What's new
Frozen in Carbonite

Welcome to FiC! Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

Growing Horizons: Inner Sphere - Quest

Intro

Warringer

Goto Wogon for Hard SciFi
Author
The World changed fifty years ago, big time.

However, no one really noticed that it changed at all. No big Rings of Fire in the sky. No mysterious changes of the constellations overhead, nothing changed in any obvious way.

Only today, only today the world found out that the unverse around them had changed. Gone was the old universe around everyone, to be repolaced with a new one.

A universe where it was usually large bipedal walking war machiens that were the kings of the battlefield. Where five Scavanger Lords were fighting over the corpse of a by now centuries dead corpse of a dream that had never really come to fruition.

Welcome to the Universe of Battletech, where 50 years ago a very rare multiversal event had exchanged an area of space fifty lightyears in diameter, centered around a point just a lightyear away from Sol.

This area contained


[] A saner early 21st Century

There had been no terror attacks on September 11, 2001, no War on Terror. The world was mostly at peace, aside from the usual squabbles in the Middle East. The United Kingdom had said 'NO' to Brexit (with a 52% majority) and while there had been an economic crisis, cooler heads had prevailed.

Notes and Rewards: No special knowledge needed to deal with this universe, just assume sane politics.

[] The World of Jack Ryan

In a World where an ex-Marine, ex-Investment Banker, ex-CIA agent, ex-Vice President has taken the lead of the most powerful nation of the world following a war against Japanese 'patriots' in the early 2000s, the United States are just coming back to their feet. Terrorists fear the might of Rainbow Six, while a NATO that includes the Russian Federation, has to keep an eye out for possible war with China or maybe even India.

Notes and Rewards: Everything in the Main Line Jack Ryan Novels can be assumed to exist and be used.

[] Patlabor - less stompy big robots

The late 1980s never saw the collapse of the Soviet Union and the Eastern block and the Cold War is still in full swing in the early 21st Century. Still, there were massive advancements of computer technology in the 1970s that made it possible to build large bipedal machines for construction and logistics work, kown as Labors. Labors were abused in crimes, like opening saves in banks or stealing entire trucks, that made it nessecary to equip the police with Labors of their own. And of course the military was all over Labors.

Notes and Rewards: Earth got their own stompy robots, even if they are not very useful compares to Mechs.

[] The Solar System of The Expanse

320 years have passed since mankind settled on Mars. 130 years since the invention of the Solomon Epstein developed a fusion drive that opened up the rest of the Solar System, and gave Mars its independence from Earth.

Now The Belt is in uproar as tensions between the United Nations and the Mars Congressional Republic are at the breaking point and the ice hauler Canterbury has been destroyed by unknown forces. In turn the MCRS Donneger was destroyed by supposed UN forces, leaving only the corvette Tachi, now known as Rocinante as survivors, while its crew tries to find out what has happened.

Notes and Rewards: A solar system that is dying to face an external threat before war can break out between the two solar super powers. Heavyly industrialized solar system, and a drive system that is the equivalent (if not better) to BT drives. Comes at the problem of political differences in how to deal with things. Powerful spaceships of their own and ground forces that can be power armored.

[] A local space of Growing Horizons

1969 already had been a date the change humanity, as they found that they were not alone in the universe. in the 2030s Jupiters moon Europa turned out to host largely isoliationistic alien intelligences with Shizo-tech, worshiping AI gods concerned only with their security. The late 21st and early 22nd century saw the formation of extra planetary nations, like the Federal Districts of Ceres, or the Communes of Io, while SETI found live intelligent aliens just under thirts lightyears away. More refugees were found in an asteroid in the main asteroid belt, waking from more than 3000 years of slumber after the destruction of their homeworlds, and opened up the universe to humanity with the Heim-Feynman Event Generator for faster than light travel.

So humanity and their AIs contacted the aliens they already knew of directly, while finding the remnants of one of the three alien races had developed their own striving societies.

Notes and Rewards: Three heavily industrialized solar systems, a multipolar place of hundred of policies, be they everything between anarchistic, over autoriatrian and theocratic to fully democtatic, Five distinct alien species, one of them with three distinct sub-species, AIs and their own FTL system. Less powerful sublight and space weaponry, but control of the ultimate high ground gives support on the ground.


