Galaxy Rising - A Soft Sci-Fi Collab Verse

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Czernobog
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Galaxy Rising - A Soft Sci-Fi Collab Verse

Post by Czernobog »

So, I thought this up while looking at and thinking of various settings I've seen, and thinking why can't we create something like this?. I then decided to set this into motion with a basic genre, ground rules and so forth. Basically, we build this 'verse from the ground up, using ground rules devised by me.

The genre: soft science fiction.

The rules (these are open to debate, of course):
  • Technology - something along the lines of Warhammer 40,000 or Star Wars. Culture or Xeelee level stuff should be something to inspire awe, not commonly used or for the higher-level stuff, even seen.
  • Humanity is divided. United humanities are boring.
  • Try to at least maintain a pretense of realism in things like scale of armies and fleets, etc.
  • The Milky Way is the main setting. The Magellanic Clouds are the limit of exploration.
And these are what I want to see in this 'verse:
  • Feel free to create warfare and conflicts. The Milky Way of this 'verse is not a peaceful place.
  • Aliens are cool and all, but try and make them fundamentally alien. These are not just people wearing rubber foreheads.
  • Feel free to think big. I don't like undue minimalism, and for good reason.
  • FTL should be reasonably fast, but not enough to break the story. Most drives should be able to cross the galaxy in about 300 or so days.
Last edited by Czernobog on Sun Sep 18, 2011 3:03 pm, edited 1 time in total.
You have ruled this galaxy for ten thousand years.
You have little of account to show for your efforts.
Order. Unity. Obedience.
We taught the galaxy these things.

And we shall do so again.
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Czernobog
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Re: Galaxy Rising - A Soft Sci-Fi Collab Verse

Post by Czernobog »

Nobody interested? I suppose I'll try and make a rough overview of events from the Terran perspective.

2018: Resource Wars begin on Earth, devastating the world as countries battle for oil and other vital resources. UN interventions are insufficient to stop the fighting.

2027: Resource Wars end. Spaceflight programmes begin in earnest. First commercial fusion reactor begins to produce power.

2056: The USA and Canada unify into the Coalition of North American States. First FTL drive developed by a German corporation.

2057: First FTL flight (to Mars).

2083: First Mars colonies constructed, as stop-overs for miners heading for the Asteroid Belt. Luna is now heavily colonised.

2112: First flight to Alpha Centauri, conducted by one Alessandra Castellucio of the CNAS. She returns in triumph as the first human to venture out of the solar system.

2153: First contact with an alien civilisation, the Vangethi Supremacy. Hostilities commence, as a result of translation issues.

2184: Vangethi agree to a peace. First extrasolar colonies founded. Beginning of Diaspora.

....

2489: Beginning of Supremacy Wars amongst human powers.

2501: Supremacy Wars end as a result of a pressing threat - the alien Ophilim Monarchy invades human space, intent on nothing less than total genocide of the human race. Ophilim War begins. It will not end until more than a century later.

2607: Ophilim War ends as a result of the sterilisation of every last Ophilim-held world. Humanity descends into bickering soon after the war is over, and the peace is short before strife begins again.

....

2986: Humanity is powerful and dominates a quarter of the galaxy, although it is divided into many star-nations. The present day.
Last edited by Czernobog on Wed Sep 21, 2011 2:41 pm, edited 1 time in total.
You have ruled this galaxy for ten thousand years.
You have little of account to show for your efforts.
Order. Unity. Obedience.
We taught the galaxy these things.

And we shall do so again.
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Czernobog
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Re: Galaxy Rising - A Soft Sci-Fi Collab Verse

Post by Czernobog »

Stuff that I'd like to see in the setting:
  • Inexplicable things. Even in the future, not everything is understood or easily comprehended. Things like immense alien artifacts or bizarre species, the works.
  • War, both cold and hot. The human sphere of the galaxy is divided, and while it may be peaceful in some places, in others it is warlike.
  • (Related to the above) Good reasons for war. When a single star system can handle quadrillions and all resources can be easily found, war will be fought not for territory, but for political and other, irrational reasons.
  • Powered armour. Yes, I like it.
  • Eldritch abominations are allowed. Feel free to come up with them.
  • Feel free to be original in creating states and species.
  • A lack of monocultures.
You have ruled this galaxy for ten thousand years.
You have little of account to show for your efforts.
Order. Unity. Obedience.
We taught the galaxy these things.

And we shall do so again.
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Destructionator
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Re: Galaxy Rising - A Soft Sci-Fi Collab Verse

Post by Destructionator »

Mr. Zaron is better than you at your own game, and he's going to prove it.

In 30xx, he was fired from his modest job and replaced with an artificial intelligence. But, he knew he could do better than some stinking computer, so he became his own boss.

When he saw flaws in companies, he wanted to fix them, and by god he did.

By 30yx he had amassed so much wealth that he was richer than many nations. He had proven he was better than the AI that replaced him, and by extension, better than the idiot managers who fired him in the first place.

He had proven he was better than the most CEOs through is acquisitions.


Now, he wants to prove he alone is better than most generals, especially those newfangled AI generals. Using his wealth and personal brilliance, he designed systems from the ground up and slaved a massive warfleet to himself...


Meanwhile, The Star Republic of Victoria, whose militaries were led by the WAI-9000 model of war artificial intelligences had just emerged victorious from their conflict with Ktzcen'tia'thup Combine. When Mr. Zeron saw how much Victoria's AIs were praised by the Pompous Thrill-Gazette and the International Army Journal Sun-Times Tribune for their brilliant strategy, he knew he had to knock them down a notch with his superior intellect.


Mr. Zaron selected a section of his warfleet that matched what the Star Republic of Victoria had to offer, and set a course.

Two and a half years later, the Victorian Prime Minister knew his nation was finished. He told his ministers to prepare terms for their surrender.

But, before they could send it, they received a letter from their aggressor with just one word: "checkmate".


At that, the mirror fleet that invaded their home simply upped and left. It made no demands, left no occupying force. They never heard from it again.
His Certifiable Geniusness, Adam D. Ruppe (My 'verse)
Marle: Lucca! You're amazing!
Lucca: Ain't it the truth! ... Oh, um...I mean...
Marle: Enough with the false modesty! You have a real gift! I would trade my royal ancestry for your genius in a heartbeat!

"I still really hate those pompous assholes who quote themselves in their sigs." -- Me
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Heretic
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Re: Galaxy Rising - A Soft Sci-Fi Collab Verse

Post by Heretic »

Oh why not?

The Tri-Axiom Union

The TAU is actually made of three separate, mostly autonomous nations within five solar systems and trade lanes shared between them. The first and more powerful is the neo-victorian, pseudo-steampunk nation called the Commonwealth of Anglo-Saxonia; the second nation is the fiercely independent Americaland, known for their fascination with machines and diesel-driven warmachines. The last of the trio is the super traditional Yamato Fortress Shogunate.

The Commonwealth of Anglo-Saxonia

Capital Planet: Aeneid
Planets owned: 14
Government Type: Parliamentary Constitutional Monarchy
Economic Type: Protectionist autarky with signs of corporatism. (Mostly Free Market within the Commonwealth)
Motto: For the Immortal Queen!
HISTORY

The beginning
When colonization started, many ideologies pooled resources and time to create their own colonies free from scorn. One such colony was a joint BNP-Tory attempt to escape the Liberal Democrat-Conservative/Labor/Liberal Democrat dominated United Kingdom. Twelve rocket-ships filled with supplies and resources were launched during the Diaspora.

The Dex Sector was formed when the colonists put the 3D boundary around five systems that were bunched closely together (at least in space terms) and landed on the nearest habitable planet, which they called Aeneid. The colonists dismantled all but one rocket ship and set out starting a new, minority-free life.

War
...of course, troubles started. Originally called the Empire of Tudor,The BNP and the Conservatives of the nation started bickering on how the new government should be formed, and two factions were formed, mostly by BNP and Conservatives on separate sides. As land became sparser and threats outside the system increased, the need for a unified government rose dramatically. The descendants of the BNP and the Tories started slugging lead at each other during isolated incidents, but gradually a full-scale war started, which lasted for about a couple of decades. The Liberal Democrats and Labour Party in their various incarnations laughed at this Judy-and-Punch debacle.

At first, hi-tech gauss weapons, orbital jets, and chemical weapons were used; but as the war dragged on and the fighting got more ridiculous and stockpiles destroyed or used up, many resorted to colonist shotguns and rifles, with the occasional mortar thrown in. By the time the world war ended in 2512, half the population was dead and the stubborn few were using bows and arrows. Knowledge was lost, and many of the survivors' newborns were regressing into a savage mindset. The fate of the Commonwealth of Anglo-Saxonia would have been an episode of Doctor Who if it weren't for a pompous, determined, charismatic MP by the name of Geoffrey Chilcott.

By the power of Steam and Mustaches!
Geoffry Chilcott was, as an early child, fascinated with Victorian, and to an extent, Edwardian England. His father was a prominent Member of Parliament of the Conservative side before gunned down by biplane gunfire from the Nationalist side. Taking his father's mantle with a strong sense of honor, Geoffry Chilcott was influential in maintaining pockets of knowledge and wisdom in forms of secret mini-colonies dotted around the northern pole of Aeneid. When rudimentary forms of chemical weapons were sent across industrial and civilian zones on both sides and effectively ending the war with no clear winners, it was Lord Chilcott, now Secretary of State for the Ministry of Defense for the Tory side, who led the rebuilding of the Commonwealth with his private legion of engineers and scientists.

The state of the Empire after the Civil War was awful. Many areas that were decimated in the early stages of the war and cut off from their respected governments fell into a pre-industrial feudal stage.The armies on both sides were mostly uneducated rabbles who were armed with muskets, shotguns, and spears. Warlords starting popping up and taking swathes of land and followers with them. Computers started to become urban legends to many, and the lifespan of those who didn't die in war were greatly reduced to 71 years. The chemical byproducts of the weapons caused much damage to ecology. Life was poor, nasty, brutish, and short.

The former Secretary of State, now dictator of the newly-created Commonwealth of Anglo-Saxonia, wasn't deterred by such a trifling setback. Personally leading his army of scientists and engineers, armed with state-of-the-art bolt action rifles, Lord Chilcott conquered land and used science to bring the population slowly back to a comfortable standard of living, a hybrid of futuristic technology and Victorian culture. Liberal individuality was shunned in the cruel world in favor of order and security, and technology took an aesthetically ancient turn, as brass and steam seemed predominant.

