Faction Knowledge, Preservation, Order: The Academy

​

Full Faction Name:
The Ishtar Academy

Faction Aliases:
The Academy
IAS: Ishtar Academy Ship. Standard ship designation.
Motto: “Knowledge to safeguard humanity's future.”

Historical Notes:
Total population of Academy-controlled territory is around 1.5 billion, spread over Saturn's moons and numerous stations around said moons, and stations in Saturn's atmosphere itself.

The official languages of the Academy are English, French, German, Farsi, Russian, Mandarin Chinese and Japanese, though all legal documents are translated into most common languages, and some less common ones, because in many ways, the Academy is a country of nerds of various stripes. Academy territories may have a different list, due to different countries and/or corporations having first settled there. English, German, Japanese and Mandarin are obligatory by constitutional law, however.

The Academy uses fusion generators, principally because Saturn is a great source of Hydrogen-3.

The Academy rules its territory as a federation, only directly governing Titan, leaving the rest to local governments, who are obligated to pay taxes and implement certain terms in their constitution, but are otherwise basically autonomous. All foreign policy is dictated by the Academy itself.

The Academy refuses to man any ship designed for combat smaller than a corvette. (i.e. strike craft) In other words, they are all drones, with their own limited on-board AI should ECM or natural phenomena render the link to the mothership unusable.

The Academy has been around for a long time. Pre-FTL travel. Shortly after Orihara's FTL drive development, Academy researchers produced their own drive, similar to, but distinct from, the OG-1. They have been slowly refining it since. For the past hundred years, they have mostly kept to themselves, occasionally sending out exploratory fleets. With the incident at Styx, the Academy has started becoming more active, seeking to fulfill their mission, as first contact with aliens went about as bad as expected. The Academy tends to be a pacifistic organization, but understands that combat is an unfortunate but common occurrence. To quote John F. Kennedy, "It is an unfortunate fact that we can secure peace only by preparing for war." Thus, all Academy personnel and citizens of federal territory are required to serve 5 years in the military before or after college-level education. Many Academy personnel can be counted as 'transhuman' and gene-fixing is common. Babies are mostly born in vitro, and most women are not fertile, by choice. This gene-fixing eliminates many genetic disorders, such as autism and haemophilia. Many people get genetic treatments to improve themselves in some way, whether to get ahead at work or make life on a mostly-barren rock more tolerable. Anti-cell-degradation treatments are also available, making the maximum lifespan... unknown. The anti-aging treatments have proven effective, and many venerable Academy personnel are pushing 150.

The Academy has petitioned the CPC for permission to turn the Tannhäuser catapult into a museum of space travel, but have heard no word. They also have active and ongoing research into discovering who exactly first built it, but are making little-to-no headway.

Very few Academy ships, and consequently their crew, have seen any combat beyond chasing a few pirates off of cargo haulers or live-fire training exercises, and as such, react about as well under fire as could be expected from recruits with little-to-no combat experience.

Artificial Intelligences are common, and those of human-level consciousness are afforded the same rights as humans in all Academy territory. The first letter of the AI's name indicates general level of complexity, with A being the highest and Z the lowest. After about R, the AIs stop being complex enough to mimic a human, and usually given a series of numbers following the letter. (Z-777, for example.)

The Academy has three A-class AIs, Archon, the current President, Archive, the AI which maintains and oversees the Titanian Archive, and Alexandra, the self-styled military genius, and youngest, of the three. There are rumors of a fourth, but the Academy government has repeatedly denied them.

The Academy has a policy of slowly upgrading their ships, only making major retrofits occasionally.

Controlled Territory:
Parts of Saturn, Rhea, Titan, Tethys, Janus.

Owned Installations:
Major: Arcturus Station
Cronus Shipyards (operated by DTI (more on that shortly))
Janus Shipyards (operated by DTI)
Janus Station
Minor: Numerous stations around the Cronian system

Available Assets:
Note: The ships named (except for the Prometheus) do not represent the total number of ships available in that class, just a few examples I decided to name. You might notice a lot of "in-service as of 2183." That's not coincidental.
Prometheus-Class Dreadnought:

IAS Prometheus (In service as of 2134, major retrofits c. 2172)​

Luminary-Class Cruisers:

IAS Distant Light (Type A) (In service as of 2072, undergone major retrofits c. 2109, 2154)
IAS Pillar of Dawn (Type B) (In service as of 2132)
IAS Light of the Spire (Type A) (In service as of 2130)
IAS Turning Towards Hope (Type C) (In service as of 2162)​

Ignis-Class Heavy cruisers:

IAS Ignis (Type A) (In service as of 2100 Major retrofit c. 2180)
IAS Vulcan (Type B) (In service as of 2166)
IAS Haephestos (Type A) (In service as of 2183)
IAS Fire and Iron (Type A) (In service as of 2183)​

Stellar-Class Battlecruisers:

IAS Sidereal Requiem (In service as of 2160)
IAS Zenith Remnant (In service as of 2171)
IAS Nebula Ascendant (In service as of 2180)​

Luna-class Destroyers:

IAS Luna (In service as of 2102 Major retrofit c. 2159)
IAS Selene (In service as of 2154)
IAS Maenon (In service as of 2178)
IAS Theia (In service as of 2125)
IAS Tsukiyomi (In service as of 2183)
IAS Artemis (In service as of 2183)​

Zephyr-class Frigates:

IAS Zephyr (In service as of 2071 Major retrofit underway)
IAS Lightning (In service as of 2168)
IAS Hurricane (In service as of 2165)
IAS Tempest (In service as of 2122)
IAS Typhoon (In service as of 2134)
IAS Susanowo (In service as of 2162)
IAS Zeus (In service as of 2183)
IAS Tlaloc (In service as of 2183)​

Hermes-class Corvette:

IAS Hermes (In service as of 2134, major retrofit c. 2162)
IAS Mercury (In service as of 2160)​

Helios-class diplomatic envoy:
IAS Helios (In service as of 2170)
Strike craft:

Set-class Interceptor(drone)
Ma'at-class Fighter-bomber(drone)
Apophis-class Bomber(drone)
Horus-class Shuttle
Thoth-class Gunship (Rarely encountered outside of the Cronian system, so not detailed)(drone)
Khepri-class Patrol Boat (Rarely encountered outside of the Cronian system, so not detailed)(drone)​

Civilian/non-exploration ships(cargo haulers, refuellers, etc.): Lots.

