(5) Into the Vast

[doodle_sm (OP)]

Author’s Note: Stormtrooper on the Aurora discord asked me a few clarifying questions about the setting. In the last update we briefly looked into the Humans before the Zikh invasion and the Human extinction. Stormtrooper also asked if the Humans were a pet project of the Zikh to which I say stay while and listen.

Eikh Histories: Volume I - Chapter IV
November 4027 through September 4041

The stranding of the Lanthanum as well as the fuel shortage led to the rapid design and development of three new hulls. The Orlan class Fuel Harvesting Station, Vaken class Tanker, and the Krenn class Tug. A new administration center was built as a result of many new government and organizational functions being created. This administration center is where the Sector Commander and his direct subordinates work. As a result of the growing corporate power in the Eikh Empire the Antoxi Mining Guild has established the Weisberg Mining Company as a shell corporation to circumvent legal responsibility on Neujmin. The Imperial Government demands financial tithe from the corporate colony.

The Stellar Cartographic Command researched new gravitational survey sensors and began designs on the new Firelight class Survey Cruiser. The new class has improved Sublight engines, improved fuel storage/economy, as well as future Jump Engines. The intention of the class is for deep space survey missions with some scouting capability. The old Twilight class Survey Cruiser is decommissioned by the Cartographic Command.

The early 4030s sees the creation of the Mercury colony. The Labor Faction has ousted Arae as their figurehead senator after the previous Mars-Luna scandal. The Capital Faction makes headway as the colony is technically not owned by the Imperial government. The Mercury colony is known to the local population as Nahl Habaddon which means Charred Lungs in the Eikh tongue due to the expansive civilian manufacturing on the planet as 60.4% of the Eikh colonists on Nahl Habaddon are in the manufacturing assembly forges.

The mid to late 4030s the Navy deployed four Watch class Monitors around asteroids and Europa. The intention is to control and monitor intersystem travel and transport. Xenoarchaeology Teams are trained to use new equipment: the Kadan-X Excavation Rig. The rig is designed to pull up dirt as well as debris from old ruins. The rapid expansion of facilities on Earth drained Duranium stockpiles to 0. The Mining Guild charges ludicrously high fees for Duranium ore. Construction on most projects were halted until reserves of Duranium went up and prices lowered.

Near the end of the 4030s, the Firelight class Survey Cruiser began construction in orbit and finished in mid 4040. The Firelight is immediately heralded as innovative in its sensor collection systems by scientists across the Empire. The orbital shipyard was commissioned to build two additional Survey Cruisers, the Carosa and the Alumine. Meanwhile, the Navy completed the first combat ship design: the Amsar class Corvette. The Amsar is armed with four 12cm quad barreled Railcannons for anti ship capabilities as well as six 10cm single barreled Railcannons for limited point defense capability. Navy designers wrote to the navy when submitting the Amsar class design “The Amsar class may boast ten Railcannons but only has a single targeting system installed. She is blind in space and will require some form of sensor boat to detect active signatures. Her short range and short deployment accommodations are not beneficial to a long campaign.” The Amsar was commissioned and expected to be laid down in mid to late 4041.

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Amsar class Corvette      5,000 tons       158 Crew       577.4 BP       TCS 100    TH 400    EM 0
4000 km/s      Armour 5-26       Shields 0-0       HTK 26      Sensors 0/0/0/0      DCR 3      PPV 25.85
Maint Life 2.39 Years     MSP 216    AFR 67%    IFR 0.9%    1YR 52    5YR 777    Max Repair 200.00 MSP
Captain-Lieutenant    Control Rating 1   BRG   
Intended Deployment Time: 8 months    Morale Check Required   

Pherae Assembly Forge Improved Nuclear Pulse Sublight Engine  EP400.00 (1)    Power 400.0    Fuel Use 68.36%    Signature 400.00    Explosion 12%
Fuel Capacity 403,000 Litres    Range 21.2 billion km (61 days at full power)