Taking the medieval rabble that the Commonwealth subjugated, Lord Chilcott made an actual army, with regimentation and discipline. It wasn't easy, as there were opponents from the original fighters who believed in the "Philosopher-Warrior" approach of war; they disdained the idea of uneducated soldiers in the honor of the Commonwealth of Anglo-Saxonia. Lord Chilcott's reply? Record all the knowledge the dissidents could offer and then secretly put a bullet to their head. After a while, the few surviving dissidents were silenced as Lord Chilcott was backed by the new Royal Army and the majority of the British subjects.

The Battle of Haldene
By 2534 Lord Chilcott became one of the most powerful warlords in Aeneid. His autorifle-armed army totaled around a million and trade flowed through his territories. Radio was becoming common again, and computers with a rudimentary form of networking started to re-appear. As the new Westminster System started, Lord Chilcott decided to use as much of his powers to do one final push in pursuit of unifying Aeneid. In that goal he organized the First Expeditionary Force and set off subduing the other warlords in a fervor never seen before.

One warlord that seemed to be a pain on Lord Chilcott was the nefarious LORD ARGON, ASSIMILATOR OF HALDENE!, who was notoriously obnoxious in capitalizing his titles (as well as being one step ahead of Lord Chilcott in dickery). Unlike the fashionable and quaint Chilcott, Argon was unapologetically Viking, donning animal fur and wielding his sword of sharpened mutant bone. Despite his savagery, Argon was also a fan of technological breakthroughs, and invested in Weapons of Mass Destruction.

To summarize:

The Battle of Haldene was the bloodiest battle during the Great Expedition. Lord Chilcott sent regiments, most of them consisting of local groupings, to flank LORD ARGON, CHIEFTAIN OF HALDENE!'s stronghold, ANGLAND. ANGLAND was a towering behemoth of a keep constructed by steel, concrete, and the skulls of LORD ARGON, WARRIOR OF HALDENE!'s foes. Armed with old gauss cannons from the Forgotten Age and manned by brainwashed subjects, ANGLAND was LORD ARGON, LORD OF HALDENE's impenetrable home.

But that didn't stop Lord Geoffry Chilcott, God-Emperor of Ma...I mean, dictator of the Commonwealth of Anglo-Saxonia. While the local regiments valiantly sacrificed their lives trying to scale up the skull walls, Lord Chilcott donned his agile battlesuit still intact from the beginning of the war and led his 1st Excalibur Tank Battalion (men driving old trucks with swivel guns on top) to the front gates of ANGLAND. After braving through mustard gas that the enemy unleashed, which Chilcott prepared his army for, Lord Chilcott ordered his SPEISS MERE.."tanks" to blast open the gates, which were made of wood. The gates parted way with relative ease. The massive entrance laid open for the Commonwealth's forces!

The surviving regiments that were ordered to flank the keep's walls finally made it, and two fronts were being fought: Lord Chilcott in his power armor and his vehicles leading a force of 200 through the entrance, and a undefinable amount of poor infantry fighting in close combat on the roof of ANGLAND. LORD ARGON, WARMASTER OF HALDENE! was obviously angry at this double penetration, and decided to fight back. Taking his large sword ARSE BANDIT with him, LORD ARGON, DEFILER OF HALDENE! plowed through the poor saps left and right. None could stop the mad warlord's fury on top (of the roof). Leading his slave-warriors through gunfire and hacking , LORD ARGON, AVENGER OF HALDENE! came face to face with Lord Chilcott, the only man that could oppose him; the only man LORD ARGON, NIGHTKILLER OF HALDENE! worried enough to have nightmares of him.

The climatic battle was of savage gentlemanly conduct. The two leaders set the rules to swords-only and no armor. The two men took off their respective armors, revealing ripped and sweaty man-bodies, and Lord Chilcott took out a long "sword" as his opponent wielded his ARSE BANDIT. Thinking nothing of Lord Chilcott's "sword", LORD ARGON, MASTER SWORDSMAN OF HALDENE! commenced duel. The sweating men clashed with each other, occasionally getting close to wrestle with each other. When it looked like LORD ARGON, TRIUMPHANT OF HALDENE! was about to win, the small hole under Lord Chilcott's "sword" came alive. The gun barrel latched behind the blade spewed hot lead, which penetrated into LORD ARGON, MARTYR OF HALDENE!'s heart and killed him instantly. When the opposing side chastised Lord Chilcott for cheating, he replied that the sword had a gun in it, but it still counted as a sword for its primary goal. Bowing to his wisdom, the Haldene army was crushed, and Angland was taken.

Just as Lord Chilcott was about to take the bone sword Lord Argon carried for himself, the sword shattered into twelve pieces at high velocity, scattering across the globe. Lord Chilcott found himself grasping part of the pommel. It is said that LORD ARGON, MYTHO OF HALDENE! in his last dying breath cursed Lord Chilcott and swore that he will not have the privilege of wielding the ARSE BANDIT. Lord Chilcott, until he died, searched fervently for the bone sword, obsessed in finding his rightful treasure. Not a single piece was ever found by Lord Chilcott...

After the Battle of Haldene of 2542, Lord Chilcott mercilessly subdued the minor warlords, until in 2545 all of Aeneid was under Lord Chilcott's control.

The Immortal Neo-Victoria
As Lord Chilcott settled down and made his lineage massive with many women in his old age, he realized that in order to be British, the Commonwealth needed a monarchy. He knew that he was out, as the House of Commons would revolt. And while Chilcott pondered whether to exterminate the House of Commons and be King, he decided he was too lazy to continue fighting. So, with the help of the smartest of the smart, created a secret lab under Angland where he dived into the forbidden arts of genetics and biotechnology. Using the human essence from many potential humans and the lives of many of his children, Lord Chilcott created a beautiful monstrosity: Neo-Victoria. The petty power plays would be obsolete as an immortal Queen would forever rule the Commonwealth.

Neo-Victoria was not like the Queen Victoria of the 1800s. Her face was gaunt like a judge; her hair red like fire; and tall, very tall. Her voice was booming and crystalline, almost like an angel. Deeming her perfect, Lord Chilcott announced her to the world, and she was adored everywhere. To keep her youth, she was latched onto a steam-powered brass throne, where curing agents were fed to her back through needles and pipes. Satisfied, Lord Chilcott sacrificed the MPs who dissented to the idea of the Immortal Queen to her, feeding their tissue and biomass into her.

Lord Chilcott, Prime Minister, died at the age of 84 and was embalmed on his gold-embroidered couch with his favorite china set. His children were placed into the House of Lords and Commons (the votes for them are rigged), driving in the Chilcott dynasty into politics forever.

The rude awakening
In 2642, the Commonwealth of Anglo-Saxonia changed little. Fashion modified as the youth began to put needless accessories on their clothes and girls showed their stockings while boys threw away the mustache. The factories had their own security force to shut down those pesky unions, and it was a virtue to work in a radio factory at age 9 (safety gloves can be bought for 12 pounds!). The Immortal Queen watched silently as the Houses argued and sneered, occasionally firing the Prime Minister and ordering the assassination of civil servants who try to topple the various departments beyond legal parameters (the police need their work). It was the same during October 15.

But on October 16, life changed. The Royal Astronomers were perplexed at a strange object artificially moving towards them. The Commonwealth knew their roots and were even planning on an orbital ship, but they thought themselves isolated from the rest of humanity. When the strange rocket ship touched down the shore of Williams River near New London, a crowd gathered. To their astonishment, a man of dark pique came out of the rocket. The crowd was astonished. The Black Man greeted the New Londoners in English, and stated he was from a nearby planet called Americaland. The Black Man was quickly escorted by guards to the Palace, where he came face to face with Neo-Victoria. After a private chat, the Black Man was allowed to head back to his planet, bringing back a envoy. Diplomatic relations were established, and in 2645 the Drex Treaty was signed.

The two nations built a joint space fleet and headed off to explore their unexplored system. The two nations, after curbstomping the indigenous life forms in the various planets, encountered another worthy human civilization, the Yamato Fortress Shogunate. After a short tussle, the three created the Tri-Axiom Union in 2651 after the Yamato signed the Drex Treaty.

Capital Planet Geography

New London in Aeneid is the capital of the Commonwealth. Surrounded by stormy seas and situated on top of a cliff-ridden island, New London is usually foggy, with some sunlight enough to farm natural barley and truffles. South of New London is the continent of Yent, where the breadbasket of Aeneid is situated. On the archipelago near the northeast is is the Isles. The East has the arid Bulligham. Various lakes and rivers dot the lands. The Grand Mountains dotting the northern pole.


Economy


Despite the cold area, barley is grown the north to supplement the tremendous amount of potatoes and wheat and other fruits and vegetables in the south. The Bulligham area is used to propagate their prized cow stock, the best natural beef in the galaxy, and a migration effort is taking place. The Isles are filled with fishing communities once the gold that filled the islands were mined to death. Uranium is also mined in various places in the north and west part of Aeneid. Secret labs dot the seas, and the Grand Mountains are great for salvaging ancient mining technology.

The Commonwealth in general is self-sufficient, with factories dotting their moons and subjugating alien races on their conquered planets to mine and farm and process spice, which is popular in the Commonwealth. Their prized planet is Cornucopias, a planet solely dedicated to producing various tea plants, housing the farmers and the overseers and the mechanics that work the tea, and farming the ice in the poles which is prized with mixing the tea. While coal is the energy that keeps the empire moving, tea is the energy that keeps the Commonwealth subjects going, and any threat to the tea supply will be catastrophic.

The Commonwealth is known for making most of the spaceships for the TAU, as well as maintaining the trade lanes with its signal beacons and space stations.

Military

The military of the Commonwealth of Anglo-Saxonia changed significantly since the Treaty of Drex. While maintaining their Victorian steampunk aesthetics, the Commonwealth have improved their formerly non-existent space fleet and made upgrades to their army and air force.

Headed by the Ministry of Defense, Her Majesty's Armed Forces is composed of the Royal Army, The Royal Aerial Force, the Imperial Space Fleet, and the Royal Navy.

