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Posted by: Ektor
« on: May 01, 2020, 04:53:30 PM »

2213

As had been previously estimated, the General Sensors project for the Fist Class was delivered by the 23rd of January, marking the end of the R&D phase for the Fist. The admiralty congratulated Fleet Admiral Joshua Duncan and Admiral Rachel Humphries in their decisive action allowing the materialization of the Fist class. The research into more advanced sensors was then resumed by the Foundation. The military's focus then turned to the new military shipyard, which was over halfway done. Hopes were high that 2213 would see the Fist class enter production.

By the 7th of February, a new research facility was completed in Terra. The TFA used its position on the Senate to ensure the new installation went to the theoretical research program they had established a few years back. The freed-up funds were destined to increasing the TFA's academic facilities, in hopes to increase the number of graduates and post-graduates in trans-newtonian technology.



Wide celebration followed the 22nd of June, when the first Speculator class officially let the drydock. The media was allowed on the ship, where they filmed and documented anything they found of interest. The Speculator then embarked on its mission, reaching Luna within a couple minutes and beginning a geological survey. Masses on the Earth waited intently for the news of new trans-newtonian deposits being found beyond Terra. A second Speculator was slated for mid-2214, and the joint shipyard quickly began its construction.



By the 25th, the Speculator relayed its findings back to the Navy's command in Terra. Not spectacular findings, but a significant amount of brute sorium ore was found not far below the surface. Given the relatively low demand for sorium, this was not major news, but many on Terra celebrated the first successful use of geological sensors in the Solar System. Spirits were high in the Foundation and amongst the scientifically-inclined citizens of the Republic. The Speculator then followed on to its second destination: Mars. This was a long-awaited moment, as the Red Planet's mysterious appeal led to many depictions of Mars in Republic Media.



Just a day later it arrived at Mars and started surveying the red planet. By the second of July, it had completed its survey. What the Speculator found dropped jaws all over the Foundation and Navy:



Just below the surface, buried under the fine regolith, the geosurveyor found large concentrations of degraded metallic duranium. At first, this was thought to be just some sort of native outcrop that had been buried over the years, but further inspection revealed an immense amount of highly specific duranium compounds, followed by concentrations of other trans-newtonian elements. An imaging scan was ordered on this strange deposit, and to everybody's immense surprise, the scan found what were clearly sky-scrapers, factories and other structures under the Martian regolith. This was undeniable proof of extra-terrestrial intelligent life outside Earth, and both the Foundation and the Navy agreed on waiting a month to process findings and to digest those news before presenting them to the public. Thankfully, information was successfully secured, as a leak right now could prove disastrous, given the Owens incident in 2211.

Meanwhile focus turned to incredible trans-newtonian deposits found on Mars. There was more duranium on Mars than all trans-newtonian deposits on Terra combined. The significant amounts of Corbomite also ensured that mining Mars would be of great benefit to the civilian sector. This mineral news was immediately released, and mid-July saw Admiral Rachel Humphries deliver an ambitious project to the Senate that involved the establishment of a permanent Mars colony. According to her, the recent developments in trans-newtonian technology would make the construction of ground-based habitats trivial, and all that was needed was the development and construction of transport vessels capable of transporting installations and colonists to Mars.

Some TFA Senators questioned the size of such vessels, saying that they would be much larger than what current understandings would allow. In response to this, Humphries brought specialists from the Association-Navy joint shipyard who explained how the valuable information learnt by building the Speculator would allow further projects to dwarf it in size, now that the basics of trans-newtonian shipbuilding techniques had been discovered. However, these larger ships would need much simpler components to be feasible. This distinction in size was then known as commercial and naval scales, with commercial ships being roughly ten times as large, so a cargo freighter of up to 50,000 tons was within current capacities. This was also reflected on old naval terms, given the largest ships currently operating on Terra reached around 300,000 tons, whilst the largest aircraft carriers hovered around 90,000 tons, and most military warships around 10,000 tons.

She insisted that the next opening in construction budget should be divided between a new, improved shipyard, destined to build commercial-sized ships and the construction of pre-fabricated infrastructure that would allow the early settlement of Mars, paving the way for mining enterprises to be established. This was seen as incredibly ambitious, but extraplanetary colonisation had long been seen as the next step in trans-newtonian developments. The project was accepted by all but the Populists, who saw this as a waste of resources, and questioned the living conditions of early Mars settlers.

When news of this new Mars colony project was announced, people took to the idea like mad. When the Foundation officially opened applications for future settlement, without even giving an estimate on the year those applications would be made effective, millions of people signed up for it. This both allowed the Foundation to pick the best people for the job, but created an immense backlog of possible applications.

By the 4th of July, the Speculator had reached Mercury, and four days later it delivered the richest trans-newtonian survey thus far.

Code: [Select]
Mercury
     Duranium 10 521 202   Acc 0.4
     Neutronium 1 609 853   Acc 0.9
     Corbomite 572 141   Acc 0.1
     Tritanium 609 649   Acc 0.1
     Boronide 192 897   Acc 0.7
     Sorium 5 373 124   Acc 0.3
     Uridium 5 835 123   Acc 0.2
     Corundium 4 403 283   Acc 0.5
     Gallicite 172 059   Acc 0.9

The Senate agreed to explore and settle Mercury in the future, but not before Mars colonisation had been achieved.


During the next month, the Speculator made some great discoveries:

Code: [Select]
Jupiter
     Sorium 643 500   Acc 0.7

Code: [Select]
Venus
     Corbomite 32 964   Acc 0.1
     Boronide 937 644   Acc 0.1
     Mercassium 9 903 861   Acc 0.3
     Gallicite 31 678 436   Acc 0.1

This cemented the need for intense efforts to colonise the Solar System, and whilst Mars would be humanity's first experience with interplanetary colonization, the Senate agreed that as the capacities of the Republic grew further the rest of the Solar System should also be colonised. This promise of future solar expansion stormed the minds of the Republic. Throughout the year of 2213, many films featuring space exploration were released and watched by the millions, and many types of publication about the future of solar exploration sold like water.

