Galactic Ruins: The Compendium

[LoopyPanda]

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GENRE: FURUTISTIC/SCIENCE FICTION​

Last Edited 5/21/2018: Completed.​

Overview​

In the year 30XX, the Milky Way galaxy faces an emerging threat known as Genma Platt. Mercury has been under his control for about 6 months thanks to careful interloping during heated political tension between the Mercurian Union and the Venusian Empire, who declared war on each other. He now has control over Mercury, but has not made another move yet, citing that he must be patient to reap the rewards. Fearing what is to come when he exits his state of hidden activity, the Terranovan Union has undertaken a plan in the past 4 months to secretly infiltrate Genma’s base of operations by employing a specialized squad unit called the Orion Squad. 

Genma Platt has been declared by the Terranovan Union as a potential galactic threat. Because of his ruthless coup on Mercury and his apparent access to Class 3 weapons that take substantial amounts of resources and energy to power, the TU fears his next move will leave a swift and brutal blow to his next targets, one of which has been predicted to be Venus due to their substantially weakened access to manpower and resources. The Orion Squad thus has been tasked to be the ones that strike him down, led by Special Ops Commander Aurelia to coordinate their secret coup-- however, the question lies in how well the Union’s carefully calculated plans will work upon execution, especially against an enemy with no clear reasoning to his motives and no reliable information having been collected on him yet. With emerging rumors of an approaching new world order, anarchism and crime rates have increased. How much impact will Genma’s forces inflict upon the galaxy?

I. THE TERRANOVAN UNION
The Union was originally between nearly all the rulers of the solid planets in our section of the Milky Way Galaxy, as a means of conditional allyship in the event we would make contact with other life forms from other star systems in the galaxy. After Genma revealed himself, they now spend much of their focus on the well-being of their people and formulating a strategy that will defeat him & restore balance to the Solar System. Genma had struck in the middle of a short-lived war between Venus and Mercury, which allowed him to easily overpower the already-weakened armies. He took hold of Mercury first, Venus (his next target) emerging barely unscathed with a very reduced army. It was the first time in several centuries that a planet was completely taken over by force in one fell swoop; this shook the Solar System’s leaders greatly. None of them knew how to counter such a threat like this, but saw first hand that numbers alone may not be enough.

Since the Venus-Mercury war had already reduced the numbers of their fleets and his attack on them further shrunk the number, his presence has made many surviving soldiers defect or go AWOL. The remaining fleets of the intergalactic rulers have now been designated as ground security on their home planets. Heavy limits to intergalactic travel have been set; special permission is required to be in space.

In the meantime, those left in the TU have agreed to raise a group of hand-picked individuals in order to serve as the force against Scorpius. Because using their fleets would only waste resources and lives by making a predictably obvious move against Genma, and surrendering has proven to guarantee no safety, the hierarchs decided it would be a better plan of action to gather them all on Mars and strengthen this squad underground, away from prying eyes. This way, they would be able to take advantage of Genma’s slow but careful preparation to strike Venus, given the mass-destruction weapons he has under his arsenal cannot be used in quick succession and his elite Scorpios are occupied with ensuring full takeover of Mercury. However, because of the war that had raged shortly before Genma’s intervention, the ruler of Mars appointed a Commander and her Lieutenants with the task of managing this squadron, fearing that the other planetary rulers couldn't be trusted to make the correct decisions in a time of tension and unrest. This squad has been given the name Orion.

Members of the TU:​

Chairman: High Council member Ziara Elmak (who also represents Mars)​

Earth: Global Ambassador Devan Mercer​

Venus: Conqueror Empress Ragna Mystia​

Pluto: High Priestess Saevi​

Mercury: Grand Ruler Harec Ethin {Status: Assassinated}​

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II. The Orion Squad
A small unit led by Commander Aurelia, who maintains communication with the Union. Crafted to aid the Terranovan Union in their surprise siege against Genma, some will presumably have other motives than to simply protect their home planets. Some may have been nominated to serve by their planetary leaders, others volunteered as part of the resistance, and so on. It’s all the same to the Union so long as they have sufficient manpower; those brave enough to accept are even offered a formal pardon for any criminal track record to avoid jail time. But because they needed capable individuals, people were allowed to decline at any point during the rigorous rounds of training in exchange for being placed under a gag order of nondisclosure.

