You said that we're a little more technologically advanced than IRL ww1, but could you be more specific please? I'm starting to scetch out some ideas and I don't want to be too advanced or too simple.
Well, nations that were most concerned with a new Martian invasion could have tanks and gas masks, for example. It's less about going steampunk/dieselpunk and more about you get things developed earlier.
I would love to! I thought this idea went down to the depths of oblivion. But if you are interested I can certainly do this! The only problem is that originally this is supposed to be a large group NRP with many human and at least more than one Martian players. Albeit I can try to scale this down a bit via a few broad strokes if it'd become neccessary. Still, I would prefer to get more players.
@Kenny1 Hmm, human Ming China and Ork Mongol Hordes. This might have some interesting consequences. Would that mean you have some relatively recent grievances against your former Ork rulers? Or perhaps can we have the Yuan later in this RP if I happen to be successful against you?
@Kenny1Do you need more people? I might join as Mongol inspired Orcs. I'll keep the 1400s date in mind and that's actually rather ideal for what I have in mind.
I so wish this game wouldn't die. Perhaps a chance to either restart this or making a continuation? Not like I would mind if we can continue this game after a month like nothing happened.
Name: Solarian Star Federation Government type: Federal Council of Nations Leadership: Federation Star Council, Star-President of the Federation (Proff. Linda Harrell) Demographics: 100% Solarian (albeit there's always a few percentage who claim themselves Elves, Klingons or other fictional races) Religion: Most nations follow secularist politics and aren't involved with religion Holdings: ~40% of the Rainbow Cluster
Territory Claim:
Civilization Overview
The Solarian Star Federation (usually shortened to Federation or SSF/SF) is a supernational government of human polities within the Rainbow Cluster. It forms a polito-economical union with the numerous governments in the System Sol and its neighbors. The Federation's origins date back to about 300 years following the end of the Last Great War, the most destructive event of their history. Weary of war and to prevent this from ever happening the committee decided on strengthening international communications, integrating economic systems while synchronizing politics to better reconcile with each other. They planned it step by step with the eventual goal being complete unification within a hundred years, a dream which never happened. From the outside the Federation may seem like a single body but in reality they are anything but that. There are countless nations and political parties each pushing their own agenda. Solarians may have avoided major wars for centuries now but their political forums are very much like warzones themselves. Similarly what once was a benign movement for peace and the good of Mankind turned into the plaything of economic powers. Money is the king within the Federation and as long as they can get away with it the political powers engage in various unethical deeds for profit. The Federation is a highly advanced civilization with many achievements, but this also made them overly confident in their technology. Ironically enough in spite of all their technological advancement the Federation lacked decently fast FTL drives for most of their history. This combined with the fact they are situated within a distant star cluster meant the Federation never encountered any sapient life aside from themselves. Recently they discovered a stable wormhole leading to the other side of the galaxy. This finally provides them with a chance to interact with the busy Southern Quadrant of the galaxy, changing Solarian history forever.
Species Overview
On the first glance the humans of the Star Federation may seem to be the same as Terrans and other people originating from Earth. Yet the truth is more confusing, defined as Homo Sapiens Caelis (or Solarians), these people evolved and developed on Solus Prime with absolutely no relation to the inhabitants of Earth. The truth lies within the theory of convergent evolution. Solus Prime and Earth bore many similarities to each other and this combined with play of chance resulted in the Solarians who are eerily similar to terrestrial humans both in features and even culture. Yet being older than human civilization the Solarians long evolved to the frontiers of space. There are many minor differences like adaptation to varying gravity, improved intelligence and reflexes, extended longevity and resistance to most known diseases. The most striking differences happen after the birth. Technological advances in medicine, cybernetics and cosmetic surgery meant so long you had the money you could go completely wild. Solarians have yet to meet any aliens but name a popular sci-fi species and the Federation likely has a fan sporting their looks. Cybernetic enhancements are also rather common, especially computer-assisted brain functions typically referred as "Cogs". Each government has different regulations on what kind of alterations a citizen can do and in certain regions this could go to the extreme. Another major advancement was the technology to transfer human consciousness. As such it's possible to transfer one's mind to a different organism or even an entirely mechanical body. Due to complicated mechanics backing up or copying consciousness is difficult and also strictly banned within the Federation. Similarly while it's possible to transfer consciousness to military hardware memories of the Last Great War (especially the terror once delivered by Ego the Living Battlestation) makes such actions widely opposed by the public.
Technological Overview
The Star Federation may have not met aliens but had plenty of time and will to develop on their own. They made massive advancements in science and could be perhaps considered pioneers in many technologies. Manipulation of matter and fields can allow them feats which others may consider magical. Their impulse drives are seemingly reactionless engines that along with mass lightening fields can allow great speeds and at compact size. Q-Fabs revolutionized industry as versatile manufacturer devices that can assemble objects quickly and down to the last particle from already available materials. Their conversion reactors can extract nuclear energy from any common material and safe enough to power toothbrushes or cell phones. To a common citizen of the Federation it may even see there's nothing that technology cannot accomplish. That being said Federation has complex laws on the use of technology not to mention the extensive ways companies try to protect their copyright. The latter has the unintended side effect of making outsiders even more difficult to reverse engineer Solarian technology.
- Quantum Fabricators: Commonly abbreviated as Q-Fabs they are sophisticated devices which can alter and convert matter and energy to rapidly assemble objects. Q-Fabs are versatile and it can create anything it was programmed to. There are also Q-Meds, medical Q-Fabs used for healing and building biological matter. Knowing the right people and having loads of money can ensure that the wealthiest people can live theoretically forever. Q-Fabs can technically use raw energy to create matter but this is only utilized at sufficiently small scale. Spaceships generally have sufficiently abundant energy to use that alone for air and food replicators.
- Metastable Matter: A development which made Q-Fab technology far more accessible. It's an unique state of matter which is relatively stable and dense with easily accessible energy. Can be useful for batteries (though even more efficient methods exist) but first of all it's used as an intermediary matter for Q-Fabs.
- Fold Drive: Standard and reliable FTL method which manipulates spacetime to raise the apparent velocity of the vehicle beyond the speed of light. It has relatively low power consumption but comparatively slow speed and other inherent issues. Still, it's relatively cheap and has many alternative applications. Fold Accelerators for example can accelerate projectiles and vehicles at faster-than-light apparent velocities even if, without "fold sustainers", they revert to sublight speed after reaching a certain distance.
