SysNES 1: A Murky Pool of Light

A Hitchhikers Guide to the Republic of Ik
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Declaration of Representation(DoR):- This document heralded the founding of the Republic of Ik and though it is not the Constitution, it is seen by many as laying out the founding principles of the new Republic. With it the Wa-Ik High Council was abolished and the a new constitution was drafted.

The National Ik Military(NIM):- Though dissolved by the DoR, no one could really think of a new name for the Ik Military. However, though it still bears the same name as its predecessor, the new NIM has significant restructuring. In particular it is now subservient to the office of the Prime Chancellor and the Prime Chancellor himself. The size and funding of the military is still determined solely by the Prime Chancellor. They also have the luxury of commanding the all Regions which have a population size of 1, which are considered military bases until their population swells further.

The National Senate of the Republic of Ik(NSRI):- Made up of only one legislative body, the national Senate numbers at 42 (each region receives 3 senators per population, Alpha habitats are not represented). The NSRI, in addition to passing laws that apply to all Ik states, however all laws must be signed by the Prime Chancellor. The budget of all government departments is also passed by the NSRI. The NSRI may overturn a veto by the Prime Chancellor, past or present, by a 2/3rds majority.

The Prime Judicial Department(PJD):- This is made up of 11 judges who may take any case, civil or criminal, and grant their ruling on it. Their ruling may not be overturned by anyone, including the Prime Chancellor, however they do have the power to overturn any ruling made by a lower court, past or present. The PJD has the sole responsibility of prosecuting all other branches of government (including the Prime Chancellor) should they break the law. All judges are appointed by the Prime Chancellor, with NSRI approval and hold life terms.

The Department of Scientific Research and Technology(DSRT):- The DSRT, successor to the SRB, is responsible for all scientific research across the Republic of Ik, which are considered public institutions. Though they receive a large portion of their funding from the NSRI, private organizations are permitted to fund projects. Consequentially the majority (some where around 60%) of funding for research comes from private organizations. The head of the DSRT is elected by popular vote.

The Prime Chancellor of Ik:- The Executive branch of the new Ik government, under the Ik constitution the Prime Chancellor and his office is responsible for signing laws passed by the NSRI as well as maintaining the size and strength of the NIM. He also has the power to veto any law passed by the NSRI, past or present. The Prime Chancellor is elected by popular vote and serves a term of 6 years, after which he may not run for the office of Prime Chancellor again. The Prime Chancellor is also responsible for all foreign diplomacy, declarations of war, and any expansion or founding of settlements on other worlds. The PC is the supreme commander-in-chief of the NIM

The Nation Ik Space Force(NISF):- Although NISF is a structure within the NIM the size of this organization as well as the importance of it requires mentioning. Due to the nature of warfare in the modern universe, the organization make a significantly larger portion of the NIM than the Nation Ik Army does. The main reason for their importance is that the NISF is scheduled to undergo a massive expansion in the coming years as Rasheed pushes for a space colonization fleet to be made.

Interstellar Exploration Program(IEP):- Despite the relatively small size of the IEP, it still represents the driving force of Ik expansion. Commissioned initially by Wa-Ik High Council the IEP held so much scientific importance that it survived the creation of the Republic and even grew in size. With plans for a host new ships capable of long distance travel and colonization, the IEP, like the NISF, will most likely expand. Current funding for a second probe has been with held, however some members of the IEP have considered, at the very least, a new probe design capable of defending itself without an escort.

The Farheth Solani Faction:- Compromised mostly of the more conservative elements of Ik society, the Farheth advocate a strong focus on home defense and development. The Farheth faction mostly argues that, without a strong home defense, and growth at home, projection of power abroad and economic growth is impossible. Some sectors of the old NIM also back the Farheth

Mukta Al’Hassan Faction:- The Al’Hassan have been on the decline of late. Mostly supported by conservative elements of the NIM, the Al’Hassan have barely managed to hold on to political life as their seats in the Senate dwindled to only 3-4. The Al’Hassan have still managed to eke out a holding among those who fear Akresian aggression.

