Crisis in the ConfederationHumanity had long dreamed of spreading beyond Earth. While various minor scientific outposts had been set up since the early 2030s, the discovery of Trans-Newtonian elements in 2103 allowed for a far more wide-reaching colonisation effort than many had hoped for.
This rapid expansion was a threat to the established order. Earth had been pushed to the brink of annihilation before, and there were calls to prevent the new rush for resources in space from leading to more wars. To prevent this, the UN established the Charters - eight organisations given the right to colonise space on behalf of the rest of Earth.
The age of interstellar cooperation came to a crashing halt at Wolf-Harrington in 2153. While direct military conflict was avoided for now, it became clear to all that this peaceful state would not continue for long, and even those Charters that had neglected their military began to build up their forces.
2154 saw another breakthrough - as it turned out, Trans-Newtonian elements allowed for more than just rapid and efficient sublight travel. With just the right concentration of Duranium and Sorium, energised in just the right way, it was possible to open a brief rift in space to an entirely separate star system.
Humanity never got to exploit this new discovery - within a month of the UN's jump point survey commencing, a jump point transit was detected near the edge of the system. Ship after ship emerged, from an unknown alien race. Whoever they were, they were certainly hostile, opening fire on every ship they encountered that refused their initial calls to surrender.
Earth was the last to fall, but even Earth only lasted a week. The aliens identified themselves as the Isk, and humanity became the next in a long list of species to join their empire.
Over the decades, the Isk started to become complacent. Sol was no longer a border system, and humanity was no longer judged to be at risk of rebellion, so the Isk garrison slowly dwindled away as units were reassigned to deal with other issues and never returned.
The Isk underestimated humanity. It took almost 50 years, but you have collectively built up a resistance movement capable of overthrowing the Isk. On your orders, six major colonies around Sol will throw off the shackles of Isk rule and prove once and for all that humanity will not go down without a fight.
That day is today. Your fleets are ready to come out of hiding, and your followers are ready to lay down their lives for the cause. This is the day we take back Earth.
Crisis in the Confederation is a multiplayer game running in Aurora 2.0.
- 6 player factions scattered around Sol
- Custom starts, including custom leaders
- Several Isk colonies around Sol, including Earth itself
- Aliens with unique equipment/technologies
- Modified detection rules to allow for false flag attacks - just because you can see something doesn't mean you know who owns it.
Currently we have:
The Venusian Military Board (Rhiload / Telin)
The Venusian Military Board is open to any communications regarding resistance cells and governments around sol, venus is home to our vast shipyard complexes as well as military might, fight for sol. fight for humanity.
Admiral G.Wells
Whatever Venus was, it is dead now. The once deadly blanketed planet is now habitable, and the human government that once held sway over it's people has been crushed and reduced to rubble. Instead only the Isk's influence can be felt in the way the planet runs it's affairs. Venusians are not a people to waste, from the corpse of the infrastructure that was used to house the population during its terraforming days they made the first of the shipyards. The slang of Venus is somewhat dreary, and tainted with the allusions to the pre-Terraformed climate, are holdovers from before the Invasion. But this is the Venus of the Pre-Revolution.
While under Isk sway, Venus was one of the off-world shipyards for the Sol occupation. It boasted shipyards that rivalled, in count, those found above Terra. The Venusian Shipyards were a jewel and beacon of pride for those that labored below. Many saw the work on the planet as exploitation to feed into the naval and military machine that fueled their own subjugation. However, a few saw the orbital facilities as something more: Liberation.
