I am a great believer in any imaginary wargames world having a consistent look and feel, as well as a back-story that ensures as much uniformity as possible. It doesn't matter whether this is some kind of imagined past, along the lines of Robert E. Howard's Hyborian Age, a historical imagi-nations project, something relatively contemporary or a world set in the far future.
When it comes to the future, it is far too easy to have the kind of technology that turns people into super beings, but if you do that, why bother wargaming it? I prefer to see the future as an extrapolation of what might be possible, given realistic advances in technology, plus a few things that might actually make travel between stars possible. I am not particularly enamoured of Faster-Than-Light starships, but unless one has a way of getting around the galaxy, science fiction warfare becomes pretty much impossible. Therefore, I have embraced the concept of wormholes to get from A to B across the light years.
I first became interested in Sci Fi gaming again, previously having been a Warhammer 40K player a long time ago, after discovering Ground Zero Games 15mm minis via Wargaming Girl, the website of Tamsin P.
I have kept the GZG names for alien races, but I am reusing the GZG human figures to represent different human factions. So, here is the story of a single imaginary star system, where I have decided to base my Quadrant 13 games:
The
Novotelluria System
The
planet Novotelluria orbits the G-type main sequence yellow dwarf star
UGC (Updated Gliese Catalogue) 8704. In the Catalogue it is known as
UGC 8704c. The star is larger than Earth's Sun and somewhat hotter.
Locally,
the star is known as Istanu and was first observed to have an
exoplanetary system in 2047. Observations using the Hubble Successor
Telescope identified three gas giants, one ice giant and five rocky
planets in the system, with two of the rocky planets being
Earth-comparable and within the Goldilocks Zone. In 2051,
observations from the unmanned Mars orbital observatory, later
corroborated by scientists based on the International Earth Orbital
Station, identified that both planets had oxygen-rich atmospheres and
that 8704c had liquid water at surface level. These were labelled UGC
8704c and UGC 8704d. The two innermost planets 8704a and 8704b,
although rocky, were found to be too hot and unlikely to be able to
sustain human life. Planet 8704e was classified as a super Earth but
too cold to be habitable. The remaining planets were the gas giants
8704f, g and h (with g being classed as a super Jupiter) and 8704i,
the outermost planet being observed to be an ice giant.
The
Resource Wars
In
the decades following the launch of the Hubble Successor Telescope in
2036, the number of potentially habitable worlds around suitable
stars grew to around 50. At the same time multiple environmental
problems on Earth and several localised resource wars were causing
havoc across the planet and led to the collapse of several nations.
The decline in reliance on petrochemicals and the growth in renewable
energy contributed to the problems, with tensions in the Middle East
growing as revenues declined. Proxy wars between the major powers,
fought in the Middle East and North Africa caused further instability
eventually leading to the Islamic Civil War of 2043-5, between Iran
and the Saudi Caliphate. Following the destruction of Riyadh,
Teheran, Damascus and Mecca in a series of nuclear strikes the war
ended leaving most of the Middle East in ruins. The resulting Second
Iranian Revolution overthrew the Theocracy and led to the creation of
the People's Republic of Persia (PRP).
The Caliphate collapsed and
the resulting wave of local wars caused massive destruction, with
millions perishing before the conflicts finally ended. The Arabian
peninsula became a wasteland. Finally, international tensions led to
a major war between the Russian Neo-Tsarist Federation and the
Chinese/Japanese Co-operative Trade Alliance, which broke out in
2065. Three months later, following an exchange of nuclear weapons,
Russia was brought to a state of political and economic collapse and
the war ended with the surrender of the Russians and the break up of
the Federation. However, the CJTA was also left in a weakened state
and with its economy in ruins. By 2067, the civil strife in Russia
and the Far East subsided, but most of Central Asia was devastated.
It would take decades before these regions were brought back to life.
The PRP became a federated state of the Indian Ocean Union. The CJTA
eventually recovered and was later instrumental in developing the
reconstruction effort aimed at rebuilding the Earth's infrastructure
after the wars of the 22nd century.
