Pre-ChaNES: Into the Void

:bump: sorry to be annoying but trying to avoid dreaded page 2, update?
 
:bump: sorry to be annoying but trying to avoid dreaded page 2, update?

No worries, a bump to the first page is never unwelcome, especially with all the new threads being created. As to the update, university preparations have been siphoning much of my time, but the more complex situations in Sol and Infinitas have been coverred, and the more distant regions of space should be somewhat easier to finish. Stats this turn should include the "Metropoleis" stat, indicating the number of significant settlements within a colony, roughly equivalent to the "size" stat of more down to Earth NESes, along with more detailed ship information in the tech files. This will add to the time needed to write the update somewhat, but it shouldn't take nearly as long as the last one.
 
Pre-Update 8
2141-2145 CE

Sol

After the founding of the Solar Federation, politics in Sol took on a new tone. The Federation was the new superpower, dwarfing the European Union and the People's Republic of China in population, military, and economy. Its expanding network of colonies would soon outshine either of theirs, if things continued as they were.

The Solar Federation was not idle within Sol itself, either. This time period marked the merging of the Federation's navy into one force - no longer would its ships be divided into American ones and Russian ones. Furthermore, in another change from the ASTRIS years, the Solar Federation Aerospace Force would begin to recruit crew members from all of the member states, not just America and Russia. The newly made ships of the Solar Federation began to see a strong influx of Indian and Japanese officers, and lesser numbers of all the other states that made up the Federation.

Notable, also, was the Federation's tightening down of its security within Sol. Several SolFed ships were spotted laying down sensor systems around Sol, allowing the Federation to keep tabs on all interplanetary activity within its domain. Survailance systems seemed to be all the Federation was interested in laying down in this time period, but even so, to the Chinese and Europeans, who were already beginning to feel besieged on their own home world, it caused some uneasiness.

And on top of all this, the Solar Federation continued to use the industrial might at its disposal - with most of the planet Earth under its control, this power was formidable. Only the unfinished process of centralization held the Federation back, and that was being rapidly remedied. Both China and Europe seemed to realize that they couldn't compete with the Solar Federation on a military or economic level, and so they applied different approaches.

The European Union's approach was by far the more spectacular. In 2144, after several years of planning, the EU was finally spurred into action. Taking the new title of Interstellar Commonwealth, it took a position far different from the Solar Federation in many of its aspects. Even the name suggested great differences - while the Solar Federation was a government centered on Sol, designed to spread humanity's various cultures to the stars and then cut them loose, the Interstellar Commonwealth would grant each colony a mix of its peoples, and maintain close ties between them even after their domestic independence.

As of 2145, the Interstellar Commonwealth was still in its formative stages, but its founding had already sparked a firestorm of debate. New conflict arose due to the Interstellar Commonwealth's claiming of a very similar mandate to the Solar Federation, despite their ideological differences. Both claimed to be the face of humanity to the stars, and while the Solar Federation had a much larger population, the Interstellar Commonwealth retained a much greater degree of unity.

Across the world, proponents of one ideology or another clashed in public and in private - though the leaders of the Solar Federation maintained an officially ambivalent view towards the Commonwealth, the tension was palpable as SolFed supporters, both within and without the Solar Federation, loudly decried this European attempt to usurp the Federation's mandate, and IntCom proponents responded just as fiercely. Yet even so, this in itself was a sort of victory for the Interstellar Commonwealth - widely regarded as the alternative to the Solar Federation, it achieved a legitimacy of its own through that. It had proponents in SolFed member states, just as the process of ethnic streaming had its supporters within the former EU, yet the relative populations of proponents for each ideology was significantly closer than the relative populations of citizens of the SolFed and the IntCom.

And nowhere on Earth was the debate more strong than in the Middle Eastern countries that had stayed out of the Solar Federation. Still bitter over their loss in WWIII, it was an often-held view in such countries that the Interstellar Commonwealth would provide a way to reach the stars without conceding to Russian and American hegemony. The EU already had a significant Muslim population, which had been sent to its colonies along with the ethnic Europeans, and which helped the Interstellar Commonwealth's case as well. However, the EU had also joined on Russia and America's side in WWIII, and while its war effort was not as monumental as its allies', this did put a stumbling block in the path of any possible unification with these left over countries.

