any willing (usually) ones from the warzones left in its wake.

Habitation: In terms of demographics and infrastructure, it is fairly simple to separate CFN worlds into two distinct categories: the original colonies, now known as core worlds, and more recently settled planets. The former, while still dotted with gaping stretches of wilderness easily visible from orbit to the naked eye, are relatively heavily urbanised, boasting large metropolises and industrial centers connected by a stable transport network, though there is always someone complaining that the magnetic convoys don’t run on time. The appearance and conformation of each cluster varies depending on its inhabitants: thus, Zsresriir will live in tubular constructions riddled with den-like holes, Ulthari burrow in shallow caverns and well-humidified subterranean chambers, Scorpine inhabit flat, dry expanses of squat buildings and so forth.

The second class is far more numerous, and far more sparsely inhabited. Cities are either small and scattered, or gathered in a single sprawling bulk; transportation is either scarce, or entirely left to the means of individual inhabitants. Colonies of feral Zsresriir are often released into the wilds of untamed planets, often with deleterious effects on the rare, but sometimes present local fauna.

One noteworthy detail is that the terraforming practices of the Nests attempt to strike an equilibrium between the biochemical needs of its majority species. While a form of fragile balance has been found, albeit one involving some rather jarring variations between biomes, minorities are not equally favoured. As such, when travelling outside their dwellings, most are required to don an usually standard-issue (it being the cheapest alternative) respiratory apparatus, which may give them a distinct image in the eyes of their kin elsewhere in the galaxy.

Name: Star People

Brief Description: Permanently nomadic people living in a flotilla of spaceships, traveling between the stars inside massive generation ships, traveling along the northern edge of the Empire, pillaging and trading with the half settled outposts in turn. During the collapse of the Empire, the small time bandits grew vast preying on the refugees. Now with the constant stream of easy pickings having died down, they have turned towards what used to be the heartland of the Orionic Empire.

Claim: The Star People don't maintain land in the same way as their planet bound neighbors do, so their concept of borders is a loose one. With their homes aboard their ships, Star People hold no attachment to planets. Nonetheless, the traditional traveling range of the Star People was along the northern edge of the Orionic empire.

Government: The Star People is the title and collective name for a loose confederation of five semi-autonomous states with referred to as Tribes. Though Each Tribe self governs and is free to do what they will, a rudimentary centralization exists in the form of the Admirals counsel. Every Tribe chooses an Admiral to represent them at the counsel. The Admirals convene every four years to settle grievances, agree to new laws, and organize the Star People.
The Tribes are:



















History: The earliest roots of the Star People can be traced before the Empire, when early human colonizers sent out colonization ships to reach then distant stars that would take generations to reach. To solve this problem, ships that could maintain populations of thousands for hundreds of years were built, sent out into the dark to spread humanity. And while most of these ships eventually reached their destination and colonized planets, some remained among the stars, traveling to new planets endlessly. The number of these ships began to grow, and they assembled into fleets. At this time the Empire was in it's infancy, and found the nomadic people to be a problem- they weren't easy to tax or control, so the Empire issued an ultimatum- settle on planets or leave Empire territory. A portion of the Star People settled and quickly forgot their heritage. The rest went beyond the eyes of civilization, surviving a hardscrabble life far past any support. Still, as the frontiers continued to grow, the Star People found that piracy and trade were much easier ways to live than try to manufacture everything yourself in the middle of nowhere. They soon became one of the Empire's favorite problems- just troubling enough to keep the unruly colonists planetside in line, but not actually a threat to the concerted might of the Imperial Fleets. During the collapse of the Empire, the Star People grew vast preying on the refugees. Now with the constant stream of easy pickings having died down, they have turned towards what used to be the heartland of the Orionic Empire.

Military: generalisations concerning the Star Peoples technology and military tactics are inacurate, individual tribes must be examined.



