Oppenheimer-class Cargo Hauler
Archimedes-class Fuel Tanker
-Anubis-class Fuel Skimmer
Da Vinci-class Factory Ship
Einstein-class Laboratory Ship
​

Ships are generally organized into exploratory fleets, which usually consist of some Zephyrs, some civilian ships, a cruiser or two, etc. Ships not in an exploratory fleet are held in reserve, or form part of the Saturnian fleet. All ships in an exploratory fleet, whether or not their class is normally, are equipped with a Jump-2 drive (If their drive is not already better).(see below)

Academy ships are produced by Dragon Technologies, Inc™, in either Cronus or Janus shipyards

The other branches of military:

Starship-based soldiers called “Espatiers”,(Pronounced ess-pa-cee-yeas) from the French word for space (Espace)(Interestingly enough, most military terms come from French, either directly or from Latin through French) All espatiers are highly trained, career soldiers. Most are also trained to be of assistance in ship-to-ship combat, with damage control, manning weaponry, hull repairs, etc.

Standard army-equivalent called rangers. The Academy does not maintain a standing army.

Standard espatier kit consists of:
AHI-773 Powered Hazardous Operations Suit. Basically light power armour plus space suit. The suit is colored the standard white and teal, the Academy logo on the left shoulder, colored bands indicating rank on the right. Soldier last names and first initial are engraved along the armour of the upper-left chest. The suit has rangefinding, IR, built-in HUD that soldiers can customize, amongst other fancy gadgets. The suits are DNA-locked to their owners, and linked to their weapons, which provides a host of info. Newer models of the AHI-773 (designated AHI-773-D) are Direct Neural Interface (DNI) capable, allowing faster response from the actuators, as they can read the electrical impulses and move in tandem with the muscles, as opposed to copying them, which produces a time-lag. The suit, and those trained in its use, are capable of functioning in gravity environments from microgravity (i.e. free-fall) to planets with 2gs of gravity, and in pressures from a vacuum to the sea floor. A suit stands slightly over 2 meters tall, and masses about 230 kg (NASA space suits mass about 130, for comparison), including the exoskeleton, batteries, and life-support system. Without any of those, the mass drops to about 40. Batteries last ~24 hours of combat use each, and the suit carries three.


V-34 'Valkyrie' Magnetic Accelerator. Coilgun, functions basically like a DMR (Designated Marksman's Rifle. Cross between a sniper and an assault rifle) Fires tungsten spikes in an iron sabot. Has a variable power setting to toggle how many of the electromagnets are used. Ranges from 0.5-5, with 1 being minimum lethal velocity for a standard shard-bullet at 5 meters(in atmosphere). Low power settings are often used with rubber bullets in a sabot for non-lethal takedowns. At power 5, all the electromagnets turn on, and it becomes dangerous to use in a ship, for fear of puncturing the wall and damaging the ship. Unless, of course, that's the goal... Generally set on 3, powerful enough to puncture a suit at decent range, not powerful enough to do more then stick the spike into the wall. Non-standard ammunition includes shaped HE charges, rubber bullets for non-lethal suppression, flechette rounds, tracer rounds, and AP rounds.

The coilguns draw power from the batteries in the

Tungsten carbide-edged steel combat knife. Due to the steel, espatiers have found that they can shove their knives into the V-34 and launch it as a projectile. This is not recommended, as soldiers who damage their gun or knife doing so are required to fix it themselves, or have the cost of the gun/knife deducted from their pay.

All soldiers carry patches to repair any suit punctures.

Non-standard weaponry includes:
V-32 'Ascension' Magnetic Accelerator: Assault rifle. The gun itself actually has three barrels, which fire in short bursts. Each barrel has its own magazine, making it have a longer period between reloads, while it takes longer to reload.
V-35 'Lance' Magnetic Accelerator: Sniper Rifle
V-36 'Shredder' Magnetic Accelerator: Shotgun
V-77 'Vindicator' Magnetic Accelerator: Anti-materiel rifle. Designed for use against tanks, turrets, and (hypothetical) aggressive alien fauna. Or flora, for that matter. Works just as well against a... fleshier target, though. Also used against exposed subsystems on starships.
R-37 'Talon' General Purpose Machine Gun(GPMG): chemical-propelled rounds (i.e. what we use now)
R-22 'Viper' Light Machine Gun(LMG): chemical propelled rounds
G-07 'Ophidian' gyrojet rifle: Similar tactical function to the standard V-34, but utilizes bullet-sized missiles instead of electromagnetically accelerated slugs, to reduce, or eliminate, movement from recoil. Often used with shock rounds and low levels of thrust for nonlethal kills. The gyrojet missiles are capable of limited tracking of targets, but it doesn't work well in close quarters, such as that of a ship or station.
G-08 'Viper' gyrojet: Similar to the G-07, but as a sniper rifle. Slightly more effective tracking.
CSX-002 experimental pulsed laser carbine: Experimental laser "rifle" currently in field testing.
CSX-003 experimental laser pistol: experimental laser pistol
Laser weaponry is of the "blaster" variety, per Atomic Rockets definition. I.e. rapid pulses of energy over a short period of time. (Read: a couple tenths of a second)

Most Academy weaponry is made by Kronos Arms & Munitions™, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Dragon Technologies.
Academy power armor and space suits are made by Ashford Heavy Industries.

Nonstandard kit:

AHI-920 Heavy Powered Armor. Like the 773, but more of it. Consequently, has an actually power plant, versus the 773's batteries.
Medkit: Self explanatory.
Drone interface rig: allows control of drones through the DNI of the newer models of power armor,

The rangers use the same weapons, but have non-powered armour, as it is significantly cheaper to manufacture, and doesn't require intensive training. Their armour is often not equipped with a life-support system, but is NBC (nuclear, biological, chemical) sealed. They employ a variety of armoured vehicles, wheeled, treaded, or legged. Their armoured vehicles will be elaborated on, should it come up.


