Taira's Crazy Idea Take 2

As for The Siege, see my posts here, here and for the Aliens are bastards take, over here. An orbital colony still needs supplies and parts to come in and will need food as well if people are trying to flee and get stuck inside.

For the tl;dr:

• Earth tries to have the EDF use "shock and awe" to seize a planet. They'd rather avoid a seige, only using Orbital Bombardment as a last resort.

• The Southern Cross simply takes the ground around a city and digs in. They'll have to come out after they cut the power, water and lob artillery into the city. Nothing comes in or goes out unless the city's rules are willing to make a deal.

• The Cay Union just shoots anything that moves. The city will fall or it will burn. The populace is simply given a choice: turn over your leaders and surrender or burn to the ground. Resistance is met with harsh punishment.

“In a galaxy, where the United Earth Government has fought a civil war, losing several worlds to the Southern Cross and had a war with the Alien Cay Union, hope rides in a ship called Victory ”

“In a galaxy, where the United Earth Government has fought a civil war, losing several worlds to the Southern Cross and had a war with the Alien Cay Union, hope rides in a ship called Victory ”

~*cue theme music*~

A ship to fight the ESS Victory:

Name: SCSS Amy Komori

Age: Built 15 years before the series takes place

Personality: Cool Ship,

Abilities: A capital ship made to fight the EDF.

Weaknesses:

• Awesome, but Impractical / Crippling Overspecialization:: No Space Marines, there is a company-sized element of Security Forces on board. A capital ship only built for space combat, her class has to escort the fragile crusher ships to take a planet.

• Against Earth ships she’s a Lightning Bruiser , Cay Union ships are faster and have more weapons.

• Army of Thieves and Whores: the image the Southern Cross Mustered Citizenry has after the various wars against Earth. While the SCMC is much more professional, they do emply many privateers. That’s the backstory of Wing Commander Allyus Pomaz.

Goals/Motivation: The crew patrols the Joint Security Area and keep Earth off balance.

Role in the story: The Rival to the ESS Victory

Backstory:

The Rebecca Corbin class battlecruisers are based on Cay Union “Raptor Strike” class ship. They are LightningBruisers made for speed to respond to the EDF’s Bernard Law Montgomery-class ships. The Amy K. has artificial gravity, jump and warp drives.

Southern Cross doctrine puts a great emphasis on Running the Blockade, they need to get ships past EDF units that would try and take worlds away from them. Older Cay Imperial ships were being trounced by Earth’s Monty-class ships. So they built a ship designed for speed and firepower to escort their crusher ships. It would be able to carry the fight to the EDF. Secretly, the Southern Cross’s Revolutionary Military Council feared that the Cay Union could turn on them. So the newer ships would be built to outrun their Vengence class capital ships.

Commodore Acera Veery is charged with keeping the EDF off balance. While the treaty that ended the One Year War limits ships patrolling the Joint Security Area, Amy K’s speed more than makes up for that. Her mission is to be many places at once.

Relevant Tropes: For the ship:

• Cool Starship: The Amy K. is named after a famous Southern Cross freedom fighter, so her mission is to take the fight to the EDF.
  • Occupiers Out of Our Country: The reason she was named after a famous person
  • Faster-Than-Light Travel
  • Standard Sci-Fi Fleet: a capital ship (Battlecruiser) that is The Mothership,

• Cute Bruiser / The Aesthetics of Technology: the ship has a smooth flowing design and it’s whipple shields make it look like a dolphin or long fish.
  • The SpaceFighters tend to have Nose Art showing a fish with a boxy Earth ship in it’s teeth.

• Space Fighter: a wing of 20 fighters, SCMC doctrine tends to favor Jack of All Stats medium class fighters working in groups. However there are four heavy bombers to support the crusher ships and over match EDF fighters.
  • The Load: the Crusher ships need to be protected as they make planet fall.
  • Beam Spam: SCMC fighters tend to have lots of lasers giving them more shots than EDF fighters and their railguns.

• Macross Missile Massacre
  • Recursive Ammo: The SCMC is quite fond of this

• Kinetic Weapons Are Just Better: The ship has a lot of railguns, both for point defense and larger ones for naval combat.
  • Orbital Bombardment: those guns support units from the Crusher ships, wiping out enemy units below.

• We Will Use Lasers in the Future: the ships energy weapons are powerful, but not up to the Victory class’s standards. They can’t draw additional power from the main engines so this ship can’t Beam Spam. Veery wants to use speed to compensate.

• Alpha Strike: working with her fighters, the Amy K. can dish out a lot of damage.

Relevant Tropes: For the crew:

• Power Trio: Two Guys and a Girl: The Hero and The Lancer, mediated by The Heart
  • The Captain / Lady of War : Commodore Acera Veery
  • Number Two / The Heart: Lieutenant commander Jeri El'hat Masaka
  • The Lancer / Ace Pilot: Wing Commander Allyus Pomaz

• The Crew has:
  • Mildly Military: the SCMC Navy tends to be lax on customs but not discipline.
  • Cold Sniper: Gun crews on Southie ships are famous for hitting ship’s weak points, disabling or crippling enemy ships with few shots.
  • Fighting for a Homeland: the ship’s motto is “Peace, Land, and Justice”
  • Peeling Potatoes / We Will Use Manual Labor in the Future: no food pills for this ship, threats of being sent to work in the galley keeps the conscripts in line. After a few weeks on patrol, everyone is a food critic.

• Nicknaming the Enemy: Icky Vicky vs the Amy K., The SCMC picked up on Victory's nickname after hearing news reports of it's breakdowns in port. When the EDF saw what the Komori could do, even intel officers called her the Amy K. out of respect
  • Reporting Names: Officially the EDF calls all of these ships “Romeo class”, this one is “Romeo 3”

“In a galaxy, where the United Earth Government has fought a civil war, losing several worlds to the Southern Cross and had a war with the Alien Cay Union, hope rides in a ship called Victory ”

For worlds in the United Earth Government, mass production has scaled up and down to the point there most worlds close to Earth have cheap consumer goods. "Generic" clothing tends to have a logo, bright colors and a (mostly) stain resistant fabric. Many firms do subscribe to a "one size" fits all however, generic clothes often don't fit quite right. Many are made by computer and woven or printed by machine. "Custom" or "high fashion" clothes are made and sown by hand. The more hand labor, the higher the price.

In the Southern Cross, clothing is mostly made by hand. Many worlds export clothing and other bulk consumer goods. Colors tend to be "earth tones", a color palette of browns, tans, warm grays, and greens. This is a legacy of their rebellion against the UEG and the colors are cheap to produce locally. Some species in the Southern Cross can't stand bright colors. The Dow, able to change shape, prefer flowing garments that give them room to move.

The Cay Union stresses "Peace and Unity Through Conformity". Most clothing is utilitarian: suits for males are patterned after military uniforms or academic robes. Female Cay wear what humans would call a "pantsuit", but Cay prefer larger more functional pockets. Most formal wear is a nicer version of the day-to-day wear. Some families will embroider a family crest or family name in a design on the left chest pocket. There are very elaborate and purely formal suits and dresses, but only high ranking members of the government and military can afford those. Cay as a whole prefer dark greys, crimson, black with a white or light grey contrast. Black and gold are reserved for the Guardians, their fearsome state security force.

Border worlds tend to have a mix of styles. Some have rough hewn clothes made from whatever is on hand. Others have a mix and match. Some poorer worlds do tend to have a mix of military, corporate and civilian clothes among the populace as worlds change hands or refugees flee from conflict.

