SPACE: Redux [IC]

by **New Antarcticania** » Thu Feb 11, 2021 5:26 pm

Reciving data for starsector 503,Pavlakakis system....success!
Uploading data to UNDSC feed

by **Ralnis** » Thu Feb 11, 2021 6:25 pm

John McCain

Seems fun, I'll take the job. Download me the nav point where I'm supposed to meet the merc fighters.

by **New Antarcticania** » Thu Feb 11, 2021 6:40 pm

Ralnis wrote:
John McCain

Seems fun, I'll take the job. Download me the nav point where I'm supposed to meet the merc fighters.

Slippery Joe

Yeah man of course I'll take the job. Just get me a nav point to the pirate base so there's no hassle.

John McCain

"The Mercs are located at the Santiago station, it's currently in the orbit of Venus, I'll tell the Mercs that you're coming, have fun."

by **Ralnis** » Fri Feb 12, 2021 3:15 am

Santiago Station
3rd Week of January

The destroyer Anstrum made it's way to the station and docked. Already news reports from bad news on Earth but it was of no consequence to the Consortium. Apparently had landed in a three-way spot with two corporations and the Kingpin believed that being closer to Earth could help the investors see that their kleptocracy become a real life dream. The planet in turn was too hostile for sustained growth but it was bustling with large amounts of raw materials that could set them up as a mining and industrial giant despite the criminal background. The Tortuga still made it's way further away from Sol in order to have better chances at prospects should they didn't want the system.

The Captain explored the station, looking for the merc fighter pilots.

by **Northern Socialist Council Republics** » Fri Feb 12, 2021 7:55 am

"But in maintaining armed men there in place of colonies one spends much more, having to consume on the garrison all the income from the state, so that the acquisition turns into a loss, and many more are exasperated, because the whole state is injured; through the shifting of the garrison up and down all become acquainted with hardship, and all become hostile, and they are enemies who, whilst beaten on their own ground, are yet able to do hurt. For every reason, therefore, such guards are as useless as a colony is useful." - Nicolo Machiavelli, The Prince

"I hate dealing with foreigners," Savannah muttered, relaxing into her chair after seeing their guests off. "I really do."

"Still," Jonathan replied, holding up their copy of the memorandum of understanding. "Control over Sector 0303 is quite the prize. I think it was worth the trouble of hosting these discussions."

"If they uphold it," Savannah cautioned.

"If they uphold it," Jonathan agreed.

It was just a memorandum of understanding, not a binding legal agreement - because what would be the point? It wasn't like they could take a contract with such... inflammatory terms to the United Nations and demand that it be enforced - but it was still extraordinary. The Consortium walked away with rights of settlement on Achises I and an agreement from the other two parties that the existence of such a settlement would be kept confidential. GreenWorld walked away with the Nessies' recognition of their essential interests in the Achises system, a nominal fee from Nessie coffers, and access to the alien sites of the Masood system. The North Sea Society, finally, got out of this conference the recognition of the Nessies' essential interests in the Masood system by the other two parties, access to the alien site in the Achises system, and a copy of any discoveries made from GreenWorld research efforts within the Masood system, enforced by Nessie inspectors.

Of course, much was kept private during the negotiations - the Nessies had their secrets, after all. That the Nessies had to lay claim to Masood I, because the ACS Niels Bohr was already en route to that planet with its cargo bays full of colonists even before the negotiations began, was something that GreenWorld and the Consortium did not need to know... well, at least until the Bohr arrived at the Masood system. Where Karin Boye was going was also something that the other two parties in the negotiations did not need to know. If the Nessies could get their hands on the entire Pavlakakis-Chico-Xaxi cluster by virtue of being the first to discover and settle it before anyone else even knew that the Nessies were interested in star systems that far away... well, that would just be ideal.

The allegiance of the population of any disputed territory was easily more valuable than one more army. The bloody history of the 20th Century - not to mention the more recent Reunification Wars - was proof enough of that. Savannah Strand believed in colonisation through aggressive population - after all, how could she not? It was what won the North Sea Society her substantial share of the lunar surface. Cover every meaningful deposit of useful resources with Nessies, and when foreign invaders came to remove them, bog the invaders down in a quagmire that was economic, political, and military all at once.

When the Society was so set with bloodthirsty monsters on all sides - Savannah didn't trust Nevis' dishonest smile one iota - every Nessie had to contribute to the health of the Society, and that meant the young babies and the children too. Their warm bodies physically occupying space was a much better territorial claim than any big flag or military destroyer, and - should worst come to worst - their warm blood splattered across camera screens made for a much more passionate and convincing rallying cry than any number of legal claims or jingoistic speeches.

"Do we have reports from the Karin Boye yet?"

"It just came in last hour," reported Director Rickard Anderson, presenting a sheet of paper before her. "A couple of rocky planets, a few more icy ones. It's not quite the prize that Masood and Achises were, but it'll still be well-worth planting colonies on."

"It'll be a while before we have a second colony available to be planted somewhere, so that should be fine," Claire interjected, then continued when Savannah nodded to indicate that she was paying attention. "There are still two more stars in that cluster to explore, so it is unlikely that we will have a second colony ready to go and standing idle for the lack of ideal targets."

"Everything depends on the success of our industrial expansion at... what is this, Starflower Colony? What idiot named this?"

"It was the leading poll option in our official online referendum, I believe," Claire timidly replied. "Or at least that's what the Home Office tells me."

"Well, fine," Savannah continued, "if that really is the people's choice, then I don't care about it that much. But anyways, as I was saying, everything depends on the success of our enterprise at Starflower Colony. I want this colony able to crank out habitation modules as quickly as possible. There's no reason why we have to wait until we have a second full colony ready to plant - just plop down a habitation module and, say, a thousand trained colonists with twice that many random rabble - on each of those three systems so that we have eyes and ears there. We can make them industrially self-sufficient later, after our claims to those systems are firmly established."

"Of course, Director," Claire acknowledged, despite the fact that colonial development policy was quite firmly in her domain and out of the Strategic Committee's. "Will there be anything else?"

"No, I think that will do for now," the Director of the Strategic Committee concluded, suppressing a yawn. "Talking to these vile foreign elite types is exhausting - I'm going to get some sleep. If anything else comes up, use your own discretion. See you all tomorrow."

The gathered officials nodded, and hurriedly moved to collect their papers.

by **G-Tech Corporation** » Fri Feb 12, 2021 8:20 am

Early January 2nd, 2060

High Achises II Orbit, Achises System

The transport shuddered less from retrograde burn than expected. It was a bit of a rattling, aye, but nothing compared to training, or a particularly bumpy suborbital transit. A more scientifically minded man than Mission Commander Kazparov would have chalked up the lack of atmospheric interference to the fact that Achises II lacked for the thick greenhouses gases which made Earth transit so turbulent. Kazparov just thought of it as providence, not even at a conscious level, and moved on with his life.

It was a good landing site, all things considered. Nice and flat, with hills not too far away to stuff the colonists under in case the magnetosphere didn't measure up to all it promised, and at a nice confluence of those succulent metal oxides which scarred Achises II's landscape even from orbit. Initial scans were very optimistic about the concentration gradient of the deposits of iron, nickel, manganese, and metallic carbon. It wasn't Mars, but it didn't need to be to make GreenWorld very rich. A whole world of untapped industrial potential... yes, it would serve very nicely.

