Future Tech Advice and Assistance Thread [O.O.C.]

[Lord Dominator]

Assuming you mean the ponies I substituted 'opposable thumbs' with magic, and have not honestly looked at things like brain-to-body ratio.

[Vocenae]

Here's a general question.

How do you label or otherwise catagorize stars, planets and moons that your nation knows exist, but don't officially own? For example, LV-426 and 226 from the Alien series. Do you give official names like 'Acheron' or do they just receive some designating numbers and letters as an astrographical bookmark?

[A m e n r i a]

Here's a general question.

How do you label or otherwise catagorize stars, planets and moons that your nation knows exist, but don't officially own? For example, LV-426 and 226 from the Alien series. Do you give official names like 'Acheron' or do they just receive some designating numbers and letters as an astrographical bookmark?

Imho I prefer the latter. Real names make more sense and more drama than a stupid combination of letters and numbers. *stares menacingly at NASA

[Multiversal Venn-Copard]

Here's a general question.

How do you label or otherwise catagorize stars, planets and moons that your nation knows exist, but don't officially own? For example, LV-426 and 226 from the Alien series. Do you give official names like 'Acheron' or do they just receive some designating numbers and letters as an astrographical bookmark?

While the current system I have written down on my factbook is abysmal in every respect, I have to imagine that my nation(s) use numbering schemes based on parent gravitational body (for stars: in a galaxy with its own number, in a region of intergalactic space with its own number, etc. For planets: around a star with its own number...) and then on stellar spectral class and mass, or planet mass, or whatever else is needed for smaller objects. Since things move and change over time, though, identifications need periodic updating.

Imho I prefer the latter. Real names make more sense and more drama than a stupid combination of letters and numbers. *stares menacingly at NASA

There's trillions of objects that even a K2 civilization has to worry about in its Oort cloud alone, let alone the planets and stars in chunks of an entire galaxy. Names only tend to go so far unless you're alright with calling two comets or moonlets the same thing at some point.

[A m e n r i a]

Here's a general question.

How do you label or otherwise catagorize stars, planets and moons that your nation knows exist, but don't officially own? For example, LV-426 and 226 from the Alien series. Do you give official names like 'Acheron' or do they just receive some designating numbers and letters as an astrographical bookmark?

While the current system I have written down on my factbook is abysmal in every respect, I have to imagine that my nation(s) use numbering schemes based on parent gravitational body (in a galaxy, in intergalactic space, etc.) and then on stellar spectral class, mass, planet mass, and so on down for smaller objects. Since things move and change over time, though, identifications need periodic updating.

Imho I prefer the latter. Real names make more sense and more drama than a stupid combination of letters and numbers. *stares menacingly at NASA

There's trillions of objects that even a K2 civilization has to worry about in its Oort cloud alone, let alone the planets and stars in chunks of an entire galaxy. Names only tend to go so far unless you're alright with calling two comets or moonlets the same thing at some point.

Yea, but things with the same name hardly ever come up in fiction. Conservation of detail, remember?

[Lord Dominator]

While the current system I have written down on my factbook is abysmal in every respect, I have to imagine that my nation(s) use numbering schemes based on parent gravitational body (in a galaxy, in intergalactic space, etc.) and then on stellar spectral class, mass, planet mass, and so on down for smaller objects. Since things move and change over time, though, identifications need periodic updating.


There's trillions of objects that even a K2 civilization has to worry about in its Oort cloud alone, let alone the planets and stars in chunks of an entire galaxy. Names only tend to go so far unless you're alright with calling two comets or moonlets the same thing at some point.

Yea, but things with the same name hardly ever come up in fiction. Conservation of detail, remember?

Or conservation of relevance

As to the actual question, I imagine that objects are classified by type, and then numbered by order of discovery/naming. Not sure whether something being completely mined out (comet, asteroid, planet) would move the numbers or just get that number re-assigned, though I do think separate classifications would be made between what we own/mine, and what isn't. (And the Equestrians would probably have something like real life, name the important things and number the rest).

[Great Aletia]

Here's a general question.

