2025 Overhaul
~~~
[table]
[table] Places in Fenspace
![[Image: MarsFlagArmitageIII.gif]](http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t178/Admiralvine/MarsFlagArmitageIII.gif)
Most Serene Republic of Pavonis
Characteristics
Location(s)
Pavonis Arcology, Pavonis Mons, Mars; Asteroid Station MO-I, Mars Antarctic Orbit
Members
City-State of Sheffield; City-State of New Port; City-State of Sanq
Population (2025)
~1,050,000
Language (Official)
English and Japanese
Political Affiliation
Fenspace Convention; Free Mars Coalition; NERV Foundation
Government
Representative Democracy (Federal Republic)
Head of State
Gehirn Chairman Thomas Finnegan
Allies
Panzer Kunst Gruppe; Elysium Cooperative
Political Influence
Minor to Moderate
Website
www.pavonisrepublic.fen
New Port Flag
![[Image: ESUN.gif]](http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t178/Admiralvine/ESUN.gif)
Sheffield Flag
Silver Crossed Hammer & Chisel Superimposed on Golden Volcano on Forest Green Background
Sanq Flag
![[Image: MariemaiaArmy.gif]](http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t178/Admiralvine/MariemaiaArmy.gif)
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Most Serene Republic of Pavonis
In 2025, the City-Stateof Sheffield and the City-State of New Port of the Pavonis Arcology joinedtogether with the City-State of Sanq on Asteroid Station MO-I to form a newpolitical entity, the Most Serene Republic of Pavonis.
[table] Contents
Pavonis Arcology
See Article
Organization of the Zodiac
A subfaction of theGundam community, the After Colony Subfaction, also called the Organization ofthe Zodiac (shortened Ozies), are fans of NewMobile Report Gundam Wing and its spinoffs. The Ozies were initiallyBelters. During the Boskone War they evacuated their base of operations MO-I(formerly Asteroid 1098 Hakone) to Mars southern polar orbit with help from theRockhounds. Its only settlement, Sanq, is a small, tightly knit community.
In need of an orbitalfacility for varying reasons, the Seele Council considered this something akinto providence. Amidst the war, they and the Ozies struck a deal. The NERVFoundation would be allowed to pay to operate a portion of MO-I as the HakoneAerospace Yards (XHAY). In return, the more militant side of the Ozies wouldreceive funding and training to become the STARS Naval Division, taking chargeof all spaceborn Section Two operations except Intelligence.
Education
Most educational facilities in the Republic are present in the PavonisArcology. These include Mahora Academy (consisting of Airi Ikuhara Elementary School, Crest ViewMiddle School, Smart Brain High School, and Acme University) and the SheffieldCommunity Centre (which holds several courses offered from Mahora). Plans arecurrently in place to open a new campus of Mahora in Sanq whenever commutingshould become more effort than it is worth.
Following the release ofthe redacted portions of the Whole Fenspace Catalog, the NERV Foundationprovided part of the funding for the establishment of the Mahora Academy Centrefor the Study of the Arcane. Jokingly called the Marduk Institute by NGE fans,it absorbed the functions of the foundation’s Project Longinus Lance indeciphering magic’s mysteries. The main MACSA facilities are in the Baker’sHollow district of New Port City, on the opposite side of the Pavonis calderafrom the main district for safety’s sake.
Language
Like Canada and several other countriesin mundania, the Most Serene Republic is bilingual. In this case, both Englishand Japanese are present in signage and elsewhere.
Infrastructure
The four sections of the NERV Foundation and their variousdivisions handle most public services throughout the Pavonis Arcology and theMO-I Asteroid Station.
The Pavonis Arcology Police Department and Pavonis Arcology Fire Department,while started by the NERV Foundation, were immediately decentralized form NERVto private control following completion. In addition to various non-lethalequipment, the PAPD armory stocks the Beretta Px4 Storm (Sidearm), the BerettaCx4 Storm (Carbine), and the Beretta Rx4 Storm (Rifle). The Sanq-Hakone PoliceDepartment adopted the PAPD model following the founding of the republic.
Medical facilities include the NERV Medical Ward (c. 2011), theSheffield Medical Centre (c 2013), and the New Port General Hospital (c. 2019).The Sanq Medical Centre was unofficially open since the settlement was founded.
Sanq, Sheffield, and New Port City each possess a mayor and a city council.H.G. Wells Spaceport, Hakone Aerospace Yard, and Hollow Fields Plantation eachhave an administrator appointed by the Gehirn Council. NERV Headquarters andthe Geofront are directly under NERV Foundation control.
The Court of Justice, Chamber of Commerce, and Board of Educationare self-explanatory components of the republic government.
Gehirn Council
At CorusCon it was announced that a new five-member council wouldbe taking over the governance duties of the Pavonis Arcology previously held bythe Seele Council starting that January. As of 2025, the Gehirn Council’s role and sizewas expanded to become the governing body of the Pavonis Republic.
The currently eight-member Gehirn Council is presently composed ofthe democratically elected mayors of Sanq, Sheffield, and New Port City, theadministrators of H.G. Wells Spaceport, Hollow Fields Plantation, Hakone AerospaceYard, and the Seele Council Chairman representing the NERV Foundation. Itsleader – and head of the republic – is the Gehirn Chairman, who is elected by amajority vote of the republic citizens, and can serve as many as two five-yearterms.
Dramatis Personae
Thomas Finnegan – Gehirn Council – 1st Chairman of theRepublic
A former Irishcitizen, Mr. Finnegan was elected the first Gehirn Council chairman by thepeople of the republic due to his popularity as the former – and original –mayor of Sheffield. He will be eligible for re-election in 2030.
~
Pavonis Arcology
Pavonis Mons in Tharsis is home tonot one but several interconnected, quasi-subterranean communities that operateunder the banner of the Pavonis Arcology, centralized under the City-State ofSheffield and the City-State of New Port. Both cities and several accompanyingfacilities were built and are still supported and partly managed by the NERVFoundation. They are each a part of the multi-phase plan, Project Red Earth, whichis the main focus of the foundation’s Natural Environment Recreation Venture.
Using Binford’ssuper-hardy construction material vulcanocrete – a ceramic material made up ofthe lava rock of Pavonis herself mixed with ground-up quartz and something else(generic plaster mixed with pure handwavium; basic formula open domain as of2017) – the NERV Foundation successfully carved several Martian settlementsinto the extinct volcano.
While originally ratherbare of settlers who didn’t directly work for NERV members, the arcology had aboom in population once construction on Red Earth Phase Four started in February2013 when the Elies, at least for the foreseeable future, threw their lot inwith Pavonis. It also saw a slight increase during the Boskone War of Belters,but the majority who went to Mars instead of cislunar space went to Port Lowelland Helium, instead. The biggest population boom to date was shortly after theopening ceremony for New Port City when a surprising number of Japanese nationalsimmigrated to the arcology.
In 2025, the twocity-states of the Pavonis Arcology joined together with the City-State of Sanqon Asteroid Station MO-I to form a new political entity, the Most SereneRepublic of Pavonis.
[table] Contents
Red Earth
Phase One – NERV Headquarters (No First Ancestral Race Lifeformswere Harmed During Construction…): Started in 2010, the western quarter ofthe Big Peacock houses the primary production lines, offices, and labs of theNERV Foundation. Declared fully operational in January 2012, though expansioncontinues.
Phase Two – Hollow Fields Plantation (…or any Mad ScientistStudents…): More multi-sectioned, enormous greenhouses than plantation, thesesources of fresh foodstuffs are run by NERV Section One’s Agro Division andwere constructed at the same time as NERV HQ to provide local perishables and asource of export revenue. Also like NERV HQ, while operational the moment thefirst greenhouse was finished in 2011, improvements and expansion continue –facilities for livestock, for example, started being added in 2017.
Phase Three – H.G. Wells Spaceport (…and Neither were anyTripod-Driving Natives):Located in the southern portion of Pavonis Mons’ cone, it was completed inNovember 2013; again, expansions continue. Facilities include both slips forships of various sizes, several large joint hangars, as well as cheaplyrentable three to five room apartment flats called The Peacock Arms and simplebut comfortable temporary rooms at Hotel California. It was constructed at thesame time as and followed closely in completion by…
Phase Four – The Town of Sheffield (“For thelast time Kazuo – NO SPACE ELEVATOR!”): Completed in December 2013, just in time for a ChristmasCompletion Party, Sheffield is built in an ancient (at least 2.2 billion yearsold), secondary, vertical lava tube of Pavonis that was covered by its latter andmore obvious one. It was discovered and excavated during the spaceport’sconstruction. The ‘ceiling’ was retained and day/night cycles are maintainedusing waved artificial lighting, which never seems to be bright enough. The precious stones excavatedfilled the foundation’s coffer quite nicely. The resulting settlement provedamusingly funnel-shaped and earned it the nickname of Mithril Hall amongstD&Ders.
Sheffield Town Hall is located in Sheffield’s Cedar District. Backedagainst the outer wall of the city and surrounded by Oak, Ash, and Birch Streets,it is a modified replica of the RPD building from Resident Evil 2 & 3and houses the main Sheffield PAPD precinct in its several city blocks sizeinterior. [Quirk!: Waved lights throughout the town, whether waved there orelsewhere, flicker ominously on days religiously of mythologically related todeath.].
Phase Five – The City of New Port (“Yes, I know the city plan is out of NGE, but using the original name justdoesn’t fit.”): After the caldera’s vulcanocrete lining andGenesis-made, pitch black pressure dome were completed in June 2016,construction on Phase Five was carried out in as secret an environment aspossible using T-Series non-sapient robots as laborers and with non-disclosureenforced supervision. After a certain fellow with the initials “K.S.” wasgranted reluctant admission to assure the more paranoid that nothing untowardwas happening and agreeing to secrecy so long as this was true (Katz actuallyseems to get a kick out of just grinning whenever someone asks him what helearned), nothing but wild rumors managed to leak out until CorusCon, when theSeele Council decided that something positive needed to occur at the Conventionfor morale’s sake following the Pan Terrorist Attack.
When first opened following CorusCon the few parts of the citycompleted were Gakuen-cho (aka, Academytown; modeled after the Mahora Academycampus and its environs) and Wilson Heights (four city blocks of cheap butcomfortable apartments and a few small shops). Also complete was Victory Lake withthe accompanying Victory Park along the west bank, offering a spectacular viewto those paying to stay at the ritzy Hanaukyo Grand Hotel.
Shortly after that came other districts. First was Rockfort Island(working home of the Seele Council; a hybrid of the mansion from the first Resident Evil and the island facilityfrom Code: Veronica). Following this,such places as Coolsville (an entertainment locale; main street ElectricAvenue), Raccoon (with a number of businesses modeled after those in the gamecity of same name), Caliban Cove (a lakeside community district), and Umineko(a sizable suburban-type area adjacent to Victory Lake with a central park;contains the Hinata-sou) also opened.
![[Image: Tokyo-3.jpg]](http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t178/Admiralvine/Tokyo-3.jpg)
New Port City, main district (2030)
Phase Six – The Geofront (“’How did it get hollow?’ Oh, come on –where do you think all the rawmaterial for the vulcanocrete used in Phase Five came from?!”):
An attempt by the NERVFoundation to create a self-sustaining ecosystem, the information gained duringits development will hopefully provide useful data to the Mars TerraformingProject. As of 2018, it consists of a lake, some lichens, moss, and simplegrasses, and a promising bloom of plankton. The first simple plants andslow-breeding insects were introduced in 2022.
Rumors that the Geofront serves as the base of operations for a secret organizationwithin the NERV Foundation are, of course, complete hogwash.
![[Image: Geo-Front.jpg]](http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t178/Admiralvine/Geo-Front.jpg)
Ecosystem MonitoringFacility #2 (UNMF Complex)
The Sightings: In the countless manmade tunnels and caverns ofPavonis, sometimes the mind plays tricks on you – or does it? Rumors ofsightings of a mysterious teenage Japanese boy wearing a bandana and carrying abackpack and umbrella wandering the tunnels lost are told in bars across theRed Planet. Similar tales of the spirit of a mid-1800s American prospector –the Miner 49er – lead people to wonder if ghosts haven’t followed people tospace (or maybe if someone’s working on a local flavor version of “CarmenMiranda’s Ghost”). And that isn’t all…the street one can only seem to find whenone needs the goods or services of one of the shops along its green flame gaslamp-laden cobblestones in New Port City… the disappearing shop in Sheffieldwith its bathrobe-cloaked attendant who always knows his customer’s name… thelegends seem boundless for a settlement barely more than a decade old in 2022…
Elysium CooperativeNo description of the Pavonis Arcology can really be given withoutincluding a mention of the basics about a group that joined in on the grandexperiment.
This would be the Elysium Cooperative. Slayers Fen, Sword WorldFen, Zero no Tsukaima Fen, GURPS andPalladium Fantasy Fen… a gaggle of the fantasy-minded decided to band togetherto claim a homeland for themselves on the Red Planet. Or, at least, to preparefor a future claiming of said homeland. The “Elies” have decided that when the time comes once the MarsTerraforming Project reaches that point, the Continent of Elysium and herislands in the Sea of Utopia shall be their Promised Land.
Until then, though, theElies have hunkered down in Pavonis, some commuting daily to the future sitesof their individual or collective settlements to do what work they already can– the (temporarily!) pressure-domed, pan-fandom city of Seiluun and her variouswhite-walled city districts seems to be coming right along – while still otherswork for NERV or independent Pavonis employers to meet ends meat and save upfunds for their own special projects.
Education
Until what became known as the Red Earth Opening Ceremony at CorusCon,the only educational facilities available were those classes available at theSheffield Community Centre. Once Akamatsu-sensei (who requested the Hinata-soubuilt as a private home for himself in return) and other copyright holderssecretly signed off on it, however, Mahora Academy, with classes fromelementary to graduate (and later post-graduate) curriculums was ready to open shortlyfollowing New PortCity’s big reveal. Its divisions are: Airi Ikuhara Elementary School, CrestView Middle School, Smart Brain High School, and Acme University.
Following the release ofthe redacted portions of the Whole Fenspace Catalog, the NERV Foundation providedpart of the funding for the establishment of the Mahora Academy Centre for theStudy of the Arcane. Jokingly called the Marduk Institute by NGE fans, itabsorbed the functions of the foundation’s Project Longinus Lance indeciphering magic’s mysteries. The main MACSA facilities are in the Baker’sHollow district of New Port City, on the opposite side of the Pavonis calderafrom the main district for safety’s sake.
Religion
Reflecting the American and Japanese roots of its founders, religiousneeds can be met in several locations. In H.G. Wells, the Travelers Chapel is anondenominational replica of Saint Michael’s from Resident Evil 3. The Roman Catholic Church operates theSaint Thomas Aquinas Church (patron saint of students, teachers, and academics;a replica of Saint Mary’s of the Angels in Chicago; Father John MacKenzieresident) on the Mahora campus as well as a small chapel dedicated to SaintAspren (patron saint invoked against migraines) in Sheffield.
