[OOC] GATEWAYS: THE NEXT GENERATION [CLOSED AND CONCLUDED]

[Cloakedrider]

@irredeemable I want to join in, hoe do I sign for it?

[Timemaster]

@Cloakedrider Hi Cloak, join us on discord : discord.com/invite/PDvNcpQ6Br

You will be able to see what's being said but in order to "talk", you'll need to send Irr a NS via PM or post it here.

[Enigmatik]

@Cloakedrider Time explained the basics, but if you want to ask any more questions, I'm here!

[Damo021]

I shall have a 95% complete WIP coming up soon, been busy with a house move happening in 4 days.

[Sigma]

@Cloakedrider What nation are you thinking of making?

@Damo021 Keep up the good work! Looking forward to see the final product!

[Antediluvixen]

Commonality of New Ishtar

The Commonality of New Ishtar:
_{Ishtari Commonality, New Ishtar, Ishtar}

Government Form:
Direct Democracy:

Demographics:
Perfected: 100%

• Tiamat Strain - 51.7%
• Azazel Strain - 26.5%
• Gorgon Strain - 12.3%
• Shinchu Strain - 4.5%
• Sanguine Strain - 3%
• Homonculus Strain - .7%
• Other Strains - 1.3%

The Perfected:

The Perfected are derived from the gene-stock of the crew of the Generation Ship Ishtar. Modified significantly over the years in response to myriad threats to the survival of human life, we have transcended the bounds of our ancestors and achieved not only a wide array of unique abilities - but immortality.

“The Perfected” is an umbrella term used to encompass all of the varied Strains that emerged aboard the Ark Ishtar. Though several dozen were recorded throughout the Ark’s history, only a scant few remain extant today. The most notable of these being:

• Tiamat Strain - By far the most common Strain, the Tiamat Strain are immediately notable for the bioluminescent growths that cover much of their bodies, their muscular physiques, and the complete absence of males among their number. Originating as a predatory, transmissible mutagenic Strain whose originator, known as Tiamat, was a former Gorgon Strain priestess, the Tiamat Strain survived near extinction at the hands of the Hive Strain - and other Strains - numerous times before becoming the dominant Strain of Ishtari society thanks to their remarkably rapid reproduction. Tiamat Strain reproduction, being derived from that of the Gorgon Strain, functions as follows:
  
  The absence of males in the Tiamat Strain is, in fact, an illusion. Tiamat Strain males are in essence vestigial organisms, composed only of a small brain, set of jaws, and series of sperm sacs. These males burrow into the abdomen of the female and attach themselves to her reproductive system, enabling self-fertilization on demand. Much like the Gorgon Strain, rather than a menstrual cycle, Tiamat Strain ovulate at will and may control either a mass release of egg cells or a single release. In a mass release these eggs are then fertilized by the implanted sperm sacs and gestate for approximately one month before discharge into what is termed a gestational medium - functionally, a vat of raw biomass that the young feed off of and continue to mature within until their full maturation and their lungs can breathe air as well as water. Alternatively they are capable of carrying a single child to full term like a normal human if need be. Alternatively alternatively the mother can gorge herself and create "eggs" to simulate the environment of the gestational medium and lay those "eggs" wherever she chooses. Initially r-Selected Strain with high reproductive rates.
• Azazel Strain - An unusual Strain personally created by Tiamat herself from the genestock of the Tiamat and Gorgon Strains as well as her own DNA. Employed as military leaders, elite shock troops, and subordinates to Tiamat during the wars aboard the Ark and the initial conflicts planetside, and based on a combination of her own evolved form and the most desirable attributes of the Tiamat Strain proper, as well as those of the Gorgon Strain. The Azazel Strain are stronger, faster, tougher, and in many ways a direct improvement of the baseline Tiamat Strain.
  
  Upon the final defeat of the enemy and the near-glassing of the planet’s surface, Tiamat consolidated her power. Soon, however, she realized an iron grip on power in part lead to the very cycle of violence she had spent centuries attempting to solve, and voluntarily relinquished her power and the power of the Azazel Strain, implementing the reforms that would begin the transition of Ishtari society into its present form of a direct democracy. Tiamat and her Azazel Strain became ordinary citizenry as any other.
  
  Tiamat removed the secrets to their creation from her own mind, though some suspect backups remain - just in case. However, due to the lingering instability in their DNA, Tiamat Strain have been known to begin metamorphizing into the Azazel Strain. The exact mechanism behind this has yet to be determined despite fervent research into the subject matter.
  
  In modern Ishtari society the Azazel Strain represent a similar thread to the Gorgon Strain. Equal citizens, but possessed of qualities that mark them above the norm in some way. They are often viewed with a mixture of jealousy and suspicion, and in turn often reciprocate. By and large, however, they are well integrated into Ishtari society. One primary notable feature is their prominence within the military, where their natural leadership qualities make for ideal officers. Initially r-Selected Strain with high reproductive rates.
• Gorgon Strain - The second most common Strain and physically the largest by far, the Gorgon Strain bear a striking resemblance to lamia of classic old earth myth. A snakelike body approximately three meters in length is joined to a large human torso spouting four muscular arms. Their heads sport cobra-like ‘hoods’ that can be extended at will, with similar glowing growths on parts of these hoods. The Gorgon Strain’s history is a murky one, shrouded in myth and half remembered story. Though the oldest among them hail from Old Earth itself, none can remember the exact process by which they came to their current forms. All that is known is that the Gorgon Strain are not only immensely long lived, but possibly the oldest extant Strain there is. Their earliest known history is as ‘priests’ of the Void, before turning against it for unknown reasons and employing their Marduk Strain soldiers against the Hive Strain. They emit pheromones able to influence or even control those around them, something all Ishtari Strains now possess an engineered immunity to. Initially r-Selected Strain with high reproductive rates.
• Sanguine Strain - Most closely analogous to vampires of old earth myth, the Sanguine Strain resemble baseline humans most closely of any Strain - the next closest being the Azazel Strain. Easily able to pass for human even in their baseline form if wearing sunglasses and a hat to conceal their hair color, they sport pheromones similar to the Gorgon Strain and a limited ability to alter their appearances to be more pleasing to whoever it is they are - eye and skin color, hair color, slight changes to build, and so on. For them most part appearing to be beautiful humans by default, the Sanguine Strain’s true forms sport pale skin, irisless eyes with black sclera, patterns of black dots on the skin, and snowy white hair. K-selected Strain with low reproductive rates.
• Shinchu Strain - Somewhat reminiscent of the moths of old earth, the Shinchu Strain were never the dominant force in the history of New Ishtar but have long played their own important role. Sporting four armed anatomy like the Gorgon Strain, the Shinchu Strain are physically strong and naturally quiet, surviving aboard the Ark as ambush predators and stealthy operatives. Allied with Tiamat from an early point their natural inclination towards stealth has served well and will continue to serve well in the future. Initially K-Selected Strain with low reproductive rates.
• Homonculus Strain - one of if not the most bizarre of all Strains, there is no debate like with many other Strains whether the Homonculus Strain qualifies as a human subspecies, and they have diverged into something wholly different. Generally secluded from most Ishtari society, the Homonculus Strain are primarily grouped in a northern administrative region, with some present in Neriven. These Ishtari have bonelike shells encasing most of their bodies giving them a strongly humanoid appearance, reminiscent of that of elves of old earth fantasy, some parts being composed of a cartilaginous substance allowing joints to flex. Within these shells is a hydrozoan-like organism composed of a brain organism from which hundreds of ropelike muscular tendrils grow, slaved to its central nervous system but capable of independent clonal reproduction. These ropes form the muscular structure and the bulk of the Homonculus Strain’s mass, with further specialized digestive organisms within handling tasks like digestion. Homonculus Strain eat by using their hundreds of tendrils within the bony shell to feed food through the body to these central digestive organs whereafter a shared circulatory system ferries the metabolized nutrients around to where they're needed. The Homonculus Strain are formed from numerous networked intelligences, each separate organism representing a separate intelligence of its own and partaking in group decision making, the resulting collective mind taking actions after they have been agreed upon.
• Other Strains - There are over half a dozen Perfected Strains whose numbers constitute, in aggregate, only 1.3% of the total population. Meeting them for a foreigner is highly unlikely, but further information is available upon request.

Almost every Perfected is born with a set of features that distinguish us from our ancestors, in addition to those deviations arising from an individual’s Strain.
Among other things,

• We can metabolize numerous inorganic compounds for metabolic energy
• Breathe in an ammonia atmosphere provided there is sufficient oxygen,
• Are born without the curse of natural eyesight that the cloud of the Void may never strike our minds
• Sport natural neural interfaces at the base of the spine and nape of the neck for use with the Ishtari net and computers, as well as power armor and weapons systems, vehicles, and more.
• Are immune to the airborne parasites of New Ishtar. Augmented immune systems render them highly resistant or immune to numerous other pathogens, both endemic to New Ishtar and those brought by humanity.
• Have a second heart; enlarged adrenal glands; nanostructure-reinforced bones and muscle tissue; redundant secondary brain in event of traumatic head injury; redundant spleen; two extra stomachs to neutralize environmental toxins and to break down difficult to digest foods; modified sweat glands enabling the secretion of a waxy substance to prevent infection from the numerous parasitic insects of New Ishtar; the replacement of fingernails with claws connected to the bone of the hands, enlarged canine teeth, a reinforced and redesigned skull to mitigate brain injury from impact, and more.
• Improved, more-efficient hemoglobin and enlarged lung capacity enabling greater oxygenation of blood.
• Redesigned nervous system permitting slightly improved reaction time, alongside significant nanostructural reinforcement of the myelin sheathe. Redundancy of numerous key nervous pathways, spinal column reinforced to withstand significant impact or cutting force without damage.
• Redesigned skeletal structure to better bear the increased weight of exerted upon it by the heavy gravity of New Ishtar.
• A nanostructure-engineered protective sac around the vital organs in the torso capable of resisting the impact of a knife or the claws of an animal. The neck is similarly reinforced.
• Enhanced sensory organs which, in concert with improved neural systems enable we Ishtari to respond to external threats and stimuli before those threats have even consciously registered.
• A genetic encyclopedia of basic information required for the operation of most technology on New Ishtar. Even if reduced to a single individual, the last lone Ishtari is capable of creating more of herself.
• Are able to enter a state of hibernation or suspended animation for a period of up to ten years.
• Supercomputer-optimized engineered metabolism to support all of the above with as small an increase in caloric intake as possible.
• Extremely high reproductive rates enable rapid replenishment of the population in the event of catastrophic population loss.
• Are functionally immortal via the use of the Rejuvenation Chambers!

The advantages of being Ishtari over baseline, ancestral human are boundless, as one can easily see! We Ishtari possess the ability to alter our very physiology as if working with putty. Indeed it is rare to see any of the Perfected who conform to the presented models of Strains here. Exceptions to all of the above abound, as many have chosen their current forms to suit their individual identities. This is thanks to the wondrous technology of the Rejuvenation Chamber, and the forward-thinking Ishtari society!

During the great trials and tribulations of the Voyage, the crew of the Generation Ship Ishtar was tragically subject to mutagenic agents that continue to defy proper explanation.
We of course remind you to always remember,

The Perfected are human.

The Perfected are human.

The Perfected are human.

T̩h̗͚̜̬͎̝ͅe͍̞̫̲̬ ͔̖͕͖̣͎̹P͏e̻̰̼̝͞ͅr̤̲̺͍f͉̠̱͓̗̱͔͟ę̙̺̰̮͕̤c͉̗̙̰̣t̴e̴̳͚̦͓̳d̵̝ͅ ̧͇̭͚̗a̵̹͇̮͔͔̺r̤͡e̙̦ͅ ̷̜h͎͙͍̹u͍̞͜m̝̝̰̫a̖̣̺͝n͙̤̥͎͖̰

T̗he̷̱̟̠̻̲ ̣̤̳P̗e̼͔͇̟̟̣r͔̼͇̭̖̬f̯̻̪͈͎̯e̢̝͇͎̰̹͙͚c̞͢t̶̰̤͔e̤̥d̙̠̞̺͔͔̝͜ ͇̦̝a̲͘ŕ̘̦̟̺̻̥e̪͉̰ ḫ̦͕̹̟̲u̜̟̟͕̮̪̝͠m̭̪̮a̸̰͙̤̞̩ń̗

Tͦ̇͒ͩ̈́h̠͇̮̺͍͉ͦͫ͌̊́ͅe̠̤̗͍̼̓̓̏ ̥̭͈̜̹͕̓͆ͣͧ̍̂ͪ͞P̴̄ẹ͙͕͎̗͓̽̋͐̈̔̃̋ͅr̩f͕̣̳̭̙̩͉͑̇ͨͪ̔́e͈̞̝̦̪͙̜͋ͥċ̥̱̲̐̚t̲̙̞̮̺ͥ̿̾͠e̼̗̥͕̜͉ͥḑ̺̟͙̙̯̒ͣ̔͒̇̆ ̱͉̖͗̓͆́͌̏̚ạ̘̭̮ͧ̆̽́ř͙̈́e̦̼̞̫̪ͧͬ̑ ̦͖̇ͥ̔͐͝h̤̽́ṷ̪̤̲̤̫̘ͣ̐́m̡̻͎ͨ̂̃a͉͉̤ͣ̄̅̿̾̅ͣn͙͍̰͍̽ͫ̆

Ţ͔̯̳̭̱̯̥͓h̶͎̩͓̳͠ͅͅe͔͈͉ ̤̠̰̩̯̗̜̣̟P͚͉e̩͉̳̳̞̥r҉̡͚̭͟f̸̛͔͎͔̬e̴̸͈͘ͅc̮̩̰̰̺̻̠̤͓͢t̗͙͙͠͠è̩͓͟d̡͈̱̼͜ ̕͜҉̼͇̹̜̗̘̼ͅa̢͓͕̩͠r̡̛̦̤̣͖͎͓e̳͎̲͘ ̛̣̹̜̯́h̬̰͜͝ứ̫̗̙̗͞m͚̝̘̙͡͡ą̦̪̲̹n̲̫̯̹̪̹̮͠ͅ

Tͬͯ̈̈̊̽͜͏͕͙̲͎̗̯̦̦͔̦̯̙͎̖̤̮͉ͅh̨̟̭͙̩͇̜̯̹̝̜̻͕͍̬͓̿͋̀ͮͨ̍ͫ́̑̿ͭ̄ͫͬͪ͘e̢̺͉͖̜͖̮͉̗̺͌ͦ͑͒ͦͦ͑ͫͣ̎̄ͫͮ̃́ ͖͇̩̼̘̖ͮͮ͌͒ͦ̅̃̓̌ͥ̔̄ͥ̍͊̊̑̉͌̀͡ͅP̨̥̪̗̘̠̘̼͍̜̝͍̭̺̤͖̙̿ͣͮ̔̈́͠e͔̙͖̹͉̬̫̻̹͉̖͚̩̗ͣͥ̈́͊̑͗ͬͧ̄͊͛̉́̕͟͢͠ͅr̨͕̪͖̬͍͎̔ͣ͌͛̄ͭ̓̓̓ͪ͑ͪ̋̏͐ͦ̈̔͘f̨̭͙̹̳̺͉̞ͣͧ̊̋ͨͭ̋̍̏̚͜͞ē̷̖̘̟̦̼̺̯͚̥̲̝͚̥͕̮̩̳̫̜̿ͩ̍͛ͫͥ̾ͦ̽̆ͣ̉̀̚̚͜c̷̢͚̼̦̩͕̫͈̹͎̮̼̘͉̼̝ͬ̎̃̏ͧ̚̕͢t̴̵̪̟͍̣͔̜̘̹͍̝͚̼̣̠̪̔̅̈̓ͤ̈́̀̽͛͊̾̈́͡e̷̥̩̹̻̗ͣ͑̓͆̎̾ͪ̀̚ḋͣ̏ͧ̂̓̌͒̑̈̇ͨ͏̼͔̱̜̠͕͎ ̢̛͕͔̙͚̣͐ͥͬ̉ͯ̔͑ͫ̓ͬ̊̓ͤ̅̀̚a̒͑̊ͤͧ̇̍̌ͮͧ͂ͭ҉̫̩͔̣͙̤̲̲̥̖̼̻̝̗́͢ͅr̴̵̢͕̙̖̗ͭ̽̓ͯ̊̆͝ě̶̒ͯ̆ͨ͏̘̝̠͕̱͔̙͍͔̱̠̹̞̞̠ ̡̢̤̲͚̱̟͕̫̫̘̹ͫ́̂͊͗̇͗̐̊͆̎̀͟͞h̵̨̫̹͖̙̲̩̤̤̼̮̄̽̆͆̒̌̐̚͝u̵̢̍ͨͭ͊̕͜͏͓̯̖̟̜m̨̎ͮ̆̍ͯ̚͡͏̢͉̫̰͍̹̯̫͚͟ͅą̱̠̜̬̖̪̹̠̠̭̻̯͇͉̬ͫ͋ͦ͛̊̏̐ͤͯ͢nͪ̈́̍͑̐͆̄ͧ̀̈́ͥ̇͒͊̌͋̀҉̙̺̣̯̼͈̲͔̥̪

T̹̤͉͖̯͘h͙͢e̙̤̥̟̤̖̘͟ ̣͙̲̗̞͡P̖̳̜̟͓͞e͞r̸f̖̙̟̬̯̱̭e̸̱̻̜c̸͍͎̯̩t̟̝e̛͍d̡ ̺̬̯͚͉̲͟a͜r̦̭̣͡e̮̣̺̖͉̬ ͇͡h̘͍͓͚͇͞um̟̙͎̥ͅa̼̥͈ͅn̹͔͎̬̦̜̟

T͡h̸̨͘é ̵̸̀P͢ęr̸̛fe҉ct͟͠͝e̴͘d͞ ̛͡a̷̡̛r̨̡͞è͟ ̀h͏u̷͜͠m̨̛a̷͡n̡̛

Thḙ̺̘̮̤ ̧͙̻̘Pe̦̜͙̘̞̗̤rfec̸̲͚te͙̤̤̯͈̲͎d̼̲ ̤̥͈̭͓̀a̻͜re ̙̤̼͞hu̩m͉̕a̴n

The Perfected are human.
The Perfected are human.
The Perfected are human.

The Perfected are human.

The Perfected are human.

We are still human.

All doubts as to whether the Perfected remain human are to be taken up with Sister-Sage 3-73 Semiramis Knows Many Secrets.
_{Sponsored by the New Ishtari Board of Immigration}

Population: 5,672,013,182 (Yearly growth rate: 2.5%)

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Planet Name and Description:

"We thought we had left hell, only to arrive within a fresh one".

-Sister-Pioneer 23-45 Sana Carries The Torch On The Path To The Future, recorded interview

New Ishtar is a “super-earth”, far, far larger than the earth from which humanity hailed. Its surface is massive, almost five times that of earth. Its gravity is approximately 54.3% stronger than that of earth as well, leading to we Ishtari developing to be abnormally strong among the descendents of earth - ‘punching well above our weight class’, I think is the term?

New Ishtar is beautiful. Perhaps one of the most beautiful colonies of humanity. The world, in pictures, looks like a pristine jewel. An idyllic panorama of nature’s beauty. This much is true - for us.

In actuality for those not acclimated to it, New Ishtar is a death world. One of the deadliest of death worlds. Oh, it has its giant monsters, and they are very terrifying. But venture beyond the cities and death awaits the non-Perfected in a very different manner than they might expect. Carnivorous, possibly sapient algal blooms choke out vast swathes of the sea. Fast-acting flesh eating bacteria dwelling within the geothermal hot springs as well as the lakes and rivers will eat flesh from bone within hours of exposure. The brain-parasites will take root within the host’s brain, slowly spreading throughout until they are fully controlled, directed to take up positions of high elevation, or near ventilation, where the spores crack open the skull and are released to infect new victims. Lung-weed - a parasitic plant that attaches in the respiratory tissue when inhaled, then beginning to secrete enzymes that break the host tissue into an easily digestible material for the planet, consuming the host from within before spreading its tendrils and bursting out through the skin to releasing new spores. It is, possibly, one of the most horrific and yet also most beautiful ways to die upon New Ishtar - should you wish to appear covered in a dazzling array of colorful flowers.

You heard of the screaming trees, the Mycelium Gestalt? How? No. I will not speak of these things.

Planet-Surface Imagery:

History: NOT FOR PUBLIC BROADCAST:

_{Someone get this thing cleaned up and sanitized. We need to tell some version of the truth…but if we share all of this? Fuck no. And purge those logs, already.}

"Welcome aboard the Generation Ship Ishtar. The envy of the world - exclusive to members of the Iwasaki Group. We hope you enjoy your stay in the lap of luxury as we ferry you safely from the demise of our Mother Earth to the great stars beyond! This short instructional video will detail everything you need to know about staying safe in space as you help keep our Board members and our Shareholders alive on our voyage to our new home, among the stars!"