The biggest turning point of the year, though, would come on the 14th of August. The whole Council decided on a press conference without immediately telling the subject, but hyping up the public by saying they would announce "the biggest news in the century." When all eyes and ears of Terra were focused on the conference, Chancellor Harry Thompson officially announced the discovery of remains of extra-terrestrial intelligence buried in Mars. This sent an almost delirious wave throughout the Republic. So many people turned to the livestream of the conference that Terra communications temporarily crashed, and messages and calls flew like thunder throughout all Republic communications. The media storm was immense, and every imaginable question was asked on the conference. Sadly, more information would have to wait for special technology to excavate and study the ruins on Mars, and the curious minds of humanity started imagining all sorts of things about the Mars aliens. Together with the influx of space exploration on the media, an unending stream of films, series, songs, books, comics, drawings and paintings on the subject of the Martians were released in 2213. Humanity had become enamoured with the idea of extra-terrestrials.

This also meant an increase in popularity for the Order of Sol, as the possibility of future extra-terrestrial invasion and warfare was now confirmed; while it was impossible to date the Mars ruins for now, the possibility that the Martians had an extra-solar origin did not go unnoticed by the public. A reaction to all the speculation about aliens also came up, with a wave of xenophobia calling for the expansion of the navy in order to deal with future threats, and a growing impression that humanity would be attacked sometime in the future by aliens, and that Republic citizens had to prepare for it. This was what substituted the now incredibly ridiculed ufologists of Terra, this new "alien-prepper" movement resulted in the construction of many fortified private bunkers, and some civilian investment in personal weapons and other defence technology. The Order of Sol decided to finance media focusing on human-alien conflicts, which had already been popular, but some big 2213 productions had OS backing.  The Navy also ran a propaganda campaign on the perils of space and how the navy was Terra’s shield against the universe.

Meanwhile, on the Senate, he TFA was adamant that any new research facilities would go to Xenoarchaeology studies, as this was instantly considered the hottest topic amongst the sciences in 2213. This again displeased the Populists, who downplayed the importance of the alien ruins. It also displeased the Order of Sol, who said any efforts in archaeology should focused on figuring out what advanced weaponry these aliens had and how to adapt it to human use.

September brought the construction of new academic facilities for both the military and the Foundation, and with it the completion of a new research facility. Councillor James Walton awkwardly petitioned the Senate for furious funding for more research facilities to study the aliens, and whilst his petition had little impact, other politicians of the Terra Foundation Association used any political capital they had accrued in ensuring funding for those facilities was secured.



Late September also brought more news of the Speculator:

Code: [Select]
Ganymede
     Boronide 224 790   Acc 0.3
     Vendarite 1 948 872   Acc 0.5

The rest of the year was consumed by the cultural storm caused by the discovery of aliens, and not much else happened, the year of 2213 ended with this cultural explosion still in course. 2213 would be remembered in Republic History as the year humanity had confirmed the existence of intelligent extra-terrestrial life. Sadly, the Navy prognostic of starting construction of the Fist in 2213 didn't materialise, as the military shipyard was not yet ready, but the admiralty was certain they would start production runs by 2214.
Posted by: Ektor
« on: May 01, 2020, 12:16:00 AM »

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.

Code: [Select]
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.
Posted by: Ektor
« on: April 30, 2020, 08:42:01 PM »

2211

On January 2211, everybody in the Republic was talking about the new ship being developed by the joint Navy-Foundation project. The shipyard was up, the required technology was ready, people around the Republic were waiting intently to know when the first extraterrestrial use of the geologic sensors would happen. By the 4th of January, Admiral Joshua Duncan participated on a press conference where he announced publicly the new Speculator Class.

Speculator class Geosurvey Ship  2 500 tons       57 Crew       329.6 BP       TCS 50    TH 63    EM 0
1250 km/s      Armour 1-16       Shields 0-0       HTK 15      Sensors 0/0/0/2      DCR 4      PPV 0
Maint Life 12.58 Years     MSP 329    AFR 12%    IFR 0.2%    1YR 4    5YR 58    Max Repair 100 MSP
Commander    Control Rating 1   BRG   
Intended Deployment Time: 12 months    Morale Check Required   

Terra Foundation Engineering First Generation Engine (1)    Power 62.5    Fuel Use 11.18%    Signature 62.5    Explosion 5%
Fuel Capacity 164 000 Litres    Range 105.6 billion km (977 days at full power)

Geological Survey Sensors (2)   2 Survey Points Per Hour

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes

This was no minor undertaking. This ship was over sixteen times as big as the Progress and over twenty-three times as expensive, and despite being small for naval standards, it would be a challenging job for Republic engineers to produce it in the new shipyard. Despite the valuable experience in orbital construction provided by the experiences in building the Terra Spaceport, years ago, this was a very different matter. The Speculator had to survive trans-newtonian speeds. For a conventional spacecraft, space was a vacuum; but the properties of the fluidic dimension meant the ship would constantly face resistance from the aether. The Progress, built with a conventional steel hull, never suffered significant problems with this because its small size and relative low speed, but the Speculator was, as said previously, over sixteen times as large and roughly twice as fast. If it weren't for the recent developments in duranium material science, few believed this project would be even possible.

But for now, the delivery of the Speculator was nothing but a distant dream. The initial structure of the shipyard showed itself to be insufficient for the project, and a large extension program was initiated before the Speculator class would start its construction, with an estimated finish time of one and a half years. This displeased the public, specially the science aficionados, who couldn't believe they'd have to wait yet another year for further developments in trans-newtonian engineering. This was somewhat eased by the publication of the Speculator's technical details, as well as a series of videos done by Foundation scientists that explained the engineering process and technology behind almost everything in the Speculator. From the boronide fuel compartments, to the mercassium in the ship's artificial gravity system, down to the complex uridium-based sensors in the bridge, the public would easily have time to pour over the Speculator's design.

The Speculator dominated media interest for the first months of the year, but amongst the supporters of the Order of Sol and military folk, all talks surrounded the new military shipyard. Construction of its first phase finished on the 20th of March, and whilst the Navy was understandably a lot more secretive about its contents. Rumours started circulating about what was going on inside the new shipyard. Some of these rumours were big, saying the Navy would build a battleship in space, and other equally absurd claims. Whilst some figures on the media, especially more sensationalist ones, did some reports on these rumours, the Navy neither confirmed nor denied any of these allegations, but made sure to tell the public most of the stories were wildly out of proportion.

