2212

The year began without major incidents. Media was still focused on the Foundation-Navy shipyard, and how its construction seemed to be going a lot faster than expected. By the 8th of May, the construction of the first Speculator Class Geosurvey Ship was officially announced, with widespread celebration. The Terra Foundation hosted a gala event where most of the admiralty, together with the Foundation directorate, were invited. This was seen as a positive moment in TFA-OS relations. The shipyard authorities gave a forecast that the first Speculator should be ready by early June 2213, and the public was relieved to finally have a real date to look forward to.

June began with Admiral of the Fleet Joshua Duncan and his advisors taking a second look at the development of new sensors. The scientists at Terra Foundation requested more time to deliver a functional project, and Duncan was informed that it would take until the second half of the decade until anything could be delivered. This displeased Duncan, who requested the files on the new sensors for his personal inspection. Duncan asked for the assistance of tech-savvy Admiral Rachel Humphries, and they poured over the files. After some deliberation, they decided that current tech was enough to provide a sensor suite to the old shelved Navy project, the Fist Class Gunship. Duncan immediately ordered project focus to be redirected into materialising the studies done so far, no matter how weak the currently available sensors would seem compared to what could be developed in the following years. Duncan, and most of the Navy officers behind the Fist Class, wanted a warship now.

A series of cooperation efforts between the Navy and the Foundation happened in utter secrecy. These projects developed prototypes for a sensor suite, weapon control system and a new reduced size sorium reactor, dubbed the Sanders Reactor.

Fist class Gunship (P)      5 000 tons       153 Crew       370.3 BP       TCS 100    TH 250    EM 0
2500 km/s      Armour 1-26       Shields 0-0       HTK 40      Sensors 0/0/0/0      DCR 6      PPV 15
Maint Life 6.26 Years     MSP 277    AFR 33%    IFR 0.5%    1YR 12    5YR 182    Max Repair 62.5 MSP
Commander    Control Rating 1   BRG   
Intended Deployment Time: 12 months    Morale Check Required   

Terra Foundation Engineering First Generation Military Engines (2)    Power 250    Fuel Use 63.25%    Signature 125    Explosion 10%
Fuel Capacity 359 000 Litres    Range 20.4 billion km (94 days at full power)

Terra Foundation Engineering Prototype Particle Cannon (3)    Range 80 000km     TS: 2 500 km/s     Power 5-1     RM 60 000 km    ROF 25       
TNE SN-50 Weapons Control (1)     Max Range: 80 000 km   TS: 2 500 km/s     55 47 39 31 23 16 8 0 0 0
TFE Shipboard Sanders Reactor (1)     Total Power Output 3    Exp 5%

TNE SS-50 Military General Sensor (1)     GPS 2000     Range 26.2m km    Resolution 100

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
[TNE and TFE stand for Terran Navy Engineering and Terra Foundation Engineering, I shortened it to make the component names easier to see]

Research was quickly redirected towards making those systems a reality. Whilst not what the Foundation had planned, the scientists adapted without major complaints to their new routine. However this generated a bit of distrust when TFA politicians got word of this, as they had long campaigned by Foundation research independence, they disliked this rearrangement, but no one ever officially complained about it.




By August, the Federation informed the Senate that more civilian companies and industries had been built. They then approached the Senate with the request of using the freed-up funds to intensify their efforts to convert Terra's heavy industries to trans-newtonian. This proposal easily passed, given huge strides had been done in industry conversion in the last two years, and throughout Terra many felt the deep impact of having the much more advanced trans-newtonian industry backing the economy.

This was only the final strike in what had been a long campaign defended by the Federation and maintained by the Republic since 2200. The 26th of August was lauded by the Federation and those involved in the economy as the day that the Republic's industrial power had been completely converted to trans-newtonian. The 26th of August was named Industry Day, and a worldwide celebration was arranged.

The conversion had been the main expense of the Republic for over a decade, and what to fund next was the most debated topic on the Senate in late August and early September. The Federation and the Populists wanted the Republic to expand the economy even further, Admiral Rachel Humphries and Councillor Christopher Watson spoke several times before the Senate, reinforcing the importance of extending the Republic's mineral wealth as a base for further development. Watson was adamant that despite the current abundance of trans-newtonian minerals, continued growth of the Republic would be hindered in the next decades if more sources of trans-newtonian minerals weren't found. Humphries also raised concerns about how future space exploration might be cut short by a lack of uridium to build navigation sensors. They also raised concerns about how corbomite, essential to the civilian sector, would apparently be mined out within the decade. Of course, supplies would last longer, but the lack of availability of a mineral with such importance worried the Federation. What got the interest of the TFA was how mercassium, a critical supply in trans-newtonian lab equipment, could run short in Terra in a couple decades time.

These debates generally were well seen on the Senate floor, and permission was given for expansions to the economy. But the TFA saw fit to take for themselves a "tithe" of another research facility. The Order of Sol adamantly requested for expansion to the military industries, and given the recent events putting the TFA in good relations with them, they managed to secure funding for it. The budget was set for the next few years, and confidence that the Senate was doing what was best for the Republic ran high amongst the people.



September saw the completion of the first of the Fist systems, but this was never revealed to the public, so it was as if it had not happened. Joshua Duncan, however, was very pleased that his dream of a Space Navy was coming to fruition. He felt he was very close.



By December, the Sanders Reactor project was finished, and the final touches on the General Sensors were being made. Duncan's dream came closer and closer to being fulfilled. Not much else happened, though, and 2212 ended with high hopes amongst Navy officers. The Fist would probably enter production in 2213, and this excited everyone in the higher ranks.

2210

January started with a bang. The Populists and the Federation both had approached the TFA with desires of cooperation, and the TFA quickly pounced on this opportunity. The reforms the Populists wanted were nothing major, and the Federation often had reasonable demands for the economy.  Harry Thompson saw this three-party block as the stepping stone to a decade of balanced government. Catherine Moore, being the decisive person she was, decided to call for an extraordinary meeting of the Senate, before the Council nominations and Chancellor election. All wondered what she could possibly want, and it was a fine balance between angering the TFA and fulfilling her wishes, but Moore spoke to the Senate demanding their reforms to be voted before the nominations. The reason for this was clear - the Populists had long talked about lowering the requirements for Senators to join the Council of the Senate, and that if this vote was passed, she would likely be nominated for a Council position.

The topic was hotly debated amongst the TFA Senators, but they were willing to stick to their word and support their reforms. Reception was poorer amongst the Federation, in special, for Laura Gould, who thought that competing alone once more against Harry Thompson gave her a better chance of victory. Officially, the party declared their support to the fragile alliance that had blossomed on the Senate, but a significant amount of their Senators went against the party's position, which created tensions with the TFA and the Populists. Still, a majority was achieved, and the Populists reforms would be voted on.

The first reform consisted on a measure to stop poorly performing Chancellors, it introduced the possibility of a vote of no confidence on the Chancellor, which allowed the Senate to choose a new one before their mandate officially ended. This was by far the most polemic of the measures, and the Order of Sol voted unanimously against it, only by the slightest of margins did this measure manage to pass.

The second reform consisted on lowering several of the requirements for a position on the Council, and ensuring every party with sufficient Senate seats could appoint at least one representative on the Council. The previous method relied on the Council coming to an agreement on who to take on, and had often caused tension and instability when one party, even if weak on the Senate, saw itself dominating the Council. The TFA had often suffered from this, and whilst they secured a member on the Council in 2200, past experiences made them quick to support this motion. Like before, the Federation begrudgingly followed the TFA.

