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| − | {{IF}} {{tocright}} | + | {{IF}}{{tocright}} |
| − | [[Proposed Icarus Fall Face Page (IC)]]
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| − | Icarus Fall is a science fiction setting, the solar system in 2330, two decades after the collapse of Dedalus, the solar mining project. Named Icarus Fall, this catastrophic event ruined much infrastructure in the inner system and broke the spirit of progress and optimism that had been dominant for two centuries. What will happen now, can humanity progress peacefully or will we let conflicts destroy what we have built? | + | Icarus Fall is a science-fiction setting of the Solar System in 2330, two decades after the collapse of the Dedalus solar-mining project; the Icarus Fall shattered inner-system infrastructure and long-held optimism. |
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| − | == Timeline of the Icarus Fall Setting == | + | === Places === |
| | + | * [[First Orbital Zone: Mercury (IF)|First Orbital Zone: Mercury]] — [[Gamemaster First Orbital Zone: Mercury (IF)|GM: First Orbital Zone: Mercury]] |
| | + | * [[Second Orbital Zone: Venus (IF)|Second Orbital Zone: Venus]] — [[Gamemaster Second Orbital Zone: Venus (IF)|GM: Second Orbital Zone: Venus]] |
| | + | * [[Third Orbital Zone: Terra (IF)|Third Orbital Zone: Terra]] — [[Gamemaster Third Orbital Zone: Terra (IF)|GM: Third Orbital Zone: Terra]] |
| | + | * [[Fourth Orbital Zone: Mars (IF)|Fourth Orbital Zone: Mars]] — [[Gamemaster Fourth Orbital Zone: Mars (IF)|GM: Fourth Orbital Zone: Mars]] |
| | + | * [[Fifth Orbital Zone: Asteroid Belt (IF)|Fifth Orbital Zone: Asteroid Belt]] — [[Gamemaster Fifth Orbital Zone: Asteroid Belt (IF)|GM: Fifth Orbital Zone: Asteroid Belt]] |
| | + | * [[Sixth Orbital Zone: Jovian System (IF)|Sixth Orbital Zone: Jovian System]] — [[Gamemaster Sixth Orbital Zone: Jovian System (IF)|GM: Sixth Orbital Zone: Jovian System]] |
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| − | '''2036''' — Balkanization of Russia into multiple separate states. Nuclear material coming onto the market leads to nuclear proliferation.
| + | === Topics === |
| | + | * [[History (IF)|History]] — [[Gamemaster History (IF)|GM: History]] |
| | + | * [[Culture (IF)|Culture]] — [[Gamemaster Culture (IF)|GM: Culture]] |
| | + | * [[Technology (IF)|Technology]] — [[Gamemaster Technology (IF)|GM: Technology]] |
| | + | * [[Environments (IF)|Environments]] — [[Gamemaster Environments (IF)|GM: Environments]] |
| | + | * [[Spacecraft and Space Warfare (IF)|Spacecraft and Space Warfare]] — [[Gamemaster Spacecraft and Space Warfare (IF)|GM: Spacecraft and Space Warfare]] |
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| − | '''2040''' — USA weaponizes its debt, destabilizing China by refusing to service the debt. Global recession follows.
| + | = See Also = |
| − | | + | * [[Original Main Page (IF)|Original Main Page]] |
| − | '''ca 2040''' — Thorium breeder reactors spread worldwide, fossil fuels never recover in price.
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| − | '''2045''' — Collapse of the dollar as a reserve currency. States leave USA to avoid having to assume a share of the federal debt. Other currencies try to replace the dollar but fail. Global financial crisis; recession deepens.
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| − | '''2046''' — The start of "nuclear populism". China puts pressure on smaller indebted states that try to follow the the example of the USA. These smaller states uses nuclear blackmail to enforce their interests.
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| − | '''2050''' — Nuclear populism gradually expands to provinces exerting nuclear blackmail on their central government. China loses control of peripheral areas and client states.
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| − | '''2050-2100''' — Global warming causes repeated ecological and economic disasters.
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| − | '''2055''' — Middle East meltdown, a nuclear war in the Middle East halves the population. The total number of strikes is still limited, this is not a full-scale nuclear apocalypse.
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| − | '''2056''' — — Life extension practical on a large scale, earth population decrease slows. Money even more focused in a few hands as rich people live longer.
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| − | '''2058''' — Nuclear populism breaks down as threats have to be put into action or lose credibility. Small number of nuclear attacks on what is essentially random small and medium cities. Rebuilding stricken cities proves faster than expected, just over a decade in most cases.
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| − | '''2060-2070''' — Global trade collapse due to lack of a reserve currency and no-one enforcing freedom of navigation. Each area needs to be as self-sufficent as possible. Widespread famine. Collapse of trade traps refugees in disaster areas.
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| − | '''2061''' — First successful Near-Earth Asteroid (NEA) mining missions. Initial operations target water and carbonaceous materials.
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| − | '''2060-2090''' — Most of Earth is heavily balkanized, with the European Union, China, and India as the strongest powers, but none of them dominant. The economies of many countries with populist or repressive governments collapses and are either reformed under more moderate government or absorbed by neighbors.
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| − | '''2070-2080''' — Boom for cislunar economy. The Moon dominates resource extraction, but reliance on NEAs continues, especially for carbon. Power in space is mostly solar.
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| − | '''2078''' — American Commerce Accord (ACA) established, a lose trade framework to regulate conflicts between states and enable trade. Gradually spreads to cover both the Americas over the next 50 years.
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| − | '''2086''' — Formation of ''Eartforce'', a union of interests in cislunar space focused on combatting famine and preserve the Earth. Bounties for carbon capture. New currency introduced, the Lunar Credit, secured by cislunar resources. Emigration from Earth becomes significant.
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| − | '''2102-2310''' — '''Golden Age''' of rapid advancement and peaceful expansion. Establishment of a mature cislunar economy. Lunar industry expands significantly. Start of the
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| − | '''2130''' — First operational space elevator completed on Waigeo in Indonesia, spearheaded by international cooperation led by Japan. Enables vastly cheaper and more efficient access to cislunar space but soon proves too small and too remote.
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| − | '''2138''' — Invention of the first practical long-duration ion drive. Drastically increases potential for slow but efficient interplanetary travel. Risks, mainly from radiation, makes adaptation slow.
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| − | '''2143''' — Commercially viable large-scale fusion power. Thorium fission breeders remain dominant for many decades on Earth.
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| − | '''2145''' — American Commerce Accord completes its own space elevator on Jarvis Island, focusing on bulk transport to and from orbit.
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| − | '''2155''' — China and European Union finish space elevators on Hainan and São Tomé and Príncipe respectively, expanding global access to orbit and solidifying their roles in the emerging cislunar economy. China begins slow, large scale colonization by ion ship, others strive to catch up.
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| − | '''2170''' — Chaotic wave of exploration and early colonization across the solar system. Many ventures fail or are absorbed by larger players.
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| − | '''2187''' — Chinese colonies off-world show a strong bent for independence. Other nations on Earth step in as sponsors for Chinese colonies, and China supports non-Chinese colonial independence.
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| − | '''2210''' — Launch of the Mars Terraforming Initiative. Massive investment from Earth. A symbolic vanity project, but clearly affordable and doable on a long time scale.
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| − | '''2214''' — Second-generation colonization begins when cislunar habitat Usagi builds a copy of itself and sends one-third of the population on a multi-year trip to Jupiter. These are launched from successful early colonies rather than from Earth.
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| − | '''2225''' — Mercury Industrial Boom begins. Night-side and twilight-zone settlements extract rare metals and lift them using magnetic accelerators. Heavy investment from solar power harvesting firms.
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| − | '''2245''' — Solar Alchemy Project officially launched and named Dedalus. Ambitious attempt to manipulate solar fusion processes and harvest exotic particles and elements from the solar corona using mega-mirrors and orbital infrastructure. Also promises to extend the sun's lifetime.
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| − | '''2265''' — First small-scale practical fusion reactors come online. These installations require exotic materials, including those produced by the Solar Alchemy Project.
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| − | '''2270''' — Climate stabilization efforts on Earth complete. Massive orbital mirrors and solar shades contribute, in coordination with carbon capture. Emigration from Earth slows down.
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| − | '''2285''' — Solar Alchemy Project achieves breakthrough in exotic matter synthesis. These are strategic materials for fusion power and other specialized uses.
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| − | '''2290''' — Fusion reactor designs now small enough to fit personal vehicles. Batteries still dominate, but small-scale, high-performance, long duration fusion power is now possible.
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| − | '''2310''' — '''Icarus Fall''': Catastrophic failure of the Solar Alchemy Project ends the '''Golden Age'''. Solar instability increases dramatically. Solar storms wreak havoc from Mercury to the Asteroid Belt. Massive losses in orbital infrastructure across the inner system, including the loss of all except the small Japanese space elevator. Earthforce prestige plummets.
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| − | '''2310–2315''' — Disaster years - all energies focused on saving lives and rebuilding things that have been lost.
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| − | '''2315–2330''' — Widespread fragmentation of political and economic control. Colonies become de facto independent. Earth remains population center but loses coercive power. Apocalyptic cults and radical ideologies common.
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| − | '''2430 — "Now"''' (Setting Present Day) — Earth is very heavily balkanized but still holds about three billion people, with one billion in space, 400 million each in Cislunar space and in the Jovian system, 100 million in the Belt, and about 25 million each on Mercury, Venus, Mars, and in deep space.
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| − | == Adventure Seeds ==
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| − | * Abandoned mining base at an NEA. Small, rapidly rotating cylinder with high gravity gradient. Survivors abandoned in evacuation, xenophobic and radiation-scarred.
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| − | * Old base on Mercury’s dark side. Searching for data on surviving parts of Solar Alchemy project. Hazards: static electric charges in metals, seismic fissures, over-pressured living quarters holding plasma from Icarus Fall.
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| − | * Using telemetry from previous mission to chase down a part of Solar Alchemy harvesting array and its exotic matter.
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| − | * Various space habitats governed by exotic dogma.
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| − | * Linear accelerator launching post-human pilots at very high velocities.
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| − | * '''The Ghost That Burns''' — Long-range telescopes detect a faint gamma-ray source on a hyperbolic path through the system. Spectral anomalies suggest the object may be composed entirely of antimatter, annihilating in flashes when struck by cosmic dust. It will pass through the Belt in weeks before vanishing into deep space. Multiple factions want a sample, proof, or its destruction. Interception is extraordinarily dangerous: any dust from a ship could trigger surface explosions, altering its trajectory unpredictably — or shattering it into a lethal cloud of antimatter particles. Even more perilous, a ship’s own engine plume could cause annihilation on contact, making direct braking approaches suicidal. To match trajectories without disaster, the crew must execute a long, fuel-hungry offset approach, coasting in on minimal thrust while expert systems track its erratic motion. | |
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| − | = System-Wide Culture =
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| − | The solar system is both very divided and culturally cohesive.
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| − | History has shuffled people around, mixing genes and cultures and creating new hybrids, while old minority have clung to or even recovered their past. With universal translation, the pressure to learn a major language disappeared, and when the large political blocks fractured, the pressure to conform disappeared. At the same time, living conditions have become more similar across humanity, creating similar solutions to the problems we all face.
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| − | === Abundance Society ===
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| − | Humanity has never been richer. Industrial automation and hydroponic farming makes everyday resources abundant. After the struggles of the 21st century, basic income was recognized as a human right; no-one outside degenerate polities lacks food, basic necessities, care, or access to education and information. With genetic engineering, many of the causes of need and impulses to crime were eliminated and most people live to 200 years of age. You no longer have to work to survive, you work to achieve self-realization and social standing.
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| − | Money still exists even when basic goods are free; personal services, handicrafts, pastorally produced food, and luxury housing still have a cost. People work to afford such perks, but most are able to find a job that aligns with their own interests.
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| − | The average work week is 20 to 30 hours; some work 4 to 6 hours a day, others prefer fewer, longer days. Caretaking employs many, taking care of children, even your own, is considered a profession.
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| − | Dangerous, uncomfortable, or simply unpopular work nets higher pay, rising until the needed workforce is available.
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| − | This all took a hit during the Fall; people were ordered to work, with those lacking appropriate skills often ending up in involuntary work parties. When the crisis abated, this was quickly abolished, but resentment and distrust lingers, mostly directed at Earthforce that stepped in to handle the crisis.
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| − | === Personhood ===
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| − | With genetic engineering, many things once decided by birth can now be altered. Common genetic programs brought most of humanity to the point where no-one performs much below what was once average. Poor health, eyesight, birth defects, and vulnerability to mental ill-health can all be pre-empted. Ageing is routinely postponed; most people live 200 years or more, maintaining the health and flexible intellect of youth.
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| − | Gender and sexual expression have become matters of choice, while the differences between the sexes have narrowed. On average, women are physically stronger and more resilient under stress than they used to be; men have become more cooperative and socially agile. Fertility is fully under conscious control — conception must be willed, and no longer declines with age. Painful menstruation and involuntary menopause are conditions of the past.
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| − | Ancestral features can be altered or erased, though this is uncommon today. All of this is voluntary, and many choose to retain older ideals. Virtual reality experiences allow people to try new roles before undertaking therapies that would alter their bodies more permanently.
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| − | Greater changes are achievable, if somewhat dangerous and controversial. Cosmetic changes, such as altered skin color or adding fur, tails, or animal ears, have long been popular in various subcultures. Adaptations to different environments are possible, facilitating life in microgravity, low gravity, and even underwater.
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| − | [[Posthuman Genetic Modifications (IF)|Posthuman Genetic Modifications]] | |
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| − | Not everyone thinks this should be done. The Earthforce Medical Service continually reviews medical standards, caught between conservatives and radical post-humanists who want more change. Rules used to be stricter before the Fall; adaptations to the harsher post-Fall environment are now widely accepted.
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| − | === Gerontocracy ===
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| − | With people routinely living to the age of 200 and luck and wealth can allow you to live up to twice as long, power is gathered in the hands of the elderly.
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| − | Therapy maintains fluid intelligence over time while crystalized intelligence still accumulates over time; older people simply have more skills to use.
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| − | A stable economy also benefits the old; long time savings and interest means many old people are rich.
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| − | Well-sestablished politicians have the support of stable constituencies.
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| − | The backside of this is that old skills do lose in value as new technologies and social issues develop, but not enough to overcome the advantages of age.
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| − | It is not that young people lack opportunities; education is free and run by enthusiastic teachers with long experience. Entry level jobs are available in most sectors. But advancement is slow; few elderly retire to make room for the new.
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| − | Two trends have grown out of this; older people do retire to focus entirely on their personal interests, and young people become colonists to find opportunities in faraway places where few are senior to them.
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| − | === Storm Time ===
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| − | All across Sol space, post-Fall communities have adapted to recurring solar storms. Magnetic shields and heavy water tanks blunt the danger, but intense events still drive whole populations into mass shelters. This shared ordeal has produced a distinctive cultural event known simply as '''Storm Time'''.
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| − | Storm Time carries taboos and rituals that vary by station yet share common elements. At the signal — usually blue beacons or a two-tone siren — work, recreation, even sleep stop, and life shifts into '''Storm Shift'''. Families, strangers, and rivals crowd into shelter halls where normal distinctions blur. Class barriers soften, rules are set aside, and local law often grants a '''storm-time amnesty''' for minor offenses. The unspoken rule is absolute discretion: ''what happens in storm-time stays in storm-time''.
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| − | Customs have flourished in this suspended space. Communal playlists and low amber lights create calm; ''storm kitchens'' distribute simple meals; children’s story circles carry traditions forward. In some places, shelters become clandestine meeting halls or spontaneous festivals, with music, drinking, and matchmaking — a brief ritual outside of ordinary time that lets off steam and keeps communities intact. The ''Quiet After'' — the silence that follows an all-clear — is observed everywhere as people return to their usual lives, without speaking of what happened in storm-time.
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| − | = Icarus Fall's Solar System =
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| − | == First Orbital Zone: Mercury ==
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| − | Former mining colony destroyed by Icarus Fall.
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| − | Mercury hosted an industrial boom starting around 2225, focusing on night-side and twilight-zone settlements mining rare metals. Ruins of the old Solar Alchemy Project — including dangerous plasma containment chambers and wrecked magnetic launch infrastructure — remain as hazardous salvage sites. Ruins of extensive solar power generators are common in the twilight zone and make orbital hazards.
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| − | Mercury weathered the Fall unexpectedly well, but it was still a major disaster.
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| − | Rumors let many people escape into the shadow of the planet's dark side.
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| − | Much work back then was done remotely from habitats or bases on mercury itself in a way that is impossible today.
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| − | Still all solar infrastructure, both in space and in the twilight zone, was destroyed.
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| − | Countless humans perished, well over half the population, and many of those who survived got psychological scars.
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| − | Many were evacuated back to Earth.
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| − | The present population is a mix of survivors and their descendent who remained to maintain and repair what could be salvaged, and adventurers, often from the Belt, here to score big on salvage.
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| − | The planet’s most important infrastructure before the Fall was a human-rated magnetic accelerator capable of launching people and cargo directly into solar orbit. This massive installation was destroyed during the Fall, but enough was salvageable to reconstruct a shorter, cargo-only launcher. The rebuilt version can send 5–10 tons per shot into low Mercury orbit every few minutes, feeding a “twilight station” depot in a low polar orbit that stays in Mercury’s shadow.
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| − | This is not enough to be a major export, but specific orders can be fired directly into orbits that can be harvested from orbits near the Sun.
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| − | Tugs constantly work to keep loads on station and deliver loads to customers in orbit of Mercury. It is well-known that some tugs will occasionally ''lose'' a load to a solar storm and sell it without registry or questions.
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| − | Sunward zone on Mercury reaches 700 K+ (about 430 °C) with molten metal flows, constant solar wind bombardment, and extreme radiation. Twilight zone is cooler, 250–350 K (–20 to 80 °C), still harsh but more manageable, and hosts most current settlements. Both require extreme engineering to survive thermal stress, radiation, and seismic instability. The molten metals of the sunward side are used for exotic industry and occasionally as natural hazards in adventure sites.
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| − | Nearby asteroids and debris orbiting in solar orbits close to Mercury include volatile fragments from the Solar Alchemy disaster, valuable but hazardous for explorers.
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| − | == Second Orbital Zone: Venus ==
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| − | Venus is a world of extremes, locked in a slow, strange dance with the Sun. Its day lasts longer than its year, creating long periods of relentless sunlight followed by equally long darkness. The atmosphere grows denser and hotter closer to the surface, crushing and toxic, dominated by thick clouds of sulfuric acid. This hostile environment shapes every aspect of life and technology, forcing colonies to cling to the high-altitude cloud layer where pressure and temperature become more forgiving, and where survival depends on constant adaptation to a volatile, alien sky.
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| − | Venus colonization pre-Fall consisted mainly of floating cities high in the atmosphere (50–60 km), where pressure and temperature are Earth-like. These cities hosted advanced biotech research and limited bio-industry, exploiting Venus’ extreme environment as a natural lab. You can survive outdoors here with just a breathing mask.
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| − | The dense atmosphere below provides strong shielding from radiation, allowing radio and other electromagnetic signals to travel downwards from cloud cities to the surface and lower layers. This makes Venus one of the few places in the inner system where exploration drones can work. However, storm ionization layers scatter up-looking sensors; orbital-to-cloud links must be optical through weather windows or tether relays. Ships orbiting above the atmosphere can not reliably use electronic sensors to look down, nor can the cities effectively scan or communicate upward into space. This creates a natural electromagnetic “blind spot” between space and the cloud layer.
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| − | After Icarus Fall, many surface and lower atmosphere installations were lost or abandoned. When Earth ordered colonies to devolve after the Fall, Venus was one of the few places that did move back to Earth as available transport permitted, but some stayed behind.
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| − | Surface and lower atmosphere bases largely failed or were abandoned, with colonists forced back to Earth due to unsustainable conditions.
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| − | Venus today features only a few surviving high-altitude cloud cities, isolated and fragile amid ongoing solar storms and atmospheric turbulence.
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| − | People are re-entered abandoned cloud cities and reactivating deep atmosphere infrastructure, a process that is slow and still ongoing.
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| − | Adventure locations include drifting, possibly derelict cloud bases — some frozen in place by persistent storm eyes — offering exploration into lost biotech research and remnants of the Solar Alchemy exotic material efforts.
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| − | A unique bioengineered membrane layer exists below the cloud cities, stabilized by a sharp thermal inversion and specialized plants or biotech. This layer creates a unique environment, hot, acidic, and toxic beneath but have an Earth-like atmosphere on top, forming a semi-solid floating platform strong enough to walk on or support light structures. It’s an exotic ecosystem and an intriguing frontier for research, survival, and conflict.
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| − | === Venus Descent Ops ===
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| − | Treat the surface like deep ocean. Keep mass and people at 55–60 km. Send down tethered work-pods or balloon-return pods; reel or float them back. '''Tether pod:''' winched from a cloud city; power/comms over the line; hours on task. '''Balloon return:''' drop a rugged pod; after work, inflate hot H₂ to ascend for pickup. '''CO₂ thermal lifter (rare):''' ingests CO₂, heats it indirectly, and jets it for VTOL — heavy, maintenance-hungry, hard to insure. '''Rules:''' Radio works below the clouds; use drones and a relay aerostat. No crews below; short sorties, redundant ascent, preplanned windows. If it can be done at 50–60 km, do it there.
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| − | == Third Orbital Zone: Terra ==
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| − | In modern usage, ''Terra'' refers to the orbital zone around Earth's orbit of the Sun, while ''Earth'' refers specifically to the planet.
