When the Beyonders arrived, the planet of Sky's Edge was barely prepared. They cruised across most of the system at a reasonable fraction of lightspeed, and braked at the last minute to arrive in orbit almost before the planet was aware. the orbital laser batteries were subverted with a viral attack, and the drop pods were launched immediately.
The defenders had expected at least some delay,a but when their defenses were turned inwards against them, resistance crumbled even before conflict began. Within days, the Beyonders had the defenders confined to the heaviest of the military bases, and a few key cities.
But the attack wasn't fast enough. The great spacecraft Nostalgia for Infinity, which had been visiting the mining colonies in the outer system had time to return and engage the Beyonder cruiser, and now the two lurk in an uneasy stalemate. The Nostalgia for Infinity is no warship, but it dwarfs the Beyonders vehicle, and makes up in sheer volume what it lacks in advanced weaponry.
And while the stalemate continues, the Nostalgia plans a response. A squad of the best troops, heavily armed and armored, dropped from orbit into New Thebe's were the base that controls the laser satellites is located. Once the sats are back under our control, the counter-attack can begin.
The defenders had expected at least some delay,a but when their defenses were turned inwards against them, resistance crumbled even before conflict began. Within days, the Beyonders had the defenders confined to the heaviest of the military bases, and a few key cities.
But the attack wasn't fast enough. The great spacecraft Nostalgia for Infinity, which had been visiting the mining colonies in the outer system had time to return and engage the Beyonder cruiser, and now the two lurk in an uneasy stalemate. The Nostalgia for Infinity is no warship, but it dwarfs the Beyonders vehicle, and makes up in sheer volume what it lacks in advanced weaponry.
And while the stalemate continues, the Nostalgia plans a response. A squad of the best troops, heavily armed and armored, dropped from orbit into New Thebe's were the base that controls the laser satellites is located. Once the sats are back under our control, the counter-attack can begin.
Name: [Or other identification...]
Physical Description: [This includes age, gender and so forth.]
Personality Profile: [How does this soldier think?]
[sup]Mad people will not be accepted.[/sup]
Skills: [What is this soldier's specialty?]
Equipment: [Armour specs, a main weapon and a sidearm. Work it out.]
History: [Both personal rather than operational. I don't need anything exhaustive, but some idea of your past. Please bear in mind that people do not routinely hop between stars. Such a journey takes years, and precludes your being born anywhere except this planet.]
Physical Description: [This includes age, gender and so forth.]
Personality Profile: [How does this soldier think?]
[sup]Mad people will not be accepted.[/sup]
Skills: [What is this soldier's specialty?]
Equipment: [Armour specs, a main weapon and a sidearm. Work it out.]
History: [Both personal rather than operational. I don't need anything exhaustive, but some idea of your past. Please bear in mind that people do not routinely hop between stars. Such a journey takes years, and precludes your being born anywhere except this planet.]
Given access to the best of the Nostalgia's Demarchist nanofacs, you can construct gear to your exact specifications. Your limits come down to what you want to do, and how hard you want to do it.
Your armour will have a balance of strength against weight, as denoted by it's grade. Most troops use between Grades I and III, with Grade I being lightweight armour for scouts and fast moving combatants, and Grade III being reinforced and empowered armour suits that impede both you movement and the enemy's firepower, suitable for heavy-weapons specialists and those who prefer to withstand rather than avoid.
The exact nature of your armour is up to you, but it will be classed into these gradings.
Grades 0 and IV also exist, but they correspond to excessively light or heavy armour, the like of which is not normally issued to our troops. Such terms are used to refer to enemy troops, or unusual cases of our own special units.
The exact nature of your armour is up to you, but it will be classed into these gradings.
Grades 0 and IV also exist, but they correspond to excessively light or heavy armour, the like of which is not normally issued to our troops. Such terms are used to refer to enemy troops, or unusual cases of our own special units.
This section is undergoing renovation. Please await an update.
Humanity is no longer confined to a single solar system, and neither to a single government. The colony on Sky's Edge is ohnly a few hundred years old, and as such is still mired in the military dictatorship that the original Captain of the Nostalgia set up upon arrival. Sky Hausmann is dead now, and the current dictator is benevolent one, but is not ashamed to acknowledge that he has the means to remain in power, should things go against him.
Little is known of the Beyonders, save that they were part of the original colorization fleet, and failed to decelerate in time to make planetfall, and overshot into interstellar space. As such, their return has always been expected, with mixed feelings at best
Little is known of the Beyonders, save that they were part of the original colorization fleet, and failed to decelerate in time to make planetfall, and overshot into interstellar space. As such, their return has always been expected, with mixed feelings at best
Faster than light travel has been proven to be impossible; all one can do is approach the speed of light. This is exactly the purpose of ships like the Nostalgia, known as lighthuggers. They accelerate under a continuous but manageable acceleration for years and years as they cross interstellar distances, eventually reaching almost the speed of light.
Regardless, interstellar distances take decades to cross. Most of the time is spent in cryo-stasis, but it does mean that if help is coming, it will be a very long while until it arrives from Earth...
Regardless, interstellar distances take decades to cross. Most of the time is spent in cryo-stasis, but it does mean that if help is coming, it will be a very long while until it arrives from Earth...
Sentience can be classed as Alpha through Delta, where Alpha is human, Beta is animal, and Gamma and Delta correspond to higher or lower level of programmed intelligence, namely whether or not the construct is Turing compliant.
It is illegal to create an intelligence of higher than Gamma level sentience. The official reason is to prevent to cruelty to or enslavement of true sentient beings, but around the subject there is a tangible sense of fear.
It is illegal to create an intelligence of higher than Gamma level sentience. The official reason is to prevent to cruelty to or enslavement of true sentient beings, but around the subject there is a tangible sense of fear.