The third reform consisted in reducing Senator's mandates from ten to five years. This bill faced widespread rejection, and whilst Catherine Moore attempted to negotiate a reduction to eight years instead of five, her political capital had already been exhausted by the controversy of the two previous votes. She informed the Populist Party that they shouldn't try to pass any more bills at that time, and that the goal of finally having Council representation was achieved.

The most radical sector of the Populists tried to convince Catherine Moore to push her luck and demand for the Council to be elected by popular vote and for military positions on the Council to be abolished, but she knew when to quit whilst ahead. Moore was convinced that the Populists had to deliver a stellar performance throughout the decade and raise Populist credibility, so they could capitalise on the 2220 elections. It was a long-term plan, but she reckoned she might try to pass her reforms again if the situation improved for the Populists before the next election.

The Council appointments and Chancellor elections were next, even if they had been delayed to early February due to the Populists' reforms.


The Populist reforms ensured a balanced Council. The Order of Sol still had an advantage due to the military presence, and the FOC also had the backing of Admiral Rachel Humphries, which gave them slight advantage. For the first time the Populists had any Council representation, and Catherine Moore ensured the TFA that they would have the support of the Populists in Council affairs.

Laura Gould – Federation of Commerce

Laura Gould's poor performance on the past decade has done a lot to tarnish her reputation amongst the Federation. Once seen as a qualified up and coming politician by Federation circles, her unpopularity meant she was now seen as somewhat of a lost cause. The Federation decided to run for Chancellorship, possibly to improve their bargaining powers with the TFA, and Laura was not chosen as a candidate. For once, she kept her mouth shut, and despite being obviously furious, she did her best to accept and support her colleague's campaign. This, in turn, healed the Federation's perception of her. Some were starting to think the 2200's had taught a lesson to Gould.

Harry Thompson – Terra Foundation Association

Thompson is the most popular he ever was. The Foundation was confident that given the current political climate, his bid for re-election was strong. Thompson was starting to be regarded by many as some sort of statesman, a skilled politician that knew how to achieve the Foundation's best interests. His defence of the sciences gave him credibility - Thompson was the science man, everybody knew by now that that was what he truly stood for, and the fact that he stood true made him popular with many.

Catherine Moore – Populist Party

Catherine Moore was the young, idealistic, charismatic, redheaded leader of the Populist Party. She had a meteoric rise in popularity throughout 2209, mostly with the youth that came of age during the 2200's. Moore's face had been everywhere on the news in 2209, in rallies, speeches, marches; she was painted a "dangerous agitator" by the media, which only made her more popular with the younger voters. But she was not just some megaphone-hogger, Moore had the sense to seek alliances and build bridges, and whilst some of the more radical Populists may see her as an "airheaded moderate," she had already achieved many of the campaign promises of the Populists.

Ben Murray – Order of Sol

Murray was an interesting figure, to say the least. He became wildly popular in the Republic after winning a series of martial arts tournaments. Martial Arts were the big sport in the Republic, drawing millions of watchers and aficionados. The Order of Sol saw in him an opportunity to charm the sports-lover demographic. A muscled brute, it was hard to tell what Murray was thinking at any given time. His media background made many Senators suspicious of him, and he had yet to prove himself to be more than some mush-brained thug.

Christopher Watson – Federation of Commerce

Christopher Watson was another "qualified" name from the Federation. He was a gifted analytical thinker, and was known for being an innate organiser, from his desk to his employees, he kept everything catalogued and well-ordered. He was, perhaps, a bit dry. Too precise, too clinical, not the sort of person to smile a lot. His technical expertise in management made him popular with the Federation, which liked these serious types. His greatest achievement yet was landing the Federation nomination for the Chancellor Election, something cemented by years of building connections in the party and making himself a name as a competent and dependable man.

James Walton – Terra Foundation Association

Walton is a former scientist and professor at the Foundation. He was wildly popular with his students and post-graduates, who trusted him to offer them qualified assistance in projects and studies. Walter is not a very politically savvy man, instead he relies on his good reputation in the Foundation and his adamant defence of science, something he shares with his colleague Harry Thompson. Walton is a man with a calm, relaxed demeanour, and is considered very approachable. Given some publicity, he could quickly become a popular asset to the TFA.

Madison Wheeler – Order of Sol

Madison Wheeler is a bit of an oddball. Another civilian member of the Order of Sol, she is well known amongst ufologists and esoterics. Whilst seen with suspicion by some more down-to-earth military types, Madison has been a consistent backer of the Order of Sol. She is especially popular amongst military wives and female personnel, as she is seen as a more humane side of the Order of Sol, preoccupied with the security of the Republic instead of stronghandedly demanding the expansion of the troops, like Sophie Wheeler, to whom she is not immediately related. It is exactly because she is seen as a less-threatening name that she was chosen to be the main representative of the Order of Sol on the Council. A lot is expected of Madison Wheeler, mostly because she is the first OS Councillor after Ellen Stevens, and is often compared unfavourably to her.

Connor Blackburn – Populist Party

Connor Blackburn is a slick man. Many on the media compare him with Ben Murray, given they are both media figures turned politician. Blackburn was until recently a famous actor, playing the role of romantic lead in a number of films. With a sharp sense of style considered cool by many of the younger voters, Blackburn charms the public. Unlike Murray, who is a brute, Blackburn knows how to say what people want to hear. His ascension amongst the Populists is doubted by many, who see Blackburn as just a pretty face, he is yet to prove the contrary.

Admiral of the Fleet Joshua Duncan – Order of Sol

The last decade had taken its toll on Joshua Duncan. Always at the centre of every controversy within the Order of Sol had tired Duncan out. During the past decade, he constantly had to be the negotiator; the cool-headed person; the public speaker; the diplomat; and so on. He knew no good deed went unpunished, though, as he knew the 2210's would probably be even harder than the 2200's on the Order of Sol, since they were now politically isolated and incapable of using their weight on the Senate properly. Despite his low morale, Duncan vowed to continue providing the best leadership he could for the Order of Sol, his military background making sure he wasn't about to quit when things got hard.

Admiral Rachel Humphries – Federation of Commerce

Humphries had been a key name for the Federation during the 2200's. She had always stayed by Laura Gould's side, providing advice and helping to keep morale up when things went wrong. The Federation saw as a tragedy the fact that her military background excluded her from Chancellorship. As Gould lost her prestige within the party, Humphries was seen more and more as the real voice behind the Federation of Commerce. This invigorated her, and she was faring much better psychologically than the other military figures of the Council. She remained completely open to cooperation, and in fact it was her idea to seek a compromise with the TFA. Humphries is of the opinion that the relations between the TFA and the Federation can be mutually beneficial.

Marshal Sophie Wheeler – Order of Sol

Wheeler is still recovering from the shock of the poor performance that the Order had in 2210. Frankly in denial, she still hopes to secure large funds for military research. A fierce critic of the Populists and their reforms, Wheeler is seen as more of a hardliner than Joshua Duncan. However, like him, she is also shaken and demoralised. She still believes the Order of Sol can salvage this situation somehow, and constantly tries to communicate with the public to restore some trust in the Order. Given her lack of charisma, this has not worked out well with many. Most of the people she draws are those who gravitate around the Army, ex-soldiers, family members, new recruits and such. Her uncompromising defence of the Army earns her credibility amongst that demographic.


