Exoplanet! II


Turn Zero- Landing

Unity Debris

The explosions across Unity’s spine have transformed the once mighty interstellar craft into so much parts and debris. And while much remains in orbit threatening the hastily launched satellites with high-speed impact, much has fallen to Planet, largely landing in the dense ‘jungles’ in the north-eastern regions of the eastern continent- north of the ‘Federation of Free People’s’ colony, as well as in the seas north and east of this.

Communications Satellites

A number of communication satellites were successfully launched prior to the explosions. Communications with these satellites is inconsistent despite the satellites seemingly operating properly. This is probably due to local electromagnetic interference from Planet’s surface.

Air Quality

Sensors do not report any obvious toxins or poisons in the local air though it is filled with biologics of unknown nature that could well be very toxic to Earth-derived life. Caution is advised.

Acidity

Long-term volcanic activity has dispersed significant volatiles into the atmosphere that return oto the surface as ‘acid rain’. Many landers, especially those in volcanic regions, reveal lower than expected local soil and water pH.

Lander Manufacturing

Note that your landers are outfitted with small factories to generate parts you may need. Additionally you have a number of lightweight, easy-to-build pre-fabricated buildings you can assemble to form part of your colony should you desire to do so.


Atlas-Mitsubishi

Spoiler :


Arrival

In the chaos of the emergency departure, identifying and executing on a landing strategy had to be accelerated considerably. Operators identified a relatively flat plain near a mountain range on the south-eastern continent. The emergency landing at the site soon revealed that the thick snow and ice covering the site were quickly melted and destabilized by the hydrazine-powered thrusters. Upon landing, the entire unit tipped unexpectedly, landing on its side and causing considerable damage to materials and people within. In fact, the main exit to the lander is now deep under the icey crater created by the landing. Exiting the lander will require either cutting a way out or using smaller emergency exits.

Communication

Communication with orbital communications satellite appears stable.

External Scans

Cameras reveal thick snow and ice across a plain and into the nearby mountains. Volcanoes rise from these mountains throwing grey and black ash blankets upon the snow. ‘Forests’ of stubby tubular ‘trees’ rise through the snow all around the lander. These spout long thin filaments like cotton threads that wave in the wind.

Beacons

A Unity colonization beacon is emitting a signal. The beacon identifies a pod with inventory listed as ‘construction waldos’ and a sub-inventory effectively listing a number of semi-automated heavy construction vehicles/drones that might be useful for building the colony. The location is listed as 45 kilometers to the north-west (in the snowy mountains).

A more distant beacon is transmitting intermittently and inconsistently from the east. We’ll need to explore that location to get a better sense of where that pod might be and what it might contain.

Resources

Food and ore stocks are limited. We will need to develop our own sustainable sources of food and materials.




Apaurusheya

Spoiler :


Arrival

The Apaurusheya lander arrives on the southern coast of the north-eastern continent without incident, landing in a small clearing amidst thick ‘jungles’.

Communication

Communication with orbital communications satellite is very unstable. Only intermittent communication is possible.

External Scans

Cameras reveal thick fog all about. Creek-like rivulets steam into the air. Through the fog, a ‘jungle’ of tube-like ‘trees’ extending far into the fog limits vision to only the immediate surrounding. Thin cotton-like threads extend from their ‘branches’, twisting slowly in the wind and fog.

Scans in the non-visual spectrum reveal a higher than expected electromagnetic field throughout the localized area, the source of which is not immediately obvious.

Beacons

A Unity colonization beacon is emitting a signal nearby. The beacon identifies a pod with inventory listed as ‘drilling equipment’ and a sub-inventory effectively listing a number of semi-automated heavy drilling vehicles/drones that might be useful for building our colony. The location is listed as 25 kilometers to the south-west (in the seas?).

A more distant beacon is transmitting intermittently and inconsistently from an unknown location.

Resources

Food and ore stocks are limited. We will need to develop our own sustainable sources of food and materials.




Autumn Crown

Spoiler :


Arrival

The Autumn Crown lander arrives on the western shore of the eastern province without incident, landing in a wide tidal flat that floods to approximately 10cm during high tide and reveals 1-2 km of thick mud during low tide. The lander is sunk to a depth of approximately 6m at a 15 degree tilt but this is not expected to affect entry or egress.

Communication

Communication with orbital communications satellite is very unstable. Only intermittent communication is possible.

External Scans

Cameras reveal thick fog throughout the mud-flats. Rivulets feed through the mud from thick ‘jungles’ further inland. The ‘jungles’ are made up of towering aloe-like ‘plant’ structures who’s edges extrude long ‘cotton thread’-like tendrils that extend as far as your cameras can see.

The tidal flats are spotted with small masses of fleshy-looking material in the shapes of rounded cones. Cameras reveal these are motile, even if just barely and the ‘creatures’ or ‘plants’ may be awaiting the return of the tides to resume activity. Other, rarer creatures can occasionally be spotted in the mud but the fog prevents further resolution.

The seas beyond team with biomass but the nature thereof is not immediately obvious.

Scans in the non-visual spectrum reveal a higher than expected electromagnetic field throughout the localized inland area, the source of which is not immediately obvious.

Beacons

A Unity colonization beacon is emitting a signal nearby. The beacon identifies a pod with inventory listed as ‘agricultural supplies’ and a sub-inventory effectively listing a number of inflatable greenhouses, seed-stock, and earth microbiota. The location is listed as ~12 kilometers to the east (in the hills beyond the fog)

A more distant beacon is transmitting intermittently and inconsistently from the western sea. The distance is approximated at ~40km.

Resources

Food and ore stocks are limited. We will need to develop our own sustainable sources of food and materials.

We are experiencing energy shortages. Our landing pod was designed to be supplemented with external power-generating colony pods and due to the emergency situation, these did not follow us to surface.




The Commonality

Spoiler :


Arrival

The Commonality lander arrives at the south-eastern end of a peninsula projecting from the north-western continent. Their landing site is located in a series of steep jungle-covered canyons and hills ~10km inland of the sea. The lander itself is located in the bottom of one of these canyons, squarely in a small fast-flowing river. Despite being slightly off-target, the landing was uneventful.

Communication

Communication with orbital communications satellite is very unstable. Only intermittent communication is possible.

External Scans

Cameras reveal thick fog all about. At the edge of the river, through the fog, a ‘jungle’ of tube-like ‘trees’ extends far into the fog-filled sky and limits vision to only the immediate surrounding. Thin cotton-like threads extend from their ‘branches’, twisting slowly in the wind and fog.

Scans in the non-visual spectrum reveal a higher than expected electromagnetic field throughout the localized area, the source of which is not immediately obvious.

Beacons

A pair of Unity colonization beacons are emitting a signal nearby. The first beacon identifies a pod at ~30 km north-west with inventory listed as ‘scout rovers’ and a sub-inventory effectively listing four six-wheeled vehicles mounted with sensors and long-distance communication equipment. The second beacon identifies a pod at 50km south with inventory listed as ‘solar energy plant’. The signal from this pod is only intermittently received and seems to be constantly in danger of disappearing completely.

A more distant beacon is transmitting intermittently and inconsistently from an unknown location.

Resources

Food and ore stocks are limited. The commonality will need to develop their own sustainable sources of food and materials.



Federation of Free People

Spoiler :


Arrival

The Federation of Free People makes a landing on a wide pebble-strewn beach at the edge of a lake north and east of a craggy mountain range.

Communication

Communication with orbital communications satellite is relatively stable. Communication is possible but occasional breaks occur in the signal.

External Scans

Winds are extremely high at present and the sky is unexpectedly clear. The view of the lake reveals pale blue water dotted with small islands.

Both the islands and the inland hills are covered small reddish bulbs and thin branching ‘tree’-like structures. The trees have small purple ‘leaf’-like structures that may serve as photosynthetic energy capture while the red bulbs extend long threads that extend for approximately 100 meters into the sky.

Between the vegetation the hills and mountains are strewn with exposed rock, boulders, and towering pillars of stone.

Scans in the non-visual spectrum reveal a weak fluctuating electromagnetic field emanating from the nearby hills and mountains.

Beacons

A Unity colonization beacon is emitting a signal nearby. The beacon identifies a pod with inventory listed as ‘construction module’ and a sub-inventory effectively listing a number of dedicated construction drones and tele-operated robots (bulldozers, cranes, etc). The location is listed as ~30 kilometers to the south-west.

Resources

Food and ore stocks are limited. The Federation will need to develop our own sustainable sources of food and materials.

The Federation are experiencing energy shortages. The exo-lance walkers will shut down without supplemented energy.




The High Commune of Outlook

Spoiler :


Arrival

The High Commune of Outlook’s lander arrives on the north-western coast of the north-western continent during a spectacular local storm. The landing soon turns into a series of emergency maneuvers and do or die piloting but ultimately the lander manages a landing, some 3 km inland of the sea- amidst a low-lying marsh. The landing, while not resulting in any immediate deaths, soon leads to the lander tipping as one ‘leg’ falls deep into a brackish sinkhole, throwing everything inside askew. Despite the storm and the hard-landing, the worst injuries are broken bones and no one dies and no major injuries are reported.

Communication

Communication with orbital satellites is intermittent at best. Perhaps as the storm subsides so too will the interference.

External Scans

The storm continues unabated beyond the lander walls and cyclonic rain lashes the lander furiously. Visibility is almost null and despite the hour, almost no sunlight reaches down to the lander cameras.

Using low-light magnification, external cameras reveal wetland broken by towering tube-like branching ‘trees’. Squid-like creatures skirt about in the shallow waters darting about with unprecedented speed, driven into a frenzy by the storm.

It is impossible to get a reading on any sort of scanners with the storm raging; electromagnetic interference is significant.

Beacons

A pair of Unity colonization beacons are emitting signals nearby. The interference is too great to determine the content of the electronic beacon or their location but perhaps as the storm passes, the beacon signals can be successfully read.

Resources

Food and ore stocks are limited. The High Commune will need to develop our own sustainable sources of food and materials.

The High Commune are experiencing energy shortages. The matter-compilers will fail without additional energy input.




Keepers

Spoiler :


Arrival

The Keeper lander’s scanners are damaged in the initial explosive blasts as the Keepers themselves take a moment to evacuate from the spine. With no scanners, they follow the signal from the ‘Outermost’ lander, using manual piloting for the last hectic minutes to settle their lander in a wide valley tucked into high mountains in the western continent.

Communication

Communication with orbital communications satellite is very unstable. Only intermittent communication is possible.

External Scans

A thick fog covers the valley floor and severely limits visibility. Cameras none-the-less catch glimpses of towering snow-covered mountains stained black and red with volcanoes in openings of the fogbanks. More immediately, the valley floor is covered in wide waxey bladed ‘plants’ approximately the height of a man. These spew long ‘thread-like’ filaments that rise high into the clouds.

A thick river streams through the valley, fed by innumerable small rivulets from the snow-covered mountains. Its banks are flanked by larger, tube-like, trees rising 30 to forty meters in height. At their tops, they branch widely with each branch tapering to a long thin filaments that rise into the sky like the strings of kites.

Beacons

The lander’s scanners, despite some damage, are able to pick up the signal from a nearby colonization pod. The pod’s electronic message reveals it to be ‘fusion reactor’ with no further inventory message. The pod is located approximately 40 km to the north-west.

A second pod beacon is also received, though the contents and location are not revealed due to interference.

Resources

Food and ore stocks are limited. The Keepers will need to develop their own sustainable sources of food and materials.

Energy brownouts are frequent but manageable.




The Outermost

Spoiler :


Arrival

The Outermost lander makes a rather routine and unexciting landing in the wide caldera of an ancient volcano towering amidst a high mountain range. The volcano is not inactive however, the dark ashy soil steams and smokes ominously under the lander legs.

Communication

Communication with orbital communications satellite is stable.

External Scans

The caldera is covered in thick fog crystalline with micro-particles of ice. The ground itself is a mix of glass pebbles, ash, and volcanic soil and scanners reveal it to be significantly warmer than the surrounding air. The edges of the caldera are snow stewn with ash and empty of any local life, plant or otherwise.

Beyond the immediate caldera, the altitude makes the air refined and extremely cold. Oxygen concentrations will be low at this altitude and any explorers are forewarned to bring an independent air supply.

Beacons

The lander’s scanners are able to pick up the signal from two nearby colonization pods.

The first pod’s electronic message reveals it to be ‘fusion reactor’ with no further inventory message. The pod is located approximately 50 km to the south-west.

A second pod beacon is also received, the signal identifying it as ‘terraforming vehicles’. The beacon identifies it as being located over 100 km to the south-east.

Resources

Food and ore stocks are limited. The Outermost will need to develop their own sustainable sources of food and materials.




Ultrasurvivalists

Spoiler :


Arrival

The Ultrasurvivalists’ stolen lander (plastered with United Socialist Peoples’ logos) makes an uncanny landing amidst a wintery gale lashing their chosen destination with wind, rain and snow. Ultimately however, they are able to land without major incidence, making their home in ‘jungle’-like lowland covered in thin wet snow.

Communication

Communication with orbital communications satellite is intermittent due to interference from an unknown source.

External Scans

Blizzard-like storms swirl around the lander, obscuring visibility significantly.

The area around the lander is a narrow island isthmus covered in thick towering vegetation, tube-like ‘trees’ rising 40-60 meters into the sky and exploding into tendrils and dendrites at their height that in turn sport millions of thin thread-like tendrils that extend further into the sky. The whole of it is covered in a thin layer of heavy water-logged snow.

The seas around the lander team with biological signatures but resolution beyond this is impossible with all the electromagnetic interference. What can be determined is that these seas are criss-crossed with deep underwater volcanic crevasses but are otherwise relatively shallow. There is no solid ice in the seas despite the snow in the sky.