This only created more curiosity, and on 19th April, ufology enthusiast Edgar Owens hijacked a Terra Spaceport cargo shuttle and used its trans-newtonian navigation sensors to locate the new military shipyard. He flew towards it, until navy armed shuttles, which identified the unauthorized approach, hailed the cargo shuttle in hopes of establishing what was happening. Terra Spaceport flight control was quickly contacted, and when they couldn't answer what that shuttle was doing so close to the shipyard, the officers in the military shipyard decided to act. The shuttles approached and threatened to open fire if the driver didn't identify themselves. The answer to those threats was a surprise to all. "I know that's where you keep all the alien tech! Your mind rays can't control me! I'm not afraid of you!" The armed shuttles then opened fire against the cargo shuttle's engine, causing an explosion that destroyed the shuttle and killed its driver.

Not soon after the media was all over the navy trying to get details on the incident, and Owens' face was plastered all over the news on the Republic. Media ran his story for days, and the ufologists of Terra turned him into some sort of martyr. The Navy tried to clear up any misunderstandings, and whilst most people though Owens was just some insane idiot, a couple of odd figures blamed the Navy for murdering him because he knew the truth. Despite their best intentions, the Navy could not clear up the subsequent conspiracy theories on how the new military shipyard would construct a ship "based on alien technology", and how the Navy was hiding first contact from the whole Republic. Joshua Duncan reportedly found the whole thing hilarious, and ordered that the Navy "shouldn't give any attention to those sorium-drinking morons."

On the Senate, April was marked by the question of where the funds freed up by the construction of the shipyards should be destined. This time, the Populists and the Federation bargained together with the Terra Foundation Association, and managed to secure more funding for the project of trans-newtonian conversion of Terra industry. Whilst the Federation saw in this an opportunity to increase production, the Populists saw a chance to reduce unemployment. Sectors of the civilian economy also benefitted from increased government funding.



Late April also saw the official decommissioning of the Progress, which was deemed obsolete. The vessel was transformed into a museum piece, to be exhibited in the Republic Aerospace Museum in New Barcelona. It quickly became a disputed tourist destination, with museum organisation developing an official tour which explained the different systems and pieces of the craft.

All in all, 2211 was a relatively quiet year, with no major events to shake the Republic. The passage to 2212 was uneventful.
Posted by: Ektor
« on: April 28, 2020, 11:28:53 PM »

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 Council of 2210

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.

Chancellor Elections of 2210

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.

-

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.
Posted by: Ektor
« on: April 28, 2020, 09:37:41 PM »

The Elections of 2210

During much of January, all people would talk about was the election. Who they were going to vote for, which parties were the better. Since 2209, the Republic had underwent some sort of political revival; people seemed to be more aware of what was going on politically, probably as a side effect from the very disputed 2209 campaigns. Turnout was still the same, given voting was mandatory in the Republic, but many people started questioning their old habits of voting for the Order of Sol. The Senate, as per Republic law, would also be gaining 96 new seats, this was due to the coming of age of the 2190 generation - the decade when the Republic reached roughly the same level of development as the old world, which given the Republic's high standard of living, resulted in a mounting baby-boom.

The results were the following:

Order of Sol:
358,657,449 votes – 179 seats

These results were shocking even for the pessimists amongst the Order of Sol. The astounding result they had on the previous election evaporated. The more reasonable sectors of the OS tried reassuring the rest of the Order that whilst they had done poorly, they still represented the largest block on the Senate floor, and it would be only a matter of finding an ally to be able to lead the Republic. The leaders of the OS made a few calls and sent some messages to representatives of other parties, and it became increasingly clear that the way the OS had handled the previous cooperation attempts by the TFA had garnered distrust from the parties. Across the Republic, members of the Order of Sol were coming to a very grim realisation, a realisation that often had befallen the TFA and the Populists: they ran the risk of being isolated on the Senate, and becoming irrelevant to larger politics.

Terra Foundation Association:
304,910,447 votes – 152 seats

This was a jubilant moment for the Terra Foundation Association. After all the controversy that Harry Thompson's policy of cooperation with the Order of Sol had generated, little by little the members of the TFA started praising his Chancellorship, saying he had made great strides for science, and sown the seeds for the TFA's astounding results in the elections. Thompson gave a public speech heralding a new age of science and progress, where the TFA would no longer be relegated to being a small block on the Senate, always fighting for scraps. No, they would now dictate the terms, for once. Other parties perceived this speech with a bit of concern, but Harry Thompson reinforced in the next few days that the TFA was open to cooperation from all parties, and that they were willing to listen to every side. Most people saw right through this - they would listen to almost every side, Thompson's declaration had been an obvious declaration of independence from the OS. What paths the TFA would lead the Republic towards were yet to be seen.

The Populist Party:
260,058,201 votes – 130 seats

The Populists had, for the first time in their history, not been the minority party on the Senate floor. They had not achieved the majority they so desperately campaigned for in 2209, but they had achieved third place by a good margin. Unprecedent results and droves of new members were a breath of fresh air to the old timers of the Populist party. The pressure on Populist leader Catherine Moore was great: on one side, there were the radical Populists, who wanted to do their usual game of antagonising the other parties; on the other side, there was the faction of the party she supported, who wanted to use the new Senate weight of the Populists to seek cooperation with the traditional parties, in order to meaningfully achieve their reform goals. On the back of her head, an idea was brewing: she would offer the support of the Populists to the TFA in exchange for their support on the reforms. The TFA, Moore judged, was the most socially progressive of the traditional factions, and given Thompson's statements of seeking cooperation, this was their best bet of fulfilling their campaign promises.

Federation of Commerce:
251,593,905 – 126 seats

Many Federation jaws dropped when the election results were made public. They had... placed behind the Populists? The Populists!? Laura Gould was shocked at this, and reacted by posting a long rant on the Republic web on how the traditional values of the Republic were being eroded. The reaction was the usual mocking tone people had adopted to Gould's statements: her text was turned into a copypasta, which remained the most famous throughout the year of 2210. Their tunes were catchy, their slogan was on everybody's mouth for a couple months, all the polls indicated a Federation victory. What had happened? The Federation of Commerce had been to optimistic, too certain of its victory. Something had fallen through the cracks, something had been miscalculated, they couldn't believe how poorly they went. This was a bitter lesson for the Federation to not trust to blindly on the polls, as real results sometimes surprised everybody. Defeated, Gould contacted Harry Thompson and asked that they cooperate with them as they had cooperated with the Order of Sol, and the Federation had to content itself with being the minor ally to the TFA.

