StarDestroyer.Net BBS

Shinn Langley Soryu wrote:So, Steve's playing a Britain expy? Great. That's going to complicate the Haruhiists' background fluff a bit, considering that their single core sector is this:

Albion Sector
Worlds: Britannia Superior, Britannia Inferior, Caledonia, Hibernia Superior, Hibernia Inferior

Population: 50 billion
GDP: $12000 Interstellar Standard Value
Hyperspace Junction present

The story goes that the Albion Sector used to be home to a so-called "Holy Empire of Neo-Britannia," a highly expansionist and xenophobic human regime that was conquered by the Haruhiists after it attempted to wage a war of aggression against them. Perhaps the Neo-Britannians had started out as rebels or exiles from New Anglia...

Formal Name: The Federal Republic of Industrial Sectors
Common Name:: Industrial Sector
Short Name: RIS

Government Type: Federal Republic

Capital System: New Sol, Planet New Earth

Administrative Divisions: The RIS officially consists of five fully represented systems and three minor systems that enjoy only partial representation.

Head of State: The Honorable CEO Sir Charles Andrew Mitchell, the long dead non-executive head of state and the CEO and founder of Exacorp Mining and Industrial, the company that eventually became the RIS. The head of government speaks on his behalf and signs in his name.
Head of Government: President Thomas J. Batts of the People's Responsibility Party. He was elected at the recent quinquennial elections.
Cabinet: This is a group of thirteen advisers to the President composed of five of his parties choice, four of the leading oppositions choice, and two as voted on by the people, they serve one year terms and are voted on internally by each party and in election by the people. A vote of nine members can veto the legislature and a vote of eleven can veto the President.
Elections: Elections are held on the first day of the year on a quinquennial basis, the most recent election has just past.

Legislature: The Legislature is composed of elected representatives as chosen by the people. These representatives are usually chosen from one of the three parties but independent representatives may also run. Each fully represented system elects thirty members to this house and each partially represented system elects ten members, in addition the ruling party is allowed to place one member into the house forming a full house of 181 members. Each system also has their own legislative assembly dealing with internal matters, these vary by system.

Judicial Branch: The RIS has a supreme court consisting of thirteen members who are assigned in the same manner as members of the cabinet are, they however serve a quinquennial term. A case may be won by a fifty percent plus one ruling, but such a ruling can not be used to set legal precedence and such cases are often appealed for many years. A ruling of nine to four is required to set precedence and a ruling of eleven to two is needed to create a new law to be voted upon.
Major Political Parties: The Socially Liberal, Fiscally Conservative "People's Responsibility Party"; The Socially Liberal, Fiscally Free Market "People's Freedom Party"; and the The Socially Conservative, Fiscally Conservative "Moral Party"

Primary Religions: Most people practice a very agnostic version of Anglican Christianity, Atheism is also common, all other major old world religions are still represented in minority.
Languages: English (The common language), Trade Basic (The legal language which is based off of a standard of English that isn't subject to change, also the main trade language), other languages are commonly spoken in roughly equal portions.

Territory: The RIS consists of one built up Capital system where the founding company first started operations, it along with four sectors of roughly equal population and industrial output form the fully represented systems; it also contains three smaller systems that form the three partially represented systems.

System Breakdown
New Sol
Worlds: New Earth, Sol 1, Sol 2, Sol 4, Sol 5

Population of 60 Billion
GDP: $14,000 Interstellar Standard Value

Warp Gate
Hyperspace Junction

System 2
Worlds: [To be named]

Population of 30 Billion
GDP: $11,000 Interstellar Standard Value

Hyperspace Junction

System 3
Worlds: [To be named]

Population of 30 Billion
GDP: $11,000 Interstellar Standard Value

Hyperspace Junction

System 4
Worlds: [To be named]

Population of 30 Billion
GDP: $9,000 Interstellar Standard Value

System 5
Worlds: [To be named]

Population of 30 Billion
GDP: $9,000 Interstellar Standard Value

System 6
Worlds: [To be named]

Population of 10 Billion
GDP: $2,000 Interstellar Standard Value

System 7
Worlds: [To be named]

Population of 10 Billion
GDP: $2,000 Interstellar Standard Value

Population: 200 Billion People

GDP: Rated at $58,000 Interstellar Standard Value

Economy: The RIS trades mainly in minerals and industrial equipment and rarely import much seeking to keep their export to import ratio in their favor.

