Once, there was a great empire. The Terran Empire encompassed hundreds of star systems and controlled thousands of colonies on asteroids, moons, and planets. The Empire?s fleets included hundreds of battleships and dreadnoughts, and the Imperial Navy was considered by nearly all as the defender of humanity and justice.
The Empire was a vital, expansive polity, combining an energy and vitality with an inclusiveness that saw alien species invited into the Empire peacefully, as full members. The economy was booming, and for the most part the Empire ensured that most of its citizens enjoyed peace, freedom, and justice. In many ways it was truly a golden age, but like all golden ages it was doomed to end.
Imperial Colony System Tiruchirappalli
Quaternary system:
A Component: K5-V, 3 rocky planets, 1 gas giant, 14 moons, 1 asteroid belt
B Component: K5-V, Orbits A at 15 AU, 4 rocky planets, 2 gas giants, 22 moons
C Component: M9-VII, Orbits A at 18,200 AU, no planets
D Component: L0-VII, Orbits C at 2 AU, no planets
The system was discovered during the Second Grand Survey by the Exploration Ship Excelsior, commanded by Captain Ethan Tiruchirappalli. As the first system discovered during this phase of the Grand Survey, Captain Tiruchirappalli named the system after himself, as was customary for the Survey Command at the time. The first colonists to land on New Iowa (Tiruchirappalli B-III) eventually began calling the system the Quad-System, instead of the original, rather unwieldy, name, and the new designation has stuck ever since.
The system was colonized directly from Earth, from the Mid-Western American Confederation of States, largely by political dissidents who felt that the Confederation had grown too suffocating. Their new state on New Iowa was derived from the Confederation, but with a weakened central government suitable only for interfacing between the ranchers and farmers that were the backbone of New Iowa, and the Empire.
The colony of New Iowa was largely isolated from the mainstream of the Empire as it was located in a warp point cul-de-sac, and it wasn?t particularly important in the scheme of things. The end of the golden age came suddenly. In mid April, 2563, the warp point connecting the system to the rest of the Empire disappeared. A freighter, following a scheduled run, entered the system at the start of April, but was unable to find the warp point on the way out. Several hastily refitted yachts were dispatched to probe the area with their ramshackle science instruments, but no trace of the warp point was found. In a panic, the Imperial Governor commissioned the construction of several real science and survey ships, but they only confirmed what everyone already knew, the warp points were gone.
There were no riots, no large-scale unrest. New Iowans were a sober people, and they took this news like they took most things, soberly. Things continued as they had for a while, and everyone waited for the warp points to reappear. That didn?t last long, though. The New Iowan economy was based on exporting foodstuffs of various sorts to the rest of the Sector, and they imported most of their manufactured goods. The loss of the warp point was a disaster for the New Iowan economy, even if it wasn?t obvious at first. Within six months, though, the New Iowan economy collapsed.
The Imperial Governor did what she could, but within a matter of days after the economy began its final death slide the Governor and several of her aides were assassinated by a fringe group that blamed the Empire for most of the things that had gone wrong. In the absence of the Governor the responsibility for dealing with New Iowa?s situation fell on its civil government. Unfortunately, New Iowa?s civil government was weak and largely incompetent. This was by design, as the founding colonists were of the persuasion that less government is better government. Under the Empire, New Iowa was, at least in theory, governed by a weak federation of local state governments. The reality was that nearly everyone, including those nominally charged with running the day-to-day affairs, relied on the Empire for almost everything. In the absence of the Empire, and under incredible pressure, the central government folded in record time, leaving chaos and despair in its wake.
For the first time hunger and poverty stalked the streets of New Iowa?s cities. Riots broke out, causing large amounts of destruction and worsening everyone?s situation. Here and there, in a few small communities, local leaders stepped forward to take charge and limit the worst of the effects of the collapse, but it appeared to everyone that there was nothing to stop the slide to barbarism as things got worse and worse.
It was then that Jefferson Tallford, head of New Iowa?s National Police, stepped. Tallford, seeing the lack of direction on the large scale and the on going disintegration of society in general and his police in particular, decided to act. Declaring martial law, he seized executive power and named himself both acting Imperial Governor and Speaker of the House of Representatives (that non-entity having committed suicide several days before). A few people spoke out against this totally illegal act, but most were horrified at the ongoing slide to destruction and didn?t care about the niceties of constitutionality or legality. Tallford consolidated his police and secured the capital city. Once the capital was secure he began massive conscription among the newly unemployed and vastly expanded the National Police under the cover of a public works program. Once again very few objected, as the alternative seemed to be hunger and despair.