The Independents:
17,999,998 votes - 9 seats

The Independents achieved the same amount of seats as the last election. A couple of famous figures and other wildcards made it to the Senate, as usual.
Posted by: Ektor
« on: April 27, 2020, 09:28:19 PM »

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%

-

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.]
Posted by: Ektor
« on: April 26, 2020, 10:41:40 PM »

2208

The year of 2208 started much like the year of 2207 had ended, with the discussion on the actions of the Order of Sol being brought into question. The first few months passed and the debate gradually wore itself out, with media and political discourse returning to relative normality by late February. Things seemed to progress in an equilibrium for a couple of months.

By the 9th of May the Federation of Commerce contacted the Army and the Senate letting them know that they had finished construction of the new military industry complex. Sophie Wheeler immediately suggested petitioning the Senate with funding for an independent study on doctrine and design by the Army, so they could develop more versions of the infantry particle cannon and perhaps adapt the particle cannon to be vehicle-mounted. This proposition never let the offices of the Order of Sol, as most high-ranking politicians feared that this was too similar to the leaked conversations of 2207. Fleet Admiral Joshua Duncan ensured Sophie Wheeler that he would ensure that as soon as new research facilities were available, more study into new infantry weapon would be requested of the Terra Foundation. The mood within the Order of Sol was not good, as many felt the military should be the Republic's primary focus, and that there was no harm in letting it have more independence.

This didn't stop Sophie Wheeler from petitioning the Senate for further fund to continue expanding the military industry of Terra. This went poorly, as Joshua Duncan had already made a compromise with the TFA and a large part of the Order of Sol to focus new funds into the construction of more orbital shipyards. His personal mission was to fund a Space Navy, and he was going to see that through, no matter what. This measure to fund more spaceyards was seen with good eyes by the majority of the Order of Sol, whose dominance on the Senate floor made for an easy victory for Duncan's project. A new orbital shipyard would be constructed, and funds that were previously occupied by the construction of military industry would be divided between its construction and the construction of new maintenance facilities in orbit.



This caused discontent amongst the TFA Senators. The funding allocated to this new shipyard was much, much larger than the funds the joint project between the Terra Foundation and the Navy had received. Many started to criticise Harry Thompson's policy of cooperation with the OS once more, saying that cooperation so far had been a one way street. Thompson and his backers defended themselves by stating that the Terra Foundation was lucky to have this many projects going on. A new research complex was just about to be completed, and a second one was slated to start operating the following year, this, in addition to the new orbital shipyard, was Thompson's argument that he had done a good job. He said that given the absolute dominance of the Order of Sol, his Chancellorship was more focused on controlling damage and looking for breaches into which to act, and that despite his desires to focus vehemently on research, he could only go so far as Chancellor, as the Senate and Council were mainly controlled by the Order of Sol. Reception to this was mixed, but the cooperation policy would continue.

Soon after, by the 26th of May, the joint team led by researchers Henry Davison and Sarah Gardner forwarded the finish project of the First Generation Military Engines to the Navy, which decided not to petition the Federation of Commerce for the construction of a prototype, as they wanted to keep the capacities of this new engine in utter secrecy. Navy designers petitioned to Fleet Admiral Joshua Duncan for the start of a new project. The "Fist" class was planned to be slightly larger than a Destroyer, weighing around 5 thousand tons. The ship was identified as a gunship, not a destroyer or cruiser, because it would carry very little firepower, but that was the trade-off for having the ship spaceborne. The new military engines would allow this craft to fly through space at the mind-bendingly fast speed of 2500 kilometres per second, fast enough to make it to Mars and back within twelve hours in favourable circumstances. Even if the capacities of trans-newtonian materials had become obvious to all in the Republic, some voices in the Navy doubted the reliability of those claims, but given the Progress had flown at around 630 km/s, most believed in the possibility of this much larger engine to reach speed into the megametres per second. It would be, of course, armed with the large prototype particle cannons that had been developed in 2205. There was very little progress on the Fist Class, of course, as the Navy lacked the technology to build the weapon targetting systems capable of aiming the particle cannon and a power source capable of supplying multiple particle cannons. The Navy then informed the Senate what it required of the Terra Foundation.

When these news hit the Order of Sol, Sophie Wheeler, now promoted to Field Marshal, demanded that the Army not be placed second to the Navy. If Joshua Duncan could have his sensors, she could have her military tech. There was dissent amongst the Order of Sol between the Senators who supported the Army and the Senators who supported the Navy, and in order to prevent even more infighting, Joshua Duncan proposed that the budget be split into the sensor technology needed by the Navy, and further research into the topic of particle cannons, something that would benefit both the Army and Navy. This was seen as a reasonable compromise, even if Sophie Wheeler would give several interviews in the following weeks criticising the allocation of funding that the Order of Sol agreed with.



The Order of Sol and Navy quickly poked the Terra Foundation for estimations on the delivery of new technology, which the project leads in the Foundation tried to answer ambiguously, but the truth was that they had little idea of how to materialize results in these areas, and they would have to do extensive research to even identify what could be improved. As such, there was no given estimate of when they would deliver the new equipment. This was seen very poorly by the Order of Sol and Navy, generating a feeling that the Terra Foundation were good-for-nothing layabouts. This specially displeased the design committee of the Fist Class, who felt they would have to shelve the project indefinitely. "What do you mean, no given estimate?" was the most asked question by the members of the Order of Sol during early June, who simply could not wrap their heads around how difficult it was to develop such ground-breaking technology. Another person displeased by this decision was Foundation researcher Samuel Archer, who felt he was being tore apart from his research with geological sensors to be put on a less worthy, less scientifically valid project for military sensors.

By the 8th of June, the Federation of Commerce let the Terra Foundation know that their new research complex was ready. This momentarily raised spirits in the Terra Foundation Association, who quickly petitioned the Senate for independence to use these facilities as they saw fit. Chancellor Harry Thompson contacted all members of the Order of Sol he could to ensure his cooperation strategy would pay off now. Initially, talks amongst the Order of Sol were not welcoming to that idea, wanting to put the new facility at good use to either the research on particle cannons or military sensors. Given the polemics last year with the statements of members of the Order of Sol towards the TFA, Joshua Duncan reminded the members of the Order of Sol of the necessity to improve their public image and to reassure the public they were not trying to undermine the Terra Foundation. And as such, Thompson's request was granted, and the new facility started working on theoretical trans-newtonian physics and other more abstract sciences. Most of the backers of the Federation of Commerce and Order of Sol saw this as an immense waste, but the TFA was adamant in widely communicating to the public the necessity of development of the theoretical base of future research, and whilst that may not pay off immediately, or even within the near future, it would pay off in the decades to come.



