Dragging this topic out of mothballs...
Below is an in-progress rewrite/update for the VVS wiki entry, updated for 2022 so may contain spoilers for some things. Also lots of holes where things need to be filled and/or fixed. Comment @ will.
The Sozvezdie Soviet (also known as the Soviet Air Force-In-Exile or VVS) is a minor Fen faction and Federation member founded by the crew of the ex-Soviet Union space shuttle orbiter USSR Ptichka. The faction is based on Luna, with facilities on both near and far sides. Its largest city is the town of Korolevgrad, situated around Korolev Air Force Base on the west rim of Daniell Crater. The Soviets are best known in Fenspace as deep-space explorers and socialist agitators. Soviet expeditions were the first to enter the Tau Ceti, Epsilon Indi, Delta Pavonis and Zeta 1 Reticuli systems. Politically, the Soviets were implicated in the 2014 Project Artemis scandal in the United States. The faction was the first independent group to join a larger faction in 2022 when the Sozvezdie agreed to join the United Federation of Planets as a sovereign nation-state.
History
Origins
The faction began {blrgh}
Initial successes
In 2011 Ptichka’s crew successfully smuggled three surplus barrels of handwavium to NASA officials at Kennedy Space Center. The handwavium was left over from the Ptichka refit, and was used for the Project Artemis refit of the shuttles Discovery, Atlantis and Endeavour.
The Boskone War
Post-War
Following the end of the Boskone War, the Soviet Air Force began demilitarizing their forces as part of the Alphacon agreement. The major combat ships were mothballed at Gagarin Crater, while their AI cores were transferred to other spacecraft within the VVS. The famous Azu Squadron, coming off their heroic role at the fall of Boskone Prime, were left officially on-duty as part of the Great Justice anti-pirate coast guard patrols. The MARS marine units were also left on-duty with Great Justice and as backup forces for the newly-founded Space Patrol.
Immediately following the war, Generalissimo Fnord was involved in the Project Artemis scandal then unfolding in the United States. Congressional investigation discovered the link between NASA’s handwavium project and the VVS, and demanded an explanation. Fnord traveled to Washington and in a bravura performance before Congress, accepted responsibility for the smuggling, denied any further involvement, insulted several of the committee members personally and had the entire VVS placed under persona non grata orders.
Discovery of Tannhauser Gate by the 2013 Delta Pavonis expedition fueled a new surge in interstellar exploration. Membership in the Soviet Air Force expanded tenfold over the 2014-15 period, to the point where the original paramilitary structure of the VVS was unable to handle the strain. In 2016 the VVS officially retired the name and rebranded themselves as the Sozvezdie Soviet, along with a major restructuring of their civilian organization.
In 2022 the Sozvezdie Soviet officially joined the United Federation of Planets as a member-state, the first minor faction to be absorbed by a major faction.
Government/Law
The Basic Law of the Sozvezdie Soviet establishes a legislative branch composed of the entire adult population(ref)In practice, this means any sapient being with a functional age of 18 human years or older.(/ref), an elected executive branch to administer the government and an elected judiciary to arbitrate interpretation of the law. The Basic Law also includes a comprehensive declaration of metahuman rights and a few ground rules for governance.
The legislature (the eponymous ‘Soviets’) operate on a tightly monitored public forum and a voting system designed and operated by the Ministry of Communications. Every citizen past the age of majority may cast votes when the soviets are in session. Soviet sessions are held weekly except during emergencies, though debate and discussion of issues goes on constantly. The average Soviet will vote on an issue at least twice a week, though these issues will tend to be local events and not large-scale legislature.
Day-to-day governance of the Sozvezdie falls to the Central Committee, an elected council which performs the basic executive functions and operates the dozen or so extant Ministries which keep the Sozvezdie functioning. The Committee also acts as a ratifying body for decisions of the soviets; these decisions may be overridden by a 2/3 majority of the entire Sozvezdie. The nominal head of government is the First Secretary, a member of the Committee elected by his or her fellows. When necessary, official head-of-state figurehead functions may be handled by the office of the Generalissimo, which is a lifetime post.