How do you label or otherwise catagorize stars, planets and moons that your nation knows exist, but don't officially own? For example, LV-426 and 226 from the Alien series. Do you give official names like 'Acheron' or do they just receive some designating numbers and letters as an astrographical bookmark?

Generally names. I usually steal them from Graeco-Roman mythology. I'm going to have to do something about there being seperate Athena and Minerva systems at some point.

[New Lyrane]

Here's a general question.

How do you label or otherwise catagorize stars, planets and moons that your nation knows exist, but don't officially own? For example, LV-426 and 226 from the Alien series. Do you give official names like 'Acheron' or do they just receive some designating numbers and letters as an astrographical bookmark?

Every known object has an official code, like Yu/O-1632 or 2663TiMo-013. Sufficiently significant objects also have names.

[Great Aletia]

Do the drones and walkers I added here work?

https://www.nationstates.net/nation=gre ... id=1094929

Click section three for walkers and four for drones.

I also calculated how many drones a brigade would have:

- 20x T11 Razor Back
- 30x T9 Land Raider
- 24x T8 Path Finder
- 96x T6 Bush Master
- 240x T5 Sky Sentinel

The numbers can be easily multiplied for divisions (4x) and army corps (12x).

[Vocenae]

I'm currently working on building some orbital defense platforms using DOGA L3, so I thought it might be interesting to drop in and see what other players use for planetary defense.

Before sitting down and building the guns, I had largely based mine off the Orbital Defense Platforms from Halo 2, big kinetic launchers (though not making the mistake of putting leafy relaxing atriums where weapons should be to prevent easy boarding) designed to cripple or kill any starships that get within their firing arcs. Having big sticks like these play into my overall theme of having large, slow space stuff that is hard to kill and hits really hard but only good at medium to short range and has to armor tank because I lack energy shielding.

Do you use orbital weapon platforms, or do you rely on planetside batteries? Do you use kinetics or energy weapons, or do you rely entirely on protection from warships of a defense fleet or some form of planetary shielding? Or do you have some other type of planetary defenses (like say, a ring around the moon for shooting incoming asteroids)?

[Kassaran]

I actually went with a threefold defense scheme for most of the interplanetary mobile factions in Nobis Pacem (a scifi project I've brought up a few times in here). Within the Martian orbit, the two primary factions that work in the inner planet regions utilize varying amounts of energy weaponry. For the Earth centrist UNEC, they've long since utilized a series of large laser arrays on various floating habitats to push solar-sail-esque craft quickly away from Sol. Inbound craft however use their onboard engines to return and slow down after travelling away. Using the Kzinti principle, the UNEC has turned these massive Solar Mirrors to glass sections of Mars and even Luna during the 200-year War for Martian independence, however those acts were ultimately listed as criminal and illegal in the post-conflict years resulting in heavy modifications to any existing Solar Mirrors the UNEC had to avoid allowing them to be easily reverted to wartime usage.

Earth also had access to an entire series of passive sentinel arrays built to launch swarms of micro-torpedoes. Killzones have to be set up months in advance of incoming fleets in Nobis Pacem, meaning that the factions have to shut down easily accessible routes through the use of extreme debris fielding (think filling an area of space that suspected invaders will be passing through with enough energetic or potentially energetic material to deny them access for an unreasonable amount of time). This was traditionally done by using rubbish or mining run-off that was stored up over time. So I guess that makes minefields an additional possibility for orbital defense, though that moreover acknowledges orbital defense in the same way the US of A in our time defends itself by simply taking the fight to its enemies preemptively.

Mars had to get more creative. Given that they also had to modify heir own Solar Mirrors in the wake of their war for independence, they almost wholly use their Orbital mirrors for terraforming purposes. As such, the two moons of Mars have actually become floating dockyards for the fleets of asteroid-belt freighters and local defense craft that patrol the Martian/Ceretian sectors. As such, most passive orbital defenses come from moon-based missile batteries, supplemented by close-in energy weapons systems rated for engagements within 5-8 million miles of Mars. All other orbital defense comes from local frigates and cruisers loitering in the area attempting to dissuade piracy and random acts of violence.

