Post by Jay Winger on Oct 22, 2010 14:13:31 GMT -5
OVERVIEW
In the Thousand Systems, humanity has settled on many planets in many systems. Mankind being mankind, it still doesn't get along with each other. A small majority of the settled worlds formed the Confederation (or the “Confed” to most), but there are other Great Powers, mostly the Rimward Alliance, the Demisthan Sovereignty, and a handful of independent systems which trade with the above three, but otherwise keep to themselves. Of course, there's plenty of pirates and smugglers and the like as well.
A couple of centuries ago, the Thousand Systems were at war in a conflict known as the Interstellar Siege Wars, and the devastation was huge. As a result, the many of the Great Powers now have several large Colonies – huge space stations designed to support the equivalent of a small continent's worth of people – situated throughout their sectors. (The Alliance and the Sovereignty have smaller versions of the same.) In this way, if a catastrophic disaster befalls the inhabited planets of the Confed, at least the Colonies can support themselves and they will not be wiped out.
This was a couple of centuries ago, but the Colonies do not enjoy all the rights that most Confed citizens have, like representation in the Confed Senate and Quorum. Things have gotten more strained, and in the years since their founding, the Colonies have developed their own tech base to support themselves, and there's been talk of rebellion. The last rebellion that took place in the Confed was the Seresian Uprising, which was only a decade ago, and it endangered several worlds and some of the Colonies with the Seresians' own tech base. Naturally, the Confed Chancellor and the High Council do not want to see another rebellion on their watch.
Things seem to be progressing toward that rebellion, however. Defying the Chancellor's decree prohibiting the formation of a Colonial Militia, the Colonies have nonetheless done so in secret, and they're amassing weaponry and ships for it, and they're getting assistance from their host systems and other "frontier systems" that chafe at the Confed's control, forming a Separatist Movement. Outside the Confed, the Alliance and the Sovereignty (as well as the various outlaw groups) are watching the developing crisis and are licking their chops at the prospect of “annexing” some new systems.
And into this whole mess come the Mechs. The Thousand Systems are no stranger to mechanized armor (“Armor Suits” in their parlance), but the Mechs are something else. At least thirty feet tall, bristling with weapons and technology unlike anything the 'verse has seen, they are a dangerous wild card that everyone is racing to get their hands on...
In the Thousand Systems, humanity has settled on many planets in many systems. Mankind being mankind, it still doesn't get along with each other. A small majority of the settled worlds formed the Confederation (or the “Confed” to most), but there are other Great Powers, mostly the Rimward Alliance, the Demisthan Sovereignty, and a handful of independent systems which trade with the above three, but otherwise keep to themselves. Of course, there's plenty of pirates and smugglers and the like as well.
A couple of centuries ago, the Thousand Systems were at war in a conflict known as the Interstellar Siege Wars, and the devastation was huge. As a result, the many of the Great Powers now have several large Colonies – huge space stations designed to support the equivalent of a small continent's worth of people – situated throughout their sectors. (The Alliance and the Sovereignty have smaller versions of the same.) In this way, if a catastrophic disaster befalls the inhabited planets of the Confed, at least the Colonies can support themselves and they will not be wiped out.
This was a couple of centuries ago, but the Colonies do not enjoy all the rights that most Confed citizens have, like representation in the Confed Senate and Quorum. Things have gotten more strained, and in the years since their founding, the Colonies have developed their own tech base to support themselves, and there's been talk of rebellion. The last rebellion that took place in the Confed was the Seresian Uprising, which was only a decade ago, and it endangered several worlds and some of the Colonies with the Seresians' own tech base. Naturally, the Confed Chancellor and the High Council do not want to see another rebellion on their watch.
Things seem to be progressing toward that rebellion, however. Defying the Chancellor's decree prohibiting the formation of a Colonial Militia, the Colonies have nonetheless done so in secret, and they're amassing weaponry and ships for it, and they're getting assistance from their host systems and other "frontier systems" that chafe at the Confed's control, forming a Separatist Movement. Outside the Confed, the Alliance and the Sovereignty (as well as the various outlaw groups) are watching the developing crisis and are licking their chops at the prospect of “annexing” some new systems.
And into this whole mess come the Mechs. The Thousand Systems are no stranger to mechanized armor (“Armor Suits” in their parlance), but the Mechs are something else. At least thirty feet tall, bristling with weapons and technology unlike anything the 'verse has seen, they are a dangerous wild card that everyone is racing to get their hands on...