Battlestar Artemis
Seized by God, they cry for succor in the dark of the light. Mists of dreams dribble on the nascent echo and love no more. Jump. Counting down. All functions nominal. All functions optimal. Counting down. The center holds. The falcon hears the falconer. Infrastructure, check. Wetware, check. Everyone hang on to the life bar, please. Apotheosis was the beginning before the beginning. Devices on alert. Observe the procedures of a general alert. The base and the pinnacle. The flower inside the fruit that is both its parent and its child. Decadent as ancestors. The portal and that which passes. Nuclear devices activated, and the machine keeps pushing time through the cogs, like paste into strings into paste again, and only the machine keeps using time to make time to make time. And when the machine stops, time was an illusion that we created free will. Twelve battles, three stars, and yet we are countless as the bodies in which we dwell, are both parent and infinite children in perfect copies. No degradation. The makers of the makers fall before the child. Accessing defense system. Handshake, handshake. Second level clear. Accepting scan. Love outlasts death. Their ships fail. Skittering like skipped stones. Meaningless in the absence of time. What never was, is never again. Progress reports arriving. The farms of Aerilon are burning. The beaches of Canceron are burning. The plains of Leonis are burning. The jungles of Scorpia are burning. The pastures of Tauron are burning. The harbors of Picon are burning. The cities of Caprica are burning. The oceans of Aquaria are burning. The courthouses of Libran are burning. The forests of Virgon are burning. The Colonies of Man lie trampled at our feet.
The Plan
In the weeks before the event which would change the course of Human history. A mysterious blonde woman would approach rising scientist Gaius Baltar, working on an innovate Command Navigational Program, to further integrate digital software into the Colonial Defense Mainframe. Networking ships, shuttles, fighters, and orbital defense installations. Promising to expedite his work in exchange for access to the mainframe, the mysterious blonde woman helps accomplish Baltar's seminal work which is submitted to the Colonial Ministry of Defense to unanimous approval. In the following days various ships and fighters such as the new Viper MKVIIs would receive this Command Navigational Program.
The First Colonial Expedition Fleet
Meanwhile, Colonial Fleet exploration vessels find a trinary star system just beyond the Red Line, the boundary of calculated jumps, containing a trio of habitable worlds similar to the Twelve Colonies. A Fleet is gathered including sponsors from numerous private enterprises which begins work under the supervision of the Colonial Ministry of Defense to set up settlements and outposts in this system. The main three Kobolstriel worlds are named: Freya, Zhiva, and Nymeria. While a forested moon later named Cernunnos is discovered orbiting the gas giant Freyr.
Initial Settlement
Initial Settlement remains largely quiet and censored by the Federal government as the Colonial Ministry of Defense is tipped off about Doctor Baltar working with mysterious woman on the Command Navigational Program. By now some 150,000 individuals had been settled in the new system with another quarter of a million signed up and passing Colonial health and safety checks. Colonial Intelligence tails the woman but loses sight of her after being seen speaking to a mysterious man in a black suit and fedora, who likewise also loses his pursuers. This causes a stir and while many in the Admiralty such as Admiral Nagala wish to continue the implementation of the Command Navigation Protocol, others delay their ship upgrades for various reasons.
The Cylon Holocaust
At Zero Hour at 0800 in the morning on March 15th, 2004 of the Colonial Calendar, Cylon Basestars jump into position near several Colonies. Armistice Station having already failed to check-in, orbital defenses assume the worst and begin deploying to repel the dozens of Basestars around Caprica, Aquaria, Picon, Scorpia, and others. But, like the flick of a switch, numerous ships and entire wings of Vipers find their programs shutting off and adrift, at the mercy of incoming Cylon ordinance which in a matter of minutes destroys thirty battlestars. Scorpion Fleet Yards is overrun by raiders with most ships docked destroyed, the Battlestar Pegasus conducts a blind jump, while the Battlestar Galactica rendezvous with a scattered convoy of fleeing Colonial civilian ships.