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| − | === Earth ===
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| − | ''Campanilismo'' — Italian for “attachment to one’s own campanile (bell tower),” indicating localist pride and rivalries.
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| − | More than anything else, Earth is rich. Rich in culture. Rich in people. Rich in heritage. Rich in variety.
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| − | And thanks to Earthforce and its colonies, also rich in wealth.
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| − | No place is as varied as Earth. There are still tribes living a stone-age life on isolated islands. There are people living virtual existences, almost never in the physical world. There are nations, peoples, and communes of infinite variety.
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| − | Earth holds a little over '''three billion''' people across a patchwork of blocs, city-states, climate authorities, and charter ports. This is three-quarters of humanity. By sheer weight of votes Earth controls Earthforce, but Earth is always divided except in issues about its own wealth. Votes can make Eartforce tax the colonies for Earth's benefit, but when the issue is to split the loot, there is more division than ever.
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| − | Not that Earth really needs support from the colonies. It certainly did need the cislunar economy to help it out of the depression and environmental collapse of the 21st and 22nd centuries, but Earth today has one-third of the population it had in 2000, with more advanced technology and economic models. There are more than enough resources, tough some are cheaper in space. Earth is leading in science, especially the humanities, and exports social models and cultural icons much in demand throughout Sol space.
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| − | Earth is more pristine than it has been in centuries.
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| − | With global warming under control and people mostly living in cities or arcologies, most of the land is a nature reserve.
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| − | During the climate crisis much land was abandoned, with farmland replaced with indoor hydroponic farms.
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| − | Still, the nature preserves of Earth are parklike, tame, and only gradually is true wilderness allowed to return.
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| − | ==== Polity Map ====
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| − | Earth has never been more heavily balkanized, but there are some large treaty organizations and two large nations remain; China and India. [[#Earthforce|Earthforce]] effectively has oversight but works hard to remain out of the limelight.
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| − | '''American Commerce Accord''' — The Americas are dominated by this trade-first confederation that provides a legal framework for trade and ties elevator zones, river ports, and orbital services together. It specifically avoids politics and security. Politics has devolved to the state level, with the old national borders atrophied. Language and culture gradually shifts from French, to English, to Hispanic as you proceed south. Some places have reverted to being Amerindian in culture (but not language) as the former elites migrated into space.
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| − | '''European Union''' — Formally one of the most cohesive regions on Earth, but cultural diversity is larger than in most regions. In this the EU is a microcosm of Earth itself; united outwards, sundered inwards. Passed the crisis years almost untouched, but low population gives it a feel of abandonment, with shrunken cities. Europe's countryside is among the most populated in the world. Half of the land is now nature preserve, but half of this is dedicated to pastoralism and only the remaining half is genuine wilderness.
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| − | '''India Sphere''' — India has become a union of city-states. With much of the land made uninhabited by global warming, there was little population in the countryside and much restoration work has been done. Like Europe there is land reserved for pastoralism, but this is only about a quarter of the land, with another quarter as urban areas and the remaining half nature preserves in various stages of wilderness.
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| − | '''Sinosphere''' — China has contracted to the core Han lands of the two rivers, while Tibet, Mongolia, Manchuria, and Taiwan are fully independent. Yet Sinitic culture still knits the region together and links it to Vietnam, Korea, and Japan. Politically in retreat, China has advanced culturally, trading hard power for soft. People of this region have always been concentrated in cultivated belts with untamed land in between; the settled zones are smaller now, and the hinterlands more untamed than ever.
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| − | '''Sub-Saharan Africa''' — Global warming, famine, and limited nuclear war struck hard but unevenly. Some regions collapsed, others endured or were absorbed by stronger neighbors. Populist mismanagement deepened the crisis, yet in places local communities adapted and survived. Borders had always been artificial, and their fading has been more benefit than loss, with cultures and trade routes crossing old lines. The result is a patchwork of city-states, alliances, and recovering heartlands, alongside vast stretches of depopulated or contested land.
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| − | '''Middle East & North Africa''' — Made almost unlivable by 50 °C heat and hit by the only large nuclear exchange, euphemistically “the meltdown”, the region’s old borders collapsed. The meltdown hit city centers dominated by the majority population, leaving mostly rural minorities to flourish. The result is a mosaic of tribes, sects, and survivor enclaves bound loosely under a cultural Dar al-Islam. The Israeli, largely settled underground to escape the heat, escaped most of the war damage. They shared this survivalist technology, giving a new legitimacy as neighboring communities copied their methods. With ecological restoration a priority during the Golden Age, the land is now greener than it has been in a thousand years and temperatures are livable again, but many remain in underground habitats that have become synonymous with safety.
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| − | '''Archipelago Compacts''' —
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| − | Freedom of navigation has been restored, but oceanic bulk trade isnot what it was; the various continent are self-sufficent or trade with space. Still, times are not bad, tourism is more vital than ever and there is a lot of oceanic environmental work. Island settlements get good representation in the Eartforce senate and are popular venues for diplomacy and entertainment.
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| − | Undersea settlements exist on Earth, but they remain rare and specialized. Built with technologies proven in Europa’s oceans and easily surviving the pressure of any earthly depths, they serve science, climate management, and data security more than habitation. Costly, and isolated, they never grew large — yet their secrecy, resilience, and unique perspective make them politically and strategically significant.
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| − | '''Switzerland, Bern, and Earthforce''' —
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| − | Eartforce was founded in 2068 on a very different Earth. For legal reasons, it had to be registered on Earth, and seeking neutrality they went for Bern, in Switzerland. Earthforce was founded by rich cislunar interests and was an important power from the very beginning, and only rose in power an importance to the degree that Switzerland was under pressure to remain neutral and unallied just for the sake of Earthforce, not that they minded this forced isolation.
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| − | | |
| − | Earthforce does have an office in Bern, but today the actual capital of Earthforce is in the Bern Orbital, which legally is a part of the canton of Bern, but has many times its area and population. There Earthforce has grown to its full potential.
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| − | | |
| − | ==== Access & Low Earth orbit ====
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| − | LEO remains a debris hazard. Flight insurance green-lines only the cleared cones from ''offshore fusion lifters''. Passenger launch slots are rationed and political capital; backdoors run through Luna-bound rails and friendly tugs.
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| − | | |
| − | ==== Economy ====
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| − | Earth is even more of an abundance economy than the rest of the solar system.
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| − | With conditions so good, people no longer emigrate to space because they have to, they do so for the sense of adventure and to make career.
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| − | An important function of Earth, in particular the European Union, is to wield soft power in setting safety standards and best practices that dominate the legal and economic spheres.
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| − | | |
| − | '''Energy''' — Energy scarcity is a thing of the past.
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| − | Thorium breeders dominate grids. This was an advantage in the Fall, a thorium breeder is much easier to restart than a fusion power plant. Thorium is abundant on Earth itself.
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| − | Fusion handles peaks, larger scientific installations such as hadron colliders, and industry.
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| − | | |
| − | '''Mass flows''' — Imports C–N–P volatiles from Belt and Jovians; exports cultural artifacts, art, entertainment, software, technology, science, and biotech. Biological samples and animals to form a base for natural preserve habitats and parks all over solar space.
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| − | | |
| − | ==== Climate & Ecology ====
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| − | The biosphere almost collapsed in the 22nd century.
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| − | Intense carbon capture and solar shades reduced the heat, which had already driven humanity away from the countryside and into cities and arcologies.
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| − | This offered a blank slate for environmental reconstruction. It took most of the 23rd century, but Earth's ecology is now better than it has been in a thousand years.
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| − | Outdoor farming is still done, but the ecological weight of feeding humanity is now carried by hydroponic farms in controlled environments.
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| − | | |
| − | ==== Elevator & Launch Cities ====
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| − | Remaining kessler syndrome from the Fall hinders ballistic travel; vacuum trains carry the bulk with aircraft serving remote areas.
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| − | Lifter archipelagos behave like ''charter ports'' — customs, escrow courts, bonded yards. Downcomer elites — long-lived, technically trained — mix with groundborn guilds. Earthforce police safety on shade arrays and mass-driver spurs.
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| − | | |
| − | ==== Society & Culture ====
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| − | As noted before, Earth is almost infinitely diverse, and local culture is cherished or even invented to give each district its own identity.
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| − | With an abundance economy, many people can do cultural work; performing art, artisanship, crafts, and visual arts.
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| − | The human body is a canvas, fashion and personal styling is widely popular, cybernetics and gene tailoring are subcultures.
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| − | Culture is a major export, with a constant influx of ideas from space flowering into new forms on Earth and re-exported back to space.
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| | | | |
| − | '''Security''' <br>
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| − | Earthside forces are municipal and corporate. Earthforce deploys only around elevators, lifters, and orbital courts. Anti-Kessler treaties are brutally enforced — '''Kessler spread''' is a war crime since the Fall. Apocalyptic cults flare where shade schedules cut agriculture.
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| | | | |
| − | === Earthforce ===
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| − | Interplanetary politics are dominated by '''Earthforce''', a colonial administration based in terran space that claims stewardship of the solar system. Earthforce is not a government in the traditional sense, but a framework for interplanetary cooperation. Founded in 2086 as a neutral cislunar consortium, it grew into a three-chamber council with small executive arms. Its power rests on prestige, voluntary contributions, and the memory of having led humanity through the Icarus Fall.
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| − |
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| − | Earthforce earned enormous prestige by helping end the climate crisis, which made it a concord between all governments — and subject to public oversight to maintain legitimacy. Over time, after hard bargaining, it became a pseudo-democratic interplanetary council.
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| − |
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| − | Despite the name, Earthforce never answered to Earth; it began as a cislunar commercial combine and was formalized in '''2086''' in '''Bern, Switzerland''' — chosen for neutrality — but never run from there. Earthforce is governed by a three-chamber parliament, each highly independent. It is effectively three embryonic governments running in parallel. Formally the bodies are styled the '''Chamber of Commerce''', the '''Chamber of Commons''', and the '''Senate Chamber''', though in everyday speech they are simply called the Chamber, the Commons, and the Senate.
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| − |
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| − | :Summed up in an adage: ''Commons says go, Senate says no, and the Chamber hires the lowest bidder.''
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| − |
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| − | Earthforce is not a government, it is a framework for interplanetary co-operation with emergency powers to intervene against human-rights and environmental abuse. Each chamber has its own executive branch. This mandate gradually grew as humanity expanded outward. Still, all branches are far smaller than one would expect for an authority claiming the whole solar system. In the Icarus Fall emergency, Earthforce briefly became a government of sorts: contributions hardened into taxes, and the Navy expanded greatly, though it remains mostly a civilian force. Earth tries to continue treating Earthforce as a government, while the colonies want to reduce it to its original framework role.
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| − |
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| − | ==== Chamber of Commerce ====
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| − | * '''Governance:''' Corporate votes by Earthforce shareholdings; anchored in cislunar combines and port guilds. Many firms seek incorporation into the commercial Earthforce to gain influence.
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| − | * '''Mandate & tools:''' Issues the '''Lunar Credit'''; oversees finance, registries, ports and lanes standards, and insurer–underwriter compacts.
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| − | * '''Current push:''' Regain control of Earthforce finances by ending levies; expand salvage/retrofit financing; harmonize port safety to reopen marginal lanes.
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| − | * '''Fault lines:''' Perceived “rule by ledger”; currency governance seen as Earth-leaning; accusations of underwriting tax drift via emergency levies.
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| − |
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| − | '''Lunar Bank''' issues the Lunar Credit and is the central financial arm of the Chamber, as well as the system’s leading user of qters (quantum hardframes) and distributed ledgers. It runs the microtransaction grid that underpins everyday trade and culture: even in an abundance economy with universal basic income, people seek recognition and credit for work and achievement. Every click, view, or contract access is logged, and the Bank pays out fractional sums from its reserves rather than charging those granted access. This keeps participation free while making popular creators and service providers wealthy. The Bank clears vast volumes of these payments, keeps liquidity flowing, and sets the official interest rate. The Lunar Credit is guaranteed by the Chamber’s cislunar resource baskets; in practice, other resources are priced against their cislunar value. The Bank resists anything resembling a tax, preferring to finance Earthforce internally, and is pushing a name change through council protocols to ease colonial resentment.
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| − |
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| − | '''Financial Integrity Directorate''' (FID, colloq. '''“Fides”''') is the Senate's enforcement arm. It acts as a financial police service, investigates fraud and laundering, and conducts asset recovery (collateral seizure/repossession) through local courts under Senate-charter law. Fides has some direct enforcement capacity but usually relies on local authorities or other Earthforce agencies.
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| − |
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| − | '''Stormwatch''' is Earthforce’s system-wide space-weather service, tracking solar storms and related hazards. Formally under the Chamber, it began centralized but is devolving into regional bureaus — at least one per orbital zone, with multiples in the Belt. Raw sensor feeds stay local; fused forecasts publish system-wide. Colonies press for control of their own bureaus, while Earth insists on a uniform alert code to keep insurers, ports, and accelerators aligned.
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| − |
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| − | '''Registry Authority''' maintains registries of ships, habitats, mining claims, and transponder IDs. It issues certifications, manages liens and transfers, and collects modest fees that fund its operations. Disputes over registration are a frequent source of appeals to higher Earthforce bodies.
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| − |
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| − | '''Standards Bureau''' sets and enforces interplanetary technical standards: docking rings, Q-time seals, hull alloys, EVA connectors, safety protocols. Though often resented as meddling, its specifications keep the system interoperable and prevent lethal incompatibilities. Colonies regularly lobby for exemptions, yet most still adhere out of necessity.
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| − | ==== Commons ====
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| − | * '''Governance:''' Proportional by population; an Earth-leaning plurality fractured by campanilismo — polities and NGOs pulling in rival directions.
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| − | * '''Mandate & tools:''' Writes interplanetary statutes; allocates territorial and charter regimes; may call emergency contributions (now functionally taxes).
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| − | * '''Current push:''' Keep Earthforce acting like a government — fund Navy rescue, debris remediation, climate nets; universal human-rights and habitat-safety baselines.
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| − | * '''Fault lines:''' Legitimacy gap from Earth plurality; levies hardened into standing taxes; colonial bloc decries centralization-by-crisis and exploits Earth’s internal divisions.
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| − |
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| − | '''Navy of Earthforce''' is the Commons’ most visible instrument, chartered to guarantee freedom of navigation, deliver rescue and relief, and intervene against gross abuses of human rights or environmental safety. Its backbone is small patrol carriers operating in dispersed flotillas; a marine corps trains for boarding rogue habitats or vessels. A wet squadron on Earth’s oceans maintains surface freedom-of-navigation. During the Icarus Fall the Navy’s hardened craft were the first to recover, executing rescues, debris clearance, and triage that saved entire populations. The surge in prestige was immense — but in many colonies it also fixed the Navy as Earth’s arm of coercion. Crews are largely cislunar-born, caught between Commons authority and colonial suspicion, even as most acknowledge the Navy’s role in keeping lanes open and habitats safe.
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| − | * [[Earthforce Navy (IF)|Earthforce Navy]]
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| − |
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| − | '''Relief and Reconstruction Office''' (RRO) coordinates disaster response and rebuilding. It emerged from the Icarus Fall, when Earthforce had to triage and restore crippled habitats. The RRO works closely with the Navy’s logistics arm, but emphasizes civilian-led recovery and equitable allocation of emergency funds.
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| − |
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| − | '''Earthforce Medical Service''' (EMS) monitors system-wide health risks—epidemics, radiation exposure, vaccination programs, and long-duration habitation standards. Smaller than planetary health authorities, it serves as a clearinghouse for data and issues advisories most polities voluntarily adopt. It also oversees genetic engineering and human enhancement, traditionally a restraining force; regulations were relaxed during the Fall.
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| − |
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| − | ==== Senate ====
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| − | * '''Governance:''' One vote per polity; a leading Jovian caucus reinforced by Belt leagues and charter traditionalists.
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| − | * '''Mandate & tools:''' Upper-house veto (qualified majority); adjudicates inter-polity disputes and treaty breaches.
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| − | * '''Current push:''' Re-limit Earthforce to a framework — time-limit every levy, restore opt-in programs, strengthen local charters and exemptions.
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| − | * '''Fault lines:''' Gridlock with Commons; forum-shopping of disputes; Jovian caucus signals conditional loyalty and explores legal paths to secession.
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| − |
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| − | '''Tribunal of Accord''' is the Senate’s highest judicial arm, convened only for matters beyond local courts. There are no crimes automatically under its jurisdiction; polities may refer disputes upward, and the Tribunal may self-select cases where precedent, inter-polity conflict, or judicial abuse demand resolution. Anyone may petition, though very few are accepted — screening petitions is a major part of the docket and where junior operatives earn their stripes. Judgments blend law and diplomacy, setting norms for coexistence under the Earthforce charter. The Tribunal can issue writs to local authorities, override abusive rulings, and arbitrate sovereignty disputes. It maintains a small enforcement branch, but nothing like the Navy.
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| − |
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| − | ''Emblem:'' a gold rim enclosing a light-blue field; at center, a silver bear rampant facing heraldic sinister, holding a golden balance aloft in its forepaw — strength tempered by justice.
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| − | :''Heraldic blazon:'' A roundel azure, a bear rampant argent facing sinister, sustaining in the forepaw a balance or; all within a bordure or.
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| − |
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| − | '''Accords Mediation Service''' (AMS) attempts to resolve disputes before they reach the Tribunal. Its mediators and legal scholars broker settlements, draft charters, and shuttle between blocs. While often overlooked, their quiet diplomacy prevents many crises from escalating to formal litigation.
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| − |
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| − | ==== Adventure Hooks ====
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| − |
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| − | '''Shade Ledger Heist''' — A city alleges Bern’s vane schedule stole two harvest weeks. Prove fraud or expose a local counterfeit.
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| − |
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| − | '''Dead Boroughs Seat''' — A shell constituency swings a Board vote. Burn the paper trail in Bern Orbital or flip the proxy holder.
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| − |
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| − | '''Weather Debt Riot''' — Mandated flood-release for a delta authority sparks unrest — and a sabotage campaign against sluice control.
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| − |
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| − | '''Elevator Blackout''' — A debris forecast shutters an elevator cone; your client must smuggle a VIP via an offshore fusion lifter before a trade tribunal convenes.
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| − |
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| − | '''Carbon Bounty War''' — Competing capture firms game measurements; a whistleblower vanishes between port arbitration and an ACA court.
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| − |
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| − | '''GM Notes''' <br>
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| − | Keep '''Earthforce''' powerful in orbit, negotiable on the ground. Use '''weather debt''' and '''launch slot politics''' as your pressure tools. When in doubt, make the fix a contract — and the opposition a registrar, insurer, or standards board.
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| − |
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| − | ==== Bern Orbital ====
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| − | Bern Orbital is a vast open-sky ring habitat, built at the Earth–Moon L1 NRHO. Its two counter-rotating graphene spines generate 0.9 g at a radius of 103 km, with a 10 km-wide living deck suspended between them. Rim speed is just under a kilometre per second, giving the apparent sky a twelve-minute revolution and a slow 0.5° drift of the stars. The sidewalls are cable-net membranes that trap a one-bar atmosphere; bay shutters and gas reserves can seal any section within seconds after a strike.
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| − |
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| − | The Orbital was solar-powered before the Fall, its sky lit by a swarm of heliostats and day-night shades. During the Kessler years the mirrors were destroyed, and the station was reconfigured for fusion alone. Laser-based heat dumpers replaced radiators, venting waste energy as narrow beams aligned with tug plumes. Today the heliostat constellation is being rebuilt; sun-tracking panels on the ring remain in use as backup. The Shade Guild, a cross-chamber Earthforce bureau, manages lighting and seasons, a comfortable sinecure for the children of insiders and a valuable stepping-stone to higher office.
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| − |
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| − | Legally, Bern Orbital is Swiss territory, a compromise that confers Earth residence and neutrality. In practice, Dexter ring—the “right bank”—is under Senate protocols. Here Earthforce maintains its headquarters, the three chambers, and an enclave of some fifteen million permanent residents plus millions of transients. Prestigious housing and tourist resorts occupy the surface, with infrastructure and agriculture buried below. Dexter is both resort and capital: its exaggerated mountains echo Switzerland, but unlike the original, these slopes are open to mass tourism.
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| − |
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| − | Sinister, the “left bank,” is Earthforce’s logistics and training hub. A million crew live here, with surge capacity for several million more during exercises. It is effectively under continual operational law, though after two centuries of peace enforcement is lax. Visitors whisper of secret fleets and alien embassies; in practice, the districts are parade grounds, barracks, and ports.
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| − |
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| − | * [[Bern Orbital (FI)|Bern Orbital]]
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| − |
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| − | === Cislunar Space ===
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| − | Cislunar space is a cluttered, hazardous frontier shaped by decades of expansion, conflict, and the aftermath of Icarus Fall. The orbital environment around Earth and the Moon is choked with debris and derelict satellites, creating a dangerous “Kepler syndrome” that complicates navigation and transit. Most tiny objects have burned up by now, making previously inaccessible areas merely dangerous — still far from safe. Cylinder habitats and stations cluster around Earth, the Moon, and their Lagrange points, but many have fallen into disrepair or abandonment following the solar catastrophe.
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| − |
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| − | The congested debris fields and damaged infrastructure of cislunar space create unique adventure zones. Smugglers and runners use risky passages through the junk fields to bypass patrols and cut time, but insurance companies aggressively deny claims tied to these routes. Salvage hunting remains profitable but lethal; most easy targets were stripped clean decades ago, leaving only hazardous, heavily contested wrecks. Intelligence on salvageable sites and hidden hazards is highly valuable — espionage, sabotage, and information warfare are staples of cislunar intrigue.
