[hider=TEOSC heavy work in progress, but I got a lot done today] [b]Nation Name/Flag: Treaty on Exploration and Operation in Superluminal Contexts In accordance with Consensus of Covenants (can be abbreviated TEOSC, TEOSCOC, or TEOSCACC) this is a rough translation of an alien phrase[/b] [hider=Short blurb, for those who dislike long winded explanations] An agreement of cooperation between a few different species, with oversight by a shadowy techno-psionic religion, and spooky mysteries. also connections to the horde that fought against the federation. Featuring Species such as. Space bird-bug-bats Shapeshifting black hole worshippers The ominous monoliths are just shy Nomadic SPACE Khanate Rock dragons from Venus C r a b broken space marines space wizards who might have once been trees, a public nuisance 2spooky4u [/hider] [hider=Important Tech terms that will somewhat ease understanding of some of these things.] Fargates: a special form of hyperspace relay, designed using a different technological base, believed to have had some use by the horde. Fargates struggle to reach nearby systems and can more easily reach distant stars. fargates must be placed at least...say 100 LY apart or else navigation becomes difficult. Fargates can also be used to travel to other fargates as long as you have the navigational data. Fargates are at this point in time a monumental construction project, requiring large investment of gravitics and the gradual funneling of the mass equivilent of a small moon into a specialized construction reverse engineered from ancient ruins. the fargate requires a power source to remain stable, though that is comparitively easy compared to the other engineering challenges. there are theories of methods of creating fargates without the use of gravitics, but they are far more difficult, and would require solar system engineering beyond what even the Foundation can do. some theorize that one day they might be able to work around limitations of the fargate system. The Fargate in the abaddon system can open into nearer starsystems, however is substantially more difficult to navigate. Backchannel system: advanced Taosc ships can create "backchannels" which are lesser fargates that a single ship enters through in order to return to a known fargate, the return trip through these backchannels is notoriously longer and more dangerous, due to the less stable spacetime metrics involved. a backchannel can usually open anywhere within a system that has a fargate. backchannels are more dangerous the closer you open one to a fargate, with less than 100 lightyears away being inadvisable. Wormholes: A technology known to the Foundation and Servants, with other races knowing the principles but lacking the industrial capability to build one. creation of a wormhole pair takes similar resources to the creation of a fargate, both sides of the wormhole will start off very close to eachother, and must be dragged to their new destination, wormholes can be dragged through Fargates, however, this is very very dangerous, and a miscalculation can destroy the wormhole pair and in some cases the fargate, such objects being destroyed can have catastophic effects on solar systems. Gravitics: Sets of technologies, infrastructure, and material that aids in the manipulation of gravity, often used in common terms for the special forms of exotic matter often used by gravitational machinery. this gravitic matter is most common surrounding black holes, or in systems near to black holes but can be found in trace amounts in certain planets cores and magnetospheres. Finding more black holes to mind is a priority of the expeditionary force, as currently gravitics is extremely expensive. within a starship, gravitic technology is a system involving the exotic matter, magnetic containment and manipulation of the the exotic matter, along with pipes and coils. if power is lost the exotic conditions necessary for the manipulation of gravity cease to be, and the ship must find new sources of the material [/hider] [hider=government] Long story short an Astrocratic Republic aided by a mystery cult. At the upper levels of government The highest government official has a title that might be translated as “Consul” the consul is often multiple people at once. Below the consul are an Executive Branch. A judicial branch, and a legislative branch which together decide and act on TEOSC goals. Below each of these branches is a Council of representatives. Below the consul is another few councils of representatives, the most notable of which are the Embassy Program, which handles integration of new civilizations into TEOSC and the Ominous “Itinerary” or “Order of Prophets” as its sometimes called, which is a group of Techno-psionic mystics who work as Liasons between hyperspace and “real” space, along with precursor technology. The Itinerary has a huge sway on policy within the TEOSC and all FTL capable structures are required to have one or more agents of the itinerary overseeing operation. Individual planets within TEOSC space operate as