The
Colony Ark project
The
major non-combatant powers, the European Federal State, the
Pan-American Alliance and the Indian Ocean Union launched a programme
of reconstruction and regeneration. The development of cheap and
reliable nuclear fusion reactors helped to bring down the rise in
global temperatures, stabilising the climate, and the building of the
first space elevator in 2077 made the delivery of large payloads into
space a genuine reality.
The
invention of the Higgs Andersson Quantum (HAQ) drive in 2084 brought
the possibility of faster space flight and within a decade there were
settlements established on Mars, the Moon and, by the end of the
century on Ceres, Ganymede and Europa. Automated mining and
industrial facilities were established across the system and in 2106
the first experimental starship was built. In 2109 an unmanned ship
was sent to Proxima Centauri. Within three years of this, the Colony
Ark project was launched.
The
aim of the project was to build 20 colony ships, each capable of
carrying 250,000 humans in a state of suspended animation. There
would be a total of ten missions, each consisting of two ships to be
launched a decade apart, to the ten most suitable planets identified
as being capable of sustaining human life.
The
cost of this project was enormous and took much longer to achieve
than was originally thought. The first five missions were launched
approximately a year apart between 2150 and 2155. The second five
missions were scheduled to commence in 2158. Meaningful contact with
Earth would be impossible once the ships reached their destinations
but, for economic and political reasons it was decided to postpone
the second wave of ships until 20 years after the original launches.
As things turned out, the second wave would be postponed for nearly
half a century following the outbreak of an almost global war on
Earth in 2168. One of the major causes was tension over the Colony
Ark second phase and the selection policies for filling the ranks of
colonists. The war, which would later become known as The Colony War,
caused chaos and devastation, leading to around 25% of the Earth
becoming almost completely uninhabitable. The outcome of the war was
the creation of the Pragmatic Federation, later known as the Earth
Federation, and the establishment of the Planetary Collegium to
oversee the rebuilding of the devastation.
On
Mars, which was untouched by the war, the Colony Ark B project was
revived and the second wave of Arks was built. These were launched
over a six year period beginning in 2208. Around 50% of the colonists
came from Mars and the Moon with the remainder coming from the most
heavily populated regions of Earth.
Following
the launch of the last Ark mission, CA 10-B in 2214, the Ark ship
project was closed.
There
would be no further interplanetary missions for over two centuries
the focus of both the Pragmatic Federation and the Martian
Syndicalist Republic would be on regenerating the Earth, developing
the colonies around the system and working to develop ships and
propulsion systems that would allow a faster transit between the
colonies and the home worlds. The aim would be to restore contact
with the 10 CA systems, assuming that the missions had actually
reached those stars and that colonies had been established. The
creation of the Tansa Guild by an off-planet faction of the CJTA,
based on Mars, was one of the first steps in this programme.
On
Earth, the long process of rebuilding the shattered regions was
continued, with much of the actual work of reclamation and rebuilding
being carried out by off-world mega corporations and the Martian
government It was during this period that the first global government
arose from a new political consensus created around turning the
Planetary Collegium into something with a wider and deeper existence.
The
establishment of the Earth Federation did not bring an end to local
political entities, but as all “states” acknowledged the primacy
of the Federal Collegium this effectively brought an end to local
wars. The prevailing political culture across the Earth is now one of
non-ideological utilitarian co-existence.
Arrival
in the UGC8704 system
The
Novotelluria system was first settled by Colony Ark mission CA 6-A,
launched in 2159 that took 127 years to reach the system. The first
landings were made on UGC 8704c in 2286 (Earth calendar) and
colonisation followed in several locations. Novotelluria has an
oxygen/nitrogen atmosphere and liquid water. The average temperature
is higher that that of Earth.
UGC
8704d , now known locally as Nerthus, has one single large moon,
known as Mani and is slightly smaller and colder than Novotelluria.
Its year is 536 days long. Nerthus has some broadly similar biota to
Novotelluria, plus some organisms evolved to live in extremely cold
environments.
