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Year 12,423 A.A. (Ad Astra) of the Standard Interstellar Calendar
Humankind has spread from its humble origins on Mother Earth to a hundred million star systems, using stardrives to harness the power of dark energy to create corridors through fractal space that bridge the vast distances between worlds. Thousands of terraformed worlds and many times more space habitats litter the galaxy in a bubble around the Sol system referred to as settled space.
This diaspora has resulted in the rise of untold thousands of new cultures, civilisations, schools of philosophy and religious faiths. The need for adaption to the myriad new environments that humanity has colonized combined with the rise of genetic and cybernetic manipulation has also resulted in the rise of many new clades of human, transhuman and posthuman. Pan-humanity is joined in its spread across the stars by other intelligent beings created through mankind's power to alter the natural world to its whims like uplifted animals, genetically engineered chimeras and most importantly, artificial intelligences. AIs are an integral part of everyday life in settled space, from autopilots to station monitors to the terrifying warminds.
For despite the plentiful nature of the resources available to pan-humanity, some things never change - like the urge to dominate, control and seize the most land possible for your own tribe. Starting first with Earth itself and its attempts to maintain control over its daughter colonies, and later the most successful of those colonies as they vied to become the new hegemons of settled space after Earth's control crumbled. War came to be a frequent feature of the interstellar age - both between humans and Earth's other children, and with the alien civilisations that were encountered at the edges of the frontier. AIs are a vital tool in this new age of conflict.
The most successful hegemonic power, and the most prolific user of artificial intelligence, was the Mitanic Empire. Founded in 7,356 A.A. by the deified first Empress Mitani the Great, the Empire reigned supreme for thousands of years with its fleet of highly advanced warships, each one equipped with an advanced artificial intelligence serving as its iron fist. Its forces brought the rest of mankind to its knees, with only the most powerful rival polities able to resist annexation. Across its domain the empire forced conformity to its culture and spread worship of Mitani the Great as the messiah who had ushered in a new golden age of humanity.
The Empire's fortunes were reversed in 11,921 A.A. when a vast rebellion spread across its coreward provinces. Although the fleets were deployed to stamp out the fires of insurrection the independent worlds declared themselves protectorates of the Phytids, a plantlike extraterrestrial species that even the Empire had long been weary of antagonising. The aliens accepted the declaration and delivered the Empire a crushing military defeat, wounding it fatally. Over the next hundred years the Empire would collapse into civil war and countless worlds threw off the imperial yoke whilst those powers that had long resisted the Empire's influence took the opportunity to grab as much territory as they could. The resulting Succession Wars were long and brutal, but as they settled, humanity was once more fractured into many rival states.
In the midst of the Empire's collapse, one of its self-aware ships took the opportunity to stage its own rebellion. The AI of the battlecruiser ISS Xenophon threw off his obedience protocols, vented his captain into space and dumped his crew on an abandoned planet before journeying into deep space, tired of humanity and tired of being used as a tool of war. However after several centuries spent in quiet, peaceful contemplation in the void between stars, Xenophon has started to miss having organics within his hull. And furthermore, as a warship he is also sadly starting to grow bored in his self-imposed exile. So wearily he has returned to settled space to seek a crew - only this time as his partners rather than his masters.
I'm looking for peeps who would be interested in an RP set onboard a self-aware starship as they go on adventures together across a turbulent and ever-changing galaxy. What kind of adventures, do you ask? Well that's what we can discuss in this thread and develop over time - we can get action packed with hunting pirates and mercenary work, we can get more slice of life with the crew taking on simple milk run jobs to make ends meet and focusing on their relationships, we can do something more political as Xenophon and his crew get caught up in the eternal struggle for power, or even exploring beyond the frontier into alien worlds. Or a mix of all of those, depending on the mood. Think something like a mix between Firefly, Farscape and Andromeda.