city-states, but enjoy protection and favorable trade agreements, but with some oversight to prevent “gross violations of sentient rights” [/hider] [hider=locations] [hider=Melancholy] “Melancholy”: binary home system of the Founders and the Tubers, and one of five functional gate worlds, located in a far off corner of the periphery. Has a few nearby auxiliary systems colonized during the relativistic age. Most of them TEOSC can only reach with through STL means. Most civilization and life on the Founder homeworld, once a lush thick atmosphere moon was eradicated during the conflict with the crusaders, it is currently undergoing rebuilding. Fortunately, the Founders had already colonized most worlds in the solar system (though many of those were destroyed as well) Melancholy is the location of the first “Fargate” designed by Founder scientists based on a mixture of technology looted from the Crusaders, and ancient ruins on a carbon planet within the system. Despite being the founding system of TEOSC, melancholy’s devastation means its no longer the core of the civilization. [/hider] [hider=ABADDON] Abaddon: The abaddon system (named by the Starmata) is the sacred system of the Servants, its main attraction is a black hole, which serves as a central part of Servant sacred beliefs. The black hole is notably nonstandard, perhaps as the result of some ancient precursor engineering. It is a rotating Kerr black hole, with a vaguely “ring shaped” event horizon at the center of which is the systems fargate, notably different in function than fargates used by the Founders, the abaddon gate can reach both distant, and occasionally, nearby worlds, but it is far more turbulent and dangerous than founder fargates, requiring extremely skilled psionic navigation to avoid being crushed. The Abaddon system has a wormhole to the nearby home system of the Servants, a water rich system that not only has the wet world of the servants, but also has a superoceanic world rich with life (but nothing sentient so far, but expeditionary explorers have been exploring the upper oceanic layers). Habitats in the abaddon system are all artificial, created by both Foundation and Servants, who share a strong rivalry after the foundation “Broke” something in the fargate making it “spiritually damaged” The Foundation has offered to help fix it, but the servants have had difficulty articulating. Abaddon is a highly important planet for TEOSC as its so far the sole source of some very important resources such as Gravitics and Hypermatter. Another wormhole created in the system by the servants leads to hellish homeworld of the Lindworms who have, upon receiving spacer technology, industrialized the system. [/hider] [hider=Almagest Cluster] in the asteroid belt of one of many stars in the Almagest Cluster, where the Starmata originated, is the fargate of this sector, it is located on the very edge of the periphery, perhaps near the federates alliance. The almagest cluster is a small, but noticeably dense open star cluster with young stars. Most of the inhabitants of the almagest cluster are human derived. Like many open clusters almagest has a core of close stars, and a corona of farther stars, most habitation is within the core, dense enough that slower than light travel between those star systems is practical. Almagest is an important exporter of both mundane materials (metals, volatiles, radioactive etc) and foodstuff making it the cornucopia of TEOSC. Despite this, there is very little native evolved life, due to the youth and occasional instability of the stars. Relativistic trading ships are a common site among these worlds [/hider] [hider=TSC-3851910] Hub world of Foundation activity, however, nearby star systems have also been colonized and communicate with one another through powerful laser stations. Extensively industrialized and formerly lifeless. Large portions of the mass of the star system are utilized by the Foundation in large scale engineering projects, TSC-3851910 has the largest shipyards within TEOSC space, however, the Foundation are famously averse to military vessels, so most of the ships made here are used for logistics. On one world a few lightyears away, the foundation has begun their greatest project yet “The Gateforge” a factory that would be able to create wormholes and inactive fargates that can be “activated” with an influx of energy. On another nearby system, the Foundation has constructed one of the first (as far as the TEOSC know) Hypermatter “shunt” used to mine exotic materials from hyperspace. It has had numerous incidents and is usually undergoing repairs, but it has been altogether promising. Furthermore, Within the TSC-3851910 system numerous space habitats have been constructed to allow a variety of species to live in comfort and safety, many refugees within TEOSC space live here. Location wise, TSC-3851910 is in the periphery away from other TEOSC worlds. The Wizard homeworld lies a few lightyears from TSC-3851910, or, it did, before the wizards "performed an experiment" that created a