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The Commonwealth of Democratic Worlds

Posted: Wed Jun 17, 2009 9:52 am
by Zor
Commonwealth of Democratic Worlds

Territory-Nineteen populated star systems (twenty eight heavily populated planets) with a roughly hemispherical main body roughly 30 Light years across on the Alphaward Turnwise boarder of the Novan Empire and a loosely defined frontier zone pointing towards the frontier. The CDW also shares a border with the Interstellar Protectorate and the Domain of liberated Mankind. The planets of the CDW are divided into two groups, Senior Member Worlds and Junior Member Worlds. Senior Member Worlds are worlds which have been integrated proper into the CDW or joined voluntarily and have full representation in the government. Junior worlds are worlds added to the CDW through treaties and conquest, gradually being integrated through programs of cultural assimilation. Junior Member Worlds are either ruled through a combination of local governing councils and state appointed governors and administrators, with power allocated to each varying between the two from world to world. There are thirteen Senior Member worlds.

The CDW two protectorate systems, the Shogunate of Neo Anatolia and the Protectorate of Andromeda, these are nominally independent with full control of domestic affairs, but have no space based military beyond a limited in system fleet of Corvettes and a few orbital fortifications and provide indirect support to the CDW navy in times of war.

Throneworlds-Shenzhou, New Colombia, Gotham, Kosciuszko (the location of government cycles locations in the order listed, moving every 5 T years)

Government-Bicameral Federal Republic with two houses, the Congress and the Senate. The Congress is based off population, with representatives from various riding based on their size in terms of population. The senate has representation from each member world. There are two high positions, the President which is elected by popular vote and the chancellor, elected from a member of legislature. Local government varies in model so long as it conforms with the constitution.

Population-66.5 Billion Terran Baselines/near baselines, 6.2 billion Genmods, 1.2 Billion Sapient AI, 530 million Extraterrestrial Sapient

Military-Commonwealth Armed Forces, divided into Four wings...
-Commonwealth Joint Star Force: Senior Service, Interstellar Navy
-Commonwealth Joint System Guard: Secondary Space Service, Responsible for System defense commanding forces of Corvettes and various fortifications
-Commonwealth Joint Army: Land Forces, no separate marine corps exists
-Commonwealth Homeguard: centrally organized reserve forces.

Re: The Commonwealth of Democratic Worlds

Posted: Sat Aug 01, 2009 11:48 pm
by Zor
History of Shenzhou

The Laiyan

Shenzhou holds a distinct honor in that it was colonized by the third last of the last colony ships that was launched by the classical nations of Terra. Named for the Admiral T. Laiyan, the most decorated officer of the People’s Liberation Army Space Navy during the First Solar War, the Laiyan was built in a time where public interest in state sponsored extra solar colony ship construction had fallen. When she was launched in 371, all other nations save for the Titan Coordinate had given up on building interstellar colony ships and there is good information that the Laiyan was constructed as an advertising showcase for a new generation of cryogenic systems. The Laiyan arrived at it’s destination in 1285 and proceeded to unfurl its colonial payload upon the newly claimed world of Shenzhou without much incident, with some 49,923 colonists arriving to begin the creation of a new colony, naming their world for the People’s Republic’s earliest manned spacecraft.

Shenzhou orbits a Red Dwarf star some 265 light years from Sol and is notable for being one of only four life supporting tidally locked planets (not including twelve tidally locked worlds that have been successfully terraformed), has 0.91 Gravity but was otherwise geologically similar to earth. While the night side of the Planet was constantly dark and was for the most part barren icecap and uninhabitable tundra, the dayside of the planet was temperate (between 5 and 40 degrees Celsius) and had an active weather pattern, even though it did not have any native life beyond a few strains of primitive aquatic microbes. Unusually, the population was split into two settlements in an effort maximize their terraforming efforts that was not resolved by the colony’s leadership. These became the cities of Laiyan and Xiaoping, the duel capitals of the Planet.