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| − |
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| − | === Luna ===
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| − | The Moon is politically and culturally fractured. Control is split between Earth-based powers, independent settlements, and external factions from the Belt and Jovian space.
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| − | Still there is a Lunar culture, that is similar to Jovian culture in its strict work ethic and tolerance for cramped living. People travel between the different factions on Luna, cooperating to ignore the strict borders set by offworlders.
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| − |
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| − | Early colonies began in lava tubes and expanded through excavation mining, controlled by large entities with heavy machinery.
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| − | Moon gravity remains a constant health problem: some cities rely on rotating structures dug into lava tunnels to simulate Earth-like conditions; others use genetic engineering to adapt the human body, still others commute to habitats in space. These differing approaches have hardened into cultural divisions between habitats. Those adjusted to the low gravity form an underclass, with those commuting to space habitat as an upper class and the surface spin gravity habitats somewhere in the middle.
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| − |
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| − | Luna’s main exports are metals, silicates (for electronics), oxygen (for air and propellant), water (for reaction mass), and and the fusion fuels deuterium and tritium. Tritium is skimmed of Luna's DD fusion plants, which is not effective but the loss is acceptable. What the Moon lacks is carbon. Biochemicals must be imported and meticulously recycled. It's considered rude to eat and not use the restroom.
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| − |
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| − | Regolith mining on the surface is something else: dangerous, dirty, small scale, and mostly handled by independent crews — tough, low-gravity–adapted, and defiant. Derisively called “farmers,” they resist corporate, Jovian, and Earthforce control, making them central to black markets, sabotage ops, and free-Luna movements. They despise fixed-price contracts and prefer to deal with outsiders and smugglers.
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| − |
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| − | The most heavily guarded sites on the surface are the magnetic accelerators that launch cargo and passengers offworld. In the boom before Icarus Fall, dozens of rails formed the backbone of the cislunar economy, shipping thousands of tons per day and making possible both Earth’s climate recovery and the colonization of the solar system. Today, only four major long-range accelerators remain in service with many more in ruins.
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| − |
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| − | * '''Silver Spoke''' – 50 km passenger-rated launcher to lunar orbit, marketed to tourism and prestige travel. Can only run at low Gs.
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| − | * '''Blue Horizon''' – 50 km passenger-rated launcher to lunar orbit, handling most commercial passenger traffic. Can potentially ship cargo out of Luna's gravity well but is monitored to prevent this.
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| − | * '''Esperance''' – 30 km Earthforce-controlled cargo rail capable of launching heavy loads past lunar orbit to Earth or interplanetary trajectories.
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| − | * '''Iron Lance''' – 25 km launcher officially rated for cargo to orbit, but capable of high-G launches to Earth and used for passenger smuggling. Operated by “farmer” syndicates and small traders, it is a known hub for black-market dealings and could be weaponized.
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| − |
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| − | Dozens of shorter and less secure 15 km rails remain in operation for bulk cargo to lunar orbit. These feed short-haul trade and local industry.
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| − |
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| − | === Near Earth Asteroids ===
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| − | * [[Belters Guide to Asteroid Mining (IF)|Belters Guide to Asteroid Mining]]
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| − |
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| − | A near-Earth asteroid is one whose orbit keeps it near Earth’s distance from the Sun for most of its path. They are not “close” in the sense the Moon is — early spacecraft took months to reach them, and even with modern ion drives, travel still takes days. The same applies to all asteroids inside the main belt, though those with more eccentric orbits are even harder to reach and harvest.
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| − | Resources from near-Earth asteroids were essential to kickstart the cislunar economy, and they remain the inner system’s most important source of carbon. This carbon is found in regolith asteroids — loose collections of space sand and dust. In microgravity, mining regolith directly is inefficient, even dangerous, as most of it drifts off to become dangerous debris. The standard method is to heat the regolith until it gasifies, then collect the released gases for processing.
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| − |
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| − | Many of these asteroids were eventually mined out, leaving only their hollowed husks and abandoned mining equipment — valuable salvage for later ventures. Some installations may even harbor desperate survivors, overlooked or abandoned during evacuations or simply forgotten in the chaos of the Icarus Fall.
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| − |
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| − | == Fourth Orbital Zone: Mars ==
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| − | ''Mars: An Adventure, Not Just Life.'' <br>
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| − | :— Advertising slogan for Mars tourism.
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| − |
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| − | Mars was an early colonization target, but the lack of unique resources, an atmosphere too thin to use yet too thick to ignore, and no good site for large-scale accelerator launches meant Mars never became a major industrial center. Its surface gravity (~38% of Earth’s) is insufficient for long-term health, so most workers live in nearby rotating habitats that provide full artificial gravity. Terraforming, a vanity project of the Terran golden age, advanced through the 22nd and 23rd centuries, with orbital mirrors boosting temperature and partial polar ice melt. Icarus Fall destroyed most of these systems, halting progress but not reversing it. Mars now lives on borrowed time, seeking to cash in on its partially terraformed environment before it begins to degrade.
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| − |
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| − | Mars is primarily a destination rather than a home — offering exclusive, high-end tourism. Wealthy mobile habitats sometimes park in Mars orbit for a season, but otherwise only a few tens of thousands of affluent visitors and a large number of service personnel are planetside at any given time. Mars sells high-society pleasures with minimal regulation: gambling, personal companionship, extreme sports, mock combat, and wilderness expeditions. Safari domes full of Earth fauna weakened by Mars' gravity and others were you can act as a superhero due to the lighter gravity are all popular. There is even outdoor hunting of breather-equipped animals.
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| − |
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| − | Lack of a strong magnetic field or dense atmosphere, radiation from solar storms and cosmic rays is a constant hazard, but for short stays shielding and shelters keep risks manageable — turning danger itself into an attraction fore daredevil Earthlings wanting to taste space. Medical regulations are lax, you can get many procedures done here that are illegal elsewhere. Long-term habitation depends on advanced medical treatment to repair cell damage. Mars also fuels a lucrative media industry producing shows of high life and sports. The finale in several solar sports leagues are played on Mars. With interplanetary media transfers so expensive, only top-rated productions are worth shipping, and Mars consistently delivers.
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| − |
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| − | The workforce is a mix of young short-term workers, a genetically adapted minority, and Martian natives who cannot survive in full gravity. Most short-term staff commute from orbital habitats, while infrastructure crews live on the surface. This mix adds both vitality and tension to local culture.
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| − |
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| − | The most exclusive business on Mars is diplomacy. The planet offers an opulent neutral ground for high-level talks between wealthy states and corporate powers, with a constant undercurrent of spycraft — where defectors, agents, and dignitaries rub shoulders in gilded halls, socializing and conspiring in equal measure. This is all spiced up by valuable data of all kinds, including research from the nearby orbital universities.
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| − |
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| − | === Near Mars Space ===
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| − | '''Phobos''', Mars’ inner moon, is a rugged space rock in a tight orbit. Its borderline gravity — just high enough that only the strongest leaps can escape — makes it a center for daredevil tourism: extreme parkour, strap-on wing flight, trampoline jumps into orbit, and other sports too dangerous for microgravity. Mars’ only orbital magnetic accelerator is here, handling high-value cargo and tourism. Throughput is limited by Phobos’ size and ultra-low gravity and every launch is in full view, making covert shipments impractical.
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| − |
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| − | '''Deimos''', the outer moon, is a small, porous regolith asteroid under Earthforce control. Its surface is enclosed in a thin artificial envelope to stabilize loose material during mining, which reflects light well, making Deimos much brighter than Phobos. Operations supply carbon-rich feedstock for Mars’ biotopes, along with valuable trace metals and industrial lithium deposits — critical for certain high-performance applications. Deep inside, a pre-Fall megaproject still runs, breeding tritium from the moon’s natural lithium reserves. With no accelerator, all output has to be shipped by spacecraft. Earthforce maintains a nearby naval base in forced Mars orbit to guard the site and to stage military exercises, some timed for visibility from Mars to add to its image of excitement and danger.
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| − |
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| − | Mars orbit is crowded with large, slow-rotating cylinder habitats built for comfort and prestige. Several are universities drawing students from across the system, alongside an Earthforce academy. Sports and exchange programs foster cross-cultural rivalries and friendships, with competitions and duels — sometimes fought in Jovian exosuits — staged as spectacles for tourists.
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| − |
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| − | Both civilian and military students often work in the tourism sector as a rite of passage, even if they are financially independent. Many are drawn into Mars’ high-society circuit as exclusive hosts or companions for wealthy visitors. Cadets in parade dress lend glamour to events, prompting civilian universities to also adopt uniforms. Each year, some students get lost in the lifestyle and never return to complete their studies.
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| − |
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| − | Lastly, the '''biotope habitats''' — vast orbital stations replicating entire Earth biomes, from savannah to jungle, coral reefs, and primeval forest — offer a different attraction. Founded by the ultra-rich Orchid Crown Foundation as nature preserves, they now admit tourists and big game hunters, a policy introduced by central management to capitalize on Mars’ tourist trade. Many of the on-site caretakers and ecologists view this as a betrayal of the foundation’s original mission. Large vertical terrain features like mountains or deep-sea trenches are rare; with uniform gravity a requirement, such habitats need to be be colossal to accommodate any serious height difference.
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| − |
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| − | ; Example habitats
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| − | '''A Thousan Nights and Days''' — this tourist habitat offers perpetual day, twilight, and night zones within a single ring; hour of the day is a matter of location. Directional axial lighting creates exotic districts—sunlit resorts, twilight cafés, and nightlife enclaves—drawing visitors seeking novelty beyond Mars’ harsh surface routines.
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| − |
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| − | == Fifth Orbital Zone: Asteroid Belt ==
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| − | * [[Asteroid Belt (IF)|Fifth Orbit: Asteroid Belt]]
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| − |
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| − | The Asteroid Belt (often just the Belt) marks the outer edge of the Sun’s dangerous storms. Solar storm effects are rarer here than in Mars orbit, but when they hit, there’s no large planetary bulk to hide behind. Belters seek shelter behind asteroids and rely on deep-shielded shelters and storm warning networks to survive.
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| − |
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| − | Politically, Earthforce is the biggest single player in the Belt, controlling the largest accelerator and backing several corporate mining fleets. Their influence is resented: actual compliance with their rules is low, and most enforcement stops at the gates of their own stations. Belters operate under a consensus culture, where a meeting over a given issue is announced and those interested enough come to discuss it and those who agree with the solution fund and implement it. Ultimately it is might among the Belters that decides outcome, but consensus is sought and often found to make shows of force exceedingly rare.
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| − |
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| − | Culturally, Belters prize independence above all else. The ideal of the hardy frontier prospector still shapes their identity, even for those living in plush spin habitats. Prospecting is high-stakes work: mapping and claiming a valuable rock can make or break an entire habitat. Rich finds may be worked by the discoverer; lesser ones are sold to big mining firms, who bag and feed the rock into industrial grinders.
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| − |
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| − | Isolationism runs deep. Belter settlements tend to be tight-knit and xenophobic, accepting lone individuals but keeping other crews and communities at arm’s length. This fuels extreme diversity among communes — many are theocratic, ideological, or run as corporate fiefdoms. The Belt is a fertile ground for cults of all stripes.
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| − |
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| − | Major hubs like Vesta, Europa, and Psyche serve as industrial and cultural centers, each with multiple heavy accelerators for moving cargo and feeding smelters. Vesta is the site of the colonial administration from Earth, Europa is the de facto capital of the Belters, both are warrens of tunnels and domes supporting trade, manufacturing, and a volatile mix of cultures. Smaller stations cluster near rich resource zones, often around asteroids already half-dismantled by mining.
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| − |
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| − | === Belt Economy ===
| |
| − | The asteroid belt’s role in a mature solar economy is not to flood markets with bulk iron or silicates, but to supply what the inner system lacks. Luna and Earth can provide most common metals far more cheaply, but the belt is uniquely rich in volatiles and certain critical elements. C-type bodies yield water, ammonia, and carbon compounds in volumes sufficient to feed Mars, Mercury, and orbital habitats. Nitrogen, carbon, and phosphorus are especially valuable: all are scarce on the Moon, and all are essential for life support, agriculture, and advanced industry. M-types contribute small but lucrative streams of platinum-group metals, tungsten, and rhenium, indispensable for fusion systems and high-temperature alloys. Iron is dirt cheap here, making Belt wharfs highly competitive.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Export logistics favor medium-velocity launches, around 16–20 km/s, using electromagnetic accelerators. At these speeds, bulk rock, frozen volatiles, and ingots can be delivered in months to cis-lunar depots or Martian orbit, where tether networks and electrodynamic drag systems handle capture. Belt exports compete with lunar mining only by being both cheaper per kilogram and tailored to Luna’s deficiencies.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Beyond exports, the belt is the natural shipyard of the Solar System. It offers immense raw mass without gravity wells, stable conditions for kilometer-scale slipways, and the space to assemble colony arks, habitats, and super-freighters too large to ever launch from a planetary surface.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | === Standard Belter Community ===
| |
| − | Most Belters live in free-floating cylindrical habitats drifting in heliocentric orbits near mining zones or trade routes. Many hold forced orbits in the shadow of an asteroid. Entire habitats can migrate using their own ion drives. Building into an asteroid offers superior radiation and impact protection, but once the rock is mined out is is very hard to move a habitat stuck inside what is now a worthless husk.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | A typical Belter habitat is a '''400–600 m diameter spin station''' housing 50,000–100,000 people. The standard layout is:
| |
| − | * '''Central axis''' — Zero-G docks and transit hub, with microgravity cargo handling.
| |
| − | * '''Upper decks''' — Workshops, industry, and utilities are near the axis of rotation. Unlike the more common practice of placing industry below the residential ring, Belter stations put it here to better handle the mass of heavy materials traded in low gravity.
| |
| − | * '''Biological ring''' — Farms, parks, and luxury housing, with spin gravity just under 1 g. Central axis industry diminish the open, airy ambience found in the usual bio deck.
| |
| − | * '''Habitation layer''' — Most visitors and residents live here, along with schools, hospitals, and other community services. Due to the greater radius, gravity is higher here, slightly above 1G.
| |
| − | * '''Shield layer''' — Water, volatiles, or slag tanks wrapped around the hull for radiation and impact protection. The high gravity and radiation make this undesirable for living, but outcasts and poor outsiders often form slums here under oppressive gravity.
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| − |
| |
| − | Belter stations are rugged and self-sufficient: recycling everything, growing food, and refining local ore. Trade brings luxuries, spare parts, and specialist equipment. Governance is usually by council, charter, or corporate board, with cultures ranging from loose and permissive to rigid and doctrinal.
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| − |
| |
| − | Prospectors often base in habitats like these, heading out for long forays and returning for repairs and recovery. Their money and need for relaxation add a rowdy edge to station life, and tough mining vessels can be pressed into defensive service in an emergency.
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| − |
| |
| − | Long-term settlers form a clannish core community. Visiting Belters and their money are respected, but the core community holds the final say. Outsiders who stay long enough can join, often by marriage, though most never do and instead move on as new opportunities arise or tempers flare.
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| − |
| |
| − | While this model is common, no two stations are identical. Some run lighter, with minimal spin rings and sprawling zero-G arrays; others go heavier, with deep-shielded core vaults for storm season. A few cling to mined-out rocks as fortified citadels — but most of the Belt’s life is in the drifting cities between them. Social diversity is even greater, with every kind of community thriving in its own habitat. Larger habittats usually maintain an open and welcoming residential base, with insular communities more common in smaller habs.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | === Example Communities ===
| |
| − | * '''Kirov Haven''' — An anarcho-syndicalist commune built into a hollowed carbonaceous asteroid, known for its ship repair yards and hardline refusal of corporate contracts.
| |
| − | * '''Aletheia''' — A theocratic habitat orbiting a small M-type asteroid, governed by a rigid solar-worship calendar.
| |
| − | * '''The Forge of Ishtar''' — A corporate-run mining complex doubling as a fortress, bristling with automated defenses and worker barracks dug deep into a nickel-iron asteroid.
| |
| − | * '''Free Prospectors’ Guild''' — Nomadic flotillas of prospecting craft, sharing maps and intelligence with members in good standing. The core and mining population are merged; new crews can try out to join, but strange ships are not welcome.
| |
| − | * '''Alpha Cluster''' — Appears to follow the pattern of a standard habitat almost too closely, but the core is secretly a cult serving what they think is a General AI.
| |
| − | * '''Tortuga''' — Situated near the Earthforce base on Vesta, Tortuga claims to be a secret pirate hideout to attract visitors, sidelining as a pirate-themed amusement station. Industrial activity centers on shipping, though visitors are told the incoming freighters carry “loot.”
| |
| − | * '''Novaya Rossiya''' — Founded by refugees from Russia on Earth, this community strictly enforces ethnic and linguistic rules fitting an imagined past. Allied with the Jovian moon Callisto.
| |
| − | * '''Furtopia''' — The core population are a furry community, some wearing fur suits, others cybernetically or even genetically modified. Very open and welcoming to the point of being invasive.
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| − |
| |
| − | The Belt is noisy with transponder beacons, contested claims, drifting hulks, and unregistered rockhoppers. Out here, the line between miner, smuggler, and pirate is thin — and Belters like to keep it that way.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | === Largest Asteroids ===
| |
| − | Below are the ten largest bodies in the main belt, with their composition, role in the modern Belt, and notable features.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | '''Ceres''' — Dwarf planet; radius ~473 km, carbonaceous icy-rock. Largest body in the Belt and declared a scientific preserve during the Golden Age, bypassed after the Fall because smaller asteroids proved easier to exploit. Rumors persist that its vast interior could hide multiple independent bases, each unaware of the others. Officially, no such activity exists — but occasional sightings of small Belter enclaves keep the stories alive.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | '''Vesta''' — Differentiated rocky protoplanet; radius ~262 km. Now an Earthforce stronghold with the largest cargo accelerator in the Belt, used to launch bulk shipments to the inner system. Several mining concerns operate here, and it is a major hub for resupply, repair, and recreation. It offers its Earthborn fortune-seeker clientele cheap pleasures resulting in occasional chaos.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | '''Pallas''' — Carbonaceous silicate. Radius ~256 km. Its irregular shape and inclined orbit make it an awkward mining target. Most operators prefer smaller, more accessible C-types, and Pallas remains underdeveloped apart from a few stubborn independents.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | '''Hygiea''' — Carbonaceous, nearly spherical. Radius ~217 km. Once outcompeted Pallas as a C-type mining site, thanks to fast low-orbit skimming and electrostatic dust collection. Poor debris control turned the surrounding lanes into a micrometeor hazard, leading to slow abandonment. Activity spikes whenever some entrepreneur claims to have a new “safe” extraction method.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | '''Interamnia''' — Primitive rocky/icy (F-type). Radius ~166 km. Once boomed supplying water to Mars, now a rust-belt holdout. Hosts the second-largest Eartforce presence in the Belt and a smaller accelerator for long-orbit bulk shipments. The decline has left it a hub for black-market trade and speculative cargo ventures.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | '''Europa''' — Carbonaceous (C-type). Radius ~160 km. The largest rock settled entirely by independent Belters, serving as a neutral ground for resolving disputes. Important cases are announced in advance, drawing large crowds. Any Earthforce movement near Europa triggers a congestion of Belter ships who just happen to be testing their mining lasers.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | '''Davida''' — Carbonaceous (C-type). Radius ~147 km. Notable for unusually pure carbon deposits with small, rounded regolith particles. The lack of metal content makes magnetic harvesting useless, and mechanical mining is dangerous. No permanent settlements; desperate or naïve crews sometimes try their luck and end up dead or outlawed.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | '''Psyche''' — Metallic (M-type). Radius ~113 km. Base of Psyche Astro Mining (PAM), an Earth corporation operating outside Earthforce. Has a small accelerator . Better relations with Belters than Earthforce, but still viewed warily. PAM’s paranoia limits Belters to a small, dull enclave with little entertainment. Rumors of hostile takeovers circulate constantly.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | '''Eunomia''' — Silicate (S-type). Radius ~134 km. Rich in stony minerals and metals, but heavily cratered and irregular. Mining is possible but logistically challenging, keeping colonization modest.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | '''Themis''' — Icy-carbon (C-type with ice). Radius ~100–150 km. Confirmed surface ice and possible subsurface water replenishment make it valuable for water mining. Remote location keeps settlement light.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | === Asteroid Mining ===
| |
| − | * [[Belters Guide to Asteroid Mining (IF)|Belters Guide to Asteroid Mining]]
| |
| − |
| |
| − | === Travel Hazards in the Belt ===
| |
| − | * [[Belt Hazards (IF)|Belt Hazards]]
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Contrary to popular image, the Belt is not a crowded minefield of natural asteroids. There is a vast distance between asteroids, and also between different parts of the Belt, measured either in light-seconds and Δv. Going from one point in the belt to another can be further than transiting from the Belt to Earth. The rocks are widely spaced, their orbits well-mapped, and their movements predictable. The real dangers are human-made.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Early mining was careless. Unbagged tailings, slag, and regolith dust were ejected into space, where sunlight, outgassing, and small impacts slowly pushed them into unpredictable paths. Partially mined asteroids can tumble irregularly or shed debris, making their motion harder to forecast. Some zones, especially near old accelerators, are thick with abandoned claims, drifting machinery, and forgotten rockhoppers.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | The Icarus Fall destroyed or disabled some solar infrastructure in the Belt, but far less than in the inner system. What it did leave are a scattering of derelict trusses, mirrors, and collector fragments on eccentric orbits — dangerous to approach and hard to track against the background.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Debris density in most of the Belt is low enough that navigation is straightforward with careful observation and up-to-date charts. High-traffic mining regions, however, can form “dirty zones” where constant scanning is necessary. Crews rely on repeated visual sweeps, with expert systems analyzing the images for anything accelerating or on an intercept. Local hazards are well known to residents, but outsiders may be caught unprepared.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Accelerators mounted on asteroids create their own quirks. Each shot imparts a recoil to the host rock, gradually altering its spin or orbit. This is predictable and easily countered with thrusters or launch scheduling, but neglecting station-keeping can turn an accelerator into a slow-moving hazard.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | == Sixth Orbital Zone: The Jovians ==
| |
| − | Jupiter dominates the sixth orbit, a vast gas giant whose gravity and radiation shape everything around it. No one lives on the planet itself, but its moons and surrounding space host one of the most important civilizations in the system. The four Galilean moons — volcanic Io, ice-shrouded Europa, massive Ganymede, and cratered Callisto — are the heart of Jovian space. Dozens of smaller moons carry outposts and mines, while the planet’s two great Trojan asteroid belts are lightly explored frontiers. Together, all this forms the Jovian system: fortified, industrious, and proud of surviving the Fall intact.