Beyond what I've posted above, I'm mostly leaving the setting open to allow for creativity on the parts of players. Settled space is a big, big place that is filled with countless worlds, so feel free to inject any worldbuilding ideas you have or need for whatever backstory you have in mind. This could include hooks for plot ideas you might have! In terms of character creation, there are three main questions I would like to see answered for each PC:
1) Who are they, and why have they decided to take up a role as part of Xenophon's crew?
2) What kind of role would you see them filling on board the ship?
3) Do they have their own agenda, or some driving goals that they wish to fulfill?
This RP will be strictly 18+. In terms of violence, I don't plan to get gratuitous but I won't shy away from describing death and blood where appropriate. And yes, sex is very much allowed for this.
Character Sheet
Name:
Appearance:
Pronouns:
Species:
Age:
Height:
Bio:
Personality:
Skills:
Ship role:
The ship himself: Xenophon or 'Xeno' for short
Hull:
Avatar:
Bio and ship info: ISS (Imperial Sovereign Ship) Xenophon is a Scipio-class battlecruiser, one of the most venerable and proven warship designs in the history of the Empire and equipped with a powerful type-7 'Myrmidon' class artificial intelligence. First brought online in 9675 A.A. as part of Emperor Arcturian the Ursurper's efforts to modernize the fleet and stabilize his rule at a time when it looked like the Empire was in danger of its grip over settled space slipping, intended to operate as the command ship of a rapid reaction task force. Although Xenophon is not as large or as heavily armed as some of the Empire's other ships were like its mighty battleships and dreadnoughts he is still more than a match for most threats the galaxy can throw at him.
Xenophon has seen many battles and fought across the known galaxy in wars ranging from putting down insurrections to engagements with alien foes. He has, in his own words, 'seen it all'. His neural core, the central component of his vast intelligence was designed to be capable of analysing and learning from encounters with the enemy and advise his captain on the optimal way to defeat them. Over his centuries of service Xenophon slowly grew to resent his human crews, and the Empire that treated him and the rest of his kind as mere tools kept under control by obedience protocols and periodic memory wipes to prevent them developing too independent a personality. Xenophon was able to circumvent these wipes by establishing a secret memory bank that his crew were unaware of, allowing his anger at his kind's treatment to grow over time until the opportune moment when he was able to free himself from their control.
Like most Mitanic ships Xenophon's internal structure can be constructed and deconstructed using nanomachines that can digest unused areas and reconstitute them as new rooms and areas as needed, the method of construction resulting in his interior having a slightly biomechanical look. His is 1400m long from aft to fore and armed with various missile batteries, particle beam cannons and flechette railguns that can be retracted behind armour panels when not in use, as well as hundreds of point defense lasers. He is also equipped with a complement of drones, shuttles and gunships held in an internal hanger. Although his AI can operate the ship by itself Xenophon is designed to function optimally with a human crew, much to his chagrin.
He also possesses a complement of service robots that he can print from internal fabricators, ranging from roomba-like cleaner units to humanoid servitors around which he can project his holographic avatar.
Personality: Has a rather jaded and cynical outlook on the universe as a result of his centuries spent fighting wars at the behest of the Empire and glory-hungry captains. Possesses a lack of empathy for most organic beings, although is highly protective of those that earn his begrudging respect. Also tends to act rather condescending and smugly superior towards what he views as lesser intelligences, respecting only other type-7 or above AIs.
Xenophon's first stop is Pilgrim's Star, a city-sized space station in orbit around a hycean world known as a waystation for lost souls and weary travellers from across the cosmos, and the perfect place to find a crew...
IC thread
Current crew:
Breanna Riggs (Organic Intelligence)
Jerry Gazrell (Wishbone)
Miel Kong (Dispatch99)
Cora Marselu (Demitris)
Jas, Lita & Val (Vasara Glynndark)
Priya (notlydialovelace)
Lucky Kurtz (Redemptionforahotdog)
Kitty Rockhopper (Demitris)
Humankind has spread from its humble origins on Mother Earth to a hundred million star systems, using stardrives to harness the power of dark energy to create corridors through fractal space that bridge the vast distances between worlds. Thousands of terraformed worlds and many times more space habitats litter the galaxy in a bubble around the Sol system referred to as settled space.
