[Astrum: Heavens] Presidential Skyscraper

[Uziel]

​

A massive skyscraper, although by no means the largest, the Presidential Skyscraper is the mansion of the President as well as the Presidential, Cabinet, and Vice Presidential offices. Thousands of people work here, and hundreds actually live here as well. It is tradition for floating restaurants to visit the peak of the skyscraper to offer the President or his staff food on the weekends.

 

[Helix Nebula]

It was a day of celebration. The construction of the first ever Odin-Class Flagship had finally finished, and the Faster-Than-Light Drives developed through years of trial and error, had been finally installed. President Great, had been in the middle of giving a speech to honor this occasion, when he was pulled away and taken to an emergency meeting with the FWR Joint Chiefs of Staff.


"Mister President, sorry to interrupt your speech like this- But we've got a bit of a situation." General Slaughter began, "Doctor Adams, why don't you tell the President what you told us just now." It was one of the chief scientist of the FWR Space Agency, "Y-yes. O-o- Of course." He spoke rather nervously, "Two h-h-hours ago, we i-i-intercepted a signal, a c-communications signal, originating from a nearby star system we've designated as O1104. Sir, the signal matches our records of Occupier communications frequencies, one of the very few records we've managed to preserve from t-those t-t-times."

 

[Uziel]

"You're sure it's them?" President Great stroked his naked chin. His barber fought a never-ending war against Johnny's stubble, and this morning had given it a light wax layer, which has kept the stubble at bay so far. As such, his skin was very smooth. Johnny liked the feel of it. His wife did, too, but it wasn't healthy for the skin to keep doing that every day. It was a handy technique of President Great had to spend a good portion of the day in public, like today.


"Get the Justice's crews loaded. We'll inform the public that we're making a 'wet' test run to O-1104. Keep this hushed until we know more. Put our military on silent alert. I want our high-ranking officers ready. What can you tell me about what we know of the Occupiers' technology? I know that our ship engineering is based on theirs, though we've had centuries to adapt it. What can we guess what we're up against?"


The Justice will be loaded with:


4 Fighter Squadrons


2 Bomber Squadrons


2 Dropship Squadrons


2 Soldier Divisions [Can I bring more?]

 

[Helix Nebula]

"Yes mister President, I had my people triple-check the double-checks, just to be absolutely sure and there's no doubt, it's an occupier signal. As f-f-for what to expect, well, we just don't know. It looked like a general distress call, but was cut off abruptly, before we could really make heads or tails of it. E-e-either an Occupier ship is in trouble, or th-then their communications are just malfunctioning."


((You can bring more, but not all of them will fit onto the dropships))

 

[Uziel]

"Then we're either going in for a rescue or a fight. Our troops should be ready for either," the President said, "They should also be prepared for the Occupiers to be more advanced. We don't know if they are, but it should be assumed until proven otherwise."


The Justice


4 Fighter Squadrons


2 Bomber Squadrons


2 Dropship Squadrons


2 Soldier Divisions


4 Dog Soldier Divisions


1 Medic Division


1 Heavy Division


2 Marine Divisions


3 Tanks


5 APCs


5 IFVs


3 AAVs


2 Frigates


1 Destroyer


2 Cruisers

 

[Helix Nebula]

http://www.rpdom.com/threads/o-11-uziel-o1104.53360/

 

[Helix Nebula]

The ships left behind in O1104 have returned with the following survey results;

Spoiler

O1104-A

- An ordinary Gas Giant, roughly twice the size of Charity. The team discovered the remains of what they believe to have been a satellite, mixed into the cosmic dust forming the Gas Giant's planetary ring. They brought some of the remains aboard for study, but there was very little for them to discover as the satellite was truly, ancient.

