Mankind spread rapidly under the guidance of SPACE. The worlds settled were so diverse and scattered, however, that many of them began to develop divergent cultures. From the disciplined and reserved Ice Planet colonists to the hedonistic and self-indulgent settlers of the paradise world Island, the only link many of them retained with galactic civilization was occasional contact with representatives of SPACE. This primarily took the form of tax collectors, requiring a tithe of resources and wealth (and in some cases, personnel) in order that the organization could maintain its expensive fleet.
It was not long until grumbling and discontent began to build, with many colonists saying that SPACE's mission had effectively been accomplished, and that they no longer were a necessary part of humanity. Naturally, SPACE objected to any attempts to withhold the tithe, and responded with force. Ice Planet began a guerrilla war against SPACE Marine invaders, while Island and Emm both fell rather quickly.
One planet, perpetually shrouded in dark clouds, did not provoke a response despite their great discontent with SPACE's increasinly heavy-handed oversight. Rather than attempt to withhold the tithe and invite an invasion, the citizens of this planet decided to begin construction of a fleet of their own in secret. Shadow, as their world was called, was the ideal location for such a project, as the heavy and pervasive cloud cover interfered with SPACE scanning devices and allowed for significant construction projects to be completed before the first reports that they had even been begun reached SPACE's intelligence apparatus.
The Shadow fleet was assisted by a few developments on the planet. The first was a major brikonite find. The second was the development of an energy shielding system capable of defeating several hits from any known weaponry. Combined with the skill and dedication of the ship crews these new shields allowed the Shadow fleet to meet SPACE on equal footing.
When the flagship of the new fleet, the Tricorn, finally launched and joined its fellows in low orbit where the perpetual clouds disguised them, Shadows' leadership issued an ultimatum to SPACE. They declared themselves to be independent, and forbade any SPACE incursions into their territory on pain of war. SPACE immediately mustered a response, sending a fleet to subdue the wayward planet. They moved into high orbit and began indescriminate bombardment, firing blindly through the clouds. Suddenly Tricorn and its fellows rose out of the roiling blackness and engaged the SPACE ships. The surprise counterattack left SPACE reeling. Their fleet suffered heavy casualties, and only a handful of damaged survivors managed to limp away.
Shadow moved quickly, sending salvage teams to recover the remains of the destroyed ships, repairing them and adapting them with shields. They then dispatched their ever-growing fleet to relieve the siege of Ice Planet. Continued success drew their forces ever farther out, bringing more and more planets into a growing alliance against SPACE. All went well for a time, until SPACE decided to end the war in a single master stroke.
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Friday, February 5, 2010
History of Empire, Part III
SPACE led humanity into a new golden age, with rapid colonization of the solar system. Terraforming on Mars proceeded quickly, while less hospitable planets were settled using domes, orbital stations, or other such protected enclosures. Still, mankind was not truly safe from an extinction event so long as it remained trapped in the solar system. SPACE decided to remedy that problem.
Research on the Mars moon of Phobos began to investigate several different theories for timely interstellar travel. Sleeper ships requiring centuries of travel were not deemed acceptable by SPACE. Only something on the order of true faster-than-light travel would suffice. The most promising leads involved the creation of temporary, stable wormholes.
SPACE finally met with success in this regard when the SPACE Navy Ship Icarus succeeded in travelling across the solar system almost instantly using a wormhole generated by an experimental prototype. The SNS Icarus emerged from the wormhole entirely intact, and managed to replicate the experiment in reverse by returning through another wormhole. Extensive studies of the entry and exit points showed no residual damage to the fabric of space, and the project was deemed a success. Work began on increasing power and efficiency to levels suitable for mass production.
SPACE quickly built an expeditionary fleet armed to the teeth with brikonite-powered lasers. The tough, heavily-armored ships in the fleet were each equipped with several grades of weapon, ranging from small, low-output lasers meant for rapid point-defense fire, to large, high-output cannons designed for engaging enemy capital ships. Each one came with a detachment of SPACE Marines in addition to the basic crews, while the flagship of each squadron also had a small team of scientists who would evaluate any planets encountered to determine their suitability for colonization projects.