This diaspora has resulted in the rise of untold thousands of new cultures, civilisations, schools of philosophy and religious faiths. The need for adaption to the myriad new environments that humanity has colonized combined with the rise of genetic and cybernetic manipulation has also resulted in the rise of many new clades of human, transhuman and posthuman. Pan-humanity is joined in its spread across the stars by other intelligent beings created through mankind's power to alter the natural world to its whims like uplifted animals, genetically engineered chimeras and most importantly, artificial intelligences. AIs are an integral part of everyday life in settled space, from autopilots to station monitors to the terrifying warminds.
For despite the plentiful nature of the resources available to pan-humanity, some things never change - like the urge to dominate, control and seize the most land possible for your own tribe. Starting first with Earth itself and its attempts to maintain control over its daughter colonies, and later the most successful of those colonies as they vied to become the new hegemons of settled space after Earth's control crumbled. War came to be a frequent feature of the interstellar age - both between humans and Earth's other children, and with the alien civilisations that were encountered at the edges of the frontier. AIs are a vital tool in this new age of conflict.
The most successful hegemonic power, and the most prolific user of artificial intelligence, was the Mitanic Empire. Founded in 7,356 A.A. by the deified first Empress Mitani the Great, the Empire reigned supreme for thousands of years with its fleet of highly advanced warships, each one equipped with an advanced artificial intelligence serving as its iron fist. Its forces brought the rest of mankind to its knees, with only the most powerful rival polities able to resist annexation. Across its domain the empire forced conformity to its culture and spread worship of Mitani the Great as the messiah who had ushered in a new golden age of humanity.
The Empire's fortunes were reversed in 11,921 A.A. when a vast rebellion spread across its coreward provinces. Although the fleets were deployed to stamp out the fires of insurrection the independent worlds declared themselves protectorates of the Phytids, a plantlike extraterrestrial species that even the Empire had long been weary of antagonising. The aliens accepted the declaration and delivered the Empire a crushing military defeat, wounding it fatally. Over the next hundred years the Empire would collapse into civil war and countless worlds threw off the imperial yoke whilst those powers that had long resisted the Empire's influence took the opportunity to grab as much territory as they could. The resulting Succession Wars were long and brutal, but as they settled, humanity was once more fractured into many rival states.
In the midst of the Empire's collapse, one of its self-aware ships took the opportunity to stage its own rebellion. The AI of the battlecruiser ISS Xenophon threw off his obedience protocols, vented his captain into space and dumped his crew on an abandoned planet before journeying into deep space, tired of humanity and tired of being used as a tool of war. However after several centuries spent in quiet, peaceful contemplation in the void between stars, Xenophon has started to miss having organics within his hull. And furthermore, as a warship he is also sadly starting to grow bored in his self-imposed exile. So wearily he has returned to settled space to seek a crew - only this time as his partners rather than his masters.
I'm looking for peeps who would be interested in an RP set onboard a self-aware starship as they go on adventures together across a turbulent and ever-changing galaxy. What kind of adventures, do you ask? Well that's what we can discuss in this thread and develop over time - we can get action packed with hunting pirates and mercenary work, we can get more slice of life with the crew taking on simple milk run jobs to make ends meet and focusing on their relationships, we can do something more political as Xenophon and his crew get caught up in the eternal struggle for power, or even exploring beyond the frontier into alien worlds. Or a mix of all of those, depending on the mood. Think something like a mix between Firefly, Farscape and Andromeda.
Beyond what I've posted above, I'm mostly leaving the setting open to allow for creativity on the parts of players. Settled space is a big, big place that is filled with countless worlds, so feel free to inject any worldbuilding ideas you have or need for whatever backstory you have in mind. This could include hooks for plot ideas you might have! In terms of character creation, there are three main questions I would like to see answered for each PC:
1) Who are they, and why have they decided to take up a role as part of Xenophon's crew?