The
planet was first visited by an exploratory mission some 40 years
later and autonomous robotic systems were left on the planet, but
colonisation was left for the arrival of the planned later Colony
Ark, CA 6-B, which was eventually launched 50 years after the
original mission.
At
the time of the initial landings, no sentient organisms found on
UGC8704c but there were many primitive ones, including some large
lifeforms. Among the most basic lifeforms found were many simple
single-celled equivalents of bacteria and analogues of lichens, algae
and colony organisms of varying sizes and degrees of complexity. Many
simple tube-like and bag-like organisms were found in the mud layers
of rivers and lakes. There was also a huge variety of worm-like
invertebrates and many algae-like and seaweed-like plant analogues in
the seas. Larger and more complex lifeforms included armoured and
segmented arthropod analogues, of both land and aquatic forms,
fish-like organisms, various flying organisms of sizes ranging from
1mm to over 1 metre in length, organisms resembling bushes and trees
and a number of species that have no real equivalents on Earth. Many
lifeforms have a hive organisation or live as colony organisms with
specialised symbiotic variants.
A
number of these organisms were identified as dangerous to humans or
to Earth animals and plants, either as parasites or as predators.
Life was never easy in the early stages of colonisation and there
were several setbacks but eventually the original human colonies
became well-established and new settlements were founded across the
planet.
Fifty
years after the arrival of the original 250,000 colonists the second
colony ark ship arrived in system. This ship, CA 6-B went into orbit
around Nerthus and in due course began to colonise the planet, based
upon the data found by the previously established robotic probes.
During
the first few centuries some terraforming took place, displacing many
native lifeforms and making some parts of the surface of Novotelluria
more Earth-like. Agricultural species were introduced and some of the
less dry areas of the planet were converted into productive farmland.
Terraforming operated at a slower pace on Nerthus.
Novotelluria
is warmer than Earth and somewhat drier. A lot of water is stored in
deep aquifers. Much of the planet is semi-arid and there are several
desert areas around the equatorial regions. There are two major
continents, three smaller landmasses and several island chains and
archipelagos. The current population of Novo (as the planet is known
locally) is around 550 million. Because of the surface temperature,
many Novo buildings are constructed mainly below ground level, except
in the larger cities, where a variety of different architectural
styles can be found. The major energy sources on Novo are fusion
power and solar capture.
Even
today, there are parts of the surface of Novo that are either
unexplored or in the process of being investigated, although there
has been a network of mapping satellites operating for around 200
years.
The
planet has two small moons, Artume and Losna. Neither have breathable
atmospheres. There is an automated observatory and communications
station on Losna. Artume is the home of three industrial settlements
and a large mining complex, all belonging to the Istanu Mining
Corporation (IMC). The Novotellurian year is 407 days long and is
divided into ten 40 day months with a seven-day “year-end time”.
There are orbital stations at the five Lagrange Points for the
Novotellurian system.
Nerthus
is approximately 25% terraformed. Agriculture is possible in biodomes
or outdoors using genetically-modified crops. Apart from the
temperate regions around the equator, the remainder of the planet
consists of cold deserts, mountainous glacial regions and huge ice
fields at the north and south poles. Despite the cold climate,
Nerthus is volcanically active.
The
population of Nerthus is around 420 million. Mani is also inhabited
and has a population of around 4 million. Mani is not terraformed and
the surface conditions are such that people need to wear environment
suits to survive. Most people who live on Mani are employees of the
IMC (Istanu Mining Corporation) and are engaged in mining and
industrial production. There are six large geodesic cities and
several small outlying communities on this moon. There are three
Lagrange orbitals around Nerthus.
Most
Nerthus cities and townships are partly subterranean, except around
the equatorial belt, to conserve heat and energy souces include solar
capture from orbital plants, fusion and geo-thermal extraction.
For
the first couple of centuries, life was hard for the colonists, with
no access to any technologies other than those which were available
on the Ark ships. The original settlements on the planet were quite
widely dispersed and some struggled to develop. One or two failed
completely. Access to and control of resources led to conflict
between different settlements as different factions began to form
into political, economic and industrial entities. Eventually, though,
things began to improve. For many people, though, life still revolved
around their local settlements, many never travelled further than
their local main population centres and few went off-planet at all,
apart from those engaged in scientific missions or the maintenance of
automated industrial installations.
