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[Meta] [RFC] Fenspace 2022, take 2
08-15-2012, 03:26 AM
KJ Wrote:I thought we were trying to avoid grimdark... somehow the whole "slow heat death of hopes and dreams" and associated angst is even worse.
Allright. I trust that by now everybody has had a chance to get chill, walk it off, whatever your favorite euphemism. So let's start again. The topic for discussion is moving the 'current date' up from 2014 to 2022. What happens in those intervening eight years? How has Fenspace changed? How has Earth changed?
To kick things off, I'd like to quote a thing from the Candle in the Dark thread over on Spacebattles. I think this gives us a reasonable beginning point of reference:
Nomar, from Spacebattles Wrote:The Boskone war ends in 2014. The war is important because it gives the Fenspace Convention credibility as a government on account of the Convention having done two very classical government–y things: it has enforced its monopoly on violence by waging a war. This means Fenspace is no longer viewed as the anarchic no–man's–land beyond the frontier where only complete nutters would go, it may be still a bit wild–westy but it's definitely a civilized place now. Also, by this time Fenspace has living space for rent, jobs to be filled and you can even buy regular commercial flights there (Swissair if I recall correctly). All in all, a recipe for a big immigration boom, especially if the first world's economy is still stagnating in the aftermath of the financial crisis (did that even happen in Fenspace? If not, why?). First contact happens in 2024, that's ten years for Fenspace to grow. Not very long, but quite enough if the economy is booming, especially given the miraculous properties of handwavium.
Now, obviously the whole 'first contact' thing doesn't apply here, but let's take this as a start. Where do we go from here?
Before we begin, I'd like to establish a ground rule: everything is mutable. Always in motion the future is, and we've got the luxury of changing things. Until we all agree, nothing we discuss here is locked into a permanent state. That goes for faction-specific stuff as well as more general concepts. If you're really wedded to a specific idea and you get called on it, be ready to back that idea up with an argument.
Ready? You may begin at your leisure.
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On a meta level, it seems that every story that gets Noah Scott added to it becomes either a pissing match or a bloodbath... so I'm pushing that character off to the sidelines and letting more-likable characters represent StellviaCorp from now on. Unless you're named A.C. Peters, expect your characters to get replies from Yayoi or Jake or Takami when they call Stellvia for help, favours, or just to chat. I'm sick and tired of all the "high drama" on the SMOF-ML between Noah and Mal, or Noah and Ben, or Noah and pretty much anyone else. It isn't helping drive stories any more, and it isn't fun to write.
Still meta: While a story needs some sort of conflict to be entertaining, that conflict does not need to be "man versus man." It can be "man versus himself" (which is how I'm marginalizing Noah), or "man versus the environment," or "man versus the unknown." I set up Season 2 so that we could get more "man versus the unknown" stories, but everybody seems wedded to "man versus man" stories...
Nobody seems to have had any problems with the plans I posted for the Stellvians in the other thread, so I'm going to go with those, although particular dates may be adjusted depending on the needs of other Collective members. The faction/company is still going to exist, and I hope will bounce back that much stronger before The Last Noah Scott Story (13-15 April 2029); Noah's self-destruction is explained by my first paragraph in this posting.
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robkelk Wrote:On a meta level, it seems that every story that gets Noah Scott added to it becomes either a pissing match or a bloodbath... so I'm pushing that character off to the sidelines and letting more-likable characters represent StellviaCorp from now on. Unless you're named A.C. Peters, expect your characters to get replies from Yayoi or Jake or Takami when they call Stellvia for help, favours, or just to chat. I'm sick and tired of all the "high drama" on the SMOF-ML between Noah and Mal, or Noah and Ben, or Noah and pretty much anyone else. It isn't helping drive stories any more, and it isn't fun to write.
I'm going to suggest that if you want Noah to fade into the background, the best way to do it isn't to have the character self-destruct. That only brings him that much closer to the foreground - look at this shambling wreck of a man, who once flew so high yadda yadda. So, how do we do this? Well, instead of turning him into Charles Foster Kane just give him his happy ending; he fades into the background as CEO to spend more time with his family, Yayoi takes over as operating VP or however you want to handle it, roll credits.
The company can still have problems, though they might not be as deeply personal if Noah isn't self-destructing. I've been considering walking back the stronger parts of the Soviet/Stellvian rift; it's an inevitability that friendship between a revolutionary socialist nation and a corporate state isn't a long-term thing, but to break it over the Catalog strikes me in retrospect as the height of hypocrisy.
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Let's see, the terraforming projects are going to be gearing back up, which will probably be major employers.
For instance, the last test comet drop on Mars occurred in 2013 and 2060-2070 is the date range for when most of the water is supposed to be in place, so the selection of Kuiper belt and Oort cloud bodies for the main drops should be under way. Some of the comets may even be on their way in, although there's still a few decades for that to be worked out. Also, the next few Xavier constellations should be being flown in this time period, as the first constellation was finished in 2012.
Some possible additions to the MTP time-line:
August 2016
First four "Raindrops" series of Kuiper belt objects selected.
November 2016
Raindrop 1's orbit adjusted, begins journey into the inner solar system under escort.
January 2017
Raindrop 1 "arrives" on Mars.
April 2019
With the artificial magnetosphere in place, if still weak, and the Raindrops series of comet drops proceeding, hardy algea-like plants are seeded at selected locations on Mars.
May 2020
The long running grumbling by some Trekkies over Utopia Planitia's future coastline, enters a new phase when an exasperated Gear Head on the MTP, suggests they "build a dike". This kicks of a long running debate amongst the Federation Admiralty on the merits of dikes, vs underwater domed cities, vs land theft and floating continents. The MTP, initially delighted by the sudden drop off in Federation complaints, is less so when no fewer than 5 different proposals to save Utopia Planitia are presented to them along with requests for funding.
