The Principality of SD.net (RAR!)

[Zor]

In this scenario you wake up one day in a strange but comfortable bed alone (or if you are in a relationship with your significant other) in a nice apartment. You also find that you are dressed like this and that the dressers are only stocked with that uniform in your size. When you look outside you see that you are in a nice urban center, but more importantly the ground is curving upwards. You also have a set of keys and a special ID card.

Basically you and established member of SD.net (had posted more than 10 posts and has not been banned) has been relocated to a trio of O'neill Cylinders at the L3 Lagrange Point. One of which is residential and has some 3 million people living on it, another is agricultural and provides food and the final is industrial with a population of 500,000 and a lot of manufacturing equipment. There are a number of shuttles that run between these two points. We make up the ruling class of these three colonies which collectively make up the Principality of Zeon. The populace is loyal to us and our rule. More over each of us has a Zaku-II Mobile Suit. This is over modern earth.

What do you do?

Zor

[Parallax]

.... er, adjust to this new life as quickly as is practical and simply go about living?
What you describe doesn't seem to have too many problems while the specific scenario has our lives being pretty darn sweet.

[Lord Revan]

I think only thing I'd do apart from living my life as is after an adjustment period is groom a "successor"(read:loyal puppet) that I can have act as the face of my reign so that if for what ever reason I have do something that's unpopular (s)he'll take the heat while I'll remain the beloved (former)ruler, I just make sure said puppet is a (wo)man that's either too stupid or timid to turn on me.

[The Romulan Republic]

When the OP says "the ruling class", does that mean that we are an aristocracy? Is Mike Wong King, and the Mods/Admins nobility? Or do we have to put together a government from scratch (keeping in mind that "posts on a web forum" does not, in and of itself, constitute a qualification for holding high office)?

In either case, I'd start advocating for democracy, I suppose.

On that note, what about this "loyal population"? Are they sapient and possessed of free will? Could they turn on us if we ruled badly enough? Or are they essentially slaves to our wills?

Also, these space stations appear in the present day? Well, we've scarred the hell out of every government on Earth, provided strong evidence that aliens exist, and are now the premier spacefaring power.

[Eternal_Freedom]

The OP specified the cylinders are at the L3 Lagrange point, which is the one on the far side of the Sun from Earth, so while some far-out satellites like (maybe) SOHO could spot them, they'd be damn near impossible to detect from Earth.

If I am now a member of the aristocracy, sweet, I'd immediately advocate contacting Earth and offering to sell them some of our technology - we must have something pretty good in that industrial cylinder, especially if it can build/replace those shuttles.

[The Romulan Republic]

Selling tech. to Earth is a good idea, but we should also take advantage of our position as the foremost space power.

I wonder, would we have the resources to manufacture our own interplanetary craft? Either on contract for Earth governments/companies, or for our own use?

Because annexing Mars sounds kind of nice.

[Eternal_Freedom]

Why bother annexing Mars? We have everything we need in the cylinders, complete with food and an industrial base. I would argue the Moon would be more useful, as it gives us a prime base to observe Earth and what happens there, gives us a conveniently close position to influence/intervene on Earth and if all else fails, a nigh-unreachable military high ground. Think "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress" type coilguns to intimidate uncooperative or outright hostile Earth leaders (Trump, Kim Jong-Un, Putin etc).

[The Romulan Republic]

Because Mars is a planet, and the Moon is a rock.

But, hell, why not do both?

Edit: Though the Moon is more likely to provoke a clash with Earth governments at some point down the line.

[Eternal_Freedom]

Mars can be a future project.

As for clashes with Earth governments, no shit. That's going to happen anyway the moment they realise several million people just appeared from nowhere, in space stations millennia ahead of anything they could build, and with (presumably) spaceflight technologies to match. They'll be falling over each other to either ally with us, buy stuff from us, or take stuff from us, and/or prevent each other doing the same thing. We might as well give ourselves a commanding position from the outset.

