Coup D'etat - Session 06 - "Silver Leaves"

The market of the capitol city of Upbow is bright and vibrant. HiveBots man the street, working alongside biological workers to keep the city's basic services running. Tourists, travelers, and shoppers walk the streets lined with open-air cafes. It's at one of these cafes that The Infiltrator is meeting one of his contacts with The Infuser's Alliance.

The Infiltrator's contact within The Infuser's Alliance tells him that his father was taken to be recruited for a scientific project. They can't discuss what he worked on, but during a routine transfer of material and personnel for security reasons, his ship was attacked by the KAMATA-Sci, an organization within the KAMTAS which focuses on advanced scientific research. As the two dominant scientific powers in the galaxy, The Infusers' Alliance and the KAMATAS have a long-running shadow war to stay on the forefront of technological progress. The contact can't tell Al much more because the Infusers believe that KAMATA-Sci is on the verge of a major discovery. One that could shift the balance of power in the galaxy. He says they're preparing an op on the base within a few weeks and information is at a premium. After a suspiciously small amount of prodding, he mentions they'd rather send a small, specialized force instead of the Aarenst Wing, but there isn't a unit familiar enough with the technology or the area.

Coup D'etat - Session 05 Prelude - Echoes of Thunder

Massert NoSve Alliance

While the Slemmgraise have pulled back their front-line contributions to their military and trade guild, it's rumored that they are working on a new offensive. Because the power of the Massert NoSve counter is less effective when used defensively, rumors of hidden Slemmgraise fleets and ghost stories about missing ships run rampant in the Massert NoSve underclasses.

The Massert NoSve Sixth Fleet reports no sign of an invasion force on the Sur-Et Rim other than an unusually high amount of local unrest. They've investigated new social movements based on silver leaves, tracking down one such strange tree from beyond the rim. It showed evidence of genetic alteration to reproduce via aggressive, asexual, rapid-growing spores and in other ways, though their science teams haven't determined that yet. The Sixth Fleet has lead several planets in creating an effective quarantine.

Coup D'etat - Session 05 Prelude - The Oncoming Storm

Part one of two for a general update of the galaxy.

Free Alliance

The Pris have deployed two task forces to destroy the rebels once and for all. The FA has protested and there have been shots fired between the two sides. With the datacore destroyed on board the Malice, the odds are slim they could ever find the rebel base.

Meanwhile, reports of revolution are coming in from the inhabited moon of Kastulas V. According to a Pris intelligence report, the common people of the planet have risen up and toppled the ruling power. The actions are described as peaceful and centered around a rapid growth of never before seen trees with silver leaves. The reports cease shortly thereafter.

Coup D'etat - Session 04, "Ships Aflame"

So The Disciples of the Voice of the Deep arrived in the Katsulas System within The Free Alliance, looking for a PROTECT science and research outpost. It was missing, but The Voice of the Deep suggested they search on the inhabited moon of the Katsulas system. It once housed an PROTECT ground support station for the outpost and its memory core could lead the troupe to their prize.

No sooner had they recovered the memory core from the ruins than they were engaged by local law enforcement, charged with tombraiding (a catchall term for people stealing local artifacts that belong in a museum.). 

They're escorted to comfortable prison quarters, to face trial by "The Commander." A quick search of the local information network reveals that The Commander is a Commander Meltha, a renegade commander in the Free Alliance Civil War now a freelance rebel fighting against the neighboring Pris Alliance. 

Coup D'etat - Session 02, "TAGCX"

In this session, the party looks into a PROTECT intelligence base in the Deforest system. When they arrive, they come across a Monlith gunship firing on the base, having arrived shortly before them. They engage with Cass' ship, the Celestial Wind, and the monoliths withdrawal. Their sensors tell them it's the same ship that waylaid Al back on Ma-Tourel.

Cass and Al give chase, while Major Luke Princeton and Pron Gatar take a shuttle to check out the station. There, they restore power and Luke, finally back at home in the Massert NoSve Alliance, calls to report in to his superiors in The Council. Meanwhile, Al and Cass shoot down the Monolith gunship and investigate its crash site on Deforest Six. They find a Monolith memory core and a book rapidly decaying in the harsh environment. More importantly, Al recovers the information stolen by The Scarred, Silver Monolith and recovers some of that monlith's remains. The harsh wind of Deforest Six picks up as they return to the Celestial Wind, and make their way to the station.

Coup D'etat - Session 01, "Union" Epilogue

Cass, Razka, Al, Pron, and Luke are on the Celestial Wind with The Voice of the Deep.

You've left orbit without incident and crossed the poorly-patroled border into KAMATAS space, further from Slemmgraise law enforcement (A concern for some of you.). The Voice of the Deep begins to mull things over: 

"My knowledge of The Spines is limited. I was designed as a general for the war against the Slemmgraise and their incursion into our universe happened before my experiences. However, there may yet be old places, remnants of the PROTECT, and our builders, the Zurai, which might have information on them.

