Sim 2050/Diaspora

Endurance speed: 0.0525c (5.25% of c)
Aurora speed: 0.0722c (7.22% of c)

GOVERNMENT:
*Every year (10 turns)*, roll 1d10. Modify the roll by the following factors:
-Shift towards incumbent by 1.
-Incumbent had positive/negative resource growth: Move 1 towards/away from previous.
-Incumbent involved/not involved in war: Move 1 away from/towards previous.
-Decade is 0-3: Decrease by 2.
-Decade is 5-8: Increase by 2.
Record the government type and act accordingly:
1 - Capital Party: Conquer all enemies reachable
by ships in 1 year and build new warships and defenses.
2-4 - Arke Party: Build as many new colonies as are reachable by ships in 1 year. All new ships should be colony ships, population/cargo transports, or merchant marines (one of the above with one weapon component).
5 - Capital/Arke Coalition, Arke dominant.
6 - CMR/APL Coalition, CMR dominant.
7-9 - CMR Party: Maximize research point production and star exploration for 1 year, don't build warships and re-purpose existing ones for exploration.
10 - APL Party: Mothball all warships and expensive ships and maximize income and resource storage for 1 year.
*If the new Ruling Party is 5 or more away from the last one (Capital to CMR/APL, or APL to Capital/Arke), roll for rebellion. Roll 1d10 for every active ship and non-homeworld colony.
Results for each asset:
(amount of electoral shift/2) - The asset rebels and joins a rebel faction. If only one asset is rebelling, roll on this table again and only rebel if the reroll is 1.
(amount of electoral shift) - The asset strikes, canceling current orders and pausing construction queues for that turn.
Remainder up to 10 - The asset is loyal and continues its current orders.
*If a unit rebels to player control, they can conceal its rebellion and hold it to rebel with others later by passing a 4+ on 1d6+(number of other rebel units in same sector) each year of concealment.

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Timeline:

"They always called you crazy, but now you're right and they're dead. It was a colossal expenditure of resources and effort to construct torchships and point them at other stars, but that work seems to have paid off as the extrasolar colony that doubted its own need to exist for decades now sees the light of Sol fading. Some maniac blew it all up, probably with an AI, and now you're the only humans and/or human-upload analogues left. Probably.

The Party of C-MR, Praise Be His Technologic Appendages LLC. sweeps the first election as the Diaspora decides that the best way to avoid a technology-based fate is to immediately develop those same technologies as those poor computronium goo puddles back on Sol.

The Party of Arke, otherwise known as Don't Tread On My IPv64 Address, takes up the role of opposition as they lament how all of this research and exploration funding could be used to colonize more worlds so that humanity's backup has a backup."

Year 0: The Science Party (CMR) comes into power as proof of Sol's demise is plain in the night sky. The leader formally christens the planet Soca Sumid, promising it's not a crude insult.

Year 6: CMR learns that their new sun is closer to the end of its lifetime than originally thought, and could nova any time from now through the next 100,000 years. They make replicating the colony ship's relativistic engines the number one science priority, while critics accuse CMR LLC. of playing up the threat to retain seats in the '10 election.

Year 10: Elections come and go with the Science Party retaining its seats. All major science and defense funding goes towards the relativistic project.

Year 14: The relativistic engines are successfully reverse-engineered, and plans for a testbed are drawn up. In a show of magnanimity, the Science Party allows Arke to choose the testbed name: they christen it the Endurance. She will take 8 years to construct.

Year 20: Elections come and go with the Science Party yet again retaining control. While rumors of rigged elections swirl, the Endurance continues construction.

Year 22: The XKV Endurance passes spaceworthiness trials above Soca Sumid amid great media attention and proceeds to its relativistic test. The Endurance burns for Simh 190, 0.25 lightyears away.

Year 26: Upon deceleration, the Endurance discovers organic chemicals in their mass spectroscopy of the system. An accretion disc around the star turns out to be mostly organic, with low frequency radio signals broadcast from it at infrequent intervals. The Endurance records this strange state of affairs for a few extra months, and burns for home.

Year 30: Elections come and go once more, with Arke seizing a narrow majority due to their pro-colonial stance. The Endurance returns home, and its findings are quickly classified. The crew is debriefed and retained for further R-type flights. Military intelligence trades theories with the upper echelons of government in secret, most revolving around the entity at Simh 190 being deposited by or part of a Sol-borne AI. XKV Endurance sits in high Soca Sumid orbit after her successful, highly classified trials. Simh 190, the destination of her test flight, is known to be overrun with biological constructs - presumably AI-made. This is especially alarming as 190 is farther from Sol than Soca itself. There is no guarantee other nearby stars do not share the same infestation. The Admiralty draws up plans to convert the R-type hulls to warships in case of an emergency, settling on Mako-Liberty, Mako-Ripper, and Mako-Archer designs depending on the form the construct threat takes.

