Eschatologist

True Vacuum - New Universe Space NRP

Oh man Willy I played stardrive too. Samurai bears will always have a place in my heart.

True Vacuum - New Universe Space NRP

Transhumaist Memory Harvesters

Cessian Ascendancy

General Overview

The Cessians, distant cousins of humans, through their mastery of robotics and information technology blew past the singularity, not only having essentially conquered biological death, but having fully integrated themselves with machines. Most of their massive population live on one world, disembodied, mostly-cloned brains wired into a digital paradise, where existence is a utopia designed by the inhabitant(s), most unaware that their bliss is digital. This existence of digital paradise is supported by the million+ Cessians who do not live in the Dream, who protect the Brain Clusters from outside invaders, and trade, explore and conquer all in the search for that most valuable of commodities, new experiences and foreign memories, to be fed into the dream and maintain the paradise a little longer, to fend off the horrible specter of stagnation and boredom that would drive billions to madness.

Territory

The Cessians were blessed with a truly incredible home system, and have not expanded beyond it. It was chosen by their distant human ancestors millennia ago, on their fabled exodus from their old homeworld, and boasts large natural reserves of important strategic resources and rare elements, mostly concentrated in the rich asteroid belt. Their homeworld, Cessia, is a verdant world dotted with the hive cities that contain the lion’s share of the hundreds of billions of Cessian brains that inhabit the dream. The population density being truly massive [seeing as each inhabitant takes only a few feet to store], most of the world’s surface is devoted to producing the gargantuan amounts of food needed to keep the billions of Dreamed citizens alive, mass-scale on land or sea. There are five other terrestrial planets, and several habitable moons, not to mention a mineral-rich asteroid belt. Many of these spaces are devoted to food production, much to the industry needed to sustain such population and keep the Dream functioning without fail, not to mention the massive Manufactories that produce the trade goods that cement the Cessian diplomatic position. Much of the asteroid field is cannibalized for antimatter production, or for the shipyards that churn out either manned or unmanned exploration vehicles for the great galactic Experience Harvest

Governance

The Dream, being an unconsciously-directed wonderland that can be shared or instanced per person, has no real government. Those Cessians who exist outside the Dream work under the direction of the Shepard Council, a gathering of a dozen of the oldest Cessians, who direct the running of all Reality functions, with each Councilor controlling their own aspect, from Agriculture to Maintenance to Exploration to Diplomacy. The Arch-Shepard has almost absolute executive control, though on matters that effect all aspects of Reality, the council holds a veto with 1/3 agreement, and on matters effecting the dream, unanimous agreement is required. Councilors and the Arch-Shepard hold permanent positions, but they can be voted from power by plebiscite, and the Arch-Shepard only removed by the will of the council itself.

Culture

The Dream is constantly changing, and to almost every citizen of Reality it is entirely alien, its trends and changes invisible to the outsider. In reality, in its massive mental exchange the average citizen seeks entertainment and pleasure, trends and diversions shifting constantly, burning through experiences and living or creating fictions and tales to be enjoyed by all. In Reality, the culture is one of highly moralistic duty-oriented service, with the improvement and maintenance of the Dream holding almost religious significance, each Reality-bound Cessian hungry to do their duty, and each prizing highly the most valuable commodity for the Dream, new experiences and never before seen memories. Lives for the small population of Reality-bound Cessians are as luxurious as can be afforded, but none are forced to live outside the Dream, being allowed to enter and never return at will, a clone bred to replace them.

Organizations

As mentioned, the Shepard Council controls the entirety of the Cessian Reality operations. Subject to the council, the Exploration Councilor controls the Discovery Fleet, a massive assembly of manned and unmanned vehicles to meet new species and buy their memories, or chart new worlds and bring tales of their geography back to the Dream to fuel its paradise a little longer. The Discovery Fleet works closely with the Defense Councilor’s Vanguard Fleet, which is the second largest institution, and is tasked with defending the home system and the Dream from foreign powers, fanatical and absolutely devoted to their role as the bulwark of their species.

History

The earliest history of the Cessians is unknown, and the reason for their exodus from human society is a mystery. What is known is that after they settled on Cessia their scientists raced forwards in the fields of robotics and biology, and created semi-sentient robots and the ability to create believable, malleable alternate realities. The effects of this latter development nearly destroyed the Cessians, with nearly every citizen leaping at the opportunity to live in the Dream. The Cessians nearly died out, and starvation or technological failures killed hundreds of millions of the first adopters of the Dream, but during a scramble to create the infrastructure necessary to support these Dreamers the Cessians finally became almost entirely sustained on the labor of machines, most citizens remaining in Reality joining their Dreaming brothers and sisters as those who remain outside paradise are needed only for oversight and large-scale guidance.