Several alternatives not sponsored by the foundation also exist.The first was a synagogue in Victory Lake. Another was a small mosque inBaker’s Hollow which opened shortly after the MACSA did (the imam issurprisingly supportive of its efforts, but has respectfully requested that anyattempts at summoning djinn becondemned by the Centre).
Entertainment
While nowhere near the totality of Pavonis’ entertainment options,some of them include: various activities at the Sheffield Community Centre and thesame community’s four-screen Majestic Theatre. New Port City features variousclubs and the sixteen screen Peacock Megaplex on Electric Avenue. Starting in2023, the fantastic Kaleido Stage made its grand opening.
For media entertainment, Altimit offers a digital cable packagestarting in 2015. The Raccoon Times newspaperwith its Weekly Editorial and Cityside sections started runningin 2019.
Starting in 2014, the Mishima-sponsored Annual M1911 Competition andGun Convention attracted firearm enthusiasts from both space and daneside toSheffield and the STARS practice ranges every June 25-31.
Food and Business
In addition to severalcommon American and Japanese chain and franchise stores, Pavonis also features,as of 2022, in Sheffield: Cheers (American-style bar based on the one in thetelevision show of the same name), Bar Nonbou (combination Japanese-style barand Korean BBQ), Bar Jack (across from the town hall; off-duty police hangout),The Swedish Chef (Cedar District; Scandinavian food), Stan’s Polish Restaurant (Polishfood), and The Ministry of Silly Walks (English pub).
In New Port City theyinclude: The Italian Job (Wilson Heights; Italian food, obviously), My Big FatGreek Restaurant (Wilson Heights; Greek cuisine, again obviously), Café Relish(Gakuen-cho; Japanese maid café), Café Hina (Umineko; small café/snack bar atbase of Hinata-sou entrance steps), O’Kelly’s (Bybee Street, Raccoon District;Irish pub), Grill 13 (Raccoon District; diner; waved food), Emmy’s Diner (PowellStreet, Raccoon District; American diner food), and The French Connection(Victory Park; French obviously).
As of November 2016,NERV Headquarters features the NERV Cafeteria. It is open six days a week from6am to 11pm and is about as good as a Golden Corral in quality and selectionchoice, but with Japanese as well as American staples. It is located adjacentto the NERV HQ main internal entrance and is open to the public. Foundationemployees receive a 25% discount from 6am-8am and 6pm-8pm. Thursday nights areMexican nights and proudly feature “Guaranteed Non-Waved Guacamole,” thoughsomeone inevitably attempts spiking it.
Businesses withbranches/facilities in Pavonis include: the Jupiter Mining Corporation, whorent-to-own three slips and accompanying offices at H.G. Wells; StellOil, whorent a slip at H.G. Wells and have an office in Sheffield; and numerous others.The Kendo Gun Ship opened in Sheffield’s Cedar District in late 2014.
Due to a bit of secretlypurposeful micro-managing by several SEELE Council members, Toyota and Fordeach opened shops on the same day at the same time on 24 May 2019 on CopperheadRoad in New Port City across from the Rubber Duck Trucking Company – they eachclaim right of “first car dealership off of Earth.”
The arcology’s mainimports are metals, specialty foodstuffs, specialty medicines, raw organicmaterial, wood and paper products, plastic products, and petroleum. Its mainexports are the products of the NERV Foundation, a smaller amount ofnon-foundation affiliated products, and basic foodstuffs.
Dramatis Personae
Note that all stats arecirca 2022.
R. Euphemia li Britannia(T-900 Sapient Gynoid) – Mahora Academy, Acme University – Education Major –Former: Third Princess of the Holy Britannian Empire; Sub-Viceroy of Area 11
Doing her best to be a source of familial comfort for herbrother, Euphie also now plans to teach English and Japanese once shegraduates.
R. Shirley Fenette (T-900Sapient Gynoid) – Mahora Academy, Acme University – Business Major – Former:Ashford Academy Student
If there is one thing one can say about Shirley, it isthat she keeps her promises. The moment she was informed that Lelouch had been‘revived’ she stuck herself to his side and hasn’t left since. Her father hasher enrolled in the university’s business department so that she can eventuallysucceed him as CEO of WilPharma.
R. Hanmyo (T-900 SapientGynoid) – Mahora Academy, Smart Brain High School – Student – Former: BanPirate Guild Tao Sorceress/Grappler Ship Pilot
A former pirate who now hopes to teach magic… once shefigures out how it operates differently here from ‘back home’…
R. Robert Kendo (T-800Sapient Android) – Kendo Gun Shop – Owner and Proprietor – Former: Owner andProprietor of Raccoon City’s Kendo Gun Shop
~~~
NERV Foundation
The NERV Foundation is a collection of organizations operating under asingle banner to carry out various joint projects and philanthropic venturesfor the Seele Council and the Most Serene Republic of Pavonis.
![[Image: NERV-Emblem2.png]](http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t178/Admiralvine/NERV-Emblem2.png)
Emblem used by the NERV Foundation
The most ambitious of the foundation’s philanthropic ventures and the plan fromwhich the foundation draws its name is its Natural Environment RecreationVenture, the natural environment in question being the natural environment forhumanity, the current focus project of which is Project Red Earth (see PavonisArcology article).
Prior to CorusCon, the leadership functions of the foundation ranthrough the Seele Council. Following the convention, the positions of Commanderand Sub-Commander were created. By majority vote of the Seele Council, thefirst Commander of NERV is Alex Xanatos (the only vote not for him was his ownvote). The first Sub-Commander of NERV is R. Edwin Jarvis.
[table] Contents
NERV Section One
The Pavonis ArcologySupport Services (PASS) provide and service electrical utilities, watersupply and treatment, life support, running Hollow Fields (Agro Division), andsimilar work for the Pavonis Arcology. Despite not changing its name, PASS alsoserves the MO-I Asteroid Station.
NERV Section Two
The Special Tactics AndRescue Service (STARS) is a paramilitary organization whose SecurityDivision, Defense Division, Intelligence Division, Emergency Division (Medical Assistanceand HAZMAT), and Naval Division serve the NERV Foundation and Pavonis. Rumorsof a so-called “Covert Division” somehow related to the equally rumored“Section Five” are laughed at.
![[Image: stars_badge12.jpg]](http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t178/Admiralvine/stars_badge12.jpg)
Badge prototype; RACCOON POLICE DEP and POLICE banner replaced by PAVONISARCOLOGY (later PAVONIS REPUBLIC) and NERV FOUNDATION banner in final version
While the initial gear of the STARS was rather limited (a SaturdayNight Special or a hunting rifle if you were lucky), things did improve withtime. As of late 2018, the STARS armory consisted of, in varying numbers: M1911(Standard Sidearm), Accuracy International Arctic Warfare (Standard SniperRifle), H&K MP5 (Security Submachine Gun). Serbu Super-Shorty (SecurityShotgun), Steyr TMP (Defense Machine Pistol), Beretta ARX-160 (Defense AssaultRifle), Beretta GRX-160 (Defense Under-Rifle Grenade Launcher), NeoSteed 2000(Defense Shotgun), DPI USAS-12 (Defense Heavy Shotgun), GE M134 Minigun &Browning M2 (Defense Machine Guns), SBD M136 AT4 (Defense Rocket Launcher), andthe rare M202 FLASH (Defense Heavy Rocket Launcher).
Vehicles include the DMC-38 “Yako” interceptor (flown by Strigon Squadron),small numbers of modified M8 “Greyhound” Light Armored Vehicles (MHI-T1)purchased cheap from third world countries, some Paramount Marauders, and agoodly amount of waved civilian Hummers.
Note: The STARS do not provide regular police and firefightingservices, though are available to be called upon in a crisis situation.
NERV Section Three
Technological ResearchAnd Development (T-RAD)…enoughsaid.
NERV Section Four
Biological Research And Development (B-RAD)… ditto.
Joint Projects
Ongoing joint research and development projects between themembers of the Seele Council through the NERV Foundation include:
Project CRS(Cybernetic Recreation Series. The largest joint project is a cooperativeventure between Cyberdyne, Mishima, Altimit, and DeLorean to recreate theT-Series of robots from the Terminatorfranchise. While having an internal computer brain, the 100 to 600 Series unitspossess only a number of AI-designed specialist systems that are designed to beeasily modifiable and reprogrammable. The T-Series consists of:
T-100 Non-Humanoid Robot Series
T-110 GASAR (Ground Assault and Support ActionsRobot; based on the T-1s from the T3movie; over time, 70 were made for NERV HQ defense; one prototype unit, theT-199 “Scowl”, was made in January 2014, replacing the Minigun mounts and headto test several humanoid arm/hand/manipulator and sensor unit designs and waslater placed in NERV Foundation Archival Storage; 10 units designated T-115,based on the versions from the T4movie, were made and sold to Great Justice in 2020, at cost; none are legallyavailable to the public)
T-120 Drone (T3movie; available mid 2013)
T-130 Sidewinder (T4 comic; ground recon/security; unarmed; available early 2014)
T-140 Hunter (improved Drone; available April2016)
T-150 VTOL (Essentially an oversized Drone;available March 2017)
T-160 Aerostat (T4 movie; air recon/security; unarmed; available mid 2018)
T-200 Maintenance and Repair Robot (made invarious chassis configurations, the earliest T-202 model was available to thepublic on 11 January 2014)
T-300 Specialist Combat Robot Series (ProjectBlack Moon programs to replicate a number of combat units from the Terminatorfranchise; programs ‘requested’ by Great Justice to be suspended followingBoskone War conclusion; see ‘NERV Section Five’)
T-400 (Prototype designations)
T-400Humanoid Robot Prototype Mark I (Dawn ofFate T-400; Made June 2014)
T-450Humanoid Robot Prototype Mark II (Dawn ofFate T-500; Made January 2015)
T-500 Cybernetic Vehicle Series
T-510 Harvester (heavy construction giant tobot/customizableheavy labor robot; available to the public 18 March 2015)
T-520 Aerial (T4 movie [slightly larger than source version]; minivan-sized onthe inside; available late 2015; nickname “Poor Man’s Pelican”; comes standardwith: life support, self-contained water closet with recycler, medium-sizedfridge/freezer, small microwave, and hook-ups and security-clamps for a flatscreen TV up to 25”; seats five comfortably [seven max safe life-supportlimits]; powered by four hydrogen plasma fuel cells [Early Production Modelfrom release date to 2023 requires yearly replacement of cells; ImprovedProduction Model from 2023 onwards requires replacement every five years])
T-530 Transport (T4 movie; light transport; available mid 2017)
T-600 Multi-Function Humanoid Robot (firstsuccessful fully-humanoid robot approved for mass production; most noted quirkis that any attempt at disguising a unit as being human fails [oftenhumorously], much like with its rubber-skinned source of inspiration; while allversions have been described as “ugly clunkers” they are also all described as“damn useful”; available to the public 5 June 2015)
T-700 Multi-Function AI Endoskeleton (a muchbetter version of the T-600, it lacks its predecessor series’ quirk thatprevented use artificial skin; aimed at the AI market, for AIs who want a bodyof their own; all units are special orders; available to the public in 12November 2016 [available ‘in house’ several years earlier]; productiondiscontinued following rollout of T-800/T-900 Series)
(Note: A number of intelligences inhabitingT-700 Series bodies “upgraded” (had their minds transferred) to T-800/T-900Series endoskeletons. Those “trading in” received a slight discount. Old T-700units were recycled. The T-800/T-900 Series Neural Net Processors (NNPs) wereall developed by Dr. R. Miles Bennett Dyson based on the knowledge retained inhis ‘canon’ memories.)
T-800 Advanced-Function Android Endoskeleton(available to the public starting on 12 August 2021, the T-800 Series initiallycomes in the T-850 “Governator” Classic Model, and ten models of varying bodysize from the smallest T-801 to the six-foot-even T-810; utilizing WilPharmapioneered CSM-101 Synthflesh, it is half again as expensive as thestill-available T-600)
T-900 Advanced-Function Gynoid Endoskeleton(available to the public starting on 12 August 2021, the T-900 Series initiallycomes in ten models of varying body size from the smallest T-901 to thesix-foot-even T-910; utilizing WilPharma pioneered CSM-101 Synthflesh, it ishalf again as expensive as the still-available T-600)
The Future: All attempts at recreating a T-1000polymimetic alloy unit have, thus far, failed (rumors about a “Grey Goo GirlIncident” are met with blank stares whenever personnel are questioned). It hasgenerally been accepted that nanotechnology will have to advance more before itcan be possible even with handwavium. This conclusion has also been acceptedfor the T-1100, better known as the T-X.
Project Geofront(An attempt by the NERV Foundation to create a self-sustaining ecosystem, theinformation gained during its development will hopefully provide useful data tothe Mars Terraforming Project. As of 2018, it consists of a lake, some lichens,moss, and simple grasses, and a promising bloom of plankton. The first simpleplants and slow-breeding insects were introduced in 2022. It is run by NERVSection Four.)
Project Fragment(Altimit/Heartland project that produced a working version of the DotHackfranchise in-series MMORPG, The World [available November 2014])
Project ATF (energy fields and force fields; hasproduced and is selling through Mishima an Acutely Tickling Field as anon-lethal restraint system [moderately bulky])
Project Super Solenoid (energy generation;produced the NERV-SSH-01 Hydrogen Plasma Fuel Cell for heavy equipment and the NERV-SSI-01Iridium Power Cell for light equipment)
Project Ego Boundary (man-machine interfaces;best known product is the PICK, sold through Altimit)
Project Heinflick Limit (FTL technologies)
Project Refresher (following Struve Conspiracy,data on biomoding the Boskones considered ‘useless’ recovered duringinvestigation used to offer those getting on in years and otherwise down inhealth an option of several ‘controlled biomods’ – Antarctic Press Furries[‘too strong and free willed’] and Fantasy Short Folk [‘too limited a customerbase’] surprisingly popular, as is the Modern Kitsune Biomod)
Project Dirac Sea (dimensional studies;established following the Interdimensional Incursion Incident) {Classification lifted following release ofredacted portions of Whole Fenspace Catalog}
Project Longinus Lance (paranormal studies;established following the Interdimensional Incursion Incident) {Classification lifted following release ofredacted portions of Whole Fenspace Catalog; organization reorganized into MACSA}
Project Black Moon (Boskone War development planfor defense programs; discontinued after the war; rumors that some continuedunder a secret NERV section are, of course, entirely preposterous)
Project Kraken (Cyberdyne/Mishima/Altimit/DeLoreanproject; developing an AI-controlled, anti-submarine/wet navy ship drone attackcraft for a Case Burgundy scenario [dane invasion of Fenspace]; low priority;designation XT-333)
Project Barge (Originally started by the Ozies,construction almost halted during the Boskone War. Following the warconstruction started again. As one might imagine, Barge is a modifiedrecreation of the eight kilometer long mobile space station from Gundam Wing. It is modified in the factthat it is unarmed. Rather than a military facility, it is intended to act as asupport facility for colonization missions. Consequently, most of its interioris empty, intended for supplies and similar cargo.)