In less time than seemed possible Tallford had the planet under control and everyone was fed and housed. This wasn?t as difficult as it might seem given the fact that New Iowa is a food exporting planet, and basically everyone wanted to do the right thing, they just had no overall plan or organization to work within. Tallford provided the plan and the organization. As things improved, though, more and more began questioning some of the things that Tallford and his police had done to restore order, and the loss of public freedoms and liberties. Tallford had learned much during his time in power, though. He had made alliances with the powerful land and factory owners to get things done, and had made many deals with them to get the economy jump-started. None of them were eager to return to more normal times, and so they acted before things could return to normal.
Citing the state of emergency that had begun with the collapse of the warp points and the continuing economic problems, Tallford completely reorganized the government, centralizing power. These moves met broad approval, as most people still remembered the recent chaos and disorder, and were in favor of anything that would avoid a repeat. The government that Tallford created, in association with the powerful land and factory owners that had been his allies from the first, was, on the surface, a version of the old decentralized federation of cities and continental governments that comprised the old government. It appeared to be democratic as well, but the reality was more than a little different. Tallford was determined to build a strong centralized government that could weather problems like the recent collapse, and was convinced that the weak government that prevailed on New Iowa before the collapse only worked because it was backed up by the strong Imperial government.
Tallford and his associates created a centralized Federal government with the trappings, but not the substance, of democracy. While all positions were elective, and in theory open to anyone, in reality the system was rigged from the beginning to allow those in power to remain in power. Tallford ruled for another fifteen years before finally retiring and allowing his chosen successor, his son George, to assume his place at the helm.
The fifteen years of Jefferson Tallford?s rule were marked by significant economic gains, although New Iowa never regained the level of prosperity it enjoyed under the Empire. A small and persistent minority protested against Tallford?s usurpation of power and anti-democratic reorganization of the government, both through legal and extra-legal means. As time went on this group became more radicalized, both because the government began bringing more effort to bear against them and because the great bulk of the citizenry didn?t seem to care as long as the economy rolled along and the government didn?t directly interfere with their lives.
It was during the rule of Prime Minister George Tallford that the underground democrats began gaining popular support. Ham-handed government crackdowns garnered them some sympathy, and, unlike his father, George was not a sympathetic figure. After only five years George was forced to step down as Prime Minister, and the new government attempted to recover its position as the guardian of the people, but by then it was too late. The underground democrats had made their point that the government could not be restrained and would act as it would without regard to the wants and desires of the people.
The next ten years saw the government increase the strength of the National Police, which were renamed to the Security Police during this time, fivefold. The underground was much more active during this time, as well. Several prominent government figures were assassinated and two large pro-democracy rallies were held in large cities. Initially the government was at a loss as to how to deal with the movement. A general crackdown by the Security Police seemed to be the only viable measure, but this was sure to alienate an even larger portion of the population, and several of the Ministers were fairly sure that that was exactly what the movement wanted. Finally, the Prime Minister, Heald Burton, made a daring decision.
Under the old Empire terraforming was a discredited science. The Empire had access to hundreds of planets, so there was no real pressure to create new habitable planets. In addition, the Empire?s genetic manipulation technology allowed it to modify colonists to suit their new planet, rather than the other way around. In fact, New Iowa?s first colonists had been modified with the standard cold environment package, allowing them to endure New Iowa?s much colder average temperatures. This technology had been lost during the collapse, largely because the Empire jealously guarded such technology and its applications to avoid abuse. Unlike most other places in the Empire, however, the study of terraforming technology had flourished on New Iowa even before the collapse. The reason for this was simple. The B component of the Quad-System possessed five terrestrial class rocky planets in its inner system, including New Iowa. Of the other four, none possessed an oxygen-nitrogen atmosphere, but three of the four were close to New Iowa in terms of atmosphere and temperature, and could be terraformed without too much effort. The study of these planets and interest for the possibility of terraforming them had always run through a broad spectrum of the New Iowan society, and this had not changed since the collapse. In fact, now that they were cut off from interstellar travel, interest in the other planets had intensified.