Armed with high-caliber autorifles and cheap bulletproof ablative vests and helmets, the average Commonwealth soldier looked like the Pith helmet-wearing soldiers of the olden days, with red suits and fine mustaches. The difference is that the suit is temperature-controlled and allows the soldier to fight in the heavy suit in most environments. A rudimentary form of camouflage is also used, with the coat allowing for different single colors. Despite this, many officers believe that hiding is cowardly and prefer to charge after a barrage of artillery and air support is granted. The officers are equipped with super-sharp cavalry swords and a sub machine gun.

The armored vehicles use hydrogen power to run, and pipes and clockwork mechanisms are not uncommon in the designs. Despite this, the interior houses targeting systems and auto-reloading gear (with pipes and rotating gears) and can easily match a futuristic tank.

The air force usually consists of orbital monoplanes with jet capabilities, and are armed with rockets and gauss weapons. Again, aesthetically industrial. VTOL transport cargo jets allow for flexible and fast transport, and are occasionally refitted as bombers when orbital strikes are too much.

The Space Fleet consists of brown and gold-hue ships with solar sails on the broadsides, shaped like the old Ship of the Line and called Ship of the Line. In replace of cannons though are missile arrays and auto-turrets controlled by gunners trained in computer programming and gun navigation. Each Ship of the Line Smaller ships look like submarines, and spacefighters look like biplanes with an enclosed needle chassis laden with heat weaponry and missile platforms. The Space Fleet is the voice of Her Majesty, conquering planets with the Royal Marines garrisoned inside. Many of the big ships are capable of dropping explosive loads into orbit at pinpoint locations. Occasionally a nuke or two are dropped.

A group of supersoldiers, laced with Lord Chilcott's genes, semi-secretly operate independently, answering only to the Queen herself. Called the Steam Knights of Victoria, these decoratively armored soldiers look like honor guards to the Queen's palace, but each are battle-hardened killers armed to the teeth with high-pressurized heat tubes and miniature gatling guns whose ammo could tear a tank to shred. 25 regiments of these Knights exist, in memory of the Knights of Arthurian tale. The most ancient, the Arthurian Strike, is said to be sealed inside their suits of armor and wield a launcher that shoots miniature tactical nukes.

Strangely, the actual seaborne Navy exist to this day. Patrolling the seas and rivers in the wild colonies against rebels and low-tech pirates, the Royal Navy is probably the strongest boat-faring force in this sector of the galaxy. Armed with lasers, plasma weapons, Shredder weapons, etc. etc., the boats range from stealthy to fortresses, and many are equipped with the means to reach orbit. A strategy includes taking the orbit-bound ships via space vessel and take them to the orbit of the enemy planet where the Navy can hover down into enemy sea and underwater, biding their time to terrorize the coastal region and stop interplanetary transport through air. Many a fisherman dread the sight of the shadowy looming battleships as the morning mist fades.

Culture

Food
British cuisine with alien lifeforms as substitutes.

Religion
During the Civil War, religion was the last thing many people cared about or remembered. But as the Great Expedition conquered land and souls, Lord Chilcott ordered the Church of the Clockmaker created, with the William Paley argument as a basis. The Clockmaker resembled the God of the Old Testament in various circles: a jealous, angry god who would punish sinners mercilessly. The Commonwealth made sure the peasants would follow devoutly, setting up special hospitals and charities for followers and potential converts, while punishing the nonbelievers and pagans. The Prime Engineer was the leader of the church, speaking only to the Queen. Many titles such as Gears and Pivots were created to name the various orders of priests and priestesses.

When the Americanlanders came, Protestantism started contending with the Church's views, and Parliament quickly passed a Religious Tolerance Law to keep from having another war. When the Shogunate was discovered, Eastern mysteries were also thrown into the mix.

Today, while the Clockmaker faith is still strong, many liberal faiths are gaining converts, and agnosticism/atheism/I-don't-care is also starting to become popular with the younger youth.

Fashion
The Victorian style of suits and dresses pervade for the middle class and rags and jean overalls for the working class pervade, but the younger generation is making the fashion more and more revealing and Neo-Victorian, with less restraining corsets, colorful tights, shorter skirts, webbed sleeves, steampunk accessories on arms and belt for women; baring some midriffs is becoming popular in some elements. Young boys are starting to dye their hair and sharpen or lower the bangs, and wear obnoxiously broody overcoats and tilt their hats in ungentlemanly fashion. Goggles are popular for both sexes even if it isn't needed. Sunglasses, a recent phenomena, is also enjoyed.

Affairs
The TAU are besieged on all fronts, and even in their territories Fifth Columnists and rebel alien groups are trying to undermine the unity between the three nations. The Yamato Shogunate and the Commonwealth enjoy a good relationship, even more so than with Americaland, who both nations consider obnoxious. Many Commonwealth soldiers are veterans in colony incidents with indigenous lifeforms and rebel elements. The Commonwealth also enjoys fewer trade relations, being self-sufficient and allowing the Yamato and Americaland to do the trading.

In small areas of the industrial areas, workers are agitated and forming into unions against what they consider unfair working conditions. For now, the Commonwealth is ignoring the incidents...
The Americaland Republic
Capital Planet: The Frontier
Planets owned: 7
Government Type: Federal Constitutional Repubic
Economic Type: Capitalist Free Market with government intervention in some areas.
Motto: Liberty or a punch in your face, sucker.

History

Beginning
During the Supremacy Wars, a group of American fugitives escaped on garbage tugs into unknown territory. They headed into the Drex Sector, and colonized on a planet orbitally opposite to Aeneid, the Commonwealth of Anglo-Saxonia's home planet. The two people didn't meet as the British were having a civil war and the poorly equipped Americans couldn't afford communication technology outside a few regions.

As the garbage tugs died as they touched the ground, the colonists set out to colonize the new world. Luscious and majestic, the self-dubbed Americalanders set out squeezing food and energy from the earth to fuel their new civilization. Led by Sheriff Jack Dillie, the Americalanders recreated the Constitution and Bill of Rights (throwing out the 16th Amendment) and put the Sheriff into the hastily-built Oval Pavilion.

The Wild greasy West
The Americalanders were a farming and logging lot at first, creating log cabins or living in the large immobile garbage vessels. But as time went on, more and more technology appeared with time and effort. By 2500 the Americalanders had radio sets and medium-sized harvesting plants and factories. Scouts were sent by Congress to see what was west. What the men found was lots and lots of fossil fuel. The archeologists found that the planet was once a lush jungle filled with massive mammals and fish that went extinct and became fuel millions of years ago. The Black Gold Rush started in 2501, as Mom and Pop bought "Uncle Joe's Basic Oil Hunting Primer" and packed up in their trucks to head west.

Lawlessness and feuds broke out as people fought for land rights. Greedy Oil Barons bought out smaller and failing refineries and put labor on those who were unfortunate enough to be in debt to the barons or their subordinates. The work was unhealthy, and many of the independent refineries paid protection money to the barons' hired thugs.

The good Sheriff President, while a good capitalist, knew that coercion was used against the honest and hard-working Americalanders, and issued the Law Act. In it, vigilantes were protected by law against the barons' activities, and U.S. marshals were told to legally help the local law enforcement in any way possible. Overnight, militias and sheriffs all over the unnamed planet started taking action.

Unfortunately, bandits, thugs, and mercenaries under the Barons' payroll proved too powerful, and many a marshal and sheriff were dead in the morning. Quite a few sheriffs also turned a blind eye to the gangs for a few Oil Dollars. This proved a challenge for the Americaland government.

A new challenger appears!
Old Cropes, a veteran vigilante and only surviving do-gooder in Hopetown, Navajo was fed up with the crooks. The town was filthy rich with not only oil, but iron and copper; but the town was run by a crook mayor, enforced by a crook sheriff and his crook deputies, under the payroll of a crook gang who kisses the ass of a crook baron's son. Old Cropes had ENOUGH. Hiding himself in an abandoned warehouse after gunning down the local ruffians that chill there, Old Cropes created the Ironclop, a big suit of iron upon iron. Realizing even with his awesome strength can't move the suit, Old Cropes put a diesel-powered backpack (OOC: OILPUNK! Love that guy!) which fuels the hydraulic system that moves the arms and legs. With an old machine gun strapped to a metal wrist and a sense of retribution burning through his veins, Old Cropes, first things first, went to the Mayor's house and gunned him down. When the mayor's assistants came, Old Cropes gunned them down too. And then he stomped to the sheriff's office and gunned down the sheriff, his deputies, and all the prisoners except Joe Liddy, who was arrested for drunk conduct. Old Cropes went to the gang's hideout and gunned them down before gunning their cousins down. The baron's son came down to the hideout, not knowing Old Cropes would gun him down as well. In the end, Old Cropes gunned down people until he reached up to the Baron himself.

Of course, Old Cropes gunned the baron down in an anti-climatic battle, safe in his Ironclop. The U.S. Marshal managed to dodge enough bullets to tell Old Cropes that he was with the law. After taking the suit and examining it, many law enforcement decided to follow suit and take preventions against dying so fast. Thus, the Ironclops were created.

The iron suits were popular enough to become part of the Americalander's military (originally it was just militias and law enforcements). Soon, the mobility of the Ironclops caused for bigger Ironclops (hint: mechs) to be created. Called the Ironclads, these huge walking metal machines to be driven in a cockpit.

Gradually, the wild west was tamed and the surviving non-Baron oil bosses drilled the earth in peace.

The Urban Troubles
While the west was being tamed, the gradually urban area was in trouble. Crime and corruption was rife, and the law enforcements were busy with strange and gruesome murder cases. Even Ironclops could not stop the onslaught of evil, with assassination and backstabbing more common in the art-deco cities than the gun-on-gun in the west. The police force was too corrupted from the inside and/or had their hands filled, and the vigilantes were usually too poor and untrained to deal with the lurking and articulate killers. The day seemed to get darker and the cities grew grim and dusky as the criminal were loose on the city.

The solution? A hard-shelled, cynical, gun-toting square-jawed Private Investigator. Lots of them.

The Fedora of Doom
No one know how the private investigators came into the mix as the solution against urban crime. Maybe one P.I. stalking a woman's husband found out that he was part of secret alien-worshiping cult who created super killers; or maybe various P.I.s just had enough with crooks killing their broads and took matter into their own hand. Either way, the stoic and snarky detectives that lurk the night became the bane for criminals and cultists everywhere. With the training and know-how of a police officer mixed the flexibility and incorruptible position of an independent, the men and women who get down and dirty with the crooks become a force to reckon with. And there are always casualties in the cruel city, but those who survive will be stronger and harder.