Late in 2145, in an attempt to claim the ideological high ground over the Interstellar Commonwealth, the Solar Federation had a referendum in its colonies, to determine whether these colonies would retain the ethnic streaming they currently used, or open their colony to the total Solar Federation population. Critics of the Solar Federation claimed that the colonists themselves would obviously want to keep their colony exclusive to their ethnicity, and indeed, none of the ASTRIS colonies voted to open their colony to the wider world. Some also accused the SolFed member states of hand picking the colonists for the the most recent missions to ensure that their referendums favored retaining the ethnic streaming policy, but evidence for these claims had not been found.

Lastly, China's approach was much more subtle, though more frantic in its way. The exodus from Sol to the Chinese systems continued, with Solar military ship production almost grinding to a standstill in favor of passenger ships travelling to distant Tiantang and Xiaoping. China's focus remained firmly outside Sol.

Infinitas

Another place spurred into urgent debate by the creation of the Interstellar Commonwealth was the former European colony of Bacchus, in the Infinitas system. The Interstellar Commonwealth, unlike the European Union, had specific provisions in place for domestic planetary independence within it, a point that made many Bacchans consider a reunion with their founders' successor state. Most, however, remained ambivalent, and the government had made no move to rejoin as of 2145.

Other than this new issue, progress on Bacchus continued much as before. The environment inched ever closer to a more habitable state, and the population swelled with immigrants from all over Earth. At the same time, the influx of corporate interests continued unabated as well, justifying the frequent perception of Bacchus as a world where no government truly held power.

On nearby Carmenta, the separatist attitude coalesced somewhat in the first half of the 2140's. The loyal, Earth-appointed colonial government, combined with the Solar Federation's strong stance on its member states' colonial possessions, meant that a disorganized push for independence wouldn't work, as it had on Bacchus - a fact that Carmenta's separatist masterminds surely recognized.

In 2143, an organization styling itself as a "shadow government" was formed, with significant (though not majority) support among the Carmentans. Carmenta, somewhat surprisingly, was a strongly pro-ethnic streaming region of SolFed control, a point of division with the more ambivalent Bacchans. Thus, the shadow government did not favor a union with Bacchus, instead advocating that the Solar Federation be pressed to specifically name its criteria for a colony to gain independence, so that an agreed timetable for the Carmenta's independence could be decided.

Chinese Sphere

The overriding theme for the Chinese in this time period was a mass exodus to the stars. Countless transports had been built and were being built by 2145, shipping great quantities of people to Damen, Xiaoping, and Tiantang. The colonies themselves feverishly worked to accomodate all of these new arrivals, letting industrial and military development slide somewhat as a result. China also avoided colonizing any new star systems in this time period, to focus on this effort.

As to events in the individual systems, there were some developments of note. Damen, with a significant fraction of the Chinese budget, made every effort to develop militarily and industrially, despite having to accomodate the massive influx of immigrants. Shipbuilding was increasingly outsourced to that system, and a group of Damen engineers completed a new gunship design, as well as a destroyer commissioned by mainland China to complement the large fleet of frigates. Civilian development of educational, agricultural, and infrastructural facilities also progressed rapidly, allowing Damen to compete with the other two major Chinese colonies in popularity.

Regarding those other two colonies, development continued smoothly, with Tiantang's population especially skyrocketing. Both colonies' colonial governments worked hard to motivate potential colonists back in mainland China with promises of a happier life. Xiaoping's main planet, Xu Fu, became known for a more relaxed economic policy, though Party officials had to step in a couple of times to break up some underground, uncertified private businesses. The smaller settlement of Enlai also began to develop somewhat of a reputation as an elite Chinese special forces base, though official information was naturally hard to obtain.

Tiantang towed the party line much more closely, but its allure was based more in its revival of old Chinese styles of architecture, entertainment, and culture. It was, in a way, an odd anachronism - the authoritarian, Communist policies of the PRC combined with a revived lifestyle of a bygone era. Anachronisms aside, though, it was also the most intrinsically habitable Chinese system, and the high demand of colonists wishing to live there was met with a virtually limitless capacity for new settlers. Also of note is the more newly colonized system of 192-209. This colony was quickly growing to become a new major destination of Chinese colonists, a welcome addition to China's interstellar holdings.

Federation Sphere

In the short time since its creation, the Solar Federation had seized the lead on the colonization front, and with the majority of Earth's resources at its disposal, it continued to do so into the 2140's. Its high potential colonies at Zenit, Amazonas, Zion, Victoria, and Elizabeth continued to grow, as did the lesser ones at Infinitas, Hastinapur, Tunggal, and Texcotzingo, and Aql. Each one continued to develop according to the Federation's ethnic streaming policy, becoming their parent states' cultural successors among the stars. Domestically, their development was standard enough that a full report would be redundant - Zenit, the most prized colony, continued to grow fastest, while the Terra Apta colonies outpaced the Terra Approxima ones. Each developed slightly differently due to their planets' conditions and their parent states' contributions, but not radically so.