The first issues arose hundreds of years later, after the cloned populace had surpassed previous census levels and the Dream had become stable. People started to grow bored within ‘paradise’. It was a catastrophe, and while solutions were looked for years of perdition held the Dreamers as there was nothing left for them to do. The idea was finally struck to begin feeding the Dream computers with harvested memories, and while new species and planets were searched for the Reality-bound Cessians gave their memories to keep the Dream alive that little bit longer. Eventually, new civilizations and new locations were found, and the Dream was bolstered, but in the years leading up to the Vacuum the realities of this tactic, that it would only delay and never solve the problem of boredom, became evident.

Outlook

Elated. This is the absolute best-case scenario. Exploration fleets were sent out in a mass exodus to build a massive stockpile of experience, and trade with new lifeforms has tapped an entirely new vein of philosophies, tales and memories. There is little care about why it happened, though scientists are beginning to look into how it was survived and if it can happen again [or be caused]. There is fear for the safety of Cessia proper, seeing as Cessia is surrounded by unfamiliar, possibly-hostile species, but the Defense Councilor is confident in the terrifying extra-planetary defensive perimeters.

Technology:

Important/Noteworthy Tech

Semi-sentient, self-modifying robots under strict control from biological Cessians make up almost the entirety of the massive workforce. Artificial intelligence has progressed by leaps and bounds, and automation is a natural process. Everything from farming to fleets to construction is run by single Cessians and performed by armies of robots. Biological advancement has made cloning possible [a necessity when the stable breeding population entered the dream], and though not entirely immortal lifespans have been increased to millennia [a number constantly increasing, despite the negative effects on the stagnation of the dream]. Most Cessians are little more than brains wired into their virtual paradise, with most not even knowing their world is fake. Power is generated via non-orientable wormholes, a new and slightly unstable technology but one with massive potential in the eyes of the Cessians. Mass fabrication, though the focus of a great deal of Cessian research, still lies far off. Regardless, controlled self-replicating work-autos mean that Cessian factories perform at remarkable speeds, stockpiling goods useful to other races. Food production is a much more refined science for the Cessians, and though the 'food' produced for the dream resembles more industrial waste than victuals, it can be produced extraordinarily quickly with a remarkable nutrient density.
Digitizing memories has been achieved for Cessians and most other human descendent races, but new species take sometimes years of study to become compatible, if it is even possible. These memories are fed into the massive superstructures that are the Dream main processors [riddled with failsafes and security redundancies, of course], which then distributes new experiences and foreign ideas to those minds which it detects begin to grow tired of their ‘paradise’, whatever it may be. The Dream computer and the individual brains form a symbiotic reality-creation arrangement, where one plays off the other to maximize enjoyment.
Sensor systems and other means of information gathering are a particular strength of the Cessians, and they have equipped the Exploratory Fleet with the ripe fruits of their research, scanners and cameras and telescopes to survey areas quickly and accurately.

Military Structure:

Military Organization

There are only a few thousand Cessians involved in Defense, but with autos that is seen to be sufficient. The last millennia has seen a constant buildup and improvement of planetary fortresses, spheres of defenses surrounding inhabited planets made up of every weapon at the Cessian's disposal, thought by their designers to be nearly impregnable, or at least dangerous enough to assure mutual destruction. The Cessian fleet is fairly small by comparison, intended to supplement defensive structures and engage alongside fortifications, never to commit to aggressive action.
The Defense Councilor has overall command, and beneath him are two Admirals, one of the Fleet and one of the Fortresses. Beneath them the required staff are present. Not a military institution, the Exploratory Fleet is organized as one, with several admirals commanding massive automated armadas of scouts, tying closely with the diplomatic and trade services in procuring requisite commodities from other civilizations.

True Vacuum - New Universe Space NRP

Posted: fairly short, but I prefer to let most of the details come out in RP. Also, transhumanists who care only for the creation and procurement of interesting memories and information are pretty self-explanatory, in my mind at least. It can be expanded if necessary, there is plenty more I could write about them.