Sub-Faction Divisions:
-none-

Dramatis Personae:(Named Characters)
Clarissa Victoria Sauveterre-Miyazaki, (F, age 44) current Chancellor of the Academy

Archon: Intelligent AI, with its main computer core on Arcturus Station. President. (More on that later)

Archive: the AI responsible for maintaining and answering queries to the Titanian Archive.

Dr. Rayelle Zaitani: (F) Captain of the cruiser Distant Light. Astrophysicist.

Cyrus Sadeghi, (M, age 72) Admiral of the Academy Fleet. Charismatic leader, well-liked by most of the Academy's military branch. Popular with the civilians, especially those who live on Titan or Arcturus Station. He makes a point of being humble, and lives in a small apartment in the main residential area of Brighton.

Dr. Sadie Carver, (F, age 55) Captain of the Light of the Spire. Degrees in Molecular Biology and Cybernetics. Dr. Carver was a leader in her field before she was given command of the Light of the Spire. Dr. Carver was brought down by a rival in her field, who decided that he had had enough of her, and wanted her away from him. He had some political pull, though, and managed to get her reassigned to an exploratory ship, though not exactly in the way he had intended. Carver rose through the ranks of the fleet, and proved a capable leader. She was given command of the Light when the previous captain retired from service

John Carter, (M, age 49) captain of the Fire and Iron. A career soldier, Captain Carter is not a particularly remarkable man, save for one thing: he is a brilliant strategic coordinator. Admiral Sadeghi realized his value, and offered him a job on the Prometheus. Dr. Carter respectfully declined, and said he would “Rather command a ship of the line then sit all day in a board room.” Sadeghi was... not overly pleased, and gave him his command, but has been known to hold long grudges.

Sybil van der Weyrh, (F, age 46, apparent age 20s) Captain of the Sidereal Requiem. She started her career on the Sidereal Requiem, before taking a command on the Theia. One of the most decorated officers in the Academy, Captain van der Weyrh's most famous engagement was that of Janus station, where a group of secessionists attempted a coup, and succeeded. Captain van der Weyrh, then in command of the IAS Theia, managed to take back the station with minimal damage. After that engagement, she was offered a chance to return to the Sidereal Requiem, after the previous captain had retired.

Anastasia DeVrijn, (F, age 45, apparent age early 30s) Lieutenant. She heads the espatier unit aboard the Nebula Ascendant, and is a good friend to Captain van der Weyrh, having served under her on the IAS Theia. Rumours are abound about a less-than-platonic relationship between her and van der Weyrh, but are completely unfounded. Probably.

Grigori Kanova, (M, age 60), Captain of the Nebula Ascendant, former leader of the Dark Sun mercenary corps, he was ousted in a mutiny by some of the younger members, who wanted to lead the corps away from its mostly-honourable stance and take more lucrative, but criminal, jobs. A native Titanian and old friend of Sadeghi, he was offered sanctuary and a job in the fleet in the Academy. He quickly got himself assigned to the newly constructed Nebula Ascendant, and managed to get a majority of senior positions filled by people with combat experience. [DECEASED]

Lilith Vallen, (F, age 39) Head of the Academy's diplomatic corps. Ms. Vallen is the youngest person to hold that position, only recently having received the promotion. She is still settling in to her role, and is often unsure of herself, and her decisions. She hides this insecurity well, however, and projects an air of confidence.

Garret Harding, (M, age 67, apparent age mid 40s.) Most senior of the Academy's diplomats, usually assigned to the Academy embassy on Terra as ambassador, but has been recalled to help participate in the peace talks. A tad sore that Vallen got the position of head of the diplomatic corps instead of him, but also relieved that he doesn't have to do even more paperwork. If some of the more extreme rumors are to be believed, he is also the Academy's spymaster.

Evanlyn Hawke, (F, age 36) Ms. Vallen's assistant, and on-again off-again lover. Hawke met Vallen when they started in the diplomatic corps, and the two have been good friends since. Most people are not entirely sure why she sticks around as Vallen's assistant, because her job could be easily filled by an autonomous agent. (S-Z class AI, see above)

"Argent," (F, age 130, counting cryosleep or 28, not counting cryosleep.) Real name: Cassandra Avison. Originally of the Rhean Hierarchy (more on that in the third post), Argent was the daughter of one of the original Hierarchy colonists, her mother sent to Rhea when it was a US penal colony, for a crime she didn't commit (according to Argent, at least, and all records have since been lost). She fought in the Rhean uprising to establish the Hierarchy. Due to an oversight by the government, Argent was declared dead, but had actually been put into cryosleep, being awoken 100 years later. She returned to Rhea, and was lauded as a war hero. She got bored on Rhea, joining the Academy military. She worked up though the ranks to sergeant major, and was assigned to the Nebula Ascendant when it left the spacedock.

Hayley Kane, (F, age 38) Pilot of the Nebula Ascendant. Many cybernetic and genetic modifications, though few of them are visible. Notably, her right arm below the elbow and right leg are visibly cybernetic. She falls into the "uncanny valley" between that which is very close and that which isn't close to human-looking (Wikipedia's better explanation). She tends to encounter prejudice wherever she goes, and rarely leaves the ship for that reason.

Rin Satō, (F, age 44, apparent age early 20s) XO of the Nebula Ascendant. A native of Titan and citizen-shareholder of DTI, Rin comes from a surprisingly traditionalist Japanese family. Rin's family is famed for having many preeminent roboticists, and Rin was expected to follow suit. After receiving a PhD in robotics from Brighton University in 2160, at the surprisingly young age of 20, she did her 5 years of mandatory military service, and decided to stay on, rising through the ranks through level-headed competence and sheer stubbornness. She is not a particularly charismatic individual, but she is well liked by the crew of the Nebula. Rin has had numerous genetic and cybernetic enhancements, the majority not visible. She also looks much younger than she actually is.

Demeter Gray, (F) CEO of Dragon Technologies.

Suzuki Kawasaki, (F, Age 26) Chemist, Roboticist, violinist, amateur astronomer, and avid gamer. Masters in Applied Chemistry and Robotics. Currently a research assistant at Brighton University, getting her PhD. Suzuki was asked, by name, to be a part of the delegation to the FPN's conference. She's not at all sure why.