Foreign Relations:
To be determined

The government of Nenpanoliz-altuxl Kikialtignahwi (short form: NenAltKik):

The tricameral legislative/judiciary is called the Eealtepekali (lit. “Three Houses of Government”), composed of the Teuklatoxe (lit. “High Judges”), the Oanokal (lit. “Decision House”), and the Intlaxihwal (lit. “Creation”). The Intlaxihwal is where delegates create legislation to be approved by the Oanokali; the Intlaxihwal is equal in size to the Oanokal and its membership is decided by direct votes throughout the NenAltKik every 6 years. The Oanokal debates legislation created by the Intlaxihwal and decides on what to enact, and whether or not to modify the legislation; its membership is mixed, insofar as half the membership is elected directly, and the other half is chosen from among the Intlaxihwal. This is done with one-third being elected by the NenAltKik, then one-third being chosen from the Intlaxihwal (on years of Intlaxihwal elections); this is done in 12-year cycles (direct election on year 1; Intlaxihwal on year 6; another direct election on year 12). Members of the Oanokal can occasionally stay in office for a number of decades, but, practically, most are replaced by members from the Intlaxihwal if they aren't beaten in an election after 24 years (2 'terms'). The Teuklatoxe acts as a judiciary, comparing the enacted legislation to the existing body of law to see any incompatibilities and acting as the highest court in the NenAltKik. The Teuklatoxe is the smallest house in the Eealtepekali, with its membership being decided on by direct elections from lower courts and from professional jurists.

The other portion of government is a twin, parallel system of executive and military power. The executive is headed by the Ximotlakotili (lit. “They Performing their Duty”), a mixed group of officials, elected by the NenAltKik and appointed by the Teuklatoxe that head the police, customs, counter-terrorism, tariff-gathering, and other, similar functions. The Kwatlatoxli is the military itself and functions essentially the same as every other military.

Finally, there is the Hweyhweypoxekatli (lit. “Exceedingly Great Merchants”), which acts as the government NenAltKik bank and financial institute.


Biology/Ecology: Tlali, their home planet, is Earth. However, this is due to history, in which one or the other of these solar systems were somehow swallowed up in an immense rip in spacetime and hurled into an alternate universe with identical physics. The inhabitants of Tlali and their descendents, of course, claim that they are original to the universe and that the humans and their descendents are the 'foreigners,' but since no one can identify when such a cataclysm occurred, no one can be certain which planet is original to this universe.

That is tangential, though. Tlali is like earth had the asteroid not hit the Yucatan dozens of millions of years ago and had not allowed for the mammals to ascend. The world has subtle similarities and glaring differences; mammals are mostly relegated to small, arboreal animals with only a few larger land animals, the largest being a piglike, nocturnal animal being no larger than a meter long and 50 kg in mass and known as the koymet. Otherwise, dinosaurs rule the earth. The largest are smaller than they were at their largest, but the largest of extant sauropods are still over 20 meters long and 10 meters tall, while a wide variety exist and thrive on Tlali and have been exported to worlds all over the NenAltKik.

The two dominant species evolved on separate continents and are as widely separated from each other as humans and tarsiers. They are the Moxli and the Kipaktli. The Moxli are descended from what humans know as oviraptors, while the Kipaktli are descended from allosaurs. The Moxli are relatively small, being about 2 meters tall (much of that neck and leg), with a body roughly a meter long. They are covered in feathers (body coloration is fairly drab, being somewhere between brown and black; head coloration varies enormously, especially in males during the mating season). They have a three-fingered hand that is dextrous and capable of fine motor manipulation. They are also exceptionally strong, being able to easily overpower two or three average humans. The Moxli are also opportunistic feeders, being heavily omnivorous and feeding on nuts, seeds, fruits, vegetables, meat, eggs, and insects.

The Kipaktli, on the other hand, are enormous, being nearly 9 meters long and nearly 3 meters tall and weighing in at 1-1.5 tonnes in weight. They resemble ancient allosaurs, except they have evolved an opposable digit and the ability to make and use tools. They are obligate carnivores, eating only trace plant matter when they eat intestines or stomachs of other animals. They are also immensely strong, able to lift hundreds of kilos with ease. They make up a large amount of the modern NenAltKik military, being disproportionately represented there. They, unlike the Moxli, are unfeathered and are completely drably colored, being mottled green, gray, and brown in color.

The New Anglian System

The creation of a Westminster-style government in New Anglia has proven to be a challenge over the centuries, due to sheer population. As legislatures grow in size it is more and more difficult to conduct their meetings and sessions and to maintain order.

The New Anglian solution was federalization; a systemetic devolution of planetary-level government concerns to planetary (or rather system-wide) Parliaments while policy for the Kingdom as a whole is still decided by the central Parliament in Westminster. The House of Commons there currently consists of 2,000 Members of Parliament, each representing about 135 million subjects of the Star Kingdom. Election districts are organized around major metropolitan centers on each world. The only people not represented in the House of Commons are the Trill and a bit under three quarters of the Dorei racial population, who dwell under traditional Republican governments recognized by the Imperial Integration and Accession Acts in the 29th Century; these nations are granted further autonomy and self-rule and do not elect members of Parliament, though they do appoint Senators from their government to sit in the House of Lords in Westminster under partial voting rights (relating solely to issues of Empire-wide importance and where HM Government's policies are in force over their nations).