Naturally, the weak were weeded out. It’s expected that very few to accept the job remain psychologically fragile. To prepare the Orion Squad, the commander had initially screened them by testing their physical abilities and capacity to withstand potential traumatic events (injury, death etc) via simulations in addition to weapon training of their choice to reduce the likelihood of the TU’s plan from completely falling apart. The draftees who survived each phase of recruitment to the end of their training make up the Orion Squad.
While the TU agreed upon this form of recruitment, some still affirmed it was at least somewhat ethically questionable. Simulations and the real thing were two different circumstances.

Since they are the Union’s secret to gain an upper hand over Genma’s force, they will perform recon missions and any necessary combat in order to uncover the source of Genma’s strength and reveal his real motive, allowing them to formulate countermeasures accordingly.

REWARD: A portion of the hefty monetary reward for Genma’s head (split and distributed to each member), an Intergalactic Federation recognition award, and access to other possible rewards. The current bounty on him is 500,000 Nova Credits-- but the leader of the Terranovan Union based it on mere estimation, as any promising intel that the Orion Squad manages to bring will significantly boost the bounty.

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III. SCORPIUS

A. CRIMINAL: GENMA PLATT
Genma is an alien cyborg who has been labeled as an intergalactic force of terror. He has committed acts of murder, theft of classified weaponry & documents, and has nearly all of Mercury’s inhabitants held as hostages. His home planet is unknown. It is speculated that he has at least one accomplice that helped him infiltrate between the two warring planets to kill/overthrow their rulers, which sent the Milky Way into a state of panic once the outcome of war was fully under his control. Like him they are also robots (or have had several parts of their body replaced with cybernetics). Collectively, Genma’s syndicate is referred to as Scorpius. His motives and main objectives are currently unknown; all that the TU can gather is that he’s aiming to overtake as many planets as he can to utilize all their resources. Any data on him so far has been limited.


When he revealed himself to the galaxy, it was only shortly after Venus’s army had gotten no indication of a surrender or negotiation from neither the general of the Mercurian troops or the Prime Ruler. In fact, that day, none of the Venusian soldiers could find any enemies. On the battlefield, it looked as if they had up and disappeared. The TU reported no contact from any of Mercury’s appointed messengers, and were unable to contact the Prime Ruler or the leader of Mercury’s war force. Everyone from all sides found this incredibly suspicious, but the Conqueror Empress of Venus ordered a complete withdrawal of all troops on the field regardless. Even though it seemed like Venus had won this war, the Empress did not feel victorious. Instead, she felt uneasy. She took this hunch and tried to distance her people from Mercury completely.


The next day, however, a transmission came through to the TU’s communication system from someone on Mercury, and subsequently was broadcast across the Intergalactic Networking Terminal. It was from Genma.


[“Greetings from Mercury, my fellow denizens of the Terran System! Hope you don't mind me interrupting your regularly scheduled programming for a minute. On behalf of the Grand Ruler of Mercury, I would like to declare that the war between Venus and Mercury is over. Now, I know what you’re thinking. ‘Where is Ethin?! Didn’t Venus win the war!? Why are we looking at a literal who and not the Grand Ruler himself?’ I'd like to happily explain... you see.” 

With a sinister smirk, he gestured to something behind him slumped over in a chair of some sort, but was too obscured to get a clear view. 

“He’s dead. Empress Ragna is not responsible for his death-- Scorpius is. You may call me Genma Platt, the leader of Scorpius. Long story short, we infiltrated Mercury’s base where the Grand Ruler was basing his operations and persuaded him to order a complete withdrawal of his troops. The Empress is quite an intuitive one, she saved us from having to do more work. You made the right choice, Miss Ragna. As for Lord Ethin, he served his purpose, so we did away with him once we got what we needed.