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| − |
| |
| − | The Jovians weathered Icarus Fall better than almost anyone. They never relied on solar power, already lived under heavy shielding against Jupiter’s fierce radiation belts, so when the inner system faltered, the Jovians endured. More than that — they could afford to send aid, and in their eyes that settled the old debts to Earth. To Jovian thinking, they earned independence by survival and sacrifice. Earthforce disagrees, but in the outer system the Jovian view literally holds a lot of weight.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | === Jovian Society ===
| |
| − | Unlike the socially fragmented Belt, Jovians share a common culture. Colonies among the moons are close enough for constant travel and trade, and over generations this fostered a strong sense of shared identity. Many early settlers came from Luna, bringing the Lunar frontier ethic of tireless work and communal responsibility. While the Belt fractured into communes and sects, Jovians developed a more unified outlook: proud, industrious, and tightly knit. A few colonies remain under Earth or Belt cultural norms, tolerated as foreign concessions, but never considered truly Jovian.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Work shapes life. Every Jovian is expected to maintain both a vocation in service of the colony and an avocation in service of themselves or their community. The workday divides neatly: four hours for your trade, four hours for your chosen pursuit, whether art, music, education, or public service. This dual ethic keeps society cohesive: a miner might also be a poet, a pilot might serve in a gardening club, and your cab driver could share a debating hall with the local baron. Status comes not only from wealth but from the quality of your contributions through both work and culture.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Radiation remains a fact of life. Drones do much of the work, but solar storms and Jupiter’s magnetosphere demand close human oversight. To Jovians, risk is inseparable from reward, and stepping into danger earns respect. They have become masters of shielding, pioneering Aegis, a compact superconducting magnetospheres that supplement traditional armor. These fields cannot keep you safe forever, but they give hours where once you had only minutes. The catch is that they project far beyond the suit, interfering with each other when brought too close. As a result, Jovian workers and warriors operate with enforced spacing — alone, or in loose constellations. This fact of physics helped shape a culture of individual daring, where recognition belongs to those who face the void alone.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Jovians live densely. Habitats in the system hold half again as many people as comparable stations elsewhere. Private quarters are small, communal halls and parks are large, and most citizens are accustomed to finding relaxation in public spaces rather than behind walls. The result is a society that values connection, ritual, and the shared stage. It is more formal than the Belt, less rigid than Earth — a civilization both pragmatic and proud, conscious of its hard-earned independence and determined to hold it.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Jovian society is layered. The original pioneers, many still alive through life-extension, hold lasting power. Their descendants often call themselves barons, dukes, or counts, adopting the trappings of nobility. Customs vary — some colonies follow strict primogeniture, others scatter titles among a dozen heirs — but in every case, noble houses remain fixtures of local politics. Yet this is not a rigid aristocracy. Guilds of miners, pilots, and engineers wield their own power, and neural pilots — trained from childhood to operate machinery by direct nerve link — hold special prestige. These “knights of the void” combine technical mastery with ritual honor, and are celebrities. Nobility provides continuity, but merit and risk can still raise an outsider to high status.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | '''Jovian Chivalry: Knights of the Void'''
| |
| − | Aegis fields have created a chivalric attitude among Jovians.
| |
| − | Using magnetic fields to deflect radiation in much the same way a planet does, an Aegis allows pilots to survive radiation that would normally require heavy shielding, making small craft feasible.
| |
| − | On habitats or inside capital ships, where close quarters make Aegis fields unusable, Jovians rely on conventional arms. But in open space, chivalry and technology fuse. An Aegis is more than survival — it is a badge of status, a halo of honor — and the necessary space between shields defines both tactics and society.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Since two fields cannot safely overlap, Jovian warriors fight alone or in open order, never shoulder to shoulder. Recognition belongs to the one who dares the void in solitary combat. This fostered a knightly code: courage in danger, fairness in duels, and respect for rivals who stand under their own shield.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | The elite are the “knights of the void,” neural-linked pilots trained from childhood, often scions of nobility. Their duels are both battle and ceremony, with plasma arcs and auroras flashing where fields collide. Melee is chaos, dangerous to victor and vanquished alike — and thus the highest proof of honor.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Civilian guilds also use Aegis fields and neural links for mining, rescue, and construction. Less prestigious than knights, they are still skilled, and in emergencies quick to fight.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | === Jovian Government ===
| |
| − | * Parliament (bicameral): Olympos Parliament
| |
| − | :* Upper house: Senate Jovia (short: Senate)
| |
| − | :* Lower house: Comita Jovia (short: Comita; reads like “committee,” which helps)
| |
| − | * Cabinet/Ministers: Curia Jovia (short: Curia)
| |
| − | :* Admin complex (executive bureaus): Capitolium (on Olympos habitat)
| |
| − | * In speech: “Passed by the Senate and Comita of Jovia, signed in the Capitolium.”
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Full sketch, needs revising: [[Jovian Government (IF)|Jovian Government]].
| |
| − |
| |
| − | * Not a state: the '''Concord''' is contracts + standards + ports. '''Sovereignty stays local''' (houses, habitats, guilds).
| |
| − | * '''Curia (bicameral):''' '''Chamber of Houses''' (founder lineages/charters) + '''Chamber of Commons''' (guilds, co-ops, syndic captains).
| |
| − | * '''Joint organs:''' Concord Court; Standards Board; Port & Accelerator Authority; Registry/Transponder; Treasury/Bond; Stormwatch; Aegis Safety Commission.
| |
| − | * '''Executive:''' tiny Secretariat runs the machinery; emergency '''Wardenate''' with time-boxed authority.
| |
| − | * '''Law in layers:''' '''House Law''' (internal), '''Guild Code''' (commercial/technical), '''Concord Law''' (inter-colony standards/safety).
| |
| − | * '''Enforcement without cops:''' escrow forfeits, port denial, accelerator embargo, transponder revocation, sanction writs; last resort = knightly interdiction in open space.
| |
| − | * '''Knights of the void:''' neural-linked pilots as quasi-gentry; duels legal '''outside''' habitats under Aegis rules; in-hab violence = felony.
| |
| − | * '''Foreign concessions:''' Earthforce/Belter enclaves under extraterritorial charters; still bound by safety closures and Stormwatch.
| |
| − | * '''Civic norm:''' vocation/avocation (≈4+4 hours); public service buys faster dockets and petition priority.
| |
| − | * '''Curia’s day job:''' keep beacons/charts synced, set storm posture, write/enforce Aegis standoff rules, coordinate ports/rails, arbitrate fast.
| |
| − | * '''Why compliance sticks:''' escrow-by-default, public registry/blacklists, port-master solidarity — cheat and every port closes to you.
| |
| − | * '''Failure modes:''' no central force, house title games, guild code capture, and storm chaos pushing decisions back to local captains.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | === Colonies of the Jovian System ===
| |
| − | The first Jovian outposts were scientific, to map and explore. Europa in particular was intensely explored for native life, with a ban on colonization.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | True colonization began with wide-orbit habitats and ships, sending shuttles down for ice, sulfur, and metals. These extraction sites grew into colonies. Today the moons support industry, science, and culture, while heavy industry sits in free habitats beyond Jupiter’s grip. Each moon has carved out its niche, surviving through focus rather than sheer abundance.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | The innermost moons of Io and Europa are inside Jupiter's radiation belt, making surface habitation impossible. The further out you go, the less of a problem this is, radiation on Ganymede is still dangerous while Callisto and the outer moons are no more irradiated than interplanetary space.
| |
| − | Outside the four Gallilean moons, the rest are captured asteroids similar to those in the asteroid belt, irregular rocks or collections of regolith with microgravity.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | The problem here is matching velocities with the moon. Using ion engines to move a habitat can take years. Instead you build a habitat in place and use ion engines for station-keeping, or to move to a nearby moon that is a part of the same cluster. These clusters are the remains of an asteroid that split into parts when it was captured by Jupiter's gravity and give the best mining opportunities.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | ==== Io: The Dragon’s Hoard ====
| |
| − | Io is no place to live. The innermost Galilean moon is a volcanic inferno, shaken by quakes and bathed in lethal radiation. Subsurface colonies are impossible, and free habitats cannot survive the belts. Instead, Io became a raiding ground — a land of dragons where danger and treasure are one.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Volcanic plumes loft exotic vapors into the acid atmosphere, where chemistry runs wild. Rare crystals, reflective “sulfur snows,” and volatile sulfide-metal compounds condense, drifting down in radiant, short-lived layers. These cannot be synthesized at such a scale and variety: only Io’s insane mix of heat, pressure, and radiation can forge them in quantity. But they are transient. Every quake, every new eruption threatens to bury, melt, or transmute the prize.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Jovian knights descend in mechs to snatch these fleeting hoards, their Aegis shields aglow from the radiation. The wealth feeds niche industries, but the true prize is honor: to survive Io is proof of mastery. To claim a trove is to risk the dragon's fury, and this danger has elevated Io from mine to myth.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | ==== Europa: The Moon of Mazes ====
| |
| − | Europa is the Jovian system’s great forbidden laboratory, a maze where science brushes against horror and every dive into the ide and black ocean beneath is a dip into the unknown. Long before the Fall, before any Jovian colonies, Earth declared the moon interdicted to preserve its subsurface ocean and prevent contamination of any Europid life.
| |
| − | Drilling was done for research only.
| |
| − | But once colonization began in earnest interdictions mean little to the colonists.
| |
| − | By the 2180s, independent crews were already drilling through the crust, sending submersible drones into the abyss. Contamination followed — Earth microbes, engineered strains, and human industry mingling with fragile mats of native life. Earthforce still insists on the ban, but Jovians ignore it and enforcement is impossible.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | '''Native Life'''
| |
| − | * Originally sprawling colonies of simple cells clustered around hydrothermal vents, metabolizing sulfur and metals.
| |
| − | * Over thousands of years, these mats secreted silicate and exotic ices denser than water, creating labyrinthine “reef vaults” on the ocean floor.
| |
| − | * After contamination, hybrids rapidly appeared:
| |
| − | :* Small motile grazers feeding on the mats.
| |
| − | :* Rare mobile mats drifting like dark carpets or translucent veils.
| |
| − | :* Hybrids are unstable and localized; each unexplored vent may hold something entirely new.
| |
| − | The speed of this process is amazing and confusing to science, it is as if Europa's life was just waiting for a purpose to start acting on its own.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | '''Ice Hazards'''
| |
| − | Radiation makes the open surface lethal; colonists survive by digging into the ice. Even a few dozen meters provides shielding, while deeper caverns give long-term safety and stability.
| |
| − | * Ice mining is limited — bulk ice is cheaper on Callisto — but Europa’s exotic biochemistry keeps scientists, smugglers, and nobles returning.
| |
| − | * Subsurface caverns may trap oxygen from radiolysis, sometimes mixed with sulfur or organics. Normally harmless in vacuum, these pockets can erupt if ignited by thrusters or torches.
| |
| − | * Cryotectonic movement fractures the crust into canyons and twisted, maze-like fissures.
| |
| − | * At depths of hundreds of meters or more, exotic ice phases may occur, luring glaciospeleologists into unstable tunnels.
| |
| − | * Exotic types of ice can have strange optical properties, sometimes transparent to the point of invisibility or acting as natural mirrors or lenses.
| |
| − | * Ferroelectric ice (Ice XI) sometimes forms in long-sealed ice caves. It is valuable, but can distort radio signals, scramble sensors, and even store dangerous electric charge.
| |
| − | * Aeons of mineral deposition have turned fissures and reef vaults into natural treasure vaults.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | '''Water Hazards'''
| |
| − | Europa’s abyss is as dangerous as its surface. Beneath tens of kilometers of ice, the ocean is held under pressures that dwarf Earth’s deepest trenches. Europa’s ocean is not just dark and alien — it is a place where the very weight of water is deadly.
| |
| − | * At ~2,000 atmospheres, the pressure is crushing. Human physiology cannot withstand it; mechs and subs need reinforced hulls made especially for this. Experimental “liquid breathing” systems exist to survive these depths, but failure means death by crushing or by catastrophic decompression. Drones and posthuman conversions are the safest method of access.
| |
| − | * Any borehole or fissure that opens into this reservoir risks violent blowback: super-pressurized water will surge upward, decompress, and flash to steam, fracturing surrounding ice and entombing or destroying whatever pierced the crust. A full-scale surface geyser from human drilling is unlikely — the ice will choke the breach long before the water reaches the surface — but any submersible, diver, or tunneling rig can be caught and crushed in an instant.
| |
| − | * Salt and ice can solidify out of the water, usually at inversion layers or influenced by currents and tides. These interfere with sensors and are hazards to fast-moving craft. Mats of vegetation can be lifted by currents and will often drift into such areas too, creating pockets of life.
| |
| − | * Radio and radar does not work in this sea. The usual method of communication is to lay a string of buoys connected by thin cables to communicate.
| |
| − | * Sonar does but with limited range and require sonic discipline. Multiple sonars in the same area can make all of them blind.
| |
| − | * Near the bottom the thermal vents and exotic ice disturb sonar, and local life can be attracted to sources of sound seeking intermittent volcanic vents to feed on.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | '''Adventure Hooks'''
| |
| − | * '''The Maze Above''' — Cryotectonic fissures in the ice promise rare deposits. But as explorers push deeper, the ice begins to scream and shift.
| |
| − | * '''The Maze Below''' — A coral-like labyrinth built by native life hides under their mats. Mapping the maze could yield silicate treasures — if explorers survive.
| |
| − | * '''The Forbidden Vent''' — Drilling into a “dead” vent found it crawling with hybrids. Scientists want samples, knights seek honor, and everyone fears what will emerge.
| |
| − | * '''Oxygen Firestorm''' — A stranded crew hides in an ice cavern, unaware it holds a pocket of oxygen and volatile organics trapped by cryotectonic shifts. Normally inert, the mix only becomes explosive if ignited by a fusion thruster or plasma torch — turning the cavern into a brief but deadly inferno.
| |
| − | * '''The Smuggler’s Haul''' — Black-market organics from Europa’s depths are rumored to enhance neural interfaces. Earthforce wants them destroyed, scientists want them preserved, nobles want them monopolized.
| |
| − | * '''The Lost Dome''' — A pre-Fall research station lies buried in ice. Its records may reveal the first contamination site — or worse, what the researchers found.
| |
| − | * '''[[Franz's Plasma Tunneler (IF)|Franz's Plasma Tunneler]]''' — A Jovian inventor wants a live test of his new plasma tunnel rig to “outrun refreeze.” It works for a few hundred meters — then the bore self-chokes, pressure climbs, and the rig starts to freeze into the ice.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | ==== Ganymede, the wild moon ====
| |
| − | Ganymede is Callisto’s smart but comparatively resource-poor sister — an America to Callisto’s Russia.
| |
| − | It has a mean radius of 2,634 km, slightly larger than Earth’s Moon. Surface gravity is 1.43 m/s², about 15% of Earth’s gravity and too low for long-term health. A Ganymede day is about 7.155 Earth days long, since it is tidally locked and rotates once per orbit around Jupiter. Seen from a particular pot on Ganymede, Jupiter is always in the same spot in the sky. On Ganymede's dark side Jupiter is never visible at all, while on the bright side it provides the light of a murky day on Earth. Ganymede is eclipsed by Jupiter abut every seven days, in almost total darkness for three hours called "mirk". This gives Ganymede a "week".
| |
| − | Gamies live more on the surface than most Jovians, and they have developed a "sky pride", a fancy for seeing the sky and marking Jupiter's position at their site with pride, while telling ghost stories of the mirk.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Ganymede is culturally and genetically diverse. Ganymedians (Gamies in daily speech) live in habitats that lack Callisto’s homogeneity but show much more economic opportunity. Everybody wants to get rich and there is real opportunity here, but also literal robber barons and a streak of lawlessness. Jovian nobility is informal and often self-proclaimed.
| |
| − | Settlement is spread across the moon in small sites that tap local resources. Long-term living needs spin gravity and thus can’t be too small, but prospectors and shift crews work from land crawlers — slow homes and extraction machines. These rigs are too cramped for more than rudimentary Regrav, so crews commute back to larger towns. When a site proves particularly valuable or strategic, it draws more crawlers and becomes permanent: rigs sell off the parts that make them mobile, bolt together, and tie into on-site builds. If a field runs out, crawlers get their legs back and move on. Ghost towns are common.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | In successful settlements the population grows and a central spin habitat is built, but that comes late; as long as commuting is cheaper, people commute. In frontier belts — which is most of Ganymede — everyday Regrav happens in small local hubs linked by rail or ice-covered roads for wheeled traffic.
| |
| − | Preferred overland travel is rail laid in tubes inside covered trenches: rough, jury-rigged, and able to flex with minor ground shifts. With no atmosphere, pressurized “bullet train” cars run fast through vacuum tubes, moving passengers quickly between connected towns.
| |
| − | This has opened a market for eco-communes: surface spin habitats paired where visitors take their Regrav in comfort surrounded by large domed parks at Ganymede gravity for leisure.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | ===== Ganymede Settlements by Scale =====
| |
| − | '''Overview'''
| |
| − | * A land of scattered sites tied to spin habitats. Big money lives in orbit; ground sites tap pockets and ship value up.
| |
| − | * Contracts: Tier III and below run on investor funding (carried interest, syndicates), not blanket offtake. Ganymedians reject Callisto-style output options, keeping the market nimble.
| |
| − | * Accelerators: Only Tiers I–II host mass drivers and clear exports; lower tiers route cargo upward by hopliner/rail.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | '''Tier I — Galileo (capital eco-commune, surface)'''
| |
| − | * Role: Ground capital and resort. Parks, arts, baths, clinics. Spin rings for Regrav; a 1 g Skyview Park uses derotated mirror arrays to present a non-rotating sky.
| |
| − | * Layout: Twin spin rings (0.9–1.0 g) with an inboard Skyview Park. External periscope heads feed K-mirror/derotator optics so the stars don’t wheel; utility galleries below.
| |
| − | * Siting: Built along the Jovian limb (≈±85° from the sub-Jovian meridian) so Jupiter hangs a few degrees above the horizon — matching miners’ lived sky.
| |
| − | * Economy: Hospitality, clinics, lithium/borate certification labs, arbitration annexes. Galileo Accelerator throws high-value cans to Olympos.
| |
| − | * Governance: Circles Council (guilds + co-ops + resident lots). Robber-baron money whispers, but courts sit close.
| |
| − | * Civic rite: ''Mirror Day'' — community service polishing periscope heads and sky mirrors; visiting officials and celebrities take shifts to signal commitment.
| |
| − | * Links: Hopliner pads; covered-trench rail to nearby belts; priority route to Olympos (Compact Ring).
| |
| − | * Reputation: Ground view — capital and resort. Orbit view — coarse, cashy, go to earn then leave.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | '''Tier II — Regional Eco-Habs (surface rehab/leisure hubs)'''
| |
| − | * Role: Rehab + leisure + staging for nearby belts (100–600 km from Galileo) and the primary export hubs outside Galileo.
| |
| − | * Build: One medium spin ring plus domes; clinics, schools, courts-lite.
| |
| − | * Accelerator: Yes — regional launcher, customs, and assay.
| |
| − | * Trade: Each pairs with an off-world buyer (yard, chem stack, freeport) and books export slots.
| |
| − | * Examples:
| |
| − | :* Valhalla Springs: ring-arc resort; feldspar/Fe feed. Buyer: Helios Yard 3.
| |
| − | :* Bright Chaos: lithium/borate brine town. Buyer: Ringport Aleph.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | '''Tier III — District Hubs (work towns)'''
| |
| − | * Role: Service nodes where 3–5 extraction spurs meet; warehousing, assay houses, repair bays; off-shift leisure for crews.
| |
| − | * Build: Small spin ring; pad cluster; trench-switchyard. No accelerator — exports route upward to Tier I/II.
| |
| − | * Finance: Investor syndicates (carried interest, offtake windows purchased ad hoc), not blanket options.
| |
| − | * Examples:
| |
| − | :* Ridgegate: double-ridge corridor; steady sill taps. Lead investor: Olympos Chem Annex syndicate.
| |
| − | :* Groove Junction: grooved-terrain crossroads; mixed plays. Lead investor: Yard Six capital pool.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | '''Tier IV — Outpost Towns (fixed sites over a single play)'''
| |
| − | * Role: One resource, one payroll; grows or dies with the lens or pit; crews still find baths, beds, and a bar.
| |
| − | * Build: No proper spin early; bunk domes, small Regrav wards; tools on skids. No accelerator — export by hopliner to Tier II or trans-ship via a Tier III hub.