Then, discussions in the Senate moved to investment of the budget freed by the completion of the research facility. Chancellor Harry Thompson immediately petitioned for funding for new research facilities, but the Order of Sol was not interested in this, instead, they decided the funding would be split between the new orbital shipyards. Harry Thompson used all his influence with the Order of Sol to ensure that the majority of the funding went to the join Navy-Foundation project. Before members of the TFA could criticise Thompson's failure to ensure funding to a new research facility, he made a speech at the Foundation remembering the TFA of how the first decade of the 23rd century had been dominated by the military, and that the times they lived in required them to make "ordered retreats" sometimes. Given he managed to secure additional funding for the joint project, this speech helped to diminish oncoming criticism.



Then, the ongoing project to research better sensors for space combat and travel that had been started by Louis Robson finally came to fruition. Robson invited the Council to a research facility in the Balkans, where an unassuming sensor tower had been constructed. Louis Robson proudly showed off its control room to the members of the Council, who looked around puzzled by the many screens in the facility. Being the most familiar with naval sensors, Admiral Rachel Humphries looked around excitedly, and was invited to sit down on a chair in the middle of the room. In front of it there was a screen showing a reading. Estimated distance 2004.73 metres? Estimated mass 13.27 kilograms? Estimated speed 7823.2 metres per second? She wondered, was this a piece of space debris? And indeed, it was, as Louis Robson proudly proclaimed, his sensor tower could track a piece of space debris in low Terra orbit with an error margin of a couple metres, giving its full mass, bearing and speed with equal accuracy. "What is this?" Rachel Humphries asked. "The gravimetric sensor." Louis Robson answered.

His sensor suite was based on infinitesimally small fluctuations of gravity fields generated by objects, with different settings optimised for different ranges of masses. His experimental sensor suite was calibrated to very small objects, and as such could only detect objects at low Terra orbit, but he assured the Council that he could recalibrate his sensors to sense a 15 ton object over a 120,000 kilometres of distance. Against a 50 ton object? Easily over a million. This was by far the most precise sensor ever made in the history of mankind, another impossible wonder made possible by developments in trans-newtonian technology. The Council was incredibly impressed by this, and more than anybody, Fleet Admiral Joshua Duncan was happy to see his dreams of a Space Fleet come one step closer. Louis Robson told the Council that with small improvements and modifications, these new sensors would quickly become the new standard in space navigation.

When his research was published another media wildfire started on the Republic. The incredible properties of the gravimetric sensor were endlessly explored by engineering and science channels, although the physics behind its functioning were so dense that it was hard to explain to laymen how it even worked. This research was very well received by Samuel Archer's team, who now had a starting point for their weapons coordination system. The Terra Foundation Association petitioned for the Senate to give them autonomy in allocating the now freed up research facilities, but the Order of Sol marvelled at the state of sensors research, and most OS Senators were adamant in continuing to fund these developments. A new research team was assigned to Samuel Archer's project, led by scientist Toby Wilkinson, which would help them further develop the weapons sensors technology needed for the Navy.



By the 26th of September scientist Louis Robson was officially awarded the Order of Newton for his research, a moment that he took great pride in. He followed his award ceremony by giving a long speech on how he had triumphed over the hardships of his life, and how he had needed remarkable strength of character and willpower in order to "make it". His speech was long and self-congratulatory, but the Republic watched in awe. Thousands of memes hit the Republic Web after his speech, mocking Robson's strange mannerisms of speech and his apparently astronomical ego, and how he had not thanked a single person, not a single member of his team during his whole speech. This had him fuming, and he publicly moved to sue the civilian company that provided servers for the Republic Web for allowing "unfathomable slander" to be thrown against him. The world watched his trial through the audiovisual channels of the Republic Web, and all of the Republic laughed as the judge declared his case "had no base in Republic law" and how "the free speech laws of the Republic explicitly forbid the government from censuring parodies and comedy". After his 'trial', Robson gave another long and fuming speech to the press on how the laws of the Republic were unfair, and how men like him shouldn't have to be targets of "humour so unacceptably trite and of terrible taste".

This media scandal cemented Robson as the most ridiculed man on the Web for the entire first decade of the 23rd century. His furious facial expressions were quickly turned into reaction images and bits of his statements became commonly used as mockery, and "unacceptably trite and of terrible taste" became a phrase used to ironically refer to the quality of anything. Ironically enough, Louis Robson would be a name of great impact both in the sciences and in culture, just not the way he had originally intended.



The TFA was, throughout this incident, very keen on reminding that despite being a Foundation scientist, Robson had never been a part of the Association, and that they in no way corroborated his beliefs or defended his behaviour. Given the mostly humorous response to this event, the reputation of the TFA was not significantly affected.

The rest of the year was relatively mild, with nothing of such proportions happening in the Republic. All the new trans-newtonian technologies discovered remained a big focus of the media and the public, and the parties were preparing for the 2209 campaign year.
Posted by: Ektor
« on: April 26, 2020, 01:45:53 PM »

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.
Posted by: Ektor
« on: April 25, 2020, 02:45:50 PM »

2206

The year started calmly. By the 4th of February the scientists on Terra Foundation had made another breakthrough in the material sciences, Duranium hulls were one step closer to the Republic. The Populists campaigned to have research focus redirected to civilian purposes, but all other sectors of the Senate approved the continued research into hulls and armour.

Then, later that month, the fully constructed prototype of the naval particle cannon was delivered to the navy. It was tested extensively, and they even allowed the publication of a couple of firing tests, which depicted the particle cannon completely obliterating layers upon layers of steel. These videos were watched by the millions in mid February, and programs explaining the trans-newtonian tech behind high-powered particle cannons were published throughout the month.

Then, only a couple of days later, the prototype Geosurvey Sensor was also completed, and placed on a Foundation facility. It took it about a week to scan Terra's geological profile, giving data to Foundation geologists that would take them years to analyze. Never before had such a detailed survey of the deep crust been made available to Republic scientists. This data was freely published as the military did not consider the Geosurvey Sensors to be as classified as the particle cannon technology was, and some crafty startups were founded on late February to produce small, portable versions of a geosensor, sold to the public as state of the art detectors that could find pottery or metal and many other things buried under layers of soil. Given the immense popularity of the Geosurvey Sensors, these were a hit with the public, with thousands being requested.

