Forging Ahead (GURPS Interstellar Wars/Celestial Forge)

[Ultim@tePower]

Eh black boxes had the problem that after extended use, they fucked over hyperspace enough that they basically stopped working.

Also honestly neither they nor HPGs can set up anything like an interstellar internet. You would need HPGs constantly on and transmitting and that's expensive as he'll. Something like Mass Effect's comm buoy system might work.

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The black box whiteout issue was solved here? Also bear in mind I'm not a battle tech expert but the clan chatternet exists so it's definitely possible, mind you right now the Confederacy is tiny compared to the Clan worlds so it could be even cheaper

 

[wellis]

The black box whiteout issue was solved here? Also bear in mind I'm not a battle tech expert but the clan chatternet exists so it's definitely possible, mind you right now the Confederacy is tiny compared to the Clan worlds so it could be even cheaper

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They'll need to build a lot of them. Be dense for their size. That's how the Chatterweb came about IIRC. Basically small territory and tons of HPG infrastructure.

Honestly maybe the Long Night may be averted or weakened here. Even in canon Traveller history, not all worlds fell apart. Some still had interstellar presences throughout the Long Night.

 

[Lucid Lunacy]

Spoiler: Typo

to the \capital

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Were you intending to use italics here, maybe?

"Dr. Nowak?" I was greeted by a dark-haired Oriental woman over fifteen centimeters taller than I was, which put her almost six centimeters over average female height. She was what even my relentlessly heterosexual self immediately noted as an unusually beautiful woman, with striking angular features and the build of a fitness model, and her English was almost perfectly accentless. "Special Agent Mira Song, CSA." she introduced herself with a smile.

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"New assign-?" I momentarily wondered why the heck a CSA agent would need me to be notified of her being assigned anywhere, until my augmented brain cross-referenced the only probable explanation. "Wait, I'm getting a protective detail?"

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All I can think of is PsylentFox's Federated Suns:

Now that I think about it, I really should start looking for a wife...

Meh, I'll dump that on Hanse's plate when he comes back.

Maybe she'll be some uber-cool MIIO spy that can not only rock my world and give me some kids, but she just might use that License to Kill to keep me safe from the ComStar loonies.
***
"Let me see if I can parse out what you just said... and correct me if I miss anything," Hanse took a sip to wet his lips and immediately regretted it because the strong alcohol let his mouth more dry than before, "You want me to marry you to one of my most lethal female MIIO Operatives?"

Also, as this is QQ, I need to clarify straight-up – no, they're not going to be shipped. Neither of them even has that orientation. *g*

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Dammit! So close!

So, I know nothing about GURPS. So I'll view this through a Stellaris filter. The problem with developing a new FTL drive that lets you ignore previous blocking-terrain, is that the newly opened up territory might already be claimed. Could be a Devouring Swarm that wants to eat all your biomass, could be a Fanatic Purifier who thinks your existence is an affront to their gods, could be a Fallen Empire who just had a insect violate their borders.

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Or, y'know... other hazards *looks at the Tiberium hazard icon for a profile pic*. They might just jump to a nice garden world, only to find some kind of hideously dangerous thing on it. No people needed.

 

[Taliesin]

Thinking on what our protagonist should do next, there's more that can be productively done to make the war and overall conflict a lot less bad. FTL comms and jump-3 engines give a coordination and maneuver advantage, but when you're up against an enormously larger economy with far larger numbers, you really want more than just that. That means either ships that are effectively invincible (which means defenses that cannot be penetrated, or weapons that can destroy the enemy before the enemy can return the favor) or having enough numbers to match the enemy.

Both routes are viable. For the first, it's all about the pursuit of weapons and defensive tech. A few key choices could make Earth's ships occupy a completely new tactical space that can hold out against far superior numbers. The Forge offers so many options this probably isn't too challenging.

Alternatively, or afterwards, focus on manufacturing. What you would need for a few billion people to build like trillions is self-replicating exponential growth infrastructure. Autonomous mining and manufacturing systems that use asteroids and small moons as raw material to create more of themselves and that can crank out ships and war materiel or anything else desired at the metaphorical flip of a switch. A nice bonus is that this is also a big step towards a post-scarcity economy.