- Farcaster: The new long range interstellar travel method developed within the Federation. Also referred as the Hyperdrive it punches a hole in reality to the higher mathematical dimension of the hyperspace to allow faster-than-light travel. It consumes great amounts of energy thus the ships have special capacitors for this role. On the other hand the same method can be modified to transport smaller objects and Farcasters can have a limited application as teleporters. The only downside is that Farcasters are rather difficult to scale down thus unless there's a similar device around the teleportation is usually limited to one way trips. The speed of Farcasters is dependent on the power relative to the mass it carries. Thus systems like "Hypercarriers" (huge transports allowing many ships to dock) and "Hypergates" (large almost stationary structures which also use quantum linking to enhance the speed even further) exist.
- Impulse Engine: Standard sublight engines used by Federation spaceships. They expel mass particles at near the speed of light generated from pure energy which means they can have yet unheard level of specific impulse and henceforth their common name. Without the right conditions mass particles rapidly decay into relatively harmless photons thus also making this design the safest engine known within the Federation.
- Gravitics: Electromagnetics within the Federation were long replaced by gravitics, devices that move objects around with the force of gravity. While inherently gravity is a weak force SF scientific developments made countless mechanisms known to amplify them. Gravitic actuators, accelerators, propulsions are all commonly used within the Federation. This combined with the Higgs technology and mass lightening methods resulted in a massive boon for starship propulsion and the renewed dominance of projectile weapons.
- Hypercomms, Hypersensors: A family of devices that use known FTL methods to gather or transmit information rapidly over long distances. Their mechanism can differ by type with each having its own set of advantages and disadvantages. Hypercameras and Hypertelescopes for example gather the tachyonic shadow of electromagnetic waves to allow up to a certain distance to see events in real time regardless of light-lag. Another common hypersensor is the Foldwave Radar which is rather self-explanatory.
- Quantum Link: One of the oldest forms of FTL communication it uses quantum entanglement to instantly transmit information to the linked device. It used to be expensive and not very reliable but the technology reached maturity once other FTL mechanisms were understood. Abreviated as Q-Link this method offers lagless communication free of the typical interference. The only downside that you require to use more standard measures first to establish the link thus it generally only works between two familiar recipients. Q-Link can be also used for power transmission but this method accelerates the degradation of the link thus usually not advised. While free of normal interference there are "Q-Jammer" devices that are designed specifically to scramble quantum comms.
- Conversion Reactors: The most common method of power generation. They can be practically found everywhere, be it in factories, cars or even cell phones. Conversion reactors are the ultimate result of nuclear research and could be said to be the distant relatives of fission and fusion energy. Thanks to their degree of sophistication the conversion reactors are actually fairly safe and incredibly easy to use.
- Zero-Point Energy Extractor (ZPEE): The ramscoop of space-time, this complex device allows harnessing vacuum energy which makes it ideal for starships and other power-hungry machines. The device requires lot of power to run and difficult to scale down, thus they won't replace conversion reactors anytime soon.
- Vacuum Compression Capacitors: Just as space itself can be used to harness energy it also turns out to be the best method to store power. Vacuum Compression Capacitors and ZPEEs are virtually the same technology used for different purposes. In effect vacuum capacitors are zero-point energy extractors that are deliberately inefficient. For this reason they can be made more compact and many hi-energy equipment is relying on these. Actually, many companies within the Federation are working on the means to make vacuum capacitors even more popular and replace other alternate batteries. Its advantages over the other means are weight savings, far higher capacity and even safety. When destroyed the spatial compression within the cell ceases and space expands around the unit. Anything caught within its area of effect simply ceases to exist. Yet space holds massive energy densities thus the failure of a vacuum cell only results in minuscule expansion. Even for the most massive starship batteries it fails to erase the entire vacuum cell. Thus ironically vacuum cell technology is both the safest and most destructive power storage mechanism known by the Federation.
- Durachrome: The most common military grade armors are chiefly made of durachrome. It's a hard, superdensely packed material family with its variants used both for ground troops and starships. Due to its weight anything made from it usually requires mass lightening to compensate.
- Structural Integrity Fields: Special complex field which reinforces the bind of atoms and generates bubbles of fake mass to further enhance the toughness of material.
- Higgs Shield: An extension of structural integrity fields this kind of protection forms layers of fake mass generated by the field emitters which can act like a regenerative extra layer of armor.
- Lightwave Barrier: A rather peculiar type shield which contrary to its name actually traps tachyons in a limited boundary around the vessel. It deflects massless and low-mass particles like light and radiation the best while practically useless against heavier projectiles. Starship-based lightwave barriers also have some other properties to compensate for spatial effects.
- Gravity Deflector: The various gravitic devices can also produce a shield of gravity around the ship. These tend to extend pretty far, up to even hundreds of kilometers and activated only during combat. The gravity shield's main purpose is to intercept, disrupt and disperse incoming attacks instead of directly stopping them. The weakened attacks would be then handled by the rest of the defense systems.
- PASER: Projectile Acceleration Sustained by Effector Rails. It's a gravomagnetic mass accelerator and the basis of most weapon systems within the Federation. In spite of that the term PASER is most commonly used for handheld weapons since the term "gun" earned much notoriety during the Last Great War. For other weapons and devices using the same mechanism they merely use the term Gravomagnetic Accelerator or Grav for short.
- IGP: Intelligent Gravomagnetic Projectile. Common name for the projectiles launched from Gravomagnetic Accelerators. There are countless different kinds of IGP, some of them are entirely solid projectiles while others have sensors, AI, warhead, propulsion and at times even other features. The options are nearly limitless. IGPs are effectively the combination of physical projectiles and missiles.
- PPA: Pressed Particle Arms. Special use of gravomagnetic accelerators when unstable particles of incredible density are created on site and unleashed at velocities very close to the speed of light. The stream of particles are extremely thin, a nanometer or even less. Thanks to their density and concentrated nature the stream is extremely efficient at penetrating defenses after which the particles slow down and violently explode within. While shot from gravometric accelerators this kind of application requires special modifications not available for all PASERS or Q-Boxes. Due to the instability of the metaparticle mix PPA are relatively short ranged and the effectiveness of the stream weakens with distance.
- SAS: Spatio Accelerator System. Also called Fold Accelerators these weapons use Fold Drive derived mechanisms to accelerate projectiles faster than the speed of light. While this obviously increases their effective range compared to Gravomagnetic means the projectile is limited to a relatively narrow "fold channel" which prevents nearly any kind of maneuvering. Certain large ISFPs are also equipped with micro fold drives to mitigate this issue but at the expense of payload and other functions.
- ISFP: Intelligent Space-Fold Projectiles. The Spatio Accelerator variant of IGPs. Unless they are equipped with Fold Drives on their own they are known to have limited mobility compared to IGPs.