Ecosystem construction and implications

Early colonial development of Shenzhou was work intensive but fairly straightforward, with establishment of a Terran Ecosystem being the top priority. The atmosphere of Shenzhou, while non toxic was lacking in terms of oxygen with an over abundance of carbon dioxide and breathing masks were necessary for prolonged activity outside for the first century and winds could be intense. However the colonists continued to work undaunted, digging their early cities while their industrial development was fueled with abundant wind and solar power. Ecosystem constructed started with algae and plankton in swamps, followed by swamp plants and kelp a few years afterward. Shuttles were used to deliver payloads of algae to isolated lakes and rivers, though activities were focused around the two cities. From 1303 to 1312, numerous efforts were put into building fertilizer factories to convert barren terrain into grassland and forest with large scale distribution networks being set up to tightly monitor the condition of what ecosystems they were creating. The goal of the colonists was single minded in its objective to turn the dayside of this barren planet which they adopted into a lush paradise, which they pursued with religious fervor.

These projects were never the less extremely intensive and demanding of resources, life in the early colonies was Spartan and cramped with a diet composed of culture meat, soya and yeast. All industry was state owned and consumer culture was effectively non existent as most industrial production went into efforts to establish a planetary ecosystem. Population growth was regulated and while present, was relatively low due to various bottlenecks. This manifested itself into a general culture placing value on thrift and utility that functioned in a highly collective manner.

Terraforming efforts began to see major results by 1350, by which point many lakes and streams had become home to a growing assortment of aquatic life including fish and crustaceans and the bunker like settlements were now surrounded by forests and crops of maize and wheat as well as growing sections of forest. By 1400, Transition was primarily completed as self sustaining forests covered vast tracks of land and the air was fully breathable, while frozen ova were used while the process of Terra forming became more or less self sustaining and effective. This period saw an expansion of the human population, from Approximately 100,000 in 1350 to 250,000 in 1400, as well as an increased emphasis production of consumer products.

Solidarism and the Shenzhou Civil War


This eventually led to a cultural divide which happened from the 1400s to the 1420s. The younger generations that emerged began to abandon the thrift of their ancestors and develop a variety of artistic subcultures and brought about demands for more of the finer things in life. This contrasted with the older groups, which were for the most part less willing to indulge in pursuits they deemed to be more frivolous and began to see the upcoming generations as being wasteful and decedent. This eventually led some of the more conservative elements of society to move out from the main settlements and establish new communities based around their principles of thrift, community spirit and a collective goal to succeed. The first of these was founded by Gao Zinji, leading some 2,000 people to found a new community on an island (latter renamed Zinji island) some 300 kilometers from Xiaoping based on those principles in 1415. He latter spearheaded a movement known as Solidarism to see if he could gain additional supporters and started a movement to establish more of these settlements. Over the next 20 years he managed to gain sections of more traditionalists to set up new settlements leading the creation of six similar communities and a total population of 35,000, which grew fairly quickly with a steady flow of new settlers and a high birth rate. At the same time they managed to develop a few key industries fairly quickly and as such managed to become fairly successful financially.

At first, these divisions were not considered to be too much of a problem, Gao Zinji never advocated anything to effect of forcing people to join or that violence was necessary in any way. He simply advocated a more regimented, disciplined, frugal and community centered existence over the more individualistic and pleasure driven one. Those who succeed him after his death would not hold to such passive means. To the majority of those living on Shenzhou, the Solidarist communities were seen as a small number of harmless stuck up workaholics that will eventually learn to loosen up as prosperity came about like everyone else. However, eventually this difference grew.