“In a galaxy, where the United Earth Government has fought a civil war, losing several worlds to the Southern Cross and had a war with the Alien Cay Union, hope rides in a ship called Victory ”

The Martissans are a species that lives in three worlds: UEG space, the Southern Cross and the Cay Union.

Due to their history as slaves of the Cay Empire, and the Masters before them, there are Martissans who prefer colors that don't stand out: muted earth tones (browns, grays and dark greens)or "generic fashion" in Earth space. They tend to dress in long sleeves and pants or long skirts, regardless of gender. Those who live under the Cay Union tend to dress very conservatively.

There are those who take the opposite view: bright garish colors, or earth tones with a "splash" of some bright color. These Martissans prefer short sleeves and shorts/short skirts most of the time, again regardless of gender. It's common for Martissans to take their shirt off when physically exerting themselves, they prefer shirts with velcro or pullovers that can be taken on and off. If they wear pants, they repair them with patches of bright fabric if the pants are a dark color.

Due to their body chemistry their hair changes color depending on what they've eaten. Some will only consume certain foods to go with a "look". Others don't really care, their diet causing their hair to clash with their outfits. Many are fond of going barefoot, wearing "jewelry" on their feet or ankles.

All Martissans hate robes or flowing garments as those are favored by the Dow, the alien shapeshifters used by both the Masters and the Cay Empire as slave drivers. In the UEG, Martissans don't like the color United Earth blue, the color of the Federal Police and Colonial Defense Forces. Martissans have never forgotten their brutality or forgiven them for this.

Martissans in Earth space run afoul of human prejudice. Humans assuming that Martissans dress to be sexy when in fact they simply don't view the body as shameful. All Martissans go nude when home, why need clothes inside your own house?

Religious martissans will decorate their best outfits with passages from religious works, religious artwork or iconography.

X-posted from the Sci-fi weapons thread, an excerpt

“In a galaxy, where the United Earth Government has fought a civil war, losing several worlds to the Southern Cross and had a war with the Alien Cay Union, hope rides in a ship called Victory ” *cue theme music*

“In a galaxy, where the United Earth Government has fought a civil war, losing several worlds to the Southern Cross and had a war with the Alien Cay Union, hope rides in a ship called Victory ” *cue theme music*

The Cay Union holds the state as the center of public life. There are still those who follow the older religion that held Emperors as Physical Gods and a few who worship the older gods.

Older Cay faith is centered on nature gods, ancestor worship and prayers. Latter Emperors added the Physical God aspect of the Imperial Cult. The Cay Union wanted to replace the Emperor with the State. They are not quite there yet. A common them is order versus chaos and protection of the family/clan/group etc. Even more liberal Cay consider religion a private matter and don't take well to outsiders (non-Cay) talking about religion. The Union hold conformity as a high virtue, the Cay living in the Southern Cross stress "service" over conformity.

The Dow who live on their homeworld of Dow'a have a religion centered on epic tales of good versus evil. Mostly it's a long epic that dates several millennia before humans were walking erect. A point of pride for more conservative Dow is to memorize several stanzas. Due to their biology, they can change sexes over their lifespan. Family is important to them, but sex roles are fluid. This confuses outsiders as a Dow hero or god may be a mother in one stanza then a father in the next. Their religion and folklore center on the "eternal sacrifice": loyalty to the group and the family above all else. Liberal Dow (mostly those living in the Southern Cross) include friends and loved ones in place of the "group". Some are even writing new epics based on the "struggle of the self versus the group". However they are viewed as "heretics" by those in the Dow Hegemony and older Dow families in the SC. The Dow Hegemony and the Cay Union both hold conformity as a high virtue. Liberal Dow are focused on the group, but can be just as individualist and "disruptive" as humans.

Martissans flip-flop between their old religion and following humans and Dow. Their old oppressors, "the Masters" created them with limitations and flaws in their biology. Everything pointed to their makers as false gods, they used Dow as "slave drivers" and fought the Cay. The Cay were brutal new oppressors who's overthrow of the Masters and triumph over the Dow didn't change much. Humans truly freed them. Some even shared their faiths with the Martissans. Other humans treated them as "less developed", trying to take away their language. Even the brutal Cay Union didn't do that.

Martissan faith centers on worship of a personification of "positive" concepts: faith, love, family, charity, etc. There are "demons" who embody "negative" things like war, hatred, envy etc. An early death is a demon (feared), a death after a long life is a god (and welcomed), something that baffles humans. Elderly Martissans will refuse medical treatment much to the anger of humans working with them. Martissans never anger the gods of fate and chance. Some Martissans have converted to human faiths or have been welcomed in Dow temples. Children are seen as the future and more precious than anything. Most of their religious festivals and holidays center on children, raising children and parenthood. Single Martissans are expected to dote on children and defer to parents, childless ones can be shunned. This is a sticking point in human-Martissan relations.

The Southern Cross says it has religious freedom. The reality is that Cay, Dow and Martissans each follow various faiths along with the humans in the SC. The government tries to downplay religion, not wanting to start fights between sects and the various groups that make up their worlds. Missionaries are banned from actively seeking converts in hope that this will keep the peace. In reality most urban colonists are more "secular". Those from rural worlds or border worlds are more religious.

Earth toes a fine line. Alien sectors have their houses of worship. Human faiths are barred from turning away aliens on paper. In practice, Fantastic Racism on both sides has caused tensions to wax and wane. Colonial governments are forbidden from "endorsing" a religion, but many look the other way when missionaries attempt to find converts. Some play different groups against the other to keep their colonists in line. This causes Earth to cry Stop Helping Me.

Earth's religions had to deal with space travel and aliens. Some leaders did better than others. Sects, churches and interpretations came and went. The big divisions are space travel, contact with aliens and technology. There are very conservative sects that favor colonization and contact with aliens, liberal sects that want to return to Earth and shun contact with outsiders and those that are reversed. Most citizens in Earth Space have some opinion on the "alien question", the worst thing is to be seen as "neutral".

The spanner in the works is Earth Defense Force's bio-andriods. Living machines who see their human creators like gods. Some religions see them as an affront to nature, immoral killing machines controlled by Earth. Even those who are pro-Earth prefer human troops over squads of "tin-cans" patrolling the streets.

“In a galaxy, where the United Earth Government has fought a civil war, losing several worlds to the Southern Cross and had a war with the Alien Cay Union, hope rides in a ship called Victory ” *cue theme music*

RRDC is the third largest military contractor in Earth space. The top two build spaceships, vehicles and provide logistics to the Earth Defense Forces.

What RRDC does make are the Bio-Andriods, living machines that can adapt and grow. They were designed by the two founders of the company after the disastrous performance of the cyborg Super Soldiers. Their flagship product won't defect, won't tire out and can withstand environments that would kill a human. All are "grown" in their labs and they are trained by instructors at their "Academy".

But where Earth sees tireless defenders, many colonists and the Southern Cross see a Robot War: killing machines made to supress Earth's enemies. And they see blood on RRDC's hands and are angry at Earth for using "soulless killing machines".

RRDC also makes consumer goods and industrial equipment. But their "war machines" keep the company in the black. They have shown the ability to grow and adapt.

Observers wonder how long the company can stay one step ahead of their rival Jupiter Development Corporation and Earth's many enemies.