I plan to make Mercury the first planet under my new empire, as will the rest of our Solar System in due time. Regrettably, I have to prepare quite a bit for when I seize the rest of the Terran planets, so it looks like you will have more time to yourselves before I approach your rulers for their decision; to surrender their power to me and the empire that will be Scorpius, or die. Of course, I don't believe in senseless slaughter, so I think your rulers will have plenty of time to deliberate. I assume that the planets who have multiple rulers assigned somebody to be their planetary ambassador. If not… you’d better find one soon! The Terranovan Union represents your home planets, meaning I will be interested in their decisions above all. We’ll be in touch.”]


B. Scorpius
Genma’s henchmen, singularly called Scorpios, are all presumed to be robotic in one aspect or another. To make themselves more efficient combatants, many of them have replaced at least part of their body with cybernetic attachments. Others are robots whom were either reprogrammed by force or defected to Genma’s army on their own accord. Some Scorpios are likely reassembled from scraps of robots Genma considered too defective to serve him properly. These types of scraped-together Scorpios lack abstract thought and sentience, which lets Genma order them around for combat fodder.

 

[LoopyPanda]

IV. THE PLANETS​

Mercury, Venus, and Mars have all been terraformed to resemble Earth's composition, ensuring safe traversing for humans (some a bit more successful than others). The gas giants (Jupiter, Neptune, and Saturn) remain uninhabitable. Despite this, the planets retained some features unique to their previous forms. Access to the Andromeda Galaxy is only possible through hyperspace travel, but as of Genma's uprising, high-level authorization is required. Civilian travel to neighboring inhabited solar systems has also been prohibited.​

The following list of planets fall in order of increasing orbital distance from the Sun.​

MERCURY​

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ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION: Mercury was the most difficult to terraform in order for life to be sustainable there, so it retains features of rather harsh environments that house thousands of non-Earthling life forms. During the day, the most exposed parts of the planet experience recurrent heat waves, rendering most of the planet to be desert-like. Much of the ground consists of silicate salt minerals, most concentrated in the planet's craters & basins. There are very few areas on the planet that manage to not be exposed to the Sun's rays, and so maintain the status of water and ice reservoirs. Mercury receives water and fresher food from allied planets in exchange for supplying goods fashioned from the planet's iron core (i.e. weapons, structural parts, etc).​

Because freshly grown food is such a rarity on Mercury, many of its inhabitants are accustomed to diets consisting of dehydrated or powdered food rations (fresh food ends up being preserved with trace amounts of liquid nitrogen during wartime to cut down on famine) that require only a little water to expand to its original form. Breathable air is 69% of normal quality found on Earth. Immigrant Humans on Mercury tend to use respirator masks that allow them to breathe comfortably, while other alien species are more adaptable. Humans born on this planet don't need respiration masks as extensively.​

Estimated population: ~390,000 inhabitants. Civilian casualties from the siege are currently unknown. Is considered one of the last planets to be terraformed and colonized.​

PLANETARY STATUS: Inaccessible to outsiders at this time due to the high-risk dangers that Genma's occupation implies. Currently under siege, possibly as a temporary base of operations. Former Grand Ruler Harec Ethin is considered to have been assassinated as of the uprising of Scorpius.​

VENUS​

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ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION: Despite being terraformed, much of Venus is a dry, desert-like planet. There are oases scattered among the desert areas, with a few jungles in different spots of the planet. Humans living on Venus are in a cutthroat society with little order among its inhabitants in the cities, and have managed to adapt to the hot and arid landscaping. Many of these citizens display intricate tattoos on their bodies as a form of a status symbol; only the strongest warriors may be marked with the symbols of the sun. The atmosphere is more breathable thanks to the jungle biomes, but breathable air is about 50-60% of Earth's quality. The humans who have lived on the planet for several generations have grown accustomed to the air (thanks to natural selection working its magic), but outsiders often rely on breathing through air filter masks in order to tolerate the higher levels of CO2 in the atmosphere.​

The cities and villages around the planet all surround the first city founded on the planet, known as The Iron Citadel. All infrastructure was constructed from "space junk" that has crash landed on Venus and leftover materials from abandoned space explorer machines. A portion inside the citadel holds criminals who have been deemed as "troublemakers" (a strange rule considering how often individuals will engage in violence with others). It is also rumored that the Iron Citadel has holding cells for prisoners of war -- but these were surmised to have been out of use for several decades now.​