The fleet met with extraordinary success, flagging countless worlds as prime colonization candidates and failing to meet any significant opposition among the stars. Only a handful of alien species were found, and they were all less advanced than mankind. SPACE decided initially to limit contact, at least for the moment.
Research on the Mars moon of Phobos began to investigate several different theories for timely interstellar travel. Sleeper ships requiring centuries of travel were not deemed acceptable by SPACE. Only something on the order of true faster-than-light travel would suffice. The most promising leads involved the creation of temporary, stable wormholes.
SPACE finally met with success in this regard when the SPACE Navy Ship Icarus succeeded in travelling across the solar system almost instantly using a wormhole generated by an experimental prototype. The SNS Icarus emerged from the wormhole entirely intact, and managed to replicate the experiment in reverse by returning through another wormhole. Extensive studies of the entry and exit points showed no residual damage to the fabric of space, and the project was deemed a success. Work began on increasing power and efficiency to levels suitable for mass production.
SPACE quickly built an expeditionary fleet armed to the teeth with brikonite-powered lasers. The tough, heavily-armored ships in the fleet were each equipped with several grades of weapon, ranging from small, low-output lasers meant for rapid point-defense fire, to large, high-output cannons designed for engaging enemy capital ships. Each one came with a detachment of SPACE Marines in addition to the basic crews, while the flagship of each squadron also had a small team of scientists who would evaluate any planets encountered to determine their suitability for colonization projects.
The fleet met with extraordinary success, flagging countless worlds as prime colonization candidates and failing to meet any significant opposition among the stars. Only a handful of alien species were found, and they were all less advanced than mankind. SPACE decided initially to limit contact, at least for the moment.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
HIstory of Empire, Part II
Unbeknownst to the scientists who were tasked with implementing the terraforming procedures on Mars, the red planet was already home to a highly advanced species. Tall and thin, with wedge-shaped heads and large eyes, these Martians were at first simply curious about the newcomers to their homeworld. Curiosity turned to alarm when the first systematic attempts at terraforming began to take hold, and the Martians decided that if they were to survive as a people then they would need to take decisive action against the invaders.
Martian technology was largely peaceful, but they did have some combat-oriented vehicles. Their primary law enforcement tools were bipedal humanoid mecha, primarily armed with low-power laser weaponry, intended as much to disable as to destroy. Against the unknown capabilities of the earth scientists, however, they decided to take no chances. They quickly modified their weapons, removing safeguards and power limiters to convert less-than-lethal police equipment into full-scale military hardware. The initial contact between the two species was brief: a scientific outpost was annihilated in mere moments. Further one-sided combats followed, and before long the Mars Mission was all but over.
SPACE was not to be deterred, however, and managed to piece together enough scraps of intelligence to make a preliminary judgement regarding the threat to the terraforming process posed by the Martians. A second expedition was formed, this time led by officers drawn from the armies and air-forces of the various SPACE member nations. New combat-ready vehicles with trained military crews assembled on Moon Base, tasked with escorting a new team of scientists with a batch of second-generation terraforming bacteria. The Martians were not idle during the this time, but rather began to militarize whole segments of their population. Genetic manipulation led to the development of new combat breeds, nearly twice as tall and far more physically robust than a normal Martian, while virtually every civilian vehicle was armed with at least minimal weaponry. A full-scale interplanetary war was brewing.
The second landing met with heavy resistance, but the superior toughness of Earth-designed vehicles allowed SPACE to land the bulk of their forces intact. Millenia of martial traditions similarly gave SPACE the advantage on the ground, with trained soldiers handily out-fighting inexperienced alien forces. Even the specially-bred Warrior Martians were unable consistently to defeat their human enemies. Despite this disparity, the outcome was far from certain until the SPACE scientists managed to deploy the new strains of terraforming bacteria using a new dispersal technique that saturated the planetary surface beyond the ability of the Martians to counter. From that moment on, the Martians were a dying people.
Rather than suffer a lingering death, the Martians decided to make a grand gesture. They worked in secrecy and haste until they had completed a massive vessel capable of unthinkable destruction. It required a sizable crew to run, and all those Martians who were not given that task died defending it as it prepared to launch. SPACE made a valiant effort to prevent it, but ultimately the Martian sacrifice held them off long enough for the massive vessel to reach orbit. Once there, it set out toward earth. SPACE analysts feared that it planned to orchestrate an extinction event, the very thing that SPACE had been founded to prevent. They scrambled to muster a response.