After
the two colony ark missions no further ships arrived from Earth for
around three centuries. However, approximately 275 years ago, a ship
arrived from Earth via a generated wormhole. This ship, operated by
the Tansa Guild, but representing EarthFed contained 200 scientists
and engineers. This is now known as the First Wormhole Event.
Subsequent
EarthFed ships arrived bringing more scientific staff, traders and
military personnel. Corporate ships also arrived equipped with
automated high-tech industrial units and workers.
Since
regaining contact with Earth the Istanu system has had the
opportunity to acquire wormhole generating technology and other
advances, such as nanotech and advanced genetic manipulation. The
population of the system has subsequently grown due to emigration
from the Earth system.
Spaceflight
is possible around the system using either HAQ ships and slower but
more numerous Ion Conversion Drive vessels or by ships powered by the
EarthFed Quantum Matrix (QM) drive. In an ICD ship, a flight from
Novotelluria to Nerthus takes 20 days, compared with six days in a
HAQ ship. A QM voyage takes under 24 hours.
Although
there are transit ships capable of reaching and returning from orbit,
most of the movement between the planetary surface and space occurs
via space elevators.
Extra-system
flight would have been possible using HAQ technology but the nearest
star system (UGC 9021) is 11 light years away. Using non-wormhole
technology, it would have taken around 45 years to reach the system
using a HAQ-powered vessel. However, wormhole generation allows for
vessels to make the jump within a matter of hours and it has been
visited several times in the last 50 years. UGC 9021 is a red dwarf
system with several planets and a brown dwarf companion at the edge
of the system. No signs of extant sentient native life have been
identified in this system, but there are many life forms on the two
planets in the system's Goldilocks zone and there is much
archaeological evidence of an extinct sentient civilisation on the
larger of the two habitable planets and also of visits from
non-terrestrial sources. There are currently no plans to settle in
this system but there are several scientific facilities in the
system.
Human
populations and politics
Over
the centuries, the human populations of both planets have split into
several political entities.
Novotelluria
has two main political entities, the Western Condominium (WestCon),
and the Northern Trade Alliance (NTA). Both claim to be the only true
successor of the original colonial administration of Novo. Both
WestCon and the NTA consider themselves to be democratic states but
both are less democratic in reality than they proclaim. WestCon
operates along state socialist lines and the NTA is an authoritarian
quasi-monarchy.
There
are also several smaller unaligned states and many independent
colonies. There has been an on-off state of conflict between WestCon
and the NTA since before the First Wormhole Event. Small scale warfare also
occurs among the unaligned entities. There are also a number of
corporate entities that operate as political units. The largest of
these is the Istanu Mining Corporation. Due to the re-establishment
of the link to Home System via wormhole technology, the Istanu system
is now home to a growing Earth immigrant population, many of whom
have created new settlements and political and economic units. These
newer colonies are mainly part of a confederacy known as the Istanu
EarthFed Exarchate (IFE).
The
headquarters of the IMC is on Novo. It is the most powerful of the
system's corporate states. The IMC and WestCon have been allied for
the last 150 years.
Novo is also home to a major headquarters of the powerful but
secretive Tansa Guild, which as we have already seen originated on
Mars. This body is dedicated to exploration, research and
intelligence gathering activities across the Istanu System and
beyond. One of its stated roles is the discovery and study of
sentient xeno species. Much of the Guild's work is scientific
research and exploration but it also has a small but well-equipped
security and military arm, the Defence Directorate. In addition there
is a specialist group within the Guild, formally the Interventions
Directorate but popularly known as the Tech Ninjas or
Techno-Assassins. Members of this directorate are intelligence
operatives and close combat and infiltration specialists who use a
variety of weapons, including power swords and laser hand weapons.
They are known to use personal field generators occasionally and it
is believed that they have access to a range of classified biotech
modifications and nanotech augmentations. Although local technology
is rated T2, the Tansa Guild is rated as T2+ because of its access to
these specialist technologies.