The fight was long and hard, and some of the "heroes" fell into the abyss and becoming the monsters they fought. But gradually the forces of justice prevailed and the streets were taking back for the citizens of Americaland...for now.

The Space Endeavor
Meanwhile, in the ice-capped region up north, a company of G.I.s encountered something phenomenal: a circular metal vessel, a UFO!

Bringing back scientists and engineers, the government decided to make a base around the crash site and keep it secret for now. The Americaland government and various private institutes were already making plans for an efficient rocket that would use little fuel taking off and landing. The UFO showed signs of advanced metallurgy and a baffling propulsion system. Chucking the propulsion system, the Americalanders studied the hull intensely for many months. What they discovered was that it was an alloy of many, many metals and plastics, with a healthy dosage of titanium. Realizing that steel was easier to make albeit heavier, the Americalanders tossed out the UFO hull as well. With the UFO, Americaland also tossed the need for efficient ships, deciding to worry about that later.

With the newfound zeal to explore space like their ancestors did before them, the Americalanders set out creating steel-plated rockets ships fueled by kerosene and liquid oxygen to send resources out into orbit and create a space station. In 2598 the resource-laden rocket ship was sent. By 2611 the space station Genesis was built, with two rocket ships ready to explore the system.

Satellites were already sent across the system to scout the area, but manned ships allowed for more complicated tasks that the computers could not do alone. When the rocketship Quest Star came to another planet in opposite orbit and showed as habitable, the captain, an black Americalander by the name of Arnold Ordelli ordered a landing, expecting a quick survey and launch-off. He didn't expect to land in the middle of a civilization filled with top hats, overcoats, and monocles.

The crowd of British lookalikes stood amazed at the black man, who spoke English. The Knights of Victoria quickly came, rough handling the captain and dragging him to the Steam Throne, where the Immortal Queen stood gazing with her laser-precision eyes. As the captain explained himself, Neo-Victoria allowed Captain Ordelli to return to his ship and bring an envoy of ambassadors and the president himself. Once inside, Ordelli punched every crew member in the face for ditching him with the scary Brits. Then, he went home and took the credit for himself.

The Commonwealth of Anglo-Saxonia and The Americaland Republic signed the Treaty of Drex in 2645 and combining knowledge, built a joint space fleet and taking the solar systems for themselves, as entitled by the treaty. All the alien life forms that could wield a spear were crushed, but the Yamato Fortress Shogunate proved strong enough to be under the fold with the Drex humans. Thus, in 2651 the Tri-Axiom Union was created when the Ainu Emperor Isonash Anun Tokugawa signed the treaty as well.

Geography

The Frontier, as the Americaland homeworld is now called, has two faces. One is the pristine grasslands and temperate forests with massive lakes foreshadowed by snow-peaked mountains (and oil fields), and the other is skyscraper cities that reach the sky and blot the surface. The West and the Southwest are filled with oil fields, most derelict now, and sport a number of climates, ranging from tundra to arid. The Eastern hemisphere is urban, and rains quite a bit. The smog creates a dark cover over the sky, and the summer dies when it hits the urban jungle, so most city-dwellers wear their heavy coats and scarves every day.

Economy

The Americaland Republic controls fewer planets than the Yamato and Commonwealth, but makes use of the moons and asteroid belts extensively for minerals and water. The planets they own are usually oil-rich and mineral-rich, with enough space to make cities for their colonists.

The Americalanders are known for their manufacturing of guns, Ironclops and 'clads, refined metals, oil-based products, wheat, and electronics. Aside from manufacturing, the Americalanders provide top quality security service and mercenaries.

Military

The A.R.A.F. (Americaland Republic Armed Forces) sports the best resource-driven army in the TAU. A good portion of the GDP is sent to the Department of War, who in turn dishes it out to the Army and Air Force (including orbital and planetary-based space operations), Marines, and the the Navy (mostly the deep space fleet).

The Army
The A.R. A. consists of both G.I.'s, militia groups, and special force units. The G.I. is the usual "Squad and Squack" groups, armed with semiautomatic BR-1 (Battle Rifle 1), a decent bulletproof/ablative/insulation vest, a tactical readout helmet with vector graphics, and trained in basic Ironclop functioning. Usually the unlucky fool of the squad (usually the new kid or the jerk no one likes) gets the AutoFire Rapidgun, which has a big flash and draws attention to itself. These guys usually see the less action, and usually "squack" tactical maneuver orders to each other.

Another group in the Army are militias, civilian volunteers who supply their own weapons and training. Usually they join the soldiers to protect their land, or go in for patriotism or a thrill. Sometimes mercenaries are labelled militias to keep the public image clean.

Finally, the SpecOps. These commando types are equipped light and go behind enemy lines to wreck havoc. Unlike the other soldiers, they don't use Ironclops, preferring the expensive, stealthier recon suits of more advanced polities. Most do demolition and reconnaissance, but occasionally assassinations or secret wars are part of their job.

The Ironclad mechas are one of the most common mechanized vehicle in the Army, second only to the All-Purpose Jeep. The Ironclad has a distinctive steel and wielded feel to it, showing painted bolts and the lines of sheet metal. Usually coated dark green, reminiscent of World War 2 ammo boxes, the large walking tanks are armed with two 115mm HE cannons that can swivel up or down, and three .50 caliber machine guns, one for each side under the cannon, and one stationed on the opening hatch above the head. The Ironclad is manned by two men, one the driver and main gunner, while the other is designated a technical assistant and in charge of reloading (auto-reloading mechanisms were too expensive to mass-produce, so giving the grunts the job seemed logical). Smaller and more advanced Ironclads exist, but are beyond the reach of most low level units.

The Air Force
Part of the Army, the Army Air Force is the support group and defense line for the ground forces below.

The Xero Jets look mostly like the old Bell P-59 Airacomets first used by the old USA. The difference is that when the jets hit sonic speed, the wings fold back for better aerodynamics. They are twice as heavy as most jets during the 21st century, but about a inch better in defense. Armed with Armor-Piercing machine guns and two arrays of heat-seeking missiles, these jets also have VTOL and orbital flight, giving them an advantage. What's also best? These jets are modular, allowing them, with the right modifications, to become bombers or dropships for aerial troops. Hell, helicopters can be created from them..

speaking of helicopters, many Spec Ops who can't afford the risk of amisaligned HALO jump usually use silent and stealthy "Night Copters" to go in and out silently. The Night Copters can come with ablative shielding against laser weapons, vacuum-sealed doors, dual rocket launchers, and heat rays amongst other things if the need arises.

Many of the airplanes can also act as starfighter patrols near the planet if need be, supplementing the orbital defense.

One rumor has it that certain military airbuses and jets can transform into Ironclads...

The Navy and Marines
The standard format of the TAU is to unify the Marines and the Navy (or space fleet) as one, but Americaland refuses to follow that tradition. While the Navy and Marines cooperate alot, they are two independent branches of the Armed Forces.

The Navy consists of 13 dreadnoughts, 20 starship carriers, and a couple hundred escort destroyers and assault carriers. The flagship, the ASS Terror is filled with heat cannons and missile platforms filling every niche. Not only that, most dreadnoughts carry the super-expensive particle shielding, which allows for enemy weaponry to hit without damaging it (the shields, of course, require lots of energy). The other, smaller ships would have to make due with the heavily-armored hull and electronic jammers for protection.

One unique item of the Navy's arsenal is the Victory Rockets. Large, cigar-shaped rockets manned with a crew of 10, these ships can speed through blockades, using magnets and jammers to twirl enemy weaponry aswirl. Usually used by Marine strike teams and carries two helicopters and a jeep (Ironclops are almost always added to the inventory).

The starfighters are usually the same design as the Belll P-59 Airacomet lookalike in the Army Air Force, but with heavier hull and bulkier look. The size is used to house guiding systems and life support for the starfighters. They are equipped with heat weapons, electronic warfare computers, and spacial torpedoes. Dubbed the XM-Huey, these fat starfighters are more trouble than they look.

The Semper Fidelis are usually within the big ships or in smaller transports, allowing for army special operations to clear anti-orbit weaponry before spearheading the assault. Armed with mostly the same weapons as the the army, the marines have more expensive HE rounds in their battle rifles, as well as a flamethrower/shotgun attachment underneath. Due to the near suicide nature of the Marine's job, the War department spends quite a bit of time securing enough mobile battle armor for the marines, usually a more ceramic body and joint armor with a more flexible helmet that comes with Infrared and Night Vision visors. Their Ironclops and Ironclads usually have a skull-shaped head or cockpit.

A few types of Ironclads
Standard Issue- Mk.2 is the generic ammo box on thick chicken legs, armed with one 115 HE cannon and a .50 caliber machine on each side and one machine gun on the top hatch. Needs two men to crew and has a mediocre armor rating.

Artillery Issue- This Ironclad has a circular chassis that can rotate its massive 180mm round howitzer gun. Sidearms include a swiveling machine gun underneath the cockpit hatch (a ladder system). Usually within logistic line to replenish ammo and keep a safe distance. A popular tactic with the Artillery Issue is to station it on a mountain and use it as a sniper against enemy armor formations.

Little Joe- officially called the Mk.2-v3, Little Joe is used by reserve units and "Doom Companies" (aka penal units), though occasionally used by SpecOps for mobile armor in small spots. Looks like a smaller version of the Standard Issue, but with one Anti-Tank cannon attached to the center of the chassis, and two .45 machine guns on each side.

Lincoln Issue- A behemoth, the Lincoln has very stubby legs and a thick chassis to support itself. Armed with twelve 110mm HE cannons bunched together in a circular formation at the center, the guns fire in a rotating pattern and house an auto-reloading mechanism. Houses a company of soldiers in full Ironclop, and for support has six sponsons that can mount a variety of weapons. Used when the combined forces of SpecOps, AFVs, and artillery bombardment does not penetrate enemy lines.

Spatial Task Issue- Vacuum-sealed and equipped with solar panels, these bubbly Ironclads are actually made from special alloys that give it a futuristic look. Armed with only a repeating railgun and used in planetoid operations.

Prototype Issue-The science wing in the Department of War are working on mobile and quick-reaction arms using the resources at hand (in case those pesky commies try to blockade trade), allowing for grasping movement and an increased freedom of weapons choice.