Once we get out into the outer planets, that's when things spicen up. The Jovian Empire uses actual vast minefields that cover millions of miles at a time along the asteroid belt. These minefields are set to move in orbit around Sol at a pace capable of denying direct attacks from Mars in the event they ever get a lust for revenge (as canonically the Jovian Empire attacked the Martians unprovoked and carried out a brutal war against their allied colonies in the asteroid belt over a thirty-year span). Additional support comes from large directed energy weapons based in various orbits above Jupiter and around it's several major colonies. Saturn is far less protected, but also has it's orbital defenses currently locked in a state of partial lockdown of the planet itself. In Nobis Pacem, one of the first alien races that Humanity runs into are a massive hive mind race of gigantic space slug-serpent-whales called Leviathans. The only known way to kill a Leviathan is to punch thousands of tiny holes into it's extremely durable hide and then force it to sink into the extremely dense atmosphere of the gas giants they're known to inhabit. So think orbital Phalanx CIWS, built facing primarily inwards with a token force of DEWs facing into deep space.

The corporate entities that operate beyond Saturn actually don't use orbital defenses as a rule. They've been fighting Leviathan for a lot longer and all the orbital defenses tend to be are giant sitting pieces of bait waiting to be snatched by a breaching Leviathan. Usually a token force of a couple picket destroyers sits near potential surfacing locations of Leviathans in order to keep curious onlookers from getting too close and incurring the Leviathan's wrath unduly.


On the note of Leviathan:

Species: Stella Rex Colubrum
Common Name: Leviathan
Organization: Hive Mind, Unspecified Collective
Discovered: January 19, 2232 A.D. UNST, Dead Leviathan found in rapidly decaying low-Neptunian orbit.
April 16, 2264 A.D. UNST, Live Leviathan found breaching Uranus low-orbit for 32 minutes, 14 seconds before returning to Uranus atmosphere.
Known Behaviors: Highly aggressive towards artificial masses entering low-orbit within infested planets. Believed to be using gases for food. Stored gas is converted and expelled during breaches, propelling Leviathans into extremely steep and high orbit trajectories. Capable of limited manuevering during these orbits before falling back into the planet's atmosphere. Local authorities express using extreme caution when approaching planet.
Dimensions: Unknown Maximum Size, Leviathan Polyps of 1-3 meters found in orbit cluster entering Saturnian low-orbit in 2544. Believed to be method of expanding reach of Leviathan hives, unknown if of Solar origin. Largest sighted Leviathan measured at roughly 43 kilometers long and 3.8 kilometers in diameter. Expressed high flexibility and self mobility during atmospheric breach and destroyed one picket cruiser, severely damaged attending Destroyer CPV Hanzo during evasive manuevers.
Notable Incidents: May 2532 - January 2533, Leviathan Hive interactions between Uranus and Neptune at nearest pass signified extreme-range radio communications likely developed by internal organ structure previously deemed irrelevant. Studies are ongoing, but have since yielded no explanation as to which organs or methods the Leviathan communicate cross-planet.

14 July, 2549 - Leviathan designated C-345-47, "Caesar" is recorded as beginning high-velocity breach in response to approach of orbital probe "Calista". Noted as exiting Neptunian atmosphere at roughly 22.8km/s, roughly 2.5km/s below Neptunian Escape Velocity. Remained breached for 162 minutes, 39 seconds before re-entering Neptunian atmosphere, was lost 12 minutes and 2 seconds later. CPV Cruiser Iridian Find destroyed while attempting evasive maneuvers. CPV Destroyer Hanzo severely damaged during evasive maneuvers. CPV Probe Calista destroyed while entering low-Neptunian orbit. 1,046 personnel dead or missing as a result of the mission. Leviathan C-345-47 is recorded at being the largest sighted Leviathan to date. CPV picket forces attempted to engage with directed-energy, hyper-velocity, and thermonuclear options to little effect.

2 October, 2601 23:62:12 Hours Local - Deep space radioscopes detected faint signals appearing to echo previously recorded Leviathan calls. Calls believed to be exhibiting distress or pain, unknown origin for return signal. Local patrol and picket forces brought to high alert.