Year 31: The Admiralty foregoes further extrasolar exploration, repurposing three of the R-type hulls for two Mako-Archers and one Mako-Ripper. The defense of humanity will be done right.

Year 32: A larger relativistic vessel hull is discovered, dubbed the frigate after the ancient sailing vessel. The Mako-Archers are retooled for the larger hull, while the Mako-Ripper is bumped to the top of the construction contracts.

Year 33: The first military vessel built on an R-type hull is christened the FAV-1 Wailing Wind, named by the CMR Party in a repeat of the olive branch given to Arke in the naming of the Endurance years prior.

Year 35: Wailing Wind's sister ship is finished and christened the FAV-2 Harlequin, of the larger Hammerhead-type. She sports double the missile tubes of her smaller cousin.

Year 36: Research funding is cut by a third to invest in deuterium production for the growing defense fleet. CMR Party outraged, takes to the streets in mass demonstrations that last months. The strikers include in their demands a government response to their petition for offworld colonies. Some fringe groups demand an explanation for what "really" happened at Simh 190 on the sixth anniversary of the return of the Endurance.

Year 38: The Home Fleet assembles over Soca Sumid for the first time as the Bonhomme joins the Harlequin and the Wailing Wind on maneuvers for the first time. As the public continues to turn to increasingly wild conspiracy theories on the 10th anniversary of the flight of the Endurance, the Arke Party announces another test flight of the Endurance. Several months later, the Endurance flies again. A new crew is assembled, joined by Intelligence and Fleet personnel sporting a host of continuity measures should she encounter another AI outgrowth. The keel is laid for Beluga-Pioneer, a large colony ship.

Year 40: The Arke Party retains its majority in government.

Year 41: Beluga-Pioneer is completed and christened the CLV-1 Pioneer. She completes spaceworthiness trials and sets off for Simh 196-6, where the centuries-long process of safe, stable terraforming can begin - a far cry from the water ice comet impacts and runaway greenhouse gas programs instituted by the Minds of the first colony ship to get Soca Sumid habitable in a hurry.

Year 42: Simh 196-6 welcomes its first dome colonists. The group dubs themselves Arca Sumid. Mining operations begin in earnest on Arca's barren surface, while the empty equator plays host to surveyor teams for a particle accelerator. The Endurance arrives at Simh 5, a twin star of Simh 190 only 40 AU away from the infestation, and to their unending relief there is no AI presence in the virgin system. They catalog the planets in the system, dispatching probes and taking the same amount of time as was taken at Simh 190 so as not to arouse suspicion. Then, content with their discovery, they burn for home.

Year 45: Scientific operations on Arca Sumid coalesce under control of the Arca Sumid Bureau of Science, a branch of the Soca BoS that detractors claim is an apparatus of the CMR party. Nevertheless, the Arca BoS learns much about the early composition of this solar system on a planet not overwritten by the crash terraforming project.

Year 46: With Arca Sumid in growing need of trained citizens, Arke Party drafts up a retrofit of FAV-1 Wailing Wind to the Mako-Gypsy type, capable of transporting 3,000 people a year to the colony. The colony's population is only 4,000. CMR Party representatives object to what they see as an effort to drown the developing culture on Arca with Arke-friendly homeworlders. The Endurance returns home over Soca Sumid to great celebration. After a period of debriefing and analysis of the Simh 5 data, it is released to the public.

Year 47: The Wailing Wind completes its retrofit, being redesignated CTV-1. She takes an inaugural cargo of colonists and equipment to Arca Sumid. The landings are contested by organized protests, as the new arrivals rival the colony's current population and bring superior equipment.

Year 48: As the Wailing Wind returns home on the second leg of her two-year round trip, tensions are high on Arca Sumid. Colonial officials attempt to bar new arrivals from exploiting "as far as you can trawl" He3 mining rights with their superior equipment, while councils organized by the second wave settlers argue discrimination cases in Arca courts.

Year 49: CTV-1 Wailing Wind arrives at Arca Sumid with another load of colonists and equipment, making use of Arca's homegrown orbital propellant depots. After a discrimination case was appealed to high courts on Soca Sumid, the colonists are ordered to begin a new settlement on the other side of the planet.

Year 50: Elections come and go once more, with the Arke Party retaining a narrow majority after a tough series of races. Leadership announces more colonies in the home system and intent to sign a bill transitioning the current direct democracy to a republic in defense of the smaller colonial voice.

Year 51: Construction on a new Beluga-Pioneer begins above Soca Sumid, destined for a moon of Simh 196b, a Venutian planet in-system. A series of highly publicized war games conclude with proposed orbital weapons stations being decisively superior to the current Hammerhead-Archers of the Home Fleet, which causes a political uproar. The Admiralty promises further trials of the Type 5 and Type 7 station designs.

