Terran Republic - Updates

[Ektor (OP)]

Lore

The twenty first century was a time of severe upheaval for humanity. Despite the recommendations and warning of scientists, the global economy kept on depending on fossil fuels. Coal and Oil kept being explored as the population of the world grew even further, and after few decades, the environmental effects of this began to mount. The Earth warmed and climate got worse, suddenly, major agricultural disruption followed. The nations of Earth invested heavily on greenhouses and hydroponics to repel the threat of starvation, but their efforts were insufficient to avoid catastrophe, which struck especially hard on the developing nations without access to modern agricultural technology. World economy had been stagnant for the first decades of the 21st century, and in addition to this, peak oil was reached somewhere in the 2030’s, causing to the gradual increase of all manner of costs, until the combined pressure of climate change and oil price increase was too much for the already fragilized economy to support. In the late 2040’s, an economic crisis of yet untold severity hit the world, sending hundreds of millions into unemployment and poverty. Governments tried furiously to curtail the impacts of this crisis, but it was too little, too late. Massive collapse of civilization followed, and around the world, the famed when “smeg hit the fan” came.

The second half of the 21st century were one of the most chaotic periods that mankind had ever lived. Billions starved, many more died to disease, violence and poverty as the advanced civilization that covered the globe died. In most places, small communities centred around hydroponic greenhouses was all that was left. According to modern estimates, up to 90% to 95% of the world’s human population perished in this period.

Multiple societies arose in the aftermath of the great collapse, and many ran themselves into the ground via war and famine. In what used to be North America, a fiercely expansionist power cemented itself as a new contender for local domination during the early 2100’s. The new United Northern Republic fiercely conquered its neighbours, but it was also a strong civilizing force, as it built infrastructure and granted security to the populations living under its banner. Soon, the Republic came to be seen as the legitimate governing body of North America, and its severe investments in rebuilding society started to pay off by the 2120’s. Modern technology was quickly restored, and soon, in 2134 the Republic launched its first space program.

In the Republic, the fiercely expansionistic fervour had led to a campaign of colonization, and Republic taskforces, now backed up by what was by far the most technologically advanced society on Earth swept across the globe, providing security and comfort in exchange for loyalty to the Republic. Of course, those who resisted quickly found themselves shelled by missiles and bombs. It took only a few decades for the Republic to establish itself as a world government, and by the 2160’s, Earth was now for the first time united under the now renamed Republic of Terra. Intense rebuilding and development took place, in the now accepted Republican way, and after almost a hundred years of pure chaos, society finally was walking towards normality once again.

The Republic was decently democratic, for post-collapse societies. Whilst most of the world had become playground to different kingdoms and dictatorships, the Republic always prided itself on its relatively free society, with freedom of assembly and speech, and also a parliamentary body that allowed representation for even the lowest of their citizens. The dire situation of pre-collapse Earth led to some sort of collective awareness, and the Republic often granted better standards of life than many parts of the world had, even before the collapse.

All around the Earth, a feeling of optimism and progressiveness took place, the new Earth government sprung a revival of culture, philosophy and science, and during these optimistic years of the second half of the 22nd century, society gradually reached a point of technological equivalence to pre-collapse Earth, although still with a severely diminished population.

The end of the 22nd century marked the hallmark discovery of a parallel dimension, called “fluidic dimension” by Republic scientists and their associated Trans-Newtonian Elements. As the capacities of these new elements became clearer and clearer, the Republic passed the mark of scientific development that humanity had reached almost two hundred years ago, and talk of space exploration and colonization became the hot topic on the mouths of all Republic citizens. The year was 2200, and the greatest breakthrough in Trans-Newtonian tech was just about to come.

[Ektor (OP)]

The Politics of the Republic

The Republic of Terra is a democratic government, with its legislative body made up of a single chamber of representatives called the Senate. The Senate has one seat for every two million citizens, having a size of 500 seats in the year 2200. Different parties vie for the seats of the Senate, which is elected every ten years. The executive body of the Republic is divided between the Council of the Senate and the Chancellor. The Council of the Senate is a moderating and executive body made up of the most influential senators and representatives of the military, the chancellor is chosen by the Senate in a vote between the top civilian members of the Council every five years, with unlimited reelections.