Krasnikov tube between the two systems, which caused considerable damage to a section of the (admittedly heavily mined out) oort cloud and had more catastrophic effects within the wizards system (they dont seem to mind) it was later found that several research ships in the foundation were convinced by the wizards to help in this tunnel construction. worse yet, this tunnel construction was NOT ON THE ITINERARY. but as they often do, the wizards "talked some (non)-sense into the Gatekeeper agents sent to apprehend those responsible. the tunnel construction was retroactively added to the Itinerary. Interrogation of the Foundation research vessels revealed that they "Thought it made sense at the time" which is frustrating as the ability to construct Krasinikov tubes could be a (cosmically) safe method of FTL travel. [/hider] [hider=New harvest] “New Harvest”: shoddy translation by Starmata translators of an ancient system that was discovered by the expedition corps, there are three planets with life orbiting this star said to perhaps predate the galaxy. One of which is a terrestrial world, teeming with exotic lifeforms, the other is a small gas giant with aerial lifeforms. There is also a planet much like the homeworld of the founders, which has lead to colonization. So far, none of the nearby stars of new harvest have been explored. New harvest is strangely enough, located in the core, strange it hasnt been visited before, perhaps its because no “standard” starlanes lead to it. or maybe there is something else, thus far, no signs of intelligent life have been found. [/hider] [/hider] [hider=Demographics, major, note that this refers more to "civilization of origin" rather than species, as many groups within Teosc utilize AI and genetic engineering] [hider=Founders] Founding civilization of Teosc, have some traits of eusocial insects along with birds and bats, third highest technological base of Teosc client species. In the modern day are usually genetically and cybernetically altered. Have a history of psionics. Founders came from a low gravity world with a thick atmosphere, comparable to titan. 2nd most common species in the itinerary [/hider] [hider=Foundation] A translated name of a mechanical species, higher tech than the founders, but ordinarily living passive lives of simple mining and engineering, however the Itinerary has managed to sway them into joining TEOSC. Often seen as enigmatic by biological species they now play a major role in large scale industrial and engineering projects along with slowly disseminating technology to the founders and others. Third most common species in the itinerary. very usually pacifistic and altruistic. their art is seen as especially valuable, as it stands in stark contrast to the usual stereotype of the foundation being dutiful machines. They can be a little reclusive, rarely making direct communication, usually only with high ranking members of TEOSC or the itinerary. yet they have allowed some to explore their bodies, and despite the monolithic exteriors, the interiors are highly complex, often with internal structures that serve seemingly no purpose. strange almost musical noises, and walls covered in light patterns. sometimes the smaller ships of the foundation fly beside those of other species, almost like dolphins, sometimes inside a structure there will be a forest, an alien biosphere. sometimes the forest is a simulcra, that behaves like the real thing. occasionally, within the uncanny valley, there is something in the ships that looks like a member of a teosc race, rarely talking, and if so, often in ways that dont make sense. they are usually friendly-ish. and sometimes there are swarms of tiny robots, with wings that glisten with incandescent colors, flying in all kinds of creative formations. sometimes however, the interior is like the exterior, enigmatic machinery, some of it too small to see. [/hider] [hider=Servants] so named because of their civilizations historical worship of psionic entities, the Servants are technologically the second most advanced species of TEOSC, originally worshipping “Patterns in hawking radiation” the Prophets of the Itinerary helped them integrate into Teosc. Known to have a rivalry with the Foundation. While they did not have FTL travel when first contact occurred, they had a fairly advanced understanding of hyperspace. Also, the servants are shapeshifters. Most common species in the itinerary, despite often having religious beliefs at odds with the official beliefs of the itinerary. The second or third most psionicly active race within TEOSC as the psionic capabilities of the foundation are currently not fully known. [/hider] [hider=starmata] variety of human species, some degree of convergent evolution with the founders technologically, many of them trace their history back to ancient space pirates, but over the centuries have become noticeably more chill. One of the more populous species of Teosc, all translated terms of other species and the name Teosc comes from Starmata translating into other other human languages. physically starmata are quite varied, but common traits are gene mods to better handle space travel, longevity. cybernetics are commonplace, with many having symbiotic cyborg spacesuits. [/hider] [/hider] [hider=Minor species] [hider=Lindworm] Originated from a high gravity scythian world, starmata sometimes compare them to dragons or snakes often covered in dark metallic scales. Among the physically strongest and toughest species known to Teosc, despite not originally being spacefaring the lindworms can often find jobs aboard high-performance starships due to their intense g-tolerance. [/hider] [hider=Tubers] aquatic vaguely crustacean lifeforms under an icy moon, second contacted race of the founders as they existed in the same solar system. Have the most advanced aquatic technology and a respectable biotech industry. Were not spacefaring when first contact occurred [/hider] [hider=Crusaders] human derived species that once made war on the Founders, during the early days of Teosc, show signs of extensive genetic engineering. With some believing them to have been grown as supersoldiers. Of all the species of Teosc, the Crusaders are the most feared by the populace, often facing descrimination, and for a long time the only species not to have a place on the governing councils. Recently however, with help from the Starmata, knowledge of human culture has helped integrate them better. TEOSC officials officially decline the use of Crusaders in the military, but do allow them to join the expeditionary forces. numerous attempts have been made to try to stabilize some of their behavior (including, anhedonia, lethargy, and lack of willpower following their defeat) have made some progress, but there is a long way to go. [/hider] [hider=Biowar] remarkably similar to the Crusaders, only they originally fought alongside the horde rather than the federation. While the integration of the crusaders has been a long and difficult project, The biowars were quite eager to work alongside the itinerary, but officially, rarely have high positions within its hierarchy. Have been described by Starmata as “mobile fungus based lifeforms bristling with weapons and shelled sections” there has been a lot of controversy surrounding terrorist attacks by biowars against unaligned hypergates, and against ships carrying hyperdrives, and against researchers studying these things, still would be good soldiers if they were less independent and tribalistic. despite their name, most biowars are capable of living fulfilling civilian lives. [/hider] [hider=Wizards] not truly integrated, but some individuals amongst them have (apparently) joined TEOSC and officially, the wizards homeworld, located within Foundation space, is officially under protection by a branch of the expeditionary corps. They are likely the most powerful psychics known to TEOSC. But communication is very very difficult, with only the Itinerary and Foundation having clues as to their motives. Telepaths can often communicate with them, however, this tends to be a bad idea as “Wizards are very persuasive” always plotting something, and usually not something that makes any sense to those who do not know them. They perform “experiments” which draw the ire of the Itinerary, things that if another group tried, there would be executions, yet the Wizards are somehow able to convince them that everything is in order. With certain sedatives, wizards become more understandable, but might act like lost children, when they no longer have access to whatever faculties cause them to think the way they do. Like those who telepathically communicate with them “They made a good point and it seemed like a good idea at a time” a group of theorists amongst the Foundation believe they have begun to make headway on translation and fostering interspecies understanding, to the point where the Wizards will at least warn TEOSC before performing their experiments. Physically the wizards are a highly diverse race, but rather than genetic engineering or cybernetics and bodysculpting, Wizard biology experiences heavy mutation with each generation, they are believed to reproduce asexually as they dont need to diversify their genome, the strange anomalous radiation that interacts with their psionics more often then not gives them beneficial changes. there are signs that they descended from sessile tree like lifeforms but nobody knows for sure. [/hider] [hider=Benevolent outsiders] Enigmatic beings claimed to exist by The Foundation, The Servants, the Itinerary, and the wizards. each group has a different idea of what they are. The Foundation is said to believe that they are abstract mathematical models that when calculated can reveal information not attainable by conventional means, the servants claim that "Heaven exists inside of black holes, and the outsiders are angels, who remember life before the original sin, the big bang and can one day bring us back to that ideal existence, all together as one timeless whole." The Itinerary claim that "The outsiders are teachers, telling us what dangers lurk *untranslated*. Each wizard has given a conflicting answer [/hider] [/hider] Teosc also maintains a few sparsely populated “outpost worlds” that do not have fargates of their own but instead have a backchannel gate. [/hider] [hider=Military] [hider=Organizations] [hider=Interstellar] [hider=TAIPA] Treaty Authorized Interstellar Peacekeeper Assembly (TAIPA, the Assembly is not believed to be in the original name, starmada translators said that “it sounded better”): act as interstellar peacekeepers, settling disputes within TEOSC space. They also are used for guarding important infrastructure. Most ships of TAIPA fleets are designed to handle a lot of different kinds of missions. Composition is not strictly military, and contains diplomats, negotiators, beurocrats and other professions. Attached to TAIPA are the “Breach Corps” which are used for combat within starships, spacestations, and megastructures. They also have the “Drop Corps” which specialize in planetside fighting, however, such conflicts are often left to other military groups [/hider] [hider=expeditionary force] The expeditionary forces area of operation is newly colonized worlds and unexplored space, “First In” its among the most collaborative of the militaries, with presence of every client species within, often using ships designed using a mix of different species technologies. Ships are often multipurpose and designed for long journeys, plenty of fuel, food, and other resources. They often have the largest crews, needing individuals of a variety of specialties. Often have large civilian logistics fleets travelling alongside them. This armed force has several specialized planetary operation units that are adapted to alien environments. [/hider] [hider=Reckoning Force] all other military forces within TEOSC space are designed with more than combat in mind, with civilian applications, the Reckoning force however has one purpose: Warfare. The ships are designed with roles in mind, unlike the generalist direction of the other branches ships reckoning force vessels tend to be heavily armed with powerful engines, sometimes powerful enough that only a crew of automated systems, crusaders, biowars, or Lindworms can survive the intense g-force (as for TEOSC inertial dampers are still the realm of scifi and theoretical physics). They have sub-branches for infantry, boarding. And even naval and air. Reckoning force has numerous levels of engagement, depending on the context they are deployed. “Warning” “Tactical” “Engagement” “Apocalyptic” and “Quietus” as the engagement level raises, the options the Reckoning force has are increased, eventually suspending all laws of conflict. The reckoning force has so far, only been used in the conflict with the Crusaders, and was key to their eventual victory. [/hider] [hider=auxiliary forces] Legacy military forces of client races, that they built before joining. All major races of TEOSC have an auxiliary force, with the largest being that of the “Starmata Starmada” unfortunately, starmada ships have difficulty navigating hyperspace and fargates, often requiring transport by a larger ship, which is expensive as Starmada ships are already quite tall/long. The Servant auxiliary force is highly powerful, but relies on being in the same system as a black hole in order to properly function. [/hider] [hider=GATEKEEPER] the military arm of the Itinerary, heavily involved in covert ops, assassination, sabotage, subversion. Along with enforcing laws relating to misuse of technology. If you make a mistake and do it on accident, you get by with a warning and a stern talking to, if you purposefully attempt to use public ftl resources in order to achieve “forbidden flights” the gatekeepers are not required to respect your sentient rights. However, the most important job of the gatekeepers is protection of FTL technology such as the fargates, and where acquired, hyperdrives. Psionics is a secondary concern they deal with, however, they are far more lenient with most psionic crimes. (though they might turn you over to the local authorities). [/hider] [/hider] [hider=Non-Interstellar] [hider=System Defense Forces] Each system is suggested to raise, with help from TAOSC resources a system defense force to deal with local security problems and, under numerous space treaties over the years, the responsibility to respond to emergencies, either military or civil. they often have multi-purpose patrol ships with multiple missions they can do, from repairing damaged starships, to asteroid redirection, to blowing up ships that do illegal maneuvers and refuse to attempt to change course. one of the less lethal weapons sometimes used by system defense forces are "redirection missiles" which clamp onto illegally moving ships and forcibly alter their course without resorting to destruction. System defense forces have juristiction over one star system (with some special multi-system juristictions existing within the Almagest cluster) and they are often semi-independent, but they have to have special licenses and approval of operations from TAOSC. system defense guards are fairly diverse, with Foundation guards being almost unrecognizable as military (and they tend to loath combat) Starmata also have highly divergent system defense forces, due to their already strong martial tradition. [/hider] [hider=Orbital defense guards] A step down from the system defense guards are the Orbital defense guards, which have juristiction over a planet or moons orbit, dealing with local threats, landing and launch clearance, customs inspections and the like, they also are often in charge of cleaning up trash that can cause hazards to orbiting vessels. Orbital defense guards like system guards vary quite a lot in different parts of TAOSC controlled space. the requirements to form an orbital defense guard are less strict than that of a system defense guard. they are generally taking orders from both the System defense guard, and the planetary administration, usually it works out ok...usually. [/hider] [hider=Planetary forces] As long as it falls within the guidelines of the Taosc, the planets within Taosc space are allowed to build their own planetary militias, multiple if they like. these might not see a lot of action unless politics on the world is particularily spicy, but in those cases TAIPA will probably want a word with you about the crisis. [/hider] [hider=Military Contactors] small militaries of various kinds are allowed for situations besides those covered by other militaries, these must register with both the local system defense force and TAOSC, in some situations, these requirements can be wavered with authorization of one of the interstellar armed forces. various kinds of licenses exist for military contractors, stating what kind of operations they are authorized to run. The TAOSC believes diversity is important, so there are hundreds of potential licenses, and its not too difficult to get multiple licenses. Interstellar bureaucracy however can be hellish, especially if you are not in a system with a fargate. [/hider] [/hider] [/hider] [hider=Ship design basics] [hider=Founder ships] Segmented design composed of numerous modules, often rounded and cylindrical shapes. Cramped but “cozy” interior, cushioned. Ships with windows have small reinforced windows on special modules, military ships do not have windows and rely on sensors. Engine is often the only source of artificial gravity except on the most advanced expensive ships. (so their ship decks are arranged like skyrscrapers, rather than boats) notably, the thrust gravity is often seen as an inconvenience as Founders are very comfortable in zero-g. Engine is usually a torch drive, fairly powerful, fairly efficient. Ships designed for long term travel have large fuel reserves. Radiator wings are not uncommon adding grace to the otherwise utilitarian designs. Armor is perhaps a little light compared to some other starfaring races, but over time they have designed more ships borrowing materials from other TEOSC members. Weaponry is fairly conventional, Point defense cannons/lasers, Railguns, Missiles/torpedos(the distinction does not exist as such in most founder languages), and of course weaponizing their torch drives as makeshift fusion lances. On the more exotic side, Founders use Casaba howitzers and a weapon thats name translates as either “Fusion flak, or “Atomic blaster” which is a weapon that behaves like a very hot and radioactive ballistic weapon at close range, before it decays at longer ranges as a cloud of electromagnetic and radioactive death, before finally, dispersing enough that its harmless and wont end up ruining someones day lightyears away. Then as another defensive weapon they have “dust volleys” which use highly precise programmable coilguns to fling space dust at EXTREME speed to intercept enemy munitions (they can actually pack quite a punch to spaceships too.) some ships have gyroscopic interiors, so that while manuevering, the crew doesnt get thrown about as much [/hider] [hider=Foundation ships] often in highly geometric, perhaps a little minimalistic designs, have ships of a wide variety of sizes from “the size of a pea” to multi-kilometer long ominous cylinders. Their space stations are often even bigger. Ships are designed to work together to accomplish the monumental tasks that lie before them with many ships being some variant of cargo ship, tug, probe, mining ship, or “mothership” most common engine types among the foundation are advanced and powerful torch drives which get the most thrust, but are comparatively inefficient (compared to the other engines they use), the pulse drive (best and worst of both worlds) and the bosonic engine, which has low thrust but is incredibly efficient. Additionally, in heavily industrialized systems with proper infrastructure they use “beamed propulsion” which uses a mix of lasers, Boson beams, and tractor beams in order move objects without an internal engine in a almost telekinetic way. Foundation ships are almost never designed with combat in mind, however they have some of the best