Pre-ChaNES: Into the Void

Hail People's Republic! Hail! Hail!

Charles Li said:

Hail People's Republic! Hail! Hail!

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OOC: Ah the memories...

OOC: Salvation from the depths of the second page and a reminder some of us indeed are looking forward to an update.

Duly noted, Symphony. I've been unexpectedly busy over the past few days, but I have literally no obligations to fulfill tomorrow (and not much more than that in the following days), so I'll hopefully be able to make some serious progress on this in a relatively short period of time.

As always, eagerly awaiting the update.

Sorry about the extended extended delay, folks - I had some unforeseen family duties to see to, and had a tough time getting to my computer. However, I'm now well into the second PM full of update, and since I'm on break now, I should be able to work more or less uninterrupted for the next couple of days. This update promises to be another interesting one, so bear with me.

Edit: The update itself is done, and I'll work on updating the stats and tech files tomorrow.

Oh, please post the update...

Nah, sit on it for a while longer, it'll make all of it so much sweeter.

While normally I would demand the update, since I'll be up tonight writing a paper, I say wait and finish everything

It won't be too much longer now. I'll update this post as I finish each part, for those compulsive progress-checkers.

To do: Update Writeup ; Nation Stats ; System Political Stats ; Map Updating ; Tech Files

Sol

In the early 22^nd century, the fate of the war between the Islamic Confederation and the United States was decided not on the battlefield, but by diplomacy. The Confederation threatened to cause destruction on an unprecedented scale if the United States continued to fight, but Russia made its entrance by demanding that the Confederation be defeated at any cost. Europe continued to demand peace of one sort or another, and China remained inscrutable in its ultimate intent.

After some tense diplomacy, and a few months in which the fate of the world hung in the balance, events finally came down on the side of the United States. With the election of a more hawkish leader, the European Union announced its declaration to go to war with the Islamic Confederation as well, and China decided to remain aloof from the conflict. The Confederation's fate was sealed.

The United States continued to advance on the Confederation from the east, and they were joined in the west by Europe and in the north by Russia. Finally, the collapse of the Islamic Confederation began to gather momentum. The combined operations of the allied force quickly made progress across the Middle East, and individual countries began to surrender despite some popular opinion that they should continue the fight until the end.

Meanwhile, bombing and special forces operations were underway to locate and destroy the nuclear weapons stollen by the Islamic Confederation. In destroying these weapons, Russia displayed a new technology - clearly, they had some sort of nuclear weapon of their own.

Perhaps it was predictable that while the rest of the world shied away from developing nuclear technology, Russia had embraced it, and the result was apparent. Shortly after the operation in which they were used, Russia issued a press release stating that the weapons were virtually radiation-free, along with verifiable data to support that statement. This indicated that the weapons were fusion bombs, of a classified design.

This trump card only served to accelerate the fall of the Islamic Confederation, and despite the fact that some warheads surely must have evaded destruction, the collapsing Confederate leadership was unable to detonate even a single one of them.

Little more than a year after Europe and Russia entered the war, all of the nations of the Confederation had surrendered. In the last months of the effort, several of the nations surrounding the IC, including India, joined the war on the side of the allies, which served to hasten the end. A puppet government had been set up in Indonesia, and the nations that had once made up the Islamic Confederation had been subdued. The Islamic Confederation itself still existed, technically, but its strength as an international organization was limited by treaty, and it was clear that it would not regain whatever small strength it had held within this lifetime.

Yet the IISP facility on Venus did not surrender. The destroyers there remained clustered, as an attack on Earth was clearly doomed, especially with the European development of their own Retribution-class destroyer. Meanwhile, by 2108, the Russians had completed their newest masterpiece of nuclear technology - the RFSS Nikita Khrushchev, a ship that not only made use of Orion-type nuclear propulsion, but was fully capable of bombarding a stationary target with its nuclear bomb fuel.

It was very much a niche ship, defenseless against the coilgun cannons used by modern destroyers, but it would be well suited to destroying the IISP's facilities in the orbit of Venus. Though the name of the ship alluded to the leader of what modern Russians universally recognized as one of the most evil of evil regimes, it was a tribute to his determination and strength of character - traits that the Russian Federation would require in the coming years. On the ship's side, in white text on red, was the phrase "Мы вас похороним". Literally, "We will bury you."

The ship was launched, but it wasn't a simple matter of flying by the heavily defended Venus outpost and leaving behind a few dozen nuclear warheads to incinerate it. Though the Orion type boosters allowed the Nikita Khrushchev to travel at extremely high speeds, those high speeds also made mid-flight course corrections nearly impossible - a few gauss rounds launched to intercept it on a precisely calculated path could destroy it, leaving the ship unable to deliver its nuclear payload. So, the Confederate fleet around Venus would have to be dealt with first.