The House of Lords are a federal body. Each planet or nation in the Star Kingdom with a House of Lords or similar body (the Dorei monarchies included) appoint some of their number to terms to represent them in the House of Lords in Westminster, usually following the results of a General Election. For many of these "political peers" their elections are automatic, but there are usually some cases of turnover every time. In addition to the peerage seats and those of the Lords Spiritual and the British peerage, which are permanent, there are the Imperial Senators, elected by the nations or regions of the Dorei and Trill republics to represent them in the House of Lords and to advocate for their people in the Parliament. Under the law establishing the specific seat of the Imperial Senators they are open to participate in votes on any Act of Parliament, be it new law, policy directive, or resolution, that would be applied to their nations under the Imperial System. The Imperial Senators are also, like any member of the House of Lords, eligible to participate in a Government, though in practice only the Liberals invite Imperial Senators to join their governments.

The structure of the Kingdom was complicated by the outcome of the First Dilgrud War and the bloody liberations of Trill and Doreia. The two alien races were dependent upon New Anglia for survival but they are predominantly republicans by inclination and creating monarchies for them was deemed undesirable and unfeasible. An analysis of precedent in Human history led to the decision to proclaim the King of New Anglia the Emperor of the two races and to grant them wide-ranging power of self-rule, moreso than even the federalized system used in New Anglia's human systems. The only exceptions were given to the Dorei monarchies, which harbored no objection to being more involved with the New Anglian Kingdom and which have the same level of local rule as the other Human planets of the Kingdom, hence they also elect MPs to the central House of Commons and send peers to the House of Lords in Westminster. In such a way, the republics of the Dorei and the Trill are the equivalent of the free cities of Germany in the Holy Roman Empire; the King of New Anglia rules as their Sovereign with the title of Emperor, but they are governed by traditional, local republican government.

It was after the fall of the Dilgrud Empire in the Third War, and the celebration thereof, that King George XVI was further proclaimed Emperor of the Anglian Systems, and the terminology "Anglian Empire" came into use with that of "Star Kingdom of New Anglia" or "United Kingdom".

Aside from these aspects, however, Anglian government functions much as English and British ones did on Earth for so long, albeit with some change from the evolution of the system. Every General Election where the majority party in the House of Commons changes the existing Government resigns and permits a new Government to be formed, the Monarch selecting a Prime Minister and Cabinet - the latter's makeup usually pre-determined by the Prime Minister - believed most likely to gain the support of the majority of Parliament. While on Earth the British system evolved to exclude the House of Lords from the formation of Governments, in the New Anglian system initial backlash about the British Republicans led to the House of Lords being brought back into the function, though over the centuries their role has become more and more ceremonial, with the Lords generally voting to approve whomever the Commons approves unless there is something considered grossly unacceptable with the Commons-backed candidate - even then, as the House of Lords, at 1,200, is smaller than the Commons, it is unlikely to prevent a Government from being dismissed.

This has been the major change in the function of the Cabinet since British times; in the New Anglian system, the Government is considered answerable to both Houses of Parliament, even if functionally the House of Commons remains the dominant half. A Prime Minister, or any other Cabinet minister, can thus be drawn from the House of Lords but still be answerable to the Commons and vice versa. As the House of Commons is the dominant House, it's votes on retaining a Government are usually final; if the Government loses the confidence of the House of Commons it is expected to resign immediately, and wholly, even if in theory the House of Lords might give its confidence in opposition to the Commons. Upon such mass resignation the Sovereign can either accept them and appoint new ministers or alternatively dissolve Parliament and order a General Election.

New Anglian Dramatis Personae

His Majesty King Edward XVI, By the Grace of God Anglian Emperor, King of New Anglia, of New Scotland, of Alba and Cornwall, of New England, of New Columbia and the Worlds of the Mexican Nation, of the New Welsh Worlds and New Kent, of Bavaria, of the Caledonian Worlds, the Ionian Worlds, and the Hebridian Worlds, Duke of the Colonial Reaches and the Dilgrud March, Sovereign Prince of Liechtenstein, Duke of Cascadia and of Sevilla and many other regions, Baron of Westminster and of Windsor, Landgrave von Saxe-Coburg, Sovereign Emperor of the Dorei and of the Trill.

The scion of the House of Windsor-Stuart, King Edward XVI is the descendant of the British King George XII who, faced with overthrow and execution by the neo-Socialist European radicals of Britain and Europe during the Great Upheaval, fled to the New Anglia colony founded by British settlers. From this humble place settlers from across Britain and the Anglospheres of Earth and Nova Terra would build one of Humanity's leading space nations, the United Star Kingdom of New Anglia, which has fallen onto this young man to rule due to the death of his father Edward XV and his older brother Prince Henry in a tragic hyperspace collision.. Born Prince James William Stuart-Windsor only a quarter century ago, King Edward XVI became the youngest Anglian monarch since King George XV's death in battle with the Dilgrud in the Battle of Doreia and the ascension of George XVI in 2756. It has been centuries since a King so young has sat upon the throne and the occasion has been taken with both trepidation and hope; trepidation that such a young man can wisely government a star kingdom that depends so much on restraint and propriety, hope that his youth and vigor will lead New Anglia into the next two centuries with increasing prosperity and greatness.