Religion/Culture: While individual Tribes have different religious beliefs, a unique tradition shared by all Star People is the creation of Reliquaries. Ancient ships that have become imbued with value through one way or another (the fighter craft of a great leader, a medical barge that saved many in a disaster) and are turned into shrines. These ships act as chapels and museums for Star People, a way to permanently commemorate heroes and ancestors and keep ties to the past. They are also the pride of the Star People, who dedicate their finest decorative arts to the Reliquaries.
Star People made ships have long been a subject of fascination, as the Orionic art historian Rult Tiklo said in their landmark study Harsh Lives and Beautiful Sights, "To see a barbarian's spaceship is to see Spiritus work in a godless people."

Demographics (Species): Human dominant across all Tribes, different Tribes have different alien minorities.

Characters:









Relations: Complex and ever changing.

Habitation: Star People inhabit a wide range of spaceships capable of surviving in deep space. The Star People are perhaps most famous for their Generation Ships, the largest of which are capable of supporting 6 million in perpetuity.

These soldiers are typically captives from past missions, deserts, and slaves purchased from traders. They’re fitted with a brain implant that makes them completely subservient to a controller, their bodies are typically modified with firearms, and other weapons, and are given partial armors. They are also experimented on and typically have some sort of experimental tech implanted on their bodies to keep from having to test it on loyal soldiers.

The Standard trooper wears a set of powered armor, complete with magnetic holsters for their side arm, carbine, or rifle. They also have a series of energized daggers, or short swords. This armor is capable of distributing the the impact of ballistic weapons, and explosions to a certain degree. The armor also contains a certain amount of reflective capability to lessen the damage of energy weapons against it. The armor also has a powered arm attached to the back of suit that works as a helping hand when carrying ammunition boxes, steadying heavy weapons, or even carrying inured comrades. These troops are typically deployed via drop pods, aerial transports, and APCs

Void Jump Troopers are specialized troops that wear a lighter armor, and jump pack. They are used for quick assaults, scouting, and void combat. They are typically armed with a carbine, or SMG, and a energized sword.

The Valkyrie Police are a mercenary police force capable of being hired by private companies, or even nations who are lacking in a proper law enforcement in certain places. Typically utilized on colonies where a police force would be difficult to build, or where crime is incredibly prevalent and the local police cannot handle it. They are normally equipped with a simple ballistic armor, and energy pistol, and energy baton of the stun variety.

The Valkyrie Riot police are similar to the Standard law enforcement officer, and are typically simply a standard officer in riot gear, this includes a riot shield, heavier armor, side arm, stun gun, and energy baton. These are also the same type of officers use in the Valkyrie’s Hade Space Prison.

Scout riders are troops outfitted in a armor similar to that of a jump troop but given a single person hover vehicle. They typically perform scouting missions and are outfitted with a side arm, a light automatic weapon, and the small energy cannon mounted inside the vehicle. The Law Enforcement wing also takes advantage of the single person hover vehicles.

The MK46 is a all terrain Hover IFV, and it carries an interchangeable rail cannon, or energy cannon depending on the needs for the mission, as well as a rocket pod capable of firing up to twenty rockets every 30 seconds. The IFV is armored, albeit a bit lightly, but it’s speed and agility make it a hard target to hit on the battlefield and capable of carrying up to 20 troops inside, albeit they are cramped.

The x4006 is an incredibly powerful tank, it’s thick armor, and sports and awesome assortment of cannons easily changed out for situational needs. The impact of this vehicle is moreso when you consider the anti-infantry aspect of the heavy automatic weapon it sports on its topside. The tank only requires a minimum of two people, one to pilot the inside, and one to aim and fire the cannons. Though typically they go in crews of three with another manning the automatic hull weapon.

