McHaggis

Frontier: The Great Space Rebellion

Hi! So, to go straight onto answering your questions:

1. Generally, AI isn't a technology that is highly focused on in 'Frontier' -- the space race and quest for dominance in the universe would have been a more pressing issue than developing it. The only possible use for AI in this setting would be in the richer colonies nearer Earth to monitor climate, etc, and even then, I doubt they would truly fit under the category of AI. It isn't a priority for either party in the war given that it is tricky enough to fund without implementing AI which could be hacked or just a liability in general.

2. Artificial bodies have not been introduced in this setting. The colonies - especially on Mars and those stemming from it - are surprisingly religious (or if not that, then traditional) when it comes to the sanctity of the human condition. Implanting someone's mind into a machine would be disturbing to the general populace and likely to cause an uproar.

3. Animals have not been uplifted in intelligence, unfortunately. We're in the 'wild west' of space expansion and scientists are more focused on discovering the human mind given the relatively recent discovery of psychic abilities. Furthermore, the 80 year stalemate makes funding a little difficult.

4. Earth is your typical 'utopia with problems' - a lot of them. It is the hub for big business and about 60% of the solar system's agriculture (the colonies are on their own). The population has stabilised at 11 billion. Climate change is moderated, and alternatives to fossil fuels have been widely accepted. Despite all of these typically perfect ideals, the government for the whole of the universe (as we know it) is based on Earth. Corruption is rampant, deals are made under the table, and politicians are creating new colonies in the dark beyond that they don't have the money for. Furthermore, previous wars and 'unsavoury' history is being erased from living memory.

Poverty on Earth is something not spoken about. A large chunk of the poorer people volunteered as colonists in the early days, and others moved to even nearby planets and stations such as Mars.

5. There are no lasers, really, because we're focusing on a gritty, realistic sci-fi. Perhaps there wasn't enough funding for the development, or perhaps there was fear in the government officials that if the population got their hands on such weapons (in the early days of space travel) that there would be far more dangerous civil wars than the one they are in now.

Eclipse Phase seems intriguing! I don't think that technology in 'Frontier' has quite reached that level, though. Thank you for your interest, and all your interesting questions -- Stitches and I had a blast discussing them.

Frontier: The Great Space Rebellion

^ Stitches beat me to it... by about seven hours. But yeah, we're looking for people to fill the typical roles of a small recon ship (Pilot, Captain and Medic have been reserved) to eventually have a group of characters that know and even trust each other. Can't really achieve that on a massive 'Star Trek'-esque ship where most of the characters are NPCs, if you get what I mean.

The 100 - Currently Accepting Mischievous Teens

I would say if they didn't post within the 6 days they probably aren't going to.

Frontier: The Great Space Rebellion

Glad you're interested. ^.^ It's definitely got a few themes from both in there, mixed in with a little Firefly, too.

Frontier: The Great Space Rebellion

OOC HERE!
Tentative interest check for a sci-fi rebellion RP set during the 'Wild West' of space exploration with ten of us as characters on a ship called The Medusa. Weapon technology is similar to today's - no lasers - and there is a group of people who can use psychic abilities called Psyches (though only about two will be allowed in the RP). High casual, character sheets will be accepted on merit.

More information will be available in the OOC, which is fully written and ready to post if about four or five people post here!

Frontier: The Great Space Rebellion
The year is 2600 and the galaxy's going bust, son. War's expensive, and not only in lives – nobody makes any dosh out here in the back and beyond of outer space. Y'know, we need a good bit of elbow-grease and a few smart-talking cowboys like yourself out on the front lines.

What's that? You don't want to go? Tough. You've been conscripted. Welcome to the rebellion.

---

---

July 20, 1969 – the day when Neil Armstrong took the first step for mankind into the great beyond. Humanity didn't falter, didn't forget about expanding and exploring the universe after we had touched the moon with our fingertips. Space programs had billions funnelled into them and, by the end of the 21st century, we had a colony on the moon and had manned expeditions to every planet in our system. (Even Pluto.)

A time of relatively peaceful expansion occurred, save for a few skirmishes between the Lunatics (the first moon-born colonists) and Martians (Mars-born extremists). When the first long-distance spacecrafts were developed, able to travel at faster than light speeds to far away systems, the quest to dominate space began for every civilisation. About this time, a possible candidate for Earth 2.0 was discovered and all efforts to colonise the universe began to follow a straight line – a space highway, if you will.

Civil war was rampant in the furthest systems where the “long arm of the law” couldn't reach. Eventually, poor living conditions forced the innocent civilians of these sizable colonies to rebel, and so began the First Great Space War in 2523. Nearly eighty years later, and all we have to show for it are a few failed peace treaties between the Defective Alliance and the United Nations of Earth and Sol and a disgusting number of casualties.

That's where you come in. The Defective Alliance have been carefully putting out word to talented individuals about a heroic, long-term mission... promising great wealth and other rewards at the end. Interested parties are to meet in the capital of Sycamore, the first fully terraformed planet on the edge of space and coincidentally the hub for the uprising.

Vive la revolution... or something like that.