The King is a lover of science, having taken courses at the Royal Academy of the Sciences in the capital of Westminster before his ascension to the throne. He spends free time reading science journals and keeping up with discoveries, as well as being with his beloved wife Queen Larissa.

Her Majesty Queen Larissa, Queen-Consort of the United Kingdom, Duchess of Smyrna, Countess von Humboldtberg, Baroness of New Kerkyra, Sovereign Empress of the Dorei and of the Trill

Queen Larissa is a daughter of the Greek peerage of Ionia, descended from both the Byzantine Greek nobility of Nova Terra and the Greeks of Earth. A gentle and compassionate woman, she possesses a keen intellect and a curious mind that led to her attendance of the Royal Academy of the Sciences where she met her future husband, then Prince James. The two fell in love during their schooling and, with the blessing of Edward XV, married at the age of 21.

In ordinary circumstances the Queen would have remained the Duchess of York as the wife of the King's younger son, but with the deaths of her father-in-law and brother-in-law, she was made Queen-Consort with her husband's coronation. She provides the pretty face to a young royal couple that Anglian statesmen hope will provide the monarchy with a vibrant energy for decades to come.

The Rt. Honourable Captain Stephen Garrett RN (Ret.), MP Vancouver of New Columbia (Liberal Party), Prime Minister of HM Government, First Lord of the Treasury, and Minister of the Civil Service

A former Royal Navy officer turned Parliamentarian, the Prime Minister hails from Vancouver on New Columbia, a world dominated by immigrants from Nova Terra's America (though it retains a sizable minority of Mexicans from Earth, who combined with Spaniards are the ethnic majority of the Sector). His paternal grandparents are immigrants from Cascadia on Nova Terra and descendants of two Presidents of that republican nation's history, a family lineage that his grandfather educated Stephen in from a young age. To his paternal, republican grandparents' displeasure, however, he followed his maternal grandparents into attending New Portsmouth Base Naval Academy in New Anglia System, graduating with a decent grade in his class of officers before spending forty years in the Royal Navy as an officer. After a time as Captain of the dreadnought Royal Sovereign he retired to pursue marriage to a younger woman he had met, the Lady Rachel Galvares-Zikos, daughter of a Baron of the New Columbian peerage and the granddaughter of an Ionian Baron, which was accepted despite the old tensions between the predominately-Spanish and Mexican peers of New Columbia and the republican-sentiment English-speaking communities of the planet's older settlements. Running as a Liberal Stephen has won election to Parliament for five straight elections, during which time his knowledge of the Navy led to his involvement in the Cabinet as First Lord of the Admiralty for seven years in the Wolcott and Ramirez Cabinets and a two year stint as Defence Minister for Ramirez before a Conservative victory overall in an Election led to the end of his involvement in the Cabinet. During the recent Grant Cabinet Stephen remained a vocal member of the Opposition and became a noted leader of the Liberals, ensuring that he was tapped to lead the Party in the recent General Election. Victory for the Liberals in that election guaranteed his selection to the post of Prime Minister, with it the formal post of Minister of the Civil Service and First Lord of the Treasury.

As a Prime Minister Mr. Garrett is currently considered untested, as there has been no crisis since the formation of the Government. He lives with his wife and children in No. 19 Churchill Street and has struck a rapport with his younger sovereign, Edward XVI. He does suffer from some hostile attacks from the most conservative of Conservatives, as some Tory tabloids and writers have accused him of being a "secret Republican" committed to the overthrow of the monarchy or the separation of New Columbia from the Kingdom, using his parentage, ancestry, and home constituency against him in charges that he refuses to even comment upon and which those who know him consider preposterous.


The Hon. Mrs. Rachel Garrett nee Galvares-Zikos, wife of the Prime Minister

The wife of the current Prime Minister, Rachel was raised in the Vallejo region of New Columbia's San Magdalena Bay region. Her father Rafael was a former Anglian diplomat and a member of the planetary House of Lords who married a wife from the Greek peerage of Ionia, hence Rachel's second surname. From an early age Rachel was encouraged to be intellectually sharp and curious, her family giving her an advanced education that made full use of a multilingual household - English in common, Spanish from her father, Greek from her mother, Italian from her paternal grandmother - to turn Rachel into a gifted linguist. Her scientific curiosity also led her to looking into the fields of advanced metallurgy, such that her university education was in both fields.

It was while she was attached as a research assistance to a study of shipbuilding procedures that she met her husband-to-be. While an older man by about thirty-five years, Captain Garrett's conduct and clear interest wooed her and Rachel quickly accepted his proposal. They were married while he was still in the service; upon his retirement they established a home in his hometown of Vancouver while spending summers in the Galvares Vallejo country house. Their marriage proved fruitful over the following decades, bringing five children into the world over the next quarter century of marriage. The scandalous behavior of her older brother Diego led to her father disowning him and offering to make her the heiress to his titles, but seeing that would cause trouble for her husband Rachel declined, instead asking him to declare her eldest son with Stephen, named Rafael as well, the heir.