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Quote:Economics in the Belt
After the dust from the United Belt Alliance attempted takeover settled, the balance had subtly shifted. Greenwood managed to absorb a couple of the independent mines that felt like they'd only done a "frying pan to fire" leap with UBA and needed at least a "known quantity" at the time, it wasn't a substantial shift.
Likewise, JMC suffered the company version of a bout of the flu, coming back stronger than ever. The only black mark was that some of the UBA mines decided to disregard the co-op pricing negotiated for material transport, and started contracting with CHOAM instead, citing, "we're fighting against one monopoly already, we don't want to aid another one into being." While it's not a significant shift in power, it did enable CHOAM to get slightly more than a toehold in the Belt, which is cause for concern for those who know of Padraig O'Neill's past exploits as a CEO. JMC appears to have the situation in hand, but some don't expect the situation is quite as stable as it appears.
Jupiter Mining Corporation
JMC, as a going concern in shipping, has grown in power. There are areas in the Belt, and around Jupiter and Saturn, that would be very hard pressed if JMC were forced to abandon the routes on which they lay. Fortunately, JMC is run by a very benevolent dictator, one that earns them a significant amount of true clout among those who understand that, if anything at all, that Jeph Antilles looks after everyone's interests. "You're on my crew," is frequently the best way anyone can sum up his attitude towards any of his employees. Although Skuld help any employee that backstabs anyone else in the company, for any reason, or attempts to smuggle anything like Thionite or a Catgirling Machine.
The increase in power is a double edged sword for Jeph Antilles. While it affords him certain freedoms and influence that he did not enjoy before, it is counteracted by the increasing scrutiny upon his decisions as company president. Things like toppling a settlement's mayor on Ganymede, for instance, require considerable more subtlety than even five years prior.
JMC maintains healthy relations with almost all the factions. The few exceptions are the small insular factions that really don't want anyone else in Fenspace to contact them. So much so that, if a relationship with a faction goes south, it's usually (and sometimes unfairly, depending) blamed upon the faction, and not JMC. Even before Noah Scott retreated into the background and let others take over the operations of Stellvia Corp, JMC maintained positive (if reduced) relations with them. The true, sole exception is CHOAM, although the blood feud enmity appears on the surface to be entirely from the CHOAM side of the relationship.
There is detente enough with most of Earth's governments (except China, that still fears defections) that a significant chunk of JMC's day to day employees are actually Danes that have come up to earn some money. JMC is considered by some on Earth to be a "gateway", for good or ill, into the interplanetary community of Fenspace for those who don't want to deal with Handwavium control laws to get there, or to at least see if the lifestyle is a good fit before committing to living there permanently. The work is hard, but not backbreaking, and honest, with decent pay and an excellent health plan.
This is just initial thoughts on the area that I've, well, basically had a slight role in filling out background on. Like I commented in the earlier thread, I'm fine with teething pains, and some of it will apply to JMC (& Jeph Antilles) as well.
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I was in the process of stamping this out since before yesterday. Although anything not explicity featured can and will be modified because I'm bound to come up with something better, or someone's bound to disagree with something. Chunks of this have appearred in Saber Chase and Raising Project, or might be background to it. Other elements are cribbed from Candle in the Dark, or unfinished remnants on the cutting room floor, or ideas barely fleshed out.
Although considering the response to Shinji Ikari as of January 2023. An unfinished epilogue for Saber Chase showed the 4th Caster Gun, but the story was best left with the bar ending. . If anything, Noah's indirectly responsible for Shinji's positive development by knowing who to contact and who would be able to do the right thing.
Hopefully the idea is that it comes across as a group of people gathering momentum with their lives and putting things together. Maybe a decade late or so but finally getting out there and getting things moving . Screwing a few things up along the way (a lack of foresight seems to be a common thread , they're at a more immature level where 'Screw it, Try it' is almost a mantra. ) and generally reaping what was sowed way back when someone Jet respects deeply told her that they will get what they deserve when the war is over.
Quote:Jan 2014: Jet missed Port Phobos victory celebration due to mop up operations
Alphacon: Gives Panzer Kunst demonstratins
Aug 2014: Jet posts 'I am a Kunstler, Ask Me Anything' on reddit. The smart ones figure out who's giving it by cross-referencing some of her statements about capabilities.
Nov 2014: A mysterious raid on two Panzer Kunstler escorting a shipment of valuable materials leads to the discovery of 'Ghost Hacking' technology. Both Kunstler have had their memories partially wiped through exploitation of firmware bugs.
Jan 2015: Jet spends the the Second Port Phobos Invitational on the surface of Nehallenia installing recording devices.
Feb 2015: Quattro Incident on 2462 Nehallenia.
Ford Sierra realises that Jet isn't so much burning the candle at both ends, but has thrown it bodily into the furnace, and threatens to tell her friends and force it to stop if she doesn't do anything about it. When Ford asks her what she wants to actualy do, Jet's answer is 'I want to be a Knight Saber'.
May 2015: With sponsorship from numerous fen engineering concerns, the Highway Star ridden by a local motorcycle journalist sets a new Land Speed Record for motorcycles. Highway Star will be the last record set without the assistance of Handwavium.
Bubblecon 2015: Metaverse released publicly. Jet and Benjamin Rhodes drag race down the the main city highway. First appearrance of Lunatic Fringe....
August 2015: Eddie's waved Highway Star gets a run at 543C in interstellar space. Jet rides it.
September 2015: Race to 400 held at Bonneville, United States of America. Jet earns notoriety for being photographed riding on the hood of a rental truck. Benjamin Rhodes takes part, as do three other teams attempting to break the 400mph barrier. Highway Star barely makes it, despite an extensive rebuild and engine modifications. Highway Star retired soon after.