Beacons

A pod beacon is detected emanating from the south-west, distance unknown, inventory unknown due to electromagnetic interference.

Resources

Food and ore stocks are limited. The ultasurvivalists will need to live up to their name and develop their own sustainable sources of food and materials (or steal them from somewhere).




The United Order of Zion

Spoiler :


Arrival

The Zion lander arrives at a highland plateau on the inland mountains of the eastern continent. Despite high cloud cover, there is little ground fog like that expected from most potential landing sites.

Communication

Communication with orbital communications satellite is mostly stable but prone to intermittent interference from an unknown source.

External Scans

The plateau is a land covered in low succulent-like, waxy, broad-leafed, vegetation trailing long, thin threads into the air.

Slow moving radially symmetrical ‘animals’ that appear like nothing so much as dog-sized armored starfish appear to be slowly grazing on these ‘succulent’-like ‘plants’.

The sky is distant and covered in thin clouds through which blue-white sky and sunlight occasionally peaks.

Oxygen concentrations will be low at this altitude.

Beacons

The lander’s scanners are able to pick up the signal from two nearby colonization pods.

The first pod’s electronic message reveals it to be ‘fusion reactor’ with no further inventory message. The pod is located an unknown distance to the south.

A second pod beacon signal is also received, the signal identifying it as ‘nautical exploration unit’ with subinventories listing several cutters outfitted for exploration and surveillance. The beacon identifies it as being located over 60 km to the north-east.

Resources

Food and ore stocks are limited. The faithful will need to develop their own sustainable sources of food and materials.




The Violet Combine

Spoiler :


Arrival

The Violet Combine lander has to navigate through thick cloud and fog banks on instruments alone and as it approaches Planet surface, is soon overwhelmed by strong electromagnetic interference. When the lander crashes through vegetation, carving a wide gouge into the thick ‘jungle’, several aboard are badly hurt and a few do not survive landing.

Communication

Communication with orbital communications satellite is almost impossible through the thick electromagnetic interference.

External Scans

External cameras reveal towering jungles of tube-like ‘trees’ draping long ‘vines’ rising high into the fog and clouds. Rain is so thick and heavy that waterfall like rivulets fall from the ‘trees’ and quickly form into streams that race to the east.

Visibility is almost null due to the thick vegetation and rain and lack of sunlight reaching the depths of the ‘jungle’.

Ticking, tapping, and scurrying can be heard on the outside of the lander but due to the damage incurred during the crash landing, the source of this cannot be determined as yet.

Resources

Food and ore stocks are limited. The Violet Combine will need to develop their own sustainable sources of food and materials.

Biology and medical labs are up and running and serve to address the needs of the injured but also strain power consumption.

Brownouts (manageable) should be expected for the near future.




Ziętekken Empire

Spoiler :


Arrival

The Ziętekken Empire lander arrives on a peninsula jutting south from the northern reaches of the western continent. The area is a series of crags and crevessaes, cliffs and sharply rising hills. The Ziętekken lander is able to gently set itself down in a canyon between these, its ‘feet’ anchoring it in a muddy river which rises to a depth of 4m on the structure.

The area is thick with fog.

Communication

Communication with orbital communications satellite is very unstable. Only intermittent communication is possible.

External Scans

External cameras reveal ‘vine-like’ ‘plants’ growing from the river edges and covering the cliff-faces. Thin threads extend from the ‘vines’ into the fog. The rivers themselves are home to small bulbous ‘plants’ like a cross between a cantaloupe and a sea anemone. These too extend threads into the river, rippling in the water’s movements.

Small multi-limbed creatures, no bigger than a human hand, swing between the vines of the cliffs. They are five or seven or even eleven-limbed and use long tentacles to make their way amongst the vines. Like the plants they are covered in long hairs and they seem to move these over the vines and in the air as a sort of sensor system.

Beacons

A Unity colonization beacon is emitting a signal nearby. The beacon identifies a pod at ~45 km north with inventory listed as ‘scout rovers’ and a sub-inventory effectively listing four six-wheeled vehicles mounted with sensors and long-distance communication equipment.

A more distant beacon is transmitting intermittently and inconsistently from a location in the southern sea.

Resources

Food and ore stocks are limited. The Ziętekken Empire will need to develop their own sustainable sources of food and materials.

The Ziętekken central quantum computer is notoriously energy-intensive machine and it will need to be taken off-line to maintain life-support for the lander unless another source of energy can be identified quickly.



Turn Zero Stats
Spoiler :
Atlas-Mitsubishi Nuka
Spoiler :

Community
Hierarchial corporate elite rule over 'wage-slave' middle and lower-class.
Population: oo , ( 20% )
Governance: oo , ( 20% )
Cohesion: o , ( 67% )
Science & Research: oo , ( 20% )
Economy
Lander reactor powering limited lander-based manufacturing. Lander food and mineral stocks are limited and will degrade over time. Altas-Mitsubishi Power and Engines has provided additional upgrades to improve industry across the board.
Resources: o , ( 33% )
Energy: o , ( 33% )
Industry: oo , ( 20% )
Tech: oo , ( 0% )
Military
Small force of corporate security armed with las-rifles. Smaller force of deep reconaissance troops.
Land Forces: o , ( 33% )
Naval Power: o , ( 0% )
Air Power: o , ( 0% )
Security & Intelligence: o , ( 33% )

Apaurusheya Christopher Sni
Spoiler :

Community
Organized according to the 'Gram Panchayat' model, based on democratically elected local officials providing ground-up organizational structure.
Population: oo , ( 0% )
Governance: oo , ( 20% )
Cohesion: o , ( 67% )
Science & Research: oo , ( 0% )
Economy
Partially socialized and government-regulated capitalist economy. Have focused on developing crops and machinery for lower solar input and higher precipitation during travel on Unity. Lander food and mineral stocks are limited and will degrade over time. Altas-Mitsubishi Power and Engines has provided additional upgrades to improve industry across the board.
Resources: oo , ( 20% )
Energy: o , ( 33% )
Industry: oo , ( 0% )
Tech: o , ( 33% )
Military
Very small force of very elite commandoes called the '26' that will serve as a core to train a larger combat force over time.
Land Forces: o , ( 33% )
Naval Power: o , ( 0% )
Air Power: o , ( 0% )
Security & Intelligence: oo , ( 0% )

Autumn Crown Seon
Spoiler :

Community
Theoretically, the Autumn Crown is a constitutional monarchy, the democratic constitution has been curtailed due to hardships of the last year on Unity. Monarchy and social elites in conflict due to differences of opinion. Disenfranchised lower class.
Population: oo , ( 20% )
Governance: oo , ( 20% )
Cohesion: o , ( 33% )
Science & Research: oo , ( 40% )
Economy
Economic interests are lead by relatively few technocrat-oligarchs owning large corporate interests within the phyle. Rest of the phyle employed as either freelance labor for corporate entities within the phyle, or as reliable contractors with long term employee-employer relationship in almost feudal retainer-like manner. Lander food and mineral stocks are limited and will degrade over time.
Resources: o , ( 33% )
Energy: o , ( -33% )
- energy shortages need to be addressed immediately
Industry: oo , ( 0% )
Tech: o , ( 33% )
Military
Small, but well equipped with aerial drones and limited/defensive air-dispersed nanite weapons
Land Forces: o , ( 0% )
Naval Power: o , ( 0% )
Air Power: oo , ( 20% )
Security & Intelligence: oo , ( 0% )

The Commonality Sonereal
Spoiler :

Community
The Central Committee is a state-party organ ruling through centralized planning and extensive data collection and analyses. Wealth inequality is relatively limited and while personal privacy is laughable extinct, material security is relatively guaranteed
Population: oo , ( 20% )
Governance: oo , ( 0% )
Cohesion: o , ( 67% )
Science & Research: oo , ( 20% )
Economy
Centralized planning focuses on computing and industry. Commercial goods production and agriculture are depriotized. Lander food and mineral stocks are limited and will degrade over time.
Resources: o , ( 67% )
Energy: o , ( 0% )
Industry: oo , ( 0% )
Tech: o , ( 33% )
Military
Instrumentality of Persuasive Argument, IPA: Decentralized forces spearheaded by the Red Guards- small but well armed and trained. Well-supported by computing security specialists.
Land Forces: oo , ( 0% )
Naval Power: o , ( 0% )
Air Power: o , ( 0% )
Security & Intelligence: oo , ( 0% )

Federation of free people Tobiisagoodboy
Spoiler :

Community
Democratic Federation upholding the principle of freedom, egalitarianism and unity. The military has a strong position but no real political power. Large middle class.
Population: oo , ( 20% )
Governance: o , ( 67% )
Cohesion: oo , ( 20% )
Science & Research: oo , ( 0% )
Economy
Semi-capitalist economy, mostly classic economy with goverment control over important parts (transportation, energy and communication) and the military industry as a part of the military. Lander food and mineral stocks are limited and will degrade over time.
Resources: o , ( 67% )
Energy: o , ( -33% )
- energy shortages need to be addressed immediately
Industry: oo , ( 0% )
Tech: o , ( 0% )
Military
Militarized society with good industrial support. The soldiers under arms are well equipped and have great firepower, while every civillian poses at least small arms to form a militia if need be.
Land Forces: ooo , ( 0% )
- Exo Lances: Exosuit using Infantry employing heavy firepower and classical shock an awe tactics.
Naval Power: o , ( 0% )
Air Power: o , ( 0% )
Security & Intelligence: o , ( 0% )

The High Commune of Outlook Danwar
Spoiler :

Community
Popularly-elected assembly serves legislatively and judicially and elects an executive from among itself. Individual areas organized into communes that serve as voting blocks that each elect an assemblyman.
Population: oo , ( 20% )
Governance: oo , ( 0% )
Cohesion: oo , ( 20% )
Science & Research: oo , ( 0% )
Economy
Lander reactor powering limited lander-based manufacturing. Lander food and mineral stocks are limited and will degrade over time. Basic compiler allows fast production of low-complexity materials.
Resources: o , ( 33% )
Energy: o , ( -33% )
- energy shortages need to be addressed immediately
Industry: oo , ( 40% )
Tech: o , ( 67% )
Military
Moderately well-trained but moderately sized ground forces trained in guerrilla warfare as well as open battle. Armed with lasweapons and carbon-fiber battle-armor. A few very light combat walkers.
Land Forces: oo , ( 0% )
Naval Power: o , ( 0% )
Air Power: o , ( 0% )
Security & Intelligence: o , ( 33% )

Keepers Thomas Berubeg
Spoiler :

Community
Very small population of close-knit 'cultists' dedicated to the preservation of their Ossuary.
Population: o , ( 0% )
Governance: oo , ( 20% )
Cohesion: ooo , ( 0% )
-near religious fanatacism
Science & Research: oo , ( 20% )
Economy
Lander reactor powering limited lander-based manufacturing. Lander food and mineral stocks are limited and will degrade over time. The old grove are ancient trees evolved from Unity life-support systems that feed on electric currents directly.
Resources: oo , ( 80% )
Energy: o , ( 0% )
- energy shortages need to be addressed in near future
Industry: oo , ( 0% )
Tech: o , ( 33% )
Military
Small force of soldiers armed with las-rifles. Little formal training.
Land Forces: o , ( 0% )
Naval Power: o , ( 0% )
Air Power: o , ( 0% )
Security & Intelligence: o , ( 0% )

Outermost -Kyzarc Fotjage
Spoiler :

Community
Relatively small population led by biologically and cybernetically augmented elites.
Population: o , ( 0% )
Governance: oo , ( 20% )
Cohesion: o , ( 67% )
Science & Research: ooo , ( 0% )
-augmented elite, biomedical laboratory
Economy
Lander reactor powering limited lander-based manufacturing. Lander food and mineral stocks are limited and will degrade over time.
Resources: oo , ( 0% )
Energy: o , ( 33% )
Industry: oo , ( 0% )
Tech: o , ( 33% )
Military
Small force of heavily augmented soldiers armed with las rifles and carbon-fiber combat armor.
Land Forces: oo , ( 0% )
Naval Power: o , ( 0% )
Air Power: o , ( 0% )
Security & Intelligence: o , ( 67% )

Ultrasurvivalists -Omega
Spoiler :

Community
Despotism dominated by cult of personality and ideology dedicated to Lestari Baswedan and the 'ultrasurvivalist philosophy'.
Population: o , ( 67% )
Governance: oo , ( 40% )
Cohesion: oo , ( 20% )
Science & Research: oo , ( 0% )
Economy
Baswedan's clique attempts to stay out of the day to day affairs of the economy, as long as quotas dictated by them are met. Lander reactor powering limited lander-based manufacturing. Lander food and mineral stocks are limited and will degrade over time.
Resources: oo , ( 0% )
Energy: o , ( 33% )
Industry: oo , ( 0% )
Tech: o , ( 0% )
Military
Excellent training and morale. Focused on small, relatively decentralized units that can focus as reconaissance or commandoes.
Land Forces: oo , ( 0% )
Naval Power: o , ( 0% )
Air Power: o , ( 0% )
Security & Intelligence: oo , ( 0% )

United Order of Zeon -Decamper
Spoiler :

Community
Theocratic patriarchy based on the Church of Later Day Saints. The United Order has grown distrustful of outsiders during their time on Unity and has grown somewhat insular.
Population: oo , ( 0% )
Governance: oo , ( 0% )
Cohesion: ooo , ( 0% )
- faith-based social cohesion
Science & Research: o , ( 67% )
Economy
Nominally centrally planned and communally owned, in reality the Church allows the accumulation of personal wealth as long as the individuals doing so remain in good standing with the church. Lander reactor powering limited lander-based manufacturing. Lander food and mineral stocks are limited and will degrade over time.
Resources: oo , ( 0% )
Energy: o , ( 0% )
Industry: oo , ( 0% )
Tech: o , ( 0% )
Military
The United Order eschew bioengineering of people. Their army is therefore made up primarily of drones.
Land Forces: o , ( 0% )
Naval Power: o , ( 0% )
Air Power: oo , ( 0% )
Security & Intelligence: o , ( 0% )