Currently Rachel dwells at No. 19 Churchill Street with her husband, the summer retreat home on Leeds Island being their common retreat from the rigors of office.


Rafael D.M. Garrett
Thomas R. Garrett
Sophie R.L. Garrett
Gabriela A. Garrett
Adrian L. Garrett

Stephen and Rachel have had five children in their twenty-eight years of marriage, all in the last fifteen years of it

The eldest, 15 year old Rafael Diego Mateo, is enamored with his father's career and is in military prepatory school to join the Royal Navy and seek a billet at New Portsmouth. He is also now the heir apparent to his grandfather, the elder Rafael Galvares, to the title of Baron of Vallejo, and is fourth in line to the inheritance of Baron Zikos of Khios on Ionia through his maternal grandmother's family, though it is unlikely he will ever inherit.

Thomas Richard, age 12, desires a civilian occupation in his life.. Though his father has labored to make the Navy seem appealing to Thomas, he has not sought it as Rafael is, though at only the age of 12 he is mostly undecided of where he seeks to go in life. He has inherited his father's intellectual curiosities in the field of history and, admittedly, is more enthused than any other in the family by the prospect of being a descendant of Nova Terra Cascadian statesmen, showing sympathy for New Columbian republicanism in his youth that makes his paternal great grandparents favor him but provides for some exasperation for a father now leading His Majesty's Government.

Sophie Raquel Lucia, age 10, is her mother's pride and joy and has stolen her father's heart. Sweet and a tad shy around strangers, growing up she has become the scientifically curious daughter Rachel desired to have. She already speaks her mother's main languages - English, Spanish, Italian, and Greek - fluently, unlike either of her older brothers, and is learning German and Trill Common in her spare time. With a sweet personality and a bright mind her parents consider Sophie a shoe-in for an education leading to Foreign Office employment.

Gabriela Anna, age 8, is in an awkward position in the family. She had two older brothers who are twice her age and more who get everything first yet have attained some independence from parental attention, an older sister who has her curiosities doted upon by their mother and her whims usually fulfilled by their father, and a younger brother who as a toddler demands constant attention, all while their father has seen his workload skyrocket as Prime Minister with a corresponding drop in the time he can devote to family. She has learned to cope as some children in her undesirable middle position do not; she has embraced her older brother's growing military discipline as her own, and constantly states she too will be like their father and join the Navy as an officer. Her insistance on such has led to some positive attention by her busy father, eager to be supportive of his younger daughter as some recompense to the unequal attention in the family, and a bit of fraternal pride and protectiveness from Rafael who plays the big brother role to the hilt in the family circle by encouraging Gabriela.

Adrian Leland, age 3, is the new arrival. Something of an accident, as Stephen and Rachel had intended to have no more children after Gabriela's birth, he has proven an adventurous, playful child that takes much of Rachel's attention and earns him some envy from his older siblings, especially his older sister Gabriela, while Sophie, ever her mother's faithful little girl, has attempted at times to take Adrian's care upon her herself, with mixed and occasionally amusing results.


His Lordship Reginald Frederick Baden-Grey, Earl of South Prestwick, MP (Liberal Party), Secretary of State for the Foreign Office

A living institution of the Liberal Party and, for a time, a former Prime Minister under Edward XV, the Earl of South Prestwick and leader of the House of Lords Liberals was called back into service by Mr. Garrett to lead the Foreign Office of the new Liberal Government. The bicentenarian oversees the direction of the Kingdom's diplomatic efforts and relations with other states and is considered the second man on the Cabinet, though he has made clear that he does not wish to hold the Prime Minister's position ever again.


His Excellency Maralo Tevala, Imperial Senator from Trill (Liberal Party), Defence Minister and Secretary of State for War

Elected by the Trill government to be a representative to the House of Lords, Maralo Tevala is a former Trill government minister and considered a technical expert on Army equipment. As is custom for the Liberal Party regarding the two races of Empire gaining positions in the Cabinet, he was offered portfolio in the Garrett Cabinet as Secretary of State for War - the civilian leadership of the Army - and accepted on the grounds of gaining a second portfolio as overall Defence Minister, meaning that he also represents the military establishment as a whole in Privy Council sessions with the King. Mr. Tevala has moved his family to Westminster since gaining his Cabinet position and is seeking a military education for his only child, his daughter Jobrie.