DECA
The Digital Enclave and Cyberspace Archive is the central computercore of the foundation. It is connected, but not integral, to the PavonisIntranet, and can be isolated at a moment’s notice both manually andautomatically.
As one might imagine, it is controlled by the three MAGI – buteach MAGI is itself composed of three artificial intelligences. Casper is madeup of three based upon several Vagrant AIs from the DotHack franchise: Aura,Lycoris, and Macha. Balthazar is made up of Meg, Lou, and Nam from Bubblegum Crisis. Whoever Melchiorconsists of, however, is classified.
NERV Section Five/STARS Covert Division
***WHITENOISE***
This organization – the U.N.Mars Force (UNMF) – does not exist.
![[Image: ficbuframmilitia.gif]](http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t178/Admiralvine/ficbuframmilitia.gif)
ZotE Bufram Militia flag. Used by the U.N. MarsForce
Following the Struve Conspiracy and the end of the Boskone War,the remaining Seele Council members decided to create a force that could helpto both prevent against and protect in the eventuality of similar troubles.Unfortunately, the attitude of toning down on armed forces in Fenspaceprevalent after the war – including a formal request from OGJ to cease anddesist Project Black Moon research and development – meant that it had to bedone incognito.
The result is a force led by R. Lelouch Lamperouge (Director ofCovert Operations in STARS hierarchy) out of Ecosystem Monitoring Facility #2in the Geofront. In transmissions and reports, it is referred to as Eagle RockBunker or just ‘the bunker.’
Gear includes the standard STARS equipment (not recommended fordenial purposes), access to the secret Biwa Arsenal (see Mishima section ofSeele Council article), the MHI-AS09 Gernsback mecha, the IMI Tavor TAR-21assault rifle, the IMI Desert Eagle pistol, and the MHI-T2 “Dominion” tank(based on data gained from modifying several M8s into MHI-T1s; modeled after theJSSDF 6x6 tank in End of Evangelion).
The most notable units available to – albeit never used by;they’re kept and trained with on a “just in case” basis – the UNMF are theproducts of the officially cancelled Project Black Moon development programs.The Seele Council plans on sarcastically saying, essentially, “Oh, yeah, causewe’re the ONLY people in Fenspace copying things from fictional sources. Riiiiiiiight~,” should anyone getsuspicious of Terminator-relatedproducts in the UNMF inventory if ever used. As of 2020, the small stock of suchitems include the: T-310 Mototerminator, T-320 Snowterminator, T-330 Spider,T-340 Hydrobot, T-350 Tank, T-360 Bomber, T-370 Infantrybot, T-380 Tetrapod,and T-390 Centurion.
What really allowed the operations of the UNMF to take off was thesuccessful recreation of MITHRIL’s Electronic Camouflage System (ECS) –emitters that, when placed strategically around an object, produces an energyfield that bends and wraps light around it to make the object invisible. Thisdoes not affect radar, thermal optics, or motion sensors, of course, but it isstill quite useful. The SC Tuatha deDanaan TDD-1 and the MHI-AS09 Gernsbacks are equipped.
Several UNMF facilities, primarily intelligence units, operate underlegitimate front companies. These include: Zeira Corporation (Marduk), AutomiteSystems (Crystal Paris), Security Trust of Mars Vegas (Mars Vegas), KalibaGroup (Coruscant), and Dakara Systems (Ganymede).
The Lazarus Batch
A curious fact whichmany notice about the Pavonis Arcology is that there are not as many AIs as onewould think, what with it being a manufacturing site for robots. This is duethe nature of the handwavium batch found by Alex Xanatos. While being likeevery other source of handwavium in other ways, a quirk seemingly isolated tothis batch (and most blame Alex picking his last name as Xanatos being somehowresponsible for it) is that it stubbornly refuses to make any AI whatsoeverthat is not based on a fictional character that has officially died in itscanon.
While AIs based onfictional characters are obviously quite common in Fenspace, there exists afurther problem – each of the AIs produced with what became known as theLazarus Batch insist that they are the genuine article. Disturbingly, the sheerlevel of detail and clarity with which they can remember their ‘former lives’ –especially a great deal not even covered in the source material – makes the fewwho know of this phenomenon wonder if it might not somehow be true. This wasonly given still further credence when several attempts at making duplicates ofthose already ‘revived’ failed completely.
The Seele Councildecided not to take any chances – the ethical questions alone about ‘raisingthe dead’ were mindboggling. Replacement handwavium sources were purchased,several barrels of the Lazarus Batch were sealed up for later study, and allother samples were destroyed via the sun in March 2013.
All of which changed atSerenityCon and the events up to the Battle of Boskone Prime...
Following the conclusionof the Boskone War, the now-diminished Seele Council came to the conclusionthat fail-safes had to be put into place to prevent such a large force ofaggressors from assembling without notice or opposition. While the post-wardemilitarization was underway elsewhere throughout Fenspace, the councilcarried out in late 2013 the reorganization of NERV Section Two and the secretcreation of the U.N. Mars Force.
A key part of thesepost-war actions was the Violet-level classified Project Thanatos Gambit. Usingthe remainder of the Lazarus Batch, a small number of individuals were selectedfor just what they could bring to the table and their likelihood of beingconvinced to work with the NERV Foundation were chosen for ‘revival.’
The rest is history.
Dramatis Personae
Note that stats are circa 2022.
Alex Xanatos (see Seele Council article)
R. Edwin Jarvis (see Seele Council article)
Dr, R. Miles Bennett Dyson (T-800 Sapient Android) – NERV SectionThree – Chief Cyberneticist – Former: Head of another world’s CSC R&D
Having once‘given up’ his life in the cause of stopping a global holocaust before it couldstart, Miles Dyson now uses the skills and knowledge that led to Judgment Dayto better serve humanity.
R. Dr. Daniel Fransisco “Danny” Alvera (T-800 Sapient Android) –NERV Section Three – Chief Programmer – Former: Best Programmer on the USAF’sCRS Project Team
A man who gave uphis life several times to spit in the face of Skynet, Danny now applies theknow-how that planted the seeds of individual sentience in the Terminators toperfect the software side of things for NERV.
R. Robert Brewster (T-800 Sapient Android) – NERV Section Two,STARS Defense Division – Commandant / Director of Defense Operations – Former: LieutenantGeneral in charge of U.S. Air Force’s Cyber Research Systems Project
If there is aperson who understands how the road to hell can be paved with good intentions,it would be Robert Brewster. His ‘dying moments’ were spent facing theknowledge that his project’s creation was going to destroy his country andworld. It will not happen again…
R. Rupert Edmund Giles (T-800 Sapient Android) – Project LonginusLance (later Mahora Academy Centre for the Study of the Arcane) – ProjectDirector (later Centre Administrator) – Former: Sunnydale High SchoolLibrarian; Field Watcher; Magic Shop Owner; Head of the New Watchers Council;alias “Ripper”
When he woke upafter being ‘killed’ by the Twilight-possessed Angel, Rupert Giles had only onething to say: “Ah…I probably should have expected something like this…”Gradually rekindling his relationship with Janna Kalderash – wed in 2017 – heworks now with his wife and a close team to determine the laws, effects, and,inevitably, consequences of magic and the supernatural in this “other Earth.”
R. Janna Kalderash Giles (T-900 Sapient Gynoid) – Project LonginusLance (later Mahora Academy Centre for the Study of the Arcane) – Technomancy
Division Subdirector – Former: Sunnydale High School Computer Teacher;
Technopagan Mage; Romany of Clan Kalderash; alias “Jennifer Calendar”
After ‘dying’ at
the hands of Angelus, Janna can probably be forgiven for kicking Alex in the
family jewels when he came into her ‘waking room’ following her ‘revival’ to
explain what was going on. Eventually rekindling her relationship with Rupert,
she is actually quite excited at the idea of studying and practicing magic in
this new world where she doesn’t have to worry about (much) secrecy.
R. Lelouch Lamperouge (T-800 Sapient Android) – U.N. Mars Force –
Director of Covert Operations – Former: Leader/Strategist of the Order of the
Black Knights; 99th Emperor of the Holy Britannian Empire; alias
“Zero”
If it weren’t for
Euphie and Shirley he wouldn’t bother at all. His ‘sister’ and
friend-who-is-a-girl (and much more if she has her way) are now the rocks by
and for which the former revolutionary steadies himself.
…He does wonder
how the hell, with all the differences in their timelines, Pizza Hut can exist
in this world, too, though…
Dorothy de la Vega (Original Name: N/A) – NERV Section Two, STARS
Naval Division – Commodore / Director of Naval Operations
~~~
Seele Council
The Seele Council is the board of directors of the NERV Foundation, and, while
maintaining complete control over their own enterprises, cooperate heavily with
one another in various joint projects and philanthropic ventures.
The eight people presently on the council are: Alex Xanatos, CEO Cyberdyne;
Biwa Mishima, CEO Mishima; R. Joseph Fenette, CEO WilPharma; Mary Gamblin, CEO
Altimit; James “Jimmy” Blake, CEO Binford; Kazuo Jenkins, CEO Ajax; Lana
Izavia, CEO Heartland; and The O, CEO DeLorean.
Former council members consist of: the late Airi Ikuhara-Xanatos, CEO Ikuhara;
and Harry Struve, ex CEO WilPharma, on the run and wanted by Great Justice
following the Battle of Serenity Valley.
Council chairpersons: Alex Xanatos (Founding-January 2019) and
Kazuo Jenkins (January 2019-Present)
The Seele Council actually started as a group of bar buddies in
Port Lowell around 2010. Following a beer-laden 007 marathon at Jimmy Blake’s
place (see below), they decided to expand on the idea and make an actual
settlement within the volcano. This, of course, would require some serious
coin. Having already complained to one another about how certain services that
had been taken for granted were for the most part not available to Fen
following their leaving the Earth (Australia being the obvious exception), they
decided to become those services. Still, that left the requirement of start-up
money. Blake came to the rescue with the “how” he built his bachelor pad and,
as they say, the rest is history.
[table]
Contents
Cyberdyne Systems Corporation, Limited
Producing human-use
bionics and non-sapient robots, it originally outsourced a goodly amount of its
electrical components from daneside sources and later fellow councilmember
Ikuhara Electronics. Following the Battle of Serenity Valley, Cyberdyne
absorbed Ikuhara and its product lines in keeping with the prior owner’s
wishes.
Its bionics fall under
the C-Series of products, which are increasingly customizable by the
generation. The PKG have a Preferred Customer status and discount.
All robots fall under
the R-Series of robots. It’s most popular is the R-10 Navi robot, based off of Vandread’s Pyoro.
WilPharma Corporation
Initially acting as a
middle-man for Earth-made supplies, WilPharma began coming into its own in mid-2013
when it began producing its own hospital grade basic materials, and received a
hard won victory when several daneside health organizations certified its
products in 2014.
The corporation received a major shake-up following the Battle of Serenity
Valley, where evidence recovered by the Roughriders revealed that not only had
CEO Harry Struve been supplying the Boskones via daneside intermediaries, but
had concocted a plot with the terrorists to kill the other members of the Seele
Council – of the nine members, only he did not attend SerenityCon – and allow
him to subsume control of the Pavonis Arcology.
Following these events, with the corporation routed of Boskones and their
supporters, control of WilPharma was seized by the Seele Council until such a
time as the surviving seven members could appoint a replacement as CEO. It did
so on 1 January 2014 in the form of R. Joseph Fenette (T-700 [later T-808]
Sapient Android).
During the investigation
of WilPharma facilities following the post-SerenityCon seizure, a half-dozen
unregistered laboratory chambers in NERV HQ were discovered. Inside were…
things best left unsaid. The Seele Council decided to destroy all special equipment they found and not to
report any of what was discovered – as everyone involved with what went on in
said chambers had already been arrested and convicted, any further OGJ
attention would only hurt those in WilPharma innocent of any crimes.
They did, however,
recover data on biomoding that the Boskones considered to be useless, whether
due to the resulting subjects being ‘too independently minded’ or just having
too small of a potential market. The machines responsible for the biomoding
processes were perfected by WilPharma employees eager to prove their mettle and
the NERV Foundation used these in Project Refresher in a public, open offer
daneside and in Fenspace to those getting on in years and otherwise down in
health as an option of several ‘controlled biomods.’ The biomoding machines
themselves are clearly based on what someone, likely Struve, thought a Catgirling Machine was like
before ever getting access to a real one.
Options for biomoding recovered
include Antarctic Press-style furries (coming from a machine that looks like
Steve Urkle’s transformation booth and only works if the sound effects played
during said booth’s use on the show is played) and Fantasy Short Folk. An
accident during reverse engineering also created an anime-style Kitsune
biomoding machine that has proven surprisingly popular.
Mishima Heavy Industries
Your friendly,
neighborhood defense concern.
Like many of the
original Seele Council members, Mishima started out supplying Fenspace with
products it bought daneside as a middleman. Uniquely to Mishima’s case, and a
source of much groaning and headaches once the rest found out about it, a
goodly amount of its start-up capital went to purchasing items off of black
market arms dealers – partly to keep them out of the wrong hands, mostly
because Biwa, being the military otaku she is, just couldn’t help herself.
Fortunately, the council members managed to keep the “Biwa Arsenal” from
leaking out (they hope), though they now have a secret stockpile of weapons to
make any third world dictator envious.
The company’s most
famous products include its refit of a number of M8 “Greyhound” Light Armored
Vehicles. Later, in cooperation with Steyr Mannlicher, it produced a market
version of its Advanced Combat Rifle in 2015. In 2017, MHI finalized the
purchase of the copyrights for the G11 rifle design. The following year it
released the MHI M11S standard rifle and the MHI M11V for use in vacuum.
Mishima has announced that a highly customizable version called the M11C with
non-lethal forms of ammunition is in the testing phase and expected to be
released around 2022.
This being Fenspace, and
Ms. Mishima being a Japanese military otaku, one would think her company’s
products would include mecha – one would be right.
Following several mobile
suit scale failures, a try at arm slave scale produced an admittedly underpowered
and unimpressive MHI-AS01 Mistral II for sale in July 2013. The much improved
MHI-AS02 Type-96 was available by April 2015, with a slightly better MHI-AS03
Bushnell arriving in May 2017. The model available in 2022 is the MHI-AS03D.