The fight for liberation was grueling, and not without losses. Getting the occpying forces off the planet was the first challenge, but the primary goal had been to preserve the shipyards in orbit. With those, Venus could unshackle itself, and keep itself free from chains. Led by a charismatic admiral J. Buchard, the first few attempts at securing the shipyards failed, each falling to Venus like a shot bird, and entombing itself within the soil. After the fall of the 3rd Shipyard though the teams that were executing the boardings, and recovery had gotten familiar with the sabotage, and destruct systems on the shipyards. However, in the taking of the final yard, and while leading the assault on the station, Admiral Buchard suffered a fatal blow from one of the small arms that the Isk Defense forces has brought with. His last words were a rallying cry for his men: "They chain us with Iron, but our blood is sulfur." Whatever plans he'd had for the government after the Isk occupation are now immaterial. But through Buchard Venus is free, and as a people, previously yoked and beaten, they refuse to allow someone outside of Venus to determine how Venus shall be run.
In the wake of the Liberation the Military Board was formed. A collection of Admirals that oversee their sections of Venus, and keep the peace. The board's main objective is to safeguard the people of their territory from threats domestic and foreign, however it is said that while many planets have a navy, the Venus navy has a planet.
Decisions for policy are driven by mutual negotiations internally before they are presented externally.
The new Venus flag has the planet to one side, and a sun burst coming off. The rays and planet are evocative of the yellow of Venus's former atmosphere, and the backdrop of dark orange is said to be drawn from the color of Venusian soil. The red shield is a testament to the Venusians that lost their lives in an attempt to protect humanity from the scourge that is the Isk.
The Titanian Technocracy (Kane_SPC / Golem666):
Let me introduce you to the Titan Advanced Research Complex, better known as the Titan Technocracy.
We are focused on developing the most advanced technology possible and our laboratories work around the clock to provide the other resistance groups with the necessary elements to fight the Isk.
We are people of peace and will always be open to dialogue in order to trade technology, components or weaponry with any group that wishes to do so. We will always be interested in acquiring new advances, so we open our doors to anyone who needs our technology.
Dr. Oneka Larrainzar
First Rector of Titan.
The Mercurian Authority (Doodle_SM / AGM-114)
We are the Mercurian Authority.
The Authority is open to communications with the resistance groups.
Surface
Massive, opaque, domes enclose the many craters of mercury. Originally built as open hab domes, before the ISK occupations they now serve as massive archologies housing, or imprisoning depending on who you ask a vast majority of the 100-300 million residents of mercury, with the rest of the surface covered in failed terraforming projects that render the environment outside of these domes unlivable. (Accurate population figures are difficult to obtain) These domes are large enough to have their own microclimates, usually a thick smog blanketing the lower levels, occasionally dispersed by a police helicopter flying between the massive housing blocks.
Government
Despite receiving the most sun in Sol, the Mercurian Authority is known by many as the “Dark Planet” of Sol. Despite the dark, squalid nature of the archology mega domes, that is not the origin of the name. Instead, it is due to the opaque nature of the government and economy. All information that leaves mercury is closely controlled and usually incomprehensible. Immigration is small as few can filter through the complex process which can take years, but emigration is non-existent as it seems the country swallows everyone who enters it. Massive transmitters on the poles make constant state broadcasts, which could only be generously described as propaganda. Mercury operates under two governments and two flags, a largely civilian government and an overarching military government which handles not only space and ground, but a large amount of government-owned industries such as shipyards and modular construction factories.
Military
There were a couple of major flareups early on in the occupation, and there's been a persistent stream of minor uprisings, and Mercurian mercenaries, the finest in Sol, has been present in all of them serving their contract terms and then returning to Mercury, and they serve as the only real view most of sol has into mercury. To the outside world, the greatest mystery is the mercurial economy. In theory, its production is not capable of sustaining its own economy, yet somehow it only managed to keep going and support a massive, oversized government but managed to drive a strong export market. To the Isk, mercury is one of the most productive colonies in sol and is only beaten by earth by its sheer size. The authority records are a maze of bureaucracy which makes attempts to track the flowing of expenses and revenues nearly impossible. According to sources within the administration, the system works and as such constant requests from the Earth Provisional Government to reform the system have been postponed.
The Martian Liberation Front (MeatyBoii / Night)
Martian Liberation Front announces its split from the ISK Empire. We, the People of Mars, will not be ruled by xenos. We are open to all communications.
