BESM 4e: New Frontiers

[Shameless]

It's the year 2125.   A hundred and twenty five years ago, humanity discovered something so profound, it threatened the very fabric of society.   Whatever beliefs were held prior, The Visitor settled the debate once and for all.  
 

We were not alone in the universe.
 

The Visitor crash landed on a small island five hundred miles Southeast of Hawaii, Verity­­ island, which was an unincorporated territory.  The island was home to several large volcano, though they remain inactive, even after the crash.    Verity Island is roughly ten miles long to a side, and the Visitor itself was a full mile long when it came to rest, vitrifying the sand beneath it into glass, and boiling the seas around it.  
 

Nations around the world would send ships, scientific teams, engineers, and troops to the island, and for a full month, it was an uneasy detente.   The American forces were by far the largest and closest, but in a show of unity, the nations of the world decided to send a multinational force  and scientific team to actually investigate the Visitor.
 

What they found is highly classified, even over a century later, but the legacy of their findings is everywhere.   Man had already achieved spaceflight, but with what was learned, true colonization was made a reality.  First the moon, then Mars.  Soon the asteroid belt and Titan.   Massive shipyards were built in each place, as Mankind looked beyond the Solar system, and took their first bold steps beyond our home star twenty years after the Visitor's arrival.  
 

In the eighty years that followed, Mankind's technological level greatly improved, and the general quality of life for the average human was the highest it had been in the modern age.   Poverty and Hunger were a thing of the past, and no one had to wonder where their next meal would come from, or if they'd have a place to lay their head at night.  Mankind spread across the stars, within  three thousand Lightyears of Earth, Thanks to new versions of that first Hyperspace Fold Engine.
 

Over five hundred worlds were catalogued, and at least half of them would host at least some sort of colony, thanks to the miracles of space travel.  Sadly roughly ten percent of the colonized worlds have declared themselves independent of Worlds Government and bitterly contest any further incursions into their sector of space by the WG Navy.
 

One of these worlds is the Eden-like world of Aoshima.   The world has abundant native wildlife, a perfect climate and soil that supports any sort of plant one wishes to grow.   It's primary terrestrial predators resemble terran felines, though they tend to resemble the big cats of earth, and are generally larger in size.  Great herds of Bison like creatures, which have been domesticated, roam the vast plains and provide a source of edible meat.  The Oceans team with life, much of it edible to humans.  
 

Thirty years ago, a Conglomerate of Japanese origin, Fujiwara Heavy Industries, Constructed the first colony on the planet.   They offered large colonization bonuses, and provided furnished homes to the colonists who came, provided they signed an agreement to work for the company at least 5 years, for which they would be paid.
 

The initial outlay of capital would reap great benefits as the Aoshima blood rose flower, which only grew on the world, would provide  a nearly miraculous cureall for a dozen forms of cancer, as well as alzheimer's disease.  Study of the Marine life of the planet would yield treatments that rejuvenated cells, and could even at least partly reverse the aging process.

Many other companies made bids to colonize the world, and were allowed to do so, but only on the Southern continents, nearly fifteen years after FHI had first set up shop.   In the Northern continent, which was essentially fief to FHI, they had their well guarded fortress-like factories, shipyards, and the orbital elevator to the massive orbital yards above.
 

Today, Aoshima is a bustling world, with large industrial complexes, yet it still has much of the world untouched by human hands or machines, as FHI wishes it to be.   Aoshima City, the planetary capital is home to the primary starport, the Worlds Government Garrison, and even a WG accredited academy, as the world is a major hub in the Coreward sector of the outer reaches of human occupied space.
 

This world serves as the opening setting for our saga.
 

You are all students at Corbulo Academy, a fully accredited school, with specialty colleges in Biology, Cybernetics, Engineering, Physics, and both space and terrestrial combat schools.   You do not have to be a native of the world, as colonization restrictions have greatly relaxed since the world was opened up.
 

This school starts with high school and goes all the way through Doctoral programs.   My aim would for you all to  at least be eighteen, and no older than 22.  Your parents likely work for FHI, or a "local" company within Aoshima City.  If they do work for FHI, they likely do not talk about work much, but are noticeably well paid, and your family wants for little.

FHI is likely looking at all of you, scouting you for whatever your talents are, as the company seems to have an innate knack for matching talent to occupations.

Technological level-
 

Interstellar travel is of course possible, and fairly easy.   Even though Aoshima is nearly 2500 light years from Earth, traveltimes are generally around a week or two depending on variances in Hyperspace.
 

Mankind doesn't have flying cars, but they do have Hovercars, and motorcycles.   Maglev trains are quite common across the colonies.
 

2D and 3D hologram projectors are quite popular, and commlink communication systems keep people in touch across planets.  Hyperpulse Communication is possible, sending messages to distant worlds, though it may take a number of relays for extreme distances, which greatly increase the costs.
 