Feb 2016: Jet purchases her puppet body from AC, ostensibly for a 'puppet party'. Metaverse incident on Genaros follows. Someone used the Party to contact Jet anonymously, and inform her so she can go to the authorities.
Mar 2016: Thanks to a case of mismanagement bad enough to be mentioned in future editions of Rockhounds training manuals as a prime example of 'how not to do it' New Birmingham mining corporation goes into administration, followed by ultimate liquidation.
Jun 2016: Jet agrees to allow Catgirl Industries analyse her Panzer Kunst techniques. Jet attacks drones using Hertza Haeon and Hertza Nadel techniques, blowing them up with bare handed strikes. Jet explains it as a form of vibration and shockwave control, and believes it to be similar to how Rogue Waves form in the open ocean. However CGI and Cortana remains unable to account for the excess energy gain after the initial hit, and writes it off as a 'wave effect'.
Apr 2016. Stingray Motor Engineering bought by Sylia Stingray. It becomes a quietly successful mundane company, with enough modest turnover to keep the wolves at bay. Earns a little early notoriety for an advertisement that compares a Police Helicopter and a Stingray RE1300T on top speed.... .
Sept 2016. Jet Jaguar and Ford Sierra outbid a madboy and buy the claim to Frigga 77 at bare rock prices. Sylia Stingray makes a public appearance, discouraging the madboy from bidding.
(Jan 1st 2017 to Dec 31st 2019) Jet Jaguar and Ford Sierra work as contractors for the Roughriders to pay off the Frigga loan. , providing training an mechanical services. Jet trains the A-team.Jet builds JF-21. Continues GJ missions. Uses A-team as prototype for the Knight Sabers and their equipment. Ford prototypes the motorslaves....
March 2019: Mackie awakens in the KnightWings computer as a result of Jet telling the squirrel's to 'Prove it's not safe' and pushing ahead with an NI test aboard the unfinished KnightWing. Jet's memory warped, to believe that Mackie is her brother. Connection interrupted before her identity could be overwritten, but some damage is done. Jet has to see herself as Mackie's sister.
Jan 2020. Officially move to Frigga... it's reasonably habitable again after years of work on weekends.
Knight Saber recruitment, ~2020 or so. Hardware finalised as each Saber is hired.
May 2020: Survival Shot opens for business.
Oct 2020: First UBA sponsored Raid on Frigga. Discouraged while in orbit. Nobody remembers to replace the missiles fired. They're expensive anyway.
Feb 2021. Anika escapes from William Flint. One of the first Knight Saber missions is to recover the battroid she stole. Knight Sabers learn the truth about Anika. William Flint arrested. Anika joins Knight Sabers.
March 2021: Survival Shot wins it's first major contract, training Stellviacorp Personnel.
Aug 2021: Anika goes bounty hunting with Ford aboard the brand new Dragon Wagon II. Anika is tricked by the prisoners and knocked out while Ford attempts to recover the blackbird. Prisoners hijack the Dragon Wagon II. Recovered soon after....(After Anika secretly allowed the prisoners to use the ship's weapons and chase off a rival group of bounty hunters seeking to claim the new Wagon as a prize. Ford knows and warns her never to get caught pulling stunts like that...)
Mackie receives an actual body from Vulpine Fury's puppetworks. Never looks back.
Sept2021: Jet takes 'oath of Venus' ceremony at the request of the other Knight Sabers. She pleads her case asking for acceptance as female before the court Aphrodite (Daryl) and Venus( Kotono), with Ford as her advocate. Mackie acts as the advocate of Mars making an impassioned speech for his sister's manhood, but the court rules in Jet's favour.
Drunken fun follows. Jet files paperwork with GJ asking for her official identification to be changed to match... but nearly a decade of putting out the meme that she still considered herself inherently male means most assume that the change is an error of some sort.
Late 2021. Knight Sabers Mission on Genaros filmed by Maico Tange. Knight Sabers burst into public view. Speculation begins.
Jan 2022 - Sept 2022. Maico Tange hunts the Knight Sabers.
February 2022: Serenity II arrives on Frigga to inspect Survival Shot, as part of a tendering process to supply training services to the Militia. Serenity runs through an exercise and is soundly defeated by TITANIC.
Second UBA-sponsored raid on Frigga mistaken for an assassination attempt on Queen Serenity II. Missile defences are still not replaced. Serenity II Forbidden from fighting by her bodyguards, much to her personal frustration.
Jet handles the attacking mercenaries personally. Genuinely believing it to be an assasination attempt aware of who and what they were attacking and not a raid, Jet responds with overwhelming force.
Analysis of surviving computers and Patrol interrogation of the survivors reveals they were hired by a UBA representative, didn't even know Serenity II was present, and believed that Frigga was mostly an ordinary backwater.
Serenity II mentions re-opening the mineworkings on Frigga before departing. Daryl Haur made official SAM representative on site.
March 2022 onward: Knight Saber missions against UBA step up.
April 2022 First Caster Gun built by Ford Sierra. Ford's Heavyarms begins soon after, using the tooling normally used for weapon maintenance. A few people buy them.
Second Caster gun goes to Benjamin Rhodes. 3rd Goes to AC Peters. A quiet thank you for their help with the Knight Sabers.
May 2022: Plans for the Frigga Defense Force first laid. Jet plans spacecraft squadrons and a proper human OpFor for Survival Shot.
2022 Convention: Frigga exhibits Havoc and Hokum choppers. Ford Introduces Driver Coil Compensation using the same technology. A busty Yoko cosplayer demonstrates the rifle variant. Maico misses Soviets joining the Federation. Plans for a Frigga 500 race using conventional wheeled vehicles first discussed among gearheads at the convention over copious quantities alcohol.