O1104-B

- A barely habitable, temperate planet- In the last "days" of it's life cycle. Upon further examination, the survey team discovered ruins of a vast city on one of the planet's continents. They were mostly overgrown buildings, alone standing stone walls and crumbling roads- But according to an aerial survey team, this city had once been twice the size of Neutron City. No other signs of settlement was discovered on the planet, suggesting that either this had been an alien colony- Or then the population had never explored the planet.


According to a science team, the reason the planet is dying, is because it's magnetic field is failing. It is still protecting the planet from lethal amounts of solar radiation, but based on their preliminary observations- The planet only has a hundred or so, years left. Then it's magnetic field will have vanished completely, and the solar winds of O1404's star, will obliterate the planet's atmosphere and annihilate what little life remains on the planet. According to the science team, however, the magnetic field isn't yet weak enough to have lead to the extinction of an entire species. According to their lead scientist, they 'quite frankly, have no clue where the inhabitants of this world went, or what happened to them'.

O1104-C

- The moon of O1104-B, it at first appeared to be a "Gas Dwarf", but upon closer inspection- It was revealed that the outer layer of the planet's atmosphere, is actually covered in dust particles of ash and materials from the planet's surface. It appears, that the moon might once have been habitable, but an extremely powerful cataclysmic event, caused a layer of the planet's surface, to form a thick and intense cloud of dust, around the entire moon. The scientists aboard the Republic ships called it "remarkable", though they're not sure what exactly caused this to happen- Some of them speculating it was a "mega" volcano and some speaking of a collision with another satellite of O1104-B or a well sized meteor.

O1104-D

- The survey team's scientists, say that "O1104-D, is what O1104-B will be in a century or two". It seems that D was once a cold, but habitable (on human standards) planet, that simply grew old and "died" when it's molten core was likely frozen solid, causing it's magnetic field to collapse. While the temperatures on the planet's poles can dip even to lethal levels, it's equator would be tolerable, with never less than -25-27°C- However, the planet has no breathable atmosphere anymore, not to mention no magnetic field.


The survey team recovered another ancient satellite in orbit above the planet, very slowly on it's way down to the planet's atmosphere. They brought it aboard for study, but just like the one discovered in orbit above O1104-A, it was more or less, nothing but a piece of junk now.

O1104-E & F

Both moons of O1104-D, and both barren wastelands of snow, rock and ice. Completely uninhabitable.

 

[Uziel]

Have a science team start pulling samples of the wildlife and plant life from O1104-B, and see what we can do to replicate the environment for them. We may yet be able to preserve the life-forms from this world, and adapt a new home for them.


Do our scientists think they would be able to develop a shield from solar radiation, so that they can establish a long-term science station on the planet?

 

[Helix Nebula]

Surprisingly little fauna or flora exists on the planet, but most of it should be able to survive on Freedom without issues - However, the scientists aren't sure how the alien organisms, will react or adapt to the local animals and plant life of Freedom.


The planet's magnetic field is still strong enough to protect the surface from lethal bursts of solar radiation and any buildings could be coated with radiation-proof materials, to protect their inhabitants from higher levels of radiation. A few scientists have also suggested constructing the main facilities of any outpost underground, as it would provide a natural shield against harmful levels of radiation, although it would cost more and take considerably longer to build.

 

[Uziel]

The extra cost will be worth it; build underground whenever possible and convenient. For now, the scientists should build greenhouses to store the alien flora and fauna, and preserve samples for introduction to planets that are not our only colonized world.

 

[Helix Nebula]

Following a series of earthquakes on one of Freedom's continents, a major pipe system has been damaged and breached, causing dirt and other filth to mix into the everyday water supply of the citizen of New Atom, a major Republic city- Rendering the water unusable. There was also some minor damage to a local power plant and power lines, which has left some two hundred people without power, most of the local hospitals and emergency rooms as well as other essential facilities, have backup generators however, so New Atom has been spared from a major disaster today. Samuel Frederickson, Administrator of New Atom, has however requested for Government aid to deal with the blackout, because the city only has enough funds and manpower to concentrate on pipeline repairs.