The 100 - Currently Accepting Mischievous Teens

Cassiopeia unfurled herself from her thin woollen blanket, stretching languidly like a cat against the grate of the air conditioning vent in the corner of the cell. The best part of sleeping on the metal floors rather than the cot she'd been provided was the early wake-up call: the heavy footsteps of the prison guards as they clomped their way down the corridors resonating beneath her fingertips. She began to count, tapping her bare foot in an even rhythm, a metronome. They were moving too quickly for it to be the morning rounds and judging by the cacophony of noise moving swiftly towards her door, they certainly weren't bringing breakfast.

Reluctantly pushing herself up from what could have been two more minutes of blissful relaxation, she wrapped her blanket around her shoulders like a travelling shawl, tying it to make sure the guards couldn't take it off her. They usually did when she was to be led around like... like many cows – cattle! That was the word! As she stood, the screws that had once fastened the grate to the wall slid off her skirt and clattered against the ground. It seemed like she wouldn't be needing those anymore.

Cold, clinical light flooded into the room as the guards shoved the door open impatiently just as she was tying her shoes, contraband (laser) pen clenched between her teeth as she tried to remember how to create a perfect loop with the laces. With the door wide open, the yelling and screaming from other prisoners outside reached deafening levels. If the men standing in the doorway, jiggling the handcuffs ominously didn't care, then she shouldn't either.

“Morning,” Cassiopeia greeted as she moved the pen to its usual position, tangling it in her hair. The guards – as always – didn't respond, merely clamping down the cool metal handcuffs around her skinny wrists and dragging her outside to some unknown location, untied laces and all. They were clearly in a rush, since they didn't confiscate the unique addition to her clothing or the 'weapon' behind her ear. “Where are we going?” Again, no answer.

She could hear her heart beating in time to her hurried, clumsy footsteps and it thudded painfully when she was forcefully strapped into the seat. A place in the Ark she'd never seen before! Her lips twitched in excitement, whistling the manic Varsouviana polka – one of her father's favourites – as loudly as she could to block out the panicked murmur of all the teenagers packed together (and the yelling of one boy a few seats over). She was leaving the Ark, wasn't she?

The butterflies in her stomach twisted and shuddered violently.

The 100 - Currently Accepting Mischievous Teens

Fixed it!

The 100 - Currently Accepting Mischievous Teens

Hi! I hope I'm not too late with my character - I saw the interest check a while ago and was... well, interested!

Character Sheet

~ Cassiopeia “Cass” Lee ~

Age: 15
Gender: Female
Relationship Status: Single
Crime: Trespassing / Sabotage

Parents:
Father || Zachary Lee || Scientist and amateur astronomer, deceased.
Mother || Unknown to Cassiopeia || Deceased.

Personality: Cassiopeia is a reserved girl of few words and an insatiable curiosity for places considered 'off limits'. She appears to be immature for her age and quite naïve, still caught up in the carefree imagination of childhood while having never truly experienced the brutal reality of the world. Considered 'strange' by her peers, her exploration of the mysteries of the world around her moulded her from a precocious kid with too many questions into a young woman supposedly on the cusp of adulthood who seeks knowledge and wonderment wherever she can find it.

Likes: Mythology (to do with the stars), classical music, 'urban' exploration aboard the Ark, botany.
Dislikes: Rules and regulations, maths, adults in general.
Talents: Savvy climber and very stealthy – good enough to hide from the law enforcement looking for her. Due to her love of books and learning, she knows a great deal about Earth as it was before the nuclear war. Observant, and knows when to run away from danger.

Biography: From a young age, Cassiopeia grew up with a large playground of science labs and corridors to roam around in while her single father was busy with work and research important to the survival of the Ark. While she was locked away in her rooms when she was younger with only her library to entertain her and no friends whatsoever, she quickly learned to escape the security protocols and explore. Caught once or twice by adults who preferred to humour her, her quirky behaviour often excused her from any real consequences in the beginning.

Cass quickly grew bored with the mundane school work and her spotty academic record proves that. Despite her low marks in maths, when it came to the sciences important to a good future in the Ark (biology in particular) she was at the top. She amused herself by learning about the animals her stuffed toys represented and took them everywhere.

It was only when she broke into the "Grounder Labs" to investigate the plant samples kept inside that she was punished for her actions... not only because she was 14 and almost an adult but her contamination of them ruined many long-term experiments that were almost impossible to reproduce. Her father took the fall for it, given that it was his pass that had her allowed into the labs in the first place; however, she was still held accountable for some of it – a charge of trespassing and sabotage rather than treason as it was supposed to be.

Weapon: An ineffective laser pen (for intimidation purposes only) and an antique Swiss Army Knife stashed in her boot.

The fall of an Empire. The rise of a Rebellion. (High-Casual)

It does, thanks :3

The fall of an Empire. The rise of a Rebellion. (High-Casual)

I have a couple of questions!

What is law enforcement like in the Empire?
In general, are people afraid of the Empire's power or blissfully unaware? Is there dissent among civilians at all?
Will the characters who don't rebel become antagonists to those who do?

Thanks!