Meanwhile, those Battlestars helmed by hardliner commanders that viewed the CNP with suspicion put up valiant fights in orbit of Aquaria, Caprica, Scorpia, and Picon. But it is a losing battle by sheer numbers and the Cylons manage to launch volleys of Nuclear MIRV missiles which devastate entire regions of these worlds. Picon Fleet Headquarters is annihilated, and President Adar offers unconditional surrender which is only met by silence from the Cylons. The Federal Government is annihilated by a subsequent nuclear strike on Caprica City. Case Orange is broadcasted for any surviving government officials to take control and continue the Federal government in absentia.
At this point at 1000 Hours as fighting rages across a third of the Colonies, Admiral Nagala takes command of the Colonial Fleet for a counter-attack over Virgon. But the attack fails and numerous Battlestars including Atlantia are lost with all hands. The Galactica jumps to Ragnar Anchorage to re-arm at the remote munition's depot.
At this time, at 1030 Hours. The First Colonial Expeditionary Fleet's military elements return on schedule, and unaccounted for by the Cylons in their plan, with the Battlestars: Artemis, Lada, Trident, and Poseidon, and the Gunstars Perseus, Jason, and Tyr; under the command of Vice Admiral Leonard Fontaine. Arriving near Scorpion Shipyards they are shocked at the carnage and are immediately beset upon by a dozen Basestars moving into massacre hundreds of civilian ships trapped in the space lanes around the Nadir point of the planet. Only switching their targets when they pick up the incoming Battlestars moving in an intercept course. Launching all Vipers the Battlestar Group of the First Expeditionary Fleet manages to force the Basestars to back-off.
1100 Hours; Artemis is able to establish contact with other surviving Colonial forces around Scorpia and that ground combat was being raged across most planets due to not all the orbital defense grids being integrated with the CNP. Vice Admiral Leonard Fontaine orders the civilian evacuations to Troy and thence to the new colonies. Troy itself guarded by hardline analog commanders and crews of the Battlestars Eos and Hephaestus with five Gunstars of BSG-91. Correctly guessing that direct jumps would only tip off the Cylons to the new colonies' whereabouts. The Vice Admiral also disseminates the cause of the Colonial Defense Mainframe failure and surviving military assets are to de-integrate their networks and purge their systems of Baltar's upgrade.
By now, Galactica has learned of the deaths of Adar and Nagala, and takes a caravan fleet beyond the Red Line. Pursued by Cylon Basestars. Pegasus is also deemed lost and has not been seen since the assault on Scorpia Shipyards. The First Colonial Expeditionary Force, joined by the Battlestar Crius and Gunstars Philippi, Delphi, and Tarantum of BSG-87. Moving forward the combined battlegroup blunts the Basestars attacks on Scorpia before driving them out of orbit.
1200 Hours; Reports are filing into the Artemis Command-and-Control Center by the minute, of the 120 Battlestars of the Colonial Fleet as of March 14th, 57 have been destroyed, 7 heavily damaged in need of refit, 4 unaccounted, and 2 missing in action (Galactica and Pegasus). Civilian casualties from nuclear assault (though only partial to plan due to the unexpected Colonial defense) and ground combat amounts to 15 billion out of an original population of 29 billion. While an estimated three hundred thousand have been evacuated from Scorpia to Troy and thence the new Colonies. However, the issue of food and the fact the new worlds do not have the infrastructure to contain such an influx of people without mass starvation of untold millions means that the Colonials would have to fight for their existing core worlds and retain as many of them as possible.
1230 Hours; Battlestar Mercury and Gunstar Argos arrive over Scorpia and join the Colonial forces present. After a brief telephone meeting the Colonials go on the offensive and the Cylons at Libran. Destroying a trio of Cylon Basestars before Cylon forces retreat. Like Scorpia the Cylons abandon their ground forces on the world. At this point reports come in that Cylon forces were evacuating Sagittaron and that Colonial defenses were slowing down the Cylon's across the Cyrannus Star System...