Year 53: Debate over the proposed republic bill rages over public infonets and between the parties into its second year. The CMR loyal paint it as a bid for Arke to consolidate their power ad infinitum, while Arke Party claims it is a defense of colonial rights and opportunity give the government more accountability through representatives than the current party organization, which selects staff internally upon taking power. Leadership announces intent to open defense contracts, normally undertaken by government armories, to private corporations. Two of the largest players in the civil starcraft market, Galea Heavy Industries and Regno Ubertas Starships Ltd., step forward with different takes on the existing Mako-Gypsy and Hammerhead-Archer hulls. GHI offers more mission payload at increased cost, while RUST offers hulls that are less expensive to build and maintain. Both Arke and CMR parties debate the merits of the designs and of open defense contracts themselves on public infonets.

Year 55: Evaluation of RUST and GHI hulls in closed simulations prove the GHI hulls better for open combat, while RUST hulls win on maintenance and patrol coverage. The Home Fleet Admiralty recommends phasing into GHI-hull designs in the next twenty years, while colonial officials and orbital authorities express interest in procuring RUST hulls for interdiction and orbital security. Arke and CMR parties clash on colonial militia rights. The second Beluga-Pioneer passes spaceworthiness trials, commissioned as CLV-2 Intrepid. She sets off for Simh 196b with six thousand colonists in the first wave. Widespread heavy metal contamination of drinking water on the new settlement on Arca Sumid raise doubts about Arke leadership's ability to manage and govern colonial settlements well. CMR backers claim Arke has a "homeworld mindset" and is not suited to explore space, while Arke claims the problems are merely growing pains of the species.

Year 56, Part 1: Simh 196b is settled, an airless moon. Construction begins on domes and underground sealed settlements. The colonists adopt the name Ghica Sumid for their world. True to form, surface mining operations begin almost immediately. Unlike the unfolding legal situations on Arca Sumid, Ghican colonists agreed to a colonial charter governing their conduct before leaving. Arke adherents claim the charter system minimizes freedom and secures CMR holds on colonial gains, while CMR claims it is merely colonial self-determination. The Admiralty converts the Wailing Wind to the Mako-Mule type, trading even more propellant for more colonists per year. The ship will have a very slim propellant budget for its annual trip.

Year 56, Part 2: Packed to the gills with supplies and mission specialists, the Endurance is prepared in secret for a one-year reconnaissance mission to Simh 190. She is to survey the apparent AI infestation in great detail and as close as possible, to give the Admiralty options military and technological. She leaves with no fanfare, though it is impossible to conceal her drive flare as she accelerates to a significant fraction of c. Admiralty officials claim to the general public that she is on another exploratory mission, but the lack of publicity is telling.

Year 58: The separate settlements on Arca Sumid each draft a colonial charter claiming the entire planet. Negotiations begin between the parties, but most legal observers predict the planet will end up being split into two hemispheric colonial entities.

Year 60, Part 1: The Endurance arrives at Simh 190 and prepares for one year of reconnaissance, sending back periodic coded reports to the Admiralty. Unfortunately for national security, Admiralty officials are not the only group with their ear on the Endurance mission. The accretion disc around Simh 190 is a mixture of inert and complex organic components. Remote telemetry from drones in close proximity to the larger clusters suggest complex proteins and amino acids in the organic material, but orders not to come into physical contact with the material make analysis inconclusive.

Year 60, Part 2: As the elections loom, the Arke party seeks to claim the successes of the new colony on Ghica Sumid and steps towards coexistence on Arca Sumid as high points of the administration, while seeking to avoid attention on the Endurance mission. After several months of analysis, a picture begins to form of Simh 190's purpose: overall analysis of the accretion disc's structure and radio activity correlates strongly with that of a neuronal net. The crew's conclusion after several months of close observation is that the entity at Simh 190 is either a backup of or extension to the AI that consumed Sol. CMR-sympathizers among the Admiralty and BoS ensure that both major parties know this in time for the elections.

Year 60, Part 3: Admiralty and Bureau of Science researchers agree with the crew's assessment, and believe that they have identified areas of psuedo-neuronal radio activity that closely resemble areas of the human forebrain. Detailed analysis identifies with high confidence the area responsible for spatial awareness and reaction to stimuli. Disconcertingly, a series of scans seem to show the net's perception of the Endurance's sudden presence unfold over a matter of days. Given the high degree of similarity to a human forebrain and lack of radio contact with Sol, the Admiralty/BoS group is forced to conclude that is likely a backup of the AI that consumed Sol, which itself owes at least part of its neural network to the human brain. How such a megastructure could be wounded or exploited is beyond the group to answer. CMR-sympathizers do not wait for this detailed analysis, instead spreading around initial findings with unqualified analyses of the "killer AI at our door." CMR sweeps the election, but not evenly. The citizenry turns away from Arke and to CMR as news of the cover-up breaks, lowering trust in government. Military and public servants, however, flock to Arke claiming a responsibility to public safety and unwillingness to support a new government that leaked top secret information to sway an election. CMR will enjoy the seat of government until '70, but bringing back the loyalty of the armed forces from the brink will prove a challenging task.