The American fleet, reinforced from both Bacchus and the Terran shipyards, set out to Venus. Though the Confederate fleet had some stationary defenses in place, the Americans had experience, quality, and quantity on their side, and the battle was over quickly enough. Then the American fleet pulled back, and the Nikita Khrushchev flew by, pitilessly executing the defeated enemy. The Confederate personnel on the vast array of stations and orbital factories, including women, children, and civilians, had all refused to surrender. In a nuclear flash that was visible even to some astronomers, much of the Confederate colony was incinerated, and those parts that initially survived began to spiral into the fatal clouds of Venus, where they were crushed beyond recognition.

The IISP colonies in neighboring systems fared somewhat better, but a detailed report of that will wait until the rest of the events in Sol have been covered. In the years after the Confederation's defeat leading up to 2115, the atmosphere of cooperation among the allied powers allowed great progress to be made on several joint international projects.

Foremost among these was a system of space elevators. Masterminded by Russia and quickly aided by the US and the EU, this project involved the construction not only of the massive cable towers that would allow easy travel in and out of Earth orbit, but also of a system of lattitudal rings that would allow easy travel and shipment from one side of the world to the other. Additionally, the ambitious project also included a system of skyhooks extended down from the orbital rings that would allow cargo to be brought into space from several points on the Earth's surface.

Initially, the project was conducted under Russia's sole supervision, but the US and the EU were able to take over more influence by the 2110's with their economic clout. China, due to obvious factors as well as those that will be explained later in the update, was only able to purchase the section of a ring that passed directly over the continent, and even then only by making quite a fuss over it. Nevertheless, the postwar period was a time of great advancement for all the nations of Earth, an effect that spilled over to their interstellar colonies.

Damen, Xu Fu, 025-177

As the hub of human activity, Sol naturally merits the most thorough coverage, but events in the neighboring, and much less hospitable, system of Damen also deserve mention. As of 2105, this system was a patchwork of different nationalities. The Chinese were dominant, with two of the four planets, but there was also an American settlement and one under the Islamic Confederation. By the end of 2106, this had all changed.

Before the war with the Islamic Confederation had been decided, the greatest fear of the allied powers was a Chinese entry into the war. China's military was as large as all the allied powers combined, and while it was certainly not as well trained nor as well equipped, it would also have the support of the Islamic Confederation - the consequences of such a great conflict would be devastating even for the victor. While the Chinese never did declare war, they used the global fear of war to their advantage.

While the powers on Earth warred, the Chinese offered the foreign colonists in Damen a choice - to stay in the system under Chinese rule, or be deported back to Earth. Of course America and the Confederation both raised a huge ruckus over this, and the token payments the Chinese offered did nothing to mollify this. However, the IC still held hopes of the Chinese intervening in the war on their behalf, and the Americans wanted to keep that from happening. The end result was that a surprising amount of colonists stayed, but even more were sent back to Earth under armed guard.

Damen continued to grow, under unified Chinese rule and an influx of new Chinese immigrants. As the gateway between Sol and 009-108 (and also between Sol and 025-177), it also had a large military presence. Thus, even though in and of itself Damen was of little value, the colonies there continued to grow.

Compared to the colony at 009-108, however, the growth at Damen was quite small. The aquatic planet of Xu Fu, previously called simply 009-108C, was much more hospitable than any previously colonized world. Though its colony was much younger than the one at Bacchus, Xu Fu's population was quite rapidly catching up. The colonists on Xu Fu made use of the native life there, not only by simple farming, but also by studying their alien biology in depth. The wealth of knowledge brought on by these studies may have served to partly placate those on Earth worried about the future of the alien environment. The smaller colony on the snowbound planet of 009-108D also saw growth, though the focus was clearly on its more hospitable neighbor.

Finally, the Chinese also continued their development of 025-177. Though this system was somewhat less hospitable than 009-108, it was still fairly good by any other standard. More importantly, it would unlock the way to other good planets, and so the Chinese effort there was very single-minded. By 2115, the Stigma skimmer there was online, and the Chinese were making another colony ship to extend their reach even further.

Infinitas, Valhalla, Olympia

Meanwhile, the two great colonies in Infinitas continued to grow. Though America was more concerned with its war and its Mars colony than the aquatic planet of Carmenta, the colony there was becoming quite prosperous due to its trade with Bacchus. With the fall of the Islamic Confederation, the American soldiers and ships there moved to take over the IISP colonies among the moons of Portunes. The fighting there was brief but desperate on the side of the Confederation, but the Americans inevitably won.

Also, on Carmenta itself, the colonists enlisted the help of European biologists to introduce some life to the stormy waters. With some minor genetic modifications, life took surprisingly well to the vast oceans of Carmenta. This was just one of many instances of cooperation between the populations of Carmenta and Bacchus, and served to strengthen the bond of the denizens of Infinitas.

Bacchus also continued to grow. Vast swathes of hardy moss were spread over the most promising spots of the surface, and the humans there continued to multiply as well. Industrially, Bacchus worked to develop a stronger infrastructure to use the abundant minerals on its surface, and the shipyards there were the largest outside Earth itself. Several new JOAT class corvettes and Retribution class destroyers were made in the orbit of Bacchus itself.