It started in 1448 with a series of murders committed by a random drunken lunatic named Wen Fong from the mainstream of society in a Solidarist settlement. This resulted in an increase in animosity between the two cultures, including several incidents of Drunken out of towners being killed, either discretely or beaten to death by mobs in solidarity communities. Such actions were frowned on by most, but sympathies between the two groups faded. These fires were fueled when an economic downturn linked to land development programs happened, resulting in a surge of unemployment and inflation in 1453. Both sides blamed each other for the incident for various reasons, eventually leading to a pair of demonstrations in the capital degenerating into a violent clash. What sparked it was unknown, but it did lead to a growing number of violent incidents. This raised distrust amongst the Mainstream, but manifested itself as a siege mentality amongst the Solidarist movement. This resulted in the growth of more radical politicians coming to power and those who called for complete sovereignty. The latter had their wishes granted after independence was granted after a referendum in 1473 while the latter had their wishes fulfilled gradually, creating the Solidarist Alliance. Democracy fell to dictatorship by 1488 as more radical elements in the Solidarist Alliance seized control and eventually led to a covert military build up.

In 1508, these radicals led the Alliance to war against the rest of Shenzhou as their armies, 45,000 men and 80,000 robots strong, moved against various cities. The plan behind this action was to re-unify the planet, bring back the utilitarian and disciplined order to those descending into chaos and neutralize any threat to their way of life. The move was one that hit hard and fast, with their cities defended by advanced point defense networks that made attempts to use long range missiles to obliterate Alliance cities futile gestures. Within two months, six cities had fallen and over 250,000 people had been conquered, including Xiaoping. What resistance that the People’s Republic of Shenzhou presented in the early months was ill prepared for the threat posed such a force with superior organization and equipment backed by an economy mobilized for war. Never the less, the alliance had a notable strategic disadvantage as it was small and its population was spaced apart into a series of settlements which were fairly easy to isolate. With this in mind, new armies were raised and the economy was geared towards military production as their armies held the line against further aggression and pushed back against their foes in a set of counter offensives beginning in 1510. Casualties for PRS were high due to various reasons including technical superiority of alliance vehicles, moral and issues involving training and the experience of the officer and NCO corps. Never the less, they gradually pushed back against the Alliance army, making full use of superior manpower to gain the advantage. The final battle was fought at the last alliance stronghold on the night side of the planet, a mining settlement turned fortress, in late 1513 resulting in.

The war cost the lives of 236,000 men from a planetary population of 1,500,000 and left several cities in ruins. The People’s Republic of Shenzhou re-annexed the alliance and engaged in a program of consolidation, seizing control of the Education system and doing their best to show the population of solidarist communities the devestation which the war brought. Integration was not particularly fast, but happened without too much incident. By 1540, it was more or less completed few communities of Solidarists sworn to pacificism and a few traditions in a few provinces.

Post War colonial Development

After the war, there was no military conflict on Shenzhou beyond a few terrorist activities in the 18th century. Slowly, new cities emerged across the day side and after extensive space activity began in the mid sixteenth century, mirrors were put up to make key areas of the night side aridable linked by mag-rail lines. Population expansion happened at a steady colonial rate, moving from 1.25 million to 350 Million by 2000. In the late seventeenth and eighteen centuries, the four terrestrial planets and the eight notable moons of the Saturn sized Gas Giant of the Shenzhou System. Culturally, something similar to that of the Novan Golden age occurred, though admittedly on a smaller scale. There was peace, stability and prosperity and in these conditions artistry and culture thrived.

Mai Xijin’s hyperspacial theories by Shenzhou were received in 1877 and local scientists some small effort was put into pushing them, although their efforts ultimately were of only marginal success in low range unstabilized jumps of various small objects of little use to anyone outside of the field of theoretical physicists that ended when in 2073, a fleet of approximately sixteen converted freighters carrying some 450,000 refugees displaced by the first Sol/Nuwa war arrived. One of which was damaged after a pirate attack and was unable to continue moving, thus providing it with a working hyperdrive. This, along with foreign engineers and technicians allowed for the launch of their first hyperspace capable ship, the Liwei in 2085 and developing a significant mercantile fleet through a program of state sponsored production and transfer to private hands over the next two decades while the nearby systems were scouted out by a combination of hired scouts to scout out uninhabited systems for future prospecting and to establish diplomatic contacts with nearby systems. In Particular, there were three contacts within fifteen light years of Shenzhou which relations proved favorable, those of Gotham, New Colombia and Kosciuszko. All four of these worlds had sizable populations, active space industries and were Democratic in government. The leaders of Shenzhou at this time did not share the ambitions of military Conquest that the Novans had, and were at this time more interested in commercial activities and establishing positive relationships with those worlds populated with like minded individuals.