Rumors of a large, metal
container labeled “MHI-AS4X” being spotted in transit through a NERV Personnel
Only tunnel in Pavonis in 2016 is denied outright (see NERV Section Five/STARS
Covert Division).
Following the Ozies
joining the foundation, MHI again poured resources into the development of
mobile suit scale mecha. This led to its first success with the two prototype
MHI-MS01 Tallgeese units in 2016. This was followed by the mass production line
of the MHI-MS02 Leo two years later.
The Future: Current
focus is on the development of viable plasma weaponry, with a particular focus
on recreating the Westinghouse M-21 Phased Pulse Plasma Rifle.
Altimit Corporation
Computers repair and
customization, Internet and television service, network setup, software
development, specialist programs, computer games – if it needs to speak 010010,
Altimit are the folks to talk to – especially as most of the employees are AI
themselves.
Starting by purchasing
the rights to the DotHack series and its related material, a LINUX-based
operating system, ALTIMIT OS, has been in use by the NERV Foundation since 2012
(upgraded to ALTIMIT MINE OS following the ‘Struve Conspiracy’).
Their current computer
game system is the Altimit PICK (Partial-Immersion Computer Kit), which
connects to a regular computer and allows the wearer to experience a number of
game worlds (both designed for the system and not) in terms of real world sight
and sound, but without such senses as taste, smell, and touch. The PICK is not
available in countries which places a ban on handwaved products and is not
compatible with Sony, Nintendo, or Microsoft game consoles.
Binford Tools Company
Producing first vulcanocrete,
then hand tools and basic parts, and finally power tools and heavy equipment,
an unknown fen working for a building crew at Mos Eisley once famously
commented that Binford could be described as “the backbone of any construction
project on Mars.” Needless to say, they take great pride in this.
Two of Binford’s
earliest successes – so early that the CEO was also sole employee – were also
critical to the development of the Pavonis Arcology: vulcanocrete and the
ultrasonic laser. Vulcanocrete is a ceramic material made up of lava rock mixed
with ground-up quartz and something else (generic plaster mixed with pure
handwavium). The ultrasonic laser is more the former than the latter, it is
made out of old sonogram and sonar equipment and modeled after the device of
the same name from The Core –
unfortunately, it’s not quite as effective as its inspiration.
In a quirk that
alternately annoys and amuses the company’s employees and owner to no end, no
handwaved Binford product will work correctly unless it bears a 6100 Series
label.
Ajax Material Supply Company
Growing out of initial
obscurity in early 2013, whether it’s a product they produce themselves or
import from Earth, Ajax as of 2022 is recognized as the largest chemical, wood,
paper, plastic, and stone supplier outside of cislunar space.
Thus far, all attempts
at making unobtanium have proven futile. One failed product of the attempt in
2014, though, produced a high-tensile strength aluminum-chromium-titanium-steel
alloy that Cyberdyne and several others (NERV and otherwise) purchase under the
name hyperalloy.
They initially tried to
supply basic metals as well, but there was so much competition there already
that they just gave up on it – the main reason that metals of various sorts are
now one of Pavonis’ largest imports.
Heartland Play Systems
Handwavium and toys…
there exists not the space to encompass the joy and madness conceived.
Still, it is worth
saying that they produced the MMORPG “The World” together with Altimit in 2014.
It won a 4 out of 5 on X-Play, losing
its sole pint due to the necessity of purchasing the Altimit PICK to play it.
Note: Never ask about
the Chucky dolls… just don’t…
Extra Note: Their
Jumanji holographic board game is pretty fun, though.
DeLorean Motor Company
Purchased outright from
Stephen Wynne, The O (never forget the ‘The’) now slaps the DMC logo on both
waved and unwaved niche market products both space- and planet-side.
Products include the
DMC-12 Classic, the DMC-38 Yako (based on the Yak 38 Custom jet interceptor in Evangelion; space-capable), the DMC-40
Blue Angel (shuttle based on the ‘UN 789’ plane in Evangelion), the DMC-48 AD-Police Interceptor (chiefly exported to
Genaros; ‘Car 48, Where are You?’ opening music must be played before
starting), and the DMC-50 Peel (based on the Peel P50; rights purchased 2016).
DMC also has a standing
program to locate, purchase, refit, and resell certain other vehicles. These
include: the VW Van, the VW Thing/Safari/Trekker (not vacuum-capable), the Opel
Kadett, and first to sixth generation Ford F-Series trucks. They also do a more
limited number of WWII/Cold War Era non-tracked military vehicles – The O has a
standing order request from Biwa Mishima to purchase any WWII and Korean War
Era Jeeps and similar vehicles. VW Beetle owners have been refused waving since
the Noodle Incident of 2015.
Currently, DMC is trying
to purchase any available “junked” diesel submarines on the cheap from former
communist block countries for use in the Mars Terraforming Project. The plan is
to refit them and use them to both haul water-ice asteroids to Mars as well as
to monitor the ecology of the future Martian oceans. Negotiations for the
rusted hulks seen in Top Gear’s Albania episode are now in progress.
The Future: DMC is
working on creating a working versions of the stealth fighter from Red Storm Rising, the F-19 Ghostrider.
Current projections place the DMC-19 in service around 2028 onwards.
Ikuhara Electronics
Selling waved, partly
waved, and non-waved electronics and electrical components, Ikuhara was a
successful business from its start to its end. Following Airi Ikuhara-Xanatos’
death at the Battle of Serenity Valley, the company was absorbed by Cyberdyne, per
its late owner’s wishes.
Politics and Goals
While encouraging
maintaining ties of various sorts with Earth, the Seele Council is quite open
with its opinion that each settlement on Mars - and in Fenspace in its entirety
- should be as self-sufficient at least in the essentials as possible. It is
also of the opinion that Mars, at least once the terraforming project is
completed, should be the capital of Fenspace and “the homeworld of Fen,
anywhere.” Their proposal for the Fenspace National Anthem is Oingo Boingo’s
“Weird Science.”
The council fully supported the goals of Operation Great Justice and later the
organization Great Justice. The SV Celestial
Court (TDD-2) – an unarmed but heavily armored design registered as a heavy
troop transport and emergency evacuation ship – was sold at cost to Great
Justice in June 2020. It and its NERV Foundation flagship predecessor – the SV Tuatha de Danaan (TDD-1), launched 2018
– are based on the carrier submarine from Full
Metal Panic!.
As of 2022, the SEELE
Council is debating the gradual production of additional TDD-type vessels, this
time in a cargo carrier configuration, in order to progressively lessen its
reliance on outside shipping companies for export and import transport. If produced,
these vessels would be SV Devas
(TDD-3), SV Kami (TDD-4), and SV Djinn (TDD-5).
Dramatis Personae
Alexander Xanatos (Original Name: Not tellin’) – Cyberdyne Systems
Corporation, Limited – CEO; NERV Commander (post-CorusCon); Seele Chairman
(until January 2019)
While not
admitting his former identity to the public, it is pretty much in the open that
he is a former worker for the U.S. Postal Service. A fan of both the Terminator franchise and the works of
Ken Akamatsu and Rumiko Takahashi (minus Inuyasha),
he became the first Chairman of the Seele Council by virtue of being the
slowest to decline the position. He now knows why Naruto fanfiction is
rife with jokes about the kage’s mortal enemy of paperwork.
After the death
of his wife Airi in the Battle of Serenity Valley, he buried himself in the
reorganization of NERV Section Two, the establishment of the U.N. Mars Force,
and the hunt for his former best friend, Harry Struve. This lasted for just
over a year, when Biwa slipped him something and gave him an “Eight Hour
Workout” to break him out of his funk.
Following the
turnover of the chairmanship in 2019, he took a page from Hand Maid May and, to a degree, became the “Wandering President of
Cyberdyne.” It is only to a degree as, much to his annoyance, the rest of his
friends voted him into the newly created position of Commander of the NERV
Foundation. About half of the time he can be found in places other than
Pavonis, including daneside, performing the role of representative of the NERV Foundation.
Airi Ikuhara-Xanatos (Original Name: N/A) – Ikuhara Electronics –
CEO (Until death in Battle of Serenity Valley)
Originally a
victim of the glass ceiling within Japan’s old boys club of corporate affairs,
the lifelong romantic comedy anime otaku journeyed into the final frontier with
the express purpose of thumbing her nose at the The Man. She did just that. It
is also where she met with her koi, Alex.
It was, sadly,
not to last. In the Battle of Serenity Valley, she was shot while attempting to
escape with her friends. She is survived by her husband of four months and the
elementary school which now bears her name.
James “Jimmy” Blake (Original Name: N/A) – Binford Tools Company –
CEO
A good old boy
and a Southern gentleman is there ever was one – most of the time. A former
employee of Black & Dekker, Jimmy quit the day he left Earth for Fenspace,
leaving behind a scathing letter on the subject of built-in obsolescence,
standards that hadn’t changed in years, the walking jokes that were quality-control
supervisors, and the canine-related parentage of the company president’s
mother.
Kazuo Jenkins (Original Name: N/A) – Ajax Material Supply Company
– CEO and SEELE Chairman (later after January 2019)
Only one-quarter
American, his mixed heritage status met with even more of a glass ceiling that
Airi Ikuhara did. Endlessly practical as well as forward-thinking, he easily
realized that the one thing that would always be in demand as a commodity was
raw materials. Setting out to supply that demand led to his resounding success
and seven digit net worth. His “suck it” letter to his former employers in 2020
nearly made Jimmy wet himself in his laughter.
Mary Gamblin (Original Name: N/A) – Altimit Corporation – CEO
A member of the
Pulpers, Mary came to Fenspace for only a visit just before the American
government’s condemnation of those leaving the planet using handwavium. Stuck
there, she made the best of things. Following the amnesty granted at KandorCon,
she decided to stay in her new niche in life and renounced her U.S. citizenship.
For the past several years she has been part of
the growing online movement called the Confederation Party, which seeks to more
formalize the Articles of Convention into a “United Nations of the Fenspace
Convention” with a U.N. Parliamentary Assembly to present a more unified front
to those daneside – referred to as the “United Nations of Earth” – while still
maintaining individual sovereignty.
The O (Original Name: Not tellin’) – DeLorean Motor Company – CEO
The O once proudly declared that his wardrobe “consists of only
the very best of the Fifties to the Eighties in American and British fashion.” Usually
considered a bit of a goof, The O nevertheless has a good head for business and
keen eye for vehicles. After taking a loan from Kazuo to help purchase
DeLorean, he quickly paid him back following the production of the waved and
unwaved versions of an updated DMC-12 Classic to daneside and Fenspace markets.
Lana Izavia (Original Name: Not tellin’) – Heartland Play Systems
– CEO
Lana took her
name and appearance from a military policewoman in Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross who became Nova Satori in
its Carl Macek adaptation. She didn’t really have too much of a choice in the
appearance part, actually. Attending a cosplay party at Marsbase Sara in early
2010, she went as the first police figure she could think of as her parents
were both police detectives. It is there she made the all too common mistake of
trying out the green food at the buffet table. On the plus side, she would
never have to dye her hair from the drab brown she’d always disliked again as
her blue wig was now her real hair. On the minus side, she now had the Robotech version of her costume choice
yammering away in her head (and, as they later found out, able to take over
when either asleep or unconscious).
Taking the name
of her new headmate’s counterpart, the now Lana decided to improve the children
of Fenspace’s lives by making pre-waved and non-waved toys for their enjoyment.
She also, apart from this, used both her knowledge from growing up with two
officers of the law as well as the more hardcore experience of the Global
Military Police colonel in her head to help establish the Pavonis Arcology
Police Department.
Biwa Mishima (Original Name: Not tellin’) – Mishima Heavy
Industries – CEO
It would surprise
many that this rather chesty Yamato Nadeshiko is, in fact, not originally
Japanese – or even Asian for that matter. It would surprise them even more to
find out she was not always a she. Biwa is one of the lucky few who actually
got exactly what she wanted out of a biomod. Not that anyone ever will find
out, of course. She ain’t tellin’ nobody.
A true
Japanophile, Biwa speaks Nihongo like native of Tokyo. She is also notoriously
promiscuous and a tease – she keeps in regular contact with a number of friends
among the Heinleinians, and flirts constantly. Biwa is also a military otaku,
with a few quirks. She has a complete disdain for the M16, Beretta 92, Glock
pistol, and Kalashnikov and anything related to them, while adoring the M1911 and
Desert Eagle and their variants. Appreciates revolvers, but only for their
history – sees modern ones as their manufacturers playing up on nostalgia over
effectiveness.
Harry Struve (Original Name: N/A) – WilPharma Corporation – CEO
(until post-Battle of Serenity Valley); Boskonian
A man who the
other council members only thought they knew. Harry Struve secretly shared
biomod research with and supplied materials to Boskonian slavers through a
small chain of daneside intermediaries. Towards the end of the Boskone War,
however, he became too greedy. Learning through his contacts of an upcoming
attack on SerenityCon, he convinced the other members of the Seele Council to
go to the convention and enjoy themselves while he “held down the fort while
carrying out some time-critical research.” In the aftermath of the Battle of
Serenity Valley, however, the Roughriders came across irrefutable evidence of
Struve soliciting a group of the Boskonians to directly target the other Seele
members so that he could assume control over the Pavonis Arcology.
When Marsden
presented the evidence to the seven Seele members grieving over the death of
Airi Ikuhara-Xanatos, the furious survivors led a charge of STARS Security
Division guards and an OGJ team to capture the traitor. What they found waiting
for them following a minor firefight with several reprogrammed T-110s, however,
was not Harry Struve. Not anymore, at least. What they found was Struve’s reclining
body in his private lab/study, grinning and giving the finger to the people
entering the room. A smell of burning metal and plastics filled the air as the
machine to which the body’s head was attached Cerebro-style smoldered. After an
investigation, it was determined that Struve had performed a destructive read
on himself and used Pavonis’ Interwave node to transfer his consciousness to
somewhere on Deimos. After that, the trail went cold.
Harry Struve,
regardless of present body/mind container, is now wanted by Great Justice,
Space Patrol, and the Pavonis Arcology Police Department for the crimes of one
count of murder, eight counts of solicitation to commit murder, and multiple
counts of slave trafficking, forced biomoding, and assault with deadly robots –
with more possible to come out at a trial.
R. Joseph Fenette (Original Name: N/A) – WilPharma Corporation –
CEO (As of 1 January 2014)
A businessman
‘victim’ of the Black Rebellion, he managed to push through his culture shock
after ‘revival’ for his daughter’s sake and agreed to take up the reins of
WilPharma and join the Seele Council.