Sept 2022. Maico Tange arrives at Frigga investigating the Knight Sabers. 3rd UBA sponsored attack on Frigga, attempting to kidnap someone. Shoot down Anika and Maico on their way to Stellvia. Knight Sabers intervene, rescuing both. Knight Sabers KnightWing makes spectacular public appearance at Stellvia, photographed my multiple people. Maico aware of who's behind the Sabers. Convinced to keep quiet by Noah Scott.
Oct 2022: Noah Scott on Frigga for training contract negotations. 4th Caster gun given to Noah for assistance with the Sabers. 5th one donated to the Nikaido foundation, to be auctioned at a fundraiser. Ford sees the value of the reputation boost it gives her. 6th original weapon retained by Survival Shot.
November 2022: Sylia Stingray and Stingray Motor Engineering win a workplace conditions award. SME is noted for hiring 'new' workers and favouring those with little experience. SME launders Knight Saber funding, and disguises hardware payments as patent licencing fees and Business to Business transactions. Jet realises that 120 people will lose their job and livelihood through no fault of their own if the Knight Sabers little game of secrecy ends.
Holiday on the planet 'Arcadia' in Epsilon Eridani. Mackie runs into the ruins of the Iconian Gate while riding a jetski. And brings a chunk home. Discovery kept quiet by the Federation to deter souvenir hunters and alien artififact trading, which may destroy valuable archaeology.
December 2022: Frigga Defence Force plans fall through. Nobody really wants to move that far out for anything more than a few days. It's too much of a ghost town. Frigga left holding the hardware. Budget for their appearrance at the 2023 convention eaten up... the Berkut project stops halfway through.
Jan 2023: Catgirl Industries Survey team investigates the possibility of establishing a factory on Frigga in empty space.
Shinji Ikari wakes up at Anika's request, after his body is built by Jet and Ford as practice.
Crystal Osaka memorial ceremony on Venus.
Feb 2023: Shinji decides to depart Frigga and live on Stellvia. He works in the restaurant and as an occasional session musician. Weekly therapy sessions with Kat Avins. Visits to Rei on days off.
Final cruise through Fenspace before he leaves. Shinji meets AC, given a clean bill of health and put through the standard tests. Results 'surprising'. Kotono spends time at Kandor renewing qualifications. Learns that SHIELD knows what she's really doing on Frigga. Daryl meets with higher-ups among the militia on Venus for 'secret northern spy' business.
Anika left minding the fort as she's the only one who couldn't think of an excuse to go. Party with her friends.
A.C mentions to Jet that with ShockSkin and ten years of technological advancements in miniaturisation, it's now possible for Jet to retain the majority of her current capabilities while appearing normal... Jet needs time to consider.
March 2023: Mackie builds his own racer. Daryl finally finishes her F-104 based machine. They enter the Solar Regatta. Mackie finishes respectably with Anika as Co-pilot, even managing to win a single stage. The 104 is too heavy, but stable. Mackie unleashed Fusion Boosting addon kits for BAT Cuke engines onto the wider market, selling them under his own name. A few people use them on BAT-derived racers...
A sample of the Tanalloy battery used in Shinji's Judy makes it's way to Kohran li, who's able to confirm that it's almost certainly a crude copy of the Tannhauser Gate metal. Frigga learns they aren't the first to succeed in replicating it, just the first to do so publicly. Others had done so before, but preferred to study it first and understand the physics behind so they could be sure it was safe for general consumption.
Some think them reckless for using an alien technology they don't understand so readily. Tanalloy becomes a common name for gate-derived metal.
Frigga admitted to Elerium consortium on condition that they share their research, and withhold a full public release until after the consortium agrees it's safe. Research is more into practical application than the theory behind it
'Skuldium' proposed as the name for the element previously known as Unbihexium (126).
Apr 2023: Jet finishes the construction of 5 more Android frames. Decides against awakening them, on advice from Myk El Miller. "Jet, I appreciate that you feel there's a void that needs to be filled... but given what we've seen out there, is playing God again really the right answer? Remember the issues you had with Shinji." Frigga may be lonely, but that's the wrong way to solve it. They get set aside for spare parts, or until living conditions improve.
Daryl mentions that Crystal Millenium has been in contact with her about solving that problem in a mutually beneficial manner. Jet objects, worrying that she would be ceding control over the Knight Sabers to someone who might order them to do something they disagree with.
Shinji meets Yuu Inagawa for the first time. They get on well.
Ford's plans for the Frigga 500 morph on the mailling list into 'Motorcon'... a small convention for the gearheads and gasoline lovers of Fenspace where their vehicles can be run up to full speed in Frigga's tunnels. Motorcon committee forms with Ford as chair to establish the event. Sponsors are found.
CGI signs contract to construct a factory in one of Frigga's empty chambers.
2023 Convention: Frigga demonstrates a type of fusion powered spacecraft cannon. The prototype fails. Ford's Cosmo Dragoons using the same basic mechanism in a handgun boost her reputation as a gunsmith. 4 and only 4 are sold.
The Motorcon committee makes its official event announcement. Membership fee is set to cover the cost of providing medical care onsite, fuel.... and paying to ship any potential guests. The venue is provided by the committee, as is accomodation.
Shinji spotted together with Yuu Inagawa. There's nothing happening between them, they swear.
Serenitycon anniversary.
August 2023: Knight Saber mission. Hired by a commander of the Sammie Merchant Marine to figure out why his ships keep getting attacked on the way back from their extrasolar colony. It's a straight up hire, not a GJ mission. She tells them he suspects someone on the inside is giving convoy details, since only she and the crews know the course. Knight Sabers in SAM uniform, aboard a Q-ship fitted out with a big expense account.