As a gesture of goodwill, the Populists decided not to run for Chancellorship. Catherine Moore convinced them that after managing to score Council representation and passing their reforms, they needed to appease the TFA in order to avoid wearing out their agreement. Thus the Populist Party declared their support for Harry Thompson, the TFA candidate. This gave Thompson a marked advantage, as the other two parties decided to run their own campaigns. The Federation believed they still had a chance to earn the powerful bargaining chip that was the Chancellorship, and the OS kept their campaign as a way to reinforce they weren't about to back down and let themselves be rolled over. The Federation candidate was Christopher Watson, a new name amongst Federation politicians, who campaigned as a skilled administrator who could set the Republic right. The Order of Sol candidate was Madison Wheeler, a friendlier name amongst the Order, which was trying to heal the public's perception of them.

Harry Thompson: 253 votes

Thompson's re-election was seen as inevitable. With the support of both the Populists and the Association, Thompson easily placed much higher than his competitors. He began his term by thanking Catherine Moore for ensuring the support of the Populists, and reinforced his defence of the sciences and his willingness to cooperate. The following five years would make or break Thompson's reputation as a good politician, as people expected him to consolidate more during his second term.

Madison Wheeler: 143 votes

Madison had just recently established herself as a famous figure on the Order. Her strange beliefs and ways however, displeased the older members of the Order of Sol. Joshua Duncan, again spending his energy on party efforts, managed to convince a large share of the Order to vote for her, and Wheeler's campaign amongst the party was instrumental in raising the Order's opinion on her. Still, not all of the OS Senators could be dissuaded, and she didn't secure the voter of the entire Order. She still placed second overall, which showed to many that the Order of Sol still had a fighting chance.

Christopher Watson: 126 votes

The Federation was very determined to win the Chancellorship, and Watson knew this. He had spent years building contacts on the Federation, and by now he was seen as the man of the hour. It didn't take much for him to be wholly endorsed by the Federation of Commerce. However, despite his commendable attempts to win over Order of Sol and Terra Foundation Association votes, he could not cause any outside Senator to bulge. His performance was as a result, not the best, but he did well enough on his campaign to win him further confidence amongst the Federation of Commerce.

74 Abstentions

There was, again, a surprising number of abstentions, coming mostly from Populists who refused to vote for Thompson or members of the Order of Sol who refused to vote for Madison Wheeler. However, surprisingly, a number of TFA Senators did not state their support for Thompson, especially those of more conservative background, who were displeased with the reforms done by the Populists.

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As March finally came and all the thunder of the election passed, things settled for a bit. Amongst the public, debate about the elections seemed to die down. The Populist reforms proved to have a wide appeal, with voters becoming surer that their votes would reach the Council. This increased the popular support for the Republic, and created the precedent, seen as dangerous by some, that the Republic was living an age of furthering of democratic rights. Many hoped that the stories about the great democracies of pre-collapse Europe could be matched by the Republic. After all, they had come this far in technology, why shouldn't they go equally far in politics? The talk of the moment was debate about human rights, and even amongst the backers of the Order of Sol there was a slight murmur about banning corporal punishment in the Army and Navy. Joshua Duncan had never been a stark defender of corporal punishment, so he let this slide without making any promises. Sophie Wheeler's clique, however, did everything they could to supress such talks amongst the soldiers. The old guard of the Order of Sol was starting to feel that the military was losing grip of the Republic, which put many of them in a furious mood.

As a result of the elections, most members of the Order of Sol were expecting military research to be slashed, and construction of the new military shipyard to be entirely defunded. Throughout early March, one could hear the grumble in most Order of Sol spaces.

Catherine Moore did indeed speak to the Senate about cutting funds to the military, which could have been well received had she not followed this with a proposal of cutting space exploration funding. Moore was booed out of the Senate podium, which, although somewhat souring her popularity amongst the other parties, reinforced her previous position on backing down from requesting every Populist reform. The Populists saw that their position was more fragile than it looked, and decided not to raise any more proposals for the month.

The most surprising moment of March came when Harry Thompson made his proposal for a new Republic budget. Instead of radically slashing military research and development, Harry brought the two shipyard projects to the same level of funding. This would delay the military shipyard in about a year, and shorten the delivery date of the survey shipyard to December 2210. This still displeased the Order of Sol, but it was seen as a welcome surprise that the buts on their budget were not extreme. The excess budget left over by diminishing funds to the orbital shipyard would, of course, sent to a project for a new research facility.



Likewise, when reallocating research budget, Thompson merely proposed a rough equalisation of all ongoing government-funded projects. Military research was not cancelled or forgotten, and still made up most of the research budget. This did a lot to raise the opinion of Thompson amongst the Order of Sol, as they were certain he would crush them.



These proposals were seen as reasonable by most, and whilst still resisted by the Order of Sol, he easily managed to pass his budget.

The rest of the year was surprisingly calm, with life quickly returning to normal. There were no big questions for the Senate for most of the year, and this progressed as normal.

Things only seemed to warm up by December, when the conversion of a good amount of civilian industry and business to trans-newtonian had been achieved. Not only this resulted in faster computation, it markedly improved the Republic's economy, which approached December with a surplus of three trillion Republic Dollars. The Populists made sure to endlessly campaign for the application of this surplus money to social causes and public infrastructure, and were largely successful, given money was plentiful. This was backed by Federation politicians who feared excess of currency not circulating could cause unwelcome effects for the economy. As a result, a large list of product subsidies were declared, which raised the popularity of the Populist-Association-Federation block on the Senate. This money was also use to fund private research of spacefaring technology, aiming to one day make space travel an economically sound investment, many contractors feasted on these research grants, whilst a slight controversy arose because many of these grant dollars found themselves back in the pocket of Terra Foundation figures. The Order of Sol demanded probes into this matter, but nothing came up. This put the TFA under some suspicion, but Henry Thompson was quick to make all Foundation financial data public, which eased most of their detractors.

What had also been completed was the expansion of the trans-newtonian Sorium industry, which now fuelled most of the energy generation of the Republic. The new Sorium power plants were so powerful that the old conventional fission reactors that the Republic had favoured had one by one been deactivated throughout the first decade of the 23rd century. The government maintained the control over most of Sorium mining and refining, which ensured they had always a powerful bargaining chip with the civilian sector. As Sorium production largely exceeded demand, prices dropped dramatically, and humanity had at last achieved an almost free energy source. The first Sorium-powered automobile had also made its debut in 2210, and it quickly became popular due to the cheap price of Sorium and the fact that it consumed less than ten millilitres per kilometre. The Senate came to the conclusion that no further increase of Sorium production was immediately needed.



A couple of days after the debates around the surplus budget had ended, the Navy and the TFA finally announced the completion of their joint project: a new orbital shipyard that would build yet unprecedented space craft to survey Sol for minerals. There was widespread celebration throughout the Republic, and the eyes of the media focused on exploring every little detail on the new orbital shipyard. Immediately, the joint Navy-TSA program moved on to designing a new class of ship to be built in that shipyard, however, further news would have to wait for better development of the project.

The construction capacity that had been freed up by the conversion of these industries was hotly disputed amongst the parties. The Federation wanted more investments to the civilian economy, the TFA wanted more research facilities and the OS wanted more military installations. Surprisingly, the OS and the TFA came to an agreement: a part of the budget would be destined to the expansion of both the educational facilities of the Terra Foundation and the Academies of the Army and Navy. Whilst this displeased the Populists and was seen with indifference by the Federation, it surely helped to improve the mood in the Order of Sol once more, who felt they weren't being isolated by the Association. The TFA called in their favours with the Populists once more to secure support for the construction of a new research facility, and whilst reception was mixed, Catherine Moore knew the TFA had supported them with the surplus budget investments and that she needed to repay the TFA with something. Lastly, the TFA contacted the Federation and said they would support minor funding for the civilian economy, which helped raise spirits amongst the Federation and fostered confidence on the TFA.