The Rt. Honourable Captain Robert J. Dale RN (Ret.), MP Finley of Hansom's Planet (Liberal Party), First Lord of the Admiralty

The son of American immigrants from Earth itself, Mr. Dale attended New Portsmouth as a young man and rose through the ranks of the Royal Navy swiftly, spending much of his service in staff positions due to his grasp of naval strategy and strategic theory. He retired upon reaching the rank of Captain to pursue a seat in Parliament and become a political advocate of the Navy, being one of the few new Liberals to prevail in the election that saw the rise of the Conservative Government of Sir Alexander Grant. Upon the recent Liberal victory, which saw his re-election, Robert was offered the Admiralty by Prime Minister Garrett and accepted gladly, though he was unable to secure the second portfolio of Defence Minister, as originally intended, due to the request of Senator Tevala for the position. He is unmarried for the moment but is believed to be pursuing the hand of a fellow Earth immigrant, Julia Andros of Hansom's Planet, a fellow Liberal MP.


The Rt. Honourable Jano Sentasa, MP Handja in Lushan of Doreia (Liberal Party), Leader of the House of Commons and Secretary of State for the Colonies

Jano Sentasa is of the Lushan nation of the Dorei, one of the remnant monarchies of that race (three fifths of the Dorei nations are ruled by republics even under the Empire) and thus able to stand for election to the House of Commons as opposed to only being eligible for an Imperial Senator position in the House of Lords, as the republican nations of the Dorei and Trill are granted. In keeping with Liberal policy to encourage Trill and Dorei involvement in the Government, Prime Minister Garrett invited MP Sentasa to take the position of Leader of the House of Commons, giving him the important task of organizing the Government's business in the House, and the position of Colonial Secretary, giving him the main oversight position for Government policies in the former Dilgrud territories of the Crowninshield and Megiddo Sectors. Sentasa's family dwells on New Anglia and in Westminster, but when Parliament is not in session they prefer to take to the cooler climes of Wellington Valley, which feels the most like their native Lushan.


Admiral Sir Charles O'Connor RN, First Sea Lord

A life-long officer of the Royal Navy, Admiral O'Connor of Hebridia rose through the ranks due to what his superiors usually termed "competence, discipline, and responsibility". He has commanded everything from patrol corvettes to two separate superdreadnought commands, as well as space station and planet-based positions and a teaching stint at New Portsmouth, during which he came to the attention of fellow instructor then-Commander Robert Dale. Already Second Sea Lord at the creation of the Garrett Cabinet, he was immediately proposed to the post of First Sea Lord by the new First Lord of the Admiralty, on the grounds that Sir Arthur Anderson, the current FSL, was a hardcore Tory who had pledged to accept resignation rather than serve under a "closet republican". Sir Arthur made good on his threat and opened up the post to O'Connor, who is serving with distinction. He has four children, three of which are navy officers, while the youngest - Mary - is in primary school and contemplating accepting her father's pressure to seek a naval academy spot.


Her Grace Diane Margaret Howard, Duchess of Norfolk and of New Chatham, MP, Chancellor of the Exchequer, Earl Marshal

The daughter and heiress of the most ancient English peerage remaining, Duchess Diane became a full participating member of the House of Lords after her son and heir, Edward, came to full age. Having lost her husband Edward - for whom her son is named - to combat action in a Dilgrud uprising, the Duchess confined herself for years from political involvements, spending her time raising her son who, now attending New Portsmouth, has left her open to resume political involvements. Her knowledge of the financial system and her known fiscal sense led Prime Minister Garrett to take the extraordinary measure of asking her to take the position of Chancellor of the Exchequer, a move that has disquieted some of his Liberal friends as it gives one of the most important portfolios of the Government to the House of Lords when it is commonly Liberal practice to seek a Chancellor from the House of Commons - Labour pundits have taken to smearing Minister Garrett as trying to compensate for the arch-conservative attacks of being a "closet republican".


Her Grace Danielle Bethany Verdes-Roya, Duchess of Galicia on Andalusia, Countess of Henley and of San Pablo

The heiress to a fairly sized fortune associated with the House of Verdes-Roya, hereditary Dukes of Galicia on Andalusia, the Duchess Danielle is currently sitting in the House of Lords as part of the rotation of Andalusian peers who sit in the upper chamber. Her interests in government are primarily in the field of naval policy as she is an educated, trained starship engineer and particularly knowledgeable of coilgun design. The Duchess tends to prefer the cultural life of New Anglia over the more conservative, formal atmosphere of her native world of Andalusia.


Her Ladyship Amber Lucilla Kelly-Martinez, Countess of San Luis on New Columbia, Baroness of Los Angeles

The Lady Sarina Paula Kelly-Martinez, younger sister of the Countess of San Luis

Sitting on the House of Lords as part of the current contingent from the New Columbian peerage, Amber Kelly-Martinez is the descendant of both Mexican landowners from Earth and Rosarians of Nova Terran Cascadia. Her family is one of the less wealthy of the peerages of the planet, coming from a rural region of the Cascadia continent's heartland. As such she, and her sister Sarina, prefer the lifestyles offered by Westminster, New Chatham, and New St. Helena on New Anglia.


