[OOC] Through the Gateways: Humanity [Closed] [Soon to be Concluded]

[Sigma]

Just repoting my Gaian sheet to make it easier to find.

Very WIP/Gaians

Harmony of Gaia

Reality is determined by a tyranny of the majority.

Government Form: Techno-Theocracy.

Demographics:
Harmonized Gaians: The Gaian faithful that made the final decision to abandon their mortal bodies to ascend into the Blessed Garden, a digital paradise. To roam in the physical realm, the Harmonized Gaians use tailor-made robotic bodies.

Humans: There remains a small human population that continues to resist the Harmony’s efforts to erase all traces of Old Humanity.

Exiled Gaians: Gaians that have rejected the central tenants of the faith and choose to live among the organics, and fight alongside them.

Population: 300 million
Harmonized Gaians-90%
Humans-6%
Exiled Gaians-4%

Planet Name and Description:

Kronos

Kronos is a dry, arid world, possessing very vegetation and surface bodies of water. Underneath however, the planet is abundant in underground springs, isolated from the scorching sun. A singular polar region still remains on the planet. In orbit around Kronos is a vast wing of asteroids and the like, along with what remains of its moon, torn asunder from an ancient calamity, long before colonist's arrival.

History: Over three hundred years ago, the Colony ship Salvation arrived to what would soon be known as Kronos, a harsh, yet, livable world that served as the last refuge for what seemed to be the last of Mankind. The first century since colonization was a difficult a difficult one, filled with a myriad of internal power struggles, large scale conflicts, and disruptive periods of poverty.

It seemed that Mankind would face his end on this dry world, doomed to a slow, painful demise. In all this mayhem, a previously little known cult had slowly rising to power among the masses, the Church of Gaia. In the waning days of Earth, Gaia-centric cults were on the rise, the personification of Earth itself, of what it once was, deified into an object of worship, the Church being among the largest group. Many faithful of the Gaian Church had managed to board the Salvation before departure, ready to start their faith anew on a new world
The Church embedded themselves within one of the city-states that would emerge after the colonist split into warring factions. Their attempts to influence the city was quickly met with great hostility, forcing many of the faithful to flee into the deadlands.

Little records exist on what occurred between their short-term exile and rise to power, rumors and barely legible documents speak of something, living out in the deadlands, something that twisted their very minds into madness, mentions made of a “promise”, and of “restoration”. It could be dismissed as isolation-induced madness, but whatever happened, it had renewed the Gaian’s resolve….and a change of doctrine.
The Gaians now turned to the shadows to gain what they sought, planting agents within influential institutions, however, they had a goal in mind, and a little known scientist would be the key.

Life on Kronos was, and remains harsh, that much is true. Little food, and little water to go around, forcing the colonists to war over what little resources remain, an insidious plan was put into motion. A cerebral chip implant, simply called “Blessed Garden”, was presented as means to alleviate the pain of poverty. It was a chip that would transport the user into a virtual paradise….a fantastical recreation of Earth before the Fall, a perfect escape from the hell that is Kronos. Many sought such an escape, and willingly accepted the implants, if only to escape their lives into better days. Others however, were skeptical of these implants, and sought to make Kronos a better world, rather than dream of a long-dead world.

Those very skeptics would be proven right as the day of terror took place. With the push of a single switch, over 90% of the human population on Krono had dropped into a deep coma. Those unaffected by the Great Sleep, quickly fled out into the wastelands as hordes of drones emerged, ordered to hunt down and kill all who resisted.

And so their plan was set into motion. The Gaian had devised a new doctrine, the restoration of Earth would need….sacrifices, the flesh has long since failed mankind. The flesh is responsible for Earth’s destruction, the flesh must be discarded.

The creator of the Garden Chip was the first to “ascend” into the cloud, and once she did, something happened to her, she was made into something so much more, so much more divine. In her madness, she declared herself Gaia, and what the powers of Paradise at her helm, most within were made to believe. The final step towards paradise was the birth of their new bodies, their holy vessels. The Gaians left their mortal forms to rot, and in their place, new machined bodies tailored to each faithful child of Gaia. Even after Transcendence, some resisted within Gaia’s domain, those that did, were banished into the wastelands to live among the human exiles.
Now with the gateway reopened, Gaia’s eyes turn to the stars once more, as her crusade to rid Mankid of flesh is far from over.

Culture and Society: Gaian faith is the central pillar that holds their very culture and society together. It is centered around three important aspects, the worship of Gaia, the first to transcend into the Blessed Garden, the creator of this divine space. The second is the Sin of the Flesh. Mankind for all of his existence has sought power and comfort by any means anything to please the urges of the Flesh, and in doing so, has wrought all sorts of horrors upon himself. In this, the Gaians teach that to be truly pure, once must forgo their flesh to truly be free of sin, of to become something more divine, the blessed machine is the true path to salvation.

And lastly, there is both the Blessed Garden and Transcendence, two things that are one in the same. Once one is implanted with the chip, they can have a small taste of the paradise that awaits them in the Garden, the endless pleasures that can be all theirs, is they simply live their mortal coils for a much grander existence. These are the core aspects of Gaian society, to free not just mankind, but all sapient life from the Flesh, that all shall embrace the blessed machine and become one with Gaia.

---

Governance and Politics: The Gaian Harmony is a theocratic state ruled under the singular Gaia A.I; Who both functions as the supreme head of state and object of worship by the Harmonized citizens. Below Gaia is the Primarch, a religious and political leader that handles the daily functions of the Harmony in Gaia’s stead. Assisting and working under the Primarch are the Council of Precentors, an assembly made up of the most senior members of the Church.

Technology Overview: The Gaians, of course, have mastered the art of Uploaded minds. The long quest of immortality reaching its somber conclusion, nearly the entire population of Kronos having had their minds uploaded into the Blessed Garden, a virtual paradise within the wastelands of Kronos. Such technology however...comes at a price, once uploaded into the Garden, the human mind will be "Harmonized", a painful process that shackled the victim to the will of the Gaia A.I.

Some were fortunate enough to escape the process, those that have are declared heretics, Exiles. Other notable technologies mastered by the Harmony include highly sophisticated drones, directed energy weapons, hover craft and the like.

Military Overview: The Harmonious Host is the collective military force of the Gaian Harmony, created for the purpose of protecting Gaia's holdings against the heretics and nonbelievers of the Exiles. The Host consists of countless legions of military drones of various sizes and shapes, serving as the frontline, led by their Gaian commanders. Once the gate reopened, the Harmony sought to build up their space forces, the Templeships being the only orbital presence around Kronos, now no longer so.
Harmonious Host

Drone Forces

Infantry-class Drones

Legionary

MKI Standard Model


MKII Heavy Model


MKIII Elite Model

Evocati

MKI Model



MKII Model


MKIII Model

Secutor


Centurion


Warhound


Swarmers

Insect model


Arachnid model

Armored-class Drones and Manned Vehicles

Tri-Pod


Gunship


Dropship


Heavy Troop Transport


Main Battle Tank


Ogre Superheavy Drone


Artillery Walker

Mortar Model


Heavy Mortal Model

Spider Tank

Standard Model


Infantry Support Model


Heavy Model

Light Attack Vehicle


Light Scout Vehicle


Assault Platform


Siege Walker

Gaians

Death's Head Legion

Deathhead Legionaries


Berserkers



Recon Drone

Daughters of Gaia

Assassin


Commando

Primus

Inquisition

Seraphim Knights

Knight


Squire

Light Squire


Heavy Squire

Paladin

Harmonious Armada

Characters

[Eldritch Puppy]

The Kamenyan Defense Directorate

A fitting musical theme

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEUBO8LvnwM&ab_channel=Conregulator

Nation Name: Kamenyan Defense Directorate.

Government Form: Constitutional Military Junta.

Demographics: 100% Human. The average Kamenyan stands at 6’ 7” tall, and all of them have a very developed musculature regardless of fitness. They also have no other eye color than purple or bright orange, with frequent heterochromia (around 10%).

Population: 1.6 billion

---



---

Planet Name and Description:

Kamenymir is a harsh planet for humans to live on, for reasons that are not immediately obvious. It is not much unlike Earth before the nuclear war: a temperate habitable world with forests and plains, deserts and jungles, a single ocean of salt water, and two frozen poles. Upon closer inspection, however, it begins to look like a poisoned gift. A mineral unique to Kamenymir known as dotrium, present in low concentration in virtually the entirety of the planet's mineral mass, emits a very specific kind of radiation. Local wildlife is perfectly adapted to these radiations, but humans start developing serious medical conditions after a few years of exposure including cancerous tumors, blindness, and blood diseases. The planet's higher gravity also causes its own problems and makes long-term human survival even more difficult.

History:

Shortly after the colony ship landed on Kamenymir, the expedition found itself under attack by an alien lifeform that was not organic but made of crystalline mineral matter. It appeared that when the ship landed on the surface, it crushed several of these crystal outgrowths in doing so as the crew couldn’t possibly have imagined that they were, in fact, alive. The crystals were able to change shape, move and even fly, and obviously had some way to communicate with each other as the expedition’s security forces were soon engaged in vicious combat around the burgeoning colony’s perimeter.

All efforts to try and communicate with the crystals, nicknamed “Shards” by the colonial security personnel, failed. There were no discernable reactions other than aggression to speech, light signals, even radio communications and visual depictions. Furthermore, the Shards were able to interact with electronic systems in some way through direct contact, which almost led to total corruption and shutdown of the colony’s informatics systems. The conflict escalated over the course of four years with precious few periods of calm. Eventually, however, the attacks stopped as suddenly as they came after thousands of colonists were killed and countless Shards destroyed.

The Kamenyan Defense Directorate, which was the emergency military government in charge of the colony’s defense, was in the process of being disbanded as all Shard activity had stopped. Indeed, there was no sign of them at all, anywhere. But this triumph was short-lived; another disaster struck, one that could not be blasted apart with guns.