How will the world react to be transported to the area of space known as

wJ8KQnP.jpg

[] The Grantville Cluster
[] The Nantucket Cluster
[] The Walker Cluster
[] The Mahan Cluster

Of course they were discovered by

[] A down on their luck group of Mercenaries

A Mercenaries life of frought with peril and this group of Mercs had gotten into quite rotten times and need to lay low. The Periphery sounds like a good place to lay low for a bit and not attract any attention.

Composition: 1 Invader class Jumpship, 2 Leopard dropships

[] Some Pirates seeking a Motherlobe

Pirates were always drawn like a fly to rumors of vast riches to plunder. So this group is seeking out rumors of a Star League base, undiscovered by anyone else!

Composition: 1 Scout class Jumpship, 1 Union class dropship

[] A trader just doing the rounds

There are only a few traders out here in the perephiry and most systems only see one on maybe fifty years. And for the most part these traders are not carrying very much, aside from baubles and shinies to distract the locals to get their hands on the valuable things. And of coruse he always has a friend or two with a Mech to run security for him.

Composition: 1 Tramp class Jumpship, 1 Mamoth class dropship, 1 Leopard class dropship

[] An Explorer Corps vessel

At times the Explorer Corps of Comstar needs to take a look at places in the Periphery to see how much things have changed, and so this vessel has moved into the area and made contact.

Composition: 1 Maggelan class Jumpship, 1 Union class dropship

So who shall it be that is disovered and does the discovery?

Choose wisely...

----------------------------------------------

This is largely just a test to see whethere there is actually any interest in this and for me to get my feet wet in Quest building. The Quest is going to be a hodgepodge of things and stuff, but we shall see...
 
Last edited:
Informations
Important!

Do not expect or play to keep the BT Status Quo!
BT ground and aerospace combat ranges are going to be more realistic, by increasing ranges by six times compared to normal rules.
BT rules an an abstraction, they will only be used then applicable.

Link to the technologies available to the Walker Cluster/Three Systems.

Code:
Walker Cluster:

    Distance from Sol to Terra: 576ly

    Systems of Note:

        Sol:
            Earth: Home of Humanity
                   Population: 12 billion
            Moon:  Population: 650 million
            Mars: First Settlements off Earth - 2 nation states, 3 colonies
                   Population: 350 million
            Asteroid Belt: 25 nation states, 124 colonies
                   Population: 1 billion
            Jupiter: 3 nation states, 3 colonies
                   Population: 400 million
                Europa: homeworld of the Europans
                   
            Saturn: 1 nation state, 1 colony
                   Population: 100 million

        Proxima Centauri: 4.2ly from Sol
            Alden: Eyeball Earth with native life, colony of Quetzal and humans
                   Population: 125.000 (60% human, 35% Quetzal, 5% remaining)

        Epsilon Eridani: 10ly from Sol
            Eridu: Perfectly habitalbe world, colony of humans, Quetzal, Ormiold and Turukal
                   Population: 500.000 (65% human, 25% Quetzal, 10% remaining)

        Beta Hydri: 24ly from Sol
            Jerat: Homeworld of the Tianut, home to the Rac'ris'ayc
                   Population: 6.9 billion Tiaunt, 214 million Aldmoru
            Lyeib-bel: Mars like colony world
                   population: 700 million Tiaunt, 65 million Aldmoru

        61 Virginis: 27ly from Sol
            Cterin: Homeworld of the Quetzal, destroyed by The Plague (SB Little Boy)
            Seuwack: Home to the Holy Hegemony of Lerr
            Dran: Home of 32 moons Quetzal survivor nations

    Species of the Walker Cluster (and population) ca 2175:

        Humans: 14.5 billion in Sol
        Quetzal:
            Quetzal: 550.000
            Rac'ris'ayc: 279 million on Jerat and Lyeib-bel
            Aldmoru: 2.5 billion in 61 Virginis
        Ormiold: 225.000
        Turukal: 197.000
        Europans: 3.3 billion
        Tiaunt: 7.6 billion
        InfoLife: 15.000