The ground consists of volcanic bedrock, but soil coverings have been expanded to accommodate growth of edible vegetation. Powerful lava flows beneath the surface which is harnessed for energy and powers any machinery utilized that relies on energy, akin to electricity. Lead and bismuth sulfide are said to precipitate from the planet's atmosphere on occasion; mining for bismuth near the volcanic sites is a common occupation. The bismuth is often combined with the lead to create bismuth alloys, commonly known as the "precious" version. Selling this form of bismuth as a luxury export has proven to be a lucrative business seeing as it is incredibly rare to find on Earth. There are relatively dormant composite volcanoes on Venus, but it's unknown when they will come out of dormancy-- and usually, the results have been historically catastrophic; the terrain essentially reforms itself to a more primordial state. Venus is also known for its trade in scrap-- fragments of material exchanged with others for goods and services, typically harvested from space junk and decommissioned battleships. Scrappers can suffer symptoms from any half-life radiation the junk may carry with it.​

Estimated Population: around 3-4 billion inhabitants. Natives sport intricate tattoos whose patterns often resemble that of the Sun. It is commonplace to engage in sparring and other behaviors here as a form of exerting power over others. The weak die, and the strong may live.​

PLANETARY STATUS: Recently 'won' the war against Mercury, speculated to be the next target for Genma's attack. Ruled under Conqueror Empress Ragna Mystia:​

Spoiler

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EARTH ​

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ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION: With a near-total depletion of fossil fuels, petroleum and oil are no longer used as a primary source of power. Additionally, several more centuries of wars across the planet forced the leaders of their respective countries to come to an agreement on looking for alternative energy sources, as their constant upgrades in war weapons was taking a toll on the Earth's environment. In reluctance, the warring countries called it off for a temporary peace treaty, upon urgency from their allies. To save the human race from the perils of irreversible damages to the ecosystem, the Solar World Corporation was founded and developed a technology that allowed its trained technicians to quickly build and rebuild entire cities within a mere week or two-- their electricity powered by windmill farms and solar panels. This has served particularly well in countries that developed slower than the Industrial Nations. Man and machine have also become a commonality, with a new era in cybernetics allowing people to become cyborgs with ease. With as much good these innovations bring however, a new underground of scourge came with it-- hackers able to use their integrated technology to their advantage and endanger whomever they so choose. To counter this, cyber security on Earth has stepped up immensely.​

Because the environment has become adjusted to fit the current generation of humans and prevent any further loss of biodiversity, it is near impossible for extraterrestrial denizens to take permanent residence, thanks to the seasons becoming much more severe than in the 21st century. Crops have been forced to undergo extensive bio-engineering to resist severe seasonal changes. Summers bring a scorching heat that threatens to desiccate any plant life that is not sufficiently modified to resist the temperatures, while winters resemble the Ice Age of the 2500s, capable of intense blizzards blanketing the lands. The animals have adjusted to the harsh weather faster than humans, but this came at a cost of several hundred species becoming extinct, their divergent descendants being held in captivity to preserve their evolutionary history.

Estimated population: ~9 Billion, but population growth has flat-lined since 2450, with statistics leading toward a decline in population growth. Earth is largely still occupied by humans, but many have left Earth to colonize other parts of the Solar System, thus earning the term 'Earthlings' for humans that hail from Earth. At this moment in time, the growth rate is in a plateau due to the equal numbers of deaths met with births and people entering or leaving the planet.​

PLANETARY STATUS: One of the founding planets for the Terranovan Union, a single ambassador who represents the decisions of multiple world leaders in regards to any political affairs beyond Earth is elected, and replaced every 5 years or so with evaluation from the Chairman of the TU. While it is one of the first planets that founded the Union, it surprisingly adopted a creed of isolationism; the planet was riddled with problems humans themselves had trouble dealing with, and preferred to have little interaction with planets in the TU other than Mars for help. Genma's emergence forced Earth into a more 'proactive' position as of late. The current ambassador that represents Earth on the TU is Devan Mercer.​