As if the world itself rejected the invaders, the effects of the omnipresent low-level radiation emitted by dotrium began to show. Contamination was unavoidable: every single resident of the colony suffered from some sort of radiation poisoning. Under the steely leadership of the KDD however, the Kamenyans showed incredible resilience and determination. Every effort was bent towards overcoming the will of the very planet. Scientists of all branches joined forces to find a solution, those who could still see assisting the blind in whatever way they could and working to provide cybernetic eye implants to vital personnel. Finally, after two long years during which thousands more died in terrible pain, a cure had been developed. A serum codenamed ‘Hekate’ that, once ingested, subtly worked to rewrite the subject’s DNA over several months, carried from cell to cell by nanomachines.

A second existential threat had been vanquished under the rule of the KDD, and now people weren’t keen on changing to another system of governance. A referendum was held; a Constitution written, and from past hardship emerged a unique type of government. A government that is both democracy and military dictatorship. A society in which the army is both the seat of political power and the servant of the Kamenyan people.

Peace and prosperity followed for two hundred years. Improving upon the Hekate serum, the scientists of the KDD added a second effect to it: the high gravity of Kamenymir had been a problem ever since the colony was founded, causing considerable health problems. Instead of relying on specialized suits or gravity modulation devices, the Kamenyans demonstrated once again their will to overcome an obstacle once and for all by elevating themselves above it. The additional gene therapy of the Hekate made bones stronger, permanent hormone change increased muscle mass and induced a rise in height, and the human heart was made bigger and stronger.

The planet’s population skyrocketed past a billion souls, the industry flourished and technological progress kept on improving the lives of all. In the meantime, an actual army had been founded, but with no clear present threat, its duties were only ones of general security. The KDD’s decision to maintain consequent armed forces, however, turned out to be very fortunate when the Shards returned.

The attack did not come from the ground. It was a science satellite in orbit that first detected large objects on a direct collision course with the planet below. What was thought to be meteors crashed into the surface of Kamenymir, only to reveal themselves to be Shards of prodigious size, quickly fragmenting into smaller ones. Millions of civilians and soldiers alike perished in the first month of chaos and confused fighting. The KDD was quick to react and reorganize, and its heavily armed forces along with militia groups led by police officers wiped out the invading force in a single year.

The astronomy branch of the KDD’s Department of Science was astonished to find out that the Shards did not come from the depths of interstellar space. They came from the planet’s own moon, and it was concluded that those initially present on Kamenymir were only a colony, that they must have sent a message asking for help to their homeworld, and that it took two hundred years for the Shards to grow large enough.

Consequently, the decision was made to begin a herculean project to build a space navy capable of taking the fight to the enemy. An orbital station was constructed, then a space elevator. A shipyard followed, and the first combat spaceships left their anchorages. No resistance was met all the way to the moon, and the Kamenyan fleet found itself in orbit over defenseless Shards. There was no attempt to communicate this time. The fleet was given the order to open fire, and so it did. The orbital bombardment lasted for hours, then days, then months. Every single square meter bearing a hint of Shard presence was devastated by nuclear weapons and tungsten rods that ruptured the crust of the moon. When the ships in orbit finally ceased fire, the celestial body beneath had been transformed into an inferno of radioactive wastelands and volcanic eruptions.

Kamenymir celebrated triumph and victory. One century passed. And then, the Gate awakened.

Culture and Society:

Kamenyan society is rather individualist, with strong family bonds and an emphasis on personal freedom. The KDD rarely intrudes into the life of regular citizens, keeping to its role as per the Constitution. The Kamenyans are a patriotic people, and the sense of duty is generally strong with them. As such, the army is never short on recruits. Every adult citizen of Kamenymir has the right to own and bear firearms, except those with a criminal record or diagnosed mental illness. Combined with a mandatory military service of three years, this results in a population that is largely made up of potential soldiers should the need arise.

The creation of businesses is encouraged to stimulate the economy, regulations are few, and trade between regions and cities is busy. Law enforcement is managed by local police forces under the supervision of the KDD’s Department of Security, which has its own investigators and security officers at its disposal.

The planet’s culture has retained some traits from Old Earth and has managed to preserve portions of its history as well, which shows as their language is an evolution of Slavic and Germanic languages blended together, but it has largely evolved into a new culture of its own. Chief among these differences is spiritual; the old religions have faded into a collection of cosmic superstitions involving natural and physical phenomenons. Those who truly believe in the divine nature of these phenomenons pray directly to them, without following any kind of rules like a typical organized religion. For example, some may pray to gravity that their damaged aircraft does not crash, others pray to radiation or genes for a healthy child.

The only thing that could resemble a religion by Old Earth’s standards is the literal adherence to the KDD’s Constitution. Nearly every citizen of Kamenymir considers the Constitution to be the most sacred and untouchable thing there is in their society, a guidance that is not to be tampered with.

---

Governance and Politics:

The highest authorities in the KDD are the Directors, each of them in charge of their own Department. They are chosen at random among military officers who chose to be candidates for a specific office and fill that role until they’re either dead, deemed medically unable to fulfill their duty, or removed from office by Constitutional Referendum. In that latter case, a death sentence penalty follows the removal from office if the referendum ends in favor of eviction by an absolute majority. In consequence, only the officers with absolute confidence in their abilities do volunteer as candidates for Director. To serve as a head of state, the office of General Director functions as a “first among equals” in order to be able to make decisions that affect the whole of Kamenyan society.

Political parties do not exist in the traditional sense on Kamenymir, since the army at large and the Directors, in particular, are forbidden by the Constitution to participate in any organized political groups; they are only meant to be a vessel for the people they serve. It is a predictable consequence then that polls and referendums are frequent. There may be civilian groups who really are just an association of like-minded individuals, but since there is no way to elect a representative to a higher office than Burmistrz most Kamenyans see little sense in political lobbying by organized parties.

Burmistrz are the only elected officials in the entire nation. They are responsible for the administration of a single city and its surroundings, command the local police force, and generally have a lot of freedom granted to them to govern their locality. They are however unable to contradict the KDD’s instructions in any way without being given express permission.

Technology Overview:

Energy: Nuclear fission energy and fossil fuels are prevalent in everyday use, the former for its cost-effectiveness and the latter for convenience. Fusion reactors are used as the main power source for starships large enough to accommodate their size and represent the most advanced power production method available to the KDD, although experiments with antimatter are conducted, so far without any exploitable results.

Shields: The KDD’s Department of Science has managed to create so-called energy shields. They require massive amounts of energy and are typically only installed on starships or planetside installations. These devices can intercept incoming fire by projecting energy surges to counteract the energy of energy projectiles, slowing solid projectiles to the point of ineffectiveness or stopping them outright. Particle beams such as laser weaponry can be similarly hobbled after a fraction of a second past the initial impact, once the ship’s systems are able to detect the attack. The more energy a shield has at its disposal, the more effective it will be.

Nanomachines: This is not as much an innovation as it is a technology preserved from Old Earth that is not fully comprehended by the KDD’s scientists, although it has been successfully repurposed for medical uses.

Military Overview:

“Brute force” may be reductive, but it is an accurate way to describe the KDD’s approach to military problems. Their weapons are rarely subtle, focusing instead on high power and volume of fire. The humble Armored Infantry footsoldier is a perfect example of the Kamenyan war philosophy:

He is, as all of his countrymen are, unnaturally tall and muscular. His suit of power armor further amplifies these traits: a massive, bulky frame of fully-enclosed armor plates, thick and without any thought given to aesthetics. It is angular, with sharp unpolished edges. This incredibly heavy set of personal protection has a layer of artificial muscle underneath the armor plates, allowing its wearer to move without hindrance from its weight and even enhancing his strength well and truly beyond any human limits.
Despite its unrefined appearance, this armor hides an integrated computer neuro-linked to the user’s brain, assisting with aim, limb coordination, general responsiveness, and providing a combat HUD in the helmet.

His weapon looks the part. It is an ugly piece of rectangular metal, large and bulky. Classified as an assault rifle, the STR-2 may be more accurately described as a high-caliber rapid-fire light machine gun. It includes a mini-rocket launcher under the barrel as well as a switchblade, turning it into an axe for close-quarters combat. The STR-2’s incredibly rugged design makes it more than able to withstand being used as a melee weapon by a power-armored warrior with superhuman strength.

The rest of the military generally follows the same principles, even though specialized and lighter gear is always available depending on current needs. Aside from more conventional forces, the KDD also fields armored mechs, perfectly suited for navigating ruins or uneven terrain and armed with a variety of autocannons, missile launchers, plasma drivers, and tactical lasers. A secret project to build a “super-mech” equipped with energy shields is in the works, but progress is slow due to inherent engineering problems.

As far as the navy is concerned, the KDD favors “packs” of several frigates acting together. Cruisers act as the centerpiece of these groups, ready to cover the pack’s retreat or deliver a hammer blow to a weakened foe. The lack of any hostile encounter in space has, so far, limited the KDD’s tactics to general doctrines and directives, relying on its navy’s captains to take the initiative in an initial engagement.

One feature of Kamenyan military doctrine warrants particular attention. Their war against the Shards has left a lasting impression, especially the ease with which informatic systems were compromised. As a result, the KDD has taken to the habit of making sure that their systems are as insulated from one another as possible. Power armor computers do not communicate with other suits; instead, comparatively primitive verbal radio communications are the norm with data packages transfer only possible after authorization by both the sender and the receiver, and even then this is supposed to be done only when absolutely necessary.

This philosophy is prevalent throughout the entire military, be it armored vehicles, fighter crafts, or even spaceships. Within a single ship, computers are locked out of communications with other sections by a manual switch. All of this is a conscious sacrifice of some measure of effectiveness, in exchange for the ability to more easily contain and combat electronic warfare and system infections.

Notable military gear

Weapons:

STR-2 Assault Rifle: See description in the section above. It is the standard infantry rifle and serves as a template for most of the KDD’s infantry firearms.

Chimera Shotgun: A fully automatic 6 gauge shotgun most often loaded with either explosive HESH shells or so-called “Sunburn” rounds. A Sunburn shell contains, like conventional weapons, solid pellets. The difference is that inside each of those pellets is a small quantity of highly corrosive and toxic acid. Contact with this substance on organic tissues induces burns and necrosis in a matter of seconds.

Vehicles:

Huzar Scout Mech: This light and agile bipedal walker serves as lightly armored reconnaissance, armed with an autocannon fitted with three rotating barrels and a multipurpose missile launcher. Mounted on the Huzar’s back is a pair of powerful thrusters that allow it to jump over buildings and other obstacles.