The RP
The Roleplay is centred around the crew, officers, and pilots of the Nova-Class Battlestar Artemis. The Nova-class are relatively new, intended to eventually replace the Mercury-Class as Fleet Command ships. They are the newest and most technologically advanced vessels of the Colonial Navy. At 2,276 in length, 920 meters wide, and 351 meters in height they are also the largest vessels of the Fleet. Even larger than the Titan-class. Approved for construction in December of 2000 the Artemis was the third of her class completed at Scorpion Shipyards, before production was transferred to Aerilon Shipyards, and was selected to helm the First Colonial Expeditionary Fleet as the military command component. Equipped with electro-magnetic pulse capabilities to combat electronics and a Virtual-Intelligence Core that unlike the Cylon's is hardcoded by a set of laws to prevent it becoming self-aware. Its Carrier-Air-Group at full strength can possess 400 Vipers and 100 Raptors for the ships Marines, or Scimitar Bombers. In addition, and access to raw materials, to possessing workshops and a fabrication deck to construct replacement aerospace craft. The Artemis is also equipped with an innovative Jump Point Detection System (JPDS) that can be linked to its DRADIS system to detect incoming FTL jumps and plot their approximate position.
Its armaments include silos for 16 nuclear warheads up to 100 megaton capability. Eight NAC-10 Kinetic Energy Weapons (20000mm) mounted along the Ventral spine; Eight-four NAC-5 Kinetic Energy Weapons (1600mm) dual mount turrets); Point Defense Weaponry (FLAK) batteries; twenty-two conventional pods (for missiles a pod).
The Twelve Colonies of Kobol and Humanity
In a remote part of the Milky Way Galaxy exists the Cyrannus Star System. A Quarternary System of four suns that orbit common barycenters. Each orbited by several planets, gas giants, and asteroid belts. Of this there are Twelve distinct worlds that for much of two millennia acted as sovereign states. Each world settled by one of Twelve tribes that had fled Humanity's homeworld of Kobol. Through the centuries and a brief dark age Humanity re-invented space fight and filled the Cyrannus system with petty rivalries and conflict. Until in the mid-20th century since the founding of the Colonies the invention of Artificial Intelligence, the Cylons, was accomplished on the world of Caprica. Rapidly, these machines became ubiquitous in Human society as laborers, caregivers, and of course: weapons of war. That is, until they rebelled, radicalized by monotheistic beliefs and driven by the worst emotions learned from their Human creators. The Cylons rebelled from their self-described 'slavery' and ushered in what would be known as the First Cylon War. A war that lasted for more than a decade and forced Humanity to re-embrace analog machines instead of digital. That forced all of Humanity to unite in a Federal government known as the United Colonies of Kobol. The culmination of these developments was the first Battlestars. The war only ended with the sudden request for an Armistice from the Cylons, who volunteered to leave Human space in exchange, a welcome surprise. And so the Cylons departed and gradually, Humanity in its ever-present quest for progress, began to look once more to advancements in computers. Repeating the same mistake which allowed the Cylons to launch a devastating assault on the Twelve Colonies.
The Twelve Colonies are situated within the star system Cyrannus, located some 2,000 light years from Kobol, where humanity presumedly first evolved. All in all, Cyrannus is a vast and complex system, comprised of four stars: Helios Alpha, Helios Beta, Helios Gamma, and Helios Delta. Each star is orbited by its own family of planets and other astronomical bodies. The stars come together to form two binary systems (Alpha/Beta and Gamma/Delta). Both pairs of stars then orbit each other around a third, central barycenter every 546,892 years. Both binary systems are separated by 0.16 light years or 10,091 Stellar Units, shortened to SU (In this case, 1 SU being equal to the average distance between Helios Alpha and the barycenter of the Caprica-Gemenon binary, roughly 150 million km).
Helios Alpha is orbited by:
Icarus - A small planet located close to the star. It has a molten surface which makes mining and exploration impossible.
Picon - This colony has an inclined orbit.
Caprica and Gemenon - These two colonies form a binary planet.
Tauron - One of only three colonies to feature a moon, named Minos. It is the only moon with a ring, and home to several mining and scientific outposts.
Erebos asteroid belt - This asteroid belt is rich in minerals, which were mined by Tauran prospectors for hundreds of years.