-Classified--I'm sorry, there is currently no information on the new ------- Trans---- Evolv---- Issue. You are not authorized to access this panel. Please step away from the panel and go near the left wall while security comes and apprehends you. Remember to keep your hands up and make no sudden moves, as lethal force is authorized.

Culture

Food
A mix of alien cuisine transformed by the Standard American Diet. The Continental breakfast and colonial era cuisine is also enjoyed. Sushi, imported from the Yamato Fortress State is also popular.

Religion
The First Amendment allows for Freedom of Religion, but Catholicism is usually frowned upon in most regions. Many also hold a distrust for the oriental faiths that the Yamato hold.

Fashion
The zoot suit and cowboy hat are back in style! The urban areas' middle class usually wear khaki suits with loafers and dresses in the similar fashion of the 30s and 40s, while the lower class wear jeans and whatever they can get.The upper class can afford offworld fashions like silk dresses from the Yamato and luxury coats from the Commonwealth. The frontier areas usually wear jeans, a buttoned-up shirt, and a stetson, but in hotter temperatures the men usually take off their shirt while women are allowed to wear undershirts. Many subcultures with other human fashions are starting to appear, but usually frowned upon.

Affairs
Unlike the xenophobic Shogunate and the self-sufficient Commonwealth, the Americaland Republic is open to trade with extra-system polities, and aside from the Frontier, has their planets have mixing cultures (some theorize a sort of culture police in New Langley keep the "outside filth" to a minimum) and ethnic backgrounds. Americaland usually has strained relations with other nations claiming to be of American repute, especially if the Second Amendment is not enforced there. As with many American-esque polities, the Americaland Republic claims to be the true American legacy. Extremely paranoid and usually declares war on the drop of a hat.

The frontierlands usually are infested with bandits and wild creatures that could tear a tank in two, and the cities have grim criminals and cultists worshiping alien gods beyond human comprehension...

The Yamato Fortress Shogunate
Capital Planet: Edo
Planets owned: 16
Government Type: Shogunate with regional rulers with the Emperor as the Divine Ruler(Military Dictatorship with Federalist elements with a monarch figurehead)
Economic Type: Corporatism with extreme protectionist policies
Motto: Q- What do you do if your opponent grappled you from behind and you can only move your sword hand to your chest?
A- Stab yourself and kill your enemy. That is the way of the warrior.

HIstory

The spear of destiny
the history of the Yamato Fortress Shogunate is a short but intense one. One day, as legend has it, Tochi Sansei was a boring salaryman in some generic Japanese-filled planet. He lived a comfortable life, but felt empty inside. The world he lived in was corrupt, selfish, and filled with obnoxious things like KAWAII! and DESU DESU DESU DESU DESU!!!! ^_^ Worst of all, the children scorn the culturally sensitive Japanese of the past, taking shame in the national pride of the olden Yamato lineage. This caused Mr. Sansei to be enraged. He fumed for a year, thinking and lamenting on the decay of Japanese moral society. Then, on the night of Oshogatsu (Japanese New Year) of 2542, as Sansei-san was snoozing on his futon near the kotatsu (heated table), a white doe appeared in his dream. It told him to go near the local spaceport and look into the dumpster with a wooden pole that has a chip on top located near the third floor.

Getting up instantly, Tochi Sansei quickly went to the local star port, going through weaboo tourists and sell-out Japanese in order to get to the third floor. Going into a backroom through the restroom, Tochi Sansei found the dumpster. In it, shining brightly was a tip of sharp bone, large enough to latch onto a piece of wood and fashion a spear. Sure enough, as Sansei-san placed the bone tip (conveniently looking like part of a broadsword) to the wood, it magically fused together. Shogunate archivists state that the Spear of Destiny wielded by Tochi Sansei was signaled by the gods of a new Empire.

The Forming of an Empire
To make a force strong enough to start this empire, though, needs men. Strong men. Tochi Sansei knew this and he set out preaching his message of a new Japanese empire to any that would listen. A few historical re-enactors and other annoyed citizens joined his cause during the first year, but as the planet the reactionaries lived in tumbled down due to economic instability, the idea of social harmony and samurai honor started appealing to a decent amount of people. Manpower and resources started funneling into his pockets and Sansei-sama was able to manipulate the Diet from behind the scenes. Empowered, Sansei-sama and a hundred of his fanatic followers went to the nearest embassy of Malaysian wannabes and tried to kick them out of the planet. The guards were stampeded and killed instantly, but as the Sansei Harmon Corps battered the doors and charged through the main entrance, they were beaten back by five mystical Silat masters who defended their ambassadors using only brooms and butter knives. The details of the Silat masters' stand against the Sansei Harmony Corps is for another tale.

Anyway, beaten and licking their wounds the followers of Sansei tried to get the embassy a second time, but the political situation collapsed as the Neo-Malaysian fleet came in to take revenge against the atrocities at the embassy and the planetary army could do nothing to stop them (in fact many soldiers joined the Sansei Harmony Corps). Panicked at this unexpected turn of events, Sansei-Sama, his harem, and as many followers as he can gather hijacked the few colony ships that were there. Others took space yachts, battleships, even tugboats. Rendezvousing near the edge of the system, Tochi Sansei sent the hyperspace coordinates to an isolated and uninhabited sector of space and all 200 assorted ships went speeding out as their former homeland suffered cuisine of mechada and Apam Balik.

Unfortunately, many of the ships didn't make it out, either due to untrained hands too frantic to follow safety precautions or glitches in the universal coordinator. Only 21 out of the 200 ships survived, and only Sansei's ship survived big enough to house the resources for colonization. It was not enough to create a comfortable colony life.

That didn't deter Tochi Sansei. Ordering the surviving ships of around 3000 to land on extremely fertile land with lots of alien edibles, he set out having loyal followers create a Shinto shrine to thank the gods for this success. Sensei Sansei then ordered all guns to be dumped as they were now foreign objects in this pure Japanese planet, resorting back to the spear, sword, and bow for protection against wildlife and criminal elements. The Sansei Harmony Corps renamed themselves the Yamato Shogunate and set out building the first village, made from alien bamboo-ish flora.

For two years, all were good in the new village of Edo. The first rice was being harvested, babies were being born, the Ainu descendants thrown out to fend for themselves because they were too hairy and foreign. Sensei Sansei became Emperor Sansei in 2570. The alien wildlife was being driven away for rice paddies and more houses, when the Yokai came.

The Dark Age
The Yokai (Otherworldy or weird in Japanese) were the native species of the planet the Yamato called Edo and 8-) . Huge Humanoid bug people who lived by patterns (a result in taking advantage of the seasons and migrations), the Yokai were not pleased at the Yamato's deforestation and killing of age-old herds for mass consumption. The four-armed bugs sharpened their hand-scythes, loaded their crossbows, and set out to rid of the pests known as Yamato.

The incidents were mild and rare at first. The old grandma disappears in the middle of the night, the children are never seen again as they set out into the woods to play, etc. But the people became more paranoid as the incidents happened more and more. Soon whole militias were formed in the various villages despite Emperor Sansei's reassurance that mishaps and accidents happen even in Utopia. The Yokai started to attack isolated hamlets in the open, dispersing into the woods before the Doshin (samurai law enforcement) came to investigate.

The situation got worse when in 2582 the Yokai attacked the thriving city of Yakatsu in open sight. The Doshin tried to stop them with spears and arrows, but the Yokai's brute strength combined with their scythe arms proved too much for the law. Amidst the chaos, a militia quickly formed but was easily defeated. Some survivors were reported to have frantically searched the river beds for working firearms they discarded a decade ago in order to find anything to fight against the Yokai. Man, woman, and child were slaughtered as they tried to escape, and the paper/wood houses were extremely flammable, thus causing more casualties. The few survivors told of the atrocities in Yakatsu, causing pandemonium across the Yamato-controlled land.

Emperor Sansei knew that his charm and authority alone could not keep the people in line with his Utopian image and ordered the Doshin and his own private samurai retinue to cull the dissidents and hush up the Yakatsu survivors. Soon, the people were plagued by both the elusive Yokai and the tyrannical rule of the Sansei Dynasty. The colonists that lived in the frontier and away from the safety of the town of Edo lived in constant fear that either the Yokai would butcher them in their sleep or envious/angry neighbors would report them to the police as traitors or fifth columnists of the Yokai. Many risked ignoring the Sansei's orders and made secret militia groups and watchmen squads to keep an eye out for the isolated Yokai. Armed with bamboo spears and bows, the militia gave little solace to the outer villages and did their job quite well, until the Doshin would come and put down "insubordinate elements." The hope of a new and regal Japan died as the fight for survival became the new mindset.

The Emperor, living comfortably in his stone and sturdy wood castle, had bigger problems to face. He knew that various elements in his government vied for power, especially his many wives and concubines who wanted their sons to be the next emperor. Realizing that a coup or assassination are starting to become a likely end for him, Emperor Sansei took action. He ordered his enemies killed, gave those positions to his loyal friends, and reinforced his castle with highly-paid samurai and slave-soldiers in fear of their lives. Deciding to kill two birds with one stone, Emperor Sansei formed an army of 112 males, mostly well-trained and armed with the finest bows, armed with the swiftest and strongest Katanas, and riding the greatest horses....and all sons of the Emperor. Aging from 7 years old to 32, the sons were forced to fight against the strong and stealthy Yokai, and quickly died out; but not before taking many Yokai with them. The people, hearing of their deed from nearby villages, quickly deified the One Hundred Twelve Sons, a light in dark times.

Seeing that the people were uplifted by this display of 'self-sacrifice' and 'voluntary courage of the Emperor's loin-kin', the Emperor then sent his women harem, including daughters, to war in order to rid himself of the angry and vengeful women whose sons and brothers and cousins were pressured to die. Women were not allowed katanas in the Yamato Empire and gave the women a disadvantage. Deciding to follow the Onna-Bugeisha (women warrior) of old, they armed themselves with Naginatas, daggers, and bows; unchained by the level of statute men were expected to follow in battle, some of the women even rediscovered gunpowder and made primitive cannons and bombs during rest periods in between marches, for Emperor Sansei refused to supply horses to them. After seeing them go, Emperor Sansei went off to find a woman to continue his dynasty, promising himself never to make the mistake of having a harem again.

Unfortunately even though the women warriors fought as dirty and brutal as the Yokai with their spears and poison-laden arrows and bombs/cannons, the women were under-trained, poorly equipped, and the Yokai were still too strong for the 200-women army physically. Virtually all of them were slaughtered after a week of constant and bloody fighting.