MARS​

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ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION: Mars is one of the planets that was 90% terraformed. Its barren surface has now been able to sustain human life with oceanic bodies and green mountain ranges. There are many Earthling-friendly colonies and cities being hosted on the surface; slowly, Mars is becoming more colonized by different races from across the solar systems, which has fostered a sustained economic boom. In spite of this, there are still large portions of the planet that retain the original red soil full of rust. Generally, the surface of Mars has become hot and arid, with ample CO2 and O2 thanks to the terraform program.​

Some areas that still display characteristics of what used to give it its original name of Red Planet, are considered to be the Badlands of Mars where traveling merchants land and set up their shop of wares. These red spots are recognized as intergalactic trading posts. Some mountain ranges are still that trademark crimson color, as are some desert sands scattered about the Badlands. Beneath the surface lies several underground districts, typically entertainment districts or residential complexes for races that don't normally see the sun. Resident areas, formed like tunnel networks, are scattered few and far between, so communities rarely overlap due to the distances. The Underground is cooler in temperature than the surface due to higher humidity levels.​

In the highly populated cities of the surface, one can see technology that appears to be even more advanced than Earth's; Mars's top scientists perfected fuel-efficient vehicles that hover atop the ground. These cities also have intricately designed architecture that makes efficient use of the space available with enough to go around. The metropolis of the highest population, Arkadia, is home to the Intergalactic Space Station (IGSS).  The IGSS's ship ports allow travel to neighboring galaxies and solar systems, the former a relatively recent achievement. Additionally, Mars is home to where many technological advancements take place, making it obvious as to its value being a founding planet of the Terranovan Union, the headquarters of which was built on Mars. The Terranovan Union headquarters is not housed on the surface of Mars, but in fact is located about 3 kilometers beneath Mars's crust (farther into the crust than The Undergrounds). Olympus Mons is one of the surface area's landmarks that could not successfully become inhabitable, especially since its height is nearly triple that of Mt. Everest on Earth.​

Estimated population: Less than 2.7 billion. In spite of its relatively small population size compared to Venus and Earth, it has access to more advanced weaponry and resources, making it too formidable for Genma to conquer at the moment.​

PLANETARY STATUS: Civilians are currently prohibited from intergalactic travels and must obtain permission from the Terranovan Department of Space Travel to visit any planet in Our Solar System. The only ones who may use the IGSS's services are TU personnel and civilians granted special permissions.​

Ziara Elmak was one of Mars's High Council of leaders, currently appointed as the Chairman of the Terranovan Union along with representing Mars.​

PLUTO​

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ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION: Pluto's surface temperatures are approximately below 400 degrees Fahrenheit, meaning the entire planet's surface is perpetually encased in nitrogen ice. Many inhabitants are humanoid aliens of different races who have learned to survive the harsh blizzards and superstorms that batter the glacial lands. Since the object is one of the smallest in our solar system, the few aliens able to live here are territorial and cruel toward each other, though some races will be more inclined to care for their own kind. While it seems the planet is lawless, they will only obey the current High Priestess, who is believed to be the reincarnation of the guardian deity of Pluto. She tries to no avail to ease their long standing history of brutal force.

One revolution on Pluto is equivalent to 248.59 Earth years.

Estimated Population: ~5,000

PLANETARY STATUS: Pluto has never been successfully terraformed since its reclassification as a dwarf planet and deadly nitrogen air. However, a different kind of life thrives on Pluto despite its tiny space. Several different tribes of aliens migrating from nearby solar systems have been living on Pluto for approximately 5 Earth centuries. Its status as part of the Terranovan Union ended in 28XX after the previous ruler seceded due to deepening tensions with Mars; only recently has Pluto rejoined under a decreed peace treaty after 200 years of no-contact policy. The planet's current ruler is the High Priestess Saevi. The government of Pluto is ran under an absolute monarchy, but High Priestess Saevi is also leader of its major religious faction, the Temple of Nix. Pluto's satellite bodies are incorporated into their mythos based around natural healing and pacifism.​

Spoiler

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LUNAR COLONIES ACROSS THE SOLAR SYSTEM​

Small lunar colonies have been hosted on several of these planets' moons, often serving as watchpoints or areas of study by scientists in passing shuttles. These are not going to be covered, so these are open to being developed by players should they so choose to base their character around this concept.​