However, not all was well on Bacchus - the Europeans weren't the only ones there, after all, and the Chinese aggression at Damen, while it wasn't directly aimed at Europeans, revived old enmities. For the second time, relations between the Europeans and Chinese of Bacchus collapsed into disorganized violence, though at least this time the authorities were more prepared. The episode was a good example of the unique feelings the European population of Bacchus had for their mother nation. While the identity as Europeans was quite strongly there, the people of Bacchus also felt a growing drive for autonomy simply due to their large population and great distance from Earth. The conflicts between the peoples of Earth had only served to highlight Bacchus's unique position as a colony.

The situation on Carmenta was somewhat different. America's involvement in the war with the Islamic Confederation was much deeper than Europe's had been, and so the allied victory greatly boosted morale. Furthermore, the government of Carmenta made significant efforts to remain solidly with America despite the growing unified-Infinitas sentiment, which undoubtably also had an effect. The net result was that while there certainly was an indepedence movement in Carmenta, it was far, far smaller than the one on Bacchus.

Moving further away from Sol, the smaller colony of Asgard, in the system Valhalla, was slowly increasing in size. While Valhalla was about as hospitable as Bacchus, if not moreso, its greater distance from Earth and its more recent founding meant that it was much smaller. Still, great progress was made in industrializing the colony in the years approaching 2115, and its role as one of the links in the chain between Olympia and Sol also helped.

Olympia itself had more activity. Its feature planet, named Arcadia, was perhaps as hospitable as Xu Fu overall, though its features were rather different. Arcadia was a large planet, and so its gravity was as strong as that of Bacchus. It also had much more landmass than Xu Fu, and as the European colony ship from Valhalla arrived in Arcadia's orbit in 2106, it could be seen that the planet's surface was covered in green. Here too there was native alien life.

Not only was there aquatic life on Arcadia, but the land was populated as well. Dense green shrubs and trees were spread over most of the surface, but there was little in the way of landborne animal life - some creatures resembling Terran insects, but not so much as a lizard to be found. Clearly, evolution here had not yet progressed as far as it had on Earth.

Perhaps to set an example for how the Chinese should have conducted their colonization, the European colonists of Arcadia were extremely cautious as they went about their business. Clean power sources were used as much as possible, and industry bent over backwards to accomodate the wellbeing of the surrounding environment. Needless to say, this was looked on with great approval by the environmentally conscious Europeans at home and abroad. The facility was as much a research outpost as it was a colony, but due to numerous factors, from the breathable air to the lack of hostile lifeforms, it was able to grow quickly despite the careful environmental measures.

Elsewhere

Due to the war with the Islamic Confederation, colonization efforts from the allied powers were slowed, but not stopped. America continued to expand its colonies in Sol, and Europe sent a colony ship to the outlying system of 101-139. Russia remained absent from the interstellar colonization front, though it obtained the consent of the United States to use its Stigma skimming facilities in the future, it took over the remnants of the IISP facility on Venus, and it built a small colony of its own on Mercury. The entry of a fourth major spacefaring power, especially in light of the great engineering projects to make travel from Earth easier, would surely have interesting consequences.

Map and commentary will be posted after the first page is updated.

OOC: Dear God, finally, it's up! After all those hours of waiting!!!! School today will be painful.

Here's the updated map. Yes, this was a worse delay than the last time, due to conspiring factors that were mostly outside my control. I think I'm getting the hang of making these larger updates, however - to be honest, most of the work I did this time was done over the course of the last three days. Hopefully the next update will be much quicker. Anyway, I hope you players don't mind this delay too much.

Retroactive deletion.

Brilliant update Chand. You have the gift, that's for sure.

IC communication later when I have more time.

Asking to join as:

Leonardo's Space Tourism Inc.
Leader: Leonard Venochi (erez87)
Capital: no-capital, Earth
Government: "Monarchy": President of Company makes major choices.
Technology: ?
Army Stats: ?
Army Description: (small mercenary and guards troops)
Navy Stats: ?
Navy Description: (only none-military ones)
Total Economy: ?
Planets Occupied: ?
Avg. Infrastructure: ?
Control: ?
Total Population: ?
Military Cap: ?
Education: ?
Avg. Safety & Health: ?
Avg. Patriotism: ?
Projects: ?
History: The Space Tourism company have evolved in the past 100 years far beyond anyone's expectations. Flights to the moon and back are already becoming something almost anyone with an average economy can do. Already tourism to new planets in the solar system and beyond is catching on and commercial flights across space are becoming a common thing. under Leonardo Venochi the space companies have become stronger then ever and are starting to take the place of countries in every day space flights. Will companies one day rule the skies? Only time will tell...
[/spoiler]

Is it possible?

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Great update Chandrasekhar!

erez87 said:

Is it possible?

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Absolutely. I might as well use this post to point out that using private coporations (or minor nations) to blaze Stigma skimming routes through systems that the parent nation doesn't have the resources for is a fine tactic.

OOC: For the record, the elevator locations:


Rings obviously run along the same longitudes.

I had expected a flurry of public diplomacy after the update, but I suppose its purpose might be solved just as well by private messages, contingencies, and brute force. Anyway, I'm setting the deadline for orders at a week from today.