 

[Uziel]

The other Metros will be asked to do what they can to provide emergency assistance to New Atom City, by taking in their neighbors in their time of need. The planetary government will of course lend New Atom city the assistance it requires in putting its infrastructure back up, and we will use our new Advanced Computer technology to upgrade the city's existing infrastructure. Our people are adaptable to new situations, and New Atom city will be expected to bounce back quickly. The Semisolid Society.


Additionally, an investigation will be launched to find out why New Atom City only had the funds to deal with burst pipes, and not dealing with its power grid. Only two hundred people were left without power, in a city whose metropolitan area is in the tens of millions, and yet their major hospitals were hit with power outages.


Oculi Technological Readings: While we can't study the Oculi directly, we can study how their technology interacted and look over our readings, and determine the concepts behind their beam weaponry. The technology might be easily controlled by the Oculi, but they can't control science, and the science behind how stuff works.


Security scans: We will do a scan of another planet in our solar system, called Security, and see if it is inhabitable.

 

[Helix Nebula]

• Earthquakes
• Oculi Technology Readings
• Security Scans

• The reports are in, with good and bad news. The good news, is that the repairs are exceeding all expectations and New Atom City will be back in full swing, very soon. It seems that the people of the Republic just have a knack for working well and swiftly together, when it comes to disasters- No matter how big or small.
  
  
  The bad news, come in double quantity: Firstly, when investigating why the damages caused by the earthquakes were so.. sporadic, it has been discovered that there are several faults in the older foundations of New Atom City. Basically, someone, somewhere along the line, cut corners. It's too late now to point fingers, as the original contractors likely no longer exist, but as time went on and technology advanced, new infrastructure was built on top of and mixed in, with the old and fragile infrastructure. Poorly laid out power lines, fragile pipes, bad concrete, weak support structures- The list goes on.
  
  
  The authorities and city officials investigating the matter, are sure, that there is no imminent danger to the citizens of New Atom City. However, they are worried that if a major earthquake hits close enough to the city.. Well, power outages and dirty water, would be the least of concerns.
  
  
  The second bit of bad news, is that a warrant has been put out, for the arrest of New Atom's Administrator, Samuel Frederickson, on the charges of corruption, acceptance of several bribes and a suspected affiliation, with the criminal underground. During the investigation to why the city didn't have enough funds to fully support the repairs, several oddities were discovered in the city's financial records. Mysterious funds appearing and disappearing- Approved funding for projects and reforms, that never passed through the desk of any appropriations committee or other appropriate authority.
  
  
  How these activities weren't noticed before this, is still being looked into - However, before his political career Frederickson was highly respected in the military and prior to that, he did a lot of good work for the government and the public. In the Chief Investigator's words; "Frederickson's just the kinda guy, you'd never expect to go dirty. Like 'good' just outright flowed in his veins."
• Scientists have gone over the scanner, visual and data recordings of the battle in O1104, at least a hundred times and they're beyond baffled. So far, they've managed to discover very little and it seems, the "Oculi" applied some form of jamming technology during the battle, distorting certain key scanner readings, giving false results and signals.
  
  
  There is, however, one thing the scientists have no doubts about: The Oculi energy readings and signatures, were a near 100% match, for the records of Occupier signatures that the Republic has. There are currently two big theories on this, A) Either the Oculi are the Occupiers or B) The Oculi technology, was built by the Occupiers.
• Preliminary scans are promising- The atmosphere is good and other than a barely noticeable difference in gravity, Security is almost exactly like Freedom.
  
  
  They did pick up something else: Within a thick jungle, along the planet's equator, the scans picked up artificial structures. Upon a closer look, they revealed to be something remarkable: Ruins, of an ancient city, an alien civilization, right under the Republic's noses- Hidden away by a jungle, that had overgrown them with time.

