Keyguyperson

Hunger Games: THE SPAM BOWL: End of the Year Championship Round

This guy. The one that shot the Russian Ambassador and instantly became a meme because this timeline and universe are broken and all is now governed by memes oh god please end this hell of a world.

[SCI-FI] The Stars Above

Hoshijin Empire

---

Cathlea, Solward Strip

Fiel looked up from the fertile soil of Cathlea to rub her sunburned neck, something she had only actually seen on other slaves like her. Sunscreen, after all, was not exactly a recent invention. It was just that, just as one does not shield a plain chair or table from the sun, one does not do the same for a slave. Both are legally objects, and the legal status of a person-or non person in this case-often ended up directly influencing the actions of others as if writing on paper somehow dictated the natural laws of the universe.

On the road beside the plantation, she saw the strangest sight of her life. Up until that moment, at least. It was an Imperial main battle tank sitting on the curbside, just ahead of three military trucks from Cathlea's own colonial legion. For whatever reason, the Empire had taken interest in her master. For a moment the old rumors that spread throughout the plantations during the invasion popped into her head, the desperate cries of countless insisting at the Hoshijin would free the slaves. But that had all been before she was born, and was all just wishful thinking in the end. Although she certainly wouldn't object to hearing that the Empire gunned down her master.

"Fiel!" Screamed her master, dashing even the fantasy of his death. "Get over here!"

His voice was only heard on two occasions. One, when you weren't working hard enough for him and the other when he decided to punish you for it. There were a lot of punishments he had, most of which would make you wish for a different one even if it was the "gentlest" reprimand. To be fair, the "gentlest reprimand" wasn't at all as merciful as it might sound.

"Y-yes master?"

"I don't know why, but the Empire has decided to buy your worthless ass. Say your goodbyes, you'll be out of my sight in an hour."

"At most." Said a Hoshijin man in an Imperial officer's uniform whom was standing (rather tall) behind her master. "We're not exactly on the most lenient of timetables."

Fiel didn't have many goodbyes to say-her family had long since been sold off-but she sometimes spoke with the house slaves. She used that as a good excuse to walk right into the kitchen and steal a couple cornbread muffins. Perhaps "steal" was the wrong word, as they were given to her by the cook himself. That was a goodbye she really did have to make, the two had been friends for a good long time. He told stories of the invasion and how he escaped his last master and fought with the Imperials, eventually managing to earn his freedom when his former commanding officer was given the province in which he lived as a fief. The owner of the plantation obviously didn't like him as a person, but kept him around for a reason everyone knew well. He was a damn fine cook.

She didn't know what awaited her-after all, the Empire generally tried to pretend that slavery didn't exist on Cathlea-but whatever it was it would at least be different. Even if she was to find herself eating her last meal, at least it would be her friend's cornbread. Which she hadn't brought for fear of not being fed, but rather because she knew the Hoshijin didn't eat anything that could be found on Cathlea. And they definitely wouldn't have cornbread, she was pretty sure they didn't even have any plant like corn. If she did need to eat a last meal, she wanted cornbread to be a part of it for sure.

Not a word was spoken by her as she boarded one of the trucks, being seated next to the Hoshijin officer himself by one of the soldiers. Perhaps the Empire had a new trend of slave concubines from Cathlea. It wasn't all that unbelievable, slave concubines were common among humans and the Hoshijin were pretty much just humans with pointy ears. She couldn't have possibly imagined his true intentions at the time.

"You... you are an interfacing slave, right?" Said the officer, breaking the silence that didn't need to be broken in the first place. "One of the ones that drive combines and other machinery on plantation?"

"Yes, master. I can interface with the computer systems of our machines. The ones that are designed to allow me to do so, at least."

"Oh good, I thought I had been swindled for a moment there. It was the price-you seemed too cheap to be an interfacing slave. No offense, of course! I'm sure your former master just didn't understand your true value."

That was odd. Her owner was afraid of having offended her? The Hoshijin were famous for bowing for damn near anything short of a rock, but everyone knew that their respect never left that realm unless they judged someone worthy. Which they almost never did. And here was one, lying to a slave about the reason behind her low price of all things. She knew very well that her master had sold her at a lowball price because she was rebellious. She had the scars on her back to prove it. Not that she wanted to reveal that to her new owner.

"I-If you allow it, may I know just why you bought me, master? I assumed I would be a concubine or something similar, but then you wouldn't be looking specifically for an interfacing slave."