TBA
Military Overview
The main military force within the Rainbow Cluster is the Federation Starfleet. They are a multi-national force recruited from the military of other nations. Starfleet has strict selection process and only allows the best. While combat skill is important they put even more focus to human relations and handling stressful situations. They are hardly the only military, though. Each national government maintains their own military and police forces as well as security forces employed in private sectors. Still, when it comes to military power Starfleet is the largest factor, especially in terms of space force. Due to the memory of the Last Great War the term warship and associated aesthetics garnered a huge negative opinion. To avoid being labeled as proponents of war Starfleet eschewed dedicated weapons on their starships altogether. Instead of cannons, guns and missile bays the Federation uses modified Q-Fabs to create projectiles and launch them at various exits. Following that these projectiles are assisted and directed by altering the function of the shields. The end result is the Q-Box, a versatile weapon system which may be less powerful and much less efficient but with centuries of relative peace they never needed more. On the ground the Federation relies on drones and robots considerably though because of the terrors during the Last Great War they are always accompanied with a human operator supervising them. Anything done by these machines is the responsibility of the operator. Overall the size of the Federation military is small and almost more focused on PR than actual military needs. That being said their highly advanced technology allows them to get away with this surprisingly well.
The best of the best, the so-called "elite" of the Federation. Starfleet personnel are thoroughly selected and then pass a difficult training to become part of the main peacekeeping body of the Federation. In the age of drones and robots these people risk their lives for the sake of Mankind. Well, that's how it was supposed to be. In effect Starfleet is an old organization which grown increasingly clique-like. Starfleet indeed has a rigorous selection process, one so insane almost no person can pass. Yet many thousands of people are admitted to Starfleet each year. How? By the mere fact the system is full of faults and corrupt officials. Being admitted into Starfleet is no longer the matter of skills but connections. As such it comes as no surprise that the once highly competent Starfleet is much less than what it's supposed to be. Granted, Starfleet is still the greatest collection of the Federation's scientific and technological prowess but when it comes to combat ability their performance is...erratic to say at least. Starfleet combatants once used their skills combined with technology to be a superior force. Nowadays they use technology to supplement their skills and their inexperience at war makes them commit ridiculous mistakes on occasion. Exceptions still exist but your average Starfleet personnel knows little more about battle than how to pull the trigger. They can disassemble their PASERs or fix a phase modulator even in their sleep but many Starfleet members can't even throw a decent punch.
Specially made outfit which doubles as their protective suit. It's woven of durachrome-enhanced metamaterials and because of that the suit actually weighs over 10kg when not worn. The suit is durable enough to withstand certain small arms but that's only one of its function. The uniform is filled with various sensors both to check the surroundings and to monitor the status of the wearer. It's also equipped with an artificial gravity generator which doubles as an inertial compensator. The suit's wearer is cushioned from force and can walk in various gravities. Lastly the suit has an environmental shield to protect against hazardous environment and provide life support even in space.
Augmented Reaction Systems Suit is a special equipment worn in the rare high-intensity conflicts. Only those who pass Class III Weapons Test can be allowed to wear ARS Suits and only when receiving the permission of the Captain or higher authority. Unofficially called the "Battlesuit" this compact armored suit is enhanced by inertial fields and gravitic acutators, giving the user massive strength and mobility on par with a land vehicle. For further boost it uses micro impulse engines that can both increase speed and allow the capability of flight. In terms of protection the inner suit is made of nanomesh muscle fibers sufficient against light anti-personnal weapons while the key areas are reinforced by durachrome composite plates. For this reason and other concerns the suit weighs around half a ton without the mass lighteners kicking in. Aside from armor it also sports complex shield system using Higgs shields, Lightwave Barriers and Gravity Deflector technology. It also has active protection systems and limited countermeasures. The suit has a micro Q-Fab/Q-Med for providing ammo, food and life support as well as do emergency operations on the field. The suit has a virtually enhanced interface along with various sensors and computer assistance. ARS Suits turn the otherwise frail Starfleet security personnel into a fighting machine fitting both the role of SWAT and vehicular assault. Starfleet has next to no combat vehicles and instead they rely on their ARS Suits to fill that out.
Federation Robotic Intelligence Enabled Normal Drone (FRIEND) is an AI-equipped humanoid machine made to replace flesh and blood infantry. They are based after the robotic armies from the Last Great War but with at least one major difference, they are bound to the orders of their designated (human) operator. FRIENDs have a rather sophisticated AI to rapidly adapt to various combat and non-combat situations but they are fitted with several restrictions for safety. The presence of human operator is only required for one thing: accountability. Anything the robots do are the responsibility of the operator. Technical specifications wise FRIENDs are built of light composites with only minimal use of Durachrome or similar superheavy materials in order to make them more economical. As a consequence FRIENDs are relatively unprotected albeit being machines they can sustain considerable damage before losing capacity for combat. Physically a FRIEND is stronger and faster than a regular man though nowhere close to the capabilities of the ARS Suits. They have sophisticated sensors and targeting system which can make them dangerously good shots.
Federation Interlinked Normal Drone for Escort and Recon. They are various relatively small floating disc-shaped drones that are generally used for advance scouting. Though their role is data-gathering and recon they usually come equipped with an MQB (micro quantum box) which is smaller and more limited than Q-Boxes or even PASERS but can be effective at fighting lightly equipped opponents. More importantly they have a myriad of sensors for analyzing their surroundings and feeding back the results via Q-Link. Actually, many FINDER drones don't even have an actual AI and instead they receive commands via a larger computer system. This saves weight but also make FINDERs useless once they're caught within a Q-Jammer field.
Is it a transport, a plane or a fighting vehicle? None of them yet can fulfill all of these roles. Tactical Transport is basically the Federation's mainline fighting vehicle. Just like warships, tanks and fighters also share a negative reputation. Using these terms or designing vehicles with such specialization are an easy way to label yourself as warmongering madman. At the same time technology advanced sufficiently that specialization was no longer necessary to fulfill these roles. Thus they developed the Tactical Orbital Aerial and Surface Transport (T.O.A.S.T.), a high-speed heavily protected troop and equipment transport equipped with inconspicuous yet significant firepower. Currently the most common variant utilized by Starfleet is TOAST-111 Vantgardeur Tactical Transport (pictured above). Compared to old models it's incredibly compact mostly thanks to the Pattern Storage technology which allows it to compress objects or even living cew into quantum-data while keeping them in a subspace vacuum cell. This is accomplished by a compact Shortcaster device capable of "beaming" people and equipment in and then "beam" them out wherever it's needed. As unbelievable as it may sound this method also improves survivability as the Pattern Hold keeping the data of the cargo could survive many things which the transport itself could not. Thus even if the transport is destroyed the Pattern Hold can be recovered and used to rescue its contents. In terms of armaments it has a CQB (Compact Q-Bay). Strangely enough the smallness of the Vantgardeur forced designers to make a rather controversial choice to give the Transport a sorts of turret on the top. This turret hides a Fold Accelerator necessary for high-performance PPE and anti-orbital scale firepower. For less powerful functions the vehicle can launch IGPs from practically anywhere. Mobility-wise the Vantgardeur can operate in all theaters, accelerate to hypersonic velocities or freely enter/exit the atmosphere. Albeit given the difference in power fighting a Starship with Tactical Transports is nothing less than foolish.
