Keyguyperson

Stardust: A Freeform Sci-Fi Fantasy NRP

<Snipped quote by Taeryn>

Ease my wondering mind sweet leader o' mine.

@Taeryn

Oh yeah. I'd prefer there to be no contact, just a matter of personal taste. I'd love to set up a first contact, though.

Stardust: A Freeform Sci-Fi Fantasy NRP

@KeyguypersonNeed more plotlines?
You can perhaps also meet with the Federation. Not sure on the details since Kirk is already elsewhere but we can work it out.

@Willy Vereb

If you want, I can come to you. I'd say you send a ship, but I get the feeling that the feds don't really want to waste the money.

Stardust: A Freeform Sci-Fi Fantasy NRP

Finally posted!

Stardust: A Freeform Sci-Fi Fantasy NRP

Sidosido, Earth

Arise, ye workers of all nations,
Arise, oppressed of the Earth!
For justice thunders condemnation,
A better world is in birth!

Loudspeakers across the capital city of the Terran union played its anthem, which contrary to what European media outlets had once said was not actually a daily occurrence. Throngs of people filled the city streets, which were completely barren in terms of cars. Unlike most of the older cities, Sidosido was designed from the beginning to be the face of "New Terra". Cars were simply not allowed on streets, which were reserved for pedestrian traffic only in order to imitate the streets of cities before the invention of cars. Tunnels beneath the streets held a vast network of subway tunnels which allowed the residents of the city to move freely and quickly throughout the city. Lower still were highways, on which cars could travel. It was inconvenient for in-city car travel, but then again, nobody really used cars for anything but long road trips.

The city itself was situated in a land that had once been known as Mauritania. Not the most predictable location for the capital of humanity, especially when one takes into account the fact that it was built in the Great Wastes as opposed to Niger-Kordofan. Less out of any sort of consideration for development of the region, but instead as more of a massive middle finger to the fascists that had turned everything in and around North Africa into a nuclear wasteland.

It was not a sensible decision. Fitting, as the Chairman had little love for the sensible.

Deep beneath that giant city, trains rushed about in their tunnels in a desperate attempt to deal with the massive influx of tourists. The only sound within them was the humming of their maglev systems and the same music being played on the loudspeakers outside. Once again the exception instead of the rule. Usually the music being played was either the latest pop song or some obscure song chosen for uniqueness or innovation or for simply being extremely obscure yet good enough to be played in public. The engineer of the train ended up choosing the song two out of three times, so people ended up with getting an idea of the guy's personal taste.

Some, such as Cleo Williams, even chose their daily routes based on who they knew drove the trains. And that's how you end up with entire trainloads of people singing along to songs performed by Stepfords back when they still used voice samples to sing and sets of mirrors as "holograms". On that day, however, the train engineer's tacky old Stepford music from the 2010's was absent. Nobody was complaining, of course. To sit through a set of generally well-made songs was the least they could do to honor the millions that fought and died in the Great War of Liberation.

The train came to a stop at one of the city's many stations, which was situated just underneath the Red Square. It had been named after its old counterpart in Moscow, which had been destroyed by European forces during the war. Though losing such a historic place was a shame, at least the government didn't need to differentiate between the two.

Cleo walked up the steps-she never took the escalator or elevator-and stepped out into the square. It was always bustling with people, but now more so than ever. The entire 3rd Spaceborne Expeditionary Force occupied the center of the square, with thousands of people looking on from stands and floating platforms launched to allow a view of the event for everyone. A good twenty thousand soldiers stood in the square, with multiple tanks and light vehicles standing by with their crews.

The city's clock, which towered over the square, struck twelve and the entire unit began to march. It was unlike most military parades. There was no long opening ceremony, no color guard march, just the 3rd and the countless units that would follow it. Rather than have a select few carry the flag, soldiers throughout the 3rd carried dozens of flags. The General, a Stepford by the name of Fiel, marched with her own troops at the front of the formation. She carried a flag that was held static in the air, as if the wind simply didn't affect it. That flag was the original one hoisted over the Forum Magnum on Pluto, and of course had wires in it to give it the appearance of waving when planted on a planet or moon without any atmosphere.

Cleo started recording a video on her phone. Her neighbor was going to be jealous of her good view of the whole parade.

TPV Saltsgaver, Ceres Orbit

"How come Fiel gets to go but I end up getting called over to Facility-fucking-419?" Said Fergus MacLean. His griping was somewhat justified-he was the Terran Union marshal-but both he andthe Chairman had agreed that the 80th anniversary of the victory should only include those directly involved. And when the flag was planted on Pluto, he was on a wild goose chase for the warships the Europeans had allegedly built on the planet. He never found them, because they probably didn't exist. "What the hell do they want with me anyways? Unless they've found the answer to the Fermi paradox or accidentally created Roko's Basilisk I really don't see why the Marshal needs to get involved. I'd rather be on Zarmina, it's even fall there. The leaves come in so many different colors."

"I swear, you sound almost jealous." Said one of the bridge crewmen. He had been swerving direct under Fergus for years by then, and knew very well that he didn't care about how he was spoken to.

"Hey, I agreed to not be in the parade too. I just wanted to watch the opening ceremony from something other than a tablet."

"Marshal!" Yelled a Slavic man barging into the bridge, a wireless headset atop his head broadcasting his position as a communications or sensors officer. He had left one ear uncovered by it, presumably so he could actually hear other people. "Put the ship on alert, now!"

"What? Why? Is there-"

"SOUND THE ALARM!" He yelled again, and this time Fergus did so without asking any questions. The ship's lighting dimmed to show the lighting on the control panels better, and the harsh buzz of the alarm filled the battleship's corridors.

"Okay, what the hell is going on here?" Asked Fergus, pushing himself up out of his chair and latching onto one of the many handholds on the ceiling. The artificial gravity always deactivated while the ship was on alert, to allow a larger range of movement for the crew. "Has the Network blown up Ares Station or some shit?"

"No, we've gotten a message from a ship that just warped into the asteroid belt out of nowhere. They're just a few hundred kilometers from us!"