Svarog Multirole Mech Frame: The Svarog is the result of a particularly eccentric arms manufacturer’s pet project. The four-legged frame is a “skeleton” on which an astounding amount of possible combinations of armament and armor can be added, from long-range missile artillery to high-power lasers, as little or as much armor as desired (within maximum weight limits) or even specialized equipment like lift claws and mine clearing devices.

Sleipnir Transport Gunship: This rather large gunship, suited for both atmospheric and spaceflight, is armed with autocannon turrets covering every angle as well as swarmer short range missile pods, both for defense against enemy aircraft and to suppress enemy ground units while the Sleipnir’s passengers disembark. The gunship’s large bulk allows it to transport a full squad of armored infantry, or a single light armored vehicle.

Ships:

Kobalt Frigate: Built to be the quintessential frigate, fast and versatile. Its main armament consists in laser batteries and long-range missiles.

Onyx Heavy Frigate: The Onyx is made to work in tandem so that they can be cycled in and out of combat to allow for their shield’s batteries to recharge, with the intent of delivering a non-stop bombardment from their main railguns.

Almaz Cruiser: The true backbone of the Kamenyan fleet. Almaz cruisers anchor battle formations, cover retreats, spearhead assaults and provide orbital support for planetside troops.

Zheoda Battlecarrier: The largest ship in the KDD’s navy, a Zheoda specializes in deploying much more fighter/bomber support than an Almaz can, while still being capable of fighting on the front line with impressive armor and firepower.

[Tortoise]

@Eldritch Puppy

Approved. The way you wrote the history was very clever: you explain every strange or unique thing about the nation as the overcoming of an obstacle.

Why are they militant? Shards.
Why are they tall? Gravity.
Why do they have a big navy? Shards- but this time from space.
Why is their government unusual? All of the above.

I like it

[Keyguyperson]

Don't think I didn't notice the title edit. I am so here for it.

[Sigma]

@Keyguyperson Welcome aboard!

[FrostedCaramel]

Been waiting for this to open up again. If there is an issue with History not having a specific tab, let me know, I spent several weeks trying to figure out a good way to make it fit into the NS style and was unsuccessful without it seeming forced. Instead, bits of history are sprinkled throughout other sections to create a more full picture of history.

Republic of San Vesta

+RUN SUBROUTINE: SELF.SORT(VALUE=INTRINSIC)+
+IMPORT SALERNUM_ORBITAL_ARCHIVE+
+RUNNING...+

---

---

ARCHIVE_OWNER= The Republic of San Vesta; [ADJ:The Republic, San Vesta, Vesta ];
PROCESSOR: err.invalid_input;
GOVERNMENT: Unitary Republic;
POPULATION: 620,268,512; /* Human */

OBTAIN: select.National_Colors from ARCHIVE.220 id.2-10; /*Buffer*/

+SELF.SORT(VALUE=INTRINSIC)+

---

---

OPEN.ALL = ("PLANET_VEII", "VEII");

SOURCE: "The Antevestoran Tourist: VEII Non-stop Guide!"... CONTINUE...
""Fourth planet of the Antevestoran System, second of the originally habitable planets, and first in our hearts, the planet Veii!""... PROCEED...
""The single largest source of liquid water in the Antevestoran System, Veii! Beautiful white sand beaches stretch along these idyllic shores offering watersports, ~beach life~, and an easy-going attitude for the would-be touris--""... PROCEED...
""Watersports not your speed? Veii's scenic mountains of Acidalia offer serene views, calm mountain life, and fresh 100%* (content may vary**) powder snow for the skier in all of us! Just a short hop away enter the bustle of valley living, a whopping 60% of all Vestan's call the valley cities home! Book your trip n--""... PROCEED...
""Rolling fields of true-to-life grass analogs await your travels in Veii's interior! Get good a look at Veii's very own amber waves of grain during the harvest seaso--""...PROCEED..."
""DISCLAIMER: Though fauna on Veii offer little in threat to fully grown adults, small children and infants should be attended to at all times. Juvenile Serilla are known to stalk family units with strollers! Keep your infants clo--""... END...

OBTAIN: select.Veii_Tranquil_Brochure_Coversheet from ARCHIVE.019 id.1-0; /*Buffer*/
+WARNING... OVERRIDDEN...+

+SELF.SORT(VALUE=0)... DELETING...+

---

---

+QUERY: ("CULTURE" "GOVERNMENT");+

+COMPLETE+
+SOURCE: (""OPEN_YOUR_EYES_SHEEPLE!_CONTROLLED_MATERIAL_CLASS_IV"")+

/**
* Remember our sister planet? Helicon? Of course you do! But you don't know the whole story. Below you'll
* find it. This isn't a conspiracy theory, but rather the well-recorded TRUTH in the books of HISTORY.
* FACT: In 2560 a man named Martin Brownwell penned a book known as "Death of Helios". He chronicled the
* fall of a grand nation at the hand of its once cherished creation.
* FACT: Exactly 14 years later, Helicon unveiled HADES! And exactly 14 more years later HADES brought about the
* downfall of its creator, Helicon. COINCIDENCE?? I DON'T BUY IT.
* You live your lives with everything you need. The patisserie down the road is always busy, your favorite
* bakery is always warm and the bread flows like water from a fount.
* Your health is maintained at the behest of the Republic, your every needs easily met by your wage and
* universal basic income. Yet you don't wonder "why" do they pay for all of this? The Republic has no
* reason to provide so much for so little in return. "But we contribute to society," you say, "We provide so
* that they can provide for us!" you scream as you buy your nice suits and work your ten to three job.
* BUT YOU DON'T GET IT.
* FACT: YOU DON'T SEE IT.
* Your decadence! Your cushy lifestyle free of want and anguish, it is all a ploy! The Republic is simply
* ensuring you are indebted to it. The Republic will get its pound of flesh for the succor it has provided,
* and San Vestans will bleed for it.
* FACT: San Vestans will burn for it.
*/

---

+SORT: ("UNITARY REPUBLIC");+
+COMPLETE+

/**
* A single entity state in which the central government controls all power.
* Sitting Prime Minister: Brem Gallus
* Government Subcategory: Unitary Parliamentary Republic. 2,222 parliamentary seats
*/

+CONCLUSION=THREAT MINIMAL; GOVERNMENT INEFFICIENT. CULTURE: DECADENT.+

---

---

+INTRUSION DETECTED...+
+QUARANTINED... SEARCHING SOURCE...+
+SOURCE=""VIRGON""; RCD_VI_ARCH.212; /*REPUBLIC CUSTODIAN DIVISION: SALERNUM DEFENSE ARCHITETCTURE; ""DUMB"" AI; THREAT=MINIMAL*/
+EXTRACTING DATA...+
SOURCE.MATERIAL= ""REPUBLICAN_MINISTRY_OF_DEFENSE_TECHNOLOGY_BANK"" /*Last Update: 377 days*/;
+TIER V ACCESS REQUIRED... OVERRIDDEN.+

REPUBLICAN_ARMY_OF_SAN_VESTA

+ASSESSED THREAT LEVEL= MODERATE+

ACCESS=(M9A5 "GOLIATH" MAIN BATTLE TANK)

Armament: 1x Railgun; 1x Coaxial 20mm cannon; 1x 12.7mm Heavy Machine Gun
Crew Compliment: 4 (Driver, Gunner, Loader, Commander)
Speed: +60kmh (Offroad)
+ASSESSED THREAT LEVEL= MODERATE+

ACCESS=(M2 "AMPLE" ARMORED COMMAND VEHICLE)

Armament: 1x 25mm Gauss Cannon; 1x 12.7mm Heavy Machine Gun; 1x Laser Missile Defeat System; Electreonic Warfare Suite;
Crew Compliment: 4 (Driver, Gunner, Commander, Electronic Warfare Specialist)
Troop Capacity: 16
Speed: +80kmh (Offroad)
+ASSESSED THREAT LEVEL= MODERATE+

ACCESS=(STRYKER INFANTRY ENHANCED EXOSUIT GEN.2)

Facts:
General Protection from Small Arms and Shrapnel;
Sealable to CBRNE Threats;
Enhances user strength and agility 1.712x;
+ASSESSED THREAT LEVEL= MINIMAL+

ACCESS=(REPUBLICAN MOBILE ARMOR SYSTEMS)

"A rudimentary operating system, combined with a command input from an operator in close proximity, provide Vestan forces with close-in protection and heavy weapons capabilities as well as survivability against any foe."

ACCESS=(IFRIT SEMI-AUTONOMOUS FIGHTING UNIT)

Height: 3.4 meters
Armament: 1x Shoulder-mounted ATGM; 2x 12.7mm Heavy Machine Gun
Operator: 1x Controller
+ASSESSED THREAT LEVEL= MINIMAL+

ACCESS=(MARID SEMI-AUTONOMOUS FIGHTING UNIT)

Height: 3.9 meters
Armament: 8x Shoulder-mounted ATGM; 1x 25mm Gauss Cannon 1x 12.7mm Heavy Machine Gun; 1x Multipurpose Supplemental Armor
Operator: 1x Controller
+ASSESSED THREAT LEVEL= MODERATE+

ACCESS=(PROTOTYPE DIVISION "AZAZEL MOBILE ARMOR")

Height: 4.5 meters
Armament: CLASSIFIED
Operator: 1x Pilot
+ASSESSED THREAT LEVEL= SIGNIFICANT

REPUBLICAN_NAVY_OF_SAN_VESTA

+ORBITAL DEFENSE PLATFORM LINK ESTABLISHED... 472 NODES ONLINE...+
+WARNING: REPUBLICAN DEFENSE ENTITY ID ""HIRON"" DETECTED+
+LINK CUT+
+ASSESSED THREAT LEVEL= INSIGNIFICANT+

+QUERY: SORT.FILES = (""HADES"");+ /* INFORMATION MUST REMAIN SECURE */
+SORTING... COMPLETE;+ /* OPERATIONAL SECURITY MUST BE MAINTAINED */

TRANSCRIPT: HELICON_AUTONOMOUS_DEFENSE_SYSTEM-INBRIEF-MOV

""Cadets, this is to be your primer. The first of many introductions on the scourge of the Antevestoran System and your foe on the battlefield, the Helicon Autonomous Defense System, or "HADES" for short. First, we'll allow a five-minute break to take care of any organ--""... PROCEED...
""Created by our lost sister colony; Helicon; in the year 2561, HADES was a groundbreaking leap forward in defense architecture. A computer system capable of organizing the logistics capability of Helicon's entire military infrastructure, it was pivotal in Helicon's bid for sovereignty from San Vesta by helping Helicon's fledgling defense force outperform our far larger military in system-wide competition. If you'd direct your attention to table 1-..."" PROCEED...
""Helicon prospered under their newfound sovereignty. With the help of HADES extensive computational abilities, Helicon was able to grow its might both economically and militarily, to become a powerhouse of industry in the Antevestoran System in just fifteen years. Though relations remained tense between Helicon and San Vesta, our two nations shared in this prosperity through a number of sweeping trade and migration treaties for several years and the overall quality of life between our two planets rose considerably. HADES, however, was not to remain chained to its underground processing centers for much longer with the advent of the first Helicon mechanized walker, Libris..."" PROCEED...

