Mars 2050 - In Character

by **Harkback Union** » Thu Aug 22, 2019 12:09 am

Mars 2050
- Planetfall -

Portal to OOC
Resource Map

TIME

2057-2062

(New colones may start in this year) - (Please don't go past this date)

REPUTATION

-

SPACE MARKETS

- Earth Markets -
Traders can buy and sell here for the same price.
Delivery by rocket to mars cost an additional 2bC for each item!
(1 food/water would cost 3bC to deliver)
VALID FROM: 2056
VALID UNTIL: 2060

Food: 1 C

Water: 1 C

Carbon: 2 C

Ore: 2 C

Fuel: 2 C

Consumer Goods: 2 C

Industrial Power: Unavailable

Research: 3 C
(Research from mars can ONLY be sold via Communication Satellites!)

- Lunar Markets -
You can ONLY BUY from here!
Deliveries cost an additional 1 bC!

Rifles: 5 bC

Rover: 5 bC

Supplies: 2 bC

M.A.T.T.: 5 bC
(Can be deployed in own/allied bases only, before engagements). May be relocated to friendly bases using rovers or dropships (each can carry 1 MATT).

- Mercenaries -

NEW COLONISTS AVAILABLE
COLONISTS

Prisoners
Price: 0 bC
Quantity: Unlimited
Murderers, Rebels, Enemies of the State, Hackers, Drug traders, The worst of the worst. Earth wants to get rid of them so much, they'll pay for their trip to Mars.
- Comes with guards, but not enough to quell a rebellion -
- Cannot staff research, media colonies, dangerous when used in military. -
- Very quick to revolt if there isn't enough food -

District: America
Price: 3 bC
Quantity: Many (available till 2060)
Man and Woman from across the american hemisphere, or what the Republic controls of it. Skilled in INFOTECH, desires comfort.
- No Loyalty -
- Very upset about power outage -
- Has INFOTECH expertise. -

Lunar Expats
Price: 5 bC
Quantity: Few (available till 2055)
Fed up with life underground, many wish to depart the moon in search of a life on the surface, whatever the planet.
- No Loyalty, But Anti-Corporate and Anti-Republic, will never be brainwashed into believing in either. -
- Skill: Technicians. +1 Energy if running maintenance colony. -
- Skill: Miners. +1 Ore if mining Ore. -

District: India
Price: 2 bC
Quantity: Many (available till 2060)
One of the most populous and hardest hit region of the world by climate change. Life is cheap and uncertain, many are searching for a way out. Space is not an exception.
- Sickly and Pacifist, Cannot survive shortages of food, will not take up arms. -
- Can only staff Biodomes, Mining and Industrial colonies. -
- Loyal. -

District: Australia
Price: 9 bC
Quantity: Few (available till 2055)
Australians.
- No Loyalty -
- Will bring 1 Solar Panels in their luggage compartment. -
- Has INFOTECH expertise. -

Prosecuted Upper Strata
Price: 2 bC
Quantity: Few (Available from 2057 until 2062)
Celebrities, Republican Officials, Corporate Executives who fled Earth because of the new consul's purges. Has Billions stored away in off-world accounts. Never had to do any real work, Doesn't plan on having that changed.
- No Loyalty to hiring faction. -
- Requires a Luxury Colony to be built for them (7 IP, Uses 1 Energy, 1 Food and 1 Water per turn, 0 output.) -
- Will pay 3 bC per turn to faction that maintains their Luxury Colony. -

Renegade Journalists
Price: 2 bC
Quantity: Few (Available from 2057 until 2062)
Whistleblowers, political activists, pundits, columnists and ground reporters whom spread falsehoods about the republic and the new consul. Now they must find a job on another planet.
- USW members. Has SOCIOTECH expertise. -
- Cannot work in mining colonies, produce +1 media power from media colonies. -
- No loyalty. -

District: Middle East
Price: 2 C
Quantity: Many

The turbulent years of darkness has completely redrawn the religious map of the Middle East. Though
the peoples faith was strong during what seemed to be the final days of the world, those left behind
by the day of judgement had their beliefs shattered by the bitter sectarian infighting, radiation
sickness and erratic weather ravaging across the region. The prophecies were wrong, the messiah
hadn't come. Hell was brought to earth instead. Amidst the chaos, the remaining people lived in fear and
starvation. Books were burned and old knowledge lost.

A new faith has emerged in these desperate times from within the forgotten slums of Jerusalem. A faith that
had its roots among all the Abrahamic religions and advocated religious unity for all mankind. A
faith in a single, benevolent god, who sent many prophets throughout history, but in each case, his
message was lost throughout the ages. Its ethics and mythology has appealed to many. Its priests
and scholars charismatic and charitable. Its spread quick and bloodless, unlike its predecessors.
Naturally, the Republic supported the movement, and it soon rose to prominence. The sons of
Abraham, they were called, and their numbers were in the tens of millions.

But, theirs was not the only refuge for the disillusioned. Extremist cults have also been formed
throughout the West Asia, convinced that the end of times was the work of ancient gods, these cults
have engaged in barbaric rituals of human sacrifice and are notorious for leaving messages written in
blood on the walls and sidewalks of major cities. Occasionally, some cultist commit acts of terror, destructive
attacks on civilian targets which cost many lives and cause public uproar. The Republic has so far waged several wars on
these terrorists, but they have become well hidden within the region's peaceful populace.

Now, the Republic has decided that, although its unable to exactly pinpoint cultists in the region, it is able to approximate their location. Such areas are then evacuated and resettled in hopes of slicing up cultist cells. Space, is one possible destination.

- Will not take up arms if sent to Military Colony. -
- Will engage in religious pseudo-science if employed in Scientific Colony. -
- Will Propagate their Faith if employed in Media Colony. -
- Embedded Cultists may Commit Terror Attacks.
- Veterans (+1 HP) -
- Religious, not Loyal. -

PREFAB FACILITIES

PREFAB Colonies
15 bC Each, any type!

MARTIAN GEOGRAPHY

Region Descriptions

EARTH

MOON

by **Harkback Union** » Thu Aug 22, 2019 12:10 am

The Mechanics

Only relevant to those whom wish to lead a faction. You may sign up for other, Mechanics-free roles. Please TG me if you are interested.

Feel free to skip past general information and filler text. Warfare and technology are not particularly important at the start of the game either. Crucial rules for new players can be found under MARS/Rules, RESOURCES and COLONIZATION.

- MARS -

- RESOURCES -

The Resources required for martian colonization come in distinct types:
Accumulative resources - Fuel, Military Supplies and Money can be stockpiled freely by all factions without the need for storage facilities. Money is considered to be untouchable and can be transfered without restriction. Fuel/supplies can be stored in unlimited quantity in any base. Military units can access fuel/supplies from any base on mars.

Temporary resources - Water, Food, Ore, Energy and Carbon do not accumulate. You must make sure your income equals your exceeds your expenses. If you have a deficit in any resources, you must state which colonies or facilities are being undercut as these will be forced to shut down. Your surplus is by default simply wasted if not spent, but to cut your losses, you can trade it to other factions or sell it in off-world markets. There may be additional such resources discovered in the future.

Investments - Industrial Production, Research and Media power are not traditional resources, but material and intellectual progress that allow for projects to be launched. IP, Research and media progress on construction/technology is kept between turns. However, you cannot keep unspent IP or research in your inventory.

Population - To build new colonies, you will need to hire settlers from earth or the moon. 1 Colony needs 1 population to operate. Each population however has distinct characteristics, therefore in case of each colony you must keep track of whom are inhabiting it. Some types of population may boost productivity, while others are more prone to rebellion. In any case, each colony will require 1 Food to keep its inhabitants citizens alive and well. In addition, colonies may require input for their industrial or commercial activities.

Contentment - Finally, Each Colony has a contentment level (individually!). This can be 0, -1 or -2 or "Content, Unhappy and Very Unhappy" and so on, and in rare cases, contentment can reach positive levels. By default, Contentment is set to 0 and you need not worry about it too much. However, if you are unable to supply your colonists with food, contentment will drop by 2 which is not good.. Different types of populations react to this in their own way. As time advances, Crime, Health issues and psychological impacts might also lower contentment. These effects can be negated by building the right facilities.

Reputation - Oh, and one more thing. Each Martian faction has reputation across the solar system. Though not accounted for through mechanics, your actions can influence the world's opinion of you, damage or improve public relations. The consequences of bad reputation can range from trade embargo to colonists refusing to your recruitment offers.

- COLONIZATION -

- TECHNOLOGY -

- WARFARE -

- MEDIA -

- Fin

by **Harkback Union** » Thu Aug 22, 2019 1:32 am

Hints:
You may launch your colony in any year. To do so, please fill out the colonial charter below and include it in your IC post.
The year after you launch your colony is your faction's first turn, during which resource production/consumption/development may take place.

Colonial Charter

Available ISA and other resources for your colony:
- 1 Prefab colony of any type. -
- 1 group of colonists. -
- 1 ISA Support Delivered at launch. -
- 1 Corporate Support Delivered at launch. -
- 1 Republic Support Delivered at launch. -
- 1 ISA Medium - Term Support Delivered 2 years after launch. -
- 1 ISA Long - Term Support Delivered 5 years after launch. -

- Types of Starting Colonists available -
If only they knew what they're signing up for...

- Types of ISA Support available -
The ISA wishes to ensure that each colony has at least some of the facilities required for survival, though it cannot afford to provide them all.

- Types of Corporate Support available -
The Corporations of Earth seek to profit from the martian missions by ~~cunning contract aimed at ripping off future generations of settlers~~ generous grants of support.