Medical technology has greatly progressed, but there are still maladies out there which have no answers, lives are still lost in combat.   Cybernetics can restore lost limbs, as cloning is still a prohibited technology across all human space.

The primary small scale craft that engagements are fought with are Aerospace Fighters.  As the name suggests, they can fight in space and in an atmosphere.  They tend to carry autocannons, missiles, and some even mount laser weaponry.
 

Character Creation-
 

We are playing human characters, but thanks to good genes, training, or just natural talent, you are all cut above the rest.   Any sort of character is open to you, though I would suggest you have at least some knowledge of Piloting or technology, as these will be very game relevant.
 

Base starting CP-60  This is high adventurer scale
 

Stats may not exceed 7
 

Gear I'll be pretty free with, the basics, like a vehicle, phone, apartment if you live on your own, a taser or if you have a very good reason, maybe an actual firearm.   
 

Crime exists, but the police here are efficient, and good at what they're paid to do.

You will be limited to human attributes and limits.  
 

If you have questions ask me.

As a bonus, Include a small writeup about your family members if any along with pictures for your character and said family, and I will award you 5 extra cp.
 

Edited February 7, 2022 by Shameless

[Nina]

what is the focus? is this a military game? Corporate? is this a game about exploration in space or is it school kid shenanigan's?  the back grounds is well thought out as far as i can tell but there is nothing here about what the game is about.

 

i neeed more.

[Shameless]

As things currently stand, roughly ten percent of humanity is in open rebellion against the Worlds Government, which serves as the Ruling council for humanity.   Most of those in rebellion are on the outer fringes of human occupied space, though not all.  There are sympathizers across all human space.   

On the world where the game starts, there is next to no Rebel presence, due to the large garrison the planet has in orbit and planetside.  

We will be starting in a school setting, though you're all adults, gearing up and preparing for life beyond the Academy.   This could be doing scientific research, technological development, a career in the military, or even just someone who wants a degree in a field that lets them leave Aoshima and wander the stars.  ALL of those things will be relevant as the game progresses.

We Will be leaving this world, so someone who can function on a starship is a great idea, there are courses available to civilians at the academy which would prepare you for this, and they are simple general classes , and admittedly, pilots will be ideal for my needs, but not everyone wants that.   I will work to ensure everyone has a means of contribution as the story goes on.   Yes there will be combat, but we're not going to jump straight to that.

[SalmonMax]

Is the ship we're going to be on a military vessel? Or are there roles for civilians on it as well?

 

Even civilian roles that involve piloting, for example. Or should we be assuming military training, even if we may not necessarily be in-character planning to join the military, like ROTC or something similar?

[Shameless]

Without revealing too much, it will be a Civilian Vessel, with a military presence.

Basic piloting is a class that is offered, for things like normal ships.   the more advanced courses are generally saved for military pilots.   As you can surmise, not all ships are military, and many companies do have their own security forces, which often are recruited from military retirees, or at times, academy graduates.   A potential idea would be a child's parent working for a company, and that company seeing promise in the child, and footing the bill for Military academy training, without the requisite service in the military to follow in order to add them to the company's security forces.

Now FHI is one of the "Good Companies"  they are fairly benevolent in general, and treat their employees well.   They pay well, have great benefits.  A Happy and content workforce is a productive one" is one of the motto of their HR department.   There are other companies, MARStech, to name one off hand, which are way more like the Megacorps in Shadowrun, or you know Walmart in our current age.

[SalmonMax]

Ok, one other question I have.

 

You're saying around 10% of the colonies have entered into open rebellion. If it's so small, so one-sided, why is there still a war going on? Or is there?

 

Is this a kind of 'brother vs brother' Civil War type conflict, or have they more or less been allowed to secede and there's just a lot of simmering, Cold-Waresque bad blood between them and the original government, but it hasn't erupted into a shooting war?

[Shameless]

It is a Vietnam War Scenario.   The WG wants to go in and just flatten them.   However, the general populace doesn't agree with that.   Wary of creating more sympathizers, and other worlds rebelling, the WG is taking a hands off scenario now.  There were three major battles, the first saw Orbital Bombardment used against planetary targets, and the Media was all over that, citing huge civilian casualties.   So Planetary Bombardment was pretty much outlawed.   Leaving only ground combat, which is always more costly.   Fighting Determined Defenders on their home soil is incredibly costly, and both times it was done, the battles became drawn out meatgrinders.      Understand, even with Hyperspace tech, there's lots of worlds, all the WG ones want a garrison to protect them from pirates and what not, so the Navy is actually spread somewhat thin, and denied the one means of combat that assures them overwhelming advantage.

Interstellar Piracy does exist,  and most WG Navy actions are against them.  

[SalmonMax]

Gotcha, that helps. Thanks!

[Nina]

are there aliens in this universe that we have encountered or, aside from the thing that crashed, are humans alone?

[Shameless]

Mankind has not encountered any human-level  alien species since the Visitor Landed on Earth.