The Carthago set down just after 0800 hours Earth time, though the colonists on the newly christened Synchrony living at New Providence would have to get used to a bit of a discrepancy between their normal schedules and those of Synchrony. She was a bit smaller than Earth, much larger than Mars, but her axial tilt and lack of mass meant a day totaled 22 hours, not 24. Awkward for the bean counters, but the psychologists engaged by the Corporation back on Earth said most of the colonists should be able to adapt. A bit less sleep, or a bit less time for recreation, plenty of people learned to live around that.

Immense machines began to unfold from the Carthago, unpacking her multitudinous prefab units that had been loaded aboard the ship only yesterday. Hydroponics to feed the populace and the growth vats, specialized equipment for the researchers, modular city blocks capable of housing thousands... yes New Providence would be quite the city before noon, when they started thawing out the first of the hopefuls who had took passage to the stars.

Destroyer Dauntless continues her work on Masood I
Destroyer Warrior jumps for 0206 - 1 Fuel
Destroyer Steerman jumps for 0405 - 1 Fuel
Destroyer Exarch conducts a prospecting scan of Achises I
Cruiser Indomitable conducts a prospecting scan of Achises III
Colony Ship Carthago lands and deploys prefabs on Achises II, dubbed Synchrony

by **New yugoslavaia** » Fri Feb 12, 2021 9:08 am

Epsilon sub-fleet
Sector 405, unknown space

Not many people could say that they had been to another star system. The crews of the 3 Caelus vessels were quite lucky to be among those fortunate few...at least those few who weren't working under the supervision of the UN. Quite a monumental venture.
If only the system they had ended up in wasn't a glorified debris fields with the only points of potential interest being some mineral asteroids. But sector 405 as it was known (and probably would be known for the rest of human existence) was only a stepping stone on the path to something much more important...a proper Star System. One that not only they, but their future generations could maybe call home. Didn't mean that this system couldn't serve a purpose. But first, it needed to be scanned.
On the hull of the destroyer Nix, a panel slid away. From the opening, a small drone module was ejected far into the sector. Soon, the scanner would reach its destination and perform a search of the area over the course of the next hour or two.
At the same time, Charon, the only cruiser in the group was preparing to open a wormhole to the next system. At the very least, it would perform a scan of the sector in order to map out the planets. Then it would wait in the system until it received instructions saying otherwise.

Charon: "This is Charon to Nix and Hydra, preparing to open wormhole. Good luck with your operations in this area, because we won't be seeing you again for some time."
Nix: "Roger Charon."
Hydra: "Understood. We'll do our best. Hopefully we'll have more fuel to spare by the time we re-group...if we ever do."
Charon: "I'm sure we will.
...
Wormhole is opening. Will try and open communication channels again later. But for now, the only response anyone will get from us is the system report we send back to Earth. Charon out."

In the space ahead of the Charon, a orb of distorted space formed. At least four times larger than the vessel that had called it into existence, the blurred outline of a a shadow-covered planet and the glimmer of a Star were visible. Not completely knowing what laid beyond, Charon engaged its thrusters and disappeared into the anomaly...

by **New Antarcticania** » Sat Feb 13, 2021 8:21 am

Ralnis wrote:Santiago Station
3rd Week of January

The destroyer Anstrum made it's way to the station and docked. Already news reports from bad news on Earth but it was of no consequence to the Consortium. Apparently had landed in a three-way spot with two corporations and the Kingpin believed that being closer to Earth could help the investors see that their kleptocracy become a real life dream. The planet in turn was too hostile for sustained growth but it was bustling with large amounts of raw materials that could set them up as a mining and industrial giant despite the criminal background. The Tortuga still made it's way further away from Sol in order to have better chances at prospects should they didn't want the system.

The Captain explored the station, looking for the merc fighter pilots.

The Tortuga travels from 503 to 603( 1 fuel)
7 left

In the Station Canteen, a dozen pilots are sitting together, laughing, playing cards, drinking.

by **New Antarcticania** » Sat Feb 13, 2021 12:15 pm

Northern Socialist Council Republics wrote:"But in maintaining armed men there in place of colonies one spends much more, having to consume on the garrison all the income from the state, so that the acquisition turns into a loss, and many more are exasperated, because the whole state is injured; through the shifting of the garrison up and down all become acquainted with hardship, and all become hostile, and they are enemies who, whilst beaten on their own ground, are yet able to do hurt. For every reason, therefore, such guards are as useless as a colony is useful." - Nicolo Machiavelli, The Prince

"I hate dealing with foreigners," Savannah muttered, relaxing into her chair after seeing their guests off. "I really do."

"Still," Jonathan replied, holding up their copy of the memorandum of understanding. "Control over Sector 0303 is quite the prize. I think it was worth the trouble of hosting these discussions."

"If they uphold it," Savannah cautioned.

"If they uphold it," Jonathan agreed.

It was just a memorandum of understanding, not a binding legal agreement - because what would be the point? It wasn't like they could take a contract with such... inflammatory terms to the United Nations and demand that it be enforced - but it was still extraordinary. The Consortium walked away with rights of settlement on Achises I and an agreement from the other two parties that the existence of such a settlement would be kept confidential. GreenWorld walked away with the Nessies' recognition of their essential interests in the Achises system, a nominal fee from Nessie coffers, and access to the alien sites of the Masood system. The North Sea Society, finally, got out of this conference the recognition of the Nessies' essential interests in the Masood system by the other two parties, access to the alien site in the Achises system, and a copy of any discoveries made from GreenWorld research efforts within the Masood system, enforced by Nessie inspectors.

Of course, much was kept private during the negotiations - the Nessies had their secrets, after all. That the Nessies had to lay claim to Masood I, because the ACS Niels Bohr was already en route to that planet with its cargo bays full of colonists even before the negotiations began, was something that GreenWorld and the Consortium did not need to know... well, at least until the Bohr arrived at the Masood system. Where Karin Boye was going was also something that the other two parties in the negotiations did not need to know. If the Nessies could get their hands on the entire Pavlakakis-Chico-Xaxi cluster by virtue of being the first to discover and settle it before anyone else even knew that the Nessies were interested in star systems that far away... well, that would just be ideal.

The allegiance of the population of any disputed territory was easily more valuable than one more army. The bloody history of the 20th Century - not to mention the more recent Reunification Wars - was proof enough of that. Savannah Strand believed in colonisation through aggressive population - after all, how could she not? It was what won the North Sea Society her substantial share of the lunar surface. Cover every meaningful deposit of useful resources with Nessies, and when foreign invaders came to remove them, bog the invaders down in a quagmire that was economic, political, and military all at once.

When the Society was so set with bloodthirsty monsters on all sides - Savannah didn't trust Nevis' dishonest smile one iota - every Nessie had to contribute to the health of the Society, and that meant the young babies and the children too. Their warm bodies physically occupying space was a much better territorial claim than any big flag or military destroyer, and - should worst come to worst - their warm blood splattered across camera screens made for a much more passionate and convincing rallying cry than any number of legal claims or jingoistic speeches.

"Do we have reports from the Karin Boye yet?"