Rasheed Faction:- The Rasheed faction has changed quite a bit from its initial start. Most of this change has been geared towards rapid expansion of habitats across Errai as well as a push towards expansion and colonization in other systems. The main difference between the old Rasheed faction and the new is the extreme interest in developing and expanding habitats throughout Errai to become economically viable. Not only has this attracted a lot of support from the populous, but powerful mining companies have thrown their support behind them in the hopes of gaining contracts mining rights on new worlds. Though the financial backing of the mining companies and other co-operations has allowed the Rasheed faction to dominant the media, the DSRT as also thrown its support behind Rasheed. Many companies working with the DSRT, and DSRT members themselves see the expansion based Rasheed Faction as the key to their success. Some NIM members have also begun to support the Rasheed faction as expansion economically has required the PC to expand the military to compensate.

Afshati(€):- The official currency of the Republic of Ik, it comes in 1, 5, 20, 50, 100, notes and 1, 15, 25 cent coins. Partially used in the Furthest Republic due to open trade.

Al-Hazred Institute of High Energy Phsyics (AIHEP):- Located on Taik, the AIHEP was founded in 08 AT in an attempt to improve the research capabilities of the already strained resources of the DSRT. The brain child of Prime Chancellor Rasheed and Abdul Al-Hazred, former CEO of the Energy giant, Ikanu inc., the AIHEP has dedicated itself to the advancement of energy technology. Fueled mainly by Al-Hazred’s vast fortune, it also has received major investments from Ikanu inc. and other energy corporations who hope to use the technology developed by the AIHEP to use technology from the Institute to jump on new trends. 60% of the AIHEP funds still come from the Ik government however, allowing energy technology to be available to the masses without corporate influence.
Lead Scientist: Abdul Al-Hazred

Rasheed Military Academy(RMA):- Built in 06 AT, the Rasheed Military Academy has been a major source of the advancement of weapons technology and military thinking. Housed in the capital of Taik, and the Ik Republic itself, the Rasheed Military Academy, has surpassed all other institutes founded before and after. Initially the Academy was simply an institute for the development of military technology and weapons, however the need for competent Admirals and Generals required the Institute to take on a greater role in training individuals in the theory of space combat and new age ground combat. Due to this combined nature, graduates of the RMA receive both an understand of the development of weapons technology, but also in some cases, the application of those weapons to the theory of space combat.
Chief of Staff: Mubarak Hassan

The Abu A’Hawazi Institute of Computer Science(AAICS):- The first research center built on the fabled space habitat of Taik, the Abu A’Hawazi allowed Ik scientist to develop much of the research in secrecy due to the complex encryption algorithms and programs created in the institute. The AAICS is perhaps the only institute on Taik which Hezbul Rasheed did not have a direct hand in creating. In some cases this has been a boon to the AAICS, as Rasheed has been known to a rather heavy hand in deciding the focus of most institute. The AAICS was named after the father of Ik computational theories and includes a statue of him in the entrance hall.
Lead Scientist: Abdul A’Hawazi

Fellowship of Alla(FoA):- Founded by Brother Abdul Al-Mutarak, the FoA is what some would call a religious organization, although its members claim they are a spiritual organization since they have no established doctrine. Abdul Al-Mutarak may be the founder, but is by no means the leader of all those who belong to the FoA. The first effort to organize came after Al-Mutarak published his doctoral thesis entitled Analyzing Meaning, which claimed that the individual human requires meaning in order to stay sane. Upon receiving his doctorate in Clinical Psychology, Al-Mutarak went on to teach at the Taik University from which he graduated. Analyzing Meaning has been the basis of much of the subsequent works done to try to define the goal of the FoA. The FoA currently makes up 15% of the population of the Ik Republic, however it is growing.