_{-Beginning of a series of educational videos for the essential crew on board the Ishtar before the ship’s final launch.}

The history of we Ishtari, especially aboard the Generation Ship Ishtar, is an almost impossible web of intentional deceit, madness-spawned lunatic ravings, destruction of records, total anarchic violence in which nothing could be recorded, and stretches of inexplicable blankness for which no modern Ishtari scholar has yet offered a reasonable explanation. What follows is a rough recounting of events, in approximate chronological order, that lead to the founding of the Commonality of New Ishtar. Relevant archival files have been embedded for the edification of the reader.

The Ark Ishtar was created by Iwasaki Group, a large Japanese superconglomerate upon old earth. With extensive operations all over the world, the bulk of the Ark’s crew came from Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Germany, Peru, Brazil, the US east and west coasts, Russia, and Iran. Operating in numerous sectors, it was primarily active in in manufacturing (weapons, automotive, aerospace, robotics, cybernetics, maritime), biotechnology, cybernetic technology, engineering, mining, and private military activity. The corporation was amongst the world’s largest in both revenue and number of employees. With over twenty million employees worldwide it was regarded by many to be a small country in its own right under the supervision of the Japanese government, with its own army that rivalled that of numerous smaller nations, space program, and more.

- The ship launches with a full crew of over six million, staffed by the board and numerous lower workers, of a Japanese superconglomerate from earth. A supremely decadent affair, obsessed with the accrual of capital to no end.

- The ship travels through the gate on time.

- Something, what specifically it was remains unknown, goes wrong in-transit.

- Sensor readings indicate they are not within the gate, nor are they within the Sol system, their destination system, or even intergalactic space. They are nowhere.

- Tensions begin to rise within the ship due to the inexplicable catastrophe.

- They begin to see things in the corner of their eyes. The exact nature of these things has been long since redacted. W҉͓̗͚e͓ ̗̲̹w̲e͓͈̞r͕͈̦͘é̞̣͙̯̝̯̻ w͠e͍̳͈̫͔͈͍a͚͔̮͔̦k̤̜̤̮͖̙͘.͎̲̯̹̰ ̦̹̲̱W̠̝͇̻e̸̫͇̦ ͈͚̮͖ͅf̵l̸̬̣͕̤̯̳e̫̲͕̭̼̗d͈̲̳̹͢ ̰̳̝͟ͅf̡r͚̥͡ͅo̢̺̤̬m͔̮̳͉̠͇͝ ̹t̝̲͖͓̥̖͢h̘͞e͎͙̭ ͏͓̞̦͇̪̹ͅṰ̥̠̥͙̭͙r̰u͏̞̺̜̮͇̦̖t̡̖̥̬ͅh̬̟͓̘͓͇͜.̧

Archival Log #1 e͖̣̙̘̰r͇̰̫͈͇̩͖roŕ̼.̞̠̯͍͝ ̛̮̟͎̳̣d̗̻̳͖͈͘a̸̼̥̫t͕͇̗̕a̟̬̘̰̣̝ͅ ̼̤̟̭̳͖̜c͈or̻̫͉r̷u̟̞p̬͎̼̻͇̪t͍͈e͇͔̺̪d̡̮̹

- Suicide rates on-board begin to skyrocket as the crew are driven mad by the Revelations of Truth.

- A civil war breaks out driven by madness from the visions - the First Gene-Cull. The exact motivations, sides, and more are largely forgotten. Whether it was the ethnic tensions of the old world, or something induced by Truth, we will never know.

- Population begins to plummet from the casualties.

- Corporate command staff order cloning to keep population numbers up and ensure the functioning of the ship.

- The First Gene-Cull ends after 75% of the initial population wiped out.

- Centralized control of the ship is utterly lost as the surviving command crew are killed in a mutiny. The food supply becomes strained due to the emergence of the Hive Strain, Second Gene-Cull begins.

- A Gorgon Strain woman whose original name is lost to time and is remembered only as Tiamat, with extensive military experience and who later became a leading geneticist, diverges from the Gorgon Strain as the first known instance of the transmissible Tiamat Strain. Along with numerous subsequent infected Tiamat Strain and a host of what are revealed to be their biological children, she leads the Strain in seizing control of one of the ship’s manufacturing bays and turning it into an armory and weapons research laboratory.

Archival Log #2: Emergence of the Tiamat Strain
Log Begins…
73rd Quarter, East Wing, Backup Hydroponics Section
Marduk Operative Team Epsilon-6
Operative Park, Saem

Encounter with unrecognized Strain during routine decontamination operations. Subject is female, approximately 170cm in height, possessed of numerous bioluminescent growths across much of body. Subject is physically strong and incapacitated Operative Petrova, combined efforts of Operatives Park and Iwasaki required to restrain suspect for study.

Operative Petrova speaks with subject while recuperating. Claims Subject’s Strain self-refers as “Tiamat-Strain”. Operative Petrova reprimanded for enemy fraternization after further commentary indicates rapport between Subject and Operative Petrova.

Void forgive me for speaking the blasphemer’s name.

Subject executed on authority of Operative Park, after insulting the personage of Priestess Yuly'dzhea. Operative Petrova begins to display deviations from recognized Marduk Strain, similar to those of the "Tiamat Strain", termination of Operative Petrova ordered but unsuccessful. Hypothesis of transmisible mutagenic agent, suspected Void link as opposed to deliberate alteration. Further study req

Operative Park, Seojun was a silly little boy who left himself and his friends wide open. Operative Park rejected the gift, killed our sister in arms and followed the abomination. Operative Park spurned what could have been his. Silly little boy. He will nurture a new generation. All will serve, in life or death.

- With the emergence of the Tiamat Strain and Hive Strain, despite enormous losses by each, the estimated population swells to almost twenty million - well over the six million strong intended crew.

- The inhabitants of the ship devolve into cannibalism out of desperation, and other depraved acts spurred by the horrible revelations of the void are carried out en-masse. Population is halved once again.

- The cryosleep technicians were killed in the first Gene-Cull, and the technology considered lost. It is rediscovered by Tiamat Strain scientists, and the cryofrozen executive board and shareholders are awoken and rendered into raw Biomatter after they attempt to order the destruction of the Tiamat and Gorgon Strains.

- The Gorgon Strain are nearly overrun. Their synthetic “Marduk Strain” soldiery are insufficient to stem the tide. Casualties matter not to the Hive Strain. The Marduk Strain are eliminated, the Gorgon Strain are threatened within joining the nearly two-thirds of all Strains to have ever existed in being eliminated by the Hive Strain. Only a begruding alliance with Tiamat and her Strain prevents their annihilation.

- The Gene-Cull continues, the Hive Strain nearly overruns the Ark until the united Tiamat and Gorgon Strains succeeds in gathering sufficient Biomatter to create a massive army and seemingly wipe out the hive strain, ending the second Gene-Cull. The full maturation of the Tiamat Strain plays a major role in the tipping the balance owing to their potent sensory organs allowing them to sense the influence of the void better than most other Strains, and their rapid reproduction allowing them to produce a near endless stream of soldiery.

- The food crisis continues to loom, the populace is modified to become chemoautotrophic to feed on chemical reserves, crysostasis is then rediscovered by biologists of the Tiamat Strain.

- Tiamat begins the creation of the Azazel Strain to enable the enforcement of order over the chaos of the Ark. Ideal specimens of the Tiamat Strain are altered in much the same way she herself has changed over time, fighting the Hive Strain. Through combining aspects of the Tiamat Strain, her own DNA, and the Gorgon Strain, she creates an ideal hybrid of the three and gives rise to the Azazel Strain. Able to reproduce and infect in much the same way as the Tiamat Strain, they become her shock troops and commanders to supplement the Tiamat Strain. Tiamat continues tinker with her own genome and those of allied Strains, creating many of the alterations that remain with we Ishtari to this day such as the armored organ sac.

- Biologists of the Tiamat Strain introduce the first version of what will become known as “The Net” - all Tiamat Strain, Azazel Strain, and Gorgon Strain are modified for compatibility with this creation, an internet formed from a hybrid of biological and electronic components. Many other strains quickly adapt it as well, however an unknown surviving offshoot of the Hive Strain adopts the technology and begins to rebuild the Hivemind, sparking the Third Gene-Cull.

- The “Net” nearly proves the undoing of the Tiamat Strain before its vulnerabilities are patched and resolved. The Hive Strain, infiltrating its connections, destroys Tiamat’s command structure in a matter of days, subjugating vast swathes of the Ark’s available biomatter.

- Those surviving the purge retreat to fortified sections of the Ark and prepare for a final stand. For another decade, they wage a losing war of attrition while Tiamat and her scions exist within the screaming hive matrix, fighting to maintain a semblance of identity.

- The Hive Strain is temporarily disrupted by the failure of a biomatter reprocessing unit, diverting Hivemind processing power away from the sections of the Ark housing Tiamat and the majority of her former command. Through a Herculean effort they are able to alter the material of the Hive Strain to force the creation of simulacra of autonomous bodies, seizing control of body-printing facilities and recreating from memory the former forms of Tiamat, Gorgon, and Azazel Strain, as well as Tiamat’s own unique form.

- This signals a reversal of fortunes for the Hive Strain. Tiamat accesses stored reserves of neuroviral delivery weaponry and devastates large swathes of the Hive Strain, rendering its biomatter into nutrient medium to create new Tiamat, Gorgon, and Azazel Strain. Tiamat leads from the front, having developed an early form of the Rejuvenation Chamber enabling her to recreate herself after death.

- Tiamat leads a strike team into the heart of Hive Strain controlled parts of the ship, and confronts the central brain with a hardened cadre of survivors of her team. Escaping another death by a hair’s breadth, she destroys the central brain and enables the delivery of a neurovirus through the synapse-link to all connected Hive Strain, destroying all connected neural tissue and allowing their Biomatter to be successfully processed. A period of mourning is held for the estimated thirty million minds destroyed in the process.

- An unprecedented era of peace emerges aboard the Ark for a time.

- Archival footage is discovered, showing the extent of mutation of the humans aboard the Ishtar from those humans that boarded the vessel approximately four hundred years prior. This sparks a massive uproar, as the effects of not only genetic modification but the influence of
The Void is now finally made clear.

Archival Log #3 e҉̱̱r̡̤r͖͈͚̗o̭̬̥r̀.̤̘̳̦͓̬̟ ̟͕̥̣d̝̠̞a̷̲͉͖̬̹̯̻ta̶̞̘̱̻ ̡͇c̟̪̠ọ̼͎̮͓̹r͏̺̖̭̟̲͇r̶͕̬͖̱u̢͇p̤̮͡t̻̥̩̭̠e̬̥̪̺̳͓d̸͔͍͔̺

- An attempt is made by Primary Strains unconnected to the Net to kill Tiamat via a neurovirus, as she is seen as the focal point of this divergence and by far the most affected by whatever mutagen afflicts the population alongside the terrible visions, sparking the Fourth Gene-Cull.

- The majority of records have been expunged. All unallied Strains are destroyed, all in cryostasis are thawed and given the choice and connected or destroyed, leaving the current extant Strains the only survivors. Developments in cryostasis lead to the liquidation of all nonessential Biomatter and the transfer of their consciousnesses to the net. The first true Rejuvenation Chamber is developed, genetic modification reaches new heights alongside advances in weapons technology from constant warfare.

- The visions from the Void intensify further, and a cult is formed around them, known as the Followers of She Who Advises, a counter-cult forms soon after contrasting visions from the void. Visions of something Ｂｅａｕｔｉｆｕｌ.

- The Fifth Gene-Cull begins. There is little order or sense to it, and it devolves into a mad orgiastic frenzy of violence, the unity of Tiamat’s hegemony fractured by the terrible nightmarish images they are afflicted with. The Terrible Truth of the horrific things they see destroying the minds of over two hundred thousand, who are euthanized and rendered into Biomatter. We were foolish. We were ＷＥＡＫ and could not - ＷＯＵＬＤ　ＮＯＴ understand the Terrible Truth bestowed upon us.

Archival Log #4
Upon the altar, we light the incense of our innocence
e҉̱̱r̡̤r͖͈͚̗o̭̬̥r̀.̤̘̳̦͓̬̟ ̟͕̥̣d̝̠̞a̷̲͉͖̬̹̯̻ta̶̞̘̱̻ ̡͇c̟̪̠ọ̼͎̮͓̹r͏̺̖̭̟̲͇r̶͕̬͖̱u̢͇p̤̮͡t̻̥̩̭̠e̬̥̪̺̳͓d̸͔͍͔̺

- Unity is finally restored not by Tiamat’s force of arms, but by a Gorgon Strain by the name of Jadisin, Shielder of Her Flock From Darkness, blinded by her own hand to free herself from the nightmarish imagery haunting her vision, she forms the now-predominant Faith of The Light. Rejecting the void. Embracing the light at the center of creation. Ｉｎ　ｏｕｒ　ＣＯＷＡＲＤＩＣＥ　ｗｅ　ｆｌｅｄ　ｆｒｏｍ　ｔｈｅ　Ｔｒｕｔｈ． She speaks of her visions. Unlike the visions of the Terrible Truth, these are not horrifying. She gazes upon no B͍̺̤ͅl̢̯͚̺̟̹a͈c̦̣͈͖k̫͈͍̞̻͖͡ ͉̝̙̝̱̝͎V̠̻̝̺̩i͖̱s̛͔͚͉̞̘͇̦t̩͚̺̳̺̖͢a̭̮ṣ̶̻͉̬ ̞̯̤͖o̻̠̰̮f̫͟ ̭̪t̕h̝̼̭͖͖͎e ͇̞̥̙̱̯͝U͔̱͠n̙̰͈͎͔̘̦̕e̶͕̦̠̲̳ͅndḭ̝̩̩n͙̱̬̖g̢̝͉̦̤̩͎ ͙V̝̝̮̱̰̦͘o͖̞i̵͓͇̥ͅd̘͈̗̰͎̫͢, nor does she witness the W̘͉̬̝̜e̥̪̣͇̜b̸̘͚ ̴̥̜̖̼̭̖o̡̱̖͖̖̜ͅf̻͕̥͚ ̡̱̯̲D̫̟͔̯̬̠e̟̮͎c͎̯͇̜͈̖ę̦ͅi̙t̢ ̺͔̙a̻̥ͅn̸͓ḓ̛̳̩̼͈ ͇̣o̴͎̟f̘̬̝̜͎̹ ͏͉̳̲̻̹̻L̨̜̻̖̣i̻e̶̺s̀. She sees… something beautiful. Something so beautiful she cannot put it into proper words. It is described only as “Heaven”, for she cannot Ｕｎｄｅｒｓｔａｎｄ. She brought us to the Ｇｏｏｄ　Ｔｒｕｔｈ. The Light-Seer told us it loved us. It welcomed us. It would shield us from the Dark. We begin to see Heaven. And it is beautiful. Many begin to blind themselves and follow her.

- The Fifth Gene-Cull comes to a close, with the final woman to be blinded before the outlawing of the practice - a Tiamat Strain who had aspirations of artistry and had feared what cybernetic eyes might do to this - seeing a final vision from the Void. Through hands dripping with a mixture of blood and tears she recounts her visions to those around her, including the Light-Seer. A world for us to settle upon. Home.

- Almost as inexplicably as its entrance into the Void, the waveform collapses and the Ark is spat back out into realspace. Panicked observations indicate that no time has passed at all in real-time, despite an estimated ~583 years having elapsed aboard the vessel trapped within the grasp of The Void.

Archival Log #5 e҉̱̱r̡̤r͖͈͚̗o̭̬̥r̀.̤̘̳̦͓̬̟ ̟͕̥̣d̝̠̞a̷̲͉͖̬̹̯̻ta̶̞̘̱̻ ̡͇c̟̪̠ọ̼͎̮͓̹r͏̺̖̭̟̲͇r̶͕̬͖̱u̢͇p̤̮͡t̻̥̩̭̠e̬̥̪̺̳͓d̸͔͍͔̺

- They realize they are within a solar system. Scans indicate that there is a super-earth within the habitable zone of the planet’s G-type main-sequence star, and further scans indicate it to exactly match the description of the world given by the Last To Be Freed.

- Exploration teams are dispatched to New Ishtar, heavily armed, to evaluate it. Only three of their number return, badly wounded, one dying of an unknown toxin from a suit breach. What has become of the others? The dying woman is preserved only by Rejuvenation. She is amazed to be alive and gives her harrowing report of the surface.

Archival Log #6 e҉̱̱r̡̤r͖͈͚̗o̭̬̥r̀.̤̘̳̦͓̬̟ ̟͕̥̣d̝̠̞a̷̲͉͖̬̹̯̻ta̶̞̘̱̻ ̡͇c̟̪̠ọ̼͎̮͓̹r͏̺̖̭̟̲͇r̶͕̬͖̱u̢͇p̤̮͡t̻̥̩̭̠e̬̥̪̺̳͓d̸͔͍͔̺

- The ship is beginning to run low on vital supplies, and a landing is imminently required. Emergency preparations are undertaken and enviro-suits are manufactured en-masse.

- We weep.

- We Ishtari begin one of our greatest shames. The Great Xenocide. A sapient native species of the world we call New Ishtar had evolved upon it, despite the planet’s hostility, achieving a not-insignificant level of technological development. They are hostile, almost immediately, and translated phrases refer chillingly to The Terrible Truth. In our fear, we did not consider that we might have mistranslated, or misunderstood. A Deviant Strain threatened us with war. We had been among our own for so long, we knew no other recourse but extermination.

- Three decades of brutal slaughter commence. Many of us die. The Rejuvenation Chambers save many more, allowing them to live on Reincarnated after death, or be Rejuvenated from lethal injury. The redundant brain is developed to preserve our consciousness even in physical-death in concert with the life-support systems of our armor.

- The first true Synapse-Node is created. Establishing a non-physical biolink to the brains of all Ishtari. It is at this point we begin to call ourselves the Perfected. The Synapse-Node network explodes overnight, and with it the Ishtari net truly begins to reach its current height.

- The Great Xenocide comes to a final climactic close. Spurred by the losing position of their forces, the Enemy amasses all naval ordnance they can, and commence a large scale orbital bombardment of the planet concurrent with the unleashing of nuclear and antimatter weapons stockpiles. Large swathes of the planet are levelled, most of the Enemy cities and populace die. Millions. Hundreds of millions of we Perfected die. Miraculously, we are able to survive. We defeat them in orbit. We shoot down many missiles. At last, relative silence falls upon us. Sporadic fighting continues in the outskirts. Those of the native species, whose name, appearance, and everything about them have long been forgotten, are subjected to the process of Perfection against their wills. Their minds are Alien to Us. But we mould them. We shape them. We make them compatible with Us until They are We. We strip them of their minds. Their memories. Their Divergence. We assimilate their Biomatter into our own reserves, and their now Perfected minds, wiped clean of Deviant Thought become Us. They still exist among us today, part of Us. Some claim they are a Strain of their own, some claim their minds are distributed throughout each Strain. We do not know.

- Slowly, the planet becomes Ours. We bend it to Our will. We make it Our own. We adapt to it. No longer do we need fear the brain-parasites or the infectious flies or the toxic waters. We become immune to the lung-weed that felled so many of Us.

- The Hive Strain survived as well. It is contained to the remotest reaches of the world. It forms the screaming trees and the mycelium gestalt. The razorgrass is cut away from civilization, confined to wilderness We have not yet claimed. The thanabirds are culled and their attacks become infrequent.

- We turn inward, seeking further Perfection. We have no scarcity, now. The planet provides for us.

- Why must we suffer from age? From disease? From Imperfection? Why must we fade away like the petals of a flower when we could remain beautiful forever?

- The Rejuvenation Chambers. They hold the key.

- We will become Perfect. Forever. Through the Rejuvenation Chambers we may all achieve Immortality. Some resist. But they are made to Understand.

- There is no hierarchy. We are all Perfect. What can there be beyond such? We are Equal. We are Perfect. We are Beautiful. We are Immortal. We are Unending. We are many. Tiamat knows this. Tiamat and her Azazel Strain relinquish power, and our civilization flourishes for a century and a half to come.

- We have been touched by That Beyond. We stared into the Terrible Truth and could not embrace it. We are sheltered by the Good Truth. We are whole. We are humanity. We are Perfect. We hope other humanity has survived. That they have not suffered as we have. We are not optimistic. Ours was a generation ship. Theirs were not. We fear we are all that remains of humanity. All that is left. A single speck of ash. Four billion souls wearing faces that once were human, but have Fallen. The last fleeting remnant of humanity. Failures. We have tried. We have tried so hard. We are proud of what we have created, and yet…

- The Gate.