In the few short months that it took the Martian battleship to approach Earth, SPACE managed the impossible. They developed a prototype super weapon capable of drawing the power from a brikonite crystal in a single focused burst. The resultant beam of energy, though short-lived, was capable of immense destruction. Moon Base deployed the weapon as the Martian battleship neared Earth and managed to destroy the huge vessel, but not before it left large swathes of Earth uninhabitable. The devastation was so extensive that whole governments collapsed. In the aftermath of the Battle for the Homeworld, SPACE found itself to be the most powerful remaining administrative body, with the added credibility of having just saved the planet from total destruction. A new age began, with SPACE at the head of a unified Earth and the colonization of Mars beginning in earnest.
Martian technology was largely peaceful, but they did have some combat-oriented vehicles. Their primary law enforcement tools were bipedal humanoid mecha, primarily armed with low-power laser weaponry, intended as much to disable as to destroy. Against the unknown capabilities of the earth scientists, however, they decided to take no chances. They quickly modified their weapons, removing safeguards and power limiters to convert less-than-lethal police equipment into full-scale military hardware. The initial contact between the two species was brief: a scientific outpost was annihilated in mere moments. Further one-sided combats followed, and before long the Mars Mission was all but over.
SPACE was not to be deterred, however, and managed to piece together enough scraps of intelligence to make a preliminary judgement regarding the threat to the terraforming process posed by the Martians. A second expedition was formed, this time led by officers drawn from the armies and air-forces of the various SPACE member nations. New combat-ready vehicles with trained military crews assembled on Moon Base, tasked with escorting a new team of scientists with a batch of second-generation terraforming bacteria. The Martians were not idle during the this time, but rather began to militarize whole segments of their population. Genetic manipulation led to the development of new combat breeds, nearly twice as tall and far more physically robust than a normal Martian, while virtually every civilian vehicle was armed with at least minimal weaponry. A full-scale interplanetary war was brewing.
The second landing met with heavy resistance, but the superior toughness of Earth-designed vehicles allowed SPACE to land the bulk of their forces intact. Millenia of martial traditions similarly gave SPACE the advantage on the ground, with trained soldiers handily out-fighting inexperienced alien forces. Even the specially-bred Warrior Martians were unable consistently to defeat their human enemies. Despite this disparity, the outcome was far from certain until the SPACE scientists managed to deploy the new strains of terraforming bacteria using a new dispersal technique that saturated the planetary surface beyond the ability of the Martians to counter. From that moment on, the Martians were a dying people.
Rather than suffer a lingering death, the Martians decided to make a grand gesture. They worked in secrecy and haste until they had completed a massive vessel capable of unthinkable destruction. It required a sizable crew to run, and all those Martians who were not given that task died defending it as it prepared to launch. SPACE made a valiant effort to prevent it, but ultimately the Martian sacrifice held them off long enough for the massive vessel to reach orbit. Once there, it set out toward earth. SPACE analysts feared that it planned to orchestrate an extinction event, the very thing that SPACE had been founded to prevent. They scrambled to muster a response.
In the few short months that it took the Martian battleship to approach Earth, SPACE managed the impossible. They developed a prototype super weapon capable of drawing the power from a brikonite crystal in a single focused burst. The resultant beam of energy, though short-lived, was capable of immense destruction. Moon Base deployed the weapon as the Martian battleship neared Earth and managed to destroy the huge vessel, but not before it left large swathes of Earth uninhabitable. The devastation was so extensive that whole governments collapsed. In the aftermath of the Battle for the Homeworld, SPACE found itself to be the most powerful remaining administrative body, with the added credibility of having just saved the planet from total destruction. A new age began, with SPACE at the head of a unified Earth and the colonization of Mars beginning in earnest.
Friday, December 18, 2009
History of Empire, Part I
After the Geological Catastrophe, the Earth was reeling. Massive tectonic shifts had caused radical and devastating changes to the face of the planet as a result of the activities of the Geonites. Only the quick action of a team of scientists and engineers backed by the militaries of the great powers managed to destroy the Geonites before their endless hunger for the crystalline substance known as brikonite resulted in the complete fragmentation of the Earth's plates. Still, despite their victory, humanity's survivors knew that they needed more than ever to expand beyond the limitations of their home world lest some other threat end mankind once and for all.