Convoy attacked. Pirates knew exactly which ship was the Q-ship. Knight Sabers aided by one of the freighters which was also quietly armed without telling anyone. Since only two people knew they were a Q-ship, and one just rescued them....
Long story short. The commodore was crooked. She needed to be seen to be doing something about the pirate problem, so hired the Knight Sabers and threw them to the wolves. She gets arrested by another Troubleshooter on the foot of gathered evidence moments after paying the Sabers....
Sept: 2023 Motorcon Runs for three days of gasoline fueled smog-creating speed. Manages to pay its bills and get enough money for the next year. Jay Leno spotted amongst the crowd on a jetbike. Sylia Stingray spotted with Ford Sierra in a compromising position..... a few eyebrows raised, then quickly forgotten.
Mackie leaves home to study Mechatronic engineering at NIT.
MAGI upgrade to TITANIC postponed.... again. It works, but not in any reliable manner.
October 2023: Shinji Ikari writes to Jet. He's transfered to Ultima crew and is doing well. Inside is a picture of him with Yuu. The seem happy.
Catgirl industries finishes phase 1. First thing produced are a series of FR-15 rifles for Survival Shot. AR-15 variants manufactured almost entirely out of carbon composite structural battery, with an integrated smart gun system.
Sold under Ford's heavyarms brand.
Jet dissapears to Prometheus Forge for 'upgrades'. Returns 7 days later looking the exact same, only cleaner. "This is who I am, armour and all." Top speed increases, reaction times drop, Radio and radar frequency and sen processor upgrades, software alterations and general maintenace . Jet gains a full sensor array in place of the original radar using. Jet also now mounts racks for knuckle and ankle bombers, with an external safety interlock switch.
Puppet interface lag is 'reduced' through a tachypsychia control system that can slow Jet's natural reactions to the point where the lag would be imperceptible. Which keeps jittery sensations and responses from 'spoiling the mood'. It can be turned off when not needed. The idea was Jets... after reading about a swordfighting game that used the same approach ... even if the implementation wasn't.
November 2023: Daryl, acting as an official faction representative, conveys an offer from the Crystal Millennium. They wish to re-open the old mineworks on Frigga. Using modern equipment makes the old ore economical again, and they believe it to be cheaper and easier than establishing a fresh settlement from scratch.
Jet restates her objection. Ford disagrees with Jet. Frigga is dying slow, even after Motorcon. 7 people isn't enough for a Settlement. Negotiations are traded back and forth... the Knight Sabers issue is skirted around, while the definition of who owns what takes time. Frigga is, after all, legally private property, not a faction state. If there was one thing Ford and Jet were careful of... if Survival Shot failed, nobody could take Frigga.
December 2023: Arrangements finalised between Crystal Millennium and a final draft agreement is made. All that remains is to vote. 7 Owners of Frigga vote on it, after Anika insists on a secret ballot. Vote passes to accept the offer, 5/2. Shinji votes by mail.
Projections 2024 onwards: - Now they have to figure out how to run a Government. They have to figure out who gets to be Baron every year. Jet feels her life is getting a little more stable, her plan to build interpersonal connections is working. She is finding things to do that aren't combat related, if only for balance in life. Ford is starting to make it as a gunsmith/mechanic and having more people on Frigga will only be good for her business. They are starting to produce products for sale internationally and people are starting to buy them, but not to the point where they can actually live off it yet.
They try not to take sides politically, and won't appreciate being forced to back one 'friend' over another. Ford distrusts Stellvia since Islandcon, to the point where even she laughs at how its come back into fashion again. Otherwise they try and avoid the usual politics and carry on. They know if they enter the arena, they'll just get hammered by those who know how to play the game.
Daryl is getting known within her faction, and the rumour mill has already piped up around a potential 'Sailor Frigga', but she's done nothing public which warrants the distinction. While Kotono is being watched by those in SHIELD aware of what she's actually doing on Frigga. She may yet receive a job offer she can't refuse. Anika is making a name for herself within the Hackers Underspace as someone who can get things done in a quiet and workmanlike fashion without flourish or obvious skill.
Shinji is explicity dating Yuu Inagawa. Against all expectations they have carved out a relationship based on clear communication and mutual respect. Both are very cute together. They haven't gone that far, taking the time to trust each other first.
Mackie is doing exactly as expected at Nekomi. He could do better if he was actually able to apply himself to problems, but he's smart enough to coast through. If a subject interests him, on the other hand.
The Knight Sabers continue to operate. Maico Tange continues to watch.
Depending on how the deal goes, and how life develops on Frigga, the Final Five will be awoken. Jet has five specific individuals in mind...
Ford is looking forward to Motorcon 2024, a few guests have been approached. Replies are being waited upon.
CGI's presence begins to be felt. On top of them, the first group from Venus settles in and begins turning Frigga into a living place again.
Jet believes that, for the next while at least, the future will be exactly what they fought for. Shinji Ikari and the response to him from groups that otherwise publicly distrust each other, is proof of that. All the interfactional waffle that's happening is just hot air. Fundamentally, the people are still decent human beings. She's starting believe that she has genuinely avoided the fate she's seen others of her kind succumb to...
But that all changed when the fire nation attacked.
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Hmmm...
2014 - After two years of relying on Hephaestus and Gnarlycurl for the majority of their aerospace solutions, Benjamin Rhodes establishes Black Aeronaut Technologies, LLC. The primary vision and goal of BAT is to provide the more discerning spacers amongst the fen with superior ships and craft (and in the process, supplement the military budget of the Roughriders). In a bold move, Benjamin also announced that all BAT designs are open source, however he also states, "But good luck getting them to be anywhere near our build quality." This proves not to be a boast as BAT's initial offerings of F-EZigs, Blackbird-, Peacemaker-, and Albatross-class ships prove to be more hardy and reliable than any of their competition. Soon enough, only BAT builds of their signature ships, the Blackbird and Peacemaker, can be found on the market.