The archaeology department at the Foundation was also quick to order many of these, as they could offer breakthroughs in discovering and exploring new archaeological sites, likewise, the geological department ordered many of these as they would allow to study minerals up close. These were too low-powered to scan anything but a depth of a couple meters into the soil, so there was only limited use for them. Samuel Archer was quick to begin advertising the possibility of high-powered portable geosensors that could scan much deeper than the first generation ones, and whilst the idea was very popular with the public, the Foundation saw very little use for such devices, as the mineral composition of Terra had already been surveyed to a large extent. Members of the TFA spoke about how that technology might help scan solar system bodies in the future, but given the current limitations of construction of trans-newtonian vessels, the technology was not considered useful enough by the Senate or by the directorate of Terra Foundation to warrant immediate funding. Nevertheless, Samuel Archer would continue to study geosensors privately.

By March, focus had turned to the Spaceport, as the Federation engineers finally gave an inauguration estimate that the port would be ready between late July and early August. The administration of the Terra Spaceport quickly announced tourist visitation plans, where the planetside shuttles would take tourists into the Spaceport, where they would be accommodated in hotels, and could enjoy a range of activities such as spacewalks and zero gravity chambers where they could experience the effects of weightlessness, as well as more common entertainment accommodations. The Senate questioned the usage of government funds on constructing such installations, but the Spaceport administration replied by saying that they were only exploring additional sources of revenue that would ensure better functioning and readiness of Spaceport facilities, and that in no way the cargo docks or refuelling stations of the Spaceport would be hampered or neglected because of tourist facilities. Reservations for Spaceport tourism were out within a week, and many famous figures promised to transmit footage of their experience on the Spaceport when August came, and taking their vacations in space quickly became a favourite of Republic citizens. Those who couldn't afford this often signed up to the Spaceport as restaurant or cleaning crew, and the more mechanically inclined would often sign up for positions as maintenance crew, all so that they could experience living on the first major orbital trans-newtonian facility.

The year ran quiet until the official inauguration of the Spaceport on the 29th of July, when it featured prominently in many of the news programs throughout Terra. It was lauded as a marvel of engineering, and programs focused on its systems and the many tricks engineers and builders had to come up with to accomplish its construction and functioning in space became popular on the Republic web. What greatly pleased the Senate was that the project was completed three years earlier than the original estimation given, a remarkable progress permitted by the growing trans-newtonian industries on Terra. Many news channels attempted to interview ex-Chancellor Ellen Stevens to see what she thought about the completion of the project she had helped start, but she was nowhere to be found, having moved to some distant village somewhere in the European Alps. Many memes came out about how Ellen Stevens had become shepherd, especially by Republic citizens who voted for the Populists, but this was only a minor phenomena.

By August, new discussions had appeared on the Senate as what would be constructed next. The hardliners on the Order of Sol immediately began campaigning for the construction of additional facilities where bigger ships could be built, but this was quickly shot down by most of the Senate, even within the Order of Sol, as the technology needed to construct larger trans-newtonian spaceships was yet not available. Some Order of Sol Senators then proposed that more military industries should be constructed, which had the obvious support of Councillor Sophie Wheeler. However, Harry Thompson made a strong effort to campaign for additional funding for extra technological facilities. He cited the budget cuts the Terra Foundation faced as a result of the Geosurvey Sensor prototype, and said that they deserved to be compensated for that. The Order of Sol was split, on one hand, those who sided with Sophie Wheeler demanded more military facilities, whilst a good portion of the Order of Sol believed that funding science was key to faster military technolgy development, a belief cemented by Harry Thompson's campagin for Chancellorship. A consensus was unable to be reached, and it was decided that a vote was to be held to see what path to follow.

The vote was very close, with 187 votes for Thompson and 158 for Wheeler, with the rest of the house abstaining, as they believed either option was deisrable. This was a great success for Thompson's Chancellorship, but Sophie Wheeler made sure to campaign within the Order of Sol, making them reach a decision that they would only support a military installation as the next project the Senate voted for. For now, the TFA publicly lauded Harry Thompson, the earlier erosion of his popularity due to his focus on cooperating with the Order of Sol now being seen as the correct move. He was praised as being a skilled negotiator, something that the Independents had long tried to achieve. This moment would be a positive reflection on his Council career.

When November came, scientist Kian Clarke delivered his full studies to the Senate, detailing many construction and production techniques employing Duranium. Many of his findings were quickly published, giving a boost to Terra's infant trans-newtonian industry. This better understanding of the properties of Duranium led to applications in all sorts of areas. Sophie Wheeler was overjoyed with the studies on Duranium armour, which allowed for revolutionary vehicle armour to be produced, whilst Joshua Duncan saw the possible applications in constructing Duranium-hulled spaceships in the future. Kian Clarke was awarded the Order of Newton for this. His award ceremony became a bit of a joke on the Republic web, as the man seemed to be completely indifferent all the time, with a general low-energy behaviour, many saw Clarke as ungrateful for receiving this award, but his contributions were too many to ignore.

His researched revealed something interesting about trans-newtonian materials: large concentrations would become highly structurally unstable when subject to planetary gravity fields. The Progress didn't suffer this effect because of its small build, but any significant construction and management of trans-newtonian craft would have to be made on Terra's orbit. This made Sophie Wheeler's previous campaign for planetside industries look bad in retrospect. However, it made clear to the Order of Sol that an orbital shipyard was a necessary endeavour for future expansion of the military. Despite Harry Thompson's endless protests, budget to his new research facility was cut by 25%, and this extra money injected in a project to construct an orbital shipyard capable of constructing spaceships of up to a thousand tons.

Despite this, Thompson continued to make efforts to cooperate with the Order of Sol, and despite tensions between the TFA and the OS, he managed to convince Fleet Admiral Joshua Duncan of the strategic necessity of extraplanetary geological surveys, and managed to secure that the new shipyard construction would be a joint project, organised by both the Terra Foundation and the Navy, so that they could use the shipyard for the construction of exploratory vessels. Duncan saw this as a reasonable compromise, but his supporters at the Order of Sol let him know that no matter what, as soon as new funds became available, a military shipyard was expected.