The KV22 Ravager is an assault mech, with heavy plating, and reflective surfaces it is an enduring beast of military equipment, and to go along with this they are armed to the teeth. The Ravager sports a single energy edged blade on its left arm, an automatic weapon either ballistic or energy as well on its left arm, on the right arm it sports a gauss rifle, as well as a fist with rather dextrous fingers. On it’s shoulders it sports a smoke launcher, shuttered spotlight, and rocket pod capable of firing up to four rockets.

The command mech is a mass six legged vehicle with plenty of space on the inside for battlefield commanders to watch over combat, and give orders out as needed for the best plans of strategy. These vehicles are incredibly well armored, and extremely hard to destroy, there have been situations where they have even survived orbital strikes albeit they remained immobile afterwards due to extensive damage. They carry a multitude of powerful weapons,a nd can host up to thirty troops.

While not an incredibly fast starfighter, it makes up for its lack in speed in its heavy armor and powerful weaponry, sporting several energy cannons, in dog fights it takes a beating and keeps dishing out destruction in return. These ships require only one pilot, and typically carry a single energy bomb, or a single missile used for attacking larger ships.

The Longship troop transport is just as it says, a troop transport, heavily armored, though lightly armored sporting only a few blaster cannons on it’s immense hull, these ships can carry up to a thousand troops a piece, and are capable of performing boarding actions on larger vessels, though they are typically used for transporting troops planetside.

The Freja frigate is a strong vessel, they typically accompany a series of troop transports guarding them as they make their way to their appointed destinations. With powerful cannons, and multiple energy weapon turrets it’s a hard hitter in combat, with heavy armor to boot.

The Mjolnir Cannon is roughly the size of a frigate, it was made to be manned by a crew of five, and using advanced VIs to perform tasks the crew is unable to. The Ship is essentially just a large cannon, they were manufactured due to the company’s lack of dreadnoughts or capital ships, so that they could actually take the battle to the enemy in a way when needed.

The Hades Void Prison is a rather large space station, it lacks any sort of propulsion system, but has multiple openings to vent cells, and entire cell blocks if necessary. The entire station is lacking in terms of escape pods, and the only ships allowed to dock with it are Frigates of the Valkyrie Company itself, and they are not allowed to dock more than two hours at a time with either depositing inmates, new guards, or much needed food stuffs. It is in this place that the Company keeps their POWs, and any prisoners other nations might want to disappear without killing or keeping somewhere secret themselves, and while this does cost a annual fee to keep the prisoner it is well worth it considering the hidden nature of the Prison’s whereabouts.

Valkyrie Station is the headquarters for the Starburst Valkyries, it is an enormous station that the Company bought long again, and renovated it. It has been made to have hold massive amounts of fuel, an enormous training facility, barracks, multiple businesses, and even a red light district. The Station itself is mobile so that if there is a danger it can move to avoid that danger.

The Veorfolnir is an excellent fighting jet, with incredible speed, and 360 degree turning energy turret, and target locking missiles makes it a deadly force in the air. Though it is lightly armored.

The Sleipnir Transport VTOL is a fairly average transport densely armored but lacking weaponry it can usually carry troops to the front of any warzone, and release its max payload of twenty troops.

Anita Lyesmith is the current CEO of the Starburst Valkyrie Corporation, she is an intelligent and resourceful woman who seemingly lack any remorse or mercy for the necessities of such a cut throat market, and position.

Not much more to say here, she is in charge of the finances of the Corporation and is in charge of recruiting for higher ranking members.

Dr. Eden is a brilliant mind and has since being employed very much advanced the gear that the Corporations troops use.

Dr. Krauss always insures that troops have adequate enough medical supplies, though she doubles in this aspect as she also is the Corporations leading Chemical Weapons researcher.

Mrs. Simmons was the latest addition to the Corporate team, her expertise in negotiations, and customer relations skills. A valued member of the time they look forward to seeing how she performs on behalf of the company and its affiliates.