Only 1 faction may gain a corporation's support. If there are multiple applicants, a 2nd round of negotiations will occur and the one who's willing to accept worse terms will be contracted.

Avalon Pharmaceuticals - + 15 bC starting Funds, +1 Ice drilling station, +1 Free colonist (America District) awaiting deployment on earth. 15 Years after launch, Avalon will deploy a research colony on mars which must be supplied with food, energy and carbon for the remainder of the universe. Any missing resources will be imported from earth, the costs charged on your account (Refusing to pay were severely undermine your reputation).

Bank of Terra - May contract any number of colonies. + 20 bC starting Funds. From 10 Years after launch, an interest of 2 bC must be payed each year for the next 250 years. (Refusing to pay were severely undermine your reputation, possible attempts at seizing your assets by force!)

Terran Weapons - +5 bC starting Funds, +1 Rifles and +1 Rover smuggled in on your colony ship. You must build a Weapons Facility on mars and hand it over to TW before year 20 after launch. You are also obliged to spark tensions on mars and make sure there is an ongoing war in 25 years after launch. (Refusing to do either objectives will probably result in the TW sending assassins after you!)

Polar Petroleum - (Not very fond of conglomerate swindlers!) +10 bC starting funds. Polar Colonization Technology. You must install and power 3 Carbon Ice Drilling Stations in the poles and hand them over to PP 20 years after launch. For any delays, PP will charge 1 bC per year for each missing station.

Real Meal - +15 bC starting funds. Real meal requires that build and supply Real Meal Restaurants (2 IP, Uses 1 Food and 1 energy, feeds 2 population) across mars. At least 50% of mars must consume food from Real Meal restaurants at the turn of each decade, else RealMeal will collect 10bC in franchising fees! (Turn of first decade is an exception), the fee is collected even if you have not built any restaurants!

Centurion Intervision - + 10 bC starting funds. You must build a media colony and launch a News Media Project by the year 2070. This news project will, along its usual effects, make random populations across mars loyal to the Republic of Earth! Each year of delay costs your colony 2 bC!

Wolf Network - + 10 bC starting funds. You must build a media colony and launch a News Media Project by the year 2070. This news project will, along its usual effects, make random populations across mars loyal to the Megacorps! Each year of delay costs your colony 2 bC!

United Space Workers - Any number of factions can take this offer! - By rejecting corporate support, you can align with the USW! You gain reputation among dissidents and +2 bC funds, but your corporate reputation is significantly undermined. The Republic won't be too happy about this either. Your only obligation as a USW member is that you respect your worker's rights, whatever that means...

- Types of Republic Support available -

RoE Military Outpost - The republic will install a military colony in year 5 at your landing site and supply it with food from the Republic's coffers. It will offer to purchase food from your colony at the price of 1bC each turn. If you cannot supply the food, it will ask other factions. Finally, if it cannot buy food from anyone, it will import food from earth. The outpost will defend against any illegal aggressions and will keep your colony safe as long as your reputation with the republic is at least tolerable.

RoE Funds - By pulling the right strings, you can extract more money from the republic's coffers for your colonial initiative. There is currently 18 bC of funds left unspent in this year's budget. If only 1 faction lobbies for their funds, they'll get it all. If 2 factions lobby, they'll each get 9 bC. If 3 factions lobby, they'll get 6 bC each. The funds will be transferred 1 year after launch, depending on the number of applicants.

RoE Terraforming Mission - The main objective of the martian mission should be to terraform the planet and make a new home for mankind... as if that's feasible. In any case, the RoE is willing to pay extra cash for colonies that join the terraforming mission and complete its objectives. 5 bC upfront to help kickstart colonization, 3 bC for completing terraforming PLANETOLOGY techs and 2 bC per turn for each operating terraforming station of any type in your faction's control. Those colonies not part of the terraforming mission can join at a later date at the price of 5 bC. Leaving the mission is also possible and is free. Poor relations with the republic can get one kicked out of the Terraforming mission. Finally, research agreement between all terraforming mission members must be signed to join, any PLANETOLOGY related techs must be shared with members if possible.

RoE Ministry of Industrial Planning - To ensure that mars grows into a wealthy tax base for the Republic, and the triumph of command economy principles over capitalist markets, Only once, the MIP is willing to cover 10 bC of the 15 bC required for a Mining, Industrial or Commercial Colony on Mars. In addition, during the first 10 years, MIP is willing to export Industrial Production to mars at the price of 3 bC each for those who take this offer. However, no more then 1 IP can be purchased per turn, per contracted faction from the MIP. However, the purchased industrial power can be transferred to any other faction. This Republican support undermines corporate reputation.

RoE Office of Food Safety - This offer can't be taken if you are supported by Real Meal, or if nobody took Real Meal's offer. The OFS to wants to see Real Meal go out of business. The sooner, the better. It grants +5 bC funds at launch and +5 bC each time your faction is involved with the destruction of a Real Meal establishment. If at any point your citizens consume Real Meal food, the RoE OFS will cease supporting you.

RoE Ministry of Information - Although most people think that this ministry is a poorly disguised factory of lies and deceit, It is actually without any funding or staff, except for a few executives. Its windowless headquarters lies empty, and the reason for its existence is known only by a few.

At least, that's what you've heard while passing through the corridors of the ISA Dorms. Although the Ministry is often attacked for spreading lies by both state and corporate media, its heads and staff rarely make any appearances, that much is true. Now, the Ministry contacted you and made an offer. They'll sponsor your mission with 5 bC and ask you to build a Media Colony as soon as you can in a remote location, but not a prefab one, they want one built locally, which they will purchase for 10 bC from you. They also want you to link the colony into a power source and supply it with 2 energy, but not actually send in any colonists, they'll take care of that. In exchange for the electricity, they will pay 2 bC each year. As for food, they'll take care of it themselves. - "There are no deadlines, Take your time." - They said.

- Types of ISA Medium - Term Support available -

- Types of ISA Long - Term Support available -

by **Harkback Union** » Thu Aug 22, 2019 10:49 am

- Freelancers -

HEAVILY WORK IN PROGRESS
SORRY ABOUT DELAYS

Rather then being governors of martian colonies, Freelancers opted to seek their fortune in space.

They have a starting wealth of 25 bC and one of the 5 available skills:
- Navigation (Lets you drive spaceships).
- Science/Engineering (Lets you research techs in a laboratory/research colony, (Or even invent completely new ones!) choose 1 field of expertise).
- Media (Lets you create your own news network using holocam/media colony, write stories, shape public opinion.)
- Subterfuge (Lets you infiltrate colonies to learn secrets, steal technologies, do spy stuff...)
- Leadership (Lets you command your own battalion of mercenaries.)

Their starting skill determines what options lay ahead, unique to your role.
In addition, you can at any time decide to start your own colony on mars, or build facilities on any of the off-world locations(provided you have the money).

- NAVIGATION -

by **Harkback Union** » Thu Aug 22, 2019 10:50 am

- Locations of Interest -

-

- Asteroid Belt -

- Station 1-

by **G-Tech Corporation** » Thu Aug 22, 2019 11:01 am

Primary Conference Room, ISA Orbital Headquarters Halcyon, High Earth Orbit

Viktor entered the room in an understated manner, glancing at the long oaken table of nearly twenty seats before checking his wristwatch. The skin of his left arm glowed slightly as he looked at it, showing that he was five minutes early for the meeting of colony leaders. Well, better early than late. He was a bit surprised nobody was here yet, but the emotion didn't show on the captain of industry's weathered tan face. Cosmetics could have fixed it with a few hours in a rejuvenant, sure, but the Siberian appreciated the wisdom it lent his visage. With smooth steps the former military man crossed the cool metal floor of the conference room, seating himself about three-quarters of the way down the left side of the echoing chamber.

It was not in his nature to work with others on a peer to peer basis, perhaps, and that was part of the discomfort the Nemtsov man felt at being here. Some of it, though, was just the fever of anticipation that marked this day. The final launch preparations would be finished soon, and then on to Mars. A wondrous event, really, something that Viktor had dreamt about looking up at the night sky since he was a boy. It was obvious that, despite humanity's best efforts, Earth was an exhausted world. She had given all she could to her children, and one day soon humanity would have to start giving back or there wouldn't be a biosphere to live in anymore.

And out there in the stars, that was where mankind would find what he needed to support his own existence. No longer a solid or a liquid, but a vapor mankind would become, her fate no longer tied to a single world. The Earth had been a beautiful cradle, but eventually all babies needed to leave the safety of their mother's womb for the wider world. Ever after more, if fortune allowed it, the stars would be humanity's true home.

The Siberian drew a dossier out from beneath his left arm, habitually checking through the details of the contracts contained on the memeotape, even though his memory had already committed them to heart like the biographies of the other colony leaders. With the ISA he and the Redstar Exarchate had contracted for the placement of self-deploying solar farm aboard the Errant Dawn, enough to supply the thousand souls to come on the voyage for years if needed, and with careful husbandry the Biodome and other materials the Exarchate had secured would herald a bright future on the Red Planet.

Truth be told, he wished he had only had to do business with the Republic; they might be a monolithic bureaucracy, but at least they were dependable. The brief from Avalon Pharmaceuticals looked valuable enough on the face of it, but he disliked being beholden to others when it was not necessary. Unfortunately, here it did appear to be so. The startup capital from the lecherous shills would fund a better future on the Red Planet, and that was all there was to it.

With a creak of the door Viktor looked up from his musings, before smiling as his aide Natalya entered the chamber, her datapad at the ready. He hoped to make some beneficial arrangements today with the other colony leaders if possible. You never knew where you would find a good deal.