Nerthus
is dominated by the Human Frontier Autarky (HFA). Again, there are
also several smaller unaligned units. The HFA ideologically opposes
any kind of political union with any Home System states or with
EarthFed. The HFA believes that human colonies outside of the Home
System should retain their independence and eventually break away
from Earth. The Nerthine Hegemony is the other main political entity
on Nerthus. The Hegemony is an authoritarian theocracy.
There
are several colonies of Martian Syndicalist settlers on Nerthus.
There
is also a large orbital EarthFed military station which is home to a
fleet of combat and exploration ships and to a rapid reaction
military force. The purpose of this force is to protect the system
from major xeno incursions.
Since
exploration of the galaxy has become possible via wormhole generation
several xeno-species have been discovered. Some are friendly to a
variety of degrees, but others are aggressive and expansionist.
EarthFed
has a policy of non- intervention in local politics and remains
neutral in any conflicts that occur within the system. To date, most
of the local political entities have retained cordial relations with
EarthFed and have economic, commercial and political relationships
with local political units back on Earth itself or elsewhere in the
Home System.
Elsewhere
in the system, there is a large but unknown number of settlements,
stations and outposts of varying size. These tend to be
self-contained and independent. There are several Outer colonies that
have been established by EarthFed mining corporations and by
genetically adapted (GeneMod) humans from the outer colonies of the
Earth system. The Istanu Mining Corporation also has a number of
installations in the outer system.
Other
sentient species
When
humans first arrived in the Istanu system, they searched for signs of
extra-terrestrial sentient life. There were no sentient lifeforms
found on either Novo or Nerthus and it appeared that the system was
devoid of intelligent non-human life.
However,
around 100 years after the arrival of the second Ark a damaged alien
ship was found in an eccentric orbit around Istanu. HFA ships were
sent to intercept the vessel, which was a gutted wreck with no life
on board. The ship was larger than any human ships apart from the
colony arks and appeared to have been evacuated following some kind
of catastrophic collision and general systemic collapse. The ship was
placed in a stable orbit around Nerthus and scientific investigations
were begun but the origin of the ship and the nature of its crew
remained a mystery until after the arrival of the first EarthFed
ships, although it was rumoured that HFA investigators tried without
success to extract useful technology.
Shortly
after this event, miners operating in the non-terraformed highlands
of Novo found a number of buried and partially-buried archaeological
sites that were more than 5000 years old. Although the remains of
quite large structures were uncovered, no technologically-advanced
artefacts were found, nor anything to indicate what kind of creatures
inhabited the sites. These showed that at some point, there had been
sentient lifeforms living on the planet. No biological remains have
ever been uncovered and to date, even after quite extensive study,
nothing has been found to indicate whether these lifeforms were
native to the planet or were, like the Humans, colonists. The
supposition is that, because of the lack of evidence for advanced
technology, the lifeforms were indigenous but the origins and fate of
these lifeforms is still unknown.
There
were no further contacts until after the opening of the Earth/Istanu
wormholes. It would appear that the action of creating wormholes was
a trigger for investigation by other space-faring sentients.
Approximately 175 years ago, contact was made with three separate
sentient extraterrestrial species in Istanu local space. None were
previously known to EarthFed.
The
first species who arrived were a species initially known as the
Bracc-olakk. This was a mining exploration mission consisting of a
survey ship and three small combat-ready escorts which was detected
by HFA sensory arrays on the outer system. Three HAQ defence ships
were sent to intercept the intruders but the ships departed before
contact could be made. The next Bracc-olakk incursion was in the form
of a larger fleet of various vessels. Contact was made at this time
without incident by EarthFed ships, including xenobiologists and
language analysis experts. It was established that the Bracc were
mainly interested in mining in the outer system and several outposts
were established.