Therefore the major powers, led by the United States but with significant Chinese, Indian, Russian, and European Union assistance, began a swift move toward the stars. A new international space agency was founded, called SPACE, or Species Protection by Attempting to Colonize Everywhere. SPACE's first mission involved establishing a permanent colony on the moon, taking advantage of the robust private space industry as well as the significant state-sponsored programs already in existence. Using the aging International Space Station as a springboard, SPACE managed to establish their moon base within a single decade. Moon Base, as it came to be known, quickly grew into a bustling center of research and industry, wholly devoted to the task of establishing humanity on as many different planets as possible.
A Mars exploratory mission determined that the red planet was indeed a prime candidate for experimental terraforming, and so within twelve years of its founding SPACE began dispatching its first major expeditions. Consisting largely of scientists, ranging from geologists and chemists to biologists and geneticists, the initial survey team were the first men ever to set foot on an actual planet other than Earth itself. Their goal was to analyze the soil and atmosphere of Mars and determine the best course of action for transforming the planet for human habitation. The first major success came when a way was found to engineer bacteria specifically to process the iron oxide in the martian soil, releasing the oxygen into the atmosphere. Unfortunately, it was also to be the catalyst for tragedy.
Therefore the major powers, led by the United States but with significant Chinese, Indian, Russian, and European Union assistance, began a swift move toward the stars. A new international space agency was founded, called SPACE, or Species Protection by Attempting to Colonize Everywhere. SPACE's first mission involved establishing a permanent colony on the moon, taking advantage of the robust private space industry as well as the significant state-sponsored programs already in existence. Using the aging International Space Station as a springboard, SPACE managed to establish their moon base within a single decade. Moon Base, as it came to be known, quickly grew into a bustling center of research and industry, wholly devoted to the task of establishing humanity on as many different planets as possible.
A Mars exploratory mission determined that the red planet was indeed a prime candidate for experimental terraforming, and so within twelve years of its founding SPACE began dispatching its first major expeditions. Consisting largely of scientists, ranging from geologists and chemists to biologists and geneticists, the initial survey team were the first men ever to set foot on an actual planet other than Earth itself. Their goal was to analyze the soil and atmosphere of Mars and determine the best course of action for transforming the planet for human habitation. The first major success came when a way was found to engineer bacteria specifically to process the iron oxide in the martian soil, releasing the oxygen into the atmosphere. Unfortunately, it was also to be the catalyst for tragedy.
Friday, August 21, 2009
Lego Blacktron Frigate
This past weekend I spent some time on a project that I've been wanting to try my hand at for a long time. Sadly, I don't have enough pieces to pull it off properly, but I made my best effort. So, here it is. Presenting, the Blacktron Frigate:
This isn't the best overview shot ever, but my camera was having issues (low batteries, I think), so I had to struggle to get it to take any pictures at all.
As you can see, it is designed around a hexagonal hull, with turrets on the angled hull segments. It also has a pair of point defense turrets at the base of the bridge section. The bridge and the engineering sections both are modular and can be removed. I also designed the hull of the ship to open:
It doesn't open as far as I'd like, or as cleanly, but at least it allows relatively easy access to the interior. You can't see it, but the airlock follows Moonbase standards and has a cap on it to seal it for flight.
This is a shot of the detached engineering section:
This is a shot of the engineering section from the side, with the hull opened to reveal the Hazardous Environment Robot manning the controls.
I didn't have the pieces to do this quite the way I wanted, but I think it still worked out pretty well. I'd have preferred more interior details for the engineering section, though.
This is the bridge:
The sides can swing out and the whole thing can detach from the main hull. It is crewed by a pair of minifigures, with room for a third to serve as captain/commander of the ship.
So let me know what you think. Is this any good? I'm rather proud of it, but I know it could use a lot of work.
In the mean time, I'll be focused on making some ground vehicles for my Blacktron Marines to have as armored backup.