Re: The Commonwealth of Democratic Worlds

Posted: Sun Feb 21, 2010 2:33 am
by Zor
Commonwealth Joint Star Force Ship Roster (Archimedes 1, 2305 AT)

Notes: This does not include museum ships or non combat vessels such as tenders, fleet tankers, troopships or salvage vessels. Ships listed are still considered viable military craft by the Joint Star Force’s admiralty.

In the case of ships declared obsolete, this means that they are of classes of spacecraft which are not currently in production and are two or more generations behind the times (IE production stopped between 30 and 60 years ago, depending on category said ship is in with the general rule being that the generational gap between larger categories is longer). Obsolete ships are generally kept in reserve, maintained and sometimes upgraded but not replaced and are more likely to be written off for recycling if badly damaged in battle. They can, however still be effective in military roles.

Corvettes
Modern
None
Obsolete
Korzungrad class (Training Ships)-472 (10.62 Megatonnes)
Total Hulls-472
Total Megatonnage-10.62mt

Frigates
Modern
Xiongnu class-23,504 (3,760.64 Megatonnes)
Dragoon class-5,588 (838.2 Megatonnes)
James Watt class (Union of Free Socialist Worlds manufactured)-2,355 (286 Megatonnes)
Aléxandros class (Interstellar Protectorate manufactured)-422 (33.76 Megatonnes)
Tercio class (Novan Empire Manufactured, Captured)-311 (43 Megatonnes)

Obsolete
Sipahi class-14,248 (1,282.32 Megatonnes)
Lancer class-6,320 (379.2 Megatonnes)
Other-195 (28.05 Megatonnes)
Total Hulls-53,003
Total Megatonnage-6,651.17mt

Destroyers
Modern
Laiyan class-5,541 (2,022.465 Megatonnes)
Waynesburg class-1,350 (371.25 Megatonnes)
Novaya Leningrad class (UFSW Manufactured)-865 (346 megatonnes)
Centurion class (Novan Manufacture, captured)-120 (48 Megatonnes)
Other-87 (26.1 Megatonnes)

Obsolete
Painesburg class-2,312 (716.72 Megatonnes)
Minuteman class-435 (139.2 Megatonnes)
Karachentsov class-337 (94.36 Megatonnes)
Other-450 (146.25 Megatonnes)
Total Hulls-11,497
Megatonnage- 3,910.345mt

Cruisers
Modern
None

Obsolete
Emancipator class-435 (282.75 Megatonnes)
Vigilanza class (Intersteller Protectorate Manufacture)-50 (35 Megatonnes)
Other-10 (6.75 megatonnes)
Total Hulls-495
Megatonnage-324.5mt

Battleships

Modern
Vanguard class-375 (393.75 Megatonnes)
Atlas class-488 (590.48 Megatonnes)
Sun Tsu class-415 (427 Megatonnes)
Other-35 (38.5 Megatonnes)

Obsolete
Hunter class-350 (437.5 Megatonnes)
Liberator class-235 (186.825 Megatonnes)
Democracy class-187 (258.06 Megatonnes)
Other-62 (54.87 Megatonnes)
Total Hulls-1,960
Megatonnage-2,386.985mt

Dreadnoughts
Shenzhou class-85 (304.725 Megatonnes)
Gotham class-102 (576.3 Megatonnes)
Godslayer class-37 (156.325 Megatonnes)
Other-3 (12.405 Megatonnes)
Total Hulls-227
Megatonnage-1,045.752mt

Total Fleet Strength
Hulls-67,654
Gross Megatonnage-14,329.372mt

Re: The Commonwealth of Democratic Worlds

Posted: Sun Feb 21, 2010 11:06 pm
by Zor
Image

(Terran Sphere) Commonwealth Joint Star Force uniforms. The officers uniforms are sugnifigantly less extravagant than those of the Novan Imperial Navy. Commonwealth Uniforms have zippers instead of buttons for their jackets.