"It just came in last hour," reported Director Rickard Anderson, presenting a sheet of paper before her. "A couple of rocky planets, a few more icy ones. It's not quite the prize that Masood and Achises were, but it'll still be well-worth planting colonies on."

"It'll be a while before we have a second colony available to be planted somewhere, so that should be fine," Claire interjected, then continued when Savannah nodded to indicate that she was paying attention. "There are still two more stars in that cluster to explore, so it is unlikely that we will have a second colony ready to go and standing idle for the lack of ideal targets."

"Everything depends on the success of our industrial expansion at... what is this, Starflower Colony? What idiot named this?"

"It was the leading poll option in our official online referendum, I believe," Claire timidly replied. "Or at least that's what the Home Office tells me."

"Well, fine," Savannah continued, "if that really is the people's choice, then I don't care about it that much. But anyways, as I was saying, everything depends on the success of our enterprise at Starflower Colony. I want this colony able to crank out habitation modules as quickly as possible. There's no reason why we have to wait until we have a second full colony ready to plant - just plop down a habitation module and, say, a thousand trained colonists with twice that many random rabble - on each of those three systems so that we have eyes and ears there. We can make them industrially self-sufficient later, after our claims to those systems are firmly established."

"Of course, Director," Claire acknowledged, despite the fact that colonial development policy was quite firmly in her domain and out of the Strategic Committee's. "Will there be anything else?"

"No, I think that will do for now," the Director of the Strategic Committee concluded, suppressing a yawn. "Talking to these vile foreign elite types is exhausting - I'm going to get some sleep. If anything else comes up, use your own discretion. See you all tomorrow."

The gathered officials nodded, and hurriedly moved to collect their papers.

Orders
Samuel Beckett (1 destroyer) holds at 0205
Søren Kierkegaard (1 destroyer) investigates the starship crash site at Masood IV, Sector 0303
Karin Boye (1 destroyer) jumps to 0502
Alan Turing and C.G. Mannerheim (1 cruiser, 1 destroyer) engages in interplanetary trade in Sol
Niels Bohr (colony ship) establishes colony at Masood I (Sector 0303)

Assets
ACS Niels Bohr (Colony Ship) - 300 Crew - 0303
ACS Alan Turing (Cruiser) - 400 Crew - Sol
ACS C.G. Mannerheim (Destroyer) - 200 Crew - Sol
ACS Karin Boye (Destroyer) - 200 Crew - jump to 0502
ACS Samuel Beckett (Destroyer) - 200 Crew - 0205
ACS Søren Kierkegaard (Destroyer) - 200 Crew - 0303
4,500 credits
4 units of fuel (1 spent this turn)
21,500 trained colonists
Colony Starflower (Masood I), Sector 0303
2,000 colonists (2,000 delivered)
1 habitation unit (1 delivered)
10 processors (10 delivered)
1 fabricator (1 delivered)

Investigation, Masoo IV
The Ship was painted with a mixture of red and white, which streaks of blue on the bridge, Or what's left of it.

This frigate, identified as the Priavteer's Rose seems to have crashed onto the planet thanks to a unknown malfunction, however, the escape pod bays ARE empty. So some unlucky sods might have bailed out before it was too late.

by **New Antarcticania** » Sat Feb 13, 2021 12:18 pm

New yugoslavaia wrote:Epsilon sub-fleet
Sector 405, unknown space

Not many people could say that they had been to another star system. The crews of the 3 Caelus vessels were quite lucky to be among those fortunate few...at least those few who weren't working under the supervision of the UN. Quite a monumental venture.
If only the system they had ended up in wasn't a glorified debris fields with the only points of potential interest being some mineral asteroids. But sector 405 as it was known (and probably would be known for the rest of human existence) was only a stepping stone on the path to something much more important...a proper Star System. One that not only they, but their future generations could maybe call home. Didn't mean that this system couldn't serve a purpose. But first, it needed to be scanned.
On the hull of the destroyer Nix, a panel slid away. From the opening, a small drone module was ejected far into the sector. Soon, the scanner would reach its destination and perform a search of the area over the course of the next hour or two.
At the same time, Charon, the only cruiser in the group was preparing to open a wormhole to the next system. At the very least, it would perform a scan of the sector in order to map out the planets. Then it would wait in the system until it received instructions saying otherwise.

Charon: "This is Charon to Nix and Hydra, preparing to open wormhole. Good luck with your operations in this area, because we won't be seeing you again for some time."
Nix: "Roger Charon."
Hydra: "Understood. We'll do our best. Hopefully we'll have more fuel to spare by the time we re-group...if we ever do."
Charon: "I'm sure we will.
...
Wormhole is opening. Will try and open communication channels again later. But for now, the only response anyone will get from us is the system report we send back to Earth. Charon out."

In the space ahead of the Charon, a orb of distorted space formed. At least four times larger than the vessel that had called it into existence, the blurred outline of a a shadow-covered planet and the glimmer of a Star were visible. Not completely knowing what laid beyond, Charon engaged its thrusters and disappeared into the anomaly...

Results:
CES Charon (Cruiser) jumps to sector 505 -1 fuel (6 fuel total)
CES Nix (Destroyer) scans sector 405.

Starsector 405
Nothing, not even a asteroid was detected, this was empty space, forever destined to be empty, or is it?

This area seems perfect to set up a star station, or a shipyard to service travelling vessles, provided you can afford those two buildings, of course.

by **Mercatus** » Sat Feb 13, 2021 9:03 pm

EPISODE I: RESURGENCE

Three tall silhouettes stood amidst the bright red glow of the holographic display before them. They resided in the tall, dark, cavernous room that was the command "bridge" of the battlecruiser Victorious Inevitability, the flagship vessel of the newly created ARES Paramilitary Coalition star fleet. The holographic projector currently displayed a three-dimensional map of the entire Sol system, but in particular monitoring the detectable movements of spacecraft in Earth and Lunar orbit. The small war fleet had maintained their position for the past three Earth days, shrouded by the near pitch-black shadow of the moon's dark side and completely undetectable to radar due to the radar-absorbent outer hull panels, blocking most of the waves from returning to the radar station that sent them and utilizing an advanced microscopic lattice structure to scatter any remaining waves.

A distinctly synthesized voice, likely partially-computerized but retaining a distinguishable amount of phonetic inflection, addressed the other two figures, "The nature-worshippers have begun rapidly moving their spacecraft out of this star system. This splitting of their fleet combined with observed factional divisions renders this day an opportune time to strike."

This was the voice of Lord-Admiral Konrad Blackmore, who as of now was clad in his black-and-gold high-collar greatcoat and captain's hat. His imposing size and demeanor was amplified in a very ghastly manner by the shining of red holographic light on his graying skin, a tone that was resultant of heavy cybernetic and genetic augmentation. His robotic eye as well as any other facial features remained unmoving except for the movement of his jaw and lips as he spoke, expressing no identifiable emotion. To his right stood Lord-General Arnaud Radkov, who sported highly distinctive visible cybernetics, such as a completely robotic lower jaw that replaced his biological one, which had been blown off earlier in his life, both of his eyes were cybernetic and had the same red glow as Lord Blackmore's, and several unhealed but likely permanent gashes revealed the off-gray color artificial muscles under his skin, which had retained a fair color. To Blackmore's left stood Lord-General Henrik Zahariev, who stood slightly taller than both of his compatriots, sported two robotic arms, a holographic eyepiece neurally grafted to a brain implant, and the lower section of his body (legs) was completely replaced with a jungle of clawed mechanical tendrils, hidden underneath his greatcoat. Both Generals wore greatcoats and captain's hats of a black and crimson color scheme with silver lining, denoting their lower rank than Lord-Admiral Blackmore.