 

[Uziel]

• Earthquakes
• Oculi
• Security Scans

• The President will announce that the first offworld colony will be a New Atom City colony. This will put millions out of the possible harm's way, though this is by no means a solution to New Atom City's problem of crumbling infrastructure. But by depopulating the city through a colony, we can at least ensure fewer people are in harm's way.
  
  
  The Planetary government will start an assistance fund to help New Atom City rip out and replace old infrastructure where it's dangerous. We will start with places that are unlikely to be seriously depopulated as the colonies are founded. Emergency water supplies will be gathered in case of additional natural disaster.
  
  
  As for the warrant on Mayor Fredrickson, we will have the Space Ghost placed on tracking down the Mayor. If Wrath, its agents, or affiliates are involved, we want Thaddeus on the job. In the meantime, we will ask the New Atom City Legislature to appoint one of their Senators to the position of Mayor.
  
  
  Spoiler

  Mayor of a Metro is comparable to a President of a country.
• We will compare what we've seen from the Oculi readings, false or otherwise, to what we know of Occupier technology, and see if we can derive any conclusions from their similarities. We have at least confirmed what the Asgard told us about the Oculi.
• We will begin a landing with scientists groups, along with a division of Soldiers with APC and IFV backup. The scientists will conduct atmospheric studies, toxicity scans, and the like, all to determine the suitability for colonization. Once they are satisfied that the planet is safe for at least semipermenant settlement, we will begin exploration of the ruins, which will be declared historical archaeological sites.

 

[Uziel]

Have a science team start pulling samples of the wildlife on O1104-B, and see if we can plant it on another planet without causing severe contamination, or at least preserve the animals in zoo conditions.


Statecraft for the following techs:


Terraforming Techniques


Advanced Power Systems


On the 23rd, Advanced Robotics as well.

 

[Helix Nebula]

So far, the introduction of O1104B's wildlife to test environments on Freedom, has gone well and some have even been introduced to local animal life. The Dogs of Freedom were among the first to be tested and seems both the alien animals and the Dogs tolerated and even "liked" one another from the get go. It is remarkable and if the alien animals can adapt this quickly to the rest of Freedom's environment - They will undoubtedly survive and thrive elsewhere as well!

• Terraforming Techniques
• Advanced Power Systems
• Advanced Robotics
• Earthquakes
• Oculi Readings
• Security Scans

• The idea of "Terraforming" another celestial body, to be habitable for humans, has been the target of intrigue, debate and even fiction- For decades. It has been somewhat of a dream in the heads of the Republic's scientists, right next to accomplishing Faster Than Light -travel. The latter has now been accomplished, and this has created a certain sense of enthusiasm, among the Republic's finest astrophysicists, aerospace engineers and other scholars in the art of science and technology, related to extrasolar exploration and expansion.
  
  
  Up until now, the various theories and ideas on Terraforming, have never been put to the test- But, after months of brainstorming, countless of sleepless nights and hundreds of cups of coffee, the best and brightest of the Free Worlds Republic have come up with; "Project Life-breather", or, "Project 'Libertyformer'", or, "Project Planetary Habitability Enabler"!... Well, it can be named later, but their point is, that they have come up with plans for a (prototype) device, that (in theory) should allow the FWR to Terraform uninhabitable planets, into habitable ones.
  
  
  There are, like with any brand new technology certain problems and limitations, however. For one, the FWR Terraformer, would only be capable of converting planets (or moons), within a certain range from a star (depending on the type of star)- While the Terraformer, by refining all sorts of elements can pump out atmospheric gases, it cannot continuously produce enough heat to permanently warm up an entire planet. Even several Terraformers, wouldn't be able to do this and even if they would, the power and resource requirements would put the FWR government in debt, for the next few hundred years.
  