Year 61: The Endurance burns for home, unaware of the unrest her findings have caused. While the Admiralty grumbles silently against what they perceive as a traitorous ruling party, CMR orders new Mako-type hulls for defense, mining, and science purposes. The shipyards of Soca Sumid are buzzing once again, though the air of desperation is apparent. The much-touted construction must not fail or be defunded, or the little goodwill that CMR enjoys with the military will evaporate.

Year 62: Construction on all ships continues. Security increases at Soca Sumid shipyards after ongoing protests over science ship spending in a time of existential threat. Government media campaign on the nature of the threat and the need for high science and technology spending eventually causes all but the most hardline groups to disperse.

Year 63: As the dust settles from the Slipway Riots, plots continue to turn in the capital. One admiral, supported by two commodores, order the Capital Distinct garrison to arrest the Ruling Party on charges of treason, but garrison forces are physically barred from entering the Capitol Building by Capitol Police. Not desiring bloodshed, garrison forces surround the building and demand Party officials be handed over. While media outlets flood the city, the admiral holds a press conference laying out his reasoning for the charges. After a tense standoff attracting a colossal amount of media attention, the Capital District garrison is ordered to withdraw. The coup plotters are arrested, but not before the damage from their viewpoint dominating the airwaves for 18 hours is done. Instead of condemning the coup plotters, media outlets ask the beseiged Party officials to answer for the charges. Both Arke and CMR parties are blamed for letting tensions escalate to this point, but formal hearings find no political or monetary ties to the Arke Party.

Year 64: In the wake of the coup attempts, both Arke and CMR undermine each others' base with far-reaching and well funded smear campaigns. Unfortunately this is a turn for the worst for both parties, as the lost voters defect largely to the anti-war, pro-UBI APL Party which now polls at 20%. With a 40/40/20 split, the '70 elections may see a coalition government for the first time. Three civilian capital ships launch for the first time: CV Circumference, CV Asana, and CV Lark, all built on RUST Type-90 hulls. They will ply the asteroid belts of the system, processing rocks for desperately needed rare earth metals. Their owners project a colossal return on investment, and the ruling party breathes a sigh of relief for the incoming rare earths glut for their new ships.

Year 65: The Endurance returns home, strained to her limits from traveling a total 1.5 lightyears in forty years of travel. She will need a significant refit before flying again. Her crew has been shielded from the political fallout of their findings, and many speak out forcefully against the new ruling CMR Party's leak of their reconnaissance before it was properly interpreted. The Arke Party capitalizes on this inflaming of public opinion to paint the Endurance's crew and the coup plotters of '63 in the same light: patriots and humanists who were betrayed by a CMRist establishment. The CMR Party's own efforts to collaborate with APL on Universal Basic Income are starved of political oxygen by this turn of events.

Year 66: The Capital Monarchist Party forms, declaring democracy a failure and insisting the cure needed is a strong, hereditary leader groomed by the Minds themselves. Their platform: "Conduct empire wide genetic sweepings to select a hereditary monarchy with the best genetic structure. A stiff policy on savage AI, destroy it at all opportunities. Colonies and outposts must swear fealty to the empire and pay a small tribute per year in a form of their choice." Arke Party works to distance themselves from the monarchists as CMR paints both as two sides of the same coin, while CMR attempts to undermine APL by taking the UBI concept and publicizing it under the CMRist banner. The parties now go from far left to far right, starting with APL, then CMR, then Arke, then Capital.

Year 67: The political division of the Diaspora only grows more obvious when two civilian mining operations, those based out of the CV Circumference over the gas giant Beacon, and those based out of the CV Asana over the gas giant Redoubt, go silent within weeks of each other. Helium-3 freighters from the Asana do not return to Soca Sumid as scheduled, but instead divert silently to Arca Sumid. Their counterparts from the Circumference return to Soca Sumid, but reject all hails and dock at a private ring station instead of with the public rings. Fleet Intelligence conducts raids at locations of interest on Soca Sumid, which reveal that both ships were originally part of a plot to overthrow the Ruling Party, but split just before execution on ideological grounds. Two civilian starships, representing the majority of helium-3 mining in the system, have gone rogue.

Year 67, Part 2: The Home Fleet blockades the private Famen-Kor Ring, disabling and boarding a Helium-3 freighter that dares to run the blockade. The Siege of Famen-Kor receives massive media attention as pundits speculate on the weapons of mass destruction that could be produced by the separatists out at Beacon and Redoubt. A boarding attempt is made by marines from the Harlequin and the Bonhomme, and they are repulsed with heavy casualties. In the chaos of the retreat, a nuclear missile is fired from the Bonhomme and hits Famen-Kor in the habitat ring, destroying it. The bloody end to the siege is broadcast globally.