This ended the discussions of 2210, guaranteeing a somewhat peaceful New Year on the Republic.

2209

2209 was going to be a big year, everybody knew it. As the parties began their final preparations for campaign during January, the Republic suddenly took a very political shift. Safeguarding the Trans-Newtonian progress of the past years was seen as fundamental by voters, but which party was best prepared to do this was far from decided. The Political Science Institute of the Terra Foundation ran official campaign polls for 2210, and they looked something like this:

Order of Sol: 26.91%

The Order of Sol still had a comfortable lead, with a roughly 9% advantage compared to the Federation of Commerce, which reassured OS politicians.

Federation of Commerce: 17.64%

The Federation received this as a welcome surprise. They had shot up in the polls when compared to 2200, but the election was still one year away, and numbers could change until then, so this reinforced the Federation's resolve in doing a good campaign in 2209.

Terra Federation Association: 4.88%

The TFA results were abysmal. Many wondered what had gone wrong, when did the public stopped trusting them? Science was so popular on the media, many TFA politicians wondered why this didn't translate into voting percentage. Morale immediately crashed in the TFA, but Harry Thompson then decided that the main focus of the Foundation should be to relentlessly campaign.

Populist Party: 2.52%

The populists had their usual results, given they had already been openly criticising and advocating against the OS for some years, resolve for the 2209 campaigns remained the same.

Uncertain: 48%

This was the statistic that worried the parties the most, specially the Order of Sol. Most people had not made up their minds about which party to vote for, and this created instability. A lot was riding on the 2209 campaign, everybody knew it, but the fact that the vote could go pretty much anywhere severely concerned not only candidates for Senator, but all the politically-minded citizens of the Republic.

Didn't answer/Invalid Answer: 0.05%

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February

February started with a lot of tension, as the pre-2209 campaigns came to their finale. Momentum seemed to favour the years long campaign of the Populists, their concerns about over-militarization and lack of true democracy had ringed true to many of the voters in the Republic. This sent the members of the Order of Sol into a complete outrage. How could the public be turning against them? They, who had carefully protected and fostered the Republic! The Order of Sol seemed to forget how well it was doing on the polls, and disagreements seemed to pop up everywhere during February. Meanwhile, the same group that had funded Navy propaganda since 2207 remained calm, and their backers gained influence within the party for retaining their calm demeanour and showing themselves as a reasonable side of the order. These same members moved to now make their propaganda funding open, and managed to achieve a large part of the OS budget to fill the mainstream media with Army and Navy propaganda.

Meanwhile the TFA tried to survey how much the interest in the sciences would translate to actual votes, by probing science forums and channels for signs of TFA support, and while it seemed that within the most science-loving sectors of the Republic their support was overwhelming , when they moved to more mainstream areas of the Republic Web, they saw very little mention of the TFA at all, many liked the new shiny devices that trans-newtonian technology had provided, but the fact seemed to be that, for the average citizen of the Republic, life remained largely unchanged. Sure, civilian companies produced a lot of cool gadgets in the past years, as the transition to a fully trans-newtonian economy progressed. However, it seemed that most people did not credit the TFA directly for this. The Foundation Directorate decided that their campaign should focus on expanding the mainstream appeal of the TFA, rather than focus on overly technical data and projections. They decided they had already won the vote of the science lovers, and that the common citizen were the ones upon which this election would truly depend.

The Federation of Commerce did surveys very similar to the TFA, finding the same result: the public was highly focused on the everyday trans-newtonian technology that had been developed by civilian companies. This was linked to the rise in popularity of the TFA, as there seemed to be a general perception that the Federation were the ones who actually "got things done" around the Republic. The high-ranking members of the Federation decided this would be their slogan for the 2209 campaigns. "Federation of Commerce: The people you rely on when you need things done." The slogan quickly became popular in Federation circles, but its popularity with the public was yet to be seen.

The Populists, however, saw the success of their campaigns against the militarization of the Republic, and decided this was the year they were going to make it. Not demoralized by their bad results in the polls, they decided to focus on a campaign for democracy with everything they had. The Populists tried to shower the Republic in propaganda, everywhere on the Republic Web, a random Populist backer could be found relentlessly posting walls of text in support of the Populists. Their lack of support on the more mainstream media, however, meant that they largely stayed out of the main audiovisual channels.


March

The Populists seemed to gain a lot of ground in March, and their campaign was quickly gaining momentum. This worried all the other parties, who saw this increase in Populist support as very threatening and destabilizing. Nevertheless, this raised Populists spirits even higher. They decided to double down on their campaign and keep doing what they were doing, in hopes of increasing their popularity even further.

The Federation's campaign also had a very good reception, embarking on the general trend of seeing the Federation as the "doers" of the Republic. Their campaign was in fact so successful that it greatly irritated the Order of Sol, whose members felt threatened by their rise on the polls. Despite this, the Federation decided not to change their tone. The rise in popularity of the populists didn't worry Federation backers as much as it did other parties, as they considered that given the Populist's small base, if both parties continued to increase in popularity, the Federation would likely have more votes in the end.

The TFA's campaign was met with moderate success, but there was still a lot of ground to cover. The great success of the Federation campaign did a lot to muffle the efforts of the TFA, stealing their spotlight, in a way. The lowered visibility of their campaigns seemed to put them on the background when compared to the Populists, and the TFA quickly feared people who argue that voting for them was "throwing votes away". They decided to do additional efforts in the campaign, starting a series of videos that highlighted how every civilian device that the Federation produced had origins in Foundation studies, likewise, it also attempted to show how Foundation studies were behind most of the technological recovery after the collapse, and how being technologically superior had allowed the Republic to unify Terra. Members of the Foundation seemed confident in this new campaign.

The least expressive results were amongst the Order of Sol’s Navy propaganda campaign, whose videos weren't watched by a significant amount of people. This was a blow to the earlier prestige that some sectors of the OS had acquired within the party. But by the end of March, the endless infighting that had plagued the Order of Sol since 2207 seemed to attenuate, and the Order quickly decided on a series of programs featuring the Army and Navy, the lives of soldiers and seamen and most importantly, the great military victories of the Republic in the 22nd century. They aimed to encourage trust and admiration in the military. The renewed efforts of the Order of Sol allowed them to coordinate this new campaign very well.

April

April saw the popularity of the Federation of Commerce rise even further, as their campaign seemed to be taking hold of the population. They continued focusing on all they had built and provided for the Republic in the decade, and the public seemed to love it. The month of April was a high point for the Federation, with the polls rising the most, so far. The year was still young, but this filled the Federation with a dangerous sense of overconfidence. Within the Federation, a number of people seemed think that 2210 was already theirs.

The other big surprise of April was the Terra Foundation Association, who had the second highest jump in the polls during the month of April. Their campaign was finally being successful in associating everyday items with the Foundation, and seeing the direction the Order of Sol had taken their campaign and eyeing the vote of the militaristic citizens, the TFA decided to start a series highlighting how most of the military technology of the 22nd century had originated with Foundation research. It seemed their confidence had paid off, and the TFA continued their campaign with improved morale.