    Major powers:
        Sol:
            United States of America
            European Union
            Peoples Republic of China
            Republic of India
        61 Virginis:
            United Colonies
            Emkin Assembly
            Runel Association
            Holy Hegemony of Lerr
            Aldan League
            Bev
        Beta Hydri:
            Empire of Jerat
            United Principalities
            Anadra Freehold
            Rac'ris'ayc Alliance
            ...
        Others:
            Hannover
                Population: 356 million
            Washington
                Population: 754 million
            Solidarność
                Population: 281 million
            Pandemonium:
                Population:  64 million

    Major Militaries Organizations:
        Solar Defense Initiative
        Jerat Council of Defense
        Dren Alliance

Major Neigbours of the Walker Cluster:

    Lyran Commonwealth
    Free Worlds League

Minor Neigbours of the Walker Cluster:

    Marian Hegemony
        280ly from Sol to Alphard
    Circinus Federation
        184ly from Sol to Circinus
    Illyrian Palatinate
        176ly from Sol to Illyria
    Lothian League
        152ly from Sol to Lothario
    New St. Andrews
        72ly from Sol to New St. Andrews

Worlds around the Walker Cluster

Military:

WCDC Space Forces, Summer 2175/2025
WCDC Ground Forces, Winter 2176/3026

Bonuses:

Advanced Composite Armor: 10% more effective than IS Armor (17.6 points of Armor per tonne)

Code:
Space Combat:
    +5 to engagements against dropships (initial tactics to fight drop ships)
    +15 against belligerent jumpships and dropships in nadir and zenith jump points (Raytan Jump Point Defense Stations)
    +10 to all squadrons with an AutoWar
    +25 to AutoWar exclusive squadrons
    +20 to WarShip inclusion
    +10 Redoubt FTL Jump Point Defense

Ground Combat:
    +10 to engagements against IS Forces
    +15 to engagements against mechs
    +5 to all ground combat

R&D:
    +5 to ground weapon development
    +5 to space weapon development
    +5 to all military R&D

Interstellar Communication Network:
    +10 to defensive actions

MIL-STD-102343:
    Standartized Weapon System Interfaces (Omni Tech)

Anti-Piracy Patrol Squadrons:
    25% Chance of interception of Pirate attacks

Confederated Forces:
    +15 to all military actions
Code:
Stronger Economy:       +10 on internal trade actions
                        [s]Small Merchant Marine[/s]
Agile Economy:          +10 on external trade actions
                        +5 on adaption of new products
Economic Ties:          +10 on internal trade actions
                        Merchant Marine
Scientific-Industrial Complex:
                        +10 on trade actions initiated by the scientific community
Military-Industrial Complex:
                        +10 on trade action initiated by the military
Interstellar Communication Network:
                        +10 to internal trade actions
Space Industry:
                        +15 to internal trade actions
                        +15 to external trade actions
Space Mining:
                        +15 to internal trade actions
                        +15 to external trade actions
+15 on external trade actions with Llyn Ogwen, Ammann, Craigh, Farnham's Planet, Bernstein, Santa Alvarez, Solidarność
+5 on external trade actions with Zaltek, ANZAC Union, Malwa, Rovaniemi
+5 to external trade with the Taurian Concordat
+10 to external trade with the FWL
Code:
Prometheus Foundation:  +5 on external diplomatic actions near the OCP
                        +5 on humanitarian aid actions
permanent Ambassies on Llyn Ogwen, Ammann, Craigh, Farnham's Planet, Bernstein, Santa Alvarez, Zaltek, ANZAC Union, Malwa, Rovaniemi
+15 on diplomatic actions on Zaltek, ANZAC Union, Malwa, Rovaniemi
+25 on diplomatic actions on Craigh, Farnham's Planet, Bernstein, Santa Alvarez
+30 on diplomatic actions on Llyn Ogwen, Ammann and Lothian League

Inner Sphere:
+40 on diplomatic actions with the FWL
+30 on diplomatic actions with the Taurian Concordat and Lupus Republic
+20 on diplomatic actions with the Federated Commonwealth and Dutchy of Andurien
+10 to diplomatic actions with the Confederation of Habitats
 -5 to diplomatic actions with the Draconis Combine
 