Radkov chimed in, responding to Blackmore's observation with his own synthesized voice, his jaw didn't move as he spoke, but instead the red lights of his robotic eyes strobed on and off with each syllable that left his voice box, "I am in complete agreement, My Lord, for we have waited long enough to resume extermination of these inferior life forms. The nature-worshippers appear to have greatly divided their fleet, and their vessels appear to be lightly armed compared to ours. This grave strategic mistake should be taken advantage of, as scans indicate only two ships, each of differing factions, have jumped to a neighboring star system. Our entire fleet should jump to this same system and wipe out the inferiors efforts to colonize it."

"A wise move indeed General Radkov, but ultimately the decision is up to Lord Blackmore in all his wisdom. Might I suggest, should we carry out this plan, that we first destroy the vessel identifying itself as originating from the GreenWorld corporation? Their highly expansionist ideals make it very possible they will be the first colonizers of an interstellar world, and their ideology is by far the most greatly juxtaposed to ours. They worship the primitive blueprint of the human body so much as to replicate it en masse, never improving on its faults. Such primitives cannot be allowed to have their population overtake ours."

Blackmore, thinking over the possible outcomes of Radkov's idea, answered his inquiry, "Yes, we shall indeed launch our first attacks in that system. Return to your respective destroyers and order your crew to begin preparations for an all-out assault. Meanwhile, I shall begin my own preparations. We will strike in full force, no prisoners are to be taken."

With that, Radkov and Zahariev bowed slightly before turning to an exit door, leaving the internal bridge of the Victorious Inevitability for their transports in the hangar, which would return them to the vessels they each commanded. Every individual in the fleet was notified immediately via a signal sent to their neurally-grafted receptors that the fleet would be moving out within the hour.

When all preparations were done, the fleet of highly abnormally-configured vessels began to power up their wormhole generators, even at the low altitude above the moon they were. Unlike any other ship, their command bridges were internal, buried under thick layers of armor and defensive batteries, a much more sound combat strategy than leaving the command and control center exposed to enemy fire, where it was liable to be sawed off and decommission the ship temporarily. Surely now their presence had been detected, as gravitational anomalies were major events that observers from across the Sol system could detect. However, when their wormhole would close, the ARES vessels would once again be invisible to non-visual detection due to their radar-absorbing hull panels and extensive shielding and insulation of the reactor, blocking trace heat from reaching infrared sensors.

When the wormhole generators reached full power, a spectacular event of great luminosity took place: space time ripped open in a swirl of blue light, and the ARES ships swiftly entering the wormhole, after which it collapsed and seemed to snap shut with no sign it was even there. The low altitude of the ARES vessels at the time caused several large chunks of the Moon's surface to be ripped away by the strong gravitational forces generated by a wormhole, ejecting the chunks into deep space. Upon arriving in the destination system, the ARES fleet did a system-wide scan for any human activity.

Blackmore's voice could be heard over fleet-wide comms, saying, "Two vessels of corporate origin have been detected nearby and the system has six rocky planets orbiting a G-type star. I am ordering that 4 transports be sent immediately, stocked with mechanized troops, to move out and engage the contacts to test their capabilities. We shall cleanse this system of inferior life and claim its precious resources for the betterment of ourselves, now, fly forth and conquer! For it is your birthright as a member of our great, new race!"
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Turn 1 Report

Frigate Divergence jump to 0303, -1 fuel.

Frigate Ascension jump to 0303, -1 fuel.

Frigate Vindication jump to 0303, -1 fuel.

Frigate Insurgence jump to 0303, -1 fuel.

Destroyer Prophetic Rise (General Radkov) jump to 0303, -1 fuel.

Destroyer Resurgent Conviction (General Zahariev) jump to 0303, -1 fuel.

Battlecruiser Victorious Inevitability (Admiral Blackmore, Flagship) jump to 0303, -1 fuel.

Four transports (each with 100 infantry mechs) move to engage GWS Dauntless (G-Tech/GreenWorld).

Asset List:

1 Battlecruiser, 500 crew, 0303

2 Destroyers, 250 crew each, 0303

4 Frigates, 125 crew each, 0303

500 Orbit to Surface Assault Transports (OSATs), 2 crew (1 pilot, 1 copilot) each, docked at capital ships

2800 Fighters Type I, 1 pilot each, docked at capital ships.

2800 Fighters Type II (Heavy), 1 pilot each, docked at capital ships.

6880 Infantry Mechs, 1 pilot each, stored on capital ships and transported on OSATs.

10000 Clone replacement soldiers in Cryonic Stasis or Incubation Chambers.

ARES currently has no fabricators or habitation units.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

by **New Antarcticania** » Sun Feb 14, 2021 7:15 am

Mercatus wrote:
EPISODE I: RESURGENCE

Three tall silhouettes stood amidst the bright red glow of the holographic display before them. They resided in the tall, dark, cavernous room that was the command "bridge" of the battlecruiser Victorious Inevitability, the flagship vessel of the newly created ARES Paramilitary Coalition star fleet. The holographic projector currently displayed a three-dimensional map of the entire Sol system, but in particular monitoring the detectable movements of spacecraft in Earth and Lunar orbit. The small war fleet had maintained their position for the past three Earth days, shrouded by the near pitch-black shadow of the moon's dark side and completely undetectable to radar due to the radar-absorbent outer hull panels, blocking most of the waves from returning to the radar station that sent them and utilizing an advanced microscopic lattice structure to scatter any remaining waves.

A distinctly synthesized voice, likely partially-computerized but retaining a distinguishable amount of phonetic inflection, addressed the other two figures, "The nature-worshippers have begun rapidly moving their spacecraft out of this star system. This splitting of their fleet combined with observed factional divisions renders this day an opportune time to strike."

This was the voice of Lord-Admiral Konrad Blackmore, who as of now was clad in his black-and-gold high-collar greatcoat and captain's hat. His imposing size and demeanor was amplified in a very ghastly manner by the shining of red holographic light on his graying skin, a tone that was resultant of heavy cybernetic and genetic augmentation. His robotic eye as well as any other facial features remained unmoving except for the movement of his jaw and lips as he spoke, expressing no identifiable emotion. To his right stood Lord-General Arnaud Radkov, who sported highly distinctive visible cybernetics, such as a completely robotic lower jaw that replaced his biological one, which had been blown off earlier in his life, both of his eyes were cybernetic and had the same red glow as Lord Blackmore's, and several unhealed but likely permanent gashes revealed the off-gray color artificial muscles under his skin, which had retained a fair color. To Blackmore's left stood Lord-General Henrik Zahariev, who stood slightly taller than both of his compatriots, sported two robotic arms, a holographic eyepiece neurally grafted to a brain implant, and the lower section of his body (legs) was completely replaced with a jungle of clawed mechanical tendrils, hidden underneath his greatcoat. Both Generals wore greatcoats and captain's hats of a black and crimson color scheme with silver lining, denoting their lower rank than Lord-Admiral Blackmore.