(Sorry that the colouring is a bit sloppy and the proportions are off)

Re: The Commonwealth of Democratic Worlds

Posted: Fri Feb 26, 2010 7:20 am
by Zor
The Rise of the Commonwealth of Democratic Worlds

The Four Stars’ Alliance

To secure good relations with its immediate neighbors the Shenzhou Government dispatched teams of engineers and scientists and shipments to help Kosciuszko, Gotham and New Colombia develop hyper capacity, asking for no compensation beyond accommodations for work crews and treaties of eternal peace and friendship. This effort was sucsessful. By 2115, there was active trade between these four systems. Diplomatic actions were never severely strained and the effect of interstellar commerce was a boon to the economies of all four systems.

This success did attract some unwanted attention; pirate activity first began to threaten shipping between these four planets in 2123. In response, the President of Gotham proposed a military alliance between these four states, allowing for co-operation of military and police activities. This was accepted by the leaders of Kosciuzko, Shenzhou and despite certain grumblings amongst its population, New Colombia which brought it to life in late 2124 with the creation of the Four Stars’ Alliance. The FSA as an entity had a yearly summit, a few joint command operations, agreed collectively to honor the Treaty of Sol and acquired a few charitable organizations, but remained a minor footnote in the grand scheme of things for three decades.

The Ronin War

In the Old Systems, the established powers waged war with each other in various bids to gain the upper hand. Fleets clashed in battles to force enemies to the negotiating table, alliances were made and discarded and political games were played. Despite this, no one core state could topple the others. In this climate, a fair number of Naval Officers became dissatisfied. A growing number of older crews felt that their lives were being expended for no real purpose. This motivated a statically small, but noteworthy number of crews to go AWOL and move outward. Many became pirates, with no more concern than to raid what little commerce emerged, become rich and live a life of luxury on a nice planet. Others sought out worlds to establish colonies on the frontier, sold their ships, sided with some minor state or acted as mercenaries. A few, however had greater Ambitions.

Among these was Admiral Victor Endreson, a former Nova Terran officer who abandoned his homeworld along with a force of eighty six warships under his command as well as several troopship he had under escort during a war with Nuwa. He convinced his squadron that Nova Terra had become corrupt and that he could lead his men to glory, wealth and fame in the Second Expansion Sphere in 2137. This fleet found its target in the planet Exodus (First settled in 1633 by a splinter faith of Mormonism known as the Church of the Third Gospel) located 19 light years from Kosciuzko. On Endreson’s arrival Exodus was embroiled in a sectarian civil war. Endreson offered the upstart faction (which had control of the majority of the remaining planetary industry) victory in exchange for an oath of Fealty and industrial support for his projects. Using up to date combat troopers and orbital support, he gave the rebels just that in a few weeks and in return received control of the planet and the means to build up his fighting force. He found other renegades and attracted pirates with promises of wealth and captured refugee ships. After a period of 20 years of buildup, he had what he needed and named his new nation the Ronin Lordship.

In 2157, two Ronin fleets, each over a thousand ships in strength Exodus system and seized control of the Harn and Won systems. This got the attention of the Four Stars’ Alliance, which had turned the other cheek to Endreson’s takeover of Exodus as it did provide them with a minor increase in trade although it did prompt a minor increase in military spending. Protests were given out by there leaders, but these fell on deaf ears. In late 2158, the Ronin launched an attack upon Kosciuzko with a fleet 2,500 ships in strength. This attack did massive damage to Asteroid mining operations, civilian traffic and the local defense forces before finally being repulsed two months latter. This prompted a crash militarization program by the Four Stars’ Alliance and three years of commerce raiding against Ronin Territory. This did not stop a third system from falling to the Ronin Hordes. Never the less, eventually the FSA assembled a fleet of some 5,000 ships and pushed them towards Exodus, destroying the bulk of the Ronin Armada and in a series of three battles and eventually destroying the bulk of its industrial capacity and killing Endreson, destroying the Ronin Lordship as a political entity and breaking it’s fleet into warlord armadas. In 2162, a series of mop up campaigns liberated the three other star systems from the control of said warlords, scattering the survivors outward to become nothing more than common pirates.