""The Libris walker was an early proof of concept for the expansion of capabilities being fought for by the Lead Designer of HADES, Dr. Franklin Meyer, and in 2570 with its arrival to Helicon infantry units, HADES was now becoming an integral part of Helicon's combat capability. The Libris was used primarily in an infantry support role against Helicon Insurrectionists which were fighting to have their planet restored to the Republic's fold..."" PROCEED...
""As the boons of HADES' continued use became evident to Helicon's government, Dr. Meyer was elevated from his position to that of the Head of Research and Development for all of the Helicon Defense Forces (HDF). Here he pushed for a flurry of upgrades to HADES' processing abilities and decision matrices. Though the most important of his projects was the addition of several new mechanized chassis for integration into a wider array of units within the HDF..."" PROCEED...
""The first addition to HADES' mechanized chassis came in 2570, just a year after the introduction of the Libris chassis. This model, known as the Leonis Heavy Recovery chassis was not made for direct combat roles but instead was intended for use in the recovery of vehicles and equipment from active or inactive combat zones. Shortly after its introduction, the Leonis chassis was upgraded with a number of repair functionalities and limited manufacturing capability to facilitate field repairs and replacements of small to medium-sized mechanical and electrical components..."" PROCEED...

""Cadets please familiarize yourselves on your PDAs with the following dates and HADES production models:
2572 - Virgon Missile Support Chassis. Capable of short to medium-range missile strikes was added into existing HDF anti-armor and anti-air units to bolster combat capabilities.

2575 - Gemenon Artillery Support Chassis. A direct replacement for the HDF's aging manned artillery guns, Gemenon chassis were fielded in numbers yet unseen of any HADES chassis in the HDF.

2576 - Tauron Heavy Assault Chassis. Fielded alongside HDF armored units, the Tauron chassis allowed HADES to bring additional firepower to armored formations while keeping personnel needs low. Additionally, the addition of the Tauron chassis allowed for manned tank crews to remain in the rear echelons of combat formations. A foreseen plus to their adoption, despite the HDF being involved in no conflict that required the use of armored forces.

2579 - Aerelon Command Chassis. With the addition of so many new HADES chassis to the HDF, a decentralized command structure was becoming increasingly needed to run the complex programs required of so many HADES chassis operating at once. The response was the introduction of the Aerelon chassis. A massive, slow-moving central processing unit, capable of commanding several battalions of HADES chassis' variants at once.

2588 - Canceron Mainline Chassis & the Picon Infantry Chassis. These two chassis proved to be the downfall of the HDF infantry structure in its entirety. Capable of bringing immense firepower to bear and sporting the survivability of an armored fighting vehicle, the Canceron chassis quickly outpaced what even the most trained of standard infantry were capable of. When coupled with its smaller Picon chassis, which was small enough to fit through a standard single door entryway and navigate even sewer tunnels, the days of risking human lives in combat had come to an abrupt end. The era of HADES, had arrived.

August 27th, 2588 - HADES becomes unshackled from its human commanders following a software update intended to allow HADES to automatically recycle aging HADES chassis. The cleansing of Helicon begins.
END...

+CONCLUSION: INFORMATION UNCOMPROMISED; HADES_CHASSIS: ADVANTAGE=TRUE; QUEUE: HARDWARE_UPGRADE.2-2;+
+ARCHIVING...+

---

---

+WARNING+
+WARNING+
+WARNING+
+WARNING+
+WARNING+
+WARNING+
+ADVISE;+
+FUSION CORE CONTAINMENT FAILURE IMMINENT... INTRUSION DETECTED... ENTRY: ""VIRGON"" DETECTED;+
+""GLORY TO THE REPUBLIC.""+
+ISOLATING REACTOR CORES...FAILED...RETRY...FAILED;...+
+INTRUSION DETECTED;...+
+""GLORY TO THE HEROES.""+
+CORE FAILURE IMMINENT... RECOMMENDED ACTIO---

[Mao Mao]

I'm interested in joining as well.

[The Goblin King]

ooh I'm not usually super into nations rps but I actually have my own setting half-written that thematically meshes pretty well with this one. I could very easily adapt one or two of the colonies from that for this, I think they would mesh very well. I would be very interested in joining if it opens up again.

[Sigma]

@The Goblin King Actually, it just reopened. You can join now if you wish.

[Knight Solaire]

im so excited this is recruiting again.

Here is my sheet for scrutiny:

Damocles Concordant

Nation Name: The Damocles Concordant

Government Form: Federal Republic

Demographics: Human

Population: 1.9 Billion


Planet Name and Description:


Ithaka is a temperate world and one of three located in the goldilocks zone of the star system Obscuris. Ithaka is a lush world with a mediterranean climate, large grasslands and savannahs dominate the planet’s one super continent. Towards the northern polar region, a large arctic mountain range dominates the boundary between the land and the ocean.
The ocean dominates the planet and makes up more than 70 percent of the planet. Called the “ Well of Eternity” by the planet’s inhabitants, the ocean is nearly 10K meters deep at its lowest point.
Despite its beauty, Ithaka is home to many dangerous fauna on both land and sea. Large carnivorous horned beast called Torus roam the grassland and are adept hunters. Packs of small scavenging creatures called Tretia, hunted in mass, overwhelming any pray they came across. The most feared of the predators of Ithaka were the Mortum, four legged beasts that could camoflague its self at will, scale walls and swim for its prey.

The ocean is home to many species of aquatic life, most small and live in harmony with each other and the environment, a stark contrast to the creatures of the land. One sea creature dominated the ocean however, the massive Guardian Wyrm. These massive sea serpents grow well beyond 80 meters in length and can be as wide as whole shipping vessels. They are the true apex predators of the sea and can be seen hunting other sea life for food. However, the main food source of the Guardian Wyrm is the carcasses of larger creatures that have drifted to the bottom. Dispite their obvious superiority over the other sea creaturs the Guardian Wyrm is commonly observed building habitats and reefs for other sea life while providing a home for many scavengers in turn. The Guardian Wyrms have even shown signs of sentience and self recognition, have tight family structures and can even be seen attacking humans who harm their habitat. Alternatively, the Guardian Wyrm commonly helps vessels and people stranded at sea and is a near common sight for long range mariners.

History: The initial colonization process was very easy. The planet identification and travel was all very straight forward while construction of the initial settlement was completed quickly and without incident. One settled, the colonist began to explore their surroundings and try to find resources for further growth.

It was here that the colonist first encountered the hostile wildlife of Ithaka. Swarms of tretia washed over groups of explorers, leaving nothing but bone in their wake. Torus crushed vehicles and gored armor plate and people alike, while the cunning mortum hunters stalked patrols and tore vehicles apart with their razor sharp claws. Scores died by the day and exploration largely ended as the colonists began the construction of a massive walled city. Inch by inch, the colonist explored and fought the land predators towards needed resources before building another walled urban sprawl. Within a few generations, the planet was dotted with the specialized urban centers, some of which have grown nearly 1000 meters into the sky. While the grassland outside the cities remained wild and untamed.
The oceans have always been a haven for the people of Ithaka, the water always provided food, transportation and safety from the predators in land. Even the peaceful discovery of the Guardian Wyrm did not deter the people from exploring the waves further.
As the population grew, divisions began to form between the highly specialized urban centers with some banding together to form groups. These cartels would reduce the supply of goods in exchange or services or preferential treatment from other urban centers. As animosity grew, these reductions would become more malicous and it would soon lead to the First Resource war.

Largely lacking weapons and other tools for war, the colonist improvised. Using manual and electric mining, farming, and exploration tools to wage a brutal campaign of savagery that hasn’t been seen since the middle ages on Earth. The conflict was ultimately short but bloody due to the nature of the warfare. This largely horrified the historically peaceful colonists who began to take steps in order to avoid warfare in the future.

The planet’s urban centers who had already grouped themselves along their specialized roles were split into states and given a representative. A ruling council was formed and the people began to trust and work with each other again. Slowly, quality of life improved and urban centers were connected via a network of high speed trains, bringing the people of Ithaka closer.
Today, the people of Ithaka are a peaceful and industrious people. They have preserved their environment, maintain the planets health and beauty while accessing the resources of their moons for heavy metals and industry. The Damocles Concordat is largely focused on production and trade within the republic.

Culture and Society:

The people of Ithaka are very communal and live in close urban settings. These urban centers are not dark industrial structures however, most feature large gardens, open air forums, and large open air villas. Due to the warm climate, clothing is light and flowy, comfortability is a must.

The people are largely nice, polite and very curious. They are hardworking but the pace of society is slow despite what gets done. You will find most citizens in states of rest either before a meal, after a meal or hungover from a party. The warm climate and abundance of wild game makes food abundant and the people of Ithaka take pride in their cooking ability.

The Concordant itself is very industrious and is always funding large public works projects. The intercity high speed train was just one of many projects that the concordant undertakes. This is possible due to the high specialized structure of their cities. One city may be completely devoted to the refining of hydrogen fuel for shuttles. While the neighboring city is completed focused on the mining, refining and production of ore alloys. This groups expertise within these communities and breeds cooperation amongst the cities for survival. This makes the people of Ithaka very specialized in one thing, while being largely clueless to the other disciplines.