There are currently four parties in the Senate floor, these are:

The Order of Sol
Ideologies: Militarist, Expansionist
The Order of Sol is a military organisation that gathers the most politically active members of the armed forces and those who support them. They are the political arm of the Navy and Army, and as such, value it above all else in the Republic.

The Terra Foundation Association
Ideologies: Scientific, Pacifist, Expansionist
The Terra Foundation is the top-level higher education institution in the Republic, coordinating thousands of scholars and researchers. They have united as a political body in order to lead the Republic to higher scientific achievements and specially the development of space exploration and trans-newtonian technology.


The Federation of Commerce
Ideologies: Economist, Expansionist
The Federation of Commerce is a huge organisation that oversees the economic development of Terra, they unite several magnates of the service, agricultural and manufacturing businesses and coordinate their actions, always seeking the maximum mutual benefit.

The Populist Party
Ideologies: Isolationist, Pacifist
The Populists, as they are known, are a diverse party formed by those who believe that instead of spending resources on things like the military or exploration, the Republic should focus on the here and now issues of the populace. They are an opposition party bent of souring the balance between the three traditional parties of the Republic.

And also:

The Independents
Idelogies: None
The Independents are not an organised body, they are simply the Senators not affiliated with any major faction. Their votes can always be swayed, given the situation.

The different parties represent different ideologies, they can be better explained as:

Militarist
The Militarists put navy and army above everything else, they will campaign for increased military expenditure and will want the scientific focus of the Republic to be put on developing new equipment and tools for the military forces. They will prioritize the construction of military forces and outposts.

Pacifist
The Pacifists believe the navy and the fleet to be unnecessary expenditures and focuses, and would like for a demilitarized society. They will oppose military expansion and focus.

Economist
The Economists put economic development and mineral acquisition above all else. They will campaign for increased wealth generation and mining expansion. They will want to focus research on expanding the economic capacities of the Republic.

Scientific
The Scientifics will always campaign for further development of science and construction of research outposts and facilities. They are interested in engineering the most advanced tech and will often cooperate with other factions to develop technology.

Isolationist
The Isolationists are a faction that opposes expenditures on expanding the Republic, they believe the Republic does not need to get any bigger, and will oppose efforts of colonization and expansion.

Expansionists
The Expansionists are a faction that rabidly desires to see the Republic grow, and will fund expansion and exploration as much as they can. They will fund the settling and development of any viable colonies.

[Ektor (OP)]

The Elections of 2200

The high spirits caused the by the development of Trans-Newtonian technology and the talk about space exploration heavily favoured those who campaigned for expansion and research. As a result, parties with the ideologies of Scientific and Military gained a 10% bonus to their base votes in this election.

The results were as follows:

Order of Sol:
710 million votes - 355 Seats

It seems the expansionistic and militaristic history of the Republic heavily favoured the campaigns of the Order of Sol, who preached that the strong hand of the military must be the primary guiding force of the period of space exploration. The development of defences against unforeseen threats coming from outer space was a deciding argument to the OS Campaign, convincing most of the Republic's population of the necessity of the construction of a Space Navy.

Terra Foundation Association:
116 million votes - 58 Seats

Despite the news on Terra forecasting the TFA as a strong favourite for this election, their campaign about the scientific potential of Trans-Newtonian materials was far less appealing than the fancy 3D models of space warships that featured in the advertisement of the OS. The public was quick to latch onto the idea of a navy in space, and thus the strong campaigning of the TFA about peaceful exploration of space and non-violent uses of Trans Newtonian technology came off as slightly tone deaf to the hopes of the public.

Federation of Commerce:
108 million votes - 54 Seats

The Federation of Commerce was mostly interested in the economic potential of Trans-Newtonian technology, and as such, its campaign ran around the necessity of the development of a strong mining economy to supply the future ambitions of Terra. They campaigned extensively for the expansion of industry and mining operations, and pioneered the discussions on whether other bodies in the Solar System could also hold Trans Newtonian materials, a possibility considered entirely theoretical by most scientists in the Terra Foundation. Again, the flashy propaganda of the OS proved to be much more appealing than economic promises of hard data. However, despite the initial analysis of political scientists on Terra, the Federation did surprisingly well, given the situation. They managed to gain almost as many seats as the TFA, and for now, would be forced to cooperate with them if they were to have any weight on the Senate.