The Foundation of the Commonwealth of Democratic Worlds

Ronin Rule was in general quite brutal. The Ronin themselves had little goal besides the drive for personal power. With the exception of Exodus which was ruled by a puppet state, Endreson’s policy for occupation was to divide the established cities, industrial facilities and so forth of planets among the forces which conquered them and promised equipment and warships to those which could get said plunder of land to yield as much as possible. In many cases, this meant enforcing crude but harsh rule and imposing insanely high quotas on conquered peoples under threat of violence. At the same time, the occupational armies they employed were brutal and were prone to looting, rape and murder. Civilian casualties were high and law and order broke down as previously existing government systems such as police were left without funding or support. In the end an estimated 74 million civilians died during the Ronin Wars.

After the war, the Four Stars’ Alliance was forced to occupy four systems, three of which were in utter ruin. In effect, four new systems and over 3.2 billion subjects were placed under the authority of the FSA. It would take over a decade for these systems to recover economically even with aid and they would be vulnerable to future takeovers. This, combined with issues over the shortcomings of a decentralized command structure forced the leaders of the Four Stars’ Alliance to re-evaluate its system. Debates on occupation procedure, military centralization and government structure went on for three years before. However, after several referendums and deals, a new entity was created to replace the FSA on Darwin 13th, 2165, the Commonwealth of Democratic Worlds, a new federal state. The four occupied worlds were deemed junior members to be granted full membership as conditions improved.

Expansion of the Commonwealth

After the establishment of the CDW, concerns arose about other potential threats and among the more notable of these was the rapidly expanding Novan Empire. By fall of the Ronin Lordship, the Novans had already conquered forty inhabited star systems and was growing quickly, driven by the ambitions of their Emperors and the internal power plays of the Nobility. It was still clear that their lust for territory was far from satiated. The Novans had been a concern for the Four Systems’ Alliance for some time beforehand, although the Ronin was considered a more pressing concern.

The means by which said expansion was achieved was known as the Feng Doctrine (Named after the first President of the CDW). This policy involved sending teams to promote the CDW to the people of neighboring nations, presenting the CDW as a commercially beneficial entity as well as a safeguard against a looming threat. It also involved playing rival factions against each other and siding with either the democratic or (if neither of them were democratic) more useful and dealing with any minor war with the CDW by annexation. A few historians have likened this expansion to that of Otto von Bismarck in the establishment of the German Reich in the 2nd century BT. Over the next three decades, the size of the CDW expanded and took in 9 additional worlds, five voluntarily joined and four were added through conquest. At the same time diplomats made contact and struck alliances with the Domain of Liberated Mankind, the Intersteller Protectorate and the Union of Free Socialist Worlds. Despite this, the martial nature of the Protectorate (especially the population of Shenzhou) and the Theocracy of the DLM has always been off putting towards large segments of the CDW’s population. The CDW has in general had the best relations with the Union, but there have been issues (largely brought up by the New Colombians).

Re: The Commonwealth of Democratic Worlds

Posted: Wed Mar 03, 2010 2:36 am
by Zor
History of Kosciuzko

The Białystok

In the early fifth century, the first European Union entered a Crisis brought about by the great economic downturn of 434. Several nations inside the EU were blamed for allowing this to happen and it eventually led to Turkey, Norway and Portugal succeeding as well as an upsurge of nationalistic terrorism in Eastern Europe and on a few of Europe’s colonies. This lead to martial law and several instances of Eurocorps forces being brought in to contain fighting and rioting. Among the more notable aspects of this was on Einstein 15th to 18th 437 in the famous Warsaw Riots, in which Eurocorps forces dealt with a series of riots that erupted from protests which was inflamed by the nationalistic New Home Army and several gas attacks. During this instance some six thousand three hundred people were killed and many more wounded before order was finally restored.