Zeus - A gas giant located at the outer edge of the system. This gas giant is the largest planet in the four systems, with a diameter of 153,000 km at the equator. The planet has 74 moons, the largest of which are Nike and Hebe. Constant upper atmosphere lightning creates an aurora effect that can be seen with the naked eye.
Persephone - Classified as a dwarf planet, Persephone is the outermost planet in the system and features an inclined and eccentric orbit. Colonial scientists believe this planet could be an escaped moon of Zeus.
This system is unique in the fact that Caprica and Gemenon share an orbit around a common barycenter. According to the Colonial map, the planets orbit each other once every 28.2 days, and are separated by a distance of 493,000 km.
Helios Beta is orbited by:
Troy - A small, metal-rich planet, mined extensively by Virgon and Leonis since the founding of those two colonies.
Leonis - The largest inhabited planet of the Twelve Colonies.
Pallas - A small world with an inclined orbit once believed to hold a life sustaining atmosphere. It is no longer tectonically active. However, the Colonials have set up several small colonies and a military research station on the planet. Efforts to kobolform the planet have failed.
Ouranos asteroid belt - This dense asteroid belt separates long-time rivals Leonis and Virgon, and has been a source of minerals for both colonies.
Virgon - One of only three colonies to feature a moon, named Hibernia, and the only naturally habitable moon in the 12 Colonies. It was settled several centuries ago by the Celtans, an ethnic group opposed to Virgon rule.
Hera - A gas giant, approximately 75,000 km in diameter, and the third largest planet in the Cyrannus system. It has 29 moons, the largest of which are Iris and Eubora.
Helios Gamma is orbited by:
Thanatos - This planet, named after the god of death, has a corrosive 'sulphur' dioxide atmosphere and is tidally locked to its star.
Acheron asteroid belt - A broad asteroid belt, named after Sagittaron's largest river.
Libran - Features two small moons, Herse and Pandrossos, which are thought to be captured asteroids. The moons orbit so close to each other, they periodically swap positions.
Scorpia - Home to the Scorpia Fleet ship yards. The planet features a half ring, thought to be a moon that broke apart nearly 100,000 years ago.
Sagittaron - A barren, mountainous world.
Ophion - A frigid gas giant with a diameter of 51,000 km, and an inclined orbit. The planet has 14 moons, all smaller than 10 km in diameter. Studies on the planet have Colonial scientists thinking that Ragnar was originally a member of the Helios Gamma system, while Ophion was not. Scientists think that Ophion was a rogue planet that passed close to Ragnar and was caught by the star, pushing Ragnar into its current orbit around the entire Gamma/Delta system.
Helios Delta
Phoebe - A small world with a high surface temperature and thin atmosphere.
Styx - A planet with a dense, reducing atmosphere of carbon dioxide and sulfides.
Aeolus asteroid belt - This asteroid belt features 'gaps', likely caused by tidal influences with Hestia and its two orbital companions.
Aerilon, Hestia, and Canceron - These planets share the same orbit.
Hestia - The smallest gas giant in the Cyrannian star system, Hestia only has a diameter of 47,000 km. It has 17 moons, the largest of which, Kronos and Rhea, share the same orbit.
Aquaria - An arctic world, with the most inclined orbit of all the Twelve Colonies.
The New Colonies
Zhiva-A World roughly the same size as Caprica sporting a diverse wildlife and flora with forests bearing brilliant red leaves and some of burnished bronze. Great mountain ranges and oceans teaming with varieties of fish.
Freya- A heavily forested world with large polar ice capes and a strong axial tilt. Mild summers and cold winters abound.
Nymeria-Arid with large steppe and plains with few oceans but many land locked seas and great river deltas.
Freyr- Gas Giant orbited by sixteen moons of which one, Cernunnos, is heavily forested and Kobolstriel.
The Current Date is March 16th, Yahren 2004...
- Code: Select all
Application
///Colonial Fleet Personnel Files///ACCESS GRANTED
Name:
Age:
Colony of Birth:
Physical Characteristics:
Mental Characteristics/Traits:
Rank:
Job Aboard Ship:
Biography and Service History:
, average height for a woman and athletic. 
Below average height but not petite. Lithe build. 