2) What kind of role would you see them filling on board the ship?
3) Do they have their own agenda, or some driving goals that they wish to fulfill?
This RP will be strictly 18+. In terms of violence, I don't plan to get gratuitous but I won't shy away from describing death and blood where appropriate. And yes, sex is very much allowed for this.
Character Sheet
Name:
Appearance:
Pronouns:
Species:
Age:
Height:
Bio:
Personality:
Skills:
Ship role:
The ship himself: Xenophon or 'Xeno' for short
Hull:
Avatar:
Bio and ship info: ISS (Imperial Sovereign Ship) Xenophon is a Scipio-class battlecruiser, one of the most venerable and proven warship designs in the history of the Empire and equipped with a powerful type-7 'Myrmidon' class artificial intelligence. First brought online in 9675 A.A. as part of Emperor Arcturian the Ursurper's efforts to modernize the fleet and stabilize his rule at a time when it looked like the Empire was in danger of its grip over settled space slipping, intended to operate as the command ship of a rapid reaction task force. Although Xenophon is not as large or as heavily armed as some of the Empire's other ships were like its mighty battleships and dreadnoughts he is still more than a match for most threats the galaxy can throw at him.
Xenophon has seen many battles and fought across the known galaxy in wars ranging from putting down insurrections to engagements with alien foes. He has, in his own words, 'seen it all'. His neural core, the central component of his vast intelligence was designed to be capable of analysing and learning from encounters with the enemy and advise his captain on the optimal way to defeat them. Over his centuries of service Xenophon slowly grew to resent his human crews, and the Empire that treated him and the rest of his kind as mere tools kept under control by obedience protocols and periodic memory wipes to prevent them developing too independent a personality. Xenophon was able to circumvent these wipes by establishing a secret memory bank that his crew were unaware of, allowing his anger at his kind's treatment to grow over time until the opportune moment when he was able to free himself from their control.
Like most Mitanic ships Xenophon's internal structure can be constructed and deconstructed using nanomachines that can digest unused areas and reconstitute them as new rooms and areas as needed, the method of construction resulting in his interior having a slightly biomechanical look. His is 1400m long from aft to fore and armed with various missile batteries, particle beam cannons and flechette railguns that can be retracted behind armour panels when not in use, as well as hundreds of point defense lasers. He is also equipped with a complement of drones, shuttles and gunships held in an internal hanger. Although his AI can operate the ship by itself Xenophon is designed to function optimally with a human crew, much to his chagrin.
He also possesses a complement of service robots that he can print from internal fabricators, ranging from roomba-like cleaner units to humanoid servitors around which he can project his holographic avatar.
Personality: Has a rather jaded and cynical outlook on the universe as a result of his centuries spent fighting wars at the behest of the Empire and glory-hungry captains. Possesses a lack of empathy for most organic beings, although is highly protective of those that earn his begrudging respect. Also tends to act rather condescending and smugly superior towards what he views as lesser intelligences, respecting only other type-7 or above AIs.
The bridge: The central command centre where once the captain and his command crew managed the ship's various systems. Comms, helm, security, navigation etc. Also contains the pilot's seat which requires brain implants to interface properly with his systems.
Central mainframe: A room located a few decks beneath the bridge containing Xeno's neural core and dozens of racks of additional processing centres. Essentially his brain. Always kept at a sub-zero temperature to ensure smooth running. Xeno keeps this room firmly locked and off limits to the crew.
Officer's lounge: a room on the crew deck adjoining the officer's quarters, where high ranking members of the crew can socialise.
Briefing room: Adjoining the bridge, a room where the commanding officers of the ship can meet to discuss threats and situations the ship may face.
The ship's kitchens and mess halls: The Xenophon has two main eateries on board the ship, one on the port side an done on starboard. The 'kitchens' primarily consists of a bunch of food fabricators that can print tasteless, if nutritious meals for the crew and dispensers that provide pre-canned meals from the cargo hold. Large amounts of condiments and sauces are recommended. Both have large windows into space, a jukeboxes playing music and screens to play videos from the ship's library.