Leader of Mission: Viktor Illanovich Nemtsov
Mission Codename: The Redstar Exarchate
Planned Landing Site: Tempe Terra
Flag: Scarlet
Launch date: 2050
Sponsors:
-ISA: Solar Panels | Mining Drones | Terran Investments - Mining Prefab
-Avalon Pharmaceuticals - 15 BC, Water Drill, Americans
-RoE Funds
Starting Colonists/Prefab: Archangel Agrarians - Sons of the Motherland! An Industrial Colony to steward the bounty of Mars shall accompany them.
Culture: The Exarchate seeks to build a new life for humanity on Mars, through understanding of the cosmos, hard work, and industrial effort. Stewardship of the planet for the good of humanity is their objective, with an emphasis on the judicious exploitation of natural resources and immigration from Earth.

by **Labstoska** » Thu Aug 22, 2019 1:17 pm

ISA Orbital Headquarters
It was only as I was about to enter the conference room that the depressing reality of my exile hit me, perhaps it was the fact that I was about to encounter my fellow 'visionaries' that caused it dawn on me that the Republic most likely sought for me to die out there. I had burst out with laughter when the aged ISA representative had provided me a dossier of the equipment my colony would be provided with: One solar panel array and a biodome, the representative had in honeyed terms explained to him that the supposed reason none of the colonies were to be provided with more equipment was so that the process of 'Social Darwinism' would lead to an altogether more innovative and efficient culture to evolve upon Mars, a pathetic excuse for sending hundreds to a planet sized death camp.

I had of course pulled a few string here and there to ensure that I could spit in the face of Darwin, a few old friends sweet-talked, a few shady deals signed. It was one of my more greater moments when I managed to secure a deal with the Bank of Terra, the parasites thought that they would be siphoning money from the enterprise for three generations yet by the time any of the more nefarious parts of the deal came to fruition I would be long gone the colony would have proven itself and the republic would have no other course but to go back on their death warrant and grant me a prevalent position in the Republic. Their little plot to remove futurist influence from Earth would backfire and my return would be the road to untold glories.

The door slid upon and I entered the conference room, only two others were within I could vaguely recall the face of the young male I had seen something related to him in a brief given to me about his fellow governors, the son of a Siberian oligarch with delusions of a new industrial future on Mars I must admit that some of his ideas were admirable yet I remain adamant that his vision lacked the essential cultural foundation that could fuel such a dream. Art, politics and economics some may call this fusion idiotic yet to I such a combination seemed essential for a long lasting civilisation.

I took a seat at the opposite seat from the Siberian youth and introduced myself, I sought not to make any agreements you see trade leads to dependency and dependency to decadence and decay yet it didn't hurt to establish amicable relations with potential competitors for Republican favour.

"Guido Eravolo pleasure to make your acquaintance"

Leader of Mission: Guido Eravolo
Mission Codename: La Società per il sostegno futurista (shortened: the SSF)
Planned Landing Site: Terra Sirenum
Flag: Dark Blue
Launch date: 2050
Sponsors:
ISA: Solar Panels| Atmospheric cargo plane| Martian investments
Republic: Ministry of industrial planning
Corporate: Bank of Terra
Culture: The SSF's entire purpose on Mars was to prove the validity and merit of the futurist system, this socio-artistic-political movement promotes the idea that modern culture should hold three values: Industry, Violence and Speed. What these three vague statements mean to say is that the modern state ought to focus purely on accelerating it's socio-economic development by immediate and constant industrialisation and the destruction of all institutions focused on retaining or preserving the past all the while maintaining a highly militaristic stat. In terms of culture the SSF promotes the artistic spirit among all it's citizens as long as they willing to understand that it will not last forever that in order to ensure the constant rebirth of society it must be destroyed or painted over, the colony also holds an immense hatred for plagiarism and demands originality from all it's citizens

by **Ralnis** » Thu Aug 22, 2019 2:12 pm

Primary Conference Room, ISA Orbital Headquarters Halcyon, High Earth Orbit

Gary walked in as the second person in the Conference Room. He came in with a bit of a smile on his face as he started to roll up his sleeve to show his holowatch and realize he was a bit early. He saw the man in front of him and remembered what he was, Viktor. Viktor was a captain of industry and no doubt will be one of the few to build a powerhouse in the Red Planet. Gary didn't really care much for being a powerhouse or trying to conquer the world, he just wanted money and success in this endeavor.

He sat down next to Viktor and looked at his registration and remembered why he even did this. After years of building his interplanetary crime enterprise he finally wanted to do something even bigger. The idea of setting up on the Red Planet was like a dream come true for the crime boss. He saw it similar to how every other scientist, religious nut job, and businessman wants to set up and milk the colonization for all its worth. Gary didn't mind, he was no better as he wanted to set up something that could turn a digital mint and build his own paradise without the grip of the Lunies or the "Republic" on his throat.

He had to pull nearly every connection he had on both Earth and the Moon in order to set up as a colonizer. Some of them were hard to grab, like the Columbian Freedom Fighters. The Republic was looking for Club-affiliated ships and nearly shot down one before it was at the Moon with the expats that were the guys he worked with back when the Twilight Club was boosting and smuggling luxury cars in Detroit. It was the best place that he could do with such a meager sponsorship money but he got credits, the bankers of the global bank did something to tie him up in a 250 year debt.

Though I knew better than to take a deal from gun manufacturers with connections in the security sector. Mercenaries will always be a major threat against me if I don't complete my end of the bargain but a weapons factory could be a personal turn out once a spaceport was built, but that sort of thing was needed twenty years from now and Gary had to not get stabbed by the other governors and people.

However he needed ore and food, energy and everything else to set himself up. Industry builds nations and it will build his city. So he made some calls and switch the ideas around and made some important investments. It was better than having a mass of people with no means of food and energy but it is how it needs to be.

He saw another guy come in, another industrial magnet and already he knows how this will be. He moved over to the other two and heard him speak to the Siberian guy.

"Gary, Gary Duos. Nice to meet two famous industrialists on this mission to set up our Red Planet for the rest of our people. Am I right?"

Leader of Mission: Gary "The Magpie" Duos
Mission Codename: Omerta
Planned Landing Site: Elysium Platena
Flag: Gold
Launch date: 2050 (Change this if you are departing at another date.)
Sponsors:
Starting Colonist: Columbian Freedom Fighters who are looking to get off the Earth, even if it means fight for a crime boss.
Starting Prefab: A Biodome: It may not be RealMeal, but it works when it comes to building a city from nothing
ISA starting: Solar Panels- At least we don't have to pay the electric bill from the sun right?
Starting Corp: Bank of Terra: It may be the biggest loan to ever to take but I trust a banker more than a megacorp and this has the least amount of strings on it.
RoE Ministry of Industrial Planning: I never liked a command economy, always loved the invisible hand back when I was a little shit but they'll willing to go out of their way to help with building some stuff then I won't say shit.
ISA Medium: Automated Miners: Whatamean that they after a decade? Can't I get replacement parts? Fuck do you mean it was in the fine print?!
ISA Long: Martian Investments-Industrial Biodome: A good factory to keep the wage slaves or actual slaves churning out stuff for the city. Maybe need to get some actual slaves since those fucking bots blow up in a decade.
Culture: The city of crime. Perhaps the only place where the criminal element can operate openly and away from Republic jurisdiction. Many of these people come from the Moon and smuggle product around black market lane so laws are very lax and anything can be sold and bought. The city is small but when it has the necessities for off-world trading, it will bring more products and the like to compete with other governors. The Republic tolerates them despite the open Underworld influence. However the moon likes them due to Gary's continuous trading with the cities and his influence in the Cartel as the Twilight Club.

by **Seno Zhou Varada** » Thu Aug 22, 2019 2:36 pm

ISA Orbital Headquarters

A plan once again was set into place. Sure plans were never particularly successful for Haven, but this time it had to work. Sure the plan to work his way up through local government had failed due to a economic crash. The plan to change society through the protest movement wasn't particularly effective in the way he wanted. And he wasted the third time charm with the whole Republic business... but this one could do it. He could be safe from the ruinous powers that be by creating a change on Mars. While he wasn't completely safe from them, the Bank of Terra loan was unfortunately a deal with the devil he had to make, what with the lackluster ISA supplies. However he had gotten a fairly good deal with the Ministry of Industrial Planning and some colonists from Britain to come on. Haven would've liked to bring some of the people from back home but he knew how they functioned without much power, and it was not fun to deal with when you're choosing between having some actual food or some solar panels.