Under the Basic Law, elections are held every five years, starting from the reincorporation date of the VVS into the Sozvezdie in 2016(ref)Elections of a more informal nature occurred in the VVS ranks, usually for purposes of promotion, during the 2008-2016 period.(/ref), though the First Minister may dissolve the government and request new elections at any time. All memberships in the Central Committee are up for election, which may cause significant turnover in government. Since joining the Federation, the soviet also votes on and approves the person or persons sent to represent the Sozvezdie at the Federation Council.
sidebar: The Sozvezdie government, 2022
Ministry Party Minister
First Minister Social Democrat Joseph Lacroix
Representative to the Federation Infosocialist Malaclypse Fnord
State Internationale
War Social Democrat KJ DuPree
Communications Social Democrat Josh Brenner
Labor and Finance Infosocialist
Justice and Equality Social Democrat Joseph Lacroix
Science Transhuman Deidre Greist
Education Internationale Minerva Weatheral
Trade Social Democrat
Infrastructure Pirate
Culture Infosocialist
The Soviet Basic Law follows the Articles of Convention closely, with only a few variations based on local economic policy. Depending on the severity of the crime, trial and punishment may be handled within a soviet, be handed over to another soviet for impartiality purposes or the offender may be extradited to another jurisdiction if the offense happened there.
Economics
{foo; basic socialist distribution network. Most property & all petty cash is held in trust as a common pool which can be drawn as needed by pretty much everybody. Income comes from intellectual property leases to outside factions (see OV-200 designs to Hephaestus) box office takes from Sandwich Films/MoC documentaries, expedition contracts, etc.}
Organization
Korolevgrad / Korolev AFB
Korolev Air Force Base is the nerve center for Soviet activity on Luna and the home port for most Soviet spacecraft. The base was initially founded in 2010, using the proceeds from the VVS’ first successful contract with the French space agency CNES to build a first-class staging base. Clark Universal Construction was hired to do most of the heavy lifting, while the VVS provided architectural designs. The base is separated into two major parts. The first part is the complex under the Kandor City dome which houses the main meeting areas, bunkhouses, canteen, staff quarters and greenhouse. The second part is the hangar complex which sits outside the dome for obvious reasons and is connected to the interior by a series of long passageways. Korolev Hangar One is the main hangar, and it is one of the more impressive (if less well-known) sights of early Fen construction. Hangar One is a 500 meter diameter cylindrical borehole cut 500 meters into the lunar surface, with 12 large landing pads attached to the sides of the borehole. The pads are arranged in a spiral running from top to bottom, an arrangement which allows all pads clear access to the exit. Hangar One is capped by an opaque dome with entrance and egress doors. The entire facility is pressurized; atmosphere containment fields maintain the internal atmosphere.
The town of Korolevgrad is the largest civilian installation in the Sozvezdie. Part of the Kandor City greater metropolitan area, Korolevgrad sprung up around Korolev Air Force Base. The town’s population consists mainly of dependents of Soviet ship crews, non-crew members like film production staff and others. The town soviet is led by mayor Miranda Delgado.
sidebar: The Mad Chef
The Mad Chef (no other name known nor given) is a European expat of French or English origin who arrived in Korolevgrad in late 2015 and promptly set up a restaurant (also called The Mad Chef) in the middle of town. Apparently the Mad Chef is a master of multiple cuisines, and when taken by a fey mood will immediately junk entire menus in favor of totally different cuisines, sometimes in the middle of a service. On most days The Mad Chef serves modern European cuisine, but the menu can vary from English to Japanese to Sumatran to Ancient Egyptian with very little notice.