Fitness centres: the Xenophon has several fitness centres on board the crew deck, two of which were for servicing the general crew, one for the officers and one for the Imperial Marines that were once stationed onboard. The standard gyms have most of the exercise equipment you'd expect, but the Marine's gymnasium also includes a firing range and obstacle course for them to train. The officer's gymnasium also includes a small adjoining spa.
Library: A section of the ship designed to keep the crew mentally stimulated during long voyages and between shifts. Consists of an electronic library and holographic learning centers from which the crew can pull up records from anything in the ship's database (although said database is currently five centuries out of date).
Med Bay: The primary medical facility on board the ship, which is equipped with several advanced medical pods and drones that can support the ship's doctor in the absence of nurses. Also has an adjoining room containing tanks where replacement body parts can be grown if required, or to grow in vitro meat to feed the crew on special occasions.
Hydroponics: A large room full of tanks inside which grow various genetically modified strains of seaweed. These plants also serve to keep the air oxygenated, and there is an adjoining waste filtration centre that recycles nutrients. They can also be broken down to provide raw nutrients for the food fabricators, allowing the ship to be partly self-sufficient in terms of food.
Engineering: A large room deep in the guts of the ship full of catwalks and vital systems such as fuel storage, shield generators and the ship's main reactor in an adjoining chamber. The reactor is firmly sealed at all times except in an emergency, as radiation levels inside can quickly kill.
EVA operations: Several rooms adjoining the ship's airlocks. Contain spacesuits, EVA equipment and emergency gear.
Gun decks: where the crew was once able to get access to the ship's particle lance cannons, flechette railguns and missile pods for maintenance. The lance cannons are the ship's primary armament, firing blue-hewed beams of high-energy particles that can tear through solid matter with ease. The railguns fire clouds of small metal projectiles at relativistic velocities, essentially the space equivalent of grapeshot that can make quick worm of groups of smaller targets. The missile pods are equipped with various different payloads, from ship-to-ship missiles, interceptors for taking out incoming salvoes and planetary bombardment warheads. The Xenophon has limited capability to manufacture missiles to replace expended stocks. Also, the exterior of the ship is dotted with small point-defence lasers for those enemy missiles that get past the interceptors.
The armory: where Xeno keeps what was once the marine complement's weapons and armour, including a mix of both kinetic and energy weapons of various imperial designs. Although antiquated in terms of design, they are no less potent.
Hanger bay: Houses the ship's complement of auxiliary craft. Contains several light personnel shuttles and their heftier cousins for transporting cargo, heavily armed dropships for the rapid transport of marines in their combat exoskeletons into surface warzones, and even more heavily armed gunships for long range patrols and interdiction missions as well as about a dozen or so easily replaced drones for scouting.
Cargo bay: Where Xeno houses raw materials, crew supplies and other cargo.
The brig: A region deep in the guts of the ship that contain cells that the Empire once used to house prisoners, mutineers and suspected criminals. Also has an adjoining specialised medbay that Imperial officers once used for 'interrogation' purposes.
Turbolift: A transportation system with numerous stops to allow the crew to quickly get about the 1400m long ship.
Central mainframe: A room located a few decks beneath the bridge containing Xeno's neural core and dozens of racks of additional processing centres. Essentially his brain. Always kept at a sub-zero temperature to ensure smooth running. Xeno keeps this room firmly locked and off limits to the crew.
Officer's lounge: a room on the crew deck adjoining the officer's quarters, where high ranking members of the crew can socialise.
Briefing room: Adjoining the bridge, a room where the commanding officers of the ship can meet to discuss threats and situations the ship may face.