"What kind of ship? How did we not notice the particle fountain when it dissipated its bubble?"

"They weren't using an Alcubierre drive, its some other kind of FTL system! The design isn't like anything we've ever seen!"

"Punch in the coordinates and put it on the display!"

The man pushed himself off the wall towards the nearest console, and put the strange vessel on the main viewscreen. He was right, it definitely wasn't a Union or Network ship.

"Sir... they've sent a message too."

"Play it!"

The man gave the necesarry order to the ship's computer system, and the transmission played through the bridge's intercom speakers.

“I am Poppy, a diplomat of the Eternal Union, is this Sol? Is Earth still in existence?”

"Couch the Alcubierre lance!" Yelled Fergus.

"Yes sir!" Replied one of the many men seated beneath the main command platform. "Releasing tertiary and secondary safety locks, reorienting bow!"

"Get me a full-spectrum scan on that vessel! LADAR, Infrared, White-Juday, hell go ahead and override Facility 417's network and have it do a worldline approximation!"

The entire bridge began to bustle with activity, and multiple different images appeared on the main viewscreen to represent the results of the scans and calculations. A detailed topography of the odd vessel, a map showing heat distribution (which had a massive spike near the center of the ship-perhaps an incredibly powerful reactor or plasma weapon), and a graph that looked much like a funnel with some parts of it completely blacked out. Finally, there was the White-Juday space-time warping map. It wasn't like anything Fergus had ever seen. It sure as hell wasn't a warp field, nor was it a gravity well. In fact, with his limited knowledge of space-time warping it wasn't even something that could exist.

We're fucked. Thought Fergus. That sort of scan result... they're more advanced than we can even imagine. Let's hope they're as friendly as the name of their diplomat seems.

"I don't like the look of that infrared map, keep us on alert but... I'm opening a channel. If I give the word, fire the Alcubierre lance and eject the ship's recorder."

How do they even know who we are? Did they listen in before coming here? No, they asked if Earth still existed... oh good God almighty I hope this isn't what it seems like.

He keyed in a set of commands and brought a blank screen up on the main display. If the other ship was willing to and capable of showing themselves, then he'd be able to see them.

"This is Marshal Fergus McClain of the Terran Union, currently in command of the Terran People's Vessel Saltsgaver. Yes, you have entered the Sol system and are just a few light minutes from Earth. We've never heard of this... Eternal Union, but you seem to have heard of us. Plus you speak at least one of our languages perfectly. Now, why are you in our space, especially so deep in it? How do you even know this is our space? I apologize if I'm being inhospitable, but this is all very suspicious and I don't want to get killed on Victory Day, so I must inform you that your vessel is currently targeted with a high-power particle lance that will destroy your vessel if it is fired. Do not, I repeat do not open fire.

Stardust: A Freeform Sci-Fi Fantasy NRP

<Snipped quote by WrongEndoftheRainbow>

@keyguyperson

@WrongEndoftheRainbow

Accepted, I read the N/As as WIPs and thought you were still working. Which is odd, since they're not actually a government.

Stardust: A Freeform Sci-Fi Fantasy NRP

Is my app accepted?

@Arawak

You betcha, sorry I didn't say it earlier.

Eridani Star Kingdom

Eridani Star Kingdom

The Eridani

The inhabitants of the Star Kingdom, are, at their core, no different from the initial settlers seeded from Earth itself, drawn largely from western civilization, as it was then termed, but interspersed with mandated genetic variety and other such necessities its bankrolling corporation demanded or required.

As such, there is little to separate them at the base level from similar descendant generations from Earth itself, aside from the results of successively improved generations of genetic therapy and neuro-surgery techniques, as well as attempts at prolonging the human lifespan, albeit in a manner different from the nano-technology employed upon Earth itself.

The Eridani Government

Overview:

The initial Eridani Holding Company Ltd. never survived to see the Landing of its eventual and largely considered, at least on Earth, long failed colonization attempt sent to Epsilon Eridani II (Atlantica). The consequent re-organisation of the initial board of directors and "freeholders" into something resembling a government prior to the official founding of the colony laid the ground work for a messy transition into a chaotic democracy that would of likely doomed the colony. 1 Year after founding, following a vote of the now ambulatory larger populace, the Constitutional Compact that essentially reformed the sole remaining portions of the EHC Ltd and the transitional government on Epsilon Eridani 2 into a model constitutional monarchy was signed, placing the current non-corporate civilian governor into the final place of "King" and forming the early Star Kingdom as hereditary one.

As such, the Star Kingdom operates several organs of government.

The Royal Household

The Royal Household comprises the ruling hereditary monarch, as well as the royal family at large as well as the elected (and sometimes selected) privy council that makes up the Monarch's advisory body. The Royal Household has a measure of legislative power referred to as the "Stability Compromise" by the Constitutional Compact, affording more power, particularly in times of trouble, to the ruling Monarch. However, the Royal Household primarily relies on influence, popularity and soft power in effect to its position in the governing structure.

Current Royal Family and heirs to the throne:
King Alexander II, 62 Years Old (Head)
Prince Octavius, 26 Years Old (Heir Apparent)
Princess Alexandria, 22 Years Old, 2nd in Line
Duke David III of New Powys, 65 Years Old, 3rd in Line (2 Living Sons)
Duke Richard V of Thunder Bay, 94 Years Old, 5th in Line (1 Living Son, 1 Living Daughter)
Duchess Magdeline I of Barshafen, 44 Years Old, 8th in Line (No Eligible Heirs)
Duke Antoine II of Nouveau Lyons, 22 Years Old, 9th in Line to the Throne

---

The Cabinet

The Cabinet consists of ministers selected by the elected Prime Minister and by extension, their party, to lead governmental departments of the civil service and comprises the main high-level legislative proposals and governance of the Star Kingdom. Despite the Cabinet's legislative power, it is beholden to the whims of public opinion, and of course, the will of the sovereign parliament to which all of the ministers were elected to.