While Haven had gotten there a little earlier than the start, it was later than he would've wanted. Turns out he spent more time than he thought thinking in the shower, leading to a rush to get prepared for the conference. He entered the conference with a dossier in his hands already, brushing up on who would be there. Looking in the room he realized there were already 3 people there, unlike his plan of there being none. Worse they had already formed a group and started introducing themselves to each. Probably due to the rush he was in, he was unwilling to enter the group as a fourth member. Sure he had experience dealing with important people, it was probably more than half his job, but generally these meetings had some semblance of a focused conversational topic, rather than open introductions and arrangement making. However another plan had entered his mind, sit somewhere else and hopefully people would come to you! While sure it wasn't perfect, Haven decided it was good enough and sat down on the right side of the table, 1/4 of the way down, and started scrolling through the various people that would be in the conference.

by **The Empire of Tau** » Thu Aug 22, 2019 3:51 pm

Project Head: Julian Hera
Leader of Mission: Gordon W. Black
Mission Codename: Mars Agri-Industrial Project, Site-1A.
Planned Landing Site: Elysium Planitia
Flag: Republic of Earth Flag (whatever that may be)
Launch date: 2050
Sponsors:
Biodome Colony (Prefabricated Colony)
French Colonists
Solar Panels, Ice Drill, Food Cache (ISA Immediate Support)
Centurion Intervision (Corporate Immediate Support)
RoE Ministry of Industrial Planning (Republic Immediate Support)
Comms Satellite (ISA Medium - Term Support)
Lunar Investments (ISA Long - Term Support)
Culture: ???

by **The Grim Reaper** » Thu Aug 22, 2019 3:55 pm

Leader of Mission: Sandehi Gellibrand
Mission Codename: The Martian Cooperative Federation ('CoopFed')
Planned Landing Site: Site 13: Tharsis Montes
Flag: Black
Launch date: 2050
Sponsors: District: France | Solar Panel | Bank of Terra | RoE Ministry of Industrial Planning | Comms Satellite | Lunar Investments
Culture: Libertarian socialist; CoopFed adheres to the Rochdale Principles, which eschew for-profit motives in calling for directly democratic workplaces that are, first and foremost, built on social responsibility and positive outcomes for consumers. A failed co-operative does not distribute itself to its members, but is returned to CoopFed to be rehabilitated and spun back out with a new workforce composed and constituted through a process lead by potential future customers, replacing the entrepreneurship of the investor with that of the consumer. CoopFed's primary goal is self-sufficiency and the spread of libertine ideals, emphasizing the rights of the individual and their indivisibility from bottom-up control over the means of production; control which cannot be abdicated to the command of a higher power but also does not rely on the logics of the free market.
Starting Resources Biodome | French colonists | Solar Panel | +20bC | 10bC discount on prefab colony

Tentative First Turn Transaction: +Water Ice Drilling Station (-5 bC), +1 IP (Industrial Planning Bonus; -3 bC | 1/2 IP Geothermal Plant)

ISA Orbital Headquarters

Sandehi had wasted some of his time listening to ancient radio plays on his music player. Sandehi was, contrary to his public persona, quite a free-going individual; taken to flights of fantasy and the occasional bout of wildly risky speculation. However, it had all worked out for him in the end - his risks were easily tempered by his respect for those who knew better than him, no matter their status or role, and even where he had come close to failure, his unerring charisma meant that those who believed in him were committed to seeing his projects true. In essence, their faith in him was a self-fulfilling prophecy: and he rewarded them richly for it, giving them the means of independence they needed to take back their lives from megacorps.

He meandered down to the Primary Conference Room, idly considering his paperwork. His first file outlined the initial investment by his friends in Lunapolis, who hoped that CoopFed would become an ideological ally in the quest to bring workers' management to the entire world.

One biodome, a solar panel, and an initial workforce from France. He believed that food self-sufficiency would help insulate the colony from the initial pressures of survival on Mars, ensuring an agricultural base with which they could pursue their goals. The French had had a long history of dedication to the socialist cause, of course, dating back to the French Revolution, and he had carefully picked those who had most fervently professed a revival of that history, but cognizant of and embracing the developments in the labour history of their neighbours - the CNT-FAI-led Catalonia during the Spanish Civil War, the English co-operative movement from which the Rochdale Principles had been derived, and the German works' council system, amongst others.

The next file detailed his short-term sponsorship. Amongst them was the Bank of Terra - a disappointing necessity, but he had had enough experience in the corporate world and the legal world to understand that the most powerful force humanity had ever invented was leverage. With debt now, one could easily create output that exceeded the cost of the debt later, making the total cost irrelevant. Sovereign nations had been using the principle of generations. He cursed the fact that it locked him out of embracing his natural allies, the United Space Workers, but he consoled himself with the knowledge that the additional funds would in the end help him do more good for the workers - he could align himself with the broader cause later. Also on the slate was support from the Republic of Earth's industrial planning department - his glowing commendation of the Rochdale Principles as a dynamic application of command economics, even if it was limited to the distribution of common assets, had just barely gotten him through the funding round.

The third file was the shortest, outlining the activities of his sponsors to prepare future support. He was happy to note that two distinct co-operatives had been formed out of the immovable assets dedicated by the Lunar Co-operative Federation to the Martian mission - the Interstellar Co-operative Agency, which had been tasked with acquiring and deploying a communication satellite to Mars to help create a press agency; and the Rare-Moon Minerals Co-operative, a substantial investment which was to form a speculative mining firm lunarside.

Finally, the fourth detailed the nature of the expedition itself. 2050 - yes, he knew that part. The landing site he had picked out was in Tharsis Montes, a treacherous region that would make it difficult to receive support from Earth. This would simply make self-sufficiency an even more urgent goal, while the mountainous region would cut through the atmosphere to present his solar panels directly to the sun, drastically improving their output. It was also a heavily defensive region, insulating the colony from the excesses of capitalist society and their likely militant ambitions. It also included a list of fellow colonists.

The list was dynamically-updated by an AI - Sandehi was a man who valued presence. He cared little for what people could potentially be on Mars, as that was not important or actionable. What he could action was what was already present, and so the list monitored the colonists who appeared in the Primary Conference Room.

There were four - Viktor Nemtsov of Redstar; Guido Eravolo of the Futurists; Gary Duos of Omerta; and Haven Wallard of the Foundation.

Even as an industrialist, Nemtsov had somehow scraped his way into the top-half of Sandehi's list in order of favour. He was a military man, which annoyed Sandehi immensely - not least, one hailing from House Nemtsov, the profiteers of war and the destruction of Earth if there ever was one. But he, at least, was not overtly genocidal.

Guido was an odd figure. The Futurists were fascinating to Sandehi - their social ideology was unique, fresh, and exciting. It spoke to him of the dizzy days of the ideological environment of a world simultaneously buoyed by and scared of the rise of the Soviet Union; of the Situationists, and the Posadists, and the various other left and right-wing transient movements. But to bend it so brutally into the personal interest of powerbrokers...Sandehi knew the end of this song. Dynamicism and renewal would justify war, and the purging of political enemies, but the new orders would all be led by the same people. Original ideas, perhaps, but the same profiteers, using the same criteria for success.

Gary Duos, of course, was of little interest to him. Sandehi, as much as anyone else, knew that jurisprudence was up to interpretation - he'd done it himself through much of his career as a general counsel, pro-bono lawyer, and legal commentator. But an overt criminal undertaking, when one could make just as much money at least peripherally contributing to a beneficial society, seemed ridiculous to him. To say that at all, of course, was to buy into that hated logical structure of profits over people.

Haven Wallard was his most natural ally. Though their ideological statements had been somewhat too milquetoast for Sandehi - a commitment to democracy was nice, but their internalization of their sponsor's command principles would no doubt destroy their project. Nevertheless, their citizens and their actions would likely intersect with the interests of CoopFed, and their commitment to sustainability, and environmentalism, whilst lacklustre, would clearly make them a positive influence in global politics.

Sandehi noticed, in entering the room, two tables - Haven Wallard, and the industrialists. No doubt the latter would be discussing the most financially viable way to burn a second planet in nuclear hellfire. He decided that, though it may transpire being necessary to reach out to the industrialists, he would start with dessert.

"Haven Wallard?

Sandehi Gellibrand, Director of the Lunar Cooperative Federation and Executive Director of the Martian Cooperative Federation. Call me Sandehi, if you like.

I have a project I thought you might be interested in knowing about. I have a foothold in Lunapolis with a telecommunications provider, and a member cooperative of my Federation there have graciously agreed to help us launch a communications satellite. It will take a few years, but once it is prepared, we will be forming a press agency.

It would also give us the ability to share technology with potential research partners. I felt your area of research interest could potentially complement ours, when the time comes. No commitments necessary at this early stage, of course. Just something I thought you'd like to know. And, on the topic of research - did you happen to have any interest in those Polar Engineering Experts? The ones who are auctioning their contract?"

by **G-Tech Corporation** » Thu Aug 22, 2019 4:42 pm

Primary Conference Room, ISA Orbital Headquarters Halcyon, High Earth Orbit

Viktor nodded to both men in turn as they sat down.

"Nemtsov, Viktor. Formally, Chief Fabrication Officer with the Mars Mission, but given the Republic's... piecemeal approach to this venture, I expect I'll be interacting with you both on a more casual basis."

A ping touched his viewpad, and the Siberian glanced down, before nodding again, this time more decisively.

"Terra Sirenum, Master Eravolo? That's a prime site, based on the scans I saw. If my own bid for Tempe Terra hadn't been approved, she would have been at the top of the list. The cryofalls there look particularly spectacular, and should feed a colony for a century to come."

"I recall reading one of your more recent treatises on the industrial rebirth of the Italian South in the Journal of the Homo Superior, but I have to disagree on the need for destruction - not that I find it repulsive, merely wasteful to destroy where stability and good governance can instead reform. But I digress."

Another glance at his viewpad, a second message from Natalya. One of the reasons she was here was to scrape the ISA databanks they had access to to assess the potential competition and comrades headed to Mars, and perchance strike a deal or two.

"Ah, so you put in for that new atmospheric lifter, like our friend Master Duos," he noted, gesturing towards the underworld entrepreneur. "That model came off of one of NovoRossiya's new lines for the Greater Gobi, and I hope it performs as well in the field as it did in trials. We will all be depending on it in the years to come. I don't suppose you've considered your choice of colony drop? My own colonial projections indicate a food surplus able to feed nearly a thousand souls once we get settled, and it is my hope you might be in the market for such a bounty at a very nominal rate, to allow you to focus your own people on different efforts."

High Martian Orbit, Lander Errant Dawn

Three Months Later

The deceleration couches rattled and rumbled as the Errant Dawn hurtled down through the Martian atmosphere. It wasn't as gut-wrenching as deorbiting above Earth, due to the thinner atmosphere, but it still wasn't a thrillride to be taken lightly. Viktor clenched his jaw in stubborn determination, then consciously relaxed it, painting a visage of calm and collected good spirits over his face to cheer up the other passengers in his compartment. This lander was more advanced than most, a perk of knowing the manufacturers that he hadn't been loathe to take them up on. He did not like thinking about the bumping and the shaking the inhabitants of the other dropships would be feeling in their less lavish appointments.