OCP Diplomatic Corps:
+10 to all dilomatic actions
20 Permanent Survey Squadrons: +10 Survey/Intelligence Operations
+10 on research of Inner Sphere weapons
Research Center Sol: +10 to all Research
Interstellar Communication Network:
+10 to all Research

Other:

 
Last edited:
[X] A local space of Growing Horizons
[X] The Walker Cluster
[X] A down on their luck group of Mercenaries

Let's make sure that our introduction is as safe as possible ergo no evil phone company who if they see AI and so many non-Lost Tech will go batshit insane. And we have no force to defeat what Comnstar can unleash as well who could they coerce as well. On the other hand, we have Lyran Alliance with are sane most of the time, another web hour is maybe way less stable (Best war is civil war after all) with would allow us to get access to way more stuff. Not mentioning that we are far away from Clan nutsos right now so we would not be forced to game as much power to defend against them. And Mercenaries well they like cash and on this policy, there will be a lot of this.
 
MAybe I should note that I do know a local space of Growing Horizons best, as its may own universe. Well, and the sane 21st century, as I just need to make politics sane for most of it.
 
[X] A local space of Growing Horizons
[X] The Walker Cluster
[X] A down on their luck group of Mercenaries
 
[X] A local space of Growing Horizons
[X] The Walker Cluster
[X] A down on their luck group of Mercenaries
 
[X] A local space of Growing Horizons
[X] The Walker Cluster
[X] A down on their luck group of Mercenaries

Let's go with Easy Mode, eh?
 
This would bring more people for FiC from SB.

But I'm merely going to wait a bit longer...

I also forgot to add one thing...

[] Battletech exists as a game/novel series in the world chosen.
[] Battletech does not exist as a game/novel series in the world chosen.

Since it was a big part of the original AEwaB...
 
Last edited:
[X] Battletech exists as a game/novel series in the world chosen.

With a caveat that they never gone past some point of time like Clan invasion was never relaeased.
I can accomodate that easily.

Maybe FASA was sued by Harmony Gold... >_>
Or maybe something else happened.
 
I think, I'm going to wait until tomorrow to get some more votes on the Battletech Game issue, before I start writing something...
 
Okay, poll(s) closed.

And the winner is:

[X] A local space of Growing Horizons
[X] The Walker Cluster
[X] A down on their luck group of Mercenaries

with 4 to 1 votes

As well as:

[X] Battletech exists as a game/novel series in the world chosen

with four votes.

Going to begin writing the first part of the Prologe.
 
Prologe 01
March 3, 2174 / April 21, 3024
Sol, Nadir Jump Point, Walker Cluster

Home, Sweet Home hung high above the yellow main sequence star, the Invader class jump ships large sail unfurled and greedily soaking in its rays.

On the bridge of the jumpship, Stephan Köhler, head and owner of the mercenary company Köhler Military Services, stares out of a porthole and at several distant dots as they moved a little. Another glance over to a sensor readout showed him the twenty ships had had, somehow appeared a thousand kilometers away, without any sign of the usual pre-event.

"About two hours," Gabriela Wong, the captain of Home, Sweet Home said.

"What?"

"Whoever these people are, they saw us come in, had a conference and then jumped here from a pirate point."

It sounded pretty logical, and still, it did not make any sense to Stephan. This was the Deep Periphery. No one out there should have more than one or two, maybe three jump ships at most. Not twenty of them, of unknown classes and all armed to one degree or another. And the majority were smaller than even a Scout.

"Captain?" Mike Cranz, the radio operator suddenly said. "They are hailing us..."

Instead of saying something Wong just looked at him, and he sheepishly put it on the speakers.

"...fy yourselves. I repeat. This is Hamburg of the Solar Defensive Initiative Squadron 5, to unknown vessel. Please identify yourself."

The voice was speaking English, but he could sense a strong German accent in it.

"Hier spricht die Hamburg von Geschwader 5 der Solaren Defensive Initiative. An unbekannes Schiff. Bitte identifizieren Sie sich."