R. Delwin Jarvis (Original Name: N/A) – Seele Council – Seele
Council Treasurer – Former: Butler of Anthony Stark; Assistant to the Avengers
The first ever
‘revival’ of the Lazarus Batch, the gentleman from England woke Alex up the
morning following his laptop’s waving with screams of terror as the AI ‘woke
up’ with his ‘last memories’ of being eaten by his zombified friends. Since
then, he has become an invaluable companion to the members of the Seele Council
and manages their joint funds with the long earned experience of guiding the
wealthy away from bad decisions.
~~~
[table]
[table]
Most Serene Republic of Pavonis
New Port Flag
Sheffield Flag
Sanq Flag
Most Serene Republic of Pavonis
In 2025, the City-Stateof Sheffield and the City-State of New Port of the Pavonis Arcology joinedtogether with the City-State of Sanq on Asteroid Station MO-I to form a newpolitical entity, the Most Serene Republic of Pavonis.
[table]
- 1 Pavonis Arcology
- 2 Organization of the Zodiac
- 3 Education
- 4 Language
- 5 Infrastructure
- 6 Gehirn Council
- 7 Dramatis Personae
Pavonis Arcology
See Article
Organization of the Zodiac
A subfaction of theGundam community, the After Colony Subfaction, also called the Organization ofthe Zodiac (shortened Ozies), are fans of NewMobile Report Gundam Wing and its spinoffs. The Ozies were initiallyBelters. During the Boskone War they evacuated their base of operations MO-I(formerly Asteroid 1098 Hakone) to Mars southern polar orbit with help from theRockhounds. Its only settlement, Sanq, is a small, tightly knit community.
In need of an orbitalfacility for varying reasons, the Seele Council considered this something akinto providence. Amidst the war, they and the Ozies struck a deal. The NERVFoundation would be allowed to pay to operate a portion of MO-I as the HakoneAerospace Yards (XHAY). In return, the more militant side of the Ozies wouldreceive funding and training to become the STARS Naval Division, taking chargeof all spaceborn Section Two operations except Intelligence.
Education
Most educational facilities in the Republic are present in the PavonisArcology. These include Mahora Academy (consisting of Airi Ikuhara Elementary School, Crest ViewMiddle School, Smart Brain High School, and Acme University) and the SheffieldCommunity Centre (which holds several courses offered from Mahora). Plans arecurrently in place to open a new campus of Mahora in Sanq whenever commutingshould become more effort than it is worth.
Following the release ofthe redacted portions of the Whole Fenspace Catalog, the NERV Foundationprovided part of the funding for the establishment of the Mahora Academy Centrefor the Study of the Arcane. Jokingly called the Marduk Institute by NGE fans,it absorbed the functions of the foundation’s Project Longinus Lance indeciphering magic’s mysteries. The main MACSA facilities are in the Baker’sHollow district of New Port City, on the opposite side of the Pavonis calderafrom the main district for safety’s sake.
Language
Like Canada and several other countriesin mundania, the Most Serene Republic is bilingual. In this case, both Englishand Japanese are present in signage and elsewhere.
Infrastructure
The four sections of the NERV Foundation and their variousdivisions handle most public services throughout the Pavonis Arcology and theMO-I Asteroid Station.
The Pavonis Arcology Police Department and Pavonis Arcology Fire Department,while started by the NERV Foundation, were immediately decentralized form NERVto private control following completion. In addition to various non-lethalequipment, the PAPD armory stocks the Beretta Px4 Storm (Sidearm), the BerettaCx4 Storm (Carbine), and the Beretta Rx4 Storm (Rifle). The Sanq-Hakone PoliceDepartment adopted the PAPD model following the founding of the republic.
Medical facilities include the NERV Medical Ward (c. 2011), theSheffield Medical Centre (c 2013), and the New Port General Hospital (c. 2019).The Sanq Medical Centre was unofficially open since the settlement was founded.
Sanq, Sheffield, and New Port City each possess a mayor and a city council.H.G. Wells Spaceport, Hakone Aerospace Yard, and Hollow Fields Plantation eachhave an administrator appointed by the Gehirn Council. NERV Headquarters andthe Geofront are directly under NERV Foundation control.
The Court of Justice, Chamber of Commerce, and Board of Educationare self-explanatory components of the republic government.
Gehirn Council
At CorusCon it was announced that a new five-member council wouldbe taking over the governance duties of the Pavonis Arcology previously held bythe Seele Council starting that January. As of 2025, the Gehirn Council’s role and sizewas expanded to become the governing body of the Pavonis Republic.
The currently eight-member Gehirn Council is presently composed ofthe democratically elected mayors of Sanq, Sheffield, and New Port City, theadministrators of H.G. Wells Spaceport, Hollow Fields Plantation, Hakone AerospaceYard, and the Seele Council Chairman representing the NERV Foundation. Itsleader – and head of the republic – is the Gehirn Chairman, who is elected by amajority vote of the republic citizens, and can serve as many as two five-yearterms.
Dramatis Personae
Thomas Finnegan – Gehirn Council – 1st Chairman of theRepublic
A former Irishcitizen, Mr. Finnegan was elected the first Gehirn Council chairman by thepeople of the republic due to his popularity as the former – and original –mayor of Sheffield. He will be eligible for re-election in 2030.
~
Pavonis Arcology
Pavonis Mons in Tharsis is home tonot one but several interconnected, quasi-subterranean communities that operateunder the banner of the Pavonis Arcology, centralized under the City-State ofSheffield and the City-State of New Port. Both cities and several accompanyingfacilities were built and are still supported and partly managed by the NERVFoundation. They are each a part of the multi-phase plan, Project Red Earth, whichis the main focus of the foundation’s Natural Environment Recreation Venture.
Using Binford’ssuper-hardy construction material vulcanocrete – a ceramic material made up ofthe lava rock of Pavonis herself mixed with ground-up quartz and something else(generic plaster mixed with pure handwavium; basic formula open domain as of2017) – the NERV Foundation successfully carved several Martian settlementsinto the extinct volcano.
While originally ratherbare of settlers who didn’t directly work for NERV members, the arcology had aboom in population once construction on Red Earth Phase Four started in February2013 when the Elies, at least for the foreseeable future, threw their lot inwith Pavonis. It also saw a slight increase during the Boskone War of Belters,but the majority who went to Mars instead of cislunar space went to Port Lowelland Helium, instead. The biggest population boom to date was shortly after theopening ceremony for New Port City when a surprising number of Japanese nationalsimmigrated to the arcology.
In 2025, the twocity-states of the Pavonis Arcology joined together with the City-State of Sanqon Asteroid Station MO-I to form a new political entity, the Most SereneRepublic of Pavonis.
[table]
- 1 Red Earth
- 2 Elysium Cooperative
- 3 Education
- 4 Religion
- 5 Entertainment
- 6 Food and Business
- 7 Dramatis Personae
Red Earth
Phase One – NERV Headquarters (No First Ancestral Race Lifeformswere Harmed During Construction…): Started in 2010, the western quarter ofthe Big Peacock houses the primary production lines, offices, and labs of theNERV Foundation. Declared fully operational in January 2012, though expansioncontinues.
Phase Two – Hollow Fields Plantation (…or any Mad ScientistStudents…): More multi-sectioned, enormous greenhouses than plantation, thesesources of fresh foodstuffs are run by NERV Section One’s Agro Division andwere constructed at the same time as NERV HQ to provide local perishables and asource of export revenue. Also like NERV HQ, while operational the moment thefirst greenhouse was finished in 2011, improvements and expansion continue –facilities for livestock, for example, started being added in 2017.
Phase Three – H.G. Wells Spaceport (…and Neither were anyTripod-Driving Natives):Located in the southern portion of Pavonis Mons’ cone, it was completed inNovember 2013; again, expansions continue. Facilities include both slips forships of various sizes, several large joint hangars, as well as cheaplyrentable three to five room apartment flats called The Peacock Arms and simplebut comfortable temporary rooms at Hotel California. It was constructed at thesame time as and followed closely in completion by…
Phase Four – The Town of Sheffield (“For thelast time Kazuo – NO SPACE ELEVATOR!”): Completed in December 2013, just in time for a ChristmasCompletion Party, Sheffield is built in an ancient (at least 2.2 billion yearsold), secondary, vertical lava tube of Pavonis that was covered by its latter andmore obvious one. It was discovered and excavated during the spaceport’sconstruction. The ‘ceiling’ was retained and day/night cycles are maintainedusing waved artificial lighting, which never seems to be bright enough. The precious stones excavatedfilled the foundation’s coffer quite nicely. The resulting settlement provedamusingly funnel-shaped and earned it the nickname of Mithril Hall amongstD&Ders.
Sheffield Town Hall is located in Sheffield’s Cedar District. Backedagainst the outer wall of the city and surrounded by Oak, Ash, and Birch Streets,it is a modified replica of the RPD building from Resident Evil 2 & 3and houses the main Sheffield PAPD precinct in its several city blocks sizeinterior. [Quirk!: Waved lights throughout the town, whether waved there orelsewhere, flicker ominously on days religiously of mythologically related todeath.].
Phase Five – The City of New Port (“Yes, I know the city plan is out of NGE, but using the original name justdoesn’t fit.”): After the caldera’s vulcanocrete lining andGenesis-made, pitch black pressure dome were completed in June 2016,construction on Phase Five was carried out in as secret an environment aspossible using T-Series non-sapient robots as laborers and with non-disclosureenforced supervision. After a certain fellow with the initials “K.S.” wasgranted reluctant admission to assure the more paranoid that nothing untowardwas happening and agreeing to secrecy so long as this was true (Katz actuallyseems to get a kick out of just grinning whenever someone asks him what helearned), nothing but wild rumors managed to leak out until CorusCon, when theSeele Council decided that something positive needed to occur at the Conventionfor morale’s sake following the Pan Terrorist Attack.
When first opened following CorusCon the few parts of the citycompleted were Gakuen-cho (aka, Academytown; modeled after the Mahora Academycampus and its environs) and Wilson Heights (four city blocks of cheap butcomfortable apartments and a few small shops). Also complete was Victory Lake withthe accompanying Victory Park along the west bank, offering a spectacular viewto those paying to stay at the ritzy Hanaukyo Grand Hotel.
Shortly after that came other districts. First was Rockfort Island(working home of the Seele Council; a hybrid of the mansion from the first Resident Evil and the island facilityfrom Code: Veronica). Following this,such places as Coolsville (an entertainment locale; main street ElectricAvenue), Raccoon (with a number of businesses modeled after those in the gamecity of same name), Caliban Cove (a lakeside community district), and Umineko(a sizable suburban-type area adjacent to Victory Lake with a central park;contains the Hinata-sou) also opened.
New Port City, main district (2030)
Phase Six – The Geofront (“’How did it get hollow?’ Oh, come on –where do you think all the rawmaterial for the vulcanocrete used in Phase Five came from?!”):
An attempt by the NERVFoundation to create a self-sustaining ecosystem, the information gained duringits development will hopefully provide useful data to the Mars TerraformingProject. As of 2018, it consists of a lake, some lichens, moss, and simplegrasses, and a promising bloom of plankton. The first simple plants andslow-breeding insects were introduced in 2022.
Rumors that the Geofront serves as the base of operations for a secret organizationwithin the NERV Foundation are, of course, complete hogwash.
Ecosystem MonitoringFacility #2 (UNMF Complex)
The Sightings: In the countless manmade tunnels and caverns ofPavonis, sometimes the mind plays tricks on you – or does it? Rumors ofsightings of a mysterious teenage Japanese boy wearing a bandana and carrying abackpack and umbrella wandering the tunnels lost are told in bars across theRed Planet. Similar tales of the spirit of a mid-1800s American prospector –the Miner 49er – lead people to wonder if ghosts haven’t followed people tospace (or maybe if someone’s working on a local flavor version of “CarmenMiranda’s Ghost”). And that isn’t all…the street one can only seem to find whenone needs the goods or services of one of the shops along its green flame gaslamp-laden cobblestones in New Port City… the disappearing shop in Sheffieldwith its bathrobe-cloaked attendant who always knows his customer’s name… thelegends seem boundless for a settlement barely more than a decade old in 2022…
Elysium CooperativeNo description of the Pavonis Arcology can really be given withoutincluding a mention of the basics about a group that joined in on the grandexperiment.
This would be the Elysium Cooperative. Slayers Fen, Sword WorldFen, Zero no Tsukaima Fen, GURPS andPalladium Fantasy Fen… a gaggle of the fantasy-minded decided to band togetherto claim a homeland for themselves on the Red Planet. Or, at least, to preparefor a future claiming of said homeland. The “Elies” have decided that when the time comes once the MarsTerraforming Project reaches that point, the Continent of Elysium and herislands in the Sea of Utopia shall be their Promised Land.
Until then, though, theElies have hunkered down in Pavonis, some commuting daily to the future sitesof their individual or collective settlements to do what work they already can– the (temporarily!) pressure-domed, pan-fandom city of Seiluun and her variouswhite-walled city districts seems to be coming right along – while still otherswork for NERV or independent Pavonis employers to meet ends meat and save upfunds for their own special projects.
Education
Until what became known as the Red Earth Opening Ceremony at CorusCon,the only educational facilities available were those classes available at theSheffield Community Centre. Once Akamatsu-sensei (who requested the Hinata-soubuilt as a private home for himself in return) and other copyright holderssecretly signed off on it, however, Mahora Academy, with classes fromelementary to graduate (and later post-graduate) curriculums was ready to open shortlyfollowing New PortCity’s big reveal. Its divisions are: Airi Ikuhara Elementary School, CrestView Middle School, Smart Brain High School, and Acme University.
Following the release ofthe redacted portions of the Whole Fenspace Catalog, the NERV Foundation providedpart of the funding for the establishment of the Mahora Academy Centre for theStudy of the Arcane. Jokingly called the Marduk Institute by NGE fans, itabsorbed the functions of the foundation’s Project Longinus Lance indeciphering magic’s mysteries. The main MACSA facilities are in the Baker’sHollow district of New Port City, on the opposite side of the Pavonis calderafrom the main district for safety’s sake.
Religion
Reflecting the American and Japanese roots of its founders, religiousneeds can be met in several locations. In H.G. Wells, the Travelers Chapel is anondenominational replica of Saint Michael’s from Resident Evil 3. The Roman Catholic Church operates theSaint Thomas Aquinas Church (patron saint of students, teachers, and academics;a replica of Saint Mary’s of the Angels in Chicago; Father John MacKenzieresident) on the Mahora campus as well as a small chapel dedicated to SaintAspren (patron saint invoked against migraines) in Sheffield.
Several alternatives not sponsored by the foundation also exist.The first was a synagogue in Victory Lake. Another was a small mosque inBaker’s Hollow which opened shortly after the MACSA did (the imam issurprisingly supportive of its efforts, but has respectfully requested that anyattempts at summoning djinn becondemned by the Centre).