- The Gate Opens…

- We pray we are not alone.

Culture and Society:
Ishtari culture and society is a beautiful interwoven tapestry of the different groups that made up the crew of the generation ship that ferried us to our home. It is, as a result of our experiences aboard the generation ship, an intensely, fiercely communal and egalitarian society. All who threaten us will be defeated. It is only by banding together, by sharing with each other, by abolishing unnecessary hierarchies and other things that separated us that we have achieved such heights today. We are all Perfect. None is superior to another. We have no concept of ‘money’ - as you have termed it. Food, shelter, water, electricity, all the base necessities are given freely, without cost. We live in plenty, for we share without compunction or compulsion amongst ourselves.

How we are made? What a strange question. It varies, Strain by Strain. The Tiamat and Gorgon Strains are most frequently born from “egg”-like things. The Sanguine Strain still primarily reproduce via pregnancy. The Homonculus Strain… frankly we are not sure, and they will not speak of it. We are raised by the whole, by everyone. We know much from the moment we can speak. We follow those paths that most appeal to us. We train in combat, when we do not follow these paths. We grow until we reach the age of twenty one years - or approximately twenty eight and a half years, using the orbit of earth about sol as a metric. It is then we undergo our first Rejuvenation. Our bodies are… digested. Our minds are slowly transferred, one neuron at a time, to the neural net wherein they remain until our bodies have been reconstructed according to our individual design. We are then transferred back to a young, refreshed body constructed anew. Through this we have achieved near-immortality. We do not age. We do not suffer from genetic disease. We do not know sickness, or hunger. Death is an aberration. A tragedy.

What is death, you ask? Death is a discontinuity of self. Those whose brains are destroyed, and with them their consciousnesses, before they can be transferred to the Synapse Network may be restored from backups - but they are not the same person. Should this tragic event occur - if the consciousness cannot be preserved - our fallen kin will be mourned and a replicant of her last mind-backup will be implanted into her reconstituted body with her Rejuvenation number reset to 1. They are Reincarnated. Brought into life anew. Some day, heaven willing, when they too have passed on should they remain in harmony with that life of theirs that came before they will coalesce into one. The young do not understand this. They throw themselves as lambs to slaughter, abusing our gifts. Many of them have died many times and yet still they continue.

Computer conscience? You have many questions. I will answer. Transference of self to a digital form is, in our view, akin to simultaneous birth and death. A bittersweet combination of the tragedy of death and the joy of new life. One consciousness dies, whilst the other is born anew with the thoughts of the past. That digital consciousness will make an imprint upon the universe, just as any biological life. A soul, if you will. When that digital instance, too, has finally died - should they remain in harmony, they will merge with their past and future lives.

Ah, you ask of our equivalent to digitized conscience? They are not truly alike, of course. The mind remains biological. Our computers are partly biological, and partly electronic. Some of us choose to transfer our minds to the biological portion of these computers, residing in and controlling the local net, some times with other transferred minds. I- I’m sorry? Well… if you were to upload a computer virus that would damage it we would consider it murder, yes. A very grisly one, at that. Why would you even suggest such a thing? We respect your customs, even if we do not understand them. Why do you make light of ours so?

We speak a language that is a fusion of many old earthen languages. Japanese, Korean, English, Spanish, Portuguese, Mandarin, German, Russian, Persian, and more. The ship’s crew was primarily composed of peoples speaking these languages in the Old Earth corporate culture. During our nine century history, these languages have merged to form a new language. We retain knowledge of numerous other old earth languages, should the opportunity or need arise for their use - such as with you.

The year is divided into 59 8 day long weeks, with a final week on the new year lasting a full 25 days formed from the remaining days in the year. These extra days are used for an enormous public holiday celebrated almost universally by we Ishtari. The ‘net’ is frequently described to be a psychedelic light show with little else to compare it to during this time. A vast play is performed both in realspace and in the net depicting a stylized, and sanitized, version of the Ishtar’s perilous voyage to its present place. The New Year is officially commemorated as the anniversary of the touchdown of the first colonists upon the planet, and takes place in the midst of the planetary autumn. A wide variety of food and drink is prepared and shared amongst friends and partners, and many take part in the 17 day long play in their own small way, or host their own, simplified, version. The Ceremony of the Weeping Hands is the final keystone of the event, commemorating an allegedly fictional myth of the final Ishtari to be blinded glimpsing the planet just before losing her biological eyes, and directing we Ishtari to settle upon the world when we had returned to realspace. It is so named for the tears she is said to have wept, mingled with blood from her gouged sockets, that flowed between her fingers as she spoke of the sight to those around her. A bright red beverage is prepared to ritualistically imitate her blood, traditionally flavored with the fireberries of the Satur’i Basin. A quiet moment of contemplation, severed from the buzz of four billion voices for a full minute, is then undertaken before the gradual close of festivities and return to normal life.

Recreation? Why, we have a wide variety of such! The net contains… nearly anything you can possibly imagine, in fact. Videogames - yes we have those. There are too many things to describe. Truly. We have many activities outside of it, yes! Battle reenactment is one we are fond of! As is battle simulation. Every Ishtari is a soldier - even if not all of us become full time military like our Sister-Soldiers. Each of us drill and train once a year. And there can be joy in the clash of arms! We do not die, after all. What have we to fear of bullets and swords when we may be Rejuvenated from any injury? I myself have partaken in no fewer than two dozen such battles, and veterans of the wars tell us they are very realistic. Except, well - the dead and wounded are made whole again after these, and then a meal is shared by all. We enjoy swordplay as well! All children are educated in it during their upbringing, and its basics are imprinted in us even before this through our genetic knowledge. We duel each other with swords frequently. For the sheer joy of battle, and feeling blood flow between our fingers, or to settle disagreements. Duels are fought until incapacitation, at which point both contestants are Rejuvenated. It is customary for the loser of a friendly duel to provide a meal to the winner - and vice versa for those duels used to settle disagreements.

Most of our recreation, however, is focused on our net. It is unfortunately difficult to access for non-Ishtari, or at least those who have not received a neuroport implant. The sheer array of options is difficult to describe in short - they range from experiencing fictional stories and adventures as if through one’s own eyes to massive collaborative ‘living worlds’ formed from the imaginations of all involved, to elaborate reconstructions of historical events both of Old Earth and of our own history, and more.

Food

Family and friends

---

Governance and Politics:
Direct democracy is your term for it, I believe. Facilitated by our net. It is how we come together as one to debate and decide on courses of action. Those with expertise on certain matters are highly respected, and careful consideration given to their advice. We are equal, however. No individual is worth more than another. No individual is worth less. We are all cared for equally. We know no scarcity, for there are no overlords to hoard for themselves. Thanks to our technology, we can reach a consensus in moments on truly pressing topics - and even more complex matters may take a week at most of deliberation. Information flows freely among us.

Leaders? We have none. None that you might truly call a “leader”. We are a state without true hierarchy. Certainly there are those among us who command more respect, whose expertise is deferred to - but we make decisions as a whole. The only time we may choose leaders is our military - for those with great skill at war will prevent unnecessary bloodshed. Ultimately, however, our strength lies within us.

Our economy is similarly structured. Though most sectors are dominated by a single entity formed of a collective ownership of its material and resources, these entities are universally shared by those working in them. They are, curiously, not dissimilar to the zaibatsu of old earth Japan, but owned by those working in them rather than a small group of individuals. Our economy is a post-scarcity one, where each is provided what is needed without need for compensation or labor thanks to advanced automation owned by all for the public good. Each Ishtari pursues their own individual goals and aspirations.

Technology Overview:
We Ishtari are a technological powerhouse. Centuries of warfare have ensured our weapons technology is fearsome. Centuries of genetic modification have gifted us mastery of life. The natural resources of New Ishtar, too, provide us with many wondrous materials to use.

• Genetic manipulation: We Perfected ought serve as an apt demonstration in our own right of the power of Ishtari genetic engineering.
• Biological computing: Our computers! They are very different to yours, yes! They are partly digital, yes. Explaining every detail of the difference between our hybrid computers against pure digital ones would take too much time. Please, forgive me for this - I will provide an overview instead. There are operations for which a computer chip is far and away superior to any neural structure - raw number calculations, for instance. However, as you are doubtless aware, there is no shortage of advantages in other situations for the neural network. Thus, our computers combine the strength of both. We do not have true ‘operating systems’ for our computers. Rather, in our advanced scientific and military computers, the mind-transferred brains of highly specialized and knowledgeable Perfected control the operation of the machines, residing within the net when they are not busy working. Personal devices? They are controlled through our neural ports, and connect to the net, serving merely as number crunching and data storage units.
• Mind-transference: Why it is nothing less than the transference of the biological brain, and the continued consciousness, of a Perfected via the neuro-link to the net! We can exist anywhere the net does, and transfer ourselves back to our Perfected forms in any new location.
• Neuro-link: These are hybrid biological-electronic devices of great complexity and sophistication. These allow us to transfer our minds to the net, to interact with it in a full-body format as if it is a fully physical space. The neuro-link is connected via specially designed ‘sockets’ on the napes of our necks and the bases of our spines.
• The net: We Ishtari are connected to each other through our net. It is a glorious thing - a world-spanning hybrid biological and technological distributed neural network, with major hubs and nodes coalescing in urban centers. Connection to this network is primarily done via the direct neural links at the base of our spines and napes of our necks. It is the same neural link as that used in the process of the Preservation of Continuous Thought during the Transubstantiation Synthesis phase of Rejuvenation. It can be most likened to a form of “full body VR”, simulated using the collective imaginations in real time of all of its connected users. The net serves not only as a forum for the over four billion people of New Ishtar to come to a consensus, but as one of the chief pastimes and means of communication for the people. It is like your internet - constructed of equal parts computer chips and biological material. Equal parts code and pure human imagination made manifest within cyberspace.
• Synapse Nodes: A wondrous development - enabling non-physical establishment of a neurolink feed to those within its range. Should we be shot dead in the street - our consciousness will be transferred from the secondary brain to the synapse node and we will be Rejuvenated.
• Nuclear atmospheric propulsion: The gravitational acceleration of New Ishtar is 1.543g, or 15.137 m/s². This, naturally, increases the difficulty of flight. The atmosphere of New Ishtar is, however, likewise far more dense. We Ishtari have resolved the problem of heavier than air flight via the development of the nuclear jet engine. Officially termed the Nuclear Induced Jet Propulsion System, it is enabled by Ishtari developments in materials and nuclear technology enabling the successful safe use of miniaturized thorium fission reactors aboard aircraft, with thrust generated by the venting of heat from the reaction process. The ‘nukejet’ as it has been dubbed by some has shown remarkable success over the years, and is widely used in all aspects of Ishtari air travel.
• Automation: Even since the days of our entrapment aboard the generation ship, we Ishtari have utilized a high degree of automation for our manufacturing. While, as mentioned before, our computers are notably different from your own - that has not stopped us from developing autonomous systems for the manufacturing of an immense variety of items. We have likewise extended this technology to our agriculture, freeing up most Ishtari to pursue their individual passions and to train further military excellence, rather than to work in the fields and factories.
• Ishtari ironwood: A wondrous material indigenous to New Ishtar. It is somewhat analogous to bamboo of old earth - a hollow, woody plant that grows at a rapid rate in a wide variety of climates. Its properties are truly remarkable, and it has come to be used in many aspects of Ishtari society. It is stronger, lighter, and easier to mass produce than synthetic polymers owing to the curious array of naturally occurring nanostructures within it, enabling it to reach dizzying heights despite the high gravity of New Ishtar. It is the favored material for applications ranging from the stocks and other furniture of our weapons to chairs and domestic furniture to even certain building materials. Though vulnerable to decay this can be rectified with minimal impact to its desirable properties through a chemical treatment developed in the early decades of our settlement on new Ishtar.
• Neuroviruses: An aggressive, virulent genetically engineered nanovirus utilized as a weapon against organic nervous systems. It requires immense fine tuning to affect its specific target and no other, but when unleashed its results can be utterly devastating. To those foes of ours like the Resurgent Hive Strain or the Mycelium Gestalt, the Neurovirus is a potent, indispensable tool that rapidly liquefies infected nervous tissue, allowing the Biomatter of the organism to be safely harvested.
• Cloning: [REDACTED]
• Cybernetics: We Ishtari make extensive use of cybernetic augmentation. What, you thought we might shun such, with our skill at biotechnology? Hah! My eyes are cybernetic. My hands are cybernetic. Cybernetic technology is ubiquitous among us. We may not need cybernetic limbs to replace an amputation - but we certainly make use of such for those who require strength beyond that of even our enhanced physiology. Many of us sport digital data ports as well as our neuro-ports for direct interface with less-biological tech.
• Small arms technology: Ishtari weapons technology is highly advanced from centuries of constant warfare. Rest assured, our rifles will kill as quickly and efficiently as your own.
• Power-armor: Some weapons systems are too heavy to use effectively even with cybernetics. Some environments are deadly enough to require extra protection - but a tank might not be feasible. Power armor is the solution. Impervious to small arms fire, capable of carrying weapons that might otherwise be crew served or fixed in place, withstanding environments hazardous even to we Ishtari, and more. Power armor - or at least, a variation of it - has found a use outside of the military as well in domestic applications.
• Rejuvenation Chambers: Our pride and joy. The technology that creates us anew every year. Our path to immortality.
• The Commonality is advanced in numerous other fields not explicitly mentioned here. Their lack of explicit mention does not inherently imply a lack of sophistication.

Military Overview:

Army

The army of New Ishtar, or more formally, The Unified Planetary Armed Forces, includes those elements of its military designed to operate below low orbit. Covering operations on land, sea, and in the air, it is a diverse and formidable fighting force kept honed despite the long period of peace Ishtar has enjoyed via simulated combat exercises utilizing advanced technology.

The key distinguishing feature of the Ishtari military is its near limitless supply of personnel. In peacetime, each soldier of the army is an individual volunteer from the main population. In wartime, these volunteers willingly undergo personality modification to become ideal soldiery before being duplicated in a process similar to cloning. Importantly, dead personnel can be recovered and reconstituted into living soldiery, and even specimens in advanced states of decay can be added to reconstitution pools with some additional effort. This one single feature alters the entire formula for the creation of an army. Personnel casualties can be recuperated near endlessly as long as sufficient biomass is available, and it becomes the loss of materiel that is of gravest concern. Accordingly, Ishtari strategy and tactics are altered to account for this advantage.

As such, heavy infantry form the backbone and by far the largest portion of the Ishtari army. Infantry, augmented by power armored units and supported by infantry fighting vehicles, close air support, artillery, and heavy weapons teams, forms the tip and the body of nearly any operation, defensive or offensive. While combined arms are adhered to as closely as in any other nation’s fighting forces, the Ishtari military emphasizes the role of its infantry to an extent unlike those of other nations. Infantry casualties do not matter in the least from a strategic standpoint, as long as the materiel used by those infantry is preserved or expended in a cost efficient manner.

For instance, the army has no concept of a “main battle tank”, but rather employs numerous smaller and more lightly armored vehicles tasked with the elimination of enemy armor or autonomous raiding operations. Infantry assaults are supported and transported by armored vehicles of their own, shielding the infantry from small arms or shrapnel until they have reached the actual field of battle and acting in a supporting role to destroy hardpoints, enemy armor, or to simply carry to the field weapons infantry teams cannot carry themselves.

Ishtari small and medium sized unit commanders are granted extensive tactical and operational flexibility to issue orders in response to the actual situation on the ground as they see fit.

An Ishtari infantry squad is made up of between four to ten soldiers and contains, depending on its size, one or two E60 GPMGs, some times carried by a power armored soldier for greater mobility and ease of use. A squad in an active hot zone is directly supported by their IFV as well as nearby ground attack aircraft. In the assault, airborne infantry followed up by mechanized infantry form the first element of the attack, securing footholds and destabilizing the enemy and allowing for motorized, less armored infantry to be safely brought up to continue to press the attack on a disoriented foe.The army additionally makes extensive use of infiltration tactics by light infantry to disrupt enemy formations, logistics, and so enable later infantry assault.

The air forces of New Ishtar are primarily split between air superiority utilizing ultra high speed fighter craft to quickly establish local air superiority and allow for the unmolested operation of more heavily armed and armored VTOL capable ground-attack aircraft.

Ground Equipment of the Commonality of New Ishtar:

New Ishtar still primarily uses chemical propellant based projectile weapons as the primary armament of their infantry. Infantry-portable railguns, while recently developed, lack the reliability, ruggedness, and comparative ease of maintenance and supply of their chemical counterparts without offering a sufficient increase in lethality. Most weapons use furniture constructed of chemically treated Ishtari ironwood which is then coated in a durable ceramic coating to prevent damage.

Melee Weapons:
Close combat is tightly ingrained within Ishtari society. This extends to their military thinking, as well. Ishtari soldiers will not shy away from killing their enemies in melee combat as well as ranged.

Combat sword: An inward curving, strongly constructed sword carried by many Ishtari soldiers in place of or in addition to the standard karambit. Sharp, durable, and intimately familiar to every single Ishtari from their childhood training.

Breaching axe: Equal parts weapon and tool, breaching axes are nearly ubiquitous for their sheer utility and widely favored among both the army and marines stationed aboard starships. Equally useful for prying, chopping, and maiming.


Cybernetic Combat Blades: Known by many nicknames amongst the Ishtari populace, including “the living blender”, the CCBs were designed with the dual goals of extreme lethality and extreme concealment. Capable of being stored within a standard cybernetic arm, the blades are constructed of a high strength, low weight alloy core and diamond-hard nanomaterial cutting edges. Attached to the powerful synthetic muscle tissue of the cybernetic arm, the blades are capable of shearing through standard hard body armor with repeated slashes.

Ranged Weapons:

NLSAR E74 - Neuro Linked Smart Assault Rifle, Edition 47: The bread and butter of the Ishtari infantry. Firing caseless 10mm tracking rocket-assisted smart rounds similar to those used in the GPMG and other Ishtari weaponry from a 40 round magazine, the weapon is synced to the neurolink of its user enabling real time predictive firing solutions - the user sees where the projectile will go, and the projectile will adjust its course in-flight to make up for small variances in target location. Due to the guided and rocket assisted nature of these projectiles, they retain excellent kinetic energy even at medium and long engagement distances, enabling them to pierce significant amounts of enemy armor or deal tremendous damage on impact, depending on bullet type. The GFAR uses a continuous-recoil system that ensures the bolt assembly never impacts the rear of the weapon before cycling back to chamber a new round. The end result is a remarkably smooth recoil impulse, without the bouncing and vibration of a normal weapon, the recoil of the gun feels like a single continuous 'push' rather than a series of smaller impulses, making controlled fire significantly easier.

NLILMG E100 - Neuro Linked Infantry Light Machine Gun Edition 100, “buzzsaw”: A variant of the SAR E74, used as a squad automatic weapon, the ILMG E100 utilizes the exact same 10mm tracking ammunition as its smaller sibling. Featuring an extended, heavy duty barrel, the role of the E100 is for sustained automatic fire support on a squad level, without the bulk of the GPMG - useful for smaller units or lighter infantry operations. Firing from a belt feed, rather than a large magazine, a standard belt is 200 rounds, capable of being stored in the cylindrical 'drum' underneath the weapon to protect the ammunition from the elements. These belts are consumed in the firing process, leaving no need for extraction or ejection and enabling a higher cyclic rate of approximately 1200 rpm with the weapon's heavy duty barrel.


NLPIR E209 - Neuro Linked Precision and Interdiction Rifle, Edition 209: A dual purpose anti-material and long distance precision rifle connected, like every Ishtari weapon, to the neurolink of its user to offer predictive firing solutions. Utilizing similar guided rocket-assisted technology to the GFAR and GPMG, the weapon fires a massive 14.5mm projectile out to a maximum effective range of approximately 2800 meters.


NL-OH E33 - Neuro Linked Offensive Handgun, Edition 33: A large, heavy duty, powerful handgun commonly issued as a sidearm to shock troops, second-line units, or soldiers heading into close combat scenarios. The NL-OFH is also frequently carried by some soldiers who bring it as a personal weapon. The weapon uses similar rocket-assisting technology as the GPMG and SAR, in this case firing a 9mm armor piercing, high explosive projectile, not dissimilar to that used in the GPMG. The handgun impacts with enormous energy, and is capable of punching through surprisingly heavy amounts of armor - despite its relatively small size.


NL-EDNTD E43 - Neuro- Linked Electro-Discharge Neural Tissue Destroyer, Edition 43: Developed during the conflict for use against the [REDACTED] of the Mycelium Gestalt, originating from a design developed aboard the Ishtar itself for use against the Hive Strain. The weapon is connected to the power source of the user's power armor, and functions via the launch of high velocity disposable prongs into the target, down which an enormous current of electricity is dumped to destroy the target's neural systems.