"The history of The Monliths indicate that they would not wholly support such wanton destruction as you have attributed to them. It is likely that those you encountered were part of a group separate from the monolith culture based on Monoliths' Favorite World. Contemporary references support this; the churn of subcultures reported across the galaxy have long contained unrelated references to spines, silver leaves, and the monoliths, but limited information gleaned from the Sur-Et Rim indicate an above insignificant upward trend, both in their prevalence and connection, though the silver leaves are by far the strongest element. They speak of The Predator from beyond the stars. Possibly a messianic figure from their the same universe as The Spines, or from beyond the galaxy.

Collaborative Campaign Setting: Coup D'etat, Day II - Styles

I've worked up general styles of ships and architecture that distinguish each of them from the others. I'm open to more ideas or modifications, as you prefer.

Slemmgraise

Architecture: Slim grey metallics with blackened orbs in them. Long architecture. Ships that tend to rotate and "stand" on the horizon like rockets.
Many of their "ships" are stations built of asteroids or meteors that they teleport around in groups.

Pris
Volcanic red with inner light coming from the seams. Ships with central bodies and jutting "wings." Exosuits (eeze) tend to have the same colors.

KAMATAS (S'Szera)
Premier shipbuilders. Spindly ships. Crumble-white, hexagonal nacells with arms for six more "pods." Some of the largest, most versatile, and well-armed vessels in the galaxy. Also make common cargo ships and passenger vessels. Their primary attack craft from from fighter pods filled with rocket-propelled, spider-like individual exosuits.

Collaborative Campaign Setting: Coup D'etat, Part II - Enhanced Groundwork

We're doing a new RPG, a Mutants and Masterminds game currently codenamed "Coup D'etat." In order to make sure everyone knows the general layout of the setting, we all jammed to hammer out the foundations of the setting. Before we play again Saturday night, I've got a lot of setting work to do, so I'm posting regular updates. Here's today's:

Characters

-T's: Hellworld native. Lives on a lunar station orbiting his home planet

-J's: Shapeshifter from a planet in a rim sector.

-D's: Teleporter from the Infusers Alliance

-R's: Shipborn. His whole life. Supersoldier.

-Space Voice: Finding it in an old, neglected area or something.

-KT: Ship pilot. Roguish.

Geography

-The ship itself and its geography.

-Our headquarters: Space Voice leads them to the headquarters. Abandoned because no one else gets it to work. Base on an overlooked planet in a busy solar system.

-"Serious Nebula": Base of operations or home for one or more species. With planets with species.

-"Variety"

-Timeworld for teleporters' home.

-Worlds with specific resources with difficulties concerning extracting those resources

-Primitive natives vs resources

-Shapeshifters are from a specific planet. There are less sentient ones. They find new resources and leverage to get more from those resources. 

-The empty sector. Probably in Pris, KAMTASA, or Free Alliance areas

Collaborative Campaign Setting: Coup D'etat, Part II - Relations

Infusers/Slemmgraise
The two are engaged in a cold war and have been for some time. From the center of the Slemmgraise Alliance to the cobble streets of the Infuser's planets, agents, plans, codes, and all manner of information is exchanged so that both will have a technological edge on the other should their mutual mistrust and suspicion come to cause a galactic conflagration. The Slemmgraise have multiple interests, but chief amongst them is protecting their genetic code and the technologies based on it. The teleportation is the centerpiece of their hold over their alliance and even though it has already begun to crack, they will keep it together at all costs.

Collaborative Campaign Setting: Coup D'etat, Part I

We're doing a new RPG, a Mutants and Masterminds game currently codenamed "Coup D'etat." In order to make sure everyone knows the general layout of the setting, we jammed together early--fucking early--Sunday morning to hammer out the foundations of the setting. It went really well and we got a lot of good information. Below are the results:

Geography

-T's Hellworld – Inhabitable

-J's character comes from a planet on a rimward sector.

-T: Lunar station orbiting his home plant

-D. Spartan nomad. Totally has a home planet.

-R's character: Shipborn. His whole life.

-Space Voice: Finding it in an old, neglected area or something.

-The ship itself and its geography.

-Our headquarters: Space Voice leads them to the headquarters. Abandoned because no one else gets it to work. Base on an overlooked planet in a busy solar system.

-"Serious Nebula" – Base of operations or home for one or more species. With planets with species.

-"Variety"

-Timeworld for teleporters' home.

-Worlds with specific resources with difficulties concerning extracting those resources

-Primitive natives vs resources

-Shapeshifters are from a specific planet. There are less sentient ones. They find new resources and leverage to get more from those resources. 

-The empty sector