Entertainment
While nowhere near the totality of Pavonis’ entertainment options,some of them include: various activities at the Sheffield Community Centre and thesame community’s four-screen Majestic Theatre. New Port City features variousclubs and the sixteen screen Peacock Megaplex on Electric Avenue. Starting in2023, the fantastic Kaleido Stage made its grand opening.
For media entertainment, Altimit offers a digital cable packagestarting in 2015. The Raccoon Times newspaperwith its Weekly Editorial and Cityside sections started runningin 2019.
Starting in 2014, the Mishima-sponsored Annual M1911 Competition andGun Convention attracted firearm enthusiasts from both space and daneside toSheffield and the STARS practice ranges every June 25-31.
Food and Business
In addition to severalcommon American and Japanese chain and franchise stores, Pavonis also features,as of 2022, in Sheffield: Cheers (American-style bar based on the one in thetelevision show of the same name), Bar Nonbou (combination Japanese-style barand Korean BBQ), Bar Jack (across from the town hall; off-duty police hangout),The Swedish Chef (Cedar District; Scandinavian food), Stan’s Polish Restaurant (Polishfood), and The Ministry of Silly Walks (English pub).
In New Port City theyinclude: The Italian Job (Wilson Heights; Italian food, obviously), My Big FatGreek Restaurant (Wilson Heights; Greek cuisine, again obviously), Café Relish(Gakuen-cho; Japanese maid café), Café Hina (Umineko; small café/snack bar atbase of Hinata-sou entrance steps), O’Kelly’s (Bybee Street, Raccoon District;Irish pub), Grill 13 (Raccoon District; diner; waved food), Emmy’s Diner (PowellStreet, Raccoon District; American diner food), and The French Connection(Victory Park; French obviously).
As of November 2016,NERV Headquarters features the NERV Cafeteria. It is open six days a week from6am to 11pm and is about as good as a Golden Corral in quality and selectionchoice, but with Japanese as well as American staples. It is located adjacentto the NERV HQ main internal entrance and is open to the public. Foundationemployees receive a 25% discount from 6am-8am and 6pm-8pm. Thursday nights areMexican nights and proudly feature “Guaranteed Non-Waved Guacamole,” thoughsomeone inevitably attempts spiking it.
Businesses withbranches/facilities in Pavonis include: the Jupiter Mining Corporation, whorent-to-own three slips and accompanying offices at H.G. Wells; StellOil, whorent a slip at H.G. Wells and have an office in Sheffield; and numerous others.The Kendo Gun Ship opened in Sheffield’s Cedar District in late 2014.
Due to a bit of secretlypurposeful micro-managing by several SEELE Council members, Toyota and Fordeach opened shops on the same day at the same time on 24 May 2019 on CopperheadRoad in New Port City across from the Rubber Duck Trucking Company – they eachclaim right of “first car dealership off of Earth.”
The arcology’s mainimports are metals, specialty foodstuffs, specialty medicines, raw organicmaterial, wood and paper products, plastic products, and petroleum. Its mainexports are the products of the NERV Foundation, a smaller amount ofnon-foundation affiliated products, and basic foodstuffs.
Dramatis Personae
Note that all stats arecirca 2022.
R. Euphemia li Britannia(T-900 Sapient Gynoid) – Mahora Academy, Acme University – Education Major –Former: Third Princess of the Holy Britannian Empire; Sub-Viceroy of Area 11
Doing her best to be a source of familial comfort for herbrother, Euphie also now plans to teach English and Japanese once shegraduates.
R. Shirley Fenette (T-900Sapient Gynoid) – Mahora Academy, Acme University – Business Major – Former:Ashford Academy Student
If there is one thing one can say about Shirley, it isthat she keeps her promises. The moment she was informed that Lelouch had been‘revived’ she stuck herself to his side and hasn’t left since. Her father hasher enrolled in the university’s business department so that she can eventuallysucceed him as CEO of WilPharma.
R. Hanmyo (T-900 SapientGynoid) – Mahora Academy, Smart Brain High School – Student – Former: BanPirate Guild Tao Sorceress/Grappler Ship Pilot
A former pirate who now hopes to teach magic… once shefigures out how it operates differently here from ‘back home’…
R. Robert Kendo (T-800Sapient Android) – Kendo Gun Shop – Owner and Proprietor – Former: Owner andProprietor of Raccoon City’s Kendo Gun Shop
~~~
NERV Foundation
The NERV Foundation is a collection of organizations operating under asingle banner to carry out various joint projects and philanthropic venturesfor the Seele Council and the Most Serene Republic of Pavonis.
Emblem used by the NERV Foundation
The most ambitious of the foundation’s philanthropic ventures and the plan fromwhich the foundation draws its name is its Natural Environment RecreationVenture, the natural environment in question being the natural environment forhumanity, the current focus project of which is Project Red Earth (see PavonisArcology article).
Prior to CorusCon, the leadership functions of the foundation ranthrough the Seele Council. Following the convention, the positions of Commanderand Sub-Commander were created. By majority vote of the Seele Council, thefirst Commander of NERV is Alex Xanatos (the only vote not for him was his ownvote). The first Sub-Commander of NERV is R. Edwin Jarvis.
[table]
- 1 NERV Section One
- 2 NERV Section Two
- 3 NERV Section Three
- 4 NERV Section Four
- 5 Joint Projects
- 6 DECA
- 7 NERV Section Five/STARS Covert Division
- 8 The Lazarus Batch
- 9 Dramatis Personae
NERV Section One
The Pavonis ArcologySupport Services (PASS) provide and service electrical utilities, watersupply and treatment, life support, running Hollow Fields (Agro Division), andsimilar work for the Pavonis Arcology. Despite not changing its name, PASS alsoserves the MO-I Asteroid Station.
NERV Section Two
The Special Tactics AndRescue Service (STARS) is a paramilitary organization whose SecurityDivision, Defense Division, Intelligence Division, Emergency Division (Medical Assistanceand HAZMAT), and Naval Division serve the NERV Foundation and Pavonis. Rumorsof a so-called “Covert Division” somehow related to the equally rumored“Section Five” are laughed at.
Badge prototype; RACCOON POLICE DEP and POLICE banner replaced by PAVONISARCOLOGY (later PAVONIS REPUBLIC) and NERV FOUNDATION banner in final version
While the initial gear of the STARS was rather limited (a SaturdayNight Special or a hunting rifle if you were lucky), things did improve withtime. As of late 2018, the STARS armory consisted of, in varying numbers: M1911(Standard Sidearm), Accuracy International Arctic Warfare (Standard SniperRifle), H&K MP5 (Security Submachine Gun). Serbu Super-Shorty (SecurityShotgun), Steyr TMP (Defense Machine Pistol), Beretta ARX-160 (Defense AssaultRifle), Beretta GRX-160 (Defense Under-Rifle Grenade Launcher), NeoSteed 2000(Defense Shotgun), DPI USAS-12 (Defense Heavy Shotgun), GE M134 Minigun &Browning M2 (Defense Machine Guns), SBD M136 AT4 (Defense Rocket Launcher), andthe rare M202 FLASH (Defense Heavy Rocket Launcher).
Vehicles include the DMC-38 “Yako” interceptor (flown by Strigon Squadron),small numbers of modified M8 “Greyhound” Light Armored Vehicles (MHI-T1)purchased cheap from third world countries, some Paramount Marauders, and agoodly amount of waved civilian Hummers.
Note: The STARS do not provide regular police and firefightingservices, though are available to be called upon in a crisis situation.
NERV Section Three
Technological ResearchAnd Development (T-RAD)…enoughsaid.
NERV Section Four
Biological Research And Development (B-RAD)… ditto.
Joint Projects
Ongoing joint research and development projects between themembers of the Seele Council through the NERV Foundation include:
Project CRS(Cybernetic Recreation Series. The largest joint project is a cooperativeventure between Cyberdyne, Mishima, Altimit, and DeLorean to recreate theT-Series of robots from the Terminatorfranchise. While having an internal computer brain, the 100 to 600 Series unitspossess only a number of AI-designed specialist systems that are designed to beeasily modifiable and reprogrammable. The T-Series consists of:
T-100 Non-Humanoid Robot Series
T-110 GASAR (Ground Assault and Support ActionsRobot; based on the T-1s from the T3movie; over time, 70 were made for NERV HQ defense; one prototype unit, theT-199 “Scowl”, was made in January 2014, replacing the Minigun mounts and headto test several humanoid arm/hand/manipulator and sensor unit designs and waslater placed in NERV Foundation Archival Storage; 10 units designated T-115,based on the versions from the T4movie, were made and sold to Great Justice in 2020, at cost; none are legallyavailable to the public)
T-120 Drone (T3movie; available mid 2013)
T-130 Sidewinder (T4 comic; ground recon/security; unarmed; available early 2014)
T-140 Hunter (improved Drone; available April2016)
T-150 VTOL (Essentially an oversized Drone;available March 2017)
T-160 Aerostat (T4 movie; air recon/security; unarmed; available mid 2018)
T-200 Maintenance and Repair Robot (made invarious chassis configurations, the earliest T-202 model was available to thepublic on 11 January 2014)
T-300 Specialist Combat Robot Series (ProjectBlack Moon programs to replicate a number of combat units from the Terminatorfranchise; programs ‘requested’ by Great Justice to be suspended followingBoskone War conclusion; see ‘NERV Section Five’)
T-400 (Prototype designations)
T-400Humanoid Robot Prototype Mark I (Dawn ofFate T-400; Made June 2014)
T-450Humanoid Robot Prototype Mark II (Dawn ofFate T-500; Made January 2015)
T-500 Cybernetic Vehicle Series
T-510 Harvester (heavy construction giant tobot/customizableheavy labor robot; available to the public 18 March 2015)
T-520 Aerial (T4 movie [slightly larger than source version]; minivan-sized onthe inside; available late 2015; nickname “Poor Man’s Pelican”; comes standardwith: life support, self-contained water closet with recycler, medium-sizedfridge/freezer, small microwave, and hook-ups and security-clamps for a flatscreen TV up to 25”; seats five comfortably [seven max safe life-supportlimits]; powered by four hydrogen plasma fuel cells [Early Production Modelfrom release date to 2023 requires yearly replacement of cells; ImprovedProduction Model from 2023 onwards requires replacement every five years])
T-530 Transport (T4 movie; light transport; available mid 2017)
T-600 Multi-Function Humanoid Robot (firstsuccessful fully-humanoid robot approved for mass production; most noted quirkis that any attempt at disguising a unit as being human fails [oftenhumorously], much like with its rubber-skinned source of inspiration; while allversions have been described as “ugly clunkers” they are also all described as“damn useful”; available to the public 5 June 2015)
T-700 Multi-Function AI Endoskeleton (a muchbetter version of the T-600, it lacks its predecessor series’ quirk thatprevented use artificial skin; aimed at the AI market, for AIs who want a bodyof their own; all units are special orders; available to the public in 12November 2016 [available ‘in house’ several years earlier]; productiondiscontinued following rollout of T-800/T-900 Series)
(Note: A number of intelligences inhabitingT-700 Series bodies “upgraded” (had their minds transferred) to T-800/T-900Series endoskeletons. Those “trading in” received a slight discount. Old T-700units were recycled. The T-800/T-900 Series Neural Net Processors (NNPs) wereall developed by Dr. R. Miles Bennett Dyson based on the knowledge retained inhis ‘canon’ memories.)
T-800 Advanced-Function Android Endoskeleton(available to the public starting on 12 August 2021, the T-800 Series initiallycomes in the T-850 “Governator” Classic Model, and ten models of varying bodysize from the smallest T-801 to the six-foot-even T-810; utilizing WilPharmapioneered CSM-101 Synthflesh, it is half again as expensive as thestill-available T-600)
T-900 Advanced-Function Gynoid Endoskeleton(available to the public starting on 12 August 2021, the T-900 Series initiallycomes in ten models of varying body size from the smallest T-901 to thesix-foot-even T-910; utilizing WilPharma pioneered CSM-101 Synthflesh, it ishalf again as expensive as the still-available T-600)
The Future: All attempts at recreating a T-1000polymimetic alloy unit have, thus far, failed (rumors about a “Grey Goo GirlIncident” are met with blank stares whenever personnel are questioned). It hasgenerally been accepted that nanotechnology will have to advance more before itcan be possible even with handwavium. This conclusion has also been acceptedfor the T-1100, better known as the T-X.
Project Geofront(An attempt by the NERV Foundation to create a self-sustaining ecosystem, theinformation gained during its development will hopefully provide useful data tothe Mars Terraforming Project. As of 2018, it consists of a lake, some lichens,moss, and simple grasses, and a promising bloom of plankton. The first simpleplants and slow-breeding insects were introduced in 2022. It is run by NERVSection Four.)
Project Fragment(Altimit/Heartland project that produced a working version of the DotHackfranchise in-series MMORPG, The World [available November 2014])
Project ATF (energy fields and force fields; hasproduced and is selling through Mishima an Acutely Tickling Field as anon-lethal restraint system [moderately bulky])
Project Super Solenoid (energy generation;produced the NERV-SSH-01 Hydrogen Plasma Fuel Cell for heavy equipment and the NERV-SSI-01Iridium Power Cell for light equipment)
Project Ego Boundary (man-machine interfaces;best known product is the PICK, sold through Altimit)
Project Heinflick Limit (FTL technologies)
Project Refresher (following Struve Conspiracy,data on biomoding the Boskones considered ‘useless’ recovered duringinvestigation used to offer those getting on in years and otherwise down inhealth an option of several ‘controlled biomods’ – Antarctic Press Furries[‘too strong and free willed’] and Fantasy Short Folk [‘too limited a customerbase’] surprisingly popular, as is the Modern Kitsune Biomod)
Project Dirac Sea (dimensional studies;established following the Interdimensional Incursion Incident) {Classification lifted following release ofredacted portions of Whole Fenspace Catalog}
Project Longinus Lance (paranormal studies;established following the Interdimensional Incursion Incident) {Classification lifted following release ofredacted portions of Whole Fenspace Catalog; organization reorganized into MACSA}
Project Black Moon (Boskone War development planfor defense programs; discontinued after the war; rumors that some continuedunder a secret NERV section are, of course, entirely preposterous)
Project Kraken (Cyberdyne/Mishima/Altimit/DeLoreanproject; developing an AI-controlled, anti-submarine/wet navy ship drone attackcraft for a Case Burgundy scenario [dane invasion of Fenspace]; low priority;designation XT-333)
Project Barge (Originally started by the Ozies,construction almost halted during the Boskone War. Following the warconstruction started again. As one might imagine, Barge is a modifiedrecreation of the eight kilometer long mobile space station from Gundam Wing. It is modified in the factthat it is unarmed. Rather than a military facility, it is intended to act as asupport facility for colonization missions. Consequently, most of its interioris empty, intended for supplies and similar cargo.)