That last bit seems like a really good long term goal. Create an actual, working, utopian society without any of the usual sci-fi drawbacks. A challenge worthy of someone with the Forge. The technological, industrial, sociological, and political challenges are enormous, but the goal is deeply worthwhile. The tools for the technological side of it are there, in nanotech and various industrial technologies, so the real challenge is the sociological and political side.

 

[Ultim@tePower]

I like this end goal idea of yours and if that expands to the rest of the Imperial space because remember Terra isn't the only lone world being gobbled up by the Vilani then it would be a worthy end boss to tackle

 

[Blade4]

The fun thing is it looks like the confed is heading for the smart option of using this advances to expand away from the empire and quietly build up. Except the Vilani in charge is going to provoke a war where Terra will have to stomp on them which might well get official attention from deeper in the empire. I doubt the Confed is ready for the Vilani to send a actual main battle fleet of actual capital ships.

 

[Jamescc1]

There are a number of perks to get advanced technological knowledge, bubblegum crisis, Starcraft, Aliens, Aien vs Predator, halo, and last but longest
Battle Action Harem Highschool Side Character Quest.

 

[Ovid]

I did a re-read recently, and for all that the Jump-3 thing is a major development, I think the jump-to-non-gravity-well thing is far more impressive. And it was achieved as a side note to the Jump-3 research, and achieved by the non-Core user. So that's really fucking impressive.

Jump-3 through 9 is nice, but being able to chain jumps means even a worse jump technology will eventually get you to your destination. Shit, I'd argue that the chain jump tech is JUST as valuable as Jump-3 in the current environment. Depending on how chain-jumping manifests or its requirements (new engine, new hull, or is it just programming?), if the Vilani get their hands on it, it be nearly as bad as Jump-3.

 

[cliffc999]

Ugh, minor continuity note - StarLeaper Two was a ship name already in-use in the setting (it was the first exploration vessel to reach Peraspera, as it happens). So I need to go back and name the damned thing something else.

 

[Taliesin]

I did a re-read recently, and for all that the Jump-3 thing is a major development, I think the jump-to-non-gravity-well thing is far more impressive. And it was achieved as a side note to the Jump-3 research, and achieved by the non-Core user. So that's really fucking impressive.

Jump-3 through 9 is nice, but being able to chain jumps means even a worse jump technology will eventually get you to your destination. Shit, I'd argue that the chain jump tech is JUST as valuable as Jump-3 in the current environment. Depending on how chain-jumping manifests or its requirements (new engine, new hull, or is it just programming?), if the Vilani get their hands on it, it be nearly as bad as Jump-3.

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That and speeding jumps up are huge. Honestly, if you can make jump time trivially short and be able to jump anywhere, the distance per jump stops being a major consideration. Just a few more drive cycles to get wherever you want to go.

Ugh, minor continuity note - StarLeaper Two was a ship name already in-use in the setting (it was the first exploration vessel to reach Peraspera, as it happens). So I need to go back and name the damned thing something else.

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StarLeaper Three? It's an homage!

 

[Arimai]

I really hope Sophia gets a hard slap to her neuroses and stops hobbling herself, and consequently Terran Humanity. The Vilani aren't the worst enemy in the setting. With the GURPS tag I keep dreading the Greater Evils races are about to pop in

 

[SemiSaneAuthor]

Ugh, minor continuity note - StarLeaper Two was a ship name already in-use in the setting (it was the first exploration vessel to reach Peraspera, as it happens). So I need to go back and name the damned thing something else.

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Have you considered them going with a different name, to be nicer on the kids who don't have to then consider three different StarLeapers? Because StarLeaper One is probably easier on the history test. But imagine if you're in a history exam and you have to write about StarLeaper Two and then StarLeaper Three, and mixing them up in your head?

Thus, I'm suggesting Pathfinder for The Jump-3 ship. Seems easier for the kids to remember, and it's also a good name.

 

[Blade4]

I really hope Sophia gets a hard slap to her neuroses and stops hobbling herself, and consequently Terran Humanity. The Vilani aren't the worst enemy in the setting. With the GURPS tag I keep dreading the Greater Evils races are about to pop in

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Yeah but they don't know about them. I am not sure they even really have access to other races given the Vilani keep them mostly locked down like they do the earth. The Vilani are enough for now and will force evolution. Even with their advances it's still one world vs a empire spread across thousands of light years and thousands of worlds.

 

[Faralis]

Ugh, minor continuity note - StarLeaper Two was a ship name already in-use in the setting (it was the first exploration vessel to reach Peraspera, as it happens). So I need to go back and name the damned thing something else.