Starfleet obviously put the most focus on space forces. Their starships are top-notch to maintain their overall edge. Many technologies and scientific developments are first employed within Starfleet and knowledge of basic ship system is one thing all Starfleet members are well educated in. On the other hand the memories (or more like propaganda) about the horrors of the Last Great War made the term warship taboo, as well as anything associated with it. While pistols and rifles are an accepted symbol of authority, any vehicle/vessel sporting gun turrets or any large weapons would be likely mark their users as crazy warmongers. As such rather than using actual weapons Starfleet developed the Q-Box, a weapon system relying on already existing elements to use them for offense. In terms of effectiveness the Q-Box certainly worse than purpose-built weapons but the Federation's technology is lenient enough to make these work. Believing in quality over quantity Starfleet has relatively few starships but each can pack quite a punch. The term "Starship" was actually coined by Starfleet to designate their new "not-warships" as a PR move. Since then any ship with interstellar capability is dubbed starship which was an intentional move in order to further mask from the general conscious the terrible firepower concentrated within Starfleet's hands. For similarly PR reasons the Federation had abandoned the old custom of using wet navy ship classifications.
Not exactly an armament but rather a "software update" and design philosophy for most combat spaceships within the Federation. Memories of the Last Great War its further demonization by propaganda made people averse to hearing about warships. They are weapons of war which is the furthest from the supposed ideology of their "peaceful" society. As such Federation combat ships literally have no weapons. Instead they utilize the already existing Q-Fabs, inertial control fields or even their shields and other systems in order to create, launch and guide projectiles towards their enemy. The exact mechanism are complex and differs from ship to ship. They can use gravomagnetic or spatio-accelerator mechanisms to launch IGPs/ISFPs of various size and specifications. Q-Boxes are versatile though certainly restrained in power compared to what a purpose-built weapon could do. Accidentally for civilizations unfamiliar with Federation technology they'd be unaware of any weapons existing aboard Starfleet ships. On the other hand since shields are involved with the manipulation of the projectiles it's possible to aim and time the attacks right the moment when part of the shields are exposed/vulnerable. Such methods are commonly employed during ship-to-ship combat between fellow Federation ships.
Name: Hull Classification IFES-012082H Armitage (Also dubbed the Hermit-class) Classification: Intermediate Range Frontier Explorer (equivalent of a Battlecruiser in other cultures) Dimensions: length: 276m, width: 154m, height: 52m Standard Mass: 28,320,000 metric tons (prior to mass-compensation, doesn't include weight above the standard cargo) Standard Crew: 200 Powerplants: Conversion Reactor Pile, Auxiliary ZPEEU, Emergency Reactors Propulsion: Impulse Drives x 2, Inertial Propulsion System, Graviton Thrusters Interstellar Travel: Fold Boosters x 2 (most important for fast and economical travel, limited Fold/Farcaster capacity is always there) Armor: 124mm Durachrome Composite-S (reinforced by integrity fields) Sensors: Foldwave Radar, hypersensory package, GADAR, Hypertelescopes, backup sensors Defense Systems: Inertial/Integrity Fields (surrounding the structure), Higgs Shields (up to 9 layers usually 20-240m away from the hull), Lightwave Barrier (about 1.2km from the center of the ship), Gravity Deflectors (outermost layer extending to 24km in radius) Number of Primary Q-Bays: 20 (6 front, 6 ventral, 8 dorsal) Shortcaster Arrays: 3 Main Dish: 1 Shuttle Bays: 2
Ancient class present almost since the formation of Starfleet. The Armitage is an old model of starship which underwent nearly a hundred retrofits since its conception and loyally serves the Federation even now. As of the latest retrofits the Armitage is now equipped with a Farcaster for longer range patrols, becoming intermediate range class fit for patrols rather than the old frontier defense duty. In spite of that tough the ship still bears many archaic systems like its antiquated setup of "small" and "large" Q-Bays. Large Q-Bays have more output and capable of PPA function to serve as mainline weapons. Meanwhile the "small" Q-Bays provide extra coverage. More modern ships long abandoned this design and opt for the versatile and more effective Q-Bays (let's call them "medium" in scale) to fill out the responsibility of both. That being said the Armitage is still a very potent starship and thanks to its reliability the class manages to serve the Federation for centuries now.
Name: Hull Classification LTRS-7470H Vega (also referred as Wāqi for its Arabic origins) Classification: Long-Distance Tactical Recon Starship (equivalent of a Superdreadnought in other cultures) Dimensions: length: 675m, width: 195m, height: 88m Standard Mass: 321,680,000 metric tons (prior to mass-compensation, doesn't include weight above the standard cargo) Standard Crew: 750 Powerplants: Conversion Reactor Pile x 3, ZPEEU, Emergency Reactors Propulsion: Impulse Drives x 2, Inertial Propulsion System, Graviton Thrusters Interstellar Travel: Fold Boosters x 2 (most important for fast and economical travel, limited Fold/Farcaster capacity is always there) Armor: 275mm Durachrome Composite-S (reinforced by integrity fields) Sensors: Foldwave Radar, hypersensory package, GADAR, Hypertelescopes, backup sensors Defense Systems: Inertial/Integrity Fields (surrounding the structure), Higgs Shields (up to 9 layers usually 50-540m away from the hull), Lightwave Barrier (about 2.7km from the center of the ship), Gravity Deflectors (outermost layer extending to 70km in radius) Number of Primary Q-Bays: 120 (20 groups of 6 ports each) Shortcaster Arrays: 12 Main Dish: 1 Shuttle Bays: 4
The Vega-type ships are one of the newest starships developed within the Federation. Unlike past starships which needed refits the Vega was already made with Farcaster Drives in mind. Given Starfleet's doctrine saying well-armed is strange but as a ship with 120 Q-Bay primaries it's one of the most combat-oriented starships to date. Its more streamlined shape aids through the currents of hyperspace while the fold boosters are also optimized to enhance Farcasting. These reasons led for the Vega-class becoming the basis of their ultra-long range explorer ship the Enterprise.