DECA
The Digital Enclave and Cyberspace Archive is the central computercore of the foundation. It is connected, but not integral, to the PavonisIntranet, and can be isolated at a moment’s notice both manually andautomatically.
As one might imagine, it is controlled by the three MAGI – buteach MAGI is itself composed of three artificial intelligences. Casper is madeup of three based upon several Vagrant AIs from the DotHack franchise: Aura,Lycoris, and Macha. Balthazar is made up of Meg, Lou, and Nam from Bubblegum Crisis. Whoever Melchiorconsists of, however, is classified.
NERV Section Five/STARS Covert Division
***WHITENOISE***
This organization – the U.N.Mars Force (UNMF) – does not exist.
ZotE Bufram Militia flag. Used by the U.N. MarsForce
Following the Struve Conspiracy and the end of the Boskone War,the remaining Seele Council members decided to create a force that could helpto both prevent against and protect in the eventuality of similar troubles.Unfortunately, the attitude of toning down on armed forces in Fenspaceprevalent after the war – including a formal request from OGJ to cease anddesist Project Black Moon research and development – meant that it had to bedone incognito.
The result is a force led by R. Lelouch Lamperouge (Director ofCovert Operations in STARS hierarchy) out of Ecosystem Monitoring Facility #2in the Geofront. In transmissions and reports, it is referred to as Eagle RockBunker or just ‘the bunker.’
Gear includes the standard STARS equipment (not recommended fordenial purposes), access to the secret Biwa Arsenal (see Mishima section ofSeele Council article), the MHI-AS09 Gernsback mecha, the IMI Tavor TAR-21assault rifle, the IMI Desert Eagle pistol, and the MHI-T2 “Dominion” tank(based on data gained from modifying several M8s into MHI-T1s; modeled after theJSSDF 6x6 tank in End of Evangelion).
The most notable units available to – albeit never used by;they’re kept and trained with on a “just in case” basis – the UNMF are theproducts of the officially cancelled Project Black Moon development programs.The Seele Council plans on sarcastically saying, essentially, “Oh, yeah, causewe’re the ONLY people in Fenspace copying things from fictional sources. Riiiiiiiight~,” should anyone getsuspicious of Terminator-relatedproducts in the UNMF inventory if ever used. As of 2020, the small stock of suchitems include the: T-310 Mototerminator, T-320 Snowterminator, T-330 Spider,T-340 Hydrobot, T-350 Tank, T-360 Bomber, T-370 Infantrybot, T-380 Tetrapod,and T-390 Centurion.
What really allowed the operations of the UNMF to take off was thesuccessful recreation of MITHRIL’s Electronic Camouflage System (ECS) –emitters that, when placed strategically around an object, produces an energyfield that bends and wraps light around it to make the object invisible. Thisdoes not affect radar, thermal optics, or motion sensors, of course, but it isstill quite useful. The SC Tuatha deDanaan TDD-1 and the MHI-AS09 Gernsbacks are equipped.
Several UNMF facilities, primarily intelligence units, operate underlegitimate front companies. These include: Zeira Corporation (Marduk), AutomiteSystems (Crystal Paris), Security Trust of Mars Vegas (Mars Vegas), KalibaGroup (Coruscant), and Dakara Systems (Ganymede).
The Lazarus Batch
A curious fact whichmany notice about the Pavonis Arcology is that there are not as many AIs as onewould think, what with it being a manufacturing site for robots. This is duethe nature of the handwavium batch found by Alex Xanatos. While being likeevery other source of handwavium in other ways, a quirk seemingly isolated tothis batch (and most blame Alex picking his last name as Xanatos being somehowresponsible for it) is that it stubbornly refuses to make any AI whatsoeverthat is not based on a fictional character that has officially died in itscanon.
While AIs based onfictional characters are obviously quite common in Fenspace, there exists afurther problem – each of the AIs produced with what became known as theLazarus Batch insist that they are the genuine article. Disturbingly, the sheerlevel of detail and clarity with which they can remember their ‘former lives’ –especially a great deal not even covered in the source material – makes the fewwho know of this phenomenon wonder if it might not somehow be true. This wasonly given still further credence when several attempts at making duplicates ofthose already ‘revived’ failed completely.
The Seele Councildecided not to take any chances – the ethical questions alone about ‘raisingthe dead’ were mindboggling. Replacement handwavium sources were purchased,several barrels of the Lazarus Batch were sealed up for later study, and allother samples were destroyed via the sun in March 2013.
All of which changed atSerenityCon and the events up to the Battle of Boskone Prime...
Following the conclusionof the Boskone War, the now-diminished Seele Council came to the conclusionthat fail-safes had to be put into place to prevent such a large force ofaggressors from assembling without notice or opposition. While the post-wardemilitarization was underway elsewhere throughout Fenspace, the councilcarried out in late 2013 the reorganization of NERV Section Two and the secretcreation of the U.N. Mars Force.
A key part of thesepost-war actions was the Violet-level classified Project Thanatos Gambit. Usingthe remainder of the Lazarus Batch, a small number of individuals were selectedfor just what they could bring to the table and their likelihood of beingconvinced to work with the NERV Foundation were chosen for ‘revival.’
The rest is history.
Dramatis Personae
Note that stats are circa 2022.
Alex Xanatos (see Seele Council article)
R. Edwin Jarvis (see Seele Council article)
Dr, R. Miles Bennett Dyson (T-800 Sapient Android) – NERV SectionThree – Chief Cyberneticist – Former: Head of another world’s CSC R&D
Having once‘given up’ his life in the cause of stopping a global holocaust before it couldstart, Miles Dyson now uses the skills and knowledge that led to Judgment Dayto better serve humanity.
R. Dr. Daniel Fransisco “Danny” Alvera (T-800 Sapient Android) –NERV Section Three – Chief Programmer – Former: Best Programmer on the USAF’sCRS Project Team
A man who gave uphis life several times to spit in the face of Skynet, Danny now applies theknow-how that planted the seeds of individual sentience in the Terminators toperfect the software side of things for NERV.
R. Robert Brewster (T-800 Sapient Android) – NERV Section Two,STARS Defense Division – Commandant / Director of Defense Operations – Former: LieutenantGeneral in charge of U.S. Air Force’s Cyber Research Systems Project
If there is aperson who understands how the road to hell can be paved with good intentions,it would be Robert Brewster. His ‘dying moments’ were spent facing theknowledge that his project’s creation was going to destroy his country andworld. It will not happen again…
R. Rupert Edmund Giles (T-800 Sapient Android) – Project LonginusLance (later Mahora Academy Centre for the Study of the Arcane) – ProjectDirector (later Centre Administrator) – Former: Sunnydale High SchoolLibrarian; Field Watcher; Magic Shop Owner; Head of the New Watchers Council;alias “Ripper”
When he woke upafter being ‘killed’ by the Twilight-possessed Angel, Rupert Giles had only onething to say: “Ah…I probably should have expected something like this…”Gradually rekindling his relationship with Janna Kalderash – wed in 2017 – heworks now with his wife and a close team to determine the laws, effects, and,inevitably, consequences of magic and the supernatural in this “other Earth.”
R. Janna Kalderash Giles (T-900 Sapient Gynoid) – Project LonginusLance (later Mahora Academy Centre for the Study of the Arcane) – Technomancy
Division Subdirector – Former: Sunnydale High School Computer Teacher;
Technopagan Mage; Romany of Clan Kalderash; alias “Jennifer Calendar”
After ‘dying’ at
the hands of Angelus, Janna can probably be forgiven for kicking Alex in the
family jewels when he came into her ‘waking room’ following her ‘revival’ to
explain what was going on. Eventually rekindling her relationship with Rupert,
she is actually quite excited at the idea of studying and practicing magic in
this new world where she doesn’t have to worry about (much) secrecy.
R. Lelouch Lamperouge (T-800 Sapient Android) – U.N. Mars Force –
Director of Covert Operations – Former: Leader/Strategist of the Order of the
Black Knights; 99th Emperor of the Holy Britannian Empire; alias
“Zero”
If it weren’t for
Euphie and Shirley he wouldn’t bother at all. His ‘sister’ and
friend-who-is-a-girl (and much more if she has her way) are now the rocks by
and for which the former revolutionary steadies himself.
…He does wonder
how the hell, with all the differences in their timelines, Pizza Hut can exist
in this world, too, though…
Dorothy de la Vega (Original Name: N/A) – NERV Section Two, STARS
Naval Division – Commodore / Director of Naval Operations
~~~
Seele Council
The Seele Council is the board of directors of the NERV Foundation, and, while
maintaining complete control over their own enterprises, cooperate heavily with
one another in various joint projects and philanthropic ventures.
The eight people presently on the council are: Alex Xanatos, CEO Cyberdyne;
Biwa Mishima, CEO Mishima; R. Joseph Fenette, CEO WilPharma; Mary Gamblin, CEO
Altimit; James “Jimmy” Blake, CEO Binford; Kazuo Jenkins, CEO Ajax; Lana
Izavia, CEO Heartland; and The O, CEO DeLorean.
Former council members consist of: the late Airi Ikuhara-Xanatos, CEO Ikuhara;
and Harry Struve, ex CEO WilPharma, on the run and wanted by Great Justice
following the Battle of Serenity Valley.
Council chairpersons: Alex Xanatos (Founding-January 2019) and
Kazuo Jenkins (January 2019-Present)
The Seele Council actually started as a group of bar buddies in
Port Lowell around 2010. Following a beer-laden 007 marathon at Jimmy Blake’s
place (see below), they decided to expand on the idea and make an actual
settlement within the volcano. This, of course, would require some serious
coin. Having already complained to one another about how certain services that
had been taken for granted were for the most part not available to Fen
following their leaving the Earth (Australia being the obvious exception), they
decided to become those services. Still, that left the requirement of start-up
money. Blake came to the rescue with the “how” he built his bachelor pad and,
as they say, the rest is history.
[table]
- 1 Cyberdyne
Systems Corporation, Limited
- 2 WilPharma Corporation
- 3 Mishima Heavy
Industries
- 4 Altimit
Corporation
- 5 Binford Tools
Company
- 6 Ajax Material
Supply Company
- 7 Heartland Play
Systems
- 8 DeLorean Motor
Company
- 9 Ikuhara
Electronics
- 10 Politics and
Goals
- 11 Dramatis
Personae
Cyberdyne Systems Corporation, Limited
Producing human-use
bionics and non-sapient robots, it originally outsourced a goodly amount of its
electrical components from daneside sources and later fellow councilmember
Ikuhara Electronics. Following the Battle of Serenity Valley, Cyberdyne
absorbed Ikuhara and its product lines in keeping with the prior owner’s
wishes.
Its bionics fall under
the C-Series of products, which are increasingly customizable by the
generation. The PKG have a Preferred Customer status and discount.
All robots fall under
the R-Series of robots. It’s most popular is the R-10 Navi robot, based off of Vandread’s Pyoro.
WilPharma Corporation
Initially acting as a
middle-man for Earth-made supplies, WilPharma began coming into its own in mid-2013
when it began producing its own hospital grade basic materials, and received a
hard won victory when several daneside health organizations certified its
products in 2014.
The corporation received a major shake-up following the Battle of Serenity
Valley, where evidence recovered by the Roughriders revealed that not only had
CEO Harry Struve been supplying the Boskones via daneside intermediaries, but
had concocted a plot with the terrorists to kill the other members of the Seele
Council – of the nine members, only he did not attend SerenityCon – and allow
him to subsume control of the Pavonis Arcology.
Following these events, with the corporation routed of Boskones and their
supporters, control of WilPharma was seized by the Seele Council until such a
time as the surviving seven members could appoint a replacement as CEO. It did
so on 1 January 2014 in the form of R. Joseph Fenette (T-700 [later T-808]
Sapient Android).
During the investigation
of WilPharma facilities following the post-SerenityCon seizure, a half-dozen
unregistered laboratory chambers in NERV HQ were discovered. Inside were…
things best left unsaid. The Seele Council decided to destroy all special equipment they found and not to
report any of what was discovered – as everyone involved with what went on in
said chambers had already been arrested and convicted, any further OGJ
attention would only hurt those in WilPharma innocent of any crimes.
They did, however,
recover data on biomoding that the Boskones considered to be useless, whether
due to the resulting subjects being ‘too independently minded’ or just having
too small of a potential market. The machines responsible for the biomoding
processes were perfected by WilPharma employees eager to prove their mettle and
the NERV Foundation used these in Project Refresher in a public, open offer
daneside and in Fenspace to those getting on in years and otherwise down in
health as an option of several ‘controlled biomods.’ The biomoding machines
themselves are clearly based on what someone, likely Struve, thought a Catgirling Machine was like
before ever getting access to a real one.
Options for biomoding recovered
include Antarctic Press-style furries (coming from a machine that looks like
Steve Urkle’s transformation booth and only works if the sound effects played
during said booth’s use on the show is played) and Fantasy Short Folk. An
accident during reverse engineering also created an anime-style Kitsune
biomoding machine that has proven surprisingly popular.
Mishima Heavy Industries
Your friendly,
neighborhood defense concern.
Like many of the
original Seele Council members, Mishima started out supplying Fenspace with
products it bought daneside as a middleman. Uniquely to Mishima’s case, and a
source of much groaning and headaches once the rest found out about it, a
goodly amount of its start-up capital went to purchasing items off of black
market arms dealers – partly to keep them out of the wrong hands, mostly
because Biwa, being the military otaku she is, just couldn’t help herself.
Fortunately, the council members managed to keep the “Biwa Arsenal” from
leaking out (they hope), though they now have a secret stockpile of weapons to
make any third world dictator envious.
The company’s most
famous products include its refit of a number of M8 “Greyhound” Light Armored
Vehicles. Later, in cooperation with Steyr Mannlicher, it produced a market
version of its Advanced Combat Rifle in 2015. In 2017, MHI finalized the
purchase of the copyrights for the G11 rifle design. The following year it
released the MHI M11S standard rifle and the MHI M11V for use in vacuum.
Mishima has announced that a highly customizable version called the M11C with
non-lethal forms of ammunition is in the testing phase and expected to be
released around 2022.
This being Fenspace, and
Ms. Mishima being a Japanese military otaku, one would think her company’s
products would include mecha – one would be right.
Following several mobile
suit scale failures, a try at arm slave scale produced an admittedly underpowered
and unimpressive MHI-AS01 Mistral II for sale in July 2013. The much improved
MHI-AS02 Type-96 was available by April 2015, with a slightly better MHI-AS03
Bushnell arriving in May 2017. The model available in 2022 is the MHI-AS03D.
Rumors of a large, metal
container labeled “MHI-AS4X” being spotted in transit through a NERV Personnel
Only tunnel in Pavonis in 2016 is denied outright (see NERV Section Five/STARS
Covert Division).