True Vacuum - New Universe Space NRP

Transhumaist Memory Harvesters

Cessian Ascendancy

General Overview

The Cessians, distant cousins of humans, through their mastery of robotics and information technology blew past the singularity, not only having essentially conquered biological death, but have fully integrated themselves with machines. Most of their massive population live on one world, brains wired into a digital paradise, where existence is bliss. This existence of digital paradise is supported by the million+ Cessians who do not live in the Dream, who protect the Brain Clusters from outside invaders, and trade, explore and conquer all in the search for that most valuable of commodities, new experiences and foreign memories, to be fed into the dream and maintain the paradise a little longer.

Territory

The Cessians were blessed with an incredible home system, and have not expanded beyond it. It was chosen by their distant human ancestors millennia ago, on their fabled exodus from their old homeworld. Their homeworld, Cessia, is a verdant world dotted with the hive cities that contain the lion’s share of the hundreds of billions of Cessian brains that inhabit the dream. The population density being truly massive [seeing as each inhabitant takes only a few feet to store], most of the world’s surface is devoted to producing the massive amounts of food needed to keep the billions of Dreamed citizens alive, through mass-scale on land or sea. There are five other terrestrial planets, and several habitable moons, not to mention a mineral-rich asteroid belt. Many of these spaces are devoted to food production, much to the industry needed to sustain such population and keep the Dream functioning without fail. Much of the asteroid field is cannibalized for antimatter production, or for the shipyards that churn out either manned or unmanned exploration vehicles for the great galactic Experience Harvest

Governance

The Dream, being a paradise wonderland that can be shared or instanced per person, has no real government. Those Cessians who exist outside the Dream work under the direction of the Shepard Council, a gathering of a dozen of the oldest Cessians, who direct the running of all Reality functions, with each Councilor controlling their own aspect, from Agriculture to Maintenance to Exploration to Diplomacy. The Arch-Shepard has almost absolute executive control, though on matters that effect all aspects of Reality, the council holds a veto with 1/3 agreement, and on matters effecting the dream, unanimous agreement is required

Culture

The Dream is constantly changing, and to almost every citizen of Reality it is entirely alien, its trends and changes invisible to the outsider. In reality, in its massive mental exchange the average citizen seeks entertainment and pleasure, trends and diversions shifting constantly, burning through experiences and living or creating fictions and tales to be enjoyed by all. In Reality, the culture is one of highly moralistic duty-oriented service, with the improvement and maintenance of the Dream holding almost religious significance, each Reality-bound Cessian hungry to do their duty, and each prizing highly the most valuable commodity for the Dream, new experiences and never before seen memories

Organizations

As mentioned, the Shepard Council controls the entirety of the Cessian Reality operations. Subject to the council, the Exploration Councilor controls the Discovery Fleet, a massive assembly of manned and unmanned vehicles to meet new species and buy their memories, or chart new worlds and bring tales of their geography back to the Dream to fuel its paradise a little longer. The Discovery Fleet works closely with the Defense Councilor’s Vanguard Fleet, which is the second largest institution, and is tasked with defending the home system and the Dream from foreign powers, fanatical and absolutely devoted.

History

The earliest history of the Cessians is unknown, and the reason for their exodus from human society is a mystery. What is known is that after they settled on Cessia their scientists raced forwards in the fields of robotics and biology, and created semi-sentient robots and the ability to create believable, malleable alternate realities. The effects of this latter development nearly destroyed the Cessians, with nearly every citizen leaping at the opportunity to live in the Dream. The Cessians nearly died out, and starvation or technological failures killed hundreds of millions of the first adopters of the Dream, but during a scramble to create the infrastructure necessary to support these Dreamers the Cessians finally became almost entirely sustained on the labor of machines, most citizens remaining in Reality joining their Dreaming brothers and sisters as those who remain outside paradise are needed only for oversight and large-scale guidance.

The first issues arose hundreds of years later, after the cloned populace had surpassed previous census levels and the Dream had become stable. People started to grow bored within ‘paradise’. It was a catastrophe, and while solutions were looked for years of perdition held the Dreamers as there was nothing left for them to do. The idea was finally struck to begin feeding the Dream computers with harvested memories, and while new species and planets were searched for the Reality-bound Cessians gave their memories to keep the Dream alive that little bit longer. Eventually, new civilizations and new locations were found, and the Dream was bolstered, but in the years leading up to the Vacuum the realities of this tactic, that it would only delay and never solve the problem of boredom, became evident.

Outlook

Elated. This is the absolute best-case scenario. Exploration fleets were sent out in a mass exodus to build a massive stockpile of experience, and trade with new lifeforms has tapped an entirely new vein of philosophies, tales and memories. There is little care about why it happened, though scientists are beginning to look into how it was survived and if it can happen again [or be caused]. There is fear for the safety of Cessia proper, but the Defense Councilor is confident in the extra-asteroid defensive perimeter.