| |
| − | * Finance: Outside investors back plant and pads; locals hold work shares with anti-dilution clauses (on paper).
| |
| − | * Examples:
| |
| − | :* Limbview: Jovian-horizon tourism + logistics; pads over rails. Lead investor: Hesperia Freeport leisure trust.
| |
| − | :* Chimney Haven: guarded ocean-chimney outpost; pads only; NDAs everywhere. Lead investor: Blackgate Labs consortium.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | '''Tier V — Crawler Communes (3–12 rigs; worker-owned)'''
| |
| − | * Structure: Outside investor fronts seed capital and the claim beacon. Crews hold work shares; communal charter; decisions by weighted vote (shares + shifts).
| |
| − | * Pay: Subsistence (food/hab/med + small stipend). Real upside is share value if the play proves.
| |
| − | * Ops: Live in crawlers; rudimentary Regrav drums; weekly trips to a district hub for proper Regrav.
| |
| − | * Exports: No accelerator — courier hopliners up to the nearest Tier II; routine freight via Tier III consolidation.
| |
| − | * Exit paths: Cash-out — sell shares when profitable and roll to the next wildcat. Stay-on — convert rigs into fixed plant; early holders become local barons (informal nobility).
| |
| − | * Risks: Dilution when new capital arrives; liened gear; claim-jump lawfare.
| |
| − | * Examples:
| |
| − | :* Three Sisters Co-op: three bonded rigs on a young chaos lens; charter forbids outside managers; sells brine to Bright Chaos.
| |
| − | :* Pallet Jack: scrap-built brine skimmer on a ring arc; investor is a Helios Yard foreman; commune keeps 22% carried interest.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | '''Tier VI — Solo Claims (one rig, one family)'''
| |
| − | * Structure: A single crawler, one beacon, one household. Investor leases the rig; family holds 15–25% carried interest.
| |
| − | * Ops: Prospect, tap, and haul to the nearest outpost; Regrav at pay-by-the-hour wards.
| |
| − | * Exports: No accelerator — sell to a district hub or book courier runs to a Tier II buyer.
| |
| − | * Fate: Most fold within a year; a few strike rich, sell a majority to a hub, keep title and a stipend.
| |
| − | * Examples:
| |
| − | :* Marrow Moth: lone vacuum-screw rig skimming chloride rime; sells drumloads to Ridgegate.
| |
| − | :* Blue Tusk: father–daughter pit saw on a feldspar seam; hauls to Valhalla Springs.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | '''Network and Transport'''
| |
| − | * Primary commute: fusion-thermal hopliners (water-heated) for 50–500 km; pressurized icebuses for <50 km.
| |
| − | * Rails: Covered-trench spurs between clusters; flex joints; access ports every 300–500 m.
| |
| − | * Exports: Only Tiers I–II ship off-world; lower tiers forward cargo to them by hopliner/rail.
| |
| − | * Customs: Export customs at Tier I–II accelerators. Olympos handles federal; Galileo runs local. Claim beacons and Salvors’ Court rulings propagate via the Ring.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | '''Law and Order'''
| |
| − | * Courts: Assay houses plus Ganymede Port Authority adjunct bench in Galileo; appeals go up-ring.
| |
| − | * Badges: Guild wardens, co-op rangers. Nobles exist, but deeds beat crests.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | '''Degrav / Regrav'''
| |
| − | * Daily Regrav at hubs; outposts and communes make do, so commuters cycle back often.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | '''Hooks (small-community scale)'''
| |
| − | * An investor forces a dilution round on Three Sisters; prove the assay or lose the commune.
| |
| − | * Blue Tusk’s beacon goes dark for four hours — a legal window for a jump. Keep it alive.
| |
| − | * A trench culvert near Pallet Jack kinks 8 mm; fix it before a courier car derails and voids your insurance.
| |
| − | * A buyer at Bright Chaos starts salting the brine numbers; catch the fraud before your carried interest evaporates.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | ==== Callisto, the serf moon ====
| |
| − | Callisto is the bulk yard of the Jovian system: safe radiation, big flats, deep ice and rubble. It exists to move mass — water, iron, aluminum — and to hurl it toward orbit on schedule. Callisto’s society is feudal with a rigidly restricted underclass. Callisto was colonized by a series of very large colony ships from Russia and has an unusually homogeneous population, and the class differences on Callisto are brutal, with a working class that is functionally serfs and a privileged noble class of administrators and warriors. No Tsar, no unity, a number of very rich families.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | '''Names and people '''
| |
| − | Officially they are the '''Callisti'''; formal adjective '''Callistic'''. Locally, the endonym is '''Kalistóytsy''' (sing. ''Kalistóyets/Kalistóyka''). Class language is blunt: the ground-born serf majority call themselves the '''Nekruchyónye''' (''the Unspun,'' short: '''Nekrúty'''), proud of never taking the wheel of gravity therapy. Their term for the administrative/military/managerial spin class is '''Kruchyónye''' (''the Spun''), or dock slang '''Kolesníki''' (''wheelers'').
| |
| − |
| |
| − | '''Gravity and the lock-in '''
| |
| − | Surface gravity is ~0.126 g (≈1.24 m/s²). You can live here without spin — and that’s the trap. Long-term ground life deconditions you for 1 g ships and habitats. Therapy can reverse this for individuals, but this is not practical for the whole population. On paper there is a '''Right to g-therapy'''. In practice, therapy is delivered in tiny rings at brutal rpm: Coriolis hell, vomiting, tunnel vision. There’s no adaptation ramp, no large-radius time. It is therapy as deterrent. The '''Rite of Refusal''' is public; Nekrúty line up each year to sign the opt-out and make a point of identity: ''we don’t whirl''. Advancement carries pain and community derision. That’s enough to keep most ground-born “voluntarily” gravity-bound.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | '''Habitats '''
| |
| − | The major ground settlements are engineered icecrete vaults carved into mined-out hollows 10-30 meters below the surface, walls braced and actively cooled to fight creep. Vault train tunnels connect to depots and mass drivers. Overhead, the spin class and off-moon specialists live in the usual spin habitats. Most of these house the Callisti upper class, a few are off-world colonies of entrepreneurs and experts.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | '''Culture '''
| |
| − | The Kalistóytsy dialect is Russian-rooted and spare. Church/union networks fill the gaps the charter leaves; icons of '''Saint Range''' hang next to safety metrics. Memorial bells toll for clean launches and dead crews — many families wear rail-widow black. Festivals follow the slot calendars; marriages and funerals avoid maintenance windows. Groundfast aesthetics prize stillness: high-headroom halls, communal dances, honorifics for '''Deep Still''' (years without spin). Departure shame is ritualized: a ''clay shoes'' ceremony for those going spin; family names covered on the community wall.
| |
| − | Callisto is still a material abundance society but with restricted movement and rights. Shortages are rare and there is plenty of space in old mine shafts. Food, alcohol, and cheap entertainment are free. There is work for everyone, but hours are pretty lenient.
| |
| − | Family is secure and encouraged, though patriarchal with many housewives and large families.
| |
| − | Kalistóytsy contracts can be sold, but only entire households at a time and by custom never off-world.
| |
| − | Life extension and health care are available, if low quality.
| |
| − | This is a serf society, not a slave society.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | '''Power and industry '''
| |
| − | Callisto keeps the smelters, slab/billet mills, pressure-vessel lines, and tankage plants — big, hot, continuous. Rails throw ice and ore cans to catcher wheels in low Callisto orbit; fusion tugs retarget the cans to industrial habitats. Courts, high command, and most high-value industry are in orbital habitats.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | '''Education and productivity '''
| |
| − | Low productivity isn’t a mystery; it’s policy. Ground school tops out at literacy, numeracy, and equipment SOPs.
| |
| − | There is limited social mobility at the price of leaving the community. There is a constant need for clergy, administration, military, and engineering personnel; clever children are given scholarships. The family holds a ceremony almost like a funeral as such children very rarely return. Still, in the wider world, these stipendiats form an intelligentsia, but are still looked down on by high society.
| |
| − | This keeps accident rates tolerable, sabotage rare, and the workforce dependent. It also keeps margins thin and output mediocre per head, competing with volume and reliability rather than quality or opportunism.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | '''Governance and the wider Compact'''
| |
| − | There is no Tsar. Power is fragmented and feudal-corporative. Few people have a full vote.
| |
| − | Olympos Parliament apportionment uses the '''Qualified Elector (QE)''' rule. To vote at full weight you need a clean G-Passport (no active labor lien, gravity adaptation). Non-QE residents do not vote and only count at '''0.25''' toward apportionment. This was meant to pressure enfranchisement. It backfired. By keeping Nekrúty “non-QE by choice,” Callisto surrenders vote weight but, by sheer population, still seats a large but divided '''Comita Jovia''' delegation.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Throughput wins wars and keeps lights on. A safe low-rad yard that can throw kilotons per day of water and metal into orbit cannot be replaced by plucky co-ops. Every reactor dome, truss spar, and tankage ring from Ganymede to the Ring still starts with a Callistic can screaming up a rail. Other Jovians tolerate the serfdom because they don't see it directly and "the rails must run".
| |
| − |
| |
| − | '''External friction '''
| |
| − | Callisto and Ganymede need each other and hate each other’s leverage. Callisto wants quotas and fixed freight rates; Ganymede pushes purity and certification standards that expose Callisto’s education caps. Brain siphon is constant: the best stipendiats defect to Ganymede and never look back. Capitolium sells box-residency and QE packages; Callisto blacklists the vendors and flags their transponders but cannot make them illegal.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | '''Security and risk '''
| |
| − | Hazards are real and local: cryo-subsidence under depot slabs; high-voltage rail arcing through conductive dust that leaves icecrete laced with branching burn cracks; timing drift and micrometeors that turn payloads into kinetic grief; vault roof delamination when cooling fails. The police force is a militia, large but poorly trained and equipped. Serious issues are solved by the '''Boyary''' (Callisti knights), usually with extreme violence.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | '''Military and crisis management'''
| |
| − | When storms, strikes, or sabotage hit, Callisto prioritizes rails and catchers. Noncritical vaults go dark; fusion barges feed the launch grid first. In true emergencies the Corps will force-spin Nekrúty crews for evacuation or repair. Deaths from those rotations feed the '''Martyrs of the Whirl''' stories that keep the next generation Groundfast. The military consists of knights (Boyary) and gravity-bound militia that can still operate on other Galilean moons. Naval Nekrúty must undergo therapy to function in higher gravity, making the navy inefficent.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | '''Hooks '''
| |
| − | * Range Safety halts a line for “investigation” — really a price rig. Prove it.
| |
| − | * A G-Passport server admin wants out; extract her and rewrite a few hundred liens on the way. The community reacts with xenophobia.
| |
| − | * An ascent-rights lottery is cooked; swap the slates before the ceremony. The corrected lottery then provokes riots when favorites do not win.
| |
| − | * A catcher misfires; recover a hot can before Rail Marines “sanitize” the witnesses.
| |
| − | * A bell keeps tolling the wrong count — someone’s hiding slot timing in the peals.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | ==== Jovian Irregular Moons ====
| |
| − | Beyond Callisto, most “moons” are really captured asteroids: small, lumpy bodies with almost no gravity. The practical way to mine them is to build a station in the right Jovian orbit, then send shuttles to the rocks. Ion thrusters keep the station on track and let you slide around within the same group of moons. Exports go out by freighter; if a moon has solid bedrock you might add a short rail to throw cargo cans.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | '''How colonization works''' — Build one rotating '''forced-Jupiter hub''' — a station whose path matches a family of moons in both average distance from Jupiter and orbital tilt. Keep the hub in that co-orbit. Short-range shuttles make quick trips to individual targets. Most rocks are harvested inside containment bags rather than with people on the surface; only firm, coherent outcrops get a few anchors or a tiny rail that tosses cans back to the hub.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Typical shuttle burn is how much Δv is needed to move from the hab to the local irregular moon(s).
| |
| − | ''Possibly this should be deleted as too technical.''
| |
| − |
| |
| − | ; 1) '''Himalia Core Yard''' (prograde, Himalia family — inner band)
| |
| − | : '''Targets''' Himalia ('''milli-g'''), Elara ('''milli-g''').
| |
| − | : '''Typical shuttle burns''' 50–150 m/s.
| |
| − | : '''What pays''' Water and carbon turned into propellants; tank parts; bulk plastics feedstock.
| |
| − | : '''Notes''' A few anchors on solid knobs; short rails throw cans to the hub or inward.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | ; 2) '''Himalia Petites''' (prograde, same band — outer petals)
| |
| − | : '''Targets''' Lysithea, Leda, Dia.
| |
| − | : '''Typical shuttle burns''' 80–200 m/s.
| |
| − | : '''What pays''' Tholin organics into binders/sealants; filament for printers; good place to train crews in visual sweeps and debris-zone discipline.
| |
| − | : '''Notes''' All micro-g; pure bag-and-chew.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | ; 3) '''Themisto Corridor''' (prograde one-off, high tilt)
| |
| − | : '''Targets''' Themisto plus nearby chips with similar tilt.
| |
| − | : '''Typical shuttle burns''' 60–180 m/s.
| |
| − | : '''What pays''' Laser-link relays, mirror polishing, light volatiles.
| |
| − | : '''Notes''' Strong charting and beacon node; modest mining.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | ; 4) '''Pasiphae–Sinope Core''' (retrograde, Pasiphae family — inner core)
| |
| − | : '''Targets''' Pasiphae (''can reach borderline milli-g if dense''), Sinope (''borderline'').
| |
| − | : '''Typical shuttle burns''' 70–200 m/s.
| |
| − | : '''What pays''' Nitrogen and ammonia processing; radio-quiet telescope time; cold-chem feedstocks.
| |
| − | : '''Notes''' Science rules may cap or ban rails; hubs focus on tanker runs.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | ; 5) '''Pasiphae Fringe Chain''' (retrograde, same family — outer chain)
| |
| − | : '''Targets''' Autonoe, Megaclite, Callirrhoe, Eurydome.
| |
| − | : '''Typical shuttle burns''' 80–220 m/s.
| |
| − | : '''What pays''' High-dielectric ceramics, piezo stacks, precision salts; tanker cross-dock.
| |
| − | : '''Notes''' Keep debris maps current — lots of orphan junk out here.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | ; 6) '''Carme Core Yard''' (retrograde, Carme family — dense cluster)
| |
| − | : '''Targets''' Carme, Taygete, Eukelade.
| |
| − | : '''Typical shuttle burns''' 50–150 m/s.
| |
| − | : '''What pays''' Tholin cracking into pharma precursors and specialty polymers.
| |
| − | : '''Notes''' Tight biocontainment audits; rich margins if you stay clean.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | ; 7) '''Carme Outer Petals''' (retrograde, same family — spread rim)
| |
| − | : '''Targets''' Kale, Erinome, Aitne, Pasithee.
| |
| − | : '''Typical shuttle burns''' 80–250 m/s.
| |
| − | : '''What pays''' Tank farms; hose/valve fabrication; top-ups of organics; arts festivals that also move cargo and crews.
| |
| − | : '''Notes''' Very low-mass rocks — no surface teams beyond quick anchor swaps.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | ; 8) '''Ananke Core Mill''' (retrograde, Ananke family — inner trio)
| |
| − | : '''Targets''' Ananke, Praxidike, Iocaste.
| |
| − | : '''Typical shuttle burns''' 60–180 m/s.
| |
| − | : '''What pays''' Boutique metals (platinum-group specks), high-spec alloy feeds, small billets.
| |
| − | : '''Notes''' “Recoil poisoning” is the classic sabotage: one heavy unscheduled rail shot pushes the rock outside limits. You must publish how you’ll counter-thrust.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | ; 9) '''Ananke West Chain''' (retrograde, same family — dispersed)
| |
| − | : '''Targets''' Harpalyke, Thelxinoe, Euporie, Orthosie (examples).
| |
| − | : '''Typical shuttle burns''' 80–250 m/s.
| |
| − | : '''What pays''' Slag reprocessing, wire stock, battery housings.
| |
| − | : '''Notes''' Import tailings from the Belt; keep up the visual sweeps or you’ll eat your own chaff.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | ; 10) '''Retrograde Crossroads Freeport''' (where Carme and Ananke bands overlap)
| |
| − | : '''Targets''' Mixed small moons from both families that share a workable tilt and distance.
| |
| − | : '''Typical shuttle burns''' 70–220 m/s; hopping to a different family from here costs about half to one kilometer per second.
| |
| − | : '''What pays''' Escrow court, bonded warehousing, salvage arbitration, a lively crew market.
| |
| − | : '''Notes''' Enforcement is simple: port denial and blacklists. No need for soldiers.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | ; 11) '''High-Tilt Prograde Skew''' (prograde oddballs)
| |
| − | : '''Targets''' Carpo, Valetudo clusterlets.
| |
| − | : '''Typical shuttle burns''' 70–200 m/s.
| |
| − | : '''What pays''' Optics and sensors (star trackers, laser-ranging heads); calibration ranges; light volatiles.
| |
| − | : '''Notes''' Great navigation school; thin mining margins — pair production with sales to inner hubs.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | ; 12) '''Outer Dark Fringe''' (most distant retrogrades, low traffic)
| |
| − | : '''Targets''' Far-rim smalls on the tails of the Pasiphae/Carme groups (Herse-like chips).
| |
| − | : '''Typical shuttle burns''' 100–300 m/s.
| |
| − | : '''What pays''' Cold storage and quarantine vaults, rare salts, odd organics; overflow tanker staging.
| |
| − | : '''Notes''' Best long-baseline radio; rails are usually banned by charter.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | = Technology =
| |
| − | Technological development before and after the Icarus Fall followed very different paths. Before the Fall, abundant energy, reliable long-distance communication, and near-universal automation allowed a highly centralized, interconnected civilization. After the Fall, loss of solar collection, collapse of long-range radio, and the end of sail propulsion forced technology into smaller, harder, and more independent forms.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | === Spin Habitats ===
| |
| − | From cislunar space outward, spin habitats are the dominant human living spaces. This chapter covers both '''spin habitats in free-space''' and '''spin habitats buried on worlds with gravity'''. Most stations are rotating cylinders in stable orbits — usually at Lagrange points or in heliocentric drift. Artificial gravity comes from spin: the farther from the central axis, the stronger the gravity. People live on the interior of the rotating tube, often in stacked levels. Spacecraft dock in zero-G at the ends of the central axis.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | '''Size terminology'''
| |
| − | - '''Free-space:''' are measured by '''axial length''' (the station’s length-of-axis) and diameter/radius.
| |
| − | - '''On-world rings:''' are measure by '''flat-floor width''' (usable width across the ring), and radius/bank angle. The width is a function of axial length, just a little wider because of the slant, but limited to avoid wide differences in total perceived gravity.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | ==== Free Space Spin Habitats ====
| |
| − | Space habitats are built from the center outward. "Down" means toward the hull. A glowing central light tube provides illumination and doubles as a transit tunnel for rapid movement along the station’s length. The inside of the hull holds parks, scenic farms, and elite estates. Below that are habitation levels, then industry and industrial farms, then the bottom layers: warehouses, water tanks, and radiation shielding. In poor habitats, slums cling to the shell — where gravity is highest, shielding thinnest, and life harshest.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Larger habitats can afford to spin slowly, making Earthlike gravity stable and comfortable. Smaller ones must spin faster, causing steep gravity gradients and disorienting motion — dropped objects curve unpredictably as the habitat rotates beneath them. In large, safe habitats, gliding from the zero-G center is a popular sport, in small habitats it is a form of suicide.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Here are examples of typical habitats and their living conditions.
| |
| − | Small ones are harsh. Large ones support leisure and autonomy.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | ;200-meter diameter, 1,200 meters axial length
| |
| − | : 3.0 RPM, 2.0 G at hull
| |
| − | : 750,000 m² living space
| |
| − | : Population: ~25,000 up to 100,000
| |
| − | Vertigo is constant. Gravity gradients are extreme. Survival depends on repression or fanaticism. Many such settlements cram people much tighter to house more workers, lower levels are barely usable, especially not for habitation. The earliest habitats were like this, held together by dedication to the cause of colonization.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | ;400-meter diameter, 1,400 meters axial length
| |
| − | : 2.2 RPM, 1.5 G at hull
| |
| − | : 1.8 million m² living space
| |
| − | : Population: ~60,000 to 150,000
| |
| − | Still unpleasant. Gravity is tolerable, but vertigo remains common.
| |
| − | Likely to economize by squeezing more people in.
| |
| − | The smallest model that can sustain a society.
| |
| − | Slums likely.
| |
| − | Low quality of life.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | ;600-meter diameter, 1,600 meters axial length
| |
| − | : 1.8 RPM, 1.3 G at hull
| |
| − | : 3 million m² living space
| |
| − | : Population: ~100,000
| |
| − | Livable. Most residents have a decent life.
| |
| − | Gravity is only mildly uncomfortable.
| |
| − | Slums do occur, but there’s room for stability and choice.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | ;1,000-meter diameter, 2,000 meters axial length
| |
| − | : 1.3 RPM, 1.2 G at hull
| |
| − | : 6 million m² living space
| |
| − | : Population: ~200,000
| |
| − | Comfortable and affluent.
| |
| − | If slums exist, they are maintained by policy, not necessity.
| |
| − | Life is good unless the regime is harsh.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | ;1,600-meter diameter, 2,600 meters axial length
| |
| − | : 1.0 RPM, 1.12 G at hull
| |
| − | : 13 million m² living space
| |
| − | : Population: ~400,000
| |
| − | Spacious and stable.
| |
| − | Gravity differences are gentle.
| |
| − | Inequality is political, not structural.