"You are right. My name is Kipposhi, I am the Daimyō of Uchinaa. For some time now I have been trying to advance Imperial space combat. Your ability to interface with computer networks presents a unique opportunity for the Empire."

"I am to serve the military?"

"Yes, I have had a space fighter designed using the same computers found in Cathlean equipment. You should be able to interface with them just fine. I hope to improve pilot reaction times."

"But the technology to engineer beings that are capable of direct computer interfacing was lost centuries ago, any fighter based off of that design would have to be piloted by an interfacing slave."

"That is true, and it is also true that the Empire doesn't permit subject species from operating spacecraft alone unless the individual being considered is an Honorary Hoshijin. Which is why I pulled some strings in the royal family and court, they've agreed to allow you that status as long as you serve in the military for five years. If you leave during those ten years for any reason, of course, you will be considered a defector and hunted down."

"And if I refuse?" Fiel had never had a choice like this. The closest thing to a choice she'd ever had was between following an order and getting beaten. Which, come to think of it, would probably make being in the military fairly familiar.

"I am not heartless." Said Kipposhi. "If you refuse you will be given freedom as a subject of the Empire and my own ships will take you to whichever planet you wish to reside on with the obvious exception of Uchinaa. You will not be an Honorary Hoshijin, and as such not have the right of free movement or the ownership of any non-farm property. Without any money or assets, you would quickly find yourself an indentured servant."

"That's better than how I had it at home."

"But not as good as things could be. I am offering you a chance to do something most humans don't even get to do, much less former slaves. Five years can go by very fast, and at the end you'll have all of your pay, military service, and assuming you didn't manage to get dishonorably discharged at the end of it all a small pension. That's enough to give you a life, maybe even one better than your old master. That's all something you can have. All you need to do is say yes."

"The way you put it there it's barely a choice. I can either go back to something more or less the same as what I know, or join the military and earn my freedom."

"You would have no drive or ambition if you declined."

"Well I have both. This is the sort of thing my kind fantasize about when we can't fall asleep at night. When we interface with computers, we can fairly quickly learn how to use the different programs and systems as long as the operating system is familiar. A space fighter can't be that hard to learn if I already figured out the fifteen completely different tractor models we still use. I think my answer is obvious."

"Well then congratulations. You're a free woman, Fiel."

Uchinaa, Clan Heishi Territory

Lasis rolled through the hallway of the Heishi clan's castle on Unchinaa. Well, it was given the name of a castle. In reality, it bore little resemblance to the ancient structures used as fortresses. It was little more than a large mansion surrounded by the central administrative buildings of the clan, plus what was essentially a small military base carved out of the cliff the entire complex sat atop. Aside from the usual Imperial Guard garrison found at castles, Daimyō Kipposhi's own air force unit was stationed within a hanger within the cliff. It wasn't large-a squadron of fighters and a couple battleships-but there were whispers of him ordering a carrier from the homeworld.

The castle was, for now at least, the seat of Imperial power on Uchinaa. Daimyō Kipposhi had been wise to wrestle the land as his own fief before any other Daimyō could take it or the colonization progressed too far. For now, it was just a developing planet that only had a city and a couple of villages on it. But as it grew, Kipposhi might be able to take more of it for himself with the support of the populace and eventually gain ownership over his own entire planet. The fact that he was more or less doting on the native population-going to the point of having the corps of engineers figure out how to construct modern dwellings for them underwater-would definitely help. An entire planet of natives with modern technology isn't something you want to anger, but it is something you want willing to fight and die for you.

"Ah, Lasis-gimi." Said a man in a white labcoat who had popped out of a door along the hallway as he bowed to her. Not that it at all put him under her as the symbolic intent was, given that she was sitting in a wheelchair. "I was told you would be coming here. It's right this way."

She turned-much easier in the modern electric wheelchair than it would have been in a manually powered one she would have received were it a couple hundred years in the past-and followed the man into the least ornate room in the "mansion" part of the castle. Whereas everything else was built in the traditional style of the homeworld culture which gave birth to the Heishi line, this room was constructed in a purely utilitarian fashion. It was essentially a panic shelter for the Daimyō's family (of which he was the only actual member), but also held the elevator down into the cliffside military base.

"I set off as soon as I got word that you had found a pilot." Said Lasis as the two entered the lift. "We ought to have the prototype all ready for them, now don't we?"