EDIT: Besides, they can't claim we're impinging on their sovereign territory since they're disallowed by treaty from claiming any territory beyond Earth. We didn't sign said treaty, so we're good.

Having pondered this a bit more, I'm more worried about religious reactions to our appearance. By our very presence as defined in the OP, there is something beyond our understanding powerful enough to make all this happen. That's gonna rock more than a few worldviews, either those who didn't believe such a thing could be real or those convinced it's their chosen deity that's responsible.

[The Romulan Republic]

All fair points.

I like the treaty bit. All hail the mighty power of legalese!

[Eternal_Freedom]

The Outer Space Treaty IIRC, no nation can lay sovereign claim to any celestial body, in whole or in part.

[Zwinmar]

After the awe and excitement of being in space wears off I will promptly get in trouble because I am horrible and just going with the flow. Oh yeah, and probably getting in trouble because I am not going to willingly wear a monkey suit like that again, so I can make it more casual even if I have to take a knife to it.

[Khaat]

The Outer Space Treaty IIRC, no nation can lay sovereign claim to any celestial body, in whole or in part.

The fun part: nothing in the treaty says a corporation or individual can't.

[Beowulf]

The OP specified the cylinders are at the L3 Lagrange point, which is the one on the far side of the Sun from Earth, so while some far-out satellites like (maybe) SOHO could spot them, they'd be damn near impossible to detect from Earth.

Earth moon L3, not sun earth L3.

[Zor]

The OP specified the cylinders are at the L3 Lagrange point, which is the one on the far side of the Sun from Earth, so while some far-out satellites like (maybe) SOHO could spot them, they'd be damn near impossible to detect from Earth.

Earth moon L3, not sun earth L3.

Correct.

Zor

[Imperial528]

Why in the world does SDN govern a nation from Gundam, of all things? And a fascist one, at that?

So, ground questions:

Do our posts/board ranks correlate to positions in government?
Are we granted the knowledge to fulfill the requisite duties in at least a minimally acceptable fashion?
How loyal are our respective subordinates? Corollary: Are any board members subordinate to other board members?
What resources do we have at our disposal individually, and what would require multiple board members' approval?

This is basic groundwork because despite my occasional delusions of grandeur I am well aware that I am merely a three-bit CAD artist, mediocre engineering student and a mere amateur in just about all things I have interest in when compared to true educated professionals.

In any case my first request would be to look into uniform codes to see if a suit would be an acceptable alternative to a military-style uniform; having never served in a military and not having much inclination to I do not want to be associated with what I am not.
My second request will be to go find the likes of Sea Skimmer and the other HAB members to see if I can wiggle into their inevitable efforts to integrate mobile suit technology into the infinitely more practical platform of a tank. This will likely result in a Bolo, I am quite sure; if not the result will still be highly desirable compared to the stupid space robots.

Other courses of action are in consideration but are dependent on the four questions I asked.

[Eternal_Freedom]

The OP specified the cylinders are at the L3 Lagrange point, which is the one on the far side of the Sun from Earth, so while some far-out satellites like (maybe) SOHO could spot them, they'd be damn near impossible to detect from Earth.

Earth moon L3, not sun earth L3.

Correct.

Zor

Ok that does change things. We'll be spotted straight away then. I'd still advocate establishing a base on the Moon, if only to have Earth surrounded.

[Formless]

My second request will be to go find the likes of Sea Skimmer and the other HAB members to see if I can wiggle into their inevitable efforts to integrate mobile suit technology into the infinitely more practical platform of a tank. This will likely result in a Bolo, I am quite sure; if not the result will still be highly desirable compared to the stupid space robots.

Oh, get off it. The instant you try replacing the Zaku's, you are going to discover the bloody obvious: Mobile Suits work just fine in Gundam. Their performance in an unquestioned fact as far as we should be concerned. In fact, last I heard (and I'm not an expert on Gundam) mobile suits operate side by side with tanks, and neither has obsoleted the other in the entire history of the franchise. Its advanced technology beyond what can be created in our real world, there is no reason to waste time overthinking this. They do their job, and the colony has a military full of people who know how to operate and maintain them. Find something better to do with your time. The military of most countries usually hate when civilian bureaucrats try and tell them how to do their job.