In the tenth year of his rule Prime Minister Burton announced that his government would be financing the terraforming and colonization of the other planets in their system. This masterstroke secured his position and undercut that of the underground. It caught the attention of the public and caused much excitement and enthusiasm. No one noticed that behind the scenes the government continued to expand the Security Police, and that raids on democratic underground safe houses accelerated.
And so it was that thirty-five years after the collapse, New Iowa began expanding to the other planets of the Quad-System. It had taken five years to revive or build a space-going industry, and, as of the start of this era, New Iowa had exactly one space ship, a small geo-survey ship. To capitalize on the enthusiasm and separate his government from the past, Prime Minister Burton announced that the government was officially designating the New Year as Year 1 of the New Era.
New Iowan Government and its institutions, as of Year 1 of the New Era
The government of New Iowa is a centralized federal government run by what amounts to an internal oligarchy. The Prime Minister and his Cabinet head the executive branch. The Prime Minister and the Ministers on the Cabinet are selected each year from the Ministers in the Senate by internal vote. It is standard for the same Ministers to be elected each year to provide for stability and continuity. The Ministers in the Senate are selected from their home districts by open popular vote, but there is very little turnover and elections tend to be regarded as an excuse for public spectacle rather than an actual election.
While originally the system was set up to ensure that a small group of insiders were guaranteed their positions at the heart of the government, with a fa?ade of democracy and democratic traditions providing cover, by Year 1 the system has hardened into a true oligarchy, with members of the twelve leading families controlling the Senate and by extension the positions of Prime Minister and the Cabinet. Other powerful families and interests control the balance of power in the Senate, and although they can never aspire to the position of Prime Minister, they can influence policy and the actions of the government. The Twelve Families are not in any way all powerful, and the Prime Minister must constantly be concerned about how the majority in the Senate will react to any given action.
The Security Police
The Security Police is the primary enforcement arm of the central government. As such, the government has taken great care to ensure its loyalty, both by providing lavish equipment and resources, and by extensive political indoctrination for the officer corps. Prior to the New Era, the Security Police consisted of two divisions. The first is the feared Investigations Corps. It is they who make people disappear in the dead of night. They also investigate large scale or intercontinental crime and security threats against the people and government. The second division is the Uniformed Security Division. These officers provide security at government buildings and for various government projects. As a check on the power of the officer corps of the Planetary Defense Network, the Security Police?s Uniformed Division provides security at the PDN?s various PDC?s.
In spite of the fact that the Security Police report directly to the Prime Minister, and are commonly viewed as the mailed fist of the Prime Minister?s Office, the growing power and political influence of the SP?s began inspiring concern in the upper reaches of the government in the last years before Year 1. Fearing the growing power of the Security Police, the Burton administration acted to limit their power by dismantling the Security Police and separating it into three separate organizations. The first is the Federal Investigative Service, comprising the old Investigations Corps. The second is the Federal Security Police, comprising the old Uniformed Division. The third, and newest, division is the Federal Intervention Corps (FIC). In light of the simmering unrest on several of the fringe continents, the Security Police successfully convinced the Prime Minister to authorize the creation of what amounts to an army under its control, intended to crush any open rebellion on New Iowa or the new colonies. Ironically, it was this success that convinced the Senate that the Security Police were becoming too powerful and directly led to their dismemberment. The Intervention Corps is currently planning on deploying several Heavy Intervention Divisions patterned after Imperial Heavy Assault divisions. (Author?s Note: All Federal Intervention Corps Officers have Political Loyalty Modifiers of 20-25%).
New Iowan Planetary Defense Network
Originally built by the Empire, the Planetary Defense Network (PDN) was incorporated into the New Iowan government by Jefferson Tallford. It has since been expanded several times and currently consists of four Imperial Charlie class PDC?s. While the official purpose of the Network is to defend New Iowa against outside aggression, in reality its sole purpose is to ensure the loyalty of state and local governments to the central government and the current Prime Minister. The officers of the PDN are chosen for their loyalty to the government and the Prime Minister, and very few have any doubt that they would hesitate to use their weaponry to crush any threat against the government. (Author?s Note: PDN Officers all have Political Loyalty Modifiers of 30% or higher)
The PDN are seen as apolitical, and do not take sides in the ongoing political clashes in the Senate.
In keeping with their real purpose, the PDN is equipped with ICBM?s with extremely limited endurance, intended only for ground strikes against rebel cities or ground forces. These ICBM?s have very little capability against spacecraft, but then until now there has been no call for anti-space craft capability in the Quad-System.