Sandwich Films (Soviet Film Collective Studio No. 1)
{blah the movie studio attached to the VVS/SS, puts out all sorts of stuff usually based on Soviet adventures, does camera work for dirtside studios (usually .au .nz and .eu with the .us lockout) and leases studio space for Fen studios.}
Gagaringrad / Gagarin Crater AFB
Gagaringrad is a small domed facility on the edge of the Soviet main industrial and military center, Gagarin Crater Air Force Base.
Fleet
Officially as a Federation member Soviet forces are intended to be subordinate to the Starfleet. However, because the Soviets are a majority ship-based faction with very few large fixed stations or coloniesAs of 2022. There are plans for at least one large colony station at Earth-Luna L2 and interstellar “SSR” bases at Gallifrey, Yggdrasil and Arda pending continued immigration and expansion. Soviet ships have a large degree of autonomy. The original 2013-16 VVS fleet structure continues to be used in-house, dividing the fleet into two subgroups, the Deep Space Exploration Forces (EXFOR) and the Extraterrestrial Combat Command (X-COM).
Deep Space Exploration Forces (EXFOR)
The largest portion of the Soviet fleet is bound up in the Exploration Forces.
{blah EXFOR does planetary data surveys, extraterrestrial missions, deploying and maintaining probe packages, all the grunt work necessary for the scientific conquest of space. Does stuff both for the love of it and to bring in outside currency - contract missions for dirtside space agencies that don’t have launch capability or the budget for decent spacecraft, or just don’t want to bow & scrape to ESA, JAXA or RKA}
Extraterrestial Combat Command (X-COM)
“What good’s Utopia if the bad guys steal it from you?” - Col. KJ DuPree, X-COM
{blah X-COM, military wing of the VVS/SS, they hurt people so you don’t have to. Best known for all the mayhem they pulled off in the Boskone war. Operate the MARS marine units and are not responsible for the care & feeding of Section 9 (wonk)}
Relations with other factions
Despite their joining with the United Federation of Planets, the Soviets maintain their own diplomatic relations with other factions, as well as independent commitments to the metanational structures of the Convention.
The Soviets retain their major shareholder status in the Nikaido Foundation and the Space Patrol, and X-COM’s main duties involve regular operation with Great Justice forces. Relations remain good with the Crystal Millennium, as new Senshi rotate through MARS units on a regular basis.
The “special relationship” between the Soviets and Stellvia Corporation has come under strain in recent years, due to the Soviet stance on infosocialism and freedom of information and repeated suggestions that the Stellvia-released copy of the Whole Fenspace Catalog was doctored. Though relations between the two factions haven’t broken down completely, there is a noticeable coolness that wasn’t there a decade before.
Soviet relations with mundane space agencies remains strong, though links to JPL were severed by the Artemis scandal. TSAB and the Sozvezdie remain in their blood feud.
Future plans
The Fleet (2022)
Flagship: USSR Ptichka
Shuttles: Columbia, Uragan, Buran, Iskra, Groza, Typhoon, Borei, Tsiklon
Gagarins: Yuri Gagarin, Laika, Arbitrary, Undocumented Feature, It Was Like That When I Got Here, Rolled A Twenty On The Random Encounter Table, Cultural Imperialism Is Better Than The Other Kind, Just Passing Through
ROUs/VFPs: Frank Exchange of Views (or Look! I’m A Ploughshare!), Laugh While You Can Monkey-Boy, Complaint Department, Sincere Exchange of Grievances
LOUs: Inappropriate Response, I Blame The Parents, i’ve got a big stick
Others: Xenu Express, A Series Of Unlikely Explanations, Grey Area, Just Another Victim Of The Ambient Morality, AZU-00, AZU-01, AZU-02
Fighters: 1 inactive Ga-15 (Hypervelocity Hurt Machine), 14 active Ga-15, 14 inactive F-EZig, 1 Ga-31 Firefox in prototype
..plus assorted flying cars, jetpacks and other such & sundry smallcraft
Notes
Mr. Fnord interdimensional man of mystery
FenWiki - Your One-Stop Shop for Fenspace Information
"I. Drink. Your. NERDRAGE!"