We're effectively in the Gundam Universe, asking why giant robots is as pointless as asking how Jedi can read minds or why they use lightsabers. Just roll with it.

My only question on this is, since each of us has a Mobile Suit, do we have training on how to operate them?

But besides that, our first concern in any case is to try not to start a war with Earth. I don't know what the social and cultural forces are in Gundam that made the Zeon decide to do so, but we need to find out as soon as this starts so that we, as the apparent leadership of the colony, can prevent anything dramatic from happening on that front. I am assuming that these people are still people regardless of their loyalty to us, and still have their own reasons and motivations for everything they do. But I would have to defer to those who know more about the show.

[Imperial528]

Oh, get off it. The instant you try replacing the Zaku's, you are going to discover the bloody obvious: Mobile Suits work just fine in Gundam. Their performance in an unquestioned fact as far as we should be concerned. In fact, last I heard (and I'm not an expert on Gundam) mobile suits operate side by side with tanks, and neither has obsoleted the other in the entire history of the franchise. Its advanced technology beyond what can be created in our real world, there is no reason to waste time overthinking this. They do their job, and the colony has a military full of people who know how to operate and maintain them. Find something better to do with your time. The military of most countries usually hate when civilian bureaucrats try and tell them how to do their job.

I am under no pretense of telling the military what to do*, merely, if I am to have my own personal military vehicle, I would appreciate something far more practical (and less expensive) than a mobile suit, even if I have to design it myself. In Gundam tanks have specific advantage over mobile suits, most obviously cost and lower profile, while still carrying armament capable of destroying a mobile suit. IIRC it's really only due to incompetence and tech disadvantage that the Earth Federation's tank forces performed poorly on a per-unit basis against Zeon's mobile suits, as in many battles they failed to utilize strategies that stressed their own advantages while. As someone who never got into Gundam (despite efforts of my friends), I have always wondered: if the minovsky particles disrupt electromagnetic communications, how do the mobile suits communicate with each other in combat? Do they teach the pilots how to use semaphore flags and hand signals?

That aside, for the cost of one Zaku II, I could probably purchase a tank, an armored car, and a shuttle with enough space to ferry both and myself along in comfort for trips to the surface, all of which can be built using Zeon's technology to be far superior to modern equivalents. The military can keep their mobile suit, for I have no use for it. Especially since I doubt Earth nations have any inclination in making the things road legal (as much as you could for such a thing) or even granting them airspace clearance.

Another question for Zor: Given that Earth in this is our current modern earth, do we still exist relative to it (as in relations, citizenship, etc), or is it a "timeline" where no members of SDN existed?

*Though as far as I understand it, Zeon is a military dictatorship. Under the pretense Zor has set up, we may all be high-ranking military officers. I vote to keep the nuclear arsenal (or equivalent) away from Shep.

[U.P. Cinnabar]

In this scenario you wake up one day in a strange but comfortable bed alone (or if you are in a relationship with your significant other) in a nice apartment. You also find that you are dressed like this and that the dressers are only stocked with that uniform in your size. When you look outside you see that you are in a nice urban center, but more importantly the ground is curving upwards. You also have a set of keys and a special ID card.

Basically you and established member of SD.net (had posted more than 10 posts and has not been banned) has been relocated to a trio of O'neill Cylinders at the L3 Lagrange Point. One of which is residential and has some 3 million people living on it, another is agricultural and provides food and the final is industrial with a population of 500,000 and a lot of manufacturing equipment. There are a number of shuttles that run between these two points. We make up the ruling class of these three colonies which collectively make up the Principality of Zeon. The populace is loyal to us and our rule. More over each of us has a Zaku-II Mobile Suit. This is over modern earth.

What do you do?