Technology:

Important/Noteworthy Tech

Semi-sentient, self-modifying robots under strict control from biological Cessians make up almost the entirety of the massive workforce. Artificial intelligence has progressed by leaps and bounds, and automation is a natural process. Everything from farming to fleets to construction is run by single Cessians and performed by armies of robots. Biological advancement has made cloning possible [a necessity when the stable breeding population entered the dream], and though not entirely immortal lifespans have been increased to millennia [a number constantly increasing, despite the negative effects on the stagnation of the dream]. Most Cessians are little more than brains wired into their virtual paradise, with most not even knowing their world is fake. Power is generated via non-orientable wormholes, a new and slightly unstable technology but one with massive potential in the eyes of the Cessians.

Military Structure:

Military Organization

There are only a few thousand Cessians involved in Defense, but with autos that is seen to be sufficient. The last millennia has seen a constant buildup and improvement of planetary fortresses, spheres of defenses surrounding inhabited planets made up of every weapon at the Cessian's disposal, thought by their designers to be nearly impregnable, or at least dangerous enough to assure mutual destruction. The Cessian fleet is fairly small by comparison, intended to supplement defensive structures and engage alongside fortifications, never to commit to aggressive action.
The Defense Councilor has overall command, and beneath him are two Admirals, one of the Fleet and one of the Fortresses. Beneath them the required staff are present. Not a military institution, the Exploratory Fleet is organized as one, with several admirals commanding massive automated armadas of scouts, tying closely with the diplomatic and trade services in procuring requisite commodities from other civilizations.

True Vacuum - New Universe Space NRP

What are the methods of power generation in this setting and how easy is it to disperse heat? Can I have non-orientable wormholes, or is that too obscene?

Also, get ready for that good ol' fashioned hard-line transhumanism for my nation. Gotta rep that singularity lifestyle.

True Vacuum

Oh man this looks fresh to death like a bird in a zip-lock bag. I interested.

Star wars: The End of an Era

Skies over Coruscant, East of the Runway AO

Olvar raced through the clear skies, the familiar, comforting feeling of his slightly-vibrating ship enveloping him in his cockpit. His engines were throttled up, and as he raced to the barely-visible dogfight that more resembled a ball of yarn than a pitched battle he felt the giddy anticipation of combat, the adrenaline flooding his system, his heart beating faster than any time outside a cockpit. A tilt of his head brought his wingman into view, Ivan Krnov's sleek twin-engined fighter steady as a rock below his left wing, matching the supersonic speed with ease. In the distance, he could make out the silhouettes of Fifth Squadron, the pairs of craft in a loose formation.

Olvar had to admire the BB. Despite the truly awful name, it was an excellent craft: great acceleration, excellent armor and shields, and an armament surpassing anything the Pubs had on call. He was told they were bloody expensive, but he didn't get paid enough to worry about that: all he cared about was that the fighter could do work, and in this case it absolutely could.

As he approached the tumbling, buzzing ball of combat, he could begin to make out the shapes his targeting computer was highlighting. The six-winged ARC-170s chasing or being chased by what was left of 4th Sqadron's 22s. His body tensing for the imminent engagement, and as he watched a number of Pub fighters break off to engage the approaching squadron, he keyed his comms, broadcasting his baritone to every friendly fighter in range.

"4th squadron, this is Major Poplen with the 5th. Continue to engage and prepare for reinforcement. 5th squadron, engage on your own initiative. Good luck gentlemen, out."

As soon as he clicked off the comms, he picked his first target and made to engage. Some brave clone charging way out in front, probably looking to make a name for himself. Olvar could understand: downing an enemy ace was the dream of every honest fighter pilot in the galaxy, and the white-painted 22 he was in broadcasted who he was fairly clearly. Unfortunately for this brave clone, Olvar didn't plan on getting taken out by some nobody.

The clone pilot began to slow down in order to fire, and while this was no doubt the correct move against droids, relying on the textbook against sentient veterans would only get you shot down. Olvar gunned the engine, rolling slightly to dodge the oncoming ripples of light, and blew right past the clone, not bothering to shoot with the amount of turbulence and afterburner wobble. In his rear viewscreen Olvar could see the clone roll right and ascend, speeding back up, and Olvar knew the clone was toast. He used his speed to turn faster, and joined the clone in his ascent, square on the doomed fighter's tail. A squeeze of the trigger and the laser cannons on the 22 tore through the rear shields like paper, the rear gunner not able to fire once before being incinerated.