The
Bracc are a clan-based civilisation of humanoid lifeforms with a
tough exo-skeleton and an armoured carapace formed from complex
carbon/nitrogen compounds. Their body chemistry is based upon
carbon/oxygen chemistry like human life and their preferred habitats
are similar to human ones, but they can tolerate a far wider range of
temperatures. It is now known that the name ending -olakk signifies
one of the three meta-clan confederacies of the Bracc species, the
other two being the Bracc-boruz and the Bracc-agrim.
The
current Bracc population of the system is estimated to be around
45-50 million, living in several clan groups, who are often mutually
antagonistic. Relations are generally peaceful, although there has
been some warfare between individual Bracc clans and humans. Bracc
freebooters have been known to attack human settlements and ships and
there are occasional incidents in the outer colonies. Occasionally
Bracc serve as mercenaries in conflicts between the human factions,
mainly for the outer colonies, although Bracc units have fought
alongside NTA forces on occasions. There are several Bracc
settlements on both Novo and Nerthus.
Technologically
the Bracc are roughly at the same level as Humanity but they do not
have AI level computing, relying on specialised bio-computers
instead. However, they are more advanced in some areas. For example,
they are more advanced than the humans of the Novo system in the use
of anti-grav technology, although this is level of knowledge is
matched by EarthFed. Larger Bracc ships have a wormhole generation
capability using broadly-similar processes to the Human system. The
Bracc do not use nanotech or biotech but through biological
manipulation of their DNA-equivalent are able to produce specialised
clones and genetically-distinct variations of their species. The
Bracc commonly deploy large armoured battle suits as mobile support
for their troops.
The
Bracc are commonly called “Crusties” by all human factions.
The
second contact with sentients occurred around three decades after the
arrival of the Bracc. This was a species which was already known to
the Bracc. Their name for them was translated as “Disconnected
Things”. One ship made planet fall near Novo, communications were
opened but the ship departed via some kind of unknown technology.
Subsequently, similar ships have visited the system on several
occasions but withdrawn whenever an attempt to open contact is made
or if they are approached. Nothing is known about this species but,
according to the Bracc, they are peaceful observers who never make
contact or intervene.
The
third contact was with another grouping which consists of more than
one species, one that has launched many raids on human settlements in
the outer system and also much larger incursions against both Novo
and Nerthus. These xenos were originally known as the H'Rin, but it
is now known that they are actually a faction of the much larger and
more widespread Kra'vak Dominate. Their formal designation is the
H'Rin Brood Family of the Glorious Kra'Vak Dominate. Both Novo and
Nerthus maintains a state of permanent readiness against Kra'vak
incursions.
The
Kra'vak are a non-mammalian humanoid species but Kra'vak forces also
contain fighters in a variety of other forms. The most common of
these is an eight-limbed species known to the humans as Bugs, more
properly called the Xar. Bugs have a very tough carapace, about as
resistant to weapons as standard combat armour. Kra'vak raiding
expeditions also sometimes contain groups of red-skinned humanoids
known as the Orak, who are known to roam around many other systems
where humans have settled. They are aggressive but not especially
technologically advanced and are usually encountered as freebooters
and pirates. Some Orak operate as mercenaries and fight with Human
forces, others in the forces of non-human species who are prepared to
pay. The origins of the Orak are unknown but they appear to be
genetically-engineered lifeforms rather than evolved ones, possibly
created by another, as yet unknown species. The Kra'vak sometimes also
deploy bio-mechanical fighting units and various kinds of combat
walkers, remotes and drones.
Because
Kra'vak incursions are aimed at plundering and seizing slaves their
forces tend to be mobile and fast-moving. Raiding parties generally
contain three types of troops. These are known to the Humans as
hastati, principes and triarii, organised into maniples of between 20
and 30 individuals. The hastati are younger Kra'vak who act as
scouts, the principes are older veterans who fight as the main strike
force and the triarii are heavily-armed elite troops who act as a
reserve or as assault troops. Each raiding party will contain all
three types, grouped into a cohort, which will be supported by
auxilia, generally Xar fighters, and by various vehicles.
The
Kra'vak are a planetary-based species, with Kra'vak worlds spread
across a number of systems but there are also roving fleets of
Kra'vak clans who are constantly seeking out new systems to conquer.