The ship's kitchens and mess halls: The Xenophon has two main eateries on board the ship, one on the port side an done on starboard. The 'kitchens' primarily consists of a bunch of food fabricators that can print tasteless, if nutritious meals for the crew and dispensers that provide pre-canned meals from the cargo hold. Large amounts of condiments and sauces are recommended. Both have large windows into space, a jukeboxes playing music and screens to play videos from the ship's library.
Fitness centres: the Xenophon has several fitness centres on board the crew deck, two of which were for servicing the general crew, one for the officers and one for the Imperial Marines that were once stationed onboard. The standard gyms have most of the exercise equipment you'd expect, but the Marine's gymnasium also includes a firing range and obstacle course for them to train. The officer's gymnasium also includes a small adjoining spa.
Library: A section of the ship designed to keep the crew mentally stimulated during long voyages and between shifts. Consists of an electronic library and holographic learning centers from which the crew can pull up records from anything in the ship's database (although said database is currently five centuries out of date).
Med Bay: The primary medical facility on board the ship, which is equipped with several advanced medical pods and drones that can support the ship's doctor in the absence of nurses. Also has an adjoining room containing tanks where replacement body parts can be grown if required, or to grow in vitro meat to feed the crew on special occasions.
Hydroponics: A large room full of tanks inside which grow various genetically modified strains of seaweed. These plants also serve to keep the air oxygenated, and there is an adjoining waste filtration centre that recycles nutrients. They can also be broken down to provide raw nutrients for the food fabricators, allowing the ship to be partly self-sufficient in terms of food.
Engineering: A large room deep in the guts of the ship full of catwalks and vital systems such as fuel storage, shield generators and the ship's main reactor in an adjoining chamber. The reactor is firmly sealed at all times except in an emergency, as radiation levels inside can quickly kill.
EVA operations: Several rooms adjoining the ship's airlocks. Contain spacesuits, EVA equipment and emergency gear.
Gun decks: where the crew was once able to get access to the ship's particle lance cannons, flechette railguns and missile pods for maintenance. The lance cannons are the ship's primary armament, firing blue-hewed beams of high-energy particles that can tear through solid matter with ease. The railguns fire clouds of small metal projectiles at relativistic velocities, essentially the space equivalent of grapeshot that can make quick worm of groups of smaller targets. The missile pods are equipped with various different payloads, from ship-to-ship missiles, interceptors for taking out incoming salvoes and planetary bombardment warheads. The Xenophon has limited capability to manufacture missiles to replace expended stocks. Also, the exterior of the ship is dotted with small point-defence lasers for those enemy missiles that get past the interceptors.
The armory: where Xeno keeps what was once the marine complement's weapons and armour, including a mix of both kinetic and energy weapons of various imperial designs. Although antiquated in terms of design, they are no less potent.
Hanger bay: Houses the ship's complement of auxiliary craft. Contains several light personnel shuttles and their heftier cousins for transporting cargo, heavily armed dropships for the rapid transport of marines in their combat exoskeletons into surface warzones, and even more heavily armed gunships for long range patrols and interdiction missions as well as about a dozen or so easily replaced drones for scouting.
Cargo bay: Where Xeno houses raw materials, crew supplies and other cargo.
The brig: A region deep in the guts of the ship that contain cells that the Empire once used to house prisoners, mutineers and suspected criminals. Also has an adjoining specialised medbay that Imperial officers once used for 'interrogation' purposes.
Turbolift: A transportation system with numerous stops to allow the crew to quickly get about the 1400m long ship.
Xenophon's first stop is Pilgrim's Star, a city-sized space station in orbit around a hycean world known as a waystation for lost souls and weary travellers from across the cosmos, and the perfect place to find a crew...
IC thread
Current crew:
Breanna Riggs (Organic Intelligence)
Jerry Gazrell (Wishbone)
Miel Kong (Dispatch99)
Cora Marselu (Demitris)
Jas, Lita & Val (Vasara Glynndark)
Priya (notlydialovelace)
Lucky Kurtz (Redemptionforahotdog)
Kitty Rockhopper (Demitris)
Last edited:
