If the title didn't explain it sufficiently, I plan to take part in Expanding Horizons in the near future and would like a group to do it with. Read through what I have for the group, and if you're interested, say so. I'm also open to suggestions, of course. If we're going to be working together I'd like to be as democratic as possible.
The Archimedian Collective
"Guns can't kill progress. Ours tend to be bigger anyway."
DescriptionThe Archimedian Collective (often shortened to either "The Archimedian" or "The Collective") names itself after Archimedes, a brilliant ancient Greek mathematician and engineer. Its people share the common belief in the advancement of technology, with the primary intent of both physical and spiritual self-improvement through its design and implementation. They become more physically formidable by enhancing themselves with metal additions and replacements, while simultaneously engaging in spiritual practices not dissimilar from real-world buddhism. Their belief is that physical and spiritual improvement come hand in hand, and that the correct to achieve enlightenment is to actively seek it.
The ultimate goal of many Collective residents is their "Enlightenment", called exhumanism by other groups. This is the point at which they are so far gone from their natural form that they are no longer considered to be humans. Only a handful have reached this point due to the extensive costs of getting there, but they are celebrities within the Archimedian.
The inhabitants of the Archimedian are almost entirely scientists, engineers or researchers, though the Collective is tolerant enough to take in anyone who shares the its core beliefs. Though it has a fairly small population and large amounts of wealth, the fact that almost every inhabitant could fight ten normal men has discouraged other groups from attacking so far.
Admiral Kosfort leads the Archimedian Collective.
Territory/Critical PointsThe Archimedian Collective has no normal territory, per se. Instead it has a nomadic fleet of ships which move throughout the universe, harvesting raw materials and selling them to any groups they come across. This fleet is fairly large, and very advanced, with futuristic technologies such as self-replicating nanoswarms forming the hulls so that even large holes get fixed within the minute, and antimatter projectors that can both power the engines and create nasty traps for anyone who tries to follow. Though all the ships are advanced, a few stand out from the rest:
Heracles: Heracles is the Archimedian flaghip. The size of a small moon, it is brissling with guns and has a feature entirely unique to it: the Maw. The Maw is a gate-like structure at the front of Heracles that can open to "eat" disabled ships of a suitably small size (which is all but the biggest). Computers and scanners inside seperate useful matter from waste with lasers, which is transported to storage. This process is lethal to any surviving crew of the ship. The leader of the Collective, Admiral Kosfort, also heads this ship.
Argos: Argos is a much smaller ship, but vital to the Archimedian society. It is very fast and is equipped with the most powerful long-range scanners the Archimedians have. It also carries about 1000 unmanned drones. All of these together make t highly suited to its role: to seek out large deposits of natural resources (mostly of the kind that the Collective sells on) so that the rest of the fleet can revocer them them when it catches up. Without the Argos, the Collective's funds will dissapear within weeks if an alternate plan is not devised.
Daedalus: Daedalus is home to the fleet's best engineers and reseachers (of which it has many). The development that takes place here is the heart of what makes the Archimedian Collective what it is. It has numerous ports by which materials are transported to it for refinement and development to take place.
Enemies/AlliesSo far, the Archimedian Collective has no relations with other groups, positive or negative.
Group AbilitiesEvery member of the Archimedian Collective is enhanced in some way, though specifics are up to the taste and wealth of the individual. Popular upgrades include metal limb replacements, which are stronger, do not get tired as quickly, and are difficult to injure, as well as modifications suitable for a spaceborn environment such as prehensile feet for low gravity manuevering and vacuum defences for lungs, so that people have hours instead of seconds to fix any accidents that occur. Only the richest and most important individuals have many of these, most simply have one or two.
While they are not as focused on these as on self-upgrading, there are two other key technologies that the Archimedian has a monopoly on:
The digitisation of the consciousness is a wondrous but terrifying development. It allows members of the Archimedian to have the entirety of their thoughts, memories and beliefs stored on a hard drive, disc or even on the internet, if they are willing to have it in so public a place. Every few months or so, they will update the copy as they gain new memories and their consciousness develops. The upside of this is that should they ever be killed, someone they trust could download the backup into an artificial body, and they could continue to exist. It would have to be someone they trust, though, because when the consciousness is in a digital form, it is vulnerable. An adept programmer could change their beliefs and opinions, no matter how deep or profound they were before. Should an enemy get their hands on a backup, they could turn the unfortunate victim into a willing slave.
Antimatter storage and projection is the Archimedian's other key technology. When antimatter comes into contact with "normal" matter, both are destroyed and huge amounts of energy are released. This can be used to have vessels travel close to light speed (though actually reaching and surpassing this is impossible without magic), or create a very powerful weapon. Other uses for the energy exist, but there aren't many which would need such an immense amount.
MembersJaceBeleren: Diana Vultz
ZB1996: N/A
Arawak: Ereso Votun
ChickenTeriyaki: Wolfram Howitzer
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