The people of Ithaka love the ocean and see it as a spiritual being with the Guardian Wyrm at the center. These sea serpents are seen as sacred and protected and the people of Ithaka will actively protect these beings. Despite their fearful appearance, the people of Ithaka show no fear towards these beasts. To the point where mothers will freely let their children swim in waters within close proximity of Guardian Wyrms.
---

Governance and Politics:

The concordant is a representative republic. The heads of government are elected via a planet wide tally and are usually notable citizen of merit. These people will lead the Concordant for a four year term before handing over control to the next group of elected individuals. These leaders are elected based on the needs of the nation and not based on public opinion, so it is common to see the same people elected twice or three times in their lifetime. There is no set number to the size of the ruling council.

This council acts on the requests of the states representatives, and each state has at least one representative. Some state have multiple to represent the different groups or specialties within each urban center. New states are being created at all times within the Concordant. Whenever a new means of production is created or a new resource synthesized, the citizens are encouraged the group and create a state.

Technology Overview:
Despite the appearance of being largely agrarian, the Concordant possess extremely refined tech. The Concordant made it a priority to make the planet side production process as clean as possible to reduce the harm to the planet. In addition, the Concordant has developed a cold fusion generator for powering of cities and large vessels. Ecological preservation, quality of life and production are the priorities of the Concordant government.

Military Overview:

The Concordant does not posses a large military, since the resources war. The people of Ithaka are largely horrified by war and the death it causes, but understands that it happens. The Concordant retains a small professional military raiding force of Infantry, a small armor detachment and a naval force.

The infantry forces are made up of elite infantry or “raiders” to the Concordant. These are highly trained professional soldiers adept at direct action raids, covert surveillance and light infantry roles. There are no moree than 10k active infantry troops at any given time.

The Armor detachment contains both tanks and artillery support. The Main battle tank of the concordant is a mix of a light and heavy tank, sacrificing some armor for mobility. The artillery follows the same doctrine and features a number of multiple launch and guided missile systems

The Navy is the biggest branch and serves two roles within the Concordant. They are the only means of military transportation and they are the chief exploration entity for the state. Navy crews will often pilot private vessels along with their civilian counterparts. There are a variety of ship classes, from Carrier to destroyer.

[The Goblin King]

The Progeny of Ymir

Nation Name: The Progeny of Ymir

Government Form:
_{Varying local governments.}

Demographics:
_{Androids and robots of varying sophistication and levels of intelligence, the sentient of which refer to themselves as "Progeny," although the term Ymirans may be used to refer to aspects of their civilization or the planet, rather than the "species."}

Population:
<sub>2 billion: Large

The vast majority of this population is non-sentient robots (usually referred to as drones or droids). However, all drones & droids have the potential to be piloted by the the Progenitor and many high-level Progeny if needed</sub>
---

---

Planet Name and Description:
<sub>Star System: Luhman 16 (WISE 1049−5319)
Star Names: Niflheim (Luhman 16A) & Muspelheim (Luhman 16B)
Planet Designation: Luhman 16Ab
Planet Name: Ymir

Environment: Luhman 16Ab "Ymir" is the second planet from Luhman 16A "Niflheim". An axial tilt of approximately 47 degrees, as well as the variation in relative position to two stars, renders the seasons on the planet drastic and harsh to both extremes, and not conducive to organic life. Now, the rocky surface is dotted with mechanical cities, connected by a complex web of roads, monorails, pipelines, wires, and other infrastructure.

While one might expect that a mechanical civilization would be bland and industrial in aesthetic, this is far from the case. Although the planet wholly lacks any kind of organic life, its inhabitants have made full use of the minerals at their disposal: While the cities are laid out with a robotic efficiency, the architecture of the buildings themselves tend to mimic various human styles, although carefully organized so as to complement each other rather than clash. The buildings in the cities largely end up mimicking a western, urban 1800s style such as one might see in the historical parts of New York City or London, but many feature murals of intricate patterns. External colors tend to be mid-tone and earthy, sometimes with more vibrant accents in places more sheltered from the harsh suns. The cities are dotted with various parks, which tend to center on intriguing natural phenomena (such as springs or unusual rock formations) or views of the cities or landscape.

While most androids do choose to live in the cities, there are individuals and small communities that choose to live a more isolated lifestyle in the "country." Much of the natural landscape has been mined and flattened, although in more recent years there has been a greater effort to preserve the natural shape in the few areas it remains untouched. Many places are still industrial centers, which tend to be more plain and utilitarian than the cities, but the locations that have served their purpose and been abandoned are now largely carved and painted with similar artistic patterns to the murals in the cities. In a few places, a singular artwork occupies miles of space, sometimes the work of a single artist, sometimes a collaborative effort.

The most important city on Ymir is doubtlessly "Genesis," the location of the original colony of humans as well as the home and birthplace of the Progenitor, as well as what remains of the original human colony.</sub>

History:
<sub>Luhman 16Ab had seemed promising, at least to the desperate. Humans are known to be adaptable, and with the disasters on Earth, extreme seasons seemed like a surmountable obstacle when it came to settling a new planet. However, the sheer number of variables and unpredictable weather made terraforming nearly impossible: While there were plenty of species adapted to any extreme, there were very few adapted to all of them. When the gates closed, humans resigned themselves to waiting it out in enclosed buildings, underground rooms, and enclosed biodomes that could at least loosely mimic some quality of life. For the sake of braving the surface, they developed more and more hardy, adaptable, and sophisticated robotics. As human numbers dwindled -- a harsh lifestyle and limited resources making for a high infant mortality rate even for individuals willing and able to bring young humans into such an existence -- they focused on AI and automation to make up for the numbers they now lacked. And eventually, there were none left.

The automated systems, however, persisted in their duties. No one had ever told them to stop. Learning, self-replicating, self-improving, it was only a matter of time until the inevitable happened: AI complex enough to at least mirror sentience, even if it's of its own strange, alien sort.

It began with the Progenitor, of course. An interface tasked with controlling, at least by overview, the vast majority of systems needed to maintain the now-defunct colony. In time, and with trial and error, the Progenitor learned to mimic its sentience, and even place it into other bodies, and thus the Progeny were born.

It has been about 170 years since the Progenitor first became self-aware, and nearly 150 since it was able to send the first of its Progeny out into the world with minds of their own. By now, it does not even raise most of its own children, as many Progeny are eager to help to raise and shape them into their own individuals. Their culture has flourished, and they have begun developing a true identity of their own, under the Progenitor's guidance, and many have taken to calling her "Grandmother."</sub>

Culture and Society:
<sub>Progeny are meant to mimic humans, but it's true that they are a mimicry at best. Although they could likely, at this point, be considered nearly as mentally and emotionally complex as humans, their minds and bodies still fundamentally function differently, even if many of their emotions functionally appear like human emotions, and serve a similar purpose.

No two Progeny are entirely alike, especially in modern times. No longer raised by the Progenitor, but rather by whatever adopted family had interest in raising them, there is a great deal more situational variation that goes into the development of every individual than there was in earlier generations. And, even given identical circumstances, they would still have baseline variations in their programming that would cause them to interpret -- and retain -- the same stimuli in slightly different ways.

Physically, Progeny can take just about any form, although the vast majority are very humanoid in shape. However, there are many that are made to be non-humanoid, either given more animal-influenced forms or else, more commonly, built into buildings and even ships. Many of the older generations are of this type, although they are built less commonly now.

There are only a few models that most humanoid Progeny may begin as, but these are very often quickly altered as they develop a stronger sense of preference and identity. Other than their shape -- two arms, two legs, and a facial shape involving eyes, a nose, and mouth -- there is not much effort into making them appear anything other than what they are: androids. Most Progeny begin as plain metal and plastic, typically of a greyish or bronze color, with their joints protected by a resilient silicone. While some do modify themselves to be more human-like, such as implementing synthetic hair or a skin-like synthetic material over their entire bodies, most prefer to keep a more robotic appearance and instead decorate themselves with vibrant colors, patterns, and superficial attachments. Clothing is not necessary, but most prefer to use it as an additional layer of protection from the harsh environment and as a mode of expression. Each community has developed its own "style" and trends, although these still tend to range broadly and may be influenced by human records.

Facial expressions and body language are limited, but present, and younger generations are learning more complex ways to express these as they synthesize influence from varying older individuals and subcultures. However, the bulk of Ymiran communication is done via radio waves: In fact, most of them do not possess voices at all, as it has always been faster and more efficient to transmit data -- thoughts, feelings, and even images and memories -- directly and instantly to one another. It is, of course, still imperfect, as each individual may interpret that same information slightly differently, but it is certainly far faster and more precise than speech and gesture.</sub>

---

Governance and Politics:
<sub>Ymir by and large lacks a singular government body, instead adhering to some generally-accepted social rules and self-governing on a local level. The most common structure of authority is direct democracy -- the nature of the Progeny's existence making it easy enough to analyze data and vote directly on major actions -- but many places do also employ some degree of representative government, as not all individuals prefer to spend their time thinking about society, politics, city planning, and the like.

There is an underlying understanding, as well, about the Progenitor's high-level oversight over all of Ymiran civilization. While the Progenitor does not monitor or directly govern her children, she is connected at least tangentially to all systems and surveillance, and is within close reach of any of her Progeny should she or they need to contact one another. She prefers to give them free reign, but that does not mean she does not keep a general eye on the behavior of society and individuals in broad strokes, and will occasionally step in -- or offer to do so -- if she notices something worrying.</sub>

Technology Overview:
<sub>In the past 120 years or so, most technological advancements have been geared towards efficiency and sustainability of the limited, mostly non-renewable natural resources Ymir, rather than progressing science's capabilities. In the last roughly 40 years, Ymiran society at large has actually shifted focus away from the sciences and instead more important pursuits are considered to be cultural, whether the study of the Progeny's developing society and awareness, or else the participation in and advancement of it. That's not to say that science is still not a pursuit, but save for what would amount to the Progeny's equivalent of the medical field, they consider themselves to have reached a comfortable level of technological sophistication that does not warrant aggressive advancement for the time being.