Miss Boyd is an expert in her field and was quite costly to hire, but Starburst Valkyrie knew a good investment when they saw one. Her mechanical engineering skills were the best they'd ever seen and since joining her improvements to pretty much everything they have has taken the quality of their troops to the next level

Katrina is a stern woman with years of experience in law enforcement and another decade under her belt in being an administrator for a prison. With this experience in mind she was hired on as the Warden of the Void Prison where the inmates have come up with a nickname for her. “The Iron Maiden”

Also known as “Chief” Annette is the no nonsense head of the law enforcement branch of the military a practical woman she tends to take things in stride, but she also tends to be inquisitive and not believe a word someone tells her without proof which has led to some Corporate issues in the past

Commander Yentela is the main ground forces commander of the Valkyrie Company, but only attends to the most vital of Operations.

Captain Maria is the leader of Bravo Company, one of the most fiercest infantry units in the Corporation, she wears experimental power armor complete with two power arms, and a variety of Energy swords, she is known as Bladed Octopus for the multiple appendages and love for melee weapons.

Captain Theresa is another Officer who volunteered to wear experimental armor, in this case she allowed implants to be placed within her spinal column and connected to her nervous system. The Armor connects to these implants allowing her full control of the four extra arms, and the multiple systems existing within the armor in the same way she would control her own body, after some genetic modding of course that allowed her to use her brain functions in this manner.

Major Ally Green is a veteran of the Company, having been on more than 433 operations, she lost her right arm during her 201st. Her arm was replaced with a high end top of the line cybernetic prosthetic allowing her to fire the heaviest of weapons without much trouble.

Admiral Adrianna is the Lead Admiral Company’s naval forces, she typically takes command when a large force of ships is needed in a conflict they have been hired into, other than that she can often be found either practicing defenses for the main station, or simply accompanying other ships to evaluate lesser officers

Katya is a Mech Pilot of some fame among the Company, she has proven herself time and again in combat, and as such has become somewhat of a celebrity and someone they often use to advertise for recruitment and new customers.

Janice is an up and coming Mech pilot, having already proven herself quite capable and deadly, she is Katya’s protege and now rival, she seeks to become as famous as her former teacher in terms of prowess, working fervently at such endeavor

One of the most secretive members of the Corporation, not much is known about Miss Krushev other than that she likes lots of creamer in her coffee, and has a avid love for homemade bread. Her position is mostly classified, it’s only know that she has been sought in connection with at least one terrorist attack, of which each of the investigators that took on the case looking into her ended up dead.

A famous assassin among the Company, she has yet to not complete a mission or kill a mark. She wears a quality set of armor complete with a stealth system that allows her to hide in plane sight and blend in with just about any environment, as well as hide her heat signature.

Only the Directors know her real name, she is known for having spies throughout the galaxy, learning what she can wherever she can, and with a budget that is seemingly unlimited. In a place with so many factors and so many factions Knowledge is true power.

Even less is known about Miss Dread, her name is not even known. And ultimately what she does for the company is only known by top executives.

Kerry Fitzal is the Company’s best bounty hunter, she has yet to lose a target, and is relentless in her hunt of said people. Of the hundreds of bounty hunters Kerry has a small team of five females, and takes no others with her on her hunts. If you have a bounty, and Fitza is on that contract, then you might as well turn yourself in before she hits you with her iconic M99 Energy blaster that carries variations of stun to kill.

Laney Davis is a leading researcher for the Valkyrie Corporation, she excels in studies of ruins of past civilizations, and processing their technology

Science Lab ships are capable of carrying up to five thousand employees, it is completely equipped with the most advanced lab equipment available, complete with holding cells for alien species and animals.

"From the heavens the comets rain, forward unto dawn and forward unto death."
- Meditations of a Father Chapter 93, Verse 434.

"He who giveth life, giveth love."
- Meditations of a Father Chapter 13, Verse 34.

”May we take unto the lesser beast. Drive the vessel unto the light they are morally blind to see.”
- Meditations of a Father Chapter 5, Verse 856.