University of Taik(UT):- The University of Taik is located in the capital city of Taik, Iknu. Founded in 05 AT, it is the first and only university within the Ik Republic, however there are plans to build a second university in the Space Habitat above Taik. The University itself has allowed many lower class individuals to receive an education above the standard Secondary School education.

ooc: This is mostly for me so I can keep track of all the names and crap of different things instead of switching back and forth between orders. I'll be adding to this every now and then and I'll post the additions (not the whole thing) when enough new things are there.
 
Kal'thzar said:
Heh, nice story.

I'm hoping for a nice update after my exam today, sort of hoping that I get a materials bonus

...I'm doing a Condensed matter exam.
Click to expand...

I did consider calling materials Condensed Matter, and Propulsion Gas and Fluids, but thought that would confuse everyone ;).

If you get over 90% I'll give you +0.5s!
 
Disenfrancised said:
You that confident of success then Kal'thzar?

Still missing orders from Shadowbound and Kraznaya...
Click to expand...

OOC: Breaking my finals silence, bank their EP and move on.
 
Ah! Orders done, have been watching you count down from my phone. Just got to the computer with them, will be reviewing and sending them.
 
OOC: You were too generous with them dis :(
 
alex994 said:
OOC: You were too generous with them dis :(
Click to expand...

Nah Gardener got his in too late, the reason the update is late is because I forgot I had to go to the dentist this morning, cutting into the pre-work block of time I had set aside to finish off the nearly done update.

Also you can entirely blame the current lack of update on Kentharu exploring a new system and discovering a tier 4 tech that required considerable rework and bug fixing of the Ship Calculator ;).
 
Update 12: You cannot see it coming / Always without a warning

The Ik republic found this year to be under the favour of the auspicious meerkat, guardian of the frontier, as they both beat the bounds of their borders with allies new and old, and pushed at the furtherest reaches of their current environs to boot. Turning from the toasty little inner planet of Saik (Errai II)[1] that has occupied most of their development attention in the past five years they come to the ice bound shell of Xa with its endless flat plains of bluish ice. Indeed their development programs are so vigorous that by the end of the year Ik habitat module litter every feasible site for construction on this moon. The Ik greed doesn't stop there however, and they gaze on the small republic of the outer moon, innocent and pale next to their dark orb. The Furthest republic has rebuffed the Ik's increasingly uncompromising demands to gain bases on their tiny world seeing, perhaps correctly, that this will lead to the aggressive Ik monoculture overpowering them either commercially or with military force. Their continued intransigence has finally lead the Ik to give up on official channels and instead sought to bride or blackmail local dignitaries directly, something that rather backfires when such an influx of cash and goods, impossible to hide in such a small community despite Ik shenanigans, sees those who take the bribes ousted from their positions of power the Furthest apparently inheriting the Ik's almost pathological hatred for dishonesty as well. The Ik perhaps not respecting the Furthest's sovereignty after a well publicized treaty between them and the Akresians that divided the Errai system into volumes of influence and placed 'Errai X and all its moons' in the Ik hands, or perhaps seeking expansion possibilities after hotheads decry the terms of the Akresian treaty, thinking the powerful Ik have given up far to much of the valuable outer system to the Akresian monsters. In another concession to these hotheads the Ik did some substantial rework on their warships still in the design pipeline, improving them with recently redone technology. The treaty happy Ik also made some other deals, to be covered later in this transmission.

The Akresians on the other hand stayed put this year, perhaps relaxing after the food crisis of yesteryear (not that the proud Akresian warriors would ever admit being worried over such a trivial matter as lack of food!). They agreed to the Ik proposals, which had earmarked considerable volumes of the system for their usage, perhaps even enough to slake their hunger (probably not though). Their keenness to begin exploiting these newly won territories was apparent in the establishment of a new propulsion laboratory, which should provide them with more advanced shipping as well as improving the fluids extraction from the various gassy orbs that were now Akresian.