2016 - With most of the SMOF contingent steadily fading into the background noise, Benjamin suddenly finds himself as Fenspace's most visible SMOF in all of Fenspace. This immediately places him in the hotseat as the second wave of the Occupy Movement comes up out of the gravity well. After Ben has the protesters sent back home in automated BAT-marked container ships, the passengers hack the controls and begin move on to other Fen settlements to further their Movement. Ben mishandles the situation slightly by having Gina and the A-Team intercept and forcibly redirect the container ships to Earth once more and the media has a field day with the matter. Only a timely assist by Noah hiring a crack-legal team keeps Ben from being tarred and feathered. However, this was only the first of such political disasters to come.
BAT models introduced at that time:
Valkyrie-class: All sub-models (VF-1A, VF-1D, and VF-1J) are made available, save for the VF-1S sub-model which is saved for the Roughrider's exclusive use.
Lancer-class: Based on the B-1B Lancer, this ship had a particularly problematic development process (with a first prototype being scrapped completely - the little known Hustler-class with only two prototypes ever built) and proved to be expensive and maintenance intensive. However, it does meet with some limited success despite its setbacks and has earned a place of infamy as the only ship larger than a Blackbird-class that can go just as fast.
- TIE-class: Based on the easily recognizable space fighter from Star Wars, the TIE-class is an economical option to the much more expensive Valkyrie Veritechs. Based around a fully modular design, all parts for all variants are completely interchangeable. Most can even be used on either side of the craft. This has led to some pilots flying TIEs that look more like Imperial refugees with kitbashed TIE Fighters.
2018-2020 - Continued scrutiny by the public at large is leveled at Benjamin and the Roughriders. Of particular note is the Roughriders continual build up of military forces, and their dispersal throughout the Sol system and the extra-solar colonies. Benjamin is accused of plotting to stage a military coup and Ben fights back with figures on raids stopped, goods preserved and lives saved by Roughrider actions in the past year alone, and also contrasts with funds granted from O:GJ (which is not a lot at all for an organization their size). Complaints go on hold for a while, however, when the UBA begins to sponsor raids in the Belt.
BAT models introduced at that time:
Warthog-class: The one that Ben hired Thomas Dobbs onto the design team for. Being a highly decorated veteran of more than a few conflicts, Ben knew he was exactly the man to go to in order to breath new life into the old airframe. While the design was mostly sound, Tom found the 30mm Avenger cannon to be wanting, what with the standard armor that the civilians use in their day-to-day vehicles. His solution, simple and eloquent, can be summed up in two words: More Gun. In this case, the 30mm gattling gun is replaced by a 107mm coil gun. By far, this proves to be the largest caliber weapon employed by any craft in the SS classification or smaller, and few targets prove to be worthy of a second round from these beastly things. But Ben played it safe and gave them a magazine with room for five rounds.
- Outlaw-class: Ben knew that a true workhorse was lacking in the stables of BAT, so he remedied that by bringing this high-performance grappling ship into the picture. It has the key distinction of being the fastest transiting construction ship, not to mention the most use outside its originally intended purpose.
- Astroliner-class: This magnificent study in Art-Deco-meets-aeronautics is based heavily on the Airliner No. 4 design by Norman Bel Geddes. Massive and decadently appointed, these luxury liners of the stars (and not the Hollywood variety) are being snapped up faster than they can come off the factory line. Notable buyers are KLM, ANA, South Korean Airlines, British Airways, and Virgin Galactic. Benjamin is known to have kept the prototype for himself, and Noah made certain he was first in line to claim the first production model (with Padraigh O'Niel second, of course). Oddly enough, they seem to be actively inspiring a revitalization of the Art Deco movement.
I'll finish the rest later. For now, though, I need sleep and feedback. I understand that we don't want FS as a whole going down the path of angst, but on the other hand Benjamin and the Roughriders are too prime of a target for anyone that wants to make a power grab of some sort. They present an impendiment, but one that can be eliminated with ease through political maneuvering alone. However, the other SMOFs don't really like what happened and with Maico's help they investigate the matter thoroughly.
From here, I figure we can do one of two things: 1) Ben and the Roughriders are fully cleared and are welcomed back by the Convention with open arms... or 2) Ben and the Roughriders are cleared of all wrongdoing... but Ben is warned not to reinstate his organization, the Convention feeling that less of a military presence is for the better and will set minds at ease. Ben pretty much tells the Convention where they can stick it and goes off to do his own thing with whoever is willing to follow.
Either way, the Convention loses a major military asset and this can open the doors for a new conflict to arise... all, I think, less 'Slow Heat Death of the Universe Angst' and more 'Chiding Warning from Aesop'.
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It occurs to me that where it already weighs millions of tons and has commensurate engine power, being a combination expedition base camp and icecube tug for the Martian oort body retreival project may serve to fill the 'curl's time in a more interesting way than "business as usual for 5yrs to save up enough for Castle Borealis." Being in a vague semi-leadership position for the Mars-based Gearheads, it behooves them to take an interest in the terraforming project, adding the twin engine for that at first.
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(That would be 2015 to 2020, when a dedicated tug is put into service and they go back to spending most of the time in the high traffic inner system to build custom back up and do the expansion, the have the completed Borealis finished off for the new season in 2022 as previously stated.)