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It's the same ship, but they changed the engine?

 

[ltmauve]

Battle Action Harem Highschool Side Character Quest.

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Huh. That's be interesting. Considering that Valkyrie Cores can affect their users' intelligence... and Sophia has pretty complicated feelings on that.
On the other hand, if she could make cores and get people who are closer to her in intelligence, she'd probably be pretty pleased with that solution.

Neither of them even has that orientation. *g*

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In which case...

"Dr. Nowak?" I was greeted by a dark-haired Oriental woman over fifteen centimeters taller than I was, which put her almost six centimeters over average female height. She was what even my relentlessly heterosexual self immediately noted as an unusually beautiful woman, with striking angular features and the build of a fitness model, and her English was almost perfectly accentless. "Special Agent Mira Song, CSA." she introduced herself with a smile. Before I could even ask she withdrew her credentials from her pocket and showed them to me. I idly noted that according to her badge she was actually a Senior Special Agent, which given that she looked to only be a few years older than I was told me that someone either had one of those faces that kept looking like a twentysomething even into her thirties or that she was fast-tracking just a bit.

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Sophia's internal monologue on Mira goes "tall, beautiful, striking, model, accent close to mine, close to me in apparent age" and that's not the order I would expect to them to be in if Sophia wasn't attracted to her. If Sophia is straight, then a woman being beautiful is a conclusion she has to reach. And it's not always something she would consider all the time.
In addition, that kind of construction, where someone explicitly invokes their heterosexuality while having an internal monologue that doesn't jive, I commonly see used as a indication that the character is currently repressed and will be unrepressed before the end of the book.
So.... yeah. That's my 0.02$ on the issue.

 

[Arimai]

It's the same ship, but they changed the engine?

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Bigger ship. Jump 2 is almost three times the volume of Jump1

 

[Jamescc1]

Huh. That's be interesting. Considering that Valkyrie Cores can affect their users' intelligence... and Sophia has pretty complicated feelings on that.
On the other hand, if she could make cores and get people who are closer to her in intelligence, she'd probably be pretty pleased with that solution.

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I meant the technical knowledge, to build all of that earth technology.

 

[cliffc999]

Sophia's internal monologue on Mira goes "tall, beautiful, striking, model, accent close to mine, close to me in apparent age" and that's not the order I would expect to them to be in if Sophia wasn't attracted to her. If Sophia is straight, then a woman being beautiful is a conclusion she has to reach. And it's not always something she would consider all the time.

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I'm not a young woman, but I'd like to think the average young woman, however heterosexual, would still notice fairly quickly if their new acquaintance looked like a supermodel... which is about how attractive Mira is.

Note that her background check on Mira came up with 'Her mother was a former TV actress, and Mira has her looks'. Given what Korean TV casting is like, particularly for k-drama actresses? Ditto Mira's own background as having been in idol training when she was in high school, and again, you are probably aware what Korean idol singer casting is like.

tldr; the narration is not meant to signify anything other than Mira is exceptionally good-looking.

 

[RedX]

I know that if my Kinsey-0.001 self had some Chris Evans/Hemsworth/Pratt/Pine dude roll up, especially in a formal meeting where they're trying to look at least presentable, I'm going to at least notice that he's quite handsome.

 

[Ultim@tePower]

Come on cliff I know you want to do it, call it the Enterprise do it dooooooo it!

In other news I agree that the confederacy can't face Vilani battleships but they don't have to do like in canon they can use their jump-3 to bypass and hit their logistics, without which capitals are especially vulnerable to wither on the vine

 

[ltmauve]

tldr; the narration is not meant to signify anything other than Mira is exceptionally good-looking.

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I'll certainly believe you weren't intending to write anything else... but, uh. Yeah.

 

[Sceptic]

StarLeaper Three? It's an homage!

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StarLeaper Five, obviously. With no mention of the details of what happened to Three or Four in the interim.

 

[wellis]

I really hope Sophia gets a hard slap to her neuroses and stops hobbling herself, and consequently Terran Humanity. The Vilani aren't the worst enemy in the setting. With the GURPS tag I keep dreading the Greater Evils races are about to pop in

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Thankfully, while GURPS Traveller setting is part of the Infinite Worlds, neither it not Traveller ever really featured those kind of crazy Cthulhu-style super eldritch abomination races.