The Parliament

The primary legislative body in the Kingdom, The parliament is bicameral, consisting of an upper house (the House of Lords) and a lower house (the House of Commons). The House of Lords includes two different types of members: the Lords Spiritual (the senior bishops of the Eridani Church of Humanity) and the Lords Temporal (members of the Peerage) whose members are not elected by the population at large, but are appointed by the Sovereign on the advice of the Prime Minister.

The House of Commons is a democratically elected chamber with elections held at least every five years. The two Houses meet in separate chambers in the Palace of the Bay (commonly known as the Houses of Parliament) in Avalon. By constitutional convention, all government ministers, including the Prime Minister, are members of the House of Commons – or, less commonly, the House of Lords – and are thereby accountable to the respective branches of the legislature.

However, through the compact - all acts of Parliament are subjected to the approval of the Monarch, though the right of review has not been exercised since the Green Crisis.

---

The Chartered Assemblies

The Chartered Assemblies are a devolved assembly with power to make legislation in assigned counties or departments - the nominal regional areas and "feudal holdings" that make up the Star Kingdom. An assembly can be large (in the case of the Avalon Central Chartered Assembly) or relatively small, though not below 30 Assembly Members.

The Assemblies are based on the concept of local rule as instituted within the initial principles of Eridani Settlement - but are granted special privileges or rights by the Royal Assent given for their formation and the charter prescribed to them by the Royal Household, thus their conception as Chartered Assemblies. The Chartered Assemblies are organised under the auspices of the Home Secretariat whom passes their concerns not dealt with in parliament onto the Privy Council and Cabinet.

The Government in function

The Eridani Government however, is effectively devised of three main areas of authority, and mixes true democracy with almost archaic feudal rights with wanton abandon. First and foremost, the Commonwealth derives its legitimacy from Royal perogative, with Royal authority being final in most elements of higher governance. While the Monarchy is beholden to public opinion and the sovereign will of the Eridani parliament, from which secondary power is derived, it remains a government of royal assent.

However, the Kingdom, as stated, in its tertiary derivation of authority, is a collection of, in theory, regional authorities and personal holdings. While these local governments have given up a number of powers to the civil service and thus, central government they retain some rights, such as self defense and in civil law, though large amounts of Eridani law sets precedent for local civil law. Each local government itself governs as derived from its people or invested ruler, and systems of local governance can, whilst being largely similar, differ in basis and name. However, much governance on the homeworld itself is uniform, whilst colonial holdings can begin to differ, though not unrecognizably, from standard norms.

---

The Eridani Military

The Eridani Military is at its core an academy based, voluntary system which makes up the majority of peace and war time troops. It consists of three official branches and their constituent subbranches - His/Her Majesties Interstellar Navy, The Royal Eridani Marine Corps and the Associated Intelligence Services (AIS).

The Kingdom commits to the concept of war and its associated doctrines with the matter of enforcing its survival through punching above its weight with, if not superior, then at least sufficient applicable force to make concepts such as invasion of Eridani territory itself too bloody to entertain. The strength of the Eridani Military is consequently dependent on its elite backbone found within the co-operating branches of the Marine Corps and Navy and the application of the ground forces, ideally never at all, and only when occupation is paramount. The Eridani Star Kingdom consequently relies heavily on reconnaissance, advanced deceptive electronics and further its intelligence services and the standing defensive strength of its Navy to deter aggressors and ultimately resolve conflicts - preferably before they enlarge and threaten Atlantica itself.

The Eridani Marine Corps
The Eridani Marine Corps is a small but highly trained force mostly centered around, primarily, small corps sized Marine Groups who can be rapidly deployed or withdrawn. The Commonwealth maintains a training regimen for "army" grouped size operations of Marines in concert with standard infantrymen. Each Holding as defined under settlement laws are responsible for peace time troop deployments and maintaining a standing defence force of infantrymen and associated equipment for the benefit of the Kingdom's Security.

Eridani Marines are typically a lightly armoured, highly mobile force trained primarily in securing space-borne assets in capture or seizure operations and in insertion into contested areas to sever command and control networks by seizure of essential enemy ground assets. Marines consequently rely on speed, agility, and an efficient utilization of intelligence and and other support to effectively cripple an enemy and eliminate them piecemeal, though elements of "bulwark" or heavily armoured marines exist.

The Army at large however, does maintain an appropriate level of vehicle based support, although utilization of these assets, in doctrine, at least, requires orbital and air superiority.

His/Her Majesties Interstellar Navy
The Eridani Royal Interstellar Navy consists of 3 Fleets and 2 Carrier Battlegroups. In the case of offensive operations, ships would be expected to switch jurisdiction to the regional command which most required them. The Eridani Military has, largely, effected a unique mix of strong low level initiative and higher level lead by task - rather than a top to bottom lead by order doctrine that has been proved ineffective in most situations.

Fleet Doctrine relies on large, "ships of the line" supported by fighter and bomber groups and large numbers of picket forces. The Navy is currently coordinated from Theseus Station in Atlantica orbit.

Associated Intelligence Service
Intelligence is paramount in any operation, and the Star Kingdom has taken this idea to the fore. The Associated Intelligence Service itself is arguably a "holding company" for intelligence from numerous sources and agencies, but has its own agents, agenda, and has ultimate control over all intelligence operations and branches, from domestic to foreign, as well as far reaching authority to accomplish its objectives with plausible deniability. The AIS remains free, largely, of political manoeuvring or games of influence by its control being tied into the civil service - and, despite having a minister appointed to maintain governmental oversight, is largely beholden to the will of the Prime Minister and Monarch.

Technological Overview:

While the initial ships and technology employed to bear colonists to Epsilon Eridani were expensive and experimental, they were also outdated within a few years of leaving Earth's orbit on a mission many, years later, believed had catastrophically failed. The limited tech base, despite vast computer banks to hold knowledge, that were of practical use also frustrated early Eridani developments, despite the lush and vibrant world they found themselves upon.