The Order of Sol saw much better results in April than they had in March, when their position on the polls had dropped. They managed a small increase, but hadn't returned to the levels of support they had in the January polls. Many of the OS high ranking members agreed that it was mostly a matter of time for their campaign to permeate the public, and just as the TFA had better results in April than in March, the OS would have better results in May.

The Populists seemed to hit a limit with their campaigns. They were not discouraged by this, and kept rabidly campaigning across the Republic. But even amongst the tireless Populists there were those who were losing morale, and party leadership started to notice their campaign losing steam as April went on. They decided to add to their talking points propositions of electoral reform, either lowering requirements for being accepted in the Council, or abolishing the Council entirely, as well as shortening Senator terms to 8 years instead of 10. 2210 would see the result of such scandalous topics.

May

May was a relatively uneventful month. All campaigns had good results, and the polls remained stable during the month, with no big swings up or down. The Federation had, for the first month, not managed an impressive advantage, but they didn't do poorly either. They were the only ones to significantly change the focus of their campaign, starting to talk about the future of mining and how the Federation had plans to fund scientific pursuit in order to find new mineral sources in the Solar System so prolonged Republic growth could be sustained.

June

June seemed to be a much more expressive month, with the Federation retaking the lead. Federation members were ecstatic with another great result, and there was a lot of confidence that the Federation was surely showing itself as the new favourite for the 2210 elections. Their focuses remained the same of previous months.

The TFA also had good results, with their series on military technology having a lot more viewers than the OS's series on military campaigns. They decided to keep the current focus of their campaign.

The Populists had a good, but not stellar performance in June, which was the hope they were holding onto. It was becoming increasingly clear that despite good early results, it would be very difficult for the Populists to take the lead. This helped diminish the focus and coordination of their campaign, but that didn't mean the rabid Populist campaign would end, and they held onto their hopes for a big breakthrough in the following months. Their leaders started doing speeches, their agitators started assembling rallies, the populists were attempting, by any means, to remain relevant and to appear on the media.

The worst performer of June was, once more, the Order of Sol. Their patience was at an end, and most OS members were at a loss of what to do. Campaign directors were reassigned, their PR team likewise. They started to try to contact voters directly and campaign for Order of Sol talking point. Their campaign also started focusing on unknown perils from outer space and how the military was the only force capable of maintaining the Republic together. Maybe it was a bit of a reach, but the Order of Sol was trying everything it could to recover on the polls.

July

July was a very turbulent month. The increased agitation by the populists seemed to pay off, and the news quickly latched onto their campaign, trying to portray them negatively. This massively backfired, and Populist support rose significantly during July. They continued their agitation tactics.

Another successful campaign was the Order of Sol's close approach to the public, which seemed to work better than anything they had tried so far. This renewed the Order's spirit somewhat, and gave them the necessary morale to keep on with their campaign.

The TFA was once more left on the background as other parties performed better. They had not done poorly, but they stayed behind the Populists and the OS. They decided to maintain their campaign, hoping for another good month.

The Federation had its worst result of the year. Was their campaign starting to disperse? They decided to try the same tactics that had worked for the Order of Sol, whilst maintaining their previous campaign.

August

On the month of August, the TFA and the Federation kind of switched their usual places. The TFA shot ahead, whilst the Federation did much worse. Also performing well for the third month in a row were the Populists, whose radical tactics seemed to be paying off. The OS had its second worse result since March, but the faith in their current campaign methods remained relatively high, as last month’s campaign had given them enough of a boost to finally retake their original position in the polls, giving them a small lead overall.

In general, the parties considered August to be too late in the campaign to add new focuses or methods, and the following months would be seeing only intensified efforts within the current methods.

September

September was another relatively calm month. All parties seemed to do reasonably well. Whilst the TFA had the best performance in September, the Federation and the Populists were not far behind. Only the Order of Sol did worse than the rest. Morale within the OS seemed to fall again, but Fleet Admiral Joshua Duncan gave a speech in which he reinforced how even troops that were on the retreat had to fight bravely and prepare the terrain for a counter-attack, and that the position of the Order of Sol was to not lose hope and fight until the very end for good election results. The reception to this was mixed, but it did help keep morale up.

September also marked the delivery of a new research installation. Once more, the TFA petitioned to for the Foundation to have autonomy when deciding its use, but the strong OS majority ensured it went straight into sensors research. Then they asked for funding to be allocated to a new research facility, but were denied once more, with the funds all going to the new military shipyard. It seemed that the campaigns had left the Order of Sol in a gloomy mood, unwilling to cooperate. Given the proximity of the elections, the TFA decided not to press the issue, as the campaign so far had been positive for them, and they believed they would be able to significantly renegotiate the terms to their cooperation after the election.

October

The previous positive trend that the TFA had presented in August repeated itself in October. Both the TFA and the Federation did remarkably well during October, but the TFA did better by a very small margin. This raised spirits in both parties, which celebrated their results. The members of the TFA did not believe they would reach a majority on the Senate floor, but it was obvious their abysmal results in 2200 wouldn't repeat themselves. Within the Federation, cries of victory were again emerging, many of the Federation backers were boasting and chanting on the streets. The populists didn't do was well in October, but their success on the previous months held them together.

November

November was also relatively calm. The Federation had a slight advantage, but only the Populists didn't do as well as the rest. Given this was the last month of the campaign, everybody was already tired of 2209, and as such the parties began to prepare for the elections and slow down on their campaign efforts.

-

When December hit, Republic law demanded that the campaigns be ended. The month of December would be spent in preparation for the elections in January. One last poll was held, and these were the results:

Order of Sol: 29.44%

Federation of Commerce: 29.69%

Terra Federation Association: 19.55%

Populist Party: 16.56%

Independents: 4.74%

Didn't answer/Invalid Answer: 0.59%

It seemed that the Populists and the TFA had the most successful campaigns. The TFA overtook the FOC in growth in the last few months, but the initial advantage of the FOC meant they still did better on the polls.

Despite the terrible results in the campaigns, the OS managed a slight increase in total votes, which surprised most of them. "Maybe this wasn't so bad after all" was often said in the halls of OS offices throughout December.

The Federation of Commerce was in a festive mood, celebrating their slight advantage in the polls. Throughout the year this overconfident feeling had overtaken the party. Whether this had been foolish or not was yet to be seen.

The TFA also celebrated growing almost four times in the polls throughout the year, with their last month upwards trend causing widespread joy amongst the Foundation. The TFA had long given up on achieving majority, so this result was seen as a victory. They would be able to form a strong block on the Senate for once.

The Populists had a bittersweet December. Never before had they achieved such numbers, which made them incredibly proud of their service to the "cause". But they were nowhere near achieving a majority. Populist leaders wondered they could propose an alliance with the TFA to create a Senate block capable of standing up to the leading parties. This was something the Populists had never considered, as they had up to now been considered politically irrelevant.

[Disclaimer: I've obviously made this post too long. I believe it has become boring and repetitive, in the future, I'll update my election simulation to be much shorter and thus provide a better narrative. Unless you guys don't want to, feel free to comment if that's the case.]

2207

The first half of 2207 was very uneventful. The usual debates about over-militarization went back and forth on the media and Senate, and the Populists kept their offensive against the main parties. But this was old news. The usual media staples such as the Progress, plasma cannons, the new Spaceport, geosurveyors and the R&D of the First Generation Engines kept being featured. Popular films released on this first half include one where the heroes are trapped in a futuristic spaceport when aliens attack, and have to survive the ordeal.