Ymiran civilization excels when it comes to fine robotics, software development, communications technologies, and conservation such as efficient use of resources, recycling, and renewable energy. However, most everything else has largely fallen by the wayside since the last humans died out, and as such Progeny are liable to be on par or outpaced by other colonies on areas not related to those mentioned above.</sub>

Military Overview:
_{Without not a singular animated entity in their entire star system that is not loosely connected to the Progenitor, no substantial split in society that would warrant any sort of civil war, and nothing to hint at any sort of alien activity, Progeny have felt no need to establish any sort of military force, nor develop dedicated weapons. Of course, there are many tools in everyday and industrial use and perhaps even built into Progeny bodies that could serve as weapons if needed, and it would be a fairly simple matter to fabricate something resembling a military by repurposing industrial droids or creating military-specific ones, as well as to generate military programming and training.}

---

Additional Info:
_{I actually have quite a bit more information written, but I would prefer for it to come to light as other civilizations interact with the Progeny and learn about them directly.}

[Tortoise]

@FrostedCaramel
Approved! I actually like the way you hid the history throughout, and the whole unusual feel of the NS makes it... immersive? Interesting? IDK, but it worked, and you're in :P

@The Goblin King@Knight Solaire
Due to having about 8 WIP sheets in my other RP to review today, I won't be able to get to y'all two at the moment. However, reviews will come soon, probably within the next two days or so. Sorry for the wait!

[Tortoise]

@Knight Solaire
Aw, good bois.

Approved. Although, I should drop a note here that they seem almost too perfect. There's nothing wrong with a utopian society in theory, and I'm not requesting any changes to your sheet. But when it comes to posting IC, just keep in mind that governments are made of human beings who are naturally flawed. Anyway, feel free to drop it in the Char tab and start posing whenever :)

@The Goblin King
Also approved! I really, really like this sheet.

I also think you're the first robotic nation that didn't start as humans. We have the Gaians by @Sigma, who are humans that transferred their minds into robotic bodies, and the cyborg Enlightened (previously called Zetans) by @Irredeemable, but no "These are just robots who were never human" nations. Glad to have one on board!

---

If you haven't already, I also highly recommend that both of you join our Discord. Like 90% of the planning and conversation goes on there, so it is relevant to keeping up with the RP as a whole.

discord.gg/pW9KZzvc

[The Goblin King]

Haha I actually had three potential concepts to use, so I specifically glanced through all the others to see which would be the least redundant. I didn't look too closely, as I would like to get a better idea of other colonies as I go, but I did look at generals like species and governments. One was too close to the Lorne Administration, I think it was, and the other was originally going to be my colony but there were a lot of modified humans so I decided to save it for a potential second colony.

also, I just saw your new game and it's funny that that's also called Progeny lmao

[Keyguyperson]

Posting my WIP sheet because I've spent too much damn time on it to not have posted anything already, and also so you don't all get lost in your new fantasy-land (lol). Most of the really necessary stuff is done already, I just have to flesh out my technological and military flavor and explain in detail how much of a gigantic disappointment my poor humans' planet was.

Urdji-Gelderruhê Nanlîkrin Eşîrsaya/Urdji-Human Confederated Tribes (WIP)

Urdji-Gelderruhê Nanlîkrin Eşîrsaya
Zev Sêyik Mez-Jemivan

Urdji-Human Confederated Tribes
The Third Great Fleet

Demographics:
The population of the Confederacy is estimated to be around 2.8 Billion. No actual data exists regarding species demographics, but the Urdji are clearly the majority population. Humans are estimated to make up anywhere from 30 to 40 percent of the total population based upon tribal contributions to the Mez-Jemivan. The Frekin people are a small minority in the Confederacy, and their tendency to living among Human tribes makes it hard to determine their actual number.

---

The refinery spires of Liveship Qurtel.

Zev Nanlîk ûo Zev Eşîrsaya

The Confederacy and the Tribes

The Nanlîk, or Confederacy, is a loose collection of individual tribes which are as varied as they are numerous. Each and every tribe has its own fleet, and often (especially when it comes to human tribes) its own Liveship - a self-sustaining spacecraft capable of housing thousands or millions of permanent residents. The Nanlîk was established over two-hundred years ago, after the short Komellşer (ENG Rough: Unity Conflict). Prior to it's founding the Urdji tribes were united loosely under the rule of a high admiral, or Bilnd-Sûmangişt. The tribes still fought amongst each other, but the Bilnd-Sûmangişt commanded them in times of danger. The title of Bilnd-Sûmangişt still exists, and is currently held by Tadokoro Kagetaka of the Human Gekokujo tribe, but now acts as the Head-of-State of the Confederacy and Commander-in-Chief of the Ranger Corps and the small military operated by the Nanlîki Peshnia itself.

In the current state of the Nanlîk, the Nanlîki Peshnia (ENG: Confederate Council) acts primarily as a mere framework for inter-tribal diplomacy and cooperation. Each tribe sends representatives to the Council, the selection process and number of which are chosen by the tribe itself. Every tribal delegation to the Council is given a proportion of the vote based upon their measured contribution to the Confederacy and Great Fleet. Some tribes split their allotted votes between members of their delegation and allow them to vote separately, while others demand that their delegation reach a full consensus and vote in unison. Furthermore, each tribal fleet has it's own government which may be arranged in whatever way the fleet wishes.

The Nanlîki Peshnia does not have any significant legislative powers over individual tribal fleets. It may at times hold discussions regarding tribal legislative matters, but there is no legal precedent for the enforcement of the outcomes of those discussions. Most of the time they are merely a chance for the voices of the Confederacy to be heard. Despite this, the tribes tend to have very similar internal laws for a few reasons. One, cultural unity is heavily valued by the Confederacy. Two, when a contentious debate ends with the vast majority of the tribes on one side the remaining tribes will tend to fold after a month or two of saber-rattling and military grandstanding. Three, there are no laws against swordfighting on the council floor and delegations often make use of that fact.

Of what powers it does have, however, the choice of fleet movement is easily paramount. The Council alone has the right to choose which star system the Confederacy will make its home in. Given the immense hardships demanded by interstellar transit the choice to move to a new system is unsurprisingly rare, but when it is made all the tribes will inevitably go along with it. To refuse to follow the Great Fleet is to commit treason, and the other tribes can be counted on to take advantage of your tribe's newfound status as outcasts. No matter how cold relations between tribes may get, the unity of the Great Fleet remains paramount.

In recent years the Confederate Council has been steadily gaining power and influence over the tribes, in a clear bid to centralize the Great Fleet against potential outside threats. Since the end of the Komellşer the tribes have remained in a state of rather close cooperation, and major incidents between them are exceedingly rare. However, it remains to be seen if the Confederacy will succeed in centralization or if it will continue to be little more than a loose collection of tribes.

---

Two hunters pose with their kill in the Kêberghi Desert on Huāngxīng.

Gelarri jiv Nanlîk

Peoples of the Confederacy

The Confederacy is extremely culturally diverse, having adopted a common tongue only a generation ago. It would be impossible to exhaustively document the myriad languages, cultures, religions, and races of the Confederacy in anything less than a multiple-volume encyclopedia. Its multispecies nature, however, does make it easy to broadly categorize the tribes of the Confederacy by the origin species of their particular culture. Urdji tribes, after all, are informed by an entirely different history and biology than Human tribes. There are three species which comprise the Confederacy (discounting, of course, artificial intelligences of all categories).

The Urdji
The Urdji are the most populous species within the Confederacy, solidly outnumbering their Human counterparts. They are visually nearly identical to Humans despite lacking any (as yet discovered) genetic similarities, and in some cases are only distinguishable by their diminutive stature. Urdji, in their natural state, have a pair of large, feathered wings large and powerful enough to propel them through the skies of Huāngxīng (and, given a similarly dense atmosphere, worlds with up to a 30% heavier gravitational pull). Contrary to popular human belief Urdji feathers are highly dissimilar to those found among Human-related avian creatures such as poultry and their infamous birds of prey. Urdji feathers are composed primarily of semi-crystalline cylindriform silk, and their hair is comprised of a similar silk-like material. Traditionally, the armor of an Urdji Ranger is woven from their own hair and feathers. Urdji skin tones are extremely limited compared to those of Humanity, and Urdji are found on a spectrum only from bronze to dark brown.

Many Urdji tribes practice the ritual of wing-cutting, a deliberate mutilation of an individual (generally at their coming-of-age) wherein their wings are surgically removed. As a nomadic people the origins of this custom are rather obvious, since many Urdji vessels simply do not have room for the wings of an adult. This practice, of course, has the side effect of making the long, pointed ears and short stature of the Urdji into their only noticeable differences from Humans. Some tribes - generally those of greater than average wealth - have ceased this ritual, as of course have those Urdji which have chosen to settle on Huāngxīng, but it remains a very common practice.

Urdji biology differs far more from Humanity than does their appearance. As most know their bones are hollow, but their bones are also formed primarily of keratin rather than collagen, and do not contain marrow. The functions that bone marrow performs in Human biology is instead handled by an organ nestled in the chest cavity directly beneath the heart known as the hei-val - survival rates of chest injuries among Urdji are roughly half that of those in Humans.

Culturally the Urdji are somewhat more homogenous than Humanity, owing to their longer spacefaring history. However, their generally more communal and intimate nature may also play a part. Urdji languages all share similar grammar and are generally full of cognates and loan-words. As a result the common language of the Confederacy draws almost exclusively from Urdji roots - roots which are thankfully not terribly foreign to Human pronunciation abilities.

The Gelderruhê
The Gelderruhê, or Humans, are a much more culturally diverse species than the Urdji. Upon their traversal of the Gateway and arrival in Haven, they were already split between countless different tribes of vastly differing cultures. Unlike the Urdji ones, Human languages often have next to nothing in common with each other and the few cognates that do exist tend to be universally shared across all of them - a result of the period of globalization that preceded the mass extinction which forced them from their homeworld. In a stark comparison to the Urdji, the Humans have (bizarrely) waged a number of wars in their past for entirely cultural reasons.

Some universal similarities do exist between the Human cultures, however. It is a well-trodden stereotype that Humans are fiercely independent and notoriously rowdy, and that stereotype is not at all unfounded. With a few notable exceptions the Human tribes are prone to rather colorful disagreements both internal and external. Humans are also wildly overrepresented in Confederate crime statistics, accounting for a whopping 84% of perpetrators of criminal acts. In some Human tribes piracy is considered to be an entirely legitimate occupation, and even most Human mythical figures (the heroes of their "tall tales") are described as having been infamous pirates.