Radkov chimed in, responding to Blackmore's observation with his own synthesized voice, his jaw didn't move as he spoke, but instead the red lights of his robotic eyes strobed on and off with each syllable that left his voice box, "I am in complete agreement, My Lord, for we have waited long enough to resume extermination of these inferior life forms. The nature-worshippers appear to have greatly divided their fleet, and their vessels appear to be lightly armed compared to ours. This grave strategic mistake should be taken advantage of, as scans indicate only two ships, each of differing factions, have jumped to a neighboring star system. Our entire fleet should jump to this same system and wipe out the inferiors efforts to colonize it."

"A wise move indeed General Radkov, but ultimately the decision is up to Lord Blackmore in all his wisdom. Might I suggest, should we carry out this plan, that we first destroy the vessel identifying itself as originating from the GreenWorld corporation? Their highly expansionist ideals make it very possible they will be the first colonizers of an interstellar world, and their ideology is by far the most greatly juxtaposed to ours. They worship the primitive blueprint of the human body so much as to replicate it en masse, never improving on its faults. Such primitives cannot be allowed to have their population overtake ours."

Blackmore, thinking over the possible outcomes of Radkov's idea, answered his inquiry, "Yes, we shall indeed launch our first attacks in that system. Return to your respective destroyers and order your crew to begin preparations for an all-out assault. Meanwhile, I shall begin my own preparations. We will strike in full force, no prisoners are to be taken."

With that, Radkov and Zahariev bowed slightly before turning to an exit door, leaving the internal bridge of the Victorious Inevitability for their transports in the hangar, which would return them to the vessels they each commanded. Every individual in the fleet was notified immediately via a signal sent to their neurally-grafted receptors that the fleet would be moving out within the hour.

When all preparations were done, the fleet of highly abnormally-configured vessels began to power up their wormhole generators, even at the low altitude above the moon they were. Unlike any other ship, their command bridges were internal, buried under thick layers of armor and defensive batteries, a much more sound combat strategy than leaving the command and control center exposed to enemy fire, where it was liable to be sawed off and decommission the ship temporarily. Surely now their presence had been detected, as gravitational anomalies were major events that observers from across the Sol system could detect. However, when their wormhole would close, the ARES vessels would once again be invisible to non-visual detection due to their radar-absorbing hull panels and extensive shielding and insulation of the reactor, blocking trace heat from reaching infrared sensors.

When the wormhole generators reached full power, a spectacular event of great luminosity took place: space time ripped open in a swirl of blue light, and the ARES ships swiftly entering the wormhole, after which it collapsed and seemed to snap shut with no sign it was even there. The low altitude of the ARES vessels at the time caused several large chunks of the Moon's surface to be ripped away by the strong gravitational forces generated by a wormhole, ejecting the chunks into deep space. Upon arriving in the destination system, the ARES fleet did a system-wide scan for any human activity.

Blackmore's voice could be heard over fleet-wide comms, saying, "Two vessels of corporate origin have been detected nearby and the system has six rocky planets orbiting a G-type star. I am ordering that 4 transports be sent immediately, stocked with mechanized troops, to move out and engage the contacts to test their capabilities. We shall cleanse this system of inferior life and claim its precious resources for the betterment of ourselves, now, fly forth and conquer! For it is your birthright as a member of our great, new race!"
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Turn 1 Report

Frigate Divergence jump to 0303, -1 fuel.

Frigate Ascension jump to 0303, -1 fuel.

Frigate Vindication jump to 0303, -1 fuel.

Frigate Insurgence jump to 0303, -1 fuel.

Destroyer Prophetic Rise (General Radkov) jump to 0303, -1 fuel.

Destroyer Resurgent Conviction (General Zahariev) jump to 0303, -1 fuel.

Battlecruiser Victorious Inevitability (Admiral Blackmore, Flagship) jump to 0303, -1 fuel.

Four transports (each with 100 infantry mechs) move to engage GWS Dauntless (G-Tech/GreenWorld).

Asset List:

1 Battlecruiser, 500 crew, 0303

2 Destroyers, 250 crew each, 0303

4 Frigates, 125 crew each, 0303

500 Orbit to Surface Assault Transports (OSATs), 2 crew (1 pilot, 1 copilot) each, docked at capital ships

2800 Fighters Type I, 1 pilot each, docked at capital ships.

2800 Fighters Type II (Heavy), 1 pilot each, docked at capital ships.

6880 Infantry Mechs, 1 pilot each, stored on capital ships and transported on OSATs.

10000 Clone replacement soldiers in Cryonic Stasis or Incubation Chambers.

ARES currently has no fabricators or habitation units.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

(Image)
Center Ship: Battlecruiser Victorious Inevitability, surrounded by the four frigates Divergence, Ascension, Vindication, and Insurgence. The destroyers Prophetic Rise and Resurgent Conviction are not shown in this image, but take on the same appearance as the Victorious Inevitability, albeit smaller.

(You do realize that you're supposed to have a colony ship, 4 destroyers, and cruiser, right?)

by **Bredtonia** » Sun Feb 14, 2021 11:12 am

Conference Room 3
Panama Launch Site
Friday December 12, 2059

“Tell me this isn’t a government project,” Nielia mused rhetorically as she and the command team were completing the final preparations and loading at the launch site. “Seven ships and only ten cells of fuel. Either Delta Fuel dropped the ball or someone is enjoying a luxurious retirement on Ayrodine’s credit.”

“We could sell them,” Quispe noted, eliciting somewhat surprised looks from the rest of the table. “It’s not a typical grant, after all, it’s a kit. At midnight they become ours entirely, and between the recent pirate attacks and the corporate scramble there has to be an organization out there who would pay good money for a fully commissioned destroyer or five.”

There was a pause around the table. Small gestures of acceptance, if not agreement, started to float around as each of the other members weighed the options. “We will need to maintain some mind to security,” Dinesh noted, leaning forward on the table “The wormhole system is known to have already fallen into the hands of pirates, and it’s only a matter of time before they start operating in an interstellar capacity - not to mention the corporations themselves.”

“We could try and trade or purchase a vessel of larger tonnage with the proceeds from the sale.” Quispe replied, “Opening a wormhole burns out one fuel cell regardless of the size of ship that uses it - so a larger vessel would be more efficient for us.”

The exchanged paused again. A question hung over the table. “I’ll do it.” Quispe interjected with a slight tone of loss. “It was my idea. Just don’t discover anything too interesting before I catch up with you.” There was a general sigh of relief from around the table.

“Thank you, Dr. Niall,” Nielia noted, voicing the general opinion. “Alright everyone, get some rest over the holiday. 2060 is going to be one hell of a year.”