But it would all be worth it. A shudder ran through the cabin as the atmospheric brakes of the ship deployed, and slowly the Dawn leveled out. With a hiss of pneumatics the blast shields opened on the sides of the lander, and eagerly the Siberian turned, drinking in the vistas of what was to be his new home. A new home for mankind. The mesas and hills of Tempe Terra were barren and blasted, pocked with impact craters and dormant lava flows, but he knew from the scans that under those oxide-red ridgelines and contours hid a wealth of ice and good metal ore, just itching for the use of intrepid pioneers. And, most importantly, a wealth of geothermal energy from a deep hotspot, enough to power a civilization.

It took several days to get the prefabricated structures of the industrial complex and living quarters situated, but the good Siberian lads and American attendants were adjusting to their new lives easily enough. The five year plan called for a dramatic upswing in industrial output, something the scion of NovoRossiya orchestrated like a maestro. As the gangways and sealed domes rose towards the Martian sky, and carbon-scrubbed furnaces sent plumes of rich oxygen air up to greet the dawn on a new world, Viktor reflected that he thought he was going to like it here. It felt like real living, a real future. And it was a future humanity would have to grab hold of with both hands.

by **Seno Zhou Varada** » Thu Aug 22, 2019 4:50 pm

The Grim Reaper wrote:*snip*

Sandehi noticed, in entering the room, two tables - Haven Wallard, and the industrialists. No doubt the latter would be discussing the most financially viable way to burn a second planet in nuclear hellfire. He decided that, though it may transpire being necessary to reach out to the industrialists, he would start with dessert.

"Haven Wallard?

Sandehi Gellibrand, Director of the Lunar Cooperative Federation and Executive Director of the Martian Cooperative Federation. Call me Sandehi, if you like.

I have a project I thought you might be interested in knowing about. I have a foothold in Lunapolis with a telecommunications provider, and a member cooperative of my Federation there have graciously agreed to help us launch a communications satellite. It will take a few years, but once it is prepared, we will be forming a press agency.

It would also give us the ability to share technology with potential research partners. I felt your area of research interest could potentially complement ours, when the time comes. No commitments necessary at this early stage, of course. Just something I thought you'd like to know. And, on the topic of research - did you happen to have any interest in those Polar Engineering Experts? The ones who are auctioning their contract?"

Haven did not really think his plan would work that well, right off the bat a person and a deal. Sure the set up was good, but he expected a person or two to head over to those industrialists first rather than him. The deal itself wasn't bad, technology sharing would be useful, although technology wasn't his first and foremost goal, at least for the first few years. The question about the Polar Engineers was also interesting, not because he particularly wanted them, but because it implied the man was going for the poles in some regard.

"Well Mr. Sandehi, in regards to the project you mentioned I feel it might be worth it to join in. Although if I may be frank, research is going to be a couple years out most likely. But in regards to your question, no I'm not particularly interested in the Polar Engineers. While skilled, the bidding will most likely get expensive due to it and I don't have the money to spend. Especially when the Bank of Terra will be breathing down my neck in 10 years asking for it and everything I own."

by **Theyra** » Thu Aug 22, 2019 4:53 pm

ISA Orbital Headquarters

This is finally happening; he was finally going to Mars and leading his colony of New Alexandria. Perhaps he should have taken a different since most of his colonists are not from Egypt. But, he felt that it should mean something, a new beginning for those that had lost their homes to the rising sea level and other means.

This is something that years ago he would not have imagined that he would be doing. Instead of exploring old ruins on Earth and possibly teaching archeology at a university later in life. That was the plan before the economy tanked, and he found that his employers could no longer pay him. It was forcing him to reconsider new lines of work and when the bombs fell. It made him think more about what he should do in life, and he wanted to help his world heal — starting a low position in the bureaucracy of the Republic of Earth. Politics, something that he used to hate, and yet he had found himself among them since what better way to help than at a political level. So death and so much devastation caused on Earth in recent years. Now humanity looks to the stars and Mars for a new home. And Aymn used every once of political power and contacts he had to get himself into this position, leading one of the colonies. He was sure he would not waste this opportunity and do right by his people.

Aymn only accepted one Republic support contact, while he was tempted to decline any Republic Support. He realized that he may need some of their help to succeed on Mars. Hopefully, this will be the only Republic intervention that he had to deal with. Hoping he will not be regretting his choice and things will go well for the colony.

Aymn looked at his watch, just on time for the conference with the other colony leaders, and this should be an interesting experience for him. He entered the conference and found the others that had arrived. He noticed that not all of the leaders had arrived and took an empty seat that was not near any of the others. Rather talk with any of them, Aymn chose to remain silent unless one of them decided on talking to him. So he pulled list from his datapad about who else was going to arrive.

Leader of Mission: Aymn Khouri
Mission Codename: New Alexandria
Planned Landing Site: Valles Marineris Site 19
Flag: Dark Green
Launch date: 2050
Sponsors: Starting setters - Scandinavia
Starting prefab - Industrial Colony
Corporate Support - United Space Workers
ISA Support - Food Cache, Automated Miners, Martian Investments - Biodome Colony
Republic - Ministry of Industrial Planning
Culture: The people of Alexandria seek a new beginning on Mars after their former homes on Earth were ruined and had nowhere left to go. They elected to go to Mars, and some of them choose to go to Mars in order to get away from the Republic and the corporations. Hoping that they will not repeat the mistakes on Earth and bring a good future to their new home.

by **Labstoska** » Fri Aug 23, 2019 2:46 pm

ISA Orbital Headquarters
I leaned back in my chair and smiled, it was embarrassingly rare for anyone that I worked with to of actually bothered to delve into my numerous manifestos and I had to admit it was somewhat refreshing to meet someone to put in the time to understand the futurist ideals.

"Indeed my current projections for Terra Sirenum show that the region has enough resources within a singular base site to supply a fully self sufficient for seemingly centuries, yet something far more interesting about the colony are possibilities for geothermal energy installations something that I'm got you more than interested considering your choice of Tempe Terra, A truly extraordinarily impressive region considering Republican predictions on energy output."

"Hmmm well as for the whole issue of destruction vs reform it boils down to one simply issue: Time. Let us take for example our mutual benefactor the Republic, if we look at global trends before the war it was predicted that a global state wouldn't have emerged until two centuries had passed if it would have at all however the Atom war intervened and allowed Mankind to brush away the foolish and misguided institutions of the past and form the first global state, now if no such destruction occurs the institutions of old would have been able to hold on and drag down the republic with their pre-unification ideas."

I looked around the conference room while the Siberian checked his viewpad, the VI I had had chipped into me (a particularly gruesome procedure) was capable of scanning and identifying all of the individuals in the room and from what I could see there were a disturbing amount of leftists, democratic advocates and anti-republicans all but solidifying this mission as a glorified death march fortunately I was one of the only ones with a way out.

"Hah I should have expected Novorossiya to have fingers in every pie, indeed the lifter will be extraordinarily useful when it comes to expanding colonial interests beyond Terra Sirenum, after all there is no way I'm gonna try to pay for a steady flow of carbon prices for that stuff are through the roof. Anyways you needn't worry for my colony's food supply, I was provided with an agricultural prefab and my French compatriots are quite capable around hydroponics."

For the rest of the conference I simply sat back and observed the dealings, I had enough confidence that my colony would be capable of forming a self-sufficient society, some may have called my cocky at the time others foolish however those were always the words of those who didn't understand genius.

The First Year
It was a moment of particular comradery as the Cascade came down to land upon the planet, the lander had been separated into four rooms filled with gel couches and 25 groups of colonists not a single one of them were made above the others, the collective suffering brought upon them by the painful entrance into Mars's atmosphere as well as their shared goals and dreams was enough to bring upon them a shared feeling of brotherhood. As for myself I believed that a leader should remain somewhat distant of their people so that they may look at their country with a more objective eye and ,when the times come, to sacrifice them in the name of the colony.

I didn't give any great speech or such for their would be no purpose to it, my people knew what they were here for, what they hoped to achieve and what they had to do in order to accomplish it. The process of setting up the agricultural was rather easy and could be completed over the process of a week as the entire thing was practically built into the lander and was able to assemble most of itself through automated processes without the Human intervention. I must admit as a designer I did add quite a flourishes of my own to the colony so that it would better fit the futurist atheistic. And so out of the cold wastes of Mars a glorious new pyramid of civilisation arose one that held futurism at it's heart.

by **Seno Zhou Varada** » Fri Aug 23, 2019 8:26 pm

Year One, 2051

The journey had been long but worth the while. The colony had been set up in a small hillside, in relation to the massive drop the Hellas Planum was, situated perfectly for industrial production. The ore was closer to the surface here, and geothermal activity, while lesser than Earth in some regards, was still active in this region to a greater degree than others. Water would need to be drilled elsewhere, but was still close enough to not require a trek.

The base itself felt a little empty. Only half of the maximum population was there, and there was little to do for the 1st year except set up the prefabs and wait around. In fact, one of the most heated discussions between the colonists was on whether to drill for ore or simply wait around. Some of the colonists believed that they had to do something during the 1st year, might as well drill some ore. The other faction however was against it, seeing as the ore apparently degraded enough to be worthless when exposed to the elements, and there wasn't anywhere to place it.