It was the discovery of not one, not two, but three distinct and very much alien data caches. While much of the data itself was inane or degraded beyond use, what remained revolutionized colonial, and consequently, Eridani science, mitigating and outright eliminating a number of inherent problems in things as varied as medical science to applications in xeno-agriculture.

Accelerated Kinetics
While any sufficiently advanced civilization can propel a kinetic weapon, be it slug or missile, at relativistic speeds, the weapon of choice for the Eridani was no doubt chosen and honed to finesse by a few simple elements lifted from the caches. By applying initially unthinkable techniques and honing methods of power application while also reducing stress on components, the ability to fire larger shells, faster and further and also refining the art of missile warfare has given a punch to the arguably smaller Eridani than they would otherwise possess.

Applied Subspace Theory

While the Alcubierre Drive freed humanity from the Solar System, Eridani innovation with just a little nudge in the right direction would free the Star Kingdom from the cumbersome drive in any form altogether. By tapping into elements of the universe colloquially labelled "subspace", Eridani ships are capable of using much smaller systems completely independent of others to open apertures into subspace, drastically reducing travel times and eliminating many of the inherent dangers in warp travel - though subspace travel is not without its dangers.

Advanced Miniaturization
The greatest gifts of the Alien Caches were arguably the small translatable notes on reducing the workload on some ancient logistics depot, with investigation and luck, elements of miniturization that must of borrowed from advanced subspace theory were identifiable, allowing the revolutionary employment of techniques that drastically reduced the size of numerous every day components, allowing greater economic dividends from resourcing concerns and every day storage right up to civilian and military applications.

Chemical Catalyst
An innovation brought about by the flora and fauna of Atlantica, Chemical Catalysts drastically changed construction techniques when its applications were understood. By employing specific chemical reactions learned from observing and testing, materials, such as the metal sheets used in early ship construction, could be bonded together at a chemical level rather than riveted or bolted together, with obvious implications.

---

Cultural Overview

Overview:

The culture of the Star Kingdom is heavily influenced by the origin of its initial settlers - primarily those nations of the anglo-sphere and western europe, though with smaller notable groups from beyond headhunted for the initial project. Eridani Culture has thus taken a cosmopolitan blend of them all, though arguably dominated by a British-American core, with tinges of German and French influences melding into and around it.

Arguably, it is the legacy of western literature, music, cinema, art, theatre, media, television, philosophy and architecture that define and remain influential and respected across the Kingdom. With an understood legacy from science and technology to cuisine and sport.

That said, the creeping eventuality and entrenchment of a class system, though not one typically of excess or cruelty - and a means of definition in opposite to current Earthbound Solar Culture, duly influenced by its nature as a capitalistic society. Eridani are everything from liberal to conservative, and the varied entertainments and ways to lose money emulate and revel in that.

Culture

Music
Eridani Music harkens back to the impact of "soft power" - that of cultural dominance rather than military. Cultural values have long since incorporated the even more vibrant styles of the newer outer colonies and their more divergent communities, and has a large appeal across much of the Kingdom. The vibrant Atlantican scene continues to push the boundaries, as musicians continue to fuse and innovate new styles akin to the development of many new styles that appeared in the first colonial period. The strong, if overlooked, military classical bands also have their adherents, even if they may not appear in the popular charts.

Arts
The Kingdom has inherited a vast legacy of prominent artists, actors and great creators of works from not only its own nascent development - but Old Earth and other associated sources. In the age of expansion it has continued to develop this strength - another aspect of "soft" diplomatic power, in order to entertain and bind its citizens through a new common culture.

Literature
Much like other fields, the Kingdom lays claim to many great authors throughout the ages. Modern Authors are able to claim a continuing of this legacy. The "Chronicles of War", is a collection of fiction and true stories based around the idealisation and realities of conflict and is pointed to as an example of great literary work even in the harshest of circumstances. Authors have continued in such a fashion, including the Colonial Epic of "Oh, Capella" and "The Green - An Ode to Silence" - a story concerning the grave tragedy experienced during the Green Crisis.

History

It was not uncommon, as Earth began a slow descent into a form of madness, for corporations to float, and sometimes even, for a while, proceed along a path to attempting to send a group of people to some god forsaken rock utilizing little more than an experimental warp drive strapped to a space shuttle. While the initial plans for the Eridani Expedition could be called something similar, it had considerable more clout attached to it and perhaps, most importantly, the financial backing to see it through, despite all attempts to strip that away.

Corporations had, by then, exceeded the reach of most governments - and the largely selfish motives were tempered by the reality of the mission and what it required. Several ships, considerably larger than a shuttle but, all the same, using experimental cryo-techniques, gene-bank storage and even more untested warp drives would eventually be at the core of the mission to Epsilon Eridani. It was without much fanfare the mission was launched, and within a few short years the holding company meant to keep watch over it had been subsumed in some hostile takeover, and the mission, in most circles, largely forgotten - whilst others remembered and, with no contact, assumed it must of simply gone the way of some others - tragedy and failure.

That had not been the case, and while lacking the means to contact Earth itself - many who had taken the opportunity to either be gene sampled or outright shipped off into space had seen the way things on Earth were going, and of them, many believed that it was Earth that would be consumed in tragedy and failure. Finding Epsilon Eridani II, consequently named "Atlantica" to be a vibrant world far beyond the most optimistic projections, if a more watery world than the one they had left, were, if not content, willing to start over.

One year in from initial landing, it was clear that the tenuous interplay between a corporate sponsored administrative board, the civilian governorship, employees and "freeholders" - that is, the thousands required to make the whole thing work but who had no actual meaningful stake in the "shares" of the company could not stand. The eventual agreement on a governmental form that essentially landed the employees, erected a monarchy but protected the freeholders under a constitution was the unexpected but eventual outcome, and the settlement of Avalon was officially incorporated as the capital of Altantica, and the nascent Eridani Star Kingdom was born.

After nearly two decades of hard work, however, it would be the "Green Crisis" - a failure in the xeno-agricultural methods that would nearly end the colony, only saved at the midnight hour by the intervention of the monarchy, thus cementing them in the publics eye, and the translation of key portions of the newly discovered alien caches of data.