————

High Earth Orbit
0600 (UTC) January 3rd 2060 (Saturday)

Two and a half weeks later the rest of the board, along with a score of the lead scientists in the expedition, crowded the observation lounge of Atlantis as the vessel slowly puffed out maneuvering thrusts to perfect her alignment to the stars. A tone chimed, warning the crew and passengers that a sudden thrust was imminent. A moment later the huge colony ship’s main engines ignited, kicking the vessel forward at the full acceleration it could manage. Most of the eyes in the room flicked up to the countdown timer, then back to the main view window. On cue, space before the vessel sparked, then tore open as a wormhole appeared for a brief but visible instant. The massive vessel slipped through just before the tear in space snapped closed again.

by **New Antarcticania** » Sun Feb 14, 2021 6:45 pm

G-Tech Corporation wrote:
Early January 2nd, 2060

High Achises II Orbit, Achises System

The transport shuddered less from retrograde burn than expected. It was a bit of a rattling, aye, but nothing compared to training, or a particularly bumpy suborbital transit. A more scientifically minded man than Mission Commander Kazparov would have chalked up the lack of atmospheric interference to the fact that Achises II lacked for the thick greenhouses gases which made Earth transit so turbulent. Kazparov just thought of it as providence, not even at a conscious level, and moved on with his life.

It was a good landing site, all things considered. Nice and flat, with hills not too far away to stuff the colonists under in case the magnetosphere didn't measure up to all it promised, and at a nice confluence of those succulent metal oxides which scarred Achises II's landscape even from orbit. Initial scans were very optimistic about the concentration gradient of the deposits of iron, nickel, manganese, and metallic carbon. It wasn't Mars, but it didn't need to be to make GreenWorld very rich. A whole world of untapped industrial potential... yes, it would serve very nicely.

The Carthago set down just after 0800 hours Earth time, though the colonists on the newly christened Synchrony living at New Providence would have to get used to a bit of a discrepancy between their normal schedules and those of Synchrony. She was a bit smaller than Earth, much larger than Mars, but her axial tilt and lack of mass meant a day totaled 22 hours, not 24. Awkward for the bean counters, but the psychologists engaged by the Corporation back on Earth said most of the colonists should be able to adapt. A bit less sleep, or a bit less time for recreation, plenty of people learned to live around that.

Immense machines began to unfold from the Carthago, unpacking her multitudinous prefab units that had been loaded aboard the ship only yesterday. Hydroponics to feed the populace and the growth vats, specialized equipment for the researchers, modular city blocks capable of housing thousands... yes New Providence would be quite the city before noon, when they started thawing out the first of the hopefuls who had took passage to the stars.

Destroyer Dauntless continues her work on Masood I
Destroyer Warrior jumps for 0206 - 1 Fuel
Destroyer Steerman jumps for 0405 - 1 Fuel
Destroyer Exarch conducts a prospecting scan of Achises I
Cruiser Indomitable conducts a prospecting scan of Achises III
Colony Ship Carthago lands and deploys prefabs on Achises II, dubbed Synchrony

[Achises II, I
Regular levels of minerals below ground, nothing special, but it'll be worth it to initiate a mining operation on the planets

by **New Antarcticania** » Sun Feb 14, 2021 6:47 pm

Uploading Data for starsector 502, Chica system...Success!

by **Northern Socialist Council Republics** » Sun Feb 14, 2021 7:58 pm

The North Sea Society learned her lessons from the treachery of the Aerodyne Corporation: that everybody had their price and that there was no such thing as an incorruptible guardian. Keeping any interesting knowledge under lock and key was important, but keeping any rivals from learning that such knowledge even existed was more important still, and most important of all was to both keep any interesting knowledge under lock and key and keep any rivals from knowing that such knowledge existed.

Only then could the security of the State against the depredations of soulless multinational conglomerates be assured.

"The communication staff has been purged?"

"Anyone that was in a position to know anything is enjoying a nice early retirement in Northeast Greenland," Rickard confirmed. "We are monitoring their communications, of course."

Savannah made a mental note to get someone to monitor Rickard's communications, too. Sure, the Director of the Scientific Committee was trustworthy, loyal, and patriotic. But Prime Minister Collins probably thought the same about his bodyguards in 2038, and look where he is now. For a statesman, there was no such thing as too much paranoia, only sufficient or insufficient paranoia, and as statesmen went Savannah was a competent one.

Then she quickly discarded the thought. She already had someone monitoring his communications. Redundant someones. For a moment there was no sound except that of Savannah's fingers drumming on her desk.

"So, Chica-III," she inquired. "What do you make of it?"

"It's..." Rickard trained, grasping at words, "it's fantastic, and I mean that in the sense that it feels like fantasy. First there was the, ah, 'alien' spacecraft. With an interior design of such human proportions that our expedition felt not at all inconvenienced in there, labelled in a language that was so human that it took us minimal effort to decrypt it. But okay, fine. Convergent evolution, whatever. Implausible, but fine, I can buy it. Then we found this habitable world."

"Explain to me again what's got you in such a jumpy mood," Savannah requested.

"Consider the probability of an arbitrarily selected planet being habitable," Rickard exclaimed, gesturing wildly. "It needs to have a reasonable gravitational pull. Call that one-in-two, based on terrestrial planets in the Sol system. A reasonable temperature - maybe one in four. Topography, atmospheric composition, soil composition, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. Consider the sheer coincidence it takes to produce a human-habitable planet. And consider that in the four systems we have surveyed to date, we found one perfectly habitable planet and three more that are nearly so. These systems don't look all that much less friendly to human life than our own Sol system is, and we evolved here."

"Your thoughts?"

"Either we're the luckiest bastards in the galaxy, or there's something out there toying with us."

The Outside Context Problem... it was something that the upper leadership was all briefed on before they embarked on ventures in extrasolar space, of course, but it had felt so distant at the time. Now, with an executive summary report and a photograph of a planet that she could've sworn was Earth if she didn't know better, that problem was making itself felt much closer to home.

It has been over two hundred years since a human society faced an enemy that they genuinely could not understand. Oh, sure, there were vastly asymmetrical conflicts fought between superpowers and backwards tribes, but in the globalised world of the industrial era societies generally understood the threats facing them. It was an implicit assumption, for these tumultuous centuries, that if there was an enemy out there that sought your destruction then you would generally know about it.

But if there really was something out there... maybe it was time to revisit that assumption.

"Whatever the Scientific Committee is thinking, nobody finds out about, understood? We'll keep the planet itself secret for as long as we can, and afterwards make up some sciency-sounding babble that will explain away why this corner of the universe seems so friendly. There may be terrifying beasts out there, but there are terrifying beasts right here on Earth too and I'd like them not to get funny ideas."

Rickard nodded.

"The usual example given to illustrate an Outside Context Problem was imagining you were a tribe on a largish, fertile island; you'd tamed the land, invented the wheel or writing or whatever, the neighbors were cooperative or enslaved but at any rate peaceful and you were busy raising temples to yourself with all the excess productive capacity you had, you were in a position of near-absolute power and control which your hallowed ancestors could hardly have dreamed of and the whole situation was just running along nicely like a canoe on wet grass... when suddenly this bristling lump of iron appears sailless and trailing steam in the bay and these guys carrying long funny-looking sticks come ashore and announce you've just been discovered, you're all subjects of the Emperor now, he's keen on presents called tax and these bright-eyed holy men would like a word with your priests." - Iain Banks, Excession

by **G-Tech Corporation** » Mon Feb 15, 2021 8:58 am

January 3rd, 2060

Digsite, Masood I

The doctor shook his head. Despite their best efforts, and going over the site with every reasonable combination of lidar, ground penetrating sonar, em sensors, and gravimetric analysis, the bunker complex seemed to be just that - a primitive bunker complex, for all appearances little more than a manmade stopoff. If not for the fact that someone must have come here with an STL drive, and that would indicate a large degree of interest in the site, the compound would have been veritably unremarkable.