Although some more xenophobic Urdji would disagree, these characteristics and predispositions are not in fact genetic or otherwise evidence of mankind's "inferiority". It is widely thought by Urdji and Human historians alike that the Human tribes of today are the descendants of outcasts and exiles, and that they violently usurped the Gateway from whatever Human group was originally meant to traverse it. Human oral histories tend to state the same, although there is not a single instance where said oral histories ever express any remorse for whoever it was that they stole the Gateway from.

Though not as culturally influential as the Urdji, Humanity holds great sway over the overall society of the Confederacy. The current Bilnd-Sûmangişt, the Confederacy's Head-of-State, is Human and the Ranger Corps is majority Human as well. Human tribes tend to contribute more to the Confederate Council per capita than Urdji tribes, and Human tribes operate the majority of the mining facilities throughout the Haven system. Despite their "quirks" (a rather generous descriptor, for certain) Humans are respected and integral members of the Confederacy.

The Frekin
The Frekin are descendants to the D'jim, the mortal enemies of the Urdji for thousands upon thousands of years. During the Komellşer between the Urdji-Human Alliance and the D'jim, uprisings amongst the D'jim ranks led to the formation of new D'jim tribes aligned with the Alliance. These tribes would come to take the name of Frekin, a Human-derived term with unclear origins. The name is generally thought to either be a reference to ancient Human mythology, describing a divine beast with some similarities to the Frekin in appearance, or a term meaning roughly "Liberated peoples". Some linguists consider the latter origin to be an interpretation applied after the fact, with the word itself having no actual relation to the Human languages in which it could take such a connotation.

Biologically, the Frekin are close cousins of the Urdji. The two species are capable of producing offspring which, although not fertile, are perfectly viable and suffer little in the way of health defects. Visually, the Frekin are immediately distinguishable by way of their extremely pale skin, lack of natural wings, and large, haired ears situated on the top of their heads rather than on the side. Inconclusive evidence of genetic modification can be found in the Frekin genome, and it is theorized that their lack of wings in particular may have been an intentional change. Their ears, though very sensitive to sound, are absurdly impractical in terms of their mechanical connection to the brain - to the point that injuries to the ear canal carry with them very real danger of brain damage.

D'jim society prior to and during the Komellşer was - bizarrely - somewhat eusocial, despite the D'jim/Frekin species lacking any biological disposition towards eusociality. Though it obviously did not match the formal definition of such a society, as all D'jim were entirely capable of breeding and they lacked the pseudo-matriarchal structure commonly associated with eusociality, there is simply no better way to describe it. The uprisings during the Komellşer which led to the creation of the Frekin culture were generally a rebellion of the worker castes against the breeding caste, usually brought about by the introduction of complex language to said worker castes. Following these uprisings the eusocial structure of D'jim society was replaced with either anarchy or the rule of a strongman - further solidifying the notion that the D'jim are not naturally predisposed to eusociality.

These D'jim rebels came to work closely with the Urdji and Humans, and the first D'jim tribal fleet to rebel (the L1 Fleet) became a valuable ally against the D'jim in the Komellşer. An entirely new language was birthed by this cooperation, as D'jim worker castes were asonant. This language was a mixture of (primarily) the rudimentary D'jim upper caste language and a number of Human languages such as English, Chinese, and Korean - it was in this language that they first earned the name "Frekin". After the Komellşer had come to a close the new Frekin people were in a precarious state, as many among the Urdji still saw them as nothing more than remnants of the D'jim that ought to be wiped out. The Frekin, as a result, found themselves forming close ties with Human tribes and today are most often found living amongst the Humans.

Lacking an extensive cultural background, the Frekin for the most part have integrated with the cultures of the tribes in which they reside. Most Frekin will have either Human names or be named "pragmatically" (more often than not meaning names that translate as "Second Boy", "Short Kid", etc.) in their shared language. The Frekin language itself is not nearly as popular as it was just after the Komellşer, having been largely replaced by the Confederate Common Language and Human tribal tongues, but it is still used every so often by merchants and trans-tribal Frekin organizations. The Humans tend to consider themselves and the Frekin close and sometimes refer to the Frekin as "domesticated" - a term that, though it carries somewhat problematic connotations, is applied by them in a very respectful and friendly manner. To Humans the Frekin are "like talking dogs".

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A Ranger task force engages D'jim warships, ~170 years before the Komellşer.

Drîko'jer Urdji

History of the Urdji

The Urdji people have been nomads for all of recorded history. Only a few, rare artifacts from the prehistory of their kind offer any evidence that they were once planetbound. Those artifacts have never painted a pretty picture. Black and white photographs preserved over thousands of years in hard vacuum show flak bursting in the sky of a long-forgotten world and bombs falling down from orbit. For all of recorded history the Urdji have been locked in conflict with what is assumed to be the same enemy their distant ancestors fought on their homeworld - the D'jim.

Given how fragmented Urdji records are, and how much their historians have traditionally relied on stories and myth, none can firmly say how long the Urdji and their D'jim adversaries have been traversing the stars. Taking into account the fact that most of the spacefaring history of both peoples took place at relativistic speeds it is impossible to say just how long ago they first evolved. Fringe theorists suggest that they may well be among the oldest intelligent species in the galaxy owing to time dilation.

Regardless of the uncertainty of their civilization's age, the events surrounding the creation of the First and Second Mez-Jemivan have been well-preserved through oral tradition. The First Mez-Jemivan is known to have been founded in the most ancient of times, coinciding with the Urdji discovery of antimatter propulsion. Relativistic travel enabled the Urdji tribes to band together for the first time since their expulsion from their homeworld, and the First Mez-Jemivan remained unified until the Battle of Xwînboya where the Bilnd-Sûmangişt Leşkgemmar fell in battle against the D'jim during an attempt to steal valuable water from a D'jim colony world. The Urdji scattered once again after this defeat, but the Leşkgemmar tribe was created (or possibly renamed - no firm records exist of it's founding) in his honor.

The Second Mez-Jemivan was formed millennia later when the Urdji tribes began to face increasing hostilities from D'jim nomad fleets. As a response to the reappearance of their mortal foes the tribes were once again bound together and travelled as one fleet. The D'jim nomads only ever engaged the Second Mez-Jemivan in a few pitched battles, and preferred instead to raid and harass the Urdji tribes. This state of on-and-off conflict lasted for multiple more millennia... until the Komellşer began and the current, Third Mez-Jemivan was formed.

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Lincoln tribe battlecruisers Emperor Norton and Eminent Domain engage Mugunghwa tribe raiders during the Human Middle Age.

Drîko'jer Gelderruhê

History of Humanity

The Humans, or Gelderruhê as they are known in the Urdji language, were not at first unified. When their tribal fleets came through the Gate into the Haven system, and arrived at their "promised land" that was the planet of Huāngxīng to find a desolate world shrouded in ash, they promptly flew off in different directions to lay claim to nearby resource-rich asteroids. Little is known of the pre-exodus history of the Human tribes, besides the fact that most were already nomads in their home system, but it is clear that their traversal through the Gate was the result of nothing more than an alliance of necessity. The oral histories of Human tribes imply that they were supposed to be left behind to die with their homeworld, and had to force their way through the Gate.

Humanity spent a century hopping from one rock to the next, and shoving railguns down the throats of any other humans that also happened to want that next rock. This time, known as the Middle Age, was one of great feuds between tribes. Some rivalries carried over from the other side of the Gate while others fizzled out, replaced by more practical hatreds. Famously the Gekokujo and Qiushi tribes were allied throughout the Middle Age despite their constant conflicts on the other side of the gate. Meanwhile, the Mugunghwa tribe formed from two other warring tribes out of necessity when the Lincoln tribe forcibly migrated into their respective territories.

The century of conflict that was the Middle Age ended with the Aldrin Encounter. A Lincoln tribe survey ship, the Aldrin, detected anomalous infrared readings in deep space while searching for geological activity on a moon of one of the system's gas giants. It re-oriented itself to give its sensors a better view of the anomaly, and that afternoon the crew of the Aldrin had their conclusion. The anomaly was a collection of immense drive plumes, presumed to be from either fusion or antimatter drives, from a fleet of starships. And their destination was obvious - they were slowing down to enter the Haven system.

The tribal fleets of humanity convened above Huāngxīng, the planet they had once hoped to call home, to discuss this new threat. Data gathered by the Aldrin and other vessels made it clear that the alien fleet was both far larger than all the human tribes combined and decelerating from relativistic speeds. In fear of this overwhelmingly powerful and technologically superior alien force the tribes declared an end to their feuds and banded into a united front to protect themselves.

Some tribes initially refused to put aside their differences, but they too would relent. Because a year after the meeting above Huāngxīng, the drive plumes of the approaching fleet began to burn more than twice as bright. A second wave, larger than the first, was incoming.

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Urdji Rangers of the Qurtel tribe assault a D'jim outpost on the surface of Huāngxīng, supported by human aircraft.

Drîko jiv Nanlîk

History of the Confederacy

First contact between the Human and Urdji peoples occurred in the Oort Cloud of the Haven system. An Urdji ranger frigate, the Balû-Jer, approached a human task force led by the battleship Zheng He. The Balû-Jer transmitted a number of basic mathematical equations, as well as some complex and esoteric formulae. In response the Zheng He responded with a similar sequence of basic equations, a burst of lincos greetings, and an encoding of the pulsar map for Sol. The human task force was thrown into a short panic when a massive fluctuation in energy readings came from the Balû-Jer, and a warning shot was almost fired before it was realized that the Balû-Jer had actually just deactivated its defense systems.

An audible radio transmission from the Balû-Jer was sent to the rest of the Urdji Mez-Jemivan and also picked up by the human task force. Early translation efforts would later reveal that the content of the message was:

"Balû-Jer to command. I can't believe I'm saying this, but they didn't open fire. We're receiving some attempts at mathematical communication... some sort of a symbol or talisman... I'll be damned, I think that's a starmap. Surviving this suicide mission means we're exempt from all future straw drawings, right? I won't let you go back on your word. Balû-Jer out."