AI researchers and ethicists wonder if RRDC is really in control of their creations.

“In a galaxy, where the United Earth Government has fought a civil war, losing several worlds to the Southern Cross and had a war with the Alien Cay Union, hope rides in a ship called Victory ” *cue theme music*

“In a galaxy, where the United Earth Government has fought a civil war, losing several worlds to the Southern Cross and had a war with the Alien Cay Union, hope rides in a ship called Victory ” *cue theme music*

In a galaxy, where the United Earth Government has fought a civil war, losing several worlds to the Southern Cross and had a war with the Alien Cay Union, hope rides in a ship called Victory *cue theme music*

The Earth Defense Force:

After the UN became the United Earth Government, the nations and colonies in UEG space set up a "defense force". High tech and well armed it would be "the best the United Nations had to offer."

The EDF is centered on the network. It's a high tech force built around computers, radios and "brilliant" weapons. Each unit can function on it's own or part of a whole as part of a “plug in and fight” system. The central operational concept is seizing, retaining, and exploiting the initiative with speed, shock, surprise, depth, simultaneity, and endurance. The operational concept depends on flexible combinations of Defense/Offence capabilities (combined arms) and joint capabilities (joint interdependence) integrated across the full spectrum of operations through mission command.

The EDF is the Lightning Bruiser, built for speed and shock. Ground Forces units deploy from starships to overwhelm and devastate the enemy. Once a drop zone is secured, heavy units are sent in to hold the territory.

The bio-androids are key here. From spaceship crews, gunners, troops in the field to cavalry scouts, they just have the extreme endurance to make operations spread across a planet possible. This enables the smaller EDF warships without Artificial Gravity to keep upwith Cay Union and Southern Cross ships that can stay on station for weeks.

The results is a combined arms approach where Ground Forces units work with Space Forces ships to attack and hold a planet, city by city. Enemy forces are met in free space, defeated and the enemy ground forces are hit from high orbit. Marines take landing zones and the Ground Forces take the planet. All of this backed up by information from the Military Intelligence Agency's operatives and the EDF battle network.

The snag to this is the Southern Cross Intelligence Service and their information warfare units. Network attacks have left units unprepared. SCMC units have used hit and run tactics to grind down EDF units. Raiders can harass warships, denying troopers vital orbital support. The "shock and awe" of the bio-androids is slowly wearing off. Many SCMC and Union soldiers simply use more firepower. The SCMC has powered armor units whose sole mission is to destroy bio-androids. The Colonial Defense Force uses older equipment and is more of a holding force. Some CDF units have surrendered without firing a shot. Marines complain that they have been left behind when Ground Forces have called off offensives. Ground Forces units have seen their orbital support run off to chase raiders and enemy warships. The Space Forces feel that orbital bombardment should be the first option against the Cay Union and that the Ground Forces should concentrate on defending the colonies. Planning can get bogged down in the details, the Joint Chiefs not seeing the strategic forest for the tactical trees.

But when all units are on the same page, the EDF is a force to be reckoned with.

History:

Founded a few decades after Earth built ships landed on other planets, contact with the Marta and the Cay Empire caused the former United Nations to consolidate their forces into one unified command. When the Dow Hegmony and Cay Imperial fleets raided human settlements, all rivalries were cast aside in a panic. Mars was bombed, Earth saw alien troops land on Africa.

As a result, the new Earth Defense Force was built on speed. Ships that could run “to the sound of the guns” and ground forces that could “be everywhere at once”. The early days were the “golden age of space travel”. Many independent pilots and captains could find work for the EDF ‘’and’’ the large corporations that grew up around colonization. In fifty years their were over a hundred world with Earth settlements.

And then half broke away from the “United Earth”. Chafing under laws and taxes from a distant Earth, settled by those who would not except UN control, rebel colonists exiled from Mars and other colonies, the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats, Stellar Union and Alliance of Independent Colonies, collectively became the “Secessio Plebis” and it’s armed wing the SPLA. Most were agricultural worlds but some had a heavy industrial base. Earth was in the process of “de-industrailzation”, removing most heavy industry and turning Earth into a “paradise”. Heavy losses and several defeats forced Earth Defense Forces to try anything to turn the tide. The cyborg "supersoldier" program failed when several defected to the separatist forces. Others were sabotaged or were defeated by separatists forces using power armor. The cyborgs became a fallback, many soldiers sent back to the front lines, their bodies rebuilt, but their minds no longer whole.

The Southern Cross and it's allied movements waged a guerrilla campaign and a successful naval campaign. The EDF's Space Forces were holding the line and promised a victory after destroying the main Southern Cross shipyard. However Earth Intelligence reported the existence of several “stay behind” cells. The Secessio Plebis Liberation Army continued to harass Earth's ground forces. Piracy from several alien races (armed with weapons taken from both sides) stretched the Space Forces thin. A disastrous first contact with the Cay Union started a war that threatened the existence of humanity.

The Dark Age of Space Travel began with the Battle of the Painted Hills. The Painted Hills are a series of hills and valleys on Gliese 581g. Scenic with majestic mountains and three rivers flowing through the area. When the colonial administration of Gliese 581g entered into talks with a Southern Cross ambassador, the EDF was sent to “pacify” the planet. The planet was in the midst of a labor dispute and a contested election.

Over a hundred years of training and doctrine were tosses out the window as EDF forces brutally put down demonstrations and riots after a Colonial Police officer shot a demonstrator. Heavy armored units and infantry were used to chase “insurgents” down civilian streets. Military police then took over all law enforcement as large segments of the government and Colonial Police walked off the job to join the rebels. The unrest culminated in a battle that saw the 7th EDF Cavarly division reduced to a brigade and a half as the entire populace turned on the EDF garrison. The EDF commander in charge was found curled up and weeping by EDF relief forces.

For many years after the battle, everyone avoided Earth ships, as rumors spread that ship Captains and Ground Forces officers would execute crews for the slightest violation as revenge for the news leaks from Gliese 581g. The rumors were not true but demonstrated how far the "best of the United Nations" had fallen.

The result was a series of reforms aimed at “softening” the EDF’s reputation and avoiding a repeat of the Painted Hills. The Ground Forces took over all relief efforts, the Military Intel branch and Military Police training in disaster relief. The EDF Marines took over anti-terrorist efforts along with the Special Forces branch. The Space Forces control major orbital projects and share ground based construction projects with the Ground Forces. The Colonial Defense Forces still operate as the reserve of the EDF, but they always trained in disaster relief. The Colonial Police were seperated from the CDF after the Painted Hills.

Aliens were welcomed in the ranks of the EDF, despite the people of Earth not being very welcome after Mars was bombed. The biggest change was that Bio-Androids were legally recognized as sentient beings. It wasn’t their fault that the EDF turned on the people of Gliese 581g. Their makers, RRDC, established a school to train their creations in ethics. In turn, the EDF now had regulations that treated all members of the EDF equally. Except the Space Forces, Bio-Androids were forbidden from being in command of a starship, the idea of weapons of mass destruction in the hands of an AI was just too much for the Senate to bear.

Seventy years after Gliese 581g, the reformed EDF took on the Southern Cross in Operation Jutland during the “One Year War”. After SC sponsored raiders and rebel groups had harassed Earth Colonies, the EDF sized 15 worlds from the SC. Aside from the casualties from orbital bombardment, the EDF was commended for it’s low civilian causality count. Estimates had put an EDF attack on the SC at 15 million dead, Op Jutland had only 900,000 wounded and 700,000 dead. When the Cay Union attacked, the EDF responded. Caught in a sneak attack, the Battle Of Europa saw the Union fleet broken as their flagship crashed into the Europan ice. The EDF helped rebuild the damage.