Year 68: Amid a series of raids and demonstrations groundside for or against the separatists, the Home Fleet burns for Redoubt and its first prey: CV Asana. "Bloody Bonhomme" and its twin Harlequin have learned their lesson from the Siege of Famen-Kor and leave the nukes in their tubes, instead playing the long game of orbital maneuvers. Slowly but surely the Asana's propellant reserves are run down, and her captain loses his nerve. Against what is almost certainly an onboard mutiny, he finally orders a stable orbit and marines from the Bonhomme rapidly secure their prize. No deaths are reported. The Asana is brought home with the Home Fleet for maintenance, and to turn in the insurgent crew. Initial interrogations reveal the captain and crew joined the plot in the hopes that they could be paid a ransom to resume their work, which they felt was too dangerous and lonely. When the time came to execute the plot, the captain became worried about the fanaticism of his counterpart aboard the Circumference and sent his freighters to Arca Sumid instead of Famen-Kor, in the hopes they would be safe and could sell their helium-3 after negotiations. Now only one rebellious vessel plies the skies, one far more dangerous.

Year 69: The Asana is left in the hands of a marine contingent to return to Soca Sumid while the Home Fleet burns for the Circumference's last known position. The Ruling Party orders better psych screening and work safety protections for civilian caelonauts while quietly prosecuting them as accessories to conspiracy rather than perpetrators. Meanwhile over Beacon, the Circumference's drive plume suggests it is moving to intercept CV Lark in the distant asteroid belt, the third civilian mining vessel. The Home Fleet adjusts their trajectory, but they will no longer intercept the Circumference before the election. Arke agitation of security fears plays well to a public terrified of a rogue nuclear starship in the skies above them, and reports that the Circumference's captain is a radical APList shift public opinion to the right ahead of the election.

Year 70, Part 1: After a chase to the outer solar system, the Home Fleet intercepts CV Circumference and her radical captain. After taking two nuclear missile hits to her drive assembly, the savaged ship is boarded by marines from the Bonhomme and secured. Over half of the civilian crew die in the fighting. The civilian craft proves to be so damaged that she can only manage extremely low-gee acceleration and will take five years to return to Soca Sumid. The marines take the survivors to makeshift cells aboard the Bonhomme and Harlequin, set the Circumference to burn for home, and begin their own much faster return trip. She will be boarded again and decelerated in '75. The timing of the raid comes only two days before polls open, and the Ruling Party insinuates that Arke Party and Arke-aligned interests funded the APList terrorism to justify their own security spending. They introduce a referendum with the elections on public disclosure of all political spending, which promptly passes. The Ruling Party orders an investigation opened into the funding sources of the Circumference. The general election occurs simultaneously, and recent acts of terrorism and a general distrust of government cause a joint Capital-Arke coalition to rise to power, with CMR eating up almost all of APL's support after the captain was exposed as a radical APList.

Year 70, Part 2: The general public is rocked by this shift in government, and within a week the vessels CV Lark and FAV-1 Wailing Wind convene their crews and vote to reject orders from the Capital-Arke coalition, acting only on orders from the former CMR Ruling Party. As Capital-Arke leadership attempts to calm down all involved, the colonial leadership of Arca Sumid declares that it too will only support CMR leadership. Both mutinous vessels burn for Arca Sumid to resupply. CMR leadership puts out a statement expecting all rebellious assets to comply with the current government. After much reassuring and negotiating between CMR, Capital-Arke, and colonial interests, all comply except Wailing Wind. After being denied resupply at Arca Sumid, however, she too assents and is returned to the fold. A civil war is, for now, averted.

Year 71: As tensions being to cool from the elections, Capital-Arke attempt to paint their coalition in a more economy-friendly light by doubling permits for civilian mining ships and introducing the boarder/carrier Hoplite-type to phase out the intimidating, nuclear-armed Hammerhead-type. Simulations indicate that the variety of missiles and fighters available to the Hoplites will provide far greater ability to mission-kill and disable noncompliant ships rather than kill them. The CV Unbroken Wind is the first to launch under the new government, heading for the icy outer solar system.

Year 72: Two more civilian mining vessels enter service: CV Unity, purposefully named and assigned to the Circumference's operational envelope above Beacon, and CV Starseeker, deployed to an outer gas giant. CV Lark returns home for maintenance and upgrades after setting an operational endurance record of eight years. Meanwhile, the colonial government of Arca Sumid requests and receives blueprints for the H-2 Velite orbital superiority fighter, beginning construction on a wing of 20 as the first members of the Arca Sumid Colonial Militia.

Year 73: Government receipts indicate record surplus. Strategic reserves of all starship materiel, including deuterium, reaches full storage. The Ruling Party pays out early on citizen-held government bonds, to much rejoicing. Seizing the opportunity, the government announces another interstellar expedition by the Endurance, this time to Simh 5 which was free of AI infestation upon last investigation thirty years ago. XKV-1 Endurance is once against stripped bare and retrofitted to survive the perilous journey on a spaceframe five decades old.