WRT Roughriders - they're hardly the only military group around, I mean you've got Warsies and Trekkies, all the buyers of your export model VF-1s, all the gearheads who roll their own (and there's enough Gundamaniacs
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"Anko, what you do in your free time is your own choice. Use it wisely. And if you do not use it wisely, make sure you thoroughly enjoy whatever unwise thing you are doing." - HymnOfRagnorok as Orochimaru at SpaceBattles
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AEUG subgrouping with a good sized station in earth orbit if I read the wiki right) the Patrol and assosciate GJ members, the Senshi, the Jossies, Browncoats, and Heinleiners... the only way I see it becoming an issue is if someone goes out of their way to stir up FUD against them.
Gearhead product to replace some of the lost assembly business: VF-dockable hab module, constructed to clamp the cockpit and upper front of jet form into a recess on the lower side. Small SS class, suits 1-4, modularly gangable
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"Anko, what you do in your free time is your own choice. Use it wisely. And if you do not use it wisely, make sure you thoroughly enjoy whatever unwise thing you are doing." - HymnOfRagnorok as Orochimaru at SpaceBattles
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Is anyone involved in the CHON shipping business, please?
Is this Jupiter Mining territory?
Logically, I'd assume there is a triangle route, from Venus, freezing carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere, to Titan orbiting Saturn, using nitrogen from the atmosphere to convert the carbon dioxide into ammonium nitrate and carbon, then to Luna, where the NH4NO3 and elemental carbon is sold as 'solid air' and lunar regolith is shipped to Venus. The "Solid Air" product (and 'free' simple waved devices that process it) are then shipped from Luna all over the Solar System.
In theory you could use Terran atmosphere as the source of nitrogen, but this is politically infeasible ("They're Stealing Our Air!"), and Terra has quite a few laws about ammonium nitrate, due to its use in making (improvised) explosives.
I can see CHOAM would like this business, but I'd think there were lots of smaller contractors in the "Air Trade Triangle".
I'd like to propose that the Air Trade becomes important in the 2012-2022 period.
META: Air Trade ships are big and slow, most raiders wont bother them unless they are really desperate. But, maybe you could have some interesting stories set on them, if they are significant. The Fenspace equivalent of oil tankers, or maybe tramp steamers.
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"It is the business of the future to be dangerous" - Hawkwind
Hmm. BA, I have some thoughts on downscaling of military capabilities and the inadvisability thereof. I don't like a path that leads to all of us sitting around Up There going "oh, hay, everything is going to be all right!" nor one that is chasing away people enmasse. I'm having in mind the transition to a "peacetime" military having something like the UN or NATO, but a lot less toothless... something where the factions agree to limitations on strategic arms that they keep under their chain of command (I call it the PEPPER treaty) with everyone rotating the rest into and out of the joint chain of command dealie as they see fit, still developing whatever they want, etcetera.
Fundamentally, instead of ostracism, I at least would like/prefer something happening along the order of "... whoa. Okay guys, let's take a step back here and consider if maybe we all need to have a bit more oversight of each other on use of force." You know, the sort of messy political/bureaucratic compromise that routinely annoys everyone involved but ends up mostly working. Details to be hammered out.
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There's not a whole lot to see or do for most of the trip to the oort and back, even if you plot a cometary course to wind past inner system locations where possible. Building one of their engine shells (a bit smaller than the 'curl's) on the way out, then melting enough ice to fill it with water and 'wave growth medium so the starter samples are at operational levels by the time it arrives at Mars gives you a drive with a minimal engine room attached, at which point all you need is a 'waved house trailer
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"Anko, what you do in your free time is your own choice. Use it wisely. And if you do not use it wisely, make sure you thoroughly enjoy whatever unwise thing you are doing." - HymnOfRagnorok as Orochimaru at SpaceBattles
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and a spaceframe big enough to carry a few hundred thousand to a million tons or so of the trade materials (we reccomend speaking with Hepheasteus) and something to keep the CO2 frozen on that leg (frigidium sump chiller?) to have a big, poky freighter as ordered. There's air in them thar hills, someone will front the construction cost and fly it.
Not trying to hog the terraforming action, but if they're involved in one end... besides, I'm not exeptionally storioactive, more filling in background roles.
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Also, I agree with KJ even if I didn't put so eloquently before - bad things happen to disarmed populations.
PEPPER Treaty = People Everywhere Proper Preparedness Equipment Rotation? Maybe something else for the second e
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"Anko, what you do in your free time is your own choice. Use it wisely. And if you do not use it wisely, make sure you thoroughly enjoy whatever unwise thing you are doing." - HymnOfRagnorok as Orochimaru at SpaceBattles
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UBA = United Belters Association?
08-15-2012, 03:42 PM
Quote:Dartz wrote:
Second UBA-sponsored raid on Frigga mistaken for an assassination
attempt on Queen Serenity II. Missile defences are still not replaced.
Serenity II Forbidden from fighting by her bodyguards, much to her
personal frustration.
Is the UBA the "United Belters Association"?
If they are important in their interaction with Frigga, I'd be interested in knowing a bit more about them, their aims and objectives, and why they object to what's done on Frigga...
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I didn't have anything actually in mind for what it stands for... I was just making fun of the RL Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT). I was half imagining the PEPPER acronym to be Space Arms Limitation Treaty (PEPPER) for amusement's sake.
Mebbe we need a separate thread for 2022-ish military stuff brainstorming, as that seems more specialized than this.
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From a practical, training and readiness standpoint, rotating combat effective equipment and personnel through an active space patrol makes sense - everyone gets regular practice and experience, without the burnout risk of long service, and time and facilities to perform major equipment maintainance. As a militia style service it would be far more uneven than regulars, but with handwavium in the equasion that's kind of a given anyway, hence the 'danes distrust of it.