Currently the Joint Security Area keeps the EDF away from the Southern Cross. Set up by the treaty that ended the “One Year War”. The Dow Hegmony sees Earth as vulnerable, the Cay Union is moving troops and ships to their border with Earth. And the Southern Cross has ships in the JSA to try and keep Earth off balance.

The EDF is very busy....

Relevant Tropes:

• Standard Sci-Fi Army: The Ground Forces
• Standard Sci-Fi Fleet: Mostly, there are a few “battleships” lots of cruisers and many multi-mission ships
  • Fighters and small ships have merged: if it's crewed by machines or bio-androids it's a fighter, if it can carry shuttles and land on a planet it's a frigate. Bomber and Destroyer are almost interchangeable (bombers are “missile/torpedo” boats).

• We Help the Helpless: Reconstruction efforts are part of the EDF's charter. A holdover from the United Nations and a result of rebuilding colonies attacked in various wars.

• Attack Drone: there are the standard robots, legally the bio-androids are considered drones.

• Drop Ship: most double as cargo ships and medivac

• Interservice Rivalry: The Space Forces say the Ground Forces are too large, the Ground Forces complain that the Space Forces don't give them enough support. The Marines and Special Forces Command say that the regular ground troops count on them too much. The CDF is told to sit in the corner until the adults are done talking...

• The Rival: As bloodthirsty and cruel as the Cay Union can be, many in the EDF see the Southern Cross Mustered Citizenry as their true enemy. All those humans and aliens plotting to undermine Earth and all...

• Ace Pilot: Large fighters and small warships are interchangeable, many ship captains got their start as pilots, bio-androids are stuck as pilots however and can't be promoted to Captain.

• Consummate Professional: The EDF's image in recruiting vids. The Southern Cross views them as a blood thirsty army of oppression.

• Do-Anything Soldier/ Super-Soldier : Bio-androids are built on this trope.
  • To a lesser extent, the Cyborg “Super Soldiers” are an attempt at this.

• Blood Knight: how some colonists and the SC view the EDF Marines,

edited 18th Sep '17 12:10:56 AM by TairaMai

A bit of lampshading on the cost of a smart "AI" on my part:

• Earth had issues with manpower and that some species could shrug off attacks that would cripple a human.

• The super soldiers were still human, trying to press gang children or scarred veterans into cybered up muscle just resulted in units defecting to the enemy or losing badly as they cracked up.

• The dumb drones lost repeatedly or were hacked and stolen.

So the bio-androids were made with a brain modeled after the human brain, but with enough machine to be controlled. While the bodies were expensive, volume did bring the costs down. The first Tin-Can Robot "dee-bees" were expensive but combined the "never tiring" of robots with the ability to learn and be trained in basic English.

As they grew more sophisticated, more variations were tried (driving costs up) getting away from the idea of mass production (economy of scale).

As a compromise/workaround bio-androids are grown/assembled in "lines": 10-30 of them form a line made from the genetic materials., memories and programming of two "parent" bio-androids. Those that are successful generate lines who then generate lines, etc. It's a competition among them. Some aren't picked, they just don't stand out enough among their peers to be worth "breeding" as it were.

Older bio-androids get sent to the Colonial Defense force much like older equipment is sent there. Others fill rosters so that humans can advance up the ranks. Due to losses in war and attrition, there are always bio-androids coming out of RRDC's plants on Earth and Mars.

The only downside is that their sophisticated brains require 6 months of training at RRDC's Academy. There, the "war machines" learn about the ethics of command, lawful orders, how to work with humans and aliens and "socialization". They are sorted out by their temperament and scores on various tests. Those who score high get sent to officer candidate school, other technical schools. Most are sorted into the Marines or the Ground Forces. Due to the efforts of one character, medical school was added.

Due to their toughness and long lifespans, some bio-androids serve with or command the grandchildren of humans they first served with.

However, there is a stigma with being the last of one's line, specifically with those not selected to generate a line. "Onlies" are looked down upon by many bio-andriods: not good enough to reproduce but not bad enough for the scrap heap. The some CDF units are filled with "onlies". The human commanders having to deal with bio-androids with programming/attitudes years out of date, others trying to do anything to impress their creators so that they could live on through a successful line.

edited 28th Mar '16 10:03:52 AM by TairaMai

Earth expanded out among the stars starting with Mars and then the outer planets. As those worlds craved independence, a coalition of various MegaCorps and nations on Earth bore down on these new colonies. As a result the entire Martian population was "resettled" on colonies further away. Soon the outer colonies and Earth were at war.

Things would have been in Earth's favor until the UN space fleet made contact with the Cay Empire, the Dow Hegemony and several alien refugee fleets.

The rebel colonies became the Southern Cross as the Cay Empire fell apart. Earth now had a war on two fronts: rebel colonies and hostile alien powers.

The Southern Cross historians maintain that the Cay saved them from Earth's forces. Earth's position is that the only reason they let the "Southies" go free is that those desperate UN forces were so busy fighting hostile alien interlopers.

This is still a source of bad blood between the United Earth Government and the Southern Cross.

Name: Lt. Col. Minori Taira TA-349

Age: 103 years old, the Bio-Androids created for the United Earth Government have a 200 year life-cycle so she's middle aged.

Personality: A Robot Girl / Emotionless Girl who is the a Blood Knight / Colonel Kilgore: in combat. The Dragon to Captain Thomas Emil.

Goals/Motivation: Role in the story: She's a thorn in the side of the Victory's crew. Her Marines seem to outperform, outshine and outlast the 507th Mobile Infantry. She’s a good friend to Colonel Mai Craft, mother of Captain Mae Craft, one of the main characters (see below).

Backstory: As the United Earth Government commissioned newer and stronger bio-androids, their enemies had adapted. The Cay Union employes EMP weapons, powered armor and various cybernetic augmentations that could hold their own against the bio-androids. The Southern Cross had super-soldiers (some who had defected from the UEG) and asymmetric warfare.

RRDC unveiled a bio-android that was faster, stronger and could change shape. They were to do the job of a platoon of soldiers, scouts and commandos. Most wound up as scouts or support for special forces units. A few were used as spies. The TA-340 was a line of the twenty TA/TX T Actical Independent Reconnaissance Androids. Minori Taira was a scout in the EDF Marines, she 's trained in low gravity and orbital operations.. Where Mai was the scout/spy who had photo-ops with Generals, Mari was the “crazy brave” operative in the Special Forces, Minori was fighting behind the scenes. Her missions took her behind Cay Union lines in support of Special Forces. After the wars she became an officer. Her Marines view her as a stern taskmaster, but she protects them.

While some in the more conventional Ground Forces view Minori’s sister Mai Craft as too much of a “spook”, not being able to fight a conventional war, many hold the opposite view of her. She's seen as too rigid and too much of a tactician to see the strategic picture. When colonists and the EDF’s critics picture bio-andriods as remorseless killing machines, images of Minori on a mission are quick to appear in people’s minds, news reports and protests.

Minori is currently in charge of the 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment in the JSA aboard the ESS Bernard Law Montgomery. There are persistent rumors that Minori is popular with someone in Earth’s Senate and that person takes care of her. The one officer who made a complaint about Minori’s leadership style got reassigned, along with the Inspector General officer who did the investigation. She is the strike force commander under Captain Thomas Emil.