"The NSS isn't going to like this."

His adjutant wasn't wrong, but Schreiber merely shrugged his shoulders in a distinctly Gallic motion.

"If they want to spend their time going over this complex with a comb too, they're welcome to do so. Perhaps they have a few thousand grad students with tiny brushes in need of employment. But what we've found, isn't worth our time. A pity."

He wrapped up the dossier and sealed it - ready for delivery to the nearby Nessie destroyer which was stationkeeping. As the Dauntless made for high orbit, her mission accomplished, Doctor Schreiber only hoped that his colleagues had found more of interest in other systems.

Corporate Offices, Ames, Iowa, Earth

A man in the Procurements Department of GreenWorld was reviewing job bids and sale offers in the local system, when a ping from a conglomerate named the Outbound Project. They were looking to liquidate all or part of their nascent fleet of destroyers, five Gallant-class vessels, and asking for any number of a variety of goods in exchange - which was good, because the budget was looking tight, and that meant cashflow wasn't really an option for exchange.

The officer clacked up a quick response. It wasn't much, but then again, shoestring budgets weren't called such for nothing.

Code: Select all: Communique: Outbound Project RE: Destroyer Sale Greetings on behalf of GreenWorld, Inc. My name is Jason Stammer, Procurement Officer Second Grade. Though GreenWorld has little to offer in the way of direct exchange, we would like to propose a contract for your ships - GreenWorld can front you five iridium cells for vessel fuel now, and offers a contract to pickup a Battlecruiser at Earth in two weeks time, in exchange for the signing over of your mothballed destroyer fleet at the present date. The price in fuel is not at present negotiable, unfortunately, but the delivery date and location of delivery can be altered as relevant to your needs.

by **Bredtonia** » Mon Feb 15, 2021 10:48 am

Temporary Project Office
Panama City, Panama
January 3, 2060 (Saturday)

“Dr. Niall?” a grad student turned project employee said as she slid into the director’s rented office. “I got a bite, might be a good one. Some group called GreenWorld. Started low, but I think we can work with them.”

Code: Select all: Communique: Greenworld, Inc. RE: Destroyer Sale Greetings, thank you for your interest in our destroyers. As I am sure you are aware, a battlecruiser is comparable in value to two destroyers. Might I propose two alternate exchanges? 1) Three destroyers in exchange for 5 fuel cells now and a battlecruiser loaded with five fuel cells delivered in two weeks. 2) All five destroyers in exchange for a dreadnaught loaded with two fighters and ten units of fuel, to be delivered in two weeks. Bogusława Tivoli Support Specialist Outbound Project

————

Observation Lounge
Atlantis, Open Space, Sector 305
0700 (UTC) January 3rd 2060 (Saturday)

The conversation in the lounge, which had been spread among a myriad of different topics from basic socialization to the finer points of planetary accretion, slowed to a halt as the countdown clock projected onto the corner of the grand forward window dropped under five minutes. Regardless of field, this was one of the moments everyone in the room had been waiting for - their first bright light of an alien sun.

by **G-Tech Corporation** » Mon Feb 15, 2021 11:22 am

Corporate Offices, Ames, Iowa, Earth

It wasn't more than a quarter of an hour before a response came through the datalinks to Procurement, and the case officer perused it. Hm. Unusual, haggling in these times. But business had been strange every since multimetals had become commercially viable. A lot of their partners were struggling with suppliers, with credits being devalued, and MFM rates forming a more universal unit of exchange. Predictions anticipated that credits would only continue falling in value, with operations expanding beyond easy commercial frontiers with the advent of the jump drive. In short, the officer was doing a lot more bartering than he was accustomed to.

Something stirred in his memory though as he glanced over the new offer from the Project. He had done research prior to approaching the conglomerate, as was amicable to any business transaction worth her salt, and that presented a potential additional latitude through which this paradigm could be altered.

He paged one of his supervisors, and had a swift conversation. It took a bit of cajoling, but eventually the man saw reason to his request, and approved the disclosure. With that in his belt, the procurement officer sat back down at his station, and set about slapping together a response.

Code: Select all: Communique: Greenworld, Inc. Addressed: Outbound Project RE: Destroyer Sale Bogusława Tivoli, Upon consideration of your rejoinder, the Corporation has reconsidered the purchase parameters, and your proposed alternatives. To those alternatives, the Company would like to offer, in turn, another alternative. GreenWorld has recently registered the Achises system [Solar Coordinates 205] as an area of exclusive interest with EarthComm. I have been authorized to disclose to you that a vessel of extraterrestrial origin has been found crashed on a planet within this system, on Achises III. The Corporation is prepared to offer your Project priority and undisturbed access to the crash site, in addition to five fuel cells to be delivered today, as well as a battlecruiser delivered with ten additional fuel cells in two weeks, in exchange for the five destroyers your superiors are looking to unload. Regards, Procurement GreenWorld, Inc.

by **Bredtonia** » Mon Feb 15, 2021 12:33 pm

Temporary Project Office
Panama City, Panama
January 3, 2060 (Saturday)

Dr. Quispe Niall’s heart felt like it missed a beat. An alien craft Sol’s own back yard? She looked over the small group gathered in the conference room with her, a dozen eyes all locked on her pleading behind their guidance. Quispe took forced herself to take a deep breath and stay rational. They were giving away a lot of material, but the promise of an alien craft...

The team all watched as Bogusława typed out the response and, with the approval of the Director, sent it back to GreenWorld. The tension and contained excitement were palpable.

Code: Select all: Communique: GreenWorld, Inc. RE: Destroyer Sale Jason Stammer, I am pleased to say that the Board has accepted GreenWorld’s offer. The Outbound Project will gladly turn over four Destroyers, located on Earth, on the day of signing and one Destroyer two days after the signing date. Or, if GreenWorld can arrange transport for a research team to Achises within two days, all five destroyers can be turned over on the day of signing. Regards, Bogusława Tivoli Support Specialist Outbound Project

by **Shepherd isle** » Tue Feb 16, 2021 4:00 am

The ss baracuda wandered along the vacumn of forest darting among like a preadatory fish after attention, preying on one or two small mining craft and probes. There was apparently rumours of a planet in which life on others had evolved independent of earth. Rubbish. Heresy. Man had carved himself a way free of life, and soon he might try to roll himself across all worlds. It was mans birthright to build a new world for nature, and defend it, as a reserve, as a fortress. It does matter if it is a completely new home to replace what was loss, or a system of self replicating automated ships designed to gear the process of evolution, to turn the clock and to give it infite places among the stars to survive. One craft managed to go and signal half a letter, but too later. The ss mako shark pounced from under it, weapons firing in a rage of cascaing fire, it lasted about a second. They drifted out of the system still on their course, ripping up any things they came across, but otherwise continued on their mission. None must see the crimilal, the man who bought treaty and self recognised as a entitiy in his own right, even without a planet to call home.