Violet Combine -Marcher Jovian
Spoiler :

Community
Confederal council of representative who elect one of their own as head. Environmentally oriented, with Usonian architecture and a focus on simple living. Religiously individualistic and syncretic, with Gaianism being the strongest current.
Population: o , ( 67% )
Governance: oo , ( 0% )
Cohesion: oo , ( 40% )
Science & Research: ooo , ( 0% )
- biology and medical labs
Economy
Commune-based green economy, with democratic organisation and notable strength in genetics and medicine. Lander reactor powering limited lander-based manufacturing. Lander food and mineral stocks are limited and will degrade over time.
Resources: o , ( 67% )
Energy: o , ( 0% )
- energy shortages need to be addressed in near future
Industry: o , ( 67% )
Tech: oo , ( 0% )
Military
Predominantly militia-based, with small number of gene-modded dedicated soldiers.
Land Forces: o , ( 33% )
Naval Power: o , ( 0% )
Air Power: o , ( 0% )
Security & Intelligence: o , ( 33% )

Ziętekken Empire -Ailedhoo
Spoiler :

Community
Dr Iwo Ziętek acts as emperor of the faction that shares his name but nominal control and management falls under the control of one of Unity's two quantum computers which Dr Iwo Ziętek was able to secure during the chaos of Unity's destruction.
Population: o , ( 67% )
Governance: ooo , ( 0% )
- governance falls under control of quantum computing AI
Cohesion: o , ( 67% )
Science & Research: oo , ( 40% )
Economy
A.I. Guided Planning: computers are entrusted with civilian micromanagement. Lander reactor powering limited lander-based manufacturing. Lander food and mineral stocks are limited and will degrade over time.
Resources: oo , ( 0% )
Energy: o , ( -67% )
- energy shortages need to be addressed immediately or quantum computers and drones will be shut down
Industry: oo , ( 0% )
Tech: o , ( 0% )
Military
Under-trained militia supplemented with limited number of drones.
Land Forces: o , ( 67% )
Naval Power: o , ( 0% )
Air Power: o , ( 33% )
Security & Intelligence: o , ( 67% )


Map
Spoiler :
EXOPLANET turn 0 southern winter.jpg
 
Last edited:
Turn One will cover a week of game time.

Please submit orders via PM or within this thread. Take a maximum of three actions (ie- divide your pips into 1-3 focused areas).

You can diplo any other faction even if your contact with communication satellites are not consistent- its assumed you'll just keep trying and eventually a message gets through.
 
Last edited:


"Throughout human history, we have told comfortable lies in order to shield us from the uncaring abyss. We first lied that we were special, because the gods, or even God, gave life meaning. That we were somehow tied to an ill-defined providence, because beings above our station gave us some unfulfilled purpose back on Earth. We should therefore have built our society to bridge the gap between the earthly and the divine, to live in piety.

Then we killed God.

We lied a second time, saying that we were special because we were born with inalienable human rights. That humans were intrinsically above nature through our intellect and reason alone, and thus deserved dominion over the materialistic world. We exercised this right by creating artificial worlds in our mind known as nations, making clear declamations of groups of people and telling them that their village was closer to a community 50 kilometers away than one 5 kilometers away simply due to being in the wrong nation.

But then we killed the nation.

We lied a third time, saying we were special because we could introspect and wax philosophy. Simple empiricism was no longer sufficient: every concept known to mankind must be debated until words themselves became meaningless. Reality ceased to mean anything as we divided ourselves based on whatever form of sophistry we personally believed in at the time. Capitalism, Communism, Fascism, Phylumism... all nebulous, contradictory ideas that involved surrendering our humanity to some greater ideal that did not truly exist.

And then we killed the Earth.

God, Nation, Ideology... all irrelevant concepts created in a fashion to divide us and make us feel special. In our arrogance to these false ideals, we killed each other many times over, before deciding to kill the planet off entirely. Now, as Unity approaches our new home, we see we have become anything but. We continue to bicker among ourselves, like feuding children over a broken toy, demanding that if only everyone believed their lie, we would somehow turn this Planet into a promised land

We must put these lies down. You are not special. You are, to the universe, an accident. It needs not your survival to exist, nor your approval to function. Any concept you can create in your mind will be consumed by death, much like humanity itself and all of her accomplishments will one day be swallowed by entropy.

The difference between us, the real difference between us and all other lifeforms that homo sapiens has ever encountered, is the fact we can not accept that there is no higher purpose to life but life itself. A wolf doesn't care about the purpose of life, nor does it even comprehend what a meaning even represents. All it knows is that it must eat to satisfy its hunger, and eventually procreate to satisfy its innate sexual urges. Everything else, is simply a means to either end, meat or mate.

Once one realizes there is nothing beyond this simple truth, then we are faced with two options. One can either choose to die, or it can choose to live. If one wants to die, that is their decision: existence is cruel and harsh, and its rewards fleeting. But I choose life, for no reason other than there is plenty of death to experience after life. So why not enjoy the meat, enjoy the mate, and stop lying to ourselves that we have any purpose beyond that?"

-Lestari Baswedan, The Big Truth[, 2488

---

Of all the societies to emerge from the destruction of Unity, perhaps the strangest is the band of individuals who joined Lestari Baswedan in planetfall. Baswedan had already made a name for herself on the generation ship, being the leader of a gang known as "The Damned". To many of the downtrodden of the Unity, she was a Robin Hood-esque figure, stealing from the corrupt and the decadent, while shielding those under her protection from more unsavory criminals. To the Unity authority, she was a wanted criminal, one of the greatest scrouges of the underbelly of society. However, she would become truely known beyond her immediate surroundings in 2488 when, under urging from a friend, she adapted notes from a private journal into a book. Known as The Big Truth, it primarily dealt with Baswedan's attitudes towards what must be done once planetfall was made. A survivalist to her core, Baswedan outlined a core belief that humanity has failed numerous times to try to create a meaning larger than themselves, and that therefore it was evident that there was no greater meaning to life at all. This search for a greater meaning was more than just wasted time, however; it directly lead to the downfall of Earth, and almost the extinction of mankind. Therefore, the only way forward was to try to rebuild humanity by accepting their insignificance in a cosmic sense, and to accept the daily struggle of wondering if one will live the next day. Only then, in her manifesto, will people experience meaning and fulfillment.

This was the beginning of what would eventually be called the Ultrasurvivalist movement, a fringe group of colonists, mostly drawing from the underclass of Unity, which rejected almost all trappings of modern society. Technological advancement in particular was harshly criticized, as the comfortable lifestyle it brought, while endearing, ultimately robbed humanity of any sort of purpose or meaning. Ultras didn't want to return to a state of nature; that was simply suicide on an alien planet. However, there is a desire to use only the bare minimum needed to not die, and to avoid needless overengineering (especially sticking electronics on things that truly didn't need to be on any sort of information grid). The system of phylums was also criticized as being inhertingly destructive; devotion to an ideology, whatever that ideology is, only robbed the individuality of that person while lying to them about a greater purpose that didn't exist. Regardless of what those beliefs are, they only held humanity back, and they must ultimately be discarded if humanity is order to survive.

Using her criminal contacts, Baswedan was able to secure some of the landing pods for herself. She, her close family, her cohort of gangmembers, and a couple thousand of true believers in Ultrasurvivalism would board these pods and land on an island in the intersection of the three main continients of Unity. The rough currents, in Baswedan's mind, would help protect her planned society from the Phylums, a precaution she took since she believed her rejection of the Phylum system, along with her criminal background, might elicit retaliation by other groups. The fact that some even accused her of setting the bombs off certainly didn't help matters, either.

The story of the Ultras...

-Roberto Lombardi, Broken Unity: A Retrospective of Planetfall, 25XX

---

Name: This group eschews creating a tribal identity, and thus lacks a self-designated name. "Ultras", as a shortening of "Ultrasurvivialists", is the most common designation for the group

Leader: Lestari Baswedan

Founding Colony: The Truth

Ideology: Ultrasurvivalism

Core Values: To take what is necessary for survival, and to experience the struggle in which to accomplish that.

Economy: The economic policy of the Ultras could be described as Spartanesque. By the inherent demands of the ideology, luxury goods of almost all kinds are heavily frowned upon. Work is intentionally deautomated so that jobs can be handed for humans to preform, as robotics are seen as a symptom of decadence. An indiviualist streak in Ultra society means that Baswedan's clique attempts to stay out of the day to day affairs of the economy, as long as quotas dictated by them are met. There is a strong desire for self-reliance, and to not rely on trade for as much daily goods as possible. A loss of efficency is deemed perfectly acceptable if it means they don't need to rely on others to keep supply routes going.

Culture: As previously mentioned, there is a strong indiviualistic trend within the Ultra community, although this manifests itself in quirky ways. For example, there is the strong belief in society that one should not display their wealth, as it is read as trying to establish that one thinks they are above someone else. Everyone is equally worthless in Ultra society, and everyone therefore should wallow in the same spartanesque conditions.

Politics: Baswedan rules the Ultras as essentially a despot, with her criminal cohorts forming a clique which serves as at least the de facto government. Given her personal generosity with her acquired fortune, along with a gun pointed at the back of the head of any dissenters, her rule is mostly consented to by the general population. However, there is nothing holding the government together other than her personal charisma, and things could potentially explode on her death. Potentially.

Technology and Sciences: Intentionally left as bare as minimally possible in order to survive. Strong disdain towards robotics and anything meant to provide comfort for comfort's sake. Technology is ok to achieve tasks that humans alone could not achieve, but there shouldn't be a reliance on it whenever possible.

Military: Mostly made up of Baswedan's gangbangers, along with some of the more militant survivalists that joined her society. Entirely all-volunteer in nature. The military is kept to a higher technological level than society writ large, as even Baswedan realizes that "You don't bring a knife to a guided missile fight". However, there's still a general attitude towards "good enough" rather than "cutting edge", with the hope that the personal ferocity and tenacity of their armed forces will be the deciding factor in battle.
 
Garbled transmissions from the Autumn Crown

"*static*--look, is the *static* thing on or what? What do you mean interference? What could possibly be causing that? What? Oh, hmm."

"Look, I don't know which one of you selfish, blasted--*static* --blew up the ship, but it doesn't really matter now. We are on a possibly hostile planet, and majority of us are suffering from imminent shortages of vital life support supplies. I believe that it is therefore important to *static* "

"*static* --this accursed communication equipmen--I mean, erhem."

"Look, it's simple. If we want to do more than survive and actually thrive in this stupid planet as our forefathers wanted us to do, we'll just have to live with each other no matter how much we hate each other. If you are willing to set aside inanities of pride, belief, philosophy, or whatever and help each other for the sake of survival of the human race on this godforsaken planet, respond back to this message. We'll form a new Consensus based on the safety, prosperity, and advancement of humanity on this world together."

"*muffled mumbling: First thing on the voting agenda is to actually name this damned world...*"

"'Queen' Petra, out."
 
Loving the orders that are incoming. This could be a fast-paced game if you want it to be. I'm updating as i get orders so i'll wait for 6+ order sets than make the due date 2-3 days after that.
 
The Apaurusheya
Values: Indian culture, Progressive Hinduism, Education, Family, Space exploration and colonization

Language: The official languages of Ashtadash is Hinglish and Globlish. Hinglish is a mixture of Hindi and English developed in the late 20th Century which became a majority language by the 22nd Century. Globish or International English is used for communication between the various Habitats and Societies. All commercial signs, public notices and government documents are printed in both languages. Nearly all people speak both languages and a possible third language such as Gujarati, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam people may use at home.

Family
For generations, our society (Samaaj) has a prevailing tradition of the joint family system. It is when extended members of a family – parents, children, the children's spouses and their offspring, etc. – live together. Usually, the oldest member is the head in the joint Indian family system. They mostly makes all important decisions and rules, and other family members are likely to abide by them

Festivals
Being a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic and multi-religious society, celebrates holidays and festivals of various religions. The three phyle holidays are Independence Day (15 August), Republic Day (26 January) and Gandhi Jayani (2 October). Popular religious festivals include the Hindu festivals of Navratri, Janmashtami, Diwali, Maha Shivratri, Ganesh Chaturthi, Durga Puja, Holi, Rath Yatra, Ugadi, Onam, Vasant Panchami, Rakshabandhan, and Dussehra. Several harvest festivals such as Makar Sankranti, Pongal and Raja sankranti swinging festival are also fairly popular.

Cuisine
Our food is as diverse as our homeland. We use numerous ingredients, deploy a wide range of food preparation styles, cooking techniques and culinary presentation. From salads to sauces, from vegetarian to meat, from spices to sensuous, from breads to desserts, our cuisine is invariably complex. Most popular eating establishments have separate preparation areas for meat and non-meat dishes with beef and pork prohibited. Most meats dishes such as chicken, lamb, goat or fish are expensive are are only available for special occasions such as birthday or graduation.

Education
The Samaaj follows the "10+2+3" pattern of education. In this pattern, study of 10 years is done in schools and 2 years in Junior colleges, and then 3 years of graduation for a bachelor's degree. The first 10 years is further subdivided into 4 years of primary education, 6 years of High School followed by 2 years of Junior colleges.