Having managed to "salvage" the unpleasant situation the Order of Sol had put the Terra Foundation Association in, Thompson had managed to stave off criticism for the budget cut the Order of Sol was responsible for. Whilst comments abut him were mixed during the month of November, he would remain popular.

Foundation engineers gave a shocking twelve year estimation on the delivery of this new shipyard, which made clear to everyone that the Order of Sol would use any remaining budget in the following years to aid the construction of new shipyards. Harry Thompson vowed to the TFA to continue campaigning for the construction of scientific facilities, but everybody knew there was little he could do against a well-determined Order of Sol. Talks began for a preparatory campaign for the 2210 elections to be started by the Terra Foundation Association, so they could eventually challenge Order of Sol majority. Harry Thompson feared this would antagonize the Order of Sol too much, and decided campaigns would only start in 2209 as was customary for the Republic. Meanwhile the Populists had kept their furious campaigns against the Order of Sol, but no one really knew how effective they had been. 2210, although distant, was already on the aimsights of Republic polticians.



Discussions began on the Senate about what path to follow in research, now that the material studies on Duranium had been concluded. Terra Foundation was adamantly expecting the new generation of survey ships that would be made available by the new orbital shipyard, and quickly petitioned for the funds to develop a new engine capable of leading these much larger ships on travels accross the Solar System. The Order of Sol agreed on the grounds that a similar, military version of this engine also be developed in order to service the first generation of space warships.





It quickly became clear that the military version would be much harder to design. The first calculations all indicated that such a powerful engine would catastrophically explode. Scientists would first need to find a way to contain such power without it tearing apart the engines. They estimated this would take an additional year compared to the civilian version.



These discussions concluded the year of 2206.
Posted by: Ektor
« on: April 24, 2020, 08:59:55 PM »

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.


The Council of 2205

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.


Chancellor Elections of 2205

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?
Posted by: Ektor
« on: April 24, 2020, 08:26:44 PM »

2204

2204 was another calm year. Highlights include the complete training of the first particle cannon armed brigade of the Republic, which set the tone for a lot of the media of the year. New audiovisual series premiered on the streaming services of the Republic, featuring Republic Soldier protagonists armed with particle cannons defeating rebels and aliens. The Senate sessions were quiet, as no new developments hit the Republic, things proceeded as planned.
Posted by: Ektor
« on: April 23, 2020, 02:42:02 PM »

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.
Posted by: Ektor
« on: April 22, 2020, 09:52:20 PM »

2202

July saw the materialization of the first project for a trans-newtonian engine. This news spread like wildfire throughout the Republic, and scientist Sarah Gardner was lauded by the press for weeks. During the months of June and July, hardly anything else could be found on the main channels of the Republic web, it seemed everybody was imagining where this new engine could lead humanity, and given the lack of hard numbers on the capacity that an actual trans-newtonian engine could provide, wild estimates of speed were thrown around, saying this new trans-newtonian engine could manage, in an instant, with no period of acceleration, instantly set an object to around 0.5% of the speed of light. This would be all but impossible, even to the humans of the 21st century. Talks about how the 23rd century was the true peak of human achievement were circulated endlessly by the audiovisual channels of the Republic. But so far, little was factually known about this engine.

Hearing this news, the Order of Sol immediately ordered the Foundation to produce a working prototype of this trans-newtonian engine. This was not well received, and many prominent scientists appeared in the media to try to calm the runaway enthusiasm of the public. However, the lack of Foundation seats on the Senate meant there was very little they could do to meaningfully stall the demands of the Order of Sol.

The project officially started in the 13th of July, 2202, with project lead Sarah Gardner feeling completely stumped on how to materialize this trans-newtonian engine. There was a number of limitations they were working with, namely, the engine would have to be made on naval engine scales or not at all. However, given the constraints of budget and time, Gardner decided they would make the smallest functional engine they could build, however, the estimated weight of this engine was around 10 metric tons.

When this news were published, many wild estimates on size of future engines were talked about on the media, the wildest estimates told that single trans newtonian engine blocks would reach up to 20 thousand tons in the short future, but Foundation scientists were quick to dismiss those claims, saying current techniques were completely inadequate for producing such massive engines.

Initially, the capacities of this engine were all but unknown, but after many sleepless nights and hours of overtime, the engineers at Terra Foundation started to understand the characteristics and capacities of this new engine. As August came, they got closer and closer to a working design. The estimations put this engine at the capacity of accelerating a 50 ton object to 0.3% of light speed. The most incredible characteristic of this engine, however, to scientist Sarah Gardner, was its unbelievable fuel efficiency. The hourly consumption of Sorium gas of this prototype engine was just around 7 liters. This confirmed the status of Sorium gas as the most energy dense substance known to mankind.

By 27th of August, all blueprints and specifications were in order. It seemed the Foundation was going to build this engine, after all.



These were the finished specifications:



A quick exception was made on the industrial budget for construction of this engine. All of the Republic held its breath for the estimation that the Federation of Commerce would give on its construction. Several issues with the manufacturing of the engine arose, and despite full blueprints, it seemed the actual engine would only be ready by December.

At the same time, Foundation Scientist Samuel Archer contacted the Senate with a detailed project of a device that could scan a planet from orbit and detect trans newtonian element volumes as low as a couple hundred cubic meters. This device was far from done, and the project far from complete, but the incredible possibilities of surveying bodies of the solar system were heavily defended by both the TFA and the Federation of Commerce, and the strategic benefits of discovering mineral concentrations in Sol was obvious even to the hardliners of the Order of Sol. Samuel Archer's project would receive Senate funding.




It quickly became clear to the team of Foundation scientists who were put under Archer's command that his project had major flaws. Despite his untiring enthusiasm on marketing his Geological Survey Sensors to the media and the Senate, the reality was that a lot of specialized equipment would have to be designed from scratch to allow an actual implementation of the device. The project was not nearly as complete as Archer had made it seem.

But it was too late. Amongst the incredible media wildfire that had raged since July, the Geosurvey Sensor was lauded as the new wonder of the world, and its capacities were greatly exaggerated by the mediea. A couple of "experts" appeared unendingly on the audiovisual channels of the Republic web, giving wild forecasts of detailedly knowing the exact geological composition of everybody of the Solar System within the first decade of the 23rd century. To all those who worked in the Foundation, the reality was very clear: the Republic would be lucky if it had a working prototype of a Geological Survey Sensor within the decade.