Two women barely escaped with their lives. Kyou Tokugawa and Izumi Saito, the 21st wife/concubine and the daughter of a courtesan that Emperor Sansei killed in rage a year ago, respectively, managed to survive when a pack of Yokai attacked the camp of surviving seven (including Kyou and Izumi). While they fought valiantly, five women died; Kyou and Izumi were seriously wounded and forced back to back as the pack of surviving Yokai surrounded them. But inner rage was within the two women: Kyou Tokugawa lost her two younger sons and a daughter to her husband who she naively obeyed at a whim; Izumi was still furious over her mother's murder by her father.
They knew death would come to them, like it had for their sisters of battle, but not today. Fueled with rage, adrenaline, and the help of the spirits of their dead family who died for the mad Emperor, the two women screamed at the top of their lungs and charged at their foes. Izumi managed to fend off the scythe-hands by wielding a yari (Japanese straight pike) fashioned from a strong wood pole and a scythe-blade taken from a fallen Yokai. Kyou threw bombs at the Yokai on her end, deafening one of her ears, but killing the foes.

After the battle, the women limped across the forest, luckily evading Yokai patrols as they tried to get to a nearby village, but hunger and fatigue set upon them, and both women collapsed on the ground.

The Usurper
Ionash, a young Ainu lad of 15, ventured outside of his kotan, village, to hunt game for his clan. With is wooden bow and sinew in his hand, Ionash moved carefully through the flora and looked for game. Searching the ground for tracks, Ionash found blood trails instead. Trailing them he found two beautiful women in strange dress, bloodied and armed. Bandaging them up as much as he can, Ionash went back to summon help to get the women to the kotan and get medical treatment. When Ionash, four other men, and two women came to retrieve the injured, Kyou was awake yet weak. Seeing the strange people she shouted and lashed at them feebly, but one of the men spoke in Japanese, reassuring her that they mean the Yamato no harm. Just as Ionash was going to intervene in the tense situation, a group of Yokai came out, hissing and clicking their insect mouths. Kyou embraced herself for the brutal massacre, but tremendous blasts erupted, hurting her ear again. Peeking, she saw the Yokai fall, and in the hands of three of the Ainu, including Ionash, were revolvers.

After getting Kyou and Izumi into his house and having people care for them, Ionash told Kyou the tale of the Exodus:
---
When the Ainu were kicked out of Edo with only the clothes on their back and a few scant possessions, the wilderness was harsh to them. The Ainu at first camped out near the Kaze river that goes into Edo, with its abundance of safe seafood and a way to transport once they craft boats. A few days passed for the impoverished and defenseless Ainu. While the Yamato were feasting on ship supplies and native fruit, the Ainu could only afford to eat fish, berries, roots and the occasional walking clam. The days past, and while canoes were made the native predators started migrating to richer hunting grounds. Unfortunately for the Ainu, the predators consider the area they reside in as a water ground. The Ainu did not know this at the time, and continued on.

One day, the Ainu were foraging for food when they came to a natural dam, and lo and behold,the tossed out firearms were lying idly on the river floor. Quickly grabbing them, the Ainu discovered that many of the manual-operated weapons (bolt action, revolver, lever-action) were still operational, and a few sturdy low-tech assault rifles were also uncovered. And miraculous of all, the bullets were even functioning! Arming themselves, the Ainu considered overthrowing the Sansei followers but decided against it as they were ambushed by reptiles and large birds. Guns ablazing, the Ainu journeyed away from Edo and decided to forge their own civilization. Residing near the lake that connects to the Kaze River and used manure, wood ashes, and organic materials in compost piles to create potassium nitrate within a year. This was, combined with sulfur from nearby hot springs and charcoal, created gunpowder. Unfortunately, the gunpowder wasn't smokeless, and created the large black smoke as well as shorten the barrel lifespan of the gun. Still, combined with guns and a strategic resource-rich area, the Ainu could withstand the wild monsters and the Yokai. Due to the scarcity of guns, each gun was treated carefully and almost religiously, passed down only to trusted family members and courageous warriors who proved exceptional.

Creating villages with palisades and elevated mounds of dirt to give a better view of watchmen, the Ainu gradually spread out as well, establishing networks between villages for trade and security and keeping their cultural heritage. Still, the pain of being exiled by the Yamato edged into their mind and vengeance was a good goal.
---

Hearing this, Kyou developed an idea to avenge her family. She told ambitious Ionash her plan, and the two agreed to it. Ionash knew that he first had to gain the trust of his kotan before the plan could be unleashed. Only a great feat of skill could sway his village towards him, and even then the current chief as well as the other Ainu kotans would be obstacles. But that didn't deter Ionash, who had always dreamed of ruling all the Ainu and beating back the Yamato.

Taking only his bow and a bag of food, he set off into the woods to hunt a pack of Yokai AND the Saber Dragon, one of the most enigmatic and deadliest beast in the planet of Edo that only reside near treacherous volcanic mountains.

And by golly, Ionash did both! Bringing the corpses of the Yokai and the head of the Saber Dragon to his tribe, he easily became chief of his tribe, and set out persuading neighboring kotans to join him. Then, he set out to marry Kyou Tokugawa in order to unite Ainu and Yamato royal blood, taking her last name and thus legitimizing his potential rule for the Yamato people. Kyou taught him Japanese writing and culture, as well as the politics and current situation of the land.

An awkward situation started before the Tokugawa marriage when a powerful chieftain with the largest and most purest gunpowder processing houses offered his daughter as a bride, and Ainu always comes first. Ionash quickly solved such trifling problems by marrying both Kyou and the girl named Kucan) and having hot threesomes. Just if you wanted to know, y'know.

Ionash Tokugawa organized the best warriors of the unified Ainu people into an army. Using his Ainu wife's connections, Ionash built efficient home factories that manufactured flintlock rifles. Supplying them to his soldiers, both warrior and layman, he set out crushing anything that opposed his march towards Edo, now a fortified city with powerful daimyos conveying the Emperor's will on nearby regions. The Tokugawa Army managed to gain the fealty of the frontier villages that grew tired of ineffectual and uncaring samurai who would tax them and then leave the poor peasants to fend themselves against Yokai and bandits. With a growing army, Ionash Tokugawa set out to wage the first battle.

The Age of War
Emperor Tochi Sansei was aging. He tried and tried, but never managed to produce a single male scion, killing the unborn daughters and their mothers. Realizing that the Nationalist Utopia was a failure, he set out to grasp for control, and thus gave regional power to trusted vassals who would keep the population under control. This caused political intrigue and low-tensity infighting, using unwilling peasants as soldiers. Sometimes the more powerful and ballsy daimyos would hire young Yokai who don't have the same anger against humanity as their fathers had. Most of the samurai weren't even better, slaughtering left and right for their personal duels and honor. Life was tough.

There were exceptions, as a group of ronins (masterless samurai), angered by the treatment of the people, decided to take a stand. The 'Wayfarers', as they called themselves, vowed to wander the Yamato lands and fight against injustice. Many died against the combined brunt of the Yamato Empire's forces, but there were those that survived and continued on. Some even joined forces with Ionash as he marched through Yamato lands, fighting the daimyos that he encountered.

Enraged at the bearded devil and his traitorous women, Sansei-sama declared war and mustered loyal samurai and conscripts to fight against the increasingly large Rebel/Ainu army. Supplemented by Yokai mercenaries, Sansei-Sama split the army into two, sending one part straight at the enemy, while the other circled behind them.

Meanwhile the Tokugawa Army won bloody battle after bloody battle, losing many good men but gaining new followers as well. A force combined of rifle-armed Ashigaru (the foot soldier), the veteran Ainu warriors, and the occasional Wayfarer swordsman, Ionash Tokugawa gained more and more territory.

His goal? To take Edo and be more Yamato than Emperor Sansei himself, beating the founder in his own game!

The Battle of Edo
In 2594 half of the Empire was under Ianosh's control. Under his control, the territories were mobilized for total war: while the men were sent off to join the Tokugawa-led army, the homefront was sent to work, producing weapons and feeding the army. Old men and children were given the important task of guarding the edges of town against bandits and ninjas. War was in the mind of everyone. And because of a human-caused pandemic among Yokai broke out a few years earlier, causing fewer raids, more attention was diverted into killing each other.

By August, Ionash and Kyou's plans came to fruition. Leading a trained army of around 2000, the warlord couple set out to Edo itself, defended by around 3500 soldiers and around a dozen Yokai mercenaries. The Ainu-led army marched that month in solemn determination, hoping to capture the Edo Castle at nightfall. As they reached the Kaze River Bridge, they were ambushed from behind by a thousand Sansei-loyal ashigaru who armed themselves with captured rifles. While Ionash managed to fend them off, his force was depleted to half and himself mortally wounded.

While laying in critical condition inside his tent, three Ninjas managed to infiltrate his camp disguised as messengers and killed the guards watching Ionash's tent. There, they had the frail Ainu leader at their mercy. Raising their cleavers to butcher his body and take his head, Izumi, who was an officer of a regiment of rebel samurai, came into the tent. Promptly slaying the Ninjas, she made sure a new guard post was set, and personally watched over her master. When he came to, Ionash was extremely grateful of Izumi. Many thought he would force her to marry him, but instead Ionash cut their thumbs and shared blood, declaring Izumi his blood sister and equal. He gave her command of a quarter of his army, which was being supplemented by willing enlistees.

On September 14, the battle began. Catapults and cannons were set up in the town itself as intense fighting surrounded the set-up. Cannonballs and debris crushed the castle walls, and the Yokai mercenaries were forced to stay and defend the emperor. Ionash had Kyou stay behind in order to keep the plan going if he is to die, and had his new sister Izumi order the army to capture the town. Ionash had the Wayfarers and a few trusted Ainu warriors follow him to the castle, where they secretly scaled the siege-torn walls at night. Dispatching a few patrols and ninjas, the group of elite soldiers got into the castle and headed towards the emperor's room..

..where they were ambushed by ninjas and Yokais. Outnumbered and fighting in an unknown area, the brave Ionash and his men fought tooth and nail against all odds. Many of his friends died, but each took many foes with them. Ionash himself fought like the Saber Dragon he killed years earlier.