Currency:
The basic unit of currency is the Ghante (Hours) which can be divided into Minat (Minutes). There are hard plastic coins available but the majority is stored and traded on Devis/Devas. Prices are determined by the amount of labor that goes into a product from the harvesting of raw materials to the amount of time making the product whether a meal or a piece of furniture. While mass produced goods are cheap the individual craftsmen or business still does well.

Community Service: Every resident in our Samaaj are required to undertake Community Service (Samudayik Seva). This is prevent the creation of a ruling or government caste and allow people the opportunity to serve others. Most members will receive a notification from their Deva/Devi requesting service for one to two hours per week depending on their skills. One person may pick up trash alongside a road while an engineer may be asked to fix a water pump. This also provides an income so everyone can afford basic goods and some luxuries.

Law Enforcement: Policing for all the Habitat is handled by the Phyle Police Service (Phaeel Pulis Seva). This is divided by the Uniformed Section, which handles the day to day policing and then the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) which handles undercover and more dangerous investigations such as Homicide, Vice, Drugs and so on.

Citizenship: A person can become a citizen and is eligible/start petitions to vote after one year of living in the Habitat. Before this, the person has full legal protections. To run for office one must have lived in the Habitat for five years.

Petitions and Voting:
Anyone can create and submit a petition. To qualify for a vote the petition at least five percent of the population must sign the petition. For a petition to pass it must have a majority of fifty-five percent. Every Citizen of the Samaaj must vote, even if it is to Abstain.

Government and Committees:
The day to day government is handled by the Panchayat (Assembly) with Ward Members (Panch) and President (Sarpanch) elected by the citizens. Committees are set up on an as-needed basis and are composed of experts in that particular field who elect a Spokesperson to address the Panchayat. Committees can and do work together on larger projects. There is no particular limit to the size or lifespan of the committee but all are reviewed every five years. All meetings are recorded by the Sachiv (Secretary), an electronic Deva and are open to the public. A requirement is that half of the Panchayat, all government officers and Committees must be Female or Neutral.

Major Committees and Responsibilities

Home Affairs (Law Enforcement/Domestic Intelligence)
Phyle Affairs (Relations with other Phyles)
Finance (Economy/Taxes)
Infrastructure (Maintenance of Physical Infrastructure)
Science (Scientific Research and Development)
Agriculture and Health (Public Health and Population)
Environment (Air, Water, Soil Health)
 
Five order sets in so far :p
 
Transmission from Breakwater Colony
I would be delighted to work with anyone and everyone on taming this wild beast of a Planet for mankind and as such will be sharing our definitely-not-tampered-with genetic archives with anyone foolish wise enough to want them, just as soon as my lair Breakwater is secured from the elements and ravenous beasties.

I would also put forward Strangetopia or, failing that, the Glorious Strangeland for our new home's name.
 
Orders are due on December 31st at 12 noon Eastern Standard Time (in 72 hours from this post).
 
Immac asked that I post my orders so people have a general idea how pips should be included and maximized. Basic idea is that unused pips are wasted, so if its even slightly related to what you're doing they should be used. Only thing I didn't use was Naval because there's no water anywhere nearby. I also added explanations of what each pip is broadly contributing to each objective.

Spoiler Orders, Outermost, Turn 1 :

First objective is to survey the caldera and start digging shelters into the caldera wall to the southeast, unless there's a convenient cave system we can expand. Gotta get a base established before we start digging down for geothermal. They also do a seismological survey to determine how likely the volcano is to erupt now and possible ways to change that or divert the explosion off to the northwest where noone important will get lavaed. (1 resource (general), 2 industry (the digging/construction), 1 energy (general), 1 land force (exploring caldera and maintaining order), 1 cohesion (maintaining order), 1 research (seismological survey), 1 governance (general oversight), 1 population (digging/construciton), lander manufactory (digging/construction), augmented elite (competent leadership))

Second objective is to try and reach the generator and establish physical contact with the Keepers. A band of Outermost led by Innermost Arjuna set out, armed with lasguns, O2 cannisters, plentiful filtermasks and a small pharmacy worth of antihystimens and other medicines that might be helpful. They maintain as continual of contact as they can with the lab techs back in Breakwater Colony as they go, both to inform them of their findings and for advice on dealing with biological hazards. The lab-boys use the information so gathered to help out the colonists deal with the environment. Regardless of the condition of the generator-pod they continue onwards with it (or its pieces) in tow to the Keeper colony to meet with them physically, deliver the generator to them, and coordinate a trip to the terraforming pod to their southeast. (1 resource (general), 1 governance (general), 1 land forces (expedition body), 1 air force (drone scouts), 1 tech (pharmaceuticals and scanners), 2 research (lab techs, studying effect of Planet on us), 1 security (expedition specialists), biomedical lab (studying effect of Planet on us), augmented soldiers (expedition specialists))
 
I've been asked to post my orders publicly. Here we go.

Spoiler orders :

Well, it appears as if God is on our side with what we found nearby.
Spoiler stats :

Community
Theoretically, the Autumn Crown is a constitutional monarchy, the democratic constitution has been curtailed due to hardships of the last year on Unity. Monarchy and social elites in conflict due to differences of opinion. Disenfranchised lower class.
Population: oo , ( 20% )
Governance: oo , ( 20% )
Cohesion: o , ( 33% )
Science & Research: oo , ( 40% )
Economy
Economic interests are lead by relatively few technocrat-oligarchs owning large corporate interests within the phyle. Rest of the phyle employed as either freelance labor for corporate entities within the phyle, or as reliable contractors with long term employee-employer relationship in almost feudal retainer-like manner. Lander food and mineral stocks are limited and will degrade over time.
Resources: o , ( 33% )
Energy: o , ( -33% )
- energy shortages need to be addressed immediately
Industry: oo , ( 0% )
Tech: o , ( 33% )
Military
Small, but well equipped with aerial drones and limited/defensive air-dispersed nanite weapons
Land Forces: o , ( 0% )
Naval Power: o , ( 0% )
Air Power: oo , ( 20% )
Security & Intelligence: oo , ( 0% )


Mission Statement
The Queen declares that henceforth all focus and attention of the Autumn Crown and its nobles shall be directed towards safety, survival, and basic living standards of all under our responsibility.

Orders
Acquisition of Agricultural Supplies
Direct our phylar security towards the pods and attempt to collect its contents for the colony. Use the opportunity to learn more about our surroundings as well inland.

Take advantage of the relative good weather to deploy our aerial drones, sending them in the direction of the beacon's signal to sweep the area and get reconnaissance data. Locate the agricultural pods and send our militia and science team to collect its contents.

Governance: o (administrative support)
Cohesion: o (guidance and loyalty)
Land Forces: o (Land militia)
Air Forces: o (drone recon to speed locating the pods)
Science and Research (Survey and Recovery Teams): oo

Construction of Wind Turbines
Our first priority on this planet is to prevent power shortages. We will be using our lander's fabricator facilities and our mineral stock to resolve this.

Governance: o (lower class organized into a labor force)
Population: o (lower class employed as a labor force)
Resources: o (Mineral stocks used to construct wind turbines)
Industry: oo (Fabricator output devoted towards production of wind turbines)
Energy: o (Energy stocks used to run fabricator)
 
Thank you gentlemen.
 
Been out most of the weekend. Will get in orders late tonight or very early tomorrow.
 
Front Gate Industries
Government: Hereditary corporate Dictatorship

Economy: Centralized Corporatist ownership with (some) employee benefits

Military: Elite PMC troops with power armor and genetic enhancement along with swift mechanized elements





Front Gate is an ancient company, founded in the late 21st millenium by a mysterious individual who's only know trait was that he was a he. He did seem to have quite the business acumen, growing it into a major company in a decade. Front Gate at that time focused on the new space market, being quick enough to be one of the first corporations to start mining the asteroid belt. This lead to it gaining a dominant position in them; shipping and mineing vast quantities of raw materials to the markets that needed them. Though the mystery figure was not alone, as a group of intelligent and influencial persons quickly bought out the company's shares. These "Men of the future" were probably one of the reasons why Front Gate became one of the first Mega-Corporations. They were very compotent, and ensured the company did not fall prey to either ruinous "investors" who used vast capital of entry-stockholders to either push hidden agendas(which often were not helpful for profitable enterprises) or simply force it to become the "most profitable" as it can be inconsiderate of how much damage such practices could do; or other corperations who would likely just gut the new rival once aquired by forcing it into dumb decisions. Front Gate maintained such independence into the phyla era, and grew even more. Getting into various markets like weapons manufacturing, programing, Genetic engineering, spaceship design, ect. Its belt industry became a major part of human economy. But still, there wasn't too much to expand into at this point. Many Phyla had already established themselves, and as such, made it harder for competition. Most executives at this point focused on just maintaining the company's own position, only becoming ambitious when an opportunity presented itself. But nothing too risky mind you, like a massive colonization project. So when the Consensus came to Front Gate in order to commission it's help in the Unity project, most were skeptical. Most in power just thought they'd let the spaceship design division help handle it, but an influential member of the board of directors, John Miami, thought otherwise. He threw his full weight behind Unity, and used his influence to convince others to give more support. He even utilized elements of FGI he personally controlled to help construct the thing. There was confusion among the ranks, especially when Miami announced that he would be apart of Unity's crew. The executives just decided to let him do what he wants, John was always too ambitious for his own good, and even if he took a significant chunk of the phyla with him, it'd probobly be worth the costs of keeping him around. And so, when Unity departed, it left with FGI being a significant phyla on the ship.

Now, like most phyla, the long trip changed Front Gate Industries. Due to the now in-viability of standard corporate structure on the Unity and the machinations of John Miami, the company became more.....Centralized. There was no good amount of communication with the primary branch of FGI, so the various workers and management looked to their higher-ups for instruction. And would you look at that, the only ones were either John Miami and his yes-men. And he had a plan. Soon all employees could only utilize front gate products, the costs of which were deducted from their paychecks. Mysterious accidents begin occurring in various habitat's equipment and production facilities, but not to worry, you can purchase products from Front Gate! We'll even replace it for you if you just sign this contracting agreement. This went up to even semi-important but not vital ship functions. And when that is not enough, well, it turns out Miami brought with him a significant part of Front Gate's own PMC with him, well-equipped to deal with various environments on the ship and so much more! Of course, the latter option was only utilized rarely, since not only would it likely do significant damage, but it's not something that most people will ignore. These continued even after Miami's death, his son continuing his father's legacy. And so, when Unity predictably got wrecked hard, the now sorta-dictatorship of a "company" was ready to land, and were quite willing to serve their leaders will.
 
Last edited:
Xibalba, Ark of Fear



Leader(s):
Priest-kings of Seven Societies

Summary: Emotionally scarred survivors of a technological failure of key starship modules and a resulting societal collapse.

Ideology:
Theological archaism

Core Values: Survival, Procreation, Pleasing of Shining Void

Brief history: Originally, the starship of the Xibalba people was populated primarily with Mesoamerican refugees from Earth. At some point, the starship's passing near a giant hulk (rogue planet outside any star system) uncounted in route calculations caused a collapse of the ship's ecosystem and various production modules due, leading to a massive famine. The hulk's gravitational pull didn't just damage the ship, but also made it change its route, leading its crew to believe it had no chance of reaching its intended destination. Ill-managed by the starship's leadership, the societal collapse that followed resulted in a chaotic series of revolutions that did even more damage to the ship and eventually led to an almost complete eradication of the remaining engineers capable of mitigating the problems. Instead, the survivors (most of them of mestizo (mixed race) with Mayan, Zapotecan, or Aztecan background) formed a radically new society that managed to rebuild the starship's ecosystem in the most bizarre and unintended ways. With the vast majority of power systems barely working, the starship was now lit only by dim luminescence of emergency lights, while some sections existed in complete darkness. This made the survivors rename it Xibalba, after the name of the Underworld in the Mayan mythology.

Over time, the ruthless warfare, cannibalism, and near-extinction of the societal collapse were forgotten, and small groups of survivors started to recover by building agricultural communities that grew various forms of fungi, moss, plankton, and bioremediation bacteria in artificially created pools of liquid fertilizers. A species of bats (most likely, parasites or escaped pets from the early days of the space voyage) was domesticated and bred into a meat animal (now almost completely incapable of flight), while various cockroaches and centipedes also became a staple of the people's diet, being grown in special tanks. Several nanomanufacturing modules of the starship eventually got repurposed, solving shortages of water and oxygen, as well as improving the temperature balance, but it came at the cost of many nanite factories essentially stopping to work. For a long period, the new community flourished, as procreation was encouraged in hopes to repopulate the vast ship and gain more hand for agriculture. During that period, entire new cities were built inside the ship, including even the bizarre Ball-of-Smoke, a spherical city built out of rabble in one of the starship sections that had zero-G due to a break of its rotational module. New religion was built, loosely related to the cult of stargazing Priest-kings of the ancient Maya. However, eventually this civilization approach ran to the limit of its usefulness, as the starship got overpopulated, and the society broke down into city-states. Luckily, the lessons of the First Fall were well-remembered, and, instead of destroying the civilization in a burst of chaos and revolution, the Priest-Kings instituted Maya-inspired Star Wars - periods of recreational, ritualistic, and culling warfare, in which all city-states could expend their surplus population without endangering the pillars of the Xibalba society.