"That we do, my lady. It has been coming along smoothly, and things have gone great since you told us to bring in an Uchinaan adviser to help us design it. A functional prototype has been completed, and I have to say, it's a good fighter even without the advantage of being able to link with a pilot."

"Excellent, I trust you'll explain why?"

"Of course, it's right here."

The elevator's doors opened to reveal the cliffside hangar of the castle, which had in its center a fighter not unlike those used by the air force. Just like most Imperial space fighters, it had been designed to operate within an atmosphere if needed and as such had a similar profile to purely atmospheric fighters. The main different was its swept-forward wings, an interesting choice for a plane that was to be flown by a novice. The advantage, of course, was obvious: maneuverability. Even in space combat, the wings provided a nice spread for RCS thrusters.

"So, go ahead and give me the rundown." Said Lasis. "It's a shame I wasn't more involved in the project, I had to attend to my own matters. Turns out being appointed as ruler of a new colony village takes up more time than you might think."

"Well, the wings are obvious. Better flight in atmosphere. This is really a plane meant to fly equally well in any medium, we've gone to the trouble of giving it enough thrust to hover vertically to let it pull off some tricks in-atmosphere. For propulsion and power we have a NAPS reactor installed to drive the nuclear-thermal rockets. Atmospheric propulsion is provided by space capable air-breathing rockets."

"Where are those kept?"

"The entire engine block is interested into a slot in the back section of the plane. They can be switched out in a matter of minutes."

"Was that the Uchinaan's idea?"

"Sort of. He chastised us for trying to make it work just as well in space and air and said that it is "foolish to try to be the best at everything for you will be bad at all of it, but it is wise to be the best at one thing and bad at all else". One of us noted that we could design it to be modular like the Naharaim, and he concurred. He actually helped design the slot itself, which is why it's as smooth as it is. Most of us wanted a more complex hookup, but he suggested it be a single, smooth shape for easy replacement. So we managed to connect the systems hookups into the latches which keep the engines in place."

"I knew it was a good idea to get him in on it all. So, tell me about the weapons."

"We've designed it to take on a multitude of combat roles, but again, that all depends on the loadout. We just gave it the ability to have quite the variety of loadouts. The only constant is a central minigun that uses depleted uranium smart rounds, which gives it a hell of a strafing ability no matter what not to mention a big punch against any plane dumb enough to get into that thing's line of fire. There are six total hardpoints on the wings, which can all be used for bombs or heavier munitions if we are willing to sacrifice some mobility. They can easily carry tactical nuclear weapons, but while it can also carry strategic ones it can barely get off the ground with two of them. And even then, there's a lot less fuel life."

"What about those ports?" Said Lasis, pointing to one of many holes in the plane's body. "They're placed a bit oddly to be RCS thrusters."

"You're right there, those are laser defense systems."

"You're joking."

"No, I'm not. In simulations they've managed to flat-out save the plane and pilot numerous times. Of course, after one or two successful usages the plane's batteries are practically depleted. The reactor provides a lot of power, but these are high power lasers. Miniaturized naval CIWS really."

"That's incredible!"

"There's more. We used osmium shielding for the reactor, so it's a lot thinner than lead shielding. That gave us a hell of a lot more room, since it'd usually take up most of the space between the seat and reactor. We added a full modular block there instead. It could theoretically be plenty of things, though obviously it can't be replaced as quickly as the engine block. We've designed a cyberwarfare suite, a second cockpit to make it two-man, and even a warp drive."

"I can accept the lasers are possible, but there's no way you crammed a warp drive in a fighter. The amount of negative mass you'd need to get it up to FTL speeds-"

"It isn't an FTL drive, just a sublight one. It'll be useful for getting it from base to base within a system without needing to rely on a carrier or transport. We haven't constructed it yet either, only the cyberwarfare suite and second seat have been built. Right now it's got the cyberwarfare suite attached to it, but it could also fly without anything there. It looks kinda stubby, but the lost mass can help a bit in some situations."

"I'm impressed, but obviously I'll reserve final judgement until I see it in action. What have you decided to name it?"

"The Wildcat."

"You named it after a human animal?" Said Lasis in shock. "I knew that you were fairly progressive yourself, but I didn't expect anyone to think to name it after an animal nonnative to the homeworld."

"It fits, doubly so with the pilot."

"How so?"

"Have you not read her file yet? She's the Cathlean interfacing slave Daimyō Kipposhi picked up specifically for this whole thing."

"Of course I know who she is, the entire point of the project is to have inferacers fly the thing. But how is she related to wildcats?"

