Recent content by MysticWind

Unity Tech: Less-Than-Lethal Weaponry Among the supreme ironies of the UNS Unity is that while the industrial warzones that built the vessel were heavily-policed with security perpetually operating on “shoot-to-kill” rules of engagement, the mission’s own armory was relatively light in...

Name: Robin Huxley Rank: Master Sergeant Position: Forward Contact Team County of Origin: United Kingdom DOB: 05-04-2036 Service Record: Born 2036, Cornwall, to a military family. Attended Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, specialising in counterinsurgency tactics, mechanised warfare, with a...

Spontaneous Atmospheric Shock Amnesia Among the more curious of afflictions that have affected the Unity diaspora since the Planetfall disaster is sudden memory loss. Hundreds if not hundreds of thousands of cases were reported in the early years of colonization. Personnel forgetting...

Sympathy for the Drone Contrary to popular conceptions on the surface, few drones fully fit the archetype of “unskilled, unsuitable, and disgruntled” “lazy troublemakers” “all carry[ing] weapons.” At least, not by their own choosing. The underclass manual laborers and shiftless forgotten...

Unity Tech: Robotic Labor By the time of the mission to Alpha Centauri, tireless mechanical “replacement labor” had held up Earth’s economy for decades. Androids- automaton humanoids- served humanity in every capacity from skyscraper-builder to soldier to sitter. They were ideal for...

Vehicle Chassis: Combot (Roller) Houston-based Rambler-Crane Systems was renowned for its multiple series of treaded “roller” combatant robots. Borne upon ruggedized continuous track systems, Rambler-Crane models like the iconic B-9 Robby could bypass difficult terrain from battlefield...

For a SMAC (or maybe C:BE)-like setting, there's the Alpha-Frontier total conversion mod for Unciv (a FOSS recreation of Civilization 5 for Android and desktop- Civ wiki entry). Here's my summary of the nations in the game:

Vehicle Chassis: Combot (Walker) Even after decades of robotic proliferation, the United Nations continued to shy away from adopting such weapons for its own security forces. Partly this was motivated by its focus on sublethals and commando forces skilled in their use. Another was the...

I made this.

The five upstarts If there is hope, it lies with the Drones Arthur Donaldson Current Position: Secretary-Foreman of the Free Union Drones Unity Position: Director of Planetside Mining Ops Origin Country: Australia Minor Party: Centauri Labour The proof that there are third acts in Chironian...

Breakdown #1 - Characters and Motivations My takes on the faction leaders is heavily inspired on “Journey to Centauri,” the original SMAC novella by Michael Ely, particularly Episode 30 where they vote to dissolve the mission and become faction leaders. The story does a great job of charting...

Glossary #1 - Organizations and Institutions Currently named entities, more to come, list is non-exhaustive. Also, design notes. “colonial administration” - description of the government, not necessarily the official name. Colonial Council: the leadership of the administration, plays a...

The Showman of Industry Nwabudike Morgan Current Position: CEO of Morgan Industries Party: Monopoly Power! Nwabudike Morgan was not the only business leader on the Unity mission, but he got in via the most outrageous manner. While the economic fluctuations in the dying days of Earth make...

Yeah, based on the leader profiles on the Firaxis website and the "Journey to Centauri" novella, the various leaders had life experiences and personal predilections that led to them declaring full-on ideological factions on Planet, but these weren't movements on Earth (except the Spartans, kind...

While the majority of the Restoration of Earth follow the Returner Oath, the somber pledge to reunite with the lost planet regardless of its state, alternative sub-factions exist. A rising movement has been the Sojourner Axiom popularized by Colonel Vadim Petrovich Kozlov, explorer of the Kuiper...