[Great Aletia]

I'm currently working on building some orbital defense platforms using DOGA L3, so I thought it might be interesting to drop in and see what other players use for planetary defense.

Before sitting down and building the guns, I had largely based mine off the Orbital Defense Platforms from Halo 2, big kinetic launchers (though not making the mistake of putting leafy relaxing atriums where weapons should be to prevent easy boarding) designed to cripple or kill any starships that get within their firing arcs. Having big sticks like these play into my overall theme of having large, slow space stuff that is hard to kill and hits really hard but only good at medium to short range and has to armor tank because I lack energy shielding.

Do you use orbital weapon platforms, or do you rely on planetside batteries? Do you use kinetics or energy weapons, or do you rely entirely on protection from warships of a defense fleet or some form of planetary shielding? Or do you have some other type of planetary defenses (like say, a ring around the moon for shooting incoming asteroids)?

A railgun would work well if you want a clunky aesthetic, which you seem to. It might not be the most efficient weapon for the purpose, though. I don't know much about Halo, but the orbital batteries depicted on the wiki and google seem quite, for the lack of a better term, "spindley." It doesn't look like they have much armour, and while I'm sure they do possess magazines, they must be small, as I can't see any lumps, bumps, or compartments that would indicate the presence of ammo stores. The mere fact they require ammo is a disadvantage for a rail gun, as they will need to be periodically resupplied to remain effective, and the ammo stores themselves will be priority targets. With all this in mind, it might be better if you were to go with a laser instead. Fusion would likely provide most of the energy you need, meaning you wouldn't have to worry about keeping them supplied. If you want to eliminate the reactor, you could use solar panels instead. They would be large targets which you couldn't armour for obvious reasons, but they could be retracted inside the hull when combat begins. Mixing a reactor and solar panels may be a good idea, as the reactor could power the main weapon while the solar panels power the station itself. Accuracy isn't so much of an issue in FT, as whether it's a rail gun, laser beam, or missile, fair plays dictates you will take hits, but a laser has the obvious advantage of hitting at light speed with exceptional accuracy.

[Vocenae]

Words about design and stuff.

Thanks but I was just using them as a visual base from which to start my own design rather than using them as depicted in the games (which is good, because as you pointed out the in-game designs have a ton of flaws). I was more interested in seeing what other players use in their own fluff.

[Hobbeebia]

I use tech styled by the Forerunners.

In terms of planetary defenses we use large space stations defense platforms and planetary defense shielding along with planetary defense fleets which are stationed to those space stations. Since my home system is in Dark Space the systems population is condensed so intra-steller traffic is pretty high with dedicated interplanetary travel lanes pre-established and monitored by thousands of military stations and interdiction system buoys. Imagine the aerial traffic on a city planet but scaled up for a systems with fully terraformed moons and planets a real urban planetary system

[Great Aletia]

Thanks but I was just using them as a visual base from which to start my own design rather than using them as depicted in the games (which is good, because as you pointed out the in-game designs have a ton of flaws). I was more interested in seeing what other players use in their own fluff.

I use a three tier system. The first tier consists of a series of sensor platforms, FTL inhibitors, and asteroid bases located at the edge of the system. The sensor platforms are linked together and provide overlapping coverage. They are also linked into the Empire's national sensor grid, so systems can be made aware of approaching targets long before they arrive, giving them crucial time to prepare a response. The asteroid bases are armed with long range lasers and are equipped with the facilities necessary to support aircraft and ships. The inhibitors use gravity generators to forcefully pull a ship out of hyperspace. This alone is often enough to cause serious damage to a target. It is for this reason they are kept switched off until they are needed. The second tier consists of whatever ships are present in the system. These may be naval ships, or increasingly, border service ships. As naval ships have been withdrawn to garrison the frontier, border service ships have been pressed into service as part of the Auxiliary Fleet. These function somewhat like system monitor, in that, although they are capable of doing so, generally don't leave the systems to which they have been assigned. The third and final tier consists of the defence stations and shield generators batteries which surround the system's primary world. Every major Aletian world features a ring of defence stations in orbit, which are protected by the world's planetary shield. The weapons they are equipped with vary, from lasers, to railguns, to missiles, or a mix of all three. Most also feature the facilities necessary to support aircraft and ships. Worlds may also have ground-based weapons, but these are located far away from cities and other populated areas. Batteries are spaced out to create overlapping fields of fire, which intersect above populated areas. During a ground invasion, the evacuation of civilians is the first priority of the government and the armed forces. Only when the cities have evacuated will the armed forces begin preparing defences. The three tier system is designed to give the armed forces enough time to evacuate and prepare for attack, although whether or not it actually works is unknown, as it has never been tested.