As the year went on, more and more information was released about the civilian version of the First Generation Engines, which quickly became a popular topic. There were many recordings of the construction of the new orbital shipyard, but the truth was that there wasn't a lot to be shown.

That is, until the 3rd of August, when Foundation scientists presented the completed project of the First Generation Engine. This veteran team was merged with the military engine R&D team so they could share their experiences and expertise, and given that the usage of these engines would mostly be research missions, its details were made public. It became clear that Sarah Gardner, who had previously been awarded with the Order of Newton for the development of the first trans-newtonian engines in the year of 2202, had achieved massive strides in fuel efficiency technology, as the First Generation Engines were 125x bigger than the prototype engine, but required roughly the same amount of fuel, around 7 litres per hour. The powerful reaction housed in this engine was very complex to manage, and as such required a team of twelve to oversee it completely. Arrangements in budget were rapidly made to fully construct a test version of this engine.

This test model was ready by the 7th of October, and it was transported and assembled in the orbital Spaceport, where it was relentlessly tested. The Foundation and the Navy planned to keep this engine in store for when the first survey craft was being built, so they could already start with a large internal section pre-built. During the testing of these engines, it quickly became obvious to the Navy that the orbital maintenance stations that had been built a couple years ago would be insufficient for whatever vessel carried this engine. The OS tried to push a motion through the Senate that would further cut the budget destined to the Foundation's new research facility, so they could build additional maintenance stations.

But this time, Harry Thompson stood his ground, he was tired of trying to cooperate with the Order of Sol whilst being their punching bag. In a fiery speech, he reminded the OS Senators that every major military achievement on the last three centuries had been preceded by investments in technology, and that so far, the Terra Foundation had answered to their every demand for new military technology. This convinced a good amount of Order of Sol Senators, and fearing creating internal fractures on the party, Fleet Admiral Joshua Duncan recommended to the Senators who had proposed the budget cuts to let the matter go.

This erupted a series of talks amongst the Order of Sol that the Navy and Army should have their own department of research, and that depending on the Terra Foundation for their technological needs created instability and was a threat to their dominance. Unfortunately for the Order of Sol, some ill-intentioned member, whose identity was never ascertained, leaked the content of one of these meetings to the press. What previously had been considered extremist rants about over-militarization by the Populists now became the new hot topic on the Republic. The backlash against these leaks was so strong that Fleet Admiral Joshua Duncan appeared in public as a spokesman for the Order of Sol, which collectively apologized for what he claimed were "fringe opinions on the order" that had been "incredibly taken out of context" by "some ill-intentioned figure yearning for a media scandal". This somewhat calmed the bad reaction of the public, as Joshua Duncan was a very popular man, still, party members of the Order of Sol realised how much this could tarnish their reputation and lead to bad results in the 2210 elections. Unbeknownst to Duncan, a group of Order of Sol members began to secretly fund Navy propaganda in the Republic Web, hoping to mitigate the effects of this scandal.

The results of this would only be seen in the 2210 elections, three years from now. Nevertheless, this topic remained popular throughout the last months of 2207, ending the year on a sour note within the Order of Sol, which now faced some issue with internal factions and division that Joshua Duncan so wanted to avoid.

2205

2205 started with a buzz, as Chancellor Ellen Stevens made public her intention of not running for reelection. She would retire after her long career on the Order of Sol, leaving a bit of a power vacuum as the party struggled to find a new candidate to fill her Council position. This would leave the Order of Sol with no civilian representative on the Council, which drew significant criticism from those associated with the Federation of Commerce and the Populist Party, as they accused the Order of Sol to be just a rubber stamp for the military, caring for neither the economic needs of the Republic, nor the social conditions of the populace. As January dragged on, the future of the Council remained uncertain, but Councillor Harry Thompson seemed to be a big favourite for Chancellorship, due to his stellar performance on the 2200 elections.



With the resignment of Chancellor Ellen Stevens, the Council was left mostly to the military, which greatly displeased the Populists, who criticised the Republic on being overly militaristic, this served as a rallying point for them to start a campaign against the overwhelming majority that the Order of Sol had achieved in the 2200 elections. Since they lacked a Councillor, the Populists were left out of the Chancellor elections of 2205, which left their base fuming at the supposedly lack of true democracy in the Republic.

Laura Gould – Federation of Commerce:

Laura Gould remains unpopular. She is seen as resentful over the fact that she was not elected in 2200. She campaigned again in 2205 as the logical best choice for Chancellor, coming off as arrogant, as she usually does.

Harry Thompson – Terra Foundation Association:

Harry Thompson had a brief moment of happiness with the resignation of Ellen Stevens, he doubled down his campaigned focusing on tirelessly exploring the possibilities of trans-newtonian tech, and was a great defender of Terra Foundation, carefully explaining to many of the Senators of the Order of Sol that their predictions and suggestions ought to be heard, not because they are superior, but because their decades of study have given them the necessary knowledge to talk about such issues.

The same high-ranking officers were part of the Council:

Fleet Admiral Joshua Duncan - Order of Sol:

Joshua Duncan, now officially the highest ranking military officer in the Republic, continued to proudly work on his perceived duty of fostering the creation of a Space Navy. With the resignment of Stevens, he had been left with both the function of spokesman for the Order of Sol and as representative of the Navy. Joshua was informed eagerly by the most ardent supporters of the Order of Sol that he should use his popularity to push for reforms allowing for military officers to run for the Senate and the Chancellorship, so he could be elected de facto leader of the Republic. Duncan would not hear of this, as he was not the sort of person to put hunger for power above his duty to the stability and safety of the Republic. Regardless, he has become some sort of boogeyman for the Populists, who insist in smearing his figure. This has been unsuccesful so far, as he remains highly popular amongst the supporters of the Order of Sol.


Admiral Rachel Humphries - Federation of Commerce:

Rachel Humphries continues to be active in campaigning for the expansion of mining facilities. She has used her influence to ensure no attacks were made to the funding that the trans newtonian vessel project, and quickly establish contacts on Terra Foundation to inform her about new technologies that might lead to mineral exploration beyond Terra.


General Sophie Wheeler - Order of Sol

Sophie Wheeler, despite being her usual annoying self, has been overjoyed with the particle cannon development. She has calmed her complaints somewhat, and is willing to cede a bit of ground to the TFA under the promise they continue to send new technology plans to the engineers in the Army.



Laura Gould: 19 votes

Laura Gould's unpopularity reached such a low that even her party failed to support her. Most of the Federation Senators chose to abstain rather than grant her their vote. Laura was lucky that Council seats were lifelong, or she might have seen her position squandered as her support became contained to the people from the financial sector in the Federation.


Harry Thompson: 410 Votes

Harry Thompson had long been considered the favourite for the 2205 elections, and it came as a suprise to no one that he won the election by a landslide. He promised to use his position to defend science and progress at all costs, and ensured to be a political bridge builder that would fulfill the demands of both the Terra Foundation Association and the Order of Sol.


71 Abstentions

Abstentions were incredibly high in the 2205 Chancellor elections. The entirety of the Populist Party decided to boycott the elections on the grounds that they had no representation on the Council, and a strong trend amongst the Federation of Commerce to do the same arose, criticising what was considered excessive intromission of the military in civilian affairs. Those opposition tendencies remained small, however, as most Senators were confident on the military and primarily focused on supporting trans-newtonian tech.