Name: Solarian Star Federation Government type: Federal Council of Nations Leadership: Federation Star Council, Star-President of the Federation (Proff. Linda Harrell) Demographics: 100% Solarian (albeit there's always a few percentage who claim themselves Elves, Klingons or other fictional races) Religion: Most nations follow secularist politics and aren't involved with religion Holdings: ~40% of the Rainbow Cluster
Territory Claim:
Civilization Overview
The Solarian Star Federation (usually shortened to Federation or SSF/SF) is a supernational government of human polities within the Rainbow Cluster. It forms a polito-economical union with the numerous governments in the System Sol and its neighbors. The Federation's origins date back to about 300 years following the end of the Last Great War, the most destructive event of their history. Weary of war and to prevent this from ever happening the committee decided on strengthening international communications, integrating economic systems while synchronizing politics to better reconcile with each other. They planned it step by step with the eventual goal being complete unification within a hundred years, a dream which never happened. From the outside the Federation may seem like a single body but in reality they are anything but that. There are countless nations and political parties each pushing their own agenda. Solarians may have avoided major wars for centuries now but their political forums are very much like warzones themselves. Similarly what once was a benign movement for peace and the good of Mankind turned into the plaything of economic powers. Money is the king within the Federation and as long as they can get away with it the political powers engage in various unethical deeds for profit. The Federation is a highly advanced civilization with many achievements, but this also made them overly confident in their technology. Ironically enough in spite of all their technological advancement the Federation lacked decently fast FTL drives for most of their history. This combined with the fact they are situated within a distant star cluster meant the Federation never encountered any sapient life aside from themselves. Recently they discovered a stable wormhole leading to the other side of the galaxy. This finally provides them with a chance to interact with the busy Southern Quadrant of the galaxy, changing Solarian history forever.
Species Overview
On the first glance the humans of the Star Federation may seem to be the same as Terrans and other people originating from Earth. Yet the truth is more confusing, defined as Homo Sapiens Caelis (or Solarians), these people evolved and developed on Solus Prime with absolutely no relation to the inhabitants of Earth. The truth lies within the theory of convergent evolution. Solus Prime and Earth bore many similarities to each other and this combined with play of chance resulted in the Solarians who are eerily similar to terrestrial humans both in features and even culture. Yet being older than human civilization the Solarians long evolved to the frontiers of space. There are many minor differences like adaptation to varying gravity, improved intelligence and reflexes, extended longevity and resistance to most known diseases. The most striking differences happen after the birth. Technological advances in medicine, cybernetics and cosmetic surgery meant so long you had the money you could go completely wild. Solarians have yet to meet any aliens but name a popular sci-fi species and the Federation likely has a fan sporting their looks. Cybernetic enhancements are also rather common, especially computer-assisted brain functions typically referred as "Cogs". Each government has different regulations on what kind of alterations a citizen can do and in certain regions this could go to the extreme. Another major advancement was the technology to transfer human consciousness. As such it's possible to transfer one's mind to a different organism or even an entirely mechanical body. Due to complicated mechanics backing up or copying consciousness is difficult and also strictly banned within the Federation. Similarly while it's possible to transfer consciousness to military hardware memories of the Last Great War (especially the terror once delivered by Ego the Living Battlestation) makes such actions widely opposed by the public.
Technological Overview
The Star Federation may have not met aliens but had plenty of time and will to develop on their own. They made massive advancements in science and could be perhaps considered pioneers in many technologies. Manipulation of matter and fields can allow them feats which others may consider magical. Their impulse drives are seemingly reactionless engines that along with mass lightening fields can allow great speeds and at compact size. Q-Fabs revolutionized industry as versatile manufacturer devices that can assemble objects quickly and down to the last particle from already available materials. Their conversion reactors can extract nuclear energy from any common material and safe enough to power toothbrushes or cell phones. To a common citizen of the Federation it may even see there's nothing that technology cannot accomplish. That being said Federation has complex laws on the use of technology not to mention the extensive ways companies try to protect their copyright. The latter has the unintended side effect of making outsiders even more difficult to reverse engineer Solarian technology.
- Quantum Fabricators: Commonly abbreviated as Q-Fabs they are sophisticated devices which can alter and convert matter and energy to rapidly assemble objects. Q-Fabs are versatile and it can create anything it was programmed to. There are also Q-Meds, medical Q-Fabs used for healing and building biological matter. Knowing the right people and having loads of money can ensure that the wealthiest people can live theoretically forever. Q-Fabs can technically use raw energy to create matter but this is only utilized at sufficiently small scale. Spaceships generally have sufficiently abundant energy to use that alone for air and food replicators.
- Metastable Matter: A development which made Q-Fab technology far more accessible. It's an unique state of matter which is relatively stable and dense with easily accessible energy. Can be useful for batteries (though even more efficient methods exist) but first of all it's used as an intermediary matter for Q-Fabs.
- Fold Drive: Standard and reliable FTL method which manipulates spacetime to raise the apparent velocity of the vehicle beyond the speed of light. It has relatively low power consumption but comparatively slow speed and other inherent issues. Still, it's relatively cheap and has many alternative applications. Fold Accelerators for example can accelerate projectiles and vehicles at faster-than-light apparent velocities even if, without "fold sustainers", they revert to sublight speed after reaching a certain distance.
- Farcaster: The new long range interstellar travel method developed within the Federation. Also referred as the Hyperdrive it punches a hole in reality to the higher mathematical dimension of the hyperspace to allow faster-than-light travel. It consumes great amounts of energy thus the ships have special capacitors for this role. On the other hand the same method can be modified to transport smaller objects and Farcasters can have a limited application as teleporters. The only downside is that Farcasters are rather difficult to scale down thus unless there's a similar device around the teleportation is usually limited to one way trips. The speed of Farcasters is dependent on the power relative to the mass it carries. Thus systems like "Hypercarriers" (huge transports allowing many ships to dock) and "Hypergates" (large almost stationary structures which also use quantum linking to enhance the speed even further) exist.
- Impulse Engine: Standard sublight engines used by Federation spaceships. They expel mass particles at near the speed of light generated from pure energy which means they can have yet unheard level of specific impulse and henceforth their common name. Without the right conditions mass particles rapidly decay into relatively harmless photons thus also making this design the safest engine known within the Federation.
- Gravitics: Electromagnetics within the Federation were long replaced by gravitics, devices that move objects around with the force of gravity. While inherently gravity is a weak force SF scientific developments made countless mechanisms known to amplify them. Gravitic actuators, accelerators, propulsions are all commonly used within the Federation. This combined with the Higgs technology and mass lightening methods resulted in a massive boon for starship propulsion and the renewed dominance of projectile weapons.
- Hypercomms, Hypersensors: A family of devices that use known FTL methods to gather or transmit information rapidly over long distances. Their mechanism can differ by type with each having its own set of advantages and disadvantages. Hypercameras and Hypertelescopes for example gather the tachyonic shadow of electromagnetic waves to allow up to a certain distance to see events in real time regardless of light-lag. Another common hypersensor is the Foldwave Radar which is rather self-explanatory.