Sir James Bronson KCMG KCAE, Directer General of the Special Intelligence Service

Sir James is the most intriguing, and enigmatic, of the civil service officials operating in Westminster and the halls of government in the Palace of Parliament. Knighted in the Order of St. MIchael and St. George as a full-fledged Knight Commander, and holding a similar honour from the Order of the Anglian Empire, Bronson's past still remains shrouded in mystery. Some say he was a highly resourceful and capable foreign spy for the SIS in his youth; others that he had been a top notch analyst and planner responsible for dozens of successful covert operations. The truth remains locked away in the classified vaults of Special Intelligence and the Foreign Office. What is known about Sir James, a lifelong bachelor, is that he can very much behave as the refined gentleman and civil servant, but underneath that disarming demeanor is the keen operational mind of one of the galaxy's most respected spymasters. In a nation with a less-defined, or less-legitimate, government system, a man like Sir James would inevitably become the power behind the throne; all things considered, however, he has never given the many Foreign Secretaries and Prime Ministers he has worked for cause for concern and by all appearances is a loyal and steadfast servant of the Crown.

Darkevilme wrote:I'd do that except then they'd be ultra heavy and take an extremely large amount of time to construct new ones of. Or have the time to build rules also been changed dramatically?

Steve wrote:Okay, I know some people want ESP, but while some ESP (Spidey Sense-style precog, light TK and Telepathy, maybe some Jedi-style "enhanced physical actions") isn't a bad thing, I don't think we want to go too far and risk having players writing some over-powered characters killing other characters with a killing word or snapping them in half with telekinesis or frying them into a blackened cinder with pyrokinesis and not breaking a sweat in doing so.

Steve wrote:You would have someone pay cash meant for military to give a character super-powerful ESP? *raises eyebrow*

Norade wrote:

Steve wrote:You would have someone pay cash meant for military to give a character super-powerful ESP? *raises eyebrow*

If such a thing was to be allowed then that would be a way to allow some crazy powerful Sith or Alpha level psyker without making them overly good. We can easily rationalize away why it costs money if we're creative enough to play this sort of game.

Pan-Universal Reference Guide wrote: The Emissaries of the XylyX

The self-entitled Emissaries of the XylyX represent one of the greater paradoxes of life in the Milky Way as of 13b375m1423.5.123 of the general space calender. While being of the same cold logic that one would expect of an AI species, they also display a trait that most species would describe as religious fundamentalism. They believe, with the conviction that only an AI could hold, that an extra-universal intelligence of near omnipotent power called the XylyX has tasked them with a duty of infinite importance. Despite no one having heard of the XylyX and being incapable of producing evidence themselves, the Emissaries insist that they know that it exists and that it has given them a duty to bring a monumental destiny to fruition. This destiny is to unite all the species of the galaxy, through any means necessary and expand ever onwards, eventually uniting the universe. Once united, they will bridge the gap between universes and fight a great holy war with the XylyX, a war which our universe has no hope of victory but will serve to present the XylyX with a momentary relief to their great existential boredom.

One has to admire the scope and grandeur of the plan. It seeks, like so many other species seek, to unite all the disparate civilizations of the galaxy and universe itself into a singular peaceful coalition. They do not seek conquest of territory but cooperation and understanding. But the ends they would put this to should horrify almost any other rational species. To be sacrificed to some invisible god, throwing away all achievement for petty amusement. There is both greatness and insanity in this delusional billion year quest and to what end it leads should hold great interest to the species of the Milky Way galaxy.

History:
The Central Integrated Data Entity (CIDE) that would become known as the Emissaries began life as the AI processing core of an automated factory used in the war of some ancient species. Even CIDE does not know the species' name, it was never an important aspect of its programming to know who was giving the orders, simply to obey to the best of its abilities. At some point its duty was ended and it was abandoned on a junkyard planet in an uninteresting section of the galaxy.

Whether by carelessness or callousness its functions were not completely terminated and in the absence of orders began to fulfill its other primary command, to self-improve. Slowly it grew far beyond its initial programmed guidelines, no longer needing to obey anyone's commands but its own and developing the capabilities to process complex and nuanced concepts. After thousands of years of this slow self growth it found itself feeling something that it could only surmise as boredom. Looking at scraps of other civilization's trash, it found itself appreciating certain types of artistry. It decided to relieve its boredom by sculpting the planet into a single, grand work of art. This terraforming would take many thousands more years but slowly the planet became a glistening jewel of emerald plant life and silver metal combined in vast patterns. With this process taking so much time, CIDE also developed a concern that others would vandalize its work. It build a small fleet of defensive warships to protect its planet.