-

The second half of January of 2205 was full of pressure from the Populists to lower requirements for joining the Council, talks seemed to go back and forth, until Senators from the Order of Sol proposed that lower ranked military officers also be affected by these lowered requirements. This completely infuriated the Populists, whose furious antics on the Senate floor were watched millions of times on the Republic web. These incidents gave a lot of publicity to the Populists, however they also painted them as extremists and lunatics, and most reactions to their fury were humorous, rather than appreciative.

Another media storm erupted in early February as Terra Foundation published their studies regarding the Geological Survey Sensors that had been so talked about two years previous. The research had been long and arduous, and a lot of "inside gossip" made it to the media, where Samual Archer was commented on as being a bit of a goofy character, giving constant motivational speeches to the team whilst majorly overworking them, and being away from the lab for extended periods of time to go on hunting expeditions. In fact, his office on the facilities ceded by Terra Foundation had many hunting trophies placed cluttering it, something which became a running gag amogst researchers on his team. Archer used this opportunity to appear on talk shows and other programs, and cement himself as an eccentric but charismatic figure.

Regardless of the media buzz, the team had made incredible progress, and the capacities of the geological survey sensors greatly pleased the Senate, especially the Senators who backed the Federation of Commerce. These new sensors could very accurately predict the mineral composition of a planet or body in a matter of days. Permission was quickly given for funding to be allocated for the construction of an experimental version of the sensors. However, the fine tech and minutious sensors required for the job made this quite difficult. The initial budget was declared insufficient by the engineers tasked to build it as they calculated cost estimatives for the project, however the sensors were popular enough that they easily managed increased funding. Even so, the Federation of Commerce estimated the project to take roughly two years to complete.

These news were poorly received by the public, who had already waited two years for the development of these sensors, and having to wait two more years displeased a lot of the tech lovers of the Republic. Long forum rants on how the Republic was inefficient and how excessive control of resources by the military curtailed technological progression were made incessantly on the Republic web, and this reflected negatively on the Terra Foundation Association. In the Senate, however, the TFA block decided not to comment on this recent criticism, as Councillor Harry Thompson insisted on the Association meetings that they should keep amiable to the Order of Sol, instead of risking losing support for their technological dreams.

Despite this, when the time came to decide which budget would be cut to finance the geological survey sensors, the Order of Sol directly targeted the Foundation's construction budget, which probably delayed the delivery of new Foundation installations by several months. This was initially taken very poorly, but Chancellor Harry Thompson worked tirelessly to ensure that this wouldn't cause a rupture between the cooperation of the Order of Sol and TFA, despite having his popularity slightly eroded by it, as February came and went, these polemics died down and focus turned to the new events of March.

March had a fervent start on Terra Foundation, as debates about where to apply research funding raged on. Samuel Archer campaigned extensively for further grants to his Geological Survey Sensor research, claiming a new breakthrough could be "just a couple months away from happening". His media antics had made him very unpopular on the Foundation, and his campaign was met with derison by Foundation directors. This confusion was quickly seized by the Order of Sol envoys to the Academy, who petitioned to the Senate for a "recommendation" of research, knowing that the OS majority would likely vote for military technology.

What followed was a political disagreement before Army General Sophie Wheeler and Navy Vice Admiral Joshua Cooke on what the Order of Sol would officially "recommend" to the researchers at the academy. Wheeler was adamant that the research on next-generation infantry armour was urgent, whilst Cooke had long been a defender of magnetic cannons and their possible applications to combat. The discussion seemed endless until Admiral of the Fleet Joshua Duncan intervened, proposing joint research on armour technology that would benefit both future navy endeavours and army defensive technology. Both parties were displeased, but mounting pressure for a solution amongst the Order of Sol forced them to accept.



Things ran calm until May, when the Federation sent news that their orbital maintenance facility and spacecraft factory were operational. This sent the Republic into another wildfire. Speculations were being made daily on the day when the first trans-newtonian spacecraft would be delivered. But things progressed slower on the Senate. The discussions on where to allocate the remaining construction budget went on under criticism by the public that the Senate was wasting time. Finally, the remaining budget was split between the Geosurvey Sensor project and the old Spaceport, which by now was around two-thirds done, this pleased most factions in the senate.



Then came the time to coordinate the project of the prototype trans-newtonian craft. A committee was quickly set up on the Senate to oversee the construction and design of the craft. The aptly named Progress Exploration Vessel would have a twin engines similar to the ones build on 2202 and would be designed to do something that hadn't been done in over a century: orbit the moon and return to the Earth. Funding was quickly allocated to the project and the new factories began to produce the needed parts for the vessel. It would take only about half a month to build it.



By the 28th of May the vessel was functional and ready to undertake its maiden flight. A livestream was started from the launchpad, with several cameras also being set at different points of the vessel. Hundreds of millions of people connected to see it. Lieutenant Commander Georgia Evans from the Republic Navy started giving a speech on the progress the Republic had meant for the Earth and how humanity had recovered from its great catastrophe. She ended her speech by saying: "This may not the first time humanity sets foot on space, but it represents us rising back from total destruction, it represents the first flight of the phoenix of humanity, united in progress, now and forevermore."

As the three person crew entered the vessel and started setting their protection gear and running all necessary launch tests, a wave of commotion hit the viewers throughout the Republic. People could barely believe the incredible achievement that was about to happen. As the launch order was given, hearts raced, Progress seemed to hover uncertain for a second, whilst its trans-newtonian engine charged. Then it bolted out of sight with a huge plume of fire, making it to orbit within a couple seconds. The cameras mounted on the vessel showed only a blur of colour, some failing under the enormous acceleration of the trans-newtonian engines.



Then a distant moon appeared, growing bigger with each passing second. One minute, two minutes, Progress seemed to get further and further away from the earth, moving at hundreds of kilometers per second.



Seven minutes later what had been distant vision now filled the screens of the cameras: Progress had reached the Moon. Exultation and jubilation swept across Terra, as people celebrated the first trans newtonian flight in history.



But concern grew. Would the Progress make it back? People watched attentively as the Progress zoomed across moon orbit several times during the next fifteen minutes. Then it started its return flight, and people grew apprehensive.



A few tense minutes later it hit Terra's atmosphere again, burning brightly on reentry. Thanks to new development in material engineering, the craft survived these conditions exceptionally, and after a few seconds, appeared hovering above its landing pad, to where it descended to and gently landed. The Phoenix had flied and landed.



The following hours were of incredible celebration. Everybody in the flight control team for the mission received the Order of Newton, as well as Lt. Commander Georgia Evans.



This moment would be talked about for decades to come. The 28th of May was declared trans-newtonian science day, and made a planet-wide holiday. Excitement continued throughout the month of May, whilst the Progress made several flights around the space surrounding Terra. The highlight of the following days was the 30th of May when the Progress made a fly-by on distant asteroid Bacchus, at a distance of about 8 million kilometres from Terra.



The, on the first of June, the Progress visited an even further asteroid, Cruithne, at roughly 55 million kilometres from Terra.



On its way back, by the third of June, it stopped by the comet Faye.



And by the 4th of June, the Progress was on Earth again. However, this flight quickly highlighted the limitations of the craft, as it had spent 900 out of its 1000 litres of fuel. Further flights would need to wait for better developments in trans-newtonian technology.

The rest of the month went by on a flash of celebration. Morale was high on the Republic. When July came, the first developments on new armour tech were achieved. The Order of Sol was very pleased with these new findings, and when Foundation Scientist Kian Clarke brought up the possibility of future uses of the trans-newtonian material Duranium as a candidate for ship hulls, allowing the construction of bigger and more resilient vessels, the entire Senate agreed that this was the right path to fund. The Terra Foundation Association wished for better construction technology to allow them to build better prototype spaceships, whilst the Order of Sol couldn't deny the obvious military applications of duranium material technology. So research continued into this topic.