Following the Ozies
joining the foundation, MHI again poured resources into the development of
mobile suit scale mecha. This led to its first success with the two prototype
MHI-MS01 Tallgeese units in 2016. This was followed by the mass production line
of the MHI-MS02 Leo two years later.
The Future: Current
focus is on the development of viable plasma weaponry, with a particular focus
on recreating the Westinghouse M-21 Phased Pulse Plasma Rifle.
Altimit Corporation
Computers repair and
customization, Internet and television service, network setup, software
development, specialist programs, computer games – if it needs to speak 010010,
Altimit are the folks to talk to – especially as most of the employees are AI
themselves.
Starting by purchasing
the rights to the DotHack series and its related material, a LINUX-based
operating system, ALTIMIT OS, has been in use by the NERV Foundation since 2012
(upgraded to ALTIMIT MINE OS following the ‘Struve Conspiracy’).
Their current computer
game system is the Altimit PICK (Partial-Immersion Computer Kit), which
connects to a regular computer and allows the wearer to experience a number of
game worlds (both designed for the system and not) in terms of real world sight
and sound, but without such senses as taste, smell, and touch. The PICK is not
available in countries which places a ban on handwaved products and is not
compatible with Sony, Nintendo, or Microsoft game consoles.
Binford Tools Company
Producing first vulcanocrete,
then hand tools and basic parts, and finally power tools and heavy equipment,
an unknown fen working for a building crew at Mos Eisley once famously
commented that Binford could be described as “the backbone of any construction
project on Mars.” Needless to say, they take great pride in this.
Two of Binford’s
earliest successes – so early that the CEO was also sole employee – were also
critical to the development of the Pavonis Arcology: vulcanocrete and the
ultrasonic laser. Vulcanocrete is a ceramic material made up of lava rock mixed
with ground-up quartz and something else (generic plaster mixed with pure
handwavium). The ultrasonic laser is more the former than the latter, it is
made out of old sonogram and sonar equipment and modeled after the device of
the same name from The Core –
unfortunately, it’s not quite as effective as its inspiration.
In a quirk that
alternately annoys and amuses the company’s employees and owner to no end, no
handwaved Binford product will work correctly unless it bears a 6100 Series
label.
Ajax Material Supply Company
Growing out of initial
obscurity in early 2013, whether it’s a product they produce themselves or
import from Earth, Ajax as of 2022 is recognized as the largest chemical, wood,
paper, plastic, and stone supplier outside of cislunar space.
Thus far, all attempts
at making unobtanium have proven futile. One failed product of the attempt in
2014, though, produced a high-tensile strength aluminum-chromium-titanium-steel
alloy that Cyberdyne and several others (NERV and otherwise) purchase under the
name hyperalloy.
They initially tried to
supply basic metals as well, but there was so much competition there already
that they just gave up on it – the main reason that metals of various sorts are
now one of Pavonis’ largest imports.
Heartland Play Systems
Handwavium and toys…
there exists not the space to encompass the joy and madness conceived.
Still, it is worth
saying that they produced the MMORPG “The World” together with Altimit in 2014.
It won a 4 out of 5 on X-Play, losing
its sole pint due to the necessity of purchasing the Altimit PICK to play it.
Note: Never ask about
the Chucky dolls… just don’t…
Extra Note: Their
Jumanji holographic board game is pretty fun, though.
DeLorean Motor Company
Purchased outright from
Stephen Wynne, The O (never forget the ‘The’) now slaps the DMC logo on both
waved and unwaved niche market products both space- and planet-side.
Products include the
DMC-12 Classic, the DMC-38 Yako (based on the Yak 38 Custom jet interceptor in Evangelion; space-capable), the DMC-40
Blue Angel (shuttle based on the ‘UN 789’ plane in Evangelion), the DMC-48 AD-Police Interceptor (chiefly exported to
Genaros; ‘Car 48, Where are You?’ opening music must be played before
starting), and the DMC-50 Peel (based on the Peel P50; rights purchased 2016).
DMC also has a standing
program to locate, purchase, refit, and resell certain other vehicles. These
include: the VW Van, the VW Thing/Safari/Trekker (not vacuum-capable), the Opel
Kadett, and first to sixth generation Ford F-Series trucks. They also do a more
limited number of WWII/Cold War Era non-tracked military vehicles – The O has a
standing order request from Biwa Mishima to purchase any WWII and Korean War
Era Jeeps and similar vehicles. VW Beetle owners have been refused waving since
the Noodle Incident of 2015.
Currently, DMC is trying
to purchase any available “junked” diesel submarines on the cheap from former
communist block countries for use in the Mars Terraforming Project. The plan is
to refit them and use them to both haul water-ice asteroids to Mars as well as
to monitor the ecology of the future Martian oceans. Negotiations for the
rusted hulks seen in Top Gear’s Albania episode are now in progress.
The Future: DMC is
working on creating a working versions of the stealth fighter from Red Storm Rising, the F-19 Ghostrider.
Current projections place the DMC-19 in service around 2028 onwards.
Ikuhara Electronics
Selling waved, partly
waved, and non-waved electronics and electrical components, Ikuhara was a
successful business from its start to its end. Following Airi Ikuhara-Xanatos’
death at the Battle of Serenity Valley, the company was absorbed by Cyberdyne, per
its late owner’s wishes.
Politics and Goals
While encouraging
maintaining ties of various sorts with Earth, the Seele Council is quite open
with its opinion that each settlement on Mars - and in Fenspace in its entirety
- should be as self-sufficient at least in the essentials as possible. It is
also of the opinion that Mars, at least once the terraforming project is
completed, should be the capital of Fenspace and “the homeworld of Fen,
anywhere.” Their proposal for the Fenspace National Anthem is Oingo Boingo’s
“Weird Science.”
The council fully supported the goals of Operation Great Justice and later the
organization Great Justice. The SV Celestial
Court (TDD-2) – an unarmed but heavily armored design registered as a heavy
troop transport and emergency evacuation ship – was sold at cost to Great
Justice in June 2020. It and its NERV Foundation flagship predecessor – the SV Tuatha de Danaan (TDD-1), launched 2018
– are based on the carrier submarine from Full
Metal Panic!.
As of 2022, the SEELE
Council is debating the gradual production of additional TDD-type vessels, this
time in a cargo carrier configuration, in order to progressively lessen its
reliance on outside shipping companies for export and import transport. If produced,
these vessels would be SV Devas
(TDD-3), SV Kami (TDD-4), and SV Djinn (TDD-5).
Dramatis Personae
Alexander Xanatos (Original Name: Not tellin’) – Cyberdyne Systems
Corporation, Limited – CEO; NERV Commander (post-CorusCon); Seele Chairman
(until January 2019)
While not
admitting his former identity to the public, it is pretty much in the open that
he is a former worker for the U.S. Postal Service. A fan of both the Terminator franchise and the works of
Ken Akamatsu and Rumiko Takahashi (minus Inuyasha),
he became the first Chairman of the Seele Council by virtue of being the
slowest to decline the position. He now knows why Naruto fanfiction is
rife with jokes about the kage’s mortal enemy of paperwork.
After the death
of his wife Airi in the Battle of Serenity Valley, he buried himself in the
reorganization of NERV Section Two, the establishment of the U.N. Mars Force,
and the hunt for his former best friend, Harry Struve. This lasted for just
over a year, when Biwa slipped him something and gave him an “Eight Hour
Workout” to break him out of his funk.
Following the
turnover of the chairmanship in 2019, he took a page from Hand Maid May and, to a degree, became the “Wandering President of
Cyberdyne.” It is only to a degree as, much to his annoyance, the rest of his
friends voted him into the newly created position of Commander of the NERV
Foundation. About half of the time he can be found in places other than
Pavonis, including daneside, performing the role of representative of the NERV Foundation.
Airi Ikuhara-Xanatos (Original Name: N/A) – Ikuhara Electronics –
CEO (Until death in Battle of Serenity Valley)
Originally a
victim of the glass ceiling within Japan’s old boys club of corporate affairs,
the lifelong romantic comedy anime otaku journeyed into the final frontier with
the express purpose of thumbing her nose at the The Man. She did just that. It
is also where she met with her koi, Alex.
It was, sadly,
not to last. In the Battle of Serenity Valley, she was shot while attempting to
escape with her friends. She is survived by her husband of four months and the
elementary school which now bears her name.
James “Jimmy” Blake (Original Name: N/A) – Binford Tools Company –
CEO
A good old boy
and a Southern gentleman is there ever was one – most of the time. A former
employee of Black & Dekker, Jimmy quit the day he left Earth for Fenspace,
leaving behind a scathing letter on the subject of built-in obsolescence,
standards that hadn’t changed in years, the walking jokes that were quality-control
supervisors, and the canine-related parentage of the company president’s
mother.
Kazuo Jenkins (Original Name: N/A) – Ajax Material Supply Company
– CEO and SEELE Chairman (later after January 2019)
Only one-quarter
American, his mixed heritage status met with even more of a glass ceiling that
Airi Ikuhara did. Endlessly practical as well as forward-thinking, he easily
realized that the one thing that would always be in demand as a commodity was
raw materials. Setting out to supply that demand led to his resounding success
and seven digit net worth. His “suck it” letter to his former employers in 2020
nearly made Jimmy wet himself in his laughter.
Mary Gamblin (Original Name: N/A) – Altimit Corporation – CEO
A member of the
Pulpers, Mary came to Fenspace for only a visit just before the American
government’s condemnation of those leaving the planet using handwavium. Stuck
there, she made the best of things. Following the amnesty granted at KandorCon,
she decided to stay in her new niche in life and renounced her U.S. citizenship.
For the past several years she has been part of
the growing online movement called the Confederation Party, which seeks to more
formalize the Articles of Convention into a “United Nations of the Fenspace
Convention” with a U.N. Parliamentary Assembly to present a more unified front
to those daneside – referred to as the “United Nations of Earth” – while still
maintaining individual sovereignty.
The O (Original Name: Not tellin’) – DeLorean Motor Company – CEO
The O once proudly declared that his wardrobe “consists of only
the very best of the Fifties to the Eighties in American and British fashion.” Usually
considered a bit of a goof, The O nevertheless has a good head for business and
keen eye for vehicles. After taking a loan from Kazuo to help purchase
DeLorean, he quickly paid him back following the production of the waved and
unwaved versions of an updated DMC-12 Classic to daneside and Fenspace markets.
Lana Izavia (Original Name: Not tellin’) – Heartland Play Systems
– CEO
Lana took her
name and appearance from a military policewoman in Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross who became Nova Satori in
its Carl Macek adaptation. She didn’t really have too much of a choice in the
appearance part, actually. Attending a cosplay party at Marsbase Sara in early
2010, she went as the first police figure she could think of as her parents
were both police detectives. It is there she made the all too common mistake of
trying out the green food at the buffet table. On the plus side, she would
never have to dye her hair from the drab brown she’d always disliked again as
her blue wig was now her real hair. On the minus side, she now had the Robotech version of her costume choice
yammering away in her head (and, as they later found out, able to take over
when either asleep or unconscious).
Taking the name
of her new headmate’s counterpart, the now Lana decided to improve the children
of Fenspace’s lives by making pre-waved and non-waved toys for their enjoyment.
She also, apart from this, used both her knowledge from growing up with two
officers of the law as well as the more hardcore experience of the Global
Military Police colonel in her head to help establish the Pavonis Arcology
Police Department.
Biwa Mishima (Original Name: Not tellin’) – Mishima Heavy
Industries – CEO
It would surprise
many that this rather chesty Yamato Nadeshiko is, in fact, not originally
Japanese – or even Asian for that matter. It would surprise them even more to
find out she was not always a she. Biwa is one of the lucky few who actually
got exactly what she wanted out of a biomod. Not that anyone ever will find
out, of course. She ain’t tellin’ nobody.
A true
Japanophile, Biwa speaks Nihongo like native of Tokyo. She is also notoriously
promiscuous and a tease – she keeps in regular contact with a number of friends
among the Heinleinians, and flirts constantly. Biwa is also a military otaku,
with a few quirks. She has a complete disdain for the M16, Beretta 92, Glock
pistol, and Kalashnikov and anything related to them, while adoring the M1911 and
Desert Eagle and their variants. Appreciates revolvers, but only for their
history – sees modern ones as their manufacturers playing up on nostalgia over
effectiveness.
Harry Struve (Original Name: N/A) – WilPharma Corporation – CEO
(until post-Battle of Serenity Valley); Boskonian
A man who the
other council members only thought they knew. Harry Struve secretly shared
biomod research with and supplied materials to Boskonian slavers through a
small chain of daneside intermediaries. Towards the end of the Boskone War,
however, he became too greedy. Learning through his contacts of an upcoming
attack on SerenityCon, he convinced the other members of the Seele Council to
go to the convention and enjoy themselves while he “held down the fort while
carrying out some time-critical research.” In the aftermath of the Battle of
Serenity Valley, however, the Roughriders came across irrefutable evidence of
Struve soliciting a group of the Boskonians to directly target the other Seele
members so that he could assume control over the Pavonis Arcology.
When Marsden
presented the evidence to the seven Seele members grieving over the death of
Airi Ikuhara-Xanatos, the furious survivors led a charge of STARS Security
Division guards and an OGJ team to capture the traitor. What they found waiting
for them following a minor firefight with several reprogrammed T-110s, however,
was not Harry Struve. Not anymore, at least. What they found was Struve’s reclining
body in his private lab/study, grinning and giving the finger to the people
entering the room. A smell of burning metal and plastics filled the air as the
machine to which the body’s head was attached Cerebro-style smoldered. After an
investigation, it was determined that Struve had performed a destructive read
on himself and used Pavonis’ Interwave node to transfer his consciousness to
somewhere on Deimos. After that, the trail went cold.
Harry Struve,
regardless of present body/mind container, is now wanted by Great Justice,
Space Patrol, and the Pavonis Arcology Police Department for the crimes of one
count of murder, eight counts of solicitation to commit murder, and multiple
counts of slave trafficking, forced biomoding, and assault with deadly robots –
with more possible to come out at a trial.
R. Joseph Fenette (Original Name: N/A) – WilPharma Corporation –
CEO (As of 1 January 2014)
A businessman
‘victim’ of the Black Rebellion, he managed to push through his culture shock
after ‘revival’ for his daughter’s sake and agreed to take up the reins of
WilPharma and join the Seele Council.
R. Delwin Jarvis (Original Name: N/A) – Seele Council – Seele
Council Treasurer – Former: Butler of Anthony Stark; Assistant to the Avengers
The first ever
‘revival’ of the Lazarus Batch, the gentleman from England woke Alex up the
morning following his laptop’s waving with screams of terror as the AI ‘woke
up’ with his ‘last memories’ of being eaten by his zombified friends. Since
then, he has become an invaluable companion to the members of the Seele Council
and manages their joint funds with the long earned experience of guiding the
wealthy away from bad decisions.