Year 74: The Harlequin and Bonhomme undergo refits to allow their launch tubes to carry the new standardized missiles, bringing their capabilities more in line with the less-lethal standards demanded by the electorate. FAV-1 Wailing Wind, having served her purpose as colonial transport to Arca and Ghica Sumid, is purchased by Arca Sumid and undergoes refit to receive Hoplite-type equipment. Arca Sumid officials rechristen her the ASCV-1 Wailing Wind, the first capital ship of the militia. The Endurance launches once more, burning brightly for Simh 5.

Year 75: The low point in the electoral and news cycles is broken by news that CV Starseeker is not sending its routine check-ins. With the Hoplite-type prototype still in drydock, the Home Fleet is brought to deployment readiness. After several days of panic at the Capitol, CV Unbroken Wind in an adjacent orbit reports that Starseeker's high-gain antenna was damaged by a micrometeorite collision and it cannot transmit back to Soca Sumid. The loyalty and integrity of the crew is verified as shipments home continue as normal. The Ruling Coalition breathes a collective sigh of relief and replacement parts are sent back up with the returning freighters.

Year 76: The first Hoplite-type ship completes spaceworthiness trials and is commissioned as FCV-1 Trireme. She will be outfitted with a wing of H-2R Triarii space superiority fighters and a complement of AO-4 "Buzzsaw" kinetic impactor missiles.

Year 77: ASCV Wailing Wind completes her refit and is sent on to Arca Sumid with great fanfare. On Arca Sumid, domestic production begins on AO-2 Lancer kinetic impactor missiles to join the Militia's H-2 Velite combat wing. Anti-AI research continues at hectic pace as it starts to produce useful spin-off projects. One metamaterials program in particular seems suitable for colonization: some research articles prove useful for aerostat habitats above Venutian planets, while others make it feasible to radiation-shield habitats in low orbit of gas giants. The Ruling Party orders the deployment of a test article to Simh 196b. Its construction will take three years.

Year 78: FCV-1 Trireme is deployed to high orbit of Redoubt in anticipation of the arrival of a second mining ship in the region. The Endurance arrives at Simh 5 and confirms no AI presence in the system, as well as conducting more thorough scans of the system's six rocky worlds. The crew optimistically mark possible colonial landing sites, hoping that they will soon be able to field interstellar ships far more impressive than the Endurance.

Year 79: The Trireme reaches Redoubt to begin her deployment. She joins CV Asana, conducting mining operations in the area, and is soon followed by CV Lark which decelerates into the nearby planetary system of the gas giant Simh 196g. Despite their successes, the Arke Party declines to campaign jointly with Capital Monarchist Party as the system gears up for the '80 elections. The Endurance departs for home.

Year 80: Arke Party handily wins elections, playing to their record of stability, responsible defense spending, and massive growth of the interplanetary economy. The Capital Monarchist Party is dropped from the coalition, an act which causes no small amount of resentment from the growing group.

Year 81: The aerostat test article is produced, mounted to a single-use ship christened CTV-3 Vulcan. It burns for Simh 196b, the parent planet of the moon Ghica Sumid, and deploys its aerostat successfully. A government-sponsored test group maintains the first aerostat as a fledgling colony suspended above a Venutian hellscape. It is dubbed Horca Sumid. Arca Sumid announces plans to develop native shipbuilding capability and its own orbital ring stations.

Year 82: Amid protests, the Home Fleet takes delivery of the latest generation of AO-5N Typhoon nuclear missiles. They remain far more powerful than any missile in the arsenals of the Hoplites. The Circumference is repaired and deployed to her previous position in the asteroid belt, under new owners, a new captain, and a new crew.

Year 83: The Endurance returns home to great fanfare. Colonization of Simh 5 remains an unreachable goal for now, but the crew who have seen the planets firsthand hope they will live to see settlers on them. The spaceframe of the Endurance, however, may not. Repeated trips totaling over three lightyears was a burden far beyond what the prototype was meant to bear. Home Fleet and BoS engineers identify stress fractures in the keel and ablation microcavities in the fusion drive, both of which make her unflyable. It may be time for Endurance to hang up her hat and donate her usable parts to a new R-type spaceframe.

Year 84: A series of crash programs result in more capable whipple armor for spacecraft and the first maneuvering system allowing for combat jinking to avoid enemy fire. The system allows for a limited number of maneuvers, both due to propellant and stresses put on the spaceframe.

Year 85: The first shipyard orbital ring is christened above Soca Sumid, doubling the planet's shipbuilding capability. It is christened Prosperity Ring. Dividends from research spending continue to pay off with medical advancements and more efficient solar collectors.

Year 86: Arca Sumid completes its stated goal of native shipbuilding capability after five years with the opening of an assembly and launch facility on the surface. More military research projects come to fruition: a line of specialized sensors ruggedized for combat operations, propellant drop tanks, and working magneto inertial fusion ship drives. The fusion drives are of special interest to Home Fleet strategists, who quickly work up retrofit timetables for the Trireme.