Abilities:

• Voluntary Shapeshifting: a scout/spy model so she can shift her skin to change color and texture and change shape. Her “battle mode” looks like a large gunmetal/silver and red cat with four eyes. Her “human mode” is a 1.75 meter woman in a silver and rust-colored bodysuit, on duty she's a woman “wearing” an EDF uniform. She has the eyeflash of a bio-android unless she's careful to mask it.
• Voluntary Shapeshifting gives her: Morph Weapon, ShapeshifterWeapons including the Blade Below the Shoulder.
• Photographic Memory: a required secondary power for a shape shifting cyborg
• Swiss-Army Appendage: uses this on the job
• Technopath: can “merge” with technology, given the right software she can compromise any system she touches.
• Sword and Gun: Blade Below the Shoulder and her sidearm

Weaknesses:

"She may look like a bitch and talk like a bitch but don't let that fool you. She really is a bitch." – Jun Craft on Minori

• My Instincts Are Showing / More Teeth than the Osmond Family: growls or hisses when angry, purrs when happy.
  • Fangs Are Evil: she has larger fans than her siblings and a 90 degree jaw hinge...
• Emotionless Girl / The Spock / Creepy Monotone / Spock Speak: when she is truly scared.
• Drill Sergeant Nasty: to all of her Marines, she was a former drill instructor and proctor at the Academy. Some of the junior bio-andriod officers complain that she’s still a...
  • Dean Bitterman: was this to most bio-andriods at the Academy, focusing on combat and tactics over acting more “human”,
  • The Bully: Her Marine officers see her as this. Minori pushes them hard, she expects nothing less than “perfection”, especially from the bio-andriods.
  • Blood Knight / Colonel Kilgore: : She breaks her stoic demeanor in combat, once her unit has a target ‘’nothing’’ will stop her from completing the mission. She’s so aggressive that she wasn’t just asked about, but requested by Capt. Thomas Emil . When really angry she hisses or growls.
  • Misplaced Kindergarten Teacher / Ahem: speaks like this when talking to those outside her unit, non-miltiary government officials, even ambassadors. All civilians get this treatment as well.
  • Faux Affably Evil: To non-Earth citizens and aliens, her “act” is very transparent and isn’t fooling anyone, but she tries.
  • Warhawk: Clamors for war with the Cay Union, the Southern Cross, raiders or anyone who attacks Earth.
  • Smug Snake: She can let success go to her head.
  • Cats Are Mean: Her units have extremely strict discipline and many junior officers relieved of command. Junior Marines are thankful that she holds everyone to high standards, but some are quick to transfer when they get the chance.
  • Vocal Dissonance: She speaks with a “breathy girlish” voice when she's happy or excited or when she's not screaming at her Marines.
• First Gray Hair: she's already generated a line of bio-androids, but their performance has been mostly average. Her “son” Tony Starke is an operative in the MIA, and the one she's most “proud” of, but she wants more children see I Want Grandkids.
  • Jewish Mother / Meddling Parent: she nags her children incessantly about producing offspring, about their promotions and duty performance. Minori is just as hard on her children (especially Sansa and Tony) as she is with her Marines. Doctor Mae Craft and Minori are friends, but Minori wants to Mae to get into a relationship with her son Tony Starke and generate more offspring, much to Mae’s irritation.
• My Country, Right or Wrong : Doesn't tolerate any questioning of the mission, orders or Earth.
  • Well-Intentioned Extremist: Very loyal to Earth and the EDF.
• Reasonable Authority Figure : invoked by her, defied in combat.
  • Inspector Javert: Once she decides (or Capt. Thomas Emil tells her) someone or something is a threat, she will will not stop fighting until she wins.
  • Rules Lawyer / Zeroth Law Rebellion: A carryover from the years when bio-androids were seen as not sentient. She'll fuss over regs or use Exact Words to get what she needs.

• Debt Detester / The Resenter: Minori hates owing anyone anything. Thus she comes to resent the Victory and the 507th Mobile Infantry whenever they bail her out of a jam....

Relevant Tropes:

• Lady of War who talks like a Misplaced Kindergarten Teacher when dealing with civilians or those outside her unit. When she’s angry her growl or hiss becomes Hell Is That Noise.
  • Red Baron: her callsign/nickname is “Crimson”.
• Sci-Fi Bob Haircut: unlike her sisters, Minori prefers a bob that is very short and straight.
• Tsurime Eyes: like her sister Mai Craft.
  • Brown Eyes with Excessive Evil Eyeshadow: she seems to be wearing “makeup” that looks like to be winged eyeliner. The markings are passed on to her children Sansa and Tony.
  • Red Eyes, Take Warning, she has the red eye-flash and the glow of a bio-android.
• Manipulative Bastard: how she gets what she wants
  • Magnificent Bastard : To the Southern Cross and the Cay Union
  • The Dragon to Capt. Thomas Emil, his Affably Evil speeches are the carrot, Minori is the stick.
  • First-Name Basis: Captian Emil calls her “Minori” or “Minnie”, she calls him “Tom”.
• We Have Reserves: the crew of the ‘’Victory’’ sees her as a Bad Boss who will toss troops at the enemy to grind them down, the trouble is that some higher-up have no problem with this.
  • Pragmatic Villainy: Zig-zaged, she will call in orbital artillery rather than risk her Marines for the wrong objectives, if the target is valuable however, she has no problem charging into battle.
• We Come in Peace — Shoot to Kill: pretty much sums up Minori’s approach to dealing with Non-Earth governments and aliens.
  • Blood Knight / Colonel Kilgore: She breaks her stoic demeanor in combat, once her unit has a target, ‘’nothing’’ will stop her from completing the mission.
• Fantastic Racism / No True Scotsman: She does not like aliens nor does she like humans living outside of the UEG. She takes a dim view of humans who do not support the UEG “enough” and she loathes groups composed of beings from many worlds. Those groups like the pacifist “Lightkeepers” or “Doctors Across The Stars” hate her and the feeling is mutual.
• Speak of the Devil: She’s been known to appear when her name is mentioned over the radio or spoken aloud....
• Hufflepuff House: to the majority of the Ground Forces, the EDF Marine Corps is seen as shock troops at best, sometimes forgotten at worst. “EDF Marines: At least we're not the Colonial Defense Force” goes the joke. Minori's unit is the exception, they have some of the latest gear and two companies of the new Mass Production bio-androids.
  • Green-Eyed Monster: She resents the attention the Victory and it’s 507th Mobile Infantry get in the media. She’s nice to Mae Craft because she’s friends with her mother Col. Mai Craft, but she is very jealous of the attention Mae and her siblings get in the media for being “half human”. Minori feels that her “children” are just as good. Hence she wants to fix up Mae with her son Capt. Tony Starke TZ-360 in hopes that their children will be even better than Col. Craft’s.
  • Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!: Someone in the Senate is looking out for her, but so far nothing has been proven.
• Does Not Like Shoes: All bio-android EDF Marines appear “barefoot”, it's a tradition in the EDF-MC. Minori is always barefoot unless she shapeshifted into her “full dress” uniform.
• Wicked Cultured: She likes classical music and opera, a hobby she shares with her line-siblings.