Leaping into action isn't something the Lantians normally consider optimal, instead seeking consensus and support from traditional precedent and the community of their peers before changing something. However this year was an exception as the Lantian republic, still slowly unwinding after the tensions of the Food Crisis years, designed and launched an entirely new class of IS ship within the space of a few months. Rather than the workmen like single-purpose utility ships the design bureaus had been playing around with in their simulations for the last decade, the Hiel Corvette was a very long range flexible scout with sensors, weapons and defences and could conceivably explore a dozen or more systems before returning to the nest. After the single example of the new ship class was built and flown beyond the rim the Lantians settled back down into the industrious doze that had continued on from last years return of political freedoms, stockpiling their produced resources for some future crisis or action.

The Esani were very active this year, after their more casual activities over the past decade a new directive force seems to have taken over the halls of power (or even created the halls of power). The focus of this new force was the minor world of Heze II, which had rather grandiosely been renamed Rin'Esani after the Esani people and was declared to be a new capital with huge new cities being constructed overlooking the silicate dunes that covered a third of the planet. Why this particular hunk of rock was chosen hasn't yet been adequately sold to the population as its reliant on constant food imports and the the idea of being 'safe' from the toxic ice of the outer moons appeals not a whit to the average Esani. Indeed they look forward to the day when the ice moons atmosphere can be turned breathable and the greening begun, something that could never happen on a airless and light chunk of rock that they were being forced to move too in great numbers. Rather more favourably received was the beginning of serious investigative work into the Filigree Groves on the outermost moon, the xenoarcheologists having finally been properly trained and starting to probe into the exotic structures and strange markings that seem to twist and turn as you look at them, the vastness of the tangle shivering at the weight of a humans gaze...

The crossroads of the Hydra Tuft seem to be forming on the system of Kaus, already the most populous known system in the Trailing Lobe[2], for no sooner had the Ik conducted an amicable little trade deal with the Soulon, swapping maps and reloading the Ik exploration fleet's consumables and then departed off towards Subra than a new visitor appeared on the rim of Kaus space. The Lantian Corvette, which had rushed to the system after hearing rumours of new contacts through their links with the Ik, certainly compared favourably with the ad hoc Ik duo, being a much more impressive and mature design with a full diplomatic staff on board. It immediately set to work broadcasting the standard opening greeting of enigmatic koans and eager calls to trade and rich cultural interchange. The possibilities opened up by this event set a Interworld Senate and a Reverend Council, both already stirred by the Ik visit, into a frenzy of speculation over how to best react. For their part the Lantians were rather gratified by the new societies they found at Kaus – after the vainglorious Ik, disturbing 'Al, and cannibal Akresians the prospect of a paranoid and pragmatic republic and a quasi-religious planet state both seemed very easy to understand and profit with, though there was almost certainly nuance this first contact was missing.

The Gardeners this year continued the research plans of yesteryear and continued to portray themselves as the wounded party in the harrowingly unjust (and ineffective) closure of information channels between Kadesh and the League. To make extra sure they drove the point home they made absolute no moves at all apart from some disappointed sighing, stockpiling their produced resources. The Soulon government made examples of the technicians who wrote the shut downs, despite their protests that they were fulfilling orders and that it is impossible to tell where the formal Gardener Government ends and the citizenry begins, and that reading every piece of data transferred to filter out the propaganda would have been an impossible task and grossly invasive of privacy. Tellingly, despite their repudiations the Soulons did not restore the linkages, and the Kaus system seemed to be falling from the era of good feelings that had immediately followed the war and reparations payments (which also ended this year). Their autocratic actions not withstanding, the Interworld Senate bent over backwards to appease the separatists and the Gardener-philes on Kaus III – closing down two of the mining complexes right away to reduced the suspected ecological damage and spending vast sums on restoration projects and other pork, even restructuring the electoral cycle to give the hotheads a voice in the Senate to let off steam. This worked for the most part, with only die-hards out in the hills causing trouble, though the continued pampering of the Kaus III population created additional mutterings in the Outer Worlds that were only partially alleviated by infrastructure and job creation work there as well. The Interworld Senate was distressed by their compatriots on the other worlds lack of collective zeal (the city on Kaus VI, having high proportions of government workers, being the Soulons oldest habitat, and their mining needing exports to create wealth, is perhaps the most fervent supporter of the League and interplanetary commerce), and tried to institute vast multimedia propaganda campaigns to strength the idea of a common Soulon identity. This had several problems however in defining what that collective identity was, in the early years it had been about banding together for survival but now the system was one it appear more confused – linguistically and ethnically the Soulon were indistinguishable from the Gardeners, and defining themselves as 'not Gardeners' risked alienating the people on Kaus III and all the culture that had leaked between them, and talking about secularism and managerialism wasn't really the stuff that talked to the heart strings. The exposure to the Ik and the Lantians helped by creating a more clearly defined Other, but the league needed some common dream to hang its unity on. The first idea tried, that of glorifying military might by constructing and flaunting two massive Farragut class Cutters, each with enough firepower to reduce the whole Gardener squadrons to ash in seconds, didn't seem to work so well. Those of Kaus III didn't like its belligerence and change from the previous military standing down of the last few years, and those of the paranoid Outer Worlds thought them a symbol of Senate authoritarianism. Kaus IV, who got the jobs of building the warships were quite happy with the idea however. Despite these problems and the yawning cracks it didn't seem like the League would collapse within the next few years at least, and perhaps the Politicians or external events would come up with some sort of unifying dream or mission.