Year 87: Research yields prototype charged and neutral particle beam weapons, as well as more effective railguns. Emboldened, the Ruling Party releases their plans for a successor to Endurance. She will require the shipbreaking of the Endurance to reuse her relativistic engine, and the shipbreaking of the Bonhomme to reuse parts of her R-Type hull that have fallen out of production. Party officials play up the reuse of the Endurance and the redemption of the Bonhomme as strong symbolic plays, but CMR officials note wryly that the design's launch tubes could accommodate up to fifteen AO-5N Typhoon nuclear missiles instead of probes.

Year 88: Construction on the XKV-2 Aurora, a next-generation R-Type, begins above Soca Sumid. Shipbreaking begins on the Endurance and the Bonhomme for their valuable R-Type hulls and other specialized equipment. She will take twenty-two years to complete. Fortitude Ring, another shipyard orbital ring, is christened in the same orbit and immediately put to work constructing two more aerostat colonies for transport to other gas planets in the system.

Year 89: The colony of Arca Sumid is embroiled in scandal as it is revealed that ASCV-1 Wailing Wind has left the colony in a growing deficit. Colonial leaders quickly draw up a plan for a far cheaper RUST hull to replace the Wailing Wind, christened ASCV-2 Paladin.

Year 90: In a massive surprise victory, APL secures a majority in the '90 elections and declares their intent to immediately implement UBI, stop the construction of Aurora, recall all military vessels for decommissioning, and bring the budgetary surplus back from its precipitous fall under its height in '73. The result is an instant split: the colonies of Ghica Sumid, Arca Sumid, and the vessels CV Asana, CV Circumference, FAV-2 Harlequin, and the Fortitude Ring all refuse to acknowledge the results of the election and demand an investigation be opened into election fraud. The Ruling Party refuses. The APL government can count on few allies: other than Soca Sumid which carried the election for APL, CV Unbroken Wind and FCV-1 Trireme are the only vessels who submit to the new government. All other ships and colonies are rocked by massive strikes, stopping work on them for the remainder of the year. Arke and CMR parties, who had been polling neck and neck, are equally shocked by the result and must decide whether to take control of the growing anti-APL confederation.

Year 91: Battle lines are drawn as Arke assumes control of the anti-APL coalition, CMR makes deals to join with APL, and both move independently of the results of the frozen election fraud investigations. Arke retains control over Soca Sumid battlespace by virtue of the Harlequin and Fortitude Ring, raiding orbital stocks to bring her up to a complement of 21 AO-5N Typhoon nuclear missiles. That same raid also procured a stock of AO-4 Buzzsaw missiles which is transferred to CV Asana along with a skeleton crew from the Harlequin, the Asana having just arrived in port for resupply. She is rechristened FAV-3 Asana. On the CMR-APL side, the Trireme moves to Simh 196g to persuade it to resume mining operations. CMR leadership masterminds a plan to deploy troops from the Wailing Wind to Ghica Sumid to bring it under their control, but the rebellious colonial leadership of Arca Sumid refuses to allow them to resupply. The Harlequin stays in orbit for time being to arm CV Circumference, who has made an emergency burn for Soca Sumid at the news. Both sides are placed in the unenviable position of having orbital control over the other's largest planet.

Year 92: All eyes are on ASCV-2 Paladin, undergoing shakedown trials above Arca Sumid and refusing to submit to the CMR-APL government. Built to replace the far more costly Wailing Wind, she must now face off against her predecessor without munitions or fighters aboard. ASCV-1 Wailing Wind orders the Paladin to surrender, to which they apparently comply. The Wind burns to rendezvous with Paladin, but upon entering extreme close range Paladin burns to intercept - a suicide run. Wailing Wind launches fighters and missiles as fast as its single hangar allows. Scrambling, a flight of four H-2 Velites pound away at Paladin with their light gas guns, collapsing her launch tube. Five AO-2 Lancer kinetic missiles, allowed only mere seconds of boost phase, impact Paladin almost harmlessly. Paladin impacts Wailing Wind with all the momentum her short run has brought her, but fails to hit dead-on. She tears through Wailing Wind's hangar bay and launch tube, shattering herself in the process. All of the Paladin's crew, and the deck crew of the Wailing Wind, are presumed dead instantly. The Arke coalition will mourn the loss of the Paladin, but can take heart in the fact that without the ability to launch her missiles or fighters the Wailing Wind is toothless. Over Soca Sumid, the Harlequin allows the CMR-APL aligned CV Unity, critically low on supplies, to enter Soca battlespace. She is to remain docked at Prosperity Ring unmanned until otherwise ordered by Commanding Officer, FAV-2 Harlequin. FCV-1 Trireme, under CMR-APL control, burns for Soca Sumid in attempt to dislodge Harlequin.