Stephan looked at Wong, who nodded. They were working together for a while now and understood each other. This was a case of better work with the other side. Especially considering twenty unknown armed jumpships. She floated over to Cranz, taking a headset and speaking into it.

"This is the private Jumpship Home Sweet Home," she said. "We are just passing through on the way to the Lothian League."

That made Stephan sigh and shake his head. The past years had been a disaster. They had lost out on several contracts, lost some good people, and he had been forced to sell their third Leopard to keep the company afloat. And there were some credit sharks after them, one of which was rumored to have signed another merc company to hunt them down. So the only thing Stephan could do was to lie low in te Deep Periphery. A nice cushy job in the Lothian League sounded like a good idea, even though they had to take the long way around from Issaba, keeping away from the Commonwealth to keep away from the credit sharks...

"The Lothian League..." the voice on the other side said. "Please wait."

Stephan looked back out of the porthole, waiting.

"Home Sweet Home, please prepare to receive an inspection team."

An hour later, a shuttle had docked with Home Sweet Home, or at least had tried to. For some reason the docking mechanisms were incompatible and shuttle was instead floating ten meters away, making the inspection team EVA to get over. The shuttle had not come from the ship that had contacted them, but from one of the ships closer to them, a small ship. And the shuttle itself was a small and dinky affair, even if it seems to do the job.

The airlock cycled open, revealing the four person team on the other side. The EVA suits the team wore were different to those Staphan was used to. Two looked like some sort of simple skin suits, while the other two were bulked up, armored suits, clearly guards. What all had in common was the same icon in the shoulder area, a rectangle with in three colors, red, blue and white. The simple suits also had name tags on them, one reading Davidson and the other Franklin.

These two opened up their helmets by simple lifting up the front, making the entire helmet fold up and collapse into a neck ring. Davidson and Franklin gave the two of them a salute.

"Permission to come aboard, sir," Davidson asked in an unfamiliar accent.

Its not like we do have much of a choice, Stephan thought to himself. Even if those ships outside were armed with peashooters, which he somehow doubted, he might lose everything.

"Permission granted," Wong said with a slight sour look on her face.

---------------

"First Lieutant Davidson, USS Thunderbolt," Davidson introduced herself to the two human in front of her and then pointed at Franklin, "Ensign Franklin. Thank you for allowing us aboard."

Both humans made a sour face and further in the back, she could see some people peeking through ports with stormy looks on their faces. She made a light gesture with her fingers, accessing the systems of her suit to turn up the gain of the suits microphones, making the ALI begin to record everything, after filtering out any noise. A readout in the lower left corner of her field of vision told her that the hull of this spacecraft let their communication through, allowing the rest of the Squadron to listen in and the data specialist to work with something.

"Captain Grabriela Wong," the woman said, Davidson noting only a few Asian features. "Welcome aboard my ship, the Home Sweet Home."

For Davidson, it was not that much of strange name, considering that her brother owned and commanded a transport named Pushing Dasies.

"Stephan Köhler," the man said. "Head of Köhler Military Services and owner of the two dropships."

Davidson was confused about that for a moment, before a popup opened on the edge of her field of view. 'Possible Mercanary company' the popup read, and she dismissed it with a light flick of her fingers.

Davidson looked around for a few moments, the camera optics of her own suit adding to those of Franklin and the two Marines of the security detachment.

"Nice to meet you, sir," she answered. "I would like to inspect your space craft."

There was something wrong with the whole situation. Half an hour ago a craft from Ceres had suddenly dropped out of Heim-Feynman space on top of the Squadron, and dumped some sort of data from a Data Analyst on Ceres. The captain of the Thunderbolt had been mystified about the dump, and Davidson even more so.

"If you would please follow me," Wong said, doing a bad job at hiding a frown. The captain of the Home Sweet Home Lead them through the spacecraft as Davidson looked around.

Almost everything she saw around her had been patched up at one time or another, grime sat in corners and in one case a technician was stuck halfway inside a wall panel, cursing up a storm as tools floated around. Some things made Davidsons stomach turn, casual disregard of security measures she saw in one case, as they passed an airlock filled with tied down boxes and unable to close the inner hatch. As a Vestan, she almost reeled back at that. There just had to be a fault in the controls and the airlock might open, especially in an obviously old spacecraft like this one. Next to her Franklin, a fellow Vestan, almost gagged.