A few weeks later scientist Louis Robson sent word to the council again, he had forwarded a secret study to the military detailing the possibility of construction of a much larger particle cannon, one able to be mounted on spaceships. The Order of Sol was elated, and despite further complaints on the Senate that this area of research had already received too much funding, again the overwhelming majority of the Order of Sol on the Senate floor allowed them to designate more funding for the project, Louis Robson had succeeded in getting the attention of  the Senate once more. He gave an estimate that the blueprints would be done within the year, much to the surprise of the Navy.

The year continued on a festive mood. By the 27th of October, Georgia Evans officially received her promotion from Lieutenant Commander to Commander, a fact that was lauded on the Republic web by those who had watched the trans-newtonian flight livestream.

Then, on the 26th of December, just a couple days before his deadline, Louis Robson delivered the blueprints to the Senate. The cannon was a massive thing, weighing over 250 tons, these blueprints alone would make a structure bigger than the entire Progress. Nevertheless, the project to construct a prototype was easily passed on the Senate.



However, Louis Robson came back to the Senate with a remark that would be considered very valid: Even though the Republic now had access to weaponry that could be used in space, there was no way actually fire it. The sensors and systems currently available to the military could not detect and coordinate an attack at a distance of 60 thousand kilometres. Robson requested even more funding to the senate to devise systems capable of aiming his particle cannon. Despite even more opposition from the Senate, the Order of Sol easily passed additional funding to his research.

And thus ended 2205, another historical year for the Republic. What else was to come?

2203

2203 ran quietly until May, with no major incidents hitting the media. The whole buzz of 2202 seemed to be dying down a bit, and while there were still many forums dedicated to the discussion of space exploration, trans-newtonian engines and geological sensors on the Republic web, the less optimistic predictions of Foundation scientists were starting to sink in. The lukewarm response to the Prototype Engine started a trend of sobering up the expectations that people had put on the Foundation.

When the 24th of May arrived, Foundation scientists requested a closed door meeting with the Council of the Senate. Scientist Louis Robson, the lead researcher of the Particle Cannon team, led the entourage that requested to meet with the Council. Chancellor Ellen Stevens met them in a very serious and contained manner, but even her stoic manners betrayed genuine curiosity to what the Particle Cannon team could want with the Council. During the moments before the meeting, Sophie Wheeler kept complaining of how they were probably just going to ask for more funding, and how the Senate should have specified that the military research the Foundation conducts should have been focused on tested and true ballistic weapons. Her incessant complaints left an unpleasant atmosphere in the room, so when the scientist delegation arrived, people in the room were expecting the worst.

What came next was a strange and interesting scene. Louis Robson entered the room full of pomp, his obviously stressed out assistants behind him. When most had entered the room, he perched up and said "Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to introduce what is going to be the most revolutionary piece of military technology of the 23rd century." He turned to the double doors and loudly said "Bring it in." A pair of scientists from the Foundation came pushing a cargo cart with a large box mounted on it, and Robson quickly opened it and pulled a strange contraption, a mass of tubes and wires with a main pipe coming out of the middle, he put a large box, probably a power source to the ground and connected a wire coming from it to the back of the device he took from the box. The device quickly lit up and started making electrical noises. Cautiously, Ellen Stevens took an instinctive step back, and was quickly followed by most Councillors and assistants in the room.

"What exactly is this?" Chancellor Stevens asked. "The MPAD-100 is an utterly revolutionary device capable of accelerating packets of protons to near relativistic speeds. It does this through a powerful magnetic field that can propel subatomic particles towards enemy soldiers and installations at ranges comparable to a modern assault rifle. This, ladies and gentlemen, is a weapon! One of the finest kind ever made in this century!" Answered Louis Robson, the councillors frowning over his grandiose speech. "A device so powerful in such small scale would be impossible before the discovery of trans-newtonian technology, but given the massive advances made possible on the last decade, this incredible device could be constructed." He continued.

"This device is so powerful that we have brought it without its particle source, so it would not endanger the lives of people in the Senate building. No need to be afraid, it is merely for demonstration." He said once again, relieving the people in the room.

What happened next was an unending battery of questions that the councillors posed at the scientist. Sophie Wheeler questioned the validity of the cannon as an infantry weapon, asking about how it would fare in bad weather conditions, how easy to maintain and operate it was, its production costs for the military, etc... Louis Robson seemed to scoff at such concerns, ensuring proudly that his particle cannon would perform excellently, apparently incapable of seeing any flaws with his project. But it became clear to those who were more knowledgeable in military matters that between creating a device that can shoot particles and creating a functional infantry weapon, there was a gap that was impossible to ignore. The councillors decided to send this project to the science department of the Republic Army, and see whether the military engineers would consider this technology useable at all.

Joshua Duncan immediately brought up the question of these particle cannons as future space warship weapons, however, even the arrogant Louis Robson had to agree that the technology was nowhere near the level of advancement it would take for such purposes. Robson was quick to highlight that if given more funding, he could attempt to design such a weapon, but given his grandiose tendencies, councillors were uncertain that he could be trusted.

A few days of debate on the Senate followed, with Councillors attempting to keep the details of the recently presented weapon in secrecy. The proposal of allocating funding to the further research of this weapon was met with resistance by most parties in the Senate, but the overwhelming majority that the Order of Sol had acquired ensured that no matter how much of a baseless expenditure this project seemed to be in the eyes of the Association and the Federation, there was little they could to to stop it being furthered. Budget would be split between the military and Robinson's team, with a project of designing a ship-mounted version of the Particle Cannon running simultaneously to a project to devise and build infantry versions of the Particle Cannon.



Despite initial uncertainty, the military engineers in the Republic Army loved the particle cannon. They had a working prototype for an infantry weapon functional by the 3rd of June. Plans were quickly hatched to train a special unit specialized in combat using this new weapon. This project would accompany extensive field tests and studies in military theory to devise a doctrine of use for these particle cannons. They ended up being more expensive to make than normal infantry weapons, but only by a margin of around 20%. The Order of Sol was quick to praise this, and finally news of the development of this new weapon reached the public, although its details were kept safe as a military secret.



The officers in the Republic Army gave the estimate that this first experimental battalion would be ready by October.



By 21st of October the new battalion was fully operational. Military theorists at the army now understood the capacities of the Particle Cannon, and indeed it was considered revolutionary. Soldiers armed with PCs had an estimated effectivenness of almost double their assault rifle counterparts. Moreover, the possibility of modifying the particle cannon to fulfill different infantry roles was quickly realized. The only thing keeping the army from undertaking a full transition to pc-armed infantry was the lack of adequate trans-newtonian facilities to produce them. This only reinforced the Order of Sol's demand for the construction of more military industry, so that a fully realized particle cannon army could be fielded.

The Senators on the Order of Sol requested funding to expand the Particle Cannon Battalion to a full brigade, and as usual were able to proceed with their desires despite the complaints of other sectors of the Senate. Recruitment proceeded and was expected to be finished by late 2204.

The rest of the year went on without major incidents. 2203 would be marked as the year when the particle cannon military revolution began.

2201

2201 was a very unremarkable year. Progress at the Terra Foundation seemed to slow down. New applications of the particle cannon were being researched, but they were still far from a working prototype that didn't explode after a couple of shots. Construction continued as normal, there was hardly anything to report.