Edited by TairaMai on Aug 7th 2018 at 10:44:47 PM

“In a galaxy, where the United Earth Government has fought a civil war, losing several worlds to the Southern Cross and had a war with the Alien Cay Union, hope rides in a ship called Victory ” *cue theme music*

One of the foils for the crew of the ESS Victory. The crew will have a few missions dealing with this guy:

Name: Chancellor-General Istah’av Rahe Naargh, Chief of the Armed Forces, Guardian of Calla’Zth and President of the Economic Development Council.

Age: 67

Personality: The strongman who is the The Generalissimo rulling the Zem homeworld of Calla’Zth. He controls the military of the Zem Federal Republic, the Territorial Police and the many industries that have set up shop on his system. Earth hates him but without him Calla’Zth would fall to the Cay Union, the Southern Cross or worse. He knows this and never fails to rub this in the face of the United Earth ambassador or the Earth Defense Force attache. Projects the image of a Cultured Badass but most observers compare him to a mafia don.

Abilities:

• Family-Values Villain: His crippled sister lives on his grand estate, his family is educated by tutors from Earth. He’s sponsored programs for literacy and built many free clinics, “the orbital shuttles and monorails run on time”.
  • Happily Married: to his wife Lars, they will celebrate their 30th anniversary.
• Call to Agriculture: has turned much of the countryside around his cities into farmland because he grew up on his grandparent’s farm working along side his father when not fighting the Cay.
• Affably Evil: “Be sociable” is his Catchphrase, his father was a general’s aide and ended his career as an assistant attache in the UEG embassy. While his table manners are bad (see below), he is gracious and social to a fault.
• Bizarre Alien Biology: His species appear to be the cross between a snake, a lizard, an earthworm and deep sea marine life. In reality the Zem evolved on a planet that was conquered by an ancient race known as “the Masters”. It was terraformed but the Zem still have many traits from when the planet was a Death World.
  • Starfish Aliens with distinctive bio-lumensence markings that run in familes. The Zem have human like faces, but the jaw and tongue are not shaped anything like a humans. They have two smaller eyes under then main eyes and a “third eyespot” that is sensitive to EM fields. Their arms and legs have no major bones, they are just extensions of the spine. They do have “claws” which are retractable and are a solid ivory-enamel like substance.
  • Batman Can Breathe in Space: their skin is so tough (as is their third eyelid) they can survive in a vacuum for hours. The space around Calla’Zth is filled with orbital “workshacks” and ore processing centers crewed by Zem laborers as a result.
  • Snake People: invoked by their appearance, One large “tail” and two smaller legs, tough scaly skin and a scaly crest instead of hair.
  • Starfish Language: complete with vowels and inflections impossible for humans to completely replicate, in turn Zem have an “accent” that gives off the Uncanny Valley. Chancellor-General Naargh inverts this, he can speak many human languages, Marta and Cay perfectly. Those who hear him speak are startled when they see him in person.
  • Humanoid Abomination: Their faces are as expressive as a human and from the waist up and in the dark they look very human until they move.

Weaknesses:

• Small Name, Big Ego: in spades, he’s really the son of a common soldier who came up the ranks by tactical savvy and kissing up. With the independence from the Dow Hegemony and Cay Union after the EDF pushed them back, he spun the image of a “great military leader” when really he was the Only Sane Man left after the last one was assassinated by the Cay Union.
  • Embarrassing Nickname:
    • From humans,“Pinky”. The markings on his face and body started out a magenta, but faded as he got older. They faded into pink. They are still bio-luminescent and glow brightly when he’s mad.
    • The Napoleon: He’s shorter than the average Zem at 1.6 meters so they call him “shorty” or “little farmer” in their language, behind his back.
• Regent for Life: The ruling council was supposed to be a “temporary measure” until the Zem could hold elections. That was twenty years ago.
• Jabba Table Manners: has a love of “imported” food from Earth and other star systems, but watching him eat is not for the faint of heart...
  • Bizarre Alien Biology: his species have faces and jaws not really suited for eating certain foods the human way, but he does not let that stop him.
• Fallen Hero: It was hoped that his rule would both force spies and raiders away and then usher in democratic rule. Earth was half right.
• Freudian Excuse: His impoverished upbringing and fighting since the age of seven may have been a factor in his later corruption and furtherance of his own interests.
  • Heteronormative Crusader: for all his talk about family, he has no tolerance for anything other than what humans call “traditional marriage and traditional values”, this makes him popular with some unpleasant political factions in Earth space. They in turn ignore his brutality saying that he’s “an alien we can do business with”.
• Villain with Good Publicity:
  • Vote Early, Vote Often: “elections” are rigged, the opposition party’s leader is “on vacation” (read: in exile) on Mars.
  • Call to Agriculture: Those Zem that don’t pass the many standardized tests in the education system are forced into farming or the “service economy”.
  • La Résistance: the leader of the opposition party is his younger brother Carthen Rahe Naargh. He lives in exile on Mars, much to Earth’s embarrasment.

Goals/Motivation: Chancellor-General Istah’av Rahe Naargh wants to stay in power. He uses his position to both line his pockets and play Earth against his enemies. When “blame Earth” doesn’t work, he has the Territorial Police crack down on his enemies.

Role in the story: The Generalissimo who rules the homeworld of the Zem, A planet currently “under protection” of the Earth Defense Force. The Zem homeworld is in a strategically priceless area close to the “Joint Security Area” between Earth, the Cay Union and the Southern Cross. Earth can’t live with him but can’t hold the planet without him. He has the crew of the Victory bail him out, often, then complaining to EDF’s Joint Chiefs about it.

Backstory:

• Start of Darkness: Originally he was considered one of the most level headed and fair Zem officers. During his first period in office, he tried to reform the ZFR and even the Southern Cross supported his government. But after an attempt on his life by a splinter cell of the resistance, he began to crack down. That attempt killed his parents and maimed his sister. He tired using some puppet candidates to control the ruling council until be decided to seize power for himself. The Military Intelligence Agency’s psychological profile on him suggests that his desire to rise above his humble origins led him to ally himself with the upper echelons of Zem society and rich offworlders, turning on the lower class and the resistance as a result.

Relevant Tropes:

• Vetinari Job Security: Earth knows that the Chancellor-General is a dictator, but if he were to fall the Southern-Cross and Cay Union backed factions could overthrow the government. Raiders are kept out by the Territorial Police, but if the leadership suddenly changed, Earth fears that the Zem would side with the Raiders.
  • Territorial Police: The Artifact from Earth’s “regency”. Set up along similar lines as the UEG’s Federal Police and Colonial Police the “Terr-Pol” quickly descended into corruption.
  • "Blackmail" Is Such an Ugly Word, Cut Himself Shaving, Rabid Cop, Noble Bigot with a Badge, Lawman Gone Bad: Humans don’t bribe the mafia or the off-world crooks, they pay bribes to “Terr-Pol” to stay safe.
  • The Zem Federal Defense Force or “ZDF”: almost as corrupt as the Terr-Pol, it was supposed to be a legitimate armed service, in practise it’s just the heavy backup for the Terr-Pol with many Boxed Crooks and run like a private army.

• The Generalissimo: Came to power after the previous Leader was assassinated and several of his allies were “arrested” by the Territorial Police and (rumor has it) Earth’s Military Intelligence Agency.
  • Bling of War / Chest of Medals and topped with a Commissar Cap: He was trained at the Center For Interstellar Co-Operation and Security at Fort Benning, Earth and the Command and Staff College on Utopia Planitia, Mars. Where he Majored In Terran Hypocrisy.
  • Tin Tyrant: qualified Powered Armor operator with a custom suit.