They passed into what appeared to the control center of the spacecraft and Davidson looked around. The equipment was different from what she was used to. Consoles with switches, dials and buttons were nothing uncommon, but there was a mismatch in what she had expected.

Then her glance fell on a simple calendar on a bulkhead, showing the image of a scantily clad woman, standing in front of some sort of robot. Miss Atlas, the text on the image read. April 3024.

---------------

"Someone pick up that bloody phone," Adam almost screamed. "Because I bleedin' called it."

The rest in the room were silent, as he struck a pose, pointing towards the large display showing the video of the Inspection of the Home Sweet Home. The same was likely happening all over the solar system.

"Sir Adam," Juliand started.

"Do not 'Sir' me," Adam said with a frown, which looked more ferocious on his face than it would look on any human. "The same as with my 'godhood'. I may have the title, but I don't care for it."

Juliand sighed and shook his head.

"I find it hard to believe that these people are somehow from a late 20th century computer game... I t is just..."

"Tabletop game," Adam corrected. "It was a Tabletop strategy game."

Juliand rolled his eyes. Adam Prometheus was one of the wealthiest people on Cerees, but a little eccentric. But then again, old AIs, especially ASIs tended to be.

"How did you know this anyway," Minister for Defense Wójcik asked.

"I am a Nerd," Adam said. "I have a lot of time and an interest in old Science Fiction."

He paused for a moment, blue plumage shifting in a way accurate to the Ormiold, which his body resembled.

"And I have actually just read all the novels and the three source books. So it was in my mind."

"So what are we going to do now...?"

---------------

Okay... Now I need to come up with options... >_>

Also added some general infos on the Walker Cluster.
 
Prologe 01 - Votes
With the big reveal that other humans were out there and that they came straight out of a 20the century game, conspiracy theories began to raise up about someone in the company, FAFA, being a refugee from the Inner Sphere writing about their future, only to run into the problem that they had written accurately about a time 200 years in the future.

The nation states of Sol however needed to react. An emergency meeting of the full UN is called in to deal with the situation. A decision must be made fast, before the Home Sweet Home can jump out again and contact someone to tell them that Earth is out there, making pirates and other not nice people come knocking.

[] Cool heads prevail
In the end the United Nations Office of Extrasolar Affairs (essentially a Foreign office for the entirety of the UN to present a united face to aliens) is asked to go and negotiate a contract with Köhler Military Services.

Reward: A 'Training' Contract with Köhler Military Services, giving them the opportunity to lie low in the Outer Perphery, while allowing Earth to get more information out of them, the Home Sweet Home remains at the Nadir Jump Point of Sol for the time being

[] They cannot be allowed to get away
The paranoids within the UN prevail. SDI Squadron 5 and the recently arrived Squadron 8 are ordered to board and take over the Home Sweet Home to prevent if from jumping out. All crew member are restraint and moved to an internment facility, while the Jumpship, Dropships and Mechs are moved to facilities where they can be taken apart to be studied.

Reward: Home Sweet Home and the Drop ships are taken heavily damaged, five spacecraft of SDI Squadron 5 and four of Squadron 8 are destroyed. Several deaths in the crews of the jump and dropships, two Mechs destroyed.

[] Rogue national actors happen
The UN cannot come up with any solution at all. One of the solar powers, or at least one with a small space force tries to move in to attack and destroy the Home Sweet Home while they still have the chance. Lacing orders SDI Squadrons 5 and 8 are forced to intervene, leading to an international crisis.

Reward: Home Sweet Home is defended, but sustains damage. Köhler Military Services is suspicious about everything and might jump out as soon as they can (50% chance, roll of the dice). International crisis with the rogue actor


[] Panic!
Everyone starts to panic and run around like headless chicken for at least three months, getting nothing at all done

Reward: Nothing at all happens and the Home Sweet Home may jump out (50% chance, roll of the dice).
 
[X] Cool heads prevail

We need info as much as we can about the world out there. We have a tabletop but we can't be sure that it's accurate in 100%
 
Back
Top Bottom