The mid ship was a jungle in its own right. at least in the hull plants grew left and right, and sealed so the wafting rays of moisture never spelt doom for the ship. Every swelling numbers of insects multiplied and lived out their lives, eating and breathing, existing in harmony to the forces of nature. Currently they have managed to 16% oxygen in large numbers before ,large die offs occured. constantly the world inside was fluctuating, so that no one species could gain an advantage, but predominantly it is thick misty tropical rainforest. Lizards and land crabs dwelled upon what would otherwise be a land of invertabrates. Up top however the ship was sterile and a haven. The ss orca prepared to make a jump, to star 502.... all ships , ever destroyer, every colony ship, ever large one, Everything. We must be in a position to slice even the tinyest peice of the continent, to make a large reserve, to protect it for generations to come, and to buy time for the self replicating crat.

by **G-Tech Corporation** » Tue Feb 16, 2021 8:40 am

Early January 3rd

Earth Orbit, Sol System

With the accord signed, and the destroyer from the Outbound Project currently transferring the fuel from the low orbit depot, the new crew of the re-dubbed Rationale, Erudite, Itinerant, and Latitude were getting accustomed to their new ships. Most had been recruited from GreenWorld planetary operations, paired with experienced captains and given solid if barebones training, and told they were going to the stars. There had been quite the pool to pull from, both internally and externally. Fees were strictly nominal, and salaries awkwardly similar, but most of the recruits didn't care - anything to get away from the dying world that was Earth.

Of course, that suited the Corporation just fine. The less they had to waste on manpower, the more was available to waste on other endeavors. For instance, the men on Synchrony had reported that, though resource extraction was proceeding apace, the complex was wholly under-provisioned when it came to actually utilizing the glittering stream of MFM that was being produced in New Providence. So it was that the Itinerant and her men were tasked to the orbital emporium, emptied GreenWorld's accounts to get their hands on some fabbers, and departed for the benighted system where the Company was putting down roots. Delays, especially on a matter of such urgency, could not be tolerated.

Echelon Research Complex, New Providence, Synchrony, Achises System

"These efficiencies... most impressive."

It had, of course, been the better part of three generations since mankind first set foot on Mars. Intellectually, Professor Larimov appreciated that the mineral deposits that were being exploited around New Providence were not, on a cosmic scale, desperately rich. But for the needs of the Corporation, for the fabrication budget he had been assigned, the sheer access to material resources was staggering. Equipment calibrated for the sparse resources Earth possessed in the modern day was being frankly overwhelmed, and the precision instrumentation he would have normally required a dozen grants to procure had been provided almost as an afterthought by the corporate authorities.

They had their reasons, for sure. They had demanded his team focus their efforts on a means of boosting Processor output, given the colony's surfeit of raw compounds and elements which was beginning to fill the holding facilities. But one good turn deserved another. A few weeks spent on the efficiency question was an acceptable tradeoff for this level of investment.

Destroyer Dauntless jumps for 0302
Destroyer Warrior arrives in 0207 and conducts system scan
Destroyer Steerman jumps for 0505 and conducts system scan
Destroyer Exarch conducts a prospecting scan of the Achises IV asteroid belt
Cruiser Indomitable and Colony Ship Carthago are stationkeeping above New Providence
Destroyer Itinerant is jumping for Achises after purchasing 2 Processors and 1 Fabricator [-2100 Credits]
Destroyers Rationale, Erudite, and Latitude are conducting trade in Sol System [+2250 Credits]
5 Fuel transferred to Outbound Project

2 Research Stations at New Providence are beginning research on Processor Refinements

by **New yugoslavaia** » Tue Feb 16, 2021 10:46 am

January 3rd 2060
Caelus Enterprises HQ, Venus orbit
Sol system

"So, we've finally done it. They've arrived in the Kanchana system. "
"That's what the reports say, Mr. Elwin."
The person on the other end of the com channel was one of my associates, with him being assigned to monitor the operations of Epsilon fleet.
"Hopefully no one else gets any bright ideas regarding Sector 505."
"Unfortunately, they might."
"What do you exactly mean?" I replied.
"One...one of the destroyers belonging to GreenWorld Inc. has jumped into the system. Our cruiser got there before them...but this could mean they might be eyeing the system. The fact that they acquired these additional destroyers doesn't make matters any better. If our suspicions are correct, we could be in trouble. Your thoughts on the matter, sir?"
For a moment, I did think the situation over. This development was concerning. Could they really be going after what was meant to be a new haven for humanity and liberalism? I couldn't let them get away with this if they did. It was the closet system we had. If it was taken by another party, then that only would leave the systems further away. Going after those would a massive strain on our resources.
But then I remembered that it was only one destroyer in that system. If a fight did break out, then the Charon would most likely come out on top. And if they brought in more...well, we have the resources. 300 workers working on the extracts from the atmosphere over the course of 3 days produced a halfway decent. Could go towards something substantial.
But back to matter at hand.
"I don't believe they will be much of a concern. Sector 505 is not their focus. Besides, we have the advantage in that system."
"And what of their superior numbers?"
"They're not going to send all their ships after one system. An action like that would leave them too exposed to attacks by other factions."
"Very well then. I'll keep you updated on the situation."
"Thank you. Ending transmission."
With that, the discussion had ended.

by **Bredtonia** » Tue Feb 16, 2021 12:24 pm

Temporary Project Office
Panama City, Panama
January 3, 2060 (Saturday)

GreenWorld’s acceptance and the peculiarities of the deal dramatically changed the timber of the work in the rented office floor that the remaining members of the Outbound Project were occupying. The office floor had turned into a cacophony of supply and sales calls, planning meetings, and hastily sketched together options. A hundred things needed to be coordinated, purchased, and set for overnight orbital delivery to make the timeline they had set for themselves.

by **Bredtonia** » Wed Feb 17, 2021 8:19 pm

Outbound Research Outpost
Achises III (Sector 205)
January 4, 2060 (Sunday)

The establishment of the Outbound Research outpost was a flurry of activity, which would have been quite noisy had there been an atmosphere to carry it. The entire company only had a day left with the destroyer they had bartered for access to this location and the need to use the vessel for life-support, energy and shelter during the initial construction period added an extra sense of urgency to what was already a swift coordinated operation.

While most of the day was spent with teams in scattered, independent operations scrambling from assigned task to assigned task, the moment when power was fully transferred from the landed destroyer to the internal generators called for celebration and general acclaim before work started again. As the UTC-based day came to an end and the work teams headed to their assigned chambers for rest they could take pride that, though there was still weeks of unpacking and adjusting left, they had built the city in a day.

————

Observation Lounge
Atlantis, Open Space, Sector 306
January 4th 2060

Another day lead to another sector of open space. Not that open space left the day idle - there was plenty to do on board the Atlantis even in the void - after all, these were the first two interstellar jumps that the massive vessel had ever made. Still, the thoughts of most of the scientists and explorers among the teams were occupied with the dreams of what their collogues back a home had just discovered - that Humanity was not alone in the universe. If that secret lay just a moment from home, what wonders would there be to find out in the deep void?

SPACE: Redux [IC]

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