armor and hulls among the TEOSC members. They carry numerous tools which could in theory be weaponized, such as lasers (usually used for power transmission or communication) which while made for peaceful purposes could totally cut through starships. They additionally have some unique tech with their tractor beams, boson beams, and most uniquely early teleporters. They also have some ability to utilize gravitics, however besides industrial purposes, Foundation rarely see a need for artificial gravity [/hider] [hider=Servant ships] The servants have three “tiers” of ships. “Outside ships” “Influenced ships” and “Transcendent ships" [hider=Outside ship] The Outside ships are designed to function outside of the “gravitic grid” of abaddon, and as such, only can use integrated, rather than ambient gravitic technology. Their hull-shape often involves numerous spheres in a networked pattern, interconnected. And have interiors designed for both microgravity and gravitic environments, as using gravitics for extended periods is inefficient. It can be disorienting to beings used to “natural” gravity, such as that of a planet, rotational gravity, or thrust-gravity. What the servants dont want you to know is that they generally only turn gravity on when they want to impress/confuse guests. Armament design is not a strongpoint of the servants and the only major weapons they regularly put on their ships is gravitic missiles and particle beams (which are essentially specialized needle engines). Their needle engines are highly precise thrusters capable of variable efficient thrust, the propellant is a particle beam. They are capable of going into overdrive by “gravitic spiking” which creates additional thrust through quantum gravitational disruption. This however, if used incautiously, can deplete the gravitic reserves. The weapon systems can be similarly spiked, increased recoil, but vastly more powerful as a weapon. Some servant ships also have tractor beams. [/hider] [hider=Influenced Tier] At the second tier, the availability of ambient gravitic technology supplied by stations orbiting abaddon allow for seemingly reactionless drives capable of rapid acceleration (still however, usually limited by the crew…and ships…ability to go from 0 to .99c in a few seconds, which is to say that would be fatal. Some research has been done into the feasibility of inertial dampers theorized to exist among some human factions. As access to gravitics is far easier near abaddon, ship design is far weirder, often designed in surrealistic shapes. Some ships have “open air” sections where folks can walk outside without a spacesuit, due to the ability to hold onto an atmosphere with gravity. Which way is up or down is at the whim of the crew. The combat abilities of ships at this tier is vastly superior to outside ships, as they can use exotic gravitic weapons without the same resource constraints. Some of the most advanced ships are capable of manipulating gravity within other ships. Most ships at this level require a psionic operator to best make use of these functions, as gravitic technology gets really complex mathematically, so much so that even computers will often struggle. [/hider] [hider=Ascendent ships] Ascended ships are designed for use within abaddon, and within hyperspace, they are completely unable to operate outside “exciting physics” the crew is usually non-biological, or heavily psionic. Ascended ships can survive dangerously close to event horizons and are the only ships known to the TEOSC to be able to perform inertialess manuevers, but even that has been refuted by some physicists as a “mathematical illusion” still, Ascended ships are sometimes used inside fargates for protection, naturally at home in the strangeness of hyperspace, an attack by an ascended ship will rarely be understood by a hapless crew until its too late. On a few occasions, attempts have been made to bring ascended ships outside of abaddons throat, these initially display impossible characteristics (reactionless acceleration of extreme speed without any apparent inertial effects) however, all such attempts have been short lived, the longest being a few seconds before the ship collapsed due to relying on exotic energy conditions to stabilize its hypermatter. Recent attempts have been made to stabilize the special kind of gravitic hypermatter that the ships are made of, which could be the key to unlocking the technology of inertialess “motion” which would seemingly violate laws of motion, however physicists of Taost can talk at length about how this “doesnt actually violate the laws of physics” [/hider] [/hider] [/hider] [/hider] Ok I worked a few hours on this, still have a lot to go, explaining in more detail some of the other ships, along with adding a bit more cultural detail to the demographics. and also explore the history of TAOSC. even if I dont make it in, it was interesting to think about/write/develope. I might draw pictures later, as Ive sometimes felt iffy about using others artwork without permission. for now I must sleep