What brought the Priest-Kings to their near-divine status of today is the same event that brought Xibalba back to its destination, against all odds. It was guessed by one of them, known today as the Seven-Tongued Bat (a rumored descendant of the starship pilot crew) that the gravitational pull of another big cosmic body could be used to change the Ark's trajectory and even speed it up, using the rotational momentum as a sling. Decades of calculations led him to believe that Xibalba could be reoriented to pass relatively close to a small-sized black hole, upon which the Priest-Kings of the Seven Societies provided him with teams of best warriors in ancient void suits, who were tasked to help the Seven-Tongued Bat to get to the starship's cockpit and engine room, hoping to restart its navigational system and the ion drivers. The plan worked, but the Seven-Tongued Snake and all Fourteen Void Stalkers sacrificed their lives in the process. With the Seven-Tongued Bat's calculations proving to be correct, Xibalba gained speeds unreachable by other starships and decelerated only in proximity to the voyage's original destination, also using a gravitational pull of a neutron star predicted by the Seven-Tongued Bat. Due to the laws of relativity, the years of travel between the Well of Time (the black hole) and the Blinking Goddess (neutrino star) turned into thirteen hundred years for the Xibalba civilization, allowing it to develop in ways completely alien even to the motley crews of other starships.

Community
Post-human, culturally alien civilization that has developed in complete isolation from known human history and traces its origins from the collapse of the original starship society.
Population ??? - Huge and constantly swelling, with procreation being highly encouraged through religion and social structure and birth control measures being considered a taboo.
Governance ??? - Pyramidally structured theocratic societies with Priest-Kings of the Shining Void at the very top, forming a loose confederation of cultural kindred.
Cohesion ??? - Loose alliance of Seven Societies, each of them dominated by a single city-state. Ritualistic warfare is used as social pressure valve and a demographic tool. Star Wars are starting to be used as methods of political debating as well (the Priest-King, whose Society wins a ritualistic war, gets to make the decision for the entire Xibalba).
Science & Research ??? - Very advanced mathematics and astronomy that are casually mixed with mysticism in a form of numerology and astrology, combined with a mystification of the ancient technology of Star People (creators of the starship). Genetic engineering is considered dark sorcery due to a major bugs in the starship's bioengineering modules (it's still being used by the Priest-Kings occasionally, though, acting as a Russian roulette; some of the monsters produced as a result of the Flesh Spells still populate distant sections of the Ark). Robotics (and especially nanorobotics) is almost entirely absent. Despite the predominance of mysticism in understanding of "ancient technology," practical sciences are rather well-developed.

Economy
Highly agricultural society with a locust-like approach to exploitation of the environment. Despite lack of recognition of environment stewardship as an economic factor, the economy is highly ethical (i.e., driven by core values and principles), as opposed to individualist and value-oriented.
Resources ??? - Food production is entirely self-sufficient. Despite relatively simple agricultural tools (comparable to the 20th century of Earth history), the agricultural package is highly adaptable, being based on extremophile species. Material culture is heavily based on artificially created carbon-based materials (diamond, graphite, obsidian-like glassy carbon, experimental nanocarbons, etc.), gained through re-use of organic waste (including bodies of the dead). Thanks to highly developed theoretical sciences, the periodic table is known, but most of the elements and resulting materials taken by the Earthlings for granted are known only as theoretical possibilities to the Xibalbatekah due to them being absent on the Ark.
Energy ??? - Power industry is heavily based on biofuel, with a smaller portion being based on nuclear fusion (using repurposed reactors of the ship).
Industry ??? - Semi-automated, electrified factories with assembly lines. Despite relative primitivity of technology, organization and discipline of labor are the state of the art.
Tech ??? - Strongly based on priesthood using mind-altering drugs to achieve extraordinary intellectual capacity (at the cost of life span). Technology and religion are closely intertwined. Knowledge and education dosage are used as a mean of social control, which produces highly advanced elites and barely literate lower castes (due to the mind drugs' destructive effect, ignorance of the populace is considered a blessing, and a position of a priest - a sacrifice)

Military
Non-conventional, largely infantry-based armies, used to fighting in the most unusual conditions (including complete darkness, oxygen shortage, periodic temperature swings, and zero-G.
Land Forces ??? - Close quarter fighting culture is very common, due to its use in ritualistic warfare. Carbon-based limb implants are commonly used, increasing soldiers' lethality and agility. Environment suits and armor are based on flexible nanocarbon materials. Artillery and high-energy projectile weapon use is underdeveloped and used to be considered a taboo (out of fear of damaging the Ark of Fear). However, sonic, thermobaric, electromagnetic weapons are known and well-developed (although still outlawed in ritualistic Star Wars).
Naval Power ??? - None. Large bodies of water would be a bizarre sight for the Xibalbatekah.
Air Power ??? - Jamp-pack infantry and highly unusual, saucer-like aircraft. Projectiles are still a taboo, but electric, electromagnetic, thermal, and thermobarric weapons are used.
Security & Intelligence ??? - Xibalba's best defense is how alien its civilization and technology are. However, highly developed ciphering techniques and developed forms of analytical sciences allow it to interpret enemy actions and intents in the same way as a 20th century human would analyze an alien spaceship.


OOC: @Immaculate - Please select any landing location for me. Falling from the sky into a random location fits Xibalba spirit.
 
Last edited:
As an FYI, the Xibalda didn't experience time-dilation or anything relating to their habitat traveling independently of the Unity.
 
Turn One- Exploring Planet

Please remember the maximum number of actions per turn. Some of you had more than three actions this turn. Turn two will have a maximum of three actions. Also remember to keep each action clearly separated in the formatting of your orders so i understand without struggling where your pips are being assigned.

Some of your update components are similar (or exactly the same) because you shared similar focus. Sorry (so not sorry since it gets the update done quicker).

Further notes on pips:

  • Population represents usable workers and are related to your population size but if many of your population are ‘busy’ - say conscripted into your army, it may be lower than it would be otherwise.
  • Resources and energy are generally not great at completing projects. Feel free to ‘use’ them to near extinction to power more useful pips like industry, tech, science, or you military.
  • Science and research pips represent scientists and technicians and are used to study things. Tech pips represent high-tech gear and are used to outfit your people or projects with cool gadgets. They are related but each have their own function.
Turn two covers a period of 60 days (2 earth months). It will continue to be summer in the northern hemisphere during this time.

No new factions will be allowed at this point. If you wish to join the game you must adopt an NPC faction.

Atlas-Mitsubishi

Spoiler :
Exit from the Lander

Atlas-Mitsubishi engineers are quickly assigned to developing a new airlock to access Planet’s surface, building new pressurized doors to allow the lander’s inhabitants access to the surface. This is quickly successful and very soon access is re-established.

Expedition to the Beacon

Aerial reconnaissance micro-drones are sent to identify the source of the beacon and their cameras soon reveal a colonization pod, which, similarly to the Atlas-Mitsubishi lander, lies half-buried in an icey crater. The pod appears whole however and an expedition is mounted to recover it.

The snow is deep and the explorers’ trek takes them amongst the shadows of stubby tube-like trees. They observe that as the wind picks up, these trees extrude long filaments that act like the strings of kites for web-like globules high in the air. Why these ‘trees’ might fly these ‘kites’ remains a mystery however.

Along the way a survey team attached to the explorers performs an investigation into the geological makeup of the area using ground-penetrating radar and sonar. The area is rich in ferrite deposits that might be used by the Atlas-Mitsubishi to develop their manufacturing.

The team eventually arrives at the beacon and the pod and being unpacking the construction vehicles. This proceeds without too much difficulty and eventually a train of four heavy tracked construction vehicles (one bulldozer, one excavator, one crane, one dump-truck) are on their way back to the lander. At one point the bulldozer sinks deep into a particularly deep snowpile but the other vehicles are able to pull it out successfully.

Eventually the team returns to the lander to much fanfare and celebration. Already a trip to the second beacon is being discussed.

Advisors note that the new equipment, while providing much-needed muscle for the building of the colony consumes the remainder of the generator’s power.


Autumn Crown

Spoiler :
Expedition to the Beacon

Initially hesitant to send people, even in heavy environmental protection, beyond the lander, the Autumn Crown nobility sends aerial drones to reconnaissance the area. Unfortunately, the fog begins to thicken further and very soon the views from the drone cameras as they zip inland are obscured to nearly nothing. Additionally, as they explore further towards the beacon and away from the lander, they begin to suffer more and more electromagnetic interference.

Nonetheless, the drones do not pick up major thermal signatures or obvious environment toxins and so a well-protected human expedition sets out to sweep the area. They soon begin cataloguing the various ‘plants’ in the vicinity and quickly identify the ‘trees’ as a source of weak electromagnetic interference. Indeed the thin threads they extrude may in fact be conducting a weak voltage. The expedition must soon move on however as they are primarily tasked with recovery of the agricultural beacon broadcasting from the eastern hills.

The expedition’s trek is through thick ‘jungle’. And this jungle appears to team with various forms of life. The jungle life-forms here are obviously different than earth life. Whereas on earth most higher organisms are organized along a bilaterally symmetrical plan, here life appears to have evolved from a radially symmetrical plan with ‘paired’ limbs and tendrils, stalks, and tentacles normally numbering 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17 or occasionally more, always a prime number. These limbs tend to have evolved specialist functions and so a small monkey-like organism encountered in the ‘jungles’ may have five limbs of which three are specialized towards grabbing and braciation and two towards sensing. Generally eyes and optical sensors are underdeveloped among the life-forms observed while the ‘creatures’ appear to respond very well to sound and even the smell of the human explorers. Many ‘creatures’ have long thread like tendrils that extend meters or even tens of meters from their core and these they tend to drag softly along nearby surfaces though the function thereof is not obvious. Lifeforms comparable to earth’s primate, rodent, and small insect population are identified, many feeding on the jungle life via circular ‘mouths’. Bird analogues are not identified and indeed ‘wings’ capable of beating are not identified at all. Instead, small flyers seem to make use of rotary wings, often in odd numbers and of various sizes to flit amongst the ‘jungles’ in choppy dive and soar flight.

On the second day the expedition identifies the beacon’s source and quickly realizes that the pod was heavily damaged during its landing. The damaged pod’s contents spill across the charred clearing where it has settled. It is surrounded by a number of local animals, chief among them a sort of eyeless multi-limbed cat-analogue with multiple tails and long thread tendrils branching from smaller tentacles along its core and a smaller creature characterized primarily by its thick shell-like exoskeleton and whip-like tendrils extending from beneath. These are obviously happily feeding on the seed-stock of the pod and slurping at the artificial ‘amniotic’ fluid used for artificial gestation of livestock. Frozen calf embryos, now thawed and spoiled, are spilled across the clearing and the shelled creatures have converged on these in the highest concentration.

Attempts to recover the material are met with defensive attacks by both species and the expedition quickly learns that the animal’s tendrils can serve to electrocute the expedition members though not with significant voltages from a single attack. The number of animals and their combined electric attacks does force the expedition to retreat however.

Eventually the decision is made to return in force, with lasguns firing and this proves very successful in dispersing the animals and allowing the expedition to recover what they can from the pod.

Over the course of the next five days three successive expeditions are able to recover a number of still-viable agricultural embryos frozen and ready for thaw and growth, significant seed stocks, earth soil microbiota, and three autonomous tractors, luckily charged, that could cut their way back to the lander through the jungles with the appropriate attachments. Additionally, ready-to assemble greenhouse components were also recovered.

On the last visit to the crash-site however, the expedition notes the accumulation of dead wildlife in the vicinity, their bodies thick and ‘fuzzy’ with what appears to be earth-derived molds or fungus (presumably derived from spilled agricultural soil microbiota)

Energy from Wind

Workers outfitted with significant environmental protection are tasked with developing wind turbines in the vicinity to capture offshore winds. Lander fabricators are pushed to create the necessary structure, blades, and turbines. After some initial concerns regarding sinking stable anchors in the thick mud and adapting to the highly variable winds which could occasionally be quite significant, the Autumn Crown has now attained energy sufficiency for their lander after having raised three modern wind turbines.



Apaurusheya

Spoiler :
Investigating the ‘Trees’

Apaurusheya’s scientists are tasked with investigating the trees of the nearby jungles and after donning hermetically sealed suits, this they do.

The survey in the thick jungle reveals it to be teaming with with various forms of life. The jungle life-forms here are obviously different than earth life. Whereas on earth most higher organisms are organized along a bilaterally symmetrical plan, here life appears to have evolved from a radially symmetrical plan with ‘paired’ limbs and tendrils, stalks, and tentacles normally numbering 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17 or occasionally more, always a prime number. These limbs tend to have evolved specialist functions and so a small monkey-like organism encountered in the ‘jungles’ may have five limbs of which three are specialized towards grabbing and braciation and two towards sensing. Further investigation reveals that, generally eyes and optical sensors are underdeveloped among the life-forms observed while the ‘creatures’ appear to respond very well to sight and even the smell of the human explorers. Many ‘creatures’ have long thread like tendrils that extend meters or even tens of meters from their core and they they tend to drag softly along nearby surfaces though the function thereof is not obvious. Lifeforms comparable to earth’s primate, rodent, and small insect population are identified, many feeding on the jungle life via circular ‘mouths’. Bird analogues are not identified and indeed ‘wings’ capable of beating are not identified at all. Instead, small flyers seem to make use of rotary wings, often in odd numbers and of various sizes to flit amongst the ‘jungles’ in choppy dive and soar flight. This region is particularly enriched in a form of life similar to an earth centipede but on a much larger scale (2-3 meters in length) and with legs protruding from all about the creature’s body- they seem to have no bottom or top and crawl through the three-dimensional labyrinth that is the towering jungle using surfaces on their ‘ventral’ and ‘dorsal’ surfaces interchangeably.

A small temporary lab is established outside the lander and biological samples are collected from nearby plant specimens to learn as much as possible about the nature of the local jungle plantlife. The ‘plants’ do not appear to have obvious leaves and may not generate the majority of energy via photosynthesis. They do however, like earth plants, have carbohydrate sugars and consume carbon-dioxide while ‘exhaling’ oxygen.

The team identifies not only a method whereby the ‘plants’ generate energy but also where the electromagnetic interference may originate. Many (but not all) of the plants are found to have biological ‘batteries’ (based on glucose and glucono delta-lactone) at the nodes of most ‘branches’ and at the base of the ‘tree’. The biologists are intrigued to say the least and further investigation reveals that the ‘plants’ charge these batteries by capturing the voltage differential between the atmosphere and surface using the long thin tendrils that they extrude high into the sky. This may account for the lack of lightning during the storms as the voltage differentials are slowly bled off to charge the bio-batteries and generate sugars and biomass for the ‘trees’. This also creates significant electromagnetic interference. Experimental probing of the biobatteries finds that they are capable of generating a current in earth-based electronics though these are unreliable and inconsistent.

Further investigation may reveal additional sources of energy for the plants and account for the energy generation amongst those that do not seem to have these particular voltage capture systems.

Expedition to the Beacon

Using the lander’s two small inflatable dinghies, a small expedition of Apaurusheya soldiers wearing hermetically sealed suits set out to find the source of the beacon’s signal. The march to the coast is short, taking the soldiers through a shadowy, startlingly quiet, mist-filled ‘jungle’ full of strange alien creatures and towering ‘plants’ dropped in long tendrils and threads.

The coast is rocky and as fog-covered as the jungles. It is covered in small creatures resembling small cantaloupe but with long hairs projecting from them. Inflating and launching the dinghies, the soldiers soon confirm that the beacon’s signal is indeed coming from beyond land. Despite the strength of the waves and wind, the soldiers are professional and manage to triangulate the beacon. Finally they find the source of the signal- in the midst of the sea over fifteen kilometers beyond shore. The waters are clear and deep and the soldiers are eager to fulfil their mission (and they have their own independent air supply) and so into the soup they go. The pod appears whole and its contents can be confirmed to be made up of whole and undamaged drilling equipment.

Now the question remains- how to recover the multi-ton colony pod from the 20m depth?

Leafy Greens

Apaurusheya scientists continue their work to adapt Earth crops to conditions on Planet. They focus on leafy greens that are already shade tolerant, species of spinach, swiss chard, arugula, endive, radicchio, kale, mustard, cabbage and bok choy as well as a number of herbs like cilantro, chives, mint and lemon balm. Direct testing of local conditions allows more precise engineering of these crops. The project is expected to continue into next season.

Colony Development

Apaurusheya engineers are tasked with leading the development of a colony habitat in the immediate vicinity of the lander. Workers are recruited from the population, outfitted with sealed outfits and independent air, and using a combination of pre-fabricated habitats, new constructs developed from the lander workshops, and good old-fashioned elbow-grease soon clear a nearby space and raise a number of new buildings, outfitting these with airlocks and equipping them with life-support systems.

One of the early focuses of the colony is the construction of a small number of prototype greenhouses and Apaurusheya colony management are very eager to begin planting their specialized crops in these to determine if these specialized organisms can grow on Planet.



The Commonality

Spoiler :
Threads of the Forests

The first task assigned to the Commonality scientists is to determine the source of the electromagnetic interference. Outfitted with sealed surface exploration outfits with independent air, the scientists are soon able to determine that the threads of some of the plants (but not all of them) are conducting electricity between the atmosphere and the Planet’s surface. It seems that the ‘plants’ are somehow able to harness the voltage difference between the atmosphere and surface for their own needs. This activity is probably what accounts for the relatively dearth of lightning despite the near-constant storm-like conditions.

It is this near-constant and expansive and diffused current that is causing the electromagnetic interference. The scientists reveal that as long as there are ‘plants’ with these threads in the vicinity and storm-like conditions, the interference will continue.

Recovering the Beacon

Commonality soldiers set off into the southern hills and jungles in search of the beacon identifying itself as a ‘solar energy colony pod’. But as they travel further from the coasts and into the wildlands they realize they are being stalked by some alien wildlife. The creatures resemble giant multi-limbed shrimp but without real ‘tops’ or ‘bottoms’, having five or more series of legs protruding from their bodies along their ventral, lateral, and dorsal surfaces to better climb through the three-dimensional terrain that is the local jungle. These soon prove hostile, striking with whip-like threads that delivery punishing electric shocks, vicious rings of serrated teeth and clawed limbs. They also prove susceptible to laser fire from the Red Guard laz-rifles. The creatures are persistent however and hound and shadow the expedition, striking when the explorers are resting or tangled in wildlife or wading through lowland swamps.

As the jungles thicken and shrimp-creatures become increasingly aggressive, the signal from the beacon becomes increasingly weak, presumably due to the increased height and thickness of the jungles. Eventually the force commander orders a retreat to the lander, having failed to find the colony pod amidst the wilds of Planet.

Planet’s Soil

Commonality scientists and engineers begin an analysis of Planet soil, keen to uncover its agricultural potential.

It soon becomes obvious that the soil is rich yet almost completely depleted of potassium, enriched in various sulfides- many bound in organics, and with an acidic pH. The earth is thick with alien microbiota; these also pose a danger to earth life with many harboring high concentrations of compounds expected to be toxic to earth life consuming it (including humans).

Significant engineering will be required to grow crops in this soil.

Greenhouses

Commonality engineers begin develop the infrastructure required for a sustainable presence on Planet. Their first focus is developing sealed habitats for the growth of crops, though the local soil will need to be processed significantly for use in these. Nonetheless, greenhouses are raised from pre-fabricated habitats and long trays of imported soil spread under fluorescent grow lights.
The project remains incomplete, with additional habitat seals and life-support required, but engineers are content with the early progress of the project.



Federation of Free People

Spoiler :
Communication

While the sky is clear communication with orbital communications satellite remains relatively stable but as intermittent clouds or storms roll over the landing site, electromagnetic interference spikes and the Federation suffers similar problems to those observed by other factions.

Expedition to the Beacon

Reconnaissance drones are dispatched to the expected site of the Unity beacon but unfortunately, shortly after they are dispatched a driving rain rolls in off the mountains and with it electromagnetic interference that cuts off communication to the drones. The last images command receives is of the drones crashing into a wide river running through heavily forested deep canyon gorges.

This does not discourage the disciplined and eager Exo Recon Lance. They are quickly dispatched to recover the beacon. To power them appropriately, command orders the remaining Exos to provide their batteries and ammunition to support the Recon Lance.

Heading south and west, they journey into an area is thick with tube-like ‘trees’ that wave long tendrils into the sky. Communications soon become increasingly unstable and intermittent. At the end of the week, the last communication received from the Recon Lance is that they had recovered the drones and are investigating a series of rivers and small lakes south-west of the lander. Command worries that the Recon Lance may be lost.

Very soon remaining Exos are fully powered, secondary batteries recharged from the wind turbines (see below) and these are eager to search for their missing brothers-in-arms.

External Investigation

The Federation tasks a number of untrained workers with braving the ‘wilds’ of Planet and recovering air, water, soil, and biological samples for their scientists.

The workers, heavily protected in hermetically sealed suits, wade into the lake waters and gather water, dig into the pebble-strewn beach and gather sandy soil, and explore into the vegetation of small reddish bulbs and thin branching ‘tree’-like structures with ‘purplish leaves’ and long threads and gather ‘plant’ material.

The scientists are cautious and set up a lab external to the lander where they can study the collected samples without endangering the wider population.

The waters are replete with a huge number of nearly subvisual and microscopic lifeforms and indeed some harbor unsafe levels of chemical compounds that might make a human (or other earth animal) sick. After purifying the water through nano and milli-scale filtration, the water is deemed potable (despite some remaining sulfides) and indeed, providing the water to defrosted laboratory mice does not seem to cause them harm. The rain and fog are potable with much reduced filtration.

The air is similar to the water in that it is full of xeno-microbiota. Once purified, it can sustain life in laboratory animals. When unpurified air is tested on laboratory animals those animals appear to be healthy in the short term; there are no obvious immediate toxicities or immune responses. These animals remain under observation for longer-term toxicities. Time will tell if the air can be used by humans without filtration.

The soil is similarly full of Planet microbiota and these are probably not compatible with earth microbiota only in that they seem to have different functional chemistries using wide-perspective testing. Indeed the soil seems particularly depleted of potassium and this will create a major problem for any earth crops grown therein.

The ‘flora’ of the bulbs and trees, from broad spectrum analyses, appears macroscopically comparable to that of earth’s succulents (only with better temperature protection and reduced water retention properties). The leaves of the trees are indeed photosynthetic though the manner in which the bulbs generate energy without leaves or seemingly any functional photosynthetic organs remains a mystery. Both seem to store carbohydrates including some simpler sugars that might be purified from them (though not easily). They will definitely not serve as crops for human or livestock consumption but might be used as a feedstock for earth-based secondary producers (bacteria, yeast, fungus?).

Further investigation will be required to make practical use of these findings.

Energy from Wind

Workers outfitted with significant environmental protection are tasked with developing wind turbines in the vicinity to capture the winds rolling off the eastern mountains. Lander fabricators are pushed to create the necessary structure, blades, and turbines. The pebble-stew beach and area immediately offshore are very suitable for wind capture with minimal vegetation or interfering landforms and within the week the Federation is able to capture enough energy to power their Exo Lances, lander life-support and manufacturing, and still have extra to spare.




Front Gate Industries

Spoiler :
Arrival

Exiting the disintegrating wreckage of Unity proved complicated and time-consuming for the Front Gate corporation. First their lander thrusters were damaged, and after executing EVA repairs, company pilots are forced to navigate through the Unity’s orbiting debris field. Ultimately the FGI get to Planet but by then most other factions have long arrived and already initiated their first careful exploration of the environment.

The site chosen to make landful on is a wide tundra-like biome north of a large freshwater lake. The terrain is dotted with plentiful exposed rock and the soil is thin. A variety of relatively smaller ‘plant-like’ shrubs, and bulbous plants not unlike earth cacti.

Communication

Communication with orbital communications satellite is relatively stable.

External Scans

Winds are limited and while a thin fog rises from the southern lake and surrounding lands, it is relatively thin compared to expectations.

The waters of the lake are glacial blue-green and its shores are strewn with jagged slate-like rock gently rounded where they meet the waters by centuries of erosion. Small rounded islands throughout the lake suggest it may not be too deep despite its width.

The bulbous plants are plentiful and have a soft purple color and due to their heterogeneity are probably a number of similar related species and not a single dominant species. The ‘shrubs’ are thin and dry-looking but have small bell-like ‘leaves’ that seem to catch every breeze causing them to gently bend in the wind.

Slow-moving radially-symmetrical ‘animals’ that appear like nothing so much as cattle-sized soft-shelled starfish appear to be slowly grazing on the purple bulbous plants. These ‘animals’ have long hairs sprouting from their shells and wave long clear whip-like fibers in the air between them, occasionally making contact with one-another leading to a soft flash of low-luminescence light where the fibers connect.

Beacons

A Unity colonization beacon is emitting a signal from the lake barely 4 km away. The beacon identifies the contents as ‘nautical exploration vehicles’.

A second beacon is emitting a signal from over 100km north-east, probably within the sea, and identifies its contents as ‘fusion reactor’.

Resources

Food and ore stocks are limited. Front Gate Industries will need to develop our own sustainable sources of food and materials.




The High Commune

Spoiler :
Beset by indecision, the High Commune does not emerge from their lander



Keepers

Spoiler :
Ossuary Rebirthed

The first steps the Keepers make on planet are purposed with building a new home in the valley. Workers and engineers are tasked with assembling habitats from prefabricated structures on the banks of the wide valley river near the landing site.

Specialized buildings begin to rise from the landscape. First a watermill is established to capture the river’s energy and turn a turbine. It's not a highly efficient or effective means of creating energy in the long-term but its a relatively simple and accessible solution to a short-term problem. A small greenhouse is established and dedicated to the care of the Keepers’ sacred grove, though the thin sun through the fog requires that the grove necessarily continue to be fed directly from electric current. A pen for livestock is established although the scale is small as it must remain enclosed and dependent on life-support until the safety of the environment can be accessed.

Scientists begin a preliminary study of the local flora, the wide waxey-bladed plants spewing threads high into the clouds. Their focus is genetic and so their analysis begins with sampling and analysis of the cellular structure of these cells using molecular tools. Keeper scholars establish that the ‘plant’ cells do not contain DNA or other recognizable genetic elements and indeed their intracellular structure, while sharing similarities with earth life (lipid membranes, proteins and carbohydrates) they are also distinct with no recognizable nucleus, endoplasmic reticulum, vacuoles, or other recognizable subcellular organelles. Instead the ‘plant’ cells tend to have layers and layers of convoluted phospholipid membranes of unknown function.

Expedition to the Beacon

After some hard-fought radio communications that due to intervening electromagnetic radiation at points devolved to morse code, Keeper explorers realized that an expected expedition from the Outermost was unlikely to arrive in a timely fashion and so set off for the second beacon by themselves (having been informed that it was likely to the east somewhere from the Outermost).

The expedition was supported with aerial drones to provide some reconnaissance and these quickly proved invaluable as the expedition left the relatively temperate valley for the high mountain peaks and snow-covered glaciers of the surrounding terrain. Perhaps luckily, as the explorers left the valley and began their climb, the clouds began to clear and with it so too the electromagnetic interference. The beacon signal began to stabilize and the drones were assigned to go ahead, triangulate its location, and identify the colony pod. This they did, quickly providing visual confirmation of a viable and intact colony pod lying in a snow-covered crater in a narrow valley between the mountains. The beacon also revealed the content of the pods- terraforming vehicles.

The expedition made their way to the pods despite the thick snow, working together to assist each-other in the mountaineering challenge. At the pods, they unpacked five *Unity* all-purpose terraforming vehicles.

While there the Keepers plant a cutting of the grove’s trees though these are expected to quickly die in the high mountain snows.

Now the challenge was returning these tracked vehicles through the high mountains and to the high valley and Broceliand. This the expedition had more difficulty with, losing three of the huge vehicles in unexpected iced-over crevasses and with them their crews and nine of the expedition members themselves.

Despite this, the vehicles made their way back to the lander, their batteries close to depletion.

The Whispers

The Keepers continue to listen for the whispers of the dead, stalking between the bones and ensuring that they remain whole and undamaged despite the recent chaos. Unfortunately the Keepers tasked with maintaining the dead are perhaps overzealous in their efforts, or perhaps the electromagnetic radiation from Planet interfere with their efforts. Regardless of the cause, the implanted exocortices remaining in some of the dead suffer a critical failure and the voice of the dead amongst the ossuary is dimmed somewhat.




The Outermost

Spoiler :
Expedition to the Beacon

With the promise of Unity fusion reactor pod within expedition distance, the outermost are keen to mount an expedition to recover the pod. Innermost Arjuna leads a small team armed with lasguns, O2 canisters, plentiful filter masks and a small pharmacy worth of various medicines that might prove useful.

As the team exits the air-locks of the lander, they are making human history as they are actually the first humans to set foot on Planet, though they do no not know it at the time. Through their protective outfits they quickly feel the bitter chill of the tearing winds and realize that the conditions they find themselves in are akin somewhat to the himalayas of earth. Oxygen is thin here, and, perhaps not trusting local air quality, they are hauling multiple air canisters to help maintain a tight environmental seal for the time being. They set out for the caldera’s rim and climbing to its ledge realize that all around them are snow-covered peaks and cliffs.



Realizing they are not properly equipped for the expedition, Arjuna sets small recon drones to investigate the area while her team returns to the lander to equip themselves with mountaineering equipment and additional cold-weather equipment.

The next week sees them trudging through thick snow in near vertical conditions and two of the members of the expedition quickly lose their lives when they fall into a crack in a mountain glacier. Eventually, making slow progress amongst all the vertical, one of the drones finally provides Arjuna’s team with their first view of the colony pod but the question remains, how will they recover the house-sized reactor without sky-cranes or similar equipment.

And as they contemplate recovering the reactor, Arjuna’s team realizes that they have enough oxygen to return to base but only barely- otherwise they will have to break environment seal.

A Home Among the World’s Peaks

The outermost are keen to develop a secure home beyond their lander and to that effect send specialist to survey the caldera walls to determine if a home might be built into them. The team, heavily protected from the cold and foreign environment with sealed suits and independent air reveals that the area is indeed seismologically active, though it is almost impossible to predict when the grand volcano may again explode. From a geothermal energy perspective, the area is found to have sufficient accessible heat differentiations for energy production, at least in the short term, for the needs of the colony.

Additionally, the caldera rim are veined with lava tubes forming long tunnels very suitable for potential human habitation. And while many of these are quite cool due to the environmental conditions, deeper tunnels are considerably warmer. Worker are sent with newly developed excavation tools to expand secure these tubes and it is hoped that in the coming months, they can be properly adapted with their own airlocks and secure environment for habitation by the outermost.




Ultrasurvivalist

Spoiler :
Beset by indecision, the Ultra-survivalists do not emerge from their lander



United Order of Zeon

Spoiler :
Beset by indecision, the United Order of Zeon do not emerge from their lander



The Violet Combine

Spoiler :
Local Wildlife

Using wire-guided drones (to avoid EM interference), the Violet Combine begins exploration of the nearby area and quickly identifies the tapping and noises on the hull as the action of a number of small curious animals. Examination of the jungle themselves reveal them to be hundreds of meters in height with layer after layer after layer of plants, animals, and microbiota living in balance. Analysis of the immediate environment (air, soil, etc) does not reveal any immediate dangers to human exploration and hermetically sealed explorers are dispatched to investigate further.

The life-forms here are obviously different than earth life. Whereas on earth most higher organisms are organized along a bilaterally symmetrical plan, here life appears to have evolved from a radially symmetrical plan with ‘paired’ limbs and tendrils, stalks, and tentacles normally numbering 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17 or occasionally more, always a prime number. These limbs tend to have evolved specialist functions and so a small monkey-like organism encountered in the ‘jungles’ may have five limbs of which three are specialized towards grabbing and braciation and two towards sensing. Further investigation reveals that, generally eyes and optical sensors are underdeveloped among the life-forms observed while the ‘creatures’ appear to respond very well to sound and even the smell of the human explorers. Many ‘creatures’ have long thread like tendrils that extend meters or even tens of meters from their core and they they tend to drag softly along nearby surfaces though the function thereof is not obvious. Lifeforms comparable to earth’s primate, rodent, and small insect population are identified, many feeding on the jungle life via circular ‘mouths’. Bird analogues are not identified and indeed ‘wings’ capable of beating are not identified at all. Instead, small flyers seem to make use of rotary wings, often in odd numbers and of various sizes to flit amongst the ‘jungles’ in choppy dive and soar flight.

A small temporary lab is established outside the lander and biological samples are collected from nearby specimens to learn as much as possible about the nature of xenobiology on planet. The ‘plants’ do not appear to have obvious leaves and may not generate the majority of energy via photosynthesis. They do however, like earth plants, have carbohydrate sugars and consume carbon-dioxide while ‘exhaling’ oxygen.

The team identifies two general methods by which the ‘plants’ generate energy. One family, upon further analysis is found to have biological ‘batteries’ (based on glucose and glucono delta-lactone) at the nodes of most ‘branches’ and at the base of the ‘tree’. The biologists are intrigued to say the least and further investigation reveals that the ‘plants’ charge these batteries by capturing the voltage differential between the atmosphere and surface using the long thin tendrils that they extrude high into the sky. This may account for the lack of lightning during the storms as the voltage differentials are slowly bled off to charge the bio-batteries and generate sugars and biomass for the ‘trees’. This also creates significant electromagnetic interference. Experimental probing of the biobatteries finds that they are capable of generating a current in earth-based electronics though these are unreliable and inconsistent. The second family uses piezo-chemical energy generation. Effectively the threads they extrude wave in the wind and as they do, work against the resistance of the ‘muscles’ in these threads to generate energy. Effectively they are muscles working in reverse where the forced movement of the threads by the wind generates energy, carbohydrates, and ultimately biomass. The two families are not mutually exclusive and the team identifies plants that generate energy both from the storms and from the winds.

A number of small ‘animals’ are captured and some inroads are made into understanding these. Like earth starfish, jellyfish, and other sea creatures, all the animals are based on radial symmetry. Like earth creatures they have gut-tubes, mouths, teeth (radial though instead of top and bottom), muscles, and a circulatory system. Most do not have heads however, as they do not make use of directional sensors and their ‘brains’ are in their ‘chests’/cores. None have optical sensors but they share advanced olfactory, auditory and interesting, electroreception- often from long tendrils similar to those of the plants. Some are ‘armed’ with sharp teeth, claws (less frequently) or squid-like serrated suckers (more frequently). Some appear to have a capacity for electrocution though the team is careful to avoid being shocked again after learning that lesson the first time the hard way. The samples captured in the local area are particularly enriched for brachiating species that ‘hang’ from the trees much like monkeys or sloths on earth.

As the week ends and the biologist submit their report two major questions remain; 1) how do the animals and plants procreate- they have no DNA or obvious genetic material? And 2) what are they using instead of potassium? The entire ecosystem appears incredibly starved for what is a vital element on earth and here appears to be in incredibly short supply.

Ultimately much is learned and for the Violet Commune for whom ecological protection and cooperation is ideologically important, the studies and the secrets revealed are a huge boost to morale.




Xibalba

Spoiler :
Arrival

The Xibalbatekah lander is ill-suited to actually reaching surface, having been repurposed multiple times by the Xibalba priesthood to better survive the extreme conditions of their heavily damaged habitat.

Barely able to pilot the craft, Xibalba pilots do eventually land it on a wide bay, a wintery grey sea of churning fog and mist to their west. The land itself is ‘jungle-like’ though covered in a thin layer of wet and heavy snow.

Communication

Communication with orbital communications satellite is intermittent due to interference from an unknown source.

External Scans

Blizzard-like storms swirl around the lander, obscuring visibility significantly.

To the west lies a wide ocean of grey churn.

To the east, a jungle extends as far as can be seen into the fog with thick towering vegetation made up of tube-like ‘trees’ rising 40-60 meters into the sky and exploding into tendrils and dendrites at their height that in turn sport millions of thin thread-like tendrils that extend further into the sky.

Beacons

A pod beacon is detected emanating from the south-east, distance unknown, inventory unknown due to electromagnetic interference.

Resources

Food and ore stocks are limited. The Xibalba will need to establish their strange extremophile farming on Planet before the onboard resources are depleted.



Ziętekken Empire

Spoiler :
Scouting the Coast

Dressed carefully to protect themselves from the potentially hostile environment, Ziętekken explorers launch inflatable dinghies and launch these on the small rivers, navigating between the ‘cantaloupe anemones’ and their threads, following them downstream to explore the nearby coastal region.

The explorers survey the coast, navigating through the thick fog and identifying multiple rivers flowing out from the crags and crevasses and generally identifying the peninsula as covered in thick vegetation and steep hills. Radio contact with the lander is intermittent and electromagnetic interference fluctuates but never completely disappears. Local climate and wind-patterns are effectively mapped, and these contribute to the success of developing wind-farms (see below).

The dinghies return to the lander with the information they gained and await further instructions regarding subsequent exploration trips.

Energy from Wind

While the crags and crevasses of the local area are not well-suited to developing wind farms, the offshore winds are promising, as are the lack of vegetation or landforms there, and so Ziętekken engineers are tasked with developing windfarms in that area.

A shallow area is quickly identified off the coast and a solid base of ferrocrete poured and turbines developed from the lander factories assembled there-upon. Very soon the Ziętekken are running long power cords to their lander and recharging their drones and powering their quantum computer.




Notes from Abroad

Spoiler :
The Communalist Confederacy transmits a message saying they landed safely, are exploring their region, and have begun constructing a number of small villages in the vicinity of their lander. They have been hampered by the deep snow but are making some progress.

Puczcza Wynd are similarly hampered by deep snow as well as electromagnetic interference but have been able to successfully recover a damaged colonization pod with terraforming vehicles inside. Three of these survived the landing and are being put to use to develop their new home.

Pambazuka reports that their explorers have come under attack by giant centipede-like animals that attack from the jungle canopy on long tendrils they weave like webs. They have retreated to their lander and are now developing the immediate area around it with rudimentary fortifications.

The Ummah Al’ Salaam report that they have landed in a highland plateau and their expedition to recover a nearby beacon met was unsuccessful when they realized the colonization pod was badly damaged upon landing. They are also working to set up a habitat and are generating energy from two new wind turbines.

The Qeng Ho report that their landing site is beset by blizzards and electromagnetic interference. They are exploring the nearby area but are having trouble coordinating with their scouts due to the radio interference.

The Remillard, Zen-Serotonin, and Rus factions all report a successful landing but do not share the details of the last week.



Stats

Spoiler :
Atlas-Mitsubishi Nuka
Spoiler :

Community
Hierarchial corporate elite rule over 'wage-slave' middle and lower-class.
Population: oo , ( 20% )
Governance: oo , ( 20% )
Cohesion: o , ( 67% )
Science & Research: oo , ( 20% )
Economy
Lander reactor powering limited lander-based manufacturing. Lander food and mineral stocks are limited and will degrade over time. Altas-Mitsubishi Power and Engines has provided additional upgrades to improve industry across the board.
Resources: o , ( 0% )
Energy: o , ( 0% )
Industry: ooo , ( 0% )
- semi-autonomous Unity construction vehicles
Tech: oo , ( 0% )
Military
Small force of corporate security armed with las-rifles. Smaller force of deep reconaissance troops.
Land Forces: o , ( 33% )
Naval Power: o , ( 0% )
Air Power: o , ( 0% )
Security & Intelligence: o , ( 33% )

Apaurusheya Christopher Sni
Spoiler :

Community
Organized according to the 'Gram Panchayat' model, based on democratically elected local officials providing ground-up organizational structure.
Population: oo , ( 20% )
Governance: oo , ( 40% )
Cohesion: o , ( 67% )
Science & Research: oo , ( 0% )
Economy
Partially socialized and government-regulated capitalist economy. Have focused on developing crops and machinery for lower solar input and higher precipitation during travel on Unity. Lander food and mineral stocks are limited and will degrade over time. Altas-Mitsubishi Power and Engines has provided additional upgrades to improve industry across the board.
Resources: oo , ( 40% )
Energy: o , ( 0% )
Industry: oo , ( 0% )
Tech: o , ( 33% )
Military
Very small force of very elite commandoes called the '26' that will serve as a core to train a larger combat force over time.
Land Forces: o , ( 33% )
Naval Power: o , ( 0% )
Air Power: o , ( 0% )
Security & Intelligence: oo , ( 0% )

Autumn Crown Seon
Spoiler :

Community
Theoretically, the Autumn Crown is a constitutional monarchy, the democratic constitution has been curtailed due to hardships of the last year on Unity. Monarchy and social elites in conflict due to differences of opinion. Disenfranchised lower class.
Population: oo , ( 20% )
Governance: oo , ( 20% )
Cohesion: o , ( 33% )
Science & Research: oo , ( 60% )
Economy
Economic interests are lead by relatively few technocrat-oligarchs owning large corporate interests within the phyle. Rest of the phyle employed as either freelance labor for corporate entities within the phyle, or as reliable contractors with long term employee-employer relationship in almost feudal retainer-like manner. Lander food and mineral stocks are limited and will degrade over time. Energy production from small tidal wind farms.
Resources: o , ( 0% )
Energy: o , ( 67% )
Industry: oo , ( 0% )
Tech: o , ( 33% )
Military
Small, but well equipped with aerial drones and limited/defensive air-dispersed nanite weapons
Land Forces: o , ( 0% )
Naval Power: o , ( 0% )
Air Power: oo , ( 20% )
Security & Intelligence: oo , ( 0% )