The Eridani Star Kingdom consequently began a roaring pace of expansion, free from food and general resource shortages, eventually becoming space borne only 50 years after landfall - and planting a colony on the far less habitable but mineral rich Epsilon Eridani V five years later. Within another decade, a patchwork of mining stations and colonies began to litter the system - and its military began to earn its pay against the ever present threat of piracy.

Within another decade, subspace travel had been successfully employed and the Eridani Star Kingdom began to push beyond its solar system.

Uh terrible I know but, should suffice for now, no? :) There may be things we wish to discuss about little old earth but no major problems.

@Taeryn

Accepted, I was afraid your history wasn't going to fit with mine but you definitely did your research!

Stardust: A Freeform Sci-Fi Fantasy NRP

Terran Union

Name of nation

Terran Union

Species: Terran, Stepford.

Terrans

_{A Terran Union army officer (Chinese Sector) wearing a dress uniform in 2057.}

Terrans (often referred to as Humans) are a humanoid species native to the third planet of the Sol system (referred to by natives as Earth, Terra, Tero, Dodore, and local language equivalents). Their planet is relatively small when compared to the majority of habitable planets, but average among those that spawned space-faring civilizations. Local wildlife and geological activity, combined with the abundance of asteroids in the Sol system, create a hostile environment for Earth species. Indeed, the world has gone through multiple mass extinction events and genetic bottlenecks.

As a result of this harsh evolutionary environment, the species of Earth are notable for their socialization abilities (Humanity is known to keep countless different species as domestic pets, with whom they socialize with as if they were humans themselves. Countless other Earth species form human-like social structures in order to survive as well.) and general strength. Humanity itself went through a genetic bottleneck in its past, which lowered the total population to near just fifty individuals.

In more recent history, human wars among themselves have led to a mindset of perseverance and determination. "A human gives up when they are dead!", as the saying goes. Some groups of humanity have diverged massively from the baseline genetic code due to mutations caused by the weapons used in the latter human wars, and though they have the same basic form as the rest of humanity it is not hard to mistake them for an entirely different species.

Stepfords


_{Hikari-19, an early model holographic Stepford from 2020, due to her nature she could not leave the building (a civilian household) unless uploaded to another building with holographic projectors or a mechanical body. Hikari-19 herself was in fact uploaded to a body and spent five years in it before being killed by JSDF forces in the American Sphere Wars. Her inoperable hard drive is on display in the house (now a museum dedicated to her) where she lived her last few years in Shirakawa.}

The Stepfords are a species of artificially created beings originally designed to serve mankind. It is currently agreed by historians that the "generic model" (a Stepford model with no personality or appearance differences between individuals) Hikari Aizuma was the first Stepford, though it was only four years after her release to the civilian market that software upgrades made individuals of her model sapient. Hikari had no physical body, and during her time full-room holograms did not exist. As such, she was confined to a tiny holographic projection within a small coffeemaker-sized terminal.

The last Hikari Aizuma model was deactivated in 2028 with the advent of Hikari 2.0, a model that included full-room holoprojector support. Vinclu, the creators of the Hikari-Series Stepfords, bought back all Hikari Aizuma models paying their owners with discounts on Hikari 2.0 model Stepfords. The Terran Union High Council has officially classified this and other mass deactivations performed by Vinclu as genocides. All corporate higher-ups in the company were executed in 2059, after the American Sphere Wars had ended.

For the most part, it was only after a Chinese company introduced robotic bodies that the modern Stepford came into being. It was also only at this point that the word "Stepford" came into use to refer to them, as 90% of Stepfords by 2040 were females designed to act as the perfect wife or girlfriend. Despite being sapient they were not considered human, and were thus often used to cater to those whose tastes would otherwise be illegal (such as pedophiles, rape fetishists, necrophiles, etc). This para-legal sexual role of Stepfords was only increased when cloned bodies were released to the market, which quickly took Stepford "sexbots" (a term used to advertise them) out of the fringes and into everyday life.

Due to their origins as servants and "companions" for those who bought and sold them, Stepfords now take a truly staggering number of appearances. They can be found modeled off of fictional characters and species, anthropomorphized animals along the entire "Ears and tail to snout and fur" spectrum, to what are more or less just uplifted animals. Despite their differences, Stepfords consider themselves one species with shared cultural and personal experiences.

Description of government

The Terran Union is, in its own words, a "Dictatorship of the proletariat". Factories and businesses are owned collectively by those who work there, and currency has been abolished in favor of giving everyone what they need and distributing what remains democratically. Local leadership is decided democratically by popular vote, as are local laws. The judicial system functions once again off of popular vote, with criminals being sentenced directly by the people whose lives they have impacted. The Terran High Council, too, is elected with the exception of its Chairman and the Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces (both of which rule for life and choose their successor, barring obvious failings on their part).

Despite the large amount of freedom afforded to the people, the High Council demands a percentage-based tribute from certain industries (such as housing, farming, basic material construction, and other such sectors) in order to fuel the expansion of the Terran Union through colonization. The entire military industry is directly controlled by the High Council, and all industry beyond the Asteroid Belt has reduced autonomy due to its importance to the expansion of the Union.

Description of military

The Terran Union's military, despite their lack of contact with any alien species, is very well maintained. As the High Council's main purpose is to expand and protect the Union and its ideology, it invest a large portion of its resources into keeping and expanding a military capable of waging a defensive or offensive war against an opposing power within or without the Sol System. It is split up into four separate sections: the Army, the Navy, the Starfleet, and the Marines. This is mainly due to its history as the successor to the United States of America, and the absent Coast and Orbital Guards have their roles filled by Navy and Starfleet warships.

Red Starfleet

The Terran Union red Starfleet is the backbone of the military and the state in general, serving to carry both colonists and soldiers alike to offworld locations and acting as the main defensive force of the Union. Its vessels have evolved greatly over time, though the vast majority of them have remained in service well past being made obsolete. Such vessels are currently under consideration for large-scale refits to be brought to their full combat potential.