When the dust settled and the blood rage waning, only Ionash was left, two swords in hand. In front of him was Emperor Sansei himself, wielding the Spear of Destiny. No words were exchanged and the two men charged at each other, exchanging slashes and blows. After a while, Ionash stopped playing and promptly cut down the senile Emperor, taking the Spear for himself.

The battle in town was still raging at this time, and both sides refused to give in. Every street was filled with fighting or the dead, and house battles were common. Izumi had fire fighting divisions to douse fires and potential fuel in order to keep flammable Edo from going up like a firelog. She even personally led charges against strong enemy footholds, with her Naginata and bombs in hand. There was no chivalry in it, as soldiers near teenage years were mercilessly cut down on both sides, and friends sacrificed themselves vainly. But soon the Tokugawa forces pushed the loyal Imperial forces back and routed them, ruthlessly. As they charged to the castle and eliminated the occupants, Ionash calmly waited in the Emperor's suite, Tochi Sansei's head on his lap. As the attackers came in, they rejoiced at their leader's valor. The inauguration ceremony of Ionash Anun (meaning Outsider in Ainu) Tokugawa and Kyou Tokugawa as Emperor and Empress occurred that very day, with bodies still being dragged and cremated. Izumi Tokugawa became the first Shoguness.

The New Beginning
Like Star Wars, it didn't just end with the big fireworks and celebration. Life had to continue, and new problems arose. One of the most tantalizing issue for the Empire was the Yokai. While renegade warlords and samurai were easily within human territory, no one knew how many Yokai existed around the world; the Yamato and Ainu controlled lands only make up a single-digit percentile. Realizing that the indigenous beings could be a potential threat if unified, Emperor Tokugawa set out to create a slowly advancing line of fortifications and soldiers, taking down earlier walls to build newer, more distant ones. While it was efficient and greatly reduced Yokai opposition, the task was tedious and expensive, and the Sansei-loyal regions did all they could to thwart progress.

It was up to Izumi Saito, Shoguness of the Empire, to fight against the remnant. Organizing her newly formed, all-female Onna Bushi, Izumi personally routed two of the strongest regions, and commanded the regional forces against other, more less significant rebels. While the Emperor was out finding new ways to kill Yokai, Lady Izumi Saito kept the realm secure. She grew more powerful each passing victory and decree, and by 2600, it was Shoguness Izumi that was in real political power; Emperor Tokugawa and his wife were delegated to the role of figureheads and Yokai slaying generals.

Angered, Emperor Ionash Tokugawa plotted to overthrow the shogunate part of his government, but balked when the regional samurai landlords pledged their support for his bond-sister in a secret poll. Realizing that there was no way he could eliminate her with direct action, he took a jab at her pride by banning the use of Katanas by women; punishment for the new transgression was flogging, and applied to women of all class (women handing their husband's sword to them are exempt). Unfazed, Lady Izumi substituted the katana with the Uchigatana, a predecessor of the similar Katana. To add salt, she reduced the powers of the Royal Bloodline by publicly stating the beginning of the Neo-Kamakura Jidai (period) where the central Chinese-esque imperial bureaucracy of the Heian era was replaced by land-based economics and a central Shogunate. While the fealty system was used by Emperor Sansei, it was replaced by the Tokugawa Emperor/Empress to consolidate more power; the Neo-Kamakura Jidai gave land owners and historian buffs a hard on and many supported it, suspicious of the Imperial power. This time, the Shogunate got the fealty and fiefdoms.

Now with absolute material power, Izumi made sure her brother would be confined to blessing the First Rice and writing poetry. She even took away his Yokai-busting authority, deeming it a military matter and thus for her and her loyal daimyos. Empress Kyou tried to assassinate the Shoguness, but the plot was foiled and she in turn was secretly assassinated. While within her power, The Shoguness knew the Emperor still had divine authority over the people and disposing of him would political suicide. The last thing she wanted was another civil war.

Herself too busy fighting and politicking to marry and be an Empress, she arranged one of her trusted Right Hand Woman to marry Prince Sho, Ionash Tokugawa's son and heir. Showering him with geisha whores and a katana tempered with Oni Fish teeth among other gifts, Lady Izumi Saito made sure the Heir-to-Be was loyal to her. She even renamed the Yamato Empire into the Yamato Toride Bakufu (The Yamato Fortress Shogunate), in honor of her power and the many fortresses and town walls set up against the Yokai. With the bloodline within her control and the nation following her whim (and the fact that her chauvinist brother was forced to write poetry and attend tea ceremonies for his pass time), Lady Izumi Saito was invincible.

But that did not last long. Soon, some of the male daimyos grew to resent a woman shogun, who prevailed and outwitted their male emperor. The conspirators secretly aligned themselves with Emperor Tokugawa and with their loyal samurai vassals, plotted to assassinate the shogunate and bring back the Empire, with a more restrained male shogun obeying the emperor. With the help of nearby Yokai mercenaries, the secret war began

The Tengu Encounter
Unlike the Battle of Edo, the Secret War (Kakushigoto Senso) was low-tensity warfare, with rival samurai having small duels in the middle of the night and ninja wars killing warring clans. Both sides knew about the war, but kept a polite and civilized face when ceremonies and marriages took place, similar to the Mafia of olden days.By day two merchants would haggle over a basket of fish; by night those ninjas in disguise would try to poison each other with the fish's deadly liver.

While the Shogunate had the loyalties of many of the regions and samurai class, the Palace had the wealth and the serfs' loyalties. It was a complicated situation, as farmers could be working for a Shogunate samurai master, but paid allegiance to the Emperor. Usually the dangerous situation was subverted with both parties not telling their allegiances at all, or refraining from being offended. The universal Japanese mask of politeness saved the Bakufu from imploding.

The subtle war continued through 2651, with an aging Emperor Tokugawa and an aging Shoguness Izumi Saito. Prince Sho had children of his own, the sons married to Izumi's warrior women and the daughters were sent to become part of Izumi's private Onna Bushi army. The technology of the Shogunate changed little; the muskets became rifled, new herbal medicine were founded and expanded the lifespan and population of the Yamato, and basic gearworks were starting to pop up.

A brawl between Emperor-loyal Yakuza and Shogunate loyal Ronin ensued one afternoon in the middle of a dank street in Edo. They fought over the name of a new beverage the local innkeeper created, wanting to name it after their emperor/shoguness. As the swords and clubs started to get drawn out, a shadow was cast over them. A huge metal ship floated above the town, and smaller ones started spawning from the monstrous metal underbelly. As the noisy ships landed, some gold and some steel green, tall men with pointed noses came out from the mouth. The townspeople panicked, and as the Yakuza and the Ronin teamed up to charge at the tall demons, the foreign devils pulled out alien firearms and obliterated them in an instant.

The Imperial Government and the Shogunate dropped their animosity to work together fighting off the Ameri....who am I kidding? Both factions tried to win support of the alien humans for technology against the other, silencing any who want to kick out the "Tengu" (a folkloric being with a long, long nose and red skin). The Bakufu won, soliciting Americalander support for their cause with offers of "china", and the Americalanders in turn had to persuade their Anglo-Saxons to agree not to subjugate the Yamato (the Anglo-Saxonians considered the Yamato inferior based on the tea and were mighty suspicious about the bone-tipped Spear of Destiny). The Shogunate/Americalander/Anglo-Saxon forces marched their way to Edo, where Emperor Ionash Anun Tokugawa was forced to sign the Drex Treaty, condemning the Yamato to a lifetime of wacky expeditions in space. Shoguness Izumi died shortly after, but not before fermenting her place as an influential leader of the nation.

Within a few decades, the Yokai were curbstomped into a few reservations, the Ainu became part of the Shogunate, and technology leaped at a slow pace, as the Yamato feared change. While civil rights minutely improved (seppuku is no longer mandated as a punishment for most crimes, but encouraged nonetheless), the sense of solemn resignation to one's fate and the traditional clan-based family unit continued, but now with corporations and airplanes.

Geography

Edo has a few metropolitan areas, but generally wants to keep the pristine and scenic environment for haiku and hunting. The planet itself is forest-filled with mountains dotting around the area. Lots of vicious wildlife exist. The biggest river is the Kaze River, which connects with the capital, and ends near the Ikura Basin down south, where jungles thrive.

Military

The Yamato Shogunate have two separate forms of military: The Yamato Interplanetary Defense Force, and the private armies of the Regional Lords (basically Daimyos). The Yamato Interplanetary Defense Force is strictly for the security and maintaining of Yamato/TAU property (loopholes are almost always found), while the Regional Lords have private armies called Task Forces (can range up to hundreds of thousands of soldiers and usually have more than one task) to do the bidding of either the Shogun(ess) or their own agenda.

The Yamato Interplanetary Defense Force

Composed of the Space Fleet and the Army, the YIDF obeys the edicts and orders of the Shogunate office. Each Yamato planet recruits, trains, and garrisons their own YIDF units, ranging from a single regiment and a space shuttle to a complicated, branched out planetary army in its own right with its own weapon variants and special forces. The YIDF usually stick within their own orbit, but if the need arises join forces with other YIDF from other planets to fend off bigger threats, usually having a general from Edo itself commanding. There is no Air Force or Marine branch. Both the Army and Navy have their own units for such tasks.

The Ashigaru (Foot Soldiers) form the bulk of the YIDF, serving as both soldier and policeman for their planet. This role has caused many to consider the government to have fascist tendencies. Armed with No. 12 Assault Rifles with ammo tipped in Tungsten for more anti-armor power, the Ashigaru also have the state-of-the-art flashlight and kevlar vest. Oh yeah, they have a short Katana (a generic bowie knife for women) and a No. 12 .38 caliber revolver for sidearms. Planets can supplement the armament if rich enough. The End.

Most of the vehicles come from the Americalanders, with slight alterations of the frame to allow for faster but more expendable jeeps and tanks, which in turn allow for cheaper production. A few Ironclops are bought, but mechas aren't the Yamato's focus. Artillery includes squad-based mortars and small anti-infantry cannons. Tankettes are also a favorite. The End.

The airplanes are usually generic jet fighters with cheap engines and lots of explosives (that go off if it hits a hard object at a certain velocity), and helicopters are almost archaic, coming from the Earth period. The End.