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Lego Dromon
Lego recently came out with a new Troll Warship, part of their updated, Fantasy-oriented Castle theme. It includes four oars and several hull sections, as well as assorted other pieces that work nicely for constructing a classical or medieval galley. I immediately saw the potential for creating a dromon, a medieval Roman war galley distinguished in large part by a tower built around the central mast. I managed to acquire several of the Troll Warships via ebay, and this is what I put together: 
This last picture is a close-up of the Greek Fire Siphon that I managed to build for the bow of the ship. The actual siphons would often have their spouts designed to look like the maws of dragons or lions or various other beasts, so I took one of Lego's old dragon-winged horse helmets, attached it to the end of the spout, and hooked a hose up to the other end and ran it to a barrel. It makes for a decent enough fire thrower.
The whole thing only has 12 oars, which isn't much (a basic pentaconter, or small, fast dromon, would have had 25 per side if I remember rightly), but considering that it's Lego and most things are either smaller-scale than normal or somewhat exaggerated, it isn't too unreasonable. I also don't have a sail yet, in part because I'm not sure if I should stick with the current lateen rig or switch to a square rig.
As for personnel, I have a fully-armored knight minifigure as the captain, using the barred helmet instead of the full helm with moving visor (I have to use them on somebody, and it distinguishes him from the heavy cavalry lancers). I also have two marines (I'd prefer more), using the soldier minifigures with surcoats printed on them instead of either of the scale armor prints (which I use for my infantry). For the rowers, I lacked the number of blue wizard minifigures to man the oars with blue-uniformed unarmored men, so instead I opted to use older armor-printed minifigures (to represent rowers being issued old, archaic armor while the frontline troops get the newest gear). I tried to include pikes for when the rowers need to arm themselves in the event of a boarding action (I also have a rack of swords for the marines, who will use crossbows until they need to prepare for hand-to-hand).
The bow of course has the Greek Fire Siphon, the central mast has both the distinctive tower of the dromon war galley as well as a crow's nest for a spotter or a sniper, and the stern has a sterncastle complete with catapult. I don't have a ram, since it'd be underwater and thus impossible to model on something intended to have the waterline flush with the tabletop.
So, what do you think? Is this a workable interpretation of a dromon? If I had the pieces I think I could expand it into a proper pentaconter, and with even more I have some ideas about how to make a bireme out of it (two ranks of oars on each side, one above the other), but for now this is the best that I can do without burning through entirely too much money.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Piracy
The navy SEAL snipers who rescued the captured American ship captain are to be lauded. In all, the US Navy's handling of the situation seems from my armchair to have been quite good. However, it should not stop there.
Piracy is a plague upon the earth. For as long as man has sailed the waters, man has preyed upon his fellows. Whether killing crews and siezing ships for the hulls and the cargo, raiding coastal settlements for slaves, loot, or other things, or even the more modern ransom-holding piracy, the lessons of history are clear. There can be only one response to piracy that will end it and make the waters safe once more.
Rome faced pirates many times throughout its long life. Each time they dallied around, allowing the pirates free reign on the seas until finally they pushed too far. Only then did Rome do what it should have done in the beginning, marshalling a large fleet, invading the pirates' homes, and killing them all. Later in the Empire's history, it became even more difficult to deal with piracy since the pirates, now Arabs and Turks, had the backing of powerful states. Still the Romans tried, and often succeeded, purging the pirates from their havens and bringing peace to shipping.
The Barbary Pirates are the next great example, and perhaps are an even better one given that they were interacting with what would become the modern Amero-European powers (in this case specifically France, the UK, and the USA, mostly). When the first American ships were preyed upon by these scum, Jefferson (the president at the time) dispatched a small fleet of frigates and a handful of Marines to deal with the situation. After a rather epic story, with the United States and their local allies poised for an incredible victory that would allow them to dictate terms to any survivors, Jefferson sold out those local allies to the leader of the pirates and withdrew the Marines (at least the commander on the ground had some scruples, as he made sure to pull out the mercenary auxiliaries he had hired). It wasn't until many years later, when the Barbary states were once again becoming a serious problem for everybody sailing through the area, that a permanent solution was found. The three states mentioned above gathered ships together and began to shell all the cities along the Barbary coast, pounding the pirate states into submission. They pretty much destroyed the pirate kingdoms, ultimately paving the way for European domination of the region (the rising tide of colonialism took full advantage of the power vacuum following the fall of the pirate states).