[Sskiss]

Regarding naming conventions, the sskiss tend to name their various stellar bodies/systems in a descriptive manner. Examples include; Gravity teaches harsh lesson, Biting winds, Vast fluid body, Creche of rocks etc....

As for system defences, the sskiss take the usual multi layered approach; Various in system gunships and missile boats, various orbitals often located at Lagrange points, hidden beam arrays within trojan asteroids, Various planetary based defences (large beam arrays, missile silos etc...), comm jammers and sensor arrays, FTL dampeners (so that enemy fleets only arrive at some point within the outer reaches of the system) and so on.

[Kyrusia]

Gravity teaches harsh lesson

For some reason, I found this far more amusing than it has any right to be.

[Great Aletia]

Bit of a random question, but what would an alien government which is based on the exchange of males be classified as? I've been developing a species of xeno for my factbook history and I don't know what to term their society. It works through the exchange of unrelated males known as "praetorians" among clans and hives, which "queens" use as generals, bodyguards, and mates. Would praetoriocracy work? As far as I'm aware, there's nothing comparable in human society. I based the xeno society mainly on bees, so there may be a term for how their government works, but I don't know what it could be.

[Kyrusia]

Bit of a random question, but what would an alien government which is based on the exchange of males be classified as? I've been developing a species of xeno for my factbook history and I don't know what to term their society. It works through the exchange of unrelated males known as "praetorians" among clans and hives, which "queens" use as generals, bodyguards, and mates. Would praetoriocracy work? As far as I'm aware, there's nothing comparable in human society. I based the xeno society mainly on bees, so there may be a term for how their government works, but I don't know what it could be.

I'm not sure what you mean by "exchange" in this context: do you mean as in they strictly treat male members of the species as a commodity (chattel)?

If you mean in the kin-selective sense, it sounds like a matrilineal and/or matrifocal (and presumably matrilocal to some degree) society, in that society is organized around queens (presumably female) and males travel between tribes/clans/hives for the purposes of reproduction, with kinship following enatic ancestry. In terms of governance, assuming females primarily hold socio-economic and/or political power, delegating authority to the males, more generally that's a form of matriarchy.

Edit: I will note if you're being more literalist in interpreting bee behaviors, the queens are more captive than not, in terms of requiring pheromones to essentially suppress the desire of the hive to kill them. How you decide to play with that, if you decide to at all, may also color how you interpret governance of their state. In human analogs, assuming authority is actually resting in drones/praetorians, with the queen as a figurehead, that's more akin to a constitutional monarchy with actual governance and authority being executed by a patriarchal oligarchy (a group of males). If you wish to just ignore that aspect, then it could just as easily be what amounts to a monarchy (absolute or otherwise, depending), or a matriarchy if much of the socio-economic/political power fundamentally rests-with and is exercised-by females.

Edit 2: Looking over what I assume to be the related factbook, you state the following:

The Visari are ruled by an alpha male, the hegemon, who hails from the largest clan. The current hegemon is Krazek Thraka, who hails from the Cheptu clan. Visari clans are based around queens and their associated praetorians. The most powerful praetorian assumes the role of hegemon, the nominal leader of the Visari species, and supreme commander of all Visari warriors. The hegemon rules for life, or until killed. The death of a hegemon is a momentous time in Visari society. Although there is no formal procedure for the selection of a hegemon, most attain the position by dominating their rivals and stealing their queens. In order to achieve supremacy, a praetorian must be strong both physically and mentally. In Visari society, careful use of strategy is considered a sign of an excellent leader. Although all Visari love a good fight, deception and planning are considered as effective in combat as claws, guns, and psychics.