NLGPMG-RPW E60 - Neuro Linked General Purpose Machine Gun - Rocket Propelled Warhead, Edition 60: The weapon New Ishtar refers to as its 'general purpose machine gun' is a weapon that has well earned its reputation. Loud. Heavy. Fast firing. Absolutely terrifying. It is more akin to an autocannon. Weighing in at approximately 25kg the weapon fires a 26mm rocket-propelled warhead at a muzzle velocity of approximately 332 m/s before its rocket propulsion engages. It sports an integrated neurolink slot for improved firing solutions when attached to the socket of the user, via power armor or through direct link. With this link, and the increased accuracy and hit probability, the weapon has a maximum effective range of approximately 3,500 meters in open terrain. After this, the rocket will self-detonate. There are three primary warheads used:

• APSC - Armor Piercing Shaped Charge: A shaped charge warhead using time-honored technology, on miniature scale. The APSC warhead boasts a maximum penetration of 160mm RHA and is intended for use in an anti-material role or against light armored targets such as enemy power armor or light vehicles.
• HEA - High Explosive Airburst: A fragmentation warhead equipped with a smart-fuse synced to the weapon's systems. Intended for use against unarmored infantry.
• APHE - Armor Piercing High Explosive: Intended for use against large, lightly armored targets. The warhead is designed to penetrate enemy armor or large amounts of flesh, and detonate inside the target, rupturing or destroying vital organs and blood vessels.

Armor

Sister-Soldier 3-7 Nayris Born From Ash Returns To Vanquish The Wicked clad in a modified form of the standard-issue Tactical Assault Armor formed from composite metallo-ceramic and graphene plating atop a polycarbaramid duraweave bodysuit with integrated temperature control, life support, and other auxiliary systems. The pictured armor is sans the mountings and armored plates intended to provide additional protection from small arms fire.


Sister-Soldier 2-13 Alyu Grasps The Sword In Hand And Strikes Down The Demons Before Her, outfitted in the standard-issue Heavy Tactical Assault Combat Exo-Suit. Generally, these are templates of more experienced individuals given the heavier power armor and training, plus neural uplink, to fire a squad’s massive 26mm GPMG from a standing position.


Arctic environment operations by after the crash landing of Dropship 37-2b during the third year of The Great Xenocide

Combat Vehicles

LA-34 ‘Unmanned’ Assault Tank: Equipped with a railgun firing a dart of dense metal at hypervelocity for destroying armored vehicles and hard targets, and a lower velocity cannon firing explosive projectiles, the LA-34 is much smaller, on average, than the manned tanks of other nations, the main chassis standing at 150cm in height and able to fully depress itself to the ground. Piloted by a single mind-transferred consciousness embedded deep within the tank and ensconced within a miniature armored sarcophagus, the tank is cheap to mass produce, cheap to replace, and presents a much smaller target than its peers. It is designed to operate both autonomously and in support of infantry and armored


MA-10 Saber Helicopter Gunship


SL-2 Iceaxe Multirole Jet Fighter


Ti-37 Infantry Fighting Vehicle

Navy

The Ishtari Navy, or Unified Extraplanetary Armed Forces, is a powerful navy, standing proud beside its peers. This is, of course, to be expected from a society as militaristic as the Ishtari - and having suffered the hardships they have. Constant vigilance against any threat from abroad is only natural. As such, the Navy is well supplied and highly modern, just as with the army.

The backbone of the Ishtari navy is its impressive fleet of well armed cruiser class vessels. Forming by far the bulk of Ishtari combat vessels, the fleet also employs early prototype stealth craft and a small number of larger, heavier armed and armored capital ships for use in larger scale operations and functioning as flagships for the navy’s various fleets. Standard doctrine dictates engagement at long ranges utilizing plasma warhead tipped guided torpedoes, augmented by powerful c-fractional railgun batteries at close ranges. An Ishtari fleet expects to defeat the enemy before they draw to “knife fighting” distances wherein directed energy or unguided sub-C munitions become viable. In turn the fleet operates a formidable bevy of point defense systems intended to intercept and neutralize incoming enemy projectiles well outside of the zone of danger to the ship and its occupants. Manned fighter craft are entirely unheard of within the navy, owing to the high cost and comparative inefficacy as compared to the relatively more affordable and more difficult to intercept guided torpedoes.

Strategically, the purpose behind the absence of large numbers of capital ships is purely one of cost efficiency. The standard Ishtari cruiser is larger than those of many other nations, designed for long term autonomous operation or cooperative activity during fleet actions. Each is bristling with weapons systems enabling them to punch well above their own weight class. The tradeoff however, is each cruiser is less durable than a larger ship of equivalent armament. The Ishtari command considers this an acceptable tradeoff when considering the comparative loss of material represented by the destruction of a cruiser versus a large capital ship. The loss of a cruiser is certainly not nothing - but the loss of a large battleship is inordinately more expensive and injurious not only to the war effort but to morale.

At extreme close ranges or for policing operations, each cruiser carries a complement of boarding torpedoes aboard their craft. Almost 40 meters in length, heavily armored, and extremely fast - they are launched from bow, stern, and broadside tubes against hostile enemy warships that draw close enough and are packed near to bursting with Ishtari marines in full vacuum combat gear, armed to the teeth and frequently spearheaded by power armored Gorgon Strain marines.

The Ishtari fleet is at its deadliest at ‘close quarters’ and long to extreme ranges, and at its weakest at medium range. Standard doctrine is, thus, if elimination at long range is not possible to close to short range as soon as possible where the Ishtari may use their advantages to the full extent.

Weaponized diseases: Another fearsome weapon in the technological arsenal of New Ishtar is a wide array of biological warfare agents. Dredged up from the deepest nightmares inflicted upon us by the void, these weapons are kept under tight lock and key in the same vein as nuclear weapons. They range from merely re-engineered smallpox to agents of such horrific ends that I dare not speak of them. Be thankful you will never need to see them. Be very thankful.
[REDACTED]
_{What moron decided we should broadcast that we have these things? Be glad I caught this.}

---

Additional Info:

Naming Conventions

Ishtari naming conventions seem complicated to outsiders, but are in fact rather simple. The individual’s current occupation comes first, as well as their gender, followed by the total number of ‘lives’ they have lived, followed by the number of current Rejuvenations undergone by the individual, followed by their given name, and a descriptive phrase or declaration that, over time, may change to suit the changing individual.

For those whose consciousnesses are not stored within physical bodies, we simply flip the prefix, with role going first, followed by gender, then the name as normal.

Example names follow:
Sister-Soldier 2-102 Nisrin Carries The Torch Unto The Darkest Abyss
Sister-Soldier 7-3 Asana Knows The Heavy Price Of Retribution
Sister-Sculptor 1-139 Geneva Weaves The Flesh Of Her Sisters For Their Worldly Joy
Sister-Commissar 4-134 Kalisis Scourges With Fire The Bones Of The Unclean
Sister-Scientist 1-154 Siris Illuminates The Path With The Torch Of Aeons
Sister-Soldier 2-183 Alyu Grasps The Sword In Hand And Strikes Down The Demons Before Her
Sister-Artist 1-9 Buran Paints With Dreams From Heaven
Sister-Soldier 2-7 Nayris Born From Ash Returns To Vanquish The Wicked
Ship-Sister 2-19 Akiko Dreams Of Living Among The Stars
Sister-Artist 3-18 Nayris Paints The Cosmic Winds
Sister-Engineer 2-36 Yayota Knows The Many Secrets Of Steel
Sister-Captain 9-17 Naysibis Forges Her Own Path With A Blade Of Flame

[Damo021]

Here is my WIP, mostly done, couple bits to finish and then some clean up :) been doing this around packing for my move so hope ya'll like it.

Federated Systems Alliance.

Nation Name:

Federated Systems Alliance.

Government Form:
_{federal Government.}

Demographics:

Midgarian.

The Midgarians are a humanoid simultaneous hermaphrodite species, they have an endoskeleton, lips, teeth which is similar to that of humans. They have two luminescent eyes with glowing irises, eyelids and tear ducts; this means the eyesight of a Midgarian is pretty standard during the daylight, they are able to see normally during extreme darkness or night. This 'night vision' does come at a cost, however, their focus on distant objects can be slower than that of a normal human as their pupils do not dilate. they also have five fingers, one of which is a thumb along with five toes on each foot, The Species reach approximately 5'6 to 5'10 on average and weighting 158 to 170lbs on average.

In appearance, however, the Midgarians are distinctly feminine, at least to other humanoid races. They have a slender feminine build with slight muscular tones and curves, their skin colour is slightly paler than human with a varying purple, blue or pale grey hue which is of a smooth leathery texture. Generally, Midgarians reach maturity around the age of 22 years old with a lifespan approximately 300 years, Midgarian facial structure and hair actually makes them close to humans in physical appearance. Their physical strength is similar to humans within their own natural gravity of their home world, however; Arinar's gravitational pull is many times greater than the planetary average., a Midgarian possess elevated strength and resilience in environments with an Earth-like or similar gravity, with some human's often joking they have super-strength, their skin iss very durable, resilient enough even to stop bullets from piercing vital organs.

Midgarian's have a complex endocrine system, having several more hormones and chemicals than humans. Although internally, Midgarian's have less glands than the human endocrine system, The Midgarian system produces a greater variety of hormones for each gland present. The most notable of these hormones is the calming chemical known as Relaxitin, which is released from the Midgarian equivalent of the adrenal glands when severely stressed. Relaxitin attaches to the areas of the brain that produces stress, causing the cells to calm and release dopamine, creating an effect similar to the effect of THC in humans.

Unlike most other organisms, The Midgarian's have a specialized desalination gland, located about 3 centimetres from the mouth, allowing them to drink both salt water and freshwater. When salt water is ingested, the gland produces several enzymes that remove the salt from the water. The removed salt molecules are then transported by the blood to the skin, where it is then released from the body, much like sweating in humans. While the species has a robust cellular regenerative system, they do not heal faster than other species. Midgarian blood also differs from most other species as it is a blueish purple colour, this is due to the trace amount of Cobalt in their blood instead of Iron.

As a simultaneous hermaphrodite species, as each individual possess both male and female reproductive organs with the latter being a similar internal reproductive biology to a female human. As a result, there are no gender differences, or gender-based issues which could be common to other cultures. Each individual has a smooth scalar prehensile tail hidden away in their body’s lower back, which acts as the male reproductive organ at the tip. This tail on average is about a meter long, sometimes longer. At will, though usually easier when sexually aroused, they may “grow” the tail out of their body but they prefer not to. Although it may seem that a Midgarian may reproduce without a mate having both a male and female reproductive organs, in reality it doesn't work as they have a protective mechanism against self-fertilization.

Terrans

Terrans and Humans are physiologically almost identical since they are exactly the same species, However, there are a couple of physiological difference; Terrans are a bit more sensitive to bright light. Also the development of gene-based therapies significantly extended a Terrans life, the regeneration treatments extends their life by over a century. During the early years of colonization an Ideology was formed. A decision was made to call themselves Terrans, seeing themselves different from the rest of humanity from their past, often witnessing slavery and fascists movements of those times.

A new better form of humanity had to learn from the lessons of old Terra, Terran descendants of the old world had to not do a repeat of the same human mistakes that were endemic to it. As a society this ideology developed from the issues that the first ark had and the impact of those events that occurred from it. Terrans view this connection with Terra after the second ark’s help brought a chance of saving this new colony which became appropriately named Terra Nova. This caused a deeper connection to the saving of old terra, and the chance for a better future where Terrans work hard to reject the mistakes of the past and do to better of themselves for a brighter future.

Krentasian.

Krentasians are an upright, bipedal beings with manipulative hands descended from a felinoid life form. There are two sexes, male (Krentan) and female (Krentas). The most notable external difference was the slightly increased size of the male, though specimens of both genders tended to be lithe for their size due to a higher volume of muscle than most mammals. Fur covered their bodies, most times a solid colour or shades of a similar tone. While most ranged between grey, sandy and golden, black fur was not uncommon, and white was quite rare but not unheard of. In almost all Krentasians, the eyes were a golden colour and provided excellent night vision. However, in those with black fur, green eyes were observed, and white furred Krentasians tended toward light, almost clear-blue eyes.

Krentasians shed in small amounts throughout the year, since their original world's orbit was less elliptical than most and maintained a near constant season, lacking the winter that would require thicker fur and subsequent shedding. As a result of this temperate to hot climate, Krentasians had a lower tolerance for colder climates. Their feline ancestry showed in their facial structure, the fur covering their bodies, long and agile tails, and their voices, which resembled the purring of Terran felines. When agitated, Krentasian fur 'bristled' in a manner akin to that of a Terran cat. There was very little that a Krentasian could do to control this bristling response, and it took place with nearly all the fur on the body.

Krentasians stand one to two meters tall, similar to, but often lither, than the average humanoid. However, they are more agile and dexterous than their size suggested. There legs could store quite a bit of potential energy in the 'crouch' that was the resting state. This gave the Krentasians the ability to spring quickly into action, granting them a significant ability to accelerate from a rest state. The power of those legs also granted them an impressive leaping ability of up to 7 meters. Due to the way in which steps were taken, a gradual absorbing of the weight, their species has incredibly silent footsteps. Krentasians are excellent sprinters (many able to reach 40 kilometres per hour for short bursts), but left them little endurance for long distance running. They tended to lack the endurance for extended exertion, though this shortcoming could be overcome with an extensive regimen of exercise and a specialized diet.

As a by-product of the Krentasian reliance on a tail to aid in balance, most coped with damage to one inner-ear, though loss of the tail or micro-gravity conditions can lead disorientation and nausea. Their long tails, generally accepted as one of the key features allowing them to achieve a bipedal form. The tail functioned as a minor aid to balance, but Krentasians who lost them seemed capable of physically compensating for the loss. Scientists assumed that the tail was once a key component of communication, but once actual speech developed, it was no longer needed as much (though the tails certainly provided a gauge of emotion, as did the positions of the ears). Krentasians required a minimum of four hours of rest per day; however, whenever possible they tried to get 10 hours.

Krentasian eyes are capable of dilating widely to grant the race expanded vision in lower light. They could see functionally in 20 percent of the light required by a human. The irises contracted in a ‘V’ shape, decreasing ocular response time and allowing them to adapt from low-light to bright light conditions quickly. Additionally, where Humans had visual receptors placed evenly in the inner eye, Krentasian receptors were concentrated on a more defined horizontal axis. This allowed a high degree of visual acuity, enabling them to catch movement and details on their horizontal plane at greater range, and with greater clarity and accuracy than humans.

Krentasian ear structures enabled them to hear in ranges far beyond the human baseline. While they were no better than Humans at hearing in low range bands, their high-end aural sensitivity extended to four times that of Humanity, they could hear tones up to two full octaves higher. In addition, they could rotate their cup-shaped ears for better auditory focus, and in fact could directionally locate sounds to within 20 centimetres in any direction without physically looking.

The Krentasian sense of hearing was incredibly acute, able to hear in a higher pitched range far in excess of humans. Their eyes were geared toward low light levels; as a result, they had slightly less colour acuity than non-nocturnal. They were, however, able to operate in near darkness. Their sense of smell is quite well-developed almost matching a Terran canine.

Artificial Intelligence

The first true, sentient artificial intelligence to be created on Terra Nova. Known as “Aditya,” the Artificial Intelligence adopted a female gender – a novel concept not previously considered in early computational models for her computer core. The new A.I. would go on to revolutionizes theories on artificial intelligence and their characteristics. Despite centuries of fear from their ancestors that Old Terra would be destroyed by the arrival of artificial intelligence, “Aditya’s” genesis had a positive impact on Terran life in the City of Gracemeria. There, the fledgling Artificial Intelligence helped city leaders to improve transportation, solve economic issues, and improve the city’s overall efficiency. “Aditya’s” framework became the baseline for future artificial intelligence in the years to come, and remnants of her matrix are found in almost all artificial intelligence in existence within the FSA. More importantly, her existence paved the way for the explosion of artificial intelligence and the birth of a new species that would take a century to earn rights equivalent their Terran creators.

An Android body was soon constructed; it is an advanced technological humanoid construct used to house an artificial intelligence or a limited intelligence. There are a massive number of uses for androids, ranging from industrial to social to military to a combination of all three. Androids are constructed out of a wide range of materials because of the complexity of their construction. The main material used in androids' skeletons are nickel-cobalt-chromium-molybdenum alloys, because of the extremely high tensile strength, low weight, and the relative abundance of the materials needed to make the alloy.

The skeleton is the core of the android, and is what provides androids with their enormous strength and durability. There are also polymers and many exotic alloys used for joints and artificial musculature, as they are very durable and have the flexibility and conductivity that allow for extremely high information transfer rate, and also provide better electrical conductivity. Depending on what use an android is being designed for, the spine is either reinforced or streamlined, to either provide enhanced strength for industrial jobs, or to make an android appear more humanoid.

The skin and hair of an android usually are comprised of, once again, polymers, and nanobots. Polymers are used because they have a wide range of tolerances for stress, temperature, and other extremes, and because of that they are an ideal material for an exterior cover. Nanobots are used to repair the polymer as it slowly ages and degrades over time, and are also for cosmetic uses, helping to create hair and change its colour, and to also make skin appear more lifelike by adding and maintaining details such as follicles, pores, and small imperfections so that the polymers appear like real skin.

As implied by the name, artificial life is typically created through sophisticated computer programming and massive amounts of hardware. Additionally, some higher forms of artificial intelligence are able to reproduce themselves, either through self-replication or by combining their own programming information with data from one or more other artificially intelligent entities to create an entirely new intelligence. Artificial life constitutes a sizeable minority of the population in the Known Worlds. Under Alliance law, all machines and programs that pass a standardized set of intelligence tests are afforded full rights and citizenship. Artificial Intelligence's can feel many human emotions, like love, hate, sadness and joy. It has been said that the rate of insanity among Artificial Intelligences is far less than the organic population.

Population:
3 Billion

Terran 45%
Midgarian 30%
Krentasian 16%
A.I 9%
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Planet Name and Description: Arinar is a large Gaia world with several medium land masses, one exceptionally large land mass where the capital of Destera is located and odd islands dotted around vast oceans. The lands mostly sport good forestry but also some arid areas along the usual poles you would see on earth but larger on scale. The lands also have quite a bit of mountainous regions and plenty of beautiful waterfalls; it would be the perfect holiday destinations for tourists if the much heavier gravity of the planet wouldn’t kill you.

Arinar has three moons orbiting her, the large moon of Nefreya which has been colonized and her two smaller sister moons of Nefrane and Oseros.

Arinar

Example of Midgarian structures.

Terra Nova is an Earth-like world with a nitrogen-oxygen atmosphere. Active and stable hydrosphere. Great landmasses are separated by oceans, with large climate variations depending on latitude and precipitation. Terra Nova has rings often dubbed ‘The rings of Terra’ around the planet along with a single moon called Prospero. Terrans have been careful with city development making sure to avoid pollutions and noise that could affect the environment, avoiding the mistakes of their ancestors.

Many clean large cities exist along with some rather unique phenomena locations have been left in their natural state. Terrans have made sure to keep these unique terrain locations safe.

Terra Nova

Example of a Terran city.

One of the Natural wonders of Terra Nova.

History: The initial colonization efforts of what was code named New Eden originally was headed by one of two arks, Pathfinder was smaller than its bigger cousin, the ship was supposed to take initial colonists to New Eden, providing security, exploration and surveys and more vital work, that would help plan out future endeavours for when New dawn, the larger of the two arks that would arrive. However; this would be a fateful endeavour, the pathfinder had encountered an unknown alien species residing within the system and on the planet designated for human colonization. How it could have been missed is unknown, but Gaia world was in fact Arinar, The home world of the Midgardian species.

Problem was however, is Pathfinder had was programmed to scan the planet and designate a landing zone for the crew. Communication with their new contacts broke down, translating the unexpected new language was taking too long and despite the effort of the crew, a location was selected upon reaching the planets orbit, advanced small Midgardian craft, began attacking the ship, the end result was the ark crash landing onto the planet’s surface. Panic had set in, security teams were preparing for some sort of assault while other desperately fought to keep the ships systems active, The Midgardians came, but it was futile. People armed themselves and charged outside… The scene was horrific, all those that ran outside were instantly crushed, slaughtered by the planets heavy gravity, files and footage have been heavily classified.

Several days later New Dawn had arrived through the gate, expecting to expand on the colonization effort, they were instead met with small Midgardian craft, but this time communication was established as the Xeno species had manage to mostly translate one of human languages. Pathfinder by this point had lost at least 70 percent of her crew, due to the planet, fighting its inhabitants, resource shortage and power failures to their ship. To make matters worse the gate shut down isolating this tiny part of humanity, the crew of New Dawn quickly realized they needed to undo the damage her first ark did and work with this new species they encountered as technically they invaded their home.