Several Brood Families have at various times over the last six
millennia left their home worlds and become spacefarers. These
Families now exist as a loose confederation inhabiting a variety of
habitat fleets that include ships, artificial asteroids and giant
colony hulks, as well as permanent domains in a number of systems.
They are spread across a large region of the local galactic zone.
Over the millennia these Kra'vak explorers have encountered a number
of other sentient species, some of whom have become members of the
habitat fleet populations. Kra'vak habitat fleets contain a number of
non-belligerent species as well as aggressive lifeforms. It is now
known that the mystery wrecked ship orbiting Nerthus was an Kra'vak
habitat ship that had been abandoned centuries before the first
Humans reached the Istanu system following some kind of catastrophe.
The
Bracc have been aware of the Kra'vak for many centuries and consider
them to be a major threat. The Kra'vak also share a carbon/oxygen
biochemistry with Humanity.
EarthFed
forces have been deployed on many occasions against the Kra'vak when
local forces were unable to contain an incursion.
Kra'vak
technology is broadly at the same level as EarthFed, T3, but the
Kra'vak are considered to be more advanced with regards to certain
technologies, such as stealth, anti-grav and force fields. The
Kra'vak have also mastered the use of energy weaponry to a high
standard. Therefore they are classed as T3+.
There
are other sentient species elsewhere in the loose grouping of systems
that are linked to Earth via the wormhole network. Some are peaceful,
some are allies and some are hostile. Some of these species
occasionally visit the Istanu system.
The
rest of the Istanu planetary system
UGC
8704a: the innermost and smallest planet, Soranus is a rocky and
uninhabitable world. It has no atmosphere and is subject to
occasional scouring by solar flares from Istanu. Automated deepspace
probes have explored Soranus.
UGC
8704b: the second planet, Arinniti is another rocky and uninhabitable
world. It has a thick carbon and sulphur dioxide atmosphere. It has
an environment similar to that of Venus in the Earth's solar system.
There have been several automated probes sent to Arinniti and these
have returned much data about the conditions on the planet. Simple
silicon-based organisms have been detected on Arinniti.
UGC
8704e: this icy super-Earth is called Fimbulvatr and is uninhabited
by humans and permanently frozen. There have been several expeditions
to the planet. Its atmosphere is predominantly nitrogen with some
traces of argon and oxygen. Most of the planetary oxygen is combined
with hydrogen as ice. Primitive ammonia-based lifeforms exist across
the planet in a wide variety of habitats. None are sentient and most
are unicellular. There is a very large permanent Bracc industrial
colony on Fimbulvatr. There are several automated unmanned Human
industrial facilities around the equator of the planet.
UGC
8704f (Nergal) is a Jupiter-like gas giant with several large and
many small rocky moons. There are small and medium-sized communities
living on some of the moons. These are mostly made up of miners and
political exiles from the inner worlds, plus some Bracc. The largest
moon, Khonsu, which has an oxygen atmosphere and liquid water is the
home of a strict and exclusive religious sect known as the Order of
the Chosen of the Outer Path which prohibits settlement by others on
their world and which is in a state of permanent hostility towards
the Bracc. It is rumoured that the IMC has links to the Praesidium of
the Chosen, the ruling body of the Order. The Order has a small but
well-equipped army of fanatical warrior monks. The Order is known to
use genetic modifications and also possibly nanotech.
UGC
8704g (Ashur) is a super-Jupiter gas giant with hundreds of small
rocky moons mixed in with a huge ring of space debris, ice and dust.
There are many small communities scattered around the Ashur ring.
UGC
8704h (Sarruma) is a smaller gas giant with several small rocky
moons. There are a few scattered outposts on the moons and some Bracc
outposts too.
UGC
8704i (Anguta) is an ice giant with three large rocky moons. It takes
948 years to orbit Istanu. It currently takes nearly a year to reach
Anguta in a HAQ ship and around five weeks using a QM drive. There
are no permanent human habitations here but several Bracc ones.
Anguta is a valuable source of propulsion mass and there are a number
of orbital mining operations and associated habitats.