Below is an in-progress rewrite/update for the VVS wiki entry, updated for 2022 so may contain spoilers for some things. Also lots of holes where things need to be filled and/or fixed. Comment @ will.
The Sozvezdie Soviet (also known as the Soviet Air Force-In-Exile or VVS) is a minor Fen faction and Federation member founded by the crew of the ex-Soviet Union space shuttle orbiter USSR Ptichka. The faction is based on Luna, with facilities on both near and far sides. Its largest city is the town of Korolevgrad, situated around Korolev Air Force Base on the west rim of Daniell Crater. The Soviets are best known in Fenspace as deep-space explorers and socialist agitators. Soviet expeditions were the first to enter the Tau Ceti, Epsilon Indi, Delta Pavonis and Zeta 1 Reticuli systems. Politically, the Soviets were implicated in the 2014 Project Artemis scandal in the United States. The faction was the first independent group to join a larger faction in 2022 when the Sozvezdie agreed to join the United Federation of Planets as a sovereign nation-state.
History
Origins
The faction began {blrgh}
Initial successes
In 2011 Ptichka’s crew successfully smuggled three surplus barrels of handwavium to NASA officials at Kennedy Space Center. The handwavium was left over from the Ptichka refit, and was used for the Project Artemis refit of the shuttles Discovery, Atlantis and Endeavour.
The Boskone War
Post-War
Following the end of the Boskone War, the Soviet Air Force began demilitarizing their forces as part of the Alphacon agreement. The major combat ships were mothballed at Gagarin Crater, while their AI cores were transferred to other spacecraft within the VVS. The famous Azu Squadron, coming off their heroic role at the fall of Boskone Prime, were left officially on-duty as part of the Great Justice anti-pirate coast guard patrols. The MARS marine units were also left on-duty with Great Justice and as backup forces for the newly-founded Space Patrol.
Immediately following the war, Generalissimo Fnord was involved in the Project Artemis scandal then unfolding in the United States. Congressional investigation discovered the link between NASA’s handwavium project and the VVS, and demanded an explanation. Fnord traveled to Washington and in a bravura performance before Congress, accepted responsibility for the smuggling, denied any further involvement, insulted several of the committee members personally and had the entire VVS placed under persona non grata orders.
Discovery of Tannhauser Gate by the 2013 Delta Pavonis expedition fueled a new surge in interstellar exploration. Membership in the Soviet Air Force expanded tenfold over the 2014-15 period, to the point where the original paramilitary structure of the VVS was unable to handle the strain. In 2016 the VVS officially retired the name and rebranded themselves as the Sozvezdie Soviet, along with a major restructuring of their civilian organization.
In 2022 the Sozvezdie Soviet officially joined the United Federation of Planets as a member-state, the first minor faction to be absorbed by a major faction.
Government/Law
The Basic Law of the Sozvezdie Soviet establishes a legislative branch composed of the entire adult population(ref)In practice, this means any sapient being with a functional age of 18 human years or older.(/ref), an elected executive branch to administer the government and an elected judiciary to arbitrate interpretation of the law. The Basic Law also includes a comprehensive declaration of metahuman rights and a few ground rules for governance.
The legislature (the eponymous ‘Soviets’) operate on a tightly monitored public forum and a voting system designed and operated by the Ministry of Communications. Every citizen past the age of majority may cast votes when the soviets are in session. Soviet sessions are held weekly except during emergencies, though debate and discussion of issues goes on constantly. The average Soviet will vote on an issue at least twice a week, though these issues will tend to be local events and not large-scale legislature.
Day-to-day governance of the Sozvezdie falls to the Central Committee, an elected council which performs the basic executive functions and operates the dozen or so extant Ministries which keep the Sozvezdie functioning. The Committee also acts as a ratifying body for decisions of the soviets; these decisions may be overridden by a 2/3 majority of the entire Sozvezdie. The nominal head of government is the First Secretary, a member of the Committee elected by his or her fellows. When necessary, official head-of-state figurehead functions may be handled by the office of the Generalissimo, which is a lifetime post.