Alexandra, (AI, F) Captain and sole crewmember of the IAS Deus Nihil Est, one of three extant A-class AI. The youngest of the three, she doesn't have the massive repository of knowledge of Archive nor the extended plans of Archon.

"Lilian Richards", real name Clio Ashfor-Sadeghi (F) espatier, Sergeant. Actually a member of the Academy OIS sent to make sure her grandfather, i.e. Cyrus, and Harding were kept safe.

Ashley "Ashe" DeWitt, (F) espatier, Technical liaison and specialist.

Roland Lamontagne, (M) espatier Sergeant.

Thalia Neumann, (F) XO of the Nebula Ascendant, for the duration of the conference. Now Acting Captain.

Amber Daly, (F) sysadmin on the Nebula Ascendant

Cordelia Nietzche, (F) Agent of the Academy OIS, currently assisting in the investigation on the Nebula Ascendant

Unique Technology:
FTL:

Jump drive: Requires coordinates for the destination, and a 24 hour charge time between uses. The drive is rated in how effective it is compared to the standard Jump-1, and Jump-2 is the most common for military ships. Jump-0.5 and Jump-0.25 are common on long-range fighters, but usually only good for two jumps before they must be docked with its mother station. Most jump-capable ships, and all military ships (excepting strike craft w/o jump drives), have sensors that can scan their exit zone ahead of them, and they can then prepare themselves. There is also a 'cruise' mode that propels the ship at the speed of light, and does not trigger the 24 charge.​

Starships (Other):
DNI Piloting interface (Yes, it's redundant): Dragon Technologies ships have DNI technology to connect to their ship, allowing them faster reaction times and more awareness in combat. This is not without its side-effects, however, and severe damage to the ship can cripple or kill the pilot. The sensation of, for all intents and purposes, being a starship can be addicting, as well. The military ships produced for the Academy use a proprietary DNI, and as such cannot be easily commandeered. Civilian ships, and those DTI markets, use a more universal DNI jack. There is always a backup console to control the ship, but it is only active if the pilot is dead or unconscious. The DNI does not make that much of a difference, but it can offer the edge in an otherwise even match.

Pros:
Slightly faster reactions by the pilot to outside stimuli.
Somewhat greater awareness by the pilot.
Makes it slightly harder to hijack Academy ships.
Cons:
If the pilot is killed, the ship loses all of the above pros.
The process can be addicting.
Severe damage in a short amount of time can overwhelm the biofeedback filters, and injure or kill the pilot.​

Communications:

Quantum Entanglement Communication Devices:
QECDs exploit quantum entanglement to produce an impossible-to-intercept, instant, communication device.
Pros:
-Cannot be intercepted
-Near-Instant: so close it makes virtually no difference (~1/2 second delay, for decoding)
-Works across any range
Cons:
-Cannot be transported through FTL travel: otherwise it would scramble the link.
-Massive amount of resources required: Each bit of data (a 1 or a 0) requires one quantum entangled particle. Each quantum entangled particle must be produced at the same time in the same place as its sister particle, and transported by STL methods(see above). Transporting something by STL is extraordinarily expensive and takes, as you would expect, a lot of planning.
-Generally only text messages can be sent, to save bits.
-The resource requirements, and linking requirements, mean that it is limited to primary installations and specifically-designed platforms, such as early-warning devices.
-Once one of the bits is used up, it can no longer be used as part of the QECD. It can, however, be re-entangled with another partner, and one of them shipped elsewhere.
-Each bit is linked to one bit at one other QECD. Most QECDs have multiple sets of bits paired with other QECDs (i.e. Tank A allows QECD X to communicate with QECD Y, and Tank B allows QECD X to communicate with QECD Z.​

 

Ships! Pictures coming Soon™.
Preliminary notes:
1 wing of strike craft is 10 ships,
1 squad of espatiers is 10 soldiers,
1 platoon of espatiers is 2 squads.
Class Name
Prometheus-class dreadnaught
Class Type
Dreadnaught
Image
[Soon]
Notable Ships of the Line
IAS Prometheus
Historical Notes
[Soon]
Special Features
Jump-4 drive
Espatiers, 6 platoons (2 squads of 10 men each to a platoon, for a total of 120 espatiers)
Hangar bays: 4 wings (10 ships/wing) of Ma'at fighter-bombers, 4 wings of Set interceptors, 2 wings of Apophis bombers, 1 wing of Thoth gunships, 8 Horus shuttles
Manufactures torpedos on-demand from stored resources
In-situ refueling capability
"Nova" rounds: Rounds for the main cannon, consists of an AP head designed to punch through armor followed by a shaped thermonuclear explosive, designed to explode after the slug has punctured the enemy ship's armor.
Armament
Spinal-mounted railgun, "Prometheus' Fire" (Fixed, forward ark), veery slow reload, x1
Energy-based anti-missile turrets (a la this thing)
Turreted missiles, dorsal/ventral, 16 MLRS turrets(8/side), firing 12 missiles each per salvo
Broadside railguns (Turreted, left/right ark), 6 batteries on each side, consisting of 6 turrets each (triple barreled)
Gatling point defence turrets
Torpedos: forward, fixed, rockets, x6
Additional Notes:
Crew compliment: 650
~700m in length
... Heavy. (Probably somewhere around 100k metric tonnes)
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Class name:
Luminary-class cruiser
Ship Class:
Cruiser
Image link:
[soon]
Mission Role:
Exploratory/patrol ship
Weapons Loadout:
Type A, B, C:
Turreted railguns: (forward, left, right arcs) x6
Fixed forward torpedo tubes (Rockets), x2
Point-defence/anti-fighter gatling turrets, full hull coverage
Stored Munitions:
Type A, B:
Railguns: standard, AP, HE.
Torpedos: Standard, Other: Guided, HE
Point-defence: Standard, Other: Flak
Defensive Capabilities:
Type A:
Heavy armor plating (Hull)
Type B:
Heavy armor plating (CIC, engines, reactors, spine)
Ablative heavy armor x1/x2 plating (Whole hull) (After X amount of hits, turns into normal level of hull plating)
ECM
ECCM
Special Equipment:
Type A, B:
In-situ refueling capability
Research equipment
Extended supplies
Limited field repair capabilities
Hangar bays: 4 Horus shuttles
Type A:
1 platoon of espatiers
Type B, C:
1 squad of espatiers
Hangar bay: 1 wing Ma'at Fighter-bombers
Additional Notes:
Crew: 150 (170 (A) 160 (B,C) w/ espatiers)
Length: ~300m
Mass: ~20,000 metric tonnes (~16,000,000 kg)
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Class name:
Ignis-class heavy cruiser
Ship Class:
Heavy cruiser
Image link:
[soon]
Mission Role:
Combat warship
Weapons Loadout:
Type A:
Spinal mounted railgun
Torpedo tubes: x2
Side-mounted railgun turrets, 4 batteries of 3 each, 2 to a side
Turreted missile launchers x6
Point defence: full hull coverage
Type B:
Torpedo tubes: x8
turreted missile launchers x8
side mounted missile turrets,4 batteries of 2 each, 2 to a side
Point defence: full hull coverage
Stored Munitions:
Type A:
Railguns: standard, AP, HE.
Torpedos: Standard, Other: Guided, HE
Point-defence: Standard, Other: Flak
Missiles: Standard, HE, AP
Type B:
Torpedos: Standard, Other: Guided, HE
Point-defence: Standard, Other: Flak
Missiles: Standard, HE, AP
Defensive Capabilities:
Type A,B:
Heavy armor plating (hull)
ECM
ECCM
Special Equipment:
Type A, B:
Platoon of espatiers
In-situ refueling capable
Hangar bays: 4 Horus shuttles
Type B:
Hangar Bays: 2 wings Ma'at fighter-bombers, 1 wing Set Interceptors, 1 wing Apophis bombers
Additional Notes:
Crew: 160 (180 w/ espatiers)
Length: ~300m
Mass: ~25,000 metric tonnes
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Class name:
Stellar-Class Battlecruiser
Ship Class:
Battlecruiser
Image link:

Mission Role:
Exploratory fleet C3(Command, Control, Communications), ship of the line.
Weapons Loadout:
Fixed front torpedos (rockets), x2
side-mounted turreted single-barreled railguns, 2 batteries of 9 each (one to a side)

-NOTE: would actually be mounted on the inclines above/below where they're mounted, but you cannot do that in SE. So they're not.​

side-mounted turreted double-barreled railguns, 4 batteries of 3 each (two to a side)
ventral/dorsal-mounted turreted tripe-barreled railguns, 2 batteries of 3 each (two to a side)
Point-defence/anti-fighter gatling turrets: Full hull coverage (not shown)
Stored Munitions:
Torpedos: Standard, Other: Guided, HE
Turreted Railguns: Standard, AP, HE
Gatling turrets: Standard, Other: Flak
Defensive Capabilities:
Heavy armor plating (hull)
Heavy armor plating (x2) (CIC, reactors, engines, spine)
ECM
ECCM
Special Equipment:
In-situ refueling capable
Research equipment
Limited field-repair capabilities
2 platoons of espatiers
Jump-3 drive
Hangar bays: 4 Horus shuttles, 2 wings Ma'at fighter-bombers, 1 wing Apophis bombers
Additional Notes:
Crew: 175 (195 w/ espatiers)
Length: ~320m
Mass: ~35,000 metric tonnes
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Class name:
Luna-class Destroyer
Ship Class:
Destroyer
Image link:

Mission Role:
Combat ship
Weapons Loadout:
Spinal mounted railgun x2
Point defence: Full hull coverage
2 railgun turrets
Stored Munitions:
Railguns: Standard, HE, AP
Point defence(not shown in photo): standard, Other: Flak
Defensive Capabilities:
Heavy armor plating (hull)
ECM
ECCM
Special Equipment:
Enhanced thrusters
Hangar bay:1 Horus Shuttle
1/2 squad espatiers
Jump-1
Additional Notes:
Crew: 25
Length: 80m
Mass: 3,000 metric tons
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Class name:
Zephyr-class Frigate
Ship Class:
Scout Frigate
Image link:
[soon]
Mission Role:
Scout, explorer
Weapons Loadout:
Point defence: Full hull coverage
Missile turret
Stored Munitions:
Missiles: Standard, HE
Defensive Capabilities:
Unusually maneuverable
standard armor plating
ECM
ECCM
Special Equipment:
Enhanced thrusters
Enhanced Sensors
Jump-2
Additional Notes:
Drone
Crew: None
Length: 70m
Mass: 2,500 metric tons
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Class name:
Hermes-class Corvette
Ship Class:
Corvette
Image link:

Mission Role:
Courier, scout
Weapons Loadout:
Turreted railguns x2
torpedo tube x1
Stored Munitions:
Railguns: Standard
Torpedo: Standard, Other: Guided
Defensive Capabilities:
Standard armor plating
ECM
ECCM
Special Equipment:
Enhanced thrusters
Jump-2 drive
Manufactures torpedos as necessary
Hangar bay: Horus shuttle
Additional Notes:
Crew: 15
60m long
2,000 metric tons
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Class name:
Oppenheimer-class Cargo Hauler
Ship Class:
freighter
Image link:
[soon]
Mission Role:
Cargo hauler
Weapons Loadout:
point defence: full hull coverage
Stored Munitions:
PD: standard
Defensive Capabilities:
None
Special Equipment:
Large cargo bays
Additional Notes:
Generally unmanned
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Class name:
Archimedes-class Fuel Tanker
Ship Class:
Freighter/mobile refinery
Image link:
[soon]
Mission Role:
in-situ fuel refinement and storage
Weapons Loadout:
point defence
Stored Munitions:
PD: standard
Defensive Capabilities:
None
Special Equipment:
He-3 refineries
Large tanks of fuel
Hangar Bays: 6 Anubis fuel skimmers
Jump-1
Additional Notes:
Drone
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Class name:
Anubis-class Fuel Skimmer
Ship Class:
Shuttle
Image link:
[soon]
Mission Role:
Skim gas giants for fuel
Weapons Loadout:
Anti-personel turret
Stored Munitions:
turret: standard
Defensive Capabilities:
None
Special Equipment:
Designed to skim gas giants for fuel to return to an Archimedes, with the equipment so necessary
Enhanced thrusters
Carries fuel instead of passengers/cargo
Additional Notes:
Drone
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Class name:
Da Vinci-class Factory Ship
Ship Class:
Factory ship
Image link:
[soon]
Mission Role:
In-situ repair/strike craft reconstruction
Weapons Loadout:
point defence
Stored Munitions:
PD: standard
Defensive Capabilities:
None
Special Equipment:
Welders, grinders, etc.
Jump-1
Additional Notes:
Generally unmanned
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Class name:
Einstein-class Laboratory Ship
Ship Class:
freighter
Image link:
[soon]
Mission Role:
explorations, research
Weapons Loadout:
point defence
Stored Munitions:
PD: standard
Defensive Capabilities:
None
Special Equipment:
Jump-1
Laboratories
Additional Notes:
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Class name:
Helios-class diplomatic envoy [Being Retired]
Ship Class:
Large frigate or small cruiser
Image link:

Mission Role:
Diplomatic Envoy
Weapons Loadout:
(not shown in photo)
PD: Full hull coverage
Stored Munitions:
PD: Standard
Defensive Capabilities:
Heavy armor plating (entire hull)
ECM
ECCM
Special Equipment:
Enhanced thrusters (forward only)
Enhanced comms system
Espatiers: 1/2 squad
Jump-3
Additional Notes:
Not very maneuverable
While build to withstand impacts, not designed for combat.
Crew compliment: 33, plus 5 espatiers
Has quarters for 4 passengers (diplomats)
Length: 150m
Mass: 10k metric tonnes
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Class Name
DTI Azi Dahaka-class all-purpose civilian vessel
Class Type
Civilian, Multi-purpose.
Image

Notable Ships of the Line
IAS Phoenix
Historical Notes
The Azi Dahaka-class all-purpose craft is Dragon Technologies' most popular civilian ship, often found as free traders and, albeit usually modified, as Scrapmason salvage vessels.
The Phoenix is a diplomatic vessel commissioned for the FPN's conference, after a fatal flaw was found with the old Helios-class ships that had been used for this kind of job. The Diplomatic service is looking into wholesale replacing the Helios-class with ships similar to the Phoenix.
Special Features
IAS Phoenix:
Advanced communications arrays
Staterooms for 5 passengers
Meeting room
Hangar bay: 1 Horus Shuttle
Jump 2
Armament
Both: Unarmed
Additional Notes:
Crew: 20, plus 3 espatiers for security
Length: 80m
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Class Name
Unique: IAS Deus Nihil Est
Class Type
Heavy Destroyer
Image

Somewhat hard to tell, but the coloration is black, white, and a very dark red.
Notable Ships of the Line
IAS Deus Nihil Est
Historical Notes
The Deus Nihil Est was commissioned of DTI, as a special, one-off order by Alexandra. She wanted a ship designed to be crewed by one AI, and as such, to save mass, the standard things required for a human-crewed ship were dispensed of. The ship has no oxygen system, very tight corridors (~.7m square cross-sections), no artificial gravity, and only one access port, for dispensing ball drones as away parties and refueling and resupplying. The ship was designed to be proof-of-concept, with the intent of spearheading a line of warships that could run circles around any human-crewed ship, due to the significantly higher g-force tolerances of the quantum computers versus that of a human. Unfortunately, the ship proved very expensive, and the project was discontinued.
Special Features
Very maneuverable: can perform much tighter turns due to lack of human crew.
Heavily armored: Again, due to lack of human crew, the only crew space needed is AI cores, so the rest can be devoted to armor, engines, weapons, etc
Lacks human crew.
Jump-2
Numerous ball-drones to be utilized as Damage control and "Away parties," that look something like this: (yeah, I suck at drawing and my handwriting is almost completely illegible.)

Armament
Forward-mounted twin-barreled anti-ship cannon, x4
Broadside MLRS systems x28 (14/side)
Point defence turrets, spread across the ship.
Additional Notes
The crew is composed of entirely AI. As such, pesky things like "living quarters," "oxygen," and "being prevented from making high-g turns to not pulverize the meatbags" do not apply.
Especially vulnerable to EMPs and ECM.
Crew: 1 (A-class AI, Alexandra (f))
Length: 150m
Mass: ~1200 metric tonnes

 

Strike Craft:
Class name:
Set Interceptor
Ship Class:
Interceptor
Image link:

Mission Role:
Anti-fighter
Weapons Loadout:
4x Rocket launchers
6x Gatling Guns
Stored Munitions:
Rocket launchers: Normal, Flak
Gatling Guns: Normal, Explosive
Defensive Capabilities:
none
Special Equipment:
Enhanced thrusters (forward/rear)
Additional Notes:
Drone
___________________________________________________________________________________________
Class name:
Horus Shuttle
Ship Class:
Drop Ship
Image link:

Mission Role:
Shuttle: OtS(Orbit to surface), OtO (Orbit to Orbit), StO (Surface to Orbit
Weapons Loadout:
Gatling turret, for emergency situations.
Stored Munitions:
Regular
Defensive Capabilities:
Heavily armored ventral side
Special Equipment:
none
Additional Notes:

___________________________________________________________________________________________
Class name:
Ma'at Fighter-Bomber
Ship Class:
Strike bomber
Image link:

Mission Role:
Capital ship engagement/fleet screening
Weapons Loadout:
8x gatling guns
4x heavy railguns
Stored Munitions:
Gatling guns: Normal, HE
Railguns: Normal, AP, HE
Defensive Capabilities:
Heavy armor plating
Special Equipment:
Enhanced thrusters
Additional Notes:
Drone
___________________________________________________________________________________________
Class name:
Apophis Bomber
Ship Class:
Bomber
Image link:

Mission Role:
Capital ship engagement
Weapons Loadout:
6x heavy railguns
Stored Munitions:
Railguns: Normal, AP, HE
Defensive Capabilities:
Heavy armor plating
Special Equipment:
none
Additional Notes:
Drone