The Ganymede Liberty Pact (Tastythighs / Lord Solar / SpaceMarine)
The Ganymede Liberty Pact extends the hand of friendship to the other sovereign worlds of humanity's home. Our world has long been home to a vast industrial and mining presence, and we stand ready to assist those rebels whose economies may lack those aspects. Ganymede is open for business to all human comers.
Neither have we neglected our armed forces; we will absolutely do our part to reclaim Sol from the invader, and hold it once taken.
L. Osiris
Col. Nazareth
Ganymede has a certain reputation among the solar system's colonies. The First of the manned colonies beyond the belt, it was a lightning rod, a moth-flame for everyone not satisfied with their inner-system lives. That spirit of Jupiter infected all the intial jovian colonies, but Ganymede and its former branch colony of Callisto most of all. It manifested in many ways, from the explosion of new faiths where every street corner in Galileo City was home to a prophet or messiah to its menagerie of fractious political parties with their fierce debate punctuated by frequent extremist violence. And, when the Isk arrived, that same spirit made Ganymede a hotbed for insurrectionists and rebels. The Isk, for their part, split Ganymede and Callisto into separate polities to prevent their cooperation and swelled the garrison with as many human volunteers as they could find from offworld. And in doing so, unwittingly gave their subjects the keys to their own cage. Sympathisers in the garrison worked to conceal the activity of rebels from their own superiors, enabling the Osiris Mining Group's secret shipyards throughout the Jovian system to go unseen until it was too late.
The Ganymede Liberty Pact represents the closest thing to a compromise the ever-fractious political factions of Ganymede have ever achieved. They did it by ensuring none of their rivals attained power either, putting their faith in the leadership of one Leo Osiris, CEO of the Osiris Mining Group and heir to the Osiris family of Jovian mining barons, who had made a secondary business of resistance since the occupation.
Osiris's closest ally is Colonel Nazareth, a high-ranking officer within the human auxiliary component of the Ganymede garrison. The sabotage and overrunning of the Isk garrison was their joint brainchild, Colonel Nazareth's men trained Osiris Group workers in vast numbers and when the time came disabled the base defences, letting in hundreds of Osiris assault troopers in converted industrial exo-suits to overwhelm the surprised Isk defenders.
The Callistan Unity Front (Minaran)
Originally attracting a more upper crust selection of colonists than Ganymede, Callisto was famous for pursuing a wide variety of research fields. Sadly, the original approach of an enlightened elite was proven woefully insufficient when the Isk attacked. With Callisto occupied in a shockingly short period of time, the moguls and market leaders were subjugated to the will of the invaders.
Not all hope was lost. Shortly after the surrender, the last uncaptured general in Callisto's army staged a daring raid with a small group of soldiers on a new occupation post set up by the Isk. He managed to destroy the post, but his entire squad and himself were captured and executed by the Isk. Alongside wide-reaching civilian reprisals, the Isk efficiently managed to cowe the populace by threatening to take away even more of their freedoms if they didn't comply.
After 50 years of thinking and planning the former leaders of Callisto realized that not just the leaders but the entire populace needed to be enlightened and motivated to pursue their talents and desires to the fullest. Meanwhile the remnants of the Callistan military, reforged into the "Callistan Occupation Force", did not forget the example of times past.
And so, the time came. Settled via a handshake during a Jovian eclipse; the leader of a coalition of technocrats and the "Chief Occupation Officer" agreed that the reign of the Isk must end. With rumors of resistance movements across the system both agree to wait for the premium moment to strike. The Callistan Unity Front will be born from the ashes of the Isk Occupation of Callisto and will forge a path to a bright and maximal future.
All of the main players are in, but we're always looking for advisors to spread each nation's workload out and provide a backup in case someone has to drop out. We're also open to people who have more of an interest in writing the fiction than in the mechanics of Aurora.
If you're interested, the game is primarily being run on Discord here:
https://discord.gg/wryhJxzQv6Hope to see you around.