Zor

As opposed to orbiting the Lunar darkside.

All righty, for starters, build the Jupiter Energy Fleet, since the colonies are dependent on Hydrogen 2 for many of their daily needs.

Make the colonies as self-sufficent as practically possible.

Keep the Zeon military close to home, and pray that Donald Trump Zabi doesn't get it in his head to launch ICBMs at us.

Immediately open up diplomatic relations with the nations of Earth, and apply for membership in the UN and the Non-Aligned Nations Organization.

Do a limited technology exchange with the Earth nations, preferrably helping with the ISS.

Ditch the Zeon uniforms and the anti-Earthnoid prejudices, because neither's going to do any good right at the moment.

[U.P. Cinnabar]

Because Mars is a planet, and the Moon is a rock.

But, hell, why not do both?

Edit: Though the Moon is more likely to provoke a clash with Earth governments at some point down the line.

Lunar resources are more easily accessible to Zeon than Mars, though no cities such as Van Braun or Granada, at least for the moment.

[U.P. Cinnabar]

Mars can be a future project.

As for clashes with Earth governments, no shit. That's going to happen anyway the moment they realise several million people just appeared from nowhere, in space stations millennia ahead of anything they could build, and with (presumably) spaceflight technologies to match. They'll be falling over each other to either ally with us, buy stuff from us, or take stuff from us, and/or prevent each other doing the same thing. We might as well give ourselves a commanding position from the outset.

EDIT: Besides, they can't claim we're impinging on their sovereign territory since they're disallowed by treaty from claiming any territory beyond Earth. We didn't sign said treaty, so we're good.

Having pondered this a bit more, I'm more worried about religious reactions to our appearance. By our very presence as defined in the OP, there is something beyond our understanding powerful enough to make all this happen. That's gonna rock more than a few worldviews, either those who didn't believe such a thing could be real or those convinced it's their chosen deity that's responsible.

Not to mention the quasi-religious beliefs brought by the spacenoids. And, Newtypes, of course.

[Zor]

Another question for Zor: Given that Earth in this is our current modern earth, do we still exist relative to it (as in relations, citizenship, etc), or is it a "timeline" where no members of SDN existed?

No, this is not in an alternate timeline where we never exited. We were just moved to the cylinders by aliens who were fans of Mobile Suit Gundam as the last part of their elaborate prank on some primitives before they went back home to their Dyson Sphere in the Perseus arm.

Zor

[Darth Lucifer]

This reminds me of the thread where everybody got their own Super Star Destroyer in the Star Trek universe and the companion thread which was vice versa with the ships and universe. Oh yeah, the Trade Federation ships over Ocampa was fun too.

For this topic, those horrible Zeon uniforms have to go, those under my charge will be much more stylish in leather and PVC.

I will have the industrial section build me a Gwazine Class ship, which will also sport the same color schemes and designs featured in the previously linked threads above. I also want rainbow colored particle cannons so I can fire off a gay light show visible from the planet below.


As to the more serious side of things, like others, I would like to use the technology here to improve quality of life for the people of Earth and future generations without it falling into the wrong hands. So the first order of business is to round up all the MS suits of members who are here but are not participating or do not want them. I'll stash a full compliment of battle suits on my flagship.

I want to have no dealings with nations that do not recognize international human rights laws. We, the people of Zeon, are a civilized lot and we refuse to deal with backwards thinking savages. You want to trade with us for our advanced tech and other futuristic shit? Get with the fucking times.

I'm also going to get my friends and family and take them up to the colony, let them enjoy the perks of the Gundam-verse, such as medical tech that gives humans 200 year lifespans.

In keeping with tradition, the space brothel business seems to be my thing. I'll have the engineering section fashion a suitable craft, like a basic civilian pleasure ship or cruise boat. Hookers and blow in outer space FTW!

[Zor]

Keep the Zeon military close to home, and pray that Donald Trump Zabi doesn't get it in his head to launch ICBMs at us.

ICBMs can't reach SIde 3.

Zor