More interesting was the Solar Federation's continued expansion in this time period. Japan was finally rewarded in its investment in ASTRIS, as the highly valuable system of 094-852 was discoverred past Elizabeth. After a quick construction and a long journey, a Japanese colony ship arrived there in 2143, naming the colony Yamato. A constant stream of supply ships began to flow to the colony, letting it grow at a virtually unprecedented rate. With Japan's investment fulfilled, only America remained to receive its own Terra Aequa colony.

And even as this colony ship approached its destination, another was constructed and sent on its way with an escourt of several military and cargo ships. However, upon the ships' departure from Victoria, they abruptly disappeared from the public for a full year, never arriving in Texcotzingo as it had been expected to by many in the public. In 2144, it finally arrived at its destination - 054-409 (named Dharma by India), a system deep in Interstellar Commonwealth space, apparently by use of disposable jump modules like those that allowed Russia to seize its colony at Zenit. This was not a new situation for the Europeans and their affiliated colonies, but it still sparked some ire despite Europe's apparent lack of plans to go to that colony anytime soon. This time, however, when the Solar Federation requested use of IntCom Stigma skimmers to supply their new colony, the Commonwealth let them do so for a reasonable fee. However, as of 2145, many agitators within the Interstellar Commonwealth advocate revoking this permission.

The last colonizations of the period were carried out simultaneously, after years of planning and preparation - their method was also noteworthy. In an effort to save on colonization costs, while still claiming enough systems to meet its members' high demand, the Solar Federation commmissioned a small fleet of inter-system commercial craft, loaded with equipment and colonists, to gather in three systems along its peripherary, and claim three more systems in 2144 and 2145. These were 130-404 and 09-839 for India (renamed Ayodhya and Mathura respectively), and 170-418 for Korea (renamed Gyeongju).

On the military front, the Federation also began construction of a new class of warship. A competition was held among the finest military contractors of the Solar Federation to determine what design the coming San Martin class cruisers would follow. Eventually, Malloy Systems came up with the winning design, and the enormous cruiser SFS Jose de San Martin was constructed in 2143, followed by the Jawaharlal Nehru in 2145.

Commonwealth Sphere

In the years leading up to the creation of the Interstellar Commonwealth, and in the years after, reshuffling of the governmental structure that had been the European Union continued. However, the funding to the colonies that would make up the Interstellar Commonwealth remained constant. The Commonwealth did not perform any large-scale colonization in this time period, only sending a colony ship to 047-171 (renamed Avis) - it instead focused on building infrastructure in its established and budding colonies.

Valhalla engaged in a particularly notable effort in the 2140's: a state-run corporation, Euro Espace, was founded, with the primary purpose of designing and manufacturing unmanned military drones to defend the Commonwealth's systems from pirates. In fact, in a minor pirate attack on a convoy of freighters, the swarm of experimental drones that were dispatched proved their value quite well. Many of the drones were destroyed without even having a chance to use their weaponry, only destroying the pirates by force of numbers, yet not a single Valhallan died in the skirmish. The cost of the destroyed drones was somewhat dismaying, but in the words of one Euro Espace spokesperson, it was a small amount to pay for the lives that could have been lost.

Olympia had already achieved some degree of domestic autonomy before the creation of the Commonwealth, so the transition was perhaps the smoothest for them. Aside from its steadily accelerating growth, the most interesting events of this time period involved the local government's continued cooperation with Orion Industries. Outremer University was founded by Orion on the planet Arcadia, and many of the graduates there went directly to Lefkada to participate in the terraforming work there. As to that work, it would be many years before the planet became at all hospitable to life, but the modest efforts made in the 2140's would surely have far greater results, given time to develop.

Tyrelia's most notable venture in this time period was the industrialization of Epar-Desirak, formerly known as 070-542C, quickly constructing a space elevator there and building substantial facilities around it. This rapidly developed second colony within the system received much attention in this time period, turning Tyrelia into a sort of dual-colony system, though utilization of the ideal environment and abundant organic and mineral resources of the planet Aries itself continued.

Meanwhile, the smaller colonies of the Interstellar Commonwealth also continued to develop at a relatively quick rate. Now, even moreso than before, the systems of Soyuz, Carpathia, Aria, Lucenta, Nu, and now Avis were given as many resources as they needed to develop, despite the presence of colonies that might be able to better return that investment. In a purely strategic sense, it was a decision that was criticized, but especially among the people in those lesser colonies, it was a highly appreciated one. Combined with the greater local autonomy allowed by the transition from the European Union to the Interstellar Commonwealth, this led to a resurgence in solidarity among its extrasolar residents.