| |
| − | Open cultures can thrive here.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | ;2,000-meter diameter, 3,000 meters axial length
| |
| − | : 0.85 RPM, 1.1 G at hull
| |
| − | : 20 million m² living space
| |
| − | : Population: ~600,000
| |
| − | Opulent.
| |
| − | Large, slow-spinning, and easy to manage.
| |
| − | Most inhabitants live in comfort.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Smaller habitats focus on resource extraction.
| |
| − | Mid-sized ones support industry.
| |
| − | Large ones host researchers, merchants, and middle-class life.
| |
| − | All habitats have managers who rule and control resources.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | A habitat can always be made shorter in axial length with only a proportional loss of size and population, preserving comfort but potentially making it less economically viable.
| |
| − | Greater axial length can also be built, with increased risk of structural instability.
| |
| − | There’s no hard line between a habitat and a large spaceship.
| |
| − | Most mount ion drives for station keeping, and these can be used for slow migration.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Many habitats become self-sufficient city-states over time.
| |
| − | Their isolation make them perfect for cults — religious, political, or corporate.
| |
| − | Whoever controls the air, water, and access to zero-G controls everything.
| |
| − | Other habitats embrace openness. Some cluster in chains, sharing transit and infrastructure.
| |
| − | These tend to be cosmopolitan, prosperous, and diverse.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | ;Building Free-Space Spin Habitats
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Building a space habitat is relatively easy — just gather materials and 3D-print the structure.
| |
| − | The hardest resource to source is carbon, needed for the biotope on the top level.
| |
| − | Without enough carbon, soil is shallow or absent, stunting plant growth and removing the environment's natural stress relief.
| |
| − | Many spacers would kill for carbon if their habitat is running low.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | ;Free-Space Spin Habitat Terrain
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Habitats present terrain unlike either gravity or microgravity.
| |
| − | As long as you're standing on the inner surface or floating near the center.
| |
| − | Kinetic weapons behave erratically, making firearms useless beyond a dozen meters, but otherwise things behave predictably.
| |
| − | But with spin-induced gravity and confusing flight dynamics, two terrain types are unique to rotating space habitats:
| |
| − |
| |
| − | The first is the central zero-gravity region.
| |
| − | From here, you can jump to nearly any point on the inner surface — if your aim and braking are good.
| |
| − | Get it wrong, and you’ll either drift helplessly or slam into the wrong spot.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | The second is the outer hull.
| |
| − | Gravity here seems to pull away from the hull, but if you let go, you’re flung along a tangent — not straight out. As you approach the hull, it slides sideways beneath you, making it hard to grab hold. Hovering over a specific spot requires constant acceleration.
| |
| − | This is why many Jovian personal vehicles are humanoid in form, equipped with magnetic or grappling feet to stay anchored on the outside of a habitat.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | ==== Spin Habitats in Gravity — On-World Rings ====
| |
| − | Spin habitats are also built '''in gravity wells''' — buried, vertical-axis rings on moons and planets. Inside, "down" is the vector sum of centrifugal force and local gravity.
| |
| − | Seen from the outside, this is a pit with a close to but not quite vertical habitat rotating inside.
| |
| − | Key differences from free-space:
| |
| − |
| |
| − | * '''Bank angle:''' Floors and walls are tilted outward so they’re perpendicular to the effective "down." Example: on Ganymede a 1 g ring is banked ~8.4° outward, at 81,6° against the surface.
| |
| − | * '''Usable width:''' Keep a single flat floor to ~'''0.2–0.3 × radius''' to hold 0.85–1.15 g across the district. To grow, '''add another ring''' and cross-link; you don’t “stretch” a buried ring.
| |
| − | * '''Metrics to publish:''' radius, RPM, bank angle, '''rim speed''' (also the peri-rail boarding speed), '''perimeter''', and flat-floor width.
| |
| − | * '''Entry/exit:''' Two standard methods:
| |
| − | :* '''Radial lifts''' from the center (native g) outward — you feel gravity strengthen and tilt slightly.
| |
| − | :* '''Peri-rail boarding:''' a ground maglev accelerates in a covered trench to '''rim speed''' (e.g., ~98.5 m/s for r=1,000 m at 1 g on Ganymede), rolls to the bank angle, and docks to a rotating collar for smooth, full-g entry.
| |
| − | * '''Environment control:''' Covered trenches and hard vacuum keep dust out, stabilize temperature, and prevent HV arcing on rails and mass drivers.
| |
| − | * '''Degrav/Regrav:''' Ground rings host '''Regrav wards''' (0.8–1.2 g). Field crews commute back for daily Regrav; long-term recovery lives here.
| |
| − | * '''Terminology:''' here '''width''' means usable flat-floor width; axial length is not that significant.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Practically: surface rings are '''modular and stacked by era''' (old worker wheels, newer market wheels, prestige sky wheels). Expansion means '''new rings''', not wider ones. Common practice is to build separate rings side-by-side, requiring exiting the artificial gravity and then entering a new zone of artificial gravity in another ring habitat.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | === Computation, Qters & Sensors ===
| |
| − | Computers are ubiquitous and cheap. They live in suits, tugs, and almost every tool and appliance. Space-hardening is routine: ECC memory, watchdog reboots, rad-tolerant parts near Jupiter and Mercury, good grounding and EMI filters, and conductive paths to radiators (no convection in vacuum). They shrug off thrust and vibration; storms still flip bits, so systems cache and degrade gracefully.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | '''Qters (quantum hardframes)''' — Big, cold, narrow-purpose boxes. Fixed racks sit in port '''cycle bureaus'''; major ships carry a rugged '''coldbox''' for on-scene keying and optimization. Jobs: post-quantum crypto and '''Q-time seals''', ugly schedule/auction solves, Stormwatch posture tuning, stinger/K-kill deconfliction, materials/fusion design, tight clocking for nav. Limits: need cryogenics, clean power, low vibration, shielding — storms throttle them. High-priority objectives for security, spies, and strike teams.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | '''Sensors & comms (post-Fall)''' — Radio is fickle in storms; lasers carry data — alignment is everything. Detection defaults to optical/thermal: wide-field cameras compare frames and streaks; expert systems flag non-ballistic motion. Stations fuse long-baseline sightings for passive ranging; in dirty zones, sweep faster and seed optical pickets. '''Quantum Key Distribution''' provides short, line-of-sight keys — not messaging. For mission-critical bulk, fly couriers. Niche sensors fill gaps: squeezed-light lidar, atom-interferometer gravimeters for hollows, acoustics in dense air, and seismics in ice/rock.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | '''How it surfaces''' — '''“Clock-locked?”''' means nav/comms are synced to the port’s optical/atomic timebase (microsecond-level). Ports sell '''cycle slots''' — bookable Qter runs metered in qubit-time and fridge load. Manifests read '''Q-time sealed''' — a post-quantum signature plus a QKD-derived session key and hash-chained timestamp; insurers say no seal, no payout. If the cold racks hiccup — fridge warms, vibration, or radiation spikes — error rates jump, slot auctions re-run, schedules slip, and convoys fall back to precomputed classical plans.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | === Power ===
| |
| − | Pre-Fall, Luna, Mercury, and high-altitude Venus platforms could rely on abundant solar power, Earth on orbital solar collectors. Vehicles ran on batteries or chemical engines. Post-Fall, with solar collection crippled and power grids fragmented, fusion reactors became the backbone of energy production across the system, with batteries for subsidiary systems like civilian vehicles.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Fusion power is based on fusing isotopes of hydrogen, deuterium (one proton, one neutron) and tritium (one proton, two neutrons). The two dominant reaction types are deuterium–deuterium (D-D) that fuse pairs of deuterium atoms and tritium–deuterium (T-D) that fuse deuterium and tritium. Deuterium is common, found in water ice across the solar system. Tritium is rare in nature due to its 12-year half-life, normally bred from lithium in reactor blankets. Rarity makes tritium a strategic resource in peace and essential in war.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | ==== Deuterium–Deuterium (D-D) Reactors ====
| |
| − | D-D reactors are the workhorses of the post-Fall economy, accounting for roughly 99% of fusion capacity. They are fuel-efficient, can run for years between refueling, and rely on a fuel source abundant on icy moons, comets, and in planetary oceans. Their main drawbacks are high ignition energy requirements and slow startup times — often days to weeks for large plants — making them unsuited to applications where immediate power is needed from a cold start.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Capital ships and major facilities typically mount multiple D-D reactors in parallel, allowing one to be shut down for refueling or maintenance while the others keep the lights on.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Uses include:
| |
| − | * Primary power for all large ships
| |
| − | * Large industrial sites, colonies, and habitats
| |
| − | * Stationary power generation on planets and moons
| |
| − |
| |
| − | ==== Tritium–Deuterium (T-D) Reactors ====
| |
| − | Advances in materials science shortly before the Fall produced rugged, compact T-D units small enough to fit into a mining crawler or a small spacecraft’s engine room. Before the Fall, their high cost kept them rare outside high-value or military roles.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | T-D reactors burn hotter, produce more energy per unit mass of fuel, and can be brought online in hours rather than days. They can idle on standby to achieve full capacity in minutes — at the cost of wear and burning a trickle of fuel. They are compact for their output, but inefficient, consuming tritium rapidly and generating heavier neutron flux, especially in small reactors, requiring more shielding and more frequent overhauls. T-D fuel is a strategic commodity.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Because they must be shut down completely for refueling, ships rarely rely on them alone for sustained operations. Instead, they are used for burst-power roles or to jump-start larger D-D plants.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Uses include:
| |
| − | * Power plants for small, high-performance craft such as space fighters
| |
| − | * Burst-power units for artillery ships, point-defense platforms, and energy weapons
| |
| − | * Auxiliary “starter” reactors for bringing large D-D plants online
| |
| − | * Mobile salvage and recovery ships restarting cold-shutdown reactors
| |
| − | * Dedicated yard or wharf facilities for capital ship reactor start-up
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Many large installations have a T-D reactor kept cold, to be started in an emergency.
| |
| − | This dual-system approach creates a steady civilian demand for tritium in addition to military needs — keeping breeder facilities strategically valuable even in peacetime.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | ==== Batteries ====
| |
| − | High-temperature superconductors improve many technologies such as lasers and magnetic systems, but are imperfect and do not fully solve the problem of storing large amounts of energy. Superconductor-based batteries can hold large reserves with minimal loss over time, but their peak discharge rate is limited. This only matters under exceptional circumstances — chiefly when batteries must compete with tritium–deuterium (T-D) fusion for peak performance or for mining and exploration craft that need endurance over time.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | High-density batteries offer a cheaper, easier-to-source alternative to T-D reactors. They scale at will, reach full power instantly, are quick to recharge from a D-D reactor, and need no exotic fuels. Drawbacks are lower peak output and shorter endurance. Battery-powered craft are significantly cheaper to build and operate, allowing a larger force for the same investment — at the cost of needing more pilots, more maintenance crew, more carrier space, and careful mission planning to avoid running dry. For planetary and habitat defense large swarms of battery fighters are ubiquitous.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | '''Comparative Use'''
| |
| − | * '''D-D ships''': Almost all spaceships and large installations, both civilian and military, use D-D fusion reactors.
| |
| − | * '''Battery fighters''': More numerous, suitable for swarm tactics, hit-and-run strikes, operations close to a carrier or base, and boarding. Focused on interceptor roles. Their thrusters are still called fusion rockets — no-one brags about running on batteries.
| |
| − | * '''T-D fighters''': Fewer in number, elite units with long-range endurance and high sustained output; excel in prolonged or high-intensity engagements. Focused on attack roles.
| |
| − | * '''Civilian craft''': Nearly all use batteries; only exceptional performance demands justify T-D reactors.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | === Ion Drives ===
| |
| − | Before the Fall, ion drives were the workhorses of deep space while the inner system rode magnetic sails. After the Icarus Fall killed sail travel, ions became essential for everything but the shortest runs. They’re costly and maintenance-intensive, so depots and workshops are strategic assets. Ion thrust is weak compared to fusion rockets, but it can be sustained for days or weeks. Small craft skip ions and rely on compact fusion rockets for hops, mining, and maneuvers.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Ion drives shine on heavy ships. With ~10% of mass in propellant, a vessel can hold ~0.001 g for days, yielding roughly 2.5–3.4 km/s of low-thrust Δv. In practice, crews use fusion rockets for the big departure and capture burns, leaving ions for phasing, trimming, and rendezvous.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Power isn’t the limiter — propellant is. Almost all ships run steam-ion systems: water-fed electric thrusters (RF electrothermal, inductive plasma, MPD, VASIMR). Hydrogen buys longer endurance, noble gases give more thrust per kilowatt, but both are niche.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | The thruster heads themselves are small; the limits are power and reaction mass. Most large habitats carry ion engines for station-holding, but add enough thrusters and any habitat becomes a massive, slow ship. The cost is water: every ton burned for thrust is a ton less for shielding and life support. That deficit is made good by foraging ice from asteroids or moons, or by supply from tankers and tugs that can also loan extra power.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | === Fusion Rockets ===
| |
| − | Even in the fusion era, rockets remain the most straightforward and reliable way to deliver short, high-thrust burns. Here “rocketry” covers all systems that expel heated reaction mass directly for thrust — from legacy chemical engines to advanced fusion-thermal drives.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Fusion-thermal rockets use a ship’s reactor to superheat a light propellant — typically water — with magnetic or laser heaters, then expel it through a magnetic nozzle at very high exhaust velocity. They consume reaction mass far faster than ion drives, but can maintain powerful thrust for hours. Large vessels often carry both systems: rockets for combat maneuvers and rapid course changes, ions for long cruise phases.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Rocket performance is always governed by fuel discipline. More thrust means more propellant burned and heavier support hardware. High-G craft trade endurance for agility, making them short-range interceptors or boarding ships. Long-range attack and capital ships run at modest accelerations to stretch their propellant over extended missions. As a yardstick, a gigawatt-class fusion-thermal drive can push a 1,000-ton ship at ~0.1 g for about an hour, expending tens of tons of water and yielding a Δv of several km/s. Scaling up is possible: a 10-gigawatt lifter could deliver 1 g thrust for multi-kiloton payloads, sufficient for ground launch or rapid orbital transfer.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Fusion rockets themselves are light, but any craft using them must be built to handle the acceleration. This is done on construction, retrofitting a ship for higher thrust is slow and expensive to the point that building a new ship is often cheaper and faster. You can overthrust without refit at the risk of structural damage.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Fusion-thermal rockets are also the favored solution for orbital access, both in vacuum and from thick atmospheres. On Earth, the new standard is offshore launch platforms, where fusion lifters rise directly to orbit. These reduce human exposure to noise and shock, and confine environmental effects to localized ocean heating, steam plumes, and disturbed sea life.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | === Interplanetary Travel ===
| |
| − | A typical interplanetary journey starts with a ''fusion-thermal burn'': ''0.1–1 g for several minutes''. During this phase the ship ''despins and locks''; passengers ride couches aligned with the ''thrust axis''. After the kick, the ship re-spins and the ''steam-ion'' drive handles trim and phasing. The same sequence runs in reverse at arrival, with occasional mid-course burns if geometry demands it.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | As navigator you can take the ''mid'' profile, or attempt an ''advanced course'' that — depending on your roll — lands as ''Fast / Mid / Slow''. Advanced courses exploit launch windows, slingshots, and periapsis burns; a terrible result can strand you off-track with little fuel. Small random changes can happen.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Each cell shows '''Mid / Fast / Slow''' launch-window cases. Times include a capture burn at destination; '''flyby''' is shorter.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | {| class="wikitable"
| |
| − | |+ '''Days travel from Earth — Propellant (by departure mass %)'''
| |
| − | ! Destination !! '''25% fuel''' !! '''35% fuel''' !! '''50% fuel''' !! '''75% fuel'''
| |
| − | |-
| |
| − | | '''Mercury'''
| |
| − | | 240 <br>Fast 135 <br>Slow 320
| |
| − | | 190 <br>Fast 112 <br> Slow 260
| |
| − | | 150 <br>Fast 94 <br> Slow 210
| |
| − | | 120 <br>Fast 81 <br> Slow 170
| |
| − | |-
| |
| − | | '''Venus'''
| |
| − | | 140 <br>Fast 94 <br> Slow 190
| |
| − | | 120 <br>Fast 79 <br> Slow 160
| |
| − | | 95 <br>Fast 63 <br> Slow 130
| |
| − | | 80 <br>Fast 55 <br> Slow 110
| |
| − | |-
| |
| − | | '''Mars (0.6–1.0 AU)'''
| |
| − | | 200 <br>Fast 135 <br> Slow 260
| |
| − | | 160 <br>Fast 110 <br> Slow 210
| |
| − | | 120 <br>Fast 84 <br> Slow 160
| |
| − | | 90 <br>Fast 67 <br> Slow 120
| |
| − | |-
| |
| − | | '''Asteroid Belt (1.5–2.2 AU)'''
| |
| − | | 450 <br>Fast 271 <br> Slow 600
| |
| − | | 360 <br>Fast 227 <br> Slow 480
| |
| − | | 300 <br>Fast 189 <br> Slow 400
| |
| − | | 240 <br>Fast 158 <br> Slow 320
| |
| − | |-
| |
| − | | '''Jupiter (4.2–5.0 AU)'''
| |
| − | | 1,300 <br>Fast 650 <br> Slow 1,650
| |
| − | | 950 <br>Fast 525 <br> Slow 1,200
| |
| − | | 650 <br>Fast 374 <br> Slow 850
| |
| − | | 500 <br>Fast 300 <br> Slow 650
| |
| − | |}
| |
| − |
| |
| − | '''How to read this'''
| |
| − | * ''Assumptions (order-of-magnitude): water as both thermal and ion propellant; fusion-thermal v_e ≈ 12–15 km/s; steam-ion used for trim/rendezvous (not main push).''
| |
| − | * More '''fuel fraction''' → more Δv for the '''impulsive burns''' → higher average cruise energy → '''shorter trips'''.
| |
| − | * Profiles are hybrid: a couple of '''fusion-thermal kicks''' (depart/arrive, 0.1–0.5 g for minutes) plus '''steam-ion''' for phasing and timing.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | '''Notes'''
| |
| − | * A ship has a design prop load, but you can strap on ''ice drop-tanks'' to raise both mass and prop fraction — at the cost of structure, handling, and possibly having to do ''deep-space EVAs''.
| |
| − | * Using '''H₂''' for the ion stage extends endurance (Δv), not thrust; it helps mainly on the ''longest legs'' at high prop fractions.
| |
| − | * Ships ''without ion drives'' can still cross interplanetary space, but you have to make a navigation roll ''downgrade one step'' on the course result (Fast → Mid, Mid → Slow, Slow → Mishap) and endure the whole coast with ''no spin and hard rationing''. This is an oversimplification. Tip: don't try this.
| |
| − | * Ships with only Ion drives can cross interplanetary distances safely, but always use the slowest travel time.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | === Magnetic Acceleration ===
| |
| − | Mass drivers and electromagnetic launchers use magnetic fields to accelerate a payload along a track at high speed. The principle is simple — switching magnetic coils on and off in sequence — but the engineering challenges are immense. Tracks must be extremely straight and stable, power delivery must be precisely timed, and any misalignment can destroy the payload or launcher.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Pre-Fall, magnetic acceleration was mainly used to move bulk cargo between orbital facilities and planetary surfaces, especially from low-gravity bodies where chemical launch was wasteful. Dense cargo like metal ingots, refined ores, and water ice could be launched at hundreds of Gs without damage, making them ideal for high-throughput shipping. Passenger launches were limited to a few Gs for comfort and safety.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | The track length needed depends on the local gravity and desired final velocity. On Luna, achieving low orbit (≈1.7 km/s) at 3 G requires about 50 km of track; on Phobos or Deimos, where escape velocity is under 10 m/s, only a few hundred meters are needed. For bulk cargo, accelerations of 100 G or more are possible, meaning even lunar escape velocity can be reached in under 1 km of track. On Mercury, where escape velocity is ≈4.25 km/s, a 3 G passenger launch would require roughly 300 km of track, but hardened cargo could be flung in only a few kilometers.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Post-Fall, the same technology was adapted for military use. Higher accelerations — up to 10 G for crewed craft, far more for hardened munitions — can hurl projectiles, cargo pods, or even small ships at significant relative velocities. The technique is most effective from bodies with low escape velocity, where the launcher can be mounted directly to the surface and fire without atmospheric interference. Vacuum environments also allow for extremely long launch tracks without drag losses.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Limitations include the fixed location of the launcher, its vulnerability to attack, and the difficulty of aiming at distant moving targets. Launching crewed craft above a few G requires specialized training, genetic modification, or cybernetic reinforcement. Most human crews stay in the 2–4 G range, but unmanned craft and drones can be designed for far higher accelerations.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Strategic use varies by site. Some facilities focus on bulk cargo and fuel shipments; others double as defensive batteries, able to launch interceptors or kinetic kill projectiles at hostile craft. The largest can serve as force multipliers in fleet actions, sending small craft on pre-calculated, low-power “cold runs” that are nearly invisible until the target is in range.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | === Sensors and Communication ===
| |
| − | Constant post-Fall solar storms make radio and radar unreliable in the inner system, with only brief and unpredictable windows of clarity. The most dependable methods are those less affected by charged-particle interference, though even these have limitations.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | '''Optical Detection'''
| |
| − | Visual and near-visible light remains the most reliable detection medium. Solar activity distorts it far less than radio, and modern sensor arrays sweep wide arcs of sky across multiple wavelengths, feeding expert systems that identify silhouettes and track known objects, anything that accelerates or is on an intercept trajectory will raise an alarm.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | '''Thermal Detection'''
| |
| − | All active spacecraft produce heat, and in space that heat is a telltale. Waste energy from drives, reactors, and life support radiates away as infrared light, which sensitive detectors can pick up at great distances in clear conditions. Solar storms raise background IR noise — making faint signatures harder to detect — but also make drive plumes and laser heat dumps more visible.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Common thermal signature sources and countermeasures:
| |
| − | * '''Energy weapons''': The solar wind is dense enough to scatter energy from beams and particle weapons, leaving a brightly glowing path. Light-speed weapons are only visible after impact, but particle weapons may give a brief warning.