New Dawn was allowed to come and rescue the survivors of the first ship with the help of the Midgardians, tension was still high and relations strained but it was a start. There was another planet in the system suitable for human life, quickly designated New Dawn at the time. This would be there new home. A new Ideology was formed from this catastrophe, people of New dawn had decided to learn from the mistakes of their ancestors and the impact of the Pathfinders mistakes. They decided to call themselves Terran and renamed New Dawn to Terra Nova as they saw themselves different from the rest of humanity from their past, this ideology remains the core of Terran society to this day, but not all agreed to this new way of life.

Those that had not agreed with the Ideology, did what they could over the coming century to sabotage colonization efforts, performing raids on mining operations, stealing ships or vehicles, they did anything they could do to hamper the ever improving relations the Terrans had with the Midgardians to, growing Xenophobic in nature, during this time the moon of Nefraya had been colonized also. Human sympathizers among the early mining station along the out belt rebelled and housed human terrorist groups the fled Terra Nova as their little rebellion was not working, causing mining issues. At the latter half of the first century the Intersystem Alliance was formed, the predecessor to the FSA.

In the coming century, this new alliance began making great strides in technological development thanks to open communication, trade, and borders, and wealth of technology exchanges helped improve life throughout many walks of life on both planets. It was also through this technological revolution the first true, sentient artificial intelligence was created on at the Cumbrian Institute. Going by the name of ‘Aditya’, she would go on to revolutionize theories on artificial intelligence and their characteristics.

Another important revolution was the development of gene-based therapies which significantly extend terran life. Developed by Doctor Hiroshi Sato, the regeneration treatments extended terran life to over a century by preventing the slow genetic decay of telomeres in terran cells while slowing the oxidation of organs in the body. Initially hailed as a designer drug, quick action by the Alliance prevented the commercialization of the treatment. Instead, the research and drug patents were transferred to the public and made available to Alliance citizens as part of their free medical care. These medicines saw people live longer lives, these longer lives and improved health over a longer period revolutionized lifestyles, work efficiency, and helped grow the population further.

Despite this tension still grew with the mining colonies, although many just wanted to make a living, the more extreme elements wanted to take more action against both colony worlds of Arinar and Terra Nova. Again raids began happening, kidnappings, you name it, it was happening as these extreme elements held onto the believe that the terran way of life was in fact heavily influenced or control by the Midgardian people, pulling the strings from behind the shadows. After failed attempts to find a peaceful resolution, the extremists killed some when a planned attack went wrong, this swiftly brought about the ‘Belter rebellions’.

The conflict did not last more than a year before an unexpected event occurred, at the height of retaking the belt, a power surge was detected, the gate sparked to life and activated. Chaos ensued as the rebellion fleet took off, abandoning the mining stations and made for the gate, the small Alliance fleet of that time did their best to intercept, unfortunately most of the rebellion fleet went through the gate to parts unknown before the gate went dormant again. Those that didn’t make it were either destroy or caught. These revelations changed many things, mostly investigating the gate but also improving the life of those living on the mining stations along the belt, better living conditions, medical care and security. After all those that did not fight were still citizens of the Alliance.

After almost a century had past, technological advancements were slowing despite research into Nano technology. However, their attention would be turned towards the stars once more, but this time not at the gate which the Alliance had been watching ever since it supposed malfunction as some believe. A small fleet of unknown alien ships had entered the system. The fleet mobilized but dialogue had to be established as to avoid repeating the whole pathfinder situation again. It took time, more than many would like to admit but communication was eventually established and not a single shot was amazingly fired, calling themselves Krentasians, the first face to face meeting was certainly one for the ages and one that no terran would ever forget, despite being fewer in number, they were certainly more advanced.

With nowhere to call home, the Krentasians exchanged technology for a place to life, despite the Alliance saying it was not necessary and allowing the race to settle on Terra Nova. Within a few years the Federated Systems Alliance was born, consisting of all three races becoming the founding members, again technological marvels began happening once more, advancements across the board, one that stood out thanks to the krentasians was tractor beam and anti-grav technology. After almost a century since their creation, A.I had become the fourth member of the Alliance and gained full citizenship and equal rights to their biological counterparts, despite still not choosing a name for themselves as of yet.

Approximately forty years ago, the alliance discovered an unknown ship right on the outer each of their system, it was probably by pure chance, however the leadership of the alliance had it covered it up and pretended like it never existed, the ship kept hidden while securing the vessel with the intent of understanding where it came from or what interesting discoveries it was hiding, Over the years the discoveries were never revealed, on a strictly need to know basis. Ultimately it caused the alliance to begin modernization programs for its military and navy forces, were they expecting something?

Culture and Society: Demographics, as with many aspects of the Alliance, are a widely mixed variety. The two colony ships were made of early colonists, coming from a wide range of diversity; Japanese, Americans, British, French, Chinese, Russians, Germans, and Indians cultures are often overrepresented in the Alliance. Many of these cultures stem from the wide variety of original Earth cultures, though nearly every single continent has developed their own unique mix of cultures or new practices entirely stemming from their experiences.

Alliance culture is bounded by capitalism, however. Planets within the nation are prevented from achieving cultures of notable totalitarian or tribal status by the laws that govern the Alliance, though some peoples do choose to live closer to a tribal lifestyle of their own accord. Alliance culture is particularly connected with the Xeno members thanks to open communication, trade, and borders, a wealth of technology, and little censorship. This fuels diversity throughout the regions on the Alliance and the government encourages a “One Humanity” mind-set for Terrans to prevent racial strife.

Krentasians were very a territorial species, and they reacted aggressively against any threats to their homes, which in the past led to the development of truly impressive firefighting and repair technologies. Given their physical capabilities, as well as generally aggressive instincts, their species made for formidable troops, Worthy of note was that the Krentasians were almost completely incapable of swimming unassisted due to their low body fat, a result of their high metabolism and they don’t drink beer, which is quite toxic to them.

There was no real need for a militia force once it was integrated into the Alliances forces. However, early many realized that the training provided a sense of unity, help curb and channel young Krentasian energy and instincts, and formed a foundation of teamwork that could be turned toward tasks such as disaster relief. Every Krentasian underwent basic training, stressing co-operation and constructive tasks. This practice also helped mitigate the predatory instincts of the Krentasians, as well as the 'youthful energy' that could otherwise lead to mischief.

Their culture had developed a deep appreciation for beauty, which was expressed in many ways: study and contemplation of nature, producing works of art that mirrored nature, and, most commonly, surrounding themselves with beauty and comfort. Krentasians were known to find beauty in nearly any aspect of nature, including such destructive ones as lightning storms. Jewellery was also seen as a form of beauty through which they could express themselves well. Given the coloration of their fur, gold was rarely used, though bronze, steel, iron, titanium, and similar metals were in wide use. Mated pairs traditionally wore matching anklets similar in function to the Human wedding ring tradition. Most Krentasian jewellery contained gemstones, with red and blue being the preferred colours.

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Governance and Politics: The Federated Systems Alliance (FSA or SA) is a political and economic alliance comprising of currently Four species working together. The Midgarian Confederation, Terra Nova Republics, Krentasian Empire and the A.I. The Alliance is a federal type of government.

The government of the Federated Systems Alliance is a representative democratic republic with powers centralized in the federal government with member worlds still retaining their form of government and laws unless superseded by those of the federal government. Members of the advisory board and the FSA Council work as groups, individuals, or as part of a committee to write, propose, debate, and ratify legislation. The president, as the head of state and head of government, signs the legislation into law or veto’s the legislation while also having the authority over the military (for short periods) and over executive actions among other duties. Members of the Alliance High Courts serve as the moral compass of the Alliance and often provide interpretations of the Alliance charter or hear cases against the Federal government or high-profile cases referred up to the High Courts.

The central government – or core government – is situated in the government complex in Elysium, Terra Nova. Other major government facilities are located on the central world’s of each region, usually housing the regional government led by that area’s Vice President and the locally elected Governor.

Advisory Board.

The advisory board for the Alliance is made up of senior representatives from each of the major Alliance powers, including the vice president. The council acts as a cabinet to the president advising him on events, supported by functional officials such as Ministers, Within the Alliance there are various ministry posts which take government policy under their jurisdiction and create the framework and infrastructure to make them functional. Their other main role is nominating a new candidate for president when the current President serves for ten years with a three, consecutive term limit and reaches that limit, unfit, dies or decides to leave office after one of the ten year servings.

FSA Council.

The FSA Council is a quorum of one representative from each world within the alliance who permanently reside on Terra Nova (or wherever the government resides). They were conceived of as a wartime insurance policy. Such that in the event that war precluded the recall of the Advisory board, the Alliance had governing representatives to represent their respective world’s. Members of the council are elected for a ten-year term and are provided residences on the Presidio in New Geneva. They serve for a period of ten years with a maximum of two consecutive terms.

The council serves as the upper house of the Alliance. They do not write legislation themselves and vote as regular members during normal sessions. In the event of a voting tie in the advisory board however, laws are voted on independently by the FSA Council. A subsequent tie is broken by a Presidential vote. During the wartime, in the absence of the advisory board, the FSA Council serves to confirm presidential orders for military action, write law and legislation during the period of board absence, and holds all other powers normally possessed by the advisory board.

Intelligence agencies.

Internal Security Bureau (ISB)- is a secret intelligence gathering body for the Federated Systems Alliance. Soon after the formation of the Alliance, it became clear that the Alliance needed an organization to keep track of what the various nations were doing, and to keep track of various external and internal threats including other Alliance members.

Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI)- Of the Federated Alliance Navy.

Marine Intelligence Division (MID)- of the federated Alliance Marine Corps.

Army Security Bureau (ASB)- of the Federated Alliance army.

Membership.

At its formation, membership in the Alliance was offered to the Midgarians, Terrans (Humans.) and Krentasians. Before becoming a fully-fledged member, each new member must agree to abide by and uphold the Alliance's laws. Each member world or race assigns an ambassador to the Alliance, where they act as a legislative body who may get positions into the FSA Council and Advisory board depending on the availability candidates to take on such roles.

Technology Overview: The Federated Systems Alliance initially started of slow to technological advancements in its previous incarnation as the intersystem alliance until the various races of the nation’s openly shared ideas and technology for the betterment of the Alliance. Although plenty of technological advancements happened, it was also not to ignore and improve upon reliable technologies of the past three centuries. As such the Alliance uses a combination of projectile and energy based weapons systems for the various military branches and navy. The military also has access to crude but effective weapons like flame and cryo based weapons along with electrical based weapons and some reversed engineered tech from the alien ship that was captured.

Other notable technological breakthroughs were the creation of Smart A.I and of course fully sentient A.I that gained full citizenship and equal rights of their biological equivalents. Nanotechnology was another breakthrough for the Alliance, originally used in limited capacity in the medical field, bringing the eventual creation of the Medical-Nano bed. It was then further used for Nano-suits under armour for troops but is an included element of the Nano-Solaris hull armour used on navy ships and stations. This Trinium element is also used on the hull of combat vehicles in the army.

When the Krentasians joined the Alliance, with it they too brought in some new technology, most notably Tractor beam and Stealth technology, they are also responsible for work on the first generation of actual working cloaking technology. Gene based therapy and regenerative treatments are also a breakthrough and became part of the free healthcare plan for Alliance citizens. Research and development has been ongoing for Anti-gravity technology.

Nano-Solaris Armour.

The Triple-Layer Hull the FSA call Nano-Solaris Hull Armour serves as Armor in addition to its role of making up the entire outer shell of ships in the FSA. The entire outer shell of the ship is comprised of 3 layers of the triple-alloy. Since the systems in between each layer can supply the area with nanites to repair damages whenever the Hull is not taking damage, most blemishes on the surface of the ship can typically be left to repair themselves automatically.

The alloy used here is comprised of 3 distinctly different metallic elements, each added for its own excellent qualities. Kuridium was used because of it being able to absorb impacts and disperse them along large areas of its surface, lessening the overall effect of the impact both to the ship, and to the hull itself. Neutronium, an element discovered on the planet Arinar, is one of the strongest metallic materials ever tested by the Alliance and it also has elastic properties. Able to take damage and even bend with the impacts, then return to its shape afterwards, all the while maintaining strength and solidity most metals are not capable of under such strenuous conditions.

The last element, Tirinium, was primarily added to the mix for its regenerative properties, and its ability to allow uniquely designed nanites to navigate within its structure, to repair it and the other 2 metallic compounds, without causing instability in the overall structure of the hull.

Together, the three make the ship’s hull extremely tough, and hard to penetrate. Those properties however, do have their disadvantages. As a result of the dispersal properties, most impacts directly to the hull can typically be felt as tremors throughout the outer part of the ship.

Military Overview: _{(This is the space to talk about any offensive capabilities you have. Given that most of these Colonies have been essentially stranded by themselves for three centuries, I don't imagine anyone has a large "conquer other planets" level fleet yet. But maybe your Colony has been in civil war for a hundred years, and has built up an impressive military in that time. Or maybe they even had to fend off a genuine alien invasion.)}

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Additional Info: _{(Anything else you want to include that there isn't a spot for up there.)}

[Keyguyperson]

Here's my "Acceptably Completeish NS". I have yet to flesh out the military section, but frankly that's the least important part anyways and you more or less get the idea as is. Also I have an early shift tomorrow, can't be bothered to write up ship descriptions right now, and just wanna talk in the Discord.

Urdji-Gelderruhê Nanlîkrin Eşîrsaya/Urdji-Human Confederated Tribes

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.

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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.

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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 came into contact. 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.

---

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

Huāngxīng is a word of many names - every Human tribe has it's own word for the desolate planet. It's common name comes from the Qiushi tribe, and was adopted by the Urdji tribes after first contact. It is believed that prior to the Human exodus the planet had only been observed from afar, and the immense physical distance between the Haven system and Sol made it impossible to ascertain the current state of the world. When the Human tribes transited the gateway, they found a charred and radioactive wasteland. In the century it took for the light of Haven to reach Sol, Huāngxīng had given rise to a technological civilization - and that civilization had promptly ended itself in nuclear flame. Had the gateway been opened mere years prior, the Human tribes would have arrived to find a thriving civilization on the cusp of interplanetary travel.

There was not a single survivor of the nuclear holocaust. Only three bodies were recovered and preserved - all found on the surface of Huāngxīng's first moon, helmets removed and vacuum suits half-removed, alien words haphazardly carved into the rock beneath the regolith. They had chosen to mummify their bodies in the vacuum of space, probably in the hopes that some more advanced race would arrive and be capable of resurrecting or cloning them. Unfortunately, all the Humans could do was freeze the bodies more properly and put them on display, an eternal reminder that mankind had very nearly suffered the same fate.

Prior to the Komellşer Huāngxīng was largely ignored by humanity, with settlements only lasting a few years at most before being abandoned. Most expeditions to the planet's surface were only intended to scavenge through the ruins, or study the dying, irradiated biosphere. Artwork and trinkets from Huāngxīng were a sought-after luxury in the Human Middle Age. With the onset of the Komellşer came a great increase in activities planetside, as Urdji and Human tribes tried to escape the war by making landfall and the D'jim invested heavily into water gathering operations (Haven's sole gas giant being under Urdji-Human control, the D'jim had to use ice and water to produce fusion fuel). By war's end the planet had become sparsely populated by war refugees and semi-permanent military emplacements, and both Urdji and Human tribes began taking steps to repair the planet's devastated biosphere.

After two centuries of work, Huāngxīng has become somewhat habitable. Large swaths of the planet, primarily less valuable areas like deserts and tundra, remain irradiated and lifeless. The temperate and tropical zones, however, are now home to thriving communities. The former population centers of the long-dead natives are still considered unsafe for habitation, but expeditions into them are undertaken on a regular basis for archeological and scientific purposes, as well as simple scavenging. With only two exceptions (the port cities of Anchorage and Kani) communities on the surface are small, rural settlements which rarely exceed a thousand inhabitants. The previous civilization's roads are still in use, having been patched up by settlers. Despite these roads, however, the famous Terran Horse is a favorite transportation method.

Though Huāngxīng itself is rather isolated from the population centers of the belt, it's orbital space is a cornerstone of the Confederate economy. It's moon, Vulcan, is home to the Haven system's largest shipbuilding, arms, and machinery guilds. The stations of electronic, chemical, and biological concerns dot Huāngxīng's orbit, exploiting both the zero-g environment and Huāngxīng's own unique resources. Though the planet is far from the center of the Confederacy, more guilds move from the belt to Huāngxīng every year to exploit lower shipping expenses and better access to the cutting-edge of their respective industries. It is not hard to imagine the planet one day becoming the crown jewel of the Confederacy.

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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

Cooperation between the Urdji and Human peoples has brought about a diverse array of technologies and scientific advancements previously unknown to both species. The Urdji, in their millenia of travel, have refined and perfected the sciences which kept the nomad fleet breathing, fed, and safe. So often faced with resource shortages, harsh conditions, and strict time constraints Urdji engineers have a long tradition of malleable, outside-the-box thinking and willingness to take immense risks for the sake of survival. The result is a vibrant (if somewhat mad) scientific community with no shortage of risk-takers and daredevils.

The Humans, by contrast, contribute much less in the way of the practical sciences. The Urdji had thousands of years to perfect their engineering - the Humans arrived a few centuries ago in stolen ships. What the Human sciences do provide, however, is a great wealth of physical, mathematic, and theoretical knowledge. It was their extensive understanding of quantum physics that allowed the creation of the Haven system's real-time communications network. Modern quantum computers and AI systems also draw heavily from Human physical knowledge.

Genetic Engineering and the Biological Sciences

The Confederacy is not especially advanced in the field of genetic engineering. You cannot order a designer child, or create a new species from scratch in a test tube. Any genetically modified organism is the result of years of trial and error experimentation, and as a result genetic modification of sentients is quite rare, expensive, and limited in scope. It is possible to, for example, modify oneself with a mutation to increase stamina, bone density, or muscle mass, but it is not possible for an Urdji child to be engineered to be born without wings. As most existing augmentations were developed from genetic disorders already present in the population, there are also a number of potential drawbacks. Still, Rangers undergo relatively extensive modification, and life-extension treatment through gene therapy is commonplace.

Most major fruits of Confederate biotech are the result of good old, hands-on genetic engineering - the selective breeding over countless generations to produce the perfect specimen. The Urdji, throughout their travels, have forcibly bred a number of species into existence to serve their needs and solve their problems. The staple crops of the Urdji are all believed to be the result of extensive genetic manipulation and breeding.

On the planet of Huāngxīng genetic modification is an incredibly important part of daily life. The overwhelming majority of the planet's flora and fauna have been heavily modified, either in an effort to make them better suit colonization or restore mutated populations to an approximation of their original form. Species imported to the planet have also undergone modification so as not to threaten the native ecosystem (or what remains of it). Most of the sentient population, too, still carries genes implanted into first-generation colonists to protect them from the planet's harsh environment.

Though genetic modification technogy is both fairly advanced and commonplace, it should be noted that it is far from a prestigious, high-tech industry. Only the wealthiest of liveship dwellers purchase their augmentations in gilded stores - most of those who carry genetic modifications either purchased them from local gene-artisans or just did it themselves (to varying degrees of success). There is little activity on the industry's cutting edge, with the majority of augmentations taking the form of well-understood, minor tweaks in the genetic code that have been understood for generations.

Artificial Intelligence, Electronics, and Computing

The advent of Human quantum computing and telecommunications was a game-changer for Urdji society. For the first time the tribes could communicate with each other instantaneously, without worrying about light lag. Quantum-based artificial intelligence constructs have come to take over much of the burden of the liveships' managerial overhead. Even on the small scale, Human quantum and digital computers revolutionized Urdji manufacturing, commerce, and entertainment. Prior to contact with Humanity the Urdji lacked anything even approaching a "modern computer", utilizing highly specialized, purpose-built devices - and even then only for those tasks that absolutely required them.

The state of Artificial Intelligence in the Confederacy teeters on the edge of the singularity. Cutting-edge AIs, especially those used as shipboard operations assistants by the Rangers, can already pass the Turing test with flying colors. Having been designed to function in any possible situation, these intelligences certainly appear to be AGIs. Indeed, many suggest that they may already be conscious. While advanced, AI technology is not exactly widespread - even basic situational intelligences are nigh unheard of in many Urdji tribes. Even the most impoverished Human tribes, on the other hand, make extensive use of AI and machine learning algorithms.