The Defense Space Fleet of the YIDF are usually small to medium size sublight cruisers decked with gyrojet cannons and laser panels. The gyrojet cannons usually require technicians and gunners to predict a ship's trajectory, speed, and distance and firing the cannons at the trajectory, speed, and distance needed to hit. Misses half the time, but are great troop transports. The Edo YIDF are much more powerful and house two battleships decked with tractor beams and plasma megacannons, along with destroyers that are basically floating missile platforms. The usual starfighters are triangles with a cockpit, sensors, and measly weapons. Said measly weapons are two small particle accelerators and a single missile tube of 4 rockets. The Defense Space Fleet also houses their own Ashigaru, equipped with gyrojet weapons and space suits that can close breeches if functioning right. A landrover or two are also added into the armory. The End.

Why, you might wonder, would the YIDF be financially neglected? There are two budget-swallowing reasons: The Oni Project and the Bio-Samurai Project.

The Oni Project
Once the galaxy as a whole was revealed to the Yamato, the scientists became interested in performance-improving methods. While hallucinogens were known long ago, the galaxy gave them more powerful and longer-lasting options. The Shogunate ordered the scientists to create a new breed of Samurai. Engineered from birth, these supermen would be drugged to the ceiling. Many would die, but those that lived would be muscular and bigger and faster than the average human. Addicted like hell, these supersoldiers were armored with the best armor and were given ChainKatanas and chainguns, these samurai would hack and blast through enemy (and occasionally ally) with abandon and near invincibility. In peace time, these men would be landlords of drug gardens, harvesting dangerous substances with captured foes and prisoners. These Oni obeyed the Shogun(ess) with utmost loyalty, knowing where their drugs came from.

The Baisochi Symbiont Project
Believing it wasn't enough to compete with the Ironclops/Ironclads of Americaland and the Commonwealth's Steam Knights of Victoria, the Shogunate took the super weapon projects one step further (and one step more poorer) with the self-sufficient Baisochi (bio-device) Symbiont. While Americaland was all "HURR DURR IRON MECHAS" and the Commonwealth was like "Who needs dumb robot machines when you could stomp those gits flat with your own feet and sip tea while at it?", the Shogunate decided to go the sadistic and gory route of bio-engineering enlarged cyborg lifeforms. Taking the genetics and mass of various alien life forms (and indigenous life forms quite a bit), the scientists bred the Baisochi into various forms, though all have a central nervous system in the the stomach where the pilot would connect with the symbiont. While extremely powerful to the point enemies call "Overpowered!", the Baisochi for some reason require very specific things in order to pilot, so engineering an Oni into a Baisochi is out of the question, and unrestrained Baisochi are dangerous while restrained Baisochi follow only limited commands.

Usually armored with powerful alloys and sensor devices, the armament usually varied from organic to manufactured. Some have guns and power swords, while others used the sharp outgrowths of their body or acid from their stomach as weapons. No two Baisochi were alike, with myriads of genetics and body components.

The most terrifying thing was the pilot-Baisochi relation. Unlike the Americaland Ironclad which was piloted like a tank or the Steam Knight and Ironclop armor which had small pistons or sensors that responded to the body, the pilot had needles stuck into their head, themselves engulfed in the stomach. The pilot's brainwaves would correlate to the Baisochi, who was self-aware itself. Then the pilot can control the body of the Baisochi, whether they be bipedal or four-legged or anything in between. The problem was, adult minds were too developed and didn't have the physical and mental changes needed for the Baisochi to accept the unison. So, teenagers hitting puberty were always selected. There was no training; the drafted teenager, who was shipped to Base X of the Edo North Pole, were immediately placed into a developing Baisochi core, where for two days the pilot and the symbiont would interact with each other. The pilot had a 50/50 chance of survival, and the process was painful. Once the symbiont and the pilot finish "discussing", the nearly-dead pilot is taken out and the scientists read off codes of the symbiont's development mindset before creating a full body suitable for the pilot's psyche.

The Baisochi construction takes about a year, so the pilot is sent to a secret town where they learn both the mandatory educational system and how to pilot the Baisochi with their mind and "gut feeling". After the Baisochi is finished, the pilot takes it out on a test run in order to make sure no tweaks or modifications are needed.

The Baisochi-pilot relationship isn't perfect even after the incubation. The Baisochi consider the pilot a parasite, and sometimes try to eject the pilot, if it weren't for electronic stimuli that restrain the urge. The symbiont vehicle also occasionally shows its disdain for the pilot, and feeds the pilot's brain with a biological version of hate mail and mind rape. Sometimes, the hatred against the pilot was so great that the stimuli was overturned and the pilot was digested slowly if Command didn't send help.

There are also smaller Baisochi, "Baisochi Armor" which are exoskeletons that engulf the pilot and has microscopic stubby needles do the biological connection. The same problems apply, but instead of digestion, the pilot dies of suffocation and lies there, inside the Baisochi Armor. Because the body isn't digest and is inside a vacuum-sealed suit, the living armor continues to operate with the memory, personality and intelligence of their dead pilot inside. Sometimes, other people don't know if the pilot inside is living or not, and incidents where whole weeks go by in combat zones with the teams not knowing one of their soldiers had a mishap until much later when the armor is taken off.

Despite the immense and horrifying drawbacks, the Baisochi outweighs it with benefits. Vacuum-sealed and self-sufficient, the Baisochi can fight for years, only stopping for few hours of sleep or the occasional mental attack. The Baisochi are extremely hard to take down, absorbing kinetic and explosive damage, and can survive a nuclear blast, though incapacitated. Their various forms allow them to do various sorts of tasks, and the weapons can easily decimate a regiment of tanks.

In 30xx, when the Baisochi program was getting into full gear, the survival rate of pilots was a measly 20 percent, and foreign kids were captured to be inserted and brainwashed as well. A few of them were Americalander kids, and when the Americanland government got wind of what happened to them, sent Ironclads to decimate the base and rescue all the kidnapped kids. The Americaland and Yamato government agreed that the program will increase the survival rate by taking extra precautions and using only Japanese kids.

Task Forces
The paramilitary private armies of corporations and daimyos, unlike the YIDF are not restricted to protecting Shogunate interests and can be used in preemptive attacks. With less regulations because they are under the private wallet of the daimyos and not the national treasury, the Task Forces can arm themselves with foreign and alien weapons and are better trained than the average Ashigaru. They are very versatile in form and equipment, so there is no real way to describe the Task Forces. The one drawback the Task Forces have is they do not have the benefit of obtaining Oni samurai and Baisochi (though this drawback can be supplanted by buying foreign mechs). Usually supplements YIDF defenses and TAU expeditions.

Economy

The Yamato Fortress Shogunate owns more planets than the Commonwealth and Americaland, and utilizes most of it in raw resources, with most of the population in isolated space stations. The Yamato own few planetoids, and leave rogue objects and satellites for the Americalanders (the Commonwealth is content taxing the trade lanes). Raw resources and salaryman are the Yamato Shogunate's biggest exports. Due to the large population, the Yamato Shogunate creates space stations where half the children learn English and a trade/service. They learn to love the corporate family over their real families, and those that go to an Americaland or Commonwealth owned business learn cultural and social norms of those areas. These salarymen are given contracts where a portion of their wages are paid to the Yamato, and these contracts can be renewed and can come in monthly, annual, or lifetime warranties.

The Yamato Shogunate limits manufactured goods to come in to the Yamato-native planets, fearing cultural pollution. While the Commonwealth respects the Yamato's wishes, the Americaland businessmen are dynamic and break many rules, and occasionally the non TAU merchant gets through security. Only medicine and raw resources are allowed to be imported, and the manufactured items that do come in usually get censored into a more appropriate aesthetic and cover.

Culture

Food
Japanese food is the mainstay, with some alien ingredients added. While isolationist, Commonweath tea and Americaland sweets are popular in the Yamato Shogunate. Green tea is usually spiced, a habit derived from constant Commonwealth bantering.

Religion
Shintoism, Ainu spiritualism, emperor worship and Buddhism are the most worshiped, although religion in the Shogunate have little meaning other than culture and the occasional fear medicine, thus is mostly irreligious (like 20-21st century Earth Japan). The official government policy is to submit to one's fate and make do with their station in life. Christianity is practiced within isolated communities and usually tolerated, but the Shogunate persecute those that do not bow to the Shogunate's will.

Fashion
The business suit is becoming a common sight alongside traditional Japanese robes and kimonos/yukatas. The youth decorate their hair more, pierce their skin, and accessorize the school uniforms, another common modern clothing. Most "western" clothing is tolerated, but humility is called for and the Shogunate encourages traditional clothing.

Affairs

The Shogunate still has byzantine political infighting, with daimyos and NGOs taking the time to screw each other over or actually fight. The Yokai have little to no rights and are in a constant fight to gain their own freedoms and independence. Americaland and the Fortress Shogunate are in shaky terms, with ideological and philosophical differences being the main obstacles. The Commonwealth of Anglo-Saxonia and the Yamato Fortress Shogunate have grudging respect for each other, both having a monarchy and believe in keeping to themselves culturally in various aspects, but the rule of thumb between them is to never debate tea. Also, most Anglo-Saxons eye the Spear of Destiny very suspiciously, due to the discovery of the bone chip in the garbage can being the same year as the death of LORD ARGON, BONE-WIELDER OF ARGON!

Aliens are usually considered inferior and even the friendly ones are isolated in designated spaceports and space stations.
Computers are like Old Testament gods; lots of rules and no mercy.
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Re: Galaxy Rising - A Soft Sci-Fi Collab Verse

Post by Heretic »

Destructionator I didn't think about it earlier, but damn Mr. Zaron is crazy. An office worker gets fired because he is replaced by artificial intelligence. His response? Create a mega corporation which could be the backdrop for a cyberpunk story, and is richer than many small nations! And then he attacks a nation, forces it to surrender and then leaves it alone after sending a single-word message? Just to take revenge against his former managers and their lousy computer workers?

Winning.
Computers are like Old Testament gods; lots of rules and no mercy.
-Joseph Campbell
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Re: Galaxy Rising - A Soft Sci-Fi Collab Verse

Post by Heretic »

Hey Czernborg, you don't mind if I continue this project do you? I've lately taken a fancy to my polity.
Computers are like Old Testament gods; lots of rules and no mercy.
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Re: Galaxy Rising - A Soft Sci-Fi Collab Verse

Post by Czernobog »

Sure.
You have ruled this galaxy for ten thousand years.
You have little of account to show for your efforts.
Order. Unity. Obedience.
We taught the galaxy these things.

And we shall do so again.
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