So no need to worry about about the Cthulhu Mythos, the Red Kings, & the Ancient Ones. And well with the kind of tech that may get developed in this story/timeline, it's possible the Empress Wave may be protected against millennia later.

 

[Ultim@tePower]

Thankfully, while GURPS Traveller setting is part of the Infinite Worlds, neither it not Traveller ever really featured those kind of crazy Cthulhu-style super eldritch abomination races.

So no need to worry about about the Cthulhu Mythos, the Red Kings, & the Ancient Ones. And well with the kind of tech that may get developed in this story/timeline, it's possible the Empress Wave may be protected against millennia later.

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What is the Empress Wave?

 

[wellis]

What is the Empress Wave?

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Basically a psionic wave emanating from the Coreward region of space at about the speed of light, IIRC, that causes those with psionic powers to burnout and/or die and cause most people on a planet to go crazy for awhile (before the madness fades). The problem is that this madness often results in them destroying enough infrastructure to kill their civilizations.

This was part of the metaplot of the old Traveller: New Era stuff as an excuse to help destroy the various civilizations of Charted Space, in addition to the crazy uploaded sentient computer virus that was infecting various spacecraft and taking them over.

But in GURPS Traveller's worldline/timeline, stuff like this may not happen anyways due to the emperor of the Third Imperium not getting assassinated (the computer virus stuff, not the Empress Wave)

But this is all several millennia away n a future that may be heavily changed/butterflied away thanks to Sophie's tech changes and additions.

 

[Arimai]

Anyone know how far away the Collapse and the Long Night is?

 

[wellis]

Anyone know how far away the Collapse and the Long Night is?

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The arbitrary start date for the Twilight and then the Long Night is around 2744 AD (-1776 Imperial):

The -1776 date for the end of the Rule of Man is arbitrary, and it notes the financial collapse of the central government, which occurred when the Treasury at Hub/Ershur refused to honor a monetary issue of the branch treasury at Antares. The resulting lack of confidence within monetary circles marked the end of large-scale interstellar trade and of effective governmental power within the Rule of Man. Although the Imperium did not completely fall apart for many years, the Rule of Man had effectively ceased to exist as a viable interstellar community, and the period known as Twilight had begun.

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The "-1776" year you see is measured from the 3rd Imperium's perspective (i.e. 2744 AD occurred 1776 years before the 3rd Imperium formed). The Rule of Man/Second Imperium was formed in 2316 AD.

 

[Arimai]

The arbitrary start date for the Twilight and then the Long Night is around 2744 AD (-1776 Imperial):
The "-1776" year you see is measured from the 3rd Imperium's perspective (i.e. 2744 AD occurred 1776 years before the 3rd Imperium formed). The Rule of Man/Second Imperium was formed in 2316 AD.

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So 600 years. Good they have time to prepare

 

[TrueGuardian32]

For some reason I imagine people coming across her work and having a bunch of Eureka! Moments. Leading to the entire tech tree being rapidly uncovered due to how similar it was to their existing tech.

 

[wellis]

Been reading Interstellar Wars again and it mentions plagues that occurred right after the 3rd Interstellar War:

A final challenge, the most tragic of the three, was a matter of public health. Immediately after the end of the Third Interstellar War, a series of plagues began to spread through Vilani populations, especially on worlds close to the Imperial border. Nusku appeared to be the epicenter of these plagues, and it was soon proven that the disease outbreaks always followed contact with Terrans.

Working on Nusku and elsewhere, Terran physicians discovered that simple Terran viral diseases – especially influenza, measles, and mumps – caused the plagues. To their horror, they found that much of the Vilani population was vulnerable to these diseases and had no evolved resistance to them. As it happened, the Vilani had often dealt with "alien" diseases in their thousands of years of starfaring history – but Terran viruses seemed particularly virulent and deadly when introduced to Vilani populations.

Terran physicians fought a fierce battle against the plagues on Nusku, and also traveled deep into Imperial territory to help deal with disease outbreaks there. Vaccines and anti-viral therapies were mass-produced and
shipped everywhere, saving millions if not billions of Vilani lives. This work was critical in winning the respect of Vilani populations – but the plagues had already presented the Vilani ruling class with yet another reason to deal decisively with the Terran challenge.

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Have the Terrans already dealt with this? Because maybe Sophie could help develop advanced medicines or ideas regarding disease treatment or other things as well.