Moros Assembly Forge 12cm Railcannon (4x4)    Range 40,000km     TS: 4,000 km/s     Power 6-2     RM 20,000 km    ROF 15       
Moros Assembly Forge 10cm Singleshot-Railcannon (6)    Range 20,000km     TS: 4,000 km/s     Power 0.75-1     RM 20,000 km    ROF 5       
Argolis Electronic Assembly Forge RC96 Railcannon Targeting System (1)     Max Range: 96,000 km   TS: 4,000 km/s     90 79 69 58 48 38 27 17 6 0
Himera Assembly Forge Micro Fusion Reactor (8)     Total Power Output 16.3    Exp 5%
New weapon technology and armor provided leaps and bounds for the growing Legion. A new generation of Legionaries was underway in the beginning of the 4040s. Tugs are redeploying Monitors over discovered Jump Points. The intention is to keep vigil over the jump point and detect anything coming in or out of the point. The redeployment of the Monitors was planned with the exploration of the Jump Points in the Sol system. The Carosa went through the jump point and entered a system called Tarn Vedra. The Alumine went through another point and discovered the Aydin system. The empire has developed rapidly within the past decade but forces within and without conspire against the age of growth.

[nuclearslurpee]

The Labor Faction has ousted Arae as their figurehead senator after the previous Mars-Luna scandal.

There was a scandal? Looking back I only found a reference to the Senator changing his position on a policy based on interests in Luna but I don't remember that anything came of this. I feel like perhaps I have missed something somewhere?

Navy designers wrote to the navy when submitting the Amsar class design “The Amsar class may boast ten Railcannons but only has a single targeting system installed. She is blind in space and will require some form of sensor boat to detect active signatures. Her short range and short deployment accommodations are not beneficial to a long campaign.”

One wonders why the navy built this ship when their own designers were pointing out such obvious flaws in the class. There must be a long and interesting story behind this decision, otherwise the navy comes out looking quite silly.

Code: [Select]

Amsar class Corvette      5,000 tons       158 Crew       577.4 BP       TCS 100    TH 400    EM 0
4000 km/s      Armour 5-26       Shields 0-0       HTK 26      Sensors 0/0/0/0      DCR 3      PPV 25.85
Maint Life 2.39 Years     MSP 216    AFR 67%    IFR 0.9%    1YR 52    5YR 777    Max Repair 200.00 MSP
Captain-Lieutenant    Control Rating 1   BRG   
Intended Deployment Time: 8 months    Morale Check Required   

Pherae Assembly Forge Improved Nuclear Pulse Sublight Engine  EP400.00 (1)    Power 400.0    Fuel Use 68.36%    Signature 400.00    Explosion 12%
Fuel Capacity 403,000 Litres    Range 21.2 billion km (61 days at full power)

Moros Assembly Forge 12cm Railcannon (4x4)    Range 40,000km     TS: 4,000 km/s     Power 6-2     RM 20,000 km    ROF 15       
Moros Assembly Forge 10cm Singleshot-Railcannon (6)    Range 20,000km     TS: 4,000 km/s     Power 0.75-1     RM 20,000 km    ROF 5       
Argolis Electronic Assembly Forge RC96 Railcannon Targeting System (1)     Max Range: 96,000 km   TS: 4,000 km/s     90 79 69 58 48 38 27 17 6 0
Himera Assembly Forge Micro Fusion Reactor (8)     Total Power Output 16.3    Exp 5%

It seems like the easy fix would be to drop a layer of armor to add necessary sensors and BFCs. For such a small ship and early tech level 4 layers of armor should be adequate and possibly cut down the build time slightly depending on current sensor tech levels.

The empire has developed rapidly within the past decade but forces within and without conspire against the age of growth.

I will believe it when I see it, so far there have been many threats promised and few if any have proven actionable. Sooner or later things must come to a head.

Keep up the writing. I want to get more details about these juicy promises of conspiracy, threats, and terrible naval decision making! 

[doodle_sm (OP)]

I feel like perhaps I have missed something somewhere?