 

Adjectival forms: (according to the OED)

Tethys: Tethyan

Rhea: Rhean

Titan: Titanian

Janus: Jainian

The Ishtar Academy (from a political standpoint):

The Academy is the Cronian system’s controlling faction, governing it as a federation, while directly governing Titan. The Academy makes the various states under its control implement certain terms in their constitution, namely: 1. 12 years of mandatory, state-payed-for basic education. 2. Freedom of: speech, the press, religion, expression. 3. All rights apply to artificial intelligences that can pass the Turing-Kawasaki test, the baseline for determining whether or not an AI is considered to have human-level complexity. 4. Separation of church and state. 5. 5 years mandatory military service with the Academy, after completion of 12 years of schooling or college-level education. 6. All are equal in the eyes of the law, human, transhuman, synthetic, or other. The Academy does its best to mediate any internal conflicts between states, to prevent them from devolving into outright warfare.

The Academy is governed by the Council of Seven, consisting of Archon, one representative from the Academy, usually a general or admiral in the military, one from the Titanian government proper, and one representative each from DTI, the League of Aligned Gasminers, the Rhean Hierarchy, and the Saturnian Ice Miners' Guild. Janus Station has been offered a seat on the Council, but has consistently refused. This Council has executive power, and requires a majority vote to enact legislation. Archon's vote counts as 1.5 votes, however, in case of a tie. He usually abstains, unless required to break a tie, however when he does vote the Council usually goes along with him. The Council also decides foreign policy, and the like. Below the Council is the Academy Parliament, which consists of representatives from all member-states, the number from each based on numerous factors, principally population, though. The Parliament has legislative power. There is also a Supreme Court, with (to be expected) judicial power. The Supreme court consists of a rotation of 28 judges, though only 7 will sit on any one case, decided based on how personally involved the judges are. Most often, the judges will recuse themselves, though occasionally one will have to be recused for themselves.

The Academy's principal exports are Helium-3, Industrial parts (courtesy of DragonTech), and petroleum-based polymers.

Dragon Technologies, Incorporated™: (Dragon Technologies, Dragon Tech, DragonTech, DTI)

DTI is an extraterritorial corporation with close ties to the Academy, producing many of their ships and installations, and maintaining multiple large shipyards and stations in and around Academy space. Many of the citizens of the stations are citizens of both DTI and the Academy.

Saturn:

While the Academy does not control Saturn as a whole, it controls a reasonably sized area for “mining” for H3. There is not so much one member-state on Saturn as there are various “cloud cities” and aerial platforms who are represented by the League of Aligned Gasminers. The League was formed out of a collection of individual and formerly-corporate/governmental gasminers who banded together to form a sort of union to protect their interests, to which a nascent Academy offered its protection in the early 2100s, to discourage encroachment by… other parties. In exchange, they became a member-state, with all the benefits and drawbacks thereof. Many of the ‘miners varied from “dislike” to “outright hatred” of the Academy, and more than a few quit, but a large majority stayed. The actual “borders” of each ‘miner’s territory are fuzzy, but encroachment is considered a faux-pas, and often results in the loss of the offending mining drone. Most of the various factions employ automated beacons near the edges of their territory, synced to an orbital satellite grid maintained by a neutral party to prevent drift, or “drift.”

Rhea:

Rhea is governed by the Rhean Hierarchy, which established itself as an independent entity after a short, but bloody rebellion in the early 2070s against the US government, which had established a penal colony on Rhea. The Rhean Hierarchy arose as what was supposed to be an interim government, but stayed as the permanent government, because nothing better could be implemented. Shortly before the Solstice War, Rhea joined with the Academy for mutual defence. The Hierarchy is a system similar to the feudal system of old earth, but distinctly different, in that upward movement is not only possible at every level of society, but the object of most of Rhea’s citizenry’s efforts, in what Rheans term the “Grand Game.” Of course, the higher echelons of the Hierarchy have fancy titles, most often stylized after those of a medieval or renaissance european noble court, though titles from other areas of world are present, as well.

Rhea is, perhaps surprisingly, or perhaps not, the largest supporter of the Academy in the Cronian system, and the Rhean constitution conforms closely to that of Titan, allowing for their… somewhat different forms of government. Rhea is also host to the backup servers for the Titanian Archive, and has its own extensive collection.

Titan:

Titan is the only one of the moons actually governed by the Academy directly, and both its centre of government and host to the Titanian Archive, which is often called a “modern-day Library of Alexandria.” Many in the Academy are… wary of such an appellation, clearly remembering what happened to the last Library of Alexandria. Others embrace it, however. Opinion is most definitely divided on the subject. Titan has a government separate from the Academy, despite being directly governed, which is a representative democracy similar to that of the US, though markedly more productive and less combative.

Brighton is the capital of both Titan and the Academy, also playing host to the Titanian Archive. Aside from the Archive, it is notable for a few other things: The space elevator a short distance from the town, being the largest and most densely populated city in the Cronian system, and the massive complex that serves as the headquarters of the Academy a short while outside the town.

Janus:

Janus is notable for two things: on the prograde side, Janus Station, the second largest space station in the Cronian system, and on the retrograde side, Janus Shipyards, one of DIT’s two largest shipyards. Janus Station is also notable for being a haven for criminals, miscreants, and shifty types of all sorts. Unfortunately for the Academy, any attempts to clear them out has been met with failure, so ultimately they were offered an ultimatum: Join the Academy’s federation as a member-state, or we blow you off the face of the map. They joined, though the Academy finds that the Jainian government finds the most loopholes in the requirements to be a member state. Janus Station is run-down, only mostly functional, relying on outdated tech, and prone to failing. All offers by the Academy and DTI to repair and upgrade it have been rejected.

On the other side of the spectrum, and planet, is Janus Shipyards. Janus Shipyards are where Dragon Technologies, Inc. produce most of their commercially available ships, as well as the smaller ships they produce for the Academy. Janus Shipyards are some of the highest-tech and highest security shipyards in the Sol System. The irony of the dichotomy between Janus Shipyards and Janus Station, especially given the location, is not lost on most anyone.