In Zavi system on the furtherest edge of the Trailing Lobe the Vazan certainly don't have any problems with unity or plans. Their tightly woven communication and social system was very much focused on the task of colonising the alien biosphere of Zavi I; building huge new habitats in the equatorial regions well away from the sulphur corals of the poles and digging deep into the planets core with new mining complexes. It is likely that they see it as a future terraforming or ship building site with its ample atmosphere and medium gravity, but the native life will need to be dealt with or accommodated before the world can really start to turn a profit [3]. This is far from their only interest as they spend considerable amounts of time developing their ship building technologies (nearly as much time as they spend watching pornography) and thinking about local star systems, sending their scout probe to the anaemic red orb of Gris, the probe still functioning perfectly after its long years of inactivity.

In contrast to the Vazan industriousness and their own previously feverish levels of activity the Kations took it easy this year, mostly stockpiling resources and shuffling population around to an optimal configuration. This is perhaps less a willingly entered phase than it is something forced on them by their earlier seizing and development of every scrap of available real estate in the system – they have no where else to go! Instead they took to elaborate simulations in the capitals virtual environments (still nothing like the real thing detractors say) and designing a new class of scout ship for unveiling the following year. The grand claims of its superiority to the Zavi system are made ironic by the existence of markably superior pieces of space worthy engineering several other cultures are whizzing around in at the current time.

Random Events
The space time anomaly returns, moving the Kation troops randomly about the universe!
The fragments of a giant strange six legged figurine give the Esani some ideas on large scale construction tricks: +3s to Construction

Karmically Blessed Societies:
Nice order sets, even if some weren't implemented: Gardeners, Ik +1 lucky roll.

Random Stats
Most powerful ship/smallest collective penis: the Soulon with their Farragut Cutters.
Funniest name for a planet given their background: the Vazan with Krige.

Notes:
[1] Kentharu, you can't rename moons so I skipped the other renaming you ordered.
[2] Possibly to get some common geographic terms down, the Trailing Lobe is where the player systems are and consists of Horn, Gemstar, Kaus, Gris, Arrakis, Heze, Errai, Minkar and Zavi. The slightly larger Spinward Lobe is the other mass concentration in the Tuft, and consists of Duhr, Ascella, Metallah, Peacock, Becrux, Yshakaron, Rotnev, Terebellum, Azimech, Izar and Subra. The rather larger stars of Bunda and Wei are isolates and come from a different period of stellar formation to the two Lobes.
[3] Milquari: you could build an Alpha sized space habitat for 10e, but that'd be useless and you'd still need to pay for the 40e Beta next turn, so I saved your 22e.