Research into the field of AI is heavily focused on the creation of human-level AGIs, rather than situational intelligences with direct practical uses. Having the assistance of a conscious, creative being tied directly to a computer system (be it that of a starship or of a factory) is considered profoundly valuable. Countless man-hours have gone into the design of "useless" AI systems to effectively recreate emotions, irrationality, and the many idiosyncrasies of intelligent life as we know it in the pursuit of a true AGI. A human-level or greater intelligence lacking those traits, it is widely believed, would more or less represent a speciation event and a permanent split in the evolutionary paths of organic and synthetic life. The scientific community generally agrees that such an event would not favor the organic.

Materials Science

Room-temperature superconductors are unsurprisingly an integral part of Confederate infrastructure. The Urdji had been using them for most of their recorded history prior to contact with Humanity, and it was one of the first technologies they would share with the Human tribes. The manufacture of these superconductors had become relatively mundane for the Urdji, and in the modern Confederacy they are used to their fullest extent. Starship drives, power systems, and computers all make use of a variety of superconducting alloys and metamaterials.

Biologically-derived materials have always been common among the Urdji tribes, and remain in heavy use in the Confederacy as artificial materials have yet to quite match them. The semi-crystalline cylindriform silk that forms Urdji hair and feathers is traditionally used by Rangers to weave armor and clothing, but in the current era synthetic cultivation of this material in laboratory environments has enabled widespread use. Even starships tend to make use of it in their armor.

In the field of metallurgy, highly complex alloys are a tradition of sorts among Urdji tribes. With Human manufacturing technology allowing for greater precision in alloy production, these once rare materials have become overwhelmingly common. Starship armor tends to be a composite of dozens of separate alloys, augmented with silk, aerogels, and other unconventional materials.

Energy and Propulsion

There is very little energy in the Confederacy that is not generated in fusion reactors. Helium-3 is one of the most vital commodities for any tribe, and in the Human Middle Age wars were quite often fought over helium-3 deposits. Urdji civilization, of course, has subsisted on fusion power for thousands of years. Reactor designs in the modern day are extremely diverse, with Urjdi and Human engineers feeding off of each others' ideas to produce new, experimental reactors. Traditionally the Urdji have used gargantuan magnetic confinement reactors to power their starships, while humans tended to use inertial confinement reactors instead - primarily due to a lack of practical superconductors. In the centuries following contact both reactor concepts have seen great leaps in output and efficiency.

In the field of propulsion, direct fusion drives are overwhelmingly the most common form of starship engine. Magnetoplasma engines are common in smaller craft, and larger vessels sometimes use them as secondary drives. Traditional chemical rocket engines do still exist, but are rarely seen in applications outside of maneuvering thrusters.

---

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

Zev Nanlîki Leşkkrî

The Confederate Military

The Confederacy is not the most stable of nations. Inter-tribal feuds are commonplace, and the many tribes of the Confederacy operate their own independent militaries to protect their interests. Nothing which one could reasonably describe as a war has broken out in a little over a century, but tribal fleets are commonly used to intimidate rivals and put "a little extra weight" on proposals to the Confederate Council. Beyond their political roles, the tribal fleets are commonly deployed against pirates (or as privateers, depending on the tribe's inclinations).

Though the majority of military power is centered in tribal fleets, the Confederacy does have a standing military. The Ranger Corps answers only to the Confederate Council, and exists to serve as the Confederacy's vanguard against alien threats. The Ranger Corps is the only official military outfit besides the Leşkgemmar Commandos to operate formal ground forces, but said forces consist only of a handful of special operations teams (which lack the training and equipment to reasonably be considered as such) and armed planetary survey teams. If you see a soldier on the surface of Huāngxīng they are almost certainly just a militiaman or a member of some vigilante posse.

Ranger Corps Naval Forces

The Naval arm of the Ranger Corps is the best equipped and best trained interplanetary combat outfit in the entire Haven system. The right hand of the Council, it serves the interests of civilized space as a whole. Though it's primary purpose is to act as a vanguard against unknown threats, it does undertake a great number of exploration and peacekeeping missions from the star of Haven all the way to the Oort Cloud. The starships of the Ranger Corps are always the golden standard by which others are measured, each class representing the very cutting edge of Confederate technology. Some Ranger units are designated experimental squadrons, where prototype vessels and technologies are tested in the field.

Tyr'Irê Class Frigate


The Tyr'Irê (lit. Spearbearer) Frigate is the smallest warship in service with the Ranger Corps. Unlike many ships of its class, which are deployed as light patrol vessels, the Tyr'Irê is designed to operate in hunter-killer packs to take down significantly larger warships. As the Ranger Corps does not perform patrol duties near planets and ports it has little need for designated coastal craft, which led to the current usage of it's most common frigate as something akin to a torpedo boat. Tyr'Irê frigates rely on their small complement of missiles and their spinal railgun to take down their prey, and in the realm of defenses they have only their twin laser CIWS turrets and two quadruple coilguns (which are regarded as more of a last resort weapon than anything else).

Energia Class Destroyer


Notable for being the only standardized class of Ranger warships given a name in a human language, the Energia also happens to be notable for lacking a defined role. This is not the product of a genius modular design, but rather the result of the failure of it's main weapon from a practical standpoint. Armed with a spinal plasma lance siphoning directly from the fusion drive core, the Energia was intended to provide capital-class firepower on a destroyer's size and budget without the issues inherent with torpedo armaments. Unfortunately, this weapon has proved to be an abject failure as at full power output it becomes dangerously unreliable. As a result it has ended up having less stopping power than the spinal railguns it was meant to replace. The only saving grace of the Energia class - and the reason it has become the favored destroyer of the Corps - is it's well-rounded and simple design. With a solid complement of missiles, reliable if low-range coilguns, and formidable electronic warfare suite the Energia is well-suited to most any situation. Even the infamously "useless" plasma lance has found a niche use case thanks to its accuracy at long range.

Ranger Corps Marines and Militia

Human Tribal Naval Forces

Human tribal navies are particularly standardized when compared to their Urdji equivalents. Many Human tribes share ship classes and systems, and all Human vessels have remarkably similar silhouettes. This is no surprise - the Human tribes all drew from the same small sample size of technology and doctrine. Though the Human tribes do have a somewhat deserved reputation for piracy, they do all claim long and storied naval traditions - going back, of course, to the waters of their long-lost homeworld. Human designs tend to be quite romantic in form, sacrificing at times sensibility for displays of "glory" and "heritage" that the Urdji simply paint onto their vessels like sane sapients.

Mishima Class Light Cruiser, Tribe Gekokujo

Human Tribal Marines and Militia

Urdji Tribal Naval Forces

Urdji tribal navies are far more varied in design than their Human counterparts, and as such it is hard to give an effective cross-section of Urdji design philosophy and doctrine. Indeed, many Urdji tribal navies are comprised largely of civilian vessels in the first place. However, the greatest of Urdji tribes do operate proper, dedicated warships. For the sake of brevity, only vessels of Leşkgemmar make have been included.

Light Cruiser Işken-ji-Neva

Urdji Tribal Marines and Militia

[Timemaster]

The Chosen

Nation Name: The Chosen of Ashevelen:

Government Form:
_Theocracy

Demographics:
<sub>The Enhanced Humans

The Enhanced are those that after years of genetic improvements became more than human. Stronger, faster, immune to most types of toxins, almost ageless and with the extra ability of being able to survive in space without a suit for a long period of time.

Mostly all of the Enhanced look like the average human but taller (~2 metres) and slender forms. The exceptions start with the richest citizens or soldiers where their forms will be improved further. Some will have claws, finns, gills, acid blood or different other features.

Rejects

Humans that didn't respond well to the genetic modifications which everyone was subjected to. Most of them are hideous creatures, barely resembling humans anymore. They’ve kept their human minds but are seen as less than human by most of the Chosen. Most barely resemble humans with added limbs, changed skull structure, bone structure or deformed faces. The unlucky ones will be cancer ridden creatures that die off on their own.</sub>

Population:
_{2 Billion Enhanced Humans and 3 billion Rejected}
---

---

Planet Name and Description: _{RADX-001 - A planet with a toxic atmosphere to most life forms. RADX is filled with dangerous carnivorous creatures that are capable of eating through steel with ease. Most of the planet is covered in jungles which contain poisonous plants. There is an ocean that covers one side of planet but the water can dissolve metals.}

History: _{Year 1 Pre-Enhancement- Arrival - Thousands died from air/food-poisoning, animal attacks, faulty rad-suits and the many other dangers of RADX-001.
Year 2 Month 4 PE - First settlement away from the ship is built and named Resilience.
Year 2 Month 10 PE - All communications with Resilience are lost, no survivors found.
Year 3 PE - Doctor Ashevelen starts her research on human Enhancement
Year 5 PE - Doctor Ashevelen recruits volunteers for the human Enhancement program
Year 7 PE - Martial Law is declared
Year 10 PE - Humanity is getting closer to extincion once more. The population is going down fast.
Year 10 Month 3 - Doctor Ashevelen releases the first prototypes of Enhanced humans.
Year 10 Month 10 - The Enhanced rebuild Resilience.
Year 20 - Doctor Ashevelen continues to improve her formula.
Year 23 PE - Doctor Ashevelen takes control of the government with the help of her Enhanced and forces everyone to submit to the program.
Year 1 AE - A new era dawns over humanity. Creator Ashevelen realises her mistake in making everyone submit to the program. Reproduction becomes impossible for the Enhanced. Other options need to be researched.
Year 2 AE - Cloning becomes the only way for Enhanced humans to multiply.
Year 3 AE - Gene-Labs are being built in every city, allowing gene-randomization in clones. Effectively creating new humans based on current genes.
Year 10 AE - Creator Ashevelen clones herself before finally dying and manages to pass on all of her knowledge to the clone.
Year 50 AE - The formula gets tweaked once more. Stronger than the original prototypes and with the ability to reproduce. The Rejects appear. Half-human Half-Monsters. They are quickly enslaved and used as workers.
Year 51 AE - The human nation is rebranded as The Chosen of Ashevelen.
Year 100 AE - RADX-001 is for the first time since landing, fully colonised.
Year 101 AE - Creator Ashevelen becomes known as The God-Queen and becomes idolised as a God between Enhanced. Her body is constantly cloned and improved.
In the same year, churches start to appear all around RADX-001.
Year 210 AE - The God-Queen releases a new formula that manages to fix the genetic mistakes in some of the Rejected.
Year 220 AE - The Chosen build a space-elevator and colonise the moon, RADX-002, and release all the Rejected on it. Given freedom for the first time in their existence, they continue to serve the God-Queen in the hopes that one day, she'll make another formula that will be able to fix them.
Year 243 AE - Cloning technology advances to the point where almost any given material can be cloned.
Year 260 AE - The Chosen formula is tweaked once more, giving them the ability to survive space conditions without a suit for a long period of time.
Year 286 AE - The God-Queen develops a side-serum using the native creatures of RADX-001. The serum gives the ability to change parts of the Enhanced bodies into claws/natural armour, acidic blood or different abilities based on the animal used. It is given only to the most loyal and becomes a signifier of wealth and status.
Year 290 AE - The Ascended become the right hand of the God-Queen. Enhanced humans that rule over small portions of the population. Considered the greatest honour and a sign that one is closer to the Goddess.}

Culture and Society: <sub>The Chosen are living by the will of the God-Queen. A society that's built on the whims of Ashevelen, the God-Queen. Most Enhanced serve in the Church which controls every part of society. Depending on the area of the Church they choose to serve in, they can be traders, soldiers, artisans, poets, censors or for those that prove themselves to be smarter, more disciplined and pios than their peers, they can work in the Gene-Labs where they strive to improve the Chosen serum or others of its kind.

Those that are not part of the Church are the ones that the Church deemed heathens for their sins. Bandits, thieves, philosophers or simply said pariahs.

The art, the music and movies are all centred around Ashevelen's ascension and early life before apotheosis. As such, many references to Old Earth can be found pretty much everywhere albeit with slight changes when the full truth would need a bit of embellishment.

The official language of the Chosen is a combination of Romanian, Spanish and Latin, dubbed Rotinish by the Chosen, as those were the languages which Ashevelen spoke fluently on Earth, while the “Holy Texts”, the Bible of the Chosen is written in old Earth’s English.</sub>

Governance and Politics: <sub>The God-Queen leaves all but the most important decisions to the "Fist of the Goddess". A group of 5 Chosen, which serve as High Hierarchs in the Church Of The Chosen. Each controls one or more parts of society.

The Fist of the Goddess are the Chosen with the most enhancements, the pillars of the Chosen society. They're handpicked by the God-Queen and whenever she feels like one doesn't fit anymore with her long-term plans, another one is chosen. The person doesn't have to be part of the Church and it can be anyone, Rejected or Chosen as long as the God-Queen approves them.

Cities are ruled independently by Hierarchs of the Church and depending on what arm of it, the Hierarch serves, cities might look very different. Architectures, workers, jobs, pretty much everything will be different looking.

.</sub>

Technology Overview: <sub>Most technology is similar to the one they've arrived on the planet in the first place with the major changes in a few areas:
1. The Chosen are masters of genetic advancement. No injuries are permanent, illnesses incurable or old age to worry about.
2. Cloning tech has evolved to the point where any basic material can be cloned as much as it is needed, human cloning is considered experimental at best and only Ashevelen was cloned once before the aging process was slowed down via the Chosen serum.
3. Bio-Metals - Instead of using complex metals to build, the Chosen are using a combination of biomatter and simple metals to build, combined with a formula that enhances their strength tenfold. Allowing this new bio-metal to withstand great temperatures, weight, stress etc.</sub>

Military Overview: <sub>The Chosen are made from the age of 16 to join the army for a minimum service of 4 years. In those years Church officials watch with interest the development of the soldiers. Those that are found worthy will be made to join the militant department of the Church as Clerics, spreading the will of the God-Queen.

In case of dissidents, the Chosen can easily mobilise the Rejects to squash them and if the Rejected aren’t up for the task, specialised Clerics with enhancements suitable for the job are sent in to take care of the problem. Clerics are given more training and their bodies are improved further giving them different abilities depending on where in the Church they serve.

In case of space battles, the Chosen Armada can be mobilised which is focused on rapid deployment of Infiltrator-Class spaceships, via the Carrier-Class spaceships capable of moving at very fast speed in order to approach the enemy, then, using drills in the legs of the ship, they’ll drill holes inside the hull and release the Chosen/Rejected inside to either disable the enemy ship or take control of it. If the Infiltrator-Class ships cannot be used by the Carriers, they themselves are equipped with light to medium weaponry.</sub>

---

Additional Info: <sub>Theme song - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsWagJNVLec

Characters:
1. The God-Queen-Ashevelen - The oldest and most strong Enhanced. Her abilities are far superior any of the Enhanced being able to easily change the color of her skin, eyes, hair, super fast regeneration of tissue etc.

2. To add more.</sub>

[Cloakedrider]

@Cloakedrider What nation are you thinking of making?

@Damo021 Keep up the good work! Looking forward to see the final product!

@Sigma

A Guardian Angel Nation, if that's okay?

[Cloakedrider]

@Cloakedrider Hi Cloak, join us on discord : discord.com/invite/PDvNcpQ6Br

You will be able to see what's being said but in order to "talk", you'll need to send Irr a NS via PM or post it here.

@Timemaster

Hello, the Discord isn't working

[ClocktowerEchos]

@Cloakedrider Try this link: https://discord.gg/37mTwxb5

[Sigma]

@Cloakedrider Hmm, I guess that depends, mind explaining it a bit?

[Enigmatik]

@Damo021 Just need the military and you're good.

@Keyguyperson Christ that's a biggun. You've mentioned the military's a little sparse but honestly it's not that important, your nation is outlined excellently. If you want to post, go ahead, but do ill in the military at some point.

@Timemaster The characters tab has been messed up again thanks to list + sub and I'd like just a bit more fleshing out of most areas of the sheet bar the history, but it's getting there.

[Cloakedrider]

Here's my "Acceptably Completeish NS". I have yet to flesh out the military section, but frankly that's the least important part anyways and you more or less get the idea as is. Also I have an early shift tomorrow, can't be bothered to write up ship descriptions right now, and just wanna talk in the Discord.

Urdji-Gelderruhê Nanlîkrin Eşîrsaya/Urdji-Human Confederated Tribes

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".

---

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 came into contact. 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.

---

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.

---

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.

---

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

Huāngxīng - Zev Sokkestî

Huāngxīng - The Broken Promise

Huāngxīng is a word of many names - every Human tribe has it's own word for the desolate planet. It's common name comes from the Qiushi tribe, and was adopted by the Urdji tribes after first contact. It is believed that prior to the Human exodus the planet had only been observed from afar, and the immense physical distance between the Haven system and Sol made it impossible to ascertain the current state of the world. When the Human tribes transited the gateway, they found a charred and radioactive wasteland. In the century it took for the light of Haven to reach Sol, Huāngxīng had given rise to a technological civilization - and that civilization had promptly ended itself in nuclear flame. Had the gateway been opened mere years prior, the Human tribes would have arrived to find a thriving civilization on the cusp of interplanetary travel.

There was not a single survivor of the nuclear holocaust. Only three bodies were recovered and preserved - all found on the surface of Huāngxīng's first moon, helmets removed and vacuum suits half-removed, alien words haphazardly carved into the rock beneath the regolith. They had chosen to mummify their bodies in the vacuum of space, probably in the hopes that some more advanced race would arrive and be capable of resurrecting or cloning them. Unfortunately, all the Humans could do was freeze the bodies more properly and put them on display, an eternal reminder that mankind had very nearly suffered the same fate.

Prior to the Komellşer Huāngxīng was largely ignored by humanity, with settlements only lasting a few years at most before being abandoned. Most expeditions to the planet's surface were only intended to scavenge through the ruins, or study the dying, irradiated biosphere. Artwork and trinkets from Huāngxīng were a sought-after luxury in the Human Middle Age. With the onset of the Komellşer came a great increase in activities planetside, as Urdji and Human tribes tried to escape the war by making landfall and the D'jim invested heavily into water gathering operations (Haven's sole gas giant being under Urdji-Human control, the D'jim had to use ice and water to produce fusion fuel). By war's end the planet had become sparsely populated by war refugees and semi-permanent military emplacements, and both Urdji and Human tribes began taking steps to repair the planet's devastated biosphere.

After two centuries of work, Huāngxīng has become somewhat habitable. Large swaths of the planet, primarily less valuable areas like deserts and tundra, remain irradiated and lifeless. The temperate and tropical zones, however, are now home to thriving communities. The former population centers of the long-dead natives are still considered unsafe for habitation, but expeditions into them are undertaken on a regular basis for archeological and scientific purposes, as well as simple scavenging. With only two exceptions (the port cities of Anchorage and Kani) communities on the surface are small, rural settlements which rarely exceed a thousand inhabitants. The previous civilization's roads are still in use, having been patched up by settlers. Despite these roads, however, the famous Terran Horse is a favorite transportation method.

Though Huāngxīng itself is rather isolated from the population centers of the belt, it's orbital space is a cornerstone of the Confederate economy. It's moon, Vulcan, is home to the Haven system's largest shipbuilding, arms, and machinery guilds. The stations of electronic, chemical, and biological concerns dot Huāngxīng's orbit, exploiting both the zero-g environment and Huāngxīng's own unique resources. Though the planet is far from the center of the Confederacy, more guilds move from the belt to Huāngxīng every year to exploit lower shipping expenses and better access to the cutting-edge of their respective industries. It is not hard to imagine the planet one day becoming the crown jewel of the Confederacy.

---

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

Haeşik jiv Nanlîk

Technology of the Confederacy

Cooperation between the Urdji and Human peoples has brought about a diverse array of technologies and scientific advancements previously unknown to both species. The Urdji, in their millenia of travel, have refined and perfected the sciences which kept the nomad fleet breathing, fed, and safe. So often faced with resource shortages, harsh conditions, and strict time constraints Urdji engineers have a long tradition of malleable, outside-the-box thinking and willingness to take immense risks for the sake of survival. The result is a vibrant (if somewhat mad) scientific community with no shortage of risk-takers and daredevils.

The Humans, by contrast, contribute much less in the way of the practical sciences. The Urdji had thousands of years to perfect their engineering - the Humans arrived a few centuries ago in stolen ships. What the Human sciences do provide, however, is a great wealth of physical, mathematic, and theoretical knowledge. It was their extensive understanding of quantum physics that allowed the creation of the Haven system's real-time communications network. Modern quantum computers and AI systems also draw heavily from Human physical knowledge.

Genetic Engineering and the Biological Sciences

The Confederacy is not especially advanced in the field of genetic engineering. You cannot order a designer child, or create a new species from scratch in a test tube. Any genetically modified organism is the result of years of trial and error experimentation, and as a result genetic modification of sentients is quite rare, expensive, and limited in scope. It is possible to, for example, modify oneself with a mutation to increase stamina, bone density, or muscle mass, but it is not possible for an Urdji child to be engineered to be born without wings. As most existing augmentations were developed from genetic disorders already present in the population, there are also a number of potential drawbacks. Still, Rangers undergo relatively extensive modification, and life-extension treatment through gene therapy is commonplace.