The Commonality Sonereal
Spoiler :

Community
The Central Committee is a state-party organ ruling through centralized planning and extensive data collection and analyses. Wealth inequality is relatively limited and while personal privacy is laughable extinct, material security is relatively guaranteed
Population: oo , ( 20% )
Governance: oo , ( 0% )
Cohesion: o , ( 67% )
Science & Research: oo , ( 60% )
Economy
Centralized planning focuses on computing and industry. Commercial goods production and agriculture are depriotized. Lander food and mineral stocks are limited and will degrade over time.
Resources: o , ( 33% )
Energy: o , ( 0% )
Industry: oo , ( 0% )
Tech: o , ( 33% )
Military
Instrumentality of Persuasive Argument, IPA: Decentralized forces spearheaded by the Red Guards- small but well armed and trained. Well-supported by computing security specialists.
Land Forces: oo , ( 0% )
Naval Power: o , ( 0% )
Air Power: o , ( 0% )
Security & Intelligence: oo , ( 0% )

Federation of free people Tobiisagoodboy
Spoiler :

Community
Democratic Federation upholding the principle of freedom, egalitarianism and unity. The military has a strong position but no real political power. Large middle class.
Population: oo , ( 20% )
Governance: o , ( 67% )
Cohesion: oo , ( 20% )
Science & Research: oo , ( 0% )
Economy
Semi-capitalist economy, mostly classic economy with goverment control over important parts (transportation, energy and communication) and the military industry as a part of the military. Lander food and mineral stocks are limited and will degrade over time.
Resources: o , ( 33% )
Energy: o , ( 33% )
Industry: oo , ( 0% )
Tech: o , ( 0% )
Military
Militarized society with good industrial support. The soldiers under arms are well equipped and have great firepower, while every civillian poses at least small arms to form a militia if need be.
Land Forces: ooo , ( 0% )
- Exo Lances: Exosuit using Infantry employing heavy firepower and classical shock an awe tactics.
Naval Power: o , ( 0% )
Air Power: o , ( 0% )
Security & Intelligence: o , ( 0% )

Front Gate Industries Poketwo
Spoiler :

Community
Hereditary corporate dictatorship. Entrenched wealth disparity.
Population: oo , ( 20% )
Governance: ooo , ( 0% )
- entrenched corproate structure and directorship
Cohesion: o , ( 67% )
Science & Research: o , ( 67% )
Economy
Centralized corporatist ownership with (some) employee benefits. Lander food and mineral stocks are limited and will degrade over time.
Resources: o , ( 0% )
Energy: - , ( -33% )
Industry: oo , ( 0% )
Tech: o , ( 67% )
Military
Elite PMC troops with power armor and genetic enhancement. Well trained but untested
Land Forces: oo , ( 0% )
Naval Power: o , ( 0% )
Air Power: o , ( 0% )
Security & Intelligence: o , ( 67% )

The High Commune of Outlook Danwar
Spoiler :

Community
Popularly-elected assembly serves legislatively and judicially and elects an executive from among itself. Individual areas organized into communes that serve as voting blocks that each elect an assemblyman.
Population: oo , ( 20% )
Governance: oo , ( 0% )
Cohesion: oo , ( 20% )
Science & Research: oo , ( 0% )
Economy
Lander reactor powering limited lander-based manufacturing. Lander food and mineral stocks are limited and will degrade over time. Basic compiler allows fast production of low-complexity materials.
Resources: o , ( 0% )
Energy: - , ( -33% )
- energy shortages need to be addressed immediately
Industry: oo , ( 40% )
Tech: o , ( 67% )
Military
Moderately well-trained but moderately sized ground forces trained in guerrilla warfare as well as open battle. Armed with lasweapons and carbon-fiber battle-armor. A few very light combat walkers.
Land Forces: oo , ( 0% )
Naval Power: o , ( 0% )
Air Power: o , ( 0% )
Security & Intelligence: o , ( 33% )

Keepers Thomas Berubeg
Spoiler :

Community
Very small population of close-knit 'cultists' dedicated to the preservation of their Ossuary.
Population: o , ( 0% )
Governance: oo , ( 40% )
Cohesion: oo , ( 80% )
-near religious fanatacism
Science & Research: oo , ( 20% )
Economy
Lander reactor powering limited lander-based manufacturing. Lander food and mineral stocks are limited and will degrade over time. The old grove are ancient trees evolved from Unity life-support systems that feed on electric currents directly.
Resources: oo , ( 60% )
Energy: o , ( 0% )
- energy shortages need to be addressed in near future
Industry: oo , ( 80% )
Tech: o , ( 33% )
Military
Small force of soldiers armed with las-rifles. Little formal training.
Land Forces: o , ( 0% )
Naval Power: o , ( 0% )
Air Power: o , ( 0% )
Security & Intelligence: o , ( 0% )

Outermost -Kyzarc Fotjage
Spoiler :

Community
Relatively small population led by biologically and cybernetically augmented elites.
Population: o , ( 0% )
Governance: oo , ( 20% )
Cohesion: o , ( 67% )
Science & Research: ooo , ( 0% )
-augmented elite, biomedical laboratory
Economy
Lander reactor powering limited lander-based manufacturing. Lander food and mineral stocks are limited and will degrade over time.
Resources: o , ( 67% )
Energy: o , ( 33% )
Industry: oo , ( 0% )
Tech: o , ( 33% )
Military
Small force of heavily augmented soldiers armed with las rifles and carbon-fiber combat armor.
Land Forces: oo , ( 0% )
Naval Power: o , ( 0% )
Air Power: o , ( 0% )
Security & Intelligence: o , ( 67% )

Qeng Ho -Lonely Lurker
Spoiler :

Community
Corperate-esq structure with a 'share' allocated at birth and additional ones grantable for extraordinary service or purchasable with major public contributions. Head by 'Charimen' and an ideology that embraces prosperity through innovation and free trade.
Population: oo , ( 20% )
Governance: oo , ( 20% )
Cohesion: o , ( 67% )
Science & Research: oo , ( 40% )
Economy
Regulated capitalism with subsidies for 'collective good' projects. Lander food and mineral stocks are limited and will degrade over time.
Resources: o , ( 0% )
Energy: - , ( -33% )
- energy shortages need to be addressed immediately or manufacturing will need to be reduced
Industry: oo , ( 60% )
Tech: oo , ( 0% )
Military
Small but efficient security forces, uninterested in aggressive expansion but slightly paranoid about sabotage.
Land Forces: o , ( 0% )
Naval Power: o , ( 0% )
Air Power: o , ( 0% )
Security & Intelligence: oo , ( 0% )

Ultrasurvivalists -Omega
Spoiler :

Community
Despotism dominated by cult of personality and ideology dedicated to Lestari Baswedan and the 'ultrasurvivalist philosophy'.
Population: o , ( 67% )
Governance: oo , ( 40% )
Cohesion: oo , ( 20% )
Science & Research: oo , ( 0% )
Economy
Baswedan's clique attempts to stay out of the day to day affairs of the economy, as long as quotas dictated by them are met. Lander reactor powering limited lander-based manufacturing. Lander food and mineral stocks are limited and will degrade over time.
Resources: o , ( 67% )
Energy: o , ( 33% )
Industry: oo , ( 0% )
Tech: o , ( 0% )
Military
Excellent training and morale. Focused on small, relatively decentralized units that can focus as reconaissance or commandoes.
Land Forces: oo , ( 0% )
Naval Power: o , ( 0% )
Air Power: o , ( 0% )
Security & Intelligence: oo , ( 0% )

Ummah Al’ Salaam -Zappericus
Spoiler :

Community
Elected oligarchy based on Progressive Islam, Inclusiveness, Counter-nationalist revolutionism, Democracy, Charity
Population: oo , ( 20% )
Governance: o , ( 67% )
Cohesion: oo , ( 20% )
Science & Research: oo , ( 0% )
Economy
Capitalist Mixed economy. Lander food and mineral stocks are limited and will degrade over time.
Resources: o , ( 33% )
Energy: o , ( 33% )
Industry: oo , ( 0% )
Tech: o , ( 0% )
Military
Al-Ammar are elite commandoes who's trance training provides almost superhuman reflexes and physical conditioning
Land Forces: ooo , ( 0% )
- Al-Ammar - elite trance infantry
Naval Power: o , ( 0% )
Air Power: o , ( 0% )
Security & Intelligence: o , ( 0% )

United Order of Zeon -Decamper
Spoiler :

Community
Theocratic patriarchy based on the Church of Later Day Saints. The United Order has grown distrustful of outsiders during their time on Unity and has grown somewhat insular.
Population: oo , ( 0% )
Governance: oo , ( 0% )
Cohesion: ooo , ( 0% )
- faith-based social cohesion
Science & Research: o , ( 67% )
Economy
Nominally centrally planned and communally owned, in reality the Church allows the accumulation of personal wealth as long as the individuals doing so remain in good standing with the church. Lander reactor powering limited lander-based manufacturing. Lander food and mineral stocks are limited and will degrade over time.
Resources: o , ( 67% )
Energy: o , ( 0% )
Industry: oo , ( 0% )
Tech: o , ( 0% )
Military
The United Order eschew bioengineering of people. Their army is therefore made up primarily of drones.
Land Forces: o , ( 0% )
Naval Power: o , ( 0% )
Air Power: oo , ( 0% )
Security & Intelligence: o , ( 0% )

Violet Combine -Marcher Jovian
Spoiler :

Community
Confederal council of representative who elect one of their own as head. Environmentally oriented, with Usonian architecture and a focus on simple living. Religiously individualistic and syncretic, with Gaianism being the strongest current.
Population: o , ( 67% )
Governance: oo , ( 0% )
Cohesion: oo , ( 60% )
Science & Research: ooo , ( 29% )
- biology and medical labs, studies of local wildlife
Economy
Commune-based green economy, with democratic organisation and notable strength in genetics and medicine. Lander reactor powering limited lander-based manufacturing. Lander food and mineral stocks are limited and will degrade over time.
Resources: o , ( 33% )
Energy: o , ( 0% )
- energy shortages need to be addressed in near future
Industry: o , ( 67% )
Tech: oo , ( 0% )
Military
Predominantly militia-based, with small number of gene-modded dedicated soldiers.
Land Forces: o , ( 67% )
Naval Power: o , ( 0% )
Air Power: o , ( 0% )
Security & Intelligence: o , ( 33% )

Xibalba -Ahigin
Spoiler :

Community
Post-human, culturally alien civilization that has developed in complete isolation from known human history and traces its origins from the collapse of the original starship society.
Population: oo , ( 60% )
Governance: oo , ( 20% )
Cohesion: oo , ( 40% )
Science & Research: o , ( 33% )
Economy
Highly agricultural society with a locust-like approach to exploitation of the environment. Despite lack of recognition of environment stewardship as an economic factor, the economy is highly ethical (i.e., driven by core values and principles), as opposed to individualist and value-oriented. Lander reactor powering limited lander-based manufacturing. Lander food and mineral stocks are limited and will degrade over time.
Resources: oo , ( 0% )
Energy: o , ( 0% )
Industry: o , ( 67% )
Tech: o , ( 33% )
Military
Non-conventional, largely infantry-based armies, used to fighting in the most unusual conditions (including complete darkness, oxygen shortage, periodic temperature swings, and zero-G).
Land Forces: o , ( 67% )
Naval Power: o , ( 0% )
Air Power: o , ( 0% )
Security & Intelligence: o , ( 67% )

Ziętekken Empire -Ailedhoo
Spoiler :

Community
Dr Iwo Ziętek acts as emperor of the faction that shares his name but nominal control and management falls under the control of one of Unity's two quantum computers which Dr Iwo Ziętek was able to secure during the chaos of Unity's destruction.
Population: o , ( 67% )
Governance: ooo , ( 0% )
- governance falls under control of quantum computing AI
Cohesion: o , ( 67% )
Science & Research: oo , ( 40% )
Economy
A.I. Guided Planning: computers are entrusted with civilian micromanagement. Lander reactor powering limited lander-based manufacturing. Lander food and mineral stocks are limited and will degrade over time.
Resources: o , ( 67% )
Energy: o , ( 67% )
Industry: oo , ( 0% )
Tech: o , ( 0% )
Military
Under-trained militia supplemented with limited number of drones.
Land Forces: o , ( 67% )
Naval Power: o , ( 0% )
Air Power: o , ( 33% )
Security & Intelligence: o , ( 67% )



Maps:


Turn One:

 
Last edited:
Questions i got privately that i should answer publicly:
  • Your factions don't necessarily know what other factions are doing unless they share with others (privately or publicly). So, no, you don't all know about the 'electric trees' unless someone who does know tells you.
  • There are other satellites. You don't have access to any other than the basic communications network.
  • What happened to Chavis? Well, the Xibalba faction materials have a lot of old Chavis logos on it; some say that the Xibalba are what are left of the Chavis after their habitat was damaged by a meteorite strike.
  • This turn is 2 (earth) months. The next is 12 earth months (half a Planet year). Subsequent turns will all be 12 earth months also.
  • Orders deadline is 72h after i have the first six order sets so its up to you to decide how fast we proceed.
 
Last edited:
The Apaurusheya Science Committee will release all information we have regarding the local wildlife on all networks for everyone to use.
 
Top Bottom