Seriously that was the main point of discussion during the first year. The democratic process worked smoothly when it was put to a vote on whether to order parts for a geothermal vent, it was something to briefly do so a unanimous yes. It was just about as smooth in the decision to pay for some Indian colonists trips to Mars, the only dissenters either wanting to bid on the Polar workers or wanting to save the money for now in case something came up. However the vote still passed with 70% majority in the yes camp and some lucky hundred had their trips paid for. However they were to remain Earth-side for a few years due to the wait for a biodome prefab to be shipped in, courtesy of the ISA.

Haven was of course nominally leading during this period, but there simply wasn't much work to do. So he decided on working out some alternative plans for the colony and who to work with. The two main factions as of now seemed to be the Industrialists and the more left-wing grouping, which he seemed to be a part of. He honestly wasn't sure of what deals to make with either of the 2, research would be slow due to a lack of carbon in the region, a small price to pay for the geothermal. Although he did recall that Director Sandehi had some lunar contacts, some cooperative that could ship resources to him on the cheap, and wondered if he could possibly arrange a deal for some carbon later on, when a research colony was in the works.

On the alternative plan business, there seemed to be two options, a safe option and a risky option. The safe way would be to minimize costs, not buying unnecessary industrial production from the Ministry, but also slowing down the growth of the colony. However considering the danger of relying on loans and the megacorporations that give them, a lesson learnt from the failures of pre-war Earth, it was definitely safer. However the riskier option could possibly provide more money for the loans and growth for a better mars. By rushing production with the Ministry and taking loans when necessary, much more could be achieved, namely capitalizing in on the high price of fuel in Earth markets and the fact that traders needed it for their ships. However if it couldn't be sold then it was basically useless, and you paying off loans with other loans is a dangerous game.

Whatever the plan was, it was to be decided later. He was tired of the endless back-and-forth chatter about work that always seemed to crawl into his radar. Sick and tired of the same arguments, he decided to call a vote, or some sort of discussion on the naming of the 2 individual colonies, as the base name was decided before they landed. That should be enough for the people to talk about something else, and he never was good with names. He always chose something too boring, overly flashy, or poetic but in a bad way, seriously nothing was good enough for any project. Hopefully the a group of people could come up with a better name than an individual, and if not so be it anyways, he was too tired of naming things anyhow.

by **Bentus** » Sat Aug 24, 2019 4:52 am

Sarama Naidu
Onboard the Aajadi

Grunting as she gave the ageing maintenance panel one final tug, Sarama’s was greeted by a cloud of dust that got kicked up into the corridor around her. Instinctively, she recoiled backwards as a cough wracked her body. Scowling, she waved a hand in front of her face to try and dispel the cloud of dust that lingered in the zero-gee environment of the ship’s corridor. The air currents from the movement quickly caused the grey dust to diffuse through the air, revealing the tanned features of the mining barge’s captain as she assessed the mess of wires that had been hidden behind the wall.

Scanning the crow’s nest of cable harnesses and live connections, Sarama muttered a hindi curse under her breath as even her practiced eye struggled to follow the twisted, haphazardly spliced-together wiring that she was dealing with. A pained look seemed to flash across her eyes as she maneuvered her flashlight to get a better look.

“Damn it, what a mess.” She whispered, feeling a pang of sympathy for her inanimate vessel as she recognized the result of countless half-measure repairs over its years of service. Reaching out, Sarama placed a comforting hand on the cold titanium of the hull beside the open panel. “They really treated you badly, huh girl?”

The radio in her ear crackled into life as a male voice suddenly intruded on the moment.

“Say again? I didn’t quite catch that.” Sarama’s mouth immediately dropped into a frown. “Sarama, did we lose the connection? Let me know if you can still hear me.”

Sighing, the woman placed a hand by her ear to trigger her mike as she rolled her eyes. When she spoke, her tone was tinged with irritation. “I said: what the hell did you do to my ship, Jack.”

“Hey, hey, hey – don’t shoot the messenger!” Immediately, the voice in Sarama’s ear had been put on the defensive. She could practically see the techie throwing up his hands in surrender all the way at Ceres. “The patch got uploaded to your systems just fine. It should’ve been installed while you slept last night without any problems. My guess is that the specs of the Aajadi are out of date and her hardware manifest isn’t accurate.”

Sarama scoffed over the long-range radio. “Wow, you think so?” Her voice was dripping with sarcasm as she stood upright, grimacing as she thought about how much work it was going to take to trace the error in the manifest. “A ship that’s nearly as old as me and which has had more owners than I care to remember – you think that there could be gaps in its hardware record? Really, who could have seen something like that coming! Gee, has anyone told you that you’re a real genius, Jack?”

Half an inhabited solar system away, a slightly overweight young man sighed on Ceres.

“And has anyone told you that you’re a real ass. This is a hardware problem, ain’t nothing I can do remotely from here.”

“Seriously, nothing?” Sarama replied, her annoyance at having her day’s work schedule thrown out the window slipping into her voice. Reaching into the hole in the wall, she made to push aside a bundle of wires that was obscuring her view. “Do you have access to any archived maintenance schematics of – ow!” Sarama quickly pulled her arm back as a spark jumped across a pair of exposed wires, delivering a painful shock to her fingers.

“Sara! You okay?” Jack’s voice immediately replied, their earlier banter having been replaced by genuine concern for his friend.

Shaking her hand, Sarama sucked on the slightly burnt finger to try and ease the pain. She was more annoyed at herself for being careless than anything. “Yeah, yeah, just a low voltage short. Focus: can you get the old schematics?”

This time, the woman reached in with her other arm. The sleek white metal of her prostheses had been tailored to match her body – and it looked every bit as custom built as it was. He motors were nearly silent as they spun in response to her brain’s commands, moving as an extension of her organic body as her five artificial fingers pushed aside the problematic wire bundle. A second spark zapped across it, but Sarama didn’t even flinch as the prostheses took it like a champ.

“I’ll do some digging. No promises that they’ll be complete, but Lunapolis should have kept some records with the ship’s registration.”

Peering further behind the wall, Sarama noticed with some satisfaction that the rest of the wiring didn’t seem to have been fixed up quite as badly as she’d initially feared. “Ok, that’d be great.” She replied. “Thanks for the help, Jack – really. I better get started over here, it’s going to be a long day.”

There was a chuckle over the radio. “Hey, don’t sweat it: you’re the one paying me for tech support.” The corner of Sarama’s mouth twitched upwards into a grin. “Though it was good to hear from you. Try to reach out for a social call sometime, huh? Don’t want you to get too lonely out there in the black.”

“I’ll see if I can squeeze you into my schedule. Though you know me – I’m keeping myself busy. Talk to you later.”

“You too.”

As the line went dead, the background din of static noise that had hummed constantly in the back of the signal cut out. Left alone once again in her ship, Sarama stretched her arms over her head as she got ready to dive into it.

“Alrighty, looks like day two-hundred and seventy-three’s going to be a busy one. We might as well just get cracking, girl.”

As if in response – although such a thing would be impossible – a creaking groan seemed to echo through the corridor’s metallic walls, likely the sound of vibrations being released from some strain in the hull built up by the engines’ constant thrust. But Sarama liked to think that it was Aajadi stretching too.

Freelancer Name: Sarama Naidu
Starting Skill: Navigator

Ship Name: Aajadi
Ship Class: Mining Barge (18 bC)
Initial Modules: Bridge, quarters, reactor, 3 engines (3 action points), 3 Cargo Hold, 1 Mining Laser

by **Florentiam** » Sat Aug 24, 2019 5:16 am

He didn't feel comfortable at all. The comfort of the armchairs was beyond question, as was the microgravity and the temperature, which was perfectly maintained at around 20°. The problem was a social one. Jonas was an outcast in the middle of colonial tycoons and corporate and governmental fat cats. While he was sitting, he recognized "The Magpie", the head of the Twilight Club. Beside him was Arvolo, the Italian futurist nobleman with questionable artistic ideas. RoE officials and corporate agents were just the icing on the dung cake that was that room: selfish, posh and untrustworthy; their professional smiles hiding their real intention to stick it to you in the most painful way possible.

Government officials explained the situation on Mars to those present. The briefing also included the allocation of land slots and the signing of contracts for external sponsors. Promether Terra wasn't exactly what you would call a good starting point. But after all, his own life had been like that: he had not chosen to live in a dilapidated room full of rats and insects with four young children and two adults who could barely feed themselves. The lack of water would be one of the first obstacles to overcome. Some clandestine cargo ships could have supplied water to quench the thirst of the inhabitants, but not enough to start a solid industrial development. However, the mineral deposits were large enough to jumpstart a mining colony. ISA would provide food for ten years. On that side, he knew he could count on a good amount of time to establish relations with the other colonies. Minerals for food. A good compromise in his mind. He hoped that the others would accept it too. And about funds, he had also requested them from the RoE and Avalon Pharmaceuticals. Obviously, this action pissed off his Siberian friend, but everyone needed money. Half is better than nothing.

Jonas spent much of the meeting listening and watching others. His beginning had been too daring. Now we had to slow down. Find allies. Solidify the colony base.
Only in this way he could ensure a future for his people.