The New Iowan Terraforming Corps
This organization is brand new, formed in the last five years before Year 1. During this period the Corps has focused on R&D, and training new officers to organize its upcoming efforts and command the proposed Gaia Class Terraformers. The Terraforming Corps enjoys a high level of prestige with New Iowan society and a very high level of support from the government. The possibility of terraforming the other planets in the system has caught on with the public and the government has done everything it could to encourage that enthusiasm.
Beginning Stats:
Population: 1 billion
Deep Space Tracking Station: 4
Shipyards/Slipways: 7/15
Maintenance Fac: 50
Const. Fac: 600
Ord. Fac: 70
Fuel Ref: 150
Mine: 600
Auto Mines: 100
R-Labs: 20
GFTF: 3
New Iowa has launched only one ship as of the start of the campaign, a small geo-survey ship. Aside from the PDC?s, the other classes listed below exist only as designs, as of the start of Year 1.
Bulk Freighter class Freighter 6000 tons 270 Crew 359 BP TCS 120 TH 175 EM 0
1458 km/s Armour 1 Shields 0-0 Sensors 5/0/0/0/0 Damage Control 0-0 PPV 0
Cargo 25000 Cargo Handling Multiplier 5 Replacement Parts 5
Nuclear Thermal Engine (7) Power 25 Efficiency 0.80 Signature 25 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 100,000 Litres Range 90.0 billion km (714 days at full power)
Thermal Sensor, Small (1) Sensitivity 5 Detect Signature 100: 0.5m km
This design is classed as a freighter for maintenance purposes
Colony Ship class Colony Ship 6000 tons 295 Crew 809 BP TCS 120 TH 175 EM 0
1458 km/s Armour 1 Shields 0-0 Sensors 5/0/0/0/0 Damage Control 0-0 PPV 0
Colonists 50000 Cargo Handling Multiplier 5 Replacement Parts 5
Nuclear Thermal Engine (7) Power 25 Efficiency 0.80 Signature 25 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 100,000 Litres Range 90.0 billion km (714 days at full power)
Thermal Sensor, Small (1) Sensitivity 5 Detect Signature 100: 0.5m km
This design is classed as a freighter for maintenance purposes
Explorer class Geosurvey Ship 4950 tons 450 Crew 897 BP TCS 99 TH 150 EM 0
1515 km/s Armour 1 Shields 0-0 Sensors 20/0/0/0/5 Damage Control 0-0 PPV 0
Replacement Parts 20
Nuclear Thermal Engine (6) Power 25 Efficiency 0.80 Signature 25 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 200,000 Litres Range 218.2 billion km (1666 days at full power)
Thermal Sensor, Medium (1) Sensitivity 20 Detect Signature 100: 2m km
Geological Survey Sensors (5) 5 Survey Points
Imperial class Planetary Defence Centre 10150 tons 1445 Crew 930 BP TCS 40.6 TH 0 EM 0
Armour 3 Sensors 20/40 Damage Control 0-0 PPV 120
Magazine 2000
PDC Missile Launcher (10) Missile Size 12 Rate of Fire 180
PDC Missile Fire Control S01-040 (2) Range: 400k km
Thermal Sensor, Medium (1) Sensitivity 20 Detect Signature 100: 2m km
Active Sensor, Large/Long (1) GPS 1600 Range 16.0m km Resolution 40
Active Sensor, Small/Close (1) GPS 100 Range 1,000k km Resolution 5
This design is classed as a Planetary Defence Centre
Note: This design is a holdover from the old Empire. This was a standard (read: cheap) PDC for frontier systems, and was not intended for heavy combat.
Gaia class Terraformer 11000 tons 860 Crew 1664 BP TCS 220 TH 50 EM 0
227 km/s Armour 1 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/0/0/0/0 Damage Control 0-0 PPV 0
Replacement Parts 30
Terraformer: 3 module(s) producing 0.0075 atm per annum
Nuclear Thermal Engine (2) Power 25 Efficiency 0.80 Signature 25 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 50,000 Litres Range 24.5 billion km (1250 days at full power)
This design is classed as a non-combatant for maintenance purposes
The low speed on this design is indicative of its intended purpose, terraforming the inner planets of the B component of the Tiruchirappalli system.
Missiles
ICBM: Size 12, Spd ? 2,000 kps, Range ? 32,000 km, Whd - 10