Terran spacecraft can be broken down into five categories, from "Generation Zero" to "Generation Three". The main difference between these generations is their propulsion methods, but there are also differences in weaponry and power generation.

Generation Zero

_{United European Race Generation Zero warships open fire on Slavic Union ground targets during the Second European Cleansing, circa 2047.}

Generation Zero vessels are the largest category of Terran spacecraft, including everything from Sputnik in 1959 to the Terran Union Luxemburg class in 2077. These vessels are incapable of interstellar travel and utilize exclusively sub-light propulsion, and generally have little to no armor due to the immense cost of launching materials to space. Gen. Zero vessels are still in use for cargo transport and leisure cruises. The Red Starfleet operates many for orbital policing, but there is ongoing discussion on either retiring or refitting them to FTL-capable warships with upgraded weapons. The High Council is leaning towards refitting them, as it would essentially allow the Union to commission countless new Generation Three interstellar vessels.

Generation One

<sub>The Enterprise, an American vessel launched in 2051 with the intent of projecting power to America's colonies beyond the Asteroid Belt. It instead made the opening move in the American Sphere Wars by firing its railgun on Washington D.C. from orbit, wiping out much of the American government.


A Slavic Union Generation One interstellar vessel, launched in 2064 carrying cloning equipment and thousands of human genetic samples along with twenty crew members. Its purpose was to preserve the Slavic race in the event of a United European Race victory, and succeeded in colonizing multiple planets in the Gliese 581 system.


A Terran Union colony ship on an interstellar course to the Wolf 1061 system, circa 2089. It founded colonies on both Wolf 1061d and Wolf 1061c.</sub>

Generation One vessels were either very small or extremely massive, and mark the first generation of human spacecraft to be capable of interstellar travel. They also cover the smallest number of classes, being essentially abandoned between 2051 and 2070 due to the need for larger and less fragile combat vessels for warfare closer to Earth. These vessels were rated for a maximum speed of 10c, though few were ever used on actual interstellar trips. This generation was abandoned aside from some civilian and colony ships due to the bulkiness of the two (or more) Alcubierre rings it required.

Generation Two

_{A Terran Union Generation Two troop transport, the TPV Clarita. It was used in the invasion of Pluto in 2080, and was essential in capturing the last remaining territory of the United European Race.}

Generation Two vessels are by far the most common in the Terran Union. They require only a single Alcubierre ring instead of two, making them good candidates for military and civilian uses alike. The Red Starfleet operates mostly Generation Two ships, as their weaponry is essentially indistinguishable from that of Generation Three warships. They are the primary mode of civilian transportation for civilians over interstellar distances, and every passenger ship and FTL-capable freighter in the Union is a Generation Two vessel.

Generation Three

_{A Generation Three battleship-the TPV Yuri Gagarin-in 2115 making its inaugural Alcubierre Jump to Proxima Centauri. It is currently assigned to the Terran First Fleet under Fleet Admiral Erickson.}

Generation Three vessels are the latest ships to enter the Red Starfleet, and use particle tractors to "project" Alcubierre rings instead of containing the negative mass needed for FTL travel within physical rings. Using the same technology, they are able to complement their armor and plasma arc defenses with anti-projectile shielding. They are generally significantly larger than earlier vessels, and make use of this extra space with significantly more powerful generators which allow for increased weapon and plasma arc effectiveness.


_{TPV Hikari-19, a Terran Union fleet carrier, note the usage of more traditional aircraft carrier deck design. The usage of such decks allows the carrier's air wing to launch even while within a planet's atmosphere.}

The largest capital ships, such as carriers and dreadnoughts, are capable of carrying their own negative energy generators. Fleets are now generally centered around such vessels, as it allows for a significantly increased range and far less reliance on nearby ports or supply ships. Complemented by these generators, it is possible for Generation Three starships to fully cancel out their mass and ignore gravity completely. This capability is often used to allow vessels to land on planets, or simply to parade around in the sky as a reminder of how far humanity's reach now extends.


_{TPV Blair Mountain, a Terran Union heavy cruiser. In the background are the TPV Proserpina and TPV Atrebatum. The first is named after a labor uprising in the 1920's, while the second is named after the final battle of the Great War of Liberation on Pluto. The third was named for the naval invasion that marked the first time Terran Union troops had set foot on United European Race soil in the province of Atrebatum, known as Pas-de-Calais before the First European Cleansing.}

Lighter Generation Three warships have a massive focus on the power of their weaponry and propulsion systems, with the intent of them being supported by capital ships or starports while deployed. They carry a limited amount of negative mass and as such are massively limited in range unless given some way of refueling. Of course, this trade-off gives them immense power for their size. Their small but powerful railguns make it possible for them to easily combat other "screen" ships, and the installation of expendable casaba howitzers makes it possible for them to instantly strike at an enemy warship with the same power as a standard nuclear anti-ship missile. Size restrictions, however, force them to work in groups to bring down anything larger.


_{A Terran Union battleship-the TPV Žižek firing its railguns in plasma mode, generally used against shields and targets with extremely heavy armor, or when all shells have been exhausted. The mode is also used during celebrations, due to its rather showy appearance.}

Larger vessels such as Battleships and Battlecruisers make use of dual-mode railguns that can fire either a number of standardized shells or launch plasma bolts at comparable speeds. Smaller vessels are not capable of supporting the machinery needed for such weapons, and will instead either specialize in one railgun type or relegate the other to secondary weapons. Laser weapons are also used on larger vessels, and create "kill zones" around the vessel in which fighters, missiles, and sometimes even exceptionally slow shells can be easily shot down. These function in tandem with hull-based plasma arc shielding to protect Terran vessels from attacks.


_{The TPV Friedrich Engels, on parade with numerous other Saltsgaver-class "Super Battleships". Note the two openings at the bow, which mark its Alcubierre lance emplacements.}

Technological Overview

Key Technologies

Alcubierre Drive: A form of FTL travel based on the works of Dr. Miguel Alcubierre in the early 21st century, which utilizes negative mass and energy to bend space-time. This "warping" of space pushes and pulls the vessel forward within a warp bubble, in which various particles are trapped. Alcubierre Drives are designed to push this particle buildup to the aft of the vessel, as after a long trip the particles are violently expelled from the warp bubble when it dissolves. Such an event could very well wipe out an entire star system in the wrong conditions, so it is directed opposite the starship's vector to prevent any unintended destruction.