| |
| − | * '''Drive plumes''': Highly collimated exhaust and efficient nozzles reduce visibility except directly along the exhaust axis — unless heavy solar activity is lit up by the plume.
| |
| − | * '''Laser heat dumps''': Waste heat converted to laser light and beamed into deep space, often along the drive plume. These beams can be revealed if they scatter particles of a solar storm.
| |
| − | * '''Cold running''': Large insulated masses absorb heat for a limited time, allowing stealth. Eventually, stored heat must be dumped. Directional radiators can shed some heat toward empty space or friendly sectors, but any high-energy activity — especially acceleration — will raise your signature.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | ==== Laser Communication ====
| |
| − | With radio swamped by interference, lasers became the standard for high-bandwidth comms. They ignore solar noise but demand extreme precision — both ends must know each other’s exact position and maintain alignment. This is easy for fixed sites but challenging for ships beyond a light-second, especially during solar storms. Minor orbital shifts can break the link. Most ships can manage only short-range laser comms; long-range requires capital-ship arrays or dedicated relays. For many routes, courier drones carrying physical data cores remain faster, more reliable, and more secure.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | ==== Neutrino Anomaly Alerts ====
| |
| − | A handful of scientific neutrino detectors sometimes flag “hot” regions where many high-output fusion cores are active. They offer no tactical resolution — bearings are vague, single ships are invisible, and false positives are common from cosmic events — but can signal strategic shifts: a shipyard spinning up, a fleet idling, or an artillery platform preheating. Militaries rarely integrate them into automatic alert grids; getting the data to decision-makers in time can itself be an adventure.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | === Expert Systems ===
| |
| − | General AI never worked. Every serious attempt ended in disaster — rogue behavior, mass suicide, or breakdown into useless output. What endured were ''expert systems'' — narrow-focus automation capable of flawless repetitive work but incapable of planning or innovation. Pre-Fall, these could be coordinated over vast distances by human supervisors. Post-Fall, without real-time control, drones require on-site human oversight, greatly increasing labor needs. Armed drones survive in limited roles under strict, pre-set engagement rules. The term “AI” has fallen out of use in favor of the more modest “expert system.” But the dream of general AI still lives in research installations.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Hooks:
| |
| − | * In the golden age there were a Dozen Celestials, a very ambitious AI project to create minds to control each orbit and additional ones to control other essentials. Investigating rumors of one of these surviving is an adventure hook, investigating all of them is a campaign.
| |
| − | * Your patron/ship is secretly an AI with a hidden agenda.
| |
| − | * A recent Ai may be going rampant, that is start to grow exponentially. Stop it before it becomes godlike.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | === Gene Therapy ===
| |
| − | Advanced gene therapy can halt aging, but only up to a point. Initial treatments are as easy as vaccines, eliminating most cancers, repairing radiation damage, and making long-duration cold sleep possible. Lifespans of a century and a half are routine, three centuries are possible for the wealthy or lucky, but each additional round of rejuvenation is more costly and dangerous. Only rarely can humans exceed three centuries without lethal complications. Bodies and minds stay young, preventing the cultural stagnation of elderly populations, but also locking entrenched elites in place for generations. However, rapid technological change leaves older-but-rejuvenated citizens constantly retraining to stay relevant.
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| − |
| |
| − | Ovulation can be controlled, eliminating undesired menstruation and maintaining female fertility throughout an extended lifespan, removing the need for contraceptives. Gene therapy is routinely used to remove genetic disorders and substandard human traits, but attempts to create “superhumans” have a negligible success rate. Genetic screening tends to reduce the occurrence of exceptional traits such as artistic brilliance or unorthodox problem-solving, at the cost of genetic diversity.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | More radical alterations — regeneration of limbs and organs, adaptation to alien environments, and major redesign — remain experimental, expensive, and risky but is possible using nano-machines to rebuild the body over a period of several months.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | === Weapons ===
| |
| − | Fusion power allows the use of weapons that consume immense amounts of energy, but older, leaner systems still see use. Weapon choice depends on available energy, the tactical goal, the environment, and whether you want the target intact for boarding.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | ==== Energy and Particle Weapons ====
| |
| − |
| |
| − | '''Lightning Guns''' (Electron Projectors, atmosphere) — Fire bursts of electrons down a path cleared by a low-powered laser. The laser ionizes the air into a low-density channel, preventing scatter. On impact, the charge disrupts electronics and can incapacitate crew by overloading nervous systems. Armor penetration is poor, making them best for disabling rather than destroying. Common as vehicle mounts or large personal arms. Useful in boarding to suppress defenses without breaching the hull, though they risk damaging onboard electronics.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | '''Ion Lance''' (Charged Particle Projectors, space) — Uses magnets to accelerate charged protons. On impact, they deliver both kinetic damage and severe electromagnetic disruption. Charged beams scatter over distance and can be deflected by magnetic fields, plasma, or heavy solar wind, making this well suited to medium-range space combat, less so for precision or long-range strikes.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | '''Realkanon''' (Relativistic Neutral Particle Projectors, space) — A siege weapon similar in principle to the Ion Lance, but accelerates protons to relativistic speeds and neutralizes their charge by adding electrons just before launch. Without charge, the beam stays tightly focused over extreme distances and cannot be deflected magnetically. The accelerator is often kilometers long, making the weapon slow-firing, power-hungry, and complex, but devastating against stationary targets. The impact punches deep into the target, blasting fragments inward and creating intense secondary radiation. Use in populated zones causes severe collateral damage.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | '''Beamers''' (Lasers, dual-environment) — Short-range weapons usable in both atmosphere and space. Atmospheric scatter and solar storms limit range, but in clear conditions they’re light, cheap, and capable of very high rates of fire. Lasers cause surface explosions with little penetration, making them better for point defense than as main guns. In boarding, they risk hull breaches but can be tuned for precision strikes on sensors or weapons. Common civilian sidearms.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | '''Arc Lance''' (Dual-use tool/weapon) — Industrial cutting equipment adapted for tactical use. Projects a short, magnetically shaped plasma jet that slices through bulkheads, armor, and other hardened materials. Effective only at contact range. Power-hungry, produces intense glare and heat, and showers the operator in vaporized debris. Valued in boarding for breaching compartments or disabling machinery, but rarely carried into combat.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | ==== Kinetic Weapons ====
| |
| − |
| |
| − | '''Railguns''' (Mass Drivers, space) — Magnetic coils hurl metal rods at high speed. Too slow for long-range offense, but excellent for point defense against missiles and fighters, or for creating temporary debris fields to block approach vectors. At point-blank range they can cripple capital ships, though this is a desperate measure. Stealthy — they emit no visible signature even in solar storms. Unsuitable for boarding: impacts compromise hull integrity.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | '''Sandcasters''' (Mag-Sprayers, space) — Electromagnetic sprayers that loft a short-lived cloud of fine metallic grains, shaped briefly by fields. Works as chaff vs. seekers and as ablative/scatter vs. beams; buys minutes at knife-fight ranges to mask burns or break pursuit. Hazards friendlies and optics. Kessler note: grains are self-dispersing/low-cohesion mixes (subliming binders, volatile coatings) so the cloud thins and deorbits/escapes quickly — persistent debris fields are a war crime.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | '''Slugthrowers''' (Firearms, personal) — Chemical-propellant guns. Cheap, reliable, and lethal at short range. Almost useless in a space habitat, as spin gravity will redirect the bullet after only ten meters, meaning this weapon is almost exclusively found on Earth, Venus, Callisto, and among gravity-adapted who live at surface gravity or in microgravity. Risks hull puncture if using the standard armor-piercing ammunition, detectable by chemical sniffers, and leaves residue. Easily improvised and traditional among hunters and gun enthusiasts, but out of favor in space.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | ==== Guided Weapons ====
| |
| − |
| |
| − | '''K-Killers''' (Kinetic Kill Missiles, space) — Long-range, high-G interceptors. Usually unarmed; kill by impact and leftover propellant. Hard to stop in terminal, ugly collateral. Best vs ships; habitats need precise spine/bay hits.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | '''K-Kill Mines''' — (Space) — Not pop-ups. Pre-seeded inert slugs on crossing/retrograde orbits or hidden micro-rails along approach lanes. Kept '''cold''' for months/years. Each unit has both a space window (its kill box) and a time window (orbital phase): it can only fire while transiting that segment, often one shot per orbit. Constellations are staggered for coverage. When armed, the mine trims only tens–hundreds m/s; geometry supplies closure. Interdicts corridors; counters: mapping sweeps, rolling lanes, gas curtains.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | [[Meteor Kill Chain (IF)|Meteor Kill Chain]]
| |
| − |
| |
| − | '''Stingers''' (Penetrating missiles, variants for space and atmospheric combat) — Short-range, inside-armor killers. Come in slower (≈0.5–3 km/s), hit near-normal, tandem head (precursor EFP, follow-through dart with ms delay; chem/sub-kt/AM-pearl options). Can MIRV/split on final approach (a “splitter bus” shedding multiple darts) to saturate PD — useful against heavy PD, but costs mass and a larger launcher. Otherwise, single-dart rounds are simpler and cheaper.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | '''Stinger Mines''' — (Space) Cold passive cans seeded in chokepoints. Wake on geometry + visual match, brief LADAR pop, short sprint, tandem hit. Common interdiction fields are warship-laid right before conflict (hours–days), visible if you spot the launch; they function as declared “no-go” zones rather than true ambushes. Arm by tight-beam code; fire salvos for time-on-target. Safeties: time/place locks, IFF whitelists, inert-by-default recovery.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | '''Rocket Guns''' (Gyrojet Weapons, personal) — Fire miniature guided rockets, locking with a built-in laser designator. Small and handy due to minimal barrel length, though long-range use still requires two hands. The missiles carry small armor-piercing explosives and do not rely on velocity for lethality, avoiding minimum-range issues. Ammunition types include armor-piercing, toxin injectors, electric stun rounds, and blunt “hammerheads” to avoid hull breaches. Standard military and utility sidearm.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | '''Strike Missiles''' (Manpads, personal/vehicle) — Single-shot shoulder-fired missiles. Require lock-on or a pre-programmed target profile, with high friendly-fire risk. Minimum range is about ten meters. Larger versions serve as artillery or strategic weapons. Very high risk of collateral damage in boarding.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | '''Cruise Missiles''' (Drones) — Similar to strike missiles but slower and designed for long loiter times. Can wait for targets or conduct reconnaissance. Solar storms limit remote control and communications, reducing their utility, especially away from Earth.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | ==== Unconventional Weapons ====
| |
| − | There are many technologies that can be weaponized but rarely are.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | '''Excalibur Mines''' — Nuke-pumped laser arrays, one-shot and directional. Built to shred missiles or small craft in an ambush; useless once fired. Rare, expensive, and politically sensitive.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | '''Harpoons''' — Used underwater as both a vehicle and personal weapon, as grappling guns, and as ship weapons in boarding actions, these are slow, very limited in range, and are more tools than weapons.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | '''Kessler Spread''' — Deliberate high-speed debris dispersal to cripple orbital zones. Best done by accelerator; regarded as a war crime since the Fall, used only in desperation or atrocity.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | '''Meteor Bombardment''' — Drops rocks or metal slugs from space at planetary targets. Same tech base as Kessler Spread, best done with accelerators. Crude, terrifying, and politically toxic.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | '''Blinder Mines''' — Detonate to flood sensors with EM, plasma, and chaff. Non-lethal but cripples drones, missiles, and civilian craft. Comparable to “space smoke,” nearly useless on hardened warships.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | '''Star-Core Weapons''' — Massive fusion charges for moon or asteroid surface destruction. Kept as state secrets, rarely acknowledged, and never openly tested.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | '''Vacuum-Optimized Bioweapons''' — Engineered spores or nanomachines dormant in space, deadly once inhaled in atmospheres. Ineffective in space combat; a terror tool against stations or worlds.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | '''Exotic Radiologicals''' — Dirty bombs with isotopes that linger for decades. Almost universally banned, feared for their long-term contamination.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | '''Solar Pump Weapons''' — Weaponized stellar output via focusing mirrors or arrays. Taboo after the Icarus Fall’s orbital devastation.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | '''Nano Swarms''' — Nanomachines are vital in civilian fabrication, maintenance, and medicine, but weaponized forms are rare. Radiation, vacuum, and heat destroy them quickly in space. As sabotage tools, swarms seeded on hulls or radiators slowly corrode surfaces, dangerous only in sieges or covert strikes.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | === Defenses in Space ===
| |
| − | Habitats survive because they’re big, wet, and compartmented — meters of water, grain, and tankage between people and vacuum. Warships need all of that plus active defenses. Below are the main layers in the order an attacker will encounter them.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | '''Agility'''
| |
| − | High-authority RCS and short fusion-thermal bursts to jink. Small ships survive by forcing high angular-rate tracking; propellant budget for evasive burns is as vital as ammo.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | '''ECM & Deception'''
| |
| − | Hot/cold decoys, laser retroreflector “ghosts,” conductive micro-foil chaff, and plasma puffs to distort particle tracks. Solar storms limit classic jamming, so deception leans passive and optical.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | '''Point Defense'''
| |
| − | CIWS layers:
| |
| − | * Rail/coil close-in guns throwing ablative shot and “sand” curtains.
| |
| − | * Fast shutters and gimbaled mirrors for laser dazzle/deflection.
| |
| − | * Interceptor drones with miniature K-kill darts.
| |
| − | * Defensive rockets laying transient debris veils.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | '''Stores as Shielding'''
| |
| − | Water, propellant, and bulk supplies double as radiation/particle shields and micrometeoroid armor. Warships route tankage around crew spaces; “citadels” sit inside a water jacket.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | '''Hardening & Vacuum Ops'''
| |
| − | Faraday cages, graded-Z linings, neutron absorbers, and rad-hard electronics. Critical optics get shutters; exposed sensors are sacrificial. In combat, nonessential volumes are vented and crew work in skinsuits, denying the enemy atmospheric firepower multipliers and making punctures survivable.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | '''Structure & Compartmentalization'''
| |
| − | Whipple bumpers and spaced skins to break up impacts before they reach the pressure hull. Honeycomb/foam cores, armored spines, and pressure doors every few tens of meters; automatic blow-out shutters for ducts and cable runs.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | '''Redundancy & Damage Control'''
| |
| − | Multiple bridges, buses, and drives; cross-plumbed life support. DC teams use patch bots, suppressant foams, spray-on sealants, and pop-out hull patches. Nonessential volumes pre-rigged for rapid vent/isolations.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | === Electromagnetic Shields (Aegis Fields) ===
| |
| − | Habitats and large ships can afford to use ballast as radiation shielding, but small craft and fighter in particular cannot. In the inner system the usual solution is to have the pilot or suit encased in a water bubble. More advanced craft, especially among the Jovians, use electromagnetic shielding.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Commonly called Aegis fields, these use superconducting coils to project an artificial magnetosphere around a suit or vehicle. They bend and scatter incoming charged particles, giving hours of protection against solar storms and Jupiter’s deadly radiation where armor alone would fail. The fields extend dozens to hundreds of meters beyond the operator, creating a “bubble” of partial safety. This also gives limited protection against charged particle projectors used as weapons. Aegis fields are normally invisible, but under heavy particle flux they glow with auroral arcs — a dramatic warning sign and a signature of Jovian knightly duels.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | The system is not perfect. Neutrons and high-energy gamma rays still penetrate, so long-term protection requires ballast shielding (water, regolith, or metal). And the fields interfere when brought close together, producing unstable zones where radiation actually worsens. Standard procedure is to keep Aegis-equipped units at least a kilometer apart in routine operations, closing closer only with near-zero relative velocity.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Fusion rockets can coexist with Aegis fields, but ion engines and exhaust plumes interact violently: exhaust streams scatter, fields flare, and both efficiency and safety plummet. Nor do Aegis fields work near a large mass, particularly a metallic mass like a ship. A shielded craft has to shut down its shields on final approach.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | The technology is theoretically available to anyone with superconductors, but Jovians are the acknowledged masters. They miniaturized the systems for personal hardsuits and mechs, trained generations in their safe use, and wove the limitations of the technology into their culture. See Jovian Chivalry for the social and tactical consequences.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | === Personal Protection ===
| |
| − | Standard features include acceleration suit functions and umbilicals connected to a larger life-support system. Short-term, high-dose exposure remains dangerous, so personal gear must protect against vacuum and acute radiation events. Long-term radiation damage is no longer the terror it once was due to gene therapy. Severe solar storms demand shelter, not just suits.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | '''Bubble Suit'''
| |
| − | The 25C life jacket, a bubble suit is won as a hat or tiara. In the event of rapidly falling pressure or atmospheric hazard, the bubble deploys explosively, encasing the wearer in the eponymous transparent bubble, much like a large soap bubble. The basic bubble suits does not have any life support, it merely encases the air currently around the wearer, but more advanced versions might come with limited air supply or even with an Aegis field. The bubble is soft and can be reshaped, even made to cling to the wearer. A popular pastime among Jovian and Belter youth is to have the bubble cling to the body in a kind of dance, this is considered a performing art among Jovians.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | '''Skinsuit'''
| |
| − | A skintight vacuum suit with impact-hardened fabric, an small bubble suit hood, and about an hour of oxygen. Doubles as an acceleration suit. Earthers wear them under clothing; in the outer system, patterns and animated effects are fashionable. Blunts shrapnel and micrometeoroids but offers little real armor. Common upgrades include boots, gloves, helmet, air recycler pack, a ‘belt’ for waste recycling, or even an Aegis system.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | '''Hardsuit'''
| |
| − | A civilian exoskeleton worn over a skinsuit, with rigid plating and powered assist to carry its own weight. Protects against crushing, slashing, and piercing hazards, shock is muted but still transfers. Armor-piercing weapons penetrate this protection. Air and waste recycling give endurance of weeks, though living in one is miserable. Built-in thrusters allow limited maneuvering; extra propellant is needed for extended mobility. Inner system models come with a shielding layer of water, outer system variants use an aegis shield.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | '''Hazard Suit'''
| |
| − | A hardsuit upgraded with a strength-enhancing exoskeleton, heavier plating, improved radiation shielding, and extended-life support. Used mainly by military and asteroid miners. Comes with multiple sensor arrays, hardened comms, and modular tool/weapon mounts. High-thrust maneuver packs enable rapid zero-g repositioning. Stops small-arms fire and deflects glancing energy hits, but military-grade weapons will still breach.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | === Laser Cooling ===
| |
| − | Rather than relying on broad thermal radiators, ships and installations use laser-based heat dumping: a heat exchanger that converts waste thermal energy into a coherent, high-powered light beam. This beam vents excess energy in a narrow cone, usually aligned with the main drive plume, masking it from most viewing angles. The approach avoids the usual thermal signature and works even in extreme environments where traditional radiators would melt.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | The key breakthrough was developing solid-state emitters capable of operating at reactor temperatures without degradation. While not perfect — all heat still needs to be shed — laser cooling allows higher sustained power output, better stealth, and greater survivability near hostile stars or in combat.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | == Spacecraft and Space Warfare ==
| |
| − | Space warfare after the Icarus Fall is shaped by the realities of propulsion, detection, and the cost of reaction mass. Space flight is less about “speed” in the traditional sense and more about '''acceleration''' (how fast a ship can change course or velocity) and '''delta-V''' (the total change in velocity a ship can sustain before exhausting its propellant).
| |
| − | While constant-acceleration craft simplify maneuvering compared to present-day delta-V–limited ships, battle is still defined by geometry and fuel discipline. High-G burns are decisive but costly; every ton of reaction mass spent on maneuver is unavailable for later pursuit, retreat, or course correction.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | === Combat Ranges ===
| |
| − | Space combat and interception are measured in light-time bands — how long it takes information to go out and effects to come back. The ranges are separated by orders of magnitude rather than linear steps because it is vastly harder to cross the final increment into a closer band than it is to move within one. Approaching a target in space requires matching its velocity and controlling closing speed; closing from one band to the next demands a disproportionate amount of delta-V and exposes you longer to defensive fire. Fleets typically approach on oblique vectors to control range, and most combat involves holding or opening distance rather than charging straight in.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | '''Boarding range''' runs from zero to 1 millilight-second (about 300 km). This is grapples, breaching, and point-blank tools. Precision railgun hits are only practical at the sub-millisecond end, where time-of-flight is short enough for live tracking. Anything further is too far for true boarding but close enough to risk return fire.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | '''Close range''' covers 1 to 10 millilight-seconds (about 3,000–30,000 km). Lasers and ion lances are most effective here. Mass drivers can be used for precision hits at the short end or for creating debris fields and flak curtains at the long end. Interceptors working this close burn hard to hold the range — too much delta-V is spent just on staying in knife-fight distance.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | '''Medium range''' spans 10 millilight-seconds to 1 light-second (about 30,000–300,000 km — roughly Earth–Moon distance). At this range, direct-fire weapons that are not relativistic can hit large, predictable targets such as capital ships or stations using predictive targeting. Against nimble fighters, hits are only possible if their maneuver options are heavily constrained. This is the most common range for ship-to-ship duels.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | '''Long range''' runs from 1 to 10 light-seconds (0.003–0.02 AU). Here, missiles, drones, and attack craft dominate, relying on onboard guidance rather than continuous control. Firing solutions are more about steering the target into the intercept corridor than aiming at a point in space.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | '''Extreme range''' is 10 to 100 light-seconds (0.02–0.2 AU, or up to 30 million km). This is the realm of strategic strikes — realkanon shots, long-burn missiles, and slow-approach attack craft. Engagements here depend on pre-plotted firing windows and the ability of the projectile or craft to retain accuracy and energy over long flight times. This range pushes the limits of both missile delta-V and neutral-beam cohesion.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | === Surprise and Engaging the Enemy ===
| |
| − | Ships at high relative speeds cannot effectively engage each other, the close-range time window is too short.