Under the Basic Law, elections are held every five years, starting from the reincorporation date of the VVS into the Sozvezdie in 2016(ref)Elections of a more informal nature occurred in the VVS ranks, usually for purposes of promotion, during the 2008-2016 period.(/ref), though the First Minister may dissolve the government and request new elections at any time. All memberships in the Central Committee are up for election, which may cause significant turnover in government. Since joining the Federation, the soviet also votes on and approves the person or persons sent to represent the Sozvezdie at the Federation Council.
sidebar: The Sozvezdie government, 2022
Ministry Party Minister
First Minister Social Democrat Joseph Lacroix
Representative to the Federation Infosocialist Malaclypse Fnord
State Internationale
War Social Democrat KJ DuPree
Communications Social Democrat Josh Brenner
Labor and Finance Infosocialist
Justice and Equality Social Democrat Joseph Lacroix
Science Transhuman Deidre Greist
Education Internationale Minerva Weatheral
Trade Social Democrat
Infrastructure Pirate
Culture Infosocialist
The Soviet Basic Law follows the Articles of Convention closely, with only a few variations based on local economic policy. Depending on the severity of the crime, trial and punishment may be handled within a soviet, be handed over to another soviet for impartiality purposes or the offender may be extradited to another jurisdiction if the offense happened there.
Economics
{foo; basic socialist distribution network. Most property & all petty cash is held in trust as a common pool which can be drawn as needed by pretty much everybody. Income comes from intellectual property leases to outside factions (see OV-200 designs to Hephaestus) box office takes from Sandwich Films/MoC documentaries, expedition contracts, etc.}
Organization
Korolevgrad / Korolev AFB
Korolev Air Force Base is the nerve center for Soviet activity on Luna and the home port for most Soviet spacecraft. The base was initially founded in 2010, using the proceeds from the VVS’ first successful contract with the French space agency CNES to build a first-class staging base. Clark Universal Construction was hired to do most of the heavy lifting, while the VVS provided architectural designs. The base is separated into two major parts. The first part is the complex under the Kandor City dome which houses the main meeting areas, bunkhouses, canteen, staff quarters and greenhouse. The second part is the hangar complex which sits outside the dome for obvious reasons and is connected to the interior by a series of long passageways. Korolev Hangar One is the main hangar, and it is one of the more impressive (if less well-known) sights of early Fen construction. Hangar One is a 500 meter diameter cylindrical borehole cut 500 meters into the lunar surface, with 12 large landing pads attached to the sides of the borehole. The pads are arranged in a spiral running from top to bottom, an arrangement which allows all pads clear access to the exit. Hangar One is capped by an opaque dome with entrance and egress doors. The entire facility is pressurized; atmosphere containment fields maintain the internal atmosphere.
The town of Korolevgrad is the largest civilian installation in the Sozvezdie. Part of the Kandor City greater metropolitan area, Korolevgrad sprung up around Korolev Air Force Base. The town’s population consists mainly of dependents of Soviet ship crews, non-crew members like film production staff and others. The town soviet is led by mayor Miranda Delgado.
sidebar: The Mad Chef
The Mad Chef (no other name known nor given) is a European expat of French or English origin who arrived in Korolevgrad in late 2015 and promptly set up a restaurant (also called The Mad Chef) in the middle of town. Apparently the Mad Chef is a master of multiple cuisines, and when taken by a fey mood will immediately junk entire menus in favor of totally different cuisines, sometimes in the middle of a service. On most days The Mad Chef serves modern European cuisine, but the menu can vary from English to Japanese to Sumatran to Ancient Egyptian with very little notice.