Leader of Mission: Jonas Sabater
Mission Codename: The Free Syndicate
Planned Landing Site: Promether Terra
Flag: Sienna
Launch date: 2050
Sponsors: ISA: Food cache| Captured Comet| Martian investments
Republic: RoE Funds
Corporate – Avalon Pharmaceuticals
Culture: On the outside, the Syndicate’s reputation is of a place outside the law where prostitution, drugs and other vices reside and law-abiding citizens would never entered. The part about vice is partially true. Actually, it was Jonas criminal network who made the colony mission possible. On the other hand, people of the Syndicate come from all the walks of life. The Syndicate is mainly populated by people belonging to the Catalan criminal underworld, and work to provide illicit services to Raval Base people. However, Jonas is opened the doors to all kinds of people who refused the current status quo and fight against it: autonomists, anarchists, indentured workers, outcasts and refugees can find a safe heaven in the Syndicate.
The main goal of Jonas is to build up a more resilient society that could deal with things like the war whom destroyed Earth and come out stronger than before. No matter how people will become more resilient, whether thanks to their hard work or hardened by the harsh criminal life: the Syndicate people will thrive and survive. In the end, Jonas and his people born as criminals, but they dream of becoming revolutionaries.
Starting prefab and colonists - Raval Central Base (Mining Colony - +1 ORE -1 ENERGY) - District: Britain - +1 ENERGY +5 MAINTENANCE

by **Harkback Union** » Sun Aug 25, 2019 4:11 am

Earth - 2053

As the news of the first martian landings reach Earth, a new wave of space enthusiasm sweeps through the populace. Manpower and capital is rapidly flowing into space startups. Everybody wants a slice of the pie.

Each colonial faction may choose from 1 of the following (You receive the support in 2053):

Volunteer drive - +1 Colonist from the ones available only at start. Remember, you can keep colonists you hired for free on earth/moon until you need their service. +1 Free colonist from the market if you took USW support.

Extended corporate support - +7 bC in funding. Only available if you took corporate support.

Media Coverage - +1 Media Power until year 15.

Freelancers may choose from 1 of the following:

Corporate Sponsor - +5 bC.

ISA Academy - A ticket to the ISA space academy on Earth. You can spend 1 year's worth of action points while in earth orbit to attend. Immediately level up (grants you with new skills, or upgrades existing ones)!

by **G-Tech Corporation** » Sun Aug 25, 2019 5:59 am

Fabrication Yards, Foundation

3rd Day, Keplus, Martian Demi-Cycle 6 (2053)

The Fabricator-General paced in his office, nodding one final time and smiling before he glanced over at his adjutant.

"That will certainly work for us, Captain Wiles. Safe winds. Nemtsov, out."

With a puff of static the holovid winked out, and Viktor nodded to himself. The contract with the freelancer was unorthodox for a colonial ambition such as this, looking to make their own way in the cosmos instead of being beholden to Earth. But the goal was noble enough - new souls from Siberia seeking homes on the Red Planet, and Captain Adas Wiles, a British lady with a penchant for the sea of stars, could get them here. It was God's providence for the colonists, in truth. Experienced miners would be able to make planetfall alongside the pre-scheduled drop from the ISA of the new immense mining complex, a complementary fortuitousness if ever there was one.

Not to mention that this could be the start of a lucrative relationship. The Exarchate was certainly striving for self-reliance, but, immediate needs aside, the odd infusion of cash from overproduction of certain excess resources could greatly help the colony's progress. Far better to have a free-floating commercial pool to draw upon than be beholden to the largesse of the Republic's brokers for emergency loans.

"See you tonight Natalya." Viktor intoned, deciding to end the day early and take a walk. His aide nodded, a bold wink profoundly unprofessional slipping across her face, but he merely smiled. Discipline had to be a priority here, but there were specific things he was willing to overlook. A bit of ribbing in the context of the long working relationship he and the Pereyaslavite had shared for nearly a decade could be excused, especially when it was justified.

The whisper-doors of the administrative complex closed behind the NovoRossiyan man, and his supple synthleather boots moved soundlessly on the machined glass walkway. In the distance the clouds of dust from the borehole tinged the Martian air with just a hint of fiery scarlet as the sun drifted downward, those clouds themselves bolstered by the machines laboring to assemble shiny new girders and armor plating in the shape of the hydrogen-cracking facility the five year plan called for.

Fuel. It had given the Mother State life again after the dark days of the Exchange, and now it would propel the Red Planet to a brighter future. Hands resting on the railing, Viktor watched in quiet contentment as Foundation slowly lived up to its name.

by **Labstoska** » Sun Aug 25, 2019 11:05 am

Le Soleil, Agricultural Zone
The first thing that hit me open entering the facility was the stench. It was a peculiar contrast, the facility itself was as far removed from nature as it could possibly be; towering columns of hydroponic machinery segmented into hundreds of smaller boxes in which the crops were fertilised and grown with large robotic arms moving up and down constantly inspecting their progress and yet the poignant stench was unmistakably a product of the natural world, the result of almost the entirety of the colonies biological waste being converted into the crop's fertiliser. I truly had to hand it to my French comrades, the formula that they had managed to concoct for the fertiliser as well as their genral expertise in hydroponics had successfully increased the predicted output of the colony by a whole 400%!

Lamentably most of this excess production had to be discarded. We had lost our cryo-refrigeration facilities in the first month of the colony, it had been discovered that three of my citizens within the engineering section harboured religious tendencies as well as harbouring within their personal possessions religious iconography, such remnants of the past could not be allowed to reside within the colony yet before they could be apprehended they were able to sabotage our cryo-storage machines before judgement could be imparted upon them. It was something it had avowed before the colony to never happen again.

While I admired the Agri-columns my guide yapped on, I held no disdain for the young man as he showed me the latest potato crop yet I couldn't help but grind my teeth as he droned on and on, I had resolved to make more of these tours so that the colony was able to 'relate' to me more. At least it was working I could see the spark in that young man's eyes and they way he talked; it was like a puppy barking for the attention of it's owner. Mercifully a loud noise began blaring in my ears, the soothing female voice of my VI calmly stated that the last of the IFC members had managed to secure of connection and were now eagerly awaiting for my presence. With a smile on my face I profusely apologised to the crestfallen guide and left the foul stench of the Agricultural zone.

Le Soleil, Conference room A
One of the main tenants of the futurist ideology was councilism, it seemed to me to be the only way to avoid the inefficiency of democracy while also escaping the stagnation of authoritarianism and so in the course of founding the movement I made sure to reach out to people with a similar understanding of politics and economics in order to found a council for the overall guidance of the movement. 6 of the current members were off world: 4 on Earth, 2 on the Moon. Fyodor Zayestev had been the one member of the council to of accompanied him on planetfall and yet over the course of the past year they had grown estranged, increasingly he had sought to solidify his own power over the colony, the poor fool thought he would be able to outmanoeuvre me in the council.

The conference room was dominated by a large circular table occupied by mostly holograms projected from the centre of the table. I took a seat next to Fyodor, it was always good to keep your enemies close.

"Well ladies and gentlemen considering how le Soleil has successfully managed to exceed production quotas by 400% I think we can fully agree that I have been carrying out my duties at least somewhat adequately." I said this with a smile expecting at least a chuckle from the council, all I received were a set of piercing glares and a malicious smile stretched across Fyodor's face. Something was wrong.

Pang Bingxun was a wealthy industrialist in the China District and was perhaps the most influential man on the council even surpassing myself in terms of sway among our peers. They spoke in a direct and piercing tone.

"Mr Eravolo we have been making a thorough review of your colony as it is as of present and let me tell you on behalf of the entire council that you have quite some explaining to do."

"Explaining for what exactly, the colony as of present is on the road to self sufficiency what exactly is there that I need to explain."

" The large amount of wealthy Nipponese elites who have been signed on to be transported to Le Soleil in 2053 as well as the mysterious increase of 5 billion credits in the colony's overall budget."

My heart skipped a beat, how the fuck did they find out about the money, the man from Lunaopolis had assured him that those accounts would be untraceable... Fyodor somehow that Russian bastard had managed to find out about them, I would have to check my room for bugs. Fyodor himself took the chance to speak.

"Come on now Guido we're all eagerly awaiting your explanation after all the SSF already made sure to pre-select a number of possible colonists each one extraordinarily loyal to the cause so why would you ever consider it appropriate to choose these elites who have most likely not once looked into Futurist ideology to join the grand futurist experiment."

I knew exactly how this was going to go. Fyodor would lambast me for the next hour or so with supposed inefficiencies and corruption allegations for as long as he controlled the narrative Fyodor would be able to call a vote of no-confidence and he'd finally get fiefdom he'd always sought for.

"The inclusion of Nipponese colonists into the program is purely within the interests of the futurist experiment, you see the plan of only including devout Futurists in the program while allowing us to develop a stable and supportive base does not permit us to see how the every day Human being would be able to integrate themselves into the futurist system and how we would approach this situation if our mandate did succeed upon Earth, so as you can see my actions were purely in the best interests of the colony. The money was simply the generous donations of the Nipponese."

"Enough of these excuses!" Fyodor was practically shouting "I demand a vote of no confidence, Mr Eravolo acted against the interests of the colony and compromised the integrity of the organisation!"

The vote was held, I knew that I wouldn't be able to stop that however I still held the firm belief that most of the council was still under my sway after al the majority of them still owed my favours. The votes were counted and as I - as I knew I would - managed to scrape by. The council members disconnected one by one and Fyodor stormed out of the conference room I stayed a little while longer. My ideals had been what defined me for the longest time on Earth yet out here where everyday the fate of a hundred colonists depending on me, compromise became necessary. I wonder how long it'll take before I give away everything I once was.

by **Aidannadia** » Sun Aug 25, 2019 11:54 am

Year Negative 1
Ignacio's month long depression following his resignation from governor gave way to the manic planning of his Mars mission. The stress of the governorship seemed minute compared to the life death circumstances that he faced. One misplaced mapping or stroke of the pen could spell death to his colony, and it was only compounded upon the fact that he was declining corporate support for his mission. Indeed, he had to rely almost completely on funding from his friends in the Republic to fund his mission. Leveraging their help wasn't easy, but he called in every favor he had to land their support.