- Quantum Link: One of the oldest forms of FTL communication it uses quantum entanglement to instantly transmit information to the linked device. It used to be expensive and not very reliable but the technology reached maturity once other FTL mechanisms were understood. Abreviated as Q-Link this method offers lagless communication free of the typical interference. The only downside that you require to use more standard measures first to establish the link thus it generally only works between two familiar recipients. Q-Link can be also used for power transmission but this method accelerates the degradation of the link thus usually not advised. While free of normal interference there are "Q-Jammer" devices that are designed specifically to scramble quantum comms.
- Conversion Reactors: The most common method of power generation. They can be practically found everywhere, be it in factories, cars or even cell phones. Conversion reactors are the ultimate result of nuclear research and could be said to be the distant relatives of fission and fusion energy. Thanks to their degree of sophistication the conversion reactors are actually fairly safe and incredibly easy to use.
- Zero-Point Energy Extractor (ZPEE): The ramscoop of space-time, this complex device allows harnessing vacuum energy which makes it ideal for starships and other power-hungry machines. The device requires lot of power to run and difficult to scale down, thus they won't replace conversion reactors anytime soon.
- Vacuum Compression Capacitors: Just as space itself can be used to harness energy it also turns out to be the best method to store power. Vacuum Compression Capacitors and ZPEEs are virtually the same technology used for different purposes. In effect vacuum capacitors are zero-point energy extractors that are deliberately inefficient. For this reason they can be made more compact and many hi-energy equipment is relying on these. Actually, many companies within the Federation are working on the means to make vacuum capacitors even more popular and replace other alternate batteries. Its advantages over the other means are weight savings, far higher capacity and even safety. When destroyed the spatial compression within the cell ceases and space expands around the unit. Anything caught within its area of effect simply ceases to exist. Yet space holds massive energy densities thus the failure of a vacuum cell only results in minuscule expansion. Even for the most massive starship batteries it fails to erase the entire vacuum cell. Thus ironically vacuum cell technology is both the safest and most destructive power storage mechanism known by the Federation.
- Durachrome: The most common military grade armors are chiefly made of durachrome. It's a hard, superdensely packed material family with its variants used both for ground troops and starships. Due to its weight anything made from it usually requires mass lightening to compensate.
- Structural Integrity Fields: Special complex field which reinforces the bind of atoms and generates bubbles of fake mass to further enhance the toughness of material.
- Higgs Shield: An extension of structural integrity fields this kind of protection forms layers of fake mass generated by the field emitters which can act like a regenerative extra layer of armor.
- Lightwave Barrier: A rather peculiar type shield which contrary to its name actually traps tachyons in a limited boundary around the vessel. It deflects massless and low-mass particles like light and radiation the best while practically useless against heavier projectiles. Starship-based lightwave barriers also have some other properties to compensate for spatial effects.
- Gravity Deflector: The various gravitic devices can also produce a shield of gravity around the ship. These tend to extend pretty far, up to even hundreds of kilometers and activated only during combat. The gravity shield's main purpose is to intercept, disrupt and disperse incoming attacks instead of directly stopping them. The weakened attacks would be then handled by the rest of the defense systems.
- PASER: Projectile Acceleration Sustained by Effector Rails. It's a gravomagnetic mass accelerator and the basis of most weapon systems within the Federation. In spite of that the term PASER is most commonly used for handheld weapons since the term "gun" earned much notoriety during the Last Great War. For other weapons and devices using the same mechanism they merely use the term Gravomagnetic Accelerator or Grav for short.
- IGP: Intelligent Gravomagnetic Projectile. Common name for the projectiles launched from Gravomagnetic Accelerators. There are countless different kinds of IGP, some of them are entirely solid projectiles while others have sensors, AI, warhead, propulsion and at times even other features. The options are nearly limitless. IGPs are effectively the combination of physical projectiles and missiles.
- PPA: Pressed Particle Arms. Special use of gravomagnetic accelerators when unstable particles of incredible density are created on site and unleashed at velocities very close to the speed of light. The stream of particles are extremely thin, a nanometer or even less. Thanks to their density and concentrated nature the stream is extremely efficient at penetrating defenses after which the particles slow down and violently explode within. While shot from gravometric accelerators this kind of application requires special modifications not available for all PASERS or Q-Boxes. Due to the instability of the metaparticle mix PPA are relatively short ranged and the effectiveness of the stream weakens with distance.
- SAS: Spatio Accelerator System. Also called Fold Accelerators these weapons use Fold Drive derived mechanisms to accelerate projectiles faster than the speed of light. While this obviously increases their effective range compared to Gravomagnetic means the projectile is limited to a relatively narrow "fold channel" which prevents nearly any kind of maneuvering. Certain large ISFPs are also equipped with micro fold drives to mitigate this issue but at the expense of payload and other functions.
- ISFP: Intelligent Space-Fold Projectiles. The Spatio Accelerator variant of IGPs. Unless they are equipped with Fold Drives on their own they are known to have limited mobility compared to IGPs.
TBA
Military Overview
The main military force within the Rainbow Cluster is the Federation Starfleet. They are a multi-national force recruited from the military of other nations. Starfleet has strict selection process and only allows the best. While combat skill is important they put even more focus to human relations and handling stressful situations. They are hardly the only military, though. Each national government maintains their own military and police forces as well as security forces employed in private sectors. Still, when it comes to military power Starfleet is the largest factor, especially in terms of space force. Due to the memory of the Last Great War the term warship and associated aesthetics garnered a huge negative opinion. To avoid being labeled as proponents of war Starfleet eschewed dedicated weapons on their starships altogether. Instead of cannons, guns and missile bays the Federation uses modified Q-Fabs to create projectiles and launch them at various exits. Following that these projectiles are assisted and directed by altering the function of the shields. The end result is the Q-Box, a versatile weapon system which may be less powerful and much less efficient but with centuries of relative peace they never needed more. On the ground the Federation relies on drones and robots considerably though because of the terrors during the Last Great War they are always accompanied with a human operator supervising them. Anything done by these machines is the responsibility of the operator. Overall the size of the Federation military is small and almost more focused on PR than actual military needs. That being said their highly advanced technology allows them to get away with this surprisingly well.
The best of the best, the so-called "elite" of the Federation. Starfleet personnel are thoroughly selected and then pass a difficult training to become part of the main peacekeeping body of the Federation. In the age of drones and robots these people risk their lives for the sake of Mankind. Well, that's how it was supposed to be. In effect Starfleet is an old organization which grown increasingly clique-like. Starfleet indeed has a rigorous selection process, one so insane almost no person can pass. Yet many thousands of people are admitted to Starfleet each year. How? By the mere fact the system is full of faults and corrupt officials. Being admitted into Starfleet is no longer the matter of skills but connections. As such it comes as no surprise that the once highly competent Starfleet is much less than what it's supposed to be. Granted, Starfleet is still the greatest collection of the Federation's scientific and technological prowess but when it comes to combat ability their performance is...erratic to say at least. Starfleet combatants once used their skills combined with technology to be a superior force. Nowadays they use technology to supplement their skills and their inexperience at war makes them commit ridiculous mistakes on occasion. Exceptions still exist but your average Starfleet personnel knows little more about battle than how to pull the trigger. They can disassemble their PASERs or fix a phase modulator even in their sleep but many Starfleet members can't even throw a decent punch.