Tethys:

Tethys is the main producer of water ice for the Academy, being composed almost entirely of the stuff. There are few colonies on the surface, most of the surface area being used for ice mining. The Academy jealously guards Tethys, maintaining a large fleet in orbit at all times to deter would-be conquerors. Other than that, Tethys is not a particularly interesting place. It is governed by the Saturnian Ice Miners' Guild, an extraterritorial member-state corporation of the Academy.

 

Random bits of fluff about the Academy.

Most of the Academy's territory was settled by the US, the EU, and Japan, though one joint ill-fated colony mission by Iran and Russia was made.

The Academy’s definition of a planet is thus: “Any celestial body orbiting a star or stars that maintains hydrostatic equilibrium due to its own gravity, and is not orbiting another, larger celestial body that isn’t the star. In the case of two or more bodies of comparable mass, the 'planet' is considered the body to which the system's barycenter is closest. In the case of very similarly sized bodies (When the barycenter is ~40-60% of the distance from one body to the other), it is considered a 'binary planet.' ” Under
these terms, Pluto is, indeed, a planet.(Take that, IAU!)

Academy Military:
The Academy military (Astromilitary, technically) is subdivided into four parts: The Aerospace Corps, similar in structure and function to an old-earth Air Force, the Fleet, similar to an old-earth navy in space, and the Rangers/Espatiers, similar to old-earth Army/Marines. The ranking structure is more-or-less that of the US military c. the early 21st century (Though they use "commodore" for a 1-star admiral), with one major anomaly: The Espatiers. On a naval ship, the officer commanding an espatier platoon is adressed as "Lieutenant," as the fleet rank. However, the same officer is addressed as "Captain" when amongst rangers, thus preserving the same place in the chain of command.

Academy protocols and alerts are divided into various color codes. Crewmembers of a starship are sometimes colloquially referred to as one of these color codes based on specialty (most often blue, green, or red). "Whitey" is a semi-derogatory term for civilian passengers. All civilian passengers on a military ship (rare as they are) are required to read and understand the protocols for situations, so as to not hider efforts of the crew. Protocols (especially for the rarer colors) are highly suggested guidelines, not hard-and-fast rules. "Protocol" should not hamstring the functionality of a ship. There is a "taking it to far" point, though.

In order from most commonly used to least commonly used, the codes:
(Alert: means what would cause said alert)

White: All systems normal
-Protocols: Protocols for any situation not covered by other color codes. Ex. Uniform, shift schedule, etc.
-Alert: All systems normal. Standard level of alert. Indicated by lack of an alert.

Green: Personnel
-Protocol: Interpersonal interactions, appropriate level of formality, identifying infiltrators, etc.
-Alert: Serial Killer on board, etc.

Blue: Mechanical
-Protocols: What to do in the case of mechanical failure, what to prioritize, routine maintenance, etc.
-Alert: "Warp core breach!" Massive mechanical failure, but not enough to force Black Alert.

Yellow: Ship encountered, not hostile, but not friendly.
-Protocols: How to interact with other factions, diplomacy.
-Alert: Any non-Academy or -allied (and even then, depending on relations, occasionally allied ships) and non-hostile encountered.

Red: Ship encountered, hostile. Combat.
-Protocols: Battle stations! General Quarters
-Alert: Combat. "It's a trap!"

Orange: Unknown ship encountered, communication cannot be established.
-Protocols: Be very, very careful. Do not provoke.
-Alert: Any unknown and unidentifiable ship encountered, and communication cannot be established

Indigo: Spatial anomaly. Basically what the Academy would use in most every Star Trek episode.
-Protocols: Vary wildly based on what sort of (hypothetical or not) anomaly it is. Everything from protocol for proper safety when near a pulsar, to more exotic things, like wormholes. The "mundane" stellar phenomena are why this is so often used.
-Alert: Any sort of spatial anomaly.

Black: Abandon Ship!
-Protocols: Evacuate to the nearest escape pods, commence self-destruct sequence.
-Alert: Catastrophic damage.

Violet: Personal weirdness. Hallucinations, possession, the like. Also covered are nanobots, alien encounters, and bioweapons/alien diseases, or even rare, highly dangerous, uncured, and easily transmissible human diseases e.g. Ebola.
-Protocols: Again, vary wildly.
-Alert: The crew is experiencing collective hallucinations. The holodeck is malfunctioning, and people don't know they're on a holodeck. Nanobots and bioweapons/alien diseases are often "Decontamination for those we can extract safely, and nuke it from orbit, it's the only way to be sure."

Ultraviolet: Indigo + Violet: Indigo is "Space is being weird," Violet is "My perception of space is weird," and Ultraviolet is "Something is causing space to be weird." Eldrich Horror from the Dawn of Time stuff. Ultraviolet never has been used, and it is unlikely that it will.
-Protocols: Generally, run away really really fast. In that's not possible, then hope your affairs are in order, or that this is a benevolent eldrich horror.
-Alert: Encountering Cthulhu, or aliens with technology that runs into Clarke's Third Law. From various games/shows/movies/etc.: The Reapers, The Flood, Q, Species 8472, a Culture Mind, a small blue police box, with an eccentric man who (probably) has a young, female companion (not so much for the man himself, but for what his arrival heralds. It's automatically assumed to be worst-case scenario.), anything from the Warp, etc.


Slang, Derogatory terms, colloquial expressions, etc:

Sylph (N, adj) (pl. sylphs): Transhumanity is divided on whether sylph is an insult or just another term for transhumans, as, for that matter, is the rest of humanity. Some see it as something akin to the n-word, or “fag," while others see it as more akin to “latino” or “caucasian.” Can also refer more specifically (especially in academic contexts) to a transhuman with a focus on improvement of self-image, i.e. someone who just wants to be prettier.

Sylphist (N, adj) 1. Someone who is involved in: A) creating transhumans, or B) supports transhumans. Can be derogatory, see “Sylph” 2. (adj.) Racist against transhumans (Uncommon; see above)

Trannie (N, adj) (pl. trannies): Insult, referring to a transhuman, or, depending on context, those who support them. Can also still derogatorily refer to a transgender person, though those bigoted against either tend to lump the two together.