Outside
the orbit of UGC 8704i is a huge area of space analogous to the Oort
cloud. This is known as the Outer Zone. There are numerous Bracc
settlements here and a number of GeneMod human ones. There is an
extremely large cloaked Kra'vak habitat fleet orbiting in the far
fringes of the Zone. This fleet operates a wormhole using an unknown
technology.
Technology
Local technology levels are still slightly behind those of Earth,
being rated T2, but have increased quite rapidly since contact was
re-established. EarthFed is rated T3. Quantum Matrix ships are
increasingly common, which means that even the Outer Zone is within
reasonable travelling times nowadays. HAQ and ICD ships are still
widely used for most purposes, except where speed is considered
essential.
Wormhole generation cannot be operated within three AUs of the star,
so ships that wish to make the Jump need to do so from an orbit of
around 500m km from Istanu. This is known as the Jump Horizon. There
are four Wormhole Jump stations in permanent Lagrange Point orbit at
this distance from the star. These stations are huge wormhole
generators, linked to the EarthFed wormhole network that enable ships
without their own generator to travel to pre-defined destination
systems. WG-enabled ships can jump to wherever they wish, but still
need to do so from outside of the Jump Horizon. The permanent
EarthFed orbital military station is situated within the WG Jump
Zone. There are also orbital stations in this region from Novo and
Nerthus.
Military
technology is pretty much standardised across the system. Powered
battle armour, derived
originally from heavy space suits and powered engineering suits for
hazardous environments,
is widely used by the larger powers. In
Q13 terms, the technology levels vary between T2 and T3. Some pirate
bands, colonial militias and lower ranking mercenary units are
classed as T1+.
Weaponry
is still largely projectile based but laser and plasma weapons are
also available. However,
these
are still relatively
rare and
expensive to manufacture so
projectile weapons are standard equipment. Suit-mounted
micro-missile
and micro-grenade systems are also widely used by power armoured
units. Powered fists and powered auxiliary cutting blades can also be
used by some power armoured and,
occasionally, other troops.
Power
armour suits are often equipped with jump packs and can be worn in
space, in
extreme environments or even
under
water.
Semi-automatic
rifles, often
with explosive ammunition,
are the standard weapon of most forces, with larger
portable automatic
weapons,
grenade and missile launchers of varying size, larger automatic
cannon and mortars providing heavier support. Heavy lasers and plasma
weapons are also available. Gauss
guns and rail guns of varying sizes from portable up to
vehicle-mounted are also used to provide heavy support.
Most ground troops are equipped with personal armour of some kind.
This combat armour provides protection against penetrative munitions,
blast and lighter energy weapons but is not as strong as a suit of
full power armour or powered hardsuits , which are a lighter variant
of power armour.
Force field technology exists but generally requires large energy
sources and is mainly limited to vehicles or to fixed locations.
There are some small, lightweight portable personal force fields in
existence, but these tend to be limited to use by valuable
specialists.
Computer technology has advanced to a near-AI level and therefore
mobile autonomous weaponry exists and is deployed by a number of
armies. Autonomous drones are also deployed, but many drones and
semi-autonomous weapons systems are controlled by remote operators,
either human or computer.
Robotic security and military units also exist.
ECM and ECCM is common, as is specialist anti-AI digital warfare.
In addition to the defence forces of the main political units and
those of the Tansa Guild, there are a number of forces attached to
the larger industrial and trade corporations who operate in the
system. Corporate forces can be quite well-equipped but are not as
powerful as the forces of the major political factions, and are much
smaller in size. They tend, though, to be more focused on security
rather than offensive military action and their forces seldom deploy
heavily armoured units or fighting vehicles. They do not usually
deploy significant firepower, generally being restricted to small
arms.
In addition, there are several professional mercenary companies who
can be contracted as required. Some of these are employed as security
by commercial corporations and others fight for whoever is paying the
bill. Many of these mercenary companies operate using fairly low
levels of technology but others have access to advanced weapons
systems and other equipment.
There are also many bandit and pirate gangs in the Outer Zone, both
human, xeno and a mixture of both.