• La Résistance: The Zem eventually overthrew “the Masters” only for the Cay Empire (latter the Cay Union) and Dow Hegmony try to occupy the planet. His family and those Zem from his home city fought in the “war of liberation” kicking out the Cay Union/Dow Hegemony force with Earth help. In return Earth tapped him for officer candidate school due to his leadership.
  • Child Soldiers: He fought in the war when he was seven, then enlisted in the military proper as soon as he turned 17.

• Cold-Blooded Torture: because the Territorial Police don’t have to follow due process and he has many enemies.

• MegaCorp / Corrupt Corporate Executive: An Earth-Mars based mining company, several software and research firms and entertainment business have set up shop on the Zem homeworld, Naargh and his inner circle skim at least 10 percent off the top but many suspect it’s much more.
  • Green Rocks: several important isotopes and large mineral rich asteroids are found in the system.

• Completely Unnecessary Translator: He can speak standard English just fine, but if you’re not trusted he uses one of the human translators in his employ. Human are a status symbol and he enjoys hearing them try to speak his language (Zama) and other non-human languages.

• Ruthless Foreign Gangsters several pay him and his cronies to operate freely.
  • The Mafia: Calla’Zth is where terrans hide their dirty cash.

• Cain and Abel: The Chancellor-General’s younger brother also studied on Earth, but Carthen Rahe Naargh wants to disband the Territoral Police, nationalize the large manufacturing industires and large farms on his homeworld then make peace with the Cay Union and the Southern Cross. He wants to overthrow his brother so he’s popular with other factions on Earth that don’t like the Chancellor-General. They have set up Carthen's “vacation” on Mars Colony.

Many species have a term for those down on their luck, the common folk, the poorest.

The Cay have a word in their language that simply means "laborer". Those in the Cay Union not Cay or a member of the military, merchant caste or the ruling party are considered beneath notice and almost expendable.

The Southern Cross is composed of many species. "Proles", "Prole Sector", "Prolees" are those who don't have a job, are between jobs, those too old or infirm for military service or refugees yet to earn full SC citizenship. While they have rights, most live on the margins of Southern Cross society. At least on agriculture worlds there is temporary work. Urban centers tend to herd them into special neighborhoods where they can be "helped" by the Ministry of Public Welfare.

The United Earth Government officially calls those homeless, stateless or living on the margins "displaced persons" or "DP". Unofficially the slang terms "peyons" "pylons" or "wards of the planet" are used to describe the poorest in UEG space. Terms used mostly by those who want Earth to "do something" about "those people", that something usually involves violence by the Colonial Police. Even the best colonies will have a DP population sandwiched between the human and alien sectors of the cities.

Freelance spacers, kindhearted starship owner/operators and charities like the Lightkeepers call the displaces poor "godchildren". Most were displaced or refugees at one time. Others want to help those less fortunate in a cruel galaxy.

The United Earth Government loves to have a good public image and that all the colonies are untied behind the government in Geneva.

The truth is that the UEG (and the United Nations before them) and it's defense force have a long bloody history.

When the first colonies broke away, UN forces struck fast and hard. The secessionist forces had no choice but to ally with aliens that the UN saw as Alien Space Bats and viewed the rebel colonies as traitors. IN the wars that followed, half the colonies broke away and the other half were under the thumb of the "Earth Defense Force". It was a time when a colonel or ship captian's word was law and the colonial police were the "cruel right hand of Mother Earth."

Space was not just the final frontier, but a frontier to be tamed or burned to the ground in the name of "law and order" or corporate profit.

It was the aftermath that saw the UEG and the EDF take a good hard look at themselves and they didn't like what they saw. But the cost was high. Officers and senior enlisted trained to view the galaxy as ripe for expansion saw their leaders toss them into the fray as their friends died in droves. The populace tired of paying for an expensive force that "defended them" by attacking anything in sight and trampling on the rights of colonists.

The result was a series of reforms that saw several senior officers forced out. The synthetic "bio-andriods" were now officers and leaders, a check on the emotional humans. The EDF opened it's ranks to aliens. Laws were passed to reign in the Colonial Police. More units trained for humanitarian missions instead of "search and destroy". Law enforcement authority was restored to the colonial governments - the military only has authority over servicemembers, federal employees, interstellar space and colonies without police.

Bio-andriods were barred from being ship captains however, many did not want a machine in charge of weapons of mass destruction that most warships carried. The Colonial Police (and to some extent the EDF) still have a reputation for brutality. So much so that "UN blue" is not just a color, but a slur among aliens and many colonists.

United Earth Government fought a bitter "One Year War" with Southern Cross.

Earth found pirates and raiders hitting their colonies on the border with the Southern Cross. The Southern Cross had sparred with the Earth Defense Force and had taken several worlds from Earth.

Soon resentments and raids boiled over into a full scale war. Despite it's name the conflict lasted 765 days. The Southern Cross Mustered Citizenry had their worst years in their history. They had fought the Dow Hegemony (and on-again-off again ally of Earth) only to be humiliated by the Hegemony's Space Fleet. Ten years later, still smarting from the loss of seven colonies and several capital ships, the EDF hit them full force.

While the EDF was able to hold the line and even take ten worlds from the SCMC, the SCMS was left in disarray. They lost battle after battle in the first 300 days of the war. When the Cay Union attacked Earth, this did get better as the EDF supply lines were stretched thin.

But the battle ground on. A war fought with spaceships and lasers was soon fought on foot and with pack animals.

The crew of the SCMC flagship - The People's Spirit - mutinied and tossed their Admiral into space due to her incomptence. Several soldiers turned on their officers and officers turned on higher ranking leaders they saw as too stupid to stop the EDF.

After peace agreements were signed and Joint Security Area setup, the people called for the replacement of their prime minister. The vote was overwhelming and all his allies and friends were tossed out of the government and the military.

The youngest prime minister in Southern Cross history jumped to his death before the Parliamentary Guard could stop him.

All races and nations have AI or computer assistance for Faster-Than-Light Travel. However, safe long distance warp or jump travel takes more than a mere computer or simple AI. Many species use cybernetics -a living being takes over or is bound to a computer.

Earth uses their "bio-androids" - a living machine- as the heart of a starship's computer. But not every bio-android can be a ship's CPU.

Space Forces Board of Inspection and Survey (INSURV) administers the "Command, Control, Communication and Intergration Course" or as it's know in the fleet "The Punisher".

The course begins when a bio-andriod with at least 10 years time in service and 3 years time in rank/grade applies for the position of "Data Systems Technician" or "Central Operations Technician". There is an interview process with a board of three flag officers and five senior chief petty officers (some of whom many be long serving bio-androids). 90 percent of those candidates go to the EDF facility on Syria Planum, Mars for class room instruction and simulation.

Then the candidates are wired into special pods on the ESS Pangea (aka the "Frying Pan") - an old warship that is used for training and exercises. They take turns running the ship with the bio-android who is attached to it. Battle simulations, ship operations and even actual emergencies (up to pirate attacks) test the candidates. Failure of even one exercise means that the bio-androids and human crew remove the candidate from their pod and a shuttle takes them back to the fleet.

Those who fail can never reapply and are barred from starship duties for three years.

The success rate is at 50 percent, but is sometimes as low as 30 or even 10 percent.