"She has cat ears. You know how odd the Cathleans are, thanks to the ancient humans screwing around with their genes. Some of them happen to just have oversized cat ears on the top of their head."

"Do they have normal ears too?"

"I don't know. This... 'Fiel' is the first one I've actually seen and in the picture she has her hair over where they would be."

"I guess I'll ask when she gets here. I just hope she can manage to fly the thing, you're awfully ambitious giving it forward-swept wings. Planes like that are hard to control."

"But they payoff if you can control them is huge. She'll need practice, but once she masters it she'll have the best performance in the Empire. Besides, I'll bet that if someone can interface with the computer of what they're flying then they can get a hang of things pretty fast. A part of her has to think like a computer to do that, and learning computers don't make any mistakes the second time around."

[SCI-FI] The Stars Above

@Darkraven
I'd like to see some abducting in any capacity, really (makes for some fun storylines and character development, even if said development amounts to development of PTSD). A mysterious boogeyman species could be fun too.

[SCI-FI] The Stars Above

@Dragonruby
I'd be good with that. It could create some fun tension early on for both of us, which is good because the post I'm working on right now cements a pilot as a recurring character and you can only do so much with a military character before you need some threatening positioning, harshly-worded international communications, and maybe some large-scale artillery bombardment.

[SCI-FI] The Stars Above

@MissingAxis
Yeaaaaaaaaaaaah boy.

@ClocktowerEchos
Hello, weirdo aliens.

[SCI-FI] The Stars Above

@MissingAxis@Dragonruby

I've added my claims to my sheet, posting them here too for convenience.

Claims

[SCI-FI] The Stars Above

Alright then, now that I'm clear to post, anyone interested in making contact? I'm itching to properly describe my glorious, honorable radiation streaks.

[SCI-FI] The Stars Above

<Snipped quote by Keyguyperson>

#MakeFusoProudBruha o7

As for the giant streaks of radition, on a scale of 1 to Bushido, how honoabru are they?

@ClocktowerEchos

Bushido.

[SCI-FI] The Stars Above

<Snipped quote by MissingAxis>

@Keyguyperson The only thing that find any remote complaint with is the number of species in the empire and the incredibly dense amount of info on the original sheet but beyond that it seems good; quite like the warp travel thing tho

Also totally doesn't remind me of one of my own creation heh heh ^^;

@ClocktowerEchos

I realized that this time you WEREN'T Space Japan and swooped in to take my place. And I always loved my warp drives that spew out giant plumes of radiation because there's something totally awesome about arriving in orbit with giant trails of light behind you so bright those on the ground can see them. That's totally worth giving up the entire possibility of stealth in any way.

And yeah, I do have a ridiculous number of species. All the better to have societal unrest with!

[SCI-FI] The Stars Above

@Keyguyperson I didn't see anything glaringly disruptive on my read-through, but your sheet is incredibly dense and simultaneously a bit scattered. Would you mind posting a more concise version of your nation-sheet here in the OOC so I can see a better rundown of your civilization?

@MissingAxis

Alright, I've written up a quick rundown of some important things here. If there's anything you need clarified, let me know.

Hoshijin Empire Abridged

Faction Name:
Hoshijin Empire

Faction Type:
Feudal Empire

Species:
-Hoshijin: Humanoid heavyworlders with high strength and high metabolism. Pointy-eared space elves that have weird hair.
-Cathleans: Genetically engineered slaves/servants made by humans, with the technology having long since been lost. Usually cyborgs that are fine-tuned for grunt work.
-Aaradethvai: Blue-skinned humanoid bird people that look more like humans than birds save for their wings and feathers. Weak, hollow bones, blood cells produced by central organ rather than bone marrow. Can only fly in conditions similar to their homeworld.
-Uchinaans: Primitive space dolphins that are semi-independent, but swear fealty to the Empire.
-Humans

Scale & Territory:
Control of five star systems, corresponding to five hexes. There is only one major planet in each system, with one system still being in relatively early stages of colonization. Industry on one colony world is still based on fossil fuels and on another is nearly nonexistent, whereas on two others high-tech industry is fairly well developed. The homeworld is becoming post-industrial as factories move to the colonies. Resources are gained largely through asteroid mining, the home system contains Lagrange point stations and each planet has a large orbital.