  
  Another issue or flaw, is the Terraformer's inability to generate and maintain a magnetic field large enough, to envelop an entire planet. While a single unit could protect an area about a dozen kilometers in diameter, it would take dozens- Or even hundreds (depending on the size of the planet/moon) of units, to protect an entire planetary body, from solar winds and radiation. Maintaining even one such network of Terraformers on a single colonized planet, would come with enormous resource and monetary costs and for the time being- The scientists which worked on this project, recommend the FWR only utilize the Terraformers on planets that already possess a magnetic field.
• The scientists and engineers put on this project, have gone through various ideas for alternative and safer power generation. They've studied everything from hydropower, to solar and wind power- Even considering the hypothetical cold-fusion, though without making much headway. Unfortunately, to match the maximum generation of the most efficient form of power available in the Republic (Nuclear), with current technology, has proven to be more problematic than anticipated.
  
  
  Someone did think of constructing a massive network of solar panels and placing them in close orbit around Liberty which might be doable, was it not for the difficulty in transferring power and actually putting it to use. The scientist in question, thought about transmitting the power wirelessly, but there would be no guarantees enough energy could be transferred, to be actually useful.
  
  
  Another idea he had, was having these satellites in geostationary orbit above Freedom and attaching them directly to a power hub on the surface which would not only distribute the power, but also store it for nighttime. This could even be made so, that each Metro had their own hub and satellite network, thus guaranteeing each constant power generation- Without having to depend on another power grid. "It would be extremely unconventional, but might just about do it. Without danger to the population or environmental hazards.", is what the scientist said in his report. Of course, this idea has a whole set of problems- Such as, how to produce cables long and strong enough to sustain constant power flow. Also, nighttime power consumption in each Metro, would have to be extremely precise, lest the stored energy would run out and cause massive blackouts.
  
  
  The scientists and engineers are still thinking and planning, but they can only do so much- With the current level of technology.
• While advances in robotics, are much more viable with today's technology- Creating automation is a bit more difficult. While all forms of self-learning and adapting programs, have been created on computers for quite a while now - Actually applying these to a robot, will take a bit more work.
  
  
  It should, however, be possible to apply robotics to support exoskeletons and even semi-automated drones or industrial robots.
• The hunt for ex-Administrator Frederickson has just taken a turn for the.. strange. After catching a lead on the Frederickson's whereabouts, the Space Ghost quickly managed to track him down, to a motel on the outskirts of New Atom City. When he entered Frederickson's room to apprehend him, however- The Space Ghost found the ex-Administrator lying in bed with a bullet in his head. The strange part, is that the apparent murderer was there too - Lying dead in front of the bed, with the gun in his hand, gunpowder traces and all.
  
  
  Forensics have already matched the bullet to the gun and the gun to the shooter, who for the time being, remains a John Doe. Inside "Mr. Doe's" coat pocket, was a sheet of paper, with a list of bank accounts and their pin-codes listed on it. Here's the strangest part: Every single Gold Bill Frederickson stole, was on those accounts- To the last coin.
• Without more extensive access to Oculi technology, the FWR's scientists have more or less squeezed out every bit of information they can, from the scans taken during the battle.
• With the planet having been deemed safe, exploration of the ruins is underway and already, some remarkable discoveries have been made. For starters, the ruins on Security are not alien - They're most definitely man-made. There are various differences in the architecture, when compared to the buildings on Freedom, but there's no arguing it: The ruins were once buildings in a large, Human city! Furthermore, the scientists have discovered, what appear to be mass graves, on the outskirts of the ruins. They're still examining some carefully removed samples, but it looks like there's both Human and Dog skeletal remains, in these graves, as well as various as of yet unidentified remains. It will take some more time, but they are slowly putting together the pieces of the puzzle.
  
  
  The most exciting discovery, however, was found a few kilometers west of the actual ruins, when a wildlife survey team, discovered an entrance built into the side of a hill. After some concentrated scans from orbit and on the ground, they've discovered energy signatures inside! The science team has requested permission to pry open the large metallic doors and explore whatever is inside... With, a small military detail- Just in case.