Now we have pirates on the coast of Somalia. How is the world, or in this case the United States (given the threats levied against it by the pirates after the heroic rescue), to deal permanently with these vile criminals? I have a few suggestions.
1) Any pirate captured should be summarily shot and thrown overboard.
2) Any act of piracy should result in serious and violent reprisals, whether in the form of naval bombardment of coastal settlements or an actual landing of Marine soldiers to conduct a more thorough and targeted purge of the area.
3) Any deaths of hostages should result in an immediate invasion of the area, not for occupation but for purgation.
In short, if any pirate has the nerve to attack shipping, take hostages, or worst of all kill any captured crewmen, then there should be no limit to how hard and how fast the USMC comes down on their heads. None should live to regret their actions. Make an example of them, kill them all, and end the threat that they pose forever.
It might get messy. Innocent civilians among the Somali population might be caught in the crossfire. Hostages would probably die in the process. But if the world coddles this kind of unacceptable activity then it will continue and it will spread. Better to end it quickly and permanently, even at a high cost, than to allow it to proceed uninterrupted. The SEAL snipers have made a start. It is now up to the USA and other countries who suffer at the hands of these pirates to step up and finish the job, before more innocents are victimized by some of the lowest scum on the earth.
Piracy is a plague upon the earth. For as long as man has sailed the waters, man has preyed upon his fellows. Whether killing crews and siezing ships for the hulls and the cargo, raiding coastal settlements for slaves, loot, or other things, or even the more modern ransom-holding piracy, the lessons of history are clear. There can be only one response to piracy that will end it and make the waters safe once more.
Rome faced pirates many times throughout its long life. Each time they dallied around, allowing the pirates free reign on the seas until finally they pushed too far. Only then did Rome do what it should have done in the beginning, marshalling a large fleet, invading the pirates' homes, and killing them all. Later in the Empire's history, it became even more difficult to deal with piracy since the pirates, now Arabs and Turks, had the backing of powerful states. Still the Romans tried, and often succeeded, purging the pirates from their havens and bringing peace to shipping.
The Barbary Pirates are the next great example, and perhaps are an even better one given that they were interacting with what would become the modern Amero-European powers (in this case specifically France, the UK, and the USA, mostly). When the first American ships were preyed upon by these scum, Jefferson (the president at the time) dispatched a small fleet of frigates and a handful of Marines to deal with the situation. After a rather epic story, with the United States and their local allies poised for an incredible victory that would allow them to dictate terms to any survivors, Jefferson sold out those local allies to the leader of the pirates and withdrew the Marines (at least the commander on the ground had some scruples, as he made sure to pull out the mercenary auxiliaries he had hired). It wasn't until many years later, when the Barbary states were once again becoming a serious problem for everybody sailing through the area, that a permanent solution was found. The three states mentioned above gathered ships together and began to shell all the cities along the Barbary coast, pounding the pirate states into submission. They pretty much destroyed the pirate kingdoms, ultimately paving the way for European domination of the region (the rising tide of colonialism took full advantage of the power vacuum following the fall of the pirate states).
Now we have pirates on the coast of Somalia. How is the world, or in this case the United States (given the threats levied against it by the pirates after the heroic rescue), to deal permanently with these vile criminals? I have a few suggestions.
1) Any pirate captured should be summarily shot and thrown overboard.
2) Any act of piracy should result in serious and violent reprisals, whether in the form of naval bombardment of coastal settlements or an actual landing of Marine soldiers to conduct a more thorough and targeted purge of the area.
3) Any deaths of hostages should result in an immediate invasion of the area, not for occupation but for purgation.
In short, if any pirate has the nerve to attack shipping, take hostages, or worst of all kill any captured crewmen, then there should be no limit to how hard and how fast the USMC comes down on their heads. None should live to regret their actions. Make an example of them, kill them all, and end the threat that they pose forever.
It might get messy. Innocent civilians among the Somali population might be caught in the crossfire. Hostages would probably die in the process. But if the world coddles this kind of unacceptable activity then it will continue and it will spread. Better to end it quickly and permanently, even at a high cost, than to allow it to proceed uninterrupted. The SEAL snipers have made a start. It is now up to the USA and other countries who suffer at the hands of these pirates to step up and finish the job, before more innocents are victimized by some of the lowest scum on the earth.
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