New Facility Revealed Space Fountain: Similar to a Space Elevator the Space Fountain reaches out of a planets gravity well from the surface, but does so via a continue rotation of magnetically bound particles to create a tremendous strong tower. It is much cheaper than a space elevator at 200e, but requires a continual upkeep of energy to maintain in the form of 10e per year. Thin, Standard, and Thick atmospheres increase the cost of construction by 50/100/150 each, and a Space Fountain cannot be built on a world with storms or a molten surface. However unlike a space elevator it can be built on Gas Giant moons. It has the same bonuses as Space Elevators, though it provides slightly more bonus to volatiles mines due to centrifugal loading of liquids.
New Capability Revealed – You can Terraform Cold worlds by industrial heating, this is however a costly, inefficient, and temporary solution at the price of 5e per world size per year and will relapse whenever people stop inputting energy. Perhaps only cost effective on changing an icy ocean moon to a food world, or improving an otherwise pleasant Garden world.
New Ship Component Revealed – Capacitors: These are essentially incredibly powerful batteries that store energy in superconducting loops, super charging your energy weapons or other devices with burst of power. They give [Energy+Materials] effective surplus power but have several limitations on use; only only system per ship can be sustained, and they need to be topped up from a much larger power source than a ships engine core, and thus only function in orbit of worlds you control with factories and shipyards (a Twist Drive ship could use its capacitors to jump away from such a system, but not back).
New Ship Component Revealed – UV Laser: These laser cavities produce a much shorter wavelength of light, and thus when pumped have much more stopping power than the longer wavelength lasers that need to ablate off surfaces rather than drill a hole. They thus have the same base damage but gain +2 from surplus power rather than plus 1 and are slightly more expensive. Needs an unknown amount of weapons technology.
New Ship Component Revealed – Advanced Radiators: Currently a ship can only have surplus power ratings less than or equal to its ship size before it melts itself with the heat of its own engines and weapons. Advanced radiator elements built with superconductors and other tricks are far superior to the basic ones that are implicit with building a space ship, and raise the surplus power ceiling by 3 with each unit, in addition to the 1 they provide from increasing ship size. Require an unknown amount of materials technology in addition to energy 4.

Enough people now know about Gris that the system is Revealed:

The tiny star of Gris has a great paucity of surrounding material, and sports only a single planet orbiting cosily close to its primary. Gris I looks baleful and unpleasant from space, with a clear but atmosphere tinged yellow by argon and chlorine and a carved and glittering surface. The planet is home to an entirely mechanical ecology, possibly naturally evolving from machines abandoned by some sentience billions of years ago. The machines are mainly made of ceramic shells coated in complex metals by a odd nanotechology. The foundation of the 'mechology' is energy collection by simple specialized robots, supported by nanotech mining of the "soil" (which is a combination of underlying natural rocks and the remains of inactivated bots). These primary producers are usually sessile, and derive their energy from solar, wind, tidal, geothermal, and hydro sources, depending on the local conditions. Necessary minerals are extracted with simple nano, or in some cases collected by macroscale bots and processed at a central location. These energy collectors and materials processors form a dense network over the entire planet, making mixed forests of solar panels and wind-powered generators. Other slowly moving mechanical life forms are comparable to decomposers or parasites. A few of these are exclusively nanotech, analogous to the viruses that prey on carbon life, and present a severe hazard to humans and machines operating on the surface. Many of the robots are comparable to animals, there are even creatures analogous to carnivores, preying on the other motile 'bots. The continuing arms race between predators and prey has led to some potent weapons and some novel defences against them. Because the machine life of Gris I are able to manufacture subsidiary units, there are many forms that have no equivalent among carbon life. One of the most successful of these is a sessile bot that manufactures an energy collecting "farm" and also creates hundreds of subsidiary motile bots. The motile bots defend and repair the energy farm, and range out to gather materials and energy. Some of these subsidiary bots can travel hundreds of kilometres in search of critical elements for the central unit. The left-overs of another race hypothesis is confirmed by shadows of neutrino blocking structures deep within the planets crust – sure sign of the legendary Priors themselves. Archaeology here is sure to yield a rich crop of pearls and tech...if you can fight your way past the machines.
 
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