It seems I did not make the scandal actually written out in the previous updates. In short, they ousted Arae because he was unable to keep the Mars as a non corporate planet. In the previous update it reads: "Senator Arae’s original deal to maintain Mars as a Corporate free zone is voided as plans to create a Corporate Trade Zone on the surface of Mars are drafted."

There must be a long and interesting story behind this decision, otherwise the navy comes out looking quite silly.

When the next warship is designed I'll clarify/write about the decision making process.

I will believe it when I see it, so far there have been many threats promised and few if any have proven actionable. Sooner or later things must come to a head.

I'm going to elaborate on the quote in the next update, but yes I agree with your sentiment!

more details about these juicy promises of conspiracy, threats, and terrible naval decision making!

I think where I am struggling is representing and writing these conspiracies and threats. Terrible naval planning is within my wheelhouse but not the other two. Any suggestions?

[nuclearslurpee]

more details about these juicy promises of conspiracy, threats, and terrible naval decision making!

I think where I am struggling is representing and writing these conspiracies and threats. Terrible naval planning is within my wheelhouse but not the other two. Any suggestions?

Generally, my advice is to write at least some kind of outline of whatever conspiracies or other shenanigans you want to have happening, devising some rough timeline, characters involved, etc. which you can then refer to as you write narrative updates. This also helps you think in advance about what information needs to be presented to the reader and plan ahead - it is very easy when writing narratives to forget some key detail that you know but the reader does not, otherwise. This also ensures that your writing is focused and not too scattered, introducing more plot threads than can be handled and wrapped up.

The other trick I think is to focus on a few main plot threads aside from the basic game reporting, and make sure they are coming back consistently (not every update, but enough that it is not too much of a surprise to the reader when things come to a head), and not confusing the reader with too many seemingly unrelated hints and asides. On this forum I would say Kurt is the master of this: he will often work out a significant plot arc slowly over many updates and a large chunk of AAR time, but there are consistent indications that something it going on until things build to a head and the conspiracy comes onto the scene. There are often surprises along the way, but rarely would the reader feel that such surprises are nonsensical or coming out of nowhere.

Since Aurora is often rather random or unpredictable, it often is better to write up factions or actors instead of rigidly planned events, and then keep in mind each faction's goals and plans. This way, it is not predetermined that the Carrier Strike Faction will force their way through Parliament (say), but they can always be doing something to try and get what they want and once those plans intersect with the game events (by chance or by force!) you have a story to tell.

[doodle_sm (OP)]

Generally, my advice is to write at least some kind of outline of whatever conspiracies or other shenanigans you want to have happening, devising some rough timeline, characters involved, etc. which you can then refer to as you write narrative updates. This also helps you think in advance about what information needs to be presented to the reader and plan ahead - it is very easy when writing narratives to forget some key detail that you know but the reader does not, otherwise. This also ensures that your writing is focused and not too scattered, introducing more plot threads than can be handled and wrapped up.

The other trick I think is to focus on a few main plot threads aside from the basic game reporting, and make sure they are coming back consistently (not every update, but enough that it is not too much of a surprise to the reader when things come to a head), and not confusing the reader with too many seemingly unrelated hints and asides. On this forum I would say Kurt is the master of this: he will often work out a significant plot arc slowly over many updates and a large chunk of AAR time, but there are consistent indications that something it going on until things build to a head and the conspiracy comes onto the scene. There are often surprises along the way, but rarely would the reader feel that such surprises are nonsensical or coming out of nowhere.

Since Aurora is often rather random or unpredictable, it often is better to write up factions or actors instead of rigidly planned events, and then keep in mind each faction's goals and plans. This way, it is not predetermined that the Carrier Strike Faction will force their way through Parliament (say), but they can always be doing something to try and get what they want and once those plans intersect with the game events (by chance or by force!) you have a story to tell.

Appreciate the advice! I'm going to focus on a few main plot threads besides the basic game report. The few threads I'll focus on are going to be the Zikh and the corruption in the Empire.

[nuclearslurpee]

Corruption is always interesting as long as you don't have to live there.