Specially made outfit which doubles as their protective suit. It's woven of durachrome-enhanced metamaterials and because of that the suit actually weighs over 10kg when not worn. The suit is durable enough to withstand certain small arms but that's only one of its function. The uniform is filled with various sensors both to check the surroundings and to monitor the status of the wearer. It's also equipped with an artificial gravity generator which doubles as an inertial compensator. The suit's wearer is cushioned from force and can walk in various gravities. Lastly the suit has an environmental shield to protect against hazardous environment and provide life support even in space.
Augmented Reaction Systems Suit is a special equipment worn in the rare high-intensity conflicts. Only those who pass Class III Weapons Test can be allowed to wear ARS Suits and only when receiving the permission of the Captain or higher authority. Unofficially called the "Battlesuit" this compact armored suit is enhanced by inertial fields and gravitic acutators, giving the user massive strength and mobility on par with a land vehicle. For further boost it uses micro impulse engines that can both increase speed and allow the capability of flight. In terms of protection the inner suit is made of nanomesh muscle fibers sufficient against light anti-personnal weapons while the key areas are reinforced by durachrome composite plates. For this reason and other concerns the suit weighs around half a ton without the mass lighteners kicking in. Aside from armor it also sports complex shield system using Higgs shields, Lightwave Barriers and Gravity Deflector technology. It also has active protection systems and limited countermeasures. The suit has a micro Q-Fab/Q-Med for providing ammo, food and life support as well as do emergency operations on the field. The suit has a virtually enhanced interface along with various sensors and computer assistance. ARS Suits turn the otherwise frail Starfleet security personnel into a fighting machine fitting both the role of SWAT and vehicular assault. Starfleet has next to no combat vehicles and instead they rely on their ARS Suits to fill that out.
Federation Robotic Intelligence Enabled Normal Drone (FRIEND) is an AI-equipped humanoid machine made to replace flesh and blood infantry. They are based after the robotic armies from the Last Great War but with at least one major difference, they are bound to the orders of their designated (human) operator. FRIENDs have a rather sophisticated AI to rapidly adapt to various combat and non-combat situations but they are fitted with several restrictions for safety. The presence of human operator is only required for one thing: accountability. Anything the robots do are the responsibility of the operator. Technical specifications wise FRIENDs are built of light composites with only minimal use of Durachrome or similar superheavy materials in order to make them more economical. As a consequence FRIENDs are relatively unprotected albeit being machines they can sustain considerable damage before losing capacity for combat. Physically a FRIEND is stronger and faster than a regular man though nowhere close to the capabilities of the ARS Suits. They have sophisticated sensors and targeting system which can make them dangerously good shots.
Federation Interlinked Normal Drone for Escort and Recon. They are various relatively small floating disc-shaped drones that are generally used for advance scouting. Though their role is data-gathering and recon they usually come equipped with an MQB (micro quantum box) which is smaller and more limited than Q-Boxes or even PASERS but can be effective at fighting lightly equipped opponents. More importantly they have a myriad of sensors for analyzing their surroundings and feeding back the results via Q-Link. Actually, many FINDER drones don't even have an actual AI and instead they receive commands via a larger computer system. This saves weight but also make FINDERs useless once they're caught within a Q-Jammer field.
Is it a transport, a plane or a fighting vehicle? None of them yet can fulfill all of these roles. Tactical Transport is basically the Federation's mainline fighting vehicle. Just like warships, tanks and fighters also share a negative reputation. Using these terms or designing vehicles with such specialization are an easy way to label yourself as warmongering madman. At the same time technology advanced sufficiently that specialization was no longer necessary to fulfill these roles. Thus they developed the Tactical Orbital Aerial and Surface Transport (T.O.A.S.T.), a high-speed heavily protected troop and equipment transport equipped with inconspicuous yet significant firepower. Currently the most common variant utilized by Starfleet is TOAST-111 Vantgardeur Tactical Transport (pictured above). Compared to old models it's incredibly compact mostly thanks to the Pattern Storage technology which allows it to compress objects or even living cew into quantum-data while keeping them in a subspace vacuum cell. This is accomplished by a compact Shortcaster device capable of "beaming" people and equipment in and then "beam" them out wherever it's needed. As unbelievable as it may sound this method also improves survivability as the Pattern Hold keeping the data of the cargo could survive many things which the transport itself could not. Thus even if the transport is destroyed the Pattern Hold can be recovered and used to rescue its contents. In terms of armaments it has a CQB (Compact Q-Bay). Strangely enough the smallness of the Vantgardeur forced designers to make a rather controversial choice to give the Transport a sorts of turret on the top. This turret hides a Fold Accelerator necessary for high-performance PPE and anti-orbital scale firepower. For less powerful functions the vehicle can launch IGPs from practically anywhere. Mobility-wise the Vantgardeur can operate in all theaters, accelerate to hypersonic velocities or freely enter/exit the atmosphere. Albeit given the difference in power fighting a Starship with Tactical Transports is nothing less than foolish.
Starfleet obviously put the most focus on space forces. Their starships are top-notch to maintain their overall edge. Many technologies and scientific developments are first employed within Starfleet and knowledge of basic ship system is one thing all Starfleet members are well educated in. On the other hand the memories (or more like propaganda) about the horrors of the Last Great War made the term warship taboo, as well as anything associated with it. While pistols and rifles are an accepted symbol of authority, any vehicle/vessel sporting gun turrets or any large weapons would be likely mark their users as crazy warmongers. As such rather than using actual weapons Starfleet developed the Q-Box, a weapon system relying on already existing elements to use them for offense. In terms of effectiveness the Q-Box certainly worse than purpose-built weapons but the Federation's technology is lenient enough to make these work. Believing in quality over quantity Starfleet has relatively few starships but each can pack quite a punch. The term "Starship" was actually coined by Starfleet to designate their new "not-warships" as a PR move. Since then any ship with interstellar capability is dubbed starship which was an intentional move in order to further mask from the general conscious the terrible firepower concentrated within Starfleet's hands. For similarly PR reasons the Federation had abandoned the old custom of using wet navy ship classifications.