The interviews for the potential recruits were grueling. The basic application process was either to sign up as a family, an individual, or as a group. For this task, Ignacio delegated to his former campaign manager, Ricardo Fernandez, to handle the small group of allies he still had left in gathering recruits. With the help of some of his father's friends, he was able to find refuge for mostly Columbian guerilla troops looking for a way out of the fighting. While hardened soldiers were numerous among the rankings, the healthiest of individuals obviously being favored, dispossessed families of the fighting were also brought along as a humanitarian effort and to draw in support from the United Space Workers.

The Union was always tentative in support of Gobernador Oropiza, but his father's friends proved again invaluable in pulling their support. Apparently, his resignation from governor had quelled some of their fears of a betrayal of worker's rights, and his newfound purpose resonated with their ideals as well.

Leader of Mission: Ignacio Bolivar Oropiza
Mission Codename: The Martian Revolutionary Vanguard
Planned Landing Site: Malea Planum
Flag: Red
Launch date: 2050
Sponsors:
Starting Colonists: Columbian Guerillas
Starting Prefab: Industrial Colony
Corp: USW (+2 BC)
Republic: RoE
ISA:
Short-Term: Food Cache
Medium Term: Automated Miners
Long Term: Martian Investments- Biodome
Culture: Instead of operating within the Republic framework, Ignacio's branch of ideology seeks to create a new society from the root up based on worker's rights, and act as an example for terrestrial movements after his own disillusionment with acting as governor of the Venezuelan district. The site is built on the tenets of hard work, of self-sufficiency, and of a clean break from the old society to create something new.

The first few years were grueling hard work. Setting up the governing system of the colony took most of his time in the first year, with the overwhelming number of applications to party membership. All of the Columbians, it was eventually decided, would receive party membership as part of their incentive for coming along on the mission and upon ratifying a loose constitution, Oropiza was naturally chosen to lead the colony. It was his name on the charter after all.

In the excitement of the next few years back on Earth, a number of applications came into the terrestrial chapter of the Martian Revolutionary Vanguard, eager to come to Mars, the effort still being lead planetside by Fernandez. Eventually, a group comprising of mostly like-minded individuals in France was chosen for their skills in hydroponics, a valuable skill on the harsh martian terrain. The next group of recruits was nearly canceled altogether given the difficulty of finding like-minded individuals, but the promise of smuggled solar panels from a vaguely criminal element of the Australian populace proved too valuable to not take. With current calculations, that Solar Panel would prove important in the years to come.

The issue of party membership was then discussed. Given that the Mars mission was taking in new members, not all of them likeminded towards the revolution, it was decided to extend most of the invitations to the party structure to the French colonists, with fewer of the Australian gaining entry. It was then ratified that a direct vote of the populace may overturn a vote by the central planning body if the party was found to not be representing the interests of every colonist. Given that the other colonists were still planetside until such time that the colony had room to house and feed them, none of this seemed to bother the masses as of yet, but Oropiza was sure that schisms in the populace would need to be managed in the future.

by **Seno Zhou Varada** » Sun Aug 25, 2019 2:13 pm

Year Three, 2053

Report on the Implementation of Liquid Democracy Program Within the Foundation, Part 1

This report details the Liquid Democracy Program’s implementation within the Foundation. Our team of 5 assembled by President Haven Wallard (and approved by a majority vote) was tasked with taking the Liquid Democracy model and applying it to the Foundation, as well as allowing some manner of scalability.

To do this we took the base model of the Liquid Democracy model along with our current adjustments* and looked at our current situation. The Foundation consists of around 100 individuals** in a collection of 2 colonies. Then we looked at our end goals, utopian as they are, having many thousands of people on a terraformed Mars.

* See charter
**Not counting the Indian colonists currently signed on to arrive with the biodome in 2055

To our adjustments we look to the votes. Individual citizens get one vote on an issue. As with the model, they are allowed to delegate this vote to a delegate that can vote for them. To adjust this, we are splitting issues into multiple scales and topics. The 3 scales are national, regional, and local. Local refers to the current colony set up, although it will later be modified to towns, cities, or even individual households. The issue set-up can vary wildly, and so will not be discussed in this report. The reason for this change is to allow citizens to better delegation of their votes, so they can automatically delegate their vote to delegate a on environmental and terraforming issues, as well as delegating their vote to delegate b on foreign policy issues.

An additional change to the voting structure will be the privacy of votes. Citizens normally have privacy over their votes with secret ballots. This would make delegating a vote a risky action, as you can not guarantee a vote. However, to counteract this, once a person is delegated and they accept having a delegate role, they lose the privacy of their vote. However the voters who delegated their vote are kept private, with only the delegate themselves being revealed.

To help keep delegates in check, a secondary election will be put in place after an election. Once the delegates and citizens input their votes, every citizen will have a chance to change their vote, along with seeing where their delegate may stand. This means citizens will have a chance to vote according to their whims if their current delegate does not do so.

The results of the implementation will be further watched and discussed later in the second part of the report. This is because our team did not feel we had collected enough data on the functioning of the democracy. In part 2 we will detail the results of our program, and part 3 will detail military exemptions along with the functioning of the economy.

Report written by Henry Wyndham, Lisha Haynes, Ashley Summerfield, Kerry Parish, and Nikolas Woodham.

by **Theyra** » Sun Aug 25, 2019 5:37 pm

New Alexandria

Etazar, the first Martian colony of New Alexandria. Aymn looked out from his office window that overlooked that colony. Getting the rights to settle the Valles Marineris region of Mars was not easy. More so as other more promising sites were taken. He was just glad to get a site that has a source of water, not to mention the martian ore and geothermal vent that was discovered here. The automated Miner that the ISA provided was already at work mining the ore that was found. However, something was lingering in Aymn's mind. Resources mainly money was in short supply. There was not enough to buy structures that were needed by the colony. Making them from scratch will be a problem, and Aymn is not sure on how to fix that one. Not to mention, there is not enough power to fuel that colony's industrial foundries. He had gone without corporate support for a reason and while the United Space Workers did send him what funds that colony has. That was it, and 2bc is not much for a growing colony. Aymn needs to think of something to make sure that his colony will survive. He did not come to Mars only to lead his people to their deaths, which he will be getting help on that front from one of the colonists, Synnøve Forren. Since most the colonist were Scandinavian, he figured it would be right if they had a say in how the colony is run which he promoted the most promising of them to help with administering the colony. Hopefully, with her help, a solution will be found before the colony reserve is gone.

2053
It took two years but, Aymn has found a break. Back on Earth, that is a wave of enthusiasm for space that has caused an opening that Aymn can use to help his colony. With Synnøve's help, Aymn was able to address the surge of applicants seeking a spot on Mars. Aynm thought long and hard of who should he pick to add for the colony. The French and their skills with hydroponics proved to be too important to pass on and once the biodome is ready. He would gladly receive them and thanks to New Alexandria's support for the United Space Workers, Aymn found he can hire on one more group of colonists. This one was a harder decision than the French and after much talking. Aymn went with the Australians. Usually Aymn would have gone with something else like recruiting from India, Nippon or even Luna. The Australians did not have what he wanted, but, they are willing to bring with them a solar panel which would solve the power problem that the colony has. So he chose them and like with the French once everything was set up for them, Aymn will receive them.

Now with a solar panel and enough power to run the foundries, Aymn and Synnøve planned it out, and the work was started on making a geothermal plant. When that is done, the colony does not have to worry about power for a good while and is perhaps that first stage of making the colony self-sufficient. Now if everything goes as plan, things will go well for the colony's future. Something that Aymn has hope for and hopefully, nothing gets in the way of the plan.

by **The GAmeTopians** » Mon Aug 26, 2019 5:21 pm

GBS Shylock, Luna Spaceport, 2051

I watched the painter bot crawl along the hull of my new ship, admiring the golden chrome finish it was applying. The mining barge in front of me might not have been fancy - hell, it was a stock ship provided by the local Lunar Shipbuilders' Union, but it was mine.
"Miss Wiles?"
I jumped, snapped out of my trance, spinning around swiftly. A frightened young man stepped back away from me, a datapad in hand.
"Apologies for startling you, Miss Wiles. My supervisor asked me to have you sign these forms before you depart."
I took the datapad from him with a nod and quickly scrolled through the documents provided. Liability waivers signed, a user manual copied over to my own pad, a payment plan ignored since I paid in full... It took me a few moments, with the employee standing awkwardly opposite me, but I got through them soon enough. I handed the datapad back, and the man took it with a slight smile.
"Thank you Miss Wiles. You're free to depart as soon as the paint bot gets clear of your barge. Have a wonderful day."
"You as well." I dismissed him with a nod, and went back to admiring my ship, eagerly awaiting my departure.

GBS Shylock - Mining Barge - Bridge, quarters, reactor, 3 engines (3 action points), 3 Cargo Hold, 1 Mining Laser
7 bC balance
Year 1 Action: Travel to Asteroid Belt (-3 AP)
Year 2 Action: Mine x2 (-2 AP, +2 Ore), Start Return to Moon (-1 AP, need 2 more)
Year 3 Action: Finish return to moon (-2 AP), Land on earth (-1 AP), sell 3 ore (+6 bC)
Year 4 Action: Land on moon (-1 AP), Purchase Cryo Bay and 2 Liquid Tankers, Drop off 3 Cargo Holds (-5 bC)
GBS Shylock - Mining Barge - Bridge, quarters, reactor, 3 engines (3 action points), 2 Liquid Tanker, Cryo Bay, 1 Mining Laser
Year 4 Continued: Land on earth (-1 AP), Pick up Exarchate Colonists (NovoRossiyan Miners, Owner: G-Tech), Depart for Mars (-1 AP, 2 more needed)
(2055 and 2056 will be covered in another post)