To Conquer the Stars (Retro atompunk sci-fi quest)

[redaeth]

Yay, tie is broken assuming no one else pops up.

Really don't feel like playing a Huruhi port. Her brand of zaniness can be fun, but I didn't feel like it this time around.

 

[Penwriter]

Nope. Still 6-6 tie between the two. Dark Ness, might want to delete your previous voting to avoid confusion.

Technically Haruhi has 6.5 votes considering Dreadis' only point of difference is ship type, but I'd prefer a wider margin of votes than that.

Hmm. How else to break this surprising deadlock?

 

[Biigoh]

Duel to the death! All victory to the fluffy tanuki. :3

 

[Nekraa]

[X] Plan Bii

 

[Latewave]

[X]Plan Bii

 

[Penwriter]

Vote closed. Bii wins.

As so we begin the adventures of Her excellency, Lady Haru of House Hi, Duchess of the Sagittarius Cluster.

 

[Penwriter]

[X] Name: Her excellency, Lady Haru of House Hi, Duchess of the Sagittarius Cluster.
[X] Gender: Female

You are Lady Haru of House Hi, or more simply Lady Haruhi to spare lesser peoples the breath to speak the rest of your assorted titles as Duchess of the Sagittarius Cluster, Arbiter of the Sempkin Watch, etc, etc.

Boring titles of a boring duties you didn't have to do a thing for to obtain or hold onto. While they had their novelty for the first couple of decades of your life as a noblewoman of the Galactic Empire, immortality and eternal youth mean even such duties end up losing their novelty. The recent civil war has blown new spark into the noblewoman however, along with personal interest in the Emperor's recent decree and intentions for the periphery.

Following her is her ever-beleaguered yet for some reason loyal retainer/seneschal Kyon. Hello. -Kyon.

Archetype
[X] The Playboy

Perhaps the most defining aspect of yourself is just how bored you are living within the confines of the Empire. After over fifty years of court games, indulging in the wims and fancies of romance, re-sleeving into a youthful body as the current Empire fashion, exhausting even the capacity of the Emperor's Summer Pleasure Worlds to amuse and entertain, you are simply bored with what the Empire has to offer.

Okay, maybe not everything. Catgirl maids never go out of style for sure. But boredom is the fuel for a desire to go out and find new kinds of diversions. Like aliens (that are not human manufactured lookalikes) that are really alien! Or an entire race of robots! Or some fringe branch of techno-barbarians out to conquer the universe that require an epic quest to put down!

And you have just the right crew to find these strange anomalies with the eccentric collection of figures, retainers, and trusty servants you have accumulated ready to follow you to the far frontier.

Pretty, youthful, extremely rich, extremely bored. This is neither an unprecedented nor unique circumstance in this universe. In fact it is a quite worryingly common combination nowadays. But she stands to give new meaning to why it's an extremely bad thing. - Kyon.

Starship Selection
[X] Resplendent-class Noble Cruiser

To aid Lady Haruhi in her new endeavor into the frontier, the Royal Court has gifted a Resplendent-class Noble Cruiser from the Emperor's own summer pleasure flotilla. A shining gem of a starship with a gilded hull, opulent and imperial quarters suited for the highest of the aristocracy, and a deck configuration well-suited to constant refits and changes of internal components based on its owner's whims. A ship well-suited for a playboy noble.

Made for nobles with more wealth than sense. Still, can't complain about getting a luxury suite for myself, on top of whatever else her highness wants to haul with her.- Kyon

Goal:
[X] To create a grand domain of your own among the barbarian stars bent to your will.

The other nobles say there is nothing strange or unknown on the periphery. That the only aliens that exist are those mankind has created out of biosynthesis and laboratories. That psionics, time-travel, transmutation, sentient robots, and magic are things of starstuff and theater.

To them you retort that of course there are no true aliens, they have no reason to be attracted to such boring peoples or boring worlds. Out on the frontier, there is space to make a proper place to welcome strange alien beings, and gather resources to fulfill other endeavours necessary to the task. Among other things you can do with a couple dozen worlds under your direct control and without the Imperial Bureaucracy's inane restrictions.

It was either this, or take over the Emperor's Throne. And the latter would probably been less effective in curbing her boredom. But really? Aliens, robots, magic? No way such things exist. Right?- Kyon

* * * * * *

Urgh, figures she leaves me with all the paperwork. Grumbled Kyon as a maid stacked another pile of actual hardcopy papers in front of him as part of the Duchess' "housecleaning" before she left for the frontier. The fact she was giving up most of her old titles and holdings didn't really matter to her, but it made for a lot of work for him in transferring them to their new holders as he looked over the latest decrees and orders.

If the Empire is dying, its more likely dying of too much red tape and bureaucracy regardless of anything else.

"ATTEN-SHUN my loyal retainers!" The noblewoman declared as she entered the library chamber. "The Emperor's courier has arrived with the starcharts to begin planning our expedition into the periphery!

Courier? Oh, she must be referring to the person she's dragging along by the collar while waving a data-codex canister around like its a toy, and not the high-security data container it is.

"I want everyone to weigh in their opinions. We're looking for the kind of place that aliens are sure to be at! Or failing that, at least some robots or magicians or espers or other fantastic creatures in this galaxy!"