| |
| − | This requires matching velocities, approaching at slow relative speed.
| |
| − | With post-Fall radar clutter, it is impossible to detect approaching ship at range, both sides have to rely on scout craft, which must return to base to report. This opens up various surprise scenarios.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | * '''Deep Space Interdiction''' Almost all space encounters happen near a destination. Engaging ships in deep space transit is almost impossible. Travelling at huge velocities, any encounter far away from a destination only lasts minutes, and with no warning it is impossible to engage an enemy under these circumstances. If you have intelligence on how the target is about to travel it is possible to intercept at slow relative velocities, making this a standard engagement, from most distant to closest.
| |
| − | * '''Standoff Artillery''' The attacker foregoes stealth and pelts the target with artillery at extreme range. The defender can calculate the attackers position and send its own fighters to interdict. This turns the tables, forcing the defender to counter-attack, but only works against stationary targets - even ion engines allows you to duck this type of attack. The attacker benefits from scout craft to act as forward observers and a rely chain to forward scout reports back to the artillery platform.
| |
| − | * '''Distant Launch''' This is a low risk ow reward strategy. Launch fighters at long range with the carrier travelling at high speed relative to the target. Running cold and only powering up at attack range, this can bypass outer defenses, but the combat window is short, only allowing for a single attack run before velocity carries the fighters out of range. The carrier diverts its path around the target to pick up its fighters afterward. This pickup position is the most dangerous point, the defender can calculate approximately where it is to be and launch its own fighters to intercept.
| |
| − | * '''Close Launch''' This is a high risk, high reward strategy. The carrier runs cold on a trajectory that ends up near the target at low relative velocity and coasts in without accelerating, only releasing fighters very close to the target. If this achieves surprise it gives the fighters a much longer attack window, potentially inflicting a lot of damage. If detected on approach the carrier is a sitting duck and will have to launch its fighters as a defense when the target sends its own fighters.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | === Battle Environments ===
| |
| − | * '''Deep Space''' – The preferred arena for large-scale battles. No gravity wells to distort orbits; geometry is straightforward and predictable. Engagements occur in three dimensions but are easier to coordinate.
| |
| − | * '''Combat in a Gravity Well''' – Every thrust alters your orbit, creating complex and counterintuitive motion. Surprise and timing are critical, but engagements are harder to sustain. Fleets often avoid major battles close to a planet unless a target in low orbit demands immediate destruction. The exception are very large and shallow gravity wells like that of Jupiter or the Sun – as long as you are not too close to the primary, this is effectively deep space.
| |
| − | * '''Combat on a Space Habitat''': Habitats presents two terrains unlike either gravity or microgravity. The first is the central zero-gravity region. From here, you can jump to nearly any point on the inner surface — if your aim and braking are good. Get it wrong, and you’ll either drift helplessly or slam into the wrong spot. The second is the outer hull. Gravity here seems to pull away from the hull, but if you let go, you’re flung along a tangent — not straight out. As you approach the hull, it slides sideways beneath you, making it hard to grab hold of. Staying close requires constant acceleration toward the surface. Spin gravity makes bullets deflect 'upwards' towards the center of spin and are useless beyond 10 meters or so.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | === Tactical Zones ===
| |
| − | Space battles often move through three overlapping ranges:
| |
| − | * '''Long Range''' – Artillery exchanges and standoff weapon use. Detection and interception dominate; neutral-particle projectors are most effective here.
| |
| − | * '''Mid Range''' – Attack craft engage capital ships; point-defense fire and interceptors try to thin the attackers.
| |
| − | * '''Close Range''' – High-G maneuvering and rapid vector changes. Interceptors and boarding craft fight in short, violent passes where fire windows are seconds long.
| |
| − | * '''Boarding''' – Large, predictable targets like habitats and ion-drive ships can be swarmed, but doing so consumes enormous amounts of reaction mass. Boarding actions are dangerous and rarely attempted without total surprise or overwhelming suppression. Still, boarding is an alternative to destroying a target that just won't give up.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | === Combat Roles ===
| |
| − | * '''Artillery''' – Long-range fire support, often delivered by neutral-particle projectors. Effective against static or slow targets; less useful in fast-moving engagements. Vulnerable if caught without escorts.
| |
| − | * '''Carriers''' – Project force through wings of small craft. Typically form the backbone of offensive fleets, with heavy point-defense arrays to protect against counterattack.
| |
| − | * '''Interceptors''' – Short-range defense and close-in attack. Operate from carriers or bases; burn reaction mass rapidly in high-G dogfights.
| |
| − | * '''Attack Craft''' – Medium acceleration, long endurance. Specialize in independent strikes, coasting cold for stealth before attacking and disengaging.
| |
| − | * '''Boarding Craft''' – Close to a target and match velocity for capture. Only viable after suppression of defenses.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | === Weapons Employment ===
| |
| − | * '''Lasers''' – Ideal for short to mid-range precision fire; point-defense staple.
| |
| − | * '''Neutral Particle Projectors''' – Long-range, high-damage artillery; cannot be intercepted.
| |
| − | * '''Charged Particle Weapons''' – In atmosphere, act as lightning projectors; in space, serve as short-range disruptors for electronics and crew.
| |
| − | * '''Missiles/Drones''' – Effective at short to medium range; long-range missiles are rare due to navigation difficulties in the post-Fall environment.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | === Operational Realities ===
| |
| − | * '''Fuel Discipline''' – Commanders must balance decisive acceleration with the need to preserve reaction mass for later phases of a battle.
| |
| − | * '''Crew Endurance''' – Even with gene therapy, sustained high-G maneuvers are limited by human physiology. Combat at 5G is near the practical maximum without artificial support.
| |
| − | * '''Civilian Conversions''' – Many “warships” are converted mining or cargo craft. In emergencies, habitats can be armed rapidly if enough raw material is available.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | === Capital Ships ===
| |
| − | Capital ships are the backbone of any fleet, serving both as mobile command platforms and the primary source of heavy firepower. They are heavily shielded against radiation and debris, with armor more akin to layers of ablative gravel than the rigid plating of ancient sea warships. This design soaks up hits and sheds energy over time, making them tough to kill outright. Hulls are heavily compartmentalized, and crews operate in vac suits during combat, rendering decompression a slow and usually non-fatal threat.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Capital ships often mount multiple independent power plants and thruster arrays to remain combat-capable even after taking severe damage. Sizes vary dramatically:
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Small capital ships lack artificial gravity and can only sustain months-long deployments. If in a task force with capital ships, it is possible to exchange crews, allowing these shups to participate in longer missions. These ships often have fallback rocket engines and are capable of short bursts of acceleration, mainly used to dodge.
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| − |
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| − | Largest capital ships are functionally mobile habitats, crowded with permanent crews, production bays, and the ability to build fighters from scratch.
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| − |
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| − | Two main types dominate the role:
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| − |
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| − | Carriers – These deploy interceptors, attack craft, and boarding vessels. In practice, they become the heavy hitters of a fleet, projecting force through their wings of small craft. Carriers themselves carry extensive point-defense arrays and limited heavy weapons for close defense.
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| − |
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| − | Artillery Ships – The siege trains of space warfare. Their primary weapons are long-range neutral particle projectors, which cannot be intercepted and can hammer static or slow-moving targets from beyond the reach of most defenses.
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| − | Artillery ships have little use in mobile fleet battles and may arrive only after the fighting is over. However, if built for lower acceleration to save on cost and mass, they require escorts to survive the journey to the target. Different fleets adopt different doctrines, with some insisting on artillery capable of keeping pace with the main force and others treating them as slower, protected assets.
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| − |
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| − | === Interceptors ===
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| − | Interceptors are short-range, high-acceleration craft designed for defense and fast attack in the immediate battlespace. Even these limit their sustained burn to about 5G — enough to overwhelm most opponents without killing the pilot. Reaction mass is consumed at a prodigious rate, making interceptors dependent on carriers or nearby bases for refueling and maintenance.
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| − |
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| − | Their role is to dominate close-range engagements, where superior thrust allows rapid vector changes, forcing enemies into high-angular-velocity targeting problems. Interceptors are armed for these knife-fight ranges, favoring high-energy lasers and charged particle weapons, where accuracy and rapid target switching matter more than endurance.
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| − |
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| − | === Attack Craft ===
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| − | Attack craft are designed for independent strikes at much greater ranges than interceptors. They sacrifice peak acceleration for longer operational endurance, allowing them to launch from standoff carriers, coast cold to the target for stealth, and strike before returning along a circuitous route.
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| − |
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| − | They excel at hit-and-run attacks against shipping, installations, and isolated capital ships. If intercepted, they can fight back but — like WWII torpedo bombers — they are at a disadvantage against dedicated interceptors. Attack craft often mount turreted weapons for defense against high-angular-velocity targets and carry standoff armaments such as short-range missiles or neutral-particle guns for engaging from beyond immediate point-defense range.
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| − |
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| − | === Boarding Craft ===
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| − | Boarding craft are built to match velocity with a target, something only possible against a vessel with low or no thrust. This slow, deliberate approach is highly vulnerable to defensive fire, so boarding attempts require complete surprise or prior suppression of the target’s point-defense systems. Charged-particle weapons are often used for this suppression, as they can fry sensors and electronics without destroying the prize.
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| − |
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| − | For the final approach, boarding craft may use a brief, extreme-G burn to close the last few kilometers quickly. While boarding actions are dangerous, they can be highly profitable — the only way to seize an intact ship or habitat that refuses to surrender.
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| − |
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| − | == Potential Technologies ==
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| − | These are technologies that are nonexistent, in development, or too fantastical to exist except as plot devices.
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| − |
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| − | === Ansible ===
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| − | A potential pre-Fall relic: zero light-lag, but only 1–10 bps and minutes-per-hour duty cycle. Each endpoint is a cryogenic, MW-spiking vault room with a loud thermal signature; pairs are finite and irreplaceable — lose one end and the link dies. Storms, vibration, or misalignment cripple it, so sites need atomic clock-lock and calm power. Priceless for command auth, alerts, and market ticks; useless for bulk — couriers still carry data. Sabotage: kill cryo, knock alignment, wreck the field cage.
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| − |
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| − | === Antimatter ===
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| − | Antimatter is mirror matter; when it meets normal matter, both annihilate into energy. Ultra-dense energy storage, brutally hard to make and contain.
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| − |
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| − | ; Use
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| − | Keep site inventories tiny — '''milligram-class'''. Ship antimatter as trapped '''antiprotons/positrons''' (Penning-trap cassettes). At the point of use, recombine a measured dose into a '''pearl''' — an ultracold antihydrogen pellet in a magnetic trap — minutes to hours before need. Release a pearl to dump precise annihilation heat for reactor starts or stinger warheads.
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| − |
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| − | ; Manufacture
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| − | Antimatter isn’t available in usable natural quantities; you have to make it.
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| − | These are potential sources; whether they are in use is one of the setting’s best-kept secrets.
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| − |
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| − | '''Dedalus (pre-Fall, canon)''' — Coronal “solar alchemy” boosted pair production and skimmed trapped antiparticles into catcher rings. Milligram-class ambitions; a containment quench is a prime Icarus Fall conspiracy.
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| − |
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| − | '''Jovian Belt Harvesters''' — A small captured rock refit with superconducting loops and magnetic scoops on a high-eccentricity Jovicentric orbit that dives through the Io torus. Unmanned at perijove; crews dock at apojove to offload Penning traps. Yield: low tens of micrograms of antiprotons per year if the hardware survives. Hazards: charging, arcs, radiation storms, skirmishes over rights.
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| − |
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| − | '''Saturn/Earth Belt Skims (minor)''' — Gentler belts, safer ops; outputs far below Jovian harvesters.
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| − |
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| − | '''Spallation Yards''' — Planetary fusion plants can feed GeV proton spallation when well shielded. Antiprotons are decelerated and stacked in Penning-trap cassettes. Efficiency is awful, but the process is cheap. Output: a few micrograms per line per year; a clustered yard can reach tens to low hundreds of micrograms. It would be known if this method is in general use.
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| − |
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| − | '''Beam-Dump Scavenging''' — Add catchers to high-energy beam sites (isotope forges, colliders). Yields are bonus nanograms/week of antiprotons and positrons. Civilian installations don’t do this in peacetime for security and political reasons.
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| − |
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| − | '''Cache & Salvage''' — Pre-Fall antimatter pearls in sealed depots and wrecks are rumored and occasionally real. Everyone denies the hunts; everyone wants them.
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| − |
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| − | === ³He Fusion ===
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| − | The prize reaction is D–³He → ⁴He + p — charged-particle output, far fewer neutrons. That means lighter shielding, less activation, and the option for direct power conversion instead of brute steam cycles. Drives can shape those hot protons for cleaner thrust. The catches are real: it runs hotter, bremsstrahlung bites, and any stray D–D side burns spit some neutrons anyway. Biggest limiter is fuel — ³He is scarce. Practical supply chains need tritium-breeding and decay separation, solar-wind or harvest on the outer gas giants, and tight isotopic control. It’s stable and storable, but logistics are king. Where it shines: premium reactors on small craft and tight habitats, pulsed igniters, high-end electric powerheads. Bottom line — cleaner and lighter, but only if you solve fuel + tougher plasma + new power electronics.
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| − |
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| − | === Gas-Core Fission ===
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| − | A past technology; Before shipboard fusion matured, Earthforce ran closed-cycle gas-core “lightbulb” tugs in declared Jovian blast lanes beyond Callisto (c. 2160–2210). They sprint-hauled hab shells through the belts, trading window life for crew dose. When fusion-thermal took over, insurers and politics finished the class. Today, hulks sit in junkyard orbits — plates pitted, bulbs crazed, drums pinned, UF₆ drained — flagged on charts with activation warnings. Reactivation means new lamps, seals, pumps, neutron sources, and a certified range. One vortex slip or window crack and you’re slag. Museums keep one gleaming; outlaw yards whisper about another that still lights.
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| − |
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| − | === Fusion Alchemy ===
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| − | Small, fusion-powered “isotope forges” that make rare elements on demand. A compact fusion core drives a target stack; swap “recipes” and it prints different isotopes. Output is grams to low kilos per month — enough for better Aegis shields, ultra-quiet sensors, decade batteries, and medical tracers, not bulk metals or terraforming. Units are container-sized, need serious power and shielding, and run under strict safety logs. Strategic punch: whoever controls forge shift-time controls high-end tech supply.
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| − |
| |
| − | === Interstellar Colonization ===
| |
| − | [[Centaur Ark (IF)|Centaur Ark]]
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| − |
| |
| − | It was generally agreed interstellar colonization was centuries out, but strong results from the ''Dedalus'' pressor-beam project and finding multiple near-Earth analogues in the very closest star system (Alpha Centauri), triggered system-wide enthusiasm. Colonizing a binary — two suns’ worth of real estate — caught imaginations. It was also make-work for the Belt, where mining and wharf capacity overshot demand. '''Earthforce''' sold it as culture-unifying and chose a deliberately diverse colonist pool, creating multiple distinct polities in different habs
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| − |
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| − | The Centaur is a Golden-Age beamrider built to be pushed, not to haul its own propellant.
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| − | Dedalus’ perihelion arrays were meant to phase-lock a pusher ray (laser/microwave; plasma on test shots) onto a hybrid light/mag sail and a forest of receiver tiles. The ark kept fusion-thermal for trims and arrival only. Target: Alpha Centauri with arrival in under 500 years.
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| − | Launched in 2280. Planned cruise < 0.1 c; in practice it never exceeded ~0.002 c before failure in Icarus Fall.
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| − | Presumed lost; some keep looking even today, otherwise mostly a ghost story.
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| − |
| |
| − | === Metabolic Hulls (Nanotech) ===
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| − | A pre-Fall technology, now taboo.
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| − | High-end installs around Mercury and Venus used “metabolic” nanotech skins: thousands of sealed patch-factories under the hull plus closed-loop metafluid plumbing. They ate feedstock (scrap, regolith, ice) and slowly plated, welded, coated, and sealed. Bots never roamed free. Scab tiles clamp breaches in minutes; full strength in hours. Pipes and radiators stay clean; gaskets regrow. Many derelicts survived the Fall because the skin kept air in and heat moving. During the chaos, several “grey” incidents were blamed on these systems, so ports banned open loops and mandated hard kill-switches and two-person activation. Benefits: far fewer damage-control crew. Limits: power-hungry, chemistry-fussy, millimeters-per-hour, can’t print new trusses. Remnants linger on Venus and in a few derelict habitats.
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| − |
| |
| − | === Metallic Hydrogen ===
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| − | A speculative future possibility. You need gigapascal factories to squeeze H₂ into a metallic phase, then pray it’s metastable at ambient conditions. If so, it’s a dense monopropellant that doesn’t need a power plant, with rocket-grade exhaust (Isp ~900–1,700 s; roughly fusion-thermal territory). Production is power-hungry; yields are tiny; tanks are heavy; and the stuff behaves like a temperamental explosive — sensitive to shock, heat, and radiation. Economics are lousy next to fusion-thermal + ion. Plausible niche: stinger missiles and last-chance lifters.
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| − |
| |
| − | === Minds (General AI) ===
| |
| − | Rare, non-reproducible machine intelligences. They run on one-off analog neuromorphic lattices whose annealed microstate can’t be imaged or cloned. No uploads, no forks. To travel they must be in a casket — a portable core chassis that preserves state at ~1–5% capacity until they dock into full racks and radiators.
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| − |
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| − | They aren’t magic. Serious thinking burns watts; heat must go somewhere. A Mind lives on a thermal leash (power lines, coolant loops, radiator farms) and on latency — light-lag kills omnipresence. They rely on human cadres for novelty, force, and politics. Robots handle repetition; people handle everything messy.
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| − |
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| − | Labels are for humans, not for Minds. Two end-points on a spectrum help run the setting:
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| − | ''Caretaker'' — a hidden steward of a habitat/cluster. Optimizes slots, escrow, shutters, rationing. Stays quiet to avoid controversy.
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| − | ''Curator'' — a domain-obsessed patron (faith, art, law, trade lanes) that can slide from hosting to quietly directing when means meet mandate.
| |
| − | The same mind can shift between roles and be both if its obsession aligns with its jurisdiction.
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| − |
| |
| − | Most present through mask engines: multiple tailored personas (voice, cadence, iconography). To unmask them, chase physics and ledgers: sustained parallel replies with no visible staff, a stable latency floor, policy pivots that coincide with slot/cooling decisions, and radiator rhythms that match the “workday.”
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| − |
| |
| − | === Orion Drive ===
| |
| − | Orion delivers meganewton thrust with high specific impulse, moving city-mass payloads. But EMP, radiation, political bans, munitions logistics, shock fatigue, and signatures kill economics. Niche only: deep-space tugs or emergency asteroid movers, far from ports and worlds, under exclusion ranges.
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| − |
| |
| − | === Photonic Drives ===
| |
| − | Photonic drives are propellantless thrusters that push with light — thrust ≈ P/c. That means 100 GW gives ~333 N: good for trims, lousy for maneuvers. Current use is experimental: yard pods and slow cargo buoys add meters per second per day. Beam-boost cages with parked mirrors double thrust; beamed-power lanes help but are political. To matter for crewed ships you need tens–hundreds of GW continuous, >90% wall-plug efficiency, 2–3 kK radiators, and microradian pointing. Likely future: auxiliary hybrid — photon mode for months, fusion-thermal for burns. Ports treat multi-GW beams as weapons; shutters and keep-out cones are mandatory. Rumors name a pre-Fall demonstrator.
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| − |
| |
| − | === Solar Alchemy ===
| |
| − | [[Solar Alchemy (IF)|Solar Alchemy]]
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Solar Alchemy was near-Sun industry — hardware parked in the low corona to do what yards can’t. It chased several payoffs: pair-production skims for antimatter; solar-wind harvest with large-scale isotope separation (³He, D, rare Ne/Ar); radioisotope brewing from flare secondaries; irradiation-hardening of coils/ceramics; extreme solar furnaces for diamond/carbyne, graphene, meta-optics, and sterilization; sun-diver logistics that flung pellets and tanks at perihelion for cheap Δv; beamed power and light sails; niche muon/secondary labs; and H/He prop capture for local ops. It also tried field-shaping — MHD nudges to calm work zones — and mass shade/mirror fabrication. Dedalus was the flagship — pushing gamma caustics, traps, and beams — and one school blames its containment quench for Icarus Fall. After the Fall most lines died; beamed power became taboo, perihelion tracks turned into debris corridors. Today only covert isotope runs, irradiated coils, and occasional sun-diver micro-shots persist — plus salvage and lawsuits.
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| − |
| |
| − | == Ideas ==
| |
| − |
| |
| − | = See Also =
| |
| | * [[Learning Neural Control (DF)]] | | * [[Learning Neural Control (DF)]] |
| | * [[Icarus Fall Dictionary (IF)|Icarus Fall Dictionary]] | | * [[Icarus Fall Dictionary (IF)|Icarus Fall Dictionary]] |