Even the bio-androids have no idea who will pass or fail until the candidate "goes on a cruise aboard the Frying Pan". Some say it's the stress of combat or emergencies. Others think it's having to chose self-sacrifice over self-preservation. The leading theory is that it's a mix of the stress of ship operations, loss of control and the responsibility for the crew that either makes or breaks a candidates.

edited 24th Feb '18 11:41:56 PM by TairaMai

The totalitarian Cay Union and Dow Hegemony have harsh penal system. The Southern Cross gives most criminals the option of jail or service in the SCMS. Political dissidents, those who commit heinous crimes (like rape or murder) and those expelled from the SCMS are sent to the Southern Cross's "Scientific Research and Planetary Ecology" colonies. This is a gulag-like system that uses convicts as forced labor to terraform hostile planets.

The United Earth Government has a penal system that encourages reform and public service - for those on Earth and Mars.

The colonial penal system uses convicts as labor for upkeep of the colony or space station and rents them out to local business. The funds are supposed to go to the victims but several wardens and colonial governors have been caught lining their own pockets. The worst offenders are sent to penal colonies where their labor is used to terrform hostile planets or mine resources.

For an Earth citizen the worst fate is to get a "Persona Non Grata" order. This barrs the offender from ever returning to the colony. They can only be in transit or seeking medical treatment. Colonies take an additional step of barring offenders with multiple "PNG" orders.

This can strand an offender on a world or on a space station - they can't go home and they can't go to another colony.

Many colonies use convicts or offenders with multiple "PNG" orders to fill out their colonial defense forces. They will pardon convicts and wave the Persona Non Grata order to fill out the CDF ranks.

I like this thread! Here's mine:

“In a galaxy, where the United Earth Government has fought a civil war, losing several worlds to the Southern Cross and had a war with the Alien Cay Union, hope rides in a ship called Victory ” *cue theme music*

The Cay Union holds the state as the center of public life. There are still those who follow the older religion that held Emperors as Physical Gods and a few who worship the older gods.

Older Cay faith is centered on nature gods, ancestor worship and prayers. Latter Emperors added the Physical God aspect of the Imperial Cult. The Cay Union wanted to replace the Emperor with the State. They are not quite there yet. A common them is order versus chaos and protection of the family/clan/group etc. Even more liberal Cay consider religion a private matter and don't take well to outsiders (non-Cay) talking about religion. The Union hold conformity as a high virtue, the Cay living in the Southern Cross stress "service" over conformity.

The Dow who live on their homeworld of Dow'a have a religion centered on epic tales of good versus evil. Mostly it's a long epic that dates several millennia before humans were walking erect. A point of pride for more conservative Dow is to memorize several stanzas. Due to their biology, they can change sexes over their lifespan. Family is important to them, but sex roles are fluid. This confuses outsiders as a Dow hero or god may be a mother in one stanza then a father in the next. Their religion and folklore center on the "eternal sacrifice": loyalty to the group and the family above all else. Liberal Dow (mostly those living in the Southern Cross) include friends and loved ones in place of the "group". Some are even writing new epics based on the "struggle of the self versus the group". However they are viewed as "heretics" by those in the Dow Hegemony and older Dow families in the SC. The Dow Hegemony and the Cay Union both hold conformity as a high virtue. Liberal Dow are focused on the group, but can be just as individualist and "disruptive" as humans.

Martissans flip-flop between their old religion and following humans and Dow. Their old oppressors, "the Masters" created them with limitations and flaws in their biology. Everything pointed to their makers as false gods, they used Dow as "slave drivers" and fought the Cay. The Cay were brutal new oppressors who's overthrow of the Masters and triumph over the Dow didn't change much. Humans truly freed them. Some even shared their faiths with the Martissans. Other humans treated them as "less developed", trying to take away their language. Even the brutal Cay Union didn't do that.

Martissan faith centers on worship of a personification of "positive" concepts: faith, love, family, charity, etc. There are "demons" who embody "negative" things like war, hatred, envy etc. An early death is a demon (feared), a death after a long life is a god (and welcomed), something that baffles humans. Elderly Martissans will refuse medical treatment much to the anger of humans working with them. Martissans never anger the gods of fate and chance. Some Martissans have converted to human faiths or have been welcomed in Dow temples. Children are seen as the future and more precious than anything. Most of their religious festivals and holidays center on children, raising children and parenthood. Single Martissans are expected to dote on children and defer to parents, childless families can be shunned. This is a sticking point in human-Martissan relations.

The Southern Cross says it has religious freedom. The reality is that Cay, Dow and Martissans each follow various faiths along with the humans in the SC. The government tries to downplay religion, not wanting to start fights between sects and the various groups that make up their worlds. Missionaries are banned from actively seeking converts in hope that this will keep the peace. In reality most urban colonists are more "secular". Those from rural worlds or border worlds are more religious.

Earth toes a fine line. Alien sectors have their houses of worship. Human faiths are barred from turning away aliens on paper. In practice, Fantastic Racism on both sides has caused tensions to wax and wane. Colonial governments are forbidden from "endorsing" a religion, but many look the other way when missionaries attempt to find converts. Some play different groups against the other to keep their colonists in line. This causes Earth to cry Stop Helping Me.

Earth's religions had to deal with space travel and aliens. Some leaders did better than others. Sects, churches and interpretations came and went. The big divisions are space travel, contact with aliens and technology. There are very conservative sects that favor colonization and contact with aliens, liberal sects that want to return to Earth and shun contact with outsiders and those that are reversed. Most citizens in Earth Space have some opinion on the "alien question", the worst thing is to be seen as "neutral".

The spanner in the works is Earth Defense Force's bio-andriods. Living machines who see their human creators like gods. Some religions see them as an affront to nature, immoral killing machines controlled by Earth. Even those who are pro-Earth prefer human troops over squads of "tin-cans" patrolling the streets.

In a galaxy, where the United Earth Government has fought a civil war, losing several worlds to the Southern Cross and had a war with the Alien Cay Union, hope rides in a ship called Victory *cue theme music*

In this universe, Mars was colonized in the mid-21st century. Other planets soon followed.

However, between MegaCorp exploitation of their labor and Earth trying to contain their colonies Mars, the asteroid belt and several colonies near Io tried to break away from Earth control.

The key words are "tried to" - the United Nations sent troops and ships to 'pacify' Mars and the asteroid belt (they feared that the colonists would send an asteroid at Earth). Historians debate if the colonists ever came close to trying a "rock drop".

What they agree on is the administration of "Derrick the Dammed": UN Secretary General Derrick McDougan rallied the nations of Asia, North America, Europe and Africa to send troops to evict the colonists. A new starship drive had just been invented and new colonies were being setup far from the solar system.

The forced removal from the belt, Mars and Io wasn't just a PR disaster, the riots claimed 5 million lives on Mars and Earth as governments tried to contain the fallout. It turned out that the colonists who were "re-colonizing" Mars were from groups and corporations who supported McDougan and his allies. South Amercian nations were officially neutral, but when it was discovered that their governments were shipping out their prison population on the UN's "Ships of Tears", a new wave of riots erupted.

McDougan would be forced out by his own supporters, horrified at the outcome of his policies.

Those displaced colonists would eventually become the Secessio Plebis Liberation Army, rebels allied with alien governments. They founded the Southern Cross - the tale of the "Ships of Tears" coloring their bitter relations with Earth.

Ever since the removal, Mars, the Belt and Io have been nothing but loyal to Earth.