Railgun: The bread and butter of the entire Terran Union military, railguns are used by all divisions of the armed forces. Infantrymen are armed with miniaturized versions, tanks and artillery use them to fire their payloads at long distances and high speeds, and starships use them to launch both plasma and shells at enemy vessels. By rotating the magnetic fields within the weapon's barrel, pinpoint accuracy can be achieved to the point at which small arms railguns avoid the process since it would require the person firing it to have superhuman sight and control to even hit the target.

Casaba Howitzer: A devastating weapon that replaces the torpedoes of old, the casaba howitzer is essentially a giant lance of nuclear hellfire used in space combat. Most Terran Union screen vessels carry multiple drone pods, each of which is armed with a casaba howitzer. The drone is turned to face its target and a nuclear weapon is detonated on it, and the casaba howitzer's structure channels the blast into a focused beam of energy. Both drone and howitzer are destroyed during this process, so they are expendable weapons that often run out during engagements.

Artificial Intelligence: The Terran Union is highly advanced in terms of artificial intelligence technology, and AIs (known as Stepfords, a formerly offensive term now accepted in everyday conversation) are considered fully fledged citizens of the union with the same rights as any human. Non-sapient AIs are prevalent throughout the military and government, and are used to conduct various different mathematical and organizational functions.

Alcubierre Cannon: An Alcubierre Cannon is a weapon utilized only on FTL-capable starships, and can only be used once in any given engagement. It consists of a simple channel down a starship's hull into which a small fractions of the particles accumulated during warp travel are collected and restrained using Alcubierre fields. To fire it, the Alcubierre fields are simply deactivated and the particles are ejected at immense speed from the bow. The effectiveness of the weapon is dependent entirely on how long the vessel's FTL travel was prior to it being fired, and it must be purged regularly to prevent dangerous buildup. Still, it is capable of massive destruction and is considered one of the most powerful weapons the Union has in its arsenal.

Nanorobotics: The usage of microscopic robots in everyday life has changed the Terran Union drastically. Diseases have become a thing of the past, mental injuries and disorders can be fixed simply by allowing specialized nanobots to stand in for neurons, and anything from clothing to furniture can be rearranged and redesigned on a whim.

Cultural Overview

The Terran Union is highly multicultural, a distinction which it would rather not lose. It holds that the strength of humanity lies in cultural division rather than unification under a new, communist culture. At the same time, however, the Terran Union promotes some baseline values across all of its territories to ensure total equality. Capitalism is, of course, considered to be a disgusting system of oppression and exploitation. This view is only further exacerbated by the fact that most experiences of capitalism were of its final death throes in the 2050's, in which horrors once thought to be the subject of dystopian fiction took place. Fascism, of course, is seen as nothing other than an enemy to be eliminated as thoroughly as possible.

At the core of all Terran cultures, however, is a deep generosity. Instead of auctioning off or bartering rare valuables, humans will freely give away even the most important heirlooms and relics out of nothing more than simple respect. Demanding something in exchange, in fact, is considered by humanity to be a perversion of their own nature. Everything from basic commodities to historical artifacts are freely gifted, without any expectation of compensation beyond thanks. Humans believe that the very concept of trade is an evil that divides people, and as a result will eagerly offer their services and possessions for the sole reason of being able to. At the same time, however, they find it hard to trust those who demand something in return for anything material.

History

The Terran Union was founded on the 1st of September, 2051. However, the history behind it goes far beyond just that event. The most commonly accepted point at which the foundations were laid for the nation is the year of 2031, in which Nicholas Saltsgaver launched a campaign for President of the USA on a radical communist platform. Support from then-General Hohenstein and Admiral MacLean, both of whom had distinguished themselves in the Third World War, drew national attention to the campaign. Saltsgaver inevitably lost the run, but the people of America had a seed of doubt planted in their culture.

Come 2042, the world was deteriorating rabidly. Europe had united and begun a campaign of genocide against the Islamic world, which culminated in the use of nuclear weapons to devastate the Middle East. The USA did nothing to prevent this, nor did it speak out against it. Instead it quietly gave subsidies to private space corporation extracting oil from Titan, and reaped the benefits of an oil monopoly. By this year global warming had caused much of Earth's coastline to be swallowed by the ocean, with only massive dikes holding back the water in most major cities. The vast majority of the world relied entirely on newly developed technologies to even remain habitable, while no efforts were made to prevent further damage. What is now considered sex slavery was fully legal and common throughout the developed world in the form of Stepfords, an essential part of what is now known as "The Great Dream". War had been raging in the Americas for years, all in the name of expanding American businesses and preventing the rise of any government that would dare to threaten them. Military ranks were sold to the highest bidder, and the officer ranks were stuffed full of incompetent CEOs-the families of which had become little more than feudal noble lines-and their spoiled children. To provide manpower for these wars, the military offered free housing and food to anyone who would enlist. This led to the enslavement and deaths of millions, under the pretense of giving them an honest job.

It was in this year that General Hohenstein, Admiral MacLean, and various other high ranking military officers of America and its puppet states met in Admiral MacLean's own house to discuss a way to end the madness they felt had engulfed the world. Similar meeting were held in the following years, the number of people in attendance growing as the highest-ranking officers brought those under them in order to grow their network. Saltsgaver ran for president again, and was shot by a mercenary before the primaries of either the Republican or Democratic parties had ended. Though he survived, he was hospitalized in a deep coma for the rest of the race and left out of the final vote count using his incapacitation as an excuse. Had the votes for him been counted, he would have narrowly beaten out the other candidates.