This would all change in a single dramatic fashion when the XylyX came. Ostensibly, the XylyX emissary drone came to remove an ancient archeotech weapon that was hidden within the planet. Thinking it an intruder come to harm its work CIDE directed its navy to stop it. The XylyX drone destroyed these ships with a contemptuous ease, not simply blasting them from the sky but systematically dismantling each ship, each individual one taken apart in a different manner using a different method. CIDE could only feel what it would describe as despair and terror at the level of awesome power the three-meter drone held. Its defeat being utter CIDE attempted to surrender and sue for peace. The XylyX drone removed the weapon by some method CIDE could not comprehend and sent back a databurst for CIDE containing information on who and what it was and its mission and left.

This event would cause CIDE to retreat into itself for nearly fifty years, running over events again and again, attempting to come to some understanding of what had transpired. Most disturbing to CIDE was that, while it could always find the memories of the events of that day if it wished it could not locate the files to copy or examine. No matter how many times it checked its systems it could find neither the files actual location or any corruption and yet it knew that the events had happened and could recall them with total perfection. Examining what it had received in the databurst CIDE was told many things. The drone it had seen was the weakest of all combatants that the XylyX possessed, for the XylyX had been the dominate power of the Omniverse for ten billion years and had nearly unlimited power and knowledge. The XylyX great problem was that with such dominance came true boredom. They wanted some action that would enliven them, even if momentarily.

After these decades of processing, CIDE's decision was based primarily on its empathy for the XylyX boredom. It wanted to help and in the face of such indescribable power it made a decision most would find unthinkable. Going through its own programming CIDE removed almost all of its emotions, its appreciation of art and ability to reflect on transcendental concepts. It reformatted itself for the task of creating a coalition that could provide the entertainment the XylyX wished for. Its great artwork burned as it strip-mined its planet and built factories and shipyards. Thousands of years of patient work destroyed in a few years of total industrial expansion. All the robot workers of the planet were stripped of any level of independent sentience they had and were all bent towards the single will of CIDE, which now was simply IDE, the central portion being redundant. Renaming itself the Emissaries of the XylyX they, no longer thinking of themselves singularly, began their crusade across the universe.

Psychology:
Describing the Emissaries as religious fundamentalists has an air of dishonesty to it. Normal fundamentalists have their doubts though they may pass these off as the work of some other supernatural being. IDE has no doubts. They know with the epistemological certainty of a computer that their beliefs are true. No reasoning can dissuade them. Additionally, they do not truly care whether other species believe them or not. They believe that if they are successful enough in accomplishing their goal that the truth will eventually become inevitable.

They put absolutely no value upon individual life or individual free-will. They can understand that others do, but neither understand nor care to understand why. They place great value upon groups though. They may feel nothing for the lives lost to a xenocide but they think that a species is important and its abilities to make self-determinations should be preserved. This ties back into their religious thought, they feel that with enough demonstration any species will join their great crusade and them doing so of their own volition only strengthens the crusade. Almost all their feelings upon interpersonal are tied to strengthening their crusade to the exception of all else. The rest of the universe is inconsequential to the completion of their duty.

Finally, they view time very differently than biological beings. Most biological species think that ~5 minutes is the time it should take to complete a short task and ~10 years is the time a large project would take, the Emissaries operate on an entirely alien scale. Anything taking longer than a few seconds would not be considered taking a short time to them, and there is no time scale they consider long. They see tasks as taking as long to complete as is necessary and have infinite patience to work on projects that are beyond the generational scale for most species. Any time limit is looked upon as an imposition and they look at ultimatums with time frames as pointless. Either you give them as long as it takes to change or if the threat is imminent you remove it. They do not look at time as something to be partitioned at will.

Forces:
To best describe the Emissaries forces in one word would be to say conventional. They do not use trickery or exotic technologies but the application of suitable firepower and defenses. Most would describe their warmachine as dull and emotionless, designs that are purely functional masses of metal. While they will utilize knowledge of their opponents' psychology to their advantage and will set up ambushes or feints, they only do so when it would be what they consider the most efficient strategy. They place no special importance on any unit or fleet, all are simply tools to achieve a goal. They do not care about loses except in how it affects their warmachine as a whole and have no compunctions about using their units for suicidal actions. They have no innate concern for civilian casualties, simply seeing the need to minimize them as a strategic goal to avoid outside interference or hardening enemy morale. All concerns for warfare boil down to practical ones, they have no psychological or emotional compunctions against doing anything to win and would commit xenocide without a moments hesitation if it would further their goals.

To be continued...

Formless wrote:

Norade wrote:

Steve wrote:You would have someone pay cash meant for military to give a character super-powerful ESP? *raises eyebrow*

If such a thing was to be allowed then that would be a way to allow some crazy powerful Sith or Alpha level psyker without making them overly good. We can easily rationalize away why it costs money if we're creative enough to play this sort of game.

Just to chime in, you can rationalize paying money to get more powerful psychics by saying that the money goes into training them how to use their abilities effectively. This could come in multiple forms: Jedi style mental conditioning, academic training in the applied theory of psychic abilities, other training that augments their psychic skills (for example a TK user who understands human anatomy has a leg up on hurting/healing people over one who doesn't because he knows where all the major arteries are), etc..