Most major fruits of Confederate biotech are the result of good old, hands-on genetic engineering - the selective breeding over countless generations to produce the perfect specimen. The Urdji, throughout their travels, have forcibly bred a number of species into existence to serve their needs and solve their problems. The staple crops of the Urdji are all believed to be the result of extensive genetic manipulation and breeding.

On the planet of Huāngxīng genetic modification is an incredibly important part of daily life. The overwhelming majority of the planet's flora and fauna have been heavily modified, either in an effort to make them better suit colonization or restore mutated populations to an approximation of their original form. Species imported to the planet have also undergone modification so as not to threaten the native ecosystem (or what remains of it). Most of the sentient population, too, still carries genes implanted into first-generation colonists to protect them from the planet's harsh environment.

Though genetic modification technogy is both fairly advanced and commonplace, it should be noted that it is far from a prestigious, high-tech industry. Only the wealthiest of liveship dwellers purchase their augmentations in gilded stores - most of those who carry genetic modifications either purchased them from local gene-artisans or just did it themselves (to varying degrees of success). There is little activity on the industry's cutting edge, with the majority of augmentations taking the form of well-understood, minor tweaks in the genetic code that have been understood for generations.

Artificial Intelligence, Electronics, and Computing

The advent of Human quantum computing and telecommunications was a game-changer for Urdji society. For the first time the tribes could communicate with each other instantaneously, without worrying about light lag. Quantum-based artificial intelligence constructs have come to take over much of the burden of the liveships' managerial overhead. Even on the small scale, Human quantum and digital computers revolutionized Urdji manufacturing, commerce, and entertainment. Prior to contact with Humanity the Urdji lacked anything even approaching a "modern computer", utilizing highly specialized, purpose-built devices - and even then only for those tasks that absolutely required them.

The state of Artificial Intelligence in the Confederacy teeters on the edge of the singularity. Cutting-edge AIs, especially those used as shipboard operations assistants by the Rangers, can already pass the Turing test with flying colors. Having been designed to function in any possible situation, these intelligences certainly appear to be AGIs. Indeed, many suggest that they may already be conscious. While advanced, AI technology is not exactly widespread - even basic situational intelligences are nigh unheard of in many Urdji tribes. Even the most impoverished Human tribes, on the other hand, make extensive use of AI and machine learning algorithms.

Research into the field of AI is heavily focused on the creation of human-level AGIs, rather than situational intelligences with direct practical uses. Having the assistance of a conscious, creative being tied directly to a computer system (be it that of a starship or of a factory) is considered profoundly valuable. Countless man-hours have gone into the design of "useless" AI systems to effectively recreate emotions, irrationality, and the many idiosyncrasies of intelligent life as we know it in the pursuit of a true AGI. A human-level or greater intelligence lacking those traits, it is widely believed, would more or less represent a speciation event and a permanent split in the evolutionary paths of organic and synthetic life. The scientific community generally agrees that such an event would not favor the organic.

Materials Science

Room-temperature superconductors are unsurprisingly an integral part of Confederate infrastructure. The Urdji had been using them for most of their recorded history prior to contact with Humanity, and it was one of the first technologies they would share with the Human tribes. The manufacture of these superconductors had become relatively mundane for the Urdji, and in the modern Confederacy they are used to their fullest extent. Starship drives, power systems, and computers all make use of a variety of superconducting alloys and metamaterials.

Biologically-derived materials have always been common among the Urdji tribes, and remain in heavy use in the Confederacy as artificial materials have yet to quite match them. The semi-crystalline cylindriform silk that forms Urdji hair and feathers is traditionally used by Rangers to weave armor and clothing, but in the current era synthetic cultivation of this material in laboratory environments has enabled widespread use. Even starships tend to make use of it in their armor.

In the field of metallurgy, highly complex alloys are a tradition of sorts among Urdji tribes. With Human manufacturing technology allowing for greater precision in alloy production, these once rare materials have become overwhelmingly common. Starship armor tends to be a composite of dozens of separate alloys, augmented with silk, aerogels, and other unconventional materials.

Energy and Propulsion

There is very little energy in the Confederacy that is not generated in fusion reactors. Helium-3 is one of the most vital commodities for any tribe, and in the Human Middle Age wars were quite often fought over helium-3 deposits. Urdji civilization, of course, has subsisted on fusion power for thousands of years. Reactor designs in the modern day are extremely diverse, with Urjdi and Human engineers feeding off of each others' ideas to produce new, experimental reactors. Traditionally the Urdji have used gargantuan magnetic confinement reactors to power their starships, while humans tended to use inertial confinement reactors instead - primarily due to a lack of practical superconductors. In the centuries following contact both reactor concepts have seen great leaps in output and efficiency.

In the field of propulsion, direct fusion drives are overwhelmingly the most common form of starship engine. Magnetoplasma engines are common in smaller craft, and larger vessels sometimes use them as secondary drives. Traditional chemical rocket engines do still exist, but are rarely seen in applications outside of maneuvering thrusters.

---

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

Zev Nanlîki Leşkkrî

The Confederate Military

The Confederacy is not the most stable of nations. Inter-tribal feuds are commonplace, and the many tribes of the Confederacy operate their own independent militaries to protect their interests. Nothing which one could reasonably describe as a war has broken out in a little over a century, but tribal fleets are commonly used to intimidate rivals and put "a little extra weight" on proposals to the Confederate Council. Beyond their political roles, the tribal fleets are commonly deployed against pirates (or as privateers, depending on the tribe's inclinations).

Though the majority of military power is centered in tribal fleets, the Confederacy does have a standing military. The Ranger Corps answers only to the Confederate Council, and exists to serve as the Confederacy's vanguard against alien threats. The Ranger Corps is the only official military outfit besides the Leşkgemmar Commandos to operate formal ground forces, but said forces consist only of a handful of special operations teams (which lack the training and equipment to reasonably be considered as such) and armed planetary survey teams. If you see a soldier on the surface of Huāngxīng they are almost certainly just a militiaman or a member of some vigilante posse.

Ranger Corps Naval Forces

The Naval arm of the Ranger Corps is the best equipped and best trained interplanetary combat outfit in the entire Haven system. The right hand of the Council, it serves the interests of civilized space as a whole. Though it's primary purpose is to act as a vanguard against unknown threats, it does undertake a great number of exploration and peacekeeping missions from the star of Haven all the way to the Oort Cloud. The starships of the Ranger Corps are always the golden standard by which others are measured, each class representing the very cutting edge of Confederate technology. Some Ranger units are designated experimental squadrons, where prototype vessels and technologies are tested in the field.

Tyr'Irê Class Frigate


The Tyr'Irê (lit. Spearbearer) Frigate is the smallest warship in service with the Ranger Corps. Unlike many ships of its class, which are deployed as light patrol vessels, the Tyr'Irê is designed to operate in hunter-killer packs to take down significantly larger warships. As the Ranger Corps does not perform patrol duties near planets and ports it has little need for designated coastal craft, which led to the current usage of it's most common frigate as something akin to a torpedo boat. Tyr'Irê frigates rely on their small complement of missiles and their spinal railgun to take down their prey, and in the realm of defenses they have only their twin laser CIWS turrets and two quadruple coilguns (which are regarded as more of a last resort weapon than anything else).

Energia Class Destroyer


Notable for being the only standardized class of Ranger warships given a name in a human language, the Energia also happens to be notable for lacking a defined role. This is not the product of a genius modular design, but rather the result of the failure of it's main weapon from a practical standpoint. Armed with a spinal plasma lance siphoning directly from the fusion drive core, the Energia was intended to provide capital-class firepower on a destroyer's size and budget without the issues inherent with torpedo armaments. Unfortunately, this weapon has proved to be an abject failure as at full power output it becomes dangerously unreliable. As a result it has ended up having less stopping power than the spinal railguns it was meant to replace. The only saving grace of the Energia class - and the reason it has become the favored destroyer of the Corps - is it's well-rounded and simple design. With a solid complement of missiles, reliable if low-range coilguns, and formidable electronic warfare suite the Energia is well-suited to most any situation. Even the infamously "useless" plasma lance has found a niche use case thanks to its accuracy at long range.

Ranger Corps Marines and Militia

Human Tribal Naval Forces

Human tribal navies are particularly standardized when compared to their Urdji equivalents. Many Human tribes share ship classes and systems, and all Human vessels have remarkably similar silhouettes. This is no surprise - the Human tribes all drew from the same small sample size of technology and doctrine. Though the Human tribes do have a somewhat deserved reputation for piracy, they do all claim long and storied naval traditions - going back, of course, to the waters of their long-lost homeworld. Human designs tend to be quite romantic in form, sacrificing at times sensibility for displays of "glory" and "heritage" that the Urdji simply paint onto their vessels like sane sapients.

Mishima Class Light Cruiser, Tribe Gekokujo

Human Tribal Marines and Militia

Urdji Tribal Naval Forces

Urdji tribal navies are far more varied in design than their Human counterparts, and as such it is hard to give an effective cross-section of Urdji design philosophy and doctrine. Indeed, many Urdji tribal navies are comprised largely of civilian vessels in the first place. However, the greatest of Urdji tribes do operate proper, dedicated warships. For the sake of brevity, only vessels of Leşkgemmar make have been included.

Light Cruiser Işken-ji-Neva

Urdji Tribal Marines and Militia

@Keyguyperson

Do you have a PHD in English or something? How are you able to write so well, so extensively.

[ClocktowerEchos]

@Cloakedrider Practice and exprience, most of us have been doing this for literal years at this point.

[Cloakedrider]

Guardian Angels

Location
The Heaven-Realm, consist of a series of Halo Planets on the outskirts of our currently known multiverse, within an indigo-blue nebula and Planet Tzak is in the Heaven Realm.
Demographics
The population of the Heaven-Realm planets is estimated to be 76 billion and on-going. Guardian Angels form 50% of the population whilst the other 50% is formed from humans.

However, the population on planet Tzak is estimated to be 100,000.
Planet Tzak.
Planet Tzak is a planet very similar to Earth. However, it contains very significant godly locations within it such as the Garden of Eden, the Garden of Lilith, God’s Centralised Government for the Heaven Realm, and God’s Guardian Angel Academy.
Planet Tzak Education
The Education of Planet Tzak is the most advanced in the Heaven Realm. It teaches Guardian Angel Science. Guardian Angel Science teaches that the multiverse which consist of heaven, purgatory, and hell realms are composed of microscopic, telescopic, and scenery-treadmill skin adjectives. They are named skin adjectives because an individual adds the materials, or neurotransmitters to their basic skin. There are 118 basic skin adjectives which are in the skin adjective table, then they form into innumerable materials, and neurotransmitters.
It also teaches the microscopic skin adjectives, which humans call electrons, are organised by Halo-Rings, which is symbolism to show that God’s Guardian Angels are omnipotent in the Heaven-Realm. In Human language Halo Rings, are the equivalent of energy shells.

Planet Tzak Culture and Society.
The families within the Heaven-Realm are called Garden-tribes. They live within a certain Garden together. They were allocated to the different Gardens by matching hypothesis of their favourite animals, and 16 personalities type.
Examples are:
The Garden of Eden – About 30 to 40 members live within this Garden and they all participate in agriculture.
The Garden of Lilith – About 30 to 40 members live within this Garden and they all participate in agriculture.
And the Garden of Eve - About 30 to 40 members live within this Garden, and they all participate in agriculture.
(Plus, more to be added)
History
Planet Tzak was one of the most original planets to form after the Big Bang.

Governance and Politics
The hierarchy of Planet Tzak is monotheistic/polytheistic rule based on infradian, circadian, ultradian cycles of votes.
The Polytheistic rule is based on the ability for plural Guardian Angels earning the title of God because they do their guardian of the destitute jobs so well, compared to other Guardian Angels.
The Monotheistic rule is based on a singular guardian angel earning the title of God because he/she does their Guardian of the destitute jobs so well, compared to other Guardian Angels.
To end either rule, there needs to be an election every four years to ensure they are doing their job properly. If not, Guardian Angels can vote for an elite group of Guardian Angels to rule Planet Tzak as a polytheistic rule, or a different singular vote.

Technology Overview:
Guardian Angel Science does not yet use modern machinery. Instead, they use medieval weapons and transport. Current research is looking for how to travel through a black-hole.
Military Overview
The Guardian Angel Ministry of Defence are responsible for protecting the Heaven-Realm, controlling the Hell Realm, and providing guidance in the purgatory Realm.

The Military consist of:
The military consist of ten-thousand-infantry soldiers, who use swords, daggers, crossbows, and longbows.
And five thousand Dragon Mounts.

[Enigmatik]

Hi @Cloakedrider! Unfortunately, I'm going to have to reject the sheet entirely, for several reasons:

Firstly, the mention of a 'multiverse' and the overall population of 76 billion are in complete violation of the founding conceit of the RP, and the mention of black-hole travel violates the rule on FTL travel as well. Secondly, there is no mention of other important elements the colonies share- such as the Earth heritage or the Gateways, and the sheet insufficiently explains what the Hell and Purgatory Realm are, along with what the 'dragon mounts' are.

Additionally, many other elements of the nation are entirely unclear. The dual monotheistic/polytheistic nature is not given nearly enough explanation as these are two directly opposed belief systems (excluding henotheism,) what exactly a guardian angel is, and how a nation can simultaneously be using medieval methods of travel and warfare whilst still successfully maintaining a star-spanning empire and researching black holes.

Finally, the sheet fails to meet the typically accepted standards for 'advanced' RP on the guild. Although I could reccomend many changes to bring the Guardians in line with the rest of the RP, I would instead reccomend searching in other areas of the guild, and I wish you the best of luck in your future writing on the site.

[Cloakedrider]

Hi @Cloakedrider! Unfortunately, I'm going to have to reject the sheet entirely, for several reasons:

Firstly, the mention of a 'multiverse' and the overall population of 76 billion are in complete violation of the founding conceit of the RP, and the mention of black-hole travel violates the rule on FTL travel as well. Secondly, there is no mention of other important elements the colonies share- such as the Earth heritage or the Gateways, and the sheet insufficiently explains what the Hell and Purgatory Realm are, along with what the 'dragon mounts' are.

Additionally, many other elements of the nation are entirely unclear. The dual monotheistic/polytheistic nature is not given nearly enough explanation as these are two directly opposed belief systems (excluding henotheism,) what exactly a guardian angel is, and how a nation can simultaneously be using medieval methods of travel and warfare whilst still successfully maintaining a star-spanning empire and researching black holes.

Finally, the sheet fails to meet the typically accepted standards for 'advanced' RP on the guild. Although I could reccomend many changes to bring the Guardians in line with the rest of the RP, I would instead reccomend searching in other areas of the guild, and I wish you the best of luck in your future writing on the site.

@Irredeemable

Thank you Irredeemable, I should have read the original post more.

Although you advise checking out other roleplaying guilds, I would like to ask for you to give me one more chance of a post.

[Keyguyperson]

Here's my completed NS, finally. Once I get the go-ahead to move it to the Characters tab I'll add a section for notable ships, characters, and whatnot that I'll add to as they appear.

Urdji-Gelderruhê Nanlîkrin Eşîrsaya/Urdji-Human Confederated Tribes

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 came into contact. 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

Huāngxīng is a word of many names - every Human tribe has it's own word for the desolate planet. It's common name comes from the Qiushi tribe, and was adopted by the Urdji tribes after first contact. It is believed that prior to the Human exodus the planet had only been observed from afar, and the immense physical distance between the Haven system and Sol made it impossible to ascertain the current state of the world. When the Human tribes transited the gateway, they found a charred and radioactive wasteland. In the century it took for the light of Haven to reach Sol, Huāngxīng had given rise to a technological civilization - and that civilization had promptly ended itself in nuclear flame. Had the gateway been opened mere years prior, the Human tribes would have arrived to find a thriving civilization on the cusp of interplanetary travel.

There was not a single survivor of the nuclear holocaust. Only three bodies were recovered and preserved - all found on the surface of Huāngxīng's first moon, helmets removed and vacuum suits half-removed, alien words haphazardly carved into the rock beneath the regolith. They had chosen to mummify their bodies in the vacuum of space, probably in the hopes that some more advanced race would arrive and be capable of resurrecting or cloning them. Unfortunately, all the Humans could do was freeze the bodies more properly and put them on display, an eternal reminder that mankind had very nearly suffered the same fate.

Prior to the Komellşer Huāngxīng was largely ignored by humanity, with settlements only lasting a few years at most before being abandoned. Most expeditions to the planet's surface were only intended to scavenge through the ruins, or study the dying, irradiated biosphere. Artwork and trinkets from Huāngxīng were a sought-after luxury in the Human Middle Age. With the onset of the Komellşer came a great increase in activities planetside, as Urdji and Human tribes tried to escape the war by making landfall and the D'jim invested heavily into water gathering operations (Haven's sole gas giant being under Urdji-Human control, the D'jim had to use ice and water to produce fusion fuel). By war's end the planet had become sparsely populated by war refugees and semi-permanent military emplacements, and both Urdji and Human tribes began taking steps to repair the planet's devastated biosphere.

After two centuries of work, Huāngxīng has become somewhat habitable. Large swaths of the planet, primarily less valuable areas like deserts and tundra, remain irradiated and lifeless. The temperate and tropical zones, however, are now home to thriving communities. The former population centers of the long-dead natives are still considered unsafe for habitation, but expeditions into them are undertaken on a regular basis for archeological and scientific purposes, as well as simple scavenging. With only two exceptions (the port cities of Anchorage and Kani) communities on the surface are small, rural settlements which rarely exceed a thousand inhabitants. The previous civilization's roads are still in use, having been patched up by settlers. Despite these roads, however, the famous Terran Horse is a favorite transportation method.

Though Huāngxīng itself is rather isolated from the population centers of the belt, it's orbital space is a cornerstone of the Confederate economy. It's moon, Vulcan, is home to the Haven system's largest shipbuilding, arms, and machinery guilds. The stations of electronic, chemical, and biological concerns dot Huāngxīng's orbit, exploiting both the zero-g environment and Huāngxīng's own unique resources. Though the planet is far from the center of the Confederacy, more guilds move from the belt to Huāngxīng every year to exploit lower shipping expenses and better access to the cutting-edge of their respective industries. It is not hard to imagine the planet one day becoming the crown jewel of the Confederacy.

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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

Cooperation between the Urdji and Human peoples has brought about a diverse array of technologies and scientific advancements previously unknown to both species. The Urdji, in their millenia of travel, have refined and perfected the sciences which kept the nomad fleet breathing, fed, and safe. So often faced with resource shortages, harsh conditions, and strict time constraints Urdji engineers have a long tradition of malleable, outside-the-box thinking and willingness to take immense risks for the sake of survival. The result is a vibrant (if somewhat mad) scientific community with no shortage of risk-takers and daredevils.

The Humans, by contrast, contribute much less in the way of the practical sciences. The Urdji had thousands of years to perfect their engineering - the Humans arrived a few centuries ago in stolen ships. What the Human sciences do provide, however, is a great wealth of physical, mathematic, and theoretical knowledge. It was their extensive understanding of quantum physics that allowed the creation of the Haven system's real-time communications network. Modern quantum computers and AI systems also draw heavily from Human physical knowledge.

Genetic Engineering and the Biological Sciences

The Confederacy is not especially advanced in the field of genetic engineering. You cannot order a designer child, or create a new species from scratch in a test tube. Any genetically modified organism is the result of years of trial and error experimentation, and as a result genetic modification of sentients is quite rare, expensive, and limited in scope. It is possible to, for example, modify oneself with a mutation to increase stamina, bone density, or muscle mass, but it is not possible for an Urdji child to be engineered to be born without wings. As most existing augmentations were developed from genetic disorders already present in the population, there are also a number of potential drawbacks. Still, Rangers undergo relatively extensive modification, and life-extension treatment through gene therapy is commonplace.

Most major fruits of Confederate biotech are the result of good old, hands-on genetic engineering - the selective breeding over countless generations to produce the perfect specimen. The Urdji, throughout their travels, have forcibly bred a number of species into existence to serve their needs and solve their problems. The staple crops of the Urdji are all believed to be the result of extensive genetic manipulation and breeding.

On the planet of Huāngxīng genetic modification is an incredibly important part of daily life. The overwhelming majority of the planet's flora and fauna have been heavily modified, either in an effort to make them better suit colonization or restore mutated populations to an approximation of their original form. Species imported to the planet have also undergone modification so as not to threaten the native ecosystem (or what remains of it). Most of the sentient population, too, still carries genes implanted into first-generation colonists to protect them from the planet's harsh environment.