Elsewhere

In the Nu system, as the Europeans continued to develop their colony on the planet Isis, Sonty Corporation was undergoing some internal changes of its own. In response to some skepticism about a corporate entity having direct and theoretically absolute control over the growing population of the colony on Ra, Sonty enacted some experimental reforms to its power structure, becoming a quasi-democratic entity, while still retaining corporate elements. At the same time, many of Sonty's peripheral assets were either sold to other corporations (leading to Orion Industries owning many of the orbital shipyards in Ra's orbit), or fractured into semi-independent corporations in their own right (as happened with Sonty's mining and shipping services).

Another development also drew attention to Sonty's settlement at Nu. The Solar Federation bought a number of the new Stigma-jumping variable mecha from Sonty corporation, and contruction began immediately on these costly craft. Two more were completed and sent to Sol in this time period.

Pirate attacks across human-controlled space also continued to intensify. A bare majority of these were unsuccessful, but as it became increasingly clear that blind spots were inevitable in the void of space, and as more and more industrial and commercial craft flew from planet to planet and system to system, pirating operations began to appear more and more lucrative to unscrupulous individuals and organizations. Attacks in this time period were made on systems controlled by all three major powers, and none of the attacks were particularly noteworthy, though there was some curiosity over a skirmish in 2143 between two small groups of craft, both with illegal weaponry, that was captured on video by a nearby freighter (that fled as quickly as possible upon witnessing the spectacle).

---

I hate it when I'm mostly done with something, and then real life events get in the way to prevent me from finishing it. :p Map, stats, and intel responses may take a bit longer than usual - I have some more stuff to add to the stats this turn. Also note that in the coming turns, player controlled entities within a single government (like the colonies in the Interstellar Commonwealth, or America and Russia within the Solar Federation) can choose to either send independent orders, joint orders, or a combination of both. All the orders sent for this turn were in good in this regard, but I think I should point that out for future reference.
 
Strictly within confines of said mandate as well.

EDIT- I am viewing player corps as if they are like Huge Mega Corporations. I imagine this because I cannot fathom why they would play them otherwise. Please let me know if this is a safe view.
 
OOC: just to note, we still own the shipyards, but management has been handed over to Orion. best analogy is they run the factory, but we own the building the factory resides in. just stating this to clear up any mis-interpretations. updates is okay, because they do effectively own it for all but a few minor interpretations.
 
I'm considering joining as the Govenor of Canadian Elizabet. However, I would like to see the system stats before I assume ownership.
 
EDIT- I am viewing player corps as if they are like Huge Mega Corporations. I imagine this because I cannot fathom why they would play them otherwise. Please let me know if this is a safe view.
Yeah, if you compare the employee numbers to those of modern corporations, you can see that the biggest corporations of the mid 22nd century are even larger than those in the present day. I'm not a fan of the typical "evil corporations control the world" sci-fi cliche, but it seems fair enough to say that corporations will continue to grow larger in the coming decades.
OOC: just to note, we still own the shipyards, but management has been handed over to Orion. best analogy is they run the factory, but we own the building the factory resides in. just stating this to clear up any mis-interpretations. updates is okay, because they do effectively own it for all but a few minor interpretations.
Yes, this is my understanding as well.
I'm considering joining as the Govenor of Canadian Elizabet. However, I would like to see the system stats before I assume ownership.
A fair condition - last turn, Elizabeth was too small a colony to be listed, but this turn, it has several dozen thousand colonists, so it'll get a listing as soon as I get to that section of the stats. Also, note that a couple of the highest quality colonies - notably, Russian Zenit and Japanese Yamato - could use governors.
 
Fair enough. However it's always funner to see what you can do with less. I would like to take control of Canadian Elizabeth(as govenor).
 
ETA for stats and likely order deadline?
 
Chadresekar I want to know how to join as a corporation as I can't find it anywhere. Maybe you should update your front page at somepoint to include how to join.
 
ETA for stats and likely order deadline?
I'd say that it'll be somewhat more than a week 'till the stats are done, and then another week after that will be the deadline.
Chadresekar I want to know how to join as a corporation as I can't find it anywhere. Maybe you should update your front page at somepoint to include how to join.
Just post what you'd like to be (and PM me anything you'd rather not have public), and then when I approve it (as I most likely will), just be ready to send orders for this coming turn.
 
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