The following months seemed to go by in a haze. The mounting expectation put upon the engine prototype being build at Terra had the engineering team under a lot of pressure. But eventually, November came, and with it, the first working prototype of trans-newtonian engine humanity had ever built.



The engine was immediately tested in all manners possible, and to everybody's surprise, it held up spectacularly. It seemed to achieve all the projections that the scientists at Terra Foundation had set. However, the public, after being fed all manner of sensationalism, was not as thrilled as the actual scientific community. Regardless, the Senate circles understood the massive accomplishment that had been made. Sarah Gardner was awarded the newly created Order of Newton, an award for those who contributed greatly to the Republic's technological advance.



Back on the Senate, a new debate emerged: Councillor Harry Thompson raised the very real concern of field tests for the Prototype Engine. But this would mean the construction of a completely trans-newtonian craft. During the second half of November, researchers from Terra Foundation put forward a plan for constructing a small craft, and immediately petitioned the Senate for the construction of factories capable of producing this innovative craft.

The proposition was very popular with both the TFA and the Order of Sol. The high ranking officers of the Fleet saw in this the opportunity to test the future capacities of trans-newtonian space warships, and the scientists obviously were very interested in the production of this new craft. The budget was altered once more, in addition to the construction of the orbital Spaceport, part of the budget would be destined to building smaller orbital maintenance facilities for a future fleet, together with industrial installations capable of producing this new trans-newtonian craft. These installations were much smaller and realistic, and the Federation of Commerce put an estimate of roughly three years for their delivery.



And thus concluded the very busy year of 2202. Spirits were at an all time high in the Republic, but despite the enthusiasm of the public, not much had been achieved except for the prototype engine. What types of developments would the following years bring?
Posted by: Ektor
« on: April 22, 2020, 08:35:33 PM »

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.
Posted by: Ektor
« on: April 22, 2020, 06:37:12 PM »

2200

The years of 2200 opened with the discussion on how to best use the new understandings of Trans Newtonian Tech. The January 4th meeting of the Senate opened with a speech from Admiral Rachel Humphries, shedding light on a study done by the Industrial Union, a subsidiary of the Federation of Commerce. The study stated that by employing trans-newtonian industrial equipment and the new porduction techniques permitted by them, there was a forecast of a 430% increase in industrial production on the next ten years, if the appropriate measures were taken by the Senate. In addition, the study estimated that the application of such equipment in mining could increase the trans-newtonian mineral output of the Republic by over 60,000 cubic meters in volume.

This study sent the Senate into a wildfire, many agreeing that the benefits of this were too strong to be ignored. Some populists and independents gave long statements questioning the methodology of that study, claiming a number of statistical irregularities. This discussion of minutiae related to the study was drawn out for the entire day by the populists, making January 4th be a very improductive day for the Senate. The next day, it was agreed that no further discussions on the validity of the study would take place, and a motion to start the long process of updating Terra's industry to trans-newtonian standards passed with over 400 votes. The big discussion now was how much of the Republic's resources would be destined to this purpose.

The Senators from the Federation of commerce were adamant that this should be the primary focus of Terra's industries for the following years, but their small presence on the Senate floor caused that to be heavily questioned by the other factions. General Sophie Wheeler insisted on the expansion of Terra's military industries, and her motion was heavily supported by the Order of Sol. 10% of the construction budget was allocated to that purpose.

When Chancellor Ellen Stevens got the chance to talk, she wisely spoke about the necessity of building a massive space installation to serve as the foundation of orbital construction. This "Space Port", as she called it, would be the logistical centre of everything the Republic planned to put into orbit. She had consulted with the engineers from the Terra Foundation, and presented before the Senate a very ambitious project, that would be able to move thousands of tons of cargo, coordinating itself with many planetside cargo shuttle hubs. The necessity for such a project became clear to most of the Senate, and she managed to secure a 20% investment of the construction budget into her new Spaceport.

The support of the Terra Foundation to the studies and projects mentioned so far earned them enough political capital that their Senator managed to convince the Senate of the need to expand the scientific installations on Terra. Another 10% of the construction budget was allocated for that purpose.

Despite the insistence of some vocal members of the Order of Sol, the Senate quickly realized how inadequate the current infrastructure was for the dreamt expansion into the Solar System, despite their minority on the Senate, 60% of the construction budget was left to the Federation of Commerce to decide. They quickly hatched a plan to develop industries and mining, as well as n expansion of sectors of the private economy that would be most benefitted by the switch to trans-newtonian. Furthermore, they sought to secure the manufacturing of Sorium gas, vital for the generation of power in trans-newtonian power plants.

By 9th of January, a new budget had been set. The overall budget ended up looking somewhat like this:



As soon as the Senate's plans reached the planners of the Republic, complaints were made to the Federation of Commerce. Many thought the Senate had been overly optimistic, and it seemed that this 2200 plan would take decades to complete. Many realized it would still be incomplete by the time of the 2210 elections, and all sectors of the Senate prepared themselves for the great amounts of interference this project would suffer in the coming years.

Then, discussion changed to what directives should be given to the Terra Foundation for research. The overwhelming majority of the Order of Sol made clear what was expected: the research of space warship components. After much protest by the members of the Association, the Senate understood that was outside of current scientific knowledge. A mid point was brokered between the Association and the Order of Sol: Heavy investment would go into the theoretical research that would allow the development of a space fleet. The given schedule, however, heavily displeased the Order of Sol. It would probably take one or two decades before a real warship could be materialized.

In the Foundation, research into trans-newtonian propulsion was seen as the obvious first path to seek, as there could not be a ship without engines. The second focus came almost as an accident. An obscure project for a mining tool consisting in a jet of particles accelerated by a trans-newtonian power source was dug up, apparently one of the earliest theoretical developments of the discovery of trans-newtonian technology from the past decade. The project had originally been rejected due to the massive excess in power the so dubbed "particle cannon" offered for mining enterprises, the few actual tests done with it showing it was better as a vapourizer of minerals than as a mining tool, this, of course, greatly excited the envoys of the Order of Sol that accompanied the discussions in the Foundation.



The year went on without major incidents until April, when scientists at Terra Foundation made a major breakthrough on power generation technology, this in turn allowed for the theoretical development of the first trans-newtonian engines ever conceived. Research continued as normal.



[I just realized I had set my research modifier incorrectly. From now on research will take 500% longer.]

The year proceeded without major incidents.