Not exactly an armament but rather a "software update" and design philosophy for most combat spaceships within the Federation. Memories of the Last Great War its further demonization by propaganda made people averse to hearing about warships. They are weapons of war which is the furthest from the supposed ideology of their "peaceful" society. As such Federation combat ships literally have no weapons. Instead they utilize the already existing Q-Fabs, inertial control fields or even their shields and other systems in order to create, launch and guide projectiles towards their enemy. The exact mechanism are complex and differs from ship to ship. They can use gravomagnetic or spatio-accelerator mechanisms to launch IGPs/ISFPs of various size and specifications. Q-Boxes are versatile though certainly restrained in power compared to what a purpose-built weapon could do. Accidentally for civilizations unfamiliar with Federation technology they'd be unaware of any weapons existing aboard Starfleet ships. On the other hand since shields are involved with the manipulation of the projectiles it's possible to aim and time the attacks right the moment when part of the shields are exposed/vulnerable. Such methods are commonly employed during ship-to-ship combat between fellow Federation ships.
Name: Hull Classification LRTRS-7470HD Vega (also referred as Wāqi for its Arabic origins) Classification: Long-Distance Tactical Recon Starship (equivalent of a Battlecruiser in other cultures) Dimensions: length: 276m, width: 154m, height: 52m Standard Mass: 48,320,000 metric tons (prior to mass-compensation, doesn't include weight above the standard cargo) Standard Crew: 200 Powerplants: Conversion Reactor Pile, Auxiliary ZPEEU, Emergency Reactors Propulsion: Impulse Drives x 2, Inertial Propulsion System, Graviton Thrusters Interstellar Travel: Fold Boosters x 2 (most important for fast and economical travel, limited Fold/Farcaster capacity is always there) Armor: 164mm Durachrome Composite-S (reinforced by integrity fields) Sensors: Foldwave Radar, hypersensory package, GADAR, Hypertelescopes, backup sensors Defense Systems: Inertial/Integrity Fields (surrounding the structure), Higgs Shields (up to 9 layers usually 20-240m away from the hull), Lightwave Barrier (about 1.2km from the center of the ship), Gravity Deflectors (outermost layer extending to 32km in radius) Number of Primary Q-Bays: 20 (6 front, 6 ventral, 8 dorsal) Shortcaster Arrays: 3 Main Dish: 1 Shuttle Bays: 2
Name: Hull Classification LRTRS-7470HD Vega (also referred as Wāqi for its Arabic origins) Classification: Long-Distance Tactical Recon Starship (equivalent of a Battlecruiser in other cultures) Dimensions: length: 675m, width: 195m, height: 88m Standard Mass: 321,680,000 metric tons (prior to mass-compensation, doesn't include weight above the standard cargo) Standard Crew: 750 Powerplants: Conversion Reactor Pile x 3, ZPEEU, Emergency Reactors Propulsion: Impulse Drives x 2, Inertial Propulsion System, Graviton Thrusters Interstellar Travel: Fold Boosters x 2 (most important for fast and economical travel, limited Fold/Farcaster capacity is always there) Armor: 275mm Durachrome Composite-S (reinforced by integrity fields) Sensors: Foldwave Radar, hypersensory package, GADAR, Hypertelescopes, backup sensors Defense Systems: Inertial/Integrity Fields (surrounding the structure), Higgs Shields (up to 9 layers usually 50-540m away from the hull), Lightwave Barrier (about 2.7km from the center of the ship), Gravity Deflectors (outermost layer extending to 70km in radius) Number of Primary Q-Bays: 120 (20 groups of 6 ports each) Shortcaster Arrays: 12 Main Dish: 1 Shuttle Bays: 4
The Vega-type ships are one of the newest starships developed within the Federation. Unlike past starships which needed refits the Vega was already made with Farcaster Drives in mind. Given Starfleet's doctrine saying well-armed is strange but as a ship with 120 Q-Bay primaries it's one of the most combat-oriented starships to date. Its more streamlined shape aids through the currents of hyperspace while the fold boosters are also optimized to enhance Farcasting. These reasons led for the Vega-class becoming the basis of their ultra-long range explorer ship the Enterprise.
Mostly finished with my profile. Granted I only had to change a few parts to make this civ fit for the game. Have fun interacting with the Solarians.
That bright blue faction with the name Federation, who is that? I just say because I do plan to have a Federation too and it's distant from the rest of the players.
Life on Mars interested scientists for decades. Yet nobody would've guessed we get our answer so soon. 1894, the heart of Britain is attacked by Martian invaders. Their trail of destruction then mysterious demise left Britain weakened yet secrecy and the greed of empires made it a minor note to history. Until now. 1914, the Central Powers and the Entente are embroiled in a Great War. Yet while the major powers are busy with conflict Humanity is being watched by an intelligence greater than them yet just as mortal. 1914 December, the night before Christmas brought numerous cylinders to Earth heralding a newer and greater Martian invasion. Yet hostilities remained and the news spread slow. Can the warring factions forget their differences and unite against the alien menace or try to use the invaders to further their own goals? Can this divided mankind stand a chance against the Martian forces? Only time can tell.
Basically this is an alternate World War I with Martians thrown into the mix. Choose nations that can be part of the Central Powers, Entente or even neutral. Alternative you can command one of the Martian invasion forces to make this planet yours.
HUMANS
Humanity is mostly the same as in OTL. Britain and those better informed are aware of the previous Martian invasion from 1894 and while struggling to understand any of the alien technology they made some advancements as well as precautions (ie.: earlier development of gas masks).
MARTIANS
They are squid-like creatures with the size of a bear. They adopted to Mars's lower gravity thus they can barely crawl on Earth. On the other hand they have strong dexterous tentacles and extremely huge brains which gives them intelligence and even mild telepathic abilities. Martians don't talk aside from making signal noises and rather communicate via telepathy. Their regressed digestive tracts cannot process normal food and instead they drain the blood of other creatures. Martians don't have a spoken language and they also lack compassion and other higher emotions the humans have. By our standards they are cold, evil and highly logical beings.
Martian technology is weird to us. They are sure more advanced than humans but they also developed very differently. Martians never developed the wheel and instead their machines walk on multiple legs. They lack gunpowder weapons. In addition Martians lack numbers and their armies absolutely lack infantry. They fight with large automatons and giant machines. These machines are technologically superior to human vehicles but aren't unbeatable. They are bigger, stronger, faster, tougher and more complex than what humans build but that's about it. They don't have energy shields or anything which would render attacks outright ineffective. They are just better machines with weirder design. They don't even have advanced sensors or anything similar, they detect enemies by sight like anyone else. Lastly the platform where they have the most difficulties is water. They are entirely unfamiliar with naval warfare and initially don't have any units to exploit this. So yeah, while strong (especially in the beginning) the Martians won't be unbeatable at all.
What do you want to be? A major power vying for dominance? A minor power struggling to survive? An alien warlord plotting for global conquest? You choose!
Member
salamimike
Durandals