Year 93: Despite her crew's best efforts, the Wailing Wind's hangar remains a shredded mess from her collision with Paladin. The pilots deployed during the battle are forced to maneuver close and bail out to board the Wind, leaving their Velite fighters adrift. She will need a friendly port for full repairs - and supplies as well, for she blockades her home port of Arca Sumid. On the planet, the effects of the mutual blockade begin to make themselves known as Arca Colonial Militia facilities find themselves lacking key knowledge and components from Soca Sumid needed to sustain their munitions industry. They are forced instead to build cruder satellites, ground-guided rocket platforms, to keep enemy ships away. Three so-called Type 21s are deployed. Over Soca Sumid, the Trireme closes to missile range with the Harlequin. Soca's own defense force finally launches, bringing ten H2-M Hastati fighter/bombers to orbit on crude chemical rockets. H-2R Triarii fighters begin clearing the Trireme's deck while AO-4 Buzzsaw missiles launch from her tubes. Harlequin is not defenseless, though, launching her nuclear Typhoons mixed with decoy Buzzsaws six times as fast as Trireme. The CO of the Harlequin, Sauki Bayund, orders the Asana to begin launching her Buzzsaws as well, adding to the cacophony. The CO of the Trireme deploys his Triarii defensively, shooting down nuclear missiles, but it is not enough. Some Typhoons get through, and thoroughly shred FCV-1 Trireme. She is lost with all hands. Her missiles are still active and wild, though, and claim several crippling hits on the Harlequin. Soca's Hastati pull back as some of the heatseeking Typhoons go wild and target Prosperity Ring and CV Unity docked there, but it is too late. Both the ring and the ship are lost with all hands. With Trireme destroyed and unsure how many nuclear missiles the Harlequin yet possesses, local Soca commanders order their fighter force to stand down. In the aftermath, CV Circumference finally arrives in Soca Sumid battlespace and is given an unknown amount of Asana's complement of Buzzsaws. Harlequin is clearly heavily damaged, but with the enemy's munitions unknown the CMR-APL forces hesitate to engage again.

Year 94: The long-awaited electoral commission is restarted by the Ruling Party in the wake of this carnage and finds no evidence of systemic vote tampering in the '90 elections, though it strongly condemns the APL majority for suppressing the commission's investigation for nearly three years while a civil war resulted. Investigations suggest that APL leadership was afraid that militant wings of their own party, like those responsible for Famen-Kor and the Circumference, had rigged the election for them. Major polling firms find they failed to account for a groundbreaking APL success in grassroots campaigning and strategic voting. Arke and CMR Parties agree to relinquish all authority to the Ruling Party and let APL carry out its term, though both hope to secure a firm majority in '00 around their platforms to reform the government and military. Hoping to appeal to a broader base, APL rescinds its order to decommission all military ships and resumes the construction of Aurora, the Endurance's successor. In particular, APL leadership negotiates the repair of the Wailing Wind by an uncooperative Arca Sumid, and the repair of the Harlequin by a very uncooperative Soca Sumid. Soca is rocked by protests demanding courts martial for the destruction of Prosperity Ring and CV Unity, but APL in their fear of the military does not prosecute. These shows of good will are sufficient leverage for APL leadership to order the deputized Asana and Circumference back to mining operations. The remainder of the civilian fleet - the Lark, the Starseeker, and the Unbroken Wind - begin their return to Soca Sumid after having spent far too long out of port due to the war.

Year 96: As the weary fleets of the Diaspora coalesce back to Soca Sumid, the Wailing Wind completes her repairs to take an uneasy watch over Arca Sumid once more. The Soca Sumid shipbuilding industry submits a proposal to the government to modernize planetary facilities, a five-year project that will bring shipbuilding capability to 150% of previous.

Year 99: As the election approaches, APL scientists release new research towards practical terraforming in the hopes of sustaining their party's rule. Polls are less optimistic, as the war and a generational shift towards conservatism are not in APL's favor. The Lark, the Starseeker, and the Unbroken Wind are all overhauled by RUST shipyards over Soca Sumid, giving them fusion engines and more cargo space.

Year 100: A closely watched election comes to a close with APL taking a beating in the polls for allowing the civil war to happen, as well as more conservative attitudes coming to the forefront. Arke Party wins control easily, which prompts agitation from the entire left side of the political spectrum. Strikes against the 'warmonger party' rock every planet in the Diaspora. The commander of the Wailing Wind is caught contacting CMR officials about starting a resistance, and is sacked and court martialed. The Lark and the Starseeker strike with their compatriots on the ground, but the gesture is mostly symbolic as both are laid up for refit. The rest of the Diaspora watches and waits for Arke to propose their much-touted military reforms for adoption.

Names translated to Kauda:
FAV-1 Harlequin -> SWR-1 (Sov Wa Ropin) Owevosh (Hidden Dancer)
ASCV-1 Wailing Wind -> ASTR-1 (Arca Sumid Tabawa Ropin) Pi Vone (Crying Wind)
Cpt. Samuel Taharan, CO Harlequin -> Py. Sauki Bayund