This sounds something akin to a matrilineal society, governed by a despotic (assuming their rule is absolute and predominantly by fiat, rather than by convention, custom, tradition, etc; in other words: the Hegemon's whims rule the day) autocracy, through which power dynamics and governance are executed/determined via kratocratic means. For the sake of brevity, I might define it as a "kratocratic autocracy"; if you want more wiggle-room (in that smaller clans outside of the Hegemon's may have considerable power on their own), I might simply go with "kratocracy." There are also aristocratic aspects in there, given the limitation of breeding.

If the Hegemon's power is more nominal than not, though, with his power chiefly derived from the consent of his accompanied "court" of praetorians (and possibly the queen[s]), "oligarchic kratocracy" also wouldn't be a bad way to look at things, I don't think.

[Great Aletia]

snip

The species internal politics is complicated by design, so I wasn't sure what exactly to classify them as. Kratocracy is probably the closest I'm going to get using IRL terms. Technically the hegemon is only the nominal leader as their are clans that don't recognise his rule, and the species' hive mind is the true ruler. The hegemon is more of an avatar for the hive mind than an actual ruler, although like all members of the species, he is sentient. The hive mind allows for dissenting opinions and refrains from outright dominating its subjects, preferring to merely compel them instead. To put it in simpler terms, rather than outright puppeting its subjects, it gives them suggestions which they are strongly compelled to follow. While an all encompassing hive mind might be more efficient, I didn't want to portray every member of the species as a mindless drone. Giving characters distinct personalities and ambitions and allowing for dissident is much more interesting in my opinion that a species of drones. That they are ruled by a hive mind might complicate things a bit, but I think kratocracy is still probably the best fit, as the hive mind ultimately rules through force, even if it is indirect.

[Kyrusia]

The species internal politics is complicated by design, so I wasn't sure what exactly to classify them as. Kratocracy is probably the closest I'm going to get using IRL terms. Technically the hegemon is only the nominal leader as their are clans that don't recognise his rule, and the species' hive mind is the true ruler. The hegemon is more of an avatar for the hive mind than an actual ruler, although like all members of the species, he is sentient. The hive mind allows for dissenting opinions and refrains from outright dominating its subjects, preferring to merely compel them instead. To put it in simpler terms, rather than outright puppeting its subjects, it gives them suggestions which they are strongly compelled to follow. While an all encompassing hive mind might be more efficient, I didn't want to portray every member of the species as a mindless drone. Giving characters distinct personalities and ambitions and allowing for dissident is much more interesting in my opinion that a species of drones. That they are ruled by a hive mind might complicate things a bit, but I think kratocracy is still probably the best fit, as the hive mind ultimately rules through force, even if it is indirect.

:thonk_emoji:

If the collective intelligence is suggestive (consultative?) like you say, you might consider a novel set of terms, like a "kratocratic soft-gestalt" or "soft-gestalt kratocracy" (using "soft-" here to demarcate between, say, a "hard-gestalt" or "classical" hivemind, in that the will of the collective is fundamentally taking a back-seat, as it were, rather than overriding).

And yeah, I agree vis-a-vis collective intelligence and individual characters; in my personal opinion, going about it in the way you are will ultimately result in better gains/fun for you in the long run, rather than everybody being rote and entirely directed by a supra-intellect.

[Great Aletia]

The species internal politics is complicated by design, so I wasn't sure what exactly to classify them as. Kratocracy is probably the closest I'm going to get using IRL terms. Technically the hegemon is only the nominal leader as their are clans that don't recognise his rule, and the species' hive mind is the true ruler. The hegemon is more of an avatar for the hive mind than an actual ruler, although like all members of the species, he is sentient. The hive mind allows for dissenting opinions and refrains from outright dominating its subjects, preferring to merely compel them instead. To put it in simpler terms, rather than outright puppeting its subjects, it gives them suggestions which they are strongly compelled to follow. While an all encompassing hive mind might be more efficient, I didn't want to portray every member of the species as a mindless drone. Giving characters distinct personalities and ambitions and allowing for dissident is much more interesting in my opinion that a species of drones. That they are ruled by a hive mind might complicate things a bit, but I think kratocracy is still probably the best fit, as the hive mind ultimately rules through force, even if it is indirect.