Among those affected by this incident was Krzysztof Mikołajczak, a moderately successful real-estate dealer and political activist. During the Warsaw Riots, his daughter Zofia was killed at her wedding by a New Home Army bomb attack. He was devastated by this incident and came to believe that the European Union was on a course for either disintegration and/or collapse into despotism, observing the rise in popularity of nationalists and militaristic pro-union political figures who wanted to stomp them out. As such, he organized a movement known as the Kosciuzho organization to gather support among die-hard republicans that to preserve something of European Democracy was to salvage what existed and re-locate it to a new star system were it would thrive. Drawing support from various sources (including a few wealthy international figures which agreed with him on the state of Europe), his organization managed to gather enough funds to commissioned a starship named the Bialystok as well as gather some 31,251 volunteer settlers, mostly of Polish nationality but with a substantial number of French, Italian and Germans as well. They launched in 459 and arrived in 1316.

Early settlement on Kosciuzko

Kosciuzho is about 257 Light years from sol, orbiting the primary star of a Binary system. The planet itself was rich in mineral resources, but was a difficult world to tame. While inside the system’s life belt it was not hospitable. It was geologically active, had carbon dioxide rich atmosphere three times as thick as Terra’s, an average surface temperature of 105 degrees Celsius, 1.6 G gravity and a 10.5 hour long day. The result was storms racked world of mountain ranges. The first settlement was developed in a valley on the southern pole and would eventually grow into the city of Kościuszkogród. To conserve resources only 2,300 people were active during the first three and a half T years, with the rest de-thawed over the next seven years as more room became available.

Life on Kosciuzho was hard for the first sixty years. Industrial resources were fairly low and priorities were skewed towards ensuring survival. Food was tightly rationed and living space was cramped. The average lifespan of colonists fell to below fifty T-years due to long working periods and fatigue brought on by the high gravity, a problem which was eventually dealt with using Gene therapy. Population growth was low due to a fairly high attrition rate in the first few decades, with the population of Kosciuzho reaching only 40,000 by 1370. Despite this the colonists pressed on in development and democratic ideals were upheld, hardship bred a strong community spirit. Resources were available in large amounts and geothermal and wind power provided. Things improved considerably in the latter half of the 14th century after the completion of several major projects although conditions would remain Spartan. While their had been some minor work with the release of genetically engineered algae into the then seasonal lakes, In 1402 Terraforming efforts were majorly stepped up with the construction of large-scale atmospheric processers, removing toxic elements and carbon from the atmosphere and while not pursued as devoutly as the population of Shenzhou, efforts were made which eventually would yield fruit.

Space Development

Among the more notable aspects of the Kosciuzho’s development was a push towards space development as soon as possible. Kosciuzho had some three moons in general similar to Luna, but the colonization equipment was geared towards development of a planetary infrastructure and was ill suited to working in zero gravity vacuum environments with radiation hazards. Among the goals of Terraforming project was the establishment of a series of orbital mirrors to lower the net temperature of the planet. The shuttles which had been ferried across the stars by the colonists were bare basic by the standards of their time; due to lack of maintenance due to survival related industrial priorities and strain from higher gravity launches basically rendered them useless shortly after the colonists had been successfully unloaded. For this reason a major government project was the creation of launch vehicles and the infrastructure. Their first success was in 1462 with the completion of a surface to orbit shuttle and was notable for being achieved with a population of only 220,000. Between 1462 and 1501, the population worked on building a series of space based inter-orbital craft and set up base camps on the four moons of Kosciuszko. Despite the loss of a shuttle in 1476, they continued to press forward. In 1501, a factory complex was completed on the nearest moon and work began on assembling orbital shades which would continue for the next seventy three years.