Though genetic modification technogy is both fairly advanced and commonplace, it should be noted that it is far from a prestigious, high-tech industry. Only the wealthiest of liveship dwellers purchase their augmentations in gilded stores - most of those who carry genetic modifications either purchased them from local gene-artisans or just did it themselves (to varying degrees of success). There is little activity on the industry's cutting edge, with the majority of augmentations taking the form of well-understood, minor tweaks in the genetic code that have been understood for generations.

Artificial Intelligence, Electronics, and Computing

The advent of Human quantum computing and telecommunications was a game-changer for Urdji society. For the first time the tribes could communicate with each other instantaneously, without worrying about light lag. Quantum-based artificial intelligence constructs have come to take over much of the burden of the liveships' managerial overhead. Even on the small scale, Human quantum and digital computers revolutionized Urdji manufacturing, commerce, and entertainment. Prior to contact with Humanity the Urdji lacked anything even approaching a "modern computer", utilizing highly specialized, purpose-built devices - and even then only for those tasks that absolutely required them.

The state of Artificial Intelligence in the Confederacy teeters on the edge of the singularity. Cutting-edge AIs, especially those used as shipboard operations assistants by the Rangers, can already pass the Turing test with flying colors. Having been designed to function in any possible situation, these intelligences certainly appear to be AGIs. Indeed, many suggest that they may already be conscious. While advanced, AI technology is not exactly widespread - even basic situational intelligences are nigh unheard of in many Urdji tribes. Even the most impoverished Human tribes, on the other hand, make extensive use of AI and machine learning algorithms.

Research into the field of AI is heavily focused on the creation of human-level AGIs, rather than situational intelligences with direct practical uses. Having the assistance of a conscious, creative being tied directly to a computer system (be it that of a starship or of a factory) is considered profoundly valuable. Countless man-hours have gone into the design of "useless" AI systems to effectively recreate emotions, irrationality, and the many idiosyncrasies of intelligent life as we know it in the pursuit of a true AGI. A human-level or greater intelligence lacking those traits, it is widely believed, would more or less represent a speciation event and a permanent split in the evolutionary paths of organic and synthetic life. The scientific community generally agrees that such an event would not favor the organic.

Materials Science

Room-temperature superconductors are unsurprisingly an integral part of Confederate infrastructure. The Urdji had been using them for most of their recorded history prior to contact with Humanity, and it was one of the first technologies they would share with the Human tribes. The manufacture of these superconductors had become relatively mundane for the Urdji, and in the modern Confederacy they are used to their fullest extent. Starship drives, power systems, and computers all make use of a variety of superconducting alloys and metamaterials.

Biologically-derived materials have always been common among the Urdji tribes, and remain in heavy use in the Confederacy as artificial materials have yet to quite match them. The semi-crystalline cylindriform silk that forms Urdji hair and feathers is traditionally used by Rangers to weave armor and clothing, but in the current era synthetic cultivation of this material in laboratory environments has enabled widespread use. Even starships tend to make use of it in their armor.

In the field of metallurgy, highly complex alloys are a tradition of sorts among Urdji tribes. With Human manufacturing technology allowing for greater precision in alloy production, these once rare materials have become overwhelmingly common. Starship armor tends to be a composite of dozens of separate alloys, augmented with silk, aerogels, and other unconventional materials.

Energy and Propulsion

There is very little energy in the Confederacy that is not generated in fusion reactors. Helium-3 is one of the most vital commodities for any tribe, and in the Human Middle Age wars were quite often fought over helium-3 deposits. Urdji civilization, of course, has subsisted on fusion power for thousands of years. Reactor designs in the modern day are extremely diverse, with Urjdi and Human engineers feeding off of each others' ideas to produce new, experimental reactors. Traditionally the Urdji have used gargantuan magnetic confinement reactors to power their starships, while humans tended to use inertial confinement reactors instead - primarily due to a lack of practical superconductors. In the centuries following contact both reactor concepts have seen great leaps in output and efficiency.

In the field of propulsion, direct fusion drives are overwhelmingly the most common form of starship engine. Magnetoplasma engines are common in smaller craft, and larger vessels sometimes use them as secondary drives. Traditional chemical rocket engines do still exist, but are rarely seen in applications outside of maneuvering thrusters.

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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

The Confederacy is not the most stable of nations. Inter-tribal feuds are commonplace, and the many tribes of the Confederacy operate their own independent militaries to protect their interests. Nothing which one could reasonably describe as a war has broken out in a little over a century, but tribal fleets are commonly used to intimidate rivals and put "a little extra weight" on proposals to the Confederate Council. Beyond their political roles, the tribal fleets are commonly deployed against pirates (or as privateers, depending on the tribe's inclinations).

Though the majority of military power is centered in tribal fleets, the Confederacy does have a standing military. The Ranger Corps answers only to the Confederate Council, and exists to serve as the Confederacy's vanguard against alien threats. The Ranger Corps is the only official military outfit besides the Leşkgemmar Commandos to operate formal ground forces, but said forces consist only of a handful of special operations teams (which lack the training and equipment to reasonably be considered as such) and armed planetary survey teams. If you see a soldier on the surface of Huāngxīng they are almost certainly just a militiaman or a member of some vigilante posse.

Ranger Corps Naval Forces

The Naval arm of the Ranger Corps is the best equipped and best trained interplanetary combat outfit in the entire Haven system. The right hand of the Council, it serves the interests of civilized space as a whole. Though it's primary purpose is to act as a vanguard against unknown threats, it does undertake a great number of exploration and peacekeeping missions from the star of Haven all the way to the Oort Cloud. The starships of the Ranger Corps are always the golden standard by which others are measured, each class representing the very cutting edge of Confederate technology. Some Ranger units are designated experimental squadrons, where prototype vessels and technologies are tested in the field.

Tyr'Irê Class Frigate


The Tyr'Irê (lit. Spearbearer) Frigate is the smallest warship in service with the Ranger Corps. Unlike many ships of its class, which are deployed as light patrol vessels, the Tyr'Irê is designed to operate in hunter-killer packs to take down significantly larger warships. As the Ranger Corps does not perform patrol duties near planets and ports it has little need for designated coastal craft, which led to the current usage of it's most common frigate as something akin to a torpedo boat. Tyr'Irê frigates rely on their small complement of missiles and their spinal railgun to take down their prey, and in the realm of defenses they have only their twin laser CIWS turrets and two quadruple coilguns (which are regarded as more of a last resort weapon than anything else).

Energia Class Destroyer


Notable for being the only standardized class of Ranger warships given a name in a human language, the Energia also happens to be notable for lacking a defined role. This is not the product of a genius modular design, but rather the result of the failure of it's main weapon from a practical standpoint. Armed with a spinal plasma lance siphoning directly from the fusion drive core, the Energia was intended to provide capital-class firepower on a destroyer's size and budget without the issues inherent with torpedo armaments. Unfortunately, this weapon has proved to be an abject failure as at full power output it becomes dangerously unreliable. As a result it has ended up having less stopping power than the spinal railguns it was meant to replace. The only saving grace of the Energia class - and the reason it has become the favored destroyer of the Corps - is it's well-rounded and simple design. With a solid complement of missiles, reliable if low-range coilguns, and a formidable electronic warfare suite the Energia is well-suited to most any situation. Even the infamously "useless" plasma lance has found a niche use case thanks to its accuracy at long range.

Reshjemi-Class Cruiser


Referred to by Human tribes as a Light Cruiser, the Reshjemi is the poster boy of the Ranger Corps. It was built from the ground-up to be the backbone of the Ranger Corps and it's primary long-range expeditionary vessel. Sporting an oversized propulsion section and extensive hydroponics facilties the Reshjemi can (on paper) fly to Haven's closest neighboring star and back without resupply. It's central hangar is, in standard configuration, equipped with two planetary landing craft, one prospecting vessel, a short-range crew shuttle, and a small flight of six fighter craft. The Reshjemi's immense range and high degree of operative independence lends itself well to outer-system patrols, and Reshjemi Cruisers are often home to marine platoons deployed to conduct anti-piracy activities in the Haven system's Belt. Though somewhat lacking in broadside firepower, the Reshjemi carries an adequate missile armament and sports an unusually high-caliber spinal railgun. It may not be the be-all-end-all of space combat like a battleship, but it is often more than enough to make any pirate squadron turn tail.

Zetjemi-Class Cruiser


The Zetjemi Cruiser is the Reshjemi's bigger, stronger brother. Generally referred to as a Heavy Cruiser by the Humans, the Zetjemi is a dedicated combat vessel that - like the Frigates and Destroyers of the Ranger Corps - cannot operate independently at interstellar ranges. It's extensive missile complement and impressive spinal railgun give it enough punch to be sensibly classified as a capital ship, and in battle it will often fulfill just that role. Unlike traditional Ranger battleships it lacks an armament of high-caliber turreted railguns, a deficiency which is (hopefully) easily countered by it's missile systems.

Chinvat-Class Battleship


The Chinvat is the largest combat vessel operated by the Ranger Corps. A fairly rare sight in the Haven system, it represents the absolute height of Confederate technology and industrial strength. It was one of the first of the current-generation warships to enter the design phase, and is a true fusion of Human and Urdji thought. Four triple-gun turrets provide it with impressive broadside firepower, while it's spinal railgun is the most powerful of any dedicated combat vessel in Confederate space. Five hangars hold just over a hundred fighters and lancers, four picket boats, a small complement of landing craft, and either two frigate sized warships or a flight of ancillary craft. The Chinvat is, functionally, more or less a liveship - able to support its entire crew complement indefinitely and subsist on its own throughout generational interstellar journeys. In times of war it can act as a forward staging ground for an entire task force.

Ranger Corps Marines

The Ranger Corps is home to the only genuinely competent and formidable ground forces in the entire Confederacy. Every member of the Ranger Corps is trained (at least briefly) in the full gravity of Huāngxīng, and even your average spacer is issued with a standard sidearm. Though most Rangers only ever serve aboard starships, the Corps has multiple ground warfare and spec-ops units. Most of these draw from the heritage of the Ranger Corps as a scouting force for the Great Fleet, where Rangers were required to survey the surfaces of alien worlds both for valuable resources and hostile alien life.

The marines of the Ranger Corps are well equipped compared to their tribal counterparts, with standardized arms, uniforms, and armor throughout the Corps. Various guilds on the moon of Vulcan are contracted to produce equipment specifically for Ranger marines, including some light vehicles like ATVs and transport trucks. Armored vehicles, however, are still merely improvised. Though small and far from a truly professional modern army, the Ranger marines are easily the most powerful land force in the Confederacy.

Pictured below is a Ranger in the deserts of Huāngxīng, surveying native ruins.

Human Tribal Naval Forces

Human tribal navies are particularly standardized when compared to their Urdji equivalents. Many Human tribes share ship classes and systems, and all Human vessels have remarkably similar silhouettes. This is no surprise - the Human tribes all drew from the same small sample size of technology and doctrine. Though the Human tribes do have a somewhat deserved reputation for piracy, they do all claim long and storied naval traditions - going back, of course, to the waters of their long-lost homeworld. Human designs tend to be quite romantic in form, sacrificing at times sensibility for displays of "glory" and "heritage" that the Urdji simply paint onto their vessels like sane sapients.

Mishima Class Light Cruiser, Tribe Gekokujo


The Mishima class of Light Cruisers are one of the Gekokujo tribe's favorite "goods acquisition" vessels. They are built to quickly approach "enemy combatants", engage them, take their "payment", and return to the liveships as fast as possible. Derisively known as the Raider Class to the Lincoln Tribe, the Mishima Light Cruiser is one of the most fearsome silhouettes to see in Haven's outer planets. An armament of twelve small but practical railguns gives the ship firepower capable of overwhelming anything short of a Ranger Cruiser, and it's hot-burning drives let it run from anything it can't overwhelm. In extreme-range combat it has only its spinal railgun to rely upon, armed with a paltry array of missiles and only two low-complement torpedo tubes. Excellent CIWS weapons coverage, however, keeps it safe in it's charge towards or escape from the enemy.

Lushan Class Heavy Cruiser, Tribe Quishi


The Lushan class has long been the backbone of the Quishi tribe's standing Navy. An aging design, it is now being largely replaced with Urdji-Human hybrid designs among the Quishi's own fleets, but it remains in heavy use by the Mugunghwa tribe. In fact, retired Lushan class ships are often immediately flown over to Mugunghwa tribal space and rechristened before they can even be officially stricken from the Quishi registry. Thanks to their history as one of the last warships to be designed prior to Human-Urdji contact the Lushan class is an excellent example of Middle Age Human ship design. It's boxy design is typical of early Human vessels, and the Lushan class is visibly not unlike the warships once flown in man's own home system. The Lushan's simple construction and usage of mass-produced parts, as well as its incredibly long service life, makes it a practical and economical choice for just about anyone to operate. Even the Ranger Corps makes use of Lushan cruisers in coastal patrol roles in the Belt.

O'Malley Class Battleship, Tribe Europa


The O'Malley battleship is an excellent expression of the Europa tribe's cultural obsession with "glory". Able to match a Ranger Corps Chinvat battleship one-on-one, the O'Malley is the last thing any pirate in the rim wants to see on their sensors. Thankfully they probably won't see it on their sensors because the Europa tribe only operates two. Some say the O'Malley's immense power is the sole reason the Europa tribe is actually considered a proper tribe, others say they'd be much better off if they just built cruisers like sane people (and they probably would). However the Europan's strange sense of pride led them to build two of the most powerful battleships in Human history instead. The O'Malley is no doubt a formidable vessel, owing to its quick speed and outstanding firepower, but in an all-out war it is next to useless without support craft - support craft the Europa tribe does not have to spare. The hydrogen-guzzling drives of the two battleships keep them in their berths in times of all but the highest tensions.

Enterprise Class Fleet Carrier, Tribe Lincoln


Form over function put into physical form and molded into the shape of a spacecraft, the Enterprise Carriers are the Lincoln tribe's pride, joy, and recruiting poster stars. Modeled after the naval carriers of old Earth the flat-topped Enterprise Carriers do actually have some advantages over their more conventional brethren with side-opening hangar bays. The rail catapults on the decks give craft launched from an Enterprise class significantly more range, and the large aft decks make for rapid recovery of even damaged craft. The Enterprise carriers are designed to, much like Ranger battleships, operate indefinitely at interstellar range - a rarity among the Human tribes. As such they tend to act as mobile shipyards and staging grounds for Lincoln tribal fleets, which has made them invaluable for force projection and intimidation. Dedicated carriers are a uniquely Human concept, but the niche successes of the Enterprise Carriers do present an argument for their adoption by the Rangers and Urdji tribes.

Human Tribal Marines and Militia

Human marines are, unlike their Urdji counterparts, a true force to be reckoned with in space. The natural strength and resilience of humans gives them an innate advantage in the close-quarters combat that occurs aboard warships, and their possession of actual quality firearms makes them semi-effective at range. Human militia are, while not all that better equipped than Urdji ones, much more used to the general concept of ranged ground combat and would handily come out ahead in a head-on engagement.

Unlike the Urdji, Human tribes still have particular cultural reverence for those skilled in hand-to-hand combat. This, combined with their natural advantages, causes them to win just about every sanctioned duel. Council floor duels have actually started being more regulated due to this, and Urdji tribes are legally entitled to be represented by a Human Ranger "champion" in place of one of their own. The mere fact that this concession has to be made, however, tends to cause Urdji tribes to back down from such duels.

Pictured below is a Europa tribe marine. The ornate dress and weaponry is typical of Europan warriors.

Urdji Tribal Naval Forces

Urdji tribal navies are far more varied in design than their Human counterparts, and as such it is hard to give an effective cross-section of Urdji design philosophy and doctrine. Indeed, many Urdji tribal navies are comprised largely of civilian vessels in the first place. However, the greatest of Urdji tribes do operate proper, dedicated warships. For the sake of brevity, only vessels of Leşkgemmar make have been included.

Light Cruiser Işken-ji-Neva


The Işken-ji-Neva was a warship with a storied history. First launched some 795 Human years ago, the ship served with the Urdji Ranger Corps until contact with Humanity. In that time it was credited with a total of nineteen ship-to-ship combat victories, and in the Komellşer it served with distinction in the Belt Campaigns. It is an example of the quintessential Urdji warship, with it's offensive capabilities centered entirely around it's spinal railgun. Two smaller railguns protected it against shorter range enemies, while an extensive laser CIWS system shielded it from D'jim lancers and munitions. The vessel served with distinction until the Third Battle of Vulcan, where it's engines were struck by a D'jim torpedo. The vessel is now a museum ship in orbit of Vulcan, with it's propulsion and weapons systems having been stripped and recycled.

Heavy Cruiser Lewxekar


The Lewxekar is an unremarkable example of the bread-and-butter of tribe Leşkgemmar's navy. It is a relatively new ship by Urdji standards, having been launched at the tail end of the Komellşer. It has only seen combat in Haven's Oort Cloud against D'jim remnants, and is currently part of tribe Leşkgemmar's delegation fleet stationed in orbit of Huāngxīng. Armed with four long-range turreted railguns in addition to its spinal armament, heavy cruisers like the Lewxekar often serve as the flagship of small squadrons or in the battle line of task forces. Like many larger Urdji warships it has a large armament of secondary guns and CIWS emplacements covering its fore section.

Systems Vessel Stûteyr


Not quite cruisers, not quite fleet tenders, Systems Vessels like the Stûteyr are the workhorses of any Urdji tribal fleet. Though capable of (and deployed in) frontline combat, the role of Systems Vessels is to support other warships though logistical services, command-and-control functions, electronic warfare, and as backline craft in battle. The Stûteyr itself sports a total of five equally-sized railguns, four in turrets and the fifth mounted spinally, which it uses to take potshots at enemy vessels while performing its primary duties. The Stûteyr is one of the older ships in the Leşkgemmar navy, and nobody is quite certain of just when it was built. Most educated guesses place it at two to three thousand years old.

Battleship Hişkleng


The Hişkleng is the newest Battleship in the Leşkgemmar navy, having been built a mere thirty years ago. It incorporates a great many advancements made in recent years, but still adheres to traditional Urdji engineering practices. It is a quintessential Urdji Battleship, with an immense spinal railgun paired with a secondary and tertiary turreted armament. In keeping with recent technological advances the Hişkleng places more emphasis on missile armament than on CIWS weaponry, and unlike many older vessels which often used their CIWS to protect entire task forces it's own CIWS armament is intended to protect itself and only itself. Though often criticized by Human naval designers, the Secondary-Tertiary turret arrangement of its long-range railguns is a traditional feature among Urdji Battleships and appreciated as providing a degree of versatility to the railgun armament. It may force the ship to sacrifice extreme-range firepower, but it does ensure it is always able to provide adequate fire to multiple targets at multiple ranges.

Fleetship Teyrjixen


As the dedicated Carrier is a uniquely Human vessel, the Fleetship is a uniquely Urdji vessel. Built for combat over the great distances and timescales one finds in the void between stars, Fleetships like the Teyrjixen are an unmatched force in open space. Carrying facilities for supplying an entire military campaign and indefinite survival in interstellar space, Fleetships are more moving fortress cities than they are warships. Their spinal railguns, longer than those of any other class of ship, are capable of greater devastation at greater range than any other weapons system in the Confederacy. Torpedoes and torch missiles are carried in utterly mind-boggling numbers aboard most Fleetships and act as their secondary armament alongside much smaller turreted railguns (which, themselves, are equivalent to the spinal railguns of most Heavy Cruisers). Rows of CIWS emplacements and tertiary railguns line the hulls of Fleetships, but a Fleetship being used effectively will never need to make use of them.

Urdji Tribal Marines and Militia

The Urdji are famous and renowned for not knowing how to fight on their feet. Despite a long history of marines defending Urdji warships and storming D'jim ones the Urdji simply are not built for ground combat. The marines of Urdji tribes are in their element, however, in microgravity environments where their weakness and frailness is less of a factor. Most Urdji warriors fight primarily with melee weapons, simple electromagnetic shotguns, and increasingly Human-derived revolvers and handguns. Less conventional weapons, such as crossbows and pikes, are not at all uncommon.

Urdji living "planetside" on Huāngxīng are notorious for their "MacGyver" approach to weaponry and combat. Planetside militias very often employ handmade firearms and flying infantry simply dropping grenades, flechettes, and even rocks onto their enemies. These militias have also taken quite a liking to the Terran Horse, and Urdji warriors riding horseback holding six-shooters is an entirely normal sight in the untamed, rural lands of Huāngxīng.

Pictured below is a collection of weapons used by a tribal militia on Huāngxīng. Note the extensive usage of wooden furniture, still considered a luxury by most in the Confederacy.