Unfortunately for Olvar, his after-kill high was interrupted by a pilot's most feared noise: missile lock. He began to evade, but quickly realized that he had a rare opportunity; the crippled Pub air defense had let Olvar keep his countermeasures stored up, and it was with great relish that he released the entirety of his stored backup plan, nearly fifty kilos of superheated shrapnel flying in every direction. A second later, the missile lock stopped its blaring. Olvar, not one to waste an opportunity, took advantage of the likely confusion the spray of blindingly bright metal caused his pursuer, and began to spin his craft in a barrel roll, reducing his speed dramatically. The pursuing pilot was no slouch, unlike his now-dead friend, and managed to join Olvar in his roll, falling into the deadly scissor dance. This was acceptable: he'd bet anything that he could out-fly a clone, and as he tightened his roll and began shaving off more and more speed till he was almost stalling, the ARC-170 came in front of him, a little too fast for its own good. Another squeeze of the trigger and the left wing exploded, the rear gunner landing a pair of grazing shots, easily deflected by the Olvar's shields, before the ARC tipped into a dive and span out of control.

A quarter of an hour later the fight was over, one more kill coming Poplen's way. 4th had taken nearly 50% casualties, 5th nearing 20%, and if first counts were to be trusted the republic were down the better part of three of its more seasoned squadrons, inferior pilots diced in inferior planes, without the comforting support of the massive AAA emplacements far below. It was by no means the last battle: clone air units would be pouring into the AO, trying to intercept the CIS' air support which was likely even now dropping munitions right on the heads of hapless troopers [and jedi, if lucky]. Returning to their patrol and absorbing 4th squadron, Poplen made his way slowly back to the runway's airspace, gaining as much altitude as possible and letting the computer do the spotting for him, trying to recover from the shakes and nausea that any honest pilot will admit to after a fight.

Star wars: The End of an Era

Threw up a character, GM. I kept it short yet again, but I find myself preferring to just RP the character rather than write out potentially unnecessary backstory or easily-displayed personality.

If it needs to be made longer, let me know.

Star wars: The End of an Era

Olvar Poplen

Name: Olvar Poplen
Race: Human [Correlian]
Age: 26
Sex: Male
Affiliation: CIS

Rank: Major, 2nd Mercenary Starfighter Wing [Easy Wing], CSS Rantemario, Commerce Guild Fleet Carrier (CVA-251)

Physical Description: . Short, thin, gaunt, looks too young for his age and is missing his right leg up to the mid-thigh.

Mental Description: Free loader, self-identifying scoundrel and pleasure-driven man, Olvar's mind is rarely far from either combat or sin. A known womanizer, an off-duty drunk and a man with a healthy dose of irreverence, Poplen is not one for fine company and polite society. He is a mercenary, and lives his life by the mercenary's code of honor: whoever pays more has absolute loyalty. He sees his military skills as a marketable good, paying little mind to the possible immorality of his actions. Money drives him, and he is driven through money to enjoy his life to the fullest. He loves to fly, it embodying the freedom he craves, and has become an ardent thrill-seeker, the adrenaline rush of space combat the only thing that can give him such exhilaration anymore.

History: Born on Correlia to a spice merchant, Olvar found himself on spaceships since he was a child. He loved to fly them, loved to tinker with them, drew them at school and read about them in books. His father, having fallen upon hard times after a crash in the markets, disuaged his son from continuing the family business, claiming merchant shipping to be too risky. Olvar, trying to find a product or skill that would guarantee him income, eventually decided to become a mercenary, figuring there would always be demand. At 16, he joined Easy Wing as a trainee starfighter, and saw his first action above geonosis only months after completing flight school. Proving to be an exceptionally talented fighter pilot, he became an ace two weeks before his 20th birthday, and continued to hone his skills [and fill his bank account] while fighting for the CIS in countless battles. He is one of the most experienced non-droid pilots in the Commerce Guild, and has risen to command his mercenary band after singlehandedly downing the Jedi Ace Sbastan Lin-Han over Tanaab, avenging the previous leader only minutes after his death.

Equipment: Blaster pistol, fusion cutter, pilot suit. Belbullab-22 fighter, modified for heavy interceptor work.

Star wars: The End of an Era

God now I am just thinking about DISTRACTION CARNIFEX, the ultimate outdated tactic.