Culture:
The Hoshijin are (obviously) dominant, and are more or less Proud Warrior Race Guy. They highly value honor and honoring one's word, and martial prowess comes in at a close second. Feuding nobles hold most of the power, but an emerging merchant class is beginning to rival them. Religion is fairly important to Imperial society, and the state religion holds that one must follow the honor code of one's caste in order to advance (be it in the next life or the current one). The Hoshijin, despite their belief in their general superiority over the conquered races, remain respectful to all due to tradition inherited from their myth of a god that bowed even to animals out of his own shame. They are very much expansionist and often self-righteous, believing that their very species represents the forces of good in the universe thanks to their mythology. As such, the expansion of their influence is considered perfectly in line with the will of the gods.

History:
The Hoshijin first created civilization as we know it before or during the breakup of their world's supercontinent (a relatively recent occurrence, to be fair), but a catastrophe destroyed said civilization and they spent eons as hunter-gatherers. Society developed first around warfare, then around trade, then their planet descended into a devastating period of war which they only recovered from after the creation of a UN-analog and a period of globalization. The planet as a whole actually voted the original Emperor into power, as he was seen as a moderate choice as opposed to the "extreme" progressives and traditionalists.

After barely managing to get off their massive homeworld, the Hosijin quickly started feuding within rising Imperial houses over various asteroids and such. Small-scale colonization of other bodies began. FTL and antigravity technology in the form of exotic matter with negative mass was discovered during an expedition to Dagon, the system's largest gas giant, which had various ancient installations floating in its upper atmosphere. This, understandably, made it much easier to launch ships from the homeworld.

The Empire conquered four planets afterwards, two of which were primitive and three of which were human colonies (the most advanced one surrendered without a shot). And began colonization of a waterworld for Hoshijin and Honorary Hoshijin only.

Technology:
-Railguns: Exactly what they are in real life. Used on ships, vehicles, and sometimes by anti-tank or machine gun crews.
-Small arms: Pretty much exactly the same as ours, but with things like smart bullets being much more common.
-Nuclear howitzers: Weapons that pretty much just detonate a nuke and direct the energy from said detonation towards the enemy. Launched on expendable drones because otherwise they'd blow up the ship.
-Fission and fusion: Fission is used on ships and some larger vehicles, fusion is used only to power cities and the like.
-Antigravity: Simple cancellation of mass using exotic matter, rather than outright control of gravity. Requires conventional propulsion to actually move and not fall down or up.
-Warp Drive: The warping of space using exotic matter to "propel" a ship at FTL speeds. Any ship exiting warp is highly visible, even beoing obvious to the naked eye. Ships must periodically drop out of warp to discharge radiation and particle buildup to avoid being cooked alive.
-Exotic matter: Produced using black box technology found on Dagon. Reproduction of devices is possible and widespread, but nobody understands exactly how they function.
An overview of the faction’s technological capabilities. Include their FTL method.

Military Forces:
The Imperial Military is split up into four branches: The Imperial Spaceborne Navy (ISN), the Imperial Airborne Force (IAF), the Imperial Oceangoing Navy (ION), and the Imperial Army (IA). Honorary Hoshijin as well as simple subjects of the empire serve in the military alongside its Hoshijin core, both as officers and cannon fodder. Hoshijin military doctrine is based heavily around firepower and effective usage of the forces one has, a doctrine which is quickly becoming outdated with the expansion of the military and the capability of the Empire to deploy combat troops onto planetary surfaces without spending a massive amount of propellant. New officers are trained accordingly, and taught how to handle the large numbers of troops-and subject species officers-they must keep in line to secure victory. Positioning, as always, is of major importance and defense is number one for the Empire as they know very well that it is not hard for a technologically superior faction to beat an inferior one with more sheer manpower.

When on the attack, Imperial ground forces prefer encirclement maneuvers and the creation of supply droughts using blockades of specific pockets. Mobility in the form of fast armored vehicles and air power is essential to Imperial forces, and the effective usage of both by Daimyō Kipposhi during the invasion of Cathlea is often said to be the only reason the Empire wasn't forced to retreat by their technologically inferior but vastly larger opponent.

In space, the Empire is still learning the ropes. Range is a well-known deciding factor, but beyond throwing shells and nuclear fire at the enemy there is little in the way of tactics. Some Daimyō and members of the royal family hope to change this by learning from the aquatic Uchinaans, whom evolved in an environment wherein the three degrees of freedom experienced in space were just a fact of everyday life. Already, trials are being conducted using Uchinaan hunting tactics in an attempt to find ways to actually win the battle in space through strength of mind rather than strength of numbers.