Sandwich Films (Soviet Film Collective Studio No. 1)
{blah the movie studio attached to the VVS/SS, puts out all sorts of stuff usually based on Soviet adventures, does camera work for dirtside studios (usually .au .nz and .eu with the .us lockout) and leases studio space for Fen studios.}
Gagaringrad / Gagarin Crater AFB
Gagaringrad is a small domed facility on the edge of the Soviet main industrial and military center, Gagarin Crater Air Force Base.
Fleet
Officially as a Federation member Soviet forces are intended to be subordinate to the Starfleet. However, because the Soviets are a majority ship-based faction with very few large fixed stations or coloniesAs of 2022. There are plans for at least one large colony station at Earth-Luna L2 and interstellar “SSR” bases at Gallifrey, Yggdrasil and Arda pending continued immigration and expansion. Soviet ships have a large degree of autonomy. The original 2013-16 VVS fleet structure continues to be used in-house, dividing the fleet into two subgroups, the Deep Space Exploration Forces (EXFOR) and the Extraterrestrial Combat Command (X-COM).
Deep Space Exploration Forces (EXFOR)
The largest portion of the Soviet fleet is bound up in the Exploration Forces.
{blah EXFOR does planetary data surveys, extraterrestrial missions, deploying and maintaining probe packages, all the grunt work necessary for the scientific conquest of space. Does stuff both for the love of it and to bring in outside currency - contract missions for dirtside space agencies that don’t have launch capability or the budget for decent spacecraft, or just don’t want to bow & scrape to ESA, JAXA or RKA}
Extraterrestial Combat Command (X-COM)
“What good’s Utopia if the bad guys steal it from you?” - Col. KJ DuPree, X-COM
{blah X-COM, military wing of the VVS/SS, they hurt people so you don’t have to. Best known for all the mayhem they pulled off in the Boskone war. Operate the MARS marine units and are not responsible for the care & feeding of Section 9 (wonk)}
Relations with other factions
Despite their joining with the United Federation of Planets, the Soviets maintain their own diplomatic relations with other factions, as well as independent commitments to the metanational structures of the Convention.
The Soviets retain their major shareholder status in the Nikaido Foundation and the Space Patrol, and X-COM’s main duties involve regular operation with Great Justice forces. Relations remain good with the Crystal Millennium, as new Senshi rotate through MARS units on a regular basis.
The “special relationship” between the Soviets and Stellvia Corporation has come under strain in recent years, due to the Soviet stance on infosocialism and freedom of information and repeated suggestions that the Stellvia-released copy of the Whole Fenspace Catalog was doctored. Though relations between the two factions haven’t broken down completely, there is a noticeable coolness that wasn’t there a decade before.
Soviet relations with mundane space agencies remains strong, though links to JPL were severed by the Artemis scandal. TSAB and the Sozvezdie remain in their blood feud.
Future plans
The Fleet (2022)
Flagship: USSR Ptichka
Shuttles: Columbia, Uragan, Buran, Iskra, Groza, Typhoon, Borei, Tsiklon
Gagarins: Yuri Gagarin, Laika, Arbitrary, Undocumented Feature, It Was Like That When I Got Here, Rolled A Twenty On The Random Encounter Table, Cultural Imperialism Is Better Than The Other Kind, Just Passing Through
ROUs/VFPs: Frank Exchange of Views (or Look! I’m A Ploughshare!), Laugh While You Can Monkey-Boy, Complaint Department, Sincere Exchange of Grievances
LOUs: Inappropriate Response, I Blame The Parents, i’ve got a big stick
Others: Xenu Express, A Series Of Unlikely Explanations, Grey Area, Just Another Victim Of The Ambient Morality, AZU-00, AZU-01, AZU-02
Fighters: 1 inactive Ga-15 (Hypervelocity Hurt Machine), 14 active Ga-15, 14 inactive F-EZig, 1 Ga-31 Firefox in prototype
..plus assorted flying cars, jetpacks and other such & sundry smallcraft
Notes
Mr. Fnord interdimensional man of mystery
FenWiki - Your One-Stop Shop for Fenspace Information
"I. Drink. Your. NERDRAGE!"