:thonk_emoji:

If the collective intelligence is suggestive (consultative?) like you say, you might consider a novel set of terms, like a "kratocratic soft-gestalt" or "soft-gestalt kratocracy" (using "soft-" here to demarcate between, say, a "hard-gestalt" or "classical" hivemind, in that the will of the collective is fundamentally taking a back-seat, as it were, rather than overriding.

"Soft-gestalt kratocracy" sounds best to me. I might link the terms to Wikipedia in case people don't know exactly what I mean. Thank you for your help with this, I wouldn't have known where to start.

Addendum: Since you seemed confused about why the species exchanges males, it's because breeding with genetically related males leads to genetic degradation over time. Queens would be effectively producing clones. Praetorians are rare because they are fully grown, and most warriors die before they reach that stage of their life. Clans exchange males every ten years at a special event which takes place on the species' homeworld. The exchange of males brings with it oaths and alliances, so it is a key time for the hegemon, who will naturally desire to keep his clan in power and increase the size of his personal harem. As the nominal leader of the species, the hegemon keeps a harem, which he uses as breeding stock to keep his clan in power. This arrangement is unique to the hegemon. The hegemon is the only praetorian who is large enough and powerful enough to mentally and physically dominate queens. All other praetorians are ruled by their queens.

[Kyrusia]

"Soft-gestalt kratocracy" sounds best to me. I might link the terms to Wikipedia in case people don't know exactly what I mean. Thank you for your help with this, I wouldn't have known where to start.

Addendum: Since you seemed confused about why the species exchanges males, it's because breeding with genetically related males leads to genetic degradation over time. Queens would be effectively producing clones. Praetorians are rare because they are fully grown, and most warriors die before they reach that stage of their life. Clans exchange males every ten years at a special event which takes place on the species' homeworld. The exchange of males brings with it oaths and alliances, so it is a key time for the hegemon, who will naturally desire to keep his clan in power and increase the size of his personal harem. As the nominal leader of the species, the hegemon keeps a harem, which he uses as breeding stock to keep his clan in power. This arrangement is unique to the hegemon. The hegemon is the only praetorian who is large enough and powerful enough to mentally and physically dominate queens. All other praetorians are ruled by their queens.

Yeah. I dunno why my mind immediately leapt to "chattel" versus mating habits and exogamy. I blame my work on another project for dominating my thoughts on "mercantile" definitions.

And glad to be of some bit of assistance.

[Doppio Giudici]

Here's a general question.

How do you label or otherwise catagorize stars, planets and moons that your nation knows exist, but don't officially own? For example, LV-426 and 226 from the Alien series. Do you give official names like 'Acheron' or do they just receive some designating numbers and letters as an astrographical bookmark?

First you have a computer name all the stars with letters and numbers, in a seemingly random pattern. You then ignore all of these stars.

When you end up going to fighting over one of these stars and someone dies, then you name it.

At least that's what I do.

[Ferret Civilization]

Well being near a growing wildfire has got me thinking about how firefighting would work out in NSFT, tried looking into it but trying to get the right words for the search function came up with nothing. Guess I will just ask a series of questions and hope for the best. First up, how does your nation deal with fires, from the large wildfires that catch the news today to the simple structure on fire. If the technology is not there to instantly put it out and forget about it is there plans for when things go wrong like a change in the wind or maybe flooding that will occur after or even during the fire. Then there is preventive plans to think about as well, which maybe is so good that your nation never has to deal with an out of control wildfire. Suppose if it is a human nation there is plenty to go off of with how we deal with it here and now along with the ideas for the future, but what about for any other species that do not really fit into the humanoid mold, what do their firefighters and their equipment look like. Little bit of a ramble but I am curious to see if anyone else has thought about it enough for this shot in the dark.