The Populist Party:
48 million votes - 24 Seats

The Populists had long been thought to be the least favourite party of the 2200 elections, mostly on the grounds of opposing to focus most of the Republic's resources on space exploration. Instead, the campaigned on internal development. Their campaign was largely ineffectual, gathering a very small amount of voters, mostly contrarians and those who could not see the benefit of expanding further. The Populist Party benefitted from some conspiracy theories that ran on the year of 2199, claiming that trans-newtonian materials were false and that there was nothing to acquire in space, despite this, they did not manage to form a significant portion of the Senate.

The Independents:
18 million votes - 9 Seats

Most independents ran with campaign focusing on very much the same aspects that the major parties did, although claiming neutrality and cooperation between all tendencies, the independents painted themselves as skilled and impartial negotiators. However, given the political system of the Republic, only a few managed to get enough votes to be elected.

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The Council of 2200

Only 3 Senators managed to gain entrance to the Council in the year of 2200, those were:

Laura Gould – Federation of Commerce:

Laura is a popular name on the Federation, coming from a financial background. She is not the most charismatic figure, though, as her years working with the market have made her very convinced that she knows best about the economic needs and development of the Republic. The Republic web is filled with memes of her being an annoying know-it-all.


Ellen Stevens – Order of Sol:

Ellen Stevens is one of the leaders of the Order of Sol. A thoroughly bland person, she fits well into the serious and order-oriented world of the military. Despite being a civilian, she is seen as a stern and competent woman, making her popular with the voters of the Order of Sol.


Harry Thompson – Terra Foundation Association:

Harry Thompson is the representative of the TFA, a scientific man through and through. He is popular amongst the science lovers of the Republic for being known as a man without political motivations, he is a defender of pure science and technology, believing his position to be self evident and adamantly defending the Foundation from those who believe science must be put under the yoke of economics or the military. Harry is a bit of a tragic figure, however, being a well known sufferer of depression.

In addition, three military commanders joined the Council:

Admiral Joshua Duncan - Order of Sol:

Joshua is another serious man of the Order of Sol. Known for being a good commander to his men, he is generally considered a good boss to work under. His dedication to the military has earned him the position of Admiral, and he prides himself in his high position in the Fleet. Joshua is one of the most adamant supporters of the need for the development of a Space Navy.


Admiral Rachel Humphries - Federation of Commerce:

Rachel Humphries is the never-tiring, energetic defender of the Federation amongst navy circles. Admired for her deep studies and knowledge of Trans Newtonian Geology, she is an adamant supporter of the expansion of the mineral wealth of the Republic. The woman is known for being able to quote numerous facts on Trans Newtonian minerals and their properties.


General Sophie Wheeler - Order of Sol

Sophie is the annoying representative of the Army. Always complaining about how everybody is focused on the Navy, she takes upon herself the role of the spoilsport who has to remind everybody that wars have always been won by boots on the ground. She is popular amongst the army due to this, but disliked in other circles.

Chancellor Elections of 2020

Ellen Stevens: 253 Votes

The landslide victory on the general elections had its counterpart on the elections for Chancellor. Ellen Steves won an easy majority from the support of the Senators of the Order of Sol.


Laura Gould: 36 Votes

Unsurprisingly, the unpopular Laura Gould did not achieve a significant percentage of votes. Her declarations of being the most qualified person for the job and utter surprise at not having won were amongst the most watched videos on the Republic web.


Harry Thompson: 197 Votes

Harry's science focused campaign earned him a lot of votes, as he was seen as the leading figure to coordinate Trans-Newtonian research. He did very well, but not well enough; on a normal election year he would have surely won, but the immense advantage of the OS in the year of 2200 stole the chancellorship from right under his nose.


14 Abstentions

Some Populists and most Independents decided to abstain from the vote, claiming none of the candidates represented them.

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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.

[Ektor (OP)]

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.

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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?

[Ektor (OP)]

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.

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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.

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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?

[Ektor (OP)]

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.

[Ektor (OP)]

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.

[Ektor (OP)]

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.

[Ektor (OP)]

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.]

[Ektor (OP)]

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.