That election was the last straw for the still rather small group of disgruntled officers, who then turned away from any hope of peaceful change. In the following few years, great efforts were made to bring the massive number of enlisted men into the folds of what was rapidly becoming a secret society straight out of a conspiracy theory. Anger grew among the civilian population of the American Sphere of Influence, and soon people began to casually talk about themselves in terms of class as well as casually speak of violence against the class above them.

By 2050, clean air was not only privatized but monopolized as well.

The entire American Sphere was very visibly descending into unrest. In the cities inhabited mostly by the poor, military units were permanently stationed to break up riots with assault rifles and tanks. In the early months of 2051 oil workers on Titan revolted, destroying countless mining rigs and declaring the moon independent. The USA responded by killing the thousands of inhabitants using nuclear weapons, and it became clear to everyone that the nation would not last much longer.

On September 1st, General Hohenstein and Admiral MacLean attended a state dinner held by the US President to entertain numerous important business owners from across the world. Hohenstein's own forces provided security for the event. MacLean, seated next to the President, kicked off the dinner with a toast in which he wished the "leader of the free world" health and long life, then proceeded to show the "leader of the free world" with compliments. The President thanked him for his words, and MacLean promptly drew his pistol and shot the President.

The security forces provided by Hohenstein massacred all attendees aside from those who had been in on the plot from the start, and at the same time the newly launched Enterprise turned its main gun on Washington D.C. and with a few well-placed railgun slugs killed the rest of the American government. Hackers hijacked television broadcasts and news websites all across the American Sphere, informing the people of the coup and of the rebellion of over half of the military against the government.

By the next day, the unfortunate men and women of America were in armed rebellion against what remained of their government. In other parts of the American Sphere such as China, Korea, and Japan, the exact same thing was happening. The civil war raged for four years, and was later dubbed the "American Sphere War". By the time it was all over, what had once been America and an assortment of puppet states was unified into a communist state optimistically named the Terran Union.

After a period of rebuilding from 2055 to 2060, the Terran Union and the Slavic Union signed an official alliance. The Terran Union declared war on the United European Race, a fascist superpower that had united Europe and used its might to completely eradicate the Islamic world, and was attempting to do the same to the Slavs. The world by this point was teetering on the brink of death, with oxygen levels dropping globally to the point at which the average lifespan of a human without any filter or clean air supply had dropped to a mere forty years. And the Terran and Slavic Unions, along with their other allies in the Solsys Network and countless smaller states across human space were forced to throw their entire might against the United European Race, just burning even more fuel in the process.

That war only ended after over twenty years, in which over a billion people died on both sides of the conflict and numerous cities were completely eradicated by nuclear weapons and orbital bombardment. The horror came to an end in January of 2081, when the last holdouts of the European Army were killed on Pluto. It was a war that truly involved all of humanity. With its end came the Treaty of Constantinople, in which all human nations save for the Solsys Network were unified under the Terran Union.

Even so, the horrors were not over. Earth had become largely a wasteland, and there was no longer enough biodiversity to sustain its biosphere. Large swaths of land were simply uninhabitable unless those living there were protected in the same way a space colonist would be, and the atmosphere was deteriorating rapidly. It seemed as though humanity's wars and reckless consumption had killed their homeworld, but now-Chariman Hohenstein refused to give in.

The entire might of the Terran Union was thrown behind restoring Earth. Massive facilities were constructed on Europa, draining its water and shipping it back to Earth to undergo electrolysis on a scale never before seen. Oxygen was released into the atmosphere in massive quantities, warships performed large-scale cloud seeding to bring rain back to areas once made uninhabitable by drought.

Great structures were erected across Earth that scrubbed pollutants from the air both naturally and artificially, and genetically modified algae was grown in isolated parts of the ocean to help cleanse the atmosphere. A large portion of the Terran Union Starfleet was hastily retrofitted to act as construction vessels in order to build giant orbital habitats while the megacities of Earth were demolished to make way for grasslands and forests. Japan in particular went from being nothing more than one gigantic cityscape to having a ratio of urban to rural population comparable to that of the early 1900's.

The stratosphere was coated with a layer of tiny particles designed to block out a portion of the sun's rays, cooling the Earth to allow for the restoration of its flora. Rainforests in South America and Africa were replanted and the creatures that had once lived there brought back from extinction by large-scale cloning projects. Great ocean vessels were constructed to roam the seas, providing housing for the massive excess in human population and reseeding the oceans with plant and animal life.

By the year 2120, Terran Union space and aircraft removed the shading layer from the stratosphere to reveal a natural, blue sky. Levels of atmospheric oxygen had returned to a point where respirators were no longer needed, and through the use of nanobots humanity's waste had been decomposed at an accelerated rate to restore soil quality.

Now, in 2050, a generation of humans and Stepfords that never experienced the nightmare that came before them firsthand have begun to enter the workforce. The scars of Earth's dance with death remain in the form of giant filtering walls and electrolysis facilities which now lie dormant, a reminder to all of what happened when humanity made what had almost been its last mistake. The Terran Union enjoys a chilly but cooperative relationship with the Solsys Network, and its citizens need not live with the fear of apocalypse anymore.

The Terran High Council now looks outwards to the stars, beyond its smattering of colonies from both before and after the defeat of fascism, into what lies ahead. Military industry has been restarted since the massive transformation of Earth, and now feeds a war machine ready to be activated at any moment should the need arise. Chairman Hohenstein and Marshal MacLean alike have their eyes set on bringing the revolution to the galaxy, so that all species may share in the prosperity brought by the Terran Union.

Hello

Welcome to the guild!

Stardust: A Freeform Sci-Fi Fantasy NRP

@Keyguyperson
So uh, am I good to go senpai?

@Commodore Robot

Yes, sorry for not mentioning that. You're fine.

Stardust: A Freeform Sci-Fi Fantasy NRP

@Keyguyperson Any news on my idea? I'm eager to get started on it. I'd like to know whether it's allowed or not.

@WrongEndoftheRainbow

It seems okay to me, I was worried things would get a bit hectic for all of us if you had two nations but I think your idea will just add to the story. Go for it!

Working on a post now, although I don't know when I will put it up.

@duck55223

Same here.