Region Selection
(Majority Vote)

[ ] The Cold Stars

A collection of largely uninhabited and uncolonized worlds, despite the prevalence of habitable planets that require little to no terraforming for human life. While one may dismiss it as the Empire having enough worlds already, even the aggressively expanding First Empire or the war-stressed Second left these worlds alone besides some nominal far-ranging colonization attempts that never reported back. A point of suspicion, but of also opportunity to exploit untouched and exceedingly resource-rich worlds if they can be reached before rival nobles also chartered for the region.

[ ] The Burren Steppes

A collection of several large clusters of stars with a high density of habitable worlds. The area fell into anarchy centuries ago, and is infested with dozens of warlords, independant states, and remnants of the Second Empire locked in near endless conflict over a myriad of causes. But where there is war, there are assets worth fighting over. And there has to be some reason why conflict keeps going decade after decade despite the limited techbase of barbarian states.

[ ] Stars End

No one is quite sure why this particular quadrant of the periphery received the title of Stars End, but it is an apt name for a quadrant on the very edge of the galaxy and extremely distant from the Core Worlds. Lost since the late Second Empire era and its barbarian worlds isolated unto themselves, nobody knows just what awaits at Stars Edge besides ancient ruins of long past glory and some old scientific expeditions sent out and lost a long time ago. But there has always been patrols on its border by the Royal Fleet, as if watching for something despite the posting being mostly a dumping ground.



"Furthermore, we also need to be prepared for anything. And we got plenty of space onboard our new ship to be prepared with! Kyon, start taking notes!"

Shipbuilding Focus: Vote for ship part focus per category.
(Individual voting, every vote adds up.)

[ ] Weapons/Martial Power/Troops
[ ] Defenses/Shields/Command
[ ] Engines/Reactor/System Augmentations
[ ] Luxuries/Trade/Commerce
[ ] Support Ships/Archeotech
[ ] Write-in component category. (More detail = better)

 

[Dark Ness]

[X] Stars End

[X] Weapons/Martial Power/Troops

 

[Happerry]

[X] The Cold Stars

[X] Luxuries/Trade/Commerce

 

[redaeth]

[X] Stars End
Honestly both Stars End and The Cold Stars sound like suitable for Haruhi. Mystery! Possible Aliens!


[] Troops
[] Command
Haruhi needs her Brigade!
[] Engines
For when Kyon wants to hit the NOPE button.
[] Trade
Meh, gotta have something to give aliens in exchange for their mysterious backstories.
[] Archeotech

Write-in
[X] Science Bay! For the study of all phenomena big and small.
I figure Huruhi will be satisfied with a closet, but Kyon might want to convert an entire cargo bay into one.

 

[Biigoh]

[X] Plan Bii

[X] Stars End
[X] Support Ships/Archeotech
-[X] While most would go for weapons or a flotilla of warships... that wasn't something that one should bring on a long term expedition. When one can't simply nip out to a fabrication factory, one should bring that fabrication factory. To that end, the expedition will be bringing with it fabrication ships that can convert asteroids and other raw materials into useful things like the luxuries that a noble lady like Haru of House Hi is used to, as well as garden ships which doubles as resorts for relaxing at. Tender and supply ships were also a premium. While short range parasite crafts [fighter crafts] would ensure that no surprises happened by patroling and doing recon. Wait... this is starting to sound more like a colony fleet... but then, isn't that what a long duration expedition fleet needs to be?

 

[Redon]

[X] The Cold Stars
[X] Weapons/Martial Power/Troops

I honestly cannot see a support build Haruhi... I just doesn't fit her style.

 

[Dreadis]

[X] The Cold Stars
[X] Defenses/Shields/Command

 

[Drak4806]

[X] The Cold Stars
[X] Weapons/Martial Power/Troops

 

[Silversun17]

[X] Stars End
[X] Support Ships/Archeotech
-[X] While most would go for weapons or a flotilla of warships... that wasn't something that one should bring on a long term expedition. When one can't simply nip out to a fabrication factory, one should bring that fabrication factory. To that end, the expedition will be bringing with it fabrication ships that can convert asteroids and other raw materials into useful things like the luxuries that a noble lady like Haru of House Hi is used to, as well as garden ships which doubles as resorts for relaxing at. Tender and supply ships were also a premium. While short range parasite crafts [fighter crafts] would ensure that no surprises happened by patroling and doing recon. Wait... this is starting to sound more like a colony fleet... but then, isn't that what a long duration expedition fleet needs to be?

 

[unsafejakal]

[X] Plan Bii

 

[Anasurimbor]

[X] Plan Bii

 

[Vanathor]

[X] Plan Bii

 

[OneirosTheWriter]

[X] The Burren Steppes

[X] Defenses/Shields/Command


This is totally going to be a Quest where every other update I find myself flailing and yelling, "We coulda had a battlecruiser!"

 

[Biigoh]

Let them taste hellfire!

 

[psnuker]

[X] The Burren Steppes
[X] Weapons/Martial Power/Troops

Probably a forlorn hope with "Plan Bii" currently winning but damnation I want to get that conquest going!

 

[mkire]

[X] Stars End
[x] Write-in: Better crew, it'll be expensive, but lady Haruhi doesn't care about all the old stuff she's leaving behind for this expedition anyway, so you tempt some retired, experienced veterans into joining the crew as instructors with offers of money, prestige, and adventure.

Penwriter is my write-in okay?

 

[Penwriter]

Penwriter is my write-in okay?

Click to shrink...

Yep! Very viable category.

I guess this is not-dead! I'll hold voting open a bit longer before starting on update.