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"Anko, what you do in your free time is your own choice. Use it wisely. And if you do not use it wisely, make sure you thoroughly enjoy whatever unwise thing you are doing." - HymnOfRagnorok as Orochimaru at SpaceBattles
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@AceDreamer: Inner planet shipping is handled by Hermes and CHOAM, although JMC does have a significant presence there as well, just nowhere near the overwhelming majority. And you still do have the independent shippers everywhere.
And regrding the trio of UBA raids on Frigga... it was intended to be secret, and it was intended to try to force Frigga to join with them, in terms of "we can provide protection, but we have to be paid to do it". It was a classic case of attempted extortion.
During the height of it, since JMC wasn't about to play ball, either, rather than raiding, UBA broke contract, then made all sorts of messy noises about the materials still in JMC warehouses, basically trying to force JMC to have to dismantle several weeks worth of shipping to return it in what they claimed would be a "timely manner", with the resulting public relations clusterfuck that would be for JMC regarding everyone else.
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Quote:I understand that we don't want FS as a whole going down the path of angst, but on the other hand Benjamin and the Roughriders are too prime of a target for anyone that wants to make a power grab of some sort.
Question: Why are you so dead-set on martyrdom? That's the running theme I keep picking up on in your material, and I don't really understand why you feel the need to make the Roughriders into some sort of ~*~example~*~ for the mean nasty politicians to pick on.
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Lets have a look into my timetable... CI is a new group as they were founded in 2015... at the moment the timeline concentrates mostly on CI itself, because nearly no one else was writing stories in the 2015-2020 period. But I would like to change that so CI has some more interaction with other groups and factions in Fenspace.
So if someone has ideas or suggestions, I am happy to listen.
2015 - CI is founded after the refugees from Nehallenia manage to get a contract with the PKG about a new recon drone. Soon after receiving the money, they start working on Jenga. CI gets the job from GJ to work on a sensor system to detect memory modifications from Quattros tech (most of the founding members are victims of the tech, so they have a lot people to scan ^^).
2016 - 'The Exocomp Incident'. The non-sapient construction drones of CI wake up and create the sapient group-mind AI Serina. CI license a modified Exocomp design to the Trekkies to get a reliable influx of money (and to avoid a direct conflict about "stealing fandom"). Later this year a part of the Tanglewood Boys tries to raid Jenga, they are barely hold away until help arrives.
2017 - CI and the Roughriders builds a companion drone for the RR veritechs. The design is later reused by CI to build the large drones of the Normandy Class. CI is hired by ESA to help them constructing the space station on Saturn.
2018 - Maiden flight of the Normandy... which is given to Shepard/Space-Patrol because of a quirk.
2019 - The Little Big Bang Labs are split from Jenga and move out of the Limit... first to interstellar space, then to Nostromo.
2020 - 5th year anniversary party of CI. At the end of the year the second Normandy Class is finished, the Serenity Valley.
2022 - Third Normandy Class is finished (and named "Dark Tower"). CI begins to examine Frigga for building a copy of their manufacturing system there.
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Open questions: whats happens to the Companion Drone program with the RR? What other relations have CI with the rest of Fenspace?
About the "disarming" thing... CI is slowly but steadily arming "up" since the Tanglewood Boys attack in 2016. Jenga gets quite a few point defense guns and "space drone sized" Exocomps in 2017-2022. Jenga also assumed to have one larger weapon system. The spinal mount gun of the Normandy Class is definitely no civil weapon system too and punch harder than its 88mm caliber would suggest.
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Ace Dreamer Wrote:Is the UBA the "United Belters Association"?
If they are important in their interaction with Frigga, I'd be interested in knowing a bit more about them, their aims and objectives, and why they object to what's done on Frigga...
It's a long story, but here's the tl;dr:
The United Belt Alliance started out as a co-op of independent Belt miners who banded together to better compete with Rockhounds. Somewhere in the post-war period the co-op was taken over by a group of nasty sociopathic yuppies who turned the UBA into a protection racket, sign on the dotted line and hand over a tithe of your production or else. Frigga's a target because it is/was an asteroid mine and it's independent of Rockhounds, UBA or any other large faction.
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It started as a form of ambulance chasing, showing up on the doorstep after a genuine attack after offering membership. Eventually someone figured out that if they paid mercenaries to attack, and were careful not to have it linked back... they'd generate far more ambulances to chase. It's more a scam than outright extortion.... closer to the peddlars of fake anti-virus software than a bunch of heavies smashing up the place. They generated the threat of attacks by quietly hiring mercenaries to launch light raids against unprotected settlements. Shortly after each raid, a representative would approach the residents and offer membership. If they joined, the attacks seemed to stop and membership seemed to be worthwile. If they didn't, a few months later the attacks escalated in boldness and deadliness.
They were smart enough not to pull it on anywhere that seemed like it might be able to fight back, or had some obvious hard assets who might get annoyed, and generally skim things below the radar to avoid attracting attention. The vast majority of the membership and administration had little to no idea this was actually going on, even the protection salesmen often thought it was just another ambulance to chase.
They just understimated the residents of Frigga.... and planned to just a superficial raid to wreck the place and run away before they could be removed or captured. It went south when they picked the worst day to launch their raid.
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Dartz Wrote:They just understimated the residents of Frigga.... and planned to just a superficial raid to wreck the place and run away before they could be removed or captured. It went south when they picked the worst day to launch their raid.
Hitting a place where one of the heavy "close combat fighters" of GJ choose to life was also STUPID.
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Quote:HRogge wrote:
Hitting a place where one of the heavy "close combat fighters" of GJ choose to life was also STUPID.
Perhaps they missed a trick somewhere? Yeah, seems like it wasn't the brightest of ideas.
Thankfully for them, they didn't make that same mistake when trying to extort JMC... that surely would have gotten GJ and possibly RR sniffing around and tracking down what was going on, with heavily armed backup, attention they really didn't want.
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