As this happened a growing section of the population was moved into space. While Terraforming efforts continued to happen, with the construction of atmospheric processors and an increase in the number of lakes and seas it was not met with the zeal and dedication that the population of Shenzhou put to the task. Starting around 1520, permanent settlement began on the moons and in 1547; a Torus space colony was established to serve as a permanent home for workers and their families. This would continue after the completion of the orbital shades and improving planetary conditions. By 1650, the population of Kosciuszko system would reach 3.5 million, with 1.5 of that living on either moon based settlements or in space colonies. Terraforming was eventually completed by 1700, resulting in immigration to the surface by space dwelling sections of the population, but still the end result of this affair was the Kosciuzko system would have a high level of space development per its population that would eventually lead it to become a center for shipbuilding in the CDW. Afterwards, for the next four hundred years, development would continue steadily, reaching 450 million by 2100, with the only notable events was an economic crash in 1832 and a theological division leading to the splitting of the Kosciuszko Catholic church in the mid 1800s. Contact was maintained with Gotham, Shenzhou and New Colombia. Despite some research into Hyperdrive, the first Kosciuszkian hyperdrive was developed with assistance of a team of engineers from Shenzhou.

Re: The Commonwealth of Democratic Worlds

Posted: Wed Mar 03, 2010 5:49 pm
by speaker-to-trolls
This planet sounds like a hellhole. Why did they bother going down to the surface if they could've just set up on one of the moons to begin with? Granted it might be easier to get at O2 and organic molecules on the surface of the planet, but it's still at the bottom of a steep gravity well with a more harsh and turbulent environment than any of the moons would present. You might say radiation is more of a problem on an airless moon, but I think if you can last 900 years in interstellar space at an appreciable fraction of the speed of light (the faster you go, the worse the radiation) without any appreciable damage to either ship or crew, then I suspect you've got reasonable rad shields.
I'd have found a spot on one of the moons with some useable organics, set up there, then thought about going down to the planet proper once we were thinking about thawing a lot more people who needed a lot more food.
Depends entirely on the specifics of the situation though, if there just isn't a big enough concentration of organics on the moons then any large scale habitation isn't faesible, plus people are not gonna be happy being thawed out and told "we need food, do you mind heading down to Venus-lite and toiling to produce it for us in an inhospitable environment, then teaching your children and grandchildren to do the same?"
I'd be a little peeved if I was on the receiving end of that, course the one on the giving end would probably have seized all the guns.

Oh, and forgive my moonlighting with the Grammarstapo for a moment, but
for either disintegration and/or collapse into despotism
Either or and/or, cannot have one with the other in the same sentence.

Re: The Commonwealth of Democratic Worlds

Posted: Wed Mar 03, 2010 11:00 pm
by Zor
speaker-to-trolls wrote:This planet sounds like a hellhole. Why did they bother going down to the surface if they could've just set up on one of the moons to begin with? Granted it might be easier to get at O2 and organic molecules on the surface of the planet, but it's still at the bottom of a steep gravity well with a more harsh and turbulent environment than any of the moons would present. You might say radiation is more of a problem on an airless moon, but I think if you can last 900 years in interstellar space at an appreciable fraction of the speed of light (the faster you go, the worse the radiation) without any appreciable damage to either ship or crew, then I suspect you've got reasonable rad shields.
First off, Spending 900 years in Cryostatic suspention is a massively diferent kettle of fish than actually fuctioning towards survival normally.

Secondly there are very real diferences between a lunar surface which made lunar development unfesiable. For one their industrial equipment (praticularly in the areas of metal working) was designed for working in an enviroment with earthlike gravity and with a ready supply of oxygen (something that Kosciuzko had in no short supply, despite the existance of other stuff). Secondly, the polar regions were not too bad in terms of temperature. Compare the diference between places like Baffin Island or Antarctica with Chicago. Wind and Geothermal energy were common (as were mineral resources) and valleys (which this planet had no shortage of) were sheltered from the worst of it.

That said, they DID move a large section of their population to the moons and to Lagrangian points as soon as possible.

Zor