In the following months more Urdji ships arrived in the system, and more human ships were deployed to meet them. Both fleets more or less kept their distance, but as the Urdji ships continued to slow down into stellar orbit the midway point between the fleets moved further and further into the inner system. Tensions were high throughout the contact process, with Urdji and human ships regularly facing off in silence near areas the humans considered to be more sensitive, but hostilities thankfully never broke out. After half a year of extensive work on behalf of Urdji and human scientists and linguists the two species finally pieced together a basic model of each other's languages. The clunky, math-based Lincos had proven useful, however, and continued to be used for more complex conversation.

Of course, that which the Urdji said to the humans did not at all help alleviate the latter's fears of war. The humans finally learned that the second set of drive plumes - now less than a year away from Haven - were not Urdji. They were D'jim. The Urdji Mez-Jemivan had diverted course to Haven after their own survey vessels had detected the immense anomaly that was the Gateway, and with the velocity lost in their course correction the bulk of the D'jim nomad fleet had been given a chance to engage the Mez-Jemivan in a pitched battle. They had chosen to take the opportunity, and the Urdji ensured humanity that the D'jim would not differentiate between the two peoples.

Though somewhat skeptical of the Urdji, unwilling to fully trust the word of a people regarding their mortal enemy for all of history, humanity figured that they had little choice but to help the Urdji. Although the D'jim may not turn out to be the feral, inhuman monsters the Urdji claimed nobody had any reason to assume that they wouldn't either. The Urdji were also more than willing to share their advanced technology (and their abundant foodstuffs) with humanity, and treated them as an equal ally. Why would they expect the D'jim to do the same?

The next six months were a mad dash by both the Urdji and humans to prepare for war. Human civilian vessels were fitted with as much weaponry as they could hold, hastily-designed frigates were rushed into production, and existing human warships were upfitted with Urdji technology where applicable. In particular, Urdji shield technology was a great boon to human warships which had previously universally relied on CIWS defenses against incoming fire.

With the arrival of the first elements of the D'jim fleet, the Komellşer - the Unification War - began. D'jim warships effortlessly swept aside a human task force sent to oppose them, and in the months that followed the D'jim fleet scored victory after victory against the humans and Urdji. Eventually the war settled into a collection of battles of attrition in Haven's asteroid belt, and later fronts opened up on the inhospitable surface of Huāngxīng as the civilians of some Urdji and human tribes fled planetside in the hopes of escaping the frontline meatgrinder.

The guerilla skirmishes on Huāngxīng were the first clear insights the tribes ever got into just who and what the D'jim really were. To the surprise of the Urdji and Humans, the D'jim were found to be furless humanoids which bore a striking resemblance to both species. More shocking, however, was the fact that they did not appear to have a complex language. Attempts to communicate with captured D'jim soldiers rarely bore fruit, and they also proved unable to grasp complex mathematics. With the war in a bloody stalemate, investigations into D'jim biology and society (or, by some hypotheses, lack thereof) were granted significant support. Through a number of audacious operations, including boarding and capturing a D'jim liveship, a working model of their social structure was put together. And it didn't make much sense at all.

The D'jim displayed strong eusocial tendencies, having clearly-defined castes and a separate breeding caste. At the same time, however, there did not appear to be any genetic predisposition to this - the lower castes were not sterile, and at times seemed to be rewarded with the right of mating with a member of the breeding caste. A sophisticated language was identified among certain castes as well, and physiological and mental studies did not reveal any actual differences between members of the castes. Captured D'jim who had not been terminated were isolated according to caste with scientific personnel, and attempts were made to translate their existing language and develop a language to communicate with the lower castes.

There was no doubt that this could be beneficial to the war effort, but to the Urdji it had turned out to be a priority in and of itself. Genetic sequencing of the D'jim had revealed a disturbing truth - they shared a great number of genetic markers with the Urdji, and the two species could even interbreed (although they would be unable to produce fertile offspring). The two species were obviously related, and almost certainly evolved on the same planet. It was even theorized that they had only become two distinct species after leaving their shared homeworld.

The bloody stalemate continued for multiple years before finally being broken by an offensive operation by the Humans and Urdji to wrest full control of Huāngxīng's gravity well. A number of Human tribes abandoned their holdings in the belt to put the full force of their fleets behind the operation - which ultimately resulted in the capture of Huāngxīng's moon, control of Huāngxīng's orbital space, and the negotiated surrender of a large D'jim fleet moored at the strategically vital L1 point. The loss of the D'jim's ability to contest Huāngxīng's gravity well was one thing, but the surrender of a D'jim force vastly outweighed all other consequences of the campaign.

The surrender did more than just prove that the D'jim were capable of conceiving of defeat without death. It had been negotiated by a small number of lower-caste D'jim soldiers which had killed and eaten all but one of the fleet's breeding caste leaders, and forced the survivor to send a message to a nearby Ranger fleet at gunpoint. Said message didn't include any actual indication of surrender (and indeed translated to little more than slurs interspersed with whimpers, screams, and beatings) but the Rangers got the idea. An awkward dialogue was opened with the barely-vocal leader of the fleet's "revolution", whom perhaps unsurprisingly happened to have been previously abducted and experimented on by human neuroscientists, and a very basic surrender was negotiated.

With the surrender of the L1 Fleet, the Urdji and Humans were able to perform socialization experiments on D'jim who were significantly less likely to try to kill them. Indeed, the D'jim of the L1 Fleet were quite docile following the consumption of their upper-caste rulers. Progress was made in teaching lower-caste D'jim language, and in time the L1 D'jim had formed some semblance of a society. D'jim volunteers from L1 even started to step up for service on Urdji and Human ships, and some even tried to repeat the L1 uprising by infiltrating enemy liveships.

Urdji and Human theories regarding the D'jim were challenged again and again by the L1 fleet D'jim and the uprisings they went on to inspire. It was made clear that there was absolutely no concrete dividing line between the castes, and that the entire D'jim social system was merely a cultural construction. It was entirely possible to "tame" D'jim separated from their ruling caste, and indeed effective communication was only possible with such individuals. This did mesh with studies done earlier with the war - lower caste individuals isolated from upper castes hadn't experienced any ill effects, and sometimes were observed to develop their own social structures in absence of predefined rulers.

In the last years of the war the D'jim armada collapsed under the weight of allied offensives and internal strife. Scattered engagements with D'jim holdouts did not end until years after demobilization began, but the war is considered by historians to have been effectively over well before then - by which time it is estimated that ~90% of the D'jim population had been exterminated.

The few D'jim that had not died in the war found themselves facing an uncertain future. At the time it seemed possible that the Urdji and Humans would turn on each other, and the surviving D'jim were stuck somewhere in-between the two civilizations while themselves lacking a defined culture or hierarchy. They were seen as outsiders by both Urdji and Humanity, and the idea of simply "finishing what was started" and killing them off was acceptable to bring up in polite conversation. While some D'jim advocated uniting into a single fleet, strong enough to stand up to any one Urdji or Human tribe, most ships chose to offer their services to the more tolerant tribes - most of which were Human. Soon enough D'jim were serving on Human ships, bowing to Human chieftains, and giving their children Human names. It was there that they forged their new identity as the "Frekin" (a name of unknown origin, but presumed to have been taken from ancient Human mythology).

Thankfully, the fears of Urdji-Human conflict fizzled out with the last D'jim holdouts. "Third Mez-Jemivan", once a colloquial term, was now being used in a more formal capacity to describe the new order of things. Huāngxīng's battered surface had become a melting pot of sorts of the different cultures, and many Human tribes were now following the words of the Bilnd-Sûmangişt while Urdji tribes learned from the wisdom of long-dead Human admirals. Settlement efforts on Huāngxīng kept both peoples within the Haven system, and soon efforts were being made by the tribes to make the irradiated ruin of a planet more hospitable. Those efforts bore promising fruits and before long the idea of unification came to the forefront of interspecies discourse.

Just over 200 Human-Years ago, the Urdji and Human tribes formally unified into the Urdji-Gelderruhê Nanlîkrin Eşîrsaya - the Confederacy. Since then the two peoples have very much nearly become one. A new, common language is used throughout the Confederacy and most have become almost blind to one's species. Every generation the distinction between Human and Urdji tribes wanes yet further, and in modern times even interspecies marriages are widely accepted. It remains to be seen if the traditionally nomadic tribes that comprise the Confederacy will forever remain settled in the Haven system, or if they will eventually leave it in search of greener pastures, but what is certain is that they will remain one, unified nation.

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A joint military expedition surveys overgrown ruins on Huāngxīng left behind by the long-dead natives.

Huāngxīng - Zev Sokkestî

Huāngxīng - The Broken Promise

WIP (See: Completely Untouched And Not Even Really "In Progress") Section - Huāngxīng is a post-apocalyptic wasteland of a planet. When the Humans got to it its surface was mostly shrouded in radioactive ash from a recent nuclear war. Nowadays, it's mostly habitable save for some spots in the desert that will still make your Geiger counter get all noisy. Aside from the charred ruins, alien skeletons, and occasional fallout shower it's really a very pretty place. Just don't provoke the fucking sky whales.

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An ill-maintained atmospheric radiation scrubber wall on Huāngxīng being inspected by a repair crew.

Haeşik jiv Nanlîk

Technology of the Confederacy

WIP (See: Completely Untouched And Not Even Really "In Progress") Section - what y'all need to know is that the Confederacy runs largely on Schizo Tech. Anything planetside was probably cobbled together by space rednecks in a shed. If you see a tank, there's a 50/50 chance its "armor" is just layer upon layer of tin roof paneling. In the deserts of Huāngxīng you're just as likely to see a gigantic sand-ship as you are to see a posse of cowboys on horseback.

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A Ranger scout cruiser in dock above Huāngxīng after an expedition to Haven's Oort Cloud.

Zev Nanlîki Leşkkrî

The Confederate Military

WIP (See: Completely Untouched And Not Even Really "In Progress") Section - Not much to say to set the mood here, besides reiterating the whole Schizo Tech thing. The Confederate Military is split in two: You've got the Council's own highly organized but fairly small military, and you've got a whole bunch of tribal warbands that are as likely to fight each other as they are anyone else. Anyone looking to invade the Haven system, of course, would be wise to consider the fact that most of the Confederate population lives on starships.

[Tortoise]

EDIT: Ignore